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China strongly objects to the U.S. proposal to restrict the use of Chinese connected vehicles, as well as their software and hardware, in the United States, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.
A ministry spokesperson made the remarks in response to a media inquiry, emphasizing that the U.S. proposal smears Chinese connected vehicles under the pretext of national security.
The proposal is one of the U.S. actions that targeted Chinese automobiles in recent years, also including tariff hikes, procurement restrictions and discriminatory subsidy policies, said the spokesperson.
The proposal has no factual basis, violates the principles of the market economy and fair competition, and is a typical act of protectionism, the spokesperson said, adding that it will severely impact China-U.S. cooperation on connected vehicles, disrupt and distort global automotive industrial and supply chains, and harm the interests of U.S. consumers.
It is also a non-market practice that uses government power to interfere with economic and commercial cooperation between enterprises, constituting economic coercion, said the spokesperson.
"China urges the United States to cease its wrong practice of generalizing national security, immediately lift the relevant restrictions, and end its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies," said the spokesperson.
China will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its companies, the spokesperson added.
Some 1,685 "seriously ill" inmates have been released from one of the most notorious prisons in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the latest move to tackle overcrowding.
The release began at Makala Prison in the capital, Kinshasa, on Sunday.
It was there, at the beginning of this month, that 129 prisoners died in an attempted jailbreak. Some were shot dead by security forces while others were killed in a crush, officials said.
The government pledged to speed up its plans to decongest the prison, where conditions have been described as "true hell".
Some of the inmates identified for release can be seen in a series of images published on the justice ministry's Facebook page.
In one, an emaciated-looking man with dirty bandages around his right foot and below the knee is being pushed in a wheelbarrow.
In another, showing dozens of men all appearing malnourished, one of those in the foreground has an open wound.
In a video, a prisoner, who seems unable to stand up, is shouting that he is going to change his life and no longer cause pain to others. He also praises the official responsible, Justice Minister Constant Mutamba.
Mutamba said that those who needed medical attention would be treated while others would be sent home on buses provided by the government, the AP news agency reports.
The minister had already ordered the release of hundreds of others from Makala as he tries to get the prison population down. He has also banned the transfer of new inmates to the prison.
With a population of at least 14 million people, Kinshasa has two jails. In addition to Makala, the military prison of Ndole has an official capacity of 500.
Emmanuel Adu Cole, head of the Bill Clinton Foundation for Peace, a local NGO that focuses on prison conditions, welcomed the release, but added that more needed to be done to address the problems inside.
The jail, which was built in the 1950s, has a capacity for 1,500 inmates, but before this month's attempted jailbreak it was holding at least 12,000 people, according to various estimates.
One former inmate told the BBC that conditions inside were "true hell".
Makala is not a prison, but a detention centre resembling a concentration camp, where people are sent to die, Stanis Bujakera said.
Videos that he secretly filmed inside showed how tightly packed everyone was, as well as the inadequacy of the daily rations.
The authorities have long acknowledged the overcrowding problem.
Some officials have blamed magistrates for sending suspects to prison. In 2020, it was estimated that only 6% of the prisoners were actually serving sentences - the rest were stuck in DR Congo's legal system where cases can drag on for years.
Source: BBC
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The USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) successfully hosted the National Technical Universities Cooking Competition on Friday, September 20, 2024.
The event, held in Accra, celebrated the culinary talent of students from eight technical universities across the country, with top participants receiving trophies and valuable kitchen equipment.
The competition aimed to educate aspiring chefs about the nutritional benefits and versatility of U.S. poultry products, while also promoting creativity in the kitchen. Each team of two students, representing their respective universities, showcased their cooking skills by preparing dishes using U.S. chicken leg quarters.
The winners were not only recognized for their culinary expertise but also rewarded with practical prizes to support their future careers.
The winning schools took home kitchen equipment valued at GHS 15,000, while individual students were awarded trophies, certificates, and shopping vouchers worth GHS 2,200 each.
Zelda Sharp, USAPEECs regional director for Sub-Saharan Africa, explained the motivation behind the event, stating "this competition is designed to equip students, who will one day shape the culinary landscape, with the knowledge of how to create affordable, nutritious meals using U.S. poultry products".
The judging panel featured top culinary professionals, including Chef Pieter Malan, Group Executive Chef of Fiesta Royale Hotel, food stylist and entrepreneur Joyce Gyebi, and Chef Bertrand Cheo from Singapore.
They evaluated the dishes on presentation, taste, and creativity. Additionally, comedians OB Amponsah and Jacinta Ocansey added a lighthearted twist to the judging panel as guest judges.
Chef Pieter Malan commended the participants, noting "this competition is a stepping stone for these students. They have shown impressive skills that will serve them well in their future careers".
Madam Gyebi also expressed her delight, stating, "its encouraging to see culinary education being taken seriously in our technical universities."
The competition concluded with an Awards Brunch at Nsuomnam Seafood and Fish Restaurant on September 21, 2024. Here, participants, their lecturers, and stakeholders gathered to celebrate the students' achievements. The event was a resounding success, highlighting not only the importance of culinary talent but also the significance of educating future chefs on the use of high-quality, affordable poultry products.
Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman/peacefmonline.com
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The investigation into the death of a six-year-old girl in Gujarats Dahod district, India, has led to a chilling revelation.
The Class I student was choked to d3ath, allegedly by her schools principal after she resisted his attempts to s*xually assault her. He then dumped her body in the schools compound and her bag and shoes near the classroom.
Police have arrested the accused, 55-year-old Govind Natt.
Senior police officer Rajdeep Singh Jhala said the six-year-old girls body was found on the premises of her school on Thursday evening, September 19, sparking panic in the area. The post-mortem revealed that she had suff0cated to de@th.
Police registered a case and formed 10 teams to probe the matter.
The girls mother told the police that she went to school with the principal, Govind Natt, every day.
When the cops spoke to him, the principal said he had dropped off the girl at the school and left for some work. The cops were not convinced.
When they examined Govind Natts phone location details on the day of the incident, it was found that he reached school late that day. When he was grilled, the principal confessed to the heinous crime.
He picked up the girl from her home at around 10.20 am. Her mother helped her get into the principals car and saw her off. But she never reached the school. The schools students and teachers confirmed this. On the way to school, the principal tried to s*xually assault her, and she started shouting, the senior officer said, adding that the principal choked the girl to stop her from shouting.
On reaching the school, the principal left the girls body in his car and locked the vehicle.
Around 5 pm, he dumps the body behind the school building and plants her school bag and shoes outside her classroom. He denied this initially, but we suspected him after the technical analysis, Mr Jhala said.
Govind Natt, police have said, faces stringent charges under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
State Education Minister Kuber Dindor said it was a shameful incident for the society.
I am pained by this. We were following this up for three days. We had told police to get to the bottom of this. The principal has been arrested. I condemn this incident and we will take steps to ensure such crimes are not repeated.
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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Thousands of people took to the streets to celebrate the outdooring ceremony of Ayirebihene Nana Asare Duodu Gyimah III on Wednesday morning 24th September 2024.
Ayirebi a farming and business community in the Ofoase-Ayirebi District in the Eastern Region came alive as Nana Asare Duodu Gyimah III adorned in his beautiful Nyame na oyi Ohene Kente cloth rode in palanquin through some principal streets amidst songs of praise.
For Ayirebi folks, there was a reason to be happy as a protracted chieftaincy dispute had finally come to an end.
Nana Asare Duodu Gyimah III is blessed considering the jubilation of thousands of elderly men and women and the support of the teeming youth from the forested town and its adjoining villages.
One townfolk Joseph Donkor a retired District Cocoa Purchasing officer remarked: This is but the beginning of better days ahead of Ayirebi.
Addressing the Press and townfolks several of whom had travelled by foot to participate in the procession, Nana Asare Duodu Gyimah III hinted: A new day has dawned for Ayirebi. The town is just on the brink of experiencing unprecedented strides.
Ayirebihene outlined a five (5) point strategy to help push Ayirebi forward.
1. Scholarship fund.
I will establish a scholarship fund to increase access to secondary and tertiary schools.
2 Mass Education on Sanitation
I will pursue a sensitization program on sanitation to help improve the overall environmental Health and sanitation of Ayirebi and its inhabitants.
3. Roads
I will cooperate with Government to increase the number of motorable roads in and around Ayirebi.
4. Modern Market Infrastructure
I will raise funds and build a modern market to augment trade in Akyem Ayirebi.
5. Reconciliation
Considering the division which existed before my installation, I will bridge gaps and foster unity amongst townfolks so we could all join hands and build Akyem Ayirebi for the future of our children.
PRIVATE LIFE
Born Kwadwo Gyimah in 1968 to Mr Samuel Oduro and Obaapanin Yaa Tenewaa , Nana Asare Duodu Gyimah III was the sixth child of 8 children in the family.
Nana Asare Duodu Gyimah III started his education at the Ayirebi Methodist Primary School, continued through to the Middle School and completed in 1988.
He then proceeded to study Mechanical
Engineering at the famous Accra Technical Training Center (ATTC) from 1992-1995.
Nana Asare Duodu Gyimah III thereafter ventured into professional driving, farming and later became a Timber Merchant.
Following the death of the Ayirebi chief Obrempong Gyapire Agyekum II, a long history of dispute ensued until Nana Asare Duodu Gyimah III was installed on 21st March 2022 and subsequently gazetted on 14th March 2024.
Many inhabitants of Akyem Ayirebi hold an unflinching belief that the forested town is set to march into glory with Nana Asare Duodu Gyimah III an Astute business man on the throne.
Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/[email protected]
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The Majority Leader and MP for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin has scolded the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for what he says is their pretense to like Zongo people but in reality, they don't.
Speaking at a stakeholders engagement in Winneba during a campaign visit by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, on Monday, Afenyo-Markin said after the NDC played tribal cards for years against the NPP saying it is an Akan party, it is now clear that it is the NDC that rather doesn't promote Muslims to ascend in their party.
He cited the case of the recent withdrawal of Haruna Iddrisu and Muntala Mubarak as Minority Leader and Minority Chief Whip respectively.
"They only go to Zongos to use you and dump you. That is why they don't allow Muslims to rise in the NDC as high as Dr. Bawumia has in the NPP, he said and urged that this is the time for all of us to come together to honour Dr. Bawumia.
Afenyo-Markin added the NDC's only interest in the youth in Zongo communities is to lure them to engage in violence.
"The NDC's only mission for the Zongos is to go to Ashaiman, Madina, Nima and New Town to recruit young people to lead confusion for them.
He charged the youth to reject the NDC stating "say no to them and embrace your brother. The election will be peaceful, so let us all come together.
He continued; In the history of Ghana since 1957, this is the first time a Muslim is leading a major party in an election and this is happening in the NPP. So, in 2025, as we swear with the Bible, so shall we swear with the Quran too.
"We, Christians, are resolved to honour Dr. Bawumia because he deserves it. So, my Muslim brothers, the NDC has nothing to offer. They only come to Zongos to use you and dump you. That is why they don't allow Muslims to rise in the NDC as high as Dr. Bawumia has. This is the time for all of us to come together to honour Dr. Bawumia.
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.
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Atik Mohammed has expressed disappointment in the organizers of the Democracy Hub demonstration.
Some Ghanaians took to the streets of 37 Military Hospital days ago in protest against the illegal mining (galamsey) in the country.
The Democracy Hub protesters engaged in acts that compelled the Police to arrest some of them including one of their leaders, Oliver Barker-Vormawor.
Commenting on the demonstration dubbed "Stop Galamsey", Atik noted that their conduct has marred the essence of the activity.
He explained that the protesters have a worthy cause but they resorting to vandalism and acting in blatant disregard of the laws has taken away their shine.
"I am saddened by the turn of events. I would have expected that their demonstration would set the tone for the mega demonstration or a series of demonstration yet to come so that we can all drive home that singular important message that we need to suspend the activities of artisanal and small-scale miners with a view to finding a more sustainable solution to the problem", he remarked during 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.
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Nana Akomea has reprimanded the organizers and participants in the Democracy Hub protest that began on Friday, September 20.
The protest which was aimed to challenge the government to clamp down on illegal mining (galamsey) operations ended in chaos with the Police using minimum force to restore sanity.
The Police were compelled to apprehend the protesters after they defied their orders and engaged in vandalism around the 37 Military Hospital.
They blocked the road refusing to allow commuters to ply the road and their leader, Oliver Barker-Vormawor forcibly removed keys from a Police vehicle and threw it away which incurred the wrath of the officers on the scene.
Oliver Barker-Vormawor and others have been taken into Police custody awaiting prosecution.
Reacting to the behavior of the protesters, Nana Akomea, Chief Executive Officer of the InterCity State Transport Corporation hailed the Ghana Police Service for maintaining their composure despite the provocation by the protesters.
He also commended them for arresting the rogue protesters.
Joining Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" panel discussion, Nana Akomea said; "I am happy that the Police were restrained and calm for us to see the misbehavior of the people during demonstration."
He censured the demonstrators saying "all Ghanaians have seen that the misconduct of these people calls for arrest for them to face the law" and questioned the logic for their misconduct.
"Is that how to do a demonstration? To block a hospital?"
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/peacefmonline.com
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Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has urged the people of Asanteman to actively support his boss and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Presidential Candidate, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, to win the December 7 polls with a landslide.
He recollected how all the 47 constituencies in the Ashanti Region solidly stood behind Messrs John Agyekum Kufuor and Akufo-Addo to lead the NPP to electoral victories in the past and said it was time for Asanteman to do the same for Dr. Bawumia.
The Ashanti Region is the heartbeat of the NPP and it was through your love, support, and massive votes that helped, significantly, for our great party to produce efficient presidents in the persons of John Kufuor and Nana Akufo-Addo for Ghana.
Its now the turn of our visionary, workaholic, energetic, patriotic, and development-oriented leader, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, to also benefit from your unalloyed support, love, and massive votes to lead the NPP to break the eight and make history.
I have a strong belief that just as you did for John Kufuor in 2000 and 2004 and Nana Akufo-Addo in 2016 and 2020, you will do the same for Dr. Bawumia to help the NPP to retain power and sustain its good works for your dear country on December 7.
Addressing the chiefs and people of Kokofu in the Bekwai Constituency on Tuesday, Dr. Prempeh, who is widely known as Napo in political circles, said Dr. Bawumia is the most competent and suitable person to succeed President Akufo-Addo.
The electorates, he said, should not consider where a candidate hails from or his/her religion before voting, admonishing that the people should vote for the suitable candidate, which is Dr. Bawumia, based on his track record and competence.
This election is not about the ethnicity, tribe or religion, its about the right person who can continue with the good works of President Akufo-Addo and take us to the Promised Land, and that person is Dr. Bawumia, Napo said, attracting applause.
He said aside from being exceptionally competent, Dr. Bawumia has also gone through the mill by serving as running mate and vice president for eight unblemished years, respectively, saying Dr. Bawumia has gone through the mill, and he is ready for the job.
According to Napo, Dr. Bawumia has faithfully and diligently served the country as vice president for eight consecutive years, but he has not been accused or charged with a single corruption case, which is a sign of his unique leadership skills.
With Dr. Bawumia at the helm of affairs, we can rest assured that our national coffers will be well protected and secured because he is not corrupt, Napo said, Ill faithfully serve and support Dr. Bawumia just as he did for Nana Akufo-Addo.
Napo, who has been on the campaign trail since he was appointed as Dr. Bawumias running mate is currently visiting constituencies in the Ashanti Region and preaching about the good works and vision of Dr. Bawumia to the electorates.
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.
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Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Vice Presidential Candidate of the governing NPP, has touted the record of the government in the cocoa sector.
He described their achievement as unprecedented in the nations history.
He noted that this unprecedented record is in all spheres including cocoa production, provision of incentives to cocoa farmers and attending to the wellbeing of the cocoa farmer.
Dr. Opoku Prempeh, who was addressing a community engagement at Numereso in the Odotobiri Constituency as part of his constituency-focused campaign tour on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, added Ghana recorded its highest ever cocoa production of over 1 million metric tons under the this current government in the 2020/2021 crop season.
This milestone, he stressed, was achieved as a result of governments commitment to prioritizing investments.
On the wellbeing of cocoa farmers, the Running Mate to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia observed that the Ghanaian cocoa farmer is today better off than he has ever been in the history of Ghana, owing it to interventions put in place by the NPP government.
He emphasized; In 2016 when NPP took over, the price of a sack of cocoa stood at GHS 475. Today, following the latest increase, the price of a sack of cocoa has drastically risen to GHS 3,000 [representing over 315% increase].
"This is also the second increase in the year [2024] following an earlier increase of the price by 58.26% in the month of April this year. We will continue to support initiatives like the fertilizer application programme, cocoa mass spraying, pollination to further increase cocoa production.
The benefits of these increases in the producer price of cocoa, according to the Dr. Opoku Prempeh, include giving the cocoa farmer a higher value for his cocoa beans, protecting the farmer against volatility of cocoa prices on the international market by giving him or her a guaranteed price, serving as motivation to them to increase their investments in the sector resulting in the creation of more jobs and stimulating economic growth.
NAPO, as he is affectionately called, used the occasion to appeal to the Chiefs and people of Odotobiri constituency to repose their trust in the NPP and vote massively for the partys presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and parliamentary candidate for the area, Lawyer Anthony Mmieh, to improve their livelihoods.
He concluded his campaign tour for the day by visiting Bekwai and Fomena constituencies where he also rallied support for the partys parliamentary candidates, Lawyer Ralph Poku-Adusei and Lawyer Andrew Asiamah respectively.
Source: Ameyaw AduGyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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A Magistrate Court in Kumasi has ordered the Electoral Commission (EC) to return 584 voters to their original constituencies after discovering they had fraudulently transferred their votes to the Manhyia South Constituency.
This decision aims to maintain the integrity of the electoral process and prevent voter manipulation.
The court, presided over by Deborah Gyaawa Donko, reached the decision after repeated no-shows on three separate occasions by the affected voters, who failed to defend their eligibility to transfer to Manhyia South Constituency.
Owusu Bempah, Manhyia South Constituency New Patriotic Party (NPP) Research and Election Affairs Officer, uncovered a shocking surge in voter transfers to the constituency during the voter transfer exercise.
Suspecting foul play, the NPP, led by parliamentary candidate, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, took the matter to court.
The party produced landlords as witnesses, revealing that 584 individuals had illegally used their addresses as residences.
Despite multiple court summonses, only three individuals appeared to defend themselves, and were subsequently cleared to vote in Manhyia South.
However, the court ordered the EC to return the remaining 584 individuals to their original voting constituencies, deeming their transfers fraudulent.
The Manhyia South NPP Secretary, Haruna Alhassan, attributed the partys success in exposing the fraud to their vigilant and diligent executives.
We identified the anomaly during voter transfer exercise but waited for the voter exhibition period to challenge it, leading to the court case, he explained.
Victory for Democracy
The Constituency Research and Election Affairs Officer, Owusu Bempah, hailed the courts verdict as a triumph for democracy, stating that justice had been served.
According to him, the development underscores the importance of vigilant electoral oversight in maintaining the integrity of Ghanas democratic process.
Source: Daily Guide
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China on Tuesday pledged to intensify efforts to ensure workplace safety and enhance fire prevention and suppression in forests and grasslands during the autumn and winter seasons.
A video conference focusing on the efforts was held in Beijing on Tuesday. The conference called for a strong problem-oriented approach and robust measures to effectively manage safety production and forest fire prevention, with a firm commitment to preventing major accidents and fires.
It emphasized the need to advance a three-year campaign aimed at addressing fundamental issues in workplace safety, with a focus on further strengthening the supervision of hazardous materials, construction operations and thermal insulation materials.
Authorities were urged to enhance the capacity for fire safety oversight at the grassroots level and to rigorously investigate and rectify major safety hazards.
The meeting also stressed the importance of proactive prevention, calling for the implementation of responsibilities and measures for forest fire prevention at the grassroots level to minimize fire risks as much as possible, and ensuring the safety of both the public and firefighting personnel.
Zhang Guoqing, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and vice premier of the State Council, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Wang Xiaohong, a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and state councilor, presided over the conference.
Donald Trump revealed Iran has threatened to assassinate him and "will try again".
The former US President, who is contesting again, made this known on X.
"Big threats on my life by Iran, the Republican presidential nominee wrote on X. The entire US Military is watching and waiting. Moves were already made by Iran that didnt work out, but they will try again.
Not a good situation for anyone, he continued. I am surrounded by more men, guns, and weapons than I have ever seen before. Thank you.
Trump shared the alleged ass@ssination threat after being briefed by US intelligence officials.
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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has stressed that Africans do not need handouts from international communities, rather, all Africans on the globe deserve equal opportunities for growth and sustained development.
President Akufo-Addo revealed that Africans deserve equal access to education, jobs, and healthcare, as opposed to the marginalization often meted out to Africans by members of the International communities.
Speaking at the Annual United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, September 25, President Akufo- Addo expressed deep concerns about the global systems bias against Africans, viewing them as passive aid recipients rather than equal partners who also deserve the same treatment given to other European partners.
In his speech, Nana Akufo-Addo said, Africa in particular, knows the cost of being left out. Yes, we are a continent rich in potential and resilient in the face of adversity. We have also been disadvantaged by the global system that has generally treated us as an afterthought. We have been viewed merely as passive recipients of aid rather than as equal partners in global progress.
President Akufo-Addo further highlighted the many promises that have not been fulfilled to bring about the long-chain assistance that Africans passionately need.
Such aid offered often comes with strings attached, limiting our ability to shape our future. Africa is not a continent of despair; shes focused on full of great possibilities. Shes required, however, to chart a new course of development, President Akufo-Addo further stated.
The people of Africa are not asking for handouts, they are demanding opportunities in the new global architecture so that they can have access to education, health care, and jobs to be able to build better lives for themselves, families, and their descendants.
In buttressing his position, Nana Akufo-Addo underscored the need for the poor, vulnerable, and displaced not to be left out in decision-making, adding that, such engagements should not be mere rhetorics but be backed with tangible actions.
He reiterated, we cannot in good conscience leave them behind, they should be at the centre of our decision and decision making.
Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
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Joyce Bawah Mogtari, a key figure in the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and former Deputy Transport Minister, has warned the government that its handling of the Democracy Hub protesters will not be forgotten by Ghanaians come December 7 general elections.
In a sharp criticism of the ruling administration, Mrs. Mogtari condemned the arrest of protesters who were exercising their democratic right to voice their dissatisfaction with the current state of governance.
She noted that such actions will have lasting political consequences when the nation heads to the polls.
According to Mrs. Mogtari, the government's crackdown on peaceful demonstrators reflects a broader attempt to stifle dissent and intimidate citizens.
She emphasized that rather than resorting to arrests, the government should listen to the concerns of the protesters, many of whom are highlighting issues such as economic mismanagement, unemployment and corruption.
The former President John Mahamas Special Aide warned that the frustration of ordinary Ghanaians would play a pivotal role in shaping the outcome of the election.
She further stated that the arrests of Democracy Hub protesters will serve as a reminder of the ruling partys authoritarian tendencies.
She cautioned that such actions are a direct attack on the countrys democratic values and that the governments approach to suppressing protests will fuel voter anger.
She predicted that on December 7, Ghanaians would hold the government accountable for its record of governance including its treatment of dissenters.
Rather than stop us from exercising our democratic rights, these anti-freedom actions by Akufo-Addo and Bawumia should convince you to look harder at their failures and break through the carefully curated public relations visage they have created.
They have failed miserably in almost every arena, and rather than listen to the voice of the people, they hide behind the police and the courts.
They will be remembered on December 7th for this alone. We will vote against the NPP, Akufo-Addo and Bawumia. We will vote for John Mahama.
Our nation cannot afford a government that is scared of its people, she said.
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.
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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 schematic diagram of mantle He concentration and 3He/4He (R a ) illustrating how to generate the Afar plume 3He/4He signature. Credit: Communications Earth & Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-024-01675-2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01675-2
Sophisticated analysis of tiny bubbles of ancient gas trapped in volcanic rocks, combined with new geophysical modeling, has cast new light on long-held assumptions about the deep Earth.
An international team of scientists led by researchers from SUERC and the University of Glasgow's School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, have uncovered surprising results in a new study of volcanic lavas that erupted in the Red Sea from the Afar mantle plume.
Mantle plumes are columns of unusually hot rock which rise to the Earth's surface from the boundary between the core and mantle, 2,900 km below ground. They fuel volcanic activity wherever they force their way to the surface, often with enough energy to split the continents apart.
The current scientific consensus is that plumes transport "primordial" material created when the Earth formed from the deep mantle to the surface. If that is the case, volcanic rocks formed when that magma erupted should contain significant traces of primordial material.
However, the researchers found that volcanic rocks dredged from the floor of the Red Sea instead contained very low concentrations of helium, a primordial gas, than is required by the prevailing models of the Earth.
In a new paper published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, the team conclude that the Afar plume is in fact dominated by material that has previously been at the Earth's surface.
Their findings are based on mass spectrometry analysis of samples of basaltic glass collected from Red Sea and the Gulf of Tadjoura. The analysis suggests that mantle plumes are complex mixtures of primitive deep mantle and rocks from the ocean floor that have been recycled back into Earth's interior by a process known as "subduction."
Basaltic glass forms when lava is erupted into seawater and cools rapidly, trapping the initially dissolved gases as bubbles. The team at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Center (SUERC) measured the two helium isotopes (helium-3 and helium-4) in gases trapped in the Red Sea glasses by high sensitivity mass spectroscopy.
The helium isotopes record the content of primordial gas in the basalts. The study showed that the Afar plume appears to have 10 times less primordial helium than it should if it originated in the deep mantle.
Ugur Balci, a postgraduate research student at SUERC and the paper's lead author, said, "The Afar mantle plume is situated beneath thin crust at the junction of three tectonic plates, making it a remarkable natural laboratory to study deep Earth.
"The surprising result of our work is that the plume is largely made up of rock that was at the Earth's surface no more than 100 million years ago, which challenges the prevailing understanding of how mantle plumes are formed."
The team also analyzed seismic tomography models to identify the most likely subducted ocean floor inside the Earth's interior which could be the source of the Afar plume's geochemical fingerprint. Seismic tomography is a technique similar to MRI that uses earthquakes to enable scientists to "look inside" the interior of the Earth.
Using this information the team could get an idea of the location, orientation and surface source of the subducted sea floor and estimate the speed at which it sank to meet the Afar plume.
Dr. Antoniette Greta Grima, from the University of Glasgow's School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, is a co-author of the paper. She said, "The isotopic fingerprints from the rocks give us one part of the picture of the processes which formed the Afar mantle plume, and seismic tomography models provide us with another important lens through which we can understand the interaction of the mantle and the subducted ancient sea floor, which we cannot access directly.
"The geochemical data suggests the upward moving plume is interacting with younger subducted sea floor material at 660 km below the surface instead of the very ancient subducted material at the boundary between the core and the mantle as previously assumed.
"Using a combination of seismic tomography models, slab sinking calculations and plate reconstruction models, we have identified the subducted sea floor and linked it to a present-day active subduction zone underneath the Zagros mountains."
Professor Fin Stuart from the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Center (SUERC) led the project. He said, "Mantle plumes were first recognized in the early 1960s. They are fundamental to the planet; they drive plate tectonics, cool the Earth, bring elements that are essential to life to the surface and are our best window into the deep Earth.
"This study questions the prevailing paradigm that all plumes transport deep Earth to the surface. The key to unlocking this new insight was linking SUERC's expertise in isotope geochemistry with geodynamic modeling capability in the School of Geographical & Earth Sciences."
Researchers from the European Institute for Marine Studies (IUEM) in France and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia also contributed to the paper.
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
Reports of H5N1 bird flu outbreaks at California dairy herds are continuing to rise as the nation's largest milk producer scrambles to contain the spread.
On Monday, officials reported that the number of infected dairy herds in the Central Valley had doubled over the weekend, rising from 17 to 34.
A spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture said they expect more cases to be announced in the coming days and weeks, as testing continues.
With roughly 1,100 dairy herds in Californiaand 90% located in the San Joaquin Valleyconcern is palpable, say industry insiders. Outbreaks interrupt milk production at affected dairies. Not only are the infected herds quarantined, but special testing must be conducted at nearby dairy farms as well.
"Farmers are genuinely worried about the virus and do not feel it's under control," said Anja Raudabaugh, CEO of Western United Dairies, the trade association of California dairy farmers. She added the industry is hoping a vaccine for cows will be developed "that would protect our animals" and be compliant under trade agreements.
The threat to humans is considered low. However, infectious disease experts worry that the longer the virus remains present in dairy farms, the greater the likelihood it could mix with a human virus and pose a greater risk to people.
Both state and federal health officials say milk is safe to drink, as long as it has been pasteurized.
Steve Lyle, an agriculture department spokesman, said the agency's call to test dairies within six miles of infected herds, as well as dairies that share personnel or equipment with infected herds, has allowed officials to detect infected dairies "at about the time or just before they are showing clinical signs - during their incubation period."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is working on a bovine vaccination for bird flu, but noted in a statement that this does not mean efforts to control the virus have failed.
"The pursuit of bovine vaccine development does not mean that biosecurity measures have failed," the agency said in a prepared statement. "Nor does it mean that USDA believes the virus is here to stay. Vaccine development is one part of an overall strategy that includes enhanced and strengthened biosecurity efforts to contain the virus and help mitigate spread."
The statement went on to say that a vaccine could prove helpful in eliminating the virus from the nation's dairy cattle, but it's just one tool.
"We continue to deploy all available efforts, including biosecurity and mandating the testing of lactating dairy cattle moving across state lines," the statement said.
It is still unclear how the virus got into the state, but genetic sequencing suggests the virus is similar to that found in infected cattle in other statesand that it did not come from wild birds.
It is also unclear what impact the disease will have on milk production in the state, although Raudabaugh said it will not affect milk prices.
"Dairy is a 'loss leader' at the grocery store," she said, and is often the major incentive for other items in the store.
2024 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Riograndia and Brasilodon. Credit: Jorge Blanco
Newly discovered fossils, belonging to the mammal-precursor species Brasilodon quadrangularis and Riograndia guaibensis, offer critical insights into the development of the mammalian jaw and middle ear, revealing evolutionary experiments that occurred millions of years earlier than previously thought.
Mammals stand out among vertebrates for their distinct jaw structure and the presence of three middle ear bones. This transition from earlier vertebrates, which had a single middle ear bone, has long fascinated scientists. The new study explores how mammal ancestors, known as cynodonts, evolved these features over time.
Using CT scanning, researchers were able to digitally reconstruct the jaw joint of these cynodonts for the first time. The researchers uncovered a 'mammalian-style' contact between the skull and the lower jaw in Riograndia guaibensis, a cynodont species that lived 17 million years before the previously oldest known example of this structure, but did not find one in Brasilodon quadrangularis, a species more closely related to mammals.
The work, published in Nature, indicates that the defining mammalian jaw feature evolved multiple times in different groups of cynodonts, earlier than expected.
These findings suggest that mammalian ancestors experimented with different jaw functions, leading to the evolution of 'mammalian' traits independently in various lineages. The early evolution of mammals, it turns out, was far more complex and varied than previously understood.
Riograndia. Credit: James Rawson
Lead author James Rawson, based in Bristol's School of Earth Sciences, explained, "The acquisition of the mammalian jaw contact was a key moment in mammal evolution.
"What these new Brazilian fossils have shown is that different cynodont groups were experimenting with various jaw joint types, and that some features once considered uniquely mammalian evolved numerous times in other lineages as well."
This discovery has broad implications for the understanding of the early stages of mammal evolution, illustrating that features such as the mammalian jaw joint and middle ear bones evolved in a patchwork, or mosaic, fashion across different cynodont groups.
Dr. Agustin Martinelli, from the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Natural of Buenos Aires, said, "Over the last years, these tiny fossil species from Brazil have brought marvelous information that enrich our knowledge about the origin and evolution of mammalian features. We are just in the beginning and our multi-national collaborations will bring more news soon."
Brasilodon. Credit: James Rawson
The research team is eager to further investigate the South American fossil record, which has proven to be a rich source of new information on mammalian evolution.
Professor Marina Soares of the Museu Nacional, Brazil, said, "Nowhere else in the world has such a diverse array of cynodont forms, closely related to the earliest mammals."
By integrating these findings with existing data, the scientists hope to deepen their understanding of how early jaw joints functioned and contributed to the development of the mammalian form.
James added, "The study opens new doors for paleontological research, as these fossils provide invaluable evidence of the complex and varied evolutionary experiments that ultimately gave rise to modern mammals."
More information: James Rawson et al, Brazilian fossils reveal homoplasy in the oldest mammalian jaw joint, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07971-3. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07971-3 Journal information: Nature
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A viral close-up. HTLV-1 virus-like particles with a close-up view of the building blocks forming the viral lattice. Credit: Nature Structural & Molecular Biology / Obr et al.
In collaboration with the University of Minnesota and Cornell University, Martin Obr and Florian Schur from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) provide new details into the architecture of HTLV-1 (Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Type 1) using Cryo-Electron Tomography (Cryo-ET)a method to analyze the structures of biomolecules in high resolution.
Their results were published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
The cousin of HIV
Obr and Schur first crossed paths while working on HIV-1 (Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1), aiming to better understand its structure. Obr then joined Schur's research group at ISTA as a postdoc. They shifted their focus to HTLV-1a lesser-known virus from the same retrovirus family as HIV-1due to a limited understanding of its architecture.
"HTLV-1 is somewhat the overlooked cousin of HIV," says Schur. "It has a lower prevalence than HIV-1, yet there are many cases around the world."
According to the World Health Organization, between 5 and 10 million people are currently living with HTLV-1. While most of the infections remain asymptomatic, roughly 5% lead to aggressive diseases like adult T-cell leukemia/lymphomaa form of cancer with a prognosis of less than a year.
"As a human pathogen causing severe diseases, HTLV-1 should be at the forefront of our research to address the questions about its functions and structure," adds Obr.
A schematic of the assembly of viral particles. Top: HTLV-1. The top layer (blue) organizes the immature lattice. Bottom: Other retroviruses (e.g. HIV-1). The bottom layer (orange) organizes the immature lattice. Credit: Nature Structural & Molecular Biology / Obr et al.
The viral lattice
The scientists were particularly interested in the virus particle's structureinformation that remained elusive until now. "When a virus gets produced, it generates a particle. This particle, however, is not yet infectious. The immature virus particle must undergo a maturation process to become infectious," explains Schur.
The HTLV-1 particle is shaped by a lattice of proteins (building blocks) arranged into a spherical shell. This shell serves a critical function: it protects the viral genetic material until the host cell is infected. But what does this lattice look like in detail, what are its key components, and does it vary from other viruses?
"We were expecting a difference from other viruses, but the extent of it completely blew us away," says Obr.
A unique virus
The scientists' analysis revealed that the lattice of immature HTLV-1 is remarkably distinct from other retroviruses. Its building blocks are put together in a unique fashion, and as a result, its overall architecture looks different. Additionally, the 'glue' that holds the construct together also differs.
In most retroviruses, the lattice consists of a top and a bottom layer; typically, the bottom layer acts as the glue, maintaining structural integrity, while the top layer defines the shape.
Plunge freezing. Samples are dipped into cryogen or liquid ethane. Rapid cooling causes the water in the sample to vitrify, meaning it turns into a glass-like form instead of forming ice crystals. This state preserves the fine structural details of the sample. Credit: Nadine Poncioni/ISTA
"In HTLV, it's the other way around. The bottom layer is basically just hanging by a thread," says Schur.
Naturally, the question of why HTLV-1 has such a different lattice architecture arises. A possible explanation might be that HTLV-1 has a unique mode of transmission. HTLV-1 prefers to have one infected cell next to an uninfected one to spread through direct contact. HIV-1, on the other hand, uses cell-free transmission. It produces particles that can travel anywhere in the bloodstream.
"From an evolutionary standpoint, it was probably advantageous for HTLV-1 to change its lattice structure for this kind of transmission. Nevertheless, at this point, it is only speculation. It needs to be experimentally verified," Obr continues.
New treatment strategies?
Understanding these structural details is a crucial step forward, as the paper could pave the way for novel treatment approaches to combat HTLV-1 infections.
There are different ways to interfere with retrovirus infectivity. For example, one could block the mature virus at the stage of infection. Alternatively, one could target the immature virus and prevent it from maturing and becoming infectious. Since the scientists' study details the architecture of the immature virus, one can now think of strategies for tackling the virus during this stage of its maturation.
"There are types of viral inhibitors that disrupt the assemblies by targeting the building blocks to prevent them from coming together. Others work by destabilizing the lattice," says Schur. "There are many possibilities."
A powerful tool. ISTA's Scientific Service Units (SSUs) provide high-tech equipment including cryo-electron microscopes. Credit: Nadine Poncioni/ISTA
The perfect 'ice cold' sample
Despite their experience analyzing viruses of the same family, such as HIV-1, the team's current research project on HTLV-1 brought its unique challenges. Obr's "perfect sample" was the turning point.
Due to safety reasons, the sample does not contain the actual virus. Instead, the scientists produced viral-like particles in mammalian cell cultures or generated the viral building blocks in bacterial cultures.
"When these building blocks are placed in the correct conditions, they self-assemble into structures that resemble the actual immature virus," explains Schur. These non-infectious particles are then rapidly frozen, stored at -196 C in liquid nitrogen, and eventually imaged using a Cryo-Electron Microscope (Cryo-EM)a type of microscope that captures high-resolution images down to a nanometer.
But can we be sure the scientists are looking at the real thing?
A valid concern, as Obr notes, "Our virus-like particles only lack a few enzymes that would help them to mature. There is no reason to think the real immature particle does look different." This careful approach, however, ensures that researchers can study viruses safely while still gaining invaluable insights.
More information: Martin Obr et al, Distinct stabilization of the human T cell leukemia virus type 1 immature Gag lattice, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41594-024-01390-8 Journal information: Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
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Floodwater surrounds a neighborhood in Bohumin, Czech Republic, Sept. 17, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File
Human-caused climate change doubled the likelihood and intensified the heavy rains that led to devastating flooding in Central Europe earlier this month, a new flash study found.
Torrential rain in mid-September from Storm Boris pummeled a large part of central Europe, including Romania, Poland, Czechia, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Germany, and caused widespread damage. The floods killed 24 people, damaged bridges, submerged cars, left towns without power and in need of significant infrastructure repairs.
The severe four-day rainfall was "by far" the heaviest ever recorded in Central Europe and twice as likely because of warming from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, World Weather Attribution, a collection of scientists that run rapid climate attribution studies, said Wednesday from Europe. Climate change also made the rains between 7% and 10% more intense, the study found.
"Yet again, these floods highlight the devastating results of fossil fuel-driven warming," said Joyce Kimutai, the study's lead author and a climate researcher at Imperial College, London.
To test the influence of human-caused climate change, the team of scientists analyzed weather data and used climate models to compare how such events have changed since cooler preindustrial times to today. Such models simulate a world without the current 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming since preindustrial times, and see how likely a rainfall event that severe would be in such a world.
A resident is evacuated from her flooded house in Jesenik, Czech Republic, Sept. 15, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File
The study analyzed four-day rainfall events, focusing on the countries that felt severe impacts.
Though the rapid study hasn't been peer-reviewed, it follows scientifically accepted techniques.
"In any climate, you would expect to occasionally see records broken," said Friederike Otto, an Imperial College, London, climate scientist who coordinates the attribution study team. But, "to see records being broken by such large margins, that is really the fingerprint of climate change. And that is only something that we see in a warming world."
Some of the most severe impacts were felt in the Polish-Czech border region and Austria, mainly in urban areas along major rivers. The study noted that the death toll from this month's flooding was considerably lower than during catastrophic floods in the region in 1997 and 2002. Still, infrastructure and emergency management systems were overwhelmed in many cases and will require billions of euros to fix.
A resident waits to be evacuated from his flooded house in Jesenik, Czech Republic, Sept. 15, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File
Last week, European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen pledged billions of euros in aid for countries that suffered damage to infrastructure and housing from the floods.
The World Weather Attribution study also warned that in a world with even more warmingspecifically 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming since preindustrial times, the likelihood of ferocious four-day storms would grow by 50% compared to current levels. Such storms would grow in intensity, too, the authors found.
The heavy rainfall across Central Europe was caused by what's known as a "Vb depression" that forms when cold polar air flows from the north over the Alps and meets warm air from Southern Europe. The study's authors found no observable change in the number of similar Vb depressions since the 1950s.
The World Weather Attribution group launched in 2015 largely due to frustration that it took so long to determine whether climate change was behind an extreme weather event. Studies like theirs, within attribution science, use real-world weather observations and computer modeling to determine the likelihood of a particular happening before and after climate change, and whether global warming affected its intensity.
A resident paddles through a flooded street in Bohumin, Czech Republic, Sept. 17, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File
Women save a cat from floods in Szentendre, near Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 19, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Denes Erdos
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This story has corrected the range of increased intensity of rains due to climate change to 7% to 10%, rather than 7% to 20%, based on a data correction issued by World Weather Attribution.
2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Grey wolves were virtually exterminated in Europe a century ago but, thanks to conservation efforts, numbers have rebounded.
EU member states on Wednesday voted in favor of lowering the protection status of wolves, a move decried by conservationists that paves the way for a relaxation of tight hunting restrictions.
Gray wolves were virtually exterminated in Europe a century ago, but their numbers have rebounded thanks to conservation efforts, triggering howls of protest from farmers angered at livestock losses.
Representatives of the 27 EU states backed a proposal to push for changes to an international wildlife convention that would see the species downgraded from "strictly protected" to "protected".
Only two countries voted against, according to a diplomatic source and the the European Commission, which put forward the plan, welcomed its approval.
Steffi Lemke, Germany's environment minister, said a rising wolf population made the decision "justifiable from a nature conservation perspective and necessary from the point of view of livestock farmers."
In 2023, there were breeding packs of gray wolves in 23 European Union countries, with a total population estimated at around 20,300 animals, bringing the elusive creatures into more frequent contact with humans.
In announcing plans to revise the protection status last year, Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the "concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger especially for livestock".
Von der Leyen herself lost her beloved pony Dolly to a wolf that crept into an enclosure on her family's rural property in Germany two years agoleading some to suggest the matter had become personal.
'Politically motivated'
The wolf became a "strictly protected" species under the 1979 Bern Convention, to which the EU is a party.
The text allows for the animal to be killed or captured only when it poses a threat to livestock, health or safety.
The commission's proposal would loosen such rules by demoting wolves to "protected" species, which would allow hunting under strict regulation.
This year has seen rolling protests by farmers around Europe against the bloc's environmental rules.
The pan-European farmers group Copa-Cogeca welcomed "a major step forward in the management of wolf populations and harmonious co-existence" while the FACE European Hunting Federation called it an all-round "victory".
But animal rights activists fear that the change could result in large numbers of wolves being hunted.
Already in 2022, several Austrian regions authorized the killing of wolves in what critics argued was a breach of current European laws.
More than 300 environmental and animal protection organizations opposed a status downgrade, arguing it was premature since while population numbers have grown, their recovery is ongoing.
In a letter, they said there was no evidence that culling reduced depredation on farmed animals. Hunting was no replacement for other prevention measures, such as fencing, they argued.
"We see this as a proposal that is politically motivated and not at all based on science," Sabien Leemans, senior policy officer at environmental group WWF, told AFP.
Small impact
A 2023 EU report found that the overall impact of wolves on livestock was "very small". Only 0.065 percent of the bloc's 60 million sheep were mauled to death every year and just over 18 million euros ($20 million) was paid to compensate for wolf damage annually.
The report said horses, dogs and other animals were also sometimes slainbut that no fatal wolf attacks on people have been recorded in Europe over the past 40 years.
Wednesday's vote, once formally adopted by the bloc's environment ministers, will give the EU a mandate to push for a change in the Bern Convention at a meeting in December.
A two-thirds majority is required to alter the text, which was signed by 50 countries, including the 27 EU members.
If the convention is changed, the commission will then be allowed to move to amend related EU rules.
"Today's decision... empowers rural communities to take the necessary steps to protect themselves," said Herbert Dorfmann, a lawmaker with the conservative European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament.
But Leemans of the WWF warned it risked opening a "Pandora's box". Some countries are already pushing to ease hunting rules for brown bears too, she argueda concern dismissed by the commission.
"What we're talking about is the wolf, and only the wolf," commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz told reporters.
2024 AFP
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Photographs of drill cores from Greenland. Credit: Henrik Drake
A new study shows that microorganisms lived deep within the fractured bedrock of Greenland 75 million years ago. The work is published in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.
Beneath our feet lies a habitat called the deep biosphere. In this harsh environment, without sunlight and without dissolved oxygen, microorganisms have lived for millions of years. However, how long life has existed in the bedrock and how widespread it is, is less known. This is because we have only made needle pricks in this unexplored environment. But more and more pieces of the puzzle are being found.
In connection with investigations in western Greenland, researchers have drilled deep into the bedrock near the ice sheet. At several hundred meters depth, they found minerals lining bedrock fractures, which serve as important geochemical archives for ancient life.
"We used high-resolution geochronology of the calcium carbonate, a method where you examine how much uranium has decayed into lead. The dating gave ages of 6475 million years," says Henrik Drake, Associate Professor at Linnaeus University, Sweden, and lead author of the study.
These ages overlap with tectonic events related to the early stages, or precursors, of the opening of the Atlantic Ocean and the Labrador Sea. This suggests that deep fracture networks in western Greenland opened and were colonized by microorganisms, such as sulfate reducers, during these events. The movements of the continents have thus influenced how the deep biosphere has been colonized.
Photographs of drill cores from Greenland. Credit: Henrik Drake
Photographs of drill cores from Greenland. Credit: Henrik Drake
Detailed image of a mineral in a scanning electron microscope. Credit: Henrik Drake
Drake explains the findings as chemical fingerprints, indicating that life existed in this harsh environment. Also, biological traces in the form of bacterial fatty acids were discovered, which were preserved inside calcium carbonate crystals.
"When we retrieved the drill cores, we conducted thorough analyses of different sulfur isotopes in minerals formed in the bedrock fractures. The results show that the minerals were formed by bacteria."
More information: H. Drake et al, Late Cretaceous and Early Paleogene Fluid Circulation and Microbial Activity in Deep Fracture Networks of the Precambrian Basement of Western Greenland, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2024GC011646 Journal information: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
China on Tuesday made public a guideline on arable land protection, aiming to implement the strictest possible protection system and introducing robust measures with real enforcement "teeth" to combat the erosion of arable land.
The guideline, issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, stated that the national arable land area should not fall below 124.33 million hectares, with the area of permanent basic farmland set at no less than 103 million hectares.
To achieve these goals, China will implement the most stringent possible arable land protection policies, introducing robust measures to combat the conversion of arable land to non-agricultural uses and to prevent permanent basic farmland from being utilized for non-grain production.
Local Party committees and governments will be required to treat the protection of arable land and permanent basic farmland as a critical political task. They must ensure that the established protection threshold is never breached, and that strict accountability measures are in place for violations, including a "one-vote veto" punishment for officials who breach protection guidelines severely.
To boost land quality, the document emphasizes the gradual upgrade of permanent basic farmland to high-standard farmland that is suitable for cultivation, resilient to drought and flooding, and capable of ensuring high and stable yields.
A national plan will be developed for this transformation, with priority given to areas in northeast China's black soil region, plains and regions with irrigation capabilities.
The government will implement black soil protection initiatives, adjusting protective measures to encompass all necessary areas in a timely manner. Law enforcement combating activities that harm the fertile soil will be intensified.
Legislation governing the protection of arable land quality will be accelerated, with annual surveys of soil quality changes and comprehensive evaluations conducted every five years, along with a national soil census to be conducted at an appropriate time.
Efforts will also be made to develop high-efficiency protected agriculture using non-arable land resources. This will involve exploring the sustainable development of modern protected agriculture in arid and desert regions where water resources allow.
These initiatives are part of a broader strategy to ensure national grain security and strengthen the agricultural sector.
China continues to prioritize food security, as it feeds over 1.4 billion people with just 9 percent of the world's arable land. An array of measures has been implemented to improve grain output over recent years, including the construction of more high-standard farmland and the promotion of agricultural technologies.
The country has developed about 66.7 million hectares of high-standard farmland as of the end of 2023, with 13 key grain-producing provincial-level regions accounting for around 70 percent of that total.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China has the sound fundamentals to reap a bumper autumn grain harvest following the summer harvest this year, despite severe disasters triggered by extreme weather in parts of the country.
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Nekemias mucronata fossil lateral leaflets from the collection of the Natural Science Museum of Barcelona. Credit: Natural Science Museum of Barcelona
Until now, it was believed that plants of the grape family arrived at the European continent less than 23 million years ago. A study on fossil plants draws a new scenario on the dispersal of the ancestors of grape plants and reveals that these species were already on the territory of Europe some 41 million years ago.
The paper describes a new fossil species of the same family, Nekemias mucronata, which allows us to better understand the evolutionary history of this plant group, which inhabited Europe between 40 and 23 million years ago.
This study, published in the Journal of Systematics and Evolution, is led by researcher Aixa Tosal, from the Faculty of Earth Sciences and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona. The article is also signed by Alba Vicente, from the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) and the Catalan Institute of Palaeontology Miquel Crusafont (ICP), and Thomas Denk, from the Swedish Museum of Natural History (Stockholm).
A new ancestor of the grape family
The grape family (Vitaceae) is made up of some 950 species, and is divided into five tribes (in botany, this is an intermediate taxonomic classification between the family and the genus). One of these tribes is the Viteae, made up of 200 species, including the grape vine plant (Vitis vinifera), which is of great global economic interest. The new paper published in the JSE focuses on studying the tribe Ampelopsideae, made up of 47 species.
"Our study changes the paradigms accepted until now and shows that the Ampelopsis and Nekemias lineages of the Ampelopsideae tribe were already present in Europe and Central Asia during the middle Eocene (between 47 and 37 million years ago). This indicates that this dispersal was approximately 20 million years earlier than previously estimated," says Tosal, first author of the study and member of the UB's Department of Earth and Ocean Dynamics.
"In particular, we show that a lineage now restricted to North America already existed in Europe and Central Asia, thanks to the discovery of the fossil species Nekemias mucronata, which is very similar to the present-day North American Nekemias arborea. Nekemias mucronata cohabited with Ampelopsis hibschii, the closest relative of today's Ampelopsis orientalis," explains Tosal.
In contrast, the latter has had a different dispersal from N. mucronata, as this lineage is now endemic to the eastern Mediterranean.
"This study helps us to better understand the evolution of the Ampelopsideae tribe during the second dispersal pulse, especially in Europe and Central Asia, which took place during the Palaeogene," says Tosal.
Nekemias mucronata lived from the late Eocene to the late Oligocene (3723 million years ago). It seems that it was able to grow in a broad range of climates, from regions with low winter temperatures (-4.6 C in cold periods)such as those found in Kazakhstan during the Oligocene (3323) million years agoto regions with warm mean annual temperaturessuch as those of the Oligocene in the Iberian Peninsulaor even in climates with intermediate temperatures such as those recorded in the center of the European continent.
"N. mucronata was also not overly demanding in terms of rainfall. It could grow in areas with abundant rainfall and low rainfall seasonality; for example, in Central Europe during the Oligocene, or the Iberian Peninsula or Greece during the same time," says ICP researcher Vicente.
"This fossil species had a compound leaf, a peculiarity shared with some species of the vine family. Although it is difficult to confirm the number of leaflets of the compound leaf, it would have consisted of at least three. We have been able to recognize common patterns between the apical and lateral leaflets, which allows us to distinguish them from other fossil species of the vine family in Eurasia," he adds.
"What makes Nekemias mucronata unique is the presence of a mucro at the tip of the leaflet teeth, which gives the species its name. The straight shape of the base of the apical leaflet is also quite distinctive, as all other Eurasian fossil species are buckled (with an invagination near the petiole)," says Vicente.
Dispersal of Ampelopsideae across the Atlantic Bridge or the Bering Strait
To date, the oldest record of the grape family has been found in the Upper Cretaceous deposits of India (7565 Ma). The earliest record of the plant lineage in the Americas is from the Upper Eocene, around 39.4 million years ago, and at about the same time in Europe and Central Asia the Ampelopsis and Nekemias lineages are already found.
How did these species disperse in the past? These tribes diverged between the Upper Cretaceous and the Upper Eocene and, although there are still many unknowns, it seems that they dispersed and evolved quite rapidly.
According to current data, which are consistent with the molecular clock technique, "the Ampelopsideae could have followed two cluster routes or a mixture of both. The first proposed route follows the North Atlantic isthmus. That is, the family appeared in India, then moved on to central Asia and Europe during the middle Eocene (between 47 and 37 million years ago), and finally moved on to the Americas via Greenland," says Denk.
"Another possible route suggests that, once the Vitaceae family appeared in India, the Ampelopsideae tribe dispersed eastward from Asia during the middle Eocene (4737 million years ago) and quickly moved to the Americas via the Bering Strait, and from there to Europe along the North Atlantic isthmus," Denk says.
Although the dispersal of these two species does not seem to be linked to climate, it is possible that the increase in aridity during the Oligocene in the Iberian Peninsula and southern Europe explains the extinction (2723 million years ago) of the last population of N. mucronata found in the Iberian Peninsula. In parallel, Ampelopsis hibschii was restricted to the Balkan area and finally became extinct about 15 million years ago.
"However, there are still many unanswered questions about the early dispersal phases (from the Late Cretaceous to the Palaeogene). For this reason, we would like to continue studying this family, and perhaps we will be able to unravel what happened during their early cluster phases, which occurred between 66 and 41 million years ago," the team concludes.
More information: Aixa Tosal et al, Cenozoic Ampelopsis and Nekemias leaves (Vitaceae, Ampelopsideae) from Eurasia: Paleobiogeographic and paleoclimatic implications, Journal of Systematics and Evolution (2024). DOI: 10.1111/jse.13126
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain
Gov. Henry McMaster took steps Tuesday to jump start plans for protecting South Carolina rivers and groundwater, forming a commission to study how to manage the water supplies that often spark disputes among businesses, farmers, environmentalists and others.
The commission, to be called WaterSC and composed of 30 members, will issue a report to the S.C. Legislature on the status of the state's rivers and lakes and recommend changes to state laws by Feb. 1 of next year. The commission, or working group, will also update the state's water plan, a more than 20-year-old document that is supposed to guide the state's oversight of rivers, lakes and groundwater.
That plan was last updated in 2004, state officials say. The new commission will help the state Department of Environmental Services update the water plan by Dec. 31, 2025, the governor said.
"South Carolina has been richly blessed with abundant water resources, but with increased demand driven by historic economic development and a booming population, we must take action now to ensure these resources are managed in the best interests of all South Carolinians," McMaster said in a statement.
"The formation of WaterSC will unite South Carolina's top minds and key stakeholders to craft a plan that balances our economic and environmental interests, which will ensure that our water resources are plentiful and that our economy remains strong for generations to come."
McMaster made the announcement at a news conference at a popular park on the Congaree River, flanked by state regulators, water resources officials and business interests. The initiative is focused on the use and protection of water supplies, rather than on pollution, although officials said protecting rivers from overuse also preserves their quality.
Water is important to provide power in a state with growing energy needs for industry, but rivers are also important as natural resources, McMaster said.
"We are going to carefully measure what we need, what we have, what we will have ... and how we are going to get it,"' the governor said.
The governor's push for a new water planning committee is the latest effort to prepare for residential and industrial growth, while protecting rivers that people rely on for recreation and drinking. Through the years, the state has had multiple water study committees, including a series of river basin councils that examine issues in specific areas of the state.
Myra Reece, who heads Environmental Services, said the new committee will rely on past efforts to come up with its assessment and recommendations.
"We know so much more today than we knew two years ago or even a year ago," she said. "We're going to .... take advantage of the expertise we had."
McMaster's decision to form a water study commission is among other initiatives to assess issues that affect businesses, the public and the environment in South Carolina. McMaster previously formed a floodwater commission that recommended ways to address the fallout from high tides and heavy rains. The Legislature also has a study committee on the state's future energy needs, as well as a water committee.
Clay Duffie, the former general manager of Mount Pleasant's water utility, said he's encouraged by McMaster's efforts to address water issues. In recent years, Mount Pleasant has faced threats to its groundwater supply from a data center that located in South Carolina.
"We've been supporting good planning," Duffie said, noting that McMaster's effort "is going to finally push this over the goal line."
McMaster's announcement drew a crowd of about 30 to the amphitheater in West Columbia.
Among those in attendance were representatives of environmental groups, such as Upstate Forever, and industry associations that need water. S.C. Farm Bureau President Harry Ott and Forestry Association chief Cam Crawford stood behind McMaster during the announcement that he would sign an executive order creating the planning committee.
McMaster said the commission will be composed of an array of interests that include environmentalists, natural resource managers and others, in addition to business and farm representatives.
South Carolina, like other Sun Belt states, is feeling the impact of growth and that has put a strain on its water supplies at times. From 1990 to 2018, population in South Carolina rose from 3.5 million to 5.1 million, according to the Department of Environmental Services. It could approach 5.8 million people by 2030.
In the Edisto River Basin, megafarms have sucked up billions of gallons of water from the river and the ground to irrigate thirsty crops. Groundwater levels have dropped in some places.
The issue has become enough of a concern that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told South Carolina to improve parts of its surface water withdrawal law.. The federal agency said South Carolina's water law is not scientifically sound, doesn't preserve fish and wildlife, and actually allows overuse of rivers, The State has previously reported.
At the same time, new housing projects and industrial plants are increasingly demanding more water. Data centers that have come into the state require large amounts of water to cool them off, raising questions about impacts on groundwater.
The Department of Environmental Services says the state has more than 11,000 miles of flowing streams, which drain 30 billion gallons per day to the ocean through four major river basins.
2024 The State. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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The timeline of the hard steps in Earth's past that research discussed in this article builds on, reanalyzes and augments. Not shown is the era about a billion years in the future where all life on Earth will become extinct. Credit: Daniel B. Mills
What took so long for humans to appear on Earth? The Earth is 4.6 billion years old, and life began about 4 billion years ago, yet humansthe only intelligent, technological species we know of in the universehave existed only for the last 200,000 years. Why didn't we come sooner? What factor(s) delayed our appearance? And what can life's timeline here say about the possibility of other technologically advanced lifeforms in the universe?
One hypothesis of our evolutionary history is the "hard steps" model. In 1983, the Australian physicist Brandon Carter hypothesized that the path to humanity required "successful passage through a number of intermediate steps," each of which was very improbable and difficult given the time that had been available. Originally, Carter saw only two stepsthe origin of the genetic code, and "the final breakthrough in cerebral development."
Many researchers have since modified Carter's idea and proposed more than two steps, with the most popular formulation of the model today envisioning five: 1) the creation of single celled life ("abiogenesis"), 2) the appearance of photosynthesis that creates oxygen, 3) the emergence of eukaryotic cells from prokaryotic cells, 4) the emergence of complex life, such as multicellular animals, and 5) the rise of Homo sapiens with an established language.
These steps are "hard" in the sense that they would only have developed once (as opposed to, for example, the evolutionary development of eyes, which occurred many times and which have emerged in various degrees of light utilization).
There were approximately a billion years behind each of these steps. Although the sun has 5 billion years left before it becomes a red dwarf, life on Earth will end in about a billion years when the ever more luminous sun causes a runaway greenhouse effect and the planet will end up like Venus, broiling hot and desiccated.
So the question arises if intelligent, technological animals like us developed on Earth only late in the time available, cutting it close. Would the same fate befall any advanced extraterrestrial life elsewhere in the galaxy? Might they have developed too late in their sun's timespan to get to Earth? The hard steps model thus predicts that technological species such as humans on Earth are exceedingly rare in the universe.
"The hard steps model argues that humanity was unlikely to evolve before the death of Earth's biosphere," said Daniel B. Mills, lead author of the paper. "Our existence represents an exceptional case in the universe where intelligent life managed to evolve before the planetary clock ran out."
Mills is at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen in Germany and also Pennsylvania State University in the United States, writing with colleagues at Pennsylvania State University and the University of Rochester in New York state. The paper has been released on the preprint server arXiv and has been submitted to a journal.
In effect, Carter's criteria for hard steps are that they are improbably within the allotted period of time, and essential for the ultimate evolution of humanity. The researchers here challenge the hard steps model by asking whether its steps are truly improbable and truly essential.
Is human intelligence really necessary, or can intelligence of other forms suffice, such as the intelligence seen in the collective behavior of insects or ants, the tool-making intelligence of crows and dolphins, or the intelligence that developed independently in octopuses after they split from our last common ancestor, a primitive flatworm that lived 750 million years ago?
"The basis for seeing 'human intelligence' as a 'hard step' is uncertain," Mills and colleagues write.
And according to the Silurian hypothesiswhich one of the co-authors, Adam Frank of the University of Rochester helped developit's possible other intelligent species existed on Earth in the deep past, with any material evidence of them now utterly gone, wiped away by Earth's geological processes before about a half-billion years ago.
They also question whether the "Major Transitions in Evolution" (MTE) framework, first proposed in 1995, proposing eight major transitions in evolution up to humans, are truly necessary for the development of complexity or an advanced lifeform. Is a genetic code really required? Language?
Taking a distinct turn from biological evolution, the work also challenges some key assumptions of the hard steps model by closely examining the role of historical geobiologyhow the Earth's surface environment and life have co-evolved over geologic, deep time. Passing key environmental thresholds would open up new "permissive" environments.
In this scenario, environmental change does not create evolutionary innovation, but "represents the removal of an external constraint that had previously prevented the innovation from evolving."
It's possible that the stage of life that was first present in a new environment would thrive and dominate that environmental episode, setting evolution down a new branch instead of the status quo branch that existed prior to the threshold being passed. Global environmental changes may have been controlled when the hard steps (the five above and others added since) candidates evolved.
The paper concludes, "We raise the possibility that there are no hard steps (despite the appearance of major evolutionary singularities in the universal tree of life), and that the broad pace of evolution on Earth is set by global environmental processes operating on geologic timescales (i.e., billions of years). Put differently, humans originated so 'late' in Earth's history because the 'window of human habitability' has only opened relatively recently in Earth history."
Mills said the notion of hard steps has left an imprint on humanity that is not justified. "Many people have taken these conclusions for granted, as if science has actually proven that our existence on Earth depended on chance events with small likelihoods in the available time," he said.
"Not only are these conclusions unjustified, they are damaging to our collective self-image, contributing to the notion that humans are an accident of Earth's biosphere rather than a natural expression of it."
He believes this idea has handicapped human life and is steering us in the wrong direction.
"This attitude of human unlikelihood and fragility contributes to a form of 'learned helplessness,'" he said, "that sees the climate crisis, for example, as our death sentence, rather than the inevitable challenge any global civilization must face."
More information: Daniel B. Mills et al, A reassessment of the "hard-steps" model for the evolution of intelligent life, arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2408.10293 Journal information: arXiv
2024 Science X Network
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An 8x-zoomed microscopic image of washed, tropical marine sediments showing a vast number of individual foraminiferal shells. Credit: Kaustubh Thirumalai, University of Arizona
The last ice age peaked around 20,000 years ago and was marked by extensive glaciation and dramatic climate shifts that reshaped Earth's oceans, landscapes and ecosystems. A study led by the University of Arizona suggests that Earth's last ice age may provide crucial insights into future El Nino weather events. El Nino is one of the most influential climate patterns affecting global weather.
The study, published in Nature, combines data from ancient shells of marine organisms with advanced climate modeling to shed light on how El Nino patterns might change in a warming world.
El Nino is a climate phenomenon characterized by the irregular but periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. This leads to disruption of global weather patterns and causes extreme events like droughts, floods and heat waves.
"El Nino is a formidable force of natureit induces droughts, floods and wildfires, disrupting marine and terrestrial ecosystems across the planet, with pervasive societal impacts across numerous sectors, from agriculture to the aviation industry," said Kaustubh Thirumalai, the study's co-lead author and an assistant professor in the U of A Department of Geosciences.
El Nino events occur approximately every two to seven years, and anticipating how these events might change in the future is a major challenge for climate scientists.
"There are several state-of-the-art climate models out there, and they suggest different El Nino responses to ongoing and future human-caused warming," Thirumalai said. "Some say El Nino variations will increase, others say it will decreaseit is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. So, addressing what might happen to El Nino is a key priority for climate science."
To address this uncertainty, the research teamwhich included collaborators from the U of A, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Texas, Middlebury College and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutionturned to the past. They focused on the Last Glacial Maximuma period about 20,000 years ago when there were ice sheets over much of North America and Europe.
The researchers used the Community Earth System Modeldeveloped to simulate the Earth's climate system and predict future climate scenariosto simulate climate conditions from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present day. This model is a collaborative project primarily led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, with contributions from numerous institutions. The modeling portion of the study was conducted by co-lead author Pedro DiNezo at the University of Colorado Boulder.
To validate this model, Thirumalai and his team compared the model's results with data from the remains of tiny marine organisms called foraminifera. They are found in ocean samples extracted from the seabed that contain layers of sediments deposited over thousands to millions of years.
"These beautiful, microscopic creatures, which float in the upper ocean, build shells that lock in the ocean temperature when they were alive," Thirumalai said.
As foraminifera grow, they secrete shells using materials from the surrounding seawater. The chemical composition of these shells changes based on the water temperature. This enables the preservation of a snapshot of ocean conditions at the time the shell formed.
When foraminifera die after a few weeks of life, their shells sink to the ocean floor and become part of the sediment. By analyzing shells from different layers of sediment, scientists can reconstruct ocean temperatures from thousands of years ago and compare them to the model simulations of past climates.
The team analyzed individual foraminiferal shells, allowing them to capture seasonal temperature variations that would otherwise be impossible to detect.
"We zoom in to a tiny section of the sediment core and analyze multiple individual shells from the same layer. This gives us a range of Pacific Ocean temperatures within a short time period, which we can compare between the ice age and today," Thirumalai said.
The study found that El Nino variability was significantly lower during the Last Glacial Maximum compared to the present day, and that future extreme El Nino events could become more prevalent as the planet warms. This could lead to more intense and frequent weather disruptions worldwide.
Importantly, these findings suggest a common mechanism of extreme El Nino variations under both ice age and future conditions, allowing the researchers to validate the climate model's prediction.
"This gives us more confidence in the model's projections for the future," Thirumalai said. "If it can accurately simulate past climate changes, it's more likely to give us reliable predictions about future changes in the El Nino system."
More information: Future increase in extreme El Nino supported by past glacial changes, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07984-y Journal information: Nature
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Gasto Lyakurwa, doctoral student in recreation, park, and tourism management at Penn State, walks through land adjacent to Mkomazi National Park in Tanzania as he conducts research Credit: Gasto Lyakurwa
National parks in East Africa protect endangered wildlife but sometimes do not support local human populations, according to Edwin Sabuhoro, assistant professor of recreation, park, and tourism management at Penn State. New research by Sabuhoro and two Penn State doctoral students from East Africa has demonstrated that poverty and lack of adequate food supply drive most of the poaching and other illegal activities in one such park.
The researchers, led by Gasto Lyakurwa, a doctoral student in recreation, park, and tourism management at Penn State, surveyed 267 household heads in eight villages that border Mkomazi National Park in northern Tanzania. The survey focused on their use of park land and their family's food security, financial security and educational security to understand which factors led to illegal park use. The team's results were published in Conservation.
Mkomazi National Park comprises more than 1,250 square miles of protected habitat for rare and endangered wildlife including elephants, lions, buffalo and rhinoceroses. The park, created in 1951, displaced large numbers of people from the park land into surrounding regions two timesonce in the early 1950s and again in the late 1980s.
Since the foundation of the parkand other protected areas throughout East Africathe researchers said park officials and rangers have viewed local people as a threat, rather than as a potential conservation partner.
"For countless generations, the people in this area relied on that land for meat, traditional medicines, firewood, fish and timber," Lyakurwa said. "These resources were essential to the people's livelihood, but suddenly, they were cut off from the land. Even though local people told us they feel connected to the wild animals, they also made it clear that they are not likely to respect park boundaries if they cannot feed themselves or their children."
Tourism in the parkdriven largely by visitors who want to see the large mammalsgenerates income that is managed by the national government, the researchers said. Some park revenue is used to fund projects designed to improve the lives of the 45,000 people who live in the 22 villages near the park. Though many government programs have focused on improving infrastructure for health care and education, the results of this study indicate that alleviating food insecurity and poverty are the only ways to build cooperation between the parks and the villages, the researchers said.
Of the 267 families surveyed, 253 earned their livelihood through agricultureeither growing crops or raising grazing animals for food. The average annual household income for these families was $1,115 United States dollars, and 74% of household heads had been educated only through primary school.
When asked about if and why they used the park for illegal animal grazing or poaching, many villagers reported that they did use park land. The researchers compared these results to people's statements about their family's consistent access toor "security" infood, education and adequate finances.
Results showed that food security was the primary driver of illegal activity, while education security and financial security had minimal influence on poaching.
The researchers said the findings demonstrated that people poach for food, not to enrich themselves or to pay for their children's education. To successfully protect wildlife and their habitat, parks need to address food security for residents, the researchers said.
"Communities are expected to support conservation, but they are facing deprivation," Lyakurwa said. "Animalsespecially elephants and lionscome out of the parks and trample crops and injure or kill people. Also, the people feel they need park lands to graze their own animals. It is easy to understand why they are not more supportive of park boundaries when their lives are at stake."
In addition to existential concerns, many villagers told the researchers that they believe more money earned from tourism in the park should be used to support people in the area, but that much of the money is extracted to fund other projects around the nation. Sabuhoro said that this common frustration inspired him to help spearhead a regional effort to reduce conflicts between the needs of humans and wildlife.
"Traditionally, local people have been expected to comply with rules but have not been invited to participate in the planning or benefits associated with the parks," Sabuhoro said. "Through the Human Wildlife Co-existence Research Network, we are trying to change that."
Sabuhoro helps lead the network, which brings together non-governmental organizations, government officials, academics, park leadership and local people across East Africa to address ways conservation efforts can support the needs of local communities and local communities can support conservation efforts.
"People in each nation are expressing their own needs and developing their own solutions," Sabuhoro said. "Last year, we held a conservation stakeholders meeting in Uganda. This year, we had a meeting in Tanzania, and next year we have meetings planned in Kenya and Rwanda."
To support and expand the work of the Human Wildlife Co-existence Research Network, Sabuhoro sought to recruit and train a researcher from East Africa. After combing through many applications, he said that he found an ideal candidate in Lyakurwa.
Lyakurwa was born in Tanzania and previously worked as a park ranger there. This meant that he had the language skills, cultural knowledge and perspective needed to conduct studies like this one. Sabuhoro also emphasized that local connections are needed to build trust.
"Traditionally, Western researchers studied African animals or people and then left without helping the local community understand the results of the study or providing any sustained tangible benefits," Sabuhoro said. "When the researcher has local connections like Gasto does, there is more faith that the researcher will bring the knowledge back to the community."
Lyakurwa agreed.
"They can hold me accountable because I am from there," he said. "I believe that helps me get more honest and complete answers from peopleboth villagers and park rangers. All these people are trying to do what is right in a difficult situation, but they need to feel safe to explain themselves."
Sabuhoro said universities like Penn State play an important role in training local people like Lyakurwa and Mercy Chepkemoi Chepkwony, a graduate student in recreation, park, and tourism management at Penn State and the other co-author of this research.
"By training local people in research methods and helping to develop and support meaningful research projects, we can help support management of parks in ways that are sustainable for humans and animals alike," Sabuhoro said.
More information: Gasto Jerome Lyakurwa et al, Illegal Activities for Survival: Understanding the Influence of Household Livelihood Security on Biodiversity Conservation in Tanzania, Conservation (2024). DOI: 10.3390/conservation4030022
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The benefits of laser communications: more efficient, lighter systems, increased security, and more flexible ground systems. Credit: NASA/Dave Ryan
NASA's TBIRD (TeraByte InfraRed Delivery) demonstration and its host spacecraftthe PTD-3 (Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-3)have completed their technology demonstration. The TBIRD payload spent the past two years breaking world records for the fastest satellite downlink from space using laser communications.
NASA's PTD series leverages a common commercial spacecraft to provide a robust platform for effective testing of technologies with minimal redesign in between launches. After launch in May 2022 on the SpaceX Transporter 5 mission, the PTD-3 spacecraft entered low-Earth orbit, and shortly after, TBIRD began sending laser communications signals to an optical ground station in Table Mountain, California.
TBIRD's two-year demonstration showcased the viability of laser communications. Most NASA missions rely on radio frequency communication systems. However, laser communications use infrared light and can pack significantly more data in a single communications link. This technology is ideal for science and exploration missions that need large data transmissions.
In 2023, TBIRD continuously broke its own records, reaching its peak in June when it transmitted 4.8 terabytes of error-free dataequivalent to about 2,400 hours of high-definition videoin five minutes at 200 gigabits per second in a single pass.
The TBIRD payload was one of many laser communications demonstrations. NASA's SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program is maturing this technology to demonstrate the impact laser communications can have on bringing more science and exploration data home. The next demonstration will be on the Artemis II mission.
An artists concept of the Pathfinder Technology Demonstration -3 carrying the TeraByte InfraRed Delivery payload. Credit: NASA/Dave Ryan
In addition to breaking a world record, this mission demonstrated cost-effective design and extremely low size, weight, and power requirementsboth on the PTD-3 spacecraft and within the TBIRD payload. The tissue-box-sized payload contained two commercial telecommunication modems that the TBIRD team modified for the extreme environment of space.
The PTD-3/TBIRD system also overcame one of the major challenges associated with laser communications: making the narrow beam laser link connection while moving at orbital speeds while being buffeted by atmospheric drag. The PTD-3 spacecraft's precision "body pointing" and stability enabled the TBIRD payload to make its record-breaking achievement while moving as fast as 17,000 mph through space. The spacecraft set a record for the highest accuracy pointing ever achieved by a NASA CubeSat without any moving mechanisms or propulsion systems.
The end of PTD-3 and TBIRD's mission was expected. The system did not contain a propulsion system, meaning once it was deployed into its low Earth orbit, the mission could only last until its orbit naturally decayed.
While only planned to operate for six months, TBIRD carried out its demonstration for well over two years, enabling NASA to learn more about laser communications operations in low Earth orbit.
The lessons learned during TBIRD will be applied to future implementations of laser communications and minimize downlink constraints for mission designs, enabling future exploration and discoveries.
Provided by NASA
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Austrian officials say restoration efforts at the creek helped mitigate flooding.
The restoration of a creek in Vienna reduced the impact of flooding caused by Storm Boris, authorities say, one of many projects experts believe helped central Europe endure the deluge better than in previous years.
Flooding unleashed by the storm burst dams and devastated entire villages in central Europe, killing at least two dozen people in Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania.
The torrential rains that caused the flooding were "the heaviest ever recorded" in the region, according to the World Weather Attribution (WWA) network of scientists, inundating homes and farmland.
But despite record rainfall, fewer people died during Storm Boris than in previous major European floods in 1997 and 2002, when more than 100 and 200 people lost their lives respectively, the WWA said in a report published Wednesday.
"We have seen investment for adaptation and mitigation in the affected countries after the events of 1997 and 2002," said Federica Remondi, a flood specialist at reinsurance giant Swiss Re.
"Without those adaptation measures the overall impact and losses might have been even worse," she added, calling for continued efforts despite resources being restrained in some countries.
Prevented 'greater damage'
In Austria's capital Vienna, where no deaths were reported, officials said efforts to restore damaged ecosystems helped offset the impact of the floods, including at Liesing creek on the outskirts of the city.
Workers have removed and knocked down the narrow concrete banks which line the waterway, where water levels rose during the flood by more than three meters to a 100-year-high.
The floods were caused by record rainfall.
Without the restoration, heavy rainfall "would have led to greater damage", city official Josef Gottschall told AFP.
He dismissed criticism that the projectwhich is projected to run until 2027 with a total cost of about 135 million euros ($151 million)was too costly and had a limited impact, saying that sums cannot be weighed up against "loss of life and damage".
According to experts, the construction of retention basinsartificial ponds that collect storm wateralso played a role in lessening the impact of floods in the region, while early warning systems have become more effective.
Climate costs 'accelerating'
In the Czech Republic, where several people remain missing, flood protection has been beefed up, but is still considered inefficient in places like the village of Troubky, which was hit hard in 1997 and narrowly escaped another disaster.
Experts suggest the recent storm might help accelerate work such as the construction of a dam on the Opava river which was scheduled to begin in 2027 but could be brought forward.
The cost of the disasters remains high, with the European Commission pledging 10 billion euros ($11 billion) in funds for affected countries.
In Austria, insurance companies estimate the total damage from the storm to reach 700 million euros, as economists predict several billions of euros. A similar estimate has been made for the Czech Republic.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said more than five billion euros, including EU funds, have been earmarked for reconstructing affected areas.
When Storm Boris hit Austria, the Liesing creek's water rose up to the level where project manager Marlies Greussing stands.
'Wake-up call'
Scientists also warn new infrastructure is needed as climate change worsens the impact of extreme weather events.
Around 80,000 hectares (197,600 acres) of farmland have been affected by the floods and more than 18,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, with thousands of people forced to evacuate.
Based on historical data, a four-day rainfall event is expected to occur on average about once every 100 to 300 years in today's climate with 1.3 degrees Celsius of warming, WWA said.
Global warming has doubled the likelihood of severe four-day downpours since the pre-industrial era and the costs of climate change are "accelerating", according to the WWA.
The floods are "another wake-up call that our climate is changing rapidly," researcher Hayley Fowler from Newcastle University told AFP.
"Our infrastructure is really not designed to deal with these levels of flooding," she said.
"The evacuation of whole cities, dams bursting and roads turning into rivers are now commonplace around the world. The question is not whether we need to adapt for more of these types of storm, but can we?"
2024 AFP
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The measurement tools, data types, and analysis strategies commonly used in modern microbiology to study naturally occurring microbial organisms in a wide range of complex habitats through rapidly emerging genomic blueprints of the diversity of life. Credit: Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.08.028
Computer scientist A. Murat Eren, who goes by Meren, is convinced that microbiology can contribute to solving many global challenges. In this interview, he talks about the astonishing progress the discipline has made in recent decades.
Microbes have a bad reputation. They are seen as unhygienic and as a primary cause of diseases. Is their image as a band of bad actors justified?
No, not at all. In fact, they are the architects of life: microbes produce much of the oxygen we breathe, help plants grow, synthesize for us chemical compounds we cannot synthesize ourselves, and then break them down to bring these limited resources back into the circulation of life and prevent our ecosystems from falling apartdespite all our efforts. You could call them the wardens of planetary health.
You recently wrote a review article for the journal Cell, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary with the current issue. How has our view on microbial communities changed in recent decades?
Thanks to technological advances, microbiology has been able to expand its focus from individual organisms in cultures to complex communities of microbes in natural habitats. This has revealed a once unimaginable richness and dynamism. These communities occupy all ecosystems on earth that span from marine and terrestrial systems to living hosts.
The paper, which I co-authored with my colleague Jillian Banfield from the University of California, Berkeley, argues that the field of microbiology is emerging as one of the most important branches of science. The new era of microbiology has already demonstrated that microbes are our best bet to address our most pressing problems through advances in biotechnology and biomedicine.
How can microbiology contribute to solving big problems?
There are some extremely low-hanging fruits. For instance, recent work focusing on environmental microbes and their genetic repertoire have given us enzymes that help us effectively "edit" human or plant genomes to increase resilience or ameliorate genetic disorders, new and more effective antibiotics and antifungal therapies, and means to breakdown plastic. However, there is more to discover.
But unlocking the true genetic potential of microbes that run our planet requires us to change our mindset from educational best practices to science funding. For instance, in our review we emphasize that it is necessary to apply the new, data-driven methods of microbiology to entire ecosystems, embracing the complexity of nature, and being open to unexpected discoveries.
Only then will it be possible to tackle questions of utmost importance, such as: How do we store more carbon in soil? How do we cut methane emissions from rice paddies or cattle? How can we accelerate the breakdown of ocean plastic, reduce the salinization of agricultural soils and use the earth's subsurface to store carbon dioxide?
For questions of this magnitude, harnessing natural events may contribute more to improve our understanding than controlled, small-scale experiments. As we mention in our review, sometimes there are reasons to let nature do the experiment.
What characterizes the new era of microbiology?
Today, our branch of science is highly data-driven. In order to understand the complexity of natural ecosystems, we need interdisciplinary approaches. I myself am a computer scientist, for example, and I study the ecology and evolution of microbes using bioinformatics methods.
Increasing levels of interdisciplinary work in microbiology and the orchestration of the ever-growing set of new molecular and analytical tools helped us drastically expand our understanding of the diversity of life, which forces us to reconsider modesty when considering our place on this planet. The influx of machine learning and artificial intelligence has helped us predict the three-dimensional structure of proteins, which in turn not only sheds light on evolutionary processes that shape proteins but also facilitates the development of new drugs and biotechnological tools.
Overall, it is safe to say that modern microbiology is where people from many backgrounds who span from molecular biologists, computer scientists, ecologists, modelers to chemists, physicists, and others, come together and apply increasingly powerful means to survey and study microbial life to complex natural habitats to find answers to most pressing questions of the 21st century. The new era of microbiology depends on the diversity of its people and tools to shed light on the inconceivable diversity of microbes.
What have been the most exciting discoveries for you recently?
I find it particularly interesting how our view of viruses has changed so rapidly. Viruses have no place in the tree of life, but due to their astronomical numbers and great complexity we recognize today, viruses represent a force of nature that is implicated in all aspects of life, starting from its very origins.
Collectively, viruses reprogram the metabolism of their hosts upon infection, influence key ecological processes by preventing or promoting colonization and competition, speed up evolution by tinkering with genomes from all domains of life, and in some cases even change the reproductive behavior of animals. They force us to think about what a living being is.
And just about 30 years ago, giant viruses were discovered, whose genomes were larger than those of some bacteria. It has since emerged that these viruses are found everywhere and almost have something like a metabolism. Studies of viruses are flourishing in microbiology, and there is a good reason for that.
Are there other biological structures that are not included in the tree of life?
Yes, plasmids, for example. They represent another exciting branch of microbiology. Plasmids are genetic elements that lie outside the chromosomes. They carry additional genes and can be exchanged between different bacterial cells and even between different types of bacteria. Their replication is dependent on their host cells.
But they make up for it by providing their hosts with, in some cases, extremely important fitness determinantsfor example, genes for antibiotic resistance. However, the diversity of plasmids in the natural habitats is still poorly understood.
There are also other genetic elements that lie outside the chromosomes. One group of such elements discovered last year is called "Borgs," after a species from the Star Trek series. Other virus-like elements, whose relationship to other organisms is still completely unclear, were only discovered this year. They have been named "obelisks" because of their cylindrical shape. This opens up completely new worlds, and the contemporary microbiologist is just like a child in a candy shop.
More information: A. Murat Eren et al, Modern microbiology: Embracing complexity through integration across scales, Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.08.028 Journal information: Cell
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More than half of the detainees in Police Watch Houses are there because they have violated their bail conditions. A first of its kind study by Edith Cowan University (ECU) has provided insights into the key reasons for those breaches.
In Australia, the bail system permits most people accused of a crime to remain in the community while they await their court date, under various conditions, because they are considered innocent until proven guilty.
However, a high number of people on bail breach the orders placed on them, resulting in additional charges and incarceration, without even having their day in court.
A new study published in the Journal of Criminology, led by criminology researchers Associate Professor Natalie Gately and Dr. Suzanne Rock, surveyed 230 police detainees at the Perth Watch House about their orders and the reasons behind their recent breaches.
Key findings:
Homelessness, family responsibilities, and procedural challenges were identified as primary barriers to adhering to bail conditions.
No significant differences in breach rates were found based on Indigeneity, though allowances for cultural obligations were recommended to reduce breaches.
Associate Professor Gately said most of the detainees understood their orders but shared a range of complex issues in their lives which interfered with compliance.
"A public misconception may be that people breach bail due to committing further crimes," she said.
"However, our study has shown that most breaches are the result of administration difficulties and situations outside the bailees control, such as homelessness."
Impact of breaches
Granting bail in Australia's justice system upholds human rights, allows people to keep their jobs, maintain family obligations and relationships, and helps avoid overcrowding in prisons.
Dr. Rock said people may underestimate the impact that breaching bail orders has on both the detainee and the wider community.
"It can be highly disruptive for people when they breach bail and can't remain in the community," she said.
"For women on remand, it often means leaving their children, who may then go into foster care, which can damage family relationships.
"And for people with stable employment it can mean a risk of losing their job.
"There is a significant cost to the community when people breach bail conditions, especially if they might not even end up with a prison sentence once their case is heard."
Recommendations
Dr. Rock said removing some of the procedural roadblocks to compliance would reduce additional charges, workloads of police and court staff and assist with delays in the administration of justice.
The study outlined the following strategies to address the barriers to compliance identified in the research:
Establish a specific court outreach service to help those on orders navigate and adhere to their conditions.
Set up court reminders in the most appropriate method for the bailee (e.g., mobile phone texts).
Provide a phone number/email specific for bailees so if they are having trouble attending, they can notify the right person and avoid a breach.
Set up a formalized "extension tracker" to record the date, time and reason why an extension or alternative court date or reporting method is being sought (this could also monitor trends and protect the public).
"When low risk people on bail breach their conditions, they are re-criminalized and take up valuable court and police time and resources that could be used for high-risk offenders," Associate Professor Gately said.
"For Australia's justice system of granting bail to be effective, conditional orders must be achievable, and the current system's rigidity does not account for the complex realities of those on bail.
"By adopting a more flexible approach, we can reduce the strain on individuals, decrease additional charges, and ultimately improve the efficiency and fairness of our justice system."
More information: Natalie Gately et al, Complex lives and procedural barriers: Detainees' "life happens" explanations for breaching orders, Journal of Criminology (2024). DOI: 10.1177/26338076241265980
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Map of the Bangladesh (GangesBrahmaputraMeghna (GBM)) delta. This GBM River system flows through five countries of the South Asian region i.e. Bangladesh, India, China, Bhutan, and Nepal. This figure also depicts the geographical locations of main river channels and tributaries. Credit: Environmental Research Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ad796d
An international study led by the University of Glasgow is the first to define a safe operating space (SOS) for major rivers in the Ganges Delta, which will enhance resilience in one of the world's most vulnerable deltas to global climate change.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow, Bangladesh University of Professionals, and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University and Riverine People, found that four out of ten rivers in the Bangladesh Delta exceeded the SOS and that the majority of river flow has been significantly altered, with the remaining six rivers given cautious status.
The study shares valuable scientific evidence that will inform science and policy related to transboundary water, and contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Bangladesh and South Asia.
The space just before the unsustainable state is defined as an SOS, within which humanity can safely thriveanything beyond this is dangerous to humanity. Defining the SOS can provide an idea of the boundaries within which water management can operate safely to provide water security, and the sustainability of ecosystem services and development in Bangladesh.
Findings from the study have been shared in a paper published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
In the attached infographic, the red shading represents the dangerous state (beyond safe operating space) of river flow. The yellow and green shading represent the cautious and safe state of river flow respectively. However, according to our findings, none of the river flow is within the safe operating space. The four major rivers including the Ganges (dry season) and Old Bramhaputra have already exceeded the safe operating space. These figures have been conceptualized as a metaphor based on the synthesized information from the analysis of this study. Credit: University of Glasgow
Dr. Md Sarwar Hossain, of the University of Glasgow's School of Social & Environmental Sustainability, led the research. He said, "The contribution of water to all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is critical to achieving SDGs in the context of climate change. This poses a major challenge as nearly 40% of the global population lives under water scarcity, including areas such as Bangladesh, which is one of the largest, most populous and climate-vulnerable deltas.
"Though Bangladesh is known as the land of rivers, the transboundary nature of rivers in Bangladesh mainly imposes a risk to water security, which is exacerbated due to global climate change. Therefore, without overcoming the challenges of water security and resolving transboundary water disputes, it is unlikely that resilience to climate change in the Bangladesh Delta will be enhanced, at a time when it is desperately in need of this."
Key findings highlight the need for fair and equitable treaties, ecological restoration and technological solutions to maintain the river flow within the SOS for the social-ecological systems in the Bangladesh Delta. The analysis also reveals the challenges in maintaining SOS for the Ganges River, despite signing the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty in 1996.
In addition, several river flows have transgressed SOS, which highlights that existing management and treaties are not enough to ensure the sustainable management of water.
To address the declining trends of transboundary river flow, the report recommends that success stories such as the Mekong River Commission (mutual benefit through sustainable management and development of water and related resources, sharing accurate and appropriate technical information) and Indus Water Treaty (multi-tiered dispute resolution process, allowing neutral expert or an international court of arbitration to settle disputes, etc) could be adopted for bilateral and multilateral treaties with India including Nepal for Ganges, and China and Bhutan for Jamuna River, respectively.
More information: Alamgir Kabir et al, A safe operating space for the major rivers in the Bangladesh Delta, Environmental Research Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ad796d Journal information: Environmental Research Letters
Research vessel Deep Sea No. 1 arrives at Tsim Sha Tsui Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong, south China, Sept. 24, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
China's research vessel Deep Sea No. 1, carrying manned submersible Jiaolong, received a warm welcome Tuesday in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the first time they visited the city.
The vessel is on a home-bound voyage after completing a scientific mission in the Western Pacific Ocean. During their two-day stay in Hong Kong, scientists on board will give lectures to Hong Kong students and hold a number of international seminars to share the results of this scientific expedition.
Warner Cheuk, deputy chief secretary for administration of the HKSAR government, said that the visits ahead of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China fully demonstrated the central government's care and support for Hong Kong's marine scientific research development and ecological conservation.
It is hoped that this event will inspire more young people in Hong Kong to engage in deep-sea research and make planet Earth a better place to live in, he said.
Wu Changbin, director of China Ocean Mineral Resources R&D Association, congratulated the successful completion of the Western Pacific international voyage scientific expedition, saying that this voyage not only enhanced China's scientific understanding of deep-sea biodiversity and ecosystems but also contributed important scientific data to global marine scientific research.
The scientific expedition team of Chinese and foreign scientists set sail on Aug. 10 from Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, and made a total of 18 dives in the Western Pacific. It was the first time that foreign scientists have carried out deep-sea scientific research on Jiaolong.
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain
Astrochemist Ryan Fortenberry, UM associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, collaborated with Ralf Kaiser, of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, to study the creation of a simple sugar acid in space-like conditions. This molecule, glyceric acid, is considered a "building block" of life. The journal Physik in unserer Zeit recently published their research (in German).
"This is a fundamental question about where life originates," Fortenberry said. "Where did we come from?"
"The discovery of this molecule ... tells us how we can go from the creation of atoms in the core of stars to complex biomolecules that allow us to contemplate the universe itself."
Glyceric acid is one of the simplest sugar acids and plays a crucial role in the metabolism of living organisms on Earth. Though acids, such as vinegar, are normally sour and sugars are sweet, glyceric acid can be either, depending on its state, Fortenberry said.
Regardless of how the molecule tastes, its formation fills in an important gap in our understanding of the origin of life, the Ole Miss researcher said. The gap is between small moleculeslike those studied in prebiotic chemistry, the study of chemical reactions that preceded intelligent life, and have between four and 14 atomsand large molecules, which can have up to 4,000 atoms.
"Within astrochemistry, there's a big disconnect between what we call prebiotic chemistry and biochemistry," he said. "What we know from the biochemistry is that if we can make these small biomolecules, these small prebiotic molecules, they will assemble together into these big biochemicals."
That's where glyceric acid comes in. It is one of the in-between chemicalsneither large nor smallthat shows that prebiotic molecules can join to become biochemicals, he said.
"It's like prebiotic molecules are the sticks and the leaves and the pinecones, and biochemistry molecules are the tree," he said. "We have the pieces. How do we put the pieces together?
"To continue the analogy, this molecule is a branch. It's got leaves. It's got sticks. It's got pinecones on it. It's not a tree, but it's a branch, and we can take the branches, put them together and make a tree."
Understanding that glyceric acid can form in space is a key to unraveling the mystery of life's origins on Earth, he said. If glyceric acid can form in gas clouds in spacefor example, in Sagittarius B2, a large cloud at the center of Earth's galaxythen the molecules essential for life may be more common in space than previously understood.
"The study suggests that molecules like glyceric acid could have been synthesized in molecular clouds and possibly in star forming regions prior to their delivery to Earth via comets or meteorites thus contributing to the building blocks of life," Kaiser said. "Understanding how these molecules form in space is crucial for unraveling the mysteries of life's origins."
That could mean that Earth's life-forming conditions may not be an anomaly, but more likely than previously thought.
"Every atom in our body that's not hydrogenevery single atom in your body, mine, this table, the whole planeteverything that is not hydrogen at some point over the past 13 billion years was formed in a star," he said. "Those atoms became molecules, and we don't exactly know how it continues, but it eventually made large molecules.
"Those molecules made cells, and those cells made tissues, and those tissues made organs, and those organs made organisms. This molecule (glyceric acid) matters because it is one of those steps along the ladder."
More information: Jia Wang et al, Ist der Weltraum su oder sauer?, Physik in unserer Zeit (2024). DOI: 10.1002/piuz.202470404
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
Polluted water leaking from thousands of abandoned mines in Colorado's mountains is turning wetlands orange and dumping toxic dissolved metals in the headwaters of many of the state's rivers.
But people who want to fix the problem are hampered by the very federal laws meant to protect the environment.
Organizations and local governments that want to fix the acidic drainage from a mine outside of Almaand the hundreds of thousands of other abandoned mines across the Westare hopeful about new legislation under consideration in Congress. By removing liability burdens, the bill would finally give them more leeway to stop the pollution seeping into the streams relied upon for drinking water, recreation, and fish and animal habitat.
"This is a problem that is generally unseen to the general public," said Ty Churchwell, a mining coordinator with Trout Unlimited who has worked for more than two decades to create better policy for abandoned mine cleanup. "As long as they can walk over to their tap and turn it on and clean water comes out, too often people don't think about what's happening at the top of the watersheds.
"But it's a horribly pervasive problem, especially in the West. It's hurting fisheries, tourism and recreation, domestic waterit's a problem that needs to be solved."
More than 23,000 abandoned mines dot public and private land across Colorado's mountains and hills, according to the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety. At least 500 of those measurably harm nearby water quality by leaking acidic water packed with dissolved metals and sulfates. Those substances can turn streams and wetlands an unsettling orange.
In high-enough concentrations, the acidic mine drainage can kill aquatic ecosystems.
Acidic drainage pollutes at least 1,800 miles of Colorado's streams, according to a 2017 report from state agencies. About 40% of headwater streams across the West are contaminated by historical mining activity, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
But nonprofits, local governments and other third parties interested in fixing the problem are deterred by stringent liability policies baked into two of the country's landmark environmental protection laws: Superfund and the Clean Water Act. Anyone attempting to clean up sources of pollution at a mine could end up with permanent liability for the site and its water quality.
"When I talk to clients and lay out exposure under Superfund and the Clean Water Act, they just throw up their hands and say, 'John I'd like to help, but I can't take that risk,"' said John Watson, an attorney who practices environmental law.
State officials, nonprofit leaders and lawmakers for decades have worked to find a solution that allows outsiderscalled "good Samaritans"to mitigate the pollution infiltrating thousands of miles of streams.
That work may finally bear fruit as Congress considers a solution that advocates believe has a good chance of passing. Federal legislation to address the problem cleared the Senate with unanimous support, and on Wednesday it passed out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committeethe farthest any good Samaritan mine cleanup bill has proceeded.
Perfect as the enemy of the good
Last week, large machinery rumbled at the abandoned mine outside Alma as contractors worked to grade a hill of mine waste, flattening the yellow- and orange-tinged rocks.
Since the mine's opening in 1891, polluted water has flowed out, traveling through the pile of mine tailings and waste rock, which contain elevated levels of arsenic, iron, lead, copper, mercury, molybdenum and zinc.
Zinc, which is toxic to fish in elevated concentrations, is one of the major concerns at the site, where the collapsed mine entrance spews about an eighth of a pound of dissolved zinc every day. The water becomes even more polluted after it passes through the waste piles.
Water testing showed that the amount of dissolved zinc in the water increased by a factor of 14 after the mine water traveled through the waste.
That water was then dumped into 4 acres of wetlands below the siteand eventually into Mosquito Creek, which drains into the Middle Fork of the South Platte River south of Alma.
But now, after work by Trout Unlimited, the mine water travels around the mine waste via a lined channel that keeps the contaminated water from seeping into the dirt. Contractors will also reshape the mine wastewhich covers about an acreand enhance it with substances like crushed limestone to trap and neutralize metals when water passes through.
The hill will then be covered and revegetated.
When completed in October, the $244,000 project should measurably improve water quality in the creek, said Jason Willis, director of the nonprofit's Western Abandoned Mine Lands Program. Though work is only halfway done, the wetlands already appear less orange.
If good Samaritan laws were in place, Willis said, Trout Unlimited could address the source of the pollution at the mouth of the mine.
"We could be doing this project a little more holistically," he said.
Under current law, Trout Unlimited would have to assume permanent liability for the pollution if it decided to address the discharge at its source. The nonprofit would also be required to treat 100% of the pollution, which is not always possible or financially feasible, said Churchwell, the group's mining coordinator.
"Our contention is that if we can remove 25%, 50%, 75%isn't that better than none at all?" he said. "And none at all is the program that we have today. We can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."
Even state agencies shy away from treating toxic mine drainage at its source.
Colorado's Inactive Mine Reclamation Program addresses safety concerns from mine openings and pollution from mine waste and tailings, but it does not treat polluted water at the point of discharge, program director Jeff Graves said in an email.
"CERCLA (the Superfund law) and Clean Water Act create a situation where a Good Sam, in this case the State, could be liable for long-term water treatment or remediation at a site where the State undertakes reclamation activities," he wrote.
No constituency for orange water
Now Congress is attempting to remove that barrier. The pending bill, the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2024, would create a pilot program for up to 15 remediation projects led by good Samaritan organizations. A number of Colorado lawmakers are co-sponsors of the bill, including both senators and Reps. Brittany Pettersen, Joe Neguse, Lauren Boebert and Jason Crow.
Under the bipartisan legislation, a good Samaritan cannot be someone who had a role in the creation of the mine. Good candidates include state agencies, counties, watershed groups and other nonprofits. A site can only be eligible for the program if there is nobody remaining to be held accountable for the original mining and pollution.
Many abandoned mines stopped production before major legislation was enacted to hold miners responsible for environmental damage. While the worst sites are remediated under the Superfund law, many medium and small sites do not qualifyeven though they, too, contribute pollution to soils and waters, Churchwell said.
A good Samaritan law could allow others to fill the void.
Gov. Jared Polis' administration has thrown its support behind the legislation. Dan Gibbs, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, in January wrote a letter urging senators to approve the bill.
"Previous bills over the past 25 years have attempted to strike a balance between incentivizing would-be cleanup proponents while protecting against further environmental harm, but have not garnered sufficient support to move forward," Gibbs wrote in the Jan. 9 letter. "This Bill strikes that balance, and has gained broad support from the mining industry, state and local governments, sportsman groups, and conservation organizations."
One of the state's biggest water providers also supports the concept of a good Samaritan bill. Denver Water draws nearly half of its supply for 1.5 million people from the South Platte River basinthe same basin that the mine site outside Alma drains into.
"Thousands of abandoned mines across Colorado and the West remain a threat to water quality and in some cases can make drinking water treatment more complex and costly," Alison Witheredge, a Denver Water watershed scientist, said in an emailed statement. "Denver Water supports expanding the tools available to nonprofits and other groups to take steps to clean up these sites without the burden of environmental liability that can be associated with taking on these challenging problems."
After more than two decades of advocating for a good Samaritan law, Churchwell believes the current iteration of the legislation threads the needle between legal, mining and environmental needs.
"Orange, heavy metal water from mines impacts everyone, regardless of political partythis is not a political issue," Churchwell said. "There's no constituency for orange water."
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Before beginning its war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022, Russia had already conducted an aerial bombardment of Georgia in 2008 and invaded Crimea as well as the Donbas region in 2014. This has left politicians and researchers puzzling over the question: Would it have been possible to prevent the current war in Ukraine if countries had implemented more decisive and intensive sanction policies back then?
In a new study, Gerald Schneider, a professor of international politics at the University of Konstanz, and Thies Niemeier, a doctoral researcher at the Konstanz Graduate School of the Social and Behavioural Sciences (GSBS), project how effective tougher sanctions could have been. The work is published in the journal Research & Politics.
Their assessment is based on a statistical model that compares the political and economic relationships between countries to the success of sanctions. This allows them to identify the factors that are likely to make sanctions more successful. These variables include a higher intensity of sanctions, closer economic ties to the sanctioned country and the country's history of having been a colony of a European country.
Taking lessons from the past
"It is extremely important for politicians to be able to fully assess the likely consequences of various political measures. Ideally, they should be able to evaluate these effects ahead of time and decide accordingly," says lead author Niemeier.
However, even afterwards it is useful to draw conclusions about the connection between the strength of sanctions and their impact. The researchers use "counterfactual scenarios" to analyze what would have happened differently if certain political measures had been taken earlier, had been more robust or had been implemented differently.
Niemeier and Schneider studied sanctions levied against Egypt, Burundi, Mali and Russia by the European Union and the United States. They classify sanctions into different degrees of intensity. According to their model, examples of "light measures" include restrictions on the freedom of movement of specific Russian oligarchs implemented after 2014, as well as barriers to investment by individual Russian companies.
Further categories of sanctions involve steps like banning the arms trade and freezing development aid or limiting trade in certain industrial sectors. The toughest category includes wide-ranging economic embargoes, like those once introduced against South Africa and currently imposed on Russia.
The greater the intensity, the greater the effectiveness
The researchers found thatat least with regard to the EUrobust measures in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea and the invasion of the Donbas region would have had a greater impact than the moderate approach that had been used.
"When they are more credible and costly for the target country, economic sanctions are more likely to induce the country to make concessions," says Schneider. Especially in Africa, it has proven successful on several occasions for the EU or U.S. along with the African Union or the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to mount a quick, robust response.
What about Russia? "Our models suggest that intensive sanctions in 2014 would have had a high probability of increasing the cost of future aggression and making President Putin more willing to negotiate," Schneider explains. "Even if they would probably not have been enough to move Russia to withdraw from Crimea."
The political scientists base this projection on the close economic and political ties between the EU and Russia as well as the resulting negotiating power of Brussels.
Schneider concludes, "The 2014 sanctions that were watered down as the result of lobbying from the financial and energy industries reinforced President Putin's mistaken belief that increasing the level of aggression against Ukraine would result in only a few costly sanctions."
According to the study, while tougher EU sanctions would have made Russia more willing to make concessions, similar measures by the U.S. would have had little success. The model predicts that stronger sanctions by the Western superpower do not necessarily have a greater impact.
US-American strategies in sanctioning
According to the study, the intensity of economic ties to the sanctioned country generally influences how effective sanctions will turn out to be. Being the Western superpower, the United States can follow a different strategy when sanctioning countries.
"When a world power like the United States threatens sanctions, the countries facing the prospect of these sanctions tend to back down so that the sanctions do not actually have to be imposed on them," Niemeier explains. "Another factor is that the US sometimes enacts strong economic sanctions against countries that depend little on the US economy. These sanctions cannot be successful if they do not cause economic pressure."
More information: Thies Niemeier et al, Counterfactual coercion: Could harsher sanctions against Russia have prevented the worst?, Research & Politics (2024). DOI: 10.1177/20531680241272668
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Members of the research team collected tree ring samples at various locations in Europe, including the Balkan region. Credit: Valerie Trouet
During her summer travels to her native Belgium, University of Arizona professor Valerie Trouet noticed something that turned casual curiosity into a major scientific discovery: when the sun hid behind an overcast sky and people around her put on sweaters instead of summer clothes, the weather tended to be warm and dry in Italy, Greece and the Balkans, popular summer escapes for tourists from the cooler climates of central and northern Europe.
At U of A's Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Trouet studies tree-rings to gather clues about what past climates were like, reading wavy, wooden lines like a linguist might decipher an ancient text. What if, she mused, the key to understanding the capricious summers in Europe could be hidden in trees, silent witnesses to centuries of warm and cold, sunshine, rain and snow?
Trouet assembled an international collaboration to collect tree-ring samples across Europe. The team published its resultsthe first reconstruction of the jet stream over the past 700 yearsin the journal Nature.
The jet stream and the Black Death
Jet streams are concentrated bands of wind in the upper atmosphere that travel around the globe in the northern and southern hemispheres. Their exact locations are not fixed; in response to changes in the position and intensity of high- and low-pressure weather systems, they may shift north or south or change their course, resembling a swiftly running stream at some times, and a slow, meandering river at others.
The jet stream, it turns out, largely determines the summer climate in Europe, and it does so in a seesaw-type pattern that climate researchers call a "dipole."
"When the jet stream is in an extreme northern position, we get cooler and wetter conditions over the British Isles and warmer and drier conditions over the Mediterranean and the Balkans," explained study co-author Ellie Broadman, a former postdoctoral research fellow at Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research who is now a biologist at the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Field Station of the U.S. Geological Survey.
"This is related to the climate conditions we are witnessing right now, such as catastrophic flooding in central Europe."
Hotter conditions over the Balkans cause more moisture than normal to evaporate from the Mediterranean Sea and rain down further north. Conversely, when the jet stream migrates further south, it drags warmer and drier air over the British Isles and pushes cooler temperatures and more moisture toward southeastern Europe.
Wood samples from the Balkan region were among those analyzed for this study. Credit: Valerie Trouet
Measurements of the jet stream have only been around since the late 1940s, Trouet said. By using tree-ring samples from across Europe as proxies for temperature, the research team was able to reconstruct jet stream variation over the past 700 years.
Each year, trees add a ring consisting of less dense wood in the spring and denser wood in the summer. By analyzing tree rings under the microscope, dendrochronologists can compile an archive of past climates.
"We link tiny, subcellular cell wall features in the wood to atmospheric winds that weave through the atmosphere many miles above the Earth, which is fascinating," Trouet said.
Remarkably, the team found past patterns of the jet stream reflected on a societal level, recorded in historical documents.
"Europe has a long history of writing things down," Trouet said. "For example, there were monks in Ireland who started recording storms that happened in the 600s, the early Middle Ages, and you have centuries-long records of grape harvests, grain prices and epidemics."
By comparing historical records to the jet stream reconstruction, Trouet's team discovered that the climate dipole created by the jet stream has influenced European society for the past 700 years and likely much longer.
"Epidemics happened more frequently in the British Isles when the jet stream was further north," Trouet said. "Because summers were wet and cold, people stayed indoors, and the conditions were more conducive to spreading diseases."
From 1348 to 1350, the plague, known as the Black Death, raged in Ireland. At that time, the jet stream was in an extreme, far-north position over Europe.
In Scotland, where virtually no living trees going back many hundreds of years are left, the team collected subfossil wood from lake bottoms for dendrochronological analysis in the lab. Credit: Valerie Trouet
The findings provide critical data to improve climate models that researchers rely on to predict future climate, Broadman said. Much research has focused on how the jet stream is affected as a result of global warming.
"It's hard to do that if you only have 60 years' worth of data, which is why a reconstruction going back 700 years is very useful," she said. "It allows you to actually compare the past to what's been happening since we started putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere."
Harvest failures, wildfires and extreme weather
Scientists have observed a trend showing the jet stream is gradually shifting northward, independent of its seasonal or more short-term variations.
"When you combine our reconstruction with harvest failures, you see that this trend likely leads to issues with major cereal crops and other types of weather extremes," Trouet said. "It gives you a preview of the kinds of extreme events and societal outcomes we could expect if that trajectory continues."
The findings also set a precedent for a future trajectory of jet stream variation and extreme weather events, such as wildfires, Trouet said.
"We showed that wildfires in the Balkans historically happened substantially more when the jet stream was in that northern position that creates dry and hot conditions," she said. "And that is exactly what we're seeing this summer. The results that we're seeing in our reconstruction act out in real life."
"When you look at how the jet stream's natural variability alone has impacted societies, you can get an idea of what might happen if you add more heat in the atmosphere and more variability," Broadman added. "Being able to say, 'OK, maybe we need to watch out for this or that particular jet stream configuration' can be very helpful for predictions of climate-related extremes."
More information: Valerie Trouet, Jet stream controls on European climate and agriculture since 1300 CE, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07985-x. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07985-x 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:
A conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) rosette used to sample water from the ocean's twilight zone during a GEOTRACES expedition in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: Alex Fox
The ocean's twilight zone is deep, dark, andaccording to new researchiron deficient. No sunlight reaches this region 200 to 1,000 meters below the sea surface, where levels of iron, a key micronutrient, are so low that the growth of bacteria is restricted. To compensate, these bacteria produce molecules called siderophores, which help the bacteria scavenge trace amounts of iron from the surrounding seawater.
A Nature paper detailing these unexpected findings from the Pacific Ocean could change the way scientists view microbial processes in the deep ocean and offer new insight into the ocean's capacity to absorb carbon.
"Understanding the organisms that facilitate carbon uptake in the ocean is important for understanding the impacts of climate change," said Tim Conway, associate professor of chemical oceanography at the USF College of Marine Science, who co-authored the recent study.
"When organic matter from the surface ocean descends to the deep ocean, it acts as a biological pump that removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in seawater and sediments. Measuring the rates and processes that influence this pump gives us insight into how and where the ocean stores carbon."
Co-chief Scientist Phoebe Lam of the University of California, Santa Cruz and others removed the pump's damaged section of cable from the winch. Credit: Alex Fox
To conduct the study, researchers collected water samples from the upper 1,000 meters of the water column during an expedition through the eastern Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Tahiti. What they found in the samples surprised them.
Not only were concentrations of siderophores high in surface waters where iron is expected to be deficient, but they were also elevated in waters between 200 and 400 meters deep, where nutrient and iron concentrations were thought to have little impact on the growth of bacteria.
"Unlike in surface waters, we did not expect to find siderophores in the ocean's twilight zone," said Conway.
"Our study shows that iron-deficiency is high for bacteria living in this region throughout much of the east Pacific Ocean, and that the bacteria use siderophores to increase their uptake of iron. This has a knock-on effect on the biological carbon pump, because these bacteria are responsible for the breakdown of organic matter as it sinks through the twilight zone."
The recent discovery was part of GEOTRACES, an international effort to provide high-quality data for the study of climate-driven changes in ocean biogeochemistry.
Left to right: CTD technician Kyle McQuiggan, Research Technician Keith Shadle and multi-talented Data Analyst Joseph Gum work together to repair the trace metal CTD rosette's connection to the ship. Credit: Alex Fox
Tubes awaiting samples in the hydro-lab of the Roger Revelle. Scripps ODF Chemistry Technician Erin Hunt monitors her samples in the background. Credit: Alex Fox
One of the pumps comes back on board the R/V Roger Revelle at sunset. Credit: Alex Fox
Inside the main lab's bubble, some of GP15's scientists found it necessary to create reminders that time was indeed passing. Credit: Alex Fox
The study of siderophores is still in the early stages. Researchers involved in GEOTRACES only recently developed reliable methods to measure these molecules in water samples, and they're still working to understand where and when microbes use siderophores to acquire iron.
Although the research into siderophores is new, this study demonstrates their clear impact on the movement of nutrients in the ocean's twilight zone.
"For a full picture of how nutrients shape marine biogeochemical cycles, future studies will need to take these findings into account," said Daniel Repeta, senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and co-author of the article.
"In other words, experiments near the surface must expand to include the twilight zone."
More information: Daniel Repeta et al, Microbial iron limitation in the ocean's twilight zone, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07905-z. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07905-z Journal information: Nature
GLENS FALLS The Glens Falls Collaborative will be bringing Oktoberfest to Glens Falls this weekend.
Oktoberfest will run from noon until 3 p.m. on Glen Street in Glens Falls, Saturday Sept. 28. The event will feature fare from local breweries, eateries and more.
Octoberfest committee members, Carly Mankouski, Nevin Voorhis, Megan Zeim and Cam Cardinale are finalizing their list of vendors, and waiting on a few last-minute sign-ups, the group is expecting 15 to 20 vendors.
We are hoping Oktoberfest grows from year-to-year, said Carly Mankouski, one of the events organizers and the owner of Radici Kitchen & Bar.
We think its a really great way to highlight the local craft breweries, and we have so many of them in our community. Some of the stars of Oktoberfest will be local breweries; Mean Max, Davidson Brothers, Common Roots, theres also going to be a lot of great local eateries, Mankouski said.
Oktoberfest this weekend is a great way to celebrate the beginning of fall, Mankouski said.
The event is produced by the Glens Falls Collaborative with support from the City of Glens Falls, the Glens Falls Business Improvement District and Advokate, LLC. Mankouski said she is hoping to get 1,000 people to come to Oktoberfest this weekend.
The weather is beautiful. Its fall, its got food and beer and family fun, I just think this is going to be a great draw for a lot of people, Mankouski said. Its going to be a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Oktoberfest will also feature live music by The Spotters and activities for the family.
It should be a real good time, said Kate Austin, CEO and founder of Advokate, a public relations firm in Glens Falls. This is being put on by the Glens Falls Collaborative, the same group that has put on Wing Fest and Take A Bite, so it will be a similar festive vibe in downtown Glens Falls with a lot of different offerings from local breweries.
Oktoberfest started in Munich, Germany, Oct. 12, 1810, in celebration of the marriage of the crown prince of Bavaria who ascended to the throne as King Louis I. He married Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, according to the Encyclopedia Brittanica.
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China is on the way to establishing a complete service system that will remarkably improve the lives of hundreds of millions of senior citizens in the country, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
China will build an elderly-friendly society by improving its social security system, elderly care services and health supports, Minister of Civil Affairs Lu Zhiyuan has said, noting that an elderly care services system with distinctive Chinese features is expected to become well-developed and smoothly functional by 2035.
There were 297 million people aged 60 or above in China at the end of 2023, accounting for 21.1 percent of the country's total population. The country is taking a proactive approach to population aging, acknowledging it as a reality China must face squarely on its path to modernization.
While challenges exist, this demographic shift also presents opportunities, Lu said at a press conference on high-quality development held in Beijing on Monday.
Elderly care in China has transitioned from a security net providing basic livelihood support to a system of quality services that integrates both medical and health care, Lu said.
Elderly care services have also diversified from a government-centric model to including both government and market participation, as well as more social stakeholders, the minister said.
In a nod to the habits and preference for aging at home among most of its senior citizens, the country will develop a services supply structure characterized by coordination and interconnection between homes, communities and institutions, Lu said.
Among measures to shore up at-home elderly care, the central government has allocated 300 million yuan (42.5 million U.S. dollars) in guiding funds to support the development of catering services for the elderly in 2024, Vice Minister of Civil Affairs Tang Chengpei said at the Monday press conference.
Elderly individuals facing the challenges of advanced age, disabilities, empty nests or living alone are the focus of this endeavor, Tang said.
He noted that simultaneously, the country is expanding its catering services network continuously to deliver convenient meal services to the doorsteps of more senior citizens.
Catering programs have been rolled out in many regions to help elderly people access local meal services, with community canteens being a common form of these services.
Factory farms in Iowa produce 109 billion pounds of waste each year, according to a new report from Food and Water Watch about concentrated livestock operations in the U.S.
Thats 25 times more waste than what all Iowans combined produce, according to the report.
Factory Farm Nation is an analysis of the 2022 U.S. Department of Agriculture census of agriculture compared with previous ag census data.
Over the past 20 years, the number of animals living on factory farms, which the report defines as operations with at least 500 head of cattle, 1,000 hogs, 500,000 broiler chickens (annually) or 100,000 egg laying chickens, has increased by nearly 50%.
The Top 10 counties in the country with the highest density of factory hog populations are all in Iowa and North Carolina.
Ninety-five percent of counties in Iowa produce more animal manure than human manure, and all but six of Iowas counties qualify as high or severe hog density counties.
The heavy concentration of these farms causes environmental harm, like polluted water and air. And, the report says, it causes economic problems too.
The report points to rural Iowa as a tragic case study in the social and economic harms associated with factory farm expansion.
As operations grow in size, the number of farms decline. In fact, from 1997 to 2022, Iowa hog farms decreased from more than 17,000 farms to just over 5,000, while the number of hogs in the state increased from about 14 million head in 1997 to more than 23 million in 2022, according to USDA census data.
The Food and Water Watch report links a rise in factory farms to increased rates of poverty and economic inequality in a community.
We found that the Iowa counties that sold the most hogs and had the largest operations experienced declines in real median income and population from 1982 to 2017, as well as losses in wage jobs and local businesses that exceeded the state average.
The report says Iowa should enact a moratorium on new factory farms, stop the expansion of industry scams like factory farm gas, ethanol, and carbon pipelines and pass the Clean Water for Iowa Act, a bill that was introduced in the House last year, but never advanced.
Iowa is most heavily concentrated in hog operations, but the maps from the same report show some counties with severe concentrations of beef cattle, milk cows and egg laying hens.
In addition to excessive amounts of waste, the report alleges that concentrated animal feeding operations cause increased health risks for workers, water shortages, declining farmer profits and increased consumer prices.
The report puts the blame on corporations who dominate every step along the food supply chain and the elected officials who fail to uphold antitrust laws and clean water and air acts.
We need to organize and educate within our own communities on the countless harms of factory farms and the need for new farm policies that work for people and animals not corporations, the report reads.
Food and Water Watch, via the report, said elected officials need to prioritize investments into local and regional food markets, reestablish supply management controls like price floors and expand crop insurance to more specialty food crops, in addition to banning new factory farms and enforcing existing laws.
We need to vote for candidates who share this vision of a more just and sustainable food system and who are willing to take on the agribusiness giants that are only out to promote their corporate interests.
The Pure Prairie Poultry chicken processing plant in Charles City has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The company, which has 138 full-time employees working at its facility at 901 N. Main St., began selling a variety of air-chilled chicken products in November 2023.
However, "the multi-year journey to reach that stage came at a substantial price," according to the Chapter 11 petition filed Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the State of Minnesota, where Pure Prairie is headquartered.
The speed and complexity of events leading to the implementation of a plan to file for bankruptcy 'have accelerated dramatically in recent weeks," the petition states.
Immediate protections the company is seeking include funds to continue to pay employees and provide them with benefits.
"The bankruptcy filing is in itself destabilizing to the work force; employees should not be forced to shoulder the additional burden of having to wait to be paid wage and benefits they have earned," the petition stated.
The company also is in danger of losing the deed to the plant property if it doesn't make a redemption payment of $110,788 for delinquent property taxes, according to the petition.
In late 2021, Pure Prairie acquired the former Simply Essentials chicken processing plant, which closed in August 2019.
The Greater Nevada Credit Union notified the company in April 2022 that it qualified for a loan of nearly $39 million from the USDA under the federally funded Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan program started in response to issues resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funds were to be used to continue rehabilitating the Charles City plant, according to the bankruptcy petition. However, approval of the loan was subject to additional property appraisals.
Nevertheless, since poultry prices were at a near all-time high in July 2022, Pure Prairie planned to roll out the sale of whole chickens in November of that year, despite not yet being approved for the federal loan, according to the petition.
"The hope was that this staged rollout would provide a source of short-term bridge revenue while (Pure Prairie) awaited the loan proceeds that would help it grow and refurbish the plant to full capacity," the petition stated.
Poultry prices dropped substantially in October 2022, but Pure Prairie proceeded with its plans to begin to sell whole chickens the following month. Revenues from these sales were disappointing, according to the petition.
A few weeks before the sales started, the USDA announced Pure Prairie would be receiving the $39 million loan, as well as a $7 million grant. The company began receiving the grant funds in January 2023.
Pure Prairie's bankruptcy petition states while the grant helped provide the company with gap financing at a time when it was generating little revenue, delivery of the loan proceeds was delayed substantially.
As part of the underwriting process for the loan, the Charles City facility was appraised in November 2022. The appraisal value could not support the loan amount, according to the petition. Following another appraisal two months later, the entire loan transaction had to be re-underwritten.
Pure Prairie closed on the loan in April 2023 and completed refurbishing the plant in November of that year so it could begin diversifying its product line beyond whole chickens, according to the petition.
However, the company has had around $38 million in operating losses from November 2023 to the present. Liquidity issues required shareholders to extend substantial loans to Pure Prairie, according to the petition.
In early 2024, the company's primary source of working capital, Bremer Bank, would not agree to increase Pure Prairie's line of credit from $7.5 million to $12 million. This development left the company unable to shoulder plant maintenance duties "and indirectly led to significant employee turnover," the petition stated.
Pure Prairie's efforts to secure an alternative banking relationship with Bremer Bank have been unsuccessful so far, according to the petition. The company's liquidity problems persist as it is unable to satisfy ongoing operational expenses and payment obligations under the federal loan, the document stated.
A meeting for all of Pure Prairie's creditors is scheduled for Oct. 21. Those creditors include the city of Charles City, which has an unsecured claim of $507,151 against the company.
LE MARS, Iowa -- A Le Mars woman was arrested Tuesday on charges related to the death of her child earlier this year.
Le Mars police and EMS crews were summoned to 234 Third Ave. SW the afternoon of April 29 for a report of an unconscious child, the Le Mars Police Department wrote in a press release. Lifesaving measures were unsuccessful and the child, a 2-year-old boy, was pronounced dead.
An autopsy and investigation found that 27-year-old Sexlyn Tataichy, of Le Mars, was responsible for child endangerment which resulted in the death of her child, according to the press release.
Tataichy was charged with second-degree murder, child endangerment resulting in death and child endangerment multiple acts, all felony counts, and booked into the Plymouth County Jail.
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Photo taken on Sept. 16, 2024 shows a flooded area in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. [Photo/Str/Xinhua]
Severe floods in Myanmar have caused significant devastation with a death toll of 419 as of Tuesday morning, according to the State Administration Council.
Over 140,000 people were affected by the floods, which have devastated over 750,000 acres of paddy fields and killed over 100,000 animals.
Additionally, the floods have destroyed 253 religious buildings, 926 roads and bridges, lamp posts and communication towers.
In response, Myanmar authorities have allocated 30 billion kyats (about 14.2 million U.S. dollars) for rescue operations and rehabilitation efforts.
Hieronymus Park in Hamilton is closed until further notice due to moose activity.
Amy Fox with Hamilton Parks said that a bull moose in the area had been exhibiting aggressive behavior towards visitors. City officials ask residents to please avoid the area until further notice.
It is currently the rut, or mating season, for moose. During this time, bull moose exhibit a variety of behaviors, including aggression towards humans. Bulls will fight other males to establish mating rights. The rut is most active in late September and early October.
Please be aware that moose may be present in any of Hamiltons city parks, particularly those along the river. Park users should be vigilant when visiting and avoid approaching any moose. Dogs are always required to be leashed but it's particularly important they remain leashed during this time.
The park will re-open as soon as the situation is resolved.
Avianca announces new weekly direct Bogota to Tulum flights starting early December
Tulum, Q.R. Avianca has announced new direct flights from Bogota, Colombia to the Tulum International Airport. The airline says the new route will begin December 10 and will be offered three times per week.
In a press release, Avianca announced that it will land for the first time in Tulum, Mexico, after announcing the launch of a new, unprecedented route that will connect more than 75 destinations in America and Europe with the heart of the Riviera Maya, through Bogota.
Starting on December 10, Avianca customers will be able to enjoy three flights a week to connect Bogota and Tulum directly. These frequencies will be operated on Airbus A320 aircraft with capacity for 180 passengers, which will represent more than 1,000 seats a week to fly between both destinations.
2024 has been a historic year for our route network in Bogota with the return of iconic destinations such as Caracas, Paris, Montreal, Chicago and Aeroparque (Buenos Aires) and soon also Tulum.
Through our route network, one of the most robust in Latin America and with Bogota as the hub of the region, we will now be able to connect millions of travelers from more than 25 countries with the paradise of the Riviera Maya, thus offering new connectivity options and more access to new destinations, said David Aleman, Avianca sales director for Colombia and South America.
The new Bogota-Tulum route will depart Bogota at 12:30 and arrive in Tulum at 16:00 Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays starting December 1.
Currently, Avianca has eight routes and 84 weekly flights that connect its customers with destinations in Mexico. With the entry into operation of this new route to Tulum, there will be nine routes and 87 frequencies per week.
Mayor-elect Estefania Mercado has bypass road project planned for Playa del Carmen
Playa del Carmen, Q.R. Days ahead of officially becoming the new Mayor of Playa del Carmen, mayor-elect Estefania Mercado has announced 15 large-scale projects.
In a press conference Tuesday, the soon-to-be new head of Solidaridad said the projects she has in mind will improve the urban image of Solidaridad and rescue public spaces. She says the projects are part of a broad catalog in which 900 million pesos will be invested during her first year of government.
One of those projects, she announced, will be a bypass around Playa del Carmen. She says efforts are being made in coordination with the state and federal governments to build a bypass that will serve to relieve urban traffic in the city.
The Governor already has the proposal for this project, she reported during the Tuesday conference.
Mercado also met with members of the Employers Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex) Riviera Maya, as well as with the Colleges of Engineers and Architects, led by Martha Suarez and Fidel Perez Castillo, respectively.
At the meeting with businessmen affiliated with Coparmex, Estefania Mercado introduced Estefania Hernandez as coordinator of the Tourism Roundtable, whom she charged with working hand-in-hand with Coparmex and tourism entrepreneurs on a promotional project for the next International Tourism Fair (Fitur) in Madrid, Spain.
She announced that during her administration there will be a one-stop shop to streamline and make transparent the procedures of Coparmex in the City Hall, while calling on businessmen to work together to make this city shine and be the world power that we boast about to the world but is not consistent with reality.
Estefania Mercado also called on the business community to participate in decision-making regarding security in order to jointly implement a comprehensive security strategy with mobility and investment.
The number one concern is extortion and insecurity, so we are going to reinforce intelligence work with the participation of everyone, she said.
Mercado met with the Colleges of Engineers and Architects where she made a presentation of the portfolio of the 15 projects she intends to start during her first 100 days in office.
Estefania Mercado intends to initiate 15 large-scale projects during her first 100 days in office. Photo: September 24, 2024.
We are going to start with 15 large-scale strategic projects. In the first 100 days we are going to launch all these projects. Today, we are presenting prototypes of what we want to achieve. The difference will be made in the citizen participation of all the projects that we are going to present to change the face of Solidaridad in these next three years, Mercado reported.
The mayor0-elect said that these first 15 projects are only the first take of a broad portfolio in which the first 900 million pesos will be invested in her first 12 months in office.
We are considering parks and renovations. We have a very important project for our brothers and sisters in Puerto Aventuras. In Villas del Sol we have committed to begin remodeling parks in the first 100 days.
Everything will be gradual over the next three years, but we are committed to investing 900 million pesos in the first year, of which 100 million pesos will go to sports, she said.
Pair tracked down and arrested for manipulating Playa del Carmen ATM slot
Playa del Carmen, Q.R. Two men were tracked down and arrested after being reported for manipulating an ATM slot. The pair were located and taken into custody by Transit Police Tuesday.
Police began a search for the two Mexico City natives after a citizen told police they were seen trying to install a wooden plate in the money slot of an ATM. Police began a search for their motorcycle, locating them on Avenida Andres Quintana Roo and Avenida 55.
Luis N, 38 and Misael N 28, both from Mexico City, remain in Solidaridad police custody. In a statement, the SSC (Seguridad Ciudadana Solidaridad) said two subjects accused of manipulating an ATM by placing a wooden plate in a slot were arrested by Municipal Transit after a search operation.
While police were driving on Avenida 50 Norte in the El Pedregal neighborhood, Transit officers attended to a citizen who asked for help and told them that two men had manipulated an ATM and then fled on a motorcycle..
So an operation was activated that resulted in the arrest of Luis N aged 38 and Misael N aged 28, both from Mexico City, after catching up with them and blocking their way on Avenida Andres Quintana Roo and Avenida 55.
When checking the ATM, the officers found a black wooden plate in a slot. The detainees had a bag and a container with glue in their possession. They were placed at the disposal of the State Attorney Generals Office for the corresponding investigations.
Red Alert! Authorities upgrade Cancun danger due to Helene trajectory shift
Cancun, Q.R. UPDATED: The northern regions of Quintana Roo are officially on Red Alert. Early Wednesday, the Government of Quintana Roo announced the increased alert due to the danger presented by storm Helene due to her large size.
The entire northern region is on Red Alert (maximum danger) September 25, 2024.
The Red Alert was issued to due the storms cone of uncertainty since Helene continues to meander closer and closer to Quintana Roo land. In a public statement Wednesday morning, the Government of Quintana Roo warned residents of the possibility of Helene actually impacting the region.
Update! Considering the cone of uncertainty, it is not ruled out that Helene could impact northern Quintana Roo during the morning of September 25 since it is very close to Cancun.
An AccuWeather radar map shows the storm at 9:45 a.m. Cancun time.
The center of tropical storm Helene is located over the northwest of the Caribbean Sea 65 kms east of Cancun and 100 km east-northeast of Cozumel. It has maximum sustained winds of 110 kms/h, gusts of 140 kms/h and moving northwest at 15 kms/h.
Its wide circulation will cause torrential rainfall (150 to 200 mm) in Yucatan and Quintana Roo and very strong rainfall (50 to 70 mm) in Campeche, as well as wind gusts of 90 to 110 kms/h and waves of 3 to 5 m high and possible formation of waterspouts on the coasts of Quintana Roo and Yucatan and wind gusts of 40 to 60 kms/h on the coasts of Campeche.
Isla Mujeres and Puerto Morelos issued the Red Alert to residents Wednesday morning. September 25, 2024.
A hurricane prevention zone is maintained from Cabo Catoche to Tulum, including Cozumel and a tropical storm prevention zone from Rio Lagartos, Yucatan, to Cabo Catoche, Quintana Roo.
The municipalities of Benito Juarez, Isla Mujeres, Cozumel, Lazaro Cardenas and Puerto Morelos are on Red Alert, the maximum danger phase. An Orange Alert, high danger, remains in effect for the municipalities of Solidaridad, Tulum and Felipe Carrillo Puerto.
Cancun city crews are seen here dealing with flooding streets and breaking branches ahead of Helenes official passing early Wednesday. Photo: Mara Lezama September 25, 2024.
A Yellow Alert, moderate danger, continues for Jose Maria Morelos and a Blue Alert, minimum danger, has been issued for the municipalities of Bacalar and Othon P. Blanco, the Gobierno Quintana Roo posted on social media.
The heightened alert has seen the suspension of Maya Train services. All services with final destinations at the Cancun Airport station will conclude at the Valladolid station instead.
At the Cancun International Airport, flights have also been affected by Helene. By Tuesday night, nearly a dozen flights were either cancelled or delayed due to the pre-stormy weather. Flight information displays inside the airport Wednesday are filled mostly with canceled or delayed flight updates.
Nearly 100 flights have been affected at Cancun International due to Hurricane Helene. Photo: Mara Lezama September 25, 2024.
UPDATE: As of noon Wednesday, nearly 100 flights into the Cancun International Airport have been affected. Local authorities reported the accumulated impacts caused by Hurricane Helene at the Cancun International Airport on September 25. Delays: Nine outgoing and seven incoming flights. Canceled: 34 incoming flights and 35 outgoing flights.
Tourists are seen here sitting on the floor inside Cancun International Wednesday due to delayed and/or cancelled flights.
Photo: Mara Lezama September 25, 2024.
Local taxi drivers around the city of Cancun have suspended services for the day, while ferry routes in Playa del Carmen, Cancun and Holbox remain closed.
On Tuesday, a total of 630 people voluntarily evacuated the island of Holbox prior to the passage of Helene. Paulino Garcia, head of municipal Civil Protection, made the announcement late Tuesday. Ferry services in and out of the Port of Chiquila are currently suspended.
For those who chose to stay, four emergency shelters have been set up for anyone needing to leave their home. The vacant homes on Holbox are being monitored. Additional state police and military were sent to the island Tuesday prior to the closing of the ferries.
State Police and military personnel were sent to Holbox to monitor homes to prevent looting. Photos: September 24, 2024.
Military personnel are on the island to assist residents as well as prevent looting. They will also stick around to help Potable Water and Sewerage Commission (CAPA) staff, who are equipped with pumps and hoses, drain flooded areas.
Marina remove sargassum nets off a Cancun beach Tuesday. Photo: September 24, 2024.
Navy personnel hit the sea Tuesday to remove the installed anti-sargassum barriers. Marina personnel were seen off several Cancun and Puerto Morelos beach areas taking the nets out of the water prior to the arrival of Helene.
The storm continues to shift her trajectory toward Quintana Roo. Helene will pass the coast until Wednesday afternoon when she will enter the Gulf of Mexico as a category 1 and, according to the National Hurricane Centre, quickly intensify into a major hurricane before making U.S. landfall later this week.
A spate of films in which the underprivileged wreak their revenge against the overprivileged may end up having the exact opposite effect than what is intended. (Warning: spoilers.)
Hollywoods new wave of movies satirizing the wealthy and powerful are garnering plenty of money and critical acclaim. But theyre also perpetuating destructive myths about wealth and inequality that will harm the very marginalized class the industry claims to be defending.
Takedowns of the rich are nothing new in Hollywood. From Citizen Kane to Wall Street to Wolf of Wall Street, American cinema has a long tradition of pulling the elite classes in our society back down to earth. But there seems to be an uptick in the number of these movies and their vitriol. And Im not the only one whos noticed.
In whats become known as Eat the Rich films, featured in best of lists at places like Salon and Collider, this subgenre doesnt just caution against the excesses of the uber-wealthy but indulges, as one writer put it, an aggressively anticapitalist hue. Think such critical and commercial darlings as Get Out, Parasite, The Menu, Triangle of Sadness, Ready or Not, Glass Onion, Saltburn, Dumb Money, and Blink Twice.
The plot is similar for most of these movies: A poor or middle-class outsider gets invited by a mega-wealthy person to enter his world. The outsider usually (though not always) thinks its amazing at first and enjoys being apart of how the other half lives. But then he or she discoversor it is revealedthat the wealthy person or group has a dark secret that forces the hero to kill the rich to survive, or at least destroy their wealth. Although the details differ, the themes are the same. Wealthy people are wicked and corrupt. Their wealth is a privilege they do not merit. Any relationship built between them and the lower classes will lead to the lower classes being exploited. The only way out is through violence.
Im a fan of satire sending up the rich and powerful. Knives Out and The Death of Stalin are two of my favorite movies. Dumb Money is surprisingly funny and heartwarming. And as a culture critic, Im keenly aware of how the stories we tell, particularly a bunch of tales with a common theme, can help us understand the world we live in. Films that deconstruct societys wealthy unpack how the powerful can abuse their powera necessary cautionary tale so that we as a society can both anticipate and correct such abuses.
But just as movies can help us understand the world we live in, they can also hurt the most vulnerable in our society by making us misunderstand the world we live in. Unfortunately, recent Eat the Rich cinema mostly does the latter.
The first myth these movies perpetuate is that people get wealthy through either pure privilege or outright evil.
In Parasite, the poor family that scams its way into working for an upper-class family is shown to be far smarter and more competent than the rich family. In Glass Onion, the wealthy people whom were supposed to believe are smart are revealed to be idiots who got their wealth through theft and connections. In Triangle of Sadness, the rich are portrayed as utterly incompetent and helpless when they are on an island away from a society made for them. In Ready or Not, the Old Money family has acquired its wealth as a result of a deal with Satan. In all the cases where the underprivileged are able to change their circumstances by the storys end, its because they copy the worst traits of the wealthy: they lie, they stealor worse, they kill.
This idea that its entirely luck or immorality that creates wealth keeps the underprivileged stuck by making them think a change in their station in life is virtually impossibleor that success is possible only through vice. But in reality, there are pathways out of poverty that rely on virtues that anyone can develop.
One way out of poverty is known as the success sequence. If you get at least a high school education, work full time, and marry before having children, you are far less likely to live in poverty. How much less likely? As sociologists Brad Wilcox and Wendy Wang reported at the American Enterprise Institute: Among Millennials who followed this sequence, 97% are not poor when they reach adulthood. The link remains strong when this cohort of young Americans reaches their mid-30s.
This effect is even more pronounced among people from disadvantaged groups.
Young adults from disadvantaged circumstances who follow the sequence are markedly more likely to overcome challenges and achieve economic success. The vast majority of black (96%) and Hispanic (97%) Millennials who followed this sequence are not poor in their mid-30s (ages 32 to 38), as is also the case for 94% of Millennials who grew up in lower-income families and 95% of those who grew up in non-intact families. Moreover, for those who do not have a college degree but only finished high school and who work and marry before having children, 95% are not poor by their mid-30s.
A culture of poverty that discouragesor at least doesnt encouragethese things is one of the biggest challenges the poor face. Will Redinger noted in his review of vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vances book Hillbilly Elegy that learned helplessness was one of the biggest factors in keeping Vances friends and neighbors stuck.
In a state of learned helplessness, people who are suffering consistently feel like something has been done to them, rather than seeing how their economic difficulties can stem from not having done enough for themselves. They may not want to confront the possibility that their vices prevent them having better lots in life. Vance argues, bluntly, You can walk through a town where 30 percent of the young men work fewer than twenty hours a week and find not a single person aware of his own laziness.
In contrast, The lessons imparted from [Vances] grandmother might have just saved him: she taught him to believe in himself (contrary to the explicit and implicit messages of the broader community) and taught him how to overcome problems he encountered.
And yet, Eat the Rich fables perpetuate this learned helplessness by divorcing the link between positive behavior and success. Author Rob Henderson calls out this tendency of those with high educational and economic status (such as those making most Hollywood films) for encouraging what he calls Luxury Beliefs. Luxury Beliefs are those only the privileged can afford to hold because they are shielded from the consequences of them. Luxury Beliefs, like all families are equally valid, make you seem progressive if youre rich. But most of the rich grew up in traditional households and will push their kids to follow suit when theyre of marrying agebecause a traditional family structure means children are more likely to thrive.
There are things the privileged can do to help the economically disadvantaged but that Eat the Rich movies actively discouragefor example, developing relationships with people of different social classes.
The New York Times reported on research that showed that poor children growing up with more friendships that cut across class lines was a huge factor in how much they earned in adulthood.
The effect was profound. The study found that if poor children grew up in neighborhoods where 70 percent of their friends were wealthythe typical rate of friendship for higher-income childrenit would increase their future incomes by 20 percent, on average. These cross-class friendshipswhat the researchers called economic connectednesshad a stronger impact than school quality, family structure, job availability or a communitys racial composition. The people you know, the study suggests, open up opportunities, and the growing class divide in the United States closes them off.
As the old saying goes: Its not what you know; its who you know. The more people you know who have achieved financial success, the more likely you are to have access to opportunities for advancement yourself, as well as to the habits it takes to succeed.
We know this applies to other relationships as well. Women advance more in the workplace when they have male mentors. And black authors have spoken about the necessity of interracial friendships to advance racial conversations. Books like Hillbilly Elegy and The Great Dechurching have discussed the deeply important role the church plays in helping people with resources connect with those who need them. And far too often, church folk arent doing enough to reach out to those in their community who need extended social networks.
Culture critic Aaron Renn recently discussed how this problem of disconnectedness has only gotten worse as the social classes have moved farther away from each other.
Today, the working class and non-working class increasingly inhabit parallel worlds. The geographic, consumer habits, and moresmuch of the experience of lifeof the college educated are distinct from those without. The city where I live is 75% people with college degrees, for example. Even for those of us who want to help working class men improve their fortunes, we dont necessarily have the perspective necessary to design public policy.
Yet the Eat the Rich genre stokes fears that any time a person with higher status develops a relationship with someone of lower status, it can only result in exploitation. In Get Out, the upper-class white people build relationships with black peopleonly to steal their bodies. In The Menu, the working-class girl is invited to the big dinner so she can be killed. In Ready or Not, marrying into the family also means having to die. In Blink Twice, the heroine is invited to the island to be raped. These flicks also create paranoia in the rich toward the poor. Films like Saltburn and Parasite are built on the premise of the poor developing relationships with the rich only to take advantage of them. The villain of Glass Onion got his position because he was a loser who took advantage of his friends compassion.
Obviously, the powerful do exploit the weak. And less powerful people sometimes try to mooch off the powerful. But the number of such horror stories that show only the dangers of cross-class relationships makes it seem like those dangers are bigger than they are, and the benefits smaller than they are.
If these films dont encourage solutions to poverty that we know work, what solution do they encourage? Violence.
Eat the Rich movies nearly always end with the poor rising up and killing the rich or destroying their stuff. Get Outs hero kills the wealthy white family. The heroines of Ready or Not and The Menu leave them to die to save themselves. The heroines of Blink Twice kill their captors and then brainwash the remaining one. The cook (probably) kills the model at the end of Triangle of Sadness. Parasite ends with a mass stabbing. The hero in Snowpiercer destroys the train theyre all living on. The heroes at the end of Glass Onion blow up the villains home and the original Mona Lisa in his possession. (Something climate change activists are doing to museum paintings in the real world.)
One could point out that this is dehumanizing, even if those humans are rich. But that plea doesnt typically move people. They usually respond that such dehumanization is harmless because the wealthy and powerful can always protect themselves in the real world from such grotesque destruction.
But there are a few problems with this attitude. First, if its true that violence against the upper classes will never actually happen, then youre admitting that eating the rich is not a viable solution to the plight of the underprivileged. That makes Eat the Rich movies cynical cash grabsthe Hollywood rich exploiting the resentments of the working-classes. Its just another form of bread and circuses to keep the masses content while big studios and A-list stars preserve the status quo. In other words, Hollywood is the villain of its own films.
But its not true that the average moviegoer has no power to use violence against the rich. They can vote. More specifically, they can vote for a tyrant.
The history of the word tyrant is fascinating. As I brought up in my analysis of Dune: Part Two earlier this year, the word tyrant has its roots in ancient Greece and typically referred to an aristocrat on the fringes of nobility who obtained absolute power over the government by gaining the support of the common people who felt disenfranchised by societys elites.
This is the dystopian endpoint of the Eat the Rich story. If the only way to avenge the injustice of the privileged is through violence, and the poor dont have the power or opportunity to effect that violence, then the only option is to give power to a charismatic leader to use that violence on their behalf. But the only way to give him more power over other powerful people is to give him more power over you, too. So he becomes one of the new elites to oppress you. Which is why every French Revolution becomes a Napoleon dictatorship, and every communist revolution becomes a Stalinist or Maoist totalitarian nightmare.
Fittingly, the Dune series has a much more realistic view of what Eat the Rich leads to than do most of the tales were subjected to. After ages of being oppressed by outerworlders, and being unable to beat them, the Fremen make an aristocratic outerworlder (Paul Atreides) their leader, one who promises to overthrow their oppressors. He does, butas we see in the later bookshe becomes a more genocidal tyrant than they ever suffered under before.
Stories have power. The stories we tellparticularly the stories we tell over and over againshape the way we see the world we live in. Thats why its so important that the stories we tell the truth. Otherwise, we might end up creating the very dystopian world were warning against.
Flash
Photo taken on Sept. 24, 2024 shows a house damaged in a rocket attack from Lebanon, in Rosh Pinna, northern Israel. [Photo/JINI via Xinhua]
Israel's army said on Tuesday night that Hezbollah had fired around 300 rockets and other projectiles into Israel amid the second day of Israel's heaviest attacks on Lebanon since 2006.
An explosive drone fell in Atlit, a coastal town south of Haifa, northern Israel, marking the first time Hezbollah's rocket fire has reached this region, said the Israel Defense Forces, adding that two additional drones were launched toward the area but were intercepted. The drones caused no casualties, according to Israel's rescue services.
Most of the rockets were intercepted by Israel's aerial defense systems, the army said.
Hezbollah confirmed the attack in a statement, saying its fighters launched "an aerial operation with a squadron of assault drones against the headquarters of Israel's special naval task unit Shayetet 13 in the Atlit base, targeting the positions of its officers and soldiers and striking the targets precisely."
In other cases, rockets or parts of interceptor missiles that fell to the ground sparked fires in the Mount Meron area of Upper Galilee. In Rosh Pina, a town in Upper Galilee, a residential home was hit and extensively damaged.
Hospitals in the affected areas reported treating about 23 people, but later statements from Israel's Magen David Adom emergency health service indicated that those treated were suffering from panic, not physical injuries.
At nightfall, Israel launched a new wave of attacks in Lebanon. The Air Force "conducted a number of extensive strikes on dozens of terrorist targets belonging to Hezbollah in the Beqaa region and several other areas in southern Lebanon," the military said.
During the day, Israeli warplanes continued the massive strikes, which, according to the military, dismantled "dozens" of infrastructures where weapons were stored and numerous launchers aimed at Israeli territory were located.
Also on Tuesday night, unnamed Lebanese military sources told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes carried out ten raids on towns in the Tyre area deep in southern Lebanon and raided Hezbollah sites in the Jezzine area, also in the south of Lebanon.
Amid the sharp escalation, the Israeli military conducted Tuesday an exercise simulating fighting inside Lebanon, according to the Israeli Defense Ministry. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant remarked that "the series of blows on Hezbollah's command chain, operatives, and weapons were tough." According to Gallant, Israel has destroyed "tens of thousands" of rockets, missiles, and launchers since Monday.
Answering questions in a press briefing on Monday night, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari neither confirmed nor denied whether Israel plans a ground operation in Lebanon.
Israel began its most extensive bombardment of Lebanon since 2006 on Monday, resulting in more than 550 deaths, including civilians, and over 1,800 injuries across the country. The flare-up has raised concerns about the potential for a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with fears that other nations could also become involved.
CHRISTIANSBURG A divided town council agreed Tuesday to pay a lump sum of $400,908 toward the New River Valley Regional Commissions planned relocation.
The vote to approve the measure was 3-2, with opposition coming from Councilwomen Johana Hicks and Kim Bowman, both of whom voted earlier this month against supporting regional commissions plan to buy the former American National Bank building in Christiansburg and move from its longtime headquarters in Pulaski County.
In presentations to the local governments who make up most of the regional commissions membership, Executive Director Kevin Byrd has explained that the commission has outgrown its offices and has looked for a new space for years.
The regional commission is asking members to approve the purchase of the former bank building at 2450 Market St. N.E. The property is assessed at almost $3.2 million and the commission has a purchase agreement to buy it for $2 million. The commission plans another $1.25 million of renovations to the structure.
To cover the costs, the regional commission is asking its 13 local governments, as well as Virginia Tech, Radford University and New River Community College, to contribute amounts assigned on the basis of population. The largest backers would be Blacksburg with $650,529 and Montgomery County with $593,295. Christiansburg would have the third-highest amount.
The regional commissions work includes studies and planning efforts that involve multiple jurisdictions.
Officials have said that commission members could pay either in lump sums or across the duration of the financing plan of which the commission decides. Information given to Christiansburg council included financing options that ranged from 15 to 25 years.
Hicks asked Tuesday if council could delay its vote until a public hearing could be held, but other council members did not agree. Town Manager Randy Wingfield said that the commission needed a decision within a week or so in order to act on the purchase.
Wingfield said that the town could use unspent federal money from the American Rescue Plan Act that must be spent by years end.
Town Finance Director Valerie Tweedie said that the money probably will be grouped with other spending changes into a larger budget amendment that council will have to hold a public hearing about before formally changing the town budget.
Hicks said that she could not support moving the money within the budget.
Also Tuesday, Tweedie announced that she is retiring Dec. 31 after 15 years as finance director.
Concluding a presentation on upgrades to the towns financial systems, Tweedie said her time with the town had been the best years of her career and that she was grateful to all the town council members who had continued to appoint her.
I think weve done a lot in the last 15 years I think youre in good hands, Tweedie said.
Council members praised Tweedies service, with Hicks saying the finance director had guided council through tough decisions with spending, taxes and utility rates.
You always have an answer, Hicks said. Youve kind of been the mom to town council.
Barber and other council members joked that they havent accepted Tweedies resignation yet, then said they wished her well.
I cant thank you enough for what youve done for the town and its employees, Barber said.
The regional commissions work includes studies and planning efforts that involve multiple jurisdictions.
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When it comes to finding compatible partners, Pisceans are drawn to individuals who can provide the emotional support, grounding, and spiritual connection they crave. The zodiac signs that tend to be the most compatible with Pisces are often those that can complement their unique blend of sensitivity, creativity, and occasional tendency to drift.
Taurus: A Harmonious Union
Taurus, the steadfast earth sign, is often considered one of the most compatible matches for Pisces. This pairing is characterized by a shared appreciation for sensual pleasures, artistic expression, and the comforts of a cozy domestic life. Taureans, with their practical nature and grounded approach to life, can provide the stability and security that Pisceans so deeply desire.
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The Taurus partner's ability to anchor the Piscean daydreamer in the present moment can be immensely beneficial, helping to channel their boundless creativity into tangible forms of expression. Together, this couple can create a harmonious haven, where they can indulge in gourmet meals, explore the world of art and music, and revel in the simple joys of a life well-lived.
Moreover, the Taurus' patience and understanding nature can provide the perfect counterbalance to Pisces' occasional emotional turbulence. When a Piscean feels overwhelmed, their Taurus partner can offer a calming presence, gently guiding them back to a place of emotional equilibrium.
Cancer: An Empathetic Connection
Another highly compatible sign for Pisces is the fellow water sign, Cancer. Both Cancers and Pisceans share a deep emotional sensitivity and an innate desire to nurture and care for those they hold dear. This shared emotional intelligence creates a strong foundation for a profoundly intimate and understanding relationship.
Cancers, with their protective and maternal/paternal instincts, can provide the emotional support and validation that Pisceans crave. In turn, Pisceans can offer their Cancerian partners a level of empathy and compassion that few other signs can match, fostering a deeply fulfilling emotional connection.
Together, this water sign duo can create a cozy, domestic haven where they can indulge in their shared love for the arts, music, and the finer things in life. They may even find themselves drawn to collaborative creative projects, where they can combine their unique talents and perspectives to produce something truly remarkable.
However, it's important for both partners to be mindful of their tendency to become overly absorbed in each other's emotional worlds, potentially leading to a co-dependent dynamic. Maintaining a healthy balance between their individual needs and the needs of the relationship will be crucial for the long-term success of this pairing.
Scorpio: A Profound Spiritual Connection
Scorpio, the intense and mysterious water sign, is another highly compatible match for Pisces. This pairing is often characterized by a deep, almost mystical connection, as both signs share a profound interest in the spiritual and metaphysical realms.
Scorpios, with their unwavering loyalty and insatiable desire for emotional intimacy, can provide the level of trust and vulnerability that Pisceans crave. In turn, Pisceans can offer their Scorpio partners a level of empathy and understanding that few other signs can match, creating a bond that transcends the physical and delves into the realm of the soul.
Together, this water sign duo can embark on a shared journey of self-discovery, exploring the depths of their own psyches and the hidden mysteries of the universe. They may find themselves drawn to practices like meditation, astrology, or tarot, as they seek to deepen their understanding of the unseen forces that shape their lives.
However, the intensity of this pairing can also pose challenges, as both signs can be prone to emotional withdrawal and power struggles. Maintaining open and honest communication, as well as a willingness to compromise, will be essential for this partnership to thrive.
Capricorn: A Grounded Collaboration
Capricorn, the pragmatic and ambitious earth sign, may seem like an unlikely match for the dreamy Pisces, but this pairing can actually be quite complementary. Capricorns, with their organizational skills and practical approach to life, can provide the structure and stability that Pisceans often crave.
In this partnership, the Capricorn partner can help the Piscean translate their creative visions into tangible realities, offering their strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities to bring their shared dreams to fruition. Whether it's launching a successful business venture or embarking on a meaningful artistic project, this duo can make a formidable team, with each partner contributing their unique strengths to the collaboration.
Moreover, the Capricorn's grounded nature can serve as a steadying influence on the sometimes-erratic Piscean, helping them to stay focused and accountable. In turn, the Piscean's compassion and emotional intelligence can soften the Capricorn's sometimes-rigid approach, fostering a more balanced and harmonious partnership.
However, it's important for both partners to be mindful of their differences in communication styles and approach to life. Pisceans may need to be more assertive in expressing their needs, while Capricorns may need to learn to be more receptive to the Piscean's emotional needs and creative impulses.
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STORM LAKE, Iowa -- A second man has been sentenced to prison for his involvement in a July brawl and police standoff in Storm Lake.
Jamuo Gatwech, 22, of Storm Lake, was sentenced Monday in Buena Vista County District Court to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty of willful injury resulting in serious injury and participating in a riot in a separate case involving a December fight. He must serve at least five years before he's eligible for parole.
Charges of first-degree burglary, participating in a riot, trafficking in stolen weapons and two counts of willful injury resulting in bodily injury were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Gatwech was one of 10 people arrested after a July 9 fight that involved up to 20 people and a resulting police standoff. Several people were involved in the fight in the 600 block of Chloe Lane in which three people were injured. One of the victims had been approached by a crowd of people walking in the street while he drove by and was punched in the face. After he parked the vehicle, he was assaulted and his wallet was stolen.
The suspects fled and were tracked to a home at 725 Lilly Court, where the occupants refused to exit, and the situation escalated into a barricaded standoff. The standoff ended three hours later, when several suspects exited the home and were arrested. During a search of the house, detectives found two handguns, one of which was reported stolen, and the stolen wallet.
One of the others involved was previous sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty of willful injury and trafficking in stolen weapons.
DOON, Iowa -- A manure release contaminated a small stream near Doon that feeds into the Rock River, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said Tuesday.
The manure flowed across a field and entered an unnamed tributary of the Rock River just west of the intersection of Fillmore Avenue and 270th Street, the DNR said in a press release. No fish were observed in the stream.
"There is very little flow in the stream, and there was no observed impact in the Rock River," the DNR said in its press release.
The manure originated from the Winding Meadows Dairy in Rock Valley, Iowa. Jochum Agri-Service was in the process of applying the manure to a field approximately two miles southeast of the dairy, the press release said, when a hose coupling broke. An estimated two or three thousand gallons of manure was released.
"Earthen berms were placed across the flow path, but the manure still entered the stream in an adjacent field," the press release said.
Two Northwest Iowa schools have been named National Blue Ribbon Schools.
The Alta-Aurelia Middle School in Aurelia and the Rock Valley Elementary School in Rock Valley were among the 356 schools nationwide that were selected Monday by the U.S. Department of Education. The award highlights schools that excel in academic performance or make significant strides in closing achievement gaps among different student groups.
Only five schools in Iowa were selected. The others were Decorah High School in Decorah, Nodaway Valley Middle School in Fontanelle and Rock Run Elementary School in Iowa Falls.
A National Blue Ribbon School award flag will displayed in the entryway or flagpole of the winning schools, which serve as models of effective and innovative practices for educators across the nation, according to the Department of Education..
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Award is a testament to the exceptional achievements of students and educators at each of these schools, Education Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. The 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools are raising the bar for our nations students, serving as models for effective teaching and intentional collaboration in their schools and communities."
The Department recognizes all schools based on student performance data including assessment results, student subgroup performance and graduation rates. Schools are recognized in both or either of two categories: Exemplary High Performing or Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing.
The Alta-Aurelia and Rock Valley schools were both recognized in the Exemplary High Performing category.
Up to 420 schools may be nominated each year. Each nominated school submits a comprehensive application detailing its school culture, programs, assessments, instructional practices, professional development, leadership, family, and community involvement.
Care and Feeding is Slates parenting advice column. Have a question for Care and Feeding? Submit it here.
Dear Care and Feeding,
How do you make and keep friends in middle age? My husband and I moved to our current town from a large city just over a decade ago, when we were turning 30. We made some friends early on, but not nearly as many as wed had in our previous city. We resigned ourselves to this, enjoyed the few friends we did have, and listened when older folks told us it would be easier to make friends once we had kids.
Then we had our first child in March of 2020 (ha); clearly, there were no social events to be had. When he started preschool at 18 months, wed hoped to befriend some parents, but we hardly even saw his classmates parents because of the COVID-era pickup and drop-off system. Fortunately, the world looks different now, but we are more friendless than ever. Our few pre-pandemic friends have moved away. Weve met other daycare families and invited some over for playdates or dinner, asked fellow moms or dads for coffee or a drink (mom asking moms, dad asking dads, to be clear). Those always seemed to go well but then they never invite us over in return. Literally hasnt happened once.
Part of me thinks social norms may have changed and I should just continue to issue invitations, but part of me also thinks they would reciprocate if they wanted to befriend us. And all the more so because I get the feeling that we are the only friendless ones. I hear these other parents talk about getting together with friends, traveling with friends, etc. So is it us? I promise weve had good friends before, or Id be sure we were the problem. What are we missing here? I grew up with parents who didnt have friends and swore that wouldnt be my future, but here we are.
Need Buds in Nebraska
Dear Nebraska,
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Its Friendship Week here at Slate, so Ive been saving your question up. This week the magazine is full of advice for making friends, keeping friends, knowing when to ditch friends, and more. Friendship is all were talking about at Slate Advice HQ, where they lock the doors, chain us to our desks, and force us to answer questions day and night. Good thing Im such great friends with all my co-workers!!
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This is a question very close to my heart, because our experience, when we moved from a big city to the suburbs, mirrored yours. I cant even count the number of families we had coffee with, grabbed a beer with, played cards with, even invited on vacationall of whom we thought we got along with great, and none of whom reciprocated the invitation. Truly I do believe that basic human interaction is sort of broken in America, and people simply do not practice the social niceties that once governed polite society. In some ways this is great (if your neighbor is a racist asshole, you are not expected to act friendly to him anymore!), but it also means that you cannot count on people to offer the courteous exchanges of invitations, one following the other, from which neighborhood friendships once were made.
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And so, yes, one answer is that if you want friends, you have to keep on issuing invitations, even in the face of frustration. You have to follow the wise advice of the Care and Feeding podcasts co-host Elizabeth Newcamp, whose husband is in the military and who consequently moves to a whole new city every three years and has to make all new friends. Her philosophy: You say yes to everything, you do stuff with everyone, and you invite, invite, invite. Does that mean that often you will be disappointed? Yes. Does it mean that you and your spouse will, at times, feel like youre back in high school, rehashing every millisecond of a friend date to try to figure out where you went wrong? Oh yes. It sucks hard.
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And yet! Remember that everyone is busy, everyone has too much going on, and no one (likely) is intentionally deciding that they hate you and youre not worth it. Its just that life is nuts these days, and families take precedence, and people generally are happy to settle for the friends theyve already made, and it can be hard to break through that. If there is a couple whose company you really enjoy, and they keep saying yes to your invitations, keep issuing the invitations. What have you got to lose?
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A little more practical advice, based on us eventually, thank God, finding some friends in our suburb we really love:
Consider looking for friends outside of your childrens day care, school, etc. There is no law that your friends need to be the parents of your childrens friends! Indeed, such adult friendships can sometimes be turbulent, if the kids have a falling-out.
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Find a social sport, start playing bar trivia, join a church, initiate a volunteer activityput yourself in as many situations as possible where you are with other adults, some of whom may be parents and some of whom may not.
If someone new moves to town, pounce.
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Good luck, and if you relocate to our neighborhood, give us a call.
Dear Care and Feeding,
My son, 3 , is very attached to me, his mother. I am planning a six-day trip without him, which I am really looking forward to. How and when do I start telling him that I am leaving for a week? I was planning on just leaving without getting into it, but he is beginning to understand and remember stuff and I think he will notice my absence and verbalize it. But Im worried that when I tell him, he will be clingy and panicky. His dad, grandmother, and nanny will be there while Im gone, and he goes to nursery school as well. Prior to this, I have not been away from him for a long time. I do go to work, so he is away from me for nine hours a day, but that is part of a well-established routine.
Should I Feel Guilty?
Dear Should I,
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No, you shouldnt feel guilty! Parents deserve breaks, and you are part of a support system that will keep your son happy, healthy, and safe while you are gone. (Daddy, Grandma, and nanny? His cup runneth over!) Youve spent three-plus years caring for him, working for him, and looking after him. Youre allowed to have some time to yourself.
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When to tell him? I am never a fan of belaboring such news, or extending it over days or weeks. Especially if your child is a worrier, theres no need to give him the kind of advance notice you give your employer. A few days before you leave, tell him about the exciting place youre about to go. Pittsburgh is a beautiful city with rivers running all through it, you can say. There are 446 bridges in Pittsburgh! Tell him youll send photos of some of your adventures in Pittsburgh, and that youll call him on FaceTime and tell him all about what youre doing.
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The message here, which should be shared by everyone he talks to, is not that he should be sad or worried because hes being left by his mother, but that his mother is going to do a wonderful thing for a while, and then shell come back. In families, you can tell him, its perfectly wonderful for people to sometimes go away for a little while to do something important to them. When people in our family go away on adventures, were happy for the opportunities they have, and even though we miss them while theyre gone, we know theyll come back soon. And in the meantimelook at all the bridges Mommy took photos of!
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However and whenever you convey this information to him, please remember that he will be just fine. He might become clingy for a while. He might cry. Conversely, he might remain so stoic through the whole thing that you become convinced he doesnt even miss you. Dont worry, youll probably find some reason to feel guiltyif your own brain doesnt trick you into it, some judgey (or just unthoughtful) bystander will helpbut put it aside. In the long run, this will have zero effect on him. It is absolutely, positively, 100 percent fine to be away from your kids for a while, whether its for work, for non-work obligations, or just for fun.
Enjoy Pittsburgh!
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Dear Care and Feeding,
My son, who is 17, had a girlfriend (16) he dated for six months. They were regularly having sex, which I found out by accident. During the relationship, my son came to me because, during intercourse, his girlfriend had told him to stop, and he didnt stop until she told him a second time. I told him she had every right to be angry. I told him to take responsibility, apologize, and make sure she knew it wasnt her fault. She didnt have to forgive him, and he needed to learn and do better.
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I was surprised when she was back at our house about two weeks later. Apparently, my sons approach made her feel that she could forgive him. She had previously gone out with a guy who forced her to perform oral sex and berated her for not doing it right.
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After they reconciled, she was still angry with my son, insulted him, and used things hed told her against him. My son finally told her that they couldnt go out anymore. After the breakup, when her parents saw how upset she was, she told them that my son had forced her. She now isnt allowed to come to our house after school. Her parents are very strict and, therefore, she lies to them regularly. I dont think she could tell them the truth.
My son is having anxiety attacks over the matter and feels like he cant move on. They go to the same school and he sees her every day. Im going to get him counselling and I urged the girls mother to get her help. I also said that I didnt want the kids to communicate any more. I left my number in case her parents want to speak to me again. Is there anything else I could do?
Too Much Teenage Drama
Dear Drama,
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I think it is clear that you have gone above and beyond, vis-a-vis your involvement in this relationship and subsequent breakup between your son and this girl. For someone who only found out about your sons sexual activity by accident, you sure know a lot about it nownot to mention the information you have somehow obtained about this girls past sexual partners. (Seriously, why do you know that? Thats extremely not your business.)
Its time for you to step back. I think you said the right things to your son when he confessed his transgression to you, but there is a limit to how much you can manage someone elses stormy relationship. Her parents have done everyone a favor by forbidding her from coming over; these two young people are not currently good for each other. Youre right to arrange for your son to talk to a counselor; it would be useful for him to have an uninvolved, neutral third party in his life to manage his anxiety and discuss his issues with consent. Certainly, right now, everyone else in his life is an extremely involved third party.
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When you spoke to the parents, how did they feel about what their daughter told them about the incident? Shes not wrong that, in important ways, he did force herdid, for some period of time, have sex with her when shed revoked consent. (And thats assuming he narrated the encounter accurately to you.) Or is it that she told her parents that all sexual activity between the pair was forced? Its not at all beyond the realm of possibility that theyll take these allegations further; have you decided how you will respond, how you will talk to him about it, how youll balance her word against his, and who will represent your son in any proceedings?
In the meantime, it serves no purpose for you to continue interacting with your sons ex-girlfriends family. They have your phone number if they need it.
Dan
This story was supported by the journalism nonprofit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.
The first time I met a rich person, I was 15. Id just arrived at boarding school on scholarship after time in foster care. My new roommatelets call her Janehad transferred from a top-ranked public high school that educated Silicon Valleys heirs. I grew up with an anguish that came from low expectations, while Jane suffered from the stress of never being good enough. In our tiny, cell-like dorm room, I learned that despite our opposite upbringings, we had a lot in common. We both loved calculus and hated our nosy RA, and we were both miserable. And we both coped in ways that have now become ubiquitous among Americas youth. I cut myself, abused Adderall, and made myself throw up in our dorms bathroom. Jane grappled with overwhelming anxiety, distorted body image, and social media addiction. Even our emotional torment seemed to have a common origin: economic inequality.
In America, the gap between haves and have-nots is enormous, and has been widening for years. Whats less well-known is the growing body of evidence, summarized this month in a Lancet report, suggesting that inequality harms us psychologically and physically, no matter our tax bracket or the size of our house. It makes status hypersalient, weakens social ties, and encourages us to choose prestige over purpose. As inequality rises in lockstep with measures of psychic distress among teens, we need to consider its role if we want to keep kids from suffering needlessly, falling short of their potential, and, increasingly, dying before they reach adulthood.
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This problem, which defined my teenage experience, has become particularly urgent to me as a new parent. I dont want to raise my daughter in a culture where well-meaning parents push their progeny to the brink, where it increasingly feels like the only two options are amassing enormous wealth at all costs or suffering through a life of penury.
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Sociologists and demographers have long recognized a relationship between poverty and illness, but inequality itself seems to contribute to negative outcomesfor rich and poor alike. In her book The Spirit Level, epidemiologist Kate Pickett found that less egalitarian nations had three times the rate of mental illness of more egalitarian countries, and that even wealthier citizens in those unequal places were vulnerable. Inequality, Pickett told me, affects everyone in a society. Were all exposed to it. By making social status increasingly important, inequality spurs people to incessantly compare themselves to others, a source of constant stress that wears us down and, in turn, makes it hard to trust, eroding the social bonds that protect against despair.
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Many researchers who track health trends see the 1980s as a turning point in American mental health. During the Reagan years, the rich began getting much richer while average wages flatlined. Soon, rates of emotional disturbance ticked upward rapidly, while trust in other people began to fall. U.S. life expectancy began trailing that of peer countries.
Today, the situation is even more dismal: American life expectancy has fallen for five straight years, and is at its lowest rate in almost 20 years. More children and teenagers are dying, too, many by gun violence, overdose, and suicide: 1 in 25 American kindergarteners wont live to age 40. This is unprecedented for a rich country in the modern era. The Lancet report, crafted by more than 50 people over five years, points to inequality-increasing economic policies as a key reason why peoples mental health is suffering.
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To me, this is personal: As a working-class teen from the Midwest coming of age during the Great Recession, hopelessness consumed me. Financial instability weakened my parents marriage; the ensuing divorce buried my mom in debt and left her on the hook for raising me alone. Union jobs, like my moms, were disappearing. She lived in fear of getting laid off, which fueled her compulsive shopping and hoarding until we lived in squalor. I grew depressed and eventually spent time in a locked residential psychiatric treatment center and foster care. When I tried to kill myself at 13, it was because I saw no future.
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My family wasnt even the worst off. We never fell into dire poverty, and we were white, so we never faced racism. But I was tormented by the sense that a shimmering paradise existed somewhere, just out of reach. The internet taught me that in other, fancier places, people ate salads instead of McDonalds, practiced Pilates instead of clearance-shopped, and pronounced bagel bay-gull. Those sophisticates had easier problems and brighter futures. Whether or not I could enter their idyll depended on navigating an obstacle course where one wrong move would consign me to flyover land forever.
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It turns out that my high school roommate Jane was as terrified of downward mobility as I was. For her, staying in the one percent required earning straight As, getting into an elite university to study math or computer science, and then landing a job at one of a handful of blue-chip companies. Yes, her parents could help, but that prospect brought shame. Money hadnt been enough to save a close family member from psychiatric crisis nor to protect Jane from the fallout. While only catastrophe would plunge Jane into privation, shed have to fight to maintain the comfort of her youth and, like me, doubted she would succeed. In a country with a meager welfare system, where net worth often translates into self-worth, anything less than affluence felt like a terrifying drop into the abyss.
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Janes parents felt this fear, too, leading them to parent in ways that may have worsened their daughters anxiety. Even in one of Americas safest towns, 18-year-old Jane was rarely allowed outside alone when she was home from school. Of course, in a highly unequal society, hypervigilance makes economic sense as a way to prevent kids from falling behind. Across countries, the intensity of parenting lines up very closely with economic inequality, economist Matthias Doepke, co-author of Love, Money, and Parenting, has said. In egalitarian Denmark, kindergarteners routinely play with axes; Swedish elementary schoolers are encouraged to build fires. In stark contrast, Illinois parents cant leave 13-year-olds home alone without risking neglect charges. As America has become more unequal, parents of all incomes helicopter more. This increased parental guidance may help youngsters academically, but the lack of autonomy takes a psychological toll: Many experts believe intensive parenting is one of the most important causes of adolescent distress.
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But even those on the top rung of the economic ladder suffer from inequality. Clay Cockrell, a therapist to ultra-high-net-worth individuals in Manhattan, told me, Money at this level is toxic and dangerous. People die of this. When you have so much more than others, its hard to tell whom you can trust, leading to loneliness and paranoia. Studies suggest that upper-middle-class Americans exhibit less compassion and empathy compared to those with fewer meansemotions that are crucial for creating the bonds that sustain us. Enormous wealth engenders a sense of competition between the generations, Cockrell said, intimidating children who fear they will never emulate their parents success.
Given all the evidence that inequality harms our well-being, why have discussions about mental health ignored this scourge? One reason: The every-man-for-himself principles that fuel inequality also frame health as a purely personal issuea problem that should be addressed with individual interventions like medication and therapy, rather than policy change.
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Now that Im in my early 30s and a new parent, my circumstances are closer to Janes than those of my family of origin. Jane got into music school but decided to major in math; after a few years of finding herself, she became a data scientist in San Francisco. Meanwhile, aware that any old Ivy League degree wasnt enough to ensure my stability, I studied computer science. I worked as a software engineer at Google and Meta, married a fellow Harvard-trained engineer with generational wealth, and bought an apartment in Manhattan.
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Related From Slate Three College Students Whose Parents Couldnt Stop Hovering Have a Message for Us All Read More
But Im still terrified for myself and for my child. Theres only so much I can do to shield my daughter from capitalisms vicious reality. My child will face pressure to excel at all costsif not from me, then from the winner-take-all economy. She will grapple with what it means to live in comfort while many more go without. They will wonder if theyre next on the chopping block, fated to fall through a nonexistent safety net.
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Mental illness isnt just an emotional problemits an economic one. As the population ages, America relies on an ever-smaller pool of young workers to support the elderly. Debilitating psychiatric disorders make it hard to get an education or hold down a job, creating a dire threat to society as diagnoses rise.
Individual solutions like therapy and medication alone will never solve the mental health crisis. We also need to target inequality and the policies that foster it. While few people think about tax codes as public health measures, removing loopholes to increase tax revenue and expanding child tax creditsa move supported by both presidential candidates in the 2024 electioncan and do address rates of mental illness.
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And these changes are popular. In a 2021 poll, two-thirds of Americans said the government should pursue policies to reduce the wealth gap; even a majority of young Republicans concurred. Instead of bemoaning modern parenting trends, we need to look at the factors that push caregivers to helicopterand that make kids status-obsessed, materialistic, and sick with worry. Therapists can play a role by talking frankly about class and money, long taboo topics in the treatment room.
In our dorm room late at night, Jane and I agonized about our futures. Lying below me in our bunk, she grappled with the petrifying freedom that her familys money gave her. I feared what would happen if I couldnt pay for college or find a job that offered health insurance.
At 17 and 18 years old, we didnt have the answers. We were stuck in a world we had not created: Like any other inheritance, it was ours.
This is Totally Normal Quote of the Day, a feature highlighting a statement from the news that exemplifies just how extremely normal everything has become.
Shame on her. She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin to CNN on Tuesday, responding to Vice President Kamala Harris support for paring back the legislative filibuster
During an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio on Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris expressed her support for eliminating the filibusterthe Senate maneuver that effectively makes 60 votes the threshold for passing legislation, rather than a simple majoritywhen it comes to abortion rights.
I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe, she said in the interview, and get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.
This didnt strike me at first as especially newsworthy. Embedded in her central policy pledge of restoring Roe protections is the understanding that she would support the filibuster carve-out necessary to achieve that. This is not a subject on which there are 10 Republicans willing to deal, and its not the type of law that can be passed through reconciliation. It also does not meet the key newsworthiness benchmark of being new. Harris said in September 2022 that she cannot wait to cast the deciding vote to break the filibuster on voting rights and reproductive rights. That was a new position, in 2022. In 2017, she signed a letter with 60 of her fellow senators pledging to oppose any effort to curtail the legislative filibuster. She, along with quite a few other Senate Democrats who signed the letter, indeed changed their tune when the circumstances changed, and are subject to criticism for that. But this isnt a stance she arrived at yesterday while on the air with the good people of Wisconsin.
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But since Harris does very few interviews, I guess this is as juicy as it gets. And so a proper rending of garments was had. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, an ardent defender of the legislative filibuster, said in a Wednesday speech, for example, that to gamble the guardrails that make the Senate what it is, to short-circuit the process by which dissenting views are guaranteed a hearing, that ought to be disqualifying, by itself.
The most deliciously over-the-top performance of anguish, however, came from West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.
Im not sure how to describe Manchin anymore. He was a conservative Democrat who switched his registration to independent earlier this year, but he still caucuses with Senate Democrats. There was a brief moment, hours after President Joe Biden announced hed exit the presidential race in July, where word was that Manchin was thinking about re-registering as a Democrat to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. He didnt. Ive spent little to no time thinking about who Manchin would endorse in the presidential race, because Im no longer required to think about Manchin. He is retiring at the end of the year.
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Alas, though, Manchin made clear Tuesday that his support is certainly not going to Harris, now that she has reiterated her 2022 support for chipping away at the filibuster. Manchin has devoted much of his time during Bidens presidency toward protecting the filibuster, so we understand why hed snap into action when a presidential nominee raises the subject.
But these quotes to CNN are such a hoot!
Shame on her, he lamented. She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. Does she??
He continued: I think that basically can destroy our country, and my country is more important to me than any one person or any one persons ideology. I think its the most horrible thing.
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Jesus! Its a parliamentary quirk that has turned 51 into 60, guy!
I mean, if you do believe that a comprehensive legislative filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy, then it does follow that to pare it back, in any form, would be to destroy our country. But it couldcouldbe that his premise is a little over-the-top. (There are reasonable defenses of the filibusterand then theres a description of the filibuster as the Holy Grail of democracy.) Especially as there are significant democracy concerns with Harris opponent that he may want to consider in evaluating his choice.
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But there is good news for Manchin, McConnell, and the rest of the filibusterists. First, Republicans are favored to win control of the Senate, so this all becomes moot. (Unless theres unified Republican control of government, President Donald Trump again demands Republicans eliminate the legislative filibuster, and we see what would-be Senate Majority Leader John Thunes spine is made of.) Second, it would not actually be up to a President Harris to curtail the filibuster. Democrats, if they kept control of the Senate with 50 votes, would have to get 100 percent of their caucus to go along with any change. Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinemaalso not a big fan of Harris comments!were the two biggest impediments to filibuster reform during Bidens presidency. In a Harris presidency, dont be surprised to see a new stick-in-the-mud emerge.
The state of Missouri executed Marcellus Williams on Tuesday. He was almost certainly innocent, and his own prosecutors, as well as the family of his alleged victim, had sought to spare his life. The St. Louis Prosecuting Attorneys Office urged the courts not to kill Williams, arguing that his conviction was fatally undermined by a startling lack of evidence, racial bias at trial, and the results of recent DNA testing. But the Supreme Court ignored these pleas: The justices refused to stay his execution in a brief unsigned and unreasoned order Tuesday, with all three liberals dissenting. Williams was strapped to a gurney and put to death by lethal injection shortly thereafter.
The doubts about Williams guilt are nothing short of overwhelming. They stand as a testament to everything that is wrong with the capital system we have erected under a regime that is meant to prize certainty and finality. Everything that could go wrong with a death-penalty prosecution is on display here: Williams conviction rests on the testimony of extremely unreliable witnesses who were motivated by promises of leniency and cash payments to accuse him of murder. No physical evidence connects him to the crime: not fingerprints, not footprints, not hair found at the scene, and not DNA collected from the murder weapon.
It also appears that the prosecution sought to exploit race against him at trial: A Black man, Williams was accused of murdering a white woman, and prosecutors struck six of the seven prospective Black jurors. And although the Supreme Court has ruled that race discrimination in juror selection is unconstitutional, the conservative supermajority didnt care on Tuesday that Williams had been found guilty by a nearly all-white jury or that glaring due-process concerns undergirded his sentence.
After the court cleared the way for Williams killing, MSNBCs Chris Hayes pointed out on Threads an inconsistency thats worth reflecting upon: Its notable, he wrote, just how obsessed with due process and judicial review and the possibility of vindictive prosecution the conservative justices were when they granted Donald Trump sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution, and how little they seem to care when a likely innocent man is about to be executed.
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Indeed, these six justices extreme solicitude for Trump in last terms appalling immunity decision stands in stark and alarming contrast with their bloodless, wordless dismissal of Williams final petition for relief. The far-right bloc tripped over itself to reflect deep concern for the former presidents rights, fashioning brand-new law out of thin air to give him every last benefit of the doubt, every conceivable tool to defeat his criminal charges. It drew upon a skepticism toward the legitimacy of our criminal justice system that seems to disappear when the petitioner is a powerless person of color rather than one of the most powerful men in the world.
There is vastly greater, more incontrovertible evidence of Trumps guilt in the Jan. 6 cases than there was of Williams guilt in a murder. Yet Trump evades even a trial on the merits, while Williams is sent to the death chamber. Arguments in defense of Trumps immunity were rife with claims of bad-faith prosecutors behaving badly. The court now presumably accepts that Williams received a pristine trial.
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But this inconsistency, this selective application of turbocharged due process, goes far deeper than the courts immunity ruling. It reveals itself every time the Republican-appointed justices confront a party with whom they sympathize, for reasons personal, political, or both. Since Justice Brett Kavanaugh replaced Justice Anthony Kennedy in 2018, the conservative bloc has consistently greenlit executions that rest on dubious facts and contorted applications of law.
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Yet this bloc gladly twisted the very same law in knots to rule in favor of Jan. 6 insurrectionists charged with obstruction. Conservative justices who seem to rule automatically against ordinary criminal defendants, or even just people forced to sleep in parks, will stretch words beyond all meaning to hand a win to Trump, his allies, and his mob. When these select few face the prospect of consequences for their actions, every argument and utterance from prosecutors must be skeptically scrutinized for deep-state bias, nefarious agendas, or legal frailty. When a man with robust claims of innocence asks for a stay of execution to press his claims of actual innocence? The same justices cannot be bothered to intervene.
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We see this pattern repeat ad infinitum in an array of lower-profile cases that illustrate who benefits from this Supreme Courts highly selective empathy and interest. Corporations that damage our health with provably dangerous pollution? SCOTUS will nitpick the record to identify some laughable reason by which they can escape penalties. Corrupt public officials who take bribes for personal enrichment? The conservative justices will bend over backward to let them off the hook. Fraudsters who steal hardworking peoples money to enrich themselves? Their right to evade punishment is paramount to constitutional liberty. Gun sellers that profit from illicit weapons of mass slaughter? This court will shamelessly rewrite a statute to shield them from prosecution.
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Related From Slate We Helped John Roberts Construct His Image as a Centrist. We Were So Wrong. Read More
The conservative justices dont bother to hide whats going on here. When this bloc gutted the Clean Water Act in 2023, allowing wealthy landowners to destroy crucial wetlands, it had the gall to root its decision in due process. A staggering array of landowners are at risk of criminal prosecution or onerous civil penalties, the court fretted. The environmental protections at issue conflicted with the Constitution, it reasoned, because their definition was too vague, potentially encouraging arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. The straightforward mandate Dont destroy wetlands without a permit flunked this courts test of due process, but the execution of innocents does not.
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Similarly, when the government sought to ban bump stocksreplacement stocks that effectively turn AR-15s into automatic weaponsthe move triggered an outpouring of empathetic concern from the conservatives. These justices were horrified by the possibility that a hapless and well-meaning gun owner might not realize that this device, whose sole purpose is mass murder, was illegal under federal law. During oral arguments, they poured their hearts out for bump-stock enthusiasts who might be ensnared by vindictive prosecution without knowledge of the ban, as if ignorance of the law guarantees innocence. (It does not.) Incredibly, these same justices have ruled that people who are literally innocent of a crime may remain in prison under an unlawful sentence. A typical criminal defendant must languish behind bars for decades despite their innocence, but a defendant favored by this Supreme Court? Due process requires that they get any relief they demand.
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It is now certain beyond any shadow of a doubt that the six justices of the conservative supermajority have constructed two classes of Americans who receive two classes of judicial relief: one that looks like them and shares their values, and another that garners no empathy, concern, or even curiosity.
In a few short weeks, the court will hear oral arguments in Glossip v. Oklahoma, a case involving yet another capital defendant who received none of the perks and benefits and advantages afforded to the special defendants who are most cherished by the justices. Like Williams, Richard Glossip had a trial riddled with prosecutorial errors and deceptions and misconduct that any fair court would have prohibited. Like Williams, Glossips would-be prosecutors do not even seek his execution anymore and are in fact fighting to stop it; the Supreme Court had to hire someone to make the argument for his killing at the hands of a state that decided, as the misconduct came out in the wash, that it would rather not. Like Williams, Glossip has strong claims that he did not commit this murder. And yet the high courts fatal rebuff of Williams on Tuesday suggests that a majority of justices will conclude that this world would be a better place if Glossip, too, is executed before we can untangle what went wrong in his deeply flawed prosecution.
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Some of the justices constructing this two-tiered system have used every legal stratagem at their disposal to ensure that their own misconduct isnt subject to broad public scrutiny and evaluation, thwarting ethics rules to keep their ill-begotten spoils a secret from the public, rebuffing congressional requests, and ignoring invitations to testify. This week, these justices rejected the proposition that Williams life, like Glossips, is important enough to merit a process that would unearth unconstitutional inequities. We learned recently from the New York Times that Chief Justice John Roberts believed that if he hid the courts rationale for Trumps impunity behind abstractions and jargon, Americans wouldnt care that his court was engineering a system by which a guilty ex-president could go free. Evidently, when it comes to executing a Black man, the majority cant be bothered with even abstractions and jargon. An unsigned order will do.
Throughout the 2024 cycle, analysts have been justifiably pessimistic about Democrats holding the Senate, where they currently have a slim 5149 majority, factoring in independents who caucus with them. With a brutal map that has Democrats defending twice as many seats as Republicansmany of them in states that Donald Trump won once or even twicea Democratic Senate majority in 2025 has always been a heavy lift. But the party has made an odd strategic decision not to make serious investments in the only two meaningful Democratic pickup opportunities, against Republican incumbents Ted Cruz in Texas and Rick Scott in Florida, instead staking virtually everything on a high-risk gambit of running the table with their own vulnerable incumbents. That is a losing strategy that should change as soon as possible if the party is serious about maintaining its majority.
But thats not how party leaders currently see things. Well, I dont have unlimited money, so right now were focused on our incumbent states, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair Sen. Gary Peters recently told the Washington Post when asked about the neglect of races in Texas and Florida. In fairness to Peters, the Senate landscape is bleak this year, and Peters is basically trying to defend a city with a few battalions against a full-scale invasion force. Democrats are guaranteed to lose their seat in West Virginia, where retiring independent Joe Manchin will be replaced by popular Gov. Jim Justice unless the country is struck by an asteroid or Justice is photographed drinking a Bud Light while reading a copy of White Fragility. The Cook Political Report labels the race as Solid Republican. The Democratic nominee, Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, trailed Justice by 33 and 34 points in the only two post-primary public polls of the contest.
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Democrats are more capably defending seats in a slew of other tough races. In Pennsylvania, three-term incumbent Sen. Bob Casey is a clear favorite over challenger Dave McCormick, and in Wisconsin, incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin has maintained a smaller but consistent lead over Republican Eric Hovde. Michigan Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin has consistently topped polling to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow over her opponent, former Republican representative and CNN commentator Mike Rogers. And Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego is up big over Republican Kari Lake as they seek to replace retiring incumbent Democrat-turned-independent Kyrsten Sinema in Arizona. (Democrats had an incredible stroke of good fortune when the states Republican primary voters picked Lake, the most inept and repellant candidate possible, just two years after she blew the gubernatorial race.)
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That would get them to 48 seats, assuming that Democrat Angela Alsobrooks beats former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in Maryland. And thats where the going gets really, really tough for Democrats. Their chances ultimately depend on a level of ticket-splitting (voting for one partys candidate at the top of the ticket and another partys candidate down-ballot) in red states that we havent seen in two decades. In Ohio, three-term incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown is facing a stiff challenge from Trump-backed Republican Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer and businessman who was widely considered the GOPs weakest candidate. Nevertheless, Brown is in the fight of his life in a state that has gone from bellwether swing state to MAGA stronghold in the span of a decade, and the race is considered a toss-up. And then theres Sen. Jon Tester (first elected along with Brown in 2006) in Montana, who held on to his seat in the 2018 Democratic wave election but who has trailed most recent polls against businessman Tim Sheehy, the GOP nominee.
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Tester, one of the partys most naturally talented politicians (along with Brown), is running the Democrats long-standing playbook to survive in hostile partisan territoryhe hasnt endorsed Kamala Harris for president, hes adopted hard-line positions on immigration and other issues where the Democratic party line is radioactive in Montana, and he touts his willingness to work on legislation with Donald Trump. This strategy has failed much more often than it has succeeded in recent years, from Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas to Claire McCaskill in Missouri. But it isnt clear that there is a viable alternative, other than seeing if several hundred thousand California liberals would like to establish residency in Missoula tout de suite.
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Of course, Tester shouldnt be counted out quite yet, and the party definitely should not bail on him. Incumbent senators do sometimes outperform expectations, none more famously than Maine Republican Susan Collins, who beat Democrat Sara Gideon handily despite trailing in every single public poll conducted for the race in 2020, even as Biden carried the state decisively by 9 points. But Democrats have effectively put all their eggs in Testers basket, and they should take a fresh look at perennial tormentors Florida and Texas if they want to create other pathways to retain their majority.
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Six years ago, former Democratic Rep. Beto ORourke turned himself into a national sensation in his race against unpopular incumbent Ted Cruz. While Cruz led almost every poll of the race, ORourke came agonizingly close to unseating him after raising tens of millions of dollars from Democrats all over the country who thought of beating the unlikable Cruzthe runner-up in the 2016 Republican nomination fightas too delicious an opportunity to pass up. Cruz would win by just 2.6 points, nearly breaking what is now a 30-year-long Democratic losing streak for statewide office in Texas that goes back to Bob Bullocks election as lieutenant governor in 1994.
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Cruzs ongoing unpopularity problem and Texas leftward shift make it all the more puzzling that national Democrats have failed to coordinate a better effort behind Rep. Colin Allred, the partys nominee. Allred has disappointed progressives by running a more conservative, less outspoken campaign than ORourke did in 2018, but it seems to be working. Last week, a Morning Consult poll found Allred leading Cruz 45 percent to 44 percenta slim lead within the margin of error, but a better result than Tester has seen in weeks. In the RealClearPolitics average of the race, Allred is down just 5 pointsslightly closer than Tester is to Sheehy as of this writing.
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Why exactly the party wants to max out the credit card fighting for Testers seat while leaving Allred with scraps is an enduring mystery. Texas is an expensive media market, but the party isnt exactly hurting for cash after relieved rank-and-file supporters opened up their wallets when President Joe Biden stepped aside for Harris. Money can be moved around or borrowed. And a bigger investment from national Democrats would match Allreds impressive fundraising haul that has seen him dramatically outspend Cruz on the airwaves. Cruz, though, currently has more cash on hand than Allred, a situation the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee could help rectify if it so desired. The $25 million the DSCC just split among 10 races is not going to cut it.
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Democrats have also soured on doing much of anything in Florida. Trying to win there feels, understandably, like heading straight for the casino cashier to buy another thousand dollars in chips after youve lost your shirt on a series of bad bets at the poker table. After Trump won the state twice despite favorable preelection polls for Hillary Clinton and then Biden, Florida seemed to lurch even further to the right in 2022, giving incumbent GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis a 19-point margin of victory that instantly made him a top-tier presidential candidate. Sen. Marco Rubio scored a win nearly as large over his generously funded challenger, Democratic Rep. Val Demings. Especially given that Democrats also came up just short in both gubernatorial and senate races in 2018 despite a very favorable national environment, you can certainly understand why the party doesnt want to light stacks of cash on fire in a quixotic bid to unseat Scott. But thats exactly what they need to do, for both long- and short-term reasons.
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The Democratic nominee in Florida is Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, an Ecuadorian immigrant who came to the United States when she was 14. A former member of the House who was unseated in 2020, Mucarsel-Powell has for some reason been an even bigger afterthought for national Democrats than Allred. She and her allies have spent just $5 million on ads. Thats just not going to get it done. And yet shes hanging around the race in a way that should invite a more significant investment from the DSCC and various Democratic-aligned outside groups. An early September survey from the Hill/Emerson had her within 1 point of Scott, and overall shes behind in the RealClearPolitics average by just 4.3 points. Again, thats closer than Tester. The odious Scott, who made his fortune defrauding the elderly as CEO of a for-profit health care company, is unloved by Floridians; he has a 35 percent approval rating according to an August USA Today/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV survey. Yet as of mid-September, he had outspent Mucarsel-Powell 4-to-1.
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In the long run, both Florida and Texas are more fertile ground for Democrats than Montana, whose only comparative advantage is that it is cheaper to advertise there. In Texas, Democrats were disappointed by Trumps relatively decisive victory over Biden in 2020 when polls showed a dead heat. Nevertheless, the diverse, rapidly growing state has been trending inexorably blue over the course of the 21st century, with the Republican presidential margin dropping from almost 23 points in 2004 to just under 6 in 2020. The same thing has been happening, in fits and starts, in the Senate. In 2006, sitting Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison beat her token Democratic opponent by more than 25 points. Her retirement opened the seat up for Cruz, who won it by under 16 points in 2012, and then under 3 in 2018. The trendlines are still unmistakable, and the time to give up on the state is definitely not now, especially with the states Republican Party consistently distinguishing itself as the countrys most unhinged and extreme.
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Even Florida, which is diverse and where Democrats have a long record of competitiveness, is a more plausible place for Democrats to break through in the coming years than Montana. With the exception of 2008, Democratic presidential candidates have gotten blown out in Montana throughout the century, with no sign that things are heading in a different direction. With ticket-splitting still in terminal decline, the prospects of winning Senate seats in Montana in the medium term are not great. In Florida, the GOPs 2022 rout feels more like a fluke driven by an unlikely confluence of circumstancesideologically-minded domestic migration driven by COVID polarization, as well as a profoundly inept and demoralized state Democratic Partythan a fundamental reorientation. And even if they suspect Florida is gone for good, isnt it worth directing some cash to Mucarsel-Powell to find out for sure?
You dont need David Muir and Linsey Davis to tell you that I would be lying if I said I expect to wake up to Democratic senators-elect in Montana, Florida, and Texas on Nov. 6. These are all long-shot bids. But if Democrats hold the rest of their seats, they only need one of the three to keep their majority.
And when youre facing long odds, three chances are better than one.
ProRelo's immigration and relocation support.
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Addressing Labour Shortages with Global Talent
Slovakia has faced a persistent labor shortage for some years, impacting all industries. To meet the growing demand for global talent, ProRelo, a leader in relocation and immigration services, has been pivotal in helping companies and individuals navigate Slovakias complex employment landscape.
Celebrating 20 Years in Business
This year, ProRelo proudly celebrates 20 years of service in Slovakia, solidifying its position as a trusted partner for companies seeking to attract and retain top talent from around the world. Their relocation and immigration services are tailored to meet the specific needs of companies operating in Slovakia, offering comprehensive corporate support for HR departments. One of their key offerings is immigration training, designed to equip HR professionals, recruiters, and business owners with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the complex world of immigration.
Navigating immigration and settling down in a new country can be an incredibly stressful experience, often topped up by unfamiliar cultural differences. Moving to a new country is not just about changing locations; it's about adapting to a new way of life, understanding cultural nuances, and building a sense of belonging in a foreign environment. The goal for every employer should be to provide a smooth transition for individuals and their families, allowing them to settle in quickly, seamlessly integrate into their new environment, and perform at work at their best from day one. Whether it's assistance with visa applications, navigating healthcare systems, or understanding local customs and traditions, we are here to guide our clients every step of the way, says Ivona Demackova, General Manager and Partner of ProRelo in Slovakia and Poland.
In addition to supporting companies, ProRelo also provides invaluable support for individuals seeking immigration assistance in Slovakia. Whether it's assistance with driving license exchange, navigating the healthcare system, securing visas and permits, or managing necessary documents for residency and work permits, ProRelo offers personalized support to ensure a smooth transition.
Adapting to Global Challenges
Over the past two decades, ProRelo has helped customers adapt to numerous changes in the global mobility sector. The COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions, border closures, and lockdowns disrupted international mobility, forcing us to embrace remote work, virtual consultations, and digital document processing. The war in Ukraine introduced additional complexities.
The global mobility sector has increasingly prioritized quality in service delivery, recognizing the importance of providing tailored solutions that meet the unique needs of each client. This focus on quality has led to the implementation of rigorous standards, certification processes, and continuous improvement initiatives aimed at enhancing customer satisfaction.
By investing in technology and process optimization, including ISO-9001 certification, we have been able to successfully navigate through these challenges and elevate the overall experience for our clients. I hope we are an example of adapting to and thriving in a dynamic and ever-changing environment, adds Ivona Demackova.
After a few very intense years, ProRelo's recent milestones further underscore its commitment to providing exceptional service to its clients. This April, the company moved to a new office location at Svatoplukova 31 in Bratislava.
"Our move to a new location not only signifies a milestone of 20 years in the business but also marks the beginning of an exciting chapter for ProRelo," says Ivona Demackova, "With two decades of successful operation in the market, we are excited to celebrate our anniversary in the new location. We created a space where employees will enjoy coming to work, and we look forward to having a welcoming environment to host meetings and education sessions for our clients".
General Manager Ivona Demackova
Lessons Learned
Reflecting on her own experience as a business owner and women entrepreneur, Ivona continues: As ProRelo celebrates 20 years in Slovakia and 25 years in Poland, I've found that maintaining a hands-on approach allows me to preserve our company's vision and culture amidst growth. I prioritize commitment to quality and exceeding expectations, emphasizing excellence in service delivery and procedures while focusing on the human element. Over my two decades in business, I've recognized the importance of adapting my leadership style to various situations, sometimes requiring a visionary outlook, while at other times necessitating decisiveness or providing support and guidance. At work, I highly value effective communication, trust, empathy, honesty, professionalism, and a readiness for change. I firmly believe that success lies in the collective achievements of my team, and I remain flexible to meet the evolving needs of our customers.
Looking Ahead: The Importance of Integration and HR Knowledge
The integration of international employees is more critical than ever, especially as these workers are no longer just temporary assignees but often permanent additions to local teams. Providing immigration and relocation support not only with practical matters like healthcare and housing but also with a deep understanding of cultural differences is essential, regardless of the employees job position.
As competition for global talent intensifies, employers who invest in helping their international employees settle in, feel welcome, and thrive in their new environment are more likely to stand out. The need for support extends beyond the initial relocation ensuring that these employees and their families are fully integrated into the community is vital for their long-term success.
HR professionals are increasingly required to deepen their knowledge as the complexities of managing an international workforce expand. They must now navigate not only immigration processes but also the intricacies of cultural and language differences, necessitating ongoing education in these critical areas.
For our clients, efficiently streamlining the arrival and integration of international workers is crucial. Achieving this requires modern solutions that facilitate various processes. Our focus is on service delivery, consultancy, and provision of knowledge that will help empower HR professionals, ease the experience for international workers and make their transition less stressful.
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About ProRelo
Pro Relocation s.r.o. is a privately owned, independent relocation and immigration services provider in Slovakia and Poland. ProRelo helps companies of all sizes efficiently onboard global talents by delivering relocation services, securing visas and permits and other necessary documents, and providing support for relocated families in all major Slovak cities. With over 20 years in the business, ProRelo is a trusted partner to more than 25 of the Top 100 Forbes Companies and global mobility partners.
ProRelo is a member of the European Relocation Association (EuRA) and bound by its ethics and rules of conduct. The company is also an active member of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) and Investment Support Association (ISA). ProRelo is also ISO-9001 certified.
This article has been brought to you by Pro Relocation s.r.o..
What connects foreigners with Slovak roots to their heritage, one Iraqi's search for belonging, and a tip on a dancing event.
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Good evening. Here is the Wednesday, September 25 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Progressive Slovakia MP expelled for stickers
Progressive Slovakia MP Lucia Plavakova showing her notebook with stickers that SNS chair Andrej Danko objected to. (Source: TASR)
During the Wednesday parliamentary session, Deputy Speaker and Slovak National Party (SNS) chair Andrej Danko took objection to the fact that Progressive Slovakia MP Lucia Plavakova's notebook was covered with stickers.
"Stickers all over your notebook?" he asked when Plavakova she was approaching the speaker's lectern. "You shouldn't have any, no ads," he continued.
Plavakova replied that everything is according to rules and the stickers are not advertisements. Her notebook features a rainbow sticker in the shape of a heart, another with her party slogan, a heart sticker that reads "Consent is love", as well as the Slovak flag, among a few more.
"There are rainbows, LGBTI issues, there are stickers promoting companies," Danko complained and then interrupted the session asking her to remove or cover them. When Plavakova returned after the break, she put the notebook so that is wasn't visible and said that she was not going to remove the stickers. Danko then expelled her.
Subsequently, Danko asked Deputy Speaker Peter Ziga (Hlas) to convene a committee session to deal with the issue of stickers on computers.
Plavakova then filed an objection against her expulsion. In a turn of events, Danko's coalition partners did not support him; 25 Hlas MPs out of 27 instead supported Plavakova and all 42 Smer MPs abstained from voting. Nevertheless, Danko stood behind his decision and now wants the issue to be raised at a Coalition Council meeting.
"You witnessed the first political betrayal by Hlas, as the coalition agreement clearly states that Hlas cannot vote in favour of an opposition proposal. This was a gross violation of the coalition agreement," Danko said later.
That was not the end of it. SNS MP Rudolf Huliak, known for the claim that LGBTI+ people cause climate change, declared that an MP advocating abortion "deserves no other name than a bitch" if she does not respect the basic "questions of life given to humans by God" and added that he does not even consider her a woman.
Opposition MPs described the situation, saying that the coalition is falling apart "on air". "What SNS is doing is absolutely unacceptable," stated PS caucus head Martin Dubeci, who went on to call on President Peter Pellegrini and PM Robert Fico to act. This comes after several Hlas ministers did the same.
Later on Wednesday, Plavakova was once again expelled for having the stickers on her notebook, this time by Deputy Speaker Tibor Gaspar (Smer).
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FEATURE STORY
Looking for a sense of belonging
Mirna Khaleel Majeed Ayshoa Yousif Kaka. (Source: Sona Maletz Nosalova)
Mirna and her family had to leave Iraq due to their Christian faith. One day when they were in the town of Karakosh, bells started ringing, alarming everyone of approaching ISIS. The family quickly gathered the essentials and left for a refugee camp. Mirna later learned what happened to those who stayed. She now lives in Slovakia.
"Sometimes I feel lost. I don't know where I belong. At times it's challenging to follow all Iraqi and Slovak traditions. I try to combine them, but I feel bad that I don't fully belong to either," she opened up in an interview for the [fjuzn] magazine.
EVENT FOR TOMORROW
Learn traditional dances
video //www.youtube.com/embed/vP25UuUJQD8
The opening dance night of the 23rd cycle of The House of Traditional Dances will take place on Thursday in Bratislava's Kacecko venue located in the city centre. Under the tutelage of masters, attendees will be able to learn dances from Podpolanie, a region in the middle of Slovakia. Click here for more information.
IN OTHER NEWS
An envelope addressed to PM Robert Fico (Smer) containing a bullet was delivered to the Government Office on Wednesday. Members of the Office for the Protection of Constitutional Officials discovered the bullet during their morning check of the mail. The sender is currently unknown, however, according to Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok it's only a matter of time before the police track down the individual. According to General Prosecutor Maros Zilinka, this is a criminal act and a display of recklessness and callousness. The PM was a victim of assassination attempt, he was shot on May 15 in the mining town of Handlova. (Plus 7 Dni, TASR)
Members of the Office for the Protection of Constitutional Officials discovered the bullet during their morning check of the mail. The sender is currently unknown, however, according to Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok it's only a matter of time before the police track down the individual. According to General Prosecutor Maros Zilinka, this is a criminal act and a display of recklessness and callousness. The PM was a victim of assassination attempt, he was shot on May 15 in the mining town of Handlova. (Plus 7 Dni, TASR) Based on the Judicial Council proposal, the government okayed the candidacy of Ondrej Laciak, Radoslav Prochazka and Daniela Jezova for the post of judge of the European Court of Human Rights . The mandate of the current Slovak judge at the court, Alena Polackova, will expire on December 28, 2024. (TASR)
. The mandate of the current Slovak judge at the court, Alena Polackova, will expire on December 28, 2024. (TASR) Private TV Markiza announced that the Na telo political talk show will return on October 20, with Karolina Lacova as the host. Previously, Lacova used to work at the state broadcaster STVR where she hosted several discussion formats. She is replacing Michal Kovacic, who was dismissed by the television for his live on-air criticism of the networkan action that violated legal regulations due to his role as a union leader. The talk show will be aired at its regular time on Sundays at 13:00. (SME)
Previously, Lacova used to work at the state broadcaster STVR where she hosted several discussion formats. She is replacing Michal Kovacic, who was dismissed by the television for his live on-air criticism of the networkan action that violated legal regulations due to his role as a union leader. The talk show will be aired at its regular time on Sundays at 13:00. (SME) New flights to non-traditional destinations from the Bratislava airport are being added to the schedule this week. On September 24, the first charter flights to the Portuguese island of Madeira took off. From September 26, holiday goers will be able to fly directly to Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula. This is the first time travellers will be able to avail of such flights.
On September 24, the first charter flights to the Portuguese island of Madeira took off. From September 26, holiday goers will be able to fly directly to Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula. This is the first time travellers will be able to avail of such flights. Parliament rejected a resolution expressing regret at a claim by the government 'Covid-19' commissioner Peter Kotlar that there was no Covid-19 pandemic in Slovakia in terms of incidence and other measurable parameters. The resolution was submitted by SaS MPs. (TASR)
Due to flooding, mosquitoes are expected in the vicinity of the rivers Danube and Morava. That is why an intervention is being carried out. A helicopter has deployed biocide called Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTI), a naturally occuring bacteria, at the Devinske Jazero lake in Bratislava's borough of Devinska Nova Ves. (Source: TASR)
WEATHER FOR THURSDAY: Cloudy to overcast skies, occasionally rain and showers. Level 1 and 2 wind warning issued for several districts, see map here. Daily temperatures will rise to between 17 C to 25 C. (SHMU)
SEPTEMBER 26 NAME DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Edita
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This is it. Just the second to last day of the 2024 Build-Outs season. Were going out with a bang, taking a closer look at the new Sightsee in Charleston, South Carolina, a city with an internationally famous food scene and a growing cafe culture thats up to the challenge. This charming coffee bar is part gift shop, part coffee destination, and after earning some impressive accolades for their original cafe theyve moved into a dream space here in 2024 that feels like a must-see a must-Sightsee, if you will.
The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is presented by Ceado and Dona. The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is sponsored by Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Acaia, and Ghirardelli.
As told to Sprudge by Allyson Sutton.
For those who arent familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Sightsee is part coffee shop, part travel- and surf-inspired retail store. By blending the energy and community of a cafe with the joy of product discovery, Sightsee offers an inviting experience that brings a sense of adventure to our customers daily lives. Most of the brands we carry are woman-owned, with a focus on quality and sustainability.
We started as a humble pop-up concept back in 2018, opened our first tiny 450-square-foot brick and mortar space (thanks to the help of a community-funded Kickstarter!) in the fall of 2019, survived (we think?still processing) the pandemic, were named Food & Wines Best Coffee Shop in SC in 2021, and through a combination of hustle and serendipity, had the opportunity to move into a much bigger dream space that just opened in July of this year!
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
Our new shop is located on the ground floor of a historic 1940s building that previously housed a neighborhood pharmacy and a beauty salon, but sadly sat empty for the last couple of decades. The super cool octagonal front windows give a view across the street to one of our favorite parks in Charleston: Hampton Park, which has a fascinating and inspiring history itself (look up the first-ever Memorial Day!). We wanted the space to feel bright and airy, unique and creative, and to honor its history by becoming a vibrant neighborhood hub and a space for folks to hang out, either inside or on our quiet patio out back.
Whats your approach to coffee?
A few years ago, we were chatting with Paula Lima who owns Abra Coffee Roasters (we had the pleasure of featuring her coffee in our guest roaster lineup at our old shop), and she described coffee as a miracle. The fact that against all oddsunpredictable weather, risk of fungus, bugs, difficult terrain, economic challengeswe get to enjoy delicious, unique, interesting coffees every day is absolutely wild! Were the final link in a long chain of hard work, so we do our best to maintain that level of dedication and diligence in our shop, while also making the coffee experience approachable and fun so that everyone feels as excited to keep learning about and enjoying coffee as we do! As our friends at Brandywine Coffee Roasters say, coffee is magic!
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
Our original shop was so tiny, that the mere fact that we can now fit a lowboy fridge and a dishwasher behind our bar is exciting to us, LOL! Were still rockin with our La Marzocco Linea two-group, which our friend and local artist Johnathan Rypkema customized with beautiful panels made with reclaimed maple and repurposed skateboard decks. Were also thrilled to continue working with Brandywine Coffee Roasters for our espresso program as well as our pour-over menu, which features exciting single origin coffees, rotated each month.
How is your project considering sustainability?
Renovation and construction projects inevitably create waste, but we did our best to work with local vendors and choose materials that were more environmentally-friendly. Our bar tile was made from natural clay and glazes, with minimal carbon footprint. We worked with brands like Schoolhouse for lighting and notNeutral for our glassware, both of which make their products in America with intentional manufacturing practices. We sourced a lot of secondhand and vintage items like rugs, mirrors, and display pieces as well. There are lots of other random things like choosing a closed-door merch fridge, LED bulbs only, natural cleaners, etc.!
Once open, weve continued our commitment to sustainability by using only compostable to-go wares, and composting almost all of our waste, including coffee filters/grounds and paper products. Our coffee roasting partners at Brandywine are also very thoughtful about environmental impact: all of our whole bean coffee for sale is packaged in compostable bags. And most of the brands we sell in the shop also consider sustainability, whether their products are made from recycled fibers, packaged in eco-friendly packaging this is a huge factor for us when curating the shop!
Whats your hopeful target opening date/month?
We were hoping to open in May 2024, but officially opened in mid-July!
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that youd like to mention?
This project was a community effort! Our friends and longtime Sightsee supporters, Eric Meckley and Cassie Bray, spearheaded the architectural design of the space and helped us think of everything from layout to creative design details to accessibility. Our other friend and wildly talented furniture maker Jesse Lowery handcrafted all of the cabinetry, shelving, and our stunning curved banquette seating. His craftsmanship is insane. We also worked with friend and local artist Johnathan Rypkema to create sculptural enclosures for our speaker system theyve become really special statement/conversational pieces and are beyond anything we couldve imagined ourselves. Local welder Tyler Bennett handmade custom aluminum supports for our fitting room curtainshe literally welded on-site and we love how that corner has the feel of a pool cabana changing room. Additionally, longtime friend of Sightsee Gina Nagel did all of our tilework on the coffee barit is THE focal point of the shop and she crushed it.
Thank you!
Thank YOU! :)
Photos by Meredith Wiksell, used with permission
Cold blow the autumn winds. A gust, a gale, the gathering clouds. Theyre felt keenly throughout the land of the Builds, but perhaps nowhere so sharp as the city of Edinburgh, with its cozy cafes, Fringe theater shenanigans, and historic urban core. Theres long been a roaring good espresso scene in Edinburgh, and now we can add to it Origin Coffee, those mainstays of the UK coffee scene whose first Scottish bar is now open. Lets take a closer look.
The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is presented by Ceado and Dona. The 2024 Build-outs of Coffee is sponsored by Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Acaia, and Ghirardelli.
For those who arent familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Origin Coffee is a certified B Corp, and one of the longest standing independent coffee roasters in the UK. Origin is in pursuit of coffee excellence, setting standards and changing attitudes for the global speciality coffee industry.
We have coffee shops across London, Bristol, Edinburgh, and Cornwall, and we supply coffee to some of the best coffee shops, hotel groups and restaurants across the UK. We supply direct to your door, with subscription services tailored to you.
Weve been leading the way in speciality coffee for two decades now, earning the title of Best Speciality Coffee Roasters in Europe at the Allegra Awards in 2023. Transparency, sustainability, and seasonality are at the heart of the business.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
Working with interior designer Megan Sadler, the new site is a design continuation of the brands roastery cafe in Cornwall, offering a sophisticated industrial aesthetic. Materials include a bronze effect bar and stainless-steel worktops alongside oak furniture, boucle fabrics, and reclaimed lighting from Skinflint. The original wooden floor has been sanded back to add new life into the space.
Whats your approach to coffee?
Respecting the beansand the individuals who savor speciality coffee. From the source, as we roast, while we educate and when we brew. From start to finish, quality is an essential component to all we do.
Our team of roasters, Q Graders, and coffee professionals follow meticulous sensory measures throughout every stage of roasting to ensure your final cup is outstanding. The quality of knowledge and skill is shared through each avenue of education provided, passed on from the farm to the final cup, from customer to consumer. Quality lies at the heart of every brew served.
Our longstanding relationships remain the backbone of what we offer, but new journeys punctuate this, offering our customers a taste of the future of speciality coffee. From complex terroir, where exciting varietals shape exploration, to challenging the expected and championing lesser-known regions, we go the distance in pursuit of coffee excellence, raising awareness, celebrating the power of connectivity, and nurturing new and old friendships alike.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
A rotational menu of seasonal coffeeswith exclusive retail tastings and launches, as well as our regular offering.
How is your project considering sustainability?
We have a responsibility to the planet and the people we work with. Creating a positive impact across the supply chain, and providing support to the farmers, pickers, sorters, drivers, rakers, washers, dry millers, cuppers, roasters, trainers, baristas, and drinkers. Each is striving for the same end goal: to make every cup of coffee exceptional.
Whats your hopeful target opening date/month?
May 2024
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that youd like to mention?
Megan Sadler, Interior Designer.
Thank you!
Thank you!
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/assange-to-testify-before-pace-human-rights-committee-in-first-appearance-since-prison-release-1120285009.html
Assange to Testify Before PACE Human Rights Committee in First Appearance Since Prison Release
Assange to Testify Before PACE Human Rights Committee in First Appearance Since Prison Release
Sputnik International
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will testify before a human rights committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on October 1, WikiLeaks said, adding this would be his first public speech after he was released from a UK prison in June.
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"On October 1, Julian Assange will arrive in Strasbourg to give evidence before the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) which is scheduled to meet from 8.30am to 10am [06:30-08:00 GMT] at the Palace of Europe He will give testimony before the committee, which will also hear the findings that his imprisonment was politically motivated," WikiLeaks said in a statement on X. The move comes after PACE released an inquiry report into the Assange case that confirmed that he qualified as a political prisoner and called on the United Kingdom to conduct an independent review into whether the whistleblower was exposed to inhuman or degrading treatment. The Australian-born journalist will give testimony in Strasbourg in person "due to the exceptional nature of the invitation," despite being in recovery, WikiLeaks added. The hearing will be live-streamed. Assange was transferred to London's high-security Belmarsh prison in April 2019 on bail breach charges. In the US, he faced spying charges for shedding light on war crimes and human rights violations committed by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240625/cynicism-of-biden-releasing-assange-for-political-advantage-on-full-display-1119125919.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/biden-says-all-out-war-possible-in-middle-east-1120285902.html
Biden Says All-Out War Possible in Middle East
Biden Says All-Out War Possible in Middle East
Sputnik International
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday an all-out war is possible in the Middle East amid a new escalation between Hezbollah and Israel.
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All-out war is possible, Biden said during The View talk show hosted by ABC Channel commenting on the situation in the Middle East.The situation on the Israeli-Lebanese border worsened after the start of Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip in October 2023. The Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah fighters exchange fire almost daily in areas along the border.Israel began carrying out massive strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday. The death toll from the bombardments has climbed to 558, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Hezbollah fighters, in turn, fired dozens of rockets toward northern Israel.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240924/a-real-horror-lebanons-residents-relate-flight-from-south-under-israeli-attacks-1120272794.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/bidens-big-bye-bye-1120278377.html
Biden's Big Bye-Bye
Biden's Big Bye-Bye
Sputnik International
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden delivered his final speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as president.
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On Tuesday, President Joe Biden delivered his final speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as president. The presidents remarks seemed to ignore the ongoing crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, as he said, Even from the horrors of war, theres a way forward. And added, Things can get better. We should never forget that.Biden addressed leaders and representatives from 134 countries around the globe. During his speech, the US president said that when he was elected as a US senator in 1972 (over 50 years ago) that the world was at an inflection point and a moment of tension and uncertainty.The irony of what is likely to be Bidens final political speech is marked by the fact that for years, the US has worked to support coups and subvert democracy in dozens of countries across the world. And under Bidens direction, the US has shown unrelenting support for Israel even while undermining the influence of the UN as well as the authority of international law, and recently dismissed a vote by the UN Security Council that called on the country to end its campaign in Gaza.The US also led a group of Western countries in defunding the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) which is a crucial source of aid for refugees facing humanitarian crises, Sputnik reported.During the 79th session of UNGA, Biden addressed many foreign policy topics including an attempt to get the globe to rally behind support for Ukraine. Biden also said that he believes a ceasefire and hostage negotiation agreement is still possible between Hamas and Israel, even as the ceasefire proposals have fallen through several times.Biden himself said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isnt doing enough to secure a ceasefire deal. And in fact, Israel has ratcheted up their violence in the Middle East and is reportedly conducting terrorist-like acts in their assault on Lebanon. On Monday, the IDF launched missiles into southern Lebanon killing nearly 500 people. This followed a suspicious string of attacks on Hezbollah members communication devices which injured thousands and left dozens of people dead."Since Oct. 7, we've also been determined to prevent a wider war that engulfs the entire region," the president said. "Hezbollah, unprovoked, joined the Oct. 7 attack launching rockets into Israel. Almost a year later, too many on each side of the Israeli Lebanon border remain displaced. Full scale war is not in anyone's interest."
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/bidens-performative-lecture-on-democracy-at-un-belies-true-us-role-in-world-1120276117.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240924/israel-is-dying-from-a-thousand-cuts-hostilities-between-hezbollah-and-israel--accelerate--1120264283.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/ex-cia-analyst-says-pentagon-trying-to-take-control-of-ukraine-policy-from-blinken-1120280490.html
Ex-CIA Analyst Says Pentagon Trying to Take Control of Ukraine Policy From Blinken
Ex-CIA Analyst Says Pentagon Trying to Take Control of Ukraine Policy From Blinken
Sputnik International
The US military could be attempting to seize control of policy on Ukraine from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other hawkish State Department officials including by blocking sending long range strike missiles to Kiev, former senior CIA analyst Ray McGovern told Sputnik.
2024-09-25T09:50+0000
2024-09-25T09:50+0000
2024-09-25T09:50+0000
americas
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Ukraine has been lobbying the Biden administration for permission to employ long-range US missiles to carry out strikes deep into Russian territory. On September 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia would not tolerate any such action and would regard it as a last red line to be crossed. McGovern said the Pentagon had about eight hours to digest Putin's warning on September 12 before the Defense Department confirmed there was still no change in the restrictions on weapons to Ukraine. McGovern said this happened just a few hours before it fell to Biden to break the word to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Expectations had been high that Biden and Starmer would announce new rules on weapons use in the Ukraine conflict. However, no such announcement emanated after the talks at the White House. The White House said Ukraine's request to use US-supplied long-range weapons deep in Russian territory will be discussed during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meeting with Biden later this week.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/russia-slams-natos-reckless-rejection-of-putins-red-line-on-ukraine-attacks-1120189986.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/hungarian-fm-calls-out-ukraine-peace-conference-as-more-propaganda-without-russia-at-table-1120283487.html
Hungarian FM Calls Out Ukraine Peace Conference As More Propaganda Without Russia at Table
Hungarian FM Calls Out Ukraine Peace Conference As More Propaganda Without Russia at Table
Sputnik International
A conference on the Ukraine conflict can only bear fruit if Russia participates in it and if there is a compromise plan on the table to reach peace, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told RIA Novosti.
2024-09-25T11:56+0000
2024-09-25T11:56+0000
2024-09-25T11:56+0000
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"My position is that a peace conference can be effective or can make sense only if two preconditions are met. First, both parties of the war must be present at the table. Second, there must be a plan that can be discussed. As of now, I don't really see the appetite from those speaking about the peace conference to see both sides around the table," Szijjarto said in an interview. Szijjarto pointed out that the conference on Ukraine as discussed by some politicians appears to be "more about propaganda than substance."Szijjarto also said that Hungary will continue to look for solutions to the conflict in Ukraine and make peace proposals."We have a very clear position on this war. It must come to an end immediately. A ceasefire must be established, and peace talks should be started. This is a very clear position of ours. So, therefore, we will continue to make peace initiatives," Szijjarto said.Hungary is pursuing this stance both at the United Nations and the European Union, the minister added.The minister added that he plans to meet with his new Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, on Monday in Budapest.He noted that the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine have been seriously violated in the last nine years.Hungary wants to have good relations with all its neighbors, including Ukraine, the minister added.He highlighted that he is hopeful that steps will be taken at the UN General Assembly to deescalate tensions with respect to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza."I hope that some steps towards de-risking, lowering the risk of escalation of the two most severe armed conflicts in the world can be made. Steps towards de-risking or the de-escalation of the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza must be made," Szijjarto said.The global security situation is the worst it has been since the end of the Second World War, and steps must be taken to prevent further escalation of conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, Szijjarto said, emphasizing that steps towards de-risking or de-escalation must be made.The minister added that Hungary remains opposed to the idea of allowing Kiev to strike deep inside Russian territory with Western weapons as it can further escalate the situation.White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said on Tuesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden are going to discuss Kievs request to lift restrictions on the use of US-supplied long-range weapons deep inside Russian territory.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240719/hungary-sees-no-battlefield-solution-to-ukraine-conflict-backs-negotiations---szijjarto-1119426891.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240616/hungarian-foreign-minister-proposes-mediation-role-between-russia-eu-on-ukraine-1118986948.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240918/russia-slams-natos-reckless-rejection-of-putins-red-line-on-ukraine-attacks-1120189986.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/russia-increases-aluminum-supplies-to-china-to-record-23bln-1120281805.html
Russia Increases Aluminum Supplies to China to Record $2.3Bln
Russia Increases Aluminum Supplies to China to Record $2.3Bln
Sputnik International
Russia increased aluminum supplies to China by 1.4 times to a record $2.3 billion in January-August, a Sputnik analysis of official figures showed on Tuesday.
2024-09-25T11:27+0000
2024-09-25T11:27+0000
2024-09-25T11:27+0000
economy
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In 2019, Chinas aluminum imports from Russia amounted to only $60.6 million. Sales of copper, the second main metal in Russian exports, remained at the same level - $1.7 billion, but nickel supplies decreased to $518 million from $709 million. At the same time, Russia reduced its iron and steel supplies to China by a third to $286.7 million, while simultaneously increasing exports of products from these metals by 1.8 times to $274 million.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240516/kissingers-nightmare-us-bid-to-crush-russia--china-economically-only-drives-them-closer-1118474909.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/uaes-masdar-says-will-acquire-renewable-energy-producer-saeta-for-14bln-1120281748.html
UAE's Masdar Says Will Acquire Renewable Energy Producer Saeta for $1.4Bln
UAE's Masdar Says Will Acquire Renewable Energy Producer Saeta for $1.4Bln
Sputnik International
Abu Dhabi-based company specializing in clean energy sources Masdar announced a deal to acquire wind and solar energy producer Saeta from Canada's Brookfield Renewable for $1.4 billion.
2024-09-25T11:21+0000
2024-09-25T11:21+0000
2024-09-25T11:21+0000
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"Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC - Masdar ("Masdar"), the UAEs clean energy powerhouse, today announced the proposed acquisition of Saeta Yield ("Saeta") from Brookfield Renewable (NYSE: BEP, BEPC; TSX: BEP.UN, BEPC), together with its institutional partners ("Brookfield"), for an implied enterprise value of c. US $1.4 billion," the company said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that the deal is expected to close in late 2024. The deal includes Saeta's wind and solar power plants in Spain and Portugal with a total capacity of 745 megawatts, as well as 1.6 gigawatts of planned capacity in new projects, the statement added.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240621/sco-energy-chiefs-agree-cooperation-strategy-until-2030-1119050417.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/uk-depleted-own-weapon-stockpiles-by-helping-ukraine-1120289456.html
UK Depleted Own Weapon Stockpiles by Helping Ukraine
UK Depleted Own Weapon Stockpiles by Helping Ukraine
Sputnik International
The United Kingdom has run out of weapon stocks after having supplied arms to Ukraine for almost three years and needs to replenish them, UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard said on Wednesday.
2024-09-25T18:48+0000
2024-09-25T18:48+0000
2024-09-25T18:48+0000
military
jonathan pollard
ukraine
united kingdom (uk)
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"We have depleted our own stocks in order to do that," Pollard was quoted as saying by The Times on the sidelines of a Labour conference, adding that national stockpiles were so "threadbare" that the government had to cut supplies to Kiev in mid-2023. Despite the fact that the UKs own stockpiles are critically low, Pollard argued that it was the "right thing" to supply Ukraine with as many weapons as possible. He said that the Labour government not only needed to replenish the depleted stockpiles but also to ensure reliable supplies for Ukraine. "I think most western nations have gifted most of the deployable resources they have so we are seeing a greater trading relationship being formed," Pollard added. Russia has continuously warned that arms supplies to Ukraine hinder the peace process and make NATO members party to the conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine will be a legitimate target for Russian strikes.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240922/ukraine-assistance-largesse-self-harming-sanctions-helped-push-uk-debt-to-100-of-gdp-milestone-1120246985.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/uk-spain-urge-citizens-to-leave-lebanon-1120279057.html
UK, Spain Urge Citizens to Leave Lebanon
UK, Spain Urge Citizens to Leave Lebanon
Sputnik International
The UK and Spain have urged their citizens to evacuate Lebanon amid the country's escalated tensions with Israel.
2024-09-25T05:10+0000
2024-09-25T05:10+0000
2024-09-25T05:11+0000
world
israel-lebanon tensions
united kingdom (uk)
spain
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"British nationals should leave Lebanon immediately, Ministers have warned, as the Government bolsters its presence in the region. Around 700 UK troops will move to Cyprus in the coming hours, as the Government continues to prepare its contingency plans following significant escalation between Israel and Lebanon in recent days," the government said in a statement on Tuesday. The ministry added that the UK air forces will also be on standby in case support is needed. Spain Also Plans to Evacuate Its Citizens From Lebanon The Spanish government has prepared a plan to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said."It [evacuation plan] has been prepared. But I also do not want to cause alarm. At the moment, this plan is not activated, but everything is perfectly prepared and ready to evacuate our citizens," Albares said in an interview with laSexta broadcaster on Tuesday.Albarez also noted that the ministry has already updated its travel recommendations and does not recommend visiting Lebanon under any circumstances.Israel began carrying out massive strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday. The death toll from the bombardments has climbed to 558, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Lebanese movement Hezbollah, in turn, fired dozens of rockets toward northern Israel.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240924/a-real-horror-lebanons-residents-relate-flight-from-south-under-israeli-attacks-1120272794.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/us-deploys-troops-to-cyprus-amid-middle-east-conflict-concerns---reports-1120286179.html
US Deploys Troops to Cyprus Amid Middle East Conflict Concerns - Reports
US Deploys Troops to Cyprus Amid Middle East Conflict Concerns - Reports
Sputnik International
The United States has deployed dozens of military personnel to Cyprus amid concerns about the need to potentially respond to escalating hostilities in the Middle East, CNN reported on Wednesday.
2024-09-25T16:27+0000
2024-09-25T16:27+0000
2024-09-25T16:27+0000
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The US troops in Cyprus are developing a range of contingency plans, including a potential evacuation of US citizens from Lebanon in the event of a war with Israel, the report said, citing two US officials. Cyprus helped to facilitate the evacuation of foreign nationals from Lebanon in 2006 during a war between Israel and Lebanese movement Hezbollah. Earlier on Wednesday, media reported that the US warned Israel that strikes on Hezbollah could derail diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in the Gaza Strip and lead to a regional war. US President Joe Biden also said on Wednesday that an "all-out war" is possible in the Middle East. The Pentagon declined to confirm the reports to Sputnik. The Pentagon pointed to comments by its spokesperson Pat Ryder earlier this week regarding a "small number" of US military personnel sent to the Middle East out of an abundance of caution.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/biden-says-all-out-war-possible-in-middle-east-1120285902.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240925/us-warns-israel-that-strikes-on-hezbollah-could-lead-to-regional-war-1120282797.html
US Warns Israel That Strikes on Hezbollah Could Lead to Regional War
US Warns Israel That Strikes on Hezbollah Could Lead to Regional War
Sputnik International
The United States has warned Israel that strikes on the Lebanese movement Hezbollah could derail diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict and lead the region to a war, a US-based newpaper reported on Wednesday, citing US officials.
2024-09-25T11:35+0000
2024-09-25T11:35+0000
2024-09-25T11:35+0000
world
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The newspaper reported that, in the days leading up to Israel's airstrikes on Hezbollah, US officials had warned the Israeli government that such a strategy would likely lead the region to war. According to the sources, US authorities indicated to Israel that a diplomatic solution was still possible and that a military campaign could hinder these efforts. Israeli officials had taken a different approach to achieving peace, and told US representatives that it was time for "escalation to de-escalate," suggesting that striking Hezbollah would compel the movement to participate in negotiations to end the conflict. Earlier on Wednesday, Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah said that it hit a Mossad command center near Tel Aviv, adding that the movement holds it responsible for the elimination of a number of its leaders and the explosions of pagers in Lebanon.A Sputnik correspondent reported that air raid sirens sounded for the first time since the current escalation with the Lebanese movement Hezbollah in many cities in central Israel, including Tel Aviv and Netanya.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in turn reported that it has intercepted one surface-to-surface missile launched from Lebanon.Israel began carrying out massive strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday. The death toll from the bombardments has climbed to 558, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Hezbollah fighters, in turn, fired dozens of rockets toward northern Israel. From September 17-18, pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in various parts of Lebanon, killing over 40 people and injuring nearly 3,500 others. It is still unknown what caused thousands of devices to explode simultaneously. Hezbollah and the Lebanese authorities blame Israel for the blasts. Israeli President Isaac Herzog denied the country's involvement in the incidents. The situation on the Israeli-Lebanese border worsened after the start of Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip in October 2023. The Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah fighters exchange fire almost daily in areas along the border.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240924/a-real-horror-lebanons-residents-relate-flight-from-south-under-israeli-attacks-1120272794.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240924/israel-may-have-earned-new-enemies-israel-continues-to-provoke-conflicts-with-neighbors--1120266441.html
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There was $425,676 in purses available for state-bred two-year-old trotters and pacers of both sexes in the first leg of the Massachusetts Breeders Stakes at Plainridge Park on Tuesday, Sept. 24 afternoon. Three of the divisions went in two $54,054 splits with trotting colts and geldings going a lone tilt for $101,351.
The pacing colts and geldings went in two groups and they were highlighted by the performance of Jon I Love Dat ($6.20), who set a new Massachusetts Breeders Stakes record.
Mitchell Cushing put Jon I Love Dat on the point and paced unchallenged through quarters of :27.1, :56.4 and 1:24.3. When he reached the stretch, Jon I Love Dat continued his dominance and paced to the wire without any urging and won by two lengths in 1:52.4, setting the new stakes record.
Jon I Love Dat (Downbytheseaside-Franney Love Dat) was bred by his owner, Robert Lovett, and is trained by Chuck Connor Jr. He earned his fourth win in seven career starts.
The other group of pacing males was headed by Digging For Gold ($3.20).
Silent Weapon (Marcus Miller) was leading at the quarter, but Scott Zeron had Digging For Gold out and rolling from third and grabbed the lead past that station. Digging For Gold continued to lead through three-quarters where Seafood Star (Matty Athearn) made an outside bid towards the leader from third. Digging For Gold and Seafood Star battled through the turn and into the lane where Digging For Gold stayed strong and won by 1-3/4 lengths in 1:53.4.
The win was the fifth in the last six starts for Digging For Gold (Huntsville-Gold Orchid N), who is owned by his trainer, George Ducharme, in partnership with Jim Winske and Dr. Megan Moschgat. Bamq was the breeder of Digging For Gold.
The trotting fillies also went behind the gate and Corner Store made quick work of her rivals in the lone non-betting event.
Yannick Gingras had Corner Store on the point and ahead by two lengths while tripping the timer in :30.4, 1:01.4 and 1:31.2. Corner Store then turned for home and stretched out to a 3-1/4-length victory in 1:59.4.
A winner of her first two career starts, Corner Store (Six Pack-Seven Eleven) is owned by her trainer, Paul Kelley, in partnership with Matthew Lamont, Ellen Palillo and Leo Bauer. William Johnson was the breeder of Corner Store.
In the second division of trotting fillies, Bridgeoverbroadway ($5.60) opened up a huge advantage early and stayed tough to close it out late.
Troy Beyer unleashed Bridgeoverbroadway and she opens up a six-length gap at the :27.2 quarter. Bridgeoverbroadway maintained her growing and seemingly insurmountable lead, which widened to eight lengths at the half, and continued into the backstretch. It was there that Riviera Princess (Yannick Gingras) starting picking up the slack and was reeling in Bridgeoverbroadway with every stride. When they got to the head of the stretch, Bridgeoverbroadways lead was down to two lengths and Riviera Princess was still closing in. But at the wire, Bridgeoverbroadway hung on to a half-length lead and won in 1:56.2. The time was a new lifetime mark for the winner and was only one-fifth second off the stakes record.
Bridgeoverbroadway (Six Pack-Black Broadway) is a homebred owned by her trainer, Mike Eaton, in partnership with Bob McHugh. She is now two-for-six to start her career.
In the first of two races for pacing fillies, Beantown Deuce ($9.80) settled in second behind American Lilly (Steven Rybka), who took the field to three-quarters in 1:28.4. It was there that Brett Beckwith pulled Beantown Deuce from the pocket and put her in play. Beantown Deuce was in full flight as she collared American Lilly and paced home on top by a length in 1:56.4, which was a new lifetime mark.
Beantown Deuce (Huntsville-Dont Think Twice) earned her second win in eight outings for trainer George Ducharme and owner Michael Goldberg Racing, also co-breeder with A Harris Racing.
In the second group of pacing fillies, Its Crunch Time ($2.10) paced away and hid in a lifetime-best effort.
Yannick Gingras put Its Crunch Time on the lead and extended their advantage at every station after that. After stopping the clock in :29, :57.4 and 1:25.3, Its Crunch Time hit the line ahead by 16 lengths in 1:54 to break her maiden in her fifth attempt.
Its Crunch Time (Captain Crunch-Meghan Lynn) is owned by Thomas and Scott Dillon and trained by Ron Burke. Crawford Farms bred the winner.
Finally, the trotting colts and gelding went to post with Castel Lindy ($2.40) going gate to wire while tying the stakes record.
Yannick Gingras took an easy lead with Castel Lindy and set solid fractions of :28.3 and :58.2. As the race moved to the backstretch, Scott Zeron tipped Belmondo from third and drew alongside Castel Lindy past three-quarters in 1:27.3 in the final turn. Belmondo continued to pressure Castel Lindy into the stretch and down to the wire, but never got the advantage as Castel Lindy hung on by a neck in 1:55.4, which was a new lifetime mark.
Castel Lindy (Walner-Love N Lindy), who is now two-for-six, is owned and bred by K R Breeding and trained by Domenico Cecere.
Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 2 p.m. with the Massachusetts Breeders Stakes reconvening on Monday, Sept. 30.
(With files from Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts; Photo of Jon I Love Dat winning on Sept. 24 at Plainridge Park)
Horse Racing New Brunswick will play host to an action-packed Saturday afternoon, Sept. 28 program at Connell Park in Woodstock with more than $90,000 in purse money up for grabs.
Saturday's richest stakes is the Dawn & Dr. Ted Bremner Memorial for three-year old pacers with $21,000 divisions for the colts and fillies.
Although it's a short field of five, the colt division is stacked with five horses with combined seasonal earnings over $250,000.
Leading the way is Tobins Chester, who has won back-to-back races including a 1:54.1 victory in his last start with Jason Hughes driving for trainer Ashley Gamester and owner Donald MacRae. The son of Shanghai Phil has won more than $85,000 this year and took a new record of 1:53.1 over Charlottetown Driving Park.
Not far behind in earnings are the duo of Merigo Magic and Jackies Boy. Merigo Magic is the winner of his last two outings including a 1:54.3 lifetime mark taken last week at Charlottetown. Adam Merner does the training and driving. The Tobago Cays gelding owned by Mike May, Herman McQuaid, Derrick Cameron and Ian Walker. He's bankrolled more than $75,000 this year.
Jackies Boy, another son of Tobago Cays, also has more than $75,000 earned this season. He loves Connell Park where he captured the richest race ever at the half-mile track, the $50,000 Barrieau-McIsaac Stakes this season. Myles Heffernan Sr. drives for his son, Myles Heffernan Jr.
Saturday will also feature a $21,000 filly division of the Bremner Stakes with winners of approximately $180,000 in seasonal earnings. Leading the way is the Tom Weatherbie trainee Fern Hill Indigo, who has just over $51,000 in 2024 earnings and a record of 1:56.2, taken at Charlottetown. Brodie MacPhee drives the Malicious filly for Next Generation Stable.
Miss Dutton is the fastest of the field this year with a 1:55 eye-popping mile at Charlottetown. Adam Merner will drive the Rollwithitharry filly for trainer Kuri White.
Maritimer champion Miss Wicked is back Saturday at Connell Park and will have Corey MacPherson back on board for trainer Joseph Baxter.
New Brunswick Breeders Stakes go in two divisions, one for two-year-old pacing colts and and one for the fillies. The Ron Matheson-trained My Happy Place and driver Gilles Barrieau headline the filly division with the Landon Campbell stable's DJ Mustang, also driven by Barrieau, the early favourite on the colt side. Both divisions will carry purses of $15,000.
Eight starters will engage in battle in the $8,000 Rod Goguen Memorial for invitational pacers. What a field that's been assembled to honour the memory of Rod Goguen, a popular Exhibition Park Raceway horseman.
Batterup Hanover, trained and driven by Paul Langille, is fresh off a gate-to-wire 1:53.3 win in his last outing off a front end effort at Charlottetown. His inside post is a definitive advantage.
Post two has the locally undefeated Press Time, who has reeled off four straight wins at his new home track for owner Zach Cougle and trainer Averil Hunter. He picks up the more than capable services of Corey MacPherson this week. The seven-year-old son of Sportswriter won over Connell Park in 1:54.1 this season.
Two Tom Weatherbie trainees are side by side as Fern Hill General, with Brodie MacPhee, and Island Beach Boy, with Adam Merner, will leave from post three and four, respectively. Fern Hill General has the fastest win of the pair in 1:53.3 at Charlottetown.
Nova Scotia standout pacer American Risk will leave from post five and will have a familiar driver in the bike, New Brunswick's Todd Trites. He's had a solid year with a 1:53 win at Charlottetown and seven wins for the Risky Bizz Group.
Rollwithhottytoddy and catch-driver Gilles Barrieau is one of two entries from the Trevor Hicken stable and has a 1:53.1 win earlier this year at Truro Raceway. Tony Too Tall is a relative newcomer to the Maritimes but has been charting in the 1:53 range. Myles Heffernan Sr. will drive him from post six.
Rounding out the field is Bee Two Bee, who is coming in clicking on all cylinders with two straight wins for driver Jason Hughes, trained Ashley Gamester and owner Donald MacRae. He's the co-holder of the Charlottetown track record of 1:50.1 he equalled in 2023. He recently captured a division of the Richard Campbell Memorial at Charlottetown.
Post time for Saturday's 10-dash program is at 1 p.m.
Horse Racing New Brunswick would like to thank all the horsepeople, local volunteers and fans who continue to support horse racing in New Brunswick.
To view Saturday's harness racing entries, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Woodstock Raceway NB.
(With files from Horse Racing New Brunswick)
Feature: Playing music for Confucius, children in Taipei pass on cultural heritage
Xinhua) 16:39, September 24, 2024
TAIPEI, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Teenagers in red T-shirts holding various traditional musical instruments quietly and solemnly exited along a designated path in the courtyard of the Taipei Confucius Temple. With the final command, "Ritual completed," they finished a comprehensive rehearsal for the annual ceremony marking Confucius' birth.
The atmosphere immediately livened up as the teenagers dispersed into the shaded corridors. They chatted among themselves or pulled out their phones to play games.
Since school started in September, these junior high school students have been rehearsing every Saturday morning at the temple. For nearly a year, they not only practiced their musical instruments regularly but also completed a week of training during the winter break and five weeks during the summer vacation.
On the morning of Saturday this week, they will don long red robes and black high hats for their very first performance at the annual ceremony marking Confucius' birth, which strictly follows the rituals practiced for centuries across China.
The ceremony includes a principal presentation officer, a consecration officer, and collateral presentation officers. Last year, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an served as the principal presentation officer and Kung Tsui-chang, a direct 79th-generation descendant of Confucius, served as the consecration officer.
The attendants at the service, collectively called "deacons," are made up of respected local elders and students from the nearby Taipei Minglun High School. The musicians performing the ceremonial music are mostly students from the Taipei Chongqing Junior High School, while the dancers performing the ceremonial dance are selected from students at the Taipei Dalong Elementary School.
"My elder sister was a vocal member of the musicians. Inspired by her, I wanted to give it a try too," said Hsieh Ya-han, now in her second year of junior high school.
Before joining, Hsieh had no prior experience with traditional musical instruments. Over the past year, she practiced Xiao, a vertical bamboo flute, every Wednesday after school. She worked diligently to achieve the tall task of learning ten pieces of music to meet the standards of the ceremony.
The music performed at the ceremony is based on the music played at the memorial service for Confucius during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), with the lyrics dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
A total of 21 traditional Chinese musical instruments are used in the performance. Hsieh's classmate, Shih Chin-yao, plays the "Bo Fu," a rare percussion instrument shaped like a small double-sided drum, which is hardly seen even in today's traditional Chinese orchestras.
"I have learned violin and other musical instruments from a young age. When I found out I could learn how to play traditional instruments in the training program at the Confucius Temple, I signed up right away," Shih said.
Shih did come across some challenges when playing the "Bo fu." "The rhythm is steady with little variation, so I need to keep both my body and hands stable," he said. At home, he often practices without the instrument, even making a cardboard version to simulate it.
The training during the summer vacation was especially tough. From July to early August, they trained Monday through Friday mornings, practicing not only instruments but also standing in a military-like formation under the hot summer sun for 90 minutes a day. This physical training was essential to prepare them for the demands of the full ceremony performance.
Most musicians are selected from the first-year students. After performing at the ceremony in the beginning of their second year, most end their involvement in this unique extracurricular experience.
"Every autumn, I bid farewell to one group of students and welcome a new group. Over the years, I've trained at least 3,000 children," said Sun Rui-jin, who has been the chief musician at the Taipei Confucius Temple for 37 years.
Reflecting on the changes over time, Sun noted the shifts in how Confucius is viewed. "In the past, Confucius held a very significant place in people's life in Taiwan, and students deeply respected him as a wise sage. But today's children may not see him the same way," Sun said.
Hsieh and her classmates receive a different education compared to their parents. Due to the current authorities' independence agenda, their geography and history lessons now focus on Taiwan rather than the whole of China. Additionally, the proportion of classical Chinese texts in Chinese language classes has significantly diminished.
Despite these changes, the students still have their own understanding of Confucius. "He was a wise man," Hsieh said. "We read about him in our textbooks, and what we're learning as musicians at the ceremony is a form of cultural inheritance," Shih said.
"As teachers, we need to adjust our methods," said Sun. "I try to present Confucius as someone more approachable and interesting, not just a stern old man, so that students can relate to him better."
For these teenagers, being musicians at the Confucius Temple has opened a door to connecting with tradition. "One of the students who played drums had dyed blonde hair and looked very fashionable. Surprisingly, when she went to college, she majored in the Guqin (a plucked Chinese musical instrument)," Sun said.
As he grows older, Sun has found a successor. His assistant, who has participated in the ceremony for 10 years, is poised to take over. "I hope that the ceremony's elegant music and Confucian traditions will continue in Taiwan."
Next year's ceremony will likely be performed by a new group of students, but previous musicians can also apply to participate. "I will definitely apply next year," Hsieh said resolutely.
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
After tasting success during a two-year stint in the U.S. a little more than a decade ago, Jim Oscarsson is back stateside and hoping to harness Grand Circuit winners again.
Oscarsson and his wife, Susanne, returned to the U.S. from Sweden last year. Oscarsson is training four horses at the moment, all two-year-old trotters that will be in action this week in Bluegrass Stakes divisions at Lexingtons Red Mile.
During his previous stint in the U.S., Oscarssons top trotters included 2012 Peter Haughton Memorial champion Aperfectyankee and, in 2013, Grand Circuit stakes winning two-year-old Nuncio (who at age three won the Kentucky Futurity and Yonkers Trot for trainer Jimmy Takter).
I always liked it in the States, said Oscarsson. There are a lot of nice horses, and races too. The last time I was here, I had horses like Aperfectyankee and Nuncio, and its easy to want to come back because you want to do the same. You want to have horses like that again. Once you get a taste, you want to be here.
During his two seasons in the U.S., Oscarssons stable won 26 of 155 races and earned $1.13 million. But with two teenaged children at the time anxious to return home, the Oscarssons headed back to Sweden in late 2013.
In the ensuing years, Oscarsson raced a stable of 30 to 40 horses in Sweden. He returned once to the U.S., in 2016, to send out Explosive De Vie, driven by his son Kevin, in the MGM Yonkers International Trot. Explosive De Vie finished fifth from the second tiers post 10.
That was a lot of fun, said Oscarsson. To see my son drive in the race was great.
Oscarsson turned over the stable to Kevin last year so he could return to the U.S. with Susanne. After buying several yearlings at last falls sales, Oscarsson went to work preparing the horses for this season while stabled in Florida.
On Thursday, Oscarsson will have three freshman male trotters in action in Bluegrass Stakes divisions Themoneyisback S, Portillo and Durante Hanover. On Friday, freshman female trotter Sound Judgement will get her Bluegrass opportunity.
Oscarsson Racing Stable owns Themoneyisback S (Aperfectyankee-Dontlooseallmoney) and Portillo (Tactical Landing-Rarely Wrong) and co-owns Durante Hanover (Walner-Dancing For Money) with John Arkland and Helen Johanna Blomberg. Sound Judgement (Muscle Hill-Pin Kronos It) is owned by Blomberg Stable.
Each of the four horses has a win to their credit but will be stepping up in class in the Bluegrass divisions. Oscarsson plans to use the Bluegrass and next weeks International Stallion Stakes to gauge his next moves with the group.
I think theyre good, said Oscarsson. We took it easy with them at first, did some fairs and easier races. Were going to see how they manage now against the better competition these two weeks. After this, well go up to New Jersey and well see what races theyre going to be in.
Im happy with them. They train good and behave good and everything is perfect. Its going to be fun to see how they race these two weeks. Its tough when you just have four horses. They have to produce a lot, just the four of them. But theyre racing and have won races. Its going to be exciting to see.
Oscarsson hopes to eventually have a stable of 10 to 15 horses. He will be looking to add several to the mix when he attends next weeks Lexington Selected Yearling Sale at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion.
Weve been out to the farms and Im looking forward to going to the sale and see if we can catch some yearlings, said Oscarsson. Then well see if the owners want to buy some. I hope so. I cross my fingers that they do.
Thursdays Red Mile card includes five Bluegrass divisions for two-year-old male trotters and four Bluegrass splits for two-year-old female pacers. The 12-race program opens the 2024 Grand Circuit meet at the Red Mile. Racing begins at 1 p.m. (EDT).
(USTA; Photo of Jim Oscarsson with 2012 Peter Haughton champion Aperfectyankee)
A national organization supporting Republican gubernatorial candidates has no plans for buying additional adds in the North Carolina governors race.
The decision by the Republican Governors Association is another indication of the fallout Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, is facing following a CNN report released last week.
The report identified Robinson as the user of a pornographic website who described himself as a Black Nazi and defended slavery on the websites message board more than a decade ago. Robinson has denied posting the offensive messages.
Courtney Alexander, the communications director for the association, confirmed the group has no plans for buying additional ads in North Carolina.
We dont comment on internal strategy or investment decisions, but we can confirm whats public our current media buy in North Carolina expires tomorrow, and no further placements have been made. RGA remains committed to electing Republican Governors all across the country, she wrote.
The associations decision to move away from North Carolina comes amid other worrying signs for Robinsons campaign.
On Sunday, the Associated Press reported several top campaign leaders, including the campaign manager and finance director, had left the campaign.
Robinson has said he is considering legal action over the CNN story.
I am in the process of retaining aggressive legal counsel to investigate who did this and how, Robinson tweeted Monday. We will leave no stone unturned and will use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for perpetrating these lies.
John Dinan, the chair of the Department of Politics and International Affairs at Wake Forest University, said the associations decision does not come as a surprise.
Once the CNN report came out last week, that financial backing for and support of Robinsons campaign would quickly dry up, and this is just one sign of this inevitable development, as candidates in competitive races try to gain distance from Robinson and his campaign and as donors turn their attention and support to other campaigns, Dinan wrote.
Western Carolina University professor Chris Cooper agreed, writing in an email that things are not looking good for the Robinson campaign and that the loss of staffers and the support of the governors association are serious problems for a campaign that was already a bit on the ropes.
Cooper added: Robinsons previous campaign finance reports also show that he did not have a large cash reserve entering this quarter, so the financial problems for Robinson may be large.
As of June 30, Robinson had nearly $6.6 million on hand while Stein had banked $15.9 million, according to campaign finance reports. The next quarterly report will cover the period through Sept. 30.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) India Private Limited announced that the National Health Authority (NHA), Government e-Marketplace (GeM), and Public Sector Bank Alliance (PSBA) are adopting AWS technology to build innovative, scalable, and secure solutions to drive Indias digital transformation journey.
Supporting NHAs mission to create an open digital health ecosystem
The NHA is building on AWS to transform healthcare at population-scale and establish an open digital health ecosystem in India. It aims to build integrated digital health infrastructure in India for 1.4 billion citizens and provide health coverage to more than 550 million citizens through the Government of Indias flagship schemesAyushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) and Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). The NHA is leveraging the power of AWS services to build core modules of the AB-PMJAY programcritical applications like Beneficiary Identification System and Transaction Management Systemto manage beneficiary identification, and claim transaction management in a scalable, agile, and secure manner. Till date, more than 354 million Ayushman cards have been issued, more than 30 thousand hospitals are empaneled, and more than 68 million hospitalisations have been covered by PMJAY across 25 states and 8 union territories.
Empowering GeM to build the worlds largest public procurement platform
The Government e-Marketplace (GeM)the worlds second largest public procurement platformis also using AWS for its robust, scalable, and secure cloud infrastructure. GeM enables transparency, efficiency, and inclusivity in the public procurement domain (both goods and services) by government organisations and the public sector. AWS cloud services form the backbone of GeMs e-procurement features like direct purchasing, bidding, reverse auctions, price matching, demand aggregation, as well as supporting the marketplace, business operations, analysis, customer support, and payment processing. GeM enables 9,000 page views per second, 1.5 million interactions each day, and a daily transaction average of nearly 1,000 crore in gross merchandise value. GeM has a technology vision to digitise, automate, and transform its platform to improve efficiency, and enhance user experience, and is deploying artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI to provide customer-centric services and enable users to take data-driven decisions.
Cloud services for Indias public sector banks
In addition, the PSBAan umbrella organisation formed by 12 public sector bankshas empaneled AWS to offer flexible and optimised cloud computing services to Indias public sector banks. The PSBA provides important customer-oriented services as envisaged in the governments Enhanced Access and Service Excellence (EASE) agenda.
Viksit Bharat 2047
AWS shared these examples of supporting public sector customers in India at the AWS Empower India event held in New Delhi today. The theme for this years event is Viksit Bharat 2047, which represents the Indian governments vision to transform the nation into a developed entity by the centenary of its Independence (2047).
Delivering the keynote at the event, Dr Werner Vogels, Chief Technology Officer, Amazon.com, said, Many of our customers, from small startups to large enterprises, are seeking ways to maximise their cloud investments and minimise waste. This is especially crucial in India, where the challenge is to build scalable, efficient digital systems serving 1.4 billion people.
The Frugal Architect approach offers core principles for building cost-aware, sustainable, and modern architectures, turning constraints into catalysts for innovation. I am inspired by how builders and organisations in India are poised to embrace these principles, creating innovative solutions that not only address immediate challenges but also lay the foundation for sustainable, long-term growth, said Dr Werner Vogels, Chief Technology Officer, Amazon.com.
Indias public sector is laying the foundation to achieve the governments vision of a Viksit Bharat 2047, by developing population-scale initiatives, building on cloud and AI technology. Transformative innovations in our government, healthcare, and education segments for example are strengthening Indias potential as a Digital Nation, and to become a technology sandbox for the world, said Pankaj Gupta, Leader Public Sector, AWS India Private Limited.
At AWS, we are fortunate to co-innovate with our customers to help them achieve their missionswhether it is delivering better healthcare, improving access to quality education, enhancing financial inclusion, or improving business prospects of small businesses and startups, said Pankaj Gupta, Leader Public Sector, AWS India Private Limited.
Investing in Indias digital future
AWS has made a significant commitment to Indias digital future, investing more than $3.7 billion between 2016 and 2022 in its cloud infrastructure to drive innovation and enable local businesses and organisations across the country. Building on this foundation, AWS plans to invest an additional $12.7 billion in its cloud infrastructure in India by 2030, further solidifying its role as a key enabler of Indias technology growth. This combined investment represents one of the largest in Indias tech sector, aimed at supporting the nations transformation into a global digital powerhouse.
Committed to Indias digital future
AWS also works with various other government entities and education customers. Here are some examples.
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 new batteries change from solid to liquid and back to "self-heal." Credit: Eric Detsi
One of the greatest challenges in the fight against climate change is energy storage. Fossil fuel essentially stores itself, with its energy locked inside its own chemical bonds. But how do you store more sustainable, but otherwise ephemeral, forms of energy, like the power of the wind and sun?
For Eric Detsi, Associate Professor in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), the answer is batteries, with the caveat that batteries powerful enough to meet the future's energy demandsthe International Energy Agency projects that worldwide battery capacity will need to sextuple by 2030do not yet exist.
In most batteries used today, from the disposable alkaline batteries in household appliances like alarm clocks to the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in hybrid and electric vehicles, the electrodes between which ions flow are typically made of solid materials like metal oxides or graphite. But, as Detsi points out, each cycle of charging and discharging the battery damages the material, because the electrodes expand and contract, sometimes by as much as 300%, which is one of the reasons why even rechargeable batteries gradually lose capacity and eventually fail.
"There is a need for materials that can store a large amount of lithium, sodium and magnesium for use in high-performance batteries," says Detsi. "The problem is that the more lithium, sodium or magnesium a battery material can store, the more it expands and shrinks during charging and discharging, resulting in huge volume change."
Some researchers, including the late 2019 Nobel laureate John Goodenough, one of the fathers of lithium-ion batteries, recently started to develop batteries with liquid electrodes, which don't break when their volume changes. But liquid electrodes present other challenges, namely the difficulty of safely manufacturing and using batteries that behave like water balloons. In other words, just building larger or liquid batteries won't workto design the batteries of the future, researchers will need to create entirely new materials.
What's more, many of the elements typically used in mass-produced, rechargeable batterieslike lithium and cobaltare becoming increasingly expensive, not to mention entangled in human rights abuses, as demand for batteries increases. (Last year, Siddarth Kara, a professor at the University of Nottingham, published "Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives," an expose about the abysmal labor practices in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which produces three-quarters of the world's cobalt.)
"The need for high-performance batteries for emerging energy storage applications such as grid-scale storage and electric vehicles led me to study materials for batteries," says Detsi.
To that end, his group has been studying batteries made primarily of sodium and magnesium, which are cheaper and less ethically fraught since sodium and magnesium are plentiful in the earth's crust. More importantly, sodium and magnesium resources are abundant in the U.S. For example, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 68.8% of the world's reserves of sodium carbonate (soda ash) and 14.5% of the world's sodium chloride (salt), which are needed to make sodium, are found in the U.S.
Microscopic view of the new batteries before (a) and after (b) the self-healing process takes place. Credit: Eric Detsi
Detsi's group is using these metals to develop electrodes that shift between liquid and solid states to avoid damage during charge cycles while still being easy to manufacture.
"When the material is in the solid phase, it will start degrading due to the huge volume changes occurring during charge storage," says Detsi. "However, when the material transforms from solid to liquid, it 'heals' itself by recovering from volume-change-induced degradation."
At first, Detsi demonstrated the feasibility of this approach using an anodethe electrode that collects ions during chargingmade of dimagnesium pentagallide (Mg 2 Ga 5 ), a mixture of magnesium and gallium, the latter of which has a low melting point, making it easy for such alloys to shift from solid to liquid.
In 2019, Detsi's lab, along with that of Vivek Shenoy, Eduardo D. Glandt President's Distinguished Professor in MSE, in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM), and in Bioengineering (BE), showed that self-healing anodes made of Mg 2 Ga 5 could withstand more than 1,000 charge cycles.
"Before our work," says Detsi, "the cycle life of state-of-the-art magnesium-ion battery anodes was only 200 cycles." In other words, the addition of the self-healing anode quintupled the initial lifespan of magnesium-ion batteries.
Earlier this year, Detsi's lab pushed the envelope even further, using a gallium-indium anode that melts at room temperature, potentially opening the door to commercial applications. The experimental anode survived 2,000 charging cycles while retaining 91% battery capacity. "This is unprecedented," says Detsi. For context, the iPhone 15 can sustain 1,000 charging cycles while retaining 80% battery capacity.
In order to advance the project, Detsi and his co-authorsLin Wang and Alexander Ng, recent Ph.D. graduates, and Roxana Family, a postdoctoral fellowemployed a variety of advanced imaging techniques to better understand the material's transformation from solid to liquid, including X-ray diffraction, X-ray scattering, X-ray spectroscopy and cryogenic scanning electron microscopy. The latter technique involves freezing the liquid metal anodes at different stages, to better study the self-healing process, as Detsi and his group described in a 2023 paper published in ACS Energy Letters.
Nearly a decade ago, when Detsi and his group started exploring the concept of self-healing sodium- and magnesium-ion batteries, hardly anyone took his ideas seriously.
"I remember a reviewer of one of our proposals on sodium-ion batteries asking why sodium-ion batteries are not commercialized if they are so great," Detsi says. "At the time, there was only one startup company developing sodium-ion batteries. Now there are many across the globe."
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 EU is weighing action against X as part of a probe into whether the platform is breaching its content moderation rules.
Elon Musk's X is in hot water with the EU for allegedly breaking new content rulesand the world's richest man risks multibillion-dollar fines even he might find prohibitive.
The European Union could decide within months to take action against X, including possible fines, as part of a probe into whether the social platform is breaching a landmark content moderation law, the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Nothing has yet been decided, but if the EU's executive does decide to strike then the amount Musk could be liable for might be considerably higher than expected.
That's because the EU could calculate fines not just on the basis of X's turnoverbut on the revenues of Musk's entire business empire, including Tesla and SpaceX.
Already embroiled in legal woes in Brazil, the social network formerly known as Twitter was accused by the European Commission in July of misleading users with its blue checkmarks for certified accounts, insufficient advertising transparency and failing to give researchers access to the platform's data.
The allegations are part of a wider inquiry into X, opened in December, and regulators are still probing how it tackles the spread of illegal content and information manipulation.
Under EU legislation, for each of the offenses, Brussels could impose a fine of up to six percent of the annual worldwide turnover of the service "provider".
"This applies irrespective of whether the entity exercising decisive influence over the platform or search engine is a natural or legal person," European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier told AFP.
In other words, the EU could hold Musk himself liable and the six percent could be levied against all the companies he controlsnot just X.
That would potentially increase the penalty around thirty-fold, up from $200 million if only X's revenues are targeted to over $6 billion for each of the separate charges.
AFP based the calculation on Tesla's sales of $97 billion last year and estimates published in the media for X and SpaceX, neither of which release their figures publicly, totalling some $12 billion.
'Very public battle'
Whether the EU will ever go that far is a major question.
Even if it does eventually decide to hit Musk with fines, experts say it is unlikely that Brussels would seek the maximum possible from the mega-rich magnate.
But just having the threat of such eye-watering penalties hanging over him could be enough to bring the "free speech absolutist" to heeleven if his net worth is currently estimated at $210 billion.
X can still avoid being told to cough up if it agrees to make changes in line with the EU's demands.
The company now has access to the EU's file and can defend itself including by replying to the commission's findings.
In a move that might soften the tough stance from Brussels, the EU's tech enforcer Thierry Breton quit suddenly this month after failing to get reappointed for a new term.
The combative Frenchman had taken a hard line against online giants and clashed with Musk in a series of high-profile spats.
For now, EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager is in charge, before Finland's Henna Virkkunen is expected to take over as the bloc's new tech chief.
But despite the change in personnel the EU insists its position remains firm.
The implementation of the regulations will now be "less political and flamboyant, but probably just as tough", said Alexandre de Streel of the Centre on Regulation in Europe.
Romain Rard, from the law firm Gide in Brussels, said that extending the scope of the fine to cover Musk's other companies would be a "conceivable" option for the commission to take, depending on how his empire is structured legally.
But, Rard cautioned, it would be a "much riskier" strategy for the EU.
Either way, any penalty that might be levied would almost inevitably end up being caught up in complex legal wranglings before the EU's top court in Luxembourgespecially as Musk has already warned of a "very public battle".
That could be a high-stakes first test case for the EU's new content law, which has not yet been tested in court.
"It's the courts that will end up deciding," Rard said.
2024 AFP
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Google accused Microsoft of imposing financial penalties on customers wanting to use a rival cloud service.
Google said Wednesday that it had filed a complaint against Microsoft at the European Commission, accusing its rival of "anticompetitive" licensing practices to force customers to use its cloud service.
Google said Microsoft had exploited business customers' reliance on "must have" software products such as Windows Server to compel them to use its Azure cloud platform.
Microsoft has made it cost-prohibitive for clients to use Windows Server or other products on rival services, such as Google Cloud or Amazon's AWS, by marking up the price by 400 percent, Google charged.
"Microsoft's licensing terms restrict European customers from moving their current Microsoft workloads to competitors' clouds - despite there being no technical barriers to doing so," Google Cloud vice president Amit Zavery said in a blog post co-signed by Google Cloud's Europe region president Tara Brady.
For businesses that use rival cloud platforms despite the cost, "Microsoft introduced additional obstacles over the last few years, such as limiting security patches and creating other interoperability barriers", Google said.
At a news conference, Zavery said Google wanted restrictions removed so that customers could use the cloud platform of their choice.
"We believe this regulatory action is the only way to end Microsoft vendor lock-in and for customers to have a choice and create a level playing field for competitors," Zavery said.
Google said Microsoft adopted the new licensing terms in 2019.
"What Microsoft introduced in 2019 basically created this idea of not allowing choice to customers," Zavery said.
A spokesperson at the European Commission, the EU's antitrust watchdog, confirmed that the complaint was received, adding that "We will assess under our standard procedures".
The complaint was filed on Tuesday.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the company "settled amicably similar concerns raised by European cloud providers, even after Google hoped they would keep litigating".
"Having failed to persuade European companies, we expect Google similarly will fail to persuade the European Commission," the spokesperson added.
Clash of tech titans
Google and Microsoft have feuded for years over antitrust issues.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella last year testified against Google in a US federal court alleging that its business practices had stymied the rise of rival search engines.
Microsoft was also involved in the original complaints in the EU against Google in the 2010s over its search dominance, which resulted in major fines against Google.
About a decade ago, the companies agreed to a truce, but that proved to be only temporary.
The European Commission has already opened an investigation into Microsoft's Teams video and messaging app.
Microsoft tried to assuage the EU's concerns by untying Teams in Europe before expanding the policy to around the world in April.
But in June, the commission indicated that the changes were not enough, saying Microsoft violated EU antitrust rules by bundling Teams with its popular Office suite.
Google and other big US tech firms have come under scrutiny from the European Union, as Brussels has been fighting with the companies for years on issues ranging from data privacy to disinformation.
Google has been hit by a variety of fines totalling more than eight billion euros ($9 billion) over antitrust issues.
The company got a reprieve earlier this month, however, as an EU court scrapped a 1.5-billion-euro fine imposed by Brussels against Google over abuse of dominance in online advertising.
2024 AFP
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain
Autonomous vehicle company May Mobility Inc. is scaling back its expansion plans in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The Ann Arbor-based company has reduced its plans for new jobs to a third of what it announced in April 2023, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. May Mobility had initially committed to investing $18 million and creating 300 new jobs at its headquarters. Now, the company plans to add 100 jobs by the end of October 2026.
In response, the Michigan Strategic Fund board voted Tuesday to adjust May Mobility's performance-based grant, reducing it from $3 million to $1 million. The company's deadlines for reaching its milestones were also extended under the Michigan Business Development Program.
"May Mobility is not downsizing, rather we've realigned our workforce to better meet the evolving needs of our business as we expand our autonomous vehicle services," Tom Tang, May Mobility's chief people officer, said in an email Tuesday.
"While some positions were phased out earlier in the year, we are actively adding roles in key areas to support our growth. In fact, we are hiring right now. We have 19 positions listed and will continue to open new roles that will help us meet our goals."
According to an MEDC briefing memo, the company reached out to the agency requesting an amendment, saying it would not be able to meet the original requirements of the grant.
"The company has revamped their business plan, downsizing expectations related to their Autonomous Vehicle Technology growth," the memo read. "If this amendment request is approved, the Company is confident they will be able to meet the requirements of the grant."
The move on Tuesday comes after May Mobility said in February that it would reduce its workforce by about 13%. About 40 employees were ultimately impacted. The company employs 173 people in Michigan and 278 companywide, Tang said.
2024 detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Credit: Carnegie Mellon University
Humans can grab a book from a shelf with little obvious thought. But it's a complex process for the brain that involves planning and navigating around obstacles, like other books or knickknacks. Robotics researchers have struggled to replicate this kind of human movement when their systems perform similar tasks. Known as motion planning, the process of training a robot to get an object from one point to another without hitting any obstacles takes time and resources because the robot can't react dynamically like humans in unknown environments.
A team from Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute (RI) has developed Neural Motion Planning to help improve how robots react in new environments. The data-driven approach uses a single, versatile, artificial intelligence network to perform motion planning in various unfamiliar household environments, like cabinets, dishwashers and refrigerators.
"Sometimes when you deploy a robot, you want it to operate in unstructured or unknown settingsenvironments where you can't assume that you know everything," said Murtaza Dalal, an RI doctoral student. "That's where these classic motion planning methods break down. One big issue is that these algorithms are very slow because they have to do thousands, maybe even millions, of collision checks."
Neural Motion Planning was inspired by how humans gather diverse experiences to practice and gradually increase proficiency. When acquiring new skills, humans start with slow, unsure behavior and progress to fast, dynamic motions. Neural Motion Planning allows robots to be more versatile in unfamiliar environments and to generally adapt when moving objects.
Credit: Carnegie Mellon University
Researchers simulated millions of complex environments to train Neural Motion Planning. In these simulations, robots encountered household environmentsshelves, cubbies, microwaves, dishwashers, open boxes and cabinetsand sometimes had to maneuver around random objects, like a puppy or a vase. The models were trained to perform reactive and fast motion planning. This process and data were distilled in a generalist policy so when the robot was deployed in the real world it could perform tasks in different environments from what it had seen before.
"We have seen amazing successes in large-scale learning for vision and languagethink ChatGPTbut not in robotics. Not yet," said Deepak Pathak, the Raj Reddy Assistant Professor in the RI. "This work is a stepping stone toward that goal. Neural Motion Planning uses the simple recipe of learning at scale in simulation to produce a large degree of generalization in the real world. It works across scenes with different backgrounds, objects, obstacles and even entire scene arrangements."
When used on a robotic arm in the lab, Neural Motion Planning successfully navigated unfamiliar environments. The robotic system was given a three-dimensional representation of the starting point in the scene, which was created using depth cameras, and presented with a goal positionwhere researchers wanted the robotic arm to end up. Then, Neural Motion Planning provided the joint configurations for the robotic arm to move from the starting point to the endpoint.
"It was exciting to see a single model deftly avoid diverse household obstacles including lamps, plants, bookcases and cabinet doors while moving the robot arm to complete tasks," said RI master's student Jiahui Yang. "This feat was enabled by massively scaling up data generation, following a similar recipe to the success of machine learning in vision and language."
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Credit: Eindhoven University of Technology
Robots are widely used in the automotive industry and have started entering new application domains such as logistics in the last few years. However, current robots still face many limitations. They typically perform a single action or a fixed sequence of actions, repeating them the same way each time.
To achieve greater efficiency and open new possibilities, robots must develop more human-like skills, such as fast physical interaction, spatial understanding, and fast adaptation to changes. Eindhoven University of Technology spoke with Alessandro Saccon, Associate Professor in nonlinear control and robotics at the department of Mechanical Engineering at the TU/e. He recently completed the I.AM project that explicitly focuses on the advancement of fast physical interactions.
Why are impact-aware robots so important for humanity?
Certain jobs are not particularly suited for humans from a safety or ergonomic perspective. For instance, when handling 20-kilogram luggage at airports, working in unsafe areas of a nuclear plant, or dealing with disaster scenarios, you might prefer a machine instead. There are also various plans to send them to space for planet exploration.
However, robots still statically interact with the environments when compared to us: the execution of certain key tasks is not yet possible or the execution is too slow. That's why, in our project, we aimed to develop impact-aware robots. That means a robot has to learn to predict and react to what happens when it comes into fast contact with heavy objects in the environment.
What makes those robots different from the traditional robots we've known forever?
Typical robots are not designed to interact dynamically with their environment; making fast contact with surroundings is generally avoided at all costs. There is a very large number of scientific papers in the robotics literature whose focus is collision avoidance.
In the I.AM project, we targeted instead collision exploitation. We looked into how the robots can, for example, pick up heavy objects quickly while ensuring that the execution of this type of motion remains reliable, despite disturbances and perception inaccuracies. An object might be heavier than the robot anticipated, or it assumes that an object is at a certain location, but its slightly offmaybe even by a few centimeters. How do you make these movements robust despite such uncertainties? That's one of the things that we have been researching in depth.
Practically speaking, what main activities were involved in your project?
The project employed first-principle physics calculations, using basic concepts such as mass and friction, along with software simulations to identify discrepancies between mathematical models and real-world events. Although simulations can never perfectly replicate robot behavior, we improved and most importantly understood how to still use these algorithms for controlling the robots.
We did this by taking real-time measurements of robots interacting with various objects in different scenarios. Its an iterative cycle where you develop and implement a theoretical robot control algorithm in a simulation, evaluate the results, and compare them with real-world outcomes.
Can you highlight some key findings from this project?
We discovered how we can make a robot reliably and swiftly grab a heavy object with two arms, by developing a new control algorithm that respects the natural impact dynamics. We also understood how to use software simulations to obtain predictions that can be used for this purpose or other impact tasks.
While working on this project, I also further appreciated how complex movements and spatial perception come so naturally to us humans. We academic researchers are now working very hard on hardware development, spatial perception, and planningespecially the ability to understand the environment in real time and quickly decide what to do next, also in case of failure. This is one of the grand challenges in modern robotics. These actions are natural and intuitive for us, yet we don't fully understand how we do them nor how we should build a machine with similar abilities.
Were there also companies involved in this project?
Yes, for example, one of our partners was logistic process automation specialist VanderLande. This is a well-known and large company from the Netherlands that operates worldwide in various fields, such as airports, warehousing, and parcel handling. They provided a lot of real-life use cases and insights on what are the current bottlenecks in the field, the so-called market pains.
One of the great aspects of this collaboration was having a shared lab on TU/e campus, which facilitated hands-on testing and close cooperation. Students and researchers loved it. We have done various comparisons between real and software-simulated impact experiments as well as developed new models of suction grippers to be used for motion control and planning.
Would you say that the Netherlands is specialized in robotics?
The Netherlands as a whole is definitely making significant strides when it comes to robotics. The country has long been known for contributing to medical robotics, robot learning, and mobile robotics, to cite a few. I like to think that via this project and its international collaborations, we have also made significant strides in impact-aware robotics.
This area of research, which we could say originated here, has garnered global attention and recognition. Our project has played a key role in bringing the subject to the forefront, and its gratifying to see that our work has been well-received and acknowledged, including in recent publications.
The project is done. What does the future look like for you?
I will continue investigating and exploring new opportunities, including national and European funding. I'm considering follow-up projects focusing on areas that we couldn't address during this one, like fast planning and perception. I'm also still in close contact with local and international companies to explore further collaboration opportunities. Some of the many students involved in the project have been hired in companies that were partners in the project: things are growing in the right direction. The visibility this project has generated is both challenging and exciting at the same time. While it means juggling more tasks, I'm also looking forward to seeing what the future holds.
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Credit: Frans van Heerden from Pexels
At the end of September, the UK's last remaining coal power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, will be retired. The closure of the plant shouldand willbe celebrated by environmentalists, as the move away from coal has made Britain's electricity much cleaner over the past decade. It is on this basis that the UK claims climate leadership.
In the 1950s, coal provided the overwhelming majority of British energy, and as recently as 2012 it still generated 40%. By 2022, it was less than 2%. In a month's time, it will be zero.
Phasing out coal was a brutal and profound process. Organized labor was decimated, entire regions were forced into decline, and communities were left with sustained economic, social and health problems. The towering ghosts of power stations like Ratcliffe-on-Soar will haunt Britain's ongoing effort to phase out North Sea oil and gas and replace it with clean energy.
And we are witnessing this haunting in real-time. After the Labor government announced its plans to end new licenses for oil and gas in British watersnecessary to meet the Paris Agreementworkers and trade unions feared history would repeat itself in terms of job losses and blighted communities.
The general secretary of Unite, Sharon Graham, noted that without a more thorough plan, the policy risked creating "the coal miners of our generation." A recent motion at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) gathering in Brighton called for no ban on oil and gas licensing before a fully funded jobs guarantee is agreed. The motion narrowly passed.
Workers and unions are demanding a "just transition" from polluting industries into the clean industries of the future. But to achieve this, the UK government must learn from what happened with coal.
Many places still rely on oil and gas jobs
Although oil and gas are not as embedded throughout British life as coal once was, there are many settlements and larger areas still dependent on energy jobs. Grangemouth in central Scotland is a good example. In November 2023, the owner, Petroineos, announced plans to close the town's oil refinery in 2025, bringing a century of production to an end at the cost of 400 jobs.
Even if the UK government did issue new oil and gas licenses, the North Sea faces structural decline. Production peaked around the turn of the century. Since 2014, as many as 200,000 jobs have been lost either offshore or along the supply chain onshore.
From gas to wind?
Planning for the end of fossil fuels is therefore an urgent endeavor. The dominant strategy for protecting skilled jobs is to transition workers into the industries set to replace North Sea production: wind energy and other low-carbon technologies.
However, though Britain has developed a large wind power sector, it remains a major importer of turbines. Domestic manufacturing makes only a small contribution, and developers are not required to use British-made turbines or other parts, despite the jobs this would create.
This has left Grangemouth workers discontented. When one of us (Ewan Gibbs) and Riyoko Shibe interviewed young refinery workers at Grangemouth earlier this year, many commented that there were relatively few jobs in renewables. When jobs were visible on LinkedIn and comparable job sites, one told us that "you'll see there's a big difference in terms and conditions."
In its current form, the UK wind industry will find it hard to provide the types of secure ongoing employment that oil and gas historically has. Most jobs are in the construction and maintenance of wind farms, with the latter threatened by automation. Without public investment and a targeted industrial policy, Britain will remain a net importer of wind technology, and the phasing out of North Sea oil and gas will prove costly in job terms.
More investment needed
Britain's lack of state intervention is not the norm. After all, more than half of British wind farms are state-owned, though less than 1% are owned by the UK government. Swedish, Norwegian, French, Irish and German state-owned entities are major players, but the biggest is Denmark's rsted, a former oil company turned renewables giant which is mostly state-owned. In the UK's most recent offshore wind auction, 70% of the projects were awarded to rsted.
The newly launched Great British Energy could give the state a foothold in the North Sea once more. This publicly owned company plans to focus on domestic manufacturing and will invest in ports and other infrastructures to "unlock strategic bottlenecks."
But if such projects are to be meaningfully incorporated into a just transition, they will need to offer continuity and security to oil and gas workers. As one Grangemouth worker put it, referring to his colleagues facing the choice of either remaining unemployed locally or relocating to use their skills:
"They're moving to the Middle East, they're moving to the north-east of Scotland. They're moving offshore, they're moving to the Shetlands, and therefore it's not just a transition, in my view, if we're moving to these jobs."
Another worker highlighted the risks that Grangemouth could join the coalfields in becoming "stranded" communities:
"We've got a community that's been built round the site, we've got skills and we've got people that work there, we've got the infrastructure therewhy should we not have these jobs when the time comes to move to these industries? Why can we not have it at Grangemouth?"
Britain's push to phase out oil and gas is urgent and necessary, but it cannot follow the same trajectory as Britain's exit from coallessons must be learned. The opportunities presented by the transition away from fossil fuels will only be fully realized if workers are at its center.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume is aiming for a package of measures to shore up the carmaker.
Volkswagen managers and workers representatives will start crunch talks in Hanover on Wednesday, following the German group's announcement that drastic cost-cutting measures are needed to keep the carmaker competitive.
Two homegrown figures who have spent their entire careers at Volkswagengroup CEO Oliver Blume and head of the works council Daniela Cavallowill face off at the meeting.
Blume wants to seal a "package" of measures this year to shore up the carmaker, which has struggled with weak demand and a difficult transition to electric vehicles.
Cavallo has promised "bitter resistance" to the plans that include the possible closure of production sites in Germanyan unprecedented step in the 87-year history of Volkswagen.
The boss
A mechanical engineer by training, Blume plotted his career through the different brandsAudi, Seat and then VWbefore becoming CEO of Porsche in 2015.
The mild-mannered manager, 56, was tapped by the family dynasty behind Volkswagen to become head of the group in 2022, replacing controversial figure Herbert Diess.
A consensus-builder by reputation, Blume was seen as a breath of fresh air after Diess had rubbed shareholders and unions the wrong way with provocative statements.
So it was all the more surprising when Volkswagen announced this month that it could cut thousands of jobs by closing factories in Germany.
The shock proposal alarmed unions and the government but Blume has said drastic action was necessary to take on the "major challenges" faced by the carmaker.
Volkswagen works council head Daniela Cavallo has said her job is 'to advocate for people's interests'
In his short time as CEO, Blume has already sought to cure Volkswagen's ills, scrapping Diess's policy of doing everything in-house and striking new partnerships.
The German giant has made investments in Chinese manufacturer XPeng and US outfit Rivian to work on in-car technology, although the new projects will take time to pay off.
The union leader
Like Blume, Cavallo was born close to Volkswagen's headquarters in the central German city of Wolfsburg and has never strayed far from the group.
Her father emigrated to Wolfsburg from Italy to take up a job at Volkswagen along with thousands of other so-called guest workers.
Cavallo, the first woman to lead Volkswagen's works council, began an apprenticeship at the carmaker out of high school.
In 2002, she was elected to represent workers at the VW subsidiary Auto 5000, working her way up to the head of the general works council in 2021.
"My job is not to understand technology down to the last detail, but to advocate for people's interests," Cavallo told Die Zeit newspaper after being criticized for not having spent sufficient time on the factory line.
Cavallo is "very clear on what she wants for employees", said car market expert Stefan Bratzel, who warned that management should not "underestimate" the 49-year-old.
She reportedly gets along with Blume better than she did with Diess.
There was a slim chance that the two Volkswagen lifers could figure something out "in partnership", said Bratzel.
2024 AFP
Stephanie Hathaway never knew her grandmother.
Her grandmother, Yvonne Carol Menke, was shot three times and killed before Hathaway was born. The murder was one of the most-renowned unsolved cases in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, until Hathaway a jail floor corporal at the Brazos County Detention Center in Bryan began pushing to have the 38-year-old case reopened. As a result, an 80-year-old woman living in Arizona was arrested and convicted of the crime earlier this year.
Somebody needed to push it and most of the family said they didnt have the ability, so I said Ill do it, Hathaway said recently.
She started making calls back to her hometown of St. Croix Falls, requesting records about the case.
In 2021, I didnt want to wait anymore. Most of the people involved in the case had passed away, said the 35-year-old Hathaway, who lives in Madisonville.
Her initial efforts to retrieve files were unsuccessful because it was still an open investigation. Fortunately, newly elected Polk County Sheriff Brent Waak made it a priority for his department to try and solve cold cases.
An investigative team that included Polk County Deputy Sheriff Lt. Andrew Vitalis and Investigations Liaison Deputy Mark Biller, a retired district attorney and former sheriffs deputy, took on the challenge.
Vitalis said he was in the second grade when Menke was killed.
Our school went on lockdown its a moment in my life that stuck in my brain, he said in a recent interview.
I had a lot of personal history with this one, Biller recalled.
Biller said he had left the sheriffs department and was in his second year of law school when the murder happened. Many of his friends worked on the case.
Its always kind of hung over the department, he said.
The unsolved murder hung over the family, too. Hathaway said her mother, Becky Clover, was one of four siblings suddenly left without a parent.
I was born just a couple blocks away from where she was killed, Hathaway said.
Hathaway said Menkes loss still weighed on her mother, aunts and uncle.
I didnt get to meet my grandma and thats not fair, she said.
It bothered Hathaway that there was no closure to the case and no apparent effort to solve it.
It had been 30-something years and we wanted answers, Hathaway said.
The case began around 6 a.m. on Dec. 12, 1985. Menke, a single mother of four who lived in an upstairs apartment, came down a stairwell to warm up her car when she was shot once in the neck and twice in the head. One of her daughters heard the shots and looked out a window in time to see a person in a trench coat and knit hat run away. She then found her mothers body.
Police were aided in their investigation by FBI agents who were in town for another case. Among the meager pieces of evidence they managed to collect was a detailed casting of a boot print in the snow. In 1985, investigators found that a prime suspect owned a pair of size 5 Arctic Cat snowmobile boots. They were submitted to the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory and compared to the boot prints from the murder scene. The lab reported Baileys boots matched the casts taken at the scene in terms of size, tread pattern and wear pattern.
Several people told investigators that Menke and a woman named Mary Jo Lunsmann (now Bailey) were both seeing a man named Jack Owen. Menke, who was 45 at the time, had reportedly told Owen to choose her exclusively or she would dump him. That love triangle made Lunsmann the primary suspect, but investigators could not find enough evidence to arrest her.
The case went cold from there.
In 2021, when the new investigative team took over, they brought a different approach. Vitalis said they dug deeper into the facts and looked at it from a different perspective than the first investigators did. They did not find any new physical evidence and DNA testing was inconclusive. They began by widening the list of suspects. From there it became a process of elimination.
Bailey was the last [woman] standing, Biller said.
The team spent months interviewing as many surviving witnesses as they could, including Mary Jo Bailey who lived in Apache Junction, Arizona. Jack Owen had married, moved to Montana, and died shortly before the case reopened.
Little bits and pieces started to come together to create a more complete picture, Biller said.
He said some witnesses were able to recall details they didnt think were important 38 years ago and others who were reluctant to talk while a murderer was at large now felt more comfortable sharing details after the passage of so much time.
With their investigation complete, the men took their case to Polk County District Attorney Jeff Kemp. Bailey was arrested in November 2023 and extradited to Wisconsin for trial. Her two-week trial started May 20 before Circuit Court Judge Scott Nordstrand. Thirty witnesses testified and the jury was taken on a field trip to the murder scene.
So strong was the prosecutions case that the jury only deliberated for two hours before finding Bailey guilty.
I have tried a lot of homicide cases in my day and a two-hour verdict is exceptional, Biller said.
Bailey was 81 at the time of the trial and sentenced to life in prison.
Im happy with the verdict, Hathaway said. Im glad that everyone could finally get closure.
Vitalis said the most satisfying part for him was seeing the family get closure by addressing Bailey directly in court.
You waited in a dark stairwell to maliciously murder my mom you sentenced us to a life filled with pain, sadness and hurt, Hathaways aunt, Julie Connors, said during her victim impact statement.
Vitalis said Bailey remained stoic and unemotional throughout her arrest and trial. He said she never showed remorse.
It was satisfying when Menkes family got to address Mary Jo. She had to listen. She had to hear it, he said.
I feel very good about it, Biller said. This case has been a thorn in the departments fanny for years.
Vitalis said this was the second major cold case he helped solve since 2018.
It feels good. It brings about new energy toward other cold cases, he said.
A Navasota High School student was charged with making a terroristic threat after an alleged incident Monday between two students that had been circulated via social media, according to a press release from the city of Navasota.
Navasota Police Department School Resource Officers began investigating the threat and identified and detained the suspect.
The police are working with the Grimes County District Attorney and County Attorney offices to criminally charge anyone making a threat toward a school, student or school faculty, the release stated.
According to a city spokesperson, the Navasota police have observed an increase in school-related threats recently, a trend that mirrors what is happening nationwide.
Navasota police and school officials ask that parents talk to their children about the gravity of making threats. Threats come in the form of social media apps, text messages or mail. If anyone sees or hears about a potential threat, report them to a school resource officer, the Navasota Police Department at 936-825-6410, or the Grimes County Crime Stoppers tipline at 936-873-2000.
Lennar (NYSE:LEN Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $154.00 to $173.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the construction companys stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s target price points to a potential downside of 6.11% from the companys current price.
LEN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Lennar from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the company from $180.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price objective on Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered their price objective on Lennar from $177.00 to $175.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $179.72.
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Lennar Price Performance
Shares of LEN stock opened at $184.26 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 4.93. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $177.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.30. Lennar has a fifty-two week low of $102.90 and a fifty-two week high of $193.80.
Lennar (NYSE:LEN Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.28. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.93% and a net margin of 11.58%. The firm had revenue of $9.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.91 earnings per share. Lennars revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lennar will post 14.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lakewood Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 0.8% during the second quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,385 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 1.5% during the second quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 4,870 shares of the construction companys stock worth $730,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lennar by 5.7% in the second quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Lennar by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the construction companys stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, BBR Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. BBR Partners LLC now owns 2,427 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Lennar Company Profile
(Get Free Report)
Lennar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a homebuilder primarily under the Lennar brand in the United States. It operates through Homebuilding East, Homebuilding Central, Homebuilding Texas, Homebuilding West, Financial Services, Multifamily, and Lennar Other segments. The company's homebuilding operations include the construction and sale of single-family attached and detached homes, as well as the purchase, development, and sale of residential land; and development, construction, and management of multifamily rental properties.
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Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new version of an Android banking trojan called Octo that comes with improved capabilities to conduct device takeover (DTO) and perform fraudulent transactions.
The new version has been codenamed Octo2 by the malware author, Dutch security firm ThreatFabric said in a report shared with The Hacker News, adding campaigns distributing the malware have been spotted in European countries like Italy, Poland, Moldova, and Hungary.
"The malware developers took actions to increase the stability of the remote actions capabilities needed for Device Takeover attacks," the company said.
Some of the malicious apps containing Octo2 are listed below -
Europe Enterprise (com.xsusb_restore3)
Google Chrome (com.havirtual06numberresources)
NordVPN (com.handedfastee5)
Octo was first flagged by the company in early 2022, describing it as the work of a threat actor who goes by the online aliases Architect and goodluck. It has been assessed to be a "direct descendant" of the Exobot malware originally detected in 2016, which also spawned another variant dubbed Coper in 2021.
"Based on the source code of the banking Trojan Marcher, Exobot was maintained until 2018 targeting financial institutions with a variety of campaigns focused on Turkey, France and Germany as well as Australia, Thailand and Japan," ThreatFabric noted at the time.
"Subsequently, a 'lite' version of it was introduced, named ExobotCompact by its author, the threat actor known as 'android' on dark-web forums."
The emergence of Octo2 is said to have been primarily driven by the leak of the Octo source code earlier this year, leading other threat actors to spawn multiple variants of the malware.
Another major development is Octo's transition to a malware-as-a-service (MaaS) operation, per Team Cymru, enabling the developer to monetize the malware by offering it to cybercriminals who are looking to carry out information theft operations.
"When promoting the update, the owner of Octo announced that Octo2 will be available for users of Octo1 at the same price with early access," ThreatFabric said. "We can expect that the actors that were operating Octo1 will switch to Octo2, thus bringing it to the global threat landscape."
One of the significant improvements to Octo2 is the introduction of a Domain Generation Algorithm (DGA) to create the command-and-control (C2) server name, as well as improving its overall stability and anti-analysis techniques.
The use of a DGA-based C2 system has an inherent advantage in that it allows the threat actor to easily shift to new C2 servers, rendering domain name blocklists ineffective and improving resilience against potential takedown attempts.
The rogue Android apps distributing the malware are created using a known APK binding service called Zombinder, which makes it possible to trojanize legitimate applications such that they retrieve the actual malware (in this case, Octo2) under the guise of installing a "necessary plugin."
There is presently no evidence to suggest that Octo2 is propagated via the Google Play Store, indicating that users are likely either downloading them from untrusted sources or being tricked into installing them via social engineering.
A Google spokesperson confirmed to The Hacker News that the company did not find any evidence of the malware on the official storefront, and that Google Play Protect automatically protects users from known versions of the malware.
"With the original Octo malware's source code already leaked and easily accessible to various threat actors, Octo2 builds on this foundation with even more robust remote access capabilities and sophisticated obfuscation techniques," ThreatFabric said.
"This variant's ability to invisibly perform on-device fraud and intercept sensitive data, coupled with the ease with which it can be customized by different threat actors, raises the stakes for mobile banking users globally."
(The story was updated after publication on October 4, 2024, to include a response from Google.)
California Governor Signs Off on AI Content Safeguard Laws
California Governor Gavin Newsom has officially signed a series of landmark artificial intelligence bills into law, signaling the state's latest efforts to regulate the burgeoning technology, particularly in response to the misuse of sexually explicit deepfakes. The legislation is aimed at mitigating the risks posed by AI-generated content, as concerns grow over the technology's potential to manipulate images, videos, and voices in ways that could cause significant harm.
The new measures come at a time when deepfakes digitally altered media that can replicate real people's likeness are proliferating, raising alarm about their potential to deceive, defame, and harass individuals. The trio of bills signed by Newsom seeks to address these issues head-on, establishing legal frameworks and mandates designed to hold AI developers and social media companies accountable.
"We're in an era where digital tools like AI have immense capabilities, but they can also be abused against other people," Newsom said in a statement. "We're stepping up to protect Californians."
Tackling Deepfake Exploitation
Among the key pieces of legislation is SB 926, which explicitly criminalizes the creation and distribution of sexually explicit deepfakes that appear convincingly real and cause the individual depicted to experience "serious emotional distress." Violators could face severe penalties under the new law, marking a significant step in deterring such digital exploitation.
SB 981 requires social media platforms to establish a streamlined process for users to report sexually explicit deepfakes of themselves. Under this bill, platforms must promptly investigate and temporarily block flagged content while the investigation is ongoing. This provision is aimed at curbing the rapid dissemination of harmful deepfakes that can tarnish reputations within moments of being posted online.
The third law, SB 942, focuses on transparency by mandating that AI-generated content carry a clear disclosure. The law seeks to help users more easily identify AI-altered images or videos, ensuring that the public can discern between real and AI-generated content, thereby reducing the likelihood of individuals being misled by sophisticated forgeries.
Broader AI Regulation on the Horizon
While these bills mark important steps in curbing AI misuse, a broader AI regulation known as the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act (SB-1047) remains in limbo. The bill, passed by the California state legislature last month, would impose more comprehensive regulations on AI development, specifically targeting frontier models that push the boundaries of what artificial intelligence can achieve.
Governor Newsom has until September 30 to sign or veto that bill, which has divided lawmakers, AI researchers, and tech companies alike. Supporters argue that the legislation is essential to putting guardrails in place before AI technology advances further, while critics warn that over-regulation could stifle innovation and economic growth in California's AI sector.
Silicon Valley's Stance
Silicon Valley, however, is particularly concerned about the potential chilling effects of the new legislation. AI startups and major technology firms worry that overly stringent laws could hinder the development of cutting-edge AI systems and limit the state's competitive edge in this rapidly growing field.
However, proponents of the legislation argue that responsible AI development must balance innovation with accountability. Lawmakers advocating for the act emphasize the need for protective measures to prevent AI from being weaponized, whether through malicious deepfakes, algorithmic biases, or misuse of personal data.
When asked about the legislation earlier this week, Newsom remained non-committal, stating only that the bill "will be evaluated on its merits." The governor, who has historically been cautious about imposing regulations that could curtail tech sector growth, faces mounting pressure from both sides of the debate.
The Path Forward
California's new AI laws reflect a growing consensus among lawmakers and citizens alike that AI needs guardrails, particularly as the technology becomes more embedded in everyday life. Although the debate over broader regulations rages on, the bills signed this week represent a decisive move to protect individuals from the most harmful applications of AI-generated media.
As deepfakes and other AI technologies become more advanced, policymakers will likely continue grappling with how to balance the promises of AI with the risks it poses. With California leading the charge, the rest of the country and the world will be watching closely to see how these regulations evolve moving forward.
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COLUMBIA The South Carolina Broadband Office (SCBBO) has updated its statewide maps to reflect the progress that has been made through previous funding and grant opportunities through June 30, 2024. Updated statewide information and statistics by county, as well as legislative and congressional districts, are available via SCDigitalDrive.org.
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The new June 30, 2024, map set is based upon location-level information from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Broadband Service Location (BSL) fabric and focuses on underserved homes (those with less than 100 Mbps download / 20 Mbps upload service) in South Carolina. In addition, this map set reflects the full commitment of state managed American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) investments, federally managed FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Funds (RDOF), US Department of Agriculture (USDA) ReConnect, over 4.3 million Ookla Speedtest Intelligence records, and the results of the SC Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Challenge.
This map release documents rapid progress toward our goal of eliminating the digital divide in South Carolina, said Jim Stritzinger, Director of the SCBBO. We are incredibly grateful for the hard work and dedication of our Internet Service Providers and the support of Gov. McMaster and the SC General Assembly. I am extremely proud of the technical achievements of my team to make this map release possible.
As of June 30, 2024, there are approximately 128,149 underserved residential and 22,554 underserved business BSLs (impacting approximately 350,424 residents) in South Carolina; however, when construction on currently funded projects is complete, the total number of underserved BSLs will fall to 31,746 by December 2030.
All state-managed ARPA investments are required to be construction-complete by June 30, 2026; however, federally managed FCC RDOF and USDA ReConnect investments may not complete until 2030. Federally managed projects are outside of SCBBO control. In addition, each BSL can represent one or more homes or businesses. For example, one BSL could equal 32 homes e.g., an apartment complex with 32 units.
Statewide, over 505,000 (~25%) residential locations now subscribe to high-speed fiber and nearly 1,200,000 (~61%) additional residential locations subscribe to high-speed cable broadband.
More information about the broadband grant programs administered by the SCBBO can be found at ors.sc.gov/broadband.
(TBTCO) - Trong thang 9/2024, So Giao dich Chung khoan Ha Noi a to chuc 18 ot au thau trai phieu Chinh phu do Kho bac Nha nuoc phat hanh, huy ong uoc 33.374 ty ong, trong o ky han 10 nam van giu ty trong cao nhat voi 66% tong khoi luong phat hanh.
(TBTCO) - Toi 28/9, Tong Bi thu, Chu tich nuoc To Lam va Phu nhan cung oan ai bieu cap cao Viet Nam a ve toi san bay quoc te Noi Bai, thu o Ha Noi, ket thuc tot ep chuyen cong tac tham du Tuan le cap cao ai hoi ong Lien hop quoc Khoa 79, lam viec tai Hoa Ky va sau o la tham cap Nha nuoc toi Cuba theo loi moi cua Bi thu thu nhat Ban Chap hanh Trung uong ang Cong san Cuba, Chu tich nuoc Cong hoa Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez cung Phu nhan.
Mohamed Hareb Al Otaiba Group (MHAO Group), the UAEs oldest business conglomerate, has announced plans to double the number of UAE nationals in its workforce by 2025. The announcement was made on the opening day of Ruya Careers UAE 2024, which runs until September 26 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
The move continues a growth trajectory that saw the group double its Emirati workforce in 2024 compared to 2023. The announcement comes as part of MHAO Groups ongoing commitment to the UAEs national agenda, fostering Emirati talent across all levels of its business operations.
In 2024, the group successfully increased the representation of UAE nationals in its senior executive leadership team, which now includes six Emirati leaderstwo directors, one managing director, one CEO/chairman, and one business head. Furthermore, 30% of MHAO Groups leadership roles are currently held by women, reflecting its commitment to promoting diversity and inclusivity, not only for Emirati women but women from all backgrounds.
Investing in the future
Our mission has always been to contribute to the growth and prosperity of the UAE by empowering its people. By doubling our Emirati workforce by 2025, we are not only investing in the future of our group but in the future of our nation. We are committed to nurturing local talent, promoting diversity, and ensuring that our Emirati employees have the tools, guidance, and opportunities to thrive in leadership roles across the organisation, said Mohamed Hareb Al Otaiba, Chairman of MHAO Group.
Muzna Al Otaiba, Managing Director of MHAO Group, said: Our commitment to nurturing Emirati talent is deeply ingrained in our organisational culture. We are proud to have significantly increased our national workforce and remain dedicated to further empowering Emiratis at all levels of the company. Through targeted initiatives and strategic partnerships, we provide our people with the tools and resources they need to excel. We are excited to take part in Ruya Careers UAE 2024, where we will continue offering a diverse range of opportunities for our nations future leaders.
MHAO Group has built strategic partnerships to support its goal of fostering Emirati growth. The company has collaborated with KPMG to define career progression for all levels within the organisation and to implement a comprehensive grading system, which provides employees with clear pathways for professional development.
Additionally, MHAO Groups partnership with Mercer focuses on talent assessment and development, helping Emirati employees identify their strengths and areas for improvement, with subsequent investment in tailored training programmes.
Leadership programme
The group has launched a new leadership development programme in partnership with the American University of Cairo, aimed at cultivating leadership skills among its Emirati employees through comprehensive training, workshops, and mentorship provided by esteemed faculty and industry experts. This collaboration underscores MHAO Groups commitment to developing strong leaders within the organisation.
As part of its commitment to Emirati empowerment, MHAO Group offers several structured training programmes. The Al Nukhba programme is designed to take Emirati participants on a one-year journey from management trainee to junior specialist, providing essential skills and hands-on experience for career progression.
Similarly, the Bidaya programme enables Emiratis to transition from junior specialist to junior manager over a year, with a focus on leadership and management training. Furthermore, the group has tailored an Al Nukhba development plan specifically for People of Determination, reflecting its dedication to inclusivity and equal opportunities for all Emiratis.--TradeArabia News Service
Lockheed Martin has successfully concluded its 2024 Saudi Arabia Summer Internship Programme, offering a transformational experience that equipped Saudi interns with valuable skills and deep industry insights.
Now in its third year, the programme continues to bridge the gap between education and industry by providing students with opportunities to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world challenges.
This years programme welcomed outstanding students from Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University and King Saud University who engaged in innovative projects focused on space exploration, artificial intelligence, and advanced simulation technologies.
Global reach
The interns worked closely with Lockheed Martin experts at its Saudi Arabia office, with additional support from the companys global technology hubs in the US, reinforcing the programmes global reach.
A standout feature of this years programme was the students visits to Lockheed Martins industrial partners, SAMI Al-Salam Aerospace and NAMI, a leading additive manufacturing company. During their visit to SAMI Al-Salam Aerospace Industries, the interns were briefed on the latest advancements in the aerospace sector. At the same time, at NAMI, they gained first-hand exposure to using cutting-edge 3D printing technology in defence, security and aerospace applications.
Frank M Salzgeber, Acting Deputy Governor of the Space Sector at the Communications, Space, and Technology Commission, also visited the students at Lockheed Martins Riyadh office. During this visit, the interns presented their space project, AI Tool for Lunar Landing Site Selection, demonstrating their contributions to critical space initiatives.
Lockheed Martin is committed to fostering innovation and developing the next generation of Saudi engineers and technologists. Our commitment to Saudi Arabia aligns deeply with Vision 2030 as we continue to invest in cutting-edge educational and training initiatives.
This years internship programme is a testament to the immense potential of Saudi youth, and we are proud to play a role in nurturing the talent that will drive the kingdoms future success, said Brigadier General (Retired) Joseph Rank, Chief Executive of Saudi Arabia and Africa at Lockheed Martin. We are honoured to be a trusted defence and aerospace partner, providing the expertise and innovation necessary to help achieve the kingdom Vision 2030s objectives.
The programme offered a range of workshops, technical training sessions, and mentoring opportunities centered around advanced technologies, space exploration, and embedded systems. The summer internship also gave students valuable opportunities to network with industry professionals, enhancing their understanding of how academic knowledge translates into real-world problem-solving.
Game changer
The internship at Lockheed Martin KSA has been a game-changer for my career. The hands-on experience and the knowledge I gained were invaluable. Seeing the theories and concepts we studied come to life in real-world projects was incredible. Working on cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions has broadened my understanding and skills and given me a clearer vision of my future, said Jude Alsubaie, an intern from King Saud University.
Beyond the internship programme, Lockheed Martin also sponsors a selected group of talented graduate students at Saudi universities, enabling them to pursue masters and doctoral research on topics aligned with Lockheed Martins key programmes. These initiatives aim to build a sustainable pipeline of skilled professionals for the defence industry, ensuring that Saudi Arabia can lead in technological innovation.--TradeArabia News Service
Ripple effects of strike action at ports on the US East and Gulf coasts will cause severe supply chain disruption into 2025, with analysts warning government intervention may be required to avoid major economic fallout.
A total of 36 ports are preparing for a complete stoppage if a new deal cannot be agreed with the International Longshoremans Association (ILA), which represents 85,000 port workers, before the September 30 deadline.
Peter Sand, Chief Analyst at Xeneta, said: There are ships on the ocean right now carrying billions of dollars of cargo heading to ports on the US East and Gulf Coast. These ships cannot turn back and they cannot realistically re-route to the US West Coast. Some may divert to ports in Canada or even Mexico East Coast, but the vast majority will simply wait outside affected ports until the workers return.
Severe consequences
The consequences will be severe, not only through congestion at US ports, but importantly these ships will be delayed returning to the Far East for the next voyage. A strike lasting just one week will impact schedules for ships leaving the Far East on voyages to the US in late December and throughout January.
Ocean supply chains have already been badly disrupted during 2024 due to conflict in the Red Sea, drought in the Panama Canal and Baltimore bridge collapse.
Data from Xeneta the ocean and air freight intelligence platform shows average spot freight rates on the trade from the Far East to US East Coast spiked more than 300% between 1 December 2023 and early July this year.
Sand said: More than 40% of total containerised goods enter the US through ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast, so the stakes could not be higher.
"To stop trade entering the US on such a large-scale, even for short period of time, is highly-damaging to the economy so government intervention will be needed to bring the matter to a resolution for the good of the nation.
Last week, 177 trade associations called for an immediate resumption of negotiations because they recognise the extremely serious consequences of strike action on the US economy.
Government intervention
Government intervention should be seen as a strength in the system, because it will prevent a dispute between a smaller group of interests whether that is dockworkers or port terminal owners from significantly impacting the wealth of the entire nation.
If the parties cannot solve the dispute themselves then someone needs to solve it for them because closing the US East and Gulf coasts to trade for a prolonged period of time would be toxic for supply chains and the economy.--TradeArabia News Service
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), a world-leading smelter with a proud 50-year legacy, celebrated the achievements of its participants in the Lean Six Sigma and Kaizen course at a special award ceremony held today (September 25) at its Oasis Hall.
A total of 105 individuals participated in these courses conducted in 2024, including 10 participants from external entities namely the Ministry of Interior (MoI), Nasser Vocational Training Centre (NVTC), Bapco Refining, and the Arab Open University (AOU), said a statement from Alba.
As of today, Alba said its in-house training has empowered 26% employees with the Six Sigma knowledge. The courses offered by the aluminium giant covered Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Green Belt and Yellow Belt, as well as the Kaizen philosophy.
The projects delivered by the courses participants focused on improving equipment availability, reducing downtime, optimising industrial and administrative processes through automation, eliminating or minimising various types of waste, and shortening lead time for material and service delivery.
Albas CEO Ali Al Baqali awarded the participants in the presence of Bapco Refining CEO Dr. Abdulrahman Jawahery, NVTC Chief Executive Dr. Abdulla Al Noami, AOUs President Dr. Najma Taqi, MoIs Director of Officers Affairs Colonel Waleed Khalid Sayyar, along with several high-level officials from these organisations as well as Alba.
Emphasising Alba's commitment to cost-competitiveness and operational efficiency, Albas CEO Ali Al Baqali said: "Alba's commitment to operational excellence is driven by Lean Six Sigma and Kaizen methodologies. By enhancing our people's capabilities in process optimisation, we've created a competitive advantage that has helped us navigate challenging market conditions."
"By sharing this knowledge with other Bahraini organisations, we are contributing to the development of our society," he stated.
As of today, Alba's in-house training has empowered 26% of its employees with Six Sigma knowledge. The company has also shared this expertise with 211 individuals from various entities across Bahrain.
Following the ceremony, a special tour was organised for the visiting dignitaries to see first-hand the newly inaugurated Alba Data Command Centre, a centralised hub for overseeing the companys operations, where they received a briefing on the Centres role in enhancing Albas overall operational efficiency and responsiveness.-TradeArabia News Service
Global chip giants Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Samsung Electronics have been in talks with the UAE to explore building megafactories in the Middle East, reported The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the interactions and strategies involved.
Top executives at TSMC have visited the Gulf state recently to discuss plans of building factory complexes that are comparable to some of the companys largest and most sophisticated facilities in Taiwan, the report said.
According to senior sources, the potential projects in the UAE could be worth more than $100 billion.
Under the initial terms discussed in the meetings, they would be largely funded by the UAE.
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, which has been tasked with funding the expansion of its domestic semiconductor manufacturing, will play a key role, according to the report.
South Korea-based Samsung Electronics has also been considering investing in building chip manufacturing facilities in the country in the coming years. Senior leaders in the South Korean company have recently visited the country to explore the idea, stated the WSJ report.
The Gulf state has been ramping up efforts and investments in developing its domestic tech industry as it works to build its position as a global hub for advanced technology and artificial intelligence. However, the discussions with UAE officials are still in the early stages, it added.
A tug-of-war between the US and China has played out in the region as tech deals speed up and Washington grows increasingly wary over Beijings influence in the Gulf state.
The two chip-making giants have discussed building huge factory complexes in the UAE that could transform the industry in the coming years and become a cornerstone for artificial-intelligence investments in the Middle East, reported CNBC citing senior sources.
TSMC and Samsung have held discussions with US officials who are worried about potential shipments of advanced AI chips coming from UAE-based plants to China.
The US will likely continue to pressure the UAE not to work with China, as there would be advanced AI-related chips being produced in these plants, Alex Capri, a senior lecturer at National University of Singapores business school, told CNBC.
Nvidias AI chips are crucial to technology from smartphones to chatbots. Their production is outsourced to just one company in Taiwan. With growing fears that China may stage an invasion of the island, the US is racing to secure the supply chain, he added.
The UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) and Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) have signed an MoU to help ministry employees boost their skills in strategic foresight, leadership, digital innovation and design thinking.
Signed in line with the objectives of the National Strategy for Industry and Advanced Technology, Operation 300bn, the collaboration aims to elevate the impact of the ministrys work, supporting the growth and competitiveness of the industrial sector.
Facilitating knowledge and expertise exchange between the two entities, the partnership will leverage the Dubai Future Academy, which will offer a series of training programmes for the ministrys employees. The courses will cover areas such as foresight, strategic leadership, digital innovation, and design skills that are critical to executing national strategies and enhancing future readiness.
Culture of innovation
Omar Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the MoIAT, said: "In line with the objectives of the National Strategy for Industry and Advanced Technology, which aims to foster a culture of innovation, as part of the ministrys mission to boost industrys contribution to economic growth and sustainable development, this collaboration will empower our workforce to enhance the growth and competitiveness of the UAEs industrial sector."
Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation, commented: This partnership promotes creativity, innovation, and knowledge-sharing between government teams. It will help design the future of government work, implement plans, and strengthen collaboration in line with the leadership's goals.
In addition, the partnership will facilitate the exchange of knowledge and expertise, providing MoIATs employees with the opportunity to participate in global events, forums, and conferences organised by Dubai Future Foundation. It will offer access to national projects, education programmes, support R&D, and promote best practices and advanced technologies.
At the Dubai Future Academys headquarters, the agreement was signed by Dr Rashid Khalfan Al Nuaimi, Assistant Undersecretary of the Support Services Sector at the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, and Abdulaziz Al Jaziri, Deputy CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, and attended by senior officials from both entities.--TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Electronic Info Exchange Company (Tabadul), a key force in driving digital transformation and provider of business exchange solutions, has signed a MoU with Energy City Logistics Company, a subsidiary of King Salman Energy Park (Spark).
An expert in logistics, development and operations of ports and special customs zones, Energy City Logistics Company, said the MoU will establish a framework to reinforce mutual collaboration and promote the exchange of knowledge and expertise between the two entities in the logistics and supply chain sectors.
As part of the agreement, Tabadul will support the development of digital and operational initiatives implemented by Spark unit through the design and creation of an integrated industrial community in cooperation with the public and private sectors.
It will further attract investments, support the localisation of resources and increase KSAs total export volume, which will be in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
Additionally, it aims to improve cooperation between both parties, further supporting the development of joint initiatives and adoption of best global practices to achieve strategic goals and the future vision of Energy City Logistics Services Company.
The agreement was signed by Hisham Alnasser CEO of Tabadul, and Dave Lee, CEO of Energy City Logistics Services Company, on the sidelines of the Saudi Maritime and Logistics Congress held recently in Dammam.
The MoU will establish a framework to reinforce mutual collaboration and promote the exchange of knowledge and expertise between Tabadul and Energy City Logistics Services Company in the logistics and supply chain sectors, said Tabadul, which played a key role at the event as its platinum sponsor.
Additionally, it aims to improve cooperation between both parties, further supporting the development of joint initiatives and adoption of best global practices to achieve strategic goals and the future vision of Energy City Logistics Services Company, it added.
Alnasser said the event serves as an ideal platform for regional and international communication, sponsored by the leaders of Logistics, transport and trade attracting a large number of attendees and participants from the global maritime and logistics sectors.
The Congress facilitates the exchange of ideas and discussions on key future challenges that these vital sectors face. He further emphasised the leading position of the conference, which showcases the Kingdoms growing prominence in the global logistics sector.
It further offers a platform to explore avenues and reinforce partnerships, which are essential to achieving the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, he noted.
On the deal, Alnasser said it was aimed at establishing a strong foundation to enhance mutual cooperation.
"This strategic partnership is key to achieving the ambitious goals of both parties, allowing us to leverage our expertise in global trade facilitation by integrating trade systems and enhancing logistics and business services. It represents a key milestone in our efforts to drive digital transformation in the regions and global trade exchange systems," stated the top official.
"By developing innovative technical solutions, we aim to boost performance and set new benchmarks for quality, reliability, and operational efficiency. This will enable our clients to leverage advanced tools to optimise their operations while supporting growth in the logistics and maritime transport sectors," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the Mena region, has signed a first-of-its kind sustainability-linked loan agreement with Dubais Landmark Retail, a top value conglomerate in the retail sector in the Middle East.
The signing of an environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-linked working capital facility in Riyadh marks the first time a private sector company has signed a bilateral sustainability-linked loan in Saudi Arabia.
The partnership underlines both parties long-standing commitment to Vision 2030 and the kingdoms sustainability goals.
The collaboration is fully aligned with Landmark Retails ongoing efforts to achieve net-zero and extends its efforts to provide even greater access to a comprehensive suite of leading-edge sustainable financial solutions.
The agreement was signed in the presence of leading officials and representatives from both companies. Rajesh Garg, Group Chief Financial Officer, Landmark Group, was joined at the event by the omnichannel Retail conglomerates Head of Treasury, Shabbir Ahmad; and Deputy General Manager of Finance, Ravi Chandran.
Emirates NBD was represented at the signing ceremony by the banks Group Co-Head of Corporate Coverage, Corporate and Institutional Banking, Pri McNair; and its Country Head, Corporate and Institutional Banking, Ahmed Alghamdi.
The agreement builds on Emirates NBDs previous partnerships with Landmark Retail, strengthening the ties between both entities and consolidating their relationship.
It marks the launch of the second ESG-linked facility between Emirates NBD and Landmark Retail, following the leading conglomerates decision to transition from its working capital facility to a sustainability-linked loan in 2022.
The ESG-linked objectives are increasing the contribution of renewables in Landmarks energy utilisation and increasing the composition of sustainable materials in its retail products.
The KPIs under this loan fit well within Landmarks journey of becoming circular and climate positive via a holistic framework encompassing sustainable products, sustainable operations and sustainable customer journeys.
Pri Mcnair, Group Co-Head of Corporate Coverage, Emirates NBD, said: We are proud to be playing a key role in promoting sustainable financing in Saudi Arabia by supporting our long-standing partner Landmark Retail.
This milestone agreement underscores our shared commitment to environmental stewardship and driving meaningful change through ESG-linked solutions.
By partnering with leaders like Landmark to formulate bespoke sustainability-focused structures, we are paving the way for sustainable transition and reinforcing our role as a leader in steering impact on business models contributing to a greener future in the kingdom.
This speaks to our latest agreement with Landmark Retail: a company that has demonstrated its commitment to being a leading proponent of regional retail and sustainable service excellence. We look forward to working even more closely with the group to realize its potential and implement its ESG strategy.
Rajesh Garg, Group Chief Financial Officer, Landmark Retail, said: We are committed to conducting our business responsibly, by driving positive changes to reduce the environmental impact of our operations.
We understand the important role we play in our industry and take it upon ourselves to act as flagbearers of responsible business, working as ethically and conscientiously as possible to protect people and planet.
Our agreement with Emirates NBD is fully geared towards accomplishing just that, marking another important milestone in our and the Kingdoms journey towards greater sustainability.
Rotana, one of the leading hotel management companies in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Turkiye (Menat), has promoted its Corporate Director of Culinary to the position of Corporate Vice President Food & Beverage, to drive the hotel's culinary strategies.
Scott 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.
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.
Rotana currently operates 81 hotels across the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Turkiye, with over 280 F&B outlets serving millions of guests annually. 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
King Group Hospitality (KGH) is redefining dining across the UAEs hospitality industry, with its three distinct culinary brands that will serve up an array of rich Indian and innovative vegetarian dishes, and bold Chinese-Indian fusion.
China King, Punjab by Amritsr, and Amritsr Restaurant offer diverse culinary experiences that KGH said will appeal to every palate from fusion food lovers and vegetarians to those seeking authentic North Indian flavours.
Weve tapped into Dubais rich food culture to create a fusion menu that blends the finest elements of both Chinese and Indian cuisine, offering something truly unique, said Vicky M Sethi, Managing Director of King Group Hospitality.
China King
China King brings together the best of Chinese and Indian cuisine, offering a unique fusion dining experience. From spicy Hakka noodles to flavourful Manchurian dishes, this restaurant has quickly become a favourite for those who appreciate bold and savoury flavours.
Its creative menu and its ability to blend two popular cuisines make it a go-to spot for Dubais diverse culinary crowd, a statement said.
Punjab by Amritsr
With the rising demand for health-conscious and plant-based meals, Punjab by Amritsr offers a fresh take on vegetarian cuisine.
Specialising in dishes that rival non-vegetarian meals in both flavour and heartiness, this pure vegetarian restaurant is quickly gaining popularity in the UAE.
From tandoori vegetables to creamy curries, Punjab by Amritsr said it is redefining how vegetarian dining is perceived.
Our goal was to showcase the richness and versatility of vegetarian cuisine, ensuring that every dish is as satisfying as its non-vegetarian counterpart, said Sethi.
Amritsr Restaurant
Founded in 2018 in Thailand, Amritsr Restaurant has become a staple for lovers of authentic North Indian food.
Known for its traditional Punjabi dishes, such as rich curries, buttery naans, and tandoor-grilled delicacies, Amritsr Restaurant has expanded rapidly across the UAE.
The restaurant continues to uphold the standards of quality and authenticity that KGH has perfected over its 52 years of expertise.
Supported by a team of over 550 professionals, King Group Hospitality said it remains committed to delivering quality, innovation, and exceptional dining experiences across the UAE.
The company said it continuously invests in state-of-the-art kitchen technology and staff training to ensure that every dining experience meets the highest standards of quality and consistency.
Looking ahead, King Group Hospitality plans to further expand its presence both within the UAE and internationally. TradeArabia News Service
Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has entered into a strategic partnership with Almatar, a leading travel technology company based in Saudi Arabia, to enhance digital operations between the two entities.
As part of the partnership, Gulf Air will integrate its New Distribution Capability (NDC) API with Almatars booking platform, enabling Almatar to offer Gulf Airs products and services, such as seat selection, additional baggage options, refunds, and reissue services.
This will provide travellers with a more advanced, flexible, and seamless booking experience.
This partnership shows both companies are committed to improve the customer experience and meeting the evolving needs of travellers in a rapidly growing travel and tourism sector.
The partnership marks a key milestone in the digital transformation journeys of both Gulf Air and Almatar.
It makes Almatar the first online travel agency in Saudi Arabia to collaborate with Gulf Air, setting a new industry standard.
Jeffrey Goh, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Air Group, said: We are excited about this partnership that opens new digital distribution avenues for Gulf Air products.
The integration of the NDC system with Almatars platform will enhance operational efficiency and improve the way the airline delivers exceptional services to our customers.
Gulf Air is dedicated to adopting modern technology to offer flexible and user-friendly travel solutions, solidifying our competitive edge in regional and global markets.
Goh added that this partnership is a part of Gulf Airs broader vision of achieving full digital transformation, improving the overall travel experience, and delivering innovative services that meet the expectations of modern travellers.
The NDC integration will ensure easier and more transparent access to Gulf Airs extensive range of services and products.
Youssef Abdullah Al Rajhi, Chairman of Almatar, said: This agreement is a landmark in Almatars journey as a digital travel solutions provider. We are proud to collaborate with Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, one of the most reputable airlines in the region.
We are also the first OTA company in Saudi Arabia to partner with Gulf Air, and the integration of NDC will enable us to expand our services and provide an advanced travel experience to our customers.
This partnership with Gulf Air is a strategic move that strengthens Almatars market presence and helps us serve a broader customer base.
It will significantly enhance the efficiency of online bookings and allow us to deliver high-quality services that meet the increasing demands of the travel industry.
Through this technological integration, Gulf Air will gain access to a wider audience via Almatars platform, which is one of the leading digital booking platforms in the region.
The NDC integration will also ensure that customers receive real-time information on flights and pricing, enhancing transparency and the overall customer experience.
This collaboration is expected to strengthen the position of both companies in regional and international markets, opening the door for further partnerships in the future. TradeArabia News Service
OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has called on Finance Minister Colm Imbert to provide a comprehensive report on Colonial Life Insurance Company Ltd (CLICO), stressing that there should be no more secrecy surrounding the matter.
Persad-Bissessar made the statements in Parliament on Friday as she kicked off the debate on the 2025 national budget, which was presented by Imbert on Monday.
Co-founder of Rum and Sargassum, Dr Legena Henry, third right, poses with the principal of The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Prof Clive Landis, second right, Energy Minister of Barbados Lisa Cummins, right, along with three of the other inventors, from left, Aria
Goodrige, Brittney McKenzie, and
Shamika Spencer during the launch of the worlds first vehicle powered by
renewable natural gas (RNG) from Sargassum seaweed, rum distillery
wastewater, and Blackbelly sheep manure. The event was held at the Guinea Plantation in St John on September 17. Missing is the fifth inventor Dr Nikolai Holder.
Image courtesy
Dr Legena Henry
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.
The decline in tertiary education enrolment in Trinidad and Tobago has been caused by several factors, chief executive of The UWI Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business Mariano Browne has said.
According to the Social Sector Investment Programme, which was tabled with the 2025 budget in Parliament, fiscal 2024 estimation reflects a consecutive year of decline in tertiary education enrolment and represents a decrease of 5.3% or 1,461 students.
JUBA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan on Wednesday urged the East African country's leaders to use the two-year extension of the transitional period of the government to implement critical pending tasks in the revitalized peace deal.
During the period before the next general elections due in December 2026, the leaders should consolidate peace, uphold human rights protections, and transform the country, said the UN human rights body.
Yasmin Sooka, chair of the commission, said the challenges to a peaceful transition to democracy are not insurmountable if South Sudan implements the revitalized peace agreement as it was envisaged. "However, the delays and unwillingness to compromise reflect the preoccupations of a predatory elite most concerned with remaining in power, and enriching themselves from the country's vast oil and other wealth," Sooka said in a statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
The UN commission said South Sudanese leadership's failure to pursue peace has resulted in a dire humanitarian crisis, hunger and food insecurity, and the displacement of more than 4 million South Sudanese both in the country and across the region.
The basic needs of 9 million people in South Sudan are unmet, equating to around three-quarters of the population, while the humanitarian assistance levels are insufficient, with vulnerable women and children most profoundly affected, the UN body said.
It noted that despite the last two-year extension of the peace deal in August 2022, most critical tasks remain unimplemented, including the comprehensive unification of armed forces and their deployment, development of a permanent constitution, establishment of rule of law and transitional justice mechanisms, and credible electoral arrangements.
Barney Afako, a commission member, said the East African country cannot afford to continue with business as usual. "Its political leaders must finally and urgently invest in delivering tangible democratic, protection, and human rights outcomes," Afako said.
He said South Sudan is also at the front line of the climate crisis, with flooding and drought deteriorating widespread deprivations and prolonged displacement.
The country's transitional government on Sept. 13 announced the postponement of national elections and extended the transition period by two years after failing to meet key provisions of the peace agreement.
This is the second time the country, which gained independence in 2011, has postponed elections and extended a transition period that began in February 2020. Under the revitalized peace deal signed in 2018 to end the civil war, the government was supposed to be dissolved on Sept. 22 and hold elections in December.
The continuing decline in tertiary education enrolment is cause for concern, but no reason to panic.
According to the 2025 Social Sector Investment Programme (SSIP), student enrolment in 2024 dropped by 5.3%, while in 2023 the decline was 8.3% compared to 2022.
In interviews published in yesterdays Sunday Express, chief executive of The UWI Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business, Mariano Browne, and former education minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh identified some common factors that could account for this decline. These included less funding for the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) programme, lower confidence in the countrys economic prospects, and bad policies by tertiary institutions.
Bishop Hwa Yung, Bishop Emeritus of the Methodist Church in Malaysia and a member of the International Board of the Lausanne Movement, shared stories of the Holy Spirit's transformation of communities and posed three crucial questions to attendees. He spoke during a morning plenary session on September 23 on The power of the Holy Spirit at the Fourth Lausanne Global Congress on World Evangelism in Incheon, Korea.
Having recalled the stories of miraculous revivals and the transformation of an East Malaysian tribe in Sarawak, Borneo, Rev. Yung asked, for those of us who have been taught that the Holy Spirit no longer does miracles today, how does this story differ from what we read in the New Testament?
His second question was about awareness of such events generally in modern times: Are we aware that this is not an isolated story, but one that has been repeated in the past 100 years in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East?
The last question challenged people to give precedence to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
How much space do we give to the Holy Spirit in our ministry of evangelism, mission, outreach, church, planting, strategic planning, and the like? May God give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
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During his talk, Yung explored the microcosmic works of the Holy Spirit transforming the indigenous people of Lun Bawang in the mountainous jungle of Central Northern Borneo.
Paul, in Romans 15, speaks of what Christ accomplished in him bringing the gentiles to faith by word and deed, by the power of the signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God. The story Im going to tell you is not a Pentecostal story as such, but its about Gods work among the indigenous people.
Yung recounted how three Australian missionaries were sent in 1928 by the Borneo Evangelical Mission, now part of OMF International [since 1975], to a certain jungle region. They wanted to reach the indigenous people and colonial authorities at the time welcomed them but also prohibited the missionaries from going further to the Lun Bawang people, living in the mountains [the Kelabit Highlands].
At the time, the Lun Bawang people numbering 3,000 to 4,000 people were plagued by high mortality rates caused by rampant alcoholism, violence and widespread diseases, according to Yung. Headhunting and intertribal wars were a thing of the past and so the tribe turned to drinking rice wine as a favorite pastime.
Alcoholism became rife and, as recounted by missionary Shirley Lees in her 1979 book, Drunk Before Dawn, the Lun Bawang were drunk 100 days out of 365 per year. They were dying out, said Yung, referencing Lees book. It was said the men were drunk, the women were drunk, the children drunk only the dogs were sober.
Colonial authorities tried to minimize contact from the Lun Bawang with other tribes so that the alcoholism did not spread. Yung said the plan was to let them die out so they would not be a bad influence on the other tribal groups.
However, in 1933 some missionaries working across the Indonesian border brought the gospel to the Lun Bawang tribe.
The coming of the gospel brought a major change in the lives of the Lun Bawang and led to a people movement in which the whole tribe was Christianized, recalled Yung. The conversion led to a mission breakthrough among other tribal groups in Sabah Interior as well.
A first outpouring of the Holy Spirit brought a deeper transformation in the tribe during the period 1952 to 1954. This initial revival prepared for further two revivals, 1973-1974 which powerfully impacted the wider region over the next 50 years, according to Yung.
The first of these two revivals happened on Oct. 4 1973 when high school students and teachers from a neighboring group were stirred in deep seated repentance, open confession, prayer and a hunger for God never known before. This was accompanied by signs, wonders and prophecies by the high school students.
This revival spilled over to the Lun Bawang and a watershed moment happened for the tribal church on the night of Nov. 10 1973.
The Holy Spirit was poured out in power upon the villages, said Yung. Some started weeping in repentance nonstop, confessing their sins under deep-seated conviction. Others went around seeking forgiveness from those they had wronged.
Many fell to the ground in a swoon, overcome by the Spirit. With the ceaseless waves of prayers and repentance going on, some started to prophesy and others received visions and various spiritual gifts.
The power of Gods presence was felt most keenly by those present feeling pinned down by some unknown force and sensing an overwhelming call from the Lord for repentance. They sent for friends and relatives in the villages who had been wronged in various ways, through fighting or quarreling.
Only after apologies were made, mutual forgiveness offered, reconciliation effected, could they get up and return home that night, Yung added.
Two of the women there remained unconscious on the floor for between 24 to 48 hours, and later became key intercessors for the Lun Bawang church.
These revivals spread further afield and Yung said Sarawak region encountered a series of spiritual tsunamis sweeping hundreds of thousands into the kingdom of God in the following years.
However, Gods work was not finished in the region and more revivals came in 1984 and 1986 with strange events reported in an English speaking newspaper in the country, supported by photos: a miraculous transformation of rice and water into flour and oil, and supernatural fireballs flying through the sky at night.
Yung described how a church pastor and his group, directed by the Holy Spirit, brought rice and water in different containers up to the top of a nearby mountain. After waiting on God in prayer, they witnessed a miraculous transformation. The rice in the plastic bags was changed into flour and sugar, and water into cooking oil. They were able to create fried donut sticks to eat, feeding everyone on the mountain and between 200 to 300 people in the village, upon their return.
It was a miracle on a par with the feeding of the 5,000, Yung commented.
The next year, 1985, the church gathered on four separate occasions and saw fireballs flying in the night sky.
The clearest was on the night of July 15th, which was witnessed by more than a thousand worshipers gathered from all the surrounding villages and captured on a time lapse photograph, which you actually can see on the screen, said Yung. The photo appeared to be a fireball tracing out a gigantic angelic figure in the night sky.
These revivals altogether brought new life to many churches in the region and a gracious outpouring of spiritual gifts to indigenous Christians.
Yung said the results were manifold with revivals still happening among the poorest and marginalized, even to this day. Early morning prayer meetings are held regularly and lives are still being transformed.
Over the last 50 years, more than a million believers have been added to the church in East Malaysia, concluded Yung, and God is still at work.
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Tulsa Film Collective announced a free community screening of Sugarcane that will take place Sunday, Oct. 13 at Circle Cinema. TFC co-founder Sterlin Harjo will moderate a discussion with filmmakers Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie.
Guests can arrive at 5 p.m. for a reception catered by Chef Nico Albert Williams of Burning Cedar Sovereign Kitchen. The screening will begin at 6 p.m. followed by the Q&A.
A stunning tribute to the resilience of Native people and their way of life, Sugarcane is a debut feature documentary from NoiseCat and Kassie. The film, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and won a directing award in the category of U.S. documentary, is described as an epic cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning.
In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. After years of silence, the forced separation, assimilation and abuse many children experienced at these segregated boarding schools was brought to light, sparking a national outcry against a system designed to destroy Indigenous communities. Set amidst a groundbreaking investigation, Sugarcane illuminates the beauty of a community breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and finding the strength to persevere.
There were 87 federally funded boarding schools in Oklahoma, more than any other state, NoiseCat said. We look forward to bringing our documentary to Indian Territory where we hope to instigate more essential conversations about this history one that is, for so many of us, easier to suppress than to confront.
Said Harjo: Tulsa Film Collective is committed to sharing the love and appreciation of film. We are proud to bring this important story to Tulsa ahead of Indigenous Peoples Day.
Ryan Thomas, Circle Cinemas film programmer, said the cinemas doors are always open for vital films like Sugarcane that challenge us to confront the past.
We are grateful to the filmmakers and our partners on the Sugarcane team and Tulsa Film Collective for the consideration that has gone into presenting this film respectfully for the whole community, Thomas said.
To RSVP for the free community screening, go to eventbrite.com. The event name is SUGARCANE Rez Tour: Tulsa, OK Screening, Reception and Q&A.
The Tulsa World is where your story lives
Early settlers in the twin territories had a lot of toothaches. But there were no dentists to ease their pain most of the time -- only those who traveled from place to place periodically.
That was until Dr. J.E. Wright opened the future state's first dental office in 1885 in Savanna. Wright came to Indian Territory to visit a friend in Caddo, planning to return to his practice in Tyler, Texas.
But when it became known in Caddo that he was a dentist, he "was besieged to stay longer and do a lot of much-needed work," he was quoted later.
Wright had his equipment shipped to him from Tyler, treated the patients around Caddo, and the word spread. He was asked to go to Tishomingo and then to Stonewall, to Pauls Valley, Mill Creek and back to Stonewall and many other places between to treat patients -- a trip that lasted 10 weeks.
Although he had planned to return to Tyler, Wright settled in Savanna and opened what the book "Open Wider, Please" said was Oklahoma's first dental office in Savanna, a community with more than 300 men employed in coal mines.
Wright later practiced in McAlester until he retired in 1919 after 51 years of practice.
Ingenuity was a necessity for the early dentists in both Indian and Oklahoma territories. The late Dr. A.L. Walters of Tulsa was quoted in the same book about his early practice in Checotah when he made house calls to patients, especially to ranches where the foreman preferred having a dentist visit than to send his hands to Checotah for treatment.
He used a rocking chair with a stick of wood under each rocker, two pillows, a stand for the instruments and a bucket for a cuspidor.
The late Dr. L.M. Doss of Oklahoma City used a rocking chair tied to a big tub for his dental chair.
Another early dentist who practiced in Kingfisher told the author of "Open Wider" about treating a patient who refused to remove his gun from his holster, although Dr. J.Q. Waddell feared that stress, strain and a six-shooter were a bad combination.
"Doc, I never take this gun off, and I'm never careless with it," the patient told Waddell.
After Waddell pulled the patient's aching tooth, the patient began pitching silver dollars to him to pay for the extraction, eventually giving Waddell $10, although he only expected $1.
When the dentist asked his patient's name, he was told: "I've paid you, the tooth's out, and the name doesn't matter. We're all square."
Later, Waddell learned his patient was one of the Dalton brothers who were being hunted for robberies.
Writing in the summer 1957 Chronicles of Oklahoma, Dr. F.C. Holmes of Mangum said it was not uncommon for cowboys to ride 100 miles or more to have a tooth extracted. But sometimes people in established towns were wary of dentists setting up practices because of their experiences with some traveling practitioners who charged large fees, left town suddenly without paying bills, or failed to complete service.
When Holmes was asked how long he planned to stay in Mangum, he'd look the questioner in the eye and replied, "expect to stay here for 75 years" -- an answer that seemed to satisfy questioners.
Dentists and patients of today take anesthesia for granted, but it wasn't always used and many patients would suffer for years before submitting to an extraction.
General anesthesia was dangerous because few dentists knew how to use it. Local anesthesia using cocaine also was imperfect and dangerous, frequently causing nausea and fainting, according to that Chronicles article.
Holmes recalled once having three patients stretched out on the floor of his office as they recovered from the effects of cocaine.
But no Oklahoma dentists ever reported a problem similar to one in New York in 1907 after a young woman was given laughing gas as an anesthetic.
A news story in the Tulsa World reported that when the gas took effect, the woman leaped from the chair, grabbed the dentist around the neck and wouldn't turn loose.
The dentist's wife couldn't pry her loose and called a police officer for assistance.
Dentists in both Indian and Oklahoma territories organized associations before statehood.
Dentistry was regulated by a law passed by the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature in 1891 aimed at eliminating quack practitioners.
Like this column? Read all the columns in the Only in Oklahoma series from the Tulsa World Archive.
Curtis Killman Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Curtis Killman 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
The estate of a woman who died in the Wagoner County jail will receive $13.5 million as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit settlement.
Wagoner County Commissioners agreed Monday to the settlement amount, ending 17 months of litigation between Sharon Dalton as a personal representative for the estate of Angela Liggans and the county, records show.
An attorney who represented the estate, Dan Smolen, said the settlement is the largest in Oklahoma history for a civil rights death case.
Smolen said the case is not an isolated one.
This is a pattern. Oklahoma and eastern Oklahoma in particular has a crisis on its hands, Smolen said in a statement. The medical care provided in our jails is dangerously defective. People are dying as a result.
In the past 13 months, two other federal civil rights lawsuits involving detainees who died in jail have ended in judgments for the detainees estates.
Liggans, who suffered from Type 1 diabetes, died June 2, 2021, at the Wagoner County jail of diabetes ketoacidosis, according to the Chief Medical Examiners office.
Dalton claimed in her complaint that Liggans, 41, had gone without insulin injections for two days before she was found unresponsive in her jail cell.
The County Commission voted Monday to approve the settlement amount, with insurance picking up $483,156 of the total, according to the resolution approving the measure.
Liggans was booked in the Wagoner County jail on May 17, 2021, according to her complaint, filed April 27, 2023, in Muskogee federal court.
On the day she was booked, deputies forced her to the ground, handcuffed her and placed her in a restraint chair for an hour after she tried injecting herself with insulin, according to her complaint.
Over the next two and a half weeks while jailed, Liggans was never seen by a nurse, according to the complaint. Instead, a medical assistant reported Liggans worsening condition which included hallucinating to a physician via text while jail staff periodically administered her insulin, according to the complaint.
On the day she died, jail staff reported Liggans was exhibiting strange demeanor, which included being unsteady on her feet and repeatedly falling to the floor of her cell.
Later that same afternoon, jail staff reported that Liggans could be seen slamming herself onto her bunk.
Rather than calling for medical personnel or an ambulance, jail staff instead carried Liggans, who could not walk on her own, to a holding cell, according to the complaint.
Liggans was left unattended before a guard was asked to check on her after another officer said she had been lying in the same position for 30 minutes.
EMS staff who arrived nine minutes later said an attempt by jail staff to revive Liggans with an automated external defibrillator failed because its battery was dead or too low, according to the complaint.
Wagoner County Commission officials could not be reached for comment.
The settlement is the second lawsuit settlement in as many months to occur that involved a person with Type 1 diabetes dying in jail.
A federal judge on Aug. 19 signed off on an order that calls for $6.5 million to be paid to the estate of Floyd Patterson III as part of a settlement agreement between Muskogee County and Pattersons estate.
Muskogee County will pay $4,802,996 of the settlement with its insurance provider paying the balance, according to court records.
Patterson died June 18, 2018, in the Muskogee County jail after a Muskogee Police officer arrested him on suspicion of public intoxication the previous day, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit claimed Patterson was never medically screened prior to being placed in a cell.
Jail staff called for an ambulance after someone noticed Patterson falling unconscious while suffering from a seizure.
Patterson was transported to a hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead after they were unable to revive him. Pattersons blood sugar level was nearly five times above normal, according to the complaint.
In August 2023, a federal jury awarded $33 million in damages to the estate of Terral Ellis II, a man who died of septic shock due to pneumonia in the Ottawa County jail.
Prior to his death, Ellis complained of leg numbness, respiratory issues, kidney stones and discolored skin. The pain attributed to kidney stones turned out to be a sign of renal failure, according to court records.
Smolen, who represented all three estates, said he hopes the judgments serve as a wake-up call.
If Oklahoma counties dont start providing the resources needed for constitutionally adequate jail medical care, then the taxpayers will continue to pay multimillion-dollar judgments, Smolen said.
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BARTLESVILLE With the communitys iconic Price Tower already facing an uncertain future, the husband of its embattled owner is now facing his own legal challenges.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges on Monday against Anthem Hayek Blanchard, CEO of Oklahoma-based Anthem Holdings Co., and his company for allegedly defrauding investors of over $5 million.
Blanchard and Anthem are accused of making false and misleading statements to prospective investors.
Blanchards wife is Cynthia Blanchard, CEO of Copper Tree Inc., which owns the Price Tower.
The Frank Lloyd Wrightdesigned skyscraper, which is up for auction next month, has been mired in controversy for much of the year, and in August, closed to the public and laid off the majority of its staff.
Anthem Blanchard is also the CEO of cyber-security and crypto-currency businesses HeraSoft and Anthem Vault, which he moved to Bartlesville in 2021.
The SEC charges against Anthem Blanchard, which involve his businesses and are unrelated to the Price Tower situation, were filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. They assert that between September 2020 and July 2022 Anthem Blanchard and his company made statements that inflated Anthem Holdings financial projections, business development pipeline and investment commitments.
The SEC alleges that Anthem Holdings raised $5 million from approximately 200 investors in a Series A equity offering and an additional $200,000 from two investors in a Pre-Series B convertible note offering.
The complaint charges Blanchard and Anthem Holdings with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint seeks injunctive relief and civil monetary penalties from Blanchard and Anthem Holdings, and an officer-and-director bar against Blanchard, that would prevent him from serving in those roles.
Cynthia Blanchard and Copper Tree took over the tower in 2023 from the nonprofit organization Price Tower Arts Center. Copper Tree came under fire in April after trying to sell off a number of items from the Price Tower.
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OKLAHOMA CITY Gov. Kevin Stitt underwent surgery Friday for a significant blockage in a main heart artery, his office said.
Stitt, 51, had returned to work Tuesday.
After a routine checkup, doctors discovered that Governor Stitt had significant blockage in a main artery, Abegail Cave, his director of communications, said in a statement released Tuesday. He underwent intravenous surgery on Friday where the doctors repaired the blockage with a stent. Governor Stitt is doing well and has returned to the office.
The governor thanked the staff at Oklahoma Heart Hospital South in Oklahoma City for providing his care and encouraged Oklahomans to get regular check ups, eat healthy and exercise, according to Caves statement.
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The CEO of Chinese multinational conglomerate Geely Auto Group, Gan Jiayue, has briefed Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on their investment intentions in Vietnam, including setting up an auto assembly facility.
At a meeting with Deputy PM Ha in Hanoi on Monday, Gan gave an overview of Geely Auto's global operations, focusing on acquisitions and established relationships with internationally recognized brands of petrol, electric, and hybrid cars.
Gan added that the group is concentrating on research to develop environmentally friendly products and manufacture high-end cockpit chips.
He outlined plans to establish an auto assembly plant, a spare parts supply chain, and a research and development center in Vietnam, aiming to boost the groups investment activities in the country.
The CEO included proposals regarding environmental impact assessment, fire safety, work construction, tax incentives, credit support, and other issues.
Highly appreciating the capacity and reputation of Geely Auto in China and its global reach, Deputy PM Ha expressed that there is fierce competition in the world's automobile industry, meaning any future assembly plant should ensure requirements on innovation, creativity, emission reduction, and environmental protection to keep up with the trend of the times and sharpen its competitive edge.
He believed that this expected investment project would achieve a positive outcome.
The deputy premier stressed that the ultimate goal of the project should be to create made-in-Vietnam automobile products and that Geely Auto Group would proceed with the auto plant project quickly and comprehensively.
He also advised that the investor pay attention and ensure that materials, education, and health care would be available for future workers in all stages including survey, research, construction, development technology transfer, human resource training, and others.
Ha also told the visiting CEO that Vietnam welcomes foreign enterprises investing in high technology, creative innovation, supporting industries, and electronic components serving automobile manufacture, with the participation of Vietnamese enterprises.
Geely Auto Group is owned by Chinese billionaire entrepreneur Li Shufu, the 15th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$15.1 billion, according to Forbes.
The group, which owns brands such as Volvo Cars, Lotus, Lynk & Co, and Polestar, is also the third-largest shareholder in Aston Martin and a major shareholder in Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz.
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Theologian, missiologist and educator Ruth Padilla DeBorst led the last presentation on the second day of the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. Representing Latin America, the Costa Rica-based Argentinean began her message by quoting John 20:20-21 as the last words of Jesus to his disciples.
According to her biography on the website of Western Theological Seminary (WTS), where she is a professor, Padilla DeBorst longs to see peace and justice embraced in the beautiful and broken world we call home. Wife of one and mother of many, theologian, missiologist, educator and storyteller, she has been involved in leadership development and theological education for integral mission in her native Latin America for several decades.
Speaking in English, Padilla Deborst began her biblical reflection with Peace be with you as the father has sent me, so I am sending you (v.21). From there she gave a historical, social and economic account of what was happening in the world at the time when the Lord was on earth, to begin to ask in what capacity Jesus was sent into the world.
He was sent into the world, not as a royal prince on a gilded Roman throne, but as a child of a poor woman and a manual laborer, first forced to flee for their lives to an estranged land; sent not as a high priest on a seat of honor in the Sanhedrin, but as a roaming teacher with nowhere to rest. He was sent not to busy himself with religious rights, but in his own words to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, she said.
In addition to teaching at WTS, she serves with the Community of Interdisciplinary Theological Studies (CETI, a learning community with students from all over Latin America), and the INFEMIT (International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation) Networking Team.
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In her account, the daughter of the famous theologian Rene Padilla, assured that the farming people of Judea in Micah's days were suffering not only the anxiety of the impending invasion of an enemy, military forces, but especially the oppression of corrupt governing elites.
These peoples were being forced to pay taxes and leave their fields to build cities for the wealthy few. Their lands were being expropriated to feed the greed of the rich. While they were forcibly displaced, their young men were being recruited for the army and their young women were being taken as sex slaves for the Royal Court.
The theologian asked participants: Does any of this sound familiar? Whether we like it or not, an honest look at our world today reveals many of the same injustices, blatant gaps that do not reflect God's intent for the world. God loves. One overarching justice gap that dishonor God is wealth inequality. God created a world of abundance, capable of sustaining the flourishing of life of the entire created order. However, the richest 1% of our planet owns half the riches of the entire world. And while the wealth of the world's five richest men has more than doubled since 2020, nearly 5 billion people have been made poorer. Poverty is the most visible face of injustice.
She also mentioned the inequality that exists between men and women, where women get paid less for the same work men do, with equal or greater working hours, or are overexposed to low-quality, low-value jobs. We [women] are far more likely to be victims of sexual harassment or downright abuse in Christian communities, she said.
Although women compose the greater number of active members [in the church], men overwhelmingly hold the leadership positions. While women are restricted in the use of the gifts, the spirit has granted them solely because we are women. Discrimination also affects people with physical and mental disabilities limiting their pay and opportunities in many realms of life. In addition, the digital divide, the difference between those that have and don't have access to digital tools like internet, computers, smartphones. What we all use means nearly one third of the global population remains disconnected from a virtual world and deprived of the opportunities you and I take for granted, she said.
With energetic eloquence Deborst pointed out that the AI industry is owned and its algorithms informed by the same five men I mentioned earlier. Finally, the Industrial War machine continues grinding up people in places often bolstered by religiously ideological theologies that relativize the image of God in each and every person. Now, if this is the current situation, what are God's people called to in the presence of such unjust realities? What was Micah's message from God to the powerful people of his day amid their religiously masked and unjust lifestyle? Micah's first reminder to the people of Judea about God's gracious intervention on their behalf throughout history. He then exhorted them to remember, to listen, to repent, and to act in accordance with God's own character. Finally, he summed up God's expectation in the well-known question we know as Micah 6:8, He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God, she emphasized.
What God requires of God's people then and now is no secret. God's intent was clear from the very beginning and is made clear throughout Scripture, both for them and for us.
Quoting from memory the text of Deuteronomy 10:12 which reads, And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, the speaker showed how Jesus himself taught the same to his disciples. If you love me, keep my commands. (John 14:15)
There is no room for doubt, she pointed out. God is worshiped not by rights, religious festivities, or even mission activism, all practices that can simply serve as masks, but by ethical obedience. What makes God's people such are not superficial expressions of religious piety, Christianese jargon, worship jingles or colonialist theologies that justify and finance oppression under the guise of some dispensational.
Micah's summary includes three intertwined callings. First, the posture expected in relation to God. God's people both then and now are called to walk humbly with our God. This involves living in deep reverence of our creator, acknowledging our frailty and utter dependence on God. It entails questioning any other power that might challenge that ultimate allegiance and submission. There's no space in this picture for equating the claims of nation or ethnicity over the claims of God's reign of justice for all. Humility before God opens us up to the work of the spirit, inspiring us to love what God loves.
Micah's second call indicated that it is to love mercy or kindness. This points to the core motivation that should underlie all our actions. Deep solidarity and love. It demands unmasking our selfish self-protective drives in allowing God's compassion to move us as prophetic peacemakers and to shout to the fore winds that there is no ideology. So right, no religion, so holy, no race, so superior
We are called today to remember, to listen, to repent, and to act in compassionate love in accordance with God's own character, she added.
Finally, the third identifying marker of God's people is the pursuit of justice, the practice of social economic and political action for the common good. This requires unmasking our comfortable self-seeking for the sake of the good of the whole community. The supreme model for this practice is none other than God, the sovereign Lord, as we read in Deuteronomy 10. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. There is no room in this picture for silence when fellow human beings are being robbed of home, land, livelihood, or life itself, not in the Judea of Micah's day, not anywhere else. she emphasized.
Finally, she pointed out that we are sent as Jesus was into the world. We are called today to remember, to listen, to repent, and to seek justice in accordance with God's own character, to seek God's reign and God's justice. May the spirit lead us to yearn, seek, work, and pray as humble, compassionate channels of God's justice until our Lord returns and justice and peace finally embrace. Amen.
Originally published by Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily International's Spanish edition.
Travel companies pushed for relaxed visa policies to draw more international tourists to Da Nang at a recent tourism forum in the bustling coastal city.
Vietnams tourism is seeing a strong recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, but visa policies present challenges, Nguyen Son Thuy, director of Visit Indochina Travel Company, said at the 2024 Vietnam Hotel Innovation Technology Exhibition and Forum (Horecfex) in Da Nang on Monday.
Tourism expert Dang Manh Phuoc noted that Vietnam saw rapid growth in the first half of the year, ranking among the top three Southeast Asian markets for international visitors.
Vietnam currently boasts over 38,000 accommodation facilities, with a consistent increase in the number of visitors in recent years.
Many destinations have been revitalized and travel agencies are bringing in tourists, contributing to the industry's resurgence.
Do Thi Hong Xoan, vice-president of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said that the World Trade Organization has recognized Vietnam as one of the 10 most developed and diverse tourism markets globally.
Despite this positivity, many businesses feel that visa-related barriers are preventing Vietnam from fully capitalizing on its key markets.
Other countries, such as China and Thailand, have eased visa policies to attract tourists since reopening after the coronavirus pandemic.
Director Thuy emphasized that although Vietnams visa policies are adequate, greater flexibility is needed, particularly for high-potential markets.
Weve seen a spike in visitors from India and Taiwan, but visa requirements are still challenging travel agencies, though central Vietnam has numerous popular destinations, including the ancient capital of Hue, Da Nang, and Hoi An, said Thuy, whose company operates in 10 major global markets, focusing on Asian travel destinations, including Thailand, the Philippines, India, and South Korea.
He urged local authorities to quickly address these hurdles to attract more visitors.
Thuy also pointed out that Nha Trang, the capital of Khanh Hoa Province in the south-central region, achieved positive results by adopting more relaxed visa policies in the past.
Other representatives at the event praised Da Nangs continuous efforts to establish itself as a diverse and popular tourist destination.
High-quality events and activities have helped solidify the citys status as a focal tourism city in central Vietnam.
However, Da Nangs tourism businesses still face seasonal fluctuations in visitor numbers.
Nguyen Thi Hoai An, deputy director of Da Nang's Department of Tourism, argued that seasonal barriers should not be self-imposed, as each season in the seaside city offers unique attractions.
She stressed that the city is dedicated to offering exciting experiences for tourists throughout the year.
Tran Hoang Linh, a representative of Vietjet in central Vietnam, agreed there is a growing demand for international flights to Hue, Da Nang, and Hoi An, with the airplanes arriving consistently full.
He added that Vietnam is becoming increasingly appealing to international travelers, and the budget carrier plans to launch a direct flight to further boost tourism from India.
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South Korean reinsurance firm Aon Plc, the owner of Landmark 72, which is the tallest building in Hanoi and the second-tallest in Vietnam, is seeking to sell all of its shares in the property for over one trillion South Korean won (US$753 million).
Aon Plc is in talks with potential bidders, The Korea Economic Daily reported, citing investment banking sources in Seoul.
According to these sources, potential buyers include major real estate and infrastructure fund managers.
Aon purchased Landmark 72 for 454 billion won ($341.7 million) in 2015 from South Korean mid-sized construction firm SM Keangnam Enterprises Ltd after competing with several multinational investment funds.
At the time, broker Mirae Asset bought 300 billion won ($225.7 million) worth of senior secured debts and 100 billion won ($75.2) worth of convertible bonds in the property.
Construction on Landmark 72, or Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower, began in 2007 and finished in 2012.
It is the building with the largest floor area in Vietnam, at over 608,900 square meters.
It includes a 72-story tower which is 350 meters tall, and two 48-story twin towers with a height of 212 meters each.
The skyscraper had been the tallest building in Vietnam until Vietnam's largest private conglomerate Vingroup built the 81-story Landmark 81 with a height of 461 meters in 2018.
Landmark 72 has an occupancy rate of up to 98 percent due to its prime location in the capital city.
According to a report by Avison Young Vietnam, a commercial real estate agent, the monthly office rental at the building reaches $36 per square meter, exclusive of a service charge of $6.8 per square meter.
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Vietnam's Party General Secretary and State President To Lam met with leaders of international tech giants, including Apple, Meta, and Supermicro, in New York on Monday during his business trip to the U.S. from September 21 to 24.
Speaking with vice-president of global government affairs at Apple Nick Ammann, the Vietnamese leader affirmed that the investment and business expansion of Apple and its partners reflect Vietnam's increasingly important position within the goods supply chain and developing markets for Apple products.
He called on Apple and its partners to support Vietnamese enterprises in improving their production capacity and taking part in global supply chains; study the establishment of a research and development center at the Vietnam National Innovation Center; consider providing scholarships for Vietnamese students majoring in information technology, programming, electronics, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Ammann said Vietnam is not only a great market but also a production base for Apple to supply its goods to the world, stressing that many of Apple's key products are being manufactured in Vietnam.
He added that the group is developing and expanding production in Vietnam thanks to the governments support.
Ammann spoke highly of the investment prospects in Vietnam, the value of the Vietnamese market in the groups global strategy, and the countrys potential for engaging more deeply in its supply chain of important products.
Vietnams Party General Secretary and State President To Lam (R) shakes hands with president of global affairs at Meta Nick Clegg in New York, September 23, 2024. Photo: Vietnam News Agency
At the meeting with Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta, Vietnamese Party chief and State President Lam urged the group to continue working with Vietnamese agencies and partners to accelerate the deployment of specific cooperation activities in science, technology, innovation, and AI.
He affirmed that the Party, state, and people of Vietnam are committed to making conditions favorable for U.S. investors, including Meta, so that they can operate effectively and sustainably in the Southeast Asian country.
Clegg shared Metas plans to increase production in Vietnam for its Metaverse virtual reality glasses and his own plans to visit Vietnam next week, expressing his hope to have an opportunity to introduce 'Meta AI' to Vietnamese users, helping them to try the tool for free.
The Meta leader also pledged to continue supporting and expanding investment programs and encouraging innovation in Vietnam.
Vietnams Party General Secretary and State President To Lam (R) receives founder and senior vice-president of business development at Supermicro Wally Liaw in New York, September 23, 2024. Photo: Duy Linh / Tuoi Tre
Talking with founder and senior vice-president of business development at Supermicro Wally Liaw, Lam welcomed the firms proposal to cooperate with Vietnam in developing AI data centers and AI server system manufacturing ecosystems.
The top Vietnamese official suggested that Supermicro and its partners negotiate a specific road map to implement cooperation projects in Vietnam, including collaborating with partners to explore the potential for expanding investment in the country and transforming Vietnam into a manufacturing hub for the group in the near future.
In response, Liaw said Vietnam is a promising market as it has policies to encourage the development of hi-tech sectors.
He reported that Supermicro recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnams Sovico Group and expressed his interest in exploring further development and investment opportunities in the country.
Vietnams Party General Secretary and State President To Lam (R) meets with former chairman and CEO of Google Eric Schmidt in New York, September 23, 2024. Photo: Vietnam News Agency
During a meeting with Eric Schmidt, former chairman and CEO of Google, who played a key role in developing Google into one of the world's largest technology companies, the top Vietnamese official requested his support for investment, business development, and research in Vietnam's AI and semiconductor sectors.
The official also asked Schmidt to help Vietnam build strong ecosystems, develop high-quality talent, and connect with major global partners to foster related industries.
Schmidt said Vietnam has the potential to become a software hub in Asia and advised the country to focus on setting up more software companies specializing in AI.
Party General Secretary and State President To Lam, his spouse, and an entourage came to the U.S. to attend the United Nations Summit of the Future and the 79th session of the UN General Assembly and engage in other working sessions in the North American country.
Lams working trip took place as Vietnam and the U.S. are celebrating the one-year anniversary of their comprehensive strategic partnership and looking forward to welcoming 30 years of the normalization of diplomatic relations in 2025.
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United Nations (UN) members have adopted a 'Pact for the Future,' which Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, described as a landmark agreement and a step-change toward more effective, inclusive, networked multilateralism at the opening ceremony of the High-Level Week of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly on Monday.
While the key purpose is to bring multilateralism to the forefront, the pact features countries commitments to deal with issues specifically on peace, prosperity, sustainable development, climate change, digital cooperation, human rights, gender, the young and future generations, and global governance.
Articles mentioned in the 'Pact for the Future' appear more serious as countries fail to find common ground; especially amid the profound changes in global cooperation over the past few years.
Many experts are worried that the world might enter a state of separation after a globalization period.
Differences in political systems, development levels, and approaches to key issues have led to varying views on scientific and technological advancements, including artificial intelligence (AI), virtual currencies, blockchain, and clean energy projects across countries and territories.
We are living in an era where trade tensions and technology races are as fierce as armed battles.
For instance, it is hard to develop and employ solutions for managing semiconductor technology or electric vehicles amid escalating geopolitical competition among large countries.
As a result, to encourage multilateralism in the truest form, the UN General Assembly needs to deal with problems at the root, meaning that it should prevent conflicts before boosting cooperation.
The 'Pact for the Future' emphasizes the necessity of reforming the UN Security Council as many concerns are being raised over the councils ability to maintain peace, stability, and international law enforcement.
During the assembly, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio called for specific actions to reform the UN Security Council.
Kishida affirmed that unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force cannot be tolerated anywhere in the world [and that] only the free and open international order based on the rule of law can deliver sustainable development and prosperity."
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Vietnam's Party General Secretary and State President To Lam met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen in New York on Tuesday afternoon (local time) during his business trip to the U.S..
During the meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky, the Vietnamese leader said Vietnam treasures the traditional friendship and comprehensive partnership with Ukraine.
The Southeast Asian country always keeps in mind the support of the people of the Soviet Union, including Ukrainians, during its struggle for national independence and reunification in the past and in its current development efforts, Lam noted.
He expressed his concern about the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict, urging for its ending to restore peace and ensure the security and safety of local residents and essential infrastructure.
The top Vietnamese official reiterated Vietnam's consistent stance that all international disputes should be resolved by peaceful measures and in compliance with the basic principles of the United Nations Charter and international law, especially the principle of respecting the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of countries and refraining from the use or threat of force.
He emphasized that Vietnam welcomes and supports international mediation efforts aimed at finding long-term peaceful solutions to the conflict, with the participation of all relevant parties in line with international law and the United Nations Charter.
The Vietnamese leader said that Vietnam, an active and responsible member of the international community, is ready to contribute to promoting dialogue and seeking solutions to soon stabilize the situation for peace and stability in the region and the world as a whole.
He stressed that once the conflict ends, Vietnam is willing to join hands with the international community to support Ukraine in the ensuing reconstruction efforts.
Vietnam's Party General Secretary and State President To Lam (L) meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York, September 24, 2024. Photo: Vietnam News Agency
Ukrainian President Zelensky spoke highly of Vietnam's stance and thanked the Vietnamese government and people for providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
He expressed his hope that Vietnam will endorse the declaration of the first Summit on Peace in Ukraine held in Switzerland in June and help Ukraine with mine and bomb clearance and settlement of conflict consequences.
The Ukrainian president affirmed that Ukraine is committed to ensuring safety for the Vietnamese people and the Vietnamese Embassy in Kyiv.
Both parties emphasized the importance of maintaining and enhancing bilateral cooperation through delegation exchanges at all levels. They also discussed finding effective and suitable measures to sustain and quickly restore bilateral trade.
Lam also thanked Ukraine for its support in ensuring the safety and evacuation of the Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine and hoped the Ukrainian government would continue its efforts to protect the lives and property of the Vietnamese people and enterprises in the country.
Vietnam's Party General Secretary and State President To Lam (L, 2nd) shakes hands with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in New York, September 24, 2024. Photo: Vietnam News Agency
EC president wants early elevation of Vietnam-EU relations
Meeting with EC President Ursula von der Leyen, Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President Lam congratulated Leyen on her re-election as president of the EC for the 2024-29 term.
He thanked the commission for offering sympathies and encouragement for the Vietnamese people after typhoon Yagi, which made landfall in northern Vietnam earlier this month, killed more than 290 people, and left huge destruction across the region.
Lam emphasized that the two sides should continue bolstering high-ranking delegation exchanges and optimizing existing cooperation and dialogue mechanisms.
He also welcomed the EU's active role in the Asia-Pacific region, affirming that Vietnam is willing to act as a bridge between the EU and ASEAN countries in the framework of the ASEAN-EU Strategic Partnership.
The Vietnamese official noted that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has provided fresh momentum for bilateral trade between the two sides since its implementation four years ago.
Vietnam has emerged as the EUs largest trading partner in ASEAN, while the EU ranks as Vietnams fourth-largest trading partner and fifth-largest investor, Lam added.
He suggested both sides continue to effectively deploy the EVFTA, including giving the priority to the removal of hindrances in market access to each others goods, lifting the ECs yellow card warning, and supporting Vietnam in tackling illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
The Vietnamese leader recommended that the two sides strengthen cooperation in defense and security and in combating transnational organized crimes, especially hi-tech ones.
He called on the EU to intensify cooperation with and support for Vietnam in environmental protection, climate change adaptation, public governance, and green and circular economy development.
He sought the EUs assistance in funding, technology, and manpower training to fulfill its commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, effectively implement the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), and adapt to the EUs new regulations on the environment and sustainable development.
The meeting between Vietnam's Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in New York, September 24, 2024. Photo: Vietnam News Agency
Applauding Vietnams socio-economic development and international integration achievements, EC President Leyen affirmed that Vietnam is one of the EUs key partners in its strategy of cooperating with the Asia-Pacific region.
She suggested that the two sides soon upgrade their relations to lay a foundation for their deeper, more practical and effective cooperation in all sectors in the coming time.
Backing the Vietnamese leaders proposals, Leyen said that the EU would work closely with the country to efficiently realize agreements to boost cooperation in politics-diplomacy, trade-investment, defense-security, development cooperation, education-training, innovation, and cultural exchanges, as well as foster the collaboration in resolving global challenges.
She added that the EC would support Vietnam in environmental protection, climate change adaptation, and JETP implementation, and enhance cooperation within the framework of the Global Gateway Initiative.
As for the East Vietnam Sea situation, both sides agreed that disputes should be settled by peaceful means in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to contribute to ensuring navigation and aviation security, safety, and freedom, as well as enhance peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.
Party General Secretary and State President To Lam, his spouse, and an entourage came to the U.S. to attend the United Nations Summit of the Future and the 79th session of the UN General Assembly and engage in other working sessions in the North American country from September 21 to 24.
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Read what is in the news in Vietnam today:
Politics
-- Party General Secretary and State President To Lam met with President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, President of Finland Alexander Stubb, and Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah in New York on Tuesday (local time), on the sidelines of the UN Summit of the Future and the High-Level General Debate of the United Nations General Assemblys 79th session.
-- The Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense held a ceremony in Hanoi on Tuesday to see off Level-2 Field Hospital Rotation 6 and Engineering Unit Rotation 3 to carry out United Nations peacekeeping missions in South Sudan and the Abyei area.
-- An international friendship symbol for Ho Chi Minh City was unveiled at Bach Dang Wharf Park on Tuesday, representing the friendship and cooperation between the southern hub of Vietnam and localities around the world.
Society
-- Air Zermatt, a Swiss mountain helicopter service provider, announced on its homepage on Tuesday that its rescue team successfully saved two Vietnamese climbers stranded on the Matterhorn. The climbers were rescued after a 14-hour operation at over 3,500 meters, where they had fallen into a life-threatening situation.
-- Tri An Hydropower Plant in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam opened two additional water discharge gates on Tuesday, increasing water discharge through the large spillway to the downstream of the Dong Nai River by three times, according to director Vo Tan Nhan.
-- The Standing Committee of the Hanoi Party Committee has directed the cancelation of all fireworks displays planned for 30 districts and towns in the city to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the capitals Liberation Day (October 10, 19542024), in order to focus on addressing the aftermath of typhoon Yagi.
-- Ho Chi Minh City is deliberating on the construction of a parking system for firefighting aircraft as part of its planning for fire prevention and rescue infrastructure from 2021 to 2030, with a vision extending to 2050.
Business
-- According to a government report, from 2015 to 2023, the average added value of the real estate sector reached over VND103.95 trillion (US$4.22 billion) per year, accounting for approximately 1.37 percent of the countrys gross domestic product.
-- Enterprises and associations from eight industries, including investment, trade, and logistics, took part in a signing ceremony at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday to boost cooperation and trade between Chongqing City, China, and Vietnams southern hub via the New Land-Sea Trade Corridor. According to Xinhua News Agency, this corridor, a key trade and logistics route centered on Chongqing, was connected to 190 ports in 90 countries as of September 2019.
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Thick fog limited visibility in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday morning and will occur on multiple days until the end of the year.
The foggy sky, gradually clearing above 100 meters, obscured high-rise buildings and enveloped the city, contrasting sharply with the clear air of previous mornings.
Le Dinh Quyet, head of the forecasting department at the Southern Regional Hydrometeorological Center, noted that fog is expected to frequently occur from now until the end of the year.
Quyet explained this phenomenon is the result of high humidity in the late afternoon and nighttime rain.
In the early morning, lower temperatures and a subtropical high pressure moving westward push moisture from the sea into the area, increasing the condensation of low-level water vapor and creating fog.
Thick fog blankets Ho Chi Minh City, September 25, 2024. Photo: Vien Su / Tuoi Tre
To determine whether this fog contains pollutants, we must rely on monitoring data for suspended dust and fine dust levels, Quyet added.
Typically, Ho Chi Minh City experiences foggy days in the last months of the year, sometimes accompanied by photochemical smog due to the tropical convergence zone and cold air moving southward.
The weather during this period is often cloudy, with no sunshine, low temperatures, and high humidity.
Thick fog envelopes high-rises in Ho Chi Minh City, September 25, 2024. Photo: Vien Su / Tuoi Tre
Condensation nuclei in the atmosphere cause water vapor to adhere to them, creating smog.
Furthermore, the lack of sunlight prevents heating from the ground up, giving rise to a temperature inversion layer trapping emissions from traffic, industry, and daily activities and resulting in increased pollution accumulation.
Thick fog blankets Ho Chi Minh City, September 25, 2024. Photo: Le Phan / Tuoi Tre
Thick fog blankets Ho Chi Minh City, September 25, 2024. Photo: Le Phan / Tuoi Tre
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As of Monday, over 6,000 readers of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper had made donations totaling nearly VND22 billion (US$891,500) for victims affected by typhoon Yagi through the donation channel opened by the newspaper.
Typhoon Yagi, the third storm to hit Vietnam this year, made landfall in the northern region on September 7, wreaking havoc on many localities.
The super typhoon and subsequent heavy rain, floods, and landslides have left some 350 people dead or missing.
The donations have been used to support typhoon victims through a series of relief programs launched by Tuoi Tre.
Particularly, Tuoi Tre offered urgent support of VND1 billion ($40,600) to Yagi-hit residents on September 8.
Tuoi Tre reporters also brought 260 gift sets worth VND500,000 ($20.4) each, including necessities, to areas that were cut off due to flooding in Lao Cai and Yen Bai Provinces.
Besides, the newspaper, in collaboration with authorities in the two northern provinces, awarded 2,000 gift sets worth VND2 billion ($81,200) donated by readers to students victimized by the floods.
Each set is valued at VND1 million ($40.8), including VND500,000 in cash and VND500,000 worth of equipment for schools.
Gifts donated by Tuoi Tre readers are delivered to students in Lao Cai Province, northern Vietnam. Photo: Ngoc Quang / Tuoi Tre
Tuoi Tre spent VND3.5 billion ($142,200) from the donation fund awarding scholarships worth VND3-5 million ($122.2-203.8) each to 1,000 students in Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Cao Bang, Lang Son, Hoa Binh, Thai Nguyen, Phu Tho, and Bac Giang Provinces to prevent them from giving up on studying, as well as offering aid valued at VND5 million ($203.8) to each teacher in extremely difficult circumstances.
In addition, VND8 billion ($324,800) will go toward the construction of schools for students affected by the disaster in Lao Cai and Cao Bang Provinces.
Tuoi Tre plans to use VND4 billion ($162,600) to provide livelihood, specifically seedlings, breeds, and tools, worth VND10-20 million ($407.7-815) to each household, depending on their specific circumstances.
VND1 billion will be earmarked for financing other sustainable, fundamental, and practical support programs.
Tuoi Tre has teamed up with authorities in Ho Chi Minh City to set up a volunteer team in charge of repairing damaged houses, providing medical checkups, and awarding gifts to Yagi victims in Lao Cai and Tuyen Quang Provinces, with a total value of VND2 billion.
The newspaper has been joining hands with the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and the labor federations of some northern localities to offer aid worth an estimated VND2.1 billion ($85,220) to workers hit by the floods.
A makeshift elementary school in Nguyen Binh District, Cao Bang Province, northern Vietnam. VND8 billion ($324,800) donated by Tuoi Tre readers was set aside for building two to three schools for students affected by the disaster in Lao Cai and Cao Bang Provinces. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre
Depending on the contributions, Tuoi Tre will continue carrying out the programs as follows:
1. Providing school supplies to students (VND500,000 in cash and VND500,000 in kind per student) and equipment for schools depending on their losses.
2. Awarding scholarships worth VND3-5 million per student who risks giving up their studies owing to typhoon Yagi and offering aid valued at VND5-10 million ($203.8-407.7) for each teacher in extremely difficult circumstances.
3. Providing livelihood, specifically seedlings, breeds, and tools, worth VND10-20 million to each household, depending on their specific circumstances.
4. Repairing schools damaged by the typhoon and building new ones
5. Other sustainable, fundamental, practical, and effective support programs
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Learn the history of this popular sweet treat shop in Ho Chi Minh City and the perfect way to end an evening.
In the rainy season, you can count on the stove operating at Lam Vinh Mau sweet soup shop.
Customers huddle close and feel coziness as they gather around the bustling cart located on Nguyen Thai Binh Street in District 1.
Built in Teochew style, the shop is run by an elderly Chinese man who prefers keeping things simple, inviting customers to sit, enjoy, and chat while appreciating the flavors of each bowl.
Named for its first owner, the cart was founded in 1958 by Lam Vinh Mau, who passed it down to his family after moving abroad.
Customers dine in at Lam Vinh Mau sweet soup shop on Nguyen Thai Binh Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Dang Khuong / Tuoi Tre
Primarily serving customers at night, the sweet soup shop has a reputation not just locally but also among visitors from distant provinces who make a point of stopping by for a bowl whenever they are in Ho Chi Minh City.
Upon arrival, diners are immediately captivated by the wooden cart, intricately engraved with motifs depicting ancient Chinese tales, with the name 'Lam Vinh Mau' prominently displayed.
Once seated, customers choose from a delightful array of fresh ingredients like longans, lotus seeds, tapioca, red beans, and mung beans, all neatly arranged in bowls and pots.
Beneath the main ingredient pots burns a clay charcoal stove, essential for maintaining the rich, fragrant essence of each dessert.
A serving of sweet soup at Lam Vinh Mau shop on Nguyen Thai Binh Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Dang Khuong / Tuoi Tre
The shop owner emphasizes the key to their sweet soups lies in the long cooking process, which enhances the natural aromas of the fruits and vegetables.
He carefully monitors the pots, adding sugar to retain the desserts essence -- a meticulous process that requires skill and precision.
In the center of the cart, a pot of pale yellow liquid awaits.
Diners often speculate that the liquid served is just simple syrup to sweeten the dessert, but few realize it is a herbal infusion meant to balance the sweetness.
The owner humorously refers to it as his magic liquid essential for preparing delicious desserts.
Only by observing the owner's careful techniques can diners truly appreciate the meticulous artistry behind each bowl of sweet soup.
A delightful array of fresh ingredients is neatly arranged in bowls and pots at Lam Vinh Mau sweet soup shop on Nguyen Thai Binh Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Dang Khuong / Tuoi Tre
The almond ginkgo sweet soup is a beloved menu item, a true treasure of the shop.
Take a sip and youll know if its good or bad, the owner says encouragingly to each customer.
This dessert is refreshingly sweet with light richness, enhanced by the aromatic scent of almonds and ginkgo.
The almond component is made into jelly, which has a slight umami taste at first but is beautifully balanced by the bitterness of the ginkgo biloba, allowing the flavors to blend harmoniously.
The owner proudly claims this specialty soup is unique to his stall and cannot be found elsewhere.
A serving of red bean sweet soup at Lam Vinh Mau shop on Nguyen Thai Binh Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Dang Khuong / Tuoi Tre
The red bean sweet soup is another customers favorite, captivating diners not only by tantalizing their taste buds but also by sparking their curiosity.
As diners enjoy the dish, some attempt to guess the source of the mild, refreshing aroma that feels familiar yet elusive.
The seller reveals that it comes from dried tangerines simmered in the soup, which helps eliminate the pungent aroma of the red beans.
The soup part alone carries a fragrant bean scent that leads diners to believe it is infused with the essence of the beans themselves.
This cooking method, which is common in Chinese cuisine, not only enhances the flavor but also lends a medicinal quality.
Each bowl of sweet soup is typically heated in a small pot before being served to diners.
A small pot is used to heat bowls of sweet soup before they are served to diners at Lam Vinh Mau shop on Nguyen Thai Binh Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Dang Khuong / Tuoi Tre
While the sweet soup shop offers a unique experience, some customers have mixed feelings about the price of VND45,000 (US$1.83) per serving.
A serving with three slices of lotus root and three to four ginkgo fruits for VND45,000 feels a bit pricey, even though you can taste the careful, less sweet preparation, one diner commented in the Google Maps review section.
Others echoed this sentiment, suggesting that while the dish is worth trying, it may not merit a return visit.
A serving of sweet soup at Lam Vinh Mau shop on Nguyen Thai Binh Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Dang Khuong / Tuoi Tre
A common complaint among patrons is that as a sidewalk eatery without air conditioning, the prices are too high -- comparable to that of a bowl of noodles.
However, some customers from Hanoi, who are long-time fans of the shop, mentioned that whenever they are in Ho Chi Minh City for business, they always stop by for a bowl of sweet soup before getting to work.
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Screen Queensland has announced $5m of investment in 12 Gold Coast small to medium screen businesses.
The Capital Grants Program supports Gold Coast businesses with matched funding of up to $750,000 to grow their operations and service local, interstate and international films and series.
The recipients include Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, who will establish new headquarters for their production company Bazmark, and Cutting Edge and Myriad Studios will be supported to expand their Gold Coast bases.
While The Post Lounge will expand to establish a new facility on the Gold Coast, Pinnacle Films Studios will upgrade their sound stages, and newly established operations including Elysium Studios will create new jobs on the Gold Coast.
The capital grants will support a range of business-boosting investments including fitting out state-of-the-art post-production facilities, acquiring premium equipment for visual effects, editing and underwater filming, and partnering with industry to provide opportunities for emerging screen practitioners.
More than $1.68 billion has been injected into the Gold Coast economy and more than 17,000 local employment opportunities created since the Production Attraction Strategy was introduced in 2015.
Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch said, The Miles Government is committed to supporting local screen industry development, underpinned by sustainable screen businesses that drive creative employment.
Delivering on an election commitment, the $5 million Capital Grants Program further backs the states screen industry and works to underpin the growth of screen production services on the Gold Coast to future proof the industry and remain globally competitive.
This vital funding is enabling industry-leaders like Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin to establish a long-term home for their award-winning production company Bazmark on the Gold Coast.
It also ensures other critical small-to-medium screen businesses can expand their offerings and provide first-rate support to local and international films and series, creating more jobs and forging new opportunities for the regions creative community.
Screen Queensland CEO Jacqui Feeney said, The screen sector is a rich ecosystem which includes many small-to-medium businesses working across production and post-production. The $5 million Capital Grants Program is providing a significant funding boost into the local industry to ensure the Gold Coast continues to lead as a screen production paradise in a highly competitive international market, Ms Feeney said.
Screen Queensland recognises that our states pipeline of attracted productions, as well as homegrown films and series, require access to the best local services and that these businesses can offer enduring career paths for Queenslanders keen to work in this exciting industry.
Bazmarks Baz Luhrmann said, Since the earliest days on Elvis, Screen Queensland and the Queensland Government have been true partners to Bazmark. Together, we proved that one cannot just film, but also realise all the pre- and post-production of a major motion picture right here.
It has become absolutely clear to me and all of our team that the Gold Coast is one of the most dynamic and vital filmmaking hubs worldwide. Now, with the support of the Capital Grants Program, we are excited to build a long-term base and facilities here that can be used by Bazmark and others into the future.
The Post Lounge Managing Director, Kurt Royan said, Having started in Queensland over 45 years ago, The Post Lounge is thrilled to receive this grant, which will significantly enhance our capabilities and enable us to continue delivering world-class post-production services.
While sunlight has always been considered the antithesis of post-production, the Gold Coast is the perfect location for our new facility, with its growing reputation as a creative hub, access to the latest infrastructure and proximity to both local and international production talent. This investment will allow us to expand our offerings and further support the regions thriving film and television industry.
The 12 Capital Grants Program recipients are:
Bazmark award-winning production company founded by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin (Elvis, Faraway Downs)
Club Handy Queensland costume specialists for the screen sector relocating their storage facility to the Gold Coast (Boy Swallows Universe, Eden, Deadloch)
Chrysaor new creative hub providing access to filming equipment, virtual and post-production services and training for local independent filmmakers
Cutting Edge acclaimed Queensland sound and picture post-production company (In our Blood, Apples Never Fall, Good Cop/Bad Cop)
Elysium Studios new Gold Coast-based venture focused on virtual production, motion capture, animation and visual effects (Beast of War)
Fin Design + Effects premium interstate visual effects and design company establishing a new facility on the Gold Coast (Elvis, Ticket To Paradise, Thor: Ragnarok)
Myriad Studios innovative 3D scanning services company (Thirteen Lives, Ticket to Paradise, The Portable Door)
Pinnacle Films Studios production facility servicing local, interstate and international productions (The Portable Door, Mortal Kombat 2, Young Rock)
PROXi VP virtual production company specialising in high level action design for blockbuster films and series
SteadiWaves high-end Steadicam and underwater camera operating services company (Eden, Dangerous Animals)
The Post Lounge renowned Queensland post-production company now establishing a new Gold Coast facility (Elvis, In limbo, ScaryGirl)
The Rebel Fleet image and digital workflow and post-production specialists (Boy Swallows Universe)
The Church must embrace every technological tool at its disposal to engage with today's digital world or else lose the next generation, the head of the Lausanne Movement has said.
Dr Michael Oh laid out the vision for the global evangelical movement during its 50th anniversary celebrations in Incheon, near Seoul in South Korea, on Tuesday night.
The celebration was held during the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization that has brought together over 5,000 Christians from over 200 countries, with thousands more joining virtually.
Dr Oh said during Tuesday night's celebration that the Church needed to be strategic and intentional in reaching and discipling young people growing up in a digital world.
Identifying three priorities for the next phase of the Lausanne Movement's work, he called for a commitment to disciple-making in the world, "disciple-maturing" in the Church, and increased digital engagement.
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Towards this aim, the movement is currently developing a set of digital tools to help Lausanne members collaborate and engage digitally.
Dr Oh urged them to use the tools as he warned against regarding digital engagement as "a side or specialty ministry" at a time when many young people's everyday lives are digital.
"We recognise that the world in which we are living is increasingly a digital world and the best tools to unite us in disciple-making and disciple-maturing are digital," he said.
"It would be to our great detriment and grave danger to ignore digital - either to ignore it foolishly, or embrace it naively.
"Regardless of how we feel about it, it is shaping our young people and shaping our world - one billion Tik Tok users, 8.5 billion Google searches every day.
"Digital is shaping what people want, what people know, and what they do. We know that the Gospel is powerful enough to save and shape lives ... but young people are hopelessly inaccessible and lost if we do not enter their digital world and engage them with digital tools.
"We need strategic intentionality to reach and disciple the younger generations or we will lose the future."
It is 50 years since the late American evangelist Billy Graham convened the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization in the Swiss city of Lausanne. That conference effectively launched the global Lausanne Movement with a vision to accelerate global missions.
Elsewhere in his keynote address, Dr Oh said that Christians should not be resigned to lamenting the state of the world, but proactively seek to change it. However, he warned that the time to act was now.
"Ultimately this week is not about 2024. It's about the world in 2050 - the world of our kids and grandkids," he said.
He continued, "Shaping the world in 2050 can't start in 2045. It has to start now and we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to do this now - together.
"That is the power of movement and collaboration, and that is the future we are committed to shape as the Lausanne Movement."
During the evening, greetings were shared by Will Graham, the grandson of Billy Graham, who shared his belief that his grandfather and fellow conveners of the 1974 conference would love nothing more than to see everyone at the congress go out into the world to spread the Gospel. He urged delegates not to give up despite the challenging global context.
"Exactly 50 years later, the task is still unfinished. The necessity of proclamation evangelism is as great today as ever," he said.
"Even though we're living in a world that at every turn is working to cancel Christ and the Bible in order to exalt itself, my friends, we must say: not on our watch.
"Now is not the time to stand down, it's not the time to give up, it's not the time to retreat. It's not a time to turn inward. Now is a time to take spiritual ground. Now is the time to stand boldly for Jesus Christ and preach Christ unashamedly in the spiritual power of the Holy Spirit."
Originally published by Christian Today
News presenter Davina Smith is departing Nine News Sydney and returning home to Toowoomba to be closer to family.
Smith has been based in Sydney for a decade, including presenting Nine Morning News and Nine Afternoon News.
While well miss her presence here in Sydney, Im happy to say Davina will remain part of the Nine family as she takes on a new role as a Reporter for A Current Affair, Sydney news director Simon Hobbs said.
For over a decade, Davina has been a key figure in our newsroom, known for her agility and impact as a live news presenter. Her composure and professionalism on-air, especially during rolling coverage of major events, has been remarkable.
Youve seen them on SBS.
Documentaries on Titanic, Egypt, Hitler, and plenty of shows with Secrets in the title.
TV Tonight has asked SBS Head of Network Programming Peter Andrews to draw back the curtain on some of its programming strategies and reveal why they work so well with audiences.
Secrets in TV titles
PA: It is no secret that its an alluring, provocative word that from our audience perspective creates this sense of What is going on here? Am I going to learn something that I dont know, is it something I can tell my friends? Weve had many, many series that actually have come to us that are already titled Secrets Of. Channel Four in the UK used to have a strand called Secret History, which we always admired from a distance. But weve always done our own version of that.
We listen to what the audience say, and they love this style of content. So were going to always try and bring them content that gives a new perspective or new discovery.
In this world of flying through the EPG and finding something that you want to watch, you see something like Secrets of Aldi or Secrets of Titanic.
Titanic
PA: Clearly, theres an enduring popularity around the story of the Titanic. But we only go into these stories if theres a new perspective. We dont want to retell the story in the same way. At markets like Real Screen we will have conversations with producers who are tapped into universities and experts who are really obsessed in this area of content and who come up with new evidence or new technology to retell these stories. Thats the point where we will be involved, because we understand that these stories have broad appeal.
Theres actually cultural significance around stories like Titanic or ancient Egypt so technological advancements give us a new way to tell those stories.
Personally, I think that theres also a bit of nostalgia and, sadly, comfort viewing in this sort of content. Theyre familiar topics that the audience probably know and love, and it can almost provide a sense of comfort to viewers when they come into a show. It gives them a sense of Okay, I can watch this and not have to worry about what is going on in the world.
Youll observe a lot of other networks are going back to what used to work. for SBS we want to provide a bit of comfort, but also really strong Australian stories that connect the audience to us and our purpose.
Egypt
PA: There is a mystique around Egypt and there are so many Egyptologists. the amount of experts in this space is incredible. There are specialists in this field that can earn a living continually finding new stories, new evidence and new technologies to tell these stories. So if the audience keep wanting and asking for it, we listen to them. We absolutely do. If were getting feedback from our audience saying, Youre going there too much, we will adapt and evolve. But were not getting that and well continue to deliver.
Mind you, its not that easy. We dont just go down a shopping aisle and pick up a show on Egypt. We have to spend a lot of time with production companies that engage experts in the field, university-based, a lot of them European-based, who have this knowledge and are bringing the new stories to life.
Railways
PA: What weve noticed is that post-pandemic the cost of travel has increased. So maybe were providing our audience with stories that they can vicariously get involved in maybe Id call it privileged access for our audience, to armchair travel. Its exploring different destinations, but also were going back in time. Weve done two series now, Ancient Egypt by Train and the Ottoman Empire by Train. Those two series uniquely going back in time, discovering ancient history through a mode of transport has resonated so well with our audience.
Hitler
PA: We see the audience respond to that content, and I suppose its very close to our charter and our purpose about education and understanding tragedies and the horrific times of our world. But there is a level of intrigue with our audience that want to understand what happened.
You know, when I came to SBS, I asked the same question. Clearly the audience is still intrigued in this sadly, tragic time, whether its Hitler-based content or its World War II content.
As we watch our audience grow or age, new audiences come in. We find that weve been able to surface that content On Demand in different ways than we do on linear, and find a different audience that watches that. History as a genre rates.
Split coding titles in the EPG
PA: SBS World News is a one hour bulletin from 6:30 to 7:30 and at 7pm the ABC have their news bulletin. So Im not giving away any commercially-sensitive information by saying we are really keen to understand what happens between those two half hours.
Renaming acquired titles
PA: Weve always done it to create an opportunity for the audience to find content easier. So its a discoverability thing in the EPG. We changed Inside Aldi to Secrets of Aldi, because we do see a noticeable difference. Weve done testing, where Secrets has helped with discoverability. But that creates a conundrum for us now. As were moving into discoverability across all platforms, its really difficult for us to change titles now to create a hookier EPG title. if a viewer is trying to search, they may not find it as much as with its original title.
Why do dramas often screen On Demand before linear broadcast?
PA: We understand theres a younger demographic who are clearly watching content on digital or On Demand, and theyve been spoiled for choice by our very amazing friends in the streaming industry who release content as a box set. So audiences are expecting a certain release of content. Having said that, a lot of the streamers are moving to weekly releases rather than just dropping the whole box set.
So were watching how audiences are consuming content. And by releasing content on SBS On Demand first, it gives us the ability to think about how the audience are consuming having a sort first-mover advantage in the Free to Air space is something that were toying with. Weve always wanted to test / measure / learn.
Its not always foreign language that we do this with. We look at the content through the eyes of the audience and how they want to consume it.
The other thing is, by dropping a series ahead of linear telecast it can create a bit of buzz. People talk about it. Weve noticed that, which is great. Also, and this is the geeky side of things, it gives us the ability to look at the data and go, Did the audience complete that series? Did they finish every episode? What were the completion rates like? I love all that stuff. It gives us the drop off points, the demographic preferences and all that stuff.
And then finally, it does create an extended lifespan for the content. You can drop it On Demand. They can release on linear, and get a bit of a spike On Demand after you do the linear drop. So it extends this sort of, cradle to grave use of content for our audience -from when we get it to when it expires in the time we have the content.
EXCLUSIVE: 2025 Documentaries
PA: Next year, we have four new feature-length documentaries.
Were doing Sinkholes, Bermuda Triangle, Stonehenge and Loch Ness. These four topics are going to be feature length documentaries as a co-production with Channel Four in the UK, and we are going out with these in about February, March next year.
Each comes with a specific new angle, new evidence, new technology.
So why do we do it? Its because we keep getting new ways to tell these stories that are enduring with our audience.
Southern Pictures documentary series The Swap, which screened on SBS has sold to Canada.
The three-part series follows 12 students and families from very different communities as they confront and explore their differences and similarities in an experimental school swap.
Laurie Critchley, Southern Pictures Chief Executive Officer says, The Swap tells the story of a trailblazing experiment to confront the cultural stereotypes and stigmas in families from very different backgrounds. As transformative television, it continues to drive change in Australia and were delighted to see it find new audiences in Canada.
The series will have its North American premiere Wednesday, October 2 on CBC Gem.
The Swap took home the Diversify TV Award, Race and Ethnicity Unscripted at MIPCOM in 2023.
As per the Election Commission, the voter turnout stood at 54.11%
Tauseef Ahmad, TwoCircles.net
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Srinagar: For 25-year-old Asiya Khursheed, the second phase of ongoing assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir that held today (September 25) represents more than just her first voting experience; it embodies a hopeful opportunity for change. Having completed her post-graduation last year, she has applied for several government jobs over the past five years but remains unemployed, despite achieving scores as high as 70%. Unfortunately, her name has never appeared on any selection lists.
The reservation quotas have created significant barriers for youths like her from the general category, complicating their search for government jobs in the Valley.
During the election campaigns, many candidates highlighted the issue of reservation quotas, which have left many educated youths feeling frustrated. They promised to prioritise these concerns if elected. Asiya, like many others, hopes that the next government will address these pressing issues, enabling unemployed youths to find job opportunities.
As she casts her vote at a floating polling station on Dal Lake, Asiya experiences a blend of hope and uncertainty. She believes this election could mark a turning point for herself and many others in the Valley who are struggling to secure their futures.
Second Phase of Polls in J&K
In the second phase of the polls, voter enthusiasm remained robust across the Kashmir, which a recorded a turnout of 54.11%. Several areas in the region, where election boycotts had once been commonplace, saw a slight uptick in participation.
Following an impressive 60% turnout in the first phase, residents of Srinagar were observed patiently queuing to cast their votes and make their voices heard.
Approximately 2.5 million voters are registered across six districts, including Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu as well as Ganderbal, Srinagar and Budgam. A total of 239 candidates, including former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Congress chief for the Kashmir region, Tariq Khara, are contesting in 26 assembly constituencies.
Special Polling Stations
A total of 3,502 polling stations were established for the second phase, including several special polling stations marked in pink, green and yellow. Three floating polling stations were also set up on Dal Lake.
An official stated that the government had made every possible arrangement to ensure voter access throughout the region. These elections are viewed as critical for restoring full democratic governance.
I cast my vote for the first time at the floating post office. Before this, we had to travel to the nearest village to vote. We have lived on the Dal Lake in Shikaras for the last two decades, shared Aslam, a resident who voted at the floating polling station.
He emphasised that this was only the second time a floating polling station had been set up, following the parliamentary elections, and noted that it would significantly increase voter turnout among residents who previously faced challenges due to long distances to polling centers.
We used our own Shikaras to travel from our houseboats to here. These steps promote our culture and provide opportunities for all those living in Shikaras to cast their votes, he added.
Unemployment a Big Issue
We have many scholars who are unemployed and working on the streets. Thousands of youths in the Valley, despite holding top degrees, struggle to secure even a peon position in the government sector. Unemployment is a major issue, and thats why we are casting our votes today, remarked Rashid Fayaz, 28.
He expressed hope that the return of democracy would prioritise these pressing issues.
Another first-time voter from Srinagar stressed the importance of every vote, stating, Since 2019, the youth have suffered the most in the Valley. There are no available positions for 4,000 posts in the Jammu Kashmir police, yet more than 3 lakh people have applied. Many of us are working for less than six thousand rupees in private sectors.
She added general category students have faced the brunt of the situation since the abrogation of Article 370. The government has added lakhs of people to reservation quotas, making it nearly impossible to secure government jobs. We hope that once a government is formed, these issues will be discussed, offering us some relief.
Abrogation of Article 370
Since the abrogation of Article 370 five years ago, we have been directly controlled by Delhi. Now, people want their own representatives who will listen and resolve their basic issues, said Mohammad Afzal Khan.
He noted that many areas still lack essential facilities, adding that their voices had gone unheard under the direct rule. Residents hope these issues will finally be acknowledged and addressed.
By choosing our candidates, our voices can be heard. It was nearly impossible for the poor to get their concerns recognised under direct governance, said another voter, Mir Mushtaq.
He further lamented, From 10 kg of rice, we now receive only 5 kg per person for a month. How can one manage on that? The government has made us suffer for essential items like rice. We are in pain, and that is evident in these long queues filled with hope for change through our votes.
From Boycotts to Long Queues
In a notable shift, many areas in Srinagar that were previously known for election boycotts experienced increased voter turnout. However, the Habakadal constituency recorded a lower turnout compared to previous elections. In the last assembly polls of 2014, voter turnout in Habakadal was just 21.30%.
Since 2008, this is my first time casting my vote. We achieved nothing with boycotts. We hope this time our votes will effect change in the region, said Manzoor Ahmad, a resident of Ganderbal.
Chief Electoral Officer PK Pole addressed the media, stating that a turnout of 56.05% was recorded, and the second phase of elections concluded peacefully across all constituencies.
As any longtime New Yorker knows, the annual United Nations General Assembly is a week to avoid midtown Manhattan as best you canespecially on the day that Joe Biden is scheduled to deliver his final UNGA address of his presidency. Roads are inevitably closed, sidewalks are barricaded off, and making it to any destination that is unlucky enough to be within a ten-block radius of the United Nations headquarters requires minimum double the amount of time it normally takes.
However, this morning, I ventured not just into the vicinity of the United Nations, but to the building itself. I was there to report on a sideline event hosted by Lesotho's delegation to the UN, which gathered royalty and first ladies from around the world to discuss "pressing development issues." The intimate hour-long presentation featured Prince Harry; Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso of Lesotho; Neo Jane Masisi, the First Lady of Botswana; and Suzanne Innes-Stubb, the First Lady of Finland, speaking about issues ranging from gender-based violence to mental wellness to HIV and AIDS.
Though the event was scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m., the royal family of Lesotho entered the room shortly before noon. As the Queen and King of Lesotho entered the space it quieted, and the 100 or so gathered attendeesmainly foreign dignitaries who were attending UNGAwaited for the Duke of Sussex to make an appearance. When he arrived just a few minutes later, and excited murmurs swept through the small crowd. He quickly embraced King Letsie III as he entered, the older brother of his longtime friend, Prince Seeiso.
Prince Harry arrives to join Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso, and the First Ladies of Botswana and Lesotho, at an event about Lesotho on the sidelines of #UNGA79 pic.twitter.com/s3Wn3kMsO1 emily burack (@emburack) September 24, 2024
"We are here because we have a shared conviction that a safer, more dignified world, is not only possiblebut achievable, if we all work in unison," Queen Masenate began her address.
Prince Harry's remarks to the small gathered group took a decidedly personal tone. He began by speaking in English then Sesotho, a language of Lesotho. "I would like to start by extending my deepest gratitude to Their Majesties for their continued friendship," Harry said. "The Lesotho royal family, as well as Lesotho itself, has been a pillar of strength for me over the last 20 years, welcoming me with open arms and such kindness."
He continued, "The beautiful mountain kingdom feels like a home away from home, that friendship has only grown stronger as we've worked together to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing the pursuit of people and the wider world. It all began two decades ago, when my dear friend Prince Seeiso first gave me a tour of your special country. I was struck by the strength and courage of your people amidst the immense challenges they face."
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Prince Harry first visited Lesotho in 2004, during his gap year between graduating Eton and beginning at Sandhurst military academy. Two years later, he and Prince Seeiso co-founded the charity Sentebale, which means forget-me-not in Sesotho, in honor of their mothers. Sentebale is dedicated to supporting the most vulnerable children in Lesothothose who are victims of extreme poverty or suffering due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. "When we first started he was a young man, straight from school. He was eager to absorb, and over the period Ive seen him grow tremendously," Prince Seeiso told T&C a few years ago. "Not only grow as a person, but his passion for the charity and for the cause of young people who are seemingly on the margins."
The key focus of the organizationhelping young people thrive, no matter their circumstancealigns with Prince Harry's mission in advocating for mental health support for all ages. During today's remarks, the Duke emphasized the importance of what he describes as mental fitness. "Good mental health, mental fitness, is not a luxury. It is a necessity. For every single one of us," he said. Harry added, "We must be brave enough to speak and be kind enough to listen."
After his address, Harry listened intently to the rest of the remarks, and even when the session ran over its allotted time, he made no move to leave. As the event came to a close, Harry spoke with the King and Queen of Lesotho, and many attendees tried to not-so-subtly snap a photo of him.
While the first day of Harry's solo trip to New York City focused on his mother's legacy, with events spotlighting the Diana Award and the HALO Trust, the Duke's schedule on his second day was much more varied.
LEONARDO MUNOZ - Getty Images
He began the morning with an address at the Clinton Global Initiative, focusing on online safety as it relates to children, and in the afternoon, Harry attended an event marking five years of Travalyst, the nonprofit he founded, which focuses on sustainable tourism. He spoke for around ten minutes to a small gathered group about the mission, and future, of the organization. "Over the past two decades, I've had the privilege of working in conservation alongside communities that serve as the true guard of some of the world's most breathtaking and vulnerable places," he said near the start of his speech. "Through this work, I've seen firsthand how travel and tourism can be a double edged sworda force that has the potential to do tremendous good or if it's managed inflicts serious harm."
While the event felt less personal in tone from his morning remarks at the UN, the Duke of Sussex did speak about his children and his fears about the ongoing threat of climate change.
"Every year we break new temperature records," Prince Harry shared. "On the 22nd of July earlier this year, we experienced the hottest day ever. Dr. Sally Uren's organization Forum for the Future, shared a report with me that said that somebody born in 2020 is likely to experience eight times the number of heat waves, four times the number of droughts, three times the volume of crop failures and three times the number of river floods that a person born in 1960. As a father of two children, that's absolutely terrifying. The level of suffering is heartbreaking and the cumulative cost of recovery has us permanently on the back foot. It also shows the vital need to take a systems approach to ensure we focus on the root cause and not the symptoms that is going to require all of us pushing in the same direction."
After, he spent time schmoozing with those in attendance, still energetic despite his nonstop 48 hours of events in support of causes near to his heart. And then, it was finally time to leave midtown.
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Enjoy tea? Come see the entire process, from plant leaves to your cup
People's Daily Online) 17:13, September 24, 2024
In Tongxin village, Pujiang county, Chengdu city, southwest China's Sichuan Province, vast fields of tea plants are just waiting to be turned into delicious cups of tea. Specifically green tea, the specialty tea produced in Pujiang county.
Tongxin village allows visitors to partake in the entire tea producing process, starting with picking your own tea leaves, taking them to be cooked, crushing them with your own hands, and finally brewing them into a wonderful cup of tea. The experience also includes learning about Chinese tea culture, and how deeply rooted it is in Chinese society.
Join People's Daily Online reporter Michael as he partakes in the tea making journey, from leaf to cup.
(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Du Mingming)
A distinguished atmospheric scientist from Canada made an impassioned plea to the evangelical community to heed Gods word and take climate change seriously, when speaking about integrating science and faith at the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism held in Incheon, Korea. However, it is not fear that motivates believers but love, she said.
Professor Katherine Hayhoe, who is chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy, was one of the speakers introduced by Chris Wright, a seasoned theologian and global ambassador for the Langham Partnership, who called climate change an issue which Christian mission cannot ignore.
Wright referenced the crisis as meriting missional attention under the fourth aim of the Lausanne movement: to see the impact of the kingdom in every area of society, and also in line with the overall aim of the latest Lausanne Congress, which seeks to Let the church declare and display Christ together.
Speaking to the Congress, Hayhoe outlined the correlation between creation as narrated by the Christian faith, alongside objective scientific reasoning.
I was fortunate to grow up in a home where I was taught that the Bible is God's inspired written word and that science is God's expressed word, Hayhoe said. Think about it for a minute. If we believe the universe was created by God, as it says in the gospel of John, chapter one, that the word was with God in the beginning and through him all things were made, then what is studying this amazing universe we live in?
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Science means trying to understand the mind of God, according to Hayhoe, and the laws and rules of physics He established, which govern the universe and world we live in.
The author of Hebrews defines faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of what we do not see, added Hayhoe. But if I could go back two thousand years, I would jog the elbow of the author of Hebrews and I would say you forgot the second part.
The second part of the verse is, What is science other than the substance of the here and now? The evidence of what we do see.' Faith is not in competition with science. They are two complementary things.
Hayhoe reminded the Congress that the psalmist writes [Psalm 19] about the heavens declaring the glory of God and the skies proclaiming the work of his hands: And the more our ability to see with our eyes God's amazing handiwork the greater our awe.
This understanding of the love, care and attention given by God towards His creation, our current home, reminds us that it is a home that we have a God-given responsibility to care for, stated Hayhoe. She asked a rhetorical question, Why do I say that? and followed quickly with the assertion, thats what the Bible says.
Hayhoe explained the interrelationship between humans and the planet, referring to God creating every living thing, including planets and animals and us. She outlined how everything utilized by us, whether water or food or resources for modern life, ultimately come from the planet created by Him. The planet can survive without us. We, on the other hand, cant survive without a healthy, thriving planet.
We are all living things and we humans are some of the neediest and most vulnerable of living things, Hayhoe added. Nature does not need us. We need it. That's how God created us. So take a breath. That breath is full of oxygen that keeps us alive. But did you know that half of that oxygen comes from tiny phytoplankton in the ocean?
The devastating impact of a downgraded ecosystem for the Earth, according to Hayhoe, when the planet is not healthy and thriving, and nature is choked with pollution, are vulnerable people lacking enough food, clean water or a safe place to live. The very ones we Christians are told to love and care for, Hayhoe reminded starkly, before issuing a challenge to skeptics.
So to any who say that caring for the planet is somehow worshiping creation over the creator, I say: Open your Bible to the very first chapter and consider that we too are part of creation.
Consider also how the Bible explicitly says that God values the most seemingly insignificant aspects of creation, the birds of the air, the lilies of the field, and has designed us to live in an ecosystem where everything is connected and our lives are interdependent with nature in ways that we are only beginning to understand.
A scientific illustration of this interdependency is a fungus, known as white nose syndrome, which is killing bats. Hayhoe said this may seem inconsequential to humans but bats have an essential function affecting our own wellbeing. They normally eat pests, which otherwise devour the crops eaten by us. However, with falling bat populations, farmers have resorted to more pesticides, which then pollute air and water quality.
Hayhoe referred to fresh scientific analysis proving that the increase in pesticide pollution, following the bats deaths, has led to a thousand human infant deaths in the nearby area. You see how everything we're starting to understand is connected.
The chief scientist also pointed out that the Hebrew word for dominion, which is Radah in Genesis, means responsibility in its original etymological root, as much as dominance. Even so, if disagreements remain on that point, she further referenced Psalm 72 showing that responsibility is important to God, when it comes to dominion over creation.
Radha means that he will deliver the needy who cry out, who will save the afflicted, who have no help. That is what this word means, said Hayhoe.
Scientific analysis shows the detrimental effect on the planets resources, with falling animal populations, as humans use more of Earths resources. The issue does not just affect bats either Hayhoe referred to some hard statistics showing the effect. 70 percent of land-based animals, from giraffes to bees, have disappeared since her birth in 1972. In fact, 70 percent of the total number of animals on Earth have disappeared and that is what we refer to as the biodiversity crisis.
Hayhoe went into more scientific detail about the crisis of the climate changing faster than at any time in history although she did say natural factors were involved. However, the human factor was a clear influence.
Right now, the Earth should be cooling very slowly. Instead, it is warming faster and faster and we are the ones to blame. We know that 22% of these heat trapping gasses come from deforestation and industrial agriculture, which of course also affects pollution and biodiversity. We know that the rest comes from digging up and burning coal and gas and oil for industry, for transportation and more.
More heat-trapping gasses produced by humans were affecting the atmosphere. Hayhoe, calling the problems worrying, used an illustration of an extra blanket being wound around the planet. And imagine if someone snuck into your room at night and put an extra blanket on you. You'd wake up sweating saying, Hey, I didn't need this extra blanket. I'm too warm. That's exactly what's happening to our planet.
These issues of pollution, climate change and the biodiversity crisis are not distant issues, said Hayhoe, confessing that she used to think that way. Most people are worried, but we dont think its our problem. Her scientific mind delved into the facts and discovered issues such as that nine million people, representing a third of global premature births, died from fossil fuel air pollution each year far more than the seven million who died in the Covid pandemic.
Hayhoe preferred to use the term global weirding rather than global warming because the weather is getting weirder and its putting us all at risk. Heatwaves, floods, droughts and storms have always been present since the Fall, but there has never been a heatwave so strong as the recent southeast Asian heatwave. Other examples were given such as floods in Brazil in May 2024, or wildfires in Canada or recent typhoons in Shanghai.
Climate change affects everyone but those already vulnerable especially suffer. This includes people without safe places to live, or food or clean water.
Hayhoe gave two specific examples. Firstly, poor neighborhoods often inhabited by immigrants are more prone to floods or become a lot warmer in heatwaves, not helped by a lack of investment in infrastructure or green space: There's no place for the water to go when it rains and no vegetation to shade their homes when it's hot.
Secondly, families in Malawi where child marriage was previously outlawed have begun to make the unimaginable choice of selling a daughter into marriage to get money to pay for food when crops fail because of environmental issues.
These are environmental issues, but they are not only environmental issues, they're issues of hunger and poverty, housing and health, and perhaps most of all, justice and equity because climate change is not fair, said Hayhoe.
For the nearly one billion who live in the low elevation coastal zone, and depend on the ocean for their primary source of food and protein, how will they feed their families when the ocean food chain breaks down and sea level inundates their homes? she added.
For Hayhoe, these are not scientific issues but issues of faith. She reminded the Congress that Jesus said in the gospel of John that his followers would be recognised by their love of others.
How can we claim to love others and not care about this? No, I'm convinced if we take the Bible seriously that we will be at the front of those who are advocating for and demanding action on these issues for protecting the people and other living things most affected.
Although the Bible does not talk directly about pollution, biodiversity loss or climate change, Hayhoe believed that it does address our attitudes as Christians. Most people are afraid, she said, but Christians do not have to follow this trend. She reminded delegates that 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear.
So if we are reacting out of fear that is not from God, instead we have been given a spirit of power, which means we are empowered to act. We're not paralyzed. We have the God-given ability to act out of love, concern for others rather than ourselves, and with a sound mind, which I believe is informed in part by the science that we do, studying this world that God has given us.
Individual action is not enough, according to Hayhoe. She added that the church understood the importance of community so the most vital action is what most people are not doing, which is to simply have a conversation about why this matters and what we can do about it together, talk about it, teach about it, discuss what to do.
These conversations should complement actions such as investing in the church forests of Ethiopia, or stewarding resources wisely to install solar panels on church buildings, or partnering with a climate justice organization.
When we invest in our communities to make them more resilient to climate impacts, all of these actions speak just as loudly, if not more so, than our words.
Hayhoe said a five-year-old scientific study concluded that every single environmentally friendly action taken makes a difference. And it found that seeing these matters as not economic or environmental but as moral helps to frame these issues.
Lastly, Hayhoe said a global poll found that the main reason why people cared about the environment is love.
Love for each other and for the next generation is what motivates us to act. And that to me reminds me of Galatians 5, where it says, the only thing that counts is when our faith expresses itself through love.
For that reason, Hayhoe said her publicly expressed views reaffirm the deepest truths of the gospel namely: God's abiding, extravagant, overwhelming, and endless love has been poured out in our hearts already to share with everyone around us so they too recognize that our God is a God who passionately loves every person and every part of his creation.
Its tough to know when enough is enough for some films. Its especially difficult when there isnt really a franchise to begin with and randomly an unneeded prequel goes into production. Such is the case for Orphan: First Kill. Now, I really enjoyed 2009s Orphan starring our modern mistress of horror Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, with Isabelle Fuhrman as our titular destructive diminutive damsel. I remember thinking Jaume Collet-Serra managed a fine fright flick with some fun twists and creative kills. I keep saying I Remember because I realized as I sat down to this prequel, I hadnt seen the original film since theaters some fifteen years ago!
After a quick revisit of the first film, I dove into this viewing of Orphan: First Kill without much expectation. Especially since I knew well in advance this film was going to base its premise on the very real and extremely sad true case of Natalia Grace (who has already been the subject of several streaming "documentary" series and even made an appearance on Dr. Phil). Thankfully this film doesnt even try to stick to the true story and slips into a sort of Grand Guignol macabre Horror Comedy. But that silly horror groove takes a bit to get going.
Our film opens with Leena (Isabelle Fuhrman) living in an Estonian institution for the criminally insane. After orchestrating her escape, she assumes the identity of Esther, a lost child who was reportedly kidnapped and stolen off to Russia. As Esther, Leena aims to integrate herself into the Albright family with her supposed mother Tricia (Julia Stiles), father Allen (Rossif Sutherland), and brother Gunnar (Matthew Finlan). Aside from some gaffs, her con seems to be playing well, but the Albright family isnt the picture-perfect American family they appear.
All credit to the filmmakers for trying to make Orphan: First Kill work. Isabelle Fuhrman returns and with the help of some pint-sized body doubles, she ably recaptures the creepiness of her original performance. Set at a relatively brisk pace, director William Brent Bell and writer David Coggeshall set up an elaborate escalation of bloody deaths. Thanks to the supporting cast, Fuhrmans return over a decade later works - depending on how you look at it.
In my eyes, this film is actually more of a Horror/Comedy than a straight Horror flick or Thriller. From the first film we know what Esther/Leena is capable of, so now its about letting the little terror get down to business. She wastes no time dispatching various human obstacles with a fun opening sequence. But once the setup is out of the way, I have to say things get a little flat. Theres an odd blandness to the proceedings where you question if the stilted line delivery and pace is intentional or a side effect of a prequel arriving too many years too late. However, once the film reveals itself and the blood really starts flowing, it turns into this ghastly adventure where you cheer for bloody death and gleefully chuckle with every kill.
Truthfully, we didnt need a prequel to Orphan. The film was a nicely contained piece of 2000s era horror. It might not have been the most memorable film, I certainly forgot about it for long enough, but it was good and still holds up. Orphan: First Kill is the kind of needless work thats certainly entertaining, but it also answers questions that no one asked.
Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
After its debut on Paramount+ and subsequent Blu-ray release, Orphan: First Kill adopts its first 4K UHD and Blu-ray set as part of the Paramount Scares Vol. 2 four-film collection. The 4K is pressed on a BD-66 disc with a BD-50 disc shoring up the 1080p version. The two discs rest in a standard black case with a custom box set exclusive slipcover. The 4K disc loads to a static image main menu with standard navigation options.
During his visit to Asia with a stop at Viet Nam in September, Dr. Derek Wallace, President of Global Vaccine Business Unit at Takeda and one of the key leaders of the vaccines development, shared insights into the research and production journey of this dengue vaccine designed to protect against all four dengue virus serotypes.
Takeda has recently made headlines for its innovative efforts in dengue prevention globally, including in Viet Nam. As an instrumental figure in this development process, could you share the inspiration behind what prompted you to join and commit to this mission?
I believe that vaccines are a cornerstone of public health, with the ability to make an incredible impact on people's and families' lives over generations. After witnessing first-hand the severe impacts of the dengue outbreak in Thailand in 2009, my commitment to this cause deepened. That experience became the driving force behind my passion to lead Takeda's team on the development of this dengue vaccine, aimed at providing a proactive measure against this infectious disease.
Takeda's dengue vaccine is approved for protecting against dengue fever. Could you share the journey of developing this vaccine?
As you know, dengue is a complex disease caused by four different virus serotypes (DENV-1, 2, 3 and 4), making vaccine development particularly challenging. The development of Takedas dengue vaccine has a long and intricate history, dating back nearly 60 years.
While efforts to find a dengue vaccine began as early as the 1920s, significant progress remained elusive for many decades due to various obstacles.
Our dengue vaccine journey traces back to 1978 at Mahidol University in Thailand. The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Southeast Asia proposed a project for dengue vaccine research. Mahidol University was selected as a partner. The university led the dengue vaccine research and development and later in 1986 discovered a live-attenuated vaccine that prevents DENV-2. This became the crucial foundation for our current tetravalent vaccine. After 12 years of research, this effort culminated in creating a tetravalent vaccine capable of providing broad protection against all four dengue virus serotypes.
Over the past 11 years, under Takedas leadership, the vaccine successfully completed a clinical development programme involving 19 clinical trials with a total of 28,000 participants across 13 dengue-endemic and non-endemic countries. Recently, our vaccine has been recommended by WHOs Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) for introduction in countries with high dengue burden and high transmission intensity to maximise public health impact.
In addition to that, the vaccine has been included in the WHOs List of Prequalified Vaccines, underscoring its quality and reliability as an important dengue prevention method suitable for public programmes. We are proud that our dengue vaccine is approved and endorsed for the protection of communities and people against dengue, both those that have had dengue previously and those that have not.
These global recommendations of Takedas dengue vaccine represent a major step forward in our mission to develop innovative vaccines that address the toughest public health challenges. The WHOs recommendations affirm the vaccines potential as an important tool within an integrated strategy to help reduce the global threat of dengue.
What are the key challenges you and your team have faced during the development phase and production of this dengue vaccine? How did Takeda overcome these barriers?
There were numerous challenges throughout the research process, one of which was the highly complex nature of the dengue virus, with its four distinct serotypes. Achieving an immune response that provides protection against all four serotypes without increasing the risk of severe disease due to antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) was a significant challenge which we were able to overcome. Additionally, the vaccine needed to ensure efficacy and safety across diverse populations.
Beyond the research phase, the production, especially large-scale manufacturing required for commercialising the vaccine globally, was no simple task. The tetravalent dengue vaccine demands a high-tech, complex, and modern process for production, storage, preservation, and transportation. That is why we have been working closely with partners in Viet Nam and other countries to devise efficient transportation and storage strategies that can ensure smooth management of dengue vaccine administration.
Could you share about Takeda's high-quality standards in the entire dengue vaccine manufacturing process, from production to supply chain and distribution worldwide? Could you share about Takeda's high-quality standards in the entire dengue vaccine manufacturing process, from production to supply chain and distribution worldwide?
Takedas first dengue manufacturing building at our Singen, Germany facility opened in November, 2019 to support formulation, fill, finish and secondary packaging of our dengue vaccine. In 2023, we expanded these capabilities with a state-of-the-art drug substance manufacturing building, making Singen the only Takeda facility worldwide capable of producing both the drug substance and drug product for our dengue vaccine.
The inclusion of Takedas dengue vaccine in WHO's List of Prequalified Vaccines confirms its quality and suitability for public vaccination programmes. This is an important step in broadening global access to Takedas dengue vaccine, especially in regions heavily impacted by dengue.
Recognising the need for an integrated, multi-pronged response to this global health threat and the current demand for dengue vaccines, Takeda is committed to working closely with partners, along with governments and health authorities in countries where the dengue vaccine has been licensed, to maximise the impact of our available vaccine supply.
Building upon existing manufacturing capabilities in Germany, Takeda made a strategic partnership with Biological E. Limited in India last year to accelerate access of the companys dengue vaccine in multi-dose vials, which will be made available for procurement by governments in endemic countries to support national immunisation programmes.
We are on track to significantly increase our supply year over year and aim to achieve an annual supply capacity of 100 million doses per year by 2030 through in-house and strategic external investments to meet the growing demand for protection against this rising public health threat.
With millions of doses of dengue vaccines distributed worldwide, we remain committed to making a dengue vaccine that meets the highest standards of safety and efficacy accessible. At Takeda, we uphold stringent quality standards at every stage of our medicine and vaccine journey.
How do you foresee the dengue vaccine impacting public health outcomes, particularly in endemic countries like Viet Nam?
The dengue vaccine is expected to have a significant impact on public health outcomes, especially in endemic countries like Viet Nam. Dengue vaccines can help protect people who have never had dengue before, reduce new cases in people that have previously had dengue and reduce hospitalisation, which can result in significant economic benefits by alleviating the financial burden on healthcare systems and families, contributing to greater economic stability.
The WHOs Dengue Vaccines Position Paper emphasised the prioritisation of all available dengue prevention methods, including vaccination, and we need to remember that, in order to effectively prevent dengue and improve public health outcomes, integrated dengue management, covering vector control, case management, and community education, need to go hand in hand with dengue vaccine introduction.
Based on its assessment, the WHO determined that Takedas dengue vaccine will have the greatest public health impact in areas with a high dengue transmission. The vaccine introduction should be accompanied by a well-designed communication strategy and community engagement. Individuals will still need to take additional steps to protect themselves and their loved ones, thereby improving the implementation of preventive measures, strengthening public health efforts, and reducing the impact of dengue on communities.
At the end of this September, Dr. Derek Wallace, President of the Global Vaccine Business Unit (VBU) and Mr. Dion Warren, Area Head of India & Southeast Asia (I-SEA), will be in Viet Nam.
During the visit, Dr. Derek Wallace and Mr. Dion Warren will spend time with Takeda's local team, initiating the official launch of Takedas dengue vaccine in Viet Nam, following its approval by the Ministry of Health in May, 2024. Takeda is currently the only manufacturer and importer of dengue vaccine to Viet Nam.
The presence and participation of these global leaders underscore Takeda's effort to provide solutions that help address the significant global burden of dengue, especially in endemic countries like Viet Nam.
HA NOI Many foreign investors, particularly from the US, have expressed interest in investment opportunities in Viet Nams liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure market to meet the country's energy needs.
New movement
According to a Reuters report in late August, the Cai Mep LNG Terminal is currently seeking cargo to begin commissioning tests, putting it on track to become the countrys second terminal in Viet Nam to come into operation.
CEO of AG&P LNG Karthik Sathyamoorthy said his firm had received an import licence, it was working hard to accelerate the commissioning process, targeting completion within the next three months.
The company planned to finalise the commissioning cargo in October for delivery between late October and mid-November, he told baodautu.vn.
Earlier in March, the company - a subsidiary of Nebula Energy - acquired a 49 per cent stake in Cai Mep LNG Terminal located in Ba Ria- Vung Tau Province. Fully constructed, the Cai Mep LNG Terminal was developed by Hai Linh Company Limited, a prominent petroleum product import terminal and trader in Viet Nam.
Meanwhile, US-based LNG company Excelerate Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with Viet Nam's ITECO JSC to co-develop a greenfield LNG import terminal in the northern port city of Hai Phong.
As one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, Viet Nam remained an attractive emerging market for foreign investors, said Ramon Wangdi, Vice President for Asia Pacific for the gas distribution company Excelerate Energy.
This growth was driven by a rapid increase in energy demand, where LNG would play a key role over the coming decades. As Viet Nam transitioned from carbon-intensive fuels such as coal and oil, to renewables like solar and hydropower, LNG would be crucial in helping Viet Nam achieve net zero by 2050, the vice president told the online newspaper.
He added that as a global company, Excelerate was exploring investment opportunities in related infrastructure across Viet Nam and the Asia Pacific to support this shift in energy strategy.
According to Ramon, Viet Nam had set a goal of expanding its LNG-based power initiative from virtually zero to over 20 GW by 2045. This ambition would position the nation as a key player in the global LNG industry.
Due to Viet Nams unique geography, with a long coastline and onshore terrain, the development of a nationwide gas pipeline system and infrastructure for receiving, processing, and distributing LNG would need to be built nationwide. This would connect import terminals to a range of end users, from power generation to industrial and commercial sectors.
Such investments needed to be reliable, cost-effective and quickly deployable, he said, adding that other leading companies would have opportunities to invest in this emerging industry, spanning the entire gas and LNG value chain.
For example, the Son My LNG Terminal - a joint venture between AES Group and PetroVietnam Gas (PV Gas)- has received in-principle approval from the Binh Thuan People's Committee. The project is slated for completion in 2027.
Promising sector
Baodautu.vn cited Adam Sitkoff, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ha Noi as saying that US businesses were excited about opportunities in Viet Nam, especially in the LNG infrastructure.
However, to turn this interest into real investments, Viet Nam needed to demonstrate to international investors that large-scale infrastructure could be deployed under international banking standards.
It was crucial that LNG terminals and all buyers had to commit to progress along the same development timeline to unlock international funding, he said.
Under Power Plan VIII, 13 LNG power plants have been approved in Viet Nam with a total capacity of 24 GW. Of them, two plants, Nhon Trach III & IV and Hiep Phuoc, are under construction, while the remaining 11 plants are still in the planning stage, of which three plants are still looking for potential sponsors.
According to FiinGroup, an integrated service provider of financial data, business information, and industry research, LNG would be a promising industry in Viet Nam.
Anh Nguyen from FiinGroup said experienced foreign investors were showing great interest in the Vietnamese LNG market. She said that foreign giants such as ExxonMobil, Siemens Energy, General Electric and Millennium Energy were eager to implement projects in this sector. Their proven track records in LNG development and robust financial capabilities would position them well to make significant contributions to power plants in the country.
Despite the bright outlook, Viet Nams LNG industry still faces significant challenges in the short term. As it is a conditional business requiring numerous licences and certifications, the lengthy approval process often slows down project progress and complicates investment, baodautu.vn reported.
Many domestic investors found it difficult to secure funding and develop financing programmes due to the lack of clear guidance on production guarantees. VNS
HA NOI The stock market returned to an upward trend on Tuesday, with improved liquidity, despite heavy net selling by foreign investors.
On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the benchmark VN-Index rose by 8.51 points, or 0.67 per cent, to close at 1,276.99 points, marking a robust recovery after the previous sessions decline.
Throughout most of the day, the VN-Index traded above the reference level, maintaining a stable range and ending the session on a positive note.
Market breadth was positive, with 203 stocks advancing and 94 declining. Liquidity on the southern bourse improved significantly, reaching VN17.9 trillion (nearly US$723.58 million), up 38.7 per cent compared to Monday's session.
The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation, climbed by 9.75 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 1,330.87 points. Twenty-five stocks in the VN30 basket rose, three declined and two remained unchanged.
Data compiled by financial website vietstock.vn showed that the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) was the biggest gainer, increasing by 1.13 per cent and contributing nearly 0.77 points to the VN-Index.
Following closely were Vinhomes JSC (VHM), which rose by 1.37 per cent, Vietnam Rubber Group - Joint Stock Company (GVR) by 1.69 per cent, Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MBB) by 1.81 per cent, and Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (STB) by 3.41 per cent.
However, some stocks saw mild selling pressure, with Viet Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (VNM) leading the declines, falling by 0.28 per cent.
According to analysts from Viet Dragon Securities, the increased liquidity compared to the previous session indicates a rise in supply as the market approached a resistance zone. The 20-day moving average (MA20) around 1,270 points is currently providing support. The market is expected to find support in this region and recover, continuing its test of the 1,2801,290 resistance zone.
Therefore, investors can remain hopeful for continued support and recovery, though caution should be exercised in restructuring portfolios to minimise risk.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also closed higher, gaining 0.4 per cent to reach 234.32 points.
During the session, more than VN1.1 trillion worth of shares were traded, with a trading volume exceeding 60.6 million shares.
Foreign investors engaged in heavy net selling on Tuesday, recording net sales of VN2.5 trillion on the southern bourse. VNS
ONG NAI The Peoples Committee of the southern industrial hub of ong Nai presented investment certificates to 17 projects on Tuesday.
It was during a conference to announce the province's master plan to attract investment.
The 17 projects have the total registered capital of US$6 billion, consisting of five foreign direct investment (FDI) projects and 12 domestic ones, in the fields of industrial and urban infrastructure development, property, and semiconductor development.
It was also announced at the conference that the Hiep Hoa urban area will be built on a land area of 293 hectares in Bien Hoa City, at the total cost of more than VN72 trillion ($2.9 billion).
Meanwhile, the 1,000-hectare Bau CanTan Hiep industrial park will be built in Long Thanh District at VN9.25 trillion.
ong Nai has lured $1.1 billion in FDI since the beginning of the year, a year-on-year increase of 34 per cent.
A total of sixty-one new projects with total registered capital of $640 million have been granted investment certificates, and 74 have had their capital adjusted with a total amount of $448 million.
More than 55,900 enterprises have registered more than VN522 trillion for their operation in the locality so far.
ong Nai now has 33 industrial parks covering a total area of over 10,500 hectares. Of these, 32 are operational, housing nearly 2,100 enterprises.
There are nearly 1,600 valid FDI projects in the locality with total capital exceeding $34 billion.
The top investors in the province are the Republic of Korea, Chinas Taiwan, and Japan. VNS
TRA VINH The southern province of Tra Vinh is calling for investment in seven upcoming projects next year with a total projected capital of VN77.3 trillion (US$3.15 billion), all based in the inh An Economic Zone.
One of the projects is a 105-hectare plant to produce green hydrogen.
The remaining six will focus on developing technical infrastructure for different areas in the zone, which are Ngu Lac Industrial Park (936ha), Ngu Lac Service Industrial Zone (305ha), Bonded Warehouse Area (101ha), Free Trade Zone (501ha), on Xuan on Chau Industrial Park (934ha) and inh An Industrial Park (934ha).
Tran Vien Phuong, deputy head of the Tra Vinh Economic Zone Management Board, said that Tra Vinh Province is committed to providing favourable conditions for investors.
Along with the highest incentives per Vietnamese land and tax laws, the province is implementing several supportive policies for investors, including investments in essential infrastructure projects and workforce training support, he said.
For the inh An Economic Zone, investment procedures are conducted under a one-stop-shop mechanism, with the Tra Vinh Economic Zone Management Board serving as the focal agency to resolve issues when they arise, he added.
The inh An Economic Zone covers a total natural area of 39,020 hectares located in the southeast of the province.
It is a multi-sector coastal economic zone that includes industry, commerce, services, tourism, urban development and agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
The zone is being developed as a dynamic economic region, prioritising the development of sectors such as power generation, petrochemicals and shipbuilding, along with other supporting industries.
To date, it has attracted 48 investment projects with a total registered capital of nearly VN148.6 trillion ($6 billion), including two foreign-invested projects with a total registered capital of $2.4 billion, creating jobs for nearly 5,200 workers.
Of those, 35 projects have started operation and 13 are still in the development phase. VNS
HCM CITY The Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank (HDBank, stock code: HDB) received the Financial Large Cap Individual Investors Best Choice award at the 2024 IR Awards ceremony held in HCM City on Tuesday.
It won the award along with other listed banks Vietinbank and MBBank.
The award recognised HDBanks sound corporate governance strategies and outstanding effectiveness in investor relations.
Over the years HDBank has stood out in the stock market with impressive business results, including being one of the listed companies with the highest profit growth rates in 2023 and the first half of 2024.
Its return on equity (ROE) for the first half of this year was 26.1 per cent, the highest in the industry.
It has also maintained a consistent and high dividend payment policy over the years, with a rate of 30 per cent in cash and shares for 2023.
Its 2024 annual general meeting of shareholders approved a dividend plan for 2024 (to be paid in 2025) of 30 per cent, including 15 per cent in cash.
HDBanks market capitalisation has surpassed VN78 trillion (US$3.16 billion) to rank it among the top companies in the VN30 and VNDiamond indices.
Outperforming 708 listed companies on the Ho Chi Minh and Ha Noi stock exchanges to make it to the nomination list of the 2024 IR Awards, HDBank has demonstrated its capabilities through systematic and strategic practices in its investor relations.
Its constant efforts to adopt international corporate governance standards and ensure transparency and safety in operations have helped the capital market recognise HDBank s intrinsic value while maximising shareholder benefits.
In its focus on IR activities, HDBank has regularly organised open dialogues with both domestic and international investors, with its senior leadership taking part in them.
It has leveraged modern technology to enable investors to contribute their ideas.
IR activities are also a core part of HDBanks ESG (environmental, social, governance) strategy and aimed at meeting international standards and building sustainable value for shareholders.
By developing IR activities aligned with ESG strategy, HDBank has not only won domestic investors trust but also attracted international capital.
Speaking at its AGM earlier this year, Fernanda Lima, representing LeapFrog Investments of UK, said Leapfrog has actively collaborated with HDBank on ESG development and credit programmes for women customers.
In 2024 the fund committed to continuing its partnership with HDBank particularly in green investments, agriculture and rural sectors, women-led enterprises, and community initiatives.
Also at the AGM, Marc Oliver Juenemann, representing DEG, a development finance institution under Germanys KFW Bank, said DEG has invested in HDBank since 2020.
A strong emphasis on ESG and governance issues is the key for HDBank to creating value for shareholders and strengthening institutions.
DEGs expertise in corporate governance is central to its support for HDBanks forward-looking initiatives.
The interest and appreciation from foreign investment funds such as IFC, Proparco, PYN, Affinity, DEG, LeapFrog, and others is a testament to HDBank's established position in the international market, which also opens up many strategic cooperation opportunities for its future growth.
HDBank has been honoured by the State Securities Commission, stock exchanges and other prestigious organisations with various awards, including for the Best Annual Reports among Listed Companies.
Its board of directors has received the Board of the Year Award from the Vietnam Institute of Directors.
Held by Vietstock in collaboration with the Vietnam Association of Financial Executives and FiLi e-magazine since 2011, the annual IR Awards aim to honour listed companies with the best IR practices, raise awareness about the importance of IR activities and improve transparency in the stock market. VNS
HA NOI The National Halal Certification Authority (HALCERT) on Tuesday met with ambassadors from 15 Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries to share its operational direction and explore collaboration opportunities in the Halal sector, reinforcing Viet Nam's commitment to developing its Halal industry.
During the meeting, Tran Quoc Dung, Director of the Viet Nam Certification Centre (QUACERT), outlined HALCERT's mission and vision. He emphasised Viet Nam's determination to develop its Halal industry in accordance with international standards and practices. Dung expressed his eagerness to learn from the experiences of OIC countries and seek partnership opportunities that could bolster Viet Nam's Halal initiatives.
Palestinian Ambassador, Saadi Salama, praised Viet Nam's efforts in establishing HALCERT, recognising it as a significant step forward. However, he also highlighted that this is just the beginning.
Ambassador Salama stressed the need for further strategic planning to advance the Halal sector effectively. He pointed out that raising public awareness about Halal is crucial and called for increased engagement from the Muslim community to aid in overcoming challenges and enhancing Viet Nam's Halal-friendly tourism sector.
Turkish Ambassador, Korhan Kemik, added that Halal-certified products are recognised for being clean and safe, making them a preferred choice not only for Muslims but also for non-Muslims.
He welcomed Viet Nam's decision to focus on the Halal sector, noting the growing global market for Halal products. Ambassador Kemik underscored the importance of establishing a unified global Halal certification system, which is currently lacking and would benefit the sector significantly.
Ramlan Bin Osman, head of HALCERT, confirmed that the centre is actively developing a strategy to certify Halal products according to widely accepted standards, particularly the OIC/SMIIC and GSO standards. He reiterated Viet Nam's desire for support and guidance from OIC members during the initial stages of developing its Halal industry.
The ambassadors expressed their readiness to assist Viet Nam in developing its Halal sector, particularly by training personnel in Halal standards and practices, marking a positive step towards enhancing the industry and fostering stronger ties with OIC countries. VNS
NEW YORK Party General Secretary and State President To Lam on September 25 (US time) receives Tim Hughes, Senior Vice President for Global Business and Government Affairs of the US-based provider of spacecraft, satellite launch services, and satellite communications SpaceX.
During the meeting, Lam said he hopes that the group will help Viet Nam respond to natural disasters in a timely and effective fashion.
Emphasising that Viet Nam views digital transformation as an important driving force in the new era, the Party General Secretary and State President appreciated the groups investment proposal in Viet Nam and expressed hope that this will be a step forward in promoting cooperation between the two sides.
The Vietnamese Government is weighing the investment proposal, he said, asking SpaceX to closely coordinate with relevant Vietnamese agencies and partners to complete investment procedures.
Hughes highly values Viet Nams potential for SpaceX's satellite internet plan, and informed that the group aims to inject US$1.5 billion into the country in the near future.
Expressing his support for Viet Nam's policy of univeral internet services, Hughes affirmed his desire to support the country to realise it, and called for the support from the Vietnamese Government, as well as the coordination from Vietnamese ministries and agencies in this regard. VNS
On Wednesday, September 25, the Lausanne Movement issued an official apology for remarks by Ruth Padilla DeBorst during a Monday evening session where she spoke about the war in Gaza and blamed certain people for using dispensational eschatology as an excuse for violence.
The apology inadvertently created further controversy, however, as some questioned why these but not other comments were deemed offensive and called on participants of such global events to behave like grown-ups who can handle robust debates.
In her speech that formed part of the session on Recommitment Calling the global Church toward faithfulness in word & deed, Padilla DeBorst spoke about the prophecy in Micah 6:8 that says, He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
She lamented that the many forms of injustice seen in different parts of the world today resemble the same kind of injustices the Old Testament prophet Micah would have seen in his day, and she challenged the Church not to stay silent.
As part of her remarks, she highlighted that Jesus told his disciples that love is shown in obedience to Gods Word. But she also criticized what she considers religious ideologies that perpetuate injustice.
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If you love me, you will keep my commandments. There's no room for doubt. God is worshiped not by rights, religious festivities, or even mission activism, all practices that can simply serve as masks, but by ethical obedience. What makes Gods people such are not superficial expressions of religious piety, Christianese jargon, worship jingles, or colonialist theologies that justify and finance oppression under the guise of some dispensational eschatology, she said.
Later on, as she referred to loving mercy in Micah 6:8, Padilla DeBorst referenced the war in Gaza, saying: There's no room for indifference towards all who are suffering the scourge of war and violence. The world around the uprooted and beleaguered people of Gaza, the hostages held by both Israel and Hamas and their families, the threatened Palestinians in their own territories. All who around the world are mourning the loss of loved ones. Their pain is our pain.
The two passages triggered strong reactions by some participants who accused Padilla DeBorst of blaming violence in the Holy Land on dispensational eschatology, a theological view that holds to a literal interpretation of Old Testament prophecies that speak about the nation of Israel. Further objections pointed to her assertion of Israel holding hostages and the lack of mention of Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, among others.
Apology says Lausanne failed to carefully review manuscript, consider potential offense to diverse audience
However, criticism was also directed at Lausannes leadership for not acting before Padilla DeBorst took the stage.
In a press conference the following day, a Lausanne spokesperson confirmed to reporters that all manuscripts had to be submitted by speakers ahead of time for review, to estimate timing and to prepare translations into other languages. He also confirmed that the manuscript contained the passages in question and that no feedback was given to or change requested from the speaker.
Finally, two days after the speech, Lausanne Congress Director David Bennett sent an official apology to all participants.
He highlighted that Lausanne is a diverse community and that although we share a common biblical and theological foundation in our affirmation of the Lausanne Covenant, the Manila Manifesto, and the Cape Town Commitment, we include people from a great variety of cultural, theological, historical and political perspectives.
Lausanne seeks to create space for robust discussions, including theological discourse, in pursuit of greater wisdom in the advancement of global mission.
Bennett acknowledged that speakers may hold a variety of views on different issues. They will sometimes disagree with one another, even though they each affirm the foundational documents, he said. But he also emphasized that speakers statements do not necessarily represent an official Lausanne position.
Nevertheless, the organizations leadership seeks to be gracious and respectful listeners in our interactions with one another, in the spirit of Lausanne.
Referring to Lausannes review of manuscripts, he then said Lausanne failed to be careful enough and did not sufficiently consider how a speakers words or tone of voice may come across to the diverse audience gathered at the event.
While not naming Padilla DeBorst directly, Bennett then apologized for the offense her remarks caused, saying: As Congress Director, I would like to offer an apology for a presentation this week which singled out dispensational eschatology in a critical tone, implying that it contributed to violence and injustice, and which failed to note that many theologies have been misused and misapplied as justifications for violence.
That same presentation referred to the suffering of the Palestinian people, but did not express comparable empathy for the suffering of Israeli people, nor adequately express concern for many other peoples and nations of the world that are currently in the throes of violent conflict, he said.
We have become aware of significant pain and offense experienced at this Congress from those in dispensational theological contexts, those who are Jews, and those engaged in ministries to Jews and/or in Israel. Our Lausanne team, including me, failed to review the wording of the presentation carefully enough in advance, or to anticipate the hurts and misunderstandings it would cause. As your brother in Christ, and on behalf of our Lausanne leadership, I ask for your forgiveness, he concluded.
Padilla DeBorst points to limited time, emphasizes importance of speaking up
Approached by Christian Daily International for comment, Padilla DeBorst shared her response to the apology, which she said she prepared after a conversation with Bennett and began circulating even before Lausanne issued their statement.
She started by recalling how the Lausanne Program Team asked her to talk in Seoul about a theme that is central to Gods character, to the Good News, and to the calling of Gods people in the world. Properly addressing such a vast topic, however, would have required significantly more time than what she was assigned in the program, she pointed out.
I was given 15 minutes to speak about justice. Perhaps, I should never have accepted the invitation! There are so many expressions of injustice in our world, how could anyone thoroughly and responsibly tackle such a deep and broad ranging theme, and the complicated scenarios related to it from a biblical and theological standpoint in only 15 minutes? she asked.
She went on to present her stance on the importance of speaking out on critical issues: Seeking justice is a marker of Gods people and this requires mourning the pain, naming wrongs, repenting for our complicity, and acting in accordance with Gods character through the work of the Holy Spirit.
God hears the cries of those suffering injustice, she said, and echoing Gods compassion means weeping with the poor and marginalized, whether they be victims of racism, abuse, displacement or other issues. We weep with all who suffer war the world round. Their pain is our pain, she said.
We are sent into the world in all its messiness as Jesus was. We do not shy away from reality in spite of its complexity. Instead, we name what we see, recognizing that our perspective is marked by our experience and context, that others have different views, that we can only gain a fuller picture by listening humbly to one another and that, at the same time, we are to actively seek justice, echoing with Gods heart to make all things right.
Referring to her remarks about dispensational eschatology, she emphasized that this was not in any way a blanket dismissal of dispensational theology and, even less, of sisters and brothers who subscribe to that stance.
For the pain my statement might have caused, I am sorry, she added, and clarified that what she actually referred to in her speech was the troubling theological rationale sustained by some people to perpetrate injustice against certain other people.
Speaking to the second issue, she explained why she decided to highlight the war in Gaza.
Although I did refer to all who are suffering and all who are mourning the world round, why would I zero in on Gaza and Palestinians? Why explicitly name only them? I am convinced that this is a current justice issue in relation to which we, as Christians, have a particular responsibility, she said.
She continued by stating, Truly, the Hamas attack almost a year ago was abhorrent and absolutely reprehensible, and truly people who live in Israel, Jewish, Palestinian and others are being threatened as I write. Their pain is our pain.
At the same time, the long-standing suffering of Palestinians has been compounded by the attacks on Gaza since October 7 where over 40,000 people have been killed, many of them, children. Additionally, settler attacks have only increased in the West Bank. Their pain is our pain or it should be, she said.
She asserted, however, that far too many evangelicals around the world a-critically stand with Israel, and remain oblivious to the suffering Palestinians. This injustice must be named.
She concluded by referencing another speaker at the Lausanne Congress, saying, It is my prayer that, as the Reverend Dr Anne Zaki so clearly challenged us, we might courageously raise our voices and not be silenced and that we might humbly engage in respectful conversation in the midst of our differences so that, together, we might declare and display Christ in a broken world.
Lausanne apology risks contributing to more division
While Lausannes apology sought to quiet down criticism from some corners, it risks stirring up even greater controversy as participants expressed concerns about the leaderships selective judgment by singling out these two particular issues and ignoring others.
In my view this apology was totally against the ethos of Lausanne, said Tim Adams, General Secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students in comments sent to Christian Daily International.
Within the agreed theological framework of previous Lausanne statements, Lausanne has been a place which brings people together to overcome barriers and unite to serve the Great Commission, he said, adding: My fear is this apology will do more to divide than to unite.
Speaking from his own experience as head of a global movement that embraces those with different theological perspectives, within an agreed doctrinal basis, he also challenged those who took offense by Padilla DeBorst remarks.
Without commenting on the content of the speech, Adams said, Lausanne is a place for grown-up Christians who can handle robust debate with fellow evangelical believers without throwing their toys out of the pram.
At the same time, he believes its not too late to come together to resolve disagreements and find a way forward that reflects the Spirit of Lausanne.
The congress is not over, and I hope we can work through this.
NEW YORK Party General Secretary and State President To Lam met with Karan Bhatia, Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York on September 25 (local time).
Lam emphasised that Google and its partners continued expansion of operations in Viet Nam reflects the countrys increasingly importance to both consolidating the supply chain and developing the market for the groups products.
Pledging favourable conditions for US firms to operate in Viet Nam, he called on Google to continue guiding its suppliers to expand investment and business activities in the country, and help local companies improve their capacity and join in its supply chain.
He applauded Googles cooperation proposal on training AI manpower, and asked it to work with the Viet Nam National Innovation Centre, agencies, institutes, and schools in the country to carry out concrete and fruitful projects to practically benefit both sides.
The Vietnamese leader also highly valued the groups cooperation proposal on cybersecurity, which is a particularly critical area as the Fourth Industrial Revolution is strongly affecting every aspect of the economy.
Bhatia affirmed Googles commitment to the partnership with Viet Nam. He announced that the firm has opened a new office in HCM City this year while its mobile phone and component manufacturing establishments in Viet Nam are operating efficiently.
He expressed his hope to cooperate with the country in AI development, a sphere of Googles strength that could be greatly useful to Viet Nam.
Google is expanding skill training in the Southeast Asian nation to foster AI-related collaboration, and also giving policy advice to help facilitate AI development, Bhatia noted, adding that it expects to assist Viet Nam in integrated cloud computing and AI services, and step up cybersecurity collaboration. VNS
HA NOI Hundreds of Vietnamese students attended the Denmark in Your Eyes 2024 painting contest launch.
Under the theme 'Green Initiatives', the contest this year is to encourage school children to learn more about environmental and climate challenges as well as to share their initiatives, thoughts and visions for how to protect the environment and natural resources.
Contestants are invited to use their imagination and put their green ideas on biodiversity, energy efficiency, reduction of CO2 emissions and zero plastics, onto paper.
"I believe that this is an engaging platform for Vietnamese students to voice and share their thoughts, concerns, hopes and ideas on how to nurture and protect our planet," said the Ambassador of Denmark in Viet Nam.
"I cannot wait to see their bold, creative and inspirational ideas on how we can make our planet a green and liveable home for all."
The competition is open to all Vietnamese students, from both primary and secondary schools. The deadline for submissions is December 20. Winners will be announced at a ceremony at the end of the school year 2024 2025 in Ha Noi.
The jury board of the competition will consist of prestigious painters from Kim ong Publishing House and Thieu Nien Tien Phong (Young Pioneers) and Nhi ong (Chilren) newspapers and representatives from the Viet Nam Denmark Friendship Association (VIDAFA) and Embassy of Denmark.
The first contest, co-hosted by VIDAFA and the Embassy of Denmark took place in 2016 during the celebration of the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and Denmark.
It since been held on an annual basis - every year with a new theme but always with a strong focus on the environment and the green agenda.
There will be one grand prize, two first prizes, three second prizes and six third prizes. The grand prize winner will be awarded with a tablet and a set of LEGO toys.
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners will also win LEGO, while there will be 50 encouragement prizes for individuals and two groups will receive the organisers awards. VNS
Voice of Vietnam (VOV) spoke to Colonel Nguyen Van Thinh, head of the Criminal Law and Judicial Reform Division in the Department of Legislation and Judicial Administrative Reform at the Ministry of Public Security, about the proposal of using electronic tags to monitor individuals under house arrest to prevent their disappearance or reoffending.
Could you elaborate on new points in the draft amended Law on Execution of Criminal Judgments?
The 2009 Law on Execution of Criminal Judgments, which took effect on January 1, 2020, has created an important legal basis for the enforcement of criminal judgments. Since then, this work has been performed with high efficiency.
However, after more than four years of implementation, changes in the socio-economic conditions and the fact that some legal provisions have shown shortcomings have raised an urgent need to revise this law.
The proposed amendments focus on three new, outstanding policies. First, there will be solutions to improve the effectiveness of criminal judgment enforcement for community-based punishments (not prison sentences).
That means applying science and technology, information technology and digital transformation to improve efficacy.
The second major policy is to apply scientific and technological advances and digital transformation in the arrangement and management of the execution of prison sentences at detention facilities.
The third major policy is to resolve obstacles of the 2019 Law and make amendments to suit current and future practical requirements.
Why has the draft laws drafting committee proposed these three major policies?
As I previously stated, despite the fact that the 2019 Law on Execution of Criminal Judgments has established a significant legal foundation for the enforcement of criminal judgments over the past few years, we must implement the developments made in both our nation and the world because of the swift changes in both national and international socioeconomic conditions.
Advances in science and technology, especially digital transformation, have changed rapidly in the world, and even in our country. Therefore, in order to increase this work's maximum efficiency in the future, we must use those advancements to the management of criminal judgment enforcement.
One of the new points of the draft law is using electronic tags to monitor individuals under house arrest. Could you tell us why this has been proposed?
Our execution of sentences has two types: imprisonment in detention facilities and executing sentences outside of prison or we can say in the community.
In terms of how prison sentences are carried out, we have essentially applied them quite sternly and tightly in detention centres in recent years.
In recent years, the success of community-based sentencing, such as probation, non-custodial reform, suspended sentences and prohibitions from leaving the home, has not been very high.
The management of criminals outside of the community is mainly administrative and manual through the management and supervision of local authorities, agencies and relevant units, falling short of expectations.
There have been reports of people serving community-based criminal penalties, such as suspended sentences and non-custodial reform, escaping the area without alerting their managers. They even perpetrated additional crimes elsewhere that the managers in charge of this punishment are unable to keep an eye on or control.
We have suggested utilising electronic tags for individuals serving sentences in the community because we are aware of these deficiencies and because of the advancements in science, technology and digital transformation that have occurred in the globe and in our nation.
For these people, in addition to the obligations stipulated in the Law on Execution of Criminal Judgments, we have added a provision that they must comply with a monitoring solution of using electronic devices.
The authorities and management organisations will be able to keep a tight eye on every move made by people serving prison sentences in the community thanks to that electronic equipment.
These individuals can be stopped from fleeing or from carrying out other criminal activities.
Could you elaborate on electronic tags proposed in the law? What exactly are they?
Actually, we refer to the experiences of other countries in the world for this proposal.
Many developed countries have applied them. According to our observations, not only highly developed countries such as the US, Russia, South Korea but also countries in the Southeast Asian region, such as Thailand, have applied this measure.
This measure is simple, not as complicated as we imagine. For example, in Russia and the US, they have devices worn on their hands and ankle.
The person serving the sentence just needs to wear them on their hands and feet for monitoring.
The wearer of the electronic device will have their movements tracked and information will be transmitted to the criminal judgment enforcement agency's data management centre.
The device will notify the management centre if the owner of the electronic tag takes it off, purposefully damages it, or causes it to stop working.
We will then apply punishment for this action.
To suggest changes to the law, we are creating an impact assessment policy.
Whether it is an ankle or wrist-worn gadget, research and learning from global experience are continually being done on it.
It is anticipated that we will be able to conduct research and designate appropriate agencies to investigate and produce these kinds of gadgets, enabling us to wear them on certain body parts.
In the world, people mainly wear them on their hands or ankles, and they do not affect the health of the person serving the sentence.
When setting out the requirements for producing such devices, do we aim to ensure a certain aesthetic, not creating pressure for the person serving the sentence?
Yes we do. The wearer has certain rights even though they are the ones who were found guilty and have to complete their sentence. Our goal is to provide technological equipment that don't interfere with the sentenced's other rights or sense of aesthetics.
It can be designed to be a wearable gadget, similar to a bracelet or watch.
However, we must decide that people who are found guilty and sentenced to prison or the community must be required to adhere to the terms of their sentence.
They will have certain rights restricted.
We will have to calculate and research how to ensure the best optimisation so as not to affect the person serving the sentence too much.
What does the drafting committee expect from the amended law in terms of overcoming the current shortcomings?
Our biggest expectation is the solution to apply science-technology and digital transformation in improving the effectiveness of criminal execution in the community. Our Party and State have long proposed this policy in Resolution 49 on judicial reform, and we will gradually reduce prison sentences and increase community-based penalties.
However, due to the low effectiveness of community sentence enforcement, we have not been bold enough to apply many community-based sentences.
We have applied many measures at detention facilities.
This time we expect the most that we will apply information technology through electronic monitoring devices as mentioned above, in order to improve the effectiveness of community-based sentence enforcement. From there, competent authorities and courts will be bolder in applying community-based sentences. VNS
NEW YORK Party General Secretary and State President To Lam met with President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, President of Finland Alexander Stubb, and Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah in New York on September 24 (local time), on the sidelines of the UN Summit of the Future and the High-Level General Debate of the United Nations General Assemblys 79th session.
Meeting the Bulgarian President, Lam affirmed that Viet Nam always values and wishes to further strengthen its multifaceted cooperation with Bulgaria. Viet Nam always appreciates and remembers the Bulgarian people's assistance to Viet Nam in the past struggle for independence and in the current national construction, he stressed.
He welcomed President Rumen Radevs plan to visit Viet Nam and suggested continued support for the Vietnamese community in Bulgaria to settle down their lives, successfully integrate into the host society, and become a bridge to foster bilateral relations.
The Vietnamese leader urged both countries to maximise the potential of the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to elevate their bilateral ties. He also called on Bulgaria to advocate for the swift ratification of the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) by EU member states and prompt the European Commission to lift the "yellow card" warning on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing on Viet Nam's seafood exports.
The Bulgarian President responded positively to Lam's proposals, underscoring Bulgaria's dedication to its relationship with Viet Nam. He expressed personal enthusiasm for his forthcoming visit and pledged to boost cooperation in areas such as health care, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, IT, agriculture, and natural resources and environmental management.
Bulgaria, he added, is ready to welcome Vietnamese workers.
Both sides agreed to jointly hold cultural and art activities to celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year.
At his meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, the Party General Secretary and State President affirmed that Viet Nam attaches importance to strengthening the two countries traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation. He expressed gratitude to the Finnish government and people for their support during Viet Nam's past hardships and in its development journey, particularly in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Lauding Finland's ratification of the EVIPA, Lam noted that it will create new cooperation opportunities for businesses from both nations.
On this occasion, he proposed that both sides continue maintaining and boosting all-level exchanges, further reinforcing the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and expanding collaboration in education, training, and culture-sport exchanges to enhance their peoples mutual understanding and friendship.
The top leader of Viet Nam also called on the Finish side to continue paying attention to the situation in the East Sea and supporting the protection of nations legitimate rights and interests under international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
President Stubb praised positive developments in the bilateral relationship and affirmed Finlands commitment to deepening cooperation with Viet Nam.
He noted that the European nation would continue to encourage its enterprises to invest in potential sectors in Viet Nam, such as telecommunications, renewable energy, water management, forest technology, and information technology. He also expressed his hope that Viet Nam would continue to serve as a bridge in fostering relations between Finland and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Both leaders agreed to work closely together to fully leverage the opportunities presented by the EVIPA, while continuing to enhance cooperation and mutual support at multilateral forums, particularly at the UN and within the ASEAN-EU partnership framework.
They also discussed several international and regional issues of shared concern.
At the meeting with Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, Lam affirmed that Viet Nam always attaches importance to and wishes to promote the good friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with Kuwait. He suggested that the two sides continue to exchange all-level delegations and effectively implement existing cooperation mechanisms.
Viet Nam is willing to welcome Kuwaiti enterprises to increase investment in Viet Nam in new areas such as green growth, climate change response, and Halal food, he noted.
The Kuwaiti Crown Prince appreciated Viet Nam's socio-economic development achievements after nearly 40 years of oi Moi (renewal) and affirmed that Kuwait considers Viet Nam one of the leading partners in the Southeast Asian region.
Kuwait is ready to expand cooperation in tourism, labour and Halal food with Viet Nam and support the country to strengthen cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), he said.
The Crown Prince agreed to coordinate with Viet Nam to handle difficulties at the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Complex in the central province of Thanh Hoa, considering this a project of symbolic significance for the success of bilateral relations. VNS
HA NOI - Party General Secretary and State President To Lam met with President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York on September 24 afternoon (local time), as part of his working trip to the US.
At the meeting with the EC leader, the two sides expressed satisfaction with the positive developments in their comprehensive partnership and cooperation.
Lam congratulated Ursula von der Leyen on her re-election as President of the EC for the 2024-2029 term and thanked the commission for offering sympathies and encouragement for the Vietnamese people in overcoming the aftermath of typhoon Yagi.
He emphasised the need to continue promoting delegation exchanges and high-level contacts between the two sides, and maximising the effectiveness of existing cooperation and dialogue mechanisms. He also welcomed the EU's active role in the Asia-Pacific region, affirming that Viet Nam is ready to act as a bridge to enhance EU cooperation with countries in the region through the ASEAN-EU Strategic Partnership framework.
The top leader of Viet Nam noted with pleasure that after four years of implementation, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has provided a new impetus for bilateral trade, making Viet Nam the largest trading partner of the EU in ASEAN, while the EU has become Viet Nam's fourth largest trading partner. The unions investment in Vietnam has also increased, with the EU currently being the fifth largest investor in the country.
He suggested both sides continue to effectively implement the EVFTA, with priority given to the removal of barriers to market access for goods of both sides, the ECs lifting of its "yellow card" warning and its continued support for Viet Nams implementation of solutions to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Lam also suggested the two sides enhance cooperation in the fields of defence and security, as well as in combating transnational organised crimes, particularly high-tech ones. He proposed the EU continue strengthening collaboration and supporting Viet Nam in environmental protection, climate change adaptation, public governance capacity enhancement, and development of a green and circular economy; as well as assisting Viet Nam in terms of capital, technology, and human resources training to fulfill its commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, effectively implement the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), and adapt to new EU regulations on the environment and sustainable development.
Appreciating Viet Nams achievements in socio-economic development and international integration, the EC President affirmed that Vietnam is one of the EUs key partners in implementing its cooperation strategy, and proposed that the two sides soon upgrade their relations to lay a foundation for deeper, more substantial, and effective cooperation across all fields in the coming time.
Agreeing with the Vietnamese leaders proposals, Ursula von der Leyen affirmed that the EU will closely coordinate with the country to effectively implement existing agreements and exchange mechanisms to promote cooperation in key areas such as politics-diplomacy, trade-investment, defence-security, development cooperation, education-training, innovation, and cultural exchanges; enhance coordination to address global challenges; and support it in environmental protection, climate change adaptation, and the effective implementation of the JETP, as well as cooperation within the framework of the Global Gateway Initiative.
Regarding the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) situation, both sides agreed on the importance of solving disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), thus contributing to ensuring navigation and aviation security, safety, and freedom, as well as reinforcing peace, stability, and prosperity in the regions.
Meeting the Ukrainian President, Party General Secretary and President Lam affirmed that Viet Nam always values its traditional friendship and comprehensive partnership with Ukraine, and bears in mind the support and heartfelt assistance that people of the Soviet Union, including Ukrainians, provided for Viet Nam during its struggle for national liberation and reunification, as well as in its current development cause.
Lam also expressed concern over the ongoing conflict, calling for an end to hostilities, the restoration of peace, and the protection of security and safety of civilians and essential infrastructure. He reiterated Viet Nam's consistent stance that all disputes should be addressed peacefully, in accordance with the fundamental principles of international law and the United Nations Charter, including respecting the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of nations, refraining from the use of force or threats to use force, and taking into account the legitimate interests of all parties involved while avoiding harm to civilians.
Viet Nam welcomes and supports international mediation efforts aimed at finding a lasting peaceful solution to the conflict, with the participation of all relevant parties, in accordance with international law and the United Nations Charter, Lam said, adding that as an active and responsible member of the international community, Viet Nam is ready to contribute to promoting dialogue and seeking solutions to stabilise the situation as soon as possible, for peace and stability in the region and worldwide. He also emphasised that once the conflict ends, Viet Nam is willing to work with the international community to support the reconstruction efforts in Ukraine.
Zelensky appreciated Viet Nam's stance and thanked the Vietnamese government and people for their humanitarian support to Ukraine. He expressed his hope that Vietnam will endorse the declaration of the first Summit on Peace in Ukraine held in Switzerland, and assist Ukraine in mine clearance and settlement of conflict consequences.
The Ukrainian leader affirmed that his country is committed to ensuring the safety of the Vietnamese community and the Vietnamese Embassy in Kyiv.
The two sides shared the need to maintain and promote bilateral cooperation through contacts and delegation exchanges at all levels; and seek effective and appropriate measures to maintain and soon restore bilateral trade exchanges.
Lam thanked Ukraine for its support in ensuring the safety and evacuation of Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine and hoped that the Ukrainian government will continue its assistance to ensure the safety of lives and property of Vietnamese citizens and businesses in the country. VNS
HAVANA The state visit to Cuba by Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President To Lam will create a significant momentum for the brotherhood between the two nations, according to a Cuban international policy researcher.
In his article published recently on CubaDebate, the most visited official news site in the Caribbean nation, Ruvislei Gonzalez Saez, Vice President of the Cuba-Viet Nam Friendship Association, highlighted the significance of the visit, affirming that it will mark the beginning of a new chapter in the history of bilateral relations.
According to the expert, the top Vietnamese leaders visit to Cuba shortly after taking office is a testament to the special friendship between the two countries. He noted that Cuba always holds a special position in Viet Nam's foreign and diplomatic policy regardless of the geographical distance. For Cuba, the presence of Lam in his dual role as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) and State President carries great significance, demonstrating Viet Nam's readiness to stand by this brotherly nation. The trip is a profound source of encouragement for Cuba, reflecting that the Party, State, Government, Army, and people of Viet Nam attach special importance to the bilateral relations.
Regarding international relations, the friendship between Viet Nam and Cuba is exemplary, with a long history and many examples that highlight the importance of the bilateral relationship, the article said.
Osvaldo Dorticos Torrado was the first head of state from Latin America and the Caribbean to visit Viet Nam in 1966. Fidel Castro was the first and only foreign head of state to visit the liberated zones in the south of Viet Nam in 1973. Prime Minister Pham Van ongs 1974 trip to Cuba was the first official visit by a senior Vietnamese leader to the Americas. When Cuban Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro passed away, the Vietnamese delegation was the first high-level international delegation to arrive in Cuba to mourn the leader. When Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong passed away, the first foreign delegation arriving in Viet Nam was from Cuba.
There are many other milestones that demonstrate the rare special bilateral relationship, Saez said, noting that it is crucial to convey this spirit to the younger generation so that this legacy can be preserved and further developed.
According to the Cuban expert, political-diplomatic relations and people-to-people exchanges have reached their highest level, however, economic, trade, and financial relations between the two countries have yet to develop commensurately with the existing potential.
Viet Nam is currently the main Asian investor in Cuba, but continuing to create conditions for the two sides to deepen bilateral business activities will be of great value for mutual benefit, he said, adding that bilateral trade needs to be more dynamic, especially as the two countries signed a trade agreement in 2020 to facilitate trade exchanges.
Saez hoped that the top Vietnamese leaders visit will provide an opportunity for the two countries leaders to discuss the current situations in each nation and comprehensively strengthen their relationship mechanisms, marking a new milestone in bilateral relations and ushering in a new phase. He expressed his belief that the visit will undoubtedly consolidate long-term cooperation across fields.
Below the article, many readers left comments sharing the view of the author, praising the special Cuba-Viet Nam friendship and the rare brotherhood that has endured countless challenges over more than 60 years. VNS
NEW YORK Party General Secretary and President To Lam had meetings with leaders of a number of international organisations in New York on September 24 (local time), as part of his US trip.
Meeting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Lam praised the increasingly important role of the UN in global governance, promoting multilateral cooperation, upholding international law, narrowing the gap and promoting development, and ensuring full participation of all countries.
He thanked UN agencies in Viet Nam for supporting the country in overcoming consequences of Typhoon Yagi, proposing that the UN promote cooperation to enhance the capacity of countries to respond to natural disasters and manage risks and disasters.
The top leader of Viet Nam suggested that the UN Secretary-General continue to promote cooperation in energy transition, green transition, digital transformation, and digital governance system building, taking into account the interests of developing countries, including Viet Nam.
Guterres, who once took to the streets to support Viet Nam's resistance war, expressed his special sentiments for Viet Nam, and highly valued the role, position and socio-economic development achievements of Viet Nam.
He lauded the active engagement of Viet Nam in important UN agencies as well as in all priority areas of the UNs activities, especially in peacekeeping, implementing the Sustainable Development Goals, responding to climate change, and promoting just energy transition.
The two sides agreed to continue to strengthen dialogue and further deepen the Vietnam-UN and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-UN relations in the coming time, promoting ASEAN's central role in settling regional issues, especially in maintaining peace and stability in the region, and peacefully resolving disputes in the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea) in compliance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).
They reached consensus on cooperation measures for promoting sustainable development, putting the 2030 Agenda back on track, speeding up energy transition, enhancing capacity to effectively respond to global challenges, and further increasing Viet Nam's participation in UN peacekeeping activities in the future.
Lam took the occasion to invite the UN Secretary-General to visit Viet Nam at an appropriate time.
Meeting with President of the 79th United Nations General Assembly Philemon Yang, the Party and State leader affirmed that Viet Nam will actively support his leadership, initiatives, and priorities for the current term. These include the promotion of peace and security through multilateral efforts, the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the enhancement of resilience of vulnerable and less developed countries, the sustainable management of natural resources, the promotion of gender equality, youth empowerment, the narrowing of digital gap, and better innovation and digital access.
Lam stated that Viet Nam remains steadfast in its strong support for multilateralism, with the UN playing a central role in global governance and the UN General Assembly considered the most important body comprising all member states. Viet Nam supports the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he said.
Viet Nam is also ready to promote trilateral agricultural cooperation, which consists of sponsorships from development partners, Viet Nams experts, techniques and crops, and other nations, including Cameroon.
Yang, who previously served as Prime Minister of Cameroon, lauded Viet Nams relationship with both the UN and Cameroon, its impressive socio-economic achievements and its increasingly prominent role on the global stage. He agreed to collaborate with the Southeast Asian nation to promote the compliance with the UN Charter, international law, and multilateralism.
Recognising Viet Nams strengths in science, technology, and agriculture, Yang pledged his commitment to fostering cooperation between Viet Nam and Cameroon in these areas and to seriously consider and address issues raised by the Vietnamese side.
On this occasion, Lam extended an invitation to the UN General Assembly President to visit Viet Nam in the near future.
At the meeting with Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Lam highly valued the UNDP's role and contributions to Vietnams national construction and socio-economic development cause over the past five decades.
In this important new phase of development, he proposed the UNDP focus on supporting Viet Nam in terms of knowledge and resources, promoting the transfer of science and technology aimed at building a green economy and circular economy.
Appreciating Steiner's contributions during his time in Viet Nam as a technical advisor on water resource security, the Vietnamese leader called on the UNDP to continue helping the country and the Mekong River Commission in the sustainable and effective management and use of water resources, thereby enhancing resilience and response to water security challenges in the basin.
The UNDP Administrator hailed Viet Nam as a model in socio-economic development and in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, thus offering valuable practical experiences for the United Nations and the international community.
He affirmed that the UNDP is proud to be Viet Nam's development partner in green growth, energy transition, and innovation, and is ready to support the country in building green, sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development policies, and in attracting investments, financial resources and green technology to enhance climate change adaptability and promote a just energy transition and digital transformation to strengthen Viet Nam's self-development capabilities and avoid becoming a market for monopolistic groups.
Talking to UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, the top Vietnamese leader highly valued the ongoing cooperation between the two sides, which produces positive results, especially the valuable support from UNICEF for Viet Nam's national expanded immunisation programme for children.
Regarding cooperation orientations in the future, Lam underlined the importance of ensuring resources to implement sustainable development goals (SDGs) related to children, especially in terms of education, health care, nutrition, and vaccination.
He called for UNICEFs policy advice and support packages for Viet Nam to ensure the best care, protection, and education for children in areas affected by Typhoon Yagi.
He also suggested the two sides carry out meaningful and practical activities to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Viet Nam-UNICEF cooperation, and the 35th anniversary of Vietnams ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 2025.
Russel praised Viet Nam's efforts in realising SDGs, especially in the areas of child protection, care, and education, especially climate education. She also commended Viet Nam's preparedness for disaster prevention and relief, highlighting the countrys exemplary experiences and good practices that can be shared with other countries.
She said that UNICEF will continue to actively implement the Viet Nam-UNICEF National Programme for the 2022-26 period to best meet Viet Nam's priorities, supporting efforts to address post-typhoon consequences, particularly to ensure that schools reopen as soon as possible.
UNICEF is willing to collaborate with Viet Nam on the countrys initiative for the International Day of Play on June 11 each year, she said, and hopes that Viet Nam will be a partner of UNICEF in promoting girls' access to science and technology. VNS
HAVANA The upcoming state visit to Cuba by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee and State President To Lam demonstrates the special relations and traditional friendship between the two nations, according to Dr. Ruvislei Gonzalez Saez, senior researcher at the Cuban Centre for International Policy Research.
In a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency, the Cuban researcher stressed that the top Vietnamese leaders trip will help deepen the fraternal relations and exemplify the wonderful bilateral ties not only between the two countries but also between the two Governments, armies and peoples, which, he said, are significant to both sides amidst complicated domestic and international situations.
Ruvislei held that the bilateral economic, trade, and financial relations should be developed on par with the political ties, expressing his belief that Viet Nam could enhance its strategic presence in Cuba since mutual understanding between the two sides have brought many opportunities for and better the prestige of Vietnamese firms in the Caribbean country.
As for Cuba, he said the country needs to continue improving its business climate to lure Vietnamese investors, contributing to its economic development process.
According to Ruvislei, the two sides should enhance discussions to have a better insight into the changes in each others economy. Viet Nam's recovery capacity and resilience in the face of complex international scenarios as well as its experience in the path to socialism are valuable lessons for Cuba at this time.
They should continue evaluating and stepping up collaboration in biotechnology while Cuba needs to capitalise on the Vietnamese market to enter the market of pharmaceutical products and healthcare services in other ASEAN countries.
With a view to bolstering the traditional friendship between the two peoples, Ruvislei, also Vice Chairman of the Cuba Viet Nam Friendship Association, said that it is necessary to continue efforts to preserve the legacy built by the preceding generations, adding the association is working to popularise knowledge about Vietnam among the Cuban people.
A research facility focusing on President Ho Chi Minhs ideology and Viet Nam's development and its relationship with Cuba will be launched this year with the support of the University of Havana, he said, highlighting it will explore measures to preserve and boost the special and unique relations between the two nations built on the friendship that was established by President Ho Chi Minh and Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro.
The Cuban scholar also stressed the need to enhance visits between localities, saying they offer opportunities for the two sides to study and share experience with each other, helping better mutual understanding. VNS
NEW YORK Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son on Tuesday (local time) hosted a working breakfast with his counterparts from Laos and Cambodia.
The meeting with Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sok Chenda Sophea, took place on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
It marked the first high-level engagement between the three Deputy Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers following their Prime Ministers' summit at the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit in December 2023, which celebrated 50 years of ASEAN-Japan relations. The talks were aimed at implementing the outcomes of that summit, alongside existing trilateral cooperation mechanisms.
Deputy PM Son expressed his gratitude for the support extended by Laos and Cambodia in the wake of late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trongs passing, as well as their assistance in helping Viet Nam recover from the impacts of Typhoon Yagi. He reaffirmed Viet Nams commitment to strengthening the special ties between the three countries, emphasising the desire to deepen cooperation at both the governmental and societal levels.
The three leaders agreed on the critical importance of maintaining strong bonds of friendship and collaboration to promote each countrys development. They underscored that these ties are a natural extension of the longstanding tradition of cooperation that has characterised their relations.
Amid growing regional and international complexities, the Deputy Prime Ministers highlighted the strategic significance of solidarity and mutual trust. They stressed the need for public outreach to increase awareness, particularly among younger generations, of the historical and ongoing importance of trilateral cooperation.
To further enhance relations, the three sides committed to sustaining and improving existing trilateral mechanisms. They also pledged to strengthen practical cooperation between their foreign ministries, boost information sharing, align positions on regional and global issues of shared interest, and advance infrastructure connectivity and economic linkages. Youth exchanges and leadership training were also highlighted as key to fostering lasting ties between the nations.
During the discussions, Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister reaffirmed that his countrys withdrawal from the CLV Development Triangle Area would not impact other bilateral and multilateral cooperation frameworks involving the three nations.
The Deputy Prime Ministers and foreign ministers expressed a shared desire to continue close coordination to ensure more effective and substantive cooperation. They agreed that this would benefit their peoples, strengthen the ASEAN Community, and contribute to regional peace, stability, and development.
Concluding the talks, the three leaders agreed to hold annual meetings to review collaboration across key areas, aiming to promote comprehensive and mutually beneficial partnerships that support regional peace and stability. VNS
NEW YORK US President Joe Biden praised the relationship with Viet Nam in his final speech to world leaders at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly held in New York on September 24 (US time).
In outlining his administration's achievements along with recalling his own political life, which began in 1972 when he was first elected to office in the US as a senator, the time when the Viet Nam War was still ongoing.
"I was 29 years old. Back then, we were living through an inflection point, a moment of tension and uncertainty. The world was divided by the Cold War. The Middle East was headed toward war. America was at war in Viet Nam, and at that point, the longest war in Americas history.
"Our country was divided and angry, and there were questions about our staying power and our future. But even then, I entered public life not out of despair but out of optimism."
The US leader said his country, and the world, "got through that moment," not without significant setbacks, and eventually ending the war in Viet Nam, and bringing an end to the Cold War.
He recalled last year's trip to Ha Noi, where he met with the Vietnamese leadership, and together with the late General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong, the two sides have upgraded the relationship to "the highest level", Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
"Its a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the capacity for reconciliation that today the United States and Viet Nam are partners and friends, and its proof that even from the horrors of war there is a way forward. Things can get better," President Biden remarked, adding that this should not be forgotten.
The two countries will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relations in 2025, while September this year also marks the full one-year anniversary since the elevation of partnership.
The top Vietnamese leader, Party chief & President To Lam, in the ongoing trip to the US to attend the UN General Assembly meeting, has described Viet Nam-US relations as "a rare process and a model for international relations in post-war healing and relations building."
Although the two countries had their first exchanges more than two centuries ago, they had to go through many challenges and ups and downs, from former enemies in the war, to become friends and develop their relationship to a comprehensive partnership in 2013, he said.
After 10 years of implementing the comprehensive partnership with important steps achieved in strengthening trust and enhancing mutual understanding, the framework has created a solid foundation for the two countries to upgrade their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development in 2023 as President Ho Chi Minh wished.
Lam underlined that this result is the crystallisation of countless efforts to heal and build lasting trust over three decades by many generations of leaders, administrations, parliaments and people of the two countries. VNS
The concern that church leaders have shown for Christians suffering for their faith since the first Lausanne Congress in 1974 has grown so much that most of a day and night was devoted to persecution at the fourth Congress in South Korea on Wednesday (Sept. 25).
The connection between evangelization and persecution was clear. Consistent with the emphasis that other Christian leaders have expressed at the congress in Incheon, South Korea, speakers addressing persecution highlighted the importance of discipleship for and by those suffering for their faith.
A Christian leader based in Nigeria told the congress on world evangelization, where 5,200 Christians from around the globe gathered, that one challenge of persecution is the temptation to fall into syncretic faith marked by corruption and false idols. The Rev. Dr. Gideon Para-Mallam, executive director of the Para-Malam Peace Foundation in Jos, cited an earlier warning sounded by the Rev. Dr. Patrick Fung, global ambassador of OMF International.
Like Dr. Patrick Fung shared this morning, persecution will never kill the church, but a compromised gospel will, Para-Mallam told the congress. So thats a real challenge for Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa lack of a united, continental biblical response to persecution, and its important that the global church is aware of these challenges and they can pray for us.
Sub-Saharan Africa and the Sahel are seeing mass killings that are largely hidden Human beings are literally slaughtered as the financial infrastructure of Islamic extremist forces appear to be greatly enhanced, Para-Mallam said.
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The consequences are devastating, and it has resulted in increased persecution and terrorist attacks against Christians, he said. There are different nuances to persecution as experienced by Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa, but the end goal is the same: Islamism in Africa.
Non-state actors such as Boko Haram, Al Shabaab and the Islamic State have become sub-states, with the complicity of some state officials complicating the fight against terrorism in some countries, he said. Christians are uprooted from their ancestral homelands, with millions living as internally displaced or as refugees.
In some countries there is gender-based violence, which has become a weapon of persecution by terrorist groups in countries like Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Eritrea and Mozambique, Para-Mallam said.
Persecution becomes a means of discipleship as Christians endure suffering, including girls kidnapped in Nigeria who have become women in captivity, such as Leah Sharibu, abducted by Boko Haram in 2018, he said.
God is at work among Christian girls in captivity you wont believe this, but in Boko Haram captivity, some of these girls are involved in praying, Para-Mallam said. In Bible studies, even fasting, one of the girls told a Boko Haram commander, I do not belong in this place. Im praying, Im trusting God. And exactly three years later, God brought her out. Shes free today despite increasing prosecution.
Christians in Africa are reliving the Book of Acts as they learn to lay down their lives for Christ as a testimony of their resilience, he said.
God is also winning back to himself converts from among the persecutors, Para-Mallam said. May God continue to do His work, and may God be glorified in spite of persecution.
A Christian leader from Lebanon also spoke of the importance of discipleship, highlighting the need to proactively prepare to face persecution.
This would happen by having discipleship programs and curriculum that would address issues like theology of minorities, said the leader, whose name is withheld for security reasons. How can you as a minority be effective in your society? How can you be a citizen responsible for your own society?
Half-Lebanese and half-Syrian, he said the Islamic State invasion of Syria and Iraq in 2014 showed how little prepared Christians in the region were for persecution.
Syrian Christians were really not prepared to face persecution, he said. I think theological institutions now, churches are preparing and more ready than before, how to educate, how to inform and how to equip sisters and brothers, how to face persecution, especially those who are coming from Muslim background and will face pressures from governments as well as communities.
Those suffering for their faith have much to teach Christians who need to hear the voices of the persecuted through books and other media as part of their discipleship, he said.
Its good to have a strong biblical foundation that the church has always been persecuted, and that the church has always been a minority, he said. Its really crucial that we hear the voice of the martyrs before they become martyrs. We also really need to hear the voice of the majority world and, hand-in-hand with a global church, support and advocate for the suffering Christians.
Christian leaders in Iran also spoke of suffering as a means of growth, both personally and for the church. One speaker, whose name is withheld, said that despite persecution, the number of Christians in Iran has grown from 500 at most before the 1979 Islamic Revolution to at least 1 million converts from Islam.
Thats why we are training more people, more leaders, printing more Bibles and resources for discipleship, because we are waiting for much more than this, he said.
History has shown that persecution is not the end of the story, firstly because its part of any Christian story; when he accepted Christ, he knew that persecution would come, he said.
The second reason that persecution is not the end of the story because we know the end of the story, he said, citing the biblical promises that the gates of hell shall not overcome church and the final victory of Gods people in Revelations.
The last reason persecution is not the end of the story is because we are all part of the story the whole Body of Christ, he said. Im talking from the bleeding part of the body. [But] we are all part of the story.
The speakers emphasis on discipleship for and through persecution aligned with a paper produced by an Issue Group on the topic at the 2004 Forum for World Evangelization hosted by the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization in Pattaya, Thailand, in 2004.
The paper noted that despite the fall of the Iron Curtain, oppression and persecution of Christians was on the increase due to globalization, nationalism, religious fundamentalism, economic disparity, post-modernism and secularism.
But since 1989, the main context for Christian persecution has become the Islamic world, the paper noted. The clash of civilizations between Islam and the West has intensified since Sept. 11, 2001 and is contributing to anti-Christian violence in Muslim contexts.
Other causes identified were Hinduism, communism and post-communist contexts, and secularism.
The Churchs existing theology of suffering needs to be supplemented by developing a theology of persecution, and possibly even a theology of religious freedom, the paper stated, noting a need for capacity building within and for the persecuted Church by means of training, both spiritual training for ministry and enduring persecution and practical/vocational training to strengthen the Church economically.
WASHINGTON DC The Ministry of Construction always encourages and supports US companies to collaborate and invest in construction projects with Vietnamese enterprises to enhance the quality of human resources and real estate products, Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi has said.
Meeting with Solomon Greene, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in Washington DC recently, Nghi shared Viet Nam's policies on social housing development and apartment renovation, as well as its experiences in responding to climate change as well as disaster and disease prevention.
The two sides exchanged experiences and policy solutions related to housing and urban development in their respective country.
Greene briefed the Vietnamese guests on challenges facing the US administration in ensuring access to housing and homeownership for its citizens, affirming that the policy of housing in general, and that for low-incomers in particular, plays a crucial role in the development of the US society.
To mitigate the impacts of climate change, the locations for developing residential areas are carefully selected, he said, adding that HUD maintains the assessment and mapping of flood-prone areas and disaster risks, and updates them periodically to provide warnings to local communities.
Additionally, the department has launched an US$800 million programme to renovate existing infrastructure, enhance energy efficiency, and reduce energy loss, helping to lower energy costs for users, said the official. VNS
VIENTIANE Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien led a Vietnamese delegation to attend the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials' Meeting (ADSOM) in Vientiane, Laos, on September 25.
In his opening remarks, Lieutenant General Somphone Mittaphone, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Lao People's Army, appreciated the support from other ASEAN member countries for Laos as Chair of the bloc this year.
He said the theme of the ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2024 "ASEAN: Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience", as well as the theme of the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) and the ADMM+ this year "ASEAN: Together for Peace, Security and Resilience" emphasise Laos' commitment to promoting peace and security in the region.
At the ADSOM, heads of the delegations extended sympathies for Viet Nam, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand and Myanmar on the losses caused by Typhoon Yagi, hoping that the countries will soon overcome the consequences of this devastating storm.
The meeting listened to reports on the outcomes of the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials' Working Group (ADSOM WG), the 17th Annual Meeting of the Network of ASEAN Defence and Security Institutes (NADI-17) and the 21st ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces Meeting (ACDFM-21), along with defence cooperation among the member states.
Regarding the ASEAN Military Intelligence Community (AMIC) initiative, proposed by Viet Nam and approved at the ACDFM, Chien said that Viet Nam will organise the first AMIC leaders' meeting in Ha Noi this November to implement the initiative, and it hopes to that ASEAN countries will participate in this conference.
During the meeting, heads of the ASEAN delegations also approved and agreed to submit new initiatives to the ADMM. They also reached consensus on the draft ADMM joint statement and discussed the preparations for the ADSOM+, ADMM and ADMM+, as well as the observership programme for the 2024-2027 cycle.
On the sidelines of the ADSOM, Deputy Minister Chien had bilateral meetings with Lao Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Vongkham Phommakon, Lieutenant General Somphone Mittaphone, and heads of the delegations from Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia to discuss Viet Nam's defence ties with the countries. VNS
HA NOI A study found that migrants in the Red River and the Mekong River Deltas struggle with poor living conditions, low income and a lack of family support.
That was said at Tuesday's seminar 'Internal Migration in the Red River and Mekong River Deltas: Current Issues and Policy Implications' co-organised by the Institute for Sustainable Development under the National Economics University and the United Nations Development Programme in Viet Nam (UNDP).
The study was conducted in nine provinces and cities, including four in the Red River Delta (Ha Noi, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong and Nam inh), four in the Mekong River Delta (Can Tho, Long An, An Giang and Soc Trang), and Binh Duong in the southeast.
The study found that while migration management is closely followed in the Mekong River Delta, it is overburdened in the Red River Delta. Additionally, the coordination between residency management and labour management agencies is insufficient.
It revealed that although most migrants comply with temporary residence declaration and lodging notifications, they often fail to distinguish between the two procedures.
It also found that most migrants in the sample can not access basic social welfare benefits. On top of that, unskilled migrants are often employed in low-skilled jobs or as freelancers in seasonal employment, leaving them without health insurance, social insurance or any form of social security.
It also found that the majority of migrant workers reside in substandard housing, characterised by overcrowding, damp and a lack of basic amenities, especially fire safety measures. The disruption of their family lives and mental well-being has caused a range of social problems that require immediate attention.
It also found that migrant families often struggle to enroll their children in public schools due to overcrowding. As a result, many migrant children are forced to attend costly private preschools.
Additionally, it found that female migrants face a disproportionate burden of challenges, including psychological, social and community integration difficulties, compared to their male counterparts.
The study outlined a series of solutions and policy implications to ensure migrants' rights are safeguarded in their new communities. This includes government allocation of land for affordable housing, regardless of residency status, as well as the diversification of housing options to meet their specific needs.
In regions like the Mekong River Delta, promoting 'pendulum migration' by creating agricultural jobs and improving transportation infrastructure can help retain the workforce and reduce housing pressures.
Assistant Resident Representative at UNDP Sabina Stein, stressed that safeguarding migrants' rights is essential not only for justice but also for promoting sustainable development.
She underlined the need to foster the integration of migrants into local communities and build social cohesion to harness the full potential of migration.
She argued that providing equal access to education for migrant children in their new communities will significantly facilitate their integration. Streamlining administrative procedures for migrants in host provinces is also essential to support their settlement.
National Economics University's Vice President Nguyen Thanh Hieu remarked that the study findings will contribute to enhancing the quality of life of migrants in the Red River and Mekong River Deltas by facilitating their access to public services and influencing policy development. VNS
HA NOI The Military Command of Chuong My District in Ha Noi has mobilised over 300 officers and soldiers, along with local militia forces, to assist farmers of My Luong Commune in harvesting rice.
The move came after Typhoon Yagi struck Ha Noi, leaving many areas in the district, including rice fields nearing harvest, submerged in water.
While there were no human casualties, the commune suffered significant damage to its rice crops.
Approximately 133ha, accounting for 65.6 per cent of the total rice growing area, were completely lost.
With a commitment to support those in need during challenging times, over 300 personnel from the 102nd Regiment under the 308th Infantry Division and the 64th Regiment under the 361st Division, worked diligently in adverse weather conditions.
They helped local farmers harvest many hectares of rice, transport it to their homes and provided assistance with drying and processing on Monday and Tuesday. VNS
HA NOI Local and international health experts, policymakers and pharmaceutical firms discussed innovation in the healthcare sector of Viet Nam at a forum in Ha Noi.
The event, entitled 'Empowering Innovation for Viet Nam's Sustainable Healthcare', was organised by the Vietnam Investment Review on September 25.
It was a forum to discuss solutions and motivations for innovation in the medical and pharmaceutical industry, helping to sustainably develop the healthcare industry and increase access to high-quality healthcare for people.
Opening the event, VIR editor-in-chief Le Trong Minh highlighted the important role of healthcare innovation in changing the detection and treatment of diseases and transforming the global healthcare industry.
To ensure innovation and sustainability in the healthcare industry, Viet Nam should promote research and development and technology transfer in disease prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment. This is coupled with the production of medicines, vaccines, biologicals and high-quality medical equipment. The country should also perfect policies on health in line with reality while promptly adjusting relevant legal regulations to address emerging issues, Minh said.
To facilitate the goal, it is vital to update major global trends, learn the best practices from developed countries and gain insights from relevant stakeholders. This is particularly important as Viet Nam is completing its legal framework for the healthcare industry to enter a new phase of development, Minh added.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Health o Xuan Tuyen said that 2024 is a pivotal year with the review and amendment of important laws that have shaped the operations of the medical and pharmaceutical industry, contributing to promoting a sustainable health system and creating a favourable ecosystem to promote innovation.
The Ministry of Health is reviewing and amending the Pharmacy Law to submit to the National Assembly for consideration next October. The laws orientation is to attract investment to develop technology research activities, production or technology transfer to produce pharmaceutical substances and new drugs, original brand-name drugs, rare drugs, first generic drugs, high-tech drugs, vaccines and biological products, drugs made from blood and plasma of foreign pharmaceutical corporations in Viet Nam to proactively and sustainably develop domestic production while promoting export activities to advanced markets, said Tuyen.
Viet Nam is importing 80 per cent of medicinal ingredients but has great potential in raw material areas. According to the revised Pharmacy Law, we propose priorities for drug production in Viet Nam, including priority for investment, land and licensing of drug circulation, especially innovative drugs and cancer drugs, added Tuyen.
AstraZeneca Vietnam general director Atul Tandon praised the efforts of Viet Nam to drive innovation and development in the health industry.
Tandon said that AstraZeneca has built many laboratories to improve its diagnostic capacity, with initiatives that can be replicated from Viet Nam to other countries in Asia. With its patient-centric approach, the company tracks the patient journey and accompanies patients from screening to diagnosis and treatment, thereby contributing to sustainable healthcare development.
We firmly believe that collaboration is key to driving meaningful healthcare innovation. To foster stronger partnerships with local stakeholders. Through these strategies, we aim to create a collaborative ecosystem where diverse stakeholders can work together to address healthcare challenges and improve patient outcomes, said Tandon.
Pharma Group chairman Darrell Oh said that Viet Nam has a lot of potential to attract FDI due to its growing domestic market, political and economic stability and 16 active free trade agreements.
Although there have been some developments and growth in the pharma sector in recent years, Viet Nam has yet to fully capitalise on its strengths and competitive advantage. Given the intense competition from neighbouring countries that are offering incentives to attract investors and continuously streamline their regulations, Viet Nam must accelerate its efforts in this race to attract FDI and innovation to the country."
To attract investment, Oh suggested Viet Nam create an environment that is more conducive to business and investment. This is done via policies that are predictable and sustainable for companies to bring in innovation early and reliably invest for the long term.
Whats also important is a strong commitment to the streamlined regulatory process, adhering to regulatory timelines and intellectual property protection. Viet Nam should provide incentives that prioritise innovation, such as R&D hubs and investment into early phases of product development such as clinical trials and advanced manufacturing capabilities, added the Pharma Group Chairman. VNS
Vietnams pharmaceutical market grew from $2.7 billion in 2015 to $7.6 billion in 2023, making it one of the fastest-growing and most strategic markets for several multinational pharmaceutical corporations in the ASEAN region.
Darrell Oh, chairman, Pharma Group
Despite its potential, Vietnam has yet to fully capitalise on its strengths and competitive advantages to attract large-scale projects from across ASEAN. Southeast Asia remains an attractive destination for pharma investment, with robust double-digit growth expected to continue. Singapore is widely regarded as the regions leading innovation hub due to its early and sustained strategy, while Malaysia has emerged as a promising destination for clinical trials, and Indonesia is gaining recognition as a key local manufacturing hub.
To engage new investors and retain existing ones, clear and progressive regulations are essential. These allow companies to operate efficiently while maintaining high standards for drug quality, safety, and efficacy. For instance, some ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines are adopting regulatory reliance mechanisms to streamline marketing authorisation, encouraging manufacturers to introduce advanced therapies sooner.
In light of the competitive race among neighbouring countries to increase their attractiveness to investors, Vietnam faces challenges in achieving its goals outlined in government resolutions. To overcome these obstacles and become a more appealing investment destination, it is essential for Vietnam to address current administrative bottlenecks while offering additional incentives.
Vietnam has set a clear goal to develop a high-value pharmaceutical industry and become a pharmaceutical hub in Asia. This ambition is outlined in key national policies and resolutions, as well as the national strategy for Vietnams pharma development towards 2030, with a vision to 2045.
In an increasingly competitive global environment, where many countries some with established experience and economies of scale are striving to become integral parts of the global supply chain, Vietnam must define the specific stages of the product life cycle it seeks to target for investment, particularly in high-value areas. Clinical trials, especially Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials, which account for nearly half of research and development funding, represent a strategic focus for Vietnam.
To seize this opportunity, Vietnam needs more favourable regulations to allow foreign-invested enterprises to conduct clinical trials, from importing placebos and equipment such as lab kits to procuring drugs authorised for marketing in Vietnam.
In addition, technology transfer in innovative medicines and other areas could be potential areas of focus for Vietnam to consider. These efforts would not only enhance local capabilities but also help build Vietnams national brand, rooted in quality and innovation.
It is acknowledged that consistent public policies and incentives are key to attracting investors in the health and pharma sectors. While strategic planning is crucial, it is the successful implementation of these policies that ultimately drives success. Vietnam could adopt this approach as it shapes its sector development strategy to draw in more foreign investment.
This is a pivotal moment for Vietnam, with key legislative changes shaping the pharmaceutical industry, including the revision of the Pharma Law and its forthcoming guiding regulations. We support and eagerly anticipate its timely ratification in 2024, as well as its seamless implementation. These changes will help address current shortcomings and unlock opportunities to engage investors by linking incentives with market access and providing assurances on the predictability of the market.
I look forward to further discussions on fostering an enabling environment for the pharmaceutical industry, which I will participate in alongside policymakers and business leaders at a conference on innovation for health sustainability on September 25 in Hanoi.
Pharma Group, a sector committee of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, has represented the voice of the innovative pharmaceutical industry in Vietnam for over 25 years. It currently comprises 21 leading innovative pharmaceutical companies from Europe, the US, and Japan, which allocate at least 10 per cent of their annual global sales to research and development.
Top pharma groups bet on high growth A decade of innovation is in sight for Vietnams largest pharmaceutical companies, as long as quick adaption and changes in business strategy are carried out.
Pharma groups step up competition More international pharma and medical device businesses are rushing to venture further in Vietnam, anticipating wide growth potential.
Legal landscape adjusted for global pharma groups Multinational corporations operating in Vietnam are expected to benefit from new legal changes in the months to come, after years of delay.
While FIEs bring advanced technologies and global expertise to Vietnam, their operations are also shaped by a complex regulatory landscape, creating both opportunities and challenges.
Trinh Luong Ngoc, lawyer, Vilaf
FIEs play a diverse role in Vietnams healthcare sector by introducing advanced technologies, promoting research and development (R&D), and addressing gaps in the local healthcare infrastructure. Their contributions are not limited to products and services but also extend to knowledge transfer, capacity building, and establishing links with local businesses and organisations.
One of the primary roles of FIEs is introducing advanced healthcare technologies that can significantly enhance the delivery of healthcare services in Vietnam. From diagnostic imaging equipment and telemedicine platforms to AI in diagnostics, FIEs bring innovation to fields where local capabilities are still developing. The Law on Medical Examination and Treatment provides the legal framework for introducing these technologies, provided they comply with Vietnamese standards.
For instance, companies like Siemens and GE Healthcare have introduced advanced MRI machines and CT scanners, which improve patient outcomes at major hospitals and promote the development of specialised medical services in Vietnam. By making advanced healthcare services more accessible, FIEs help bridge the gap between public health needs and the existing medical technology within the country.
The 2016 Law on Pharmaceuticals established the legal framework for FIEs operating in the pharmaceutical sector, which has experienced significant growth. FIEs have contributed to the development and introduction of new drugs and therapies, particularly in areas such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and infectious diseases.
R&D efforts, supported by international standards such as Good Manufacturing Practices and Good Clinical Practices, have led to the creation of high-quality medicines that meet both domestic healthcare demands. Furthermore, FIEs involved in pharma research and development often collaborate with Vietnamese research institutions and universities, promoting knowledge transfer and building local expertise. These collaborations can help accelerate the development of new therapies and vaccines for community healthcare.
Vietnam offers a wealth of opportunities for FIEs in the healthcare sector. Its growing population, rising healthcare demand, and supportive legal framework create a fertile ground for investment in health innovation. Several key opportunities stand out for FIEs looking to enter or expand their operations in Vietnam.
The Vietnamese government has implemented various policies to attract FIEs in high-tech and innovation sectors, including healthcare. The 2020 Investment Law encourages investment in R&D, biotechnology, and advanced medical devices by streamlining administrative procedures, offering incentives such as tax reductions and reduced financial obligations related to land use rights. FIEs involved in developing innovative healthcare solutions can benefit from these incentives, helping to reduce operational costs and increase investment efficiency.
Moreover, free trade deals offer additional opportunities for FIEs by providing better market access. These agreements also strengthen intellectual property (IP) protection, which is crucial for FIEs developing innovative pharmaceutical products and medical technologies.
The recent pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital healthcare and telemedicine in Vietnam. FIEs specialising in digital healthcare platforms, health data analytics, and telemedicine services see Vietnam as a promising market. The government is focused on improving access to healthcare services, especially in rural areas, creating significant opportunities for FIEs to implement digital solutions that enhance the quality of remote healthcare services.
Although regulations governing telemedicine are still evolving, they are gradually being aligned with international standards. This promises to provide a clearer legal framework for the provision of telemedicine services.
The demand for clinical trials in Vietnam is rapidly growing, offering increasing opportunities for FIEs in pharmaceutical innovation. The 2016 Law on Pharmaceuticals and related regulations on clinical trials provide a favourable environment for FIEs to conduct research and develop new drugs.
Vietnams large and diverse population, combined with relatively low clinical trial costs, makes the country an attractive destination for pharmaceutical companies seeking to expand their R&D activities. For instance, Novartis has collaborated to conduct nearly 50 clinical trials in Vietnam since 2011 for various therapies, contributing to the growth of this sector.
Despite the numerous opportunities, FIEs also face significant challenges when operating in Vietnams healthcare sector. These challenges stem from regulatory complexities, market access issues, and intellectual property enforcement, among other factors.
The legal landscape in Vietnam can be challenging for FIEs due to its complexity and frequent changes. FIEs must comply with strict licensing requirements for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and healthcare services. The approval process for new drugs, devices, or digital healthcare solutions can be time-consuming and requires adherence to both domestic and international standards. Any delays in obtaining approvals or licences can significantly impact an FIEs market entry strategy and overall business operations.
Although Vietnam has made significant progress in strengthening IP protection, FIEs still face challenges, particularly in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. The 2005 Intellectual Property Law, as amended most recently in 2022, aligns with international standards, but the enforcement of IP rights is still not always consistent.
Counterfeiting and patent infringements remain concerns for FIEs, especially those investing in innovative pharmaceutical products and medical technologies. Some foreign pharmaceutical companies have faced patent infringement issues as counterfeit versions of their drugs have flooded the market.
To mitigate this risk, FIEs must actively monitor the market for IP infringements and collaborate with the local authorities in Vietnam to protect their rights. Additionally, Vietnams compliance with international agreements provides a stronger legal foundation for FIEs to safeguard their innovations. However, vigilance remains necessary to ensure full compliance and protection of their IP rights.
Although FIEs have many opportunities in Vietnams healthcare sector, they often face fierce competition from local companies, particularly in the distribution of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. The law prohibits FIEs from engaging in certain activities, such as the distribution and retail sale of pharmaceuticals, limiting their ability to compete directly in these markets. As a result, FIEs must rely on partnerships with local companies to distribute their products.
Moreover, local companies benefit from their understanding of the regulatory environment and consumer preferences, giving them a competitive advantage over FIEs. To succeed, FIEs need to invest in building strong relationships with local partners, government agencies, and healthcare institutions.
By gaining a profound understanding of Vietnams regulatory landscape and building strategic partnerships, FIEs can continue to play a pivotal role in transforming the countrys healthcare sector, contributing to both public health improvements and economic growth. As Vietnam continues to modernise its healthcare system, the role of FIEs in driving healthcare innovation will become increasingly vital.
Empowering innovation for Vietnam's sustainable healthcare VIR plans to host a healthcare conference on September 25, expecting to attract about 200 participants, including policymakers, international organisations, senior experts, and those from the business community.
Takedas decade of healthcare commitments in Vietnam For over 10 years, Takeda has been a dedicated healthcare partner in Vietnam, delivering transformative treatments and contributing significant value to public health. The recent approval of its dengue vaccine further strengthens this commitment. Dion Warren, Takedas area head for India and Southeast Asia, talked to VIRs Bich Thuy about the companys journey and its plans to bring more innovative medicines to Vietnam.
GSK: from treatment to prevention for healthy ageing Dr. Pham Thi My Lien, president of GSK Vietnam, spoke with VIRs Bich Thuy about the importance of adult vaccinations, one of the most effective interventions contributing to improved quality of life, reducing the burden on healthcare, the economy, and society.
Both parties aim to develop cybersecurity, AI, and cloud solutions to position Indonesia as a leading nation in digital transformation and AI in Southeast Asia.
Indonesia is currently one of the fastest-growing digital economies in Southeast Asia and is expected to become the largest in the region by 2030. According to the e-Conomy SEA 2023 report, Indonesias digital economy is projected to reach $360 billion by 2030, up from $110 billion in 2025, creating fertile ground for the growth of AI and cybersecurity.
Metrodata is a leading IT company in Indonesia, offering a wide range of digital solutions, including IT distribution, managed services, and system integration. The company is present in over 330 cities across Indonesia and has more than 6,000 partner channels, collaborating with over 100 world-class IT product and service brands. With a focus on innovation and technology, Metrodata has established itself as a key player in Indonesias rapidly growing IT landscape.
The joint venture, named PT FPT Metrodata Indonesia (FMI), aims to seize new opportunities and invest in research and development (R&D) as well as the most advanced technology services. In its initial phase, PT FPT Metrodata Indonesia (FMI) will focus on cybersecurity solutions, a key technological domain for Indonesias digital economy. Following this, FMI will expand into cloud computing and AI services, develop software-as-a-service solutions, and create customised software tailored to the Indonesian markets demands. The joint venture aims to reach a revenue target of $100 million within the next five years.
Initially, FMI will focus on developing key cybersecurity services, such as security operations centres, security management services, professional security services, security consulting and advisory, and security incident monitoring and detection services.
FMI will build a next-generation SOC Command Centre, allowing the company to enhance its monitoring services for various customer segments through SIEM (Security Information and Event Management). This comprehensive solution helps organisations address cybersecurity threats before they occur and impact business operations, suitable for mid-sized enterprises. This ensures compliance with Indonesia's personal data protection law and addresses the growing demand for cybersecurity monitoring services. FMI plans to develop and launch a new product designed specifically for Indonesias mid-market within 12 months. By leveraging the strong security capabilities of FPT IS, especially the FPT.EagleEye technology solution, FMI aims to optimise costs in managed service operations.
With Metrodatas deep understanding of the Indonesian market and FPT ISs capabilities in deploying global technology solutions, FMI is expected to have significant potential to develop a world-class technology ecosystem that meets stringent market requirements and positions itself as a leader in Indonesia and the region.
Susanto Djaja, president director of PT Metrodata Electronics Tbk, shared, Metrodata Electronics is one of Indonesias leading IT corporations, offering a range of digital solutions from IT distribution to managed services and system integration. With nearly 50 years of operations, Metrodata has been at the forefront of driving digital transformation in Indonesia. We believe that this collaboration with FPT will be another successful step, opening new opportunities and reinforcing Metrodatas leadership in advancing AI transformation in Indonesia.
On behalf of FPT IS, Tran Dang Hoa, chairman of FPT IS, the member company directly responsible for this partnership, stated, FPTs development strategy is centred around AI, semiconductor, automotive, digitalisation, and green transformation. Accordingly, FPT will invest all its resources in the ambitious bid to become a leader in AI. The collaboration with Metrodata and the establishment of FMI marks an important step in realising this goal, positioning us as a leader in providing AI and cybersecurity solutions, and fulfilling the aspiration to create breakthrough value for businesses and citizens in both nations and globally.
With over 30 years of development, FPT IS, a subsidiary of FPT Corporation, is a leading technology partner with an ecosystem of over 3,000 customers and 20 global technology partners. The company is renowned for its expertise in implementing national backbone technology systems and digital transformation systems in key sectors such as finance, banking, and enterprises. In 2024, FPT IS aims to become a global product company with the mission of pioneering "The Next" in technology. The company is driving the development of a made by FPT IS solutions ecosystem based on core technologies like AI, data, and cloud. Through this, FPT IS aims to support global enterprises in achieving effective digital and green transformations.
Previously, FPT IS and Metrodata announced a strategic partnership focused on digital transformation powered by cloud, data, and AI. This event took place during the state visit of Indonesian President Joko Widodo to Vietnam from January 11-13, 2024. During a high-level meeting, President Widodo urged major Vietnamese enterprises like FPT to further invest in Indonesia, particularly in the technology sector.
The collaboration between FPT IS and Metrodata reinforces the critical role of IT enterprises in supporting governments to drive digital transformation effectively, while also contributing significantly to the strong and long-term cooperation between the two nations in the future.
FPT IS cooperates with Oxford University Press to pioneer gamification in English language learning FPT IS, a subsidiary of tech giant FPT Corporation, has joined hands with Oxford University Press (OUP) one of the largest university publishers in the world.
Dat Bike, FPT IS launch public cloud for EV manufacturing industry Dat Bike Vietnam, a prominent electric motorcycle company, and FPT IS launched an enterprise management project using the SAP S/4HANA public cloud solution on July 2.
Health outcomes improved dramatically over the past two decades, notably reducing maternal and infant mortality by 36 per cent and 30.5 per cent respectively. Medical infrastructure expanded, with 1,100 public hospitals and 11,000 health stations, of which are 300 private hospitals and 35,000 clinics.
Matthieu Francois, partner, Delta West (left) and Valerie Van Tran, partner, Delta West
However, Vietnam faces a demographic shift that requires a reassessment of how the healthcare system is organised. By 2050, over one-fifth of the population will be aged 65 or older. In addition, urbanisation and lifestyle changes contribute to a shift in the disease landscape, with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer becoming more prevalent. In 2023, Vietnam recorded 180,000 new cancer cases and 120,000 cancer-related deaths. This rising burden of chronic diseases is placing pressure on the system.
Despite notable achievements, Vietnams healthcare system faces three key challenges. First, primary care is underutilised while hospitals are overcrowded. Commune health stations are designed to serve as the first point of contact for patients; yet they often lack the necessary resources, equipment, and trained medical staff to serve patients effectively. As a result, many patients bypass these stations and seek care at central or provincial general hospitals, which are overcrowded and can operate at over 100 per cent capacity.
The lack of preventive care is also a concern, with only 20-24 per cent of provincial health budgets allocated to preventive measures, far below the mandated 30 per cent. This exacerbates the problem of undiagnosed chronic diseases, such as a significant proportion of cancer cases only discovered at late stages.
Second, there exists a shortage of medical professionals. Vietnam continues to grapple with a shortage of healthcare professionals, particularly nurses. In 2020, the country had only around 11 nurses per 10,000 population, trailing behind neighbouring countries such as Thailand (31) and Singapore (74).
The addition of a larger workforce needs to go hand in hand with the upskilling of nurses and doctors, given only 5 out of 32 medical programmes have received quality accreditation and over 75 per cent of nurses do not meet the standard qualifications set by the World Health Organization and ASEAN.
Finally, there are enduring funding gaps that contribute to significant out-of-pocket spending for patients. Despite high social health insurance coverage, out-of-pocket spending remains over 40 per cent of total expenditures, placing a significant financial burden on patients. The social health insurance fund has encountered budget deficits in recent years due to rising healthcare demand and stagnant contribution rates. Furthermore, private insurance coverage remains limited, with less than 1 per cent of the population holding a policy.
With these challenges in mind, there are four immediate investment opportunities that the private sector can play in transforming Vietnams healthcare system while generating sizable returns.
Firstly, investment in primary care networks, particularly in second-tier cities, can help ease the burden on overcrowded public hospitals. Affordable screening services, early-stage treatments, and preventive care packages are areas ripe for development, offering both social impact and financial returns.
The second aspect is catering to the growing middle-class for services not covered by social health insurance. Vietnams growing middle-class presents opportunities for private healthcare providers to offer services not covered, such as IVF, Lasik, and specialised treatments. A roll-up strategy focusing on acquiring and expanding existing healthcare providers could yield significant returns.
Third involves addressing non-communicable diseases by bringing in more specialised know-how. Private investments in specialised healthcare services, such as oncology, cardiovascular, or orthopaedics, could help relieve pressure on public hospitals. Success factors for such investments will require strategic investors with operational excellence and medical expertise to accelerate the scale up of these services.
Finally, developing pharmaceutical manufacturing is critical. Vietnams reliance on expensive imported specialised drugs presents a challenge for the country to manage the healthcare budget. The government has expressed strong support for investment in local drugs manufacturing, particularly for chronic disease medications and high-cost brand-name drugs. This will be a golden opportunity for investors who can the operational know how to upgrade the manufacturing standards such as EU or Japan GMP standards.
As Vietnams healthcare sector faces challenges, it also presents significant opportunities for investment. Strategic investments in these areas could help Vietnam build a more resilient, efficient, and inclusive healthcare system that meets the needs of its rapidly ageing population.
GSK: from treatment to prevention for healthy ageing Dr. Pham Thi My Lien, president of GSK Vietnam, spoke with VIRs Bich Thuy about the importance of adult vaccinations, one of the most effective interventions contributing to improved quality of life, reducing the burden on healthcare, the economy, and society.
VIR conference highlights innovation in Vietnam's healthcare sector A conference organised by Vietnam Investment Review (VIR) themed "Empowering Innovation for Vietnam's Sustainable Healthcare" was held on September 25, offering an opportunity for policymakers and companies to discuss innovation in Vietnam's healthcare sector.
Unlocking the potential of healthcare innovations While health innovation in Vietnam is taking place strongly, many challenges prevent the sector from unlocking its full potential. Do Xuan Tuyen, Deputy Minister of Health, talked to VIRs Minh Tung about global lessons to improve the situation.
Foreign-led groups seize the initiative in healthcare Vietnams healthcare sector is rapidly developing as the country seeks to modernise its system and improve health outcomes for its population. Contributing to this transformation are foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs), which have become key players in driving healthcare innovation across fields such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, and digital healthcare solutions.
Vu Van Chung, deputy general director of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment said, "Vietnam has attracted 40,000 foreign-led projects so far with registered investment capital of $491 billion. There are 159 foreign-invested projects with a registered investment capital totalling $1.8 billion in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector. So compared to the total figure of foreign investment in Vietnam, that figure is still quite modest."
Darrell Oh, chairman of Pharma Group at EuroCham, said, "There is no doubt about Vietnams potential to pull in foreign investment thanks to its growing domestic market, political and economic stability, and a network of 16 active free trade agreements. However, Vietnam has yet to fully capitalise on these strengths in the pharmaceutical sector."
Oh went on to suggest Vietnam create an environment that is more conducive to business and investment via policies that are predictable and sustainable, a strong commitment to streamlined regulatory processes, and adherence to regulatory timelines and intellectual property protection. Oh also recommended Vietnam focus on incentives that prioritise innovation, such as research and development (R&D) hubs, and early phase investment into product development such as clinical trials and advanced manufacturing capabilities.
"Under the revised Pharmaceutical Law, Vietnam can simplify administrative procedures for the registration of new drug circulation licences and the renewal of old ones. This would make it easier for companies to register new pharmaceutical products, accelerate their rollout to market, reduce costs, and enable lower drug pricing. Meanwhile, the law also encourages technology transfer between foreign and domestic firms in the production of new pharmaceutical products," said Trinh Luong Ngoc, a partner at law firm Vilaf.
Ta Manh Hung, deputy director of the Drug Administration of Vietnam under the MoH, said, "The Law on Pharmacy 2016 has propelled the progress for the pharmaceutical industry. Previously, pharma companies were mainly state-owned enterprises. Today, there are 200 factories operated by private companies. The industry provides enough medicine for the basic medical needs of the people, but after eight years since the law's implementation, some aspects need to be revised."
Hung pointed out some key focus areas, including reforming administrative procedures, increasing access to effective medicines for the people, and innovative investment incentives that focus on new drugs and drugs from medicinal herbs. Policies on drug supply on e-commerce platforms should also be considered.
Le Van Truyen, former Deputy Minister of Health, said, "Vietnam has made many achievements in the pharmaceutical industry. Last year, the industry spent $75 per person in Vietnam, an increase of 150 times from $0.5 just 30 years ago. However, the industry still faces challenges in innovation and creativity with its limited technical facilities in the face of the fourth industrial revolution. The digitalisation process in the pharmaceutical industry remains slow."
"R&D facilities in the pharmaceutical industry remain fragmented and the financial capabilities of local companies are not strong. These factors are hindering the development of the pharmaceutical industry. Hopefully, Vietnam will develop an R&D centre on a national scale that is capable of technology transfer and research. Meanwhile, there will be policies in place to promote transfers between local and foreign companies," he added.
VIR conference highlights innovation in Vietnam's healthcare sector A conference organised by Vietnam Investment Review (VIR) themed "Empowering Innovation for Vietnam's Sustainable Healthcare" was held on September 25, offering an opportunity for policymakers and companies to discuss innovation in Vietnam's healthcare sector.
Empowering innovation for Vietnam's sustainable healthcare VIR plans to host a healthcare conference on September 25, expecting to attract about 200 participants, including policymakers, international organisations, senior experts, and those from the business community.
In the Nicene Creed, Christians declare our belief in the four key attributes of the church when we say, [We believe] in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. They are recited in the liturgies of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Moravian Church, the Lutheran Churches, the Methodist Churches, the Presbyterian Churches, the Anglican Communion, and by members of the Reformed Churches.
In fact, weve been reciting those attributes, or marks as they came to be known, since they were adopted at the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381:
The church is one. That is, a single, united body which has its basis in Christ Jesus.
The church is holy, because it is the body of Christ with Jesus as the head.
The church is catholic, an old term that means universal. The churchs role is to spread the Word of God across the world.
The church is apostolic. That is, our origins and beliefs are rooted in the ministry of the apostles.
You knew all that, right?
But aside from reciting it every so often, does it shape your understanding of your churchs life and ministry? Id venture to suggest that in many churches it doesnt shape things much at all. We have become over-familiar with this section of the creed and it no longer sparks us to action.
I think this contributes to the sluggishness many churches feel. Church can feel like riding a bike up a steep hill at times. We need a gear change.
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From adjectives to adverbs
Part of the problem might be that the marks of the church are presented to us as static adjectives. We are invited to repeat a creed that states what the church is. But in his book "Gods Missionary People", missiologist Charles Van Engen suggests we should look at them as more dynamic adverbs. They are descriptors of what the church is becoming.
God grants us unity and then invites us to maintain our oneness with each other.
Similarly, Veli-Matti Karkkainen, a Finnish theologian who teaches systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, says we should look at these four marks of the church not only as a set of goals to which we should aspire, but also as Gods gifts to his church. We are one, holy, catholic and apostolic because he has made us so. And we are called to devote ourselves to continue to be these things. God grants us unity and then invites us to maintain our oneness with each other.
Secondly, God makes us holy through the work of Christ and then invites us to remain such by repentance and obedience.
Gods grace is universal. The whole world is his, and yet he still asks us to take the gospel to the utter ends of the earth.
And fourthly, God has made us apostolic, sending us out to continue the work to which the apostles were committed, anchored in the truth first revealed to them.
These four terms describe what the church is and what is to become.
In this regard, Van Engen suggests they are adverbs, not adjectives. He thinks we need better, more colloquial terms, so he proposed the following:
Unifying (one)
Sanctifying (holy)
Reconciling (catholic)
Proclaiming (apostolic)
We should be a proclaiming, reconciling, sanctifying and unifying community.
And Van Engen goes even further and suggests we reverse the order, starting with apostolic proclamation. This, he suggests, will remind us of our missional posture and lay out the path along which we should be moving. In other words, we should be a proclaiming, reconciling, sanctifying and unifying community.
We are rooted in the revelation given to the apostles, commissioned to continue their tradition of proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of Jesus, the church is called to a global concern for all the lost and broken people in the world. We can only achieve this by Gods grace as humble sinners, committed to repentance and confession and open to the continual filling of the Spirit. And in all things we strive for unity, inclusion, and radical hospitality.
When we live out our core identity as missionaries, the Lord matures us.
In his exploration of Van Engens work in his book, "No Silver Bullets", Daniel Im writes, When we alter the Nicene marks of the church from adjectives to adverbs, we make the micro-shift from maturity to missionary. Instead of maturing our churches to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic, we are sending them out as everyday local and global missionaries to be a unifying, sanctifying, reconciling and proclaiming force in this world that desperately needs to hear the good news of Christ.
This shouldnt be read as Ims disinterest in Christian maturity. Its just that he sees maturity as a by-product of the church fulfilling its calling. He writes, When we live out our core identity as missionaries, the Lord matures us.
A better metric
Instead of measuring how many people attend our services, or how much money we have in our accounts, or what level of staffing we can sustain, what if we committed to measuring how much more proclamatory our people are; or how much more reconciling, or sanctifying, or unifying they are?
Rather than demonstrating my commitment to the people of God by just turning up, what if I was held accountable to these marks of the church? What would happen if I was answerable to others to the degree to which I was growing and deepening in those things?
Then, churches would be missional communities committed to equipping and supporting each other to be more unifying, more sanctifying, more reconciling and more proclaiming. We would require our members to show evidence of that deepening development. It might look like this:
Im sure Ive left something out of that list, but I hope you get the heart of it. When do we ever hold each other accountable for our understanding of the good news or our global concern or our willingness to confront idols?
If you used a set of metrices like these I think you would produce beautiful, welcoming, generous, godly, missional communities.
If your church feels like its straining to pedal uphill, this simple micro-shift could be a gear change for you. In saying that, Im well aware that while shifting the marks of the church from adjectives to adverbs is a simple mind shift, it would involve a paradigm shift to implement it. But with the churchs fortunes continuing to wane in the West, what choice do we have?...
Really?
Originally published on Mike Frost's blog. Republished with permission.
Michael (Mike) Frost is an internationally recognized Australian missiologist and one of the leading voices in the missional church movement. His books are required reading in colleges and seminaries around the world and he is much sought after as an international conference speaker. Since 1999, Dr Frost has been the founding director of the Tinsley Institute, a mission study centre located at Morling College in Sydney, Australia. He has also been an adjunct lecturer at various seminaries in the United States. He is the author or editor of nineteen theological books, the best known of which include, The Shaping of Things to Come (2003), Exiles (2006), and most recently Mission Is The Shape of Water (2023). Frosts work has been translated into German, Korean, Swedish, Portuguese and Spanish.
Soc Trangs urban landscape has seen positive changes in recent years, with an increase in the quantity and quality of urban areas, enhancing the life of residents. Several areas have capitalised on their potential, creating momentum for socioeconomic development and restructuring the economy.
Soc Trang sets 2030 targets to complete urban system
Currently, the province is home to 19 urban areas, including second-tier Soc Trang city, the two fourth-tier towns of Vinh Chau and Nga Nam, and 16 fifth-tier district-level urban areas. When the province was re-established in 1992, Soc Trang only had seven urban areas.
In recent years, Soc Trang has focused on mobilising diverse resources to beef up infrastructure and urban development. The overhaul of urban areas has received constant attention from Soc Trang Party Committee and Peoples Committee, with relevant departments mandated to carry out these efforts.
Soc Trang city is currently implementing an urban upgrading subproject, funded by the World Bank, with total investment of around $44 million. This sits alongside Belt Road 1 and 2 as well as a resettlement area initiative, to name but a few. Other urban areas have also developed plans for renovation and upgrading.
Widespread growth
Urban spaces are increasingly being improved and expanded, resulting in modern and bustling urban landscapes, especially in Soc Trang city and the towns of Vinh Chau and Nga Nam. Additionally, many new urban area and housing projects have been developed across the province.
Soc Trang is currently home to about 40 commercial housing projects, offering a diverse range of residential types and amenities. They meet the needs of residents and bring a facelift to urban areas. The urban transportation infrastructure in different towns and Soc Trang city has been invested in and upgraded to meet residents transport needs, helping to beautify the landscape.
Alleys in urban areas have been renovated and widened, drainage systems have been repaired, and green spaces and lighting along major roads are improved, with traffic intersections and safety systems receiving regular maintenance. The percentage of urban residents with access to clean water through centralised water has also reached over 90 per cent.
The surface water treatment plant scheme at the An Nghiep Industrial Park, with a capacity of 10,000 cubic metres a day, has been operational since 2015, with a total investment of nearly $2.2 million. This project is part of a climate change and water supply initiative for the Mekong Delta, funded by a Dutch government grant and helping to meet the increasing water demands of residents and ensuring water security.
Soc Trang has also invested in a first-phase wastewater collection and treatment system with a capacity of over 13,000 cu.m per day, with an investment of over $8 million. The second phase will have a treatment capacity of 24,000 cu.m per day and cost $17.8 million, funded by a concessional loan from the German government.
Additionally, a decentralised wastewater treatment plant in Tran De district has a capacity of 26 cu.m per day. The percentage of urban wastewater collected and treated to meet standards now approximates 17.8 per cent.
New East Sea sub-region centre
In light of Soc Trangs master plan for 2021-2030, the city aims to develop an urban system consisting of 25 tiered urban areas by 2030. One will feature first-tier status, two with third-tier, nine with fourth-tier, and the remainder with fifth-tier status. By 2050, the system will expand to over 30 urban areas,
Soc Trang city is positioned to become an economic centre of the East Sea sub-region, focusing on industries such as agricultural and aquatic product processing, clean energy, and tourism.
The city aims to grow into the political, economic, cultural, social, and educational centre of the province, ensuring national security and defence. Plans also underway to study the expansion of administrative areas, aiming for Soc Trang city to meet first-tier city criteria directly under the provincial management by 2030.
Meanwhile, Vinh Chau town is set to become one of the central urban areas in Soc Trang, with priority given to the development of trade, industry, services, ecological tourism, agriculture, forestry, fishery, and marine economy such as offshore wind, aquaculture, and marine logistics services.
Nga Nam town is positioned to become the inland region centre southwest of Soc Trang, prioritising the development of trade, services, and tourism linked to the advancement of agriculture through sci-tech, waterway tourism, and traditional floating markets.
By 2030, Tran De district aims to meet the fourth-tier town criteria. Its spatial development will be shifted towards Soc Trang city and along the Hau River. It will become a hub for aquaculture and fishing, providing logistics services for the entire East Sea coastal region.
The plan also outlines research for the development of other urban areas commensurate with the provinces potential and aligned to the urban classification and overhaul plans established for each urban area in the provincial master plan. This aims to effectively leverage the advantages of each urban area with the provinces advantages, which include more than 72km coastline and about 70km along the Hau River.
Currently, a series of key infrastructure schemes aimed at connecting intra-provincial and inter-regional transportation are underway in the province.
Among these, the highlight is a component project engaging approximately 58km crossing Soc Trang as part of the first-phase of the Chau Doc, Can Tho, Soc Trang expressway, and the East-West economic corridor, which encompasses 56.6km.
The latter helps connect Nga Nam town, Thanh Tri district, My Xuyen district, and Vinh Chau town in Soc Trang with diverse localities in the delta region, including Hau Giang, Bac Lieu, and Ca Mau.
Once operational, these projects will create momentum to spur the provinces socioeconomic development, opening up economic development spaces and forming new urban, trade-services, and industrial zones, helping to speed up provincial urbanisation.
According to the Mekong Delta master plan for this decade, Soc Trang city is designated as the economic centre of the East Sea coastal sub-region. It will serve as a hub for aquaculture, fishing, and seafood exports, a centre for agricultural and aquatic product processing and clean energy, and a tourist area.
Soc Trang seeks feasibility report on Tran De Seaport Soc Trang Peoples Committee is proposing developing Tran De Seaport under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and, to promote the venture as an investment opportunity, is seeking the Ministry of Transports approval to use local budgetary funds to draft a feasibility report for its construction.
Soc Trang takes on gateway mantle Soc Trang is making efforts to become a well-developed province in the Mekong Delta, with the modern and sustainable development of manufacturing, commerce, and services this decade.
Soc Trang lays out strategy for seaports special renovation The rejuvenation of Tran De Seaport will play an important role in the socioeconomic development of the entire Mekong Delta region, with a spillover effect on other industries.
Soc Trang to become trade gateway for Vietnam's south Tran De Port has been classified as a Type III seaport, belonging to the Group 5 of seaports, meaning potential for advancement into a special seaport as it forms the gateway port for the Mekong Delta region, according to the decade-long master plan for the development of Vietnam's seaport system approved by the Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
The Viatris technology transfer project is considered as one of the first innovative drug production technology transfer projects in Vietnam. How has progress been so far and what are your plans in this area for Vietnam?
Radhika Bhalla, head in Vietnam and Asia Alliance Markets for Viatris
Our relentless pursuit is to improve access and support a sustainable healthcare system in Vietnam. This is evident by our commitment to providing high-quality medicines through a balance of global, regional, and local manufacturing and our investment in building local expertise and capacity, and partnerships.
Our local manufacturing of drugs using the technology transfer process, one of Vietnams first innovative drug production technology transfer projects, is aligned with the governments Decision No.1165/QD-TTg from October 2023 on developing the local pharma industry, in balancing of our local, regional, and global supply at scale. We hope to get further support from the Ministry of Health (MoH) and other relevant ministries for this project, contributing to making Vietnam a pharmaceutical manufacturing hub for the ASEAN region in the next 10-20 years.
Since 2017, the project has reached many milestones so far. We signed the first contract with an EU-GMP manufacturer for tech-transfer production of our originator products in Vietnam in 2018. After that, we broadened collaboration with this manufacturer to license production of other non-communicable disease (NCD) products in 2022.
Earlier this year, we received marketing authorisation for our first three originator products as localised drugs and several other localised drugs are currently undergoing different stages of the transfer and approval process.
Over the past seven years, we have implemented a comprehensive training programme to enhance the manufacturing capabilities of the Vietnamese workforce. Technical experts from Viatris global operations continuously conducted technical training programmes and transferred the originators production technology processes to more than 200 locals from many different departments of our manufacturing partner, including production, quality control, engineering equipment maintenance, general management, and supply chain teams.
This initiative fosters the development of a highly skilled workforce within Vietnams pharmaceutical industry, and the pioneering work done reflects the contribution we have made towards building local knowledge, skills, and capacity.
What are your expectations about Vietnams ongoing legal reform to further promote tech transfer in the pharma industry?
Local manufacturing of drugs using tech transfer has been identified as a priority of the government to meet the healthcare needs of Vietnamese people. As one of the companies implementing this, we are very pleased to get encouragement and support from the government and the MoH. However, this activity still faces many obstacles regarding procedures and investment, of which legal reforms are needed to create a more attractive investment environment for the industry.
In some countries, policymakers focus on these initiatives to foster self-sufficiency and empower countries to address their healthcare needs through a mix of global, regional, and local production. Vietnam can strike a similar balance while also acknowledging investment by providing favourable tax policies, streamlining the licensing process for drugs undergoing technology transfer and implementing policies to enable their market viability.
Additionally, reducing operational burdens associated with technology transfer models could attract greater investment and expertise from multinational companies into Vietnam, ultimately propelling the development of a robust domestic drug manufacturing industry while maintaining global supply chains.
Strengthening partnerships is important to sustain the development of the local pharmaceutical industry. How has Viatris joined its efforts to strengthen its commitment to the Vietnamese community?
Viatris is a trusted partner of the Vietnamese healthcare community by joining efforts to sustain the development of the local industry. Through the aforementioned partnership with a certified EU-GMP local manufacturer, we are transferring tech to produce essential NCD medications within the country.
To raise disease awareness in the healthcare community, we partner with many medical associations and hospitals to optimise treatment protocols. Since 2022, Viatris has collaborated with the Vietnam National Heart Association (VNHA) and the Interventional Cardiology Association to develop the SCORE_VN app, a digital tool to support doctors in estimating and stratifying cardiovascular risks for Vietnamese people. As of August, more than 221,000 visits by healthcare professionals nationwide have been recorded on the app.
In August, we successfully conducted the Viatris Masterclass 2024 event in collaboration with the VNHA and Vietnam Rheumatologic Association. This event was a cornerstone of our Southeast Asia healthcare professionals education initiative. It provided a platform for knowledge sharing, skill development, and exploring innovative approaches to address cardiovascular health, pain management, and their intersection with mental wellbeing for optimal patient outcomes.
In addition, we have collaborated with the Vietnam Medical Association and the Ho Chi Minh City Retail Pharmacy Association to conduct training programmes for over 1,000 pharmacists across four major chains, as well as other independent pharmacies nationwide. Our goal is to enhance healthcare knowledge among the public by enhancing pharmacists medical advisory skills to patients, particularly for individuals with cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and mens health conditions.
By combining our global expertise with local insights, we are committed to delivering high-quality, accessible, and sustainable healthcare solutions to every corner of the country. We look forward to continuing our journey of growth and collaboration, working closely with the government, healthcare professionals, and communities to promote a healthier future for Vietnam.
As the new leader of Viatris Vietnam, what are the priorities in terms of your business strategies to boost the companys presence in the country, thus contributing more to increasing local patients access to high-quality medicines?
We are dedicated to crafting a comprehensive business strategy that expands our commercial footprint in Vietnam and deepens our commitment to the local healthcare community. To achieve this goal, we will focus on sustainable access at scale.
Viatriss mission is to empower patients worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life and we work to ensure access, regardless of geography or circumstance. Viatris Vietnam embodies this mission by ensuring the availability of and access to our broad portfolio of medicines in various therapeutic categories across the whole country.
Towards this mission, we will expand our collaboration with medical associations and local healthcare professionals by supporting scientific conferences, training programmes, and public health initiatives. Through these efforts, we aim to increase awareness of various health conditions, promote early detection, and improve treatment outcomes for Vietnamese people.
We will contribute to healthcare sustainability by prioritising our portfolio expansion to address a broader range of unmet healthcare needs in Vietnam. By offering more diverse treatment options, we aim to improve patient outcomes, optimise disease management costs, and enhance the overall wellbeing of Vietnamese patients.
Last but not least, Viatris supports the government in its aim to simplify drug registration and procurement procedures within healthcare facilities, thereby improving efficiency and access to essential medicines.
Viatris Vietnam expanding its vision for the good of the healthcare community Viatris Vietnam has become a strong extension of the companys global impact and strengthened its firm commitment to being a trusted partner of the Vietnamese healthcare community. We celebrated our second anniversary in Vietnam in May and currently boast two offices in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, as well as a warehouse in the Mekong Delta province of Long An.
Viatris celebrates a quarter-century of advancing sexual health Viatris Vietnam is celebrating 25 years of advancing sexual health with initiatives to shift perceptions and raise awareness.
During talks on September 24 with Apples vice president of Government Affairs, Nick Ammann, Metas president of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, and Supermicro co-founder and senior vice president, Wally Liaw, Lam encouraged US groups to support Vietnamese enterprises in scaling up production and integrating into global supply chains.
He proposed establishing a research and development (R&D) centre at Vietnams National Innovation Centre (NIC), and called for initiatives such as technology scholarships for Vietnamese students in fields including AI, semiconductors, and programming.
"We welcome the opportunity to work more closely with Apple and its partners to integrate Vietnam into the global supply chain," Lam said, adding that the country is keen to advance its tech ambitions.
Apples Ammann described Vietnam as both a key market and an increasingly important production hub for the company. "Vietnam has become a critical location for the assembly of several major Apple products," he said, crediting the Vietnamese governments support for enabling Apples expansion. Ammann extended an invitation to Vietnams leadership to visit Apples headquarters in California.
Executives from Apple, Meta, and Supermicro underscored their commitment to Vietnam, praising the countrys role in their global strategies. Metas Clegg outlined the companys plans to expand its presence in Vietnam, particularly in the production of VR headsets for the metaverse.
"After our success in social media and messaging, VR is our next frontier, and Vietnam will play a significant role in that," Clegg said.
He also revealed Metas upcoming launch of Meta AI in Vietnam, with plans to introduce AI tools directly accessible through mobile devices.
"Our goal is to bring advanced AI to every user in Vietnam," he said, emphasising Metas long-term commitment to fostering innovation in the country.
Lam welcomed Metas initiatives, urging the company to deepen its collaboration with Vietnamese agencies, particularly the NIC, to accelerate partnerships in AI, the Internet of Things, and other advanced technologies. "Metas strengths in these emerging technologies align well with Vietnams vision for the future," he noted.
Supermicros Liaw highlighted Vietnams potential as a high-tech market, citing the countrys favourable policies for innovation. He noted that Supermicro had recently signed an MoU with Sovico Group to explore further collaboration in Vietnam.
"We see enormous potential for AI growth in Vietnam, and we are committed to playing a part in that journey," Liaw said.
Lam praised US companies for their global success and continued investment in Vietnam, saying, "Vietnam will ensure that American investors, including Apple, Meta, and Supermicro, can operate sustainably and effectively in our market, with full support under our legal framework."
Masan calls for IPO reforms to boost Vietnams capital market Masan Group has urged the government to streamline procedures for initial public offerings (IPOs) and revise listing requirements to align with international standards, arguing that the current system hampers Vietnam's capital market potential and restricts growth for businesses seeking flexible funding.
What are the overarching trends currently in innovation as well as and research and development in healthcare, both here and beyond?
The past decade has seen large, rapid growth in technologies for discovering and producing new medicines, primarily using new biotechnological techniques. In addition, the structure of the industry has changed, led by the US, with the emergence of thousands of small biotechnology startups, often financed by venture capital, whose focus is the development of new biotech drugs.
Bui Thi Viet Lam, country representative of the US-ASEAN Business Council
This segment of the industry has become so important that by 2021, nearly 70 per cent of all new innovative products approved by the US Food and Drug Administration were launched by small companies.
The leaders in the advance of these new technologies have traditionally been the US, which represents about half of the innovative global pharmaceutical industry, and Western Europe. But in more recent years, Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, and China have invested much in developing their innovative and global pharma sectors.
In recent years, technology has continued to advance in new areas, such as gene and cell therapies, and gene editing, which now account for a growing segment of the new drug pipeline globally. New IT technologies and the use of AI and big data are being used to identify and develop new potential medicines. These are the highest potential growth areas, especially for entrants to the market like Vietnam.
With recent developments, what is the level of interest among your member companies in health innovation in Vietnam?
The Vietnamese pharmaceutical market is currently expanding quickly, and it is likely to grow at more than 10 per cent per annum going forward. This, combined with rising personal incomes, makes Vietnam an attractive destination for global pharmaceutical companies looking to capitalise on emerging market growth potential.
As an emerging market, Vietnam has a unique opportunity to build a sustainable local pharmaceutical industry through the support of global pharmaceutical companies, which are also active members of the US-ASEAN Business Council. With rigorous experience in innovative pharmaceuticals, we are willing to work closely with Vietnams policymakers and other stakeholders to facilitate the development of Vietnams pharmaceutical industry as a potential key sector in the future growth of the economy and wellbeing of its citizens.
In recent years, our member companies have been setting up local drug manufacturing capabilities or partnering with local manufacturers, which helps drive technology transfer, process research, and capability enhancement of domestic manufacturers. International standards and best practices will also come through the partnership.
To open wider space for improvement in this area, what factors should the sector focus on?
There are several key lessons that can be drawn from the experiences of other countries in the region. Policies that protect local companies from global competition, or provide an unlevel playing field in domestic markets, result in pharmaceutical sectors that are inwardly focused and non-competitive in global markets.
Uncoordinated policies among government agencies affecting the sector have the effect of sending mixed or negative signals to potential investors, and positive policies (such as tax incentives) are easily offset by other policies (such as pricing and regulatory policies).
Built on these lessons, there are some specific recommendations. There could be review and reform of the pricing and reimbursement system in order to provide effective market incentives for local innovation and openness to foreign markets, and to make Vietnamese companies more attractive partners to share technology.
Without such reforms, policies such as tying market access by foreign companies to mandated technology transfer will not be effective.
Creating a more predictable, favourable environment for foreign investment in the pharmaceutical sector is critical. Foreign investors are looking for places to invest in clinical trials as well as manufacturing. The biopharma business model is focused on the mid-to-long term, so a predictable and stable investment environment is vital.
Issues that need to be considered include whether investors in Vietnams pharma sector need to already have a viable business in the country, since there is so much potential from investors who have not yet established anything in Vietnam. In addition, tying projects to requirements such as technology transfer or contract manufacturing works to discourage interest in Vietnam.
Manufacturing incentives that are not conditioned in advance on commitment to technology transfer or other business operation requirements are more also likely to engage investor interest and lead to faster decisions. In addition, enabling administrative decisions on imports and exports, licences, and marketing authorisation would act as incentives to manufacturing and are necessary for efficient and competitive manufacturing operations.
Finally, the formation of a high-level inter-ministerial body to coordinate its pharmaceutical industrial policy is needed to ensure that policies are consistent, non-overlapping, and executed efficiently.
VIR conference highlights innovation in Vietnam's healthcare sector A conference organised by Vietnam Investment Review (VIR) themed "Empowering Innovation for Vietnam's Sustainable Healthcare" was held on September 25, offering an opportunity for policymakers and companies to discuss innovation in Vietnam's healthcare sector.
Unlocking the potential of healthcare innovations While health innovation in Vietnam is taking place strongly, many challenges prevent the sector from unlocking its full potential. Do Xuan Tuyen, Deputy Minister of Health, talked to VIRs Minh Tung about global lessons to improve the situation.
Foreign-led groups seize the initiative in healthcare Vietnams healthcare sector is rapidly developing as the country seeks to modernise its system and improve health outcomes for its population. Contributing to this transformation are foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs), which have become key players in driving healthcare innovation across fields such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, and digital healthcare solutions.
Laying a digital path for innovation in healthcare The application of IT for protecting and improving peoples health and the implementation of electronic medical records (EMR) at facilities in Vietnam has gradually developed and initially achieved some very encouraging results.
Sustainable dynamics for improved patient access Global healthcare company Viatris is extending its worldwide impact and strengthening a firm commitment to healthcare access in Vietnam. Radhika Bhalla, head in Vietnam and Asia Alliance Markets for Viatris, talked to VIRs Bich Thuy about the development strategy for contributing more.
AstraZeneca reinforces commitment to healthcare Pharma giant AstraZeneca is solidifying its position as a pioneer in healthcare innovation in Vietnam.
How can private investments unlock Vietnams healthcare? Vietnams healthcare sector has made remarkable strides over the past few decades, shaped by government reforms and increasing private sector involvement. Social health insurance, established in the early 1990s, now covers about 93 per cent of the population, with an annual government budget over $5 billion.
The Vietnam International Textile and Garment Industry Exhibition (VTG) will bring together more than 380 exhibitors from Chile, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam under one roof.
With a strong focus on factory digitalisation and a diverse range of fabric offerings, the exhibition aims to propel Vietnam's textile and garment industry towards digital transformation while meeting varied fabric demands. Industry professionals will have the unique opportunity to explore these innovations first-hand across 15,000 square metres of exhibition space.
This year, VTG will highlight key industry leaders across various machinery segments, including Tajima, Sansin, and Epson. These participants will play a crucial role in global knowledge exchange, strengthening local industry expertise, and improving garment production efficiency.
VTG 2024 is also a pivotal platform for fostering trade and technological innovation. The event facilitates professional exchanges and acts as a catalyst for the transformation of the entire industry, propelling Vietnam further along its path of modernisation and sustainable development.
According to Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (VINATEX), Vietnam has been recognised as a market economy by 73 countries. This acknowledgment is significant, especially as Vietnam seeks further recognition from its trade partners, despite the United States announcing that it has not granted such status to Vietnam in August.
Leaders in the textile and garment industry have noted that political instability in Bangladesh has created opportunities for order shifting towards countries like Vietnam. This window of opportunity is expected to last until the end of 2024, after which the competitive landscape will return to focus on each country's unique strengths in production.
Furthermore, Vietnam's textile and garment export turnover has shown promising growth over the first eight months of 2024. To capitalise on these opportunities, Vietnamese firms must develop clear strategies to deepen their integration into the supply chain and enhance their position in the international market as reliable suppliers committed to product quality, flexibility, and timely delivery.
This year, VTG will be joined by the Vietnam International Textile & Apparel Accessories Exhibition, the Vietnam International Dyeing & Chemical Industry Exhibition, and the Vietnam International Footwear Machinery and Material Exhibition, creating a comprehensive showcase of the related industry supply chain.
High-tech garment groups keen to expand Vietnam has become a top destination for foreign investors in the high-tech garment and textile industry, contributing to restructuring the global value chain.
Israeli textile firm to increase investment in Binh Dinh Israeli textile firm Delta Galil Industries will increase its investment from $64.6 million to $100 million to scale up its textile and garment project in the central province of Binh Dinh.
Addressing the conference, Le Trong Minh, VIRs editor-in-chief, said, "According to World Health Organization (WHO), healthcare innovation is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, especially in the digital space. Technological advances such as AI, gene editing, and VR are changing the detection and treatment of diseases, transforming the global healthcare industry."
In Vietnam, healthcare innovation has significantly improved the health and life quality of millions of Vietnamese people, enhancing diagnosis and treatment capabilities as well as promoting advances in medical research and pharmaceutical production. However, to ensure innovation and sustainability in the healthcare industry, Vietnam should promote research and development and technology transfer in disease prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment. This is coupled with the production of medicines, vaccines, biologicals, and high-quality medical equipment. The country should also perfect policies on health in line with reality while promptly adjusting relevant legal regulations to address emerging issues.
To facilitate the goal, it is vital to update major global trends, learn the best practices from developed countries, and gain insights from relevant stakeholders. This is particularly important as Vietnam is completing its legal framework for the healthcare industry to enter a new phase of development, he added.
Atul Tandon, general director of AstraZeneca Vietnam, said, We highly appreciate the efforts of Vietnam to drive innovation and development in the health industry. Over the past few years, Vietnam has witnessed innovation in healthcare infrastructure, private healthcare, and technology application. Upbeat about the outlook of Vietnam, we are committed to investing in innovation and technology and leading several healthcare initiatives for the youth. AstraZeneca is dedicated to transforming the future of healthcare by unlocking the power of what science can do for people, society, and the planet.
He further noted AstraZeneca is at the forefront of clinical research in the value chain of science and medicine. To date, AstraZeneca has built many laboratories to improve its diagnostic capacity, with initiatives that can be replicated from Vietnam to other countries in Asia. With its patient-centric approach, the company tracks the patient journey and accompanies patients from screening to diagnosis and treatment, thereby contributing to sustainable healthcare development.
Dion Warren, area head of Takeda India and Southeast Asia, said, "Over the past decade, we have made strong commitments to foster public-private partnerships to expand access to innovative medicines and vaccines in Vietnam. We have signed MoUs with partners since 2021 to share technology and techniques to improve diagnosis results. The company also entered into a partnership with the Ministry of Health in 2023 to raise disease awareness, enhance diagnosis capability, and improve patient access to high-quality care."
Takeda has made a strong contribution to combating dengue in Vietnam. According to the WHO, Vietnam is among the top countries facing a growing dengue burden. To ease the burden, the company has partnered with local authorities and other organisations to promote dengue prevention. Specifically, Takeda's dengue vaccine provides an effective tool for Vietnams integrated dengue management strategy, Warren added.
Radhika Bhalla, head of Vietnam and Asia Alliance Markets, said, "Viatris Vietnam has an extensive, diversified portfolio encompassing multiple therapeutic areas to address a wide spectrum of health conditions. This includes cardiovascular disease, where over 336,000 patients have benefited, pain management affecting 1.3 million patients, mental health management for 403,000 individuals, treatments for infectious diseases impacting 70,000 patients, and men's health solutions reaching 47,000 patients."
"We also make continued efforts to introduce localised products to the market through technology transfer of off-patent originators. Moving forward, we will continue expanding our portfolio to increase patient access to high-quality medicines and widen treatment options for Vietnamese people. Our unwavering belief is that better access leads to better health, including access to high-quality medicines made in Vietnam while balancing Viatris global, regional, and local supply," she said.
Empowering innovation for Vietnam's sustainable healthcare VIR plans to host a healthcare conference on September 25, expecting to attract about 200 participants, including policymakers, international organisations, senior experts, and those from the business community.
Takedas decade of healthcare commitments in Vietnam For over 10 years, Takeda has been a dedicated healthcare partner in Vietnam, delivering transformative treatments and contributing significant value to public health. The recent approval of its dengue vaccine further strengthens this commitment. Dion Warren, Takedas area head for India and Southeast Asia, talked to VIRs Bich Thuy about the companys journey and its plans to bring more innovative medicines to Vietnam.
For more than a few globetrotters, booking holiday airfare is a dreaded chore.
Because lets face it, who enjoys being gouged on ticket prices in order to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas with loved ones?
If you happen to fall into that bucket of irritated holiday travelers, Hopper has just released a holiday travel cheat sheet for when to book to score the biggest savings on holiday travel. Heres what the experts at Hopper suggest:
Thanksgiving 2024
Airfare for Thanksgiving trips is currently averaging $298 per round-trip ticket, which is 10% higher than this time last year and 3% higher than the pre-COVID19 pandemic cost.
But heres the good news. Prices are expected to decline by about $40 on average until they reach their lowest point in early October.
October is what the experts at Hopper call the sweet spot for snagging your Thanksgiving holiday flight tickets. At that point, prices are likely to be in line with 2023 levels, and below 2019 levels.
Christmas 2024
October also is the best time to book your Christmas flights. Airfare for Christmas trips is averaging $406 per round-trip ticket, says Hopper. Thats an increase of 4% from this time last year and 13% above pre-pandemic prices.
But these prices also are expected to fall, and will do so by about $80 until they reach their lowest point in October.
When Christmas fares reach their October sweet spot, the prices are likely to be in line with 2023 levels, says Hopper.
More ways to save
Being flexible on travel dates can help you save quite a bit of money during the holiday rush. Hopper says its possible to save more than $100 off peak airfare by flying on less popular dates before and after each holiday week during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Departing the week before Thanksgiving or on the Monday ahead of the holiday will save travelers the most, says Hopper. Savvy travelers will save 23%, or about $60 per ticket, by departing on the Thursday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 21) or the Monday of Thanksgiving week (Nov. 25) instead of taking a weekend flight.
As for the post-Thanksgiving return flight, it should come as no surprise that the Sunday after Thanksgiving is no time to be in the airport. It is the most popular return date for Thanksgiving travelers, and also the most expensive, per Hopper.
Travelers returning on Sunday will pay a 45% premium, or $137 per ticket, more than those travelers who return the following day, Monday, says Hopper. Skip the Sunday return and fly home on Black Friday, or Monday, Dec. 2, to pack on the savings.
In December, departing the week before Christmas or on Dec. 24 or Dec. 25 will save travelers the most. Travelers will save 26%, or about $100 per ticket, by departing on Christmas Eve instead of taking a flight the weekend before the holiday.
Meanwhile, the week following Christmas is an especially pricey week for domestic travel, as Americans head home from Christmas trips and head out on New Years trips.
For travelers headed home from the holiday, New Years Eve departures will be the most cost effective, saving travelers about $68 per ticket on average.
Another deadline for deals
If scoring a deal during the October sweet spot that Hopper is projecting is on your must-do list, then youll need to book airfare by Oct. 14.
Airfare will remain low and volatile in October before rising in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas, says the Hopper report. Over the next few weeks while prices are volatile, travelers who are proactively monitoring prices could get notified of great, time-sensitive deals.
Airfare deals by region
If your holiday travel plans are not tied to a specific location, consider bring the family party to a bargain travel destination.
Hopper says airfare to international destinations in Mexico and Central America, popular for shorter holiday trips, is down compared to last year, with prices averaging $464 per round-trip ticket.
Airfare to Europe, the top destination for international travelers from the U.S., is down 7% compared to this time last year.
5 of the best holiday travel movies 5 of the best holiday travel movies Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) 3 Godfathers (1948) While You Were Sleeping (1995) The Polar Express (2004) The Holiday (2006)
A North Iowa store specializing in all things creepy opened last week, just in time for spooky season.
John Miller, who collects horror memorabilia, said he and his fiancee, Laura Morse, opened Nightmare Authentics at 205 N. Main St. in Charles City because I ran out of room in my house.
Miller reached out to suppliers he trusts to stock the store, including Trick or Treat Studios, which he says makes the best latex face masks in the business.
Nightmare Authentics also carries makeup sets that help customers transform themselves into characters from classic horror films such as Friday the 13th, Scream and Childs Play. Some of these kits are limited editions, so once theyre gone, theyre gone, Miller said.
In addition, the store sells Funko Pops, horror comics, posters, and locally made T-shirts.
Some of the items in the store are autographed. For example, an actor who played Leatherface in one of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre films signed a Leatherface mask.
Miller gets signatures on his memorabilia by attending conventions such as Days of the Dead in Chicago. He has been attending such shows for years.
Ive always been into horror movies, and then I noticed they have whole conventions dedicated to these things, so I decided to go to one to meet some of the people from the movies, and I loved it, he said.
Miller began collecting horror movie props, but it cost a lot of money. Several years ago, he began doing autograph consignments.
Collectors from all over the world reach out to him on Facebook and ask if he is planning to attend an upcoming convention they cant go to themselves. If Miller is going, collectors send him items they want signed by actors who are going to be at that convention. Miller then sends the signed memorabilia back to the collectors, who pay him a commission.
It now pays for my habit, he said.
So far this year, Miller has been to horror conventions in Chicago, Minneapolis, Cincinnati and Kentucky. He also plans to attend upcoming conventions in Des Moines and Denver.
North Iowans who want to get their own horror comics, Funko Pops, posters or any other items signed can bring them to Nightmare Authentics so Miller can take them to a convention. If he isnt going to a show where a particular actor will be appearing, he has a network of friends who also go to conventions that he can call on to see if they are attending a specific event.
Hours for the store vary. It is currently open from 5 to 8 p.m. on weekdays.
Weve had a good amount of foot traffic in here thus far, Miller said, noting hes been selling some masks and had to put in two orders for replacements last week.
Miller believes Nightmare Authentics will do well because there is nothing else like it in the region.
Spirit Halloween has a store in Waterloo. Although that shop is larger and has a bigger inventory, Miller said Spirit Halloween stores dont have rare and autographed items like Nightmare Authentics.
There are a lot of potential customers for his stores merchandise, according to Miller. I think people underestimate the love of horror movies, he said.
Since Im a collector myself, I know what people want, Miller said.
WILTON One person was killed and three injured Sunday afternoon in a head-on collision in Wilton.
Names are being withheld pending notification of the next of kin.
According to a crash report from the Iowa State Patrol, at about 5:34 p.m. a 2012 Nissan Juke was travelling northbound in the 1100 block of Taylor Avenue while a 2003 Ford Taurus was travelling southbound on the same road.
The report said the Nissan crossed the center line and was travelling northbound in the southbound lane. The front drivers side of the Nissan contacted the front drivers side of the Ford. The Nissan came to rest on the east shoulder of the roadway and the Ford came to rest in the west ditch. Both vehicles sustained severe damage.
Two subjects were transported by AirCare to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics where one was declared dead. One subject was transported the Genesis Medical Center by Durant Ambulance. One subject was not transported.
The Iowa State Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Muscatine County Sheriffs Office.
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
San Antonio consulting company Frost & Sullivan Inc. and former Darrell Huntsman have settled their legal claims against each other. YouTube
Embattled San Antonio consulting firm Frost & Sullivan Inc. and former CEO Darrell Huntsman have settled their dueling legal claims.
Both sides notified a federal court in California on Monday they had reached a settlement of all claims and counterclaims but offered no details.
We did reach a settlement and the terms are confidential, said Mark Morris, an attorney representing Huntsman. Hes pleased with the resolution.
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Krishna Srinivasan, Frost & Sullivans global managing partner a member of its executive board, didnt respond to an email seeking comment.
The resolution of the disputes comes as Frost & Sullivan continues having trouble paying its employees in a timely fashion. Paychecks have been late throughout the summer, according to two employees who didnt want to be named for fear theyd be fired. The most recent paycheck for Sept. 15 appeared in bank accounts either Sept. 16 or Sept. 17, one of the employees said.
Still not much confidence that pay is back on track, the person added.
Frost & Sullivan, which employs about 1,200 people in 45 offices around the world, has blamed cash flow challenges for the payroll delays.
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While Frost & Sullivans headquarters are in San Antonio, some of its top officials work in California. The company provides consulting services and data analytics for a variety of industries including aerospace and defense, chemicals, health care, energy and the environment. It was founded in 1961.
Frost & Sullivan first sued Huntsman a little more than a year ago in federal court in San Antonio for fraud, misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duty.
The company alleged Huntsman, who was CEO from September 2019 until the end of 2022, embezzled more than $1 million by giving a no-bid contract to a company headed by a close friend.
Huntsman countered with his own lawsuit, filed Nov. 22 in federal court in San Jose, Calif. He alleged Frost & Sullivan terminated his employment in retaliation for him alerting its board to falsified information on a loan application to obtain $2 million through the federal Paycheck Protection Program. The Small Business Administration program provided forgivable loans to companies to cover payroll and certain other expenses to keep workers employed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Huntsman also alleged that he informed the board of his suspicions that Srinivasan and Wyman Bravard, a company owner and director, attempted to siphon the PPP money into their personal accounts.
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Bravard and David Frigstad, Frost & Sullivans chairman and a company founder, were named as defendants in Huntsmans lawsuit. Srinivasan was not sued.
Huntsman sought almost $6.5 million he said he was owed in unpaid bonuses and other compensation, as well as unspecified punitive damages and legal fees and costs for defending himself against Frost & Sullivans claims.
Helen Loring Dear, president and co-owner of Porter Loring Mortuaries, said the Loring family is selling the business to Service Corporation International of Houston. My father and I wanted to make sure Porter Loring continues to serve San Antonio for many years to come, she said. Kin Man Hui/Staff photographer Mourners gather Wednesday evening Sept. 26, 2007 outside Porter-Loring Mortuary for San Antonio police Detective Mario Moreno's visitation. WILLIAM LUTHER/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS The Porter Loring funeral home as it appeared in 1937 in its expanded original location across from Travis Park. In the mid-1960s, it moved to a new facility at 1101 McCullough Ave. and later expanded with two other locations. Staff file photo Helen Loring Dear and her father Porter Loring III in a 2015 file photo. Staff file photo A crematory, providing a service that's helping drive increases in the funeral business, is shown at Porter Loring Mortuaries location near Loop 1604 and Military Drive. The family-owned business is set to be sold to Service Corporation International of Houston. Kin Man Hui/Staff photographer Porter Loring Mortuaries co-owner and president Helen Loring Dear, center, branch manager Stacie Medina, left, and Tito Ochoa, crematory manager, pose at Porter Loring Mortuaries location near Loop 1604 and Military Drive. The business is set to be sold to Service Corporation International. Kin Man Hui/Staff photographer
The nations largest chain of funeral homes and cemeteries is acquiring San Antonios Porter Loring Mortuaries, a family-owned business that was founded in 1918 by Porter Loring Sr.
Houston-based Service Corporation International is buying the company for an undisclosed price. Its three locations near downtown, on the far North Side and on the far West Side will continue doing business under the Porter Loring name and the Loring family and other staff members will continue to run the business, co-owner and President Helen Loring Dear said Wednesday.
It was just succession planning to make sure that we had a plan in place, she said of the familys motive for selling the business.
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Service Corporation International, also known as SCI, describes itself as the largest provider of death care products and services in North America, a size it has achieved in part by purchasing family-owned mortuaries across the country. The publicly-traded company owns more than 1,900 funeral homes and cemeteries, including eight in the San Antonio area under its Dignity Memorial brand. Last year, SCI generated $4.1 billion in revenue and reported profit of $573.3 million.
As its grown in recent years, SCI has been embroiled in litigation and criticized for its prices.
In May, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and other officials announced a $23 million settlement to resolve allegations that the company violated consumer protection laws in its marketing and sale of cremation services. In 2022, SCI agreed to provide up to $209 million in refunds to settle a federal class-action lawsuit claiming it deceived Florida customers who bought its pre-paid plans.
A 2017 report by the Funeral Consumers Alliance and Consumer Federation of America found that prices for services at SCI funeral homes were well above prices at independent funeral homes.
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Industry trend
Its purchase of Porter Loring comes amid a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the industry. Demand for funeral and cremation services is expected to soar in the coming years as baby boomers age, drawing interest from investors, particularly private equity firms, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundations Health News.
Some funeral home operators are opting to sell if they dont have relatives in line to take over their business.
For Porter Loring, now in its fourth generation of family leadership, new ownership is the latest chapter in a history that began more than a century ago.
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The companys roots stretch back to the mortuary Porter Loring Sr. opened in a dilapidated rooming house across from Travis Park in the wake of World War I and during a severe influenza epidemic.
He wanted to be more than just another undertaker: He sought to ease families pain and offer sympathy, a departure from the artificial and theatrical approach his competitors took, his relatives said. He installed yellow canaries in cages and other touches to create a warm, homey environment in the funeral home.
It was true I was going to bury the dead, but I wasnt going to be an undertaker, Loring Sr. wrote in a company history in the 1940s. Instead, I was going to operate a mortuary, one that had for itself ideals, where respect for the dead and sympathy for the families who came to it would be expressed in all the ways I could create.
He was also innovative. His funeral home was the first in the city to use a motorized hearse and to erect tents at burial sites to protect mourners during bad weather.
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His efforts didnt go unnoticed: He was later invited to become San Antonios sole member of the National Selected Morticians, the premier organization of funeral directors at the time.
Family leadership
Loring Sr. died in 1958. Subsequent generations of the Loring family have since led the business, which they moved to 1101 McCullough Ave. in the mid-1960s. They added a funeral home at 2102 N. Loop 1604 E. in 1997 and another at 1710 W. Loop 1604 N. in 2021. The latter facility is the first of their funeral homes to include a crematory, a reflection of the popularity of cremation.
SCI Senior Vice President John Faulk said the companys size, history and family leadership made it an attractive acquisition.
We are excited to partner with Porter Loring Mortuaries, and were proud that Porter (Loring III), Helen, and their team will remain, Faulk said in a statement. They will keep serving families in San Antonio with the same level of service excellence that people have come to expect.
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Dear echoed that.
Lebanese health authorities on Tuesday raised the death toll from two days of Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah militants to 564. Palestinian officials in Gaza, meanwhile, said new Israeli strikes killed at least two dozen people.
Israels military says it will do whatever is necessary to push Hezbollah away from Lebanons border with Israel. Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since the Israel-Hamas war began. On Monday, Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes in southern and eastern Lebanon, killing nearly 500 people and wounding more than 1,600 others.
Thousands of people fled southern Lebanon, jamming the main highway to Beirut in the biggest exodus since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
It's a staggering toll for a country still reeling from a deadly attack on communication devices the week before. Lebanon blamed the attacks on Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny its responsibility.
Hezbollah again launched some 100 projectiles toward Israel on Tuesday, the Israeli military said.
Heres the latest:
Britain sends troops to prepare for possible evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon
LONDON Britain will send 700 troops to the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus as it prepares for the possible evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon.
Cyprus is located across a strip of water from Lebanon, and Beirut harbor has been used before to evacuate foreign nationals by sea from Lebanon. During the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, tens of thousands of foreigners were evacuated by sea to Cyprus in a fleet of commercial and military vessels, many supplied by American, British, European and other naval forces.
The British troops and members of the Border Force were to arrive Wednesday, even as the government made repeated appeals for its nationals to immediately evacuate Lebanon. Britain retains sovereign military base areas in Cyprus, which are considered its territory.
We continue to urge all sides to step back from conflict to prevent further tragic loss of life. Our government is ensuring all preparations are in place to support British Nationals should the situation deteriorate, said British Defense Secretary John Healey.
The Royal Air Force also have aircraft and transport helicopters on standby to provide support if necessary, Healy said.
Hezbollah confirms the death of one of its top commanders, Ibrahim Kobeisi
BEIRUT Hezbollah on Tuesday confirmed the death of one of its top commanders, Ibrahim Kobeisi, who was killed in an Israeli strike in a southern Beirut suburb.
The strike hit three floors of a six-story building. It was Israels third strike over Beirut in less than a week
Kobeisi is the first member of the militant group pronounced dead since Israel and Hezbollah entered a more intense phase of the ongoing conflict.
Israel said Kobeisi was a top Hezbollah commander with the groups rocket and missile unit. Israeli military officials said Kobeisi was responsible for launches towards Israel and planned a 2000 attack in which three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and killed.
It was the latest in a string of assassinations and setbacks for Hezbollah, the strongest political and military actor in Lebanon and widely considered the top paramilitary force in the Arab world.
Iran's president urges the U.S. to begin a new era of relations with Iran
TEHRAN, Iran Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian urged the U.S. to begin a new era in its relations with Iran.
While criticizing the U.S. military presence in Irans neighborhood, the U.S. sanctions against Iran, and the killing of Iranian top Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020, Pezeshkian said during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly, We can go beyond these limits and begin a new era. The new era begins by recognizing Irans security concerns as well as joint work on joint issues.
He said his message addresses all governments that follow unconstructive strategies toward Iran.
Pezeshkian said despite the bitterness of years of sanctions, Iran has achieved strong will and self-confidence and is ready to work with the world, Iran is ready to have economic, political and security equal-base cooperation for building a better world with world powers and neighbors.
He said Iran expects that the world does not answer Irans message for cooperation by imposing more sanctions, Implementations of (world) commitments for lifting sanctions, improving the economic situation for people of Iran, paving the ground for more agreements.
Pezeshkian also urged the international community to work toward a permanent cease-fire as soon as possible and to stop Israeli insane brutality in Lebanon before it sets the region and the world on fire.
Pezeshkian reiterated that his country is against the Russia-Ukraine war and supports any peaceful solution to end the war and added that Iran believes that this crisis will end only through dialogue.
Israeli airstrikes in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza injure many, including children
DEIR AL BALAH, the Gaza Strip Israeli airstrikes in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza left multiple Palestinians injured, including children, who were rushed to Awda and Al-Aqsa hospitals.
AP footage shows two children with face injuries rushed inside Al-Aqsa hospital, while a man lying on a stretcher inside an ambulance was wailing in pain as two other men were lying face down. Several children were brought in with injuries to their legs and faces.
At the hospital morgue, a mother is seen crying and bidding farewell to her twin sons, Osama and Bilal Fayad, two young men who were killed in the strikes in Nuseirat.
I raised those two boys.. they were killed together after being struck, said their father Ahmed Fayad. They were born together and died together.
Over a dozen people gathered outside the hospital to perform a funeral prayer as the bodies of the twins were in front of them on the ground wrapped in white shrouds before they were loaded onto a motorbike to be taken for burial.
The strike that killed the Fayad twins in Nuseirat camp also killed three women and injured over 20 people were also injured, according to Awda hospital, where they were taken.
The Israeli strikes in Nuseirat and Bureij camps on Tuesday killed a total of 29 Palestinians, including 14 children and 6 women, hospital officials told the AP.
Israel's military identifies 3 drones crossing from Lebanon into Israel
TEL AVIV The Israeli military says three drones were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israel a short while ago, setting off sirens in coastal towns just south of Haifa more than 50 km (31 miles) from the border with Lebanon. It said two of the drones were intercepted. There were no reports of injuries.
Altogether, more than 300 projectiles have been launched today from Lebanon at northern Israel, according to the Israeli military.
The army said strikes will continue in Lebanon. In the last two hours, Israeli jets carried out a number of extensive strikes on targets in the Bekaa region and in southern Lebanon, according to the army, hitting rocket launchers and infrastructure that the army says was used to store weapons.
Turkey's president accuses Israel of carrying out a clear genocide and calls on UN to impose sanctions
UNITED NATIONS Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly he wanted to state loudly and clearly that the Israeli government is disregarding human rights, trampling on international law, and is practicing ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians.
He also accused Israel at Tuesdays opening of the annual global gathering of carrying out a clear genocide against a nation a people, and occupying their lands, step by step.
Israels behavior has once again demonstrated that it is imperative for the international community to develop a protection mechanism for Palestinian civilians, Erdogan said. 70 years ago, just as Hitler was stopped by an alliance of humanity, (Israels Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped, must be stopped by an alliance of humanity.
Israels U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon called Erdogans remarks shameful and told reporters the reference to Hitler is beyond imagination.
Erdogan called for the Security Council to impose coercive measures against Israel U.N. language for sanctions and said the General Assembly should recommend the use of force to achieve an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the exchange of prisoners, and the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid.
In language aimed at Israels supporters, especially the United States, Erdogan said their backing is the reason why this aggression is still going on in Gaza.
While supposedly working for a cease-fire, he said, they continue to send arms and ammunition to Israel.
The U.S., Qatar and Egypt have been working for months for a cease-fire in Gaza, and the United States has blamed Hamas for refusing the latest deal. But Erdogan claimed its Israel that doesnt want peace, by constantly dragging its feet making a settlement much more difficult, almost impossible.
Israel's UN envoy says Israel does not want to send troops into Lebanon but will do what is necessary to halt Hezbollah fire
UNITED NATIONS Israels envoy to the U.N. says his country doesnt want to send troops into Lebanon but will do whatever necessary to halt the Hezbollah rocket fire that has driven tens of thousands of Israelis from their countrys north.
Asked during at a news conference Tuesday at U.N. headquarters whether Israel was contemplating a ground invasion of its northern neighbor, Ambassador Danny Danon said his country is not eager to start any ground invasion anywhere.
We prefer a diplomatic solution. But if its not working, we are using other methods to show the other side that we mean business, he said.
We will do whatever necessary to bring the residents back to the north, he added.
He spoke in a week that has seen rapid intensification of hostilities between Israel and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, including a wave of Israeli airstrikes that killed more than 550 Lebanese on Monday.
At the same time, Israel is nearly a year into its fight with Hamas militants in Gaza. The war was launched in response to Hamas Oct. 7 attack but has drawn criticism from many countries for the extent of death, destruction and suffering in the Palestinian territory.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still plans to come to the U.N. to speak Friday at the General Assemblys annual meeting of world leaders, Danon said. But he noted that things are dynamic, and an update on Netanyahus plans could come Wednesday.
Israel's Defense Minister says forces are ready to carry out more strikes after Hezbollah suffers extremely severe blows
TEL AVIV Israels Defense Minister said Tuesday that Hezbollah has suffered extremely severe blows and Israel has more strikes ready.
Speaking to troops after an IDF drill that simulated a ground offensive in Lebanon, Yoav Gallant said The Hezbollah of today is not the Hezbollah of a week ago. The sequence of blows it faced in its command and control, its operatives, its weapons -- all these things are extremely severe blows.
Mourners carry bodies through streets in Lebanon, some draped in Hezbollah flags
SAKSAKIEH, Lebanon In the Lebanese village of Saksakieh, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Lebanon-Israel border, mourners carried 11 bodies through the streets Tuesday, including those of four women, an infant and a 7-year old girl. All had been killed in Israels bombardment of the village the day before. Israeli strikes killed more than 560 people across Lebanon in two days.
Some of the bodies were draped in Hezbollah flags, others wrapped in black clothes. A wreath of flowers had been placed on top of the smallest one.
Mohammad Halal, the father of 7-year-old Joury Halal, said his daughter was an innocent child martyr.
She is a martyr for the sake of the south and Palestine, Halal said and defiantly stated his allegiance to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
US officials in talks with allies to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Hezbollah
NEW YORK White House principal deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said Tuesday that Biden administration officials were in talks with allies to help find an off-ramp to the escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
Were working on that in real time right here in New York and in capitals around the world, Finer said in an appearance at an event hosted by the news site Axios on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Were not going to reveal all the details of those sensitive conversations, but we very much want that conflict to de-escalate.
Finer sidestepped questions about whether the fighting has already become the all-out war that the U.S. had been pressing Israel to avoid with Lebanon as it continues its nearly yearlong conflict in Gaza. But he underscored that a big war, a wider war is in neither Israels nor Lebanons interest.
A new airstrike in central Gaza kills 10 people, hospital says
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Another Israeli airstrike in a central Gaza refugee camp on Tuesday killed 10 Palestinians, including four people from the same family, and injured 11 others, according to Al-Awda Hospital.
The strike hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, where six people including three women were killed in an earlier airstrike.
The dead and wounded were taken to Al-Awda Hospital.
Israeli military says it killed a top commander in Hezbollah missile unit
JERUSALEM The Israeli military says it has killed a commander with Hezbollahs missile and rocket unit in a strike in Beirut.
It said Ibrahim Kobeisi, who it said was responsible for launches toward Israel, was killed Tuesday.
The military said other key commanders were with Kobeisi at the time of the strike, but it did not say whether any of them had been killed or injured.
Lebanese woman working for the UNHCR, her son and a cleaner killed in Israeli airstrikes, the UN agency says
BEIRUT The U.N. refugee agency in Lebanon says a Lebanese woman who had been working for the agency for 12 years, one of her sons and a cleaner employed by the agency have been killed in Israeli airstrikes.
The building where Dina Darwiche lived with her family was hit in a strike on Lebanon's Bekaa region on Monday, UNHCR said. Her husband and another child were seriously injured. Her body and that of her younger son were recovered from the rubble on Tuesday.
Ali Basma, who worked as a cleaner for the agency for seven years, was killed in a separate strike in the south. He worked at UNHCRs office in the city of Tyre.
The U.N. refugee agency said it was outraged and deeply saddened by the killing of two beloved members of the UNHCR family in Lebanon.
It said the protection of civilians is a must under international humanitarian law.
An Israeli airstrike hits a building in southern Beirut, Hezbollah's TV station says
BEIRUT An Israeli airstrike hit a building in a southern Beirut suburb on Tuesday afternoon, a Hezbollah TV station reported. There was no immediate word on casualties.
Later, Israels military said it had carried out a targeted strike in Beirut, without elaborating. Lebanons state-run National News Agency said a number of people were injured in the strike , which destroyed three floors of a six-story apartment building.
Al-Manar TV, which belongs to Lebanons militant Hezbollah group, said the strike occurred in the suburb of Ghobeiri, without giving any details.
The attack came after a Monday evening airstrike missed Ali Karaki, Hezbollah's top military commander in south Lebanon, the group said.
An Israeli airstrike on a nearby area on Friday killed 55 people, including top Hezbollah military commander Ibrahim Akil and 15 other Hezbollah members.
Israeli military reports 10 more rockets fired from Lebanon
JERUSALEM Israels military said on Tuesday afternoon that 10 more rockets from Lebanon were fired into Israeli territory, injuring a reservist and raining shrapnel onto a road in northern Israel.
The rockets came in two volleys, the first targeting the Upper Galilee area and the second an area south of Haifa known as Eliakim. Rocket fragments from a rocket that was intercepted injured the Israeli soldier, the military said.
Hezbollah said it had fired middle-range rockets at an Israeli army position in Eliakim.
Israels military has now said that there have been at least 110 rockets fired into Israeli territory from Lebanon since Tuesday morning. Israeli strikes on the other side of the border have killed over 550 people since Monday.
Another Israeli strike in central Gaza kills at least 6 people, including 3 women, Gaza medics say
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Palestinian medical officials say an Israeli airstrike hit a family house in central Gaza on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least six people, including three women .
The strike occurred in the Nuseirat refugee camp and also wounded 21 others, according to the Awda hospital in the camp, where the casualties were taken.
Footage circulated online showing a woman screaming and rushing to a building that was hit. A man was seen lying on the ground, without moving and bleeding from his head. There were several other people lying on the ground nearby.
Lebanon's health ministry raises two-day death toll from Israeli strikes to 558
BEIRUT Lebanons Health Ministry said on Tuesday that the death toll from Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon over the past two days of escalation has reached 558, including 50 children and 94 women.
Health Minister Firass Abiad told reporters that 1,835 people have also been wounded since early Monday. They were taken to 54 hospitals around Lebanon, he said.
Abiad added that four paramedics were among those killed, and 16 paramedics and firefighters were among the wounded.
A journalist working for a pan-Arab television is killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, the station says
BEIRUT A journalist working for the pan-Arab network Al-Mayadeen was killed in Israeli airstrikes while he was at his home in southern Lebanon, the network said Tuesday.
Hadi Al-Sayyed, 22, is the third journalist from the network killed in the ongoing conflict between the Israeli military and Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group. The network said he was wounded on Monday and died of his wounds on Tuesday.
According to the TV station, Al-Sayyed worked for the Al-Mayadeens online section and was at his house in the town of Burj Rahhal near the southern city of Tyre when it was hit in the airstrike.
Last November, Al-Mayadeen's correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Al-Maamari were killed in an Israeli strike while covering southern Lebanon.
Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah was killed in Israeli shelling last October while covering the clashes alongside colleagues from the news agency as well as reporters from Qatars Al-Jazeera TV and Frances international news agency, Agence France-Presse. His colleagues were all wounded but survived the attack.
Bombardment from Lebanon hits supermarket in Arab town in northern Israel
JERUSALEM Bombardment from Lebanon on Tuesday damaged a supermarket in Israels Arab city of Tamra, where the majority of residents are Palestinian citizens of Israel.
The attack spread fear through the community, which has no shelters. It was not immediately clear whether the supermarket was hit by a rocket that permeated Israels missile defense system or by shrapnel falling from an interception.
I came here immediately to see what exactly happened, said Jamal Diab, a friend of the markets owner. I saw here lots of damage.
Tamra has no shelters, according to its mayor, Mousa Abu Rumi. An Israeli state comptrollers report found in 2018 that only 11 out of 71 Arab local communities have public shelters.
He told The Associated press that Tamra's residents have been instructed to find the most protected place nearby to seek shelter when they hear rocket sirens go off.
A hospital in central Gaza says it received bodies of two Palestinian children killed in Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip A hospital in central Gaza said the bodies of two children killed in an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday were brought there.
The Awda hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp said the strike hit a group of people in the nearby Bureij camp, and also wounded six other Palestinians.
The Health Ministry in the coastal territory, meanwhile, said Gazas hospitals received 12 dead and 43 wounded Palestinians over the last 24 hours.
The latest fatalities brought the overall death toll in Gaza since the war began on Oct. 7 to 41,467, and 95,921 wounded, said the ministry, which doesnt differentiate between combatants and civilians in its count.
Israel's military says 100 rockets fired from Lebanon since early morning in second day of intense escalation
JERUSALEM Israels military said that 100 rockets had been fired from Lebanon into northern Israel since the early hours of Tuesday morning, setting several fires and damaging buildings in the countrys north in the second day of much-intensified hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
The rockets came in five volleys throughout the morning, the largest of them containing 50 rockets toward the Upper Galilee area. The military said it had struck the launchers where the rockets were fired. Another heavily-targeted area was southeast of the Israeli city of Haifa.
Rocket sirens blared throughout the morning in the countrys north. A video circulating on Israeli media showed explosions on a highway, with drivers pulling over and lying on the ground next to their vehicles.
Galilee Medical Center, a northern Israel hospital, said that two patients arrived to the hospital with minor head injuries from a rocket falling near their car. Several others were being treated for light wounds from running to shelters and traffic accidents when alarms sounded.
Hezbollah has been sending heavy volleys of rockets into Israel as Israel intensifies its operation in Lebanon. In Monday, Israeli strikes killed nearly 500 people, Lebanese health officials say, and Israels military ordered the south of the country evacuated.
Southern Lebanese families find shelters farther north as they flee violence near the border
BEIRUT Lebanese families displaced from villages farther south slept in shelters hastily set up in schools in Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon. Some who did not find shelter elsewhere slept in cars and parks and on the seaside corniche.
Mondays heavy bombardment sent thousands fleeing from south Lebanon. Hotels in Beirut were quickly booked to capacity and apartments in the mountains surrounding the capital were snapped up by families seeking safe accommodations.
Some offered up empty apartments or rooms in their houses in social media posts, while volunteers set up a kitchen at an empty gas station in Beirut to cook meals for the displaced.
In the eastern city of Baalbek, the state-run National News Agency reported that lines formed at bakeries and gas stations as residents rushed to stock up on essential supplies in anticipation of another round of strikes on Tuesday.
Satellite data shows a wide range of Israeli airstrikes targeted southern Lebanon
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Data from fire-tracking satellites used by the United States showed the wide range of Israeli airstrikes that target southern Lebanon, an Associated Press analysis Tuesday showed.
NASAs Fire Information for Resource Management System typically is used by experts to track wildfires across rural areas of the U.S. However, they also can be used to track the flashes and burning that follow airstrikes. Thats particularly true when an airstrike ignites flammable material on the ground, like munitions or fuel.
On Monday, Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes in southern and eastern Lebanon, killing nearly 500 people and wounding more than 1,600 others. Thousands of people fled southern Lebanon, jamming the main highway to Beirut in the biggest exodus since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
Data from Monday show significant fires breaking out across southern Lebanon, stretching from the border with Israel as far north as Mashghara in the Bekaa Valley, some 20 kilometers (more than 10 miles) from the border. The area of the strikes is over 1,700 square kilometers (650 square miles).
There were several areas that showed multiple, intense fires. One was near the southern coastal town of Naqoura, which hosts a base for the United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon known as UNIFIL. Others were in rural areas or villages.
Since its creation at the start of Israels occupation of Lebanon from 1982 to 2000, the Shiite militia Hezbollah is believed to have stockpiled weapons and missiles throughout southern Lebanon as a deterrent to Israel.
United States Embassy in Jerusalem restricts employees from traveling to Israel's north
JERUSALEM The United States Embassy in Jerusalem has restricted American government employees from traveling to Israels north after a heavy exchange of fire between Israel and Lebanons Hezbollah militant group.
The embassy said Tuesday that employees require an armored vehicle and prior approval to travel to a large region of the north that includes the bustling coastal city of Haifa.
The U.S. State Department meanwhile urged American citizens to leave the country, where Israeli strikes killed nearly 500 people on Monday.
Israeli strikes kill at least 7 in Khan Younis
DEIR-Al-BALAH, Gaza Strip Palestinian officials say Israels strikes early Tuesday killed at least seven people in Gazas southern city of Khan Younis. At least 15 others, including women and children, were injured in the strikes, they said.
The civil defense said the dead include five people who were killed in a strike on the Abu Harb family house in the Qizan al-Najjar area. The strike also wounded at least 10 others, it said.
Another strike hit a house in the Tahlia area in Khan Younis, killing at least two people and wounding five others, according to the rescue service. The casualties from both strikes were confirmed in hospital records in Khan Younis.
Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians but rarely comments on individual strikes.
Gazas Health Ministry says over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. It does not say how many were fighters, but says a little over half were women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 of the captives are still being held in Gaza, and a third of them are believed to be dead.
Airlines in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cancel flights to Lebanon
Airlines in the United Arab Emirates, a key East-West travel hub, canceled flight Tuesday to Lebanon over the ongoing cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad canceled flights, as did FlyDubai, the low-cost carrier.
The United Arab Emirates, which reached a diplomatic recognition deal with Israel in 2020, is home to a large Lebanese population.
Egypts flagship airliner also canceled its flights to Lebanon on Tuesday. EgyptAir operates two flights daily between Cairo and Beirut. It said the cancellation will stay in place until the signal stabilizes.
Also Tuesday, Israeli media reported that Wizz Air, British Airways, Iberia and Azerbaijan Airlines were among several airlines to cancel flights to Israels major airport, Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Death row inmates in five states are scheduled to be put to death in the span of one week, an unusually high number of executions that defies a yearslong trend of decline in both the use and support of the death penalty in the U.S.
The first execution was carried out on Friday in South Carolina. Another death row inmate in Missouri was put to death Tuesday evening. If the three remaining scheduled executions in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas are carried out this week, it will mark the first time in more than 20 years since July 2003 that five were held in seven days. That's according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, which takes no position on capital punishment but has criticized the way states carry out executions.
If the remaining executions are completed, the United States will have reached 1,600 executions since the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976, said Robin Maher, the centers executive director.
Two on a single day is unusual, and four on two days in the same week is also very unusual, Maher said.
Here are some things to know about executions set this week across the country.
How did 5 executions get set for a 1-week span?
Experts say five executions being scheduled within one week is simply an anomaly that resulted from courts or elected officials in individual states setting dates around the same time after inmates exhausted their appeals.
I'm not aware of any reason other than coincidence, said Eric Berger, a law professor at the University of Nebraska with expertise in the death penalty and lethal injection.
Berger said some factors can result in a backlog of executions, such as a state's inability to obtain the lethal drugs necessary to carry them out, which happened in South Carolina, or a moratorium that resulted from botched executions, like what happened in Oklahoma.
South Carolina
The first of the five executions took place on Friday when South Carolina put inmate Freddie Owens to death for the 1997 killing of a convenience store clerk during a robbery. It was South Carolina's first execution in 13 years, an unintended delay caused by the inability of state prison officials to obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections. To carry out executions, the state switched from a three-drug method to a new protocol of using a single sedative, pentobarbital.
Missouri
In Missouri on Tuesday evening, Marcellus Williams was put to death by lethal injection for the 1998 stabbing death of a woman in the St. Louis suburb of University City. Williams attorneys argued on Monday that the state Supreme Court should halt his execution over alleged procedural errors in jury selection and the prosecutions alleged mishandling of the murder weapon. But the states high court rejected those arguments, and Gov. Mike Parson denied Williams clemency request, paving the way for his execution to proceed.
Texas
Also on Tuesday, Texas death row inmate, Travis Mullis, is scheduled to be executed. Mullis, a man with a long history of mental illness who has repeatedly sought to waive his right to appeal his death sentence, was sentenced to death for killing his 3-month-old son in January 2008. Mullis attorneys did not plan to file any appeals to try and stay his lethal injection.
Alabama
Alabama on Thursday is preparing to carry out the nations second execution ever using nitrogen gas after becoming the first state to use the new procedure in January. Alan Miller is set to die by the process in which a mask is placed over the inmates head that forces the inmate to inhale pure nitrogen. Miller, who was given a reprieve in 2022 after his execution was called off when officials were unable to connect an intravenous line, was sentenced to die after being convicted of killing three men during back-to-back workplace shootings in 1999.
Oklahoma
In Oklahoma, Emmanuel Littlejohn is set to receive a lethal injection on Thursday after being sentenced to die for his role in the 1992 shooting death of a convenience store owner during a robbery. Littlejohn has admitted to his role in the robbery, but claims he did not fire the fatal shot. The state's Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 last month to recommend Gov. Kevin Stitt spare Littlejohn's life, but the governor has yet to make a clemency decision.
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The drama and conflict of the World War II era have inspired so many great novels from Atonement and The English Patient to The Book Thief and All The Light We Cannot See. But the sheer volume of these must-read books (as those above truly are) sometimes makes us crave a story that takes us to an entirely different time and place. These 10 historical fiction titles, all released within the last 10 years or so (most of them now in paperback), do just that.
Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward (2023)
The two-time National Book Award winner (for 2017s Sing, Unburied, Sing and 2011s Salvage the Bones) focuses her tale on Annis, a young woman enslaved by the white man who fathered her. He cruelly separates mother and daughter, and Annis is sent on a brutal march to a slave market in New Orleans. Shes strengthened by stories of her warrior ancestors as she struggles to retain her sense of self through the pain and terror of her journey. Oprah Winfrey chose this moving novel for her book club last year.
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The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts by Louis Bayard (2024)
Before he was jailed for sodomy in Victorian England, and way before he became a modern gay icon, playwright (Lady Windermeres Fan, The Importance of Being Earnest) and novelist (The Portrait of Dorian Gray) Oscar Wilde was a devoted husband and the father to two sons. Bayard starts this brand-new (September 17) novel, like many good British tales, at a country house. Thats where Wildes wife, Constance, a womens rights advocate and writer herself, comes to understand that their house guest, Lord Alfred Douglas, aka Bosie, is much more than a friend to her husband. The book follows the Wildes through Oscars 1895 imprisonment, his estrangement from his children and the couples separate exiles from England.
54 Miles by Leonard Pitts Jr. (2024)
Leonard Pitts Jr., a Pulitzer winner for his work as a columnist at the Miami Herald, sets this family saga in 1965 against the backdrop of the famous 54-mile Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Adam Simon, the 22-year-old Harlem-raised son of a Black mother and white father, ditches his senior year of college to volunteer registering voters. After he is badly beaten in the attack on protesters on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, his mother, Thelma, heads to Alabama, her home state. That elicits painful memories: Decades earlier she lost her parents to a lynching there a family secret shes kept from her son. Library Journal called it well-researched and powerfully written.
Owning a restaurant feeds the Manzano familys finances, but handling the complexities of running Tacos Manzano is no easy task. Working long hours, tracking overhead expenses, dealing with vendors, managing payroll and responding to unexpected crises takes time and effort. Who has energy left to plan for retirement?
Before owning the small business that opened in 2002 in North Hollywood, California, Socorro Manzano, 65, had some experience with traditional retirement savings plans. When I worked for another company, I had a 401(k) account, but I couldn't save much, and the returns were minimal, she says. I also had an IRA, but I realized that the money was just sitting there, not generating much income.
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She also realized early in her career that she was going to need more than Social Security benefits when it was time to retire. Around 2008, she knew she had to beef up her nest egg.
Oaxacan tacos and other authentic Mexican dishes are the specialty at Tacos Manzano near Los Angeles. Jessica Pons
I always thought that by working hard you could save, working hard in our own business, Manzano says. But I realized that I wasnt going to be able to be working at that capacity all the time for my entire life.
This realization led Manzano to diversify her retirement strategy. As we were working in the restaurant, we needed to invest in other things to be able to have a steady income for a more secure future, she says. For example, Manzano invested in real estate, buying two buildings that now yield rental income.
Auto IRAs an option in some places
Manzanos experience highlights a common challenge faced by Latino entrepreneurs and workers. About two-thirds of Latino private sector workers lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, according to an AARP study.
This gap in retirement planning is particularly pronounced in the small-business sector, where Latinos are creating businesses at a faster rate than any other racial or ethnic group, according to Census data and surveys collected by Stanfords yearly State of Latino Entrepreneurship report. The most recent Stanford report estimated there are nearly 5 million Latino-owned businesses in the United States that garner more than $800 billion in total annual revenue.
In Manzanos state of California, small-business workers have a state-facilitated option: CalSavers, an auto IRA savings program that enrolls employees whose workplaces do not provide a retirement benefit. Currently, employers with five or more workers that dont offer a retirement plan must be registered for CalSavers; those with four or fewer employees must do so by December 31, 2025. Employers pay no fees to participate in the program; employees are automatically enrolled in an IRA with a default contribution of 5 percent of their pay (they can opt out or adjust the rate at any time).
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.
Pollo en Mole Verde incorporates roasted chicken, green mole sauce, chayote, green beans and rice at Nixtamali Molina + Comedor, a New Mexican restaurant in San Antonio's Southtown. Mike Sutter/Staff The Hamburguesa Nixtamali includes guacamole, bacon, cheese, caramelized onions and a side of fries at Nixtamali Molina + Comedor, a New Mexican restaurant in San Antonio's Southtown. Mike Sutter/Staff The menu includes a tostada with tuna and a Caprese salad at Nixtamali Molina + Comedor, a New Mexican restaurant in San Antonio's Southtown. Mike Sutter/Staff Rib-eye steak tacos are served on house-made corn tortillas with a cheese crust at Nixtamali Molina + Comedor, a New Mexican restaurant in San Antonio's Southtown. Mike Sutter/Staff Enmoladas de Cordero are made with roasted lamb rolled in house-made corn tortillas with Oaxacan-style mole sauce at Nixtamali Molina + Comedor, a New Mexican restaurant in San Antonio's Southtown. Mike Sutter/Staff Fideo seco is slow-cooked vermicelli noodles on refried beans and cream at Nixtamali Molina + Comedor, a New Mexican restaurant in San Antonio's Southtown. Mike Sutter/Staff Nixtamali Molina + Comedor is a New Mexican restaurant in San Antonio's Southtown. Mike Sutter/Staff
When I think about the new Southtown Mexican restaurant Nixtamali Molino + Comedor, I cant help thinking of Joe King Carrasco. Stay with me here.
Carrasco and his band the Crowns punked their way through Texas and the national MTV zeitgeist in the 80s with the beer-bong anthem Party Weekend and the Spanglish groove of Bad Rap and Buena. They called their brand of Tex-Mex music nuevo wavo.
Nuevo wavo kept going through my head at Nixtamali, which opened in June at the former location of Southtown Pizzeria. You cant really call food that reaches deep into Mexicos regional culinary history new, but it feels like a wave to me. Something crashing into our either-or perception of Mexican food as either a mom-and-pop taqueria or a whitewashed chain with combo plates and T-shirts.
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Cochinita Pibil en Panuchos is roasted pork in a puffed tortilla with pickled red onion at Nixtamali Molina + Comedor, a New Mexican restaurant in San Antonio's Southtown. Mike Sutter/Staff
The wave at Nixtamali swept clean my slate of expectations. Not Tex-Mex, not Mexico City posh, not breakfast tacos at sunrise, but the vast landscape between them. A new wave? Not exactly. But certainly the next wave of Mexican food for Americans to love just as much. The moles of Oaxaca, the carnitas of Michoacan, the cochinita pibil of Yucatan. The food of Nixtamali.
At its heart, Nixtamali pays homage to corn, and to the process of turning corn into masa. Pass by the kitchen window and youll see the molino mounted in the center, a mill for grinding corn to prepare it for the transformative alchemy of nixtamalization on its way to becoming tortillas, tostadas, panuchos, gorditas, even sweet pan de elote for dessert.
Nixtamali Molina + Comedor is a New Mexican restaurant in San Antonio's Southtown. Mike Sutter/Staff
The molino inspired business partners David Zuazua and Humberto Celis to plan a tortilla facility, an idea that morphed into a full-blown restaurant when they reconnected with a longtime friend, chef Arturo Fernandez. His work might be familiar to San Antonians who visited Spoon Eatery in Castle Hills in 2018 or his elegant multicourse Mexican experiment in Olmos Park called Evo in 2020.
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A critics confession: I didnt give Evo the time or the respect it deserved. In dishes ranging from roasted duck to octopus al pastor to deshebrada beef with foie gras, Fernandez plated with an artists soul and an engineers precision. Evo deserved more time than the pandemic doomsday clock gave it.
Fernandez flies closer to the earth at Nixtamali, but he reaches for the clouds all the same.
Youll find familiar ideas at Nixtamali: tacos, enchiladas, tortilla soup. But even those San Antonio staples bring something unexpected to the table: tacos with grilled rib-eye and a layer of toasted cheese; enchiladas rendered as enmoladas with braised lamb and silky Oaxacan dark mole sauce; sopa de tortilla with a chile pasilla broth like liquid sparks poured tableside over fried tortilla strips and epazote leaves.
Sopa de tortilla is poured table side at Nixtamali Molina + Comedor, a New Mexican restaurant in San Antonio's Southtown. For Mike Sutter's review. Mike Sutter/Staff
The slow-roasting that turns pork, chiles and citrus into cochinita pibil produced an appetizer as robust as an entree, piled as tall as a drinking glass into two cushions of puffy fried masa called panuchos. And Im glad cactus is getting the attention it deserves with a nopales salad that paired the tart squeakiness of sliced and salt-cured paddles with cubes of panela cheese with the cross-cut acidity of pico de gallo.
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Fernandez capitalized on the seafood of Mexicos sprawling oceanfront property in ways both simple and complex. Simple with a tostada crowned by fresh cubes of soy-marinated tuna with crunchy onions, complex with a dish called Pulpo y Arroz Tumbado that included marble-white octopus, fantails of shrimp and rice with the stubborn elegance of paella in a hot iron skillet.
A dish called Pulpo y Arroz Tumbado includes octopus, shrimp and rice with a side of house-made tortillas at Nixtamali Molina + Comedor, a New Mexican restaurant in San Antonio's Southtown. Mike Sutter/Staff
Back on terra firma, Fernandez showed off his high-low dexterity with a sculpted ring of fideo seco noodles crowned with chorizo resting on refried black beans. Except those beans fanned out in a geometrically precise web striated with crema. And the art of the Mexican hamburguesa found its niche with an adobada-dusted bun, guacamole, juicy beef, a layer of cheese and thick curls of lightly breaded bacon. And because this is the house of Arturo Fernandez, it arrived with a sprig of flaming rosemary.
THE TOP 25: San Antonios best Mexican restaurants
The very best of Nixtamali, the very best of chef Fernandez, the very best dish in the house has to be Pollo en Mole Verde. Its one of those perfect plates of food, as satisfying as the perfect burger, the perfect No. 2 enchilada dinner, the perfect chicken-fried steak. The chicken, a clean-cut half of a bird, was roasted as lush as a passage by Octavio Paz, with skin like a sepia-toned memory and a mole that spoke to the passage of time in the language of herbs and seeds, in a bowl that suggested a more bountiful life, framed by harvests of ripe chayote. The flavors of home, wherever home may be.
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Im sorry, where was I?
So much of what Nixtamali does well can be traced to that corn mill in the kitchen. Weve come to expect so little from corn tortillas because most mass-produced corn tortillas deliver so little. But every tortilla at Nixtamali, every tostada, every bite of a fried quesadilla chilanga filled with chicharron carries the flavor, the texture and the reverence for corn.
House-made tostadas are served with taquera, morita and verde salsas and refried beans at Nixtamali Molina + Comedor, a New Mexican restaurant in San Antonio's Southtown. Mike Sutter/Staff
The spirit carried through even to the chips and salsa that start the Nixtamali experience, a basket of fried totopos with some of the best salsas in the city, including a smoky red morita, a tart verde and a habanero chicharron that will make you cry your way through happy hour.
Happy hours a recent addition to Nixtamalis repertoire. The restaurant started as a BYOB operation, but the new liquor license brought a full bar with margaritas, martinis, beer and wine. It also ushered in an entry-level Nixtamali experience, with a two-course lunch and happy hour menu for just $15.99. Call it a combo plate of sorts, but a combo that might include tableside tortilla soup and a tuna tostada; or fideo seco and Puerco en Adobo. Its one of the best values in the city for food at this level, augmented by Taco Tuesdays at $12.99 for three and $12.50 Burger Wednesdays.
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Thats important in a restaurant where entree prices hover a good 30% more than what were accustomed to paying for Mexican food. But were paying for so much more here. Were paying for better meat, better seafood, better sauces; were paying for next-level technique; were paying for food that throws open our minds to everything that Mexican food can be. Were paying to catch the next wave.
European auto industry leaders back Chinese EV brands in Europe
Xinhua) 08:10, September 25, 2024
Robots work at a welding workshop of Voyah, a Chinese electric auto brand, in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, April 1, 2024. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)
"The advanced technology and high quality of Chinese automotive companies can help strengthen the competitiveness of their European partners," said Andrea Levy, president of the 2024 Turin Auto Show, stressing that Europe-China cooperation should not be halted due to political reasons.
BRUSSELS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Healthy competition and cooperation promote further mutual progress for both European and Chinese automobile industries, European industry leaders and experts have said as some European Union (EU) policymakers move to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles (EVs).
If Chinese products are squeezed out of the European market, the competitiveness of European products will be further weakened, an expert has warned.
"COMPETITION MAKES PROGRESS"
"Only when car brands from various countries compete together can we all make progress," Andrea Levy, president of the 2024 Turin Auto Show, told Xinhua during a recent interview.
The three-day event, which was held recently in the northern Italian city of Turin, attracted over 40 global automakers and more than 500,000 visitors, with multiple models from Chinese automotive companies making their debut in Europe.
People visit the booth of Chinese carmaker Dongfeng on the 2024 Turin Auto Show in Turin, Italy, Sept. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
European car markers are good at design and marketing, while their Chinese counterparts excel in technology, Levy said.
"The advanced technology and high quality of Chinese automotive companies can help strengthen the competitiveness of their European partners," Levy said, stressing that Europe-China cooperation should not be halted due to political reasons.
Since China's reform and opening-up, the automotive industries of China and the EU have become increasingly intertwined.
EU companies have flourished in China, enhancing the development of China's automotive industry chain, and China has also provided an open market and a fair competitive environment for European companies, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said.
According to statistics from the European Federation for Transport and Environment, around 20 percent of all-electric cars sold across the EU last year, or 300,000 units, were made in China. More than half of them came from Western carmakers, such as Tesla, Dacia and BMW, which produce in China for export.
"FULL OF SENSE OF FUTURE"
There has been a lot of positive feedback from customers and experts for Chinese EVs across Europe.
"It is full of a sense of future," said Vincenzo Diglio, an Italian visitor at the show, as he marveled at the Chinese electric vehicles on display. "I believe that affordable and high-quality Chinese electric vehicles will become a part of the daily lives of European people in the future."
Founded in 1934, Gomes Noord is a long-standing authorized dealer of Mercedes-Benz in the Netherlands. Before introducing Voyah, a high-end electric vehicle brand from Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Corporation to its lineup, the company purchased three Voyah vehicles for thorough testing by their experienced technicians.
"Their response was excellent," said Kjeld Riegen, head of the Voyah brand at Gomes Noord. "Combined with information we gathered from other European car importers, we have full confidence in the quality of Dongfeng's products."
The company plans to open more Voyah showrooms in three other Dutch cities and launch the brand in Belgium in near future.
Vehicles of Chinese brands are seen on the 2024 Turin Auto Show in Turin, Italy, Sept. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
RISING OPPOSITION
The call for the EU to drop the tariff bid and oppose the trade war has been resonated widely in European academic circles, while quite a number of visionary political leaders have also expressed their disapproval.
Viktor Eszterhai, a research fellow at the John Lukacs Institute of Hungary's Ludovika University of Public Service, pointed out that Europe cannot distort the market just because it is at a competitive disadvantage, which could seriously backfire.
If Chinese products are squeezed out of the European market, the competitiveness of European products will be further weakened, he said.
While European consumers having less access to the most efficient EV products would be "a real tragedy," the potential to fail in the global market would be "a bigger problem," he said.
Croatian political analyst Mladen Plese noted that Europe should be ready for healthy competition with China, and must not follow the U.S. lead when it comes to tariffs on EVs.
European consumers will always seek to buy EVs that are better and cheaper, Plese said, adding that cooperation is in the interests of both Chinese and European manufacturers.
The EU has put forward the ambitious European Green Deal, aiming to turn Europe into the first climate-neutral continent in 2050, and the tariff hikes would only serve to distort its direction.
Eric Solheim, former United Nations (UN) under-secretary-general and former executive director of the UN Environment Program, said in an interview with Xinhua that China is now the core of global green development and an indispensable force in the global green transformation, noting that countries seeking green development without cooperating with China will "pay more time and cost."
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 26, 2023 shows the Tesla Gigafactory in Lingang new area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)
UTMOST SINCERITY
The European Commission initiated the anti-subsidy investigation without a formal complaint from the industries within the EU, and the rulings were "non-compliant, unreasonable, and unfair," the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has said.
As part of China's efforts to address the issue, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang chaired the China-EU Electric Vehicle (EV) Industrial Chain Enterprises Roundtable in Brussels on Sept. 18, an event that gathered leaders from nearly 30 European and Chinese EV, power battery, and parts sectors, as well as related industry associations.
A day later, Wang also met with the European Commission Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.
The ministry stressed in a statement released after the meeting that the Chinese industry proposed a price commitment solution during the investigation and further improved it based on the concerns of the EU, which fully demonstrated the utmost flexibility and sincerity from the Chinese side.
China has always exercised prudence and restraints in using trade remedy measures and upheld fair and free trade, said the statement.
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Milton A. Lee enlisted in the Army after graduating from Harlandale High School in 1967. Lee was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" in fighting North Vietnamese forces during the 1968 Tet Offensive. Courtesy of Milton Halls family
Milton A. Lee wanted to be a minister, but instead earned America's highest award for heroism in combat.
The contradictions of his brief life ran deep. He abhorred violence. It pained him to learn during Army basic training that soldiers were expected to shoot to kill the enemy "no wounding," he wrote with dismay to a friend back home.
Yet in his final hours, Lee, 19, led a furious counterattack on a pair of North Vietnamese positions on April 26, 1968. His heroics helped the 101st Airborne Division platoon win the battle that day. The effort cost him his life.
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Lee was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1970 "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity ... above and beyond the call of duty." The grandmother who raised him accepted the award on his behalf from President Richard M. Nixon.
This week, 56 years after Lee's death, Harlandale High School, his alma mater, and the 101st Airborne are paying tribute to him. The high school is renaming its Science Technology/JROTC building after him. A plaque in his honor is to be unveiled at the school during a ceremony at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The recognition comes as an estimated 30 living Medal of Honor recipients are headed to San Antonio for a weeklong gathering highlighted by a Patriot Awards Gala next Thursday, Oct. 3, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Country-western star George Strait will perform. The medal winners will visit military hospitals and schools.
It's the first time the annual Congressional Medal of Honor Celebration has been held in San Antonio, home to some of America's most famous military leaders and battlefield heroes. In all, at least 32 Medal of Honor recipients were born, raised, enlisted or retired here.
Retired Army Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady, a New Braunfels resident, is among dozens of Congressional Medal of Honor winners who are expected in San Antonio next week for the 2024 Congressional Medal of Honor Society Celebration. Jessica Phelps
Medal winners who are expected to arrive in the city Sunday include a pair of retired Army helicopter pilots Col. Bruce "Snake" Crandall, made famous in the movie "We Were Soldiers," and Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady as well as Army Lt. Gen. Robert Foley, a retired commander of the 5th U.S. Army (now U.S. Army North) at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.
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Lee, a native of Shreveport, La., was a radio telephone operator with the 2/502nd Battalion of the storied 101st Airborne Division Air Assault. He struck just about everyone who knew him as an unlikely warrior.
'Just so quiet'
Retired Army Maj. John Meehan, who performed alongside Lee in Harlandale High's marching band, said Lee didn't put on airs, unlike other seniors who couldn't be bothered to talk to sophomores.
Lee's origins were humble. He and his brother had been abandoned by their parents and were raised by grandparents in San Antonio. Lee's shoes were scuffed, and he didn't dress well, but he was bright and resourceful, armed with a self-effacing sense of humor.
As a boy, Lee dreamed of building model rockets that could reach the stars, which he described as "one of the most beautiful of God's creations." In high school, he loved talking politics and was a member of the Young Republicans. Meehan said he and his friend once speculated about who the Republican standard bearer would be in the 1968 presidential election.
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"I said Nixon, and he said no way, he was a two-time loser," recalled Meehan, now 72. "I dont think we ever talked about what he was going to be doing after he graduated. The last thing that I expected was that he would go into the Army. He was the last person I ever have thought would do what he actually ended up doing. He was just so quiet. He was not physical at all."
Lee's close friend Charles Nelson remembered him the same way.
"Milton was not an athlete," Nelson said in an interview years ago. "Milton was not a person you would imagine being a hero or medal winner, or much of a military man for that matter."
'Trying to be somebody'
Lee enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school in 1967. He was 18. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Robert Clark said Lee volunteered for jump school, or basic paratrooper training, after going through basic training and advanced individual training.
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"I think he was trying to be somebody," said Clark, now 76, a former commander of the 5th U.S. Army. "I think he was a very earnest kid who was trying to make something of his life."
Letters that Lee wrote to Nelson during the last few years of his life chronicle his evolution from a shy teenager into a soldier who clung to his Christian faith and innocence amid the carnage of Vietnam.
A month into basic training, he complained that things were "very tough" and worried about how much harder advanced infantry instruction would be. But the worst of it was what his fellow soldiers said and did.
"Charles, you cannot realize what a Christian is faced with here," he wrote in one letter to Nelson. "Everything under the sun. Sex, drinking, smoking, cussing, etc. I'm having a hard time. What is worse is that I am in my weakest spiritual condition I have ever known. Almost at the cliff's edge (if not at the edge). Charles, if you have ever prayed for me, please do it."
His fellow soldiers gave Lee a nickname: the preacher.
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By January 1968, Lee was in Vietnam for the start of the Tet Offensive, a series of surprise attacks by North Vietnamese troops on South Vietnamese and U.S. forces. He was haunted by what he saw.
"Children are being killed, women become widows, villages are burned and anything that moves is shot at," he wrote.
'He did not suffer'
On the last day of his life, Lee's platoon came under heavy fire from a force of North Vietnamese Army regulars in well-concealed bunkers near the city of Phu Bai in central Vietnam.
"With 50 percent casualties, the platoon maneuvered to a position of cover to treat their wounded and reorganize, while Pfc. Lee moved through the heavy enemy fire giving lifesaving first aid to his wounded comrades," according to his Medal of Honor citation.
"While advancing with the front rank toward the objective, Pfc. Lee observed four North Vietnamese soldiers with automatic weapons and a rocket launcher lying in wait for the lead element of the platoon." the citation states. "As the element moved forward, unaware of the concealed danger, Pfc. Lee immediately and with utter disregard for his own personal safety, passed his radio to another soldier and charged through the murderous fire.
"Without hesitation he continued his assault, overrunning the enemy position, killing all occupants, and capturing four automatic weapons and a rocket launcher. Pfc. Lee continued his one-man assault on the second position through a heavy barrage of enemy automatic-weapons fire. Grievously wounded, he continued to press the attack, crawling forward into a firing position and delivering accurate covering fire to enable his platoon to maneuver and destroy the position."
Lee kept squeezing off rounds until the enemy position was overrun. Then he collapsed.
In a letter to his grandparents, Capt. David H. Campbell wrote, "Death came immediately for Milton and he did not suffer."
Lee was buried in Grave 2475, Section Y, at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.
'Larger than life'
Fred Elsner had gotten to know Lee in Vietnam. The two privates from San Antonio drank beers and talked about their hometown.
Elsner was wounded in the same battle near Phu Bai. While recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, he had searched for Lee, not realizing he had died in the fighting.
"He was just a kind person," said Elsner, now 77, a retired homebuilder. "I hate to use the word sweet for a Medal of Honor recipient, but he was just a real honorable person. He was mild in nature and just really cared about people."
Retired Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Frank Garza, 73, a fellow Harlandale grad who played clarinet in the high school band, said Lee was a "larger than life" figure.
Dell Technologies has launched its latest festive campaign titled Sweets, positioning the PC as an indispensable tool for users. This reinforces Dells commitment to driving meaningful innovation and empowering customers through products equipped with cutting-edge technologies. By highlighting the integration of AI, the campaign aims to bring joy this festive season and demonstrate how technology can create opportunities in todays fast-paced digital world.
The campaign film, tells the story of a young man visiting a sweet shop, craving a traditional Indian dessert, kheer. Upon arriving, he learns that the recipe for this beloved treat has been forgotten. Despite suggestions among other patrons, no one can recall the exact ingredients. Determined to rediscover the lost recipe, the young man turns to Dells AI-powered Inspiron 14 Plus. Using AI-driven insights, he recreates the recipe, piecing it together bit by bit, with a little help from his grandmother. In a heartfelt conclusion, he shares the rediscovered delicacy with his newfound companions, making the festival more memorable.
Announcing the campaign, Mayuri Saikia, Director of Marketing, Consumer and Small Business, Dell Technologies, India, said, "The festive season in India brings a sense of cheer and excitement, often filled with nostalgia. Technology has the unique ability to connect people, making these moments even more special. Our latest campaign celebrates this spirit and highlights how AI has evolved into a vital part of our everyday lives, helping users discover new possibilities. With Dell's commitment to empowering people with the right technology and innovative products, we are enabling our customers to stay ahead and achieve desired outcomes."
Conceptualized and developed by VML, the campaign adopts an omni-channel strategy, launching interactive videos on Dell's social media platforms today. It will be amplified in multiple languages including Hinglish, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Marathi and will be promoted across a variety of platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. The campaign will also be promoted on Amazon, Spotify, and via media partners to maximize visibility and engagement. Dell is also collaborating with popular content creators and influencers to showcase the devices and highlight their use cases. Additionally, retail amplification and on-ground activations will take place in 35 cities and 60 locations nationwide.
Commenting on the campaign, Rohan Kumar from VML said, "Festivals today are filled with individuality and personality. Trends show that every celebration has its own unique touch. Food, being an integral part of any festival, brings its own distinct flavours to each occasion. This year, we wanted to highlight Dells range of AI-powered PCs, which can help people reconnect with their roots and make this festive season truly special."
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Groyyo, one of the pioneeriing cross-border manufacturing and supply chain enablement platforms in Asia in Fashion and Lifestyle is bolstering its leadership with important appointments. The company has onboarded Smita Verma Kansal, former SVP & Founding member at Geniemode as Chief Business Officer in Abu Dhabi. She brings with her vast expertise from her roles at Geniemode and Brands and Sourcing Leaders Association (BSL). The company also recently has announced the appointment of Alessandro Bertini as Vice President - Commercial, whose expertise in business development with brands, strategy, and assortment will be play a pivotal role in the expansion and growth of the company.
Under their leadership, Groyyo intends to transform its business expansion strategies and continue to innovate and build industry leading platform solutions, to fulfill its mission to digitize over 20 million SME Manufacturers across Asia & enable them to take their business global.
Smita Verma Kansal brings 26 years of experience in providing strategic and operations leadership in versatile and challenging situations. She possesses strong Sourcing, Negotiation & Management skills necessary for building successful business operations across multi product categories in Bangladesh and India region for UK, Europe & US Markets. An alumnus of IIM Kashipur and the prestigious NMIMS, Smita has served across various roles in Triburg, Li & Fung, PDS and Pepkor Global Sourcing.
Smita has been appointed as Chief Business Officer at Groyyo, where her focus will be on onboarding additional marquee international brands, building on the existing successful partnerships with Mango, Next, and Inditex. With the expertise she brings, she will also be a key decision maker in leading growth of the companys exports to the U.S. and further expand Groyyos global presence. Alessandro Bertini, fondly called Alex by his colleagues, brings extensive experience in the fashion industry, having worked with renowned brands such as MANGO, Massimo Dutti, Miroglio Group, Zalando. He has successfully managed business partnerships with Esprit, S.Oliver, Tom Tailor, Benetton Group, DK Group, Desigual, Armani, Next, and more in his previous roles.
Subin Mitra, Co-founder & CEO, Groyyo, said, The opportunity to bring technology to millions of SME Manufacturers across Asia has always been core to our vision. Having grown our gross margins to 15% in FY24, we are very excited to strengthen our leadership team with the appointment of Smita and Alex in key roles. Their vast experience in building scale in manufacturing and sourcing solutions across Asia adds a well poised growth path towards our mission to enable SME Manufacturers to take their business global.
Smita Verma Kansal, CBO, Groyyo, added, It is my pleasure to come onboard a dynamic and young company like Groyyo, where we are striving to add value to the textile manufacturing supply chain with technology. I believe my experiences have taught me a lot about this fast growing industry and the minute details that impacts small businesses significantly, that we at Groyyo aim to offer support on.
iProspect India has been awarded the digital media mandate for ARDEX ENDURA, a prominent brand in the construction chemicals sector. The agency secured the account after a competitive multi-agency pitch and will operate from its offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Under this mandate, iProspect, a digital-first media agency under dentsu India, will lead ARDEX ENDURAs digital transformation. This initiative will encompass social media and content development, SEO execution, and a website overhaul. The agency aims to enhance brand awareness, foster trust, and establish thought leadership while improving community engagement. iProspect will implement advanced strategies to increase search visibility and ensure an exceptional user experience on the redesigned website.
This collaboration highlights iProspect's dedication to driving brand growth through a combination of creativity and data-driven insights. By utilizing its strengths in media, technology, data, and content, iProspect plans to create bold, personalized digital experiences aimed at transforming ARDEX ENDURAs digital presence and positioning it to lead the market by 2030.
Vinod Thadani, CEO of iProspect India, expressed excitement about the partnership, stating, We are incredibly excited to embark on this new chapter with ARDEX ENDURA. This partnership is a true reflection of our unwavering commitment to driving impactful growth through sharp, data-backed digital strategies. The iProspect team has consistently demonstrated its expertise in the digital space, and we are eager to amplify ARDEX ENDURA's leadership in the industry, pushing the boundaries of innovation and success with strategy-driven nudges across platforms.
Anita Kotwani, CEO of Media, South Asia, dentsu, added, Welcoming ARDEX ENDURA to our clientele marks a significant strategic win for us. We are excited to have them onboard. Our mission is to elevate their digital presence and support their ambitious growth goals with innovative solutions. iProspects deep expertise in driving sustainable growth ensures long-term digital success for the brand. We are confident that our approach will be crucial in ARDEX ENDURAs journey to becoming the most trusted brand in its sector, paving the way for enduring growth and fostering meaningful engagement.
Gopinath Krishnan, Managing Director of ARDEX ENDURA, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, I'm thrilled to have iProspect onboard as our digital agency partner to drive our digital transformation journey forward. This collaboration marks a significant step in our mission to strengthen our digital presence and connect with our customers in more meaningful ways.
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Junglee Music, a division of Times Music, and Windows Production are set to captivate audiences once more with a sensational lineup of Bengali films. This powerhouse collaboration, which has been a benchmark in Bengali cinema since 2013, is gearing up to release four highly anticipated films, including Bohurupi (October 2024) and Amar Boss (December 2024), with two more blockbuster projects planned for future release.
This dynamic duo is renowned for their success, with previous collaborations such as Belaseshe, Belashuru, Gotro, Konttho, and Rosogolla. Their track record of hits has established Junglee Music and Windows Production as leaders in innovative music storytelling.
The upcoming releases are generating significant buzz, especially with the track Dakatiya Banshi. This highly anticipated item song, composed by the renowned Bonnie Chakraborty and featuring vocals by Shrestha Das, Nanichora Das Baul, and Bonnie Chakraborty himself, is set to be one of the biggest hits of the year with its distinctive sound and engaging rhythm.
Mandar Thakur, CEO of Junglee Music/Times Music, shared his enthusiasm, "Our collaboration with Windows Production has always yielded remarkable results. Together, weve created music that not only resonates with Bengali audiences but also reaches listeners across the country. With our upcoming projects, we are excited to continue this legacy."
Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Co-Founder of Windows Production, added, "Our association with Junglee Music has been a remarkable journey of over 10 years, beginning in 2013. Together, we've given the Bengali film industry some of its most iconic hits, such as Rangabati and Tapa Tini. Junglee Music has played a pivotal role in bringing our cinematic stories to life through music, and their support has been invaluable to us. As we look forward to the release of Bohurupi and Aamar Boss later this year, we are thrilled to announce the launch of yet another dance anthem from Bohurupi today. With this track, we are hoping for a hat trick. We believe this song will continue the legacy of our historic association with Junglee Music and once again strike a chord with audiences."
"Bohurupi" is set to hit theaters on October 8th, with the full album releasing on October 6th across all music streaming platforms.
Watch the video on the Times Music Bangla YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/wF9oo8dJ5t4
The Navabharat Group has announced the Navabharat Influencer Awards Honoring Social and Digital Excellence 2024, set to take place on Thursday, September 26, 2024, at the Taj-The Trees hotel in Vikhroli, Mumbai.
This landmark event will bring together some of the most impactful figures from social and digital media, celebrating their contributions to society and the nation across diverse categories.
Gracing the occasion as the Chief Guest will be Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari. Joining him as Guests of Honour are Shri Praful Patel, Working President of NCP and MP, Advocate Ashish Shelar, BJP Mumbai President, and Dr. Shrikant Shinde, Member of Parliament.
The Navabharat Influencer Awards 2024 is powered by Tunwal E-Motors Limited and Apollo Hospitals, with Radio City 91.1 FM as the radio partner, Ruby Hall Clinic as the Healthcare Partner, Alard University as the Education Partner, and Wallop Advertisings as the outdoor partner.
These awards are set to recognize excellence across a range of categories, such as Star Influencer, Automotive & Aviation, Sports, Fashion, Technology, Infotainment, Health, Fitness, Music, and many more, acknowledging influencers who have made remarkable contributions in their respective fields.
A distinguished jury, including Padma Shri Gagan Narang, acclaimed filmmaker Ramesh Sippy, actor Bharat Dabholkar, art director Josy Paul, KVIC Director Yogesh Bhamare, FMCG expert Dr. Bhavna Shah, and senior journalist Ravikant Mittal, alongside Navabharats editorial board, will evaluate and select the awardees.
With this inaugural event, Navabharat is making a bold statement in the social and digital media landscape, setting a new standard for recognizing influencers who go beyond the reel screen to create real impact in the world.
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The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) is pleased to announce the relaunch of its new Global Advisory Board, a strategic initiative designed to bolster the Associations international reach and reinforce its status as the worlds largest professional body for PR professionals.
The Global Advisory Board will focus on four key workstreams: Talent, Ethics, Innovation, and Future. Each workstream aims to address crucial aspects of the PR industry, driving forward best practices and ensuring the sector's continued growth and relevance on a global scale.
Talent: This workstream is dedicated to addressing talent-related challenges within the industry. Key areas of focus include bridging the gap between education and the workplace, enhancing recruitment strategies, and improving training and salary benchmarking. The board will also address social impacts and refine the PRCAs approach to education.
Ethics: Building on the achievements of the PRCA Ethics Council, this workstream will work to lift ethical standards in the global PR industry. Key activities will include developing ethical codes of conduct, creating forums for ethical debate, and sharing best practices. Collaboration with the PRCA Standards Committee and efforts in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) will also be central to this workstream.
Innovation: This workstream will explore a wide range of issues related to innovation in public relations practice. It will focus on the impact of emerging technologies, such as AI, on the industry, as well as thought leadership on technological and media trends shaping public relations.
Future: This workstream will advocate for the PR industrys role in a rapidly changing world. It will address the global operations of PR agencies, the industry's response to geopolitical shifts, and strategies for enhancing the sectors visibility and influence.
The PRCAs Global Advisory Board is composed by:
Nitin Mantri, Regional Executive Managing Director, APAC I WE Comms & Group CEO, Avian WE
Lee Nugent, Regional Director, APAC at Archetype (Vice Chair) (SEA)
Mary Beth West, Consultant at Mary Beth West (USA)
Ahmad Itani, Founder & CEO at Cicero & Bernay Communication Consultancy (MENA)
Alex Aiken (UK)
Barbara Phillips, Founder at Brownstone Communications (UK)
Caroline Hsu, Chief Global Officer at The Hoffman Agency
Paul Cohen, Partner, CEO North America at Milk & Honey (USA)
Patricia Avila, Regional Director at Agora (Brazil)
Jim Donaldson, CEO and Founder at the Jim Donaldson Partnership (UK)
Kwame Senou, Executive Director at THOP (Ivory Coast)
Viroslava Novosylna, CEO & Founder at Slova Tech PR (Ukraine)
Ipelegeng Thibedi, Chief Executive Officer, Africa at Weber Shandwick (South Africa)
Omar Qirem, Chief Executive Officer, Middle East, and Deputy Chair of Corporate Affairs, EMEA at Edelman (MENA)
PRCA Global Advisory Board Chair, Nitin Mantri, said,The PRCA Global Advisory Board is uniquely positioned to shape the evolution of PR by navigating the complex interplay between business, society, and geopolitics. As Chair, I see this as a critical opportunity to bring diverse perspectives together, set new standards, and redefine communications. Our role is transformative, and I am excited about the potential of this board to elevate the value we bring to brands and communities alike.
PRCA Global Advisory Board Vice Chair, Lee Nugent, said, Im honoured to have been appointed to the PRCAs Global Advisory Board and look forward to working with my fellow board members and the PRCA team, helping the organisation to continue to successfully serve our international membership base. I look forward to helping members drive professional best practice in communications, no matter where in the world theyre located.
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Badlapur Sexual Assault: Cop Shinde Kills Shinde 2
On August 13, two kindergarten girls were sexually abused in a school toilet by a 23-year-old employee named Akshay Shinde in Badlapur. Shinde was employed on a contractual basis on August 1. The incident came to light when one of the victims narrated her suffering to her parents. The news spread across Badlapur. There was a huge protest across Maharashtra because police refused to register the case. Following the protest, Shinde was arrested by the police. There was a Rail roko protest at Badlapur railway station with hundreds of protesters blocking railway tracks, hindering train operations. Police later removed the protesters from the site. The ruling Mahayuti alliance suspended policemen who refused to initially file an FIR in the sexual abuse case. Later, three police officers were also suspended.
The Maharashtra government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incidence. People call for bandh. Parents and others protest and vandalise the school where the two girls were sexually abused. They later protested at the Badlapur railway station for over 10 hours, demanding that the accused be hanged in public. The principal and two staffers working at Badlapur school were suspended. Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court took note of the case, questioning why no action was taken against the school.
SIT begins a probe into the case; during the investigation, SIT adds Pocso sections against the school principal, secretary, and chairman for not reporting the crime. The Bombay High Court urged the Maharashtra government to brief boys to be able to build a safe environment for girls to grow in society. It made the judgement while hearing a plea in the Badlapur sexual assault case.
On September 16, SIT filed its first chargesheet in the case, based on the complaint of one of the girls. Akshay Shinde, a sweeper employed at the school, was arrested on August 17 for sexually abusing the two girls, aged four and five, in a school toilet four days ago. The incident had triggered widespread protests. On September 19, SIT filed its second chargesheet in the case, based on the second girls complaint.
Akshay Shindes former wife also filed a sexual assault case against him; he was also the prime accused who sexually abused two kindergarten girls at a school in Badlapur. While Akshay was taken to Badlapur from Taloja jail for investigations in the case. When the police team carrying Akshay neared the Mumbra bypass, he snatched the gun of a constable and fired at the cops escorting him. In retaliation, Sanjay Shinde fired at him. Akshay was critically injured in the firing and died at the hospital. However, his family has challenged the police claim of the events that led to his death in custody. They denied that he could fire at the cops and alleged they had pressured him to confess his role in the rape case. The encounter triggered a war of words between the Maharashtra government and the opposition.
Interestingly, Sanjay Shinde, the police inspector who shot dead Badlapur sexual assault case accused Akshay Shinde, has worked with suspended former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma in the past, who was known as an encounter specialist. Pradeep Sharma was popular as an encounter specialist in the Mumbai Police, credited with eliminating over 100 criminals during his career. After every encounter, the same theory was given to the media: that the police opened fire at the accused in self-defence.
Kangana Ranaut Controversy: Calls to Reinstate Farm Laws Amid BJP Denial 2
BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has stirred controversy with her remarks advocating for the reinstatement of the farm laws, which were repealed by the Modi government in 2021. Ranaut clarified that her views on the subject are personal and do not represent the official stance of the BJP.
In a statement posted on social media platform X, Ranaut reiterated, My views on Farmers Laws are personal and they dont represent the partys stand on those Bills. These comments followed her statements made during a recent event in Mandi, where she suggested that the farm laws faced opposition primarily in certain states.
"I take my words back," says BJP MP #KanganaRanaut a day after making a controversial statement about reinstating three farm bills that had been repealed.
#KanganaRanaut #FarmBill #BJP pic.twitter.com/fQ5O2iyrhA Afternoon Voice (@Afternoon_Voice) September 25, 2024
The Congress has quickly capitalized on Ranauts remarks, claiming they signal an underlying intention by the BJP to bring back the contentious farm laws. With Haryana assembly elections scheduled for October 5, the timing of this controversy is particularly noteworthy, given the state was a major hub for farmer protests against the laws in 2021.
Although the Modi government had repealed the farm laws following widespread protests, Ranauts statements have sparked fresh political debates, with opposition parties questioning whether the ruling BJP might reconsider its decision in the future.
A San Antonio police officer was dragged across the parking lot of a QuikTrip by a man accused of beer theft. Ken Branca
A San Antonio police officer was dragged across a QuikTrip parking lot when he approached a 41-year-old man making a beer run.
At about 10 p.m., two officers were in their patrol vehicle outside the convenience store, located in the 10000 block of Huebner Road, when a QuikTrip employee ran out of the store and told them that a man driving a blue 2022 Ford Mustang had stolen beer.
One of the officers confronted the man sitting in his vehicle. The officer identified himself as he opened the door to the man's vehicle, which was stopped. The man drove off with the officer hanging on the door, according to the police report.
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The man dragged the officer across the parking lot before stopping the vehicle.
The officer suffered minor injuries during the incident.
The 41-year-old was arrested and charged with aggravated assault on a peace officer, evading arrest, possession of a controlled substance, and theft under $2,500.
The Alabama Attorney Generals Office Wednesday signaled that it would appeal a federal court ruling blocking a portion of a new state law criminalizing some forms of absentee ballot assistance.
U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor Tuesday ruled that a portion of the law violated the federal Voting Rights Act, which allows blind, disabled and illiterate voters to choose a person to assist them with filling out a form.
The appeal had not been filed as of Wednesday morning.
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SB 1, sponsored by Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, made it a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for a person to knowingly receive payment for distributing, ordering, requesting, collecting, completing, prefilling, obtaining or delivering an application. A person convicted of knowingly paying or providing a gift to a third party to distribute, order, request, collect, prefill, complete, obtain or deliver would be subject to a Class B felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Messages were left Wednesday morning with the Attorney Generals office and a spokesperson for the plaintiffs attorneys.
The Muscogee Creek Nation on Wednesday argued for its right to repatriate the remains of ancestors and protect a sacred site in Alabama that is now home to the Wind Creek Casino.
Hickory Ground is sacred as the final resting place for some of the nations most significant military leaders, tribal leaders and spiritual leaders, attorney for the Muscogee Creek Nation, Mary Kathryn Nagle, said in her opening argument in federal appeals court in Atlanta.
She said the Muscogee tribe occupied the land in Alabama before being forcibly removed to Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears.
But the Poarch Creek attorney, Mark Reeves, argued that Poarch Band of Creek Indians have tribal sovereignty over the Alabama site and can make decisions about its development. He defended the tribes historical claim to the site.
We absolutely do have a longstanding attachment, he told the court. We have a shared history of that property with the Muscogee Nation.
The lawsuit demands that the casino on the site be torn down and that remains be returned to the Muscogee Creek Nation. It also alleges Auburn University, which was involved in excavating the remains, violated the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act by failing to return ancestors remains to their descendants.
Judges in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asked questions about sovereign immunity, ownership of the land, preservation requirements and each tribes historic claim to the site. Chief Judge William Pryor stated that he was sympathetic to many of the Muscogee Creek concerns and that the lower court erred in not parsing out sovereign immunity claims on a claim-by-claim basis.
RaeLynn Butler, Secretary of Culture and Humanities at the Muscogee Nation, said loopholes in federal laws allowed the remains to be mishandled.
We want to seek justice, we want healing, we want to see those remains be returned, that everything be reburied,
The lawsuit is an attack on tribal sovereignty, said Stephanie Bryan, Tribal Chair and CEO for the Poarch Creek Band of Indians. She compared it to Georgia telling Alabama what to do with its land. She said her tribe has followed every regulation and the Muscogee Creeks repatriation guidelines in handling remains that she said were relocated and reburied on the site.
We are Creek people from that area, and we have respected our ancestors, she said, adding that the Poarch tribe has tried to work with the Muscogee Creek for a resolution. The demand to tear the building down and put the ancestors back in place is unreasonable.
She said back in the 80s when her tribe bought the land, they asked the Muscogee Creeks in Oklahoma to join them in the purchase and the tribe said no.
The appeals judges will rule on whether to send the case back to the district court.
The case also alleges workers moved 57 peoples remains and other artifacts and left them in storage without adequate temperature control, according to the original lawsuit filed in 2019.
Although the Trail of Tears separated Mekko Thompson and the members of Hickory Ground Tribal Town from the final resting place of their relatives, the protection and preservation of the original Hickory Ground site remains of paramount importance to their spirituality, religion, and general mental health and well-being, the appeal said.
Muscogee Creek Nation Mekko, or Chief, George Thompson is the plaintiff in the suit.
Both tribes claim to have a historical connection to the Hickory Ground site. The Muscogee Creek claim that the Poarch Creek, distant relatives, are instead from an area farther South in Atmore, Alabama.
Butler said repatriation is a human rights issue. She said their ancestors did not get the respect they deserved. They have been disrupted on their journey and they have also been held hostage.
Much of the argument on Wednesday centered around whether the Poarch Creeks tribal sovereignty gave them authority to make decisions to develop or further build on the land or whether the constraints of the federal protections restrict their ability to make changes to the site without the approval of the Muscogee Creek and other preservation officials.
The Muscogee Creek allege that the Poarch Creek failed to meet their obligation to preserve the site when they built the casino.
The Muscogee tribe appealed its lawsuit against the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Auburn University and federal officials after a lower court ruled against its claims in 2021.
Auburn University declined to comment due to ongoing litigation.
Hickory Ground in Wetumpka was the sacred site and capital of the Muscogee Creek before federal troops forced the tribe to walk 800 miles to Oklahoma as part of the Trail of Tears.
The conflict between the two tribes over the site has been ongoing for many years. In 1980, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians purchased the land. The National Park Service delegated preservation responsibilities to the Poarch Creek in 1999 and the tribe began constructing a bingo hall. Since then, it has expanded the building to be the Wind Creek Casino.
Muscogee Nation originally filed a lawsuit in 2012 which was not successful.
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt introduced bipartisan legislation on Tuesday to put warning labels on social media platforms.
Britt, R-Ala., said she is especially concerned with the mental health risks for children and adolescents who use social media.
We know that warning labels wont prevent the American people from using the app, and thats not the point, Britt told reporters. But theyre able to have their eyes wide open before they engage with the product.
The bill, which is co-sponsored by Sen. John Fetterman, D-PA, would require the Federal Trade Commission to come up with a warning statement that users of all ages must acknowledge before they can access any social media platform.
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy first called for warning labels on social media in June, writing in the New York Times that the mental health crisis among young people is an emergency and social media has emerged as an important contributor.
Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms., The average daily use among people 12 to 15 in 2023 was 4.8 hours , according to the surgeon general.
Suicide was the second leading cause of death among kids between the ages of 10-14 and the third leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 15-24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions most recent data .
In 2021, Alabama had a higher rate of high schoolers experiencing hopelessness and suicide ideation than most other states in the nation, according to the Youth Risk Behavior survey conducted by the CDC. Alabama stopped participating in the survey, which collects data from young people about their health and mental health, in 2022.
Murthy said that while a warning label alone wont make social media safe for use, it would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe.
According to Britt, the surgeon generals call is what inspired the legislation.
She said warning labels, like those on cigarettes, do have a track record of success.
Experts have said that the most effective warning labels are ones that include graphic images instead of only words, though overall they are often ineffective because people typically ignore them .
Along with a warning label, the bill will also require social media platforms to include links to mental health resources, like the 988 suicide hotline.
It is a cautionary measure that will provide those most in need with necessary resources. Its an important step towards creating a safer internet for all Americans, and doing so without limiting our freedom to use social media, Britt said.
The senator said she expects broad bipartisan support on this bill and opposition from tech companies.
If Big Tech has the best interest of its users in mind, I think a proper warning about the effects is something they should be on board with; but I unfortunately dont expect them to put people over profits, Britt said.
Britt has also sponsored recent legislation that would prevent children from using social media apps until they turn 13 and prevent algorithms from targeting children. She has also called supported legislation that would require schools to block social media sites from their Wi-Fi in order to receive federal funding.
As adults, there have been moments that we have had that are challenging as a result of being connected on social media. You put those challenges on an adolescent or a teenager, and you realize how hard this is to navigate through, Britt said. I am hopeful that we can get it over the finish line, I think that the next generation deserves that promise.
A bill to ban devices that convert semi-automatic handguns to automatic fire has support from Alabama lawmakers in both parties, even in a statehouse generally leery of any restrictions on firearms.
After a mass shooting outside the Hush lounge in Birmingham, Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, chair of the Senate Rules Committee, told AL.com he had decided to support a ban on Glock switches.
That brings it pretty close to home, Waggoner said, of the shooting that killed four and injured 17. Police said shooters used a trigger activator, or Glock switch, to spray a crowd of people with gunfire.
Support from Waggoner, and other Republicans in the House and Senate, will be crucial for HB26, prefiled for the 2025 session and sponsored by Rep. Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery.
Ensler has introduced the measure twice before, and made progress with his bill during the 2024 legislative session. Law enforcement officials came to the State House to show their support. The bill passed the House by a vote of 60-38 but died without a vote in the Senate.
Alabama House Democrats already have released a statement urging support of a similar measure in the next session. Twenty-four other states, including those with Republican leadership, have passed laws that ban or regulate Glock switches or similar conversion devices, according to advocacy group Everytown.
AL.com called and emailed all 35 state senators to gauge the chances for the bill in 2025. A number of Republicans said they would support the measure if it was narrowly tailored to target Glock switches.
I understand what mayors and law enforcement officials are asking for, said Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, who said he was suspicious of a gun bill sponsored by a Democrat. This is already illegal. Its against federal law to have a modified Glock switch like this. We can do this too, but its already illegal. Im not sure how beneficial it would be. But if its truly a bill banning Glock switch, I think Id be in favor of that.
Other legislators, however, remain skeptical. Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Sheffield, said he had not read Enslers bill yet and he would wait for the new session to form an opinion. He also said that he doubts that he would be in favor of a bill banning Glock switches.
I doubt it. I think its a societal problem, not what kind of gun it is, he said.
Since the Birmingham shooting, Mayor Randall Woodfin has asked for action from the legislature, saying laws need to change for police to have the necessary tools to enforce safety.
Ensler called the Birmingham shooting horrific and tragic.
These conversions just make pistols so much more deadly and dangerous, he said. And we need to do what we can to protect and save lives.
Why add state ban on Glock switches?
Glock switches already are illegal under federal law. Ensler and supporters of his bill, including those in law enforcement, said a state law would strengthen local officials ability to act. Several other states are considering similar measures.
Currently, if local police or sheriffs find a Glock switch, they have to turn the case over to federal officials, who decide whether or not to prosecute.
Glock switches, illegal devices used to convert semiautomatic weapons to automatic, on display at news conference by federal prosecutors in Montgomery.(Mike Cason/al.com)
Federal officials have been cracking down on conversion devices in recent years, but say it is hard to keep up.
What this will do is allow district attorneys in Alabama to prosecute those cases, Ensler said. The hope is that by having a state-level ban knowing that district attorneys can prosecute these cases, hopefully it deters some use of these weapons. Its another mechanism to hold people accountable should they be found with them. It expands the ability of law enforcement to be able to try to prevent some of these horrific incidents that happen because of these guns.
Enslers bill would ban possession of a a pistol that has a part or combination of parts designed or intended to convert a pistol into a machine gun installed on or attached to the pistol. Violations would be a Class C felony, punishable by one to 10 years in prison.
Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr said a state law would give prosecutors and law enforcement an important tool.
To make a pistol, a regular gun, into basically a machine gun, we all see the dangers in that and the carnage that leaves behind, Carr said. What we need, in all honesty, is our state legislature to pass a law that makes the mere possession and manufacturing of a Glock switch a mandatory jail offense. That would be huge.
At a news conference last year on the rising threat of converted machine guns, Ashley Lightner of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Glock switches allow a semiautomatic handgun to fire 20 rounds in one second.
Law enforcement officials say handguns modified with trigger activators are hard for the shooter to control because they are not designed for automatic fire. That raises the risk to bystanders.
It aint meant for target shooting, Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham said earlier this year. Its meant for spraying and its meant for killing.
Will the bill pass?
Ensler has key Republican co-sponsors in the House, - Reps. Allen Treadaway of Morris, Russell Bedsole of Shelby County, and Rex Reynolds of Madison County. All three have law enforcement backgrounds. Treadaway was an assistant police chief in Birmingham, Reynolds was police chief in Huntsville, and Bedsole is a captain with the Shelby County sheriffs department. Treadaway chairs the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, which will handle Enslers bill. That bodes well for it passing the House again.
The bill won approval in the Senate Judiciary committee this year, putting it in position to pass, but it never came up for a vote.
Should the bill pass the House again, the key will be support from the Senate Republican caucus, which holds 27 of 35 Senate seats.
Reporters received answers from 12 Republicans and four Democrats as of Tuesday evening:
Eight Republicans who support the bill
Four Republicans who are undecided
Four Democrats who support the bill
Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said he intends to introduce his own bill to ban Glock switches.
There are too many innocent people who are getting hurt, Smitherman said. Too many. And a lot of them are not even the intended people to be hurt. But because of the way that device takes that gun and sprays bullets everywhere, it has become basically a public safety hazard, a public crisis, a health crisis.
Smitherman said he would also support legislation to impose an automatic sentence of life-without-parole for someone who kills a person with a gun altered by a Glock switch, and an automatic life sentence for a person who injures someone with such a weapon.
That approach could be similar to what the Legislature did when it passed a new law to crack down on dangerous and deadly street racing and exhibition driving in Birmingham and other Alabama cities. The law calls for jail time and vehicle impoundment for some offenses that previously resulted only in a traffic ticket.
Sen. Robert Stewart, a Democrat who represents District 23 in Selma and other parts of west Alabama, said a ban on trigger activators is a common sense move for public safety.
These devices pose a serious threat to our communities, and its our duty to protect Alabamians from harm, Stewart said.
Some lawmakers question the need for a new law considering that Glock switches are already illegal under federal law. Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, said he would review the bill and be inclined to support it if it mirrors federal law. But he does not want to commit yet.
Im not saying its a bad idea, Melson said. Im just saying I didnt know it was needed.
Melson said he is skeptical that a new law would stop those carrying out crimes from getting their hands on the devices, but did acknowledge there is a problem.
Something needs to be done, Melson said.
Read more: Why gun control isnt the top political issue in 2024
Republican senators who said they would support a ban on Glock switches if the bill is narrowly tailored include Elliott, Waggoner, and Sens. Greg Albritton of Atmore, Lance Bell of St. Clair County, Donnie Chesteen of Geneva, Arthur Orr of Decatur, Dan Roberts of Mountain Brook, and Jack Williams of Wilmer.
Republican senators who were undecided were Melson, Stutts, and Sens. Clyde Chambliss of Prattville and David Sessions of Mobile County.
Democratic senators who said they support the bill were Smitherman, Stewart and Sens. Merika Coleman of Pleasant Grove and Vivian Davis Figures of Mobile.
The 2024 House roll call on Enslers previous bill was taken by voice vote. No individual votes were recorded.
Ensler said HB 26, a three-page bill, focuses only on Glock switches and should not be considered an effort to restrict gun rights.
Its not a gun control, its not a take-away guns, its not an infringement on the Second Amendment, Ensler said. Its simply a public safety measure. And for that reason Im optimistic well pass it this coming year.
AL.com staff writer Williesha Morris contributed to this report.
A Hoover man and father of six adult children is under arrest after authorities say he tried to hire someone to kill his wife and kids.
The FBI in Birmingham this week arrest 61-year-old Mohammad A.H. Mohammad, who owns American Plumbing Service LLC in Homewood.
Mohammad is charged with use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
Charging documents against Mohammad chronicles years of a contentious divorce with his 55-year-old wife that included threats of violence and the torching of his familys vehicles, and months of him allegedly planning to have them all murdered.
Authorities contend Mohammad offered the hitman, who was an undercover FBI employee, $20.000 to kill his wife, and $5,000 for each of his six children.
Mohammad reportedly told a witness who is cooperating with the FBI and who was asked to find someone to carry out the hit that he was willing to die for self-dignity and die for pride.
Mohammad and his marital discord was nothing new to law enforcement.
Hoover officers in 2021 arrested him on a domestic violence charge for assaulting one of daughters. Those charges were subsequently dismissed.
Mohammads wife that same year obtained three Protection from Abuse orders against her husband, in which she said genuinely feared him because he had told her he would come after her.
Mohammad has hurt me and my kids and used weapons against us, she wrote. Mohammad said he wanted to shoot my daughter between the eyes.
The wife also said in PFAs that Mohammad threatens to lock us in the basement and kill us. He always threatens me and my children with violence. He has put his hands on my kids and sent them to the emergency room. He has put a gun and knife against my kids heads and throats. He has shot guns at us.
In 2022, Homewood police arrested Mohammad on a stalking charge for placing GPS tracking devices on the cars of his wife and children.
On Jan. 3, 2023, Hoover police and firefighters responded to a home on a report of a vehicle arson. The burned vehicle was associated with a close friend of Mohammads wife.
The suspects vehicle in that case had been bought by Mohammad.
The following day, a pickup truck belonging to one of Mohammads sons was set on fire in the driveway of the familys home.
In September 2023, according to charging documents, another sons SUV and three other vehicles were burned in a suspicious fire.
Nine months ago, in December 2023, the wife received a call from a man on behalf of Mohammad in an attempt to reconcile, but she refused.
Twelve hours later, documents state, a daughters Toyota Avalon was torched at her home.
Mohammad was arrested for violation of a protective order and his bond on the stalking charge was revoked.
During a court hearing, authorities introduced an audio recording captured by a witness. A witness said to Mohammad, If you hurt them (Mohammads family), youll got to hell forever.
Mohammad replied, No, God will reward me.
Mohammads bond was revoked but he was released again in February 2024. He was ordered to wear and ankle monitor, and the PFAs remained in place.
Last month, on Aug. 21, a cooperating witness told FBI agents that Mohammad made repeated requests to help him find someone to take care of his family members.
Mohammad described the break down with his wife and children including his arrests and instances of arson involving his family members, the agent wrote in the federal complaint.
Mohammad showed the witness pictures of burned vehicles on his phone and explained that he felt his pride and self-dignity had been destroyed throughout the falling-out with his family over the last few years.
The witness told Mohammad that people from his culture were killing people every day.
Mohammad responded, Find me somebody then. Find me somebody. Ill pay. All I need is a number.
Mohammad, according to federal agents, paid for a hotel room for the witness in compensation for giving him a name and number of a possible hitman.
On Aug. 26, the witness called Mohammad and said he was getting him someone to do it. I need this shit done, Mohammad told him.
An FBI undercover employee posed as the hitman, and the witness agreed to set up a meeting.
Two days later, an unidentified man bought two Straight Talk Wireless Samsung Galaxy cell phones and two unlimited phone cards from Walmart in Homewood at the price of $257.20.
Walmart security footage showed Mohammads truck dropping off the unknown buyer, who was wearing a t-shirt with Mohammads plumbing company name on it.
The planning continued, all over the newly-purchased burner phones.
On Sept. 4, 2024, the other Straight Talk Wireless cell phone provided to the undercover FBI employee was activated.
On Sept. 21, Mohammad met with the undercover employee and an undisclosed location.
During the meeting, Mohammad explained how his family had turned against him, the agent wrote. Mohammad claimed that his family had set him up to be arrested and removed from his family home.
Mohammad showed the undercover employee pictures of burned cars and burned structures belonging to his family. He also showed them pictures of his family members and provided him with descriptions of their vehicles, and their addresses.
Mohammad showed the FBI UCE photographs from Mohammads Apple
He offered the hitman $20,000 to kill his wife, and $5,000 each for his children.
You pick and choose who you gunna take out, and get paid, Mohammad told him.
Start with one. Take your time. Second. Third. Fourth. Five. I dont give (expletive). Just, start with one. Whats going to be to charge, start with one?
Mohammad provided the FBI employee $550 as a down-payment for the murders, with the understanding that the remaining balance would be paid upon the deaths of the intended targets.
Mohammad was taken into federal custody on Monday.
A massive amount of reward money offered for information in the deadly mass shooting in Birminghams Five Points South is pulling in dozens of tips.
Since the $100,000 reward was announced Monday, Crime Stoppers of Metro Alabama has received close to 50 tips.
We havent seen anything like this since the Carlee Russell case, when we were getting a tip about every three minutes, said Crime Stoppers Executive Director Bob Copus. Weve been very busy above normal.
By far, were seeing a huge outpouring from the community concerning this violent crime, Copus said. The community has had enough.
The search continues for the gunman who unleashed fully automatic gunfire into a crowd of people outside Hush lounge Saturday night.
Killed were Carlos DeJuan McCain, 27, Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr., 26, Tahj Booker, 27 and Anitra Holloman, a 21-year-old single mother who lost her boyfriend to gun violence two years ago.
Seventeen other people were wounded, including four who sustained life-threatening injuries.
Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond has said investigators are still working on the theory that the barrage of automatic gunfire was a hit -- a murder-for-hire targeting at least one of the men killed in the shooting.
He said he wont identify who police believe was the target, but two of the victims have been implicated in previous Birmingham killings.
There could be multiple motives for the one individual we believe was targeted. Others could have been targeted, Thurmond said. Were still looking into that.
Some of the individuals killed have extensive criminal histories and because of that, theres often motivation from others, and theres people willing to pay to have them killed, the chief said.
More than 100 shots were fired just after 11 p.m. along Magnolia Avenue.
Birmingham police on Tuesday declined to comment on the status of the investigation, but no arrests have yet been made.
The FBI and ATF are assisting police in the probe.
Thurmond said hes confident they will get those responsible.
Were going to hunt you down and were going to arrest you, the chief said Monday. 100 percent.
The FBI and Crime Stoppers of Metro Alabama have announced a combine reward of up to $100,000 for information in a shooting that killed four, and wounded 17 others.(Contributed)
Woodfin said this about the unidentified shooters:
Its easy to see people in a line, who are most likely unarmed because to enter a club you cant have a weapon on you, he said. As heinous as this was, it was also one of the most cowardly things weve seen. Theyre cowards.
On Monday, the FBI and Crime Stoppers announced the reward money up to $50,000 from each agency.
Frank Barefield of Crime Stoppers said its reward is for information leading to the identity of the suspects and is the largest ever offered by them.
The previous record was $25,000 after the abuduction of Kamille Cupcake McKinney. The 3-year-old was abducted from a birthday party in 2019 and later found murdered. Two people were arrested and convicted.
Its a life-changing reward, Barefield said, and youre totally anonymous.
The FBI reward is for information that leads to an arrest and a conviction.
The purpose of (the reward) is to ensure that we root out the violent and heinous individuals that seek to bring violence to our communities, said FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Birmingham Field Office Carlton Peeples.
Copus said the tips coming in are specific.
Were not just getting a name, were getting a lot of intel such as who was mad at who, Copus said.
Of course, we dont evaluate it, he said. We send it straight over to Birmingham homicide detectives.
We dont know if theyre good tips or bad tips, we just know there are a lot of tips coming in and theyre getting their own tips too, Copus said. A lot of hours are being poured into this.
Hopefully theres something in there thats going to get this case solved, he said. We need to stop this circle of violence.
You can submit information to police here. You can also call investigators at 205-254-1764, Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777, or the FBI at 1-800-.CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).
The leader of a nonprofit representing the Haitian community invoked a private-citizen right to file charges Tuesday against former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, over the chaos and threats experienced by Springfield, Ohio, since Trump first spread false claims about legal immigrants there during a presidential debate.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance made the move after inaction by the local prosecutor, said their attorney, Subodh Chandra of the Cleveland-based Chandra Law Firm.
Charges brought by private citizens are rare, but not unheard of, in Ohio. Examples might be a grocery store charging a customer for a bounced check. State law requires a hearing to take place before the affidavit can move forward. As of Tuesday afternoon, none had been scheduled.
Trump and Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio, are charged with disrupting public services, making false alarms, telecommunications harassment, aggravated menacing and complicity. The filing asks the Clark County Municipal Court to affirm that there is probable cause and issue arrest warrants against Trump and Vance.
Their persistence and relentlessness, even in the face of the governor and the mayor saying this is false, that shows intent, Chandra said. Its knowing, willful flouting of criminal law.
Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump-Vance campaign, said, President Trump is rightfully highlighting the failed immigration system that (Vice President) Kamala Harris has overseen, bringing thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into communities like Springfield and many others across the country.
The 15,000 to 20,000 Haitian immigrants who have arrived in Springfield over the past several years, in many cases after being recruited to local jobs, have been granted Temporary Protected Status to be in the U.S. legally.
More than 30 bomb threats were directed at state and local government buildings and schools, prompting closures, the assignment of additional law enforcement protection and security cameras. Some of the citys Haitian residents have also said they feared for their safety as public vitriol grew, and Mayor Rob Rue has received death threats.
If it were anyone else other than Trump and Vance who had done what theyve done wreak havoc on Springfield, resulting in bomb threats, evacuated and closed government buildings and schools, threats to the mayor and his family they would have been arrested by now, Chandra said. They are not above the law.
Chandra said the U.S. Supreme Courts July ruling granting ex-presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution does not apply in this case because Trump is currently a private citizen and Vance did not amplify the rumors that members of Springfields 15,000-member Haitian community were eating peoples pets in his capacity as a senator.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin today responded to State Rep. Juandalynn Givan saying Monday that maybe the Alabama National Guard needs to be deployed to help the short-staffed Birmingham Police deal with the citys violent crime problem after a Sept. 21 mass shooting at Five Points South.
Thats just a whack statement, Woodfin said today.
Givan said Tuesday her comments were in the context of being a proponent of gun control legislation, but that government solutions wont yield results without a robust police force.
Birminghams problem is bigger than this, she said.
Woodfin agreed with her criticism that the Birmingham Police Department is short on officers.
We acknowledge we need more police officers, Woodfin said Tuesday. Thats not something we run from.
Birmingham has already increased the starting pay for officers to $51,000 a year, plus a $5,000 signing bonus, with a take-home patrol car that helps increase visibility for police patrols in the city, he said.
Its not a matter of needing to allocate more money, Woodfin said. The money is in the budget, he said.
The city has funding for more than 1,000 police employees, including about 720 sworn officers.
Its a matter of recruiting enough officers to fill all those positions, a problem faced by other large urban police departments across the country, he said.
The city does not release the exact number of sworn officers currently employed by the city. Givan said Monday she believes the city may be as many as 400 short, for a city that should have about 800 officers.
Woodfin said the Birmingham Police Academy just graduated one of its largest classes in several years.
That was 28 graduating officers, said city spokesman Rick Journey, bringing this years total of police cadet graduates to 38 after an earlier class of 10. Thats an improvement on the previous two years.
The city graduated 24 new officers in both 2022 and 2023. That was down from 39 police academy graduates in 2021 and 53 in 2020.
Among the factors hindering police recruitment has been a backlash in public sentiment nationwide against police officers since the death of George Floyd in 2020 at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
Woodfin posted a dig at Givan on social media on Monday, but on Tuesday said theres no time for finger-pointing at anyone other than the perpetrators of the crime.
We want the state to be our partner, Woodfin said.
The safety and well-being of Birminghams residents are our top priorities. Recent events have understandably raised concerns within our community, and our frustrations are with elected officials who are proposing extreme measures that would only make matters worse.
Its crucial Randall Woodfin (@randallwoodfin) September 24, 2024
On his Facebook page, the mayor shared headshots of all the state lawmakers representing Jefferson County to say thanks for working in partnership with City of Birmingham to address our public safety issues.
But on state Rep. Juandalynn Givans, D-Birmingham, photo, the mayor added in red text, not you.
On his Facebook page, the mayor shared headshots of all the state lawmakers representing Jefferson County to say thanks for working in partnership with City of Birmingham to address our public safety issues. But on state Rep. Juandalynn Givans, D-Birmingham, photo, the mayor added in red text, not you.Randall Woodfin
Meanwhile, Givan responded by posting a collage of Birminghams homicide victims in 2022 and 2023, writing of 2024 that 2024 unfortunately the numbers continue to grow.
Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham posted a collage of Birminghams homicide victims in 2022 and 2023 on social media, writing of 2024 that unfortunately the numbers continue to grow.Juandalynn Givan
This is the board that should matter to the mayor, Givan wrote, referring to the photos. These lives lost under his leadership and the murders unsolved!!!
The state lawmaker said she stood by her National Guard comments and said the mayor owes her an apology over the meme.
Bodies are dropping like water from a running faucet in Birmingham and the mayor has the time do a scratch off of me?? Im unmoved and certainly unbothered by such a temper tantrum move by a boy with a big job!!!
Earlier this year, the Birmingham City Council approved a plan for a Citizens Observer Patrol, with volunteers who are not police officers helping patrol neighborhoods. The ordinance was passed at the request of Woodfin and Police Chief Scott Thurmond.
Woodfin said he got ridiculed for that proposal. I got laughed at, he said. I fumbled the ball in how I presented that.
Birmingham residents who volunteer to be part of the Citizens Observer Patrol would be trained to patrol the citys neighborhoods and report criminal activity to the police.
They would go through training at police academy but would have no arrest powers.
Let me tell you what the National Guard is, Woodfin said. National Guard are civilians. Were not putting civilians on our streets to address this issue.
The National Guard is made up of trained soldiers who have been through basic training, including weapons training, and are subject to call-up for active duty. While not on active duty, they report for monthly and annual training exercises.
The answer to fully staffing the police department remains aggressive recruitment and incentives, Woodfin said.
Were going to continue to be overly aggressive at the local level from a marketing standpoint, from a word-of-mouth standpoint, from a relationship standpoint to be dogmatic and overly aggressive in hiring police, Woodfin said.
The city hires from a list provided by the Jefferson County Personnel Board.
We just cant unilaterally hire, Woodfin said. They have to approve our hiring ideas.
Nevertheless, the city will continue to hire more police, he said.
We are going to be in a position to continue enhance police presence, as well as show this community we mean business, he said.
Spirited reactions from some members of the Mobile City Council highlighted the latest Alabama government meeting in which people showed up and made unfounded claims about a mass arrival of immigrants.
But the concerns raised Tuesday at Government Plaza by a group of conservative women, who quote Bible passages before their public statements, represented the second time in as many days in which other issues beyond immigration control mainly, complaints about libraries and relocating books that some people find offensive were wrapped together in arguments before elected officials.
In Fairhope on Monday, city officials were inundated with dozens of residents who complained about federal immigration policy while also blasting city officials for what critics say is a laxed approach toward the city library that they accuse of displaying inappropriate materials.
The interesting thing about the Constitution is it protects the rights of the minority against the rule of the majority, Mobile City Councilman Joel Daves said. This government is not government by the Bible, but by the United States Constitution. Our job up here is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and not exercise our own judgement on what should or should not be in the Mobile Public Library.
Library review
The Mobile Public Library remains in the crosshairs of conservative critics in Alabama. Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The concerns over content inside the libraries resonated to the point where city officials will hold a meeting next month to focus on it. A committee of the whole meeting involving all council members will take place at 2 p.m. on Oct. 15, to go over the concerns related to content on the public library systems bookshelves.
The meeting, called by Council President C.J. Small, comes after the second time this month that the same group of women showed up carrying books and raising concerns before council members. The concerns focus mostly on what the women, some of whom are part of conservative groups like Eagle Forum, view as inappropriate content that can be accessible to children.
I cant leave them at the library anymore, said Mobile resident Linda Poiroux, regarding her grandchildrens attendance at one of the Mobile Public Librarys branches. I need to hover over them. This kind of material should not be in the hand of children. Its not age appropriate. It talks about sexual positions, for a 10-year-old.
Council members, in recent weeks, have mostly declined to take further action as libraries continue to be a flashpoint in the ongoing culture wars and as political matter animating cities and states over the past two years.
The latest twist in Alabama is that John Wahl, the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, was named the chairman of the Alabama Public Library Service during a meeting last week and amid continuing controversies raised by far-right groups over the content on bookshelves.
Most of the concerns have resonated in smaller, more conservative cities in Alabama a state run entirely by Republicans and where the Alabama Legislature is a supermajority GOP. The efforts have been a mixed bag of pushing out library directors and library board members, but also including national embarrassment such as the removal of a childrens book from the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library because the authors last name is Gay.
Immigration panic
Council members, during Tuesdays meeting, reserved most of their comments toward unfounded allegations raised by the women that Haitian migrants were about to come to coastal Alabama in large numbers.
Councilman Cory Penn questioned if the women, who quote the Bible, would want to keep Jesus of Nazareth the first-century Jewish preacher and central figure of modern-day Christianity -- from coming into the country if he was alive today.
Jesus wasnt from America, Penn said. Would he be welcomed here? Would we turn Jesus away?
Said Penn, We got to be very mindful that we are not spreading the wrong (message) because your words matter. When you target certain groups it sounds like these group of people are dangerous just because they are from a different country or a different group.
Councilman William Carroll, who said his wife is a Haitian immigrant and whose children are first-and second-generation Haitians, said he took exception to the negative comments about migrants that have animated conservative politicians in recent weeks ever since former President Donald Trump the GOPs presidential nominee said during the Sept. 10 presidential debate that Haitian migrants were eating household pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Republican Vice President candidate J.D. Vance, a senator from Ohio, has also amplified the rumor despite it being debunked by officials.
To say a group of people who come in here will not be productive, in my mind, is very inappropriate, Carroll said. My wife is extremely beneficial to this city. I really take exception to those statements. I really do.
Daves also urged people who speak at the council meetings to be careful about the people they attack.
Unless we have a Native American in this room, everyone here is an immigrant, he said. And so, we need to be very careful when we attack people coming into this country seeking a better life.
Daves said that City Hall is the wrong place for immigration complaints and that the issue is a concern for federal lawmakers.
Mobile is only the latest local venue where irate, and mostly conservative and white residents who argue their complaints are not racial -- have showed up in recent weeks to raise concerns over relocating Haitian migrants. Similar complaints have occurred during council meetings in Sylacauga, and worries have also been raised in Albertville and Enterprise.
Fairhope city officials, on Monday, repeatedly debunked allegations that a migrant influx was coming to Baldwin County. Still, some of the attendees didnt believe the local officials and accused the council members of gaslighting them while threatening to have more Christian conservative candidates run against them during the 2025 municipal elections.
Birmingham City Council member Crystal Smitherman today said shes fed up with killings in the city after the mass shooting in Five Points South on Sept. 21 and told Mayor Randall Woodfin to put the hammer down on criminals.
I want enforcement, Mayor Woodfin, she said during the council meeting Tuesday. Im sick of feeling unsafe in my own city.
Four people were killed in the mass shooting Saturday and the city is on track for its most homicides ever this year.
Do what you have to do, Mayor Woodfin, Smitherman said.
People are scared, she said. We have to make them feel safe again.
The only ones who feel safe are the criminals, she said.
You shouldnt feel that safe to commit crime, Smitherman said. Im also offended they did this, because you wouldnt do it in Hoover, you wouldnt do it in Vestavia. I know you wouldnt. You slow down when you see the Vestavia Police when youre speeding, dont you? You sure do.
Smitherman, the daughter of State Sen. Rodger Smitherman, said the Legislature needs to act on banning Glock switches and a return to requiring permits for handguns instead of allowing permit-less carry.
Birminghams population has been on a steady decline for decades. Increased perception of crime is likely to prompt ore people to leave the city, she said.
My frustration is that were going to lose people, Smitherman said after the meeting.
My frustration is that grandmas dont feel comfortable sitting on their porch anymore, that people dont feel comfortable going out to dinner anymore. Im getting calls from people in different cities asking, Are you okay? I hear at the nail salon, the hair shop, everywhere, talking about crime. Im sick of it because people feel so comfortable to commit crime. Thats what I meant. Thats so disrespectful to everyone who lives here.
Texas Education Agency Conservator Abe Saavedra arrives at a South San ISD board meeting. The end of his 12-month term has come and gone with no change, and no idea what the state will do next. Robin Jerstad
Almost a year ago, supporters of a South San Antonio Independent School District trustee got kicked out of a meeting for dressing up as clowns to dramatize their displeasure with another trustee, who had called him a clown for wearing a ballcap and sandals at a board meeting.
The clown protesters last October were backing Abel Chillidogg Martinez, who already had defied a threatened state takeover of the district and vowed not to work with the Texas Education Agency conservator appointed to oversee the board.
Within months, conservator Abelard Abe Saavedra could report that trustees were cooperating, the theatrics gone. But the boards future remains uncertain.
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Trustees were given a year to fix their problems. The year is up. And no one not Saavedra, nor the district, nor the agency itself can say what the TEA will do next, or when.
Saavedra, a former district superintendent, was appointed under a legal settlement that ended the districts fight against the findings of a state investigation into board dysfunction but prevented for at least a year an outright takeover and replacement of the board by state-appointed managers.
Honestly, I dont know what way theyre leaning, nor the date theyll issue their ruling, Saavedra said in an interview last week.
Saavedra laid out the possible outcomes: Things could stay the same, with him remaining in a conservator role. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath could decide to replace the board. He could decrease intervention by replacing Saavedra with a monitor, a less stringent form of oversight.
Or the TEA could declare South San ISD fixed and pull out altogether.
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The settlement between South San ISD and the TEA took effect Sept. 22, 2023. The board discussed it with the districts lawyer in closed session during its regular meeting last week but took no action.
We look forward to dialoguing with the TEA to share the strides weve made, and also making South San a model district for competent governance, the lawyer, Mark Sanchez, said in an interview last week before the meeting.
Whatever the state decides, the district has to go along with it. It waived its right to appeal Moraths next move. The settlement also requires the district to pay Saavedra for his work, at $125 per hour.
Saavedra fills out monthly reports to the TEA, measuring the districts progress in quantifying student outcomes, demonstrating effective governance, improving communication and understanding the difference between the jobs of the board and the superintendent. Each has several objectives which are color-coded: yellow for not yet started, red for off-track, green for on-track and blue for completed.
In 12 months, the colors went from a majority yellow and red to mostly green and blue. But the reports went into details that ranged far beyond a color scheme.
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Saavedras first report described an unnamed trustees bad behavior escalating to a felony charge, who, Saavedra wrote, did not attend the meeting but showed up during closed session and addressed the superintendent with profanity.
The board president filed a criminal complaint against him for disrupting a public meeting. When the district police attempted to arrest the board member, he got in his car and drove away. The police officers chased him and the trustee pulled over a distance away and he was taken into custody. When he was processed at the city jail, an additional felony charge of evading arrest by vehicle was added to the charges, Saavedras report says.
He meant Martinez. A judge in August dismissed the felony charge and a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. Martinez did not seek another term, and the board cancelled its November election, as all four candidates three of them incumbents are unopposed.
Saavedras reports never again reached the level of drama that came in October. But they documented his continuing attempts at making the board conform to a behavior standard.
Halfway into his term, he could say that most board members acted with decorum, except one trustee who frequently used his cell phone during meetings and publicly called out an administrator for being at a restaurant during work hours. The administrator explained that he had missed breakfast after dealing with a student incident.
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Staff and/or administration should never be called out at a public meeting by a trustee, Saavedra noted.
The next month, in April, Saavedra again wrote about the trustee texting and eating during a meeting, but said the board was generally following policies governing communication with each other and the superintendent.
Two trustees had not signed their commitments to abide by Board Operating Procedures, he wrote.
The board and superintendent were supposed to receive receive three hours of training on how to collaborate by the end of January, but the requirement was not marked as completed until the July progress report. In August, not all board members had completed all required training, which had an Aug. 31 deadline.
By then, the main narrative had shifted from behavior to business. Saavedra noted that the board adopted a balanced budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year and raised the property tax rate by three cents per $100. The board also voted to close West Campus High School, a subject of continued public debate, though Saavedra only mentioned it briefly in the context of the district's budget and deficit.
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Trustee attendance was consistently marked red for off-track. The lowest of the year was 43%, at a December workshop, and the highest was 86%, reached at several workshops and regular meetings.
The board censured one trustee, Shirley Ibarra, in August for missing approximately 74% of all board meetings since August 2023. Saavedra noted that in his report without naming the trustee.
But the narrative had calmed down considerably by that month.
A man shot late Tuesday afternoon inside a crowded southwest Birmingham convenience store may have become a homicide victim for something as trivial as a social media dispute, police said.
West Precinct officers responded to the Big Boy Convenience Store at 2714 Pearson Ave. SW just before 5 p.m. on a report of a person shot, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald.
Officers found a man suffering from a gunshot wound and lying unresponsive in front of the store.
Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service personnel were transporting the victim to UAB Hospital when he died en route, said Fitzgerald.
We believe that two adult males who were involed in an armed confrontation with one another, Fitzgerald said, citing the preliminary investigation into the homicide. One party had a gun, the second party had a gun, and one of those males fired shots.
Police were searching for the gunman and other males involved in the confrontation.
Witnesses were asked to call Crimestoppers at 205-254-7777; tipsters may remain anonymous.
This was a very tragic siuation, Fitzgerald said. :There were other patrons inside of the business when the shooting occurred.
No one else was shot.
Witnesses have been helpful to police, Fitzgerald said.
Detectives learned that the shooting may have unfolded over a small dispute.
This could have possibly been over a Facebook beef, Fitzgerald said.
One of the men was at the store when he was confronted by the other man, who may have been at the convenience store earlier before returning.
This was a very personal incident where someone possibly scoped out another person and was willing to confront that individual at a crowded gas station during a rush hour time, Fitzgerald said.
He said the incident kind of epitomizes what Chief [Scott] Thurmond and Mayor [Randall] Woodfin have said: a lot of these incidents are personal and acquaintance-based.
The incident, Fitzgerald said, showed that the violent crime plaguing the city is a systemic issue.
We need the communitys help to help our city change the culture. he said. Someone willing to confront another one over something as small as a Facebook dispute, thats a culture issue not a policing issue.
The homicide was the citys third since the weekend, when four people were killed a 17 others were injured in the shooting outside the Hush lounge in Five Points South.
The suspect fatally shot by Muscle Shoals officers Sunday night lunged at police while holding a knife, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Tuesday.
Ronald Parrish, 68, of Muscle Shoals, refused commands to drop the knife when he was shot and killed, ALEA said in a statement.
Muscle Shoals police announced the fatal shooting on Monday.
Officers were called to the 300 block of Tuxedo Avenue West in Muscle Shoals when they encountered a knife-wielding man, according to ALEA.
Officers issued verbal commands to the suspect to drop the knife when the man lunged toward them with the knife, leading police to shoot the suspect, later identified as Parrish.
Parrish was taken to Helen Keller Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Tyler Mann, an attorney representing Parrishs family, said neither ALEA nor Muscle Shoals police responded to his requests for body cam footage.
ALEAs statement is premature under the circumstances. According to witnesses, Mr. Parrish was tased at least once. This leads to questions about the use of deadly force and the departments training in respone to mental illness calls, including, but not limited to, dementia, Mann said in a statement to AL.com. On behalf of the family, I would request all information regarding this incident be made transparent before judgment is passed in the public. My sincerest condolences reside with the family at this time as they grieve the loss of a husband, father, and well known member of the Muscle Shoals community.
The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences will perform an autopsy.
ALEA did not release further information except to say that the investigation was ongoing and that the findings will be sent to the Colbert County District Attorneys Office once complete.
A giant floating fern that carpets waterways with thick, leafy mats has become a major problem in Alabama waterways.
Its called Giant Salvinia.
Nobody wants it, said Monica Allen, a spokesperson for the Mobile Area Water and Sewer System.
Its hard to knock it back without threatening other things in the ecosystem, said Laura Frost, a biologist with the University of South Alabama..
In 1999, experts say, the plant was first discovered in Alabama in two ponds in Auburn.
Today, in southwest Alabama, the Washington County Public Fishing Lake is currently closed to kill off Giant Salvinia. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will draw down the lake and keep it closed through the winter.
For nearly a year between 2021 and 2022, Big Creek Lake near Mobile was closed as MAWSS tried to root out Giant Salvinia. When the lake reopened to recreation, the rules were much stricter: boaters must wash their boat before entering the lake and can only use the lake on weekends.
Salvinia grows amazingly fast, said Allen at MAWSS. It disrupts the entire ecosystem.
Trying to control the spread of Giant Salvinia in Big Creek Lake is one of the biggest challenges for MAWSS, Allen said.
We have to monitor it, she said, and let the science take us where it goes.
The lake was closed to recreation for so long, Allen said, because the utility had to wait for cooler temperatures in the winter to kill the plant. But it may be a battle without end. In 2022, MAWSS Director Bud McCrory told Alabama Living magazine that the lake will never be completely rid of Giant Salvinia, and simply has to mitigate its spread.
Members of the Mobile City Council have expressed concern about the Giant Salvinia in the lake, which is the primary source of drinking water for 70% of Mobile County residents, as a possible reason for the city of Mobile to annex the lake .
So what is Giant Salvinia? And why has it become such a challenge for Alabama?
Giant Salvinia is native to parts of Brazil, Colombia and Guyana in South America. It was introduced through Texas and Louisiana, though its now a problem throughout the Gulf Coast, said Frost, who teaches biology at the University of South Alabama. The fern creates large mats over the surface water that look like green carpet.
It was discovered in those two ponds in Auburn, which drain into the Tallapoosa River watershed, according to ADCNR . But since then, it has been found in 16 watersheds throughout the state, including Mobile Bay and Wheeler Lake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey .
As of 2018, the plant was eradicated in northern Alabama, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , though USGS records show that it was observed in the Wheeler Lake watershed in 2021 and 2022.
The plants mats block needed sunlight for aquatic plants that live below the waters surface, Frost said.
Giant Salvinia can be devastating for the water quality. When the plants mats begin to die, the decomposing Salvinia sinks to the bottom of the water, consuming dissolved oxygen as it dies. That threatens fish and other marine animals, which need dissolved oxygen to live.
The ferns ability to harm other marine life is precisely what makes it so dangerous in the southeast, Frost said. Almost all of Alabama is part of the North American Coastal Plain , a region that stretches from northern Mexico, along the Gulf Coast and up the East Coast to Southeastern Massachusetts.
The North American Coastal Plain is known throughout the world as a hotspot of biodiversity. But Giant Salvinia is a threat to that.
When an invasive species has the ability to take up that biodiversity, its a threat to the region, Frost said.
A mat of Giant Salvinia covering the surface water. The fern blocks sunlight from reaching aquatic plants under water. (Photo courtesy Laura Frost)Laura Frost
And though the giant salvinia spores are sterile, meaning it typically cant reproduce sexually, the plant is very successful at reproducing clonally, Frost said, creating the dense mats of green leaves on the water surface.
This rapid, clonal reproduction is part of how the plant is able to spread so easily. A few leaves can stick to a boat or a water bird; when that vessel hits another body of water, the leaves are transferred into that water and start building there. Pieces of Giant Salvinia mats can float downstream from a tributary to a larger body of water.
In good conditions, the plants biomassthe quantity of the plant in a given areacan double in a week to 10 days, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In ideal conditions, the plants area can double in eight days, Frost said.
Once its in the water, Giant Salvinia can be difficult to get rid of, Frost said. Its only real threat is freezing weather, something thats a rarity in the southeast. Herbicides can be effective, but Frost said that Salvinia can develop resistance to those. Herbicide use can also inadvertently harm the water quality, as the dying plants release nutrients or fertilize new growth.
One way that countries have been able to get rid of Giant Salvinia is by deploying a special kind of insect, called the salvinia weevil, that eats the buds and young shoots of the plant. The weevil is native to the same tropical region as Giant Salvinia; countries like Papua New Guinea, Fiji and South Africa have been able to successfully control the plant with the salvinia weevil, Frost said.
In order to prevent the spread of Giant Salvinia, boaters should remove any aquatic plants from their equipment before leaving a launch area, Frost said, and wash their boats before entering a new waterway, as users of Big Creek Lake are now required to do.
Dave Armstrong, an aquatic nuisance species coordinator with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, previously told AL.com that boaters should be careful not to throw away Giant Salvinia in the wild.
Dont throw them out in the wild or even in a subdivision pond, Armstrong told AL.com. Put them in your mulch pile and keep them within the confines of your home ownership area. Because throwing them out in the wild just spreads the problem.
By Graham Lee Brewer and Kim Chandler, Associated Press
WETUMPKA, Ala. At the height of Muscogee power, thousands of people filled the tribes sprawling territory on the lush banks of the Coosa River in present-day Alabama.
Oce Vpofv, or Hickory Ground, was a town, a ceremonial site, burial ground, and the last tribal capital before the Muscogee people were forcibly removed from the Southeast to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears.
Today in its place, the Wind Creek Casino and Hotel rises 20 stories above the winding river. The development is at the center of a long-simmering dispute between two tribal nations. The Muscogee Nation are descendants of people who called the land home and Alabamas Poarch Band of Creek Indians is a separate tribal nation that shares ancestry with the Muscogee and built the casino after gaining ownership of the site.
The Muscogee Nation contends that Alabamas Poarch Creeks do not have historic ties to Hickory Ground and illegally excavated the remains of Muscogee ancestors to build the $246 million casino. The Poarch Band maintains that it too has ancestral ties to Hickory Ground and has worked to preserve much of the historic site. The excavation of the graves and development at the historic site has fueled a dispute that has devastated the relationship between two tribal nations. Their historic link has only exacerbated the deep sense of betrayal that Muscogee in Oklahoma feel over the development of what was their tribal capital.
They dug up my ancestors, put them in boxes, and built a casino directly on top of my familys burial ground, said George Thompson, a Mekko, or traditional chief in the Muscogee Nation.
The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on Wednesday in the Muscogee Nations appeal of the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the casinos construction. The lawsuit also names federal officials and the university that performed archeology work at the site.
The 85,000-square-foot casino and the long-running legal dispute accompanying it underscore how colonization has reshaped the lives of the Muscogee people, and the limits of the modern U.S. legal system in addressing tribal grievances.
A painful history
Once among the largest tribal nations in the Southeast, the Muscogee territory includes parts of the present-day states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. After passing the Indian Removal Act in 1830, the U.S. forced the Muscogee people to leave their capital. The Muscogee collected ashes from their most sacred ceremonial fire in Hickory Ground and carried them on the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma. There, they placed them in the fire of a new ceremonial grounds, one of several that still burn today. Left behind were the graves of their ancestors, to return to nature as intended.
A few Muscogee families from about 130 miles south of Wetumpka were allowed to stay, some because they fought alongside the U.S. during the Creek War from 1813 to 1814. Their descendants would later form the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
The Poarch Band acquired a portion of the Hickory Ground in 1980 with the help of a historic preservation grant. The title transfer included a 20-year preservation covenant to protect the integrity of the site.
The Creek people in Oklahoma pride in heritage and ties to original homeland can only be enhanced. There is still an existing Hickory Ground tribal town in Oklahoma. They will be pleased to know their home in Alabama is being preserved, the Poarch Band wrote in a 1980 letter to an Alabama state agency requesting preservation grant funds. The Poarch Band acquired federal recognition in 1984 with the support of their Oklahoma cousins.
Then a fight began over development of the land.
A bitter fight
Members of the Poarch Band dispute the Muscogee accusations, saying they too have ancestral ties to Hickory Ground and that their work protected key parts of the historic site such as the ceremonial ground found during the universitys archeological study.
We couldnt control what had already been done with the land, but we did preserve the sacred grounds and 17 acres around it, said Stephanie A. Bryan, tribal chair and CEO of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
Bryan said while the dispute dates back long before she became tribal chair, that the Poarch have tried unsuccessfully to reach an agreement with their Oklahoma cousins.
She called the appeal an attack on our sovereignty, saying that one tribal nation is trying to tell another what to do on its land.
Im very passionate about Creek history and the sacrifices that our ancestors made to be where we are today, and for another tribe to attack a tribes sovereignty is not the way we can grow together in Indian Country. It saddens me, Bryan said.
Poarch Band officials say they decided to proceed with the reinterment of excavated remains in 2012 after no agreement could be reached between the two tribal nations.
While Muscogee believe that not all remains have been returned and may be languishing in boxes, Bryan said all of the remains that the Poarch Band of Creek Indians have received have been reinterred.
Thompson said they were not consulted about that reburial.
Lawyers for Auburn University wrote in court filings that the university is neutral in the dispute between the two tribes and will follow whatever the court decides.
An unforeseen circumstance
The federal office for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act says that the law doesnt address the excavation of ancestral remains on land controlled by one tribal nation but historically linked to another. Several tribal nations across the country were forcibly removed from their homelands, and in some cases a different tribal nation would later come to control them. In comments to the federal office, other tribal nations have expressed concerns a similar situation could happen to them.
No one ever thought when they were writing NAGPRA that another tribe would do this, said Muscogee Secretary of Culture and Humanities RaeLynn Butler.
The fight could soon see a skirmish in Congress. The Poarch Band is currently supporting a bill by Alabama Congressman Jerry Carl that would offer the tribe a way around a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision that found only tribes with federal recognition by 1934 could put land into trust for tribal use, such as casinos. The Muscogee Nation and other tribal nations are opposing the legislation, alleging that it would hurt their legal case and other tribes seeking the same legal remedy. Carl disputes that.
The dispute over Hickory Ground has created widespread resentment among tribal citizens in Oklahoma, where Poarch is often considered a dirty word. Questioning the cultural or political validity of the Poarch Band is a common refrain at ceremonial grounds in the Muscogee Nation. The tribal council also passed a resolution rescinding its support for the Poarch Bands federal recognition.
They knew then what they wanted, said Jeff Fife, a Tvstvnvke, or warrior, for Hickory Ground and chief of staff for Principal Chief of the Muscogee Nation.
They didnt want our language. They didnt want our culture or tradition. They wanted money.
Those who help disabled Alabama voters fill out or submit absentee ballots can do so without threat of prosecution after a federal judge on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit challenging the states ballot harvesting law.
Several voting, disability and civil rights groups filed the lawsuit in April, contending the law, which makes it a crime to receive payment or pay someone to distribute or collect absentee ballot applications, violates voters rights to choose who gives them assistance with voting.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor narrowed the lawsuits scope to only include voters who are blind, disabled, or illiterate voters.
The groups claimed the Alabama law is vague in defining what constitutes a payment, and that non-profit organizations were concerned that volunteers could be prosecuted under the new state law.
On Tuesday, Proctor issued a preliminary injunction barring Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall from enforcing the laws provisions affecting blind, disabled and illiterate voters.
Marshall indicated he would appeal the decision to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
The plaintiffs, which included the the Alabama NAACP, Greater Birmingham Ministries, the League of Women Voters of Alabama and the Alabama Disability Advocates Program, hailed the injunction in a statement issued by their attorneys.
Nonpartisan civic engagement groups composed of civic-minded, democracy-loving, everyday Americans do the hard work of fighting to ensure that every American can access the fundamental freedom to vote, they said. Were glad that the district court has sided with the rights of the voters and is committed to promoting voting accessibility. Our democracy works best when everybody can participate in it, and this ruling prevents the enforcement of a cruel law that would have suppressed the voices of blind, disabled, and low literacy voters. Were proud of this victory, and we will continue to fight to ensure that all Alabamians can easily exercise their right to vote.
Lawyers with the Campaign Legal Center, the Legal Defense Fund, Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program helped the plaintiffs file the suit.
Gov. Kay Ivey has no plans to deploy the Alabama National Guard in Birmingham following the mass shooting outside a Five Points South lounge, a spokeswoman for the governor said Tuesday night.
Although the governor has NO plans to deploy the National Guard, she DOES stand willing and ready to work with Birmingham to combat their ongoing crime just as we have been able to do through the Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit here in our Capital City, Gina Maiola tweeted.
While @GovernorKayIvey has NO plans to deploy the National Guard, she DOES stand willing and ready to work with Birmingham to combat their ongoing crime just as we have been able to do through the Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit here in our Capital City. #alpolitics https://t.co/IAjR8KYYN6 Gina Maiola (@GinaMaiola) September 25, 2024
Maiola was responding to comments made by state Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, who said the city may have no choice but to receive assistance from the national guard if there is a catastrophic event that taxes what she characterized as Birminghams understaffed police department.
If anything catastrophic happens, if something major, catastrophic happens, that will require massive attention from Birmingham Police Department, we will have no choice, she said Monday.
In an interview with AL.com on Tuesday night, Givan said her National Guard comment was misinterpreted and that she meant that guard would be available should the city need it.
The question is simple: do we have backup plan if there is a need and we cannot fill a need locally. The answer is, simply, yes, Givan said.
Im not even saying for the governor to bring in the damn National Guard, the lawmaker continued, adding that Iveys office did not discuss the issue with her. At the end of the day, there is a resource available if we need it.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, who has feuded with Givan since the mass shooting, called the national guard idea whack.
Let me tell you what the National Guard is, Woodfin said. National Guard are civilians. Were not putting civilians on our streets to address this issue.
Givan criticized the mayors grasp of the issue, saying that Alabama National Guardsmen are not civilians once activated.
Hes wacky, the stuff hes saying is wacky. Hes becoming unraveled, and its showing, she said. Youre the mayor of the City of Birmingham and you do not know what the role of the National Guard is.
Basseema Abouassaad thought they had finally landed their dream job. Fresh out of college, Abouassaad, who uses all pronouns, was hired in April by an environmental conservation organization. It seemed like the perfect start to their career a stable position aligned with their values. But their elation was short-lived.
By June, Abouassaad found themselves unemployed, caught in the crossfire of one of the most contentious global conflicts of our time. The reason? An article surfaced, listing Abouassaad as providing off-site legal support for pro-Palestine protesters. Abouassaad requested that their name be removed from the article for their safety, but the measure came too late.
Two days later I was fired, recounted Abouassaad, already widely recognized as co-founder of Red Star Texas, a mutual aid group that provides food, anti-overdose medication, and contraceptives. They said it was so that I could engage in my passions without any issues or barriers.
The irony wasnt lost on Abouassaad. The environmental organization, funded by Valero, an oil company producing ethanol, petroleum, and green diesel, seemed more concerned about Abouassaads political stance than the studies showcasing the massive carbon emissions resulting from Israels military actions since Oct. 7, 2023.
Abouassaads story is not unique. Across the United States, young activists are discovering that their support for Palestinian rights is clashing with the status quo, and its costing them job opportunities. In the wake of Israels military actions in Gaza, which have sparked nationwide protests, a disturbing pattern has emerged: many companies are punishing Gen Z organizers for fighting for what they believe in.
From Yale to Gallaudet University, the only U.S. higher education institution specifically for the deaf and hard of hearing, student protests have returned to decry the violence, which UN officials say there are reasonable grounds to believe constitutes genocide. Many students have organized through the National Students for Justice in Palestine collective. The resulting backlash has been severe.
I think right now we are seeing a resurgence of repression on campuses that we havent seen since the late 1960s, Risa Lieberwitz, a Cornell University professor of labor and employment law who serves as general counsel for the AAUP, told the Associated Press.
Several universities have defended the crackdown on students, citing campus safety concerns or older policies that prohibit the occupation of an admin building or the obstruction of pathways.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the U.S.s largest Muslim civil liberties organization, has documented instances of Islamophobia on campus, including the destruction of Quranic artwork, harassment and threats, and even a doxxing truck on Harvards campus. Doxxingthe non-consensual publication of someones private information like phone numbers or home addressescan have devastating consequences, especially for marginalized activists. Doxxing can often lead to a flood of threatening phone calls, emails, letters, physical harassment at home, and even the doxxing of loved ones.
A recent study by Intelligent paints a stark picture: nearly 30% of students who participated in pro-Palestine protests reported having job offers rescinded. Even more alarmingly, 70% faced questions about their activism during job interviews, a practice that skirts the edge of employment discrimination laws.
Companies have taken a particular way of getting rid of people, said Mahir Nisar, principal attorney at Nisar Law Group. Its necessary to raise the concern that this is not okay. They actually may be engaging in unlawful activity.
Personal accounts highlight the severity of the situation. Ridikkuluz, a Palestinian-Jordanian student in Berlin, was fired from a finance job for refusing to write a pro-Israel statement.
I knew that wasnt the case, they said, noting the immediate shunning by coworkers. Financial hardship now looms. I would sell my work about Palestine but that wouldnt sit right with me, Ridikkuluz said.
There is a level of you did something wrong for this to be happening to you, you did commit some kind of crime and you are deserving of this happening to you, a Harvard student protester told ABC News in October.
Legal experts are raising concerns about the potential illegality of such hiring practices. Nisar, whose law firm specializes in employee discrimination, argues that pro-Palestinian activism does not pose a legitimate business concern to employers. The laws basically protect people from discrimination based upon their identity, Nisar added. When somebody is speaking up on this particular issue, that [person] is protected against being discriminated against if you are speaking up on behalf of Palestinians or Muslims being slaughtered at this time.
Tracing anti-Muslim bias from universities to the job market
CAIRs Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor highlights the majority of university administrations for enabling this anti-Arab and anti-Muslim violence, which has ranged from withholding degrees to deploying aggressive police responses against peaceful protesters.
Saylor cited George Washington University as an example after they canceled a trauma support program for Palestinian students within 24 hours of its launch. After the raid of the encampment, we were sent pictures of Islamic prayer mats being thrown in the trash, Saylor recalled. Ive had several people report Qurans being trashed.
The anti-Arab and anti-Muslim violence and punishment towards pro-Palestine advocates on campus isnt confined to university grounds, but also extends to the job market.
Experts suggest that this repeated cycle of anti-Palestinian discrimination, both in academia and the job market, persists due to outdated legal frameworks in the United States. The law has failed to keep pace with evolving understandings of Islamophobia and its impacts on Palestinian, Arab and Muslim Americans.
The law does not possess the language we desperately need to accurately capture the totality of Palestinian subjugation, Palestinian American human rights lawyer Rabea Eghbariah writes in his article Toward Nakba As A Legal Concept, which was published, removed, and later reinstated at the Columbia Law Review. There is a dire need for a new approach.
Palestine Legal, which supports the Palestine solidarity movement, saw a 400% increase in requests for legal aid between Oct. 7 and Dec. 31, 2023.
CAIR also reported a 56% increase in anti-Muslim bias incidents nationwide in April 2024, with 44% of those occurring in the last three months of 2023. And from January to June 2024, there was a 69% jump in reported incidents compared to the same time period the prior year.
Legal strategies to hold employers and universities accountable
As campus protests have returned, backlash continues towards pro-Palestine students, faculty, and staff. While some administrations have reached tentative deals for divestment, several others have revised their protest policies. Indiana University forbids protests after 11pm. Emory University prohibited protests from midnight to 7am and enacted a total ban on encampments and building occupation. Police violently dispersed a die-in at the University of Michigan in August. In a public statement, the institution said we are prohibited from interfering with lawful speech and are also required to intervene when anyone attempts to substantially disrupt or interfere with the lawful speech of others.
Theres also very reasonable concern about schools overreacting, said Saylor. With arrests and schools asking for prosecutions and pursuing disciplinary measures.
In response to the escalating discrimination, legal advocates have taken rigorous action to protect students job prospects and hold universities accountable. Palestine Legal and CAIR have filed a series of Title VI civil rights complaints, alleging racial discrimination against pro-Palestine students. These legal efforts have prompted the Department of Education to launch federal investigations into high-profile institutions like Columbia, Emory, and Northwestern.
The catalyst for these probes was the universities authorization of forceful police crackdowns on student protesters. At these schools, campus security arrested peaceful demonstrators, only for the situations to devolve into violent chaos due to the outsized law enforcement response.
In the workforce, some states already carry a legal framework protecting pro-Palestine employees. Federally, all employees are protected by the First Amendment, therefore any firing can result in legal consequences to the employer. Several states also have varying laws protecting workers specifically from political discrimination, such as California, North Dakota, New Mexico, New York, Washington, and Washington D.C.
In 2021, Palestine Legal wrote a letter to Google regarding retaliation towards workers protesting Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion digital cloud deal with Amazon and the Israeli Defense Forces. Palestine Legal wrote that such treatment of employees violates Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, which gives applicable employees the right to engage in . . . concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aid or protection.
Political affiliation is not a protected class under Title VII, but as advocates suggest that identity on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, etc., may be used as a strategy in the workforce. Nisar, who provides legal education on his TikTok account, stressed the importance of documenting everything for everyone. Always develop a paper trail, he said. Make sure that its done in a written fashion. Specify that it discriminates upon your identity. You want to do it via email. You are always making sure that when youre speaking up youre raising your identity [in relationship] to discrimination towards Palestinians or Muslims. This requires that you preserve evidence.
Nisar also emphasized that one be careful to not engage in anything that could constitute discriminatory practice as well. Whenever theyre speaking up its important that they dont engage in discrimination of their own. A lot of people get caught up in these situations. You cant fight hate with hate. You have to remember that youre fighting for a greater principle.
While filing a lawsuit in these states or situations may seem logical, processing the ongoing conflict alongside legal battle can prove emotionally and financially taxing for many. Some might lack the resources to hire a lawyer. Others, like Abouassaad, opt for severance packages instead of lengthy legal battles. One way to advocate for myself is continuing to be able to survive, they said. I accepted that money because f*ck them, pay me.
For others like Abouassaad, the bigger picture matters more than personal grievances. Theres a genocide happening, they said. Im not at the capacity to deal with an entire lawsuit. It still doesnt address the overall issue of censorship against Palestinians and the ways corporations can use their access to capital to enforce their world views on other people.
While the federal probes mark an important accountability milestone, legal experts emphasize that addressing the deeper systemic issues will be a protracted battle. They say updating anti-discrimination laws to better reflect modern understandings of Islamophobia remains a pressing imperative.
To guide students facing discrimination, CAIR has released an employee rights guide. Recommendations include setting social media accounts to private, avoiding publicly identifying employers, thoroughly documenting any problematic interactions, and demanding written explanations from HR about policy violations.
Despite ongoing repression, Saylor believes that the organizing skills and advocacy experience these young people are developing will serve them well for long-term careers.
As this generation graduates, and hopefully come into the advocacy space, theyre going to deliver some really powerful stuff, said Saylor.
Across the pro-Palestinian community, the legal recognition of the Nakba the violent displacement of some 750,000 Palestinians for the creation of Israel instituted by Britain and the U.S.is seen as critical to accountability. Eghbariah wrote, Recognition of Nakba as a universal concept, one acknowledged and prohibited by international norms, is therefore the first step toward a just and lasting solution in Palestine.
This could prove not only a first step towards just global accountability, but also a subsequent end to the anti-war protests and thus work discrimination. The U.S. can totally stop sending weapons, Abouassaad said. After that, everything else will follow.
Rohan Zhou-Lee (They/Siya/(Ta)/Elle) is a queer/nonbinary Black Asian dancer, writer, and organizer. A 2023 Open City Fellow at the Asian American Writers Workshop, they have written for Newsweek, Prism Reports, NextShark, and more. Siya is also the founder of the award-winning Blasian March, a Black-Asian-Blasian grassroots solidarity organization, and for their work has been featured on CNN, NBC Chicago, USA Today, WNYC, and more. Zhou-Lee has spoken on organizing, human rights, and other subjects at New York University, The University of Tokyo, the 2022 Unite and Enough Festivals in Zurich, Switzerland, Harvard University, and more. www.diaryofafirebird.com
After the economy, illegal immigration ranks highest among voters concerns. President Trump has spoken of mass deportations of the more than ten million illegal aliens who have flooded our country under Biden-Harris. Thats appealing political rhetoric to the base, but he needs to build policy muscle upon the rhetorical bones.
First, the optics. Were talking ten million people, and then some. Men, women, children, oldsters, families. Some are the hardworking people seeking a better life, as they claim; others are gangsters and terrorists, plus lots in between. Rounding them up and arranging transport of a population equal to Michigan will be no small feat. Prepare for nightmarish images of armed agents descending upon immigrant motels and shelters; rounding up families and frog-walking them onto buses, trucks, trains, and planes; and shipping them out. We can expect horrific portrayals of children in cages revisited, oldsters with ailments, detention centers portrayed as internment camps, all that. Wouldnt the anti-Trump media have a field day? Families torn apart! Lives disrupted! Local economies hit hard. And what if their nations of origin refused their re-entry? More ugly media attention.
Candidate Trump needs to present a credible plan to repatriate these people in an orderly, efficient, humane, and politically palatable way. This can be done by arranging deportations in cohorts according to immigrants harm and costs to our nation.
We start with the criminal elements: murderers, rapists, drunk drivers, drug-dealers, and professional shoplifters. By legal and administrative means, illegals who have been involved in criminal activity will be prioritized in grab lists and subject to arrest and detention. Being flight risks, they must be denied bail, then given a simple choice: be prosecuted, or be deported with the understanding that re-entry will be a mandatory five-year felony. The point is to get bad actors out of the country.
As this roundup begins, we can expect many to migrate (theyre good at that!) to blue-state jurisdictions, where they will undoubtedly wreak havoc. It will be up to voters there to elect officials and enact laws to terminate sanctuary policies and comply with a revamped Border Patrol, ICE, and Department of Homeland Security. Jurisdictions that cooperate will enjoy the benefits of reduced crime and welfare costs. Others wont; they can pay the price in increased government expenditures, higher crime, and the emigration of taxpaying citizens.
As high-cost undesirables are dealt with, we move on to others who sap Americas common weal: illegals who worked with stolen or fraudulent Social Security numbers or engaged in public benefits fraud, drunk driving, vehicle accidents, failure to appear or pay fines, and the like.
Logistical realities will also play a major role in who goes, when, and how.
Other cohorts will then be addressed, such as those who accepted public benefits, obtained drivers licenses, and registered to vote whether they registered consciously or inadvertently by failing to opt out on some form. Starting immediately, we must instigate a massive public relations campaign informing illegals that voting is a crime and will be a major negative factor in determining their eligibility for legal immigration in the future. Even if they dont personally vote, their names drawn from drivers licenses, EBT registrations, work permits, and other programs may have ballots mailed to them to be harvested by partisan agents. Thus, as a part of this public information program, illegals must understand that any votes cast in their names can be used against them in future proceedings, and it is in their best interest to cancel out any registrations they may have made, however inadvertently.
Then there is the matter of who enabled and empowered this invasion. When Biden said, Dont come!, hordes of huddled masses swarmed the borders, knowing full well that they could cross. Somebody told them to come; provided phones, meals, and directions to the most advantageous border points; and instructed them on just what sad story would work best. Who gave them those Biden Let Us In t-shirts? Non-governmental organizations
A Republican Congress is needed to send to President Trump a bill to defund all reimbursements not only to federal and state agencies but especially to the NGOs that make up the welfare-industrial complex completely and absolutely. These groups, even the religious ones, are not the humanitarian organizations they pretend to be, but constitute a lucrative network of well paid administrators and vendors, an adjunct to the Deep State, who make big bucks serving the underprivileged.
Compassionate leftists and the media will howl, and we can expect heart-wrenching photos and anecdotal reports of families and children starving and suffering in the streets. Our answer is that if the Rockefeller Foundation, Bill Gates, the Ford Foundation, George Soros, and their ilk care this much about their clients, then they can put up their own money not the taxpayers. To minimize hardship, and signal our resolve, all budgeted funds currently allocated would be reduced 10% over 10 consecutive months. If funding termination is legislated in January 2025, administratively set up in February, and commenced in March, we can have all support for illegal aliens terminated by January 2025. Funds not so spent can be better allocated to the needs of real Americans.
Some philanthropies and NGOs actually do serve disadvantaged Americans, besides illegals. Such charities will be required to identify their clients by name, date of birth, and Social Security number and given federal IDs to insure that taxpayers money is not being improperly diverted. For that matter, we must cancel all Social Security numbers, drivers licenses, work permits, Medicaid, debit and EBT (food stamp) cards everything that has been issued to illegals. This database can also be used to clean voting rolls and thus curtail fraudulent ballots.
As deportations proceed, we can expect many involved in misdemeanor criminality to try to stay below the radar. In other words, theyll avoid arrest to keep a lower profile while they hope for a less aggressive administration. This will further reduce crime in illegal-infested jurisdictions.
Loss of benefits will induce many to self-deport, especially if we can eliminate transfer payments to their home countries.
A carefully articulated program of incremental deportations makes good political sense. President Trump needs to hammer home that V.P. Harris utterly failed as border czarina, whereas Trump made real progress with stay-in-Mexico and building a border wall except when stymied by lawfare in the courts. Harriss lip service to border integrity is too little, too late, and probably insincere. The Republicans need to remind voters of that, and be informed on just how much money is spent on illegal aliens in their home states.
Now, if there is some way we can bill Gates, Soros, the Rockefeller Foundation, and other NGOs for the charter flights returning illegal aliens to their homelands...
Randall Childs served in Vietnam as a Marine rifleman, has driven everything from farm gear to local trucks to taxis to semis, and is now retired from law enforcement.
Image: woodleywonderworks via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
Prosecutor Thomas Damico shows body cam footage on Wednesday, the second day of the trial, to San Antonio police officer Oliver Perez and the jury of a welfare check on Benjamin Cervera done by Perez and a detective a month before Benjis death. Benjis father Brandon Cervera is accused of starving Benji to death. Jessica Phelps
A San Antonio police officer who responded to a welfare check about 4-year-old Benjamin Benji Cervera and his sibling about a month before his death said he wished he could have done more to protect him.
The officer's testimony happened Wednesday during the second day of the trial for Benji's father Brandon Lee Cervera, who is accused of starving him to death on Aug. 17, 2021.
Prosecutors showed the jury police body camera footage from the welfare check conducted by police on June 20, 2021.
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Body cam footage is shown to Officer Perez and the jury on Wednesday, the second day of the trial, of a welfare check for Benjamin Cervera by Perez a month before Benjis death. Benjis father Brandon Cervera is accused of starving Benji to death. Jessica Phelps
Police responded to the residence after a relative of the boy's father requested a welfare check. San Antonio police officer Oliver Perez's body cam footage showed Benji in his father and stepmother's apartment with two black eyes. The boy walked into the kitchen several times, asking his father for animal crackers.
Perez testified that Benji appeared thinner than the rest of the children in the home. He confirmed that the boy appeared to have visible bruising to his head, face and torso.
Body cam footage is shown on Wednesday, the second day of the trial, of a welfare check on Benjamin Cervera by San Antonio police officer Oliver Perez a month before Benjis death. Benjis father Brandon Cervera is accused of starving Benji to death. Jessica Phelps
Perez said he regretted not doing more during and after the welfare check. He said he should have questioned Benji and another child individually, apart from their father and his stepmother, Miranda Casarez.
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"I believe I could have done more. ...I wish I could have done more," Perez testified.
A defense attorney interrupted him before he could say more.
During the welfare check, Perez is heard telling the caller who requested the welfare check that Benji did have injuries but the home was clean there was food in the fridge. He said police notified child protective services about Benji.
In April, Casarez, 25, was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison for Benji's death.
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Police body camera footage shared with the jury on Wednesday showed Casarez telling police that Benji's injuries were self-inflicted. She said he would bang his head on the ground and on the walls, and planned on taking Benji to the doctor to get his eyes checked.
Brandon Cervera, the father of 4-year-old Benjamin Benji Cervera, sits in the courtroom on Wednesday, the second day of the trial. Cervera is accused of starving Benji to death. Jessica Phelps
An affidavit supporting Cervera's arrest said detectives who searched the apartment said everyone had a bed except Benji, who only had a small mattress with a blanket that was covered in urine. They also observed locks on the refrigerator, kitchen cabinets, pantry door and Benjis door.
Perez testified that there were locking mechanisms on the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets but none of them were actually locked.
Benji weighed only 28 pounds when he died just a month before his fifth birthday.
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Bexar County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kimberley Molina ruled that Benjis cause of death was due to the purposeful withholding of food.
Police cam video shown to the jury showed an officer took photos of Benji, who posed with a smile, from different angles. The boy with two black eyes and a smile showed him where he had bitten his fingers. He flexed his arms as another officer told him to "show him your muscles."
Jodi Soyars, Cervera's defense attorney, is expected to argue that Benji's death was not from starvation, dehydration or failure to see medical care, but that other factor contributed to his death.
Soyars showed the jury photos of Benji in what appeared to be happier times in the months before his death. In the photos, he's posing with siblings, blowing bubbles and smiling.
With Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DIE) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) overshadowing an instructors life, it is a challenge to educate. Nonetheless, sometimes there is a glimmer of hope.
One of the assigned readings where I teach is the 2002 New York Times article titled Where Nothing Says Everything by Suzanne Berne. It is a description of Bernes visit to Ground Zero, seven months after the terrorist attacks.
Many students are unfamiliar with the jihadist philosophy behind those heinous deeds.
So I show them the 2005 film Obsession: Radical Islams War Against the West. It depicts the goals and methodology of those jihadists who wish to obliterate the Jewish people and infiltrate the West. The film also draws parallels between World War IIs Nazi movement and Islamism and the initial tepid response by the West to those threats.
Here are the comments of my students.
The only question I have is whether or not the problem with radical Islam still persists to this day; are young boys and girls still being taught to hate and despise Jewish people?
Indeed, nothing has changed. It is a constant deluge of hate-filled training, which Itamar Marcus at the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) as well as MEMRI have depicted for years.
What stood out to me from the film was the radical viewpoints the children were being taught. Growing up being taught to hate raises a violent generation for people which never ends well as we saw in 9/11. I found it very disturbing when the Palestinians treated this as a victory.
Palestinians were thrilled about 9-11.
Why doesnt the West teach their children about the dangers of such radical views?
Why, indeed? British author Douglas Murray in his 2017 book The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam highlights how Europes political and intellectual elites have failed to address the existential challenges arising from mass migration and the clash of fundamentally different value systems. The toxic mix of historical guilt, moral relativism, and misguided multiculturalism has left Europe unable to defend its Enlightenment values and assert its cultural identity in the face of an increasingly assertive and politicized Islam.
My initial reaction is horror and disbelief. I just couldnt believe the disdain and hatred the jihadists held for those who didnt follow their ideals and belief. It was scary seeing how the jihadist ideas could be compared to Nazis ideas and how similar they were. Although the documentary is from the early 2000s Im left to wonder if the jihadists are doing the same hateful and inhumane things in 2024.
Clearly, this student has no idea of the beastliness of October 7 in Israel, but why should she when it is basically a non-issue for most major media outlets and Western leaders? The disgusting bias and outright lies of journalists are breathtaking.
This is the exact issue with the world today; the world embraces ignorance as bliss. In the Quran, Allah commands believers to force non-believers to believe by force, murder, terrorism. Absolute ideology over shared safe freedom of speech. Its heartbreaking to see these young kids hearts filled with so much hatred. These men commit murder on innocent people and pray to their god about it how does that even sit right with any moral person? I would like to know where and when these beliefs came from. Where and during what place and time did they begin and when did they begin to gain popularity?
The roots of Islamic antisemitism date back centuries. Andrew G. Bostom highlights how the Quran depicts the Jews as inveterately evil and bent on destroying the well-being of the Muslims.
It does not come as a shocker that the majority of the people preaching this kind of hate are men. It is sad ... how the children are being stripped from a normal, loving childhood.
This site highlights the position of women in the Islamic world, where a woman is worth less than a man.
Coupled with the antisemitic teachings is the abject indifference by womens groups, who were slow to acknowledge the sexual assaults of their Israeli sisters by Hamas. Unfortunately, the political [leftist] leanings of many womens rights organizations have played a role in their silence about the sexual violence perpetuated by Hamas. What hypocrisy to call themselves feminists!
There simply isnt a reason to destroy another persons choice of where they want to pray. Im also upset that these groups teach innocent young children that Jews are apes/pigs and overall bad.
When special adviser and P.A. Supreme sharia judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash openly refers to Jews as humanoids ... apes and pigs, the silence is deadly.
Moreover, rarely mentioned is the fate of moderate Muslims.
I didnt like that they train the little children to be suicide warriors. The part that stood out to me the most is why they are destroying the churches, synagogues and statues that are non-Muslim.
Consider the loss of irreplaceable works of art by ISIS.
Why are the people of Islam so against others and why do they think that death is a good solution to all of this?
In Deuteronomy 30:16, Moses explains G-ds commandments. Behold, I place before you today life and good and death and evil. ... I call on Heaven and Earth to witness to you that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse choose life! (30:15, 19).
What a stark contrast to the jihadists who love death more than life!
I wonder why Muslims feel so entitled to treat people this way. There should be stronger security to protect against potential threats that may occur.
Little do my students know about the rank antisemitism at major universities in America and elsewhere as Jewish students are harassed daily and the powers that be are indifferent.
Its devastating to see hundreds of Arab children being raised with the soul [sic] purpose of someday becoming suicide bombers. The measures some of these people are going to prove their religion is superior are disturbing. How has this behavior gone on for so long?
The answer lies in the deep infiltration of radical ideology into America. CAIR (the Council on American Islamic Relations) will continue to obfuscate the radical tenets of Islam and claim Islamophobia in order to cover its despicable actions, hate speech, and desire to create a global caliphate.
Pascal Bruckner explains that in 2013 the Organization of the Islamic Conference, financed by dozens of Muslim countries that themselves shamelessly persecute Jews, Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus, demanded that Western countries put an end to freedom of expression where Islam was concerned[.] The signatories intention was to make criticism of the religion of the Koran an international crime.
The first goal was to impose silence on Westerners[.] The second ... was to forge a weapon of enforcement against liberal Muslims, who dared to criticize their faith and who called for reform of family laws and for equality between the sexes, for a right to apostatize and to convert, and for a right no longer to believe in God and not to observe Ramadan and other rites. Such renegades must face public condemnation, in this imperative, so as to block all hope of change. Now the idea is to convert Europe to the true faith in part by transforming the law and the culture. It is well known how much of the Nazi legacy has passed, since the creation of Israel, to the Arab Middle East[.] Was it not the late king of Morocco, Hassan II, who said: Hatred of Israel is the most powerful aphrodisiac of the Arab world? The notion of Islamophobia is meant to give the religion of the Prophet a status of exemption denied to other spiritual systems.
How is it that my college students can abhor what the jihadists say and do, but Western leaders lack the fortitude to enforce any meaningful action and instead kowtow to the radical Islamists whose goal is the total evisceration of Western values, and the murder of those they deem the infidel?
Eileen can be reached at middlemarch18@gmail.com.
Image: Robert Couse-Baker via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
On January 6, 2021, nearly five hours passed between the breach of the Capitol perimeter and the arrival of a National Guard contingent ready and waiting to deploy just ten minutes away. Had the National Guard arrived within that first hour, January 6 would have no more historical resonance than any other day on the calendar.
Any number of people bear the blame for this calamitous security failure, but that list does not include the two most frequently cited scapegoats, the D.C. National Guard or President Donald Trump.
Of the thousands of words of sworn testimony, some of the most revealing came from Colonel Earl Matthews. In rebutting the questions asked by Rep. Norma Torres, a California Democrat, at a congressional hearing on April 17, 2024, the intrepid Matthews shared some inconvenient truths.
Do you know if ideas like the President seizing ballot boxes was something [Army] Secretary [Ryan] McCarthy was considering when making decisions about deploying the Guard on January 6? asked Torres.
I think it was, but I think it was not a rational belief, said the African-American Matthews, the Chief Legal Advisor for the D.C. National Guard on January 6. Not liking the answer, Torres promptly cut him off.
Was there widespread fear within the Department of Defense about the President using the military or other levers of the State to impact the election around the time of the 2020 election, Torres continued, hoping to get an answer more to her liking. This question backfired as well.
No. It was not a widespread fear, said Matthews. It was a fear among a clique of officers led by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who talked about a so-called Reichstag moment. Not wanting to hear any more of the truth, Torres cut Matthews off again.
In the movies -- Seven Days in May, Dr. Strangelove, White House Down -- that clique of coup-minded generals inevitably emerge from some right-wing fever swamp. In Washington circa 2020, that clique was headed by the proudly woke Gen. Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and a hero on the Left.
January 6, of course, proved to be a Reichstag moment, but in precisely the opposite way Milley suggested. Democratic Party leadership responded to the riot much the way the Nazi leadership responded to the Reichstag fire, namely using an event of ambiguous origin as pretext to suppress speech and imprison its political opponents.
For the Democrats, Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans served the role that Jews and communists did for the Nazis. With the perpetrators identified, all investigations for the next two years would be tailored to defame the accused and exculpate the complicit.
By the evening of January 6, the Reichstag narrative had been set. Said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to her filmmaker daughter Alexandra, I just feel sick with what he did to the Capitol and to the country today. Hes got to pay a price for that. The he, of course, was Donald Trump.
For the following two years, the left controlled the White House, Congress, the media, and the D.C. courts. That control enabled them to shoehorn all evidence into their pre-set narrative. In her recently released book, The Art of Power: My Story as Americas First Woman Speaker of the House, Pelosi ignored all the facts that have emerged since Republicans won the House and doubled down on her scandalously fake thesis:
Watching the insurrection, which Trump had instigated, begging him to provide the National Guard -- as he did and which he refused to send -- and taking into account my own worries about the basic security of Vice President Mike Pence, hiding inside the Capitol complex, and the important role he had to play, I knew we had to prevail.
Thanks to the underreported efforts of the House Administration's Subcommittee on Oversight and its chairman Barry Loudermilk, we are beginning to see just how crudely false was Pelosis interpretation of that days events.
To be clear, there was no insurrection. Even the media have moved beyond this silliness. Whatever did occur, Trump did not instigate it. The Capitol Police started lobbing munitions into a rowdy but peaceful crowd ten minutes before Trump finished speaking on the Ellipse, a 45-minute walk away. None of these protestors heard his speech.
Contrary to Pelosis claims, Trump repeatedly asked for the assistance of the National Guard. In March 2024, Loudermilk released a transcribed interview conducted with Trump's former White House deputy chief of staff Anthony Ornato, which confirmed the separate testimony of Trump chief-of-staff Mark Meadows.
Mr. Ornato's testimony proves what Meadows has said all along, attested Loudermilk. President Trump did in fact offer 10,000 National Guard troops to secure the U.S. Capitol, which was turned down. Added Loudermilk, The former J6 Select Committee apparently withheld Mr. Ornatos critical witness testimony from the American people because it contradicted their pre-determined narrative.
In a September 20, 2024 press release, Loudermilk added further proof of Trumps request for support: The transcripts released [from the DoD IG report] show Trump gave senior Pentagon leadership directives to keep January 6 peaceful -- including using the National Guard -- which the Pentagon leaders ignored. The release then quotes Loudermilk directly as saying, Pentagon leadership prioritized concerns of optics over their duty to protect lives.
To make his case, Loudermilk shared some direct quotes from Milley and others. When interviewed by the Department of Defenses inspector general in 2021, Milley quoted Trump as saying, Hey, look at this. Theres going to be a large amount of protesters here on the 6th, make sure that you have sufficient National Guard or Soldiers to make sure its a safe event. Again according to Milley, Trump added, Hey, I dont care if you use Guard, or Soldiers, active duty Soldiers, do whatever you have to do. Just make sure its safe.
Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller also heard Trumps say that they were going to need 10,000 troops. As Miller admitted in May 2021 at a Democrat-led House hearing, he did not check with President Trump after the riot started because he did not need to.
Testified Miller, I had all the authority I needed and I knew what had to happen." The D.C. National Guard reported directly to the Pentagon.
Although not part of his clique, Miller was well aware of Milleys flirtation with treason. I want to remind you and the American public that during that time, there was irresponsible commentary by the media about a possible military coup or that advisors to the president were advocating the declaration of martial law, Miller testified at the May 2021 House hearing.
The rumors of a Trump-led military coup and the hysteria about them, said Miller, factored into my decisions regarding the appropriate and limited use of our armed forces to support civilian law enforcement during the electoral college certification. Appointed just two months prior, Miller lacked the confidence to silence a subordinate of Milleys stature.
Milley and his clique wanted Trump to fail. They so poisoned the media environment that Miller dared not feed their paranoia by calling up the Guard when he should have. Loudermilks suggestion that worry about optics caused the delay is too generous by half.
Pelosi complicated matters through sheer incompetence. I was sitting at my desk in the Pentagon holding a phone six inches away from my ear, trying my best to make sense of the incoherent shrieking blasting out of the receiver, Miller writes on the first page of his book, Soldier Secretary. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was on the line, and she was in a state of total nuclear meltdown.
In an otherwise helpful March 2024 article in the Intercept, Peter Maass goes to some length to discredit Millers account of this call, but the Maass article appeared before a video surfaced of Pelosis hysterical flight from the Capitol on the afternoon of January 6.
"We take responsibility, Terri. We did not have any accountability for what was going on there, and we should have. This is ridiculous," Pelosi snaps at her chief of staff Terri McCullough. I mean the National Guard," Pelosi scolds her. "Why weren't the National Guard there to begin with?"
As Pelosi understood, the House speaker is responsible for the security of the Capitol. The claim that she begged Trump for help during the riot and that he turned her down is pure fiction. As Loudermilk observed, Once the Capitol was breached, the Trump White House pushed for immediate help from Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller and grew frustrated at the slow deployment of that help.
The Pentagons betrayal of Trump should not surprise. The FBI and the intelligence community had sabotaged his presidency as well as the campaigns of 2016 and 2020, the latter fatally.
Let me tell you, Senate leader Chuck Schumer warned the president-elect days before his 2017 inauguration, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday of getting back at you. As President Trump learned, the Pentagon has its ways too.
Jack Cashills newest book, Ashli: the Untold Story of the Women of January 6, is available in all formats.
Image: Tyler Merbler
Ayn Rand once said that in a totalitarian society like Soviet Russia, one kind of man that didnt exist was the businessman. I would add that there also arent many liberals. There are, on the other hand, plenty of conservatives.
We Americans like to think of conservatives as gun-toting, family-oriented religious capitalists, but this label itself is made in the USA especially when we think traveling means going to Cancun for spring break, and we dont read books from other cultures or eras. In fact, whatever we think about how conservatives should think, the conservatives are the most diverse party in the whole world.
For instance, in Britain, conservatives might believe in aristocracy a class system. In India, they might believe in the caste system. In Soviet Russia, they might have believed in (and failed at) the abolishment of classes. Each nation has its own flavor and gist of conservative, and you can put them in the same room, and theyll all disagree wildly except on one thing, and thats that they dont want to act like the other nations.
In addition to this, a real conservative knows that to switch governments like musical chairs, English for American, would be a total disaster for both parties no matter how smoothly things are going in either of them. A conservative believes in and recognizes ethnicity that is, a particular kind of people, complete with manners and outlook and traditions first. He believes that society grows organically over eons and that we grow into society. Hes thus a man of prejudice. And thats okay. Because to a strong degree, hes right.
Liberals are built a little different. By a liberal I dont mean that you have green hair and hate borders and think Lizzo is oppressed. That would be our current definition of leftist. By liberal I mean you like hearing about how the Scandis do hospitals and the Saudis do hospitality. In short, you like new ideas from all kinds of places, and even more than this, you like to hear a good argument about them.
John Stuart Mill explained liberalism in the best way possible in On Liberty:
If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. ... The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.
Liberalism doesnt mean you think all arguers are equally right. It doesnt mean you think all ideas are equally safe, or smart, or worthy of respect. It means that you think other people should say them so that we can fight about them, and who knows? maybe we can find better ideas. This means that, given the right circumstances, you might trade out your traditional ones.
This requires diversity, on some level, and for the ability of minorities (religious and political and ethnic) to frankly speak their minds. No country has ever done this perfectly (nor would we want it to, as this would require a hamstringing of the majority), but liberals at least give it a good shot. I think they ought to, to some degree. This kind of free dealing with one another, even when its offensive, is responsible not just for the best governments (read: The Federalist Papers), but for our best music and movies and poetry and literature. Thus, Sparta had the best armies, but Athens the fruity liberal had the best art.
Spiritually, the liberal and the conservative differ on how open they are to change. They also differ on how offended they are when they hear a new idea. Liberals today are accused of being self-loathing, limp-wristed, fit-throwing vegans but this is a mischaracterization. A true liberal doesnt fit well within boxes or narratives, and in fact, he tends to poke holes in them. A liberal is the still, small voice that questions whether Big Pharma is lying to and raping the public. Liberals are pointing out whether the FDA is funded by the people theyre supposed to be policing. A liberal asks at great personal danger whether the cop who killed George Floyd (and went to prison for it) was just following what his bosses told him. And a liberal gets angry when Facebook and Twitter wont let anybody talk about it. We like to call Democrats liberals, but Ive just listed people like Joe Rogan, Elon Musk, Russell Brand, RFK Jr., and Donald Trump people who are risking their lives to shake up an evil, corrupted system. And if the Republican Party is winning at all, its because of these people the liberals at heart.
This is why there are conservatives in North Korea but no liberals. A spiritual liberal is always looking for truth, and the people in charge are always trying to hide it. Both a slave society and a free society are a game of cat and mouse. But in a slave society, the mouse is the liberal and hes almost always eventually caught. In a free society, the mouse is the president. And there we wish the cats luck.
E.B. White has a beautiful passage in his Writings from the New Yorker, which every American should read:
The value of the liberal in the republic is not that he is logical but that he is inquisitive. ... The liberal holds that he is true to the republic when he is true to himself. (It may not be as cozy an attitude as it sounds.) He greets with enthusiasm the fact of the journey, as a dog greets a mans invitation to take a walk. And he acts in the dogs way, too, swinging wide, racing ahead, doubling back, covering many miles of territory that the man never traverses, all in the spirit of inquiry and the zest for truth. He leaves a crazy trail, but he ranges far beyond the genteel old party he walks with and he is usually in a better position to discover a skunk. The dog often influences the course the man takes, on his long walk; for sometimes a dog runs into something in nature so arresting that not even a man can quite ignore it, and the man deviates a clear victim of the liberal intent in his dumb companion. When the two of them get home and flop down, it is the liberal the wide-ranging dog who is covered with bur-docks and with information of a special sort on out-of-the-way places. Often ineffective in direct political action, he is the opposite of the professional revolutionary, for, unlike the latter, he never feels he knows where the truth lies, but is full of rich memories of places he has glimpsed it in.
We have been making fun of liberals for too long, mostly because people who arent liberals stole the label which used to be a compliment and put it on people who didnt deserve it. I think its time to call them out on it.
Jeremy Egerer is the author of Prejudices a collection of questionable essays on Substack.
Image: JSMed via Pixabay, Pixabay License.
A new American Thinker/Rasmussen Reports poll of 1,071 likely voters in Wisconsin shows President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris tying if the election were held today. Digging down, the poll, which has responses from 386 Democrats, 386 Republicans, and 300 Independents, reveals that voters in Wisconsin are most concerned about the economy and immigration. They favor Trumps abilities on the economy and immigration while supporting Harris on energy policies.
When asked how they would vote if the election were held today, likely voters were evenly split, with 49% favoring Trump and 49% favoring Harris. This number does not align with either favorability (52% favoring Harris versus 47% favoring Trump) or character (49% favoring Harris versus 45% favoring Trump).
Image by Andrea Widburg
Nor does the tie reflect how Wisconsins likely voters feel about a candidates being a threat to democracy. Forty-nine percent worry about Trump and the Republicans versus 47% perceiving Harris and the Democrats as a threat. However, 23% of those polled still identify the Democrat party as Americas biggest enemy, with the same number believing the same of the Republican party. China comes in at 19%.
What seems to drive the tie is the four issues that concern Wisconsin voters: the economy, immigration, energy policy, and abortion. On the first two, a majority of voters believe that Trump is the stronger candidate; on the last two, a slight majority side with Harris on energy issues while those who support Harris are also strongly pro-abortion. In addition, despite seemingly liking Harris more, Wisconsinites are unhappy about the past four years.
For Wisconsins likely voters, the economy is the most important issue (29%), followed by border security (17%), abortion (17%) and, tying at 8%, the climate, crime, and government corruption. When they look at what they think the incoming president should address, rising prices (29%) and illegal immigration (27%) are their top priorities.
Regarding the economy, poll respondents say they are not better off now than they were four years ago (52% to 38%), and they do not believe their children will be better off (52% to 20%). When they think back to Bidens economic policies, 43% of those polled say the policies leave them less likely to vote for Harris. That is reflected in the fact that 48% of those polled believe Trump is the candidate who can be trusted to improve the economy versus 45% thinking the same for Harris.
Likely voters in Wisconsin also have very specific concerns about immigration. In the abstract, they favor a deportation candidate over an amnesty candidate (45% to 37%). Most think that the current administration is doing too little to fix the problem (58%) versus those who think the governments efforts are too much (10%) or just right (22%). Trump holds a strong lead against Harris when Wisconsin voters were asked to say which candidate they trust more to secure the border (51% versus 41%).
Generally speaking, Wisconsinites think America is less safe than four years ago (59%), compared to those who think its more safe (25%). While some of that is no doubt tied to crime and immigration policies, safety also reflects foreign policy concerns. When voters think about the candidate who can best stand up to hostile nations such as China, Russia, and Iran, voters favored Trump over Harris (49% to 47%).
Of the kitchen-table issues, the one in which Harris had the lead was on energy policies. Wisconsins likely voters are more concerned about energy prices (55%) than they are about carbon emissions (36%). They give Harris the advantage over Trump when it comes to trusting that person to handle Americas energy policies (48% to 46%).
When it comes to the pressing social issue of sexual identity, most Wisconsin voters agree that there are only two sexes (65% to 29%). They also oppose using hormones and surgery on minors who identify as transgender (56% to 32%).
Rasmussen Reports sums up the poll results here.
A new American Thinker/Rasmussen Reports poll of 1,030 likely voters in Arizona shows President Trump with a two-point lead over Vice President Kamala Harris if the election were held today. The poll, which has responses from 309 Democrats, 371 Republicans, and 350 Independents, shows that voters in Arizona are most concerned about the economy and immigration. They believe that Trump is the candidate who can be trusted to address those concerns.
When asked how they would vote if the election were held today, 49% of Arizonas likely voters would vote for Trump, with 47% supporting Harris. This matches closely with the three-point lead Trump has on favorability over Harris (51% to 48%). However, Harris has a two-point lead over Trump regarding character (47% to 45%). How Arizona voters feel about a candidates character does not affect their votes.
Image by Andrea Widburg
Candidate character also didnt seem to affect Arizona respondents when asked about threats to America. They believe by a six-point margin that Harris and the Democrats pose a greater threat to democracy than Trump and the Republicans, with 50% assigning the threat assessment to Harris and the Democrats and only 44% to Trump and the Republicans. Paradoxically, though, 46% say Republicans are more likely to act as dictators or tyrants, versus 45% saying Democrats will.
And again paradoxically, when asked to identify Americas biggest enemy, foreign or domestic, the Democrat party topped the list (24%), with China coming in second at 20%. The Republican party lagged in this list at 16%.
Looking at the threat from China, as well as Russia and Iran, 52% of Arizona respondents think that Trump can best be trusted to handle it, compared to Harris (41%).
For Arizona voters, 33% see the economy as the most pressing issue in the upcoming election. After that, their concerns are border security (22%) and abortion (15%). However, when asked what the incoming presidents priorities should be, illegal immigration rose to the top of the list (31%), followed by rising prices (27%). In third place came protecting our democracy (23%).
That same sense of economic trouble was reflected in the fact that 57% of Arizonas likely voters said that they are not better off now than they were four years ago (34% say they are), while 56% also believe that their children will not be better off (17% say that they will be).
When asked which candidate they trust most to improve the economy, Arizona voters trust Trump over Harris by 52-43%. Forty-three percent of them also say that Joe Bidens economic policies leave them less likely to support Harris. If Arizonans had to choose between bringing down energy prices or slowing carbon emissions, 59% of poll respondents opted for bringing down energy prices compared to 32% for carbon emissions. Arizonas likely voters also give Trump a four-point lead on the ability to handle Americas energy policies (49% to 45%).
On immigration, Arizona voters want fewer illegal aliens, not more. Given a choice between a generic candidate who supports amnesty and one who supports deportation, 51% would back a deportation candidate, with 33% backing an amnesty candidate. Sixty-six percent of them feel that the government is doing too little to stop the flow of illegal aliens across the border.
Overall, Arizona voters favor Trump by 55% to Harriss 37% when it comes to trusting one of the candidates to secure the southern border. If Arizona voters had their way, 23% would stop all immigration, while another 31% would cap immigration at 500,000 annually.
A sizable majority of people polled (63%) also say that America is less safe than it was before, versus only 25% who view it as more safe.
In response to the statement There are only two genders, 71% of Arizonas likely voters agree, with only 33% disagreeing. Theyre also not supportive of gender-affirming care for minors, with only 27% supporting it, versus 62% opposing it.
At the congressional level, Republicans had the generic advantage, with 49% of poll respondents saying theyd select the Republican candidate, compared to 45% who would vote for the Democrat. Looking specifically at the race between Ruben Gallego, the Democrat, who has been leading by a fairly wide margin, and Kari Lake, the Republican, the gap between the two candidates is closing, with Gallego garnering 47% of votes from Arizonans responding to the poll and 45% supporting Lake.
Rasmussen Reports sums up the poll results here. The poll has a margin of error of +/-3 points, and Rasmussen Reports has a 95% level of confidence in the results.
There is much currency in the Biden-Harris federally coordinated effort to swing the upcoming election; here are a few standouts:
Federal Communications Commission helps corner the 2024 election radio market for Harris.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seemingly approved a deal that would fast-track left-wing billionaire George Soross acquisition of more than 200 Audacy radio stations across America, irking two Republican commissioners who objected.
The New York Post first reported that the FCC last week adopted an order to approve Soros purchase of more than 200 radio stations in 40 markets just weeks before the presidential election, potentially allowing the far-left kingmaker to reach more than 165 million Americans at a critical time.
The FCC decision to fast-track his deal is the first time in modern history such a deal has been approved by the full Commission without first running the national security review processa process that could take up to a year or more, Post reporter Lydia Moynihan wrote.
The Secret Service backs Biden-Harris for the Wisconsin vote.
Whistleblower: Secret Service told Trump campaign it could not secure potential rally in Wisconsin read a headline from Lindsey McPherson at The Washington Times. Heres what else McPherson reported:
The Secret Service allegedly told former President Donald Trumps team that it did not have sufficient assets to secure a rally the campaign wanted to hold in Wisconsin, according to a new whistleblower account.
Missouris own Senator Josh Hawley is fighting for answers, penning a letter to Kimberly Cheatles temporary replacement Ronald Rowe, detailing the whistleblowers allegations which effectively forced the Trump campaign to cancel an upcoming event in Wisconsin, as the agency ostensibly lacked the resources and manpower. Also, from McPherson:
Other whistleblowers with knowledge of Secret Service planning protocols allege that failure to provide protection for a major public event is highly unusual and that a sitting president would never be denied resources in this way, Mr. Hawley said.
By hook or crook: Multiple assassination attempts, none clarified.
From Fox News:
Michigan voters slam Democrats toxic rhetoric after latest assassination attempt Trump supporters in Flint, Michigan blamed Democratic rhetoric about former President Donald Trump for the latest attempt on his life.
Years of Trump is literally Hitler from the media establishment, the Democrat party, and its voters will make mentally disturbed people even crazier.
Swamp shutdown congressional boogeyman wins... again... as the U.S. House pulls the SAVE ACTto stop 2024 illegal votingto fund the very important swamp... again.
From NBC News:
The House on Wednesday is poised to pass a funding bill to avert a government shutdown next week after it removed a proposal demanded by Donald Trump that would require Americans nationwide to show proof of citizenship to register to vote. House Republican leaders, facing defections within their ranks, plan to rely heavily on Democratic votes to approve the measure. If it passes, it would go to the Senate, which hopes to quickly approve it Wednesday night, well before the Oct. 1 shutdown deadline. Both chambers are set to adjourn this week for a lengthy recess until after the Nov. 5 election [emphasis added].
Now that the Congress has completed, once again, its important work of bankrupting the country and giving the Democrats their illegal voters, they can all go home for another very lengthy recess.
Too little, too late? Wisconsins refusal to remove RFK Jr. from 2024 ballot.
Heres this, from a local outlet in Wisconsin:
Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa), chair of the Assembly elections committee, says hell introduce legislation next session to make it easier for candidates to get off Wisconsins ballot as a decision from the Wisconsin Supreme Court regarding Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will come as soon as today. We cant force people to do things they dont want to do anymore, even if they wanted to do them earlier, Krug said Sunday on UPFRONT. I think you saw in the court case they made a pretty strong First Amendment argument that it wasnt what he wanted to do anymore, and we kind of forced him into it. So that would be the change, I would propose next session is just saying before that final meeting with WEC, let's define what qualified means on the ballot.
RFK Jr. has withdrawn from the race, having instead teamed up with Trump and is leading the Make America Healthy Again campaign; he is not seeking office, but getting his name off the ballot isnt as easy as one might think, with particular credit to the progressive operatives suing to keep his name on the ballot.
In bits and pieces, the Swamp moves to elect Harris.
Image generated by AI.
One of the things Democrats warn voters about Trump is that if he is elected, it will be the end of democracy. However, today, Kamala Harris revealed that it is she who wants to do away with one of the most important democratic norms in America: the filibuster. Ostensibly, its to return unlimited abortion to America, but the reality is that if she wins the White House and Democrats control Congress, America becomes a one-party nation...forever.
The Senate authorized the filibuster over 200 years ago, in 1806, and it was first put into effect in 1837. Its purpose is to allow a minority to invoke the filibuster to keep a bill from being voted upon unless three-fifths of the Senates members invoke cloture. This prevents majority rule by forcing a broad agreement on bills that will have a profound effect on America.
Image: Kamala Harris (edited). YouTube screen grab.
Only recently, as theyve become more radicalized, have Democrats, when in the majority wanted to do away with the filibuster. Their primary goals are to pack the Supreme Court and add Puerto Rico and D.C. as states. (That the Constitution theoretically bars D.C. from becoming a state is irrelevant if you control the Supreme Court). Once they do that, they will have achieved permanent control over the government, and the Constitution will be a dead letter.
And no, this is not a conservative conspiracy theory. Back in 2020, the Democrats were open about their plan to end the filibuster if Biden won and the Democrats controlled the Senate. Voxs Ezra Klein detailed the wish-list:
Virtually everything Democrats have sworn to do honoring John Lewis's legacy by strengthening the right to vote, preserving the climate for future generations by decarbonizing America, ensuring no gun is sold without a background check, raising the minimum wage, implementing universal pre-K, ending dark money in politics, guaranteeing paid family leave, offering statehood to Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico, reinvigorating unions, passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act hinges on this question.
As for the Supreme Court, activists were open in their calls to pack the Court, while Biden tried to hide that by playing footsie with reporters.
By January 2021, Biden was in the White House, and Kamala was the tie-breaker in the Senate. However, unexpectedly, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin stood firm, refusing to end the filibuster.
But the one thing you can say about Democrats is that, unlike Republicans, they never give up. And so it is that Kamala is once again urging people to vote for her and a Democrat Senate so that Democrats can end the filibuster. This time, Kamalas using her biggest strength in the campaign to make that argument: She says shell reverse the Dobbs decision and reinstate Roe v. Wade. That is, reversing the filibuster will set in motion taking abortion from the states and returning it to the feds. Its 1973 all over again:
Vice President Harris says she would support eliminating the filibuster in the U.S. Senate in order to bring back federal protections for a woman's right to an abortion as they existed under Roe v. Wade. Harris outlined her position during an interview Monday with Wisconsin Public Radio, saying that when it comes to the issue of abortion, she believes the Senate should do away with the filibuster rule that requires a 60-vote threshold for most legislation to pass. "I've been very clear, I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe, and get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do," Harris told WPR host Kate Archer Kent.
"We should eliminate the filibuster for Roe & get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom."
Kamala Harris tells Wisconsin Public Radio about measures she backs to reinstate federal abortion rights pic.twitter.com/hlJHDZwRyV The Recount (@therecount) September 24, 2024
Of course, we all know that abortion is the tip of the spear. Go back to Ezra Kleins 2020 wish-list to understand what will happen if Kamala takes control of D.C. Its not just a four-year thing; its a forever thing.
Its also important to understand that Republicans need to step up their abortion messaging. The two polls that Ive reviewed (one for Pennsylvania and one for Georgia) show that the biggest gun Kamala has is abortion. While voters care most about the economy and illegal immigration, abortion is their next biggest concern.
This concern, while primarily coming from Democrats, also crosses over to conservatives who are not abortion absolutists. Democrats have done a great job of convincing both their party and conservative non-absolutists that the only way to allow any type of abortion (including in cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother) is to re-federalize it by giving Democrats control over the federal government.
Meanwhile, Republicans have done a terrible job of making clear that all states have exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the mother. In that regard, Republicans need to push back hard against Kamalas sob story narrative about Georgia residents Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller, both of whom died after taking abortion pills.
The truth is that Georgias heartbeat law is not what caused the women to die. In Thurmans case, it was pure medical malpractice because Georgia law allows procedures when a woman has failed to expel fetal matter (no matter how the baby died). In Millers case, she didnt even go to a doctor:
Unless Republicans, from Trump on down, allay the concerns of the people who are either fully pro-abortion or not completely anti-abortion, this issue may be the wave that gets Kamala into the White House, Democrats into the Senate, and the Constitution into the garbage.
For all her "Look! Squirrel" talk about being a tough border-state prosecutor taking on cartels, Kamala Harris is mighty quiet about what she intends to do about the mass illegal immigration her administration triggered if she wins the coming election.
She refuses to talk about what her plan is, which is amnesty for illegals, knowing very well that rewarding lawbreaking is unpopular with voters.
According to Breitbart News:
Vice President Kamala Harriss presidential campaign is refusing to discuss the details of the Democrat candidates plan for amnesty for millions of illegal aliens living in the United States. For months, Harris has promised to give amnesty to most of the 11 to 22 million illegal aliens living across the United States. During her speech at the Democrat National Convention (DNC) last month, Harris said Americans should live up to our proud heritage and provide illegal aliens with an earned pathway to citizenship, among other things.
That's a big issue to duck https://t.co/RNjJBxpCeO Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) September 24, 2024
Specifically, Breitbart reported that it was not they who were getting the stonewalling on their questions, it was Axios, a much more Kamala-friendly outlet who asked about her amnesty plans stated in her 2019 campaign platform, given that she isn't saying anything in this one.
Axios asked Harriss presidential campaign about the amnesty plans, but a spokesman refused to elaborate on the specifics. Asked this week whether shed take those same executive actions, her campaign declined to answer, Axioss Alex Thompson and Stef Kight report: Spokesperson Ian Sams said: The vice president has fought for Dreamers throughout her career and is proud of the actions taken under her and President Biden to expand protections for them, including the executive action President Biden took this year, which she supported.
Harris, the border czar, whom most Americans blame for the border surge inundating cities and towns throughout the country, has also stonewalled Fox News on whether or not she would keep the CBP One migrant app, and the CHNV (Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan) mass parole program in place, which flies inadmissable aliens in from their home countries and hands them work permits on the spot along with protections against deportation, prompting money-hungry NGOs to call them "legal immigrants," which they are not. Some 500,000 inadmissables have rolled in on those generous programs, courtesy of the taxpayer.
NEW: I asked VP Kamala Harris campaign if she will keep the Biden administrations controversial CBP One cell phone app & CHNV migrant flights mass parole program if she wins the election.
The campaign provided me a statement that did not answer those questions. The campaign pic.twitter.com/DhJuEsyFO2 Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) September 24, 2024
Which, incidentally, are full of fraud:
Kamala Harris regime is restarting a program allowing illegals to apply for amnesty despite the fact it was halted last month because an audit showed that for over 100K applications only 3200 sponsors were named.
That's called CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING!
pic.twitter.com/vUUpMxt1ID Sheri (@FFT1776) August 29, 2024
In this undated video, she appeared to champion amnesty, too, as "comprehensive immigration reform" bringing illegals "out of the shadows."
Kamala wants mass amnesty for illegals along with free healthcare.
Vote like your life depends on it, because it does. pic.twitter.com/4lrVHgS7Hn Spitfire (@DogRightGirl) July 29, 2024
In this video, she joins her good friend Jussie Smollett to shout down any deportation at all:
Even her claims to have prosecuted border criminals are coming up empty:
Kamala never actually prosecuted a case https://t.co/dWcrq6Cj1R Jack Poso (@JackPosobiec) September 25, 2024
But she's all in for illegals to be prosecuting cases:
FLASHBACK: VP Harris pushed for illegal immigrant to practice law in California over Obama admin's objections https://t.co/qB7Fi1wfXl Fox News (@FoxNews) September 25, 2024
It all adds up to a big plan to amnesty illegals as they roll in, encouraging ever bigger waves of immigration, and not telling the voters about it. It's as sneaky a plan as such plans can be, indicating that she knows how unpopular it is with voters, yet plans to do it anyway once she gets her hands on the levers of power. That blatant disregard for the will of the voters, and that willingness to cover it up until it's too late is the plan of a tyrant. It's replacement theory on the sly, a grotesque bid to replace the electorate with a Chavista variety of voter, and it's about as antidemocratic as such things come.
For now, only sunlight may stop it. It's time for the mainstream press to push questions to her about this, pinning her down for what she's hiding from us about what she really plans to do.
Image: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service // public domain
In the post-Obama era, Democrat political candidates are often so subservient to unpopular agendas they've been viewed as puppets -- to someone behind the scenes.
Could it be Obama? Valerie Jarrett? Ron Klain?
One good candidate is Alex Soros, the moneybags son of hedge fund speculator George, who is the top organizational donor to Democrats through his Fund for Policy Reform, and the Democrats' top individual donor, as well, shelling out $128 million of his own cash to Democracy PAC, just in the last midterm election.
Soros's son also runs the vast NGO syndicate known as the Open Society Foundation, which advocates for open borders, marijuana decriminalization, and criminal justice "reform," meaning, defunding the police, electing pro-crime district attorneys, decriminalizing petty crime, and emptying the prisons. The House of Soros also has funded something called the "Secretaries of State Project," which is all about electing radical leftwing Soros acolytes to vote-counting operations in swing states during elections. The Soros agenda is singularly responsible for nearly all of the chaos seen since the election of Obama.
But to Democrats, who owe their offices to the Soros networks despite their unpopular agendas, Soros is royality to them, practically a god.
Which is evident enough in this picture, tweeted out by Alex Soros:
Honored to host Governor @Tim_Walz at my home in New York City! pic.twitter.com/gRtjQrnu7N Alex Soros (@AlexanderSoros) September 24, 2024
The servile body language, as Walz looks out over the glassy high rise overlooking Central Park in New York, in what's surely the city's most expensive real estate, pretty well tells the story. He's quite the bowing liege, even as Soros says he's 'honored' to have him pay a visit.
Don't think that Alex is a nice guy here. He's a leftist, a radical leftist who say he's far more radical than his father.
He's done stuff like this little stunt in the past.
When are media historians going to report on Alex Soros' veiled threat in January 2024, of assassinating Donald Trump? Also, both George and Alex have publicly expressed their wishes of wanting Trump to "disappear", even by way of imprisonment. Soros-backed Zelensky campaigned pic.twitter.com/VlVib9OXWA Gracie Smith (@GraceSm16250397) September 24, 2024
Was it a threat against Trump? I can't tell, but some think so. What a coincidence that he featured a bullet hole in one panel and a picture of money in the other, depicting $47, which is the same numbered term as that of the next president. Sure, it could be an innocent coincidence fueling a conspiracy theory. But did he want to get rid of Trump? Let's just say his views are known about Trump and he's never explained it to the public.
It's kind of creepy.
The real question though, is why Soros junior posted this picture, making Walz look so subservient and servile to his grand majesty. Could he have not noticed the body language of Walz in the photo? Or did he notice and not care?
Or could he have actually had Walz pose like that in the picture, the better to show either the public or his billionaire rivals that he's got a presidential ticket in his pocket? As for Walz, it could have been 'do that or no money for you,' so Walz complied.
While it may have been a form of bragging to his pals, and maybe even an 'eff you' message to Republicans, it also was curiously bad judgment.
Candidates who have been pinned with the 'Soros' branding by their opponents are losing a lot of elections.
If a Republican can pin that Soros label onto his rival and get word to voters, the candidate is toast.
We have seen in recent years as voters come to reject Sorosian chaos. Case in point, the 2018 district attorney's race in San Diego, where incumbent independent district attorney Summer Stephan ran ads against her better-financed Soros-financed opponent, Genevieve Jones Wright, (who incidentally, was loudly backed by Kamala Harris) and immediately saw her polling numbers shoot up into a lead, followed by her victory in the race.
I wrote about that Soros kiss-of-death here and here. There have been other cases, too.
Maybe it can be chalked up to Alex being a bit of a junior, the less smart son of the Dr. Evil Soros, who's the mastermind of public manipulation. Walz looks like a running dog to Dr. Evil's mini-me in that picture, so whatever it is, it stinks. Spread it far and wide.
Image: Twitter screen shot
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is in America this week to sell his victory over Russia plan, which if accepted, could lead to a broader war in Europe that includes the United States. His strategy is to deliver messages to three distinct audiences and secure an approval from President Joe Biden.
First, on Sunday, Zelenskys sales pitch began with a visit to an ammunition plant in Bidens former hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, paid for by the American taxpayer via a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft that acted as a chauffeur for the Ukrainian. That visit was hosted by Pennsylvania Democrat governor Josh Shapiro, and the purpose was to call attention to Americas ongoing support for the war effort.
Mr. Zelensky highlighted the plants production of 155 mm artillery shells, a key munition in the war. He noted the Biden administration announced the plant will ramp up production allegedly to meet Ukraines significant requirements and then the Ukrainian leader promised, we are strengthening the defense of liberty and democracy.
Zelenskys message to all Americans was we are in this war together. However, only Democrat politicians were present at the munitions plant, which made the visit appear to be partisan and certainly not representative of all Americans.
Second, on Tuesday, Zelensky spoke at the United Nations Security Council. He urged the Council to join him in forcing Russia to sue for peace by warning This war cant simply fade away, this war cant be calmed by talks. Actions are needed. Russia can only be forced into peace.
Zelensky did not explain what was meant by forcing Moscow to sue for peace. However, he baited the Council by claiming that Moscow was planning to attack three Ukrainian nuclear plants, and then he said, We have proof of this.
If that warning werent enough to alarm the Council about a potential nuclear incident inside Ukraine, Zelensky once again said, The longer this tragic war continues, the greater the risk of escalation and spillover.
At that point Zelensky tried to globalize the war to bolster his argument. He called on the UN to address North Korea and Iran sending weapons to Russia. Further, he asserted Russia is aiding Irans nuclear weapons program in exchange for drones and ballistic missiles.
Zelenskys message to the Council was that his plan to force Russia to seek peace is based on the principles and values of the UN Charter. Therefore, the Council should support him because he respects the UN, and besides, the war has tentacles well beyond Eastern Europe.
Third, Zelensky will be in Washington this Thursday and Friday to speak with Biden and then Vice President Kamala Harris. He promises to then share the details of his Victory Plan and hopefully to gain their support.
That plan, according to Zelensky, begins this fall and will determine the future of this war. Evidently, according to Zelenskys previous statements, the plan involves gaining Bidens approval for Ukraine to use long-range missiles provided by the West to strike deep into Russia.
There are signs that the Biden administration is shifting its stance on the use of long-range weapons and the quantity provided to Ukraine. That agreement is likely the lynchpin to Zelenskys victory plan.
Zelenskys message to Biden and Harris is simple: give me permission to use the weapons you provided and my Victory Plan will force Russia to sue for peace.
Of course, Zelensky expects to win their support because to date, both Biden and Harris have vigorously supported Ukraine with hundreds of billions of dollars worth of arms and humanitarian aid. Zelensky also believes if Harris is elected, she will continue Bidens policies of backing Ukraine.
The downside to Zelenskys three messages is the American people are split on continued support for Ukraine an election vulnerability. Second, the UN is a toothless tiger and cannot do anything about the ongoing war primarily because Russia holds veto authority over the Council. Third, Biden and Harris may support Zelenskys Victory Plan but that may depend on the outcome of the fall presidential election. At this point, if former President Trump wins this fall, he has promised to quickly end the war.
We must not forget that Russian President Vladimir Putin also has a vote regarding Zelenskys plan. Recently, Putin accelerated his industrial base to produce more arms and increased conscription to add to his military manpower. Besides, his threats about using nuclear weapons against Ukraine should not be dismissed.
Where does this leave us? If Biden/Harris approve Zelenskys Victory Plan which likely includes deep strikes into Russia, and Zelensky targets key Russian facilities, then the war could quickly enlarge just in time for the fall U.S. election. At that point, it will be anyones guess whether Putin follows up threats to bring down the nuclear hammer on Ukraine or extends the conventional fight into one that involves the U.S. and by association the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
What is clear is that the October surprise for Americas presidential election might just be an extension of the Russia-Ukraine war that never should have happened, but thanks to the malfeasance of Biden and Harris, we find ourselves in a very serious set of circumstances.
Robert Maginnis is a retired US Army officer, who serves as a contractor at the Pentagon and is the author of eleven books on national security and foreign affairs issues.
Image: Public domain.
Republican Texas Rep. candidate Shelley Luther during a town hall for the Fannin County Republican Party on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022 in Bonham. Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Gov. Greg Abbott this week endorsed Shelley Luther, a Dallas-area salon owner who was jailed after defying his COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and became a face of GOP resistance to pandemic policies. Luther is the GOP nominee for a deep-red state House district in North Texas.
It comes as Abbott is working to lock up support to pass his school voucher plan, which would give families taxpayer dollars to spend on private school tuition. The next legislative session begins in January.
RELATED: Texas Supreme Court frees jailed Dallas salon owner Shelley Luther
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Luther rose to national prominence as a vocal critic of Abbotts pandemic mandates that she said put me in jail for opening my business. She ran for state Senate in 2020, but was defeated by an Abbott-backed candidate. During that race she labeled Abbott a "tyrant," and he funded ads that accused her of sympathizing with the Black Lives Matter movement.
But thats now water under the bridge after Luther defeated the districts anti-voucher incumbent, Sherman Rep. Reggie Smith, in the Republican primary election last March. Abbott did not get involved in that race.
Shelley will fight by my side to secure our border, put Texas on a pathway to eliminating property taxes, and get a school choice bill across the finish line, Abbott said in a statement on Tuesday.
Luther responded: Thank you, Governor! Looking forward to working with you!
Abbotts campaign did not respond to questions about the endorsement. Neither did Luther.
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READ MORE: Texas GOP candidate Shelley Luther complains that students cant make fun of transgender children
Even before the governor weighed in, Luther had been poised to win the Nov. 5 election in the heavily conservative and rural district that stretches from Sherman to Mount Vernon along the Oklahoma border. Luther also has an endorsement from Attorney General Ken Paxton, who opposed Smith for supporting his impeachment.
Luther ran against Smith in 2022 and lost by 17 points. Luther won their rematch this year by 7 points.
On the afternoon of August 16, 1956, 17-year-old Larry Kempton of Leona Valley was driving with his mother, Bernice, along Palmdale Boulevard, just west of 10th Street West, when a rocket suddenly exploded in front of their car. Though both Larry and Bernice escaped unharmed, the blast shredded the car's front tire and severely damaged the radiator, hood, and windshield. Elsewhere in Palmdale, a city in northern Los Angeles, residents were being startled by similar rocket attacks.
Edna Carlson, a resident of Third Street East, recalled how a piece of shrapnel burst through her front window, ricocheted off the ceiling, passed through a wall, and finally came to rest inside her kitchen cupboard. On Fourth Street East, debris from another explosion tore into the home and garage of Mr. Hingle, narrowly missing a guest named Lilly Willingham.
A Grumman F6F Hellcat drone. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
Unbeknownst to these unsuspecting citizens, a fierce aerial battle was unfolding nearly 30,000 feet above them between two United States Air Force interceptor jets and a single, bright red drone. Despite being unmanned and unarmed, it was the drone which was winning.
The drone in question was a Grumman F6F Hellcat, once the United States Navy's dominant fighter during the Pacific War in World War II. After the war, as more advanced, nimble, and powerful aircraft replaced them, many Hellcats were converted into target drones for anti-aircraft shooting practice.
On the day of the incident, one of these radio-controlled Hellcats was launched by the Navy from Point Mugu for a missile test. The drone took off at 11:34 a.m., heading toward the Pacific where the test was scheduled to take place. Like other target drones, it was operated remotely via radio control. Shortly after take off, the controllers realized that the drone was not responding to commands.. Worse still, it had started a slow, left-hand climb toward the southeastheading directly for the Los Angeles area. Fearing the drone could crash into the densely populated metropolitan area, the Navy called the Air Force for assistance.
From Oxnard Air Force Base, just five miles from the Navy's Point Mugu facility, two F-89D Scorpions were dispatched to shoot down the rogue drone. What followed next was an embarrassing display of marksmanship.
An F89-D Scorpion aircraft. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
The pilots of the two F-89 Scorpions were Lieutenant Hans Einstein and Lieutenant Dick Hurliman. Soon after take-off the two jets engaged their afterburners and caught up to the erring aircraft at 30,000 feet in no time. The aircraft was circling northeast of Los Angeles. The jets tailed the Hellcat as it turned southwest and made another pass over Los Angeles before heading northwest toward Santa Paula. The jet crews, which consisted of a pilot and a radar observer, waited for the drone to reach an area that was relatively unpopulated so that they could attack it with their 2.75 inch Mighty Mouse rockets.
Soon the drone turned northeast, passing over Fillmore, then Frazier Park, before heading for the western section of the mostly uninhabited Antelope Valley. The crews of the Scorpions saw their chance and prepared to fire. However, when they pressed the fire button, nothing happened. It was later revealed that a design flaw in the automatic fire-control system for the Mighty Mouse rockets prevented the rockets from launching while the attack planes were turning.
Also read: Cornfield Bomber: The Fighter Plane That Landed Without Its Pilot
As the pilots contemplated their options, they saw the drone turn back towards Los Angeles. With time running out, Einstein and Hurliman were forced to switch from the faulty automatic mode to manual fire. However, this presented a significant challenge. The original F-89D Scorpions had been fitted with traditional gun sights, but these had been removed when the newer radar-guided automatic system was installed. Now, with that system rendered useless, the pilots were left to manually aim their unguided rockets without the aid of a gun sight.
Each F-89D Scorpions carried 104 rockets, but they could only be fired in salvos. The attacker could either choose to fire all 104 rockets at once or fire them in two or three batches, known as ripple fire. Murray and Hale chose the latterfire their rockets in three salvos, which gave them essentially six opportunities between themselves to shoot down the pilotless aircraft. In reality, all they needed was a single hit. But in 1956, American dog fighting skills were a little lacking. The two jets fired a total of 208 rockets. Not a single one found its mark. Instead, the rockets rained down on the valley below, striking the ground and igniting brush fires across the region.
An F-89D Scorpion aircraft firing Mighty Mouse Rockets. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
A Los Angeles newspaper later reported that three good-size fires and numerous smaller blazes had been ignited in Palmdale by the misfired rockets, in addition to those near Santa Clarita. In Placerita Canyon, a fire burned through 75 to 100 acres before being brought under control by a team of over 200 firefighters. Another fire, located seven miles north of Castaic along the old Ridge Route, consumed 50 to 75 acres before finally being subdued late in the afternoon by around 100 firefighters.
The largest blaze occurred in Soledad Canyon, west of Mt. Gleason. By sundown, it had burned through more than 300 acres of thick brush and continued to spread the day after the drone debacle, despite the efforts of 500 firefighters. By the time the fire was finally brought under control, some 350 acres had been destroyed. The fire in Placerita Canyon, though smaller, burned 100 acres and came alarmingly close within 100 yards to the Bermite Powder Co. explosives plant.
At Placerita Canyon, two workers had been sitting in their truck eating lunch but decided to move under the shade of a nearby tree. Moments later, a rocket fragment tore through the bed and windshield of their parked truck, obliterating it.
The situation in Palmdale was especially dire, with rockets raining down from the sky like hail, striking homes and property. Miraculously, no one was injured. The drone finally ran out of fuel and crashed on a desert tract eight miles east of Palmdale Airport. On its way down, it clipped three electrical cables before slamming into the sand, cartwheeling across the desert floor, and disintegrating into pieces.
More than a dozen unexploded rockets were discovered scattered between Santa Clarita and Palmdale. Ideally, none of them should have detonated, as the rockets were equipped with a mechanism designed to disarm them if they missed their target and slowed down. But, just like the Hellcats faulty remote controls and the malfunctioning fire-control system in the Scorpions, this safety feature also failed. It was another glaring example of how the Air Forces heavy reliance on cutting-edge technology had backfired spectacularly.
In the end, while the runaway drone was finally neutralized, the mission had caused far more destruction on the ground than anyone could have anticipated. The incident became a stark reminder of the limitations of over-reliance on unproven technology, particularly when it came to the high-stakes realm of aerial combat and public safety.
References:
# Flightdeck Friday: The Battle of Palmdale, US Naval Institute
# The Battle of Palmdale, Badgehistory
Verizon appears to be creating unnecessary problems and roadblocks during the Apple Watch Series 10 activation process. It seems Verizon is penalizing users for not buying their latest Apple smartwatches from the telecom service provider.
Verizon accused of creating problems during Apple Watch Series 10 activation
Verizon is currently engaged in a massive layoff exercise to reorganize itself. The company will also have to defend itself in a lawsuit about the use of voiceprints and another concerning website accessibility.
Now Verizon is being accused of creating problems for cellular activation on Apple Watch Series 10. According to AppleInsider, multiple users have complained about the unnecessary hurdles they have to clear just to activate their latest Apple smartwatches on Verizons network.
Specifically speaking, Verizon is reportedly making Apple Watch Series 10 buyers go through an arduous activation process. Incidentally, if the Apple Watch is bought from Verizon, the activation process is quick and smooth.
How is Verizon troubling users who wish to activate their Apple smartwatches?
The latest Apple Watch Series 10 smartwatches have cellular connectivity. However, users need to register these wearable devices with a telecom service provider. After successful registrations, the activation process begins.
It appears Verizon could be causing friction during the initial registration process of the Apple Watch Series 10, indicated a buyer:
When Verizon receives product from Apple for their inventory, Verizon logs the IMEI number into their system. When you go through activation, the Watch App looks for the IMEI [International Mobile Equipment Identity] number in the Verizon system, finds it.. and voila, a connection to the Verizon network is made.
Thank to @VerizonSupport, my wife no longer has a working cell phone because of repeated activation attempts for her new Apple Watch. No way to fix it except to wait and hope despite it being. Verizon mess up. Paul Weaver (@Mvestor) September 23, 2024
However, if a customer hasnt acquired the Apple smartwatch from Verizon, theres no entry for the device. In other words, Verizons representatives will have to create a fresh entry for the Apple smartwatch. Specifically speaking, once the smartwatchs IMEI serial number goes into Verizons database, only then can the activation process begin.
Hence, Apple Watch Series 10 buyers who wish to register and activate Verizons cellular service, will have to get the Apple Watchs IMEI into the Verizon database. It is not clear why Verizons customer support staff is unaware of this issue.
Legal battles between tech giants have become very common nowadays. We have seen that happening between tech giants like Google, Apple, and Microsoft in the past. However, this time, its Google and Microsoft, who are face-to-face. Google has reportedly filed a fresh EU antitrust complaint against Microsoft in Brussels alleging unfair cloud computing practices.
Google accuses Microsoft of locking cloud customers to its platform in a fresh EU antitrust complaint
The Mountain View giant has accused Microsoft of locking customers within its Azure cloud services. Google says that this leads to customers being restricted from choosing any other alternatives. The search giant, in its complaint, also mentions that Microsoft is penalizing its customers with steep penalties. Thats reportedly happening every time they try to move away from its platform to other cloud providers.
Adding to that, Google says that Microsoft forces such users to pay a 400% markup to buy new Windows server licenses. It further mentions that if a Microsoft user wants to migrate Windows software to Azure cloud, they can do that essentially for nothing. The search giant believes this is quite unfair to the other rivals offering cloud services.
Google has been lagging behind Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the global cloud computing battle. The fresh antitrust complaint could be the companys move to slow down Microsoft in this specific sector. That said, a complaint doesnt necessarily mean that the matter would land in court. Additionally, it could stretch over a long time, maybe even years.
Microsoft claims to have settled a deal with a group of rival cloud service providers in a related matter
Talking to CNBC today, Amit Zavery, the VP of Google Cloud, said, We would like the cloud market to remain and become very vibrant and open for all the providers including European vendors, vendors like us, AWS, and others. Thats not all, Zavery also expects the EU regulators to force Microsoft to lift such restrictions.
Notably, this complaint comes after the Windows giant recently settled a $22 million deal with a group of competing cloud providers to avoid a formal probe by the EUs antitrust wing. Talking of the same, a Microsoft spokesperson emailed a statement to the news agency.
A part of the email reads Microsoft settled amicably similar concerns raised by European cloud providers, even after Google hoped they would keep litigating. Having failed to persuade European companies, we expect Google similarly will fail to persuade the European Commission.
Moreover, the president of Microsoft says that the company has settled all the concerns in the past. It has resulted in bringing more competition in the sector. Only time will tell if we see yet another antitrust battle in court or if it gets resolved behind closed doors.
X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has released its first transparency report since Elon Musk assumed control of the company in 2022. The 15-page document, which covers the first half of 2024, is the first of its kind in over a year and provides a comprehensive look into the platforms enforcement practices. This report reveals new data about content moderation and addresses concerns raised by users and advertisers over platform safety.
X publishes its first report in more than a year
Xs first transparency report presents detailed enforcement numbers between January and June of 2024. X received over 224 million user reports, resulting in the suspension of more than 5 million accounts and the removal of over 10 million posts. The report highlights that content violating the platforms rules accounted for less than 1 percent of all posts shared. However, it emphasizes that hateful, abusive, and violent content remains a major challenge for the platform.
Among the most frequent violations, posts under the hateful conduct policy were the most common, with X taking action on 4.9 million posts. In addition, 2.6 million posts related to abuse and harassment and 2.2 million posts involving violent content were also addressed. The platform continues to face scrutiny from advertisers and civil rights groups, particularly regarding how it handles these kinds of harmful content.
The data also reflects a significant increase in enforcement numbers compared to Twitters last report before Musks takeover. In late 2021, Twitter had suspended 1.3 million accounts and actioned around 4.3 million posts, showing that the volume of flagged content and enforcement efforts has risen sharply.
Government involvement and content removal requests rise
The X transparency report also provides insight into government requests for information and content removals. X received over 18,000 requests from governments for user data, with a disclosure rate of 53%. Additionally, there were 72,703 government requests for content removal, with X taking action in 70% of cases. Notably, Japan led the world in content removal requests, submitting 46,648 such demands, followed by Turkey with 9,364.
Xs report underlines the platforms efforts to combat child exploitation. It submitted 370,588 reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the first half of 2024. The company also suspended over 2 million accounts for engaging in child sexual abuse material (CSAM). This represents a substantial increase compared to previous years. For example, in 2021, Twitter reported only 86,000 such cases to NCMEC, a number that grew steadily in subsequent years.
While Xs first transparency report signals a greater commitment to public accountability, the data alone is insufficient. Concerns persist in the tech space about the impact of Musks leadership on the platforms safety and moderation efforts, especially with a growing focus on automation and machine learning in enforcing rules.
More than three in every five bank branches across the UK have closed their doors permanently since 2015, according to Which?.
Yorkshire and the Humber has just 4.4 branches left per 100,000 people making it the region with the worst branch access the consumer groups analysis found.
The East Midlands was found to have the second worst branch-to-people ratio, with 4.6 branches per 100,000 people.
Scotland has the best access to branches, at 6.9 per 100,000 people, but Which? said the uneven spread of its population means people living in more rural areas face long journeys to use a bank.
The research found 6,161 branches have been shut across the UK since 2015, representing over three-fifths (62%) of the banking network.
Which? said the impact on local communities can be devastating, with some of the most vulnerable members of society, such as those living with disabilities or on lower incomes, reliant on branches and either unable or unwilling to make the switch to banking digitally.
The South East is the region that has lost the most branches, Which? said, with 856 closures, followed by London with 804 branches shut. However, these regions had more branches serving larger populations.
Across the UK, there are 30 parliamentary constituencies representing just over three million people in total without a bank branch, while another 56 are left with only one branch remaining, researchers said.
New rules overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulator came into effect last week.
They mean banks will need to give more consideration to a local communitys cash needs before deciding to close a branch.
The watchdog will require firms to check whether additional services would be needed should a branch shut its doors or an ATM be switched off and keep facilities open until the additional cash services are available.
New FCA rules also give local residents more say over what their communitys cash needs are. People can request an assessment of whether there are gaps in local cash access and where significant gaps are found, providers will have to deliver reasonable additional cash services.
Banks are also sharing facilities through banking hubs.
Which? said given the number of branches that have closed in recent years, it wants to see many more hubs opened.
Major banks have recently committed to opening 350 hubs by 2029.
Sam Richardson, deputy editor of Which? Money, said: Bank branch closures can have severe impacts on local communities, including on those who still want to use cash. New rules to protect free access to cash have been hard won and should make banks think twice about shutting branches without adequate replacements.
Banks are sharing facilities through banking hubs (Vicky Shaw/PA)
While Yorkshire and the Humber may hold the dubious record for the worst branch access, this is a nationwide problem. Banking hubs will play a key role in replacing shuttered branches, but their rollout remains far too slow for consumers to feel their benefits.
The Government must hold banks feet to the fire to ensure the commitments theyve made to set up 350 hubs by 2029 are met and should be prepared to review the target upwards if necessary.
A UK Finance spokesperson said: The banking industry is committed to ensuring there is continued access to cash for those who need it. With fewer people visiting bank branches on a regular basis, firms have to make difficult decisions about maintaining their branches.
Significant ongoing investment is being made to deliver this commitment, including shared banking hubs, which are being opened around the country with many opened across Yorkshire already.
There is also the option to do a lot of day-to-day banking at Post Office branches across the country. If you are concerned about your local bank branch closing, please contact them and they will help you find the best alternative for your needs.
Adrian Roberts, deputy chief executive of ATM and cash access network Link, said: While more people are becoming comfortable banking and paying for things digitally, there are still millions of people who rely on cash or just prefer to use it.
Our data shows that they arent just the oldest or the poorest in society, but also people who lack confidence or the skills and devices to bank digitally.
The good news is that the access to cash rules set by the FCA mean we will be seeing more banking hubs on high streets all across the country, which alongside free-to-use ATMs and post offices will ensure access to cash is protected for many years to come. To date, Link has recommended 163 banking hubs.
Cash Access UK, an organisation set up to help protect access to cash and funded by major banks, recently hit a total of one million transactions carried out in banking hubs throughout the UK.
Cat Farrow, customer and strategy director at Cash Access UK, said: Banking hubs allow customers of all banks to come into one central location on the high street to complete basic banking services.
These, alongside deposit services, which support small businesses are helping to protect access to cash in the community. To date, there are currently 85 banking hubs open across the country and we expect to have 100 open by the end of the year and hundreds more in the coming years. While more people are choosing to pay with their phones or contactless cards, its vital we continue to support people who rely on cash.
The number of bank branches counted by Which? and the total per 100,000 people. The research was carried out up to September 23, 2024:
Scotland, 377, 6.9
West Midlands, 364, 6.0
Wales, 188, 5.9
Northern Ireland, 110, 5.8
South West, 324, 5.6
South East, 520, 5.5
London, 481, 5.4
North East, 142, 5.2
East of England, 328, 5.1
North West, 384, 5.1
East Midlands, 229, 4.6
Yorkshire and the Humber, 248, 4.4
The 30 constituencies without a bank branch, according to Which?:
Barnsley South
Bolton West
Bradford South
Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
Chatham and Aylesford
Chester South and Eddisbury
Colne Valley
Dagenham and Rainham
Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme
East Worthing and Shoreham
Erith and Thamesmead
Glasgow North East
Glasgow South West
Liverpool Wavertree
Manchester Rusholme
Mid Bedfordshire
Mid Derbyshire
North East Derbyshire
Ossett and Denby Dale
Penistone and Stocksbridge
Plymouth Moor View
Rawmarsh and Conisbrough
Reading West and Mid Berkshire
Rhondda and Ogmore
Sheffield Hallam
St Helens North
Stockton West
Warrington North
West Ham and Beckton
York Outer
Sir Keir Starmer announced a crackdown on benefit fraud during his keynote speech to the Labour Party Conference on Tuesday. (PA) (Stefan Rousseau, PA Images)
The government has announced plans to crack down on benefits fraudsters by allowing officials to check claimants bank accounts.
A so-called snoopers charter that was originally proposed by the Tory government is set to be reintroduced by Labour in an effort to save over 1 billion in potential scams over the next five years.
In his speech to the Labour Party Conference on Tuesday, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said that to maintain support for the welfare state, he would need to legislate to stop benefit fraud. A press release outlining the proposals to check bank accounts was published by the government on the same day.
However, some campaigners have condemned the proposals, describing them as an invasion of privacy, while others say many overclaims are made in error.
Here, Yahoo News UK breaks down the new benefits payment law and the reaction to it
What is it?
The Fraud, Error and Debt Bill is the governments plan to crack down on benefits fraud.
It essentially gives the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) more powers to catch scammers faster and to prevent customers from getting into debt sooner.
The government is introducing the measures to combat what it says is a 10 billion cost to taxpayers every year as a result of benefits fraud.
The Department for Work and Pensions will gain increased powers under the proposals. (Getty) (Andrew Aitchison via Getty Images)
How would it work?
Among the new powers afforded to officials include allowing banks and financial institutions to share data that may show indications of potential benefit overpayments something that has privacy campaigners concerned.
Other powers will allow the DWP to take greater control of investigations into criminal gangs defrauding the taxpayer.
The government said the new bill will include enhanced measures to protect vulnerable claimants, while the DWP will also be able to recover debts from claimants who can pay money back but have avoided doing so.
The government insists the DWP will not have direct access to peoples bank accounts and safeguards will be established to ensure that personal information is not shared to third parties by the DWP.
What has the reaction been?
Campaigners have warned the government that the proposals could be a breach of privacy, while others say that the language used is stigmatising to those who make claims legitimately.
A spokesperson for Turn2Us, a charity focused on those struggling financially, told Yahoo News UK: It's vital that people feel supported and confident to access the support available to them. The government should avoid using stigmatising language around social security, which could push more people away from the support they desperately need and trap more families in poverty.
Disability charity Scope said that disabled peoples trust in the DWP and the benefits system is at an all-time low and needs rebuilding. A spokesperson added: The rising cost of living has already pushed disabled people beyond breaking point.
Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union general secretary Fran Heathcote said DWP and Job Centre staff want to help people, not trip them up.
Sir Keir Starmer insisted those on long-term sickness should be looking for work. (AP) (Jon Super, Associated Press)
She said the UK has some of the lowest levels of benefits in Europe, adding: Those that do overclaim often do so in error, struggling to navigate a complex system, or because they cant make ends meet on our poverty-level benefits. The government should focus on making our social security system less punitive and more supportive.
Silkie Carlo, the director of privacy campaigners Big Brother Watch, told The Guardian that the government already has strong powers to investigate the bank statements of suspects. She said that the new powers would mean millions would be spied on, claiming the whole populations bank accounts are likely to be monitored for no good reason.
When questioned about the proposals on Wednesday, the prime minister told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that long-term benefit claimants should have to look for work. He said those people also need support but admitted that there will be hard cases and those claiming benefits should also be looking for work.
Health secretary Wes Streeting also told Sky News it was up to the government to get people back to work quickly after sickness but said ministers would not tolerate benefits fraud.
What does the public think?
The public are in favour of allowing access to the bank accounts of those suspected of benefits fraud. (YouGov)
Despite the concerns from some campaigners, the public broadly supports the government's proposals to allow access to the bank accounts of those suspected of claiming benefits that are not entitled to.
According to a YouGov survey taken after Starmers speech on Tuesday, nearly two-thirds of people (64%) support the proposal in some way. Of those, 29% said they strongly support it, while 35% said they tend to support it.
Just under a quarter (24%) said they opposed the proposals, with 10% saying they strongly opposed checking peoples bank accounts, while 14% said they tend to oppose it.
On the wider issue of benefits fraud, a study by the National Centre for Social Research, published in October last year and using responses from 2016 onwards, found that most people thought it was wrong but that attitude had decreased over time. The study found that there has been a growing tolerance towards benefits fraud.
It also found that most people thought the government at the time was not doing enough to tackle the issues, with 61% holding the view in 2022, compared to 54% in 2016.
How big is the benefits bill?
Government expenditure on benefits in the United Kingdom from 1948/49 to 2023/24. (Statista)
According to data from Statista, the government is expected to spend around 258.4 billion on benefits in 2023/24. This figure is up from the previous year when benefit expenditure stood at 242.5 billion.
Figures from the DWP show that the figure is set to rise again next year, with 305.6 billion forecast to be spent in 2024/25. While increased, the amount is 1.2 billion lower relative to the expenditure forecast at the previous governments autumn statement in 2023.
Total welfare spending is forecast to be 11% of GDP and 24.9% of the total amount the government spends in 2024 to 2025, the DWP added.
Over half of the money (167.6 billion) in the next year will go to pensioners, while another 138 billion will be spent on working age and children welfare which includes universal credit.
The DWP added that 89 billion will be spent on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions, with another 35.3 billion going on housing benefits.
Read more
Scotlands chief medical officer has told an inquiry how his team worked up to 16 hours a day, seven days a week, in their response to the Covid pandemic.
Professor Sir Gregor Smith told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry the incredible volume of work needing to be done to keep the Government up to date with the latest developments on the disease required him to appoint extra deputies to meet the challenge.
The inquiry is currently examining the impact of the pandemic on the health and social care system in Scotland as well as the NHS across Britain.
Sir Gregor told the inquiry on Wednesday he increased the number of deputy chief medical officers from one to three during the summer of 2020 to handle the increased workload.
The volume of work was quite incredible at that point in time, he said.
Professor Sir Gregor Smith gave evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Wednesday (Yui Mok/PA)
One of the first steps that I took was to enhance that senior clinical team, but also to make sure we were making far better use of the other senior clinicians who worked within government as well such as the chief nursing officer.
It was very evident that if we were going to service the volume of demands that we had from different parts of Government, we had to make sure there was adequate clinical capacity.
Discussing the impact of the increased workload on his team, Sir Gregor admitted the regular requirement to work long hours took its toll.
I dont think my team was alone in working those types of hours, he said. I saw similar levels of commitment of government and the healthcare.
It was a quite remarkable effort, but it did have an impact on us all. We were tired and it was stressful work, there is no getting away from that.
There was very little respite from it. Working those excessive hours certainly has its toll, particularly as leave was just not an option.
I cant remember the first time I actually took leave as part of the response.
Prof Sir Gregor Smith (Chief Medical Officer for Scotland) is giving evidence to the Inquiry today. You can view it on the live stream (and via playback) through our YouTube channel now https://t.co/okjTPwDYPc pic.twitter.com/4XL5OYGUSw UK Covid-19 Inquiry (@covidinquiryuk) September 25, 2024
It was tough, and it was tough not just for us, but for our loved ones and our friends as well.
Sir Gregor also told the inquiry how it was often a case of having to make choices that would lead to less worse public health outcomes than others.
Asked by counsel for the inquiry to provide a specific example, he raised the cancellation of regular cancer screening.
He told the inquiry: The most obvious example that I would give would be the decision to pause screening.
I think that was taken in March 2020 by my predecessor, which was an incredibly difficult decision.
But it was taken for reasons to try to free up staff and resources to be able to respond to the direct Covid harm.
It certainly wasnt an easy choice, but I think it was the right choice at that time.
But no-one was unaware that it wasnt without risk.
The inquiry, before Lady Heather Hallett, continues.
A multimillion-pound legal battle between rival developers of Covid-19 jabs over vaccine technology patents is set to continue at the Court of Appeal.
In July, a High Court judge delivered a mixed ruling in the long-running dispute that has pitted pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and drug manufacturer BioNTech against vaccine maker Moderna.
The firms faced off at two trials in London earlier this year centred on the use of messenger RNA (mRNA) technology in life-saving coronavirus jabs.
At a hearing in London on Wednesday, Pfizer and BioNTech were granted permission to appeal against a part of the judgment from Mr Justice Meade.
Modernas Spikevax vaccine was the third jab to be approved for use in the UK (Peter Byrne/PA)
US firm Moderna sued American competitor Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for alleged patent infringement in relation to their Comirnaty vaccine, arguing it was due compensation for products manufactured after March 7 2022.
Pfizer and BioNTech denied infringement, with both firms seeking the revocation of two Moderna patents, claiming they were invalid.
Mr Justice Meade concluded one of the European Moderna patents, labelled EP565, was invalid.
But the judge said a different patent, called EP949, was valid and was infringed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
At Wednesdays hearing, the same judge granted Pfizer and BioNTech permission to appeal against his EP949 decision, but refused Moderna permission to appeal against his ruling over the EP565 patent.
Mr Justice Meade said Moderna could still ask the Court of Appeal directly for the green light to challenge the EP565 decision.
The judge, who also made decisions over the calculation and payment of legal costs, said something is going wrong in a case where together the firms had spent an estimated 19 million.
According to Modernas written submissions, the companys estimated overall legal costs are about 9,439,864, while Pfizer and BioNTechs are approximately 9,880,851.
Andrew Waugh KC, leading Modernas legal team, said in written arguments that there were compelling reasons why a higher level court should consider the EP565 case.
Mr Waugh said that the amounts at stake in the legal action, in terms of potential financial compensation and costs, are at the very highest end of the scale for a patent dispute.
He said a Court of Appeal ruling over the case would have greater significance amid other litigation in Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
Amid discussions about the payment of legal costs, Mr Waugh told the hearing: We are talking about millions of pounds, which is more than the value of many if not most High Court actions.
Commenting on the value of the litigation, he later added: This is a critically important case because it does concern the patentability of the first Covid vaccines that came into effect and basically rescued us from the pandemic.
Mr Waugh claimed Moderna was the overall winner in the litigation so far.
Tom Mitcheson KC, representing Pfizer and BioNTech, said in written arguments that the judge had taken an erroneous approach in his July ruling and that the two firms had a real prospect of success in an appeal against the EP949 decision.
He said the firms were the overall successful parties in relation to the EP565 patent.
Mr Mitcheson resisted Moderna being given permission to appeal over EP565, arguing at the hearing: This is a classic case where all Moderna is trying to do is re-argue the case.
Modernas Spikevax vaccine was the third jab to be approved for use in the UK in January 2021 after the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines were approved.
The EU on Monday launched a WTO challenge against a Chinese anti-subsidy investigation into imports of European dairy product, in an escalating trade row between Beijing and Brussels.
Beijing announced its probe in August after the European Union unveiled a plan to hit Chinese electric vehicles with hefty tariffs.
"Today, the (European) Commission launched a consultation request at the World Trade Organization, challenging China's initiation of an anti-subsidy investigation against imports of certain dairy products from the EU," the EU's executive arm said.
"The EU's action was prompted by an emerging pattern of China initiating trade defence measures, based on questionable allegations and insufficient evidence, within a short period of time," it said.
The Chinese investigation covers a range of items from fresh cheese and curd to blue cheese, including some milk and cream.
The Chinese probe takes aim at subsidies provided to the EU's 27 member states under the Common Agricultural Policy, but also national subsidy plans in Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Croatia, Finland, Romania and the Czech Republic.
"The commission is following through on its commitment to firmly defend the interests of the EU dairy industry and the Common Agricultural Policy against abusive proceedings," Brussels said in a statement.
The European Commission in July announced plans to levy import duties on electric vehicles imported from China after an anti-subsidy investigation started last year found they were unfairly undermining European rivals.
The EU wants to protect its automobile industry, a jewel in Europe's industrial crown providing jobs to around 14 million people.
The commission is in charge of trade policy for the 27-country bloc.
The tariffs are currently provisional and will only become definitive for five years after a vote by member states that should take place before the end of October.
China has angrily responded to the EU's plans, warning it would unleash a trade war. Last month China also filed an appeal with the WTO over the tariffs.
Beijing has already also launched investigations into European brandy and pork products imported into China -- as well as the dairy probe.
The EU's trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis said he had held "constructive" talks with China's commerce minister Wang Wentao on Thursday as Beijing seeks a deal with Brussels to avoid steep tariffs on imported EVs.
The commission said its WTO move against the dairy probe was the "first time the EU has decided to challenge an investigation at its initiation stage", and that represented the initial step in the body's dispute settlement proceedings.
"If they do not lead to a satisfactory solution, the EU could request a panel to be set by the WTO to decide on this investigation," it said.
Two environmental organisations have been granted permission for a legal challenge on the Rosebank and Jackdaw offshore oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
Greenpeace UK and Uplifts legal grounds have been accepted, with a date set for November 12.
The environmental organisations are arguing that the impact of emissions from burning the oil and gas extracted from the fields were illegally ignored.
Greenpeace and Uplift will state in court the burning of the oil and gas while ignoring the effects on the climate is both illegal and unsafe, also stating that Rosebank will damage a protected area in the North Sea and the surrounding marine life.
Both environmental organisations will bring separate legal challenges against the UK Governments decision to approve the oil field, and will be heard in the Scottish Court of Session.
The UK Government earlier said it will not challenge judicial reviews brought against Rosebank and Jackdaw in order to save the taxpayer money.
Mel Evans, Greenpeace UKs climate team leader, said: Its welcome news that we have permission on all of our legal grounds to challenge Rosebank and Jackdaw in two months time.
We will continue to fight the corporate greed of fossil fuel companies like Equinor, Shell and Ithaca, and we look forward to our day in court.
Both the Government and the Supreme Court agree that you cannot ignore the emissions generated from burning fossil fuels.
Equinor, Shell and Ithaca know this, and they know that the consents for these fields are unlawful. But despite this they are continuing to develop them during this judicial review, putting people, marine life, and our climate at further risk.
She added: Rosebank and Jackdaw will do nothing to help our energy security or bring down our bills, the oil and gas extracted will be sold on the international market, making these companies, their bosses and shareholders even richer.
If it went ahead, the Rosebank oil field could release as much carbon as 56 coal plants running for a year, costing UK taxpayers billions in subsidies, while lining the pockets of its big oil owners.
And the Jackdaw field will produce more CO2 than the annual emissions of Ghana.
The oil companies are trying to hide this from the public and the Government. Thats why were taking the fight to the oil companies in the Scottish courts in November.
The Rosebank oil field is situated to the west of the Shetland isles, holding around 500 million barrels of oil equivalent, according to Uplift.
The organisation says 90% of its reserves are oil and the remainder is gas, and that burning all of it would amount to 200 million tonnes of CO2.
Discovered in 2004, its development has been delayed a number of times, but in August 2022 Norwegian oil company Equinor submitted an environmental statement to the UK Government outlining its plans to develop the Rosebank field, which triggered the start of the assessment process.
If the judicial reviews are successful, Uplift and Greenpeace will ask the court to quash the decisions to approve Rosebank, meaning the UK Government will be required to remake its decision in relation to Rosebank to fit legal requirements.
Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, said: The stakes in this case should not be underestimated.
Experts have long warned that there can be no new oil and gas developments if were to have a hope of staying within safe climate limits.
With every passing month, the evidence against a huge project like Rosebank mounts up, whether thats months of flooded fields damaging UK food production, or extreme temperatures and lethal flooding across Europe.
This case is about protecting ourselves against the worsening climate crisis and putting an end to oil and gas industry profiteering.
UK energy minister Michael Shanks said: This Government is committed to making Britain a clean energy superpower, helping to meet our first mission to kick-start economic growth.
While we make that transition the oil and gas industry will play an important role in the economy for decades to come.
As we support the North Seas clean energy future, this Government is committed to protecting current and future generations of good jobs as we do so.
We were elected with a mandate to deliver stability, certainty and growth. Every action we take will be in pursuit of that.
We will consult at pace on new guidance that takes into account the Supreme Courts ruling on environmental impact assessments, to enable the industry to plan, secure jobs, and invest in our economy.
A spokesperson for Equinor said: Equinor in principle does not comment on ongoing litigation.
Equinor welcomed regulatory approvals for the Rosebank development in 2023 and will continue to work closely with all relevant parties to progress the project.
It is vital for the UK and will bring benefits in terms of local investment, jobs and energy security.
A spokesperson for Shell said: The hearing was administrative and no decision was taken on the substance of the case.
From the outset, Jackdaw has been developed in line with all relevant consents and permits.
At the substantive hearing of the judicial review in November, Shell will argue that those existing consents to develop Jackdaw should remain in place.
We accept the Supreme Courts ruling in the Finch case, but will argue that Jackdaw is a vital project for UK energy security that is already well under way.
Ithica has been contacted for comment.
Cinema group Everyman has revealed stronger audiences over the first half of 2024, which it hopes will be boosted by upcoming releases including Gladiator II and Wicked.
Shares in Everyman Media Group moved higher on Wednesday after it told shareholders it is set to meet targets for the year.
The company said it weathered pressure on film release schedules from strike action by Hollywood writers and actors to deliver stronger sales.
It added that it has confidence in its outlook due to the pipeline of films still to hit cinemas this year.
With the impact of the strikes beginning to ease, the group expects a strong H2 weighting to the 2024 film slate, with a particularly strong pipeline of titles scheduled for Q4, the company said.
These include Joker: Folie a Deux in October; Gladiator II; Paddington in Peru; Wicked and Moana 2 in November; and Mufasa: The Lion King in December.
Everyman reported that revenues grew by 22.5% to 46.9 million for the six months to June 27, compared with a year earlier.
This was driven by higher admissions, which rose to 1.9 million for the period from 1.6 million last year.
It stressed that growth would have been stronger were it not for delays linked to last years strikes by the WGA (Writers Guild of America) and Sag-Aftra (Screen Actors Guild American Federation of Television and Radio Artists).
This included the delayed release of titles such as Deadpool & Wolverine, which was released in July after previously being set for March.
Higher admissions over the half-year were largely due to a strong awards season in the first quarter, with Poor Things, The Holdovers and One Life drawing in good audiences.
It also highlighted strong performances linked to Bob Marley: One Love in February and Dune: Part Two in March.
Nevertheless, the company saw its pre-tax losses grow to 4.94 million from a 4.31 million loss a year earlier.
Alex Scrimgeour, chief executive of the firm, said: Despite weathering the full impact of last years actor and writer strikes, we are pleased to report another period of financial and operational progress.
We achieved strong growth in revenue, increased EBIDTA (earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation) and record market share, driven by rising demand for Everymans unique brand of hospitality.
The expansion of our footprint continues, with one new venue opened in the period and two more openings to look forward to in the year, further consolidating our position as the market leader in premium cinema.
Shares in the company were up 3.5% on Wednesday morning.
The gravestone of a teenager who was killed in a crash in Northumberland has been vandalised with the words tick tock and you next.
Bethany Fisher died at the scene of the crash on Victoria Terrace, Bedlington, in the early hours of August 19 2017, after celebrating her 19th birthday, Northumbria Police said.
She was a passenger in a car which collided with a number of parked vehicles.
Another woman sustained serious injuries as a result of the crash.
The driver, Jordan ODonnell, left the scene without reporting it to police.
ODonnell, of Bedlington, who at the time of sentencing was 20-years-old, was jailed for six years at Newcastle Crown Court after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, causing death while uninsured, attempting to pervert the course of justice and failing to stop after a road traffic collision, the force added.
Ms Fisher was laid to rest at Netherton Lane Cemetery in Bedlington, and her gravestone was vandalised the day before her birthday and two days before the seventh anniversary of her death, Northumbria Police said.
A picture of the gravestone released by police shows the words tick tock then a pixelated word and you next.
Isabel Easson, Ms Fishers mother, said: We have to live with the heartbreak of losing our beautiful girl each and every day.
Bethany Fisher was celebrating her 19th birthday when she was killed in a crash in 2017 (Northumbria Police/PA)
Time will never heal these wounds, and now our suffering has been made worse by this horrendous act.
Whoever is responsible for causing our family such distress at what is always the most difficult time of the year for us is utterly heartless.
Police received a report of criminal damage at the cemetery which is understood to have been committed between 11pm on August 15 and midday on August 16.
An investigation has been launched, and officers are appealing to anyone who may have information to contact them.
Inspector Wayne Daniels, of Northumbria Police, said: This act of vandalism at Bethanys grave a place where loved ones come to remember their beloved daughter, sister and friend is an abhorrent crime.
We would urge anyone who has any information about what has happened, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, to come forward.
Witnesses should contact Northumbria Police by sending a direct message on social media, using the live chat on the force website at https://www.northumbria.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/.
For those unable to contact the force in those ways, call 101 quoting crime reference number 096827A/24.
Lulu will be among a number of stars recognised at the Scottish Music Awards, which raise funds for a music therapy charity.
The Scottish singer will receive the icon award, sponsored by Rox, while Travis will take home the outstanding achievement gong, sponsored by the Sir Reo Stakis Foundation.
The awards, sponsored by Specsavers, will take place on Saturday November 2 at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow in support of Nordoff and Robbins, which helps people with life-limiting illness, disability and social isolation through music therapy.
Lulu, 75, who began her career with the single Shout, has earned critical acclaim for her six decades in the spotlight making pop, rock and soul music.
She said: To be recognised as a Scottish icon is truly humbling.
Ive been incredibly fortunate to have had a 60-year career that has taken me all over the world, but Scotland has always been my home.
Its an honour to be celebrated in this way, especially for a charity that does such incredible work.
Travis frontman Fran Healy said: Nordoff and Robbins is close to the hearts of all in the musical community.
As musicians, we all know the healing power of music. We see it at each show we play. Songs and melody are bookmarks in all of our lives.
Nordoff and Robbinss work with music therapy has changed the lives of so many people. We are humbled to be chosen by them as the recipients of this years outstanding achievement award.
Singer Calum Bowie will receive the Beavertown breakthrough award, while Kyle Falconer, frontman of The View, scoops the King Tuts song writing award.
Berkeley 2 Studios will receive the Guitar Guitar music industry award.
Im winning Scottish Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Scottish Music Awards!!! This is a real honour, thank you so much @BeavertownBeer #SpecsaversSMA#ScottishMusicAwards #NordoffAndRobbins pic.twitter.com/JlYF1TdZW5 Calum Bowie (@calumbowiemusic) September 25, 2024
Falconer said: To be given this songwriting award means a lot to me. Being recognised for songwriting gives me a very proud moment in front of my family and the people who have been with me through all the highs and lows.
There have been many highs and many lows, but music has given me so many opportunities that I never would have had if I didnt pick up a guitar and start writing my first song back in the day.
Bowie, 23, from Banchory in Aberdeenshire, shot to fame after posting videos of his work on TikTok.
He said: Im genuinely shocked to be winning the breakthrough award, its a massive honour when you know whos won it before and gone on to great things.
Broadcaster Edith Bowman will return as host of the awards, welcoming some of the biggest names in Scottish music alongside rising talent.
Fran Healy hailed the healing power of music (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Sandra Schembri, chief executive of Nordoff and Robbins, said: We cant wait for the 26th annual Scottish Music Awards in aid of Nordoff and Robbins.
This event is vital in helping us to raise funds and achieve our mission of using the power of music to create space for vulnerable people to express themselves and find connection in society.
Scotlands music scene is vibrant and inspiring, and were grateful for the incredible talent and generosity of our artists and industry professionals. Together, were continuing to make a positive impact on many lives.
Jennifer Stephenson, Specsaverss Scottish divisional chairwoman, said: Specsavers is proud to be the headline sponsor of the Scottish Music Awards for a sixth consecutive year.
We cant wait to see Scotlands music industry come together for another show-stopping celebration that will raise funds for Nordoff and Robbins.
Air-conditioning units installed in windows at an apartment complex on 17 June 2024. Photograph: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Michael Crowley runs his air conditioner nonstop on hot summer days to keep his cat, Arya, comfortable. But when the Richmond, Virginia, chef got home after work on 7 August 2022, it felt like 100 degrees. His power was out. He phoned his leasing office and was told his electricity bill was unpaid.
Crowley protested, saying his utilities had long been covered by his rent check. But then he learned his buildings new property manager required tenants to pay for power separately something Crowley said was unclear. No one told him about the delinquent bill, he said.
His power remained shut off for three days as the mercury climbed to 93F (34C). The battery-operated fans he bought were no match for the oppressive heat. He filled Aryas bowl with cool water, but she seemed a little scared. He, too, worried that she would get sick.
I was freaking out, he said. What was I supposed to do?
Summer electricity disconnections can be not only anxiety-producing but also dangerous. Last summer, one Arizona woman died after her power was cut over a $51 debt.
Today, Crowleys shutoff would be illegal. Amid record heat this June, Virginia banned utility companies from disconnecting services when temperatures reach 92F or higher.
But in 27 states, utilities can still disconnect power for non-payment on the hottest days. That includes some of the hottest US states, such as Hawaii and Florida, as well as many that ban shutoffs in the extreme cold.
Its an issue that can have deadly consequences, said Selah Goodson Bell, a campaigner at the national environmental group Center for Biological Diversity. Each year, heatwaves kill more people than any other form of extreme weather.
Summers are getting hotter everywhere and this year will likely be the hottest year in world history, he said. States are starting to react and do more to protect [utility] customers. But its not nearly enough.
Lack of data
Its difficult to know the national scope of the issue, as utilities in 22 states are not currently required to provide data on shutoffs. This makes it impossible for policymakers to know which communities are affected and how, said Goodson Bell.
Some utilities collect data on shutoffs, but only 10% publicly release that information, said Sanya Carley, who co-directs the Energy Justice Lab at Indiana University.
The lack of data transparency is a major problem, said Carley, who is also an energy policy expert at the University of Pennsylvania.
The available numbers show a troubling trend. According to the Energy Justice Labs disconnection tracker, energy utility providers in 2022 shut off power to at least 3 million customers over missed bill payments, and more than 30% of those events happened during summer months.
A separate 2023 analysis from the Center for Biological Diversity and the utility watchdog Energy and Policy Institute found that in the first 10 months of 2022, households had their electric power shut off for non-payment more than 1.5m times and their gas shut off 380,000 times, representing a 29% and 76% increase respectively over the previous year. And thats just in the 30 states on which the researchers could obtain shutoff data.
More people are more concerned about extreme weather dangers, said Shelby Green, research fellow at Energy and Policy Institute who has spent years fighting utility disconnections. But in some ways, things might be moving in the wrong direction.
Higher bills
One likely reason for the uptick: rising costs. Monthly electricity bills were on average 2% higher each month in 2021 compared with 2022.
Costs appear to have risen even more rapidly this year. One report from the policy organizations the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (Neada) and Center for Energy Poverty and Climate (CEPC) forecast an 8% rise in summer electric bills in 2024 over 2023.
The costs of other consumer goods such as groceries have steadily risen across the same time period, meaning some customers are choosing between food and electricity. At the same time, Congress this year cut funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program by one-third, leading some states to slash utility aid to low-income households.
States tend to deplete 80% of the available program funds as bills rise in the winter cold, leaving only 20% for cooling aid in the summer. Thats especially dangerous for low-income Americans who tend to live in poorly insulated homes, which are more expensive to keep at comfortable temperatures. Robin Line, a 65-year-old resident of south central Los Angeles, knows this first-hand.
She said the windows in her low-income building are not sealed off, allowing precious cool air to seep through the cracks.
You can see a half-inch [on the side of] the doors, she said. Theyre not sealed, they dont do maintenance, and its definitely not weatherized.
In 2023, one in three households cut back on basic needs like medicine or food to afford at least one months energy bill, the Neada and CEPC report found. Its a problem thats familiar to Line.
You have to shop with only money in mind, she said. And you cant get all the food you want or need every week.
Though shes had unpaid bills, Line has not yet experienced a shutoff something she attributes to her constant calls to officials: Ive begged, pleaded and borrowed.
But officials dont make it easy to contact them or access aid, she said. Its really frustrating, she said.
Existing shutoff protections
Existing summer shutoff protections are often also inadequate, environmental advocates argue.
In Arizona, the state with the highest heat casualties each year, privately owned utilities are banned from disconnecting households for overdue bills, but cooperatively and publicly owned utilities are excluded from the moratorium.
In Nevada, protections are only triggered when temperatures reach 105F. And in Florida, which has no temperature-based utility disconnection bans, the city of Tallahassee has enshrined protections, which are only triggered when temperatures top 100F for eight hours straight.
That just means the policy has literally never been enacted, said Green, a Tallahassee resident.
Some states and utilities suspend disconnections only when the National Weather Service issues an excessive heat warning. But research shows exposure to lower levels of heat can also be dangerous, especially over the course of many hours.
Other utilities impose their own shutoff moratoria from 15 June to 1 October. But that can leave residents vulnerable on unseasonably warm days.
Were finding that extreme weather is a year-round thing now, said Carley, adding that ultimately, states should have both forms of shutoff protections.
Progress
Across the country, advocates are working to expand summer shutoff protections. In some places, theyre winning.
Maine, like Virginia, this year passed a law preventing shutoffs for non-payment during extreme heat events. Chicago this year banned shutoffs for non-payment when the National Weather Service forecasts temperatures hitting 90F, down from an earlier threshold of 95F.
Efforts to improve transparency are also under way. The federal Energy Information Administration is currently reviewing public comments on a federal utility shutoff survey. If their plan is successful, the agency will require all investor-owned gas and electric utilities in the country to report disconnection data on a monthly basis, with the rollout beginning in spring 2025.
Some advocates are calling on the agency to strengthen the survey by collecting additional information about households experiencing shutoffs, including zip codes, to see who is worst affected.
Victor Sanchez, executive director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, which in 2022 successfully pressured the Los Angeles department of water and power to prohibit disconnections for nonpayment, said that ultimately, there needs to be more permanent solutions to protect people from shutoffs.
The question is, what are we doing beyond just extreme weather, he said. Access to water and power is not just something that should be preserved during extreme weather events. It should be preserved year-round.
Antiques dealer Jane Cave and her husband Ed Masters say they have lost faith in the police after being fined under the Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalty Scheme - Athena Browning
An antiques dealer and her husband have been fined 3,000 after they called police to report a migrant who had snuck into their vehicle at the French border.
Ed Masters discovered the young man when he returned to the UK after borrowing a van to assist his wife, Jane Cave, on a trip to buy antiques.
Despite calling Suffolk Constabulary himself, Mr Masters was told he was responsible for failing to properly secure his vehicle.
Ms Cave, an antiques dealer who features on BBCs The Bidding Room, and her husband said they had been held up in lengthy delays at Calais caused by post-Brexit customs regulations when returning home on Nov 23 last year.
Mr Masters had been completing the necessary paperwork inside his van, which was unlocked, when he heard a noise and spotted a man attempting to climb in the back of the vehicle.
I shouted, Get out, which he duly did and ambled towards the rest of the car park, Mr Masters said.
He and his wife then got back in the van and continued their journey towards customs.
At passport control a French border officer pulled their vehicle aside and inspected it before waving them through, Mr Masters said.
As they drove home along the A11 near Barton Mills, Suffolk, the couple heard noises coming from the back of the van.
We heard banging on the side. I wasnt sure where it was coming from, Mr Masters said.
While his wife called the police, Mr Masters checked the back of the van, where he discovered a young man hiding inside.
The migrant, described as dark, shortish, and carrying a mobile phone then leapt out of the vehicle, jumped over the central reservation, and disappeared behind a nearby petrol station.
A migrant that hid in Jane Cave and Ed Masters van - Athena Browning/Athena Browning
The police arrived shortly after and the man was caught within minutes before being taken to temporary accommodation nearby.
The officers then spent almost two hours searching Mr Masters vehicle.
[That] should have been done thoroughly at the border in Calais, Mr Masters said.
Despite reporting the incident to police himself and cooperating fully, Mr Masters was later informed in a letter from UK Border Force that he was being fined 3,000 for unknowingly smuggling a migrant into the country.
He was told that he should have informed the border authorities in Calais of the earlier attempt to get inside his van.
The couple insisted they took every precaution they could during the trip.
We all thought we had done the right thing in calling the British police and making them aware of the situation, little did I know of the aftermath of all this, said Mr Masters.
He said the experience had left him feeling like a criminal, despite his efforts to act responsibly.
If I had just dropped him in a lay-by and not notified them, we would be 3,000 better off. Utter madness.
Under the Governments civil penalty scheme, tourists as well as commercial drivers are liable to fines if they fail to adequately secure their vehicle.
Mr Masters has since apologised for not alerting local police about the initial encounter in France but maintains that the fine is unjust and said it had made him lose faith in British policing.
He also questioned why the French authorities had failed to locate the migrant when they inspected his vehicle.
In the weeks following the incident, Mr Masters faced increased scrutiny from the UK Border Force.
He said he was detained four times at different airports, while his wife, who suffers from a rare neurological condition called ataxia which makes travelling difficult, was left to carry heavy baggage alone.
A Home Office spokesman said: We are fully committed to stopping people from illegally entering the country and cracking down on people smugglers.
The Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalty Scheme aims to ensure drivers are taking every reasonable step to deter irregular migration and disrupt people smugglers.
It is understood the fines are only issued when Border Force officers consider they have significant evidence.
Suffolk Constabulary has been contacted for comment.
Israel targeted Hezbollahs rocket chief in a strike on Beiruts southern suburb - MARWAN NAAMANI/DPA/COVER IMAGES
Border Force officers are being deployed to help up to 6,000 trapped Britons flee Lebanon amid rising fears of a war between Hezbollah and Israel.
Some UK officers have already been sent to Lebanon to work with consular and military staff in helping Britons already seeking to leave the country after appeals to do so by Sir Keir Starmer.
A bigger contingent of Border Force officers are on 24 hour notice ready to fly to the region in the event that Britain has to start evacuating stranded workers and families.
The Prime Minister has also not ruled out deploying troops on the ground to evacuate Britons from Lebanon if necessary after sending 700 extra soldiers to Cyprus.
Israel Defense Force jets have carried out heavy bombardments of Hezbollah targets - HUSSEIN MALLA/AP
Government documents have provided an insight on the contingency planning, with the Home Office being asked how quickly Border Force could deploy to Lebanon and whether it had sufficient resources to do so.
Planners also wanted to know whether Border Force could provide 24/7 round the clock processing of passports and travel documents for Britons and their families fleeing Lebanon and how long they could sustain such an operation.
Border Force officers will be expected to ensure that passports, travel documents and visas are cleared and checked before Britons are allowed to return to the UK and to provide support for compassionate cases of families and relatives who may need special provision to allow them to fly to Britain.
During the Afghan evacuation, Border Force also played a key role in security checks against watchlists and databases to ensure that no potential terrorist or criminal exploited the situation to enter the UK without the right to do so.
More than 100,000 civilians fled their homes in Lebanon on Monday and Tuesday - LOUAI BESHARA/AFP
Chloe Lewin, a 24-year-old freelance journalist from London who is based in Beirut, Lebanon, told BBC News that it was not possible to book commercial flights out of the country. Keir Starmers telling everyone to get out but we cant, she said.
You cant get out this week because theyre [the flights] all full and every time you get to the last page of the booking, it just crashes and it says you cant book a flight. And then people I know who have had flights, theyre all getting cancelled. My friends were meant to leave this morning on Egyptair that got cancelled, so they cant get out.
She said the British embassy had told them to get out but it was not helping stranded Brits. Theyre not helping us so we cant, she said. Theres nothing we can do.
Rita El Kassis, 48, has a UK spouse visa and lives in London but is in Lebanon caring for a sick relative. She told The Independent that the British embassy in Beirut informed her that there is no plan to get Brits out.
Im trying not to panic but I have called the embassy and they said there is no plan, she said. I had a search online yesterday and the only alternative flight available was a business-class flight for 4,600 to Dubai. I would then need to book another flight to London.
She said she and her family have discussed getting a flight from Turkey, but that first means an eight-hour taxi through Syria.
Anne Bouji told BBC Radio 4s World at One programme that the embassy had not made it clear whether British nationals could bring family members who do not have visas or British passports. She has lived in Lebanon since 2017 with her partially paralysed Lebanese husband, Simon.
The government decision to evacuate has not clarified whether family members would be allowed to travel with British nationals, Mrs Bouji said. So I dont know whether I could take my husband with his Lebanese passport only if a visa was available or not.
David Oyelowo and cast in the National Theatres Coriolanus - Misan Harriman
Shakespeares unloved tragedy about populism and hubris in Ancient Rome is often regarded as a poor cousin to Julius Caesar. Its plot is less dynamic, its unyielding protagonist, who is forced disastrously into exile by the people for failing to defend their rights, charmlessly intractable. There have been a couple of starry revivals in the last two decades Ralph Fiennes for the Almeida in 2000; Tom Hiddleston at the Donmar in 2013 but for a play so interested in the contingent relationship between the rulers and the ruled, its surprisingly neglected.
Yet Lyndsey Turners vaulting revival, starring David Oyelowo, thrillingly aligns the plays tricky contours with a modern, ill-at-ease Britain. Here, the social elite swig champagne at arts events while righteous protestors rattle spray cans in museums. Meanwhile, out on the streets those canny enough to know which buttons to press can raise a mob by simply chanting the right slogan. A quick-to-erupt anger is in constant simmering proximity to hollow moral posturing.
Oyelowo is not seen enough on the British stage, rarely appearing since he lit up the RSCS 2000 production of Shakespeares equally unforgiving Henry VI trilogy, to which he leant a mesmeric, limpid grace. His Coriolanus, both emotionally reserved and volatile, is simultaneously an out-of-touch member of that cultural aristocracy and a blood-lusty warrior who smashes his foes repeatedly over the head with his shield in the glossily telegenic Corioli battle scenes.
These, in Ev Devlins projection-heavy design, send up the curious video-game effect of modern warfare yet also, thanks to Tom Gibbons soaring Hollywood score, acquire an operatic grace: one of the interesting subtexts of Turners production is the various ways we fetishise and simplify violence. Its there in the early exultations by Coriolanuss mother Volumnia (a strangely rigid Pamela Nomvete) that almost eroticise her sons war glories, the moment when Coriolanuss young son is seen playing with a toy helicopter that in turn ushers in the drilling roar of the real thing, or the intriguing decision to set the play within a museum steeped in memorials to ancient victories.
Yet Oyelowos Coriolanus is also a reluctant hero, revolted by praise and disdainful of what he regards as the peoples confected displays of virtuous fury. This alert, sensitive performance reveals a man both tormented and infuriated by his increasing alienation from a world he doesnt understand. Coriolanus is one of Shakespeares most inaccessible characters, and even Oyelowo cant fully pierce the carapace, but his exiled hero is vividly riven with contempt for the role of performance in both public and political life and, indeed, in simply being a man.
The National Theatres Coriolanus - Misan Harriman
Elsewhere, Devlins formidable concrete set design combines post-Soviet, macho political brutalism (the monolithic slabs also cheekily nod to the National Theatre, itself a site of performance) with high-end hotel-style interiors. Amid it, Oyelowos beleaguered consul feels like a faceless member of the global elite, with no real home life to speak of, the scenes with his surprisingly passive wife purposefully emotionally remote.
More could be made of the relationship with his nemesis, Aufidius (a somewhat buttoned up Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), but other supporting roles are full of vigour: Peter Forbess paternalistic Menenius; Jordan Metcalfes weaselly tribune. And perhaps most potently of all, Conor McLeods perpetually up for it protestor, a rebel on steroids always looking for a cause.
Until Nov 9. Tickets: 020 3989 5455; nationaltheatre.org.uk
The DRC is the outbreak epicentre of a dangerous new strain of mpox - TCHANDROU NITANGA/AFP via Getty Images
Wealthy countries with millions of smallpox vaccines stockpiled for national security should urgently donate more doses to African countries battling the latest outbreak of mpox, the World Health Organization has warned.
For decades governments including the UK, Japan, United States and South Korea have been stockpiling shots of smallpox the only disease ever eradicated in case the lethal pathogen makes an accidental or intentional comeback.
Many of these smallpox vaccines are also effective against mpox as the two viruses are closely related. Yet, as a worrying outbreak of a dangerous new mpox strain intensifies in east Africa, few vaccines have reached the hardest hit regions.
We understand that nations would want to keep a stockpile, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, interim director of the department of Epidemic and Pandemic Threat Management at the WHO, told The Telegraph.
But right now we have an immediate need in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and in neighbouring countries. The vaccines that are sitting on shelves or in a stockpile are useless.
She added that the WHO does not know how many doses are being kept in national reserves, though a recent Reuters tally estimated it stands at several hundred million. Dr Van Kerkhove said governments should assess their stockpiles and share a proportion urgently.
More than 26,500 people have been infected with mpox and 724 have died since January, with 14 countries across Africa so far recording cases.
Despite an assessment from the Africa Centre for Disease Control suggesting the region needs between 18 and 22 million doses to vaccinate 10 million people at high risk, Dr Van Kerkhove said just 3.6 million shots have been pledged at the time of speaking.
That has now jumped, after the United States on Tuesday pledged a donation of 1 million mpox vaccine doses and at least $500 million to African countries to support their response to the outbreak.
Making the announcement at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, US President Joe Biden called on other countries to follow suit, adding: We must now move quickly to face mpox.
Yet as it stands, only 265,000 vaccines have arrived in the DRC, the epicentre, which is set to roll out its first shots within weeks.
Many countries deem smallpox stockpiles as a national security necessity and are reluctant to dilute their stocks.
Although the infectious disease was eradicated in 1980, samples remain in high security laboratories in the United States and Russia.
The threat of a smallpox reemergence, accidental or otherwise, remains and it could be devastating.
It is estimated that the virus killed between 300 and 500 million people worldwide in the 20th century.
Some countries are on especially high alert.
South Korea has long feared smallpox may be one ingredient of a lethal cocktail of viruses and bacteria that North Korea could weaponise against it, and it maintains an emergency stockpile of vaccines to protect against that eventuality.
Local media reports in 2022 indicated a stash of some 35 million doses for the country of 51 million. Smallpox vaccines are made by Korean pharmaceutical company HK inno.N, which was granted approval to make the drug in 2008.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on Monday confirmed the existence of its stockpiles to counter a bioterrorism outbreak but would not reveal its size, citing security reasons.
According to WHO recommendations, we aim for a stockpile level of 80 per cent of the population, taking into account herd immunity, it said in a statement.
During the 2022 mpox outbreak, South Korea donated 50,000 vaccines to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to help protect health workers and people living in the hardest-hit areas.
The KDCA said there were currently no plans to make further donations from its smallpox supplies.
The current stockpile of smallpox vaccine is a second-generation vaccine and is intended for the purpose of preparing for domestic outbreaks of bioterrorism infectious diseases (smallpox) in accordance with relevant laws, it said.
Just 265,000 vaccines have arrived in the DRC, which is set to roll out its first shots within weeks - Justin Makangara/REUTERS
It is not known if North Korea, which is technically at war with the South and continually threatens it with nuclear annihilation, actually possesses samples of smallpox for bioterror purposes.
South Koreas biennial defence white papers have reported on Pyongyangs possible biological weapons programme since 2000.
In 2006, the paper said the North was able to produce biological weapons such as the bacteria of anthrax, smallpox and cholera, but a decade later was more cautious about their existence. Independent experts have also taken a more sceptical view of the regimes bioweapons capabilities.
The UK, like South Korea, has not revealed how many vaccines it has stockpiled. The government holds medical countermeasures for a range of biological threats and hazards, but does not comment on these publicly.
And although the Department for Health and Social Care last week announced it had ordered more than 150,000 mpox doses made by Bavarian Nordic for domestic use, the government has not donated shots directly to the DRC.
The Telegraph understands that most of Bavarian Nordic vaccines currently available were purchased in 2022, and there are concerns that expiry dates are too tight to donate them to the DRC. Instead, the UK is funding Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which procures shots for lower and middle income countries and last week purchased 500,000 mpox vaccines for the outbreak.
Dr Javier Guzman, director of global health policy at the Center for Global Development, said most wealthy countries have enough doses stored to share mpox shots from smallpox vaccine reserves while protecting national security.
For instance, Japan has a stockpile of around 200 million doses of the LC16 vaccine. Donating just three million doses, as Japan has done, marginally reduces their reserves. Similarly, Spain has pledged 500,000 doses, approximately 20 per cent of its mpox vaccine stockpile, he said.
If more high-income countries take similar steps, they significantly increase the chances of containment, reducing the need for African countries to wait for new vaccine manufacturing.
Dr Guzman also reiterated that it would be a mistake to overlook the current threat posed by a more lethal strain which is already spreading widely.
When high-income countries conduct their risk-benefit analysis, they should consider that the risk of smallpox in high-income countries is very low, according to WHO, despite concerns about the possibility of deliberate release. In contrast, the risk of mpox spreading further is a real and present threat.
However, limited donations are not the only reason the rollout of mpox shots has been slow.
We have a real challenge in the world right now around access to medical countermeasures, said Prof Rebecca Katz, director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center.
It happens for a lot of reasons its everything from national security implications, to the cost of production, to the legal and regulatory barriers, to getting the product to the right populations. And none of these have easy solutions attached to them.
In this outbreak, regulatory issues have hit the headlines. It was only on September 13 that the WHO authorised the first shot for mpox, made by Bavarian Nordic, in a process called pre-qualification.
This is significant for two reasons. First, because many low and middle income countries without strong regulators also rely on the WHO to determine which medical tools are safe and effective although, in the case of the DRC, the country gave two mpox vaccines the green light in late June.
Second and perhaps more importantly, UN agencies and Gavi require the WHO approval to buy and distribute shots. Which is why Gavi only last Wednesday announced its first purchase of Bavarian Nordic mpox shots for use in this outbreak.
Dr Gavin Yamey, associate director for policy at Duke Global Health Institute, said the long delays point to how WHOs medicine and vaccine approval system is too slow, bureaucratic, and risk-averse.
Mpox vaccines were approved by the US regulator, the FDA, back in September 2019 and by the European Medicines Agency in July 2022, so the long delay by the WHO to give the green light was deeply frustrating, he added.
But Dr Van Kerkhove said the agency had moved as quickly as possible, adding that it was only on August 23 that Bavarian Nordic shared the final tranche of data the UN agency needed to green light the shot.
We will not compromise on safety. So thats paramount, she said. We did not receive the full dossier until August 23, we cant evaluate these vaccines without the full package of information the EMA, the FDA, they gave exceptional approval to use this vaccine.
She added that the WHOs team is also in the process of assessing a Japanese vaccine called LC16 and made by KM Biologics. She expects an announcement on this to be made soon.
But even with shots on the horizon for the DRC, challenges remain. The Bavarian Nordic vaccine requires two doses, which could be difficult in areas with a highly mobile or hard to reach population.
Meanwhile KM Biologics shot, which has been approved for use in children, is an intradermal vaccine (meaning it is scraped between layers of skin) and needs specialised training to administer. Both are expensive.
Vaccines are not the silver bullet, said Dr Van Kerkhove. Whats going to stop these outbreaks? Strong surveillance, really targeted risk communication materials, making sure patients are cared for appropriately in either healthcare facilities or through home care, making sure that families have access to clean water to wash clothes and linens.
She added: Vaccines are an additional component to that. They are an important one but I really want emphasise this over-reliance on vaccines, because this is not how this outbreak is going to stop.
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One of the first times she had been in drag outside during the day Monica Monae Davenport by Sarah Bork. Photograph: Sarah Bork
I started working on a series called Girls Gotta Eat in 2016. It was born out of anguish. A perfect storm had been brewing. My eldest child was getting ready to go to college and Trump was in office, beginning to wreak havoc on the US, particularly the minds of self-possessed, authority-questioning women. The #MeToo movement had gone viral and then a relative, an evangelical Christian, wrote on my Facebook wall: Donald Trump and Harvey Weinstein are just two poor guys who have been maligned by the media, and the truth about their good character will be revealed.
I was quaking with rage. How could this woman, so close to me in age and also the mother of two daughters, say something so blindly naive, something that she was so sure was correct? I tried to appeal but she was unreachable and uninterested. I realised I needed to turn my distress into something positive that might help me reach this woman and people like her.
Not long after, I was in a grocery store my happy place when I saw a couple who had really interesting and very different body types. They were being private in public, having a discussion about the cold cuts they each wanted for the week. One of them had eyebrows painted high on her forehead and four-inch long white fingernails. A clear thought came into my head: Of course drag queens are in a grocery store a girls gotta eat! I asked if I could take their picture and they posed on the spot. It turned out they were not a couple, but friends who were legendary local drag performers here in Austin, Texas.
After I left, I kept wondering about the other things that might be in their grocery carts. I love connecting over food and self-care and I wanted to honour their humanness in a way that might be interesting to people like my conservative relative. So I began photographing drag performers grocery shopping and displaying each artists grocery list alongside their picture in the hope that people could begin to relate.
I have discovered a whole new world in the town I have been living in for over than 20 years
In my photographs, the drag performer is beautiful, dressed in a flamboyant way, yet is always doing something ordinary like reading the ingredients or weighing bananas. And it turns out a drag performers grocery list looks a lot like everyone elses scrawled on the back of an envelope or a sticky note with things like chicken breasts, baby spinach and Coke.
One of the things I didnt anticipate when I started doing these shoots is how anxiety-inducing it can be to go out in public in drag. Most performers live outside the heteronormative binary, often identifying as gender fluid, trans or queer in some other way, and have experienced bullying, physical harm or even rejection from their families. In Texas in the last year, they have been the target of over 140 anti-drag or anti-trans bills. For many, just living their daily lives is a psychological drain, always being reminded they are different.
When I met Monica Monae Davenport, who is in this picture, she was training to be a hair stylist by day and competing in drag competitions at night. The day we went to the grocery store was one of the first times she had been in drag outside during the day. We chose her closest store, which had wide aisles perfect for shooting and affordable prices so Monica could buy the groceries during her session.
Through this project I have discovered a whole new world in the town I have been living in for more than 20 years. My degree is in theatre, so in some ways it felt like a homecoming. I started photographing events in the drag community regularly and the performers collectively expressed gratitude for my work saying they felt seen as people and many of us dont have moms that see us the way you do.
This project has changed my life. By redirecting my fury into curiosity, life outside heteronormative thinking has been revealed and I am proud to be encouraging acceptance. Action alleviates anguish. Groceries are groceries. Love is love. Other is us.
Sarah Borks CV
Born: 1965, Syosset, New York.
Trained: Theatre/psychology degree, Connecticut College, New London, CT.
Influences: Independent films of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Carol Burnett, Broadway Musicals, Annie Leibovitz, Elliott Erwitt, Helen Levitt and Cartier-Bresson.
High point: Raising two wonderful women to be thoughtful, sensitive, strong-minded contributing adults.
Low point: As a wedding photographer I tripped over a shrub near the altar with all my equipment just as the bride and groom were about to walk down the aisle. It might be funny in the movie of my life but at the time it was mortifying.
Top tip: Become one with your equipment and take care of your body. Its a strenuous job and I believe photographers use our whole bodys intuition to know when to push the button.
This image will be featured in a book Girls Gotta Eat available in 2025. Follow this project and Sarah on Instagram
As wars rage worldwide, with civilian casualties a daily occurrence, critics of the United Nations say the body is failing at its most basic job, while experts warn the organization is being scapegoated for things that are beyond its control.
Maintaining peace and international security is one of the UN's central missions, but its record has been badly tarnished as bloodshed intensifies in conflicts across the world, including in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan.
The UN's detractors point to those brutal conflicts, among others, as evidence that the global organization -- hosting its centerpiece gathering of world leaders in New York this week -- has failed in its mission.
The UN's chief, however, has a different view.
"It's obvious that we are not having peace and security in the world, and it's obvious that it's not because of the UN as an institution that that doesn't happen," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told AFP.
"It's because of member states."
The Security Council, the UN body charged with securing and enforcing peace, is largely paralyzed on the issues of Gaza and Ukraine because of the vetoes wielded by Washington and Moscow.
The deep divisions between the council's permanent members -- Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States -- mean that its "legitimacy and relevance" are eroded, complained Slovenia's UN ambassador Samuel Zbogar, the rotating president of the body.
He also condemned the "poisonous mood" in the council, blaming Washington and Moscow for it.
The fractious situation at the UN Security Council is, however, nothing new.
"The UN has never been able to stop conflicts involving the major powers," said Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group, accusing countries with dominant militaries of hiding behind the UN.
"It's ultimately better to have the US and Russia arguing over Syria in the Security Council rather than fighting a hot war in Syria."
Oona Hathaway, a professor of international law at Yale University, defended the Security Council, saying many of the institution's successes were inherently invisible.
"What you don't see is the wars that don't happen," she said, calling for the rest of the UN's 193 members to do their bit for peace through the General Assembly.
Though that body's resolutions are non-binding, Hathaway said that the assembly is more powerful than it perceives itself and that it could, for example, create a tribunal to hold Russia accountable for its Ukraine war.
Academics have stressed the importance of the UN's peacekeeping operations, with 70,000 "blue helmets" deployed worldwide for the protection of civilians.
The lofty aims of the missions have not spared them from bitter opposition, however. In Mali, for instance, the peacekeeping force was forced out by the ruling junta in 2023, who said the force had failed.
"There's a lot of hate of the UN but this is actually the best multilateral system that we have," said Gissou Nia of the US-based Atlantic Council think tank.
No other organization could be built today in the UN's image, given a global geopolitical situation that is riven with deep divides, she said.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, the former head of UN peacekeeping, insisted that the institution was irreplaceable, and that while "the UN is in a rough patch, it would not be in our interest to shut up shop."
"So (countries) whine, they say the UN is useless -- but at the same time they acknowledge it's still a useful forum, and a bellwether. A bellwether that has been trampled, insulted, and left in bad shape -- but with the hope of a better future," he said.
Guterres insists the UN's humanitarian role is "more important than ever" and that the organization's agencies have "been rescuing people in dramatic circumstances."
While some observers would like to see the UN seize the initiative diplomatically more often, Guterres acknowledges that "the secretary-general of the United Nations has very limited power."
"No power and no money," he concluded.
Elon Musk and Giorgia Meloni lock eyes - Shutterstock/Filippo Attili
Elon Musk has denied having an affair with beautiful Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, in response to a picture of the pair gazing into each others eyes.
Their warm exchange at a black-tie event in New York this week drew headlines on both sides of the Atlantic.
Musk, the billionaire owner of X and Starlink, presented the Italian prime minister with the Global Citizen Award from the Atlantic Council think tank on Monday.
The New York Post called it a public love-in between the worlds richest man and the first female Italian prime minister.
Musk and Meloni on the same table - Shutterstock/Filippo Attili
One photograph (which can be seen at the top of this article) showed the pair locking eyes as they sat beside each other at a dinner table.
I was there with my Mom. There is no romantic relationship whatsoever with PM Meloni, Musk wrote on his social media platform in response to a post of the photograph with the caption: We all know what happened next.
In brief remarks before handing over the award, Musk said Ms Meloni was someone who is even more beautiful inside than outside.
That cant always be said about politicians, Musk added, drawing laughter from the crowd.
The Italian Right-wing leader embraced the billionaire entrepreneur and replied that he was a precious genius.
Elon Musk pulls out a chair Giorgia Meloni at the event - Shutterstock/Filippo Attili
Ms Meloni is known for her tactile greetings with world leaders, and was photographed warmly greeting Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden at a G7 summit over the summer.
In her 15-minute acceptance speech, the right-wing leader outlined her vision for Western conservatism.
I dont know if nationalism is the correct word because it often recalls doctrines of aggression or authoritarianism, she told the 600-odd crowd in Manhattans Ziegfeld Ballroom.
However, I know that we should not be ashamed to use and defend words and concepts like nation and patriotism.
She called patriotism the best response to declinism, as she challenged perceptions of the inevitable decline of the West.
Meloni, who split from her long-time partner Andrea Giambruno in 2023, had requested that Musk hand her the award (which he did, below).
The handing over of the award at the love-in - NYTNS/Graham Dickie
The pair have met several times before. The Italian prime minister hosted the billionaire at her official residence in Rome last year, with Musk flying to the country in June.
They have previously discussed their shared interest in the Wests declining birth rates and the positive potential of AI.
Musk also flew to Italy a second time last year in December, when he spoke at a political festival hosted by Melonis far-right Brothers of Italy party.
Father-of-three Joseph Nicholls cried in the dock as he was sentenced on Wednesday - Central News
A man who shared a Facebook message encouraging people to damage Ulez cameras has been ordered to pay almost 7,000.
Joseph Nicholls, 43, shared a post in a closed anti-Ulez group on the social network in April 2023 which urged members to damage and dismantle the devices, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
The father-of-three then sent an email on May 5 2023 to Yunex Traffic, which provides technology for Ulez cameras, which intended to cause distress or anxiety.
According to Charles Evans, prosecuting, the message said: If I see that little group of sad electricians [repairing cameras] I will smash each and every one of them in the face.
A police search later carried out at his home found parts for two Ulez cameras.
Father-of-three Nicholls cried in the dock on Wednesday as he was handed suspended jail sentences of 10 months for sharing the social media post and 18 weeks for the threatening email, to run concurrently.
He was ordered to pay 1,630 in prosecution costs, 5,000 in compensation to Yunex Traffic and a 187 victim surcharge. Nicholls agreed to pay the 6,817 total in instalments of 200 per month.
He must also complete 15 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and 150 hours of unpaid work.
Yunexs infrastructure and technology have been at the core of Ulez, as well as for similar schemes in Birmingham and Portsmouth, according to its website.
Recorder Andrew Hammond said that while Nicholls had not damaged any cameras himself, he had contributed to a wider movement of vandalism in London - AJ Simpson/PA
Claire Cooper, defending, told the court her client had never been on the streets causing damage to cameras himself and that the parts found in his home were likely to have been left by other anti-Ulez campaigners who had previously gathered there.
Sentencing Nicholls, Recorder Andrew Hammond said: The right and wrongs of Ulez are not a matter for this court but, in any event, this case is not about Ulez but the rule of law.
[The email] was a deliberate attempt on your part to intimidate other people. These people you threatened were employees performing something akin to a public service.
They have the right to perform their jobs without fear of intimidation or threats of violence. These offences were the result of your poor temper and control, and poor consequential thinking on your part.
The judge also said that, despite him never damaging Ulez cameras himself, Nicholls had contributed to a wider movement that had led to 174 cameras being vandalised in some way.
Vigilantes have repeatedly targeted the devices after the Ulez area was expanded to cover all of London last year.
Vehicles that do not meet minimum emissions standards are required to pay a 12.50 daily fee when used in the zone or face a fine.
Videos have been posted online showing people described as Blade Runners cutting the cameras wires or removing the devices.
A spokesman for Transport for London welcomed Nichollss sentence. They said: This was a morally reprehensible attempt to disrupt a scheme that is helping millions of Londoners to breathe cleaner air.
Toxic air leads to children growing up with stunted lungs and is linked to people developing dementia, cancer and other serious health conditions.
Most poignantly it is attributed to thousands of premature deaths.
We hope this sentence will act as a warning to those considering breaking the law and engaging in acts that could result in serious harm to themselves and others.
US president Joe Biden makes his final address to the United Nations General Assembly - Timothy A Clary/AFP via Getty
President Joe Bidens abject failure to provide effective global leadership is well illustrated by the fact that even as his time in the White House is ending, the US is scrambling more forces to the Middle East.
The Pentagon has announced that extra troops are being deployed to the region, while Americas naval presence is to be augmented by the arrival of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman, which left port in Virginia on Monday accompanied by two destroyers and a cruiser.
With the recent dramatic escalation in hostilities between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist movement threatening to spread into a major Middle Eastern war, the deployment of the new naval battlegroup means the US will soon have two carriers operating in the region, with the USS Abraham Lincoln currently conducting operations in the Gulf of Oman.
A significant factor in the upsurge in violence has been the malevolent role Iran has played. This includes providing Hamas with the funding and military support that enabled it to conduct the worst terrorist outrage in Israels history and providing Hezbollah with the missiles that are now being fired at Israel on a daily basis.
Yet, rather than holding Tehran to account for establishing its network of Islamist terror groups the so-called axis of resistance Biden has bent over backwards to revive the flawed Iranian nuclear deal.
The Biden administration, moreover, has pursued this hopeless quest at the expense of maintaining relations with long-standing US allies, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia, which opposed the original deal negotiated by former US president Barack Obama.
This has led to a precipitous decline in Washingtons influence, with the Saudis pivoting towards rivals such as Russia and China, while Bidens fraught relationship with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been instrumental in frustrating US efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.
Thanks to his own self-inflicted setbacks, Biden now faces the prospect of leaving the White House having failed to secure the Gaza ceasefire deal in which his administration has invested so much political capital. Instead he finds himself overseeing the largest American military build-up in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq, with the entire region teetering on the verge of collapse.
This disastrous state of affairs certainly stands in stark contrast to the US presidents valedictory address to the United Nations General Assembly this week, when Biden had the audacity to suggest his presidency had succeeded in re-establishing Americas leadership role on the world stage following the crisis and uncertainty he inherited when he took office.
Biden was primarily referring to the Covid pandemic and the aftermath of the Capitol riots, rather than the altogether different challenges posed by hostile states such as Iran, Russia and China.
As with the rest of the world, Biden is right to say that Covid no longer controls our lives. But the suggestion that he has restored Washingtons leadership role is nothing short of delusional.
Conveniently overlooking his hapless track record in the Middle East, Biden used his address to highlight the key role his administration had played in ensuring the survival of Ukraine following Russias unprovoked invasion in February 2022.
At my direction, America stepped into the breach, he declared. As a result, Russian president Vladimir Putins core aim to conquer Ukraine had failed.
Ukraine may have survived Russias onslaught, but Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who is in the US lobbying Washington, might take a different view. Ukraines survival has been achieved despite Bidens constant dithering on providing military support for Kyiv.
For, rather than providing unequivocal support, Biden has often appeared more concerned not to provoke Putin. This has delayed the provision of vital equipment, and resulted in tight restrictions on the use of what has been supplied.
One of Zelenskys key aims during his US visit, indeed, is to persuade the White House to give authorisation for Ukraine to use long-range missiles against targets within Russia.
In the meantime, Russia continues to make dogged progress along Ukraines eastern front, raising serious concerns in Kyiv.
It is debatable, of course, whether Putin would even have dared to invade Ukraine had it not been for Bidens disastrous handling of Americas withdrawal from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021 another issue conveniently overlooked in his UN address which left the indelible impression of a great power in terminal decline. Within weeks of this humiliating debacle, we now know, Putin gave the mobilisation orders for the Russian military to prepare to invade Ukraine.
Bidens presidency has not restored Americas global leadership, as the president claimed at the UN. It has been an unmitigated disaster, and he will leave office with the world in a far more dangerous state than when he entered the White House.
A resident and his dog are evacuated from his flooded house in Jesenik. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Jarmila Sismova did not know what to expect when rain began to pound the small town of Litovel in the Czech Republic, and she was not prepared for the nightmare that would await her once it stopped.
The authorities told Sismova to leave her home, so she took her children to their grandmother to wait out the storm. As the water level rose, a neighbour one of the few on her street who stayed behind checked the front of the house and saw the sandbags holding firm. But from the back, Sismova would soon find out, the flood had burst into the building, drenching her belongings in dirty brown water.
It was devastating for me, said Sismova, a sales manager and single mother of three, gesturing to a skip full of furniture, clothes and toys. Were getting rid of everything.
Stories like Sismovas are being echoed around the world. The Czech Republic sat at the centre of a storm that has killed two dozen people across central Europe and prompted the EU to promise 10bn in aid to flood-stricken countries. It came as torrential rains swept through parts of Africa and Asia, triggering inundations that have killed more than 1,000 people. The UK was also hit by downpours on Monday, with more than a months worth of rain in 24 hours in some parts of the country.
The extreme levels of rain in Europe were made twice as likely by planet-heating pollution, a rapid attribution study found on Wednesday, and 7% stronger.
Miroslav Trnka, a climate scientist from the Global Change Research Institute, said a 7% average increase may not sound like a lot but can be enough to render a dam useless.
Its a binary problem he said. Its not like flood defences partly work, they either dont work or fully work, and there is a relatively small space in between.
In towns along the Czech Republics border with Poland, where the floods hit hardest, residents described how the supercharged torrents of water tore their lives apart.
In Krnov, where three people died, the city library said it lost more than 20,000 books to the flood waters and only had enough time to save the most important volumes from its collection. Jakub Mruz, the director of the library, said the loss was negligible compared with what other people had experienced, but it is sad and painful for anyone who loves books to see something like this.
In Jesenik, where one person died, nearly 500mm of rain fell in five days, aggravated by wind patterns in the mountains and the bare slopes on which bark beetles had ravaged spongy spruce forests. The sewage system in the city failed and the flood smeared a layer of toxic mud across its streets.
Now its dried up, people are breathing the dust and getting diarrhoea, said Adriana Cerna, an executive board member of People in Need, a humanitarian group working with the rescue services. From day to day the situation is getting better. But theres a big mess.
Scientists have shown that warm air can hold more moisture about 7% for each 1C increase in temperature which allows for more violent rainfall if enough water is available.
Mountain towns such as Jesenik are particularly vulnerable. A study last year found a 15% increase in extreme rainfall per degree of warming at high altitude double that expected by the physical relationship between temperature and moisture content.
In Litovel, further south, Petr Svancr, whose guesthouse was inundated, estimated the damage would come to 2m Czech crowns (66,000). The hotels closed, the restaurant is closed, everything is closed. My life has closed its finished.
Sismova, who moved to Litovel 10 years ago, said she had cried in recent days because she no longer knew if she wanted to live there.
If you have to start from zero, you can start anywhere, she said. I dont know if I want to be part of another flood in a few years.
In 1997, central Europe was devastated by what was dubbed the flood of the century a disaster that killed 56 people in Poland and 50 in the Czech Republic. Since then, investments in systems to predict rain, warn communities and manage water have lowered the death toll from floods even when rains have hit hard.
But Michal Zak, a meteorologist at Czech Television, said although more rain fell over the total period in 1997 than in 2024, the one-day maximum amounts were greater in the latest disaster. The extremity of the precipitation in the models was quite impressive, said Zak, who had been alarmed by the projections. I was not so sure it would really happen, but finally it did.
Volunteers have been arriving to help clean up, with authorities asking that they register with aid groups before arrival. Vaclav Kvapil, a carpenter who runs a guesthouse in a village near Jesenik with his wife, said they hosted 80 volunteers for free after prospective visitors cancelled their reservations.
We were surprised how many people wanted to come, he said. In the end, we were forced to refuse some people because the house was so full.
Masoud Pezeshkian, president of Iran, speaks during the United Nations general assembly at the UN headquarters in New York City on Tuesday. Photograph: Michael M Santiago/Getty Images
On his first visit to the US, Irans new president has spoken of a new era of cooperation with the west. It is an offer that intrigued diplomats, but left them struck by the constraints ideological, internal and geopolitical standing in the way of a substantive change in relations.
Masoud Pezeshkian came to New York for his first UN general assembly since his election asking the west to look at Iran again largely by challenging the double standards that led to its silence about the massacres in Gaza. He has insisted Israel and the US, not Tehran, were the regions troublemakers.
We do not wish to be the cause of instability in the Middle East, he said in a whirlwind round of interviews and meetings, including with the French president, Emmanuel Macron. They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go, the Iranian leader said of Israel. There is no winner in warfare. We are only deluding ourselves if we believe that.
Related: Iranian president accuses Israel of seeking wider conflict
More informal, instinctive and less forbidding than his conservative predecessor Ebrahim Raisi, Pezeskhian revived the moribund Iranian reformist movement, overcoming a highly filtered system to win a surprise electoral victory in July.
In his first two months in office, he has tried to pick his way through a polarised system, insisting Iran will only thrive if it is cohesive and he acts through consensus. He frequently trades on his personal integrity and modesty. His own life story, that of a heart surgeon and father who raised his children alone after he lost his wife in a car accident many years ago, is unusual. He has frequently said he will resign if he feels he is not having any impact reforming his country.
He came to New York with a stripped down delegation of 12, including two veteran diplomats who signed the nuclear deal with the west in 2015: Javad Zarif and Abbas Araghchi.
Yet at home he faces an army of conservative critics ready to pounce on any mistake, like admission of Irans weakness or, above all, any sign of softness to Israel. Some of these critics have not reconciled themselves to their defeat, and believe they are aligned with the 85-year-old uncompromising supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
It was notable at the outset of his UN speech that Pezeshkian asserted his personal mandate, saying: I entered the election campaign with a program based on reforms, national unity, constructive interaction with the world and economic development and I managed to gain the trust of my compatriots at the polls.
He also has a battle to counter the wests distrust. Behnam Ben Taleblu from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies dismissed him as offering a change of style not substance. He is proof that the Islamic Republic is hoping to dupe the world by merely putting lipstick on a pig.
Pezeshkians high-wire act is more difficult since his message of coexistence came as Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militia Iran had helped found, is in a battle for survival, and he is facing calls from both Lebanon and within Iran to come to the militias aid before its leadership is destroyed and the whole so-called circle of fire that it has laid around Israel is doused.
At the same time western diplomats need his help to persuade Hezbollah to end its attacks on Israel that the group has said it will continue until Israel agrees to an immediate and complete ceasefire in Gaza.
But even if Iran was inclined to help, a moot point, Pezeshkian feels he has been burned by listening before to those that called on Iran not to seek revenge for Israels July assassination of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Pezeshkian recalled Iran had been urged afterwards to show restraint to avoid a wider war. They kept telling us we are within reach of peace, perhaps in a week or so, he told a briefing of western reporters including the Guardian. But he said that the promised elusive peace never came.
That briefing proved to be a source of controversy. Bloomberg headlined its account: Irans President Says Hes Prepared to Ease Tensions With Israel.
Related: Zelenskyy calls for peace at UN and warns of Russia threat to nuclear plants
When domestic critics said Pezeshkians remarks were naive and a source of national shame, Iranian officials said correctly he had never said he wished to ease tensions with Israel, an entity he had accused of killing children and bombing hospitals.
The Bloomberg headline was based on his quote: Were willing to put all our weapons aside so long as Israel is willing to do the same. Were not seeking to destabilize the region. The Iranians said he had been referring to weapons of mass destruction, such as Israels nuclear bomb, and pointed out he had added: But we cannot have outside actors come in, arm one side to the teeth and prevent the other side from having the means to defend themselves.
His planned formal press conference was cancelled.
By the time he spoke to the UN on Tuesday, the message about whether Iran feels it can intervene to defend Hezbollah remained unclear. Naturally blind Israeli state terrorism cannot go unanswered, he said. The responsibility for all consequences will be borne by those governments who have thwarted all global efforts to end this horrific catastrophe and have the audacity to call themselves the champion of human rights.
Critics claimed some provisions in the Bill were an attack on freedom of expression - Artur Widak/NurPhoto
Transphobic hate speech will not be criminalised in Ireland after its government backed down on a controversial law.
Ministers had proposed punishments for hate speech as part of a new hate crimes Bill.
However, critics including Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr said the provisions were loosely defined and could have been used to jail campaigners against transgender women using female toilets.
The government has now shelved the hate speech element of the Bill following the accusations that it could have stifled free speech.
The Bill will still go before parliament in the coming weeks, The Irish Times reported, and keeps measures introducing harsher sentences for crimes aggravated by discrimination, including against transgender and non-binary people.
If it passes, an assault on a transgender person will receive a harsher sentence if it is motivated by hatred.
Helen McEntee, the Irish justice minister, previously blamed deliberate misinformation and distortion, including from fringe commentators and US-based social media personalities for the controversy over the laws.
After the climbdown, she admitted: The incitement to hatred element [of the Bill] does not have a consensus, so that will be dealt with at a later stage.
The proposed legislation also still retains the contentious extension of the definition of gender to include the persons preferred gender, or with which the person identifies, and includes transgender and a gender other than those of male and female.
The changes to the Bill are designed to quell backbench disquiet but several MPs are uneasy about the government getting involved in a debate over how many genders there are.
Senator Michael McDowell, a former deputy prime minister and former attorney general, led the Senate revolt against the Bill last year.
He argued the new legislation gave no clarity on the extended definition of gender identities, which could impact gender balance laws and carry other legal risks.
If the government wishes to provide heavier punishment for victims of crime committed because they are victimised as transgender, let them simply say that. There is no problem with doing so. There is no case or need for creating a multiplicity of unspecified subjective statuses described as genders, he told The Irish Times on Tuesday.
He warned the Bill would be the first to recognise any gender other than male or female in Irish law and added that the Irish Constitution only recognised two genders.
Helen McEntee, the Irish justice minister, previously blamed deliberate misinformation and distortion for controversy over the Bill - Liam McBurney/PA
Last year, he told The Telegraph that the Bill gave all private citizens a right to arrest persons where they have reasonable grounds that they are engaging in hate speech and vowed to introduce free speech protections by amending the legislation.
Irelands Department of Justice confirmed to The Irish Times that the gender definitions would remain in the Bill.
If someone is assaulted because they are transgender, that is a hate crime, a spokesman said.
A definition is required to protect that person. It has absolutely no implications outside of this law.
The spokesman added: Does Michael McDowell believe that this person should be protected by this law, or does he believe this person should have to identify as male or female to be protected?
The government first brought the proposed legislation before parliament two years ago and further prioritised tightening anti-hate laws it said were unfit for the social media age last November after a night of anti-migrant rioting in Dublin.
In March this year, it was defeated in a referendum on modernising references to marriage being the foundation of the family and a mothers duties in the home in the Irish Constitution.
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon after an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday. Photograph: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
No two wars are alike, even those fought between the same two combatants on the same terrain. But many of the challenges remain the same.
Israels most senior military commander has told troops that airstrikes will continue inside Lebanon as the Israeli military prepares for a possible ground operation. If its forces do cross the northern border they are likely to face obstacles they have seen before.
When Israeli tanks rolled into southern Lebanon in 2006 (not for the first time) they found an opponent who had changed dramatically since Israels withdrawal from Lebanon six years earlier.
Even in that short time, Hezbollah had organised and developed its capabilities. In the scrubby border zone overlooked by steep rocky ridges, combat tunnels had been prepared. New tactics and weapons had been adapted that would harry the Israeli forces as they entered.
Tanks in particular were vulnerable to anti-tank missiles, while fighters from Hezbollah and its allied group the Amal Movement fired mortars on the units of advancing Israeli infantry as they picked they way through groves and tobacco plots.
For those (including this writer) who witnessed the fighting close up, it was instructive.
In that war as in this one Israeli jets and drones controlled the air, pounding infrastructure and Hezbollah positions unopposed. Israeli gunboats, often sitting over the horizon, shelled the coast, threatening the main coastal highway daily. But approaching the border, it was a very different picture.
Then, as now, Hezbollah had well-prepared positions. Rockets would erupt from a hidden position on nearby hillsides, drawing Israeli counter-strikes, both from jets and artillery on the border, that it seemed impossible to survive. But often, after a pause of a few hours, the rockets would fire again from the same place, initiating a repeat of the cycle.
In his comments to soldiers, the Israeli chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, appeared to nod to the reality that any ground incursion, if it is ordered, would be difficult and opposed.
We are preparing the process of a manoeuvre, which means your military boots, your manoeuvring boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, with underground infrastructure, staging points, and launchpads into our territory [from which to] carry out attacks on Israeli civilians, he told Israel Defense Forces troops on Wednesday.
[In] your entry into those areas with force, your encounter with Hezbollah operatives, [you] will show them what it means to face a professional, highly skilled, and battle-experienced force. You are coming in much stronger and far more experienced than they are. You will go in, destroy the enemy there, and decisively destroy their infrastructure.
The reality is that any ground campaign will be a far more complex undertaking than the intelligence-led attacks Israel has been pursuing in its exploding-pager gambit and the subsequent airstrikes.
The failures of the 2006 war outlined in the subsequent Winograd commission had their own fathers, including in a troika of inexperienced Israeli wartime leaders: the then chief of staff, Dan Halutz, a former fighter pilot who struggled to coordinate ground movements, as well as the then prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and defence minister, Amir Peretz.
As the Haaretz military correspondent Amos Harel wrote in 2016, a decade after the war: IDF divisions were moved around aimlessly, with the government and army incapable of defining a manoeuvre that would gain the upper hand.
And while the IDF has improved its armour to better defend against mobile anti-tank weapons and prepare for fighting in Lebanon, it remains unclear whether an Israel ground incursion can avoid the same pitfalls. Or whether, indeed, its goals any more realistic.
Hezbollah is much better armed than it was in 2006, its militants more combat-experienced after years fighting in Syria, but Israel seems to be falling into the same conceptual trap of misunderstanding the nature of the Islamist group.
Related: Veterans warn of echoes from 1982 Lebanon war as new conflict looms on Israels northern borders
While the pager operation and Israeli strikes have been successful in removing a layer of leadership and command and control, the essence of Hezbollah as a Lebanese force as opposed to its function as a strategic proxy for Iran - ultimately remains intact.
At its heart it remains a locally embedded force dispersed through cities, villages and the countryside with a single and well-understood task: to oppose Israeli troops.
And while Hezbollah has experienced a moment of shock and awe in the pager and walkie-talkie attacks, and airstrikes, Israel has its own disadvantages not least an increasing overstretch not only in its military capacity, but in a growing exhaustion in Israeli society after a year of war.
Many of the same units that have been fighting in Gaza have been moved north. A deepening crisis on the West Bank is also draining as the conflict in Gaza continues.
The IDF has long boasted of fighting on multiple fronts, but the long, grim operation against Hamas remains uncompleted and with no obvious plan for a day after. That campaign has also demonstrated the shortfalls in Israeli military thinking not least the notion that manoeuvre warfare can defeat non-state actors that sometimes behave like conventional forces but can also default to unconventional warfare.
If history has anything to teach us and following Israels past invasions of Lebanon in 1978 (then targeting PLO bases in Operation Litani), in 1985 (leading to an occupation that lasted until 2000), and 2006 any ground incursion is more likely than not to fall short of its objectives.
Donald Harris on his way to a doctorate in economics at Berkeley in April 1965 while holding Kamala
Donald Trump branded Kamala Harris a Marxist, claiming her father, a Left-wing academic, had influenced her.
Shes a Marxist everybody knows shes a Marxist, Trump said during Tuesday nights presidential debate.
Her father is a Marxist professor in economics, and he taught her well.
The Trump campaign has sought to paint Ms Harris as being to the Left of Joe Biden since she took over as the Democrat nominee.
It claimed her plans to tackle what she described as price gouging by major corporations as communist, dubbing the vice president as Comrade Kamala.
Ms Harris has insisted she supports a free market capitalist economy.
The academic background of Donald Harris, an economics professor at Stanford University, underpins Trumps accusations.
Professor Harris, now 86, was the first black scholar to receive tenure at the university, which is one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the US.
The academic background of Kamala's father Donald Harris, an economics professor at Stanford University, underpins Trumps accusations
Born in Jamaica, he came to the US in the 1960s to study economics, completing his doctorate at the University of California-Berkeley.
His first teaching posts were at the University of Illinois and then Northwestern University before securing another post in Wisconsin.
His appointment as an economics professor at Stanford in the mid-1970s was controversial, with the student newspaper describing him as a Marxist scholar.
His views were very different from neoclassical economics, which supported the free market and argued that supply and demand dictated production and prices.
Critics at the time said he was too charismatic and accused him of being a Pied Piper who led students away from free-market economics.
He also questioned the orthodoxy that lowering wages would increase employment.
Ms Harris mother, Shyamala Gopalan, met Mr Harris after a speech he gave at an off-campus space at the University of California at Berkeley in 1962.
Mr Harris said then he had grown up watching British colonial power in Jamaica, including how Britain had fostered a naive black elite to cover up inequality.
Kamala shows echoes of her father
Robert Blecker, one of his former students told The New York Times, that Professor Harris was outspoken.
Although Ms Harriss parents divorced when she was seven, Prof Blecker said that he could see echoes of her father in Ms Harris.
He was certainly not shy. When I saw Kamala grill Judge Kavanaugh at his hearing, I saw echoes of her father grilling someone in a seminar.
Ms Harris did pay tribute to her father during the campaign, saying that he taught her to be fearless.
But, as a result of a bitter custody battle, Prof Harris had little contact as she grew up.
He described the loss of contact with his children in an essay Reflections of a Jamaican Father in Jamaica Global, a website for the countrys diaspora.
This early phase of interaction with my children came to an abrupt halt in 1972 when, after a hard-fought custody battle in the family court of Oakland, California, the context of the relationship was placed within arbitrary limits imposed by a court-ordered divorce settlement, he wrote.
The shelves behind Sir Keir Starmer were lined with Christmas cards and a picture of the politicians family
Sir Keir Starmer urged the public to work from home in a Covid-era broadcast from a Labour donors 18 million penthouse.
The Christmas message was reportedly filmed in Lord Allis flat in December 2021, when Sir Keir was leader of the opposition.
It was broadcast five days after the Tory government announced new guidance aimed at limiting the spread of a new strain of Covid-19, which urged people to work from home where possible.
The Labour leader appeared to be speaking from his own home, with the shelves behind him lined with Christmas cards and a picture of his family.
However, the political blog Guido Fawkes reported on Wednesday that the footage was actually shot in Lord Allis multi-million-pound penthouse.
The room was identified from designer shelves behind Sir Keir that had previously appeared in a video from inside Lord Allis flat.
The shelves inside Lord Allis Covent Garden flat
Keir Starmer records a broadcast from within Lord Allis Covent Garden flat, with the shelves visible behind him
It threatens to cause a fresh headache for the Prime Minister just hours after he was forced to defend repeatedly using the flat owned by the Labour peer while campaigning to enter No 10.
The pre-recorded message was broadcast on BBC One at 7pm on Dec 13 2021. Under Covid guidance that came into force that day, people were advised to work from home where possible. It is unclear when the video was actually filmed.
The revelations are likely to raise questions about whether Sir Keir was following the spirit of the rules.
The Tories have demanded that Labour explain why the penthouse was used for filming, given Sir Keir appeared to be speaking from his own home, and whose Christmas cards were on display.
Labour is yet to deny allegations that the broadcast took place at Lord Allis flat
In a series of questions for the party, they also asked how long the flat was used for, and whether hospitality was provided for Sir Keir and his staff while they were there.
Labour sources did not deny that the video was shot at Lord Allis flat. But it is understood that figures close to Sir Keir would reject any suggestion it was in breach of the Covid guidance.
In the message, the Labour leader urged people to resist the temptation to break from the advice over the Christmas season and work from home where they can.
Of course, I understand that sticking to the rules can be inconvenient, but stick to the rules we must, he said.
It would be easy to let the festivities weve all been looking forward to divert us from our national duty.
Getting jabbed, wearing masks and working from home if we can, really will help prevent infections and help prevent the NHS being overwhelmed.
Lord Allis extensive generosity towards the Labour Party and Sir Keir Starmer has caused controversy - Eddie Mulholland
The majority of remaining Covid restrictions in the UK were lifted in the summer of 2021, meaning people could freely visit each others homes again.
But the Government enacted the Plan B system to contain the spread of the Omicron variant six months later, with people advised to work from home where possible.
The guidance stated: From Friday, Dec 10, face coverings will become compulsory in most public indoor venues, such as cinemas, theatres and places of worship.
There will be exemptions in venues where it is not practical to wear one, such as when you are eating, drinking or exercising. For that reason, face masks will not be required in hospitality settings.
From Monday, Dec 13, those who can will be advised to work from home.
The revelations are likely to spark further questions about Sir Keirs judgment as he faces heightened scrutiny over the freebies row.
Lord Alli has donated thousands of pounds to the Labour leader to spend on suits and spectacles, as well as 5,000 worth of clothes and personal shopping to Lady Starmer.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the Labour peer, but the row overshadowed much of the partys annual conference in Liverpool, which ended on Wednesday.
The Prime Ministers press secretary said that no Covid rules had been broken by the use of the flat for the broadcast.
Asked whether Sir Keir was completely confident that all the rules at the time had been obeyed, she replied: Correct.
It is understood that Sir Keir, then the leader of the opposition, had not made regular use of the flat as an office.
The Prime Minister, who fiercely guards his familys privacy, has never used his own home for political broadcasts.
Many politicians, including Cabinet ministers, did use their houses to conduct TV interviews during the pandemic.
Allegations against Fayed had been a well-known secret decades before they became public - AFP via Getty
I always enjoyed The Crown even if the royal dramas sheen of class disguised that it belonged to the higher cobblers but the final season left me with a feeling of disgust. It painted Mohamed Fayed (the Al- before his surname was an affectation, like so much about that Egyptian guttersnipe turned Phoney Pharaoh) as an amusing figure. In their depiction, he was a tetchy mogul and fond but pushy father who encouraged the romance between his son Dodi and the Princess of Wales, and won public sympathy when the pair perished in a car crash.
Fayed had actually tipped off photographers that Dodi and Diana were at his Ritz hotel in Paris. It was a marvellous piece of publicity for a contrived fairytale romance, which he hoped would lead to his son marrying the mother of the future King and which, ultimately, led to the pairs fatal pursuit by paparazzi. Far from being an entertaining bit-part player, Fayed was lucky to avoid blame for Dianas tragic death.
After the Princess died, he continued to exploit her in the most repulsive manner. He went so far as to suggest that Diana was pregnant with Dodis baby and that Prince Philip colluded with MI6 to have her bumped off because no child with Arab blood could be allowed to pollute the Royal family.
There was nothing funny about Mohamed Fayed. He was a proper, old-fashioned monster, a Mafia-style boss who used a combination of money and fear to silence anyone who dared accuse him of wrong-doing. The affectionate, pantomime Netflix portrayal was just one more depressing instance of the disgusting old fraud being let off the hook.
During the late 1990s, a couple of women who had worked for Mohamed contacted me with hair-raising stories about his abuse of female staff, his appalling racism and the constant stream of young blondes who came through the doors of 60 Park Lane, his London base. Back in the early eighties, long before Fayed bought Harrods, his then PA and air stewardess, Penelope Simpson, told me that Friday nights were always play night. Fayed would get a call at the same time each week from a phonebox and a woman would make arrangements to drop off a young girl who would be paid in cash. The teenage girls were clearly coming from a private school, Simpson recalled. Fayed did like his victims to be well-spoken.
When a BBC documentary revealed last week that five women who worked at Harrods claim they were raped by Fayed, it was hardly the nasty surprise the media chose to pretend that it was. The only shocking thing is that, like Jimmy Savile, Fayed was allowed to go to his grave, aged 94, without paying for his crimes.
So you might ask why I, and countless other journalists, failed to expose him when there were women prepared to tell their stories 25 years ago.
Welcome to two-tier British justice; for the few, not the many. Libel actions in this country are potentially so expensive that you need deep pockets to defend one. A sales assistant at Harrods could blow her lifetime earnings on a week in court. Fayed calculated he could molest and rape such people with impunity. He was right.
Fayed in Harrods in 2005 next to a memorial to his son Dodi and Diana Princess of Wales - Reuters
Of course, the women could always go to the papers, but the media will hesitate to run stories about rich, influential people who can afford the best barristers unless the evidence appears to be cast-iron. And victims are likely to be scared and easily intimidated. David Hooper, a veteran libel lawyer who first investigated Fayeds alleged sexual offending in the 1990s, claims that Fayed was the head of a deeply criminal organisation who relied on a team of enablers, including former police officers, as well as aggressive legal tactics to silence victims.
Like The Godfathers Don Corleone, to whom Penny Simpson compares him, Fayed would shower the powerful and famous with gifts and freebies; favours he could call in at any time. There were 30 flats at 60 Park Lane and many household names enjoyed his hospitality. (There will be plenty of rock stars, Hollywood actors, minor royals and politicians feeling nervous and uncomfortable today. I know some of their names.) In quiet periods, Simpson recalls, my job was compiling a Rolodex the size of a small Ferris wheel. Many different hands had filled out its thousands of index cards. Mohamed would deposit scraps of paper on my desk with scrawled titbits; younger wife, or vintage Patek Philippe, check family, or the sinister one word Debt. An elaborate spiders web for me to cross-reference, information constantly updated yet never discarded.
Although Fayed tried it on with Penny a few times, she firmly rebuffed him. What saved her from being raped, she thinks, is that his female employees usually travelled in pairs for safety and it wasnt worth Fayeds while to cause trouble in his own back office. Members of staff were spoiled to keep them sweet while living under constant threat. Mohameds largesse was unpredictable, and designed to encourage dependency, recalls Penny.
Salary increases were never formalised, rather they appeared as small wads of cash, often in the ubiquitous brown envelopes. He liked to distribute gifts of jewellery sometimes valuable, often not. He knew we were unfamiliar with real gemstones and enjoyed our confusion. You have that butterfly watch I gave you? hed ask out of nowhere. The jewels are good, yes?
To work in Fayeds office was to exist in a gilded cage, to have all your needs (from medical appointments to posh underwear) paid for. But it was on the understanding that your loyalty was absolute. When Fayed first interviewed her, Penny Simpson recalls him boasting that no one who worked for him had ever been required to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement). He made himself pretty clear. No staff had to sign an NDA because they knew there would be frightening consequences if they said anything. He had some seriously nasty friends. And the climate was very different back then. A woman alleging sexual assault would not have been believed.
The only journalists with the guts and guile to try and expose the brute were Henry Porter (for Vanity Fair) and Tom Bower. In 1998, in Fayed: The Unauthorised Biography, Bower, a brilliant sleuth, disclosed how Fayeds enforcers would shut down allegations about the boss. By far the most intriguing was the security chief, John MacNamara, wrote Bower, A former detective chief superintendent and head of Scotland Yards fraud squad, Macnamara [who died in 2019 aged 83] had overseen countless dishonest operations around the world as he sought to protect his employer and destroy his enemies.
Macnamara, a master in blackmail, falsification, intrusion and corruption, not to mention threats of violence, took care of the rough stuff. Fayed also had a director of public affairs, Michael Cole, to burnish his public persona. Smoothie-chops Cole, he of the luxuriant bouffant hair and impeccable manners, was as well-spoken as any of the women Fayed allegedly raped. He traded on his career as the BBCs former royal correspondent, which lent lustre to his grubby little master. When Fayed died last August, Cole, now 81 and retired to a converted barn in Suffolk, was given ample airtime to pay touching tribute. Fayed was fascinating, larger than life, full of great humanity, Cole told Radio 4s Today programme. I nearly choked on my Bran Flakes.
What on earth were the BBC (and most other media outlets) doing allowing such nauseating encomiums to such a despicable charlatan? The only caveat Cole hair now snowy but still abundant could bring himself to utter was highly controversial. Ah, yes, Michael, the highly controversial alleged serial sex abuser and rapist you served so devotedly. What suckers we are for larger than life characters like Fayed and Savile who hide their darkness beneath a buffoonish persona.
Following the BBC documentary, Coles wife, Jane, said the revelations had come as a shock to them. For once, Fayeds mouthpiece had no honeyed words to smooth over his late masters amorality. Cat got your tongue, Michael?
Suddenly, after decades of cover-up and institutional indifference, Fayeds alleged victims are now seeking compensation from Harrods (Fayed sold it for 1.5 billion in 2010 to the Qatar Investment Authority). The Knightsbridge store says it is investigating whether any of the current staff were involved in the alleged abuse.
Is that it? With the greatest sympathy and respect to the women concerned, this is a much bigger issue than whether someone in the Harrods personnel department quietly sacked and paid off a perfumery assistant who was making claims about the proprietor. Grateful to avoid a spotlight on their own shortcomings, the media and legal establishment are focusing on the timeline of Harrods sexual predator.
Where is the pressure on the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) who somehow managed to avoid getting Fayed prosecuted when even a mere newspaper columnist like me had credible witnesses a quarter of a century ago, who were offering me details of his grotesque misconduct?
The facts are damning. Fayed was investigated by police three times yet was never prosecuted.
In 2008, he was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in the Harrods boardroom. The CPS said there was not enough evidence to prosecute, citing conflicting evidence.
In 2015, Metropolitan police investigated him following allegations he had raped a woman in 2013. Once again, the CPS reviewed the files and there was no prosecution.
In 2018, multiple women came forward to tell their stories to the police. That time, a file didnt even get as far as the CPS.
While the CPS did review both their Fayed files, a spokesperson said: To bring a prosecution, the CPS must be confident there is a realistic prospect of conviction in each instance, our prosecutors looked carefully at the evidence and concluded this wasnt the case.
Why might that be? What could account for the curious inability of Scotland Yards finest to track down a few Penelope Simpsons to testify against a billionaire with royal connections? Hmmm. Might a few hampers with the famous Harrods livery have arrived on certain doorsteps, or even the little brown envelopes Fayed used to silence staff? Did John Macnamara still have any sway over colleagues in the police force where he worked for 28 years and for which he had been head of cue hollow laughter the fraud squad? Heaven forbid.
Meanwhile, the CPS whose then-director of public prosecutions was an upstanding fellow by the name of Keir Starmer was building up form when it came to discounting the claims of working-class women. In 2009, the CPS took the decision not to prosecute Jimmy Savile on the grounds of our old friend insufficient evidence. In reality, one of our most proudly prolific child sex offenders had assaulted so many young people that it would have been quite a stretch for Plod not to find one or two in the entire country who could have landed Jimll Fix It in court. Who knows, perhaps the BBC star perverts day job as national treasure and mate of Prince Charles proved alibi enough?
An inquiry into this wretched failure by the police and the CPS did not suggest that Keir Starmer was personally involved in the decisions made about Savile, although some might wonder why the head of the service was not told about such a high-profile case. The CPS says that records relating to the decision not to charge Savile were not kept, which was in line with its data retention policy. A marvellous excuse, you must admit, and so many of them!
Both Savile and Fayed were allowed to take their guilty secrets to the grave thanks to a cowardly, colluding establishment. How many public figures ensnared in the Rolodex spiders web kept in Fayeds office as an insurance policy might have been embarrassed by his conviction, I wonder? Hard not to conclude it was simply easier to look the other way.
Had either man ever been brought to trial, no doubt they would have had their peccadillos explained away by the best senior counsel money can buy; counsel like Huw Edwards defence team. They claimed that, among other traumas, the former presenters distress over not getting into Oxford (poor chap had to settle for Cardiff University) had led to such lifelong feelings of inadequacy that he had to look at the worst imaginable images of child sexual abuse to make himself feel better.
The depraved BBC anchor paid tens of thousands for nude pictures from a Welsh boy younger than his own sons (Ach-y-fi! as Huws Welsh mother and mine would cry in horror) was let off without a jail sentence. This tells us all we need to know about where raped children and preyed-upon shop assistants come in the hierarchy of British justice. Look how the people who do pluck up courage are treated.
More than a hundred women have now come forward making allegations of abuse against the Egyptian tycoon. Gemma, who was allegedly raped by Fayed in 2009, says she provided audio tapes of his vile conduct, but lawyers shredded her evidence in front of a senior Harrods HR official. Rightly, victims are calling for an inquiry that scrutinises not only Fayeds behaviour, but those who appear to have enabled him. The Metropolitan Police and the CPS, which absurdly struggled to establish a realistic prospect of conviction, must themselves be suspects.
From her two years as Fayeds PA, Penelope Simpson says what she remembers most is the constant battle we waged against germs. The incessant washing and drying of crockery and glasses with tissues (as tea towels were forbidden). We travelled with crates of Kleenex and wet wipes with which we would swab door handles and lavatory levers and lift buttons. Room service was always re-plated on dishes we had personally sanitised, and table tops and chair arms disinfected after each guest departed. Fayed had prospective victims tested for sexual and other diseases (he was particularly worried about TB).
How telling that the dirty old man should be obsessed with cleanliness for himself.
If there was any fairness, Mohamed Fayed would have been disgraced during his lifetime, not after death. I hope that he, Savile and Jeffrey Epstein are in an especially toasty corner of Hell (Theyre keeping a seat warm for Harvey Weinstein). But please lets not pretend that the stories about Fayeds alleged rapes and abuse of young women defy belief, as people now conveniently claim. Given a system that privileges the rich and the ruthless over ordinary women and children, such claims are all too believable.
A billboard for attorney Jim Adler is visible near Woodridge and Interstate 45 south near Loop 610 Wednesday, Sep. 25, 2024 in Houston Kirk Sides/Staff photographer
John Oliver did a fist-bangin, tough-Southern impersonation of the Houston personal injury lawyer who wields a sledgehammer and barks louder than a junkyard dog.
Im a big tough man, with a big loud voice. I like trucks that go wee and meat that goes squee! Oliver yelled in imitation of Jim Adler, better known as "The Texas Hammer," and as a meme too.
The impersonation came after Oliver played an Adler commercial for appealing a denied social security benefits application.
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In this past Mondays episode of Last Week Tonight, the political satirist focused his main segment on the detrimentally cumbersome application process for social security disability benefits, which often leaves disabled people waiting over a year for an answer, squeezing some to the point of bankruptcy.
In true John Oliver fashion, the brevity of a complicated subject was cut through with a lot of humor. And Jim Adler was the source of a big laugh.
Applications for disability benefits are denied so often that initial applications for one of the two key programs, supplemental security income, hear a no 31% of the time. The issue is so widespread, Oliver explained, that there are lawyers who specialize in denied application appeals.
He then played a clip of a Jim Adler commercial, in which actors say theyve been out of work due to a disability, and then their application for benefits is denied.
The laws are so confusing! How do you get your benefits before you go broke? one actor asks.
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Fret not, though: Jim Adler is here to help.
I know how to cut through that red tape! Call me right now! Adler proclaims.
The joke on Monday nights segment isnt Adlers first famed appearance on John Olivers show. In a 2019 episode of Last Week Tonight, Oliver played a compilation of Adlers wacky ads.
A segment in a 2019 episode of Last week Tonight opened with a title sequence that said, And now, if you live in Texas, lawyer Jim Adler would like a perfectly normal word with you.
What proceeded to play was a compilation of Adlers ads, with clips of the lawyer saying everything from I get angrier than a junkyard dog! I growl and bark! to the classic, Its hammer time!
In 2021, John Oliver also did a segment on the legal battle between two Hammers, the self-proclaimed OG, Adler, and his alleged copycat, the Alabama Hammer. Adler sued attorney Mike Slocumb, the Alabama Hammer, for copyright infringement.
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Olivers thoughts on the hammer war? He called both lawyers glorious maniacs. The case was voluntarily dismissed in 2021.
While his tough-Southern persona, batty commercials and controversies have drawn laughs from Oliver and his far reaching audience, they might hit home in the heart of nostalgia for many Texans who grew up watching Adler growl and scowl with a sledgehammer across TV and billboards for over 20 years.
As one X user put it, Adlers commercials are a humorous memory of many Texans childhoods.
My husband and I live in Dallas/Fort Worth Texas. Those Texas Hammer commercials have been around since I was a kid. To have John Oliver do a Texas accent and impersonate Jim Adler was priceless!
Keir Starmer: I think the basic proposition that you should look for work is right. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images
People who have been on long-term sickness leave and claiming benefits will need get back into the workplace where they can, Keir Starmer has said.
The prime minister said he wants more schemes across the country that support people back into work from long-term sickness because he believes in the basic proposition that you should look for work.
Starmer was speaking on the final day of Labour conference, after telling members there would be light at the end of this tunnel but adding they must first join a shared struggle through tough short-term pressures.
He also told Labour activists during his speech: If we want to maintain support for the welfare state, then we will legislate to stop benefit fraud, do everything we can to tackle worklessness.
Asked by the BBCs Today programme if he agreed with the proposition that virtually no one should claim benefits without trying to get back to work, Starmer said: I think the basic proposition that you should look for work is right.
Obviously there will be hard cases, but the way I would do it is to say: yes, thats the basic proposition, but we also want to support [people] that so that more people can get into work.
He had earlier said: Ive gone out and looked at schemes where businesses are supporting people back into work from long-term sickness.
Because quite often I think what lies behind this is a fear for someone whos been on long-term sickness, that: can they get back into the workplace? Are they going to be able to cope? Is it all going to go hopelessly wrong?
Yes they need to be back in the workplace where they can, but I do think that if we can put the right support in place, which Ive seen pilots of, they work pretty well, and we want to see more of those across the country.
About 3 million people in the UK are not working because of long-term sickness.
In the same interview, the prime minister suggested he had accepted he equivalent of 20,000 in donations for accommodation because his son needed somewhere to revise for his GCSEs while his family home was surrounded with journalists during the election campaign.
While Starmer said the transition to Downing Street had been really difficult for his two children, who had grown up in north London, he did however defend his decision to take gifts from Labour peer Lord Alli amid criticism of the arrangement.
The prime minister said he was not going to apologise for not doing anything wrong and the freebies did not cost the taxpayer a penny.
He told the BBC: My boy, 16, was in the middle of his GCSEs. I made him a promise, a promise that he would be able to get to his school, do his exams, without being disturbed.
We have lots of journalists outside our house where we live and Im not complaining about that, thats fine.
But if youre a 16-year-old trying to do your GCSEs and its your one chance in life I promised him we would move somewhere, get out of the house and go somewhere where he could be peacefully studying.
Somebody then offered me accommodation where we could do that. I took that up and it was the right thing to do.
Asked whether he would like to apologise for the row, he told LBC: Im not going to apologise for not doing anything wrong.
It comes after Starmer said ministers would no longer take donations for clothing now they were in government, but he left the door open to receiving more access to events, such as the 4,000 worth of tickets to a Taylor Swift concert he accepted from the Premier League.
The issue followed the case of Isla Bryson, who was born male and convicted of rape when living under the name of Adam Graham - Andrew Milligan/PA
Male rapists and sex offenders will not be formally recorded as female if they claim to identity as a woman, Scottish police chiefs have insisted, in a major U-turn.
In a letter to Holyroods justice committee on Wednesday, Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs said MSPs could be absolutely assured that male sexual predators would always be identified as men on police systems.
However, the force was accused of institutional gaslighting after suggesting this had been its policy all along, contradicting previous public statements stating that suspects who say they identify as female would be able to self-identify as women.
As recently as March, Police Scotland stated that the sex or gender identification of anyone who comes into contact with the force would be based on how they present or how they self-declare.
Deputy Chief Constable Speirs highlighted a caveat to the policy, in which it was stated that exceptions could apply if biological sex was pertinent to any investigation with which they are linked as a victim, witness or accused.
But Murray Blackburn Mackenzie (MBM), an Edinburgh-based policy analysis group, highlighted multiple examples in which it said the force had persistently and vigorously defended the use of gender self-identification, including for sex offenders.
This is a major U-turn by Police Scotland, Lucy Hunter-Blackburn, a former senior civil servant who is part of MBM, said.
We welcome that Police Scotland has at last recognised that allowing sex offenders to self-identify their sex is indefensible.
It is, however, an extraordinary act of institutional gaslighting to pretend that this is not a significant policy change from their position over almost five years.
Bryson was initially sent to womens prison, in February last year, prompting a public uproar - Police Scotland/PA
Police Scotland said that a case of someone being arrested and charged with rape being recorded as female on police systems had never happened.
It was not clear whether this was the case for those accused of sexual assaults or suspects arrested for rape but never charged.
In 2023, Police Scotland stated publicly that a woman could be recorded as having committed rape, which under Scots law requires a penis, if they held a gender recognition certificate or if an officer was satisfied the individual presents as female.
Earlier this month, John Swinney, the First Minister, faced severe criticism from several female MSPs after he refused to intervene to stop Police Scotland policies apparently allowing rapists to self-identify as women.
The exchanges followed another Police Scotland statement which stated, in response to a Holyrood committee, that no evidence or documentary proof of biological sex would normally be required other than a persons self-declaration.
The force had said that allowing people to self-identify their gender was consistent with the values of the organisation.
The controversy over recording of sex offenders followed the case of Isla Bryson, who was born male and convicted of raping two women when living under the name of Adam Graham.
Campaigners argued that self-ID practices could skew official figures by wrongly attributing rapes or serious sexual assaults to women.
Sensitive area of public policy
Bryson was initially sent to womens prison, in February last year, prompting a public uproar. The rapist was moved to the male prison estate.
Although Bryson had not legally changed sex, Scottish Prison Service guidance at the time stated that trans criminals should normally be sent to the jail that matched their self-identified gender that they were living in prior to their conviction.
The jail policy, based on the same principles of self-ID as Nicola Sturgeons failed gender recognition reforms, was rewritten following the Bryson scandal.
In his letter, Deputy Chief Constable Speirs said that the issue of gender recognition was a sensitive area of public policy and that given the lack of legal charity, it had been left to public bodies determine policy and practice in a way that achieves a legal and appropriate balance of rights and duties.
He added: The committee should be absolutely assured that a man who commits rape or serious sexual assaults will be recorded as a male.
There is no instance or record on police systems of a male having been arrested and charged with rape whose gender has been recorded as female. This has not happened.
He added: The core purpose of policing is to improve safety and well-being and therefore all our policies, processes and practice emanate from this fundamental purpose.
The gender self-identification of an individual does not supersede these wider policing principles.
Marcellus Khaliifah Williams. Photograph: Courtesy of Marcellus Williams's legal team
Missouri executed a man on death row on Tuesday, despite objections from prosecutors who sought to have his conviction overturned and have supported his claims of innocence.
Marcellus Khaliifah Williams, 55, was killed by lethal injection, ending a legal battle that has sparked widespread outrage as the office that originally tried the case suggested he was wrongfully convicted.
In an extraordinary move condemned by civil rights advocates and lawmakers across the US, Missouris Republican attorney general, Andrew Bailey, pushed forward with the execution against the wishes of the St Louis county prosecuting attorneys office.
Williams was convicted of the 1998 killing of Lisha Gayle, a social worker and former St Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. He was accused of breaking into Gayles home, stabbing her to death and stealing several of her belongings.
But no forensic evidence linked Williams to the murder weapon or crime scene, and as local prosecutors have renounced his conviction, the victims family and several trial jurors also said they opposed his execution.
We must all question any system that would allow this to occur. The execution of an innocent person is the most extreme manifestation of Missouris obsession with finality over truth, justice, and humanity, at any cost, Tricia Rojo Bushnell, Williams attorney, said in a statement just before the execution. Tonight, we all bear witness to Missouris grotesque exercise of state power. Let it not be in vain. This should never happen, and we must not let it continue.
Williams son and two of his attorneys watched the execution from another room, the AP reported. Williams appeared to speak with a spiritual adviser by his side in his final moments. In a written last statement released by corrections officials, he said: All Praise Be to Allah in Every Situation!!!
Williams, who served as the imam in his prison and dedicated his time to poetry, twice had his execution halted at the last minute. He was days away from execution in January 2015 when the Missouri state supreme court granted his attorneys more time for DNA testing. In August 2017, Eric Greitens, the Republican governor at the time, granted a reprieve hours before the scheduled execution, citing DNA testing on the knife, which showed no trace of Williams DNA.
Related: Missouri to execute Marcellus Williams despite prosecutors objections and innocence claims
Greitens set up a panel to review the case but when Mike Parson, the current Republican governor, took over, he disbanded that board and pushed for the execution to proceed.
In January, Wesley Bell, the Democratic prosecuting attorney in St Louis who has championed criminal justice reforms, filed a motion to overturn Williams conviction. Bell cited repeated DNA testing finding that Williams fingerprints were not on the knife.
Ms Gayles murderer left behind considerable physical evidence. None of that physical evidence can be tied to Mr Williams, his office wrote, adding: New evidence suggests that Mr Williams is actually innocent. He also asserted that Williams counsel at the time was ineffective.
Additional testing on the knife, however, revealed that staff with the prosecutors office had mishandled the weapon after the killing touching it without gloves before the trial, Bells office said. A forensic expert testified that the mishandling of the weapon made it impossible to determine if Williams fingerprints could have been on the knife earlier.
In August, Williams and prosecutors reached an agreement to halt his execution: he would plead no contest to first-degree murder in exchange for a new sentence of life without parole. His lawyers said the agreement was not an admission of guilt, and that it was meant to save his life while he pursued new evidence to prove his innocence. A judge signed off on the agreement, as did the victims family, but the attorney general challenged it, and the state supreme court blocked it.
Last-ditch efforts by both Williams lawyers and St Louis prosecutors were unsuccessful in recent days. In a plea over the weekend, Bells office said there were constitutional errors in Williams prosecution and pointed to recent testimony from the original prosecutor, who said he rejected a potential Black juror because he looked like he could be Williams brother. The jury that convicted him had 11 white members and one Black member.
The governor also rejected Williams clemency request on Monday, which noted that the victims family and three jurors supported calls to revoke his death sentence. The US supreme court denied a final request to halt the execution on Tuesday, with the three liberal justices dissenting.
The attorney general argued in court that the original prosecutor denied racial motivations for removing Black jurors and asserted there was nothing improper about touching the murder weapon without gloves at the time.
Baileys office has also suggested that other evidence points to Williams guilt, including testimony from a man who shared a cell with Williams and said he confessed, and testimony from a girlfriend who claimed she saw stolen items in Williams car. Williams attorneys, however, contended that both of those witnesses were not reliable, saying they had been convicted of felonies and were motivated to testify by a $10,000 reward offer.
Bailey and Parson have not commented on their decision to override the wishes of the victims family, but have pointed to the fact that the courts have repeatedly upheld Williams conviction throughout his years of appeals.
A kind and thoughtful man
Williams execution was widely denounced on Tuesday evening.
Derrick Johnson, NAACP president, said Missouri had lynched another innocent Black man. Missouri congresswoman Cori Bush said the state had failed Williams, adding: We have a moral imperative to abolish this racist and inhumane practice. And Bell said: Marcellus Williams should be alive This outcome did not serve the interests of justice.
Bushnell, Williams attorney from the Midwest Innocence Project, praised Williams evocative poetry and service to his family and his community, saying he had been a kind and thoughtful man, who spent his last years supporting those around him in his role as imam.
While he yearned to return home, he worked hard to move beyond the anger, frustration and fear of wrongful execution, channeling his energy into his faith and finding meaning and connection through Islam. The world will be a worse place without him, she said.
Williams public defenders said the governor had utterly ignored the victims family, adding in a statement: Khaliifah was an inspiration. We aspire to his level of faith, to his integrity, and to his complete devotion to the people in his life.
Related: South Carolina executes first man in 13 years despite new evidence of innocence
Michelle Smith, co-director of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, who considered Williams a mentor, said in an interview before the execution that she hoped his case would help the public understand that capital punishment doesnt work.
I know people who say: We shouldnt kill innocent people, but other than that, I believe in the death penalty. But if you believe in the system at all, that means youre OK with innocent people being killed, because the system isnt perfect. It is going to kill innocent people.
Since 1973, at least 200 people sentenced to death have been exonerated, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Robin Maher, the groups executive director, said she was unaware of another case in which someone was executed after a sitting prosecutor objected and confessed to constitutional errors that undermined the conviction.
Williams execution is one of five scheduled across the US in a one-week period. On Friday, South Carolina executed a man days after the states main witness recanted his testimony. On Tuesday, the state of Texas executed Travis Mullis, 38, who waived his right to appeal his death sentence for killing his three-month-old son in 2008. His attorney said he suffered a lifetime of profound mental illness, but was a redeemed man who accepted responsibility for his crime.
The Universite Paris-Dauphine, where the alleged murder victim was a student, is on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, where her body was found - Houpline Renard/SIPA/Shutterstock
A Moroccan man arrested over the alleged murder of a 19-year-old university student in Paris had been ordered to leave France after serving a sentence for rape, prosecutors have said.
The 22-year-old was detained by police in Geneva and identified as a suspect in a murder committed in Paris, according to the Swiss justice ministry.
French prosecutors said the suspect had been convicted of rape in France in 2021 and had been the subject of a removal order after serving his sentence.
The partially buried body of a teenager named by the authorities as Philippine was found by police on Saturday in the Bois de Boulogne park in western Paris, not far from the Universite Paris-Dauphine, where she was a student.
The student had last been seen at the university on Friday before disappearing in the woods on the way to visit her parents. Witnesses reported seeing a man with a pickaxe in the area, said one police source.
Police officers in the Bois de Boulogne following the discovery of the body of teenager Philippine - Houpline Renard/SIPA/Shutterstock
Philippines death has prompted outrage in France, where the countrys new Right-wing interior minister has promised to toughen up laws on deporting foreign criminals.
Bruno Retailleau said on Tuesday he would have no qualms about deporting those who break into France without authorisation, as well as fast-tracking the expulsion of foreigners who committed crimes.
Hours later, it emerged that the prime suspect in the students alleged murder should not have been in the country.
Mr Retailleau said: This is an abominable crime. It is up to us, as public leaders, to refuse to accept the inevitable and to develop our legal arsenal, to protect the French.
Bruno Retailleau, the French interior minister, has promised tough action to deport foreign criminals - Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images
If we have to change the rules, lets change them.
According to prosecutors, the suspect was convicted in 2021 of a rape committed in 2019, when he was a minor.
He was released in June having served his sentence, then placed in an administrative detention centre, according to a source close to the case.
In early September, a judge freed him on condition he reported regularly to the authorities.
But just before the alleged murder of the student, the suspect was placed on a wanted list because he had broken the conditions of his release.
Politicians on both Right and Left have called for tougher measures in the wake of the alleged murder.
Living alongside human bombs
Philippines life was stolen from her by a Moroccan migrant who was under a removal order, Jordan Bardella, the leader of the far-Right RN, the largest single party in parliament, wrote on X on Tuesday evening.
Our justice system is lax, our state is dysfunctional and our leaders are letting the French live alongside human bombs.
Its time for this government to act: our compatriots are angry and will not mince words.
Francois Hollande, the socialist former president, also expressed frustration, saying deportation orders had to be enforced quickly.
France issues thousands of deportation orders, known under the French abbreviation OQTF every year, but only around 7 per cent of them are enforced, compared to 30 per cent across the European Union.
However, Gerald Darmanin, the outgoing interior minister, announced in January that the expulsion of foreign delinquents had risen by 30 per cent in 2023 compared with the previous year, to a total of 4,686 individuals.
Marie-Laure Basilien-Gainche, an expert in public law, told AFP that French authorities were issuing too many OQTF.
We are seeing an increase in the number of removal orders issued against people who we know from the start cannot return to their country of origin or transit, she said.
A mosquito - AFP/Luis Robayo
A woman has died after being bitten by a mosquito in New York.
She became the first person to die from eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) in the state in nearly a decade, prompting the governor to declare an imminent public health threat.
Governor Kathy Hochul yesterday announced the death, in Ulster County, and outlined measures that state officials are taking to reduce New Yorkers risk of exposure to the disease.
The patient was diagnosed three days ago with the first human case of EEE in New York since 2015.
Her death is the second linked to EEE this year in the United States.
The first involved a 41-year-old New Hampshire man who died in August.
People diagnosed in five more states
Human cases of the disease have also been reported this year in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Earlier this summer, a horse in Ulster County also tested positive for the virus, health officials reported.
To combat the spread of the disease, mosquito repellent will be made available at state parks, campsites and trails, where signs will be erected to raise awareness. Health officials are also due to discuss limiting park hours and campaign availability during peak times of mosquito activity.
It comes after the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, last month introduced a partial night-time curfew amid concerns of an outbreak of the disease. A further four towns Douglas, Oxford, Sutton and Webster urged locals to finish their outdoor activities by 6pm, before mosquitoes are at their most active.
Keeping New Yorkers safe is my top priority, Governor Hochul said. Following the first confirmed human case of EEE, my administration took statewide action to help protect communities and with todays declaration were making more State resources available to local departments to support their public health response.
Weve been informed this patient has passed away from EEE, we extend our sympathies and our hearts go out to their family.
Mosquitos, once a nuisance, are now a threat
State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said that while mosquitoes carrying EEE tend to be found in two to three of New Yorks 62 counties, the insects had been detected across 15 counties this year.
This life-threatening mosquito-borne disease has no commercially available human vaccine and must be taken seriously, he said.
Mosquitoes, once a nuisance, are now a threat.
The last time EEE infections were recorded in New York was in 2015, when two people died, local news outlets reported.
Just seven people in New York have died from EEE since 1971, according to state health department records.
State authorities have urged New Yorkers to use insect repellent, wear long-sleeved clothing and remove free-standing water near their homes to reduce their risk of infection following Mondays public health announcement.
According to health officials, mosquitoes will continue to be prevalent until the first frost arrives, which prevents the insects from breeding.
EEE is a rare but often fatal viral disease spread by infected mosquitoes that causes inflammation of the brain.
While most people bitten by an infected mosquito will not develop symptoms, severe cases may begin with the sudden onset of headache, high fever, chills and vomiting.
The illness may then progress into disorientation, seizures, encephalitis and coma.
Approximately a third of patients who develop EEE die, while many patients who survive EEE experience neurologic problems.
There is no commercially available human vaccine for the disease and the best protection is to prevent mosquito bites.
Marie Buchan, 42, says being on benefits has never held me back and insists her family is better off on welfare - BPM Media
A mother of eight has told of her lavish spending on a horse and breast enhancement surgery despite being on benefits.
Marie Buchan has been relying on taxpayer-funded handouts for 23 years, amounting to about 500,000.
But despite being jobless and living off of the state, the 42-year-old has been able to spend the money frivolously.
Ms Buchan, 42, who has been dubbed The Welfare Queen, told The Sun: Being on benefits has never held me back from doing anything. I have had a lot of luxuries.
The single mother, who lives in a four-bedroom house in Selly Oak, Birmingham, is among about 9.4 million people who are currently jobless, according to the Office for National Statistics. At the Labour Party conference on Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, vowed to do everything we can to tackle worklessness.
In her 23 years of claiming benefits, Ms Buchans annual income has fluctuated between 26,000 and 37,000.
While she admits she feels guilty for taking taxpayers money, she argued there was no incentive to work.
I believe we are better off on benefits, because we get help in every area of our lives, whether thats the rent, bringing up the kids, or bills, she said.
You can access food banks or fuel vouchers. Theres a lot of help out there. Ive completed six college courses on mechanics and social work, but Im still sitting here claiming my benefits. Ive done nothing with them.
Its very easy to sit in the system for the rest of your life.
Ms Buchan had her first child when she was 19 - BPN Media
In 2018, Ms Buchan caused outrage after travelling to Turkey to spend 1,500 on breast surgery.
After being met with widespread backlash, Ms Buchan insisted she had raised the money to pay for the procedure through car boot sales.
The following year it emerged that she had travelled abroad for surgery on her vagina. She again insisted she financed this from car boot sales.
I did fly abroad to get the surgery, but its something Ive come to regret, she said. It was all a very big mistake and its embarrassing for my kids.
She faced further backlash after deciding to buy a horse with her benefits.
Aged 19, Ms Buchan gave birth to her first child Tia and entered the benefits system, giving up her career as a part-time carer.
In 2015, she said the proposed benefit cap would leave her struggling to pay her rent and bills - Darren Quinton/BPN Media
In 2015, she appeared on This Morning and said the proposed 23,000 a year benefit cap would leave her short.
I was on 26,000 at the time, meaning I only had 500 a week to survive on, she said. We are a big family, so half of it would go on our food shop alone.
We also had the rent, the council tax and bills to worry about. The council only paid 45 per week towards rent and 16 per week towards council tax.
Chinese people are travelling to the Balkans with the hope of getting into the EU. Illustration: Adam Parata/The Guardian
In a sleepy Bosnian town, barely five miles from the border with the European Union, a crumbling old water tower is falling into ruin. Inside, piles of rubbish, used cigarette butts and a portable wood-fired stove offer glimpses into the daily life of the people who briefly called the building home. Glued on to the walls is another clue: on pieces of A4 paper, the same message is printed out, again and again: If you would like to travel to Europe (Italy, Germany, France, etc) we can help you. Please add this number on WhatsApp. The message is printed in the languages of often desperate people: Somali, Nepali, Turkish, the list goes on. The last translation on the list indicates a newcomer to this unlucky club. It is written in Chinese.
Bihac water tower was once used to replenish steam trains travelling across the former Yugoslavia. Now it provides shelter to a different kind of person on the move: migrants making the perilous journey through the Balkans, with the hope of crossing into Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovinas neighbour in the EU.
Zhang* arrived in Bosnia in April with two young children in tow. The journey he describes as walking towards the path of freedom started months earlier in Langfang, a city in north Chinas Hebei province. So far it has taken them through four countries, cost thousands of pounds, led to run-ins with the aggressive Croatian border police, and has paused, for now, in a temporary reception centre for migrants on the outskirts of Sarajevo.
Related: Growing numbers of Chinese citizens set their sights on the US via the deadly Darien Gap
The camp, which is home to more than 200 people, is specifically for families, vulnerable people and unaccompanied minors. As well as the rows of dormitories set among the rolling Balkan hills, there is a playground with children skipping rope and an education centre. But it is a lonely life. Its rare to meet another Chinese speaker. To pass the time, Zhang occasionally helps out in the canteen.
Staying here is not a very good option, Zhang says, as his son and daughter chase after each other in the courtyard. But if I go back to China, what awaits me is either being sent to a mental hospital or a prison.
The fear of what the future held for him and his children propelled the 39-year-old from Shandong province on a journey so difficult and dangerous that many struggle to understand why someone from China would embark on it. Most of Zhangs new neighbours come from war-torn countries in the Middle East. Until recently, Zhang had a stable job working for a private company in the worlds second-biggest economy, earning an above average salary. But the political environment in China left him feeling that he had no choice other than to leave.
In September, the Guardian travelled to Bosnia to meet some of the Chinese migrants attempting the dangerous Balkan route, to reveal the personal and political factors behind the new migrant population on the frontier of Europe.
No one wants to leave his country if they are safe
Zhang is one of a small but growing number of Chinese people who are travelling to the Balkans with the hope of getting into the EU by whatever means necessary.
He and his children were apprehended four times as they tried to cross into Europe. Armed with little more than some vague tips hed seen on the messaging app Telegram, and the map on his smartphone, he headed to various towns on the Bosnia-Croatia border to try his luck. But every time they were caught. Most recently, he tried to cross into Metkovic, a small town in the south of Croatia where the border is fortified mainly by a small ridge of forested mountains. But after camping overnight in the wilderness with sinister-looking brown snakes, the family were caught once again by the notoriously tough Croatian border police, and hauled back into Bosnia.
Going into other countries in this way is not very honourable for me, to be honest, Zhang says. We know that there are many countries where people hate people like us but no one wants to leave his country if they are safe. He says he only made the journey because of his family. My children are very young, Zhang says, referring to his 10-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter. I couldnt explain to them whats really happening. I just told the children that I wanted to give them a better life they have no future [in China] at all.
In 2022, of the more than 14,000 people caught trying to illegally cross Bosnias borders, two were Chinese. In 2023, that number had increased to 148. The majority of them were caught trying to cross into Croatia, according to the border police of Bosnia. They said that more than 70 Chinese people were apprehended in the first half of this year.
And under a bilateral agreement, Croatia can deport people without the right to remain in the EU country back to Bosnia. In 2021, three Chinese people were admitted to Bosnia and Herzegovina in this way. In 2023, it was 260.
In recent years, the surging numbers of Chinese people trying to cross into the US via the treacherous southern border has become a political talking point in Washington, with US authorities deporting more than 100 migrants on a charter flight earlier this year and working with neighbouring countries to try to deter further arrivals.
David Stroup, a lecturer of Chinese politics at the University of Manchester, says that the rapid expansion of Chinas surveillance state during the pandemic combined with a gloomy economic outlook were some of the driving forces for this new wave of Chinese migrants.
The lockdowns created a sense that ordinary people who were just living their lives could somehow find themselves under heavy observation of the state or subjected to long arbitrary periods of lockdown and confinement, Stroup said.
Part of the reason that Bosnia is an attractive staging post for Chinese migrants, is that like its neighbour Serbia, it offers visa-free travel. Aleksandra Kovacevic, spokesperson for Bosnias Service for Foreigners Affairs, a government department, said that Chinese people were gaining statistical significance as persons who increasingly violate migration regulations of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She said that along with Turkish citizens, Chinese people were trying to use legal entry into Bosnia as a way to illegally continue their journey to the countries of western Europe.
But why?
Zhangs first awakening
Zhangs winding path to Bosnia started more than a decade ago. In 2012, thousands of people across China participated in anti-Japanese protests, triggered by an escalation in the dispute between China and Japan over contested islets in the East China Sea. But Zhang publicly questioned the official narrative that the archipelago was an undisputed part of Chinese territory. He was arrested and accused of inciting the subversion of state power. That was my first awakening, he says.
Many ordinary Chinese occasionally feel the rough end of the governments tight control over public speech. Most learn to keep their head down and, begrudgingly or not, quietly navigate the invisible red lines that dictate what can be freely talked about. But Zhang couldnt bear it.
Over the years, rumours about his political views rippled throughout his community. A teacher at his sons school accused Zhang of being unpatriotic, in front of the whole class. He and his wife quarrelled and ultimately separated, in part because she couldnt stand that kind of gossip.
Things truly came to a head in the pandemic, three years in which the government locked people up in their homes like animals. In November 2022, a fire in an apartment building in Urumqi, a city in far west China, killed 10 people, with many blaming strict public health controls for preventing the victims from escaping. Anger spread online and in the streets, as hundreds of people in cities across China participated in the first mass anti-government protests since Xi Jinping came to power. Zhang was one of them. In the following days, several of his friends were arrested. Zhang thinks that the only reason he was spared was because he didnt bring his phone with him, making it harder for the police to trace his movements. But the disappearance of his friends convinced him that he had to leave.
Chinas control over speech is getting tighter and tighter. They dont allow people to talk about political parties, and no matter if the government is doing a good or bad job, they dont allow people to talk about it. It is limiting peoples freedom of speech tremendously, and thats the most important thing I cant accept, Zhang says. The economy is secondary.
Since Chinas zero-Covid regime was abruptly lifted, shortly after the 2022 protests, hordes of people have been leaving the country. Some are fed up with the political repression, which has spread far and wide under the current regime. Others feel hopeless about the economy, which has struggled to recover since the pandemic, with high youth unemployment rates and stagnant wages. For many, the bargain between the party and the people, that living standards will continue to improve so long as you keep your head down, no longer holds water. So scores of people are finding ways out through the cracks.
Some are using student or work visas to relocate to places where they can live and talk more freely, with new diaspora communities emerging in cities such as Bangkok, Tokyo, and Amsterdam. But others, often lower middle class people who dont have the funds or the qualifications to emigrate by official means, are choosing more dangerous escape routes. The phenomenon has become so widely discussed online that it has its own buzzword: runxue, or run philosophy, a coded term for emigration. Exact numbers are hard to come by as many people do not formally register their intention to leave, especially if they are planning on entering another country illegally. But in 2023, there were 137,143 asylum seekers from China, according to the UNs refugee agency. That is more than five times the number registered a decade earlier, when Xis rule had just started.
Stuck at the border
One potential pathway is the deadly Darien Gap, part of the migrant corridor that connects south and Central America with the southern border of the United States. Better known for attracting desperate Latin Americans, in recent years the number of Chinese people making that journey has surged. In the six months to April 2024, 24,367 Chinese nationals were apprehended by the US border police at the border with Mexico. That is more than the number of Chinese people who were apprehended in the whole of the previous financial year. In March alone, the number of times that the US border police encountered Chinese nationals increased by 8,500% compared with March 2021.
The Darien Gap route has been popular among Chinese migrants in part because they could start the journey in Ecuador, which allowed Chinese people to visit visa-free. In June, Ecuador suspended the visa waiver agreement, citing a worrying increase in arrivals from China.
Immigration officials describe the flow of migrants as being like a living organism. Its size swells and morphs, but it rarely shrinks. So when one door closes, the people on the move dont stop moving, they just find another window.
For Zhang, the door to America, his first choice, closed when he was already en route. He had booked tickets to Ecuador via Singapore and Madrid early in the new year. But in Singapore the family was blocked from boarding the Spain-bound flight, with airline staff saying that the Spanish authorities had refused them entry. He was stranded, with no plan B. It was a kindly Czech couple who found him crying in the airport who suggested he try Europe, he says. So he booked a flight to Belgrade.
His hope is to find a way to northern Europe, where there is freedom of speech and employment opportunities. Other Chinese people have had the same idea. In the first eight months of this year, there were 569 new asylum applications from Chinese nationals in Germany, more than double the total number for 2022. In the Netherlands, 409 Chinese people applied for asylum last year, up from 151 the year before.
Some staff at the migrant reception centres gently encourage people to apply for asylum in Bosnia rather than continuing on into Europe.
But with high unemployment and a byzantine application process, most people would rather keep moving. Jing* a Chinese man living at another migrant centre near Sarajevo, tried to enter across the border into Croatia six or seven times. Now he has applied for asylum in Bosnia, but I dont think anything will come of it, he says. He fled China after completing an eight-month prison sentence for anti-government comments he posted on X. Now he has run out of money and luck.
In the corner of a cemetery on the outskirts of Bihac, another unlikely journey from China to Bosnia has ended. Kai Zhu is buried here. Little is known about him, other than his year of birth, 1964, and the fact that he had expressed an intention to apply for asylum in Bosnia. Staff at the migrant reception centre where he died say that he had mental as well as physical health problems, and that his only acquaintance was another Chinese man in the camp, who soon moved on.
On 31 August, Asim Karabegovic, a volunteer with SOS Balkanroute, an NGO, buried him in a corner of Humci cemetery that since 2019 has been reserved for migrants who have died on the EUs doorstep. In the distance behind the rows of tombstones, the mountains that mark the border with Croatia form an imposing horizon. Karabegovic says that the lonely traveller is the first Chinese person he has buried. His wooden tombstone reads only, Kai Zhu, 1964 2024.
Additional research by Chi-hui Lin and Dzemal Catic
*Names have been changed
Lissie Harper, who had been married for just a month when her husband was killed, called the alleged remarks by John Apter inappropriate - Jason Bye
The widow of a constable killed on duty hit back at the former chairman of the Police Federation after being told he made a sexually suggestive comment about her, a gross misconduct hearing has been told.
Lissie Harper described the alleged comments as highly inappropriate, the panel considering the charges against John Apter heard.
Mrs Harper also suggested Mr Apter had abused his senior position by making the alleged remark just months after her 28-year-old husband Andrew lost his life.
Mr Apter, who was chairman of the federation, which represents rank and file officers, between 2018 and 2021, is said to have told colleagues: I wouldnt mind looking after her tonight and Id like to comfort her in my hotel room as Mrs Harper prepared to collect a posthumous award for her husband in 2020.
He is also accused of touching a much younger officers bottom on the night of the annual police bravery awards, and telling a pregnant colleague maybe youll get a bum now.
John Apter presented Lissie Harper with her husbands posthumous award the day after allegedly making sexual remarks about her - Solent News & Photo Agency/Hampshire Police
The Hampshire Constabulary gross misconduct hearing was told Mrs Harper attended an awards ceremony at the Annual Roads Policing Conference in January 2020 to collect an award on behalf of her husband.
The Thames Valley Police roads officer had been dragged to his death by three teenagers in a getaway car as he responded to a burglary call in August 2019, just a month after the couples wedding.
During the ceremony, Mr Apter gave a speech and presented Mrs Harper with the award.
Cecily White, a barrister representing Hampshire Constabulary, said the night before the ceremony, Mr Apter allegedly made remarks about Mrs Harper to colleagues.
Ms White said: In the context of a discussion about [Mrs Harper] attending the event, which would have been quite stressful for her, he said, Id like to comfort her in my hotel room, with an obvious sexual connotation.
The misconduct panel was told that on hearing about the alleged comment, Mrs Harper had said if it was true it was highly inappropriate from someone in that position.
Andrew and Lissie Harper were due to go on their honeymoon the day after the police officers death - Mark Lord Photography
Mrs Harper has not been called to give evidence at the hearing.
Martin Buhagiar, the former head of communications of the Police Federation, told the hearing Mr Apter regularly engaged in locker room bloke banter, and claimed he had got used to comments such as the one allegedly made about Mrs Harper.
Mr Buhagiar said the main priority at the awards ceremony was taking care of Mrs Harper as it was her first public appearance since her husbands death, and a group of colleagues were discussing it.
We wanted to make sure everything was done in the right way, Mr Buhagiar said.
Somebody said something along the lines of if she needs comforting we bring her in in the right way, and if she needs a pause we afford her that pause.
I remember him [Mr Apter] saying something like, Id like to comfort her in my hotel room.
It took me a few seconds to hear it because at first I took it as him saying he could look after her, but then the penny dropped and there was an awkward silence.
Mr Buhagiar said after the awkward silence, he quickly wrapped up the conversation and the group of colleagues disbanded.
Drunk at bravery awards claim
When asked why he had not raised the comment with Mr Apter immediately, Mr Buhagiar said: My style was never to confront people in a crowd.
John and I worked together for years and we had conversations in private, I didnt want to turn it into a bigger issue.
Mr Buhagiar claimed that at the police bravery awards in October 2021, Mr Apter had been drinking from a hip flask throughout the evening.
He added that at the end of the evening Mr Apter had filmed a short video interview about how the night went, but it could not be used because he was too drunk.
Mr Apter, who has retired after a 30-year police career, denies the claims and the hearing continues.
Vladimir Putin speaks at a security council meeting on nuclear deterrence at the Kremlin in Moscow - Aleksei Nikolsky/Pool Sputnik Kremlin
Vladimir Putin escalated his nuclear threats against the West on Wednesday, saying that any attack on Russia using conventional weapons supported by a nuclear power would now be perceived as a joint strike.
The Russian president told his security council that he needed to correct the Kremlins nuclear doctrine to permit a retaliatory nuclear strike in the event of a conventional missile attack on Russia.
Aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, is treated as a joint attack on the Russian Federation, he said.
Previously, Russias nuclear doctrine had been geared towards facing down the US and had suggested that the Kremlin would only launch a nuclear strike after an overwhelming conventional attack if the enemy was also armed with nuclear weapons.
This criteria has now been lowered to include attacks by non-nuclear-armed enemies, such as Ukraine, who are allied with a nuclear-armed country.
Putin said that the emergence of new sources of military threats and risks for Russia meant that he had no choice but to update Russias nuclear doctrine.
Vladimir Putin told the meeting he had no choice but to update the doctrine after the emergence of new sources of military threats and risks for Russia - Alexander Kazakov/Pool Sputnik Kremlin
Although he did not name Ukraine, the warning appears to be aimed at Volodymyr Zelensky, who is due to meet Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday to push for permission to fire US-made long-range missiles at Russia.
Sir Keir Starmer has also been putting pressure on Mr Biden to allow British Storm Shadow missiles to be fired at targets in Russia, rather than in occupied parts of Ukraine.
Putin recently said that he would regard it as an act of war by Nato if it allowed Ukraine to fire Western-made long-range missiles at Russia. Other senior Kremlin officials have also said that Russia could respond with a nuclear missile strike.
We will consider this possibility on receiving information about a massive attack by air-space weapons that crosses our state border, Putin said on Wednesday. I mean strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic and other aircraft.
He also said that Russias new nuclear doctrine would cover Belarus, a key ally.
Russian troops take part in military drills earlier this year. The country has tested several nuclear-capable missiles - Russian Defence Ministry/via REUTERS
Putin and other top Kremlin officials have regularly threatened to carry out a nuclear strike because of Western support for Ukraine since it invaded in 2022.
Russia has moved nuclear-capable missiles to Belarus for the first time since the end of the Cold War and tested several of its largest nuclear-capable missiles, but analysts have questioned whether Putin is really prepared to order a nuclear attack.
It is also thought that China, Russias most important ally, has told Putin that it would not tolerate a nuclear strike by the Kremlin.
Pavel Podvig, a senior researcher at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Studies, said that although Putin had tweaked Russias nuclear doctrine, he had left the rules vague, potentially allowing him to avoid ordering a nuclear missile strike.
Should this be an aggression of the kind that threatens the very existence of the state? There is deliberate ambiguity here, he said.
A Russian BTR-82A armoured personnel carrier and Yars intercontinental ballistic missile systems at a Victory Day parade in Moscow - Evgenia Novozhenina/REUTERS
Ukrainian commentators were more bullish and said that Putin was bluffing as he had done several times previously.
We need to remember one thing. Whenever Putin starts talking about nuclear weapons, that means that Russia is not doing that well, Anton Gerashchenko, a Ukrainian analyst and former deputy interior minister, said.
Mr Zelensky has repeatedly called for Western allies to give Ukraine permission to fire long-range missiles at targets inside Russia, which is a crucial element to the Ukrainian presidents plan to end the war.
Russia has expanded the use of so-called glide bombs this week to strike the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia. At least three glide bombs also hit a central park in Kramatorsk, in Ukraines Donbas region, on Wednesday, killing two people.
Ukraine has developed its own long-range drone programme that has been hitting Russian targets but these weapons have not been powerful or accurate enough to strike Russias most dangerous military bases.
The Clean Energy Council estimates that Australia will have more than 25GW of rooftop solar by the end the year, with more than 3.7m homes and small businesses equipped. Photograph: AAP
Large-scale renewable energy investment and construction in Australia is rebounding this year after a slump, but will need to accelerate to reach the pace needed to meet the Albanese governments goal for 2030.
The country could add more than 7 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity this year, up from 5.3 GW last year, according to data released by the Clean Energy Regulator.
Dylan McConnell, an energy systems researcher at the University of New South Wales, said: There is this narrative that has developed that the transition has stalled and thats demonstrably not true. It is happening, it just needs to speed up.
The new capacity is split roughly equally between household rooftop solar systems, which continue to be installed at what has been a world-leading pace, and large-scale renewable energy developments.
Industry group the Clean Energy Council said the country was likely to have more than 25GW of rooftop solar by the end of the year, surpassing the total 21.3GW capacity of the national coal-fired power fleet. More than 3.7m homes and small businesses have systems.
Related: Does the Coalitions case for nuclear power stack up? We factcheck seven key claims
But the bigger change has been in construction of large-scale solar and wind farms, which fell in 2023, but has increased beyond expectations this year. The regulator said it was expected between 3GW and 4GW would be added.
The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, said the data showed the national grid supplying the five eastern states was expected to run on 42% renewable energy this year.
The regulator said final investment decisions were made on 1.8GW of new large renewable developments in the first half of the year. This surpassed 1.6GW in total commitments in 2023.
Investment in grid-scale renewable energy fell last year after a long-standing legislated federal renewable energy target was reached and as investors faced uncertainty over when coal-fired power plants would close.
The Albanese government chose not to expand the legislated target, but has promised to underwrite 25GW of new large-scale solar and wind as they aim to have 82% of Australias electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
The Australian Energy Market Operator has declared the national grid would remain reliable as it shifted from running on mostly coal to mostly renewables, but would require planned investments in new generation to be delivered on time and in full.
Related: Tanya Plibersek approves three coalmine expansions in move criticised as the opposite of climate action
Bowen said the latest data showed the governments renewables plan was on track and building momentum. He repeated his argument that the Coalitions proposal to limit investment in large-scale renewables and eventually build nuclear plants would put the country at risk of supply shortages and blackouts.
[Opposition leader] Peter Dutton wants to stop renewable investment, tear up contracts for new renewable and transmission projects and deliver expensive nuclear reactors in two decades time, he said.
Dutton gave a speech on nuclear energy on Monday, but did not release new information about what the Coalition planned. He promised those details including the expected cost for households and businesses and how the Coalition planned to prevent blackouts as ageing coal plants reached the end of their scheduled lives before the next election.
Former Houston police officer Gerald Goines, second from left, and his defense attorneys Reagan Wynn, Nicole DeBorde Hochglaube and Mac Secrest, right, listen after the guilty verdict is read in his murder trial in the 482nd District Court at the Harris County Criminal courthouse Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Houston. Goines faced two felony murder charges in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer
A jury convicted Gerald Goines, the former Houston police officer behind the deadly Harding Street raid, of felony murder Wednesday in the 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle and his wife, Rhogena Nicholas, cementing the retiree as a rare example of a law enforcement official in Texas and nationwide facing criminal repercussions for an on-duty killing.
Tuttle's family hurried into a witness room to embrace each other after the jury delivered its verdict.
Goines, 59, bowed his head after the verdict was read. He was taken into custody as one of his defense attorneys, Mac Secrest, exchanged heated words with a bailiff, uttering at least one profanity and expressing worry that the exiting jury could see the deputies surrounding his newly-convicted client.
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Another deputy placed his hand on Secrest's arm as Goines was guided to a holdover room for inmates. Goines was then booked into the 1200 Baker jail facility, records show.
Former Houston police officer Gerald Goines is surrounded by officers as he is taken into the holding area after the guilty verdict in his murder trial in the 482nd District Court at the Harris County Criminal courthouse Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Houston. Goines was found guilty of felony murder in the 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Former Houston police officer Gerald Goines with his defense attorneys Reagan Wynn and Nicole DeBorde Hochglaube stand in the 482nd District Court at the Harris County Criminal courthouse after he was found guilty Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Houston. Goines was found guilty of felony murder in the 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Defense attorney Nicole DeBorde Hochglaube, left, and her client, former Houston police officer Gerald Goines, arrive to the 482nd District Court to await a verdict in his murder trial at the Harris County Criminal courthouse Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Houston. Goines faces two felony murder charges in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Former Houston police officer Gerald Goines, left, and his defense attorney Nicole DeBorde Hochglaube arrive to the 482nd District Court to await a verdict in his murder trial at the Harris County Criminal courthouse Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Houston. Goines faces two felony murder charges in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Former Houston police officer Gerald Goines waits with family members for the jury to return to the 482nd District Court at the Harris County Criminal courthouse for the verdict in his murder trial Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Houston. Goines was found guilty of felony murder in the 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Judge Veronica M. Nelson talks with a bailiff as they wait for the jury to return for the verdict in the murder trial of former Houston police officer Gerald Goines in the 482nd District Court at the Harris County Criminal courthouse Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Houston. Goines was found guilty of felony murder in the 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Judge Veronica M. Nelson watches as the jury enters the courtroom for the verdict in the murder trial of former Houston police officer Gerald Goines in the 482nd District Court at the Harris County Criminal courthouse Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Houston. Goines was found guilty of felony murder in the 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer
The judge ordered the jury, who deliberated for nearly eight hours, to return Thursday and hear testimony from those with allegations of additional misconduct to guide how to punish the former officer, as a felony murder charge carries anywhere from five years to life in prison. Records show prosecutors had requested that multiple people once imprisoned following their arrest by Goines appear at trial. Some of those cases have been overturned after authorities scrutinized Goines' arrests.
Goines coincidentally arrested former Houston resident George Floyd for selling a small amount of drugs in 2004, years before his 2020 murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. Floyd pleaded guilty to a drug charge and was sentenced to 10 months in a state jail.
The defense may bring forward witnesses to urge the jury to show leniency toward Goines.
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The jury's verdict comes more than two weeks after the start of testimony in the closely watched criminal case, slammed by Goines lawyers and other defense observers as politically charged and a step too far. The testimony ranged from police officers tasked with surrounding the Harding Street home as the raid unfolded to a former officer who is awaiting sentencing on charges related to the raid. Jurors reviewed evidence that showed Goines fabricated a confidential informant who bought heroin from the Pecan Park home, which he then used to secure a judge's approval to enter the home.
Many officers said they would not have participated in the raid had they known about Goines' falsehoods.
The defense conceded that while Goines lied about the use of a confidential informant in the Harding Street raid, they asserted a murder charge was not merited.
Prosecutors Keaton Forcht and Tanisha Manning defended their novel case and remained adamant during trial that Goines was solely responsible for the couples deaths. The jury's verdict indicates they agreed with the unique use of felony murder in the course of another felony, in this case tampering with a governmental record, stemming from Goines providing false information to the judge to secure the warrant.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, center, hugs prosecutors Tanisha Manning, left, and Keaton Forcht, right, as they wait for the jury to enter the courtroom for the verdict in the murder trial of former Houston police officer Gerald Goines in the 482nd District Court at the Harris County Criminal courthouse Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Houston. Goines was found guilty of felony murder in the 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer
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Goines was charged in August 2019, months after the deadly Jan. 28 raid that left the couple and their dog dead inside their home after Houston Police Departments Squad 15, a street level narcotics team, barged in looking for heroin. The indictment became one of District Attorney Kim Ogg's most highest-profile cases amid her first tenure, but she garnered mounting criticism as the case failed to go to trial until after she lost her bid at a third term.
Family members of the late Dennis Tuttle wait for the jury to come into court for the verdict in murder trial of former Houston police officer Gerald Goines in the 482nd District Court at the Harris County Criminal courthouse Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Houston. Goines faced two felony murder charges in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Shown left are the siblings of Dennis Tuttle, sister, Elizabeth Ferrari, left, and brother, Ron Tuttle, Rons wife, Kristy Tuttle, Ryan Tuttle, son of Dennis Tuttle, and Kenneth Ledbetter, friend of Dennis Tuttle. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer
Goines' defense attorneys, as well as prosecutors, declined to comment after the verdict, citing the judge's gag order aimed preventing parties and witnesses from discussing the case.
The trial garnered frequent visits from those on both sides, with former Houston first lady Elyse Lanier showing staunch support for Goines. On the opposite end of the courtroom, two civil rights activists, Hai Bui included, wrote diligent notes as testimony about the raid unfolded.
Bui secured a standing room spot in the back of the courtroom as lawyers delivered their closing arguments to the jury Tuesday. He recalled the shock in hearing the gunbattle explode in officers' body-worn camera footage and seeing the autopsy photos of the slain couple.
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"I had sleepless nights because of all those images," Bui said after the verdict. "I prayed every night and every day to bring them justice."
Goines on Wednesday, while waiting for the jury's decision, scrawled notes on a yellow legal pad along several members of his family.
After the verdict, and once the courtroom emptied, Nicole Deborde Hochglaube remained inside with Goines' relatives, comforting them and guiding them through the next steps of the case.
A bailiff then delivered to them the socks and shoes Goines had been wearing.
Murdo Fraser (right) said he expected Russell Findlay (left) to be announced as the partys new leader on Friday - Ken Jack/Getty Images Europe
A candidate for the Scottish Tory leadership has admitted he does not expect to win the contest against party establishment choice Russell Findlay.
Murdo Fraser, who Mr Findlays supporters had seen as their main rival, appeared to downplay his chances of victory when the result of the race to succeed Douglas Ross is announced on Friday.
Writing in The Scotsman, he said it had been clear from the outset that the party establishment had decided Mr Findlay should emerge as the new leader but said he had decided to stand to raise the concerns of his supporters.
He also warned that whoever becomes the next leader would have a massive challenge with internal issues following a fractious contest, along with the even greater threat posed by Nigel Farages Reform UK at the next Holyrood elections.
It is understood that Mr Frasers comments do not amount to a concession to Mr Findlay, with sources close to the MSP insisting the result remained uncertain.
However, there is a widespread expectation, even among prominent supporters of Mr Fraser, that Mr Findlay is set to comfortably win the contest, with voting closing on Thursday.
Mr Fraser revealed that an MSP from a rival party had rather unfairly compared the Scottish Tory leadership contest to a scene from the Indiana Jones film Raiders of the Lost Ark, in which it is revealed that the sought-after Ark of the Covenant contains only sand.
I entered the contest late without much real expectation of winning, it being clear from the outset that the party establishment had already decided that Russell should be the man to succeed Douglas Ross, Mr Fraser said.
However, I had so many MSP colleagues and party members asking me to stand that I felt that I had to put my name forward, to at least have a platform to set out my and their concerns about how the party has been organised, and the need for real change to face what lies ahead.
Greater challenge
Mr Fraser said the contest had shone a light into some dark places which needed the antiseptic of exposure, not least the treatment of women in the party.
Meghan Gallacher, the other candidate in the race, claimed earlier this month to have been the victim of a dirty tricks campaign involving senior party figures an allegation they denied.
Mr Fraser warned that while the new leader would have to fix internal issues, their greater challenge would be the political one.
Polls suggest the Scottish Tories are on course to lose around half of the partys current 31 MSPs in 2026 and that support for Reform UK is at a similar level to the Conservatives.
Mr Fraser warned that it would be counter-productive and potentially disastrous for us to chase Reform votes by leaning in to anti-devolution sentiment.
Mr Findlay, who had a successful three-decade career in journalism before he was elected an MSP in 2021, has repeatedly rejected claims he is the establishment candidate to take over from Mr Ross. He has described the accusation as fanciful.
Sir George Radda: a man in an Austrian border camp lent him and his siblings the bus fare to Vienna and in Vienna two professors from Oxford University invited him to come for an interview - Alamy
Sir George Radda, who has died aged 88, came to Britain as a penniless refugee after a remarkable escape from Hungary after the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising and went on to become an eminent biochemist, a pioneer of MRI scanning, chief executive of the Medical Research Council (MRC) and a fellow of the Royal Society.
He was born Gyorgy Karoly Radda into a Catholic family in Gyor, north-west Hungary, on June 9 1936. Both his parents were doctors. He was educated by Benedictine monks, but as the Communist regime established itself postwar, it became clear that, with his middle-class background, unless he joined the Party he was unlikely to be admitted to university.
One route was, however, a possibility, he told Hungarian Review in 2016. If I were to finish my education with top marks in every subject every year and in the final examination, even this evil system would not keep me out.
He did just that, and in 1955 went up to Eotvos University in Budapest to read chemistry. In fact, he had wanted to study literature, but to do so he would have had to accept that only Marxist-Leninist writing had any significance. Chemistry was the pragmatic choice.
He loved university, becoming passionate about opera and jazz. But he had to do compulsory military training during vacations and there was the constant fear that at any moment we could get a knock on the door in the middle of the night from the Secret Police that might take us away never to be seen again.
On October 23 1956, Hungarian students began a peaceful demonstration against the Soviet-backed government which ended in violence and spawned a countrywide uprising. Within two days the government had been overthrown and a new government established under the independent communist Imre Nagy.
Then, on November 1, came the dreadful news over the radio that a very large contingent of Russian forces led by hundreds of tanks and heavy artillery had entered Hungary and were approaching the capital, Radda recalled.
By November 4 they were in Budapest. Soon we heard heavy gunfire and the radio urged people to take cover in cellars and bunkers We all hoped that somehow the West would come to our aid, but not knowing at the time that the Suez Crisis and the uprising in Egypt were more important to them.
The following morning Radda went with a group of friends to the university, avoiding all the dead bodies in the streets, covered with lime, and watched a group removing a Russian flag from the top of the building. As the flag dropped, the tanks opened fire and several students fell from the roof, while we on the ground scattered to avoid the bullets. This went on for several days.
By November 10 the uprising had been crushed, with thousands of Hungarians killed. Nagy was arrested, to be executed two years later.
Radda decided to join the hundreds of thousands of Hungarians fleeing the country. His father encouraged him, but insisted he take his sister and younger brother with him, so, hiding in cattle wagons, he travelled by rail to Gyor to pick them up.
His father stuffed his pockets with cash, the plan being for the siblings to travel by taxi to Sopron, a town close to the Austrian border, pretending to do some shopping but hoping to find a way to cross. Turned back by guards short of Sopron, the taxi driver took them to friends in a nearby village who agreed to hide them and take them as close to the border as they dared.
They took them to a border bridge: It was then that I probably took the biggest gamble of my life. I took my brother and sister by the hand and walked up to the soldiers guarding the bridge. I pulled a wodge of Hungarian notes out of my pocket and said to the soldiers, If we are on the other side of the bridge we will have no use for this money. They took the money and we walked across to freedom.
A man in an Austrian border camp lent them the bus fare to Vienna, where they stayed for a while with a Benedictine monk friend of Raddas father. There were many organisations in the Austrian capital helping Hungarian refugees, and the Raddas met a businessman with a factory near Innsbruck who offered to look after Georges brother as part of his family and see him through his schooling. His sister bumped into some friends of the family, fellow refugees with connections in Belgium, and she went with them.
Though he spoke no English, George was determined to attend an English-speaking university as the best route to a career in science. One day he met a journalist who told him of two professors from Oxford University who were in Vienna interviewing potential students. He went to see them:
They waved me to take a seat and we began talking in German. They tried to find out what I knew and did at university and after about an hours conversation they said: There is a plane leaving for London tomorrow evening, would you like to be on it? Without hesitation I said yes. Twenty-four hours later, at around midnight, I found myself with a bunch of other Hungarian students at Blackbushe Airport.
The next day, he travelled to Oxford by bus for an interview with the chemistry tutor at Merton College, who could only speak English: The Periodic Table was our common language, and somehow I managed to convince [the] tutor that I knew enough chemistry to join the first-year students in the second term, provided I learnt English between December 6 and January 15, when I would have to start my studies. On January 15, 80 days after the revolution, I was ready to attend lectures, tutorials and write weekly essays in English.
Within 10 years, while still in his 20s, Radda was appointed fellow and tutor at Merton and lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry.
Radda developed an interest in the structure and function of enzymes in relation to human diseases, particularly heart disease. By 1970 he had built up a large research group, becoming a prominent member of the Oxford Enzyme Group, chaired by Sir Rex Richards.
A patient is prepared for an MRI scan - Getty
Radda became interested in using spectroscopic methods to study complex biological material, and in 1974 he published a paper advocating the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to study metabolic disorders in the brain and other tissues.
In 1981 he and his colleagues published the first scientific report on the clinical application of NMR. This resulted in the installation in 1983 of a scanner large enough to accommodate the whole human body at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
Radda went on to research the effects of different enzyme levels in a variety of human organs. The author of more than 800 publications, he served as head of Oxford Universitys Department of Biochemistry (1991-96) and British Heart Foundation Professor of Molecular Cardiology (1984-2003). From 2005 to 2008 he was Professor and head of the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at Oxford.
From 1988 he led the Biochemistry and Clinical Magnetic Resonance Division of the MRC, becoming chief executive of the whole organisation in 1996. During his eight years in this role he reorganised funding arrangements to provide more long-term funding and encourage greater collaboration and interdisciplinary research.
He also established strong links with biomedical research centres in Singapore, and in 2009 he was appointed chairman of Singapores Biomedical Research Council.
Among numerous international honours and awards, Radda was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1980, appointed CBE in 1993 and knighted in 2000.
In Hungary, he had become engaged to a girl called Agi, but she stayed behind when he fled and he never heard from her again. In 1961 he married Mary OBrien, with whom he had two sons and a daughter. The marriage was dissolved in 1995, and the same year he married Sue Bailey, who survives him with his children.
Sir George Radda, born June 9 1936, died September 13 2024
A Medecins Sans Frontieres nurse at Ameth-Bek hospital in South Sudan administers antivenom to Kamundi Makieu Pingiel, who was bitten by a soldier snake. Photograph: Christina Simons/MSF
The race to treat snakebite patients in time to save them could be eased by the development of software powered by artificial intelligence.
The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is trialling AI snake detection in South Sudan using a database of 380,000 pictures of snakes to identify venomous species.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as many as 5.4 million people are bitten by snakes each year, of whom up to 2.7 million become seriously ill and 138,000 die from complications. Identification is a difficult but crucial part of treatment to ensure that rare and expensive antivenoms are only used when necessary.
Dr Gabriel Alcoba, an MSF medical adviser on snakebites and neglected tropical diseases, said: Early results are promising; the AI sometimes identifies snakes even better than experts.
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I remember a time when we used photo albums to identify snakes in MSF hospitals. Medical staff would flip through pictures to figure out which snake had bitten a patient, he added.
The app is being piloted at two MSF hospitals in South Sudan, where the numbers of people taken to hospital with snakebites are high. Between January and the end of July 2024, more than 300 snakebite patients had been treated in MSF medical facilities across the country.
When someone is bitten, medics encourage pictures to be taken at the time or for their staff to return to the site, with caution, to photograph the snake.
The photos are fed into AI-powered software to help identify the type of snake and what type of treatment is needed, even before the patient gets to hospital. Alcoba said the programs accuracy could be developed further with more funding, research and better quality photos.
Often, patients receive the wrong treatment because the snake isnt correctly identified, or valuable antivenom is wasted on bites from non-venomous snakes, which can also cause serious side-effects. Antivenom is rare and extremely expensive, costing a patient anywhere from a month to a years salary, said Alcoba.
David Williams, a WHO snakebite expert, said bites can cause a person to stop breathing, as well as kidney failure, tissue damage and fatal haemorrhages.
Rural communities are worst affected, said Williams, and many of the 240,000 people left disabled by snakebites each year are pushed into poverty by the cost of treatment and loss of income.
He said climate breakdown was causing increasing concern about snakebites, with recent flooding leading to a rise in incidents in South Sudan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan and Myanmar.
Many of those countries do not have enough treatments only 2.5% of what is needed in Africa is available and a lack of regulation has led to sales of fake antivenoms that have eroded trust within many communities.
Counter-terrorism police leader Jon Savell says threats towards MPs are becoming increasingly prevalent - Yui Mok/PA
The risk of extremists threatening MPs with violence because of their views on the Israel-Gaza war is rising, a senior counter-terrorism police officer has warned.
Jon Savell, a Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner who leads the protect and prepare arm of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, said threats towards MPs had become increasingly prevalent since the Hamas attacks last October.
He warned that the spreading conflict, which is intensifying in Lebanon, could become a motivating factor for terror attacks and plots.
Speaking at the International Security Expo in London on Wednesday, he said: The wider conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere has definitely found new intensity.
All these geopolitical events have significant implications for us here weve seen how overseas events have been a motivating factor for terrorist activity in the UK [in the past].
Ahmed Alid, who murdered Terence Carney, 70, over Gaza in Hartlepool last year - Counter Terror Police/PA
He pointed to the Hartlepool terror attack on Oct 15 last year, where jihadist Ahmed Alid murdered 70-year-old grandfather Terence Carney and told police it was revenge for Israel killing innocent people and children in airstrikes on Gaza.
It came exactly two years after David Amess was stabbed to death by an IS supporter who targeted the Conservative MP because of a 2014 vote in support of a bombing campaign against the groups territories in Iraq, saying he was just one off the list.
The Telegraph previously revealed how private security operatives were being increasingly deployed to protect MPs, guarding constituency surgeries and providing close protection for those assessed to be at the greatest risk.
Tributes paid to Tory MP David Amess, killed by an Islamic State supporter - Heathcliff O'Malley
DAC Savell suggested there were ongoing terror investigations linked to the Israel-Gaza war, telling the conference: Much of these are sensitive matters involving the criminal justice system and high-level intelligence that I cant share publicly, but nevertheless there is further evidence of world events playing out on our streets.
Counter-terror police are currently running 800 live investigations and have foiled at least 39 attacks, alongside the security services, since 2017.
DAC Savell said the dominant threat emanates from self-radicalised people committing low sophistication attacks, involving the use of vehicles and bladed weapons.
Official statistics show that the number of terror suspects arrested in England, Wales and Scotland have risen by 49 per cent year-on-year, with investigations into alleged support for Hamas at protests understood to be one of the factors driving the increase.
Counter-terror chief Matt Jukes has warned extremists have been energised by the Israel-Gaza conflict - Danny Lawson/PA
Matt Jukes, the head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, previously told a press conference that extremists of all kinds had been energised by the Israel-Gaza conflict, but that there had been a particular surge in the Islamist space.
He voiced concern that the war could become a radicalisation moment with the potential to influence those susceptible to being pushed towards terrorism.
DAC Savell said police had already been dealing with incidents at the homes of academics and politicians because of their views on the Middle East, and delivered more than 1,000 briefings on protective security to groups of elected politicians and staff.
That scale of activity would probably not have been considered necessary just a few years ago, when threats to politicians although there were a small but catastrophic number of cases were much rarer and they were almost universally seen unacceptable by our communities, our society and in our political culture, he added.
Incidents include protesters picketing the home of Tobias Ellwood, the former defence minister, in February, with signs accusing him of being complicit in genocide in Gaza, and the constituency offices of both Labour and Conservative MPs being vandalised and daubed with pro-Palestinian graffiti.
DAC Savell said counter-terror police were dealing with the consequences of aggressive and highly charged rhetoric, where campaigners on the Israel-Gaza war were increasingly testing the boundaries of legality.
Following the election, we must redouble our efforts to ensure that public confidence is maintained and that those seeking to intimidate or coerce elected officials or candidates, thereby damaging the democratic process, are prevented from doing so, he added.
Sharon Graham, the boss of Unite, one of Labours biggest donor unions, said that the winter fuel cut was not what people voted for - Eddie Mulholland for the Telegraph
Sir Keir Starmer has been dealt a humiliating blow on the final day of the Labour Party conference as delegates voted to oppose the Governments winter fuel raid.
The revolt, led by trade unions, will pile pressure on the Chancellor to reverse the cut affecting millions of pensioners in next months Budget.
The vote is non-binding, meaning that the Government is not obliged to change the policy.
However, the rebuke over one of the first financial decisions taken by Labour in office is an embarrassment for No 10.
The motion, calling on the Government to reverse the introduction of means-testing for the winter fuel allowance, was passed by delegates as business wrapped up on Wednesday.
It initially looked as though it might have failed, because the vote appeared extremely close.
However, Wendy Nichols, the chairman of the panel, confirmed that the motion had carried.
As well as urging Labour to reverse the winter fuel cut, it also called for a wealth tax on the top 1 per cent of earners.
The vote was initially expected to take place on Monday, tying in with a plenary on the economy.
But in a move that infuriated the unions, it was delayed until the final day of the conference, after most senior Labour figures, including Sir Keir, had left.
It was claimed the vote had been shifted to the graveyard slot in an attempt by No 10 to kick the issue into the long grass.
However, the Government was unable to stave off a defeat, with conference voting in favour of the motion shortly before noon.
Sharon Graham, the boss of Unite, one of Labours biggest donor unions, said that the winter fuel payments cut was not what people voted for.
Speaking in favour of the motion on Wednesday, she said that the 1945 Labour manifesto had no mention of cuts, no mention of austerity and certainly no mention of making everyday people pay.
She said: Labour knew then that to make Britain more equal, they had to act and think differently.
They knew to make it count and they knew to make a better difference. Labour could not simply be better managers, they had to make lasting change.
They promised jobs, they promised homes and they built a National Health Service on the back of crisis. There wasnt a story of tightening belts or making some of the poorest in our society pay.
Friends, people certainly do not understand and I do not understand how our new Labour Government can cut the winter fuel allowance for pensioners and leave the super-rich untouched.
This is not what people voted for. Its the wrong decision and it needs to be reversed.
The vote initially looked as though it might have failed, before it was confirmed the motion had carried - Eddie Mulholland for the Telegraph
Rachael Maskell, one of Labours leading critics of the winter fuel raid, said that she was proud that the conference had voted to oppose the policy.
The MP for York Central posted on X: I am proud that the Labour Party conference has voted to maintain the winter fuel payments. Our party was created to protect working people, and today it has determined that it must never step back from that mandate. I trust the Government can now keep our pensioners safe and warm.
Ian Byrne, a Liverpool MP who had the Labour whip suspended for rebelling over the two-child benefit cap, said that he was pleased to see the motion pass.
He posted on X: Pleased that Labour conference has just carried a @unitetheunion motion to stop the Govts cruel cut to the winter fuel payment for pensioners.
The winter fuel allowance is worth up to 300 per year. It has been given to all pensioners for more than two decades but the Government announced in July that it would be restricted to those on certain means-tested benefits.
On Wednesday morning, Sir Keir refused four times to apologise to pensioners for scaling back the payments.
In an interview with Good Morning Britain, the Prime Minister repeatedly refused to say sorry, instead blaming the Conservatives economic record and a 22 billion black hole.
He later rejected the outcome of the conference vote, insisting he had to press ahead with the cuts to the winter fuel allowance to stable the economy.
Asked about the outcome during a visit to New York, he told Channel 4: I do understand how colleagues in the Labour movement feel about this.
This is clearly a difficult decision, but a motion at conference doesnt dictate government policy. Its a difficult decision taken because the last government left a 22 billion and we have had to take a tough decision.
Meryl Streep and Asila Wardak at a UN womens rights event in New York this week. Photograph: Bianca Otero/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock
The Taliban are to be taken to the international court of justice for gender discrimination by Canada, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands in a groundbreaking move.
The move announced at the UN general assembly is the first time the ICJ, based in The Hague, has been used by one country to take another to court over gender discrimination.
The case is being brought under the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, which was adopted by the general assembly in 1979 and brought into force in 1981.
Afghanistan, prior to the 2021 Taliban takeover of the country, ratified the convention in 2003.
In the first legal move of this type since the Taliban took over, it is expected that Afghanistan would have six months to provide a response before the ICJ would hold a hearing and probably propose provisional measures.
Advocates of the course argue that even if the Taliban refuse to acknowledge the courts authority, an ICJ ruling would have a deterrent effect on other states seeking to normalise diplomatic relations with the Taliban. Signatories to the ICJ are expected to abide by its rulings.
There has been concern that the UN has held talks with the Taliban in which womens issues have been excluded from the agenda in an attempt to persuade the Taliban to attend.
The initiative has the support of three female foreign ministers: Penny Wong from Australia, Annalena Baerbock from Germany, and Melanie Joly from Canada. It is also being backed by the Dutch foreign minister, Caspar Veldkamp.
In the latest round of suppression in Afghanistan the Taliban have decreed that Afghan women are prohibited from speaking in public, prompting an online campaign in which Afghan women sing in protest.
At a UN side event this week the actor Meryl Streep said: A female cat has more freedom than a woman. A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban. A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not.
The countries involved in the litigation say they are willing to negotiate with the Taliban in good faith to end gender discrimination, but will, if the necessary stages prove fruitless, seek a hearing at the ICJ.
Last month, the Taliban published a new set of vice and virtue laws that said women must not leave the house without being fully covered and could not sing or raise their voices in public.
Streep spoke alongside Afghan activists and human rights defenders, who called on the UN to act to protect and restore the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan
Asila Wardak, a leader of the Womens Forum on Afghanistan, said that the system of what has been described as gender apartheid being imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan, was not just an Afghan issue, but part of the global fight against extremism.
Akila Radhakrishnan, strategic legal advisor on gender justice at the Atlantic Council thinktank, said: This case, by centering violations of womens rights not only has the potential to deliver much needed justice to the women and girls of Afghanistan, but also forge new precedents for gender justice.
President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris rode on a small business bus tour in Phoenix on 8 October 2020. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP
A federal jury in Texas on Monday cleared five supporters of Donald Trump but found one driver liable in a civil trial over a so-called Trump Train that surrounded a Biden-Harris campaign bus on a busy highway days before the 2020 election.
The two-week trial in a federal courthouse in Austin centered on whether the actions of the Trump Train participants amounted to political intimidation. Among those onboard the bus was Wendy Davis, the former Democratic lawmaker, who testified she feared for her life while a convoy of Trump supporters boxed in the bus along Interstate 35.
The jury found that a San Antonio man violated the Ku Klux Klan Act, but cleared the other defendants of liability.
Eliazar Cisneros, a navy veteran, was ordered to pay the bus driver, Tim Holloway, $10,000 in compensatory damages. It also levied $30,000 in punitive damages against Cisneros which will be shared among the plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit had alleged they were terrorised and intimidated for more than 90 minutes on 20 October 2020, as they took a bus tour canvassing for the Democratic ticket in the final days of the election in Texas as they travelled from San Antonio to Austin.
Related: The key US Senate races that could determine who controls the chamber
About 40 vehicles flying Make America Great Again flags encircled the bus, trying to run it off the road and playing what the suit claims was a madcap game of highway chicken.
No criminal charges were filed against the six Trump supporters who were sued by Davis and two others onboard the bus. Civil rights advocates hoped a guilty verdict would send a clear message about what constitutes political violence and intimidation.
Video that Davis recorded from the bus shows pickup trucks with large Trump flags slowing down to box in the bus as it tried to move away from the group of Trump supporters. One of the defendants hit a campaign volunteers car while the trucks occupied all lanes of traffic, forcing the bus and everyone around it to a 15mph crawl.
The event was canceled after Davis and others on the bus a campaign staffer and the driver made repeated calls to 911 asking for a police escort through San Marcos and no help arrived.
Davis, who is best known for the 11-hour speech she made in the Texas senate in 2013 to filibuster an anti-abortion bill, said she suffered substantial emotional distress from the experience.
Associated press contributed to this report
This story was updated on 25 September 2024 to correct a headline and add more detail on the man found liable.
The Station Agents House in Castlefield, recently restored by the Landmark Trust. Photograph: David Oates
For some, a stately home does it. For others, a converted barn. For me, anything rail-related hits the spot. Its partly respect for transport and proper jobs. Its also because I was born and raised 1.2 miles (or a mile and 16 chains in the parlance) south of the worlds first inter-city railway line the Liverpool and Manchester, which opened on 15 September 1830. Though never a full-blown spotter, I got the transport bug watching 47s and Deltics rumbling along the tracks between St Helens Junction and Newton-le-Willows. Despite the delays and dysfunction that make rail travel so irksome today, I still love trains.
It is then a childish buzz as well as a grown-up, heritage-inspired delight to be spending a couple of nights in the Station Agents House, the Landmark Trusts new property in Castlefield, Manchester. The area, at the southern end of main drag Deansgate, is one of the citys oldest, though its iron bridges and merchants warehouses are now overshadowed by high-rise apartment blocks.
The conservation charitys first venture in Manchester is a handsome three-storey Georgian house with a showpiece first-floor living and dining area, two double and two twin bedrooms, with gorgeous mid-century fixtures and fittings throughout ideal for big families and gatherings of up to eight people. Vintage posters in the hallways, model trains in the study and a library packed with local history books (and Bradshaws guides) drive home the railway connections. Theres also a luxuriously deep bathtub on the second floor with a blushingly intimate view of trains passing along the Ordsall Chord the railway line that reopened in 2017 to connect Manchesters two main stations, Victoria and Piccadilly. Rail fans can record numbers while soaking and sipping champagne.
Theres a luxuriously deep bathtub with a blushingly intimate view of trains passing along the Ordsall Chord
Station agent might not sound like a lofty title, but the first resident of the house, Joseph Green, was also the man who managed the building next door, Liverpool Road Station, the oldest surviving railway station in the world. This was where the Northumbrian the upgraded Rocket-style locomotive used for the inauguration arrived following its epoch-making journey from Crown Street railway station in Liverpool. The Liverpool Road station only operated until 1844 newly opened Manchester Victoria was more modern and capacious but a goods yard remained until 1975 and the original buildings are still there.
The concept of a railway station was as novel as the railway itself. Some stops along the line were mere halts. All the paraphernalia that would come to define rail travel in the future were first seen here: waiting rooms, signals, tickets, ticket offices. Mr Green and his staff would have had to educate and reassure passengers, who had no idea about the multi-horsepower speeds generated by locos; some got off to stretch their legs and were surprised to note the train had travelled on beyond a catching-up distance.
The original departure platform runs along the houses rear wall. Work is taking place to seal it and guests will eventually be able to go out and stand there to whistle for ghost trains. I go out on to the street to get my bearings. On the right or west side is Water Street. Mancunian engineers William Fairbairn and Eaton Hodgkinson built a skewed cast-iron bridge across it replaced in 1904 by the present one. A sandstone viaduct built by George Stephenson, still standing, crosses the Irwell to Salford. Arrivals took place on a platform between the river and Water Street. A ramp was installed for passengers and livestock to ascend to track-level.
A few steps from my front door is an elegant doorway with an overlight, the station entrance for first-class passengers. The second-class booking office and upper-floor waiting room are a little further along. There used to be shops along here, but restoration work has returned the frontage to its original appearance. Across the road is the Commercial; another world first, this former purpose-built railway hotel, later a pub, is being rebuilt as a 39-room hotel.
I go into the Science and Industry Museum to see the heart of the site. The permanent exhibits, on textiles, scientific discoveries and Rolls-Royce, are in the former New (or Great Western) Warehouse, built in 1882. From a yard at the rear I can see the other side of the station agents house as well as various other warehouses and goods sheds which are gradually being conserved and opened to the public.
All of this could be overwhelming, and a bit monothematic, if trains arent your bag, if all Castlefield did was railways. But its one of Manchesters most historically layered areas and wherever you look there are evocations of bygone eras and, inevitably, redevelopments. The old Granada House television offices on Quay Street are being refurbed as a Soho House hotel and members club. The exterior set for Coronation Street was on nearby Grape Street; a copy of the Rovers Return, with a replica facade, was built for tours. Granada vacated the site in 2007.
Opposite the Science Museums entrance are the ornate, cast-iron-framed Upper and Lower Campfield Market Halls. The latter is destined to become a tech and media hub. Beside this is the park that contains the Roman ruins that give Castlefield its name: the Roman fort of Mamucium, dating from the first century. When I visited, groups were preparing for the aptly bacchanalian festivities of this years Pride festival. Above, on Castlefield viaduct, is the park in the sky managed by the National Trust; opened on a temporary basis in 2022, it will remain open until at least the end of December. Crisscrossing all of this are canals the waterways that made the district a logistics nexus in the first place and led to the establishment of all the railway works.
Wherever you look there are evocations of bygone eras and, inevitably, redevelopments.
Contemporary construction rubs against, and looms above, the Victoriana. Not 50 yards from the corner of the station agents house is Factory International, sometimes known as the Aviva Studios, also the headquarters of the Manchester international festival. The redevelopment areas north of here, called St Johns and Spinningfields, are predominantly taken up by flashy food and drink chains, co-living towers and sleek office blocks.
The skyscraper-obsessed redevelopment of Manchester has its detractors, allied as it is with the privatisation of pseudo-public spaces. When you see the finest of the remaining redbrick and cast-iron structures, you cant help wondering what it would be like if Manchester had attempted to create its own version of Hamburgs Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus district a massive Unesco-listed city of warehouses that impresses for its architectural unity and volume? But Manchesters warehouses horrified as well as awed visitors 200 years ago, and for every super mill there were thousands of airless, damp back-to-backs.
Since the 1980s, 45% of Greater Manchesters historic mills have been lost. Save Britains Heritages September 2023 report identified 20 buildings including pubs and bars, religious buildings and shops at risk in the city centre alone. Heritage in aspic is a desultory experience, but I hope the aspirations of Atom Valley and Manc-hattan allow room for the past.
The railway, though, was once the future and could be again if HS2 were to be rebooted. Whatever happens, the Station Agents House is saved for posterity. Everyone can see it, even if they dont stay there. Look out for a naked man, or woman, with a Dictaphone and a glass of something if you happen to be riding by.
Prices for the Station Agents House start from 1,116 for a four-night midweek break; a three-night weekend break starts from 1,332. landmarktrust.org.uk
David Knowles with Telegraph colleagues Francis Dearnley and Dominic Nicholls - Paul Grover for the Telegraph
The Telegraphs Ukraine: The Latest podcast, launched by the late David Knowles, has been nominated for a leading media award.
The podcast, which Knowles presented alongside colleagues Dominic Nicholls and Francis Dearnley, has been nominated for a Podcast of the Year prize at the Society of Editors Media Freedom Awards.
The nomination is one of a number earned by Telegraph journalists, including photographer Simon Townsley, whose work has taken him to Ukraine, Afghanistan and the West Bank.
Robert Mendick, The Telegraphs chief reporter, has been nominated in the Journalist of the Year category for a string of scoops, and columnist Suzanne Moore is in contention for the the award for best broadsheet commentator.
Tenacity, intelligence and bravery
Dawn Alford, executive director of the Society of Editors, said: Once again we have been astounded by the exceptional standard of entries for this years Media Freedom Awards and the tenacity, intelligence and bravery of our colleagues across broadcast, national, regional and online platforms.
The Society of Editors is an organisation with nearly 400 members, including a range of people in editing roles across national, regional and local newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. The society aims to celebrate and protect media freedom.
The societys shortlist reflects the popularity of The Telegraphs work, which was recently celebrated at the 2024 Publisher Podcast Awards, where Ukraine: The Latest was named the Best News Podcast.
A memorial card and candle for the Telegraph journalist David Knowles at St Brides Church, Fleet Street - Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph
A picture of David Knowles while he was in Ukraine
Tributes were recently paid to Mr Knowles, following his death in Gibraltar on Sept 8, aged 32.
He joined The Telegraph in 2020, and became head of social media, in which capacity he helped to launch Ukraine: The Latest after the outbreak of the war in 2022.
The Ukrainian embassy in London paid tribute in a post on X after the news of his death, stating: We are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of the Telegraph journalist of Ukraine: The Latest podcast [David Knowles].
His dedication to reporting the truth about the war in Ukraine and his commitment to telling the stories of those affected by it will never be forgotten. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time. Ukraine mourns this profound loss alongside you.
Mike Johnson walks to a vote at the Capitol on Wednesday. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
US Congress passed a three-month government funding package on Wednesday, sending the bill to Joe Bidens desk and averting a shutdown that was set to begin next Tuesday.
The Senate approved the funding package just two hours after the House passed the bill on Wednesday afternoon, as lawmakers raced to return to their home districts six weeks before election day.
The bill won significant bipartisan support in both chambers, with the Senate voting 78 to 18 in favor of its passage after the House approved the legislation in a vote of 341 to 82. Every vote against the bill, which will extend government funding until 20 December, came from Republicans.
The Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, unveiled the legislation on Sunday after his original funding proposal failed to pass last week. Johnsons original bill combined a six-month funding measure 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. Fourteen House Republicans and all but two House Democrats voted against that bill last Wednesday, blocking its passage.
Days later, Johnson announced that the House would move forward with a very narrow, bare-bones CR that will extend government funding for three months, conceding to Democrats weeks-long demands.
Related: US Congress agrees to funding deal to avert shutdown in blow to Trump
Since we fell a bit short of the goal line, an alternative plan is now required, Johnson said in a Dear Colleague letter sent on Sunday. While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances. As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice.
The newly approved bill also includes an additional $231m for the Secret Service for operations necessary to carry out protective operations including the 2024 Presidential Campaign and National Special Security Events, following the two recent assassination attempts against Donald Trump.
During the House floor debate over the bill on Wednesday, Tom Cole, the Republican chair of the appropriations committee, urged his colleagues to support the legislation and avert a shutdown that he described as pointless.
Its Congresss responsibility to ensure that the government remains open and serving the American people, Cole said. We are here to avert harmful disruptions to our national security and vital programs our constituents rely on.
The bill was considered under suspension of the rules, meaning Johnson needed the support of two-thirds of the chamber to pass the bill. House Democratic leaders had indicated most of their caucus would support the funding package now that it was devoid of rightwing poison pills, and all present Democrats voted in favor of its passage on Wednesday.
We have an obligation in this chamber: to rule, to govern, to say to the American people: Were here on your behalf, Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House appropriations committee, said during the debate. The legislative process is not one where one gets everything that they want. It is about compromise. It is about coming together to recognize that we do have this obligation and this responsibility.
The bill attracted significant opposition from hard-right House Republicans, who have voiced staunch criticism of short-term continuing resolutions in the past.
We irresponsibly continue to spend money that we do not have, that we have not collected, and we continue to retreat to the corners of our safe political spaces and hide behind them in order to try to sell something to the American people, Chip Roy, a hard-right House Republican of Texas, said during the debate. The American people look at us, and they go: What on earth is wrong in Washington?
Roy predicted that the passage of the continuing resolution would lead to the House approving a much broader full-year funding bill, known as an omnibus, before their December recess. Johnson has firmly denied that accusation, telling reporters at a press conference on Tuesday: We have broken the Christmas [omnibus], and I have no intention of going back to that terrible tradition Well deal with that in the lame duck.
During the floor debate, Cole suggested that the results of the November elections would provide Congress with clearer guidance on how to proceed on a full-year funding package.
Were either going to shut the government down, without achieving anything by shutting it down, or were going to keep it open and keep working on our problems and, frankly, give the American people an opportunity in the election through their votes and their voice to decide whos coming back here, Cole said. And I suspect that will clarify a lot of decisions in front of us.
Once the House passed the funding bill, Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate majority leader, moved immediately to take up the legislation. Schumer had expressed frustration over the last-minute nature of the funding deal despite widespread expectations that negotiations would ultimately end with a three-month continuing resolution. Schumer blamed the delay on Trump, who had urged Republican lawmakers to reject any funding bill that did not include election security provisions.
Related: Senate leader Schumer moves to avert shutdown after House speakers flop
This agreement could have very easily been reached weeks ago, but Speaker Johnson and House Republicans chose to listen to Donald Trumps partisan demands instead of working with us from the start to reach a bicameral, bipartisan agreement, Schumer said on Monday. That is outlandishly cynical: Donald Trump knows perfectly well that a shutdown would mean chaos, pain, needless heartache for the American people. But as usual, he just doesnt seem to care.
It remains unclear how or when Trump might retaliate against Johnson for failing to pass a funding bill linked to election security measures. Johnson has downplayed any suggestion of a potential rift between him and Trump, insisting there is no daylight between their positions.
President Trump understands the current dilemma and the situation that were in, Johnson told reporters earlier on Tuesday. So well continue working closely together. Im not defying President Trump. Were getting our job done, and I think he understands that.
Nicole Hensley is a staff writer for the Houston Chronicle. She can be reached at nicole.hensley@houstonchronicle.com.
She joined the Chronicle in 2018 from the New York Daily News and after writing for The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington. A native of Seattle, Nicole is a graduate of Washington State University.
A UN security council briefing on the crisis in the Middle East. Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock
An effort led by France and Britain to secure a joint statement by the UN security council calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon has stalled in the face of US objections.
Washington is eager to avoid any suggestion there is any equivalence of blame for the eruption of the crisis that has led to the loss of life of hundreds of people in Lebanon.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has been firm in asserting Israel has a legitimate problem to solve, blaming Hezbollahs continued rocket fire into Israel ever since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October.
At one point there had been suggestions the UN security council, due to start late Wednesday, would be deferred overnight to secure agreement on a joint statement, but diplomats said such hopes were fast fading.
The differences emerged at a G7 dinner on Tuesday night. Both Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, went public in calls for a ceasefire to end the fighting. France and UK had also called for a ceasefire in meetings with allies in Paris a week ago.
European sources said the US had been working on a different, more complex, formula, and was sensitive to Israeli pressure or wording that would be seen to block its military offensive to degrade Hezbollah.
In a round of morning TV interviews Blinken was careful not to call for a ceasefire in Lebanon, referring instead to a diplomatic agreement.
He told ABC News that Hezbollah had started firing rockets into Israel after the deadly attacks of 7 October, saying: People who lived in northern Israel had to flee their homes homes were destroyed; villages were destroyed about 70,000 Israelis. Israel started responding. You have Lebanese in southern Lebanon whove also had to flee their homes. We want to see people get back to their homes. The best way to do that is through a diplomatic agreement [one that] pulls the forces back, creates space and security so that people can get back to their homes, kids can get back to school.
Joe Biden also told ABC television that all-out war was possible, but added: Were still in play to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region.
In his address to the general assembly, Macron was more forthright, saying:
There cannot be, must not be war in Lebanon.
At a meeting with the Qatari prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Blinken only referred to seeking a ceasefire in Gaza the precondition Hezbolllah set for ending its relatively low-level but hugely disruptive assault on Israel.
Blinken also repeated his claim that it was Hamas and not Israel that was holding up a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
Saying that 15 of the 18 paragraphs in the ceasefire agreement were signed off, he said: The problem we have right now is that Hamas hasnt been engaging on it for the last couple of weeks, and its leader has been talking about an endless war of attrition. Now, if he really cares about the Palestinian people, hed bring this agreement over the finish line.
Hard decisions remain to be made by Israel. But the problem right now in terms of bringing this across the finish line is Hamas, its refusal to engage in a meaningful way, he added.
In contrast, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Iraq said in a joint statement: Israel is pushing the region towards total war.
The Lebanese foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, said the US approach was not promising, adding: It will not solve the Lebanese problem. The US is the only country that can really make a difference in the Middle East with regard to Lebanon.
Watch: Ukraine recaptures factory used by Russian troops as a 'fortress'
Ukrainian forces have liberated the main factory in the town of Vovchansk, four months after its capture in a surprise Russian attack.
Video filmed on soldiers helmet cameras showed vicious room-to-room fighting for control of the massive plant that used to make construction supplies.
Move, move, move, shouts one Ukrainian commander between bursts of his rifle as he orders his men to storm through a room and up a staircase.
The recapture of the factory is a rare military victory for Ukrainian forces fighting inside Ukraine.
The news late on Tuesday night came two days before Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, is due to meet Joe Biden at the White House to ask for permission to fire US missiles into Russia to shore up the invasion of the Kursk region.
Ukrainian forces had surrounded the factory since the end of May, a fortnight after Russia launched its attack into the Kharkiv region.
Vovchansk lies near the border with Russia and is the biggest town taken in the incursion.
Reports of the battle described how hundreds of Russian soldiers turned the factory into a fortress, deliberately creating a dense urban combat scenario to ambush Ukrainian soldiers.
Ukrainians defence ministry said its special forces had to fight in hand-to-hand combat to recapture the factory.
Despite strong resistance by the Russians, Ukrainian soldiers managed to kill many of them and capture some prisoners of war, it said.
Photos and video from Vovchansk showed the once lush town of 18,000 people totally destroyed. Its apartment blocks lie in ruins, the roads are ripped up and broken and the trees are reduced to burnt stumps.
Vovchansk has been reduce to ruins after more than two and a half years of war - AFP
Russian military bloggers confirmed the loss of the factory in Vovchansk but mocked Ukrainian soldiers for their pyrrhic victory.
The occupied factory buildings will become a magnet for glide bombs, Rybar told its 1.3 million subscribers.
These are standard bombs retrofitted with fins and a GPS system. Russia has dropped thousands of them across the front line this year.
Further south along the front line in the Donbas region, Russian forces continued to press forward using near-suicidal mass infantry tactics.
On Wednesday, a Russian military blogger published a video of a Russian flag flying from a coal mine in Vuhledar, long considered a Ukrainian bulwark against the Russian advance.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War said that the Russian capture of Vuhledar was imminent.
How quickly or easily they are able to do so will likely be contingent partially on Ukrainian decision-making, it said.
Capturing Vuhledar would be the most significant Russian battlefield victory since the capture of Avdiivka in February.
Analysts have said it will add to pressure on Mr Biden to allow Ukraine to fire US missiles at Russia.
Tributes to Alice Webb, who died in Gloucestershire, said she was beautiful inside and out - Gloucestershire Constabulary
A mother of five has died after having a cosmetic procedure that is believed to have been a Brazilian butt lift.
Two people have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after Alice Webb, 33, died in Gloucester on Tuesday following surgery.
A since-deleted GoFundMe page set up by a family friend revealed she had undergone a BBL procedure, which increases the size and shape of a persons bottom using fat transfers or filler, but that it had gone wrong.
Ms Webb worked as an advanced aesthetic practitioner at cosmetics clinic Crystal Clear in Wotton-under-Edge, a market town in Gloucestershire.
Police said they were called at 11.35pm on Monday to an address in Gloucester after a woman had become unwell following a suspected cosmetic procedure.
She was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and died in the early hours of Tuesday morning, a spokesman for Gloucestershire Constabulary said.
Two people have since been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and released on bail.
Dane Knight, Ms Webbs partner, paid tribute to her online, saying: Want to say a heartfelt thank you to all family and friends that were here for us at our time of need, including all of the kind messages sent to my children and myself.
There was some very beautiful messages sent by some of your children that formed a start of a smile from the corner of my kids mouth.
Another tribute on the GoFundMe page read: Alice was beautiful inside and out with the biggest heart, her family was her world.
Call for ban
Ashton Collins, the director of Save Face, which campaigns for patient safety in the cosmetics industry, said non-surgical BBL procedures should be banned in Britain.
I am devastated to hear of Alices tragic passing, she said. We launched a campaign in December 2023 calling upon the Government to take urgent action to ban these procedures.
We made it absolutely clear that without urgent intervention someone would die. It makes me incredibly sad and angry that today our fear has been confirmed.
Ms Collins said that if the procedure was a BBL, Ms Webb would be the first person to have died after having one in Britain.
The spokesman for Gloucestershire Constabulary said: Her next of kin and the coroner are aware. The womans family are being supported by specially trained officers.
An investigation, led by the major crime investigation team, is ongoing. The two people who had been arrested have been released on police bail.
Phillip Schofield will return to television, 16 months after his departure from ITVs This Morning, according to the Sun newspaper.
The former TV star is said to have filmed a Channel 5 special called Cast Away, which follows a celebrity marooned on an inhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar for 10 days.
It comes after Schofield, 62, teased an upcoming announcement on his Instagram story, writing: Watch this space9am.
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby after winning the Daytime award for This Morning at the National Television Awards 2021 (Ian West/PA)
The TV special is expected to show Schofield reflecting on the last two years, according to the Sun.
Schofield resigned from ITV last May after he admitted to an unwise but not illegal affair with a younger male colleague.
At the time, the former TV star said he had lost everything after admitting to the affair, and that the fallout had had a catastrophic effect on his mind.
In December, an external review by Jane Mulcahy KC, instructed by ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall, found that ITV made considerable efforts to find out the truth about an alleged relationship between Schofield and a runner on This Morning in 2019 but was unable to uncover the relevant evidence until the presenters own admission in late May 2023.
This Morning co-host Holly Willoughby left This Morning almost five months later, after 14 years on the sofa alongside Schofield.
Willoughby has continued to front ITVs Dancing On Ice, with Stephen Mulhern replacing Schofield as co-host.
Over the weekend, Channel 5 posted a short clip of a mystery star, said to be Schofield, walking across a remote beach, as it teased its brand new desert island programme on social media.
A celebrity marooned on an uninhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar for 10 days is challenged with total isolation, the forces of nature, and the battle within their own mind, the video was captioned.
Representatives for Channel 5 have been contacted for comment.
Residents at a Northamptonshire holiday park have been told to evacuate their homes as flooding continues to hit the area.
Firefighters and police are working at Billing Aquadrome holiday park, West Northamptonshire Council said.
Pictures taken on Tuesday showed neighbouring Cogenhoe Mill holiday park flooded after the River Nene burst its banks.
It comes after parts of the UK saw more than the monthly average rainfall on Monday, with flash flooding damaging homes and disrupting travel.
(PA Graphics)
A statement issued by West Northamptonshire Council about Billing Aquadrome said: Northamptonshire Police, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service and teams of professionals from West Northamptonshire Council are co-ordinating their response at the site, where they are in support of the aquadromes management who are putting their evacuation plan in place.
Northamptonshire search and rescue is working with the fire service and ready to respond if needed.
Council teams are carrying out welfare checks on any vulnerable residents, and a fire service joint command unit has been deployed at the 235-acre site.
Don't drive through flood water. Due to heavy rain across England, many roads have flooded. Plan journeys ahead of time and check your local flood risks: https://t.co/qP9rpumIij pic.twitter.com/L8HjcpXfJ5 Environment Agency (@EnvAgency) September 23, 2024
Areas including Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire were among the worst hit on Monday, the Met Office said previously.
The Environment Agency had 26 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 54 flood alerts, meaning it is possible, in place across England on Wednesday morning.
A yellow weather warning indicating heavy rain could cause some disruption has been issued for the whole day on Thursday covering much of the north east of England.
Between 20 and 30mm of rain could be seen widely, 50 to 70mm could fall in some locations and it is possible the Pennines and North York Moors could have between 80-100mm of rain.
Rightmove has rejected a 6.1 billion takeover deal from Rupert Murdochs REA Group.
The Australian suitor, which is majority-owned by the tycoons News Corp group, tabled its third approach for the London-listed online property platform business on Monday.
The deal saw it put forward a 770p-a-share proposal, having seen its initial move, valuing the company at about 5.6 billion, rejected earlier in the month.
On Wednesday, Rightmove bosses unanimously rejected the latest approach.
Rightmove said that, after considering the potential deal with financial advisers, it concluded that the increased proposal continues to be unattractive and materially undervalues the company and its future prospects.
The UK firm highlighted a dip in the value of REAs own shares in recent weeks as it rebuffed the proposal.
The latest approach involved a cash component of 341p a share up from 305p offered this month with the remainder to be paid in REA stock.
However, Rightmove highlighted that REAs share price on Tuesday September 24 was down by around 12% compared with the end of August, weighing on the value of any potential deal.
Rightmove said that shareholders should take no action in respect of the increased proposal.
REA has a deadline of September 30 to submit a formal offer to buy Rightmove or walk away from a deal, in line with UK takeover rules.
The Australian company said it was disappointed by the latest rejection.
It added that it is frustrated that, save for the rejection of REAs three previously disclosed proposals, REA has still had no substantive engagement with Rightmove.
REA stressed that it still believes the proposal represents a highly compelling proposition for Rightmoves shareholders at a significant premium to relevant trading metrics, providing a combination of immediate value certainty in cash and at the same time giving Rightmove shareholders the opportunity to benefit from the future value creation of the combined business.
Rightmove is the UKs largest online real estate portal, while REA is Australias largest property website.
Founded in a garage in Melbourne in 1995, REA has expanded its operations throughout the country, while it also has businesses in India and south-east Asia.
It is valued at about 27 billion Australia dollars (13.9 billion) on Australias stock market and employs around 3,400 staff.
Russia is treating its own citizens as bits of meat to fling into the grinder in Ukraine, Sir Keir Starmer said as he urged Vladimir Putin to end the conflict.
The Prime Minister, speaking at the UN Security Council, said Russia was responsible for colossal human suffering as a result of the conflict.
He said Russia, like the UK one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, was behind the greatest violation of the (UN) charter in a generation.
I wonder how Russia can show its face in this building, he added.
Russia was represented at the UN Security Council by deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyansky, who could be seen studying his mobile phone while the Prime Minister spoke.
The Prime Minister was accompanied at the table by Foreign Secretary David Lammy while his chief of staff Sue Gray was in the audience for his address.
Sir Keir said: Russias invasion of Ukraine is illegal. It threatens global security. And it has caused colossal human suffering.
Over 35,000 civilians have been killed or injured, six million forced to flee and almost 20,000 Ukrainian children forcefully deported. Kidnapped, to put it bluntly.
Some 600,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded, Sir Keir said.
The UN Charter which they sit here to uphold speaks of human dignity. Not treating your own citizens as bits of meat to fling into the grinder, he added.
Sir Keir said there must be accountability to show that aggression cannot pay.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer addresses the Security Council (Leon Neal/PA)
Russia started this illegal war. It must end it and get out of Ukraine, he said.
Ukraines territorial integrity must be the basis of any just and lasting peace, he added.
Ahead of his Security Council speech, Sir Keir said Ukraines desire to use western missiles to strike targets in Russia will not be the sole issue in consideration of Volodymyr Zelenskys victory plan for the war.
The US and UK have so far refused to give Kyiv permission to use the missiles they have supplied against targets in Russia, despite repeated pleas from Mr Zelensky.
The Ukrainian president has said that he is having to fight with his hands tied because he is unable to use the weapons to strike Russian airfields and military facilities which Mr Putin is using to launch deadly air raids, missiles and drones.
In a meeting with Sir Keir in New York, Mr Zelensky said he wanted to discuss with you some details how to strengthen Ukraine.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer embraces Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting at the UN (Leon Neal/PA)
Sir Keir is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, the annual gathering of world leaders, where Mr Zelensky will present his plan for the next stage of the war to his allies.
In his meeting with Mr Zelensky, the Prime Minister assured him the UKs support remained steadfast and it was an opportunity to talk through what more needs to be done.
These are turning into crucial weeks and months, Sir Keir added.
Following the meeting, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: The Prime Minister acknowledged that Ukraine is at a critical point in the war, but he reiterated the UKs support is ironclad and will continue for as long as it takes.
President Zelensky set out his ambitions for the coming months and thanked the Prime Minister for the UKs continued backing.
They agreed to keep in close contact in the coming weeks.
Downing Street chief of staff Sue Gray was listening as Sir Keir Starmer spoke at the UN (Leon Neal/PA)
Elsewhere, during his remarks to the UN Security Council, Sir Keir also addressed the situation in Sudan as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.
The UK has doubled its aid for the victims of this war to almost 100 million. But much more help is needed. The world must step up, he said.
Sir Keir Starmer will visit Brussels as he steps up efforts to reset the UKs relationship with the European Union.
The Prime Minister wants to repair the damage caused by years of Brexit wrangling in an effort to boost trade and security co-operation.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen revealed that Sir Keir would visit Brussels next week after the pair met in New York.
Dear @Keir_Starmer, good to see you in the margins of @UN General Assembly. Looking forward to welcoming you at the @EU_Commission in Brussels next week to discuss the reset of EU-UK relations. pic.twitter.com/IdRsYwd6vV Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) September 25, 2024
Sir Keir has met a string of EU leaders since taking office and has spoken about his ambitious plans for a new relationship.
Sir Keir said: I want to reset our relationship with the EU and make Brexit work for the British people.
He said he was looking forward to visiting Brussels next week to start discussions with the commission president.
I want to reset our relationship with the EU and make Brexit work for the British people. Looking forward to visiting Brussels next week to start discussions with @vonderleyen. pic.twitter.com/WZ2TQWZato Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) September 25, 2024
The EU has proposed a youth mobility scheme for 18-30 year-olds as part of a deal with the UK, but Sir Keir has resisted anything that could be seen as the reintroduction of free movement.
Reports have suggested the EU could water down its initial proposals to make them more acceptable to Sir Keir.
Earlier this month Sir Keir said: I want to be ambitious about what we can achieve within the EU reset.
That does not mean going back into the EU, that does not mean going back into the single market, the customs union or freedom of movement. So they are the red lines within that framework.
The UK is sending around 700 troops to Cyprus in case an emergency evacuation of Lebanon is required as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continues to escalate.
Britons have been urged to leave Lebanon but with airlines suspending flights to the country because of the escalating violence, commercial escape routes could be cut off as the situation deteriorates.
The deployment to Cyprus comes as the Government begins the first stage of its contingency plan, with the military team supported by Border Force and Foreign Office officials.
The Royal Air Force has planes and transport helicopters on standby to provide support if necessary.
Defence Secretary John Healey announced the movement of troops on Tuesday night following a Cobra meeting earlier in the day.
Mr Healey said: Events in the past hours and days have demonstrated how volatile this situation is, which is why our message is clear, British nationals should leave now.
We continue to urge all sides to step back from conflict to prevent further tragic loss of life.
Our Government is ensuring all preparations are in place to support British nationals should the situation deteriorate.
I want to thank the British personnel who are deploying in the region for their commitment and professionalism.
The UK already has a significant diplomatic and military presence in the region, including RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and British ships RFA Mounts Bay and HMS Duncan, which have remained in the eastern Mediterranean over the summer.
Sir Keir Starmer urged Israel and Hezbollah to pull back from the brink and urged Britons to board commercial flights out of Lebanon as soon as possible.
The Prime Minister will be at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday and Thursday as world leaders attempt to prevent the fighting in Lebanon spiralling into an all-out war.
He told reporters travelling on his plane to New York: The most important message from me this evening is to British nationals in Lebanon, to leave immediately and I just want to reinforce that.
(PA Graphics)
Yes, we are ramping up the contingency plans, I think that you would expect that in light of the escalation.
But it is important that we be really, really clear: now is the time to leave.
More broadly, I am worried about the situation and I think we need to be clear we need de-escalation, we need a ceasefire, we need to pull back from the brink.
I think that will be amongst the first topics we discuss in New York.
The Cobra meeting chaired by Mr Healey was attended by intelligence chiefs and diplomats and provided an opportunity to test government planning.
The need for a contingency plan was underlined as more airlines cancelled flights to Lebanon on Tuesday.
Airlines in the United Arab Emirates, a key East-West travel hub, cancelled flights on Tuesday.
Long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad cancelled flights, as did FlyDubai, the low-cost carrier.
EgyptAir also cancelled flights to Lebanon.
A man convicted of killing his coworkers over rumors about his sexuality is about to become the second man in Alabama to be executed with nitrogen gas, a method that one witness described as "horrific."
Alan Eugene Miller, 59, is set to be executed Thursday in the Aug. 5, 1999, murder of his current and former coworkers in two back-to-back attacks. Killed were: Terry Jarvis, Lee Holdbrooks and Christopher Yancy.
The attacks happened at Post Airgas, a welding supply store, and Ferguson Enterprises, both in the suburban Birmingham city of Pelham. Miller killed the men because he believed Jarvis told Holdbrooks and Yancy that Miller was gay, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY.
Despite a forensic psychiatrist testifying that Miller was "mentally ill at the time of the offenses," the court sentenced him to death..
If Miller's gassing moves forward he'll be the fourth inmate executed in Alabama in 2024 and the 18th in the nation. His execution comes on the same day as Oklahoma plans to execute Emmanuel Littlejohn despite a clemency board's recommendation that his life be spared over questions of his guilt.
Miller and Littlejohn are among five inmates the U.S. is executing in a six-day period between Sept. 20 and 26, including Marcellus Williams, who was executed by Missouri on Tuesday despite strong doubts about his guilt.
As Miller nears his execution day, USA TODAY is looking back at his life, how he ended up on death row, and what to expect from the nitrogen gas method.
Pictured is Alabama death row inmate Alan Eugene Miller.
What did Alan Eugene Miller do?
On the morning of Aug. 5, 1999, Johnny Cobb opened the front door at Ferguson Enterprises to the sound of loud noises, screaming and the sight of Miller walking toward him with a pistol, according to court documents. "I'm tired of people starting rumors on me," Miller told him.
Miller told Cobb to get out of his way, walked to his truck and drove away. Inside, 32-year-old Yancy and 28-year-old Holdbrooks were bleeding out from multiple gunshot wounds.
As Pelham police investigated the crime scene at Ferguson Enterprises, Miller was walking into his former workplace, Post Airgas, where coworkers Terry Jarvis and Andy Adderhold had just arrived, court records say.
Miller approached the sales counter and called out to Jarvis by saying: Hey, I hear you've been spreading rumors about me, court records say. Jarvis replied that he had not, and that's when Miller shot him several times as Adderhold took cover behind the counter, court records say.
After shooting Jarvis, Miller pointed the gun at Adderhold's face as he begged for his life, records say. Miller spared Adderhold's life and told him to get out right now" as the 39-year-old Jarvis was dying, according to the records.
Alan Eugene Miller convicted of murder, sentenced to death
Pelham police arrested Miller after finding him driving in his truck the same day. Once Miller was handcuffed, officers say they found a Glock lying on the driver's seat and an empty ammunition magazine on the passenger seat.
A jury later found Miller guilty of shooting Holdbrooks six times, Jarvis five times and Yancy three times.
During Miller's sentencing hearing a forensic psychiatrist named Charles Scott determined that Miller was "mentally ill" at the time of the murders, court documents say.
"In Dr. Scott's opinion, Miller suffered from a delusional disorder that substantially impaired his rational ability," according to the court document. "This delusional disorder coupled with Miller's history as a loner resulted in Miller's believing the people he worked with talked about him and that they had spread rumors about him. Miller believed that Terry Jarvis had told other employees at Post Airgas that Miller was a homosexual."
Despite declaring Miller mentally ill, Scott said his condition did not meet the level of mania necessary to establish an insanity defense under Alabama law.
Who was Alan Eugene Miller before the murders?
Born on Jan. 20, 1965, Miller grew up with an extensive history of mental illness in his family, tracing back at least four generations, according to a federal appeals document filed in January 2013. While Miller had a close family dynamic with his mother Barbara, brother Richard, and half-sister Cheryl Ellison, records say his father's drug use led to physical and psychological abuse.
At a young age, Miller's family was constantly moving, he experienced "severe poverty," and when his parents divorced, his mother and siblings spent years on welfare and food stamps, records say.
Miller's mother remarried his father for financial reasons but court records say he struggled to hold a job, frequently thinking people were plotting against him or finding reasons to get angry with coworkers.
Barbara Miller described the homes that her family lived in as junky, rat-infested, roach-infested, just falling in," records say.
As a boy, Miller attended seven or eight different schools, sometimes even switching in the middle of the year. He had very few friends, and other children constantly made fun of Miller, calling him names because they could tell he was poor from his clothing, records say.
Before the murders, Miller had a "nonviolent nature" and a "good employment history," according to his attorney.
Alan Eugene Miller's execution represents a 'moral apocalypse'
Miller is scheduled to become the second death row inmate to be executed using nitrogen gas in Alabama. The first was in January with the execution of 58-year-old Kenneth Smith, who "appeared to convulse and shake vigorously for about four minutes" after the nitrogen gas began flowing, according to reporter Marty Roney, who witnessed the execution for the Montgomery Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network.
The Rev. Jeff Hood, a spiritual advisor who has witnessed more than a half dozen executions, was at Smith's and described it as being by far "the most violent."
"We're talking about minutes and minutes of thrashing and spitting," Hood told USA TODAY. "His head going up and down (and) back and forth. The (expletive) gurney that's bolted to the floor started shaking."
Miller, who survived a 2022 lethal injection attempt, weighs around 400 pounds and is what Hood called a "shell of a human being."
"You've a got a situation where you're going to strap a 400-pound man to a gurney, suffocate him to death and expect that to go well," the reverend said, adding that this type of execution brings society closer to a "moral apocalypse."
The Rev. Jeff Hood acts as a spiritual advisor to death row inmates throughout the U.S.
Attempt to prevent execution dismissed by federal judge
Miller's attorneys asked a federal judge for a preliminary injunction in March to stop the upcoming execution, arguing that it violates the inmate's right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.
"Alabama is evidently unable to carry out a nitrogen hypoxia execution without cruelly super-adding pain and disgrace, and prolonging death," a federal complaint filed by Miller's attorneys says.
The attorneys also said Miller is obese, has asthmatic bronchitis, and receives a diabetic food tray where he's housed at Holman Correctional Facility, according to the complaint.
The judge dismissed the request.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alan Eugene Miller faces 'horrific' nitrogen gas execution in Alabama
Leaders at UNGA gravely concerned with Middle East violence, slam Israel for "genocide"
08:16, September 25, 2024 By Xia Lin, Gao Shan, Pan Yunzhao ( Xinhua
Philemon Yang, President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Leaders addressing the General Debate of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday called for cessation of the violence that has ravaged the Middle East for months, and some of them directly pointed their fingers at Israel for the "genocide" it committed against the Palestinians.
UNGA President Philemon Yang noted the various conflicts raging from the Middle East to Ukraine, and from Haiti to South Sudan. "I call for an immediate ceasefire in all these conflict settings," he said, adding that the people of Gaza and Israel "have been caught in a spiraling cycle of conflict and retribution" for nearly a year.
"I take this opportunity to call for an immediate ceasefire for the Hamas-Israel war, the unconditional release of hostages and for all parties to abide by international law, including international humanitarian law, and work towards a just and lasting solution grounded in the United Nations Charter, relevant resolutions and international law, ensuring dignity for both Palestinians and Israelis," he said.
Delivering his 2024 report on the UN's work ahead of the General Debate, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that world leaders are gathering in the shadow of raging conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere, and rising uncertainty over climate change, ending poverty and reigning in artificial intelligence.
"Our world is in a whirlwind. We are in an era of epic transformation -- facing challenges unlike any we have ever seen -- challenges that demand global solutions," the UN chief said.
He warned that geopolitical divisions are deepening, temperatures around the world are rising, wars are raging, without any end in sight, and nuclear posturing and new weapons are "casting a dark shadow."
"We are edging towards the unimaginable -- a powder keg that risks engulfing the world," he noted.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said his nation has benefited from a wave of international solidarity in the battle to end apartheid and usher in a new democratic era. "We will not remain silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against others" in Gaza as Israel continues its collective punishment of the Palestinians, he added.
He called for a collective effort through the UN system and other multinational institutions to end civilian suffering and for South Africa's legal action taken against Israel through the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prevail.
CONDEMNATION
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Trkiye condemned Israel for "disregarding basic human rights, trampling on international law at every opportunity, practicing ethnic cleansing, a clear genocide against a nation and a people, and occupying their lands step by step."
He underscored the imperative for the international community to develop a protection mechanism for Palestinian civilians, reiterating that "we have no animosity or hostility towards the people of Israel. We oppose antisemitism in the same way we oppose the targeting of Muslims just because of their faith."
Indeed, said the president, Gaza has become "the world's largest cemetery for women and children" at a time when truth itself "is dying" and "the hopes of humanity to live in a more just world are dying one by one." However, he insisted that "we will not hold back from defending the family, the human being and the creation in solidarity with other member states."
King Abdullah II of Jordan told the General Debate that "now is the time to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people. It is the moral duty of the international community to establish a protection mechanism for them across the occupied territories."
"Impunity gathers force. Left unchecked, it gains momentum," he said, noting that the world is watching Gaza, "and history will watch us by the courage we show."
The Jordanian leader said that nearly a year into the war, the world has failed politically, "but our humanity must not fail the people of Gaza any longer."
Meanwhile, both leaders insisted that the world body is far from delivering its obligations in regard of containing the violence in the Middle East.
With innocent civilians and aid workers with the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, suffering months of bombardment in Gaza, "the UN is under attack, literally and figuratively," said the king.
"The United Nations has failed to fulfill its founding mission and has gradually become a dysfunctional structure," Erdogan said, pointing to the massacre in Gaza, where more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the continuous Israeli attacks for almost one year.
CRITICISM
In his first address to the General Assembly, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called Israel out on its operations in Gaza and Lebanon. "Israel's state terrorism in Lebanon cannot go unanswered," he said. "Responsibility for all consequences will be borne by those governments who have thwarted all global efforts to end this horrific catastrophe."
Criticizing Israel for what he called "genocide in Gaza," the president said that "it is imperative that the international community should immediately ... secure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and bring an end to the desperate barbarism of Israel in Lebanon, before it engulfs the region and the world."
"We seek peace for all and have no intention of conflict with any country ... Iran opposes war and emphasizes the need for an immediate cessation of military conflict in Ukraine," Pezeshkian said.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu said that the ongoing massacre -- the genocide -- by Israel in Gaza, is a travesty of justice and the international system, over the repeated destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, humanitarian infrastructure, as well as the repeated cycles of killings of men, women, children, babies.
"The world is struggling to process the deaths of so many civilians in Gaza and now Israeli raids in Lebanon claiming hundreds more civilians lives there. Their cries haunt anyone with humanity. Their tears, bitter on our conscience," said the president, adding that Israel is even targeting and killing journalists, which are brutal attempts to prevent the world from knowing about the crimes taking place.
"Israel must be held accountable for these acts of terrorism, for these violations of international law and UN resolutions," he insisted. "We must accept a sovereign and independent Palestinian State on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital... We welcome the decision to seat our brothers and sisters from Palestine with us here in the General Assembly, for the first time, instead of behind us. Now, we must ensure that Palestine becomes a full member of the UN."
ATTITUDES
"Too many on each side of the Israeli-Lebanon border remain displaced. Full scale wars not in anyone's interest. Even a situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," U.S. President Joe Biden told the UNGA Tuesday morning. "In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely."
"That's what we're working tirelessly to achieve," Biden said. "As we look ahead, we must also address the rise of violence against the innocent Palestinians on the West Bank and set the conditions for a better future, including a two-state solution, where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition, and normalizes relations with all its neighbors; where Palestinians live in security, dignity and self-determination in a state of their own."
Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters on Tuesday that Israel prefers a "diplomatic solution" in Lebanon to deal with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah but would use "other methods" to show "we mean business."
Asked by CNN's Tara John if Israel is prepared for a second front on its border with Lebanon after repeatedly striking Hezbollah targets in the country, Danon said that "we are not eager to start any ground invasion anywhere. I don't want to send my son, and we don't want to send our boys to fight in a foreign country, but we are determined to protect the civilians of Israel."
The UNGA General Debate started Tuesday for world leaders heading to New York to deliver their statements, as they take part in high-level discussions on the existential threat of sea-level rise, accelerating progress in combating the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, and driving forward the UN's long-term goal of achieving global nuclear disarmament with a plenary meeting marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Trkiye and King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday accused Israel for the "genocide" it committed in the Middle East region, while addressing the General Debate of the 79th National Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) in New York. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium and on the screens) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
King Abdullah II of Jordan addresses the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Trkiye and King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday accused Israel for the "genocide" it committed in the Middle East region, while addressing the General Debate of the 79th National Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) in New York. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
Philemon Yang (at the podium), President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium and on the screens) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Front) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium and on the screens) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Philemon Yang (at the podium and on the screens), President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Philemon Yang (Front), President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Philemon Yang (at the podium and on the screens), President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
A woman listens to a presentation 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
Under a proposed $4.4 billion bond before voters in November, Houston ISD would move Sanchez Elementary School students to Deady Middle School and spend $14 million to partially renovate Deady Middle School.
Deady and Sanchez staff and families gathered Tuesday evening in Deady's auditorium to hear more about the proposed bond. The presentation followed with hot dogs and a bounce house outside for families.
The bond would create shared or "co-located" schools, proposing to move students at eight schools to seven existing campus at a cost of $580 million.
The co-locations could help address the districts declining enrollment and financial challenges, but several HISD parents and other community members have been concerned that moving to another location would present new challenges and flatten the schools sense of community and identity.
A slide explaining co-locations 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
HISD on Tuesday showed side-by-side information on Deady and Sanchez, which included Deadys permanent capacity of 1,341 and a 2023-24 enrollment of 494, while Sanchezs capacity is 628 and enrollment of 431 that academic year.
Once again ... the buildings have more capacity than they do students, the districts South Division Superintendent Imelda De La Guardia said.
The district also showed a map of Deadys proximity of less than a mile to Sanchez. The middle school is located just south of Milby High School on Broadway Street. De La Guardia noted siblings might attend both schools and emphasized ensuring safety.
So when we do the co-location, the goal really is: How do we make sure that we dont disrupt transportation, instruction, all those things that are important. Just as important for the staff, as well as the students. Because we want to make sure that there's a smooth transition between the two schools, De La Guardia said.
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David Torres, parent of a Deady Middle School sixth grader and Southmayd Elementary second grader, said that the bond sounded good for schools and he appreciated what the district was trying to do for families. He had more questions on the back end of the bond, specifically getting the money together and investors involved.
What's in it for them, at the end of the day? Because a lot of times, I feel like whenever theres programs that they give out, theres always a catch at the end, and theres something, you know what I mean? Torres said. But I feel like they didnt give us too much information. But at the same time, we could look into it ourselves. They opened a platform for us, so we can check it out.
He said he felt bringing in another school might make Deady "a little bit packed," even with the building's capacity. He also wanted to learn more about why schools enrollment was declining and where students are going.
Deady parent Rebecca Garcia said she was open to supporting the bond and hoped for additional details. She was worried about the dynamic of putting middle schoolers and elementary schoolers together and whether it could introduce bullying of the younger age group.
A big concern for her was safe pickup, dropoff and parking at the school.
Were trying to keep it safe for our children, Garcia said, adding, Having to actually have another school, combine both of them together... it does come out to be more vehicles, more people.
A third house has collapsed within a week on the Outer Banks island of Hatteras in North Carolina as storms grow in intensity and rising sea levels encroach on beachfront homes.
North Carolina park officials warned swimmers and surfers to avoid the beaches in Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo due to the debris floating amid the waves. Additionally, beachgoers should wear protective shoes when walking along the 70-mile stretch of shoreline that includes the beach in front of Rodanthe to avoid injuries from nails sticking out of wooden debris, warned rangers on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
The collapse of the unoccupied house, which occurred Tuesday afternoon, comes after two other beachfront houses in Rodanthe collapsed within hours of one another on Friday.
A portion of debris from the collapsed house at 23039 G A Kohler Court is shown near houses at 23047 G A Kohler Court and 23237 Sea Oats Drive in Rodanthe.
Another house collapses in Outer Banks
The unoccupied house on G.A. Kohler Court collapsed around 1 p.m. Tuesday, the National Park Service said in its statement. The owner of the house has hired a debris cleanup contractor, while Seashore employees plan on assisting with cleanup efforts.
House collapse debris
Seashore authorities have closed the beach from G A Kohler Court in Rodanthe to Wimble Shores North Court in Waves because of the debris littering both the beach and in the water. Photographs shared by the park service show the damaged home, as well as crumbled piles of debris.
No injuries were reported from the collapse.
Two houses collapse Friday in Rodanthe
Two houses have collapsed in Rodanthe, North Carolina a day apart.
The home became the fifth privately-owned house to collapse on the island just this year and tenth since 2020 after two others collapsed just days prior.
In the early morning hours on Friday, an unoccupied house on G A Kohler Court collapsed. Officials began monitoring an adjacent house that had sustained damage before it also collapsed later that same night, the National Park Service said in an online news release.
In the initial aftermath, debris was observed at least 20 miles south of the collapse sites, an official told USA TODAY.
What is causing the houses to collapse?
The village of Rodanthe as well as others adjacent to the seashore have been especially susceptible to coastal erosion caused by a combination of winds, waves, tides and rising seas, park officials have said.
Elevated beach-style homes sitting atop pilings were once protected by dunes and dry sand. But in recent years, the bases of many of these homes have been either partially or fully covered with ocean water on a regular basis, according to the park service.
When the houses are battered by strong winds and large waves, the water erodes the sand supporting the homes, increasing the chance of collapse.
Contributing: Ahjane Forbes, Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Another home collapses in Rodanthe on North Carolina's Outer Banks
By Steve Holland
NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday an all-out war was possible in the Middle East but there was also the possibility of a settlement in Israel's conflicts in Gaza and with the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"An all-out war is possible, but I think there's also the opportunity - we're still in play to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region," Biden said in an appearance on ABC's "The View."
Biden, in New York this week for U.N. General Assembly meetings, has been working to calm tensions as the nearly yearlong war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip now threatens to engulf Lebanon. Israel widened its airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday and shot down a missile Hezbollah said it fired at the Mossad spy agency near Tel Aviv.
The U.S. president, a staunch longtime ally of Israel, has pushed for a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestinian conflict and said he has openly disagreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the issue.
"I don't agree with his position. There needs to be a two state solution," Biden said. "It needs to happen."
Biden said once ceasefires are secured with Hezbollah and in Gaza, then attention can be turned to the West Bank.
"It's possible, and I'm using every bit of energy I have ... to get this done. There's a desire to see change."
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
A Qdoba birria quesadilla.
Birria, which was once known as a regional Mexican food, has taken on a life of its own in the U.S., becoming a social media star and fast-food darling.
Traditionally, birria is a beef or goat stew, slow cooked with spices and chiles to give the meat lots of flavor. Birria tacos use the slow-cooked meat as a filling and usually include a consomme on the side to dip the taco.
Over the past four years, birria has seen its presence on restaurant menus grow 412%, largely thanks to midscale and casual-dining chains, according to market research firm Datassential. It has made the jump from Mexican-focused restaurants to eateries with broader menus, such as Sugar Factorys American dining spots and Bowleros bowling alleys.
Mexican-inspired fast-food brands such as Qdoba, El Pollo Loco, Del Taco and even Taco Bell have released their own versions of birria, turning it into a new menu staple. And the dish is still growing. Datassential predicts that birrias menu penetration will more than double over the next four years.
From Jalisco to TikTok
While birria might be newer to U.S. diners, it has been around for centuries in Jalisco, a Mexican state that borders the Pacific Ocean.
Goats, which were originally brought over by Spaniards, had become an invasive species, and eating them was an easy way to take care of the problem, according to Steven Alvarez, a St. Johns University professor who teaches a class on taco literacy. But making goat tasty required spices and chiles. Slow cooking the meat made it tender.
The goat comes from Europe, the chiles the guajillo peppers, ancho peppers are native to the Americas, and they come together to make this thing that is distinctly new, Alvarez said.
The dish migrated up to Tijuana, Mexico. There, in the 1950s, a taco vendor named Don Guadalupe Zarate swapped out goat for beef because it was cheaper, according to Alvarez. Adding water to make it a stew kept the meat from burning.
Over the past decade, birria moved north, to Los Angeles, where Mexican immigrants dished out tacos and consomme from food trucks such as Birrieria Gonzalez.
Whats beautiful about [southern California] is that the Mexican food is always, constantly regenerated by whats going on in Mexico, based on the immigration patterns, Alvarez said.
More recently, birria took off in New York City, with restaurants and food trucks serving up tacos and consomme across the five boroughs.
But the true inflection point for birria came thanks to Instagram. Food influencers photos of birria tacos, with their beef cascading down into a cup of consomme, made mouths water, and introduced a new audience to the food, according to Alvarez. Once TikTok took off, so did videos of birria, whether for reviews of the restaurants and food trucks serving it or for recipes to make it at home.
Finding opportunity
Social media is partly why birria became a staple on Qdobas menu.
Katy Velazquez, director of culinary innovation for Qdoba, was first introduced to birria while in Mexico for a previous job. Later, while back in the U.S., she started seeing the food pick up online, thanks to sexy cheese pull shots on social media, she said.
Cut to the Covid-19 pandemic, when brisket prices were soaring, and Qdoba had to remove its Tex Mex-inspired version of brisket from its menu.
We were losing money on every entree that we sold, Velazquez said.
But that loss gave her team the opportunity to create their own take on birria, using brisket as its base. The fast-casual chains final product is not made the same way that traditional birria is, but Velazquez and her team aimed to emulate the same flavor and tenderness.
We get the benefit of seasonings that have hours of tomatoes that are reduced and simmered and then they get dehydrated and brought into it, so we get the same effect and flavor without hours and hours of work, she said.
Qdoba introduced its birria two years ago, replacing its previous brisket entree permanently and charging customers extra for the new protein option. Since the chain is privately owned by Butterfly Equity, it does not disclose its financial results, including more details about the success of the launch.
This fall, the chain is repromoting its birria offerings, betting that its flavor will appeal to customers looking for a cozy lunch or dinner, Velazquez said.
Were really proud of it, and were proud to be able to bring something that was a regional Mexican cuisine to a really large audience at a brand like ours, she added.
Birria everything
Birrias fanbase is not growing just because Qdoba and other large restaurant chains have added it to their menus. It is also because of its own versatility, Christine Couvelier, a culinary trendspotter and founder of the Culinary Concierge, told CNBC.
This is a dish that is not about heat its flavor, Couvelier said. So when consumers try it on a menu, they arent afraid or surprised. This is a flavor that is cooked low and slow.
Couvelier envisions many different possible iterations for birria: on top of poutine, in soups and even stuffed in ravioli. She has also started to see some packaged food companies experiment with sauces that include the flavors of birria.
It has switched from a specific dish to a protein and can be found across the menu, said Claire Conaghan, Datassential trendologist and associate director.
Now that birria is usually made using beef, it can be paired with nearly anything, Conaghan added.
According to Datassential, tacos are the most popular birria dishes found on menus, but the firms Menu Trends platform has also found birria quesadillas, grilled cheese, breakfast dishes and even ramen.
Birria ramen first popped up in Tijuana, Mexico, according to Alvarez. But it has made its way stateside, and even appeared on Del Tacos menu.
Jeremias Aguayo, Del Tacos senior director of culinary research and development, rejoined the chains culinary team in 2022, shortly after Jack in the Box bought Del Taco. He personally took on the goal of creating Del Tacos take on birria.
The consomme recipe alone took Aguayo four months and 17 attempts to make just right, he said. At the same time, Del Taco came up with its beef birria recipe. The chain launched its quesabirria taco, birria quesadilla and birria ramen at the same time last November.
The result was Del Tacos biggest promotion in years, leading to big jumps in sales, traffic and check average, according to Aguayo. Del Taco sold upward of one million birria ramen at more than 600 restaurants over two promotional windows.
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A member of the Secret Service looks out from the roof of the White House on Sept 11, 2019.
WASHINGTON The Senate unanimously passed legislation Tuesday to boost Secret Service protection for presidential candidates, sending the bill to the White House for President Joe Biden's signature.
The strong show of bipartisan support came days after the House passed the measure, known as the Enhanced Presidential Security Act, without any opposition in a 405-0 vote.
The bill would give former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris the same level of protection provided to Biden. At only three pages long, the bill gives broad discretion to the Secret Service on how to apply measures to reach that level.
It comes the same month as an apparent second attempt to assassinate Trump. Biden called on Congress to act last week, saying that the Secret Service needs more help.
The Trump campaign, the Harris campaign and the Secret Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Senate passage of the bill.
The Enhanced Presidential Security Act was introduced in the House by Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., brought the legislation to the Senate floor.
Following the House vote on Friday, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said during a press conference that Trump is already receiving the highest levels of secret service protection. He added that Trump was receiving everything Biden is with respect to Secret Service.
At the same time, Rowe said the agency needs a paradigm shift in its approach to protecting presidents.
The passage of the bill comes as the House mulls a broader spending measure that includes a plan to provide an additional $231 million for the Secret Service.
It also comes a day after Trump accused the Justice Department of "downplaying" the alleged assassination plot against him in West Palm Beach, Florida. Trump was previously shot in the ear during an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Cecil Beaton
As they say, a piece of jewelry has the power to tell many stories. This particular diamond necklace, which is being sold by Sotheby's this fall for an estimated $2.8 million, tells royal-related ones both good and bad.
The diamond necklace weighs approximately 300 carats and was made in the 18th century, likely a decade before the French Revolution. This sale is the first time the jewel will be exhibited in the last 50 years.
courtesy of Sotheby's
According to the auction house, some of the diamonds from the necklace may have come from the "Affair of the Diamond Necklace" 1785 scandal with Marie Antoinette. As the story goes, a cardinal was interested in charming the last Queen of France, who was tricked into acquiring a necklace on behalf of someone who is essentially catfishing her. When the jewelers came around to ask for the payment directly from the queen, they were notified that she never received the necklace. In the meantime, the catfish broke off pieces of the necklace and sold them in London. The occasion sparked rumors of Marie-Antoinette having an affair with a cardinal, which furthered the distrust of the French monarchy.
Later known moments with the diamond necklace tell more redeeming royal stories. In the 20th century, the item was owned by the Marquesses of Anglesey, an Anglo-Welsh aristocratic family with close ties to the British royal family. In 1937, Marjorie Paget wore the jewel to the coronation of King George VI and was immortalized in her coronation robes and diamond jewelry by Cecil Beaton (above). In 1953, her daughter-in-law wore the diamond jewels to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
The necklace will tour around the globe, stopping at London, Hong Kong, New York, Singapore, Taipei, and Dubai before it is sold during a live sale in Geneva, Switzerland on November 11.
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If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
A former New York prosecutor and retired judge reportedly took his own life Tuesday during an apparent shootout with the FBI as agents descended on his home to arrest him in a federal corruption case.
Stewart Rosenwasser had been indicted Monday in a U.S. district court in New York on charges accusing him of accepting bribery payments to initiate a criminal investigation while working for the Orange County District Attorney. When the FBI arrived Tuesday to arrest Rosenwasser at his home in rural Orange County, he reportedly died by suicide after agents may have shot at him, according to multiple reports.
The FBI released a statement to USA TODAY simply saying that the agency's Inspection Division was "reviewing an agent-involved shooting," as is bureau policy.
"As this is an ongoing matter, we have no further details to provide, the statement said.
Rosenwasser dies day after federal indictment
The FBI traveled early Tuesday morning to Rosenwasser's home in the rural town of Campbell Hall to take him into custody, according to multiple new outlets who cited law enforcement sources familiar with the matter.
Rosenwasser reportedly pointed a gun at agents, at least one of whom fired a shot, two sources familiar with the case told NBC New York. Rosenwasser then barricaded himself in his home, where he is suspected of taking his own life, sources also told CBS News New York and ABC News.
The reported gunfire exchange came one day after a federal grand jury voted to indict Rosenwasser on charges that include bribery, extortion, making false statements and wire fraud, court records show.
Rosenwasser, a retired New York judge, had reportedly resigned in June from the Orange County District Attorney's office, where he was chief counsel and executive assistant district attorney.
It's truly heartbreaking that it ended this way," Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said in a statement to USA TODAY. "My heartfelt condolences go out to his family.
Rosenwasser accused of taking $63,000 in bribes
Rosenwasser was accused in a federal indictment of accepting at least $63,000 in bribe payments to leverage his position in the district attorney's office to investigate two people.
The request is alleged to have come from a millionaire former restaurant owner to whom Rosenwasser would also provide updates on the investigation, according to the federal indictment.
He is accused of receiving the bribes largely in the form of checks or money orders starting in 2022, the indictment states.
This story has been updated to add new information.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ex-Orange County NY judge, prosecutor kills self in FBI raid: Reports
A man allegedly threw an explosive device inside a California courthouse on Wednesday, injuring five people, the same day he was set to be arraigned on firearms violations, authorities said.
The explosion was reported around 8:48 a.m. PT Wednesday at the Santa Maria Courthouse in Santa Barbara County.
The suspect allegedly lunged through the courthouse doors and tossed a small bag past the weapons screening station, and the bag exploded as it hit the floor outside of the local arraignment room, Darrel Parker, the court executive officer, told ABC News.
PHOTO: People leave the Santa Maria Courthouse after two people suffered non-life-threatening injuries from an explosion at the courthouse in Santa Barbara County, Calif., Sept. 25, 2024. (KEYT)
Five people suffered non-life-threatening injuries from the explosion, including burns, according to Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office Undersheriff Craig Bonner.
The suspect, identified by the sheriff's office as 20-year-old Nathaniel McGuire, will be booked on multiple local charges, including attempted murder, using an explosive device and attempting to kill someone, and possession of explosive devices, Bonner said. He will be held without bail, Bonner said.
CLOSURE: Due to a law enforcement investigation of a bomb explosion at the nearby #SantaMaria Superior Court this morning, Santa Maria City Hall, Finance Department, City Attorney's Office, Santa Maria Public Library, and Recreation and Parks Department are closed for today. CityofSantaMariaCa (@City_SantaMaria) September 25, 2024
Authorities believe the explosion was the result of an "intentionally set improvised explosive device," Santa Barbara County Sheriff public information officer Raquel Zick wrote on social media.
The suspect was detained as he attempted to enter his car outside the courthouse, Bonner said. He was wearing body armor under his jacket, according to Bonner. He also allegedly had weapons and ammunition in his car, Parker said.
MORE: Kentucky sheriff accused of shooting judge pleads not guilty, could face death penalty
The suspect's alleged motivation in the explosion "appeared to have stemmed from a recent arrest" by the sheriff's office, Bonner said during a press briefing Wednesday evening.
In that case, McGuire was arrested for firearms violations on July 28, Bonner said. Deputies had seized a "loaded and concealed revolver that was in McGuire's pants pocket and was not registered to him," Bonner said.
He was set to be arraigned in that case Wednesday morning, Bonner said. Court records show his arraignment was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. PT at the Santa Maria Courthouse on a charge of carrying a loaded firearm. An attorney for McGuire was not listed in that case.
Detectives are working with Santa Barbara County Fire to see if the suspect is associated with several recent additional arson fires, Bonner said.
Authorities do not believe there are any additional safety concerns at this time, Bonner said.
The FBI is also investigating the incident. The suspect has no known ties to terrorism, authorities said.
PHOTO: People leave the Santa Maria Courthouse after two people suffered non-life-threatening injuries from an explosion at the courthouse in Santa Barbara County, Calif., Sept. 25, 2024. (KEYT)
Five people were injured in the explosion, Bonner said. They have all since been treated and released from a local hospital, he said. The victims were all civilians, with no court employees among those injured, Parker said.
The courthouse will remain closed on Thursday amid the investigation.
"We will thoroughly review this incident to make sure that we could take whatever steps are necessary to reduce the chance of this ever happening again in the court," Parker said during the press briefing.
Man threw explosive device inside California courthouse on day of arraignment: Undersheriff originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Brad Pitt attends the 81st Venice International Film Festival on Sept 1, 2024, in Italy. Credit - Jacopo RauleAP
Spanish police arrested five people for impersonating Brad Pitt in order to scam women by convincing them that the famed Hollywood actor was in love with them. The two women targeted by the online scammers lost a combined 325,000 ($364,000), Spanish media reported.
Police say that the criminals operated by visiting online platforms for fans of the actor, and built up psychological profiles of the potential victims. They chose the two women, reportedly both aged 60, because they believed they lacked romantic relationships and appeared to be in states of depression.
The scammers then sent WhatsApp messages and emails pretending to be Pitt (who does not have any social media presence) and promised future romantic relationships.
My love for you is true. Feeling from my heart and forever, please forgive me and accept me it is because I love you and am very much in love with you, one handwritten letter that was found during a search of the criminals property reads, according to Times of London.
After the criminals convinced the victims of Pitts love, they began suggesting the women invest with him in various projects. Police have since been able to recover approximately $95,000 (85,000) on behalf of the victims.
In a statement to the New York Times, Matthew Hiltzik a publicist to Pittissued a warning about the risks of scams and reminded the public that the actor doesn't have a social media presence.
Hiltzik is quoted as telling the publication: Its awful that scammers take advantage of fans strong connection with celebrities. But this is an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence.
TIME has reached out to Guardia Civil, the Spanish police agency handling the case for further comment.
If you have been scammed, you must act immediately and contact the relevant authorities to alert them of your situation. In the U.S., experts recommend contacting the Federal trade commission at the ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The main cause of action is prevention, but if you do find yourself falling victim to a scam, there are additional steps you can take.
Contact us at letters@time.com.
Hello and welcome to Eye on AI! In this editionWall Street's leading AI skeptic is at Goldman Sachs; Hollywood celebs urge Gavin Newsom to sign SB-1047; A highly anticipated AI startup comes out of stealth; and (surprise!) Russia is using AI for election influence efforts.
The president of the United Arab Emirates met with President Joe Biden yesterday to hammer out a deal to cooperate on AI issues. The geopolitical backdrop of the meeting was certainly complexthe Gulf nation wants easier access to U.S. technology, but the U.S. has restricted Gulf states from freely importing U.S.-made AI chips over concerns the technology could leak to China.
Observed from another angle, however, the meeting was quite simple: Money makes the world go round. The U.S. wantsand needsMiddle East oil money in order to remain dominant in AI. And Gulf states like the UAE, which want to become AI powerhouses themselves in a bid to diversify their economies, are more than happy to shower U.S. AI companies with billions.
Sam Altman wants to drive down AI costs
Of course, wealth may be good, but who doesnt love a bargain? Sam Altman certainly does. The OpenAI CEO has been talking for months about reducing the costs of the computing power and infrastructure that is fueling the AI boom. Yesterday, he published a blog post that, while ostensibly focused on the untapped potential of AI that will drive massive prosperity, clearly challenges the world to build enough data centers and manufacture enough AI chips to make developing and operating AI cheaper.
If we want to put AI into the hands of as many people as possible, we need to drive down the cost of compute and make it abundant (which requires lots of energy and chips), Altman wrote. If we dont build enough infrastructure, AI will be a very limited resource that wars get fought over and that becomes mostly a tool for rich people.
Middle East wealth poised to feed the need for AI power
Of course, cheap often doesnt come cheap. Altman knows this, given the news in February that he was seeking trillions of dollars to reshape the entire landscape of AI chips and data centers. In the meantime, the Gulf States, including from sovereign wealth funds in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar are seen as one important way to feedand fundAltmans need for AI computing power, and that of many other hot AI startups like Anthropic and Mistral. OpenAI is rumored to be in talks with MGX, the $100 billion UAE-backed investment fund, for a multibillion-dollar funding round that is said to value OpenAI at $150 billion.
CNBC reported this week that funding for AI companies by Middle Eastern sovereign funds has increased fivefold over the past year, though Saudi Arabias human rights record has led some companies to turn down its cash. Anthropic reportedly ruled out taking money from the Saudis in its last funding round, citing national security issues.
There are also AI partnership deals flying around the Gulf: Ahead of the UAEs meeting with President Biden, UAE AI company G42 announced it had teamed up with AI chip juggernaut Nvidia to work on climate tech. In April, Microsoft also announced a $1 billion investment in G42, and last week the two companies said they would open two responsible AI centers in Abu Dhabi. Last week Saudi Arabias Aramco partnered with AI startup Groq to build the worlds largest data center for high-speed AI processing.
The environmental cost of AI is alarmingly high
Money may make the world go round, but more down-to-earth concerns like air, water, and food are essential to humanitys survival. When it comes to the environmental impact of AI, the real price of the massive investment in AI chips and data centersaimed at reducing the cost of computing power required to harness AIis alarmingly high.
The Washington Post reported recently that OpenAIs ChatGPT must chug just over one bottle of water to write a 100-word email. One email per week for a year would use up 27 liters of water and that means if one in 10 U.S. residents asked ChatGPT to write an email weekly, it would require more than 435 million liters of water.
Cheap AI will cost a fortune
Is it all worth it? When seen through Sam Altmans rose-colored glasses, the answer is an unequivocal yes. In typical overly dramatic, prophetic tones, Altman wrote in his blog post that I believe the future is going to be so bright that no one can do it justice by trying to write about it now. (Sorry, Sam, Im still going to try.)
Costly downsides like AIs environmental impact warranted zero mention in Altmans dispatch. They also seemed to be largely overlooked in the geopolitical discussions about AIs future, including the recent meeting between President Biden and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Only time will tell how these issues will play out. But I get the feeling that Sam Altmanand other AI and global leadersalready know that the quest for cheap AI will cost a fortune, in more ways than one.
Before we get to the news: I highly recommend checking out Jeremy Kahn's latest Fortune magazine story that dropped this morning. It focuses on how Intels years of missteps have left it fighting for survival in the Nvidia-dominated AI era: Who could have imagined that Chandler, Ariz., outside Phoenix, where Intel is investing nearly $30 billion to build two state-of-the-art semiconductor plants, would be where the company's fate might be decided?
Sharon Goldman
sharon.goldman@fortune.com
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
By Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Alphabet unit Google filed a complaint to the European Commission on Wednesday against what it said were Microsoft's anti-competitive practices to lock customers into Microsoft's cloud platform Azure.
Google, whose biggest cloud computing rivals are Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, said Microsoft was exploiting its dominant Windows Server operating system to prevent competition.
Google Cloud Vice President Amit Zavery told a briefing that Microsoft made customers pay a 400% mark-up to keep running Windows Server on rival cloud computing operators. This did not apply if they used Azure. Users of rival cloud systems would also get later and more limited security updates, Zavery said.
Google pointed to a 2023 study by cloud services organisation CISPE which found that European businesses and public sector bodies were paying up to 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) per year on Microsoft licensing penalties.
Microsoft in July clinched a 20-million-euro deal to settle an antitrust complaint about its cloud computing licensing practices with CISPE, averting an EU investigation. However, the settlement did not include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform and AliCloud, prompting criticism from the first two companies.
Microsoft said it had settled amicably similar concerns raised by European cloud providers, adding that Google had hoped they would keep litigating.
"Having failed to persuade European companies, we expect Google similarly will fail to persuade the European Commission," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement.
Google said Microsoft had locked customers into using collaboration application Teams even when they preferred alternatives and was using the same playbook for Azure.
"The time to act is now," Zavery said. "The cloud market will get more and more restrictive if things don't happen now."
Google said that only regulatory action would end Microsoft's "vendor lock" and level the playing field for competitors.
"We are asking the European Commission to act now. We're asking them to really look at this issue, help customers decide and keep the choices going for them," Zavery said.
Google said Microsoft's Windows Server and various Microsoft products had a market share of over 70% in European businesses.
For years, Microsoft allowed its products to work on any hardware, such as laptops, but placed restrictions in 2019 as it entered the cloud business.
The cloud computing business is growing at around 20% per year in the EU, with plenty of potential. A McKinsey study in April showed that two-thirds of EU companies had less than half of their workloads on the cloud.
($1 = 0.8943 euros)
(Reporting by Philip BlenkinsopEditing by Tomasz Janowski, Kirsten Donovan)
Stephen F. Austin High School students, left to right, Xane Ramby at the navigator position, Gerbeth Portillo at the helmsman position, and Steven Membreno at the radar position demonstrate the use of the maritime vocational program simulator available at the school, Monday, Sep. 23, 2024 in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer Stephen F. Austin High School students, left to right, Xane Ramby at the navigator position, Gerbeth Portillo at the helmsman position, and Steven Membreno at the radar position demonstrate the use of the maritime vocational program simulator available at the school, Monday, Sep. 23, 2024 in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer Stephen F. Austin High School students, left to right, Gerbeth Portillo at the helmsman position, Xane Ramby at the navigator position, and Steven Membreno at the radar position demonstrate the use of the maritime vocational program simulator available at the school, Monday, Sep. 23, 2024 in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer Various ropes and safety equipment are visible in the maritime vocational training classroom of Maritime Instructor Chief Shane Beck Monday, Sep. 23, 2024 at Stephen F. Austin High School in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer Various ropes and safety equipment are visible in the maritime vocational training classroom of Maritime Instructor Chief Shane Beck Monday, Sep. 23, 2024 at Stephen F. Austin High School in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer The entrance to the maritime vocational training classroom of Maritime Instructor Chief Shane Beck is visible Monday, Sep. 23, 2024 at Stephen F. Austin High School in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer A plaque identifying the Maritime vocational training program is visible Monday, Sep. 23, 2024 at Stephen F. Austin High School in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer Maritime Instructor Chief Shane Beck mingles with guests during a media event Monday, Sep. 23, 2024 in his classroom at Stephen F. Austin High School in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer HISD Superintendent Mike Miles, right, listens as Chevron Shipping, LLC, President Barbara Pickering during a Stephen F. Austin High School media event at the school, Monday, Sep. 23, 2024 in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer Inside left to right, Port of Houston Chairman of the Board and HISD school board member Ric Campo, HISD Superintendent Mike Miles, Chevron Shipping, LLC, President Barbara Pickering and Port of Houston CEO, Charlie Jenkins listen as Stephen F. Austin High School principal Lucio Rodriguez, far left, speaks during a media event at the school, Monday, Sep. 23, 2024 in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer
Stephen F. Austin Senior High School student Gerbeth Portillo gestured to a display, while three big screens above showed dark, stormy waters in a simulation room that teaches students how to navigate a ship to port in different weather conditions.
"Over here, you can zoom out. You can see what direction the boat is facing," Portillo said. The display showed what way the rudders pointed into, what way they can steer. "The wind speeds over there. The depth, so you have an idea of where you can go or can't go into so you don't damage the boat."
Adjacent to that was another display set up like a dashboard, as well as a way to look in any direction, be it port- or starboard-side. In this simulated storm there would be no visibility, and the radar to the right would show other boats and planes, the senior noted.
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Portillo is part of the school's maritime studies program, founded with the Port of Houston in 2009-10, which received a $62,500 funding infusion from Chevron Shipping Company on Monday to expand with more internship and mentorship opportunities, state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles said.
Stephen F. Austin High School student Gerbeth Portillo discusses use of the maritime vocational program simulator available at the school, Monday, Sep. 23, 2024 in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer
Cheerleaders welcomed visitors to the East End campus from organizations that included Chevron, the Port of Houston and tank barge operator Kirby Corporation.
"HISD is a workforce development entity," said HISD Board of Managers member Ric Campo, who is also chairman of the Port Commission at the Port of Houston. "Our job, at HISD, is to prepare the workforce of the future, and we do that through education."
The district is seeking to expand career-and-technical education and raise awareness of existing programs, Campo said, as part of Miles' emphasis on preparing students for the 2035 workforce.
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HISD's upcoming $4.4 billion school bond before voters would allocate $375 million to three new career-and-technical education centers, with $125 million for each, and $50 million for renovations at Barbara Jordan Career Center in the district's north division.
"And so it's really important for us to invest in the future," Campo told visiting guests and students. "In our bond proposal, half a billion dollars goes to CTE. And so we need to keep investing in our community, investing as partners."
CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION: Here's what to know about the allocated $375 million under the proposed bond
Under balloon decor in Austin's green and white, Miles said that companies in the U.S. and globally are turning not just to bachelor's degrees and diplomas but to high-demand workforce skills.
"Many companies have already started to say, 'Look, we'll take you if you have a bachelor's degree yes, that's important but even if you don't, if you have the skill set that we need,' " Miles said. "I don't want people out there to think that we're not focused on getting our kids to have the proficiency to be in college. Yes, and we're trying to get students to also have industry-based certifications and other high-demand highway skills."
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Port of Houston Authority Chairman of the Port Commission and HISD school board member Ric Campo speaks during a media event at Stephen F. High School, Monday, Sep. 23, 2024 in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer
Senior Alexander Rosales said he has a passion for art and enjoys drawing and labeling boats. He said he envisions creating art for a career. Right now, he's learning about knots and logistics.
More than 100 students participate in the program, instructor Linda Clary said. Chevron's funding will allow students to have more exposure to and opportunities in landside education, which includes logistics, taking messages from vessels, making sure vessels have everything they need, and preparing vessels for fueling.
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"So, for every person that is on a vessel, there's at least nine people behind that scene, that are on the land, that are taking care of everything that the vessel needs before it comes into port, while it's at port, and when it leaves," Clary said.
Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., arrives for the House Republican Conference caucus meeting in the U.S. Capitol on June 4.
Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., called Haiti the "nastiest country in the western hemisphere" in a post on social media Wednesday, saying migrants from the Caribbean country, the majority of whom are in the U.S. legally, should "get their ass out of our country."
Higgins' rant on X which was deleted hours later came in response to an Associated Press story about a Haitian nonprofit group that filed a citizen criminal charge against former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance for their repeated baseless claims about migrants in Springfield, Ohio, including Trump's assertion at the presidential debate they were "eating the dogs" and "eating the cats."
Higgins' post amplified the debunked pet claim, which was followed by dozens of bomb threats in the city.
"Lol. These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters but damned if they dont feel all sophisticated now, filing charges against our President and VP," he said, referring to Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees Trump and Vance, respectively.
"All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th," the post concluded. That would be the day Trump and Vance would be sworn into office if they win November's election.
Subodh Chandra, the attorney representing the Haitian Bridge Alliance, the nonprofit group that filed the charges, said the post is not a dog-whistle but the trumpeting of a clear threat."
He said that "in a functional House of Representatives under a responsible speaker who cares about integrity, this would be addressed swiftly by an Ethics Committee investigation and censure or expulsion. But this is a House majority that indulges antisemitism and racism, so well see if the Republican leadership does anything at all.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters that Higgins is a dear friend of mine and a colleague from Louisiana and a very frank and outspoken person. He said that he'd spoken to Higgins on the House floor about the post and that Higgins went to the back and he prayed about it, and he regretted it, and he pulled the post down.
A spokesperson for Higgins did not respond to a request for comment on the post. Neither did a representative for the Trump campaign.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called Higgins' comments vile, racist and beneath the dignity of the United States House of Representatives and said he must be held accountable for dishonorable conduct that is unbecoming of a Member of Congress.
Rep. Steve Horsford, D-Nev., moved to censure Higgins on the House floor early Wednesday evening.
"They are inciting hate. They are inciting fear," Horsford said.
"It is time to end hate and the rhetoric of hate, and that it is not becoming on any member to continue to push this type of rhetoric on any platform, let alone from the House of Representatives," he added.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Higgins' fellow Republican congressman from Louisiana, said, "The tweet has been deleted already and removed, but I object to the motion."
The motion was found to be out of order.
Horsford told reporters afterwards that he'd spoken to Higgins earlier and that Higgins had told him he would not remove the post.
He didnt, in my view, show any remorse, didnt understand how his rhetoric is contributing to the feeling of people being harassed and threatened and feeling unsafe in their own communities, and that is why I asked him to remove the post, Horsford said. He actually told me, no, he would not, and then thats when we started the action on the floor.
The vast majority of Haitians in Springfield are in the country legally after having been granted temporary protected status by the Department of Homeland Security. Trump and Vance have vowed to end that protection and immediately deport them if they are elected.
If Kamala Harris waves the wand illegally and says these people are now here legally, Im still going to call them an 'illegal alien,' Vance told reporters at an event in North Carolina this month.
Higgins is a staunch Trump ally who has become known for using heated rhetoric, including saying last year of special counsel Jack Smith, "Ill just say that his days are numbered and American patriots are not gonna stand idly by, good sir, and allow our republic to dissolve."
After a 2017 terrorist attack in London, Higgins said anyone even suspected of being an Islamic terrorist should be killed.
Not a single radicalized Islamic suspect should be granted any measure of quarter, he wrote on Facebook. Their intended entry to the American homeland should be summarily denied. Every conceivable measure should be engaged to hunt them down. Hunt them, identify them, and kill them. Kill them all.
He also made headlines last year for physically removing an activist from an outdoor news conference on Capitol Hill.
He said in a post on Twitter afterward that the activist became very disruptive and threatening, in violation of the law, and had aggressively disrupted Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and approached her in a threatening manner.
Almost 800 public and charter schools across Pennsylvania will be receiving copies of a graphic novel that tells a story imagining what might have happened if attempts to overturn the 2020 election had been successful.
Publisher OneSixComics is sending out copies of its speculative fiction book, 1/6: The Graphic Novel, to high schools in 495 public school districts, 87 charter schools, 76 career centers and eight state juvenile corrections institutions as part of a pro-democracy education campaign.
In the tradition of speculative fiction like 1984 and The Handmaids Tale, it explores themes of autocracy, scapegoating and strategic disinformation, traveling the road that led from back-room meetings and white supremacist rallies to the Four Seasons Total Landscaping parking lot to the ultimate violent attack on the Capitol, a news release from One Six Comics explains.
The cover from the first issue of OneSixComic's "1/6: A Graphic Novel," a work of speculative fiction imagining what would have happened if attempts to overturn the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election were overturned. Copies of the graphic novel are being donated to schools across Pennsylvania.
The four-issue graphic novel was written by Harvard Law School professor Alan Jenkins and New York Times best-selling author and artist Gan Golan.
Jenkins told the USA Today Network that he and Golan began work on their graphic novel over two years ago, as myths and lies persisted about the 2020 election and the violent attacks that followed.
It was immediately evident to me that we needed to tell the story of what happened and the story of what could have happened and to tell it in a way that would reach everyday folks who care about our democracy, but were maybe too busy to read the 800-page House Select Committee report on the insurrection, Jenkins said.
Jenkins added that the publisher chose Pennsylvania schools specifically because the commonwealth is widely regarded as the birthplace of democracy and its ranking as one of the states with the most banned and challenged books in public schools by groups like PEN America and the American Library Association.
What Pa. schools are getting 1/6: The Graphic Novelbooks?
A list of 780 schools was provided to the USA Today Network by the publisher, including 58 schools in Philadelphia; 18 schools in Bucks County; 17 schools in York County; and 14 schools in Erie County.
Central Bucks School District, which has one of the largest student populations in Pennsylvania, is receiving copies for each of its five middle schools.
Each of the county's 12 other school districts will be receiving copies for their high school libraries. The Bucks County Technical High School, Middle Bucks Institute of Technology and the Upper Bucks County Technical School are also receiving copies.
Pa. congress members respond: What Pa.'s US representatives, senators said when asked if they'll accept election result
The donations are intended to provide school libraries with physical copies of the book, but Jenkins said there is a digital platform to provide individual copies to students if teachers wanted to make the graphic novel part of a lesson plan for their classrooms.
The donation includes an education guide developed by the national nonprofit Western States Center, which advocates against anti-democratic social movements and hate groups, according to information on the centers website.
Below is a list of all schools where OneSixComics is donating books.
Is 1/6: The Graphic Novel available in my schools library?
While the publisher has started sending copies of the graphic novel out to schools, school districts typically have policies on how donations are accepted and distributed.
School districts are not required to use any donations they receive.
For example, Central Bucks policy 702 on gifts, grants and donations says the school board reserves the right to refuse to accept any gift that does not contribute to achievement of district goals or when such ownership would adversely affect the district.
Any donations are also subject to the same rules and policies as any other district property.
Whats in1/6: The Graphic Novel
The final two issues of the comic will be sent out after they are published in the coming months, but the publisher provided copies of the first two issues to the USA Today Network, which includes the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intell.
The main story is set sometime in the near future in Washington, D.C., and is centered around a handful of main characters, which includes a nurse, a journalist, a former congressional aide and a Trump supporter whose son was killed during the Capitol riot.
The first issue is primarily used to introduce the main characters and set up a re-imagined America under totalitarian rule.
Banned Books Week in Bucks: Want to read a banned book? Visit a Bucks County Free Library branch this week
A news station is violently taken over by a paramilitary group before a live broadcast after the station violates the "Fair and Balanced Media Actof 2021" and is declared "an enemy of freedom." A speaker at a rally celebrating the insurrection blames antifa and Black Lives Matter for hanging former Vice President Mike Pence. Resistance members give coded messages through meal orders at a local diner.
The second issue is primarily a retelling of the events that led up to Jan. 6, 2021, going as far back as the 2017 Unite the Right rally organized in Charlottesville, Virginia, where hundreds of neo-Nazis and white supremacists organized to protest the removal of confederate statues.
A page from the second issue of OneSixComic's "1/6: The Graphic Novel" including actual social media posts by former President Donald Trump and reponses from supporters and groups before the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol Building. The publisher is donating copies of the books to hundreds of schools in Pennsylvania.
Those accounts are cited from legal documents, sworn testimony and media reports, though Jenkins added that he and Golan also conducted their own interviews which is where some of the inspiration for the main characters came from.
Some frames in the comic depict scenes that have been documented through witness accounts, but details on the specific language used or the settings are unconfirmed or unknown.
Jenkins also noted that there is no nudity or sex in the graphic novel, and that there is no gratuitous violence.
The only violence that's in this comic book is, you know, depicting either what happened on Jan. 6, or what was planned, Jenkins said.
Chris Ullery is the Philadelphia Hub Data Reporter for the USA Today Network. Reach him at cullery@couriertimes.com or find him on Twitter at @ulleryatinell.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County schools get '1/6: The Graphic Novel' insurrection fiction
Vice President Harris holds a 1-point advantage over former President Trump among registered voters in North Carolina, according to an Elon University/YouGov poll released Tuesday.
Harris earns 46 percent support to Trumps 45 percent in the survey. The results fall well within the polls margin of error, rendering Harriss slim lead statistically insignificant.
North Carolina is one of seven battleground states whose closely divided electorates put them within reach for either candidate to win. North Carolina has 16 electoral votes and most recently backed a Democrat for president in 2008, when former President Obama ran against the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
As Harris closes out her second month campaigning for president, she has seen a consolidation of support among women and Black voters.
Those trends are born out in the North Carolina poll, but Harriss lead among Black voters is significantly greater than her lead among women.
Harris earns support in the poll from 79 percent of Black voters in North Carolina, compared to 10 percent who back Trump. She earns 48 percent of womens support, compared to 42 percent of North Carolinian women who support Trump.
Trump, meanwhile, leads Harris among white voters in North Carolina, with 55 percent support compared to her 37 percent. The margins are closer for men, too, with the former president leading Harris 49 percent support to 43 percent.
The Hill/Decision Desk HQs North Carolina polling average depicts a close race between the two candidates, with Trump holding a 0.6-percentage point lead over Harris, 48.3 percent to 47.7 percent.
The survey was conducted Sept. 4-13, a period that included the first presidential debate between Harris and Trump.
The poll included 800 registered voters in North Carolina and had a margin of error of 3.74 percentage points.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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U.S. Army soldiers walk to their plane for departure May 11, 2013 at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted along party lines to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt for refusing to testify on Tuesday about the botched August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Following hours of deliberations, the GOP-led panel voted 26-25, with every Republican in favor of holding Blinken in contempt of Congress and every Democrat opposed.
Rather than take accountability for this, the secretary hides from the American people. He would prefer to hide rather than be before this committee today, said Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas).
After hours of deliberations, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted along party lines to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt for refusing to testify regarding the botched August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. AP
The Secretarys willful indifference has brought us to this moment.
Republican panel members had hoped that Blinken would shed light on the go-to-zero order in Afghanistan that prompted the evacuation of US diplomats and troops, culminating in a chaotic few days at the Kabul International Airport.
An ISIS-K suicide bomber took advantage of the mad dash and detonated at Abbey Gate outside the airport, killing 13 US military service members.
In a scathing report earlier this month, GOP committee members faulted Blinken for keeping the US Embassy in Kabul open too long during the evacuation and failing to request a Noncombatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) until after the capital city fell to the Taliban in mid-August.
Asked Tuesday when the full House would vote on the measure, Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that it will not occur until after the 2024 election on Nov. 5.
House Republicans barely passed a contempt measure earlier this year against Attorney General Merrick Garland for denying investigative committees access to audio tapes of President Bidens interviews with special counsel Robert Hur.
That measure never passed the Democrat-controlled Senate, but even if it had, the Justice Department would be unlikely to prosecute.
The panel voted 26-25, as every Republican voted in favor of holding Blinken in contempt of Congress while every Democrat opposed. Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
The Blinken contempt measure is slated for a similar fate, if it ever receives a House vote.
The only recent former administration officials to serve prison sentences for contempt of Congress measures were alums of the Trump White House: trade adviser Peter Navarro and chief strategist Steve Bannon.
Both were hit with four-month federal sentences for flouting subpoenas from the House Select January 6th Committee investigating the 2021 Capitol riot.
They each claimed that executive privilege barred them from cooperating.
According to the Associated Press, Blinken wrote a letter to McCaul on Sunday that stated he was profoundly disappointed about the move and asked whether the two could not find a good faith solution.
As I have made clear, I am willing to testify and have offered several reasonable alternatives to the dates unilaterally demanded by the Committee during which I am carrying out the Presidents important foreign policy objectives, the Secretary of State said.
Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul said, Rather than take accountability for this, the secretary hides from the American people. He would prefer to hide rather than be before this committee today. AP
McCaul in Tuesdays markup debate said he had given Blinken any date in September to testify but been ignored.
In a Monday report on the contempt resolution, the Foreign Affairs Committee said it had already superseded its subpoena for Blinkens appearance once in order to accommodate the Cabinet officials busy travel schedule amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Blinken was flying from Egypt to France and then to New York over the past six days, holding additional meetings about the Russia-Ukraine war.
Democrats on the panel decried the contempt vote as political theater.
Its not difficult for the American people to see this for what it is, said ranking member Gregory Meeks (D-NY).
Another attempt to put another senior Biden administration official name into negative headlines.
The Post has reached out to the State Department for comment.
(For the latest news on Helene, please go to Wednesday's live storm coverage.)
Storm surge and hurricane warnings were issued Tuesday for Florida's Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Helene started gaining strength on the path to what's expected to become a massive and powerful hurricane.
Helene was heading toward the island of Cozumel off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as of the National Hurricane Center's 10 p.m. CDT advisory, with sustained winds increasing to 60 mph. The storm is projected to dump heavy rain and trigger possible mudslides across western Cuba while passing between the island and the Yucatan on Tuesday night.
From there, forecasters say Helene will veer toward Florida's Gulf Coast and the state's Big Bend, already battered by Hurricane Debby seven weeks ago. As it churns over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Helene is expected to rapidly intensify into a major hurricane with 115-mph winds by the time it makes landfall Thursday night.
The NHC warned the storm could bring life-threatening storm surge as high as 15 feet, hazardous winds and around 10 inches of rain to parts of Florida, most of which is under a state of emergency.
Because the storm is so large and is forecast to be moving quickly as it crosses the coast, the hurricane center also warned that strong winds and torrential rain will be felt hundreds of miles inland across the Southeast after landfall, including across Georgia, the southern Appalachians and the Tennessee Valley.
Everyone along the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend region needs to be prepared for hurricane impacts, said AccuWeather lead hurricane expert Alex DaSilva, adding that Helen has the potential to become the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. this season.
Developments:
Hurricane watches were in effect Tuesday across the Yucatan Peninsula and portions of western and central Cuba, including the Pinar del Rio Province, according to the National Hurricane Center. Further watches and warnings were expected later Tuesday.
In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency Tuesday in anticipation of Helene's impact later this week. "Stay vigilant and stay safe," he said in a post on X.
As counties and municipalities begin preparing shelters for evacuated residents, especially near low-lying and coastal areas, the state has closed at least 59 parks across Florida, according to the state parks website.
If the storm makes landfall as a hurricane, it would be the fourth in the mainland U.S. this year, joining Beryl, Debby and Francine.
Track the storm: See the latest path, models
Forecasters take 'aggressive' tack in Helene prediction
It's not every day a weather forecast is called "aggressive.'' That's the term used to describe Helene's predicted progression from potential tropical cyclone to Category 3 hurricane in less than three days.
"It's an aggressive forecast for good reason," said John Cangialosi, a senior specialist at the National Hurricane Center. "We're trying to get ahead of the possible rapid intensification before it gets to Florida."
Typically, scientists track new systems for several days before forecasting they'll grow into a major hurricane. Not so with Helene, whose exposure to extraordinarily warm waters is fueling a quick strengthening, and therefore the early predictions to warn the public.
"The entire forecast is also basically faster than has ever been seen for 36 hours and 48 hours from a tropical depression, said Sam Lillo, a meteorologist and software engineer for DTN Weather.
Storm-battered region of Florida prepares for Helene
Residents across the Big Bend of Florida are storm weary.
Last month the region was pummeled by Hurricane Debbys flooding rains and tornadoes. Nearly a year earlier, Hurricane Idalia tore across the region, flattening homes and leaving entire neighborhoods underwater. The two storms, both of which made landfall in Taylor County, created about a combined $500 million in agricultural losses, according to a University of Florida analysis.
Now, as Helene churns toward the states Gulf Coast, residents are preparing for possibly more devastating impacts.
Were still suffering," Michelle Curtis told the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network. The Perry native said blue tarps from damage inflicted by the one-two punch of Idalia and Debby are still a common sight in her neighborhood.
Jeff Pittman, a fourth-generation peanut and cotton farmer whose crops were wrecked by Hurricane Michael six years ago, spent Monday preparing generators so his neighbors' cows would not go without water.
Were taking all precautions, everything we can think to do, Pittman said. It looks like it could be a very serious situation come Thursday.
Ana Goni-Lessan, James Call and Jeff Burlew, the Tallahassee Democrat
City employees at the Public Works Department in Panama City, Fla., prepare and distribute sandbags Sept. 24, 2024. Tropical Storm Helene is predicted to strengthen in the coming days, possibly becoming a Category 3 hurricane before slamming into the Florida Panhandle.
Florida counties order evacuations
Taylor County in Florida's Big Bend has plenty of recent experience with hurricanes, having encountered Debby seven weeks ago and Idalia 11 months back. So the sheriff's office wasn't going to wait for Helene to arrive, instead issuing a mandatory evacuation order for the whole county Tuesday afternoon.
Hurricane Helene is predicted to be a catastrophic and life threatening storm system, the office said on Facebook. This system will be unlike anything we have experienced to date. A curfew is effective from sunset to sunrise. Repeat, this is a MANDATORY EVACUATION ORDER for everyone.
Earlier in the day, Franklin County in the Florida Panhandle issued a mandatory evacuation for all its nearby barrier islands.
The evacuations across St. George Island, Dog Island, Bald Point and Alligator Point went into effect at noon, Franklin County Emergency Management announced on Facebook. Additional evacuations are possible.
If you feel unsafe, then do not shelter at home; leave until the storm has passed and then return, Franklin County Emergency Management said. Remember that if you have health concerns, EMS will not be able to respond if wind speeds reach 40 mph sustained. It is unsafe for ambulances to be dispatched in high winds.
Wakulla County also announced on Tuesday that a mandatory evacuation order would go into effect 8 a.m. Thursday. Officials warned no shelters would be open in the county and urged residents to be prepared to take cover elsewhere.
Meanwhile, counties and cities across the state opened sandbag locations and prepared shelters. In Tallahassee, Florida State and Florida A&M universities announced closures through Friday.
Contributing: William L. Hatfield and Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat
North Florida residents board up homes ahead of Helene
Instead of getting ready for the lunch rush on Tuesday, restaurant owner Stanley West and a friend lifted metal chairs onto the deck of a pontoon boat, hauling them away for safekeeping so they wouldn't turn into projectiles in hurricane-force winds.
West, who lives in Wakulla County, said he's not taking any chances with Helene, which could unleash a 15-foot storm surge along the Big Bend coast. He's packing up everything.
"Usually I leave some stuff because I'm not worried about it too much," West told the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network. "But this time around, we're going to try to get out everything that we can. It's easier to bring it back and have it than it is to lose it."
Residents throughout the northern Florida county spent Tuesday boarding up their homes, prepping their boats and making evacuation plans. Lines for gasoline stretched for blocks and grocery stores were packed with residents buying water, food and batteries.
"If we get a 15-foot surge, ain't nothing I can do but cross my fingers and pray, and I will be doing a lot of that," West said.
Ana Goni-Lessan, Tallahassee Democrat
What makes the storm surge so dangerous?
A combination of the storm surge and high tide could flood some parts of Florida with water levels as high as 15 feet above ground, including up to 8 feet in the the highly populated Tampa Bay area, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm surge doesn't draw as much attention as a system's sustained winds, which determine whether it classifies as a hurricane and if so what category, but it can cause substantial destruction and even death by inundating coastal areas, sometimes well inland. An 8-foot storm surge would cover even the tallest human.
Helene's approach to the Florida Gulf Coast is particularly concerning because the area's configuration with wide, gently sloping continental shelves makes it more vulnerable to rising waters. Here's how the storm surge develops.
Sheriff Jared Miller of coastal Wakulla County, south of Tallahassee, said on social media the storm surge in the area could rise to 12 feet, calling such a development "a historic event and not survivable for those along coastal or lowing areas that would be affected.''
Contributing: William L. Hatfield and Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat
The National Hurricane Center's new experimental forecast cone graphic includes inland warnings as well as coastal warnings, aiming to show how the potential impacts of a hurricane occur far outside the cone, which only shows the probable path of the center of a storm.
Why is Helene so large?
Helenes wind radius is forecast to be among the largest ever recorded in a storm at similar latitudes, in the 90th percentile, the hurricane center said Tuesday.
Tropical storm force winds already extend outward up to 140 miles from the center, but Jamie Rhome, the centers deputy director, said Helene is expected to grow even larger as it reaches the Gulf of Mexico.
Its large size is a direct result of the Central American gyre, said Sam Lillo, a meteorologist and software engineer for DTN Weather. While gyre typically refers to a rotating current in water, they also occur in atmospheric winds. Its a broad circulation of air that spins counterclockwise.
The gyre often appears in the western Caribbean at this time of year, Lillo said. When it forms a tightened circulation, it can develop into a large storm such as Helene. Previous research has shown the gyres often produce exceptional rainfall that can lead to catastrophic flooding.
When storms dance: Helene could undergo Fujiwhara effect
The Fujiwhara effect which describes the rotation of two storms around each other is one of meteorology's most exquisite dances. It's most common with tropical cyclones such as typhoons or hurricanes, but it also occurs in other cases.
Forecasters say soon-to-be Hurricane Helene could eventually undergo a Fujiwhara "interaction" with another storm over the central US, which the weather service refers to as a trough of low pressure.
As Helene moves across Florida into the Southeast, "models suggest it will undergo a Fujiwhara interaction with a trough of low pressure over the Ozarks," the National Weather Service in Shreveport, Louisiana, said in an online forecast discussion posted Monday.
"Essentially, this means the remnants of the landfalling hurricane will move in close proximity of the larger Ozarks trough, and then try to circulate around it before it gets absorbed, forming a larger closed trough," the weather service said.
"This phenomenon is incredibly rare at this latitude!," KATV meteorologist James Bryant posted on X.
Where is the storm now?
Helene was located in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday evening, and it's forecast to bring dangerous conditions such as flooding and storm surge across the Cayman Islands, the Yucatan Peninsula, and Cuba through midweek.
The storm was located about 100 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, and 145 miles south of the western tip of Cuba, according to the National Hurricane Center's 10 p.m. CDT update. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph and was moving west-northwest at 10 mph.
On its current track, the center of the system is expected to push across the northwestern Caribbean Sea on Tuesday night before emerging over the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday.
The system could dump 4 to 8 inches over western Cuba and the Cayman Islands with isolated totals around 12 inches, the hurricane center said, warning of "considerable flooding." Other threats include storm surge and heavy wind gusts.
"Hurricane conditions are possible within the watch areas in Cuba and Mexico by early Wednesday," the weather service said. "Hurricane conditions are possible within the U.S. watch areas late Wednesday and early Thursday."
Flooding rains, storm surge forecast across Gulf Coast, Southeast
As Florida braces for the arrival of Helene, forecasters are warning the storm will produce widespread impacts stretching hundreds of miles inland from where it makes landfall.
Forecasters say the storm system could drop around 10 inches of rain across parts of northern Florida and throughout portions of the Tennessee Valley. Rainfall amounts from 4-8 inches are predicted for much of the Southeast, from southwest Florida to parts of Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia.
This is expected to be a large hurricane with a major storm surge threat and impacts that will reach hundreds of miles inland from where this storm makes landfall, AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jon Porter said. We expect significant flooding problems that could reach as far inland as Atlanta and potentially a secondary area of significant flooding in the southern Appalachians.
Life-threatening storm surge along the Gulf Coast of Florida is also a central concern. Forecasters say water levels could reach up to 10-15 feet above ground level throughout much of the Big Bend region of Florida, which is still recovering from Hurricane Debby after it lashed the area last month, and 2023's Hurricane Idalia.
Along the shore of Tampa Bay, storm surge could reach 5-8 feet above ground level, according to the hurricane center. "The potential for life-threatening storm surge and damaging hurricane-force winds along the coast of the Florida Panhandle and the Florida west Gulf Coast is increasing," the hurricane center said Tuesday morning.
The projected rainfall forecast along Helene's path across the Southeast.
Helene would be Florida's 9th major hurricane hit since 2000
The storm is forecast to become a major hurricane, a Category 3, before approaching the Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday, the hurricane center said. According to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach, eight major hurricanes have made landfall in Florida since 2000: Charley and Jeanne in 2004; Dennis and Wilma in 2005; Irma in 2017; Michael in 2018; Ian in 2022; Idalia in 2023.
Storm disrupts Gulf oil production
U.S. oil producers scrambled Monday to evacuate staff from Gulf of Mexico oil production platforms as the second hurricane in two weeks was predicted to tear through offshore oil producing fields.
Oil companies BP, Chevron and Shell have begun evacuating offshore staff, and several have paused some production.
Just two weeks ago, Hurricane Francine roared across the Gulf of Mexico, peaking as a Category 2 with 100-mph winds as it made landfall in Louisiana.
Reuters
Florida governor urges residents to get ready for Helene
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday expanded the number of counties under an emergency declaration to 61, the vast majority of the states 67 counties.
A day earlier, the governor signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency for 41 counties, allowing Florida to offer resources to local communities ahead of any potential storm impacts. The state also requested an emergency declaration from FEMA, which is expected to approve it quickly, DeSantis said at a news conference Tuesday.
DeSantis said the state is deploying high water vehicles and generators, as well as amassing 18,000 power linemen to respond to Helene. Additionally, 3,000 National Guard soldiers are on standby and authorities have begun to stage flood protection devices across the Gulf Coast, especially near utility substations, DeSantis said.
The governor told residents to heed emergency warnings and familiarize themselves with their evacuation zone. Residents should buy non-perishable flood, water and prepare for your power to go out."
Prepare, you have time to do it," DeSantis said. "Theres a lot of uncertainty with this storm, but the one thing that is certain is that we are going to see some impacts.
Record warm 'Loop Current' could fuel Helene
Hurricanes gain power from warm water, and parts of the Gulf of Mexico are record warm.
"The ocean heat content in the Gulf is extremely high, particularly inside the Loop Current, which future-Helene will pass over," said University of Miami meteorologist Brian McNoldy this week on X. "The area-average value is obliterating previous values for the date," he said.
The Loop Current is a flow of warm water that travels through the Gulf of Mexico, past the Florida Keys, and up the Atlantic Seaboard.
Speaking about the developing storm, McNoldy cautioned Tuesday that "It's not even a tropical depression yet, but don't let that fool you!"
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Hurricane watches issued across Gulf Coast of Florida
In a morning update from the National Hurricane Center, meteorologists issued a hurricane watch for the majority of the Gulf Coast of Florida, running from Englewood, just south of Sarasota, to Indian Pass in the Big Bend region. Cities including St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay are under hurricane watches.
"A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area," according to the hurricane center. "A watch is typically issued 48 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds, conditions that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous."
Some areas of the state are under tropical storm watch while a storm surge watch was issued across most of the Gulf Coast, indicating that "there is a possibility of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline," during the next 48 hours, according to the weather service.
Read more: Will Hurricane Helene emerge like a monster from the Gulf?
Concerns mount over rapid intensification
The tropical system in the western Caribbean may not look like much yet, but dont be fooled. History has shown the Gulf of Mexico can be a pressure cooker, turning systems like this one from wimpy windstorms to devastating monster storms almost overnight under the right conditions.
The storm is forecast to strengthen with potential explosive force in the Gulf. Its called rapid intensification and it has happened before. In fact, most of the worst hurricanes in history have experienced rapid intensification, Ken Graham, the National Weather Service director, has said in interviews with USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Helene projected path: Florida braces for major hurricane hit
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) - Israel returned the bodies on Wednesday of 88 Palestinians killed in its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which the territory's health ministry refused to bury before Israel discloses details about who they are and where it killed them.
The bodies were brought into Gaza in a container loaded on a truck through an Israeli-controlled crossing, but, according to Palestinian officials, there was no information provided about the names or ages of the victims or locations where they died.
Health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis refused to receive them and bury them, urging the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC to seek details from Israel.
"The health ministry halted the procedures to receive the container (carrying the bodies) until the completion of the full data and information about those bodies so their relatives can identify them," the ministry said in a statement.
The head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said health ministry officials told the driver of the truck to bring the bodies of dead Palestinians back to the Israeli crossing from which he had arrived. The truck then left the hospital.
"They must act according to the international humanitarian law and in a way that preserves the dignity of the martyrs and their families, Ismail Al-Thawabta told Reuters.
The Red Cross said it wasn't involved in the transfer process.
"We reiterate that all families have the right to receive news about their loved ones and bury them respectfully and in line with their traditions," said a statement issued by the ICRC.
Under International Humanitarian Law, those who have died during an armed conflict must be handled with dignity and be properly managed. The law requires that they be searched for, collected and evacuated, which helps ensure that people do not go missing, the ICRC statement added.
The Civil Emergency Service tasked with finding people missing under rubble, on roads and in ruined buildings in Gaza says it has been notified of around 10,000 people missing during the near year-long Israeli assault on Gaza.
Gaza health authorities list more than 41,000 Palestinians confirmed killed in the assault, which Israel launched after Hamas fighters attacked Israeli towns on Oct. 7 last year, killing 1,200 people and capturing around 250 hostages.
In recent days the conflict has spread to another major theatre, with Israel launching the biggest airstrikes on Lebanon in nearly two decades, targeting the Hezbollah movement, which has been rocketing Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.
MORE STRIKES IN GAZA
War in Gaza has not let up, even as the conflict in Lebanon has escalated. Many months of diplomatic efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire have yielded little progress, with Israel refusing any deal to halt the fighting without the total defeat of Hamas.
Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 14 Palestinians on Wednesday, medics said.
In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, Israeli forces continued their operations in different areas of the city, amid clashes with Hamas-led fighters, according to residents and statements posted by militants.
Medics said at least eight Palestinians were killed in two separate Israeli strikes on two houses in Rafah. One of those strikes killed a woman and her children, they added.
In another attack in Bureij, one of the Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, five Palestinians were killed in a house hit by an Israeli missile, medics said.
Israel has also sent tanks into the eastern area of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, and medics said a woman was killed in an air strike on a house in the town earlier on Tuesday.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Peter Graff)
Two years after Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's defamation trial, the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor is calling the courtroom experience a "soap opera."
The comment was made Tuesday while musing about his similarities to Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, the subject of "Modi Three Days on the Wing of Madness," during a press conference at the 2024 San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain.
"Each (character) has their story because I'm sure we can say that I've been through a number of things here and there," Depp, who also directed the film, said in footage shared by The Hollywood Reporter. "You know, I'm all right. I think we've all been through a number of things, ultimately. Maybe yours didnt turn into a soap opera. I mean, televised, in fact."
The actor-turned-director added, "We all experience and go through what we go through, and those things that we are able to live and remember and use, this is your stripes; you never forget them."
Director Johnny Depp speaks at a press conference for the film "Modi Three Days on the Wing of Madness" at the San Sebastian Film Festival in San Sebastian, Spain, on Sept. 24, 2024.
Depp sued ex-wife Amber Heard in 2019, claiming she defamed him in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she said she was a victim of domestic abuse without specifically naming him. A Virginia jury in 2022 awarded him more than $10 million in damages following six weeks of widely watched testimony, during which both parties and witnesses testified about alleged abuse over the course of their 15-month marriage.
Meanwhile, Heard won $2 million in damages from her countersuit over Depp's lawyer calling her claims a hoax. In December 2022, the former couple agreed to a settlement in the defamation case, with Heard paying Depp $1 million that he pledged to charity.
"Modi," based on Dennis McIntyre's play "Modigliani," stars Riccardo Scamarcio as the painter and sculptor, who worked in Paris and rubbed elbows with the likes of Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera and Jean Cocteau. The film depicts a slice of Madigliani's life in 1916.
Right before the press conference at the Spanish film festival, international journalists reportedly boycotted covering "Modi" after publicists reduced their time and access to interviewing Depp and the film's stars. Per Variety and Deadline, the 12 interviewers were offered the opportunity to speak to the trio for 20 minutes as a group after initially being given 15 minutes in two groups of six.
Al Pacino asked Johnny Depp to direct 'Modi'
What got Depp on board to direct his second feature film was a call from Al Pacino, who's credited as a co-producer.
"What interested me, initially about the idea of making the film was a very strange phone call from Al Pacino saying, 'Eh, you remember that Modigliani thing I was going to do years ago, I think you should direct it,'" Depp told reporters at the press conference.
"For some reason, Al saw me somehow driving this strange machine. I mean, when Pacino speaks, you must listen. So I ran with it."
Director Johnny Depp and cast members Bruno Gouery, Riccardo Scarmarci, Antonia Desplat, Luisa Ranieri and Ryan McParland take part in a photocall for the film "Modi Three Days on the Wing of Madness" at the San Sebastian Film Festival in San Sebastian, Spain, on Sept. 24, 2024.
Depp also indicated he was happy to be behind the camera for this venture.
"I didn't have to be in it, which is much more fun," Depp said. Later, he added of the experience: "I realized my job was not a director at all. I was merely there to capture. I was just there to snap that instant."
"This every day was a gas because I got to learn from these guys," he said of his cast, which comprises Scamarcio, Pacino, Antonia Desplat, Stephen Graham, Bruno Gouery and Sally Phillips.
"But I'll never do it again, never again," he said before backtracking. "No, I might. Sorry, I apologize; I might."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Johnny Depp calls 2022 Amber Heard trial 'a soap opera'
"Chrisley Knows Best" star Julie Chrisley will continue to serve her seven-year prison sentence for tax evasion and bank fraud, a federal judge has ordered.
The former reality star, 51, appeared in federal court in Atlanta on Wednesday morning for a sentencing hearing three months after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the lower court miscalculated Chrisley's prison time, citing lack of evidence of her full involvement in the bank fraud scheme for which she and husband Todd Chrisley were sentenced.
According to a court filing obtained by USA TODAY, U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross upheld her 2022 ruling and gave "justification for the sentence imposed" during the 50-minute hearing. Chrisley was sentenced to 84 months of incarceration, five years of supervised release and more than $4.7 million the total amount prosecutors said she obtained illegally in restitution.
An attorney for the Chrisleys had requested a reduced sentence for the Chrisley family matriarch, according to The Associated Press. Meanwhile, U.S. attorneys argued Julie Chrisley was a "core part" of the fraud scheme.
Julie Chrisley and Todd Chrisley attend the grand opening of E3 Chophouse Nashville on Nov. 20, 2019, in Nashville.
"I apologize for my actions and what led me to where I am today," Chrisley said, according to the AP.
She added that her incarceration has been "the most difficult time in my life. I cannot ever repay my children for what they have had to go through, and for that I am so sorry," she said, according to People magazine.
The judge reportedly explained her 2022 ruling was already a reduced sentence for Chrisley's crimes and less than what prosecutors had requested for the former reality star. Chrisley's children, Savannah Chrisley, 27, and Chase Chrisley, 28, were at the hearing, per the AP and People.
Per Ross' amended forfeiture order filed Wednesday, which was reviewed by USA TODAY, Todd Chrisley was found to have "received a total of $17,270,741.57 in proceeds as a result of committing the offense of conviction" and was ordered to forfeit that amount to the government.
Julie Chrisley is back in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
USA TODAY has reached out to a representative for the Chrisleys for comment.
Julie Chrisley's prison release anticipated to be April 2028
Todd, 56, and Julie Chrisley, who portrayed themselves as real estate tycoons in the South on their USA Network shows, are both serving prison sentences after a jury in June 2022 found them guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks in Atlanta out of more than $36 million in fraudulent loans, defraud the IRS and commit tax evasion.
Julie Chrisley was additionally convicted of obstruction of justice and wire fraud.
Five months later, Todd Chrisley was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Julie Chrisley received a seven-year sentence. They began their respective sentences in January 2023.
A Sept. 25 records search by USA TODAY shows Todd Chrisley, 56, has an anticipated release date of July 2032, from FPC Pensacola in Florida. Julie's release from FMC Lexington in Kentucky was scheduled for April 2028 prior to her resentencing.
"Chrisley Knows Best" aired on USA Network for 10 seasons, from 2014 through 2023. "Growing Up Chrisley," a spin-off featuring the couple's adult children, Chase and Savannah Chrisley, went on for four seasons after its 2019 premiere.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Julie Chrisley resentenced to 7 years in prison for bank fraud
The front of the Letcher County Sheriff's Dept. office is shown on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024 in Whitesburg, Ky. (AP Photos/Dylan Lovan)
GRAYSON, Ky. (AP) Clad in a drab gray jail uniform, a Kentucky sheriff displayed no emotion at his first court hearing Wednesday since being accused of walking into a judge's chambers and fatally shooting him a tragedy that shocked and saddened their tight-knit Appalachian county.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines, 43, pleaded not guilty to murder and answered questions about his personal finances as a judge pondered whether he needed a public defender to represent him.
Stines, who is being held in another Kentucky county, appeared by video for the hearing before a special judge, who is standing in for the judge who was killed, Letcher County District Judge Kevin Mullins.
The sheriff stood alongside a jailer and a public defender, who entered the not guilty plea on his behalf. Stines' expression didn't seem to change as he answered questions from the judge.
The special judge, Carter County District Judge H. Rupert Wilhoit III, conducted the hearing from his courtroom in northeastern Kentucky. There was no discussion of a bond during the hearing.
If convicted, Stines could serve from 20 years to life in prison. Since he's accused of killing a public official, the sheriff also could potentially face the death penalty.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that when it asked whether prosecutors plan to pursue the death penalty, special prosecutor Jackie Steele said: Any decisions regarding the death penalty will be done at a later date when all the evidence has been processed and the case has had a thorough evaluation.
It was the first time the sheriff was seen in public since the shooting, which sent shockwaves through the small town of Whitesburg near the Virginia border.
The preliminary investigation indicates Stines shot Mullins multiple times on Sept. 19 following an argument in the courthouse, according to Kentucky State Police. Mullins, 54, who held the judgeship since 2009, died at the scene, and Stines, 43, surrendered minutes later without incident. He was charged with one count of first-degree murder.
Police have not offered any details about a possible motive.
The Kentucky attorney general's office is collaborating with the special prosecutor in the case.
Much of the hearing Wednesday revolved around Stines' ability to pay for his own attorney.
Josh Miller, the public defender who appeared alongside Stines, said the sheriff could incur significant costs defending himself and will soon lose his job as sheriff, which Stines said pays about $115,000 annually.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear wants to hasten the sheriff's resignation.
In a letter sent to Stines at his lock up, the governor's general counsel called on Stines to submit his resignation to Letcher County's judge-executive by the end of Friday. If he fails to do so, Beshear will move ahead with his removal, the letter said, citing a state law allowing for removal of peace officers.
During the short court hearing Wednesday, Wilhoit asked Stines if he had been looking for an attorney to hire. Stines replied: Its kind of hard where Im at to have contact with the people I need to.
Miller said the cost of defending Stines could ultimately cost several hundred thousand dollars.
Wilhoit appointed Miller to defend Stines at the next hearing in October but warned Stines that the trial court could require him to pay for his own attorney.
In Letcher County, residents are struggling to cope with the courthouse shooting. Those who know the sheriff and the judge had nothing but praise for them, recalling how Mullins helped people with substance abuse disorder get treatment and how Stines led efforts to combat the opioid crisis. They worked together for years and were friends.
Mullins served as a district judge in Letcher County since he was appointed by former Gov. Steve Beshear in 2009 and elected the following year.
Mara Daffron was allegedly stabbed last week, prompting the arrest of Kaci Sloan, per authorities
GoFundMe Mara Daffron
Authorities in Arizona are investigating the stabbing of a student on the Arizona State University campus last week that led to another student's arrest.
Mara Daffron was stabbed on Thursday, Sept. 19, while walking into a class on campus in Glendale, Ariz., 12 News, AZ Central and FOX 10 Phoenix reported, citing unspecified court records.
Fellow student Kaci Sloan, 19, was arrested soon afterward in connection with the stabbing, the ASU Police Department said, according to 12 News, AZ Central and ASUs The State Press. An ASU spokesperson confirmed the arrest in a statement to PEOPLE.
"Kaci Sloan was immediately detained and arrested on suspicion of first-degree attempted murder; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; interfering with an educational institution; and disorderly conduct," an ASU spokesperson told PEOPLE. "She is being held on a $250,000 cash only bond."
Online court records for Maricopa County currently only show Sloan is facing charges of aggravated assault with deadly weapon and disorderly conduct with a weapon.
Authorities alleged in the unspecified court documents that Sloan told them she had a premeditated plan to carry out the alleged attack, per 12 News, AZ Central and FOX 10 Phoenix.
A GoFundMe has been set up to assist with Daffron's recovery.
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Plea information was not available in the online court records and PEOPLE was unable to determine if she has an attorney.
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Read the original article on People.
HISD Police Chief Shamara Garner gives comments about the recent threats at the school with Craig Straw, HISD emergency management director, on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024 in Houston . Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer A mother and her daughter walk 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 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 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
State-appointed Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles and other district officials held a town hall meeting to discuss student safety, air conditioning and ongoing transportation issues Tuesday evening.
Miles joined Houston ISD Police Chief Shamara Garner and interim chief operating officer of business operations Alishia Jolivette via phone call to answer parents' questions regarding on-campus emergencies and school facilities. The town hall appeared to be only available to community members who were called prior to the meeting.
The event came after several school lockdowns occurred across the district in September, including a student stabbing, bomb threat and other school threats that have led to seven student arrests. Garner said the district is looking into adding school metal detectors after weapons were confiscated at several campuses.
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CELL PHONES: Houston ISD considering prohibiting student cell phone use during school emergencies
Miles said he and the school board are currently analyzing the viability of metal detectors at schools.
"As it pertains to weapons detection systems and any other resource used to keep our students safe, we are always evaluating and reevaluating those types of tools," Garner said. "A weapon detection system in and of itself is not a panacea, it's not 100% foolproof. Could it be an extra layer of protection? Absolutely, and that's why we're having active discussions as it pertains to that issue."
HISD already prohibits student phone use during the school day, and district officials said Thursday they would consider a new policy that expects students to leave their cell phones in their backpacks during emergencies if they are moved to a pre-identified safe location. Students would only be allowed to access their cell phones and alert their families once police have cleared the area, district safety and emergency management director Craig Straw said Thursday.
Miles said the district would continue to implement its current cell phone use policy.
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"I think that most of our teachers and our parents would say cell phones during school is overall not a good practice," Miles said. "There's a lot of advantages safety-wise for kids if they don't have cell phones. You can imagine the number of text messages that go out and distractions in the school...so it's been a great thing, I think, for most teachers and, frankly, for families to have no cell phone use in our schools."
After several school threats circulated via social media as part of a "statewide situation," Garner said students who wish to report a threat should screenshot the post rather than reposting so they don't seem implicated in the threat.
"Report it immediately, either to law enforcement or to school administration, but do it in a safe way," Garner said.
District staff also spoke on other concerns to student safety, including dangerous pick-up and drop-off times at certain schools. Garner said staff can meet with HISD police to go over their parking and traffic plans and see whether changes are needed.
The district has grappled with air conditioning issues for years, Jolivette said, and parents have raised concerns over their child's school temperature in several instances this school year. Miles said the district strives to keep classroom temperatures between 72 and 74 degrees but that thousands of work orders have been placed relating to district HVAC systems this year.
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Technicians are dispatched at 5:15 a.m. to reset or repair faulty air conditioning systems, Jolivette said, and temporary cooling systems are put in place if repairs cannot be made immediately.
Jolivette denied claims that the district shuts off air conditioning units after school and said HVAC systems are raised to around 80 degrees at 6 or 8 p.m., depending on the campus.
Jolivette attributed the district's aging schools and a dearth of resources for current HVAC issues.
"When we look at the overall construction and designs of our buildings, there's really no consistency, there's no uniformity. We rely on temporary buildings as well, and it's really difficult to keep them cool or warm," Jolivete said.
Parents raised additional concerns, including bullying and their experiences with the district's languishing transportation system.
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Miles said the district is working to present new strategies to the board and hopes to fix certain elements of its transportation system by the spring semester.
Houston ISD will conduct another town hall meeting via phone call in the near future, Miles said.
"We take all threats of violence against our campuses seriously, whether it's supposed to be a hoax or not," Garner said. "This is the input we need, and it's good to hear your concerns and your questions that help me and the team here try to do a better job and meet some of those concerns."
A man has been charged after a Virginia 6-year-old went to school with a gun in their backpack and authorities think the child had no idea the gun was even there.
Drakar L. Rawlings, 31, has been charged with one count of allowing access to firearms by children, one count of abuse and neglect of children and two counts of possession or transportation of firearms, firearms ammunition, stun weapons, explosives or concealed weapons by convicted felons, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
The nature of the relationship between the suspect and the child was not immediately clear and the investigation is ongoing, according to the sheriff's office.
School employee found gun in backpack
It was not immediately clear who was representing Rawlings in court either.
The incident happened on Sept. 16 at Orange Elementary School in Orange, Virginia, about 29 miles northeast of Charlottesville, the Orange County Sheriffs Office announced Tuesday afternoon.
An instructional assistant found the gun in the 6-year-olds backpack, then a school administrator and a school resource officer took the backpack, the sheriffs office said when the incident first happened.
In its most recent announcement, the sheriffs office said the student likely had no plans to use the gun and had no idea it was in the backpack.
This case has been a very convoluted and complicated one involving many challenges that required many hours of investigation and effort by numerous members of the Orange Sheriffs Office but particularly the investigations section, the sheriffs office wrote Tuesday afternoon.
The sheriffs office said multiple agencies were involved in the investigation, including Orange County Public Schools, Virginia State Police, Probation and Parole, the Department of Forensic Science, the Department of Social Services, the Town of Orange Police Department and the Orange Commonwealth Attorneys Office.
This interagency cooperation is something that we cherish, the sheriffs office said.
Rawlings is being held at Central Virginia Regional Jail with no bond and the investigation is ongoing.
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Student, 6, who had gun in backpack likely didn't know it was there: Sheriff
[Reuters]
Marcellus Williams was executed on Tuesday night in the US state of Missouri after spending more than two decades on death row.
Williams, who had two previous executions stayed, maintained he was innocent in the 1998 fatal stabbing of Felicia Gayle in a St Louis suburb, and a wide swath of people had opposed his death sentence.
An attorney representing Williams argued there was racial discrimination in selecting jurors and that DNA evidence in the case was mishandled.
Williams was denied a last-minute reprieve from the US Supreme Court, after Missouri's top court and governor rejected his clemency requests early this week.
In a rare move, the three liberal justices on the US Supreme Court - Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson - said on Tuesday they disagreed with the conservative majority and would have granted a stay. They did not give a reason.
Missouri Department of Corrections communications director Karen Pojmann said no witnesses for Ms Gayle's family attended the execution, CBS, the BBC's US partner, reported.
Williams' son and two of his attorneys were present.
At his trial, prosecutors said Williams broke into Ms Gayle's home in August 1998 and stabbed her 43 times with a large butcher knife before stealing her purse and her husband's laptop.
Ms Gayle was a social worker and former reporter at the St Louis Post-Dispatch.
Lawyers for Williams had said there were concerns over the handling of his case, arguing black jurors were wrongly excluded from his trial.
They also said there was no forensic evidence linking Williams to the crime scene and that the murder weapon had been mishandled, raising questions over DNA evidence.
The trial prosecutor has said he followed procedure at the time by touching the murder weapon without gloves after it was tested in a crime lab.
Williams had requested clemency from Missouri's Republican governor, Mike Parson, which was denied.
"We hope this gives finality to a case that's languished for decades, re-victimising Ms Gayle's family," Parson said in a statement.
"No juror, no judge has ever found Williams' innocence claim to be credible."
Many people, including British billionaire Richard Branson, campaigned against the execution, the third in Missouri this year.
Mr Branson told the BBC earlier on Tuesday that he had spent part of the day focused on the Williams case.
"Hes an innocent person," he said.
"Even the prosecuting council have told the governor they should not, this man is innocent.
The victim's family had supported a life sentence instead of the death penalty, while local prosecutors had pressed to have the conviction overturned.
His execution had been stayed twice - once in 2017 and once in 2015 - due to the discovery of male DNA on the murder weapon that did not match Williams.
The state's then-governor, Eric Greitens, a Republican, formed a panel to examine the case after granting the second stay, but he then left office amid a scandal and the panel never formed a conclusion.
Also concerned about the DNA, the local prosecuting attorney, Wesley Bell, requested a hearing.
But at that point it was discovered that the DNA evidence was spoiled from someone in the prosecutor's office touching the knife without gloves, and the hearing was cancelled.
"This outcome did not serve the interests of justice," Mr Bell said in a statement on Tuesday.
"If there is even the shadow of a doubt of innocence, the death penalty should never be an option."
Midwest Innocence Project, a legal group whose attorneys represented Williams, worked to reach an agreement with the prosecutor's office that Williams would enter a no-contest plea to first-degree murder in exchange for life in prison.
But the Missouri Supreme Court blocked the agreement and ruled the death sentence would stand.
"Mr Williams story echoes that of too many others caught in our countrys broken criminal legal system," the Innocence Project said in a statement.
"A Black man convicted of killing a white woman, Mr Williams maintained his innocence until the very end."
With files from Nathalie Jimenez
FILE - Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves is at the unveiling of a Mississippi Freedom Trail marker on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
FLOWOOD, Miss. (AP) Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Tuesday that legislators should ignore myths from opponents who want to block efforts by him and some other Republican leaders to phase out the state's income tax.
Getting rid of our state income tax, in my opinion, is the next step in continuing to unleash our full economic potential, Reeves told a few hundred businesspeople, lobbyists, legislators and other elected officials at a conference in the Jackson suburb of Flowood.
Republican House Speaker Jason White set the daylong meeting for people to discuss potential tax cuts that the GOP-controlled state House and Senate could debate during the three-month legislative session that begins in January.
Mississippi, which has long been one of the poorest states in the U.S., is in the process of reducing its personal income tax under a law Reeves signed in 2022. The state will lower its top rate to 4% in two years.
In July, Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas signed legislation that will reduce her state's income tax to 3.9%. Reeves has long said that Mississippi should eventually eliminate its income tax to compete with Florida, Tennessee and Texas, which don't levy the tax.
Mississippi collected almost one-third of its general fund revenue from the individual income tax during the budget year that ended June 30, 2023, according to the state Department of Revenue. Only the sales tax is a larger source of money.
I am going to dispel the myths that our opponents are going to spread trying to stop us from eliminating the income tax, Reeves said.
Critics will say that cutting taxes won't lead to more jobs, and that cuts will make it harder for the state to fund public education and balance budgets, the governor said. He said all three points are wrong.
Reeves pointed to job announcements earlier this year, including one that Amazon Web Services will build two data centers in central Mississippi. He also said Mississippi has improved its high school graduation rate and has had substantial budget surpluses.
White on Tuesday repeated his often-expressed support for phasing out the income tax. He also said he wants to cut in half the state's 7% sales tax on groceries, as soon and as quickly as we can.
Two Republican senators, Jeremy England of Vancleave and Finance Committee Chairman Josh Harkins of Flowood, said legislators should be cautious in considering big changes to taxes because the state has to pay for obligations such as the Public Employees Retirement System and the maintenance of public buildings.
England pointed to Kansas, which enacted big tax cuts in 2012 and 2013 but repealed most of them in 2017 after revenue fell short.
"We don't want to end up in a situation where we've gone too far, England said.
House Ways and Means Committee Committee Chairman Trey Lamar, a Republican from Senatobia, said Mississippi could grab attention by enacting a transformational phase-out of the income tax.
That money belongs to the taxpayers of the state of Mississippi, Lamar said. "And it's time for the state of Mississippi to do something big.
ruigsantos / iStock
When it comes to science-backed hair loss treatments, minoxidil is something of a Swiss army knife. This effective, FDA-approved medication can treat male pattern baldness and some other types of hair loss. But, like with most medications, you have to take it correctly so, whats the correct minoxidil dosage for hair loss?
In short, it generally depends on whether youre using topical minoxidil or oral minoxidil for hair loss.
We can answer all your questions about the best minoxidil dosage for hair loss, whether youre taking it topically or orally. Well also look at some common side effects of topical and oral minoxidil.
Lets dig in!
Minoxidil Dosages for Hair Loss
Minoxidil comes in two forms: a topical treatment applied directly to the scalp and an oral tablet. When used correctly, both forms of minoxidil can slow down hair loss in fact, it can even stimulate hair regrowth in some situations.
But your minoxidil dosage will depend on the form you use.
Dosage of Topical Minoxidil for Hair Loss
Topical minoxidil can come as a foam or as a liquid solution. Both formulations are effective for treating hair loss.
If you use the topical solution, apply 1 milliliter (mL) to the scalp twice daily. For minoxidil foam, you should apply half a capful to your scalp twice a day. Dont exceed this dosage unless a healthcare provider specifically tells you to.
You may notice that there are different potencies of minoxidil. Most topical minoxidil treatments may contain 2% or 5% minoxidil, although you get some very potent varieties too.
But regardless of the strength, you shouldnt use a higher dosage than described above. A milliliter or half a capful, twice a day thats it.
What happens if you miss a day of minoxidil? While minoxidil only works for as long as you use it, skipping a day wont do much damage. Continue using minoxidil as usual, and avoid doubling your dosage the next day.
Both minoxidil foam and minoxidil solution are over-the-counter treatments, so you can purchase minoxidil online without a prescription.
Dosage of Oral Minoxidil for Hair Loss
While minoxidil tablets are usually used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension), some healthcare professionals may also prescribe low-dose oral minoxidil for hair loss.
In this case, your healthcare provider will give you specific directions on your dosage based on your unique needs.
The recommended dose generally ranges from:
0.25 to 1.25 mg a day for the treatment of female pattern hair loss
2.5 to 5 mg a day for male pattern hair loss
Confused about your dosage? Consult with your pharmacist or the healthcare provider that prescribed it for you.
How Does Minoxidil Work?
Minoxidil, also known by the brand name Rogaine, is a vasodilator, which is a drug that widens blood vessels. It was initially used as an antihypertensive, meaning it lowers blood pressure, but researchers found that it also increased hair growth.
Minoxidil is one of two medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat hair loss. The other is called finasteride.
Minoxidil works by stimulating blood flow to the hair follicles and pushing your hair follicles into the anagen phase, or growth phase, of the hair growth cycle.
This means that minoxidil encourages your hair to grow for a longer period. Cool, right?
As a result, minoxidil works for many types of hair loss, including:
Androgenetic alopecia, which is another name for both male pattern hair loss and female pattern hair loss
Alopecia areata, an autoimmune hair disorder where your immune system attacks your hair follicles
Telogen effluvium, which can be caused by severe physical and psychological stress
Traction alopecia, which is caused by pressure on your hair from tight hairstyles and rough styling techniques
Theres plenty of research to prove minoxidil works. A small study found that 5% minoxidil foam was more effective than a placebo for hair regrowth at the crown (or back of the head) and the hairline.
A 48-week clinical trial compared 5% and 2% minoxidil in almost 400 men with male pattern baldness. The 5% minoxidil solution resulted in 45 percent more hair regrowth than the 2% topical minoxidil. Those using the 5% dosage saw hair growth sooner.
So, in short, minoxidil is pretty effective for hair loss!
But if you want it to be even more effective for treating male pattern hair loss, you might benefit from using a combination of minoxidil and finasteride.
We offer a prescription-only two-in-one topical finasteride & minoxidil spray, specially developed to help slow down male pattern hair loss and boost hair density.
Common Side Effects of Minoxidil Doses
While minoxidil is pretty safe, it has possible adverse effects, like any drug.
When you first start taking minoxidil, you might have some temporary hair shedding. But this side effect will go away as you keep using minoxidil, so patience is key.
Topical minoxidil application can sometimes lead to other side effects, like:
Skin irritation on the scalp
Worsening of seborrheic dermatitis, which can cause dandruff
Allergic contact dermatitis
Isolated pruritus (itchy skin without an accompanying rash)
As you can imagine, the side effects of minoxidil differ depending on whether youre using an oral or topical version.
Although the safety of low-dose oral minoxidil is well-established, there are some possible side effects, including:
Low blood pressure
Edema (fluid retention or swelling)
Hypertrichosis (excessive hair growth anywhere on the body)
Lightheadedness
Tachycardia (faster heart rate)
Weight gain
In rarer cases, minoxidil tablets can cause chest pain and heart failure.
Its always important to stick to your prescribed dosage. If you take too much minoxidil, youre more likely to experience side effects.
If you think youre experiencing any side effects from using minoxidil, speak with your prescribing healthcare provider, as they might have to lower your dosage.
Minoxidil Dose for Hair Loss: Takeaways
Hair loss can be one of life's big curveballs, but medications like minoxidil can go a long way in helping you manage it.
Minoxidil, an FDA-approved hair loss treatment, is effective at treating several types of hair loss.
Minoxidil can come in oral or topical form. Although topical minoxidil is most commonly used to treat hair loss, some dermatologists prescribe oral minoxidil for hair loss.
Topical minoxidil can be in the form of a foam or a solution. The most common minoxidil dosage is half a capful twice daily for foam or 1 mL twice daily in solution form.
The dosage of oral minoxidil pills is a little more variable. Depending on your unique needs, your healthcare provider might prescribe 0.25 to 5 mg a day for hair loss.
How is just as important as how much, so in addition to making sure youre using the right dosage, you should check out our guide on how to use topical minoxidil. We also have a guide on how to apply minoxidil foam.
When treating hair loss, its a good idea to chat with a professional. We can help you connect you with a healthcare provider online to get some expert advice on hair loss treatments that will work for you.
This article originally appeared on ForHers.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
By Nicolas Misculin
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Argentina's brash libertarian President Javier Milei, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, criticized the organization as a "Leviathan" monster, rejected its 'Pact for the Future' and pledged instead an "agenda of freedom."
In a fiery speech where he also said the UN had become "powerless" in its key role to help prevent conflicts, Milei attacked the body's future pact adopted on Sunday calling it "socialist" and said the UN's remit had become "distorted".
"It has become a multi-tentacled Leviathan that seeks to decide what each nation state should do and how the citizens of the world should live," the right-wing economist and former pundit said, a reference to the giant mythological sea serpent.
"The same always happens with the ideas of the left. They design a model according to what human beings should do, and when things turn out differently, they repress, restrict and curtail their freedom."
Milei, who clashes regularly with political opponents, is battling to restore economic stability in Argentina after years of crises, with tough austerity measures that are helping to turn around a deep fiscal deficit, but aggravating a recession.
Before he decided to run for president, the former TV "shock jock" commentator even attacked Pope Francis, calling him a "son-of-a-bitch preaching communism". The two, however, have sought to mend ties since Milei took office in December.
(Reporting by Nicolas Misculin and Lucila Sigal in Buenos Aires; Writing by Adam Jourdan)
President Biden confirmed Tuesday that he will visit Angola next month, fulfilling his pledge to visit Africa during his presidency.
The retiring 81-year-old-president will make a six-day trip abroad from Oct. 10-15 with a stopover in Germany on the way in the final month of the campaign to pick his successor in the Nov. 5 election.
Biden will visit Angolas booming capital, Luanda, on Oct 13-15 to celebrate plans to build a $1 billion US-funded railway linking the oil-rich Atlantic nation to railways that reach the Indian Ocean, the White House said.
Biden also will emphasize strengthening democracy and civic engagement; intensifying action on climate security and the clean energy transition; and enhancing peace and security, the White House said in a statement as Biden attended United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York.
President Biden confirmed Tuesday that he will visit Angola next month after speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Getty Images
Although not stated officially, Bidens trip is widely seen as part of Western efforts to woo Angola away from Chinese influence.
Angola is Africas second-largest crude oil exporter and prior Biden administration outreach has included backing a $2 billion solar energy project, with the Export-Import Bank issuing a $900 million loan last year repairing relations after the US backed ruthless anti-government fighters there during the Cold War.
Angolan President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco visited the White House last year. Bloomberg via Getty Images
Biden previously hosted Angolan President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco in the Oval Office last November.
Lourenco was elected as the former Portuguese colonys third president in 2017 as the candidate of the ruling MPLA, the formerly communist party that has ruled Angola since its independence in 1974.
He replaced the notoriously corrupt former president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, whose 38-year rule saw his daughter, Isabel dos Santos, become a multibillionaire. She now is facing corruption charges.
This story was updated to correct a typo and to add new information.
UNITED NATIONS President Joe Biden has seen brutal wars and devastating famines in his five decades of public service. He has also seen reconciliation between bitter enemies and the birth of new alliances.
Those vast changes have left Biden hopeful as he exits the world stage, despite ongoing conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, which have killed and displaced thousands of people, and emerging global challenges posed by climate change and artificial intelligence, the president said in his final speech to the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
"Maybe because of all I've seen, and all we have done together over the decades, I have hope," Biden told world leaders on Tuesday. "I know there is a way forward."
As the president addressed world leaders in Manhattan, his legacy as a statesman was on the line amid a new phase of violence in the Middle East and a close race for the White House between Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, and his handpicked successor, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden, 81, reflected on the "remarkable sweep of history" he's seen since he was first elected to the Senate in 1972. He was just 29. America was mired in conflict in Vietnam and locked in a Cold War with the Soviet Union. Egypt and Israel were permanent enemies.
President Joe Biden speaks during the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 24, 2024 in New York City.
"Our country was divided and angry, and there were questions about our staying power and our future," Biden said of the U.S.
Those conflicts and others have since ended.
The U.S. and Vietnam elevated their relationship last year to the highest level, he pointed out. "It's a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, and the capacity for reconciliation," Biden said Tuesday.
"I know many look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair. But I do not. I won't. As leaders, we don't have the luxury."
A new generation of leadership
Biden's decision to leave office after a half-century career which saw him serve as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Barack Obama's vice president before his 2020 election to the White House is among the changes that could reshape the international landscape.
From the General Assembly podium, he spoke of his decision to drop his race for reelection, admitting it was difficult. Biden stepped aside in July and endorsed Harris as his successor.
As much as I love the job, I love my country more. I decided after 50 years of public service, it's time for new generation of leadership to take my nation forward, he said Tuesday. "My fellow leaders, let us never forget: Some things are more important than staying in power.
Weaving world events through the arc of his career, Biden reflected on the 2001 terrorist attack on the U.S. that has influenced global affairs ever since, telling the assembly, "We need to end the era of war that began on 9/11."
Biden spoke of his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He said he thinks every day about the Americans who lost their lives fighting in Afghanistan.
"I was determined to end it, and I did," Biden said. "It was a hard decision. But the right decision. Four American presidents had faced that decision, but I was determined not to leave it to the fifth."
On Israel and Gaza: 'Going through hell'
Biden's speech also touched on the Middle East less than two weeks before the first anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, when militants killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took approximately 250 hostages. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 40,000 Palestinians have died in the ensuing war.
Ive met with the families of those hostages. Ive grieved with them, Biden said.
Using the same language to describe the suffering of the Palestinians, he said, "innocent civilians in Gaza are also going through hell.
Too many families dislocated, crowding in the tents, facing a dire humanitarian situation, he said, touting a troubled cease-fire and hostage deal endorsed by the U.N. Security Council that the U.S., Qatar and Egypt are working to broker.
"Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms," he said.
Biden urged a diplomatic solution amid Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, an answer to Hezbollah's rocket attacks, that have killed more than 500 people this week.
"Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," he said.
Biden also underscored the need for a two-state solution, "where Israel enjoys security and peace, full recognition and normalized relations with all its neighbors and where Palestinians live in security, dignity and self-determination in a state of their own.
Putin set out to 'destroy Ukraine' and failed: Biden
Biden sought to rally the international community behind Ukraine, telling nations that the body's charter commanded the U.S. to stand up to Russian aggression.
"I ask the people of this chamber to stand up for them," Biden said.
As Biden spoke, a diplomat with the Russian delegation was shown on a livestream typing on his phone. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was shown several moments later listening to Biden's speech intently.
"Will we sustain our support to help Ukraine win this war and preserve its freedom? Or walk away and let aggression be renewed and a nation be destroyed?" asked Biden, who sped to Ukraine's defense when Russian tanks rolled across the border in 2022.
More: Ukraine destroys Russian arsenal as Kremlin troops grind toward key rail hub
"I know my answer. We can not grow weary, we can not look away, and we will not let up in support for Ukraine, not until Ukraine wins a just and durable peace in the U.N. charter," Biden said to applause.
Biden also took the opportunity to take a dig at Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"The good news is Putin's war has failed at his, at his core aim. He set out to destroy Ukraine, but Ukraine is still free," Biden said. "He set out to weaken NATO. But NATO is bigger, stronger, more united than ever before with two new members, Finland and Sweden."
US will be 'unabashed' in pushing back on China
Biden talked about resuming cooperation with China and working on stopping the flow of deadly synthetic narcotics.
I appreciate the collaboration. It matters for the people in my country, he said.
At the same time, he said, the U.S. is unabashed in resisting unfair economic competition and against military coercion of smaller nations in the South China Sea and defending Taiwan.
Biden talked about continuing to strengthen Washington's alliances across the Pacific. (He didn't mention the Quad, a grouping of the U.S. and Australia, India and Japan, whose leaders he met with over the weekend.)
These partnerships are not against any nation," he said. "They're building blocks for free, open, secure, a peaceful Indo-Pacific.
'Stop arming the generals' in Sudan, Biden says
The civil war in Sudan, which started in April 2023 between two rival factions of the military government, is plunging the country into famine, said Biden.
He appealed to other nations to stop supplying weapons, without naming the suppliers. The United Arab Emirates, whose president Biden met this week, is a key supporter of the Sudan's Rapid Support Forces, which is trying to topple the government, human rights organizations say.
"The world needs to stop arming the generals, he said. "Stop blocking aid to the Sudanese people. End this war now."
Biden ended his speech by invoking Nelson Mandela, the first black head of state in South Africa.
Impossible is "just an illusion," Biden said. "It always seems impossible until it's done."
Ending the speech on his own terms, Biden said, "There's nothing that is beyond our capacity if we work together."
Francesca Chambers and Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy are White House Correspondents for USA TODAY. You can follow them on twitter at @fran_chambers and @SwapnaVenugopal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: At UNGA, Biden admits it was 'difficult' to drop out of race
By Sofia Christensen
DAKAR (Reuters) - Burkina Faso's junta said it had uncovered an international plot to overthrow it and which included the massacre in August of hundreds of civilians by Islamist insurgents.
Some critics and analysts however said the junta's statement was an attempt to deflect blame for the killings and security situation in the country.
The junta came to power in a 2022 coup pledging to beat back jihadists who have ravaged the landlocked West African country for years. But instead violence has increased, leaving the regime worried about popular discontent, its critics and analysts say.
In the worst of a recent surge of attacks, insurgents affiliated with al Qaeda slaughtered hundreds of people who were digging defensive trenches around the town of Barsalogho on Aug. 24, prompting an unusually open outpouring of anger and grief.
The junta has said little about the massacre, ignoring calls for the military to take responsibility for having ordered civilians to dig trenches without protection in an area rife with jihadist activity.
In a lengthy statement late on Monday, interim security minister Mahamadou Sana said the Barsalogho attack was a first step meant to create chaos and facilitate the infiltration of "several terrorist groups" into the capital Ouagadougou.
The statement accused opponents of the junta, backed by Western intelligence and European mercenaries, of a vast, multi-pronged destabilisation plot orchestrated from other countries including Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria.
The junta did not provide any evidence to back up its accusations.
One of the named suspects, investigative journalist and junta critic Newton Ahmed Barry, rejected all the accusations on Facebook.
"After Barsalogho, they needed to find a diversion given the scale of the tragedy," he posted.
Several civil society sources and analysts told Reuters they agreed with Barry's interpretation, but did not wish to be named because they feared retaliation against themselves or their relatives from the authoritarian junta.
"This is a vulgar attempt to deflect responsibility for what happened, to throw the blame on the opposition and paint them as JNIM accomplices," said one analyst, referring to the Al Qaeda-affiliated group that claimed responsibility for Barsalogho.
The junta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reuters has documented how the regime has suppressed opposition by abducting, torturing and forcefully conscripting its critics.
(Editing by Estelle Shirbon, Alexandra Hudson)
Vice President Kamala Harris; former President Donald Trump.
Depending on the numbers you choose to consume, its safe to say the race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is somewhere between toss-up and lean-Harris. Since their only debate, there hasnt been a poll released even polls with Trump ahead showing anything other than improvement for Harris and problems for Trump.
In particular, Harris has closed the gap on Trumps key issue advantages on the economy and the border. While Trump is still seen as stronger on those issues, his leads over Harris are lower than they were when voters were comparing him and President Joe Biden.
Take the poll that I have the most confidence in: the NBC News survey overseen and conducted jointly by the bipartisan team of Republican Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies and Democrat Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research. Harris has also flipped some personal attribute questions that were negatives for Biden like questions about having the ability to be president or having the mental and physical capacity for the job. At least in the NBC News poll, Harris now leads on those physical and character attributes compared with Trump, areas in which Trump led before and after the June debate against Biden, benefiting from the comparison to an older opponent instead of the younger Harris.
Then theres the issue of abortion rights. While it was an asset to Biden in polling against Trump, it appears to be a much bigger advantage for Harris. For instance, the NBC News poll showed her leading by more than 40 percentage points among white women with college degrees, a group of voters Biden won in 2020 but by a significantly smaller margin. Now, do realize, subgroups like white women with college degrees have margins of error that are at or close to double digits in the NBC poll. So even if theres a 10-point error rate in this specific group, it would still mean Harris lead among this specific subgroup of female voters is 20 points, much more than what Biden or Hillary Clinton got among it in their campaigns against Trump.
Of course, in 2020 and 2016, Roe v. Wade was still the law of the land. The first presidential election since the Dobbs decision could lead to some significant, conventional-wisdom-changing realignment of the vote by gender.
Now, it isnt all gains for Harris. The big change in the Trump electorate both from 2016 to 2020 and this time around is his level of support among Latino voters. In 2016, Trump lost the Hispanic vote by nearly 40 points, according to the exit poll. In the 2020 exit poll, he lost that group by just over 30 points. And in this new NBC poll, Harris advantage was just under 20 points.
Essentially, Trumps loss of previously GOP-leaning women has been offset by formerly Democratic-leaning, working-class Hispanic voters coming his way. Its clear Trump is going to perform better among Latinos than he has done in either of his first two runs. What we dont know is how much better hell do. Will he get to the 40% mark, a number a Republican presidential candidate hasnt reached since George W. Bush in 2004? In a scenario in which Trump wins, Im betting he is closer to 40% than 30% among this specific group.
These are among the most important known unknowns we have when we examine this race by the numbers. We know theres going to be a major gender gap, but which campaign overperforms with its weaker gender? And we know Trumps going to do better among Latinos than he has done before but how much better? It could be the difference between Trumps carrying a state like Arizona or even North Carolina by a point versus losing it by a point.
At this point, its safe to say we have a good idea how the vote is going to break down demographically. What we dont know is how intense the turnout will be among the various groups.
Take the gender gap. Its obvious at this point that Trump will win men by close to double digits; ditto with Harris among women. The question is how well each campaign does with its weaker gender. For instance, in 2016, Trump won just 41% of women, but because Clinton won only 41% of men, she didnt gain enough of advantage through women's higher turnout to win. But in 2020, Biden did better among men (45%) than Trump did among women (42%). The wider gender gap helped Biden secure a fairly decisive Electoral College victory.
Working from a result backward, a Harris victory most likely means her advantage among women was greater against Trump than either Bidens or Clintons were. And a Trump win most likely means he was able to neutralize his problems with female voters by getting more men to show up and keep his advantage among men closer to his 2016 performance.
Those demographic unknowns also fit the four basic issues that this race will be about over the next five weeks.
Trump is hoping the countrys concerns about the border and economy matter more than the countrys concerns about his character or his partys handling of abortion rights. The pocketbook voters are benefiting Trump, while the character voters are benefiting Harris.
And Id argue its a tad more granular on the economy than simply Trump versus Harris. What the country is sour on is Bidens economy. How do we know this? Just look at the disparity between assessments of Bidens ability to handle the economy versus Trumps and compare it to what voters perceive about Harris ability on the economy versus Trumps.
While Trump led both on the question of being better able to handle the issue, his lead over Biden was 22 points on the economy earlier this year; his lead over Harris is just 9 points in the new poll. Almost on cue, the Trump campaign has been hammering Harris on TV over Bidenomics in a new series of economy-targeted ads. It features Harris praising Bidenomics. It was the first evidence Id seen since Harris became the Democratic nominee of an actual strategy from the Trump campaign.
If this round of advertising helps Trump re-expand his lead over Harris on the issue of handling the economy, dont be surprised if Harris has to do something a lot more public to separate herself a bit more from Biden, be it on the economy (though it's not obvious what shed do or how shed do it) or the border (where I do see an opportunity for her, but it would require her to admit this White House didnt get it right at first). It would be a bit self-critical, but it would virtue-signal to the small group of vacillating independents that she wouldnt wobble on the border, a fear Trump is trying to stoke.
Keep in mind: "Bidens vice president, Kamala Harris," was not a popular figure. But many voters have seen "Vice President Kamala Harris" as a fresher candidate, including those who previously viewed Trump as a better steward of the economy.
This also could be why Harris wants another debate. Its not just another opportunity to get a favorable split-screen on character standing next to him, but the large audience would also give her an opportunity to talk to those skeptical voters who soured on Biden but dont like Trump. There are still double-haters are out there, but its the original Biden-Trump double-hater voter whom Harris still needs. Most of those voters can be found among the self-described independent voters. Trump only won independents in 2016, and he lost them in 2020. In the latest NBC News poll, hes also losing them to Harris. But this is a very fluid group, and they arent all instinctively left-leaning.
For most of this short campaign, Id be describing this race as Trumps to lose, but Trump is losing it. Now, Id describe the race has a jump ball with a slight advantage to Harris, simply because she has room to grow still.
But its still a race to define Harris with the remaining undecideds. So far, Harris is winning the battle to define herself. Can she keep that up for five more weeks?
She certainly has the financial resources to do it, and its iffy whether Trump has the discipline to execute the type of campaign he needs. But Trump has defied expectations before, and its worth noting that his floor is higher than hers is right now. On a bad day, hell still be sitting at 47%, and that can be a winning number if enough voters skip the race or vote third party. Harris has a higher ceiling, but she may have a slightly lower floor, at least in a few of the key battlegrounds.
Why the battle for the Senate is already stretching into 2026
Barring an unforeseen event in Montana or a major upset in either Florida or Texas, it appears Republicans have essentially checkmated Democrats in their goal of taking the Senate.
Given the twists and turns this campaign season has already delivered, nothing should be seen as a given. But the closest we have to a given right now is that Republicans are likely to take control of the Senate. The only question is whether they end up with as few as 51 seats or as many as 54.
And that difference between 51 or either 53 or 54 is the difference between Democrats having a chance to win back the Senate in 2026 or whether they have to wait until 2028 or even 2030.
The three Senate races in which Democrats are spending the most money right now are all defensive campaigns to shore up seats they already hold: Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania. And even if the win all three, they would be likely come up one seat short of holding their majority. The reason? West Virginia is all but a done deal, with GOP Gov. Jim Justice sailing to an easy victory for the seat held by Democrat-turned-independent Joe Manchin.
And as I hinted at earlier, Montana has taken a decisive turn in the GOPs favor. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester is trying to portray himself as independent from his national party, but unlike Manchin, he doesnt really have the voting record in this Biden era to credibly claim distance from the national party. And it appears this simple association may be enough to tank his bid for a fourth term. The nonendorsement of Harris may not be enough for Tester, either.
That would spell doom for Democrats' Senate majority. But limiting their losses to just Montana and West Virginia would preserve a credible chance to win back the chamber in two years.
In theory, the 2026 map does present Democrats with a few more opportunities than this one did, as there are 20 GOP-held seats up in 2026, compared with just 13 for the Democrats. But its one thing to flip one or two Senate seats in 2026 and a much taller order to flip three or four. This is why, at this point, one should view Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania as essentially the first round of Senate races to determine just how competitive the 2026 cycle will be.
Two GOP-held seats up in 2026 stick out: Maines and North Carolinas. After those two, there isnt an obvious target for Democrats to find a third or a fourth pickup opportunity. Maybe Iowa? Maybe Texas? Kansas? Alaska? As you can tell, the pickup list for Democrats thins quickly.
And its not like Democrats wont be playing zero defense in 26. They will have difficult seats to defend in the perennial battlegrounds of Georgia and Michigan, as well as New Hampshire, Colorado and Virginia, which all could be more competitive if incumbents dont run.
Bottom line: For Democrats to have a legitimate chance to win back the Senate in the near future (assuming they lose it this cycle), they will need to go 2-1 at a minimum in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. And if they go 3-0 in those races, all the better for them in two years.
The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, chaired by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, is launching a legal fund to defend against post-election lawsuits.
A Democratic group is launching a legal fund to help secretaries of state in key states defend against an anticipated post-election deluge of lawsuits.
In plans shared first with NBC News, the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State plans to spend at $5 million to support top election officials in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Nevada. Officials with the group said they may expand their reach to other states as needed and could spend more if fundraising is strong.
The group began aggressively raising money and campaigning to elect Democratic secretaries of state, who oversee elections in many states, in the wake of former President Donald Trump's false claims of voter fraud in 2020. It first funneled money to deal with postelection litigation to then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in 2022 to deal with postelection litigation.
This is us trying to help our people but also help democracy, said Travis Brimm, the groups executive director.
We have a bunch of pro-democracy secretaries of state that we want to support. We know a lot of them are going to get sued. We know that theres going to be a lot of challenges to election certification issues, and we know that those are expensive endeavors, he said.
The initial four states were chosen in part because the group believes state laws will allow it to effectively send money to boost the secretaries of state.
More than 50 lawsuits were filed across the country seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In the run-up to this November's election, Trump's Republican allies have already filed a series of lawsuits targeting election administrators and various rules and procedures in swing states.
Michigan, North Carolina and Nevada are among the core battleground states in this year's presidential election. Michigan and Nevada are also hosting competitive Senate races, while North Carolina has a key contest for governor on the ballot.
Maine, which leans Democratic, doles out Electoral College votes to the overall winner of the state and to the winner of each of its two congressional districts. Trump is once again eyeing Maine's 2nd Congressional District, which he won in 2016 and 2020. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden also faces a tough re-election battle for the seat.
A view of the pit created by erosion along the Buffalo Bayou near Memorial Park, Sept. 24, 2024. John Lomax/Staff writer
Nestled between mansions and sprawling lawns sits a cluster of northwest Houston condos that teeter on the edge of a sheer cliff face overlooking the Buffalo Bayou.
Valerie Tyler, who has lived in the small Crestwood community near Memorial Park for a little over two years, said she always knew erosion was a problem. Previous storms had claimed smaller, but still noticeable, chunks of the sloping ditch that protected their homes from the bayous stubborn advance. But when Hurricane Beryl swept through the city in early July, the swirling flood waters consumed what little was left of the neighborhoods fortifications bringing the bayou to Tylers doorstep.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: A 1924 tale of a body found on Buffalo Bayou
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This huge chunk of ground just got swallowed up by the bayou in the middle of the night, Tyler said. It was absolutely flabbergasting, it sounded like an explosion or some kind of avalanche. One second, there was a good-sized piece of land in front of our house with trees and shade, and the next, there was just this massive pit.
A grim reminder
Valerie Tyler points to erosion along the Buffalo Bayou caused by previous storms, Sept. 24, 2024. John Lomax/Staff writer
Several months later, the wound on the landscape brought by Beryl still remains. Just a stones throw from Tylers front door, the gaping, open-faced pit sits littered with the broken remains of trees that once held the soil in place. The damage is a constant reminder of what soon could be for the residents whose windows overlook the damage.
I have a young child. I no longer feel comfortable letting him get out on his own, said Sima Jani, who has lived in Crestwood for almost 20 years. I dont want him playing too close to the side of the bayou because what if he falls over or steps on the side and something collapses out from under his feet.
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The fear has dogged Jani, since Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The quiet, shaded beauty of her bayou-front property became a nightmare of rising water and thrashing branches the day Harvey hit. Though now approaching a decade past, its a memory she wont soon forget, and one that has risen to the forefront after Hurricane Beryl.
I have PTSD from Hurricane Harvey, Jani said. At the time my son was just three years old. We kept calling for help, but nobody came. At some point we left through a fire exit we have, and the water was up to my chin.
Jani and her family managed to escape Harvey relatively unscathed, but with the recent damage from Beryl, she worries that next time, she wont be so lucky. Its a fear she shares for her neighbors as well. As a longtime resident of the area, she said she worries that one day the bayou will swallow the community.
Many of her neighbors are elderly. Others, like her, have small children and pets to look after. Rain, once a welcome reprieve from Houstons scorching summers, now brings the looming threat of destruction.
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Bayou pinball
A terraced embankment on a property near Valerie Tyler's condo, seen September 24, 2024. John Lomax/Staff writer
The encroaching bayou threatens not only the homes of Tyler and Jani, but the infrastructure of the entire neighborhood.
Parallel to Tylers home is a CenterPoint transformer that feeds power to herself and many of her neighbors. Only a few feet beyond that is Crestwood Drive, a one-way street cutoff on one side by the Hogg Bird Sanctuary and soon, residents worry, by the expanding bayou on the other.
Though the smaller condos of Tyler and Jani look almost quaint in the shadow of surrounding multi-million dollar mansions and gated communities, the proximity to Memorial Park and scenic greenery endemic to Crestwood serve as a natural justification for the areas average home price of $4 million.
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But the bayous lazy flow masks its destructive nature. Many of Jani and Tylers immediate neighbors, the same who own the adjoining homes, have already taken steps to fortify their properties.
BUFFALO BREWING: Tejas Beer to hold its grand opening in former Buffalo Bayou Brewing taproom
Terraced, reinforced steps descend down from verdant grounds surrounding properties that command a full half-acre of bayou-front land. Directly across the bayou, man-made beaches defend the River Oaks Country Club from erosion. The corrugated metal walls and sandy outlets that protect Jani and Tylers neighbors have, through a series of hydraulic pinball, redirected the flow of the Buffalo to the point of least resistance, which happens to be the land their homes sit on.
"River Oaks Country Club spent millions building up their shoreline, said Terry Tyler, Valerie Tylers husband. They reinforced the land on their end so now the flow of the bayou bounces off them and comes directly toward us.
The subdivision where the Tylers and Jani live is situated at the apex of a northward curve in the bayou. The water, as it travels east toward Baytown and eventually out toward Galveston Bay, is funneled north toward Memorial Park before flowing southward. There, the flow meets the structured embankments of nearby homes, which redirect its path toward the unprotected slopes of the Crestwood condominiums.
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Local government hot potato
Residents of the condominiums located at 19 Crestwood Drive mill about above a pit created by erosion from recent storms. John Lomax/Staff writer
The problem for residents like the Tylers and Jani is that they dont actually own the land that protects them from the bayou. Unlike their neighbors, the land in front of their properties is technically owned by the City of Houston.
So far, residents said, local government has been slow to act. Between the Harris County Flood Control District, which handles flood management, the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, a nonprofit organization which manages development along the bayou, Memorial Park, which owns the land, and the city, which owns the park, determining whose responsibility it is to repair the damage has been daunting.
We got a letter that basically said the flood control district didnt want to do anything about it and Memorial Park said it wasnt their problem, Terry Tyler said. It really feels like no one wants to get involved until this eventually becomes a huge problem, like if and when it starts to threaten the road or the powerlines.
A spokesperson for Houston Public Works said that, since that area was a part of Memorial Park, it was likely their responsibility to repair the damage. Houston Parks and Recreation declined to comment.
Many have begun to worry about their home value if the problem is not addressed soon. Theyve flirted with the idea of paying for the repairs, which they said would cost them anywhere in the realm of $400,000 to $500,000, but its something they lack the money, and the permission, to do.
NAIROBI (Reuters) -Ethiopia's foreign minister has warned that ammunition supplied to Somalia could exacerbate conflict and be diverted to terrorists, Ethiopia's state news agency reported on Tuesday.
His statement came a day after an Egyptian warship unloaded heavy weaponry in the capital Mogadishu, the second arms shipment in the space of a month following the inking of a joint security pact by Egypt and Somalia in August.
Landlocked Ethiopia, which has thousands of troops stationed in neighbouring Somalia to fight al Qaeda-linked Islamist insurgents, has fallen out with the Mogadishu government over its plans to build a port in the breakaway region of Somaliland.
The spat has drawn Somalia closer to Egypt, which has quarrelled with Ethiopia for years over Addis Ababa's construction of a vast hydro dam on the headwaters of the Nile River.
Ethiopia's Foreign Affairs Minister Taye Astke Selassie said he was concerned that the supply of ammunition by "external forces would further exacerbate the fragile security and would end up in the hands of terrorists in Somalia," Ethiopia News Agency reported.
There was no immediate response from Somalia's government to Taye's remarks.
"The potential for weapons landing in the wrong hands is high. Al Shabaab is a major beneficiary and in 2023 harvested massive quantities of weapons by conducting raids on enemy (bases)," said Rashid Abdi, an analyst with the Sahan Research think-tank.
The U.N. Security Council lifted its arms embargo in December, more than 30 years after it was first imposed as Somalia plunged into civil war.
In January Ethiopia agreed to lease 20 km (12 miles) of coastline from Somaliland - a part of Somalia which claims independence and has operated with effective autonomy since 1991 - in exchange for possible recognition of its sovereignty.
In response, Somalia threatened to expel by the end of the year Ethiopia's troops, who are there as part of the peacekeeping mission and under bilateral agreements, if the port deal was not scrapped.
(Reporting by Hereward HollandEditing by Bate Felix, Ammu Kannampilly and Sharon Singleton)
Graduating firefighters
Scores of first responders joined the FDNYs ranks Tuesday as its academy graduated a fresh fleet of EMTs including some who hail from long lines of proud civil servants.
Javon Fabien, who walked in the morning ceremony at Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn alongside 86 other graduates, is one such generational member his EMT mom, Diana Wilson, was pregnant with him while she was in the academy herself, she told The Post.
I actually found out that I was pregnant exiting the academy, said Wilson, who is now an instructor. And here we are, 20 years later, hes getting his certificate, and now hes hitting the streets, and hes serving the community of South Jamaica, Queens.
Javon Fabien poses with his proud mom, EMT Diana Wilson, at Tuesdays graduation. Gabriella Bass
I am overwhelmed with emotions right now, she continued. Im so happy for him Im very, very proud I expect many things from him.
Fabien called the experience surreal.
It feels amazing, he said. I feel like a culmination of a bunch of hard work over a lot of years is finally in fruition, and were here now. Its over.
His goal in the fire service? To make his own way.
Bagpipers play at the ceremony, which graduated 87 new EMTs. Gabriella Bass
Im trying to move up and really make a mark for myself, he said.
The probationary EMTs including three veterans trained for 18 weeks at the academy, where they learned such things as CPR; patient medical and trauma assessments; oxygen and ventilation skills; management of hypotension and fractures; spinal immobilization and emergency childbirth, and emergency vehicle operation, according to a city press release.
Richard Corcoran IV a fourth-generation academy grad walked in the ceremony as his firefighter dad and grandpa looked on.
Of course [its big shoes to fill], the 26-year-old said of the journey he is embarking on, given his family history. Anywhere I go, theyre like, Oh youre a Corcoran. So everybody knows everybody.
The Corcorans are a legacy firefighter family who just had their fourth-generation graduate from the academy. All the men are named Richard with the newest grad is Richard Corcoran IV. Gabriella Bass
For EMS, I want to become a paramedic at some point, maybe a rescue medic. Probably spend about five years in. But Id really love to go to fire, he said.
His proud grandfather, 84-year-old Richard Corcoran II, quipped that hes very fortunate because he was able to intimidate all my children to take the test.
Its a beautiful, beautiful job when you are helping people, he said. Youre doing a service. Youre setting a career for your life.
You cant ask for a better working condition than a fireman, he continued.
Its actually two living families. I have had supper probably more supper at the firehouse than I had home. And if you know anybody wants to do it, take the time. Its wonderful.
OAKLAND - Sitting at a table in San Francisco's Mission District, Carlos Jimenez remembers the painful transition he felt when he first arrived in San Francisco.
"Lost. And lonely. And a lot of discrimination," Jimenez said. "When you move to another place, and they find out you're not belonging to that group, they make fun of you. That's what happened to us."
Jimenez says the difficulty was communication.
They did not speak English or Spanish. They spoke an indigenous Maya language called Mam. Jimenez says his sister was the first from their community of Todos Santos in Guatemala to migrate to the Bay Area.
Now, the Maya community in the Bay Area has grown to tens of thousands of people from Guatemala and Mexico who speak Mam, K'iche, Yucatel, and other Maya languages.
"Mam, it's my first language. Spanish is my second language," said Crecencio Ramirez, who immigrated to the Bay Area as a child and has become a co-founder of Radio B'alam, which broadcasts programs and news in Mam.
"We were feeling so isolated, so I decided to create Radio B'alam," Ramirez said.
In Radio B'alam's small studio in Oakland, language is a lifeline and words matter, especially when most of the world can't understand.
For some, hearing the radio broadcasts in Mam can feel like a miracle, like being home.
Mam is a Maya language more than 3,000 years old, still living on the tongues of young people now.
"I was born in Guatemala. I came here when I was four," Catarina Mendoza Ramirez said, as she sat outside the Radio B'alam station in Oakland. "It was very difficult in the beginning because there was not too much of my community here. When I came in 1999."
Now, Mendoza Ramirez says Oakland's largely Hispanic Fruitvale neighborhood has Guatemalan shops and food trucks owned by Mam-speaking people.
The Oakland Unified School District says they have about 1,800 Mam-speaking students and have added a Mam translator to their staff.
The group Voces Maya and other advocates are trying to help many Mam immigrants who can't speak English or Spanish, by connecting them with services and interpreters.
Vicente Calmo Bautista of Oakland said through an interpreter, "We need access to resources to learn English."
San Francisco's City College held a Maya cultural festival at the Mission campus in September.
Maya people came wearing traditional hats and clothes, sharing their food, culture, and beautiful woven textiles.
This celebration of heritage is also a celebration of survival, through the perilous times of the Spanish Conquerers, to surviving Guatemala's violent civil war in the 1980's when soldiers targeted indigenous people.
"In Guatemala, there's a lot of violence," said Damaso Calmo, "I came here without my mom, without my father. I spoke just Mam, a little bit of Spanish."
Calmo says he was a teenager when he arrived. He remembers one class in school when a teacher suggested Maya people no longer existed.
"I went to school here and they were saying, we don't know what happens to the Mayans about 1800 years. Something like that and I just laughed, you know," Calmo said.
Nationwide, there has been a new focus on Maya Mam-speakers, as many Guatemalan immigrants have been suffering, caught in the political battle over the border and also finding themselves facing discrimination.
"The discrimination that comes with speaking an indigenous language, especially in our own countries, where, you know, a lot of us are not respected or not treated as equals to those who spoke Spanish, which is the national language," said Oswaldo Martin, a Mam Maya language interpreter from Oakland.
Martin has been featured in national news. He grew up in Oakland and became trilingual. He decided to work as an interpreter in immigration courts to help community members. He also says many Maya immigrants at the border were given Spanish interpreters for immigration cases, though they spoke little or no Spanish.
Even for interpreters, however, the challenges can sometimes be daunting. Mam has some fifteen dialects, and the remote and mountainous locations of some communities have meant there is no standard Mam language.
Another challenge is that Mam is just one of 22 Maya languages recognized in Guatemala.
"I speak K'iche. I'm from Guatemala, and I am an interpreter," Francisco Icala of San Francisco said, as he helped staff a booth that was selling handmade canvas bags with original art designed by local community members.
At the San Francisco Maya Festival, Icala said the Maya language K'iche is spoken by about 20,000 people in the Bay Area.
There is also the Yucatec language of the Yucatan Peninsula region.
Pedro Parra, a Portland Maya Yucatec speaker, had a table at the festival, selling t-shirts with Mayan writing and showcasing musical instruments.
"When I was a kid, I thought we were all Hispanic so we all understand each other, it's fine," Felix Munoz-Meza, a City College student said. "But as I grew older and started to move out to different parts of Bay Area, I learned that no, it's not a monolith,"
"I'm just part of the community. Latina and also Maya Mam. And be very proud of that," Catarina Mendoza Ramirez said.
Calmo and others dream of having a better life, and passing on the legacy of language, the Mam language, to their children.
"It's my dream, to have a beautiful family so we can live in peace," Calmo said. "Hopefully him, he doesn't have to go through the same thing as I'm going through."
"Somebody paid the price for them to be here, so they should be proud and remember who opened that door for them," Carlos Jimenez, Sr. said. "We are so proud of who we are, where we come from, and we didn't want that one to get lost.
Jana Katsuyama is a reporter for KTVU. Email Jana at jana.katsuyama@fox.com. Call her at 510-326-5529. Or follow her on Twitter @JanaKTVU and read her other reports on her bio page.
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's President Joko Widodo broke ground on Wednesday for a Chinese firm's property complex in the Southeast Asian nation's troubled new capital on the island of Borneo, hailing it as a pioneering foreign investment that will lure others.
Years after the president unveiled his $32-billion flagship plan, aimed at easing the burden on congested, sinking and overpopulated Jakarta, the new capital has battled problems from construction delays to a lack of foreign investment.
Chinese property firm Delonix Group is "the pioneering foreign company investing in the new capital," said Jokowi, as he is popularly known, with its investment of 500 billion rupiah ($33 million) in the complex of hotels and offices.
"And this will bring confidence in other investors to enter the new capital," he added.
It is the first foreign investment in the new capital, said authorities there. Delonix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jokowi earlier presided at the groundbreaking of another property complex developed by a domestic firm in partnership with a Russian developer.
The new capital of Nusantara is being built in a forested pocket on Borneo, about 1,200 km (745 miles) from Jakarta, home to 10 million people.
The government has said just a fifth of the total budget for the plan will come from its coffers, with the rest from private investment.
Nusantara has previously received a $1.3-billion investment from a consortium of Indonesian companies.
Jokowi, who has said work on the capital could last decades, plans to spend the final weeks of his administration there, he said this month. His successor, President-elect Prabowo Subianto, is set to take office on Oct. 20.
($1=15,080.0000 rupiah)
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
By Parisa Hafezi
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -Iran is ready to end its nuclear standoff with the West, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, while calling for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine through dialogue.
Iran's clerical establishment hopes to see an easing of U.S. sanctions that have crippled the country's economy.
"We are ready to engage with participants of the 2015 nuclear deal. If the deal's commitments are implemented fully and in good faith, dialogue on other issues can follow," Pezeshkian said.
Then-President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and six world powers in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions on Iran. Efforts to revive the pact have failed.
The 2015 deal, which then-President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018, had capped Iran's uranium enrichment at 3.67% purity and its stockpile of this material at 202.8 kg (447 pounds) - limits Tehran has since far exceeded.
For Britain, France and Germany, who remain party to the nuclear deal, there is a sense that Tehran's leadership will not change course and that a broader accord encompassing the nuclear programme and Iran's geopolitical role is unrealistic for now.
The United States, its European allies and Israel accuse Tehran of using its nuclear programme as a veil for efforts to try to develop the capability to produce weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
Tehran's relations with the West have worsened since the Iranian-backed Hamas militant group attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7 and as Tehran has increased its support for Russia's war in Ukraine.
Pezeshkian, a relatively moderate politician who took office in August promising a pragmatic foreign policy, criticized Iran's arch-foe Israel for what he called "its genocide in Gaza."
"It is imperative that the international community should immediately ... secure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and bring an end to the desperate barbarism of Israel in Lebanon, before it engulfs the region and the world," he said.
An Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed a senior commander of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon on Tuesday as cross-border rocket attacks by both sides increased fears of a full-fledged war.
"We seek peace for all and have no intention of conflict with any country ... Iran opposes war and emphasizes the need for an immediate cessation of military conflict in Ukraine," Pezeshkian said.
Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran since the start of its war with Ukraine and has said it is preparing to sign a wide-ranging cooperation agreement with the Islamic state.
Iran has brokered secret talks between Russia and Yemen's Houthi rebels to transfer anti-ship missiles to that militant group, three Western and regional sources said, a development that highlights Tehran's deepening ties to Moscow.
(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Howard Goller)
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva advocated on Tuesday for a plan for talks between Russia and Ukraine to end their conflict, a proposal already rejected by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Lula, who has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin by telephone about the proposal, did not give any details of the six-point plan in his speech at the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.
His foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim will seek support for the plan from representatives of 20 countries when they meet in New York on Friday, Brazilian diplomats said.
Zelenskiy has rejected the proposal as "destructive" and insisted his summit initiative is the only viable peace format.
The Chinese-Brazilian proposal, which was made public in May after Amorim visited Beijing, calls for de-escalating the situation and the resumption of direct dialogue without requiring Russia to pull back.
Friday's meeting will include countries from the Global South, but not European governments that are the staunchest supporters of Ukraine. Among those invited are Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
"The intention is to listen to what these countries can bring, create a critical mass and review these points," a Brazilian official told Reuters. "Many countries want to listen, including the Europeans."
In his speech, Lula warned that the conflict in Gaza is expanding "dangerously" to Lebanon, adding to calls for a ceasefire.
"The right of defense has turned into the right of revenge, which prevents an agreement to release hostages and postpones a ceasefire," Lula said.
The Brazilian leader repeated his country's plea for reform of the United Nations, saying the global body was not doing its job representing the world and stopping wars.
He criticized the tens of billions of dollars spent every year on military arsenals and said these funds should be used to eliminate poverty and fight climate change.
Lula called for revision of the U.N. charter to revitalize the role of the General Assembly in promoting peace and reform of the multilateral institution.
"The exclusion of Latin America and Africa from permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council is an unacceptable reflection of the colonial past," he said.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle and Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Gabriel Araujo in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Howard Goller)
By Joseph Ax
(Reuters) - Nebraska's governor said on Tuesday he would not call a special legislative session to consider altering the state's method of awarding electoral votes ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election, ending an effort backed by Donald Trump and his Republican allies.
The announcement came one day after a key Republican lawmaker, state Senator Mike McDonnell, said he would not support changing the system to winner-take-all, leaving the Republican super-majority in the state legislature at least one vote shy with Democrats universally opposed.
In a statement, Republican Governor Jim Pillen called McDonnell's decision "profoundly disappointing" and confirmed he would not call lawmakers back into session before Election Day.
Unlike many countries, the U.S. president is not elected by the national popular vote; instead, each state awards Electoral College votes in proportion to its population to the winner of that state.
Nebraska and Maine are the only two states that allocate electoral votes partly based on congressional district. In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden won one of Nebraska's five electoral votes in an Omaha-based district, while Trump won one of Maine's four votes.
With Trump, the Republican candidate, and Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic rival, locked in a tight contest, every electoral vote could matter in November. In some plausible scenarios, Nebraska's Omaha-centered electoral vote could mean the difference between a Harris victory and a Trump one.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Alistair Bell)
SEOUL (Reuters) - Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, criticised the presence of a U.S. nuclear submarine in the South Korean port of Busan, state media KCNA said on Tuesday.
Kim called it a proof of U.S. ambition to "bring out its nuclear strategic assets, show off its strength and increase threats", according to KCNA.
The USS Vermont arrived at a naval base in Busan on Monday to resupply and allow crew members to rest, Yonhap news agency said citing South Korea's navy.
Kim's published remarks came after the foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan held a meeting on Monday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
They expressed concerns about North Korea's recent revelation of its uranium enrichment facilities and continued "unlawful" military cooperation with Russia, and agreed to work toward realising a trilateral summit within this year, South Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Kim Coghill)
LONDON (Reuters) - Pfizer and Moderna's legal battle over their rival COVID-19 vaccines will continue after London's High Court on Wednesday gave Pfizer permission to take the case to the Court of Appeal.
Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech sued Moderna in London in September 2022, seeking to revoke two patents held by Moderna, which hit back days later alleging its own patents had been infringed.
The High Court gave a mixed ruling in July, ruling that one of Moderna's two patents relating to the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology that underpinned its COVID-19 vaccine was invalid.
But the court ruled another similar patent was valid and that Pfizer and BioNTech's Comirnaty vaccine had infringed it, meaning Moderna is entitled to damages in relation to sales after March 2022.
Judge Richard Meade gave Pfizer and BioNTech permission to appeal against that decision on Wednesday. The issue of any damages owed to Moderna is on hold pending their appeal.
Moderna was refused permission to appeal in relation to its patent which was found to be invalid, but the company can still apply directly to the Court of Appeal.
The London lawsuits are just one leg of a global battle between Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna, which have also been involved in proceedings in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United States, as well as at the European Patent Office.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar)
Phillip Schofield is set to make an unexpected return to television 16 months after exiting ITV over his widely reported affair scandal.
The former This Morning host has kept a low public profile since last summer, when he admitted to having an affair with a younger male colleague.
The Sun reported on Tuesday that the 62-year-old has secretly filmed a Channel 5 special, titled Cast Away, which sees him marooned on a tropical island for 10 days.
The tabloid shared screenshots from the series of Mr Schofield looking grizzled in a dirty grey t-shirt and a white beard.
Over the past few months Phil has had quite a few offers for various things but has steadfastly turned them all down, a source told The Sun.
This sort of challenge has always appealed to him though and after consulting with friends and family, he decided to go for it. Its all been top secret, and has been an incredibly quick turnaround in order to keep the news quiet.
Phillip Schofield in the Channel 5 special, titled Cast Away, which sees him marooned on a tropical island for 10 days (Channel 5)
After 42 years on telly, Phillip has learnt from some great crews and teams on how to film and tell a story.
With 10 days to himself, no camera crews or production around, he shot some unbelievably raw footage - some of it makes for tough, emotional viewing.
But he wanted a chance to share his story, unedited and honest, and let viewers see another side to him.
Whilst this is a massive coup for Channel 5, and huge for Phillip, hes in no rush to come back to TV full-time yet; he remains very bruised, and is just taking some time now to weigh things up before he makes any major decisions.
Channel 5 teased the special on Monday with a clip showing just the back and legs of an unnamed celebrity as fans guessed who it might be.
Coming Soon to Channel 5
A celebrity marooned on an uninhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar for 10 days is challenged with total isolation, the forces of nature, and the battle within their own mind. pic.twitter.com/O1vFUJUfbx Channel 5 (@channel5_tv) September 23, 2024
The broadcaster captioned its post: Coming Soon to Channel 5 A celebrity marooned on an uninhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar for 10 days is challenged with total isolation, the forces of nature, and the battle within their own mind.
Cast Away airs over three nights beginning 30 September.
The news comes hours after Mr Schofield posted the message watch this space to his Instagram story, alongside a winky face emoji.
Phillip Schofield is set to return to television on Channel 5s Cast Away (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
The series will be Mr Schofields first time on television since he sensationally left ITV last year following 20 years with the broadcaster.
Mr Schofields presenting partner Holly Willoughby left This Morning after 14 years in October 2023, explaining her decision as one made for me and my family.
In a statement at the time, Mr Schofield said he had had a consensual on-off relationship that was unwise, but not illegal.
He apologised for the affair, which happened while he was married to his wife of 30 years, Stephanie Lowe.
Construction continues across the street from a vacant lot where homeless people camp Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, in the Midtown neighborhood in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A family walks past homeless people at Bayou Place in downtown Houston on April 13, 2024. Sharon Steinmann
When Beyonce posted on Instagram a photo of herself in front of a new neighborhood sign in Riverside Terrace last year, fans flocked to our area to take selfies.
The sign and the beautifully landscaped median it sits on are a symbol of pride for a community that continues to battle the migraines of city life, such as noise, crime and homelessness. It was paid for by the civic association with donations and sponsorship, and the landscaping was covered by the area management district.
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Yet, those upgrades have done little to stop people from sleeping along sidewalks and leaving grocery carts filled with clothes and trash along Southmore Blvd. Neighbors say dilapidated apartments near the Emancipation Ave. intersection are also part of the problem.
So when some 300 residents signed a petition to invoke the city's civility ordinance earlier this year, they thought it would help a little.
The ordinance, which was approved for the community in March, prohibits people from sitting, lying down or placing personal items on city sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. with certain exceptions for emergencies. Residents can be ticketed for violating it. In 2022, 264 people received citations.
Nearly a dozen Houston neighborhoods have civility ordinances, including the Central Business District, Midtown, Old Sixth Ward, Avondale, Hyde Park, East Downtown Management District, Historic Near Northside, South Post Oak/West Bellfort and Near Northside.
Six months later, not much has changed in Riverside Terrace.
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There are probably a few more people who are homeless meandering around the area. Clothes and trash are scattered at Southmore and Emancipation and the vacant apartments are boarded up, in some places appearing more hazardous than before.
Those in favor of the civility ordinance stress that it can help push the citys unsheltered population to get the assistance they need, decrease vagrancy in the area and help clean up a neighborhood. Those against it say it can criminalize people who are homeless and make them vulnerable to crime.
We know that Houston police are stretched thin, so trying to move people who are unhoused off city sidewalks isn't a high priority for them. Even if a citation is given, paying a fine is nearly impossible when you don't have a home.
The solution is somewhere in the middle. People with compassionate hearts want to find one, but no one wants unhoused residents sleeping on sidewalks in their neighborhood.
The city also has an ordinance against encamping in public spaces. A Houston Chronicle analysis early this year found that the majority of the tickets issued for homeless encampments were in an area from downtown to the west, where the population tends to be wealthier, whiter, and have better health outcomes. The Houston police told the Chronicle then that the distribution of tickets is driven by where theyre getting complaints.
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Ticketing for blocking a sidewalk can cost more than $300, and placing bedding on a sidewalk is nearly $200.
"I think there needs to be a better partnership between public and private entities to make a civility ordinance work," said Christian Miranda, who has lived in the Avondale area for 20 years. "It doesn't really help in the way it should."
After two decades of having the civility ordinance in place, Miranda said his neighborhood continues to face the challenges of unhoused residents settling on public sidewalks and easements.
Recently, residents called Houston police after a man hauled a mattress and other personal items onto an easement owned in part by the city. His legal infraction wasn't being homeless directly. It was sleeping on public property.
Neighbors need 100 signatures on a civility-ordinance petition, which goes before City Council for approval. Riverside Terrance residents celebrated a win after the ordinance was approved in March and were hopeful.
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"The ordinance has great potential, but we're fighting an issue with an ordinance that is too shallow to help the problem," Miranda said.
Houston has been touted nationally for reducing homelessness, but COVID funds used to help the effort in recent years are dwindling. Success has been limited in areas like ours. On occasion, we've had people set up tents in our alleys.
One of our unhoused residents, James "Troy" Harris, who roamed Third Ward for two decades, died under a bridge on a cold night in 2023. Harris' death is part of a citywide trend. A report on homeless mortality in Texas showed that homeless deaths in Harris County have increased. In 2022, a Harris County resident died in homelessness once every 36 hours on average.
A few miles away in Third Ward, the House of Tiny Treasures, which is operated by SEARCH homeless services and provides daycare and preschool for families experiencing homelessness is one of the positive signs that the city has solutions in place.
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But in Montrose, the man with the mattress relocated a few blocks away. He became another neighborhood's problem, part of a frustrating cycle for the city.
The U.S. military detected and tracked four Russian military planes off the coast of Alaska Monday amid a spike in such activity from Moscow off the U.S. coast.
The four Russian aircraft were operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement late Monday.
While the ADIZ is just outside U.S. sovereign airspace, the portion of international airspace does require all aircraft to readily identify themselves in the interest of national security.
The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace, according to the statement. This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.
Officials did not release further details as to what type of military planes they were.
The activity comes days after the U.S. military deployed about 130 troops to a remote location in Alaskas Aleutian Islands armed with mobile rocket launchers.
Soldiers from Alaska, Washington and Hawaii with the 11th Airborne Division and the 1st and 3rd Multi Domain Task Forces were sent to Shemya Island as part of the deployment, The Associated Press reported.
The troops were placed in the area Sept. 12 as Russia and China conducted joint military drills in the air and waters west of the state, with eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels including two submarines traveling close to Alaska.
The Coast Guard said the Kremlin navy vessels crossed the maritime boundary into U.S. waters to avoid sea ice, a move permitted under international rules and customs. But none of the Russian planes crossed into U.S. airspace, according to the Pentagon.
So far this year, there have been 25 instances of Russian aircraft entering the ADIZ. Last year there were 26 such instances, indicating an uptick.
This is not the first time Washington has sent troops or equipment to Alaska to ward off Russian or Chinese forces operating nearby. In August 2023, the Navy deployed four destroyers off the states coast after 11 Chinese and Russian warships were spotted patrolling in the Exclusive Economic Zone, considered international waters.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
When the Biden administration nominated Michael Sfraga to be special ambassador to the Arctic, he failed to disclose his deep history with Russia and China.
The Senate is expected to vote on Sfragas confirmation on Tuesday over a year after his nomination, which was held up by Republicans who claim he is too close to U.S. adversaries.
Sfraga has traveled extensively across Russia and China, and even spoke at an event where Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the headline address.
An Alaskan and geographer by background, Sfraga chairs the Polar Institute and the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. He is looking to lead the U.S. in diplomatic relations between the eight Arctic nations: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Russian Federation and the U.S.
His foreign ties prompted Sen. Jim Risch, Idaho, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, to write a letter in 2023 asking the FBI for help in vetting Sfraga, Fox News Digital has learned.
He negotiated joint partnerships with Chinese academic institutions tied to defense and intelligence services and spoke glowingly about the two U.S. adversaries in interviews for different publications all of which he failed to reveal until confronted by Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff.
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Sfraga had to update his disclosures three times, claiming he had forgotten to mention his record of trips and collaboration with Chinese and Russian leaders, Republicans have said.
Risch placed a hold on Sfraga's nomination, which prompted Republican infighting. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, RAlaska, recommended Sfraga to the Biden administration, and she defended him to the committee. "If there is any challenge that you have as a committee, its that his expertise in the Arctic is so voluminous," she said. "It takes a while to wade through all of it."
Sfraga was key in negotiating memorandums of understanding legal documents that establish a partnership between the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and Chinese universities, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which has been designated a "high threat" due to its high-level defense research and alleged ties to cyberattacks.
The partnership included access to UAFs IT infrastructure and involvement in policy and legal reviews on any Arctic region subject, in addition to research and exchange programs.
In 2021, Sfraga spoke on a virtual panel on "Cooperation and Environmental Sustainability in the Arctic at Fort Ross Dialogue," an event sponsored by two U.S.-sanctioned Russian companies, Transneft and Sovcomflot, and Chevron. His co-panelist was Russian Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Cooperation Nikolai Korchunov.
Russia, China Hold Biggest Wargames Since Soviet Era
The event stressed cooperation with Russia on Arctic issues. In a 2021 interview with Voice of Americas Russia service, Sfraga claimed Russia and the U.S. were "not understanding each other" and that "the Arctic is an integral part of Russias DNA."
In a 2022 Newsweek article on mounting U.S.-Russia tensions in the Arctic, Sfraga is quoted lamenting that the Arctic is no longer insulated from strains in the bilateral relationship. He said it is "not a good thing" that the Arctic Council canceled a forum with defense chiefs, including Russias, following Russias attempted annexation of Crimea. "I certainly understand the motives, but it's not a good thing to have that happen," he said.
In 2021, after Russia's annexation of Crimea but before the war in Ukraine, Sfraga argued for cooperation with Russia in the Arctic.
"If both nations, especially the United States, are looking for places to actually cooperate with the Russians like we do in the International Space Station and trying to find a path towards some amount of productive engagement, I would argue that the Arctic may provide for us at least a few of those pathways to a more predictable and stable relationship between these two countries," he said.
At his Senate hearing in March, he struck a tougher tone with Russia.
"Russias war against Ukraine has rendered cooperation virtually impossible with Russia, including in the Arctic," he said. "The PRC (China) is attempting to reshape the global aid rules based system in its favor, and increasingly working with Moscow to elevate and advance its presence and its influence in the Arctic in ways that threaten our interests."
In 2017, Sfraga attended the International Arctic Forum in Arkhangelsk, Russia, an event headlined by Putin and attended by numerous other state-sanctioned people. He was a speaker on a panel entitled "Arctic: Territory of Professionals."
When questioned about the event in a Senate hearing, Sfraga said, "Its hard to ignore half of the Arctic, which is Russia, and in the North, it is a big neighborhood, but a small community, and you must engage. And indeed, at one of those conferences, President Putin did provide a keynote address, but I had no interaction with President Putin at all."
Michael Sfraga is looking to lead diplomatic ties between eight Arctic nations.
Reports show Sfraga has taken at least half a dozen trips to China to participate in panels on Arctic issues.
In October 2019, for example, he attended the Arctic Circle China Forum in Shanghai, where he spoke to the panel on the topic of, "The Arctic Council: A Model for Regional Cooperation."
In November 2018, he attended the 11th Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he co-chaired the breakout session "China's Arctic Policy: Opportunities and Challenges" with Dr. Yang Jian, vice president of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.
In April 2016, he attended the Fulbright Arctic Initiative Symposium in Washington, D.C., where he met with Chinese representatives from the Polar Research Institute of China and the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration. He also delivered a keynote speech on "The Arctic in a Globalized World" at the China-Nordic Arctic Cooperation Symposium in Beijing.
Additionally, during a 2018 event entitled, "The Polar Silk Road: Chinas Arctic Ambitions," Sfraga is quoted as saying, "In the United States, we think four seconds long; we think commercials and sound bites and bumper stickers. But the Chinese think in long narratives; they go over decades... [The United States] think[s] about reaction versus being proactive... as we see the polar ice continue to retreat -- and theres both opportunity and challenge there."
"As the Arctic ice continues to retreat, theres both opportunity and challenge there. How we best situate our own interests and those of like minds is probably best considered quickly. That doesnt mean were pitted against China. I think there are ways we engage with them in a very productive, meaningful dance forward and that can be for the good of a lot. But we should not be lulled into a false narrative either way."
A local Alaskan and geographer by background, Michael Sfraga chairs the Polar Institute and the U.S. Arctic Research Commission.
Us Must Expand Nuclear Arsenal In Face Of Russia And China Threat, Warns Top Obama Defense Advisor
Sfraga also has ties to the Arctic Circle an organization that some have raised concerns about giving China an outsized voice on Arctic issues. Unlike the Arctic Council, which only includes Arctic nations, the Arctic Circle includes China and is its preferred platform to engage on Arctic issues.
Under Sfraga, the U.S. Arctic Research Council became an official Partner to the Arctic Circle, but his attendance at Arctic Circle events dates back to at least 2016. Olafur Grimsson, chair of the Arctic Circle, described Sfraga as a "good friend" and said he looked forward to collaboration when he was named head of the Research Council.
Grimssons name appeared on a list of pro-Russian European experts who Russia intended to use in an influence campaign targeting the Baltic States. A report by Ukraine state news agency Ukrinform notes that Grimsson opposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 as Icelands president and called for turning the old U.S. airbase in Keflavik over to the Russians, and took part in Russian government-organized events.
Original article source: Senate to vote on contentious Arctic ambassador nominee with deep ties to China and Russia
Three former chairs of the Maine Republican Party have enthusiastically endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the race against former President Donald Trump, joining hundreds of Republicans and former GOP administration officials in backing the Democratic nominee.
Robert Monks, Ken Cole and Ted OMeara made the announcement in an op-ed for the Bangor Daily News.
Recalling a bygone era, they said they led the Maine Republican Party when candidates of both parties were not only civil and believed in the rule of law but also had the best interests of the state and entire nation in mind, despite any disagreements that may occur.
They added that they see these positive characteristics in the vice president but that they are completely lacking in Trump.
Monks, Cole, and OMeara argue that Trumps sole goal appears to be to divide people across the nation, within communities, families and friends.
Whether it is race, religion, gender, ethnicity or country of origin, Trump continues to pit us against each other in his frightening, cynical quest to get elected again, the ex-GOP chairs wrote in the op-ed published on Monday.
Meanwhile, the trio argued that Harris is collaborative and capable and, unlike Trump, is committed to bringing people together.
The authors said they trust her when she says she intends to be a president for the entirety of the US, before going on to lament that the big-tent Republican Party they represented no longer exists: Trumps MAGA Republican Party is unrecognizable to us.
Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris gestures as she speaks during a campaign event in Wisconsin. The Republican state party chairs in Maine have now endorsed her for president (REUTERS)
They slammed Trump for the chaos and lies and noted the widespread support for Harris among more old-school Republicans such as former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, former top House Republican Representative Liz Cheney, and more than a dozen former Ronald Reagan staffers.
Monks, Cole and OMeara also noted that over 100 former top Republican officials signed a letter stating that Trump is unfit to serve again as president, or indeed in any office of public trust.
The trio lambasted Trump for refusing to state if he wants Ukraine to win the war against Russia during his appearance on the debate stage in Philadelphia on September 10 and for cozying up to dictators such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
They cited the worries of European allies at the prospect of a second Trump term and Chinas increasing aggression towards Taiwan, adding that the war-torn Middle East desperately needs calm and determined US leadership.
Trumps return to the White House would make our world a far more dangerous place, the former GOP state chairs argued.
The Maine Republicans also shared their concerns that Trump and his Project 2025 agenda would destroy programs good for Maine people, such as Medicare, Social Security and protections for pre-existing health conditions via the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Ed Fry Arena in Pennsylvania. Former state Republican party chairs in Maine have now endorsed his rival (AFP via Getty Images)
The key question this fall is whether a majority of Maine people will vote for an America that believes in free and fair elections defends personal freedoms like a womans right to choose and get proper health care, and supports a tax structure where everyone pays their fair share, they added.
Or will they fall for Trumps election lies, endanger more of our personal liberties, and enable tax and trade policies that will hurt Maine workers, they asked.
The trio noted that large parts of the GOP and its leadership have joined the Trump cult, the members of which will care little for what we have to say.
They instead called on the many honest, hardworking, principled people in the Maine Republican Party to join them in backing the vice president.
Monks, Cole and OMeara went on to quote Republican Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan and his speech to the Democratic National Convention.
Let me be clear to my Republican friends at home If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, youre not a Democrat, youre a patriot, Duncan said last month.
On November 5, be a patriot, the three Republicans urged their readers.
ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday that the international community must urgently implement a solution to stop Israel's aggression, the Turkish presidency said, adding he had also voiced support for Lebanon.
A NATO member, Turkey has denounced Israel's devastating military offensive in Gaza prompted by Palestinian militant group Hamas' cross-border attack last Oct. 7.
Turkey halted all trade with Israel and applied to join a genocide case against Israel at the World Court. Israel has said the genocide accusations are baseless and has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.
Erdogan has previously condemned Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory, which Israel says are targeting Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure, and has called for international steps to halt Israel's war in Gaza and cross-border fire with Hezbollah.
Turkey's presidency said Erdogan told Mikati in a meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York that the international community must urgently implement a solution to stop "Israel's aggression."
"President Erdogan said Israel was disregarding fundamental human rights, committing a genocide in front of the world, noting that stopping this and the humanitarian crisis that emerged as a result of the attacks was a humanitarian duty," the presidency said in a statement.
Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib in New York that Israel's attacks in Lebanon were "unacceptable" and meant to "drag the region into chaos," according to the Turkish diplomatic source.
Bou Habib thanked Fidan for a Turkish shipment of medicine that arrived in Lebanon on Wednesday, the source added, and also briefed Fidan on the latest developments in Lebanon.
Separately, Fidan told a G20 foreign ministers meeting in New York that it was unclear whether the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah would spread further, though the world was facing a wider conflict.
Fidan also reiterated Ankara's long-standing call to reform the U.N. Security Council to make it "fully effective," adding Turkey wanted to see a structure in which "one country's veto does not determine another's destiny," the source added.
The United States, Russia, China, France and Britain are the permanent, veto-wielding members of the Security Council. There are 10 non-permanent members that serve two-year terms.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; editing by Mark Heinrich and Jonathan Oatis)
The tone was set Tuesday in the hall of the United Nations in New York City after the General Assembly reacted to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' contempt for Israels attacks in Gaza, but sat silent during his condemnation of Hamas' near-year-long capture of Israeli hostages.
"Lets be clear, nothing can justify the abhorrent acts of terror committed by Hamas on Oct. 7 or the taking of hostages, both of which I have repeatedly condemned," he said as the General Assembly sat and watched. "And nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people."
The secretary-generals comments were followed by applause by the international body before he continued and said, "The speed and scale of the killing and destruction in Gaza are unlike anything in my years as Secretary-General."
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 24, 2024.
Biden Addresses Un General Assembly For Last Time As Dictators, Despots Come To New York
Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, immediately called out the international body for "hypocrisy" following its resounding condemnation of Israels fight in Gaza.
"When the U.N. secretary-general speaks about the release of our hostages, the U.N. assembly is silent, but when he speaks about the suffering in Gaza, he receives thunderous applause," he said in a statement. "This is the opening signal for the annual charade of hypocrisy."
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The tone of the overall assembly was particularly dark after Guterres warned the "state of our world is unstainable" and said, "We cant go on like this."
But despite the range of issues he addressed, including the more than two-year war in Ukraine, the civil war in Sudan, female oppression worldwide, the wrath of climate change and global hunger, it was the war in Gaza that dominated the addresses that followed.
The President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who opened the assemblys debate following Guterres' opening remarks, called out Israel and argued that it is Jerusalems fault there are still 101 hostages in the hands of Hamas.
"There have been over 40,000 fatal victims, mostly women and children," the Brazilian president said regarding the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza, though the figure does not differentiate between civilians and Hamas terrorists killed. "The right to defense has become the right to vengeance, which prevents an agreement for the release of the hostages and postpones the ceasefire."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has long been critical of Israel, openly drew parallels between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Nazi leader Adolf Hilter and called Israeli prisons "concentration camps."
Iran's Leader To Address Un Amid Threats Of Assassinations Against Us Politicians, Election Interference
"Just as Hitler was stopped by an alliance of humanity, Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped by an alliance of humanity," Edrogan said.
Erdogan, like the other nations who followed him, accused Israel of flouting international law and questioned when the nations of the U.N. were going to do something about it.
"I call out to the United Nations Security Council, what are you waiting for to prevent the genocide in Gaza?" He questioned before positioning his next question at nations like the U.S.: "How long are you going to be able to carry the shame of witnessing this massacre?"
When asked by Fox News Digital about the overall tone of the mornings debate, the Israeli ambassador to the U.N. called it "shameful" and said it was the "most hostile" environment he has seen in his roughly 10 years of attending the general debate.
Medics treat a Palestinian boy, who was wounded in an Israeli strike, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 23, 2024.
The King of Jordan, Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, echoed the warnings issued by Guterres and said the U.N. is "under attack," arguing Israels continued assault with the backing of the U.S. was to blame.
"I cannot recall a time of greater peril than this," he said. "Our United Nations is facing a crisis that strikes at its very legitimacy and threatens a collapse of global trust and moral authority."
"For years, the global community has taken the path of least resistance, accepting the status quo of the ongoing military occupation of Palestinians all the while paying lip service to the two-state solution," Al-Hussein added in direct reference to comments made by President Biden just minutes prior.
Un Resolution Demanding Israel Exit 'Occupied Territories' Can Hurt 'Highly Volatile' Situation, Expert Says
The leader of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, echoed the criticisms of his predecessors, accusing Israel of committing "a crime of genocide" and hitting at the heart of the U.S.s continued support for Jerusalem.
"We oppose violence and the targeting of innocent civilians by any party," he said. "But after a year of the warit is no longer tenable to talk about Israel's right to defend itself in this context without being complicit in justifying the crime."
Teddy bears, symbolizing Gazan children who lost their lives since October 7, are displayed for sale at an exhibition organized by Qatar Charity, with proceeds donated to the people of Gaza in an act of solidarity, in Doha, Qatar, September 20, 2024.
Like his predecessors, the Qatari leader argued that Israels allowance by the international community to continue to carry out strikes in Gaza questions the legitimacy of the United Nations as a whole and has "inflicted serious damage on the credibility of the post-World War II concepts on which the international community was founded."
Qatar has played a major role alongside the U.S. and Egypt in an attempt to engage Hamas and Israel in cease-fire negotiations. Though he argued this will not be achieved until Israel stops its occupation in not only Gaza, but elsewhere.
"There is no point in talking about security, peace, and stability in the Middle East regionif not backed by concrete steps leading to an immediate ceasefire and an end to the Israeli occupation of all Arab territories," he said in reference to Palestinian lands identified under U.N. Resolution 181, like Gaza and the West Bank, as well as the Golan Heights which Israel seized from Syria following the Six Days War in 1967.
Original article source: UN silent as Guterres calls for hostage release, receives 'thunderous' applause on Gaza
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States hopes to discuss efforts to limit the spread of fentanyl with China at a November APEC summit, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.
The official spoke after U.S. President Joe Biden announced at an event in New York that new data showed a 10% year-to-year drop in U.S. deaths from fentanyl.
Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed fentanyl at a California summit last November.
The U.S. wants China to take more action at home to prevent the development of chemicals that can be made into fentanyl, the leading cause of U.S. drug overdoses.
The U.S official was asked whether the United States and China will discuss fentanyl at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru in November.
"I would be very optimistic that we will have this on the agenda," said the official, adding that the two countries have already seen some results.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Howard Goller)
Wedding veil histories date back to Roman times; why brides still wear the headpiece today
Wedding veils date back to ancient times, yet modern brides still reach for the accessory to complete their look.
While veils have long been a popular wedding-day accessory, the reason brides place them atop their heads before they walk down the aisle has shifted over the years.
The history of the wedding veil dates back to ancient Rome and Greece.
Must-have Information On Any Wedding Website
In the early days of veil-wearing by brides, the veil was a means of protection from evil spirits, Natalya Kolosok, CEO of New York City Bride, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview.
When Christianity began to spread throughout Europe, the veil's meaning grew, symbolizing modesty, purity and chastity, Kolosok said.
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Veils have long been a part of wedding days, but the meaning behind them has changed through the years.
The meaning of the veil started shifting over time.
"I believe it was Queen Victoria's marriage to Prince Albert, if I'm not mistaken, when the white wedding dress and white wedding veil became popular in the western world," Kolosok said.
This marriage took place in February 1840.
Modern brides' reasons for reaching for a wedding veil to complete their look vary. Many still wear the veil for its religious significance, but that is not the only reason.
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"While veils are still worn for religious or cultural reasons, they have evolved into a fashion statement, with many of our Grace brides wearing them to reflect their unique style and elevate their bridal look," Rosie Keating, head designer of Grace Loves Lace, whose head office is in Burleigh Heads, Australia, but also has locations throughout the U.S., Canada and the UK, told Fox News Digital via email.
The veil is often used as an accessory that exudes elegance and beauty.
Many modern brides have said that their veil represents the transformation they go through on their wedding day, said the CEO of New York City Bride.
"Right now I think its more of a personal choice, what we see from the brides. We still have some brides who are wearing veils for religious purposes or to honor family traditions, but I think the role is now transformed," Kolosok said. "Its more of [an] accessory for beauty and elegance."
Many brides also choose to wear veils today as a visual representation of the major transition they are going through in their lives as they wed.
"Many [brides] actually mentioned that the veil right now for them represents [a] transition from one stage of life to another," Kolosok said.
"When the brides wear the veil and then the husband lifts the veil, it's a beginning of new life."
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Today, there are a variety of veils a bride can choose. These include the small birdcage veil, which only covers a bride's eyes and nose, to the cathedral veil, which is large, dramatic and elegantly follows brides down the aisle.
Modern brides can even choose to have a matching veil, to perfectly compliment their gown.
Wedding veils come in all different styles and lengths, giving the bride many different options to choose from.
"I would say that nowadays, in most cases, the wedding veil would complement the dress and many brides right now they would like to have a matching veil," Kolosok told Fox News Digital.
This is something Kolosok said most designers would not typically do in the past, but many do today, as the matching veil option is so popular.
"A matching veil is usually customized, so it can be different sizes, and the veil design can also match a brides personality and can match the wedding dress," continued Kolosok.
If a bride wants an additional accessory for her wedding day look but is not a fan of the veil, there are plenty of other options to wear to compliment the dress, such as a flower crown, tiara or headband.
A bride may also opt for no headpiece at all, and find that another accessory is the perfect fit.
"Sometimes, the perfect finishing touch might be as simple as a pair of statement earrings or shoes," Keating said. "Ultimately, it's about expressing what feels authentic."
Original article source: Wedding veil histories date back to Roman times; why brides still wear the headpiece today
White phosphorus smokescreens are fired by the U.S. Army as part of an early morning patrol on Nov. 6, 2004, on the outskirts of Fallujah, Iraq.
Senior Pentagon officials have recommended that the U.S. provide Ukraine with white phosphorus munitions for use on the battlefield, but the White House has rejected the idea several times, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the planning.
White phosphorus is a waxy substance that ignites instantly when exposed to oxygen. It burns at a very high temperature and is hard to extinguish. The substance sticks to surfaces especially clothing or skin and can cause deadly burns. The chemicals in the smoke, which often smell like garlic, can also harm lungs and eyes.
During 20th century conflicts, including World War II and Vietnam, the U.S. used white phosphorus against enemy troops. The U.S. now uses white phosphorus in artillery shells to produce smoke and conceal troop movements and to create light and illuminate the battlefield. The Pentagon recommendation was to provide white phosphorus artillery shells to Ukraine to produce light and smoke, not for use against enemy troops.
White phosphorus munitions are not illegal and white phosphorus is not classified as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention. But international law requires militaries who use it to distinguish between military locations and areas where civilians may be concentrated.
The Pentagon recommended providing the white phosphorus shells to Ukraine as part of several aid packages, including a recent one, as a Presidential Drawdown Authority, according to the officials. If eventually approved, the PDA announcement would not likely list the chemical, the officials said, as has been done with previous weapons and munitions that the U.S. has sent to Ukraine but not publicly announced.
Two of the officials said the stigma around white phosphorus and concerns that it could affect civilians has kept Biden administration officials from approving the recommendation.
The Pentagon and the White House National Security Council did not respond to requests for comment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of using white phosphorus against civilians in Ukraine.
This morning, I received information that Russian troops had used phosphorus bombs against civilians in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said during a meeting of NATO leaders in March 2022. He did not provide evidence of its use and the Pentagon could not confirm its use.
Rights advocates have documented the Israeli militarys use of the chemical in the crowded Gaza Strip during Israels ongoing war with Hamas. The advocates say the use of the artillery shells in civilian areas is a violation of international law. Israel has not commented on the allegations.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry asserts that Israel used phosphorus bombs in its attacks on populated areas in Gaza City on Oct. 11, 2023.
The Biden administration is expected to announce another PDA package this week, as well as another package of assistance under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which funds training, equipment and advising efforts. Together the two packages could include about $5 billion in additional aid for Ukraine, U.S. officials said.
A New York City protest against Project 2025 drew a crowd in July.
Nearly all voters who are familiar with Project 2025, a conservative policy road map that Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party have used to criticize former President Donald Trump, view the plan in a negative light, a new NBC News poll shows.
About 57% of registered voters report feeling negatively about Project 2025, with 51% saying they see the proposal very negatively and another 7% saying they view it somewhat negatively. Just 4% of voters reported viewing the conservative policy plan positively.
Among independents, 52% report feeling negatively about the plan, while 85% of Democrats say the same. About 33% of Republicans say they also view the plan negatively, with just 7% saying they have a positive view of the plan, which Trump has criticized since Democrats ramped up efforts to tie him and Project 2025 together.
Voters who identify as "MAGA Republicans" reported viewing Project 2025 in a slightly more positive light, with 28% saying they held a negative view of the proposal and another 9% saying they view the plan positively.
It was the least popular of all the subjects tested in the September NBC News poll a battery that included socialism, capitalism, both presidential and vice presidential candidates, the Republican and Democratic parties, Taylor Swift and Elon Musk.
Democrats have made efforts to tie Trump to Project 2025, a conservative policy roadmap from the Heritage Foundation aimed at laying the groundwork for a future Republican administration. The plan is mentioned by name in Harris campaign ads, and by Democrats on the stump.
The conservative playbook is affiliated with a handful of top former Trump administration officials like former Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and backed by pro-Trump and conservative organizations like Turning Point USA. America First Legal, a prominent pro-Trump group helmed by former Trump administration adviser Stephen Miller, was initially listed as on its advisory board, but it no longer is.
But the former president, who praised the group's prep work in a speech in April 2022, has worked to distance himself from the policy plan since early July. Vice President Kamala Harris and other top Democrats have referred to the 900-page document, which was partly drafted by former Trump aides, as Trumps Project 2025 Agenda, with party leaders forming the Stop Project 2025 Task Force. Multiple speakers at the Democratic National Convention this summer lugged a textbook-sized copy of the plan onstage as they denounced it in speeches, and Harris name-checked it in her convention speech, too.
The Trump campaign said in a July statement that it welcomed reports of the groups demise. In the debate with Harris earlier this month, the former president presented a more mixed view of Project 2025s proposals, which he said included some good, some bad, but continued to say he had no affiliation with the plan.
I know nothing about Project 2025, Trump said in a Truth Social post in July. I have no idea who is behind it.
The national NBC News poll was conducted Sept. 13-17 of 1,000 registered voters 870 of whom were reached via cellphone and it has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
FILE - Sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo, center, is surrounded by deputies as he is brought into court to be identified by a witness during the trial of sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad at the Virginia Beach Circuit Court in Virginia Beach, Va., Oct. 22, 2003. (AP Photo/Davis Turner, Pool, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) A Maryland judge on Wednesday indefinitely postponed a resentencing hearing for convicted sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, after Virginia rejected a request to temporarily let him out of prison to attend a court session in Maryland.
Malvo and his partner, John Allen Muhammad, shot and killed 10 people and wounded three others over a three-week span in October 2002 that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area. Multiple other victims were shot and killed across the country in the prior months as the duo made their way to the area around the nations capital from Washington state.
Malvo, who was 17 years old at the time of the shootings, was convicted of multiple counts of murder in Virginia and Maryland and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He has been serving his sentence in Virginia.
Muhammad, who was older than Malvo and was accused of manipulating him to to serve as a partner in the shootings, was executed in Virginia in 2009.
Since Malvo was initially sentenced, though, a series of Supreme Court rulings and changes in Maryland and Virginia law have severely limited or even abolished the ability to sentence minors to life in prison without parole.
In 2022, Maryland's highest court ruled 4-3 that Malvo is entitled to a new sentencing hearing.
That hearing was scheduled to occur in December in Montgomery County, Maryland. But Malvo has insisted that he be allowed to attend that sentencing hearing in person, and his court-appointed lawyer argued that if isn't allowed to do so, his guilty pleas in Maryland should be vacated and he should be given a new trial.
He has a right to be here in person, and he's not waiving it, his lawyer, Michael Beach, said at Wednesday's hearing.
Prosecutors said they made efforts to have Malvo transferred from a Virginia prison to attend a hearing, but those efforts were rejected.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkins spokesman, Christian Martinez, confirmed after Wednesdays hearing in a written statement that (d)ue to his violent criminal history, Governor Youngkins position is that Mr. Malvo should complete his Virginia sentence before being transferred to Maryland for resentencing.
With Malvo unavailable to attend in person, prosecutors said Malvo could either attend a hearing virtually or wait until he is released from custody in Virginia.
Montgomery County Circuit Judge Sharon Burrell sided with prosecutors, She said that since Malvo insists on attending in person, and Virginia won't release him, she had no choice but to indefinitely postpone the resentencing until he finishes serving his time in Virginia.
Malvo is serving a life sentence in Virginia, but is eligible for parole. A parole board rejected his most recent parole request in 2022.
Beach said after the hearing that he expects to pursue any appeal options available to him. He said during the proceedings that if the sentencing hearing is delayed for an extended period of time, he believes it raises due process issues that could require the Maryland charges against Malvo to be dismissed.
Malvo, who is 39, attended Wednesday's hearing virtually, wearing a yellow prison uniform. He looked youthful, similar to his appearance at the time of his arrest.
Perhaps underscoring the difficulties of conducting a hearing over video, Wednesday's hearing was delayed three times when the video hookup between the prison and courthouse disconnected.
Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said after the hearing that it's too early to say what kind of prison term he would seek once Malvo is sentenced in Maryland. He said, though, that any prison term imposed on him in Maryland should be in addition to the time he served in Virginia, rather than giving Malvo credit for time served.
Shakari Briggs is a reporter for the Houston Chronicle. She can be reached at shakari.briggs@houstonchronicle.com.
Before joining the Chronicle in November 2023, she worked for Spectrum News as a digital journalist based in her hometown. Shakari comes to the Houston newsroom with experience in broadcast reporting and producing as a former multimedia journalist and associate producer. The Dallas native has also worked at small to medium-sized newspapers throughout her career.
Her reporting on the rise and fall of a shopping mall won an Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors Contest award. She also earned an Arkansas Press Association award for freelance reporting.
More than a decade before the Dali container ship toppled Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge, a Seattle longshoreman named Roger Murray climbed aboard another vessel managed by the same Singaporean company.
It was a cold, rainy night, and Murrays job was to unfasten the cargo containers stacked on the APL Ireland so cranes could unload them. Moving from container to container, Murray used a metal rod to free each box from its bonds.
As he descended a ladder to reach additional cargo, the bar in his hand touched a nearby floodlight that had been improperly wired and was ungrounded. A jolt of electricity shot through Murrays body and, on its way out, burned a hole in his gloved left hand.
The shock was so severe that Murray not only lost consciousness and fell, he also suffered a cascade of debilitating symptoms that would eventually rob him of his health, his hobbies and his livelihood.
There are times I wish I would not have survived, said Murray, a former Marine who is now 68 and still struggles to walk and talk because of the accident. He described his mind as a book that has been punched full of holes.
Roger Murray, a former longshoreman, was electrically shocked in 2010 on the Synergy-managed ship APL Ireland as he prepared containers to be unloaded in Seattle.
Synergy Marine Group was still a scrappy startup in the global shipping industry at the time of Murrays accident in January 2010. Founded less than four years earlier by a charismatic Indian seafarer named Rajesh Unni, the company then handled a modest fleet of some two dozen ships.
Today, with more than 680 vessels under contract, it is the third-largest ship management company in the world.
But Synergy's explosive growth and polished public image its website boasts of a culture of safety and commitment to seafarers and the environment has been punctuated by deadly mishaps over the years.
A USA TODAY review of global maritime incidents, ship inspection data, casualty reports and other publicly available documents reveal accidents, dangerous equipment and a string of injuries and fatalities the latest of which claimed six lives when the Dali crashed into and destroyed the Baltimore bridge in March.
Over the past five years alone, people have been crushed, asphyxiated, struck by mooring lines, ensnared in equipment, fallen overboard or otherwise killed or injured on Synergys watch, USA TODAY found.
In one such incident from June 2022, the crew aboard a Synergy-managed ship the Nord Magic chemical-oil tanker let two technicians enter an enclosed cargo hold without the necessary permit and without testing and decontaminating the air. Both men asphyxiated from a toxic concentration of hydrogen sulfide inside the hold, according to Danish maritime authorities. Although they were evacuated, both were declared dead at a nearby hospital.
Two months after that, in August 2022, a Synergy trainee on the bulk carrier Peter Oldendorff attempted to remove a 660-pound steel plate from a vertical stack of other heavy steel plates stored in the ships steering room. The entire stack fell and crushed him. He died at the scene, according to German authorities investigating the incident.
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In their report, German investigators reconstructed a 2022 incident aboard the Synergy-managed Peter Oldendorff in which a crew member was crushed to death by metal plates.
In April 2023, another Synergy-managed tanker the Petite Soeur collided with a dredger while shifting between berths at a port in the Philippines. The dredger sank, killing three of its crew and leaving two missing, according to multiple media reports.
At least 31 people have been injured, at least three have gone missing and at least 17 have died in incidents involving Synergy-managed ships since January 2019, USA TODAY found.
The numbers are likely an undercount because the industry lacks consistent reporting requirements, and the data that does exist is incomplete and scattered across multiple jurisdictions, not all of which make their information public.
There is not a single database, said Patrick J. Austin, a retired marine engineer with more than 40 years of industry experience who now does ship safety audits. Everybody has different standards for when something gets reported. Some owners are more scrupulous than others with reporting it.
Synergys track record is far from an anomaly. USA TODAY also examined the other nine largest global ship management companies and found that all had been involved in incidents causing injury and death in the same five-year time period.
Like Synergy, these companies operate as third-party contractors to manage someone elses vessels. They supply and train crews, purchase provisions, oversee maintenance and ensure compliance with maritime rules and regulations.
Third-party ship management is a growing part of the maritime industry, said Capt. Ashok Pandey, a master mariner and associate professor of maritime business at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
In todays day and age, Pandey said, it would be difficult for you to find a pure ship owner who is doing all the other pieces of the supply chain and logistics on their own.
Among these 10 largest ship managers, USA TODAY discovered 117 incidents since January 2019 in which people died, went missing or were injured.
Synergy had the most deaths, but it did not have the most incidents overall or the highest rate of ships reporting a death or injury in the past five years. Synergy ranked second in both categories with 18 total incidents and 2% of ships reporting an incident.
Four other companies had more injuries than Synergy. One competitor, Seacon, had the most, all of which came from one incident: In June 2022, a crane sling broke while loading a 25-ton tank of hazardous chlorine gas onto a Seacon-managed cargo ship in Jordan. The tank dropped to the deck of the ship and exploded. Thirteen people died and at least 250 were injured.
The commercial shipping industry is notoriously dangerous. Every year, thousands of incidents happen at sea and in port dozens of which kill or maim sailors, longshoreman and bystanders. These episodes are rising as the industry scrambles to keep pace with the growing demand for global trade.
I worry about maritime safety because Ive seen the underbelly of the beast, said Roland Rex Rexha, secretary-treasurer of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, the oldest maritime union in the United States. These people deserve to go home to their families when they get off the ship. And that doesn't always happen.
To compile the data, USA TODAY reviewed thousands of incident reports and accident investigations available on the websites of two dozen major maritime agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and the International Maritime Organization housed within the United Nations. Reporters visited at least a dozen other maritime agency websites but found no such publicly available information.
The Synergy-managed container ship Dali is shown amidst the wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Six construction workers on the bridge died after the Dali lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's support columns.
The media organization also relied on Lloyds List Intelligences SeaSearcher platform, a subscription-based, global ship tracking and marine incident repository, to identify which vessels the companies and their subsidiaries managed during the five-year time period, as well as how many times port authorities detained their vessels for deficiencies and violations.
In addition, USA TODAY combed through other publicly available records to identify subsidiaries that SeaSeacher didnt list. It is possible that some subsidiaries, and therefore some ships, could not be identified.
USA TODAY reviewed its methodology with several maritime experts who generally agreed it was appropriate.
"Considering there is no central repository for this information, that's absolutely an accurate way to do it, said a senior U.S. government official and former Coast Guard officer who spoke to USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Even the Coast Guard cant get a hold of data to see the full incident history of these companies or their vessels, he said. And when they ask other countries for it, there's no guarantee they'll get a response.
Synergy: It's impossible to compare safety records
Synergy Marine Group acknowledged that it has had some very unfortunate cases of death and man overboard, but the company disputed USA TODAYs overall findings and the results of its data analysis.
Given the industrys lack of a single, comprehensive source for such incidents, company executives said that its impossible to accurately compare Synergys record to those of its peers.
Synergy executives further said its potentially misleading to report the number of incidents without explaining how or why they occurred. Anand Sashidharan, Synergys chief legal counsel, compared it to reporting a car accident without disclosing that the other driver might have been at fault.
We firmly believe that any comparison of safety records must be qualitative and consider the broader context, including the organisational scale of operations (number of vessels under management) and other external factors, said Vishal Srivastava, Synergys head of media and communications, in an email to USA TODAY.
Srivastava said that Synergy, and the industry as a whole, has a goal of zero injuries or deaths, adding that they will hopefully reach that stage soon.
Notably, none of the incidents appear to have tarnished the companys reputation or its continued growth. Synergy has added an average of 38 vessels to its roster annually since its inception. Not even the Baltimore bridge disaster broke its stride.
At the time of the March 26 accident, Synergy had managed 668 ships, according to an archived version of its website. As of Sept. 17, that number had grown to 686.
They are hardly toxic, Austin said, explaining that Synergy has valid documents of compliance confirming it meets a host of technical, safety and operating requirements, without which no insurance company would insure them.
In addition to interviewing Synergy executives, ship inspectors, maritime experts and other industry insiders, USA TODAY reached out to more than four dozen current and former Synergy sailors through social media, email or WhatsApp. Only three responded, including one who was aboard the Dali when it hit the Baltimore bridge.
Shershad Nadammal, a general steward whose duties include serving meals and keeping the ship's quarters clean, has worked on Synergy vessels for about a decade. He said the company has a strong culture of safety and well-being for its seafarers and that, before this March, he had never witnessed or been involved in an incident.
Accidents are very rare, said Nadammal, 33. Safety is the first priority of the company and crew.
Synergy has taken good care of him and his shipmates since the disaster, Nadammal said. The company provided mental health counseling, food and arranged for many of the men to return home even as the investigation into what happened continues. Nadammal is now in India with his wife and young daughters and said he plans to sail with Synergy again.
Synergy is a very good company, he said.
Halfway around the world in Seattle, Murray and his family said their experience with Synergy could not have been more different.
As the severity of Murrays injuries became clear, they found he could no longer work as a union longshoreman. His Harley Davidsons once his pride and joy became too dangerous to ride. And his wife, for whom he had always been the strong and competent patriarch, had to take care of him instead.
I basically watched my big, Harley-riding, 220-pound husband become completely dependent on me, said Elise Murray. He was the kind of guy you always felt safe with, like a warrior, and here he couldnt be trusted alone to even have a pot of boiling water on the stove without burning down the house.
Roger Murray uncovers a Harley Davidson motorcycle at his home in Seattle. Previously an avid motorcyclist, Murray was electrically shocked while working on a Synergy-managed ship in 2010 and can no longer ride.
Although Synergy had full command of the APL Ireland, the ship where Murray was injured, the company did not own it just as it does not own the Dali. Instead, it provided full technical and crew management of the APL Ireland for its owner, Southern Route Maritime.
The Murrays said they had assumed Synergy and Southern Route Maritime would take responsibility and compensate them for all they had lost.
Instead, the Murrays had to take them to court.
The companies waged a years-long legal battle denying liability. They said Roger Murray had no proof he was shocked by the ships floodlight, lacked the expertise to know whether he was shocked because he had never been shocked before and that his symptoms were unrelated to being shocked.
When a jury sided with Murray and awarded him $3.3 million plus $270,000 to Elise for loss of consortium the companies asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the verdict.
In August 2017, more than seven years after the accident, the appeals court upheld the jurys decision. Murray said he was relieved to get justice but that hes forever scarred.
I thought after the accident that they would be fair, he said. But no, they were like a thief in the night; they came and stole my life.
What makes global shipping so difficult to monitor?
Few people outside the global maritime industry had heard of Synergy before its ship took out the second-longest continuous truss bridge span in the world.
Like most ocean-going shipping ventures, Synergy operates largely out of sight, out of mind, until its involved in a disaster big enough to draw widespread attention.
Most people are not focused on how ship management works. They just want to know if their container arrived, said the senior U.S. government official and former Coast Guard officer.
Even those who do focus on ship management, he said, find the industry frustratingly difficult to monitor and assess.
The global merchant fleet is owned by a maze of holding companies and subsidiaries scattered around the world. Ship owners spread their risk through layers of legal entities. Behind any vessel might lurk two or more companies with an ownership stake.
Its even more complicated when ship management companies, like Synergy, get involved. Often, multiple ownership and management companies are tied to a single ship.
Shipping is so old-school, and its so under the radar, said Eric White, an inspector for the International Transportation Workers Federation, which represents transportation union members around the globe.
Whites job takes him aboard dozens of commercial vessels each year to ensure their crews have adequate pay, safe working conditions and decent living standards. He said he routinely finds the opposite.
When you get down to it, nobody really knows who is behind all this, White said.
Roger Murray displays a plaque from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. The former longshoreman was injured when a metal bar he was holding contacted an ungrounded electrical source on a Synergy-managed ship in the Port of Seattle in 2010.
Even one of the most venerable ship movement and incident tracking companies in the world Lloyds List Intelligence doesnt have complete, up-to-date accounting of who owns or manages which ships and what kinds of problems those vessels have caused or incurred.
Whats more, a ship can change hands, change flags and change names multiple times over its lifespan, further obscuring its history or a particular companys handling of it.
Within 10 months of Murrays accident, for example, Southern Route Maritime, the Panama-based company that owned the APL Ireland, sold the vessel to Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Limited the same company that now owns the Dali. That sale ended Synergys management of the ship.
Since then, the APL Ireland has been sold and renamed three more times. It is now called the Adams and sails under the flag of Liberia for its Greek owners, who have a contract with Denmark-based Maersk.
Thats how they hide their tracks, Murray said, adding that it took his attorneys months to track down the vessels owner and operator to serve them court papers.
In theory, all ship owners and operators are subject to International Maritime Organization and International Labour Organization regulations.
In practice, though, enforcement of those rules falls to the individual nations where ships are registered called flag states because ships fly the flag of their registrys nation and to the port authorities of the foreign countries they visit.
Some countries, like those in Europe and the United States, have strict enforcement standards. Others, including places throughout Africa and the Middle East, sources said, are more interested in bribes than safety standards.
Seafarers told USA TODAY its common for ships entering those territories to carry stashes of Marlboro cigarettes, Levis jeans and Jack Daniels whiskey preferred bargaining chips to pass unimpeded through their ports.
Eventually, though, a poorly managed or maintained ship is likely to get caught especially if it enters a reputable port. Ships with especially serious violations can be detained by port authorities until those issues are resolved by the owners or in the case they outsourced those operations by the third-party ship managers.
Among the largest ship management companies, Synergys detention rate sits in the middle of the pack, USA TODAYs analysis of Lloyds data shows.
About 8% of ships under its control over the past five years or 63 vessels have been detained at least once for reasons ranging from fire safety to maintenance issues to documentation problems.
One of them, the Bulk Finland, was held for more than two weeks in Belgium after an Aug. 8, 2022, inspection identified a laundry list of deficiencies. The inspector cited inadequate wages, rotten food, damaged crew accommodations and facilities, dangerous conditions, missing, expired and invalid documentation, inoperative safety equipment and a blocked fire escape, records show.
The bulk carrier remained in port until Aug. 24.
Days later, it was reflagged and sold to a new owner, which did not retain Synergy as the ships manager.
What are the risks to seafarers?
Synergy told USA TODAY that the company analyzes each mishap to identify root causes and implement preventative measures.
Our proactive approach, including voluntary reporting and the adoption of best practices, Srivastava said, demonstrates our dedication to the well-being of our crew and the integrity of our operations.
After the 2022 asphyxiation deaths of two technicians on the Nord Magic, for instance, the companys internal investigation led to a series of immediate actions and preventive measures to ensure a similar incident does not reoccur, according to a letter it shared with the Danish Maritime Accident Investigation Board at the time.
A similar incident, though, had happened at least once before.
In September 2019, a seafarer aboard Synergys Emilie Bulker passed out after entering an enclosed cargo hold without anyone testing the air quality or getting the proper entry permit. The hold contained palm kernel, known for its tendency to deplete oxygen and produce carbon monoxide in enclosed spaces.
Because the ship was docked at a port in New Zealand, local firefighters were called to rescue the man, who was taken to a hospital and made a full recovery. The countrys maritime authority also was alerted, launched an investigation and charged the ships captain and chief officer for lying about the incident.
The two men gave false information claiming that assessment and gas tests of the cargo-hold had been done, and the hold was safe to work in, the agency said in a press release issued two weeks later. None of that was true.
Both pleaded guilty to lying, and the captain additionally pleaded guilty to permitting dangerous activity.
Theyre task saturated, said Austin, the retired marine engineer, referring to the industry as a whole. The crews are very small, and the ships engaged in international trade are huge. You cant micromanage it. Its not possible to exert infinite control from shore. Once theyre out at sea, in reality, theyre their own boss.
Synergy, like many shipping companies, relies on contracted seafarers to staff its ships. Most hail from lower-wage nations such as India, China and the Philippines. They are wooed by recruiting offices that promise safe working conditions, fair pay and on-site amenities such as free internet.
Once on board the ship, though, those promises may not materialize. Seafarers and union inspectors told USA TODAY about captains cutting corners to save time, maintenance deferred to save money and problems covered up to save face.
Its an industry-wide issue, they said.
Its a corporate structure that rewards profit over safety, said Rexha, the secretary-treasurer of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association. These vessels are falling apart in some instances. They go from port to port, and when they finally get in and things break down, it could be catastrophic.
Seafarers subjected to these conditions are often afraid to speak up for fear of losing their contract or being blacklisted from the industry, many sources told USA TODAY. Unlike mariner unions in the United States, those in countries such as India offer relatively poor protection to their members.
Were the worst treated seafarers because of surplus supply and a very weak union, said a former Synergy engineer from India who asked not to be named for fear that speaking out could hurt his future job prospects.
The engineer said ship management companies can feign ignorance about lapses in safety at sea and that, nine times out of ten, nothing bad ever happens because of it. But when it does, he said, its the crew that takes the fall.
If all goes well, no one says anything, he said. One wrong thing, and youre gone.
How Synergy came to be
Synergys founder himself started out as a seafarer.
But his time at sea didnt last long. Rajesh Unnis meteoric rise from deck hand at 18 to one of the worlds youngest ship captains at 26 soon afforded him better opportunities.
Before he turned 30, Unni traded his sea legs for an executive job with Hong Kong-based ship management company, Fleet Management. With his help, the firm expanded its portfolio of some three dozen vessels to well over 100 within six years; today its the second-largest ship management company in the world.
Unni thought he could do it better, though.
Having spent more than a decade in the ship management industry, I found that despite high productivity costs the level of service was still sub-par, he told The Maritime Executive for a 2020 article. The only way ahead was to continue to accept the norm or take a leap of faith and challenge the status quo.
So he left Fleet Management in 2006 and returned home to India to found his own company Synergy Maritime Private Limited, now a subsidiary of Synergy Marine Group.
He started with contracts to manage just four ships. Now, less than two decades later, Unnis sprawling enterprise oversees nearly 700 vessels from oil tankers to bulk carriers to container ships and boasts a state-of-the-art training center, recruitment agencies and investments in advanced technology and clean fuel.
Unni also moved Synergys headquarters from India, where it still maintains a strong presence, to the global maritime capital of Singapore.
Synergy did not make Unni available for an interview with USA TODAY and noted that he stepped down as chief executive officer in August last year to focus on broader strategic initiatives. Although he is still connected to the company, he is no longer involved in daily operations.
In previous interviews with other media outlets and in Synergys own newsletters, Unni has described himself as a seafarer at heart. And he has used his influence to lobby for seafarers rights.
During the coronavirus pandemic, for example, when travel restrictions blocked mariners from returning home after months at sea, Unni emerged as their outspoken champion. He led an effort that chartered flights to bring crews home.
To address seafarer suicides, which occur at a higher rate than many other professions, Unni marshalled resources to launch a free 24-hour mental health crisis helpline for the entire maritime community. It employed more than a dozen counselors covering nine languages.
Industry insiders feted Unnis achievements along the way and bestowed upon him and his company a number of awards and accolades. Among them are one of the most influential executives in global shipping, as well as honors for environmental achievement, outstanding foreign employer and operational excellence.
In November, Unni and Synergy both were celebrated at an annual industry conference in Singapore. Unni took home a lifetime achievement award, while Synergy won ship manager of the year.
Four months later, a container ship under its management destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
A flood of lawsuits
The Dali lost power shortly before hitting the bridge, rendering its crew helpless as they drifted toward catastrophe. It also had lost power about 10 hours earlier, while it was still docked, according to a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board in May.
The report did not directly link the power outages or say whether the crew notified anyone of the first blackout, as required under U.S. rules and regulations that apply to all ships in its waters.
Last week, an official from the U.S. Department of Justice told USA TODAY the collision was completely avoidable, alleging that improper, makeshift changes to electrical and mechanical equipment on board the Dali led to its loss of steering.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are continuing to examine the vessel and the events leading up to the deadly incident. A final report could be months, or even years, away.
In the meantime, Synergy and the ships owner, Grace Ocean, filed a petition in the U.S. District Court of Maryland seeking to limit their financial liability for the accident to $43.7 million the equivalent of the total value of the ship and its freight, minus the cost of repairs and salvage in accordance with the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851.
That law allows the companies to limit their liability to the value of the vessel and its cargo when the losses resulted from a situation beyond their control. Synergy and Grace Ocean claimed the incident was not their fault; the city of Baltimore in a separate legal filing, disagreed.
If the companies prevail, they would pay a fraction of the estimated $3 billion to $4 billion in claims resulting from the bridge collapse.
A flurry of additional claims landed in federal court over the past week, leading up to Tuesdays deadline to file in response to Synergys petition. Additional companies that had cargo aboard the Dali may respond to the petition over the next week, after the judge gave them extra time to submit claims.
Claimants currently include the families of six construction workers who perished, a survivor of the bridge collapse, and at least a dozen businesses alleging theyve been economically harmed by the disaster ranging from a Baltimore propane distributor to international shippers. The City of Baltimore, state of Maryland and the U.S. Department of Justice have also filed claims.
Roger Murray, center, a former longshoreman, poses with his sons Garrett, 17, left, and Keller, 21, at his home in Seattle. Murray said his sons were young when he was shocked and injured aboard a Synergy-managed ship in 2010, but that they still remember the incident.
For Murray, the whole situation from the denial of fault to the limiting of financial liability feels eerily familiar.
They wanted me to disappear, Murray said, recalling how Synergy and Southern Route Maritime tried to settle for a fraction of what the jury ultimately awarded him. We said, no, uh uh. They think everyone can be bought up.
Murray said his heart aches for the families of the deceased workers and he wishes them strength and luck as they seek compensation for their unimaginable loss. He described his own battle with Synergy as insult after injury a secondary trauma that put him and his family through hell.
Although his sons were barely old enough to read at the time, he said, they remember Synergy.
Dad, Murray said one of his sons asked while watching news coverage of the bridge collapse this spring, isn't that the company that hurt you?"
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ship operator in Key Bridge collapse had other fatal incidents
Members of the Starbucks Workers United hold a rally to celebrate the first anniversary of its founding in New York in 2022.
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said the coffee chain is committed to bargaining in good faith with the union that represents many of its baristas, as the two sides work to craft a labor deal.
I deeply respect the right of partners to choose, through a fair and democratic process, to be represented by a union, Niccol wrote on Tuesday in a letter to the union obtained by CNBC. If our partners choose to be represented, I am committed to making sure we engage constructively and in good faith with the union and the partners it represents.
He was responding to a letter from the Starbucks Workers United bargaining delegation sent a day earlier, ahead of another bargaining session between Starbucks and the union. The two sides are negotiating a framework that would be the basis for collective bargaining agreements between individual stores and the company. The union is pushing for fair scheduling, a living wage, and racial and gender equity, the delegation said in its letter.
We know that many of your dedicated customers as well as future generations of customers have a vested interest in the outcome of our negotiations and reaching a foundational agreement, the group wrote in its letter to Niccol.
Three years ago, Starbucks baristas started unionizing under Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. For two and a half years, the coffee giant tried to curb the union push, leading to battles that played out in headlines, social media and courts.
But the turning point for both parties came six months ago when they agreed to work together on a path forward after mediation to resolve lawsuits sparked by the unions posts on social media.
Niccol joined Starbucks several weeks ago, making him a newcomer to the union discussions. In his previous role as CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, only one location, in Lansing, Michigan, successfully unionized. Last year, the burrito chain agreed to pay former employees of an Augusta, Maine, location $240,000 as part of a settlement for closing the restaurant when workers tried to unionize. Chipotle denied any wrongdoing.
Today, Workers United represents more than 490 of Starbucks U.S. cafes and more than 10,500 of its employees. The company has more than 16,700 locations in the U.S., more than half of which are owned by the company.
More from CNBC:
(This story was updated to add new information.)
A new survey released Wednesday shows a staggering 49% of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were victims of a hate act in the U.S. last year, much of it happening under the radar amid a drop in national scrutiny and lack of reporting to law enforcement.
A wave of high-profile hate crimes at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic drew national ire over anti-Asian attacks. But the new survey, shared exclusively with USA TODAY, shows that the Asian American community faces pervasive levels of hate under the radar, from parking lots and public transit to workplaces and colleges.
The report by Stop AAPI Hate and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago set to be released Wednesday afternoon at a news briefing in Washington with members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus surveyed 1,005 Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults across the nation. The report found that nearly half of respondents faced discrimination in 2023, but they also fought against it at unprecedented levels.
Rep. Judy Chu, who chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, told USA TODAY the report helps fill a data "vacuum" and will inform lawmakers and the public on trends of anti-Asian racism in the future. She noted a spike in hate incidents against Asians when COVID-19 first spread and said former President Donald Trump "put a target on our backs" through inflammatory rhetoric.
But even after the wave of early pandemic-era attacks subsided, Chu said, the community faces alarming levels of discrimination.
"Since then, the crimes and hate incidents have not been as visible, but theyre still there," Chu said. "They are still happening, and thats why it is important for Stop AAPI Hate to put this report out."
Microaggressions, safety fears: The devastating impact of anti-Asian hate in the workplace
'Didnt begin or end with COVID'
Stephanie Chan, director of data and research at Stop AAPI Hate, told USA TODAY that rhetoric around COVID-19 spotlighted a history of racism against the Asian community. She said there has been a shift in the rhetoric that is fueling anti-Asian hate, from pandemic-related accusations to more general xenophobic and anti-immigrant rhetoric.
"Things did not begin or end with COVID, and we just need to address the real systemic causes of anti-Asian and anti-Pacific Islander racism in the U.S.," Chan said.
The survey also showed racism is a top issue for the Asian American community, with 85% saying they are concerned about the nation's racial climate.
Stop AAPI Hate co-founder Manjusha Kulkarni noted that the forms of anti-Asian racism may be shifting from individual assaults on people in the early years of the pandemic to a rise in institutional discrimination. The survey found that 51% of victims experienced hate in a business, work, housing, health care, educational or government setting.
"Hate is a bigger problem than just simply hate crimes," Kulkarni said.
Just this month, the House passed a bill aimed at reviving the "China Initiative," a Trump-era surveillance program to prosecute perceived Chinese spies. The Justice Department axed it in 2022, saying it fostered anti-Asian bias and discouraged U.S. efforts to attract top scientists for crucial research across business and academia.
Chu said the bill, which she referred to as the "new McCarthyism," had cost Chinese American scholars their jobs over baseless claims that they were spies for China.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law last year barring anyone associated with the Chinese government, political parties, business organizations and people "domiciled" in China who are not U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents from buying property in Florida. The Justice Department said in court filings last summer that the law violates the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The ban remains active.
But assaults on people in the Asian American community are still prevalent: 26% of respondents reported physical attacks. This month, an Indiana woman pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime after she repeatedly stabbed a Chinese American teen on a city bus while yelling slurs last year.
Stop AAPI Hate also highlighted a rise in hate against South Asians since the war in Gaza began. In October, prosecutors said an argument over a minor fender bender spiraled into an ugly hate crime when a driver in Queens, New York, called a Sikh Indian man "turban man" and pummeled him in the head, causing a fatal fall.
'We are not taking this sitting down'
The survey aims to paint a fuller picture of racism against Asians and Pacific Islanders. The report, for example, asked respondents about criminal acts such as physical assault, property damage and violent verbal threats. But it also looked at noncriminal attacks such as racial slurs that can be protected under free speech and institutional discrimination.
Stop AAPI Hate began in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic amid a wave of high-profile hate incidents. Three organizations Chinese for Affirmative Action, the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University, and AAPI Equity Alliance launched the coalition as a hate incident reporting center for Asian Americans. It received reports of 735 anti-Asian/Pacific Islander hate acts in 2023, but the new study said that number is just the "tip of the iceberg."
The report indicates many of the hate incidents are never formally documented. Nearly half of respondents said they didnt tell anyone about the incident, and even fewer 16% reported it to law enforcement.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders may not report to authorities because of a lack of trust in law enforcement response, lack of information or fear of retaliation, the report said. Chan also noted that some community members face a language barrier in communicating with police.
The FBI released its 2023 crime report this week, which showed a small increase in overall hate crimes over the previous year. The data is compiled from cases reported to law enforcement agencies across the U.S. The FBIs Uniform Crime Reporting program told USA TODAY it received hate crime data from 83% of agencies, an increase from 77% in 2022.
Some of the discrimination captured in Stop AAPI Hate's survey, such as nonviolent verbal assaults or being denied service at a business, may not be illegal and are less likely to be captured in law enforcement data.
Stop AAPI Hate plans to conduct a survey annually to get a holistic picture of discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Chan said she was also seeing an unprecedented wave of action to combat hate. Nearly 3 in 4 Asian Americans reported participating in acts to resist racism such as educating others, attending protests, engaging with lawmakers, or donating to racial justice organizations.
It is encouraging that we are not taking this sitting down, that AAPI communities are really taking action at levels that we haven't really witnessed before, Chan said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stop AAPI Hate report shows pervasive anti-Asian hate acts in 2023
One person was shot dead as a gunman hijacked a bus with passengers on board in downtown Los Angeles early this morning, police said.
The bus driver and another passenger were rescued after an hour-long slow police chase and a SWAT team arrived, according to police. Deputy Chief Donald Graham told reporters at a news conference at the scene that officers used spike strips to bring it to a halt. Several people exited the bus during this time, he said.
The gunman was taken into custody by police has not yet been identified.
No details were provided on the identity of the deceased victim, who was shot inside the bus and died at a local hospital, police said.
Graham said that the driver used "emergency protocols" to sound the alarm. The driver is "in relatively good spirits, although a bit shaken up," he added. He went on to praise the role of bus drivers in the city, calling them "civil service heroes."
"This operator continued to operate the bus in as safe a manner as he could under the circumstances, with the police trailing him for an hour before the spike strips finally took effect," he said. "So I think the world of the operator, and this individual and bus operators in general, for the job that they have to do."
"[The] driver is out of the bus with the help of SWAT, uninjured," an LAPD spokesperson said in an earlier statement, adding that a suspect was in custody.
Police also said earlier that an "additional victim inside the bus is being transported to the hospital" and that CPR was in progress.
LA Metro said in a statement that it was "grateful for the LAPDs swift action regarding this mornings bus hijacking incident and is grateful the operator was unharmed."
"Metro is providing the operator with the support he needs," the statement added.
This is still an active investigation being led by the LAPD.
Onlookers apparently at the scene while the police operation was in progress posted footage to TikTok and YouTube. In one video showing a parked orange bus, police are heard saying: This is LAPD, youre surrounded, come out with your hands up.
The driver and the alleged hijacker were both evaluated by Los Angeles Fire Department and required no medical treatment.
A further police statement said it was unknown what happened leading up to the incident.
LAPD confirmed shortly before 6 a.m. ET that a bus had come to a standstill at Almeda and 6th Street in downtown Los Angeles and that a SWAT team was on its way to the scene.
This story includes graphic descriptions of crimes committed against an infant.
Texas executed Travis James Mullis on Tuesday for killing his infant son in 2008, making him the fourth inmate executed in the nation's busiest death penalty state this year and the 16th in the nation.
Mullis was executed by lethal injection and pronounced dead at 7:01 p.m., according to Amanda Hernandez, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Mullis was convicted of murdering his 3-month-old son Alijah, who was molested, stomped to death and abandoned at the Galvestons Seawall, a popular tourist destination just south of Houston. Mullis, who was 21 at the time, said he had reached a "breaking point" the day he killed Alijah after the baby wouldn't stop crying.
Mullis was executed less than an hour after Missouri executed Marcellus Williams despite strong questions surrounding his guilt. Mullis and Williams are among five inmates scheduled for execution in the U.S. in a six-day period between Sept. 20 and 26. Freddie Owens was the first to be killed on Friday in South Carolina.
Here's what to know about the Mullis' execution including his last words the case and the victim.
Travis "TJ" Mullis is set to be executed by the State of Texas on Tuesday, Sept. 24 for sexual abuse and murder of his infant son.
'It was my decision that put me here,' Travis Mullis says before execution
Travis Mullis used his last words to thank and apologize to loved ones, including the mother of his child and the victim's family, according to a transcript obtained by USA TODAY.
He thanked everyone, but specifically shouted out all of his friends, pen pals and all the people in his corner inside and outside, even on Death Row, who "accepted me for the man I became during my best and worst moments."
"I want to thank the field ministers, the Warden, and the correctional staff for all the changes being made across the system," Mullis said. "Even the men on Death Row, to show it is possible to be rehabilitated, and not deemed a threat and not the men we were when we came into the system. We have changed. We are not the same."
Mullis said that he took the "legal steps" to expedite his death sentence, which he referred to as "assisted suicide" and that he doesn't regret it. But that he did regret killing his son, Alijah.
"I do regret the decision to take the life of my son. I apologize to the mother of my son, the victim's family," he said. "I have no ill will towards the court, the judicial system, the prosecution or the execution protocol. The morality of execution is between you and God ... It was my decision that put me here. I'm ready Warden.
The death chamber and the steel bars of the viewing room seen at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville on Sept. 29, 2010, where 38-year-old Travis James Mullis is set to be executed on Tuesday.
'Rest in Peace,' lawyer says
Shawn Nolan, Mullis' defense attorney, said in a statement that his client has "always accepted responsibility" for the awful crime he committed.
"Texas will kill a redeemed man tonight. He never had a chance at life being abandoned by his parents and then severely abused by his adoptive father starting at age 3, "Nolan wrote. "During his decade and a half on death row he spent countless hours working on his redemption. And he achieved it."
The Travis that Texas wanted to kill is "long gone," he said.
Travis Mullis' judgement has 'finally been carried out'
Jack Roady, Galveston County criminal district attorney, said in a statement that Tuesday marked the "long-awaited fulfillment of a verdict rendered by a jury who heard all of the evidence."
"We are also grateful for the diligent investigation of the Galveston police officers who confronted the most disturbing facts and images possible in solving this case," Roady said. "My deepest thanks go to Kayla Allen, Donna Cameron, and the late Lyn McClellan the prosecutors who faithfully carried this tragic case to trial and ensured that justice was done for Alijah Mullis."
Kayla Allen, first assistant district attorney, noted that the jury's verdict was "affirmed by 13 years of post-conviction review by higher courts."
"Some acts are such egregious violations of not only the law, but of civilized standards, that societys only appropriate response is to impose the ultimate penalty on the wrongdoer," she said, noting that Alijah would have "celebrated his 17th birthday next month."
'Extraordinarily beautiful' baby gone too soon
Carolyn Entriken, Alijah's grandmother, died two years before Mullis was executed and 14 years after her grandson.
To her, Alijah, was the most "extraordinarily beautiful" baby, Entriken told a court, according to a March 2011 transcript obtained by USA TODAY.
He had steel blue eyes, cute little reddish hair," Entriken said. "I know all babies are beautiful ... He just was very precious."
Entriken got the chance to visit her grandson a couple months after he was born and one month before he was killed, making her way to Texas from northern New Jersey. Mullis seemed "very loving and caring" during the first visit, telling the court that they "looked like a young family out on an outing.
Entriken planned to visit again soon because she "wanted to come back and see Alijah."
I didn't want too much time to go by where he was growing up without my seeing him," she said.
What was Travis James Mullis convicted of?
Mullis had hit his "breaking point" when he killed his son, telling Philadelphia police four days after the murder that he couldn't get him to stop crying and thought that the only way to get him to quiet down was to kill him, according to court records.
He had spent the night before the murder bickering with then-girlfriend and mother of his child, Caren Kohberger, after he had tried to get his roommate's 8-year-old daughter to pull her pants down, court records say.
The couple was afraid that they would be thrown out of the house and that Mullis would mentally relapse and act out on his impulses again. The young family had also run out of money at that point, hoping that Mullis could get a job before they had to start paying rent, court records say.
That morning, Mullis said he had to get away to clear his head. He took Alijah with him and drove south toward Galveston, where he pulled over in a secluded area of the seawall. But then, his son started to cry, and he couldn't get him to stop, he told police.
Mullis molested and choked the infant before he pulled Alijah out of the car, put him on the ground and stomped on his head, court records say. He flung the car seat and his son's body toward the other side of the seawall then fled the state, USA TODAY reported.
He turned himself in a couple days later, offering a detailed confession to authorities in Philadelphia. Mullis was extradited back to Texas, convicted of murder and sentenced to death in March 2011.
This story has been updated to add new information.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Travis James Mullis executed in Texas for 3-month-old son's murder
Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on Hurricane Helene for Wednesday, Sept. 25. For the latest on the storm, see our story for Thursday, Sept. 26.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Hurricane Helene is now predicted to reach Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, part of a frightening forecast of 130-mph winds and high storm surge that brings a dire scenario for hundreds of miles of the state's coast as entire communities are forced to flee.
Helene reached hurricane status Wednesday and was forecast to grow more powerful and dangerous before making landfall Thursday evening on Florida's Gulf Coast as a devastating Category 4 storm, up from an expectation earlier Wednesday that it would arrive as a Category 3 hurricane.
"Weakening is expected after landfall, but Helene's fast forward speed will allow strong, damaging winds, especially in gusts, to penetrate well inland across the southeastern United States, including over the higher terrain of the southern Appalachians," the National Hurricane Center said.
The NHC warned that "a catastrophic and deadly storm surge is likely along portions of the Florida Big Bend coast, where inundation could reach as high as 20 feet above ground level, along with destructive waves.''
This is the worst case for the Tallahassee region and Big Bend of Florida, said Craig Fugate, former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a former director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Storm surge will most likely set records along the coast.
The highest landfall probability is somewhere along the eastern part of the Florida Panhandle possibly the Big Bend area, the curve of Florida's peninsula around the Gulf of Mexico late Thursday, AccuWeather forecasters said. Near where Helene makes landfall, general rainfall of 8-12 inches is expected, with 2 feet of rain possible in isolated areas.
The hurricane center warned in a 1 a.m. CDT update that Helene will bring catastrophic winds and storm surge to the northeastern Gulf Coast and that "preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion."
Storm tracker: See projected path of Tropical Storm Helene set to become a hurricane
Developments:
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency in anticipation of Hurricane Helene's impacts later this week. The current track forecasts the center of the storm west of Virginia, but Youngkin said some parts of the state could see significant rainfall and flooding from outer bands of Helene.
Tampa International Airport said it will suspend operations at 2 a.m. Thursday because of the hurricane. The airport plans to reopen "when safe to do so." The smaller, nearby St. Pete-Clearwater Airport will be closed Thursday and is scheduled to reopen Friday, according to its website. Orlando International Airport said on X that it remains open but some flights could be delayed or canceled for weather-related reasons.
While U.S. flights weren't seeing a major impact early Wednesday, 12% of flights to Cancun, Mexico, had been canceled and another 16% delayed as of 1:30 p.m. ET, according to online flight tracker FlightAware. Elsewhere, airlines have issued travel waivers, allowing customers to rebook flights along the hurricane's path without penalties, though cities, dates and terms vary widely. Details here.
The Tampa Zoo said it will close its door to the public Thursday and take measures to protect the animals from the approaching hurricane.
The University of Florida cancelled classes for Thursday, joining Florida State and Florida A&M universities, whose closures will last through the weekend.
Helene is the fifth hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season, about the average number for the date, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. A typical season sees a total of seven hurricanes. If it lands as a Category 3 storm, this would be fifth consecutive year a major hurricane hits the U.S. mainland, which has only happened once before, Klotzbach said.
Helene's explosive forecast one of the 'most aggressive' in hurricane history
Flooding danger hundreds of miles inland, NOAA warns
Helene's projected impact is so vast, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration took the rare step Wednesday of reaching out to news organizations to emphasize how much damage the hurricane figures to cause in inland locations well beyond the Florida Gulf Coast.
NOAA pointed out Helene's wind fields extend up to 275 miles from its core, warning communities in the western Carolinas and northeast Georgia to prepare for "catastrophic, life-threatening inland flooding.'' Urban areas in Helene's path, such as Tallahassee, Florida, and Atlanta separated by more than 200 miles along with Asheville, North Carolina, are at risk of major flooding, NOAA said.
"Even well before landfall, heavy rainfall will begin in portions of the southeastern United States and will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, where storm total rainfall amounts are forecast to be up to 18 inches,'' NOAA said in a news release.
Helene's core avoids Yucatan and may get stronger, scientist says
It appears the center of Helene is staying over open water and not hitting Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, according to Andy Hazelton, an associate scientist at the University of Miamis Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies and NOAAs Atlantic Oceanic Meteorological Laboratory.
By staying over the water and not moving over land, the storm's core will be able to come together unimpeded, Hazelton posted on X. "The stage is being set such that the higher-end intensity outcomes are possible depending on structure,'' he said.
Millions under storm warnings in Southeast
More than 42 million people in Florida, Georgia and Alabama were under hurricane and tropical storm warnings, the National Weather Service said.
Helene could also become Tallahassee's worst wind event in recorded history as 100 mph winds blast the Florida capital. Ryan Truchelut, founder of WeatherTiger and a hurricane forecaster for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, said Helene is a storm without precedent.
"Helene stands toe-to-toe with any of the threats that Florida has faced over the past 10 years or indeed really over hurricane history," Truchelut said.
A month ago, Jody Griffis rode out Hurricane Debby in his Cedar Island home along the Big Bend coast. But as he secured his stilt home with shutters and siding Wednesday, he told USA TODAY he will heed the local evacuation order issued ahead of Helene.
My gut is telling me to get out, he said.
Possibility of 8-10-foot storm surge 'scares me,' bar owner says
In coastal Steinhatchee, a Big Bend town in Taylor County, Crabbie Dads bar owner Scott Peters supervised a crew loading beer, coolers and liquor into trucks Wednesday, moving it all to safety further inland.Peters, 46, said the storms that have hit the bar hes owned for 19 years seem to keep getting stronger each season. The bar sits about 100 feet across First Avenue from where the Steinhatchee River empties into Deadman Bay.Were taking everything I can lift and move and things I didnt take out last time that I learned a lesson from, said Peters. You take every storm as serious as you can because this is such a low-lying area. Were basically at sea level.As he spoke, a county emergency alert sounded on nearby cell phones, warning of dangerous storm surge and cautioning people to have three days of supplies on hand before the storm hits Thursday evening.Peters said he's worried that because Helene gained strength so rapidly, it may propel a huge storm surge toward shore. He said growing up in the area people used to have hurricane parties and ride out storms. But the recent string of more powerful hurricanes has convinced him thats no longer a good idea.If this thing comes in and goes over us as fast as theyre saying, we could get 8-10 feet of water. Thats what scares me, Peters said. The things coming so damn fast we didnt have time to prepare much.
Trevor Hughes
Scott Peters, owner of Crabbie Dad's bar in Steinhatchee, Florida, straps down a cooler too big to move from the bar on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Helene on Florida's Big Bend coastline.
Packing up, hoping massive storm turns away
In Keaton Beach, about 65 miles southeast of Tallahassee, Mike Kicklighter lifted himself up with a piece of construction equipment so he could attach a remote camera to a telephone pole on his now-empty waterfront lot.
Kicklighter, 47, lives in Georgia and normally keeps a mobile home on the sandy lot but hauled it away for safety. His neighbors house sits on concrete pillars more than 20 feet tall.
I want to watch your house fall, he joked to his neighbor as he tightened the strap holding the camera. In all seriousness, he said, they are closely watching the storms track, hoping it passes further west.
Were all pitched to roll out, Kicklighter said Wednesday as they finished up packing and prepared to load an ice maker into the bed of a pickup. The biggest worry was the surge, but we might have done all of this for nothing. I hope we did.
Trevor Hughes
What is rapid intensification and will it occur in Helene?
Rapid intensification is when a hurricanes winds accelerate by 35 mph or more within 24 hours. Computer models indicate a high chance Helene will experience rapid intensification over the next 24 hours, Robbie Berg, a specialist at the hurricane center, wrote in a Wednesday morning forecast.
Helene will be moving through an environment very conducive to intensification, with low wind shear and much warmer than normal sea surface temperatures. While the official forecast predicts sustained winds up to 125 mph on Thursday, Berg said those winds could be stronger if Helene "rapidly intensifies more than forecast."
In this aerial view, people fill sandbags at Helen Howarth Park ahead of the possible arrival of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 25, 2024 in Pinellas Park, Fla.
Big Bend resident: 'I don't know if my house can take it'
Griffis, 57, said he planned to leave with his wife for his brothers house Thursday morning, likely after a long night of fortifying his own home.
Everything that I have of value will go with me, he said, describing family heirlooms and photo albums. If this thing gets up to 135-140 miles an hour, I don't know if my house can take it.
Steve Brown, 72, who lives just a few yards from the gulf in Cedar Island, spent the last 24 hours moving outdoor furniture into his home, which sits on stilts 21 feet above sea level.
Under a countywide evacuation, he plans to leave with his wife, Cindy, and their cat, Max, to a friends home in the nearby city of Perry. People around here are busy, said the retired schoolteacher. It's not a frenzy. Everybody's been through this before, so they have a plan and they're just executing it.
Residents in southwest Florida brace for Helene
In Sarasota, Florida, hundreds of miles from where forecasters predict Hurricane Helene will come ashore, residents prepared for the storm Wednesday. Rick Munroe, owner of Sun Garden Cafe, brought in patio furniture and stacked sandbags in front of the doors. A long stretch of Floridas coast, including western Sarasota, could be exposed to storm surge of up to 7 feet, according to forecasters.
"If you don't take them serious, he said, speaking about hurricanes, then you're foolish or you just moved here.
Paul Samuel, a local general contractor, said many of his clients are similarly concerned about the hurricane. One homeowner had him move much of the furniture on the bottom floor of their home to the second floor. Samuel plans to wrap up several projects by the end of the day, including one that requires the installation of seven windows and doors before the winds and water pick up.
"It'll be airtight by tonight," Samuel said.
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Increased risk of tornadoes in Southeast on Thursday
Helene was centered about 425 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, on Wednesday at 11 p.m. ET, the hurricane center said. The storm was driving maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and moving north at 9 mph.
Tornadoes were possible late Wednesday on the western Florida Peninsula and southern Alabama, the hurricane center said. The risk of tornadoes expands Thursday across Florida and into parts of Georgia and South Carolina.
Florida counties order evacuations ahead of Helene
At least 22 Florida counties have some form of evacuation order in effect.
Three counties in the Big Bend coast, where storm surge could reach heights of 15 feet, issued mandatory evacuation orders for all residents and visitors in its jurisdiction. Officials in Wakulla, Franklin and Taylor counties home to about 69,000 people warned residents of the danger posed by the storm and urged them to take it seriously.
Hurricane Helene is predicted to be a catastrophic and life-threatening storm system, the Taylor County Sheriffs Office said on Facebook. This system will be unlike anything we have experienced to date. A curfew is effective from sunset to sunrise. Repeat, this is a MANDATORY EVACUATION ORDER for everyone.
Leon County, home to Tallahassee, ordered the evacuation of residents from mobile and manufactured homes because of the threat of high winds. "Seek shelter no later than 8 a.m. Thursday," an emergency alert from the county read.
Seventeen other counties stretching across the western coast of the state, from the panhandle to just south of Sarasota, have announced mandatory or voluntary evacuations, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Across the state, officials announced closures of government offices and facilities as well as public schools and several major universities.
Helene forecast is a nightmare' scenario for parts of North Florida
Rick Minor, a county commissioner in Leon County, urged residents to take the approaching storm seriously.
In an email to constituents Tuesday night, Minor said he was briefed by Leon County Emergency Management officials, who said that if the current track holds, the county will take a direct hit.
"On Thursday we'll face about six hours of sustained winds of 74-110 mph, leading to thousands of downed trees, more than a hundred blocked roads, hundreds of damaged structures, and many, many days of extended power outages," he said. "But we mustn't panic fortunately, we all have enough time to carefully plan and prepare."
For those living in Wakulla, Franklin and Taylor counties, National Weather Service forecasters offered a grim wakeup call hours after emergency managers ordered all county residents to evacuate: "This forecast, if realized, is a nightmare surge scenario for Apalachee Bay. Please, please, please take any evacuation orders seriously."
Island deluges will bring flood, landslide risks
The prediction of heavy inland rain from Hurricane Helene has triggered a rare "high risk" area for excessive rainfall Thursday for portions of the southern Appalachians, the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center announced Wednesday.
The entire region was bracing for a deluge from Helene: "Overall, 5 to 10 inches of rain with isolated totals around 15 inches is forecast over the Southeast," the prediction center said.
Because of the expected rain, "considerable" flash and urban flooding is forecast across portions of Florida, the Southeast, southern Appalachians and the Tennessee Valley through Friday. Widespread minor to moderate river flooding is also likely, and isolated major river flooding is possible.
The rain will also increase the risk of landslides across the southern Appalachians, the Weather Prediction Center said.
Doyle Rice
Will Helene hit Mexico and its beaches?
A hurricane warning was in effect for Cabo Catoche to Tulum, Mexico, including Cozumel. Additionally, there was a tropical storm warning in effect for Rio Lagartos to Cabo Catoche, the U.S. hurricane center said.
On the forecast track, the center of Helene was expected to move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico later Wednesday and Thursday, according to the hurricane center.
Helene is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 4-8 inches over western Cuba, the Cayman Islands and the northeast Yucatan Peninsula, with isolated totals around 12 inches, bringing a "risk of considerable flooding," according to the hurricane center.
Gabe Hauari
What is storm surge and what makes the Gulf vulnerable during Helene?
Along with powerful wind speeds and high rainfall amounts, another deadly hazard is a major concern for the western coast of Florida: storm surge.
In the open ocean, hurricane winds push water toward the center of the storm and instead of piling up, the water spirals downward and flows outward.
As the water is pushed downward, some is pushed out to sea and some is pushed toward the coast. As the storm approaches land and shallow water, the ocean floor blocks the outflowing water, causing the ocean to surge onto land.
Forecasters predict the Helene will wallop the Big Bend coast of Florida with a surge of water as high as 15 feet, while other coastal areas, such as Tampa Bay, could see 8 feet of water. The storm is expected to rapidly intensify into a major hurricane as it churns over the warm waters of the Gulf.
Among the factors making coastal communities along the Gulf of Mexico more vulnerable to piling water is its continental shelves that extend well over 100 miles from the shore. On the Atlantic coast, narrower shelves with steep slopes produce a lower surge.
Javier Zarracina, Ramon Padilla, Stephen J. Beard, Dinah Voyles Pulver
DeSantis urges Florida residents to prepare for Helene
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Floridians should prepare for a potential major hurricane after he expanded his state of emergency declaration to 61 counties.
"Right now you do have time, so take advantage of that time," DeSantis said. "Review your plan and make sure youre executing your hurricane preparedness plan."
"Dont get wedded to these cones. You could be out of the cone and still have major impacts."
Helene, expected to intensify rapidly, prompts hurricane warning for Florida Gulf Coast
Helene disrupts Gulf oil production
U.S. oil producers scrambled Monday to evacuate staff from Gulf of Mexico oil production platforms as the second hurricane in two weeks was predicted to tear through offshore oil-producing fields.
Oil companies BP, Chevron, and Shell have begun evacuating offshore staff, and several have paused some production. Just two weeks ago, Hurricane Francine roared across the Gulf of Mexico, peaking as a Category 2 with 100-mph winds as it made landfall in Louisiana.
Helene would be Florida's 9th major hurricane hit since 2000
The storm is forecast to become a major hurricane, a Category 4, before approaching the Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said.
According to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach, eight major hurricanes have made landfall in Florida since 2000: Charley and Jeanne in 2004; Dennis and Wilma in 2005; Irma in 2017; Michael in 2018; Ian in 2022; Idalia in 2023.
Contributing: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY; William L. Hatfield, Tallahassee Democrat; Steve Patterson, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union; Kim Luciani USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Helene updates: Hurricane may hit Florida as Category 4
Former President Trump is homing in on deep-blue New York, a state seen as critical to determining who controls the House next year.
Trump has made multiple campaigns stops to the Empire State, including a rally on Long Island last week that featured a vulnerable House GOP member up for reelection.
Republicans doubt the former president will defeat Vice President Harris in New York, but they say his frequent appearances could juice enthusiasm among the base and help the party keep control of its razor-thin majority in the lower chamber.
For any former president to visit an area, its very motivating for the base as you head into Election Day, said New York Republican strategist Matt Coleman, who is from Long Island and not affiliated with any campaign.
Trumps most recent trip to the state coincided with the date he was set to be sentenced for his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his hush-money case that took place there. He kept the rally plan in place even after his sentencing was delayed until after the election.
The Republican nominee has made several trips to the city this year, especially as the criminal proceedings in New York against him advanced, and he has made appeals to voters to back him despite New York not voting for a Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Nassau Coliseum, on Long Island, will be a really big deal tomorrow. It will be PACKED with Patriots! We have a real chance of winning, for the first time in many decades, New York, Trump said in a Truth Social post ahead of the rally.
He also asked New Yorkers in the post, What the hell do you have to lose? a sentiment he repeated during his rally as he pointed to issues like the economy and immigration.
While Trumps hopes of flipping New York seem lofty, Republicans point to other underlying reasons for his visits there, namely to boost four House Republicans in the state whose results may decide which party controls the House: Reps. Mike Lawler, Anthony DEsposito, Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams.
All four first-term representatives eked out narrow wins in their elections in 2022 by no more than a few points and are prime targets for Democrats hoping to take back the House in November. They have an uphill battle, with Vice President Harris likely to comfortably win the state at the presidential level.
After some of the New York representatives took a bit longer than some of their other GOP colleagues to endorse Trumps 2024 bid, DEsposito appeared with Trump at the rally. The other three did not.
Some Republicans said even in New York, being in line with the top of the ticket could boost these members across the finish line.
From a political standpoint, you want to be aligned with the top of your ticket no matter what. Its helpful to you, Coleman said. General consultants and their campaign teams see this as a potential boon to them. I mean, how often does a Republican candidate for president pay attention to New York other than flying in and out of the city to do a fundraiser?
Former Rep. John Faso (R-N.Y.), who represented a swing district in the House, said although the presidential race will drive turnout, the outcome of the competitive House races will not be dependent on the top of the ticket.
Its really a function of just making sure that youre reaching the targeted voters that are going to turn out in a high turnout presidential election, Faso said, noting some of these representatives voters will be pro-Trump and some will be anti-Trump.
But Trump did make a shift just ahead of the rally that could be critical in the House races: throwing his support behind lifting the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction that he originally signed as part of his 2017 tax cut law. The issue is key for middle-class voters who pay high property taxes in places like New York.
Lawlers congressional office issued a statement praising Trumps shift after the announcement.
Faso said the issue is particularly potent near the New York metropolitan area but is less impactful further away from the city.
DEspositos 4th District on Long Island includes Nassau County, known for particularly high property taxes.
But New York Republican strategist Jay Townsend expressed concern about the reaction to Trumps appearances in the suburban areas where he is a liability. He said he would advise these House members to keep their distance from Trump.
Trump will carry the rural areas of New York, but he is polarizing and toxic in suburban New York, and he would lose an election to Bernie Madoff if hes on the ballot in New York City, Townsend said.
And DEsposito specifically may have an additional obstacle in his district following a New York Times report that he had an affair and had his fiancees daughter and the woman he was having the affair with on his district offices payroll. DEsposito slammed the report as a hit piece and argued that his personal life has not interfered with his ability to deliver results for his district.
But the timing of the report not long before the election could increase his vulnerability, Townsend said.
No candidate wants a story like that in the final six weeks of a campaign, 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 The Hill.
By Maya Gebeily, Laila Bassam and Matt Spetalnick
BEIRUT/NEW YORK (Reuters) -The United States is spearheading a new diplomatic effort to end hostilities in both Gaza and Lebanon, linking the two conflicts as part of a single initiative, seven sources familiar with the initiative told Reuters.
Details are being discussed on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, according to two Lebanese officials, two Western diplomats, a source familiar with the thinking of the armed Lebanese group Hezbollah, a source in Washington and a further person briefed on the talks.
Other Western officials said, however, that the most urgent diplomatic focus for now is to stop the violence in Lebanon, which carries a greater risk of spiraling into a regional war.
At the United Nations, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides told Reuters the U.S. and France were trying to hammer out an interim agreement "to avoid further escalation" between Israel and Hezbollah with a view to opening broader talks that would include efforts to achieve a long-sought ceasefire in Gaza.
But as the effort gathered pace, Israel suggested it could add a ground incursion in Lebanon to its expanding campaign of strikes against Hezbollah. Three Israeli officials told Reuters that, although the U.S. and France were working on ceasefire proposals, no significant progress had yet been made.
A broader deal would be envisioned to include the eventual release of hostages seized by the Palestinian armed group Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to a senior Lebanese official, the source familiar with Hezbollah's thinking and the source briefed on talks.
The White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment.
Violence has gripped the region since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on communities in southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage into Gaza.
The attack prompted an Israeli assault on Gaza that has killed more than 41,000 people, according to authorities there.
The day after Hamas attacked, Iran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli military positions across Lebanon's southern border, saying the attacks were in solidarity with Gaza.
Hezbollah has said it will not stop firing at Israel until the attack on Gaza stops, and repeated efforts by Washington to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and secure the hostages' freedom have failed.
ISRAEL STEPS UP ATTACKS
Israel has now significantly stepped up its military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, launching hundreds of airstrikes and killing several Hezbollah commanders as well as hundreds of other people, according to Lebanese authorities.
Tens of thousands had already fled from both sides of the border since October, and have been joined this week by around half a million fleeing a feared Israeli ground incursion into southern Lebanon.
A senior Western diplomat told Reuters that the deal sought by the U.S. would include an Israeli announcement of an end to major hostilities in Gaza, followed by a push for a ceasefire in Lebanon and then a political deal that could see a demarcation of the contentious Israeli-Lebanese land border.
The diplomat said that could provide an "off-ramp" for Hezbollah to avoid a full-scale war with Israel.
The senior Lebanese official and the source familiar with Hezbollah's thinking said Hezbollah was open to any settlement that included both Gaza and Lebanon.
The second Lebanese official said it would be impossible to stop the conflicts without a package that covered both.
Discussions have focused on what would initially be a "pause" in Israel-Hezbollah hostilities and a restart of stalled indirect Israel-Hamas negotiations, according to a U.S. source in Washington.
In a sign that diplomacy was accelerating, Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, on Monday announced an unexpected trip to New York.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday he was dispatching newly appointed Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to Lebanon this week as part of efforts to prevent a full-fledged war.
'OPPORTUNITY' FOR SETTLEMENT
The conflict in Gaza has been politically costly for U.S. President Joe Biden - and by extension Vice President Kamala Harris' Democratic presidential campaign - and the violence in Lebanon has redoubled pressure on him to find a diplomatic solution.
Biden said on Wednesday an all-out war was possible in the Middle East, but there was also a chance for a broad settlement.
A person in Washington familiar with the issue said talks were taking place on the sidelines of the General Assembly "with the aim of giving an opportunity for a political settlement" on the Lebanese-Israeli border and reviving a hostage deal on Gaza.
But the second U.S. source cautioned that the obstacles to such a complex diplomatic proposal were hefty - and that implementation would be even harder.
Macron, the only Western leader to hold talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the General Assembly, asked him on Tuesday to exert his influence on Hezbollah.
French officials have said diplomacy must focus first on a cessation of hostilities, given the complexity of including Gaza in a broader deal for now.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily, Laila Bassam and Tom Perry in Beirut; Matt Spetalnick in Washington, D.C.; Maayan Lubell and James Mackenzie in Jerusalem; John Irish and Don Durfee in New York; Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Timothy Heritage and Jonathan Oatis)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military is not providing intelligence support to Israel for its operations in Lebanon, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh also said no Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon appeared imminent, but referred reporters to Israel for questions about its operations and plans.
Asked about whether the United States was supporting Israel's operations in Lebanon, including with intelligence support, Singh said: "No. No support."
"When it comes to Lebanon, the U.S. military has no involvement in Israel's operations," Singh said.
It was unclear whether Singh's remarks applied to the sharing of any real-time U.S. intelligence on Hezbollah missiles that might be heading toward Israel.
Israel's military chief told troops on Wednesday that airstrikes in Lebanon would continue in order to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and to prepare the way for a possible ground operation by Israeli forces.
Singh said the United States government was making diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation between Israel and Hezbollah. Israeli airstrikes this week have targeted Hezbollah leaders and hit hundreds of sites deep inside Lebanon, where hundreds of thousands have fled the border region, while the group has fired barrages of rockets into Israel.
"You're seeing a full-court press here from United States government and this administration. We want to see a diplomatic solution, and we want to see it urgently," Singh added.
U.S. President Joe Biden said an all-out war was possible in the Middle East but there was also the possibility of a settlement in Israel's conflicts in Gaza and with Hezbollah.
The United States and France are trying to hammer out an interim accord to halt hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah with a view to opening broader diplomatic talks, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides added.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; writing by Phil Stewart; editing by Chris Reese and Jonathan Oatis)
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Public schools and libraries across the U.S. are still facing a rise of book challenges due to recent state and local policies that have accelerated efforts to censor certain materials, according to preliminary findings released by two advocacy groups.
While book censorship is nothing new, efforts to ban books have rapidly spread across the nation since the COVID-19 pandemic supported by conservative organizations that have pushed for nationwide banning efforts. In two separate reports released Monday during Banned Books Week, PEN America and the American Library Association (ALA) provided contrasting data on recent and attempted book bans reported in the U.S.
PEN America, a free speech advocacy group, found that book bans nearly tripled during the 2023-2024 academic year with over 10,000 books banned in public schools. The group previously documented 3,362 instances of book bans in the 20222023 school year.
"With 10,000 school book bans and counting in the 2023-2024 school, we have to take stock of the harm censorship imposes on those most affectedthe students," Sabrina Baeta, researcher and advocate on the PEN America team, said in a statement to USA TODAY. "This Banned Book Week demands that we join together to turn the page on book bans by saying 'No more.'"
Meanwhile, the ALA a leading librarian group revealed that new data has shown a slowdown in book challenge reports. The association tracks attempts to censor books and materials in public, school, and academic libraries, noting that there were 414 attempts to censor library materials and services during the first eight months of 2024.
That number is a decrease from the 695 attempts recorded during the same period last year. But ALA noted that while the number of reported challenges has declined, the "number of documented attempts to censor books continues to far exceed the numbers prior to 2020."
Both PEN America and the ALA also emphasized that their findings are an undercount or represent "only a snapshot of book censorship" as many book challenges are unreported.
"This is just a sampling and not our final numbers. We may well receive, and I know that we are receiving, an uptick in reports since school(s) opened after Labor Day," Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the director of the ALAs Office for Intellectual Freedom, told USA TODAY on Tuesday. "Whatever set of numbers you look at, we are still seeing an overwhelming number of demands to censor books."
It's Banned Books Week: Most challenged titles and how publishers are pushing back
PEN America, American Library Association book ban definitions differ
PEN America and the ALA use different methodologies and definitions of "ban" and "challenge" when documenting instances of book censorship. According to PEN America, the group is the only organization that tracks book bans in schools nationwide while the ALA records challenges that are filed against books in libraries.
Suzanne Trimel, senior adviser for communications and media at PEN America, told USA TODAY that the group tracks bans through school board minutes, local news stories. and reports from organizational partners across the country. PEN America notes on its website that it does not document book challenges that do not result in bans.
"A book challenge is any attempt to restrict or remove a book based on objections to its content," according to PEN America. "A book ban is the removal or restriction of those materials."
The ALA compiles its data on book challenges from news stories and reports from library professionals, according to the association's website.
"A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict access to materials or services based upon the objections of a person or group," the ALA said on its website. "A book is banned when it is entirely removed from a collection in response to a formal or informal challenge."
Recent book challenges follow trends from previous years
Preliminary findings from PEN America found that book bans during the 2023-2024 school year followed trends from previous years in which targeted books were written by or about a person of color, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, or a woman. The group also tracked an increasing number of cases that included books containing depictions of rape or sexual abuse.
"As in recent years, there are two key pressures behind the school book ban movement: state legislation and the influence of groups that espouse 'parental rights' rhetoric to advance pro-censorship advocacy goals," PEN America said in its report.
The dramatic increase in book bans was largely a result of state laws, which have made it "easier to remove books from schools without due process, or in some cases, without any formal process whatsoever," the group added.
Out of the more than 10,000 books banned, about 8,000 were documented in Florida and Iowa, according to PEN America.
The Des Moines Register, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported that Iowa's Republican-dominated Legislature passed a sweeping education law in 2023 that requires schools to remove books depicting or describing sex acts and restricts teaching about LGBTQ+ topics. The newspaper filed records requests with all 325 school districts in the state and found that nearly 3,400 books were removed because of the ban before a federal injunction halted enforcement in December 2023.
Florida also implemented legislation in 2023 restricting material containing "sexual conduct." During that year, Florida had more books challenged for removal than any other state with nearly 2,700 titles targeted, according to data released by the ALA in March.
But school districts in the state have since faced federal lawsuits with accusations of unconstitutional censorship. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network, a Florida school board agreed earlier this year to place books it banned back on library shelves as part of an out-of-court settlement.
American Library Association attributes the decline to community pushback
The ALA said it released preliminary data in preparation for Banned Books Week, noting that "library staff across the country are facing an overwhelming number of book ban attempts."
Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom recorded 414 censorship attempts that included 1,128 titles. The ALA said these numbers are a decrease from the same period last year when the group tracked 695 attempts with 1,915 titles challenged.
The group also highlighted instances of "soft censorship," where books are purchased but are hidden or placed in restricted areas in fear of potential challenges. In some instances, the ALA said books have also been preemptively excluded from libraries, in which books are removed before they are banned or not purchased at all.
Caldwell-Stone underscored that several factors may have contributed to the slowdown in reported challenges, including efforts to fight "against the tide of book banning" and "successes in courts."
She cited the work of local communities and anti-censorship activists, who rise to "both defend their library professionals and to assert their belief that libraries should protect the freedom to read."
"Especially the bravery of youth, who are standing up at library board meetings and school board meetings to speak out in defense of their very freedom to read," Caldwell-Stone added. "We're realizing that censorship is a very real threat to everyone's liberties and that we don't want the government getting in the business of telling people what to read or believe."
Contributing: Mike Trautmann, Des Moines Register; Douglas Soule, USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Banned Books Week: School book bans increased past academic year
Justin Ballard is the Houston Chronicle's first ever newsroom meteorologist. He can be reached at justin.ballard@houstonchronicle.com.
He brings five years of experience forecasting tropical systems, severe weather outbreaks, and blizzards to the Houston Chronicle. His unique experience in forecasting will serve him well in his role at the Chronicle, as Houston has experienced a number of impactful weather events in recent years.
Justin looks forward to his work with the Houston Chronicle, where he'll be responsible for posting daily weather forecasts. On top of daily forecasts, he is excited to tackle more in-depth weather and climate stories that impact the residents of Southeast Texas.
A North Carolina native, Justin joined the Chronicle in July 2023. He graduated with his bachelor's degree in meteorology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in December 2017.
The United States and several of its allies called Wednesday for a 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border as they work to prevent a regional war from erupting and to jolt stalled hostage talks between Israel and Hamas.
The proposal, described by one senior US official as an important breakthrough, comes amid deadly fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that many fear could spill into a wider conflict.
Hoping to prevent such an outcome, diplomats and leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly spent the last 48 hours hurriedly working to secure a plan that would pause the fighting and allow room for diplomacy to take hold.
Israel and Hezbollah have yet to agree. But US officials said both parties were familiar with the contours of the proposal and voiced optimism the moment was right for it to be revealed publicly.
The situation between Lebanon and Israel since October 8th, 2023 is intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation. This is in nobodys interest, neither of the people of Israel nor of the people of Lebanon, read a joint statement from the nations released late Wednesday.
President Joe Biden said the plan had been endorsed by the United States, Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
We were able to generate significant support from Europe, as well as the Arab nations, Biden told reporters late Wednesday. Its important this war not widen.
The immediate objective of the agreement is to lower temperatures and allow residents along the border to return to their homes in Israel and Lebanon.
But officials also hope the ceasefire being proposed could open up diplomatic space and galvanize a stalled ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas to halt the fighting and free the Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, senior administration officials asserted in the moments after the framework was announced.
Plan is the result of an all-out effort
The plan was announced after what one Biden administration official called an all-out effort by the administration to secure a cessation in hostilities as the conflict threatens to widen into a larger regional war.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spent the past few days shuttling back and forth between Arab and European partners working on the details of a proposal to stop the fighting between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah.
Biden has been discussing the escalating hostilities in the Middle East with various world leaders this week on the sidelines of the General Assembly. On Wednesday, he discussed the matter with Macron, the White House said, helping to finalize the plan.
Blinken led intensive behind-the-scenes diplomacy on the sidelines of the UN gathering to help broker the ceasefire proposal, a US official said. On Monday, he soft-launched the idea to his G7 counterparts, though didnt share specific details.
The ceasefire proposal was negotiated with both sides before it was rolled out publicly, according to a senior administration official. On Wednesday, Blinken and White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, one of the mediators conveying details to Hezbollah. The US had been conveying messages to Hezbollah through mediators for several days.
On the margins of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting on Wednesday morning, Blinken separately pulled aside both Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan to ask for the countries support for the proposal, which they both gave.
Blinken dispatched his deputy chief of staff, Tom Sullivan, on Wednesday morning to meet with the political directors of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom to get their support for the framework.
US officials were optimistic Wednesday night that both sides will accept the deal, but some diplomats told CNN that they are concerned about both sides respecting their commitment to the ceasefire.
Hope to kickstart Gaza talks
After months of painstaking and so far unsuccessful negotiations to end the war in Gaza and free remaining hostages, officials said they believed this latest proposal could shake loose the moribund talks.
It buys some time and space to try to pursue an arrangement in Gazaand the hostage deal weve been discussing, one of the officials said. And if (Hamas leader Yahya) Sinwar understands there is not going to be a broader regional conflict, there really is a choice here. You do the deal, release the hostages, you get an awful lot of calm in Gaza.
Earlier Wednesday night, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the United Nations Security Council that France has been working with the US to secure a 21-day ceasefire to allow negotiations and that details would be made public soon. A diplomatic solution is indeed possible, he said, adding that he would travel to Beirut at the end of the week to work with local stakeholders.
A source said that the effort to mediate a ceasefire began in earnest for the Biden administration after Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, spoke on the phone with top Israeli official Ron Dermer on Monday.
The efforts come as Israels top general said Wednesday that the Israeli military is preparing for a possible ground incursion into Lebanon.
Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the green light for his government to engage with the US efforts, an Israeli official told CNN.
The official said that Netanyahu gave his approval with the understanding that any agreement would have to allow for the return of Israeli civilians to their homes in northern Israel.
Hezbollah has long said they would only stop their rocket fire when there was quiet in Gaza, while Israel has tried to treat the two fronts as separate conflicts. The White House has also consistently argued that a ceasefire in Gaza would unlock much more, including a diplomatic deal with Hezbollah that would allow Lebanese and Israeli civilians to return home.
Given the fear of escalation, American and other international officials are pushing for a deal first to end the skyrocketing Lebanon fighting so that they can then turn back to the Gaza ceasefire efforts that have been stuck.
Biden and his top national security officials have regularly expressed optimism and hope that deals for both were close at hand, only to see them fall apart. Recently, US officials have said they dont know whether Netanyahu or Sinwar have the political willingness to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Speaking on ABCs daytime talk show The View, Biden alluded to ongoing talks to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon that would unlock further peace discussions elsewhere in the region.
Theres a way to do it, and they have a possibility I dont want to exaggerate it, but a possibility if we can deal with a ceasefire in Lebanon, that it can move into dealing with the West Bank, but we also have Gaza to deal with, he said.
But its possible, he said, and Im using every bit of energy I have with my team to get this done. Theres a desire to see change in the region.
CNNs Donald Judd contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
(This story has been updated with new information.)
Of all the stories mentioned in the "Mr. McMahon" docuseries about WWE founder Vince McMahon, one that has heavy interest is the sexual assault lawsuit brought onto McMahon by a former company employee.
Throughout the six episodes of the documentary, several of the controversies from use of steroids to the deaths of major stars that circulated around McMahon are talked about, as well as sexual abuse allegations in the past decades.
In all instances, McMahon addresses the criticism he received. But when it comes to the lawsuit filed by Janel Grant, don't expect to hear from McMahon about it in the series.
Here is what is discussed in "Mr. McMahon" regarding the recent sexual assault allegations facing the wrestling figure:
Vince McMahon shown a WWE show in "Mr. McMahon."
What does Vince McMahon say about sexual assault lawsuit in 'Mr. McMahon'?
Nothing.
During the finale of the series, after discussing when McMahon stepped down as CEO of WWE in 2022 amid an investigation into whether he paid money to a former employee to keep an affair quiet, the screen shows an empty chair and reads:
"After the allegations became public, Vince McMahon canceled his final interviews for this series."
That's because nearly all of the interviews done for the series took place before the news of the lawsuit in January. However, it is addressed.
The Wall Street Journal reporter Khadeeja Safdar, who first reported on the lawsuit, discusses the details of the allegations. One notable thing she talks about is the allegation McMahon used Grant as an incentive for a WWE star to re-sign with the company. Safdar says the unnamed star is Brock Lesnar, who is one of the biggest names in the company. Lesnar has not appeared in WWE since the lawsuit was released.
Reporters also confirm the investigation in 2022 on McMahon involved Grant.
Was Janel Grant interviewed for 'Mr. McMahon'?
Grant did not take part in "Mr. McMahon." Ann Callis, an attorney for Grant, did not say if Grant was asked to be part of the series, but said last week her client "deserves the opportunity to tell her full story, not be a part of someone else's."
After the release of the series, Callis said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports "there is no difference" between McMahon's on-air persona and his true self and the "violent outbursts, sexual deviance and manipulation" of his character is what Grant experienced while employed by WWE.
"While the docuseries put McMahons obsession with power and control on full display, it only scratches the surface of his criminal behavior and it fails to tell the full story of his abuse, sexual assault and human trafficking of Ms. Grant," Callis said. "She deserves the opportunity to tell her story, on her own time, and in her own way. We look forward to her day in court and to seeing McMahon at last held accountable for his actions."
Vince McMahon statement on 'Mr. McMahon'
Even though he didn't address the recent allegations, McMahon did issue a statement on the docuseries just days before its release. He said after seeing an early partial cut of the series, it "takes the predictable path of conflating the 'Mr. McMahon' character with my true self, Vince."
"A lot has been misrepresented or left out entirely in an effort to leave viewers intentionally confused. The producers use typical editing tricks with out of context footage and dated soundbites etc. to distort the viewers perception and support a deceptive narrative," McMahon said. "In an attempt to further their misleading account, the producers use a lawsuit based on an affair I ended as evidence that I am, in fact, 'Mr. McMahon.' I hope the viewer will keep an open mind and remember that there are two sides to every story."
USA TODAY Sports reached out to McMahon's representatives and WWE for comment.
What is alleged in the sexual assault lawsuit against Vince McMahon?
In the suit, Grant said McMahon made her sign a non-disclosure agreement about their relationship for an agreed amount of $3 million. However, Grant alleges she never received full payment from McMahon and wants to void the agreement with the lawsuit.
Grant, hired by WWE in 2019, detailed experiences with McMahon. During her employment, Grant said she was forced into a sexual relationship with McMahon, and he would share explicit photos, videos and details of her to other WWE employees. She added she was also coerced into having sexual relations with other WWE staffers, including WWEs former head of talent relations John Laurinaitis, who is also named in the suit.
In May 2020, the lawsuit states McMahon began to recruit other men and force Grant into sex trafficking. Text messages allegedly from McMahon show he told Grant "im the only one who owns U and controls who I want to (expletive) U."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What's said about Vince McMahon sexual assault suit in 'Mr. McMahon'?
WASHINGTON - Staunch Trump ally and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy said he didnt see evidence of Haitian migrants eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio - a debunked allegation that was pushed by former President Donald Trump during the presidential debate this month.
Having gone to Springfield, I didn't see that evidence, Ramaswamy said on CNN Tuesday, before adding that there are residents in the community that have pointed to that.
Ramaswamys latest comments come after he held a town hall in Springfield on Sept. 19, and sidestepped questions from reporters about Trumps claim.
"I'm not here to talk about the issues the media has really loved to obsess over," Ramaswamy said during the event. "Cats and dogs, we're not talking about it. We're talking about human beings who have been affected in this community."
Former republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during a town hall, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, at Bushnell Events Center in Springfield. Ramaswamy held a town hall to discuss the nationas immigration debate and other political topics.
Ramaswamy dropped out of the presidential race in January and endorsed Trump. He has embraced baseless conspiracy theories, including one that the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack was an inside job.
Numerous political leaders have pushed back against Trumps claim, including Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine who called the allegation a piece of garbage and said there is no evidence to support the claim.
Vice President Kamala Harris said that her heart breaks for the Haitian community in an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia last week.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump ally says he didn't see evidence of Haitian migrants eating pets
The story of how officials managed to catch the husband of a woman driven off an 800-foot cliff after a four-year investigation, and bring him to justice, has finally been revealed decades after his incarceration.
Peter Bergna was found clinging to rocks shortly after midnight on a summers evening in 1998, his wrecked pickup truck and dead wife hundreds of feet below him, according to SFGATE.
He claimed the brakes failed on his Ford F-150 while he and his wife, Rinette Riella-Bergna, 49, were driving down Nevada State Route 878, making them crash through the roads guardrail and sending them hurtling off the cliff.
The Lake Tahoe couple had parked there, according to then 45-year-old Bergna, to discuss their marriage and his wifes travelling for work after he picked her up from Reno-Tahoe International Airport.
She had just returned from a 6-week trip to Italy for her new job as an international travel director.
It might be part of your job, but Im home, and Im alone, and I dont like it, Bergna remembered telling his wife of 11 years.
He supposedly recalled her saying she would reduce her travel for the sake of their marriage, ending the discussion on a good note before the horrific events that followed.
The mangled wreckage of Peter Bergnas car after it had fallen down the side of a mountain in Nevada with his wife inside (Washoe County Sheriff)
Bergna, an appraiser at a prestigious San Francisco art dealer, told police that he hit the guardrail after realising the breaks werent working, and was thrown out of the vehicle as it fell because he had been smoking a cigar out the window while driving.
Court transcripts reveal that he had been making advances towards women at his work and planning to end his marriage while Rinette was in Italy, where she had reportedly been looking at apartments.
Bergna claimed he awoke to find himself hanging on to the side of the mountain, about 80 feet below the broken guardrail, before pulling out his cellphone to dial 911 and informing the operator his car rolled down the hill, my wife is in the car.
After police told him to stay on the call and listen out of sirens, he can then be heard shouting out her name: Rinette!
He was eventually rescued from the cliffside, and Rinettes body discovered in the wreckage at the bottom of the mountain.
Sergeant Jim Beltron said he was sceptical of the scene from the start, noting the car had T-boned the guardrail and how clean Bergna - who had only a fractured foot and a dirtied backside - was.
When you get pitched out of a vehicle, youre dirty, you tumble, Beltron said. The ejections Ive seen, dead or alive, youre dirty. Youre gonna look like Pigpen.
Investigators found him unemotional regarding his wifes death, with other peculiar details including the fact that Bergna wasnt wearing a seat belt at the time of the incident but Rinette had been, and that her airbag had been disabled.
Peter Bergna pictured with his new bride, Rinette, about 11 years before he killed her (Washoe County Sheriff)
There was no scuff, no skid, no brake fluids, no debris, no tire marks of any kind, Beltron said, explaining that its a reflex to stomp on the brakes while headed towards an impact of some sort.
Bergna had also left two five-gallon plastic jugs full of gasoline, supposedly for a trip to Las Vegas, unsealed in the bed of his Ford.
The morning after the incident, he was questioned by Beltron and other investigators at the Washoe County Sheriffs Station.
There was some grief when he told us, I tried to stop, I tried to stop, but it was nothing more than the words, Beltron said. He looked like he was hyperventilating, but he wasnt.
He spontaneously said, I dont cheat on my wife, Beltron added. It was like ding ding ding, no one asked you.
Officials also used the legal but nonetheless controversial technique of lying to their suspect, telling Bergna that a non-existent caretaker was nearby at the time of his alleged conversation with his wife.
Watching Bergna through a one-way mirror during a polygraph, Beltron said he seemed full of angst, but the test was ruled inconclusive.
Justice would not be served for Rinettes death for years, despite investigators even going so far as to drive similar vehicles to the one Bergna drove that night along the same road to see how they would handle the turn.
Meanwhile, in the years between his wifes death and the court case, Bergna travelled the world using her $450,000 life insurance pay out. He also received $275,000 for Rinettes share in her familys Manteca ranch where she grew up.
The first trial brought against him, in 2001, ended in a hung jury when three chose not to convict.
One did not like policemen at all, one didnt like the evidence, and one said it should be in Gods hands, Beltron remembered.
In the second case the following year, a new jury heard of his financial motivation as well as his anger at his wifes new international career and desire not to have children.
The case was saturated with testimonies against him.
One was a neighbor, who told the jury they saw him aim a snowblower with full force at Rinette a few months before she left for Italy.
Multiple women testified to Bergna hitting on them in the weeks leading up to his wifes death, including the night before she flew back from Europe.
Another testified that he invited her to his hot tub and was not emotional over his wifes death.
She added that he snapped when she rejected him after he grabbed her breast.
His first wife also took the stand, claiming she feared for her life during their marriage and remembered how he had gone absolutely berserk when she made hash browns incorrectly.
Bergna was finally found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years to life.
Despite numerous appeals and maintaining his innocence, he is currently incarcerated in the Northern Nevada Correctional Center, with his next parole hearing expected to take place in 2025.
A pair of blood-spattered trousers in a miso tank and an allegedly forced confession helped send Iwao Hakamata to death row in the 1960s.
Now, more than five decades later, the worlds longest-serving death row prisoner has had his name cleared, according to public broadcaster NHK.
A Japanese court on Thursday acquitted 88-year-old Hakamata, who was wrongfully sentenced to death in 1968 for murdering a family, marking the end of a marathon legal saga thats brought global scrutiny to Japans criminal justice system and fueled calls to abolish the death penalty in the country.
Judge Kunii Tsuneishi of the Shizuoka District Court ruled the blood stained clothing which was used to convict Hakamata was planted long after the murders, NHK reported.
The court cannot accept the fact that the blood stain would remain reddish if it had been soaked in miso for more than a year. The bloodstains were processed and hidden in the tank by the investigating authorities after a considerable period of time since the incident, Tsuneishi said.
Mr. Hakamata cannot be considered the criminal.
Hakamata, pictured here in 1957, was briefly a professional boxer. Decades after his retirement, his former boxing association has organized demonstrations in support of a retrial. - Hideko Hakamata
Once a professional boxer, Hakamata retired in 1961 and got a job at a soybean processing plant in Shizuoka, central Japan a choice that would mar the rest of his life.
When Hakamatas boss, his bosss wife, and their two children were found stabbed to death in their home in June five years later, Hakamata, then a divorcee who also worked at a bar, became the polices prime suspect.
After days of relentless questioning, Hakamata initially admitted to the charges against him, but later changed his plea, arguing police had forced him to confess by beating and threatening him.
He was sentenced to death in a 2-1 decision by judges, despite repeatedly alleging that the police had fabricated evidence. The one dissenting judge stepped down from the bar six months later, demoralized by his inability to stop the sentencing.
Hakamata, who has maintained his innocence ever since, would go on to spend more than half his life waiting to be hanged before new evidence led to his release a decade ago.
After a DNA test on blood found on the trousers revealed no match to Hakamata or the victims, the Shizuoka District Court ordered a retrial in 2014. Because of his age and fragile mental state, Hakamata was released as he awaited his day in court.
The Tokyo High Court initially scrapped the request for a retrial for unknown reasons, but in 2023 agreed to grant Hakamata a second chance on an order from Japans Supreme Court.
Retrials are rare in Japan, where 99% of cases result in convictions, according to the Ministry of Justice website.
Hakamatas boss, his bosss wife and their two kids were killed in their home, which was subsequently set on fire. The murder and arson took place on June 30, 1966. - Hakamata Defense Lawyers
A justice system under scrutiny
Hideko, Hakamatas 91-year-old sister said she couldnt stop crying and tears were overflowing when she heard the verdict.
When the judge said the defendant was not guilty, it sounded divine to me, said Hideko, who has campaigned for Hakamatas innocence for more than half of her life.
Hideyo Ogawa, Hakamatas lawyer, called the ruling groundbreaking, adding 58 years was too long.
Even as his supporters cheered Hakamatas acquittal, the good news will not likely register with the man himself.
After decades of imprisonment, Hakamatas mental health has declined and hes living in his own world, said Hideko, who has long campaigned for his innocence.
Hakamata seldom speaks and shows no interest in other people, Hideko told CNN.
Sometimes he smiles happily, but thats when hes in his delusion, Hideko said. We have not even discussed the trial with Iwao because of his inability to recognize reality.
But Hakamatas case has always been about more than one man.
It has raised questions about Japans reliance on confessions to get convictions. And some say its one of the reasons why the country should do away with the death penalty.
Im against the death penalty, Hideko said. Convicts are also human beings.
Japan is the only G7 country outside of the United States to retain capital punishment, though it did not perform any executions in 2023, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Hiroshi Ichikawa, a former prosecutor who was not involved in Hakamatas case, said historically Japanese prosecutors have been encouraged to get confessions before looking for supporting evidence, even if it means threatening or manipulating defendants to get them to admit guilt.
An emphasis on confessions is what allows Japan to maintain such a high conviction rate, Ichikawa said, in a country where an acquittal can severely hurt a prosecutors career.
A long fight for exoneration
For 46 years, Hakamata was held behind bars after being convicted on the basis of the stained clothing and his confession, which he and his lawyers say was given under duress.
Ogawa, Hakamatas lawyer, told CNN that Hakamata was physically restrained and interrogated for more than 12 hours a day for 23 days, without the presence of a defense attorney.
The Japanese judicial system, especially at that time, was a system that allowed investigative agencies to take advantage of their surreptitious nature to commit illegal or investigative crimes, Ogawa said.
Chiara Sangiorgio, Death Penalty Advisor at Amnesty International, said Hakamatas case is emblematic of the many issues with the criminal justice (system) in Japan.
In a letter to his mother following his third trial in 1967, Hakamata apologized for making his family worry. God, I am not a criminal, he wrote. - Hideko Hakamata
Death row prisoners in Japan are typically detained in solitary confinement with limited contact with the outside world, Sangiorgio said.
Executions are shrouded in secrecy with little to no warning, and families and lawyers are usually notified only after the execution has taken place.
Hakamata has spent most of his life behind bars for a crime he did not commit.
However, despite his poor mental health, over the past decade, Hakamata has gotten to enjoy some of the small pleasures that come with living freely.
In February, he adopted two cats. Iwao began to pay attention to the cats, worry about them, and take care of them, which was a big change, Hideko said.
After handing down the verdict, the judge, clearly emotional, apologized to Hideko, NHK reported.
The court is very sorry that it has taken so long.
Hideko wiped her tears with a handkerchief.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Hakamata was acquitted and exonerated by the court, not declared innocent.
CNNs Nodoka Katsura contributed to this report.
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An analysis of the wreckage of OceanGates Titan submersible has revealed how its hull came apart.
Images of the craft's pieces scattered across the sea floor show the carbon fibre hull had separated into multiple layers - a known problem with the material.
The evidence was presented on Wednesday to the US Coast Guard at a public hearing into the catastrophic failure of the sub in June 2023, which killed all five people on board.
It was not confirmed that the hull was the first part of the sub to fail, but the details suggest it is a key focus of the investigation.
Investigators are seeking to uncover the details of what led to the tragedy and find recommendations that could prevent future deadly voyages.
Titan, operated by OceanGate, imploded less than two hours into its descent during a dive to the wreckage of the Titanic.
Titan's hull was made from numerous layers of carbon fibre mixed with resin.
Its a highly unusual material for a deep sea sub because it is unreliable under pressure - most craft are made from metals like titanium.
Don Kramer, an engineer at the National Transportation Safety Board, showed the US Coast Guard a series of images of sections of the hull on the sea floor.
He described how in some fragments, the carbon fibre layers had come apart - a known process called delamination.
In other places, the material was cracked.
It was not confirmed whether the damage to the hull had caused the implosion.
I'm not offering any analysis at this point as to whether [the damage] occurred before or after the implosion, he said.
Mr Kramer also described how his team had analysed samples of Titans hull left over from its construction. They looked at offcuts from when the sub was made.
He described that the samples showed areas where the carbon fibre layers had separated, as well as wrinkles, voids and gaps.
Any irregularities in the material would have affected how the hull performed under the immense pressures under water.
The US Coast Guard was also told how a loud bang heard during a dive a year before the disaster may have damaged the subs structure.
Passengers had reported it while the sub was returning to the surface after a dive to the Titanic in 2022. One passenger described it as an alarming sonic event while giving evidence last week.
At the time, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush said he thought it was the sub shifting in the metal frame that surrounded it.
But a new analysis of sensor data by the National Transportation Safety Board suggested that the noise signalled some kind of change to the fabric of the hull.
This may have altered the way the sub was able to respond to the pressures of the deep.
Bill Kemper, of Kemper Engineering, had been asked to compile an independent report into the failure of Titan by the US Coast Guard.
He concluded that at present the root cause for the failure was indeterminate.
At this time, there are multiple unmitigated single point failures, single mode failures, he told the Coast Guard.
In his lengthy presentation, he described multiple weaknesses in the subs design.
This included an analysis of the subs window, that suggested it was being pushed out of shape on each dive and this could eventually result in it cracking. He also outlined serious problems with the carbon fibre hull.
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The awards were held at the Bangarra Dance Theatre, Walsh Bay, Sydney, as part of Dell Technologies Forum on 24 September.
Logicalis took out the Top Performer FY24 award for Australia while Sempre won the New Zealand version of the accolade.
Meanwhile, Growth Top Performer FY24, Australia went to Olympus Technology Services, The Business Experience was recognised as Medium Business Top Performer FY24, Dicker Data Australia won for Environment, Social & Governance Award FY24 and Marketing Excellence Award FY24 went to Ingram Micro Australia.
Workforce Transformation Project FY24 for Australia went to Data#3 and Cyclone Computers won the award for New Zealand.
Additionally, IT Transformation Project FY24 for Australia was awarded to Intuit Technologies and Datacom New Zealand scored the New Zealand version.
In the Global Alliances and Cloud Service Provider Awards FY24 category, Ethan was awarded for Cloud Service Provider Top Performer FY24 for Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ), Unisys was crowned Global Alliances Top Performer FY24 for A/NZ and the Global Alliances Technology Innovation Award FY24 for A/NZ went to DXC Technology.
Dell Technologies vice president and managing director A/NZ Angela Fox said its partner ecosystem plays a pivotal role in educating and enabling customers to capitalise on technology like AI and other transformative solutions.
Together, were empowering businesses in our region to embrace emerging technologies, seize opportunities and remain competitive, she said. Congratulations to this years winners for showcasing the incredible power of our deep collaboration.
Organisations want to be among the first to reap the advantages of AI, but they also want to ensure their investment will enable tangible results to drive business growth. Our partners play a crucial role in helping them navigate the right path.
Speaking previously to ARN, Dell senior director and general manager for channel Shant Soghomonian said the vendors partners play a crucial role in helping customers navigate the right path for their technology investments.
Whether its through AI, multicloud, data protection, or at the edge, our partners constantly strive to meet their customers ever-evolving technological needs, he said.
These awards are a great opportunity to recognise our partners for their commitment to our joint customers successes and I want to congratulate each of our winners.
Molly Cook poses for a portrait just outside of downtown with I-45 in the background on Thursday, April 13, 2023 in Houston. Cook is an organizer with Stop TxDOT I-45, a local group established to oppose the freeways expansion. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Texas State District 15 candidate Molly Cook debates with fellow Democratic primary candidate, Jarvis Johnson, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 in Houston. The debate was sponsored by the Bayou Blue Dems for the runoff election that will fill Houston Mayor John Whitmires former Senate seat. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer
Maybe only an emergency room nurse could think that a 14-hour day working at the Capitol is easy.
That seems to be the case for Molly Cook, the energetic community organizer and public health advocate who is still juggling 12-hour nursing shifts while getting used to the very big shoes left by former state Sen. John Whitmire after he was elected Houston mayor. She took on an experienced lawmaker to win a special election and secured another victory in a crowded primary field. Now, Cook, 33, has hit the ground running preparing for the next legislative session beginning in January.
There's just one more election to win before then.
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That shouldnt be a problem in the reliably blue Senate District 15. Cook's really been running for the seat since 2021, when, as a political newcomer, she had the audacity to challenge the veteran incumbent. Her loss obviously didn't deter her. The knowledge she gained campaigning prepared her for the next one and the next one.
Shes still doing the sorts of grassroots work shes always done as a progressive activist focused on equity, transit and other issues. Only now she has a Senate staff to help. Shes still running on a nurses agenda, meaning shell use a public health lens, rather than ideology, to evaluate policy. And she said shes already making good on campaign promises, meeting with senators and state agencies to begin crafting achievable, bipartisan wins as well as considering the more paradigm-shifting work she became known for while challenging the I-45 expansion and championing the voter-driven effort to get more equitable representation for Houston at the regional planning level.
Were taking a yes, and approach, she told the editorial board.
2024 ENDORSEMENTS: Browse all recommendations by The Editorial Board
Even with her short tenure in the Legislature, voters in the diverse Senate District 15 should feel confident saying yes to sending her back to office in January.
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Her challenger, Joseph L. Trahan, is a businessman, technologist and angel investor with deep roots in Houston but who knows his way around Austin. Trahan has his own organizing experience, heading a group that helps small businesses advocate at the Capitol, whether it's promoting the expansion of medical hemp or rallying against the irresponsible tax incentive program under Chapter 313 that Trahan called a giant taxpayer ripoff (and that we deemed "corporate welfare").
In fact, there are several of his positions we can get behind: ensuring companies pay their fair share in taxes, curbing corporate lobbying, increasing job training opportunities for young people and partnering with Whitmire to boost public safety. Trahan said he wants a Texas where "people will have more money in their pocket" and safer communities.
We do worry some of his platform would end up hurting the Texas economy he wants to protect. For instance, he wants the state to use its power to inspect every vehicle crossing from Mexico into Texas, an inconvenience that he hopes would spur Mexico to do more to curb the "invasion" of illegal immigration. He also wants to do away with property taxes, except in emergency situations. That would be a blow to state revenue that even Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has criticized as mathematically unworkable. It would cost the state $81.5 billion, officials recently determined.
Trahan's online presence also takes a far more troublingly partisan and alarmist tone.
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We didn't endorse Cook in the special or primary, preferring state Rep. Jarvis Johnson because of his time in the Legislature and more conventional route to the Senate.
We have no doubt that Cook is the best pick in this race. She has clear bipartisan goals that should be early wins, including increasing awareness and training for bystander CPR, improving disaster resilience, and stepping up regulations for senior care after seeing how Hurricane Beryl left some folks stranded and vulnerable at independent senior care living facilities. And were excited by her promise to prioritize voter engagement, hosting legislative workshops and even helping constituents learn to draft their own bills.
Both candidates have unique backgrounds that could serve them well in the Legislature but we especially believe Cooks experience on the frontlines of our medical system make her a valuable asset in Austin. Shes seen patients who didnt make it because a family member didnt know how to administer CPR. Shes felt the chill among her her hospital colleagues, who must care for pregnant women after Texas enacted a near total ban on abortion. And she knows the toll violent crime can take.
Between the hospital shifts and long days in Austin that Cook has already put it in, she's earned a full term and the chance to turn her knowledge into policy.
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If youre in the mood for a rollicking conversation about the downfall of classical music in the US, check out this podcast conversation I recently had with the terrific conductor Kenneth Woods (whos based in the UK rather than the US, in which he deserves a music directorship of consequence).
My favorite sentence:
Those chickens that are now coming home to roost are the chickens Ive been writing about since the 1980s [in Understanding Toscanini], for which I was initially vilified. But now that Ive turned into a prophet, Im simply ignored.
These, in sequence, are the topics at hand:
1.The grim situation of the arts in the UK right now: no money.
2.My visit to South Africa, and how classical music there is evolving with notable Black leadership (thanks in part to Nelson Mandela).
3.My ruthless analysis of the interwar popularization or democratization of classical music in the US, which anointed Arturo Toscanini the worlds greatest musician even though he wasnt a composer. This was a commercial operation headed by David Sarnoff (RCA/NBC) and Arthur Judson (the managerial powerbroker who declared that the audience sets taste). Dead European masters easiest to merchandize were prioritized. Amateur music-making was discouraged in favor of broadcasts and recordings by the experts.
4.A barrage of pointed questions and observations from Ken attempting to figure out Toscaninis primacy (why he won). Toscaninis appeal to mass taste.
5.Ken proposes a thought experiment subtract Toscanini from the story of classical music and what do you get? You get Serge Koussevitzky and Leopold Stokowski. And where might that have led? I marvel in passing: Stokowski didnt care about integrity, it wasnt part of his vocabulary.
6.Dmitri Mitropoulos, and why his 1940 Minneapolis Symphony premiere recording of Mahlers First seems to me the most remarkable Mahler recording ever made and unthinkable today (with choice audio examples)
7.Ken asks: What if Leonard Bernstein had been appointed Koussevitzkys successor in Boston in 1950, rather than winding up at the New York Philharmonic (which had no pertinent tradition of espousing American music)? Ken answers himself: It would have changed the repertoire of all American orchestras.
8.My own favorite thought experiments:
What if Gustav Mahler had premiered Ivess Second Symphony with the New York Philharmonic?
What if George Gershwin had lived as long as Aaron Copland?
Either would have fundamentally changed the trajectory of American classical music.
9.What if Anton Seidl who was bigger than Toscanini or Bernstein in New York City had not died in 1898 at the age of 47? There would have been an annual Wagner festival in Brooklyn as pedigreed at Bayreuth limiting the damage inflicted on Wagner by Hitler and Winifred Wagner.
10. I cant imagine life without cultural memory, although were beginning to get a glimpse. Todays makeshift music, sans lineage or tradition eagerly acquisitive and open-eared.
Todays famous instrumentalists sans lineage or tradition vs Sergei Babayan and Daniil Trifonov, who perform Rachmaninoff in full awareness of a tradition of Russian composition and performance.
11.The Metropolitan Operas worst ever Carmen
12.Leonard Bernsteins capacious vision, revisited today.
by Alessandra De Poli
Forced to abandon the cathedral in November 2023 due to fighting, the bishop of Loikaw continues to care for the faithful of his diocese, now scattered in 200 refugee camps in remote areas. Speaking to AsiaNews, he talked about the tragedy of young people fighting and reflects on how these communities in Kayah State, despite their great difficulties, today remind him of the first Christians. For him, the Church is where people share and love each other.
Rome (AsiaNews) Pope Francis yesterday called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi offering her refuge in the Vatican, a gesture that has put the spotlight back on Myanmar, where a largely forgotten war continues to range after more than three years, which the local Church is experiencing as a displaced person among the displaced.
Bishop Celso Ba Shwe of Loikaw, capital of Kayah State, recently spoke to AsiaNews about this suffering, offering his strong testimony of Christian life
Last week, the 60-year-old took part in a training course for newly appointed bishops, an event held in Rome every year under the auspices of the Dicastery for Evangelisation; now he is getting ready to return to his community, displaced in Myanmars forests.
Last November, he was forced to flee the Cathedral of Christ the King, whose complex was seized by the military.
Today he lives with internal refugees in Kayah State, forced to shelter in tents and makeshift bamboo structures, some of which were recently swept away by the rains brought by Typhoon Yagi, piling more misery on already troubled people.
No one lives in Loikaw anymore," the bishop told AsiaNews. Most of it was torched and destroyed, especially in Christian areas. In many parts of the city, it is also impossible to return because of anti-personnel mines and unexploded ordnance. Only the members of the PDFs go back to see if they can find their families, but even for them it is dangerous.
The PDFs or People's Defence Forces are the armed wing of the exiled National Unity Government, with armed unites divided into territorial brigades.
Created in April 2021, after the military coup that sparked the civil war, these groups are made up of young people, including Christians. In Kayah State, Christians numbered 90,000 out of a population of 350,000.
They are fighting for their future and their freedom. They were witness to democratic progress during the Aung San Suu Kyi years, between 2015 and 2020, the bishop said.
Now young people know that there is a place where they can express their freedoms, convinced that they are fighting for justice. And not only young people. None of us wants to go back to the times of the military dictatorship.
However, for the prelate, even young people know that war is not the way to achieve a democratic state. We need dialogue. What the Church wants and asks for is that the PDFs present themselves as a united group. One day perhaps. For now it is still very difficult.
The idea of a federal state in Myanmar is always in the background, but complicated by the fact that in the territories liberated from the army, ethnic militias (i.e. armed groups that, unlike the PDFs, have been fighting for greater autonomy against the central government since independence from British rule in 1948) have created administrations that do not reflect the will of the civilian population.
In Kayah State, at least 600 young people have died in the fighting so far, Bishop Ba Shwe said. Yet the families support the PDFs, noted the prelate who hails from Moblo, a village in the Diocese of Loikaw. Before he was ordained bishop on 29 June, he served as apostolic administrator of the diocese for three years.
In the camps for displaced people many people lack food, he explains, but everyone puts something aside for the fighters. They are proud of their children and pray for their success and safety.
Loikaws Christian community is scattered in 200 refugee camps in the forest, where about 150,000 people have taken refuge, according to data from last year.
Displaced people live far from villages, in remote areas where there is no fighting, said the prelate who was quick to correct himself, adding that, We can't really say that there is no fighting because some shelling or artillery attack can happen at any time.
"The people who live here depend on international donations and the kindness of the local residents who host them. Some manage to borrow land to grow rice or vegetables. But it's always risky; anyone can be shot by the army at any time.
Children are experiencing the worst situations. Sometimes even middle school children join the armed struggle. Between the pandemic and the civil war, some children have not gone to school for five years, Bishop Celso said.
Over the past year, he was instrumental in setting up small, informal schools among displaced people in an effort to educate the generation that will have to rebuild the country.
"Since we fear the military junta might bomb places where people gather in large numbers, we have dispersed the classes in different places, in tents and huts in the forest. Children have learnt to look up to see if bombs are coming. If they see a jet, they know that they have to run somewhere else. They study amid danger; how do they, teachers, and students, concentrate?
Rice and water (collected from miles away) are in short supply and at least 10 refugee camps have been swept away by floods caused by Typhoon Yagi, which hit Southeast Asia in recent weeks, killing at least 200 people in Myanmar.
Yet the bishop, while talking about the life of his community, always has a smile, sometimes a laugh. My strength is people, they give me courage, he explains. After settling in the camps, they began to ask: 'Where are our places of worship? We want to build a church, bishop, can you help us?' Now in almost every camp there is a place to pray with a small cross. It is a Church among nature, very beautiful.
Bishop Ba Shwe was forced to abandon Loikaw cathedral in November 2023, after a two-week siege. Before that it sheltered about 70 people, including men and women religious and people unable to flee, especially the elderly and disabled.
Hundreds of regular soldiers surrounded the pastoral centre. In December we went back, but we only took the baptismal registers, which priests use today to look for people from their parish among the displaced. All the rest has been lost. Even the graves inside the cathedral have been opened, probably because soldiers feared the PDFs had hidden weapons in them.
I am a bishop without a cathedral, but I am happy. When I escaped from Loikaw, many people told me to go to Taunggyi or other safe places where there is no fighting. But how can I leave my people? I have to go where my flock is.
People don't have a church, but they have their own places to pray. With all its difficulties, it is an experience that reminds me of the life of the first Christians. Many people ask me: Bishop, when are we going back to the cathedral? I answer that the Church is not a building. When people are together, they take care of each other; when they love each other, when they share, thats where the Church is.
Parish priests and nuns are now devoting themselves more than ever to people, said Bishop Ba Shwe about a Church reborn amid the tragedy of war. In some refugee camps there are no catechists. But anyone who knows how to lead prayer or read the Gospel and the Scriptures has become a new evangeliser," the prelate said.
Caritas Loikaw has also remained active, intervening in the most urgent cases, when people have run out of food or have no more money.
We are not able to set ourselves up as an NGO, but we are always close to the people, with a mobile clinic for medical examinations and a support group for those most seriously traumatised. The nuns, above all, are close to those who suffer. So we reach people in remote areas that international agencies cannot reach.
Ultimately, Even if there are a lot of challenges and difficulties, God is helping us", Bishop Ba Shwe said. When they tell me: Bishop, we dont have rice for the children, someone else always comes to me to offer help. What we have is not enough, but we work a little bit at a time.
Today's news: Hezbollah fires rocket (intercepted) at Tel Aviv, death toll rises to 569 in Israeli raids; Former PM Noda nominated as leader of opposition party in Japan; Bangkok starts distributing the 10,000 baht subsidy; Pakistan auctions off its national airline; Galstanyan launches new protest campaign in Armenia.
CHINA
China claimed to have successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Pacific Ocean. Authorities in Beijing reported that the missile fell in the designated sea areas, adding that the test launch was routine and part of its annual training. The description is surprising because the last such test took place in 1980. China's tests usually take place within the country and in the past China has carried out intercontinental missile tests in the west, in the Taklamakan desert in the Xinjiang region.
LEBANON-ISRAEL
Hezbollah fired a ballistic missile at the outskirts of Tel Aviv this morning. It is the first time the Israeli metropolis has been directly targeted by the Lebanese Shiite militia since the beginning of hostilities almost a year ago. The missile was intercepted by Israeli air defence systems and there were no injuries. Meanwhile, the Israeli raids on Lebanon continue: according to the Health Ministry in Beirut, the death toll since Monday has risen to 569 people.
JAPAN
Former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, 67, was elected president of the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), the main opposition party in Japan. In the runoff he defeated former party chairman Yukio Edano. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) - the governing force in Tokyo - will hold its primary elections on 27 September to replace Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is not running for re-election. Early elections are expected to be held in Japan by the end of the year.
THAILAND
The Thai government today launched the first phase of its economic stimulus programme, which will eventually see around 45 million people receive 10,000 baht (about EUR 270 ed.) each. The initial phase will see the sum distributed to 14.5 million welfare card holders and the disabled and is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
PAKISTAN
The auction for the sale of Pakistan's national airline will take place on 1 October. This was reported by the head of the privatisation committee of the National Assembly. The government in Islamabad intends to sell between 51% and 100% of the shares in the company plagued by serious losses as part of reforms urged by the International Monetary Fund.
RUSSIA
One of the last representatives of the Dolgani ethnic group, a group of Turkic origin living in the Taimyr province of the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk, published a book in the Dolgani language Even the Frost Melts about the last generation of her people, of which there are little more than 7,000 people left, recalling her childhood in the tundra with deer.
ARMENIA
Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, leader of the oppositions in Armenia, announced the start of a new intense campaign of protests starting on 2 October, not only to overthrow the government, but as a mission to achieve changes in values and civilisation, addressing the challenges of security, social justice, corruption and Artsakh (the Armenian name for the Nagorno-Karabakh region reconquered by Azerbaijan).
by Vladimir Rozanskij
On trial behind closed doors are the leaders of the opposition movement Group 24, Sukhrob Zafare and Nasimdzon Sarifov. Having disappeared from Istanbul where they had been living in exile for ten years, the Prosecutor General announced last August that they were in a prison in the capital of Tajikistan. Banned as an extremist association the organisation is not allowed to participate in any way in the political and social life of the country.
Dushanbe (AsiaNews) - In the maximum security prison of Dushanbe, the trial of the leader of the opposition movement Group 24, Sukhrob Zafar, together with his companion Nasimdzon Sarifov, is underway behind closed doors.
According to information from Radio Ozody, not even relatives of the accused were admitted to the courtroom, and the authorities make no comment on this, so it is not even known whether lawyers were present. The relatives themselves avoided answering calls, and had previously assured that they had no information to share about the trial and the detention conditions of the two opponents.
Another activist of Group 24, Mukhammadsobir Abdukakkhor, reports that the relatives of the two detainees had gone to the first session of the court on 18 September, but were prevented from entering, wondering what transparency can we talk about, if the trial is being held in great secrecy like those in the early Soviet days? The members of the group issued a statement, saying that the trial against Zafar and Sarifov represents a serious violation of people's rights, typical of the widespread injustice in Tajikistan.
In the text they accuse that not a fair trial is taking place, but an act of great political pressure with threats that confirm the authoritarian and corrupt character of the Emomali Rakhmon regime, which uses all means to defend its power. Both opponents had lived a few years in Istanbul, from which they had disappeared at some point in an unexplained manner, one in February and the other in March this year.
Only six months later, on 9 August, the country's Prosecutor General, Jusuf Rakhmon, announced at a press conference that the two leaders of the movement were in a prison in the capital, and an investigation was underway against them, without giving any other details about the affair, nor about the charges against them, let alone their arrival in Tajikistan, which their comrades described as a kidnapping.
At trial now the official charge is incitement to change the constitutional order with the use of violence and internet communications, what Group 24 considers totally without foundation.
Zafar had been in Turkey since 2014, and during these ten years he regularly received threats with messages promising him death or kidnapping. Since 2018 he has been detained a few times by Turkish law enforcement, allegedly at the request of Tajikistan, but has always been released without consequence.
Sarifov had also been in Turkey since 2015 and was arrested three times, only to be released, and in 2018 he had been in prison for two months. Group 24 had been created by businessman and opposition politician Umarali Kuvvatov, who was killed in Istanbul in 2015, and the movement had been outlawed by the Supreme Court of Tajikistan in 2014 as an extremist association.
Dozens of people had been arrested in the country, in Russia and abroad, left in prison for a long time just for participating in activities of the organisation, which was in fact not allowed in any way to participate in the political and social life of Tajikistan.
by Mathias Hariyadi
Protests mounted by a local politician in Pare-Pare against the opening of a new school. The Gamaliel School's Foundation: We have all the permits and our classes are open to students of all denominations. Muslim influencer in defence of the school appeals to President Joko Widodo: Show that unity in diversity paraded in front of Pope Francis are not just words.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Some local radical Muslims are promoting a new wave of protests against the establishment of a Christian school in the town of Pare-Pare, South Sulawesi province. The group calls itself the Forum of the Muslim Society of Parepare (FM2P) and accuses the Gamaliel School's Foundation of not having the legal basis to build an educational service in the sub-district of Watang Soreang. The protest was taken to the local government headquarters (DPRD) last Friday, with the aim of having the permits granted by the Pare-Pare authority revoked.
Citing a 2021 regulation of the Indonesian Ministry of Education, they claim that any Christian educational institution is only allowed to be built where there is no public rejection. In Soreang, they add, there are still many schools whose student numbers are still below expectations. The Gamaliel School's Foundation replies by pointing out that all requirements have been fully met and completed by October 2023. The school's lawyer, Rachmat S Lulung, also recalled how this Christian school is an inclusive educational institution, open to all Indonesian students.
A local Pare-Pare politician, Kamaluddin Kadir, is also publicly supporting the protesters' disagreement, citing the fact that the school is located in a Muslim-majority area. However, Permadi Arya, a Muslim influencer, has taken a stand against his comments, appealing to President Joko Widodo by recalling Pope Francis' visit a few weeks ago. President Jokowi, he wrote on social media, please show your power to protect our Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, the spirit of the nation in ensuring unity in diversity, which you publicly upheld in front of the pontiff. If she does not have the courage to do so, it will mean that they were just empty words'.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire, right, looks at a photo from his youth with William McKeon, president and CEO of the TMC at Hilton Americas-Houston on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer
Whitmires priorities
Regarding Mayor John Whitmires first State of the City address leans into the past over policy, (Sept. 17): Mayor John Whitmire has been in office close to a year, and he is still whining about the past administration. When does it end?
Mr. Mayor, no one said your predecessor would leave you with a clean slate. The Peter principle affected him also.
Marvin J. Hamilton, Houston
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In his first State of the City address, Mayor Whitmire mostly stuck to the past, whether it be on his road to becoming Houstons mayor or the perceived failures of the past administration. Now, where I have heard those familiar comments about someone running for office?
Donnel Green, Houston
Kudos to Whitmire for his efforts to eliminate the bloat and waste at Houston Metro. Whitmire told FOX 26 Houston that when he took office, Metro had 29 executive vice presidents, each making around $250,000 to $300,000 per year, and a staff of 50 marketing people, making similar amounts. Looking at those numbers, plus the declining number of riders, one can easily see why the cost per rider on Metro is in the hundreds of dollars.
Keep it up, Mr. Mayor. The way it is currently run, Metro is a gross waste of money, and the citizens of Houston could surely use that money elsewhere.
Bob Fowler, Point Blank
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Editor's Note: Subsequent reporting by the Chronicle's transportation reporter Dug Begley shows that, as of Oct. 1, 2023, Metro had seven executive vice presidents. Of the 23 people at the agency who had the words "vice president" (EVPs and VPs) in their job title, seven made more than $250,000.
Loose definition
Regarding Mayor John Whitmire announces proposed pay raises and minimum wage increases for city workers, (Sept. 23): While Im happy for the citys municipal workers that their union has secured pay raises for them for the next three years, I have to take issue with Whitmires casual use of the term hero. It used to be that to be called a hero, a person would have to run into a burning building to save a baby, or storm a hill to clean out a machine gun nest. Now, according to our mayor, you just need to work in a city department, like Solid Waste or Fleet Management. If that kind of work now earns a person hero status, then we probably need to come up with a new word to describe the baby-savers and the hill-stormers.
David Bradley, Spring
Zero vision
Regarding Mayor John Whitmire has no plans to raise Houstonians' taxes. What could the implications be? (Sept. 21): One area to look at is Vision Zero, whose aim is to minimize pedestrian and bicycle fatalities.
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Last week, a Houston Police Department patrol car killed a woman in front of her children when they were crossing Antoine Street at night. This accident highlights one of the major reasons that 75% of pedestrian fatalities happen during the night: poor visibility.
There can also be a Wheres Waldo, or light clutter effect, where an inconspicuous pedestrian is lost in a sea of bright light. The same lighting gives the pedestrian a false sense of safety. He has no idea the light illuminating him and the street in front of him is also blinding the driver.
Fixing private lighting glare is very inexpensive. Hinged lighting can be turned downward. Two to three exposed LED wall packs can be replaced with one $10 to $20 recessed soft, white LED floodlight pointed down to end at the property line. And much of the worst lighting is redundant. An off switch has negative cost.
I was dismayed that Houstons Vision Zero Action Plan makes no specific mention of the primary cause of pedestrian accidents: private high-glare lighting, even though many have raised this issue multiple times. Now that a police officer has missed seeing four people in the street, and killed one of them, maybe the city will finally take notice.
For more information, see the educational website www.softlighthouston.com for our disappearing pedestrian video and our album of glare at fatal pedestrian accident sites. Every one of them is right in the middle of the high-injury sites on Houstons Vision Zero map. We have to fix the issue of zero vision first.
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Deborah Moran, Soft Light Houston
So Mayor Whitmire says he doesnt want to consider raising taxes until he gets rid of fraud and other problems. Im assuming that he means getting rid of most of the current bureaucracy. If we wait until there is no fraud, we will all be pushing daisies, and there will be incredible city debt.
The controversial feature from Razer known as the Snap Tap is now available to more of its peripherals and devices for players to enjoy, and it only requires having the Synapse 4 running on their tech. This feature has long been a subject of dispute in the gaming industry as many have branded it as a form of "cheating" because it gives a specific player unfair advantages over others who are not using it.
It is more commonly used in first-person shooter (FPS) games as it offers automation to the extent that it can help improve users' gameplay.
Razer Brings Snap Tap Feature to All Synapse 4 Supported Devices
Razer's Snap Tap feature is rolling out to more of its devices as the company has now made it available to all Synapse 4-supported laptops or keyboards under its brand. This special feature allows "strafing" on games, especially for FPS titles.
The latest feature drop by Razer on Synapse 4 makes Snap Tap available for these devices, which include Razer Blades from 2018 to Razer Books, as well as keyboards like Razer's BlackWidow, Cynosa, Deathstalker, Huntsman, Ornata Chroma, Tartarus, and more. You may check the full list of supported devices for Synapse 4 via this website.
Users only need to install Synapse 4, and they may turn on Snap Tap whenever they need it.
Read Also : Microsoft Steam Acquisition Rumors are Circulating Online Again
Is Using Razer's Snap Tap Feature on Keyboards Cheating?
The gaming industry has long called the Snap Tap a form of cheating as it no longer stops a player when strafing or counter-strafing in games. It can register the last input as its priority, allowing a player to hold down a directional button while tapping the opposite key to run in a different direction.
Since then, Valve has banned this feature for Counter-Strike 2, and other gaming leagues like the ESL followed. While it may technically not be cheating, it offers an advantage to players using the tech against those who purely rely on skill and other brands that don't offer such feature.
Razer's Snap Tap Feature in its Peripherals
In the gaming and esports industry, Razer has been one of the household names for players and professionals as it offers a wide selection of mechanical keyboards, wireless and wired mice, game streaming devices, and more. The Singapore-based consumer tech gaming company has since risen to fame because of what its devices have to offer, promising better gaming experiences for all.
Razer focuses on competitive gaming, and its many developments for its devices have been seen throughout the years, including the Snap Tap feature. Since it first came out on Razer's Huntsman V3 Pro keyboard lineup, it made significant headlines for providing gamers with automation, but it has also been subjected to criticism from game developers and FPS purists who focus on skill.
Many people claim that using this feature in competitive play and regular matches is unfair, giving users an advantage to get the better of their opponents as they have one less problem to worry about.
The two leaders met in the citys Turkish House after participating in the latest session of the UN General Assembly. They reportedly discussed efforts to normalize bilateral ties and the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiation process.
According to an official Armenian readout of the meeting, they reviewed in detail understandings reached by Ankara and Yerevan since 2022 and agreed to give new impetus to the normalization process. Pashinian also briefed Erdogan on the current situation in the Armenia-Azerbaijan settlement process and his repeated offers to sign a partial peace agreement rejected by Baku.
Expressing that significant progress has been made on the path to unconditional normalization between Turkiye and Armenia, President Erdogan voiced his sincere support for the continuation of the dialogue process, read an English-language statement released by the Turkish presidency.
It said Erdogan also stressed that Ankara supports the establishment of lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia and a robust friendship between the two countries in the period ahead.
The developments that can be achieved in the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace process will also have a positive impact on the Turkey-Armenia normalization process, Erdogan said in a speech at the UN General Assembly delivered earlier in the day.
Ankara has for decades made the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border and establishment of diplomatic relations with Yerevan conditional on a resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict acceptable to Baku. Turkish leaders stuck to this condition after the start of normalization talks with the current Armenian government in early 2022.
Also, Erdogan reiterated in July that the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal should call for a land corridor through Armenia to Azerbaijans Nakhichevan exclave bordering Turkey. The head of Turkeys National Intelligence Agency, Ibrahim Kalin, echoed that statement during a recent visit to Baku. Kalin was also present at Erdogans latest talks with Pashinian.
The Armenian government maintains that people and goods moving between Nakhichevan to the rest of Azerbaijan cannot be exempt from Armenian border controls and that the two nations should have only conventional transport links. Pashinians press office said that he informed the Turkish leader about Yerevans position on the issue.
The corridor demanded by Baku and Ankara would pass through Syunik, the only Armenian region bordering Iran. The Islamic Republic has repeatedly warned against attempts to strip it of the common border and transport links with Armenia.
25 September 2024 16:35 (UTC+04:00)
Akbar Novruz Read more
After gaining independence, Azerbaijan managed to achieve a continuous progress. Azerbaijan, which pursues an independent policy, has chosen the path of development despite international and regional pressures.
In his address before Milli Majlis (Parliament of Azerbaijan), President Ilham Aliyev outlined the future strategies of Azerbaijan, with a particular focus on enhancing military capabilities, fortifying national borders, and mitigating emerging geopolitical threats. These strategic initiatives underscore Azerbaijan's persistent endeavours to adapt to a global milieu characterized, as noted by President Aliyev, by the breakdown of international law and the erosion of the global security framework, necessitating a proactive stance towards national defense and sovereignty.
New realities require new strategies
The head of state emphasized that the military power of Azerbaijan and Armenia is not comparable.
"In the time after the Second Garabagh War, we have significantly increased our military capacity, new armed units have been created and the number of special forces has been increased several times. New special forces and commando units have been set up, and their number will increase year by year," President Aliyev said.
The President also highlighted the rise of revanchist forces in Armenia, both among fringe political groups and the current Armenian leadership, which continues to live in "dreams of revanchism." He remarked, "The countries standing behind Armenia, their activities, their decisions, resolutions, statements - all this shows that this dirty game against us is not over yet." These external forces, he pointed out, have attempted to prevent Azerbaijan from fully reaping the benefits of its post-war victory, "The countries standing behind Armenia, their activities, decisions, resolutions, statements all this shows that this dirty game against Azerbaijan is not over yet. Foreign circles that cannot digest our Victory are preparing new plans against us."
President Ilham Aliyev laid out a clear strategy for self-sufficiency in military production, stating that Azerbaijan has initiated large-scale modernization in its military industrial complex. "We are conducting modernization work in our military factories and producing new weapons and ammunition," he said, stressing that this strategy reduces dependency on foreign suppliers and enhances Azerbaijans capacity to export military products. This move also fosters local innovation, creating thousands of new jobs and boosting the national economy.
Securing Borders and Regional Stability: Azerbaijans red line
The security of the state begins far from the borders and becomes a critical line once it reaches the border. It extends inland.
Border protection is crucial for ensuring the integrity and sovereignty of the country. After gaining independence, Azerbaijan focused on reconstructing its border areas. The broken border areas with neighboring countries have been rebuilt, and engineering and technical facilities have been installed. Issues with neighboring Russia, Iran, and Georgia have been resolved through negotiations between relevant institutions. However, there are frequent attempts by illegal drug smugglers from Iran to cross into Azerbaijan. Illegal activities also occur on the borders of Russia and Georgia. This highlights the urgent need to equip the borders with modern infrastructure, especially in the case of Armenia.
The President also addressed the issue of border security, especially along Azerbaijans 500-km border with Armenia. He explained the challenges posed by the rugged terrain, stating, "Some of our service areas are located at an altitude of over 3,000 meters. Despite this, our military positions along the border are being reinforced. We are strengthening the conditional border because any provocation can be expected from Armenia at any moment."
Therefore, although keeping the land borders closed currently causes certain difficulties, it is considered a more realistic measure for ensuring internal security because the security of the state and citizens is more important than all other interests.
Addressing Geopolitical Challenges
Current geopolitical profile of the world is indeed miserable. The ongoing situation in the regions such as Middle East, Eastern Europe and even South Caucasus demonstrates how the World system diminished itself from its past "glorfying", less conflictual days. At the core of President Aliyev's vision is the continuous strengthening of Azerbaijans military capabilities, driven by the evolving global power dynamics and security threats. As he noted, the collapse of international law and the erosion of post-WWII security architecture have created a world where "might is right." He stated that this principle prevails, and some major states are not even hiding this at all."In fact, we have been conducting a policy in this direction for many years. During the occupation, increasing our military strength was always our primary objective."
For information, note that the likelihood of a new military conflict in the region is significantly increased by the strengthening of the France and Indias strategic partnership with Armenia, under the pretext of which the countries conduct military exercises with Yerevan, thereby raising the level of the Armenian Armed Forces. Of course, Armenia, putting aside its revanchist and expansionist policies, could also seize a unique chance to improve its country's development by signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan and following Baku's peace agenda. Unfortunately, this is not happening so far. So it is indeed time for Armenia to act, instead of giving false hopes by statements toward peace. So as the head of state emphasized, Armenia should officially end its territorial claims against Azerbaijan and make amendments to its constitution. Cause, Azerbaijan is willing to engage in bilateral cooperation with any country based on mutual respect, although it will not tolerate dictation, accusations, or blackmail.
Nevertheless, Azerbaijan's readiness to neutralize any threats to its sovereignty, serve as a broader strategy of self-reliance and resilience, as the country continues to navigate its way through a complex web of geopolitical threats, both from Armenia and from external powers unhappy with the countrys rising influence.
Strategic Blueprint for the Future: Only way is moving forward!
The main keynotes are clear as the sky above our head. President Ilham Aliyevs speech presents a clear and coherent strategy for securing Azerbaijans future, focusing on strengthening the military, securing its borders, and navigating geopolitical challenges. And ultimately, as the country prepares to host COP29, it also positions itself as a regional leader, not just in terms of military and security, but in areas such as environmental diplomacy and economic growth.
Azerbaijan's commitment to these priorities, as outlined by President Ilham Aliyev, provides a strategy for navigating the complex and often hostile geopolitical landscape, ensuring its sovereignty and security for years to come!
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Akbar Novruz is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @ykwiua
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25 September 2024 12:19 (UTC+04:00)
Akbar Novruz Read more
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Azerbaijans Special Communication and Information Security State Service (SCSI), the Institute for Development and Diplomacy, and Romanias National Research and Development Institute for Informatics ("ICI Bucharest"), Azernews reports.
The memorandum, signed during the International Conference on Cyber Diplomacy held for the first time in Azerbaijan, outlines the establishment of a Twinning Center for Cyber Diplomacy. The center will focus on research, education, and capacity-building in cyber diplomacy, aiming to foster international cooperation in information security and digital governance.
As part of the agreement, HRITDX will provide administrative and strategic support for the centers activities, with trainers engaged for capacity-building efforts. The Institute for Development and Diplomacy will assist in creating joint scientific publications, facilitating academic cooperation, and organizing cyber diplomacy trainings. Meanwhile, ICI Bucharest will contribute by coordinating scientific programs and projects, while sharing expertise in cyber diplomacy education and research.
At the signing ceremony, the parties discussed the future activities and projects of the Twinning Center. They emphasized plans to develop joint educational programs, seminars, and training courses on cyber diplomacy and information security. Additionally, they agreed to exchange knowledge and expertise in the field.
The memorandum was signed by Major General Allahveran Ismayilov, Deputy Head of the SCSI, Fariz Ismayilzadeh, Director of the Institute for Development and Diplomacy, and Dr. Carmen-Elena Cirnu, Scientific Director of "ICI Bucharest."
It is worth noting that this initiative follows a prior Memorandum of Understanding signed between SCSI and ICI Bucharest in April last year, designating Azerbaijan as the regional host for the International Conference on Cyber Diplomacy.
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Akbar Novruz is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @ykwiua
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25 September 2024 17:35 (UTC+04:00)
Akbar Novruz Read more
In 2023, the "Agreement between Azerbaijan and the Slovak Republic on the elimination of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion concerning income taxes" was signed, with the document expected to enter into force on January 1, 2025, Azernews reports.
Deputy Economy Minister Anar Akhundov made this announcement at the Azerbaijan-Slovakia business forum held in Baku, stating, "This agreement will further improve the business environment between the countries."
He further noted that the first meeting of the Joint Working Group on economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Slovakia took place today, where the parties agreed to strengthen their efforts across various fields to elevate their economic collaboration, emphasizing that "we have all the necessary conditions for this."
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Akbar Novruz is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @ykwiua
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25 September 2024 18:21 (UTC+04:00)
Laman Ismayilova Read more
The Azerbaijan Cultural Center named after Heydar Aliyev in Uzbekistan has donated a collection of books on Azerbaijani history, culture, literature, and language to the newly established Jadid Library at the Tashkent State Pedagogical University, a leading educational institution in Uzbekistan, Azernews reports.
At the event held at the Faculty of Uzbek Language and Literature of the mentioned University, the faculty dean, associate professor Firuza Burkhanova, highly praised the step taken by the Cultural Center and noted that books hold a special and significant place in enriching students' knowledge.
She mentioned that there is a great interest among students in Azerbaijani culture, literature, and language, and expressed gratitude to the Azerbaijan Cultural Center for this noble deed, adding that the books donated to their library will play a significant role in enhancing the youth's knowledge.
Deputy director of the Heydar Aliyev Azerbaijan Cultural Center in Uzbekistan Nadir Alimirzayev briefly spoke about the Center's activities and emphasized the important role of book publications in this area. He noted that the Cultural Center has implemented around 120 publishing projects, highlighting that works about Azerbaijan's culture, literature, and history will continue to be translated, published by the Center, and gifted to higher educational institutions and libraries.
N. Alimirzayev stated that the Azerbaijan Cultural Center will continue to publish works on relevant issues that highlight the literary and cultural connections between the two nations and states.
Following him, a staff member of the Azerbaijan Cultural Center and a Doctor of Philosophy Karimulla Mamedzade, presented the latest publishing projects, emphasizing that the publications prioritize the interests of Uzbek readers and address topics of interest to the Uzbek people regarding Azerbaijan.
K. Mamedzade pointed out that the works of Azerbaijani classics, which are significant for Uzbek literary studies, have been almost entirely translated into Uzbek and published.
He concluded by mentioning that the Cultural Center has published a two-volume "Kulliyat" in Uzbek, consisting of works by the great Azerbaijani poet Muhammad Fuzuli, released on the occasion of the poet's 530th anniversary. This two-volume set was also donated to classical literature enthusiasts.
Next, university professor Shukhrat Makhametov noted that this book collection is a priceless treasure for the students and a resource that will play an invaluable role in their development.
On behalf of the faculty and students, associate professor Mahbuba Orozbaeva expressed gratitude to the Azerbaijan Cultural Center for the collection of books donated to student Nasiba Abduzairova.
The donated editions mainly consist of books translated into Uzbek and printed by the Heydar Aliyev Azerbaijan Cultural Center in Uzbekistan.
Among these publications are works about the life and political activities of the national leader Heydar Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, representatives of classical Azerbaijani literature, culture, art, history, as well as materials on Armenia's aggressive policies against Azerbaijan, dictionaries and textbooks for Azerbaijani-Uzbek languages, phrasebooks, etc.
Note that the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center in Tashkent plays a special role in the Azerbaijani-Uzbek relations in the field of culture, science, education, and tourism.
The center was opened on September 27, 2010, with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Since then, the cultural center has successfully implemented a number of projects, aimed at strengthening the ties between the two countries.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr
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25 September 2024 09:00 (UTC+04:00)
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrey Sibiga within the framework of the high-level week of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Azernews reports that during the meeting, the sides discussed political, economic, energy, humanitarian as well as regional issues.
Minister Jeyhun Bayramov congratulated Andrey Sibigan on his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
At the meeting, the importance of the continuous position of both countries regarding the support of territorial integrity and sovereignty within the borders recognized at the international level was noted.
Azerbaijan's humanitarian aid activities to Ukraine, including support for restoration and reconstruction works, were highly appreciated.
The parties assessed the current political dialogue between the two countries as one of the main factors contributing to the development of bilateral political-diplomatic relations.
At the meeting, at the same time, new cooperation opportunities were discussed within the framework of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).
Jeyhun Bayramov informed about the current state of the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, restoration and reconstruction works carried out in our territories freed from occupation during the post-conflict period.
In addition, views were exchanged on other bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest at the meeting.
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25 September 2024 08:00 (UTC+04:00)
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with his Estonian counterpart Margus Tsakhkna within the framework of the high-level week of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Azernews reports, citing the ministry.
During the meeting, the diplomats emphasized the importance of high-level mutual visits and continuous political dialogue to deepen bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
Minister Jeyhun Bayramov informed his Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Tsakhkna about prospects and challenges related to the Azerbaijan-Armenia normalization process.
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25 September 2024 10:00 (UTC+04:00)
Akbar Novruz Read more
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi have signed a new Country Programme Framework (CPF) for technical cooperation covering the period from 2024 to 2029, according to Azernews.
The signing took place during a meeting between Bayramov and Grossi on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The agreement outlines Azerbaijans priority development needs and areas of cooperation with the IAEA, focusing on nuclear safety, security, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry emphasized Azerbaijan's support for international efforts to enhance nuclear safety and the vital role of the IAEAs verification system in nuclear non-proliferation.
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Akbar Novruz is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @ykwiua
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China to enforce strictest possible arable land protection system
Xinhua) 08:28, September 25, 2024
BEIJING, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday made public a guideline on arable land protection, aiming to implement the strictest possible protection system and introducing robust measures with real enforcement "teeth" to combat the erosion of arable land.
The guideline, issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, stated that the national arable land area should not fall below 124.33 million hectares, with the area of permanent basic farmland set at no less than 103 million hectares.
To achieve these goals, China will implement the most stringent possible arable land protection policies, introducing robust measures to combat the conversion of arable land to non-agricultural uses and to prevent permanent basic farmland from being utilized for non-grain production.
Local Party committees and governments will be required to treat the protection of arable land and permanent basic farmland as a critical political task. They must ensure that the established protection threshold is never breached, and that strict accountability measures are in place for violations, including a "one-vote veto" punishment for officials who breach protection guidelines severely.
To boost land quality, the document emphasizes the gradual upgrade of permanent basic farmland to high-standard farmland that is suitable for cultivation, resilient to drought and flooding, and capable of ensuring high and stable yields.
A national plan will be developed for this transformation, with priority given to areas in northeast China's black soil region, plains and regions with irrigation capabilities.
The government will implement black soil protection initiatives, adjusting protective measures to encompass all necessary areas in a timely manner. Law enforcement combating activities that harm the fertile soil will be intensified.
Legislation governing the protection of arable land quality will be accelerated, with annual surveys of soil quality changes and comprehensive evaluations conducted every five years, along with a national soil census to be conducted at an appropriate time.
Efforts will also be made to develop high-efficiency protected agriculture using non-arable land resources. This will involve exploring the sustainable development of modern protected agriculture in arid and desert regions where water resources allow.
These initiatives are part of a broader strategy to ensure national grain security and strengthen the agricultural sector.
China continues to prioritize food security, as it feeds over 1.4 billion people with just 9 percent of the world's arable land. An array of measures has been implemented to improve grain output over recent years, including the construction of more high-standard farmland and the promotion of agricultural technologies.
The country has developed about 66.7 million hectares of high-standard farmland as of the end of 2023, with 13 key grain-producing provincial-level regions accounting for around 70 percent of that total.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China has the sound fundamentals to reap a bumper autumn grain harvest following the summer harvest this year, despite severe disasters triggered by extreme weather in parts of the country.
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
25 September 2024 10:41 (UTC+04:00)
Fatima Latifova Read more
On September 24, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Turkiye Mr. Yasar Guler within the 5th Anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX held at the Baku Expo Center, Azernews reports.
The expanded meeting involved First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan Chief of the General Staff of the Azerbaijan Army Colonel General Karim Valiyev, Deputy Minister of Defense Director General Mr. Agil Gurbanov, Acting Deputy Minister of Defense Commander of the Air Force Lieutenant General Namig Islamzade, Advisor to the Minister of Defense Colonel General Bakhtiyar Ersay, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Army General Metin Gurak, Navy Commander Admiral Ercument Tatloglu, Commander of the Land Forces Army General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, Air Force Commander Army General Ziya Cemal Kadoglu, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkiye to Azerbaijan, Mr. Cahit Bagci and other officials.
The meeting highlighted that Azerbaijani-Turkish relations are based on friendship, brotherhood and strategic alliance. Satisfaction with the current state of cooperation between the two countries in the military, military-technical, military-educational and military-medical spheres was expressed. Additionally, a wide exchange of views on the prospects for the development of bilateral relations, regional security and other issues was held.
Then Colonel General Z.Hasanov met with a delegation led by the President of Secretariat of Defense Industries under the Presidency of the Republic of Turkiye, Mr. Haluk Gorgun.
The meeting, which was also attended by the heads of several leading companies of the Turkish military industry, expressed confidence that joint military-technical projects will further enhance the defense capability of both fraternal countries and discussed new prospects for cooperation.
The importance of expanding joint production through the use of technological innovations was also emphasized and the 5th Anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX was commended at the meetings.
Several contracts on military-technical cooperation were signed at the end of both meetings.
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25 September 2024 15:51 (UTC+04:00)
Fatima Latifova Read more
A trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Jeyhun Bayramov and Ararat Mirzoyan, with the participation of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, will take place on September 26 in New York, Azernews reports, citing Aykhan Hajizade, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, he telling to journalists.
On September 24, in New York, the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, considered one of the largest diplomatic events in the world, bringing together leaders of participating countries, began. This session, which will continue until September 30, will be opened by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and chaired by Filemon Yang from Cameroon.
As per tradition, the main theme of the UN General Assembly session, held annually since 1955, is: "Leaving No One Behind."
In this event, which prioritises peace issues, Azerbaijan, a country that is advancing in contributing to the topic, naturally participates, represented by Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.
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Fatima Latifova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter:
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25 September 2024 20:00 (UTC+04:00)
Fatima Latifova Read more
On September 23, during his participation in the first session of the National Assembly, President Ilham Aliyev discussed the strategic tasks facing Azerbaijan, clarifying key points related to these tasks. Notably, the prioritization of ensuring ideological security as a core objective highlights the need for Azerbaijan's security concept to create a more resilient security model.
It should be noted that the country's security system is already well-structured. The fact that all attempts to destabilize the country and threaten public safety have failed to this day proves this point.
Speaking to Azernews, political analyst Tofiq Abbasov noted that President Ilham Aliyev addressed topics of special importance for Azerbaijan in his speech:
When the President spoke at the first plenary session of the National Assembly, he addressed the principle of security, which is not only crucial for Azerbaijan but also for the international community. This is no coincidence."
The expert explained the harms caused by ideological provocations to the public:
"We can take the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of the difficulties caused by ideological provocation. The spread of this virus, and people feeling powerless in the face of it, benefitted certain groups. Some even believe that the creation of a microbe similar to COVID is just a matter of time. All of this is the result of propaganda and misleading the public."
Abbasov also highlighted that propaganda continues in the South Caucasus:
"Certain forces, countries, and powers using Armenia are trying to destabilize our region and falsely portray Azerbaijan as the culprit. They claim that Azerbaijan violated Armenia's rights and allegedly deported Armenians living in Garabagh. Of course, all of these claims are fabrications."
Abbasov clarified the responsibilities of Azerbaijani citizens:
"The President stated that the issue of security is a strategic matter for us. So, what should we do? As Azerbaijanis, we must preserve the unity and solidarity in our country. The unity between Azerbaijans leadership and its people is a successful model, and we must constantly work toward strengthening it."
The expert also reminded how dangerous the media environment has become:
"The media has, in many cases, strayed from its original duties, turning into a propaganda machine through which certain groups deceive people and present lies as truth. Our society is sufficiently educated, vigilant, and prepared. However, Armenian media and the media of countries supporting Armenia are trying to tarnish Azerbaijans reputation and create problems for us."
Abbasov reiterated that Azerbaijan is fully justified in liberating its lands from terrorism and separatism:
"Azerbaijan has never attacked any country or posed a threat to anyone. It has put an end to terrorism and separatism on its own territory, which has apparently angered the West and some of its institutions. This is incomprehensible. For years, Armenians devastated our lands, destroying all cities and villages, but the West remained silent. Now that we are resolving these issues and restoring international order in our region, it seems we are causing problems for them."
The analyst also pointed out the Wests prior indifference to Azerbaijan's international calls:
"Nearly one million Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons were ignored by the international community. No one heard their cries, yet now Azerbaijan is being accused of creating problems for Armenians and carrying out ethnic cleansing."
Political analyst Asif Narimanli evaluated ideological provocations from several perspectives:
"According to international practice, ideological confrontations often escalate during times of war. Creating confusion in the public opinion of the opposing side to influence the course of the war is nothing new. We saw such attempts in the war with Armenia, where we encountered ideological provocations through information channels. However, just as in the war, Azerbaijan emerged victorious in the ideological struggle as well."
The expert noted that Armenias ideological provocations are to be expected:
"Going forward, it is natural to expect continued efforts by Armenia and its supporters to make similar attempts. However, their capacity to influence is not what it once was."
Narimanli also drew attention to the potential harm that ideological provocations could inflict on national identity:
"Ideological provocations are generally directed at national identity. Since Azerbaijans national identity is strong, the impact of such propaganda is minimal. However, such provocations cannot be entirely ruled out. Especially from neighboring countries, there have been attempts to replace Azerbaijans national identity with religious identity, forming identity through religious ideologies."
The expert noted that these processes are happening globally:
"This is a worldwide phenomenon, and Azerbaijan is one of the targets of these processes. However, unlike Armenia and Georgia, these efforts manifest themselves much less in Azerbaijan. This stems from the strength of both our national identity and our moral values."
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Fatima Latifova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter:
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25 September 2024 17:21 (UTC+04:00)
Fatima Latifova Read more
On September 25, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with the Assistant Minister of Defense of Serbia for Material Resources, Mr. Nenad Miloradovic within the 5th Anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX held in Baku, Azernews reports.
Weapons and equipment displayed at the booth of the state company Yugoimport SDPR of Serbia were inspected.
The meeting at the booth noted that relations based on strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Serbia are at a high level and emphasized the importance of further developing joint military cooperation.
The sides discussed the current state of relations and prospects in the military-technical field.
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Fatima Latifova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter:
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25 September 2024 17:57 (UTC+04:00)
Fatima Latifova Read more
On September 25, within the 5th Anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX held in Baku, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with the Chief of the General Staff, First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Belarus, Major General Pavel Muraveiko, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan, Azernews reports.
The importance of further development of Azerbaijani-Belarusian cooperation in the military sphere was emphasized, and the expansion of the current relations was discussed at the meeting.
The sides also had a wide exchange of views on regional security and other issues of interest.
Then, Colonel General Z. Hasanov met with the Minister of State Authority for Military Industry of the Republic of Belarus, Mr. Dmitry Pantus.
The meeting exchanged views on military-technical cooperation.
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Fatima Latifova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter:
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25 September 2024 20:50 (UTC+04:00)
Chaired by Samir Nuriyev, the Head of the Presidential Administration and the head of the Coordination Headquarters for addressing issues in Azerbaijans liberated territories in a centralized manner, a regular meeting of the Coordination Headquarters was held in the city of Kalbajar.
Azernews reports via Azertag that in his opening remarks, Head of the Coordination Headquarters Samir Nuriyev highlighted the milestone events occurred in Azerbaijan in September. In this vein, Samir Nuriyev noted that as a result of the anti-terror operation conducted by Azerbaijan in Karabakh on September 19-20 last year, the countrys state sovereignty was fully restored. He underscored that President Ilham Aliyev signed an order establishing September 20 as the State Sovereignty Day in Azerbaijan to mark the first anniversary of this milestone occasion.
During the meeting, a minute of silence was observed to honor the memory of the Azerbaijani martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for the countrys territorial integrity. The head of the Coordination Headquarters underlined that the 44-day Patriotic War started on September 27, 2020, resulting with the brilliant victory, had put an end to the lasting unfair historical process, paving the way to the eternal return of the true owners of these lands.
Samir Nuriyev mentioned that large-scale progress is underway to ensure the comprehensive development of the liberated territories in accordance with the First State Program on the Great Return to the liberated territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Furthermore, in accordance with the agenda of the meeting, the Coordination Headquarters heard reports on the implementation of the First State Program on the Great Return to the liberated territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, ensuring the populations employment and permanent residence, building transport infrastructure, as well as restoration and development of tourism in the region. The Special Representative Office of the Azerbaijani President in Kalbajar district then presented reports on the accomplished and planned works in the district.
In conclusion, the assignments were given to fulfil the tasks set by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
As part of the visit, the Coordination Headquarters also familiarized itself with the work done in the district and inspected several enterprises there.
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25 September 2024 20:11 (UTC+04:00)
On September 25, Defense Minister Colonel General Zakir Hasanov and other leading staff of the Ministry got acquainted with the booths presented at the 5th Anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX held at the Baku Expo Center, Azernews reports, citing the Ministry.
The Minister of Defense was provided with detailed information about weapons, equipment, aircraft and aerial vehicles presented at the exhibition, which was attended by more than 218 well-known enterprises of the military industry and leading foreign companies from almost 40 countries.
During the exhibition, Colonel General Z.Hasanov also met with the Chairman of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Board, Air Vice Marshal Hakim Raza.
The meeting discussed prospective opportunities for Azerbaijani-Pakistani military cooperation based on friendly and fraternal relations and held a wide exchange of views on a number of issues of mutual interest.
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25 September 2024 08:30 (UTC+04:00)
Akbar Novruz Read more
On October 1, Iran will open its first and largest foreign trade center in Yerevan, Armenia. According to reports, the trade center, backed by Irans Development and Trade Organization, spans over 18,000 square meters. The opening ceremony will be attended by Iran's Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade Mohammad Atabek, Armenia's Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan, and key figures from Iran's industrial sector.
This development comes at a critical time, as Iran has voiced serious concern about the Zangazur Corridor. Spokesperson of Azerbaijans Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aykhan Hajizada has also recently suggested that Azerbaijan is working on building communication lines through Iran, which adds another layer of complexity to the situation.
Sharing his insights into the matter, Elyar Kamrani, a political expert specializing in the Caucasus, spoke to Azernews, interpreting the move as part of Irans broader strategy.
"First of all, it should be noted that the rapprochement between Iran and Armenia, both in the political and economic fields, takes place within the framework of deep strategic relations between the two countries. Iran also demonstrates this by using Armenia as an instrument of pressure against Azerbaijan and the countries of the region," Kamrani stated.
He pointed out that this alliance dates back to Armenias independence, with Iran supporting Armenia during the First and Second Garabagh Wars. Kamrani added, "The fact that Tehran has a hostile attitude towards Azerbaijan and opened a consulate and commercial facilities in the territory of Armenia, bordering Azerbaijan, in Gafan is also reflected."
Kamrani further elaborated on Irans broader motives: "From the beginning, Iran stated that it intends to open a 'free trade zone' in the border zone with Armenia. This has the essence of keeping Iran's Armenian market in its hands and using Armenia as an instrument of pressure on the region."
He warned that this could facilitate illicit activities, saying, "Another goal is to help terrorist groups and send narcotics from the territory of Armenia to Europe and other countries.
On Azerbaijans stance, Kamrani referenced recent statements by Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizade. He suggested that Azerbaijan views Iran as both an alternative to the Zangazur Corridor and a potential transit partner, especially considering historical transport routes through Iran to Nakhchivan. The transportation link between the two countries gained prominence due to the blockade of Nakhchivan since Azerbaijan's independence. Prior to the pandemic, the land crossing from Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan was predominantly through the northern territories of Iran. It is evident that the primary aim of this statement is to establish an alternative to the Zangazur corridor and to set the course for the development of the transportation route I mentioned."
In concluding remarks, Kamrani stressed Tehran's intention: "Tehran believes that if Armenia improves friendly relations with Iran and has closer relations, Armenia can also support Iran's propaganda against Zangazur. However, it should be noted here that interest in the Zangazur corridor is shown not only by regional powers but also by the United States and Europe. As a result, taking into account that there are common interests here, I think the fact that the corridor will be opened sooner or later seems real."
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Akbar Novruz is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @ykwiua
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Haitian migrants, allowed into the country through illegal schemes of the Biden-Harris regime that defy US immigration laws, are being bussed to small towns around the country. While Springfield, Ohio, and Charleroi, Pennsylvania have received the most attention, they are hardly the only places where these Third World migrants are being dumped. The latest reports come from rual Alabama.
While the Biden - Harris regime has given them questionable work permits, most of them seem to prefer to sign up for welfare instead. They are also causing Americans to flee these communities. In Charleroi, before the Hairians started being dumped there, 70% of local homes were owner occupied and that has now shrunk to 30% as homeowners sell out and their homes are bought up by investors to rent to Haitians.
State Attorneys General are now starting to challenge all the legally dubious programs Biden and Harris have used to bring all of these Haitians into the US, as their numbers increase. Of the 485,000 Haitians that Biden-Harris have allowed into the country since 2021, 216,000 have arrived this fiscal year.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_caaf905c-7a14-11ef-adcb-234686fb00ca.html
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2024-09-25/neoliberal-shill-mass-immigration-gets-wrecked
Our only hope to stop this insanity is to put President Trump back in the oval office. He has pledged a mass deportation, which polls show a large majority of Americans want. Kamala Harris, who has personally been caught on video chanting "down, down with deportation" at an open borders rally, would just make this problem worse.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists has filed a trademark complaint against the recently renamed American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology, alleging that its use of the word "anesthesiology" is "deceptively misdescriptive," according to a Sept. 25 report from Medscape.
The complaint was filed in June to the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and aims to prevent the AANA from registering a trademark for the new title.
If the ASA wins, it could sue the nurses organization in federal court. AANA has, to this point, denied all allegations, according to the report.
AANA first changed its name in 2021 from the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, claiming that the new name better clarifies the roles of its members.
The ASA said in a statement that it was "gravely concerned" by the name change, which "confuses patients and creates discord in the care setting, ultimately risking patient safety."
"'Anesthesiologist' has always been used to differentiate physicians trained in the science and study of anesthesiology from nonphysicians, including nurse anesthetists," an ASA spokesperson told Medscape.
The board will now decide whether AANA's trademark application should be granted or denied, a process that can take two to three years, according to the report.
"Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) also known as nurse anesthesiologists or nurse anesthetists have a 150-year track record of administering safe, effective anesthesia to patients in need of care. Not only are CRNAs highly trained and capable, they also use the exact same techniques to provide anesthesia as other anesthesiology professionals. AANA cannot comment further on pending litigation," Laura Schaefer, partner, intellectual property at Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff, told Becker's on behalf of the AANA.
Becker's has reached out to the ASA for comment and will update this story as more information becomes available.
U.S. Healthworks, a chain of occupational and urgent care clinics, has agreed to pay $7.7 million to settle allegations it knowingly withheld millions of dollars in unclaimed property from the state of California.
The unclaimed property includes patient balances due to overpayments. As part of the settlement, U.S. HealthWorks will hand over $1.5 million in unclaimed property to the California Controller's Office, according to a Sept. 24 news release from the California Attorney General.
In March 2022, the California Attorney General filed a complaint alleging that the clinic chain held unclaimed property as early as 2001 and failed to file the required reports with the state until 2018, after being notified of an investigation.
Even after filing reports, U.S. HealthWorks allegedly underreported the amount of unclaimed property in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, according to the complaint.
A former billing manager for AmSurg-affiliated Affiliated Endoscopy Services of Clifton (N.J.) has filed a lawsuit against the ASC alleging employment discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, according to court documents obtained by Becker's.
In the Aug. 5 filing, Kristina Wilder alleges she was terminated in retaliation for seeking reasonable accommodations for her chronic venous insufficiency. According to the suit, the plaintiff requested time off to receive care and recover from procedures related to her condition, among other requests, and the center eventually retaliated by terminating her employment.
The plaintiff, who was hired in 2021, allegedly began to experience symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency in July 2022. After undergoing multiple procedures and subsequent lack of accommodations, she was terminated in August 2023.
The plaintiff is requesting back pay, prejudgment interest, front pay and damages for all employment benefits, as well as punitive damages and damages for emotional distress and pain and suffering, among other requests.
AmSurg said it had no comment at this time on the lawsuit.
The clinic and home of a physician in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., has been raided for an alleged pill mill, WDIV reported Sept. 24.
The physician is accused of falsifying records and writing false prescriptions, among other allegations.
According to the report, the raids came after four years of investigation by the Taylor Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs office and Blue Cross. The investigation allegedly found that people came from across Michigan and Ohio to the physician for narcotics.
Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy will break ground on the Kathryn Ann Meinders Digestive Health Institute in Oklahoma City on Sept. 27, the state's first standalone medical center dedicated to digestive health.
The building will be located just south of Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City, according to a Sept. 25 press release sent to Becker's.
The two-level digestive health facility will provide relief to local GI patients, who previously had to travel 500 miles to South Texas for care.
The 52,000-square-foot institute will have seven procedure rooms, 21 prep/recovery rooms, a chapel, ambulatory space for gastrointestinal care, an inflammatory bowel disease clinic, colorectal surgery exam rooms, a hepatology clinic, a motility lab, education space and offices.
The center was made possible through a $7.5 million philanthropy gift, the largest individual donation Mercy Oklahoma has ever received.
Baylor College of Medicine in Houston has obtained a total of $51 million in new donations to support a new tower currently under construction.
The donations include $25 million from The Brown Foundation, $16 million from The DeBakey Medical Foundation and $10 million from the Sarofim Foundation, according to a Sept. 23 news release. They will go toward construction of the Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower, which will house Baylor's School of Medicine and School of Health Professions.
The 503,000-square-foot tower broke ground in May 2023 and is expected to be completed in 2026. It is the first phase of Baylor's planned Health Sciences Park, an 800,000-square-foot medical education and research facility next to patient care at Baylor Medicine and Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center.
Baylor said it will name the park the Michael E. DeBakey Health Sciences Park to honor The DeBakey Medical Foundation's increased commitment to Cullen Tower and additional funding to the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery.
The DeBakey Medical Foundation previously committed $12 million toward Cullen Tower, in addition to the new $16 million gift. The new $10 million from the Sarofim Foundation matches a previous $10 million committed by Fayez Sarofim, a prominent Egyptian-American businessman and investor who died in May 2022.
In total, Baylor has raised almost $150 million in philanthropy for the tower.
Cincinnati Children's and Indianapolis-based Peyton Manning Children's Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent have partnered to improve pediatric cardiology care.
The hospitals, located about 120 miles apart, will collaborate to evaluate which providers and facilities are most appropriate for patient care on a case-by-case basis, according to a Sept. 24 news release from Cincinnati Children's.
The health systems have recruited a new chief cardiothoracic surgeon as part of the endeavor. The surgeon will be based at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent and employed by Cincinnati Children's.
Expanding the opportunity for more advanced pediatric cardiology services, Peyton Manning Children's will soon be connected to a new Women and Infants Hospital, with construction on the project expected to finish in November.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that will prohibit medical debt from being included on consumers' credit reports.
The law also bans using medical debt listed on a credit report as a negative factor when making credit decisions, according to a Sept. 24 news release from the governor's office.
The legislation had been supported by several organizations, including the California Nurses Association and the National Consumer Law Center, according to a Sept. 24 news release from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who also supported the bill.
The release from the attorney general's office said that credit reports are meant to gauge a person's ability to repay future debt. Medical debt is often unforeseen and not a reliable indicator of financial risk, "yet it can unfairly prevent consumers from getting loans, renting an apartment, or getting a job."
Since Julie Leonard became CFO of Libby, Mont.-based Cabinet Peaks Medical Center in January, the 25-bed critical access hospital has seen skyrocketing financial improvement, rising from a projected 2.5% margin by the end of its fiscal year in March to now being on track for an approximate 10% margin.
"We don't always agree, but we always collaborate," Ms. Leonard told Becker's. "I work super hard to make sure that we're doing every single thing that we need to do to capitalize on every single dime that we can get."
Ms. Leonard credited her strong working relationship with the hospital's CEO, Tadd Greenfield, who has helped with growth and vision.
Since Mr. Greenfield started two years ago, the hospital has launched an orthopedics clinic with Julienne Lippe, MD, former orthopedic surgeon for the St. Louis Cardinals. Dr. Lippe has more than doubled her business since she started at Cabinet Peaks. The hospital currently has one general surgeon and a second one joining in October, Ms. Leonard said.
Along with a swing-bed program, other areas of growth for the hospital include a daily census of between 10 to 15 patients, switching the hospitalist program from mid-level to physician-based and growth in the emergency department that averages 20 to 30 patients daily.
The hospital is also in the early stages of plans to build a 16,000-square-foot medical plaza across from the hospital that will feature pain management.
"We have quadrupled our pain management," she said. "Just last month alone, they brought in almost a million dollars just in pain management."
Prior to her new role, Ms. Leonard served as CFO of Blue Springs, Mo.-based St. Mary's Medical Center. She has held several other healthcare CFO positions, including a dual CEO-CFO role at Pomeroy, Wash.-based Garfield County Hospital District.
"I love being a CEO, but I really love being a CFO way more," Ms. Leonard said. "When you're a CEO, it is completely different than any other job. You literally are responsible for every single thing that happens in a facility. The pressure is huge. So if I can at least understand that, then I can make sure that every decision that's being made has something to back it up."
Since her time at Cabinet Peaks, the hospital has also seen revenue increases, from a static average of $63 million over the last 10 years to around $83 million this year.
Ms. Leonard's strategy for maintaining strong finances is having a solid revenue cycle team and making sure that every time a plan is made, the hospital gets the best reimbursement possible.
Communication with employees and a strong culture are other areas that Ms. Leonard highlighted to ensure an organization's success, with the hospital working to be in the 75th percentile for employee pay in its 2030 strategic plan.
"You have to believe in your CEO," she said. "You have to believe in what they're doing and know that they're taking you in the right direction."
The Faith Community ER in Bowie (Texas), part of Jacksboro, Texas-based Faith Community Health System, will close Oct. 6 nearly one year after opening due to a lack of financial assistance.
The ER was initially opened as a hospital outpatient department as an extension of the health system's flagship Faith Community Hospital, Faith Community Health System CEO Frank Beaman, told Becker's Sept. 25.
In a Sept. 23 letter to the community, obtained by Becker's, Mr. Beaman shared that after an internal review, the ER did not meet projections needed to maintain operations.
"Operating what effectively is a free-standing ER is simply not sustainable without a greater level of financial support from the community," Mr. Beaman said in the letter.
Mr. Beaman also shared that the health system attempted to convert the ER to a rural emergency hospital and was twice unsuccessful "due to the way legislation was written."
"[The law] will only allow for the conversion of an existing acute care hospital and does not provide for designation of a new emergency room like what we opened in Bowie," the letter said. "The federal funding of approximately $3.2 million annually under the REH designation would have been sufficient to support our efforts."
Existing employees who are eligible will be reassigned to open positions at Faith Community Health System.
The operator of Nacogdoches (Texas) Memorial Hospital will no longer be required to fully reimburse Texas Health and Human Services more than $7 million in overpayments by the end of the year, The Daily Sentinel reported Sept. 24.
Nacogdoches County Hospital District will now pay back those funds over three years, according to the report.
The original plan required payments of about $361,000 per month with a $4 million payment due in December for the remainder of the balance, according to the report. The new plan calls for payments of about $190,000 per month over the course of 36 months. No lump sum payment is due at the end.
The district agreed to the original payment plan after being placed on an indefinite payment hold by the agency due to a failure by the hospital's former owner, Lion Star, to repay Medicaid disproportionate share hospital and uncompensated care funds, according to the report.
Lion Star reached an agreement with the Nacogdoches County Hospital District in March to transfer operations of the hospital. Lion Star filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November, with the filing stating it owed more than $50 million to creditors.
A $100 million investment underway at HCA Houston Healthcare North Cypress will facilitate easier expansion projects in the future and support the hospital's broader strategic goals, the hospital's CEO recently told Becker's.
In August, Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare shared plans for a three-story expansion at the hospital that will bring its total licensed bed count to 216, up from its current 163 beds.
"While this is a 53-bed expansion with a heavy price tag, it does allow for future expansion that is less intensive for the campus as a whole," Jim Brown, CEO of HCA Houston Healthcare North Cypress, said.
The project, set to be complete in spring 2026, will include a 22-bed acute rehabilitation unit and a 31-bed medical-surgical unit. It marks HCA's largest capital investment in the facility since acquiring it in 2018. The expansion will ultimately enable the hospital to keep more high acuity services in the market and make future expansions more cost effective, according to Mr. Brown.
Once complete, the hospital anticipates the majority of patients in the new rehab unit will likely be those who were discharged from the hospital.
"As we study our discharges, we know that we can justify that investment and keep those admissions within our system," Mr. Brown said.
The hospital is also working on raising its trauma designation from a level 4 to a level 3, which will increase the demand for critical care services. The med-surg bed expansion will allow North Cypress to repurpose existing med-surg space for ICU bed expansions, he said. The hospital operates 24 ICU beds, which could grow to 44 once the project is complete.
With Cypress among the fastest-growing areas in Houston, officials anticipate additional expansions within the next several years.
"We don't anticipate this to be the last expansion of our hospital," Mr. Brown said, adding the current project is further expandable by three stories, which could ultimately take the hospital's bed count to more than 300. "Likely within the next five years we'll be able to add a fourth, a fifth and a sixth floor to this tower that we're constructing today."
Hospital and health system leaders have pointed to ethical and regulatory concerns as among the challenges posed by AI integration in healthcare. But where do leaders see the most potential in operational efficiency and reducing caregiver burnout?
Here are the areas four leaders highlighted as AI's potential in hospitals and health systems, as recently reported by Becker's.
1. Transcription and note-taking tools
Cliff Deveny, MD. President and CEO of Summa Health (Akron, Ohio): I am looking forward to wide adoption of ambient listening and automatic transcription for all caregivers (not only physicians). This will dramatically change the level of frustration all providers, nurses, respiratory therapists, etc., suffer daily. Imagine a world with fully transcribed notes with inputs from monitoring equipment, lab/imaging and relevant other findings from the patient medical archives ready for review and immediate AI assisted coding and submission for billing. This will provide more time for direct care and increased capacity of limited clinical resources while assuring more accurate claims submission, less denials and prompt pay.
Christopher O'Connor. CEO of Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health: Yale New Haven Health is deploying novel AI note-taking tools to reduce the cognitive burden for clinicians, utilizing AI on our inpatient units in tools that help flag clinical deterioration and improve our response, and automating many business processes, such as prior authorization.
2. Personalizing treatment, predicting patient outcomes
J.P. Valin, MD. Chief Clinical Officer of Intermountain Health (Salt Lake City): One of the biggest misconceptions about healthcare in 2024 is the belief that artificial intelligence will replace human clinicians in determining patient treatment plans. Healthcare AI is designed to augment clinician care, not replace it with a machine. AI can assist in making more accurate diagnoses, predicting patient outcomes, and personalizing treatment plans, but the final decisions and care are still in the hands of human healthcare professionals.
3. Streamlining documentation
Julie Demaree. Executive Director of Clinical Innovation and Transformation for St. Mary's Hospital (Amsterdam, N.Y.): We use an efficiency dashboard to monitor how long it takes for providers to complete their notes, from start to sign-off. Before we implemented [AI assistant] Suki, some clinicians struggled to keep up with their documentation, often working late into the night or over weekends. But after going live with Suki, we saw a 50% reduction in the time it took for our first group of clinicians to complete their notes. One physician who always had over 130 open notes managed to clear them all within a week. She called the tool "life-changing."
As healthcare leaders navigate industry challenges, some hospital and health system CEOs have found creative ways to connect with their staff, including the use of new technologies.
Kim Cripe, president and CEO of Children's Hospital of Orange (Calif.) County, said implementing a personalized communications tool has allowed for an enhanced employee experience.
The hospital launched the tool, designed by Firstup, in June. It offers customized messaging to each team and gives employees the option to choose whether they receive information as an email or mobile message.
This personalized approach has helped Children's Hospital engage more closely with its generationally diverse workforce. For example, Generation Z grew up and is showing up at work in a different way than baby boomers, Ms. Cripe told Becker's.
"That's where I think leaning into different communication channels and modalities is important in really diversifying those efforts," she said.
Richard Gray, MD, CEO of Phoenix-based Mayo Clinic in Arizona, said the health system's employee recognition platform is designed to foster appreciation and celebrate achievements.
"It's a powerful way for us to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of our staff and enhance our collective sense of appreciation and community," he said.
In addition, advanced Q&A polling platforms are utilized during meetings to encourage interaction and feedback.
"While these tools do not replace face-to-face interactions, they do provide valuable touchpoints to keep us all connected," Dr. Gray said.
Further, AI-driven analyses of staff feedback have been helpful in quantifying themes and identifying patterns of opportunities or successes that may not be perceived on initial read-throughs from leadership, he said.
Though technology plays a significant role, face-to-face interactions remain essential for building connections at Providence Seaside (Ore.) Hospital, Chief Executive Rebecca Coplin said.
"There is nothing that creates a foundation for our relationship better than rounding," Ms. Coplin told Becker's.
Personally thanking staff members for their work and passing out treats, flowers, and cards with quotes from patients has also been important in creating positive relationships as a small community, Ms. Coplin said.
Starting each day with a safety huddle to identify significant safety catches and giving kudos to one another has also contributed to stability and communication between team members at the Renton, Wash.-based health system, she said.
Mayo Clinic has also found positive results from recognizing colleagues who are enhancing patient care and excelling in their work. The "Good News" virtual newsletter highlights employee stories that embody the health system's values, Dr. Gray said.
"The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with employees excited to celebrate one another's achievements and offer kudos to those who are going above and beyond to provide exemplary care for our patients," he said.
Healthcare workers from Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health, who are represented by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, will hold informational pickets Sept. 24-26 at four Dignity Health hospitals across California to protest what they say is the outsourcing of jobs and short-staffing.
The union represents approximately 15,000 CommonSpirit workers statewide, according to a Sept. 20 SEIU-UHW news release. San Francisco-based Dignity Health is part of CommonSpirit, which has more than 2,200 care sites in 24 states.
Union members contend that CommonSpirit has been reducing staff through layoffs and consolidating positions to outside facilities. They specifically cite plans by management at Dignity Health-St. John's Medical Center in Oxnard, Calif., to outsource monitor technician jobs from Southern California to Arizona, as well as layoffs announced at Dignity Health facilities in the state, including Sacramento, Bakersfield, Northridge and San Bernardino.
"Too many CommonSpirit patients are already affected by delays in care at Dignity Health hospitals due to the ongoing staffing crisis which will only worsen with these cuts," the union release said.
When asked about the union's assertions, Dignity Health said: "Dignity Health remains dedicated to providing high-quality care to all patients. Any changes made are aimed at enhancing operational efficiency and maintaining high standards of service."
Workers including respiratory therapists, nursing assistants, emergency medical technicians, laboratory assistants, social workers and environmental services workers are scheduled to protest over these concerns at the following facilities:
Dignity Health-Mercy Hospital Southwest (Bakersfield) (Sept. 24)
Dignity Health-Northridge Hospital Medical Center (Sept. 25)
Dignity Health-Community Hospital of San Bernardino (Sept. 25)
Mercy General Hospital (Sacramento) (Sept. 26)
"We recognize and respect the right of our employees to participate in today's informational picket," Dignity Health said in a separate statement on Sept. 24. "The safety of our caregivers and patients is our highest priority. Hospital operations are not impacted by today's event."
The World Medical Innovation Forum brought clinical innovators and executives from Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham together with investors and tech company leaders Sept. 23-25 near Boston.
While the event also touched on the latest in biotech and pharma, here are seven digital innovation themes from the conference, as reported on by Becker's:
1. Generative AI is still the great hope. "The most exciting thing right now is clearly generative AI," Mass General Brigham Chief Medical Information Officer Rebecca Mishuris, MD, told Becker's. Its adoption over the last two years is "light years ahead of any technology that's been implemented in healthcare."
The technology is a big part of the ambient clinical documentation wave that is taking over medicine, but generative AI is also being tested at Mass General Brigham for routing incoming patient phone calls and translating patient-facing materials to make them more understandable, she said.
Generative AI will have to become more consistent it often gives different answers every time you ask it a question to gain more widespread use in healthcare, she said.
Mass General Brigham has also developed a pathology chatbot, PathChat, but the hope is for generative AI to be able to write pathology reports and come to its own conclusions, said Faisal Mahmood, PhD, an associate professor at Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital, during a panel.
Even nonproviders were excited about artificial intelligence's potential. "Biology and technology are colliding to create synergistic effects," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, PhD, said at a panel. But AI will require better computing power and data-sharing to reach its promise, he said.
David Blumenthal, MD, professor of the practice of public health and health policy at Boston-based Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, argued at a session that generative AI in healthcare needs scientific standards and a baseline for transparency to ensure tech companies aren't using the health data for advertising.
"The foundational knowledge we need to create trust in this technology does not exist," he said.
The tech will need to be supervised, like medical residents, and continuously monitored, he added. Clinicians, unlike AI, will also remain legally liable for their care.
Health systems will have to balance protecting patient data while allowing AI to use that information to learn and get better, Dr. Mishuris said.
Still, the hopes for the technology are high and ambitious. Christopher Longhurst, MD, chief clinical and innovation officer of UC San Diego Health, predicted at a panel that in seven to 10 years there would be a large language model licensed to practice medicine. It's a technology that interests leaders across the health system C-suite from the CIO to the chief medical officer to the CFO for its ability to enhance medicine and automate administrative functions.
UC San Diego Health's implementation of generative AI to draft MyChart responses hasn't reduced the time spent answering messages for providers, he said more importantly, it's eased burnout.
"Healthcare is moving faster than any other industry in adopting AI," said Shiv Rao, MD, co-founder and CEO of ambient AI startup Abridge and a former executive at Pittsburgh-based UPMC.
Jane Moran, chief information and digital officer of Mass General Brigham, told Becker's she is working on enhancing some of the "boring stuff" in IT like network infrastructure that will position the health system to adopt digital innovations like AI for years to come.
AI can also have public health benefits, by determining which patients should get in fastest for diagnostics and treatments, said Kevin Mahoney, CEO of Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania Health System, at a panel.
2. Ambient clinical documentation is still all the rage. Several hundred providers at Mass General Brigham from primary care offices to the emergency departments have adopted ambient AI, where a smartphone app records patient encounters then drafts a note for the EHR, with plans to expand it to a few thousand more with additional funding.
Thus far, the technology has cut burnout by 40%, according to Dr. Mishuris.
"There's no other intervention that reduces burnout like that," she told Becker's.
Two-thirds of providers also reported it would cause them to stay in the practice of medicine, she said.
She compared AI to air conditioning when it's set properly, you're not even aware it's on.
Mass General Brigham Chief Technology Officer Nallan Sriraman also told Becker's that ambient clinical documentation is the digital innovation making the most difference right now in healthcare.
Ninety-five percent of providers who were offered the technology at the health system took advantage of it, Mass General Brigham President and CEO Anne Klibanski, MD, said at a panel. "When have we ever had anything with a 95% adoption?" she asked.
Still, Dr. Longhurst of UC San Diego Health called the technology a "Band-Aid." He said the average physician note in the U.S. is about 4,000 characters, compared to 800 in other countries. Why? To satisfy billing requirements.
As providers institute AI for prior authorizations, payers will employ the technology for denials. "We're getting into an escalating war of AI," he said. "We can't lose sight of fixing the fundamental problems in our healthcare system."
But AI can do things that humans can't, like scanning tens of thousands of chest X-rays to find things the human physicians weren't looking for, Dr. Longhurst said. "There are a lot of opportunities when the incentives are aligned."
3. "Hospital at home" expands. Mass General Brigham now has the largest hospital-at-home program in the country, with a capacity to treat 70 patients at a time. The care model uses technology and in-home visits from nurses and other providers to treat acutely ill patients with conditions like COPD or congestive heart failure at home.
Mass General Brigham Chief Integration Officer O'Neill Britton, MD, said during a panel that "home hospital" has grown so fast because it's a "win-win": for patients, who typically prefer being cared for at home, and for providers, who need help with capacity issues at hospitals. Just that day, he said, Mass General Brigham had 185 patients in the emergency department without a bed. The health system believes about 10% of acute care patients about 200 to 300 a day could be cared for at home if the program can scale.
Researchers from the health system have also found that costs are lower with the care model.
4. The biggest health systems continue to partner on tech. Leaders from Microsoft, Best Buy Health, Google Cloud, Epic, Meta and Abridge attended or spoke at the event, highlighting their collaborations with health systems like Mass General Brigham.
"Google's not going to get into the medical practice. Google's not going to buy an EHR," William Morris, MD, chief medical information officer of Google Cloud, said at a panel.
Mass General Brigham, like several other health systems, uses technology from Best Buy Health for "hospital at home." "Technology is our expertise," Best Buy Health COO Chemu Lang'at said during a session. "Healthcare is fragmented. The technology doesn't always connect."
5. Technology can improve health equity. Mass General Brigham asks patients about their social determinants of health on their MyChart patient portal or on tablets at visits, Dr. Mishuris said at a panel. Health equity leaders educate the system's digital staff of about 1,700 employees about the importance of equity in their work.
The health system has employees text or call patients in their own languages with medical reminders, said Claire-Cecile Pierre, MD, vice president of community health programs at Mass General Brigham, during the talk. She said Mass General Brigham also plans to launch geolocating for its mobile healthcare vans to let patients know which neighborhoods they're in.
Mass General Brigham has used data to analyze wastewater surveillance to predict COVID-19 treatment need during the pandemic and for where to locate its mobile addiction services, said Elsie Taveras, MD, chief community health and health equity officer at Mass General Brigham, at the panel.
6. A lot of innovation happens at health systems. The forum started Sept. 23 with 14 five-minute pitches from Mass General Brigham inventors looking for funding to advance their technologies from a computer chip for paralyzed patients that allows them to "talk" or "type" with their brains to AI that evaluates breast cancer to a medical "holodeck" straight out of "Star Trek" to a digital health app for rheumatology patients.
It showed the breadth of innovation happening at Mass General Brigham, which at $2.4 billion, gets more academic research funding than any other health system.
The forum, which in its 10th year had its largest-ever attendance of about 2,000 people, represents "innovation at scale," Mass General Brigham Chief Innovation Officer Chris Coburn told Becker's.
7. Health systems, conversely, need innovation. "Academic healthcare centers are threatened in a way they've never been threatened before," Dr. Klibanski said at a panel, citing financial challenges.
"We have to partner more broadly. We have to get out of the mindset of we do everything ourselves," she said. "And adopt new technology in a very different way. We have invested very heavily into moving into the digital world."
Rod Hochman, MD, president and CEO of Renton, Wash.-based Providence, said at the session that hiring leaders from tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft "really changed our culture." On the other hand, the health system bundled its data with peer organizations through a collective called Truveta rather than handing it over to Big Tech. "Folks like us know how to use it for good, not evil," he said.
Independence Health System has fired four individuals who worked at its Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg, Pa., following the alleged sharing of inappropriate patient images.
Two of the former Westmoreland Hospital employees nurses Peter Castellano, 36, of Pittsburgh, and Melissa Tompkins, 36, of Baldwin, Pa. have also been charged with disclosing intercepted communications, criminal use of a communication facility, invasion of privacy and harassment, a spokesperson for the Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office confirmed to Becker's.
The charges and terminations come after Mr. Castellano and Ms. Tompkins allegedly shared photos and video recordings of patients without their permission, which investigators say were sent in a group text thread from numbers belonging to the nurses, TribLive reported Sept. 24. Police said the photos included unclothed or partially clothed patients, and some videos showed the nurses antagonizing patients, the news outlet reported. According to the news outlet, Mr. Castellano and Ms. Tompkins, who also uses the last name Marsh, have denied wrongdoing.
Two other individuals accused of being involved in the messaging have not been charged, according to TribLive.
Independence Health System shared the following statement with Becker's on Sept. 25: "Independence Health System was shocked and outraged to discover egregious actions involving four of its Westmoreland Hospital employees, actions that starkly contradicted our core values and standards of conduct.
"We are grateful to the team member who reported this misconduct, enabling us to act swiftly. Upon learning of the situation, our leadership initiated a thorough investigation and involved law enforcement immediately. The employees in question were terminated without delay.
"With over 7,000 dedicated professionals, Independence Health System remains committed to upholding the highest ethical standards in healthcare. This commitment is the foundation of our culture, and we will continue to prioritize integrity and accountability in all that we do."
The full Senate voted unanimously during a Sept. 25 hearing to hold Dallas-based Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre, MD, in contempt. This is the first time since 1971 that the Senate has held someone in criminal contempt.
The vote comes after the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted Sept. 19 to push two resolutions regarding contempt charges against Dr. de la Torre and Steward to the full Senate.
The criminal contempt resolution will now be referred to the Justice Department to criminally prosecute Dr. de la Torre for not complying with the subpoena, a spokesperson for Sen. Bernie Sanders, the HELP committee chair, told Becker's.
The HELP committee also passed a resolution Sept. 19 for civil enforcement of the subpoena. Civil enforcement will require a separate report from the Senate's legal counsel to ensure Dr. de la Torre's compliance, the spokesperson said.
On Sept. 12, Dr. de la Torre skipped a bipartisan Senate committee hearing held by the HELP committee that he had been subpoenaed to attend.
Steward, a for profit health system, sought Chapter 11 protection May 6 and has been working to offload its 31 hospitals.
Dr. de la Torre has faced significant backlash over the last few months for his ownership of two multimillion dollar yachts and lavish vacations while Steward's hospitals struggle.
"Dr. de la Torre, you cannot use your millions to shield yourself from accountability to the American People," Sen. Ed Markey said during the Sept. 25 hearing.
A spokesperson for Dr. de la Torre told Becker's in a Sept. 25 statement that they are disappointed Mr. Sanders and the full Senate have "used a mechanism typical for uncontested situations to continue their violations of Dr. de la Torre's constitutional rights, particularly those protected under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."
Dr. de la Torre invoked his Fifth Amendment right ahead of the Senate's vote. On Sept. 18, his attorney sent a letter to the HELP committee that reiterated he "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."
"Dr. de la Torre will not be intimidated by the Committees threat of prosecution merely for asserting his constitutional protections," the spokesperson said. "The U.S. Constitution stands above the government to protect all Americans from precisely the kind of assault on our rights that we are witnessing here."
Editor's note: This story was updated Sept. 26 at 8:22 a.m. CT.
In the U.S., care deserts exist across specialties and geographic areas. Represented in a variety of ways, cancer care deserts arise when patients are unable to access appropriate treatments, screenings and clinical trials.
Rachel Wagemann, vice president of operations for South Dakota-based Sanford Health's Sioux Falls market, spoke to Becker's about how the largest rural health system in the U.S. ensures its patients have access to cancer care.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: How is Sanford Sioux Falls addressing access to cancer care?
Rachel Wagemann: This year we expanded our diagnostic mammography services so that they can be done remotely, meaning we're able to provide diagnostic mammography services with the physician located in Sioux Falls and the patient located in a small community hospital. This helps to reduce transportation and lodging barriers that otherwise would have prevented patients from receiving care.
Our mobile mammography looks to provide preventative and screening services throughout rural South Dakota. It is also available in our more urban communities that are otherwise underserved or have difficulties finding transportation.
Our Cancer Community Outreach Coordinator works with a variety of nonprofit organizations throughout the state to reach underserved communities, non-English-speaking communities, and other groups of patients that often find themselves without access to basic information on screening and prevention. She's even been known to personally drive patients to their appointments with their oncologists.
Both our medical oncology and radiation oncology practices provide outreach and virtual appointment services, seeing patients from across the state and surrounding states.
We've partnered with the American Cancer Society on critical key grants to support patients through lodging and transportation funding to help eliminate this barrier to treatment, as well as provide short-term housing assistance for patients that are receiving longer courses of treatment on campus.
Sanford Sioux Falls is committed to providing phase 1 clinical trials to our portion of the Midwest. As new and novel treatments become available for patients navigating a cancer diagnosis, ensuring they have access to these treatments close to home is a top priority.
Q: What is unique about the Sanford Sioux Falls community in terms of barriers to accessing care?
RW: Our Sioux Falls community is growing rapidly, not only in size but in diversity as well. The state of South Dakota has resettled more than 280 refugees in fiscal year 2024. Our ability to connect with these communities, educate on the importance of cancer screening, prevention and treatment, as well as build trust with the healthcare system has been a large focus of our community outreach programs.
Q: Are cancer care deserts a new phenomenon, or is it an issue that has been going on for a long time?
RW: Cancer care deserts have existed to some extent but have worsened as we see changes in community hospitals and availability of medical oncologists. Changes to telehealth have allowed some expansion to oncology care, but there are still needs for on-site infusion and radiation treatment centers to truly provide comprehensive cancer care.
Q: What are the biggest or opportunities for growth in improving access to cancer care?
RW: Recruitment for medical oncologists and other oncology specialists continues to be one of the biggest opportunities with growth, as well as scaling services and establishing new pathways for virtual services to be provided safely. This includes continued advocacy for payment reform for telehealth services and partnering with industry and grant leaders to expand clinical trial services in nontraditional ways. Continuing to reduce barriers to lodging, transportation and food insecurities through community partnerships and grants is also a key strategy.
Q: What does the future of cancer care look like to you?
RW: Like most of healthcare, the future of cancer care is timely access to screening, prevention, and treatment services. As the socioeconomic barriers continue to increase in our patient populations, we'll be expanding our social work services in 2025 as a priority to meet these needs. Sanford Sioux Falls will continue to expand our virtual and outreach services, and focus on supporting our oncology workforce.
Hospitals are working to implement new guidelines and federal initiations to address rising rates of preeclampsia, KFF Health News reported Sept. 25.
Five things to know:
1. Over the past two decades, the incidence of high blood pressure among pregnant people has significantly increased. A federal study published in June found the percentage of pregnant people with chronic hypertension rose from 1.8% in 2008 to 3.7% in 2021. A separate study found the incidence of new-onset preeclampsia also doubled between 2007 and 2019.
2. An increase in testing may be partly fueling the rise, researchers acknowledge, though maternal mortality rates are also increasing nationwide, with high blood pressure being a leading cause, according to the report.
3. Federal health agencies and national medical associations are working to improve early detection and treatment of the condition. In 2022, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists lowered the threshold for treating high blood pressure during and after pregnancy. The Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health also works with states to implement its Severe Hypertension in Pregnancy Patient Safety Bundle in birthing facilities. The effort is backed by a $3 million grant from the Health Resource and Services Administration.
4. Health systems implementing the guidelines have discovered gaps in knowledge and inconsistencies in blood pressure monitoring among staff members. Efforts are underway to standardize practices and ensure timely treatment, with systems like Bozeman (Mont.) Health aiming to deliver care within one hour of a high blood pressure diagnosis.
5. Health experts said consistent monitoring during and after pregnancy is also essential, as blood pressure can change in as little as a day.
"Blood pressure is one component that we could really have an impact on," Stephanie Leonard, PhD, an epidemiologist at Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine, told KFF Health News. "It's measurable. It's treatable."
Read the full article here.
Large companies can save millions of dollars by addressing one common misconception about health insurance plans, according to billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban.
Mr. Cuban, who entered the pharmaceutical industry as a disruptor in January 2022 with his company, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs, shared his thoughts on pharmacy benefit managers with Becker's on Sept. 25.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: We've talked before about pharmacy benefit managers and why Cost Plus Drugs partners with pass-through PBMs. How do you see the FTC's recent lawsuit against PBMs influencing the industry?
Mark Cuban: I think it's a positive step towards transparency. The only real advantage the big PBMs have beyond their size is the fact that the industry is opaque. This is a positive first step to reducing that problem.
Q: What implications will this have for Cost Plus Drugs and your mission to enhance transparency and affordability in prescription drug pricing?
MC: None really. Our biggest issue is the big PBMs doing what they can to prevent brands from selling to us. This doesn't change that.
Q: What misconceptions do employers typically have about the role of PBMs in managing prescription drug costs, and how do these misunderstandings affect their overall healthcare strategies?
MC: That they save them money and add value. They don't do either. What really happens is that companies get addicted to the rebates and can't audit their payments versus their contracts. And when they try, the big PBMs don't provide the needed claims data or require them to use a company affiliated with the PBM to do the audit.
It's insane that for most companies they don't own or have immediate access to 100% of their claims data have control of their formularies and are not allowed to talk about their contracts with anyone, nor can they talk directly to manufacturers to put together wellness programs.
Pass-through PBMs like AffirmedRx, SmithRx, Rightway and many more solve this problem and save companies money.
For some bigger companies, there are millions, if [not] tens of millions of dollars, available to them if they would switch PBMs, add biosimilars like Yusimry and stop using their big PBM's captive pharmacy.
Q: What strategies should employers consider to effectively improve employee health outcomes?
MC: Leave the big three PBMs and work with a pass-through PBM. It's that simple.
The North American Spine Society has bestowed its 2024 recognition awards to five surgeons.
Addisu Mesfin, MD, was awarded the annual Henry Farfan Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions in spine-related basic science research, according to a Sept. 24 news release. Dr. Mesfin has been a NASS member for 15 years, and serves as the vice chair of research and professor of orthopedics at Medstar Orthopaedic Institute/Georgetown University School of Medicine.
Charles Reitman, MD, was awarded the David Selby Award in recognition for outstanding contributions in spine-related basic science research. He has been a NASS member since 2001, and served on the board of directors from 2009 to 2022. Dr. Reitman is currently professor and vice chairman of the department of orthopedics at Medical University of South Carolina and co-director of the MUSC Spine Center.
Nicholas Theodore, MD, was awarded the Leon Wiltse Award in recognition for excellence in leadership and/or clinical research in spine care. He has been a NASS member since 1998, pioneering research in the realms of brain and spinal cord injury, robotic surgery and advocacy. He founded Excelsius Surgical, which developed the first real-time image-guided robotic system for spine, brain and orthopedic trauma surgery, now utilized in over 75,000 cases globally.
Philip Schneider, MD, was awarded the Spine Advocacy Award, which recognizes members of the North American Spine Society who have made exceptional contributions to the federal advocacy efforts on behalf of patients and members of the society. He has been a NASS member for 33 years and served as advocacy council chair since 2018. He has also served on NASS board of directors and numerous committees. He is a past president of the National Association of Spine Specialists. Dr. Schneider is an orthopedic surgeon in Chevy Chase, MD, and is also the founder and director of the Holy Cross Hospital Spine Center, the first accredited Spine Center of Excellence in the Washington, D.C., area.
Christopher M. Bono, MD, was awarded the NASS Past Presidents award. He has been a NASS member since 2002 and since 2018 has been The Spine Journals editor in chief. Dr. Bono was NASS President during the 2015 to 2016 term. He is executive vice chair of the orthopedic department at Massachusetts General Hospital. Since 2018, he has served as a professor at Harvard Medical School.
The Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill is far reaching, covering many areas of employment law.
The Department for the Economy launched the Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill consultation which sets out significant, potential reforms to Northern Ireland employment law, including proposed changes to terms of employment, pay and benefits, voice and representation and work-life balance laws.
This has been long anticipated and is far reaching, covering many areas of employment law. Ahead of the consultations closure on September 30, at Lewis Silkin we are urging employers in Northern Ireland to engage with the consultation process, as its outcomes will impact businesses across the country.
To this end we embarked on a unique exercise to harvest the views and opinions from business leaders to inform a collective response providing government with a strong impression of the business communitys reaction.
Some of the proposed changes, such as a potential overhaul of zero-hour contracts, how holiday pay is calculated and increasing trade unions rights to access workplaces have the potential to significantly impact employers right across Northern Ireland.
As the first major employment law consultation in Northern Ireland in over 10 years, it is an important time for employers across NI to engage with the proposals and share their views on how the potential changes could impact their business.
Paul Gillen of Lewis Silken
The proposed Bill covers a wide range of employment rights including voice and representation proposals such as a reduction in the number of employees that unions need to seek formal recognition in workplaces.
Also noted are proposed pay and benefits changes include fair and transparent allocation of tips to workers, extending a right to a payslip and clarity of payslip information.
Work-life balance reforms are also on the table with proposed reforms including a right to request flexible working from the first day of employment, one weeks carers leave (potentially paid) and enhanced paternity and neonatal leave.
There are some surprises: access to apprenticeship levy funds, protection in holiday claims and restrictions on probationary periods did not make it into the consultation. It remains to be seen whether these do come up through the consultation process or indeed feature in any new Employment Bill.
We welcome this consultation, and with the potential changes proposed, employers across Northern Ireland need to take this opportunity to share thoughts and insights to help shape our consultation response
We are encouraging all stakeholders to engage in this by responding directly to the departments consultation to give a voice to businesses in this important process.
Paul Gillen is a partner in law firm Lewis Silkins employment, immigration and reward division in Belfast. The Department for the Economys consultation closes on Monday September 30 at 5pm. To respond, to go https://consultations.nidirect.gov.uk/dfe/good-jobs-employment-rights-bill/
Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) - Somalia has made significant macroeconomic strides in recent years, but these gains have yet to translate into poverty reduction, with over half of the population still living below the national poverty line, says a new World Bank report, Somalia Poverty and Equity Assessment
The iPhone 16 on display at the Apple Store in Regent Street, central London, as the iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max go on sale, alongside the Apple Watch series 10, AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Max. Picture date: Friday September 20, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story TECHNOLOGY Apple. Photo credit should read: James Manning/PA Wire
Apple has confirmed its new artificial intelligence software will work in Northern Ireland but not in the Republic of Ireland.
Last week, the tech giant announced it would be introducing Apple Intelligence, the companys brand new AI software which will be incorporated into the new Apple iPhone 16 models and future MacBooks and iPads in the UK from December.
Phillip Schofield on an island off the coast of Madagascar, on Channel 5's Cast Away
Phillip Schofield on an island off the coast of Madagascar, on Channel 5's Cast Away. Pic: Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited/PA Wire
Phillip Schofield on an island off the coast of Madagascar, on Channel 5's Cast Away. Pic: Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited/PA Wire r.
Eamonn Holmes has scoffed at his former This Morning co-star Phillip Schofield after he announced his return to TV with a Channel 5 series.
In the trailer for the show, which shows Schofield marooned alone on a tropical island off the coast of Madagascar, the 62-year-old acknowledged that not disclosing an affair with a younger colleague was unwise, but questioned whether it should absolutely destroy someone.
In the teaser for the three-part show, Phillip Schofield: Cast Away, he says to camera: Ive been cast away on a desert island, completely on my own, all I have is camera gear, and I can say whatever I want about whatever I want.
Its my chance to tell my side of my story. I know what I did was unwise, but is it enough to absolutely destroy someone?
Schofield said last year he had lost everything after admitting to the affair, and that the fallout had had a catastrophic effect on his mind.
An external review, revealed in December, found that ITV made considerable efforts to find out the truth about an alleged relationship between him and a runner on This Morning in 2019 but was unable to uncover the relevant evidence until the presenters own admission in late May 2023.
Carried out by Jane Mulcahy KC, and commissioned by ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall, Schofield reluctantly declined to take part because of the risk to his health.
Holly Willoughby, who was a co-host of This Morning with Schofield for more than a decade left the daytime programme in October 2023, and continued at ITV by presenting Dancing On Ice with Stephen Mulhern, instead of her former on-screen partner.
When it emerged that Schofield had the affair, Holmes said both he and his former wife Ruth Langsford had been taken for fools by their former co-presenter after comforting him live on TV when he came out as gay.
The Belfast presenter also said Schofield has finally been caught out and branded ITV the ministry of lies.
Theres something about Eamonn (Holmes)
Following the announcement of Schofields Channel 5 show, it was discussed on Holmes GB News breakfast show where contributor Dr Renee Hoenderkamp said: Is this not just the chance for a narcissist to have more me time on screen?
Former Home Office Minister Norman Baker added: "So what? I don't want to know about it, I'm not interested in it. Why is The Sun giving two pages to it? I suppose it sells papers but really, is that the most important thing in the papers?"
Co-host Isabel Webster interrupted and said: "Well, he was one of our most high-profile presenters in the country, he was married and he had two children when the scandal emerged, he lost all of his TV work including Dancing On Ice, he fell out with his one time best friend and co-host Holly Willoughby..."
She added that Schofield "had to leave social media" in the wake of his scandal, when Baker replied my heart bleeds, which led to Holmes letting out a chuckle and saying, very good, very good.
The clip for Schofields new show was interspersed with scenes of him trying to find food and survive on the island.
Announcing the new series yesterday, more than a year on from his resignation from ITV last May, he called the show his story of survival, both on a desert island and off it on Instagram.
The series will air across three nights, from Monday until Wednesday, and will see the former presenter getting to grips with isolation across 10 days and nine nights.
Channel 5 said the experience of Schofield being left alone allows him to confront the challenges of total isolation, the forces of nature and provides the time to battle within his own mind as he explores his own controversial story.
Schofield said: This is most definitely a first for me and the only thing I felt compelled to do. It appealed to me on so many levels.
Ive recently had a lot of time to think about my life, what went right and what went wrong, but Ive always had the safe arms of friends and family wrapped around me. This time its just me, no phone, no comforts, no crew and only lip balm as a luxury.
Im looking forward to exploring the island, trying to tie knots to secure my shelter and foraging and fending for myself in the wild with no help.
Channel 5 commissioning editor Guy Davies said: This isnt just a survival challenge, its a chance for Phillip to look back over the last explosive 18 months of his life, and explore what happened.
Before the announcement, the channel posted a short clip of a mystery star walking across a remote beach, as it teased its brand new desert island programme on social media.
Phillip Schofield: Cast Away begins airing at 9pm on Monday on Channel 5.
Alek Pawlewski who travels round schools in Northern Ireland and teaching children first aid, Monday, September 16, 2024. Picture by Peter Morrison
Alek Pawlewski who travels round schools in Northern Ireland and teaching children first aid, Monday, September 16, 2024. Picture by Peter Morrison
A charity is using first aid classes to tackle youth violence in Northern Ireland.
Street Doctors is a movement of young healthcare volunteers who train young people with skills to become lifesavers in their communities.
They aim to empower young people affected by violence to keep themselves and others safe.
Now they are hoping to sign more young people up to the project.
Its not just about teaching the young people what could happen in a violent situation, its giving them the tools to help people in these situations, said Alek Pawlewski (22), a Belfast-based Street Doctors volunteer.
Street Doctors was established in Liverpool in 2008 and started working in Northern Ireland in 2021.
Many of those involved in the charity are trainee nurses, paramedics and doctors.
Alek, a final year medical student at Queens University, feels they can reach out to young people in a way that others cant.
Because a lot of us are younger, the young people feel we are sort of the same level as them and maybe take directions from us a bit easier, he explained.
You also act as a bit of a role model to them. It shows them that it is actually possible to break out of this cycle and they can be the person to help in a dangerous situation.
While knife crime statistics are lower here than the rest of the UK, Street Doctors feel recent rioting proves youth violence is still a huge issue here.
The classes aim to teach those aged 11 to 18 how to help people but also show them how severe injuries associated with street violence can be.
Alek added: I think if some of the young people involved in rioting and street violence saw the consequences of what could happen because of their actions then they would be a lot less likely to get involved with the violence in the first place.
Alek Pawlewski who travels round schools in Northern Ireland and teaching children first aid, Monday, September 16, 2024. Picture by Peter Morrison
Obviously we cant outright stop them and we dont necessarily want to scare them but its just teaching them the facts.
He feels the classes give young people a chance to change the narrative surrounding youth violence.
It gives them that confidence that they know what to do to stand up and take care of their friends or family in a situation where something violent happens and hopefully that confidence means they are less likely to get pulled into getting involved in a violent situation themselves, he added.
The classes also teach young people how to cope with the mental trauma associated with witnessing a violent attack.
Alek and his fellow volunteers are eager to see Street Doctors expand across Northern Ireland.
We operate all over Northern Ireland. We have done sessions in Lurgan, we have been out towards Limavady and Newtownards but the hope is we can get more volunteers to cover Northern Ireland and maybe have a team based up in Derry, he said.
Street Doctors want to see a multi-agency approach to youth violence in Northern Ireland.
It is a complicated issue and I dont think any one intervention can solve it. I think it needs lots of different organisations to get involved but what we are trying to do is focus on the educational route, Alek said.
Martin Tilbury, the chief executive of Street Doctors, said a lack of funding has made it more difficult to grow Street Doctors in Northern Ireland.
I think funding is a huge issue, its an issue for everyone in Northern Ireland particularly with Stormont being shut for so long but because there is so little funding it means that organisations that should be working together to solve issues like youth violence are having to almost fight against each other for funding, he said.
However, he said the charity has received positive feedback from communities in NI and is hopeful they can continue to grow.
Communities in Northern Ireland want classes like these and we want to provide them as much as we possibly can.
A fresh legal challenge could open the door to allowing thousands of paramilitary-style attack victims injured during the Troubles to claim compensation.
Peter McCabe, who was shot by the IRA in a 1990 attack that was witnessed by his daughter, launched the challenge earlier this week after being denied compensation under the Troubles Permanent Disability Payment Scheme, as his case wasnt deemed related to the conflict.
Riot police in Belfast during the violence (Photo by Kevin Scott)
Police have released these images of people they want to speak to in connection with the investigation.
Police revealed on Wednesday that 38 people have now been charged to court in relation to disorder and, in some cases, racist hate crimes that occurred in Belfast last month.
The PSNI also released a further seven images of individuals they would like to speak to in connection with the ongoing investigation into a number of incidents of disorder and attacks on police officers since Saturday, August 3.
Overall so far, there have been 48 arrests.
Riot police in Belfast during the violence (Photo by Kevin Scott)
On Wednesday afternoon, the PSNI announced that a 19-year-old man has now been charged with two counts of riot, arson, criminal damage and two counts of possession of an offensive weapon with intent to commit an indictable offence.
He is due before Belfast Magistrates Court on October 18.
A 17-year-old boy was charged with riot, two counts of arson and criminal damage and is due before Belfast Youth Court on October 14.
A 16-year-old boy was charged with riot and is due to appear before Belfast Youth Court on October 21.
As is usual procedure all charges will be reviewed by the PPS.
At the beginning of August, police dealt with nearly a week filled with riots, protests and attacks throughout the city.
Windows of houses were broken, cars and various objects were set on fire, and police officers were attacked with bricks and masonry by many masked assailants.
Several businesses owned by migrants were torched or vandalised.
Disorder began on Saturday, August 3, after an anti-immigration protest involving 600 people formed in the City Hall area, and then dispersed into sporadic violence in parts of south Belfast, with further disorder reported in the Sandy Row area later that night.
Police said they also prevented attempts to march to the Belfast Islamic Centre.
Watch: Cars burn during night of disorder in south Belfast
Multiple UK towns and cities saw clashes between anti-immigration demonstrators and counter-protesters in the same week, after three girls were killed in a knife attack.
The victims were Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.
Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 17, from Lancashire, is accused of the attack, but false claims spread online that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat.
The First and deputy First Ministers, alongside political representatives across Northern Ireland, have continued to condemn the attacks.
Earlier this month, the PSNI said it spent over 3.5m last month dealing with the race hate disorder across Northern Ireland, as police recorded more than 400 race hate crimes this year compared to last year.
There have been plans to pedestrianise Hill Street in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter.
Plans to pedestrianise a busy area of Belfasts Cathedral Quarter have been put on hold, much to the dismay of business and political representatives.
Infrastructure Minister John ODowd has announced that the scheme to ban vehicles from passing through the cobbled Hill Street in the city centre has been put on hold.
The street, which is particularly popular with tourists, contains several of Belfasts best known bars and restaurants.
It had been previously pedestrianised for a trial period in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, proposals to permanently close the street to cars have faced years of delays.
Mr ODowd said the pause has been a result of "several competing work priorities".
The Sinn Fein MLA also blamed "underfunding and austerity by the British government", according to a letter seen by BBC News NI.
In the correspondence, which was sent to Cathedral Quarter Business Improvement District (BID) in July, Mr ODowd couldnt provide a definitive timescale for the issue to be resolved.
"My department has been operating in a difficult financial environment for a number of years due to underfunding and austerity by the British government," he said.
"Unfortunately, given the current workload, competing business priorities, and reduced staffing levels, it is likely that the pedestrianisation of Hill Street will not progress as quickly as we would wish, and delivery of the scheme will be delayed."
Michael Stewart, Belfasts first night czar. Picture by Peter Morrison
Hospitality operator Michael Stewart was appointed as Belfasts night czar during the summer by three local business improvement districts, to help turn things around for the citys nightlife.
He said he is both disappointed and surprised that the Department for Infrastructure does not have the funding for a relatively small project.
"Both capital outlay and infrastructure is required in our Night Time Economy, in what is considered as one of the busiest streets for pedestrians and traffic in Belfast, he told The Belfast Telegraph.
On Wednesday, local SDLP councillor Carl Whyte questioned the failure to deliver the plans.
Since August 2024 alone the Department for Infrastructure has announced over 8m worth of road improvements, so it will come as a big surprise to people in Belfast that the small amount of money required to pedestrianise Hill Street still somehow cannot be found, he said.
Anyone in Belfast on a Friday or Saturday night can clearly see the danger posed by the combination of car traffic and large crowds of people on Hill Street and that full pedestrianisation, which is supported by all local businesses, is absolutely urgent.
Its simply not credible to blame the British Government for every delay or failure from a Stormont department.
"In government, the SDLP brought forward this proposal and showed the benefits with a previous trial period. This is not a major project requiring a large investment so for the Minister to try and pass the blame for this delay rings hollow.
Belfast entrepreneur Bill Wolsey, who owns businesses in the region such as The Merchant Hotel, The National and The Dirty Onion, told BBC News NI's Evening Extra programme, that the cost of this should not be an excuse.
"Theres a benefit to the citizens of Belfast that this street is given back to them in a pedestrianised way and they can walk up it in a safe environment," he said
"We need to take some action now because the street gets busier and busier."
Rachel Simpson and her son Nathan, who is accused of her murder.
A mum of three murdered in east Belfast was a fearless warrior with a heart of gold, her funeral heard.
The body of Rachel Simpson (43) was discovered in a garage along the Castlereagh Road earlier this month, after police had been called to the property.
Her 21-year-old son Nathan Simpson, with an address given as Castlereagh Road, has been charged with her murder.
Hundreds of people, many of whom were dressed in leopard print at the familys request in honour of Ms Simpsons favourite style, gathered at Orangefield Presbyterian Church today for a service of remembrance for the east Belfast woman.
Rachel Simpson and her son Nathan, who is accused of her murder.
Rachel was selfless, she had a true heart of gold, said Cher Simpson, Rachels sister who spoke on behalf of the family, including her younger sister Erin.
She always put others ahead of her and her kindness knew no limit no matter what her day or week was like she wanted to know about you first.
She was a much-cherished mother to three much-loved children and this love remains eternal.
Rachel was a hard worker. She started two successful businesses by herself and was a beloved grandchild and aunt.
She was a champion for the underdogs and always cared for those who needed it most. She would have fought an army for you, a fiercely loyal person and if she had your back you knew about it, she added.
Rachel loved her family more than anything humanly possible she bought the best presents and her children were always her focus.
She was fearless, shed run into a burning house to save you well, shed probably save your pet before you and was a great friend and its been lovely for us to hear the memories of her filled with laughter and love.
Cher Simpson also said her sister loved dance music and Dolly Parton and prided herself on being the most organised person.
Rachel was also known to work at a soup kitchen on Christmas Day and would never pass a homeless person without offering them food.
She was a queen, she was brave and she was loved.
Mourners, including DUP leader Gavin Robinson, also applauded when Ms Simpsons emotional daughter Lucy gave a reading of Psalm 23 The Lord is my Shepherd in the service.
Flowers left at Rachel Simpson murder scene on the Castlereagh Road (Pic: Pacemaker)
The eulogy was given by Reverend Karen Hunter Kriwald, a close friend of the Simpson family, whom the mother-of-three lived with for a time in England.
I have so many fond memories of babysitting Rachel on holidays, playing with her sisters in the sea, she said.
She returned the favour when she came to stay with me in London, where she helped with my children.
Today I invite you to join me in knowing that Rachels Lord, her good shepherd and compassion, stood beside her and suffered with her, he then took her in his arms and carried her home with great joy.
Mourners also heard about the love the east Belfast woman had for her three children two daughters Lucy and Sophie and son Nathan, whose picture alongside his mother was the final photograph in the order of service.
Speaking ahead of her funeral, which was closed with a rendition of Super Trouper by Abba, Ms Simpsons mother, Jill, said her family are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of sympathy and support from across the community.
The tragedy that befell our family was devastating, she said. In Rachel, we have lost a loving and devoted mother and daughter.
However, given the circumstances, the loss is much wider and much more profound.
There will be more to say in the time ahead, but as we lay Rachel to rest, we respectfully ask for privacy and space.
There will be no further comment at this time.
A private cremation followed the service of thanksgiving at Roselawn Cemetery.
News Catch Up - Tuesday 24th September
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will make his first public statements since he was released from prison in June when he addresses the Council of Europe in Strasbourg next week.
Mr Assange, 53, will give evidence to the committee on legal affairs and human rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Tuesday, according to a Wikileaks statement.
The appearance follows the publication of an inquiry report by the parliamentary assembly into Mr Assanges detention in Belmarsh Prison for five years. He had previously spent seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after requesting asylum.
The Wikileaks statement said: The report confirms that Assange qualifies as a political prisoner and calls on the UK conduct an independent review into whether he was exposed to inhuman or degrading treatment.
Screen grab taken from the X account of Wikileaks of Julian Assange arriving in Bangkok, Thailand, following his release from prison (Wikileaks/PA)
The report discusses how governments employ both legal and extralegal measures to suppress dissent across borders, which poses significant threats to press freedom and human rights.
Wikileaks said Mr Assange was in recovery having returned to his native Australia on his release.
At the time, his wife Stella said he needed time to rediscover freedom and recuperate before speaking publicly at a time of his choosing.
The statement, posted on X, said he was attending the hearing in France due to the exceptional nature of the invitation and to embrace the support received from PACE and its delegates.
Mr Assanges freedom in June followed a court appearance before a judge in the US territory of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific, where he pleaded guilty to a single charge after the US dropped 17 other espionage charges against him.
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Because of the five years he has spent in Belmarsh Prison, mainly in solitary confinement, he was told he was free to leave.
He had flown to Saipan from the UK via Bangkok after a plea deal which brought to an end a criminal case of international intrigue and to the US governments pursuit of a publisher whose secret-sharing website made him a cause celebre among many press freedom advocates who said he acted as a journalist to expose US military wrongdoing.
The decision to approve his extradition to the United States, made by then-home secretary Priti Patel in June 2022, was formally quashed at the High Court two days after his return to Australia. Mr Assange had been due to bring a challenge to the extradition in July.
US prosecutors had repeatedly asserted that his actions broke the law and put the countrys national security at risk.
The leaks detailed thousands of civilian deaths as a result of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, and implicated American armed forces in the killing of innocent bystanders, including a father and two Reuters journalists during an air strike on Baghdad in July 2007.
A man wades through floodwater at Cogenhoe Mill Holiday Park in Northamptonshire, which is next to Billing Aquadrome holiday park. Picture date: Tuesday September 24, 2024. (Joe Giddens/PA)
Residents at a Northamptonshire holiday park have been told to evacuate their homes as flooding continues to hit the area.
Firefighters and police are working at Billing Aquadrome holiday park, West Northamptonshire Council said.
Pictures taken on Tuesday showed neighbouring Cogenhoe Mill holiday park flooded after the River Nene burst its banks.
It comes after parts of the UK saw more than the monthly average rainfall on Monday, with flash flooding damaging homes and disrupting travel.
(PA Graphics)
A statement issued by West Northamptonshire Council about Billing Aquadrome said: Northamptonshire Police, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service and teams of professionals from West Northamptonshire Council are co-ordinating their response at the site, where they are in support of the aquadromes management who are putting their evacuation plan in place.
Northamptonshire search and rescue is working with the fire service and ready to respond if needed.
Council teams are carrying out welfare checks on any vulnerable residents, and a fire service joint command unit has been deployed at the 235-acre site.
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Areas including Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire were among the worst hit on Monday, the Met Office said previously.
The Environment Agency had 26 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 54 flood alerts, meaning it is possible, in place across England on Wednesday morning.
A yellow weather warning indicating heavy rain could cause some disruption has been issued for the whole day on Thursday covering much of the north east of England.
Between 20 and 30mm of rain could be seen widely, 50 to 70mm could fall in some locations and it is possible the Pennines and North York Moors could have between 80-100mm of rain.
Sir Keir Starmer called on Israel and Hezbollah to agree an immediate ceasefire as he urged Britons to leave Lebanon immediately to escape the escalating violence.
The Prime Minister addressed the UN Security Council with a plea for an end to the violence in both Lebanon and Gaza.
In a blunt message to Israel he said Benjamin Netanyahus government needed to do more to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The UK has deployed 700 troops to Cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation of thousands of Britons.
Sir Keir urged Britons to leave by the remaining commercial routes without relying on a possible evacuation.
Ahead of his appearance at the UN in New York, Sir Keir said: In relation to Lebanon, I am very worried about the escalation.
Im calling for all parties to step back from the brink, to de-escalate. We need a ceasefire so this can be sorted out diplomatically.
But I have a very important message for British nationals in Lebanon which is: the time to leave is now.
Sir Keir Starmer gives a media interview ahead of addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York (Leon Neal/PA)
The contingency plans are being ramped up but dont wait for those, there are still commercial flights.
Its very important that they hear my message, which is to leave and to leave immediately.
At the UN Security Council he called on all sides in the disputes in the Middle East to seek a diplomatic solution.
He said: We must address the situation in Gaza. October 7 was the bloodiest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
I utterly condemn the terrorist actions of Hamas. The ordeal of the hostages and their loved ones continues almost a year later.
Six of them were killed in cold blood just a few weeks ago. So, I say again: let the hostages go.
And we must face up to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza that continues to deepen by the day.
Israel must grant humanitarian access to civilians in line with its obligations under international humanitarian law. There can be no more excuses.
He added: I call on the Security Council to seek political solutions that can break repeating cycles of violence like that in the Middle East. The region is at the brink.
We need an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah and the implementation of a political plan which allows Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return to their homes to live in peace and security.
That security will come through diplomacy not escalation. There is no military solution here. Nor is there a military-only solution to the conflict in Gaza.
This council must demand again an immediate, full and complete ceasefire in Gaza with the release of all the hostages.
We need a political route to that agreement which provides a bridge to a better future. A credible and irreversible path towards a viable Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure State of Israel.
This is the only way to provide security and justice for both Israelis and Palestinians.
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President Vladimir Putin said an attack against Russia by a non-nuclear power with support of a nuclear power will be seen as their joint attack on the Russian Federation (Valery Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo/AP)
In a strong, new warning to the West, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that any nations conventional attack on Russia that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country.
The threat, outlined in a revision of Moscows nuclear doctrine, was clearly aimed at discouraging the West from allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range weapons and appears to significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Russias nuclear arsenal.
Speaking during Wednesdays meeting of Russias Security Council, which considers changes in Russias nuclear doctrine, Mr Putin announced that a revised version of the document says that an attack against Russia by a non-nuclear power with the support of a nuclear power will be seen as their joint attack on the Russian Federation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the Security Council meeting on nuclear deterrence at the Kremlin (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Mr Putin did not specify whether the modified document envisages a nuclear response to such an attack, but he emphasised that Russia could use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional attack posing a critical threat to our sovereignty, a vague formulation that leaves broad room for interpretation.
Russia is making slow but steady gains in Ukraine as the conflict grinds through its third year, and the Kremlin is seeking to discourage stronger Western support for Kyiv.
The change in the doctrine follows Mr Putins warning to the US and other Nato allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied long-range weapons for strikes on Russia would mean that Russia and Nato are at war.
Since Mr Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, he and other Kremlin voices have frequently threatened the West with Russias nuclear arsenal to discourage it from ramping up support for Kyiv.
The current doctrine says Moscow could use its nuclear arsenal in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it and/or its allies, as well as in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation with the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is in jeopardy.
Mr Putin emphasised that the revised doctrine spells out conditions for using nuclear weapons in greater detail, noting they could be used in case of a massive air attack.
He said: Conditions for Russias move to use nuclear weapons are clearly stated in the revisions.
We will consider such a possibility when we receive reliable information about a massive launch of air and space attack assets and them crossing our state border, he added, citing strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic and other flying vehicles.
Putin said the revised doctrine could spell out conditions for using nuclear weapons in greater detail (Aleksei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
The broad formulation appears to significantly broaden the triggers for possible nuclear weapons use, compared with the current version of the document, which states Russia could tap its atomic arsenal if it receives reliable information about the launch of ballistic missiles targeting the territory of Russia or its allies.
The new phrasing holds the door open to a potential nuclear response to any aerial attack.
Ukraine has repeatedly struck Russian territory with missiles and drones in response to Moscows attacks.
Mr Putin also said the revised doctrine envisages that Russia could use nuclear weapons in response to aggression against its ally Belarus, adding that he has agreed on the issue with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Mr Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for more than 30 years, has relied on Russias subsidies and support.
He has let Russia use his countrys territory to send troops into Ukraine and allowed the Kremlin to deploy some of Russias tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
A session of the State Duma, in Moscow on Wednesday (The State Duma, Lower House of the Russian Parliament Press Service via AP)
The lower house of Russias parliament on Wednesday gave overwhelming approval to the first reading of a proposed law to prohibit the adoption of Russian children by citizens of countries where gender transitioning is legal.
The measure, which would need to pass two more readings in the Duma before being sent to the upper house and then to President Vladimir Putin, follows a series of other laws and rulings that clamp down on sexual minorities.
Mr Putin and other top officials have in recent years increasingly called for observing so-called traditional values as a counter to Western liberalism characterised as degenerate.
Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the Bill is aimed at protecting childhood and traditional values and would affect citizens of dozens of countries.
It is necessary to protect our children from the dangers they may face in adoption or guardianship by citizens of foreign countries where gender reassignment is permitted, he said.
The issue is not that Russias moral compass and moral foundations aim to protect traditional values, and understanding of marriage as the union of man and woman, but its the direct protection of a childs life, said parliament deputy speaker Irina Yarovaya.
Russias Supreme Court last year outlawed the LGBTQ movement as extremist. In 2022, Mr Putin signed a law prohibiting the distribution of LGBTQ information to people of all ages, expanding a ban issued in 2013 on disseminating the material to minors.
The Duma on Wednesday also was to consider draft Bills that would outlaw spreading information about voluntarily choosing not to have children.
As Russias population declines, Mr Putin has made statements advocating large families and last year urged women to have as many as eight children.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky told the UN General Assembly that any alternative to his peace formula is an effort to achieve an out instead of true peace (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged global leaders to stand with his country and not seek a lull instead of a real, just peace more than two years into Russias war.
At a time when he faces growing pressure from Western allies and some of his fellow Ukrainians to negotiate a ceasefire, Mr Zelensky told the UN General Assembly there is no alternative to the peace formula he presented two years ago.
Among other things, it seeks the expulsion of all Russian forces from Ukraine and accountability for war crimes.
Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of an end to the war, he said.
Do not divide the world. Be united nations, he implored. And that will bring us peace.
Russia has not yet had its turn to speak at the assemblys annual gathering of presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and other high officials.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky told the UN General Assembly theres no alternative to the peace formula (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not attending this years high-level meetings at the General Assembly.
Low-level Russian diplomats occupied the countrys seats in the huge assembly hall during Mr Zelenskys speech.
At the UN Security Council earlier in the week, Mr Zelensky argued that Russia needs to be forced into peace, saying theres no point in pursuing peace talks with Mr Putin.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded that the Ukrainian presidents call for compulsion was a fatal mistake and a profound misconception, which, of course, will inevitably have consequences for the Kyiv regime.
Mr Zelensky is expected to present a victory plan this week to US President President Joe Biden. While the plan hasnt been released, it is aimed at laying out what Ukraine believes it needs fast from Western allies to win.
The victory plan that Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky will present to the White House this week asks the Biden administration to do something it has not achieved in the two and a half years since Russia invaded Ukraine: act quickly to support Kyivs campaign.
While Western dawdling has amplified Ukraines losses, some Ukrainian officials, diplomats and analysts fear Kyivs aim to have the plan implemented before a new US president takes office in January may be out of reach.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, reportedly briefed on the plan, said it can work but many privately question how.
The specifics of Mr Zelenskys blueprint have been kept under wraps until it can be formally presented to US President Joe Biden, but contours of the plan have emerged, including the need for fast action on decisions Western allies have been mulling since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.
Volodymyr Zelensky is watched by Rich Hansen, the commanders representative for the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, while signing military ordnance in Scranton, Pennsylvania (Office of the Ukrainian Presidency via AP)
It includes the security guarantee of Nato membership, according to Mr Zelenskys chief of staff Andrii Yermak a principal demand of Kyiv and Moscows key point of contention. Western allies, including the US, have been sceptical about this option.
Mr Zelensky has said he will also seek permission to use long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory, another red line for some of Ukraines supporters.
Partners often say, We will be with Ukraine until its victory. Now we clearly show how Ukraine can win and what is needed for this. Very specific things, Mr Zelensky told reporters ahead of the trip.
Lets do all this today, while all the officials who want victory for Ukraine are still in official positions.
Meanwhile, outnumbered Ukrainian forces face grinding battles against one of the worlds most powerful armies in the east.
As Mr Zelensky pitches his plan to Mr Biden on Thursday, Ukrainian servicemen will be grappling to hold defensive lines in the key logistics point of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region.
I hope that allies will provide us with what we need, said Kyanin, a soldier fighting in the Donetsk region. Not 10 or 31 tanks, but a thousand tanks, thousands of weapons and ammunition.
The victory plan is Kyivs response to rising pressure from Western allies and war-weary Ukrainians to negotiate a ceasefire. A deal with Russia would almost certainly be unfavourable for Ukraine, which has lost a fifth of its territory and tens of thousands of lives in the conflict.
President Zelensky and Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg in July (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
Unless, Kyiv calculates, its western partners act quickly. Ukraines allies have routinely mulled over requests for weapons and capabilities, granting them often after their strategic value is diminished. Under the plan, from October to December, they must dramatically strengthen Kyivs hand.
The plan comprises military, political, diplomatic and economic elements.
A senior US State Department official said the Ukrainians were testing certain elements of Mr Zelenskys plan with the US and others but had not yet offered details or the entire proposal. Any decision on support for parts or all of the plan will be up to Mr Biden, the official said on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly in New York.
The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss private consultations with the Ukrainians, said the military element of the plan deals with what Ukraine thinks it needs in the short term to keep pressure on Russia and hopefully force them to the negotiating table.
The political element deals with how to assure the Ukrainian people that they will be welcome in Western institutions such as the European Union and Nato if they continue to fight with Russia or succeed in getting a negotiated settlement with Russia, the official said.
Aside from the demand for Nato membership, the plan seeks to bolster Ukraines defences, including air defence capabilities, enough to force Moscow to negotiate.
A request to ramp up sanctions to weaken Russias economy and defence industry is also expected.
Mr Zelensky has said without elaborating that Kyivs military incursion into Kursk, in Russia, is part of the victory plan.
That offensive, which embarrassed President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin scrambled to counterattack, has not yielded any strategic gains. But it has shown the Russian public and doubtful Western allies that Russian is not invincible and Kyiv still has offensive capabilities despite being battered on the eastern front.
Mr Zelensky has described his proposal as a bridge to the peace summit that he has proposed for November but that Russia says it will not attend. No international players capable of swaying Moscow agreed to his earlier 10-point peace plan, which calls for the full withdrawal of Russian forces.
Ukrainian presidential advisers and politicians have told The Associated Press that Kyiv will agree to a ceasefire with Russia only if Mr Putins ability to invade the country again is halted. Any other arrangement would not benefit Ukraines future or honour the sacrifices of its people.
Ukrainian officials have rejected competing proposals from China and Brazil, believing they would merely pause the war and give Moscow time to consolidate its battered army and defence industry.
It will lead to a freezing of the conflict, nothing more: Occupied territories are considered occupied. Sanctions against Russia remain. The intensity of war drops significantly but it continues, said one presidential adviser, who requested anonymity.
He predicted that Moscow would recalibrate and attack again, likely from Mykolaiv and Odesa in the south, within two, three, four years, or maybe even earlier, depending on the state of Russia. Thats the scenario.
Russias conditions for ending the war are spelled out in a 17-page draft agreement penned in April 2022.
Prolonging the status quo will only play into Russias hands in the long-term, analysts said.
Ukraine will lose more than 1,000 square kilometers (600 miles) by the end of the year if current conditions continue, said Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst for Information Resistance, a Kyiv-based think tank.
We need to understand that if (allies) dont defend Ukraine, it will make this war last for many more years, and finally, make it possible for us to lose the war, he said.
Time will also allow Russian forces to build up its weapons industry, as it did at a frightening pace in the last year, said Kovalenko.
We lack every kind of weapon, and Russia produces their weapons 24 hours a day, Mr Kovalenko said.
Russia has updated its aerial glide bombs, for which Ukraine has no effective countermeasure. They now weigh 3,000 pounds, which is six times bigger than when they were first used in the battle for Bakhmut in 2022, he said.
Soldiers in eastern Ukraine and analysts said long-range Western weapons would be the most effective countermeasure against glide bombs, which have been deployed along the frontline, including in Vuhledar. The mining towns fall would compromise supply lines feeding the southern front and strike a devastating blow to Ukrainian morale.
In his final address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Mr Biden urged Ukraines backers to stand firm.
We cannot grow weary, he said. We cannot look away.
Belfast doctor groped junior colleagues bottom after asking her for hug
Creeps career in tatters after fine for late-night sex attack at Musgrave Park Hospital
Oye Akindele
John Toner Wed 25 Sep 2024 at 09:12
A creepy doctor is facing the end of his career after being fined for groping and kissing a junior colleague during a night shift.
MANCHESTER Now on display at Helmholz Fine Art are works of Techspressionism by North Bennington artist Colin Goldberg.
Goldberg invented the term Techspressionism in 2011 to describe his technology-fueled paintings. Since then, Techspressionism has developed into an international movement of artists from over 45 countries. It has also become a widely used hashtag on social media, with over 75K Instagram posts by artists around the globe using the hashtag #techspressionism.
Its good for people to be able to see something that is very cutting edge here in Manchester, Vt., said Lisa Helmholz-Adams, owner and curator of the gallery at 442 Depot St., Manchester Center. Its been so well received. Its really, really exciting for people to be able to see this. Gallery hours are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Wednesday and Thursday by appointment only.
Dened as an artistic approach in which technology is utilized as a means to express emotional experience, Techspressionism has been described as
Expressionism for the 21st Century. The artist groups adviser, art historian Helen Harrison, was the longtime director of the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, the former home and studio of the Abstract Expressionist artists Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner in East Hampton, New York.
This August, the rst museum exhibition of Techspressionist artworks opened at the Kingsborough Art Museum in Brooklyn. The show featured paintings, sculptures, and digital art by artists from more than 20 countries who use technology in their practices.
Circuit, Goldbergs submission to the exhibition, is a dynamic 6x8-foot augmented reality (AR) artwork that animates on the wall when viewed through a mobile app. An earlier AR work from this series, Kneeling Icon, was purchased by the Hearst Corporation in New York City last year. It is now permanently installed in the companys corporate headquarters in Manhattans Hearst Tower.
Goldberg, who is represented by Helmholz Fine Art (HFA) in Manchester Center, will bring Circuit from Brooklyn to HFA in Vermont for an exhibition of his works this fall. Circuit is also one of a series of 23 works featured in Metagraphs: Augmented Reality Art, a book in which the artists works animate directly on the books pages.
Born in the Bronx, Goldberg moved to Southern Vermont three years ago. He lives and works in North Bennington and is the father of a 10-year-old daughter, Aya.
Goldbergs works have been featured on PBS and NPR, and published in WIRED and the New York Times.
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.
Understanding the essence of the living can have a profound effect on the approach to dying. Michelle Hogle Acciavatti, a natural deathworker and founder of the Vermont Forest Cemetery in Roxbury, Vermont, has tirelessly advocated for the practical application of natural burial helping legalize it in Vermont at seven cemeteries including her own. Recently, a speaker at the TEDxHartlandHill event in Woodstock Vermont, Accivatti's perspective ranges from neuroscience to philosophy to doula training but about all it comes back to humanity, the essence of dignity and love.
Embracing living and helping let go with a sense of closure as a natural deathworker Understanding the essence of the living can have a profound effect on the approach to dying. Michelle Hogle Acciavatti, a natural deathworker
She says a lot of her journey started in Bennington when she attended Bennington College in the early 2000s. I came from a very intense public high school [Newton North, outside Boston] where the expectation was that you were a Straight A-honor student, you did some sort of art, you played sports, you volunteered a lot, and you gave back to the community. She says it was just a super high pressure environment where everybody was really expected to succeed and to thrive. And I was very much caught up in that.
Acciavatti had heard about Bennington, which she was told was a place where the emphasis was really on what was being learned. That, to me, was a real revelation. Acciavatti's first two loves were poetry and science (a point she made in her TEDtalk). She says Bennington never asked her to choose between the two so she was able to explore both. Her first year she had a class on the origin of consciousness, co-taught by Susan Sgorbati, who's now the head of CAPA, along with Bruce Weber, who was a visiting scholar from Davis. It was just automatically that perspective that art and science belong together. Later, Acciavatti had a chemistry teacher that taught the Chemistry of Color. These ideas set her on her path. When she eventually did her field work term, she ended up really interested in research with babies with Down syndrome. She was looking at the relationship between motor development and cognitive development in infancy. That's what I fell in love with, and that's what I wanted to pursue. She continued to grad school to follow that path.
But another series of events adjusted her path. When I went through Bennington, inasmuch as it was academic experiment, it was also very much a social experiment. "The friendships that were formed were really important for me" In her last year of college, a friend of hers died by suicide. And then in both in March and then in April the following year, two of her best friends died in accidents. One died in a car accident on Route Nine coming back from home over the weekend. The other fell out a window of VAPA doing a dance performance. Acciavatti says when she came back for graduation, she just remembered sitting there listening to the message that you can go out into the world and you can be anything. She says she and some of her classmates were still sort of shell-shocked. And I don't know how many other people were consciously feeling this...but what I was really conscious of feeling is that one of the things that we can do is die.
Three people I knew and two I loved very much were never going to graduate from college and go out into the world. And in some ways they were the best of us. For Acciavatti, it was the duality of being certain about her path going to grad school and then medical school and eventually aspiring to be a doctor at Boston Children's Hospital. But the other side is that she was realizing that nothing in life is guaranteed. I think that is unusual for most people in their early 20s because you're still on that adolescent cusp of invincibility. She says that time shaped me in ways that I'm still really starting to just appreciate and think through now.
Another shift happened when she suffered a major head injury that January in her first year of grad school. That really impacted her life for the next 15 years. It made it very hard for me to do the work that I was expected to do in grad school and it also kind of signaled, for me, a gradual falling out of love with basic research and bench science [for me]. Acciavatti realized then she was having to grapple with the sense of who she was at 22 when she graduated, because I was now physically altered and when I started to do the work it didn't make my heart sing in the way that I thought it would
However, did the head injury change her way of thinking or just the process of approach? I also think the head injury just made things very physically different, she explains. I had terrible vertigo. I still have a bit of a tremor. And it made it difficult to do work with my hands. I had lots of problems with concentration, with focus, and just a lot of problems regulating my brain activity.
She says it was really interesting in the fact that she was studying neuroscience and yet that perspective was being reflected back. I'm somebody who tells stories. I like to have stories about why things are the way they are. Acciavatti says she was trying to make her [injury] experience into a story, and using science as the language for that story. She says there is a reason there's a re in research because it always requires re-examination. I am very much an ideas person. In addition, the aspect of repetition in order to get the data for her work wasn't answering the big questions that she was really interested in. I mean, the data that I was gathering was contributing to things that will answer those questions in some time. But I wanted to answer the questions.
Acciavatti relates that when she came in for another field work term as a research assistant at Boston Children's Hospital, they were convening a hospital wide task force on organ donation after cardiac death. She explains that normally when there is organ donation, the subject is brain dead but they are on a ventilator, so their their heart is still pumping and their blood is circulating, There's oxygen flowing through their body, but it's all because they're on machines. She continues, If you were to turn those machines off, none of that would be happening. As a result, she says, after cardiac death is a tricky time to think about doing organ donation because you could, in theory, do CPR and potentially get their heart restarted, and bring somebody back to life so there's a lot of ethical questions. She says there is also some good science questions around it such as: When, after the heart stops, does the brain actually die? When are we not going to be causing suffering by harvesting these organs? When are we sure that there will be no experience of the organs being harvested? Acciavatti said that was one of the questions that the task force was looking at. So it was still very much involved with the brain, but it really brought the death stuff back into into my life.
Acciavatti left grad school in 2010 then went back and volunteered at the Children's Hospital in Boston. She was brought in to help guide people (because of her background in neuroscience) to be able to make recommendations for families in ethical situations such as organ donation and terminal diseases. And the more that I was exposed to families that were having to make these decisions around withdrawing or foregoing life sustaining treatment for their kids, the more that I found that (and I say this in my TEDtalk) that I sort of had a calm where I could just be very, very present in those conversations. And as hard and as sad and as devastating as those conversations were, I didn't want to run away from them. I didn't shut down around it.
Acciavatti says she took her first steps at her great grandmother's funeral. I was never shielded from death as a child. I've always been exposed to it. She says she thinks her parents normalized it for her very early for her in terms of this is a part of life. She says one of the things that normalized it for her was that it's okay to be very sad, it's okay to struggle, it's okay to feel the way we feel when death occurs.
She said even though Boston Children's Hospital is an incredible institution and these families had all sorts of in-person support, incredibly well trained social workers and doctors...kids were still dying...and there was still something missing I felt from the care that they were getting.
People say you don't just wake up one day and change your entire life. But literally, I was sitting with a friend, at her table, and she was studying to be a birth midwife," Acciavatti explains. "And I was talking to her about this subject. Acciavatti was telling her friend: "[These families] need something more. They need a different kind of support from what they're getting. And her friend said, You should be a death midwife. Acciavatti said it was that simple.
Acciavatti jokes that in 2013 there wasn't a Wikipedia entry about death midwifery at the time. Some people were offering certain training. Acciavatti speaks of a woman that had been a nurse during the AIDS crisis. That was a time when people who were dying were being kicked out of hospitals, and they weren't given access to normal care because people were afraid. She says a lot of times, nurses would end up being the ones that would care for people in their home because of that fear. So there was this strange little window of of re-bringing sections of [old] Western American culture back into caring for our dead outside of the bounds of medicine. Acciavatti says that death, in a lot of ways, is not a medical event. She says one could look at parallels between the home birth movement in the 70s and the home dying movement that was shaping up in the in the 2000s. I say that this is kind of a reawakening or a reemergence [of this practice] because there's many cultures that have never lost this caring for dead in the home, and in community, and in family. She says it just was unique in mainstream American culture that we went hard for science and medicine. Starting in the 50s, it seemed like science would solve everything, but it really took us away from a lot of things that we need to do, to deal with and be present for dying.
Acciavatti left academic science completely at that point and spent a good six years just completely devoting herself to figuring out how to be this way in the world, how to be present with the dying, how to bring people back to what does it mean to die at home, to die in community, and to be supported at home and in community.
This kind of approach is, of course, easier said than done but it begins with the written word.
I mean, I'm a reader. Words are what I love. So I read...a lot. I have this incredible death library. I've got a Goodreads profile you can check out. She also studied in person with people. It was really, for me, an education. But I kept coming up short of what I felt I needed to do. During that time, she took around nine doula trainings. Along the way, she was introduced very early on to the concept of natural burial.
In 2014, Acciavatti moved up to Vermont. So I was more exposed to people that were really living their values in terms of back to the land and home birth and holistic medicine. Acciavatti, says it was revelatory to move into this space because I had done most of my growing up just outside of Boston in the Longwood medical area. That was my Mecca. That was my goal. She had been taught that there was nothing better or more important in the world than the Harvard Hospital system because of everything that they were creating and able to do in the world.
She says that is true from a Western medicine perspective, but, for her, it really does fall really short in terms of a lot of the holistic approaches. Her doula training intuitively brought her back to what she had been so interested in at Bennington, which was what does it mean to connect something physical and something more cognitive together. She cites that all early learning in life is motor learning. Kids learn to crawl. That's how they interact with their environment, and that's what builds the patterns in our brains. It starts with how we, as humans, learn to control our bodies and how we interact with the environment. Acciavatti started reflecting on that. Death, like birth, is rarely a medical event. There are things that medicine can do to support the experience, but you can't alter or change it. Once death starts, it's happening. There's some people that want to deny it. There's some people that try to avoid it. They're their own camp. But this is a natural process. This has been happening for as long as things have been alive on this planet.
She revels in how our planet is remarkable in terms of just the beautiful and elegant in the way that we come from and return to it... some are metaphors [in terms of religious traditions] but the science supports it. From Earth to Earth...from dust to dust...our bodies are made up of the same thing as our soil, as the food that we eat. When we die, we can go back to the planet and rejoin that ecosystem. And that's the way nature evolved.
Acciavatti says Bennington really fostered in her the sense that everything is connected. There is nothing that I've ever learned that's been wasted. But she adds that when she felt like she couldn't get any more from book learning or from training, the best thing that I did was I became a hospice volunteer. I actually started working with the dying in a very controlled way. She volunteered at Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice.
Because her background was in neuroscience, she would preferentially be matched with people that had dementia or mental illness. She wasn't able do a lot with supporting people who were dying at home. But Acciavatti says she could really see the difference between what she had been learning in the doula trainings versus the aspects of hospice. The idealized element from her trainings was that we're dying at home. Pain is managed. Nobody has a psychiatric illness that's disrupting their ability to be present with those that they love. We're doing life reviews and taking people through who they are and the way they're remembered by the people that love them. But, she says, that's not the way most people die, especially not in Vermont.
She says part of that has to do with the fact that Vermont is a very small state and under resourced. She says the problems have just gotten worse since she moved here in 2014 in terms of cost of healthcare, access to providers, being able to get timely diagnosis, treatment, access, even medication. She says it is remarkably different here in Vermont particularly in relation to the Boston area. Acciavatti does say some of it also has to do with attitude.
Acciavatti understands that native Vermonters, particularly, are very, very independent. They take care of themselves. And dying is something...it's not a medical event, but it does take support. But she says now, as a modern society, we rarely have family structures to come together. with...and to give people the full support that they need at the end of life. This needs to include the hours of care and presence. In modern life, families now are scattered. Modern life is very different, and we're not well accustomed, especially in this state, to adapting to those changes in society. She doesn't want to make it sound like a bad thing, because it's not." She says she just has a fierce adherence to what I truly believe is the way that things should be. It is something that we need to create for ourselves now.
Acciavatti reaffirms that the care teams she volunteered for were wonderful. The people that work in nursing homes are wonderful. I never mean to take away from them, but these people are dying in a room with a roommate that's blasting 'Bonanza' at full volume. Even if I could get someone to come in and play harp at the bedside...and they exist and they volunteer and they'll come out... it's a really weird juxtaposition to have harp music and 'Bonanza' in the same [space].
Now Acciavatti understands that certain people are going to share their story, no matter what. I'm one of them...wherever I go, whatever the environment is...I will shout over 'Bonanza.' I will make myself heard. But, if we kind of go back to your more typical and traditional Vermonter, particularly older men, they just withdraw in that environment, and dying is something that it's a very internal process. It's inward turning. It's a withdrawal from the world. So I don't mean to suggest that if certain people were at home, that they would be any more communicative.
Acciavatti explains that, for somebody to die within their community, where everybody knows how they are, and the subtle ways they share themselves and communicate, can make all the difference. Somebody might not tell you they're in pain, but they might cock an eyebrow, and if you've known them your whole life, you're gonna know, 'Hey, they're uncomfortable right now,' She says when somebody's dying in an institution, even though the people are caring for them, they don't know them. They can't read you in that same way. You're not being held in community. And I think that part of the story is the telling of the story, but it's also in the sharing. And you can't share when you're a stranger.
The question is how do you bridge that gap and connect? When she was volunteering at the hospice center, Acciavatti got a bit of a reputation for being the person that would get called in when people couldn't let go...people that were in just extreme physical distress...either their heart rates were extremely low or their heart rates that were extremely high. Sometimes this would go on for days. And even when they did have family that was very present and with them, the family would be exhausted. They needed to go home and sleep and take their kids to school. So Acciavatti would get called in to sit with these patients. And these are people that could no longer communicate with me. There was no way to bond with them.
Acciavatti says she would introduce herself, tell them who she was and why she was there, and also why their family wasn't there with them. She usually had nothing to go on beyond what was in the person's file, a small bit of information that a hospice volunteer gets. Sometimes she would meet the family on the way out of the room and talk briefly. And I've always been a very observant and watchful person. She says these spaces for patients in nursing homes are quite deliberately decorated. She relates one time, she was in the room with a woman and was surrounded by Catholic imagery. She had the statue of Christ. She had the Sacred Heart. She had the most tortured crucifix I have ever seen. It was hard to look at. I had met her family, and they said the priest had already come in. They kept telling her she was going to heaven, and that they loved her.
Acciavatti says they left the room...and I'm sitting there, in silence and and I'm watching her. Her body was going through things that people should not survive. And it had been at least a day of that. So there was a force of will that was keeping her from dying. Acciavatti said she thought to herself: What if it's fear? Her thought went to the aspect of belief. "Because if there's heaven and there's God, those can be incredibly comforting things for people who believe in them." She however relates that, if a person believes in those things, they also likely believe in hell and the devil. She pondered: "What if she was afraid that she wasn't going to go to heaven? I think that's a pretty legitimate thing that we worry about when we die. 'Have we lived a good life? Have we been a good person? Have we done enough?' And then you can imagine if that gets caught up [in your brain at that moment]
Acciavatti says she is not a religious person. And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, 'What can I possibly say to this woman who I don't know, who has no idea who I am, and I have no idea how she's actually feeling? But how do you encourage somebody to let go? I don't even believe in heaven. I can't sincerely tell somebody that they're going to go to heaven. So what is the true thing that I can offer her? And so I told her that everybody you have ever loved knows how much you love them, and that they will be okay. I just said that to her over and over and over again for a while until her heart rate started to come down...her breathing started to slow down, and I started to feel like it was okay to be in silence. I just sat with her in silence, and I just held her hand, and just loved her. I just wanted her to be surrounded in love, to feel safe. She died soon after that.
That kind of intuition can go back to childhood. I just thought...I used to have night terrors when I was a kid, and my mom would come into the room and would just rub circles on my back. And I would fall asleep that way," Acciavatti remembers. "And I just thought about, 'What makes us feel safe, right?' I'm not religious, but part of my mom's family is Polish Catholic so they're very religious. And I was surrounded by that growing up. I thought, 'Okay, God is love, right? Jesus is the embodiment of God. God still loves the world.' So I just tried to love her. That was the first time that I did that, and she died quite peacefully. And so it went on from there.
Acciavatti says that are just so many parallels between birth and death. Acciavatti is currently pregnant with her first child (and that perspective was relayed as well in her TEDtalk). She has many nieces but having her own will be different. She brings in the context of aging, As we age, we lose our ability to do things. We need more and more assistance. Walking gets harder. Little kids learn to walk by holding on to things. Old people start to be unsure of their balance, and they hold on to things again. She says it is not uncommon for people to need assistance toileting themselves at the end of life. "Countenance becomes harder, right?" She says a number of men have told her, the second they need a diaper, just take me out back and shoot me. But, she comments, we don't think anything of changing the diaper for a kid. You change the diaper, and off they go. They go back to what they're doing. It's no different in adulthood, except the shame. "It's about our independence and all of that."
She says her current work with natural burial is really about getting to what are people saying when they say things like that. And then it comes back to her current approach as a natural death worker in that we bathe the body. And a lot of times, people choose to shroud the body. She parallels that bathing in the same way you bathe an infant. You stick them in a bath, then sort of gently clean them off. She says shrouding and swaddling are the same movements. You fold a shroud around the body the same way you fold a swaddle around a baby. She parallels that lowering the body into the earth is an action, not unlike lowering a baby into a crib.
In embracing natural burial I came to this sort of very practical aspect of 'What practical aspect can we offer in these situations?'" She harks back to the relation of a mother to a child which is another parallel as she is about to have her first child herself. But she instead thinks back to her mom and how she dealt with the death of her grandmother.
I'm fortunate, I have the best parents. You might have great parents too, but my parents are the best parents in the world. Acciavatti says it was just this idea of grace that I had modeled for me, particularly in my mom, because her mother was a very difficult woman...an emotionally abusive woman, and yet my mother cared for her as she was dying, and was present and was calm and was so generous to her.
When Acciavatti thinks back on the number of doula trainings she took, the lessons that I learned the most about [in terms of this process] were actually from the way my mom was at the bedside of my grandmother. Because, ultimately, and I tell people this all the time, if you want to be a death doula, don't pay to take a training. Go and be a hospice volunteer. Go and learn how people die. Go and learn what's special about you and how you can support them in that process. Because ultimately, what it is is the ability to be present and, to me, to be able to love in that moment. For other people, it'll be something different. But to me, it's just how can I be present with love?
To learn more about Michelle, her advocacy, natural burial and the Vermont Forest Cemetery, visit cemetery.eco.
Her story will continue next week.
Michelle also invites people to attend the 1st anniversary of Vermont Forest Cemetery at noon on October 12. To learn more, visit cemetery.eco/event-details/vfcs-first-anniversary
NORTH ADAMS For a young man whom most people of this city never met, Marine Pfc. Erwin S. King made quite the impression.
And that impression made a lasting impact on the surviving family members who gathered at Southview Cemetery for his interment, with a large group of area residents, including veterans and high school students, bearing witness.
At a post-ceremony gathering at American Legion Post 125, Kings nephew, Bruce LaBonte, spoke for the family about the warm reception they received returning to the Northern Berkshires to bring their uncle home. He spoke after Jesse Lederman, representing U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, presented the family with a U.S. flag that flew over the Capitol.
At first we thought it was going to be a rather small ceremony, maybe eight or nine of us surviving family members. But when we saw the turnout the motorcycle veterans, the American Legion, the police, the fire department and all concerned, it was a heartwarming and at the same time, a very overwhelming moment, LaBonte said.
We're just deeply grateful that you're here," he told the group. "All that attended here today and all that came to honor my uncle, our uncle, you will always have a place in our hearts and you will never be forgotten.
Hundreds of city high school students, in McCann Tech green and Drury blue, were among present for King's burial with military honors at midday Tuesday the 82nd anniversary of Kings death in combat during the battle of Guadalcanal.
Kings remains had been missing in action since his battlefield burial, until a renewed effort starting last decade found those remains and confirmed their identity through DNA testing.
Veterans organizations turned out in uniform and saluted King during the playing of taps and the folding of his casket flag, a task that required persistence due to a sudden strong breeze. Mayor Jennifer Macksey, state Rep. John Barrett and interim Police Chief Mark Bailey were among officials present to honor King, who left what was then Drury Senior High School and his West Road, Clarksburg home at the age of 17 to fight for his country.
From West Main Street, where a funeral service drew an overflow crowd at Flynn & Dagnoli Funeral Home, to Southview Cemetery on Church Street, there were homemade signs of patriotism and people outside their homes and businesses, watching the motorcade pass by.
Along Main Street, city employees stood outside City Hall waving U.S. flags. The Stars and Stripes were conspicuous all along the route, from fences and front porches to an oversized flag hung from the North Adams Fire Department ladder truck, parked on American Legion Drive, And a woman stood witness on the sidewalk of Ashland Street, holding a sign that said PFC King welcome home.
The family grave sits in an older section of the sprawling cemetery, but volunteers and city workers made sure it was ready. Volunteers including Larry Burdick, Ed Marino, Jim Roberts and Lily Marceau, a cadet at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, scrubbed decades of dirt from the family stone and the smaller stones beside it. And an endless row of U.S. flags lined both sides of the cemetery road leading to the plot.
Current members of the Marine Corps, wearing the service's distinctive dress blues, served as honor guard and color guard. King's fellow Marines delivered his rifle salute, played taps, and carefully folded the flag on his casket. It was presented, with the dog tag found with King's remains on Guadalcanal, to LaBonte, of Bradenton, Fla.
The LaBonte siblings Bruce LaBonte, Judith Richard of Warner, N.H., and Lynda Pruden of North Pownal, Vt., the children of Lucille King Labonte, Erwin S. Kings sister learned in May that DNA tests had confirmed their Uncle Shazzy had been found. In July they learned another nephew, Mark E. Clarke of Clarksburg, the son of Kings sister, Gertrude King Clarke, had provided the DNA sample confirming the identity. All four descendants, along with their children and loved ones, were present for the service and graveside ceremony.
Navy Chaplain Lt. Joshua Kitchen officiated the service, which spilled into the funeral homes hallway. Veteran motorcycle riders from veterans posts including North Adams American Post 125, Dalton Post 155, Bennington, Vt. Post 13 and Westfield Post 124, and Bennington, Vt., VFW Post 1332 escorted the motorcade.
At the service, LaBonte recounted his uncles ambition to be a Marine, and his parents decision to sign for his enlistment at age 17. Richard spoke of how her grandmother, mother and aunts loved their little brother, and how happy they would be that he had finally come home. And Pruden thanked the military repatriation experts who found and identified their uncle, and the North Adams community that gave King the heros welcome he deserved.
"Paying tribute to a man that we did not know is not easy. Paying tribute to a hero is an honor," Richard said, addressing her late uncle. "If your sister, our mother, was here today, she would be able to tell the stories of your youth. She would be able to tell us about your hopes and your dreams. She would be able to tell us that you were her baby brother and she loved you dearly and that she never forgot you."
"Your sacrifice will never go unnoticed," he said. "Your sacrifice will be forever in our hearts. Your sacrifice is why we are the home of the brave and the land of the free."
King, the son of Erwin C. and Emilia King, was born in a farmhouse in Shaftsbury, Vt. on Aug. 11, 1924, earning him his middle name and the nickname "Shazzy." He was among a Marine patrol that engaged in a firefight with Imperial Japanese Army soldiers on Sept. 24, 1942, just south of an airfield with strategic value to both sides.
He and nine other fallen Marines were given a battlefield burial, with their names and locations recorded. But somehow, the location got lost, and it was not until new efforts to repatriate Americans killed in battle found the correct site, and identified King and three other Marines.
After the graveside ceremony, LaBonte said while the U.S. flag and his uncle's dog tags are meaningful to him, the true meaning of the day is what he will carry in his heart and mind.
"These are tangible mementos of this day, but the meaning of this day, and the honor of this day doesn't require a flag or any medals. It's in here," he said, pointing to his heart, "and it'll stay here."
Clarke, who shares a middle name with the uncle he never met, said it was an honor to be able to bring him home, and good to reconnect with cousins who had largely moved away.
"Eighty-two years is a long time," he said. "And to not know the man, you know, it's a little difficult."
Matthew begins by telling the story of Jesus' birth, including the many reactions of different players in the community around him at the time of his arrival. In Matthew 2, we learn that Jesus has been born and the Magi, or Wise Men, have arrived in Jerusalem.
These men have enough status and influence that their first stop is to chat with King Herod. Upon meeting Herod, they report that they are on a mission to locate the long-anticipated King of the Jews. Their study of the night skies and knowledge of Scripture (Numbers 24:17) had brought them to discover the Messiahs star shining bright. They could not wait to pack their bags to faithfully journey towards the light in order to worship the Savior.
Once Herod heard the news that the Scriptures were being fulfilled, that a child was born in the land of Judah who would shepherd the Israelites (verse 3), Herod became disturbed along with others in Jerusalem. He drew up a plan to eliminate this threat and ordered that all boys in Bethlehem and the vicinity under the age of two were to be killed (verse 16). He based this decree on the Scriptures that the Chief Priests had pointed him to, stating the child would be born in Bethlehem (verse 6). This tragic response brought great sorrow to those who lost a child, but also fulfilled prophecies from Jeremiah that there would be great weeping by the women (verse 17).
In Matthew, we see various responses from King Herod, the Wise Men, the Chief Priests and Scribes, and those who lived in Jerusalem to the news that the Messiah had been born. Immediately, we note that the Wise Men understood the moment in history and worshiped the King the way we all should. Their faith is a model for how we should respond to the news of a Savior and King.
What can we learn though from the response of King Herod? He is the bad guy in the story, but we see that he responds to Jesus coming without hesitation. Here are some lessons we can learn from Herods belief:
1. Herod Investigated the Scriptures
The first thing that stands out about Herods response to the news that the one true King had been born is that he immediately went to Gods word to verify if the claim was valid. He seeks out the chief priests and scribes and tells them what these foreign men are claiming. These learned men know the Scriptures front and back, and were able to give a quick response. They knew exactly where the King would be born and that the pilgrimage of the Magi was an indication that now was the time or the Savior.
Their feedback confirmed to King Herod that this story was real. The Scriptures were a truth that even a power-hungry king with no reason to believe Gods story regarded as reliable. Gods written Word had power and was respected.
When uncertainty rises up in our lives, where do we go to find truth? Do we investigate the Scriptures, or read the news? Do we find a self-help program, or do we seek out truth from pastors and other spiritual leaders? Herod went to the right place to get the information he needed to make a decision.
2. Herod Believed the God of the Jews Would Do What He Said He Would Do
Interestingly, we dont see these esteemed priests and scribes go out to find the baby to worship, even after confirming what the Scriptures said and hearing of the arrival of the Magi. They remain distant, and while they know the truth they are not changed or moved by it.
We see King Herod respond with grief and fear because he believes the Scriptures to be true. The King secretly seeks to find the baby, but when the Magi never reports back with his whereabouts, he enacts a much more sinister plan. Nonetheless, he has faith that the God of the Jews would do what he said he would do.
There was no doubt in Herods mind that the fulfillment of prophecy, even in infant form, was a real threat. Jerusalem was disturbed because they saw the anxiety of their ruler. Herods belief shook him enough that the whole community felt his fear.
Do we let our belief that God will fulfill his promises move us to the point that our community feels it alongside us? Herod did not surrender to Gods will, but he wholeheartedly believed that Gods plan was reliable. We must live with such belief if we want to have a faith that matches Herods.
3. Herod Took Action
We see Herod choose to commit a terrible crime against his people because he was so concerned about the power of the God of the Jews. He kills innocent children in an effort to stop Gods plan. Thankfully we know that God is bigger than the evil efforts of any man. God warned Joseph in a dream of the impending threat and protected the vulnerable child (verse 13).
While the action of Herod was inspired by evil, it was an act of faith. He so believed God to be real that he mobilized his army to take out a future threat. He risked backlash from those who had lost and mourned a child because he knew this future King was to be feared.
Have you taken action in your life, either for or against God based on his Word? Revelation 3:15-16 says, I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. Youre not cold, youre not hot far better to be either cold or hot! Youre stale. Youre stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, Im rich, Ive got it made, I need nothing from anyone, oblivious that in fact youre a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.
In this story we see those who would make God vomit are the religious leaders. The Magi were passionately pursuing their king, Herod was clear in that he believed the Scriptures were true and took aggressive action, while the religious remained unfazed by this news. Their faith stagnated and they valued their comfort more than their God. Can you relate?
How many sermons, studies, testimonies, articles, or books have you read about the heart of God and merely walked away just a little bit more knowledgeable but completely unchanged? The Christian walk is not meant to be neutral. Jesus way is radical. He tells his followers to take up their cross and follow him, meaning this life as a Christ follower brings a death of our old way of being and an active movement towards something new.
Our indifference to the Word of God is repulsive to God. We must not let our love for the Savior grow cold or let our desire for nice, successful, safe, and practical outweigh our heart of worship. When we become stagnant, we become worse than the evil King Herod that sought to kill our Savior.
Photo credit: Getty Images/Kubra Cavus
Amanda Idleman is a writer whose passion is to encourage others to live joyfully. She writes devotions for My Daily Bible Verse Devotional and Podcast, Crosswalk Couples Devotional, the Daily Devotional App, she has work published with Her View from Home, on the MOPS Blog, and is a regular contributor for Crosswalk.com. She has most recently published a devotional, Comfort: A 30 Day Devotional Exploring God's Heart of Love for Mommas. You can find out more about Amanda on her Facebook Page or follow her on Instagram.
A Report by Cactus Communications, written by Dr H. S. Sudhira, Director, Gubbi Labs
The biopharma industry in India has been witnessing significant growth in recent years. With advancements in genetics, molecular biology, and Immunology, the industry is at a juncture of significantly impacting healthcare. Evolving around innovative frontiers such as biologics, biosimilars, vaccines, and emerging technologies like cell and gene therapy, the biopharma sector is positioned to become a global leader.
The Indian biopharma industry has a solid foundation owing to its extensive expertise in generic drugs. India has been a major player in the production and export of generic pharmaceuticals for many years. Its distinctive strengths reside in a vast pool of skilled scientific human resources, a robust network of research laboratories, a flourishing pharmaceutical industry, and a system that encourages innovation through various incentives. These underpinning strengths provide an encouraging basis for the advance of the biopharma industry.
A new wave of biologics is increasing India's potential in the biotech industry. Biologics, highly sophisticated large molecule drugs derived from living organisms, are revolutionizing the treatment approach for many severe diseases. These drugs, which include monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins, are known for their high efficacy and specificity in targeting diseases. With a growing demand for biologics globally, India has positioned itself as a preferred destination to produce these complex molecules due to its cost-effective manufacturing capabilities.
Biosimilars represent the next frontier in the growth of the Indian biopharma industry. India has become a prominent player in the biosimilars market due to its expertise in developing and manufacturing these products at competitive prices. The country's ability to produce high-quality biosimilars has enabled it to tap into the growing demand in both domestic and international markets. As the patents for original biologic medicines are expiring, the biosimilars market is expected to expand immensely.
Vaccines are another critical aspect that contribute robustly to the growth of India's biopharma industry. India, often referred to as the "pharmacy of the world," is one of the largest global vaccine suppliers. It is a global leader in vaccine manufacturing, producing vaccines for diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, rotavirus, yellow fever, and polio. Indian pharmaceutical companies play a vital role in ensuring affordable access to vaccines, particularly for low- and middle-income countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical functionality of the Indian vaccine industry. Indian companies like Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech have played integral roles in addressing the global vaccine demand, underscoring the industry's crucial role.
Furthermore, the Indian biopharma industry is also exploring emerging technologies like cell and gene therapy. These therapies have shown tremendous promise in treating various diseases, including cancer, genetic disorders, and autoimmune conditions. Currently in their nascent stages, these technologies are set to evolve rapidly, given their vast potential to revolutionize therapeutics. The country's focus on research and development, coupled with its cost-effective manufacturing capabilities, positions it well to capitalize on the growing demand for cell and gene therapies.
In addition, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies are catalysing research and development processes in the biopharma industry by optimising drug design, shortening clinical trials, and improving diagnosis. These advanced technologies hold the promise of transforming the industry by allowing personalized medicine and improving disease management.
While it is evident that the potential for growth in India's biopharma industry is enormous, it is crucial to navigate the challenges that could slow this progress. These include regulatory challenges, high manufacturing costs, limited access to advanced technology, and talent shortage in specific areas. Nevertheless, with the government's support in creating favourable policies and making strategic investments, these challenges can be systematically addressed.
In conclusion, with the increasing confluence of biologics, biosimilars, vaccines, and emerging technologies like cell and gene therapy, the Indian biopharma industry is poised for a leap. The country's strength in science, research, and manufacturing, coupled with the ongoing evolution of advanced technologies, highlights India's potential to emerge as a global biopharma hub. However, integrating strategic policymaking, fostering research and innovation, and fortifying public-private partnerships are crucial to realise this potential completely and sustainably.
About Gubbi Labs
Gubbi Labs is a private research collective that works on various domains ranging from sustainable ecosystems to liveable settlements. As part of its science communication initiative, it runs Research Matters, a multilingual science news portal.
About Cactus Communications
New annual HIV infections have decreased by 44% since 2010, outperforming the global reduction rate of 39%: Anupriya Patel
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Singh Patel addressed a high-level side event at the United Nations on the theme Revitalised Multilateralism: Recommitting to Ending AIDS Together. The event was organized by UNAIDS, the Global Fund, and PEPFAR.
In her intervention, the Minister reaffirmed Indias commitment to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
The Minister outlined Indias progress and key strategies in the ongoing fight against HIV/AIDS, including the 5th phase of the National AIDS and STD Control Programme (2021-2026), fully funded by the Government of India.
As per the recent India HIV Estimations 2023 report, over 2.5 million people are living with HIV in India, but thanks to concerted efforts, the adult HIV prevalence is at 0.2% and estimated annual new HIV infections are at around 66,400. New annual HIV infections have decreased by 44% since 2010, outperforming the global reduction rate of 39%.
Anupriya pointed out that India offers comprehensive HIV and Syphilis testing to all pregnant women with more than 30 million free HIV tests being conducted annually. In total, more than 1.7 million people are receiving free Anti-retroviral Therapy (ART) through public healthcare systems, she said.
The Minister urged for continued global cooperation, stating, Breaking silos and building synergies is the mantra of the Government of India. Through collaboration, we will strengthen the fight against HIV/AIDS and build a healthier world for all.
Meghalaya State Health Society will be responsible for the coordination of the activities funded by the Gates Foundation
The Government of Meghalaya and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) made a major stride in the area of health when they entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together towards improving population health outcomes of the state, particularly related to maternal and newborn health, family planning, nursing education. Meghalaya is only the third state in India in area of both health and agriculture, after Uttar Pradesh & Bihar, with whom the Gates Foundation is establishing a partnership.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad K Sangma and Minister of Health & Family Welfare and Agriculture, Dr M Ampareen Lyngdoh.
M. Hari Menon, Director of the India Country Office at the Gates Foundation, and Sampath Kumar, Principal Secretary to the GoM, Health & Family Welfare Department on behalf of the state signed the MoU.
The MoU signed called for the realisation of efficient and effective healthcare solutions in Meghalaya, and the parties also pledged to undertake numerous activities in the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially the health-related goal for the year 2030. The MoU will last for four years where both stakeholders shall facilitate successful delivery of the set objectives in the paper with efficiency checkups, monitoring, and evaluation.
Through the MoU, BMGF will provide both financial and technical support to improve outcomes in twelve key areas: comprehensive primary healthcare, family planning, maternal health and anaemia, neonatal health, immunisation, childhood wasting and nutrition, nursing education, supply chain management, digital health, results-based financing and performance management in healthcare, competency mapping and development for government functionaries, and agriculture and livestock development.
The collaboration between the Government of Meghalaya and the Gates Foundation is based on three strategically oriented goals for changing the current state of health care. First, it seeks to lower maternal, neonatal and child mortality through increasing access to family planning, managing anaemia and developing emergency transport to reduce death rates. Second, the partnership aims to promote health and nutrition services provided by government and non-government organisations with special reference to gender. Finally, the partnership will build the capacity of local institutions by ensuring that they are involved in policy formulation, research and breakthroughs in healthcare to support sustainable change.
The partnership will also focus on several key programme areas, such as the creation of IT solutions for primary healthcare as well as improving family planning by increasing the number of contraceptive methods and availability. It will also involve enhanced maternal and neonatal health with reference to anaemia and other essential infrastructure joined to hidden childhood wasting and anaemia through supplementary feeding and immunisation.
Also, nursing education shall be augmented by a redesigned curriculum that is globally competent and improved supply chain management to increase drug and diagnostics availability. Moreover, adopted digital health will improve research-based decision-making capabilities with the use of performance-based financing. There will also be cooperation in areas of agriculture and livestock development emphasizing building value chains and supporting small farmers in the state of Meghalaya.
Whenever India has signed any FTA with another country, the imports of medical devices into India have increased
In view of the steep growth in imports of medical devices from Europe and other countries into India, the domestic manufacturers of these devices have demanded the exclusion of medical equipment and consumables from the list of EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) items.
Amidst the ongoing India-EU FTA talks, in a letter written to the Commerce Ministry, the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) has highlighted that the imports of these items in India has grown at a staggering rate of 68% in the last four years, making India dependent on imports to the tune of 70% currently.
At a time when Indias existing import duty on medical devices is already very low (0.0%-7.5%), bolstering imports further by including these medical items in the EU-FTA list would not only jeopardise the medical security of India but also prove to be highly detrimental to the domestic manufacturing industry, according to Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator, AiMeD.
Whenever India has signed any FTA with another country, the imports of medical devices into India have only grown. India signed the Japan-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (JICEPA) but the imports of medical equipment from Japan has risen from Rs 1826 crore in FY20 to Rs 3085 crore in FY24, a jump of 19%. Similarly, India inked IndiaSingapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (ISCECA) but the imports from Singapore have jumped from Rs 4294 crore in FY20 to Rs 6779 crore in FY24.
Germany and Netherlands, both EU countries, are already among the top five exporters of medical devices into India. EU has many non-tariff barriers for Indian imports into any EU nation. We need a Tit-for-Tat policy from Indias side. Indian manufacturers require CE Certification to sell to EU nations which is not only an expensive affair but also leads to a lot of time wasted in getting the certification - approximately 2 years. EU nations get our factories inspected rigorously before buying from here. We need a similar policy from India where-inspection of EU factories and verification of compliance to Indian Medical Device Rules (MDR) and also of Domestic Content in EU factories is done by Indian regulators, said Nath in AiMeDs letter to the Commerce Ministry.
AiMeD has also highlighted that the regulatory system for medical devices in the EU permits organisations to label themselves as a 'Legal Manufacturer' even if they are not making the product themselves. This was done to allow EU regulators to make Market Authorisation Holder to be responsible and accountable from the patient safety perspective but this facility has been abused and lead to pseudo manufacturing to thrive in EU as Country of Origin is not insisted upon on the labeling of medical devices in Europe & UK, unlike the case of USA & India, which seek labeling of Country of Origin on medical items. Theres a huge risk of 3rd country exports to be routed via EU to India under this legal manufacturing route whereby a marketing company can pass itself off as a legal manufacturer.
The Indian medical device manufacturing industry has been given assurance in past for UK-India FTA that Legal Manufacturer labeled packages will not enjoy ZERO Duty FTA benefits if the manufacturer/ exporter is not an actual manufacturer and not able to prove that he assembles and manufacture the medical device in the UK with at least 40% value addition. AiMeD has sought to know how this assurance will be enforced.
When there is inspection is done by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for items like steel and plastics when imports are involved, then why not make it mandatory for factories if Medical Devices in foreign countries to be inspected by BIS and CDSCO in case of medical devices which are far more crucial than simple plastic items, said Nath.
China, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Argentina, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, New Zealand, etc. have gained much more than India after FTAs were signed by Indians with them.
Priyank Kharge leads discussion inviting tech leaders, industry associations, startup founders and media to Bengaluru Tech Summit as Asias largest tech show
As a prelude to the 27th edition of the Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS) 2024, scheduled from 19-21 November 2024 at Bangalore Palace, a dynamic open industry dialogue was held in Delhi on 24 September, led by Priyank Kharge, Minister for Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Government of Karnataka.
BTS 2024 is organised by the Department of E, IT and Bt, Govt. of Karnataka and Co-hosted by the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI).
Priyank Kharge was joined by Dr Ekroop Caur, IAS, Secretary to the Government, Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology; Arvind Kumar, Director General, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI); Darshan H.V, IAS,
Managing Director, Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), Department of Electronics, IT, Bt, and S&T, Govt. of Karnataka; Gurneet Tej, Resident Commissioner, KB, New Delhi; Shailendra Tyagi, Director, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Bengaluru and Jagdish Patankar, Executive Chairman of MM Activ- the Event Curator of Bengaluru Tech Summit.
The Delhi Industry Meet gathered leaders from key sectors such as IT, Deeptech, Electronics, Telecom, EV, Biotech, Gaming, and Animation, representatives from various trade missions, heads of prominent R&D institutes as well as various Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) partner countries.
Bengaluru Tech Summit is recognised as a pivotal platform in the global technology landscape, solidifying Bengaluru and Karnataka's roles as innovation leaders. This pre-event dialogue was held in Delhi to engage national stakeholders and expand the summits reach beyond regional boundaries.
Priyank Kharge stated, This years summit will cover a broad spectrum of topics within IT, Electronics, Biotechnology, Startups, and the Global Innovation Alliance tracks, ensuring comprehensive dialogue on the future of technology. Introducing the new ESDM (Electronics System Design and Manufacturing) track marks a significant step in reinforcing Karnatakas role as a leader in advanced manufacturing."
Dr Ekroop Caur emphasised, Bengaluru Tech Summit has evolved beyond being a Karnataka eventit is now a national platform. We encourage and invite the entire Indian Electronics, Technology, and Biotechnology sectors to participate, showcase their innovations to a global audience, and leverage this opportunity to accelerate their business growth.
With 85 sessions and over 460+ speakers from industry, research and academia, BTS 2024 Conference promises in-depth exploration and dialogue.
Flagship programmes at BTS 2024 will include the CEO Conclave, Startup Conclave, and Fireside Chats with renowned industry leaders. Special emphasis will be placed on B2B meetings to foster structured networking and engagement, with the BTS Event App providing seamless access to schedules and updates.
The International Exhibition at BTS 2024 will feature 700+ exhibitors, including focused pavilions such as Corporate & Industry, Global Innovation Alliance, Startup Zone, and MSME Pavilion. Special sectorial pavilions will highlight breakthroughs in Biotech, Healthtech, Spacetech, Mobility, Greentech, Fintech, and more, with delegations from 40+ countries expected to participate, making BTS 2024 a truly global event.
Photo Caption: L to R: Jagdish Patankar , Executive Chairman of MM Activ; Shailendra Tyagi , Director, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI); Dr Ekroop Caur, IAS, Secretary to the Government, Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology; Priyank Kharge , Minister for IT, Bt, and RDPR, Government of Karnataka; Arvind Kumar, Director General, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI); Gurneet Tej , Resident Commissioner, KB, New Delhi; Darshan, H.V, IAS, Managing Director, Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS)
By SA Commercial Prop News
The business first luxury hotel, nestled in the heart of the new Gaborone CBD, will open its doors to the public on Wednesday 11th July, 2012.
As Botswana increases its economic collaborations with countries both near and afar, the highly anticipated Lansmore Masa Square is particularly well set to cater to Gaborones fast growing business travel and leisure tourist market.
Lansmore Masa Square, a member of Lonrho Hotels, announced that they will open their doors to the public on Wednesday July 11th, 2012, with an official opening slated for later in the year. The hotel says it is the first business first luxury hotel and aims to redefine the service and lifestyle experience of Gaborones hospitality sector. As Botswana increases its economic collaborations with countries both near and afar, the highly anticipated Lansmore Masa Square is particularly well set to cater to Gaborones fast growing business travel and leisure tourist market.
We are unbelievably excited to be able to open our doors to the public. Its been a long time coming, but its always worth a bit of a wait if the experience is then an unparalleled one, said Lansmore Masa Square General Manager, Mr. Rupert Elliott.
Located in the north tower of the iconic Masa Square, Lansmore Masa Squares presence at the heart of Gaborones new CBD serves as the tallest hotel in Botswana. It boasts 153 rooms, which include Standard Rooms, Club Rooms and Suites. In addition, the unparalleled La Touche de Provence, allows patrons to experience a taste of Provencale cuisine that has its own elusive, local twist. Lansmore Masa Square also offers, in its Espretto Coffee Shop, the finest African coffee beans in each of its coffee drinks, celebrating the rich products of the continent.
Setting itself apart from all others, Lansmore Masa Square boasts the highest hotel rooms in the nation, as well as, on its third floor roof terrace, the highest infinity pool in Botswana. All guests have free access to Wifi in public areas, and rooms are equipped with LCD flat screens with an extensive selection of TV channels. Innovative design elements are featured in all aspects of the room, including dedicated flexible workspaces with high-speed Internet access and an in-room safe.
In addition to its efforts towards redefining the hospitality experience, Lansmore Masa Square has already begun to establish itself as more than simply a hotel. It has begun the process of portraying itself as an all-round experience that represents the kind of service and luxury Batswana should become accustomed to. Moreover, much as with the values of its parent company, Lonrho Hotels, Lansmore Masa Square has set in motion its efforts towards investing in Africa and being a relevant member of the society in which it operates, a testament to its dedication towards growing and developing the nation.
Lansmore Masa Square strikes the perfect balance between business and leisure, with the hotel inspiring the promise of impeccable service, comfort and luxury unlike any Batswana have ever experienced before.
Concluded Mr. Elliott, This is a very exciting time for all of us at Lansmore Masa Square. Botswana is a rich and beautiful country. Of this, there is no doubt. What we hope to bring here is the kind of establishment that exudes, in every aspect, the very embodiment of class, luxury, service excellence and, to our community, a sense of relevance so that we are actually adding value to peoples lives.
By SA Commercial Prop News
SA could increase its nuclear power output
Cabinet has endorsed the proposed phased decision making approach for the implementation of South Africa's nuclear build with Eskom involved in proceedings, Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Collins Chabane said on Thursday.
Briefing reporters following Cabinet's fortnightly meeting, Chabane said Cabinet had been briefed on the first meeting of the National Nuclear Energy Executive Coordination Committee (NNEECC) chaired by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.
The committee oversees any future nuclear procurement process as well as the build programmes.
"Cabinet endorsed the proposed phased decision making approach for implementation of the nuclear programme," said Chabane.
The country's Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2010-2030 states the country's intention to add 9 600 megawatts of nuclear energy to the country's energy mix by 2030. The IRP is South Africa's 20-year plan towards the balancing of the production of electricity and consumption.
The IRP makes for the provision of renewable power in the country's energy mix.
On Thursday, Cabinet said it had endorsed the designation of Eskom as the owner-operator as per the Nuclear Energy Policy of 2008.
"Eskom has been appointed a long time ago in 2008. What Cabinet did is it reiterated that position. Eskom is the principal operator of our electricity grid. We now have IPPs [Independent Power Producers] in place. The same principal is going to apply on the nuclear. We need an institution which is going to be the custodian of all the knowledge and the technology which the state is going to host as a result of the process," said Chabane.
On Monday, Eskom welcomed the participation of IPPs in the country's mix. This as the Energy Department signed implementation agreements and direct agreements with 28 preferred bidders in the first window of its Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP) and Eskom signed power purchase agreements with the bidders.
The cost estimates for the nuclear build is not yet known.
Nuclear stakeholders like the Nuclear Energy Corporation of SA, Eskom, National Nuclear Regulator (NNR), and key government departments, including Energy and Public Enterprise are part of the NNEECC.
Additionally, Cabinet also approved the reviewed National Energy Efficiency Strategy (NEES) and approved the gazetting of the draft NEES second review document for public comment.
The review process analysed energy usage patterns of businesses in various sectors of the economy. It further looked at the potential for adopting modern energy management practices and technologies, based on advice and views from international experts. It further set the scene for future energy reduction targets and the use of energy.
Chinese FM tells Germany not to politicize trade disputes with China
Xinhua) 08:32, September 25, 2024
NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Politicizing economic and trade issues and abusing tariff measures would serve no one's interests, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his German counterpart at a bilateral meeting Tuesday in New York, calling on Berlin and the European Union (EU) to instead resort to dialogue and consultations to resolve trade disputes with China.
The meeting between Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock came as the two top diplomats were in New York for the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. It also came against the backdrop of the EU preparing to levy additional tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.
Judging from the nearly half-century history since China and the EU established diplomatic relations, enhancing bilateral cooperation is in both side's interests and conducive to world stability, Wang said, stressing that the foundation for China-EU relations is mutually beneficial cooperation, and that the highly complementary nature of the two economies means economic cooperation between China and the EU can result in outcomes that exceed a simple adding-up of their respective economic output.
Whereas, politicizing economic and trade issues between China and the EU while slashing tariffs on Chinese imports would serve no one's interests, nor would such actions work to the benefit of the green transition of the world economy, Wang remarked, expressing the hope that Germany and the EU will stick to open cooperation, continue to hold dialogue and consultations with China, properly handle related issues, and jointly uphold international trade rules and a fair environment for competition.
On China-Germany relations, Wang noted the strategic plan drawn up by leaders of the two countries, coupled with frequent high-level interactions since the start of the year. He said China-Germany economic and trade cooperation has maintained at a high level, which is an indication of the mutually beneficial and strategic nature of bilateral ties.
Many German companies have seized the opportunities presented by China pursuing modernization, deepening all-round reforms and promoting high-quality opening up, Wang said. German companies actively cultivating the Chinese market has led to Germany's investment in China reaching a new record high in the first half of the year, he added.
As the world's second and third largest economies, China and Germany can benefit from each other's development, jointly contribute to world peace and prosperity and instill stability to the world, Wang said.
For her part, Baerbock said that China is Germany's most important trade partner, and that there are a wide range of sectors for bilateral cooperation, which will yield mutually beneficial and win-win outcomes.
While adhering to the one-China policy without any change whatsoever, the German side also believes in free trade and fair competition, as well as resolving differences through dialogue and consultations in an open and transparent manner, Baerbock said, stressing the importance of upholding international trade rules and order.
As far as the EU is concerned, Baerbock said that as the world's largest single market, the bloc should strive to keep its market open, adding that Germany attaches importance to the role China plays in international affairs, and is willing to enhance coordination with China within multilateral institutions like the UN and actively promote the development of EU-China relations.
Wang said China has always supported UN's core and leading role in tackling international affairs. China, he added, is willing to enhance coordination with all sides -- Germany included -- so as to ensure that the UN and the Security Council really shoulder the responsibility of maintaining world peace and security.
The two also exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis and the situation in the Middle East.
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
By SA Commercial Prop News
Amanda Stops, CEO of SACSC, says: There is much more to retail design than first meets the eye. It goes beyond creating engaging stores and attractive malls.
Waterfall Corner in Midrand, was named the winner of the sought-after Spectrum Award for the best retail development, making a splash at the in the South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) Annual Retail Design and Development Awards (RDDA).
The results of the prestigious awards were announced on the first day of the 19th Annual SACSC Congress, which took place at the Durban ICC recently.
Property Finance at Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (NCIB) were the main sponsor of this influential event, as well as being sponsor of the awards.
The awards celebrate exceptional shopping centre designs of retail development projects within the South African property industry, together with their economic success. They include new shopping centres and the redevelopment and refurbishment of existing centres, as well as the design of retail stores and restaurants.
Amanda Stops, CEO of SACSC, says: There is much more to retail design than first meets the eye. It goes beyond creating engaging stores and attractive malls. Its a creative, technical and commercial discipline that brings architecture, interior design, retail principles, consumer dynamics, environmental innovation and technology together in the conception and construction of retail space.
Robin Lockhart-Ross, Managing Executive of Property Finance at Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking comments: As financier to the retail sector, we are continuously inspired by the high level of expertise that goes into shopping centre design, which ultimately creates an environment conducive to a pleasant shopping experience, thus encouraging repeat visits and shopper loyalty. Our support of the RDDAs is a reflection of our commitment to the industry holistically which goes beyond providing funding."
For this reason, the awards consider the entire development package, including excellent design resolution, achieving a clear overall development objective, responding positively to the market and surroundings, adopting innovative design and construction solutions, and embracing environmental techniques.
The Awards
Waterfall Corner delivered on all these points and won the category for new shopping centres below 20,000sqm in size, to qualify to take top honours overall. JSE-listed capital growth fund Attacq owns Waterfall Corner, which was developed by Atterbury Property Development and designed by architect Bentel Associates International.
Matlosana Mall in the North West Province took top honours for shopping centres over 20,000sqm. The 65,000sqm regional mall is owned and developed by JSE-listed SA REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) Redefine Properties, with architect SVA International.
Finalists in this category also included Forest Hill City Mall, owned and developed by Billion Property Group and designed by LYT Architecture, as well as Newtown Junction, owned by Attacq and developed by Atterbury Property Development with architect DHK.
Redevelopment and Refurbishment Category
Two winners were chosen in the hotly-contested redevelopment and refurbishment category Rosebank Mall and The Watershed at V&A Waterfront. JSE-listed retail REIT Hyprop Investments is the owner and developer of Rosebank Mall, with MDS Architecture undertaking the design. The V&A Waterfront is owned in equal parts by South Africas largest JSE-listed REIT Growthpoint Properties and the PIC on behalf of the Government Employees Pensions Fund, and The Watershed redevelopment was designed by Wolff Architects.
Finalists in this category also included Cresta Shopping Centre, owned and developed by Pareto and designed by LPA/Afritects, as well as Cape Towns The Point Mall owned by Permasolve Investments, developed by Hoskens Consolidated Investments and Berman Brothers and designed by Robert Silke with Louis Karol.
Store design category
Further demonstrating the high standard of design in the South African retail property sector, two winners were also chosen in the store design category. Relay Jeans in Westgate, Gauteng, and Cotton On in Gateway Theatre of Shopping, KwaZulu-Natal, shared top spot in this category. Relay Jeans is part of TFG and the store was designed by TDC&Co, while the Cotton On store design is by the Cotton On Group.
Other finalists in this class included the Anatomy sneaker and streetwear store on Juta Street in Braamfontein created by TFG and designer The Bread.
Best restaurant project
Nandos in Maponya Mall topped the category for best restaurant project, created by Design Partnership in collaboration with Nandos.
Finalists in the category also included Nandos at Blue Hills Shopping Centre, delivered by the same team, and Rocomamas at Pineslopes Shopping Centre, created by Spur Group and Itis Design.
Retail Design and Development Awards (RDDA)
The calibre of South African retail property development and design has enjoyed growing international esteem in recent years, and the countrys developers, designers, professionals and investors are increasingly active internationally. In recognition of this, the SACSC RDDAs include a special category for international shopping centre developments in which South Africans play a major role. Delta Mall in Nigeria won this category. It is owned and developed by Resilient Africa, which is owned by SA REIT Resilient Properties and Standard Bank, and Baysol Development, and designed by LYT Architecture.
Other finalists considered in this class included West Hills Mall in Ghana, owned by AttAfrica, which is a company held by Atterbury Group, Attacq and Hyprop, and designed by ARC Architects Pretoria, as well as Pacific Mall in Dehradun, India, owned and developed by Pacific Development Corporate Ltd with architect Bentel Associates International.
A panel of recognised and respected retail and property professionals judge the RDDAs. They are challenged to select the best-of-the-best from developments of the highest calibre in the South African retail property industry, and this year selected the winners from the over 40 entries that streamed in for the awards.
Stops remarks: The annual RDDAs continue to showcase the world-class creativity, innovation and retail knowledge and the excellent level of retail development and design within South Africa. We can all be incredibly proud of these achievements.
Phillip Schofield will tell his side of his story as he returns to British TV with a Channel 5 show that sees him trapped on a deserted island.
The former presenter resigned from UK broadcaster ITV last May after admitting to an unwise but not illegal affair with a younger male colleague, and has made few public appearances since.
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On Wednesday, Schofield (62) wrote on Instagram: Now you know how I spent my Summer! Alone for 10 days, no food, no water, no crew. My story of survival, both on a desert island and off it.
Cast Away starts Monday on @channel5_tv & My5 at 9pm.
Advertisement View this post on Instagram A post shared by Channel 5 (@channel5_tv)
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He also posted an image of himself on a beach with his normally clean-shaven face looking shaggy with a white beard, and wearing shorts and a T-shirt.
The three-part show, Cast Away, follows a celebrity marooned on an uninhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar for 10 days.
Before the announcement, the channel posted a short clip of a mystery star walking across a remote beach, as it teased its brand new desert island programme on social media.
During the first season of Cast Away, comedian Ruby Wax was left on an island in the the Indian Ocean for 10 days, and had to document her own story with body and hand-held cameras.
The "blame game" over the new national children's hospital has to stop, Sinn Feins health spokesperson has urged.
David Cullinane said the building contractor BAM has to be held to account and all parties involved in the project have to "step up to the plate" so the new hospital can be completed and the first patients treated.
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BAM has informed the project's board that the substantial completion date for the 2.2 billion hospital is now June 2025.
This is 31 months behind the current contractual completion date of November 2022 and four months later than a date provided to the Public Accounts Committee (Pac) last May.
Speaking on RTE radios Morning Ireland, Mr Cullinane called on the Taoiseach and Minister for Health to do more than write letters, but to pull up their sleeves to ensure the speedy completion of the hospital.
"This is all down to a flawed contract," he said.
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"The [National Paediatric Hospital Development Board] is blaming the contractor. The contractor is blaming the board and the Government is washing its hands of any responsibility and are acting as commentators.
"And we have to remind ourselves here that this is all down to a flawed contract that was signed off on by Simon Harris when he was minister for health. It was a build as you go contract that was stacked against the taxpayer and has been an absolute disaster."
Mr Cullinane said he was calling on the board to "step up to the plate", but equally the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health had to stop "being commentators".
"They have to roll up their sleeves. They have to use all of the levers which are available, as flawed as it is because of the contract.
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"But they also have to hold regular meetings with the board to ensure that all of the targets which are being set by the contractor are being met. Because what the board are telling us is that the contractor are not deploying the feet on the ground and resources.
"The Government has to hold all of these people to account."
His comments come ahead of the latest delays to the project being scrutinised in the Oireachtas on Wednesday.
The Oireachtas Health Committee will hear claims the main contractor on the project BAM Construction has shown complete disregard for sick children, young people and their families.
Politicians are also due to be told that not a single room in the new national childrens hospital has been fully completed in line with required standards.
The chief executive of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board will also outline how BAM has moved its completion date 14 times in the past four years.
The Joint Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community (2023) will meet on Thursday to discuss Travellers in prison with stakeholders.
The meeting at 10:30am in Leinster House will hear from representatives from the Irish Penal Reform Trust, Traveller Justice Initiative and Barnardos.
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Committee Cathaoirleach Senator Eileen Flynn said: The Committee looks forward to holding its first public meeting on the subject of Travellers experience of the justice system.
Following on from the work of the previous Joint Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community and the visits undertaken by this Committee to Castlerea Prison, Mountjoy Female Prison (the Dochas Centre) and Oberstown Children Detention Campus, the Committee welcomes the opportunity to learn more about Travellers experience of the prison system as well as penal reform and alternatives to prison.
The committee understands that while Travellers represent less than one percent of the population, eight per cent of male prisoners are Travellers, 16 per cent of female prisoners are Travellers, and 21 per cent of children detained are Travellers.
The Committee will look at the use of ethnic identifiers as a method of equality monitoring using more accurate information. In the coming weeks, we will consider other aspects of the relationship between Travellers and the Justice system in more detail, including Travellers trust in the Justice system," Flynn said.
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The Joint Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community (2023) has 14 Members, nine from the Dail and five from the Seanad.
The Committee was re-established in June 2023 to continue the work of the previous Committee.
A young man who died in the emergency department of Tallaght University Hospital three years ago had been waiting 11 hours to be seen by a doctor when he should have been categorised as a patient in need of urgent care who should have been examined within 10 minutes.
An inquest at Dublin District Coroners Court heard evidence by several nursing staff at TUH that the emergency department was experiencing significant overcrowding and understaffing at the time.
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The coroner, Clare Keane, was informed that the patient should have been given a higher priority for being seen by a doctor but triage staff had been given two different versions of a system used for assessing patients which had resulted in him being deemed in less urgent need of care.
Gary Crowley (35) a security guard from Killinarden Estate, Tallaght, died at TUH on September 21st, 2021 after suffering a cardiac arrest.
The inquest heard that Mr Crowley had called his sister from the hospital a few hours earlier complaining of severe pains all over his body but felt he was being ignored by nurses.
Claire Crowley said her brother, who lived at home with their parents, rang her to say he felt unwell on the morning of September 20th, 2021 but did not want to tell their mother, Anne, who was travelling to Lourdes that day.
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The inquest heard Mr Crowley had been taking anti-blood clotting medication for several years to treat deep vein thrombosis.
He was also diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder and was a heavy drinker.
Evidence
Evidence was heard that Mr Crowley had been vomiting for four days and had drunk a bottle of rum every day for the three days prior to his admission to TUH.
Ms Crowley planned to call over to bring him to hospital but discovered that their father had brought him straight away because of his condition.
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As she was unable to attend the hospital because of Covid-19 restrictions, Ms Crowley said her brother called her around 7pm where he described feeling ignored by nurses.
At the time Ms Crowley said her brother, who had been sitting in a plastic chair, wanted to lie down as he had extremely bad pains everywhere and an irregular heartbeat.
She received a final text from him at 10.30pm when he wrote: Dont worry. Ill be alright.
Ms Crowley complained that her family had not got clear communications or adequate information from the hospital about his condition.
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She described how her brothers death had a devastating effect on all her family, particularly her father, Gus, who had been in and out of hospital since his sons death.
If we can get some sort of justice from this for Gary, it would prevent something like this from happening to another person, she added.
Ms Crowley revealed her family had been contacted by an off-duty nurse, Danielle Connolly, who was in the emergency department who had noticed Mr Crowley in distress and coughing up coffee-brown blood".
She claimed Ms Connolly told her that she had twice raised a flag about Mr Crowleys condition with staff at a nursing station and pointing out that his care should be prioritised over her own relative, but she had been sent away".
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A nurse, Fiona Regan, said TUHs emergency department was extremely short-staffed at the time with only two nurses available to triage patients half the usual number.
Ms Regan said 111 patients had presented to the emergency department during her shift that day.
The inquest heard Mr Crowley was registered by TUH at 12.13pm but was not triaged for almost two hours when all arrivals should have been seen within 15 minutes.
Ms Regan admitted to the coroner that she had categorised Mr Crowley as a Category 3 patient based on an assessment tool which meant he should be examined by a doctor within one hour.
However, she acknowledged that under a different version of the same tool available in the hospital the patient should have been classified as Category 2 which was for more urgent cases with a recommended medical examination within 10 minutes.
Elevated early warning score
Ms Regan said an elevated early warning score recorded for Mr Crowley was not highlighted to other medical staff at the time but would be under a new system now operated by TUH.
She also revealed that she had completed an incident form at the end of her shift that night to raise concern about overcrowding and lack of staff in the emergency department.
Another triage nurse, Carol Greene, described finding Mr Crowley lying on the floor of a waiting area at 9.25pm due to his pains.
Ms Greene said she helped him into a wheelchair and brought the patient to another waiting area where she passed on her concerns about his condition to another nurse.
Dr Gavin Sedgwick, who was a senior house officer at the time at TUH, said Mr Crowley was in distress and he had prescribed IV fluids for the patient who he examined at 11.05pm.
Staff nurse, Danilo Garin, said he had been unable to give the IV fluids to the patient until around 1am.
Mr Garin explained he was delayed in finding another nurse to sign off on administering the medication due to staff shortages and a busy workload.
The nurse said Mr Crowley was lying on a trolley in distress when he arrived with the IV fluids and the patient suddenly became unresponsive.
He immediately sought help but efforts to resuscitate Mr Crowley were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at 2.45am.
A consultant in emergency medicine, Aileen McCabe, said the treatment given to the patient was correct but added: Unfortunately it was delayed.
Dr McCabe said tests showed the patient had suffered an acute kidney injury from dehydration.
Postmortem results confirmed Mr Crowley died from metabolic ketoacidosis and upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
Dr McCabe told the coroner that changes had been made at TUH since Mr Crowleys death including blood tests being ordered and completed within an hour in some cases before a patient is triaged.
The consultant said any patient with abnormal test results would be prioritised for care, while a colour-coded priority system is used to alert staff to the most urgent cases.
She added: We have significantly enhanced our safety systems particularly for patients waiting to be seen.
Dr McCabe told the inquest that 56 patients were waiting to be examined by a doctor at 9.30pm on the day Mr Crowley was there with a further 13 patients waiting to be triaged.
Although the department now had additional staffing levels, the consultant said the number of doctors was still inadequate for the volume of patients coming to the hospital as was the clinical space for examining them.
Dr Mr Cabe said the number of people attending the emergency department had increased despite the ending of the Covid-19 pandemic with up to 6,000 now presenting on average per month.
She outlined how patients due to be admitted to the hospital were now moved to wards that were already at full capacity when the emergency department reached its own capacity of 71 patients under a new escalation policy.
Returning a verdict of death by misadventure, Dr Keane said she was deeply sorry for the pain, suffering and loss, felt by Mr Crowleys family.
The coroner also acknowledged how staff at TUH were working in extremely challenging conditions and remarked that the extreme pressure they faced was very clearly established and heard.
Simon Harris has accepted an invitation to meet US president Joe Biden at the White House in October.
Following the meeting, the Taoiseach and Mr Biden will both speak at an event to mark the centenary of bilateral diplomatic relations between Ireland and the US.
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A statement from the Government said the event will also be an opportunity to reflect on President Bidens career-long friendship with Ireland.
During his visit to Washington DC, the Taoiseach will also undertake a number of other engagements.
Here are the stories making the headlines on Wednesday's newspaper front pages.
The Irish Times leads with the mounting death toll in Lebanon as Israel pledged to continue air strikes against Hezbollah.
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The Irish Examiner reports that there has been a surge in the number of migrant workers being exploited in Ireland.
Construction has not yet started on 50,000 apartments with planning permission in Dublin, according to the Irish Independent.
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The Irish Daily Mail claims that Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan is being sidestepped within Government in order for roads funding to be released.
The Tanaiste has urged the US to stop selling weapons to Israel, the Irish Daily Mirror reports.
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The Irish Daily Star says the latest photos of the new children's hospital show the 2 billion facility is "nowhere near ready".
The Belfast Telegraph reports that a loyalist group urged the North's Education Minister to intervene over an Irish language nursery school in east Belfast.
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Keir Starmers speech to the Labour conference dominates the British front pages of Wednesdays newspapers.
The British prime minister told the country to turn up our collar and face the storm and that he would make unpopular decisions, reports The Times, while The Independent takes a similar line as it looks at his message to the party to take pride in victory.
The Times: Brace for the incoming storm, warns Starmer #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/j564nMnxMb Advertisement George Mann (@sgfmann) September 24, 2024
The Guardian repeats Mr Starmers line that tough decisions are needed, saying Britain will prosper if people keep the faith and accept a series of difficult trade-offs.
The Guardian: Keep the faith and Britain will prosper, urges Starmer #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/eLO0Yh095y George Mann (@sgfmann) September 24, 2024
The state will take back control is the headline in The Daily Telegraph, which says Mr Starmer used a Brexit slogan to spell out his vision for his government.
The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph:
'The state will take back control'#TomorrowsPapersToday
Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4OoUh6 pic.twitter.com/s21ATHP2K2 The Telegraph (@Telegraph) September 24, 2024
The Daily Mirror warns of a bumpy road to a brighter future as it says Mr Starmer promised tough love for the UK.
The Metro also focuses on the Labour conference with home secretary Yvette Cooper vowing to halve knife crime in a decade on the day a ban on zombie blades was introduced.
Tomorrow's Paper Today
TEN YEARS TO END ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
Home sec's vow to have knife crime... as latest victim revealed #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/ighqWChtHK Metro (@MetroUK) September 24, 2024
Several front pages cover a mass evacuation of up to 10,000 British nationals from Lebanon amid increasing Israeli bombardments, with the Daily Mail saying hundreds of troops have been deployed to the Mediterranean to help out.
Daily Mail: MARINES READY FOR MASS EVACUATION
OF LEBANON BRITS #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/4KdPnsXUyU George Mann (@sgfmann) September 24, 2024
The i says the EU is willing to shorten the time it wants for young Europeans to be allowed to stay in the UK under a proposed mobility agreement.
Britain's Princess of Wales features on the front of the Daily Express, which says she returned to work after cancer treatment to plan her Christmas carol concert.
The Sun also features a return to work as it reports on Phillip Schofield filming a Channel 5 programme in Madagascar, 16 months after he left This Morning.
On tomorrow's front page: Phillip Schofield sensationally signs with Channel 5 for top secret new show 16 months after being dumped by ITV https://t.co/SjmoIQt843 pic.twitter.com/tvidzcKndI The Sun (@TheSun) September 24, 2024
A series of measures introduced in China to stimulate the economy are the focus of The Financial Times.
Just published: front page of the Financial Times, UK edition, Wednesday 25 September https://t.co/Vex9X0GGq8 pic.twitter.com/3CJCoj5TV4 Financial Times (@FT) September 24, 2024
And the Daily Star says the Loch Ness Monster is playing practical jokes on boaters.
The body of a British journalist who died on holiday in Gibraltar has been returned to his family, as police continue to investigate what happened.
David Knowles (32), who covered the Ukraine war for the Daily Telegraph, died earlier this month.
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UK counter-terrorism officers who were drafted in to assist the Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) investigation have returned home.
A post-mortem examination took place at St Bernards Hospital in the British overseas territory on September 12th and a coroners investigation is under way.
The RGP said there are no specific concerns surrounding the cause of death and the investigation continues.
After Mr Knowless death, a family spokesman said: We note the statement from the RGP today about David, particularly the assertion that there are no specific concerns at this time with regard to the death.
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We do not wish to say anything further while the authorities continue their investigations and ask that the familys privacy be respected.
Israel has intensified its bombardment of Lebanon, striking what it says are hundreds of sites linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, with Lebanese authorities saying the barrage killed more than 500 people on one day alone.
The escalation, after nearly a year of cross-border fire, has added to concerns of a much bigger war between Israel and Hezbollah that could cause major destruction and drag in Iran.
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This is how the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah are playing out:
What's the background to the fighting?
Hezbollah began trading fire with Israel on October 8th, a day after the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked communities in southern Israel and sparked the Gaza war.
Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, says its attacks aim to support Palestinians who are under Israeli bombardment in Gaza.
The Gaza war has drawn in Iran-backed militants across the region. Hezbollah is widely deemed the most powerful member of the Iran-backed network, known as the Axis of Resistance.
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While linked to Gaza, the conflict has its own dynamics. Israel and Hezbollah have fought numerous wars, the last major one in 2006.
Israel has long viewed Hezbollah as the biggest threat at its borders and has been deeply alarmed by its growing arsenal, and the foothold it has established in Syria.
Hezbollah's ideology is largely defined by conflict with Israel. It was founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982 to fight Israeli forces that had invaded Lebanon that year, and waged years of guerrilla war that led Israel to withdraw from south Lebanon in 2000.
Hezbollah deems Israel an illegitimate state established on occupied Palestinian lands and wants to see it gone.
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How is the conflict escalating?
Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant said on September 10th the country's operations against Hamas in Gaza were nearly fulfilled and it would soon focus on the northern border, aiming to return thousands of displaced Israelis to their homes.
On September 17th and 18th, pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in an apparent Israeli attack, killing scores and wounding thousands.
On September 20th, an Israeli strike in southern Beirut killed one of Hezbollah's top commanders along with other senior figures.
Hezbollah fired rockets further into Israel, including at the northern city of Haifa, in retaliation.
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On Monday, Israel unleashed its heaviest bombardment of Lebanon of the conflict, focused on the south but also striking targets in the Bekaa Valley and Beirut.
How much worse could it get?
A lot. Despite the ferocity of these hostilities, there is plenty of scope for a much bigger conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned in December that Beirut would be turned "into Gaza" if Hezbollah started an all-out war.
Hezbollah has previously signalled it is not seeking to widen the conflict while also saying it is ready to fight any war imposed on it and warning that it has used only a small part of its capabilities so far.
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Past wars have inflicted heavy damage.
In 2006, Israeli strikes levelled large areas of Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, knocked out Beirut airport, and hit roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Nearly 1 million people in Lebanon fled their homes.
In Israel, around 300,000 people fled their homes to escape Hezbollah rockets and some 2,000 homes destroyed.
Hezbollah has a far bigger arsenal than in 2006, including rockets it says can hit all parts of Israel.
Israeli troops have invaded Lebanon several times in the past, reaching as far as Beirut in the 1982 invasion that aimed to crush Lebanon-based Palestinian guerrillas.
What are the chances of a diplomatic solution?
Israel has said its military operations in Lebanon will continue until it is safe for people in northern Israel to return to their homes something that would require an end to Hezbollah rocket fire.
Hezbollah has said it will keep firing while the Israeli offensive in Gaza continues.
However, Gaza ceasefire talks have stalled with little sign of progress soon.
The US does not support the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah across the border, a senior State Department official said, but Washington has stopped short of publicly putting pressure on Israel to ease its bombardment.
The US official at the heart of diplomatic contacts, Amos Hochstein, brokered an unlikely diplomatic deal between Lebanon and Israel in 2022 over their disputed maritime boundary.
At the start of the year, Hezbollah signalled its eventual openness to an agreement that benefits Lebanon, but said there can be no discussions until Israel halts the Gaza offensive.
Hochstein said on May 30th he did not expect peace between Hezbollah and Israel but that a set of understandings could remove some of the impetus for conflict and establish a recognised border between Lebanon and Israel.
A French proposal submitted to Beirut in February included elite Hezbollah fighters withdrawing 10km from the frontier and negotiations aimed at settling disputes over the land border.
The prospect of implementing any such deals looked dim even before the latest round of escalation. It now seems less likely still.
An engineer with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is scheduled to give evidence in front of the United States Coast Guard on Wednesday about the experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic.
Engineer Don Kramer is due to give evidence as the investigation continues into the implosion of OceanGates Titan submersible in June 2023.
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British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood died alongside OceanGate Expeditions chief executive Stockton Rush and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
The remains of the Titan submersible on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean (Pelagic Research Services/AP)
The Coast Guard opened a public hearing earlier this month that is part of a high-level investigation into the cause of the implosion. Some of the testimony has focused on the troubled nature of the company.
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Earlier in the hearing, former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge said he frequently clashed with Mr Rush and felt the company was committed only to making money.
The whole idea behind the company was to make money, Mr Lochridge testified. There was very little in the way of science.
Mr Lochridge and other previous witnesses painted a picture of a 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.
The hearing is expected to run through Friday and include several more witnesses, some of whom were closely connected to the company. Other witnesses scheduled to testify on Wednesday were William Kohnen of Hydrospace Group Inc and Bart Kemper of Kemper Engineering.
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The co-founder of the company told the Coast Guard panel on Monday that he hoped a silver lining of the disaster is that it will inspire a renewed interest in exploration, including the deepest waters of the worlds oceans.
Members of the US coast guards Titan Submersible Marine Board of Investigation listen during the formal hearing at the Charleston County Council Chambers (Laura Bilson/The Post And Courier via AP)
Businessman Guillermo Sohnlein, who helped found OceanGate with Mr Rush, ultimately left the company before the Titan disaster.
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This cant be the end of deep ocean exploration. This cant be the end of deep-diving submersibles and I dont believe that it will be, Mr Sohnlein said.
Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. That and Titans unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.
OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion. The company has no full-time employees currently, but has been represented by an attorney during the hearing.
During the submersibles final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about Titans depth and weight as it descended. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.
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One of the last messages from Titans crew to Polar Prince before the submersible imploded stated, all good here, according to a visual re-creation presented earlier in the hearing.
When the submersible was reported overdue, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometres) south of St Johns, Newfoundland. Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 metres) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said. No one on board survived.
OceanGate said it has been fully co-operating with the Coast Guard and NTSB investigations since they began. Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic wreckage site going back to 2021.
By SA Commercial Prop News
South African government will meet its budget deficit target of 4.2 percent this year, or down R144.6bn in the 2013-14 fiscal year, and limit spending over the medium term, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced.
South African government will meet its budget deficit target of 4.2 percent this year, or down R144.6bn in the 2013-14 fiscal year, and limit spending over the medium term, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced.
The budget deficit, the difference between revenue and spending, is seen at 4.2% of gross domestic product (GDP), or down R144.6bn, in the 2013-14 fiscal year, a surprise downward revision from the deficit of 4.6% projected in February.
In his 2013 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), tabled in Parliament, he said a spending limit had been set for 2016/17, holding real non-interest expenditure growth to an annual average of 2.2 percent over the three-year spending period.
Spending on key social and economic programmes would be maintained. Net national debt was projected to stabilise, at 44 percent of GDP, four years from now, in 2017/18, he said.
Gordhan announced severe cuts to office bearers perks across all spheres of government as well as for executives of state-owned enterprises.
A Treasury official confirmed that the cost-cutting was approved by the Cabinet, the governments highest decision-making body, on Wednesday, just hours before Mr Gordhan was to present his medium-term budget policy statement to both houses of Parliament.
The cost-cutting measures have been made with just more than seven months to go until the next national and provincial elections.
The state would impose tighter guidelines on cars, accommodation and travel for all government leaders, from ministers to mayors.
Gordhan said these would apply from December 1, and would spell an end to official credit cards, million-rand vehicles, luxury hotel stays and expensive home upgrades for Cabinet members.
Distribution of resources would be in line with the National Development Plan. Health and education would continue to receive the largest allocations, while budgets related to infrastructure, jobs, local government, and community development would grow strongly.
The consolidated framework proposed for the 2014 Budget provided for total spending of R1.24 trillion in 2014/15, R1.34trn in 2015/16, and R1.44trn in 2016/17.
Debt-service costs would rise from R100.5 billion in 2013/14, to R135.4bn in 2016/17.
Medium-term spending pressures had been accommodated by re-prioritising allocations and drawing down the contingency reserve, Gordhan said.
Provinces would receive additional funding for their salary requirements, while the share of nationally generated revenue going to local government would continue to grow strongly.
"The budget policy framework for the next three years is designed to manage risk in a constrained fiscal environment, while building a foundation for faster and more inclusive long-term growth," he said.
GDP growth of 2.1 percent was expected in 2013, rising to 3.5 percent in 2016.
The expenditure ceiling set out in the 2013 Budget forward estimates would be maintained for the period ahead, and the budget deficit would narrow from 4.2 percent in the current year to 3.0 percent in 2016/17.
Measures to support faster growth included investing in electricity and transport capacity, promoting industrial competitiveness, and broad social co-operation to address problems in mining and community development.
State-owned companies would continue to borrow to finance capital investment.
"Government works with these companies to ensure they can borrow at reasonable cost while increasing their efficiency. Over the period ahead, state corporations are not expected to be funded from the fiscus," Gordhan said.
Hezbollah launched a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv early on Wednesday, in a further escalation after Israel carried out strikes on Lebanon that killed hundreds of people.
The Israeli military said it intercepted the surface-to-surface missile, which set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel, and there were no reports of casualties or damage.
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The military said it struck the site in southern Lebanon from which the projectile was launched.
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Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israels Mossad intelligence agency, which it blames for a recent string of targeted killings of its top commanders and for an attack last week in which bombs hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of people and wounded thousands, including many Hezbollah members.
The Israeli military said it was the first time a projectile fired from Lebanon had reached central Israel.
Hezbollah claimed to have targeted an intelligence base near Tel Aviv last month in an aerial attack, but there was no confirmation. The Palestinian Hamas militant group in Gaza repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv in the opening months of the war.
Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in the southern village of Kfar Rouman, seen from Marjayoun, south Lebanon, on Wednesday (Hussein Malla/AP)
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Lt Col Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, said the missile fired on Wednesday had a heavy warhead but declined to elaborate or confirm it was the type described by Hezbollah.
He dismissed Hezbollahs claim of targeting the Mossad headquarters, located just north of Tel Aviv, as psychological warfare.
The Iranian-made Qader is a medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile with multiple types and payloads.
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It can carry an explosive payload of up to 800kg (1,760 pounds), according to the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Iranian officials have described the liquid-fuelled missile as having a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles).
The launch ratcheted up tensions as the region appears to be teetering toward another all-out war, even as Israel continues to battle Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Later, first responders said two people were wounded by a rocket fired into northern Israel from Lebanon.
The Magen David Adom rescue service said a 32-year-old man was seriously wounded and a 52-year-old was moderately wounded by shrapnel in the agricultural village of Kibbutz Saar.
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A wave of Israeli strikes on Monday and Tuesday killed at least 560 people in Lebanon and forced thousands to seek refuge.
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the village of Khiam (Hussein Malla/AP)
Families have fled southern Lebanon, flocking to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along the beach. Some sought to leave the country, causing a traffic jam at the border with Syria.
Israel said late on Tuesday that fighter jets carried out extensive strikes on Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa region to the north.
On Wednesday it responded with its own new strikes on Hezbollah. In Lebanon, at least three people were killed and nine wounded in a strike near Byblos, according to the countrys health ministry. The coastal town is north of Beirut and far from Hezbollahs main strongholds.
The military has said it has no immediate plans for a ground invasion but has declined to give a timetable for the air campaign.
The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Lebanon for Wednesday at the request of France.
Relatives carry the body of a young girl, killed in an Israeli airstrike, during her funeral procession in the southern village of Saksakieh, Lebanon (Mohammed Zaatari/AP)
Nearly a year of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel had already displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border before this weeks escalation.
Israel has vowed to do whatever it takes to ensure its citizens can return to their homes in the north, while Hezbollah has said it will keep up its rocket attacks until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israel has moved thousands of troops who had been serving in Gaza to the northern border. It says Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including some capable of striking anywhere in Israel, and that the group has fired some 9,000 rockets and drones since last October.
Cross-border exchanges began ramping up on Sunday in the wake of the pager and walkie-talkie bombings, which killed 39 people and wounded nearly 3,000, many of them civilians.
Lebanon blamed Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny responsibility.
A Lebanese police intelligence officer stands near a crater at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit a hangar in the southern town of Jiyeh, Lebanon, on Wednesday (Mohammed Zaatari/AP)
On Sunday, Hezbollah launched around 150 rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel.
The next day, Israel said its warplanes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, destroying cruise missiles, long and short-range rockets and attack drones, including weapons concealed in private homes.
The strikes racked up the highest one-day death toll in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising monthlong war in 2006.
An Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Tuesday killed Ibrahim Kobeisi, who Israel described as a top Hezbollah commander with the groups rocket and missile unit.
It was the latest in a string of assassinations and other setbacks for Hezbollah, which is Lebanons strongest political and military actor and is widely considered the top paramilitary force in the Arab world.
Lebanons Health Ministry said six people were killed and 15 were wounded in the strike in a southern Beirut suburb, an area where Hezbollah has a strong presence.
The UNs High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon said one of its staffers and her young son were among those killed on Monday in the Bekaa region, while a cleaner under contract was killed in a strike in the south.
Hezbollah fired 300 rockets on Tuesday, injuring six Israeli soldiers and civilians, most of them lightly, according to the Israeli military.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 564 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Monday, including 50 children and 94 women, and that more than 1,800 have been wounded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to the United Nations this week with no end in sight to the war in Gaza, the conflict with Hezbollah intensifying and his and Israels international legitimacy at a low.
Mr Netanyahu will head to New York burdened also by what could be an imminent warrant for his arrest by the International Criminal Court.
Meanwhile, 700 British troops were due to arrive on Wednesday on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus as the UK prepared for the possible evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon.
An Israeli firefighter plane above an open area near the city of Safed, northern Israel (Leo Correa/AP)
Egypt, Jordan and Iraq say Israel is pushing the Middle East into an all-out war and are calling on the United Nations Security Council to intervene.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, the three countries foreign ministers affirmed that averting a regional war requires the cessation of the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
The ministers also condemned the Israeli aggression on Lebanon, and said that Israel is pushing the region into an all-out war.
On Wednesday Pope Francis called for a stop to escalating tensions in Lebanon, calling the situation unacceptable.
I am saddened by the news coming from Lebanon, where intense bombing in recent days has caused much death and destruction, the pope said during a regular audience at the Vatican.
I hope that the international community will make every effort to stop this terrible escalation. It is unacceptable. I express my closeness to the Lebanese people, who have already suffered too much in the recent past.
The leaders of Germanys Greens, one of three parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholzs troubled coalition government, announced on Wednesday that they will step down after the latest in a string of disappointing election results.
The Greens support declined sharply in the European Parliament election in June. Voters ejected them from two state parliaments in eastern Germany in regional elections this month, most recently in Brandenburg on Sunday.
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Co-leader Omid Nouripour said in a statement to reporters on Wednesday that the result in Brandenburg is evidence of our partys deepest crisis for a decade.
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It is necessary and it is possible to overcome this crisis, he said. The party leadership has decided that a new beginning is needed and it is time to put the destiny of this great party in new hands.
Mr Nouripour and the partys other co-leader, Ricarda Lang, took the helm of the party in early 2022 after their predecessors, Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock, joined Mr Scholzs government as vice chancellor and foreign minister respectively.
The party has seen its popularity decline since.
The national government an uneasy combination of Mr Scholzs centre-left Social Democrats with the Greens, who also lean to the left, and the pro-business Free Democrats has angered Germans by bickering at length over poorly explained projects that sometimes raise fears of new costs.
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Those included a plan drawn up by Mr Habecks economy and climate ministry to replace fossil-fuel heating systems with greener alternatives.
The plan is for new leaders to be elected at a previously scheduled party congress in mid-November, Mr Nouripour said.
New faces are needed to lead this party out of this crisis, Ms Lang said. You can imagine that this decision isnt easy, but we are taking it out of conviction.
Neither Mr Nouripour nor Ms Lang are part of Mr Scholzs Cabinet. Their decision does not affect the Greens ministers.
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In the European Parliament election, the Greens slumped to 11.9% of the vote from an exceptionally successful 20.5% five years earlier, losing ground among young voters in particular. In Germanys last national election in 2021, when Ms Baerbock made the partys first run for the chancellery, the party won 14.8%.
Ms Baerbock said in July that she would not make another bid for Germanys top job in the next election, scheduled for September 2025. The party has not yet decided whether it will put up a candidate for chancellor again, though Mr Habeck is widely believed to be keen to run.
Mr Habeck told German news agency dpa that the leaders resignation is a great service to the party and they are clearing the way for a strong new beginning.
Caroline Cobb - "Advent for Exiles" | Merge PR
NASHVILLE, TENN. (SEPTEMBER 24, 2024) Today songwriter and storyteller Caroline Cobb releases her first book, Advent for Exiles (B&H Publishing). This special advent devotional features 25 devotions to awaken Christmas hope in every longing heart. Purchase the Scripture-rich companion for the Advent season now.
Just in time for the holidays right around the corner, this 25-day devotional weaves Scripture readings, song lyrics, poetic prose, biblical imagery, and responsive exercises to help readers joyfully celebrate Christs first arrival while deeply longing for His second.
"Advent for Exiles is designed to help you make ready. Its primary aim is to whet your appetite for the coming of Christ," shares Caroline Cobb.
In 2020, Cobb released A Seed, A Sunrise, an album that explored the ache of Advent, the joy of Christmas, and the expectant yearning for Christ's return. That album inspired this Advent devotional as she dove deeper into the poetic imagery of Isaiah and the biblical theme of exile. What began as a side project after her Christmas album, Cobb soon discovered that she had barely scratched the surface of the poetic imagery of Isaiah and began to write this book. With her music as inspiration, listen to the devotional playlist on Spotify to accompany Advent for Exiles.
Cobb adds, "I wanted to draw more connections between our current experience and the biblical theme of exile and help readers imaginatively engage in the ache of Advent as a way of expanding their joy at Christs coming. Advent for Exiles is the fruit of more than two years of writing and wrestling this deep dive into words."
Check out the tour dates to hear Caroline Cobb perform and speak about this book.
Book Details:
Title: Advent for Exiles
ISBN: 9781430095842
Page Count: 240
Release Date: Sept. 24, 2024
Suggested Price: $19.99
B&H Publishing - Hardcover
ABOUT CAROLINE COBB: Before her thirtieth birthday, Caroline Cobb set a goal to write a song for every book of the Bible in one year. That year set a new calling into motion: to tell God's Story through music and other creative work, helping you rehearse it and respond to it as you go about your everyday life. Her most recent album, Psalms: The Poetry of Prayer (May 2023) gives voice to a rich range of prayers from the Psalms and builds on Carolines previous storytelling projects A King & His Kindness (2021), A Seed, A Sunrise (2020), a Home & a Hunger (2017), and the Blood + the Breath (2013). Caroline has been featured by Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, The Rabbit Room, Risen Motherhood, and many more, with a Home & a Hunger named among The Best Albums of the Decade (2010s) by The Gospel Coalition. She and her husband Nick live in Dallas, Texas, with their three children Ellie, Harrison, and Libby.
The slew of stimulus measures Chinas central bank unleashed on Tuesday indicates growing anxiety about the countrys deflating economy. Its a big package, the biggest since the pandemic but it might still not be enough to turn things around.
Its notable that because the broad suite of policy actions was announced by the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC), theyre all just monetary policy measures.
Notably missing, so far, is the fiscal policy stimulus from the central government that Western economists have been calling for ever since Chinas property crisis began developing four years ago.
President Xi Jinping needs to step in to save Chinas economy from falling into a deflationary spiral. Credit: AP
That may yet come, although Xi Jinpings reluctance to inject cash directly into households to boost consumption he believes people should work for a living rather than receive government handouts would have to be overcome if the remedy Western governments would choose in Chinas circumstances is to be deployed.
Grantchester
Saturday, 7.30pm, ABC The traditional small-town whodunnit is a glorious mass of contradictions. A well-constructed mystery must, of course, avoid resting on coincidence. For a mystery to provide a satisfying puzzle to the audience and obviously a big part of the appeal of the whodunnit is the quest to guess the killer before the detective does it has to be tightly constructed and everything has to have happened for a reason, not because of random chance. In fact, a murder mystery needs to involve far less coincidence than real life does, if its to please the exacting armchair sleuth. Robson Green, Tom Brittney and Rishi Nair in Grantchester. Credit: ABC Yet, on the other hand, such stories also depend massively on coincidence. Take Grantchester, the long-running British mystery series that has just begun its ninth season on ABC. In the beginning, the serene village of Grantchester in Cambridgeshire was blessed with the arrival of the Reverend Sidney Chambers (James Norton). The vicar was young, strapping, handsome and a crime-solving genius, which was great news for most of the people of Grantchester but terrible news for its surprisingly large community of murderers. After a few years, though, Sidney moved on, to the delight of said murderers, to be replaced by the Reverend Will Davenport (Tom Brittney). The new vicar, as it happened, was young, strapping, handsome and a crime-solving genius. Curses! cried the murderers, as they were frogmarched away by the redoubtable Detective Inspector Geordie Keating (Robson Green), a tough old-school copper who is nevertheless flexible enough in his methods to allow the local vicar to accompany him to crime scenes and suspect interviews.
In the first couple of episodes of season nine, Reverend Will has been offered a new job in Newcastle, where hell get to minister to the needy but possibly solve fewer baffling murders. As he decides to take the job, the Grantchester murderers prepare to pop the corks on their champagne, and in comes the new vicar, Alphy Kottaram (Rishi Nair). Imagine everyones surprise when Alphy turns out to be tall, and strapping, and As Lady Bracknell might say, for a village to have two sexy detective vicars might be described as good fortune: to have three looks like screenwriting contrivance. And the only defence to such contrivance is, as always, who cares? For Grantchester is good old-fashioned merry murder hijinks: given gravitas by well-drawn characters and injections of domestic drama, but in the end predicated on Agatha Christies prime directive: murder should be fun! Loading Some crime shows are gritty and bleak and realistic: these are usually set in big cities, where there is grime and decay and the dreadful crimes committed are simply symptoms of the worlds essential rottenness. Grantchester is the other kind: set in small towns where everything is peaceful and bucolic and murders exist so that they can be solved, thus reassuring us that everything is OK and there will always be brave and clever people in charge to sort things out. Both kinds of show have their attraction and uses, but we should definitely be grateful that the likes of Grantchester exist. Its not all about the mystery, of course. Grantchester would be a much lesser show without Robson Green as Geordie (so named, presumably, because hes a Geordie). Green locks so naturally into his well-practised easy charm as the occasionally grouchy but always golden-hearted detective. The sex appeal is ostensibly provided by the vicars in this show: Norton, then Brittney, and now Nair have provided smouldering good looks and swoonworthy sensitivity throughout. But with the regular turnover, its Green whos been the heart of the show since the beginning, and it can be guaranteed that theres a fair slab of this shows audience who find his craggier, more mature brand of sexiness the real heart-grabber.
Its becoming increasingly rare for a scripted series to make it to its fourth season in the streaming era. The bean counters and data crunchers have divined that the fresh subscribers a show can bring to a platform have been exhausted after three seasons, so its better to put the production budget into a new title and start the cycle once more. Mercantile to the point of mercenary, this outlook gets shows, at best, wrapped up, or simply cancelled.
Given those cold calculations, we should absolutely celebrate two shows that are currently not only airing their fourth season via weekly episodes, theyre flourishing while they build a lasting body of work. Defying both expectations and their genres, Apple TV+s Slow Horses and Disney+s Only Murders in the Building are televisions four-to-the-floor series. The British espionage thriller and the American murder-mystery comedy are a reminder that a great series can get even better when it finds its groove.
What do the shows have in common? For a start, each was a smart bet that the star of their ensemble was being put in a role that was right in their wheelhouse. Gary Oldmans Jackson Lamb, the sardonic spy master of Slow Horses, is a cholesterol tests worst nightmare who emits strange odours and dismissive quips. His gut instinct is considerable in worryingly different ways. Bringing you up to speed is like trying to explain Norway to a dog is a typical kiss-off.
Emma Flyte (Ruth Bradley) and Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) in Slow Horses.
In Only Murders in the Building, a show he co-created, Steve Martin is a goofy but nonetheless egocentric delight as Charles-Haden Savage, a former TV cop show star from the 1990s whose efforts to be cool or considered are often sidetracked by a narcissistic streak that is more amusing than problematic. But Charles is a more than OK Boomer. Seeing him come alive in the company of unlikely new pals and true crime podcasters Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) and Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) is a genuine delight.
The distraught father of two boys allegedly stabbed to death by their mother has farewelled his beautiful little kids just becoming beautiful young men at a funeral service just a few kilometres from their Blue Mountains home.
Dressed in white and nestled together in a single casket, the brothers Benjamin and Russell Smith were on Wednesday morning carried into St Thomas Aquinas Church in Springwood by their father Nick Smith and three other pallbearers.
Mourners attended the funeral of Benjamin and Russell Smith on Wednesday in Springwood. Credit: Rhett Wyman
In a pre-recorded video eulogy played to hundreds of mourners, Nick Smith didnt acknowledge their mother Trish Smith, from whom he was separated, or the horrendous circumstances surrounding the deaths of the boys, aged 9 and 11.
Russell and Bennie, the most amazing boys Ive ever had the privilege of meeting. You were just the most beautiful souls, beautiful little kids just becoming beautiful young men. Everybody loved you. Everybody adored you, he said, his voice wavering.
The West Australian government will ban the sale of vapes in pharmacies without a prescription under regulations that go beyond laws passed by the Commonwealth earlier this year.
Under those federal laws, the sale of vapes from pharmacies without a prescription will become legal from October 1 as a result of a deal struck between the government and Greens in June to get the laws, which also included enforcement and penalties for retailers selling vapes, through parliament.
WA Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson at Dumas House on 25th September 2024. Credit: Hamish Hastie
WA Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said the new regulations were necessary to retain the status quo ban, which was supported by pharmacists and other health professionals in the state.
Sanderson avoided criticism of her federal counterpart Mark Butler for striking the deal and forcing her government into the extraordinary position of introducing rules circumventing Commonwealth laws.
Peter Dutton is a details guy. But hes not your usual details guy. He likes details, for sure. As far back as 2022 he said there was bewilderment at the Albanese governments failure to provide sufficient detail on its proposal for an Indigenous voice to parliament. For months afterwards, he kept up the call for more and more information, but no amount of detail was enough for him.
Eventually, he came clean and opposed the Voice. But his apparently insatiable hunger for detail, designed to undermine Anthony Albanese and the idea of the Voice, proved to be a political masterstroke. It handed Dutton a decisive win over Albanese, with more than 60 per cent of voters rejecting the Voice at last years referendum. So we know Dutton likes calling for details. Its become his familiar response to just about anything the government puts up.
Peter Dutton is often short on detail. Credit: Illustration: Dionne Gain
But this is where his status as a peculiar details guy comes into play: hes all take and no give. The biggest and boldest idea Dutton has produced as Liberal leader is to create a nuclear energy industry by building seven nuclear power plants around the country by the middle of the century.
Indeed, its one of the biggest and most challenging ideas put forward by a major party in recent times. Nuclear energy is subject to formal, legislated bans federally and in the three biggest states, so to overturn that and create a new industrial sector with all of the necessary expertise and financing would be a monumental task.
J&K polls 2nd phase: 27.20 pc voter turnout recorded so far A voter turnout of 27.20 per cent was recorded in the first four hours of polling in the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, officials said on Wednesday. The voting began at 7 a.m. and will go on till 6 p.m. in 26 Assembly constituencies. With a percentage of 40.74, Kalakote-Sunderbani emerged at the top in the first four hours of voting. The least voting was recorded in Habba Kadal at 7.4 per cent.
Kangan (ST) recorded 30.94 per cent voting, Ganderbal 24.91 per cent, Hazratbal 12.8 per cent, Khanyar 10.79 per cent, Habba Kadal 7.4 per cent, Lal Chowk 11.39 per cent, Channapora 11.48 per cent, Zadibal 12.52 per cent, Eidgah 15.7 per cent, Central Shalteng 12.27 per cent, Budgam 21.79 per cent, Beerwah 26.62 per cent, Khansahib 27 per cent, Chrar-I-Sharief 28.85 per cent, Chadoora 24.26 per cent, Gulabgarh (ST) 35.72 per cent, Reasi 32.31 per cent, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi 31.08 per cent, Kalakote-Sunderbani 40.74 per cent, Nowshera 21.42 per cent, Rajouri (ST) 32.77 per cent, Budhal (ST) 31.62 per cent, Thanamandi (ST) 31.61 per cent, Surankote (ST) 32.79 per cent, Poonch Haveli 34.26 per cent and Mendhar (ST) 30.9 per cent.
Voting trends indicate that the turnout in the second phase could be similar to that seen in the first phase or marginally more or less the same.
Most polling stations in the six districts of UT -- Poonch, Rajouri and Reasi in Jammu division and Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal in the Valley wore a festive look.
Security forces drawn from the local police and the CRPF exchanged smiles with the voters as they started pouring out at the polling stations.
A total of 25.78 lakh electors are eligible to exercise franchise in the second phase of J&K elections. The Election Commission has set up 3,502 polling stations for six districts.
Senior politicians, including former J&K Chief Minister and Vice president of National Conference, Omar Abdullah, JKPCC chief Tariq Hameed Karra, BJP J&K president Ravinder Raina, former ministers Ali Mohammad Sagar, Asiya Naqash, Abdur Rahim Rather, Hakim Mohammad Yasin, Choudhary Zulfiqar and J&K Apni Chief, Syed Altaf Bukhari are contesting in the second phase.
NC-Congress are fighting these elections in a pre-poll alliance. NC has fielded candidates in 52 seats while Congress is contesting in 31 seats. Two seats, one for the CPI(M) in the Valley and the other for the Panthers Party in Jammu division have been left uncontested by the NC-Congress alliance.
On five Assembly seats of Sopore in Kashmir and Banihal, Nagrota, Kishtwar and Doda in Jammu, the two parties could not reach a consensus and both have fielded candidates to engage in a friendly contest.
Voting for the third and last phase of J&K Assembly polls will be held on October 1 and counting will take place on October 8.
London: Russia has established a weapons program in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine, according to two sources from a European intelligence agency and documents reviewed by Reuters.
IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned arms company Almaz-Antey, has developed and flight-tested a new drone model called Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists, according to one of the documents, a report that Kupol sent to the Russian Defence Ministry earlier this year outlining its work.
Russian President Vladimir Putin looks at drones during his visit to the Special Technology Centre in St. Petersburg, Russia. Credit: AP
Kupol told the ministry in a subsequent update that it was able to produce drones including the G3 at scale at a factory in China so the weapons could be deployed in the special military operation in Ukraine, the term Moscow uses for the war.
Kupol, Almaz-Antey and the ministry did not respond to requests for comment for this article. Chinas Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of such a project, adding that Beijing had strict control measures on the export of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Liverpool, England: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer tried to shake off his image as a gloom-monger on Tuesday, but raised eyebrows after mistakenly referring to hostages held by Hamas as sausages.
Urging an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the return of Israeli hostages, Starmer said: I call again for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the return of the sausages the hostages and a recommitment to the two-state solution: recognised Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel.
The gaffe didnt stop Starmers speech.
The PM appealed to voters exhausted by years of political and economic turmoil with the message that better times are on the way if they swallow Labours recipe of short-term pain for long-term gain.
Laurene has a gift for friendship, especially old friends she is tribally loyal, said David Bradley, who sold The Atlantic magazine to Powell Jobs company, the Emerson Collective. Kamala Harris falls within that ring of friends. Silicon Valley roots Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, found himself at an intimate dinner in Washington last northern autumn along with Powell Jobs, Harris and Doug Emhoff, Harris husband. The women, he recalled, seemed especially at ease. It was the vice presidents residence, he said, but they were sitting on the sofa like longtime girlfriends. Over fish and African vegetables, Walker said, they chatted about art and recounted stories of their recent travels to Africa.
There was no mention of any political leaders, he said. No one mentioned Trump. No one mentioned the president. Laurene Powell Jobs and her son Reed arrive to attend a state dinner in honour of French President Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron hosted by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at the White House in 2022. Credit: Bloomberg Politicians often use the word friend to describe patrons who can power their campaigns and careers. Neither Harris nor Powell Jobs, who both zealously guard their privacy, would comment for this story. But in interviews, three dozen people with insight into their bond described a genuine friendship built on a shared political philosophy, an interest in art and culture and their mutual trials as women in the public spotlight. Harris, 59, and Powell Jobs, 60, rose to prominence together in San Franciscos Bay Area: Powell Jobs donated $US500 to Harris first run for the citys district attorney in 2003. The next year, they attended the March for Womens Lives in Washington, DC, part of a posse of female leaders from the area, recalled Andrea Dew Steele, who organised the group. She was helpful early on in Kamalas career, Dew Steele recalled.
The women spent the next two decades travelling among the same Silicon Valley elite. They have attended each others family events: Powell Jobs was one of about 60 people to attend Harris wedding to Emhoff in 2014, and Powell Jobs invited Harris to the wedding of her son, Reed, in Hawaii this year, which Emhoff attended. They even shared the same celebrity dermatologist. American businesswoman, Laurene Powell Jobs, speaks during the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Tuesday. Credit: AP Even as Harris career took her to Sacramento and Washington, they have gone on personal trips together, with Harris at times flying on Powell Jobs private plane. They have prioritised one-on-one meals when theyve found themselves in the same city. They have been spotted together at Quince, a San Francisco hot spot, and were once seen chatting with Rupert Murdoch at the high-end restaurant Nobu Malibu. Susie Tompkins Buell, a San Francisco philanthropist who is close to both women, recalled the look on Powell Jobs face as Harris spoke at her swearing-in as California attorney-general in 2011. Ive watched them appreciate each other in a room full of a lot of people Laurene looking so proudly at Kamala when she was speaking, and just seeing this great sense of appreciation and pride, she said. She has texted with Powell Jobs in recent weeks about how to support Harris presidential bid. I know shes just beside herself with joy.
I vote for her In 2017, Powell Jobs consented to a rare interview onstage at a tech conference hosted by journalist Kara Swisher, who would become a New York Times opinion writer. She brought Harris along and made the interview a twofer. Loading It was the beginning of the Trump administration, but Swisher was already looking ahead to the next election. When she jokingly asked Powell Jobs if she was planning to run for president in 2020, Powell Jobs quickly turned the question into an opportunity to promote Harris, then a newly elected senator from California. Well, one of us should, Powell Jobs replied. She pointed at Harris and said, I vote for her.
Powell Jobs re-emergence into public and political life in the years since her husband died of cancer, in 2011, has been cautious and deliberate. She began making bigger political donations and lobbying Washington, pressing then-president Barack Obama on education at a closed-door Q&A with other tech billionaires during his 2012 reelection campaign, according to a person who was in the room. Powell Jobs was, like her late husband, an enigma but she had sweeping ambitions. Politicians began to seek her out. Michelle Obama invited her to sit in her box during her husbands State of the Union address in 2012. Hillary Clinton cultivated her, and Powell Jobs hosted a 20-person, $US200,000-a-head event for Clintons 2016 presidential campaign. She struck up a friendship with Kevin McCarthy, the former Republican speaker of the House. Loading And as Harris sought higher office, Powell Jobs hosted a series of fundraisers for her, including several at her house and one in 2014 with fellow Silicon Valley royalty like Marc Benioff, the founder of Salesforce; investor Ron Conway, her closest political confidant; and Sean Parker, the early Facebook executive. In 2016, she spent election night taking selfies with Harris at a party in Los Angeles, celebrating Harris election to the Senate. As a senator, Harris often visited Emerson Collectives offices in Washington to speak with Powell Jobs, her staff and the billionaires friends like Yo-Yo Ma and fashion designer Marc Ecko.
Still, the sprawl of Powell Jobs empire, vast even among ambitious Silicon Valley billionaires, sometimes gets in the way. Powell Jobs 2017 near-total purchase of The Atlantic has at times made her reluctant to jump more fully into politics. She has told other Democrats that as the de facto owner of a large media company Powell Jobs has even tried her hand at journalism, interviewing Harris for an event hosted by The Atlantic she should not be a fully fledged partisan actor, to the frustration of some on both her and Harris teams. She declined to significantly help Harris presidential bid in 2019. Loading The fateful debate Powell Jobs has visited the Biden-Harris White House nine times, but she has not always loved the administration. The first years of Harris tenure as vice president were especially difficult, as she drew criticism for her efforts on illegal immigration and reports of unhappiness among her staff. She frequently leant on Powell Jobs, confiding in her about the toll that the public scrutiny was taking, according to a person briefed on the relationship, and Powell Jobs pushed other Democrats to defend her more vigorously.
But Powell Jobs relationship with Biden has been trickier. She has been a major shareholder in Apple and Disney, and has bristled at some Biden policy positions that she considers anti-tech. She expressed frustration over what she considered hostile rhetoric from the president about rich people and Silicon Valley. Then came the June debate. After Bidens disastrous performance against former president Donald Trump, Powell Jobs expressed to other major Democratic donors her deep concerns about Bidens ability to win the election. One of her top aides, David Simas, a former Obama staff member who oversees her political research, circulated focus-group and polling data to other donors that painted a dire portrait. Several said Simas research was influential in encouraging them to mobilise against Biden. As Biden insisted that he would not leave the race, Harris quietly tried to survey her options and navigate the sensitive politics of the moment. Among those she turned to for counsel was Powell Jobs. Just weeks later, Powell Jobs was at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, sitting at times in Harris exclusive friends and family box and watching her companion formally accept the partys nomination for president.
A Harris administration role? Harris and Powell Jobs have talked for decades about the challenges of being women in the public eye and now the billionaire could help elect the countrys first female president. Powell Jobs was not particularly involved in Bidens reelection campaign, but she has told friends recently that she was energised by Harris ascension. She has joined calls with Harris campaign officials in recent weeks and told them that she was eager to host an intimate, pricey event for her, similar to the one she threw for Clinton, although with time short and money flooding in, officials are sceptical that an event will come together. Powell Jobs has spoken with other female leaders in technology and encouraged them to publicly support Harris. And her team has circulated to other megadonors a list of 17 recommended pro-Harris organisations to which they can donate, including the super political action committee (PAC) Future Forward, where one of her senior political aides is working. Powell Jobs prefers to make undisclosed contributions, and she has donated millions to Future Forwards dark-money (undisclosed donor) vehicle, according to three people briefed on the donations.
Friends of Powell Jobs have long thought she might want to go into politics. Some have wondered whether, if Harris wins the election, Powell Jobs might want a formal role in the administration, such as secretary of education, one of her top issues. Others hope she will simply use her clout to try to influence Harris more informally, such as by pushing her to support tougher measures to fight climate change. Loading Either way, Marc Porter Magee, an education-reform advocate, predicted that Powell Jobs would emerge as an insider in a Harris administration. Laurene is one of a small number of philanthropists who has both made significant investments in educational innovation and is also actively engaged in Democratic politics, he said. If Harris wins, she and her staff could emerge as important players in an administration that has yet to define its K-12 agenda. Is the publicity-averse Powell Jobs even interested in a Washington career?
Investors often negatively gear, expecting future capital gains to outweigh initial losses. If the asset is sold after 12 months, only 50% of the gain is taxed. Treasury noted that non-tax factors, like market conditions and advice favouring property investments, also drive the popularity of negative gearing.
Why should foreigners be asked to witness elections in J&K: Omar asks Centre Former Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Chief Minister and Vice President of the National Conference (NC), Omar Abdullah on Wednesday criticised the Centre for allowing foreign diplomats to witness the legislative Assembly elections in the UT. Talking to reporters, Omar Abdullah said, I don't know why foreigners should be asked to check elections here.
When foreign governments comment, then the government of India says this is an internal matter for India and now suddenly they want foreign observers to come and look at our elections.
Omar Abdullah told reporters that the Assembly elections in J&K "are an internal matter for us", and "we do not need their certificate."
This participation of people in the polls is not because of the government of India, it is in spite of everything that the government of India did. They have humiliated the people, they have used all the machinery of the government to detain and harass people.
"In spite of that, people are coming and participating in the elections. So, this is not something the government of India should be highlighting. But, anyway, that is the way they are, the former CM said.
Omar Abdullah also said that the people of J&K have been waiting for ten years for the polls and after the first phase went well a good voter turnout is expected in the second phase also.
About his own fate in these elections as he is standing from two seats, Ganderbal and Budgam, Omar Abdullah said that he is silently hopeful, but the ultimate decision is in the hands God and the voters.
A delegation of 15 countries including diplomats from the US, Norway, Spain, Singapore, South Africa, Algeria, Rwanda, Republic of Korea, Somalia, Guyana, Mexico, Panama, United Republic of Tanzania, Nigeria and Philippines arrived here on Wednesday and are visiting some polling stations to see the democratic process and the peoples participation in these elections.
Most polling stations in the six districts of the UT including Poonch, Rajouri and Reasi in Jammu division and Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal in the Valley wore a festive look.
Security forces drawn from the local police and the CRPF exchanged smiles with the voters as they started pouring in at the polling stations.
A total of 25.78 lakh electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the second phase of J&K elections which started at 7 A.M. and will end at 6 P.M. today.
The Election Commission has set up 3,502 polling stations for the six districts voting today.
Senior politicians including Omar Abdullah, JKPCC chief Tariq Hameed Karra, BJP J&K President Ravinder Raina, former ministers Ali Mohammad Sagar, Asiya Naqash, Abdur Rahim Rather, Hakim Mohammad Yasin, Choudhary Zulfiqar and J&K Apni Party Chief Syed Altaf Bukhari are in the electoral fray.
The NC and Congress are fighting these elections in a pre-poll alliance.
The NC has fielded candidates on 52 seats while the Congress is fighting on 31 seats.
Two seats, one for the CPI(M) in the Valley and the other for the Panthers Party in Jammu division have been left uncontested by the NC-Congress alliance.
On the five Assembly seats of Sopore in the Valley and Banihal, Nagrota, Kishtwar and Doda, the two parties could not reach a consensus and both have fielded candidates in these constituencies to engage in a friendly contest.
Voting for the third and last phase of J&K legislative Assembly polls will be held on October 1 and counting will take place on October 8.
India's federal labour minister asked the southern state of Tamil Nadu to resolve a weeks-long strike by workers at Samsung Electronics, a government source said on Wednesday.
The protests - the biggest such in India in recent years - at the South Korean group's plant near Chennai has disrupted operations, with over 1,000 of the 1,800 workers demanding higher wages and union recognition.
In a letter addressed to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, labour minister Mansukh Mandaviya has urged the state government to intervene for an "early and amicable" resolution, the source, who did not want to be named as the document has not been made public, said.
Amazons cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services (AWS), is engaging with the Indian government over its request for proposal (RFP) to procure high-end graphic processor units (GPUs) for AI Mission which aims to bolster the nations computing infrastructure, a senior company executive said.
According to reports, leading technology companies, including Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud have shown interest in the government tender to procure GPUs. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
Pankaj Gupta, Leader-Public Sector, Amazon India, called the India AI mission an empowerment framework for the sector, and indicated that the firm was engaging with the government on the same.
There is an active RFP process for the India AI program, and we are engaging with the government on that. We welcome this paradigm programme by the government of India which will democratise AI and bring everybody in the ecosystem together, said Gupta in an interaction with Business Standard on the sidelines of the AWS Empower India event on Wednesday.
Under the Rs 10,372 crore India AI Mission, the central government plans to procure high-end graphic processor units (GPUs) and provide it to Indian startups engaged in development of AI solutions that require huge computational power.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had recently floated a request for proposal (RFP) for procuring GPUs from private entities.
Gupta also reiterated the plan of the company to invest $15 billion in the country till 2030. So far the company has already invested around $3.7 billion between 2016 to 2022. An additional investment of $12.7 billion is also being invested across the country, including Hyderabad in setting up a mega data cluster for the firm.
AWS also announced a number of key public sector collaborations in India during the event, including the National Health Authority (NHA), Government e-Marketplace (GeM), and Public Sector Bank Alliance (PSBA). The firm said that it was enabling NHA to establish an open digital health ecosystem in India.
Using AWS, NHA is implementing core modules of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) programs applications like beneficiary identification system and transaction management system, to manage beneficiary identification, and claim transaction management in a scalable and secure manner, said the company.
The company also announced that the PSB Alliance Private Limited (PSBA) had empanelled AWS to offer cloud computing services to Indias public sector banks (PSBs).
PSBA is an umbrella organisation formed by 12 public sector banks, which includes Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, among others.
In the starting phase, AWS will help PSBs in enabling peripheral non-core banking services such as WhatsApp banking, loan management etc., and plans move to core banking services at a later stage.
We are trying to help them for the first time ease out the entire public sector procurement process. So now, the member banks will be able to approach PSBA. They will not directly start with the core banking kind of application, which is very complex. But things like WhatsApp banking, things like loan management, engaging with their customers, CRM, maybe something around human resources, all those peripheral applications will be provided. The core banking will take time, as that is very complex, Gupta explained.
Opinion
Powerful students vs power plant
To the Editor:
On March 21st I attended the Santa Paula City Council meeting to express my opinion that an outdated peaker power plant should not be allowed to be built on Mission Rock Road in the Santa Clara Valley. I was impressed by all of the community members who took the time to come and address the city council, each speaker presented valid points about why this plant would be bad for our community.
Most impressive however were the students from the group SESPEA at Santa Paula High School. Each of these young adults spoke to a different reason they were against such a power plant in our valley. They spoke powerfully, with and without notes. They spoke of the efforts they were already making to protect the river valley we live in. They spoke of the effects the increased air pollution would have on children, the elderly, and themselves as students and athletes. They mentioned the inequality of putting plants like these in poorer minority communities. They spoke of the beauty of our community and their desire not only to protect our valley, but to improve it.
I hope the Santa Paula City Council was listening to every speaker, but if they werent, I certainly hope they were listening to these students. These thoughtful, articulate, young adults are among those who would be most affected by such a power plant, they are our future!\
Please show your support for these students and others concerned about this proposed power plant in our community by attending the Santa Paula City Council meeting, Monday, April 4 at 6:30pm.
Gail Pidduck
Santa Paula
I was blown away
To the Editor:
I first attended Catalyst Church in Santa Paula about 9 months ago. I remember I quickly obtained the feeling of family. I enjoyed the sermons, the high quantity of young families, the friendliness of the staff and congregation and the come-as-you-are atmosphere. This Santa Paula Catalyst organization is only 5 years old and the facilities that it occupies was given to them by another church.
Fast forward to Easter Sunday.
During the last month or so, it was advertised during the Sunday service that the Easter services would be held in the Santa Paula High School Auditorium and it would combine the first and second service into one service at 10 Oclock.
With little expectation other than a larger congregation, we arrived a few minutes early. And what a surprise. You would easily get the impression that this is a very talented organization. Greeters would direct you to the goody trays with Easter treats, the coffee and water table and the table that welcomed first timers all with very friendly and welcoming members. And the program that outlined the service was very professionally and artistically done with the bright colors of Easter ever present.
The feeling that I was instantly hit with was one of comfort and one of family and home. I did not feel like a stranger or out of place. No, the feeling that hit me was one that this is where I want to be.=
If you are wanting to try to connect with God, if you are thinking you might want to see what a welcoming family like this is about, try just one visit to Catalyst.
Paul Briner
Santa Paula
RE:Richard
Rudmans letter
To the Editor:
We appreciated Richard Rudmans letter that appeared in the March 25, 2016 Issue of the Santa Paula Times regarding Harvest at Limoneira Communication. It was a well-received message, and we look forward to increased communication with the Santa Paula community.
The entitlement process for Harvest at Limoneira (Formerly EA1) has been lengthy. Development in California is a long and complicated process because regulations have been put in place to ensure our safety, environmental quality and many other factors.
Following the LAFCO vote in 2011 to annex the recently entitled Teague McKevett Ranch into the City of Santa Paula, communication was limited as work was undertaken to identify and review a responsible development partner for the EA1 project. After a great deal of due diligence, Limoneira selected The Lewis Group to help create improved lots to sell to builders that will build the residential housing in Harvest at Limoneira. The Lewis Group is nationally recognized for their integrity and excellence in not just providing housing, but helping to create communities. Were proud that they decided to work together with Limoneira after completing extensive due diligence on our Company.
Limoneira Lewis Community Builders is now at a point where on-going updates can take place, and we look forward to regular communications through the new Harvest at Limoneira website (www.harvest@limoneira.com), periodic email communications to community members, frequent reporting at City Council meetings, updating Santa Paulas many service organizations and holding mixers at the Limoneira Pavilion. We believe that there are many exciting enhancements for our entire community that will benefit all of us, and were looking forward to sharing them.
If there are any questions that anyone has about the ongoing development at Harvest at Limoneira please feel free to contact me at jchamberlain@limoneira.com, and we will try to respond promptly.
Voters stand in a queue at a polling station to cast votes during the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, in Srinagar district | (Photo: PTI)
The second phase of polling in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections saw a voter turnout of over 56 per cent on Wednesday, with the democratic exercise passing off peacefully amid tight security. While there was significant participation in key constituencies in 26 seats spread over six districts with long queues of voters at polling stations since early morning, 20 of these segments recorded a marginally lower turnout than in the 2014 assembly elections, when the overall voting was 60 per cent. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp The first phase of polling, held on September 18, saw an estimated 61.38 per cent voter turnout, while the final phase is set to take place on October 1 in the crucial elections being held after 10 years. The first phase of polling, held on September 18, saw an estimated 61.38 per cent voter turnout, while the final phase is set to take place on October 1 in the crucial elections being held after 10 years.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer P.K. Pole announced a preliminary turnout figure of 56.05 per cent, stating that it might change as polling continued in some areas, including Hazratbal and Reasi.
He emphasised that the election proceeded smoothly, with only minor incidents reported.
"There were some stray incidents, but there is no need for re-polling anywhere," Pole stated during a press conference after polls closed at 6 PM.
The highest turnout was recorded in the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi constituency, with 79.95 per cent of registered voters exercising their franchise. Other notable turnout figures included Kangan (71.89 per cent), Gulabgarh (73.49 per cent), and Surankote (75.11 per cent).
The Election Commission had set up 3,502 polling stations across the region, including 1,056 urban and 2,446 rural stations, with a robust security presence to ensure a safe voting environment.
Over 15,000 personnel, including local police and central paramilitary forces, were deployed to maintain order at the polling sites.
This phase saw a delegation of 16 foreign diplomats, including representatives from the US, Norway, and Singapore, visiting the valley to observe the electoral process.
This marked the first instance of international observers being allowed to witness elections in Jammu and Kashmir since the onset of militancy in the region.
The delegation visited multiple polling stations and expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the elections. US Deputy Chief of Mission Jorgan K. Andrews described the voting as "healthy and democratic," noting the enthusiasm of voters after a decade-long pause in the electoral process.
"It is great to see the enthusiasm; it's great to see Kashmiris out (and) voting after a pause for 10 years. We are very excited to see the results. It looks very healthy and very democratic," Andrews told PTI Videos at a polling station here.
The US diplomat said the process here was similar to how it happens in his country.
The Ministry of External Affairs had invited diplomats from 16 countries to observe the exercise.
"They (diplomats) expressed overall satisfaction. Our officers explained to them about the overall process including arrangement," Pole said.
However, the decision to invite foreign diplomats drew criticism from former chief minister Omar Abdullah, who questioned the necessity of foreign oversight in what he termed an internal matter.
Abdullah remarked, "When foreign governments comment, the Government of India says, 'this is an internal matter for India,' and now suddenly they want foreign observers to come and look at our elections."
He criticised the government for what he perceived as a "guided tour" approach and called for consistency in policy regarding foreign involvement in domestic affairs.
Members of the visiting delegation appreciated the electoral process, with some diplomats expressing admiration for initiatives like the all-female managed "Pink polling stations."
The delegation also interacted with local voters, who highlighted concerns about issues such as erratic electricity supply and rising bills.
"Electricity tariff meters have been installed. Now they say water consumption will also be metered," a woman in her late 60s told a diplomat while waiting for her turn to vote at a polling station in the heart of Srinagar city.
While the woman refused to identify herself, she said she spoke her heart out hoping that there would be some relief for the poor people and that the "angrez" (foreigner) would take up the matter with the Centre.
South Korea diplomat Sang Woo Lim liked the idea of Pink polling station, an initiative of the Election Commission where polling stations are managed by all-female staff.
Singapore deputy head of the mission in Delhi Cheng Wei Wei Alice said it was wonderful to be part of the delegation observing the polls here. Alice said the delegates were "very thankful to the MEA for organising this trip and allowing us to visit the polling stations".
The elections in Jammu and Kashmir continue to attract attention both domestically and internationally, as the region navigates its complex political landscape.
In Srinagar district, 93 candidates are vying for votes, followed by 46 in Budgam, 34 in Rajouri, 25 in Poonch, 21 in Ganderbal, and 20 in Reasi.
Prominent faces in this electoral battle include former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is contesting from the Ganderbal and Budgam constituencies. Tariq Hamid Karra, the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC), is running for the Central Shalteng seat.
Ravinder Raina, the chief of BJP's J-K unit, aims to retain his Nowshera seat in Rajouri.
Other notable candidates include jailed separatist leader Sarjan Ahmad Wagay, also known as Barkati, contesting from Ganderbal and Beerwah, and Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari, who is contesting in Channapora.
Former ministers such as Ali Mohammad Sagar (Khanyar), Abdul Rahim Rather (Chrar-i-Sharief), Choudhary Zulfikar Ali (Budhal), and Syed Mushtaq Bukhari (Surankote) are also in the running, with Ali and Bukhari standing on BJP tickets this time around.
The counting of votes is on October 8.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted its first known intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test in 44 years on Wednesday morning, launching an ICBM that could reportedly be capable of reaching the United States (US) mainland into the Pacific Ocean, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, citing China's defence ministry.
The most recent ICBM developed by China is the DF-41, which was introduced in 2017 and has a reported operational range of 12,00015,000 kilometres (km), making it capable of striking the US mainland. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
ICBMs generally have a range exceeding 5,500 km and are built to carry nuclear warheads.
What was the purpose of China's latest ICBM test?
The Chinese defence ministry confirmed that the PLA Rocket Force successfully launched an ICBM equipped with a simulated warhead, said the SCMP report, adding that it "accurately landed in the predetermined sea area" in international waters.
ALSO READ: US puts sanctions on Chinese cos for supporting Pak's missile programme According to the ministry's statement, the missile test was a "routine arrangement" of the Rocket Force's annual military training, which effectively tests the performance of weapons systems, equipment and the level of troop training.
The statement added that the missile test "achieved the expected purpose" and that China had "notified relevant countries in advance".
This marks China's first known successful atmospheric ICBM test over international waters in 44 years, according to the SCMP report. The last similar test took place in May 1980, when a DF-5, China's first ICBM, flew over 9,000 km.
Why did China test an ICBM now?
ALSO READ: Kim calls for bolstering nuclear weapons after testing 2 types of missiles China's latest ICBM test occurs amid increasing missile activity in the Asia-Pacific region. Earlier this month, North Korea conducted multiple short-range ballistic missile tests, with launches directed towards the Sea of Japan.
In April, the US Army deployed its mid-range capability missile system during joint exercises with the Philippines. According to the SCMP report, this marked the first deployment of such a weapon in the Asia-Pacific region since the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between the US and the erstwhile Soviet Union, which banned land-based missiles ranging from 500 km to 5,500 km.
However, after withdrawing from the INF treaty in 2019, citing violations by Russia, the US resumed development of intermediate-range missiles, coinciding with China's growing missile capabilities.
What did China's latest missile test achieve?
Speaking to the SCMP, military commentator Song Zhongping highlighted that the latest test marks China's second comprehensive evaluation of its ICBM capabilities. According to Song, the test demonstrated the reliability of China's missile technology.
ALSO READ: China blows hot, cold over Quad summit; calls it US tool against Beijing Song said that the latest test saw the Rocket Force launch the missile towards a "specific area of the Pacific Ocean" to test its "full trajectory". According to him, this represents a "thorough assessment" of the weapon system and also indicates that the Rocket Force's missile technology is "mature" and has "reliable" performance, and that the force possesses "strong operational capabilities".
According to Song, the ICBM tested could have been either a DF-31 or a DF-41. "This capability can deter certain countries from attempting nuclear coercion against China," he remarked.
What are China's larger missile plans?
ALSO READ: Pentagon expresses concern at growing China, Russia cooperation in Arctic A Pentagon report on China's military and security developments, released in October last year, noted that the PLA Rocket Force is "advancing its long-term modernisation plans to enhance its 'strategic deterrence' capabilities," which includes developing new ICBMs.
The report also indicated that China "doubled and continues to grow the number of launchers at most ICBM units", estimating that there were around 350 ICBMs, including DF-31 and DF-41 models, in 2022, with three new solid-propellant silo fields under construction.
The maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) of Indian Air Force's Rafale aircraft could soon get a boost due to a domestic facility expected to come up in Noida. Photo credit: PIB
India has taken notable steps in its journey towards becoming a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) centre for military aircraft and doubling the larger industry to $4 billion by 2030 in recent months, with global aerospace majors like France's Dassault Aviation and the United States' (US') Lockheed Martin and Boeing either announcing or indicating substantial plans for India.
At present, India is home to $2 billion in MRO business. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
Local partners -- the Tata Group and AI Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) -- are also involved in these projects, while Goods and Services Tax (GST) policy changes are expected to give the development of a robust domestic MRO ecosystem a fillip.
IAF's Rafales could soon be maintained, repaired in India
On Tuesday, news agency ANI reported that Dassault Aviation was in the process of establishing a new MRO facility in Noida. This facility will support the French-origin combat aircraft utilised by the Indian Air Force (IAF).
At present, the IAF operates approximately 50 Mirage-2000 jets, inducted during the 1980s, alongside 36 Rafale fighters, which have been inducted more recently.
Unnamed defence establishment officials have revealed that Dassault recently informed the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the IAF about establishing a new Indian entity, Dassault Aviation Maintenance Repair and Overhaul India (DAMROI), to provide MRO support for French-origin fighter aircraft in India.
Dassault also informed the MOD that the creation of this new MRO company aligns with India's Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliance) initiative. The facility is reportedly expected to be situated in one of the industrial sectors of Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
Moreover, Dassault confirmed that the new entity would be led by an Indian national, Posina Venkata Rao, who is an experienced Dassault representative in India.
Rao, who has been affiliated with Dassault Aviation for many years, will head a team composed of both French and Indian personnel.
Dassault also revealed plans to gradually expand the MRO capabilities at DAMROI in collaboration with the domestic aerospace industry, aiming to further enhance support for French-origin fighter jets in IAF's inventory.
ALSO READ: Rafale M fighter deal: How navy's Rafale will be different from air force's At present, negotiations are underway with Dassault to supply the marine variant of the Rafale jets to the Indian Navy. The Navy plans to acquire 26 Rafale Marine aircraft, intended to be operated from the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
Lockheed Martin-Tata setting up C-130 MRO base
Ahead of the news about Dassault, Lockheed Martin and India's Tata Advanced Systems Ltd formalised a "teaming agreement" on September 10, under which, they will establish an MRO facility in India for the C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft.
This facility will not only support the IAF's fleet of C-130Js, but also cater to the global fleet of these aircraft, which are operated by 23 nations.
ALSO READ: Aircraft MRO industry to reach $4 bn in seven years: Aviation min tells LS This will reportedly be the first comprehensive MRO setup by a global aviation major in India.
Moreover, a joint statement by Tata and Lockheed Martin indicated their intent to expand the production and assembly of C-130Js in India, but only if they secure the contract for the IAF's Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) programme.
Speaking to ThePrint, Tata Advanced Systems Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director Sukaran Singh said that the agreement marks his company's entry into the defence MRO sector for large aircraft platforms.
Boeing partners with Indian firm to support Navy's P-8I fleet
Boeing announced in August a partnership with India's AI Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) to enhance local MRO capabilities for the Indian Navys fleet of 12 P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft.
Through this partnership, the firms will offer in-country overhaul services for critical components of the P-8I fleet.
ALSO READ: Boeing partners AI Engineering Services to support Navy's P-8I fleet In fact, shortly before the announcement, the collaboration achieved a significant milestone with the first P-8I aircraft landing gear overhaul completed at INS Rajali. Boeing had stated that the development reflected the increasing indigenisation of complex MRO services within India.
At the time of the announcement, AIESL CEO Sharad Agarwal had expressed pride in the partnership, and while speaking to Business Standard, noted that it represents a significant step toward India's goal of becoming a regional MRO hub.
ALSO READ: Committed to making India a regional MRO hub: Boeing Defence India MD The Boeing-AIESL collaboration is part of the Boeing India Repair Development and Sustainment (BIRDS) hub programme.
US President acknowledges India's policy boost to MRO sector
During discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden, during the former's recent three-day visit to the US, both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to boosting reciprocal defence hardware supply.
ALSO READ: MQ-9B drones to Tejas engines: PM Modi's US visit impact on Indian military According to a joint fact sheet issued after their meeting, held at President Biden's private residence in Wilmington, Delaware, the American leader also welcomed India's decision to introduce a uniform GST of five per cent for the MRO sector, which includes all aircraft and aircraft engine parts.
PM Modi and President Biden also lauded commitments from US companies to bolster India's MRO capabilities, including the repair of aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Additionally, they praised the recent collaboration between Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd.
MRO sector to reach new heights thanks to change in taxation policy
These successive announcements in such a short period of time might not be a coincidence.
On July 15, Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu declared the introduction of a uniform Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) rate of 5 per cent on all aircraft and aircraft engine components, effective from the same day.
This policy shift represented a significant advancement for the domestic MRO sector.
Commenting on the development, Naidu had remarked, "The establishment of a uniform 5 per cent IGST rate on MRO items offers a substantial boost to the aviation industry. Previously, the presence of varying GST rates -- ranging from 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent, to 28 per cent -- on aircraft components posed challenges, such as an inverted duty structure and the accumulation of GST in MRO accounts. This new policy addresses these issues by streamlining the tax structure and fostering growth within the MRO sector."
Moreover, Naidu had highlighted the sector's future prospects, stating, "The Indian MRO industry is projected to become a $4 billion industry by 2030. This policy change is a crucial step towards building a strong ecosystem for MRO services, driving innovation, and ensuring sustainable growth."
In August, Naidu had informed the Lok Sabha that if any company wants to set up an MRO industry with an airstrip or airport anywhere in India, the Centre was ready to provide all necessary assistance.
Pleasanton police said Wednesday that they were investigating the death of a dog that was left outside on a balcony at an apartment complex in hot weather. Street View/Google
Pleasanton police said Wednesday that they are investigating the death of a dog that was left outside on a balcony during a recent spate of hot weather.
Dispatchers in the East Bay city received a call around noon, as temperatures were nearing 100 degrees, after a witness posted a video on social media showing the dog barking and whining on an exposed balcony at an apartment complex on Gibraltar and Hacienda drives.
Pleasantons Animal Services Officer contacted the leasing office to locate the dogs owner but was unsuccessful. Police arrived within 15 minutes of the call and found that the dog had succumbed to heat stroke.
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The individual who posted the video, which generated hundreds of comments, should have contacted authorities before posting the video to social media, according to the police.
This is a disturbing and tragic incident, and we recognize the concern and interest from those who care about animal welfare, the Pleasanton Police Department said in a statement.
While the initial investigation suggests the death was accidental, detectives are continuing their probe.
Police urged residents to act swiftly in such situations, stating, If you see something, please report it immediately rather than waiting to share it on social media, the agency said. With the hot weather, it is crucial to keep all animals cool indoors and ensure they have access to water. If you witness any animals in distress, please call 9-1-1 right away.
The India-China relationship would influence the future of the entire world, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said while making it clear that peace needed to be restored on the border first for bilateral ties to move forward. Addressing an event hosted by the Asia Society and the Asia Society Policy Institute here on Tuesday, Jaishankar noted India's difficult history with China and said the parallel rise of the two countries presented a very, very unique problem. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp I think the India-China relationship is key to the future of Asia. In a way, you can say that if the world is to be multi-polar, Asia has to be multi-polar. And therefore this relationship will influence not just the future of Asia, but in that way, perhaps the future of the world as well, Jaishankar said at the event titled India, Asia and the World'.
You have two countries who are neighbours, unique in the sense that they are the only two countries with over a billion people, both rising in the global order and who often have overlapping peripheries, including the fact that they have a common border. So it's really a very complicated issue," he said.
"I think, if you look today in global politics, the parallel rises of India and China, present a very, very unique problem.
When I said 75 per cent of it has been sorted out - I was asked in a way to quantify - it's only of the disengagement. So that's one part of the problem. The main issue right now is the patrolling. You know, how do we, both of us, patrol up to the Line of Actual Control, Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar said the patrolling arrangements after 2020 have been disturbed. So we've been able to sort out much of the disengagement, the friction points, but some of the patrolling issues need to be resolved.
He said once we deal with the disengagement, there is the larger issue as both of us have brought a very large number of troops up to the border. So there is what we call the de-escalation issue, and then there is the larger, the next step is really, how do you deal with the rest of the relationship?
Jaishankar gave a historical perspective of the relationship and of the border dispute, saying the "entire 3,500 kilometre-border between India and China is disputed".
And so you make sure the border is peaceful so that other parts of the relationship can move, he said.
He added there were a series of agreements between the two countries that went into greater and greater detail on how to make sure the border remained peaceful and stable.
Now the problem was in 2020, despite these very explicit agreements, we saw that the Chinese - we were all in the middle of Covid at that time - moved a large number of forces in violation of these agreements to the Line of Actual Control. And we responded in kind, he said.
"Once troops were deployed very close up, which is very dangerous, it was likely a mishap could happen, and it did happen," Jaishankar said, referring to the 2020 Galwan clash.
So there was a clash, and a number of troops died on either side, and that has since, in a sense, overshadowed the relationship. So until we can restore peace and tranquillity on the border and ensure the agreements signed up to are adhered to, it's obviously difficult to carry on with the rest of the relationship, the minister said.
Jaishankar said the focus for the last four years had been to, in the first instance, at least disengage the troops, meaning that they go back to the camp, the military bases from which they traditionally operate.
Because right now, both sides have troops deployed forward, he said.
Jaishankar, who will address the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly on Saturday, held a series of bilateral meetings with his global counterparts during the day in the UN Headquarters and the city.
Foreign Minister of India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar speaks at the Business Day of the Conference of Heads of German Missions Abroad at the Federal Foreign Office, in Berlin, Tuesday Sept. 10, 2024.(Photo: PTI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday stated that India was not attempting to control the actions of its neighbours, adding that this was a real world where countries adjust to each other and find ways to work things out. He made these remarks while speaking at an event titled 'India, Asia and the World', hosted by the Asia Society and the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York.
When asked how India was planning to address the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Jaishankar said: On the war thats going on we believe that wars are not a way of settling disputes a solution wont come from the battlefield we think that at some point there will be a negotiation that has to include all the parties and cannot be one-sided from those assessments, we have been engaging both Russia and Ukraine to see if there is a way which would hasten the end of the conflict Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
He further clarified, Its not that we have a peace plan we are not suggesting anything we are having these conversations and sharing them with the other side my sense is that both sides appreciate it if we look at the last few months PM Narendra Modi met Ukraine President Zelensky in June he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in July he met Zelensky again in August this month, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met President Putin and yesterday, PM Modi met Zelensky again we think if these conversations are helpful and there is something we can do we could make a contribution
Jaishankars views on Indias ties with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
Commenting on Indias shifting relations with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Jaishankar expressed confidence that the countries would eventually recognise the realities of interdependence and its benefits for all parties. Sri Lanka recently elected a new President, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is perceived as being pro-China. Meanwhile, Bangladesh recently experienced political turmoil that ended the 15-year-long rule of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
We stepped forward for Sri Lanka when it was facing a deep economic crisis when nobody else came forward I am glad we did it. We did it in a timely manner on scale we put out $4.5 billion, Jaishankar said, highlighting that India helped Sri Lanka, a good neighbour, which did not want to see an economic meltdown at its doorstep.
what happens politically in Sri Lanka thats for their politics to work out at the end of the day, each neighbour will have their own particular dynamics it is not our intention to suggest that their dynamics must necessarily adhere to what we might consider as better for us, he said. This is the real world. Everybody makes their choices, and then countries adjust to each other and find ways of working it out.
Jaishankars remarks on Bangladesh
On Bangladesh, Jaishankar noted that the situation was a little different. what we have done particularly over the last decade is carry out projects that are beneficial for both of us both countries have gained, the EAM said, stressing that India is not seeking to control every move of its neighbours.
Jaishankar expressed confidence that at the end of the day in our neighbourhood the realities of interdependence, of mutual benefit of the fact that our ability to get along will serve both our interests those realities will assert themselves.
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Wednesday expressed his confidence that India's relations with its neighbours, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, would remain positive and constructive, despite the recent developments in the two nations.
"I would urge you not to be deterministic about it. It's not like India is seeking to control every political move of every neighbour," news agency PTI quoted Jaishankar as saying during an interaction at an event. "That's not how it works. It doesn't work, not just for us, it doesn't work for anybody else," Jaishankar added during the event titled 'India, Asia and the World', hosted by the Asia Society and the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
ALSO READ: Sri Lanka to Bangladesh: Is India facing a major geopolitical challenge? The minister was responding to a question that while India has given unconditional aid to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the changes in government there appear to be potentially adverse for India.
"I'm very confident that in our neighbourhood, the realities of interdependence or mutual benefit and our ability to get along will serve both our interests," Jaishankar stated, adding, "Those realities will assert themselves. That's been the history."
Jaishankar further noted that every few years, some event occurs in the region, and people suggest there is an irretrievable situation. "You then see the correctives beginning to manifest themselves," he explained, adding, "So, I would take it in that spirit and am quite confident that in both these cases (Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), our relationship would continue to be positive and constructive."
Why is Jaishankar optimistic about India-Sri Lanka ties?
Regarding Sri Lanka, Jaishankar highlighted that India had extended timely aid during Colombo's severe economic crisis of 2022.
ALSO READ: Dissanayake's push for Sri Lanka economic change leaves IMF deal in limbo Highlighting that India "stepped forward" when Colombo was facing a "very deep economic crisis", and when "nobody else came forward", Jaishankar said, "And I'm very glad we did it. We did it in a timely manner. We did it on a scale. We provided $4.5 billion, which effectively stabilised the Sri Lankan economy." Jaishankar added that this assistance was not tied to any political conditionality. "We were doing it as a good neighbour who did not want to see that kind of economic meltdown at our doorstep."
Jaishankar reiterated that political developments in Sri Lanka are matters for Sri Lanka to handle.
He also explained that each neighbouring country has its own unique dynamics, and it is not India's place to dictate them.
Marxist-leaning politician Anura Kumara Dissanayake, noted for his past pro-China inclinations, was sworn in as Sri Lanka's new President on Monday. This event has been closely monitored by India, especially in the wake of the removal of Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh, sparking concerns that anti-India elements in the region could gain strength.
Dissanayake's win in Saturday's election, where he outperformed major candidates, including the incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Namal Rajapaksa, marks a significant shift in Sri Lanka's political landscape.
The election, which followed mass protests that led to Gotabaya Rajapaksa's removal in 2022, carried high stakes for New Delhi due to its major geopolitical and security interests in the Indian Ocean.
In Sri Lanka, India reportedly favoured the continuity that Ranil Wickremesinghe or the pro-India opposition leader Sajith Premadasa would have provided.
However, India chose to remain neutral in the Sri Lankan elections.
Indian media reports have highlighted Dissanayake's past pro-China leanings.
For example, Dissanayake recently attracted attention after announcing plans to cancel a 450 MW wind power project led by Gautam Adani's Adani Group.
But, the situation may not be as challenging as initially expected. In recent times, Dissanayake has signalled a willingness to engage with New Delhi, suggesting a potential shift in his stance.
During his campaign, Dissanayake assured that he would not allow Sri Lanka's territory, sea, or airspace to be used in ways that would threaten India or regional stability.
Despite the complexities of working with a relatively unknown leader, Indias assistance to Sri Lanka, including $4.5 billion in economic aid and support for debt restructuring, also provides a strong foundation for future relations.
New Delhi's recent outreach to Dissanayake is also expected to be advantageous. In February, Dissanayake visited New Delhi at the invitation of the Indian government.
Why is Jaishankar optimistic about India-Bangladesh ties?
In discussing Bangladesh, Jaishankar focused on the mutual economic benefit both nations have derived from stable ties.
ALSO READ: Ice has started to melt, says BNP leader after meeting with Indian envoy "What we have done over the last decade is implement projects of various kinds that have been beneficial to both countries. Economic activity has increased, and the regions logistics have improved," he said, noting that both nations have benefited significantly.
Under Hasina's leadership, Bangladesh was a stable partner, working with India to curtail anti-India terrorist groups. Since Hasina's rise to power in 2009, she played a pivotal role in maintaining this relationship.
However, Hasina resigned as Prime Minister and fled to India on August 5 following unprecedented student-led protests against her government. She was replaced by an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
In an interview earlier this month, Jaishankar described Bangladesh's political turmoil as an "internal matter," while expressing India's desire to maintain its previously stable ties with the country.
ALSO READ: Want good relation with India but on basis of fairness and equality: Yunus Yunus, now heading Bangladesh's interim government, has also stated his intent to continue the positive relationship with India but emphasised that these relations must be based on "fairness and equality".
Hasina fled to India aboard a military aircraft and is reportedly under the protection of Indian intelligence agencies. Initially, there was speculation that she would seek asylum in London, but British regulations prevent entry for asylum seekers under such circumstances. Her continued stay in India, coupled with informal calls for her extradition, complicates New Delhi's efforts to maintain stable relations with Dhaka.
In a stern message, Chief Advisor Yunus has insisted that Hasina must remain silent while in India to avoid disrupting bilateral relations. "If India wants to keep her until Bangladesh wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet," he has asserted.
Facing sluggish deposit growth, banks turned to issuing certificates of deposit (CDs) in September to mobilise funds. Banks have issued Rs 1.35 trillion worth of CDs so far this month, marking a 65 per cent increase compared to the amount raised in August, despite a rise in rates, according to data from the Clearing Corporation of India.
The amount raised through CDs in September was the second-highest monthly figure in the current financial year (2024-25), following Rs 1.45 trillion raised in June, according to data from PRIME Database. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
Banks have issued Rs 7.78 trillion worth of CDs in the current calendar year until August 2024, compared to Rs 4.9 trillion in the same period of 2023, registering a 59 per cent growth.
Market participants noted that banks are likely to remain under pressure to raise deposits in the October-December quarter (Q3). Additionally, upcoming Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines on the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) could increase demand for high-quality liquid assets (HQLA), specifically statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) investments. The funding for these is expected to come from a combination of borrowings and deposits.
There is a deposit crunch as all banks are competing for deposits, driving up costs. Banks can also use borrowings as a funding source, but the RBI is pressuring banks to reduce the credit-deposit ratio (CDR), said a treasury head at a private bank.
In Q3, pressure on deposits will persist, whether through CDs, higher rates for bulk deposits, or retail deposits. While liquidity doesnt appear to be very negative in Q3, we also have to consider the RBIs LCR circular. If it takes effect from April 1, 2025, we will need to buy more HQLA, which essentially means SLR. Funding for SLR will come from a mix of borrowings and deposits, he added.
So far this financial year, banks have raised Rs 5.4 trillion through CDs, compared to Rs 3.2 trillion during the same period last year a 67 per cent increase. Canara Bank raised the highest amount, Rs 68,250 crore, followed by Bank of Baroda at Rs 63,325 crore, and HDFC Bank at Rs 60,230 crore.
The top five banks, including four state-owned banks and HDFC Bank, contributed 61 per cent of total issuances. State-owned banks accounted for 68 per cent of the total amount raised.
Issuances in the three-month segment comprised 72 per cent of total issuances, amounting to Rs 3.8 trillion.
Banks aim to maintain a prudent CDR, as advised by the RBI, and fund assets through retail and sustainable resources. While higher rates on term deposits are attracting retail deposits, CDs allow banks to quickly raise larger amounts within a day or two. To maintain the LCR, banks are issuing CDs with three-month tenors, anticipating an easing rate cycle, said V R C Reddy, head of treasury at Karur Vysya Bank.
Credit is growing faster than reserve money creation, so we can expect higher rates to persist for some time, until credit growth moderates. This is evident from the latest RBI data, which shows that year-to-date deposit growth outpaced credit growth as of September 6, Reddy added.
A treasury head at a state-owned bank also said that pressure will continue into the next quarter, as funds are still flowing into equities and mutual funds. He noted that the crunch will persist until retail investors shift away from these asset classes.
Australia has introduced stricter rules for its temporary work visa, known as the subclass 400 Short Stay Specialist visa. The government aims to ensure that local workers are not disadvantaged and prevent visa misuse for longer-term roles.
What is subclass 400 visa Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
The subclass 400 visa is designed for short-term, highly specialised work. While it can be granted for up to six months depending on circumstances, the new policy limits most stays to three months within a 12-month period. A strong business case is required for a longer stay, and the work must be highly specialised and non-ongoing.
The processing fee for the visa subclass 400 starts from AU$415 (approximately Rs 23,869)
Key changes
Under the new change, Australia will now scrutinise Subclass 400 visa applications closely.
The flexibility of multiple applications over 12 months has been discontinued.
Stricter scrutiny on subclass 400 visa applications
The Department of Home Affairs will now carefully scrutinise subclass 400 visa applications. The focus is on preventing this visa from being used as an alternative to the subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage Visa. Applications for stays longer than three months within a 12-month period will be closely examined, and six-month stays will only be considered in exceptional cases.
"Only a small proportion of applicants will be able to obtain the visa under these stricter rules. The changes aim to prevent the misuse of short-term visas for work that should fall under the subclass 482 visa," Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP (BAL), a global immigration law firm.
Types of applicants unlikely to get a 6-month visa duration:
According to Y-Axis, an immigration visa consultant group:
* Candidates from countries having lower income rates than Australia
* If an employer wished to employ multiple separate contracts
* Low-skilled job roles listed under ANZSCO level 4 or 5
ANZSCO (Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations) skill levels range from 1 to 5, with levels 4 and 5 being considered low-skilled roles. These jobs typically require minimal formal qualifications or on-the-job training, and they often involve routine tasks.
Low-skilled job roles at ANZSCO Skill Level 4 include:
Retail assistants: Helping customers, stocking shelves, and managing cash registers.
Factory workers: Involved in production line tasks and assembling products.
Cleaners: Performing cleaning tasks in residential, commercial, or industrial settings.
Farmhands: Supporting farm operations, such as planting, harvesting, or feeding animals.
ANZSCO skill level 5 roles:
Hotel staff: Including roles such as housekeeping or general attendants.
Labourers: Working on construction sites, moving materials, or assisting skilled workers.
Office assistants: Performing clerical duties like filing, answering phones, and scheduling.
Retail salespersons: Engaging in customer service, product sales, and basic inventory tasks
New limits on visa stays
Under the updated rules, subclass 400 visa holders will only be allowed to stay in Australia for up to three months within a 12-month period. Once the visa holder enters the country, the clock starts ticking, and if they leave before completing the full three months, they will not be allowed to return during the same 12-month period.
Additionally, the option to submit multiple visa applications over the course of a year has been removed. Visa holders will only be able to stay for the duration of the visa initially granted, without the option to extend their stay through further applications.
OpenAIs technical chief Mira Murati said Wednesday she will leave the company at the forefront of the artificial intelligence boom. Barbara Ortutey/Associated Press
OpenAIs technical chief Mira Murati said Wednesday she will leave the company at the forefront of the artificial intelligence boom in San Francisco and worldwide.
Murati wrote on X that she made the difficult decision after working her way up to the chief technical officer job during her 6 years at the company. She briefly served as interim CEO last year after signing onto a boardroom coup that saw CEO Sam Altman removed from the post for not being candid with the companys board.
A rank-and-file revolt at OpenAI and intervention from its biggest investor, Microsoft, helped reinstall him, and the board was reshuffled to include new members, including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Murati reportedly brought concerns about Altmans management to the board before his ouster, claims which she later denied.
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Im stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration, Murati wrote without citing a specific reason for her departure. For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining momentum weve built.
OpenAI declined to comment in an email on Muratis departure, referring only to her online statement. It was not immediately clear who would take over as CTO.
In her parting note sent to company staff, Murati referenced the release of a new AI program, dubbed o1 and capable of more complex multistep reasoning, as among the crowning achievements of her time with the company.
Theres never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right, Murati wrote.
The Chronicle recently featured Murati who is also a veteran of Tesla, where she worked on developing the companys Model X electric cars in a list of the most influential San Franciscans.
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In a reply to Muratis post, Altman thanked her for her work at the company.
Mira, thank you for everything. Its hard to overstate how much Mira has meant to OpenAI, our mission, and to us all personally. I feel tremendous gratitude towards her for what she has helped us build and accomplish, but I most of all feel personal gratitude towards her for the support and love during all the hard times, Altman wrote. I am excited for what shell do next. Well say more about the transition plans soon, but for now, I want to take a moment to just feel thanks.
Separately on Tuesday, Reuters reported that OpenAI is planning to change its nonprofit structure and hand Altman equity in the company, which has been valued at $150 billion by some estimates, for the first time. Reuters cited anonymous sources as saying OpenAI plans to restructure its core business into a for-profit corporation outside the control of the nonprofit board in order to make it more attractive to investors.
The nonprofit will own a minority stake in the for-profit enterprise, the report said.
The company was founded as a nonprofit with a board that oversees the business building tools like ChatGPT, with a mission of making AI technology available to all and to avoid concentrating it in the hands of a powerful few. That structure has come under pressure as the company seeks to raise further rounds of funding for its extraordinarily expensive technology, and to show that it can sustain revenue and potentially profit.
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Altman has previously said publicly he has enough money and is more interested in the companys mission of building AI as smart or smarter than a human, so-called artificial general intelligence, than financial reward.
The companys ChatGPT program took the world by storm when it was released to the public nearly two years ago, sparking a new tech gold rush that has seen a windfall in startup funding, and a fundamental reorientation of tech giants including Meta, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon.
The companys former chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, also supported Altmans ouster but left the company in June to found a company called Safe Superintelligence.
Hours after Muratis departure, the companys chief research officer, Bob McGrew, also announced he was leaving the company after seven years.
It is time for me to take a break, McGrew said in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter.
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The small non-profit company I joined in January 2017 has become the most important research and deployment company in the world. I have truly enjoyed working alongside an entire company full of brilliant, committed individuals there is no other place like this in the world. There is no better capstone to my work here than shipping o1 to the world.
Are you still in the work-from-home (WFH) mode or a freelancer? If so, and if your job pays you well, Dubai's work visas may be worth exploring.
Dubai, known for its advanced infrastructure, artificial beaches, and food, has become a top choice for many Indians. But beyond its appeal as a holiday destination, Dubai offers various visas that cater specifically to remote workers and freelancers. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
What are the visa options?
Dubai has three main visa categories for those working remotely: Virtual Work Visa, Nomad Visa, and Freelance Visa. Each comes with its own set of requirements and benefits. Let us explain.
Virtual work visa
The Virtual Work Visa is designed for professionals who are employed by a company outside the UAE but want to reside in Dubai while continuing their foreign employment.
Eligibility:
You must be employed by a non-UAE company.
Proof of employment with a contract for at least one year.
Your monthly salary must be at least $5,000 (Rs 4.18 lakh).
Valid health insurance covering the UAE.
Duration: The visa is valid for one year, and its renewable.
Work limitations: You can only work for your foreign employer and are not allowed to take up work with UAE-based companies.
Cost: The total cost for the virtual work visa is approximately $611 (including application fees, medical tests, and Emirates ID).
This visa is ideal if you want to work remotely for a foreign company while enjoying the perks of living in Dubai. Its a great option for employees looking for a change in scenery but who don't need to switch jobs.
Nomad visa
The Nomad Visa is similar to the virtual work visa but is tailored more for freelancers or independent professionals working remotely for international clients.
Eligibility:
You need to show proof of freelance work or contracts with international clients.
You must earn a minimum of $5,000 per month.
Health insurance covering the UAE is mandatory.
Duration: Its also valid for one year, renewable after expiry.
Work limitations: Just like the virtual visa, this visa only allows you to work for international clients, not UAE-based employers.
Cost: Similar to the virtual work visa, costing around $611.
"The nomad visa is especially appealing due to Dubais strong IT ecosystem and low tax rates," says Varun Singh, managing director of XIPHIAS Immigration, an immigration consultancy.
This visa is perfect for freelancers or digital nomads who want the flexibility of working for multiple international clients while enjoying Dubais tax benefits and modern infrastructure.
Freelance visa
The Freelance Visa offers the most flexibility, allowing you to work for both UAE-based and international clients. Its designed for freelancers and self-employed professionals, especially those in sectors like media, technology, design, and education.
Eligibility:
You need to register with one of Dubais free zones, such as Dubai Media City or Dubai Internet City.
Proof of qualifications or relevant work experience is required.
Income requirement: Unlike the other two visas, theres no minimum income requirement for the freelance visa. Instead, you must demonstrate expertise in your field.
Duration: This visa can be valid for 1 to 3 years, depending on the selected free zone and the services you opt for.
Cost: The freelance visa is more expensive, with costs ranging from $2,000 to $5,500, depending on the free zone and the duration you choose. Some packages include access to workspaces in the free zones.
Work flexibility: Freelancers can work with both UAE-based and international clients, making it the most flexible option among the three visas.
"The freelance visa opens up opportunities in Dubais local market, making it ideal for professionals in tech and media who want to tap into UAE's growing economy," says Singh.
Key differences between the visas
To help you decide which visa is best suited to your needs, heres a comparison:
1. Who its for:
Virtual work visa: For employees working remotely for non-UAE companies.
Nomad visa: For freelancers or independent professionals working for international clients.
Freelance visa: For freelancers and self-employed professionals wanting to work for UAE and international clients.
2. Income requirement:
Virtual work visa: Minimum monthly salary of $5,000.
Nomad visa: Same as the virtual work visa, $5,000 per month.
Freelance visa: No minimum income requirement, but proof of qualifications is needed.
3. Work limitations:
Virtual work visa: Can only work for a non-UAE employer.
Nomad visa: Can work only for international clients, not UAE companies.
Freelance visa: Allows working for both UAE-based and international clients.
4. Visa duration:
Virtual and nomad visas: Valid for one year, renewable.
Freelance visa: Valid for 1-3 years, depending on the free zone.
5. Cost:
Virtual and nomad visas: Around $611.
Freelance visa: Between $2,000 and $5,500, depending on the duration and free zone.
What challenges could you face?
When applying for the visas, there are several challenges to keep in mind.
"Documentation is crucialyoull need attested certificates, proof of employment, and proof of income. Its advisable to start early to avoid last-minute challenges," says Saurabh Arora, CEO of University Living, a global housing marketplace.
He also points out the costs involved: "The high cost of the nomad visa can be a challenge, with visa fees alone amounting to AED 2,243.89 ($611), plus health insurance, VAT, and the Emirates ID."
"Processing times can be lengthy, so you must apply well in advance and stay in contact with your visa service provider," Arora adds, stressing that local regulations can vary between cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
"Strict eligibility criteria can also be restrictive, and missing any details could lead to rejection. Double-check everything before submitting your application," Arora advises. Additionally, any criminal history can impact your visa approval chances.
What about the cost of living in Dubai?
Managing living expenses under can be challenging but manageable. Accommodation ranges from luxury apartments to budget-friendly options, and with proper research, you can find a place that fits your needs.
"While daily expenses in Dubai can be high, especially with luxury dining and shopping, affordable alternatives exist. Public transport, local markets, and budget eateries help keep costs down," says Arora.
Healthcare in Dubai is world-class, but health insurance is mandatory, adding to your expenses. However, the tax-free income is a major advantage, allowing remote workers to maximise their earnings while enjoying a premium lifestyle.
"Dubai offers a balanced lifestyle with a range of professional opportunities and world-class infrastructure, making it a viable option for many remote workers," says Singh.
According to the ED, its investigation revealed that Chinese nationals were operating the app with the help and support from Indian nationals. The funds mobilised from the gullible online gamers through the Fiewin app were deposited into the bank accounts of various persons [called recharge persons] who had allowed the use of their accounts by the app owners in lieu of certain commissions, said the agency, adding that about Rs 400 crore was raised through the alleged fraud. The Fiewin app gained traction by promising users the opportunity to earn money easily by playing mini-games. New users could quickly create an account and begin participating in the apps activities, with the option to "top up" their in-app balance via various payment methods. However, once users' accounts accumulated substantial funds, the app stopped allowing them to withdraw the funds. An investigation by the ED revealed that a staggering Rs 400 crore ($47.6M) was stolen through this scheme. This money was transferred into various cryptocurrency addresses, which were later traced back to the operation. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) last month arrested four individuals in connection with an online gaming app, Fiewin, which defrauded users of over Rs 400 crore ($47.6 million). The app, initially presented as a legitimate platform for earning money through games, was found to be a scam.
How the Scam Worked:
Attractive Promise : Fiewin lured users with the promise of easy earnings through mini-games.
: Fiewin lured users with the promise of easy earnings through mini-games. Fund Trapping : Once users had accumulated funds, the app prevented withdrawals, trapping their money.
: Once users had accumulated funds, the app prevented withdrawals, trapping their money. Money Laundering: The stolen funds were laundered using digital wallets linked to a global cryptocurrency exchange.
Local police across India began receiving reports from victims who lost funds to the Fiewin app. Due to the growing number of victims reporting the scams, the case was escalated to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a key law enforcement agency that specializes in combating financial crime.
Through its investigation, the ED discovered that the app had been part of a cross-border criminal network it used various methods to obfuscate the origin and movement of illicit funds by utilizing bank accounts of mules and cryptocurrency wallets, creating a complex web of transactions to hinder detection and tracing.
In partnership with Binance, the ED launched a comprehensive investigation and traced the flow of laundered money across various cryptocurrency wallets.
Key Figures Arrested: The ED has arrested four individuals involved in facilitating the fraud.
Criminal Network: The investigation is ongoing, with authorities working to dismantle the broader criminal network behind the scam.
Prevention of Future Scams: The ED and Binance are committed to ensuring justice is served and preventing similar scams in the future.
ED and Binance have also successfully partnered to dismantle the E-Nugget scam, a fraudulent digital investment scheme disguised as a gaming platform. This joint operation led to the identification and freezing of 42 digital-asset accounts and hundreds of bank accounts, totaling nearly $6 million in ill-gotten gains, through meticulous blockchain analysis and vital ground operations.
This case highlights the importance of public-private partnerships in combating financial crime and protecting consumers from online scams
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has introduced new guidelines to streamline the application process for public issues of debt securities. Retail investors applying for public issues of debt securities through stock brokers for amounts up to Rs 5 lakh should only use UPI to block funds, the market regulator has said. Individual investors would continue to have the choice of availing other modes through stock exchange platform for making an application in the public issue. The new rule would be applicable to public issues of debt securities, non-convertible redeemable preference shares, municipal debt securities and securitised debt instruments opening from Nov 1, 2024.
Key Changes:
UPI Mandate: Individual investors applying for amounts up to Rs 5 lakh through intermediaries will be required to use UPI to block funds.
Bank Account Linking: Investors need to provide their UPI-linked bank account details in the application form.
Shorter Review Periods: Sebi reduced the period for seeking public comments on the draft offer documents from 7 working days to 1 day for issuers whose specified securities are already listed and 5 days for other issuers.
Flexibility in Price Band Revisions: Issuers can now extend the bidding period by one working day in case of price band or yield revisions. The minimum subscription period has been cut from 3 working days to 2 working days. Further, in case of revision in the price band or yield, the bidding period disclosed in the offer documents, can be extended by one working day instead of three working days.
Alternative Options: Investors will continue to have the option of using Self-Certified Syndicate Banks or the stock exchange platform for applications.
Effective Date: The new provisions will come into effect on November 1, 2024.
"It has been decided that all individual investors applying in public issues of such securities through intermediaries (viz. syndicate members, registered stock brokers, registrar to an issue and transfer agent and depository participants), where the application amount is up to Rs 5 lakh, shall only use UPI for the purpose of blocking of funds," Sebi said.
Rationale:
Alignment: The move aims to align the application process for debt securities with that of equity shares and convertibles.
Efficiency: Using UPI can streamline the application process, reducing paperwork and time.
Benefits:
India has officially overtaken Japan to become the third most powerful country in Asia, according to the latest Asia Power Index released by the Lowy Institute. This shift in rankings marks Indias increasing influence across the continent, solidifying its position as a major global player with ambitions of becoming a superpower. What the Asia Power Index measures
The Asia Power Index, compiled annually by the Australian think tank Lowy Institute, evaluates the power dynamics of countries across Asia. The index is based on a comprehensive set of metrics, including economic resources, military capability, diplomatic influence, cultural reach, and future resources. Indias rise to the third position reflects its expanding capabilities in several key areas, including defence, diplomacy, and economic growth. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
Key drivers behind Indias rise
Indias ascent in the Asia Power Index can be attributed to several crucial factors, each contributing to its growing regional and global clout:
Economic growth: India is one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies, with consistent improvements in its technology, manufacturing, and services sectors. The countrys youthful, dynamic workforce is a driving force behind this expansion, positioning India as a hub for innovation and investment. Programmes like Make in India and the push towards Atmanirbhar Bharat have enhanced its industrial and economic base.
Military modernisation: India's significant investment in modernising its military has elevated its strategic importance. Advanced missile systems, nuclear capabilities, and an expanding naval presence, particularly in the Indian Ocean, have made India a central figure in regional security. The countrys growing defence budget further underscores its rising military stature.
Diplomatic influence: Indias active role in international diplomacy has expanded its global footprint. Participation in multilateral organisations such as the United Nations, G20, Brics, and Quad has amplified its influence. Indias strategic partnerships with the United States, Australia, Japan, and the European Union are also enhancing its presence in global affairs.
Technological and scientific advancements: India's progress in space exploration, renewable energy, and information technology has cemented its position as a leader in emerging sectors. Initiatives like Digital India, a booming start-up ecosystem, and advances in renewable energy capacity have enhanced Indias standing as a technological powerhouse.
Cultural soft power: Indias rich cultural heritage, including Bollywood, yoga, and a vast diaspora, has contributed to its rising soft power globally. These cultural exports have broadened India's influence beyond Asia, making it a prominent player on the world stage.
Japans decline in regional power
While Japan continues to be a formidable economic and technological force, its decline in the Asia Power Index reflects broader challenges. Japans slow population growth, limited military expansion, and relatively stagnant economic performance have caused it to lose ground to rising giants like China and India. Japans reserved geopolitical stance, particularly in military matters, has further contributed to its slipping influence compared to Indias assertive foreign policy and defence strategies.
Indias path to global superpower status
Indias rise in the Asia Power Index is more than a symbolic shift; it highlights the nations potential to emerge as a global superpower in the coming decades. Several factors strengthen this argument:
Demographic dividend: By 2030, India is projected to have the worlds largest working-age population, which presents a tremendous opportunity for economic growth and innovation. This young workforce could serve as a key engine for global development.
Strategic position in global politics: As a democratic nation with a vital position in the Indo-Pacific region, India is central to the global geopolitical landscape. Its role in regional security alliances, such as Quad, and its expanding partnerships with key global players underline its importance in maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific.
Economic reforms and infrastructure development: Indias emphasis on economic self-reliance, combined with ongoing reforms in infrastructure, manufacturing, and technology, has the potential to attract significant foreign investment. These initiatives could propel India into the ranks of the worlds largest economies, further enhancing its global standing.
Leadership in climate change and sustainability: India is making substantial strides in climate change mitigation, with ambitious goals to boost renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions. These efforts are positioning India as a leader among emerging economies in setting environmental standards and contributing to global climate goals.
Challenges on Indias road to superpower status
Despite its impressive rise, India faces several significant challenges that could impact its global ambitions:
Income disparities: While the economy continues to grow, significant income inequality persists, particularly in rural areas. Addressing this divide will be critical for Indias long-term growth and stability.
Infrastructure needs: To fully realise its potential, India must continue investing in its physical infrastructure, including transportation, healthcare, and education. These sectors remain vital to harnessing the countrys demographic advantages.
Geopolitical tensions: Indias complex neighbourhood, with ongoing tensions along its borders with China and Pakistan, poses a challenge to its regional stability. Navigating these delicate relationships will be essential for maintaining its rise as a regional and global power.
Indias rise to third place in the Asia Power Index reflects its growing influence and capabilities in the region. With rapid economic growth, an expanding military presence, and a more assertive diplomatic approach, India is well on its way to becoming a major global power. While challenges remain, the countrys potential to shape the future of Asia and beyond is stronger than ever. The world will be closely watching as India continues to assert itself both regionally and globally.
Rabbits are the third most popular domestic animal in the United States, according to Petco. The retailer has committed to stop selling rabbits at its stores nationwide following pressure from Bay Area groups. Aidin Vaziri/The Chronicle
Petco announced on Tuesday its decision to cease rabbit sales in its stores, reaffirming its commitment to an adoption-only policy. The San Diego company cited feedback from nationwide animal rescue and welfare organizations as pivotal in its decision.
Palo Altos Rabbit.org Foundation criticized Petco earlier this month for reneging on its 1994 and 2008 promises to end rabbit sales. The group warned that selling rabbits often results in impulse buys, leading to abandonment and dire outcomes for the animals.
Selling rabbits in pet stores often leads to impulse buys by customers unaware of the extensive care and significant veterinary costs involved, the group wrote in a letter. These hasty purchases often lead to summer dump season, when many pet rabbits are abandoned outdoors, becoming roadkill or prey for predators.
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Benjamin Thiele-Long, Petcos communications officer, said the decision is the right thing to do.
The announcement follows a pilot program where the retailer offered neutered rabbits at select locations. Thiele-Long explained, Weve learned from our own Petco partners and customers, as well as Petco Love and its animal welfare partners we can have a greater impact by refocusing our efforts into helping find homes for the thousands of rabbits already looking for loving families across the country.
Supporters of the animal welfare group In Defense of Animals protest rabbit sales outside a Petco store in San Francisco on Sept. 13. In Defense of Animals
San Franciscos In Defense of Animals, which organized a protest against Petcos rabbit sales earlier this month, praised the move. The organization claimed over 10,000 emails were sent to Petco executives denouncing the initiative.
Our supporters made it clear that Petcos move was cruel, irresponsible and dangerous for rabbits and the rescues already stretched to their limits, said Brittany Michelson of In Defense of Animals.
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Bay Area shelters and rescue groups said they were overwhelmed by a post-pandemic surge of unwanted rabbits, and noted that Petcos program would have worsened this crisis.
This is a pivotal moment in protecting these delicate animals from neglect and exploitation, said Paige K. Parsons, founder and president of Rabbit.org. It underscores the power of collective action and reinforces the importance of adopt, dont shop to ensure the welfare of rabbits.
Richmonds House Rabbit Society hailed Petcos decision to cease rabbit sales as a victory for collective action.
This achievement reflects the tireless efforts of advocates and rescue groups who came together to push for change, all with the well-being of rabbits at the forefront, the group said in a statement.
Petco reiterated that the policy change is consistent with their Think Adoption First philosophy, encouraging pet adoption over purchases. To support the effort, the company is offering a 20% discount for customers who adopt a rabbit from any established rescue or adoption group through October.
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The remaining rabbits available for purchase will now be offered for adoption.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that coal companies did not clear the Rs 1.36 trillion dues despite the Supreme Court's order on mining dues, causing irreparable loss to the state and its people. He demanded a direct debit of the amount from Coal India's account to the state of Jharkhand from the reserves in the Reserve Bank of India as was done in case of Jharkhand State Electricity Board dues to the DVC. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp "In spite of provisions in the law and judicial pronouncements... Coal Companies are not making any payment... These questions have been raised at various forums, including your kind office, Finance Ministry and NITI Aayog. But till now this compensation (Rs 1.36 trillion) has not yet been paid.
"The State of Jharkhand is an under-developed state and there are lots of social economic development projects which are getting hampered due to non-payment of our justifiable demands," Soren wrote in the letter to Modi.
He claimed that the state with rich mineral reserves is earning a paltry sum from various fees from coal companies which are selling them off for big profits.
"This delay in payment of the just demand raised by the state has constrained me to write to you that this negligence is causing irreparable damage to Jharkhand and its people. Various social sector schemes in Education, Health, Women & Child Development, Clean Drinking Water & last mile connectivity are unable to be translated on the ground because of lack of funds," Soren said.
The chief minister said the nine-judge Supreme Court bench recently ruled in favour of the state collecting its mining and royalty dues.
"The Supreme Court, which has said in no unequivocal terms that 'royalty is a contractual (consideration) paid by lessee to lessor'," he said.
Accusing the Centre of being indifferent towards the plight of the state, Soren said the dues by coal companies were not cleared, but if state-run power companies made a slight delay in paying dues to DVC, the state was charged interest at the rate of 12 per cent and direct debit was made from the Reserve bank of India from its account for non-payment.
"This difference in policy between dues which are 'payable by us' and dues that are 'payable to us' shows a dichotomy and is arbitrary, to say the least, which puts the state in a very disadvantaged position," the letter read.
It added that if the state included the interest amount, on calculation of simple interest of 4.5 per cent on the same, Rs 510 crore per month would be added to the amount due to the state.
"And if we go by parity in terms of what was charged to the state of Jharkhand with respect to DVC dues, then the interest becomes Rs 1,100 crore per month," the CM said.
In a post on X, Soren said, "When you demand the rights of Jharkhandis, they put you in jail. But, to get our rights, we will go for any sacrifice. We are not asking for special status like the states ruled by the BJP's allies states, nor are we asking for a bigger share of the Union budget like some states. Just give us our rights, that's our demand."
The chief minister said that the state demands justice, not privileges.
"The people of Jharkhand have fought a long struggle for their state, and now we want proper use of our resources and rights. We will use our outstanding amount of Rs 1.36 trillion to take Jharkhand on a new path of development - a development that protects the interests of our environment, tribals and every Jharkhandi community."
He said the funds will be utilised for improving education and health services so that children have a bright future.
"We will better protect our language and culture so that our identity remains intact... The central government should take a decision on our rights and our money soon and should not become an obstacle in the development of Jharkhand but should become a partner," the CM said.
He added: "We will fight for our rights, no matter how many difficulties we have to face for this. It is the duty of every person born on the soil of Jharkhand to protect the nterests of his state and we will unite and raise our voice for our rights, fight and take our rights like our ancestors.
Mumbais first-ever underground Metro is expected to begin operations in a phased manner starting in October, according to state agency officials. The Rs 37,276 crore project is likely to become fully operational in 2025.
The first phase of Mumbai Metro Line 3, spanning 12.44 kilometres (km) between Aarey Depot and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), is set to commence operations by the first week of October, pending necessary clearances, officials at the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL) confirmed. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
MMRCL is developing Mumbai Metro Line 3 in two phases: the first connects Aarey to BKC (12.44 km), and the second extends from BKC to Colaba (21.06 km). The combined phases are expected to cost Rs 37,276 crore, making it one of the citys most expensive Metro stretches, surpassing the Rs 23,000 crore estimated in the detailed project report released in 2011.
Phase 2 of Mumbai Metro Line 3 is expected to be operational between March and May 2025. Once fully operational next year, the daily ridership is projected to reach 1.3 million passengers, with travel times reduced to 60 minutes.
Upon its inauguration in October, this stretch will join the list of recently completed projects in the city, including the Mumbai-Trans Harbour Link, green-flagged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2024, and the partially opened Coastal Road in March.
The Mumbai Metro Line 2A began operations in January 2023, also in Modis presence. As infrastructure projects often feature prominently in election campaigns, and with polls expected this year, these developments are of particular importance.
MMRCL officials have set ticket prices for the first phase between Rs 10 and Rs 50, with fares likely to rise to Rs 70 per passenger once the entire stretch is operational.
Mumbai Metro Line 3 will also include 150,000 square feet of commercial space across various stations, generating non-fare revenue.
A woman employee collapsed and died at a private bank in the Vibhuti Khand area here, police said on Wednesday. The incident occurred on Tuesday. The cause of the woman's death is yet to be ascertained, they said. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp "Sadaf Fatima (40) worked with a private bank. On Tuesday, she collapsed in the office. Her co-workers rushed her to a nearby government hospital where doctors pronounced her dead," said Station House Office (SHO), Vibhuti Khand, Sunil Kumar Singh. The body was sent for post-mortem examination. "The family members of the deceased have not filed any complaint in the matter. Further action will be taken based on the findings of the post-mortem," Singh said.
A relative of Fatima told reporters that she was the sole breadwinner of her family.
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav said the news of the woman employee's death was very worrisome as such incidents raise questions about the working conditions in various organisations.
"Such news is a symbol of the current economic pressure in the country. All companies and government departments will have to think seriously in this regard... Such sudden deaths raise questions about working conditions," Yadav said in a post on X in Hindi on Tuesday.
"To overcome this problem, companies and government departments should make active and meaningful efforts," he said.
Yadav further targeted the BJP government, saying, "Due to the failed economic policies of the BJP government, the business of companies has decreased so much that to save their business, they get more work done by fewer people.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Private Limited (SAVWIPL) are in talks to establish a joint venture (JV) in India. Reports of a potential JV or memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two automakers have been circulating for some time. According to a report by The Economic Times, senior executives from both companies are expected to meet in Mumbai over the next few days to advance the collaboration and iron out its details.
"The board members of SAVWIPL and M&M are scheduled to meet shortly," one source told The Economic Times, adding that the discussions are likely to focus on key elements such as product development, vehicle platform strategies, and the use of manufacturing facilities. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
In response to the media reports, Mahindra & Mahindra issued a statement acknowledging the ongoing collaboration with the Volkswagen Group. The company confirmed that discussions are underway, though they have yet to reach any formal conclusion.
"As stated earlier, Mahindra and VW Group continue to explore multiple opportunities to expand collaboration. Should any concrete outcomes arise, appropriate disclosures will be made in accordance with regulatory norms," the statement read.
What will the JV between M&M and Skoda include?
As part of the JV, the two companies aim to share costs, technologies, and vehicle platforms to streamline future product development. Skoda leads the VW Groups strategy in India and is at the forefront of these negotiations.
However, the JV will not include the sedans and SUVs currently sold by Volkswagen and Skoda in India, nor will it involve luxury brands such as Audi, Porsche, and Lamborghini, which are part of the VW Group. Marketing and sales functions will operate under a separate organisation to ensure the premium brands maintain their distinct identity in the market.
Skoda to divest 50 per cent stake to M&M
Earlier this week, another report by Autocar Professional stated that Skoda Auto Volkswagen India is looking to divest 50 per cent of its stake to M&M, with the deals valuation estimated between $800 million and $1 billion. Top management from Skoda is currently in India to negotiate the deal, and the report indicated that both parties have reached a preliminary understanding.
If this JV materialises, M&M will gain access to Skoda Volkswagens manufacturing capacity of 300,000 units annually, alongside the European brand's technological prowess and global systems. Skoda Auto VW has extensive land assets that could be utilised to set up additional manufacturing facilities in India.
In return, Skoda Auto Volkswagen would benefit from Mahindras cost-effective vehicle platforms for both internal combustion engine (ICE) models and electric vehicles (EVs). M&M, which currently has an annual production capacity of 840,000 units, could potentially surpass 1 million units annually when combined with Skoda VWs capacity. This would further solidify Mahindra's standing in India's competitive automotive market.
M&Ms low-cost platforms would also provide sourcing advantages for Skoda Auto Volkswagen, allowing the European company to reduce its costs while expanding its portfolio. The report suggests that much of M&Ms investment in the deal will be in the form of its new flexible architecture (NFA), which will be exchanged for a 50 per cent stake in Skoda Auto VW. This architecture could replace Volkswagens MQB A0 37 platform for the next generation of compact SUVs like the Skoda Kushaq and Volkswagen Taigun.
Reports also suggest that most of Mahindras investment will not involve direct cash but will focus on non-cash assets, such as vehicle platforms and technologies. M&M plans to invest between Rs 4,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore into the deal, including capacity expansion at the Chakan plant.
Skoda Auto Volkswagen's 1 billion euro investment in India
Skoda Auto Volkswagen had earlier committed to investing 1 billion euros in India as part of its "India 2.0" strategy. However, the companys expectations from this investment have not been fully realised, which could explain the interest in partnering with Mahindra. Skoda Auto Volkswagen has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government of Maharashtra for an investment of Rs 15,000 crore. The company will need to invest over $2 billion to meet Indias Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE-3) norms by 2028, a factor driving its pursuit of partnerships to manage future risks and profitability.
In this still image from a video provided by KEYT, people walk past a police barricade following an explosion at the Santa Maria Courthouse in Santa Maria, Wednesday, Sept. 25. Associated Press
A man threw an explosive device into the lobby of the Santa Barbara County Superior Courthouse in Santa Maria on Wednesday, injuring six people and leading to the evacuation of several city buildings, according to authorities.
An adult male suspect was detained following the explosion that was reported around 8:34 a.m. at the courthouse in Santa Maria, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Office. The small city of about 110,000 people is approximately 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles, on Californias central coast.
The sheriffs public information officer, Raquel Zick, said the scene has not been deemed safe as of late Wednesday morning.
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Witnesses told news station KSBY-TV that the suspect entered the courthouse grounds and allegedly threw a backpack toward security personnel. The device detonated, but security forces quickly apprehended the man, who the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said used an intentionally set improvised device.
In this still image from a video provided by KEYT, people walk past a police barricade following an explosion at the Santa Maria Courthouse in Santa Maria, Wednesday, Sept. 25. Associated Press
Darrel Parker, court executive officer in Santa Barbara County, said the explosion occurred in the first-floor lobby of the criminal court building, which serves as the entryway and weapons screening point for the broader court campus.
I am not certain that the suspect made it past weapons screening, Parker said.
Zick said investigators dont believe there are any other suspects.
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A spokesperson for Marian Regional Medical Center said the hospital was treating six patients in connection with the explosion three were in good condition and three fair.
In this still image from a video provided by KEYT, people walk past a police barricade following an explosion at the Santa Maria Courthouse in Santa Maria, Wednesday, Sept. 25. Associated Press
Shane Mellon, who was at the courthouse at the time of the incident, told KSBY-TV that he heard what sounded like chairs falling over.
It was a loud bang, he said, adding the bailiff escorted him and others out.
Mellon said he saw what looked like a sweater smoldering and a man screaming while four or five people got on top of him, trying to keep him restrained.
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I think this could have been way worse than it was if not for the deputies just jumping on top of that guy, Mellon said.
Following the incident, a sheriffs office spokesperson confirmed that several municipal facilities including City Hall, the finance department, the public library and the recreation and parks department were placed on precautionary lockdowns.
The Santa Maria campus is closed for the day and all calendars have been canceled, the Superior Court of Santa Barbara posted on its website.
A man allegedly hurled an explosive device into the Santa Maria Courthouse on Wednesday, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Office. Street View/Google
Gov. Gavin Newsoms office announced that it was monitoring the situation in coordination with local law enforcement agencies.
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The Santa Maria courthouse is where the pop star Michael Jackson, who died in 2009, was tried and acquitted of charges of child molestation in 2005.
Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India said that the company, via its flagship brand Club Mahindra, has assumed the complete management of the Club Mahindra Golden Landmark resort in Mysuru, Karnataka. This move would not only further strengthen Club Mahindra's offerings, but it would also help the company expand its footprint in Mysuru region. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Mysuru is famed for its regal heritage and cultural splendor. Spread over 7.5 acres, Club Mahindra Golden Landmark Mysuru has 66 rooms, an all-day dining multi-cuisine restaurant, and gourmet dining options. Manoj Bhat, managing director and chief executive officer, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India, said, Club Mahindra has been dedicated to enriching family vacations for years, and our latest offering in Mysuru aligns perfectly with our strategy of expanding into key tourist destinations.
This city, renowned for its cultural richness and heritage, presents substantial opportunities for a unique hospitality experience.
This addition also aligns with our strategic goal of doubling our room capacity to 10,000 by FY30."
Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India, India's leading company in the leisure hospitality industry, offers quality family holidays primarily through vacation ownership memberships. While Club Mahindra is the flagship brand, the other brands offered by the company are Club Mahindra Fundays and Svaastha Spa.
The companys consolidated net profit was at Rs 5.89 crore in Q1 FY25, steeply higher than Rs 0.18 crore posted in Q1 FY24. Net sales was at Rs 652.86 crore in Q1 FY25, registering a growth of 6.3% year on year.
Shares of Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India fell 0.53% to Rs 396 on the BSE.
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State Farm General, Californias largest insurer, is projecting a dramatic decline in the number of policies it writes in the state. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle
State Farm projects that its total policies in California could drop by more than a million over the next five years as it deals with financial instability.
If current conditions persist for State Farm General the part of the company that covers property insurance, including homeowners and business liability its total policy count in California could decline from 3.1 million at the end of 2023 to just over 2 million by 2028, according to new filings submitted to the California Department of Insurance.
The projection assumes that State Farm General will continue to lose policies at a similar rate to what it does now, reflecting customers who choose to leave or who are canceled due to noncompliance issues such as failing to pay on time or maintain their home in a safe condition. It does not necessarily mean State Farm plans to conduct more massive nonrenewals such as the approximately 72,000 policies that the insurer began dropping this summer.
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It also assumes that the company will continue to not offer new business and personal property insurance, as has been the case since May 2023.
State Farm General is Californias largest home insurer and underwrites a fifth of the California homeowners market. It offers insurance for residential and business properties, including about 1.2 million homeowners as well as commercial insurance and policies for condo homeowners associations.
Other State Farm subsidiaries in California, which are not included in the policy projection numbers, cover private auto insurance and other lines.
State Farm General is in the midst of an unprecedented request to raise its rates by 30% or more across the board to avoid potential insolvency. The companys steep policy decline projection was not tied to the outcome of its request.
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In its filings, State Farm did not offer state regulators any sign of when it might begin writing new business again. A spokesperson for State Farm declined to comment further on the companys plans.
The increased funds from higher premiums would allow State Farm General to recoup about $1.6 billion over the next five years, restoring its surplus its funds available to pay claims to about 2017 levels.
State Farm Generals surplus began to decline starting after the devastating wildfires of 2017 and 2018, and in filings it told state regulators that increased liability claims and losses from catastrophes other than wildfires, such as winter storms, have kept it from regaining its financial footing.
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Without an influx of funds from a rate increase, the insurer projects its surplus would continue to decline, dipping under $200 million by 2028 a $2.2 billion decrease over the course of a decade. Such a precipitous decline would mean even a relatively calm wildfire season could run the insurer entirely out of money. In 2017, the insurance industry collectively paid nearly $12 billion in insured losses due to California wildfires.
The threat of such a scenario is the basis for State Farms argument as to why it needs to rapidly raise rates across the state 30% for homeowners, 36% for condominium owners and 52% for rental homes. Earlier this year, it raised rates an average of 20% for homeowners across the state.
State Farm wrote in previous filings that it will also try to cut costs by using new technology to streamline operations. But it will not plan on decreasing executive bonuses or seek financial help from its parent company, which is the largest insurer in the U.S., according to filings.
A spokesperson for the Department of Insurance told the Chronicle earlier this month that the department is still collecting information about State Farms financial condition as it reviews its request to increase rates. Depending on its findings, the department could approve the request as is, allow for smaller increases or find that the insurer does not need to increase its rates.
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The earliest a rate increase could appear on customers bills would be early 2025, according to filings.
Shares of a leading real estate developer in South India, Shriram Properties , jumped 2.89 per cent to a days high of Rs 134 during the intra-day deals on the NSE on Wednesday. The uptick in the stock price follows the news that the company has launched a new project under the Codename - Pudhiya Chennai, an apartment project situated in the Thirumazhisai neighbourhood of Chennai.
Strategically located in the rapidly growing West Chennai corridor, this RERA-approved development offers a total saleable area of 1.1 million sq. ft and has a revenue potential of around Rs 550-600 crores. This new offering from Shriram Properties presents a compelling opportunity for buyers, said Shriram Properties in an exchange filing. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
Vivek Venkateswar, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Shriram Properties, said, Shriram Properties has an in-depth understanding of Chennais dynamic landscape, having successfully delivered numerous world-class projects across the city. Our extensive presence and experience in the region enable us to create developments that align with the citys character while meeting the evolving needs of its residents. This micro market is a perfect combination of connectivity and lifestyle, making it an attractive choice for customers. With its strategic proximity to major transport hubs and expanding infrastructure, we are confident that this project will deliver long-term value and strong appreciation, ensuring our customers a highly rewarding investment."
Shriram Properties is one of the leading residential real estate development companies in South India, primarily focused on the mid-market and mid-market premium housing categories. We are also present in the plotted development segment. As of September 25, 2024, Shriram Properties commands a market capitalisation of Rs 2,238.44 crore on the NSE.
Shriram Properties shares have a 52-week range of Rs 147.60-82.20 on the NSE. The companys shares have yielded a return of 6.42 per cent year-to-date.
At around 02:42 PM on Wednesday, shares of Shriram Properties were quoted trading at Rs 131.42, up 0.91 per cent from its previous close of Rs 130.23 on the NSE. Till now, nearly 32.78 lakh shares of the company worth around Rs 43.03 crore exchanged hands on the NSE.
A day after the Karnataka High Court upheld the governor's approval for an investigation against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Wednesday slammed the BJP and accused it of adopting "insidious ways" to destabilise and topple elected governments.
In a setback to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed his petition challenging Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's approval for a probe against him in the MUDA land allotment case, saying the gubernatorial order nowhere "suffers from want of application of mind".
The Karnataka chief minister had challenged the legality of Gehlot's sanction for the investigation against him in the alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) in a prime locality.
Alphabet Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said it will take many years to resolve Googles antitrust battles, downplaying the idea that they pose an immediate threat to the companys business.
Google is embroiled in two separate antitrust trials brought by the US Justice Department, which alleges the tech leader illegally dominates the digital advertising market and online search. The ads trial kicked off in court this month. In the search case, which Google lost, Judge Amit Mehta said he aims to iron out the final issues by August. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Its going to take time for it to play out, Pichai said in an interview for an upcoming episode of The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations. Where we think it really harms our ability to innovate on behalf of our users, we are going to be vigorous in defending ourselves.
We definitely disagree with the ruling, but its still in the middle of the remedies phase, Pichai told Rubenstein, referring to the part of the legal process where a court determines the solution to Googles market dominance. And you know, we will appeal and this process will likely take many years.
The governments timeline for legal action contrasts with particularly fast-paced changes in the technology industry, which the Justice Department is considering as part of its analysis. Already, Google is working quickly to develop a strong position in artificial intelligence. By the time both of the current cases conclude, the industry will have evolved dramatically.
It could be months before Judge Leonie Brinkema makes a decision on the ads case, which alleges Google violated antitrust law by building a monopoly over web advertising technology. If the government wins, it aims to break up the company and force it to sell some of its assets. Google would likely appeal that decision, arguing that it has competed fairly against rivals like Meta Platforms Inc.s Facebook and Amazon.com Inc.
To explain how long appeals can take, Pichai pointed to Googles victory against a 1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) antitrust fine in the European Union General Court last week- more than four years after it was levied.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China-ASEAN cooperation hailed at expo
08:38, September 25, 2024 By Yang Han, Shi Ruipeng and Mo Jingxi ( China Daily
This photo shows a view of Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nanning, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Sept 24, 2024. (Photo/Xinhua)
Senior officials from China and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have lauded China-ASEAN cooperation as an exemplary partnership that has played a key role in promoting regional progress, resilience, and shared prosperity.
They made the remarks on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the 21st China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. More than 3,000 companies are attending the expo.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang said that interactions between China and ASEAN have served as the most successful and dynamic model of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, and a vivid example of the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
"China regards ASEAN as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy and a key region in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation," Ding said. "ASEAN countries, on their part, see China as a trustworthy and close partner."
Visitors select products during the 21st China-ASEAN Expo at Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nanning, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Sept 24, 2024. (Photo/Xinhua)
China has been ASEAN's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's biggest trading partner for four years in a row. The cumulative two-way investment between China and ASEAN countries has exceeded $400 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Ding said that as China's modernization drive brings huge opportunities to the rest of the world, the nation will continue to deepen practical cooperation with ASEAN countries, making efforts to strengthen strategic mutual trust, elevate openness and cooperation, and promote all-around connectivity.
He also called on the two sides to explore new areas of cooperation in scientific and technological innovation and foster new highlights in people-to-people interactions.
In a video speech delivered at the opening ceremony, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that China is an important trading partner for Malaysia, and that it is vital for ASEAN and China to diversify trade and investment strategies.
"In the face of geopolitical tensions and other challenging factors, our collective efforts must focus on regional peace, stability, and prosperity," Anwar said.
Malaysia is the country of honor at this year's expo.
Vongsey Vissoth, deputy prime minister of Cambodia, said the shared values of peace, cooperation, and mutual respect between China and ASEAN form the foundation of their partnership.
Vissoth said he believes that the two sides can achieve more fruitful results through their cooperation in trade and economy, with the China-ASEAN free trade agreement bringing new opportunities.
Noting that 2024 has been designated as the ASEAN-China Year of People-to-People Exchanges, Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune, deputy prime minister of Laos, the rotating chair of ASEAN this year, said the cooperation between China and ASEAN is not only reflected in trade and investment, but also in culture and tourism.
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc said the expo and the summit also reaffirm China's important role in the global economy and demonstrate the confidence of businesses from various countries in the vast, dynamic, and promising Chinese market.
Phoc, who is also Vietnam's minister of finance, proposed four priority areas for future China-ASEAN cooperation promoting balanced and sustainable trade, enhancing strategic connectivity and expanding regional economic corridor routes, encouraging high-quality investment in emerging sectors, and strengthening cultural and tourism exchanges.
ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn said, "With continued and renewed collaboration, ASEAN and China will forge new pathways for growth and success."
(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
The former chief executive of software-as-a-service company SKAEL was charged with three counts of securities fraud and seven counts of wire fraud. Getty Images
The former CEO of a San Francisco software company was charged with fraud for allegedly raising millions of dollars from investors while misrepresenting his companys revenue, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.
Baba Nadimpalli, 41, an Australian citizen who served as chief executive of the software-as-a-service company SKAEL from 2016 to 2022, was charged with three counts of securities fraud and seven counts of wire fraud, according to an indictment filed in January and unsealed Monday.
Between 2020 and 2022, SKAEL raised over $40 million while Nadimpalli allegedly made false claims to attract investors, according to the indictment. He allegedly overstated the companys annual recurring revenue and misrepresented the size of SKAELs customer base.
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Around February 2022, in connection with a stock offering that valued SKAEL at about $230 million, Nadimpalli allegedly directed the creation of a database for potential investors that contained false information. The database included false documents on SKAELs revenue and customer base, profit and losses and financial metrics, as well as a presentation for investors that peddled false information, according to the indictment.
Nadimpalli is also accused of providing an investor and an employee with falsified bank account information that included customer payments that had never been deposited.
Nadimpalli faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $5 million if convicted of securities fraud, and a maximum sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine if convicted of wire fraud, according to the attorneys office.
Starting October this year, the Fitbit website will be completely replaced by the Google Store. The migration of articles from Fitbit help section to the Google support framework began in January, and the online shop previously available at fitbit.com was discontinued in April in favour of the Google Store.
A banner stating, On 1/10 the Fitbit store is moving. Shop Fitbit on Google Store, has appeared on the Fitbit website. Clicking on the banner redirects users to the Watchers & Trackers page, where they can explore the Pixel Watch, along with Fitbit-powered smartwatches, trackers, and other accessories. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
The page features a banner message reading, You made it! Google Store is your new home for all things Fitbit. Start shopping below or get help with your Fitbit account here. It also includes shortcuts to Fitbit Settings, Fitbit Support, Fitbit Terms of Service, Fitbit Privacy, and Fitbit Premium Subscriptions. In July, the Fitbit app assumed the functions of the fitbit.com web dashboard. No updates have been announced regarding community.fitbit.com, although Google Support has its own user forum system.
Earlier this year, Googles Fitbit introduced the Ace LTE smartwatch, specifically designed for children aged seven and older.
Google has denied recent reports suggesting it is discontinuing the Fitbit Versa and Sense lines following the introduction of Pixel smartwatches, according to news platform ArsTechnica.
Fitbit was acquired by Google in January 2021 and has since been integrated into the companys hardware division. The acquisition, first announced in November 2019, was valued at $2.1 billion.
This is another really important step towards stabilizing our economic relationship with China, Chalmers told reporters in Brisbane | (Photo: Shutterstock)
Treasurer Jim Chalmers will this week become the first Australian government minister in that key economic role to visit China in seven years, in the latest sign that strained bilateral relations are mending. Chalmers flies to Beijing on Thursday for a two-day visit. The last Australian treasurer to visit China was Scott Morrison in 2017. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Morrison rose to become prime minister a year later and bilateral relations further soured under his rule until his conservative government was replaced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's centre-left Labour Party after the 2022 general election. Chalmers said Wednesday that the main purpose of his visit was to co-chair the Australia-China Strategic Economic Dialogue on Thursday with He Lifeng, chair of China's National Development and Reform Commission.
Discussions will focus on growing trade and investment with China and opportunities for Australian and Chinese businesses to cooperate, government documents say.
This is another really important step towards stabilizing our economic relationship with China, Chalmers told reporters in Brisbane.
It will be part of the Albanese governments methodical and coordinated efforts to reestablish dialogue with China, Australia's largest trading partner, Chalmers added.
The dialogue was last held in 2017.
The bilateral relationship plumbed new depths in 2020 after the Morrison government called for an independent investigation into the origins of and responses to the Covid-19 pandemic.
China imposed a series of official and unofficial bans in 2020 on Australian products, including coal, cotton, wine, barley, beef, lobsters and wood that cost Australian exporters up to 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year.
Most of those trade obstacles have been removed since the conservative government was ousted after nine years in office.
In November, Albanese became the first Australian prime minister to visit China in seven years. In June, Li Qiang became the first Chinese premier to visit Australia in seven years.
But Australia remains wary of China as a trading partner despite improving relations and is keen forge closer economic ties to the world's most populous nation, India.
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met with his Australian counterpart Don Farrell in Australia on Wednesday to discuss progress on a new bilateral free trade deal that furthers a 2022 pact.
As a testimony of the importance that the Australia relationship is to India, we are looking at significantly upscaling our partnerships in trade, investment, tourism and technology and therefore one of the first announcements I'd like to make is that we shall shortly be setting up in Sydney an office covering all these four areas, Goyal told reporters in Farrell's hometown of Adelaide.
Australia has had a free trade agreement with China since 2015.
Data compiled by Bloomberg show that the volume of deals from Middle Eastern firms into Greater China has already reached a record $9 billion this year, and theres still three months to go. Dealmakers expect the pace to pick up in the coming quarter
By Manuel Baigorri, Julia Fioretti, Pei Li and Dong Cao
Deep-pocketed Middle Eastern investors are deploying a record amount of capital in China just as other global firms retreat. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, known as ADIA, has been involved in an $8.3 billion deal for Dalian Wanda Group Co.s shopping mall management unit, along with another Abu Dhabi fund, Mubadala Investment Co. Lenovo Group Ltd. in May announced a sale of $2 billion worth of zero-coupon convertible bonds to Saudi Arabias sovereign wealth fund as part of a broader strategic pact with the tech-hungry kingdom. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
Data compiled by Bloomberg show that the volume of deals from Middle Eastern firms into Greater China has already reached a record $9 billion this year, and theres still three months to go. Dealmakers expect the pace to pick up in the coming quarters.
Valuation of Chinese assets are the most attractive in the entire APAC region, Mayooran Elalingam, head of investment banking coverage & advisory in APAC at Deutsche Bank AG. Middle East investors are investing with a long-term time frame and taking a view that markets will normalise over time.
Middle Eastern wealth funds, which together control more than $4 trillion of assets, have become key players in dealmaking, accounting for more than half the value of all deals done by global state-backed investors this year. Firms including ADIA, Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund and Qatar Investment Authority backed deals worth $55 billion in the first nine months of 2024, according to data from consultancy GlobalSWF.
Given the limited competition, he added, Mideast firms are able to acquire high-quality assets at significant discounts to other markets in the region and relative to historic multiples in China, especially in sectors such as health care and consumer. Those funds are also building their know-how in industries where China has a global competitive advantage, including in high-end manufacturing, he said.
Yet the appetite from Middle Eastern investors doesnt help make up for the overall loss of dealmaking activity in China. Transactions targeting Chinese firms this year are down 12% from a year earlier to $77 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Reaching In
There is a lot of interest in China, said Ho-Yin Lee, who helps run Asia technology and communications investment banking at Citigroup Inc. Middle Eastern investors are looking at companies that are market leaders in their respective sectors and willing to collaborate.
Geopolitical tensions have been less of an issue for Middle Eastern funds seeking to invest in China, according to Samuel Kim, chairman of mergers and acquisitions in APAC at Deutsche Bank.
We have seen a number of situations where Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds have played an important role facilitating acquisitions, said Kim, whos also chief country officer for Deutsche Bank in South Korea.
Political ties are strengthening too. Chinese Premier Li Qiang said earlier this month that the country is willing to deepen cooperation with Saudi Arabia in oil and gas, petrochemicals and infrastructure. Chinese enterprises have also been encouraged to invest in Saudi Arabia in areas including new energy, information and communication, and digital and green economies.
Government officials, investment bankers, lawyers and Asia-based consultants are spending more time meeting with Middle Eastern investors touring China and the rest of APAC looking for opportunities to expand.
For Hong Kong, which has been reliant on Chinese companies listing in the city and on the US and Europe in terms of funding, greater interaction with the Middle East is positive as it helps diversify opportunities and sources of funding, said Louis Lau, a partner at KPMGs capital markets advisory group in China.
Aramco Is Shopping
Saudi Aramco has been busy in China. The worlds largest crude oil exporter is considering investing in more chemical plants in the country, on top of deals it has already clinched to secure long-term buyers for its crude. Aramco has been eyeing a 10% stake in Chinas Hengli Petrochemical Ltd. and similar deals with two other Chinese companies. It closed a $3.4 billion deal for a stake in Rongsheng Petrochemical Co. last year, its largest foreign acquisition ever.
Aramco is also looking beyond oil and petrochemicals. In June, it announced plans to take a 10% stake in an automotive joint venture with Frances Renault SA and Chinas Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., a transaction that valued Horse Powertrain Ltd. at roughly $8 billion.
Saudi Arabia and others are ramping up efforts to diversify away from oil and into sectors such as clean energy, industrials, technology, tourism and sports.
The long-term goal to reshape their economies will likely guide their investment strategies in places such as China, according to Simon Rahimzada, a Dubai-based partner at law firm Ashurst. Some wealth funds may invest in businesses that also want to expand in the Middle East so that they can promote an exchange of know-how, Rahimzada said.
The increasing investment activity into China has also had some side effects. Middle Eastern funds have also been faced with greater scrutiny on US deals from the Biden administration as part of a broader pushback on entities perceived to have close ties with Beijing, Bloomberg News has reported.
Money Flows
Not only have we seen the quantum of capital deployed from the Middle East to be much larger in recent times, but the focus is increasingly diversification into Asian economies, including China, said Lei Li, Asia head of industrials investment banking at Citigroup.
Logistics, consumer and health-care assets have also drawn Middle Eastern money. DP World, a leader in global supply chain solutions based in Dubai, this year acquired Cargo Services Seafreight, a deal that led to a controlling stake in Hong Kong-listed CN Logistics International Holdings Ltd. Mubadala and CBC Group bought UCB SAs mature neurology and allergy business in China in a $680 million deal.
QIA and Saudi Arabias PIF have been approached as potential co-investors to join a consortium seeking to acquire Hong Kong-listed logistics real estate firm ESR Group Ltd., people familiar with the matter have said.
Their interest has also been linked to technology including chipmaking and artificial intelligence. An arm of Saudi Aramco joined the latest financing round for startup Zhipu AI, becoming the first known foreign firm to back a major Chinese player in generative AI.
Electric-vehicle battery manufacturing and data centers are also areas of interest, said Dean Moroz, a partner at Ashurst based in Abu Dhabi. A compelling investment return is still the paramount consideration, he added.
Beyond China
Its not just China the wider APAC region has seen a substantial bump in capital flows from the Middle East, Deutsche Banks Elalingam said.
ADIA has been active in Southeast Asia and India. The fund is part of a group of investors seeking to take Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd. private, while it was also a coinvestor in Columbia Asia Healthcare Sdn.s acquisition of hospital operator Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care Sdn. In India, it has bought an additional stake in billionaire Mukesh Ambanis rapidly expanding retail unit.
In Japan, the other Asian market where dealmaking activity is booming, Mubadala-owned Fortress Investment Group made an offer for Joban Kosan Co., the operator of the Spa Resort Hawaiians leisure facility in Fukushima prefecture.
They are smart and sophisticated investors, and bankers need to present them solid investment opportunities to be able to catch their interest, Elalingam said. They like to get involved in deals from the beginning and not be seen as a last resort to simply help get things done.
The new missile could reach the US mainland, the report said | (Photo: Shutterstock)
The Chinese military on Wednesday test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a dummy warhead in the Pacific Ocean, the Defence Ministry announced. The launch tested weaponry performance and military training effectiveness and achieved desired goals, the ministry said in a statement. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp The missile fell into expected sea areas, the statement said, adding this was a routine arrangement in the annual training plan and relevant countries had been notified in advance. This test launch is a routine arrangement in our annual training plan. It is in line with international law and practice and is not directed against any country or target," the statement said.
It is the first time in 44 years that China is known to have successfully conducted an atmospheric test of an ICBM over the high seas.
In May 1980, a DF-5 -- China's first ICBM -- flew more than 9,000 kilometres (5,590 miles), the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
The new missile could reach the US mainland, the report said.
China's ICBM test comes as missile activities have been ratcheting up in the Asia-Pacific region.
Earlier this month, North Korea conducted several short-range ballistic missile tests, flying towards the Sea of Japan or East Sea.
China maintains a no first use of nuclear weapons policy.
F/A-18 Super Hornets belonging to the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, fly above San Francisco Bay during a practice ahead of San Francisco Fleet Week in 2022. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle
San Francisco is gearing up for its annual Fleet Week in honor of the U.S. armed forces.
From Monday, Oct. 7, through Oct. 14, locals and visitors alike can witness the impressive display of large ships that make their way under the Golden Gate Bridge, marvel at the gravity-defying stunts of the U.S. Navys Blue Angels and learn all about the branches of the military.
The USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, participates in the Parade of Ships during Fleet Week in San Francisco in 2023. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
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The festivities will then culminate with the Parade of Ships and Fleet Weeks signature air show, scheduled for Oct. 11-13, with aerial feats including parachute jumps, heritage planes and more. Prime Marina Green viewing is free and available on a first-come, first-served basis, though premium ticket options are available for purchase at fleetweeksf.org/tickets.
A guided public tour of the USS Manchester during San Francisco Fleet Week in 2023. Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jasen Moreno-Garcia/U.S. Navy
Public transportation is highly recommended as Fleet Week tends to attract large crowds. Check the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency for schedules.
The Navy Band Southwests brass band performs for a crowd prior to the opening ceremonies for the 2019 San Francisco Fleet Week. Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Bryan Niegel/U.S. Navy
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By Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Mitchell Ferman
Donald Trump is planning a fresh fundraising swing through Texas, with plans to court donors in oil country as he seeks to narrow a cash gap with Kamala Harris in the final weeks of the presidential campaign. The itinerary includes an Oct. 2 luncheon in the Midland, Texas, area, the heart of the prolific Permian Basin, followed by a cocktail reception in Houston, according to people familiar with the events. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request to comment about the fundraisers, which were first reported by the New York Times. Among the named hosts holding the Houston reception for Trump are Jeff Hildebrand, the billionaire chief executive officer of Hilcorp Energy Co., and his wife Melinda Hildebrand, the people said. The Hildebrands, who are major donors to Trumps political operation, did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment.
The former president raised $130 million in August, less than half of the $361 million Harris raised. Trump attended fundraisers in California earlier this month, but has generally spent most of his time on the campaign trail at rallies or giving speeches, rather than meeting with donors. Running mate JD Vance has headlined several fundraisers in Trumps stead. The events come at a critical time for Trump, as he struggles to keep up with Harris fundraising and is being vastly outspent by Democrats. Fueled by donations from Wall Street and Silicon Valley, Harris was able to spend an average of $7.5 million each day in August $5 million more than Trump could muster.
Trump has increasingly looked to the oil and natural gas industry to help fill his campaign coffers, drawing on his record backing industry priorities during his first term in the White House as well as his pledges to dismantle Biden-era policies that discourage fossil-fuel production.
During a 2020 rally in Midland, Trump reminded voters of his efforts to salvage the industry. When oil crashed, I got Saudi Arabia, Russia, and others to cut nearly 10 million barrels a day, and got OPEC+ and Mexico to agree to the deal, he said at the time. This action stabilized world oil prices that had been in a free-fall and saved millions of energy jobs, and frankly, it saved your industry. As president, Trump eased regulations from former President Barack Obamas tenure that helped lower the cost of oil development. He also took steps to aid struggling oil companies after pandemic lock-downs in 2020 prompted crude prices to crash. That included intervening to help broker an agreement with OPEC+ countries to slash production and boost prices in April 2020.
Lawmakers in Congress are probing Trumps promises to oil executives earlier this year to roll back environmental regulations, during a meeting in which he asked donors to deliver $1 billion in support.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefed the council, reiterating the United Nations' strong support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity under the UN Charter | (Photo: Reuters)
Ukraine's president dismissed the notion of peace talks with Moscow on Tuesday, calling instead for unspecified global action to force Russia into peace for invading his country and to comply with the UN Charter's requirement that every country respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all other nations. Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the UN Security Council that Russian President Vladimir Putin is committing an international crime and has broken so many international rules that he won't stop on his own. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp And that's why this war can't simply fade away. That's why this war can't be calmed by talks, Zelenskyy said at a meeting on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly. Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter.
The high-level meeting on the more than 2-year war in Ukraine was attended by ministers from 14 of the council's 15 member nations. Russia chose to send its lower-level UN ambassador.
Vassily Nebenzia opened the meeting protesting that Zelenskyy was being given the UN spotlight again. He also criticised Slovenia which holds the rotating council presidency this month for allowing the Ukrainian leader's "chorus to speak. He meant about 10 European Union and Nato members who aren't on the council but march in lockstep every time they come to the council to malign the Russian Federation.
When it comes to listening to these hackneyed statements, and these cookie-cutter statements, we have no intention of wasting time on that, Nebenzia said.
Ukraine's sovereignty is defended
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefed the council, reiterating the United Nations' strong support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity under the UN Charter.
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 following the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and city of Sevastopol a decade ago is a clear violation of these principles, the UN chief said.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine knows some countries want to talk to Putin. But, he asked, What could they possibly hear from him that he's upset because we are exercising our right to defend our people, or that he wants to keep the war and terror going just so no one thinks he was wrong?
China has repeatedly called for talks between Ukraine and Russia. Its foreign minister, Wang Yi, told the council that the suffering and destruction and increasing volatility in the region "must be turned around.
Wang stressed that Chinese President Xi Jinping believes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected. China is pursuing peace talks and conducting shuttle diplomacy, Wang said, and its efforts have received wide international support. He pointed to a joint China-Brazil peace plan issued earlier this year.
Zelenskyy also went after countries that supply weapons and ammunition to Russia, telling the council Moscow has no legitimate reason to make Iran and North Korea de facto accomplices.
The US includes China, Iran and North Korea in its accusations
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised similar issues but also accused China, which has close ties to Russia, of providing Russia with machine tools, microelectronics and other items it is using to rebuild, restock and ramp up its war machine and sustain its brutal war.
Wang, who spoke after him, didn't directly respond but said: I also wish to make it clear that on the Ukraine issue, any move to shift responsibility onto China or attack and smear China is irresponsible and will lead nowhere.
Blinken also accused Iran of providing armed drones to Russia since 2022 and transferring hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles a few weeks ago which its new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has denied. North Korea has also delivered trainloads of weapons and ammunition to Russia including ballistic missiles and artillery rounds, Blinken said.
The more Russia relies on their support, the more Iran and North Korea extract in return, Blinken said. And the more Putin gives to Pyongyang and Tehran, the more he exacerbates threats to peace and security.
To those who ask how the United States and others can help Ukraine defend itself and criticise countries supplying military materiel to Russia, Blinken said the answer is simple: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim.
Global technology corporation FPT recently celebrated the opening of its second office in Germany. As part of the companys expansion, this move will further strengthen FPTs delivery capabilities and partnerships in the European region, targeting the automotive, manufacturing, and green transformation sectors.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240924734854/en/
The office inauguration took place within the framework of the Technology Forum Nuremberg in Germany (Photo: Business Wire)
Located in Nuremberg, Bavariaa German automotive and machinery stronghold, the new office enables FPT to solidify its local reach and consulting services, further accompanying industry giants such as Volkswagen, BMW, Daimler, and ebm-papst. Boasting strategic access to major tech centers and cities across Germany and Europe, this office is set to become a pivotal innovation hub for FPT in the region, powered by its core competencies in IoT, Data & Cloud, Digital Twins, AUTOSAR, and Embedded Software.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dzung Tran, Chief Executive Officer of FPT Software Europe said: As we continue to expand our global presence and client base, Europe remains a cornerstone of our global strategy. Our strategic directions also align with the regions focus on AI, smart mobility, and green technologies, and we are committed to providing seamless support and cutting-edge solutions that are tailored to different business needs here.
The signing ceremony was held at the Technology Forum Nuremberg in Germany, with over 120 business leaders in attendance. The event facilitated discussions on the future of sustainable technology, highlighting the impact of generative AI and other emerging technologies in driving innovation, operational efficiency, and resource optimization.
Since entering the European market in 2008, FPT has established itself as a trusted partner in digital transformation for over 150 leading businesses across industries, including German giants such as E.ON, RWE, Schaeffler, Covestro, Viessmann, and most recently, ebm-papst. With a strong presence in nine countries, including its recent expansion into Sweden, FPT also continues to deepen its footprint through strategic partnerships and acquisitions, highlighted by the acquisition of RWE IT Slovakia, a subsidiary of European energy leader RWE, in 2014, and French IT consulting firm AOSIS in 2023.
Workplace development and employee empowerment are also core focuses in FPTs strategy, with its German subsidiary recently honored as a Great Place to Work. By 2030, the company aims to expand its workforce to 1,000 IT professionals in this region, with 50% of roles being filled by local talent
FPTs Nuremberg office is located on the 26th floor of Business Tower Nurnberg, Ostendstrae 100, 90482 Nuremberg, Germany.
About FPT Corporation and FPT Software
FPT Corporation is a global technology corporation and a leader in consulting, providing, and deploying technology and telecommunications services and solutions. It records a global workforce of 48,000+ and a total revenue of $2.17 billion (2023).
FPT Software, a subsidiary of FPT Corporation, is a global technology and IT services provider headquartered in Vietnam, with $1 billion in revenue (2023) and over 30,000 employees in 30 countries.
The company champions complex business opportunities and challenges with its world-class services in Advanced Analytics, AI, Digital Platforms, Cloud, Hyperautomation, IoT, Low-code, and so on. It has partnered with over 1,100 clients worldwide, nearly 100 of which are Fortune Global 500 companies in Aviation, Automotive, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, Healthcare, Logistics, Manufacturing, Utilities, and more. For more information, please visit https://fptsoftware.com/
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240924734854/en/
PCI Pharma Services, (PCI)a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on biopharmas most complex therapies, is investing more than $365 million in infrastructure supporting the clinical and commercial-scale final assembly and packaging of drug-device combination products utilizing advanced drug delivery systems, with an emphasis on injectable formats. Comprising new and expanded facilities in both Europe and North America, the effort is part of PCIs global investment plan, is anchored and funded by recent new business, and is designed to augment and accommodate future growth.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240924192066/en/
PCI Pharma Services is investing more than $365 million in infrastructure supporting the clinical and commercial-scale final assembly and packaging of drug-device combination products utilizing advanced drug delivery systems, with an emphasis on injectable formats. (Photo: Business Wire)
For PCI, the investments build upon 20-plus years of biologics expertise, a leadership position highlighted by the companys world-class Biotech Center of Excellence in Philadelphia. That location employs precision handling equipment for prefilled syringes, syringe assembly and labeling, vial labeling and cartoning, and autoinjector assembly. Recently, PCI heavily invested in complex, automated advanced drug delivery technologies to enhance capabilities and capacities at this facility, ensuring it remains at the forefront of innovation.
Combined, the new projects further bolster PCIs ability to manage the full lifespan of such products, from sterile drug product development and manufacturing through clinical trial supply, product launch and commercialization.
New US Center of Excellence
In the United States, PCI has plans for an ambitious 545,000-square-foot expansion at its campus in Rockford, Illinois, dedicated to advanced drug delivery and drug-device combination assembly and packaging.
Highlighting the phased plan is a comprehensive 475,000-square-foot project comprising 345,000 square feet for advanced drug delivery injectable packaging and 130,000 square feet of additional warehousing for products in all development phases. The space houses over 20 customer suites, with scalable technology for the clinical and commercial-scale final assembly and packaging of vials, prefilled syringes, autoinjectors, and pen-cartridge combinations, complete with sophisticated top-open cartoning technology and extensive final assembly and functional product testing to ISO standards.
PCI also is announcing plans for a further 70,000-square-foot expansion dedicated to advanced drug delivery and patient-centric drug-device combination assembly and packaging. A response to customer needs, the facility will support a range of low- to high-speed packaging technologies for a variety of advanced drug delivery categories, including but not limited to vials, prefilled syringes, autoinjectors and on-body injectors. The plant is intended to be brought online in two phases, with operations expected to commence in Q3 2025.
All totaled, PCIs goal is to be among the first CDMOs to bring whole-lifespan development of these advanced drug delivery and drug-device combination products under one roof. The company aims to marry efficiencies and streamline the journey from clinical stages through launch and commercialization, supported by cold chain storage solutions providing end-to-end service.
Expanded EU Operations
Additionally, PCI is amplifying its presence and impact around the world with a newly acquired built-for-purpose pharmaceutical packaging and device assembly facility near Dublin, Ireland providing large-scale temperature-controlled storage capabilities. Operations are scheduled to commence in Q4 2024, with the facility providing commercial-scale packaging and assembly operations for injectables as well as oral solid dose (OSD) drug products.
Elsewhere in Ireland, PCI has broken ground on a new packaging and device assembly services facility at its CityNorth Dublin campus. Slated to begin operations in Q3 2025, the plant will provide increased capacity for the final assembly, labeling and packaging of injectable drug products including vials, prefilled syringes, and drug-device combination products such as autoinjectors. The facility also will include cold chain packaging for injectable and biologic products, as well as associated temperature-controlled storage.
Both new EU facilities will leverage PCIs established multi-disciplinary expertise across operations, quality, engineering and project management. Scalable state-of-the-art equipment as well as production-adjacent services such as dedicated in-house packaging design and analytical laboratories to support manufacturability will deliver patient-centric packaging solutions and a streamlined commercial launch process.
Supporting these growing operations, with recent HPRA approval PCI has opened a further large-scale warehouse in Dublin incorporating cold chain storage capabilities to support customer demand. Overall, PCIs growing footprint in Ireland provides enhanced commercial packaging capabilities and capacity for pharma and biopharma customers around the world, with a focus on the EU markets.
This substantial, multi-continent investment places PCI Pharma Services at the forefront of the global advanced drug delivery solutions and drug-device combination product assembly landscape, said Salim Haffar, CEO of PCI Pharma Services. The new and expanded facilities and infrastructure showcase our commitment to meeting evolving market and customer needs for clinical-to-commercial drug-device final assembly and packaging, and furthers PCIs overarching purpose of enabling life-changing therapies and patient convenience.
About PCI Pharma Services
PCI is a world-leading CDMO, providing clients with integrated end-to-end drug development, manufacturing and packaging capabilities that increase their products speed to market and opportunities for commercial success. PCI brings the proven experience that comes with more than 90 successful product launches each year and over five decades in the healthcare services business. The company currently has 30 sites across seven countries (Australia, Canada, U.S., Ireland, Wales, Germany and Spain), and over 7,000 employees working to bring life-changing therapies to patients.
Leading technology and continued investment enable PCI Pharma Services to address global drug development needs throughout the entire product life cycle from manufacturing capabilities through the clinical trial supply chain and commercialization. Its clients utilize PCI as an extension of their business, and a collaborative partner with the shared goal of improving patients lives. For more information, visit pci.com
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240924192066/en/
At least 165 California police agencies have executed separation agreements concealing misconduct allegations against 299 officers and deputies, records obtained by this investigation show. John Blanchard and Sophie D'Amato/The Chronicle
Many Chronicle readers have responded to several The Right to Remain Secret reports by Katey Rusch and Casey Smith of the Investigative Reporting Program on the clean-record agreement scandal (This is the secret system that covers up police misconduct and ensures problem officers can get hired again, SFChronicle.com, Sept. 17). Here are several of those responses:
The recent investigative report on clean-record agreements exposes a troubling reality within Californias law enforcement. These secret settlements conceal serious misconduct and perpetuate a cycle of unaccountability. Allowing officers accused of crimes such as embezzlement, sexual harassment, and abuse of power to resign and secure new positions quietly endangers public safety and undermines trust in law enforcement.
The rationale behind these agreements that it is easier and cheaper than pursuing termination is unacceptable. It prioritizes cost over justice and shields unethical behavior from the public eye. As long as such agreements exist, problem officers will continue moving from one department to another, posing risks to their communities.
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California legislators must immediately ban these agreements and ensure complete transparency in police disciplinary records. Our communities deserve officers who uphold the law, not those protected by it.
Charles Morris, Hercules
Legally binding lie
Thank you for publishing the excellent work that Katey Rusch and Casey Smith did on digging up the clean record agreement scandal. Its shocking that a clean record can be had through an agreement precisely when the record itself isnt clean at all.
Its a mind-twisting corruption of the meaning of both record and agreement. Its not just a legally binding lie. Its Ministry of Truth stuff, like putting scientific discovery up to a vote. How is that even allowed?
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Also, if dirty cops get to have these, why not bad teachers? Arent their unions on the job, too? Maybe Rusch and Smith could look into that next.
Gabi Huiber, San Francisco
Shame on California
I was astonished by the article on clean records agreements in the Chronicle.
Fraud is defined as the intentional misrepresentation of facts or concealment of important information that may cause harm to another person or entity.
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The clean-record agreements appear to encompass the very definition of a fraudulent agreement since the officers who are protected likely would not have been hired by other law enforcement agencies if they had been properly vetted.
The lawyers who created these agreements and the government entities who signed them should be ashamed for supporting such fraudulent activity. These agreements may save the local taxpayers money by avoiding lawsuits, but they harm the public by allowing untrustworthy law officers to be hired without proper vetting.
Shame on California for allowing these deceptions.
Daniel Levitt, San Francisco
Award-worthy work
The San Francisco Chronicle deserves a Pulitzer Prize for your Right to Remain Secret series this week describing the scandal of corrupt police officers receiving clean-record agreements, sometimes lifetime tax-free pensions for fraudulent claims of disabilities, and who then are hired by other agencies unaware of their history.
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Judith Kunofsky, El Cerrito
Renew my subscription
Every year at Chronicle subscription renewal time, because of the cost, I think this is the last time, but then you publish investigative reports like System covers up police misconduct and I know I will stay until the end, mine.
But why is it that the governor, the lawmakers and we tolerate, accept and condone this corruption?
You have done your part, Chronicle, now it is up to the government.
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Erwin Garzaro, South San Francisco
Salting a wound
After stealing our history to feed his greed. After thumbing his nose at some of the most loyal fans in the world. After running a franchise into the ground by constantly trading All Stars and maintaining the lowest payroll in MLB. After laying off a thousand workers. After lying to us that he wanted to build a new stadium in precisely the worst place to build a new stadium. After causing the city of Oaklan d to spend hundreds of city employees work hours to try and make it work. After always intending to move to Las Vegas, John Fisher has the audacity and insensitivity to take out a full-page ad (Sunday 9.22) on the back page of the sport section saying: Thank you Oakland. (What did Oakland As owner John Fisher say to fans in his farewell letter? SFChronicle.com, Sports, Sept. 23.)
This Oaklander responds: You are NOT welcome, John Fisher. Take your organization and puppy dog president and get out of town ASAP. Good riddance, you are a persona non grata here!
Jim Prchlik, Oakland
Kudos to Uncle Jim
About Opinion Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership. Read more about our transparency and ethics policies
Thank you to Joe Matthews for writing about his Uncle Jim and the lessons he could teach us about charity (What I wish my Uncle Jim could have taught California about charity, Insight, Open Forum, Sept.22).
I dont know when Ive been so moved to hear of such a fine and humble human being. Yes, I need to learn those lessons and our world would be such a better place if there were more of us living like Jim.
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Photo of P. kamalaharrisae taken by the author in 2023 under a microscope at the California Academy of Sciences. Courtesy Brad Balukjian
Across the tree of life, approximately 18,000 new species are described by taxonomists every year. One of the perks of the work is getting to name them. My colleagues and I can have a lot of fun with it theres a genus of spiders named for the band ABBA and a wasp named after Jackie Chan.
Today, one of my naming decisions makes its official debut: a bright green, red, and yellow plant bug will now be known as Pseudoloxops kamalaharrisae.
Yes, I named a bug after our vice-president and yes, it is meant as a massive compliment.
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Harris six-legged namesake is part of a remarkable radiation of closely related plant bugs endemic to the islands of Tahiti, where I did my Ph.D. research over a decade ago. Plant bugs are a type of true bug; although we colloquially call anything small and scurrying a bug, its actually a technical term, referring to insects in the suborder Heteroptera, which have mouths like a straw. While some plant bugs are agricultural pests, P. kamalaharrisae and its cousins hang out on brightly colored flowers all day slurping plant slushees and hoping to avoid detection by birds.
So why did I name it after Harris?
Following my time bug-collecting in Tahiti, I began teaching at Merritt College, one of Oaklands two community colleges. Seeking to create a faster school-to-work route than my seven-year stint in graduate school, I approached my administration with the idea for a new program whose main purpose would be to train the citys youth for entry-level environmental jobs. The need to diversify the environmental workforce is pressing, and Merritt, whose commitment to social justice dates to Black Panther Party founders Bobby Seale and Huey Newton meeting there in 1961, makes for an ideal setting, with 81% students of color. We soon launched the Natural History and Sustainability program, alongside such fields as real estate and medical assisting in the colleges portfolio of Career Education offerings. Four years since its inception, we have already placed dozens of alumni with jobs at the East Bay Regional Park District, California State Parks, environmental consulting firms, and environmental non-profits.
Trade school for nature, as I like to call it.
Around the same time, Harris and President Joe Biden took office and began taking action to protect our planet, immediately issuing an Executive Order titled Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, in which they called for the establishment of a Civilian Climate Corps Initiative, a program similar to the one I built at Merritt but on a national scale. The initiative became a reality in September of last year, as Harris and Biden announced the creation of the American Climate Corps with a goal of training 20,000 young Americans in sustainability and climate resilience. This past June, the first cohort of American Climate Corps members was sworn in, with 9,000 new trainees. There are currently 186 positions listed on the Corps website.
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While Harris and Biden worked top-down, I quietly continued the unfinished business of my doctoral research. I delegated most of the naming rights to the worlds best research assistants fifth-graders in Tahiti. After studying the bugs physical characteristics and natural history, the kids applied species names in Tahitian, part of my collaboration with the locally led nonprofit Te Pu Atitia. I plan to continue those efforts as part of a new 25-year educational outreach effort through UC Berkeley called the Manumanu Project, the Tahitian word for insect.
But I held a few species back, wanting to honor those people I most admire. My sister got one for her kids (Pseudoloxops chastaoliancai, a combination of their names), and Harrison Ford got one for his relentless commitment to worldwide conservation (and lets face it, for Han shooting first), Pseudoloxops harrisonfordi.
While jogging around Lake Merritt in downtown Oakland, the countrys oldest wildlife refuge, Id pass by the Alameda County courthouse where Kamala Harris once interned for the district attorney. Id think about her efforts to highlight environmental issues in her Senate tenure, including her co-introduction of the Climate Equity Act in August of 2020 (which stalled out in Congress). Id think of her optimism in describing a group of high schoolers in Colorado who pushed Denver public schools to adopt one of the nations first school district climate action plans, concluding with the simple truth we have time to make a difference. And I decided, long before the twists of recent months, to name a species after her.
About Opinion Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership. Read more about our transparency and ethics policies
Vice presidents are usually overlooked in the species-naming game and by society at large, a pattern I wanted to challenge by honoring Harris. Ive spent my career championing underdogs, be it research organisms (plant bugs dont get nearly the attention of butterflies and beetles), athletes Ive written books about, and now vice presidents. Harris herself identifies as such. As the first woman and woman of color to hold that office I imagine she knows all-too-well how hard it is to break through the glass ceiling.
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Michael Makstman, who is San Franciscos top technology officer, acknowledges that the city has complex IT fiefdoms that can be a challenge. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle
Michael Makstman got his first gig at 15 years old, newly arrived in Chicago with his family from Kyiv, Ukraine. With the money he saved from the job an internship with the city for low-income high school students he bought himself a computer, setting him on a path to getting his masters in computer science.
Three decades on, Makstman is now San Franciscos new Chief Information Officer, in charge of technology and policy for what is arguably Americas most tech-savvy constituency. He stepped into the job running a $140 million department with more than 260 employees in July, and gave the Chronicle his first interview this August.
Makstman said his internship in Chicago introduced him to the positive impact that local governments can have on individuals life, especially immigrants like himself, or on other disadvantaged groups.
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Now 45 years old, with curly salt-and-pepper hair and a close-cropped angular beard to match, Makstman is an experienced hand, serving since 2018 as the citys chief information security officer. In that job he worked to standardize the citys cyber incident response software across dozens of departments and draft the citys guidance on using artificial intelligence.
Hardening the citys cyber defenses was no easy feat, technically or politically, and it took about half a decade of convincing at a time when cities such as Oakland and critical infrastructure across the country from hospitals to airports are increasingly being held hostage by cyberattacks.
Michael Makstman, San Francisco's new IT chief, cut his teeth working with San Franciscos federated IT systems in his previous role by coordinating a citywide standard for cyber security. The city has 52 different IT departments, including City Hall, schools, police, transit and the airport. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle
Makstman is admittedly less experienced in politics, which is more of an art than the science of zeroes and ones he is used to manipulating. Forging consensus and communicating his goals clearly will likely be among the biggest challenges he faces as he takes on the top tech job in a city whose disparate departments run as federated technical fiefdoms, some with aging infrastructure of their own. Every department has their own IT team, and in many cases different and unique software, he said.
That structure will likely be Makstmans toughest assignment. His power to set policy, enforce standards and centralize procurement is limited to the portions of the city government he oversees, although the technology department does risk assessment on big tech contracts the city signs, and can negotiate citywide deals for applications like Salesforce and Microsoft.
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But with no plans in the works to consolidate his control over all the citys technology, Makstman will need to use persuasion and arm-twisting over other parts of the government to establish common approaches to IT wherever possible.
Here are Makstmans top priorities in the top job, his view on using AI in city systems, and the biggest challenges he faces, including those floppy disks still used by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to run its trains.
Q: Why did you take this job?
Despite not being born here or growing up here, I consider San Francisco and this city as special to me, Makstman told the Chronicle. So I think the reason why I wanted this job is because I think I have a unique perspective versus some other folks who might be coming from outside of really having ties, deep ties into the city, caring about the future of the city at a very personal level, he said.
He is quick to talk about wanting to use technology to make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged San Franciscans, and to talk about his own immigrant experience informing how he wants to run the citys tech stack.
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I feel very strongly about the service aspect of the job, he said.
That includes previous stints as an information security analyst at one of the largest federal nuclear laboratories, and as the director of technology risk management with Kaiser Permanente. And after nearly seven years with the city already I think Ive got a good sense of where the challenges lie, but also, more importantly, how to get things done, Makstman said.
Q: What are your main priorities?
Fueling digital transformation for the departments his agency works with and oversees is among his top priorities, Makstman said. That means cutting down on the legacy technology that many departments still use, including antiquated coding languages and, yes, the floppy disks that Muni still uses to boot up its train lines each morning.
But Makstman was quick to point out that there are both technical and political roadblocks to accomplishing those goals. He said he hopes to use the backing of the mayor and the relationships he built as chief information officer to make those changes a reality.
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In that previous role, I had to build a relationship with every single department, in the city, including the 52 IT departments across the city including the SFMTA, the airport, the school district and other disparate functions.
That, he said, was how he was able to convince every department to get onboard with using a common cybersecurity monitoring system when each has its own way of buying and using software, a manifestation of the citys complex bureaucracy. Many of those departments have their own IT budgets and teams, some purchasing and running their own computers, servers, applications and networks.
Michael Makstman, San Franciscos IT chief, runs a $140 million department with more than 260 employees, but its only one piece of San Franciscos vast and disparate tech infrastructure. He needs persuasion to get other parts of the government to establish common IT standards. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle
Makstman credits Mayor London Breeds office with making the cybersecurity shakeup possible. It couldnt have happened without the support of the mayor and the Board of Supervisors to actually create the office of cyber security, he said.
We need a unified body and theyve created the Office of Cybersecurity in the city charter, one of only a few in the country for a big city, he said. No such chartered role exists for the CIO position, which is established in the citys administrative code instead.
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In the new chief role, Makstman said he will have to work by influence and bargaining rather than by fiat.
I think we can buy better. We can buy smarter. We can buy together, he said. That is less the work of a technical wizard than that of a politician, to convince 50-plus different departments doing things one way, his way, is the best way.
Q: How do you feel about using AI at the city level?
Makstman doesnt see the city diving in headfirst on AI. Although San Francisco is the global epicenter of the technologys development, he said he doesnt believe chatbots should be plugged into city services just yet.
Im really excited to bring this technology as an additional tool in our toolbox to delivering city services to San Franciscans, but also to staff, he said.
But a cautious approach is warranted.
Weve seen some of the municipalities kind of jump early into this and they had to pull back because the technology wasnt ready, Makstman said.
He said he has a personal ChatGPT subscription, and points to the citys AI guidelines last year encouraging city employees to experiment with the technology, if not deploy it into city systems, as sound.
Wary of pitfalls, Michael Makstman San Franciscos IT chief is taking a go-slow approach to using AI in government. Im really excited to bring this technology as an additional tool in our toolbox to delivering city services to San Franciscans, but also to staff, he says. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle
Makstman said his staff is running tests with AI programs designed by Microsoft, Google, Amazon and others. He sees applications for AI such as visualizing and updating old computer code, or using chatbots to help with writing, as ways the technology could find its way into the workaday lives of city employees.
For the time being that is all in the experimentation phase.
Another reason to take it slowly, Makstman said, is that he worries AI chatbots can be susceptible to bias or inclined to a particular worldview incompatible with the citys commitment to serving all different types of people.
Government services might not be the first one you want to try on your experimental technology, he said, adding that cutting edge technology often fails exactly with the groups that we are charged with serving. With vulnerable communities, with people who dont speak English as their primary language, he said.
Q: How can young techies make the city work better?
If you really want to contribute, this is not a hackathon, Makstman said. Helping us solve our problems is not a weekend activity. It takes us technologists in government months and years to learn.
People get frustrated. I have this brilliant app. Why isnt the city just adapting that? Well, thats the wrong conversation. I want people to come with an open heart, to understand what the real challenges are, he said. Is the real challenge summarizing Muni documentation (with AI)? I dont know. Or is the real challenge to help folks to get the services that they need to get right at the time, in the place where they need to get them.
So what is Makstmans message to all of the tech talent pouring into San Francisco to work in the AI industry?
Eva Osborne
European medical aesthetic clinic group Therapie Clinic has opened its newest clinic in Navan, Co Meath, bringing new job opportunities for those in the area.
The Irish-owned company has invested 500,000 in the 1,200 square foot clinic with the aim of bringing high quality aesthetic and laser treatments to locals at an affordable price tag.
The clinic has filled five positions so far with aspiring and experienced beauty and aesthetic industry professionals.
The new clinic is the first Therapie Clinic to open in Co Meath and is located in the retail centre of Navan Town Centre at unit 42.
Founded over 20 years ago and with more than 70 clinics throughout Ireland, the UK and the US, Therapie Clinic has delivered more than 10 million treatments.
The Irish-owned, family business has built a team of over 200 doctors and medical experts.
On the Navan clinic launch and creation of local jobs, Chief Executive of Therapie Clinic, Phillip McGlade, said: 2024 has been a busy year for Therapie Clinic as we have opened several new locations and expanded our offering in Ireland as well as other markets.
"Myself and the team are very excited to be opening in Meath and specifically in the thriving community of Navan. Bringing the unique Therapie Clinic offering to new customers is something we are always excited about and we look forward to meeting our new customers from Navan and the surrounding area.
When it comes to new clinics, no expense is spared because we believe in bringing the best of our offering and the Navan clinic is no exception."
McGlade said the company has invested half a million euro in the clinic is because it wants to offer new customers the best possible services and treatments.
"For the first time ever the people of Navan will have easy, affordable access to the latest in global aesthetic treatments. Creating local jobs has also been an added benefit of opening in Navan and we hope to continue that growth.
By Cillian Sherlock, PA
The National Childrens Hospital is being held like a hostage in negotiations with lead contractor BAM, the chief officer of the development board has said.
The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) has accused BAM of under-resourcing the project and failing to deliver on its contractual obligations.
A fresh row over the hospital emerged after it was claimed that not one of the facilitys 5,500 rooms is finished to the expected standard.
The beleaguered development has been delayed on 14 occasions four of which occurred within the last year.
The projected costs of the hospital have spiralled to 2.2 billion, up from an initial estimated price tag of 650 million in 2014.
The current completion date of the hospital, billed by the Government as state-of-the-art, is set at a contested June 2025.
Following completion, there will be an approximately six-to-eight month commissioning period before the site is ready to accept children as patients.
The NPHDB has responsibility for engaging with BAM on behalf of the Government.
It has said that main delay around the hospital is insufficient resourcing from the contractor. BAM claims that thousands of design changes from the Board have delayed the project.
NPDB chief officer David Gunning told the Oireachtas Health Committee on Wednesday that BAM will not be given another cent beyond what it is entitled to.
Mr Gunning, who said he spoke to BAM Irelands chief executive on Tuesday, maintained that there had been no significant design change from the beginning of the project.
The board accepts that there had been changes to drawings, for which Mr Gunning said the contractor had been paid over and above the agreed price for additional resourcing.
Mr Gunning said: We do not agree that design change is the cause of delays on this project. We simply dont buy it.
On the contractors commercial strategy, he added: It is almost as if BAM will slow down the progress and, you know, the hospital is the hostage in this negotiation and its only if additional monies are paid that we can get this hospital done completely.
Mr Gunning said he had never seen anything like this and told Senator Martin Conway: Were sick of it. We have been dealing with this day in and day out. Commitments made, commitments missed.
He said the Board does not have a detailed programme on how BAM plans to execute the last 10 months of the project.
Without that detail, I certainly would not go so far as to give any assurance to this committee in terms of the bankability or the confidence in the June 25 date.
Mr Gunning said the timeline could be secured if the project was appropriately resourced by BAM, but claimed the contractor is consistently failing to deliver on its planned commitments.
In particular, he said the contractor continually insists on describing areas within the hospital as finished when they are incomplete.
As of today, not one room has been fully completed in line with the standard and finish as set out in the contract, he said.
There are 5,678 clinical spaces in the new hospital and whilst to date BAM has offered 3,128 as complete, none were completed to the required standard.
It follows a series of inspections of rooms that were presented as complete.
Phelim Devine, the boards project director, said rooms can only be considered complete when they are as close to snag free within reason.
However, he said outstanding issues with the rooms are not akin to scuffs of paint.
He told the committee that examined rooms have on average 13-15 defects including fire sealing, ventilation, and incomplete works above ceilings.
In addition, BAM has made 3,020 claims over project changes which could drastically increase the cost of the hospital. Of these, Mr Devine said 2,473 had been substantiated by the contractor at a total of 862 million.
The employers representative has determined 2,190 of the claims worth 748 million, of which just 31 million in extra cost has been awarded towards BAM.
There are around 280 substantiated claims outstanding.
Social Democrats health spokeswoman Roisin Shortall (Brian Lawless/PA)
Under questioning from Social Democrats TD Roisin Shortall, Mr Devine said there were 6,000 drawings relating to the project which have been revised up to three times for more than 23,000 updated drawings.
He rejected that these were design changes and said they may involve additional information or tweaked positions. However, he said there had been 469 change orders.
Ms Shortall described the distinction as pedantic given that the contractor is entitled to claim for the updated drawings.
Mr Devine said the independent employers representative has determined that there had been about 4 per cent of design change on the contract, but the contractor had pushed out the end date by 66 per cent.
Mr Gunning accused BAM of a continued unwillingness to resource the project appropriately.
He said BAM has not provided a compliant baseline programme outlining its approach and timeline for remaining works underway.
It shows a complete disregard for internationally recognised professional processes and contractual procedures, he said.
The approach being taken by BAM also shows complete disregard for sick children and young people and their families as well as the dedicated and excellent staff in Childrens Health Ireland.
Construction at the National Childrens Hospital (Brian Lawless/PA)
Meanwhile, Mr Gunning said BAM continues to submit large volumes of claims, including triplication of claimed time and value.
It is the view of the NPHDB that BAM is seeking to implement a strategy to exert pressure on the State to secure additional monies above the contract sum, by whatever means, he said.
The chief officer said the NPHDB is doing everything in its power to compel BAM to fulfil its contractual responsibilities, adding that it is robustly defending the claims it considers to be without merit or inflated.
Mr Gunning, who said his message to the contractor was not one penny more, said he could not possibly know if the price tag would increase following further legal challenges.
The 2.2 billion figure includes 1.88 billion for the NPHDB component of completing construction, as well as hundreds of millions of euros for the full commissioning of the building.
The NPHDB will hand the site over to Childrens Health Ireland following the completion of the hospital.
Mr Gunning said he was confident that the current 1.88 billion funding allocation will be sufficient to complete the project, which is described as 94 per cent complete.
However, he told the committee that he could not guarantee that costs of the project would increase following the resolution of legal claims from the contractor.
Asked by Fianna Fail TD John Lahart if he would recommend BAM for future State infrastructure projects, Mr Gunning referenced the rules around making comments at committees and said: I dont believe I should answer that question.
More generally, he said there was merit to proposals suggested by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly that past performance should be considered when awarding State contracts.
THE LIVES of at least 15 Co Carlow families have been thrown into chaos after their children were refused a place on the local school bus.
Angry and stressed parents in the Rathvilly area this week contacted The Nationalist to outline the huge upheaval caused to their families by the refusal of Bus Eireann to grant school bus tickets to their children, who are all students at Tullow Community School. Many of the children affected had previously used the school bus service, but to their absolute shock learned with just weeks to go to the new academic year that they had been refused a place.
In an effort to get their children to and from school without the bus service, elderly and sick relatives have been drafted in to help, work hours have been changed, and the families forced into the extra cost of afterschool services.
Both myself and my wife work in south Co Dublin and I work two shifts, an early and a late, so when we heard our daughters hadnt a place on the bus, to be honest, we didnt know what we were going to do, said one father.
My wifes father then agreed to help out, but he hadnt been very well at all and is due to go in for major surgery, so it is not ideal, he added.
Already this year, some of the children affected have missed days at school, as their working parents simply cant arrange alternative transport. Families put under enormous personal upheaval have the added frustration of often seeing the school bus drive by their homes, or in some instances have had to drive behind the bus in and out of Tullow on their way to school.
The stress of this has been unbelievable, and thats before the evenings get darker or the cold weather. Its just very unfair for parents trying to get out to work parents who dont ever get anything for free, said one mother.
Its not even about the money: Id happily pay for the service, but weve been told there is no place on the bus this year for my two girls, she stated.
Since they started in Tullow, theyve always used the school bus, but this year we got an email from Bus Eireann to say they could not cater for the children this school year. The Nationalist has learned that tickets allocated to children using the school bus service to Tullow from the Rathvilly area are considered concessionary, as Scoil Chonglais in Baltinglass is deemed to be their nearest school.
However, traditionally children from the Rathvilly area have in far greater numbers attended Tullow Community School, while Rathvilly NS is regarded as a feeder school for the Tullow second-level school.
The way I feel about it is that we are being discriminated against because of an Eircode, said one mother whose children were also refused a place on the bus.
We are located right in the middle of Tullow, Hacketstown and Baltinglass and the school bus for Tullow is going right by our door, which was a consideration in where we sent our children to school."
In what might be a first for Netflix, the streamer has signed a licensing deal with Glitch Productions to air their breakout Youtube series The Amazing Digital Circus.
Netflix will launch the first three episodes on October 4, the same day that the shows third episode premieres on Youtube. In the future, an additional six episodes will be available on Netflix the same day they launch on Youtube.
The Australian cg-animated indie series created and directed by Gooseworx has been an online sensation since launching last October. The pilot episode has amassed over 346 million views on Youtube since its debut on October 13, 2023, while the second episode, launched this past May, has accumulated over 121 million views.
Terms of the licensing partnership between Netflix and Glitch Productions have not been revealed, but in a statement on their social media account, Glitch said that Netflix does not own rights to the show. Were still independently funding everything, we still get full control of the show, and episodes will continue to ALWAYS come out on YouTube first, the company said.
In an interview with Cartoon Brew last year, Glitchs general manager and development producer Jasmine Yang said that, We are a Youtube-first company. We believe very strongly in the future and potential of Youtube for long-form animation. Yang further explained that the terms offered by streamers werent aligned with the companys vision. Control of the brand is essential to us. Having control of merchandise, marketing, and licensing under us, who work directly with the showrunner, lets us translate the artists visions more accurately.
Glitchs new licensing deal with Netflix is notable and could be a win-win for both parties. For Netflix, it will keep younger viewers on their platform instead of losing them to Youtube, while Glitch Productions will benefit from a broader audience without losing ownership, creative control, or ancillary rights to their idea. Its the type of mutually-beneficial relationship that should be cheered on by the community as it could pave the way for healthier and more sustainable models of collaboration between streamers and independent animation producers.
The San Francisco Scale Model is seen in 2019 before sections were shipped around to public library branches. Sam Whiting/The Chronicle A detail of Coit Tower is seen in the San Francisco Scale Model in 2018 before part of it went on display at library branches throughout the city. Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle The San Francisco Scale Model in a warehouse before being shipped around to public library branches Sam Whiting/The Chronicle The top floor space in the student union at City College, which is proposed as a permanent home for the San Francisco Scale Model, built in the late 1930s. Sam Whiting/The Chronicle A view of parts of the 1930s model of San Francisco (bottom) is seen at the San Francisco Library warehouse in 2018. In the 1930s the WPA built a huge scale model of San Francisco with every building during that time. Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle
In a warehouse in the East Bay sits a nearly century-old miniature wooden replica of the entire city of San Francisco. The size of an apartment, it precisely represents every structure and space in the city at the time it was completed, in 1940.
Now, advocates for the San Francisco Scale Model are seeking a permanent home for it at City College of San Francisco, which would assemble it and put it on public display in its entirety for the first time since it left City Hall at the onset of World War II.
An organization called the San Francisco Scale Model Initiative Team held its first college-wide symposium on Tuesday at the Sunnyside district main campus to introduce an ambitious plan to install the scale model in the student union building.
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All that stands in the way is $5 million, which must be privately raised to endow the public display of the model, and transfer of its ownership from UC Berkeley, which has it in storage in Richmond.
Ive been working on this for 15 years, said Gray Brechin, founder of the Living New Deal, a Berkeley nonprofit promoting the concept. This is an extraordinary artifact and a collective work of art. San Francisco is the only major city that doesnt have a three-dimensional model to explain the city to residents and visitors.
The San Francisco Scale Model is seen in 2019 before sections were shipped around to public library branches. Sam Whiting/The Chronicle
If it all goes smoothly, the scale model which is 1,000 square feet and even includes the dunes in Sunset and the farms in the Excelsior and the Portola will go on display in a year. The longer-range plan is for the model to bookend the Diego Rivera fresco Pan American Unity, which was recently returned to CCSF after two years on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
A new theater arts building soon to be under construction will house the 10-panel mural. That and the model would create a major New Deal repository at CCSF, since both of these massive artworks were created during the Great Depression.
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The S.F. Scale Model is architecture for the people, said Leslie Simon, a longtime instructor of womens and gender studies and museum studies at City College and member of the Scale Model Initiative Team. We need to get it out of the crates so that it can empower people to understand the space in their neighborhoods and their city.
The scale model was conceived and designed by famed architect Timothy Pflueger, and built by 300 artisans employed under the Works Progress Administration. The model was intended for permanent display as an urban planning tool in the Light Court at San Francisco City Hall. But that space was soon needed for the war effort, and in 1942 the scale model was put into storage in 16 wooden cases that were gathering dust in a warehouse when Brechin heard about them, in 2009.
The San Francisco Scale Model in a warehouse before being shipped around to public library branches. Sam Whiting/The Chronicle
After 77 years in the dark, the model finally emerged in 2019, cleaned, restored and divided into sections, for a display at the San Francisco Main Library and 27 of its branches. The exhibit was organized by SFMOMA so that each library branch got its own neighborhood section of the model for display. Thousands came to see it.
Its a huge jigsaw puzzle, Brechin, a retired geographer at UC Berkeley, explained during a slideshow at the Tuesday presentation. Everybody is fascinated by their own neighborhood.
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On a scale of 1 inch equals 100 feet, the model city is 11 inches tall at its highest point (Mount Davidson) and composed of 6,000 removable little blocks, each corresponding to a city block. The blocks are formed into 140 sections, each on a stand.
Included are the city cemeteries, not yet removed south to Colma. Also represented are the Fox Theater, the Montgomery Block and the Rainier Brewery (later the Hamm's plant), not yet demolished or remodeled beyond recognition. Adolph Sutro's estate is not included, having been freshly demolished. The Sunset portion of the model is still sand dunes, running down to the zoo and Fleishhacker Pool. Glen Park has streets, but that's about it.
The streetcar lines are represented, including the push-pull cable car on the steep block of Fillmore Street, as are the Southern Pacific switching station in Visitacion Valley and the tunnels under Potrero Hill.
Judging by the Tuesday symposium, there is plenty of interest in seeing it put back together: A capacity crowd of about 200 people representing the City College community attended the event in the new multi-use building across Frida Kahlo Way from the main hilltop campus.
The top floor space of the City College student union is proposed as a permanent home for the San Francisco Scale Model. Sam Whiting/The Chronicle
Students in the audience appeared fired up for the project, especially with Brechin serving as a cheerleader during his presentation.
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I would like to see City College become a destination for San Francisco residents and tourists, and the model can help that happen, said Brechin. Pflueger intended it to be used for educational purposes, and that is exactly what can happen here. When you see the model, even in pieces, it is mind blowing.
The $5 million fundraising goal is needed for an endowment fund that would cover preparation of the showcase area, which is currently a lounge at the student union along Ocean Avenue. Some interior walls would have to be removed to fit the model, which would have a top floor perch with panoramic views of the real city out the windows. Once installed, the funds would cover maintenance and security, in order to have the model on free display year-round.
The capital campaign strategy has not yet been finalized, but the hope is that a civic history-minded benefactor will come forward with a donation large enough to build a campaign around.
The Board of Trustees at City College has passed a resolution endorsing the plan, but it would still need endorsement of the student government to place the model in their student union. A new Student Success Center is under construction to the immediate west of the old student union. The Success Center will replace many of the student union's functions, freeing up space for the model.
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Study unveils fly ash geopolymer concrete as potential SCM
ICR Newsroom By 25 September 2024
A new study from Zhejiang University of Technology, China, sheds light on the potential of fly ash geopolymer concrete (FAGC) as a sustainable alternative to Portland cement concrete (PCC), which is a significant contributor to CO 2 emissions. The research, published in *PLOS ONE*, outlines a robust method for predicting the compressive strength of FAGC while optimising its mixture design to minimise environmental impact.
Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), such as fly ash, are increasingly used to reduce the clinker content in cement, which in turn lowers CO 2 emissions during production. As an SCM, FAGC leverages fly ash to replace traditional cement binders, offering a more sustainable option for concrete manufacturing. The study highlights the development of an advanced compressive strength prediction model using a large dataset of 1136 observations. By integrating factors such as fly ash characteristics, mixture proportions, and curing parameters, the research employs polynomial regression, genetic programming, and ensemble learning to deliver highly accurate predictions. The ensemble learning model achieved superior accuracy, with an RMSE value of 1.81MPa and an R value of 0.93.
The researchers also introduced a life cycle assessment-based CO 2 emissions model, demonstrating the environmental benefits of FAGC. A case study revealed that this optimised approach resulted in a 16.7 per cent reduction in CO 2 emissions for FAGC with a compressive strength of 50MPa, compared to traditional design methods. Additionally, FAGC showed a remarkable 60.3 per cent reduction in CO 2 emissions compared to conventional PCC.
"This work provides engineers with tools for compressive strength prediction and low-carbon optimisation of FAGC, enabling rapid and accurate design of concrete with lower CO 2 emissions and greater sustainability," the research team concluded.
This advancement offers engineers a significant step forward in producing similar-strength building materials that emit less CO 2 during production, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable built environment with a lower overall environmental impact.
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Minister inaugurates hot gas project at Bokajan factory
Peter Bell By 25 September 2024
India's Steel and Heavy Industries Minister, H D Kumaraswamy, recently visited the Cement Corp of India (CCI) factory at Bokajan in Assams Karbi Anglong district and said [The] potential of the region will be harnessed for the benefit of locals.
Mr Kumaraswamy attended a public meeting where he inaugurated the hot gas utilisation project in the raw mills of the cement factory.
Important issues of the area were placed before Mr Kumaraswamy during the meeting, such as the need to upgrade the Bokajan cement plant, implement pollution control measures and improved infrastructure at the local Kendriya Vidyalaya.
CCI CMD Sanjay Verma presented a detailed plan to upgrade the factory's industrial equipment over the next three years to enhance its competitiveness.
He also stressed on the importance of employing local labourers, which, he said, will significantly contribute to the region's economy.
Mr Kumaraswamy also participated in the foundation-laying ceremony of a 1MW grid-connected solar PV plant near the cement plant site, in line with the countrys renewable energy goals.
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Beachgoers at Lake Tahoes Baldwin Beach in South Lake Tahoe in July. Minh Connors/The Chronicle
Congress passed legislation Tuesday reauthorizing millions of dollars in federal funding to support restoration projects in Lake Tahoe for at least another decade.
The Lake Tahoe Restoration Reauthorization Act extends the timeline for close to $300 million in pre-authorized federal funds to be appropriated through 2034, according to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. The funds will go toward combating invasive species, improving water clarity, building wildfire resiliency and other conservation projects.
This bill makes it possible for us to continue supporting programs that keep Lake Tahoe clean, and it provides critical resources to protect the environment and communities all across the Tahoe basin, Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who introduced the act in the Senate last year, said in a video posted to social media. I know how important this is to so many Nevadans and to our neighbors in California, and to visitors from all over the world.
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The acts passage comes just as the previous funding authorization bill, the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2016, was set to expire at the end of this month. That bill authorized approximately $415 million in federal funds, of which $122 million have been appropriated so far, according to TRPA.
Priority projects planned for fiscal year 2025, which include bolstering wildfire resiliency, removing aquatic invasive species, and restoring a native trout population, will require an estimated $72 million in federal appropriations, according to TRPA.
The Lake Tahoe Region is grateful to Congress for their leadership in passing this critical piece of legislation to continue the collaborative work to protect and restore Lake Tahoe, said Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Executive Director Julie Regan. Extending the federal investment in the Environmental Improvement Program will leverage millions of dollars in state and local funding to implement the top priority projects for the lake and our communities.
The act was sponsored by a bipartisan coalition of representatives from Nevada and California. It passed the Senate in July and now goes to President Joe Bidens desk.
The Chattanooga Police Department arrested a 16-year-old in relation to a homicide that occurred on Oakland Avenue on Aug. 7.
Chattanooga Police responded at 3:37 a.m. to a person shot call in the 4800 block of Oakland Avenue. When officers arrived on scene, they found a 16-year-old male with life-threatening injuries.
The 16-year-old was inside a vehicle that crashed and flipped over onto its top after the shooting. The officers removed the victim from the vehicle and immediately began life-saving measures until medical personnel arrived on scene.
A second victim, a 15-year-old male, was also inside the vehicle during the shooting and subsequent crash. The 15-year-old received non-life-threatening injuries during the crash.
Chattanooga Fire and Hamilton County EMS responded to the scene. CFD and HCEMS transported both victims to a local hospital. The 16-year-old shooting victim died at the hospital.
CPD's Homicide Unit responded to conduct the homicide investigation. The Crime Scene Unit responded to process the crime scene.
The preliminary investigation shows the victim was in the driver seat of the vehicle when he was shot. He drove the vehicle a short distance after the shooting then the vehicle crashed.
During the investigation, evidence was obtained identifying a 16-year-old male as the suspect. The Homicide Unit was able to obtain a juvenile attachment charging the suspect with Criminal Homicide.
On Sept. 17, the suspect was located and arrested by CPD's Fugitive Unit in conjunction with the United States Marshals Service, East Ridge Police Department, and CPD's SWAT Team.
Anna Kunawave is shown representing Fiji in dance during last years Culture Fest Students represent their countries through fashion Gloria Scott-Richmond is shown hugging a student at the close of 2023 Culture Fest Members of LUCA are pictured leading worship at Culture Fest 2023 Previous Next
Lee University on Friday will host Culture Fest, an annual celebration of the diverse cultures represented by its students, staff, and faculty. Kicking off at 7 p.m. in the Conn Center, this event will showcase their rich heritages through talent, food, and fashion. In the event of rain, the festival will take place in the Science and Math Complex Great Room.
Culture Fest is not just an event; its a testament to the unity and diversity that define our campus community, said Gloria Scott-Richmond, director of racial and ethnic relations at Lee. We call this night the United Nations of Lee University, and we invite everyone to experience it with us.
Culture Fest has grown rapidly since its inception and is now one of Lees most anticipated events. The celebration will feature students from many of the 50 countries represented at Lee during a talent showcase and a fashion showcase, in addition to the food offerings at the After Party, taking place at the PCSU courtyard outside Lees post office. The After Party will also take place in the Great Room in the event of rain.
Students from around the globe will share songs, dances, and fashions that honor their nations and cultures. The After Party, catered by Sodexo, will include a variety of cultural foods such as shrimp and grits, jerk wings, and tres leches cake along with food booths hosted by the ethnic diversity mosaic clubs on campus.
Culture Fest is hosted by the universitys Mosaic Council, in partnership with Sodexo Dining and Church of God World Missions. Tony Lombard, director of student connections and engagement, along with his daughter and Lee student Faith, will emcee the event.
Lees Mosaic Council seeks to help students appreciate the unique aspects of all cultures, races, and ethnicities, reflecting a united, Christ-centered community. The Council provides oversight for the universitys mosaic clubs, which include the Asian Council, Black Student Union, Lee University Caribbean Association, Leetinos, and Mu Kappa (Missionary/Third Culture Kids).
Culture Fest is free and open to the public. For more information about the event or the Mosaic Council or clubs, visit www.leeuniversity.edu/ethnic-relations/.
The City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to allow applicants as young as 18 for jobs in the Chattanooga Fire Department. Applicants now have to be at least 21.
Fire Chief Phil Hyman boosted the move, saying it gives the department additional hiring options.
He said when he joined the fire department, "there were hundreds of applicants, but that is no longer the case."
Concerning the issue of maturity levels, Chief Hyman said he was confident that the young firefighters can be properly trained and mentored.
He said currently "we have to tell high school graduates that they will have to wait three years to apply. Very few are going to wat that long to join the Fire Department."
Chief Hyman said state law allows 18-year-old firefighters, and many large departments have them, including Memphis, Boston and Chicago.
Officials said there should be negligible effects on the fire pension program.
The second and final reading is next Tuesday.
Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden said the state is the preeminent state of the Republican Party, setting the latest records for Republicans voted onto school boards, Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly and Republicans sent to Congress.
Tennessee is to Republicans what California is to Democrats, Mr. Golden told the Hamilton County Pachyderm Club Monday. He urged the crowd to vote early to conserve campaign resources and to volunteer for the campaign at trumpforce47.com or tngop.org.
Its time to do politics, Mr. Golden said. The time to talk politics is over. Make phone calls, visit door-to-door, write postcards, write checks and put out yard signs, he said.
If you do it, your neighbor will do it, he said.
Four new Republicans were sworn in at the Hamilton County School Board Sept. 1, totaling seven Republicans and four Democrats. Such a majority will help flush liberal ideology from schools, he said.
The easiest way to solve all of those problems is to put Republicans in charge of schools, he said.
In Tennessee, 25 out of 95 Tennessee school boards are Republican-controlled for the first time since the state adopted partisan school boards in 2021, he said.
Recent changes in Tennessee code give parents and taxpayers more direct access to members of the school board, he said, one of the proudest things we have accomplished in 2024.
You should have dialog with them, he said.
The 113th Tennessee General Assembly has 75 Republicans, a benchmark last hit when Ulysses S. Grant was President, Mr. Golden said.
But Tennessee Three Democrat Gloria Johnson is running for Senator Marsha Blackburns seat, a Republican elected in 2018.
They are coming for us, he said. We do not need her in the state capitol, he said.
Former President Donald Trump is campaigning in blue states this fall, not for himself but for Congressional seats.
Earlier this month he campaigned in Long Island, N.Y., and Hudson Valley. Mr. Golden said Mr. Trump will campaign in Montana for Tim Sheehy, running for an open Senate seat that would push Republicans over the 51-mark.
The Republican Party is relying on Tennessee fervor to spill into bordering states and give Republicans the edge in other state elections: Chattanooga to North Georgia, Bristol to Virginia and Knoxville to Western North Carolina.
Republicans in the House of Representatives for Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania would help solidify a majority, he said.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson will speak at a fundraising event for Northwest Georgia and the Dalton area.
Tucker Carlson is saying this is important, Mr. Golden said.
In the Presidential election, both parties want as many shaky blue wall states as they can get. Blue wall states voted Democrat from 1992 to 2012, some through 2020, but 2024 is up for grabs.
Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania broke away from the blue wall to vote for Mr. Trump in 2016.
Those are the states that everybody is going to play in, Mr. Golden said, along with Ohio, Arizona and Maryland, he said.
I feel confident about where Trump is, Mr. Golden said. But a Trump victory will lead to vacant offices in Tennessee, he said.
Were going to be a donor state to the Trump administration, Im afraid, he said. Tennessee will have an open governor seat, for sure, an announcement that would come 100 days after the election, he said.
The Heritage Foundation named Tennessee number one in election integrity in 2024.
States are modeling themselves after what were doing, Mr. Golden said. We are the model for the nation.
He pointed to more than 100 election-related lawsuits nationwide that Republicans have filed.
In Arizona, migrants who are not citizens automatically get a voter registration card when they get a drivers license at the department of motor vehicles.
This is the fight that were having in Arizona, he said. This is the most litigious that the Republican National Committee has been, he said, since the committee was barred from election day activities in 1984.
A member of the audience asked Mr. Golden why Mr. Trump would not debate opponent Kamala Harris a second time.
He always seems to do much better in the second debate, Mr. Golden said, but the campaign feels good about how the first debate went out.
A member of the audience suggested that think tanks should moderate debates, not the media, but Mr. Golden said new rules let each candidate agree to a specific moderator, as Mr. Trump had to David Muir of ABC News.
Like, Stephanopoulos wasnt getting the debate, he said, but Mr. Muir is on the blacklist now, too, he said.
Mr. Golden plugged the Vice-Presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz Oct. 1
Ive already bought popcorn waiting for that, he said.
We got to have your vote. It matters, Mr. Golden said.
He cautioned the room not to assume everyone in your social circle will take care of your vote during a beach getaway on Election Day.
Conversely, a significant group tells themselves, Im not telling my friends Im voting for Trump, but Im voting for Trump, he said.
Kamala Harris spins a tale of growing up in a working class neighborhood. So where is it, Scranton? No, thats Biden. How about Levittown? Actually she spent her adolescence in Montreal, Canada and attended Westmount High School, an English speaking school in French speaking Quebec. Andrew Phillips in the Toronto Star wrote of his disappointment with Harris for omitting references to her years growing up in Canada (Toronto Star 9/10/24).
That wouldnt fit her narrative and it might also create confusion with her debate gotcha moment when she claimed to be bussed to school. According to Phillips, her adolescence was spent in Canada in a school that was racially divided with little interaction between the two groups. Her mother was employed by Magill University and the parents rented a house in lower Westmount.
A campaign aide, Keisha Bottoms, told Jake Tapper on CNN, 9/20/24, that Harris is too busy for live interviews, yet shes been MIA for the last five days with six weeks to Election Day. Perhaps she doesnt want to continue being pressed on how she would bring down the high cost of living.
The hoax candidate cant tell how she would address soaring prices without government mandated price controls. So she spins tales of her fond memories growing up a middle class kid with American values. What she also wont tell you is those fond memories were made in Canada.
Ralph Miller
* * *
Ralph, I'm sure VP Kamala Harris' first 12 years living in the Midwest and West, she attended school. For sure, she likely rode school buses somewhere along those 12 years of attending school in the U.S. prior to moving to Canada with her mother.
Kamala's mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, didn't move to Canada until 1976, when Kamala was 12 years old. Shyamala Gopalan Harris took a job at the McGill University School of Medicine and the Jewish General Hospital in Canada.
I'd think having lived those formative years in the U.S., on up to the age of 12, would have a lasting impact. I can only recall snippets of the years I was in high school. It's those earlier years that to this day, stand out the most and had the greater impact.
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, or versions of 'your' truths you're attempting to twist. Maybe your attempt is to sneak in a doubt? Another birther plot, maybe? The world knows how that latter turned out. Crashed, coded and flatlined.
"We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter." Denis Diderot
Brenda Washington
I am one those people. Under President Trump America will never surrender or retreat. Under a Harris administration the white flags of surrender would be her policy if she could articulate it.
President Trump has proven he can run the country when he was and is still constantly bombarded with Democratic lies. The big lie: he is a threat to democracy.
Bill Cook
Years ago, there was a movie called Falling down with Michael Douglas. Shortly into the movie, one morning, Michael Douglass character walks into a fictional fast food place called Whammy Burger and tries to order a Whammy omelet from the menu. The cashier refused the order because they stopped serving breakfast so the manager was asked to step in. The manager, his voice dripping in fake customer concern, said Im sorry sir, we stopped serving breakfast at 11:30 a.m.
Puzzled, Michael Douglas looked at his watch and saw that it was 11:32 a.m. They bantered back-and-forth with the obvious intent to show the lack of reasonableness with respect to some corporate rules.
All of which brings us to American Airlines.
My recent American Airlines flight was scheduled to leave for my destination at 5:54 a.m. I was told to be at the Chattanooga airport an hour and a half early. I got up at 3 a.m. in order to help make the people at American Airlines happy to have me on their airplane.
I arrived at the airport an hour and a half early to find that there was a giant line with only two agents at the ticketing counter. Additionally, the baggage machine where you self-check bags was broken, and people were grumbling about the nonfunctional machine. It was a reasonably large mess.
The line progressed at the speed of a stoned turtle because American Airlines, in their infinite wisdom, had three flights all leaving at approximately the same time with only two agents at the gate. I finally got up to the counter and gave the agent the information as to my destination.
With not a hint of remorse, not a trace of customer service, and not a sliver of compassion, the agent glanced at me and coldly said, Sorry, we have a 45 minute cut off and its 39 minutes ahead of time so you missed it by six minutes. Step aside and call the number on this card and rebook your flight. We are busy. With that he flipped me a card with a 1-800 number.
We have all watched movies where passengers turned obnoxious. Not wanting to do that, I moved to my left, began a phone call that descended into an electronic rabbit hole and watched as the agent did the same thing to other people trying to get to my same original - now thwarted - destination.
After sitting on hold, I was finally connected with someone and explained to them the situation. The agent on the phone said Why are you rescheduling? There is plenty of time. Why would they make you walk away when they didnt have to do that? They shouldve gone ahead and let you get on the plane, you were only six minutes late?!?
While I agreed and explained I was equally perplexed, I asked him to just do what he had to do to get me on another flight.
He put me on hold, disappeared for quite some time, came back and said Ive got you on another flight. I begrudgingly agreed but American Airlines was not finished with the mornings flogging. The agent then added: Because you are voluntarily rebooking the flight, there will be a $258 fee associated with this. Oh yeahone more thing.the next flight is five hours after your original flight.
With quick back-and-forth banter I expressed my possibly flawed logic - sprinkled with various versions of what do you mean by voluntary ?!?! -however I was met only by his Im sorry, too bad, so sad.sucks to be you retort. So, with the hangries kicking in, I relented, gave him a credit card number, and he issued the new ticket. I sulked away, got some breakfast, and the seed crystals of this post began to form.
When one books a plane ticket, it typically shows the take off time and the arrival time. Those two times are assumably predicated on a hopefully intelligent staff at an airline ($53 billion in sales in 2023) sufficiently staffing their operations so as to allow those published times to successfully come to fruition. Further, even the get their early admonition is also based on there being enough non surly agents on hand to allow for quick processing of their customers. Should the airline have multiple departures, how about incorporating this novel ideaAdd some more agents when the gate is busy!!
While no doubt, many out there will say, I love American Airlines..you should get there two hours early! (a.k.a. my sweet mom), then others will likely change that to say American Airlines is my hero, you should have gotten there three hours early, and so forth. At what point does the Get there earlier!! admonition legitimately turn into either, Dont waste time trying to fly out of Chattanooga. They could care less about their passengers. or Get in the car and drive - its a heck of a lot faster and there will be no agents telling you that cant get a Whammy Omelet plane ticket.
One may ponder as to the statistical probability of me flying (or waiting on) American Airlines again
Arch Williingham
* * *
Mr. Willingham,
Thank you for letting us in on how American Airlines treats its customers at CHA airport. Your story was a good 'un.
For those not knowing, American Airlines is a DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) inspired company, which may explain their broken equipment and rude, unhelpful employees at CHA. Might make you seriously wonder about DEI hired AA pilots and maintenance workers too.
The CHA Airport Authority has, I'm sure, worked very hard to get airlines to service Chattanooga. I'm also sure they would hate to see customers use other transportation options because of poor service at their airport. My question ...does the CHA Airport Authority have a minimum customer service standard for the airlines to abide?
As for me, American Airlines has not been a high order choice for flying out of CHA. But, given Mr. Willingham's escapade and AAs DEI initiatives, an AA flight might be classified in the "last resort" category.
Phil Snider
* * *
That was a Falling Down circumstance.
The systems in our nation that operated effectively and efficiently for a vast number of decades and are now broken. I ask myself, when did this systemic decline start? It seems to me, the problem starts with the quality or lack thereof of employees at all levels.
Your experience is one example. Air transportation is a well publicized problem. An airline company with extraordinary customer service could take the market regardless of what they charged.
The only aspect of these situations a person can control is how they respond, and deal with it later.
The $258 charge is outrageous. You should write a letter to corporate and recover the fee. That fee is unjust, regardless of the amount.
April Eidson
* * *
Mr. Willingham, it is most unfortunate that you had this experience with the regional carrier for American Airlines. I can remember during my days in the c-suite when flying was a delightful and relaxing experience. Now, it is a challenging ordeal. I remember when a colleague and I were checking it at the very time of scheduled departure, the ticket agent notified the gate agent requesting them to hold the flight for us.
It is most unfortunate that so many CEO's and senior leadership fail to understand the importance of "servant leadership," that being to provide quality support and resources for employees that benefits the customer. Servant leadership is present in "best in class" or "benchmark excellence" organizations. Now, it seems that CEO's are so incredibly self-centered and personal financial greed!
I want to clarify what DEI actually means. While the Democrats and the woke crowd espouse its meaning to be "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion," it actually means "Trying to Make a Silk Purse Out of a Sow's Ear." Another definition I heard and like even more is "Didn't Earn It!" When Congress passed legislation that was signed into law by the President that simply lacked "critical thinking" (common-sense), we would bring in our corporate counsel and explain to them the unwarranted risk likely to occur to our organization and patients adhering to non-sensical laws. We would be looking for ways to work around them and not be subject to fines and penalties. We had a non-negotiable commitment to not engage in any practices that could be harmful to the well-being and safety of our patients in a major health system. We embraced doing our best hiring the best and most qualified employees without regard for race, creed, age, gender, etc.
Airline CEOs and their Boards are making a lot of irresponsible decisions by reducing seat width and pitch to crowd more people in the tube. I truly do not believe they can evacuate a fully loaded aircraft in the required time to be certified when taking into account a typical passenger demographic and likely distorted fuselage in an accident.
By the way, let's remember that the CEOs have significant influence on who is appointed to the Board.
D. E. Klasing
* * *
What started out as a tough morning at the airport and missing a flight, which happens every day at every airport, has morphed into a political issue. Blaming Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality as well as all Democrats for Archies bad experience is another example of Republicans whining and crying about everything from missed flights to attempted murder of their savior Don.
Three words, Diversity, Inclusion, Equality. Making these words bad words is beyond belief. Blame American Airlines and get over yourself.
Pat Hagan
* * *
Arch,
I sympathize with you. In 2021 we booked the first morning AA flight out of Chattanooga to Dallas to take the family on a quick ski trip. We arrived approximately an hour prior to our flight. I admit, cutting a little close, but its Chattanooga and the reason why I sometimes will pay more to fly from here instead of waiting in the security crowds for an hour to board in Atlanta or Nashville. In my previous job, I flew out of Chattanooga every couple weeks without checked bags and it never took more than 10 minutes to get through security. I regularly had the truck parked and was walking into the airport 20 minutes prior to take off and I never missed a flight. Granted, I wasnt checking bags and had my boarding pass on my phone.
Back to the February morning in 2021. We stood in the front of the Dallas line (they line you up by destination, or at least they did to us that morning) with another couple on our flight for at least 30 minutes and the single gate agent told us Charlotte passengers had priority. We vocally iterated our frustration several times to the gate agent, who was nervously ignoring us and kept stating he had to prioritize other flights. When he finally told us to approach the desk, he said we were too late and that our bags wouldnt make it. He began to find us another flight, but all the available flights had us getting to Salt Lake about 10 hours later than our original. I objected and he booked us the same morning flight the next day. We were going on a short ski trip, and I had to modify our condo, rental car, and lift tickets, which cost us over $500 in change fees.
Come to find out, the exact same thing happened to another couple we know leaving for their honeymoon. It caused them several flight changes and 36 hours to get to Europe.
It seems it might be standard practice for AA to oversell the morning flights and do this to passengers who cut it close in order to avoid compensating passengers for it being oversold. If something like this happens once, you can excuse the mismanagement and blame yourself for cutting it close. When it happens frequently, it indicates a pattern. If AA is going to oversell a flight with the assumption that not all the passengers will make it on time, then they need to compensate those willing to take a later flight if all the passengers show up on time, even if they cut it close.
Saving said that, we just booked another AA flight to SLC for this February out of Chattanooga. We will arrive two hours prior this time.
John Hollingsworth
* * *
Nostalgia comes from the Greek noun nostros (return home) and from algia (longing).
I freely admit to my nostalgia for flying on Piedmont Airlines a few decades ago. The planes were spacious, clean and comfortable.
On one occasion, I was a bit late for my take off from Atlanta, and the plane returned to the gate in order to let me on board. The punishment for my tardiness was that I was told to sit in first class. I looked down the aisle and saw many unhappy faces. If looks could kill.
As Lewis Grizzard observed, "Why is it that the last words you see before getting on to your flight is terminal?"
Michael Woodward
* * *
We have a great city and a great regional airport. The airport facility is divided in two segments. The land side and the air side.
I believe that the Airport Authority team sincerely cares about each passenger's experience. Parking, access, cleanliness, food service and security usually operate extraordinarily well. That is the land side.
On the air side, There are different bosses and requirements and priorities. Hopefully, based on this chain of letters and comments, the land side bosses will be talking to the air side bosses very soon.
Michael Mallen, former Airport Authority commissioner
Billy C. Cooper, of Chattanooga, passed away on September 24, 2024.
He was born on June 23, 1928, to the late Buie and Dollie Patten Cooper in Nashville, Georgia. He was one of 26 graduates from the Lanier County High School and enrolled in the pre-engineering program at South Georgia College.
Billy joined the U.S. Army and attained the rank of Corporal while serving in the Asian and Pacific theaters. Upon return to the states, Billy entered Auburn University and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering. He was recruited to Chattanooga by the city engineer and during this time met the former Sue Nye, whom he would marry in 1957.
Billy became the director of Urban Renewal for the City of Chattanooga and took great pride in one of the most significant project of that era: the Golden Gateway Urban Renewal project.
Later, Billy became the executive director of the Chattanooga Housing Authority, a position he held for 34 years. During his tenure, over 1000 units of low income housing were constructed and the Orchard Knob and UTC Urban Renewal Projects were also implemented. Under his careful direction, small cluster homes were developed in Glenwood as well as North Brainerd to provide housing for the elderly.
Billy was also very engaged within the city he loved so much. He served as Past President of the Chattanooga Chapter of the American Society of Engineers; Past President of the Tennessee Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (Southeast Tennessee District); and, was appointed by former Governor Lamar Alexander to serve on the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.
Billy served as mayor of Ridgeside for three terms and served on the Hamilton County Water & Wastewater Treatment Authority for more than 20 years. He was an active member of the First Centenary United Methodist Church and enjoyed worship in the Morgan Sunday School Class.
Billy was pre-deceased by his parents as well as his sisters, Martha Blanton and Jeanette Cooper. He is also pre-deceased by his wife Sue, as well as his second wife, Jo Evelyn Ward Cooper.
Girl Scouts of Southern Appalachians is partnering with animal shelters across the region to treat pups and support local troops. As part of the Fall Product Program, troops are offering a BarkBox for dogs in need of rescue.
Buyers in the Chattanooga area can purchase a BarkBox to donate to a shelter dog at McKamey Animal Center. Proceeds stay local and benefit Girl Scout troops across East Tennessee, funding programming and the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.
Girl Scouts are encouraged to make meaningful contributions to their communities, said Lynne Fugate, CEO of Girl Scouts of the Southern Appalachians. Through our partnership with McKamey Animal Center, were empowering our girls to demonstrate compassion and goodwill to the less fortunate, and that includes our four-legged friends.
The Girl Scout-themed BarkBox includes a Pose and Play Beret dog toy, which doubles as a wearable hat, Berry Trios treats and instructions on how the pup can earn Puppy Patches. The boxes can be purchased for $25 each, and since the BarkBox is a standalone item, a BarkBox subscription is not necessary.
The Girl Scout BarkBox may be purchased online for a donation at GirlScoutBarkBox.org. Donors can select McKamey Animal Center or another participating animal shelter. The boxes are available until Oct. 25.
Erlanger Womens Heath has added Jonathan Shaw, MD, to its skilled team of providers.Dr. Shaw attended Queens University Belfast in Northern Ireland where he completed both his undergraduate and medical education. He went on to UKs National Health Service where he worked as a junior doctor before coming to the United States for post-graduate training. He fulfilled his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Cleveland Clinic and Metrohealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Oh.Dr.Shaw completed a urogynecology and pelvic reconstructive surgery fellowship at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, which is associated with Brown Medical School. For the next two years, he and his family worked at a mission hospital in Kenya with Samaritans Purse before accepting a faculty position at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire.His specialties include urogynecology, female pelvic medicine and pelvic reconstructive surgery.According to Dr. Shaw, The urogynecology division already has a caring team of dedicated staff, so Im happy to join them and bring my combination of experience and restorative surgical interventions. Its a great opportunity to join a highly regarded urogynecology division.Dr. Shaw will be providing his services at the Erlanger Womens Health practice located at Erlanger East Hospital, 1751 Gunbarrel Road, Bldg. A, Suite 301, and also at Erlanger Womens Health, 979 E. 3rd St., Suite C-725. Appointments are also available by calling 423-778-2580.
Oktoberfest will be held this Saturday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Red Bank City Park.Organizers said, "Enjoy a festive atmosphere featuring delicious food trucks, local art, live music, refreshing beer and a host of fun activities for all ages at this free event."This years Oktoberfest is bringing local treats like coffee and pastries from The Meeting House, pizza from Pizzeria Cortile, and a variety of local craft brews brought by the Clever Alehouse.A live music schedule coordinated by Be The Change Youth Initiative will be featured on stage throughout the day, as well as live art demonstrations by local visual artists.Family fun continues on the neighboring lawn of Red Bank United Methodist church with pumpkin decorating, corn hole, baked goods, Los Tainos Kitchen food truck, jewelry and hand crafts, clothing, flowers and other food, including Bournes Best Pimento Cheese, funnel cakes and hot dogs.The music schedule features Haym opening the festival at 11 a.m., followed by Dock Party at 11:50 a.m., In the Company of Wolves at 12:40 p.m.and Sam Steadman and the Desserters at 1:45 p.m. The event wraps up with a performance by Luke Simmons and the Lovestruck at 3 p.m.The live art demonstrations include chair making by Tyler Rogers beginning at 11 a.m., followed by cyanotype demonstrations by Megan Ledbetter at noon, weaving by Chelsea Weiss at 1 p.m., pottery by Madelyn Momchilou at 2 p.m. and torch paintings by Red Bank Mayor Hollie Berry at 3 p.m."Admission is free, making it easy for everyone to come out and enjoy the festivities. Dont miss this chance to celebrate community, creativity, and the kickoff of Fall in the heart of Red Bank," organizers said.
Janelle Brown has exciting news for her fans. The mother of six has moved on from Flagstaff, Arizona, and is planning for her future with a new business. When Sister Wives is officially over, shell have a flower business to fall back on, and Kody Brown has nothing to do with it. She has formally announced Taeda Farms.
Janelle Brown shares plans for a new business
Janelle Brown is starting her life over now that shes left Kody Brown and her disastrous plural marriage behind. Just days after the premiere of season 19 of Sister Wives, Janelle took to Instagram to announce a new business. The mother of six has launched Taeda Farms, a fresh-cut flowers business based in North Carolina. The business is the brainchild of Janelle, along with her daughter and son-in-law.
Janelle Brown | TLC/YouTube
Janelles flowers are not yet available for sale, but fans can still support her business. The companys website just released merchandise to help get the business up and running. Plenty of fans have already moved to support the small business. As of print time, most t-shirt sizes are already out of stock.
She has been planning the business for a while
Janelle Brown is planning to launch the business in North Carolina now that she owns property there, but that isnt where the idea was born. Janelle filed paperwork to establish Taeda Farms while living in Flagstaff. The mother of six even discussed possibly building greenhouses on the Coyote Pass property she co-owned with her former spiritual husband and ex-sister wives. Her dream business is one reason she vetoed returning to Utah before Christine separated from Kody.
Janelle Brown and Kody Brown | TLC/YouTube
Once it became clear that her marriage to Kody Brown was over, Janelle switched gears. While she insisted she initially loved Flagstaff, it appears it wasnt her forever home after all. In March 2024, she purchased a sprawling property in North Carolina, close to where her daughter, Maddie Brush, currently resides with her husband and children. The business is just the next step in her plan to start over somewhere new.
Janelle Brown wont be the only former sister wife with a small business
While Janelle will be the first Brown family member to run a floral business, she isnt the only business owner who walked away from Kody Brown. Meri Brown also owns a small business. Kodys first wife purchased a bed and breakfast while still spiritually married to Kody. She moved to the property in Parowan, Utah after the end of her marriage.
Meri Brown of TLCs Sister Wives shared a cryptic message in a teaser for season 18s tell-all | TLC
Related Janelle Brown Reveals the 1 Thing She Has in Common With Meri Brown as Her Marriage to Kody Brown Ends
Meri initially asked the family to help her with funds to purchase Lizzies Heritage Inn, but they refused to pull money from the family account to help her secure the property. Meri raised the capital independently, opened the inn, and ran it successfully for several years. She recently shut down the inn portion of the business for renovations but plans to reopen it.
Community members, including Cherokee Nation leaders, participated in the Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer's - Tulsa on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. Cherokee Nation Businesses' team raised more than $42,000 and ranked among the top 50 national teams in contributions.
September 24, 2024: One of the less publicized forms of NATO military aid for Ukraine was the establishment of a training course for Ukrainian officers based on previous military operations and the current ones in Ukraine. So far over 700 officers from the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) have graduated from these courses. The TDF is a reserve force that is, and was, activated in wartime. This was the case when the Russians invaded in 2022.Within a month another 100,000 Ukrainians volunteers joined the TDF and some of these TFF troops were soon in combat. The primary job of the TDF is to provide local defense forces to deal with any unexpected emergency, especially one involving armed intruders. Most TDF units are on the or near the Russian border.
The NATO Officers Training School or OTS started in 2022 with Ukrainian officers sent to Britain for training. The Ukrainian military leadership was not convinced that the OTS would be useful, but as the first graduates returned to combat units and fought Russians, they reported that the OTS training was a big help. As a result of that the length of the OTS course gradually increased from six to twelve weeks.
One of the tools available to OTS students was the U.S. Army CALL (Center for Army Lessons Learned) database, which included information on the Ukraine War as well as all wars the United States was involved in since the 1960s.
Even though the U.S. Army established CALL to document past failures and successes, army commanders dont pay much attention to or use it unless there is a war going on. In early 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine and suddenly there was a need to use CALL and update it with the steady supply of lessons learned in Ukraine. The CALL system is easily available in peacetime. As a result commanders and staff personnel often make mistakes that CALL has already documented and warned about not repeating. Some problems are obvious, like using a wrench as a hammer when hammers are available. Other problems are more subtle but also result in failure. The key problem is inability to recognize that you have a problem.
This often happens even when the solution is already visible, but some ignore that. It takes effort, or an actual war, to demonstrate what new solutions work. Thats what happens in all wars and is happening now in Ukraine. The opportunity here is to find these solutions in peacetime. The first thing you should do is look around for how others coped with this or similar problems. That is often difficult to do but solutions have been found in the past. For example, in the mid-20th century Japan was seeking ways to break into American markets for manufactured goods. One thing Japanese did to help with this effort is compile databases on how American firms handled marketing, promotion, and sales chain problems the Japanese would encounter in a new foreign market. The Japanese database collected data worldwide, from all countries that had market economies. In doing this the Japanese found that there were many different ways to deal with the same problems or opportunities. It was also discovered that solutions developed in one country, say France, could be adapted and used successfully in the United States or Japan. This was important when making decisions on how to proceed with promoting or presenting a new product before that product is on the market and generating revenue.
The U.S. Army had already developed such a database after the Vietnam War. This was an effort to assemble a database of mistakes made and opportunities lost as well as new ideas that worked, what didnt and why. The result was CALL. This was seen as a fundamental element in improving ground operations by analyzing past battles for what went right and what went wrong. The U.S. Army CALL system has been around since the 1980s, and U.S. commanders use it to determine what works in combat and what doesn't. This is more important than ever in the 21st century, where urban combat and counter-insurgency conflicts dominate. In urban warfare and counterinsurgency, the potential for mistakes to be made is exponentially larger than in conventional, large-scale warfare.
Instead of keeping all this knowledge secret, the US Army takes the data collected and analyzed at CALL and supplies it to allied armies in the hope they will use this information. This sharing is more than just a gesture of goodwill. This does not always work, especially in countries where corruption and reluctance to change makes it difficult to make changes that will improve combat effectiveness. This cultural resistance was encountered in Iraq and Afghanistan but not in Ukraine, where the Ukrainians adapted while their enemy did not.
CALL is divided into several major sections. The first collects data from previous engagements by interviewing and visiting units in the field. This section is tasked with discovering issues and areas of needed improvement in doctrine, training, and readiness. The Analysis Section deals with evaluating the data collected and assessing the methods needed to improve effectiveness and combat efficiency. Finally, the Information Integration Section is responsible for processing and distributing the suggestions and findings from the previous two departments.
The CALL is sometimes seen by other branches of the Army as a group of desk-bound analysts, but their suggestions and changes implemented in counterinsurgency and urban warfare tactics played a major role in maximizing the effectiveness of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Persuading the local military to change was often less successful. Without something like CALL, doctrine and tactics rarely change. On-site CALL troops visited nearly every single major combat zone in Iraq and Afghanistan. CALL soldiers also spent significant time with Iraqi Special Forces and were an integral part of the development process for the country's military and police. Call analysts also report on who is accepting and acting on their advice and who isnt. The resistance to change was and remains a major problem in Iraq, Afghanistan and, we now know, in Russia.
Because of CALL and similar efforts by the U.S. Army Special Forces, American military advisors headed overseas are given a briefing on the culture they will be dealing with and how to deal with various types of obstacles. The army maintains a database of lessons learned that can be searched by region as well as situation. A major contributor to this database is army Special Forces troops, whose training concentrates on local customs and traditions and how to work within those. That is why the Special Forces are organized around regional specialization. Special Forces operators learn the languages and customs of one region and usually spend their entire career working in that region. This Special Forces technique was learned from World War II experience where many of the founding members of Special Forces in the early 1950s had worked for the Office of Special Operations (OSS), an organization created, in part, to deal with contacting, communicating with and supporting local resistance groups in German or Japanese controlled territory. The success of the OSS led to the creation of the CIA and Special Forces to deal with the Cold War. This conflict, which did not end until 1991, had begun in the late 1940s when it became obvious that Soviet Russia was going to continue taking control of other nations any way it could.
It took decades before the American military and foreign service learned how to use these new intelligence and operational capabilities. Tradition slowed adoption of new ideas but by the 1980s the military services cooperated in creating SOCOM, Special Operations Command so that they all could benefit from what the OSS and Special Forces have developed. It took decades for most American military commanders to accept the findings and suggestions from CALL and SOCOM. Initially many senior American officers saw Special Forces and CALL operatives as a bunch of oddballs spouting nonsense.
Another factor in the development of more effective tactics was the realization, during World War II, that when the enemy developed a new weapon or tactic, the speed with which you could analyze it and come up with an effective countermeasure was a matter of life or death as well as victory or defeat. The speed of analysis and quickness of response was expressed more vividly in the 1960s by John Boyd, a U.S. Air Force officer. Boyd demonstrated how the speed of assessing a combat situation, developing a plan, and executing it was decisive in all forms of combat. Boyd came up with the OODA (observe, orient, decide, and act) loop, which could be applied to air, naval and ground combat. This made sense to World War II veterans who had witnessed the OODA loop in action. It resonated with the Russians as well because superior speed with OODA was a German specialty which the Russians never mastered as well as the Germans did during World War II. By the 1980s some Russian theorists saw computers as a possible solution. Again, the West had a technological edge and from the end of the Cold War and into the 21st Century it was Westerners who made all this work in combat.
Russia never caught up or caught on to how vulnerable it was to opponents who worked the OODA cycle faster than they did. This was demonstrated in Ukraine and Russian military and political leaders are still having a hard time accepting this OODA reality. This became a problem for American military advisors working overseas, who frequently had solutions for problems encountered by foreign commanders they were supporting, but the real problem was local culture and resistance to change, especially the American emphasis on high-speed warfare and the need to quickly adopt new tactics to prevail.
Meanwhile Islamic terrorists were on the receiving end of many of these innovations and the survivors learned to adapt. The impact of high-speed warfare was demonstrated after September 11, 2001, when American forces used computerized data mining and analysis to speed up their OODA loops during counter-terrorism operations in Iraq and elsewhere. Sunni terrorists quickly learned that if an American raid was accompanied by intelligence specialists carrying biometric tools and communication links to huge databases of information on known terrorists and their organizations, there would quickly be additional raids. A few new names found on one raid would spawn additional raids and within 24 hours large terrorist operations could be rolled up. Microsoft contributed by developing a thumb drive that could quickly extract useful data from a laptop while rough but effective machine translation of many Arabic documents could quickly provide more leads, locations and who or what to look for.
The Ukrainian military did not accept much change after Ukraine became independent of the Soviet Union, and Russia, in 1991. The Ukrainians had to accept the fact that they could not afford to maintain a large peacetime military. Russias seizure of Crimea and the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region in 2014 was a wakeup call. The Russians had used KGB tactics, developed during the decades of communist rule that often used subversion and surprise to overthrow vulnerable governments. This included most East European countries who spent four decades under communist rule and Russian influence because of these tactics.
The Russians tried to use these methods in Ukraine after 2000 and ran into resistance from many Ukrainians. After 2014 more Ukrainians were willing to accept advice from the Americans, who sent special forces and military advisors versed in CALL knowledge and willing to share with Ukrainians who were prepared to adapt. Initially it was Ukrainian military leaders and, eventually political leaders like current Ukrainian president Zelensky, who was elected in 2019, to make needed changes. That included lots of reforms to the Ukrainian military.
What happened in 2014 scared Ukrainians because they had agreements with Russia that were supposed to keep Ukraine intact. The Russians violated their written promises and the Ukrainians realized they had to prepare for the worst, which the Russians were openly discussing. The worst came in February 2022 when Russia invaded. The Ukrainians had changed and adapted while the Russians had not. The result was striking initial Russian defeats which many Russian leaders still dont understand. The most important lesson was that you dont invade a neighboring country expecting your attack if they are better prepared to deal with it. The Ukrainians had developed new tactics and used new weapons to defeat the invasion. Most Russian troops were not told they were conducting an invasion because their officers were assured that there would not be any effective resistance. There was effective resistance, and many Russian troops abandoned their armored vehicles and fled once they realized what they were up against. That resulted in about half the Russian tanks and other armored vehicles lost being abandoned intact by their crews in the first 90 days of the war.
The Ukrainians quickly developed procedures to adapt the abandoned Russian vehicles to their own use with new insignia and some new communications equipment. The Ukrainians also used their newly acquired tanks more effectively than their former owners. Ukrainians, like the Russians, still used the same Cold War era tanks as the Russians but were more aware of the vulnerabilities of these Russian designed tanks. For example, even the Russians didnt realize how vulnerable their tanks were to turret penetration by anti-tank weapons. Russia had made some changes to defeat the Western Cold War development of top attack anti-tank weapons. These weapons were not used against Russian attacks often enough, until 2022, to demonstrate that Russian tanks were extremely vulnerable because Russian tanks had been using autoloaders since the late 1960s. This replaced the human loader but put a dozen or more tank gun rounds in the turret at all times. If one of those rounds was detonated by an anti-tank weapon penetrating the turret, all those ready rounds exploded, destroying the turret and the tank as well as killing the entire crew. As soon as Russian tank crews understood this, they were quick to abandon their tanks as soon as enemy fire began blowing tanks up. Western tank designers were aware of this problem and never adopted the autoloader because of it. There was never more than one shell exposed in the turret at a time. The other shells were kept in a separate armored container with blow-out panels to vent the explosive gases up and out of the tank, leaving the crew unharmed and the tank reparable.
The Russians officially called their invasion a special operation meant to liberate the Ukrainians from neo-Nazi and NATO influence. Most Russian troops soon realized that the Ukrainians were more enthusiastic and determined to defend their country from foreign invaders, and wanted to join NATO to discourage Russian attacks. Government corruption and inept military leadership meant the Russian troops were poorly supplied with food, medical care, and ammunition. New recruits were not trained or paid the cash bonuses promised. Troop morale plummeted because of this and soon Russia found it could not obtain enough troops to keep the special operation going. The Ukrainians went on the offensive in late August and rapidly drove the Russians out of much of the Ukrainian territory they had conquered in 2014 and early 2022. The Russian government did not want to admit they were losing but were unable to convince enough Russian soldiers to resist or Russians and Ukrainian collaborators living in the occupied territories to stay. The civilians fled and Russian troop numbers dwindled. All this had nothing to do with foreign observers asserting that tanks were obsolete, and warfare had changed dramatically. Neither was true but the reality was less newsworthy, so the situation was not reported accurately. The Ukrainians kept attacking Russian logistics, especially key supplies for the troops, while improving their own. This was the key to victory but made for dull headlines.
The Russians failed to note the extent and impact of Ukrainian military reforms since 2014. The Russians found that they were no longer fighting the same kind of Ukrainian military they had defeated in 2014. The Russians had ignored or misinterpreted those reforms and were still unable or unwilling to accept the effectiveness of Ukrainian reforms. One reason for that is the Ukrainian reforms succeeded in converting the Ukrainian military's 2014 recycled Soviet model to one based on the more effective Western model. This transition happened gradually as the NATO military aid Ukraine requested after 2014 included trainers for existing Ukrainian units as well as new Ukrainian officers. The NATO trainers trained new Ukrainian combat battalions as well as newly recruited Ukraine officers. What the Russians didnt appreciate until the 2022 invasion started was that NATO training produced very different results than the training Ukrainian and Russian forces were used to getting.
In 2014 the Ukrainian army was similar in skills and training to the methods Russia used. This was the old Soviet style of strict adherence to battle plans and discouragement of initiative among combat commanders. Western militaries approached these matters differently. Battle plans were created as estimates, not strict rules. Western commanders were trained to be flexible and adaptive in combat. As the NATO trainers did their work, the Ukrainian military was gradually reformed. Senior Ukrainian officers, all veterans of the old Soviet style of organization, command, and training, tolerated this new approach not because they understood it, but because Ukraine needed all the military aid it could get, and the Western combat unit and officer training seemed to work. When the Russians invaded, they and senior Ukrainian commanders were surprised at how effective NATOs retraining of the Ukrainian armed forces worked. The Russians were dismayed and somewhat mystified at the relatively poor performance of their troops. The Ukrainians were told the post-2014 Ukrainian troops and officers would be more effective because that had been the experience in similar situations since the 1990s.
Another aspect of Western training and combat doctrine is that you rapidly modify your tactics and training as a result of recent, or ongoing combat experiences. NATO nations supplying Ukraine with vast quantities of weapons and equipment noted how the Ukrainians performed. For example, peacetime training standards called for months of training before troops were ready to effectively use Patriot Air Defense systems. The Ukrainians did it in weeks. The Ukrainians not only learned how to operate Patriot systems but also developed new uses. This surprised and pleased the Americans providing the equipment because the Ukrainians were making Patriot more useful for its other users. The Americans took notes and modified their performance specs and training methods.
The Ukrainian experience was somewhat unique because the Ukrainians had decades of experience with tweaking and upgrading existing systems. When Ukraine became independent in 1991, they inherited large quantities of Russian Cold War era weapons and equipment. Ukraine had arguably been the center of weapons development, production, and upgrades while part of the Soviet Union. After 1991 they merged those skills with newly acquired Western marketing savvy. The Ukrainians modified and upgraded their Soviet era weapons to be more attractive to potential buyers. By 2014 Ukrainian had made all this into a sizable portion of their economy. The Ukrainian skills and speed with learning and modifying new Western weapons was, in hindsight, obvious.
The Russians did not pay attention. The poor performance of the Russian military in Ukraine during its 2022 invasion was not a surprise to everyone. Journalists, politicians in general and the Russians were taken by surprise but military historians, the U.S. Army and the Ukrainian military were not. Thats because the American army finally realized, in the 1980s, that a fundamental problem in warfare was not paying attention to what had worked in the past and why. Those who possess this predictive capability also know that its best to keep quiet about what they know because the enemy will adapt once the shooting starts, and some foes do that rather quickly. Most do not because admitting you were wrong is something most senior military commanders resist.
Because of the Ukraine War CALL now has a lot of useful advice on the use and abuse of UAVs. The developers of new American systems, like a proposed new scout helicopter, also made contributions to CALL on how not to solve problems using older technology when, for example, cheaper new tech like cheap UAVs were available.
Home News Americans see neither Trump, Harris as especially Christian, religious: poll
Recent polling indicates that most Americans see neither former President Donald Trump nor Vice President Kamala Harris as especially Christian or religious, despite both of them having claimed to identify as such.
Only 14% of Americans polled agreed that "Christian" describes Harris or Trump "extremely" or "very" well, according to a survey conducted Sept. 12-16 of 2,028 U.S. adults by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs.
Approximately seven in 10 white Evangelical Protestants have a favorable view of Trump, though only half say he represents their beliefs. Approximately five in 10 white Catholics and white mainline Protestants support Trump, according to the poll.
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Hispanic Protestants and Catholics were narrowly divided between the two candidates, though black Protestants overwhelmingly support Harris, with about three-quarters saying they have a favorable view of her compared to Trump.
Only one-third of those questioned said the words "honest" or "moral" describe either candidate extremely or very well, with one-third saying such words are appropriate for Harris and about 15% saying they apply to Trump.
Trump, who was raised mainline Presbyterian and has publicly claimed to be a Christian, has presented himself as the candidate most friendly to Christians while accusing the Biden administration of weaponizing the justice system against people of faith.
Since his two recent assassination attempts, Trump has spoken more openly about God, claiming he thinks about Him more often and attributes his narrow escapes from death to divine providence.
"The only good thing is that it's always a consequential president that gets shot at, and fortunately so far, I've been very lucky," Trump said during a recent appearance on the Fox News show "Gutfeld!"
"Or something is greater than all of us," he added. "Something is up there; someone is up there, maybe watching over us."
At Turning Point Action's Believers Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida, in July, Trump urged Christians to vote for him and assured them they would never have to vote again if they re-elect him.
"I don't care how, but you have to get out and vote," he said. "Christians, get out and vote just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years. You know what? It'll be fixed."
Harris attends a Baptist church but has noted that she has been influenced by the Eastern beliefs of her Indian mother and that she has celebrated Kwanzaa.
Ryan Girdusky, a political consultant and Roman Catholic who worked for the Protect Ohio Values PAC that helped elect Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, maintained to The Christian Post during a recent "Politics in the Pews" podcast that he questions whether Trump or Harris have any deep connection to faith.
"I don't even know if Kamala is Christian, I actually don't know that answer," he said. "She is obviously in an interfaith marriage with a Jew, which is fine, but she is also somebody who said she has celebrated Kwanzaa, although that is clearly a lie, because the years when she said she had celebrated, it wasn't invented yet it's a completely made up Afro-nationalist holiday."
Girdusky pointed out that Harris "has never hinted really around faith very much whatsoever," and that such was likely unnecessary in her liberal San Francisco political world.
"But I don't believe Kamala Harris has a deep faith, nor has she ever hat tipped to people of faith. I don't believe Trump has a very deep connection to faith, either. However, he knew where the voters were, so he had no problem making peace with their issues. I don't think Kamala is going to do that," he added.
Home News Bishop Patrick Wooden, popular NC pastor, defends Mark Robinson after CNN report
Popular North Carolina Bishop Patrick Wooden Sr. says he stands by Mark Robinson, the state's first black lieutenant governor and the 2024 Republican gubernatorial nominee, after a CNN report alleged that he called himself a "black NAZI" and praised slavery while posting on a pornographic website between 2008 and 2012.
The outspoken Wooden, who leads the conservative Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh and previously dismissed Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris as a danger to black Americans, told his congregation on Sunday that he spoke with Robinson, who has denied the claims.
"Whether this stuff that they've unearthed is him or not, . he said those are not the words of Mark Robinson and I believe him. I believe him more than I believe this media," Wooden said to applause from his congregation during his 11 a.m. service on Sunday.
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He said he has known Robinson since 2020, saying Robinson "has been an excellent person" committed to protecting children and biblical values.
"I met him during the lieutenant governor's race. He has been an excellent person and an upstanding leader from the time of my knowing him. As a pastor, that's the most important thing and I deal with people as they are today," Wooden said.
"I can only speak to him from the time that I've known him and all I've known about him is that he's been an upstanding man, a tremendous leader and he's been a fighter. He's fighting for our children, and I'm kind of shocked that some who are coming after him find some of the things that are alleged to have come from him," he added.
Wooden recalled how Robinson fought to keep books with pornographic material out of North Carolina's public schools and said he found the notion of a "black Nazi" incredible.
"I don't know of any black man who would want to be a black Nazi. I don't see no brother said that because if you're any kind of Nazi other than a Nazi Nazi, a white German Nazi, you're a dead Nazi," Wooden said. "Nazi don't want black folk. You go up there if you want to and try that. You're not one of them, amen."
Wooden suggested that because Robinson, who became North Carolina's lieutenant governor in 2021, is not a career politician, people have to accept that someone with his background would have a past.
According to his biography, Robinson, 56, who has two children and two grandchildren, "grew up extremely poor as the ninth of ten children."
Before entering politics, Robinson worked blue-collar jobs, "including a long stint in furniture manufacturing." He shot to prominence in 2018 after delivering an address to the Greensboro City Council defending the Second Amendment, which went viral.
In 2021, after he was elected, Robinson pushed back against images featuring gay sex being included in teaching material in North Carolina schools despite opposition from LGBT advocates.
"He has championed more transparency for parents in their children's education, education options, and ensuring schools are safe. Lieutenant Governor Robinson has been an outspoken supporter of law enforcement, cutting taxes for all hardworking North Carolinians, and making NC the gold standard for veterans' care," his biography notes.
"I think Mark is an awesome leader, and the agenda that he has makes sense. I pray that God will watch over him," Wooden said before making final comments on the politician.
"I will say this: most people don't live their lives thinking that they're going to be into politics. Now, people who set out early to be into politics live like they're going to be politicians; they dot every 'I' cross every 'T,' loop every 'L' because they planned on running for office.
"Regular folk don't live like that. Regular folk get on drugs at times. They do crazy things. They get into all kinds of problems. People get married. People get divorced. Things happen, and then after all that, you may find yourself running. And we're in a day now where they would go back and dig up stuff. So I'm praying for him. I will not join the chorus of people who [are] quick to dump on him," Wooden continued. "If he's guilty of this, then that will be dealt with but God's way."
Wooden said his response to Robinson is no different than how he has dealt with leaders in the church who have "had issues come up."
"I'm standing by this man," Wooden said. "I'm praying for him, and I pray that God gives him strength, and that's all I have to say about that."
Since the CNN report, some of Robinson's allies have cut ties with him, and many senior leaders in his senior campaign staff members have resigned.
The Republican Governors Association told The New York Times that their pro-Robinson ads were expected to expire on Tuesday, and new ones had not yet been placed. Former President and 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who had endorsed him, calling him "Martin Luther King on steroids," did not reference him once during his rally in North Carolina last weekend.
After Wooden's service on Sunday, congregants told The Times that they will continue to support Robinson because of his position on issues like abortion, which he opposes.
"Anybody that's black will not be a Nazi," E.J. Alston said, agreeing with his pastor.
"None of us is perfect," Marlene Molette, a Democrat, told the publication, saying she plans on voting for Robinson because: "I think he will bring change in the world."
Home News Gateway Church revokes membership of critical congregant; armed guards boot her from property
A former Gateway Church member who had her membership revoked and was allegedly forced off church property by armed guards for publicly criticizing the Texas megachurch for its alleged lack of transparency and accountability amid child sex abuse allegations against founder Robert Morris is now speaking out.
"I will say this: in my 47 years of life, I have never had my church membership revoked, dismissed, as they wanted to call it," Valentina Hansen, Grapevine resident and former Gateway Church member and volunteer, told The Christian Post in an interview Tuesday. "I've never had my volunteer opportunities be dismissed."
Morris resigned as Gateway Church's senior pastor on June 18, after 54-year-old grandmother Cindy Clemishire reported that Morris began sexually abusing her on Dec. 25, 1982, when she was just 12, and continued with the abuse for four-and-a-half years after that. Morris' alleged actions occurred when he was a young minister before he founded Gateway Church.
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Hansen revealed on Facebook on Aug. 22 that she, along with others, met with Tra Willbanks, a longtime Gateway Church elder who has been giving updates at Gateway's pulpit since Morris' resignation, and Lorena Valle, the campus pastor of Gateway Church's Southlake Campus, to discuss the handling of Clemishire's case.
She accused Willbanks of falsely claiming that Gateway Church's attorneys were in communication with Clemishire's attorney, Boz Tchividjian, about restitution for the trauma she suffered as a result of Morris' alleged abuse and her initial treatment by Gateway Church.
She also claimed that Willbanks was deceptive and evasive in the meeting when she asked questions about the church's finances. She stated that Willbanks assured her that the church's financials are in order and Gateway Church has assets totaling $500 million.
Hansen noted that registered sex offender Stephen Wilson is reportedly still working at Gateway Church, and Willbanks defended his employment. Wilson spent a year in prison for attempted sexual indecency with a child in 2002, and he is now the head of Gateway Church's prison ministry.
"During our meeting, it was confirmed that #StephenWilson remains employed by #Gateway Church despite concerns. Tra Willbanks stated, 'There's a lynch mob after Steven Wilson, and I won't allow it.' He shared a story about Steven Wilson, which contradicted archived newspaper articles," Hansen said.
"Gateway Church has no intention of making their financial records public from 2000 to 2024. They are joining ECFA and have a total asset of $500 million. Tra Willbanks, a CPA, claimed their financials are in order," she added in the Facebook post.
In a letter dated Sept. 6, a copy of which was shared with CP, Gateway Church's board of elders accused Hansen of sowing "discord and conflict," which justified revoking her membership, according to Titus 3:10. The Scripture states: "Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them."
"The past three months have been the most challenging in the history of Gateway Church, and it has been a time of entirely understandable concern and appropriate, earnest questioning of the Church's leadership by its members. While acknowledging that we must rely on the strength of Christ to guide each and every one of our actions, the Board of Elders believes it has done, and continues to do, its utmost to be responsive and empathetic to current member concerns," Gateway's board of elders wrote in their letter to Hansen.
The elders suggested they had no choice but to revoke Hansen's membership because she refused to foster "understanding and reconciliation."
"As believers, all members of the Gateway community are bound by the commandments of the Bible, even in trying times. Despite our sincere attempts to walk with you down the path towards understanding and reconciliation, the Board believes that you have violated Biblical requirements by continuing to sow discord and conflict," the board wrote.
"Bearing in mind the wisdom of Titus 3:10, and pursuant to our roles as the highest ecclesiastical authority of Gateway Church as set forth in the Church's Bylaws, it is with heavy hearts that we accordingly now inform you that we believe it is necessary to make the difficult decision to dismiss you from your church membership and volunteer services at this time."
The board further offered to continue praying and caring for Hansen's "continued spiritual growth" and wished her the best at her next church home.
In response to questions from CP about the revocation of Hansens membership, Gateway Church spokesman Lawrence Swicegood insisted that leadership attempted to address her concerns, and she chose instead to maintain proactive stances against the ministry.
Prior to her membership being revoked, Ms. Hansen requested and was given a private meeting with a Gateway campus pastor and with one of the Gateways elders to listen to her concerns and address her questions," Swicegood said. "Following that multi-hour, private meeting, she chose not to believe the accurate and factual answers she was given by the campus pastor and by the elder."
"Within hours, she went on her social media account seeking to discredit the facts she was given calling out the elders as providing false information which is unfounded and untrue," Swicegood added.
In several emails also shared with CP, Hansen disputed the decision by Gateway Church's board of elders and their claims that she was sowing discord in the church.
"I was never contacted or spoken to by any member of the eldership regarding these concerns. I received no warnings, no counseling, and no guidance on how to resolve any perceived issues. This is in direct contradiction to the principles outlined in Titus 3:10, which emphasizes the importance of addressing divisive behavior through direct conversation and warnings," Hansen wrote in one of the emails shared with CP.
A day after she received the letter from Gateway Church's board of elders revoking her membership, Hansen recorded herself trying to enter the church to engage with the elders, but she said she was asked to leave the property by armed security guards under the watch of officers from the Southlake Police Department.
"It was embarrassing because so many people at the church know me. I felt embarrassed for them that they would act in such an egregious way. I mean, I'm 5-foot-8. I weigh like 130 pounds. It's just little old me," Hansen said. "You've got five grown men approaching me at the main entrance of a church saying, 'You can't come in here,' and three of them had guns on their hips. And then I turn around to leave, and I see the South Lake Police Department."
Before Sept. 6, Hansen said she was a member of Gateway Church for three years but had attended the church intermittently for eight years prior to that.
She said she was drawn to the church because of the community.
"What attracted me and what kept me going there was the community, the classes, the groups, the self-help classes as well. There's so many great resources that are available, but there were also things that made me question," Hansen told CP.
She said she is speaking out because of the many people who simply walked away from Gateway Church "without a fight" after Morris' scandal came to light.
"You know, the squeaky wheel, they get attention, but sometimes, you know, . for the longest time, I have been a voice for so many people that have been afraid to speak out against Gateway Church. I feel honored to be given that trust in people's stories, but I knew it would come with a price, and I was OK with that," Hansen said.
Swicegood stressed in his statement to CP that Hansen told a Gateway staff member that she was previously removed from another church due to her disruptive behavior.
We are saddened that Ms. Hansen has chosen not to believe the truth and we wish her all the best in her search for a new church, he said.
In announcing Morris' resignation in June, Gateway Church elders said they hired the law firm of Haynes & Boone, LLP, "to conduct an independent, thorough, and professional review of the report of past abuse to ensure we have a complete understanding of the events from 1982-1987."
It is unclear when the results of this investigation will be ready or if it will be released to the public.
Despite getting booted from the church, Hansen says she still believes Gateway Church can be great, but Morris' negative influence must be completely removed from the leadership team.
"I will say this: there is still a possibility for Gateway to be a great church. However, the people that are still there, that were implemented by Robert Morris, there is a trickle-down effect, or ripple effect that is still affecting that church in a very negative way," Hansen said. "And it's a culture that has perpetuated itself because of Robert Morris."
Home News JD Vance visits Billy Graham Library, extols 'great message' of the Gospel 'The Gospel belongs to everybody'
Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, visited the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday to pay his respects at the graves of the late evangelist and his wife.
Vance, 40, noted how the Gospel message to which Graham devoted his life cuts across class and racial divides.
Billy Graham's son, Franklin Graham, mentioned Vance's visit in an X post, noting how he was on his way to Alaska but wishes he could have been there to join the vice presidential hopeful.
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Vance was accompanied instead by Franklin Graham's children, daughter Cissie Graham Lynch and son Roy Graham, along with Billy Graham's longtime assistant David Bruce, who also serves as executive vice president of the Billy Graham Library.
"We were pleased that Senator [Vance] and his wife Usha could visit [the library] while they were in Charlotte today," Graham tweeted. "He has said that he watched my father preaching the Gospel on television growing up."
Graham also tweeted brief remarks Vance made about what he believes the message of the Billy Graham Library is and how the Gospel has influenced his own life.
"Billy Graham believed the Gospel belonged to everybody: to rich and poor, to black and white, and that was something that really meant a lot to my grandmother," Vance said.
I think Its a great testament to Billy, because its not about Billy, its about Jesus. Senator @JDVance at @TheBGLibrary today pic.twitter.com/qXC8DuHlHR Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) September 24, 2024
"I think it's a great testament to Billy because it's really not about Billy," Vance said of the library. "It's about Jesus. It's a great message. It's a message ... again, that the Gospel belongs to everybody. And it's the message that I heard with the person who ultimately made me who I was: my grandmother."
Vance has been outspoken about the critical role his grandmother, Bonnie Blanton Vance (whom he called "Mamaw"), played in his life growing up in Middletown, Ohio, while his mother was struggling with addiction.
"She really just got me," Vance, who rose to fame as the bestselling author of Hillbilly Elegy, told NBC News in a 2017 interview about his grandmother's influence. "She understood when I needed somebody to ride me. She knew when I needed love and comfort. She knew when she needed to just be sympathetic. She was really smart."
The Billy Graham Library is described as "a ministry, prayerfully planned with the intention of communicating the unchanging, life-giving message of Jesus Christ to hundreds of thousands of visitors each year who may never attend a Crusade." The museum, which contains Graham's preserved childhood home, opened in 2007.
Some members of the Graham family have differing views over the 2024 presidential election.
While Franklin Graham has long praised the political stances of former President Donald Trump, Billy Graham's granddaughter and Franklin Graham's niece Jerushah Duford recently suggested during an "Evangelicals for Harris" Zoom call that Trump supporters are causing people to turn away from Christianity. She expressed support for his opponent in the 2024 election, Vice President Kamala Harris.
"Voting Kamala, for me, is so much greater than policies," Duford said. "It's a vote against another four years of faith leaders justifying the actions of a man who destroys the message Jesus came to spread, and that is why I get involved in politics."
Franklin Graham, by contrast, has taken Evangelicals for Harris to task for using footage of his father to attack Trump in a way he alleged was deliberately misleading.
Home News Lausanne apologizes for speakers comments on Israel, dispensational eschatology Speaker responds: Far too many Evangelicals acritically stand with Israel
INCHEON, South Korea The Lausanne Congress apologized Wednesday to the many delegates who were offended by a speakers comments rebuking dispensational eschatology and her claim that Israel was holding hostages.
Ruth Padilla DeBorst, an associate professor at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, stirred controversy on the second night of the Fourth Lausanne Global Congress on World Evangelism when she said both Hamas terrorists and Israel were holding hostages.
There's no room for indifference towards all who are suffering the scourge of war and violence. The world around the uprooted and beleaguered people of Gaza, the hostages held by both Israel and Hamas and their families, the threatened Palestinians in their own territories, she said near the end of her 16-minute speech to the dismay of some delegates.
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The statement at the global Evangelical gathering comes just days before the first anniversary of Hamas Oct. 7 attacks in Israel in which nearly 1,200 people were tortured and killed, including some 40 Americans, and over 254 others were taken hostage, many also raped or tortured.
Padilla DeBorsts comments were viewed by some of the 5,000 delegates in attendance as inappropriate for a non-political event intent on fostering unity among Evangelicals, especially amid escalations between Hezbollah and Israel, and other conflicts worldwide.
In an emailed statement to delegates at Lausanne 4 Wednesday, Congress Director David Bennett apologized to all who were offended by the speech that rebuked dispensational eschatology and equated Israels actions with the atrocities committed by Hamas militants.
In the statement, which can be read in its entirety at the end of this article, Bennette said in part:
The speakers we invite to share in our gatherings come from a variety of perspectives. They will sometimes disagree with one another, even though they each affirm the foundational documents. They do not necessarily represent an official Lausanne position in their statements. We ask speakers to submit scripts in advance, for the sake of clearer expression, realistic planning for timing, to help presenters to interact with one another in advance, and to aid in interpretation into other languages. But sometimes we have failed to review carefully enough in advance the precise wording or tone used by a presenter As Congress director, I would like to offer an apology for a presentation this week which singled out dispensational eschatology in a critical tone, implying that it contributed to violence and injustice, and which failed to note that many theologies have been misused and misapplied as justifications for violence. That same presentation referred to the suffering of the Palestinian people, but did not express comparable empathy for the suffering of Israeli people, nor adequately express concern for many other peoples and nations of the world that are currently in the throes of violent conflict.
Padilla DeBorst released her own public statement Wednesday afternoon, suggesting that Perhaps, I should never have accepted the invitation! due to the time constraints.
In her thorough response to the backlash to her speech, Padilla DeBorst apologized for offending some delegates with her comments on dispensational eschatology and explained that it would be impossible to address every issue of injustice globally in a 15-minute speech.
There are so many expressions of injustice in our world, how could anyone thoroughly and responsibly tackle such a deep and broad ranging theme and the complicated scenarios related to it from a biblical and theological standpoint in only 15 minutes? she wrote in part.
Addressing her comment that colonialist theologies [] justify and finance oppression under the guise of some dispensational eschatology, she sought to clarify that it was not in any way a blanket dismissal of dispensational theology and, even less, of sisters and brothers who suscribe (sic) to that stance. For the pain my statement might have caused, I am sorry. What I am naming is the troubling theological rationale sustained by some people to perpetrate injustice against certain other people.
While she did not specifically address the hostages held by both Israel and Hamas comment, she explained why she focused on the plight of those living in Gaza.
I am convinced that this is a current justice issue in relation to which we, as Christians, have a particular responsibility. Let me explain. Truly, the Hamas attack almost a year ago was abhorrent and absolutely reprehensible, and truly people who live in Israel, Jewish, Palestinian and others are being threatened as I write. Their pain is our pain. At the same time, the long standing suffering of Palestinians has been compounded by the attacks on Gaza since October 7 where over 40,000 people have been killed, many of them, children. Additionally, settler attacks have only increased in the West Bank."
She added, However, far too many evangelicals around the world a-critically stand with Israel, and remain oblivious to the suffering Palestinians.
Some delegates expressed concerns that the apology itself might have been short-sighted as the point of Lausanne is to agree on the fundamentals and allow differences of opinion in other areas.
Read Padilla DeBorsts statement in full at the end of this article.
In an emailed statement to Christian Daily International on Wednesday, Tim Adams, general secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, said, In my view, this apology was totally against the ethos of Lausanne.
Within the agreed theological framework of previous Lausanne statements, Lausanne has been a place which brings people together to overcome barriers and unite to serve the Great Commission, he said, adding: My fear is this apology will do more to divide than to unite.
Though he didnt address specific details in Padilla DeBorsts speech, Adams said, Lausanne is a place for grown-up Christians who can handle robust debate with fellow Evangelical believers without throwing their toys out of the pram.
At a Tuesday afternoon press briefing, a spokesman for Lausanne addressed the concerns raised by delegates. He said that while the professors comments were an unfortunate use of words from the organizations perspective, it has led to delegates seeking to have a broader conversation on such issues.
[L]ast night opens a conversation. The speaker was invited to speak, and she spoke, and indeed, we've heard it. And now there's a conversation happening, which is very much in the nature of what Lausanne does: it brings people together and it starts conversations. But the words that we used are indeed unfortunate in that case, the spokesman said.
One element of concern was that Padilla DeBorsts comments were not necessarily unexpected, as she had given Lausanne a script of her planned talking points that included her comment about Israel holding hostages.
The spokesman explained, however, that while Lausanne obtained copies of speakers scripts beforehand and there was a review and feedback process, it was not at a fine-tooth comb level.
[D]id we have the wording of her talk in advance? We did, the spokesman added.
[T]he scripts were received, they have been reviewed, but simply we don't analyze every single word that can be said, and we're more looking for their main talking points and the way in which they are seeking to engage their opportunity at the Congress, he said.
He reiterated that, in Lausannes view, Padilla DeBorsts words were unfortunate and emphasized that each speaker is coming to the stage with their perspective, with their voice, with the context and framing that they have and the lens through which they see the world.
Likewise, the words each speaker chooses to use may not be the words that we, as a broader movement, may have chosen to use. But still, they have the voice and the platform, he continued, noting that Lausanne has no official position on such matters. Nor does the organization plan to address the technicalities of specific words and distinctions between hostages, prisoners of war and a prisoner being held against their will, he added.
Padilla DeBorst was among three evening plenary speakers at the Fourth Lausanne Global Congress on World Evangelism on Monday who spoke on the topic of Lessons from the global church: Recommitment Calling the Global Church Toward Faithfulness in Word and Deed, alongside professor Katherine Hayhoe and the Rev. Vaughan Roberts.
During her talk, Padilla DeBorst compared the injustices at the time of the prophet Micah in Judea to those seen in the modern world, specifically looking at wealth inequality, racism, gender inequality, environmental injustice and climate weirding, and global powers profiting off wars. She also rebuked what she described as colonialist theologies that justify and finance oppression under the guise of some dispensational eschatology.
Micahs admonishments, she said, are as applicable today as they were in [his] and Jesus times.
Now, the farming people of Judea in Micah's days were suffering not only the anxiety of the impending invasion of enemy military forces, but especially the oppression of corrupt governing elites. They were being forced to pay taxes and leave their fields to build cities for the wealthy few. Their lands were being expropriated to feed the greed of the rich, added Padilla DeBorst, who also serves on the networking team of International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation.
She continued: While they were forcibly displaced, their young men were being recruited for the army and their young women were being taken as sex slaves for the royal court. What made matters worse was that these injustices were being masqueraded by religiosity. Religious practices, rights and sacrifices were covering up social corruption. False prophets were deaf to the cries of the people, while priests cozied up to the wealthy and blessed the weapons of oppression. Does any of this sound familiar, if we like it or not?
According to Padilla DeBorst, an honest look at our world today reveals many of the same injustices, blatant gaps that do not reflect God's intent for the world."
One overarching justice gap that dishonors God is wealth inequality. God created a world of abundance, capable of sustaining the flourishing of life of the entire created order. However, the richest 1 percent of our planet owns half the riches of the entire world, she added.
As examples, she lamented the disparity in income between the wealthy few and billions who live in poverty, and said waste from wealthy regions of the world is being dumped in the global South.
While the wealth of the world's five richest men has more than doubled since 2020, nearly 5 billion people have been made poorer, said Padilla DeBorst, who also contributes to the boards of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies and the American Society of Missiology.
Poverty, she said, is the most visible face of injustice, citing a claim that, in the U.S., white families have eight times more of the wealth of black families and five times more wealth than Hispanic families.
Padilla DeBorst also lamented the so-called gender pay gap and limitations placed on women globally, even among Christian communities, ministries and churches where women are denied positions of authority and the full use of their God-given spiritual gifts.
Women, she said, are far more likely to be victims of sexual harassment or downright abuse in Christian communities.
Although women compose the greater number of active members, men overwhelmingly hold the leadership positions. While women are restricted in the use of the gifts the Spirit has granted them solely because we are women.
Citing Deuteronomy 10, Padilla DeBorst said, There is no room in this picture for silence when fellow human beings are being robbed of home, land, livelihood, or life itself, not in the Judea of Micah's day, not anywhere.
She then called on followers of Jesus Christ to Unmask religious oppression and to rid themselves of self-sufficient pride and the idolatries that sit at the root of injustice.
Read the full statement from Lausanne Congress Director David Bennett below:
Dear friends
The Lausanne Movement is a diverse community. Although we share a common biblical and theological foundation in our affirmation of the Lausanne Covenant, the Manila Manifesto and the Cape Town Commitment, we include people from a great variety of cultural, theological, historical and political perspectives. We seek to create space where robust discussions, both theological and strategic, can take place, in pursuit of greater wisdom in the advancement of global mission, and in fulfilment of Jesus command to make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to obey everything he commanded.
The speakers we invite to share in our gatherings come from a variety of perspectives. They will sometimes disagree with one another, even though they each affirm the foundational documents. They do not necessarily represent an official Lausanne position in their statements. But we seek to be gracious and respectful listeners in our interactions with one another, in the spirit of Lausanne.
We ask speakers to submit scripts in advance, for the sake of clearer expression, realistic planning for timing, to help presenters to interact with one another in advance, and to aid in interpretation into other languages. But sometimes we have failed to review carefully enough in advance the precise wording or tone used by a presenter, or to anticipate how their words may be received by the diversity of the audience they are addressing.
As Congress Director, I would like to offer an apology for a presentation this week which singled out dispensational eschatology in a critical tone, implying that it contributed to violence and injustice, and which failed to note that many theologies have been misused and misapplied as justifications for violence. That same presentation referred to the suffering of the Palestinian people, but did not express comparable empathy for the suffering of Israeli people, nor adequately express concern for many other peoples and nations of the world that are currently in the throes of violent conflict.
We have become aware of significant pain and offense experienced at this Congress from those in dispensational theological contexts, those who are Jews, and those engaged in ministries to Jews and/or in Israel. Our Lausanne team, including me, failed to review the wording of the presentation carefully enough in advance, or to anticipate the hurts and misunderstandings it would cause.
As your brother in Christ, and on behalf of our Lausanne leadership, I ask for your forgiveness.
Kind regards,
David Bennett
Congress Director
Ruth Padilla Padilla DeBorst released an open letter in response to Lausannes apology. Read her full statement below:
An open letter to L4
September 25
The Lausanne Program Team asked me to talk in Seoul about a theme that is central to Gods character, to the Good News, and to the calling of Gods people in the world. I was given 15 minutes to speak about justice. Perhaps, I should never have accepted the invitation! There are so many expressions of injustice in our world, how could anyone thoroughly and responsibly tackle such a deep and broad ranging theme and the complicated scenarios related to it from a biblical and theological standpoint in only 15 minutes?
In light of concerns raised, I am here ratifying a few points and clarifying two others. Seeking justice is a marker of Gods people and this requires mourning the pain, naming wrongs, repenting for our complicity, and acting in accordance with Gods character through the work of the Holy Spirit.
God hears the cries of all who suffer injustice. And echoing with Gods compassionate heart, we weep with the poor and marginalized. We weep with the victims of racism, discrimination and abuse of all sorts. We weep with the millions displaced by climate change. We weep with the earth itself and with the disappearing species. We weep with all who suffer war the world round. Their pain is our pain.
We are sent into the world in all its messiness as Jesus was. We do not shy away from reality in spite of its complexity. Instead, we name what we see, recognizing that our perspective is marked by our experience and context, that others have different views, that we can only gain a fuller picture by listening humbly to one another and that, at the same time, we are to actively seek justice, echoing with Gods heart to make all things right.
In that vein, in my talk on justice I stated that
what makes Gods people such are not superficial expressions of religious piety, Christianese jargon, worship jingles, or colonialist theologies that justify and finance oppression under the guise of some dispensational eschatology.
This is not in any way a blanket dismissal of dispensational theology and, even less, of sisters and brothers who suscribe (sic) to that stance. For the pain my statement might have caused, I am sorry. What I am naming is the troubling theological rationale sustained by some people to perpetrate injustice against certain other people.
A second clarification has to do with the following statement.
There is no room for indifference toward all who are suffering the scourge of war and violence the world round, the uprooted and beleaguered people of Gaza, the hostages held by both Israel and Hamas and their families, the threatened Palestinians in their own territories, all who are mourning the loss of loved ones. Their pain is our pain if we are Gods people.
Although I did refer to all who are suffering and all who are mourning, the world round, why would I zero in on Gaza and Palestinians? Why explicitly name only them? I am convinced that this is a current justice issue in relation to which we, as Christians, have a particular responsibility. Let me explain. Truly, the Hamas attack almost a year ago was abhorrent and absolutely reprehensible, and truly people who live in Israel, Jewish, Palestinian and others are being threatened as I write. Their pain is our pain. At the same time, the long standing suffering of Palestinians has been compounded by the attacks on Gaza since October 7 where over 40,000 people have been killed, many of them, children. Additionally, settler attacks have only increased in the West Bank. Their pain is our painor it should be. However, far too many evangelicals around the world a-critically stand with Israel, and remain oblivious to the suffering Palestinians. This injustice must be named.
It is my prayer that, as the Reverend Dr Anne Zaki so clearly challenged us, we might courageously raise our voices and not be silenced and that we might humbly engage in respectful conversation in the midst of our differences so that, together, we might declare and display Christ in a broken world.
Home News Lausanne edits Seoul Statement paragraphs on homosexuality
INCHEON, South Korea After releasing the Seoul Statement just before the start of the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism this week, the documents editorial team adjusted two paragraphs that speak to the issue of the Churchs response to homosexuality. A spokesperson commented that more minor changes are possible.
In the first of the two paragraphs, the new version changed the wording that spoke of many churches and instead now simply refers to Christian communities. It also removed references to ignorance and prejudice, discrimination and injustice and harm, while maintaining the need for repentance for shortcomings in some churches that have not treated brothers and sisters in Christ who are same-sex attracted with love.
Paragraph 69 as released on Sept. 22:
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We recognize that a number of people, both within and outside the church, experience same-sex attraction, and that for some, this is the only or dominant attraction. The biblical insistence that Christians must resist temptation and so maintain sexual holiness, in both desire and behavior, applies equally to heterosexually attracted individuals as it does to same-sex attracted persons. We acknowledge, however, that Christians who are same-sex attracted face challenges in many local churches due to ignorance and prejudice, and have consequently suffered discrimination and injustice within Christian communities. We repent of our failures and lament the harm this has done to our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
The new version of paragraph 69:
We recognize that a number of people, both within and outside the church, experience same-sex attraction, and that for some, this is the only or dominant attraction. The biblical insistence that Christians must resist temptation and so maintain sexual holiness, in both desire and behavior, applies equally to heterosexually attracted individuals as it does to same-sex attracted persons. We acknowledge, however, that Christians who are same-sex attracted face challenges even in Christian communities. We repent of our lack of love towards our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
Meanwhile, only a single word was changed in paragraph 70 where the new version removed "faithful" when referring to believers who experience same-sex attraction.
Paragraph 70 as released on Sept. 22:
We urge Christian leaders and local churches to recognize within our communities the presence of faithful believers who experience same-sex attraction, and to support them in their discipleship by pastoral care and by developing healthy communities of love and friendship.
The new version of paragraph 70:
We urge Christian leaders and local churches to recognize within our communities the presence of believers who experience same-sex attraction, and to support them in their discipleship by pastoral care and by developing healthy communities of love and friendship.
Christian Daily Korea reported that there were reactions from the religious community in Korea regarding the paragraphs in question, saying, some local churches or Christian communities may have done wrong to homosexuals, but this presents it as if many local churches and Christian communities did wrong, even though most local churches and Christian communities did not.
However, asked by Christian Daily International about the change during Tuesdays press conference, Lausannes spokesperson said the edit was, in fact, meant to be made before the release of the Seoul statement, calling it an oversight. He added that the adjustment was not significant.
Like any editorial process, there may be changes
The release of the Seoul Statement before rather than after the event raised questions from some participants who said they were somewhat taken by surprise. Concerns included the timing of the release mere hours before the event kicked off, which didnt give participants sufficient time to study the 20-page document with 97 paragraphs.
It was also not immediately clear how the feedback that will emerge from the discussions and interactions of the thousands of participants at the Congress would be processed, so that they feel ownership of the document, which due to its name will likely be regarded by the wider public as reflecting the collective view of the Congress.
Likely anticipating these concerns, Program Director David Bennett explained during the first press conference held before the opening ceremony that unlike its predecessors that were published following the event, the statement is meant to inform and inspire participants deliberations throughout the gathering rather than summarize what was discussed.
As earlier reported by Christian Daily International, Bennett emphasized that the purpose of the Seoul Statement is not to be a new stand-alone response to the missional challenges that the global Church is facing today.
Instead, it stands as part of the larger collection of key documents within the Lausanne Movement, building on the legacy of the Lausanne Covenant, the Manila Manifesto, and the Cape Town Commitment. It is designed not to replace, but to complement these foundational documents, providing fresh insights into contemporary theological and missional challenges.
Lausannes spokesperson added in his comments regarding the adjustments that there are broader conversations about issues that are of specific concern to the Korean Church, and that he would therefore anticipate that there may be more [changes], but the finality of it is never going to be 'dipped in amber' and called done, perhaps.
It is not the Congress statement, it is not one of the foundational documents that we are pinning everything on. And so, like in any editorial process, there may be changes, but those changes are not substantive or significant, at least from an editorial perspective.
Remember there are always people in the room who struggle with this issue
The issue of human sexuality and the sexual revolution that marks todays secular culture continues to pose a challenge to many pastors and Church leaders who seek to biblically and pastorally respond to those who struggle with their sexual attraction or identity.
During the Congress Monday evening plenary with the theme Recommitment Calling the Global Church Towards Faithfulness in Word & Deed, the Rev. Vaughan Roberts, rector at St. Ebbes Church in Oxford, England, addressed the issue of homosexuality, stating that it is not according to Gods design. But as someone who himself struggled with same-sex attraction, he also challenged Christian leaders to consider how they talk about such topics in public and in the church.
When we speak about these issues in church, will you always remember that people youre talking about are in the room? Does the tone and manner in which you speak invite them to be honest and open, or does it force them into secret, lonely isolation? he posited to thousands of participants.
So how should we respond to the sexual revolution? he asked. "We should respond with Christ. Don't just preach morality. Certainly, don't just preach condemnation. Preach and live Christ for the glory of His name.
Originally published at Christian Daily International
Home News Michael Oh casts 2050 vision for digital age at Lausannes 50th anniversary celebration
INCHEON, South Korea The Church must be fully engaged in sharing the Gospel in the digital world if it seeks to make disciples of future generations, according to Michael Oh, global executive director of the Lausanne Movement.
During the 50th anniversary celebration of the Lausanne Movement Tuesday night, Oh shared the words of the late evangelist Billy Graham, who called 2,700 leaders from 150 nations together in 1974, and on the opening night of the first Lausanne Congress said the Church must learn to utilize every technological and spiritual resource at its command for the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In his message to the 5,000 Christians gathered from over 200 countries at the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization at Songdo Convensia international convention center, Oh said the purpose of the gathering is not about 2024 but is to cast a vision for 2050 and the world that our kids and our grandkids will inherit.
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We recognize that the world in which we are living is increasingly a digital world. And the best tools to unite us in disciple-making and disciple-maturing are digital, he added.
To do this, Oh said the focus will be on the three Ds: disciple-making, disciple-maturing of the Church and digital. Each of these topics has been discussed more fully at collaborative group breakout sessions during this Congress.
Will Graham, executive vice president and associate evangelist of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and grandson of the world-renowned evangelist, said in a recorded message to the delegates gathered to celebrate 50 years of the Lausanne Movement that the task is still unfinished.
The necessity of proclamation evangelism is as great today as ever, he said. Even though were living in a world that at every turn is working to cancel Christ and the Bible in order to exalt itself, my friends, we must say: not on our watch."
He added: Now is not the time to retreat. Its not a time to turn inward. [] Now is the time to stand boldly for Jesus Christ and preach Christ unashamedly in the spiritual power of the Holy Spirit. And while evangelism is not the only work of the Church, we must never neglect persuasive preaching, personal soul-winning and the necessity of proclaiming the Good News at every turn we take. We must continue proclaiming the Gospel and make disciples worldwide.
In his speech, Oh emphasized that while evangelizing in the digital space isn't the sole answer to making disciples and increasing biblical literacy among believers, it has become an indispensable tool toward such efforts.
Regardless of how we feel about it, it is shaping our young people and shaping our world, he said, adding that there are 1 billion TikTok users [and] 8.5 billion Google searches every day, so the global Church must not cede this space.
He added, It would be to our great detriment and grave danger to ignore digital, either to ignore it foolishly or embrace it naively.
Young people, he said, are hopelessly inaccessible and lost and its imperative that Christians utilize digital tools to engage them with the life-transforming message of the Gospel.
We need strategic intentionality to reach and disciple the younger generations or we will lose the future, he added.
Oh said that plans to reach people in digital spaces are building upon the legacy of the Lausanne Movement that has, over its 50-year history, reached 9,000 unreached people groups with the Gospel and continues the work to translate the Bible into every language.
Citing an alarming statistic that 1 billion people worldwide suffer from mental health issues, Oh stressed that there is no challenge in the world that the Gospel and the people of the Gospel cannot meet.
But we must understand these challenges better and endeavor to know the world into which the Gospel speaks and connect with the lives of the people into whose heart the Gospel will breathe, he added. And this is why the Seoul Statement and the report on the State of the Great Commission are truly landmark gifts and tools for the global Church.
Oh called on those gathered to remain faithful to the Gospel regardless of the cost, noting that the Word ministers to people throughout all of the challenges and hardships in life.
In closing, he reflected on Hebrews 13:7 as he spoke of building on the legacy of past Lausanne leaders and the prayer and hope" of Habakkuk 3:2.
We seek to continue to be a prophetic voice in our generation, a prophetic voice for the world, and for the global Church speaking biblical truth and calling for biblical action, he said.
Home News Ballot measures could remove same-sex marriage bans from state constitutions
Voters in several states are slated to weigh in on ballot measures that would repeal unenforceable same-sex marriage bans in their respective state constitutions as the 2024 election approaches.
While referendums that would establish a right to abortion or implement pro-life protections are appearing on the ballot in 10 states, the results of several additional ballot measures will also send messages about Americans' views on social policy.
Prior to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that established a right to same-sex marriage, voters in several states supported constitutional amendments establishing a definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
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Nearly a decade after the Obergefell decision that rendered the voter-approved same-sex marriage bans unenforceable, voters in three states will decide the fate of ballot measures that would remove constitutional language upholding the traditional definition of marriage.
California
In California, where voters narrowly approved a same-sex marriage ban in 2008, Proposition 3 seeks to remove language from the state constitution that reads: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
If Proposition 3 is passed by voters, the California Constitution would be amended to read, "The right to marry is a fundamental right." Additionally, new language would be inserted describing "the right to marry" as consistent with "the inalienable rights to enjoy life and liberty and to pursue and obtain safety, happiness and privacy" as well as "the rights to due process and equal protection."
A poll of 1,071 likely voters conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California from Aug. 29-Sept. 9 found that 68% of respondents planned to support Proposition 3 while 31% intended to vote against it.
A survey of 1,416 voters conducted by the University of California Dornsife, the USC's Price Center for Urban Politics and Policy, California State University Long Beach and the California State Polytechnic University Pomona in January measured support for Proposition 3 at 73% while pegging opposition at 20%.
Colorado
In Colorado, where voters approved a same-sex marriage ban in 2006, Amendment J will appear on the ballot.
If passed, Amendment J would ensure the removal of constitutional language stating that "Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state" without adding any new language to the state constitution.
Hawaii
Voters in Hawaii will decide whether to approve or reject a ballot measure that would repeal Article I, Section 23 of the Hawaii Constitution, which reads, "the legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite sex couples."
Hawaii voters approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in 1998.
The push to pass language formally repealing unenforceable same-sex marriage bans from state constitutions comes amid concerns that the U.S. Supreme Court could revisit the Obergefell decision.
These concerns stem from a concurring opinion written by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision.
In his concurring opinion, Thomas condemned the idea of substantive process, often used as a legal justification for establishing the right to abortion that Dobbs overturned, as "legal fiction." He suggested that the justices should "reconsider all of this Court's previous due process precedents," including Obergefell, while expressing openness to examining whether "other constitutional provisions guarantee the myriad rights that our substantive due process cases have generated," including same-sex marriage.
President Joe Biden has signed into law a measure codifying the Obergefell decision into federal law, which makes efforts to repeal unenforceable same-sex marriage bans at the state level largely symbolic.
September 24, 2024: Since 2012 Syria has been in turmoil, dealing with a civil war, Islamic terrorism, and Iranian efforts to launch attacks on Israel. Because of the threats coming from this region, Israel regularly carries out airstrikes on Syrian targets deemed a threat to Israel. In 2023 there were only three such airstrikes, all against Iranian weapons recently moved to Syria for use against Israel. This year there have been more airstrikes so far (as of August 2024) because of increased Iranian efforts to deliver guided missiles and guidance kits for unguided rockets already in Syria or Lebanon.
The degree of chaos in Syria can be monitored several different ways. One of the most useful is the annual Transparency International surveys of worldwide corruption. The corruption is measured on a 1 (most corrupt) to 100 (not corrupt) scale. The nations with the worst score are currently Syria (score of 14), South Sudan (12) and Somalia (12). As of 2023 the least corrupt nations were Denmark and New Zealand, each with a score of 88. Syria has had the worst corruption problem in the world for over a decade. Because of that Syria is less of a country than a war zone where Iranians, Americans, Russians, Israelis, and Turks battle real or perceived threats coming from Syria.
And then there is Lebanon, the Syrian neighbor that shares the chaos and violence present in Syria. Iran continues to have problems in Lebanon where its Shia Arab Hezbollah militia is currently having a difficult time. This is because of all the Sunni Arab Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The Lebanese government has been expelling Syrian Sunni Arab refugees. The nearly two million Sunni Arab Syrians that fled to Lebanon since 2012 radically changed the demography of Lebanon. Before 2011 the Lebanese population was only five million. Since nearly all those refugees are Sunni Moslems, it changed the religious mix of Lebanon from 27 percent Shia, 27 percent Sunni, and 46 percent other religions, mainly Christian, to a more volatile combination. With the refugee influx there were now seven million people in Lebanon and 47 percent were Sunni, 19 percent Shia and 34 percent others. This put the Iran-backed Shia Hezbollah militia in a bad situation. Their better armed and trained fighters have been able to dominate the other minorities since the 1980s. That was possible because of Iranian cash, weapons and advisors. But the Iranian help and better organization is no longer enough when the Sunnis are nearly half the population and out for blood because of the slaughter the Iran-backed Shia Syrian government inflicted on Syrian Sunnis. Not to mention that Iranian financial support has largely disappeared because the Iranian economy has been heavily sanctioned for decades and has exhausted all its cash reserves.
Lebanon does not want another civil war over this and it was becoming difficult to contain the anger. Hezbollah and Iran have had some success attracting non-Shia factions, especially Christians, to be part of the Shia coalition. This is traditional Lebanese politics, with the Christians surviving by forming a coalition with non-Christian groups. Now even these Christian factions are backing away from Hezbollah. The recent Israeli attacks on Hezbollah personnel with exploding pagers and portable radios, in addition to airstrikes, have killed or wounded thousands of Hezbollah members and left them unable to communicate effectively. The Iran-backed Shia Hezbollah is no longer a threat to Israel or the Lebanese government and people. This is especially true for the majority of Lebanese who are not Shia. Many are Christians, a group that Iran ordered Hezbollah to persecute at every opportunity.
By 2023 Lebanon felt itself capable of dealing with the refugee crisis, especially since large-scale violence in Syria has largely disappeared. During the Syrian war some 5.5 million Syrians fled to neighboring countries. Turkey has 3.6 million, Lebanon two million and there are 250,000 in Iraq. There are also several million Syrians in Saudi Arabia, who are considered part of the more than six million expatriate workforce. About a third of those workers are Syrians. While many fled to Saudi Arabia because of the war in Syria, they were not treated like refugees and have jobs and status in Saudi Arabia.
Countries bordering Syria want their refugees to go home. That cannot happen without the cooperation of the Syrian Assad government. Syria needs a lot of those refugees to revive the economy and the Arab League is willing to allow Syria to rejoin if they reduce their cooperation with Iran. That has always been a dangerous option for the Assads because the Iranians have enough armed operatives inside Syria to threaten the lives of key Assad clan members. Currently, Iranian power is unusually weak inside Iran and inside Syria. Now is a good time for the Assads to make a break from Iran, especially since with the support of the Arab League and assurances that the League will help, not hinder their use of force to maintain their rule in Syria. The Arab League looks after its members and Syria recently rejoined the Arab League. Turkey does not belong to the Arab League but is eager to send its Syrian refugees home. The Assad offer is acceptable if it will finally get those Syrians out of Turkey.
Israel remains involved in Syria because Iran has established a presence in Syria. The Iranians are there to carry out attacks on Israel. That effort generates a lot of frustration for the Iranians. The Israelis also regularly hit Iranian bases in Syria with airstrikes and occasional commando raids. Israel considers Syria and Lebanon a chaotic region where no one is really in control. That means Iranian cash and weapons can purchase enough cooperation to establish bases for attacks on Israeli
Israeli air strikes are often at locations near the Syrian capital Damascus. Iran prefers to ship its weapons via Damascus because of the large airport outside the city and lots of warehouses to store weapons awaiting eventual movement into Lebanon. The Israeli airstrikes regularly hits Iranian military and IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Corps) technicians teaching Hezbollah personnel how to use new types of guided missiles. Israel is generally successful in detecting and launching airstrikes on Iranian weapons shipments into Syria or moving through Syria to Lebanon. Iranian technology transfers to Syria or Hezbollah are more difficult to detect, which is why Israel launches air strikes in Syria against any site where new Iranian tech is being installed. Syria has several military bases where such work is carried out and Israel attacks these bases whenever they suspect something is going on.
The ruling Assad clan of Syria chose peace over religion in 2021 by quietly abandoning long-time ally Iran for new deals with Russia and the Arab League, as well as Israel. Thats how the Assads, who belong to the Shia minority of Syria, have survived; by changing alliances when necessary. This most recent shift began after the 2011 rebellion of the Sunni majority against the Shia minority. The Assads almost lost but by late 2018 it was clear they had won. The fighting persisted into 2024 because the main participants, like Russia, Turkey, Iran, the Assad government and several remaining rebel factions cannot agree on how to deal with the loose ends. Although initially considered likely to win, the rebels lost because of factionalism. So far over 500,000 have died and a third of the population has fled, mainly to Turkey and Lebanon. Meanwhile the Assads received over $16 billion worth of Iranian aid since 2012. That was joined by assistance from Russia (2015) and Turkey (2016).
The civil war also morphed into a proxy war between Iran and the Sunni Arab states and their Western allies. The major factor in the rebel defeat was ISIL, which began as one of many Sunni Arab Islamic terror groups, but mainly al Qaeda and ISIL, who wanted to turn Syria into a religious dictatorship. Most Syrians just wanted peace and prosperity. The Islamic terror groups, as was their custom, put a priority on determining which of them was the true savior of Islam. ISIL was definitely the most ruthless and best organized and many groups submitted to ISIL, if only temporarily. That weakened the rebel effort sufficiently for the Assads to hang on and become part of a larger anti-ISIL coalition. One thing everyone could agree on was that ISIL had to be destroyed first and by late 2017 that was accomplished. With ISIL reduced to small groups carrying out terror attacks, the remaining rebels were still not united. At the time ISIL was crushed the rebels controlled about a third of the country but were outnumbered by the Assad forces and most Syrians were increasingly war weary. Most of the deaths occurred after 2013. The killing diminished a bit in 2015 because of sheer exhaustion and picked up again in 2016 because of the Russian air and other support.
The stubborn Assad dictatorship had a chance to win after 2015, something some Western nations saw as preferable to Islamic terrorists taking over and requiring a Western invasion to remove such a threat. In August 2016 Turkish ground forces entered northern Syria to seal the border from ISIL and Turkish separatist PKK Kurds as well as to weaken the Syrian Kurds. The Turks were basically helping the Assads and hurting ISIL, and all that made an Assad victory more likely. Before the Assads could resume control of the country they had to deal with the fact that Israel, Jordan and the Sunni Arab oil states are opposed to the Iranian effort to establish a permanent military presence in Syria. The Assads were not happy with Iranian domination but had to keep quiet about that.
Turkey was opposed to any autonomous Syrian Kurdish area in the northeast as well as a permanent Iranian presence. Turkey and Russia are technically allies of Iran in Syria but the reality is that no one trusts Iran. The Russians have quietly made it clear they would side with Israel if it came down to that. The Turks are NATO members and traditional foes of Russia and Iran. The current Turkish government is unstable and increasingly unpopular with Turks as well as the neighbors. The recent unrest in Iran and its growing financial problems have reduced Iranian efforts in Syria. The Assads quietly patched things up with the Arab League, with help from Russia and, unexpectedly, Israel. At this point Iranian leaders were aware of what the Assads were going but were unsure of how to deal with it. Iran could probably kill the Assads, but that would be difficult because the key Assads tend to avoid joint meetings, the better to keep the clan alive, even if some key members get killed. This is how Middle Eastern politics has been conducted for thousands of years.
Sexual Revolution Harms At Lausanne 4, UMC Against Christian Nationalism, Judge Calls Trump Racist
link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 06:32 06:32
Top headlines for Wednesday, September 25, 2024
In this episode, we delve into a burgeoning legal debate as a religious liberty lawyer highlights a concerning trend in lower courts bypassing Supreme Court Free Exercise protections. We then turn to Rev. Canon Vaughan Roberts' advice to Christians on navigating the repercussions of the sexual revolution, delivered at Lausanne 4 in Korea. Additionally, we discuss the United Methodist Church's strong stance against Christian nationalism, condemning it as contrary to God's love. Lastly, we explore powerful remarks from a Louisiana appellate court judge, who passionately argues that combating racism in America may require courageous leadership from within the Black community.
Home Opinion A call for an objective understanding of Christianity in a relativistic age
In an era where self-help gurus and pop psychology often masquerade as spiritual or biblical wisdom, it's high time we, as Christians, take a hard look at what we believe and why. Are we living out an objective, authentic, transformative faith, or have we settled for a watered-down, feel-good version of Christianity that's more about subjective self-actualization than submission to Christ?
The Apostle Paul's words in Romans 12:2 ring truer than ever: Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This isn't a call for mere self-improvement or positive thinking. It's a radical summons to complete change in thinking, anchored in the unchanging truth of God's Word.
There are too many famous voices that add confusion to what it means to be a Christian. Earlier this year, atheist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins confessed in an interview he identifies as a cultural Christian in response to the news that Ramadan lights were hung in the UK, rather than Easter decorations. I can appreciate Dawkins' understanding that not all cultures are equal and that the values behind different world religions have consequences. Still, we must be clear that Christianity is not a superficial and subjective cultural practice or preference.
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Similarly, in a recent article, cultural commentator Larry Taunton offered a critical analysis of another secular voice on Christianity, Jordan Peterson. Taunton points out a fundamental misunderstanding in Peterson's approach to religion, one that exemplifies the danger of relativistic thinking in matters of faith that is sadly too common even among those that call themselves Christians: Perhaps nothing reveals Peterson's ignorance of the Bible so much as his assumption that Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all worshipers of the same God and just need to get along. This, of course, is nonsense given the fact that each says very different things about who God is. We should add Pope Francis to the list of voices confused about the nature of Christianity: All religions are paths to God. I will use an analogy, they are like different languages that express the divine.
Jesus Himself rejected this pluralism when he said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Let's face it: we're swimming in a sea of moral and cultural relativism, where truth is whatever feels right to the individual, or worst, unknowable. But as C.S. Lewis astutely pointed out, the very fact that we argue about morality presupposes an objective standard. We innately recognize a universal moral law, one that transcends culture and personal preference. This isn't just instinct or social convention; it's evidence of a higher Mind behind the universe the God who created us and instilled in us a sense of right and wrong.
But here's where many Christians get it wrong: recognizing this objective moral law isn't enough. Trying to live up to it through our own efforts isn't Christianity it's moralism or legalism. Authentic Christianity begins with the humbling realization that we can never meet God's perfect standard on our own. It's about placing our complete trust in Jesus Christ's death on the cross and resurrection as the only means of restoring our relationship with God.
This isn't a one-time decision that leaves us unchanged. True faith in Christ kickstarts an ongoing process of transformation. It's not about unlocking your hidden potential or becoming your best self. It's about becoming a new creature in Christ, as Lewis put it. This renewal touches every aspect of our being our thoughts, our desires, our actions.
Too often, we've replaced this radical, life-altering faith with a gnostic, feelings-based spirituality or a checklist of good deeds. We've traded the hard truth of our sinful nature and need for redemption for a softer, more palatable message of self-fulfillment. But this isn't the Christianity of the Bible or of the historical church. It's a modern invention that leaves us spiritually malnourished, and emotionally empty.
So, what does authentic Christianity look like in practice? It starts with a commitment to deep, honest study of Scripture, together in community with other Christ followers. We need to grapple with the uncomfortable truths about our human condition and Gods holiness. It requires continual self-evaluation, measuring ourselves not against societal norms or our own feelings, but against the perfect standard of Christ. And the best way to do this is together with others pursuing the same goal of rejecting conformity and pursuing renewing of the mind.
Authentic Christianity manifests in a life increasingly marked by the fruit of the Spirit as defined by the Bible, not modern culture love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But make no mistake: these aren't achieved through self-help techniques or positive affirmations. These are not feel-good emotions; theyre objective values that should influence and transform every choice and decision you make. They're the result of Gods transforming grace working in us as we submit ourselves to Him.
As we pursue this coherent, authentic Christianity, well find ourselves increasingly at odds with the pattern of this world. We'll be called narrow-minded for believing in absolute truth. We'll be labeled intolerant for holding to biblical objective morality. But we must remember that our calling isn't to fit in or to make Christianity palatable to the masses. Our calling is to be transformed and to play our part in God's redemptive, restorative work in the world.
So, lets reject the counterfeits of faith that promise much but deliver little. Lets embrace the full, challenging, life-changing reality of authentic, objective Christianity. It's time to renew our minds, to test and approve God's will, and to live as true disciples of Jesus Christ. The world doesnt need more nice people doing good things. It needs Christians who have been radically transformed by the power of the gospel, living as salt and light in a dark and decaying world.
The choice is yours: Will you settle for a comfortable, culturally acceptable version of Christianity? Or will you pursue the coherent, authentic Christianity that has the power to change not just your life, but the world around you?
Home Opinion Did celebrity chef Guy Fieri receive communication from the dead?
The death of a loved one often produces intense grief, as celebrity chef Guy Fieri experienced when his father passed away in January. "It screwed me up ... a few days of, 'I don't want to talk to anybody. I don't want to see anybody, just leave me alone," Fieri said.
Imagine Fieri's surprise when a friend who is a medium told him, "Your dad is blowing me up ... Your dad is all over me about you. He just wants you to know he's..." The medium began sharing information that "nobody in the world" would have known other than Guy and his family. "I mean it is goosebump city what I'm telling you," Fieri explained.
Did this celebrity chef actually receive communication from his deceased father? And is such a thing even possible?
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In order to learn about what happens after death, we must turn to our Creator and His inspired Word. While the realm beyond the grave holds many mysteries, there are certain aspects surrounding death that God has clearly addressed in Scripture.
For example, God forbids His people from consulting with mediums who claim to communicate with the dead. The Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy ... Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.'" (Leviticus 19:1,31)
God commanded His people: "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 18:10-13).
Each one of these occult practices invites the presence of demons into your life, even if you are merely dabbling with the occult out of sadness, curiosity, or the genuine desire to help others.
The biblical teaching about mediums in no way calls into question Guy Fieri's deep love for his father, or Guy's genuine desire to receive communication from his father through the medium. Many people have attempted something similar after the death of a loved one. But what most people do not realize is that demons can impersonate those who have died as they attempt to lure those who grieve into occult activities. And when a person takes the bait, the demons gain significant access to that person's life. The devil and his demons are always scheming in an effort to control people and lead them astray.
Elizabeth Smith worked as a psychic medium for over a decade. Elizabeth "would sit in a darkened room with other mediums in a seance and allow spirits to possess her body. 'We believed we served the 'light' and brought healing to people and the Earth,' she says until she discovered the dark side, and realized Jesus is the only way, the truth, and the life."
Like every other psychic medium on the planet, Elizabeth had been deceived by evil spirits. "In my ignorance, I never considered myself to be a witch or an agent of the devil...in February of 2020, Jesus opened my eyes to the deception I was under." "I was like the man in the cave in Luke 8:26 full of demons! Because of His amazing grace, Jesus set me free, gave me a new life, and an identity in Him. Jesus comes after the one who is lost."
In similar fashion, Jenn Nizza is an ex-psychic who "spent years doing readings and communicating with what she believed were the dead loved ones of her clients - until she had an encounter with Jesus that changed everything." She said, "There is no good spirit talking to a psychic ... They masquerade as your deceased loved ones." Scripture reveals that "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14).
As a former medium, Jenn Nizza believed she was "communicating with the dead, but now acknowledges the spirits she once channeled were demonic." Jenn said, "When I was 36, I first cried out to Jesus. I was at the lowest of the low, the lowest moments of my life one of the darkest moments ... my soul, my spirit, knew to cry out to Jesus. I needed Him ... the Gospel is what saves."
Interestingly, Nizza felt that as a psychic she was actually helping people through her "abilities." "While many Christians might assume these individuals have diabolical plans, most believe they're assisting others." Guy Fieri's friend is presumably seeking to help people while claiming to receive messages from deceased loved ones. In reality, the voices he hears and the messages he receives are actually demons pretending to be someone's deceased family member.
As for deceased people themselves, it is clear in Scripture that people on Earth cannot communicate with those in Heaven or Hell, no matter how badly a person may wish to do so. Demons plot to exploit those who grieve by coaxing mourners to seek communication from the dead.
Meanwhile, the Lord's position on this dangerous occult practice is unequivocal: "I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people" (Leviticus 20:6).
Home Opinion Georgia abortion death: What's missing in the outrage, political rhetoric
My home state of Georgia has been at the center of a coordinated media tidal wave of more than 1,000 articles within 24 hours coast to coast about a young mothers death following a chemical abortion.
While Georgia Right to Life was saddened to learn of Amber Thurmans tragic death, the circumstances have been hijacked by high-profile politicians and misused to suggest that Georgia law is to blame because it prevents women from receiving the life-saving treatment they need once they have taken the abortion pill.
The LIFE Act in no way prohibits a dilation and curettage (D&C) when a preborn child has died in the womb. The Life Act outlaws the act of using, prescribing, or administering any instrument, substance, device, or other means with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy with knowledge that termination will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of an unborn child. Amber Thurman entered the emergency room with deceased twin babies. A D&C procedure would not have caused the death of the pre-born twins, as they were already deceased. The Life Act only prohibits a D&C if it is carried out to take the life of a pre-born baby after a detectable heartbeat.
What is missing from the outrage and political rhetoric are the numerous dangers associated with the chemical abortion pill. The chemical pill abortion is a two-pill regimen that allows women to abort their children often in the privacy of their own homes. The unsupervised process takes days and is deadly for both the baby and the mother. What is happening is the average household bathroom has become an abortion clinic. The ability to receive pills in the mail or the use of telemedicine has resulted in thousands of Georgia women and beyond experiencing one of the most horrific physical traumas they will ever have in their lifetime.
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In fact, the FDAs label for these pills states that 1 in 25 women will visit the emergency room after ingesting the first pill. The first pill is Mifepristone, which blocks the progesterone hormone necessary for the survival of the baby, thus killing the baby. The second pill, which is taken one to two days later, is Misoprostol. Misoprostol is what causes the woman to go into labor, thus expelling the dead body of her baby. Amber Thurman ingested both pills, resulting in the deaths of her twin babies, but suffered severe complications because the deceased bodies of her twin babies were not fully expelled from her body. Amber Thurman, like many women who have taken these pills, was rushed to the emergency room.
While pro-abortion advocates seek to blame Georgia law for Ambers death, the reality is that chemical and surgical abortions are dangerous, life-threatening, and clearly more catastrophic than the statement that abortion pills are safer than Tylenol. The pre-born child experiences certain death, and the mother has to manage physical, emotional, and psychological distress many times for the rest of her life.
It is highly troubling that this one-way dialogue skips the real bombshell abortion has led to the deaths of more than 63 million innocent lives and counting, including 20 million black babies since 1973. The only way to end such devastation, horror, and irreparable harm or death for women and preborn children is to constitutionally recognize the sanctity of all innocent human life. How many deaths will it take for life to be valued, cherished and protected?
Home News Abducted in 1951 at age 6, man found alive by niece 7 decades later
Luis Armando Albino was 6 when a woman abducted him in 1951 while he was playing at a park in California with his older brother, only reuniting with his family seven decades later thanks to the determination of his 63-year-old niece.
Albino, now a retired firefighter, grandfather and Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam, was missing for over 70 years but his family never forgot him. The man's relatives kept photos of him, and while his mother passed away in 2005 before she could see him again, she never lost hope that her son was still alive.
As The Mercury News reported Friday, Alida Alequin is the retired firefighter's 63-year-old niece. Alequin started to suspect that her uncle was alive in 2020 after she took an online DNA test "just for fun." The test showed that she had a 22% match with the man who turned out to be her uncle.
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According to a 1966 Oakland Tribune article, Alequin's uncle went missing in February 1951 after a woman abducted him from the West Oakland park where he had been playing with his older brother. The woman spoke Spanish to the 6-year-old Puerto Rico-born boy and lured him into her car by promising that she would buy him candy.
After kidnapping the boy from the park, the woman flew him to the East Coast, where he ended up in the care of a couple who raised him as if he was their own, according to The Mercury News. Investigators interviewed Albino's brother Roger, who witnessed the abduction, several times after the boy's disappearance, but the older sibling could only tell them that a woman wearing a bandana had taken his brother.
Flash forward to 2024, when Alequin and her daughters continued to search for their missing relative. During a visit to the Oakland Public Library, Albino's niece looked through a microfilm of old Oakland Tribune articles reporting the kidnapping. One of the articles featured a picture of her uncle and his brother Roger, and Alequin went to the Oakland police with this information.
After receiving the new lead, investigators opened a new missing persons case. While the missing persons case is closed now that Albino has been found, the police and FBI consider the kidnapping a still-open investigation.
On June 20, investigators informed Alequin and her mother, Albino's sister, that they had found their missing relative on the East Coast after the two siblings had performed DNA tests that revealed a match. A few days later, the FBI arranged for Albino to visit Oakland and see his family.
"In my heart I knew it was him, and when I got the confirmation, I let out a big 'YES!'" Alequin said.
"We didn't start crying until after the investigators left," she added. "I grabbed my mom's hands and said, 'We found him.' I was ecstatic."
According to the Oakland police, Alequin's efforts to find her uncle "played an integral role" in finding him, adding that "the outcome of this story is what we strive for." When Albino saw his niece, according to The Mercury News, the man embraced her and said, "Thank you for finding me," kissing her on the cheek.
During the visit with her newfound uncle, Alequin drove him and her mother to the home of Albino's brother Roger in Stanislaus County, California. Recalling the visit, Alequin said that the two brothers "grabbed each other and had a really tight, long hug."
"They sat down and just talked," Alequin noted. Her uncle went back to the East Coast but returned to California in July for a three-week visit, which would be the last time he saw Roger alive. In August, Albino's brother passed away, but Alequin believes that he died "happily."
"He was at peace with himself, knowing that his brother was found," she said. "I was just so happy I was able to do this for him and bring him closure and peace."
Albino does not wish to talk to the media at the moment, according to his niece. As for his memories of the abduction, Albino vaguely recalled being kidnapped and taken across the country, but the adults in his life never explained the situation to him.
Home News Biden admin. sued for records of Rachel Levine pushing to remove trans surgery age limits
A watchdog group is suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for all records of communications of Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine following a report that the trans-identified official's team pressured an international medical group to remove age limits for body-mutilating gender surgeries and other life-altering interventions.
The conservative nonprofit group Judicial Watch announced Friday that it had filed the lawsuit earlier this month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the HHS did not respond in a timely manner to a July Freedom of Information Act request.
According to the filing, the FOIA request sought records of all communications to and from HHS Assistant Secretary Levine discussing the removal of proposed limits for surgical gender interventions in the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's 2022 Standards of Care.
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After the group published its Standards of Care, media outlets noticed that it had removed a section on the minimum age requirements for children to obtain puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or undergo body-altering surgeries.
In June, The New York Times shared the excerpts exchanged between Levine's staff and WPATH, which indicated that the HHS official was in favor of removing age limits on interventions for gender dysphoric minors, fearing they could leave doctors subject to lawsuits. The excerpts were part of legal filings in a federal lawsuit challenging Alabama's ban on gender surgeries and hormonal drugs for children.
"Biden-Harris appointee Admiral Levine, who abused power and is notorious for promoting transgender extremist policies, promoted mutilating surgeries for minors," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in the announcement.
"It is no wonder the Biden-Harris administration wants to cover this up with unlawful secrecy. Judicial Watch's lawsuit to expose the truth is urgently needed to protect children."
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment.
According to a June 24 Alabama court filing cited by Judicial Watch, Levine feared that WPATH, including age limits in its Standards of Care, could make it harder for youth to undergo things like sex-change surgeries.
Psychologist Dr. James Cantor, who provided expert witness testimony during the proceedings, argued that Levine influenced the guidelines based on "political goals rather than science."
"Specifically, Assistant Secretary Levine, through a staff member, pressured WPATH to remove recommended minimum ages for medical transition treatments from SOC-8," Cantor said.
"As a result of this additional pressure, on top of that from Assistant Secretary Levine, WPATH capitulated and removed the text in violation of its own process despite the preference of its own committee members to retain the age limits."
In response to The New York Times report, federal officials initially told the outlet that the Biden administration opposed such surgeries for minors; however, the officials did not clarify if the administration also opposed prescribing children puberty blockers and opposite-sex hormones.
Following pushback from LGBT activist groups, the administration issued another clarification. The LGBT activist group Human Rights Campaign had led a coalition letter demanding that the Biden administration reaffirm its support for trans surgeries for minors.
In an email obtained by The Advocate in July, Neera Tanden, the director for Biden's Domestic Policy Council, told the LGBT activist group that the Biden administration would continue to oppose federal and state laws against what Tanden described as "gender-affirming care."
"Gender-affirming surgeries are typically reserved for adults, and we believe they should be," Tanden stated. "Above all, families should have the freedom to make the medical decisions that they and their doctors determine are best for them which is why we oppose attempts to limit healthcare for transgender individuals in the courts or through legislation."
Home News IRS urged to revoke tax-exempt status of Billy Graham org over electioneering
A prominent secular legal organization has asked the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax-exempt status of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association over alleged violation of election law.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates for a strict separation of church and state, sent a request to the IRS last week regarding a special edition of the BGEA's Decision magazine that compares the two major party presidential candidates.
According to FFRF, the magazine labels Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris an advocate of "socialism" while Republican former President Donald Trump is labeled a supporter of "freedom."
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The group alleges that the BGEA magazine has "a cherry-picked comparison between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump intended to encourage readers to vote for Donald Trump over Kamala Harris."
"It evidences a clear bias and preference for Donald Trump and Republicans in the upcoming elections and is distributed for the purpose of intervening in these elections," stated the FFRF.
The FFRF accuses the BGEA of violating the Internal Revenue Code's prohibition on nonprofit groups taking part "in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office."
"In this instance, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has breached the responsibilities of its tax exempt status by publishing an election guide that gives the clear impression that it favors one candidate over the other and one party over the other," continued the secular group.
"The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is engaging in a blatant violation of its tax-exempt status," said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor in a statement on Monday. "The IRS can't permit it to engage in such open electioneering."
The Christian Post reached out to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association for this story, with a spokesperson emailing a statement from BGEA President and CEO Franklin Graham, the son of the organization's namesake, the late evangelist Billy Graham.
"This isn't the first time we've been attacked by this activist group, and it won't be the last. I don't tell people who to vote for, but I do encourage Christians to pray and vote," stated Graham.
"I believe we have a responsibility to help people understand where former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris stand on Biblical issues and religious freedom."
Graham went on to state that there was "nothing illegal about encouraging believers to vote for the candidate who best aligns with and stands for Biblical principles."
"Every other group of people in this country has the right to do this Christians shouldn't be the one group denied that same right," he concluded.
In 2012, the FFRF filed a similar complaint with the IRS against BGEA over a "vote biblical values" ad campaign and other publications from the time that the atheist group claimed were too favorable to then-Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.
For their part, the BGEA provided CP with an official statement at the time in which they defended the "vote biblical values" ads as being in step with federal law on electioneering.
"The ads intentionally do not mention any candidate, political party, or contest, urging instead for readers to cast votes for candidates-at all levels-based on their support for biblical values," read the 2012 statement.
The FFRF's latest complaint against the BGEA comes as Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance and his wife Usha visited the graves of Billy Graham and his wife, Ruth, at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina, Monday.
Home News School board meeting gets heated after member says Jews choose to be white
A debate over whether a Pennsylvania school district should revise its diversity, equity and inclusion policies to better protect Jewish students intensified after board members argued that Jews do not experience the same level of oppression as people of color, citing that Jewish individuals can "pass" as white.
The Lower Merion School Board met on Sept. 6 to discuss changes to the district's Equity Policy to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year banning race-conscious admission programs at colleges and universities. Following the ruling, K-12 schools have analyzed how the decision may impact their policies that focus on diversity and equity.
During the meeting, a debate ensued after one board member, Abby Lerner Rubin, said that she felt the district's DEI policy was exclusionary. Rubin raised concerns about the rise in antisemitism and whether the district's DEI policies would protect Jews.
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Another board member, Kimberley Garrison, disagreed with Rubin, adding that though she understood Jewish history, "There was a time before Jewish people decided to join the group of white people."
After Rubin said Garrison's statement was untrue and requested that she take it back, the board member insisted that she was not wrong. While Rubin continued to insist that the board member's statement was false, Garrison argued that 99% of Jewish people in the United States identify as white.
"Every group, the Irish at one point, were considered an 'other,'" Garrison said. "The Italians, when they came to this country also. But eventually, everyone of Western European descent; that's the group that they're in."
Another board member who pushed back against Rubin was Anna Shurak, who is Jewish. Shurak stated that Jews do not face the same level of discrimination as people of color because a Jewish person can conceal their identity and pass as white.
"The point is, as a white person, no one can immediately discriminate against you for being Jewish," she said.
In response to an inquiry from The Christian Post, a spokesperson for the district said that the Lower Merion Board of School Directors approved changes to the equity policy per the recommendation of the District's solicitor and Policy Committee.
"The Board asked the Policy Committee to review the glossary currently included in the Policy to determine whether it should be edited and/or relocated to the Administrative Regulations," the spokesperson stated. "At this time, Ms. Garrison continues to serve on the Lower Merion Board of School Directors, a position to which she was elected."
"At this time, Ms. Shurak continues to serve on the Lower Merion Board of School Directors, a position to which she was elected," the spokesperson confirmed.
Following the Sept 6. meeting, School Board President Kerry Sautner issued a Sept. 13 statement to the Delaware Valley Journey apologizing for what occurred. The board president acknowledged that the conversation at the meeting became "unhealthy and damaging with antisemitic statements and racist implications."
"This was a painful reminder that LMSD is not immune to the struggles affecting our country and our world," Saunter stated. "Since that meeting, on social media and in correspondence, we have seen continued insults and harmful behaviors among neighbors. This ongoing pain underscores the need for us all to engage in conversations with greater humility, understanding, and respect."
During a Sept. 16 board meeting, Saunter began by apologizing for the previous conversation at the Policy Committee meeting earlier this month. Saunter promised that the board would participate in trainings on antiracism and antisemitism, in addition to opening themselves up to conversations with the community on these topics.
Garrison read a statement of her own during last Monday's meeting, insisting that she is not antisemitic and that she, alongside Shurak, had made "objective statements of the demographics of the Jewish population in the United States." The board member declared that labeling her antisemitic is "untrue" and "defamatory."
"Especially as a black woman, to call me such is to weaponize the term in order to stop any authentic, constructive dialogue and to intimidate me into silence," Garrison said.
David Caroline, a community member who spoke after the floor was opened for public comments, told Garrison he was sorry to hear that she and her family had faced threats following the board member's comments. Caroline declared that these types of threats were "despicable," adding that Garrison deserved more respect due to her role as a public servant.
"But I do want to ask: How does it help our kids, or for that matter, how does it advance the goals of equity to double down on your claims that were hurtful to so many people that Jews 'choose' to be white?" Caroline asked.
Even if Garrison supposedly had sources to support her claim, the community member asked why the board member believed it was helpful to tell a group of people how they should identify themselves. Caroline urged the board member to reach out to Jewish organizations or the NAACP so she can understand why what she said is "hurtful."
"I admire your strength and self-respect, but I ask you to ask yourself, 'What are you modeling for our children by refusing to listen to the hurt of other people?" he asked.
Caroline also urged Garrison to understand concerns about the district's DEI policy, which has done "amazing" things for people. However, the community member stated that DEI has "unwittingly become the vehicle for anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric and actions."
Lausanne amends Seoul Statement sections on homosexuality after criticism
After releasing the Seoul Statement just before the start of the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization held in Incheon, Korea from September 22 to 28, the document's editorial team adjusted two paragraphs that speak to the issue of the Church's response to homosexuality. A spokesperson commented that more minor changes are possible.
In the first of the two paragraphs, the new version changed the wording that spoke of "many churches" and instead now simply refers to "Christian communities". It also removed references to "ignorance and prejudice", "discrimination and injustice" and "harm", while maintaining the need for repentance for shortcomings in some churches that have not treated brothers and sisters in Christ who are same-sex attracted with love.
Paragraph 69 as released on September 22:
"We recognise that a number of people, both within and outside the church, experience same-sex attraction, and that for some, this is the only or dominant attraction. The biblical insistence that Christians must resist temptation and so maintain sexual holiness, in both desire and behaviour, applies equally to heterosexually attracted individuals as it does to same-sex attracted persons. We acknowledge, however, that Christians who are same-sex attracted face challenges in many local churches due to ignorance and prejudice, and have consequently suffered discrimination and injustice within Christian communities. We repent of our failures and lament the harm this has done to our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ."
New version of paragraph 69:
"We recognise that a number of people, both within and outside the church, experience same-sex attraction, and that for some, this is the only or dominant attraction. The biblical insistence that Christians must resist temptation and so maintain sexual holiness, in both desire and behaviour, applies equally to heterosexually attracted individuals as it does to same-sex attracted persons. We acknowledge, however, that Christians who are same-sex attracted face challenges even in Christian communities. We repent of our lack of love towards our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ."
Meanwhile, only a single word was changed in paragraph 70 where the new version removed
"faithful" when referring to believers who experience same-sex attraction.
Paragraph 70 as released on September 22:
We urge Christian leaders and local churches to recognise within our communities the presence of faithful believers who experience same-sex attraction, and to support them in their discipleship by pastoral care and by developing healthy communities of love and friendship.
New version of paragraph 70:
We urge Christian leaders and local churches to recognise within our communities the presence of believers who experience same-sex attraction, and to support them in their discipleship by pastoral care and by developing healthy communities of love and friendship.
Christian Daily Korea reported that there were reactions from the religious community in Korea regarding the paragraphs in question, saying "some local churches or Christian communities may have done wrong to homosexuals, but this presents it as if many local churches and Christian communities did wrong, even though most local churches and Christian communities did not."
However, asked by Christian Daily International about the change during Tuesday's press conference, Lausanne's spokesperson said the edit was in fact meant to be made before the release of the Seoul statement, calling it "an oversight". He also added that "the adjustment was not significant."
'Like any editorial process, there may be changes'
The release of the Seoul Statement before rather than after the event raised questions from some participants who said they were somewhat taken by surprise. Concerns included the timing of the release mere hours before the event kicked off, which didn't give participants sufficient time to study the 20-page document with 97 paragraphs.
It was also not immediately clear how the feedback that will emerge from the discussions and interactions of the thousands of participants of the Congress would be processed, so that they feel ownership of the document, which due to its name will likely be regarded by the wider public as reflecting the collective view of the Congress.
Likely anticipating these concerns, Program Director David Bennett explained during the first press conference held before the opening ceremony that unlike its predecessors that were published following the event, the statement is meant to "inform and inspire" participants' deliberations throughout the gathering rather than summarize what was discussed.
As earlier reported by Christian Daily International, Bennett emphasized that the purpose of the Seoul Statement is not to be a new stand-alone response to the missional challenges that the global Church is facing today.
Instead, it "stands as part of the larger collection of key documents within the Lausanne Movement, building on the legacy of the Lausanne Covenant, the Manila Manifesto, and the Cape Town Commitment. It is designed not to replace, but to complement these foundational documents, providing fresh insights into contemporary theological and missional challenges."
Lausanne's spokesperson added in his comments regarding the adjustments that there are broader conversations about issues that are of specific concern to the Korean Church, and that he would therefore "anticipate that there may be more [changes] but the finality of it is never going to be 'dipped in amber' and called 'done' perhaps."
"It is not the Congress' statement, it is not one of the foundational documents that we are pinning everything on. And so, like in any editorial process, there may be changes, but those changes are not substantive or significant, at least from an editorial perspective."
'Remember there are always people in the room who struggle with this issue'
The issue of human sexuality and the sexual revolution that marks today's secular culture continues to pose a challenge to many pastors and Church leaders who seek to biblically and pastorally respond to those who struggle with their sexual attraction or identity.
During the Congress' Monday evening plenary with the theme Recommitment Calling the Global Church Towards Faithfulness in Word & Deed, Vaughan Roberts, rector at St. Ebbe's Church in Oxford, addressed the issue of homosexuality, stating that it is not according to God's design. But as someone who himself struggled with same-sex attraction, he also challenged Christian leaders to consider how they talk about such topics in public and in the church.
"When we speak about these issues in church, will you always remember that people you're talking about are in the room? Does the tone and manner in which you speak invite them to be honest and open, or does it force them into secret, lonely isolation?" he reminded the thousands of participants.
"So how should we respond to the sexual revolution?" he asked. "We should respond with Christ. Don't just preach morality. Certainly, don't just preach condemnation. Preach and live Christ for the glory of His name."
Christian Daily International
We Are China
Ecological restoration transforms NW Chinas Shaanxi
People's Daily Online) 09:34, September 25, 2024
Aerial photo shows the Houzhenzi Ecological Experimental Forest Farm in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Photo/Zhang Tiangang)
A group of journalists from Chinese central and provincial media recently visited the Houzhenzi Ecological Experimental Forest Farm in Zhouzhi county, in Xi'an city, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
The farm, Xi'an's largest state-owned forest farm, boasts diverse wildlife, including pandas, golden monkeys, takins and sequoias. Serving as a water conservation forest for the Heihe River, it forms a crucial ecological corridor and plays a vital role in protecting the Qinling Mountains' environment.
The journalists conducted interviews and reports in key areas, including the Qinling Mountains, Danjiang River and Maowusu Desert.
(Intern Li Jingyan contributed to this story.)
Media members tour the Houzhenzi Ecological Experimental Forest Farm in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (People's Daily Online/Sun Ting)
Aerial photo shows the Houzhenzi Ecological Experimental Forest Farm in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Photo/Zhang Tiangang)
Aerial photo shows the Houzhenzi Ecological Experimental Forest Farm in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Photo/Liu Zhengliang)
A crescent-shaped lake in the Houzhenzi Ecological Experimental Forest Farm, Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (People's Daily Online/Sun Ting)
Media members tour the Houzhenzi Ecological Experimental Forest Farm in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (People's Daily Online/Sun Ting)
The Thin Strip of Sky view at the Houzhenzi Ecological Experimental Forest Farm in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (People's Daily Online/Sun Ting)
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Hongyu)
September 25, 2024: In July 2024 officials from Russian and North Korea signed agreements for scientific and engineering cooperation regarding missile technology. This announcement was a public acknowledgement of a relationship that long existed covertly. This agreement was Russias way of telling the world that North Korean sales of missiles and other weapons to Russia during the Ukraine War would continue and increase. An examination of the debris from missiles that were used in Ukraine revealed North Korean components.
In Ukraine Russia soon discovered that it did not have an endless supply of missiles. Russia increased production of ballistic and cruise missiles but economic sanctions limited how many they could produce. Russia also has few allies. North Korea and Iran have been helpful but Iran is now at war with Israel and North Korean production facilities are limited. The agreement with Russia involves Russian material and technical assistance to increase North Korean ballistic missile facilities.
So far North Korea has sent Russia over five million 152mm artillery shells in addition to the missiles. North Korea has several other customers. For decades North Korea has been smuggling weapons to customers around the world. Until recently Russia was a North Korean partner. The two countries cooperated in developing, building and delivering the weapons to Russian and North Korean customers.
The Ukraine War changed this relationship. Russian forces have been fighting in Ukraine for over two years. Russia invaded in early 2022 expecting a quick victory. The Ukrainian did not cooperate and now Russia is losing its war in Ukraine. In 2023 Russia purchased some weapons from North Korea and shipped them via sea and railroad to a Russian supply center about 300 kilometers from Ukraine. In June 2024 Russian and North Korean officials signed a partnership agreement. This treaty obliged both countries to assist each other with military supplies during an emergency or when called upon. At the moment Russia is purchasing all the weapons and munitions North Korea can produce.
Since both North Korea and Russia are forced to operate under Western economic sanctions, it is difficult to obtain the use of a ship that can carry North Korean or Russian cargo safely. First North Korea, in 2006 and then Russia in 2022 were placed under economic sanctions. North Korea was sanctioned internationally in 2006 but the United States imposed its own sanctions in 2005. The United States accounts for much of world trade so American sanctions can temporarily cripple a sanctioned nation's use of their own or chartered cargo ships or oil tankers. North Korea has found ways around this and passed on what they knew to Russia. North Korean and Russian ships are still at risk and some are caught because of fraudulent documents, or the Americans using electronic and space-based video monitoring to see where suspect ships are actually going.
For years North Korean commercial ships regularly traveled with their mandatory position transponders turned off. This violates international shipping agreements but the North Koreans, and now the Russians dont care because both are outlaw states and do whatever it takes to keep some of their commercial ships operational. When ships from these countries carry Russian or North Korean cargo, they can deliver it to a Russian or North Korean port without penalty or any harassment from nations enforcing the shipping sanctions on Russia and North Korea.
This is how Russia is shipping North Korean weapons from North Korean ports or the Russian Pacific coast port of Vladivostok despite the sanctions. Russia has become heavily dependent on North Korean munitions and weapons, which are the same caliber as Russian weapons. This is because Russia has been a major supplier of weapons and munitions to North Korea since the end of World War II. The trade has benefited North Korea because Russia can ship in food via the Trans-Siberian railroad or by ship. North Korea has been chronically short of food since the 1990s and additional Russian food supplies pay for the North Korean munitions going to Russia.
Another thing North Korea has in its favor is that Chinese shipbuilders produce most of the cargo and tanker ships used by international shipping firms. While the ships come from China, the crews come from many other countries and shipping insurance is provided by Western firms if these ships are technically in compliance with shipping regulations. Major shipping insurance companies have been established in Japan, Singapore, Chinese controlled Hong Kong and Singapore. China has become a supplier of all manner of material and monetary services for shady operations like the North Korean and sanctions Russian merchant fleets.
Lausanne issues apology after speaker's comments on Israel and dispensational eschatology cause offence
The director of the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation has issued an apology after a controversial speech by one of its guest speakers left some participants offended.
Ruth Padilla DeBorst, associate professor of world Christianity at Western Theological Seminary, Michigan, delivered an address on Monday evening that took aim at dispensational eschatology - a theological framework that takes a literal view of Old Testament promises and believes that God's salvation plan includes Israel's future restoration.
During her 15-minute presentation on the topic of justice, Padilla DeBorst said, "God is worshipped not by rights, religious festivities, or even mission activism, all practices that can simply serve as masks, but by ethical obedience.
"What makes God's people such are not superficial expressions of religious piety, Christianese jargon, worship jingles or colonialist theologies that justify and finance oppression under the guise of some dispensational eschatology."
In an open letter to congress participants, Padilla DeBorst apologised for the "pain" her comments "might have caused".
"This is not in any way a blanket dismissal of dispensational theology and, even less, of sisters and brothers who subscribe to that stance," she said.
"For the pain my statement might have caused, I am sorry. What I am naming is the troubling theological rationale sustained by some people to perpetrate injustice against certain other people."
Concerns were raised about other remarks made by Padilla Deborst in reference to the Israel-Gaza conflict and evangelical support for Israel.
She said during her speech, "There is no room for indifference toward all who are suffering the scourge of war and violence the world round, the uprooted and beleaguered people of Gaza, the hostages held by both Israel and Hamas and their families, the threatened Palestinians in their own territories, all who are mourning the loss of loved ones. Their pain is our pain if we are God's people."
Critics questioned the time and place of her comments, coming at a major congress attended by a breadth of international participants and just days before the one-year anniversary of Hamas's terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 in which over a thousand Israelis were killed and more than 200 taken hostage. Some congress participants took particular issue with the suggestion that Israel was holding hostages.
In her letter to congress participants, Padilla DeBorst justified her decision to "zero in on" Gaza and Palestine and "name only them" by suggesting that "far too many" evangelicals are uncritically supportive of Israel.
"I am convinced that this is a current justice issue in relation to which we, as Christians, have a particular responsibility," she said.
"Let me explain. Truly, the Hamas attack almost a year ago was abhorrent and absolutely reprehensible, and truly people who live in Israel, Jewish, Palestinian and others are being threatened as I write. Their pain is our pain.
"At the same time, the long standing suffering of Palestinians has been compounded by the attacks on Gaza since October 7 where over 40,000 people have been killed, many of them, children.
"Additionally, settler attacks have only increased in the West Bank. Their pain is our pain - or it should be. However, far too many evangelicals around the world a-critically 'stand with Israel,' and remain oblivious to the suffering Palestinians. This injustice must be named."
She did not address criticism towards her remarks on hostages.
In a written apology emailed to participants, congress director David Bennett said that while Lausanne seeks to "include people from a great variety of cultural, theological, historical and political perspectives", leaders had on this occasion become aware of "significant pain and offence experienced at this congress from those in dispensational theological contexts, those who are Jews, and those engaged in ministries to Jews and/or in Israel".
"As congress director, I would like to offer an apology for a presentation this week which singled out 'dispensational eschatology' in a critical tone, implying that it contributed to violence and injustice, and which failed to note that many theologies have been misused and misapplied as justifications for violence," he said.
"That same presentation referred to the suffering of the Palestinian people, but did not express comparable empathy for the suffering of Israeli people, nor adequately express concern for many other peoples and nations of the world that are currently in the throes of violent conflict."
He continued, "Our Lausanne team, including me, failed to review the wording of the presentation carefully enough in advance, or to anticipate the hurts and misunderstandings it would cause.
"As your brother in Christ, and on behalf of our Lausanne leadership, I ask for your forgiveness."
A spokesperson for Lausanne said that the apology was issued after a leader within the movement made a formal complaint over Padilla DeBorst's comments.
The apology itself has not been without controversy, as some Lausanne delegates questioned why the leadership decided to apologise in this instance but not in others that have been divisive.
The Lausanne spokesperson addressed this sentiment in comments to reporters: "I know that many people want Lausanne to say many things [and] publish statements as different crises or different situations emerge but that really is at the discretion of the leadership of the movement."
Tim Adams, General Secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, is one congress participant to see the apology as a mistake. He told Christian Daily International: "In my view this apology was totally against the ethos of Lausanne. Within the agreed theological framework of previous Lausanne statements, Lausanne has been a place which brings people together to overcome barriers and unite to serve the Great Commission."
He added, "My fear is this apology will do more to divide than to unite."
Other congress participants welcomed the apology. Dr Dan Sered, president of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism and co-catalyst for the Lausanne Jewish Evangelism Network, said: "I am grateful and proud to be a part of the Lausanne Movement that does not only talk about humility, repentance and reconciliation but actually lives it out. Dr David Bennett and the Lausanne leadership's apology are accepted and appreciated."
Padilla DeBorst is the daughter of Latin American theologian Rene Padilla, who was one of the speakers at the first Lausanne congress in 1974 where he spoke against cultural Christianity in what was dubbed 'the speech that shook the world'.
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by Austin Bay September 25, 2024
Reuters reports the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has begun inspecting all its equipment for "evidence of explosives." If accurate, that's a fascinating but understandable reaction -- scrutinizing not just communication equipment and other electronic devices but all equipment, including vehicles and, I suspect, ammunition stocks.
Why the panicked mass response by the heavily armed Iranian military and intelligence organization that represses the Iranian people, supports and supplies Iran's proxy armies and routinely vows to destroy Israel and America?
Credit Israel's ingenious wireless pager-delivered "discretely targeted simultaneous mass bombing attack" on personnel in Hezbollah, Iran's Lebanese proxy terrorist militia, on Sept. 17.
If "discrete" and "mass" appear to be contradictory, they are descriptively contradictory.
Hezbollah leaders decided to use pagers to alert personnel since Israel monitors more sophisticated cellphones. Somewhere in the pager supply chain, Israeli personnel inserted a detonator and small amount of explosive into each device. A coded message from Israeli operatives turned the pagers into small grenades.
Death in disguise. Michael Doran of the Hudson Institute called the devices a "Trojan Horse for the digital age." He also dubbed the explosive-laden pagers "Grim Beepers." Give Doran kudos for graveyard wit.
Hezbollah has been at war with Israel since the 1980s, conducts terror attacks and is currently bombarding Israel with rockets, missiles and artillery rounds. Like Hamas, Hezbollah terrorists use human shields -- they hide among civilians.
A Hezbollah militiaman carrying a pager linked to senior Hezbollah commanders is a terrorist leader at some level -- a very legitimate target.
Published casualty figures are iffy. It appears the attack killed over three dozen and injured around 3,500. Some of the killed and wounded weren't Hezbollah fighters -- but the vast majority were. Two-thousand-pound aircraft bombs are far less discrete when they explode. Entire city blocks become craters.
It seems an explosive pager wounded Iran's ambassador to Lebanon. That's hard evidence that he was in Hezbollah's command and control network. Grim Beeper pagers detonated in Damascus, Syria. IRGC officers and Hezbollah thugs operate in Syria. No doubt they thought they were safe.
Which leads to another attack target: trust among Hezbollah personnel. Senior leaders gave the killer pagers to their subordinates. A day later several Hezbollah radios exploded -- more remotely detonated Trojan horses. Can Hezbollah fighters trust their commanders? Even fanatics can have morale problems.
Discretely targeted simultaneous mass bombing attack. Meshing "discrete" and "mass" is an oxymoron -- a figure of speech combining apparently contradictory words. I recall my fourth-grade teacher said "bittersweet" was an oxymoron.
The Grim Beeper attack was very discrete -- the intimate targeting of terrorist commanders and tactical leaders. But it was also a near-simultaneous mass attack striking targets over a wide area in Lebanon and Syria.
For at least three decades, military analysts have been warning that we could face a massive cyberattack that simultaneously shuts down communications nodes, power-generating facilities and computer-controlled transportation infrastructure.
This attack scenario dates from 2008. Digital malware infects a dam's computer system and takes control of the supervisory operating system. The infected computer opens the dam's gates, creating a destructive flood. The malware breaches the dam with plausibly deniable finesse, rather than the traceable mess left by a high explosive bomb.
Booby traps are as old as warfare. The Trojan horse was booby trapped with Greek soldiers. Malay mancatchers and punji sticks kill quite effectively, if you run into them in the jungle. A poisoned desert well is a booby trap. Anticipating thirsty GIs, retreating Wehrmacht troops booby trapped French wine bottles.
In Vietnam the CIA and Special Forces booby trapped North Vietnamese Army rifle bullets and mortar shells -- Project Eldest Son (1967-69). Green Berets seeded NVA ammo boxes with exploding bullets and shells. The shells would explode and wound or kill NVA soldiers. The operation targeted personnel and NVA morale.
But these discrete booby traps were not simultaneous mass attacks over a wide area.
Now the IRGC is inspecting all its equipment. Vehicles have batteries that could explode on command. The ammo may be sabotaged. "Paging Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Paging Ayatollah Khamenei."
From left to right: Dan Corry, chief executive of New Philanthropy Capital; Sunder Katwala, director of British Future; Andrew O'Brien, director of policy and impact at Demos; Emily Darlington, Labour MP for Milton Keynes Central; Neil Heslop, chief executive of Charities Aid Foundation; and a BSL interpreter
Charity sector leaders have urged the new government to renew Britains culture of giving to help support communities in the most deprived areas.
In a fringe session at the Labour party conference yesterday, the chief executives of Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) discussed how philanthropy and the government could support communities and tackle regional inequalities.
CAFs Neil Heslop told attendees that no British government has ever really cracked the potential of philanthropy.
Meanwhile, NPCs Dan Corry argued that the government must put charities and philanthropy at the heart of its decision-making process to help it deliver its five missions.
A tremendous opportunity
Heslop told attendees that theres a tremendous opportunity to think about philanthropy very differently now, given the UKs extraordinary economic and social challenges.
He gave examples of countries such as Australia, Ireland and Singapore that have reimagined philanthropy.
The Australian Labour government has set a target to double philanthropy by 2030 because they fundamentally recognise the relationship between economic development and social cohesion that we all want, he said.
However, Heslop added: Its really important that we never see it as a substitute or replacement for state funding.
In his speech at last years Labour Party conference, Keir Starmer pledged a decade of national renewal if he were to become prime minister.
One crucial aspect of that renewal, Heslop said at this years event, will be the renewal of our British culture of giving.
In order to do that, theres a need to be very strategic about how you direct new funding to the places that matter most and can make the greatest difference to some of the most intractable social problems, he said.
We need a shift in funding
Corry said NPC has long called for a shift in government funding away from just building new things or tarting up the high street and investment in programmes that tackle the underlying social needs underpinning social capital.
We need a fundamental shift in where the support to the social sector is going, both in terms of government and philanthropic funding, he told attendees.
He quoted a 2020 NPC report which shows there are more registered charities in prosperous areas than in deprived ones, saying this needs to change to help communities and regions that need a boost.
The responsibility of doing that is on philanthropy and grantmakers. They need to think: Where am I putting my money? Is this the right place to be putting my money? Where is the need? Am I putting it in there?
Over the last few years, some grantmakers and foundations have thought a bit harder.
And its no good saying: Well, we never get any applications from that deprived area. Of course you dont because nobodys got capacity to get together and send off a grant application. Youve got to be active and get out there.
Involving charities in decision-making
Corry also argued that there is an onus on bigger charities, especially those that have branches in deprived areas, to look at their footprint.
Obviously, theres also an onus on government to think about how they do this, he said. Theres a number of things that they need to do, and I hope that this government will do.
One is by letting in charities and philanthropy into the decision-making process around delivering the governments five missions because a lot of this will come out if you have people from the social sector getting involved in these discussions.
We think that government should invest in social growth zones, evaluating whats working.
Fundamentally, its making sure that whatever resource government chooses to put into the sector goes to the areas where its most needed. That can be by using match funding to draw in philanthropy to where its needed, or, as weve argued for rather controversially, regional variations in gift aid .
Corry also suggested that the government should empower local areas, particularly mayoral devolved authorities.
Most charities find that the mayors are much more interested in thinking about the assets in their area and how they can use these to solve some of the social problems and get growth in their communities, he said.
So, the more power devolved out to them, the more you will get charities and philanthropy involved in the discussions.
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From left to right: Abigail Ampofo, interim chief executive of Refuge; Sarah Elliott, chief executive of NCVO; Matt Hyde, chief executive of Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales; Nicole Sykes, director of research, policy and communications at Pro Bono Economics and Kaushik Mistry, chief executive of Anthony Walker Foundation
A new agreement between the government and charity sector to improve relationships and understanding between the two is set to be published in the new year, NCVOs chief executive has said.
Speaking at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference yesterday, NCVOs CEO Sarah Elliott said there had been a real desire from the government to work with the sector since the general election.
She said NCVO and fellow sector body ACEVO were very actively working on developing a new agreement that would be akin to the Compact, which was introduced in 1998 to ensure effective partnership between the government and civil society organisations in England.
Elliott said the new agreement, called a covenant, would be different to the Compact and launch in the new year.
Starmer partnership pledge not just warm words
Elliott began by quoting Keir Starmers speech in January, in which he committed to resetting the governments relationship with the sector if Labour won the election.
We were all feeling great, we came away feeling very warm and fuzzy about that, but I guess there was a little bit of scepticism, she said.
We can be a bit sceptical in the voluntary sector, probably rightly so, that maybe that wouldnt follow through in government.
My experience so far is that they werent just warm words.
Theres a real desire right from the heart of government to work with the voluntary sector, and rightly so, because mission-led government aligns a lot with what we across the voluntary sector are trying to achieve and theres a lot weve got to offer.
New agreement between government and charities
Elliott said that a few weeks into the new government, Downing Street chief of staff Sue Gray wanted to talk to her.
If you think about it, were quite used to government talking to the trade bodies in the private sector, but we certainly struggled with previous governments, she said.
It was at the time of the riots, which obviously were awful, across the summer, but they very quickly recognised, right at the top of Number 10, that they needed the voluntary sector to help them, and also to recognise the work that was going on on the ground with the voluntary sector.
She also described meeting culture secretary Lisa Nandy within a couple of weeks of her taking office, compared to two engagements in four years with her predecessor.
[Its] very telling that shes got a very broad brief and wanted to meet some of the conveners of the voluntary sector very quickly, said Elliott.
One of the things that were very actively working on at the moment, my team and Roberta [Fusco] in the ACEVO team as well, is trying to develop something a bit akin to the Compact.
For those of you remember, in the early 2000s the Compact between the voluntary sector and government [set out] how we wanted to work together. My critique of that was it was used as a stick to beat each other with.
So, were trying to look at it from a different angle this time, and how it can actually look at the strengths that government brings to the table and the strength that civil society brings to the table so together, we can serve people in communities.
Nandy is calling that covenant. Im glad its got a new name because I dont think we want it to be a replica of the Compact, and so we hope to be able to launch that in the new year.
Civil society not yet a top priority
Also speaking on the panel, Nicole Sykes, director of research, policy and communications at Pro Bono Economics, agreed that the new government is definitely warmer than its predecessor.
Sykes said charities have a lot of potential ministerial champions because there is so much strong understanding of the charity sector.
However, she added: I dont think its anyones top priority, thats my real concern.
The thing I worry about the most is, what does it take to make it a top priority? Is it the Carillion of the charity sector is that the only thing thats going to make them sit up and think: Actually, I want to fix this. We have to not get there.
The charity sector is very good at keeping going. Well adapt and make sure that were supporting the people who need us.
She said recent closures of some smaller charities had not led ministers to see it as a systemic problem and something that needs to be acted upon.
I dont want it to get there but theres that worry of is that what its going to take? she said.
Because you know you relied on us a lot during the pandemic, you know you relied on us a lot during the cost of living. If thats not enough, is it that grim?
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The head of the Federal Aviation Administration told a U.S. House subcommittee on Tuesday that safety culture improvements at Boeing may take three to five years to complete.
It is not a six-month program it is a three-year to five-year program, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said at a two-hour hearing, adding he has spoken to Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and the companys board of directors about the need for safety culture reforms.
He said Boeing has made significant improvement in the short term. On culture it is a long-term project . There is progress but they are not where they need to be.
Congress is holding two days of hearings on Boeing and the companys safety turnaround efforts with a Senate panel taking up the issue on Wednesday.
In June, Whitaker said the agency was too hands off in oversight of Boeing before the January mid-air emergency in a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 and faulted its prior audits. Boeing faces Justice Department and FAA probes into the Alaska incident.
Boeing has no choice but to make improvements, Whitaker said.
There has to be culture change or they wont be able to go back to producing aircraft at the level they want, Whitaker said, adding the planemaker plans to hold a new safety training program.
Boeing declined to comment on Whitakers remarks. Boeing shares, which are down 38% this year, fell 0.3% on Tuesday.
Whitaker, who has said the agency has permanently boosted use of in-person inspectors at Boeing, in January barred the planemaker from raising production of its best-selling 737 MAX until it makes quality and safety improvements.
That cap, Whitaker said on Tuesday, really gives us the leverage we need to make sure these changes happen.
In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and pay at least $243.6 million after breaching a 2021 Justice Department agreement.
The planemaker also agreed to spend at least $455 million to boost safety and compliance programs, overseen by an independent monitor for three years.
U.S. lawmakers expressed frustration with Boeing after hundreds died in fatal crashes on 737 MAX planes in 2018 and 2019.
We dont want Airbus to get all the planes (sales) but Boeing keeps messing up, Representative Steve Cohen said. For Americas interests, Boeing needs to get its act together.
(Reporting by Shepardson; Editing by David Gregorio and Marguerita Choy)
A jury has awarded $116 million to the family of one of five people killed in a no-door helicopter that crashed and sank in a New York City river, leaving passengers trapped in their safety harnesses.
The verdict came last week in the lawsuit over the death of Trevor Cadigan, who was 26 when he took the doomed flight in March 2018.
It was, family lawyer Gary C. Robb said Friday, a death trap.
They just completely misled the public about the ability to get out in an emergency from the harnesses, which were store-bought fall-protection gear envisioned for construction workers, not aviation use, he said.
Messages seeking comment were sent Friday to lawyers for the companies that jurors blamed for his death.
The jury decided 42% of the fault lay with FlyNYON, which arranged the flight, and 38% with Liberty Helicopters, which owned the helicopter and supplied the pilot. Jurors assigned 20% of the liability to Dart Aerospace, which made a flotation device that malfunctioned in the crash.
The chopper plunged into the East River after a passenger tether got caught on a floor-mounted fuel shutoff switch and stopped the engine, federal investigators found. The aircraft started sinking within seconds.
The pilot, who was wearing a seatbelt, was able to free himself and survived. But the five passengers struggled in vain to free themselves from their harnesses, the National Transportation Safety Boards investigation found.
All five died. They were Cadigan; Brian McDaniel, 26; Carla Vallejos Blanco, 29; Tristan Hill, 29; and Daniel Thompson, 34.
Cadigan, a journalist, had recently moved to New York from Dallas and was enjoying a visit from his childhood friend McDaniel, a Dallas firefighter.
The NTSB largely blamed FlyNYON, saying it installed hard-to-escape harnesses and exploited a regulatory loophole to avoid having to meet safety requirements that would apply to tourist flights.
FlyNYON promoted sneaker selfies images of passengers feet dangling over lower Manhattan but told employees to avoid using such terms as air tour or sightseeing so the company could maintain a certification with less stringent safety standards, investigators said. The company got the certification via an exemption meant for such activities as newsgathering, commercial photography and film shoots.
In submissions to the NTSB, FlyNYON faulted the helicopters design and the flotation system, which failed to keep the aircraft upright. DART Aerospace, in turn, suggested the pilot hadnt used the system properly. The pilot told the NTSB that the passengers had a pre-flight safety briefing and were told how to cut themselves out of the restraint harnesses.
After the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded doors-off flights with tight seat restraints. The flights later resumed with requirements for restraints that can be released with just a single action.
Robb said Cadigans parents sued in hopes of stopping the no-doors flights.
His father, Dallas broadcast journalist Jerry Cadigan, died in July in St. Louis, while visiting relatives during a break in the roughly three-month-long trial in Manhattan.
He didnt see the final journey to justice, Robb said, but he knew it was coming.
Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
September 25, 2024: Iraq remains a war zone, although not as violent as in the past. The main source of violence is Iran as well as Islamic terrorist groups that continue operating in the more remote parts of Iraq. This includes the northeastern Duhok Mountains and the Turkish border areas where Turkish airstrikes continue to hit Turkish rebels and Islamic terrorists with bases in Iraq. Iraq protests these Turkish attacks on Iraqi territory but the Turks are powerful enough to ignore the Iraqi government's criticism. The Turkish attacks are confined to border areas.
Iraq continues to have problems with ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) and its predecessor al Qaeda. Iraqis created ISIL, helped create al Qaeda, and there continue to be plenty of Iraqi men willing to join these organizations and die for the cause of Islamic terrorism.
Despite the late 2017 declaration that ISIL was defeated, the Islamic terror group remains active in northern and Western Iraq. ISIL no longer controls large areas of Iraq but is a problem because of its violence, extortion, and disorder in several provinces north of Baghdad. It took four years of effort, several hundred billion dollars to pay for an expanded military, battle damage and economic losses plus over 100,000 Iraqi lives, to kill at least 20,000 Islamic terrorists and eliminate ISIL control of Iraqi territory. That effort created other problems, and opportunities. Iran offered help and was allowed to organize, train and often lead in combat over 100,000 Iraqi, largely Shia, militiamen in what was and still is the PMF (Popular Mobilization Forces). Most Iraqis, including most Iraqi Shia, who are about 60 percent of the population, feared an Iran inspired coup but by early 2018 senior Shia clerics in Iraq and Iran agreed that the militias should stay out of politics. Irans government was not consulted on this decision and a minority of pro-Iran Iraqis still want an Iran-style religious dictatorship. National elections in 2021 revealed much less support for Iran, despite increased threats and financial promises Iran could not keep. The 2021 elections were mainly about doing something about widespread corruption and mismanagement of the economy. A new and hopefully more effective government emerged from this in 2022 and cracked down on corruption and Iranian interference.
The other Arab oil states in the region, all run by Sunnis, offered peace and investment and the new Iraqi government accepted the offer, even if those Arabs were establishing diplomatic, economic and military relations with Israel. Iran responded with a failed assassination attack on the Iraqi prime minister plus rocket and mortar attacks on the American embassy and the remaining U.S. troops. Most Iraqis want some Americans to stay, more economic activity with Arab neighbors and an end to Iranian meddling in Iraq. American soldiers are still in Iraq, as is Iranian interference.
Packages move along a conveyor belt at an Amazon Fulfillment center on Cyber Monday in Robbinsville, New Jersey, on Nov. 28, 2022.
Jamaal Sanford received a disturbing email in May of last year. The message, whose sender claimed to be part of a "Russian shadow team," contained Sanford's home address, social security number and his daughter's college. It came with a very specific threat.
The sender said Sanford, who lives in Springfield, Missouri, would only only be safe if he removed a negative online review.
"Do not play tough guy," the email said. "You have nothing to gain by keeping the reviews and EVERYTHING to lose by not cooperating."
Months earlier, Sanford had left a scathing review for an e-commerce "automation" company called Ascend Ecom on the rating site Trustpilot. Ascend's purported business was the launching and managing of Amazon storefronts on behalf of clients, who would pay money for the service and the promise of earning thousands of dollars in "passive income."
Sanford had invested $35,000 in such a scheme. He never recouped the money and is now in debt, according to a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit unsealed on Friday.
His experience is a key piece of the FTC's suit, which accuses Ascend of breaking federal laws by making false claims related to earnings and business performance, and threatening or penalizing customers for posting honest reviews, among other violations. The FTC is seeking monetary relief for Ascend customers and to prevent Ascend from doing business permanently.
It's the latest sign of the FTC's crackdown on e-commerce money-making schemes on top of some of the internet's leading marketplaces, like Amazon and Airbnb . Since mid-2023, the agency has sued at least four automation companies, alleging deceptive marketing practices and falsely telling customers that they could generate passive income.
The FTC isn't just focused on e-commerce automation businesses. On Wednesday, the agency said it's stepping up enforcement against companies that use artificial intelligence "as a way to supercharge deceptive or unfair conduct that harms consumers." The agency pointed to Ascend as a company that it took action against in part because of its claims that it used AI "to maximize clients' business success."
The FTC has also pledged to go after companies that try to suppress negative reviews online as part of new rules issued this year targeting fake reviews.
Automation businesses like Ascend promote their easy money opportunities on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. But their promises go mostly unfulfilled, and often the storefronts get shut down for violating policies around dropshipping the selling of products to customers without ever stocking inventory or counterfeits.
The FTC's complaint against Ascend accused co-founders Will Basta and Jeremy Leung of defrauding consumers of at least $25 million through their scheme. Formed in 2021, Ascend has done business under several entity names with operations registered in states including Texas, Wyoming and California.
China's central bank lowered the cost of its medium-term loans to banks on Wednesday in a move consistent with broad policy easing measures announced a day earlier to shore up a flailing economy.
China's central bank lowered the cost of its medium-term loans to banks on Wednesday in a move consistent with broad policy easing measures announced a day earlier to shore up a flailing economy.
The People's Bank of China said it cut the rate on 300 billion yuan ($42.66 billion) worth of one-year medium-term lending facility loans to some financial institutions to 2.00% from 2.30%.
The bid rates in Wednesday's operation ranged from 1.90% to 2.30%, and the total balance of MLF loans now stands at 6.878 trillion yuan, the central bank said in an online statement.
A batch of 591 billion yuan worth of MLF loans expired this month.
On Tuesday, Beijing unveiled its biggest stimulus since the pandemic to pull the economy out of its deflationary funk and back towards the government's growth target.
Etihad Airways on Wednesday revealed a $7 billion investment plan over the next five years in a bid to "double the size of the airline until 2030."
Speaking to CNBC's Dan Murphy, Etihad's Group Chief Executive Officer Antonoaldo Neves revealed passengers should expect "a totally different airline" within the next two to three years.
Much of the $7 billion will go into revamping its existing fleet of planes, as well as the purchase of new aircraft further down the line, he said. The Abu Dhabi-based airline currently has 92 planes operating. But Neves is aiming for the skies, with the hope of having up to 170 planes by the end of the decade.
The expanded network of planes will allow the company to offer more "convenient" time slots for passengers traveling to Europe and Southeast Asia who want to travel at 2 p.m. in the afternoon rather than in the early hours of the morning, he said.
Neves said Etihad will begin retrofitting and revamping "dated" Boeing 777 planes from 2026 onward, this is due to what he described as "the constraints that we have in the global aviation market."
"There are no planes available," he said.
The purchase of new planes, the retrofitting of the Boeing 777s, boosting the number of business class seats and replacing existing in-flight WiFi with stronger connectivity are all priorities for the United Arab Emirates-based airline.
A balcony above a trading floor inside the Euronext NV stock exchange in Paris, France, on Monday, March 13, 2023. Nathan Laine | Bloomberg | Getty Images
LONDON European stocks closed slightly lower Wednesday following a choppy session, as a China-fuelled rally lost steam. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.11%, with sectors and major bourses pointing in opposite directions. Europe's banking index closed 0.73% lower as market participants spent the day closely monitoring UniCredit's swoop for Commerzbank, Germany's second-largest lender. Milan-based UniCredit announced on Monday that it had increased its stake in Commerzbank to around 21% and submitted a request to boost that holding to up to 29.9%. It follows UniCredit's move to take a 9% stake in Commerzbank earlier this month. Shares of Commerzbank, which announced Wednesday that Bettina Orlopp will take over as chief executive officer in the near future, added 0.82%.
Looking at individual stock moves, Finnish engineering company Valmet surged to the top of the European benchmark. It comes after the firm received an order valued at roughly 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) from a pulp mill in Brazil. Shares of Valmet ended nearly 12% higher on the news. German software developer SAP tumbled toward the bottom of the Stoxx 600 after Bloomberg reported Tuesday that, among others, the company is under investigation in the U.S. over price-fixing allegations. Shares closed down 2.4%. Elsewhere, Sweden's Riksbank on Wednesday cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.25% and suggested the policy rate could be reduced further at the two remaining monetary policy meetings this year. Sweden's central bank said a rate cut of 50 basis points is possible at one of these meetings. One basis point equals 0.01%. European stocks closed 0.6% higher on Tuesday, buoyed by China's central bank monetary stimulus measures with mining, technology and household goods the best-performing sectors. The People's Bank of China said the central bank would cut the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 50 basis points, although it did not provide a specific timeline.
UK economic outlook
The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Wednesday sharply upgraded Britain's economic growth prospects. The OECD said it expects the U.K. economy to expand by 1.1% this year and 1.2% next year. That's up from previous forecasts of 0.4% growth in 2024 and 1% in 2025. The revisions come after the OECD said in May that the U.K. was likely on course to become the worst-performing economy of all advanced nations next year. Britain's FTSE 100 index traded 0.3% higher on the news, but slipped below the flatline by the close of trade.
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Ayesha Ofori is a former Goldman Sachs wealth advisor who quit her high-profile job to resolve Britain's gender wealth gap, after realizing she had spent her career making rich men even richer.
Ofori is the 40-year-old founder and CEO of female-focused financial investment platform, Propelle, which launched on Wednesday. The app-based platform offers various investment options like funds from Vanguard, Blackrock and HSBC.
Propelle has raised over 1.2 million (around $1.6 million) in pre-seed funding and is backed by Google, which invested $100,000 into the platform, Ofori told CNBC Make It in an interview. Other investors range from Stefan Bollinger, Julius Baer CEO and former Goldman executive, to Lucy Demery, managing director of fintech investments at Barclays.
Ofori, who had worked at Goldman for six years, and handled just over 500 million in client money, said she typically worked with entrepreneurs and first-time founders who built highly profitable businesses and sold them for a lot of money. However, despite breaking the glass ceiling as a Black woman in finance, she wasn't satisfied.
"I had gotten to a point in my career where things were going amazingly well," Ofori said. "I was promoted to executive director, and I started to bring in lots of money. I hit that half a billion threshold. That's the threshold they tell you to aim for. I passed that."
Ofori recalled sitting in a meeting with one of her bosses and reflecting on what the next six to 10 years looked like for her. "I realized it's just more of the same ... I'd lost my sense of purpose every day. It was almost getting monotonous," she said.
"It really shouldn't have taken six years to hit me, but I remember one day I woke up and I was just like 'I make incredibly rich men richer, that's what I do, day in, day out,'" she added.
Ofori said she began questioning the dearth of women in investing. "I found that across the board, women, overwhelmingly, were not investing anywhere near the levels men were."
Despite women living on average longer than men, "we have less money that isn't being put to work in the way that it should," she said.
Britain's gender investment gap currently stands at 567 billion an increase of 54 billion between January 2023 and January 2024 according to data from British financial research company Boring Money which surveyed over 6,000 adults in the U.K. It found that men have 1.01 trillion invested compared with 450 billion for women.
Additionally, the latest data from Prospect, a British union representing 157,000 professionals across industries like tech, education, transport and legal, found that the gender pensions gap stood at 37.9% between 2021 and 2022 more than double the gender pay gap, which was reported as 14.9% in 2022.
The gender pensions gap refers to the differences in retirement income or retirement wealth between men and women.
Ofori said she was stunned by the statistics she found, and this led her on a path to quitting her well-paid executive role at Goldman in 2018, and embarking on a mission to empower women financially.
A protestor holds a placard with a slogan reading "Stop Merger Horror" during a union demonstration outside the Commerzbank AG headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Italy's UniCredit appears to have caught German authorities off guard with a potential multibillion-euro merger of Frankfurt-based Commerzbank, a move that has triggered a fiery response from Berlin. Market observers told CNBC that the swoop may have provoked a sense of national embarrassment among Germany's government, which firmly opposes the move, while it's been argued that the outcome of the takeover attempt could even put the meaning of the European project at stake. Milan-based UniCredit announced on Monday that it had increased its stake in Commerzbank to around 21% and submitted a request to boost that holding to up to 29.9%. It follows UniCredit's move to take a 9% stake in Commerzbank earlier this month. "If UniCredit can take Commerzbank and take it to their level of efficiency, there's a tremendous upside in terms of increased profitability," Octavio Marenzi, CEO of consulting firm Opimas, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Tuesday. "But [German Chancellor] Olaf Scholz is not an investor. He's a politician and he's very concerned about the jobs side of things. And if you look at what UniCredit has done in terms of slimming down things in its Italian operations or particularly in its German operations, it's been quite impressive," Marenzi said.
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Scholz on Monday criticized UniCredit's decision to up the ante on Commerzbank, describing the move as an "unfriendly" and "hostile" attack, Reuters reported. Commerzbank's Deputy Chair Uwe Tschaege, meanwhile, reportedly voiced opposition to a potential takeover by UniCredit on Tuesday. Speaking outside of the lender's headquarters in central Frankfurt, Tschaege said the message was simple and clear: "We don't want this." "I feel like vomiting when I hear his promises of cost savings," Tschaege reportedly added, referring to UniCredit 's CEO Andrea Orcel. Separately, Stefan Wittman, a Commerzbank supervisory board member, told CNBC on Tuesday that as many as two-thirds of the jobs at the bank could disappear if UniCredit successfully carries out a hostile takeover. The bank has yet to respond to a request for comment on Wittmann's statement.
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Hostile takeover bids are not common in the European banking sector, although Spanish bank BBVA shocked markets in May when it launched an all-share takeover offer for domestic rival Banco Sabadell. The latter Spanish lender rejected the bid. Opimas' Marenzi said the German government and trade unions "are basically looking at this and saying this means we could lose a bunch of jobs in the process and it could be quite substantial job losses." "The other thing is there might be a bit of a national embarrassment that the Italians are coming in and showing them how to run their banks," he added. A spokesperson for Germany's government was not immediately available when contacted by CNBC on Tuesday. Germany's Scholz has previously pushed for the completion of a European banking union. Designed in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, the European Union's executive arm announced plans to create a banking union to improve the regulation and supervision of lenders across the region.
What's at stake?
Craig Coben, former global head of equity capital markets at Bank of America, said the German government would need to find "very good" reasons to block UniCredit's move on Commerzbank, warning that it would also have to be consistent with the principles around European integration. "I think it is very difficult for UniCredit to take over or to reach an agreement on Commerzbank without the approval of the German government, just as a practical matter but I think Germany needs to find a legitimate excuse if it wants to intervene [or] if it wants to block the approach from UniCredit," Coben told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Tuesday.
The Commerzbank AG headquarters, in the financial district of Frankfurt, Germany, on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. Emanuele Cremaschi | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Google filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission on Wednesday accusing Microsoft of using unfair licensing contracts to stifle competition in the multibillion-dollar cloud computing industry.
At the heart of Google's complaint is the allegation that Microsoft uses unfair licensing terms to "lock in" clients and exert control over the cloud market.
Google alleges that Microsoft, through its dominant Windows Server and Microsoft Office products, can make it difficult for its massive roster of clients to use anything but its Azure cloud infrastructure offering.
The internet giant said in its complaint that restrictions contained in Microsoft's cloud licensing terms make it harder for customers to move their workloads from Microsoft's Azure cloud technology to competitors' clouds, despite there being no technical barriers to doing so.
European businesses and public sector organizations have been forced to pay the firm up to 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) a year in licensing penalties due to restrictions on customers' ability to switch from one cloud provider to another, Google said, citing a 2023 study by CISPE, a trade body for the cloud computing sector.
The antitrust complaint from Google arrives after CISPE and its members in July agreed to a settlement with Microsoft which would see the firm make changes to address competition concerns.
Referring to the CISPE settlement, Microsoft said in a statement Wednesday that it expects the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, to dismiss Google's complaint.
"Microsoft settled amicably similar concerns raised by European cloud providers, even after Google hoped they would keep litigating," a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC via email. "Having failed to persuade European companies, we expect Google similarly will fail to persuade the European Commission."
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at the Philip Chosky Theatre during a campaign event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 25, 2024.
Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday said she would work to usher in a U.S. manufacturing comeback, an appeal to the business community and an attempt to gain an edge over her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.
In a speech at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh, Harris announced a proposal to offer tax credits for companies that expand "good union jobs in steel and iron and manufacturing communities."
The Democratic presidential nominee also pledged to invest in "sectors that will define the next century," name-checking emerging technologies like biomanufacturing, aerospace, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and the blockchain.
In tandem with the speech, the Harris campaign released an 82-page policy blueprint, which summarized the economic proposals she has laid out so far.
It comes as national polls show voters still wanting to learn more about the vice president and her policy priorities.
The speech was also part of a broader effort to frame Harris as a partner, not an antagonist, to the business community, a direct counterpoint to attacks from Trump.
"I believe that most companies are working hard to do the right thing by their customers and the employees who depend on them," Harris said. "We must work with them to grow our economy."
Trump has been working to define Harris as an extremist he referred to her as "Democrats' Radical Left Candidate" in a social media post Sept. 12 and a threat to the U.S. economy.
"If Kamala Harris gets four more years, she will deindustrialize the United States and destroy our country," Trump said Tuesday at an event in Savannah, Georgia, where he also rolled out new manufacturing proposals.
During his Georgia speech, Trump said if he were elected to a second term, he would introduce an expanded tax credit for research and development expenses, appoint a specialized "manufacturing ambassador" and impose hardline tariffs on imports, which he said would incentivize domestic production.
No, it's not really Apple or Microsoft popping up on your screen to tell you your computer has been infected.
It's scammers trying to convince you to call them and divulge sensitive information, which may include passwords, bank or credit account information or Social Security numbers.
"They use the reputation of the brand [for legitimacy purposes] to make it seem more real," said Cliff Steinhauer, director of information security and engagement at The National Cybersecurity Alliance. "Because, who doesn't know Microsoft or Apple as a brand?"
Consumers are likely to see more of these types of scams now, in the wake of Apple's recent release of its new iPhone. There tends to be a rise in scams when a new product or version is released because it's easier for scammers taking advantage of news headlines to strike while the iron is hot, said Nati Tal, head of Guardio Labs, which identifies, monitors and mitigates internet security threats. "In a very small time period, they will get tons and tons of potential victims."
The scams can affect anyone, but as has been the case with other recent tech-linked consumer crime waves, such as bitcoin ATM fraud, the elderly are especially vulnerable. Last year, nearly 18,000 victims aged 60 and over reported tech support scams to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, making it the most widely reported kind of elder fraud in 2023. Fraud losses from tech support scams against the elderly amounted to $590 million of losses and that's only reported cases.
These types of scams are getting even harder to spot because of AI, especially when the scheme uses a known company logo to make it look legit. Here's what people should know to protect themselves from scams targeting commonly used, trusted tech brands:
Never assume any online ad is authentic
People can be duped in a number of ways. One way is malvertising, in which bad actors pay for ads on search engines like Google or Microsoft's Bing. These rogue ads can appear as sponsored content, or in small print as an ad, during a search engine query.
So, for example, a consumer searching for "Microsoft support" might be shown a fake Microsoft ad with a number to call. By calling this number, people are playing right into scammers' hands, according to Malwarebytes, which has identified a number of these schemes. Malwarebytes also uncovered a malicious ad campaign targeting Mac users looking for support or extended warranty from Apple.
"People have all sorts of issues with their computers and they look for help, but a lot of the time the numbers they find will be a scammer's number, not the real one," said Jerome Segura, senior director of research at Malwarebytes.
Pop-ups, emails from brands you know are often suspect
Tech scams also ensnare unsuspecting consumers through phishing emails for renewal offers that seem to come from legit places, including Microsoft, McAfee, PayPal and Norton. These emails could be laced with malware if users click on a link, or they could be phishing attempts to get more information from the individual. Sometimes simply opening the attachment could infect a consumer's computer with malware.
The other type of tech-support scam happens when a window pops up on a user's computer to warn of an "infection."
There's often audio associated with this type of scam to instill a sense of urgency for consumers to call the number listed in the pop-up. There may also be a button that says "return to safety," but when clicked, what was a regular browser window with the address bar and window title visible becomes a full-screen page, with a message about not rebooting the computer because it's infected, Segura said.
"Imagine being the user and hearing the non-stop audio playing in the background saying your computer is compromised. This is very stressful and it will lead people to make a bad decision in calling the fake phone number," he said.
Once people call, they often are manipulated into sharing personal information such as their credit card number or giving scammers access to their computer.
How to click without getting into online trouble
For starters, consumers should avoid clicking on sponsored ads obtained during a Google or Bing query. (Hint: These often appear at the top of the search results page, but they can also appear further down, so look out for the word "sponsored" or "ad" depending on the search engine.) Consumers should also avoid clicking on random links sent in an email, even if they think they know the sender. And don't open attachments unless you're sure you know what's being sent.
In the case of a pop-up warning of a computer virus, Segura said the general rule is to only click on the browser's own icons which are typically at the very top right corner. "Never click on any other 'X' within the web page itself, as it is fake," he said.
If people do click on the X or have clicked on "return to safety," the webpage will likely go into full-screen mode. "If that happens, you must first exit out of full screen by long pressing on the keyboard's escape button (Esc) and only then can you finally X out," Segura said.
Internet browsers come with basic protections, so be sure to keep your browsers updated. You might also want to install a free, or paid-protection service that covers multiple types of threats.
What to do if you fall for a tech scam
Next steps depend on the type of information you shared with scammers. If, for instance, you called a number for "Microsoft" or "Apple" and gave usernames and passwords, change those. If you only shared your name, address and phone number, it's not necessary to do anything because this information is readily available to scammers through data brokers, Jim Routh, chief trust officer at identity security company Saviynt, explained in an email.
Consumers who share their credit card number, expiration date and CVV, should call their credit card company's fraud line to report the incident and request a new credit card be overnighted.
If credentials are shared with the fraudster for other online accounts, the password for each should be immediately changed. It's also advisable for consumers to freeze their credit with each of the three primary credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. This is a good practice to do for your whole family and especially for children under 18, even in the absence of a particular threat. It's also advisable to place a fraud alert with one of the credit bureaus, which will relay the information to all three.
People who are concerned they installed malware who don't have anti-virus protection should choose a reputable brand and install it, Routh said. If they lack technical sophistication, they can call the Geek Squad or a similar service to scan the workstation and find the malware to remove. Consumers who have given remote computer access to scammers should bring their device to a service professional for assistance, he added.
The outlook for the U.S. auto industry is getting worse because of China competition and worsening conditions at home, which could put pressure on shares of Ford Motor and General Motors , according to Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas. The widely followed analyst downgraded Ford to equal weight from overweight. He also trimmed his price target to $12 from $16, implying upside of 10.4%. GM was lowered to underweight from equal weight, with the price target cut to $42 from $47. The new forecast signals 12.6% downside from Tuesday's close. Additionally, Jonas lowered his rating on EV maker Rivian to equal weight from overweight, cutting his price target to $13 from $16. The new forecast implies upside of just under 10%. The analyst believes China taking market share globally will weigh on the U.S. auto sector, along with rising car inventories, low affordability and deteriorating credit at home. "The China capacity 'butterfly' has emerged and is flapping its wings. China produces 9mm more cars than it buys, upsetting the competitive balance in the West," said Jonas. "Even if these units don't end up directly on US shores, the 'fungibility' of lost share and profit by key US players adds pressure here at home." Shares of Ford were down 2% in the premarket, while GM shed 3.6%. Rivian was off by 4%. F GM 5D mountain F and GM fall Ford Motor shares have struggled in 2024, losing more than 10%. Jonas thinks the company will see "increased pressure on margins across all segments, from China excess capacity and US rising inventories." These headwinds, coupled with "peak earnings" and electric vehicle and regulatory risks, will also send GM shares lower. GM has rallied more than 33% year to date. In July, the company hiked its full-year earnings guidance thanks to strong internal combustion engine vehicle sales and the restructuring of its autonomous vehicle unit. Jonas however, warned back then that the "good times won't last" for the automaker. Now, he's cautious on the entire U.S. auto industry. "[We are] downgrading our US auto industry view to In-Line from Attractive. At a high level, our downgrade is driven by a combination of international, domestic and strategic factors that we believe may not be fully appreciated by investors. US inventories are on an upward slope with vehicle affordability still out of reach for many households," Jonas wrote. On Rivian, Jonas said, "The downgrade reflects our incorporation of the capital intensity of [autonomous vehicles] which may be required to fulfill the technological underpinnings that attracted Volkswagen as a JV partner." Along with these auto-manufacturers, Jonas downgraded his view on parts makers Magna International and Phinia as well. Some investors see cyclical stocks like autos benefiting from the Federal Reserve lowering rates for the first time in four years. But Jonas disagrees. "Thera are better ways to play rate cuts," he said in the note.
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said the coffee chain is committed to bargaining in good faith with the union that represents many of its baristas, as the two sides work to craft a labor deal.
"I deeply respect the right of partners to choose, through a fair and democratic process, to be represented by a union," Niccol wrote on Tuesday in a letter to the union obtained by CNBC. "If our partners choose to be represented, I am committed to making sure we engage constructively and in good faith with the union and the partners it represents."
He was responding to a letter from the Starbucks Workers United bargaining delegation sent a day earlier, ahead of another bargaining session between Starbucks and the union. The two sides are negotiating a framework that would be the basis for collective bargaining agreements between individual stores and the company. The union is pushing for fair scheduling, a living wage, and racial and gender equity, the delegation said in its letter.
"We know that many of your dedicated customers as well as future generations of customers have a vested interest in the outcome of our negotiations and reaching a foundational agreement," the group wrote in its letter to Niccol.
Three years ago, Starbucks baristas started unionizing under Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. For two and a half years, the coffee giant tried to curb the union push, leading to battles that played out in headlines, social media and courts.
But the turning point for both parties came six months ago when they agreed to work together on a path forward after mediation to resolve lawsuits sparked by the union's posts on social media.
Niccol joined Starbucks several weeks ago, making him a newcomer to the union discussions. In his previous role as CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill , only one location, in Lansing, Michigan, successfully unionized. Last year, the burrito chain agreed to pay former employees of an Augusta, Maine, location $240,000 as part of a settlement for closing the restaurant when workers tried to unionize. Chipotle denied any wrongdoing.
Today, Workers United represents more than 490 of Starbucks' U.S. cafes and more than 10,500 of its employees. The company has more than 16,700 locations in the U.S., more than half of which are owned by the company.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that she would vote for former President Donald Trump during an event at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2024.
Several former state campaign committee members on Nikki Haley's failed presidential bid have endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, publicly breaking with Haley, who is backing GOP nominee Donald Trump.
"This year the election may well be decided by independents and former Haley supporters," wrote Tom Evslin, who co-chaired Haley's Vermont state leadership team, in an op-ed Wednesday for the Vermont Daily Chronicle.
Evslin, who voted against then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016 and against Trump in 2020, wrote that he "will be happy to vote FOR Harris if she consistently articulates a strong foreign policy."
The same day, two former members of Haley's Michigan state leadership team also urged Republicans to support the Democratic ticket of Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
"As Republicans, we believe character and integrity matter," business consultant Jimmy Greene and communications expert Bill Nowling wrote in a joint op-ed for the Michigan Chronicle. "That's why we proudly supported Ambassador Nikki Haley for president and were part of her Michigan Leadership Team."
Nowling is also a co-chair of the group Republicans for Harris, which includes Republican former Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Denver Riggleman of Virginia.
"We believed in her positive vision for the future of the Republican Party, Michigan, and our nation," Greene and Nowling wrote. "Now, we will vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, and we are encouraging other sensible Republicans to join us."
The latest endorsements came five days after Haley's former Iowa state co-chair Dawn Roberts announced she would back Harris.
In a guest column for the Des Moines Register, Roberts wrote that while she is "a lifelong Republican," she was dismayed by both parties when Trump and President Joe Biden appeared to be the top candidates.
When Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed Harris as his replacement, "I decided to see who she really was," wrote Roberts. "I was impressed with how she handled herself saying that she wanted to 'earn everyone's support.' She showed willingness to listen to a wider range of views to solve problems."
"So I am supporting Kamala Harris for president," she wrote.
A spokeswoman for Haley did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on her former campaigners endorsing Harris.
Haley, who was governor of South Carolina and served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was the last high-profile candidate to keep campaigning against Trump in the Republican presidential primary.
In the final stretch of her campaign, Haley, who had taken pains to avoid alienating Trump's base by directly attacking him, became vocally critical of the de facto Republican leader.
LOBAMBA Members of Parliament (MPs) want the Minister of Finance to explain why government chose Standard Bank as a financer of the 800 motor vehicles purchased by government.
This is a private member motion forwarded by the Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini, who is seconded by Mayiwane MP Sicelo Dlamini. The motion is contained in a Notice Paper issued by the office of the Speaker of the House of Assembly dated September 24, 2024. It is worth noting that government entered into a lease financing with Standard Bank to purchase the motor vehicles.The MPs in the motion, want the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, to table a report that has all the terms and conditions of the loan agreement between government and Standard Bank.
To move that the Minister for Finance tables a report to this Honourable House pertaining to the terms and conditions of the loan agreement reached between Government and Standard Bank in the procurement of 800 motor vehicles, reads the MPs motion. Additionally, the MPs said the minister should table the report in seven days after passing of the motion.
The MPs want the report to contain the following:
1. How much this purchase will cost the government and what the interest on the loan granted by the bank is?
2. The status of the Central Transport Administration (CTA) since Standard Bank will also be controlling the movement of the vehicles, including fuelling of petrol and controlling the usage of these vehicles.
3. The financial cost of the fleet management arrangement with Standard Bank?
4. Whether other financial institutions were approached by the government before settling for Standard Bank?
Last week Wednesday the government received the first delivery of the newly acquired fleet of 68 motor vehicles, all equipped with advanced tracking systems.
The vehicles, set to be allocated across various ministries, form part of a larger acquisition of 741 vehicles purchased through Standard Bank Eswatini at a total cost of E500 million.
The first batch of the new government fleet was presented by the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe during a press briefing held at the ministrys offices on Wednesday.
Ministries will receive the vehicles in stages after completing all necessary registrations. The vehicles include Nissan Navara single cabs, Isuzu D-Max single cabs and Kia Picantos among others. Other vehicles including ambulances, police cars and fire vehicles are expected. The delivery of all vehicles is expected until October this year. Ndwandwe said the procurement of the vehicles will help reduce rentals within the government. He said they have partnered for the first time with the private sector to purchase the vehicles.
According to Ndwandwe, they will partner with the bank for five years in taking care of the cars and, after that, government will take full ownership of the vehicles.
The U.S. Secret Service insignia is pictured on a wall at the Secret Service headquarters in Washington.
The U.S. Secret Service is investigating allegations that one of its agents sexually assaulted a female staff member of the office of Vice President Kamala Harris, the agency confirmed Wednesday.
The agent, who was a member of Harris' protective detail, has been placed on administrative leave.
He allegedly forced himself onto the woman and groped her in her hotel room after eating a meal and drinking alcohol with her and several other Harris staffers at a restaurant in Green Bay, Wisconsin, during a visit in the past week to scout possible stops for Harris' presidential campaign, Real Clear Politics reported.
Two law enforcement officials told NBC News that the agent was intoxicated when the alleged groping occurred.
The local Secret Service field office was told about the alleged assault, and the agent's gun and badge were confiscated, one of the officials told NBC.
A Secret Service spokesman told CNBC, "The U.S. Secret Service Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating a misconduct allegation involving an employee."
"The Secret Service holds its personnel to the highest standards," the spokesman said in an email. "The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation."
Harris' office, in a statement on the report, said "The Office of the Vice President take the safety of staff seriously."
"We have zero tolerance for sexual misconduct. Senior OVP officials were alerted by the USSS about an incident involving an agent and informed that USSS initiated an investigation," Harris' office said. "The Office of the Vice President will not be releasing further information."
Real Clear Politics reported that the agent's actions toward the Harris campaign staffer "were apparently witnessed by other people present."
House Oversight Chair James Comer is opening an investigation into Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Sunday visit to an ammunition factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Comer claims that the trip was organized to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris' bid for presidency, and was done using "taxpayer-funded resources."
The Republican investigation comes as the relationship between Zelenskyy and former president Donald Trump seems to sour.
On Wednesday, Trump accused Zelenskyy of insulting him Trump said the Ukrainian president was "making nasty little dispersions toward" him and adding that he got along with Russian President Vladimir Putin "very well."
"There's really nothing for the Ukrainian people to go back to, and it didn't need to happen. Those buildings are down, those cities are gone. They're gone, and we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal," Trump said of Zelenskyy while speaking at a plumbing parts manufacturer in Mint Hill, North Carolina.
Zelenskyy is in the United States to attend the UN General Assembly high-level week in New York, where he is meeting with world leaders. He also plans to visit the White House on Thursday, where he will meet with President Joe Biden and, later in the day, with Harris.
Trump was expected to meet with the Ukrainian President on Thursday at Trump Tower, but a Trump campaign official told NBC News Wednesday that the meeting was not happening. When asked why, a source familiar with the matter pointed to Zelenskyy's New Yorker interview.
In an interview published Sunday by the New Yorker, Zelenskyy said that Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance was "too radical" and his message "seems to be that Ukraine must make a sacrifice," in ending the war with Russia.
When asked if Ukraine should cede land in exchange for a ceasefire with Russia in a press conference Wednesday, Vance said "everything is going to be on the table."
Comer's letter also criticized the timing of the visit with the publishing of Zelenskyy's comments regarding Trump's running mate.
The ammunition factory that Zelenskyy visited is operated by General Dynamics and manufactures components for 155 mm artillery shells, a crucial piece of ammunition to Ukraine's battle efforts.The United States had shipped more than 3 million rounds of it to Ukraine since February 2022, according to a Pentagon fact sheet from July 2024
On Wednesday, the Defense Department announced additional security assistance of $375 million for Ukraine, including more of the 155 mm artillery shells that the Scranton factory specializes in manufacturing.
"I began my visit to the United States by expressing my gratitude to all the employees at the plant and by reaching agreements to expand cooperation between Pennsylvania and our Zaporizhzhia," Zelenskyy wrote on X Sunday.
There, Zelenskyy also met with three Pennsylvania Democrats; Governor Josh Shapiro, Senator Bob Casey and Rep. Matt Cartwright. Both Casey and Cartwright are up for reelection in November.
This photo shows a general view of a traffic jam on a main roads leading into the city center of Jakarta on May 8, 2024 as thin haze of pollution sits over the city's skyline. Bay Ismoyo | Afp | Getty Images
Indonesia's rise as an emerging economy is the latest of Asia's success stories. Yet the country's Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has warned that its yearly 5% GDP growth, higher than the global average of 2%, is "not enough for [Indonesia] to achieve the meaningful progress" needed to become a high-income nation. Indonesia's ambition is part of what it calls the "Golden Vision 2045," a grand plan aimed at transforming the country into a skilled workforce on high wages and a way to reduce poverty rates by the time it celebrates its 100-year anniversary. "To continue our journey [as a middle-income country aspiring to be a high-income country] ... of high growth based on high productivity, we have to invest more in human capital," the finance minister told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" in an interview broadcast last week. A country report by the International Monetary Fund published in August underlined that the aspiration for Indonesia is to "increase value added by moving through the value chain from raw commodities, build a skilled population ready for the digital age, and accelerate infrastructure development and institutional reform to support balanced, green, and equitable growth."
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Despite a change in political power earlier this year, Indonesia's ambitions remain. More than 200 million voters in the world's most populous Muslim country went to the polling booths in February, ending a decade of President Joko Widodo at the helm with the election of former army general and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto. The new administration will take charge in October for a five-year term. Incoming President Subianto has promised to continue the charge toward making Indonesia a high-income economy. Economic reforms passed through by the outgoing president will make the achieving Indonesia's grand vision easier. "Widodo put in place a bunch of economic reforms, the most noticeable being making it easier to hire and fire new workers. And they also reformed land use rights," Gareth Leather, a senior economist at Capital Economics, told CNBC. "Indonesia still does a few things wrong. Infrastructure is not great. Corruption is still a problem. But they're heading in the right direction," he said. Indrawati hopes to avoid "the middle-income trap" an economic development situation where growing economies stagnate at middle-income levels and are unable to advance to the ranks of high-income countries. Major policy reforms, she believes, will help Indonesia sidestep that. "A lot of government efforts, including our fiscal budget, are allocated significantly for education, health and [the] social safety net," she said. The IMF's findings fall in line with the finance minister. The Washington-based institution said achieving high-income status will require "broad and sustained structural" reforms, while also securing the economic stability that has already been built up. A report published in July by the Lowy Institute, an Australian-based business think tank, noted the gains that have already been achieved, stating that the country's digitalization of social welfare programs, as well as subsidized food and energy initiatives, have "coincided with a significant reduction in poverty, with less than 10% of the country's 279 million residents living below the international poverty line by 2023."
'Won't ever be the next China'
Taxation and labor reforms, making it easier for firms to hire and fire workers, are also a strategic part of Indonesia's economic engineering. "They're useful steps in the right direction," said Leather. "Under the old system, if you wanted to sack a worker in Indonesia, you had to pay them up to 60 weeks of severance pay. Which is way more than anywhere else. If you're a manufacturing investor looking at where to set up shop in Asia, and you see how inflexible the labor force is, it could put you off."
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Infrastructure firm KBC Global said its subsidiary KBC International has signed an agreement with Liberia SEZ Authority for the development of commercial and residential projects worth $12.5 million (around 105 crore).Liberia SEZ Authority is developing commercial space, residential and low-cost housing projects in a special economic zone which is expected to be completed within three years, KBC Global said in a statement.The project will commence from Q-2,2025 (second quarter of 2025), it said.KBC Global last week announced that it successfully fulfilled its payment obligation to Capri Global Capital and fully regularised the default on September 19, 2024.The company said it has entered into a favourable MoU with Capri Global Capital, securing a waiver of non-financial penal interest. As of today, the outstanding balance with Capri Global Capital stands at 13.50 crore.Marking its entry in the Africas infrastructure development market, KBC Global in June bagged a $20 million civil engineering subcontract in the soft infrastructure segment from CRJE (East Africa).
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For years, Microsoft has prided itself on the time, effort, and money it puts into fighting climate change. In early 2020, Microsoft President and Vice Chair Brad Smith promised in a blog post the company would invest $1 billion to make itself carbon-negative by 2030.
Smith vowed Microsoft wouldnt use deceptive tricks to get there, for example by pouring carbon in the atmosphere, then buying so-called offsets that claim to reduce carbon elsewhere, such as planting trees in a rain forest.
Investigations have found that offsets can be a kind of greenwashing that allows large companies to surround themselves with the golden halo of fighting climate change, while doing little or nothing to achieve necessary goals. An investigation by The Guardian and others concluded, for example, that more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by [the] biggest certifier are worthless.
MBABANE - Government does not kill or poison suspects.
This is according to government Spokesperson, Alpheous Nxumalo. This follows accusations that government may allegedly have had a hand in the poisoning of the Peoples United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) President, Mlungisi Makhanya. Makhanya was hospitalised following a suspected poisoning incident at his South African residence yesterday.
Reports indicate that Makhanya became ill shortly after consuming a meal, triggering an emergency response and his subsequent hospitalisation. The exact details of his condition remain undisclosed, though concerns about his safety have ignited widespread speculation online.
Hospitalised
PUDEMO Secretary General (SG), Penuel Malinga, in a statement, confirmed that Makhanya has been hospitalised following a suspected poisoning incident in the early hours of yesterday morning. Malinga said the president is currently receiving the best possible medical care and is under security protection. PUDEMO is in close contact with the presidents family and is ensuring that they are supported during this difficult time. We are committed to keeping the public informed about any developments throughout the day, Malinga said.
Furthermore, the SG urged all supporters and the public to keep Makhanya in their thoughts and prayers, as they wish him a swift recovery.
News of the incident broke on social media platforms, where a flurry of reactions surfaced. Several users have voiced suspicions alleging that government may be involved, with some pointing to Makhanyas outspoken opposition to the regime as a possible motive. In a statement, the government spokesperson said: In regard to the social media reports alleging that Makhanya has been poisoned by his very own comrade/s; government is aware of the insinuations to the effect that Mlungisi might have been poisoned with the knowledge of this government.
Nxumalo said government does not kill or poison suspects. Government, through the law enforcement agencies that adhere to a strict code of ethics and professionalism, only apprehend suspects and bring them to Justice, and they are brought to justice alive, not dead, Nxumalo said. He stated that government is aware of one terroristic social media entitys fondness for associating, miring and dragging peoples names into such shenanigans, without any outer evidence. He alleged that this social media entity thrives in peddling lies, disinformation and misinformation. As usual, his tabloid journalism is hereby rejected with the total contempt it deserves, he said.
Japan has a reputation for weirdness. Maybe its because, tired of their reputation for honor and perfectionism, they launched a campaign called Cool Japan to let the outer world know about their crazy pop culture. Maybe its because of trends that really originated in the Western world. Or maybe its because of bunch of miscellaneous quirks that each has an explanation of its own.
5 There Are No Trash Bins Because of Terrorism Finish a bottle of Pocari Sweat while on the streets of some Japanese city, and you might have trouble finding anywhere to drop your trash. Apparently, this has gotten a little better in recent years, but for decades, this was a big complaint from travelers. Don't Miss This lack of garbage bins has nothing to do with a lack of garbage, since convenience stores and vending machines leave people with plenty to throw away. Nor does it have anything to do with the Japanese people being very neat, since having a good place to discard litter is an essential part of neatness. Mrhayata/Wiki Commons Hey, we spotted one bin, next to the machine. Use it while you can. The trend really goes back to 1995, when terrorists unleashed sarin gas through the subways of Tokyo. The perpetrators were a cult whose aims made sense only to themselves, and the attack killed 14 while injuring more than a thousand. Immediately afterward, Tokyo removed its public garbage bins because they posed a security risk. Other Japanese cities followed suit. The link between the attack and the threat of garbage bins isnt a logical one. The terrorists didnt stash bags of liquid sarin in bins at any point. Nevertheless, its common worldwide for cities to secure garbage cans when they believe theres some elevated risk of terrorism. Japan just went further by removing the bins altogether and not replacing them. This resulted in a convention of people now simply holding on to their disposable packaging till they finally find an opportunity for discarding it. That actually sounds to us like a setting where its much easier than in most countries to blend in while carrying bags of sarin. Advertisement
4 Phone Cameras Make a Shutter Noise Because Phone Makers Fear Liability Heres a gross fact you may have heard already: In Japan, its impossible to mute a phones shutter sound. In a conventional camera, a shutter is a physical part that has to make a noise, while on a phone, its an artificial sound to indicate that youre taking a photo. Its an optional feature in most phones, but in Japan, its mandatory, to warn you when a pervert tries taking photos up your skirt undetected. If youve heard about this rule before, you may have heard that its a national law. Its really a convention decided upon by the companies themselves. As early as 2001, telecom companies asked phone manufacturers to lock the audible indicator in place, and the industry adopted this standard ever since. Given that companies are self-interested, we can assume they werent really concerned about public morals. They feared their own possible liability if victims held the companies responsible for these pics. Advertisement Danny Choo Today, maybe theyd give phones anti-crotch A.I. Maybe the companies were paranoid, and those earliest reports of upskirt photos from 2000 werent as numerous as we thought. Or maybe the fact that companies took steps on their own means those photos were even more numerous than we realized. Either way, the mandatory shutter sound remains. Thats even though it no longer thwarts voyeurs since phones can record video now, without any indicator noise at all.
3 People Buy Christmas Wine From KFC Because One Guy Couldnt Find Roast Turkey Advertisement Advertisement Japan has a tradition at Christmas of everyone eating at KFC. Stores get booked weeks in advance, and besides just buying fried chicken, people buy full Christmas KFC hampers of cake and wine. This is a tradition expertly cultivated by KFC itself. It goes back to 1970 when some anonymous pair of tourists walked into the first KFC in the country, talking about missing eating Turkey for the holiday. The manager, Takeshi Okawara, realized his store might not serve turkey but is a great source of poultry and came up with the idea of Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii, Kentucky for Christmas. Other KFC spokespersons offer variations on this origin story, but they all end with KFC assuring the public that fried chicken is a traditional Christmas food. Stores now featured Colonel Sanders dressed as Santa, ads showed families gathered at the store for Christmas, and this all might not sound like that convincing of a campaign, but it took off because Japan simply had no existing Christmas traditions. Advertisement KFC Santa, Sanders? Same guy. All bearded white dudes look the same. Okawara went on to be the CEO of KFC Japan for 18 years. And KFCs Christmas packages now account for one-third of the chains annual sales in Japan.
2 Networks Blur Handcuffs Because One Defendant Got Off When TV networks in Japan show a suspect in handcuffs, they make it a point to blur those cuffed hands. The idea here is that cuffs imply someone is a criminal, and the suspect hasnt been convicted of anything yet, so cuffs falsely label them as guilty. via tokyoreporter.com And yet the blurring labels the image as obscene, so theres no winning here. TV networks arent simply trying to be decent. The practice started following one specific case, when the suspect used coverage of his handcuffed self as evidence that the public was prejudiced against him. The man was Kazuyoshi Miura, who was accused of killing his wife while the two were vacationing in Los Angeles in 1981. The incident also left Miura with a bullet in his leg, so either hed arranged the scene to fake an attack on himself or the two had been shot by some unknown assailant. Advertisement Advertisement Miura was convicted in Japan before a higher court overturned the verdict and acquitted him. Networks have blurred handcuffs ever since. But while the Japanese justice system may have seen Miuras acquittal as a defeat, that wasnt the end of his story. Decades later, in 2008, Miura was extradited to California, where he couldnt face murder charges due to double jeopardy but could still be tried for conspiracy. Before the trial could start, he was found dead in his cell. Hed used his shirt to hang himself. Advertisement
Casa Bonita Mi Amor!, the new documentary about Trey Parker and Matt Stones restaurant side-hustle/$40 million midlife crisis, is a big hit with audiences so far. Which isnt all that surprising considering that cable TV has already proven that people like both South Park and watching strangers go through hellish ordeals in restaurants.
Well, soon were going to be getting yet another feature-length doc about the exploits of Parker and Stone, thanks to good old physical media. And it also involves the culinary arts to some degree at least.
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Parkers directorial debut, 1993s Cannibal! The Musical, is receiving its first ever Blu-Ray release, meaning that well finally be able to see the alleged flesh-eating exploits of Alfred Packer in high definition. And just imagine how crisp the audio will be on songs like Lets Build a Snowman and Shpadoinkle.
The film is actually being released by two different companies. One Blu-Ray is coming from the U.K.s Refuse Films as part of its TromArchive Collection. According to the company, they laboriously restored the movie using the original Betacam master tape (the film elements have been lost).
Cannibal! is also getting a release from Vinegar Syndrome, and their new label Degausser Video, which specializes in movies that were either shot on tape, or shot on film but edited on tape. In the case of Cannibal! The Musical, it was the latter it was originally shot on 16mm film, using equipment borrowed from the University of Colorado, Boulder (at least one professor was borrowed from the school, as well). And apparently theirs is an exclusive new restoration. That means that two companies painstakingly worked to restore this goofy-ass movie made by college students.
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Each release has its own list of special features, and the Vinegar Syndromes disc reportedly comes with a new feature-length making-of documentary including appearances from several never-before-interviewed crew members. Considering that the Cannibal! shoot was plagued with problems including a near death experience involving an avalanche, and the time Parker was thrown from his horse and fractured his hip it should be a pretty compelling doc. Although the other release has the infamous inebriated audio commentary.
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Dont expect this to be the last documentary we get about Parker and Stone either. As Vanity Fair recently revealed, Arthur Bradford, the documentarian who made Casa Bonita Mi Amor! and 2011s 6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park, has been following the creative partners around for more than a decade. While some of that footage has been used for the Casa Bonita movie, theres still obviously a lot of material left over.
Who knows, maybe one day well get an epic eight-hour documentary in the vein of Get Back, but instead of chronicling the minutiae of crafting a classic album, it will be about ripping on World of Warcraft or scrambling to come up with an episode after Trump was elected.
You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter (if it still exists by the time youre reading this).
Scientologists have a series of acronyms and codes to refer to the various threats to their plans for world domination, with the kind of joking & degrading featured on shows like South Park shortened to J&D. Gotta protect the head FP somehow.
When Trey Parker and Matt Stone first started taking shots at the aggressively litigious and rapidly growing religious and political organization the Church of Scientology in the classic South Park Season 12 episode Trapped in the Closet, they unintentionally sparked one of the shows most disappointing controversies that led to beloved series regular Isaac Hayes leaving the show for good, shortly before his death. As one of the many celebrities whom Scientologists successfully recruited into their ranks, Hayes supposedly took issue with South Park repeating the official Scientology creation myth verbatim and educating the world on what Scientologists actually believe.
Hayes son Isaac Hayes III has long argued that, due to his fathers declining health at the time when he supposedly stepped away from the role of Chef on South Park, his father couldnt have penned the public and infamous 2006 resignation letter, and that Scientology officials must have ghost-written the condemnation of Trapped in the Closet without Hayes knowledge. However, a former high-ranking Scientologist who claims to have penned the internal memo addressing the Churchs plan of response to Trapped in the Closet says that the truth is much more complicated.
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I didnt know make love to children needed an entire dispatch.
Mike Rinder is a former Scientology executive and current critic of the church who spoke to The Daily Beast about the aftermath of Trapped in the Closet, including Hayes official feelings on the matter. Rinder claims to have written the leaked memo from the day after Trapped in the Closet aired, which begins, This program aired last night on Comedy Central. They did not contact the Church or give any forewarning on the show, not even to Isaac. The program is a total J&D of Scientology, Tom Cruise and John Travolta and contains upper level data.
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Much of Rinders report on the internal outrage that South Park sparked within Scientology centers around journalist Mark Ebner, with whom Parker and Stone consulted when writing Trapped in the Closet and who wrote a 1996 expose for Spy magazine on the initiation process after joining the church and learning their secrets. The article, titled Do You Want to Buy a Bridge? was infamous among the upper tier of Scientologists, and their plan to squash South Park and Trapped in the Closet started with discrediting Ebner.
We learned that Mark Ebner consulted on the program. (He also is listed as a contributing writer at Radar, and earlier picketed the church and did entheta ((church speak for anti-Scientology)) postings about Isaac Hayes calling Isaac a house (N-word) and an Uncle Tom for selling out to Scientology,) Rinders memo alleged.
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For Hayes part in the response, Rinder confirmed Parker and Stones claims that they deliberately kept Chef in the dark about the Scientology episode to avoid any extra controversy. Isaac was briefed on the show when he arrived in LA at lunch time, the memo states. He was very pissed and said it explained why he hadnt been able to reach the creators of the show, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, over the last few days. Then, the bombshell: He said he had had it with the show and is going to quit. This is not being done today so as not to create a media incident.
Isaac placed a call to Doug Herzog, the President of Comedy Central, to get them not to re-air the program. He left a message for Herzog who is on a plane en route back to L.A. He is going to tell him how pissed he is that they consulted with a racist, bigot Ebner, but not with him, and if they had, he would have told them who Ebner is and what they were going to get into, Rinder further wrote in the memo. He then spoke to Matt Stone and Trey Parker. He briefed them on Ebner, and both claimed that they did not like Ebner either and that he was working with one of their producers, trying to distance themselves from the show.
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Ebner, who spoke to The Daily Beast about the memo and the Church of Scientologys response to Trapped in the Closet, denied ever using a racial slur to describe Hayes and laughed at the Churchs official account of the behind-the-scenes politics of South Park. If (Parker and Stone) didnt like me, then Id ask anyone to explain why I was continually invited to all of their holiday parties for years afterwards, Ebner posited.
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The plan, as Rinder wrote, was three parts: Hayes would run interference with Comedy Central, Parker and Stone, eventually quitting the show after some time had past while third-partying Ebner, a Scientologist term for pinning any conflict between two entities on a third party. The Church itself would also blame Ebner, both to Viacom executives within their influence and to the public, painting him as a racist rabble-rouser with an ax to grind. Then, the Church would investigate Ebner and seek to expose his crimes.
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Speaking to The Daily Beast, Rinder doesnt recall Scientology ever investigating Ebner or his crimes, but hes sure that someone must have dug into Ebners actions even further. Given the magnitude of this flap, I would be pretty certain it did. Whether it uncovered anything or not, I have no recollection.
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While Rinders official, internal account of the saga claims that Hayes was not only willing to quit South Park over Trapped in the Closet but an active agent in the Churchs response, Rinder admits that the version of events reported by Hayes son could be closer to the truth than what he claimed in the memo. Rinder called Isaac Hayes IIIs assertion that his father was forced to quit South Park a fair take, though he suggested that Hayes having more deeply-held attachment to the Church than outsiders claim is also a fair take.
Whatever role Hayes played in Scientologys response to Trapped in the Closet seems to be more complicated than either side of the controversy will admit, but the result is the same: Hayes left South Park, Trapped in the Closet has been watched millions of times thanks to the controversy, and the Church of Scientology failed to destroy Ebners entire life and career. As Ebner noted to The Daily Beast, his contribution to the South Park canon is still one of the highest-rated episodes in the shows history.
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Tom Cruise could not be reached for comment though we havent checked the fudge-packing factory to see if hes on his shift.
MBABANE-A 39-year-old South African man has been arrested at the Oshoek Border Post while attempting to jump over the fence into the country with E424 800 in his possession.
The man was arrested by the Border Management Authority Authorities and it was discovered that the money had not been declared, which violates the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) Act 38 of 2001. According to a statement issued by the South African Police Service (SAPS) Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), the man was caught in the act of attempting to cross the border of South Africa into Eswatini, jumping through the fence when the determined members stopped and searched him. Captain Dineo Sekgotodi in the statement said the man was holding a black plastic bag containing a cash amount of E424 800 which was found and seized.
According to Sekgotodi, information was escalated to the Hawks Secunda-based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation who took over the crime scene. She explained that during interrogation, the suspect was questioned about the money, its origin and where it was taken, but failed to give a clear explanation. It was also discovered that the money was not declared as per FIC Act 38 of 2001 in terms of section 54 read with section 30. He was then arrested, charged with possession of suspected stolen property, Sekgotodi said. The captain stated that the money was seized and booked in SAP 13.
Investigation
Furthermore, Sekgotodi said the investigation is continuing and the suspect is expected to appear before the Elukwatini Magistrate Court today. Early this year, the police arrested an astute South African businessman who attempted to smuggle over E870 000 through Ngwenya Border Gate. Lazarus Mphosi (38), who owns a number of filling stations in Eswatini and in the Republic of South Africa, was arrested at Ngwenya Border Gate while trying to enter the country with the cash, which was hidden inside his car. Information that was gathered, Mphosi was caught around 12:30 pm when police who were conducting a routine stop and search at the border gate stopped his Land Cruiser registered KH 141 KT GP at the entry point.
The law enforcers are said to have then asked for permission to search the car and it was during that exercise that they discovered a sum of E879 700 hidden under the car seats.
The police, after learning that he had not declared the money to the officials, proceeded to charge him for contravening Section 41 (1) of the Money Laundering and Finance of Terrorism Act of 2011. The businessman was taken to Mbabane Magistrates Court where he was detained for hours. He appeared before Mbabane Magistrate Sifiso Vilakati and pleaded guilty. The court sentenced him to two years imprisonment with an option of a fine of E30 000.
The senior magistrate, however, suspended half of the sentence, which means the businessman only paid E15 000 to gain his freedom. In 2022, a tip-off from an anonymous caller led to the police recovering a sum of E830 070 hidden in a South African registered motor vehicle at Ngwenya Border Gate last Monday. The money, which was found concealed in false compartments, was reportedly being smuggled to the neighbouring country. A false compartment is any box, container, space or enclosure intended or designed to conceal any controlled item within a motor vehicle.
Denominations
According to the investigator of the matter, the money was in denominations of R200, R100, R50 and R10. These are equivalent to the local currency of Emalangeni. Police say they believe the money was ill-gotten and was to be used for illegal activities. The driver of the motor vehicle, who is a South African national, Thando Daniel Zulu, is said to have failed to give the police an explanation when asked about the source of the money and this led to him being arrested. The director of public prosecutions (DPP) obtained an order in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act (POCA) 2018 to preserve the money, pending application for its forfeiture. The court also issued an order allowing the prosecution to seize the motor vehicle, a white Toyota Hilux.
A one-time Orange County man who is one of Romania's most notorious criminals was sentenced today to 60 months in federal prison for stealing victims' identities to withdraw money from their public-assistance accounts without their permission.
Florin Duduianu, 39, whose last known residence was in Mission Viejo, was sentenced by United States District Judge John W. Holcomb, who also ordered him to pay $1,850 in restitution.
Duduianu pleaded guilty on January 5 to three counts of bank fraud and unlawful use of unauthorized access devices. After a two-day bench trial, Judge Holcomb on January 23 found Duduianu guilty of two counts of aggravated identity theft.
"This defendant came to our country to victimize the neediest members of our society," said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. "Our nation is not a piggy bank for foreign criminals, and those who think they can take advantage of our liberties to harm our people are sorely mistaken."
"Duduianu stole money which was meant to serve as a critical lifeline to those most in need," said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office. "It was a serious offense, and the FBI remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners across the globe to identify fraudsters like this defendant and hold them fully accountable for their crimes."
In August 2023, law enforcement was conducting an operation to combat Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) fraud at various banks and ATMs in Placentia. Police saw Duduianu, accompanied by a passenger, drive up to a Wells Fargo ATM and make multiple withdrawals on different cards. Based on this information, officers pulled Duduianu over. Duduianu lied to the officers, telling them he was depositing, not withdrawing, money from the ATM.
During a search of Duduianu's passenger, officers found four Visa gift cards, three Wells Fargo ATM receipts, and $1,850 in cash. The Visa gift cards were encoded with EBT card numbers. Those numbers were run through an EBT database, which showed that they belonged to four different people. Based on the Wells Fargo receipts, Duduianu used two of the cards to make three withdrawals totaling $1,850 from the ATM.
The FBI contacted the accountholders for the two EBT accounts from which Duduianu made withdrawals. The accountholders said that they did not know Duduianu or his car passenger and did not give permission to anyone to withdraw funds from their accounts.
During a search of Duduianu's cellphone, law enforcement found dozens of photos and videos related to ATM skimming as well as tools and techniques used to skim EBT information. Law enforcement also found photos of large sums of cash and hundreds of EBT numbers from multiple states. In the chat history of Duduianu's phone, the government found an article about EBT fraud that was sent from his phone to four other phone numbers.
On another smartphone law enforcement recovered during Duduianu's arrest, law enforcement found additional videos related to ATM skimming. Phone records and EBT records showed that this phone was used to check the balance of the EBT accounts of the victims in this case, five days before Duduianu withdrew $1,850 from those same accounts.
"Until his arrest in this case...Duduianu was one of Romania's 'Most Wanted' criminals and an INTERPOL fugitive," prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. "He leads the 'Duduianu Clan,' an exceptionally violent and influential organized crime group and was previously convicted of attempted murder. In 2020, [Duduianu] fled Romanian prosecution following charges of robbery and blackmail."
The FBI and the Placentia Police Department investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorneys David Y. Pi of the Major Frauds Section and Diane B. Roldan of the General Crimes Section prosecuted this case.
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SYRACUSE A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday after admitting to driving the 5-year-old child of an ex-girlfriend from Delaware to a Kingston hotel where he initiated sexual contact with the child, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
John Oathout, 54, of Harrisburg, Pa., was sentenced after previously pleading guilty to transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
As part of his guilty plea, Oathout admitted that after a romantic relationship ended with the victims mother, the victims mother permitted the defendant to take her daughter on overnight trips to Virginia and New York, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. During the week of Thanksgiving 2021, the defendant arranged to pick up the 5-year-old child from her home in Delaware and transport her to a hotel in Kingston, New York, where he subjected the child to sexual contact.
In addition to Oathouts 25-year sentence in prison, Chief U.S. District Judge Brenda K. Sannes imposed a 20-year term of supervised release, which Oathout will begin serving after he is released from prison. Oathout will also be required to register as a sex offender.
The FBIs Albany Division Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case. The task force includes members of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carling Dunham prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Childhood.
Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorneys Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locates, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
HUDSON The number of addresses without access to the internet in Columbia County has dropped to roughly 700, the chairman of the Board of Supervisors said Monday.
For more than a decade, weve worked tirelessly to reduce the number of unserved and underserved addresses in the county, Matt Murell, R-Stockport, chairman of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors said Monday during the county Broadband Subcommittee meeting. Im proud to say that by working together locally and with New York state, weve brought that number down from over 3,000 unserved and 10,000 underserved to a combined total of approximately 700 addresses.
The county first began working toward improving access to broadband in 2015, with the commissioning of a countywide broadband survey.
The Columbia County Economic Development Corporation was also included in the efforts to coordinate the countys push for broadband access, Murell said during Mondays meeting.
In 2017, the state also provided funding to the main internet service providers in the county, Consolidated Communications, Mid-Hudson Cablevision, Charter, now known as Spectrum, and GTel.
They made some significant dents in the list of unserved and underserved address, F. Michael Tucker, president and CEO of the Columbia County Economic Development Corporation, said Tuesday.
A field study was also conducted in 2017 by the county Economic Development Corporation with the vendor MC Fiber Services to determine where broadband service was, or was not being provided, Tucker said.
Through that process of continually updating that list and working with the state, we have been able to reduce the list, he said.
The number of addresses unserved or underserved by broadband fluctuates, because of addresses being added by internet service providers, Tucker said.
The next step in the process of improving broadband access is the state ConnectAll program, announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022, Tucker said.
The program is the state initiative to disperse $1 billion in funds from the federal Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program.
The state divided Columbia County into five districts for deployment of the ConnectAll program, and internet service providers can provide feedback on those districts until Sept. 30, Joshua Breitbart, senior vice president of ConnectAll, said during the meeting Monday.
When we finalize the list, well incorporate all these comments and well create a new set of project areas, he said.
The state will then request bids from internet service providers to provide broadband services in the project areas, which include the 700 underserved addresses outlined by the county, Tucker said.
In some parcels, there could be 100 addresses, some could have 45 to get up to the total, he said.
Tucker said addresses in Canaan and New Lebanon will also be removed from the countys total through roughly $820,000 announced in 2021.
The funding will service roughly 139 addresses in the two towns, according to the Columbia County Economic Development Corporations September 2024 broadband report.
The countys work to expand broadband access is not finished, Murell said during the meeting Monday.
Too many of our residents are still without reliable, high-speed internet, and the standards increase every year, he said. Broadband is not longer a luxury. Its a necessity for education, health care, and business development. It affects every aspect of daily life, and the Board of Supervisors are committed to ensuring every household and business in Columbia County is connected.
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Commentary: Deepening China-ASEAN cooperation powers global growth
Xinhua) 09:42, September 25, 2024
NANNING, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The constantly growing economic cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is set to further stabilize and inject vitality into the volatile global economy challenged by protectionism and deglobalization.
Bilateral trade between China and ASEAN reflects this robust cooperation. Official data showed that in the first seven months of this year, their trade reached 552 billion U.S. dollars, up 7.7 percent year on year, accounting for about one-sixth of China's total foreign trade volume in the same period.
China has remained ASEAN's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's top trading partner for four consecutive years. These figures demonstrate a shared vision of creating a massive integrated market, optimizing resource allocation, and leveraging each other's strengths for mutual benefit.
The China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the latter being the largest trade pact in the world, have enhanced trade and investment liberalization and facilitation between the two sides.
Such key trade agreements have also fast-tracked the integration of industrial and supply chains, fostering greater interdependence and mutual gains.
The deepening cooperation is further exemplified through multilateral events like the annual China-ASEAN Expo, which offers great opportunities for shared growth.
Scheduled for Sept. 24 to 28 in Nanning, the capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the 21st session of the expo has attracted over 3,000 enterprises to its nearly 200,000 square meters of exhibition space.
Since its inception in 2004, the event has grown into a vital platform for promoting the free flow of goods between China and ASEAN, making it easier for products like Thai fragrant rice, Vietnamese coffee, Malaysian Musang King durians and Laotian beer to please the palates of Chinese consumers.
China and the ASEAN region have been among the most dynamic economies in the world, generating strong momentum for global growth. In 2023, ASEAN achieved 4.1 percent economic growth, a trajectory expected to persist thanks to robust fundamental elements. Growth forecasts for ASEAN economies are 4.6 percent in 2024 and 4.7 percent in 2025, which are set to surpass estimated global averages.
China continues to play a pivotal role in global economic growth. Over the past decade, China's share of the world economy has increased from 12.3 percent to over 18 percent, with its annual contribution to global growth averaging over 30 percent.
ASEAN countries contribute 10 percent to global growth, more than double their weight in the world economy, as IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva noted at the 43rd ASEAN Summit.
The sustained economic ties between China and ASEAN act as a counterbalance to the rising protectionism seen among other major global economies, underscoring the importance of their partnership as a ballast in the turbulent world.
As China remains committed to further opening up as part of its modernization drive, the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and ASEAN, underpinned by their shared commitment to multilateralism and openness, is poised to continue generating fresh opportunities, new vitality and deeper integration, and thus benefiting both sides and the world economy as a whole.
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Overnight on Monday, a 100,000-ton leviathan the height of a 24-storey building weighed anchor at Naval Station Norfolk in the US state of Virginia and set sail for the eastern Mediterranean.
With a crew of 6,250, a squadron of 90 aircraft and two escorting destroyers, the USS Harry S. Truman is the very incarnation of American military might.
If ever there were a sign that the US is taking the threat of an escalating conflict in the Middle East seriously, this was it.
The ship is sailing to Washingtons greatest ally in the region, Israel, which is locked in a conflict that has spread from the dusty plains of Gaza to the hillscapes of southern Lebanon.
Goaded into action by a pitiless bombardment of rockets and missiles from Hezbollah across its northern border, the Israelis have responded with a deadly combination of ruthless guile and brute force.
First came the news last week that thousands of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah fighters had been blown up as part of an Israeli intelligence operation, killing at least 50 and wounding more than 3,000.
Thousands of civilians in southern Lebanon flee after devastating Israeli missiles rain down during attacks on Hezbollah fighters
Then came a terrible wave of air strikes that took out thousands of Hezbollahs rockets and killed more than 500 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry, making Monday the deadliest day of the conflict since it was sparked by Hamass appalling terrorist attack on October 7 last year.
So there is no doubt that Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is for now at least winning the battle against the militant Islamists who would like to see his country wiped off the face of the earth.
But the truth is that the Middle East is a tinderbox that could erupt into flames at any moment and if oil supplies are to be interrupted by the hostilities drag the West into a full-scale war.
The horrifying consequences could extend to terrorism on the streets of Britain and attacks on military bases abroad, and might even tip the balance in the forthcoming US presidential election.
The first point to make is that its unclear to what extent the airborne arm of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has actually destroyed Hezbollahs capacity to retaliate.
Many of the terror groups biggest missiles, stationed further to the north in Lebanon, may well remain intact. This raises the spectre of Hezbollah responding in kind with a blitzkrieg of its own.
If such an attack overwhelmed Israels fabled Iron Dome defence system and hit, say, the Dimona nuclear power plant in the east of the country, or a residential tower block in the northern city of Haifa, Netanyahu might feel he had little option but to salve popular civilian fury over such a mass casualty event by mounting a land invasion of Lebanon.
Then, all bets would be off.
More than a dozen people, many of them young children, pack themselves into the back of a pickup as they seek refuge in the capital, Beirut
Given that the IDF has got bogged down in its war against Hamas in Gaza around 100 hostages remain in captivity and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is still at large the first question to be asked is: does Israel have the manpower to pull off such an operation?
After all, Hezbollah is a far more ferocious opponent that the scrappier Hamas, better-armed and better-trained.
Thousands of its soldiers are battle-scarred veterans of the fight to save Syrias beleaguered President Assad in 2013.
Worst still, in the hilly terrain of southern Lebanon, Israeli ground troops will be far more vulnerable than fighter pilots in the sky. Jerusalem might like to think that it has decapitated Hezbollah by assassinating many of its most senior commanders.
But 18-year-olds armed with Kalashnikovs, mobile rocket-launchers and the sort of roadside IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) that proved so effective against British patrols in Afghanistan could prove to be formidable foes.
Its worth remembering that Israels previous attempts to suppress its enemies in Lebanon using tanks and soldiers notably in 1982 and 2006 both ended in heavy death tolls and, ultimately, retreat.
If Hezbollah doesnt crack this time, too, then the IDF could find itself fighting a war without end in Lebanon, as well as Gaza. And Hezbollah is unlikely to be short of allies.
Syrias Bashar al-Assad might feel its time to repay the group for its help in 2013, not least because he might suspect that he would be next on Israels hitlist if he doesnt help neuter the IDF in Lebanon.
Irans proxies in Yemen (the Houthis) and Iraq (Shiite militias) would also be under severe pressure to mount armed responses.
Iran itself could even get involved directly. If the mullahs in Tehran were seen to bottle such a naked threat to Irans power and influence, they could find themselves facing challenges to their rule.
An armed response may well be the only way to maintain the prestige of their theocracy and rally popular support. And they are likely to be egged on by their superpower sugar daddies.
Russian president Vladimir Putin, a loyal ally and major weapons supplier, will see any such conflict as a good way to distract the West from his war of attrition in Ukraine.
China, too, will be gimlet-eyed for any opportunities to expand its influence half a world away.
Its not putting it too strongly to say we are in danger of sleepwalking into a major war and doing so while holding a live grenade.
Few people are even talking about perhaps the most serious potential flashpoint.
A third of the worlds liquefied natural gas and almost 25 per cent of its oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, the stretch of water between Iran and Saudi Arabia that leads from the Persian Gulf to international waterways.
If Tehran were to blockade this critical choke point, the price of oil would soar and a global economic depression would not be far behind.
Fire burns at the scene of an Israeli airstrike, the death toll now reaching 500
In such a context, Washington and, yes, London would be under great pressure to get involved militarily.
Throw in the clear threat to Cyprus, just 80 miles off the coast of Lebanon, which houses a key British air and naval base and has attracted many British retirees (not to mention holidaymakers), and the risk of serious terror attacks is obvious.
It doesnt help that things are coming to a head in a US election year.
Is President Bidens policy-making affected by the fact that younger Democratic Party voters many of them virulently opposed to Israels war in Gaza may well vote with their feet if he is seen to be too supportive of Jerusalem?
And is Netanyahu emboldened by the prospect of Donald Trump, who has offered Israel his unconditional backing at every stage, making a return to the White House?
Of one thing we can be sure: when the USS Harry S. Truman drops anchor in the Mediterranean this weekend, it wont have arrived a moment too soon.
Mark Almond is director of the Crisis Research Institute, Oxford
At the start of George Orwell's Animal Farm, Napoleon, the self-styled ruler of the recently emancipated group of creatures, outlines his governance philosophy.
'Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure,' he explains. 'On the contrary, it is a deep and heavy responsibility. No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?'
Keir Starmer wasn't quite as self-serving in his conference speech on Tuesday. But there was a passage where he dismissed the criticism he and his government have been receiving with a similarly Orwellian flourish.
'It is our duty to the British people to face up to necessary decisions in their interest,' he intoned. 'I mean, you know me by now. So you know all those shouts and bellows, the bad faith advice from people who still hanker for the politics of noisy performance, the weak and cowardly fantasy of populism. It's water off a duck's back.'
Keir Starmer has dismissed the criticism he and his new government have been receiving
Keir Starmer with his wife, Victoria, after delivering his first speech as Prime Minister to the Labour Party conference
The slogan for Labour's week in Liverpool was 'Change Begins'. But the actual tone of the conference was set on Sunday, when Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was sent out to try to explain why she and her colleagues had taken hundreds of thousands of pounds of hospitality in the form of flats, suits, dresses and parties from millionaire donor Lord Alli, who had then been issued with an access-all-areas pass to Downing Street.
'All MPs do it,' she claimed dismissively, 'gifts and donations have been a factor in our political life for some time'.
To be fair, that did represent a change of sorts. Because up until the election, Rayner, Starmer and co. had a very different attitude towards fat-cats and cronyism.
'When working people want something nice, the Tories tell us to work harder and save for it,' she raged in December 2021. 'When the Prime Minister wants designer wallpaper in his Downing Street flat, he texts his multimillionaire mate for the cash.'
But that was before the Starmer revolution swept the evil Tories from the farmyard. Now, if Angela Rayner wants something nice such as a holiday to New York she just texts her own multimillionaire mate Lord Alli.
The PM made no reference to the fact that Lord Alli, pictured, had been providing him with everything from new pairs of glasses to a flat in which his son could do his GCSE revision
Yet somehow she doesn't see the hypocrisy at play here. And nor does her leader.
With the row over Lord Alli's donations swirling around him, Starmer's first major conference speech since becoming Prime Minister was the perfect opportunity to display the candour and transparency he once pledged would underpin his premiership. But he bottled it. We had the standard anecdote about a holiday in the Lake District. And a bizarre slip of the tongue where he called on Hamas to release the 'sausages'.
But on the fact that Lord Alli had been providing him with everything from new pairs of glasses to a flat in which his son could do his GCSE revision, there wasn't so much as a word. Nor was there any explanation of why the loan of the flat had been mysteriously extended well beyond the end of the exam season. Or why it had been used by the then Leader of the Opposition to film a political broadcast in December 2021, when Omicron was sweeping Britain and he and the rest of the country were supposed to be working from home.
And again, this reticence wasn't on display at the start of the year, when Sir Keir opted to place a commitment to cleaning up politics and eradicating sleaze at the heart of his New Year's message.
'It's not a game. Politics isn't a hobby, a pastime for people who enjoy the feeling of power, and nor is it a sermon from on high, a self-regarding lecture, vanity dressed up as virtue,' he lectured, before promising 'a total crackdown on cronyism'. I once thought Starmer's self-righteousness was an act. A political construct deployed by him and his advisers to exploit the Tory Party's weakness for a bung and a freebie. But it really isn't. Watching him speak on Tuesday, it was clear that he genuinely doesn't get it. He doesn't understand the public anger. And thinks his own sleaze storm is merely a passing distraction, something that will be forgotten in a few days when the media cycle spins again.
'He thinks it's all a storm in a teacup,' one minister told me. 'His attitude is 'we've got serious business to deal with. Just ignore this froth'.'
It wasn't froth when the Conservatives were in office. Rishi Sunak's 95 designer sliders. His 180 smart-mug. Boris Johnson's 840 a roll wallpaper. These were we were told not mere Westminster ephemera. But at the heart of who the Tories were, how out of touch they were, and how unsuitable they were for high office.
But it's now Keir Starmer and his ministers greedily gripping the seals of office. So the rules have apparently altered. All sleaze and cronyism is bad. But some forms of sleaze and cronyism namely Labour's brand is better than others.
And any criticism of it is to use the Prime Minister's own phrase all water off a duck's back. Britain's new Napoleon is not going to let public opinion distract him. Why should he? He has a 170-seat majority. His opponents are politically bankrupt, so there is nothing to stand in the way of his Government of Service. Especially not the British people, who will not be relevant to him for at least another three or four years.
So change has indeed come. Twelve months ago in Liverpool Keir Starmer pledged: 'No more pensioners freezing while energy firms make record profits.' Now a cut in the winter-fuel allowance is defended as being 'tough in the short-term, but in the long-term it's the right thing for the country'.
Last year, he vowed his MPs would 'have only one job: Service'. This year, those same MPs seem to have to get free tickets to Taylor Swift concerts in order to properly conduct their public duties.
It's just over two months since Starmer arrived on the steps of Downing Street. In his first speech he observed: 'Our country has voted, decisively. For change. For national renewal.'
But those voters watching the events of the past few days have seen something wearingly familiar: Cronyism. Sleaze. Politicians not acting in the service of their nation, but to feather their own nests.
In fact, if they'd been watching from the outside and looked at Starmer, then thought back to the Government they so decisively rejected in June, then back at Starmer again, they might have found it almost impossible to tell which was which.
I won't say I sympathise with Sir Keir Starmer after he madly called for the liberation of sausages from Gaza. I shall treasure the memory for years to come. I shall also never cease to wonder how he did it.
Had he made the same mistake during the rehearsal he had undoubtedly gone through the night before? Was he trying so hard not to say 'sausages' that he actually did so? Does he have an unlikely passion for sausages, which he has never before been able to confess?
But here is the real point. All those who climb on to public platforms are asking for trouble and will sometimes get it, and we will all laugh when it happens.
For many years I have attempted a little light public speaking, and I know pretty much how the Prime Minister will have felt, on a smaller scale. As a Trotskyist undergraduate I used to harangue the York University Students' Union on great issues of the moment, with some success, demanding support for miners, postmen, power workers, railwaymen and other toilers who were, in those days, constantly striking in defiance of poor old Ted Heath's Tory government.
Had Sir Keir made the same mistake during the rehearsal he had undoubtedly gone through the night before?
It was easy, and it was popular with my fellows, and it was simple. But one evening, I went too far. I tried to combine a plea for striking dockers with a call to support a demonstration against the National Front, which was about to take place in Leicester. Unscripted as usual, I sought to bring the two causes together into a single car crash sentence (I can't remember how it went).
I knew as I spoke that it wasn't going to come out right and - fatally - paused. And so my enemies had the chance to get me. 'There are no docks in Leicester!' cried a mocking voice. This is of course quite true. The room, rejoicing in my discombobulation, dissolved into laughter.
But it was not over. I was speaking from on top of a wheeled trolley, just beneath the raised stage where the Union president sat. Somebody gave it a shove and so I rolled helplessly sideways and out through an open door. As soon as the trolley came to rest, I fled, knowing full well there could be no comeback from such a disaster, and I am pretty sure I never spoke there again.
Until that moment I had never known what the much-used expression 'I wished the ground would swallow me up' actually meant. Since then I have understood that it is literally true. And I experienced it again at a 1990 London press conference when I tried to ask the future Russian President Boris Yeltsin a question in Russian.
Does the PM have an unlikely passion for sausages, which he has never before been able to confess?
I had been studying the language and thought I was doing reasonably well. My teacher (a superb Leningrad-born tutor who also taught MI6 agents) had carefully checked out my question for grammar and stress, and approved it. I had it by heart. But it was an attempt to trip Yeltsin up, and the cunning old brute wasn't having any of that.
He pretended he could not understand it, scornfully bawling 'Shto!?' (What!?) at me in front of about 100 rivals who - having initially been impressed at my apparent feat now rejoiced at my embarrassment. Once again, the ground failed to open beneath me. I had to sit there in the room for what seemed like a week, hot with shame, waiting for the chance to escape, desperately hoping to avoid any expressions of sympathy afterwards. The whole rest of the day is a blank in my mind.
Then there was the occasion in Grand Rapids, Michigan (There are no rapids there. They blew them up), where I attempted to debate with my late brother Christopher on the existence of God. This was one of two public contests we had, the other in London years before.
It took place in a gigantic former church, filled - as I quickly realised by people who loathed me, and adored my sibling. Christopher, never abstemious before battle, was far from totally sober. One again it was foolish boldness that led me into catastrophe. I had got by heart (or thought I had) a chunk of Rudyard Kipling's poem 'Recessional' - the bit about 'If, drunk with sight of power, we loose/Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe'.
But when the moment came, my memory jammed fast and I stopped halfway through. That was bad enough, as the enormous hall fell into an awkward silence, but my brother (who in our childhood could recite Henry V's 'Once more unto the breach' speech right through) did not merely complete my chosen lines but also threw in a nasty later bit about 'lesser breeds without the law' which I had most definitely been planning to leave out. It would have been much better if I had called for the worldwide liberation of sausages.
Safer by far, you might think, to read from a script. Not totally. I once prepared elaborately to do this the first time I was ever invited to debate at the Oxford Union. I wrote a tremendous, lengthy oration, on the monarchy, cutting it up and glueing it onto little cards, so as to make it look less obvious that I was reading it out. And then, just before I was due to stand up, they read the minutes from the week before.
The secretary reported: 'Ann Widdecombe spoke and spokeand spokeand spoke'. I shoved my heap of little cards under the seat and risked an unscripted seven-minute speech. Mind you, a script has its problems, as Keir Starmer knows he was reading from a clever machine which rolled the text before his eyes. I am sure the word 'sausages' was not in that script.
But isn't all this a bit too organised and pre-cooked? Shouldn't a speech be a living thing? This is why I rather favour heckling, a sign that the audience at least are awake and alive. Prime Ministers deserve to be heckled. It tests their wit and their self-possession. I am sorry that stewards nowadays so often fall upon such interrupters and drag them from the hall.
I am also pretty convinced, after observing several of these events, that the big parties plant knots of clappers in the hall to start waves of applause for the leader. How phoney. It is very tempting, if you are there, to rise to your feet and heckle.
At one Labour conference long ago I put it about in the bars of Bournemouth that I was thinking of heckling Sir Anthony Blair (as he then wasn't) during his annual performance. I wasn't really (a Press ticket doesn't give you the right to do such things), but I was interested to see whether word would get back.
I think it did. When I took my seat, I noted that several very large delegates were sitting very close to me, and eyeing me suspiciously. I reckon that if I had so much as begun to rise from my seat, I would have been flat on the floor in seconds and then half way to A&E within about a minute.
But it would have brightened an otherwise dull afternoon with a bit of reality. And that is what the sausages did, which is why I am so very glad Sir Keir mentioned them.
As millions of children head back to school, parents across the globe are bracing for the inevitable uniform woes - from growth spurts to broken shoes and worn-out tights.
According to a recent survey by M&S, a staggering 41 per cent of parents find themselves buying new pieces of school uniform not once, but twice a year.
Shoes, skirts or trousers, and shirts are the most commonly replaced items, with 57 per cent of parents citing wear and tear as the main culprit.
For girls in particular, one constant frustration is dealing with tights that snag, rip, or ladder, often leading to dozens of pairs being thrown away each year.
However, one Florida mother may have found the perfect solution to this age-old problem.
One Florida mother may have just found the perfect solution to the age-old problem of tights snagging throughout the school year - by freezing them
Last month, Tsagana, a mother and content creator from the US, posted a video to her Instagram account, @tsagana_24, revealing a simple trick to keep tights in pristine condition throughout the school year.
The method, which she learned at her daughter's dance class, has already earned her praise from hundreds of parents online.
Tsagana wrote: 'Moms of girls, this is especially important before school, and this way you will save a lot of money.'
In the video, she demonstrates how soaking tights in cold water, and then freezing them overnight, can strengthen the material, making them 'three times' more durable.
Her step-by-step process involves soaking the tights in a bowl of cold water, placing them back in their packaging, then freezing them for 24 hours.
The following day, she rinses the tights to thaw them out, then air-dries them.
In her video, Tsagana stretches the material to show how much stronger it becomes, saying: 'It's fantastic! It becomes three times stronger!!!'
The mother's hack has resonated with parents, prompting many to express their gratitude in the comments.
The mother's step-by-step process involves soaking the tights in a bowl of cold water, placing them back in their packaging, and freezing them for 24 hours
The mother's hack has resonated with parents, with many expressing their gratitude in the comments
One person said, 'Girl you just saved me a lot of money.'
A second wrote, 'This would have been useful information in high school! You know how many times I got in trouble for having ripped tights! And how many I had to buy!'
One mother added: 'This would have saved my Mom thousands of dollars! I'm going to do it to my 7-year-old's tights.'
Another said: 'My grandmother and mother did this for years. It was an honor to get picked to go pull stockings from the freezer for grandma.'
A second confirmed: 'One person I did this for dance class in the 80s! Saved the expensive tights!!'
However, some weren't convinced by the age-old hack, with one person writing: 'Doesn't work! This myth has been around for ages.
'I detest wearing hosiery but did for years. Tried it out of desperation after so many times of poking holes in them even at first use. Didn't work.'
If you've been hunting for designer jewelry without the hefty price tag, there's one brand you probably haven't heard of that's making pieces similar to all the most celebrity-beloved brands for far less.
Flaire & Co. Accessories is famous for creating inexpensive jewelry that won't tarnish - but what most people don't know is that many of their products look just like similar pieces that cost thousands of dollars.
On Reddit, shoppers praise the low prices, writing, 'Their quality is immaculate,' and saying the 'pieces last so well.'
Other people on Reddit recommend Flaire as a more affordable option that doesn't tarnish, alongside trendy brands like Catbird, Mignon Faget and Hey Harper.
But what many people doesn't know is that it's possible to get some of their rings, earrings, and bracelets for under $20 - and people just might think you're wearing designer duds.
Bottega's statement earrings are adored by high-profile celebrities like Margot Robbie, Kylie Jenner (above), Hailey Bieber, and Dua Lipa
Hailey Bieber (pictured above) often shows off the Bottega earrings on her Instagram page, just like her best friend Kylie
Flaire's Tear Drop Dome Hoops are only $15, but are similar style to the chunky, trendy Bottega earrings that influencers and celebrities adore
For example, Flaire's Tear Drop Dome Hoops are only $15, but are reminiscent of the Bottega earrings that influencers and celebrities adore.
The Bottega Small Drop Earrings are a jawdropping $820, making it quite the bargain to procure them for under 20 bucks, instead.
Hailey Bieber, Dua Lipa, Lori Harvey and Kylie and Kendall Jenner are all fans of the pricey designer style.
Flaire also sells a $16 Serpent Ring, which is a similar style to the famous Bvlgari Serpenti rings.
The Bvglari options retail for $1,000 to just under $10,000 for diamond embellished designs.
Zendaya and Anne Hathaway are both ambassadors for the luxury brand, with many other A-listers showing off the designer wares on the red carpet.
According to a veteran Vogue editor, the Serpenti ring is set to have a major comeback this year, as flowers, insects, swallows and serpents on motif rings are all the rage.
But if you don't want an investment piece and just want to try out the trend, $16 might be a better bet than shelling out $10k.
Sydney Sweeney was spotted wearing the $68 Mejuri Dome ring during the Cannes Film Festival in May
Flaire makes a Dome Ring and Thin Dome Ring, both $16, in silver and gold options that look similar to the one Sydney was spotted wearing in Cannes
Flaire also offers a $16 Serpent Ring, which is a similar style to the famous Bvlgari serpenti rings, which retail for $1,000 to under $10,000
The Pave Gems Bracelet is only $18 (right), but is a similar style to the Hermes white gold Kelly diamond bracelet, which will set you back about $39,000 (left)
Flaire also makes a Dome Ring and Thin Dome Ring, both $16, which are similar to the $68 Mejuri Dome ring, which Sydney Sweeney was spotted wearing at Cannes.
Mejuri is a bit more affordable than major jewelry designers, retailing from about $50 to $8,900 depending on the piece.
Mejuri has become a major hit with stars like Taylor Swift who opts for the Heirloom Ring, and Meghan Markle, who has been spotted showing off the Chunky Huggie Hoops and Charlotte Bold Ring.
Olivia Rodrigo, Gigi Hadid, Selena Gomez, and Ariana Grande are all fans of the affordable luxury brand - and it offers its own affordable version of the viral Bottega earrings for $68.
But the biggest Flaire & Co. money saver might just be the Pave Gems Bracelet, which is only $18.
It's a similar style to the Hermes white gold Kelly diamond bracelet, which will set you back a cool $39,000.
The billionaire founder of UK online fashion house PrettyLittleThing has vowed to change the way the company works, after customers complained about 'poor sizing and poor quality'.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Manchester entrepreneur Umar Kamani, 36, said he was personally working to improve customer experience after a post he'd made this week on the brand's Instagram account had prompted a raft of negative comments.
Kamani, who earlier this month made a dramatic return to the company more than a year after stepping down as CEO, had published on Monday an explanation as to why some some shoppers' accounts had been blocked, saying the company was losing money because a small proportion of customers were requesting refunds '100% of the time, or most of the time'.
The post sparked both supportive and negative comments, with some praising the brand for taking action, while others suggested there were other reasons behind the high return rate, such as inconsistent sizing and low quality garments.
The businessman said he had taken on board the negative feedback, saying: 'I'm not trying to shy away from anything.
'The size and the quality, if you're taking the approach of listening to the customer, which we are, isn't good enough and you can clearly see the frustrations in the posts. We have work to do as a business that cares about our customers.'
'It's personal' PrettyLittleThing boss Umar Kamani, who only recently returned to the online fashion empire he founded, told MailOnline he would work directly with customers to address negative comments about the sizing and quality of PLT's products
Speaking about his own ambitions, he said his return to the brand has nothing to do with money, saying: 'I'm not back here for money or anything else, this is personal, it's my baby, I built it from the start and I'm not happy to see the way the customer thinks about the brand, it's all personal for me.'
The entrepreneur, who married model wife Nada Adelle earlier this year in a multimillion-pound wedding which Mariah Carey performed at, said there had been errors made in the running of the company in recent years and his intention now is to 'bring the beautiful brand back to where it belongs.'
He said: 'A lot of decisions that have been made and a lot of problems that have occurred have been because of a lack of communication from the business.
'My intention is to come back and obviously we can't keep doing the same things that we've been doing. We want to interact with the customer and let the customer shape the future of PLT and I'll just steer it alongside the customer.'
The Manchester fashion entrepreneur said wrong decisions had been made in his nearly two-year absence from PrettyLittleThing and he vowed to 'bring the beautiful brand back to where it belongs'
Responses: The Manchester-born entrepreneur posted this week about how accounts had been blocked for some customers to stop people wearing once and then returning items - but the post also sparked some negative responses from customers
Interaction: After the company was hit with negative comments about the brand's products on social media, Kamani has invited shoppers to visit PLT's HQ to offer feedback on shopper experience
Last night, Kamani reached out to shoppers on Instagram, inviting them to visit the company's HQ and share more in-depth feedback. And in a post on Monday, the PLT boss addressed the controversial decision to block some customer accounts of fashion fans who appeared to frequently buy, wear once and then return items.
In June, PLT introduced a 1.99 return fee for all customers, including 'Royalty' members who pay a 9.99 annual subscription for unlimited deliveries but backtracked in September, and said returns would now be free for Royalty members.
Addressing why the decision was made, Kamani wrote: 'It was identified that a number of customers have been consistently returning all of their orders 100% of the time, or most of the time, which suggested these customers were buying, wearing and returning once worn.'
The 36-year-old added that the fashion goliath didn't want to 'punish the many for the actions of the few' and said the company would now be reviewing each account from now on an individual basis.
The post that sparked some negativity from shoppers - which explained why customers with a 100% return rate on items had seen their accounts blocked in recent months
Speaking to MailOnline, he vowed to address blocked customer accounts one by one, saying the retailer and customer needed to reach a 'more sensible place'.
He said: 'In shopping behaviour that's happening in today's world, it's our responsibility as a business to handle that without it affecting the customer experience.
'It wasn't handled well enough - in the aggressive manner that was taken. My position is to go through them line by line. There's a huge number of blocked accounts and I want to determine and communicate with each of them [the customers who hold them].
The billionaire reached out to shoppers on the brand's Instagram account on Tuesday, inviting customers to visit PLT's HQ to help the company take positive action on customer complaints
However, some fans of the brand agreed with the hard-line tactics on wear once and return shoppers.
One customer wrote: 'Its the influencer culture and its ridiculous. Doing try on hauls and then send a 700 order back repeatedly Im sorry but you were right to block them! The cheek.'
Another added: 'If people are wearing clothes for the day or a night out and then returning them. Please keep them blocked.'
CEO Kamani's post also shone the spotlight back on the brand though, with many responding to claim poor sizing and quality were the reasons behind so many returns.
One person wrote: 'The reason why most things get sent back is because theres no continuity in the sizing of the clothes.'
Last month, the PrettyLittleThing founder made a dramatic return to the fashion brand a year after stepping down as CEO (pictured with Naomi Campbell in September 2023)
The businessman returned to the brand he founded this month, saying the online giant has 'lost touch with what made is so special', their loyal customer base (pictured with Molly-Mae Hague in April 2023)
Another revealed: 'I am one of these customers who is very upset that I have been blocked.
'I purchase from PLT often and sometimes have to order in multiple sizes as the sizes are different in every item! To be banned for returning orders when you spend a lot of money with a brand and order often is diabolical!'
Another added: 'If quality was better and sizes more precise people wouldn't need to return as much.'
Manchester-born Kamani is a member of the founding family of the Boohoo group, which now owns a portfolio of brands including Nasty Gal, Coast, Wallis, Dorothy Perkins, and Debenhams.
In 2020, Umar sold his 34 per cent remaining stake in PrettyLittleThing for 330million as part of a lucrative deal that earned him 161million in cash and shares of 2.6 per cent in Boohoo.
Umar apologised for any 'negative experiences' during his absence, promising to prioritise customers going forward
He stepped down from running PrettyLittleThing in April 2023 following a decade as CEO after selling his remaining 34 per cent stake to Boohoo, which is run by his father.
He said last year: 'I'm at the stage in my life where I need to set myself new challenges and goals and build new brands that hopefully you all love and support as much as you did with this one.'
Now though, businessman Kamani is firmly in charge once more, and determined to re-engage with the loyal customer base that helped build his family's fortune.
In early September, announcing his return, the fashion tycoon, who has signed the likes of Naomi Campbell, Kylie Jenner, Khloe Kardashian and Molly-Mae Hague as ambassadors over the years, vowed to make PrettyLittleThing 'stronger than ever'.
Umar married model wife Nada in a star studded ceremony earlier this year, with guests including Naomi Campbell and a live performance from Mariah Carey
Umar wrote: 'I'm writing to you today with both excitement and heartfelt determination as I announce my return to PrettyLittleThing.
'Over the past few years, I've watched from the sidelines as the brand we built together has, at times, lost touch with what made it so special you, our loyal customers.
'This has driven me to step back in and take on the responsibility of steering PrettyLittleThing forward, putting your needs and desires at the forefront of every decision we make.
'For the past twelve years, you've shown incredible loyalty and love for PrettyLittleThing, and for that, I hold you and the brand close to my heart.'
Kamani's father Mahmud Kamani co-founded Boohoo in 2006 alongside Carol Kane and the website quickly became a success because unlike its competitor ASOS, the brand only sells its own clothing, increasing profit margins.
Mahmud's three sons Umar, Adam, and Samir naturally became involved in his fashion empire, which dates back to their grandfather, whose wholesale textile business that sourced garments from India became a major supplying for high street stores such as New Look and Primark.
It's been more than two decades since Grand Designs won over hearts - and induced heartfelt tears - with its ambitious self-building projects.
This month will mark 25 years since presenter Kevin McCloud helmed the design and construction show on Channel 4; taking homeowners under his wing as they forged the houses of their dreams.
From heroes in the shape of hard-working builders and clever designers to villains like mud, rain and running out of money, the programme has all the ingredients for fantastic television.
There's been good, bad and the ugly builds over 25 years of episodes.
While the programme first captured the nation's attention in April 1999, its human interest stories and impressive architectural feats have endured its place at the top of people's watchlists.
Here, FEMAIL looks at some of the most unforgettable moments from Grand Designs in the past 25 years...
Peckham House, London 2005
Nearly 20 years ago Monty Ravenscroft and his wife Claire constructed their dream home in the bustling area of Peckham, South London
The eccentrically futuristic build included savvy features like a retractable roof in the living room, a spa bath in their master suite and circular lights that doubled up as mini shower heads
Nearly 20 years ago Monty Ravenscroft and his wife Claire constructed their dream home in the bustling area of Peckham, South London.
The eccentrically futuristic build included savvy features like a retractable roof in the living room, a spa bath in their master suite and circular lights that doubled up as mini shower heads.
The couple ambitiously packed a very posh (and eco-friendly) home into the smallest of urban spaces, but after paying 40,000 for the thin slice of land, they proved triumphant when they unveiled their ultra-modern dwelling to viewers.
Weald of Kent, 2009
Richard Hawkes made his name when he built a 'world-first' house on Grand Designs - which presenter Kevin McCloud dubbed 'lunacy'
It took a year and 800,000 for Richard and his wife Sophie, 50, to build eco-home Crossways, in Staplehurst, Kent
Richard and Sophie opted to build a Passivhaus, an energy-efficient building with an arched roof - which is 20metres wide and nine metres high but only 100mm thick
Richard, an architect, and Sophie, an investment banker, began working on their modern home at least two years before the build began in 2007.
Richard stated their dream build in Staplehurst, Kent, would feature a prominent arch, but so odd was the plan that Kevin joked at the time: 'You want to live under an arch?'
However no one could predict just how magnificent - and costly - the build would come to be.
Its very framework is based on a medieval design, known as timbrel vaulting, which can be seen in the dome-shaped roof.
Not only does the structure do away with the need for materials such as concrete - which are energy intensive to make - it also allows the building to retain heat.
Although it cost the couple 800,000, the presenter remarked it was 'one of the most remarkable' homes he'd seen in 25 years.
The Rockhouse Retreat, Worcestershire, 2015
It was a stunning 800-year-old British cave house that underwent a tremendous transformation nine years ago, but it's rarely forgotten
Former businessman Angelo Mastropietro spent eight months single-handedly remodelling the ancient hobbit hole in the Wyre Forest, Worcestershire, into a 21st century man cave, complete with running water, underfloor heating and even WiFi
It was a stunning 800-year-old British cave house that underwent a tremendous transformation nine years ago, but it's rarely forgotten.
Former businessman Angelo Mastropietro spent eight months single-handedly remodelling the ancient hobbit hole in the Wyre Forest, Worcestershire, into a 21st century man cave, complete with running water, underfloor heating and even WiFi.
But while Angelo impressed viewers, the same couldn't be said for planning officials, who advised that building a house in a cave was against the rules.
Though bereft of his 100,000 renovation budget, his excavated cave is now a romantic abode used for holiday rentals.
Newhaven, East Sussex, 1999
'The one that started it all', Kevin recalled as he has looked back at the very first build to ever feature on Grand Designs in 1999
'The one that started it all', Kevin recalled as he has looked back at the very first build to ever feature on Grand Designs in 1999.
On the episode 1, season 1, premiere Tim, a hangliding and paragliding instructor, and Julia, the company's office manager took on a massive project in Newhaven, East Sussex - all while awaiting the the birth of their baby.
Their dream abode was of a seaside home with panoramic windows, but most shockingly, they intended to build it off the edge of a cliff.
Twenty five years later, the couple have grown their family from the very same property and remarked how 'lucky' they've been to achieve a home 'beyond their wildest hopes'.
Medway Barge, Kent, 2007
One of the uglier outcomes on our list is the Medway Eco-Barge, a houseboat in Kent - a project which fell from grace; from a stunning beginning to a deserted end. Pictured in 2007, on the show
One of the uglier outcomes on our list is the Medway Eco-Barge, a houseboat in Kent - a project which fell from grace; from a stunning beginning to a deserted end.
The one-time dream home was designed by Chris Miller and his wife Sze Liu Lai in 2007, and seemed like the perfect way to live by the ocean on a budget.
However after spending 80,000 on the 100-foot long boat, the couple don't now appear to be living on it at all, after the barge was spotted washing up on an Essex beach in 2011.
It is thought that the boat broke free from its mooring overnight.
Tunbridge Wells, Kent, 2022
According to the show's esteemed host, this build holds the record for the 'fastest home ever built on Grand Designs'; but its successful renovation within five months shows no sign of a rushed design
McCloud saying the property offered a 'tantalising glimpse of precise and efficient production' that may be the future of house building in the UK
According to the show's esteemed host, this build holds the record for the 'fastest home ever built on Grand Designs'; but its successful renovation within five months shows no sign of a rushed design.
Warehouse operative Rob and his partner Kate, a a paddle sport instructor, won hearts after viewers applauded them for trading a 'damp and cold' 1940s prefab for a modern flat-pack home - that looked far more expensive than its modest 350,000 price tag.
The episode saw former farmer Rob and his partner Kate living in a prefab - complete with asbestos walls - that Rob's grandfather had built on agricultural land in Kent during the forties.
While the exterior is a vision of corroding steel, the interior includes glass repurposed in the couple's new home, and a hallway and stairs that reflect the colours of their humble former house.
The couple left viewers in tears after sharing how emotional the build had been, but it was clearly worth it.
Kennington Water Tower, London, 2012
Leigh Osborne and Graham Voce appeared on the 100th episode of Grand Designs in 2012 and certainly made their mark
They reconstructed the nine-storey Victorian water tower in south London into a stunning family home with panoramic views - but it cost them almost a whopping 2 million to do it
Leigh Osborne and Graham Voce appeared on the 100th episode of Grand Designs in 2012 and certainly made their mark.
They reconstructed the nine-storey Victorian water tower in south London into a stunning family home with panoramic views - but it cost them almost a whopping 2 million to do it.
The couple purchased the building for 380,000 but when they put the building on the market in 2013, they were forced to knock almost 2 million off their original asking price of 4.75million.
As reported by the Evening Standard, the property sold for 2.75 million - after being slashed from 3.6 million - in 2021.
Herefordshire, 2007
Ed and Rowena Waghorn have held the title for the longest ever construction on Grand Designs - after it took them more than 10 years to get their dream home off the ground
Though the couple from Herefordshire admittedly wanted to build their own home 'slowly' and largely with their own bare hands, even they were unprepared for the project's wide berth
Ed and Rowena Waghorn have held the title for the longest ever construction on Grand Designs - after it took them more than 10 years to get their dream home off the ground.
Though the couple from Herefordshire admittedly wanted to build their own home 'slowly' and largely with their own bare hands, even they were unprepared for the project's wide berth.
The road to transforming their eight-acre smallholding to a stunning thatched family home with a 'cathedral'-style central window was a labour of love and required a modest budget of 100,000.
In the meantime they lived off goats for milk and chickens for eggs while also relying on the surrounding land.
So what took so long? The property is crafted from individually carved wooden beams, with walls of straw and clay. There are 2,000 cedar shingles alone on the roof, which Ed handcrafted himself.
The Longhouse, Scotland, 2004
Tony and Jo Moffat's mission to build their house from scratch in 2003 has become one of the most popular episodes ever featured on Grand Designs
The classical musicians spent 380,000 on their loch-side home in the village of Kilcreggan, near Glasgow, overrunning their budget by 150,000
Tony and Jo Moffat's mission to build their house from scratch in 2003 has become one of the most popular episodes ever featured on Grand Designs.
The classical musicians spent 380,000 on their loch-side home in the village of Kilcreggan, near Glasgow, overrunning their budget by 150,000.
Using an oak frame, they imitated the look of a Nordic longhouse and set the home in several terrace 'steps' so it would look as though it was bursting out of a hill.
However the three-bedroom house soon ran into difficulties, with time and money spent on the project quickly spiralling out of control.
Despite the setbacks, the couple completed their home and it attracted high praise from Kevin, who listed it in his 20 favourite Grand Designs homes of all time.
Hellifield Peel Castle, Yorkshire, 2007/2009
This abode is bursting with rich history, having once been been occupied by the Knights Templar, a rebellious baron hanged by Henry VIII and German prisoners of war
Hellifield Peel Castle in Skipton, near Yorkshire, began its restoration journey from old ruin back in 2004 and was featured on Grand Designs in 2007 and 2009, along with its owners, the Shaw family
This abode is bursting with rich history, having once been been occupied by the Knights Templar, a rebellious baron hanged by Henry VIII and German prisoners of war.
Hellifield Peel Castle in Skipton, near Yorkshire, began its restoration journey from old ruin back in 2004 and was featured on Grand Designs in 2007 and 2009, along with its owners, the Shaw family.
Although once derelict for 50 years, Hellifield Peel was put on the market for 1.65 million and is now a comfortable seven-bedroom house, with luxurious rooms that are currently used as a bed and breakfast.
Carey Wood, Kent 2017
The vast new-build comes complete with its own music hall, multi-storey courtyard and underground tunnels, but while it might have wowed the show's judges it was condemned as 'ugly and pretentious' by some viewers
Crowned the House of the Year 2017 by Grand Designs, the gigantic home stands at 13 times the size of an average three-bedroom house.
The vast new-build comes complete with its own music hall, multi-storey courtyard and underground tunnels, but while it might have wowed the show's judges it was condemned as 'ugly and pretentious' by some viewers.
Still, it's been lauded for its 'multi-generational living' space thanks to its ability to house 15 members of one extended family.
Brighton Hedgehog Co-op, 1999
Kevin saw a record-breaking co-operative of ten families build their own homes on the edge of Brighton back in 1996
One of the most intriguing episodes by far, back in 1999, Kevin set our gazes on the Brighton Hedgehog Co-op at Hogs Edge, Bevendean, a co-operative of 10 families who banded together to create their own housing project.
Ten households - including single parent homes - worked together to build an entire street using their 'bare hands' and about 30 hours of their free time per week.
The homes featured brown timber frames with snug balconies overlooking expansive land and greenery and took two years to build.
After revisiting the area 13 years later, Kevin learned that all ten families were still living contently in the co-op.
The Container House, Derry, Northern Ireland, 2014
Exactly 10 years ago, farmer and architect Patrick Bradley set about an ambitious mission to create a 'perfect' home from four shipping containers
In a bid to attract 'a gorgeous girl' and one day a wife, the bachelor, then 34, intended to weld together the four containers to make a giant cross
The project expended a total of 133,000, despite his original budget being 100,000. The end result was a house design cantilevered over a stream at a beautiful and secluded spot on the family farm
Exactly 10 years ago, farmer and architect Patrick Bradley set about an ambitious mission to create a 'perfect' home from four shipping containers.
In a bid to attract 'a gorgeous girl' and one day a wife, the bachelor, then 34, intended to weld together the four containers to make a giant cross.
The project expended a total of 133,000, despite his original budget being 100,000. The end result was a house design cantilevered over a stream at a beautiful and secluded spot on the family farm.
Patrick designed both the interior and exterior of the containers, which were from a shipping container supplier in Belfast Docks.
North Cotswolds, 2023
One of the more polarising episodes of the series, Duncan, an environmental consultant from London, and his wife Liz Vernon, a high-powered divorce lawyer whose clients have included Princess Diana , set out on a mission to build an eco-friendly, 'miniature power station' home
The budget for their enormous home, set to include four bedrooms, a library and a wine cellar, was a whopping 1.2 million and looked to take between 18 months and two years to complete
One of the more polarising episodes of the series, Duncan, an environmental consultant from London, and his wife Liz Vernon, a high-powered divorce lawyer whose clients have included Princess Diana, set out on a mission to build an eco-friendly, 'miniature power station' home.
The couple built a revolutionary Passivhaus Premium powerhouse, measuring 800 square metres on a plot of land in the Cotswolds. The purpose of the house was to generate enough energy to supply other nearby buildings with electricity too.
The budget for their enormous home, set to include four bedrooms, a library and a wine cellar, was a whopping 1.2 million and looked to take between 18 months and two years to complete.
By the end of the episode it was unclear when the build would end, an observation not missed by viewers who criticised the series for the incomplete project.
Huxom Shard, Exeter, 2021
Located near Exeter, the luxury 2.5 million home was the brainchild of property developer and supercar investor Joe and his wife Claire, who began building the futuristic home in 2017
The unusual home, which Kevin McCloud likened to a 'spaceship' featured an open plan living area as well as a huge gym and games room
'Vast, magnificent' and 'useless' are just some of the words that came to Kevin's mind when looking back at enormous homes such as this.
Located near Exeter, the luxury 2.5 million home was the brainchild of property developer and supercar investor Joe and his wife Claire, who began building the futuristic home in 2017.
Painted black, it was covered in 500,000 worth of zinc cladding; and used 300 timber beams as well as 46 sheets of bespoke glass - costing 200,000.
While it may be aesthetically pleasing to the eye, its functional use was questioned when the couple admitted that delivery drivers often struggled to find the front door of the unusual abode.
The house is gigantic, covering 6,000 sq ft, with five bedroom suites, a gym, cinema room, study, utility room, open plan kitchen and living-space. It is also carbon negative, running on solar panels, with an air-powered heat pump and triple glazing.
West Sussex, 2015
One of the largest homes ever featured on the show is the dreamy 3.5 million semi mansion - so grand it was later used as the set for a porn movie and several music videos
The five-bedroom property, which contains a gym, 50 ft pool, five bathrooms, underfloor heating and a sauna, was built by businessman Clinton Dall
One of the largest homes ever featured on the show is the dreamy 3.5 million semi mansion - so grand it was later used as the set for a porn movie and several music videos.
The five-bedroom property, which contains a gym, 50 ft pool, five bathrooms, underfloor heating and a sauna, was built by businessman Clinton Dall.
Mr Dall is the managing director of Dall Cleaning Services, which was founded in 1988 and services clients within a 150 mile radius of London.
Once a farmhouse-style home in 2015, the renovation cost over 1 million after Mr Dall knocked down the nearly 200 ft building to rebuild it again from scratch.
The luxury pad has been used as the set for French-made porn film Lesbian Games for These Three Stewardesses, as well as a Peter Andre music video.
Canary Wharf, London, 2015
Design engineer Joe Stuart and his girlfriend Lina Nilsson took on the mammoth challenge to create their dream home on a 38sqm plot near Canary Wharf
Originally a coffin workshop, the small 9.5m x 4m plot cost the couple 73,000, but the snug building offered barely any room to live in
Design engineer Joe Stuart and his girlfriend Lina Nilsson took on the mammoth challenge to create their dream home on a 38sqm plot near Canary Wharf.
Originally a coffin workshop, the small 9.5m x 4m plot cost the couple 73,000, but the snug building offered barely any room to live in.
With a budget of 160,000, the pair got to work taking on the roles of designer, project manager, labourer and client - but they barely scratched the surface. It wasn't long before they reached out to family for help, with Joe's parents remortgaging their own home to gift the couple 110,000.
Expenses along the way included upgrading to more energy efficient double-glazed windows, high pressure misting sprinklers and a cutting edge heating and hot water system, taking their renovation budget to 323,000.
Chesil Cliff House, North Devon, 2019
While the lighthouse showcased futuristic features and a large front pool, many viewers branded it an 'eyesore' and a 'waste of money' - even the owner's daughters confessed they were 'over' the project
In 2019, one build saw a lighthouse constructed for 7 million in Croyde, Devon.
Father-of-two Edward Short spent a decade building the extraordinary Chesil Cliff House; a remarkable transformation from his family's 1950s home into an art-deco white lighthouse.
While the lighthouse showcased futuristic features and a large front pool, many viewers branded it an 'eyesore' and a 'waste of money' - even the owner's daughters confessed they were 'over' the project.
Edward, a music industry executive, later revealed that the arrival of the recession, building issues and the end of his marriage to wife Hazel had left him on the edge of bankruptcy and his dream home in tatters.
Windowless House, Billericay, Essex, 2016
The infamous 'windowless' house in the woods in Billericay, Essex, became one of the most notable builds of the series
David and Michelle Parsons said they dreamed of privacy and so created their ideal home by building a woodland hideaway without a single front facing window
The infamous 'windowless' house in the woods in Billericay, Essex, became one of the most notable builds of the series.
David and Michelle Parsons said they dreamed of privacy and so created their ideal home by building a woodland hideaway without a single front facing window.
The couple spent 12 months and 250,000 constructing the build as part of plans for a new life for Michelle after a long battle with cancer.
The pair looked to build a woodland retreat in their quarter of an acre plot of land that took them three years to find.
Despite a dangerous gas leak threatening to thwart their plans, their work resulted in the design of a three-bedroom-home, which features several skylights and a wall of glass in the rear of the home.
Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, 2004
The Huf Haus, a German flat-pack home with pre-fabricated parts, caused pensioners Greta and David Iredale many a headache when they built it back in 2004, in series four of Grand Designs
David and Greta spent months living in a caravan while their home was pulled into place on Grand Designs in 2004
Twenty years ago, Greta and David Iredale, now both in their late 80s, were one of the first people in the UK to build a German Huf Haus - a house where all the components are pre-constructed and then put together on site.
Though already pensioners when they embarked upon the ambitious build in Walton-on-Thames, in Surrey, the couple spent two days in a German factory back in 2003 deciding on the specifications for their Huf Haus.
It took just three-and-a-half days to build on the land, and while the construction took place, they lived in the grounds in a caravan while the final touches were put to their home.
Kevin revisited the pair in 2019 where he learned they were just as delighted with their home in 2019 as they were when they first walked through the doors.
Artist Barn, Braintree, Essex, 2011
This medieval barn was once a grade II listed building before appearing on Grand Designs and being renovated into a liveable family home
This medieval barn was once a grade II listed building before appearing on Grand Designs and being renovated into a liveable family home.
Artists Ben Coode-Adams and Freddie Robins built the sprawling timber-framed structure in the countryside in 2011, after selling their home in London to take on the vast project.
The end result was a stunning transformation into a 21st century home which came complete with artist studios. And although they were pleased with the construct, Ben later revealed it to be financially exhausting.
The couple blew through their budget, spending 850,000 transforming the barn that was the size of seven three-bedroom houses.
Holland Park, London, 2012
Once a recording studio to the stars, this intriguing 7.5 million build was converted by Audrey and Jeff Lovelock into a bespoke bunker home
Once a recording studio to the stars, this intriguing 7.5 million build was converted by Audrey and Jeff Lovelock into a bespoke bunker home.
Up until the early 2000s, the property was known as Lansdowne Studios one of the most famous recording spaces in London where acts such as Shirley Bassey, Queen, Bryan Ferry and John Lennon laid down tracks.
Audrey, a spatial and interior designer and her husband Jeff, bought the property from the studios owner and engineer Adrian Kerridge in 2006 before transforming it into a modern four-bedroom flat.
The double bedrooms each feature an en-suite bathroom, a luxury wet room, gym, cinema room and wine room as well as two terraces one of which can be used for parking.
Fossil Shell, Blackdown Hills, Devon, 2017
Nature-loving couple Stephen and Elizabeth Tetlow created this 800K home to resemble a fossil shell in 2017 - the couple wanted a house which reflected their respective passions - his work as an engineer and Elizabeth's as a horticulturist
Nature-loving couple Stephen and Elizabeth Tetlow created this 800,000 home to resemble a fossil shell in 2017. The couple wanted a house which reflected their respective passions - his work as an engineer and Elizabeth's as a horticulturist
Inspiration for this build came from a fossilised ammonite shell Stephen spotted on a desk and he drew up the plans himself with the help of a single architect.
The modern interior of the home boasted a curved roof which followed the same pattern of the home's exterior and had a white and bronze colour scheme which perfectly complimented the house's wooden paneling.
The home has breathtaking views over the Blackdown Hills where Somerset borders Devon and features several windows around the house for the couple to enjoy natural light throughout the day.
The Glass House, Brixton, 2013
The Winter Palace in Brixton was designed by architect Carl Turner for himself and his partner Mary Martin in 2013 and the eco-friendly 1.5million house in South London boasts three-storeys and a glacial exterior
Patrick designed both the interior and exterior of the containers and the qualified architect created a home that could work on a dual level, fulfilling his needs as farmer, and also an architect
The Winter Palace in Brixton was designed by architect Carl Turner for himself and his partner Mary Martin in 2013 and the eco-friendly 1.5million house in South London boasts three-storeys and a glacial exterior.
This home's exterior was achieved through the use of milky glass panels over polished concrete and Mr Turner claimed the insulation is so good it is one of the most energy-efficient homes in the UK.
The home's modern interior features simple white walls, sliding doors of white birch ply, some coated with a thin layer of steel and is decorated with chic matching furniture.
The minimalist home has a grey and white colour scheme and features a geometric-style stair case and the home has underfloor heating.
Patrick designed both the interior and exterior of the containers and the qualified architect created a home that could work on a dual level, fulfilling his needs as farmer, and also an architect.
Floating House, Mayland, 2021
One 'floating' home that featured on Grand Designs and was slammed by viewers as one of the 'worst' they've ever seen - and in June last year, was reported to up for grabs for 1.95million.
The cantilevered steel-framed four-bedroom house was built on a flood plain on the Essex coast.
It appeared on the Channel 4 show in October 2021, with self-builder Geoff - then 63-years-old - explaining how he planned to spend his retirement completing the property.
One 'floating' home that featured on Grand Designs and was slammed by viewers as one of the 'worst' they've ever seen - and in June last year, was reported to up for grabs for 1.95million
The cantilevered steel-framed four-bedroom house was built on a flood plain on the Essex coast
It appeared on the Channel 4 show in October 2021, with self-builder Geoff - then 63-years-old - explaining how he planned to spend his retirement completing the property
The completed project led to the show's presenter Kevin McCloud saying that the interior - which included a blue carpet and orange sofa combination - wasn't 'fashionable'.
The house in the Essex village of Mayland, which is located between Burnham-on-Crouch and Maldon, and is called Seal Point.
It extends across 3,600 square feet, with views across the Blackwater River Estuary.
Self-builder Geoff moved into a caravan for two years while he project managed the construction of the property.
He had to sell his luxury villa in Spain - where he had lived for 20 years - to help finance the 700,000 project.
Viewers were left unimpressed with the result, with the show's presenter Kevin McCloud even admitting the interior, which included a blue carpet and orange sofa combination, wasn't 'fashionable'.
'Awful house, awful decor. One of the worst houses I've ever seen,' wrote one viewer.
Queen Camilla's son has described King Charles as a 'great and tough man' amid his ongoing cancer treatment - but admitted he tries to 'keep out of' Prince Harry and Prince William's feud.
Tom Parker Bowles, 49, who lives in West London, gushed about his step-father, who was diagnosed with cancer in February.
Speaking to British Vogue, the food writer - who lost his late girlfriend Alice Procope to cancer in 2021 - explained how King Charles is having the 'best treatment' possible.
He said: 'Cancer, it really is a b*****d. The King's having the best treatment. He's a great and tough man, and you've just got to get on with it.'
However, the father-of-two acknowledged that it is a 'worry' to watch someone go through cancer treatment.
Pictured: Tom Parker Bowles with his stepfather King Charles and mother Queen Camilla at Royal Ascot in June 2023
As such, the King's son - whose new book Cooking & The Crown is published tomorrow - says that he has been regularly checking in with the Prince and Princess of Wales after the mother-of-three announced her own cancer diagnosis in March.
Referring to the Prince and Princess of Wales, Tom added: 'I absolutely adore both of them.'
What's more, the Queen's son said that he 'keeps out of' Prince William and Prince Harry's feud.
He added: 'You just want everyone to be happy.'
In his book Spare, Prince Harry accused William of physically attacking him in a row over Meghan and claimed his brother and their father confronted him after Prince Philip's funeral 'looking for a fight'.
At the end of last month, the feuding brothers both attended their uncle Lord Fellowes' funeral in Norfolk.
Despite hopes for a thawing in relations, attendees said the warring brothers appeared to be 'keeping their distance', did not speak to one another and 'sat apart at the back of St Mary's Church after arriving very discreetly'.
Lord Fellowes, who died last month, was married to Lady Jane Spencer, sister of Harry and William's mother Diana, and was the late Queen's private secretary.
Tom Parker Bowles (pictured in March 2024) gushed about his step-father in an interview with British Vogue
Pictured: Tom Parker Bowles with his step-siblings Prince William and Prince Harry on Charles and Camilla's wedding day in 2005
Questions had been raised as to whether Harry would update the paperback edition with a new chapter - in light of the King's cancer diagnosis and continuing family tensions - in the past 12 months.
But the fact he has chosen not to add to the revelations may be seen by some as an attempt to try and smooth over family ructions.
The last time the pair were together was for the King's Coronation - more than a year ago. However, they were sat separately and were not pictured with one another. Before that, they were last pictured together at the late Queen's funeral in 2022.
In March 2021, Tom Parker Bowles lost his girlfriend Alice Procope to cancer.
An insider told the Daily Mail's Eden Confidential that, partly because of Covid, the mother-of-three's cancer diagnosis didn't come until last August 'by when it was too late.'
Camilla's food writer son Tom Parker Bowles had been going out with former journalist Alice Procope (left, with Daily Telegraph Diarist Loise Hannah) for almost two years
The wedding of Tom Parker Bowles and fashion writer wife Sara Buys in 2005. The pair separated in 2018
At the time, a source said Tom had been left devastated following the death of his girlfriend of two years.
His friend said: 'Tom had been blissfully happy with Alice and is devastated that life can be so cruel.'
At school and university, Tom was subjected to many snide remarks about his parents, in particular about Camilla's lengthy affair with Charles and its effect on Diana.
In 2018, he moved out of the Shepherd's Bush home he shared with his fashion writer wife Sara Buys and their two children after 12 years of marriage.
Tom, whose father Andrew Parker Bowles is Camilla's first husband, previously said he has 'always adored' King Charles.
He previously said: 'All you care about your parents is they're happy and my mother is exceptionally happy at the moment. I've always adored my stepfather; he's always been a kind and good and lovely man.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 'kindness happens behind closed doors', a former Archewell boss has claimed - as she opened up about the 'incredible' weekly lunches the Duchess hosted at their Montecito home.
Mandana Dayani, 42, who was born in Iran but was raised in the US, worked as Archewell's president for 18 months until December 2022.
The entrepreneur is just one of several former Archewell employees who have publicly supported the couple after Meghan was branded 'Duchess Difficult'.
Speaking to US Weekly, Mandana - who made several appearances in the couple's Netflix docu-series - explained how the 'kindness, mentorship and support' she has received from the Duke and Duchess 'happens quietly behind closed doors'.
Reflecting on some of her happiest times in the role, the mother-of-two said: 'Some of my favourite memories were during our weekly meetings in their Montecito home, where Meghan always served the most incredible lunches, snacks and her latest beautiful concoction.'
Pictured: Meghan Markle with former Archewell president Mandana Dayani in October 2022 - two months before she left the role
Mandana also said she will 'never forget' watching the Duchess of Sussex sit on her kitchen floor cold-calling senators as she fed Lilibet, who was just five months old at the time.
Meghan called Republican Senators. Susan Collins from Maine and Shelley Moore Capito from West Virginia, both of whom said they were shocked that the Duchess called out of the blue and noted that she even used her royal title to lobby for the cause for paid parental leave.
The former Archewell president also said she travelled to Uvalde, Texas, with Meghan after 19 children and two teachers were killed in a mass school shooting.
The activist said Meghan spent hours with the victims' families and went round the room 'one-by-one', where she 'hugged and cried with them'.
Elsewhere in the article, Mandana detailed getting ready with Meghan to attend a gala before she left Archewell.
The activist said: 'I walked into their room [and found] Meghan finishing her own make-up and steaming her jumpsuit. We all toasted with a sip of champagne while Meghan danced to her favourite oldies playlist.'
Although Mandana didn't specify what the event was, Meghan wore a white jumpsuit to attend the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award Gala in New York in December 2022 - the same month Mandana resigned from her position.
During her 18 months at Archewell, Mandana said she was in 'awe' of Prince Harry's humility'.
Pictured: Former Archewell president Mandana Dayani in August 2024. The activist has said she is 'proud to call Harry and Meghan her friends'
Pictured: the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attending the ESPY Awards in Hollywood in July 2024
Detailing how her paternal grandmother was a Kurdish mother-of-seven who never learned to read while Harry's was the late Queen, Mandana said she was never made to feel 'less than' at Archewell.
What's more, the former Archewell President says she is still in touch with her former employers and spoke to the Duchess recently to plan a lunch catch-up.
She added: 'These are kind, decent, caring people who I am very proud to call my friends.'
Mandana popped up multiple times in the Duke and Duchess' Netflix series and was credited as a 'friend' at times.
Mandana's comments come as staff loyal to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex gave the couple a glowing report last night as a war of words over Meghan being labelled a 'dictator in high heels' continued to rage.
Current and former staff staged an extraordinary intervention in friendly American media, describing the Sussexes as 'caring' bosses who give staff their children's old baby clothes, fresh flowers and 'care packages'.
Pictured: Josh Kettler, Prince Harry's chief of staff who left after just three months in August 2024
Stung by recent accusations, particularly in industry heavyweight the Hollywood Reporter, that 'Duchess Difficult' has reduced grown men to tears as she 'barks' out orders, a string of employees offered a remarkably rosy account of their working lives to US Weekly magazine in the States.
Josh Kettler, Harry's chief of staff who left after just three months in August, sparking the latest round of negative publicity, insists he was 'warmly welcomed' by both Harry and Meghan and describes them as 'dedicated and hardworking'.
'It was impressive to witness,' he said but did not elaborate on why his tenure was so short.
Ben Browning, Archewell's former head of content - who was responsible for their tell-all Netflix documentary but then left before the end of his contract- says his experience at the company and with Meghan and Harry in general 'was positive and supportive'
Their current PR chief, 'global press secretary' Ashley Hansen, says they treated her with 'the kind of concern and care a parent would express if it were their own child' when she took time off for surgery, adding that they also sent flowers and gifts.
'Meghan would personally reach out to my husband daily to make sure that we both were OK and had support. It meant so much to him and even more to me. You don't realise how much that kind of kindness and thought means until you need it,' she insisted.
Meghan, attends a reception at Government House on October 18, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia
Another anonymous source insists the Duke and Duchess 'water the seeds' for them to flourish. Harry, they say, asks on work Zoom calls about what staff have done at the weekend and says as a team they plan events like karaoke nights and 'holiday parties'.
A former staff member said the couple heard they had adopted a dog, 'the next day, I had a luxury brand leash and new collar on my doorstep'.
Parents-to-be are also given 'brand-new gifts and top-notch secondhand stuff from the couple themselves 'like unused car seats and baby items they no longer need', it was said.
'They want to take care of us,' one current employee gushed. 'Meghan will do things like, 'You mentioned on the call your skin is bothering you, I put together a kit for you.'
And it was said that no-one leaves the couple's Montecito home empty-handed. 'Whenever staff goes to their house, they leave with a basket with fresh flowers, fresh fruit, fresh eggs,' one staffer said.
Maer Roshan (pictured), Co-Editor in Chief of the publication, has said he stands by the story, despite a backlash amongst supporters of the Sussexes
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pictured during their quasi-royal tour of Columbia in August
'Best bosses I have ever had,' another current team member insists.
It is a stark contrast to recent reports about a string of departures from their Archewell organisation, which combines their media deals with philanthropic endeavours.
The latest expose claiming the Duchess of Sussex is a 'dictator in high heels' was sourced from someone 'very high up' still working for the couple, it has been claimed.
The original article in the Hollywood Reporter also said Meghan 'doesn't take advice' and has reduced 'grown men to tears' as she 'barks' orders.
Prince Harry and Meghan attend the 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award Gala in New York City
The Duchess of Sussex, watches the prize ceremony at the 2024 Royal Salute Polo Challenge on April 12
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex - who stepped back as working royals in 2020 - pictured on their Colombia visit on August 15
Maer Roshan, Co-Editor in Chief of the publication, has subsequently said he stands by the story, despite a backlash amongst supporters of the Sussexes.
Mr Roshan says they not only spoke to around a dozen people who had worked closely with Harry and Meghan 'now and previously' but told Access Hollywood that 'our reporter talked to one very high up source who works for the couple who said everyone is terrified of Meghan'.
They say the former royal 'belittles people' and 'doesn't take advice'.
The sudden deluge of praise will do little to dampen speculation around the couple's behaviour.
The duchess herself has always strongly denied claims of bullying staff, particularly in the UK, claiming they were part of a 'calculated smear campaign' against her.
Mr Roshan added: 'Duchess Difficult is a nickname that has trailed Meghan for quite a few years.
And he now believes that their insider has revealed that it 'probably isn't true' that claims Meghan is difficult to work with were manufactured by the Palace after Megxit.
Buckingham Palace launched its own investigation after the bullying allegations were made public but refused to reveal the results of their findings.
Sally Rooney has been slammed for 'glorifying eating disorders' in her books, and 'going on about how thin and white' her main leads usually are.
The Irish author, 33, who has penned a number of successful works - including Normal People and Conversations With Friends - has faced fresh backlash on social media.
The Irish author, 33, who has penned a number of successful works - including Normal People and Conversations With Friends - has faced fresh backlash on social media.
'Sally Rooney writing female characters like she thinned skinnily down the stairs,' one wrote.
Another quipped: 'I think Sally Rooney would scream if she saw a fat person.'
Sally Rooney has been slammed for 'glorifying eating disorders' in her books, and 'going on about how thin and white' her main leads usually are. Pictured, a shot from the TV adaptation of Normal People
Writing in Vogue this week, journalist Emma Specter highlighted passages from Sally's books which appeared to attract mire, including a scene in her most recent Intermezzo, where side characters are described as 'small and portly' while the 'real action as ever, is trained squarely on thin characters'.
She also referenced a moment in Conversations With Friends where Frances laments that her 'bones still jutted out unattractively on either side of her pelvis' and another snippet in Normal People, in which Marianne is showing 'her pale collarbones like two white hyphens'.
It's not the first time the writer has faced criticism for her depictions of thinness.
Posts from as far back as four years ago have hit out about Sally's 'red scare levels of eating disorder glorification'.
Others remarked that while her writing is 'genius', her books could 'absolutely give [someone] an eating disorder'.
'Every Sally Rooney novel is like "the thin, pale girl skinnily moved her small, petite, frail arms",' one said.
Another added: 'Sally Rooney describing her characters like "Alice rested her slight frame and put the book down skinnily, her bracelet jingling on her thin wrist as her bony legs relaxed."'
A third agreed: 'Sally Rooney books are sooo triggering it's so "today I woke up and consumed my black coffee delicately and wafishly. I am smoking a cigarette for lunch because I am so emotionally complex and emaciated. Did I mention I am very thin and very pale".'
The Irish author (pictured in 2019), 33, who has penned a number of successful works - including Normal People and Conversations With Friends - has faced fresh backlash on social media
Readers on X have slammed her writing style, suggesting that she 'romanticises' unhealthy weight and lifestyles with her overt body descriptions, especially when it comes to women
However, some felt that Sally's descriptions aren't meant to be taken in a positive light.
'Characters who skip meals and are thin in Sally Rooney novels also tend to be deeply unhappy if not mentally unwell,' one wrote. 'Hope this helps!'
Another defended: 'Thinness is the default in fiction, so I find it strange that Sally Rooney gets it in the neck for writing thin characters when her work isn't actually fatphobic.'
FEMAIL has reached out to Sally's publishers for comment.
It comes as, yesterday Sally's new book Intermezzo had fans queuing around the block as they waited to snatch up her latest novel following its release.
After building up a cult-like following with a string of addictive and relatable novels, it appears self-described Marxist Sally, from Ireland's County Mayo, has done it again with her latest novel.
Fans were pictured lining up outside bookshops across the UK and Ireland today, as they desperately sought to get their hands on the writer's fourth release.
Posts from as far back as four years ago have hit out about Sally's 'red scare levels of eating disorder glorification'
Dozens of shops including London's Book Bar, exclusively opened their doors at 8am, with a number of live streams to cater to demand.
One shop in Dublin, where the new book is set, was pictured with tens of fans lining up for the doors to open.
Book Upstairs shared a post on social media saying they were 'totally blown away' by the turnout.
Accompanied by a picture of a packed book shop, they wrote on social media: 'Very grateful to all these lovely early birds for choosing to shop independent and making it such a great morning. Feeling a lotta love for our Books Upstairs community. What a buzz.'
After securing a copy of the new release, fans sought refuge from the chilly September morning, as they were pictured enjoying a hot drink inside the Dublin book shop.
However, some readers on social media felt that Sally's descriptions aren't mean to be taken in a positive light
Meanwhile in the UK, fans queued for early doors at dozens of venues across the country, picking up tote bags, t-shirts, bookmarks and other merchandise being given away at some stores.
Book Bar in London offered exclusive t-shirts to their first 90 arrivals, as well as signed independent bookshop edition, personalised book jackets, and other goodies for for first-comers.
A mass of young women piled into Gower Street Waterstones in London just as the sun was starting to rise this morning. Posting on their X profile, the shop revealed a slew of fans lining up outside the shop.
Prior to its release, critics hailed the new release, with the Guardian dubbing it 'breathtakingly intimate' and the Telegraph claiming it proves Sally's greatness as a political writer.
Published by Faber, Intermezzo follows two brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek, who are grieving the loss of their father, and on the surface, appear to have little in common.
Peter is an established lawyer living in Dublin, successful in his field and assured of himself.
'But in the wake of their father's death, he's medicating himself to sleep and struggling to manage his relationships with two very different women,' the summary reads.
One of those women being his first love Sylvia a person he shares an emotional bond with, but they lack a physical relationship after an accident left her unable to have penetrative sex.
That takes Peter to the second woman in his life - 23-year-old hedonistic college student Naomi, a connection that satisfies Peter's physical needs.
His brother, on the other hand, leads a much different lifestyle and is a 22-year-old competitive chess player who admittedly struggles with social interaction.
The summary explains: 'Now, in the early weeks of his bereavement, Ivan meets Margaret, an older woman emerging from her own turbulent past, and their lives become rapidly and intensely intertwined.'
'For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a new interlude a period of desire, despair and possibility a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking.'
Sally came from humble beginnings with her own life experiences heavily influencing her work.
Born in Castlebar, a town of 10,000 or so people in County Mayo, a rural part of western Ireland, her mother was a teacher and father a technician who raised her with strong socialist values.
And this is seen massively in her work. All three novels are partly set in - or have characters from - rural western Ireland, while she has described herself as a 'solitary child' like Marianne in Normal People and went to Trinity College Dublin, like the protagonists in her first two novels.
Since Conversations with Friends came out in 2017, Sally's three novels have sold more than 1.3 million copies in the UK alone. Pictured, a still from the TV adaptation
It comes as, yesterday Sally's new book Intermezzo had fans queuing around the block as they waited to snatch up her latest novel following its release
Since Conversations with Friends came out in 2017, Sally's three novels have sold more than 1.3 million copies in the UK alone - and that's not counting pandemic sales which rocketed her back to the top of the best seller list thanks to the success of the TV adaptation of Normal People.
Normal People was the BBC's most streamed show of 2020, with an astonishing 62.7million views. It had a further 3 million views on Ireland's RTE Player, and even more on Hulu.
Her novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You, sold more than 45,000 copies in the UK in its first week of release, making it the bestselling hardback fiction title of 2021.
The writer started her first novel, Conversations With Friends, in 2014 after starting a master's degree in American literature. When her essay about her debating experiences was spotted by a London literary agent, who asked to see more, the student sent her the manuscript.
Within months it was the subject of a seven-way bidding war between publishers. The rights eventually sold for a rumoured five-figure sum, and it was published in 12 languages at once in 2017.
The Crown Prince and Princess of Norway were all smiles on a farm visit in Oslo today, as pressure mounts on Mette-Marit's 27-year-old son, Marius.
Crown Prince Haakon, heir to the Norwegian throne, and his wife Princess Mette-Marit, were dressed in black waterproof jackets and black trousers, paired with practical boots, as they visited Fabro Farm.
As the couple chatted to the staff on the farm and accepted beautiful flowers, their warm smiles did not betray a hint of stress amid a scandal which has rocked the Norwegian royal family in recent months.
Last week it was reported that Marius Borg Hiby, Mette-Marit's son from a previous relationship, had been arrested again for breaching a restraining order taken out to protect his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca Helberg Arntsen, after he admitted to assaulting her in a cocaine and booze-fuelled attack on 4 August.
Although Marius admitted to the attack, which left Rebecca in hospital with her injuries while he was arrested and held in a police cell overnight, he has denied breaching the restraining order.
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit looked in high spirits as they visited a farm in Oslo today
Mette-Marit, whose son Marius is under intense scrutiny from the Norwegian press at the moment, smiled as she held a bunch of flowers
Marius Borg Hiby, 27, was rearrested over the weekend on suspicion of breaching a restraining order, Norwegian media reports
According to Norwegian tabloid Se Og Hor, Hiby, 27, allegedly contacted his victim, whom he has previously referred to as his 'girlfriend', on Saturday, September 7, from a hidden telephone number.
However, in a statement via his lawyer, Hiby has strenuously denied the claim. Defender yvind Bratlien slammed the arrest as being made on 'thin' evidence and accused the police of 'reverse discrimination'.
Meanwhile the charges against Hiby have expanded to also include three more victims, after other women came forward in the wake of his arrest.
One of the further victims has not been named. However, two have been named as Hiby's exes Juliane Snekkestad and Nora Haukland.
The Norwegian royal family was rocked by Hiby's first arrest at the beginning of August, after Rebecca Helberg Arntsen was left in hospital with her injuries following the attack.
The couple dressed in practical black outfits as they visited the farm
Mette Marit beamed as she waved to onlookers, in a smile that betrayed not a hint of stress amid the scandal rocking the Norwegian royals
Mette-Marit donned practical black Wellington boots as she arrived at the farm
The couple were shown around the farm and looked at the vegetable patches
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit chatted to staff members as they walked through the farm
The son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship last month admitted to assaulting his 'girlfriend' in a booze and drug filled rage
Hiby, a former motor mechanic, has been previously labelled the 'black sheep' of the Norwegian royal family
A week after his arrest, Hiby sensationally admitted to the assault on Rebecca, whom he referred to as his 'girlfriend' (her lawyers have refuted this claim).
In a statement issued via his own lawyer, Hiby said he suffers from 'several mental disorders' and has 'struggled with substance abuse for a long time', which he said he is resuming treatment for.
The statement read: 'Last weekend 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.
'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.
'The drug use and my diagnoses do not excuse what happened in the apartment at Frogner on the night of Sunday last weekend. I want to be responsible for what I have done, and will explain myself truthfully to the police.
'For me, the most important thing is to say sorry to my girlfriend. She deserved neither what happened that night, nor the extreme pressure from both the Norwegian and foreign press afterwards.'
Mette-Marit's eldest son also apologised to his family for his actions that have 'greatly affected you'.
Norwegian tabloid VG has since published what it claimed were clips from two phone calls between the 27-year-old and his victim after the violent episode and vandalism in an apartment in Oslo on the night of August 4.
During the conversation, former motorcycle mechanic Borg Hiby reportedly defended his assault as a 'little pat on the back...hit you with a flat hand'.
Marius Borg Hiby (pictured) was uninvited from a celebrity wedding after guests threatened not to attend if he was present
Borg Hiby (pictured with Prince Haakon in 2017) is under suspicion for causing bodily harm and criminal damage
Borg Hiby (pictured) 'allegedly threatened to set fire to and burn the girl's clothes and belongings' whilst on the phone, reported Se og Hr
But the woman allegedly replies that he hit her a hundred times and strangled her at least five times until she struggled to breathe, according to the Norwegian report after it was translated into English.
Borg Hiby also reportedly threatened to burn the victim's belongings in a bin if she didn't collect them from Skaugum Castle, his family's official residence, by a certain time.
Elsewhere in the calls, which were said to have taken place before Borg Hiby was arrested by the police at 4.10pm, the Prince's stepson allegedly mentioned a third person, claiming they are scared 'because I'm going to kill him'.
The individual isn't named by VG, but the publication did state that they are known to both Borg Hiby and his 'girlfriend'.
The audio is reportedly part of the police investigation against the 27-year-old, who was arrested and placed in police custody for 30 hours, according to local reports.
He has been accused of causing bodily harm and injuring a woman with whom he was having a relationship.
In the first conversation, Borg Hiby reportedly says loudly: 'Yes, you should. If not, I'll burn up all your stuff', after explaining that he wants the woman to collect her belongings from him.
When the victim asks why he would do this, he replies: 'Because you deserve all the s*** I can throw at you,' and refers to his girlfriend in derogatory terms, according to the publication.
'Your clothes are on fire at 4pm. 4pm. Everything you own is already in the space outside here. And I have a large can of petrol and a lighter in my hand. Do you hear that? You will be here at 4pm,' says Borg Hiby.
'Then I'll set fire to your things', he adds, after the woman - who has apparently lived in Skaugum Castle with Borg Hiby and his mother and stepfather during certain points in the past year - insists she will not go to the 27-year-old.
Hiby, son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship, was raised by his mother and stepfather with his half-siblings, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18, but unlike them he has no official public role.
The arrest and his admission cast a shadow over the recent royal wedding in Norway as Princess Martha Louise wed American Shaman Durek Verrett on August 31 in Geiranger Fjord.
Ahead of the nuptials, the Norwegian palace confirmed Hiby would not be attending the wedding with his mother, stepfather and half-siblings. Norwegian media later reported that the former motor mechanic had turned down the invitation to attend an Italian wedding of the son of a billionaire and an influencer.
However, when news of the assault and arrest came to light, Hiby was uninvited from that wedding after guests threatened to pull out if he was in attendance.
Marius arrived in Pisa ahead of the wedding of Karianne Vilde Spetalen, 30, and Kristian Spetalen, also 30.
It is believed that guests thought Norwegian press would travel to Italy to document the wedding if Marius was present, a circumstance some did not feel comfortable with.
Sources told Se og Hr that Norwegian influencer Karianne and Kristian, also faced backlash from their family regarding Marius's planned attendance.
The scandal of the Norway Royal Family's 'black sheep' Borg Hiby's arrest has damaged some Norwegians' affection for their monarchy, MailOnline previously revealed.
Traditionally the people of Norway are even more fervent royalists than Brits, but we found that young people in particular were less forgiving of Borg Hiby's behaviour.
New Delhi, Sep 25 (UNI) The Congress on Wednesday slammed BJP MP Kangana Ranaut for her statement on the three farm laws and said that such a comment was an 'insult to the martyrdom of farmers' and asked the BJP to take strict action against her.
Talking to the media at the AICC headquarters here, Gujarat PCC president Shaktisinh Gohil said, "Kangana Ranaut's statement is an insult to the martyrdom of farmers, but the BJP has not taken any action on her statement yet.".
"Every time distancing yourself from her statement won't work; rather, there should be expulsion for such statements," he said.
He said that the Congress demands that "Kangana should be expelled from the BJP.".
"If she is not expelled, it will be considered that BJP and Prime Minister Modi are insulting the martyrdom of farmers and the PM is conspiring to bring back the three black laws to benefit his friends," Gohil said.
It may be mentioned that earlier today, Kangana Ranaut withdrew her remarks that she had given yesterday against the three farm laws, saying they were "personal" and did not represent the stand of her party.
UNI RBE GNK
SUCH is the legend of Yves Saint Laurent, its tempting to imagine he can control the weather, even from beyond the grave.
Alas, this proved not to be true in Paris as the heavens opened, rendering the deluged open-air venue a dramatic choice.
But the rain was not going to keep away the celebrity guests from the Saint Laurents Spring 2025 runway.
Model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 37, wore a satin shirt dress with built-in suspender stockings and a leather belt while actresses Zoe Kravitz, 35, and Philippine Leroy Beaulieu, 61, opted for dresses of sheer.
Others were a little more covered up against the elements with Kate Moss, 50, in a black velvet tuxedo jacket. Gwyneth Paltrow, 51, chose a grey suit teamed with a black coat over her shoulders.
Kate Moss and Zoe Kravitz opted for sheer outfits at the Saint Laurent show today Paris
Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu opted for a sheer blue dress belted at the waist
Guests wore clothes from Saint Laurents autumn/winter 2024 collection, the polarity of their masculine vs feminine style explored by the labels creative director Anthony Vaccarello.
Model Bella Hadid, 27, was in an oversized black suit worn with a shirt and tie. To enhance the idea, she wore the designers distinctive black glasses.
Satin mini skirts, chiffon blouses and sheer lace tops provided a soft counterfoil to the hard-edged suiting, and came in classic YSL hues of lipstick red, burnt orange, tobacco brown and sage greens.
Rosie Huntington whitely opted for a satin dress connected via suspenders to sheer stockings
The weather didnt play ball: on the catwalk, the temperature was hot.
Today's Saint Laurent showcase follows the Dior opening show on Tuesday, which saw fashion A-listers taking to the streets of Paris to celebrate the French fashion house.
As the actress who played Princess Diana in The Crown, Elizabeth Debicki is well-versed in assuming different identities. But at the Dior show, she seemed more interested in resurrecting Dot Cotton than Diana.
Dressed in a belted grey herringbone coat with a black and white headscarf tied under her chin, Debicki was almost unrecognisable as she channelled the beloved Albert Square character played by June Brown.
Brown, who passed away in April 2022 at the age of 95, played the no-nonsense, deeply religious and much beloved character of Dot Cotton in EastEnders for more than 35 years.
Dot was perhaps best remembered for her troubled family life as she tried to get her son, villain 'Nasty' Nick, on the straight and narrow, but she also had her fashionista moments and was known for wearing headscarves to protect her heat-set curls - a look Debicki inadvertently paid tribute to in Paris.
She joined actresses Natalie Portman, Rosamund Pike, Anya Taylor-Joy and even French First Lady Brigitte Macron, clutching a 5,000 Lady Dior bag, on Diors front row - although they hadn't gone for quite the same look.
Both Pike and Taylor-Joy were dressed in looks from Diors Cruise 2025 collection showcased in Perthshire, Scotland, earlier this year.
But to guests great relief, it wasnt EastEnders that appeared to have been on creative director Maria Grazia Chiuris moodboard, it was the recent Olympics.
Now Aussies can get their hands on three new chocolate bar flavours
Aldi has partnered with Tony's Open Chain by Tony's Chocolonely
Fans of the 'world famous' chocolate bar Tony's Chocolonely will be delighted to know Aldi Australia is now selling an exclusive range for just $3.99.
The supermarket chain has joined forces with Tony's Open Chain to create three new mouthwatering flavours.
Aldi's own-label chocolate bar named Choceur CHOCO CHANGER is available in stores from Wednesday.
The sweet flavours include Milk Salted Caramel Brownie, Dark Salty Fudge Almond and Milk Honeycomb Nougat.
Tony's Chocolonely, hailing from the Netherlands, sent customers wild last year after launching in Coles and Woolworths for $8 each.
The Salted Caramel Brownie is made with smooth, creamy Belgian milk chocolate with crunchy brownie and salted caramel pieces.
Those who enjoy Belgian dark chocolate may wish to indulge in the Dark Salty Fudge Almond made with salted toffee fudge and caramelised almond pieces.
Alternatively the Milk Honeycomb Nougat is also made with Belgian milk chocolate, nougat and honeycomb pieces.
Aldi's own-label chocolate bar named Choceur CHOCO CHANGER will be available across stores nationwide for $3.99 each
Tony's Chocolonely, hailing from the Netherlands, sent customers wild last year after launching in Coles and Woolworths for $8 each
The latest products have also launched across Europe, the UK and US.
Aldi Australia's Director of Sustainability, Daniel Baker said: 'The launch of Choceur CHOCO CHANGER in Australia represents a significant milestone in the Aldi South Group's commitment to making good difference for both people and the planet through responsible sourcing and responsible business practices.
'We're proud to be mission allies of Tony's Open Chain, improving working conditions along the cocoa supply chain to ensuring each step is traceable and transparent.
'For everyday chocolate lovers this means you can savour a delicious treat while supporting a more ethical cocoa industry. Each purchase helps us drive structural change that creates a positive lasting impact in farming communities.'
Paul Schoenmakers, Head of Impact at Tony's Chocolonely, added: 'I'm proud to welcome ALDI as a new mission ally. Together, we can amplify our impact on the ground. It proves the Open Chain model works and we are ready to scale.'
Earlier this year fans were sent into a frenzy after spotting bars of Tony's Chocolonely in the 'Special Buys' section with a $4.99 price tag.
'$4.99, seriously? They've got white chocolate strawberry cheesecake and the dark milk chocolate brownie,' the customer said in a video.
She picked up two popular flavours - White Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake and Dark Milk Chocolate with Brownie.
After launching in Down Under, Aussie fans have taken to social media to brand it the 'nicest chocolate ever' and '10 times better than Cadbury'.
They were once reserved for cash-strapped students looking for a cheap hangover cure.
But today, instant noodles have undergone something of a makeover, with Gen Z across the globe 'pimping up' their bowls of ramen with gourmet ingredients.
Far from the humble dish of the early 2000s, packet noodles have become somewhat of a luxury, with young chefs adding multiple ingredients, including Kewpie mayonnaise and dumplings to the previously simple dish.
Like most of today's trends, it's become prevalent on TikTok, with influencers, including Gen Z royalty Kylie Jenner, taking to the platform to reveal the ingredients they add to their instant ramen; in the beauty mogul's case it's butter, garlic, and egg.
As such, supermarkets have reported spiralling interest in the east Asian snack, with Ocado reporting a 50 per cent increase in sales and a 35 per cent rise in searches for the product, according to the Guardian.
Gen Z'ers are 'pimping up' their instant ramen, including TikTok content creator Serena from London (pictured)
A world food buyer at Ocado told the newspaper: 'When it comes to a budget-friendly quick-fix for dinner, you can't get much better than packet noodles, but here, these have often been dismissed as a bit studenty and not very gourmet I'm happy that's starting to change.
'As the many TikTok fans will attest, the right toppings like nori and chilli oil can elevate even the humblest noodle bowl, adding texture, flavour and extra nutrients.'
Influencers have helped trigger the product's resurgence by taking to TikTok to reveal how they improve packet noodles, with over 20 thousand videos on the topic currently on the platform.
Back in 2016, Kylie Jenner increased interest in the snack when she asked her followers how they elevate their instant noodles.
She sent her followers into a copycat frenzy, causing instant ramen to trend on Twitter, now X, with thousands taking to the kitchen to try out her recipe and debating whether it was the best way to eat the meal.
Still to this day, TikTok is rife with individuals making 'Kylie Jenner ramen', just as Gen Z'ers recreate Gigi Hadid's trademark vodka pasta or Hailey Bieber's pizza toast.
Chef and director at Harper Fine Dining, Dean Harper, said the trend is reflective of Gen Z's commitment to experimentation on social media, he told FEMAIL: 'Instant noodles have come a long way from being just a cheap, quick meal.
'Now, thanks to TikTok and social media, people are turning them into gourmet dishes. I think what's driving this is that people, especially Gen Z, want to create something unique at home that looks good and tastes even better.
Joely Hiles from London racked up over thousands of views on her clip of her 'pimped up packet ramen' recipe (pictured)
@onserenasplate Firecracker Carbonara Ramen Pimp my Ramen EP2 combining different fusion flavours with the humble packet instant ramen noodles! (*not authentic, just different ways of sprucing up your packet instant ramen!) Ingredients (serves 1) FOR THE BACON: 2 slices of bacon 1tbsp light soy sauce 0.5tsp chilli flakes 1tbsp maple syrup FOR THE NOODLES: 2 spring onions (sliced) 1tsp chopped red chilli 1tsp minced garlic 1tbsp light soy sauce 1 pack instant ramen noodles (and seasoning) 300ml chicken stock FOR THE SAUCE: 1 medium egg 20g grated parmesan 1tsp gochujang paste black pepper 20ml oat milk 1 Chop the bacon into pieces & add into a hot small pot with a little oil (medium heat) 2 Fry the bacon & once its half cooked, add the light soy sauce, chilli flakes & maple syrup. Mix & continue cooking till crispy, then remove from the pot & set aside 3 In the same pan add the chopped spring onion whites, chopped red chilli, minced garlic, light soy sauce & cook for 1-2 mins 4 Add the noodle seasoning, stock & stir before bringing to a simmer 5 Add the noodles & cook for 1 min under packet time (approx 4 mins) 6 Meanwhile, whisk the carbonara sauce ingredients listed above in a small bowl & set aside 7 Once noodles are almost cooked, add the carbonara sauce in & stir quickly to emulsify & create the creamy sauce 8 Once cooked, stir half the cooked bacon back in before serving in a bowl & garnishing with spring onion greens, remaining bacon, crispy onions & grated parmesan #ramen #instantramen #instantnoodles #ramenhacks #fyp #carbonararamen #spicycarbonara #noodletok #ramennoodles #carbonaranoodles #easyrecipes Funkytown (From "Shrek 2") - Geek Music
'There's this trend of putting noodles in everythinglike adding them to creamy carbonara with parmesan on top for that carb-on-carb comfort food. It's all about experimenting and making something you can be proud of, both on the plate and on social media.'
TikTok is brimming with content creators sharing their innovative recipes. Joely Hiles from London racked up over 20 thousand views on her clip of 'pimped up packet ramen'.
She added several sauces, Chinese smoked sausage, and crispy toppings to get her 'extra good' bowl of instant noodles.
Meanwhile, Chantal Coop, similarly shared her noodle recipe, adding egg and cheese to packet Shin Ramyun to create her 'hug in a bowl' meal.
Food content creator Serena, who goes by @onserenasplate, got creative and 'combined different fusion flavours' with the humble packet instant ramen noodles to make 'firecracker carbonara ramen'.
Food content creator Chantal Coop shared her noodle recipe on TikTok, adding egg and cheese to packet Shin Ramyun to create her 'hug in a bowl' meal (pictured)
She added ingredients including bacon, chicken stock, gochujang, and parmesan to make her 'spruced up packet instant ramen'.
Meanwhile, businesses have started to profit off the trend, with shops, including SABA Convenience store on London's Kensington High Street, selling packet ramen that customers can make in store.
Instant ramen cacio e pepe recipe from Sorted Food Ingredients: 2 packets instant ramen, chicken or pork flavor
50g unsalted butter
2 tbsp black pepper
50g Pecorino Romano
1 tbsp black sesame seeds Method: Fill a saucepan with water and add the sachets of stock powder from the ramen
Place the pan over a high heat. While the water comes to a boil, chuck the butter into a large frying pan and place it over a low heat.
Grind the pepper into the butter and toast for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant then take the pan off the heat.
Once the water has come to a boil, tip in the noodles and boil for 2-3 minutes, until tender but with a slight bite.
Once the noodles are ready, use tongs to transfer them to the frying pan with the butter and pepper.
Place the frying pan back over a medium heat and toss everything together.
Add some of the cooking water from the noodles to make a loose emulsion that coats them.
Take the frying pan off the heat and grate over 3/4 of the Pecorino. T
Toss everything together, then season to taste with salt.
Divide the noodles between bowls, grate over the remaining Pecorino, scatter over the sesame seeds and serve Advertisement
London food blogger Jane, who goes by @tasteofsurprise online, shared her experience of the 'DIY ramen' bar on TikTok. She chose a packet of Shin Ramyun, which costs 1.20 in Tesco, added hot water and extra ingredients, including cheese, and paid 9.
It comes after doctors warned that fans of a popular type of super-spicy ramen could be at risk of a kidney problem that can trigger blood poisoning.
The noodles are packed with as much as half someone's recommended daily serving of salt in a single meal, warned urologist Dr David Shusterman.
This high salt content in Buldak ramen raises the risk of crystals forming in the kidneys, which can then develop into stones that damage the organs and trigger infections. If untreated, kidney infections can spread to the bloodstream, known as septicemia.
The warning comes after content creator Lucy Mourad, 24, from Washington state, revealed in a recent TikTok clip that she suffered the complication after eating buldak ramen every week for six months.
She blamed the stones, which led to an ER visit and caused excruciating cramps, in on the noodles saying: 'Buldak ramen... it's a huge contributing factor.'
She added that she'd been 'eating more and more' of this ramen 'over the past few months' so suspected the ramen was to blame.
Her symptoms began as back pain which transferred to the front of the body, as the stones formed in her bladder.
She also described noticing blood and tiny floating objects in her urine.
Dr Shusterman, based in New York City, warned the complication could be linked to the ramen saying: 'It's possible since processed and canned goods are loaded with tons of salt.
'This means... eating processed foods like instant noodles, soups, frozen meals, etc, could lead to kidney stones forming.'
Research suggests there is also a risk that some spices can cause kidney stones by significantly increasing levels of a chemical called oxalate in urine which raises the risk of crystals forming.
Buldak noodles are surging in popularity globally and in the US, with their South Korea-based manufacturer Samyang Foods saying sales hit a record five billion products in mid-June last year.
The ready-to-eat noodles are available in a variety of flavors including the popular 'Rakisoba Hot Chicken' and the 'Carbonara Hot Chicken'.
But the products also contain a whopping amount of salt at 1,280 milligrams (mg) per serving.
For comparison, a pack of Lays salt and vinegar crisps contains 590mg per packet while a standard ready meal is estimated to contain around 580mg.
The USDA recommends people consume no more than 2,300mg of salt per day the equivalent of one teaspoon.
Manufacturers likely add he high levels of salt to boost the flavor of their products.
A home cook has issued an urgent warning to people who dry heat their pots and pans on the stove after hers exploded while she was cooking.
The British foodie, who's better known as The Everyday Chef online, was filming a cooking session when her camera caught the moment the base of her pot popped off.
'So this happened today, please be careful when cleaning and using your cast iron casserole pan,' she captioned the video.
'Still not sure what happened but it looks like I'll be upgrading to a Le Creuset.'
In the footage her husband can be heard racing to her side and asking if she is okay after hearing a loud bang from the next room.
The woman explained that the pot had been warming up on a low heat when she turned away to grab some oil to add to the base and was shocked to see it 'pop'.
'I'm glad I wasn't any closer to it,' she said replying to comments.
'This is why I posted the video because I know a lot of people have these pans and I didn't want it to happen to anyone else.'
A young woman was set to record a cooking session and filmed the moment where the enamel coating of her cast iron pot exploded over the hob, leaving her shocked
@theeverydaychef So this happened today Please be careful when cleaning and using your cast iron cassarol pan, because this just happened to mine! Still not sure what happened, but looks like ill be upgrading to a le creuset #kitchenfail #ruinedpan #castiron #castironcooking Funny - Gold-Tiger
Thousands weighed in one the incident with many shocked to discover that this could happen when dry heating with enamel coated cookware.
'New fear unlocked,' one said.
Some insisted that this had never happened to them with their French made Le Creuset pots which are designed to last a lifetime, but one woman disagreed.
'This happened with my Le Creuset as well, they sent me a new one though,' she said.
A representative of Le Creuset Australia spoke to FEMAIL about the correct way to cook with their famous enamel coated pots and pans.
'Never dry cook on Le Creuset,' she said.
'Also avoid using the highest heat settings and stick to lower-medium heat.'
People argued about whether heating cookware with no oil or water in the base was suitable for cast iron.
'Has no one ever told you not to dry heat pans, all of them except heavy bottom cast iron skillets or stainless steel with no coating,' one woman said.
'I still will not go past medium setting and always watch my pans while heating.'
One woman disagreed and said that enamel coated cast iron can be dry heated if it is properly made, which is an expensive process.
'That isn't true cast iron, cast iron won't explode like that. Always use American made or French made, ones made in China have aluminium mixed in and this will happen with those,' she said.
A foodie added that when enamel bases get a scratch in the coating a bubble of air can sometimes enter and get trapped inside which causes an explosion.
'When air heats it expands, popping the paint,' she explained.
Travellers are in awe of the brand new Pullman Hotel in Penrith
Aussie travellers who believe they need to catch a plane to go on holiday will soon realise they have the 'perfect' staycation spot in their backyard - and they don't even have to leave Sydney.
A weekend at the brand new Pullman in Penrith will transport you to a world of rest and restoration as you take in Western Sydney's up-and-coming precinct.
Visitors will have the opportunity to explore popular tourist spot Scenic World, take a day trip up the coast, and even catch a Penrith Panthers game at the world-class stadium.
Thrill seekers can also walk across the road for a magical indoor skydiving experience at iFly with all the adrenaline and none of the risk.
After a full day of activities guests can retire to comfort and peruse the bespoke Sleep Therapy menu that includes everything you need for a night of rejuvenation.
You can order everything from face and eye masks to aromatherapy pillow sprays, soothing teas, and an extensive pillow menu.
A weekend at the brand new Pullman in Penrith will transport you to a world of rest and restoration as you take in Western Sydney's up-and-coming precinct
The hotel's mid-twentieth century design is reminiscent of iconic German architecture and the space boasts floor-to-ceiling views of the Blue Mountains
Marcel Bar and Bistro
The stunning modern restaurant will feel like stepping into Europe for the night and living out your Parisian dreams with top chef Colin Chun's classic French dishes.
Visitors will have the opportunity to explore popular tourist spots in the Blue Mountains or take a day trip up the coast
Its mid-twentieth century design is reminiscent of iconic German architecture and the space itself sprawls out atop a sweeping central staircase with floor-to-ceiling views of the Blue Mountains.
Menu highlights include the cote de buf, steak tartare, rum baba, and house-made terrines.
Despite its international influence, Marcel's menu heroes local Australian ingredients from Sun's Fresh Farm and Heng Fresh Farm in Western Sydney Parklands, Rita's Farm in Wallacia, and free range and organic egg supplier Clarendon Farms.
The bar is a world of its own and guests are invited to get a hands-on experience by walking into the open cellar and browsing.
The stunning modern restaurant will feel like stepping into Europe for the night and living out your Parisian dreams with top chef Colin Chun's classic French dishes
Sommeliers are ever-present to chat through the collection of wine from around the globe - with Marcel's shelves boasting everything from a rich Bordeaux to a crisp New Zealand sauvignon blanc.
Akshay Arora, Director of Food and Beverage, said: 'There are no shortcuts for us. We're bringing back old-school hospitality with a touch of elegance, attention to detail, and also some really interactive experiences to enrich our guests' enjoyment.
Patrons of the Pullman are only a 45-minute drive away to the top of the Blue Mountains
'Penrith deserves this recognition. It's a vibrant city of its own with a need for somewhere iconic to celebrate special occasions; a place where locals can invite others from near and far and show off the pride of Penrith.'
Day trip to the Blue Mountains
Patrons of the Pullman are only a 45-minute drive away to the top of the Blue Mountains - one of the most iconic and must-visit destinations in New South Wales.
Areas like Katoomba and Leura are perfect for shopping and sightseeing with an array of vintage stores dotted throughout.
Adventure-seekers can also travel to Scenic World to hop aboard the world's steepest railway into the Jamison Valley.
The small passenger train descends 310 metres down the side of a mountain at a nerve-racking 52-degree angle through the lush forest and in and out of rock tunnels.
Tourists have been left shocked by Katoomba's Scenic Railwayin the Blue Mountains near Sydney, which is the steepest railway in the world
The small passenger train descends 310 metres down the side of a mountain at a nerve-racking 52-degree angle through the lush forest and in and out of rock tunnels
While the current train is very safely encased and protects passengers, many remember the ride without a roof or even proper doors before it was given a modern update.
The Scenic Railway has been through five upgrades since the mid 1940s with its most recent in 2013 given passengers the option to take one of three rides depending on how brave they are feeling.
Riders can chose to take the Original 52-degree journey, the relaxed Laidback ride or the adventurous 64-degree Cliffhanger option by adjusting the seats.
The one-of-a-kind railway ventures down the mountain through a cliff to the floor of the Jamison Valley while showcasing breathtaking views of the rainforest through the glass roof.
A former Royal Marine says his symptoms of the deadliest type of brain cancer were dismissed by doctors as 'dehydration' and a result of too much screen time.
James Greenwood, 42, based in Mold, North Wales, began experiencing dizziness and 'constant, dull headaches' in May.
He visited his GP twice and was told his problems were likely due to a combination of eye strain and not drinking enough water at his desk job at a real estate company.
However, within a month he was experiencing agonising head pain which prompted him to visit A&E and demand further scans.
Devastatingly, doctors discovered a walnut-sized, grade four glioblastoma the deadliest kind of brain cancer that grows rapidly and gave him a prognosis of 12-18 months.
James Greenwood, 42, from Wales, was told by doctors that his headaches were likely a result of working in front of a screen combined with dehydration.
James underwent brain surgery to remove the tumour on June 28, followed by a six-week course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
He is now waiting to see if the treatment has improved his prognosis, before starting a more intensive course of chemotherapy at the end of October.
James has tried to 'savour' each moment since his diagnosis, attributing this mindset to the training he received in the Royal Marines, in which he served for five years from the age of 18.
'For me, its about trying to be as normal as possible,' he said. 'Theres a lot of belief in people saying positivity is a big benefit in combating illnesses. I just cant comprehend in dealing with this in any other way.'
James first noticed something was not quite right with his health on May 24 when he was having a conversation with his brother-in-law and started to feel dizzy.
James underwent surgery to remove his tumour as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and is currently waiting to see if it was successful
James says his positive attitude to his distressing situation is largely due to his Royal Marine training. 'It instils in you that belief that regardless of what situation or scenario youre faced with, you can get through it,' he said.
He said: 'My vision was wobbling a little bit and I needed to have a bit of a sit down. I had always had a clean bill of health so I thought it was a little unusual.'
Soon after, James said he started to suffer with headaches which began as a 'constant' and 'dull' pain.
He booked an appointment with his GP for June 5, when he was told his symptoms were probably linked to dehydration, and he could be overdue an eye test.
James was also given a blood test and an electrocardiogram (ECG), a non-invasive test which measures the electrical activity of the heart, but said both tests came back with 'no concerns'.
After 'plodding along' for a few days, James said he had an unusual episode in Manchester on June 10.
'I was walking across town and it was like an out-of-body experience, everything around me slowed down,' he said.
He secured a same-day appointment with his GP and was told his symptoms were consistent with migraines.
'Ive never suffered with migraines in the past so I was sceptical. As with the first GP appointment, I was pushing for a scan of some kind maybe it was a sixth sense or something but I just knew how I felt and I was trying to get some peace of mind more than anything.'
James (left) and his friends ran the Edale Skyline in the Peak District to raise money for Brain Tumour Research
James said he was prescribed migraine relief medication and told to make another appointment by the end of the week if it had not had the desired effect.
Two days later, James said he woke up at about 5am with a severe headache, and went to A&E with his girlfriend.
He was given a CT scan which revealed a three-and-a-half centimetre by three-and-a-half centimetre mass in the right temporal lobe area of his brain.
Jamess case was escalated and he was informed by a neurosurgeon that his symptoms were consistent with a high grade tumour.
He underwent brain surgery to remove the mass on June 28 and was told on August 8 that it had been identified as a grade four glioblastoma and he had a prognosis of 12 to 18 months.
'There are some days where you have to kind of pinch yourself and question whether this is actually happening,' James said.
'Receiving the news is incredibly tough and youve got that initial period of shock but after that, youre forced to process it and try and take the good from it.'
Tessa Jowell with her daughter Jess and granddaughter Ottie. In 2018, the former Labour MP died after a battle with advanced glioblastoma brain cancer
James underwent a six-week course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy with the aim of improving his prognosis.
He completed his last session of radiotherapy on September 19 and will have a rest period for a month before starting more intensive chemotherapy in late October.
He said this, combined with regular MRI scans, should shed a light on how effective the treatment has been.
'Strangely, its been kind of liberating,' James said.
'I think everybodys probably guilty of taking people for granted, your loved ones, friends, family, but its had the effect of reconnecting me with certain old friends, I think its drawn the family closer.
'It alters your perspective and its a bit cliched but youre trying to savour every moment.'
James said he has tried to adopt a positive mindset, saying his time in the Royal Marines, which he joined in May 2000 for five years, has helped him.
The Wanted's Tom Parker died in 2022 after being diagnosed with glioblastoma. Pictured: Tom Parker on Good Morning Britain's Christmas Special in December 2021
'It instils in you that belief that regardless of what situation or scenario youre faced with, you can get through it.
'When youre thrown into that situation, it does resonate and it does make sense.'
On September 21, James and three of his friends ran across the Edale Skyline, a 20-mile hiking route through the Peak District, with the aim of fundraising for Brain Tumour Research, raising more than 14,000 so far.
'It went really well, it was like me revisiting my version of normal, I wanted it to be a complete escape from everything and it served its purpose,' James said.
'Its always been one of my bucket list items to raise a fixed amount for charity over the course of my lifetime and the fact weve got to the total we have is absolutely incredible.
'In all likelihood it wont benefit myself, but further down the line for other people who might find themselves in this position, if theres a bit more investment, development and knowledge around treatment, other people may reap the benefits of that.'
There's probably one lurking on your desk, kitchen top or bedside table.
But up to three quarters of all bottled water we drink could contain potentially harmful chemicals linked to cancer, concerning research has suggested.
Scientists in Qatar found between 10 and 78 per cent of bottled water carried contaminants including microplastics microscopic particles that leach into the bloodstream and are thought to interfere with multiple bodily processes.
Tap water, meanwhile, is far safer to drink given it's subject to 'rigorous quality and safety standards', they said.
Up to three quarters of all bottled water we drink could contain potentially harmful chemicals linked to cancer, concerning research has suggested
Invisible to the human eye, microplastics are plastic fragments as small as two micrometres, or two-thousandths of a millimeter.
These particles make their way into food, water supplies and even into the air when plastic products degrade naturally.
A growing body of research has already linked them to the development of cancer, heart disease and dementia and even lower-quality sperm.
The scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar, who conducted the latest study, also found traces of other contaminants including phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA).
They are thought to break down and get into water when bottles are squeezed or the lid is repeatedly opened and closed.
They can also seep into water if a bottle is exposed to heat, such left in a hot room, car on a warm day or outside in the sun.
Used to make plastics more durable, phthalates are known to interfere with hormone production in the body.
BPA is a chemical used to make food packaging stronger and less vulnerable to corrosion or breaking down.
They have both also been linked to infertility, PCOS, asthma and some cancers.
Britain follows EU BPA safety levels, advising a safe daily exposure level of 0.2 nanograms per kilogram of body weight per day.
But both of their risks to health are only believed to be heightened when exposed to high levels.
Writing in the journal, BMJ Global Health, the scientists said: 'While there are short-term safety thresholds, the long-term effects of these contaminants remain largely unknown.
'The reliance on bottled water incurs significant health, financial and environmental costs, calling for an urgent re-evaluation of its widespread use.'
They also urged restaurants and other public spaces to ditch bottled water in place of tap.
Invisible to the human eye, microplastics are plastic fragments as small as two micrometres, or two-thousandths of a millimeter
Tap water is far safer to drink as it is subject to 'rigorous quality and safety standards' and does not carry the risk of 'harmful chemicals leaching from the plastic bottles', the researchers added.
Microplastics have worried scientists for decades.
Researchers are spooked, as the smaller things are, the more easily they can get inside us.
Previous studies have suggested that the average person ingests around five grams of plastic a week equivalent to a credit card.
However, experts have warned that it may be much more, as not all foods have been analysed to check their plastic content.
People are also thought to breathe in up to 7,000 microplastics a day, prompting concerns they could rank alongside asbestos or tobacco as a health threat.
She's one of the world's most famous faces.
Yet, despite Kylie Jenner's stunning looks and the fact she's a self-made billionaire the 27-year-old A-lister is no stranger to having her appearance criticised.
Resurfaced photos from this year's Met Gala reveal Kylie who is now dating Hollywood star Timothee Chalamet has noticeably slimmed down arms and a small scar in her armpit.
Social media users have taken to online forums, accusing her of having 'multiple rounds of lipo[suction] on her arms and back' to get 'so skinny'.
Others suggested it was in fact an implant scar from her previous boob job.
Social media users have taken to online forums, accusing her of having 'multiple rounds of lipo on her arms and back' to get 'so skinny'
Resurfaced photos from this year's Met Gala reveal Kylie who is now dating Hollywood star Timothee Chalamet has noticeably slimmed down arms and a small scar in her armpit
Others suggested it was in fact an implant scar from her previous boob job. Pictured, Kylie at the 2023 Met Gala. Fans suggested her arms look less toned as they do in more recent photographs.
Now, cosmetic experts have also weighed in claiming the make-up mogul has in fact had liposuction.
Glasgow-based aesthetics doctor Dr Usman Qureshi also argued she may have undergone a similar procedure called BodyTite which involves using radiofrequency energy to help 'melt' fat as well as tighten the skin.
He told his 12,000 Instagram followers: 'Have you seen Kylie Jenner's arms?
'She claims it's just by pilates. I don't think there's any way pilates alone can achieve this.
'I think she has probably had liposuction, bodytite or a similar procedure.'
In the UK, private liposuction surgery can cost between 2,000 and 6,000.
The op, which tends to last a few hours, can sometimes be offered on the NHS to treat certain health conditions, such as lymphoedema and lipoedema.
It involves removing unwanted body fat by inserting a tube under the skin and sucking out small areas of fat.
In the UK, private liposuction surgery can cost between 2,000 and 6,000. Pictured, Kylie at the 2023 Met Gala
After bruising and swelling from the operation has healed, the areas treated visibly shrink. Recovery can take weeks.
BodyTite, meanwhile, is a minimally invasive procedure that has gained popularity as an alternative to traditional liposuction.
Also dubbed Laser Lipo, a small incision is made in the target area, and a special handheld device is inserted beneath the skin.
The device reportedly emits radiofrequency energy, which liquefies fat cells and tightens the surrounding tissues, while suctioning out liquefied fat.
Last year, Dr Andrew Peredo, who specializes in aesthetic procedures of the face, also speculated that Kylie may have previously had liposuction on her jaw and a buccal fat reduction in the cheeks.
He told MailOnline: 'This is hard to say because she went from looking young and having some baby weight on her face to now being a woman.
'She could have done a little bit of buccal fat reduction in the cheeks to help reduce them a bit.
'And she could have had some liposuction on her jaw to give some definition, but it is hard to tell.'
The op, which tends to last a few hours, can sometimes be offered on the NHS to treat certain health conditions, such as lymphoedema and lipoedema. Pictured, Kylie in 2017
In January, after attending Paris Fashion Week social media erupted at the make-up mogul's 'reinvention', accusing her of looking like she was in her 40s
He also suggested her chin was now pointier, which may be the result of surgery, and that her nose appears 'a lot thinner' the result of either surgery or makeup contouring.
This is not the first time, however, fans have questioned her dramatic change in appearance.
In January, after attending Paris Fashion Week social media erupted at the make-up mogul's 'reinvention', accusing her of looking like she was in her 40s.
One cruelly asked: 'What did Kylie Jenner do to her face? I just read she's only 26 but she looks old as hell here.'
Another in a comment viewed 25million times said: 'We're seeing in real time what long term filler usage does as you age'.
Despite its popularity, surgeons have previously suggested that using filler at a young age carries multiple risks, including having stretched skin that sags earlier than normal.
But Kylie has strenuously denied ever getting filler in her face.
Last year, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, she insisted she had 'never touched my face'.
Yet in 2015, after months of intense internet speculation, then-17-year-old Kylie did admit to getting injections to plump her lips, revealing that her thin lips were an 'insecurity of mine'.
As well as pursuing lip fillers, Kylie has admitted to under going breast augmentation surgery as a teenager but came forward to speak about how much she regretted it.
In 2023 she said: 'I just wish, obviously, I never got them done to begin with.
'I would recommend anyone who is thinking about it to wait until after children.'
Mucinex contains the active ingredient guaifenesin, which is thought to thin out cervical mucous and help women get pregnant, though there is no clinical data to support this theory
Women taking a common over-the-counter cold medication are being warned it could get them unexpectedly pregnant.
Doctors say there is anecdotal evidence taking Mucinex makes it easier for sperm to travel through the vagina and reach the egg.
Social media and forums are full of women who claim they conceived while taking the $1 pill after years of struggling with fertility.
The theory is that because the drug works by thinning phlegm, it may also thing mucus in the cervix, creating a smoother route for sperm to reach an egg.
However, doctors warn Mucinex can cause vomiting, dizziness and headaches in rare cases at high doses.
A woman in a viral TikTok video claimed she had been 'trying to conceive for years' and 'doing anything and everything' to get pregnant but was unsuccessful until she took a decongestant drug containing guaifenesin, the active ingredient in Mucinex.
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User @cassiemadams posted a video stating: 'Trying to conceive for years just to take Mucinex and get pregnant. [I don't know] what kind of magic [is] in those pills but here we are.'
But while Cassie was happy to get pregnant, there were plenty of users who commented they were 'never taking Mucinex again' in case it caused an unwanted pregnancy.
A reproductive expert told DailyMail.com there is no hard evidence that Mucinex or guaifenesin raises the chance of conceiving, but there were plenty of indirect evidence.
Dr Karen Tang, a gynecological surgeon in Pennsylvania, posted a video explaining the theory behind guaifenesin and increased fertility, saying the ingredient is meant to loosen the mucus people get when they are sick, which makes it easier to cough it up.
This has led people to question whether the ingredient could make cervical mucous thinner, which would allow sperm to more easily travel to reach a woman's egg, fertilize it and produce a pregnancy.
Dr Rachel McConnell from Columbia University's Fertility Center told DailyMail.com cervical mucous around the time of ovulation, when a woman is most fertile, becomes thinner and 'slippery,' which helps sperm travel.
Because guaifenesin thins out mucous in the respiratory tract, the theory is that women who have thick cervical mucous may find guaifenesin also thins out that mucous.
Dr McConnell added: 'Mucinex may be useful for women who are known to have thick cervical mucus as the only cause of their infertility. However, patients must see their fertility doctor to determine if Mucinex may be beneficial in their case.'
TikTok user @cassiemadams said in a video she and her partner had been trying 'anything and everything' to get pregnant but were unsuccessful until she took guaifenesin
The idea that guaifenesin can increase the chance of pregnancy has been around a long time, but the only study to be conducted on it was done in 1982.
Researchers observed 40 couples who were having trouble conceiving after 10 months. Researchers took samples of cervical mucous from the women before and after taking guaifenesin.
Twenty-three couples saw an improvement in the 'quality' of the cervical mucous and 15 of those couples successfully conceived. However, Dr Tang noted there was no control group in the study to compare the guaifenesin group to.
With 2million views, hundreds of people have commented on Cassie's video, sharing similar stories.
User Ahzbah commented: '5 years no protection, both got sick bad one week and took Mucinex. Have a happy 7 month old now.'
Another, SunshineRnbwSkttlz23, said: 'PCOS and tried multiple fertility treatments for years...try Mucinex once and BOOM! 7 months pregnant.'
And while some welcomed the news, others said their pregnancies were unplanned because of the medication.
TikToker Marcia Hofer commented: 'My Mucinex baby turned one in December, except we weren't trying. I just had a cold.'
Ellie Bagwell claimed she got pregnant while taking Mucinex even though she was on birth control.
While another added: 'I got sick and now I have a one year old. They should definitely put that in the warning label!'
One commenter called herself 'a victim of Mucinex' while another said she got pregnant 'except trying NOT TO.'
And others swore off the drug out of fear they too could unexpectedly get pregnant.
One person commented that she was currently sick and taking Mucinex: 'Don't scare me like that.'
Mariska Alexus said: 'Wow that's my go to medicine too... goodbye forever Mucinex.'
In one TikTok video, Cassie said she took the generic version of Mucinex bought at Target that contained the same active ingredient, guaifenesin.
And Kalico Mermaid expressed her fear: 'Stop - Im in between [birth control] refills and Ive been taking Mucinex because Ive been sick too. Y'all are scaring me.'
In a separate video, Cassie said she took the generic version of Mucinex bought at Target.
While not the name brand Mucinex itself, the store-brand version contains the same active ingredient, guaifenesin.
She said she took one pill every 12 hours of the extended release version.
In a third video, Cassie explained she took the medication for five days, beginning a few days after her menstrual cycle ended.
She added she and her partner were 'doing anything and everything' to conceive.
Cassie said: 'I believe that that worked. There were only a few things that we changed this last go around.'
While Cassie did not detail any side effects she may have experienced, common side effects of guaifenesin include headache, rash, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea and trouble sleeping.
More recently, there was a 2010 case study of a 32-year-old male being evaluated for infertility. His doctor prescribed him guaifenesin. Two months later, a semen analysis showed significant improvement in his sperm count and motility.
The authors wrote: 'Evidence for the effectiveness of guaifenesin is almost entirely anecdotal. Given the mechanism of action of guaifenesin, it is not clear from this case why the patient demonstrated such a large improvement in both sperm count and motility.'
They called for further research into the matter.
Reckitt, the manufacturer of Mucinex told Good Morning America: 'Reckitt is aware of recent social media activity surrounding Mucinex and fertility, and we understand why there is heightened interest in this topic.
'As a global leader in health and hygiene, it is important that we clarify that Mucinex should only be used as intended in line with label directions. Taking Mucinex for infertility constitutes off-label use.
'Taking any medications outside their approved indications or without acknowledging all active ingredients may be harmful. In case of doubt, we recommend women have a discussion with their healthcare professional.
'Please always read the label and safety information before taking any self-care medication.'
A New Yorker has become the 10th person to die from contaminated deli meat - in one of the biggest food poisoning outbreaks in decades.
A total of 59 people have been sickened with listeria linked to Boar's Head deli meat products that were produced in a filthy factory riddled with infection control problems.
All 59 people have been hospitalized across 19 states. Other deaths have been reported in Florida, Tennessee, New Mexico and South Carolina
The outbreak is the largest since 2011 linked to cantaloupe, and 57 have been hospitalized, with nearly 4,000 tons of meat recalled.
In total eight people have died during the outbreak and 57 have been hospitalized, with nearly 4,000 tons of Boar's Head deli meat recalled
The above map shows the states where illnesses linked to the deli meat listeria outbreak have been reported
The CDC is continuing to urge people to check inspection labels before consuming any Boar's Head products, since some have sell by dates up to October 2024.
Recalled products have the codes EST. 12612 or P-12612 inside the USDA mark of inspection on the product labels.
The CDC recommends people who bought the affected products throw them away or contact stores about returns.
Customers are urged to clean their refrigerators, containers, and surfaces that may have touched sliced deli meats.
The health agency previously recommended not eating deli meats unless they were reheated to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit - a temperature high enough to kill the bacteria.
Keeping the meats cold does not eliminate listeria.
Earlier this month, it was discovered that a factory for Boars Head deli meats in Virginia was found to have violated a laundry list of sanitation regulations when inspectors found mold, insects and liquids dripping from the ceiling.
The company suspended operations at the facility in July.
Agriculture Department officials inspecting the companys largest plant in Virginia found dozens of instances of noncompliance with federal regulations around safe production practices in the past year, including several in recent weeks.
Listeria can persist on surfaces for weeks and get into slicing tools and countertops that are not deep-cleaned regularly.
Listeria which kills about one in five of those it infects is particularly dangerous for the elderly, pregnant women and those with underlying health conditions.
These individuals have weaker immune systems, meaning they may be less able to fight off an infection.
Symptoms can start a few days to 10 weeks after infection, and initially begin as fever, chills, stomach cramps and diarrhea.
Gunter 'Garshon' Morgenstein, a father-of-three from Newport, Virginia, is pictured above with his wife Peggy. He died after suffering from a listeria infection after eating Boar's Head deli meats
Sue Fleming, 88, and her husband Patrick, 76, are suing deli meats manufacturer Boar's Head and the shop where they purchased the meat after Ms Fleming became 'deathly ill' from listeria
But as the infection progresses patients can also suffer from convulsions, loss of balance and confusion.
The bacteria may prove fatal if it spreads into the blood and causes sepsis where organs start to shut down or infects nerves and the lining of the brain causing encephalitis inflammation of the brain's lining.
Infections can be treated using antibiotics, which are given intravenously and can kill off the bacteria.
The CDC has said reports of illnesses related to the recall have started to decrease, but it can take up to 10 weeks for an infected person to show symptoms.
One victim of the outbreak was 88-year-old father-of-three and Holocaust survivor Gunter 'Garshon' Morgenstein.
Last month, days after eating a Boar's Head sausage, he became fatigued and started to have trouble breathing and was rushed to the hospital.
Doctors said he was infected with listeria, and had developed meningitis as a result, causing deadly brain inflammation.
Another woman and her husband, Sue Fleming, 88, and Patrick, 76, are suing Boar's Head.
In June, Ms Fleming ate a Boar's Head liverwurst after buying it from her local grocery store. The Missourian said she fell 'deathly ill.'
But in the days that followed she says she developed nausea, diarrhea and stomach cramps, before suffering from shaking and whole-body aches.
She was rushed to hospital, where tests confirmed a listeria infection according to the lawsuit. She spent nine days in intensive care and 11 in rehab, but claims she still suffers from neurological symptoms and is yet to regain her full strength.
The couple are now suing Boar's Head for more than $25,000 to cover medical and legal costs, and damage to 'enjoyment of life' and their marital relationship.
Srinagar, Sep 25 (UNI) A delegation of senior diplomats from several countries, including the US, interacted with voters in central Kashmirs Badgam district soon after their arrival to witness the on-going Assembly election, officials said on Wednesday.
The delegates visited several polling stations of central Kashmirs Badgam district to see the polling process and other arrangements. They also talked to the voters at many places.
The delegation later left for Srinagar. The diplomats are also scheduled to visit Jammu.
The delegation consisting of diplomats from the US, Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa , Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria and the Philippines is visiting Kashmir to witness the on-going election process in Jammu and Kashmir.
Polling is currently underway in 26 assembly constituencies spread over six districts of Jammu and Kashmir. These are the first elections in J&K in a decade and after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
Officials said most of the embassies are represented by their CdA/ DCM (Charge d'Affaires ad interim and Deputy Chief of Mission) and others are represented by Political officers at Minister-Counselor/ Counselor ranks.
Meanwhile, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah questioned the visit of foreign delegation in Srinagar and said, I dont know why foreigners shouldcheck the elections.
He said when foreign governments made their comments on Kashmir, India said that this is our internal matter. Now, suddenly the foreign observers are coming to Kashmir to look at our elections. These are internal matter for us. We dont need their certificate, Omar said.
This participation is not because of the government of India. It is inspite of everything the government of India did they humiliated people, they have used all the machinery to detain and harass the people and inspite of that the people are coming and participating in the elections, Omar said.
This is not something that the government of India should be highlighting, he added.
UNI QAB MJR RC
A SUNNY PLACE FOR SHADY PEOPLE by Mariana Enriquez (Granta 14.99, 272pp)
A Sunny Place For Shady People is available now from the Mail Bookshop
There's danger lurking in the pages of Enriquez's latest collection of macabre Gothic short stories.
Jeopardy comes in the shape of nervy, trigger-finger gangs in the backstreets of Buenos Aires and escaped hyenas from a vandalised zoo.
But it's the unpredictable eerie events in the lives of ordinary people that really put the frighteners on, as a character's skin rots into corpse-like colours and faces are slowly erased into a smooth, blank nothingness (Face Of Disgrace).
At their best these stories superimpose supernatural tension on ungovernable emotions but elsewhere the shock tactics seems to be straining for effect.
STONE CHILDREN AND OTHER STORIES by Clare Colvin (Hay Press 10, 256pp)
Stone Children and Other Stories is available now from the Mail Bookshop
There's a patrician quality to these pleasing short stories from historical novelist Colvin, as her characters endure bad marriages, tricky emotions, and paranormal occurrences.
A couple tackle the innards of animals in the gastronomically gruesome Le Plaisir du Chef, which takes an emotionally queasy look at falling out of love over plates of offal.
Elsewhere, an unhappy, ghostly presence from the past takes possession of a modern woman fleeing an abusive relationship in a house graced with antique furniture (Smelling Of Roses).
It's mostly deftly done; a stately, decorous tour of feelings, decorations and salubrious surroundings, but the occasionally hasty ending detracts from her careful observations of these floundering relationships.
JOURNEYS AND FLOWERS by Merce Rodoreda (Daunt Books 9.99, 104pp)
Journey's and Flowers is available now from the Mail Bookshop
This is a beguilingly strange collection of beautiful short tales, which takes the form of a meandering journey through many remarkable places and horticultural wonders.
The nameless narrator is war-weary; a feeling shared by Catalan author Rodoreda. She fled the fallout from the Spanish Civil War; hoping to find safety in France, she was forced ever onwards on foot to escape from the Nazi occupation.
The flaneur here has begun an aimless, adventurous stroll to 'continue the endless hunt for dark hearts and unknown traditions', each encounter unfurling like a folk tale or fable as he visits the Village Of Knitting Grandmothers, or observes the Shyness Flower, who is too diffident to be sketched.
Spare of words, these gorgeous, hypnotic vignettes contain whole worlds of sorrow and joy.
Intermezzo is available now from the Mail Bookshop
FROM the author of 2018's best-selling Normal People, which was turned into a smash hit TV series, this is a highly anticipated fourth novel.
It's another deep dive into human connection, starring two brothers who have more differences than similarities.
Peter is a successful, confident, 32-year-old lawyer; Ivan is ten years younger, more awkward and a champion chess player.
When their father dies, Peter's previously unassailable grip on things deserts him and he flounders, unable to cope with his grief.
Ivan meets an older woman not long after the funeral while playing in a chess tournament. He has no real experience of dating and she has recently escaped an abusive marriage, but their relationship quickly becomes all-consuming.
Rooney is brilliant at describing romantic love and its many shades, as well as examining why people do the things they do. Wonderful.
COLORED TELEVISION by Danzy Senna (Dialogue Books 22, 288pp)
Colored Television is available now from the Mail Bookshop
I LOVED this fresh, funny story about Jane, a biracial American writer who moves into television after her second novel is rejected.
She spent a decade working on that book, which her artist husband calls 'the mulatto War And Peace', and it never occurred to her that people wouldn't like it.
She'd pinned all her hopes on her opus being a success. With her dreams of financial stability dashed and her ego severely dented, Jane is determined to make writing for television the big break she so badly needs.
She is a hilarious heroine, always making mistakes and telling lies, but I so wanted her to win.
The narrative races along, full of twists and turns, and excellent commentary on what it means to be mixed race.
It's hilarious and wise, clever and thought-provoking. A true page-turner.
HONEYBEE by Dawn O'Porter (Harper Collins 20, 384pp)
Honey Bee is available now from the Mail Bookshop
RENEE and Flo were best friends growing up on Guernsey, but went their separate ways after a nasty argument.
Now 22, they return to the small island they call home and bump into each other straight away.
Their relationship quickly ramps up to what it was before and they start living and working together.
The narrative alternates between Renee's point of view and Flo's, and I rooted for these appealing protagonists as their struggles were illuminated.
Secrets always come out, of course, but the girls ultimately learn it's the ones we try to keep from ourselves that cause the most pain.
It's great on female friendship, struggling to find your place in the world and working out that what you want isn't always what you need.
STROKE OF THE PEN by Terry Pratchett (Penguin 9.99, 256pp)
A Stroke of the Pen is available now from the Mail Bookshop
As a young journalist working for the Bath & West Evening Chronicle, Pratchett wrote a series of short stories under the pseudonym Patrick Kearns.
After becoming a best-selling author with his Discworld series, he told his publisher that he 'deliberately forgot' about his early stories, and they were thought to be lost.
But they were rediscovered with the help of dedicated detective work, and this delightful book brings together 21 early stories with an introduction by Neil Gaiman.
Pratchett's distinctive wit and invention are already evident in these charming miniatures, from a hapless caveman whose brilliant inventions keep going wrong, to a group of rebellious ghosts determined to foil a plan by the pompous Minister for Nuisances to demolish their haunted castle.
GENEVA by Richard Armitage (Faber & Faber 9.99, 256pp)
Geneva is available now from the Mail Bookshop
Sarah Collier, Nobel prize-winning neuroscientist, has been suffering from confusion and memory loss, so when a scan confirms early-stage Alzheimer's, the last thing she wants to do is attend a medical conference in Geneva.
But a biotech company, the Schiller Institute, has invited her to endorse their latest miracle product - a tiny implant that could reverse the effects of dementia.
Meanwhile, pushy science blogger Terri Landauer is angling for an exclusive interview with Sarah.
Featuring a suave CEO, a sinister Russian head of security and a life-or death pursuit through the snowy Swiss landscape, the debut thriller by Spooks and The Hobbit actor Richard Armitage is a fast-paced switchback ride of drama, deception and deadly jeopardy.
THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF EADIE BROWNE by Freya North (Mountain Leopard Press 9.99, 448pp)
The Unfinished Business of Eadie Browne is available now from the Mail Bookshop
When she was a little girl, Eadie thought her world was perfect. Not until she started school and was bullied by her nemesis, Patrick Semple, did she think there was anything eccentric about her family.
But her friends Celeste and Josh protected her until they went their separate ways to university. Studying in Manchester during the 1980s, Eadie enters a vibrant drug and music-fuelled world into which her past suddenly comes crashing.
The latest novel by best-selling author Freya North is a poignant coming-of-age tale, steeped in nostalgia for the bittersweet years between teenage turbulence and adulthood.
Now both Strictly Come Dancing and The Great British Bake Off are back, the countdown to Christmas is officially on. And while we're already dreading the wintery weather, there's one treat that's sure to brighten up our festive mornings: our advent calendar.
Rather than the ever popular chocolate countdown, or those ones you used to get from your grandparents that just had pictures behind the windows (sigh), beauty advent calendars offer lovely skincare, make-up and hair treats behind each door. And, if sales figures from previous seasons are anything to go by, you need to add to basket sooner rather than later, because these babies sell out fast.
Well be updating this round-up of our favourites as new calendars are unveiled, so bookmark this page if you havent chosen which to go for yet.
Beauty advent calendars 2024
Liberty
The 2024 edition of the luxury department store's calendar includes a whopping 1,205 worth of top-end beauty items, making it Liberty's biggest calendar yet. And the price tag? 260, which means you're getting a jaw-dropping 945 worth of products for free. Brands include YOU favourites Ouai, Ren, Sunday Riley, Votary, Lisa Eldridge, La Mer and Skin Rocks - click here for the full list.
Liz Earle
We all know how dry our skin can get in the winter months, so treating yourself to the Liz Earle advent calendar might just be the trick to having glowy, hydrated skin all year round. Across 12 days, you'll get to unwrap 178.10 worth of products, including the iconic Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser. There's also Eyebright Soothing Eye Lotion and Skin Repair Hydrating Night Cream - perfect for treating yourself to a rejuvenating facial post-Christmas party.
Charlotte Tilbury
Arguably the most anticipated of all beauty advent calendars, Charlotte Tilbury's trove has 12 drawers teaming with the brand's best-selling products. You get 243 worth of goodies for just 170, including a magic lip oil, glow toner, and of course the iconic pillow talk lipstick.
Bobbi Brown
This 12-piece advent calendar features three full-sized products and nine travel-sized bestsellers, including the viral cream shadow stick, a smoky eye mascara and even a make-up brush. You get 223 worth of treats for 160, a saving of 63.
Cult Beauty
Worth a whopping 1100, this trove has 19 full sized products and six exclusives you won't find in any other beauty advent calendar. With brands like Paula's Choice, MZ Skin, Charlotte Tilbury, Augustinus Bader and 111 Skin, this truly is a peerless December treat for luxe beauty lovers.
Boots
This year's Boots' calendar is one of the best-value on this list, bagging you 224 worth of goodies for 99. It's packed with cult-favourite brands like Sol de Janeiro, Fenty Beauty and Drunk Elephant, and also doesn't include any products with retinol or vitamin C in, making it a great gifting option for teens.
Fortnum & Mason
Fortnum & Mason is the home of luxury, and this calendar is case in point. Filled with 23 full-sized products (and a few other surprises), the chest holds a whopping 1,080 worth of goodies for just 265. Brands featured include Sol de Janeiro, Bamford, Charlotte Posner and Cult51, and 10 lucky shoppers will also win a Wildsmith facial worth 120.
Harvey Nichols
Le Labo, La Prairie and Dr Dennis Gross - need we say more? Brimming with heavy hitting favourites worth over 1,000, this calendar is sure to be a sell-out success.
Dermalogica
Professional skincare brand Dermalogica is a beauty editor favourite, and this year's calendar is a great intro to their products. Worth 497 and including serums, masques, cleansers and much more, it's sure to keep winter dryness (and dehydrated hangover skin) at bay.
Customers struggling to afford their energy bills can get help from gas and electricity firms including grants, free boilers and free standing charges.
The average home will pay energy bills of 1,714 a year from 1 October, when Ofgem resets its energy price cap, but some households can get help with these high costs.
All suppliers have to give some support for certain customers, such as the elderly, vulnerable and those in fuel poverty, under Government rules.
The first step for someone struggling with energy bills is to speak to their energy firm.
Anxiety meter: Households worried about energy bills do have the option of turning to their firm for help, or else to a special scheme run by British Gas if they meet the criteria
These firms have to try to set up an affordable payment plan under Ofgem rules, or review one already in place.
Energy firms can also offer help such as payment holidays and a review of any debt repayments.
They can also go further, with measures such as grants, replacement of old white goods and free help to make homes warmer.
However, many of the details of this energy firm help are tricky to track down, and they many have rigid criteria for who can apply.
All energy firms offer slightly different support schemes, and most are only open during the coldest winter months, when demand for heating is highest.
Here is a comprehensive breakdown of all the extra financial help available according to which energy company you are with, as well as details of firms planning to bring in this support in time for the winter.
Help from individual energy firms
British Gas
British Gas has two support funds, run by the British Gas Energy Trust.
The British Gas Energy Support Fund is only open to customers of British Gas, and has not yet re-opened for this winter.
The British Gas Individual and Families Fund is open to customers of any energy firm, including British Gas. However, it is not open to customers of Eon, Eon Next, Ovo, EDF, Scottish Power, Boost or Octopus, as these have their own support schemes.
The Individual and Families Fund is currently open, but only for households with credit and prepayment meters.
To be successful, you must:
What to do if you are struggling with energy bills If you can't afford your energy bills, regulator Ofgem has three steps to follow. 1) Speak to your energy firm - it may set up a payment plan, give you a hardship grant or give you more time to pay 2) See what help is out there - in addition to energy firms' schemes and grants, the Government has several cost of living payments you might qualify for. Citizens Advice has a full list 3) Get proper advice - speak to an organisation such as the Money Advice Service, National Debtline or StepChange
Be in England, Scotland or Wales
Not have had a British Gas grant in the past 12 months
Want the money to clear outstanding energy debt of between 250 and 1,500 for you or your household
Be in, or face, fuel poverty, defined as spending at least 10 per cent of your income on energy bills
Have already had help from a money advice agency
To access these grants you will also have to show proof of income and spending, to meet the criteria about fuel poverty.
If you are a British Gas customer, you can get grants through the British Gas Energy Support Fund.
To access this money, you must:
Not have had a British Gas grant in the past two years (in 2023 the limit was 12 months)
Want the money to clear outstanding energy debt for your household
Have a household income of less than 18,723, have someone living there getting disability benefits, Carers Allowance or has three or more children
Have already had help from a money advice agency within the past six months
Face fuel poverty
Have total combined energy debt of 50 - 1,700 if you have a pre-payment meter customer or between 250 - 1,700 if you are a credit account customer
You will also have to show proof of income and spending
You can apply for both grants on the British Gas Energy Trust website.
EDF Energy
Customers of EDF can access the firm's Customer Support Fund, which can write off energy debt for vulnerable customers and supply energy-efficient white goods, as well as freeze daily standing charges.
To get access to this fund you must first get independent debt advice and then apply here.
EDF will require details of your household finances and why you consider yourself or your household to be vulnerable.
E.On Next
Last year E.On Next ran a Winter Affordability Support Scheme, which knocked up to 50 per cent off energy bills for customers with lower incomes or with medical requirements.
However, this closed to new applicants in March 2024 and has not yet been reopened for the winter of 2024/25.
The E.On Next Energy Fund pays grants towards bills, as well as other help such as replacement of old inefficient white goods and the writing off of debt for customers that cannot afford to pay their bills.
Lightbulb moment: Octopus Energy will pay pensioners who are losing Winter Fuel Payments
Octopus Energy
Octopus customers can apply for grants of up to 500 and have their standing charges waived by contacting the Octo Assist fund.
The fund will also pay between 50 and 200 to pensioners who are losing their Winter Fuel Payment this winter.
Previously, Winter Fuel Payment was paid to all pensioners. But from this year it will only be paid to pensioners who also get a qualifying benefit such as Pension Credit, meaning around 10 million retirees will lose it.
You will need to carry out an online budget and share your financial details, including income and spending, to be able to apply to Octo Assist.
The energy company can also offer to send experts to your home to work out ways you might be able to cut your energy use, and therefore bills, as well as giving out free electric blankets to those in need.
Ovo Energy
Ovo has a 50million fund, the Extra Support Package, going live on 1 October 2024.
The fund can give energy bill reductions for all eligible customers as well as credit top-ups for those on prepayment meters.
It can also give payment holidays for those on pre-payment meters, as well as free energy upgrades such as a new boiler or insulation.
To be eligible, customers will need to show they really need the help, such as having lower incomes, getting means-tested benefits or having a disability or energy debt.
Customers of Ovo and Boost can check their eligibility here.
Ovo also ran hardship funds in 2022 and 2023 that offered grants to struggling customers too.
Scottish Power
Scottish Power has a hardship fund that can pay variable levels of grants to help with energy bills.
To be eligible, you must be claiming a benefit such as Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance, Pension Credit or Employment and Support Allowance.
Otherwise you may qualify by having a low household income or have special circumstances such as losing income due to illness.
From there, you must speak to a debt charity such as Step Change, who can then refer you on to Sigma Connected Support, that handle hardship fund payouts for Scottish Power.
You can see more details on the hardship fund here.
My wife and I are both 66 years old, in good health and have just started receiving our full state pensions. Although none of us can predict the future, both our sets of parents lived past 86 years, so I'm trying to plan for what might be another 20 years.
We would like to start saving in order to leave an inheritance for our daughter, grandchildren, nephews and nieces.
We can easily afford to save 1,000 per month between us from our pension incomes without having any negative effect on our lifestyle.
If we do manage to live for 20 years and save 1,000 per month, that could mean a total inheritance of 240,000.
Care costs: Those who have more than 23,250 in savings are required to fund their own care
My concern is that I could save all this money and then the majority of it would be taken from us if either myself, my wife, or both needed a care home in later years.
Instead of us saving our money into one of own savings accounts, can we save it every month directly into my daughter's savings account, for her simply to share out according to our instructions when we're gone?
We understand that the money will always legally be hers, but that way I wouldn't have money to declare if ever the care home situation arose. P.T
SCROLL DOWN TO FIND OUT HOW TO ASK YOUR FINANCIAL PLANNING QUESTION
Harvey Dorset, of This is Money, replies: Being able to save 1,000 per month for a possible 20 years does mean that you could build a considerable pot.
Unfortunately, you are also correct to say that much of this money could be at risk further down the line.
You raise the issue of whether the money could be taken if you or your wife need care later in your lives.
Currently, those with more than 23,250 saved are required to fund the cost of care themselves.
There is also the issue of inheritance tax, which your family may need to pay when they receive the money.
Inheritance tax is charged at 40 per cent over a threshold of 325,000 per individual, giving a total of 650,000 between you. That tax-free threshold can be raised up to 1million for a couple, with an additional 175,000 allowance each to cover passing on your main home to direct descendants.
Only around 4 per cent of estates are liable for inheritance tax. However, if you have a higher value home, a decent amount in savings and investments and additionally accrued this large cash sum, there is a chance yours could end up being one of them.
Outside of a tax-free Isa, tax on savings interest, or capital gains tax or dividend tax on investments, mean the amount handed over to the taxman could rise further.
As a result of this, you are wise to consider what options are available to you to pass as much of this money on to your children as possible.
There are a number of ways to go about this, and the route you go down will depend on the access you need to the money in the meantime, as well as your future needs.
There are limits on how much you can give away each year without it potentially becoming liable for inheritance tax, the main one being a 3,000 annual gifting allowance.
The seven-year gifting rule means gifts of more than 3,000 would not be subject to inheritance tax if you live for seven years after the gift was made.
Hand over the money gradually and you can take advantage of your combined 6,000 limit for half of the 12,000 annually.
This is Money spoke to two financial advisers to find out the best way for you to pass this money on to your family.
Tax relief: Pault Crossan says your beneficiaries could save the money into a pension to benefit from tax relief
Paul Crossan, senior financial planner at Hargreaves Lansdown, replies: First and foremost, you must ensure you will have enough savings and income so as not to jeopardise your own longer term future security and peace of mind before considering gifting.
People are living longer today, and many people underestimate how long they may live so planning at least 10 years beyond normal life expectancy is a good rule of thumb.
According to the Office of National Statistics, the average normal life expectancy for a 66-year-old is 85 for a male and 87 for a female.
If, after this, you still feel 1,000 per month is surplus to your own needs, you could consider gifting it to family instead of saving it yourselves.
This may have various benefits. Primarily, happy family members who will receive a tax-free gift if they live in the UK.
If the money gifted is derived from pension income as you suggest then the gift could also be inheritance tax-efficient if set up correctly.
If the gift from pension income is made regularly and does not reduce your usual standard of living, then it may qualify for the regular income exemption.
Depending on your estate's situation, gifting 1,000 per month over 20 years could save you potentially up to 96,000 in tax.
This is an area a financial planner or tax adviser would be able to help more with, as there are certain conditions that need to be met.
Where to save the money?
Depending on your family members' own personal situations, your family could consider tax-efficient savings vehicles with any gift.
This would include, for instance, Junior Isas for the younger children and Isas for those over 18. Isas allow any money to grow without income tax, and investment (stocks and shares) Isas can also grow without capital gains tax.
Cash Isas can be great for short and medium-term savings and investment Isas generally suit those prepared to accept market risk over the medium to longer term.
However, Isas come with a potential drawback, in that the individual receiving the money can access it immediately (or on reaching age 18 in the case of a Junior Isa) to spend as they wish.
If you wanted the money to be used to help your grandchildren buy a home, for example, this may not be the best place for it.
For longer-term savings, your family members could also consider paying the money in as pension contributions.
Final salary pensions for today's generations are rare, and so forming a pension saving habit at an early age would be a valuable gift to give to your family, particularly those just entering the world of work.
The great news for pension savers is HMRC will also add tax relief to any pension contributions.
> How pensions work: Your guide to saving for retirement
Usually, 20 per cent tax relief is credited soon after the initial contribution and further tax relief may also be available if those receiving the contribution are higher and or additional rate taxpayers.
There are limits to how much you can pay into a pension and obtain tax relief on, and this will vary for each individual.
Even those not working, including children, can still save up to 2,880 net over a year into a pension. This means 2,880 will increase to 3,600 once the Government adds 720 of tax relief to their pension.
The trade-off for this tax relief is that pensions are a long-term savings plan, which cannot be accessed until the point of retirement.
Currently, the earliest most people can access a pension is age 55, with this due to increase to age 57 by 2028.
What if you need to go into a care home?
In terms of your concerns about declaring care home needs, provided the local authority do not deem the gift as a deliberate deprivation of their assets, generally speaking there should be no issue.
The local authority would usually have to demonstrate that someone knew they needed care and support when they carried out the gift.
Given you are aged 66 and in good health, they appear not to fall foul of this.
However, the definition of deliberate deprivation is open to interpretation and changes, so it is always worth seeking personal advice on your circumstances.
The way to beat inheritance tax Inheritance tax is paid by only a small minority of estates, yet manages to be Britain's most hated tax. It can be avoided by giving more away in your lifetime but you must live for seven years after the gift, except for with this little-known loophole. On this podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce, Simon Lambert look at inheritance tax and the surplus income rule and what the catches are. Your browser does not support iframes. Press play to listen to the episode on the player above, or listen (and please subscribe and review us if you like the podcast) at Apple Podcasts, Audioboom and Spotify or visit our This is Money Podcast page.
What are the pitfalls of giving money away
Put yourself first: Luis Amato warns that it is important to consider how much of this money you will require for your own needs
Luis Amato, private client adviser at HFMC Wealth, replies: It's great to see that you and your wife are thinking ahead, planning not only for your financial future but also for the legacy you wish to leave behind for your daughter, grandchildren, nephews, and nieces.
One of the most important points to address is ensuring that you and your wife maintain financial security for the next 20 years, particularly in case either of you requires long-term care.
With both of your parents living into their late 80s, there's a strong chance that you may also live a long life.
While none of us can predict exactly how much care we might need in the future, it's essential to consider that care home fees or in-home care could significantly impact your savings.
In some cases, care home costs can run between 40,000 to 60,000 per year, or even higher depending on the level of care required.
While passing money to your daughter now might seem like a way to avoid funds being counted for care costs, it could leave you short for your own care.
You risk losing access to the money in the event your daughter was ever made bankrupt or divorced
Local authorities assess your financial situation, and if you've reduced your assets significantly, it could be seen as 'deliberate deprivation of assets,' meaning they might still count the money you gave away. Therefore, professional advice is key.
Additionally, simply putting money into your daughter's account is unlikely to the best plan for a number of reasons.
By gifting outright, you would lose control of the funds and are relying on your daughter acting in your interest, especially should you ever need the money, which is not guaranteed.
Furthermore, your daughter might have spent it before you need it, and you also risk losing access to the money in the event she was ever made bankrupt or divorced.
It's vital to maintain enough assets in your own name to ensure you can afford future care without financial worry or reliance on the local authority.
How can they pass on the inheritance safely?
There are several ways to balance saving for your family while protecting your financial future:
Regular gifts out of income: If your pension income covers living costs, you can make regular gifts from excess income. HMRC allows gifts from surplus income without them being subject to inheritance tax, but it's important to document these properly.
Pensions/junior Isas: Instead of direct gifts, consider contributing to your family's future through their pensions or Junior Isas.
Trust planning: Trusts can help protect assets from being used for care home fees while passing wealth to your family.
A discretionary trust could be established to receive your monthly savings, but trusts come with tax implications and administrative responsibilities. Therefore, ongoing professional support may be required.
Life insurance: Life insurance can leave a lump sum for your family, preserving your estate, though you'd need to maintain premium payments throughout your lifetime.
It's important to ensure you don't inadvertently put yourself in a position where you might lack the funds for your own future care.
By carefully considering the above options, you can achieve a balance between protecting your own financial security and passing on wealth to your loved ones.
Before taking any action, it's always advisable to consult with a financial planner who can help guide you through the best options based on your individual circumstances, helping you structure your savings and gifts in a way that meets both your current and future needs.
The battle for Rightmove is turning increasingly toxic after the property website rejected a third takeover bid from a rival backed by Rupert Murdoch.
The FTSE 100 firm branded the 770p-a-share offer from Australias Rea Group, which values the website at 6.1billion, unattractive and said that it materially undervalues the business.
The rejection sparked a furious response from Rea, which is 61 per cent-owned by Murdochs News Corp.
The Melbourne business blasted Rightmoves board and urged the UK companys shareholders to put pressure on directors to enter talks.
Takeover bid: Australian property website Rea, which is 61% owned by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's (pictured) News Corp, has had a third offer for Rightmove rejected
Rea chief executive Owen Wilson said it was incredibly disappointing that Rightmove would not engage.
Rightmove has rejected three bids from Rea, with the first two valuing it at 5.6billion and 5.9billion.
Analysts said Rea could attempt a hostile takeover, meaning it would bypass the board and deal directly with shareholders in a bid to take control.
The Mail understands that the Australian company wants to come to an agreement rather than pursue a hostile takeover.
Reacting to the latest offer from Rea, a statement from Rightmove said: The increased proposal continues to be unattractive and materially undervalues the company and its future prospects.
The battle for Rightmove comes as the UK housing market is showing signs of recovery after a period of weaker demand which has been caused by high mortgage costs.
The recovery is expected to boost Rightmoves shares and profits. Rea said it was disappointed by the latest rejection and frustrated that there has been no substantive engagement with Rightmove.
I was very hopeful wed be engaging with them at this point in time, Wilson told the Financial Times.
The company has held talks with Rightmoves major shareholders about getting bosses to come to the table.
Rea urges Rightmove shareholders to encourage the board of directors of Rightmove to engage in constructive discussions with Rea to work towards a recommended transaction, the Australian firm said.
Analysts at Jefferies said that Reas appeal to investors could be a last throw of the dice to get Rightmove to engage with it before a September 30 deadline under the City code on takeovers and mergers.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell said: Rea looks to be running out of patience with Rightmove after it rejected a third takeover proposal, banging the drum even louder that its bad form not to properly engage in a conversation.
He added: This sets the tone for Rea taking a hostile approach, bypassing the board and negotiating directly with shareholders. Rightmoves biggest investors are asset management firms and they will all have a price at which theyd be happy to let their shares go.
Theyre holding Rightmove stock to make money and its clear that Rea continues to want the business.
Panmure Liberum analysts said that they thought Reas toughening of language suggested it will likely choose to approach shareholders over the Rightmove board at this stage, if it hasnt already.
But the analysts added: We dont believe this is likely to change much, and continue to believe that a deal is unlikely to be found.
School children as young as 11 are becoming addicted to vaping and smuggling disposable e-cigarettes into class disguised as items of stationery.
Almost one million 11 to 17-year-olds have vaped in 2024, data shows as schools across Britain struggle to cope with a surge in students skipping class to secretly smoke.
Headteachers are turning to technology to try and stem the flood of the devices making their way into schools by installing advanced sensors which can detect the vapours.
Tony McCabe, headmaster at St Joseph's School in Horwich, Greater Manchester, revealed the worrying rise in children's vape addiction exclusively to MailOnline.
He spoke of troubling cases of 11-year-olds arriving at his secondary school already addicted to the disposable e-cigarettes, with one pupil setting off toilet sensors 40 times in a single day.
Some students have been caught bringing vapes into class disguised as highlighters and other stationery items.
'It still surprises me that young people know there's a vape sensor in our toilet cubicles, they know they're going to be picked up for it, and yet they still do it,' he said.
The most recent data shows almost a million 11-17-year-olds have vaped in 2024 so far, and children as young as 11 are arriving at secondary school already addicted to e-cigarettes
Students are hiding vapes in their hair and clothing or bringing them to school disguised as stationery, headteachers say
Tony McCabe, headmaster at St Joseph's School in Horwich, Greater Manchester, told MailOnline children as young as 11 are arriving at his secondary school addicted to e-cigarettes
Mr McCabe admitted how he was initially 'so relieved' that vaping took off among his pupils after the Covid pandemic, because it meant no children were smoking cigarettes.
But after two students collapsed after vaping on site, including one who stopped breathing for a period of time, he and his team began a concerted educational campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of vaping.
It means staff do not punish children for bringing vapes to school, but instead try and rehabilitate them to help them beat the addiction.
Regardless, some children still try and hid their vapes in their ties, hair and clothing, the headteacher said.
'We've even come across back to school sets that they actually look like highlighters, and and that's because it's trying to push it into a habit that's that's hidden from adults.'
St Joseph's has turned to new Halo sensors from Motorola Solutions, which can detect vaping, vape masking, cannabis and traditional smoking - although the latter is quickly falling out of fashion for Gen Z.
It enables schools to monitor and act in real-time, identifying problem locations, reducing classroom disruption and aiming to improve students' health.
The proposed ban on disposable vapes tabled by Rishi Sunak's government could mean an end to such easily hidden devices - but the bill failed to reach Parliament before the general election.
Sir Keir Starmer has promised to revive the bill, which also included a ban on smoking and to restrict flavours and packaging for e-cigarettes to make them less appealing.
'It's been five years since I've last seen a cigarette in a school,' Mr McCabe told MailOnline.
Shock data earlier this year revealed a record 11.6 per cent of 11 to 17-year-olds in Britain have now tried vaping. This is up on 7.7 per cent last year and twice as high as rates seen a decade ago, before the UK's kid vaping epidemic blew up
Some vapes look so much like real highlighters staff most people cannot tell the difference
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'The first time I remember seeing a young person on a bus with a vape, as it was driving away, I was just being glad that it wasn't a a traditional cigarette.
'Then we had an incident three years ago where a young person had acquired a vape online, they'd passed it on to another student in school, and then that student had a medical episode as a result of it.
'At that time we didn't know why or what it was. They passed out, and they were unconscious for a period of time. We had to call an ambulance.
'That young person went to casualty, and it was believed that the vape had been laced with with a a dangerous substance.'
A second, similar incident led to another student collapsing. They had such a severe reaction to the vape they had used that they stopped breathing.
Fortunately, both students recovered and were quickly able to return to school - but Mr McCabe is concerned about the long-term impacts these incidents may have had on them.
Staff at St Joseph's realised the scale of the problem after students returning to school after the pandemic were constantly queuing to use the toilets.
Some children are hiding vapes in the ties, hair or even pencil cases as highlighters, headteachers told MailOnline
Campaigners have long blamed predatory manufacturers for the ever-growing crisis, claiming they are intentionally luring kids in with colourful packaging, compared to highlighter pens, and child-friendly flavours such as bubblegum and cotton candy
A shocking MailOnline investigation last year even uncovered vapes resembling sweets and high street stores selling the devices next to chocolate and fruit gummies
As of February, a total of 1,009 reactions to vapes have been recorded by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Here are the 10 most common reports
Motorola Solutions' sensor (pictured) can detect vaping, cannabis and traditional cigarettes
St Joseph's High School in Horwich, Greater Manchester has taken a non-traditional approach: by offering addicted students support rather than punishment
The school has focused on educating parents and children about the health risks associated with vaping
Vaping detectors were installed in the cubicles, and on the first day alone, were activated a staggering 112 times.
With a pupil body of 1,050, staff feared up to ten percent of their students could be so addicted to vaping that they felt they had to use them during the school day.
Mr McCabe said: 'It was an addiction that was actually changing children's behavior, and could have a very negative impact. They were missing out.'
The headteacher's main priority over the last few years has been educating both children and parents about the risks of vaping.
A study by the University of Bath found that one out of six vapes found in schools contain spice, with spice-laced devices found in three quarters of schools.
Spice, a synthetic drug often compared to cannabis but with potentially deadly consequences, can cause serious health issues and reactions including difficulty breathing, psychosis and seizures.
Other vapes were found to contain high levels of nicotine or THC, which can also have serious impacts on youngsters' health.
Mr McCabe said: 'Our sensors are really smart, they can measure whether there's an illegal dose of nicotine in the vape, or whether it has been laced with THC. We've picked up then quite a few vapes that seem to have traces of THC.
'We correlated these with somebody else who had a medical episode that they'd they'd actually used a a vape off site, and then they passed out [at school].'
Police have previously warned many vapes that are available commercially and from black market traders can contain illegal and dangerous substances.
The new Labour government has pledged to revive a bill which would see disposable vapes banned
Concerned at the results from their sensors, St Joseph's launched a campaign to parents, bringing them into the school and laying out the statistics on vaping.
'We realized we were risking reputational damage,' Mr McCabe said.
'But actually, safety of children and an education campaign has got to override that.
'So we contact every parent whose child is caught with with a vape and we put them then on a program to to wean themselves off.
'These children have actually got an addiction. So it's not the case that we can just punish a child. That's not going to change their behavior.'
He added for some children, vaping begins as a habit used almost 'like a comfort blanket' to ease stress, but quickly spirals into all-out addiction.
The school warns that every child, no matter their background or parents, will at some point be tempted to try a vape.
'No parent or carer should ever think that their own child is beyond that,' Mr McCabe said.
He added: 'We've got an open avenue with adults within school that won't immediately judge a young person [for vaping], but they know that they're there to help them come off that addiction.
'It doesn't surprise me that our young people might still vape and try not to be noticed for it.
'But it still surprises me that young people know there's a vape sensor in there, they know they're going to be picked up for it, and yet they still use their toilet cubicle.
'To me that is saying I've got an addiction. I've not got the confidence to go to a member of staff and ask for help. But I want to be noticed for it, so that somebody can step in and help me.'
Some students at St Joseph's have told staff they use up to 100 puffs of a vape per day, Mr McCabe revealed, adding 11-year-olds on their first day at the school are arriving addicted to vaping.
Asked whether he would like to see vaping banned to protect children and young people, the headteacher said vapes are vital to help smokers come off cigarettes, and that banning them without offering proper support to vapers will simply drive them to an underground, more dangerous market.
But he said the act of making vapes illegal would help deter young people and could aid parents and teachers in encouraging young addicts to wean themselves off.
'At least it would give every adult in a child's life to be able to say, this legislation is in place for a reason, because of the risks attached.'
David Antar, head of Halo product sales at Motorola Solutions: 'Amid the back-to-school excitement, schools across the UK remain deeply concerned about the vaping epidemic among young students. Utilising the latest technology, HALO Smart Sensors are supporting school leadership teams in their efforts to prevent vaping and ensure the safety and well-being of their students.'
As Donald Trump Jr. took an unannounced trip to the Balkans this week, DailyMail.com can reveal his girlfriend Bettina Anderson was involved in a drug scandal that saw her older brother federally indicted.
Don Jr.'s trip to Serbia and Romania was ostensibly to take the message that his father would end Russia's war in Ukraine, but it also gave him an escape from rumors of him cheating on fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle and with the Palm Beach socialite Anderson. Guilfoyle joined Don Jnr. on the whirlwind trip to Eastern Europe.
But now DailyMail.com has learned Anderson's life as a leading light in the millionaire enclave was almost derailed before it began.
Anderson, whose canoodling with Don Jr. has catapulted her into the national spotlight, was a passenger aboard her brother's private plane flying back into the country in 2015.
Customs officers found Psilocybin or magic mushrooms concealed in one of three cigarette cartons on board, court filings obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com show.
Bettina Anderson's glittering life as a Palm Beach socialite was very nearly derailed when she was embroiled in a drug bust that saw her older brother Loy (at left with Bettina and their brother Kent) federally indicted
Harry Loy Anderson III, now 47, was piloting the aircraft back from a trip to the Bahamas and his younger sister Bettina, 37, (pictured together with Kent on the left) was among three passengers on board
A photo obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com shows Don Jr. having brunch with Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson, 37, in mid August with fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle nowhere in sight
Harry Loy Anderson III, now 47, was piloting the aircraft back from a trip to Eleuthera in the Bahamas and his younger sister Bettina, 37, was among three passengers on board when a search of her brother's bags revealed his apparent attempt to smuggle the controlled substance into the country.
According to the criminal complaint, 'On August 9, 2015, Harry Loy Anderson III, a licensed pilot, entered the United States Customs and Border Protection Private Aircraft facility at Palm Beach International Airport after piloting a private aircraft to West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County from North Eluthra (sic), Bahamas.'
Loy, as he is known to his family, told officers he had nothing to declare, claimed to have presented all his luggage for inspection, and denied having any alcohol or tobacco aboard.
The former president's son, who began dating Guilfoyle shortly after his split from first wife Vanessa Trump in 2018, was spotted locking lips with the model during the outing, according to witnesses
Bettina Anderson is known for her good works in Palm Beach but she nearly got caught up in a drug bust when her brother was arrested and given four years probation
Bettina was mentioned as a passenger in her brother's bid to modify his bail
But, the subsequent criminal complaint states: 'A search of a tan in color leather bagrevealed three packages of cigarettes located in the tan bag. Two of the packages contained cigarettes.
'The third package, however, contained a silver metallic lining containing what appeared to be Psilocybin Mushrooms (a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance).
'When asked about the mushrooms, . Anderson became very nervous and stated that those were not his; that he did not smoke or drink.'
Loy was charged on three counts importation and attempted importation of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance on board an aircraft arriving in the United States, and aiding and abetting
He was then asked if he was carrying the narcotics for anyone else 'to which he answered in the negative'.
A field test revealed the substance to be magic mushrooms.
Loy was arrested and his Miranda rights read at which point agents attempted to interview him but he 'invoked his rights and was unwilling to talk to with agents'.
Loy was charged on three counts importation and attempted importation of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance on board an aircraft arriving in the United States, and aiding and abetting.
He was released on a $250,000 bond.
The maximum penalty for counts one and two is 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine, three years to life term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment fee.
The government sought to prevent Anderson from communicating with Loy following his arrest because as a passenger on the plane she, along with her brother-in-law Brad McPherson who is married to her twin sister Kristina, was a witness.
Lawyers for Loy pushed back against this, and Anderson, McPherson and friends provided affidavits in which they stated this would be an undue hardship as the family was exceptionally close, living near to each other and speaking daily.
Loy in his plane with Kent delivering water following 2017's Hurricane Irma
Loy posted this picture of a private plane in 2017. It is not clear if this is the same plane involved in the drug bust
According to Anderson's affidavit, it would be 'painful' to be precluded from speaking with her brother.
It would also interfere with the volunteer work both undertook as founding members of The Paradise Fund, a non-profit offering aid and collaborating with local agencies in efforts such as post hurricane clear-ups in the Bahamas and at home.
They were eventually allowed to communicate with Loy on the condition that they did not discuss the case.
Ultimately Loy pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of one count of possession of a controlled substance and received a sentence of four years' probation. He was also forced to surrender his pilot's license and fined $5,000.
He had to agree to submit to random searches of his person or property by his probation officer.
In her affidavit Bettina said it would be 'extremely painful' for her to be precluded from speaking to her brother and swore that they would not discuss the case
As DailyMail.com exclusively revealed at the weekend, Bettina was spotted kissing Donald Trump Jr. and putting her hand on his thigh at the Honor Bar in Palm Beach on August 17, leading to speculation that the former president's engagement to Kimberly Guilfoyle, 55, could be in trouble.
'They were definitely on a date,' one witness told us. 'They weren't exactly making out, but the kisses were romantic, and you could tell they were intimate with each other.'
Another said: 'She seemed totally smitten with Don and he with her.
'They looked totally relaxed, she wearing a white shirt tied off to show her midriff and wide leg pants, he in shorts and a t-shirt.'
Don Jr. and Bettina even told their waiter they were planning a trip together to Islamorada, a resort destination in the Florida Keys.
Neither Don Jr. nor Anderson have addressed their lunch together, although following our Sunday exclusive, Guilfoyle posted pictures of her planting a kiss on her fiance's cheek at a Saturday campaign event.
MPs have been urged to 'unpack their suitcases' after it emerged they ran up a 1.4million bill for overseas 'fact-finding' jaunts in a year.
Far-flung destinations visited by Commons committees included Barbados, Brazil and Tokyo.
Six MPs from the Scottish Affairs committee, with two staff, went on a week-long tour of San Francisco, Washington DC and New York in April that set the taxpayer back 77,000.
It was intended to feed into inquiries on the space sector, science and 'intergovernmental relations' - but no reports were published because the snap election was called.
Three politicians on the Justice Committee visited Singapore for a week as part of an inquiry into the workings of the County Court. Travel and other costs with two staff came to nearly 44,000.
The total 1,402,713 spending in the 2023-24 financial year - up from 919,550 in 2022-23 - was the highest for over a decade.
There is no suggestion that any rules were broken. But critics insisted politicians need to 'rethink their priorities' as Brits struggle with a cost of living crisis.
The details emerged amid a furious row about Labour ministers accepting freebies, with Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves among those facing a backlash for clothes, trips and tickets.
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A full breakdown of committee activities was slipped out in Parliamentary Sessional Returns last week.
It shows:
The Scottish Affairs Committee spent 77,000 on a week-log trip for eight people to San Francisco, Washington DC and New York in April.
The International Development Committee sent four MPs to Barbados for six days in December, as part of a 'small island states' inquiry, costing nearly 26,000. There was another 25,000 trip to Dominica for four MPs and two staff in February;
The Transport Committee spent nearly 83,000 on a seven-day trip for 11 people to Tokyo and Osaka, inquiring into strategic transport;
The Foreign Affairs Committee took 10 people to Brasilia and Rio for five days for an inquiry into 'multilateral relations', at a cost of 68,000;
The Home Affairs Committee sent 10 people to Singapore for a week in May on an inquiry into fraud, at a cost of 51,000. No report was published due to the election;
The Justice Committee sent three MPs and two staff to Singapore for a week in March as part of inquiry into the County Court, costing nearly 44,000. Again the snap election meant no report was released.
Some of the bills for individual trips listed in the return will not feature in the annual spend total, as the dates of the Commons session did not match the financial year exactly.
The Defence and Foreign Affairs committees often have the highest costs for trips, due to their focus.
In 2023-24 they came to 150,978 and 149,132 respectively.
At the end of April the Foreign Affairs committee went to Brasilia and Rio to look into 'international relations within the multilateral system'.
Eight MPs were on the five-day trip at a cost of 68,127, but no report was produced due to the election being called.
The Business and Trade Committee also saw significant spending, with a visit to South Korea investigating 'export-led growth' racking up 83,772.
A separate jaunt to Washington DC and New York in May was 89,320.
Committee insiders argued that visits must always be connected to an inquiry and the intention to produce a report.
Apart from Defence, Foreign Affairs, International Development and Business, committees should 'normally' only make once visit beyond Europe per year.
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Guidelines suggest that committees should check whether information can be obtained by written evidence or over video link instead.
William Yarwood, media campaign manager of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'Taxpayers are fed up of funding foreign jollies for MPs.
'At a time when families across the country are feeling the pinch of the cost of living crisis, it's outrageous that MPs are jetting off on costly overseas junkets.
'Politicians should unpack their suitcases and rethink their priorities'
Jerusalem, Sep 25 (UNI) Israel's army said on Tuesday night that Hezbollah had fired around 300 rockets and other projectiles into Israel amid the second day of Israel's heaviest attacks on Lebanon since 2006.
An explosive drone fell in Atlit, a coastal town south of Haifa, northern Israel, marking the first time Hezbollah's rocket fire has reached this region, said the Israel Defense Forces, adding that two additional drones were launched toward the area but were intercepted. The drones caused no casualties, according to Israel's rescue services.
Most of the rockets were intercepted by Israel's aerial defense systems, the army said.
Hezbollah confirmed the attack in a statement, saying its fighters launched "an aerial operation with a squadron of assault drones against the headquarters of Israel's special naval task unit Shayetet 13 in the Atlit base, targeting the positions of its officers and soldiers and striking the targets precisely."
In other cases, rockets or parts of interceptor missiles that fell to the ground sparked fires in the Mount Meron area of Upper Galilee. In Rosh Pina, a town in Upper Galilee, a residential home was hit and extensively damaged.
Hospitals in the affected areas reported treating about 23 people, but later statements from Israel's Magen David Adom emergency health service indicated that those treated were suffering from panic, not physical injuries.
At nightfall, Israel launched a new wave of attacks in Lebanon. The Air Force "conducted a number of extensive strikes on dozens of terrorist targets belonging to Hezbollah in the Beqaa region and several other areas in southern Lebanon," the military said.
During the day, Israeli warplanes continued the massive strikes, which, according to the military, dismantled "dozens" of infrastructures where weapons were stored and numerous launchers aimed at Israeli territory were located.
Also on Tuesday night, unnamed Lebanese military sources told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes carried out ten raids on towns in the Tyre area deep in southern Lebanon and raided Hezbollah sites in the Jezzine area, also in the south of Lebanon.
Amid the sharp escalation, the Israeli military conducted Tuesday an exercise simulating fighting inside Lebanon, according to the Israeli Defense Ministry. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant remarked that "the series of blows on Hezbollah's command chain, operatives, and weapons were tough."
According to Gallant, Israel has destroyed "tens of thousands" of rockets, missiles, and launchers since Monday.
Answering questions in a press briefing on Monday night, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari neither confirmed nor denied whether Israel plans a ground operation in Lebanon.
Israel began its most extensive bombardment of Lebanon since 2006 on Monday, resulting in more than 550 deaths, including civilians, and over 1,800 injuries across the country. The flare-up has raised concerns about the potential for a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with fears that other nations could also become involved.
UNI/XINHUA ARN
A young Australian woman who had a photo taken of her at a nightclub go viral for her natural beauty has landed her dream job.
Murri woman Ryli Johnson, 20, from Moree, in north-western NSW, was dubbed 'the most beautiful girl in the world' after a snap of her and her boyfriend Tyreice Baira was posted online.
She'd travelled with her boyfriend and friends to Townsville in far north Queensland for a weekend getaway and was enjoying a night out at The Bank Nightclub when a photographer snapped a photo of the pair.
While Ms Johnson said she didn't think much of the photo, it was shared on the club's Facebook page and was soon flooded with comments praising her beauty.
Countless internet users declared she should become a model, and her fame spread when Daily Mail Australia spoke to Ms Johnson in March.
Since then, her newfound fame has only escalated, and she has landed her dream job as a customer service agent for Qantas.
The 20-year-old shared a selfie with her Instagram story last week, dressed in her Qantas uniform with the caption: 'first shift'.
Ms Johnson previously told Daily Mail Australia the recruitment process was 'really exciting' and that she did not expect to progress.
'Qantas is so good. I didn't expect anything from it because it was a mainstream role and not a First Nations and Indigenous identified role,' Ms Johnson said.
Ryli Johnson has landed her 'dream job' working for Qantas (pictured) after she was dubbed 'Australia's most beautiful girl' when a picture of her at a nightclub went viral
Murri woman Ryli Johnson was pictured with her boyfriend Tyreice Baira Gela at The Bank nightclub in Townsville
'I went to their assessment centre and did a group interview and I was so intimidated because there were older people that had more experience in the tourism industry.'
'I had never worked in tourism and I'd never been around airplanes... I went overseas for the first time literally last year in July.'
Ms Johnson said she returned home after the interview and told her mum that she could have done better.
To her surprise, Qantas told her that she had successfully made it to the next stage of recruitment.
'I was crying. I was like, "oh my god this is such a great achievement". Like, I was so proud of myself,' Ms Johnson said.
'I did not think I was going to get a look in because the older people had been working with Virgin and like other places.
'I thought I'm just a little black girl from Moree and I did not expect this at all. It was overwhelming.'
Social media users were stunned by the 20-year-old's 'natural' beauty
Ms Johnson graced the cover of Stella magazine following her newfound fame
Ms Johnson hopes to inspire other young First Nations and Indigenous girls to pursue their dreams
She added one of her motivations was to inspire other young First Nations and Indigenous girls to achieve their dreams.
'I've always wanted to make a difference in my home community because there is a lot of violence, everyone's under the influence of drugs and alcohol and the crime rate is just ridiculous,' she explained.
'First Nations girls were messaging me saying ''you're gorgeous girl, keeping paving the way for us'' and that really hit my soul,' Ms Johnson said,
'I'm such a proud First Nations woman and I just want to represent my culture and show people it doesn't matter what skin tone you are.
She was there before the #MeToo accusations against her ex, and before his ill-fated romance with a decades-younger Olivia Nuzzi.
Now, the doctor ex-wife of Politico reporter Ryan Lizza has offered five words to sum up her feelings about the RFK Jr. love-triangle the father of her children now finds himself embroiled in.
Dr. Christina Irene Gillespie, 50, a prominent physician who specializes in family medicine in Washington, DC, was not interested in saying very much about the media frenzy that's ensued since her ex-husband's 31-year-old fiancee was exposed for carrying on a 'digital' affair with Kennedy, the now Trump-supporting former 2024 presidential candidate.
'That is not my business,' she said this week when The Mail caught up to her by phone at her medical office.
Ryan Lizza, 50, pictured with ex-fiancee, Olivia Nuzzi, 31, during happier times
The Other Man: Robert Kennedy Jr, 70, pictured shirtless as he show off his fit physique
The First Ex: Dr. Christina Irene Gillespie, 50, a prominent physician who specializes in family medicine in Washington, DC, and Lizza, whose marriage ended in 2015, share two children
While she fielded a question and did not hang up she did seem eager to cut short the conversation about her ex's very public embarrassment.
'I am taking care of patients right now. Please don't call back,' she said before hanging up.
Gillespie and Lizza, Politico's chief Washington correspondent and co-author of its Playbook newsletter, were married for 11 years and share two children. They split in 2015.
Lizza was working as the Washington correspondent for The New Yorker, a role he'd had since the late 2000s, until allegations of 'improper sexual misconduct,' surfaced that led to his firing in 2017, as per The New York Times.
He denied the allegations and claimed the relationship was consensual and respectful. He also alleged that The New Yorker came to their decision in haste and without a full investigation.
At the time, the magazine cited privacy concerns and declined to provide further details about the case. His accuser remains anonymous.
His potential fall from grace was also happening during the height of #MeToo, a movement that focused on sexual harassment and abuse of women in the workplace in the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
The now scandal-tainted couple dining at a posh restaurant in happier times
It was a time when many powerhouse figures were being held accountable for inappropriate and criminal behavior. Hollywood mogul turned sex offender Weinstein, 72, was ultimately convicted at trial in New York and has been behind bars since that criminal conviction in 2020 for two sex crimes.
In 2022, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of rape and sexual assault.
Before Lizza was ousted, he had just hit a career high, landing an interview with White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci that reportedly led to Scaramucci's dismissal.
Lizza kissed Nizza sweetly on the cheek after the 'possible' proposal
Nuzzi is all smiles as she poses with her stunning diamond ring after she may have said 'I do!'
The saga between Nuzzi, star political reporter for New York magazine and the former presidential candidate all began when Nuzzi went to interview RFK Jr, at his $7 million Brentwood, California home for a feature story she was writing.
But, Nuzzi became part of the story - a scandal that include alleged sexting, provocative photos and even a bear carcass - once she began an alleged affair with the three-time married politician and father-of-six.
JFK Jr. has been married to actress Cheryl Hines since 2014.
The 59-year-old actress, best known for playing Larry David's friendly yet loyal and forgiving wife in the sitcom, Curb Your Enthusiasm, had been very supportive during her husband's bid for office.
Hines who isn't sitting home behind the gates of her mansion has been out and about despite being pictured without her wedding ring at Milan Fashion Week in Italy last week and Gucci-hosted afterparty.
Lizza and Nuzzi are pictured enjoying a hike through a trail
Nuzzi and RFK Jr met outside his Brentwood home before heading for a hike as part of a feature profile which came out in 2023
Since the news went public, Nuzzi was placed on leave.
She admitted in a statement to Daily Mail when the story first broke that 'the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal.'
She also claimed the relationship was never physical.
Nuzzi is understood to have met RFK for a hiking trip last year as part of a profile that she wrote for New York magazine.
A source close to Nuzzi told Status that the relationship did not begin until the new year, after the profile was published in November 2023.
People close to the matter said she did not proactively disclose the affair and New York magazine only recently learned of it.
Her editors confirmed that the other party was a 'former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign'. Status reports that the affair was with the former presidential hopeful, who is married to actress Cheryl Hines.
RFK Jr., has insisted he only met the political journalist once when she did a profile on him last year.
'Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece,' his spokesman told CNN. A source added that the nature of the relationship was 'emotional and digital in nature, not physical'.
The couple attend the CBS News White House Correspondent's Dinner After Party in Dec. 2023 held in Washington, DC
But insiders told the New York Post the pair had engaged in 'sexting' despite RFK Jr. being married and Nuzzi being engaged at the time.
'Earlier this year, the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal,' Nuzzi said.
'During that time, I did not directly report on the subject nor use them as a source,' she said.
'The relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict. I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I've disappointed, especially my colleagues at New York.'
New York magazine acknowledged an inappropriate relationship in a statement about Nuzzi's hiatus, deeming it 'a violation of the magazine's standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures'.
'Had the magazine been aware of this relationship, she would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign,' the statement read. 'An internal review of her published work has found no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias.
'She is currently on leave from the magazine, and the magazine is conducting a more thorough third-party review. We regret this violation of our readers' trust.'
Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy Jr pictured in January at the premiere of the final season of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' held at the DGA Theater Complex in January in Los Angeles,
On Friday evening the Curb Your Enthusiasm star waved as she stepped out in Milan, Italy without her wedding ring following a Gucci-hosted afterparty during Milan Fashion Week
Gillespie and Lizza met when they were both students at the University of California, Berkeley.
Their June 20, 2004 wedding was held at the posh St. Regis Hotel in Washington DC and their wedding announcement ran in The New York Times wedding and celebrations page.
At the time, Lizza was 29 and an editor at The New Republic and its White House correspondent, and his new bride, Gillispie, 30, was practicing at Unity Healthcare, a community clinic in Washington.
She is also an assistant clinical professor of medicine at both Georgetown University and George Washington University.
Gillespie, who has been a physician for nearly 25 years, also has a master's degree in public health from Tufts University in Boston. In 2016 and 2018, she was rated 'Top Doctor in Washingtonian Magazine.
'I am a family physician because I enjoy caring for patients throughout their lifespan, from newborns to geriatrics and everyone in between.'
'I have a particular interest in pediatrics and in patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I practice the science of evidence-based medicine combined with the art of the human touch.
I look forward to partnering with you in preventive care, acute care, and chronic disease management,' according to a statement published by HealthGrades.
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The United States of America and its southern neighbor, Mexico, could each have a woman president their first within the next few months.
Yet even if Kamala Harris does make it to the White House, she can expect few sisterly favors from Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum.
Elected on a radical Left platform in June, 62-year-old Sheinbaum stands with Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Jinping and those arguing for a new world order - a multi-polar dispensation in which America and the West are cut down to size.
Even before Sheinbaum formally takes office on October 1, she's raising grave concerns in Washington.
Take that most sensitive of subjects, the porous southern border.
Mexico's first female president, the radical-left Claudia Sheinbaum, is raising grave concerns in Washington.
While US voters blame Mexico for the influx of migrants, drugs and crime, Sheinbaum points the finger at America - and its appetite for recreational drugs which, she says, sustains the criminal cartels and smuggling gangs.
If migrants are still the third most pressing issue in the US presidential election, Sheinbaum suggests that ordinary Mexicans think a little differently.
They are more likely to be concerned by the vast quantities of US-made firearms flowing in the other direction, she says, guns which help undermine Mexico's democracy.
Mexico's president elect has been happy to ignore America's lead on foreign policy, too.
Despite her own Jewish heritage, Sheinbaum is a staunchly anti-Zionist critic of Israel. Nor does she share Washington's instinctive opposition to Vladimir Putin.
Despite Russia's bloody invasion of Ukraine, Sheinbaum snubbed President Volodymyr Zelensky's recent invitation to visit Kyiv and was rumored to have dismissed him as a 'drug addict' as she did so. (The same criticism, however baseless, has been levelled by Putin.)
Sheinbaum has even joined those arguing for a new world order, the sort of multi-polar dispensation that presidents Putin and Xi of China are actively seeking to enforce.
This is a world in which America and the West are cut down to size, in which the Greenback is no longer the world's reserve currency, and where medium-sized countries eg Mexico are given a 'fair' shout.
And it is with Xi that a potent new fear has arisen among Republicans and Democrats alike because Mexico is entangled with America's greatest geopolitical opponent amid growing fears that it could, in crucial respects, become a Chinese proxy.
Sheinbaum's Morena party has overseen a huge increase in trade ties, with China investing hundreds of billions of dollars south of the border to make cars, computers, construction equipment and much else besides goods that often end up back in the US.
Sheinbaum's Morena party has overseen a huge increase in trade ties with China, which is investing hundreds of billions of dollars south of the border to make cars, computers, construction equipment and much else besides (Pictured: China's President Xi).
Kuka Home furniture near Monterrey is one of many Chinese companies investing in Mexico with factories such as this one
Perversely, this is partly thanks the 'on-shoring' policies of Donald Trump and Joe Biden, which, intended to create shorter, more resilient supply chains, have encouraged industrial production to return from China and elsewhere.
But those factories have moved not to California or Arizona but to 'friendly' neighbor Mexico, America's partner in the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Bald trade statistics noting Mexico's success in replacing China as the USA's major trading partner mask the reality that a huge part of the boom means assembling everything from Chinese high-tech to Chinese furniture in vast new industrial parks in northern Mexico built by the Chinese.
Consignments of parts from China cross directly into America as finished products labeled 'Made in Mexico'.
Then there is the trade in fentanyl. While cocaine travels to the US from Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, the torrent of lab-produced fentanyl originates on the other side of the Pacific in China before eventually crossing the American border in truck-loads of goods.
Mexico's booming trade with China including 'Mexican' products intended for re-export to the US can only help the narco gangs.
Goods and drugs are not the only imports at issue. Chinese people themselves are the fastest growing group among illegal migrants and would-be migrants.
Most troubling of all, however, is the possibility that intelligence-linked products have been hidden inside the millions of Chinese mobile phones, computers or, possibly, 'smart' consumer durables now made in Mexico.
As the recent Israeli pager strikes on Lebanon showed, even domestic electronics can be turned against the unwary.
Only this week, the US Commerce department proposed banning all Chinese components from US vehicles connected to the internet because of security concerns. How this could ever be policed is yet to be made clear.
Meanwhile, major Chinese tech companies including phone giant Huawei, ZTE and Hikvision all banned or sanctioned by America and its Western partners have established themselves across the border in Mexico.
There, they sit at the heart of major infrastructure projects including phone networks and Mexico City's Felipe Angeles International Airport.
No wonder Washington fears its southern neighbor is becoming a backdoor for China's intelligence operations
Already concerned by the spy bases China has built in Cuba, America is now asking this: could Mexico become a giant Cuba a listening post for hostile powers right on its doorstep? That's exactly what many now believe.
To be fair to Sheinbaum, she has no desire to turn Mexico into an impoverished police state like Cuba.
Mexico's booming trade with China can only help the fentanyl gangs bringing drugs across the border. (Pictured: Addicts pictured in San Francisco, in May).
But goods and drugs are not the only imports at issue: Chinese people themselves are the fastest growing group among illegal migrants and would-be migrants entering the US. (Pictured: Chinese migrants enter Texas in April 2023).
By making life better for many Mexicans, Morena has won elections at national and provincial level and handsomely.
Its two-thirds majority in the Mexican parliament means the incoming president can enact any measure she proposes.
It is certainly in her rational self-interest to keep Mexico's economy booming, to crack down on the cartels and, crucially, to find a modus vivendi with Washington. But politics is rarely quite so simple.
Sheinbaum could be described as an 'aggressive neutralist', determined to follow her own path even if that means crossing the US.
Projecting herself as a Mexican nationalist helped Sheinbaum defeat a pro-Yankee rival in June. The temptations of gesture politics and poking the Gringo might seem dangerously seductive, particularly if the Mexican economy sours.
For its part, Washington, is no stranger to the blame game. And there will be plenty to go around if the border proves intractable and Chinese influence continues to grow on the other side.
If relations do degenerate, what then?
Would the new president follow Venezuela down the path of elected populism, getting economic decisions calamitously wrong to buy votes and then using political power to silence critics?
Remember how rich Venezuela was before one party socialist rule suffocated the economy?
It is telling that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Mexico's outgoing president and Sheinbaum's patron saw 'no sign' of fraud in the recent elections returning Nicolas Maduro to power in Venezuela, even though most observers thought his 'victory' was obviously corrupt.
A 'New Cuba' on its southern border would certainly be a major problem for the next US administration, whoever wins in November. A 'New Venezuela' a major failed state would be much worse.
Vice President Kamala Harris made quite a splash on the San Francisco gossip scene when she first arrived on the arm of State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, but when she decided to challenge her old boss Terrence Hallinan for his job as district attorney she became the subject of glossy magazine profiles.
Journalist Joan Walsh penned a lengthy profile of Harris for San Francisco magazine titled Beauty and the Beast, in 2003, a reference to her campaign for district attorney for the city.
Harris, Walsh wrote at the time, was glamorous, and defiant, describing her as a black-eyed, raven-haired, latte-skinned lawyer and also a tough customer who was both ribald and flirty.
But Harris mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, shared some of the details of Kamalas childhood to fill out her biography.
She revealed that Harris was so pigeon-toed that she wore leg braces as a preschooler and ugly orthopedic shoes for years. (Pigeon-toed is a condition where a child's feet point inward instead of forward.)
An image of an old magazine profile of Kamala Harris penned by journalist Joan Walash
Walsh wrote later in life that she included the information about Harris' childhood struggles because it represented 'two hardships that undermined the image of effortless glamour the young attorney projected.'
Kamala's mother was also fiercely defensive of Harris' dating relationship with Willie Brown. In an SF Weekly Magazine profile she defended her daughter's belonging among the rich and famous in California.
'Kamala is comfortable in all kinds of social scenes. She can pull it off in high society, too. She has the manners, the eating habits,' she said.
She also took offense to the suggestion that her daughter, 29, should not have dated the 60-year-old Brown.
'Why shouldnt she have gone out with Willie Brown? He was a player,' she said.
Harris also defended her dating relationship with Brown, emphasizing that he was just one of many 'intelligent' men she was attracted to.
Kamala Harris with her mother Shyamala, center, and her sister Maya
Mayor Willie Brown shakes hands with DA candidate Kamala Harris
'He has a lot of wit and humor,' she said. 'I need my mind to be engaged - I've dated a lot of intelligent men.'
'Write that down!' she encouraged Walsh.
Harris also defended her relationship with Brown in her interview with SF Weekly.
'The networks of black lawyers in California are small. Brown and I had lots of mutual friends,' she said.
Brown, who was married at the time he met Harris but long estranged from his wife Blanche, has said that they met at a wedding of a mutual friend.
'She was presentable in a very appropriate way,' Brown said later in a podcast interview, reflecting on the first time he met her.
Brown said that Harris was the one that ended their relationship after he won his campaign for mayor of San Francisco.
"She ended it because she concluded there was no permanency in our relationship, and she was absolutely right,' he told Walsh. 'I absolutely love her, and I wish like hell I could shed that absence of permanency, but I can't. I think it's in my genes.'
Republicans are ripping Vice President Kamala Harris' second scheduled trip to the U.S.-Mexico border as an 'election-year stunt,' saying she has been central to orchestrating U.S. immigration woes.
The VP is expected to visit the border wall in Arizona during a planned trip to the state on Friday, CNN first reported.
Harris previously visited El Paso, Texas, in June 2021 where she went to a Border Patrol processing center and screening area for migrants with asylum claims.
But she never toured the actual border, and has received harsh criticism from Republicans ever since for shirking her role as Biden's 'border czar.'
With her second trip to the border coming just weeks before Election Day and as immigration and border security concerns continually rank as a top worry among voters, GOP lawmakers say the trip is disingenuous after years of inaction.
And voters won't easily forget, they warn.
Vice President Kamala Harris stands far from the U.S.-Mexico border, June 25, 2021, at the airport after her tour of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Processing Center in El Paso, Texas. She is reportedly planning to visit the border for her second time as VP this week
'I guess she found her compass,' Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., joked about Harris's trip to DailyMail.com. 'She knows where south is.'
'I think it's a little bit too late,' he continued. 'Fourteen million people over the border. Three hundred thousand kids unaccounted for. [It's] pathetic.'
Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds similarly said its 'too late.'
'It's 100% an election year stunt just to say that she did it, so they can have pictures,' Donalds told DailyMail.com.
'She's not serious. She's only doing it because her poll numbers are tanking by the day. She's had three and a half years to fix it. Why didn't you do it?'
'She'll run around and say, 'Look, I care about the issue,'' he continued. 'It's all a lie.'
Sasabe, Arizona, where the cat and mouse business of trafficking people into the United States illegally continues in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona
Donalds also gave a cheeky suggestion for his Democratic colleague from New York, progressive 'Squad' leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was famously photographed crying at the U.S.-Mexico border when Donald Trump was president.
'AOC should go down to the border, and she should cry about the fact that young girls are being sold into sex slavery,' he said.
'That's Kamala Harris's policy, that's Joe Biden's policy that has put young girls at risk at the southern border on both sides of the border.'
Texas GOP Rep. Beth Van Duyne told DailyMail.com 'It's about f***ing time' for Harris to visit the border.
She also said the trip must have been orchestrated due to Harris's low polling in immigration related matters.
'It's a publicity stunt,' she said. 'The only reason why she's going is because polls are showing that it's a losing issue for them.'
GOP Reps. Beth Van Duyne and Byron Donalds both slammed VP Harris's trip to the border as 'too late'
Border Patrol agents take asylum seekers into custody after they crossed a remote part of the U.S.-Mexico on September 19, 2024 near Jacumba Hot Springs, California
Recent surveys have showed that not only does Harris poll behind Trump on border security and immigration matters, but that some voters blame the VP for the issue in the first place.
In 2021, Biden appointed Harris to be in charge of tackling the root causes of immigration.
Republicans then dubbed her the 'border czar' and cast blame for the many crises at the border wall as illegal immigration surged in the past couple years.
Since President Joe Biden and Harris took control of the executive branch illegal immigration has skyrocketed.
Estimates range, but the common refrain in GOP circles on Capitol Hill is that at least 10 million migrants have been encountered at the border under the current administration.
Higher estimates, like those coming from Trump, claim there could be as many as 20 million or more.
And the Former President Donald Trump could not resist weighing in on the VP's last minute trip on his Truth Social app Tuesday.
Border Patrol agents begin processing dozens of migrants after illegally crossing from Mexico
Vice President visits the control area for asylum seekers upon entering Mexico, the secondary processing area for migrants and the outdoor vehicle inspection area used to screen vehicles crossing the border in search of goods or illegal activities during her trip in 2021
'When Kamala is seen at the border on Friday, she will pass hundreds of miles of wall that was built by Trump, and it is wall that works!' he wrote.
'When she speaks, be advised that this woman has allowed more than 21 million people into our country, totally unvetted, and from places unknown. They are now creating criminal havoc all throughout the country.'
'When she speaks, I hope everybody remembers that she has caused our cities, towns, and country itself, tremendous damage, and only I can fix it!' Trump's statement concluded.
GOP Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., told DailyMail.com: 'I applaud Kamala for trying to get down to the border. But unfortunately, with 42 days left before the elections, it just seems very political, but better late than never, right?'
The daughter of a stroke ward patient drugged by staff to give themselves an 'easy life' has told of her fury after one of the healthcare workers was freed just a quarter of the way through her sentence under Labour's early release scheme.
Charlotte Wilmot, 49, was jailed for three years last December after being convicted of conspiring with senior nurse Catherine Hudson to ill-treat 80-year-old Janet Westhead.
Slamming the pair, a judge said they had targeted the vulnerable widow out of a desire for 'revenge' after her daughter complained.
But it has now emerged Wilmott was released on a tag after serving just nine months behind bars under Labour's plan to release thousands of criminals early in a bid to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis.
Janet Westhead, 80, who died after she was ill-treated by Wilmot and Hudson
Charlotte Wilmot, 49, (pictured) was jailed for three years last December after being convicted of conspiring with senior nurse Catherine Hudson to ill-treat 80-year-old Janet Westhead
WhatsApp messages that were exchanged between Hudson and Wilmot
Mrs Westhead (pictured) grew up in Kirkcaldy, Fife, where she worked as a home help before moving to Blackpool
Hudson (right) and Wilmot (left) exchanged messages joking about sedating their patients
Zopiclone (pictured by police) was used to sedate patients for their 'own amusement' and an 'easy life'
Wilmot's release has infuriated Mrs Westhead's daughter who attacked ministers for letting her 'get away with her crimes'.
'It's diabolical,' Susan Cheetham said.
'I thought she should have been jailed for a lot more than three years for what she did to my mum.
'But to release her after just nine months in prison is astonishing.
'What kind of message does it send to the small minority of NHS staff who do harm to patients?
'Neither of them has ever apologised or shown any remorse.
'Surely there must be a better solution to prison overcrowding.
'It's just a joke.'
Mrs Westhead grew up in Kirkcaldy, Fife, where she worked as a home help before moving to Blackpool.
Some of the WhatsApp messages that were exchanged between the two nurses
In February 2017, Mrs Westhead was admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital after suffering a mini-stroke.
Pictured: Charlotte Hudson who was jailed for ill-treating patients on a stroke ward
Police were alerted by hospital chiefs in November 2018 after a student nurse on a work placement said Hudson suggested administering unprescribed zopiclone, a sleeping pill, to elderly patient Aileen Scott, who survived the incident
Catherine Hudson (left), 54, and Charlotte Wilmot (right), 48, pictured leaving Preston Crown Court, after they were convicted
She enjoyed an independent retirement despite mild Alzheimer's symptoms.
But in February 2017 she was admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital after suffering a mini-stroke.
'Instead of recovering, she began having terrifying visions, she was seeing spiders climbing up the walls,' her daughter said.
Her daughter confronted ward staff and discovered her mother had been druggedr with a powerful and potentially lethal sedative, Zopiclone.
In a text message to Hudson later recovered by police, Wilmot branded Mrs Westhead 'very f****** annoying' and said she should be given 'the best sleep she ever had'.
Hudson replied: 'Permanently.'
Cafe worker Ms Cheetham complained to the hospital about her mother's treatment three times, but no action was taken.
A trial heard how the pair branded 'pure evil' by another relative - reacted with 'contempt', with Hudson writing: 'The whole family should f*** off back to Jockland.'
By the time Mrs Westhead was discharged, she was a shadow of her former self and died in a nursing home weighing less than 4st.
Police were finally called in after a horrified student nurse turned whistleblower.
Hudson was convicted of illicitly sedating two patients and stealing medication and jailed for seven years and two months.
Wilmot - an assistant practitioner - was found guilty of conspiring with Hudson to sedate Mrs Westhead and encouraging Hudson to drug another patient.
She previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal medication.
In a statement the Ministry of Justice said: 'This Government inherited a justice system on the verge of collapse.
'The worst possible outcome for victims would have been to allow this to happen.'
It stressed that prisoners released under the tagging scheme were risk-assessed first.
Chilling new details have emerged about the murder of nursing student Laken Riley as Georgia state prosecutors prepare their case against the Venezuelan migrant accused of killing her.
Jose Ibarra, 26, was captured on various video cameras around a female student's dormitory at the University of Georgia on February 22, prosecutors have argued in court documents.
The UGA dorm near Milledge Avenue Extension leads to the running trails Riley, 22, used the morning before she was killed.
Prosecutors also claim fingerprints matching Ibarra's were found on Riley's phone, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
He was later found with scratches and other injuries just one day after Riley's body was found in a wooded area near the school's intramural fields.
Prosecutors have laid out the evidence against Venezuelan migrant Jose Ibarra, 26, who is accused of murdering Georgia nursing student Laken Riley
Riley, 22, was found dead near running trails at the University of Georgia on February 22
Ibarra also appears to be the man seen in a video dumping bloody gloves and a bloody jacket with long dark hair on it less than half an hour after Riley was killed.
But the suspect has pleaded not guilty to the young woman's murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping and other crimes associated with her death.
His lawyers argue much of the evidence against him is unreliable or was unlawfully obtained without probable cause.
The attorneys claim officers had no reason to suspect Ibarra committed a crime when they detained him on February 23, and are asking a judge to suppress evidence from two of his cellphones, his social media accounts, photos of his body and his DNA sample.
The lawyers also wrote in court documents that the thumbprint found on Riley's cellphone 'contains incomplete data and did not produce a match to any of those belonging to [Ibarra] during the initial comparison with his known prints.'
DNA evidence 'did not exclude [Ibarra], but also did not exclude another known individual associated with the case,' the attorneys argued, according to the Journal-Constitution.
Ibarra's attorneys are arguing much of the evidence against him is unreliable or was unlawfully obtained without probable cause
They are also asking for the trial to be moved out of Athens-Clarke County, claiming jurors there will not be impartial.
But prosecutors have hit back at the claims, insisting that the suspect was detained lawfully under reasonable suspicion he was involved in Riley's death and saying that the evidence against him was properly collected and should be presented to an Athens-Clarke County jury.
The prosecution is also pushing back on Ibarra's request for a peeping Tom charge to be tried separately to the nine charges he faces for Riley's murder.
Prosecutors claim both incidents are part of Ibarra's 'single continuous plan to assault women,' as they laid out the suspect's alleged whereabouts on February 22.
At 9.10am, prosecutors say, Riley, an Augusta University College of Nursing student, called 911 from her cellphone
They said an unidentified University of Georgia student called 911 just before 8am to report that someone peeked through her dorm windows and was at her front door near Milledge Avenue Extension.
University police responded just a few minutes later, but the perpetrator was already gone.
By 9.10am, Riley, an Augusta University College of Nursing student, called 911 from her cellphone at a location less than 1,000 feet from that dorm.
'That 911 call - the last outgoing call from Laken Riley's cellular telephone - was disconnected by defendant Ibarra,' prosecutors claim.
'These incidents are connected by time, location motive and items of evidence.'
Just about half an hour after the phone call, text messages and phone calls to Riley from her mother went unanswered.
The worried mother then 'launched a search,' and her roommates went looking for her on the University of Georgia running trails.
They called 911 to report the nursing student missing just after noon that day, and about half an hour later, university police found her 'lifeless, beaten and partially unclothed body' in the wooded area near the intramural fields.
Officers said her killing appeared to be a random attack, and announced the next day they were looking for a 'Latino male' seen in video footage near the female student's dorm and at a dumpster of an apartment complex less than half a mile from where Riley was murdered.
An Athens-Clarke County Sheriff's Office sergeant patrolling Ibarra's apartment complex later 'saw in public, in plain view, walking in the apartment complex in broad daylight, a Latino male who was wearing the "identical" hat that was seen in the dumpster video,' prosecutors said.
The man in the hat identified himself as Diego Ibarra, Jose Ibarra's older brother, and allegedly gave police a fake green card.
He then allegedly let the officer to his apartment, where Jose and another brother, Argenis, were also located, and the officer called for backup.
Another officer who then arrived on the scene noticed that Jose had scratches and injuries on him, prosecutors said.
Ibarra was originally arrested on an outstanding warrant, and is now accused of hitting Riley in the head, asphyxiating her and pulling up her clothing with the intent to rape her
He was then arrested on an outstanding warrant, and his apartment was searched later that day.
Prosecutors now say Ibarra hit Riley in the head, asphyxiated her and pulled up her clothing with the intent to rape her.
He is facing charges of malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, hindering an emergency telephone call, tampering with evidence and peeping Tom.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for October 11, and jury selection for a trial is slated to start on November 13.
One of Australia's most high-profile doctors has urged Australians to actively oppose the Albanese government's proposed misinformation laws saying they would have been potentially harmful during the Covid pandemic.
Dr Nick Coatsworth, who was the nation's deputy chief medical officer during the pandemic period, feared the Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill would be 'weaponised' to shut down debate.
He noted the legislation was in part aimed at stopping the spread of 'misinformation' that caused 'harm to public health in Australia, including to the efficacy of preventative health measures'.
However, he said this was 'astonishing' after the Covid pandemic because the medical fraternity and general public became 'acutely aware' the 'facts' changed as the virus became better understood.
This means the new laws could brand 'legitimate concerns' about about public health policy as 'misinformation', according to the government of 'scientific orthodoxy of the moment'.
'Misinformation causes harm,' Dr Coatsworth said. This bill should be rejected in its entirety.
'The weaponisation of misinformation as a term to shut down debate causes even greater harm.
Dr Nick Coatsworth has urged Australians to oppose the Albanese government's proposed laws on combatting misinformation
'This bill does the latter.'
Dr Coatsworth said 'he shares the government's deep concern about the harms of social media to community trust and cohesion'.
'But misinformation is such a widely used accusation these days that I can't see how the law could work practically',' he said.
Dr Coatsworth said that while some things online are 'verifiably false' the 'only solution is to equip the community from a young age to recognise what they (falsehoods) are and to understand how social media works to manipulate debate'.
'Let's teach our kids critical thought and how to question and debate, not how to dismiss or reject other's opinions or ideas with random accusations of misinformation,' he explained.
'I'd strongly encourage Australians to do something they may never have done before and submit to the Senate Inquiry.
'Even if it's a short paragraph expressing deep concern about what this Bill represents.'
Dr Coatsworth has previously admitted Australian governments and health officials lost the trust and goodwill of the public over their handling of Covid.
He told Sydney radio station 2GB in February said draconian measures to contain the virus dragged on too long and caused people to tune out and grow resentful.
In a 10-page submission made in February to a special inquiry being held on Australia's Covid response, Dr Coatsworth admitted imposing vaccine mandates was wrong.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland insists the new laws will not curb freedom of speech
'We didn't get it wrong promoting the vaccines, but the mandates, yes, I think we did get that wrong,' he said.
'And I think you can say hindsight is 20/20. But hindsight gives us foresight. And if we have another pandemic, we should think long and hard whether mandates for vaccines are justified.'
Under the new laws beefed up watchdog Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) would be able to order social media companies to crack down on repeated misinformation and disinformation on their platforms.
Should the companies fail to do so they face a range of penalties and whopping fines, which could include forfeiting five per cent of their global revenue.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has denied the laws would curb freedom of expression.
'We've been very clear as a government to take strong advice around this and to consult widely and to ensure that it aligns precisely with what we have under international law so as not to curb freedom of speech,' she told the ABC earlier this month.
Shadow communications minister David Coleman has accused the government of trying to shotgun the laws through parliament after an earlier version of them was withdrawn last year following substantial public opposition.
'How are people supposed to respond to this complicated law in just a week?,' Ms Coleman told The Daily Telegraph.
'Labor wants to ram this legislation through and is trying to stop the massive backlash we saw last time.'
One of the largest local governments in Western Australia has reversed a decision to ditch Australia Day celebrations following an outcry from locals.
The City of Rockingham Council, in Perth's southwest, had announced in May last year that all celebrations relating to Australia Day would be held on the closest Saturday to January 26.
But the council has now backflipped following a community survey, with the results announced at a meeting on Tuesday night.
The survey found that 64 per cent of respondents wanted events associated with Australia Day to be held on its actual date of January 26.
Just two councillors out of 12 voted against reversing the decision, which was put forward by one-time Rockingham State Liberal candidate Peter Hudson.
Councillor Craig Buchanan, from the Legalise Cannabis WA party, and former Greens candidate Dawn Jecks, were against the move.
Mr Hudson claimed that of the 7 per cent of Indigenous respondents, the majority of had supported celebrating the national holiday on January 26.
He added the council had an 'obligation' to act in the interests of its residents.
Several other councils around Australia have ditched the national day of celebration (pictured are Australia Day celebrators on Wave Break Island in the Gold Coast)
'But we also have a moral duty as citizens of Australia, to act in our country's national interest,' he said on Tuesday night, The Sound Telegraph reported.
'That means defending what we have when we must - if we don't stand up for what we believe in, nobody else will.'
Fellow Rockingham councillor Mark Jones gave a list of the 'special days' he said Aboriginal people already enjoyed.
'So there's the anniversary of the national apology, we've got Harmony Week in March, national Sorry Day in May, national Reconciliation Week in June, we've got Mabo Day in June, the National NAIDOC week in July, national Aboriginal and Torres Children's Day in August, and national Indigenous literary day in September,' he said.
The City of Rockingham Council had announced in May last year that all celebrations relating to Australia Day would be held on the closest Saturday to January 26 (Rockingham is pictured)
'So there's multiple days we're trying to reconcile. I guess I'm sorry that Australia Day is not one of those days for everyone, but as a city, we're trying to celebrate the good things about Australia and unite our country.'
Several other councils around Australia have ditched the national holiday in recent years following calls from Indigenous groups to have the date changed.
In late 2022 the Albanese government scrapped a rule that forced councils to hold Australia Day citizenship ceremonies.
A parking space listed for sale in one of Australia's ritziest suburbs has raised eyebrows over its staggering price tag.
The spot is located inside a secure parking garage at 2-4 Notts Avenue in Bondi, Sydney's eastern suburbs, and is on sale for $1million.
The price is significantly higher than a spot that was sold for $500,000 at nearby Woollahra earlier this year.
Selling agent Ben Collier, from The Agency, said it was the most expensive parking spot sold in the city from his memory.
'Parking adds, I would argue, a minimum of 10 to 12 per cent of the overall property per space. It's more on a percentage basis,' he told Yahoo Finance.
'This gentleman would have taken a view that if his property is worth $5 or $6million, the car park reflects the value add to his house.'
The million-dollar listing, which is a stone's throw to Bondi Beach, is a sound investment, according to Raine and Horne's Ric Serrao.
'What's a million dollars today, in five years is going to be $2 million,' he said.
A car parking spot inside this secure garage in Bondi will set you back a million bucks.
2-4 Notts Avenue is a stone's throw from Bondi Beach.
However, this would make buying a park in Sydney more expensive than buying an apartment in other cities.
CoreLogic data showed the median price for an apartment in Australia is $644,758, however the price is lower in Darwin where the price is set at $364,075, and Perth and Adelaide are both $514,369.
But the return on a parking investment would pay dividends, according to car parking booking app Parkhound.
It says you can rent out a parking spot in Bondi for as much as $780 per month.
The Bondi parking-spot listing on property website Domain described it as a 'once-in-a-generation' offering.
'Envision the privilege of arriving at Bondi Beach on a scorching summer day, liberated from the stress of locating a parking space. Instead, you effortlessly drive into your secure personal oceanfront undercover garage,' it read.
'This haven boasts not only the closest parking proximity to the beach and icebergs, but also essential amenities such as power and fresh water, conveniently at your fingertips.'
It also says that along with splashing out a million bucks for the space, you'll also be required to spend $226.88 per quarter on levies.
Syrian air defences intercept targets over Mediterranean near Tartous: Monitor
Damascus, Sep 25 (UNI) Syrian air defences intercepted multiple flying objects over the Mediterranean Sea near the province of Tartous on Tuesday night, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Syrian air defences managed to shoot down 13 "targets," as military radars detected warplanes in Syrian airspace, said the observatory.
Missiles from Syrian air defence systems continued to be launched toward "targets" over the sea rather than on land, the Britain-based war monitor added, noting that it is still unclear whether the targets were missiles or drones.
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This video is no longer available
Cardinal Timothy Dolan slammed Kamala Harris' surprise move to skip the annual Al Smith dinner, while sending a warning about the last candidate who sat it out.
The dinner benefitting Catholic Charities traditionally has been used to promote collegiality and good humor, with presidential candidates from both parties appearing on the same night and trading barbs.
Donald Trump has attended the dinner in both 2016 and 2020, while Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden - albeit online - also attended when running for president.
Dolan, the Archbishop of New York City, said he was 'disappointed' in Harris' decision to instead campaign in a battleground state less than three weeks before Election Day.
'We were looking forward to giving the vice president an enthusiastic welcome, and we were confident that she would find this you know, she speaks very much about high ideals and how it's good to get away from division and come together in unity and all,' he said.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan slammed Kamala Harris ' surprise move to skip the annual Al Smith dinner, while sending a warning about the last candidate who sat it out.
Dolan, the Archbishop of New York City, said he was 'disappointed' in Harris' decision to instead campaign in a battleground state less than three weeks before Election Day
He then made a troubling historical point about the last time a Democrat told them no.
'Were not used to this. We dont know how to handle it. This hasnt happened in 40 years, since Walter Mondale turned down the invitation. And remember, he lost 49 out of 50 states. I don't want to say there's a direct connection there, but we're not giving up,' Dolan said.
The cardinal, who plays a prominent role in the dinner, has been highly critical of Democrats, writing a 2018 Wall Street Journal op-ed that carried the headline, 'The Democrats Abandon Catholics.'
Harris' team wants her to spend as much time as possible in the battleground states that will decide the election rather than heavily Democratic New York, a campaign official said Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss campaign plans and confirming a decision first reported by CNN.
Her team told organizers that she would be willing to attend as president if she's elected, the official said.
The former president and current Republican presidential nominee confirmed in a Truth Social post on Monday that he would speak at the October 17 dinner, calling it 'sad, but not surprising' that Harris had opted not to attend.
In his Truth Social post, Trump said Harris 'certainly hasn't been very nice' to Catholics, saying that Catholic voters who support her 'should have their head examined.'
His 2016 appearance at the dinner invited boos when many in the audience felt he crossed a line when he called Democrat Hillary Clinton corrupt and claimed she hated Catholics.
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Trump's 2016 appearance at the dinner invited boos when many in the audience felt he crossed a line when he called Democrat Hillary Clinton corrupt and claimed she hated Catholics
Dolan, who plays a prominent role in the dinner, has been highly critical of Democrats, writing a 2018 Wall Street Journal op-ed that carried the headline, 'The Democrats Abandon Catholics'
The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is named for the former New York governor, a Democrat and the first Roman Catholic to be nominated for president by a major party in 1928. He was handily defeated by Herbert Hoover.
It raises millions of dollars for Catholic charities and has traditionally shown that those vying to lead the nation can get along, or pretend to, for one night.
The event has become a tradition for presidential candidates since Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy appeared together in 1960.
In 1996, the Archdiocese of New York decided not to invite then-President Bill Clinton and his Republican challenger, Bob Dole, reportedly because Clinton vetoed a late-term abortion ban.
Trump and Joe Biden, who is Catholic, both spoke at the fundraiser in 2020, when it was moved online due to concerns about large gatherings spreading COVID-19.
Amid the pandemic and economic woes, there was no joking and both candidates instead used their speeches to appeal to Catholic voters.
In 2016, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump embraced the jovial atmosphere at the annual white tie fundraiser in New York, even if some of their jokes fell flat.
The pair each won laughs, some reluctant and others more enthusiastic, with their scripts of puns.
Walter Mondale was the last major candidate to skip the dinner before he lost to Ronald Reagan in 1984
A Harris campaign official said Catholics for Harris-Walz is working to register people to vote and get involved in outreach across the country.
Trump's post stems in part from 2018 questions that then-Sen. Harris posed to a federal judicial nominee about his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a lay Catholic fraternal organization.
Harris asked the nominee if he agreed with the anti-abortion views of the groups leader, views that broadly align with the churchs stance.
A doctor accused of carrying out invasive tests for sexually transmitted diseases on employees working for Mohamed Al Fayed still has a licence to practise.
Dr Ann Coxon carried out 'wholly unnecessary' medical examinations, according to a survivor known only as Natacha who claimed she now had questions to answer.
The doctor allegedly carried out the tests at her Harley Street clinic in London on behalf of the then-Harrods boss before the results were then shared with him.
But Natacha, part of the Justice for Harrods survivors group, told the BBC: 'The examinations carried out by Dr Coxon were intrusive and wholly unnecessary.
'They also resulted in many employees', including my own, confidential medical information being inappropriately shared within Harrods. This should not have happened.'
Five women have alleged they were raped by Mohamed Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94
Dr Ann Coxon allegedly carried out 'wholly unnecessary' medical tests on Al Fayed's staff
An Al Fayed survivor known only as Natacha claims Dr Coxon now had questions to answer
Many of the women who appeared at the bombshell BBC documentary and podcast 'Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods' revealed that they underwent medicals including invasive sexual health tests when they began working for the department store.
They are now planning a formal complaint to the General Medical Council (GMC) to investigate the allegations made in the documentary.
Dr Coxon who was also disgraced publicist Max Clifford's physician - qualified from Guy's Hospital Medical School in 1963 and has run her medical practice on Harley Street since 1982.
Dr Coxon has not yet responded to the allegations relating to Al Fayed, with a woman answering the phone in her office today telling MailOnline that she was not commenting.
Another doctor claimed to have carried out the tests was a Wendy Snell, but she died two years ago aged 64.
Natacha hugs American lawyer Gloria Allred at a press conference in London last Friday
Three of Mr Al Fayed's accusers (left to right) Katherine (no surname given), Lindsay Mason and Gemma (no surname given), pose for a photograph after a press conference last Friday
The GMC confirmed to MailOnline today that Dr Coxon was registered with a licence to practise, which is publicly-available information on the medical register.
A spokeswoman added: 'The alleged sexual abuse conducted by Mohamed Al Fayed against multiple women is horrifying.
'The allegations relating to medical staff working for Mr Al Fayed are deeply concerning. If we identify any potential fitness to practise concerns about individual doctors, we will thoroughly examine all relevant information and take action as appropriate.'
The GMC has the power to look into historical incidents when the allegations meet its threshold for investigation and the body deems it in the public interest to do so.
Former GMC chief executive Niall Dixon said doctors in the UK should not share a patient's information without their consent, and even when this is disclosed to an employer it is 'usually very restricted'.
A general view of the Harrods department store in Knightsbridge in London last Friday
On the allegations against Al Fayed, Mr Dixon told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that there was 'no justification whatsoever for revealing a patient's information, for example to the chairman of a company'.
He added that doctors reading about the claims would be 'utterly horrified because trust is at the absolute centre of that doctor-patient relationship'.
Five women claim they were raped by Al Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, with a number of others alleging sexual misconduct.
The Crown Prosecution Service twice decided not to prosecute him after reviewing files of evidence presented by the police.
Evidence was shown to the CPS in 2009 and 2015, but it decided not to go ahead with the prosecution because there was not 'a realistic prospect of conviction'.
A legal team representing alleged victims confirmed on Saturday that they have 'had over 150 new inquiries' since the airing of the BBC documentary.
Veterans, domestic abuse victims and young care leavers will have a 'guaranteed roof over their head', Sir Keir Starmer promised yesterday.
The Prime Minister pledged to change the rules on social housing so that all three groups no longer have to prove a local connection to be housed.
But Labour was unable to say when the changes would be brought into force only that doing so would be a 'priority'.
While campaigners welcomed the news, housing charity Shelter said it did not address 'the fact' that there 'is not enough social housing available'.
Current rules mean that veterans are only exempt from having to prove a local link for five years after service.
Veterans, domestic abuse victims and young care leavers will have a 'guaranteed roof over their head', Sir Keir Starmer promised yesterday
Pictured: Starmer is heckled during his keynote speech at Labour Party conference in Liverpool
Speaking on day three of the Labour Party conference, the PM called the levels of homelessness among veterans an 'injustice hiding in plain sight'.
He added yesterday: 'In every town and city in this country. People who were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, who put their lives on the line to protect us all, but who will not have a safe place to sleep tonight.'
Keir Starmer's speech: key points In his speech to the Labour faithful in Liverpool yesterday, Sir Keir said: Vowed to 'return the UK to the service of working people'
Blasted 'violent racist thugs' behind summer riots
Promised 'every pensioner will be better off with Labour' amid row over winter fuel payment cut
Pledged veterans, care leavers and domestic violence victims would get housing priority
Vowed to bring in 'Hillsborough Law' to prevent state cover-ups before 35th anniversary of 1989 disaster next April
Received thunderous applause as he pledged to put trains 'back into public ownership'
Was cheered as he highlighted new worker rights saying 'change has begun'
Urged Israel and Hezbollah to 'pull back from the brink' of war in the Middle East
Called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza
Pledges 'homes will be there' for Armed Forces 'heroes'
Revealed GB Energy will be based in Aberdeen
Blasted 'populist' Tories over Rwanda migrant plan Advertisement
Sir Keir's keynote speech in Liverpool cast a downbeat tone, as he hinted at potential future tax rises in a difficult year to come.
The PM acknowledged fury at the decision to strip the benefit from 10million pensioners - but said he could not 'risk' showing the world 'as the Tories did that this country does not fund its policies properly'.
Watched by wife Victoria, he appealed for Brits to be 'patient' and stick with his 'painful choices' rather than go down the 'road to nowhere'.
But he warned there were no 'easy answers', he would not get 'everything right', and the task would be 'hard' - blaming the Tories for problems ranging from the stretched finances to full jails, and pleading with restive Labour supporters to take 'pride' in what they were achieving.
He said 'choices' would include accepting more building of pylons and prisons, and recognising that some Channel migrants would be granted asylum - although he stressed he wanted to tackle the smuggling gangs and bring down legal immigration over time.
'This is a long-term project, I've never pretended otherwise. But conference make no mistake, the work of change has begun,' he said. 'We're only just getting started.'
Ahead of a showdown vote on winter fuel with unions today, Sir Keir told the hall that there would be 'no return to Tory austerity' and he would 'protect working people'.
'If you can't take that on faith, perhaps because you're concerned about the winter fuel allowance, then I get that,' he said. 'But the risk of showing to the world - as the Tories did, that this country does not fund its policies properly... that is a risk we can never take again.'
He argued that 'every pensioner will be better off with Labour' after the triple lock increase to the state pension.
Metropolitan Police officers have been banned from wearing a badge that commemorates hero cops who have been killed in the line of duty.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley's hardline stance, announced on September 18, has left cops furious with one source labelling it 'an insult to fallen officers'.
Rick Prior, chairman of the Met Federation branch, said families of officers who died on the frontline would be 'equally dismayed' by the news.
The Thin Blue Line emblem - black and white Union flag with a think horizontal blue line - is intended as 'a mark of remembrance and respect' for those who paid the ultimate price to maintain law and order.
Scotland Yard's uniform policy was updated following 'a lot of engagement internally with both formal and informal groups'.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley's hard-line stance, announced on September 18, to ban the Thin Blue Line badge has left cops furious with one source labelling it 'an insult to fallen officers'
The Thin Blue Line emblem (pictured) is intended as 'a mark of remembrance and respect' for those who paid the ultimate price to maintain law and order
It bans officers on duty from wearing 'any badges, lanyards or patches which advertise causes, beliefs or charities', reported The Sun.
However, the Met said there would be exceptions for the red Haig Poppy and the Police Memorial badge during their respective periods.
One source said 'the timing could not be worse', with the policy update coming on the 12th anniversary of the murders of PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes who were killed by Dale Cregan.
Mr Prior urged Sir Mark to reconsider his decision: 'Officers will be extremely saddened and angry to hear this news.
'The families of officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep the public safe will be equally dismayed.'
A Met Police spokesperson said: 'Our impartiality is key to maintaining the confidence of all the communities we serve. After a lot of engagement internally with both formal and informal groups we have updated our uniform policy.
'Officers, whilst on duty, may not wear any badges, lanyards or patches which advertise causes, beliefs or charities. We have made two exceptions for the red Haig Poppy and the Police Memorial badge during their respective periods.'
Met officers working at the Pride celebrations in the capital last year were told they were not allowed to wear the badge in the capital in case it offended the LGBT+ community.
American police forces fly a similar flag, but it has also been used by far-Right groups in the US
One source said 'the timing could bot be worse', with the policy update coming on the 12th anniversary of the murders of PCs Fiona Bone (left) and Nicola Hughes (right)
Police officers have been banned from wearing a badge (pictured in centre of officer's chest) commemorating colleagues killed in the line of duty
Debbie Adlam, the mother of murdered police constable Andrew Harper (pictured right with his wife Lissie) last year criticised the Met's decision to ban officers from wearing the badge at Pride celebrations
The decision for the 'non-negotiable' blanket ban came as a similar symbol, based on the American Stars and Stripes, has been linked to transphobic far-Right groups in the US.
But it drew heavy criticism with Debbie Adlam, the mother of murdered police constable Andrew Harper, saying it was a symbol of her son's 'dedication to the force'.
She told The Mail on Sunday in July last year: 'Since we lost Andrew we have considered the Thin Blue Line image to be a universal memorial to the loss of these officers.'
Politicians, senior officers and campaigners also condemned the decision. One former officer, Henry Miller, said the Met had 'lost their minds over this'.
Mr Miller, who founded the free speech campaign group Fair Cop, added: 'Nobody in this country says that the Thin Blue Line is political. It's completely crazy. We have seen officers wearing all kinds of insignia associated with political causes, none of which they should do.
'But the one thing that police should be able to do is memorialise their own colleagues.'
Former Home Secretary Priti Patel also leapt to the defence of the Thin Blue Line badge saying it was 'a mark of respect in policing of the sacrifices our police officers make for their service and the threats they face, day in, day out'.
Debbie said: 'It concerns me that there are those who want to take [the badge] away. I hope that today is not the start of the end for the Thin Blue Line and all it means to us in the UK.'
Advice from the Met commander ahead of the celebrations said: 'No "Thin Blue Line" badges/patches are to be worn whilst policing this event.
'These have been linked to far-Right and anti-trans groups in the US and this years Pride is focusing very much on the trans community. This is non-negotiable and supervisors are expected to ensure this is adhered to please.'
A popular community club is 'disappointed' after neighbours complained about the noise coming from the long established venue.
The Sydney Portugal Community Club, which is located in an industrial part of the inner west Sydney suburb of Marrickville, has been hosting functions since the early 1990s.
It also under a flight path and beside a heavy freight rail line - but some NIMBY (not in my backyard) locals are not upset about the planes, trains and trucks - they just want to moan about the club.
Last week, an unknown person put flyers in letterboxes urging locals to file complaints against the club.
'If you found the noise from the Sydney Portugal Community Club on Friday night (4pm-9.15pm) and Sunday (10am-9.30pm) to be excessive, please take a minute to lodge a noise complaint with NSW Liquor and Gaming,' it read.
'With numerous upcoming 12-hour outdoor music events already booked in, getting the club to comply with their noise restrictions now will hopefully result in much less noise disturbance in the future.'
Club secretary Jorge Martins said the complaints were 'disappointing.'
'We've been doing our best to minimise any disturbances that may occur,' he told the Daily Telegraph.
The Sydney Portugal Community Club (pictured) is 'disappointed' after neighbours complained about the noise coming from the long established venue
Someone put flyers (pictured) in local letterboxes complaining the club was 'too noisy'
'These big events, we rely on them to get our cash-flow up. If we aren't able to do those it would put us under a fair bit of pressure.'
Mr Martins said most of the club's events, which can cater for up to 1,000 people, finish before 10pm.
NSW music and night-time economy minister John Graham was not impressed with the complaints made against the Sydney Portugal Community Club.
'What can be heard loud and clear here is a campaign by someone to enlist their neighbours to submit complaints against an event that was held mainly during daylight hours,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'Legitimate noise complaints will be dealt with fairly, but a letterbox drop campaign to stir up a complaint does not appear to be a genuine start.'
NSW Liquor and Gaming confirmed it had received some 'complaints from members of the public concerning noise' about the club.
But one local man said the campaign against the club was 'ridiculous'.
'You could hear the music last weekend, but it wasn't intrusive. It finished at a very reasonable time,' Andy said.
Sydneysiders walking through Marrickville - a suburb in Sydney's inner west
'In Marrickville we have trucks coming by because it's an industrial area. The planes that fly over are louder and the freight train line is much louder.'
He added that 'noise complaints like this kill venues'.
The nearest houses to the club are about 100 metres away.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Sydney Portugal Community Club for further comment.
QUESTION Who was Sinan, once described as the most prolific architect in the world?
Mimar Sinan (c. 1489-1588) is most famous for his monumental contributions to Ottoman architecture. Sinan served as the chief architect of the Ottoman Empire under the reigns of three sultans Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II and Murad III which gave him an unmatched opportunity to leave a lasting mark on the empires skyline.
During his 50-year career, he is credited with designing or supervising the construction of more than 450 buildings, including mosques, palaces, bridges, baths and schools.
His use of domes, minarets and courtyards, as well as his mastery of symmetry and proportions, became hallmarks of the Ottoman mosque design, exemplified by his two greatest works the Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, completed in 1557, and the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (1574), the work Sinan himself regarded as his finest.
Mimar Sinan (c. 1489-1588) is most famous for his monumental contributions to Ottoman architecture. His use of domes, minarets and courtyards, as well as his mastery of symmetry and proportions, became hallmarks of the Ottoman mosque design. Pictured: Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul
The Selimiye Mosque (seen) in Edirne, Turkey, is another of Sinan's great works
Sinan employed advanced engineering techniques to support large domes and withstand earthquakes and mastered the use of natural light, placing windows strategically to illuminate interiors and enhance the visual impact of domes and arches. Sinan also designed interiors with remarkable acoustics.
His work extended to the limits of the Ottoman Empire. He designed the Sulaymaniyya Takiyya mosque complex in Damascus, Syria, and the Mehmed Pasa Sokolovic Bridge across the Drina River in Visegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina. His
concepts were incorporated into later works, notably the Taj Mahal in India.
Alan White, Norwich, Norfolk
QUESTION Do any of the countries in Africa or Asia still drive on the left? Have any changed?
Most countries that drive on the left (right-hand drive) were former British colonies. The British Empire spread its laws and regulations, including road traffic laws, to its colonies. After gaining independence, many countries continued with this system because switching to the right side would require significant infrastructural changes.
Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland), Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe are all countries where driving is on the left. Mozambique is an anomaly; although there has been driving on the right in Portugal since 1928, its colony of Mozambique remained on the left because it has land borders with former British colonies.
TOMORROW'S QUESTIONS... Q: Who was the first female GP in the UK? Who was the first female surgeon? Joanne Finch, Bracknell, Berkshire Q: Why did Elizabeth Taylor replace Vivien Leigh in the film Elephant Walk? Mark Hodson, Clitheroe, Lancashire Q: How were pit ponies cared for in the coalmining era? Laura Byng, Tamworth, Staffordshire Is there a question to which you want to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question here? Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY; or email charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk. A selection is published, but we're unable to enter into individual correspondence Advertisement
The case differs for former British West Africa: present-day Ghana, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. These nations all drove on the left until independence, when they switched to the right. This was to bring them in line with their neighbours, mostly former French colonies that drive on the right. Sudan in the north-east converted to the right in 1973 for similar reasons.
Mr J. S. Moore, Malvern, Worcestershire
QUESTION Why do we say phrases such as the water is stone cold or stone cold sober?
In 14th-century Middle English, someone partially sighted was said to be samblind (sam, from Old English, meaning half, like the modern semi-). This later became corrupted to sand-blind, perhaps because of the idea of having grit in your eyes.
In the late 1590s, Shakespeares Launcelot Gobbo makes a joke on the word in The Merchant Of Venice when he describes his elderly father who has failed to recognise him as being more than sand-blind, high-gravel blind.
This is taken one stage further in Thomas Dekkers The Belman Of London (1608), when he writes I have seene men stone-blind. So the word stone-blind now means
completely blind.
In 1592, poet Nicholas Breton had similarly used the word stone-cold to mean completely cold, and in Henry V Act 2, the Hostess, recounting Falstaffs death, says: Then I felt to his knees... and all was as cold as any stone.
Stones are cold, hard, unchangeable and emotionless. We have expressions such as heart of stone, set in stone, and trying to extract blood from a stone. We speak of stone cold facts, stone cold certainties, and being left feeling stone cold. At other times we may be stony (absolutely) broke or stone cold sober.
In 1972, Philadelphia soul group The Stylistics had a hit record with Im Stone In Love With You, and in the 1990s wrestler Steven Anderson, after being told by his wife to drink a cup of tea before it went stone cold, decided to adopt the more ruthless-sounding name Stone Cold Steve Austin. He went on to become a world-famous WWE favourite.
Ian MacDonald, Billericay, Essex
The wild moment an angry customer confronted the Woolworths CEO about the supermarket profiting during a cost of living crisis has been caught on camera.
Chief executive Amanda Bardwell was meeting with employees at the Warrawong store in NSW's Illawarra region, when the heated exchange took place.
A customer started to fire off questions after catching the CEO and several staff members in the fresh fruit section.
'What do you have to say to the fact that your company is profiting off price gouging during the context of the cost of living crisis?' the shopper asked.
'Thank you for reaching out to us, we're doing everything we can to recognise that customers are doing it tough to make sure that they're able to get great prices,' Ms Bardwell replied.
The young shopper continued to question the CEO about Woolworths' profits.
'Your company has just bought a full extra supermarket chain through a vulture capitalist venture, so that you can continue to make big bucks while working class people suffer. Can you sleep at night knowing that?' she asked.
Ms Bardwell replied: 'Our team are doing everything that we can to support our customers. We understand that it is an incredibly difficult time right now.'
The university student confronted CEO Amanda Bardwell in a Woolworths in Wollongong
Long-time Woolworths staffer Amanda Bardwell (pictured) was appointed the new CEO of the supermarket giant earlier this year after Brad Banducci stood down
'If you understood then maybe you would be prepared to give up the billion dollar that the company has been making,' the shopper shot back.
A staff member was forced to intervene.
'We have lowered prices and you see that right throughout our store that's great value for our customers,' she said.
Ms Bardwell thanked the customer for sharing her views and said Woolworths was doing 'everything we can' to keep prices low for customers.
The interaction abruptly ended after the shopper and a man recording the interaction were told it was illegal to film people without permission in NSW.
'Shame,' the man behind the camera shouted as Ms Bardwell led the group of staff members away to the back of the store.
Many Aussies commended the young woman for her efforts.
'I'm sick of paying nearly $300 a week on groceries. That's choosing the cheapest products. My fridge still looks half empty when I unpack,' one said.
'I'm sure Coles and Woolworth management don't have cost of living crisis as they are getting bigger and bigger bonus year after year,' a second wrote.
A third shared: 'The supermarkets are in it to make huge profits. They don't care about their customers, they never have.'
Chief executive Amanda Bardwell was walking around a store in Wollongong, in NSW's Illawarra region, when the heated exchange took place
Other Aussies blasted the CEO's 'AI generated response' to the shopper.
'Not the verbatim email IN PERSON? Wow,' one person said.
A second wrote: ''Thanks for reaching out to us' omg she should've just said 'I hope this email finds you well'.'
A Woolworths spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: 'Ms Bardwell was at the Warrawong store to meet with local team members, as she has been doing as the new CEO over recent weeks.'
An ex-advisor to former President Donald Trump is predicting the candidate will go scorched-earth on ABC News if he wins the election.
Consultant Sam Nunberg made the claims on a podcast this week, during which he singled out Disney boss Bob Iger specifically. Disney is the parent company of ABC, which oversaw and aired the presidential debate earlier this month.
Nunberg, in turn, called out moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis for their performance, framing it as biased.
He labeled their display 'absolutely disgusting' - saying lecturers 'should show it in every journalism school' in an attempt to show 'what not to do'.
He added how Iger and his company are 'f**ked' in the event of a Trump win, claiming his old boss could be out for revenge. The comments come as Trump has repeatedly billed the debate as a 'rigged deal' - after being mercilessly fact-checked.
Sam Nunberg, a onetime advisor to former President Donald Trump, is predicting the candidate will go scorched-earth on ABC News if he wins the election. Nunberg briefly served on Trump's 2016 campaign, before ultimately endorsing Ted Cruz
made the claims on a podcast this week, during which he singled out Disney boss Bob Iger specifically. Disney is the parent company of ABC, which oversaw this month's debate
'I would not want to be Disney,' Nunberg told Tara Palmeri on her podcast with the news organization Puck. 'Disney is f**ked after that debate... They're absolutely f**ked.
'And Bob Iger really is going to have a lot to say if Trump is president,' he continued,
'Bob Iger is going to have a lot to explain to the shareholders how he let [David] Muir and that other person - Linsey Davis - Muir and Davis'
'[Their performance] was absolutely disgusting.'
Palmeri, playing devil's advocate, went on to insist how the pair of journalists were in the right to challenge Trump, repeatedly fact-checking him following unfounded assertions in previous debates.
'They called him out when he was actually lying,' she said - to which Nunberg replied negatively.
'Why did they not call her out?' he asked, referring to Harris.
'Shes a liar too.'
Nunberg, in turn, called out moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis for their performance, framing it as biased.
He also claim the differing treatment showed 'why America hates the media', before pointing to Trump's previous attacks on Disney and the company's feud with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Those instances, he said, show how something is allegedly amiss with the nation's mainstream media system - some eight years after he was pegged to be a political advisor to Trump's 2016 campaign.
That effort, against all odds, proved successful, but also saw him subpoenaed by a grand jury for testimony and documents over allegations Trump associates used their connections with Russian officials to interfere with the election.
During the subsequent investigation, Nunberg, when asked whether he believed that the special counsel may have damning evidence against his old boss, said '
'I think that he may have done something during the election,' he added.
'But I don't know for sure.'
Nunberg, who was not charged with any crime, went on to add: 'Donald Trump won this election on his own. He campaigned his ass off. And there is nobody who hates him more than me.'
The consultant's comments come as Trump has repeatedly billed the debate as a 'rigged deal' - after being mercilessly fact-checked.
Nunberg, along with his self-described mentor Roger Stone, helped prepare Trump for his first debate, the now infamous Republican faceoff held on August 6, 2015.
He went on to leave the campaign days later, after continued tensions with hen-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
He would go on to endorse Senator Ted Cruz for president in March 2016, saying Trump "does not have a coherent political ideology."
Conceding Trump lost this time around, Nunberg concluded the podcast by telling Palmeri why he had failed.
'He lost because for two reasons,' he said.
'One, he had an off night, he just had an off night. He was tired, whatever it was.'
Trump last week said he regretted not attacking the moderators more during the September 15 event, and has vowed not to debate Vice President Harris a second time as a result.
The latest search to locate missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy's body could finally unravel the mystery of what happened to her, according to one expert.
The 51-year-old was last seen leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat, Victoria, to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest on the morning of February 4.
A month later, Patrick Orren Stephenson, 23, was charged with her murder at Mount Clear on the day she went missing.
He is not speaking to detectives and they have yet to piece together the chain of events following her alleged murder and what has happened to her body.
'Ms Murphy disappeared seven months ago, which seems like a long time but it's not really, all things considered, and detectives wouldn't disclose publicly a lot of what they're doing,' criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told Daily Mail Australia.
'If this happened in Melbourne CBD, for example, there would be a lot more people around - potential witnesses, less places to dispose of evidence.
'We're talking about a vast rural area, there's dense forests and farmlands. It really is like trying to find needle in a haystack.'
But Dr Watson-Munro said the fact that an arrest was made quite quickly - along with the discovery of Ms Murphy's phone in near-perfect working condition on the bank of a dam in May - showed police had intelligence they were acting on.
'That phone was found near a muddy dam and had no degradation and the suspect has been in custody, so that raises the question of whether someone, a third-party, put that phone there,' he said.
Samantha Murphy (pictured) went missing while on a morning jog near her Ballarat home
Dozens of police officers gathered near Grenville, south of Ms Murphy's home, on Wednesday for a new search to locate her body
Police with sniffer dogs, horses and motorbikes set off from the Grenville Recreation Reserve to search bushland as heavy rain cleared
Dozens of police on Wednesday morning converged on an area of bushland where they believe Ms Murphy's body could be as part of a new targeted search.
Detectives from the Missing Persons Squad were joined by specialist officers from NSW Police and their federal counterparts.
Victoria Police Missing Persons Unit Detective Inspector Dave Dunstan said up to 45 officers with horses, dogs and motorbikes would scour the area near Grenville, south of Ballarat, as soon as heavy rains eased.
The search areas are in rugged terrain west of Enfield Plantation, which has been previously searched.
'The danger is there are a lot of mines here as well and that's one of the reasons we've brought out Search and Rescue,' he said.
'There are a lot of unidentified mines ... so it's super dangerous.'
Police are understood to be searching different areas spanning up to a three kilometre radius.
Dr Watson-Munro said the new search, especially in an area that had already been scoured, showed police could be zeroing in on what happened to Ms Murphy.
'The fact they haven't located Ms Murphy yet doesn't mean they're not moving forward on the case, they could be working on covert intelligence and so on,' he said.
'This is shown by the fact they found her phone so long after the event.
'Of all the dams in the area, police happened to focus in on that on.
'Phone batteries go flat within a matter of hours, if it was the last ping from that phone then surely police would have found it weeks earlier.'
The area has near Enfield State Park has been searched before with one expert pointing out police likely have intelligence they are acting on
Police earlier this year charged then 22-year-old tradesman Patrick Orren Stephenson with the murder of Ms Murphy
Dr Watson-Munro also said it was not unusual that a suspect was not talking to police.
'Without going into specifics about the suspect, who must be presumed innocent until proven otherwise, generally those arrested have a right to maintain silence,' he said.
'Most suspects act on legal advice. More often than not, a suspect will maintain the right to silence.'
He also added the Australian Federal Police joining the effort to locate Ms Murphy showed police were determined to uncover what happened to her.
'Bringing in the AFP clearly shows a strong motivation to find her, to get this solved,' he said.
'In terms of the expertise they bring, they would have a broader resource base but also it could be as simple as a fresh perspective to look at the case.'
Ms Murphy's husband Mick and their three children are desperate for answers about what happened to her
Police gathered at Grenville Recreation Reserve on Wednesday as part of the search for Ms Murphy
The search includes officers from NSW Police, the AFP and Search and Rescue
Grenville is about a 10-minute drive from Buninyong, where Ms Murphy's phone was found buried in the mud on the edge of an agricultural dam.
Scores of officers set out in soggy conditions on Wednesday to search the area, which shoulders bush, farmland, several timber plantations and the Yarrowee River.
'Since February, police have regularly undertaken a range of inquiries and small-scale searches as part of the current investigation,' Victoria Police said in a statement.
'We are not in a position to supply further specific details of today's operational activity at this time.'
Ms Murphy's disappearance led to an outpouring of grief in the Ballarat community and the nation, leading to an influx of volunteers joining the earlier searches.
Police have asked the public not to help on this occasion.
Police in March charged Stephenson with the murder of Ms Murphy.
He will front court in November, after prosecutors asked for a delay to go through an extensive evidence brief including reams of CCTV footage.
Stephenson is the son of Orren Stephenson, who played 15 AFL games for Geelong and Richmond between 2012 and 2014.
Ms Murphy's family has been advised of the new search.
The girlfriend of a 16-year-old boy who was allegedly stabbed to death in a busy shopping centre has urged her peers to 'stop carrying weapons'.
Briannan Hibbert changed her Instagram biography to include the message following the death of her boyfriend Oscar Hamilton on Tuesday.
Oscar Hamilton was allegedly stabbed in the outdoor food court of the Woodgrove Shopping Centre, in Melton West, in Melbourne's west, just before midday.
Paramedics performed CPR, but despite their best efforts, he died at the scene.
A 15-year-old boy from Melton West was arrested later on Tuesday and spent the night being interviewed by the detectives.
He has since been charged with one count of murder.
Police alleged the boy and Oscar were known to each other but insist no ties to youth gangs in the western suburbs have been established.
Photos shared to Instagram show some of Oscar's mates posing up with giant machetes.
Oscar (pictured) was allegedly stabbed in the outdoor food court of the Woodgrove Shopping Centre, in Melton West, in Melbourne's west, just before midday
Others have reposted the hashtags '#stopyouthcrime #stopyouthknifecrime #knivesdown' on their Instagram Stories (pictured)
Oscar's girlfriend left a message urging teens to 'stop carrying weapons' after the death of her boyfriend in her Instagram bio (pictured)
Others have reposted the hashtags '#stopyouthcrime #stopyouthknifecrime #knivesdown' on their Instagram Stories.
Friends of Oscar also re-shared his girlfriend's plea 'stop carrying weapons' on their own Instagram biographies.
Ms Hibbert has created a public Facebook group to commemorate Oscar, who she described as a 'beautiful soul that I was lucky enough to call my boyfriend'.
'It was never meant to end this way but I'm guessing heaven needed you more than us,' she continued.
'Nobody will ever get over this. You filled everyone's life with so much light and joy. You never failed to bring a smile to faces.
Police say Oscar's mother has been assisting investigators, who have since obtained CCTV of the alleged murder (the 16-year-old is pictured)
Photos shared to Instagram show some of Oscar's mates posing up with giant machetes
'Life will never be the same without you. My heart will forever ache knowing that you are gone.
'I will never forgive who did this to you. We are going to get you justice, don't you worry.
'Everyone was so lucky to have you in their life. This world was too cruel for your beautiful soul.'
It's understood Oscar's mother dropped him off at the shopping centre before he was allegedly stabbed 'several times' outside La Porchetta, in front of school holiday diners.
Police say Oscar's mother has been assisting investigators, who have since obtained CCTV of the alleged murder.
It's understood the weapon allegedly used is yet to be recovered by police.
Oscar's father, Steven Hamilton, released a statement on behalf of the family to The Age, saying his family's world had been 'shattered'.
Tributes have flowed for the 16-year-old (pictured) described as a 'beautiful soul'
Oscar was allegedly stabbed 'several times' outside La Porchetta, in front of shocked bystanders. Pictured are witnesses consoling each other
'Broken to pieces by a senseless act that cut short the life of our son and brother, Oscar,' the statement read.
'His loss has left a gaping hole in our hearts and our grief knows no bounds. We ask for the space and privacy to navigate this incredibly difficult time.'
Oscar's accused murderer appeared in court on Wednesday and was seen wiping away tears.
No details of the alleged offending were read in court, with the 15-year-old instead remanded to a committal mention in January.
His lawyer told the magistrate it was the 15-year-old's first time in custody and he needed to be assessed by a nurse. He did not apply for bail.
The incident comes just days after a local issued a warning to shoppers about possible 'gang' issues at the shopping centre.
'I've heard possible issues with gang problems this weekend at Woodgrove,' the woman wrote on Facebook on Saturday.
'Hopefully not true... Be aware of your surroundings.'
A Gettysburg College student allegedly had a racial slur carved into their chest during a men's swim meet gathering earlier this month.
The attacker reportedly used a box cutter to carve the N-word into the victim's chest on Sept. 6. Upperclassmen later reported the incident to the Pennsylvania college.
The alleged attacker and victim have not been identified. However, the victim's family told the Gettysburgian, a student-run news publication, that they considered the act a hate crime. They added that their son was the sole person of color at this gathering.
"The reprehensible act was committed by a fellow student-athlete, someone he considered his friend, someone whom he trusted," the family wrote.
A group of students were suspended from swim team activities during the college's investigation of the incident, including the victim.
Vice President for College Life Anne Ehrlich addressed the campus in an email on Sunday, confirming that the individual responsible for the attack is no longer enrolled at Gettysburg College. She also noted that the investigation is nearing its conclusion.
"We previously made a commitment to the family that once the investigation was nearing its completion, we would work with them about how most constructively to move forward. Those conversations have already begun," Ehrlich said.
The victim's family has filed complaints with the NAACP Pennsylvania Conference, the NAACP Harrisburg chapter, and the Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations, but has not pressed charges.
In a joint statement, the college and the victim's family said they hope the incident can serve as a "transformative moment" for the school community.
"Our intent is that in some small way a heinous act can serve as a transformative moment for Gettysburg College to live up to its ideals of diversity, inclusion and justice," they wrote.
Originally published on Latin Times.
Donald Trump shared a post by an OnlyFans model who claims migrants who 'can't even vote' are being paid hundreds of dollars to attend Kamala Harris rallies.
The OnlyFans star, Samantha Gangewere, was at her nail salon in Philadelphia when she heard the juicy political gossip and shared the news in a TikTok post on Monday.
'I just left my nail salon and my nail tech said their one cousin is in South Philly and she is getting paid $700 a week to go to wherever Kamala's campaign tells them to go to,' she said.
Gangewere, who has 125,000 TikTok followers and 1.9 million followers on Instagram, added: 'She's not even a citizen, she can't vote, but she wants that extra money.'
The former president has in the past suggested that crowds at the vice president's speeches are AI or paid attendees.
Donald Trump continued to question the legitimacy of crowds at Kamala Harris rallies by sharing OnlyFans model Samantha Gangewere wild theory on social media
The former president has in the past suggested that crowds at the vice president's speeches are AI or paid attendees
Gangewere, who also posts regularly on the adult site, shared with her followers what she claimed was an anecdote from getting her nails done.
'Why is Kamala's campaign all based on lies and scams?!' the post was captioned.
The model, who also co-owns a steakhouse with her husband, said that this is the strategy of the Harris campaign.
'Their campaign is getting a bunch of people, that's why you see these people on the side of the road with signs or whatever going to these protests. They get travel paid for and everything and they're not even able to vote.'
Gangewere, who often posts conservative views on her various social media platforms, reacted to Trump sharing her video on Instagram Tuesday night.
'I still can't believe Trump posted my story yesterday but my story is real. I don't make s*** up,' she said.
In August, Trump claimed Harris is faking the size of her rally, as he posted what he called an 'AI doctored photo' - even though there is no evidence that the photo was manipulated.
At issue is an image that emerged from a Harris-Walz rally at the Detroit Metro Airport that shows a large crowd standing in front of Air Force Two - the official airplane of the vice president.
Right-wingers have wrongfully alleged that inconsistencies in the news photo reveal that it was digitally manipulated - pointing to a lack of a reflection on the plane's turbine.
On Monday, he shared a TikTok post by Samantha Gangewere on his Truth Social account without further comment, titled 'Why is Kamala's campaign all based on lies and scams?!'
But the size of the crowd could easily be proven by videos of the event.
Still, Trump seized on the issue, claiming on his Truth Social platform that Harris 'AI'd it.'
'Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport?' he wrote. 'There was nobody at the plane, and she "AI'd" it, and showed a massive "crowd" of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN'T EXIST!'
'She's a CHEATER. She had NOBODY waiting and the "crowd" looks like 10,000 people!' he continued. 'Same thing is happening with her fake "crowds" at her speeches.'
'This is the way Democrats win Elections,' Trump argued. 'She should be disqualified because the creation of a fake image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE.
'Anyone who does that will cheat at ANYTHING!'
But the size of the crowd at the Harris rally could easily be proven by videos of the event.
Fact check website Snopes also said that the Winston AI Detector determined the image was '96 percent human' - meaning that it was 'likely photographed by someone and not created using an AI-generation tool.'
Gangewere, who often posts conservative views on her various social media platforms, reacted to Trump sharing her video on Instagram Tuesday night
In August, Trump claimed Harris is faking the size of her rally, as he posted what he called an ' AI doctored photo' - even though there is no evidence that the photo was manipulated
If anything, Snopes' findings indicate that 'it's possible that [the photograph's] lighting, shadows or filtering was digitally manipulated' but not the photo as a whole.
Spectrum News has also determined 'the crowd did in fact exist, and the rally was attended by thousands of people, many of whom posted their own pictures and videos of the event, which was also livestreamed by dozens of news channels and attended by a slew of prominent politicians.'
It went on to quote Michigan outlet MLive, which said 'About 15,000 people filled the hangar, the crowd spilling out onto the tarmac.'
Getty Images photographer Andrew Harnick has also defended his photograph.
'It was a large crowd, and the pictures that I took that are on the Getty website speak to that,' he told the Daily Beast.
Harnick explained that he used a zoom lens - which could make objects appear closer than they actually were.
'The plane is actually a pretty far distance from the crowd,' he said, noting that he has covered politics for decades and has not shown any biases.
'We keep our opinions to ourselves and just cover what we see in front of us,' Harnick said of photographers.
The Harris campaign eventually hit back at the former president for spreading the baseless accusation, reiterating that the photo was real and calling Trump 'low energy'.
Nat Barr has unleashed at a Labor minister over the Albanese Government's refusal to confirm or deny if it is considering changing negative gearing rules.
The Sunrise host spoke to Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth in a heated interview on Wednesday morning following reports the government had sought advice from Treasury about scaling back tax benefits for property investors.
Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese avoided giving a straight answer on the subject when pressed by reporters at a press conference in Tasmania.
Negative gearing policies allow property investors to claim tax deductions when the costs of owning and maintaining their investment properties, such as loan interest and maintenance expenses, exceed the rental income they earn from them.
This tax benefit can reduce the property investor's taxable income and is used by investors to lower their tax bills.
'Amanda, are you considering scaling back negative gearing in this country?' Barr asked.
Ms Rishworth said Labor was focused on getting more houses built to address the nation's housing shortage and it was not Labor's current proposal to add negative gearing measures to that.
'We've got a really ambitious housing policy that is focused on supply. It is not our proposal to address or to add negative gearing to that. We're getting on with the job of increasing supply for housing,' she said.
Labor Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth (left) copped a grilling from Nat Barr (right) over reports the government sought advice about scaling back negative gearing
But Barr pressed on asking if the government had specifically sought advice about scaling back the tax benefits from Treasury, even if it was not part of a current proposal.
Barr repeated the question multiple times but, rather than give a yes or no response, Ms Rishworth took aim at her political opponents.
'I have to be very clear that as the government, our focus is on delivering our housing agenda that we have got in front of us, quite frankly, if the Greens and the Coalition would get out of the way in the Senate.'
'Okay that's obviously a non-answer,' an exasperated Barr said.
Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume, who appeared on the same interview as Ms Rishworth, claimed scaling back negative gearing could reduce the amount of rental properties provided by investor landlords.
'You take away negative gearing, as clearly the government are planning to do, that's why they are commissioning the work you are going do have a dramatic impact on rental supply,' she said.
'That's a real problem in this country already. It would only make it worse.'
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten's plan to get rid of negative gearing contributed to him losing the 'unloseable election' to Scott Morrison in 2019.
When Mr Albanese took over, he said changes to negative gearing were off the table.
Anthony Albanese would not confirm whether his government is considering changes to the tax benefits for property investors amid a housing shortage
In interviews last week, Mr Albanese was asked repeatedly if Labor would consider changes to negative gearing, and at no point did he rule it out.
'I don't answer those sorts of questions,' he said on ABC Radio National last Thursday.
But two days before that, he publicly made reference to a claim from the Property Council of Australia that changing negative gearing would hurt housing supply.
'So that is one of the reasons why we're very cautious about that,' he told ABC Radio Sydney.
Being 'cautious' is not ruling something out, though, and one Labor official who spoke to Nine Newspapers said: 'This is what Labor needs and wants they need to have a fight on policies that shows what they stand for.
'It's in the values frame. This is why Albo was reticent about ruling it out the other day. Look at what Albo has said, he has not knocked it on the head.
'This will give the government something big and positive to talk about, it will be a major talking point in the campaign.'
Governments often request policy evaluations from Treasury officials without intending to follow through with changes.
However, according to the official, the modelling suggested that Labor was gearing up to present changes before the upcoming election.
Labor requested similar modelling from the bureaucracy before changing the Coalition's Stage Three tax cuts earlier this year.
Donald Trump has claimed he received intel briefings that Iran has made 'real and specific threats' to assassinate him.
The Republican presidential candidate's campaign gave the chilling update Tuesday night, in a statement that painted the plans 'as an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States.'
The bulletin was sent out by Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung, and claimed the ex-commander-in-chief had been briefed about the supposed plot.
This comes days after investigators found that Iranian 'malicious cyber actors' emailed associates of President Biden's campaign with information 'taken from stolen, non-public material from Trump's campaign' over the summer.
It also follows two failed assassination attempts on the aspiring two-term president, the most recent of which occurred just this month.
Donald Trump's campaign claimed Iran has made 'real and specific threats' to assassinate him on Tuesday night.
'President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States,' Cheung's bulletin began.
'Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure [he] is protected and the election is free from interference.
'Make no mistake, the terror regime in Iran loves the weakness of Kamala Harris, and is terrified of the strength and resolve of President Trump,' the senior Trump staffer continued.
'He will let nothing stop him or get in his way to fight for the American people and to Make America Great Again.'
The statement did not offer any detail on the assassination plot, and has yet to be substantiated by the government.
Iran - the home of anti-Israel group Hezbollah- has previously denied all claims of meddling in US affairs.
However, just last week, multiple federal agencies discerned hackers from the country had sent emails containing stolen material from Trump's campaign to people involved in Biden's then re-election campaign.
The claims from Trump's campaign come days after feds found that Iranian 'malicious cyber actors' emailed associates of President Biden's campaign with information 'taken from stolen, non-public material from Trump's campaign' over the summer
Officials painted the breach as being part of a broader effort by Tehran to influence the upcoming election, hence the Trump campaign's comments Tuesday that Iran 'is terrified' by the prospect of another four years of the former president.
'Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump's campaign to US media organizations,' the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement Wednesday.
'This malicious cyber activity is the latest example of Iran's multi-pronged approach to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process,' the agencies added.
The joint statement went on to conceded that there was no information to suggest the recipients replied.
Officials also elected to not provide further details on the nature of the stolen material, as did President Biden.
He stepped aside as candidate in late July, before being replaced by Democratic Vice President Harris.
She is now poised to face-off Trump in a tight race come November, where several swing states appear to be up for grabs.
Officials also elected to not provide further details on the nature of the stolen material, as did President Biden
Politico, meanwhile, recently reported that it began receiving emails on July 22 from an anonymous account identified only as 'Robert', who passed along what appeared to be a research dossier that the campaign had apparently done on Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
The document was dated February 23, five months before Trump selected Vance as his running mate.
It remains unclear whether this document was part of the breach, which is still being vetted.
At the same time, feds are probing the recent assassination attempt on Trump at his Florida golf course, as well as the failed shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania back in July.
As of writing, there has been no indication the Iranian government was responsible, as the country continues to deny any involvement in the leaked materials.
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.
A young boy has had a great escape from a crocodile lurking just centimetres away at a picturesque lagoon in far northern Western Australia.
Video emerged of two children tempting fate at the water's edge as they quickly realised that something wasn't right in what's peak crocodile breeding season.
The footage, captured at Kununurra, in the Kimberley region, showed one of the boys climbing down to the water's edge and picking out what appears to be a tiny lily pad, seemingly unaware of the stealthy freshwater croc edging closer to him.
'That lily pad just moved,' he said in the video.
'That lily pad was moving closer to us there's bubbles coming up. It's literally coming closer. See, just there.'
A croc is then seen quietly poking its head out of the water, with its snout and eyes only just visible.
The spooked boys continued to chat, but neither ventured back into the water to further investigate.
It's the second close croc shave in the space of a month after a scare for a young child and a group of people who were fishing at Cahill's Crossing in the NT.
A stealthy freshwater croc hovers by two children playing by the water's edge at a WA lagoon.
The young boy tempts fate at the water's edge with a deadly predator just centimetres away.
Footage showered there were about a dozen large crocs within 50m of the tourist group.
The woman who shared the video to TikTok hit out at the group of onlookers.
This is why tourists get eaten by crocodiles, she said in the video, which was taken from higher ground.
It followed a similar scene at Cahills Crossing earlier this year when an ABC reporter also raised concerns after seeing people loitering on the embankment.
This act was condemned by Kakadu National Park staff.
The release of the Kununurra video also prompted a warning from the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions about the potential dangers hiding in murky water.
'People should always be croc wise in the north of Western Australia,' a spokesperson told Yahoo, adding that now is peak crocodile breeding season.
Freshwater crocs breed in the dry season, between July and October.
A former employee of a nonprofit organ recovery group has claimed she was asked to harvest organs from a person who was still living - and then fired after airing her qualms to members of Congress.
Nyckoletta Martin, 38, made the latter revelations Tuesday to the Wall Street Journal, describing how she was let go by organ collection group Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates on September 13.
Days before, a letter she wrote to the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee was read and discussed on the House floor, after it alleged that there is currently outsized pressure on organ collectors.
Singling out the organ-procurement group in Kentucky where she worked, she recalled being pressured to retrieve organs from a patient before he died - while he was awake. He later left the facility alive, Martin said - choosing not to name him.
Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates, abbreviated KODA, is one of 56 federally chartered nonprofits tasked with procuring organs for transplant. A spokesperson said the firm 'strictly adheres' to laws and national guidelines set in place by the US government.
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Procurement worker Nyckoletta Martin, 38, said she was asked to take organs from a person who was still living Tuesday - and that she was later fired after refusing and airing her qualms
She was let go by organ collection group Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates on September 13 - two days after her allegations surfaced. The firm's Louisville headquarters is seen here
'What is clear to me from my time at KODA is that the [organ procurement organization] does not operate in patients' interests,' Martin, a mom-of-five, wrote in the letter sent to the committee.
'[The group] regularly engages in unethical activities for the sole purpose of trying to keep its lucrative government contract,' she added.
The letter went on to claim that when a surgeon refused an officials' order, Martin and other workers were ordered to find a different surgeon who would do it willingly.
They refused as well, she said - allowing the patient to later leave alive after he recovered.
The patient's condition and malady was not made clear by what was read, as other statements sent by alleged witnesses saying they have witnessed similar activity were read as well.
All insisted that procurement groups in various states - like KODA - have begun to push workers and surgeons to take organs from patients who were still alive.
A liver transplant surgeon at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Robert Cannon, told the committee how he was allegedly told to procure organs from a spontaneously breathing patient, which he said 'would have been murder.'
Greg Segal, head of an advocacy group that seeks to reform the organ procurement process, alleged another Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) had given potential organ donors doses of fentanyl to hasten their deaths.
Days before, a letter she wrote to the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee was read and discussed on the House floor, after it alleged there is currently outsized pressure on organ collectors
There, reps took turns criticizing UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing), the body manages the OPTN, which KODA is a part of
He did not provide any evidence to support those claims, as was the case with Martin, who is a mother of five.
She said the incident in question occurred at a Kentucky hospital in 2021, and that the man KODA wanted her to retrieve organs from was 'crying' and 'shaking his head "No" as she, the surgeon, and other procurement workers refused their requests.'
She told the Journal how she later quit the KODA job and found work at Paragonix - a leading organ transport products and services company.
There, she helps surgeons prepare organs for transit, following their removal from deceased donors.
She also connected the paper with the sister of the patient she says was almost killed, Donna Rhorer.
While not substantiating Martin's claims, the woman said her brother has improved since leaving the hospital three years ago, but still has brain damage and is undergoing speech and occupational therapy.
No other details were provided.
The House Energy subcommittee, meanwhile, held the meeting to address the Health Resources and Services Administrations (HRSA) ongoing updates to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which firms like KODA belong to.
Greg Segal, head of an advocacy group that seeks to reform the organ procurement process, alleged another Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) had given potential organ donors doses of fentanyl to hasten their deaths
Dr. Karp, meanwhile, alleged corruption and mismanagement by both UNOS and OPTN, framing the board and committee volunteers managing both as 'industry insiders' who have inherent conflicts of interest with their institution or professional organizations
Robert Cannon, a liver transplant surgeon at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told the committee how he was allegedly told to procure organs from a spontaneously breathing patient, which he said 'would have been murder'
Others called for 'reform,' 'transparency,' and 'accountability', as well as a 'complete overhaul' of organ transplantation systems, which sees companies like KODA receive grants from the federal government
There, reps took turns criticizing UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing), the body manages the OPTN. Others called for 'reform,' 'transparency,' and 'accountability', as well as a 'complete overhaul' of organ transplantation systems.
Dr. Cannon, at one point, said, 'Ive had an OPO administrator recommend I proceed with organ procurement despite legitimate concerns that the donor was still alive.'
Dr. Karp, meanwhile, alleged corruption and mismanagement by both UNOS and OPTN, framing the board and committee volunteers managing both as 'industry insiders' who have inherent conflicts of interest with their institution or professional organizations.
'In broad daylight, the OTPN suppresses data suggesting that new policies increase organ discards and lead to more patient deaths, and continues to ignore the increased discards, complexity, and costs generated by their new policies,' he said.
'In the backroom, OPTN leaders assure that no OPO leader will be held accountable for poor performance, and seek to prevent competition,' he continued.
The Kentucky Attorney Generals Office said it is investigating the allegation against KODA, which went on to slam Martin's claims in a statement. 'We do not make determinations of death, nor do we compromise ethical standards for organ donation,' it read
'They threaten to sabotage any new contractor by refusing to release data and share information centers, and intimidated and retaliated against those in the community with whom they disagreed.'
The Kentucky Attorney Generals Office said it is investigating the allegation against KODA, which went on to slam Martin's claims in a statement.
'Our commitment to ethical practices means that we follow rigorous protocols to ensure patient safety and integrity throughout the organ donation process,' it read.
'Organ donation only proceeds after a patient has been declared deceased by independent clinicians from the treating hospital, and we have clear procedures to follow if a patient's condition changes.
'We do not make determinations of death, nor do we compromise ethical standards for organ donation.'
Several primary school students and one adult have been injured after a lighting rig fell onto them.
The accident unfolded at Barramurra Public School at Oran Park, south-west of Sydney, on Wednesday.
Multiple ambulances were sent to the school with staff urgently calling parents.
A young boy called Kayden said 'we were doing a showcase, then this light fell on some kid and a couple of people got injured'.
'A little girl got injured really bad. She was bleeding, but she's OK,' he said.
Veronica, a grandmother who had flown in to see her granddaughter perform at the school, described it as 'scary'.
A NSW Ambulance spokesman said they were called to the school at around 12pm, while video showed at least one child being wheeled out on a stretcher.
'Paramedics treated multiple patients at the scene, most of whom were children, and also one adult,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
Several primary school students and one adult have been injured after a lighting rig fell onto them
Veronica (pictured), a grandmother who had flown in to see her granddaughter perform at the school, said 'It's scary'
'They were treated for minor injuries, with one child being transported to Campbelltown Hospital and two children being taken to Westmead Children's Hospital.
'They are all in a stable condition with minor injuries.'
Ambulance crews were still at the school as of early afternoon on Wednesday.
A NSW Police spokesman said 'nobody was seriously injured' in the incident.
A huge crowd of anxious parents was seen forming outside of the school following the incident.
A school spokesman addressed the gathered parents and carers and said their children could not yet be signed out of the school.
'Please just make your way home and give us an hour or so and then we'll be able to have more contact with you,' he said.
A performance that was scheduled to take place at the school this afternoon has been cancelled.
Children dressed up in brightly coloured outfits were seen walking around the school.
'It's scary. The first thing you think about is "How is my grandchild?" Veronica said.
Another woman, who was picking up her grandchild, was heard asking her granddaughter, 'Is everyone OK? Did you see the light fall?'
A huge crowd (pictured) of parents and carers gathered on the pavement outside the school
The accident unfolded at Barramurra Public School at Oran Park in south-west of Sydney on Wednesday
A NSW Department of Education spokesperson said that 'Earlier today, a piece of equipment fell during an end of term performance and injured eight Barramurra Public School students, as well as two members of the audience.
'The school immediately contacted emergency services and provided first aid to those injured.
'Three students have been transported to hospital with minor injuries, while the remaining students and audience members were treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics on-site.
'Safe Work is investigating the incident, and the school is providing support to students, staff and families,' the spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
TV veteran Georgie Gardner slapped down a junior female producer with a crushing outburst, telling her to 'grow up!' during a row over scripts.
Sources at Nine have revealed the new details of the fiery in-studio clash that prompted a complaint last month.
The star newsreader - who earns $600,000 a year to present the news twice a week - blew up at the junior colleague over the Saturday night news bulletin on August 31.
A TV source told Daily Mail Australia the alleged incident was sparked over the way Gardner's scripts had been prepared prior to going on air.
Georgie turned up in a terrible mood, they said.
'She didn't think the rundown was satisfactory or the way the intros (to news stories) were written - and basically said it was s***.
The mood was tense and she insisted on rewriting the intros herself.
'The junior producer (who Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to name) said she wasn't finished with them yet, prompting Georgie to walk behind her and snap at her to "grow up".'
According to the source, the heated argument continued into the studio as the scripts were loaded into the teleprompter.
At least part of the exchange was allegedly recorded and handed over to management for an internal inquiry following an official complaint.
It was intense but a lot of people were there and witnessed the argument, the source said.
Above, Georgie Gardner presents Nine's news bulletin on the night of her alleged on-set tirade
Gardner was spotted looking distressed and dishevelled on Monday following revelations she is being investigated at Nine over the alleged spray
Gardner disappeared from her regular weekend newsreading duties for two weeks following the alleged altercation.
However, she was reportedly on scheduled leave and returned to work last Friday evening.
Nine has refused to publicly comment on the complaint made against Gardner.
However, the network's director of news and current affairs, Fiona Dear, said in a statement: 'Georgie Gardner is a highly regarded longstanding member of our Nine News team.
'We offer no further comment.'
The internal investigation could not come at a worse time for the highly paid Gardner.
The long-serving newsreader's contract is among those being carefully reviewed by the company's financial controllers as the cash-strapped network desperately tries to rein in costs.
Gardner's eye-watering salary is a legacy from her short-lived reign as the network's Today show co-host in 2019, alongside fellow newsreader Deb Knight, after Nine's failed experiment with a new all-female line-up.
Georgie Gardner and Deb Knight co-hosted Nine's Today breakfast show for a year - alongside then newsreader Tom Steinfort - in 2019 before the experiment was considered a failure
The newsreader was seen wearing a ProCare 'post-op' shoe on her left foot while having her coffee on Monday, fuelling speculation her recent leave is related to medical dramas
Senior network insiders said the deal was 'no longer justifiable' and that she was among a number of key stars expected to take massive pay cuts in the coming months.
Gardner remained behind close doors on Sunday as news of the internal investigation into her alleged behaviour was made public.
It is not suggested that Gardner engaged in any improper conduct, only that a complaint has been made and an investigation is taking place.
The star ventured out on Monday morning to take her dog for a walk through the tree-lined streets around her Mosman home.
At one point the high-profile presenter was seen crying in her car during a long phone conversation.
The accusation is not the only battle Gardner is facing at the moment.
The newsreader was seen wearing a ProCare 'post-op' shoe on her left foot while having her coffee on Monday, fuelling speculation her recent leave is related to medical dramas.
Daily Mail Australia has approached Gardner and Nine for comment.
Anthony Albanese has been blasted by the Coalition for potentially considering axing negative gearing for property investors, even as his own $2.2million investment property goes on the market.
The Labor government has reportedly asked Treasury for advice on possible changes to tax exemptions for landlords, including modelling on the economic repercussions of phasing out the concessions.
Negative gearing policies allow property investors to claim tax deductions when the costs of owning and maintaining the property, such as loan interest and maintenance expenses, exceeds the rental income.
These tax benefits can reduce the investor's taxable income, potentially leading to a lower tax bill.
When asked about the situation on Wednesday, Mr Albanese did not deny seeking advice from Treasury. Instead, he said: 'What we do is we value the public service.'
'So from time to time, I'm sure the public service are looking at policy ideas. That's because we value them.'
Earlier this year, the Prime Minister evicted his long-term tenant in Dulwich Hill, in Sydney's inner-west, and listed the brick townhouse for auction.
A senior Opposition spokesman has accused the PM of 'making a ton on his rental properties' and 'pulling up the ladder behind him'.
Anthony Albanese (pictured with his partner Jodie Haydon) may look at negative gearing changes
Jim Flanagan, 45, has lived in one of Mr Albanese's investment properties in the inner-west Sydney suburb of Dulwich Hill for four years
It comes as a RealEstate.com.au analysis has shown Mr Albanese could have claimed tax breaks of up to $25,000 in his first year of owning the investment property.
'Pretty curious isnt it, now Anthony Albanese is finished making a ton on his rental properties he is selling up and getting Treasury to look at pulling up the ladder behind him,' the Opposition spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.
'Why should middle Australia cop another hit so Labor can blow more money on wasteful spending like hundreds of thousands of dollars on Business Class trips for the "First Nations Ambassador" or taxpayer funded jobs for union officials?'
That was a reference to Justin Mohamed, the First Nations People's Ambassador, who spent about $145,000 on business class flights last financial year - while making $350,000 a year.
The spokesperson continued: 'Albo should spend less time trying to increase taxes and sort out his spending addiction.
'Labor sees middle Australia as a cash cow and they are cooking up more taxes I reckon most Australians are bloody fed up with it.'
Mr Albanese's tenant Jim Flanagan, a struggling bar owner, revealed in May he had been given 90 days to leave property before it hit the market.
Anthony Albanese's investment property is up for sale. It is worth about $2.2million
The Prime Minister said he was selling the property (pictured) for personal reasons
The PM said his personal life had changed and that he had decided to sell the property. The three-bedroom house is currently on a real estate website and is yet to be sold.
'He has every right to do this,' Mr Flanagan previously told media.
'I'm not suggesting that he doesn't. But I think renters again are really exposed at the moment, that power imbalance has been exacerbated by the rental crisis and the cost-of-living crisis.'
'I guess we're just looking for again a little bit more of a considered communicative approach. Maybe a discussion. I certainly wasn't even provided with the opportunity to discuss an increase of the rent, staying a little bit longer, potentially if the house was going on the market.'
It was then revealed Mr Albanese had reduced the rent for Mr Flanagan during the pandemic and did not raise it back to market value two years later, before he decided to sell.
If Mr Albanese was making a loss on the property, he likely benefited from negative gearing.
Speaking at a press conference in Tasmania on Wednesday, the Prime Minister deflected questions about changing negative gearing and would not be drawn on whether or not his government asked Treasury for modelling.
'I didn't confirm that. Treasury, I'm sure like other departments, do a range of proposals, policy ideas. I want a public service that is full of ideas,' he said.
Anthony Albanese would not confirm whether his government is considering changes to the tax benefits for property investors amid a housing shortage
But Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday confirmed his department was examining possible policy changes including negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount.
'Treasury looks at all kinds of policy options all of the time,' he told reporters.
'It's not unusual for the public service, and in my case my department, to examine issues that are being speculated about in the public or in the Parliament, that's how a good public service operates.'
A separate ALP source confirmed that negative gearing changes were being considered, but the government could still decide not to move forward with any policy shift ahead of the next election, due by May 2025.
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten's plan to get rid of negative gearing contributed to him losing the 'unloseable election' to Scott Morrison in 2019.
When Mr Albanese took over the party leadership, he said changes to negative gearing were off the table.
Ed Miliband has ordered the nuclear police force to hire more staff to protect key energy infrastructure projects amid a rise in targeted protests at sites by environmental groups like Just Stop Oil and Greenpeace.
Labour's new energy secretary has said the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) should broaden its remit to protect not just nuclear sites but also new and existing gas terminals.
Curently, oil and gas sites are guarded by troops from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) however it is thought the CNC will take over full responsibility in April next year and will focus to start with on bolstering the UK's coastal gas plants.
Groups like Just Stop Oil and Greenpeace have made no secret of their opposition to new and existing UK fossil fuel sites.
In 2022, 20 JSO activists blocked a critical facility at Kingsbury oil terminal in Warwickshire by gluing themselves to the road outside.
Ed Miliband has ordered the nuclear police force to hire more staff to protect key energy infrastructure projects amid a rise in targeted protests
Activists from 'Just Stop Oil' close down the Gray's Inter Terminals by boarding fuel haulage vehicles on April 1, 2022
Activists from Just Stop Oil sit on an oil tanker as they block the Kingsbury oil terminal in Warwickshire this morning
The protest was part of a series of stunts that saw ten oil terminals blocked across the country in an effort to bring the nation to a standstill.
Greenpeace have also staged direct action against the oil industry.
Last year, the group boarded a Shell oil production vessel in transit off the coast of the Canary Islands and commandeered it for 13 days, steering it to Norway and away from its planned course of drilling in the North Sea.
And in this year, the eco-group ran a call to arms on their official site, describing how 'investing in new gas infrastructure is like stepping on the accelerator of a car heading for a cliff.'
The big push to bolster CNC staff has already begun in earnest, with roles on the force's site indicating they are actively hiring at Easington in Hull, Norfolk's Bacton terminal and the St Fergus terminal in Aberdeenshire.
The CNC is currently made up of just 1600 staff and works across the UK's nuclear capabilities with both a ground and marine force.
It's thought that as well as wishing to strengthen the UK's energy supply against domestic disruption, the government's descision is also in part to bolster security from foreign threats.
Greenpeace activists in fast boats approach an oil production ship owned by Shell, which is suing the group for 1.7million in damages
The CNC has said that the changes to staffing are 'not being undertaken in response to a new threat being identified.'
A spokesman for the CNC said: 'The Energy Act 2023 amended the Energy Act 2004 to enable the CNC to provide a wider range of policing services beyond the civil nuclear sector in the interests of national security.
'Any provision of policing services outside of the CNC's core mission of protecting civil nuclear sites and civil nuclear material, requires the approval of the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
'The Energy Act 2023 recognises that the CNC is an important national asset and enables the CNC's specialist skills and capabilities to be utilised across a range of sectors to protect the public.'
A goverment spokesperson said: 'The Civil Nuclear Constabulary will commence responsibility for providing continued armed police protection at specific energy infrastructure from 1 April 2025, having been given consent to do so by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.'
MailOnline has approached Greenpeace and Just Stop Oil for comment.
A college in Idaho owes a local coffee shop owner $4 million after a jury agreed she lost her contract following a conflict over her public support of law enforcement.
Sarah Fendley was awarded $3 million for lost business, reputational damage, mental and emotional distress and personal humiliation on September 13, and another $1 million in punitive damages from a specific school staffer.
The money will come from Boise State University, after a jury discerned the school trampled on the Big City Coffee owner's First Amendment rights.
She had originally sued for $10 million, after thin-blue line stickers she posted outside the on-campus location fueled backlash from the student body. This, lawyers said, came during protests organized in response to the murder of George Floyd.
Forced to close within a year, Fendley later claimed the school terminated her contract because of her support for police - an assertion jurors agreed with.
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A school in Idaho owes a local coffee shop owner $4million after a conflict involving her public support of law enforcement.
Sarah Fendley was awarded $3 million for lost business, reputational damage, mental and emotional distress and personal humiliation on September 13, and another $1million in punitive damages from a specific school staffer
'I have gratitude to the jury of 12 peers that unanimously came back with the verdict in my favor,' Fendley, who cried as the verdict was read, told KTVB in a statement.
'I am grateful they committed three weeks of their lives to hearing my case.
'It's been almost four years since I was removed from Boise State campus and my attorney, Mike Roe said it best in closing arguments to the jury, "This case is not about liberal vs. conservative, Black vs. white, gay vs. straight."'
'It's not even about anti-police vs. pro police,' she continued.
'It's about highly educated, highly compensated, government officials running Idaho's largest university grossly mistreating a small businesswoman because they didn't care about her and doing so was easier than doing the right thing.
'In that mistreatment,' she said, 'they violated [my] First Amendment rights to free speech and free expression.'
In a statement also sent to KTVB, Keely Duke, the attorney represented the school, said: 'We respectfully but strongly disagree with today's verdict and plan to appeal. We were honoring the First Amendment rights of all involved.'
Duke, meanwhile, also represented two BSU administrators - ex-vice president for student affairs and enrollment management Leslie Webb and chief financial and operating officer and vice president for finance and operations Alicia Estey.
The money will come from Boise State University, after a jury discerned the school trampled on the Big City Coffee owner's First Amendment rights
The latter took the stand Friday as the last witness after hastily calling a meeting with Fendley back in 2020 to warn her about the social media 'firestorm' her post had created, the business owner's suit.
Estey also secretly recorded much of the meeting, and hours before it started, she and other administrators had been drafting a press release about the business leaving campus, Fendley's attorney said.
This, he argued, made it clear she and Webb had a single outcome in mind - caving into the demands of outraged student activists.
Estey on Friday shot back: 'We didn't retaliate against her at all.
'She made a choice to leave which was her choice to make,' she continued. 'There was no retaliation.'
Big Citys campus shop would go on to close four days after the meeting, after student activists chided Fendley and her store online.
'I hope yall dont go there if you truly support your bipoc peers and other students, staff and faculty,' one student posted on Snapchat at the time, using an acronym that refers to black and Indigenous people, as well as people of color.
Fendley, who had been engaged to a former Boise police officer who had been paralyzed in a gunfight at the time, responded to it with her own public Facebook and Instagram posts, in which she doubled down on her support for police.
Seen at middle crying as the verdict was read, Fendley - who was forced to close in 2021 after the school terminated her contract - originally sued for $10million
The came after thin-blue line stickers she posted outside the on-campus location fueled backlash from the student body
Shortly after, her contract with the school was terminated - spurring her to file the now resolved lawsuit.
Jurors awarded her an additional $1 million in punitive damages from Webb, who argued it was her job to hear students out as the school's former vice president of student affairs.
She now works as an administrator at the University of Montana.
As of writing, it remains unclear if the university, insurance, or Webb and Estey themselves in their personal capacity will pay the damages.
Several elite U.S. universities are receiving millions of dollars in financial support from fossil fuel companies, new research shows.
According to The Guardian, reports released Wednesday highlight six schools American University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Princeton University, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and the University of California, San Diego. These reports were put together by student activists working with Campus Climate Network, a global student-led group pushing schools to cut ties with big oil.
To trace fossil fuel funding, the researchers dug into tax records, looked at university boards for members linked to the fossil fuel industry, and checked academic publications for conflict of interest statements, the outlet reported.
The full extent of fossil fuel funding remains murky, as most universities don't disclose their backers. However, a 2023 analysis by Data for Progress estimated fossil fuel companies have funneled at least $700 million to 27 U.S. universities over the past decade.
Some schools are pushing back against calls for transparency. And a 65-page federal report published earlier this year shows companies often attach strings to their grants, requiring academic cooperation.
For example, Princeton University has come under fire for its ties to Petrotiger, a British Virgin Islands-based oil company linked to bribery and corruption scandals. Notably, a number of its former executives were charged with plotting to bribe Colombian officials in order to obtain contracts. Despite Princeton's 2022 pledge to divest from certain fossil fuel companies, the school still received about $140 million from Petrotiger and another $70 million from other fossil fuel firms between 2013 and 2023, the students' research found.
Other reports shared by The Guardian showed that American University had received over $1 million from the fossil fuel sector in the past decade. Additionally, it took in around $1.41 million from the Koch Foundation, a philanthropic foundation owned by the petroleum company Koch Inc., which has a long history of challenging climate research.
Meanwhile, Columbia University has received nearly $44 million in funding from fossil fuel interests since 2005 and has published 784 papers with industry sponsorship, the reports found.
British Airways has axed its 'transparent' uniforms which enabled pervy passengers to leer at stewardesses.
Women on the cabin crew were forced to suffer stares due to the see-through material used by designer Oswald Boateng.
Humiliated staff shared photos on social media to demonstrate how transparent their uniforms are, leading to uproar against the airline.
BA bosses have now admitted the thin uniforms were a mistake and are creating new ones that are 43 per cent thicker.
Crew members complained that the new uniforms led to some passengers commenting on their underwear which could be seen through blouses
The controversial uniforms were unveiled in 2023 and were meant to 'take the airline into the next chapter' and for a non-binary crew.
BA heralded the launch as 'marking a new era' for the airline, but its female staff hit out at the 'cheap' look of the uniform, while others described the uniforms as 'deliberately androgynous'.
Crew members complained that the new uniforms, which included a 'modern jumpsuit', skirt and trouser options for women and a tailored three-piece suit for men with regular and slim-fit style trousers, led to some passengers commenting on their underwear which could be seen through blouses.
Female staff even threatened to walk out over the 'humiliating fiasco', leading to union officials input.
Crew members were left humiliated after being 'asked multiple questions by travellers about their bra'.
One employee told The Sun: Sending stewardesses to serve boozy passengers in see-through tops wasn't a good idea.'
British Airways staff show off their new uniforms. The airline has a policy which allows staff who identify as a certain gender to wear that clothing
British Airways unveiled the new uniform for the first time in nearly 20 years last year with the collection of garments set to 'take the airline into its next chapter'
Red-faced bosses told staff it had listened to feedback from 10,000 workers and acknowledged that 'garments are underperforming'.
They previously said the designer had done 'exhaustive' research on the needs of cabin crew before unveiling the uniform.
Previous official guidance suggested that 'undergarments should be plain white or nude, with no lace, patterns or writing'.
But bosses have now backed down, removing the stipulations on what underwear staff wear.
The British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association told staff: 'The eagle eyes amongst you may have noticed that the 'Underwear' Standard that was somehow to be applied to Female Ground Staff and Cabin Crew, has mysteriously but thankfully disappeared.
'That we even had to raise this issue at all beggars belief.'
The airline said previously: 'We've removed a recommendation from our uniform guidelines and will continue to listen to our colleagues about what works best for them.'
MailOnline has contacted BA for comment.
Predator Mohamed Al-Fayed sponsored a Metropolitan Police car a year after he was publicly accused of raping and sexually assaulting dozens of women, MailOnline can reveal.
In pictures likely to cause major embarrassment to Scotland Yard, the depraved billionaire grins from behind the wheel of the blue and white marked Rover wearing a police-issue peaked cap.
The driver's door bears the inscription, 'This car is sponsored by Harrods', in the store's distinctive script.
MailOnline discovered the long-forgotten photos days after a BBC documentary showed the Egyptian-born businessman and TV star to be a prolific sexual predator who for more than three decades used wealth and status to abuse girls and women on his payroll.
More than 20 told the Corporation how he'd assaulted them, with four saying they'd been raped.
In this picture disgraced businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed can be seen grinning from behind the wheel of a blue and white marked Rover that he sponsored
The driver's door of the vehicle (pictured) bears the inscription, 'This car is sponsored by Harrods', in the store's distinctive script
Mohamed Al Fayed is accused of raping multiple women during his time as Harrods owner from 1984 to 2010
It comes as a former Metropolitan Police officer who was recruited to work as a Harrods security guard reveals the uncomfortably close relationship Fayed had with law enforcement.
Deborah Bull, 64, said: 'I would say the car would be sat outside Harrods most days and the officers in the vehicle would come into security or the store. I saw them on a couple of occasions having a cup of tea in the security office.
'If it wasn't his idea Al-Fayed was certainly on in, his head of security John MacNamara was an ex-Met copper and they would've laughed at something like this.'
In a statement during the 1996 publicity stunt, Fayed said he was gifting the vehicle because 'we all have a stake in making our city a safer and better place'.
Two years before the picture was taken, MacNamara, dubbed 'Mac the Knife' - a former Met Superintendant - allegedly had a woman arrested after learning she planned to accuse Fayed of sexual assault at a tribunal.
MacNamara was allegedly at the heart of Al Fayed's chilling campaign to silence his victims.
He was described by one former Harrods colleague as a 'nasty piece of work'.
The ex-security guard told the BBC: 'He would threaten people and use his power as an ex-copper. I know for a fact MacNamara knocked on someone's door personally and threatened a girl.'
Deborah Bull, 64, was a member of Harrods' 'Green Team' between 1996 and 1997
Mohamed Al Fayed dons a Victoria emerald and diamond tiara as he launches Harrods' New Year sale in 2001
Mohamed Al Fayed with the Queen in 1997. His business connections and charity work saw him mixing with high society despite his complaints about what he saw as establishment bias
In 1995 - a year before Fayed bought the police a car - Vanity Fair published an article alleging racism, staff surveillance and sexual misconduct by him against Harrods staff.
Deborah told MailOnline that she first started working at the department store in 1996 after she was headhunted by a security recruitment firm.
She said: 'I was approached by a recruitment agency called Met Shield, which are ex police officers that recruit that sort of work. They approached me and said: 'look, we think you'd be amazing for this job'.
'They wouldn't tell me what the company was, but they said: 'look, when you agree to come for an interview, then we'll tell you where it is'.
'The money was amazing, and it looked good on paper, from what I could see. So I went for the interview, and obviously I found out it was Harrods security.
'I got the job the following week, and it happened very, very quickly, which was good in a way, but I was sort of taken aback.'
She described her time working for the Egyptian billionaire as a 'living hell' during which she was physically abused by other security staff, '99% of which were men'.
Deborah told MailOnline about the 'sinister and horrible' atmosphere at Harrods, recalling one incident where a woman was allegedly 'indecently assaulted' by Al-Fayed inside his soundproofed office.
The mother-of-three quit in 1997, the year after joining and re-joined the Met from 2002 to 2009.
Late billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed has been described as 'a monster' amid claims he raped multiple women working for him at Harrods
Some the sexual assaults Fayed is accused of took place inside his office in Harrods (pictured)
Some are also said to have been carried out at his Park Lane property in London (pictured)
She decided to take the company to a tribunal, after seeking advice from lawyers who told her had a claim for sexual harassment and discrimination, following the physical and verbal abuse she received from male colleagues.
It was only years later that she appeared in court for the tribunal hearing, during which, she claimed Al-Fayed and his team had put her under surveillance.
'During that time, I found out that they'd been following me, taking photographs of me and my daughter, and bugged my house phone.'
She claimed she was also tailed by members of the security team who also took photos of her and her family when they went to the supermarket.
'So many of us lived in fear and we kept it secret for so long as nobody thought we were telling the truth,' she said.
'I have never gone back into Harrods since I left in 1997, I was too terrified to go back there.
'But thank goodness we are now in a position to be able to talk about it.'
Hezbollah said Wednesday it had fired a ballistic missile targeting Israeli spy agency Mossad's headquarters near Tel Aviv as its fighters prepare for a possible ground war with the IDF in Lebanon.
It is the first time the group has claimed a ballistic missile strike since its nearly year-long battle with Israel began after Hamas carried out its October 7 attack.
'The Islamic Resistance launched a 'Qader 1' ballistic missile at 6:30 am (0330 GMT) on Wednesday, targeting the Mossad headquarters in the outskirts of Tel Aviv,' Hezbollah said in a statement.
'This headquarters is responsible for the assassination of leaders and the explosion of pagers and wireless devices,' it added, referring to attacks last week that killed scores in Lebanon, including a top commander.
The Iranian-made Qader is a medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile with multiple types and payloads.
It can carry an explosive payload of up to 800kg (1,760 pounds), according to the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Iranian officials have described the liquid-fuelled missile as having a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles).
Israel said its air defences had shot down a Hezbollah missile after sirens sounded in Tel Aviv. No casualties were reported.
Lt Col Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, said the missile had a 'heavy warhead' but declined to elaborate or confirm it was the type described by Hezbollah.
The ballistic missile launch comes hours after Israel said it had killed Ibrahim Qubaisi - another top Hezbollah commander and director of the group's missile and rocket unit - in a strike on Beirut on Tuesday.
Hezbollah claimed it launched a Qader-1 ballistic missile - an Iranian made projectile typically used to hit naval vessels
People stand by an impact crater next to a destroyed warehouse at the site of an Israeli air strike in Jiyeh along the highway linking Beirut to the southern city of Sidon on September 25, 2024
Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon on Tuesday
Lebanese army soldiers and rescuers work in a street under a residential building whose top two floors were hit by an Israeli strike in the Ghobeiri area of Beirut's southern suburbs on September 24, 2024
Rescuers rush to the scene of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Abbasiyeh on September 24, 2024
Smoke billows after an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Abbasiyeh on Tuesday
Israel this morning continued its campaign of near-round-the-clock strikes on Hezbollah targets across southern and eastern Lebanon, which have killed 569 people and wounded more than 1,800 since Monday, according to Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad.
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan condemned Israel's 'aggression' against Lebanon this morning, warning that it is 'pushing the region towards all-out war'.
And Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel's killing of top Hezbollah commanders couldn't bring the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group to its knees.
'Some of the effective and valuable forces of Hezbollah were martyred, which undoubtedly caused damage to Hezbollah, but this was not the sort of damage that could bring the group to its knees,' he said in meeting with military personnel and veterans of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
'The organisational and human strength of Hezbollah is much more than that. Their authority, capabilities and strength are much more than that and cannot be seriously affected by these martyrdoms.'
But Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the attacks had weakened Hezbollah and would continue.
Hezbollah 'has suffered a sequence of blows to its command and control, its fighters, and the means to fight. These are all severe blows,' he told Israeli troops.
Now fears are growing that the IDF could launch an armed incursion across the border in an attempt to create a 'buffer zone' by forcing Hezbollah fighters further north of the border.
Israel last week declared that securing the northern territories so displaced Israelis can return to their homes became a formal goal of its war effort, but military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari has refused to give a timeline for the ongoing operation.
Given the efficacy of its missile, drone and airstrikes on Hezbollah targets to this point, the IDF may opt to continue in this vein, aiming to degrade the Lebanese group's military capabilities and supply routes in the east and south of Lebanon without risking soldiers on the ground.
Former Israeli intelligence official and regional analyst Avi Melamed added that the evacuation of tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians from their homes has the additional advantage of ramping internal pressure on Hezbollah and Lebanese authorities.
'Israel last week conducted a successful airstrike that eliminated the upper echelon of Hezbollah's elite Radwan force,' he said.
'Now, Israel has begun utilising intelligence developed over the last 18 years to strike at Hezbollah's weapon caches, many of which have been concealed in residential homes.
'For Iran and Hezbollah, the mass exodus of families from southern Lebanon to the north poses a growing threat of civil unrest that could undermine Hezbollah's influence and, by extension, Tehran's control over Lebanon.'
However, much like Hamas, Hezbollah has developed an intricate web of underground tunnels and is deeply entrenched in towns and cities across southern Lebanon.
The IDF will never be able to guarantee a total eradication of Hezbollah's Radwan forces and military capabilities close to the border by airstrikes alone.
And Hezbollah has an extensive stockpile of missiles and rockets which in theory could threaten air force planes and overwhelm Israeli air defences if fired en-masse.
In the absence of a ceasefire deal and a cessation of hostilities, the IDF may turn to a limited ground operation to force its foe away from the border and guarantee the security of settlements in northern Israel.
Smoke rises after Israeli airstrike on forested area which cause a fire in Safad El Battikh, Lebanon on Tuesday
Terrifying footage shows a huge explosion erupting, with people heard screaming in the background
Smoke billows along the border between Israel and Lebanon following Israeli strikes, today
Smokes rise, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Tyre, southern Lebanon September 23, 2024
Miri Eisen, a senior fellow at Israel's International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University and former IDF Colonel, said a limited ground incursion could be ordered to ensure Hezbollah can not carry out anything similar to Hamas's October 7 attack.
'I do think that there's the possibility of a ground incursion because in the end we need to move the Hezbollah forces (away from the border),' she said.
The mouth of the Litani River, often used as a rough marker to illustrate a theoretical buffer zone, is 18 miles from the border, but in some places comes within two miles of Israeli-controlled territory.
Major Moshiko Giat, an IDF special forces soldier with combat experience in Israel's 2006 war with Lebanon, told the Telegraph he believes such a buffer zone would be roughly six to 12 miles deep.
But even a limited operation such as this would constitute a major military undertaking - and carries significant risks.
Drawing from the strategy used in previous conflicts, such an operation would likely involve several IDF divisions, with estimates suggesting around 10,000 to 30,000 troops would be needed to clear the area and establish a clear buffer zone.
Hezbollah's fighting force, which measures between 25,000 and 50,000 according to various Israeli and US estimates, has honed its tactics through decades of conflict - including their successful resistance against Israeli forces during the 2006 war in which Major Giat fought.
Hezbollah boasts a range of anti-tank and anti-air systems, dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles, and its fighters are adept at guerrilla warfare, intimately familiar with the terrain, and would enjoy the advantage of highly fortified positions.
Amal Saad, a Lebanese researcher on Hezbollah who is based at Cardiff University, said of the group: 'It is extremely capable - and I would say more effective than Israel - when it comes to ground war, underground offensive, and we've seen this historically, particularly in 2006,' she said.
Founder of the Israel Defence and Security Forum, former IDF Brigadier General Amir Avivi, insisted to the Telegraph that such an operation would be more than manageable, suggesting it would take 'a few weeks' to clear the area south of the Litani river of Hezbollah forces.
'Lebanon is not as densely populated as Gaza, and the towns and villages in southern Lebanon are pretty empty. This is not going to be as complicated as what we saw in Gaza.
'I think it can take a few weeks because it's going to be very, very intensive. And also there will be huge pressure inside Lebanon on Hezbollah to stop... I would assume that the war is not going to be long.'
But Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said last week a ground incursion would turn southern Lebanon into a death trap for Israeli fighters, adding that his troops could fight Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and fire rockets at northern Israel at the same time.
Rescuers rush to the scene of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Abbasiyeh today
Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system engages as rockets are launched from Lebanon
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024
A traffic jam clogs up a street in the Lebanese city of Sidon on September 23, 2024
The intensifying violence between Israel and Hezbollah has stoked fears among international observers that the conflict could spiral into a regional war that engulfs the Middle East.
The UN Security Council said it would meet on Wednesday to discuss the conflict.
'Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon the people of Israel and the people of the world - cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza,' UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
The ministers of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan said that stopping the 'dangerous escalation under way in the region... begins by halting Israel's aggression in Gaza', in a joint statement issued after a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Many analysts feel that negotiating a ceasefire in Gaza is the main path to simultaneously ending hostilities in Lebanon.
This presents Hezbollah an off-ramp, and could even allow its leader Nasrallah to spin a narrative that his resistance in the face of Israeli aggression played a role in supporting the plight of the Palestinian people and putting an end to the war 180 kilometres to the south.
But Professor Andreas Krieg, Senior Lecturer in Security Studies at King's College London, expressed scepticism, telling MailOnline: 'We're far away from a negotiated settlement in Gaza, and I don't see the Netanyahu government making any concessions.'
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has promised 'total victory' over Hamas and the return of all the hostages held in Gaza - goals that many believe are simply unachievable.
What's more, many analysts and observers accuse Netanyahu of having a personal stake in forging on with war in Gaza.
His governing coalition relies on far-right ministers who want to permanently reoccupy the Palestinian enclave and have threatened to bring down the government if he concedes too much.
That would force early elections that could drive him from power at a time when he is on trial for corruption - charges that he will not face while war rages on.
Half a million people are estimated to have been displaced in Lebanon already, said Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.
He said Lebanon's prime minister hoped to meet with US officials over the next two days to discuss a way out of the conflict.
In Beirut, thousands of displaced people who fled from southern Lebanon were sheltering in schools and other buildings.
HMS Duncan (pictured, undated) is already in the Mediterranean alongside a US task force
File photo, Iraq. British soldiers could be drawn into Lebanon to help evacuate nationals
A forklift removes a damaged car as Lebanese army and emergency workers gather at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's suburbs, on Tuesday
Soldiers are desperately trying to manage the spiralling situation in Lebanon
Sir Keir Starmer said in a stark warning yesterday that UK citizens should flee Lebanon as Britain 'ramps up' contingency plans for a desperate evacuation.
Hundreds of Royal Marine commandos, sailors and combat engineers were deployed to the Mediterranean overnight as part of a potential 'Dunkirk-style' rescue of up to 10,000 British citizens.
A 700-strong force is being rushed to the region following approval from Downing Street of evacuation plans drawn up by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), with warships stationed in the region poised to facilitate evacuations.
The mission template, known in military circles as 'Operation Meteoric', could see commandos making beach landings in Lebanon with UK citizens escorted on to a flotilla of military vessels.
The operation would be 'green-lit' should routes out of the war-torn country, such as international air corridors, be closed down.
The Foreign Office echoed the warnings to leave Lebanon 'immediately' in a statement shared late Tuesday, continuing to advise against all travel to Lebanon 'as the situation continues to deteriorate rapidly' with 'devastating consequences'.
Yesterday, commercial carriers including British Airways were already cancelling flights to and from the region.
Other countries, including Egypt, began restricting passage on Monday.
Are you a British citizen in Lebanon? Contact david.averre@mailonline.co.uk
Vehicles wait in traffic in the town of Damour on Tuesday as thousands try to flee
A woman sits with a child on her lap next to bags on the ground as people fleeing from Lebanon arrive on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon in Jdeidat Yabus in southwestern Syria on September 24
Amphibious troops would spearhead the rescue bid while the RAF, flying from the UK's airbase on Cyprus, would provide 'top cover'.
British troops are expected to be deployed to nearby Cyprus to help those waiting to support citizens trapped amid fears a regional war could soon break out.
Royal Navy ships RFA Mounts Bay and HMS Duncan have been in the eastern Mediterranean region to support allies all summer.
The Royal Air Force also have aircraft and transport helicopters on standby to provide support if necessary, and the Foreign Office said Border Force and FCDO officials would be on hand to support military units.
Despite repeated government pleas, thousands of UK citizens have opted to remain in Lebanon as security in the country has worsened.
But Defence Secretary John Healey said last night: 'Events in the past hours and days have demonstrated how volatile this situation is which is why our message is clear British nationals should leave now.
'We continue to urge all sides to step back from conflict to prevent further tragic loss of life.
'Government is ensuring all preparations are in place to support British nationals should the situation deteriorate.'
Keir Starmer hopes to meet Kamala Harris and Donald Trump while he is in America for a United Nations summit this week.
The Prime Minister, who arrived in New York late last night, has never met the Democratic party candidate nor her Republican rival.
He was unable to see them when he visited Washington DC earlier this month as they were both on the campaign trail.
But he is keen to have talks with each of them in private before the knife-edge US election in just 40 days' time.
Asked if he hoped to meet Vice-President Harris and former President Trump on the trip this week, the PM told reporters: 'As far as the candidates are concerned, look, if possible, it would be very good to meet both of them at some stage before the election. We'll just have to see what's possible.'
Keir Starmer (pictured) hopes to meet Kamala Harris and Donald Trump while he is in America for a United Nations summit this week
But he added that he was visiting the US for the UN General Assembly, which he will address for the first time on Thursday.
'I don't doubt that a lot of time is going to be spent on the Middle East and Ukraine,' the PM said.
He was also asked about a spat between one of his Labour ministers and Mr Trump.
Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle had accused the former President of whipping up anger towards immigrants, telling a fringe meeting at Labour party conference it was difficult for new arrivals to 'rise above the constant drumbeat of toxic anti-immigration, anti-immigrant rhetoric that has become emboldened, not only in Britain but across the western countries'.
She went on: 'I mean, Trump does the same. If you look at some of the memes that he's using with the wall stuff at the moment, it's astonishing, quite the level of vitriol that it has created.'
In response, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said: 'Nobody knows who this random person is or cares what comes out of her mouth. Who is she and what does she do?'
The PM has never met Republican hopeful Donald Trump (pictured)
Labour is traditionally closer to the Democrats, whose candidate is Ms Harris (pictured)
Sir Keir was asked if her criticism was correct and replied: 'I think I've been absolutely clear where responsibility lies for the disorder on our streets. It lies with the thugs who were carrying out that disorder.'
He went on: 'I was really clear in my conference speech about responsibility. It lies with those that were on the streets causing the disorder, and I made clear what should happen to them. But as I said in my conference speech we've got to distinguish that from the genuine discussion that we do need to have as a country about immigration.
'Because if you just put the two together you do a disservice to people who would never go out on the streets and cause disorder, and do genuinely have concerns about immigration. We need to address that.'
Plan to lift the Bayesian off the seabed are set to be confirmed within the next few weeks after divers and robots finished inspecting the doomed luxury superyacht.
The 184ft (56m) vessel has been underwater since sinking off Sicily on August 19 - killing British tech billionaire Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah, 18, and five others.
Prosecutors are investigating the captain and two British crew members as they carry out an inquiry into culpable shipwreck and suspected multiple manslaughter.
They therefore want the British-flagged yacht raised as soon as possible to work out whether the vessel was flooded by external hatches and doors being left open.
The trio under investigation since late August are James Cutfield, the captain; Tim Parker Eaton, the engineer in charge of securing the yacht's engine room; and Matthew Griffith, a sailor who was on watch duty on the night of the disaster.
Divers from Italy's fire service at Porticello on August 23 as they recover bodies of the dead
Italian divers carry out inspections of the Bayesian yacht's wreck off Sicily on August 23
A fire service dive team leaves Porticello, heading to the rescue site in Sicily on August 23
Now, a spokesman for the Italian coastguard has told The Times: 'We expect to see the plan for the raising of the Bayesian submitted to us for our approval in a few weeks. Everyone wants to move quickly.'
The 30million yacht is on its starboard side about 160ft (50m) below sea level near the fishing port of Porticello after sinking in a freak storm.
Divers from Italy's fire service have removed the bodies, while Italian navy special forces divers were asked to retrieve the boat's data recorder for CCTV evidence.
The raising will be paid for by the Bayesian's owner, British firm Revtom, which is controlled by Mr Lynch's wife Angela Bacares who was one of 15 survivors.
Genoa-based diving company Drafinsub has used sonar and video shot from a robot to map the yacht's hull, anchor chain and surrounding seabed.
Hannah Lynch with her father Mike Lynch. Both died in the sinking of his superyacht last month
The Bayesian (file picture) sank on August 19 off the coast of Sicily amid severe stormy weather
Mike Lynch with his wife Angela Bacares, who managed to escape from the disaster off Sicily
Drafinsub has now finished its study and will hand its data over to Revtom, which employed it to carry out the work.
And the Italian coastguard told the newspaper that Revtom will now 'study the data, pick the firm to carry out the raising of the vessel and present to us and the insurers their plan for the operation, which we will sign off on'.
Chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio, who is heading the investigation, previously said his team will consider each possible element of responsibility including those of the captain, the crew, individuals in charge of supervision and the yacht's manufacturer.
Investigators are focusing on how a sailing vessel deemed 'unsinkable' by its manufacturer, Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed.
Prosecutors said the event was 'extremely rapid' and could have been a 'downburst' a localised, powerful wind that descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out rapidly on hitting the ground.
Divers prepare to carry out inspections of the Bayesian wreck in Porticello on August 23
A diver goes into the water off Sicily on August 23 as the team carries out an inspection
All crew members survived except for the chef, but six passengers were trapped in the yacht's hull and died.
The Bayesian is only expected to be raised once 18,000 litres of fuel had been removed from its tank to prevent this from polluting the water.
The operation to lift the yacht out of the water could take six to eight weeks and will involve cranes and up to 40 divers.
Nick Sloane, who led the operation to recover the Costa Concordia cruise liner that sank in 2012, said this would cost up to 12.7million.
He told La Repubblica last month that it would have to be completed by mid-October, without specifying the reasons for the timing.
The engineer said platforms would be built and bringing the yacht to the surface will have to be done 'very, very slowly', adding: 'The ship has to be recovered as it is, in one piece, trying to keep it intact as much as possible.'
Banking boss Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy died in the superyacht disaster on August 19
Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo were also among the dead
Conditions underwater have been described as 'complex' and 'prohibitive' for the divers.
Vincenzo Zagarola, who formed part of the Italian coastguard's operations, previously told The Sun it had been 'extremely hard' and called it an '18-storey building full of water.'
It comes after a lawyer representing the builder of the Bayesian was sacked after filing a 186million lawsuit against Mrs Lynch and the crew without permission.
Tommaso Bertuccelli, a lawyer who works with The Italian Sea Group (TISG), filed the writ last week declaring liability for the sinking of the yacht lay with Mrs Lynch and the crew.
But on Monday, a source at TISG confirmed the lawsuit had been filed 'without their knowledge and consent' and as a result Mr Bertuccelli had been fired.
The body of chef Recaldo Thomas was discovered on the day of the sinking last month
Meanwhile Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), the American tech giant, is continuing its pursuit of 3billion from Mr Lynch's estate.
Mrs Lynch and her family had boarded the yacht after Mr Lynch won a long-running court case in America.
He faced 15 fraud charges linked to the 8.8billion sale of his technology company Autonomy to HPE in 2011. Had he lost the case, he would have faced being jailed for the rest of his life, but a jury acquitted him on all counts in June.
However, previously in 2022 HPE won a separate High Court legal battle heard in Britain which resulted in a demand for 3billion in damages, which they now say is owed by Mrs Lynch.
The mother of murdered student Libby Squire has backed a new campaign calling for women to report flashers and voyeurs - as police warned how 'non-sexual contact' offenders go on to commit horrific violent crimes.
Lisa Squire spoke out as Thames Valley Police launched a new scheme called 'It Does Matter', with figures revealing 95 per cent of such crimes go unreported.
Her daughter Libby, 21, was studying at the University of Hull when she was raped and murdered in the early hours of February 1, 2019, following a night out in the city.
Polish butcher Pawel Relowicz, who dumped tragic Libby's body in the River Hull after raping her on a playing field, was jailed for life in February 2021 - given a minimum of 27 years behind bars.
Before he killed her, Relowicz had been carrying out a campaign of chilling, sexually motivated crimes in the student area of Hull - including peering through windows to watch young women, breaking into their homes to steal intimate items and masturbating in the street.
Lisa Squire (pictured), whose daughter Libby was murdered by a serial sex offender, is backing a new campaign urging women to report flashers and voyeurs to police
Libby Squire, 21, (pictured) was studying at the University of Hull when she was raped and murdered in the early hours of February 1, 2019, following a night out in the city
Polish butcher Pawel Relowicz dumped tragic Libby's body in the River Hull after raping her on a playing field - he was jailed for life with a minimum of 27 years in February 2021
Ms Squire, from Buckinghamshire, told today how a man had exposed himself in public to Libby just three months before her death.
She told ITV's Good Morning Britain she did not know whether this was Relowicz but the incident had left her daughter feeling 'furious'.
She also spoke of her regret at not urging Libby to report the matter to police at the time - but would now take a different approach and urged others to raise the alert in similar situations.
Ms Squire said of Relowicz: 'He was committing voyeurism, committing sex acts in public he was following girls home, exposing himself to girls as they were walking by.
'Some of his crimes were reported and the police did investigate it but they didn't know who he was.
'I'm not sure if it was him, but around about November time Libby rang me and said a man had exposed himself to her on her way home and she was absolutely furious.
'I talked her down and I didn't tell her to go and report it to the police because I didn't know better then.
'She was just like, "I can't believe how disgusting that person is".
'I completely understand why people aren't aware that these things should be reported, because I wasn't aware until I've been forced into this world, and so now I would do differently.'
Libby, a philosophy student at Hull University, had been out with friends when the killer chanced on her three months later.
Lisa Squire spoke about the new campaign today to Good Morning Britain presenters Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid, alongside Thames Valley Police's Katy Barrow-Grint
Libby Squire (pictured) had phoned her mother three months before her death, telling her that a man had just exposed himself to her in public
Libby's mother Lisa Squire (pictured) told today of not telling her daughter to report the incident to police at the time but would now 'do differently'
She caught a taxi home, which dropped her outside her house, but she did not go inside before wandering in the wrong direction and laid down in the snow.
CCTV footage showed Libby, disoriented and possibly hypothermic, being ushered into a silver Vauxhall Astra which belonged to Relowicz, who lived half a mile from her house.
Her body was found seven weeks later in the Humber Estuary. The married father-of-two was jailed for a minimum of 27 years at Sheffield Crown Court in February 2021.
In the hours after raping and murdering her, he returned home and watched pornography before going out again in apparent search of another victim.
Thames Valley Police, in launching the new campaign highlighted Libby's murder as well as those of Sarah Everard and Zara Aleena - all of whom were killed by men with histories of non-contact sexual offending.
Ms Everard, 33, was raped and killed by depraved Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, who was off duty, as she walked home in south London on March 3, 2021.
It later emerged that Kent Police failed to arrest the Scotland Yard officer when he was reported for flashing a pedestrian back in 2015.
After being jailed for life with a whole life order in September 2021 for Ms Everard's murder, Couzens last year pleaded guilty to three incidents of indecent exposure that took place in Kent in 2020 and 2021.
These included exposing himself to a woman in a McDonald's branch just three days before he killed Ms Everard.
Sarah Everard, 33, (pictured) was raped and killed by depraved Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens , who was off duty, as she walked home in south London on March 3 2021
Off-duty police officer Couzens (pictured) falsely arrested her for breaking Covid lockdown rules. He then abducted, raped and strangled her before setting her body on fire
Jordan McSweeney, a sexual predator with 28 previous convictions, murdered law graduate Ms Aleena, 35, as she walked home from a night out in Ilford, east London, in June 2022.
McSweeney was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years at the Old Bailey in December 2022 after admitting Ms Aleena's murder and sexual assault.
In November 2023, he won a Court of Appeal bid to reduce the minimum term of his life sentence, which was changed to 33 years.
Thames Valley Police said the murders showed the risks posed by sexual offenders whose earlier crimes often go uninvestigated.
Office for National Statistic figures last year showed more than 12,000 exposure and voyeurism offences were recorded by police in England and Wales since April 2021.
But these are thought to account for only six per cent of estimated total incidents.
And a report by the All Party Parliamentary Group for UN Women found 71 per cent of women had experienced harassment in a public space but 95 per cent of incidents were not reported to police.
Thames Valley Police assistant chief constable Katy Barrow-Grint urged victims of non-contact sexual offences to call 999 or 101 or report the crimes online.
She said: 'It really does matter when youre a victim of upskirting or flashing or indecent exposure.
Jordan McSweeney is serving 33 years in prison for murdering law graduate Zara Aleena, 35, (pictured) as she walked home from a night out in June 2022
McSweeney was a sexual predator with 28 previous convictions at the time of the killing
Zara's murder is one of the cases highlighted by Thames Valley Police in their new campaign
'We know that many, many women have been victims but very few actually report to police. This campaign is all about trying to encourage victims to tell us.
'The first thing is to make sure you're safe and you've managed to get away.
'If its just happened then do please call 999 and you will get that immediate response where you are, but you can also report it on 101 if it's a little bit later on.
'And you can also now report online, so if you don't feel you want to talk to somebody, you don't want to talk to police at that moment in time, then do please fill the forms in.'
Keir Starmer has refused four times to apologise for stripping winter fuel payments from pensioners - as he faces defeat in a Labour conference vote today.
The PM was repeatedly challenged to say sorry to vulnerable old people who were losing out on up to 300, but blamed the Tories for 'putting him in this position'.
The defiant stance came in a bruising clash with Susanna Reid on ITV's Good Morning Morning Britain before he headed for a UN summit in New York.
Sir Keir will not be present for a debate on the controversial policy at the conference in Liverpool later, with unions vowing to give the leadership a bloody nose.
Although losing a vote would only be symbolic, it would underline the scale of anger at the government on the issue.
Asked how he could justify the cut, Sir Keir said: 'Well, it's tough and I think the first thing to say and to explain is why we had to do it.
'We inherited a really damaged economy, we did an audit and we discovered an undisclosed 22billion black hole this year, which we have to fix.'
Keir Starmer has refused four times to apologise for stripping winter fuel payments from pensioners - as he faces defeat in a Labour conference vote today
The defiant stance came in a bruising clash with Susanna Reid on ITV 's Good Morning Morning Britain before he headed for a UN summit in New York
The Unite union staged a protest at Labour conference today ahead of a vote on the issue
Pressed if he wanted to apologise to pensioners, Sir Keir said: 'Well, I am really concerned that we've been put in this position.
'When you inherit an economy with 22 billion missing, it is a really difficult set of choices.
'But what I don't want to do is to allow the economy to run out of control. What I want to make sure is that every single pensioner, there is that increase through the triple lock each and every year...'
Told again that he had an opportunity to say sorry, the PM said: 'The people who should be saying sorry are the last government who left a hole of 22billion, and they should be sorry for that and they should apologise for that.'
Reid persisted 'so you're not going to apologise?'
Sir Keir said: 'I've come in to fix the mess, fix the problems, and that's tough, really tough decisions.
'The cost of not doing it is to run the risk that we lose control of the economy again.
'I'm not going to do that because if I do, you will be saying to me in two or three years' time, if we lose control of the economy, will you now say sorry for having lost control of the economy?'
Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have put forward the winter fuel motion at Labour conference.
Pressed if he wanted to apologise to pensioners, Sir Keir said: 'Well, I am really concerned that we've been put in this position.'
It was originally set to be debated on Monday - but was rescheduled for after Sir Keir had given his big speech and departed amid rumours of backroom manoeuvring.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham accused Labour of 'picking the pocket' of pensioners 'while leaving the 'abhorrently wealthy alone' as she joined a demo inside the conference this morning.
Ahead of the vote she told reporters: 'It was disrespectful to have moved it it is not important what happens here, it is what people think outside this conference hall. And they are disgusted, quite frankly, that this has happened in terms of the winter fuel allowance.
'The winter is before us and there could be people dying as a result of this policy.
'There is 300 that should be in pensioners' pockets and they have decided to take it out of pensioners' pockets. Until it goes back in there is really nothing that can be said that can placate us because it is a really clear issue.'
Asked where the money should be found to fill the 'fiscal black hole' instead, she said: 'If you look at the top richest families in Britain, the top richest 50 families in Britain, they are worth 500billion, that's the same as half of Britain, that is the same amount. Why aren't we taxing 1 per cent on the richest 1 per cent? You get 25billion and you get rid of the (22billion) black hole with 3billion left over.'
CWU officials will not be at Labour's conference today as they are attending the funeral in Scotland of the union's former assistant general secretary Andy Kerr, who used to be on Labour's national executive.
The motion calls for means testing of the winter fuel allowance to be reversed and for an end to fiscal rules which prevent borrowing to invest, as well as the introduction of a wealth tax.
A Majorcan taxi driver has been accused of trying to rape his British fare before dumping her by the side of the road with torn clothing.
The traumatised holidaymaker rang her parents and asked them to alert the police before being abandoned 'semi-naked' in an empty car park by the cabbie between midnight and 1am on September 15.
Local police employed by Andratx Town Hall found the British woman crying after receiving the early-hours alert and took her to Son Espases Hospital in the Majorcan capital Palma for a medical examination.
Both her dress and underwear were ripped when officers reached the car park in the resort village of Camp de Mar on Majorca's southwest coast.
Detectives from another police force, the Civil Guard, identified the taxi driver who picked her up from a restaurant where she had been eating with her parents before staying alone for after-dinner drinks by viewing CCTV footage from the nearby area of Port d'Andratx where she was picked up.
The holidaymaker's dress and underwear were ripped when officers reached the car park in the resort village of Camp de Mar on Majorca's southwest coast
He was initially interviewed as a witness before being told he was being placed under investigation after giving a version of events a source close to the ongoing probe said 'didn't add up.'
He has not yet been formally arrested but is now facing a court summons, with well-placed sources confirming he was fired from his job after detectives informed council officials responsible for taxi licensing in the area.
The cabbie is understood to have claimed the British holidaymaker was drunk and climbed into the front seat of his vehicle from the back seat before beginning to flirt with him as he was driving her back to a beach resort where she was staying around 10 minutes from her pick-up point.
He claimed he ended up diverting and stopping at a car park en route but left when he saw she was ringing her parents after telling him she didn't want sex following his alleged attempts to 'force her'.
Last week a man was arrested and two more were placed under investigation after a British teenager claimed she was raped in Arenal d'en Castell, Menorca's fourth largest resort
Last week a man was arrested and two more were placed under investigation after a British teenager claimed she was raped and sexually assaulted in separate incidents by a holidaymaker and two local workers who included a British man.
The suspect held was a 26-year-old UK-based Romanian tourist who was staying at the same hotel on the island as the woman.
The 19-year-old whose complaint sparked the detention told cops she had been sexually assaulted after drinks in a pub in Arenal d'en Castell, Menorca's fourth largest resort on the eastern side of the island where most of its attractions are located.
She is said to have arrived back at her hotel where she was staying with her mum 'barefoot and in her underwear'.
The teenager also claimed she had been abused by two other men after the initial incident in bushes between the pub and her holiday accommodation who she said had taken advantage of the state she was in.
A court investigation is ongoing.
Keir Starmer has blamed his son's GCSEs for taking 20,000 in donations for accommodation.
The PM insisted his teenager needed somewhere to study in peace while the family were under close scrutiny during the run-up to the election.
The property is reported to have been an 18million penthouse in the Covent Garden area of London, owned by Labour's Lord Alli.
Sir Keir also left the door open to accepting more hospitality from donors in future, saying it was a matter of 'judgement' for MPs.
But Tories said ministers thought rules 'don't apply to them' and the government was all about 'self-service'.
The premier has been accused of hypocrisy over gifts after Labour was highly critical of Boris Johnson and other Tories when they were in power.
In a round of interviews after his speech to party conference last night, Sir Keir said he was 'not going to apologise for not doing anything wrong' and the freebies did not 'cost the taxpayer a penny'.
Keir Starmer (pictured) has blamed his son's GCSEs for taking 20,000 in donations for accommodation
He said the transition to Downing Street had been 'really difficult' for his two children, who were previously raised in North London.
Asked about the donations, Sir Keir said that around 20,000 he had declared from Lord Alli for unspecified accommodation was for his teenager to study for exams in a 'peaceful' atmosphere while there was intense media attention in the run-up to the election.
'My boy, 16, was in the middle of his GCSEs. I made him a promise, a promise that he would be able to get to his school, do his exams, without being disturbed,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
'We have lots of journalists outside our house where we live and I'm not complaining about that, that's fine.
'But if you're a 16-year-old trying to do your GCSEs and it's your one chance in life I promised him we would move somewhere, get out of the house and go somewhere where he could be peacefully studying.
'Somebody then offered me accommodation where we could do that. I took that up and it was the right thing to do.'
Asked whether he would like to apologise for the row, he told LBC: 'I'm not going to apologise for not doing anything wrong.'
According to the MP register of interests, the accommodation from Lord Alli was valued at 20,437.28 and Sir Keir accepted it between May 29 and July 13.
However, GCSEs were taking place between May 9 and June 19.
Shadow business secretary Kevin Hollinrake said: 'This row isn't about the preferential treatment he has given his child during their education, whilst taxing the schooling of thousands of others; nor is it about him and his wife being lavished with designer clothes whilst pensioners face the choice between heating and eating this Winter.
'This is about Keir Starmer, and his top team, thinking the rules don't apply to them. They have become utterly addicted to luxury clothing, holidays and services provided by their mega donor whilst expecting everyone else to tighten their belt. Why does he always think he's a special case?
'Labour promised to be a government of service but all they've offered is a government of self-service.'
The PM also opened up about life inside Number 10 following Labour's takeover in July.
Asked about the donations, Sir Keir said that around 20,000 he had declared from Lord Alli (pictured) for unspecified accommodation was for his teenager to study for exams in a 'peaceful' atmosphere
'It has been tough for the kids. I'm not pleading a special case but they're 16 and 13,' he said. 'That's a very important time.'
The row over declarations by MPs and senior ministers had threatened to overshadow the Labour conference, with criticism aimed at both the PM and his ministers for accepting luxury gifts from wealthy donors while announcing cuts to the winter fuel allowance.
Sir Keir has said ministers will no longer take donations for clothing now they are in Government, but left the door open to receiving more access to events, such as the 4,000 worth of tickets to a Taylor Swift concert he accepted from the Premier League.
Asked whether he would rule out accepting such gifts in the future, he told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'I think that's a matter of judgment. There has to be good reason.'
A mobster mother jailed for running a 'Bonnie and Clyde' crime racket with her hoodlum fiance has won an appeal for early release from prison - after arguing she needed to raise their newborn baby at home.
Sophie Thomson, 25, was locked up for over three years earlier this year after being arrested with 24-year old husband-to-be Cardell Hyman over a crack cocaine and heroin trafficking empire.
Inquiries showed the gangster pair had a history of violence and were previously jailed over a stabbing with a Rambo knife which left two men seriously injured in 2019.
But Thomson took her case to the Appeal Court saying because the judge gave her too tough a prison term for the drugs offences - because she had given birth to Hyman's child just four weeks before she was sentenced.
Sophie Thomson, 25, was locked up for over three years earlier this year after being arrested with 24-year old husband-to-be Cardell Hyman over a crack cocaine and heroin trafficking empire
Inquiries showed the gangster pair had a history of violence and were previously jailed over a stabbing with a Rambo knife which left two men seriously injured in 2019. Thomson has won an appeal for early release from prison - after arguing she needed to raise their newborn baby at home.
She claimed her criminal history was 'comfortably outweighed' by the fact prison would have a harmful impact on the baby and her relationship with the child.
Today it emerged the term had been reduced by a quarter to two and a half years after Appeal Court judges ruled the Recorder who jailed her had 'erred in his approach to her culpability.
Although her impending release is separate from Keir Starmer's early prison release scheme Thomson's reduced sentence comes as thousands of criminals walked free after serving only a portion of their time behind bars.
Thomson's unnamed child is currently living with her on a mother and baby unit at Bronzefield women's jail in Ashford, Surrey.
Under the terms of her new sentence she is expected to be automatically paroled in nine months time - having already served six months in jail. She is currently engaged in family court proceedings over the infant.
The hearing was told Thomson was six months pregnant with the baby when police arrested her in November 2023 at an address in Feltham, West London for her role in a drug dealing operation known as 'the T Line'.
Analysis of a known drug user's phone identified two mobile phone numbers linked to Thomson and Hyman which had been used to send out bulk 'sales' messages to over 50 addicts.
Pictured is Cardell Hyman. During the raid police seized seven mobile phones and SIM cards, 1,615 in cash, a snap bag containing 1.1 grams of crack cocaine, and a cling film wrap containing 1 gram of heroin
During the raid police seized seven mobile phones and SIM cards, 1,615 in cash, a snap bag containing 1.1 grams of crack cocaine, and a cling film wrap containing 1 gram of heroin. They also found a set of keys, which led them to Thomson's home nearby, where they found 31.6 grams of crack cocaine, three sets of digital scales and a 'burner' phone. The total value of the drugs seized was 2,200.
Inquiries revealed Thomson had 28 offences on her record between April 2015 and May 2022 for possessing Class A drugs, possessing a prohibited weapon and two offences of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm for which she and Hyman were locked up for four and a half years each in 2019.
Babies in prisons
Women who give birth in prison can keep their baby for the first 18 months in a mother and baby unit. A prisoner with a child less than 18 months old can request to bring their child to prison with them, according to the government. Social Services arrange for children over 18 months to be cared for (for example by the prisoners parents, or fostering). Prisons with mother and baby units: Bronzefield
Eastwood Park
Styal
New Hall
Peterborough
Askham Grange Applying for a place in a mother and baby unit The prisoner can apply for a space in a mother and baby unit when they enter prison. An admissions board will decide if its the best thing for the child. If there are no places in the prison the mother first goes to, they may be offered a place somewhere else. If there are no spaces in any unit, arrangements must be made for the child to be cared for outside prison. If the mother is denied a place they can appeal - the prison will explain how. Separation plans are made when the mother enters prison if the child will reach 18 months before her sentence is over.
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On 12 February 2024, she gave birth to her child and the following month was jailed for 38 months after she admitted being concerned in supplying cocaine and heroin and possessing crack with intent to supply.
She claimed she had become involved in drug dealing in order to pay off a debt to a former partner known as 'Catman' of whom she was scared, and who had threatened her and her Hyman with 'serious consequences' should they refuse to supply drugs as directed by him. Hyman, from Hounslow, was jailed for 40 months.
The judge at Isleworth Crown Court Mr Recorder Peter Krepski had sentenced Thomson without a background report after two legal applications for one to be compiled about her were refused as it was not deemed 'necessary.'
At the time the Recorder said Thomson's role fell 'somewhere between lesser and significant' and identified her previous convictions as a 'significant aggravating factor'.
He said he would take account of her new baby, which he described as 'significant mitigating factor' but said an 'uplift' on sentencing was required.
At the Appeal Court, Thomson's defence counsel Gabriella Lewis said: 'Too much weight was attached to her antecedents when they contained no previous offending of a similar kind.
The Recorder also failed to give sufficient weight to the appellant's mitigating circumstances - in particular the fact of her being a new mother.'
In granting Thomson's appeal Lord Justice Warby said: 'She and Hyman ran the operation for a period of over two months. At the time of their arrest, they were in joint possession of at least seven phones.
The appellant was also holding a substantial quantity of crack cocaine, ready for supply. She was performing an operational role within a chain.
She clearly had a fair awareness and understanding of the nature and scale of the operation in which she was an intermediary. There were, therefore, characteristics of significant role present.
'That said, we do consider that the Recorder erred in his approach to the her culpability.
Although she and Hyman were links in a chain which they broadly understood, they were not performing a management function. They were not free agents but were performing a limited agency role for and on the direction of a third party, and under strict instructions from him.
'She, at least, was doing this out of fear of her previous ex-partner, who had threatened her. She had no influence at all on that ex-partner. Nor was it proved or admitted that any part of that money, or of any cash generated by the drug dealing, had or would have come to her.
'Her only relevant previous convictions were for simple possession of Class A drugs on a date more that four years before the present offending and we accept her conviction for violence, though serious, should not have been treated as a weighty aggravating feature of this case.
'The modest upward influence that her antecedents exert on the sentence is comfortably outweighed by the substantial downward pressure of the appellant's personal mitigation including, in particular, the impact that a custodial sentence would have on her infant child and her relationship with that child.
'That aspect of the case was significant. The Recorder said as much, but we do not think that he gave it the weight it truly deserved.'
The Lord Justice added: 'It is in our opinion regrettable that the Crown Court declined to order a pre-sentence report in this case.
We do think that in such a case where a woman who is pregnant or who has recently given birth is to be sentenced, it is desirable for the court to obtain a pre-sentence report so that the sentencing judge is fully informed about the likely impact of the sentencing decision on the child and on the family, including the arrangements that will or may be made for the care of the child.
'It cannot be considered that presence in the mother and baby unit is the equivalent of conducting a mother and child relationship outside the confines of a prison.
'Sentencing must reflect the value that society places on the importance of unfettered family relationships and the rights of a child. In a case such as this, the child is one of the innocent victims of the parent's wrongdoing. Harm to the child is often inescapable.
'But a custodial sentence that would for as long as this one have such an adverse impact on the relationship between this mother and this baby would, in our judgment, be disproportionate to the legitimate aims pursued by the imposition of a custodial sentence.'
Full-time Arizona State University students will see a $350 hike in their tuition bills next semester, as the school looks to overcome budget shortfalls.
The recent state budget passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Katie Hobbes reduced the school's budget by $11 million, as well as funding for the Arizona Teachers Academy and the Arizona Promise Scholarship Program, "pushing the estimated real ASU impact from the budget reductions to about $24 million when compared with the prior year," the university said in a Monday statement.
Part-time ASU students will also see a proportionate tuition increase.
"We have to consider our options to advance the university in a financially sound way," ASU President Michael M. Crow said. "For whatever reason, state leaders want the public universities to be tuition-driven, independently funded and to advance on their own."
ASU officials noted that more than 2,600 Arizona resident students could be impacted by the expected decrease in funding for its scholarship program, which typically ensures all tuition and fees are covered at Arizona's public universities for eligible residents.
The university also plans to close its Lake Havasu Center in the summer of 2025. Its discontinuation will affect approximately 225 students and 20 employees.
"These necessary actions reflect the continuing lack of public investment from state government for higher education in Arizona,'' Crow said. "ASU simply cannot be asked to fund the expansion of higher education across the state without state investment as a part of the financial structure to do so."
According to University Provost Nancy Gonzales, the school will meet with current Lake Havasu students and create personalized plans to ensure that they finish their degrees online or at one of the ASU campuses.
"It's disappointing that state leaders do not see the value of higher education in places like Lake Havasu City," Gonzales added. "ASU will continue to do all that it can to serve that portion of the state through ASU Online and agreements with our community college partners."
The execution of a death row inmate whose murder conviction has been doubted by the prosecutors that convicted him has sparked a wave of outrage across the US.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson has been branded 'shameful' and 'racist' and the state and federal justice systems accused of being 'flawed' after Marcellus Williams was put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday.
Williams, 55, was sentenced to death over the 1998 killing of Lisha Gayle, who was stabbed repeatedly during a burglary of her suburban St. Louis home.
The St. Louis County prosecutor's office - which originally secured his conviction in 2001 - had filed a motion to vacate the conviction after expressing concerns about the lack of DNA evidence linking Williams to the killing of Gayle. They also argued that Williams, who has insisted he is innocent, did not receive a fair trial.
But Williams' execution moved forward Tuesday after Parson and the state Supreme Court, acting on an appeal from Missouri Attorney General's office, rejected his appeals in quick succession the day before. The US Supreme Court also rejected a last-ditch request to stay his execution.
Gayle's family had also agreed to a deal that would see Williams sentenced to life in prison instead of being executed.
Marcellus Williams, 55, (pictured) was sentenced to death over the 1998 killing of Lisha Gayle, who was stabbed repeatedly during a burglary of her suburban St. Louis home
Missouri Governor Mike Parson (pictured in April 2023) was branded 'shameful' and 'racist' following Williams' execution on Tuesday. Campaigners also accused the state and federal justice systems of being 'flawed'
Civil rights campaigners and politicians alike have launched attacks on Parson and the Missouri Supreme Court over Williams' death, with the NAACP even calling the injustice a modern-day 'lynching'.
British billionaire Richard Branson, who bought a full-page advert in the Kansas City Star newspaper decrying a 'devastating miscarriage of justice,' mourned Williams's execution on social media.
'Marcellus Williams was killed today by the state of Missouri for a crime he didn't commit,' Branson wrote on X. 'It's a shameful day for Missouri, and a shameful day for Governor Mike Parson, who failed in his duty to protect an innocent man from injustice.'
He added that his thoughts were with Williams' loved ones, as well as with Gayle's family 'who did not want to see the death penalty imposed'.
'This horrible miscarriage of justice has once again exposed how fundamentally broken America's system of capital punishment really is,' he said.
'I am opposed to the death penalty under any circumstances, but if a modern justice system cannot protect the innocent, if 'reasonable doubt' no longer carries any weight, even the proponents of this inhumane punishment will have to agree that it's high time to end it for good.'
Congresswoman Cori Bush, whose district includes St. Louis County, slammed the justice system for having 'failed' Williams.
'Governor Mike Parson shamefully allowed an innocent man to be executed tonight. We must abolish this flawed, racist, inhumane practice once and for all,' she tweeted. 'Rest in power, Marcellus Williams.'
British billionaire Richard Branson , who bought a full-page advert in the Kansas City Star newspaper decrying a 'devastating miscarriage of justice,' mourned Williams's execution on social media
Congresswoman Cori Bush , whose district includes St. Louis County, slammed the justice system for having 'failed' Williams
The case even received the attention of Sister Helen Prejean, a Catholic nun who has become leading voice for the abolition of the death penalty. She said the 'execution of Marcellus Williams is a horrible injustice. This didn't have to happen'
The NAACP slammed the state for having 'lynched another innocent Black man
NAACP President Derrick Johnson questioned what message Williams' execution sends to the 'people of Missouri and to people across the nation?'
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas criticized the state, saying 'it is a travesty to execute someone unless you are certain of their guilt'
Elad Gross, who is running for Missouri Attorney General, also weighed in on Williams' death, saying that Parson's 'heart was hardened tonight' and it is 'up to the People of Missouri to defeat that hatred'
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas criticized the state, saying: 'I've had experience on both sides of death penalty cases. No matter where you stand on capital punishment, it is a travesty to execute someone unless you are certain of their guilt. Missouri is not. May God have mercy on us all.'
The NAACP slammed the state for having 'lynched another innocent Black man'.
'Governor Parson had the responsibility to save this innocent life, and he didn't. The NAACP was founded in 1909 in response to the barbaric lynching of Black people in America we were founded exactly because of people like Governor Parson who perpetuate violence against innocent Black people,' the organization wrote.
'We will hold Governor Parson accountable. When DNA evidence proves innocence, capital punishment is not justice it is murder.'
NAACP President Derrick Johnson added: 'Today, Missouri Governor Parson decided to take the life of Marcellus Williams an innocent man who did not commit murder. What sort of message does this send to the people of Missouri and to people across the nation?'
The case even received the attention of Sister Helen Prejean, a Catholic nun who has become leading voice for the abolition of the death penalty.
'The execution of Marcellus Williams is a horrible injustice. This didn't have to happen. Just a couple weeks ago, prosecutors with the support of the victim's family had reached a plea agreement with Marcellus that took death off the table.' the Dead Man Walking author tweeted.
Williams was convicted in 2001 of murdering Felicia 'Lisha' Gayle, a newspaper reporter who was found stabbed to death in her home in 1998
'There are no winners with the death penalty. Marcellus's family members are now victims, too. Missouri is not a safer or better place because of this execution. The actions of state officials and the courts call the legitimacy of the entire legal process into question.'
She continued: 'What does it say about our legal system when the US Supreme Court refuses to stop an execution even when the county prosecuting agency that handled the original trial files a brief in support of a stay and supports vacating the entire conviction?'
Elad Gross, who is running for Missouri Attorney General, also weighed in on Williams' death, saying: 'All day, I thought our Governor or Attorney General would do the right thing.
'I spoke with Republicans and Democrats who agreed with the victim's family and the prosecutor that Mr. Williams shouldn't be executed. But 6 PM came, and so did the execution.
'In Exodus, Pharaoh let the Israelites go, but the Bible says God hardened his heart, and his hatred destroyed his people. Our Governor's heart was hardened tonight. It's up to the People of Missouri to defeat that hatred.'
Marcellus Williams, 55, was convicted for the 1998 killing of Felicia Gayle, a white newspaper reporter
Williams released a simple eight-word final statement before he was executed by lethal injection
Williams was pronounced dead at 6.10 pm local time Tuesday, according to the Missouri Department of Corrections.
As he lay awaiting execution, Williams appeared to converse with a spiritual advisor seated next to him.
He wiggled his feet underneath a white sheet that was pulled up to his neck and moved his head slightly while his spiritual advisor continued to talk. Then Williams' chest heaved about a half dozen times, and he showed no further movement.
Williams' son and two attorneys watched from another room. No one was present on behalf of the victim's family.
The Department of Corrections released a brief statement that Williams had written ahead of time, saying: 'All Praise Be to Allah In Every Situation!!!'
Republican Gov. Parson said he hoped the execution brings finality to a case that 'languished for decades, revictimizing Ms. Gayle's family over and over again.'
'No juror nor judge has ever found Williams' innocence claim to be credible,' Parson said in a statement.
'No jury nor court, including at the trial, appellate, and Supreme Court levels, have ever found merit in Mr. Williams's innocence claim. At the end of the day, his guilty verdict and sentence of capital punishment were upheld.'
But Gayle's relatives had wanted Williams' sentence commuted to life without the possibility of parole.
'The family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live,' his clemency petition, which was heavily focused on the Gayle family's wishes, stated. 'Marcellus' execution is not necessary.'
Marcellus Williams Jr., son of Missouri death row inmate Marcellus Williams, was hoping for a miracle to spare his dad's life. He is pictured with his father at Potosi Correctional Center
Williams was accused of killing Felicia 'Lisha' Gayle, newspaper reporter who was found stabbed to death in her home in 1998
Gayle, 42, was a social worker and former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. She was found dead at her St. Louis home in Missouri, stabbed 43 times by a kitchen knife during what appeared to be a burglary gone wrong.
Williams, who had previous convictions for burglary and robbery, was convicted on the testimony of a former jail cellmate and an ex-girlfriend, though his DNA was not found on the knife or at the crime scene.
Prosecutors at Williams' trial said he broke into Gayle's home on Aug. 11, 1998, heard the shower running and found a large butcher knife. Gayle was stabbed when she came downstairs. Her purse and her husband's laptop were stolen.
Authorities said Williams stole a jacket to conceal blood on his shirt. His girlfriend asked him why he would wear a jacket on a hot day. She said she later saw the purse and laptop in his car and that Williams sold the computer a day or two later.
Prosecutors also cited testimony from Henry Cole, who shared a cell with Williams in 1999 while Williams was jailed on unrelated charges. Cole told prosecutors that Williams confessed to the killing and provided details about it.
Williams' attorneys responded that the girlfriend and Cole were both convicted of felonies and wanted a $10,000 reward. They said that fingerprints, a bloody shoeprint, hair and other evidence at the crime scene didn't match Williams'.
A crime scene investigator had testified the killer wore gloves.
Questions about DNA evidence also led St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell to request a hearing challenging Williams' guilt. But days before the Aug. 21 hearing, new testing showed that DNA on the knife belonged to members of the prosecutor's office who handled it without gloves after the original crime lab tests.
Without DNA evidence pointing to any alternative suspect, Midwest Innocence Project attorneys reached a compromise with the prosecutor's office: Williams would enter a new, no-contest plea to first-degree murder in exchange for a new sentence of life in prison without parole. A no-contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for the purpose of sentencing.
Deacon Dave Billips, with the Office of Peace and Justice with the St. Louis Archdiocese, holds a sign as he stands with protesters holding space to halt the execution of Marcellus Williams on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, outside the Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis
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
Judge Bruce Hilton signed off, as did Gayle's family. But Bailey appealed, and the state Supreme Court blocked the agreement and ordered Hilton to proceed with an evidentiary hearing, which took place last month.
Hilton ruled on Sept. 12 that the first-degree murder conviction and death sentence would stand, noting that Williams' arguments all had been previously rejected. That decision was upheld Monday by the state Supreme Court.
Attorneys for Williams, who was Black, also challenged the fairness of his trial, particularly the fact that only one of the 12 jurors was Black. Tricia Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence Project said the prosecutor in the case, Keith Larner, removed six of seven Black prospective jurors.
Larner testified at the August hearing that he struck one potential Black juror partly because he looked too much like Williams - a statement that Williams' attorneys asserted showed improper racial bias. Larner contended that the jury selection process was fair.
It was the third time Williams faced execution. He got reprieves in 2015 and 2017, but his last-ditch efforts this time were futile.
His execution was stayed by the Missouri Supreme Court in 2015, and again by the state's then-governor Eric Greitens in 2017, following the discovery of male DNA on the knife that did not match Williams.
Parson and the state Supreme Court rejected his appeals in quick succession on Monday, and the US Supreme Court declined to intervene hours before he was put to death.
Last month, Gayle's relatives gave their blessings to an agreement between the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney's office and Williams' attorneys to commute the sentence to life in prison.
But acting on an appeal from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's office, the state Supreme Court nullified the agreement.
Summer Hishmeh, center, and Sakura Hassan, both from St. Louis, held hands and cried as they walk with another man away from a protest against the execution of Marcellus Williams outside of the Missouri Department of Corrections prison
Correctional Officers with the Missouri Department Corrections patrolled the area as protesters opposed to Williams' execution prayed outside the state prison
Williams was the third Missouri inmate put to death this year and the 100th since the state resumed use of the death penalty in 1989.
He was among death row inmates in five states who were scheduled to be put to death in the span of a week - an unusually high number that defies a yearslong decline in the use and support of the death penalty in the US.
The first was carried out Friday in South Carolina. Texas was also slated to execute a prisoner on Tuesday evening.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 US states, while six others - Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee - have moratoriums in place.
A war of words has broken out between Donald Trump and a senior Labour minister who accused him of fuelling 'overt racism' in the UK.
Dame Angela Eagle, who is in charge of dealing with illegal migration, swiped that the former president had used social media to fire 'vitriol' at migrants in the US.
Speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool she also accused senior Tories - without naming them - of using a 'toxic discourse' that gave racists a 'yellow flashing light' as the party tried prevent an exodus of voters to Reform before the election.
But the Trump campaign delivered a withering response, insisting 'no-one knows who this random person is or cares what comes out of her mouth'.
The spat erupted just before Keir Starmer headed to New York to visit the United Nations - a trip where he is hoping to meet both Mr Trump and Democrat candidate Kamala Harris.
The PM and other senior ministers including Foreign Secretary David Lammy have been at pains not to be seen to be taking sides ahead of the US election on November 5, despite previous criticism of Trump.
Dame Angela Eagle, who is in charge of dealing with illegal migration, accused the former president and current challenger for the White House of using social media to fire 'vitriol' at migrants in the US.
The Trump campaign delivered a withering response, insisting 'no-one knows who this random person is or cares what comes out of her mouth'
The spat erupted just before Keir Starmer headed to New York to visit the United Nations - a trip where he is hoping to meet both Mr Trump and Democrat candidate Kamala Harris
According to the Guardian, Border security Minister Dame Angela told a conference fringe event that migrants to the UK often struggle to 'rise above the constant drumbeat of toxic anti-immigration, anti-immigrant rhetoric that has become emboldened, not only in Britain but across the western countries'.
'I mean, Trump does the same. If you look at some of the memes that he's using with the wall stuff at the moment, it's astonishing, quite the level of vitriol that it has created,' she told the meeting organised by the Refugee Council.
She added: 'We had a discourse as the right of the Conservative party got more and more obsessed with what Reform was doing that was very toxic indeed, othering asylum seekers, othering human beings in general, and creating a space, I think, for overt racism on our streets.
'Because let's face it, talking about asylum seekers in the way that some government ministers did, at least gave, let me say, at least a yellow flashing light to people that wanted to indulge in a discourse about people whose skin wasn't the colour that they wanted it to be.
The PM and other senior ministers including Foreign Secretary David Lammy have been at pains not to be seen to be taking sides ahead of the US election on November 5, despite previous criticism of Trump.
'Let's just put it that way. And I think creating that kind of toxic discourse around asylum is a real problem,' she said.
But the Trump campaign dismissed the minister's jibe last night.
'Nobody knows who this random person is or cares what comes out of her mouth,' Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Politico.
'Who is she and what does she do?'
Asked about the clash, Sir Keir said: 'I think I've been absolutely clear where responsibility lies for the disorder on our streets. It lies with the thugs who were carrying out that disorder.
'That's why I took control of the process to ensure that justice was visited very quickly on their cases.
'I was really clear in my conference speech about responsibility. It lies with those that were on the streets causing the disorder, and I made clear what should happen to them.
'But as I said in my conference speech, we've got to distinguish that from the genuine discussion that we do need to have as a country about immigration.
'Because if you just put the two together you do a disservice to people who would never go out on the streets and cause disorder, and do genuinely have concerns about immigration.
'We need to address that.'
Last week Mr Lammy, an outspoken critic of Trump while in opposition, declined to condemn him over baseless claims that Haitian immigrants were eating pet cats and dogs.
The former president, who hopes to return to the Oval Office after November's US election, made the remarks during a debate with his White House rival Kamala Harris.
The Ohio town of Springfield was thrust into the national spotlight after Trump and his running mate JD Vance highlighted claims that Haitian migrants were stealing and eating residents' pet cats and ducks in the parks.
Mr Lammy said there was a 'robust' political debate in the US and he would not comment on its domestic issues because he had to work with whoever was in the White House.
China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean this morning for the first time in decades, ramping up concerns in a region already tense over Beijing's territorial claims and rivalry with the US.
The ICBM, which carried a dummy warhead, fell into a designated area of the sea, the Defence Ministry said in a statement posted to social media, adding that the test was part of 'routine annual training'.
But Beijing has not launched a test of an ICBM at such a scale since 1980, with the surprise launch prompting stern condemnation from other nations in the region.
Japan's government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi declared that 'there was no notice from the Chinese side in advance' that its forces would fire an ICBM and expressed 'serious concern', while New Zealand branded the launch 'an unwelcome and concerning development'.
'Pacific leaders have clearly articulated their expectation that we have a peaceful, stable, prosperous, and secure region,' the spokesperson said.
Beijing has stepped up its nuclear development and boosted defence spending in recent years, with the Pentagon last October warning China was developing its arsenal more quickly than the United States had anticipated.
China held more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023 and is likely to have more than 1,000 by 2030, it said.
This file photo taken on October 1, 2019 shows China's DF-41 nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles during a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivers a speech at the navy headquarters of the Southern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Zhanjiang
China's military declared last year it is 'ready to fight' after completing three days of large-scale combat exercises around Taiwan
Chinese soldiers march with the national flag (C), flanked by the flags of the Communist Party of China (R) and the People's Liberation Army (L) during a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on October 1, 2019
The People's Liberation Army, which functions as the ruling Communist Party's military wing, runs China's space program which has established an orbital station and has ambitions to set up a Moon base and land a spacecraft on Mars.
Rocketry has long been part of China's development into a major global power, spurring nationalism and growth that has made China the world's second-largest economy.
Tests of China's intercontinental ballistic missiles into international waters are very rare, however.
Experts and a historical survey of China's program by the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative suggest the last occurred in May 1980, when Beijing launched its DF-5 missile into the South Pacific.
Since its first atomic test in 1964, China has been content to maintain a comparatively modest arsenal and has maintained that it would never be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict.
But in recent years under President Xi, it has begun a massive military modernisation drive that includes upgrading its nuclear weapons to not only deter foes but also be able to counter-attack.
'This is extremely unusual and likely the first time in decades that we've seen a test like this,' said Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
'(The test) likely speaks to China's ongoing nuclear modernisation manifesting in new requirements for testing,' he added.
China typically launches missiles toward its western deserts from its east coast, said James Acton, the co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
'When they haven't done something for 44 years and then they do it, that's significant,' Acton told The Associated Press.
'It's China's way of telling us: ''Like you, we're not ashamed we have nuclear weapons and we're going to behave like a great nuclear power''.'
China's aircraft carrier Liaoning takes part in a military drill of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in the western Pacific Ocean
J-10 jet fighters perform in formation in Beijing
Members of the Chinese Navy stand on the deck of the guided-missile destroyer Suzhou
The US remains China's main global rival, although Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and others have territorial disputes with Beijing that threaten to develop into military clashes.
As such, experts say stepping up military readiness and demonstrating its capabilities is central to China's efforts to project power in the Asia-Pacific
The United States and China in November held rare talks on nuclear arms control, part of a bid to ease mistrust ahead of a summit between leaders Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.
But in July, Beijing said it had suspended negotiations with the United States on nuclear non-proliferation and arms control in response to Washington's weapons sales to Taiwan.
Beijing also announced this year that it would increase its defence budget - already the world's second-largest - by 7.2 per cent.
'We're entering a new age. We're entering an age where the US and China are engulfed in what feels like an arms race,' said Jeffrey Lewis, a missile expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
'The Chinese government always prioritised diplomatic issues over operational readiness. It's just a different China. It's a China that does not feel constrained,' he said.
'There's a renewed emphasis on assuring themselves these systems work and demonstrating to others they work,' Lewis added.
Chinese nuclear missiles are displayed in a military parade
A missile from the rocket force of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) takes part in operations during the combat readiness patrol and military exercises around the Taiwan Island on Friday, April 7, 2023
A nuclear-powered Type 094A Jin-class ballistic missile submarine of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy
A series of corruption arrests this year ensnared several leading officers in the Rocket Force, alongside the detentions of two previous defence ministers amid allegations of misconduct.
The test launch could be aimed at providing assurances to China's population amid an economic downturn and a signal to the world that the party remains firmly in control and is determined to rise to global prominence.
Meanwhile, tensions remain high over Taiwan and with the Philippines, where the US Army has deployed its new mid-range missile system, known as Typhon, to Northern Luzon.
Two Filipino officials said the US and the Philippines have agreed to keep the system there indefinitely to deter China following this morning's missile test.
'I don't know what's the plan, but if I were to be followed, if I were given the choice, I would like to have the Typhon here in the Philippines forever because we need it for our defence,' said Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., the head of the Philippines' military.
Defence officials in Japan and Taiwan declined to comment directly on the Chinese announcement.
Both, along with South Korea, maintain robust defences against Chinese moves, including early warning systems and air raid shelters.
Five NHS nurses claim they were forced out of their changing rooms and into a 'humiliating' locker room after complaining about a transgender colleague.
The Darlington Memorial Hospital workers launched legal action in June for alleged sexual harassment against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.
They claim their bosses ignored their concerns about having to share a changing room with a colleague born biologically male who now identifies as a woman.
The nurses said vulnerable women who have suffered sexual abuse were having panic attacks before working on wards after having to get undressed in front of the 26-year-old transgender nurse who stared at their breasts and lingered in the room.
After taking legal action three months ago, the nurses were given what they labelled a 'humiliating' changing room - which was meant to be temporary but is still in place.
The nurses - Bethany Hutchison, Lisa Lockey, Annice Grundy, Tracey Hooper and Joanne Bradbury - have been dubbed the 'Darlington Five' and compared to the Ford workers who fought for equal pay and inspired the 2010 film Made in Dagenham.
(From left) Lisa Lockey, Annice Grundy, Tracey Hooper and Bethany Hutchison are four of the 'Darlington Five' who launched action against their NHS trust for alleged sexual harassment
The nurses in Darlington say they are now having to change in a 'humiliating' locker room
The NHS workers claim the changing room was meant to be temporary but is still in place
In a joint statement today, the nurses said: 'We continue to be appalled at how we and our female colleagues are being humiliated and dehumanised by the hospital and Trust.
'Instead of listening and acting on our concerns and the public and media outcry, they have doubled down, putting transgender ideology before women's safety.
'We were told the locker room would be 'temporary' until a solution was found. This locker room, however, does not appear to be temporary and no solution has been found.
'Changing in this room has made us feel humiliated, embarrassed, isolated, ostracised, degraded and dehumanised.'
They claimed that the room still falls under the same policy as any other changing room facility in the trust - and therefore a biological male identifying as a woman could still access it if they wanted.
The nurses' locker room for changing only has one chair and a hook on the back of the door
The room also opens straight onto a busy ward corridor and is opposite a patient side room
The woman continued: 'From the beginning we have always advocated for our male colleagues to be given dignified changing room space - we just do not believe that space should be in the female changing room.'
The case began when the nurses claimed they were forced without warning or consultation to share a changing room with their transgender colleague.
One nurse, who experienced sexual abuse as a child, described how the colleague caused her to have panic attacks after repeatedly asking her in the changing room when they were alone together: 'Are you getting changed yet?'
Other nurses who were said to have been traumatised were those whose religious and cultural beliefs mean they cannot undress around men.
But the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting the women, claims that the trust's policies allow any member of staff to identify in the opposite gender and to access single-sex changing rooms, toilets or showers on that basis.
A sign, firmly taped on to the door with rainbow colours across an NHS logo appeared on the female changing room which said: 'Inclusive changing space.' In big red letters, it also said: 'Do not remove this sign.' The sign has since been taken down with no explanation given
Darlington Memorial Hospital is part of County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
Some 26 nurses then wrote to HR and senior management about their concerns, but said they were told via their ward manager that they should be 're-educated', 'broaden their mindset' and be more 'inclusive'.
In June, they went public with their story and their launch of their legal case which prompted support from then-shadow health secretary Wes Streeting.
Mr Streeting, who became Health Secretary after the General Election, tweeted on June 24: 'I support the nurses and I'm horrified that they've had to resort to legal action.
'We've got to find a better way through this and I'd be happy to meet them. We've got to find a way through that treats trans people with respect and respects women's safe spaces.'
The woman are still yet to meet with either Mr Streeting or the Department for Health and Social Care, but MailOnline understands that the department is now trying to sort out a time and date for this to take place.
The nurses have received hundreds of cards supporting them from women across the UK
One of the hundreds of cards received by the nurses at Darlington Memorial Hospital
Speaking about this, the nurses said: 'The non-response from Mr Streeting is deeply disappointing, but sadly we are also not surprised.
'Nonetheless, we call on him to honour his promise and willingness to meet with us to discuss what has happened to us and why this dangerous policy needs to change urgently.'
And the hospital and trust are understood to be continuing to allow the female changing room to be accessed by anyone who identifies as a woman, including the colleague in question.
Each of the nurses are also claimed to have received letters from the trust with threats about speaking to the media.
A sign, firmly taped on to the door with rainbow colours across an NHS logo also appeared on the female changing room which said: 'Inclusive changing space.'
In big red letters, it also said: 'Do not remove this sign.'
The women's case was given support in June by then-shadow health secretary Wes Streeting
The sign has since been taken down, but the nurses' legal team claim no explanation has been given by management for this.
The nurses were then told in July that their ward manager's office was being cleared out and would become a temporary locker room for anyone uncomfortable getting undressed in the female changing room.
This room only had one chair and a hook on the back of the door and the nurses' lawyers said those choosing to change in this room had to leave their belongings in piles on the floor, which they deemed an infection and security risk.
There are also privacy concerns, given the room also opens straight onto a busy ward corridor and is opposite a patient side room. The door has a key press lock, and whenever it is opened it exposes anyone already getting changed inside.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has also spoken out in support of the Darlington nurses
Lockers have been provided in the last few weeks, but the nurses' legal team claim there are not enough for all the women wanting to use the room and the space is limited.
They therefore argue that has humiliated the nurses and further isolated them from other staff.
The nurses have received hundreds of cards supporting them from women across the UK, with Harry Potter author JK Rowling among those backing their case.
One card said: 'Thank you for your bravery and for making a stand to protect women and girls. We are all so grateful to you. The world is watching.'
Another stated: 'Good luck with your case, you are all doing a fantastic job bringing this dreadful situation to public attention and standing up for the safety and dignity of all women and girls. You have an army of women at your back and we are fighting back against this dangerous ideology you have massive support.'
Ford workers fought for equal pay and inspired the 2010 film Made in Dagenham (pictured)
And a third said: 'Thank you for fighting for women everywhere in your struggle for dignity privacy and safety at work. Wishing you the very best of luck, and when it gets hard, remember there are so many women behind you.'
Responding to this support, the nurses said: 'We have been overwhelmed and are truly grateful to the letters of support we have received from women across the country. Your support means the world to us and keeps us going.
'We will not give in to any intimidation and bullying and will continue to stand for justice and for women and girls across the country in this matter.'
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: 'This is a hospital where ideology has trumped biology. We call on Wes Streeting to intervene and protect and uphold biological reality in the NHS.'
A spokeswoman for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust told MailOnline: 'Additional alternative arrangements have been put in place.
'These include a private, lockable changing room and an office which has been converted into a locker room for the storage of belongings.'
And a Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: 'Single sex spaces should be protected, including changing rooms.
'The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care was horrified by the way these nurses were treated and is happy to meet with them.'
The Sarco pod's inventor has called for the euthanasia device to be introduced in the UK, and has contacted politicians who are campaigning for assisted dying to be legalised, it has been revealed.
Dr Philip Nitschke, the Australian euthanasia advocate behind the capsule, has reportedly been in touch with MSP Liam McArthur, who is seeking to legalise assisted dying in Scotland.
Mr McArthur has put forward legislation that would give mentally competent people aged 16 or over with a terminal condition the right to end their life, pending independent assessments by two doctors.
Dr Nitschke wrote to the Liberal Democrat MSP urging him to introduce the device should the legislation pass, The Telegraph reports.
The Scottish Lib Dems said in a statement that Mr McArthur 'is not supportive of Dr Nitschke's proposals', adding that he did not respond to him.
It comes after arrests were made at the launch of the Sarco in a woodland in Switzerland on Monday, with a 64-year-old American woman believed to be the first person to die in the capsule.
Philip Nitschke is seen inside a 'suicide pod' known as 'The Sarco' in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, July 8, 2024
The Sarco's inventor Philip Nitschke - often dubbed Dr Death - pictured at a press conference in Zurich on July 17
MSP Liam McArthur has put forward legislation that would give mentally competent people aged 16 or over with a terminal condition the right to end their life
The Sarco is designed to allow the person inside to push a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber. The person is then supposed to fall asleep and die by suffocation in a few minutes.
According to The Last Resort, the company behind it, some 120 applicants are hoping to use the machine to end their lives, with around a quarter of those on the waiting list said to be British people.
Among those hoping to travel to use the device are a former RAF engineer and his wife, who revealed to the Mail that they had signed up to become the first couple to use a double suicide pod.
Peter and Christine Scott, who have been married for 46 years, made the decision after former nurse Christine, 80, was recently diagnosed with early-stage vascular dementia.
Like the solo pod, The Last Resort said the two-person pod would be constructed using a 3D printer, and could be ready for use as early as January, pending the first successful use of the pod.
Dr Nitschke claimed that the launch on Monday went 'as expected', telling Dutch media: 'My guess is that she lost consciousness within two minutes and that she died after five minutes.'
The woman, believed to be a mother-of-two from the American mid-west, had reportedly been suffering with 'a very serious illness that involves severe pain' and had wished to die for 'at least two years'.
After being notified of her death, police swooped on the forest, where they discovered the woman's lifeless body inside the pod and arrested several people.
Those detained are said to include Dr Florian Willet, a director of The Last Resort, who is still being held by police.
Fiona Stewart, member of the Last Resort poses next to the Sarco suicide machine in July
In July, Willet said Switzerland was 'by far the best place' for the Sarco to be used, due to its 'wonderful liberal system'.
Assisted dying is illegal in the UK, though support for a change in the law has been rising.
The prime minister has said he supports a change in the law, and is committed to giving MPs a free vote on legalising assisted dying.
The Scottish Lib Dems said Mr McArthur's bill has received 'widespread public and growing parliamentary and medical support.'
They added in a statement that Mr McArthur 'is not supportive of Dr Nitschke's proposals and has not engaged in any correspondence with him.
'So many dying people feel abandoned by the current law, forced to take matters into their own hands alone and behind closed doors the 'Sarco' doesn't solve that problem, it perpetuates it,' it added.
Swiss law generally allows assisted suicide if the person commits the lethal act themselves.
The 'Sarco' pod, which creators say allows its occupant to push a button and trigger their own death
It allows assisted suicide so long as the person takes his or her life with no 'external assistance' and those who help the person to die do not do so for 'any self-serving motive,' according to a government website.
The device was used on the same day as Swiss Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider told the National Council that she considers the use of the Sarco in Switzerland to be illegal.
'The Sarco suicide capsule is not legal in two respects,' Baume-Schneider reportedly said.
'On one hand, it does not fulfill the demands of the product safety law, and as such, must not be brought into circulation,' she said.
'On the other hand, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the article on purpose in the chemicals law.'
Some lawmakers in Switzerland have argued that the law is unclear and have sought to close what they call legal loopholes.
Fiona Stewart, who is married to Nitschke and is a board member and advisor at The Last Resort, said they want Sarco to become an established and accessible option for euthanasia.
Speaking to MailOnline earlier this month, she said: 'Our hope would be to make it available to suitable people on a regular basis.'
She said the launch of the Sarco would happen soon and that they anticipated an investigation.
Peter and Christine Scott told the Mail earlier this month that they made the decision to end their lives at the same time
A view of the Sarco suicide machine, a 3D-printed capsule that gives the user the ultimate control over the timing of her/his death
'Let's just hope that the inquiry, the investigation, after it's just used, goes well, and the public prosecutor of the relevant Canton sees the wisdom in Sarco being just another choice that is available to foreigners in Switzerland,' she said.
The public prosecutor in Schaffhausen, the canton where the device was used on Monday, said that Sarco's creators had been warned not to operate it in the region, but that the warning had not been heeded.
'We warned them in writing,' prosecutor Peter Sticher told Swiss media. 'We said that if they came to Schaffhausen and used Sarco, they would face criminal consequences.'
The cantonal public prosecutor's office said on Tuesday that it had 'opened criminal proceedings against several people for inducement and aiding and abetting suicide... and several people have been placed in police custody.'
The planned first launch of Sarco was aborted in July after the first person to travel to Switzerland to use it disappeared.
American Jennifer McLaughlin, 55, was later confirmed to have died after seeking help to die from another assisted dying organization.
A view of 02 detector and the release button for pure nitrogen in the Sarco suicide machine
The Last Resort and its partners Exit International, run by Nitschke, promote Sarco as a free-to-use device which gives people autonomy over their death.
Tested in a workshop in Rotterdam, the 3D-printable capsule cost more than 650,000 euros ($725,000) to research and develop in the Netherlands over 12 years. Future Sarcos could cost around 15,000 euros.
To use the Sarco, the person wishing to die must first pass a psychiatric assessment.
The person climbs into the purple capsule, closes the lid, and is asked automated questions such as who they are, where they are and if they know what happens when they press the button.
In July, Nitschke explained that once the button is pressed, the amount of oxygen in the air plummets from 21 percent to 0.05 percent in less than 30 seconds.
The Sarco monitors the oxygen level in the capsule, the person's heart rate and the oxygen saturation of the blood.
Nitschke's Exit International organisation, which owns the Sarco, is a non-profit group funded by donations. The only cost for the user is 18 Swiss francs (16) for the nitrogen.
UK: For help and support, call the Samaritans for free from a UK phone, completely anonymously, on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org.
US: If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
Do you know more? Email tips@dailymail.com
Allegedly said she would be visiting family
A tradie has fronted court on charges of 'exit trafficking' after he allegedly abandoned his wife during an overseas trip and returned to Australia alone.
Ali Rahimi, 29, was arrested by the Australian Federal Police officers on Wednesday morning, nine months after officers first raided his Auburn home in Sydney's west where they allegedly seized passports, phones and travel documents.
The tiler was charged with one count of exit trafficking of a person from Australia by using deception, which carries a maximum sentence of 12 years behind bars.
Police allege that Rahmi's wife first contacted AFP last November, claiming that claimed her left her stranded in Pakistan without any documentation.
It's alleged that Rahim tricked his wife by telling her that they would be travelling overseas to visit family.
The woman allegedly agreed to the trip before flying to Afghanistan in July 2023 for a holiday.
They then travelled to Pakistan, where Rahimi allegedly took control of his wife's tickets, passports and other travel documents.
Ali Rahimi, 29, (pictured) was charged with one count of exit trafficking after he allegedly abandoned his wife in Pakistan when he allegedly tricked her into going on an overseas trip
Rahimi (pictured left) was arrested on Wednesday morning by AFP officers
Police allege that Rahimi told his wife he was going back to Afghanistan to visit friends after they arrived in Pakistan.
The woman allegedly discovered in September that Rahimi had flown back to Australia alone..
The AFP worked with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to assist the woman to return to Australia safely.
During Rahimi's bail hearing in Burwood Local Court on Wednesday, his lawyer Lisa Dao disputed the allegations her client took control of his wife's travel documents.
Ms Dao said Rahimi's wife was able to access her the documents during the trip, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The tiler (pictured leaving court) faces up to 12 years behind bars
The court heard that Rahimi intends to fight the charge as Ms Dao disputed concerns raised by the prosecution that her client is a flight risk.
Ms Dao told the court that Rahimi went overseas for a holiday as recently as July after the trip was approved by federal agents.
She added that he runs a tiling business and has family living in Sydney.
Police opposed Rahimi's application for bail, claiming the case against him was a strong one.
However, Rahimi was released on bail on the condition he doesn't contact his wife or members of her family.
He must also report to police three times a week and surrender his passport as part of his bail conditions.
He will reappear in court at a later date
Ali Rahimi leaves Burwood Court on Wednesday after he was granted bail
It comes as AFP Detective acting inspector Emmanuel Tsardoulias issued a general statement about exit trafficking, describing it as a serious criminal offence that is often underreported.
'Exit trafficking can involve a person using coercion, deception or a threat, to organise or facilitate another to leave Australia,' Detective Tsardoulias said.
'No one has the right to force or deceive anyone to leave Australia, or to prevent them from returning against their will.
'We want victims to know the AFP is here to help them and that their safety and wellbeing is our primary concern when we are investigating these matters.
'Each case is handled with compassion and great care, and the victim's needs are always paramount.'
If you suspect that you or another person is experiencing, or at risk of, modern slavery or human trafficking, call the AFP on 131 237.
People working in the UK's phone snatching capital say they see the crime 'all the time' - with victims as young as four years old being targeted as London's phone snatching epidemic reaches a crisis point.
Workers in Westminster in central London claim phone theft happens daily - mostly to 'unaware' tourists.
Criminals' most common tactic is to whizz past on a bike or moped and grab the phone while their victim is distracted - such as when they are taking a photo or checking their messages at a traffic light.
Figures collated by local news site Southwark News show that Westminster is the worse area in London for phone snatching - with a shocking 22,253 incidents reported in the year leading up to September 2024.
People working in the UK's phone snatching capital say they see the crime 'all the time'. Workers in Westminster in central London claim phone theft happens daily - mostly to 'unaware' tourists
Sharon who works in London has spoken about phone thefts. She tries to warn her customers, explaining: 'Tourists make mistakes like having their bags open or their phones in their back pockets'
That equates to 85.4 thefts per every 1,000 people.
Discussing the problem, Paul, who works by the London Eye, said: 'I see it all the time. I would say every day.
'It's worst around this touristy part of London - particularly along Westminster Bridge.
'It happens to tourists a lot because they're unaware. I try to warn them but it doesn't always work.
'One time, a family asked someone to take a photo of them in front of the London Eye.
'And the guy they chose ran off with their phone.
'Usually though, they come past on their bikes and snatch the phone before anyone has a chance to react.
'It's a real issue.'
The 51-year-old said he sees the same culprits at work again and again.
'There are groups of them who are here all the time,' Paul said. 'The police know about them.
'Sometimes, they get arrested. But they're back 24 hours later and doing it again.
'And they don't always target tourists. One of the other guys who works around here got his phone stolen near Waterloo Station.
'And he's a big guy - I wouldn't want to mess with him.
'I've had them trying to steal my phone too. Even though they know that I know who they are.
'It's bold.'
Ovye, who works for a bus tour company, said the thieves target 'anyone' - including children.
Vina Viknarajah, who also works in the phone snatching capital, said: 'I know people who have had their phones snatched and people who have witnessed others getting their phones stolen'
He said: 'It can happen to anyone. I once saw someone snatch a phone out of a little girl's hand while she was taking a picture.
'She can't have been more than four years old. Unbelievable.'
The 36-year-old said the issue is particularly bad around the Marble Arch area - but admitted he had little faith in the police taking action.
He said: 'It happened to one of my colleagues while she was in Marble Arch. It happens so quickly.
Paul, 51, said he sees the same culprits at work again and again. 'There are groups of them who are here all the time,' Paul said. 'The police know about them'
Criminals' most common tactic is to ride past on a bike or moped and snatch the phone while their victim is distracted
'But the police don't do anything. They know it's happening but they're not bothered about it.'
His colleague Tom, 31, added: '[The criminals] have their tricks.
'They go past on their bikes while people are at a traffic light and looking at their phone.
'They take it straight out of their hands.
'Around here, I see it happening to tourists a lot - as they're a bit naive to the situation.
'It's a shame as they think they're in London - one of the greatest cities in the world - and so they'll be safe.
'But that's not the case.'
Georgina Collier who works in London, Westminster said: 'We got an email a couple months ago warning us about the phone snatching. 'We've been told to leave in pairs at the end of our shifts. Although it does happen in the morning too
Georgina Collier, who works at the London Dungeon, said the problem had gotten so severe around Waterloo Station that her manager had issued a warning to all employees.
The 24-year-old said: 'We got an email a couple months ago warning us about the phone snatching.
'We've been told to leave in pairs at the end of our shifts. Although it does happen in the morning too.
'One of my colleagues had her phone snatched just around the corner.'
Vina Viknarajah also works at the London Dungeon.
She also received the warning, admitted she had changed her ways as a result.
'I know people who have had their phones snatched and people who have witnessed others getting their phones stolen,' the 22-year-old said.
'I'm definitely more anxious and nervous about it these days.
'I keep my phone secure in an inside pocket and don't take it out until I'm home.
'And I try to warn others about it too. When I see tourists with their phones hanging out their back pockets or something.'
Sharon, 62, who also works in the tourist industry, said she too tries to warn her customers.
She said: 'Tourists make mistakes like having their bags open or their phones in their back pockets.
'So I try to offer advice. But sometimes it happens so quickly - and sometimes it happens to Londoners too.
'I saw a girl - she must have been about 10 - on her way to school with her mum. And her iPad got taken.
'She was so upset. It was heartbreaking.'
Figures collated by local news site Southwark News show that Westminster is the worse area in London for phone snatching - with a shocking 22,253 incidents reported in the year leading up to September 2024
Meanwhile, Darren, who works for a bus tour company, says he often witnesses the aftermath of the thefts.
He said: 'I see it all the time - people standing there in horror as their phone has just been snatched.
'What are they to do? They can't go after these people - they're on bikes and motorbikes.
'Sometimes they don't even notice it has been taken until the thieves are halfway down the street.
'But it's going to keep going. It's gotten worse recently as these criminals have realised that 99 times out of 100 they're not going to get caught.'
Met Police commander, Owain Richards,told MailOnline: 'We understand the impact that mobile phone theft can have on victims it's an invasive and sometimes violent crime - and we're committed to protecting Londoners and tackling this issue as we make the capital safer.
'Met officers are targeting resources to hotspot areas, such as Westminster, Lambeth and Newham, with increased patrols and plain clothes officers which deter criminals and make officers more visibly available to members of the community.
'We continue to use data and technology to build intelligence and track stolen items to target offenders. We are also working with phone firms to 'design out' the ability for phones to be reused and sold on as we seek to dismantle the criminal market that fuels robbery and theft.
'We encourage people to report as soon as they can whenever they have been a victim of mobile phone theft, so officers can investigate swiftly.'
A six-year-old girl and woman have died in a horror car crash on a secluded country lane last night.
The fatal crash happened on the A76 near to the junction with the B713, between Catrine and Auchinleck, East Ayrshire, at around 5pm yesterday.
Police said the passenger, the little girl, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The female driver, 32, was rushed to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow but died a short time later.
Police are appealing for information about the one-vehicle collision which involved a White VW Passat.
The fatal crash happened on the A76 near to the junction with the B713, between Catrine and Auchinleck in East Ayrshire at around 5pm yesterday
Inspector Kenny Malaney said: 'Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragic incident at this extremely difficult time.
'Extensive inquiries are ongoing to establish what has happened and we are appealing to anyone who witnessed the crash, or may have been in the area at the time, to contact us.
'I am also keen to speak to anyone who have may dashcam footage.
'Anyone with information should contact police on 101, quoting incident 2596 of September 24 2024.'
Police said relatives of the woman and girl are aware and are being supported by specialist officers.
The road was closed for around seven hours for investigations following the incident.
Prince Harry has shown off his language skills by speaking Sesotho, while revealing how climate change leaves him 'terrified' for his children Archie and Lilibet.
He also branded tourism a 'double-edged sword' which can harm communities as he continued his recent blitz of solo appearances while wife Meghan remains at home.
The Duke of Sussex has also been speaking about his concerns about the potential harmful impact of both climate change and social media on youngsters including Archie, five, and three-year-old Lilibet.
His latest appearances yesterday included events in New York showcasing two of his initiatives, one supporting the southern African country of Lesotho and another promoting his sustainable tourism charity.
He has been attending at a series of gatherings in the US east coast city this week, as part of an eight-day trip, while his wife Meghan and their children are at home in Montecito, California.
Prince Harry has been speaking of his love for Lesotho - and addressing guests in both English and Sesotho - at an event held at the United Nations HQ in New York on September 24
Harry is pictured during his first visit to Lesotho as a 19-year-old, in March 2004
He also on Tuesday addressed an audience about the 'terrifying' impact of climate change as he marked the fifth anniversary of his sustainable tourism organisation Travalyst
Speaking alongside members of Lesotho's royal family at the United Nations HQ, Harry told how his charity Sentebale's name came from the country's Sesotho language - meaning 'Forget me not'.
He had begun by saying in English, 'Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests and friends' - and then repeating the greeting in Sesotho: 'Morena, basali le bahlomphehi, baeti ba hlomphehang le metsoalle.'
He recalled first visiting Lesotho during a gap year in 2024 between leaving Eton and starting at Sandhurst military academy, as he spoke alongside fellow delegates including the country's King Letsie III and Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso.
Harry, 40, said: 'The Lesotho royal family, as well as Lesotho itself, has been a pillar of strength for me over the last 20 years, welcoming me with open arms and such kindness.
'The beautiful mountain kingdom feels like a home away from home.
'That friendship has only grown stronger as we've worked together to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing the Lesotho people and the wider world.'
Harry told of helping to set up Sentebale two years after his first visit, adding: 'The charity was founded in honour of our mothers and symbolises our pledge to always remember and advocate for the most vulnerable among us.
'Our mission at Sentebale is simple yet incredibly important - to help vulnerable children and young people across Lesotho and Botswana to access vital health services, receive care and support, and develop the life skills necessary to thrive.
'By focusing on the youth we're breaking generational cycles of trauma and outdated beliefs.'
Harry is pictured with his wife Meghan, who has not with him on his current New York trip
Then, in a later speech at Climate Week NYC, he spoke further about his concerns for young people as he helped mark the fifth anniversary of his not-for-profit organisation Travalyst as he warned about the effects of the environment of international travel.
He told the audience there: 'I've seen first hand how travel and tourism can be a double-edged sword, both a force that has the potential to do tremendous good or, if mismanaged, inflict significant harm.
'These experiences, as well as years of conversation and debate around campfires with experts that I'm proud to call friends, have shaped my understanding of the critical bond between people, wildlife, and the environment we share.
'We're expecting 1.8billion international arrivals each year, nearly double the numbers we saw just two decades ago.
'That kind of growth can only be sustainable if we prioritise not just profit, but people and places too.'
And he laid out stark figures about the climate change which have left him fearful for young people such as his own son and daughter.
The prince told how the world experienced the hottest day on record on July 22 this year.
He added: 'Somebody born in 2020 is likely to experience eight times the number of heatwaves, four times the number of droughts, three times the number of crop failures and three times the number of river floods than a person born in 1960.
'As a father of two children, that's absolutely terrifying.
The Duke of Sussex set up sustainable tourism organisation Travalyst five years ago and addressed an event promoting its work on Tuesday afternoon
He spoke of his concerns about climate change, calling it 'terrifying' - nodding to his own children including Archie, now five, pictured here as a baby with his parents
Harry and Meghan also have a daughter, three-year-old Lilibet - seen here in a photo released to mark her first birthday in June 2022
'The level of suffering is heartbreaking and the cumulative cost of recovery has us permanently on the back foot.
'It also shows the vital need to take a systems approach to ensure we focus on the root cause and not the symptoms that is going to require all of us pushing in the same direction.'
Harry said Travalyst and its partners represent a combined market value of almost $3trillion dollars, or 2.23 trillion.
He added that it was committed to using the funds to 'ensure that travel not only sustains communities but helps them thrive'.
Its partners include the travel brands Amadeus, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Sabre, Skyscanner, Travelport, Trip.com Group and Tripadvisor, as well as Google, Mastercard and Visa.
Travalyst said it has 'scaled emissions estimates' for flights across billions of searches on major booking platforms to help people fly with lower emissions.
It is also working on a similar project in the accommodation sector and wants to look at rail, activities and destinations in the future.
Harry had discussed mental health and climate change with two young winners of a legacy award given in memory of his mother Princess Diana on Monday.
Prince Harry, seen at Tuesday's Travalyst event, is on an eight-day trip to New York
On Monday he took the stage alongside recipients of the The Diana Award at the 2024 Concordia Annual Summit: Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang and Christina Williams
Harry, seen at the Travalust event on Tuesday, spoke about how tourism can be a 'double-edged sword' which can harm communities as well as bringing benefits
Before taking to that platform, the King's youngest son FaceTimed his wife, Meghan Markle, 43, Archie and Lilibet, according to People magazine.
The publication wrote that Harry reportedly showcased the room to his family, giving them a little tour of the hotel space before taking part in the 14th Concordia Annual Summit in support of The Diana Award.
'Backstage, he was actually calling Meghan. I thought that was just so sweet, and it helped humanise him,' Diana Legacy Award winner Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang, 18, who joined Harry for the panel discussion on mental health, told the publication.
And at a 2024 Clinton Global Initiative event, Harry joked about his misspent youth and spoke of his love for Archie and Lilibet, in a plea to better protect children from the 'harm' caused by social media.
He said: 'Some say kids will be kids and well, that may well be true. Kids may get into trouble. I know a thing or two about that. But our kids are being targeted. The harmful effects of social media are made by design.
'These platforms are designed to create addiction. Young people are kept there by mindless, endless, numbing, scrolling, being force fed content that no child should ever be exposed to.'
The prince's latest activities come as members of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's staff rallied to their defence following recent complaints about employees' alleged treatment by Meghan.
Current and former staff intervened in friendly American media, describing the couple as 'caring' bosses who give staff their children's old baby clothes, fresh flowers and 'care packages'.
Former members of staff working for Meghan Markle have rallied to her defence this week after she faced recent allegations of treating employees badly
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, pictured during the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in the German city Dusseldorf in September last year, have been defended in US Weekly
It follows recent reports in industry heavyweight the Hollywood Reporter that so-called 'Duchess Difficult' had reduced grown men to tears as she 'barks' out orders.
Josh Kettler, Harry's chief of staff who left after just three months in August, has now insisted to US Weekly he was 'warmly welcomed' by both Harry and Meghan and described them as 'dedicated and hardworking'.
And Ben Browning, Archewell's former head of content - who was responsible for their tell-all Netflix documentary but then left before the end of his contract - said his experience at the company and with Meghan and Harry in general 'was positive and supportive'.
The duchess herself has always strongly denied claims of bullying staff, particularly in the UK, claiming they were part of a 'calculated smear campaign' against her.
An out of control fire which has spread to neighbouring properties has left one man fighting for life as the blaze continues to cause havoc across the city.
An abandoned building was reported to be on fire in Hubert Street, Woolloongabba, in inner-city Brisbane about 4.30pm on Wednesday.
A man suffered from 'significant smoke inhalation' and was rushed to Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital with life threatening airway burns.
Fire crews arrived to the abandoned building already substantially alight. It's believed the structure has chemicals stored inside.
The blaze spread to a neighbouring business, forcing police to declare an exclusion zone and cordon off surrounding streets.
An emergency declaration was made by Queensland Police under the Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA).
'Members of the public are advised to avoid the area and those within the exclusion zone are asked to remain indoors until further notice,' Queensland Police said.
The fire also spread to Brisbane warehouse wedding venue Lussh, with firefighters working in cranes above the building to put out the flames, reported The Courier Mail.
The fire broke out in an abandoned warehouse that had chemicals stored in Woolloongabba, in inner city Brisbane about 4.30pm on Wednesday
The blaze spread to a nearby building and there are 15 fire crews working to extinguish the flames
A Queensland Fire Department spokesman told Daily Mail Australia there is 15 crews on site 'at last count'.
'We've had crews working on active fire in two buildings and a third building is affected by smoke,' he said.
'They are still working on fire suppression and it is hard to estimate how long it will take (to put the fires out).'
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia two crews remain at the site.
Electrician Ben Newman was next door to the abandoned building when he first smelt the smoke and when he had a look outside he knew he needed to leave straight away.
'The building was abandoned and I heard a guy screaming help me, one of the bystanders came and just kicked the window and pulled him out,' he said.
An emergency declaration was made by Queensland Police under the Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA). People are asked to stay away from the zone and people within it must stay indoors until further notice
'About four fireys came about 5-10 minutes later and the police just told me to leave.'
Another witness, Kay Smith, said she saw the fire jump to other structures and said it was 'very sad' as she believed heritage buildings may be at risk.
Calculator Articles
The Calculator that spawned the Microprocessor:
The Busicom 141-PF calculator and the Intel 4004 microprocessor
The fascinating story of why the development of a calculator led to the development of the first commercial microprocessor, and the unexpected consequences. 2009 Nigel Tout This is a new article which was not originally in "The International Calculator Collector". Busicom Corporation One of the most technologically adventurous calculator manufacturers in the late 1960s and early 1970s was the small Japanese company Busicom Corporation. Under its previous name of Nippon Calculating Machine Corporation (NCM) it produced mechanical pinwheel calculators in the mid-1960s.
NCM/Busicom HL21 mechanical pinwheel calculator.
In the second half of the 1960s Busicom developed and marketed an advanced series of electronic desktop calculators. During this time calculator electronics was at the leading edge of semiconductor development and, like other companies, Busicom took advantage of these developments which increased the number of components that could be incorporated in an integrated circuit. This lead to the reduction in complexity, and hence size and cost of electronic calculators. In the late 1960s Busicom sought contracts with U.S. semiconductor companies, which were then the leaders in semiconductor development, to produce advanced integrated circuits for its calculators and other business machines. Two contracts in particular were of great technological importance. The first was with Mostek for the development of advanced LSI (Large-Scale Integration) technology for Busicom's basic calculators that were manufactured in its Osaka factory. The second contract was with a small start-up company, founded in 1968, called Intel Corporation. The tale of this contract is told here: Busicom meets Intel Starting in 1968 a young engineer at Busicom, Masatoshi Shima, worked on the design of Busicom's first calculator with printed output, the Busicom 141-PF. Due to the pressure for rapid development, Shima's supervisor, Tadashi Tanba, using his experience while working at the advanced computer manufacturer Control Data Corporation, had started a design based on a programmed approach using computer software technology with desktop calculator hardware. This would allow easy changes to be applied to alter the specification of the calculator or control other products in their business product line. Shima, who had some programming experience, took this "computer system" approach further and produced a design for the 141-PF incorporating arithmetic units (adders), multiplier units, registers, read-only memory, and he even defined the macro-instruction set to control this decimal computer system. Tadashi Sasaki was an executive for Sharp Corporation, a major manufacturer of electronic calculators, and had had a good working relationship with Bob Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation, the U.S. integrated circuit manufacturer. In 1968 Noyce left Fairchild to start up Intel Corporation with Gordon Moore, and shortly afterwards visited Sasaki at Sharp in Japan to try to sell Intel's integrated circuits. Unfortunately, Sharp was contracted to Rockwell for the exclusive supply of calculator integrated circuits so no business with Intel was possible. However, Sasaki had graduated from the same university department as Yoshio Kojima, the president of the up and coming Busicom Corporation, and so felt empathy for Kojima and his company, which was struggling financially. This resulted in Sasaki, as an executive of the large Sharp Corporation, offering some technical assistance to the much smaller Busicom, a business situation that was allowed in Japan. However, working behind the scenes, Sasaki went a step further and offered finance to Busicom on the condition that it contracted Intel Corporation to develop the integrated circuits for Masatoshi Shima's "computer system" design for the 141-PF calculator. Intel's proposal In 1969 Masatoshi Shima was one of three Busicom employees who traveled from Japan to Intel in the U.S.A. with details of the proposal for the integrated circuits for the 141-PF and other advanced calculators, which would differ just by the contents of the instructions in the ROM (Read-Only Memory) chips. Intel put Marcian E. "Ted" Hoff in charge of the project with the assistance of Stanley Mazor, another engineer. There was little progress in the first year of the project. Intel knew little about calculator electronics and how to use the proposed line printer, and was not very enthusiastic about developing the proposed integrated circuits. Also it considered that for its small development staff there were too many chips required, the designs were too complicated and required non-standard packaging with large numbers of pins, and they had enough to do working on the RAM (Random-Access Memory) chips that were Intel's principal product and were starting to sell well. Hoff had been working with a DEC PDP-8 computer and appreciated its RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture which simplified the electronics at the expense of a bigger memory for the larger program required. And, happily, Intel was a memory chip manufacturer. Hoff proposed a much simplified system using a few standardised chips employing a limited instruction set so that different combinations of the simple instructions could be used for different actions such as reading the keyboard and driving the printer. Use of a small chipset to produce a computing system was actually something that had been foreseen by many in the computing and semiconductor industries for some time, but Intel had the manufacturing capability and here was a specific proposal. Intel was in two minds. On the positive side there would be much less chip development required for Hoff's proposal than Busicom's proposal, but it still did not really have the development staff available, and would it make any money after the development costs for a small production run of specialised chips for one company? For some months Shima and Hoff continued to work on their different designs at Intel. However, in October 1969, Busicom executives visited Intel and they were given presentations on the two proposals. The Busicom executives decided to go with Hoff's proposal, perhaps somewhat surprisingly since they would have been expected to favour their in-house proposal. Since Hoff's design was to go ahead Shima dropped the work he had been doing and started to work on Hoff's design, and then went back to Japan at the end of 1969 to finish the programming and produce the documentation. When Shima returned to Intel in April 1970 to check on how the development was progressing he was aghast to find that nothing further had been done. Hoff had been moved from this job to the development of another central processing unit for an intelligent terminal for Computer Terminal Corporation. This cpu would become the very successful Intel 8008. All was not lost, however, since Intel had in the meantime recruited Federico Faggin to complete the design of the circuits and he had arrived at Intel shortly before Shima's visit. Faggin, who already had a reputation as one of the best chip designers, worked, with help from Shima and Mazor, for the next year to perfect the chip-set and get it into production. The chip-set comprised[1]: 4001, 2048-bit metal-mask-programmable read-only memory (ROM) with a 4-bit programmable I/O port. This ROM was only mask programmable during manufacture, and was organised as 256 x 8-bit words.
4002, 320-bit random-access memory (RAM) and 4-bit output port.
4003, 10-bit shift register
4004, 4-bit central processing unit (CPU) (the microprocessor) with a maximum clock speed of 750 kHz. Complete 4004 chip-sets were sent to Busicom early in 1971 and by March Shima had built a working 141-PF calculator. In the following month Busicom started manufacturing the 141-PF calculator, together with other business equipment incorporating the chip-set.
A Busicom 141-PF calculator, here badged as an NCR 18-36, as sold by the National Cash Register Company.
For the first time, the classic microprocessor system:
In the middle the microprocessor (4004), with on the left the ROM (4001), and on the right the RAM (4002).
The single control circuit board of the Busicom 141-PF calculator, showing the Intel 4004 microprocessor and associated integrated circuits.
These are: 4 off 4001, read-only memory (ROM). The board also has one blank space which is marked for another 4001.
2 off 4002, random-access memory (RAM).
3 off 4003, shift register
1 off 4004, 4-bit microprocessor (the central processing unit, CPU). The black devices with an 'O' or 'R' on top are single transistors. Microprocessor Dawn So the scene was set for Intel to continue manufacturing the 4000 series chip-set and for Busicom to sell them incorporated in its calculators and other business products. Busicom, however, was still having financial problems exacerbated by the fall in prices of electronic calculators as more companies ramped up production and the cost of the electronic components fell. So, almost immediately, Busicom started to renegotiate the cost of the chip-set to try to get it at a reduced price. Faggin recommended to Bob Noyce (the Intel president) that they should cut the cost to Busicom, but only if they could persuade Busicom to waive its condition on it being the only purchaser of the chip-set. Although there was not much enthusiasm in some quarters at Intel for such an agreement Busicom agreed to it, and Intel became free to sell the chip-set to anyone. It was given the name MCS-4 (Micro-Computer System 4-bit). But who would be interested in using the Micro-Computer System? At the time, on the one hand, computers were largely perceived as being huge mainframe machines that required air-conditioned rooms and an army of attendants. Whereas on the other hand, small electronically controlled machines used lots of small-scale logic circuits or expensive, bespoke, integrated circuits. The Microcomputer System did not immediately appear suitable for either of these applications. The Intel management were still not very enthusiastic either, and there was a feeling that they did not want to enter the computer systems business with the MCS-4. However, Faggin made a production tester for the 4004 which actually used the 4000 chipset, so demonstrating that it had other general uses as well as in calculators. Fortunately for the MCS-4, Intel had just hired a new marketing director, Ed Gelbach, who had previously been at Texas Instruments (TI) where there was much greater interest in general logic circuits, and he was all in favour of the MCS-4. Around this time, April 1971, there was a very prophetic small article in the magazine 'Electronics'[2]: "While the Intel seta controller, an interface, a read-only memory, and a random access memorywas custom designed, Busicom says that Intel can sell it to other companies if Busicom approves.
That proviso just about rules out other calculator makers. But Robert F. Graham, vice president of marketing at Intel, says he envisions a market for the chips anywaythe industrial process control field. Graham says that the same versatility that Busicom wanted in the calculator setthe same basic chips can be used in a complete line of calculatorsalso will provide designers of digital control equipment both flexibility and the cost break in buying a standard set.
The set combines to produce a machine that is just like a computer. "We have a CPU, an I/O buffer, and a mainframe memory that's split up into two sectionsthe ROM for addresses and the RAM for data", says Graham. The basic set is a calculator, so it is good at arithmetic and arithmetic operations similar to those employed in controllers for, say, canneries or fuel oil processing plants. One CPU chip can be combined with up to 16 RAMs and up to 32 ROMs. All are interconnected on a four-line data bus." However, a trade advertisement revealed to a shocked Intel that Texas Instruments had full MOS (Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) LSI (Large-Scale Integration) manufacturing capability and was working on the development of a CPU (Central Processor Unit = microprocessor). This was for Computer Terminal Corporation (CTC), with which Intel also had a contract. As it turned out Intel proposed its own microprocessor design, the 1201 (which was later renamed the 8008), to which project Ted Hoff had been moved from the 4004. TI in fact experienced considerable problems trying to develop their design for CTC. The response to Intel's first advertisement for the MCS-4 in 1971 and at the first trade fair at which it was shown was overwhelming, in fact better than for any other component that it had launched. Significantly, initial sales of the MCS-4 chip-set were small (often in quantities of one or two as samples were bought to try out), and Intel made more money by selling the design tools, such as prototyping boards and software assembler and simulators to development engineers. This demonstrated that there was great interest in exploring the capabilities of the microprocessor and that selling microprocessors required a different approach to selling other components. The Conclusion The microprocessor was about to become a standard component and was to be designed into all sorts of products, greatly accelerating the digital revolution. Intel's 8008 was soon launched, and further improved microprocessors steadily followed, the 8080, 8086. Other semiconductor companies brought out there own microprocessor designs, including Texas Instruments. By the mid-1970s the first personal computers were coming on the market, and in 1981 IBM launched its PC, from which so many other personal computers were developed. Intel development continued to produce the 80286 microprocessor, the 80386, and on to the well known Pentium and its stablemates. Federico Faggin left Intel in 1974 to start up Zilog where he designed the Z80 microprocessor, an improvement on the Intel 8080, and one of the world's highest selling microprocessors. Intel had never patented the 4004 microprocessor, since they had considered it as just another application of LSI (Large-Scale Integration) semiconductors. Texas Instruments applied for a U.S. patent on the microprocessor in 1971 and it was awarded to one of its employees, Gary Boone in 1973 (U.S. patent 3,757,306). Interestingly, in 1990 it was reported that Gilbert P. Hyatt, an inventor in Southern California, was granted a patent for a design for building a computer on a single chip. Hyatt had filed for the patent in 1970 based on work he started in 1968. It is further reported that this patent was invalidated after Texas Instruments pleaded that no such device was manufactured at the time and that it was incapable of being manufactured with the technology then available. And as for Busicom:
The use of microprocessors in simple calculators was not economic, though Texas Instruments TMS1000 series microprocessors would be used in some more sophisticated models. While the 141-PF calculator was being developed the "calculator on a chip" had been brought to market by Mostek, actually resulting from the contract from Busicom mentioned near the top of this article. Busicom used the Mostek MK6010 "calculator on a chip" to launch the first pocket calculator, the Busicom LE-120A "Handy" in early 1971. The later Busicom 121-PK calculator was operationally identical to the 141-PF but was much cheaper and employed the Mostek MK6018 and MK6019 calculator integrated circuits.
While the 4000 series microprocessor chip-set was being developed, the "calculator on a chip" MK6010 was developed for Busicom by Mostek. The use of just one chip and a few additional components allowed the production of the first pocket-sized calculator, the Busicom LE-120A "Handy" shown here.
With the dramatic reduction in the cost of calculators Busicom's continuing financial difficulties finally got the better of it and it ceased production in 1974. However, the Busicom name was bought by a distributor and continues on calculators to this day, though manufactured by a variety of companies. Early calculators which used microprocessors: Busicom 141-PF calculator (described above), also badged as NCR 18-36 , Unicom 141P .
calculator (described above), also badged as NCR , Unicom . Rockwell 920 desktop calculator which uses the early Rockwell PPS-4 microprocessor system.
desktop calculator which uses the early Rockwell microprocessor system. Goudime Astronavigation Calculator. A Prototype Navigation Calculator from 1975 based on the the Intel 8080 Microprocessor. At the following link there is a German translation of this article. General references: Aspray, William, "The Intel 4004 Microprocessor: What Constituted Invention?", IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Vol. 19, No. 3, 1997.
Malone, Michael S., (1995) "The Microprocessor: A Biography", Santa Clara, Telios.
'Intel 4004 - 50th Aniversary Project' Specific references: Intel MCS-4 Microcomputer Set, instruction sheet, November 1971: http://datasheets.chipdb.org/Intel/MCS-4/datashts/MCS4_Data_Sheet_Nov71.pdf. "Intel set to chip at process-control field", Electronics, April 26, 1971, p25.
Vintage Calculators
A British mountaineer has gone missing in the French Alps and has not been heard from for two weeks, with his desperate family raising the alarm over his disappearance.
Kirk Handley's family reported him missing on September 13 when he failed to return from his bid to scale the 11,000ft glacier summit of the Pic du Glacier d'Arsine in the French Alps, local media reports.
The 60-year-old from Yorkshire has not been heard from since September 7, but it is unclear why the search for Mr Handley was only launched now after his family sounded the alarm nearly two weeks ago.
French authorities were called on Sunday when locals in the town of Villar-d'Arene, around 18 miles from Briancon, noticed that Mr Handley's rental car had not moved from its parking spot since the beginning of the month.
Mr Handley had left a note in the vehicle warning of his planned absence from September 7 to September 10. He had also outlined his hiking route to the Pic du Glacier d'Arsine.
Kirk Handley's (pictured) family reported him missing on September 13 when he failed to return from his bid to scale the 11,000ft glacier summit of the Pic du Glacier d'Arsine in the French Alps, local media reports
The local police opened an investigation into Mr Handley's disappearance on Monday.
His last known location to investigators is Villar-d'Arene, from where 'he left on foot towards the Col d'Arsine, according to the high mountain gendarmerie platoon (PGHM) of Briancon.
On Monday, Mr Handley's bivouac site - a temporary shelter or camp for sleeping outside - was discovered at the Pic d'Arsine and near the Pic de Neige Cordier.
Authorities said on Tuesday that emergency services have not yet been able to locate Mr Handley.
French police launched an appeal for witnesses this week, sharing a picture of Mr Handley, who the force referred to as a 'mountain dweller'.
The search is due to resume on Wednesday, this time aided by a helicopter after it was unable to launch due to bad weather conditions on Tuesday, a PGHM lieutenant told local media.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: 'We are supporting the family of a British man who is missing in France and are in contact with the local authorities.'
Do YOU have an internet mast outside your home?
Furious homeowners have slammed a huge fast-internet mast installed on their estate which they claim resembles a missile or NASA rocket.
The 50ft pole was placed on the corner of Bostons and Causeway in Great Harwood, Lancashire, by IX Wireless Network last month to provide 6G internet but has left many residents fuming.
It marks the latest in a string of telegraph poles to be objected by house-proud homeowners across the country.
Lisa Denicola, who has lived on Bostons in Great Harwood for 15 years, said around 30 people in the neighbourhood are objecting to the mast's installation and have various concerns about its implications on the value of their properties, wildlife and health.
IX Wireless said the company is keen to work with residents and welcome any input which can help to improve their service, and where possible have made efforts to move structures and poles after speaking to the community.
Lisa said: 'It looks like a spider's web and like it belongs to NASA. Residents are worried of its health implications and impact on wildlife, and it is visual pollution. It is horrific.
Do YOU have an internet mast outside your home? Email katherine.lawton@mailonline.co.uk
A 50ft mast was placed on the corner of Bostons and Causeway in Great Harwood, Lancashire, by IX Wireless Network last month
Emma Eastham, who lives on Bostons in Great Harwood, described the new phone mast as 'intrusive'
'We used to be able to see views of Pendle Hill and the countryside but now all residents on the estate can see this mast. We live in a very green and scenic area so this industrial kit does not fit here. It looks like it has just been dropped.
'There are more suitable sites to be considered like the fields behind us.'
Emma Eastham, who moved to Bostons in 2008, described the infrastructure as 'intrusive' and said there are better places for such installations.
She said: 'We are on top of a hill so when you come up you can see it looks ginormous. There are underground cables so why not do this?
'For years we have had nothing apart from lampposts and all of a sudden one provider puts wooden poles up and then about two months later we get IX Wireless putting up poles and a massive mast. Why has this very small area been saturated with two providers?
'We have no internet connectivity issues here and we only have 40 houses so why do we need two providers? As part of this government rollout they want to help deprived areas where people are socially isolated but we are neither.'
She said one of the poles that links with the mast is right outside her home, although originally the company informed her it would be opposite her property via a notice that was stuck on another pole in the area.
Around 30 people in the neighbourhood are objecting to the pole's installation
Residents have made a group chat to keep each other informed and have contacted the company to reconsider their decision
Emma added: 'IX put all over their website that they are willing to talk to residents and do community engagement but we were not consulted about this.
'From the bedroom window I can see a lot of wires and in the living room I can see the mast. It is so intrusive and right in your eye line.
'It is like a scaffolding pole.'
Residents have made a group chat to keep each other informed and have contacted the company to reconsider the decision.
Councillor for Netherton ward, Noordad Aziz, visited the estate following a number of complaints from residents and saw the mast in person. After his visit he said he contacted the company but has yet to hear a response. He said: 'The scale of the mast means it is towering above the houses, many of which are bungalows.
'It is not appropriate for the area and I hope the company reconsiders its decision and finds some solution in keeping with the residential surrounding. Residents are shocked by the size of it and it has an imposing nature.
'It looks like a missile next to small houses and it is blocking residents' views.'
Sarah Smith MP said: 'I'm grateful to the residents of Great Harwood for bringing the subject of IX Wireless masts to my attention.
Police were called to a Merseyside town in March after protesting residents blocked the road to stop broadband firm Openreach installing new telegraph poles
'Unfortunately, under the last government, IX Wireless were given authority to install masts without having to seek planning permission nor a thorough consultative process. My fundamental concern is that they have been granted this exception.
'I have written to the relevant Government Minister requesting a review of this process and the company's Director of Operations to request that they consider moving the mast to a more appropriate place. I will be meeting with concerned residents this week to understand their concerns further and to see if there's any more I can do to support them.'
An IX Wireless spokesperson said: 'The company is keen to work with local residents and welcome any input which can help to improve our service. Where possible we have made efforts to move structures and poles after speaking to members of the community.
'This pole was due to be moved to a new location but this was not possible as the company must give a specified time 28 days - for any objections to be forwarded. There have been no objections as far as we are aware so the pole is due to be moved at the end of the month.'
An Air Force veteran has thanked 'everyone who fought' for his freedom and has spoken of how grateful he is to be 'standing on American soil' after he and his brother were released from prison in Dubai.
Joseph Lopez, the current Mr Louisiana title holder, and his brother Joshua were sentenced to a month in jail for drinking alcohol on a yacht in June. The brothers claimed they were drugged during a party.
The pair have now arrived home in Ohio after enduring a four-month 'nightmare' in the UAE, legal advocacy group Detained in Dubai revealed Tuesday. Vice Presidential hopeful Sen. JD Vance was reportedly 'highly supportive' in their case.
Lopez, a B-52 mechanic and Honor Guardsman, was all smiles when he landed in Los Angeles and has hailed his return home as 'a day I will never forget'.
He left the military roughly 10 months ago and began advocating for mental health on social media with fans saying he 'tries to inspire and make people laugh and feel related to'.
The influencer was also being considered for the prestigious Mr USA title and had jetted out to the UAE with Joshua for a two-week-long trip before he was meant to begin his preparations for the beauty pageant.
Air Force veteran Joseph Lopez (pictured after his release from jail in Dubai) has thanked 'everyone who fought' for his freedom and says he is grateful to be 'standing on American soil'
Joseph Lopez (left) and his brother Joshua (right) were sentenced to a month in jail for drinking alcohol on a yacht in June. The brothers claimed they were drugged during a party
Lopez, sporting a huge smile, shared a video on Instagram, apparently captured after he arrived on American soil Tuesday.
'Somehow got pulled out of a Middle Eastern prison, sat in deportation for hours, flew halfway across the world and now in Los Angeles.. all without sleeping yet.. what a strange day this has been,' he captioned the clip.
The influencer, in a separate post Wednesday positioned as a letter to Dubai, revealed that he and Joshua had been released from prison and expressed his gratitude for the outpour of support that the pair had received.
'You tried to steal my future, took my entire life savings and put me into debt, drug my family through this mess, jailed me, imprisoned me' he wrote.
'I just lived something that is going to sound like a movie to many, and now I will share my experience with you to the world, and the experience of others who do not deserve such things
'To everyone who fought for my freedom, thank you from the bottom of my heart, yesterday we were in prison, and now we are standing on American soil, thank you to all those who didn't give up on us .'
Radha Stirling, Crisis Manager and CEO of Detained in Dubai who represented the family, announced the pair's return home on Tuesday night.
Lopez, a B-52 mechanic and Honor Guardsman, was all smiles when he landed in Los Angeles and has hailed his return home as 'a day I will never forget'
The influencer, in a separate Instagram post Wednesday positioned as a letter to Dubai, revealed that he and Joshua had been released from prison and expressed his gratitude for the outpour of support that the pair had received
He wrote: You tried to steal my future, took my entire life savings and put me into debt, drug my family through this mess, jailed me, imprisoned me'
'I am pleased to announce veteran Joseph Lopez and his brother, Joshua have arrived safely in Ohio after a short Dubai vacation turned into a terrible nightmare,' she said in a statement Tuesday.
She explained how the brothers were jailed after being 'lured' and 'drugged' by locals who invited them to a yacht party.
'The brothers were sentenced to prison time consuming alcohol (1 drink) onboard the yacht and for the state they were in following the knock out drugs given to them immediately upon boarding the yacht. It is unlikely any of the people involved in this incident will be charged and highly likely they will continue targeting tourists.'
Stirling further thanked Vance for advocating on behalf of the Lopez brothers.
'I thank Senator JD Vance who was highly supportive of his constituents and keen to get them home as fast as possible,' she wrote.
'With the combined support of Senator Vance and a strong campaign, the Lopez brothers managed to escape the prison sentence they'd been served. Without such an effective campaign, they would likely have been locked up for a minimum of 6 months which could have expanded to 2 years or more.
'I am truly happy to see these wonderful men home and safe with their families. It's been a privilege to help them achieve their well deserved freedom.'
Vance was in 'constant communication with the State Department, the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the United States and the constituents' family' throughout the ordeal and had been 'monitoring the legal proceedings carefully', his spokesperson told Fox News last month.
The brothers have now arrived home in Ohio after enduring a four-month 'nightmare' in the UAE, legal advocacy group Detained in Dubai revealed Tuesday. Pictured: Lopez pictured in Dubai in an Instagram post, uploaded on May 27
Lopez and Joseph travelled to the UAE on May 25 and on June 2 visited a popular Dubai club called Bla Bla, but the night ended in unexpected horror. Pictured: Joseph Lopez with his dog
Lopez and Joseph travelled to the UAE on May 25 and on June 2 visited a popular Dubai club called Bla Bla, but the night ended in unexpected horror.
An Uber reportedly approached the brothers while they stood outside the club and suggested the pair attend an after party at a nearby hotel.
Lopez and Joshua agreed to the offer and were taken directly to the VIP section where they were presented with platters of food, sparklers, and drinks that the brothers had not requested.
Around 20 minutes later, as the venue was closing, Lopez was reportedly handed a bill that he paid in full - despite feeling as if he had been scammed.
'Uber drivers and other promoters are paid by some venues to bring tourists in,' Stirling explained in a statement last month.
'In this case, it appears they have gone a step further by forcing food and beverages onto them while making them appear to be free'.
Despite Lopez's suspicions rising following his hefty, unexpected bill, he explained how he was then invited to a yacht by a partygoer before explaining he was 'done spending for the night'.
The brothers were 'lured' and 'drugged' by locals who invited them to a yacht party. They were sentenced to prison time for consuming alcohol onboard. Pictured: Joseph Lopez
Vice Presidential hopeful and Ohio Sen JD Vance (left) was in 'constant communication with the State Department, the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the United States and the constituents' family' throughout the ordeal and had been 'monitoring the legal proceedings carefully'. Pictured right: Joseph Lopez in his military uniform
But the unnamed man persevered - telling Lopez and Joshua that they would be his 'American guests'.
Ultimately, the brother's agreed and once they boarded the luxury vessel, they were provided with a drink that staff later attempted to charge them over $2,700 for - but Lopez refused several times.
The social media influencer then claimed he and his brother began feeling strange, before they were allegedly confronted by a group of Arabic speaking men donning black ski masks.
They tried to throw the brothers into the back of a vehicle and Lopez admitted he thought they were being abducted.
'They didn't realize the men were plain clothed police officers', Stirling explained.
'Plain clothed police officers often forcefully approach tourists, grab them and intimidate them without identifying themselves.
'Of course the tourist is going to defend themselves to what they perceive to be assault or worse. They end up unfairly being charged with resisting arrest or assault of a police officer'.
The terrified brothers were taken to Al Barsha where they were held overnight and detained until June 12.
The terrified brothers were taken to Al Barsha where they were held overnight and detained until June 12. They had told officers upon arrival that they had been drugged but police allegedly refused to test them. Pictured: Joseph Lopez
The pair were reportedly not breathalyzed for at least 24 hours, but several days later, authorities took a urine sample - once any drug residue had left their bodies, reports say
They had told officers upon arrival that they had been drugged but police allegedly refused to test them.
The pair were reportedly not breathalyzed for at least 24 hours, but several days later, authorities took a urine sample - once any drug residue had left their bodies.
'Police usually take samples immediately on arrival to preserve evidence against the detainee,' Stirling said.
'It's highly unusual and suspicious to wait several days for a test, particularly when they have been told about the concerns'.
According to Lopez, fellow cellmates revealed to the brothers that it is common in Dubai for visitors to be drugged on purpose and taken advantage of.
Joseph and Joshua were given bail with a travel ban on June 12. They were not allowed to leave the country - despite the pair not being officially charged with any offences.
The pair were sentenced in August to a month in jail and have now been released.
Joseph (pictured) and Joshua were given bail with a travel ban on June 12. They were not allowed to leave the country - despite the pair not being officially charged with any offences
The pair were sentenced in August to a month in jail and have now been released. Pictured is Joseph Lopez
Stirling has warned that the Lopez brothers' situation should served as a 'warning to tourists who are under the mistaken belief that the UAE is completely safe'.
'We are told repeatedly that Dubai is crime free, that you can leave your mobile phone on the bar bench and it won't be stolen, but what of more serious but undisclosed crime?' she said in Tuesday's statement.
'Apprentice star Selina Waterman-Smith was abducted and gang raped by three men. Joseph and Joshua were targeted, lured and drugged while trying to enjoy a harmless vacation. This kind of crime is only spoken about when raised by victims. It won't be in the Dubai annual crime statistics.'
Video footage captured the moment a hero taser-wielding officer tirelessly chased down a dangerous driver after he took off, trying to outrun police in a one-litre Kia Picanto.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary uploaded footage of their officers tailing Azane Riaz as he sped through suburban roads in Huntingdon, Cambridge, hoping to get away with his reckless actions.
Neighbourhood officers were on patrol in Huntingdon, Cambs, on the evening of May 29 when the driver of a red Kia Picanto saw them and sped off in Ambury Road.
Officers followed the vehicle as it cut corners, pushed through traffic, went through a red light and overtook vehicles on the wrong side of the road before coming to a stop in Byron Close.
Video footage captured the moment a hero taser-wielding officer tirelessly chased down a dangerous driver after he took off, trying to outrun police in a one-litre Kia Picanto
Cambridgeshire Constabulary put a clip of the arrest on their YouTube channel where it received mixed responses, with some commending the police officers and others pointing out Riaz' odd choice of vehicle for making a quick getaway
One person commented on the video: 'Good chase, very calm and controlled by the officer. 'It is just amazing what risks people will take with their life and the lives of others for what is usually a fairly low level crime'
It also reached speeds of 50mph in a 30mph limit as well as 60mph in a 40mph.
The driver, 30-year-old Riaz, of Kings Ripton Road, Sapley, ran from the car but was chased by officers and arrested.
'Stay there! Stay there! Police with tasers,' the arresting officer shouts at him, before adding: 'I'm going to catch you mate, I'm going to catch you.'
Riaz then gives up, throwing himself on the floor in an alleyway, before he's cuffed.
At Peterborough Magistrates' Court on Wednesday September 11, Riaz was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and failing to stop.
He was also disqualified from driving for 18 months.
PC Lauren Mellors, who investigated, said: 'Riaz put the lives of other road users at risk with his driving actions.
'As a result he's now got a criminal record and will not be allowed behind the wheel of a vehicle for a lengthy period of time. If he is caught again, he will risk being sent to prison.'
Cambridgeshire Constabulary posted a clip of the arrest on their YouTube channel where it received mixed responses, with some commending the police officers and others pointing out Riaz' odd choice of vehicle for making a quick getaway.
The driver, 30-year-old Riaz, of Kings Ripton Road, Sapley, ran from the car but was chased by officers and arrested
PC Lauren Mellors, who investigated, said: 'Riaz put the lives of other road users at risk with his driving actions
Azane Riaz threw himself to the ground before he was cuffed by officers. He was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and failing to stop
One person said: 'Good chase, very calm and controlled by the officer.
'It is just amazing what risks people will take with their life and the lives of others for what is usually a fairly low level crime.'
Another asked: 'Why even bother trying to outrun the police in a Kia Picanto? It was struggling to exceed the speed limit for God's sake.'
A third added: 'Why would you even bother taking chase from the police in a 1.0L Kia picanto?!', While a fourth remarked: 'A grey tracksuit and a s***** old Kia - the glamour of it all.'
Someone else agreed, saying: 'Yeah trying to make a getaway in a 10-year-old 1 Kia was never going to end well was it?'
Known as 'Super Glo' by her supporters and dubbed 'every predator's worst nightmare', US attorney Gloria Allred has been fighting for victims of sexual assault for decades.
So committed is she to her cause that the 83-year-old has reportedly not taken a holiday since the 1980s, and answers her clients' emails at Christmas, weekends and on Valentine's Day.
Allred, of Philadelphia, has fought for the victims of famous men including Jeffrey Epstein, R Kelly and Harvey Weinstein, now taking on the Harrods scandal and setting her sights on P Diddy.
But behind the lawyer's no-nonsense attitude towards abusers lies a heartbreaking past that no doubt inspired her drive to help victims.
Pregnant at 19 with daughter Lisa Bloom, Allred was raped at gunpoint in Acapulco while her child was still young.
She underwent an illegal abortion - after which she nearly bled to death - revealing in her autobiography Fight Back and Win that the nurse told her: 'This will teach you a lesson.'
US attorney Gloria Allred has been fighting for victims of sexual assault for decades
P Diddy was indicted in New York and charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, as he now faces the prospect of decades behind bars
Allred is now backing Thalia Graves (right), who claims Sean Love Combs - aka rapper P Diddy - and his bodyguard sedated, overpowered and tied her up before recording themselves raping her and later distributing the sex tape
Speaking at a press conference with Ms Graves yesterday, Allred said: 'We are very proud of Thalia for speaking out today in order to help victims of rape and other acts of sexual violence against them'
'When I first became an attorney, the world opened up to me,' she told The Guardian. 'I didn't know that so many other women had suffered what I had.'
She added: 'I thought it was my bad luck to be in the wrong place, wrong time, or wrong people, and then I realised there's a whole system out there, and millions of women have suffered much of what I've suffered [...].'
Allred even represented 13 different women who made sexual misconduct claims against Donald Trump.
Once responding to politician Trump saying she'd be 'very, very impressed' with his penis, Allred replied: 'Mr Trump. I don't have a magnifying glass strong enough to see something that small.'
The attorney is now backing Thalia Graves, who claims Sean Love Combs - aka rapper P Diddy - and his bodyguard sedated, overpowered and tied her up before recording themselves raping her and later distributing the sex tape.
Speaking at a press conference with Ms Graves yesterday, Allred said: 'Thalia alleges that she has suffered and continues to suffer among other damages, emotional harm, including mental anguish, emotional distress, humiliation, and physical damage.
'We are very proud of Thalia for speaking out today in order to help victims of rape and other acts of sexual violence against them.'
Speaking at the press conference, Ms Graves said: 'The internal pain after being sexually assaulted has been incredibly deep and hard to put into words.'
P Diddy has been arrested and indicted on a range of charges including sex trafficking and forced labour against both women and men.
Allred has previously been involved in a string of high-profile cases but the allegations levelled at the late billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed could become her biggest to date.
She is representing former Harrods employees who claim they were raped and sexually assaulted by the tycoon, in what has been claimed is 'one of the worse cases of sexual exploitation the world has ever seen.'
The lawyer said the luxury department store was a 'toxic, unsafe and abusive environment' under the Egyptian businessman, who died last August.
Multiple women have come forward to claim Al-Fayed sexually abused them in the Knightsbridge store and at his luxury properties in the UK and abroad.
Gloria Allred has previously fought for victims of sex trafficker and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein , child sex abuser R Kelly and rapist Harvey Weinstein
Allred, a veteran women's rights attorney, spoke at a press conference held by lawyers on the allegations against Al-Fayed.
'I am very familiar with how powerful men use wealth power and fame to subject women and girls to sexual abuse,' she said before describing Al-Fayed as the 'epitome of a serial sexual abuser'.
'Underneath Harrods glitz and glamour was a toxic, unsafe, abusive environment. We say something was rotten at the core of Harrods.'
She added: 'Al-Fayed's legacy was to prey upon, denigrate, humiliate and abuse female employees for his own sexual gratification.'
Allred later shared a hug with Natacha, one of Al-Fayed's accusers who spoke about her experience working at Harrods.
The US attorney has vast experience representing women who have suffered sexual abuse and physical violence.
She represented three victims in Weinstein's Los Angeles rape trial in 2022 and two of them testified against the disgraced film producer.
He was found guilty of the rape and sexual assault of Italian actress and model Evgeniya Chernyshova and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. His conviction was a watershed #MeToo moment.
Allred is now representing former Harrods employees who claim they were raped and sexually assaulted by late billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed
She shared a hug with Natacha, one of Al-Fayed's accusers who spoke about her experience working at Harrods
Allred said her clients 'went through a grueling, challenging and brutal cross-examination, and they did it for the cause of justice'.
She also represented several of Kelly's victims, whose accounts were vital in the case, and two other key witnesses.
He was found guilty of nine counts of racketeering and sex trafficking by a federal jury in New York in June 2022.
Allred said 'of all the predators that I have pursued, Mr. Kelly is the worst'.
'Let this be a message to other celebrities who also use their fame to prey on their fans.
'The issue is not if the law will catch up to you, the only question is when.'
The experienced attorney also represented more than 33 women who alleged they had been assaulted or harassed by Cosby in 2014.
The US attorney represented three victims in Weinstein's Los Angeles rape trial in 2022 and two of them testified against the disgraced film producer. Pictured: Weinstein in a Queens court on August 19
She also represented more than 33 women who alleged they had been assaulted or harassed by Bill Cosby in 2014. Pictured: Cosby in a mugshot released by the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in 2018
Allred is currently representing the sister and parents of Halyna Hutchins in a civil trial seeking damages, after the manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin (pictured) fell apart. Pictured: Baldwin gets emotional at conclusion of his manslaughter trial on July 12
He was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era and spent nearly three years at a state prison near Philadelphia before a higher court overturned the conviction and released him in 2021.
'Even though the court did overturn the conviction, it was on technical ground,' Allred said. It did not vindicate Bill Cosby's conduct.'
She has previously taken on cases of violence against women including representing Nicole Brown Simpson's family in the high-profile murder trial which saw O.J. Simpson acquitted.
Allred is currently representing the sister and parents of Halyna Hutchins in a civil trial seeking damages, after the manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin fell apart.
'He should just have the human decency to say 'I'm sorry' in a phone call or Facetime to the parents,' the attorney said about Baldwin during a press conference.
'This was somebody's daughter, somebody's sister.
'It's not all about Alec Baldwin. There are victims in this case. They are not celebrities - they matter.'
A group of bingo fans were determined to finish off their game despite the fact storm water was cascading into the hall around them.
Players at Mecca Bingo in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, were surprised when a drip gave way to a deluge during a game on Sunday evening.
Footage captured the scene as guests sat totally unfazed by a curtain of water cutting the hall in two.
The surreal moment unfolded amid a downpour that prompted a yellow alert for rain from the Met Office.
The heavy showers saw large parts of Britain hit with two months worth of rain in 48 hours as flooding submerged cars, closed schools and blocked rail lines.
Players at Mecca Bingo in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, were surprised when a drip gave way to a deluge during a game on Sunday evening
Jaw-dropping footage captured the scene as guests sat totally unfazed by a curtain of water cutting the hall in two
Lizzie Cairns, 57, who witnessed the spectacle said: 'The louder the water got, the louder the bingo caller got, which was really funny.
'I said 'I thought you might have closed it,' and they said 'we made sure that no one was in danger,' and no one was, they literally made sure everyone was safe. And you know British people, we carry on.'
Another witness, Jackie Jones, 62, said: 'We just laughed to be quite honest with you.
'Everyone was just laughing about it, because the staff were all running around with buckets, trying to stop it.
'But there was so much coming out that in the end they had to just leave it. Nobody got wet, only the staff that were trying to stop it.'
And they weren't the only ones laughing - footage of the incident had locals in stitches on Facebook.
'The roof could collapse but still waiting for 88', joked one viewer.
Another wrote: 'Still playing though... two ducks, 22!', while one more commented: 'Will take my umbrella in future'.
The incident came as Britain was sent into flooding chaos due to the stormy weather this week.
Communities saw power cuts and a loss of other services, flooding to homes and businesses, as well as difficult driving conditions and delays to trains.
People were rescued from narrowboats in Northampton this morning after the River Nene burst its banks, which also left Cogenhoe Mill Holiday Park on the outskirts of the town submerged - while at least 45 homes flooded across the Home Counties.
For these bingo players, a rainfall gauge in nearby St Albans showed a spike in precipitation at the time of the video.
'It started dripping and then all of a sudden it just poured in,' said Jackie.
The Met Office has issued a fresh rain weather warning for North East England this Thursday
Cogenhoe Mill Holiday Park in Northamptonshire is submerged by floodwater on Tuesday
Lizzie added: 'We were literally sitting at a table playing bingo and then we could hear a kind of crash, and it was like a waterfall coming down.'
But the bingo faithful soldiered on.
In a post on Facebook, the facility's management acknowledged the situation.
They wrote: 'You will be pleased to know that we are still open for business after some weather issues.
'We would like to thank you for your patience and understanding last night. Not even a bit of rain can dampen the Mecca way.'
Jackie and Lizzie, both Stevenage locals, each praised the staff.
'The staff were amazing,' said Lizzie.
'They were literally on the ball with buckets and whatever they could get a hold of, and moving the fruit machines away to make sure nothing blew up, like electrics and stuff.
'They said 'we're really sorry' but it was out of their hands really. They never knew that was gonna happen.'
Jackie recalled: 'They did say it was quite safe, but they asked us to move to the other end of the hall.
'The electrics were fine, they had slot machines there but they moved all those out of the way.
'They said that the floor would dry out soon enough and the workmen would fix the roof. Everything carried on as normal.'
A Mecca Bingo spokesperson said: 'Like much of the country, Stevenage experienced some incredibly heavy downpours on Sunday evening.
'Unfortunately the drainage on our roof became blocked, which led to rainwater leaking in an isolated section of our club for a short time.
'The safety and comfort of our customers is always our top priority so although no one was sat directly in the affected area, we quickly ensured anyone nearby was moved safely away.
'We've since had maintenance teams in to investigate and resolve the issue and the club remains open as normal. We'd like to thank our customers for their understanding and support.'
A 'happily married father' told today how he stripped naked and went into the Monster of Avignon's marital home in the middle of the night 'wearing nothing but a condom' - to have sex with his unconscious wife.
Husamettin Dogan, 43, broke down in court as he tried to justify assaulting Gisele Pelicot who 'appeared dead' while her husband filmed the encounter in June 2019.
Dogan is one of 50 men accused of abusing Gisele Pelicot over ten years after she was drugged by her husband-of-50 years Dominique at their home in Provence in the south of France between 2011 and 2020.
Dogan told the court he believed he was taking part in a sex game.
He said he had met Pelicot in an internet chat room coco.fr used by swingers and that he said that his wife wanted a new sexual partner.
Husamettin Dogan, 43, broke down in court as he tried to justify assaulting Gisele Pelicot (pictured above as she arrived at court this morning) who 'appeared dead' while her husband filmed the encounter in June 2019
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
Dogan is one of 50 men accused of abusing Gisele Pelicot over ten years after she was drugged by her husband-of-50 years Dominique (pictured) at their home in Provence in the south of France between 2011 and 2020
Dogan told the court: 'I thought I was taking part in a sex game. Pelicot said that they had been married for a long time and his wife wanted a new sexual partner.
'He said his wife pretends to be asleep during sex. It was their thing. Each couple is different in their sexual fantasies. He said I would go into the bedroom and I would take care of his wife.'
Dogan told the court he was having a drink with friends when Pelicot, who he had met on the internet two days earlier, called him and asked if he wanted to come over that night, in June 2019.
He explained how he drove some 60km to the village of Mazan and stripped naked on the terrace of the Pelicot's chalet, before entering wearing nothing but a condom.
He said: 'I am a happily married man. I have a child. I didn't want to give my wife a disease. I had total trust in him. I left everything outside my clothes, my wallet, my phone.
'I went straight into the bedroom. The lady was lying down with her back to me. She had a bandana over her eyes.'
Dogan told the court he challenged Pelicot about his wife's state of consciousness.
'I told him, "this woman looks dead". But Pelicot told me; 'she's not dead'. It was a sex scenario.'
The court heard that Dogan abused Madame Pelicot over more than three hours, while her husband filmed him, pausing only to drink a 'baby whisky'.
He said he believed that Madame Pelicot had given her consent because she had invited him to her house and her husband had given permission.
Judge Roger Arata asked Dogan: 'Did you think that Madame Pelicot was really asleep or pretending?'
Dogan replied: 'He said she was pretending. It was a sex game. Each couple is different. They each have their own thing.'
He added: 'I only started having doubts when she started snoring.'
Dominique Pelicot is accused of recruiting men online to assault his wife repeatedly over 10 years
Gisele Pelicot (C) acknowledges applause by members of the public as she arrives at the courthouse of Avignon during the trial
Dogan told the court that it was only after his arrest in two years later that he learned that Pelicot had drugged his wife.
But he justified his actions, claiming it was 'unimaginable' that a man would do something like that to his wife.
He added: 'In custody I was humiliated by the police. I was put in a cell and treated like an animal in a cage.
'I have been insulted in the street. People call me rapist in the street. I am disrespected.'
Courageous Gisele Pelicot was in court and listened attentively as Dogan gave evidence.
Retired electrician Dominique Pelicot has admitted drugging his wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her at their home in the south of France over a decade.
Last week Pelicot, 71, stood the stand in front of his ex-wife and three grown-up children to express his remorse for his terrifying campaign of abuse. And he condemned the other 50 men as rapists.
He told the court: 'I am a rapist, like everyone else in this room.'
Today Pelicot accused Dogan of being 'a lair' claiming he knew he what he was doing as he joined the internet chat room entitled 'without her knowledge'.
Under cross examination Dogan claimed he had been intimidated by Pelicot.
He said: 'I am victim of Pelicot.' Asked whether Madame Pelicot was a victim, he replied: 'That's something else, she was his wife. I was caught in a trap.'
The trial continues.
A beautician has detailed the agonising pain she felt when her arm was crushed by a lorry in Bali, saying she is 'incredibly lucky' to be alive.
Charlene Morrissey was on her way to a camping trip on the Indonesian island when her motorbike wobbled and she fell into an oncoming lorry on July 21.
The 33-year-old had sold her business and flown out to Bali in January where she met her partner Kenny Wood - but the freak accident turned their dream life into a nightmare.
Recalling the harrowing experience, Charlene, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, told STV News: 'It crushed my hand completely. I pulled my arm out and all of my skin and fat came off. It took everything to the bone.
'I lay at the side of the road for 40 minutes screaming.'
Charlene Morrisey (pictured) told STV about the agonising pain she felt when her arm was crushed by a lorry in Bali in July 21, 2024
A fundraiser was set up to provide Charlene (pictured) with the treatment needed to save her arm
Although Kenny rushed to be by her side, Charlene begged him to let her die as she bled out on the side of the road for six hours.
She remembered how her fingers 'were all in different positions' and she was 'trying to put them back in place'.
Charlene even used a string from her camping equipment to secure the skin that was falling off her arm.
'I didnt know pain like that existed, she said. 'Thats something that will never leave me. I dont even know if Ill ever have the words to describe it.'
Eventually an ambulance came and Charlene was whisked away to a local hospital with her shattered arm in nothing but a muslin cloth.
But doctors were unable to treat her there and she was swiftly moved on to a BIMC hospital.
Charlene had multiple blood transfusions as doctors battled to save her life. Her bones had shattered from the hand down.
But the hospital stopped treatment after learning that her travel insurance company would not pay the extortionate medical bills due to two prior claims.
Her worried family turned to GoFundMe in a desperate attempt to raise the vital funds.
More than 100,000 was crowdfunded for Charlene's treatment in just three days. Without it, her arm would likely have been amputated entirely.
Charlene (pictured in hospital) had multiple blood transfusions as doctors battled to save her arm - but they stopped treatment after learning that her travel insurance company would not pay the medical bills
Charlene (pictured) moved to Bali in January 2024 after selling her business
Her partner Kenny described the money as 'absolutely critical to her survival'.
Although she thanked those who donated, Charlene believes that the skin and fat on her arm could have been saved if the doctors had carried out the surgery on the first day she was admitted to hospital - rather than delaying until the funds came in three days later.
After surgery, Charlene was kept in the hospital where doctors administered a range of high strength painkillers and she was drip-fed water for two weeks.
The health influencer lost six-and-a-half pounds during this desperate time and felt her body shutting down.
Charlene was then flown to Glasgow Royal Infirmary - where staff were confused about the strange concoction of drugs she was on including diabetes medication and different antibiotics.
Now eight weeks after the terrifying ordeal, Charlene is undergoing painful physiotherapy sessions which often leave her in tears.
She performs agonising exercises every hour with the hope of regaining strength in her hand.
Charlene (pictured) is now at home in Airdrie where she is undergoing intensive physiotherapy that often leaves her in tears
Even now Charlene experiences severe symptoms of PTSD, particularly when at the hospital.
The 33-year-old now lives in Airdrie with web developer Kenny - who admitted to being kept up at night with flashbacks of Charlene's freak accident.
'It's a powerless thing seeing someone you love in so much pain,' he said. 'It's not something I think will ever leave me.'
The Met Office has issued a fresh yellow weather warning, with torrential downpours and flooding set to wreak more havoc across the UK.
The yellow warning - indicating heavy rain could cause disruption - covers much of England and Wales, apart from North Wales, parts of the West Midlands and the north-west of England.
This warning is in place between 5pm on Thursday and 10am on Friday.
It is in addition to the yellow rain warning which was previously issued for Thursday, lasting all day and covering much of the north-east of England.
Yellow warnings indicate a slight chance of power cuts, a small chance that homes and businesses could become flooded, as well as the possibility of travel disruption, the Met Office said.
It comes after parts of the UK saw more than the monthly average rainfall on Monday, with flash flooding damaging homes and disrupting travel.
Firefighters and police worked until late on Tuesday night after homes and vehicles were hit by flooding
The flooding has forced 43 people to evacuate from the Billing Aquadrome holiday park (pictured)
The Met Office has issued a fresh yellow weather warning, with torrential rain set to wreak more havoc across the UK. Pictured: People walking across Windsor Bridge this morning
The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for Thursday (left), going into Friday (right)
The flooding has forced 43 people to evacuate from a Northamptonshire holiday park.
Firefighters and police worked to evacuate residents until late on Tuesday night at Billing Aquadrome holiday park, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said.
A 'very limited' number of people remain at the site, the fire service added.
Teams used 4x4 vehicles and PPE to help 43 people away from areas that were affected by the rising flood water.
West Northamptonshire Council carried out welfare checks on vulnerable people at the site and provided an overnight rest centre and emergency bedding at Lings Forum Leisure Centre for 52 people and 22 dogs displaced by the flooding.
Volunteers from the Red Cross and Re:Act are supporting people at the centre who have been provided with hot food and drink.
The firefighters left at about midnight but will be returning on Wednesday.
Floodwater around properties at Billing Aquadrome holiday park, Northamptonshire
Commuters are seen walking through the pouring rain, with Windsor Castle in the background
It was a wet and miserable start to the morning in Windsor, Berkshire, on Wednesday
Commuters left their homes with umbrellas this morning as the rain continues to lash down
A motorist is seen having to navigate through surface water as flooding hits parts of the UK
Pictures taken on Tuesday showed neighbouring Cogenhoe Mill holiday park flooded after the River Nene burst its banks.
Areas including Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire were among the worst hit on Monday, the Met Office said previously.
The Environment Agency had 26 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 54 flood alerts, meaning it is possible, in place across England on Wednesday morning.
The Met Office said 'there is some uncertainty in the details' of the fresh yellow weather warning, but some areas could be hit with 30mm (1.18in) of rain in two to three hours, and as much as 60mm (2.36in) of rain in four to six hours.
Forecasters have also warned of potential lightning, strong gusty winds and power cuts, adding: 'There is a small chance of fast flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life.'
Social media has been flooded with memes mocking Keir Starmer after he called for the 'return of the sausages' in his Labour conference speech.
The Prime Minister was addressing the crisis in the Middle East and the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas at a packed out conference venue in Liverpool yesterday when he made the awkward mishap.
Sir Keir urged for an 'immediate ceasefire' in Gaza and went on call for a 'return of the sausages', seemingly fumbling his words before correcting himself.
He said: 'I call again for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza , the return of the sausages... the hostages, and a recommitment to the two-state solution, a recognised Palestine and a safe and secure Israel.'
Following the unfortunate fumble, many people took to social media to poke fun at the PM with a wave viral memes.
The gaffe also presented an opportunity for some people to further ridicule the PM over the freebies scandal
Following the unfortunate fumble, many people took to social media to poke fun at the PM with a wave viral memes. One X user posted an image poking fun at the PM with a poster for the film Sausage Party
Another posted an image of their pet pooch staring longingly into the TV screen, with the words: 'Thanks Keir. He's been sitting in front of the tele for 2 hours now waiting for the sausages to be released'
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made an awkward mishap during his Labour conference speech on Tuesday
One X user posted an image of the poster for the film Sausage Party which includes the tag line: 'One hero will rise', to which the person replied: 'Who knew it would be Starmer?'
Another posted an image of their pet pooch staring longingly into the TV screen, with the words: 'Thanks Keir. He's been sitting in front of the tele for 2 hours now waiting for the sausages to be released.'
Other pet lovers also weighed in on the situation, with one person posting a picture of a snarling dog, with the caption '"Return the sausages" - Keir Starmer'.
The gaffe also presented an opportunity for some people to further ridicule the PM over the freebies scandal.
One wrote: 'Anyone think @KeirStarmer might get free sausages next?'
King Charles also became a subject of a number of memes, once again highlighting the size of his fingers, while another person reposted an image of former PM Rishi Sunak with the caption: 'Anyone for sausages?'
Unfortunately for Starmer, his slip of the tongue was not the only incident to derail his Labour conference speech.
Other pet lovers also weighed in on the situation, with one person posting a picture of a snarling dog, with the caption '"Return the sausages" - Keir Starmer'
another person reposted an image of former PM Rishi Sunak with the caption: 'Anyone for sausages?'
King Charles also became a subject of a number of memes, once again highlighting the size of his fingers
His keynote address was coming to a close when a Labour Party member, revealed as 18-year-old Daniel Riley, started shouting and wagging his finger about the war in Gaza.
Sir Keir, who also had glitter thrown over him at Labour's conference last year, tried to brush the protest off by quipping to the crowd: 'This guy has obviously got a pass from the 2019 conference.'
The crowd applauded and cheered as Mr Riley, who was wearing a red polo shirt and a lanyard with a Palestine flag on it, was escorted out by security.
Sir Keir smiled and added: 'While he's been protesting, we've been changing the party. That's why we've got a Labour government.'
Despite both incidents, the PM was keen signal a reboot to his fledgling premiership as he begged Brits to be 'patient' and stick with his 'painful choices' rather than go down the 'road to nowhere'.
The PM struck a more positive tone in his first address to activists since taking power, as he tries to move on from damaging rows over winter fuel allowance, tax hikes and freebies.
Watched by wife Victoria, Sir Keir told the gathering in Liverpool the country can find the 'light at the end of the tunnel' if the right course is set now.
But he warned there were no 'easy answers' and the task would be 'hard' - pointing the finger at the Tories for 'serving themselves' and pleading with restive Labour supporters to take 'pride' in what they were achieving.
Acknowledging that he will not 'get everything right', Sir Keir said 'populist' criticism of his performance so far was 'water off a duck's back'.
'This is a long-term project, I've never pretended otherwise. But conference make no mistake, the work of change has begun,' he said. 'We're only just getting started.'
In a nod to voters' priorities, Sir Keir will also highlight his commitments to tackling high immigration and crack down on benefits fraud.
The speech follows a torrid spell for Labour that saw any feelgood factor from the July election landslide abruptly disappear.
The party has spent weeks fielding difficult questions about the thousands of pounds of gifts received by Sir Keir and senior figures such as Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner.
Xinjiang's railway port sees 6,000 China-Europe freight trains this year
Xinhua) 09:45, September 25, 2024
URUMQI, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Horgos Port, a major railway hub in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has facilitated 6,000 China-Europe freight train trips since the beginning of this year, according to local customs officials.
The port has maintained an average of 22 daily China-Europe freight train trips, with increased exports of daily supplies, electromechanical equipment, electronic products, and agricultural produce to markets in Central Asia and Europe.
Along with Alataw Pass, another key railway port in the region, the two ports have handled over 10,000 China-Europe freight trains as of late August, according to local railway authorities.
This figure represents a 9 percent year-on-year growth, data from the China Railway Urumqi Bureau Group Co., Ltd. indicated.
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Janel Grant's attorney issued a scathing response to a statement released by Vince McMahon on the eve of the Netflix documentary about the former WWE CEO being made available.
The documentary, which looks back at McMahon's controversial career as founder of the famous wrestling promotion, dropped on the streaming platform on September 25.
A trailer for the series, titled Mr McMahon, suggests it will lift the lid on the many scandals the 79-year-old billionaire found himself at the centre of, including recent allegations of sex trafficking.
So, who exactly is Janel Grant? When did she work for WWE and what allegations has she made against Vince McMahon?
Read on below for everything you need to know about Janel Grant.
Janel Grant is a former WWE employee who filed a lawsuit in January 2024, alleging sexual misconduct and sex trafficking against the organisation
Vince McMahon is seen here attending a press conference in 2012
Who is Janel Grant?
Janel Grant is a former WWE employee who filed a lawsuit in January 2024, alleging sexual misconduct and sex trafficking against the organisation, its former CEO and its head of talent relations John Laurinaitis.
While little is known about what she did before working for WWE, lawsuit documents state that Ms Grant was 'dealing with profound grief and struggling financially' when she met McMahon.
They also say that prior to 2019, she devoted years to being a full-time carer for her parents before they passed away.
When did Janel Grant work for WWE?
Janelle worked at from June 2019 to March 2022, but met McMahon in March 2019, prior to working for the company, when he was still its CEO.
Janel was befriended by McMahon and promised her a role at WWE as the pair were reported to have lived in the same apartment building at the time.
Court documents state that Janel was initially offered a job as a 'legal administrator-coordinator' with a starting salary of $75,000, although her role at WWE was not made clear when she was first hired.
The complaint states that a job description was not 'firmed up beyond a high-level summary' when she was offered the position.
In light of the allegations, McMahon resigned from TKO and as WWE CEO in January 2024.
What are Janel Grant's allegations against Vince McMahon?
A release poster for the Netflix documentary Mr. McMahon, which explores the former WWE chief's family, resignation and scandal
In her lawsuit, Janel alleges that McMahon sexually abused and exploited her, as well as trafficking her to other men, including John Laurinaitis.
She also alleges that he coerced her into sexual acts with other WWE employees and shared sexually explicit photos and videos of her without consent - and claims that the abuse occurred frequently on WWE property.
Janel also alleges that McMahon's behaviour became increasingly more violent and degrading as time went on.
The lawsuit also includes allegations related to medical treatment that Janel received, as she claims that she was subject to undisclosed treatments, including pills and IV infusions under the orders of Mr McMahon.
In the lawsuit, she also claims that she was asked by the former WWE CEO to see Dr Carlon Colker at Peak Wellness clinic starting in November 2019, adding that a Peak Wellness employee was involved in instances of sexual abuse.
Prior to the documentary's release, Mr McMahon released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, his first since April 2023, which read: 'I don't regret participating in this Netflix documentary.
'The producers had an opportunity to tell an objective story about my life and the incredible business I built, which were equally filled with excitement, drama, fun, and a fair amount of controversy and life lessons.
'Unfortunately, based on an early partial cut I've seen, this doc falls short and takes the predictable path of conflating the 'Mr McMahon' character with my true self, Vince.
'The title and promos alone make that evident.
In light of the allegations, McMahon resigned from TKO and as WWE CEO in January 2024
'A lot has been misrepresented or left out entirely in an effort to leave viewers intentionally confused.
'The producers use typical editing tricks with out of context footage and dated soundbites etc. to distort the viewers' perception and support a deceptive narrative.
Responding to the statement made by Mr McMahon, Janel's attorney, Ann Callis, said: '[Ms Grant] wants her life back, she wants ownership of her story. She wants to help other victims.
'This is relatively close in time, 2019 when this unfolded, 2020, and her hope is to help other victims, if there are other victims, to come forward because she had the courage and the presence of mind to finally get this done and come forward.'
Ms Callis added: 'What happened to her, and what was alleged, left her physically and mentally absolutely destroyed.
'She is trying to recover and she believes this is the first step. Filing this lawsuit took such tremendous courage from her.'
Ms Callis also read a brief statement on Janel's behalf, which states: 'She hopes any doors of secrecy have been blown off their hinges and that fresh air fills the headquarters.
'She hopes those at the company, past and present, who fear speaking out about harm is a thing of the past. She wishes everyone peace.'
Janel filed her lawsuit in January 2024, seeking unspecified damages.
In June 2024, Judge Jeffery A. Meyer issued a six-month stay on the lawsuit, pausing proceedings until December 2024.
This stay was issued due to an ongoing federal investigation into the allegations against McMahon.
A British man has survived a hippo attack after the beast smashed into his canoe during a safari.
Roland Cherry, 63, from Warwickshire, said the hippo threw him through the air 'like a rag doll' after it dragged him underwater while he was on a canoe trip on the Kafue River while on holiday in Zambia with his wife Shirley.
He ended up wedged between the hippo's jaws and suffered major injuries to his thigh and shoulder as well as a 10-inch wound to his abdomen. His injuries required seven operations in two weeks.
Mrs Cherry managed to swim to the river bank after she was thrown off the canoe.
'The hippo could have attacked any one of us and I can't help feeling if the hippo had... if it had been me, I wouldn't be here now, so I think Roland took one for the team,' she told the BBC.
Roland Cherry (pictured), 63, from Warwickshire, said the hippo threw him through the air 'like a rag doll' after it dragged him underwater while he was on a canoe trip on the Kafue River while on holiday in Zambia with his wife Shirley
Roland and Shirley Cherry (pictured) were on a safari trip in a canoe in Zambia when the horror attack happened in June
He ended up wedged between the hippo's jaw and suffered major injuries to his thigh and shoulder as well as a 10-inch wound to his abdomen. His injuries required him to undergo seven ops in two weeks
Mrs Cherry managed to swim to river bank after she was thrown off the canoe and later said her husband 'took one for the team' in the hippo attack (file image of a hippo)
The 10-inch wound Mr Cherry sustained in the hippo attack is pictured above
Pictures of hippos taken by Roland Cherry and his wife Shirley on the Chobe River in Zambia, a few days before he was attacked
Mr Cherry said after the attack that while he didn't hate hippos, he was 'not very fond' of the animal who attacked him during his canoe safari.
The experienced canoeist said that when the hippo hit the canoe, there was a 'massive crash' and the impact caused him and his wife to be thrown into the water.
Mr Cherry said that his shoulder was dislocated and he was unable to swim to safety, so he was a 'sitting duck' for the hippo, which swiftly grabbed him and dragged him to the bottom of the river.
'I do remember thinking "oh no, what a way to go... I'm not ready to die" and I thought this was it, because nobody survives hippo attacks,' he told the BBC.
Before he could single-arm swim to the safety of shallow water on the bank by the river, the animal grabbed him again.
Mr Cherry told the broadcaster: 'We know subsequently from fellow travellers I was grabbed again and thrown through the air like a rag doll but towards the bank which was the godsend.
'I remember looking down at my legs thinking "that's not good". There was bits of flesh sticking out of my torn shorts and blood over my abdomen.'
He said that even though he was in the hippo's jaws, he didn't see the animal once and only pieced together what happened due to eye witness reports.
Mr Cherry explained that he remembered his wife Shirley calling out for him and 'friendly arms' dragging him out after the hippo had launched him towards the river bank.
The attack happened during the third week of the Cherrys' dream holiday in southern Africa in June.
Mr Cherry said after the attack that while he didn't hate hippos, he was 'not very fond' of the animal who attacked him during his canoe safari
The hippo also left Mr Cherry with an injury to his thigh
The attack happened during the third week of the Cherrys' dream holiday in southern Africa in June (pictured above is Shirley during the safari holiday)
Pictures of hippos taken by Roland Cherry and his wife Shirley on the Chobe River in Zambia, a few days before one hit their canoe and attacked Mr Cherry
Roland Cherry and his wife Shirley on holiday at the Victoria Falls prior to the Hippo attack
Mr Cherry said that the local hospital where he was taken to immediately after the attack saved his life and has decided to launch a fundraiser for Mtendere Mission Hospital to 'give back' as he is 'forever in their debt'
Doctors in Johannesburg, South Africa, later reportedly told Mr Cherry that he may not have survived had the bite wounds by the hippo been slightly deeper.
He said that nurses added that they have never seen someone who survived a hippo attack, as most end fatally for the victims.
Mr Cherry said that the local hospital where he was taken to immediately after the attack saved his life and has decided to launch a fundraiser for Mtendere Mission Hospital to 'give back' as he is 'forever in their debt'.
He wrote on his JustGiving page: 'What struck me most from this near-death experience was the kindness of strangers.
'I vowed that assuming I made it home to Warwickshire I would talk about the incident at a fund-raising event for the Mtendere Mission Hospital and see if we can offer something back to the hospital that had almost certainly saved my life.'
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Kamala Harris has sat for her first one-on-one interview as the Democratic presidential candidate with MSNBC.
Host Stephanie Ruhle, who defended her strategy of dodging the media, asked her about the economy, her plan to fix the housing crisis and Donald Trumps tariff plan.
Just before the pre-recorded interview aired, Ruhle accused Harris of dodging a question on how she would raise taxes if the government is divided.
Follow all the developments in our U.S. politics live blog
Sir Keir Starmer today ignored an internal party revolt against his Government's decision to strip millions of pensioners of their winter fuel payments.
The Prime Minister suffered a major embarrassment on the final day of Labour's conference in Liverpool after party delegates voted to reverse the cuts.
Sir Keir was given the symbolic bloody nose by trade union leaders as the conference backed their motion calling for the reinstatement of universal winter fuel payments.
But, despite the humiliating vote result, party chiefs and Cabinet ministers insisted the Government would plough on with the policy to restrict payments to only those pensioners on means-tested benefits.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he and fellow Labour MPs 'don't have the luxury of ducking the difficult choices and decisions'.
He again blamed a 22billion 'black hole' in the public finances, which Labour claim they inherited from the previous Tory government, for the need to save money.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, celebrated after Labour delegates backed a motion calling for the reversal of Government cuts to pensioners' winter fuel payments
Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC that he and fellow Labour MPs 'don't have the luxury of ducking the difficult choices and decisions'
Labour delegates narrowly voted to restore universal winter fuel payments on the last day of what should have been a triumphant celebration for the new Government in Liverpool.
They showed their displeasure at one of the Government's first major policy changes by calling for the restoration of the cash lump sum for all retirees.
It came after days of protests, led by Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU), against the decision to make the payment means-tested, as part of cost-cutting plans by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Composite 15, moved by Unite and seconded by the CWU, was carried following a vote of Labour delegates on the conference floor.
But there was some disquiet at the decision in the room, with some delegates feeling it had gone the other way.
Sir Keir was not present for a debate on the controversial policy at the conference in Liverpool, with the PM attending a United Nations summit in New York.
He earlier refused four times to apologise for cutting winter fuel payments.
Although the loss is only symbolic, because the decision has been voted into law, it underlines the scale of anger at the Government on the issue.
Speaking after the vote, Mr Streeting told BBC Politics Live that party members should not 'lose sight of the fact we came into Government to find a 22billion black hole in the public finances'.
'Unlike our Conservative predecessors, we are not going to duck those difficult choices, pretend that you can just ratchet up borrowing and you can play fast and loose with the public finances,' he added.
'The thing about delegates to party conference, whether they're from our constituencies or trade unions, they get the chance to put their points across and they get the chance to speak up on the issues they care about and give us the advice they think we should follow.
'But, ultimately, it's us - the Government, the Parliamentary Labour Party - that don't have the luxury of ducking the difficult choices and decisions.
'So we've had to make those choices. And, let me tell you, people would not thank us if we duck the difficult decisions and then the country paid a much heavier price down the road.
'That's where the Conservatives took us; we're not going back there again.'
It came after days of protests, led by Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU), against the decision to make the payment means-tested, as part of cost-cutting plans
Keir Starmer has refused four times to apologise for stripping winter fuel payments from pensioners
Addressing conference, Ms Graham blasted ministers for cutting cash handouts for the old while leaving the super-rich 'untouched'
Addressing Labour's conference this morning to move her union's motion, Unite secretary general Sharon Graham blasted ministers for cutting cash handouts for the old while leaving the super-rich 'untouched'
'This is not what people voted for, it's the wrong decision and it needs to be reversed,' she said.
After the vote Jon Trickett, the former frontbencher who was the only Labour MP to vote against the winter fuel payment cut in the Commons, said: 'Unions and party delegates were not persuaded to vote for cuts to winter fuel allowance. The conference spoke for poorer pensioners.'
It came after Sir Keir, who is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, refused four times to apologise for making the change.
The PM was repeatedly challenged to say sorry to vulnerable old people who were losing out on up to 300, but blamed the Tories for 'putting him in this position'.
He took the defiant stance in a bruising clash with Susanna Reid on ITV's Good Morning Britain before he headed for a UN summit in New York.
Asked how he could justify the cut, Sir Keir said: 'Well, it's tough and I think the first thing to say and to explain is why we had to do it.
'We inherited a really damaged economy, we did an audit and we discovered an undisclosed 22billion black hole this year, which we have to fix.'
The PM's took a defiant stance in a bruising clash with Susanna Reid on ITV 's Good Morning Britain before he headed for a UN summit in New York
The Unite union staged a protest at the Labour conference today ahead of a vote on the issue
Pressed if he wanted to apologise to pensioners, Sir Keir said: 'Well, I am really concerned that we've been put in this position.
'When you inherit an economy with 22billion missing, it is a really difficult set of choices.
'But what I don't want to do is to allow the economy to run out of control. What I want to make sure is that every single pensioner, there is that increase through the triple lock each and every year...'
Told again that he had an opportunity to say sorry, the PM said: 'The people who should be saying sorry are the last government who left a hole of 22billion, and they should be sorry for that and they should apologise for that.'
Reid persisted: 'So you're not going to apologise?'
Sir Keir said: 'I've come in to fix the mess, fix the problems, and that's tough, really tough decisions.
'The cost of not doing it is to run the risk that we lose control of the economy again.
'I'm not going to do that because if I do, you will be saying to me in two or three years' time, if we lose control of the economy, will you now say sorry for having lost control of the economy?'
Pressed on if he wanted to apologise to pensioners, Sir Keir said: 'Well, I am really concerned that we've been put in this position.'
The conference motion to reinstate universal winter fuel payments was originally set to be debated on Monday - but was rescheduled for after Sir Keir had given his big speech and departed amid rumours of backroom manoeuvring.
It called for means testing of the winter fuel allowance to be reversed and for an end to fiscal rules which prevent borrowing to invest, as well as the introduction of a wealth tax.
Ms Graham had already suggested the payment cut could leave vulnerable dead before she took to the stage.
And in a tubthumping speech she said: 'Friends, we are the sixth richest economy in the world - we have the money. Britain needs investment, not austerity mark two.
'We won't get any gold badges for shaving peanuts off our debt. These fiscal rules are self-imposed and the decision to keep them is hanging like a noose around our necks.'
She added: 'Yes, Britain is broken and, yes, the Tories have left the mess and, yes, they are to blame. But Labour is now in Government and we cannot keep making everyday people pay.'
Senior CWU officials were at Labour's conference today as they are attending the funeral in Scotland of the union's former assistant general secretary Andy Kerr, who used to be on Labour's national executive.
Alan Tate, from the London CWU, said: 'For our members the important work that the Government, a Labour Government, has begun has been overshadowed by the winter fuel cut.'
He added: 'The CWU has been inundated with emails and calls from our retired members worried about choosing between heating and eating.
'Experts are warning this could increase the risk of illness or even death for vulnerable people this winter.
'Now we've heard from both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor describe this cut as a 'tough choice'.
'But, conference, the tough choice is not about switching off pensioners' heating this winter.
'The real choice is about picking up the phone to the tech giants like Amazon and the ultra wealthy and making them pay their fair share of tax.'
Mr Tate said Labour should be taxing the rich rather than 'taking away a lifeline for vulnerable people'.
Despite the motion being carried at its conference, Labour reaffirmed its decision to cut winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.
A spokesperson said: 'The Labour Party was elected on our manifesto commitment to sound fiscal rules, economic growth is our primary mission and we will take the tough decisions now to rebuild Britain and make every part of the country better off.'
The grieving widow of a PC who was killed in the line of duty hit out at the former chairman of the Police Federation after he made a 'sexually suggestive' comment about comforting her, a misconduct panel heard.
Lissie Harper, the wife of late PC Andrew Harper, said it was 'highly inappropriate' of John Apter to allegedly say 'I'd like to comfort her in my hotel room'.
Mrs Harper also suggested that the police leader abused his senior position by making the remark, for which he faces gross misconduct charges.
Apter - then-head of the police's rank-and-file union - allegedly made the 'sexually suggestive' comment about Mrs Harper to colleagues while organising a visit from her four years ago to collect a posthumous award on behalf of her late husband, Andrew Harper.
Apter is also accused of groping a much-younger constable's bottom on a police night out and telling a pregnant colleague 'maybe you'll get a bum now'.
Retired PC John Apter (pictured) is facing accusations he repeatedly acted in a sexually inappropriate way towards women
Apter allegedly made sexualised comments about Lissie Harper (pictured), who became a campaigner after her late husband PC Harper was dragged to his death by a car
PC Andrew Harper (left) died in 2019 after being dragged by a getaway car he had tried to stop and his wife Lissie Harper (right) has now become a campaigner for his cause
An investigation was launched by the IOPC and he has been brought before a nine-day Hampshire Constabulary gross misconduct hearing at the force's HQ in Eastleigh.
On Tuesday, the hearing was told Mrs Harper attended an awards ceremony at the Annual Roads Policing Conference in January 2020 five months after her 28-year-old husband was killed attempting to stop a getaway car.
Apter gave a speech at the ceremony and handed Mrs Harper the posthumous award.
Barrister Cecily White, representing Hampshire Constabulary, said the night before the ceremony PC Apter made the remark about Mrs Harper which had an 'obvious sexual connotation'.
The panel heard that upon being told about the comment, Mrs Harper said that if Apter did make the remark it was 'highly inappropriate from someone in that position'.
Ms White added: 'It was a bereaved widow who was accepting a posthumous award.'
Mrs Harper has not been called to give evidence at the hearing. But Martin Buhagiar, then Head of Communications of the Federation, told the panel Apter would indulge in 'locker room bloke banter' with a male colleague and claimed that you 'got used to' comments like the remark about Mrs Harper.
Speaking about the January 2020 awards ceremony, Mr Buhagiar said the main priority was taking care of the widow as it was her first public appearance since her husband-of-four-week's death.
'We wanted to make sure everything was done in the right way', Mr Buhagiar said.
'Somebody said something along the lines of if she needs comforting we bring her in in the right way and if she needs a pause we afford her that pause.'
John Apter (left) stands with then Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Ken Marsh outside 10 Downing Street
PC John Apter (pictured in uniform) is accused of saying: 'I'd like to comfort her in my hotel room'
Apter has a 30-year long policing career and was chief of the Police Federation
Apter (pictured) allegedly also said to a pregnant woman working at the Police Federation: 'Maybe you'll get a bum now'
Apter (pictured) has denied all three allegations
Lissie Harper (pictured) said that it would have been 'highly inappropriate' of Apter to make the comment
Andrew Harper (left) was in the line of duty working as a Thames Valley Police Officer when he was killed
Lissie Harper (right) has become a campaigner since the death of her husband Andrew (right)
He said they were in a huddle discussing logistics about the event and Mrs Harper's arrival.
'I remember him (Apter) saying something like 'I'd like to comfort her in my hotel room', Mr Buhagiar added.
'It took me a few seconds to hear it because at first I took it as him saying he could look after her, but then the penny dropped and there was an awkward silence.'
Mr Buhagiar said he then quickly wrapped up the conversation and the group of colleagues disbanded, but discussed the remarks later.
When asked why he didn't call out Apter immediately, Mr Buhagiar said there was a culture within the Federation whereby it was not unusual to hear comments like that.
Mr Buhagiar, who left the Federation in 2022 and set up his own communications business, said he believes the organisation still has the same culture.
Apter is also accused of groping a young constable's bottom on a night out before the 2021 Police Bravery Awards in London that December.
He is said to have groped her and whispered in her ear 'is that OK?'
On Tuesday Ms White said the incident happened after Apter bought the woman, named only as Female A, drinks in an apparent attempt to get her drunk.
Lissie Harper (right) meets with then Prime Minister Boris Johnson at 10 Downing Street in November 2021
Lissie was made an MBE last year for her campaigning work after her husband's death
Harper's Law has been introduced into statute ensuring the killers of emergency workers on duty now face a mandatory life sentence
Lissie Harper (right) has dedicated her campaign work to her late husband Andrew Harper (left)
Today, Mr Buhagiar told the panel that at the 2020 awards, which were held in October 2021 after being delayed by the pandemic, Apter swigged from a hip flask throughout the evening and got drunk.
Mr Buhagiar said at the end of the evening Apter filmed a short video interview about how the night went, but it could not be used because he was too drunk.
He told the misconduct hearing that Apter enjoyed 'locker room bloke banter' with Federation Vice Chairman Che-Paul Donald.
However, Mr Buhagiar said if a woman was in the room 'it was more professional'.
Mr Buhagiar also told the panel that 'the Police Federation was not a nice place to work' and said 'it was not a professional organisation'.
Apter was suspended as chairman of the Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, in 2021 after accusations about his behaviour.
Now retired, he enjoyed a 30-year career in policing.
The hearing continues.
An off-duty paramedic has described how tragedy unfolded as a man fell ill on a Jet2 flight from Bulgaria to Liverpool before dying, as tributes to the father-of-two continue to pour in.
Chris Neill, 40, from Runcorn in Cheshire, was flying to Liverpool John Lennon Airport from Burgas along with his two sons Reece, 19, and eight-year-Archie when he began to suffer chest pains.
The flight was forced to make an emergency landing in the German city of Cologne where Mr Neill died shortly after being taken off the plane.
His family has since set up a GoFundMe appeal to help with the costs of bringing his body home and well wishers have now contributed more than 18,000.
His father Mal Neill, who set up the page along with Chris's mother Lesley, has now allowed Rach-Victoria Leyland, the off-duty paramedic who tried to help, to share details of what happened, the Liverpool Echo reported.
Chris Neill, 40, who died after falling ill on a Jet2 plane from Bulgaria to Liverpool, is seen here at Everton's Goodison Park ground alongside his eldest son Reece, 19
Tributes have been paid to Chris Neill and thousands of pounds donated to help repatriate his body from Germany where he died after his flight made an emergency landing in Cologne
Jet2 flight LS3214 had left Burgas for the UK with Chris and his sons onboard just after 1pm local time on Monday last week, with the crew declaring an emergency two hours into the journey after he was taken ill.
The pilots requested an immediate diversion, and the Boeing 737-800 landed in Germany after a rapid descent. The flight's return to the UK was delayed until later that evening.
Ms Leyland has now written in a public social media post: 'Permission given by Christopher's Dad in desperate times!
'As most of you are aware I attended a medical emergency last Monday on the flight home from Bulgaria. I was asked to assist with a 40-year-old male with chest pain, the male being Chris.
'It was apparent to me Chris was suffering from a massive MI, in simple terms a heart attack.
'I did a few checks and interventions and made the decision to tell the crew that the pilot needed to do an emergency landing.'
While on the flight, Mr Neill was taken to the front of the plane with an oxygen mask.
Ms Leyland said: 'I managed with the help of an off-duty colonoscopy nurse and the crew to get Chris to the front of the plane so I had space in case Chris needed any emergency care.
'Sadly after a few minutes of being sat at the front of the plane, Chris had a small seizure and went into cardiac arrest.'
Chris Neill, 40, from Runcorn in Cheshire, was flying to Liverpool John Lennon Airport from Burgas along with his two sons Reece, 19, and eight-year-Archie when he suffered chest pains
She told how she, the nurse and the plane's crew started chest compressions before doing a medical handover on the runway to a German medical team.
After landing, Chris walked off the plane and down the steps onto the runway but before he reached the concrete he collapsed following what is believed to have been a severe heart attack.
Ms Leyland said Mr Neill 'sadly passed away in hospital not so long after'.
She and his father, who lives in Morecambe, have since been in contact on discovering they have two mutual friends.
She added: 'Mal sent me some flowers to work today bless him.'
She also pledged her support for the fundraiser, writing on Facebook: 'His Dad Mal has set up a GoFundMe page in desperate need to get Chris home.
'Sadly, I did not manage to save Chris's life, despite all our efforts, but I am going to do my upmost to help him get Chris home to his family where he belongs so they can put him to rest.'
In a note written to her by Mal, he said: 'To Rach, thank you for all the help dealing with my son on the flight from Bulgaria. Will meet you soon. Lots of love, Mal.'
A GoFundMe has since been set up by Chris's parents, Malcom and Lesley, who are raising funds to bring their son's body back to the UK and organise a funeral for him
He has also paid a emotional tribute to his son and praised Jet2 for their efforts.
He said of Chris: 'He was a staunch Everton fan and brought his children up as Everton fans.
'He lived life to the full and he was bubbly. He was 6ft 4in and went to the gym every day, he was massive.
'He lived for his children and when I was going through photos for the GoFundMe there are so many of him and his sons.
'He was full of fun, bubbly, he would do anything for anybody. I know people say that when someone dies but he would have. He was really liked by everyone.'
Former Merseyside Police officer Mal, 68, who has since flown out to Germany, added: 'I can't praise Jet2 enough for how they dealt with it all.
'The kids were taken off the flight and Jet2 put them up in a hotel and tried to find them a flight home the next day.'
The airline has said in a statement: 'We would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the customer's family and friends at this very difficult time.'
Jet2 flight LS3214 left Burgas for the UK in the afternoon of September 16
Chris Neill's father Mal Neill has praised Jet2 for their efforts (file image)
The family revealed on the fundraising page that Chris believed he had travel insurance through his bank, Halifax, but it had lapsed without renewal.
Other tributes have included a former colleague William Wren posting: 'Chris worked for us in the Isle of Man whilst he was living here.
'Was a really nice chap. Can't believe it! Its so sad. Sorry to everyone connected to Chris for your loss.'
To donate to the fundraiser, go to www.gofundme.com/f/4nd5c-help-bring-christopher-home.
A suspect took an MTA bus hostage and led cops on a terrifying one-hour chase through the streets of Los Angeles in wild scenes overnight.
The gunman, who has not been identified, shot a passenger as the incident unfolded at around 12:45am on Wednesday. The victim later died in hospital.
After leading cops for over six miles through the city, the suspect was apprehended by a SWAT team shortly after 2am.
Reports indicate a victim on the bus may have been driving the vehicle under the hijacker's direction at gunpoint, and a witness said the manic chase through the California city 'looked like the movie Speed.'
Images circulating online of the end of the chase showed the MTA bus pulled over to the side of the road as an armored police vehicle stopped in front of it.
On Wednesday night in Los Angeles, an MTA bus was hijacked by a gunman in wild scenes that saw a victim drive the vehicle away from police at gunpoint
A witness described the chase through Los Angeles as resembling the movie 'Speed'
During the pursuit, the suspect drove the bus down the wrong direction of a one-way street, and police reportedly deployed wheel spike strips to burst its tyers.
When the suspect stopped the bus in front of the armored vehicle, a standoff with police ensued with a loudspeaker.
The gunman appeared to be holding at least one person hostage during the chase and subsequent standoff.
Police said they initially believed more than one person had hijacked the bus as the driver appeared to be under the direction of the hijacker at gunpoint.
Police pursued the bus for over six miles before a standoff ensued, which ended as a SWAT team arrested the hijacker
It is unclear if the victim who drove the bus was the same who was shot and taken hostage, or if there were other passengers onboard during the chase.
The suspect was arrested at the scene, while the shot victim transported to hospital in critical condition, and they later died. According to the Citizen crime reporting app, the victim was a 48-year-old man who was shot twice.
Officials have not offered the suspect's name nor the motive for the crazed incident, but said he was believed to be connected to another earlier shooting.
Euthanasia campaigner Dr Florian Willet described the first death in the controversial Sarco pod on Monday as 'peaceful, fast and dignified'.
Co-president of The Last Resort, the firm set up to operate the capsule, he is said to have been the only person to witness the 64-year-old American woman's passing as she pushed a button to release nitrogen gas into the chamber.
It was the culmination of a lifetime of right-to-die advocacy for Willet, but almost immediately after, police arrived and arrested the 47-year-old, placing him and several others into custody, where he remains.
Prosecutors in the Swiss region of Schaffhausenthe, where the launch took place, confirmed yesterday that they had 'opened criminal proceedings against several people for inducement and aiding and abetting suicide.'
The German-born campaigner, who describes himself as an economist and communication psychologist, previously worked as a media spokesperson for euthanasia clinic Dignitas, before joining The Last Resort.
Asked about what inspired his work in a recent interview, he described how he had thoughts of taking his own life at a young age, as well as how he dealt with his father's suicide as a teenager.
Co-President of The Last Resort, Florian Willet (left), is seen with board member Fiona Stewart at a press conference in July
Philip Nitschke lies down in a 'suicide pod' known as 'The Sarco' in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, July 8, 2024
'By the age of five I took my own dying by suicide into consideration,' Willet revealed in an interview on YouTube.
'And also, then, my father. He died by suicide when I was 14. Actually, I was completely fine with it.
'I mean, I was extremely sad because I loved my father. But, I understood immediately my father, he wanted to do this because he was a rational person, which means that expecting from him to remain alive just because I need a father, would mean extending his suffering.'
'This would be very selfish, this expectation from my side,' he argued. 'So I was completely fine with the situation. I dealt with it as a teenager.'
He said he was visited by a priest and a psychiatrist, who told him that his father's death was 'selfish' because he should have stayed alive for his son.
'Keeping my father alive just because I need him as a young person is like being on a farm using horses or animals to get the work done. Abusing a living being. It's horrible,' Willet said.
Willet, who said he was raised 'completely atheistic' slammed the 'strange morality' he said was created by Christianity and other religions.
A member of high-IQ society Mensa, he argues that his 'logic', as well as the importance he places on 'empathy', has driven his thinking around the right-to-die.
Willet, who said he was raised 'completely atheistic' slammed the 'strange morality' created by religion
Australian doctor Philip Nitschke (R), founder of the euthanasia organization Exit International, speaks next to Florian Willet, co-president of the Last Resort organization
In July, as he presented Sarco to the world at a press conference, he told reporters: 'I have compared all kinds of available options to die, self-determined, and there is no better way, in my eyes, for me, than just breathing air without oxygen, until you lose consciousness and you fall into a never-ending sleep.'
The Sarco is designed to allow the person inside to push a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber. The person is then supposed to fall asleep and die by suffocation in a few minutes.
Sarco's inventor, Dr Philip Nitschke, claimed that the launch on Monday went 'as expected', telling Dutch media: 'My guess is that she lost consciousness within two minutes and that she died after five minutes.'
Fiona Stewart, member of the Last Resort poses next to the Sarco suicide machine in July
In July, Willet said Switzerland was 'by far the best place' for the Sarco to be used, due to its 'wonderful liberal system'.
Swiss law generally allows assisted suicide if the person commits the lethal act themselves.
But interior minister Baume-Schneider, taking questions in parliament on Monday, said: 'The Sarco suicide capsule is not legally compliant in two respects.
'Firstly, it does not meet the requirements of product safety law and therefore cannot be placed on the market. Secondly, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the purpose article of the Chemicals Act,' she said.
Fiona Stewart, who is on The Last Resort's advisory board with Willet, said the group was acting on legal advice, which 'since 2021 has consistently found that the use of Sarco in Switzerland would be lawful'.
A new Cold War could be about to break out - this one between supermarkets, as one retailer today threatened Colin v Cuthbert-style legal action against rivals.
Frozen food firm Iceland has applied to the Intellectual Property Office to legally trademark the term 'King Prawn Ring' and their design, which could prevent other companies from bringing out their own versions of the product.
Executive chairman Richard Walker took to social media to directly address competitors such as Tesco, Aldi, Sainsbury's and Asda, warning them: 'The King Prawn Ring is ours and we won't be letting you off the hook.'
The threats stir memories of how Marks & Spencer and Aldi were previously embroiled in a bitter supermarket cake war.
British retailer M&S had accused the German discounter of copying the design of its famous Colin the Caterpillar for their rival Cuthbert, in a dispute which even made it to London's High Court before a truce was agreed in 2022.
Iceland has announced it wants to trademark the term 'King Prawn Ring' as well as its product's design, while also announcing a new 'Luxury King Prawn Ring' offering
The frozen food retailer published an open letter 'as a warning to all supermarkets'
Tesco is among the rival supermarket chains directly called out by iceland's executive chairman Richard Walker as he threatened legal action over similar products
Aldi was also named in Mr Walker's social media post sharing Iceland's newly-published letter
Official records show Iceland filed the trademark claim with the IPO on September 9. The bid is currently under examination.
The company announced its move in an open letter published today, packed with fish-related wordplay.
The frozen food retailer insisted it wanted rivals to think twice about including what they called an 'impostor of a King Prawn Ring' in upcoming Christmas ranges.
Mr Walker said: 'When it comes to the King Prawn Ring, Iceland are the OGs. From the idea to the name and the shape, we believe its our own iconic product that has been a staple of our Christmas range for the past 30 years.
'Weve had enough of the pretenders and were now taking action. Weve applied for a trademark and design application, and we expect our King Prawn Ring to be the only one on the shelves this Christmas.'
Iceland posted a copy of the new warning letter on X, formerly Twitter.
The post was shared by Mr Walker to his 25,300 followers, adding: 'I've rubber stamped this official warning today.
'The King Prawn Ring is ours and we won't be letting you off the hook, @AldiUK @Tesco @asda @LidlGB @Morrisons @sainsburys @coopuk.'
Iceland executive chairman Richard Walker (right), pictured with the Princess of Wales during her visit to an Iceland store, has threatened legal action against rival retailers
Mr Walker told other supermarket chains on social media: 'The King Prawn Ring is ours and we won't be letting you off the hook'
The punning letter states that it is 'a warning to all supermarkets', telling them: 'We are today asking you to remove your pretender King Prawn Rings from sale and to not include them in any of your impending Christmas ranges.
'Doing so will ensure you dont have any action taken against you should our applications be granted.
'Our lawyers are more than ready to dive into legal waters, and trust us, theyre well-armed to claw back whats rightfully ours.
'We dont want to have to scale things up, but if you continue to flounder in your ways, well have no choice but to reel you in.'
Among the responses on X was a comment from Lidl's account, saying, 'Sea-riously?' - to which the Iceland counterpart replied: 'Shell yes.'
MailOnline has contacted all the supermarket firms named on social media by Mr Walker for comment.
The cake-related battle between Marks & Spencer and Aldi saw high-powered lawyers called in on both sides.
M&S argued it had three trademarks relating to Colin and the product had acquired and retained an enhanced distinctive character and reputation.
A spawn of apparent imitators had been launched by rival stores such as Sainsbury's Wiggles, Tesco's Curly, Morris by Morrisons, the Co-op's Charlie, Cecil by Waitrose and Asda's Clyde.
Marks & Spencer was previously in dispute with German discounter Aldi after it accused them of copying the design of its famous Colin the Caterpillar cake (pictured) for their rival Cuthbert
The wrangle involving Aldi's Cuthbert (pictured) even made it to London 's High Court before a truce was agreed in 2022
M&S first launched the lawsuit against Aldi in April 2021 in a bid to force its rival to take its Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake off the shelves and agree to not sell anything resembling it in the future.
The following month Aldi started selling its caterpillar cake again after making changes to its chocolate face design.
The case reached London's High Court in 2021 - but the following year both supermarkets confirmed an agreement had been struck to resolve the conflict.
It was understood that Cuthbert would not appear again in quite the same form and a version later arrived on Aldi shelves with the name Holly Lane Cuthbert Cake.
An acid attacker is facing a long jail sentence for throwing sodium hyrdroxide into another eco-resident's face at Britain's oldest off-grid commune, a court heard today.
Jivan Dean, 23, today admitted hurling the corrosive substance into the eyes of another man at the 'peace and love' community, Tipi Valley, in Llandeilo, West Wales.
Police were scrambled to the crime scene at the quiet rural commune following the horrific attack.
The community is made up of collection of 100-Native American-style teepee tents and eco-lodges in a Welsh valley set up in the 1970s.
Jivan Dean (pictured), 23, today admitted hurling the corrosive substance into the eyes of another man at the 'peace and love' community called Tipi Valley
Police were called to the rare crime at the rural community of Tipi Valley in Llandeilo, West Wales, a 100-tent community set up in the 1970s
A manhunt was launched before Dean was arrested 48 hours later and later charged over the attack - and he has now admitted two charges.
Dean caused damage to victim Raven Riley's eyes during the eco-village sodium hyrdroxide attack and the court heard medical reports are being prepared.
Dean admitted grievous bodily harm and a charge under the historic 'offences against the person act 1871' against victim Raven Riley.
Dean pleaded guilty to 'causing a dangerous of noxious thing to be received with the aim to burn, maim, or disfigure, disable or do some grievous bodily harm.'
The charge went on to say Dean 'caused to be received by Raven Riley a dangerous or noxious thing; namely sodium hydrochloride, with the aim to burn, maim, or disfigure, or disable.'
Sodium hydrochloride is also known as sodium hyrdroxide.
Dean, wearing a grey prison tracksuit, spoke only to confirm his name and enter his guilty pleas as he appeared via videolink from jail.
A manhunt was launched before Dean was arrested 48 hours later and later charged over the attack - and he has now admitted two charges
The community is made up of Native American-style teepee tents and eco-lodges in a Welsh valley
Dean caused damage to victim Raven Riley's eyes during the eco-village sodium hyrdroxide attack and the court heard medical reports are being prepared
Richard Ace, defending, said: 'This is of course a very serious matter and he will receive a substantial prison sentence.'
Swansea Crown Court heard there would also be a medical report into Mr Riley's condition to give 'an update on his eyes'.
Judge Geraint Walters asked for a pre-sentence report to be made before sentence.
Dean will be sentenced on October 22.
Dean previously refused to have a psychiatric report which is used to determine if a person is fit to plea and stand trial.
A new country that will be the smallest in the world, at just a quarter of the size of the Vatican, is set to be created.
Albania plans to establish the sovereign Sufi Bektashi Muslim microstate within the borders of the capital, Tirana, the country's Prime Minister Edi Rama has announced.
It will have its own passport, borders, and administration governing religious issues, without Tirana's involvement.
The tiny enclave will serve as the political home for Bektashi Muslims - the fourth largest religious community in Albania after Sunni Muslims, Orthodox Christians and Catholics.
The order was founded in the 13th century in the Ottoman Empire and is regarded as a tolerant, mystic branch of Islam open to other religions and philosophies.
The proposed State of the Bektashi will measure just 0.05 miles squared
Pictured: The Bektashi headquarters that is planned to serve as the capital of what would the new smallest country in the world
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (pictured) confirmed the plans while speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Sunday
The smallest countries in the world (by area in square miles)
1. Vatican City - 0.17 2. Monaco - 0.8 3. Nauru - 8 4. Tuvalu - 10 5. San Marino - 24 6. Liechtenstein - 62 7. Marshall Islands - 70 8. Saint Kitts and Nevis - 102 9. Maldives - 114 10. Malta - 122 Source: Britannica Advertisement
Some of its most important leaders relocated to Albania after being banned in Turkey in the early 20th century by modern Turkey's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
'Our inspiration is to support the transformation of the Bektashi World Centre in Tirana into a sovereign state, a new centre of moderation, tolerance and peaceful coexistence,' Rama said on Sunday at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The Bektashi make up an estimated 10 per cent of the country's Muslim population, according to Albania's 2023 census.
The Bektashi Order in Tirana praised the decision in a statement which read: 'The sovereignty of the Bektashi Order is an important step in strengthening the values of inclusion, religious harmony and dialogue in an increasingly divided world'.
'Such a historic step aims at recognizing the Beltashi Order as a sovereign, self-governing state, committed to supporting its century-old culture of moderation and spiritual involvement,' it added.
Citizenship of the new state of roughly 10 hectares (25 acres) will be limited to members of the clergy and individuals dealing with state administration.
Its government would be headed by the Bektashi's leader, Baba Mondi, while a council will monitor its religious and administrative operation.
It will see the order receive sovereignty identical to that of the Vatican, governing religious and administrative issues independently of Albania.
Mr Rama added: 'Albanians are also proud of giving to the world Mother Teresa who 'embodied love for humanity'.
Should the country be created, it would be just a quarter of the size of the Vatican City, which lies in Rome and is home to the Pope. Pictured: St. Peter's Square in the Vatican
'She told us that not all of us can do big things, but we can all do small things with big love'.
'That is our inspiration in supporting the transformation of the World Bektashi Order into a sovereign state in our capital, Tirana, as a new centre of moderation, tolerance and peaceful coexistence.'
The Bektashi Order originated in the Ottoman Empire in the 13th century and acquired political importance in the 15th century.
This came after the order dominated the Janissary Corps, the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops.
After the foundation of the Turkish Republic, its leader Kemal Ataturk banned religious institutions that were not part of the Directorate of Religious Affairs and the Bektashi community's headquarters relocated to Albania, where it became involved in politics.
One of its members, Ismail Qemali declared Albania's independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912.
Qantas union workers will work off the job at Melbourne Airport on Thursday, the first step in a larger nationwide strike against the airline giant.
The Qantas Engineers' Alliance, a union made up of the Australian Workers Union, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and Electrical Trades Union, said the industrial action would begin in Melbourne and then spread to all major airports across the country over the next two weeks.
'It is highly likely to affect Qantas flights in all major capitals,' the union said on Wednesday evening.
It also means the travel plans of thousands of AFL fans from Sydney and Brisbane heading to Melbourne for Saturday's grand final could be disrupted.
AMWU national secretary Steve Murphy said the airline's engineers were 'undervalued, underpaid and underappreciated'.
'If you've had a bad Qantas experience, well that's nothing compared to how Qantas makes their workers feel every day,' he said,
'Our highly skilled members deserve fair wages for the incredible work they do to keep us all safe in the air.'
The airline staff who will be striking are from Qantas' Aircraft Maintenance Engineers teams (pictured stock photo of a Qantas plane being prepared for maintenance)
The employees taking part in the industrial action are from Qantas' Aircraft Maintenance Engineers teams.
The enterprise agreements for the 1100 employees who make up the teams expired in June 2024 and the union is pushing for a 5 per cent pay bump per year plus a 15 per cent first year payment.
The workers will pursue a range of work stoppages at airports around Australia on Thursday and then next Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
While the union warned of flight disruptions, a Qantas spokesman said the company was prepared.
'We're putting contingencies in place and don't currently expect this industrial action to have an impact on customers,' the spokesman said.
Australians are being warned the industrial action could spread across major cities over the next two weeks (pictured passengers boarding a flight)
'We've held a series of meetings with the unions and made progress on a number of items.
'We want to reach an agreement that includes pay rises and lifestyle benefits for our people.'
A California counselor at an Orthodox Jewish school has been accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy - as police warn there are likely to be more victims.
Los Angeles cops arrested Julie Tichon, 37, on August 29, for 'a series of sexual assaults' on the boy between February and March at YULA High School.
Tichon was formally charged September 19 with three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and one count of oral copulation with a person under 18.
She has pleaded not guilty to all counts and has since left her job, police said.
Tichon worked as a school guidance counselor at the west Los Angeles school, which describes itself as a 'Modern Orthodox Yeshiva High School'.
Los Angeles cops arrested Julie Tichon (pictured), 37, on August 29, for 'a series of sexual assaults' on the boy between February and March at YULA High School
LAPD is now warning there could be more victims, and detectives have reached out to the public for anyone with information to come forward.
'The suspect used her position of responsibility to gain these victims' trust, then began inappropriate sexual relationships with them,' Detective Russ Hess said.
'Rather than advising them, she was abusing them.'
At least one other student at YULA has reported 'an inappropriate relationship of a sexual nature' with a female staff member, according to a May 28 report by Jewish publication Forward.
The newspaper said the school's head, Rabbi Arye Sufrin, wrote an email to the school community saying they had received allegations from two students about an unnamed female staff member.
'It is impossible to comprehend and beyond devastating that students would be facing this situation,' Sufrin wrote in the email, adding that he had referred the incidents to the LAPD.
Tichon worked as a school guidance counselor at YULA High School in west Los Angeles, which describes itself as a 'Modern Orthodox Yeshiva High School'
Tichon was booked at the Metropolitan Detention Center and released ahead of her court appearance scheduled for November 1.
If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
'Educators and school staff have a fundamental duty to create a safe environment for all students, and when that trust is broken, it affects the entire community,' L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gascon said in a statement.
'Our office is dedicated to seeking justice for the victim and holding this individual fully accountable.'
A quiet suburban street has been left up in arms after bus loads of sorority girls arrived a rental property in the neighborhood for a two-day event.
Those living on Sunnyside Drive in London, Ontario, have had enough of the short-term rental, deeming the latest incident involving the university students 'ridiculous'.
Footage shared on social media by local man Chris Prater shows a long line of the students outside of the rental property.
According to Prater, the young women were being dropped off by the busload at the address on Saturday morning in droves.
The situation is similar to the 2016 film 'Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising', in which Seth Rogen and Zac Efron's characters go to war with a sorority after they move into a neighborhood.
Footage shared on social media by local man Chris Prater shows a long line of the students outside of the rental property
According to Prater, the young women were being dropped off by the busload at the address, seen here, on Saturday morning in droves
Speaking with CBC, Prater said: 'It's not what you want in a residential neighborhood. It's not an appropriate use of the house. It's a traffic concern, it's noisy and we just didn't sign up for that.
'They would get dropped off, get some instructions from some other girls on the driveway, march into the house and be inside for about an hour before coming out chanting and singing their sorority song.
'Then they would wait in the driveway for about 25 or 30 minutes before another bus came, dropped off more girls and picked up the ones that were already inside.'
While Marion Warren told CTV News that neighbors have been complaining for years about the various groups that rent the house for short stays.
She said: 'This weekend was horrific. School bus loads of young females were being dropped off and apparently were being interviewed in this house for a sorority.'
Warren also spoke with CBC, saying that there was constantly new cars in the driveway and that the noise from the pool in the backyard filtered down the street.
Other neighbors told the outlet that it often attracts large parties or several families at one time. A stripper showed up for a bachelorette party once, one person said.
Warren added: 'This is unfair to the neighbors and I think it's depreciating the value of our property by having this close by.'
Pawel Sypien has said he has lost his weekends due to the noise coming from the property.
Neighbors said that the rental property often attracts large parties or several families at one time
The owner of the home Jithin Das, a local realtor, told CBC he wasn't aware that hundreds of young women would be showing up at his property
He told CBC: 'The noise is incredible. That house has five or six bedrooms and a pool, so people who rent it throw parties and there are 30 people there.
'We basically don't have our weekends anymore, or our quiet weekends, anyway.'
The home was purchased in March 2020 for $673,000 and was most recently listed last year for $1.2 million.
The owner of the home Jithin Das, a local realtor, told CBC he wasn't aware that hundreds of young women would be showing up at his property.
In an apology to the outlet, he said: 'I'm working with Airbnb and they're investigating how it happened. We were not aware this was going to happen.
'I am extremely sorry to the neighbors. I don't want to have further issues.'
According to Das he had been told that 30 to 40 girls would be appearing in groups of seven or eight throughout the weekend, not by the busload.
The situation is similar to the 2016 film 'Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising', in which Seth Rogen and Zac Efron's characters, both seen here, go to war with a sorority
The home was purchased in March 2020 for $673,000 and was most recently listed last year for $1.2 million
In London, rental accommodations must have a certain license to operate and be the main residence of the person who is renting.
City officials were unable to give specific information on the Sunnyside Drive property, but said it is being investigated.
A spokesperson said: 'We continue to use corrective actions under the city's bylaws to address violations at this property.'
A spokesperson for Airbnb said: 'Airbnb bans parties, and weve suspended the listing and the booking guest as we look into the reported behavior.'
A mother was left frantic after a stranger grabbed her baby from her arms on a train and ran off in a terrifying kidnap attempt, with police launching a hunt for the man.
The man fled down the train carriage after ambushing the mother as she prepared to leave the train at Worksop in Nottinghamshire at 7.30pm.
But a hero relative managed to snatch the baby back before he got away.
British Transport Police have released CCTV of the man and are asking for the public's help in tracking him down.
CCTV image of a man who grabbed a baby from the mother's arms on a train and ran off
He left the train at Barnsley following the terrifying incident on August 17.
A spokesperson said: 'The incident happened at around 7.30pm on Saturday 17 August when a mother carrying her baby was preparing to leave the service at Worksop.
'Officers believe the man in the image may have information that could help their investigation.'
Anyone with information has been asked to call BTP on 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference number 228 of 18 August.
A Boston-based billionaire has declared a neighborhood war after filing a scathing lawsuit against a couple's proposed plans for a rooftop deck on their home.
Cable television tycoon, Amos Hostetter Jr., 87, filed the bitter lawsuit against his neighbors, Sarah Reilly and Per Ostman, claiming the proposed addition will cause 'harm' to the community.
The billionaire's Mt. Vernon St. home, worth a whopping $18.2 million, sits just 300 feet away from the smaller Pinckney St. home which Reilly, 37, and Ostman, 42, bought for $5.8 million in 2022.
Hostetter's claims that the proposal - which was approved last month - is in violation of the architectural commission's guidelines, adding the nearly 22-foot by 18-foot deck would be visible from public ways including Mt. Vernon Street and Alley 303.'
Hostetters historic Harrison Gray Otis mansion is located just 300 feet from the Pinckney Street home, which Reilly bought for $5.8 million in 2022. Pictured: Left, Amos Hostetter, right, Sarah Reilly
A cable television tycoon filed the bitter lawsuit against his neighbors claiming the proposed addition will cause 'harm' to the community
The September 19 suit was filed along with owners of another house on Pinckney St., Martha McNamara, 62, and James Bordewick Jr., 65, who also have a similar rooftop deck atop their home right next door. Pictured: The proposed deck
His civil complaint, filed in Suffolk Superior Court on September 19, suggested Reilly's already-approved deck-top addition - one that his other neighbors already have - is 'inappropriate to the historic district.'
The September 19 suit was filed along with owners of another home on Pinckney St., Martha McNamara, 62, and James Bordewick Jr., 65, who also have a similar rooftop deck atop their home right next door.
The furious trio proceeded to shun Reilly's deck-top dreams in the disgruntled suit - claiming the daring homeowners would be able to peer into their private backyards if the building work went ahead.
The plaintiffs tacked on additional complaints of increased noise and diminished property values. Billionaire Hostetter already owns a slew of multi-million dollar homes across the Northeast - including in New Hampshire and Nantucket.
Reilly, a medical consultant who was featured in the Globe for her 'funky Cambridge loft', debunked Hostetter's claim - arguing the mid-sized deck will not be visible from any vantage point on either Pinckney or Anderson Streets.
The billionaire's Mt. Vernon St. home is worth a whopping $18.2 million (pictured)
Reilly, a medical consultant who was featured in the Globe for her 'funky Cambridge loft', debunks Hostetter's claim arguing the mid-sized deck will not be visible from any vantage point on either Pinckney or Anderson Streets
Sarah Reilly (left) is trying to build the deck on top of her home - which has already featured in local news for its jazzy interiors
Hostetter's claim argued the proposal was approved in violation of the architectural commission's guidelines, adding the nearly 22-foot by 18-foot deck would be visible from public ways including Mt. Vernon Street and Alley 303'
She added that the deck will be only slightly visible from an approximate ten-foot stretch of Hostetter's street.
Hostetter's claim seeks not only to have the approval overturned, but to bar Reilly and Ostman from having the deck built and to make them and the commission reimburse his attorneys for their work on the case.
The historic Beacon Hill home, also known as the Second Harrison Gray Otis House, is just one of many properties owned by the Continental Cablevision co-founder.
The 87-year-old owns multiple other Boston properties, a $6million Nantucket residence, and a plot of coastal land in New Hampshire with an estimated value that sits around $6.5 million.
The Barr Foundations co-founder has an estimated net worth of $3.8 billion and is ranked as the 538th richest person in the world as of 2020, according to Forbes.
NATO is developing mass evacuation and rescue plans in case of a future war with Russia, a senior general has declared.
Lieutenant-General Alexander Sollfrank, the head of NATO's logistics command, confirmed this week the security bloc is working to ensure it has the operational capability to extract large numbers of wounded troops from the front lines.
The German general warned that, unlike allies' experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, an all-out war with Russia would likely see NATO incur heavy losses across a huge battlefield.
What's more, Russia's air force and its vaunted rocket and missile stockpiles mean that medical evacuations via aircraft would be too risky - a factor that could force NATO's troops to operate 'hospital trains' to extract the wounded en masse.
'The challenge will be to swiftly ensure high-quality care for, in the worst case, a great number of wounded,' he said.
Sollfrank's warning comes as the German military says it expects Russia to be able to attack a NATO country as soon as 2029.
A member of Ukraine's 72nd Brigade anti-air unit runs into position as they prepare to fire a Strela anti-air missile system after sighting a Russian drone
Ukrainian police officers and rescuers carry the body of a local resident killed in a Russian rocket attack in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, on February 17, 2024
Residences in Ukraine are seen ablaze amid Russian missile attacks
Volodymyr, a doctor at a medical stabilisation point near the front line, checks on a patient amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Donetsk region on April 15, 2024
Lieutenant-General Alexander Sollfrank, the head of NATO's logistics command, confirmed this week that the security bloc is working to ensure it has operational capability to extract large numbers of wounded troops from the front lines
Sollfrank runs NATO's Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC), tasked with coordinating the swift movement of troops and tanks across Europe as well as logistical preparations such as the storage of munitions on NATO's eastern flank.
But since Vladimir Putin sent his troops streaming across the border with Ukraine in February 2022, relations between Russia and the West have plunged to lows not seen since the Cuban Missile Crisis.
That forced Sollfrank and JSEC to confront the possibility of a major land war in Europe, and the unit began planning its approach to medical evacuations accordingly.
Should a conflict with Russia arise, wounded troops will need to be transported over a larger distance than in other wars of recent years, Sollfrank said.
Russian air defences and jets mean medical evacuation flights would be placed under a much greater threat unlike anything they had faced before from insurgents in Afghanistan or Iraq.
Sollfrank reasoned that a massive network of rail and road evacuation vehicles would need to be deployed and said NATO forces would have to be supported by specially designed trains that can transport more casualties at the same time than aircraft.
'Air superiority will have to be achieved in the first place. It will require time to succeed over the entire length and depth of the front line,' Sollfrank said in an interview with Reuters.
'For planning reasons, all options to take a great number of wounded to medical installations need to be considered, which includes trains but potentially also buses.'
Differing medical regulations between countries are another hurdle to overcome, Sollfrank said.
A 'military medical Schengen', akin to the political Schengen zone that allows free movement within most of the European Union, could be a solution.
It could entail an area of free passage for sensitive medications such as narcotics or strong painkillers, which would be needed to treat wounded troops but whose cross-border transport is regulated.
But the planning for medical evacuations is just one part of a much broader drive by NATO to overhaul and boost its ability to deter and defend against any Russian assault.
This year, the security bloc launched its greatest campaign of military drills since the Cold War.
The Steadfast Defender 2024 suite of exercises saw some 90,000 troops from more than 30 allied and partner countries test their collective capabilities in land, air, sea, and cyber conflict theatres.
British and American soldiers take part in NATO drills in Poland during Steadfast Defender 2024, on May 17
A British paratrooper takes part in a live-fire exercise during Exercise Swift Response on May 4
A French Leclerc battle tank fires during exercises in Romania on January 25, 2023
The exercises were spread across the first six months of the year and saw the armies, navies and air forces of dozens of countries engage in war games on Europe's southern, northern and eastern flanks.
NATO is also said to have drawn up plans for how to deploy American troops to the frontlines of Europe in the event of an all-out conflict with Russia.
New 'land corridors' are being carved out to quickly funnel soldiers through central Europe without local bureaucratic impediments, allowing NATO forces to pounce in an instant should Putin's devastating war in Ukraine move further west.
The plans are said to include contingencies in case of Russian bombardment, letting troops sweep into the Balkans via corridors in Italy, Greece and Turkey, or towards Russia's northern border via Scandinavia, officials told The Telegraph.
Meanwhile, many of NATO's member states in Europe have launched rearmament campaigns in the past two years, with countries across the EU ramping up defence spending, signing major arms contracts and enacting legislation to boost their military capabilities.
Germany, for example, has committed over 100 billion to modernise its military, with top defence manufacturers like Rheinmetall and Diehl upping production to meet the demands of both Ukraine and the Bundeswehr.
Poland has also ramped its defence budget up to almost 5 per cent of GDP, and the European Defence Agency (EDA) has simplified procurement processes to facilitate the rapid delivery of military aid to Ukraine and subsequent resupply for sender states.
EU nations can supply arms to Ukraine before recouping their losses and replenishing their own stocks thanks to the European Peace Facility (EPF) fund.
Civilians take part in a military training activity day conducted by the Ukrainian Volunteer Army on February 17, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine
Technicians of German armaments company and automotive supplier Rheinmetall work on 155mm ammunition that will be delivered to Ukrainian Forces for the Panzerhaubitze 2000 (armoured howitzer 2000), a self-propelled howitzer, in Unterluess, northern Germany
Scranton Army Ammunition Plant (SCAAP) is seen producing heavy munitions for Ukraine
Many of NATO's member states in Europe have launched rearmament campaigns in the past two years
For all of Russia's anti-Western rhetoric, many analysts believe that Moscow has no interest in fighting a major war with NATO - an observation that top Norwegian General Eirik Kristoffersen noted.
But Kristoffersen said it is nevertheless essential to ensure the security bloc is adequately armed, trained and prepared for the worst, adding that Russia is not yet in a position to take on Europe but could build up its capacity to do so in a matter of years.
'At one point someone said it'll take 10 years, but I think we're back to less than 10 years because of the industrial base that is now running in Russia,' General Kristoffersen said in an interview in Oslo in June.
'It will take some time, which gives us a window now for the next two to three years to rebuild our forces, to rebuild our stocks at the same times as we are supporting Ukraine,' he added.
The former head of Britain's army General Sir Patrick Sanders also agreed with Kristoffersen's position, but warned that Britain's armed forces do not currently have the capacity to maintain a lengthy armed conflict.
While a hot war with Russia is not inevitable, he said, it is made more likely if the UK and its allies fail to 'address the threats and gaps we have in our capability' and significantly re-arm.
According to the general, estimates suggest that the UK has 'somewhere between five and ten years before Russia recapitalises and is able to pose the sort of threat that it did before the Ukraine war.'
He told The Times that important steps need to be made 'right now' including modernising the armed forces and making 'society and the UK more resilient'.
A Minnesota man who murdered his female coworker in a jealous rage after being rejected by her has been sentenced to life in prison.
Michael Carpenter, 38, was seen smiling as he entered the court room on September 20 - even smirking before he was sentenced for the murder of 28-year-old Nicole Hammond.
But justice was served when Carpenter was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In footage captured by Fox 9, Carpenter spoke after the victim impact statements by Hammond's family and said she was an 'amazing person and really nice' - but neglected to give the family an apology.
The trial had only lasted two weeks before Carpenter was found guilty of first degree premeditated murder and second degree intentional murder on August 5.
Michael Carpenter, 38, was seen smiling as he entered the court room on September 20 - even smirking before he was sentenced for the murder of 28-year-old Nicole Hammond
The trial had only lasted two weeks before Carpenter was found guilty of first degree premeditated murder and second degree intentional murder on August 5 PICTURED: Nicole Hammond
Carpenter spoke after the victim impact statements by Hammond's family and said she was an 'amazing person and really nice' - but neglected to give the family an apology
Nicole's mother Terri Lou told Fox 9: 'It was kind of a case like if I can't have you nobody can and that's just crazy.'
Carpenter shot Nicole once in the neck on October 24, 2022 in the parking lot of Dubow Textile where the pair worked at in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
That night before, the two exchanged a series of texts messages where Nicole told Carpenter that she 'requested not to be touched,' said a statement from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's office.
The next morning, Carpenter brought a 9mm pistol and approached Nicole as she got out of her vehicle to enter the workplace.
Carpenter fired the shot and then fled the scene - leaving Nicole to bleed out.
Ellison released a statement the day of Carpenter's sentencing that said: 'My thoughts are with Nicole Hammond's friends, family, and community today. Nicole was a talented, kind, and caring soul who loved art and nature. She will be missed by many.'
Carpenter shot Nicole once in the neck on October 24, 2022 in the parking lot of Dubow Textile where the pair worked at in St. Cloud, Minnesota
That night before, the two exchanged a series of texts messages where Nicole told Carpenter that she 'requested not to be touched,' said a statement from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's office
Nicole's mother Terri Lou told Fox 9: 'It was kind of a case like if I can't have you nobody can and that's just crazy'
Terri Lou expressed her happiness about Carpenter's life in prison verdict on Facebook, writing that she was happy to send him on his merry way and that she doesn't think he'll be smiling anymore.
This verdict was four days before Tre C. James received his sentencing for murdering his girlfriend Jamie Yazzie five years ago.
After family members of slain Yazzie described their grief in a federal courtroom, the judge on Monday sentenced her boyfriend to life imprisonment for first-degree murder in a case that became emblematic of what officials call an epidemic of missing and slain Indigenous women.
Her relatives and friends cheered as they streamed out of the downtown Phoenix courthouse after U.S. District Court Judge Douglas L. Rayas handed down the sentence for James.
This is the terrifying moment a United Airlines' flier made a shock discovery under her seat during a flight.
The passenger spotted a hole under her chair during the trip after a draft kept blowing over her feet.
She shared the shocking footage on social media before complaining to the company about the serious safety hazard.
She later claimed that United Airlines offered her a pathetic $50 apology without further explanation.
The video was shared online by the Instagram page Cockpit King with the caption: 'You feel cold breeze by your feet on a United Airlines flight! Then found a hole on the plane.'
The flier claimed their feet were freezing for two hours, and it looked like the hole was 'covered up with silicone.'
The frightened flier revealed they spoke to a United Airlines supervisor after the aircraft landed, but all she did was offer a $50 flight voucher.
She also claimed the airline was 'compromising the safety of their passengers' before stopping the September 19 video.
'Is this the new economy-class sunroof option, or do we have a real safety concern on our hands?,' the video posted wrote on TikTok and Facebook.
This issue is one of multiple aircraft problems United Airlines has had this year, including loose bolts and damaged wings.
Various Reddit users have even discussed the aftermath of United Airlines flight UA354 diverting to Denver International Airport after its right wing was damaged.
'Outside just a piece of the leading edge slat that peaked away,' a Reddit user wrote.
'Would have to be a much greater section to adversely affect the flying capabilities of the plane.'
The flier claimed that a United Airlines supervisor gave them a $50 flight voucher after the aircraft landed
Social media users who watched Cockpit King's video were much harsher, and more than one Instagram user claimed to be pilots.
One wrote: 'You wouldn't be able to breath if that hole went to where you think it went.'
'If there was a hole in the plane you'd be bleeding from your ears,' another Instagram user claimed.
At least three believed it wasn't a hole and insulted King Cockpit's aviation knowledge.
'It's obviously not a hole to the outside elements, because if it was, the cabin would depressurize and the pilot would declare an emergency and return to land,' one added. DailyMail.com reached out to United Airlines for comment.
A Utah boy has been charged as an adult after an alleged family fight led to an explosive gun battle.
A male juvenile was taken into custody on Sunday after officers responded to reports of a family feud 'that involved the discharge of a firearm,' the Duchesne County Sheriff's Office said.
The suspect has been identified as Haegan Ray Sagers, 16, who has been charged with first-degree murder and felony discharge of a firearm, according to court documents obtained by KUTV.
When authorities arrived at the home in the northwest part of the county, they discovered the body of another male juvenile deceased inside.
According to court documents a 14-year-old died of a gunshot wound to his upper body. No other details were provided.
Haegan Ray Sagers, 16, (pictured) was arrested on Sunday and charged as an adult after the Duchesne County Sheriff's Office responded to a 'family feud' that led to an explosive gun battle
Upon arrival officers also found Sagers, who was later taken into custody and transported to the Duchesne County Sheriff's Office for questioning, police said.
The 16-year-old was then taken to Split Mountain Youth Detention Center in Vernal.
The sheriff's office said 'no other family members [were] inside the home at the time of the incident.'
The department did not disclose Sager's relationship to the deceased minor.
The male victim has been identified by the initials M.P., KSL reported.
The sheriff's office previously posted about Sagers on Facebook after he was reported missing on July 10
On the missing person poster, the department described him as 'a sweet loving kiddo that has a heart of gold.' He was found safe on July 12. (pictured: Sagers with family)
It is unclear what sparked the family fight and how the teenager had access to the firearm.
DailyMail.com contacted the Duchesne County Sheriff's Office and the Duchesne County Attorney.
The sheriff's office previously posted about Sagers on Facebook after he was reported missing on July 10.
On the missing person poster, the department described him as 'a sweet loving kiddo that has a heart of gold.' He was found safe on July 12.
by Carol A Westbrook
In our third year of medical school we began our clinical studies. After two full years of classroom work, it was time to apply what we learned to real patients. One can spend years in the library, reading all the books and journals that you can get your hands on, but there is no substitute for seeing a patient with disease. The stories Im recounting here are all true, as I experienced at the University of Chicago Hospitals (then called Billings Hospital) while I was a medical student in 1977-78. Ive changed the patients names, and Ive made up some details I couldnt recollect.
Billings hospital had a locked psychiatry ward, and it admitted patients for brief interventional stays, with a Medicare limit of two weeks. If a longer stay were required, the patient would have to be transferred to a chronic care facility. Patients could be either voluntary admissions or legally committed.
Psychiatry rotation for a third-year med student was 1 month long, of which 2 weeks were spent on the inpatient service. That was just long enough for the student to admit a patient and follow them through discharge; we each had our own individual patient. We had a four-member team (3 students and one resident) The resident took call every third night, which means they stayed overnight and answered the pager for problems on the ward or in the emergency room. We students were expected to come along. We did not carry our own pagers, but we took orders from our resident, who did carry a pager. Although call requires an overnight staywith little sleepit can be one of the most valuable experiences of med school, because thats when you get to see the extreme cases, the ones youll never forget.
THE FOG COMES ON LITTLE CAT FEET
My very first day on service our team was on call. The resident would meet us students on the ward. On our way there the residents pager sounded, and it was the ER (emergency room)! The resident tossed the pager to me:
Dr. Westbrook, go down to the ER and see what they want. Ill be tied up for a half hour, so see if you can hold the fort until I can get down there.
I ran down to the ER and was directed to room #4. In the room, a frightened-looking middle-aged woman was standing on a chair, with a terrified look on her face. She was very agitated.
Help me! Get it away from me! Its going to kill me!
I talked slowly and quietly. I asked her name it was Mae N, and asked her what it the problem.
She quieted down a lot, and told me that the fog was coming for her.
If it touches me, it will kill me. You have to help me push it away.
Ill do everything I can to help you, I said. But you have to tell me more.
So she began to tell me about this fog, and who could see it (only her), and where it came from. I kept her talking, about her family, her kids, and anything on her mind. She quieted down and we talked for over about 15 minutes so she could describe what was going on.
Then I asked her how to get rid of this fog, and she continued, they were in my purse, I took one twice a day and that pushed it away, but they are all gone.
I suddenly realized that she was talking about her medication.
Were these pills that pushed it away?
Yes.
When is the last time you took any, I asked.
Last week. Then they ran out. I couldnt get any more because my clinic closed.
May I see the empty bottle? I asked, and she handed it to me.
I read the label. It was an often-prescribed antipsychotic medication that is used to help people with schizophrenia control their symptoms and lead a normal life. It soon became apparent that Mrs. N was hallucinating because she ran out of medication. When my resident appeared, he ordered a Thorazine injection, started her back on her medication, and admitted her to our ward on 3West. Soon she quieted down and said the fog was receding.
Mrs. N was a classic schizophrenic who was previously well-maintained on antipsychotic medications; stopping her medication precipitated an acute psychosis, manifest as her being threatened by an evil fog. This evil fog was a recurring theme in her hallucinations. Fortunately, she responded well to resuming her medication, avoiding the danger of escalation to a more dangerous condition.
She was back to her normal self soon, and wished to go home. Her family was with her, and reassured us that she managed just fine at home. They could keep an eye on her and call the nurse or bring her in as needed. She was safe to go home and we discharged her to a follow-up appointment at the university clinic.
DONT LET ANYONE KNOW THAT IM HERE
Dr. Westbrook, my resident said, Youre up for the next admission. Go down to the ER and meet Mr. Ray G., a 60-year-old retired mail carrier. Do his history and physical and, if appropriate, admit him to our ward in the hospital. Ill help you write up the orders.
I quickly headed downstairs to the ER to pick up my admission. Mr. G was in a cubicle with the curtains drawn, pacing impatiently.
Im so glad youre here! he said, with relief in his voice. Please take me upstairs as soon as possible, and we can do the history and physical later. The ward is locked, isnt it? I dont want anyone to know that I here. I especially dont want my brother-in-law to find me and spray me with his aerosol can. The spray is fatal. To avoid him, I took the 55th street bus , changed direction, walked a couple of blocks to the South Shore train and walked from the station. I lost him after the 55th street bus, but hell soon figure out Im coming here. So please lets be careful!
He cracked the curtains, looked around, peered out at the waiting room, and said, hes not here yet. We still have time. But lets hurry before he spots me, or Im a goner!
I took his paranoia seriously, and worked up his admission as quickly as I could. The following day I attended the group therapy session to which Ray had been assigned. Except for his paranoia, Ray appeared to be a perfectly normal 50-year-old man, formerly a mail carrier but now on medical disability. He was friendly, with a good sense of humor; he enjoyed telling his story of being chased by his crazed brother-in-law who was sporting an aerosol can spraying deadly toxins. Ray feared his wifes brother, and truly believed he was in danger of death at this mans hands.
During rounds the next day, our attending pointed out that Ray had an uncommon form of schizophrenia, called paranoid schizophrenia with a fixed delusion. It was felt to be hard to treat, with a persistent delusion that the patient firmly believes is real. That was in 1978. In 2013, however, the American Psychiatric Association determined that this behavior was just another manifestation of schizophrenia. While the term for thie specific form of schizophrenia is now outsdates, paranoia is still a key symptom that experts look for when diagnosing and treating schizophrenia. He would likely be kept for another week and treated with anti-psychotics until he was safe to go home.
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
Mauve B. was a woman of about 50. Her family said that she had a long history of depression and had been on medications on and off over the years, but was never hospitalized for it. Recently she had been changed to a different medication, and within a week she began hallucinating, losing touch with reality. She was talking, but not to anyone we could see, and she didnt talk to any of us. As we listened, she appeared to be at a funeral. Her own funeral. She was wide-eyed, looking at a distant sight and trying to get out of the guerney. It was necessary to hold her down with restraints.
Do you hear those bells? I hear them. They are tolling for me. I must go. They want me dead. I have a knife and Ill kill myself. Sweet Jesus, I am coming. Send your angels to carry me into your arms! I am ready to die, the world has no use for me, she said, as she reached out to the sky with open arms. You could almost believe she was looking into the afterlife, perhaps into heaven. It was dramatic and compelling, but also frightening.
Her husband worried that she would try to kill herself, and wanted to bring her to safety. He called an ambulance to take her to the ER. At first, she cooperated, but then she became disoriented and combative. She kept trying to leave the car to reach up to the angels. By the time they got to the ER, it took two people to restrain her. She was given an injection of an antipsychotic medication, and admitted to the hospital ward under close supervision, with a suicide watch in place.
She calmed down, returning to normal behavior in a day or two. During group session she explained that she had been depressed recently. Both of her sons had gone off to college, leaving her an empty nester. Coincidentally she was also going through menopause. Her anti-depressive medication was changed to something stronger, and thats when she became suicidal; soon her hallucinations began. After two week of intensive therapy she returned to normal, and was discharged home.
Several months later I was on the Chest service. Chest was a throwback to the old days of tuberculosis. Now it was mostly asthmatics and chronic lung disease. I was paged for a new admission, and was I surprised to see Mauve. She had tried to kill herself by stabbing her chest with an ice pick! She had collapsed a lung and was brought by ambulance to the ER, where she was admitted to the surgery service for chest tube placement. The chest tube will help reinflate her lung and allow her to breathe. Her psychiatric condition was stabilized with medication, and she was transferred to the chest service for recuperation.
Why Dr. Westbrook, what a pleasure to see you again!
What a surprise, Mrs. Mauve. What happened? I asked.
She told me about the stabbing but regretted it; she did not feel suicidal anymore. And Im sure well have a good time together! she said. I reassured her that we would.
When she first presented, it was difficult to tell if Mrs. Mauve had schizophrenia or severed depression. Major depressive disorder with psychosis may cause symptoms including hallucinations or delusions during a depressive episode. It is a dangerous condition because the patient may have side effects from exhaustion as well as the risk of suicide. Treatment is usually medical, and the prognosis is good.
ONE OF OUR OWN
Psychiatry rotation ended, and I moved on to Internal Medicine. Dr. L was the attending physician on our 3-student team. He was well-known to be one of the best clinical teachers in the schooland one of the most demanding. We had patient rounds with the resident at 7 am every day, and teaching round with Dr L at 10 am, during which we presented our patients and analyzed their medical problems. Each student followed 5 to 9 patients, and call was every third night. It was a grueling service; at night, we students had to keep up with reading books and journal articles about our patients conditiond in order to be prepared for attending rounds the next morning. We were stressed and sleep-deprived.
This is the price we had to pay for having Dr. L. as our teacher, and it was well worth the effort. He would analyze one of our patients, standing next to the whiteboard with marker in hand, drawing diagrams and arrows to show interconnections between the organ systems and how they led to the diagnosis; it showed where medication effected treatmentit was a beautiful, almost poetic experience.
Our second day on service our team was on call. We were all up late, doing the history and physical, examining the newly-admitted patients, writing our notes, and going to the residents library to find articles about the diseases. Thomas, one of the students (not his real name) was especially enthusiastic. At about 11 pm he came back to our workroom with a huge pile of xeroxed articles and journals that he could barely carry. He started scanning them and talking continuously to all of us about the diseases and how they were interconnected. He began to write on the whiteboard and soon it was covered with symbols. His talking began to get wilder and wilder as he pointed out connections and his new discoveriesalmost a parody of Dr. L. We were impressed with his research and deep understanding.
Tom was still going strong at 4 am; the rest of us went to our call rooms to catch a few winks, knowing we had to be up and ready for rounds in 3 hours.
Tom did not show up for rounds that day, and he was not in the call rooms. We split up the work on his patients and got through our morning chores. At 10:00 attending rounds Dr. L showed up.
Im sorry, Dr. L. said to our assembled team. Your colleague, Dr. Thomas, will not be coming back to this service. At present he is hospitalized. As you have probably realized, he is having a manic attack, probably brought on by stress and sleep deprivation, possibly on top of an underlying manic-depressive condition.
The two of us med students looked at each other, in shock. We were horrified that we didnt recognize Toms unusual behavior for what it wasa manic episode! We should have known better!
We didnt see Tom anymore that semester, nor for the rest of medical school. I didnt keep in touch, but saw him again at our 30th reunion. We shook hands and then hugged. Thomas seemed pretty normal. He did, in fact graduate from our medical school with our class, and was now in private practice in internal medicine. He introduced his wife, and bragged about his 3 children. I shook his hand again, said goodbye, and wished him well; I didnt ask after his manic-depression, but I suspect it was now a thing of the past.
For the four years of med school we learned about diseases from lectures, books, and journal articles, but most importantly from our patients. One can spend years in the library reading all the material you can find, but there is no substitute for seeing a patient with the disease, and this is why being on call is so valuable. This is especially true of psychiatric disorders. It is hard to imagine what it is like to be schizophrenic and hallucinating until you meet a person who will tell you what its like, the fear, apprehension, and disorientation that they feel. I am grateful that we can help them cope and return to a normal life.
A new map of the Titan submersible's debris field has shown how the vessel was roughly 1,600ft away from the Titanic's bow before the deadly implosion.
The US Coast Guard on Tuesday released mapped locations of the debris on the seafloor of the North Atlantic Ocean as an exhibit as part of the ongoing Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) hearings.
The images pinpoint the locations of the submersible wreck, which was scattered across the sea bed over an area of approximately 322,917 square feet (roughly 30,000 square meters) after the vessel imploded in June 2023, a Coast Guard official told Popular Science.
An engineer with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is scheduled to give evidence in front of Coast Guard today as the investigation continues into the implosion of OceanGate's Titan submersible in June 2023.
The Coast Guard opened a public hearing earlier this month that is part of a high-level investigation into the cause of the implosion that killed five passengers during their descent to Titanic's historic wreckage.
Some of the testimony has focused on the troubled nature of the company and several eerie videos and images that have been released by the MBI in recent days.
A new map of the Titan submersible's debris field has revealed that the vessel was roughly 1,600ft away from the Titanic's bow before the deadly implosion
The experimental Titan submersible (pictured) imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic during a dive on June 18, 2023
The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.
One of the last messages from Titan's crew to Polar Prince before the submersible imploded stated, 'all good here', according to a visual re-creation presented earlier in the hearing.
When the submersible was reported overdue, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometres) south of St John's, Newfoundland.
Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 metres) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said. No one on board survived.
Eerie new footage showing a deep-sea salvage mission to retrieve the wreckage of the doomed Titan submersible was released Monday as part of the inquiry into the disaster.
The video shows a remotely operated vehicle attaching thick yellow ropes and equipment to what appears to be the end cap of the sunken vessel on June 26 last year.
An aerial view later showed a dusty cloud erupting on the ocean floor as the vehicle was lifted off the sea bed around 2.5miles below the surface of the North Atlantic ocean.
Newly released footage of a salvage mission of the Titan sub released by the Marine Board of Investigation shows a remote controlled vehicle picking up debris of the sunken vessel
Two of the robot's arms could be seen maneuvering the retrieval equipment around the wreckage site
The clip shows a remotely operated vehicle attaching ropes and equipment to what appears to be the end cap of the sunken vessel
The video, released late Monday, captured the high-tech efforts that went into salvaging debris from the Titan submersible wreck
The MBI hearing is expected to run through Friday and include several more witnesses, some of whom were closely connected to the company.
Witnesses scheduled to testify on Wednesday include engineer Don Kramer, William Kohnen of Hydrospace Group Inc, and Bart Kemper of Kemper Engineering.
Earlier in the hearing, former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge said he frequently clashed with chief executive Stockton Rush - who died in the implosion - and felt the company was committed only to making money.
'The whole idea behind the company was to make money,' Mr Lochridge testified. 'There was very little in the way of science.'
Mr Lochridge and other previous witnesses painted a picture of a 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.
Businessman Guillermo Sohnlein, who helped found OceanGate with Mr Rush, ultimately left the company before the Titan disaster.
He told the Coast Guard panel on Monday that he hoped a silver lining of the disaster is that it will inspire a renewed interest in exploration, including the deepest waters of the world's oceans.
'This can't be the end of deep ocean exploration. This can't be the end of deep-diving submersibles and I don't believe that it will be,' Mr Sohnlein said.
All five people on board the vessel were killed in the tragedy, including OceanGate's founder Stockton Rush (top-right), three Brits including adventurer Hamish Harding (top left) and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood (bottom right), as well as Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet (bottom-left)
The front nose of the Titan submersible (pictured) was found without surrounding debris that suggested the issue happened in the front of Titan
Experts said there was a faulty connection between the hull and the large titanium ring that let water seep in from the front and pushed the sub apart. Pictured is the Titan's tail on the seafloor
Coast Guard officials also noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice.
They also pointed out that the Titan's unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.
British adventurer Hamish Harding, father-and-son duo Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet died alongside Rush last year.
It comes after a former OceanGate mission specialist broke down in tears last week before recounting her agonizing wait for the doomed Titan submersible to resurface.
New York City-based banker Renata Rojas delivered harrowing testimony about the doomed mission on the fourth day of a public hearing into tragedy, on September 19.
She described her role in helping the launch last June and said that all on board understood the risks involved in their dive deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean to see the wreck of the Titanic.
'This was never sold as a Disney ride,' she said. 'It was an expedition that things happen and you have to adapt to change.'
Another witness - OceanGate's scientific director - said that the submersible had malfunctioned just three days before the tragedy, noting that he did not know whether it had been checked over before its fateful voyage.
Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic wreckage site going back to 2021. Pictured: RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912 for her maiden voyage
OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion. The company has no full-time employees currently, but has been represented by an attorney during the hearing.
The company said it has been fully co-operating with the Coast Guard and NTSB investigations since they began.
Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic wreckage site going back to 2021.
This is the horrifying moment a rampaging bull smashed through a safety barrier, goring one man to death and seriously injuring three others, including a three-year-old girl.
The terrifying incident happened in Pantoja in Toledo, Spain, during its patron saint festivities and has led to renewed calls for a ban on bull-running.
Witnesses said the three people gored had 'no chance' as the bull ran down an enclosed corridor but smashed down a barrier gate at the end of the run, despite the gate being made of iron.
Horrific video footage shows the moment the bull crashed through the gate amid terrifying screams from the spectators.
The dead man lived in nearby Illescas and was aged 80. The child and her grandparent are all residents of Pantoja, according to the mayor of the municipality.
Spanish campaigners have demanded an end to the tradition, reiterating warnings about the dangers of involving bulls in the festivities and possibility of escapes.
This is the horrific moment a rampaging bull smashed through a safety barrier in a Spanish town, goring one man to death and seriously injuring three others, including a three-year-old girl
Witnesses said the three people gored had 'no chance' as the bull ran down an enclosed corridor but smashed down a barrier gate at the end of the run, despite the gate being made of iron
The young girl suffered a blow to her face but is recovering in hospital. Her grandparents were also gored but are not in a life-threatening condition.
The grandmother was gored in the thigh, but the wound was a clean goring, which has reduced its severity.
The incident triggered a rapid response from the security forces. The Local Police intervened and shot down the bull to end the danger.
Civil Guard personnel, a mobile ICU, a life support ambulance and the Pantoja civil protection group also went to the scene.
In addition, a team from the Judicial Police has taken over the investigation to clarify the circumstances surrounding the event.
The bull run was part of the programme of the patron saint festivities in honour of Santa Barbara, which are celebrated in Pantoja from September 20 to 28.
After the tragic event, the mayor of the municipality declared that the town is 'devastated' by what happened and declared the official mourning.
The mayor has called a meeting with the local clubs and associations to assess whether all the remaining events of the festivities should be cancelled.
Speaking to the media from the town's bullring where the bull run was due to end on Tuesday, the Mayor Julian Torrejon said that both the little girl and the grandparents were outside the route that the animal was due to complete.
'We are very sorry, we offer our deepest condolences to the family and to the world of bullfighting,' he said.
It seems that, and according to his testimony, the bull 'charged against the bars and one of them broke,' after which the bull left the route towards an adjacent vacant lot.
It seems that, and according to his testimony, the bull 'charged against the bars and one of them broke,' after which the bull left the route towards an adjacent vacant lot
'Everything is in order, we have our insurance and our permits from the Junta and the Provincial Council, and the government delegate was there. We have been reviewing the route minutes before and everything was correct,' said the mayor.
This is the third death in Toledo connected to bull running in just two months.
Campaigners say they are always warning about the dangers and possibility of escapes.
They are sending an urgent letter to the Spanish Ombudsman to investigate the injuries caused to this girl and the fact that there are minors in areas of risk for their physical integrity and their own life.
They are pressing for immediate measures, the first of which should be 'a decree prohibiting the participation and access of minors, whose ultimate objective is the strict protection of these vulnerable groups'.
PACMA has asked for political responsibility after the tragedy that has occurred in Pantoja, saying: 'This unfortunate event once again highlights the risks inherent to bullfighting, where both the lives of animals and people are exposed to situations of extreme danger.'
The animal rights group has once again criticised this type of celebration, which 'not only involves unnecessary suffering for the animals, but also generates situations of insecurity and risk for attendees and the general public'.
'The fact that a bull has to be shot by the local police shows the lack of control and the serious consequences of these celebrations, which every year leave tragic and painful incidents in their wake,' said Javier Luna, president of the group.
Kamala Harris is finally sitting down for her first major one-on-one interview since becoming the Democratic presidential candidate - with an MSNBC host who vehemently defended her strategy of dodging the press.
The vice presidents decision to appear for a pre-recorded, solo conversation with Stephanie Ruhle on Wednesday night sparked widespread mockery and claims she wont be asked any serious questions before the election.
The news sparked an immediate reaction from former Donald Trump's running mate Sen. JD Vance.
'This is legitimately pathetic for a person who wants to be president,' he wrote. 'Ruhle has explicitly endorsed Harris. She won't ask hard questions.'
Ruhle sparked fury from MAGA supporters over the weekend after she went on Bill Mahers HBO show, called Donald Trump a threat to Democracy and defended Harris as not perfect
Trump responded by calling Ruhle dumb as a rock and a bimbo in a scathing Truth Social post.
Stephanie Ruhle participates in the session "Closing the Financial Access Gap for Women" onstage during Day 2 of the Clinton Global Initiative
During an appearance on HBOs Real Time With Bill Maher on Friday, Rule defended Harris for dodging interviews and avoiding specific questions.
New York Times columnist Bret Stephens said that before he voted for Harris, she should sit down and answer serious questions from journalists.
'I dont think its a lot to ask her to sit down for a real interview as opposed to a puff piece, which she describes, like her, her feelings of growing up in Oakland with nice lawns,' he grumbled, sparking outrage from Ruhle.
'I would just say to that, when you move to Nirvana, give me your real estate brokers number and Ill be your next door neighbor,' she said mockingly. 'We dont live there.'
Ruhle said that voters knew enough about Trump to vote for Harris, despite her lack of interviews, and that it was an easy choice without hearing more about her
'Kamala Harris isnt running for perfect. Shes running against Trump,' she said. 'We have two choices. And so there are some things you might not know her answer to. And in 2024, unlike 2016, for a lot of the American people, we know exactly what Trump will do, who he is and the kind of threat he is to democracy.'
Ruhle is a supporter of Harris, even taking to social media to berate Republicans for pronouncing her name wrong.
'Good news for Sen. David Perdue, he no longer has to struggle with the pronunciation of Kamala Harriss name,' she wrote after the 2020 presidential election. 'Im confident he knows how to say Madame Vice President.'
Ruhle's appearance on Bill Maher's show sparked a reaction from former President Donald Trump, who described her as a 'dumb as a rock bimbo.'
The interview airs Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. EST.
Alabama is preparing to execute a second inmate via nitrogen gas hypoxia despite the first attempt being described as 'torture' and the 'most violent' execution in modern US history.
On Thursday, Alan Eugene Miller, 59, is set to be put to death for the 1999 murders of three of his co-workers when he gunned them down over rumors about his sexuality.
Unless there is a last-minute stay of execution, the killer will be strapped to the same gurney as Kenneth Eugene Smith, who endured the first nitrogen execution in January.
Smith was said to have thrashed and retched against his restraints for a 'horrific' 22-minute ordeal, as a firefighters-style mask placed over his face filled with 100 percent nitrogen gas that suffocated him to death.
On Thursday, Alan Eugene Miller, 59, is set to become the second inmate executed via nitrogen hypoxia, for the 1999 murders of three of his co-workers
A timeline of the first nitrogen gas execution in January, where Kenneth Eugene Smith thrashed against his restraints as he painfully suffocated to death
Officials in Alabama turned to nitrogen gas as an execution method due to widespread issues with obtaining lethal injection drugs in recent years.
While some states have taken to extending the expiration dates of their drugs against warnings from human rights organizations, others have also looked at bringing back firing squads and electric chairs.
Alabama officials insist that nitrogen hypoxia is a painless and humane execution method, and maintained that stance despite backlash over Smith's reportedly agonizing death.
One of the journalists in the viewing room when Smith was executed, Lee Hedgepath, said the hitman was 'He's shaking so violently that the bottom of the gurney where the metal frame meets the ground came off the floor.'
Smith reportedly shook and strained against his restraints on the gurney for several minutes, and only weakened as he suffocated.
He then began retching in his mask and remained conscious for minutes more, and after his eventual death witnesses emerged from the room shaken and confused.
The killer's spiritual guide Rev. Jeff Hood, who held a bible to Smith as he died, said the execution was by far the 'worst' of the dozen-plus executions he had witnessed.
Kenneth Eugene Smith, a hitman convicted in 1996 for the murder-for-hire slaying of a preacher's wife, for which he was paid just $1,000
Jeff Hood, Smith's spiritual advisor before his execution, described the execution method as a 'horror show', and said at the time 'unbelievable evil was unleashed tonight in Alabama'
Miller faces the same fate on Thursday, over 25 years since he opened fire on his co-workers at a welding supply store in Pelham, Alabama.
The 1999 slayings of his victims, Terry Jarvis, Lee Holdbrooks and Christopher Yancy, unfolded because Miller believed Jarvis told the other men that he was gay.
He burst through the doors of his former workplace with a firearm, and exclaimed: 'I'm tired of people starting rumors on me.'
He shot Yancy, 32, and Holdbrooks, 28, multiple times before fleeing in his truck and driving nearby to shoot Jarvis.
When he found Jarvis, he shouted to him: 'Hey, I hear you've been spreading rumors about me.'
Although Jarvis denied he was spreading rumors, Miller shot him several times, and he died later in hospital.
Miller, seen following his arrest in 1999, shot three of his former co-workers dead in a shooting spree triggered by apparent rumors about him being gay
A body being wheeled from the scene after Miller opened fire
Miller was arrested hours later in his truck, where he was discovered alongside a Glock firearm and a spent ammunition magazine.
A jury convicted him of the murders and sentenced Miller to death, despite a psychiatrist testifying that he was 'mentally ill' during the shooting spree.
According to his federal appeals, Miller's family has an extensive history of mental illness tracing back at least four generations, reports USA Today.
Facing the prospect of nitrogen execution, Miller has filed a lawsuit challenging the method on the basis of Smith's violent death earlier this year.
Alabama Attorney General countered that Smith's execution was 'textbook', and said last month: 'Miller's execution will go forward as planned.'
Images of a jobless mother-of-eight dubbed 'Britain's welfare queen' have resurfaced after she admitted spending taxpayers' cash on a host of 'luxury' treats.
Marie Buchan, 42, entered the benefits system at 19 and has enjoyed a life of extravagance having received total of around half a million pounds to support her children, who are all fathered by the same man.
Ms Buchan revealed she has treated herself to a boob job, a designer vagina and a horse over the past decade, despite spending most of her adult life on benefits.
She has also had her fair share of limelight in the media, with images of Ms Buchan showing her posing for a series of professional photos in 2017, while dressed in a black satin dress, having resurfaced online.
But, the mother-of-eight says she is now 'struggling' with the current cost of living crisis and insists that the luxuries she once bragged about are a thing of the past.
Images of jobless mother-of-eight Marie Buchan have resurfaced after she admitted spending taxpayers' cash on a host of 'luxury' treats
Former lap dancer Ms Buchan says living off the state has allowed her to enjoy a life of extravagance
Marie Buchan, dubbed 'Britain's welfare queen' pictured with her eight children in 2015
Ms Buchan has received a total of around half a million pounds in taxpayers' cash to support her eight children
She caused fury in 2018 after travelling to Turkey for a 1,500 boob job, going from a 34A cup to a 34D.
And the following year, she jetted off again for laser treatment to achieve a 'designer vagina'.
She also bought a horse with her benefits, but said she later had to give him away as she couldn't afford to keep him.
'Being on benefits has never held me back from doing anything,' Ms Buchan said according to The Sun. 'I have had a lot of luxuries.'
'I paid 600 upfront for the horse and then had to pay an additional 100 a month to keep him at the yard. Food was around 25 a month', Ms Buchan, who lives in Selly Oak, Birmingham said.
'It was a big mistake. I was rubbing it in people's faces and I was showing off and I really regret that.'
Ms Buchan has insisted that she used money raised from car boot sales to pay for her plastic surgeries but says she understands now why people were outraged.
It is also likely that the items sold at the events were bought with money she claimed from the state.
The mother-of-eight, who said she didn't have a lot growing up, entered the benefits system when she had her first child at 19.
She said she was on and off benefits at the time as whenever she had a child she would stop work.
Ms Buchan said she eventually chose to stay on benefits to be able to dedicate herself to bringing up her children.
Marie Buchan, 42, (pictured) said she has treated herself to a boob job, a designer vagina and a horse over the past decade, despite spending most of her adult life on benefits
She caused fury in 2018 after travelling to Turkey for a 1,500 boob job, going from a 34A cup to a 34D
She explained that there is little incentive to work as her family is 'better off on benefits'.
'It's very easy to sit in the system for the rest of your life,' Ms Buchan said.
She previously hit the headlines after claiming she was being forced to use foodbanks to feed her children due to benefit cuts.
Ms Buchan said back in 2021: 'It is a huge struggle for me. Two of my daughters are over the age of 16 now so I have had my benefits, like child benefits and tax credit, cut.
'I am around 160 per week worse off now. It is a struggle and I use food banks just to survive. I basically live on food banks at the moment.
'You have to do what you have to do to survive and I am so grateful that I can turn to them. They are a lifesaver for me and so so many other people.'
She continued: 'Unfortunately I have been given the nickname octomum and that has stuck. It is definitely holding me back from getting a job.
'I have applied for a number of jobs. Employers seem keen at first but when they realise who I am, I am rejected.
'I fear I will never be able to shake the octomum tag off.'
Ms Buchan pictured with a horse she brought with her benefits. She said she later had to give him away as she couldn't afford to keep him
Ms Buchan said she eventually chose to stay on benefits to be able to dedicate herself to bringing up her children
Ms Buchan also revealed how she receives horrendous online abuse from haters who tell her she is a 's***' and say they 'hope she dies'.
She said: 'Some of the abuse I receive is just vile. They call me a parasite, a s*** and they 'hope I die soon'.
'Others say I'm a 'scrounger' and I've had threats of men coming to get me and 'teach me a lesson'.
'It can be hell at times. I don't know what people get out of being so horrible but they must just get sick kicks.
'It is very hard at times to read that stuff and horrible for the children as well. When you are feeling low it can really make you sink even lower.
'It has got to stop. People don't understand the impact on someone who is in the limelight. I have contacted the police before due to the threats.'
Ms Buchan moved into the semi-detached house in 2015 after moaning Government cuts to the benefits cap would leave her family on the breadline.
But she fell behind on payments despite raking in a 500-a-week benefits package consisting of council tax, child benefit, child tax, income support and housing benefit.
Ms Buchan moved into the semi-detached house in 2015 after moaning Government cuts to the benefits cap would leave her family on the breadline
The mother-of-eight, who said she didn't have a lot growing up, entered the benefits system when she had her first child at 19
In January 2021, Ms Buchan revealed she had been isolating at home with coronavirus when she became extremely ill and was hospitalised.
An ambulance was sent to her home and she was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she was placed on a drip.
Ms Buchan told how she thought she was going to die as she coughed up blood and suffered coughing fits but survived.
The single mother previously attended a course for an NHS job but was told she couldn't take up her place as her youngest child wouldn't be entitled to childcare.
Almost three million people in the UK are currently out of work due to ill health. This is 500,000 more than it was in 2019.
The cost of sickness and disability benefits are expected to increase by 30bn in the next five years, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.
The Prime Minister has announced his government will be cracking down on benefit fraud with new legislation in a bid 'to tackle worklessness'.
Sir Keir said during his Labour conference speech on Tuesday: 'If we want to maintain support for the welfare state, then we will legislate to stop benefit fraud, do everything we can to tackle worklessness.'
He also said that he believes long-term benefit claimants need to look for work if they are able to.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the Prime Minister said: I think the basic proposition that you should look for work is right.
'Obviously there will be hard cases, but the way I would do it is to say yes, that's the basic proposition, but we also want to support that so that more people can get into work.'
He had earlier said: 'I've gone out and looked at schemes where businesses are supporting people back into work from long term sickness.
'Because quite often I think what lies behind this is a fear for someone who's been on long-term sickness, that can they get back into the workplace? Are they going to be able to cope? Is it all going to go hopelessly wrong?
'Yes they need to be back in the workplace where they can, but I do think that if we can put the right support in place, which I've seen pilots of, they work pretty well, and we want to see more of those across the country.'
A British woman was sexually assaulted by a security guard while attending Oktoberfest in Munich, according to German police.
The 22-year-old tourist was attending the 189th annual beer festival with a friend on Monday when the attack allegedly took place.
She 'fell several times', according to German media, before being helped up by a man who was working as a steward at the showground.
The 34-year-old man then allegedly reached under her dirndl - a traditional German dress worn at the event - and performed 'sexual acts' on her.
The woman told her friend what had happened and the pair went to the nearest police station to report the attack.
A British woman was sexually assaulted by a security guard while attending Oktoberfest in Munich, according to German police
It comes after security was tightened at the festival this year following a deadly knife attack in Solingen, a city northwest of Munich
Police tracked down the man and arrested him at the showground the next day.
A judge is expected to decide today whether he will be remanded in custody.
It comes after security was tightened at the festival this year following a deadly knife attack in Solingen, a city northwest of Munich.
The violence on August 23 left three people dead and eight more wounded, with the Islamic State Group claiming responsibility for the attack.
Officials have warned revellers to expect longer lines to enter the site, as metal detectors have been rolled out for the first time in the Bavarian beer festivals history.
Authorities say there are no specific threats to the worlds largest folk festival, which kicked off on Saturday and runs through to October 6. Some six million visitors are expected over the festival's 16 days.
Since the folk festival officially started over the weekend, partygoers dressed in traditional German clothing have gathered at the Theresienwiese fairground.
The first Okotberfest was held on October 17 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Theresa of Saxony.
A chain of LA rehab clinic have been accused of employing Nazi sympathizers who racially abused staff and openly used 'white power' signs.
Seven former and current staff members of the Executive Recovery Group Inc (ERG) have accused staff at the facility of racist abuse and harassment in a lawsuit.
The ERG owns multiple facilities across the state, with the plaintiffs including nurses, aides, and technicians who say they were subjected to months of discrimination.
The complaint, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges that a Hispanic staff member was replaced with a known associate of a White nationalist gang.
It is said that the company hired an Erin Thorley as an executive director of the facility, who 'almost immediately' fired two Hispanic managers from the branch.
Seven former and current staff members of the Executive Recovery Group Inc, seen here, have accused staff at the facility of racist abuse and harassment in a lawsuit
Thorley then hired Penny Beal and Corey Hurst to fill their position, with the suit claiming Thorley was friends with both of them.
It is alleged that Thorley was aware that Hurst had been involved with a White nationalist group which was referred to as 'Public Enemy Number One'.
The suit alleges that the group was referred to by several other names including 'P9', 'Nazi Low Riders', and 'Skinheads'.
According to the Anti Defamation League, Public Enemy Number 1 is the large White supremacist gang in California.
According to the suit, Hurst was heavily tattooed in swastikas and other White supremacy symbols which included a swastika on his face.
The plaintiffs allege that the ERG went on to hire other members affiliated with the group, and that these employees were promoted quicker than other non-white employees.
Plaintiff Michael Zamarron, a gay man, also claims in the suit that program director Jay Lepito singled him out due to his sexuality.
Zamarron claims that Lepito 'wanted to make it clear that he though Zamarron's homosexuality would make residents uncomfortable'.
Lepito is said to have told Zamarron that it was inappropriate for him to work with residents due to him being gay.
Employee David Karon, who is Jewish, claims he also overheard staffers saying the owners of the company were 'cheap and stingy', because 'they're Jews'.
The suit adds that Karon was told by a client that he knew Lepito from outside of the ERG and was involved in drug dealing, and credit card fraud as well as being part of a White nationalist group.
According to Karon, there was also racist drawings and other visuals in the facility which included the Gadson Flag and a drawing of the 'Ok' hand sign.
The hand gesture has been adopted by White supremacists after 4chan users promoted it as a representation of the letters 'wp', or white power. It has since been listed as a symbol of hate by the Anti-Defamation League.
Karon resigned from the company after he was passed over for promotions , overhearing racist comments, and making several complaints to HR, the suit says.
After complaining about the racist drawings that had been left on a bulletin board, Karon was told his complaints would be investigated.
According to the complaint, a week after he informed HR he noticed the drawings hadn't been taken down and resigned.
The lawsuit is seeking compensation but an actual dollar amount has not been specified.
Attorney Cameron Dowlatshahi said: 'It is hard to believe that in 2024 a workplace can be filled with Nazi sympathizers.
'Yet, this is exactly the workplace my clients had to endure day-in and day-out. My clients are good people, who simply wanted to do their jobs and help people in need.
'Instead, their employer blatantly disregarded their well-being and subjected them to an incredibly toxic environment.
'We will do everything we can to hold this company, its affiliates, and its owners accountable.'
DailyMail.com has attempted to contact ERG for comment on the suit.
Zara Aleena's murderer has refused to appear in court for a hearing over an alleged 'inappropriate relationship' with a blonde prison workshop instructor.
Jordan McSweeney, 31, failed to appear via video link at Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday because he 'can't be bothered', staff at HMP Long Lartin told the court.
The 31-year-old murdered Ms Aleena, a 35-year-old aspiring law graduate, as she walked home from a night out in Ilford, east London, in the early hours of June 26 2022 - just nine days after he was released from prison.
The defendant was due to attend alongside Hayley Jones, 33, who has been charged with acting in a way 'which amounted to an abuse of the public's trust'.
Jones, 33, is alleged to have had 'month-long fling' with McSweeny, who is serving a minimum term of 33 years, at HMP Belmarsh between March 6, 2023 and April 7, 2023.
Hayley Jones (pictured), 33, is accused of acting in a way 'which amounted to an abuse of the public's trust' during a relationship with Jordan McSweeney
Prolific criminal McSweeney, 31, who had 28 convictions for 69 crimes prior to Ms Aleena's murdeer, had been released from prison on licence just nine days before the killing
A jury inquest ruled in June that failures 'across multiple agencies' contributed to Zara's death
McSweeney was due to appear in court today via videolink from HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire, where he has since been moved to.
A member of staff at Long Lartin told Judge David Miller via video link: 'I despatched an officer at 13:30 to collect him from his prison cell.
'At 13:40 I got a message saying he had refused to attend because he can't be bothered'.
Judge Miller asked the member of staff 'Is that a quote?', to which they responded 'Yes'.
He added: 'If he continues to refuse to engage with proceedings then proceedings will go ahead in his absence.
'He must be reminded about the consequences of not being bothered to engage next time.'
The member of prison staff told the court McSweeney had also refused to sign failure to attend documents.
She was reportedly arrested in June last year and suspended from duties after an allegation of inappropriate conduct was reported to police officers.
Jones is accused of misconduct in a public office between March 6 2023 and April 7 2023
McSweeney is serving at least 33 years in HMP Belmarsh for the murder of Ms Aleena
In August, Jones was granted conditional bail and told she must not contact McSweeney or visit the prison where he is being held.
Prolific criminal McSweeney has also been charged with encouraging or assisting an offender between the same dates.
No pleas to the charges were entered during the short hearing. The case has been adjourned until October 31.
It comes after a jury inquest ruled in June that failures 'across multiple agencies' contributed to Ms Aleena's death.
McSweeney had 28 convictions for 69 crimes prior to Ms Aleena's murder, had been released from prison on licence just nine days before the killing, but had breached his conditions and was recalled to prison on June 22, 2022.
The police were given powers to arrest him two days later, but delays in the necessary paperwork meant the police were unable to arrest him before he killed the law graduate.
McSweeney ambushed Ms Aleena and punched her in the back of the head before dragging her into a driveway and kicking her as she lay on the ground as she went home after a night out in June 26, 2022.
McSweeney was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years at the Old Bailey in December 2022 after admitting sexually assaulting and murdering Ms Aleena (pictured). In November 2023, he won a Court of Appeal bid to reduce the minimum term of his life sentence to 33 years
Undated CCTV image issued by the Metropolitan Police of sexual predator Jordan McSweeney just before he attacked Zara Aleena
As the innocent woman lay dying, the brute sexually assaulted her before grabbing her handbag, mobile phone and keys. He then walked away but returned moments later to deliver the fatal final blows.
Ms Aleena died in hospital from a blunt force head injury and neck compression, a court heard.
McSweeney was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years at the Old Bailey in December 2022 after admitting sexually assaulting and murdering Ms Aleena.
In November 2023, he won a Court of Appeal bid to reduce the minimum term of his life sentence to 33 years.
The murder of a French student in an exclusive Paris suburb, allegedly by a Moroccan rapist who had been released from jail and was awaiting deportation, has ignited fury in France.
The body of the 19-year-old woman, named only as Philippine, was found buried in the Bois de Boulogne park in an affluent area in the west of Paris on Saturday.
Philippine was studying economics at Paris-Dauphine university and was last seen a few hundred metres away from campus around midday on Friday.
The suspect, named by French media as Taha O., is a 22-year-old from Morocco who had been due to be expelled from France after serving five years in jail for raping a student in 2019, Le Monde newspaper and BFM TV said.
On June 20, he had reportedly been sent straight from jail to a detention centre for illegal migrants pending his expulsion, but a judge set him free on September 3, as the expulsion process was getting bogged down in administrative delays.
He was supposed to check in regularly with police and stay on at a specific hotel, French media said, but three days after his release, when the paperwork to expel him was completed, Taha O. had disappeared.
The hard-Right National Rally (RN) has seized on Philippine's murder to push its agenda of toughening immigration laws.
The body of the 19-year-old woman, named only as Philippine (pictured), was found buried in the Bois de Boulogne park in an affluent area in the west of Paris on Saturday
Marine Le Pen's party has said in past weeks it reserved the right to withdraw its tacit backing for Prime Minister Michel Barnier's cabinet if its concerns over immigration and other issues were not addressed, saying the fate of the government was in its hands.
'It's time for this government to act: our compatriots are angry and will not be content with just words,' RN chief Jordan Bardella said, accusing the state of being too soft on security and immigration after French media said the suspect was a 22-year-old migrant with a criminal record.
He added: 'This migrant had no right to be here, but he was able to offend again in total impunity. Our justice is too lenient; our state is dysfunctional. It is time for the government to act.'
'Philippine's life was stolen from her by a Moroccan migrant targeted by an OQTF (obligation to leave France),' he said on social media platform X on Tuesday evening.
Marine Le Pen's RN party acquired kingmaker status by signalling support for a new coalition between centrists and conservatives, after a July election in which President Emmanuel Macron's centrist government suffered heavy losses.
On Wednesday morning, new Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said: 'If we need to change the rules, let's change them.'
'Faced with such a tragedy, preceded by many others, we cannot just condemn it or be outraged,' Retailleau said in a statement. 'It's up to us, public officials, to [...] update our legislation, to protect the French.'
Retailleau, from the conservative Republicans party, had already signalled earlier this week that France was likely to see much tougher immigration and security measures.
The park where her body was found, the Bois de Boulogne, has long been a hot spot for prostitution, with locals saying that parts of it have become 'increasingly frightening' due to drug addicts and others (file image of the Bois de Boulogne)
Geneva Police officers and Railway Police officers are seen at an the entrance to Geneva Cornavin train station, in Geneva, on September 24, 2024 as Taha O. was arrested in the city
Greens lawmaker Sandrine Rousseau warned against the far-Right using the murder to 'spread its racist hatred', while also calling for the 'femicide' to be 'punished severely'.
France deports more non-EU citizens than any other European Union nation, official Eurostat data shows.
Philippine disappeared while on her way home to her parents' house in western Paris. Her colleagues have described her as a quiet, model student to local media
But it issues so many expulsion orders - two to five times more than Germany in each quarter over the past two years - that its ratio of enforced expulsion orders is low at less than 10 per cent.
In the first quarter of 2024, France ordered the expulsion of 34,190 non-EU citizens, or nearly a third of all expulsions ordered across the EU. It expelled 4,205 people in the same period.
Bureaucracy, diplomatic rows and a reluctance by some countries to accept the return of people holding criminal convictions are among the reasons why far fewer expulsions than are ordered are actually enforced.
Philippine disappeared while on her way home to her parents' house in western Paris. Her colleagues have described her as a quiet, model student to local media.
Her alleged killer Taha O. was tracked down and arrested in Geneva on Tuesday and is due to be returned to France.
The park where her body was found, the Bois de Boulogne, has long been a hot spot for prostitution, with locals saying that parts of it have become 'increasingly frightening' due to drug addicts and others, according to the BBC.
Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner confessed to a former cellmate that he took a child from a Portuguese apartment during a break-in, a court in Germany has heard today.
The 47-year-old paedophile is said to have asked inmate Laurentiu Codin if he too was behind bars for child offences while they were sharing a cell in 2020.
Codin claimed that the convicted rapist had begged him to burn down his lair when he got out of prison, and asked him whether 'the DNA from a child can be taken from bones under the ground.'
It comes after German investigators sensationally named Brueckner as the key suspect in the abduction of the British three-year-old Maddie from her family's Praia da Luz holiday apartment in May 2007.
Speaking in front of Braunschweig Regional Court today, where Brueckner is standing trial for unrelated sex crimes, Codin told a story which bore striking similarities to the night Maddie disappeared.
Christian Brueckner (C) is brought to the courtroom for a session of his trial at court in Braunschweig, northern Germany, on September 25, 2024
Madeleine McCann (pictured) went missing on May 3, 2007 at the age of just three. She has never been found. German criminal Christian Brueckner has been named by German prosecutors as their chief suspect in her disappearance
'He told me that in Portugal, that he had stolen there. He was in a region where there are hotels and rich people live,' Codin said.
'He said there was somewhere with an open window, he told me this. He was looking for money.
'He said he didn't find any money but found a kid and took the child. He said that two hours later, there were police and dogs all over the place, so he then went away, out of the area.
'I am just saying what he told me. He told me that a person was with him, who he had had an argument with, allegedly it was his woman.
'He said he took the child in Portugal in his car, and in the time when the police and dogs were at the house, he drove away and he was gone.
'He asked me if the DNA from a child can be found as evidence and I answered yes.'
In more disturbing testimony, Codin, 50, said Brueckner had told him how he had used a van to have sex with young girls near Hanover.
'There was talk of a girl, I don't know if what he said was true or not. He said that he had a bus and that he had taken her with it. He said he kept some of them, but not others, but he never said that he had killed them.
'We're talking about girls, not boys. Not all at once, always one at a time. He told me about two. He said that he had taken someone, had sex with her but he didn't kill her.'
Pictured: The holiday complex where the McCanns were staying in Portugal's Algarve region in May 2007, when their three-year-old daughter vanished without a trace
Kate and Gerry McCann pose with a computer generated image of how their missing daughter Madeleine might look now, during a news conference in 2012
Asked by the judge how old his victim was, Codin said: 'I don't want to get it wrong, but it was very young, tiny. I mean young.
'Each time when we were together he spoke about it because he was convinced that I was a paedophile.'
Brueckner is serving a seven-year jail term for the 2005 rape of American pensioner Diana Menkes, 72, in the Algarve.
He is standing trial at Braunschweig district court for unconnected sex crimes allegedly carried out in the Algarve between 2000 and 2017.
A house near Praia da Luz resort and Lagos in the Algarve, Portugal, that was used by Christian Brueckner, a German man suspected in the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann
The offences Brueckner is on trial for include the alleged rape of Irish tour rep Hazel Behan, now 40, in her Praia da Rocha apartment in 2004.
The former tour guide, who waived her anonymity and has spoken publicly about her experience, broke down in tears as she told the trial that Brueckner had raped her at knifepoint.
He has also been charged with the alleged rape of a teenage girl in his home in the same city and raping an elderly woman in her holiday apartment.
Brueckner is also accused of exposing himself to a German girl on a beach in Salema in April 2007 and to an 11-year-old girl in 2017.
His current sentence ends early next year, and if he is not found guilty in the ongoing trial, he could be freed from jail. The trial is due to end in December.
Hazel Behan (pictured) has publicly spoken about the alleged attack in TV interviews
Speaking outside court, Brueckner's defence team strongly refuted Codin's allegations.
'All of these claims are completely new. All of them. He has never said anything like this before, and they all contradict each other,' lawyer Philipp Marquart told reporters.
Brueckner is said to have watched intently as as a video was shown to the court showing the apartment where Maddie disappeared in 2007.
The footage went on to show her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, as they described the horror when they realised she was no longer in her bed.
The couple had left Maddie and her two siblings sleeping in their apartment while they dined at a nearby tapas bar in the Ocean Beach complex.
Christian Brueckner was named chief suspect in Madeleine's disappearance in 2020
Kate returned to the apartment at around 10pm to check on the kids, and made the horrifying discovery that her daughter was missing.
Brueckner was sensationally named by German police as the prime suspect in the Madeleine's abduction.
The revelation came in June 2020 - more than a decade after her disappearance.
But he has never been charged in the case, and has long denied any involvement.
A senior CrowdStrike executive has issued an apology over the global IT outage in July that sparked worldwide flight cancellations and chaos across several industries.
Adam Meyers, senior vice president for counter adversary operations, appeared before a US House of Representatives subcommittee on Tuesday to answer questions about the faulty software update that caused the outage on July 19.
He said the company was 'deeply sorry' for the 'perfect storm' outage that affected millions of people and vowed that CrowdStrike was 'determined to prevent it from happening again'.
Meyers added that the issues were not the result of a cyberattack or prompted by AI.
The July incident, sparked by a flawed software update rolled out by CrowdStrike, crippled around 8.5 million computers running Microsoft software, which brought businesses and infrastructure to a standstill.
The outage impacted industries around the globe including airlines, banks, health care, media companies and hotel chains.
Adam Meyers, (pictured) CrowdStrike's senior vice president for counter adversary operations, appeared before a US House of Representatives subcommittee on Tuesday to answer questions about the faulty software update that caused the global IT outage on July 19
He said Crowdstrike was 'deeply sorry' for the 'perfect storm' outage that affected millions of people and vowed that the company was 'determined to prevent it from happening again'. The cybersecurity firm's Sunnyville, California office is pictured on July 19, 2024
CrowdStrike released a content configuration update for its Falcon Sensor security software on July 19 that resulted in system crashes worldwide, Meyers told the House Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection subcommittee.
He explained that the new threat detection configurations were validated and sent to sensors running on Microsoft Windows devices but the 'configurations were not understood by the Falcon sensor's rules engine, leading affected sensors to malfunction until the problematic configurations were replaced'.
'We are deeply sorry this happened and we are determined to prevent this from happening again,' Meyers told the legislators.
'We have undertaken a full review of our systems and begun implementing plans to bolster our content update procedures so that we emerge from this experience as a stronger company.'
He added: 'We appreciate the incredible round-the-clock efforts that our customers and partners who, working alongside our teams, mobilized immediately to restore systems.
'We were able to bring many customers back online within hours. I can assure that we continue to approach this with a great sense of urgency.'
The committee members pressed Meyers on how the incident occurred in the first place, with legislators likening its impact to that of a well-planned, sophisticated cyber attack, but instead had happened because of a 'mistake' inside CrowdStrike's software.
The July 19 incident led to worldwide flight cancellations and impacted industries around the globe including banks, health care, media companies and hotel chains. Pictured are the departures monitors at Orlando International Airport on July 19, 2024 showing the number of cancelled and delayed flights due to the global communications outage
A checkout terminal hit by IT issues is seen at a Coles store in Canberra, Australia on July 19
Passengers in the South Terminal at London's Gatwick Airport wait in long queues amid the widespread IT outage on July 19, 2024
In its analysis of the outage published in the aftermath of the incident, CrowdStrike said an 'undetected error' in a software update sparked the problem, with a bug in the firm's content validation system meaning 'problematic content data' was not spotted and then allowed to roll out to Microsoft Windows customers, causing the crash.
Meyers said the cybersecurity firm would continue to share 'lessons learned' from the incident to ensure it did not happen again.
Representative Mark Green, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, called the events 'a catastrophe that we would expect to see in a movie.'
He told Meyers: 'We cannot allow a mistake of this magnitude to happen again.'
Some watchers noted that the committee hearing did not see CrowdStrike face such an intense grilling as other tech executives have been subjected to in recent years, with those at the hearing instead placing an emphasis firms working with committees and government to prevent future incidents of a similar nature.
CrowdStrike still faces a number of lawsuits from people and businesses impacted by the outage.
Delta Air Lines has vowed to take legal action, saying the outage forced it to cancel 7,000 flights, impacting 1.3 million passengers over five days, and cost it $500 million.
The company rejected Delta's contention that it should be blamed for massive flight disruptions.
Meyers, pictured during the hearing on Tuesday, told legislators that the IT issues were not the result of a cyberattack or prompted by AI
In the UK, the CrowdStrike outage left GPs unable to access the digital system to manage appointments or view patient records, as well as send prescriptions to pharmacies which were also widely impacted forcing doctors to return to using pen and paper.
Meanwhile, flights were cancelled or delayed and passengers left stranded as airline systems were knocked offline or staff were forced to handwrite boarding passes and luggage tags.
Many small businesses also reported a substantial impact on their income, with some saying their websites being knocked offline by the incident cost them hundreds or even thousands of pounds in sales.
Last month, CrowdStrike cut its revenue and profit forecasts in the aftermath of the faulty software update, and said the environment would remain challenging for about a year.
Alan Bates has received his knighthood from Princess Anne at Windsor Castle for exposing the Horizon IT scandal.
The Post Office hero arrived at the castle in Berkshire with his wife Lady Suzanne Sercombe for the ceremony on Tuesday.
Sir Alan was the figurehead in the decades-long campaign to have his colleagues' names cleared and win compensation after hundreds were wrongly convicted of fraud while the Post Office covered up problems with the real culprit its new IT system.
His status was further enhanced this year when depicted by Toby Jones in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which was watched by millions.
He had previously rejected an OBE while Post Office boss Paula Vennells still retained her CBE after her role in what many have called the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history.
But upon hearing that he had been stripped of the honour, he accepted the knighthood in June and said was he was 'honoured' by the award.
Alan Bates has received his knighthood at Windsor Castle on Tuesday
The Post Office hero was awarded the honour by Princess Anne
Alan Bates, stands with his wife Lady Suzanne Sercombe, before he receives his knighthood at an Investiture ceremony in Windsor Castle
Sir Alan's status was further enhanced this year when depicted by Toby Jones in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which was watched by millions
He had insisted his knighthood for services to justice was on behalf of the hundreds of subpostmasters affected by the scandal and the 'horrendous things that have happened'.
Sir Alan had previously laughed off claims he was a hero, but said he had received hundreds of messages of support, adding: 'A lot of people do seem to think I should receive some sort of recognition for the work that I've done for them or on their behalf.'
In October 2000, Sir Alan and Lady Suzanne bought a post office and haberdashery in Llandudno, Wales, in 1998.
The Horizon IT system was installed in October 2000 and within two months financial discrepancies were showing up.
Sir Alan insisted they were not his fault and refused to pay the shortfall. His contract was terminated in November 2003 and, while he was not prosecuted, he lost the 65,000 he had invested in the business.
Alan Bates was awarded a knighthood in the King's Birthday Honours on Friday after his landmark campaign for justice for hundreds of wrongly convicted postmasters
Sir Alan tirelessly campaigned on behalf of hundreds of postmasters who were wrongly convicted of fraud while the Post Office covered up the real culprit its new IT system
The first sign of his transformation to feted campaigner began in October 2003, when he wrote to his local newspaper saying he would never give up his fight against the Post Office.
In 2009, Computer Weekly broke the story of the Post Office scandal, featuring Sir Alan and six other victims, and he founded the Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance.
Just 20 people turned up to the group's first meeting, but it soon mushroomed into a high-profile campaign that ultimately led to group litigation against the shamed Post Office, and the ongoing public inquiry.
Republicans are increasingly distancing themselves from North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
The state's GOP gubernatorial candidate is embroiled in scandal and many are now worried he will spell doom for other elections this November in the vital swing state.
The race for the Governor's Mansion in Raleigh was turned on its head last week when CNN reported that Robinson made racist, lewd and salacious comments on the pornographic forum Nude Africa.
Republicans are deleting images they posted with Robinson and at least 10 right-wing individuals and groups have canceled events with the candidate.
And the Republican Governors Association (RGA) has stopped running ads for Robinson.
A spokesperson for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's PAC said he will no longer 'support [Robinson's] candidacy' after the governor attended an event for the candidate in August in his capacity on the RGA executive committee.
Republicans are distancing themselves from North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in the midst of a scathing scandal
Laurie Buckhout, a candidate for North Carolina's 1st congressional district, is one of those seeking to erase her digital footprint with the controversial politician. She deleted at least nine photos on X showing her alongside Robinson in five different tweets.
'North Carolina's next governor,' she wrote in one of the X posts.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell said on Tuesday he is relieved that there is not a Senate race in the Tar Heel state this cycle, indicating concern over the effect Robinson could have down the ballot.
'I'm happy that there's not a Senate race in North Carolina,' the Kentucky Republican said.
Robinson has rebuked calls for him to drop out of the race and has vehemently denied the CNN report, which alleges that the Lieutenant Governor called himself a 'black Nazi' and 'perv,' among other concerning claims, on the porn website.
A slew of North Carolinians are concerned about GOP bids beyond just the gubernatorial race now that the claims against Robinson have come to light.
North Carolina voted red for Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, but is considered up for grabs this year and Democrats are working hard to flip the battleground swing state.
But political analysts and election experts aren't so sure the Robinson claims will affect the presidential ticket in 2024.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is term-limited and is leaving office at the end of the year. Robinson is running against Democrat Josh Stein.
North Carolina's Republican candidate for state auditor, Dave Boliek; State Sen. Lisa Stone Barnes, who is running for reelection; and State Rep. Bill Ward, also in a reelection race, all appear to have removed posts on their social media where they are pictured with Robinson, according to a CNN review of their accounts.
At least 10 right leaning groups and individuals have canceled events with Robinson, and several candidates in North Carolina have deleted images online with the lieutenant governor
State Rep. Allen Chesser deleted Robinson's endorsement from his website amid his reelection race and Stacie McGinn, who is running for North Carolina Senate, deleted a post where she praised the gubernatorial candidate for commemorating a slain police officer.
A political analyst at conservative think tank John Locke Foundation dismissed claims that Robinson's scandal will somehow hurt Trump
'I doubt that Mark Robinson's latest controversy will have much of an impact on Donald Trump at the top of the ticket,' Mitch Kokai told Newsweek. 'The former president has won North Carolina's electoral votes twice, despite all of his own electoral baggage.'
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Wednesday of the report: 'If [true] they're devastating and disqualifying.'
'We've got an election that's three and a half Scaramucci away, and we have to, we have to fill our best candidates,' he continued, referencing the short-lived tenure of Anthony Scaramucci, who was Donald Trump's White House Communications Director for only 10 days.
Keir Starmer repeated his plea for Brits to leave Lebanon 'immediately' today as he arrived at the UN in New York.
The PM raised alarm at escalating tensions between Israel and terror group Hezbollah, calling on both sides to cease hostilities.
Sir Keir, who is accompanied on his trip by controversial chief aide Sue Gray, is due to address the UN General Assembly later as well as holding talks with other leaders.
Hezbollah fired a ballistic missile at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv this morning, as Israel carried out strikes in Lebanon - where there is estimated to be up to 10,000 UK citizens. Israel's military has said it will activate its reserve brigades.
Sir Keir told broadcasters in New York: 'I am very worried about the escalation.
'I'm calling for all parties to step back from the brink, to de-escalate. We need a ceasefire so this can be sorted out diplomatically.
Keir Starmer greets the US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield in New York today
Keir Starmer (pictured in New York today) raised alarm at escalating tensions between Israel and terror group Hezbollah, calling on both sides to cease hostilities
Smoke rises over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike today
Sir Keir, who is accompanied on his trip by controversial chief aide Sue Gray (pictured), is due to address the UN General Assembly later as well as holding talks with other leaders
'But I have a very important message for British nationals in Lebanon, which is the time to leave is now.
'The contingency plans are being ramped up, but don't wait for those. There are still commercial flights.
'It's very important that they hear my message, which is to leave and to leave immediately.'
Troops have already been sent to Cyprus as the British Government is drawing up plans to evacuate British citizens from Lebanon amid the fighting.
The surface-to-surface missile fired from Lebanon on Wednesday set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel.
There have been no reports of casualties or damage, according to the Associated Press.
The Israeli army said it struck the site in southern Lebanon from which the projectile was launched.
Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, which it blames for a recent string of targeted killings of its top commanders and for an attack last week in which bombs hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of people and wounded thousands, including many Hezbollah members.
The Israeli military said it was the first time a projectile fired from Lebanon had reached central Israel.
A Pensioner has told how she was left 'feeling sick for days' after she was swindled out of 3,500 in an elaborate scam.
Eleanor Young, 77, from Stirling, Scotland, was targeted by criminals pretending to be from her bank's fraud prevention team.
The scheming liars provided Eleanor with her own date of birth, phone number, recent spending and other personal information in an attempt to gain her trust.
And, sadly, Mrs Young isn't alone in her suffering as BBC News legend Moira Stewart was also recently targeted by cruel tricksters.
Eleanor Young, 77, was targeted by criminals pretending to be from her bank's fraud prevention team
Mrs Young, who lives in Causewayhead with her husband Joe, 89, believed she was interacting with the Royal Bank of Scotland's fraud department.
A conman, who said he was a member of the banking giant's fraud team, then told her that there had been suspicious activity on her account even providing her with details of her latest purchase.
From there, the crook claimed that he would have to ask Mrs Young to withdraw the funds from the account so that it could be closed and a new one set up.
Mrs Young made the trip to the bank branch at Stirling's Thistles Centre to withdraw the sum.
A 'courier' then arrived at her home address to take the sum away and place it into what she thought would be a new bank account with a new bank card to follow just a few days later.
However, after handing the 'courier' 3,500, Mrs Young never saw the cash again and no new bank card ever showed up.
Speaking to the Stirling Observer this week, Mrs Young said: 'I got a call from what I can only describe as a very polite man.
'He was able to tell me my date of birth, he had my phone number and he could even tell me the latest payments on my account it was very convincing.
'It was all very frightening. It was totally out of character for me.
'It almost feels as if that wasn't me.
'I just felt sick for a few days afterwards not about the money, but that I had been taken in by it all.'
Mrs Young describes the 'courier' who arrived at her home as being a young man, and wearing dark or black clothing and a face mask.
Inspector Steven McCooey, of Stirling Police Office, described the brazen scam as 'highly disturbing'.
He added: 'This is a highly disturbing method which has been used before.
'We've had several similar calls, with members of the public not engaging with persons on the call, but instead phoning the police to report.
The scheming liars provided Eleanor with her own date of birth, phone number, recent spending and other personal information in an attempt to gain her trust
'If anyone has received a call, please terminate the call, and contact Police Scotland.'
Age Scotland the national charity for older people in Scotland has called for vigilance in the wake of viral scams against Scotland's older population.
Policy director, Adam Stachura said: 'Although we know that people of all ages can fall for scams, it's unfortunately the case that older people are at greater risk of being targeted by scammers.
'Scams come in all guises by telephone, email, text, postal and doorstep and callous scammers are using ever more devious methods to try to con and swindle older people out of money.
'It's not uncommon for scammers to pretend they are from the police or the person's bank, and that they are 'helping' protect the person's money from fraudsters.
'It's important to remember that the police or a bank will never ask a person to withdraw or transfer money or ask for personal details, including bank account numbers and PINs.
'And if in doubt about the identity of the caller, hang up.
'No-one should feel ashamed of falling for a scam scammers can be extremely convincing, and many people of all ages are taken in by their lies.
'Age Scotland's updated advice guide, Avoiding Scams, has a wealth of information on the various types of scams, how to spot them and details about what to do if you think you have fallen victim to a scam.
'You can call our helpline on 0800 12 44 222 for a free copy of the guide.'
Schoolchildren using a cemetery for 'nature lessons' have sparked fury amongst locals who say they can hear shrieks and shouts as the kids romp among the gravestones.
One woman living next to Penzance cemetery in Cornwall claims she sees up to 40 school pupils running through and said it showed a lack of respect for the dead and their grieving families.
Diana Jenkin said she and neighbours were first alerted to the lessons when she heard 'lots of noise' emanating from the cemetery at Heamoor.
'People are laid to rest there. I thought, why can I hear lots of children? I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
'I know I'm of an age, but we were brought up to be respectful of the dead. My younger neighbours also thought it was strange that lots of children were being taught in the cemetery.
Neighbours living next to Penzance cemetery in Cornwall, pictured, have been left furious after hearing up to 40 school puils running through graves
'They were using it like a playing field, but it's not a playing field.
'There are plenty of places around Penzance that have beautiful nature trails which would be more suitable for the pupils' said Mrs Jenkin, who claims at least two schools have brought pupils to the cemetery.
'I've never seen anything like this since I've lived here, and I've lived here for almost 45 years.'
Cornwall Council and its civil engineering contractor Cormac said: 'We understand and respect the concern about using Penzance Cemetery for educational sessions.
'The sessions hosted by Urban Green Shoots and Budding Nature are designed to nurture a sense of community pride and environmental respect among the younger generation.'
The council said that during the sessions students 'engaged in thoughtful discussions about the cemetery's significance, providing them with an opportunity to learn about the importance of preserving such meaningful spaces'.
'The cemetery serves as a busy thoroughfare and green corridor, providing an essential link across the town, it said.
'The educational sessions aim to emphasise its importance in the local community and educate children about nature and wildlife in an urban setting.
'We fully recognise the cemetery as a place of remembrance and are dedicated to ensuring that all activities held there are conducted with utmost respect and consideration.
A neighbour claimed there were plenty of other spaces in Penzance. Pictured: Penzance promenade
'Engaging with the younger members of our community in this manner will hopefully inspire them to become responsible and compassionate citizens in the future.
'We genuinely appreciate the feedback and will carefully consider it as we strive to enhance biodiversity and community engagement in the area.'
Urban Green Shoots is funded by the Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF). Cornwall Council has been chosen by as a lead authority for the fund and is responsible for monitoring the progress of projects funded through the SPF in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, until the fund ends in March next year.
SPF aims to help Urban Green Shoots work in some of Cornwall's most deprived neighbourhoods.
The spokesperson added 'The funding is intended to address the barriers to economic growth and increase wellbeing by providing access to high-quality green space close to where children live.
'In Penzance, which has high levels of deprivation, the cemetery is a space close to some of the most affected communities. Improving the environment close to where they live stands to benefit these communities the most.'
Meghan Markle was today reportedly described by former staff as someone who could be a 'demon' and treated some employees 'like a tradesman' amid an intensifying row over her management style.
One palace courtier who is claimed to have worked for the Duchess of Sussex said they 'witnessed people being chewed up in person and over the phone and made to 'feel like s**t', according to a new US media report.
It was claimed that another former aide said they 'always thought she was a classic narcissist' and she was 'lovely when it is all going her way but a demon when the worm turns'.
The report in the Daily Beast today follows two major recent articles published in America about Meghan - with one in the Hollywood Reporter criticising her as a 'dictator in high heels', and another in Us Weekly praising her management style.
A representative for Meghan and her husband Prince Harry confirmed to MailOnline today that they would not be commenting on the new Daily Beast article.
It comes as Harry continues to attend events in New York this week while Meghan and their children Archie and Lilibet are at home in Montecito, California.
Prince Harry and Meghan visit San Basilio de Palenque on their tour of Colombia on August 17
One courtier who was said to have worked for Meghan and Harry when they were still senior royals was quoted by the Daily Beast as saying: 'I do think that after the ill-feeling of Megxit, Meghan's bad moments were amplified and distorted and blown out of proportion.
'That said, there definitely were bad, very bad... moments. I witnessed people being chewed up in person and over the phone and made to feel like s**t.
'But it was an incredibly fraught time and I'm inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. She has said herself she was suicidal at times.'
Another aide who worked with Meghan ahead of her wedding at Windsor Castle in May 2018 referred to the positive picture portrayed in the Us Weekly article.
The aide told the Daily Beast: 'I always thought she was a classic narcissist.'
They added: 'She is lovely when it is all going her way but a demon when the worm turns.'
Prince Harry speaks at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York City yesterday
A third source told the Daily Beast that a florist was 'screamed at down the phone' after posting a detail about a bouquet they were working on for her - without identifying Meghan as the client.
This source said: 'They vowed never to work with her again, despite the prestige of having her as a client. If you were working for her, you were often treated like a tradesman who could be treated like s**t.'
It follows accusations made in a Hollywood Reporter article on September 12 that 'Duchess Difficult' had reduced grown men to tears as she 'barks' out orders.
Then, staff loyal to Harry and Meghan gave the couple a glowing report and a positive account of their working lives to Us Weekly in an article published yesterday.
Josh Kettler, Harry's former chief of staff who left after just three months in August, said in the Us Weekly article that he was 'warmly welcomed' by the Sussexes and called them 'dedicated and hardworking'.
Josh Kettler, Prince Harry's former chief of staff, who left after just three months in August
'It was impressive to witness,' he added, without elaborating on why he left so quickly.
Ben Browning, Archewell's former head of content who was responsible for their tell-all Netflix documentary but then left before the end of his contract said his experience at the company, and with Meghan and Harry in general, 'was positive and supportive'.
Their current PR chief, 'global press secretary' Ashley Hansen, says they treated her with 'the kind of concern and care a parent would express if it were their own child' when she took time off for surgery, adding that they also sent flowers and gifts.
She added: 'Meghan would personally reach out to my husband daily to make sure that we both were OK and had support. It meant so much to him and even more to me. You don't realise how much that kind of kindness and thought means until you need it.'
Meghan with former Archewell president Mandana Dayani, who has spoken in support of her
Another anonymous source told Us Weekly: 'This is the first company I've worked [where I] liked every person. Harry and Meghan picked the best of the best from every field and watered the seeds for them to flourish. We have an enormous microscope on us. But good things are happening.'
They said Harry asks on work Zoom calls about what staff have done at the weekend and as a team they plan events such as karaoke nights and 'holiday parties'.
A former staff member said the Sussexes heard they had adopted a dog, and 'the next day, I had a luxury-brand leash and new collar on my doorstep'.
Expectant parents are also given 'brand-new gifts and top-notch second-hand stuff from the couple themselves 'like unused car seats and baby items they no longer need', it was said.
'They want to take care of us,' one current employee said. 'Meghan will do things like, 'You mentioned on the call your skin is bothering you. I put together a kit for you'.'
Ben Browning, Archewell's former head of content, said his experience at the company, and with Meghan and Harry in general, 'was positive and supportive'
It was also claimed that no one leaves the couple's Montecito home empty-handed.
'Whenever staff go to their house, they leave with a basket with fresh flowers, fresh fruit, fresh eggs,' one staffer said. 'Best bosses I have ever had,' another current team member insists.
Also speaking to Us Weekly yesterday was former Archewell boss Mandana Dayani who said the 'kindness, mentorship and support' she has received from the Duke and Duchess 'happens quietly behind closed doors'.
It is a stark contrast to recent reports about a string of departures from their Archewell organisation, which combines their media deals with philanthropic endeavours.
The expose in the Hollywood Reporter claiming the Duchess is a 'dictator in high heels' was sourced from someone 'very high up' still working for the couple, it has been claimed.
Maer Roshan, co-editor-in-chief of the Hollywood Reporter, has said he stands by the story
That article also said Meghan 'doesn't take advice' and has reduced 'grown men to tears' as she 'barks' orders.
The Hollywood Reporter also described the couple as 'poor decision-makers' who 'change their minds frequently'.
Maer Roshan, co-editor-in-chief of the publication, has subsequently said he stands by the story, despite a backlash amongst supporters of the Sussexes.
Mr Roshan said they spoke to around a dozen people who had worked closely with Harry and Meghan 'now and previously'.
He also told Access Hollywood that 'our reporter talked to one very high up source who works for the couple who said everyone is terrified of Meghan'.
They say the Duchess 'belittles people' and 'doesn't take advice'.
Prince Harry and Meghan after their wedding at St George's Chapel in Windsor on May 19, 2018
Although they have not commented officially, a source 'close' to Harry and Meghan rejected the claims last week.
They also pointed out that a note on her email signature which says staff should not feel obligated to respond outside of normal business hours was further proof she wasn't demanding.
Meghan herself has always strongly denied claims of bullying staff, claiming they were part of a 'calculated smear campaign'.
Mr Roshan added: 'Duchess Difficult is a nickname that has trailed Meghan for quite a few years.
'What is new is that this notion, since coming to America, that a lot of these rumours were manufactured by the Palace and the reporting that we did suggests that probably isn't true and there is still this undercurrent of fear.'
Buckingham Palace launched its own investigation after the bullying allegations were made public but refused to reveal the findings.
Insiders have previously told the Mail that former employees who may have evidence to support the claims she bullied several female staff when she was living in the UK as a working royal were never even spoken to.
The Mail also revealed that former staff had dubbed themselves the 'Sussex Survivors Club' and some were suffering from the equivalent of post-traumatic stress disorder.
An iconic casino known for its ghost stories, $1.99 breakfast and multitude of slot poker machines is officially in foreclosure after 78 years and closing its doors for the last time.
Tahoe Biltmore Lodge and Casino in Crystal Bay, Nevada, is expected to sell at a public auction - and the highest bidder will claim the once loved historic hotel as their own, according to SFGate.
The property will be sold 'as-is'.
Tahoe Biltmore is a landmark of the idyllic Crystal Bay community - standing right near the California-Nevada state line on Lake Tahoe's north shore.
Despite not being the most 'glamourous' casino, the property was loved by locals and others who wished to catch a little glimpse of Lake Tahoe.
Tahoe Biltmore Lodge and Casino, in Crystal Bay, Nevada, is officially in foreclosure after 78 years and is closing its doors for the last time
The once lively casino and hotel is survived by only darkness - chain fences and shattered windows riddling the property
Chain link fences, plywood boards on the doors and shattered windows are now all that remain from the once lively property.
The looming sign for the hotel on Highway 28 hangs as a silent reminder for passerby's that its abandonment has been a long time coming.
Its doors have been closed since 2022 - remaining as an open casket for those who regularly stopped in.
Lake Tahoe Casino and Lodge said that it'd remain open until the end of April 2022 for a 'last hurrah'.
But in the middle of April, those visiting to pay homage to the final days of the legendary institution were surprised at the total disrepair and emptiness - despite demolition beginning May 1.
The property is expected to sell at a public auction - where the highest bidder will claim the hotel as their own
The property borders on the California-Nevada state line and lies in Crystal Bay, Nevada, on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe
Once home of the $1.99 breakfast where late-night partiers filled the booths to enjoy breakfast dishes all through the night, Cafe Biltmore was completely shuttered even before its final viewing date.
The bar area was empty - not a bartender in sight.
Blackjack, roulette and craps tables that enthralled visitors for hours were already gone.
A security guard still in a button-down shirt with a Biltmore logo seemed to be the only evidence of human life.
But the property has been riddled with real estate and development problems for decades in counting, SFGate added.
Tahoe Biltmore was once home to the legendary $1.99 breakfast that was even served throughout the night for late-night party-goers and gamblers to enjoy
Halloween parties and live music events were a daily occurrence for the hotel
Roger Wittenberg, inventor of the composite deck material Trex, purchased the property in 2007 for $28.4 million with promises to redevelop the hotel under an entirely new project called Boulder Bay - a 300-room hotel.
The permit to redevelop the property was approved in 2011 and still stands today, but the property owner must be able to show that progress is being made on the intended project.
But a year after the permit was approved - which was in the height of the nation's financial crisis - Wittenberg ran into financial troubles and sought help from a San Francisco developer.
'The timing just wasn't right, economically,' said Boulder Bay President and Wittenberg's daughter in 2017 of the projects stall, SFGate reported. 'And at the end of the day, that would have hurt the community.'
EKN Development Group, a Nevada LLC, then purchased the property for $56.8 million in 2021.
The fate of the once-loved hotel by locals and visitors has an unclear fate after ownership and projects changed and fell through over the years
Roger Wittenberg, inventor of the composite deck material Trex, purchased the property in 2007 during the height of the nation's financial crisis and ran out of money for upcoming projects
The property was expected to be redeveloped into a Waldorf Astoria - upscale and luxury hotels that reside in the world's top destinations.
But the property owner, Newport Beach-based EKN Development, failed to fulfill on its loan last spring.
In July of this year, a notice of trustee's sale - a recorded document that gives notice of the date, time and location of an upcoming public auction of property facing foreclosure - was filed.
The document stated that the property was in default and would be up for auction publicly.
More than $110 million is the remaining principal on the loan, interest, fees, charges and expenses.
The Tahoe Biltmore said that it would remain open until April 2022 for a last 'hoorah', but locals visiting to pay homage in its final days were surprised when everything was already gone
The hotel and casino was filled with more than 200 slot poker machines as well as tables for blackjack, roulette and craps
The document also states nine parcels in Crystal Bay that surround the entire Tahoe Biltmore Lodge and Casino property which will be sold 'as-is' during the auction.
The date for the auction was originally scheduled for August, but due to attempts to restructure the existing loan, the date has been postponed to October 8, SFGate added.
A week after the initial auction date was listed in August, EKN Development posted a video to Instagram which showed a construction crew demolishing the Tahoe Biltmore site.
Ebbie Nakhjavani, the president and CEO of EKN Development, a Nevada LLC, said in the caption: 'We are incredibly excited to continue this extraordinary project as we lay the groundwork for its next phase', SFGate added.
And on Tuesday, a statement said that EKN is working diligently to restructure the pre-existing loan and plans to complete the process in the next three to four months.
The Tahoe Baltimore was a historic casino and hotel that opened its doors in 1946 as a rival to Cal Neva, a hotel and casino right across the street who also met its demise in 2009
The flying-saucer design that used to light up and catch the attention of passersby on Highway 28 is left dark and rotting
'In the meantime, EKN is continuing to invest in the project and construction activities are continuing at the site,' Nakhjavani said.
Yet public records show Nakhjavani is not a stranger to financial troubles.
In 2014, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy alongside EKN Development Group who was also listed in the filing.
And the fate of the iconic property still remains up in the air.
The Tahoe Baltimore was a historic casino and hotel that opened its doors in 1946.
In more recent years, the hotel was known as the home of its familiar ghost - Mary - where people would come to experience her 'haunted presence' for themselves.
The corridors used to be filled with people making their way to gamble or to attend events hosted by the hotel such as Halloween parties and live music performances.
But since the pandemic hit, locals of the area feel as though the changes happening around Tahoe have been increasingly pronounced - and they're skeptical if any of the changes favor those who live there.
'You don't have to do much but look around to see how bad it is,' Mike Tuhey, a Tahoe native, told SFGate.
'You can't have only second, third and fourth homeowners mixed with people who are working remote. There's no housing; there's no opportunities. There's nothing to afford.'
Despite the hotel not being known for its 'glitz and glamour', its history is filled with stories - including the famous ghost, Mary, who is said to live in the hotel
The property serves as an empty grave to locals and residents who became regulars of the casino throughout the last 78 years of being open
'It's hard as hell to live up here, to stay here,' Tuhey added. 'They need to do something for people besides put more condos up. That's not an answer.'
The original owner and builder of the property, Joseph Blumenfeld, wanted to create an alternative to the gambling hotel and casino that resided right across the street, Cal Neva.
But in a similar fate, Cal Neva's owners foreclosed and the property went into auction in 2009.
No bids were ever received, and the property sat empty for five full years.
In 2018, billionaire, Larry Ellison, purchased the property for $35.8 million, but sold it for an undisclosed price to a Denver-based real estate and development firm in 2023.
After years of vacancy, Cal Neva finally has a shimmer of hope for a future.
But as for now, Tahoe Biltmore's future remains unclear.
California police are searching for a missing teenage girl who may be with a 41-year-old man.
Adriana Sarah Gonzalez-Rugama, 14, who went missing on September 7, was last seen in Wilmington, California on the 1300 block of Figueroa Place, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Adriana Sarah Gonzalez-Rugama, 14, went missing on September 7
The teen was reported missing earlier this month after her mother noticed she packed a bag of her belongings and left their home.
Gonzalez-Rugama is believed to be in either Los Angeles or Dallas, Texas with the man, police said.
The teen was reported missing earlier this month after her mother noticed she packed a bag of her belongings and left their home
Gonzalez-Rugama is described as 5-foot-1- and about 136 pounds. She has brown hair and eyes, but her hair might be dyed red.
She was last seen in a pink shirt, blue jeans and white shoes.
Data from the California Department of Justice revealed that Los Angeles County has more missing children than any other county in the state. In 2023, they counted 13,484 missing children.
Gonzalez-Rugama was last seen on the 1300 block of Figueroa Place in Wilmington, California
Orange County had the second highest rate of missing children, with 6,586.
The LAPD told DailyMail.com that there have been no updates on the case since the initial statement on September 13.
A former TikTok star famous for his Scarface impressions posted an apology on social media for murdering his wife before heading to jail to serve two consecutive life sentences.
Ali Abulaban, 32, was handed down two consecutive life sentences without parole earlier this month for the first-degree murders of Ana Abulaban, 28, and her friend, Rayburn Barron, 29, plus 50 more years in prison for gun enhancement charges.
He broke down in tears when the jury returned a guilty verdict in May, after a trial in which he never denied killing the two while they were snuggled up on the couch in Ana's San Diego home in 2021.
Before starting his sentence, the content creator known as JinnKid shared a groveling apology on Instagram accepting his punishment.
'I would like to share a few words with you all before I leave for prison in the morning. Regardless of how you all may feel about me, my content or this heartbreaking tragedy - the bottom line is that I have done something terrible,' Abulaban said in a statement.
Former TikTok star Ali Abulaban, 32, posted a social media apology for murdering his wife before heading to jail
Abulaban was given two consecutive life sentences without parole for the first-degree murders of Ana Abulaban (pictured), 28, and her friend, Rayburn Barron, 29,
'Due to my irresponsible behavior and lack of self-control, two innocent lives were taken and I am a fault.'
'I had my opportunity to speak during trial and have fully explained my honest intentions were on that terrible day. Non the less [sic], I was found guilty and now I must face the music and walk this path ahead of me.'
The statement added: 'I am so very sorry for my actions and I am ashamed at how pathetic and selfish I had been.'
Abulaban also took time to to thank his fans.
'Thank you for the years of laughter, the thrill of going viral and all the cherished memories,' his statement said.
Abulaban, who has a history of domestic violence, was allegedly kicked out of the his and Ana's apartment at a luxury San Diego complex.
During his lengthy period on the stand in the case, Abulaban admitted to punching and pushing his wife on various occasions - but claimed that he would have never done so before the family moved from Virginia to San Diego in early 2021.
Barron (pictured) was snuggled up with Ana the couch in her San Diego home in 2021 when Abulaban shot them both
Before starting his sentence, the content creator known as JinnKid shared a groveling apology on Instagram accepting his punishment
Abulaban said the pair began arguing frequently about alleged infidelity on both sides. He recalled a particular fight in July 2021 in which Ana claimed she had slept with one of his friends.
High on cocaine at the time, Abulaban said the remark 'shook me and I snapped.' He then punched her three times in the face.
The convicted murderer testified in court that he was using cocaine to cope with his emotional struggles, but that the drugs were making him violent and aggressive
He believed his wife was cheating on him with Barron. San Diego Deputy District Attorney Taren Brast saying the couple had already been separated 'for quite some time' before that.
After Ana told him to move out, prosecutors said he secretly made a copy of the apartment key so he could install a listening device on his five-year-old daughter's tablet.
From there, prosecutors said he snapped when he heard his estranged wife and another man talking.
Abulaban has a history of domestic violence and admitted he 'snapped' when she bragged about sleeping with someone else
Abulaban sobbed in court when the jury returned a guilty verdict in May following a trial where he never died killing them
Brast said Abulaban shot Barron three times at close range - in the neck, cheek and back of the head - before he turned the gun on his wife, shooting her once in the forehead.
He then called his mother to confess, while also telling his daughter he 'hurt mommy.'
Ana used to appear with some regularity in Abulaban's comedy videos on TikTok, where his now-deleted account once had more than 980,000 followers.
A romance fraudster swindled a woman out of 128,000 by claiming to be an army officer working in 'covert operations' in Mali.
Maxwell Rusey, 53, of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, convinced his victim to send money to accounts belonging to his colleagues, saying he needed it to get a consignment of gold into the UK.
However, after realising that she could be a victim of fraud, she contacted the police who found that the bank accounts she was sending money to was linked to the conman.
Rusey later admitted fraud and money laundering offences following an investigation and has now been jailed for five years.
Woolwich Crown Court heard his victim had joined a website to meet new people. She was then contacted by a man who claimed to be an army officer involved in 'covert operations' in West Africa.
A fraud victim agreed to send 128,500 in 16 separate transactions between 2022 and 2023 to accounts Maxwell Rusey said belonged to his colleague. He has now been jailed for five years
After further messages, Rusey told his victim he wanted to live with her when he returned to the UK.
He said he had a valuable 'consignment of gold' which he needed to import, and asked if his victim could help a friend of his pay the relevant duties and taxes.
The woman agreed and sent 128,500 in 16 separate transactions between 2022 and 2023 to accounts Rusey said belonged to his colleague.
However, after telling police in May 2023 that she believed she'd been defrauded, detectives found the accounts had been set up by Rusey himself.
He was arrested in March 2024 and later charged with fraud and money laundering offences after a fake passport used to set up one of the accounts was found in his possession.
Detective Constable Mark Newman, of Kent Police, said he hopes the lengthy jail sentence will put off other would-be romance fraudsters.
'Romance fraud is a particularly cruel offence which causes serious emotional harm for victims, as well as the financial impact it entails,' he said.
'Many victims struggle to report offences due to the level of deception used by fraudsters and I would like to praise the victim in this case for coming forward and supporting this prosecution.
'I am pleased that the court has recognised the seriousness of the offence in the sentence handed down and I hope it sends a message to other offenders that jail awaits them.'
The Biden-Harris administration is facing a two-pronged investigation from Republicans in Congress after the Ukrainian president was flown on taxpayer-funded 'campaign' flights.
The outrage from the GOP comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky toured a munitions factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on a pro-Kamala Harris campaign stop after flying on the U.S. taxpayer dime.
During the visit, the European leader made comments Republicans say were derogatory against Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance.
Zelensky reportedly called Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, Trump's running mate and a frequent critic of the U.S.'s involvement in the Ukraine-Russia war, 'too radical.'
He was photographed with Gov. Josh Shapiro, a top Harris surrogate, as he signed 155mm artillery shells that will be flown to Ukraine as it fights Russia.
This handout photograph taken by the Ukrainian Presidential press service on September 22, 2024, shows the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky arriving for his visit at Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, September 22, 2024.
The Keystone State is widely seen as a must-win bellwether in the closely-contested presidential election and essentially every route to victory winds through it.
To determine whether the taxpayer-funded trip was a campaign event, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., sent letters Wednesday to two top Cabinet officials demanding information, writing the incident could amount to election interference.
The letters, sent to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Attorney General Merrick Garland, call into question the U.S. funding involved in facilitating the trip for Zelensky.
Specifically, the memo to Austin notes how Zelensky flew on a taxpayer-funded U.S. military aircraft.
'The Committee seeks to understand the circumstances that ledand any facts that could justifythe Biden-Harris Administration to transport President Zelensky on a Department of the Air Force aircraft to Pennsylvania to introduce government officials to President Zelensky about the Russia-Ukraine war,' Comer wrote to Austin.
'Because resources from the Department of the Air Force were used in this apparent campaign event that resulted in the potential interference of a federal election, the Committee seeks information from the Department of Defense.'
The Kentucky Republican's letter to Garland, meanwhile, focused more on the Justice Department's commitment to root out election interference.
Zelensky is photographed departing a U.S. Air Force aircraft before heading to the ammunition plant where he posed with top Democrats
Here Zelensky is seen speaking to a crowd while Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who is in a tight reelection race, stand behind him
Zelensky smiles as he signs a 155mm artillery shell which likely could be destined for the battlefields in his country where hundreds of thousands of life-altering and life-ending casualties have occurred. Shapiro (3R) and Casey (4R) can be seen in blue suits
'Because the Department of Justice (DOJ), at your direction, is highly focused on combatting foreign election interference, the Committee requests DOJ review the Biden-Harris Administration's coordination with the Ukrainian government regarding President Zelensky's itinerary while in America,' Comer wrote.
'You recently stated DOJ 'will be relentlessly aggressive in countering and disrupting attempts by Russia and Iranas well as China or any other foreign malign actorto interfere in our elections and undermine our democracy.'
'The Committee believes no foreign actorwhether or not deemed 'malign' by DOJshould be permitted to interfere in American elections.'
Also mentioned in the letter are 'critical' comments made by the Ukrainian president on the trip that were reported by The New Yorker.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer sent the letters to Austin and Garland
Austin was asked about the military's role in flying Zelensky around and Garland was asked about whether the Justice Department will investigate the alleged infraction
After Zelensky called Vance 'too radical' he also reportedly said that he did not believe Trump would be able to muster up a solution to end the country's war.
Trump has frequently campaigned on his ability to broker a resolution in the conflict, and Zelensky's suggestion that the former president would be incapable of such a feat did not sit well with the GOP.
'This rhetoric coming from a foreign leader released in anticipation of a U.S.-taxpayer-funded visit about the current Administrations political opponent is highly concerning.'
'The Committee is investigating any coordination or communication among the Biden-Harris Administration, Pennsylvanias Office of the Governor, and President Zelensky for use or solicitation of use of government property to politically benefit Vice President Harriss presidential campaign,' the letters said.
Zelensky and Shapiro shake hands. Shapiro was considered to be a top contender for Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate for president before she chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz
Comer also included a reference to another scandal Zelensky was previously embroiled in that impacted a U.S. election.
'In 2019, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives impeached President Donald J. Trump for abuse of power under the theory that he attempted to use a foreign leader Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyto benefit his 2020 presidential campaign, despite a lack of any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of President Trump.'
'The Committee seeks to determine whether the Biden-Harris Administration attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice President Harriss presidential campaign and, if so, necessarily committed an abuse of power,' Comer said.
Speaker Mike Johnson was so upset by the trip with Zelensky that he wrote the Ukrainian president a letter demanding he fire the country's ambassador to the U.S.
'I demand that you immediately fire Ukraines Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova,' Johnson wrote.
'As you have said, Ukrainians have tried to avoid being 'captured by American domestic politics,' and 'influencing the choices of the American people' ahead of the November election. Clearly that objective was abandoned this week when Ambassador Markarova organized an event in which you toured an American manufacturing site.'
Comer gave both the Cabinet officials until October 2 to turnover materials related to Zelensky's travel.
California schools will be required to restrict students' smartphone usage under a new law amid growing concern over social media and children's mental health.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law on Monday a bill that requires schools to limit or ban the use of smartphones, in an effort to minimize distractions in the classroom and 'help students focus on academics and social development'.
Districts are required to pass rules by July 1, 2026, to limit or ban students from using smartphones on campus. But critics of the phone restriction policy allege the burden should not fall on teachers to enforce them.
Others worry the rules will make it harder for students to seek help if there is an emergency or argue that decisions on phone bans should be left up to individual districts or schools.
The legislation makes California the latest state to try to curb student phone access. Florida, Louisiana, Indiana and several other states have passed laws aimed at restricting student phone use at school.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law on Monday a bill that requires schools to limit or ban the use of smartphones, in an effort to minimize distractions in the classroom and 'help students focus on academics, social development' (stock photo)
California's bill, which passed 76-0 in the state assembly and 38-1 in the senate, requires school boards or other governing bodies to develop a policy to limit or prohibit student use of smartphones on campus by summer 2026.
'We know that excessive smartphone use increases anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues - but we have the power to intervene,' Newsom said in a statement.
'This new law will help students focus on academics, social development, and the world in front of them, not their screens, when they're in school.'
Districts are required to pass rules by July 1, 2026, to limit or ban students from using smartphones on campus or while students are under the supervision of school staff. They will then have to update their policies every five years after that.
Troy Flint, a spokesperson for the California School Boards Association, has expressed criticism of the new policy.
'We support those districts that have already acted independently to implement restrictions because, after a review of the needs of their stakeholders, they determined that made the most sense for their communities with regards to safety, school culture and academic achievement,' he said.
Flint added: 'We simply oppose the mandate.'
'We know that excessive smartphone use increases anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues - but we have the power to intervene,' Newsom (pictured on September 19, 2024) said in a statement Monday
The move comes after Newsom signed a law in 2019 authorizing school districts to restrict student phone access.
In June, he announced plans to take on the issue again after the US surgeon general called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms and their effects on young people.
The governor then sent letters to districts last month, urging them to limit student device use on campus.
That came on a day that the board for the second-largest school district in the country, Los Angeles Unified, voted to ban student phone use during the school day beginning in January.
Assemblymember Josh Hoover, a Republican representing Folsom, introduced the bill with a bipartisan group of lawmakers who are also parents.
Phones are restricted where Hoover's children - ages 15, 12 and 10 - attend school. Many of the students don't always like the policy, which is in part a reflection of how addictive phones can be, he said.
'Anytime you're talking about interrupting that addiction, it's certainly going to be hard for students sometimes,' Hoover said.
'But I think overall they understand why it's important, why it helps them focus better on their classes and why it actually helps them have better social interaction with their peers face to face when they're at school.'
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in June (pictured) called for a warning label on social media platforms, akin to those on cigarette packages, likening the problem to a mental health emergency
Some parents have raised concerns that school cellphone bans could cut them off from their children if there is an emergency. Those fears were highlighted after a shooting at a Georgia high school left four dead and nine injured this month.
The 2019 law authorizing districts to restrict student phone access makes exceptions for emergencies, and the new law doesn't change that.
Some proponents of school phone restrictions say it's better to have phones off in an active shooter situation, so that they don't ring and reveal a student's location.
Teachers have reported seeing students more engaged since the Santa Barbara Unified School District began fully implementing a ban on student phone use in class during the 2023-24 school year, Assistant Superintendent ShaKenya Edison said.
Nick Melvoin, a Los Angeles Unified board member who introduced the district's resolution, said passing the policies at the district or state level can help prevent students from feeling like they're missing out on what's going on on social media.
Before student cellphone use was banned during the school day at Sutter Middle School in Folsom, pupils had been seen recording fights, filming TikTok challenges and spending lunchtime looking at online content, Principal Tarik McFall said.
The rule has 'totally changed the culture' of the school so that students spend more time talking to one another, he said.
'To have them put away, to have them power off and that be a practice, it has been a great thing,' McFall said.
Teachers have become more reliant in recent years on technology as a learning tool for students, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, one critic has alleged (stock photo)
Teachers have become more reliant in recent years on technology as a learning tool for students, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, said Mara Harvey, a social studies teacher at Discovery High School in the Natomas Unified School District.
The district, which is in Sacramento, provides students in the first through 12th grades with a Chromebook, where they can access online textbooks and Google Classroom, a platform where teachers share class materials.
But if a student forgets their Chromebook at home, their smartphone becomes 'the next viable choice for them to access the curriculum,' Harvey said.
American fast-food chain Chick-fil-A is bringing its iconic chicken sandwiches and waffle fries to the UK.
Although not many Brits have heard of the chain, the 55-year-old family-owned business runs more than 2,800 restaurants across the US, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Truett Cathy founded and opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in 1967 in Atlanta's Greenbriar Mall.
Set to gain five new stores across London, Liverpool, Belfast and Leeds over the next two years, it will not be the first time the chain has tried to make its mark on the UK.
The chicken shop opened a pop-up store in Reading, Berkshire, in 2019, but closed after the initial pilot period when the lease on the site was not extended.
Reading Pride gay rights campaigners held a demonstration outside the shopping centre, calling for a boycott over the chain's history of giving money to groups it claimed were anti-LGBT rights.
The chicken chain is still significantly rooted in its founder's Christian beliefs.
Truett Cathy (pictured) founded and opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in 1967 in Atlanta's Greenbriar Mall
The first Chick-Fil-A restaurant located in Greenbriar Mall in Atlanta
American fast-food chain Chick-fil-A has revealed its first ever UK locations (File image)
The owners of the chain, the Cathy family, have in the past donated money to various charities, some of which have been associated with anti-LGBT beliefs.
The stores do not open on Sundays, in a tradition to honour a day of rest. This allows staff to worship and spend the day with family.
Now, the chicken sandwich chain plans to open five restaurants across London, Liverpool, Belfast and Leeds over the next two years.
It already has more than 3,000 restaurants across the US, Puerto Rico and Canada, with the new UK branches marking the first locations outside of North America.
The brand will donate 25,000 to a local non-profit organisation in celebration of each new UK restaurant opening.
Anita Costello, Chief International Officer at Chick-fil-A, said: 'Serving communities is at the heart of everything we do, and we look forward to bringing Chick-fil-A's delicious food and signature hospitality to Belfast, Leeds, Liverpool and London, and continuing our long-term investment in the UK.'
A Chick fil chicken burger next to glass of coke from the store
The chain is known for its chicken sandwiches and waffle fries (pictured)
The chicken sandwich chain plans to open five restaurants across London, Liverpool, Belfast and Leeds over the next two years. Pictured: The restaurant in LA
The majority of Chick-fil-A restaurants will be owned by local, independent Owner-Operators - small business owners.
Each local Owner-Operator will be responsible for daily activities of the business including hiring and developing their Team Members, connecting with guests, and cultivating relationships with local organisations and businesses.
Joanna Symonds, Head of UK Operations, said: 'We've always cared about the impact of our restaurants on the local communities that we serve, and we strive to positively impact areas throughout the UK.'
A mother-of-five has become the first person to die from a Brazilian Bum Lift procedure in the UK.
Alice Webb, 33, passed away on Monday just hours after having the surgery, which is believed to have been performed in the West Country.
Gloucestershire Police confirmed it is investigating the death and has arrested two people on suspicion of manslaughter.
The practitioner alleged to have carried out the surgery whose identity MailOnline knows is one of those who has been arrested.
Alice was an advanced aesthetic practitioner at Crystal Clear in Wotton-under-Edge, a market town in Gloucestershire.
A GoFundMe page set up by her pal Abigail Irwin revealed the tragedy. It said: 'I am hoping to raise as many funds as we can to support Dane, the partner of Alice and their five beautiful children at this very difficult sad time.
Alice Webb (pictured), 33, died on Monday just hours after having the procedure
Alice (pictured) was an advanced aesthetic practitioner at Crystal Clear in Wotton-under-Edge and is thought to have had the operation in the West Country
'Alice passed away Monday evening after having the BBL treatment which has gone wrong.
'Alice joined the beauty & Aesthetics industry two years ago and she has been smashing it, doing amazing.
'She cared about her clients, she would always check in to see if they were OK, Alice was a beautiful person inside and out and I feel very lucky to have known her and to have spent time with her in our salon.
'Alice would ask for advice all the time and ask to check if there was anything more she could do to improve her skills but she was just a pure natural and never needed my help but always wanting to be the best at her job and that she was.
'Alice has passed away at a young age of 33. Alice was beautiful inside and out with the biggest heart, her family was her world she is leaving behind her partner Dane & 5 beautiful children.
'Delsie 15, Preete 13, Gracie 12, Nylie 10, Clarie 7 as you can imagine this is a very difficult heart breaking time for them all so if we can all help donate or share to help take of some financial stress it would be really appreciated by the family.'
By late Wednesday the fund stood at 740 of a 3,000 target.
Alice's death was also confirmed by campaign group Save Face.
Director Ashton Collins told MailOnline: 'We are aware of this sad incident and are offering our support to her family.
'This is a very tragic time for them and we warned the Government nine months ago that deaths were likely unless there was intervention.
'We get hundreds of complaints from people and more needs to be done to investigate these procedures and there have been deaths from sepsis as a result.
'I understand that the surgeon involved has been arrested and is being questioned by police.'
A GoFundMe has been set up and a tribute said: 'Alice was a beautiful person inside and out.'
According to a report from Save Face published in July there has been an 'alarming increase in the number of patient reported complaints relating to non-surgical breast augmentation and BBLs'.
The report said that more than half have resulted in severe and life-threatening complications, including sepsis, abscesses and infections.
Save Face's investigation tragically concluded by saying: 'This is a crisis waiting to happen. Without urgent intervention, we fear it will only be a matter of time until there are fatalities.
'We are calling upon the Government to take immediate action to ban these procedures to ensure public safety.'
In a statement, Gloucestershire police said: 'Police had been called by the ambulance service at around 11.35pm on Monday (23 September) with a report a woman had become unwell following a suspected cosmetic procedure.
'She was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and died in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
'Her next of kin and the coroner are aware.
'The woman's family are being supported by specially trained officers.
'An investigation, led by the Major Crime Investigation Team, is ongoing. The two people who had been arrested have been released on police bail.'
Kaydell Brown, 38, (pictured) is one of several Brits who have died abroad following BBL surgery. She died last month having paid 5,400 for a 'mummy MOT' in Turkey
Kaydell had hoped the surgery would get her life 'back on track' after she put on weight due to breaking her ankle, according to her sister
Several British women have died overseas following BBL surgery in the last few years as the procedure is usually cheaper and popular destinations include Turkey, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Last month, Kaydell Brown, 38, of Sheffield, died after having a BBL in Turkey that she hoped would change her life.
The mother of two paid 5,400 for a 'mummy MOT' - a package deal involving a Brazilian butt lift, a tummy tuck and a boob job. The cost in Britain would have been around 15,000.
The hairdresser underwent the procedures at Clinic Expert in Istanbul on the morning of March 26, 2024, but never came out.
Her heartbroken sister Leanne, 40, who was due to have the same surgery, slammed the Turkish clinic, branding it a 'pop-up butcher shop that needs shutting down'.
Demi Agoglia, 26, of Salford, Greater Manchester, died in January days after she also had BBL surgery in Turkey.
She became ill despite doctors initially declaring her surgery was successful.
The young woman was taken into intensive care but was tragically pronounced dead.
The mother reportedly flew to Turkey having already had dental work which was botched as well as another surgery.
Demi Agoglia, 26, of Salford, Greater Manchester, died in January just days after having a Brazilian bum-lift in Turkey
Her devastated brother Carl, 37, said Ms Agoglia's family and partner had tried to convince her not to go through with the bum-lift as they were concerned for her safety.
Fat is first harvested from the hips, lower back, abdomen, thighs and other areas via liposuction . Special equipment is used to prepare it for transfer before it is injected directly into the glutes at specific points, giving the buttocks a bigger, curvier appearance
Her devastated brother Carl, 37, said Ms Agoglia's family and partner had tried to convince her not to go through with the bum-lift as they were concerned for her safety.
The father-of-four said: 'It is tragic what happened. We are just in shock. She went to Istanbul to have it done.
'She had previously gone to have her teeth done. No one wanted her to go out and have it done but she is one of those people.
'Her partner is still out there and his dad has just flown out there to be with him.
'If anyone is thinking of flying to Turkey for an operation I would say don't do it! Even her boyfriend didn't want her to do it. But she is 26 and has her own mind. Her mum didn't want her to go out either.'
Last November the death of 31-year-old Melissa Kerr after BBL surgery prompted UK government officials to meet with their counterparts in Turkey to discuss the dangers of cosmetic tourism.
Ms Kerr was admitted to the Medicana Kadikoy Hospital in Istanbul in 2019 and died after the procedure to collect fat and inject it into her buttocks.
The procedure carries a death rate at 'least 10 times higher than many other cosmetic procedures'.
Melissa Kerr, 31, from Norfolk, was on holiday in Istanbul when she had a BBL procedure
She paid 3,200 for the surgery (Pictured is Ms Kerr and her partner Skye Birch)
Ms Kerr's medical cause of death was given as pulmonary thromboembolism and fat embolism, as a result of elective cosmetic surgery
Norfolk's senior coroner Jacqueline Lake said that Ms Kerr, of Denton, Norfolk, was only given 'limited information regarding the risks and mortality rate' associated with the operation.
The coroner wrote to the Department of Health and Social Care with her concerns following an inquest heard in September last year.
She wrote: 'I am concerned that patients travelling to Turkey for this procedure are not being made aware of the risks and the high mortality rate associated with this surgery.'
Ms Lake also raised concerns that there were 'no or limited controls with regard to such surgery taking place'.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition star Eduardo Xol has died at the age of 58.
Xol died on Friday - ten days after he was stabbed in his apartment in downtown Palm Springs, California, according to the Desert Sun.
The exterior designer was found with 'significant injuries consistent with an assault' on September 10 after he called 911 for help.
Xol reportedly told police he had been stabbed, but did not identify a suspect.
However, police charged Richard Joseph Gonzales, 34, with attempted murder over the stabbing, and officials now will ask for the charge to be upgraded to murder.
Extreme Makeover star Eduardo Xol has died at the age of 58
Police have Richard Joseph Gonzales, 34, with murder over the stabbing
Gonzales apparently called police the day Xol was found with stab wounds and claimed he had been the victim of an assault the previous night.
Investigators then determined he was a suspect in Xol's stabbing and he was arrested.
Xol joined the Extreme Makeover cast in its second season, which aired on ABC in 2007, and stayed on until season eight.
He also acted in several telenovelas earlier in his career in Mexico.
Former editor-in-chief of People en Espanol, Richard Perez-Feria, honored Xol on Instagram following news of his death.
'Its nearly incomprehensible that Im writing this post as a goodbye to someone who has been so present, so important in my life,' Perez-Feria wrote.
The interior designer was found with 'significant injuries consistent with an assault' on September 10 after he called 911 for help
'When I first learned that Eduardo Xol had passed, I went numb. It was impossible to process that information as it didnt square with my thousands of experiences with him.
'Please dont ask me how or why at this pointwhat matters most is who he was: A talented, beautiful, passionate friend, brother, son and partner... Sending healing love at this horrific time to his circle of friends and family who loved him so. Sadly, tomorrow isnt promised. Love each other. Rest in peace, Eduardo.'
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyer claims the rapper was found with so many bottles of baby oil in his home because the star likes to buy in bulk like any other American.
Marc Agnifilio was responding to claims by federal agents that they confiscated '1,000 bottles' of baby oil and lubricant from Combs' homes in Miami and Los Angeles, as part of a raid linked to a probe into his alleged sex trafficking empire.
'I don't think it was 1,000. I think it was a lot. I mean, there is a Costco right down the street. I think Americans buy in bulk, as we know,' Agnifilo told The New York Post.
'And you know these are consensual adults doing what consensual adults do, you know, we can't get so puritanical in this country to think that somehow sex is a bad thing because if it was there would be no more people.'
The attorney had been visiting Combs, 54, at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center where he is incarcerated pending trial.
Sean ' Diddy ' Combs' lawyer claims the rapper was found with so many bottles of baby oil in his home because the star likes to buy in bulk
Combs has been accused of arranging 'Freak Offs,' described as 'elaborate and produced sex performances' arranged and directed by Combs while he masturbated and often recorded them.
His indictment stated that some 'Freak Offs' would last for days, requiring Combs and victims to receive IV fluids to recover from the exertion and drug use.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Agnifilio said his client is feeling positive about his chances in court.
'He's just laser-focused, he's engaged, he's helpful, he's confident. We're going through our defense as we do every day and his spirits are relatively good.'
Combs' arrest came 10 months after allegations of sexual and other abuse against the music mogul, and an announcement from prosecutors that he was being investigated for sex trafficking.
Marc Agnifilio said the bottles likely came from Costco and disputed there were as many as 1,000
A picture from inside Diddy's Miami home shows how law enforcement agents conducted thorough searches
The allegations began with a lawsuit by Combs' ex Cassie Ventura which claimed she was beaten and raped by the star.
The suit was settled the day after it became public, but Combs has since been dogged by other claims.
The indictment against him also alleges he coerced and abused women for years while using blackmail and shocking acts of violence to keep his victims in line.
It refers obliquely to an attack on his former girlfriend, Cassie, that was captured on video.
Prosecutors wanted him jailed. His attorneys proposed that he be released on a $50 million bond to home detention with electronic monitoring. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky sided with the government.
Like many aging hip-hop figures, Bad Boy Records founder Combs had established a gentler public image.
The father of seven was a respected businessman whose annual Hamptons 'White Party' was once a must-have invitation for the jet-setting elite.
Combs was pictured hours before his arrest on a walk in midtown Manhattan with his son Christian Combs, 26, Monday
But prosecutors said he facilitated his crimes using the same companies, people and methods that vaulted him to power.
They said they would prove the charges with financial and travel records, electronic communications and videos of the 'Freak Offs.'
In March, authorities raided Combs' Los Angeles and Florida homes, seizing drugs, videos and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, prosecutors said.
They said agents also seized guns and ammunition, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers.
A conviction on every charge would require a mandatory 15 years in prison with the possibility of a life sentence.
Scottish police have said male rapists and sex offenders will not be officially recorded as female even if they self-identify as woman.
On Wednesday, Deputy Chief Constable Alan Spiers told Scottish politicians male sex offenders would always be categorised as men whilst in the system.
His letter to Holyrood's justice committee has caused some to accuse the force of 'institutional gaslighting' as it implied this had been its policy the entire time.
The recent move has been described as a 'major U-turn', as the police force previously released public statements saying suspects could self-identify as female.
In March, Police Scotland had said the gender identity of any individual in contact with the authorities would be based how an individual 'present[s]' or 'self-declare[s]'
Police Scotland have made a 'major U-turn' as they announce male prisoners will not be officially recorded as women regardless of how they self-identify (Pictured: Isla Bryson)
There was previously outcry in Scotland after Isla Bryson was convicted of raping two women whilst living under their previous name Adam Graham (Pictured)
Deputy Chief Constable Speirs said the policy came with certain exceptions, including if biological sex was 'pertinent to any investigation with which they are linked as a victim, witness or accused'.
However, an Edinburgh based policy analysis group - Murray Blackburn Mackenzie - noted several times the force protected gender self identification.
'This is a major U-turn by Police Scotland,' Lucy Hunter-Blackburn, a former senior civil servant who is part of MBM, told The Telegraph.
'We welcome that Police Scotland has at last recognised that allowing sex offenders to self-identify their sex is indefensible.
'It is, however, an extraordinary act of institutional gaslighting to pretend that this is not a significant policy change from their position over almost five years.'
Police Scotland said an incident of an individual being 'arrested and charged with rape' whilst being recorded as female has not happened, according to The Telegraph.
It was unclear whether this applied to individuals accused of sexual assault or those arrested for rape but not charged.
The sex offender was then sent to a male prison (Pictured) and Scottish jail policy was revised following the scandal
The controversy regarding the topic of gender identification in Scottish prisons arose with Isla Bryson, who was born a man.
Bryson was convicted of raping two women whilst living under their previous name Adam Graham.
Bryson had initially been placed in a women's prison in February 2023, despite having not legally changed sex, sparking out roar among the public.
Following the public outcry, the sex offender was then sent to a male prison.
The jail policy, which was inspired by Nicola Sturgeon's self-identification principles, was also revised following the scandal.
Russia is treating its own citizens as 'bits of meat to fling into the grinder' in Ukraine, Keir Starmer told the UN Security Council today.
The PM gave a damning assessment of Vladimir Putin's actions as he demanded an 'end' to the war.
He pointed the finger at Moscow for causing 'colossal human suffering' by launching an illegal invasion.
He said Russia, another permanent member of the Security Council, was behind the 'greatest violation' of the UN charter 'in a generation'.
'I wonder how Russia can show its face in this building,' he added.
Sir Keir said: 'Russia's invasion of Ukraine is illegal. It threatens global security. And it has caused colossal human suffering.
'Over 35,000 civilians have been killed or injured, six million forced to flee and almost 20,000 Ukrainian children forcefully deported. Kidnapped, to put it bluntly.'
Russia is treating its own citizens as 'bits of meat to fling into the grinder' in Ukraine, Keir Starmer told the UN Security Council today
The PM gave a damning assessment of Vladimir Putin 's actions as he demanded an 'end' to the war
Some 600,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded, Sir Keir said.
'The UN Charter which they sit here to uphold speaks of human dignity. Not treating your own citizens as bits of meat to fling into the grinder,' he added.
Sir Keir said 'there must be accountability' to show that 'aggression cannot pay'.
'Russia started this illegal war. It must end it and get out of Ukraine,' he said.
Ukraine's territorial integrity 'must be the basis of any just and lasting peace', he added.
Ahead of his Security Council speech, Sir Keir said Ukraine's desire to use western missiles to strike targets in Russia will not be the 'sole issue' in consideration of Volodymyr Zelensky's 'victory plan' for the war.
The US and UK have so far refused to give Kyiv permission to use the missiles they have supplied against targets in Russia, despite repeated pleas from Mr Zelensky.
The Ukrainian president has said that he is having to fight with his hands tied because he is unable to use the weapons to strike Russian airfields and military facilities which Mr Putin is using to launch deadly air raids, missiles and drones.
Sir Keir is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, the annual gathering of world leaders, where Mr Zelensky will present his plan for the next stage of the war to his allies.
The PM said: 'I do think it's going to take quite a bit of time at the UN General Assembly. And I think that's really important, because it's at a critical stage.
'Obviously, President Zelensky has a plan that he wants to walk through with all of us we knew that was going to happen.
'The support for Ukraine is resolute. We supply quite a lot of capability already under the last government; we've increased that under this government that's not a criticism of the last government and we will always listen very carefully to what Ukraine says it needs by way of capability.
Sir Keir pointed the finger at Putin for causing 'colossal human suffering' by launching an illegal invasion
Wreckage in Donetsk after a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city today
'I don't think that will be a discussion, I don't think the victory plan will be about a sole issue like long-range missiles, it will be about a strategic, overarching route for Ukraine to find a way through this and succeed against Russian aggression.'
Pressed on when a decision will be made about the use of UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles within Russia, Sir Keir said: 'We will have discussions about a whole range of issues, and we will listen carefully to what President Zelensky's got to say, and that's what's going to happen in the next few days.'
Elsewhere, during his remarks to the UN Security Council, Sir Keir also addressed the situation in Sudan as 'the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today'.
'The UK has doubled its aid for the victims of this war to almost 100 million. But much more help is needed. The world must step up,' he said.
Fatman Scoop's cause of death has been revealed a month after he collapsed on stage in front of fans and later passed away in hospital.
The rapper, real name Isaac Freeman III, died from heart disease aged 56, the Connecticut medical examiner's office determined.
Freeman suffered hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which led him to collapse while performing in Hamden, Connecticut on August 30.
Tributes poured in for the iconic club figure, with his family saying in a statement at the time of his death that he was a 'beacon on stage and in life.'
Fatman Scoop's cause of death has been revealed as heart disease, a month after he collapsed on stage in front of fans and later passed away in hospital
When Scoop suffered a medical emergency while performing, footage of the moment showed fans screaming as he disappeared from view behind a DJ deck.
Seconds before, the legendary hype man was rousing the crowd, shouting: 'Let's make some noise!'
In video taken from the crowd, the rapper then strutted toward the back of the stage and approached a DJ booth - shouting again: 'I said Hamden, make some noise!'
Then the hip-hop artist climbed the stairs to the DJ booth, however his breathing appeared to become labored as he panted into the microphone.
'If you came to party,' the rapper said, before taking a long pause. He then appeared to bend forward. 'Make some noise,' he added, his words slurred.
As soon as he finished speaking, he collapsed onto the ground, dropping the microphone.
Paramedics rushed to the stage as an eerie hush fell over the venue. One of Scoop's fellow performers again asked for the crowd to 'make some noise' - which was met with a far more muted response than moments earlier.
Footage from the audience captured the moment the adored rapper collapsed behind a DJ booth, which came seconds after he roused the crowd, shouting 'Let's make some noise!'
After Fatman Scoop was taken off stage by medics, fellow artists spoke to the crowd as they stood in stunned silence
Rapper Fatman Scoop has passed away aged 56 after suffering a medical emergency on stage
Hamden Mayor Lauren Garett said following the incident that Scoop was undergoing emergency care and asked fans to 'keep him in your thoughts and prayers.'
Born in New York City in 1971, Freeman made his name through collaborations with mega-stars including Missy Elliot and Mariah Carey in the early 2000s, and was known for his deep, roaring vocal presence.
His family led tributes in the wake of his death, saying in a statement that he was 'not just a world class performer - he was a father, brother, uncle and a friend.'
'Last night, the world lost a radiant soul, a beacon of light on the stage and in life,' the family said at the time. 'He was the laughter in our lives, a constant source of support, unwavering strength, and courage.'
The three-time Grammy Award winning artist's family described him as 'the undisputed voice of the club', and said his 'music made us dance and embrace life with positivity.'
The UK's Reminisce Festival - where he was set to perform on September 7 - shared that his 'absence will be profoundly felt by everyone.'
'He was not just one of our most popular performers, he was a cherished member of the Reminisce family,' the festival said.
The artist's family paid a touching tribute as they announced his death, saying he was 'the laughter in our lives' as they branded him as 'the undisputed voice of the club'
Fatman Scoop pictured with his ex-wife Shanda Freeman in 2008
Missy Elliot shared a touching tribute Saturday to X, sending her prayers to his 'family for STRENGTH during this difficult time.'
'Fatman Scoop VOICE & energy have contributed to MANY songs that made the people feel HAPPY & want to dance for over 2 decades. Your IMPACT will NEVER be forgotten,' she wrote.
Artists Lil' John and Timbaland also waded in with tributes, recalling their time together as rising hip-hop artists.
Taking to the comments section of Freeman's family post, Lil Jon wrote: 'REST WELL BROTHER.'
Scoops' frequent collaborators Timbaland and Fat Joe both appeared lost for words and posted a string of emojis - with the rapper's ex-wife Shanda Freeman also sharing two heartbreak emojis for a tribute post to her Instagram
Dj Questlove wrote: 'Thank you Scoop!'.
Freeman's touring agency MN2S added in a statement, 'Scoop was a beloved figure in the music world, whose work was loved by countless fans across the globe. His iconic voice, infectious energy, and great personality made an indelible mark on the industry, and his legacy will live on through his timeless music.'
Vice President Kamala Harris once backed a San Francisco ballot proposition to ban handguns, despite now celebrating her ownership of a gun and her promise to shoot someone if they intruded into her home.
Harris endorsed the 2005 Proposition H that would ban possession of handguns within city limits by San Francisco residents unless they were active law enforcement or military personnel.
It also imposed a ban on the manufacture, distribution, sale and transfer of firearms and ammunition within the city.
The proposition passed that year with a 58 percent majority supporting it.
The measure was expected to take effect in January 2006, with residents ordered to turn in their handguns by April 1, 2006 or face mandatory jail time.
A San Francisco District Attorney, Kamala Harris supported a proposition that would ban the ownership of handguns
The enforcement of the proposal was delayed after the National Rifle Association challenged the law in the courts.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge James Warren struck down the measure in June 2006, and subsequent appeals from the city of San Francisco were rejected by higher courts.
Despite a long record of supporting a number of gun control proposals, including a mandatory gun buyback program for assault rifles, Harris has tried to moderate her positions now that she is running for president.
Harris revealed in 2019 that she owned a handgun, but has not revealed the make or model.
Harris reminded voters she was a gun owner during the presidential debate with former President Donald Trump, promising she would not take away anyone's guns.
'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 debate with Donald Trump.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris joins Oprah Winfrey at Oprah's Unite for America Live
Harris also emphasized her gun ownership and her willingness to use it during a political forum with Oprah Winfrey.
'If somebody breaks into my house, they're getting shot,' she said laughing.
Harris also spoke about guns in a 2015 interview with journalist Mike Allen who asked her if she had ever shot a gun.
In response, Harris laughed and refused to say when was the last time she had done so.
'I'm a good marksman,' she added, laughing. 'Yes, I have shot a gun many, many times.'
Do YOU know the inmates mistakenly released?
Dozens of prisoners were incorrectly freed under Sir Keir Starmer's early release scheme after a system error, authorities have admitted.
Sources from the Ministry of Justice said 37 inmates, all jailed for breaching restraining orders, were mistakenly freed - with five yet to be put back behind bars.
An 'urgent' police operation is currently underway to return the missing prisoners and all victims have been contacted, the government department added.
Stalkers and domestic abusers were among those accidentally released.
It comes as the Labour government launched an emergency early prisoner release scheme to free up space in UK jails.
Do YOU know the inmates mistakenly released? Email: olivia.christie@mailonline.co.uk
An inmate leaving HMP Liverpool on September 10 under the scheme (file picture)
Whilst the 37 criminals had been excluded from the scheme, they were mistakenly let out as their offences had been logged under outdated legislation.
This is because people who breached restraining orders used to be charged and sentenced under the Protection for Harassment Act 1997.
However, this was later replaced by the Sentencing Act, meaning that some prison records were incorrect.
The criminals were therefore not flagged as being ineligible for the early release scheme.
Abigail Ampofo, interim chief executive of Refuge, told the Mirror: 'This is already an incredibly worrying time for survivors, and the continued failings of the justice system to prevent the release of domestic abuse perpetrators under this scheme are truly disappointing.
'We are all too aware of the grave repercussions that occur when the criminal justice system fails to recognise the real risk abusers pose to survivors' safety, and we urge the Government to take greater precautions in ensuring that no more offenders who have breached restraining orders are released. '
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'Public safety is our first priority.
'That is why we took decisive action to fix the broken prison system we inherited and keep the most dangerous offenders locked up. This included blocking the early release of domestic abuse offences such as stalking and controlling behaviour.
'We are working with the police to urgently return a very small number of offenders - who were charged incorrectly and sentenced under repealed legislation - to custody.
'The convictions remain valid with offenders monitored since their release and will soon be back behind bars.'
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman said: 'Clearly public safety is always the Government's first priority.
'When the Government came into office we were facing a paralysis of the criminal justice system and the Government had to take action.
'There were exemptions and safeguards put in place in relation to blocking the earlier release of offenders.
People spray a man with sparkling wine after he walked out of HMP Nottingham on September 10 (file photo)
'We're working with the police urgently to return the people that you refer to who were sentenced using outdated legislation. They've all been monitored since their release so they will be brought back into prison.'
Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Josh Babarinde described the mistake as 'deeply shocking news' and called on the Government to develop a 'plan to reduce reoffending and tackle the prison backlog without delay'.
He said: 'The public deserves immediate action so that all those who were mistakenly released from prison are swiftly returned, and to prevent this from happening again.
'The Conservatives have neglected our criminal justice system, and now the chaos of their actions is showing.'
More than 5,000 prisoners are to be set loose over the next six weeks, with everyone eligible for release apart from violent criminals jailed for more than four years.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the plans back in July, saying that overcrowding had pushed jails to the 'point of collapse'.
Downing Street said the policy had to be brought in to avoid 'unchecked criminality' where the police and courts are unable to lock anyone up.
The policy does not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse or some violent offences.
But campaigners and charities have warned that the scheme may come at the expense of women and children's safety, while others raised concerns that it would push probation services to breaking point.
Prisoners previously reacted jubilantly to the early release scheme with one saying it had converted him into a 'lifelong Labour voter'.
When asked how it felt to be free, Djaber Benallaoua, 20, a convicted drug dealer, said: 'I thank Labour.
'Because I've come out five or six months early than I was supposed to so I'm just happy.'
Benallaoua was originally handed a two-and-a-half-year sentence but was let out six months earlier than planned.
He went on: 'It's a very good policy because it's given a lot of prisoners a lot of hope.
'When prisoners found out they'd be released early they were very positive.'
And asked about his future plans, he said: 'I'm just elated right now. I'm gonna get lit.'
Another inmate thanked Sir Keir for policy, saying it was a 'smart decision'.
Daniel Rutuls, 19, was the 15th person to walk free from HMP Isis earlier this month as he was released four weeks early after spending almost a year-and-a-half inside.
He was originally given a three-year sentence for aggravated burglary.
The teenager, from Harlesden in North London, said: 'I'm really happy to be out. It's only a month early but it's still worth it.
'The reaction was very positive when we found out we would be released. Being in there is long.'
Asked if he had a message for the Prime Minister, he joked: 'Thank you, and it's a smart decision, because now you've got more space.'
And he said he would '100 per cent' vote Labour now.
A defenseless dog was spotted being struck and abused by a heartless woman in Hawaii.
The Honolulu Police Department is searching for the unidentified suspect, who was caught on camera hitting the dog repeatedly with her hand and pulling it off the ground by its neck.
The woman, who was wearing a white top and pink pants, is seen violently dangling the poor pooch in the air before striking it several times.
An unidentified woman was caught abusing a dog on video
The abuse occurred just before 8am in on Upai Street in the Waipahu area on September 17, Hawaii News Now reported.
The suspect is wanted for cruelty to an animal in the second degree.
Police and the Hawaiian Humane Society are asking for the public's help to identify the woman.
DailMail.com has reached out to the Honolulu Police Department for more information.
The suspect is wanted for cruelty to an animal in the second degree
The woman, who was wearing a white top and pink pants, is seen violently dangling the poor pooch in the air before striking it several times
The Humane Society's website explained: 'We are the only authority outside of HPD that can rescue animals and investigate cruelty on behalf of the City & County of Honolulu.
Last year, a man in England caught on video abusing his puppy was banned from owning dogs for five years.
Another man in England who was recorded brutally beating two dogs was banned from keeping an animal for 12 years, but avoid jail.
Keir Starmer tonight insisted he will not be 'dictated' to on the winter fuel allowance axe as he ignored a revolt at Labour conference.
The PM stressed that the humiliating defeat in a vote in Liverpool was not binding, saying he had to take difficult choices.
Sir Keir was given the symbolic bloody nose by trade union leaders as the conference backed their motion calling for the reinstatement of universal winter fuel payments.
But, despite the humiliating vote result, party chiefs and Cabinet ministers insisted the Government would plough on with the policy to restrict payments to only those pensioners on means-tested benefits.
Speaking to Channel 4 News in New York this evening, Sir Keir said he and his ministers had made 'a difficult decision, taken because the last government left a 22billion black hole'.
'I do understand how, you know, colleagues in the Labour movement feel about this,' he said.
'This is clearly a difficult decision but a motion at conference doesn't dictate Government policy.'
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, celebrated after Labour delegates backed a motion calling for the reversal of Government cuts to pensioners' winter fuel payments
Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC that he and fellow Labour MPs 'don't have the luxury of ducking the difficult choices and decisions'
Speaking to Channel 4 News in New York this evening, Sir Keir said he and his ministers had made 'a difficult decision, taken because the last government left a 22billion black hole'
Labour delegates narrowly voted to restore universal winter fuel payments on the last day of what should have been a triumphant celebration for the new Government in Liverpool.
They showed their displeasure at one of the Government's first major policy changes by calling for the restoration of the cash lump sum for all retirees.
It came after days of protests, led by Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU), against the decision to make the payment means-tested, as part of cost-cutting plans by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Composite 15, moved by Unite and seconded by the CWU, was carried following a vote of Labour delegates on the conference floor.
But there was some disquiet at the decision in the room, with some delegates feeling it had gone the other way.
Sir Keir was not present for a debate on the controversial policy at the conference in Liverpool, with the PM attending a United Nations summit in New York.
He earlier refused four times to apologise for cutting winter fuel payments.
Although the loss is only symbolic, because the decision has been voted into law, it underlines the scale of anger at the Government on the issue.
Speaking after the vote, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he and fellow Labour MPs 'don't have the luxury of ducking the difficult choices and decisions'.
Mr Streeting told BBC Politics Live that party members should not 'lose sight of the fact we came into Government to find a 22billion black hole in the public finances'.
'Unlike our Conservative predecessors, we are not going to duck those difficult choices, pretend that you can just ratchet up borrowing and you can play fast and loose with the public finances,' he added.
'The thing about delegates to party conference, whether they're from our constituencies or trade unions, they get the chance to put their points across and they get the chance to speak up on the issues they care about and give us the advice they think we should follow.
'But, ultimately, it's us - the Government, the Parliamentary Labour Party - that don't have the luxury of ducking the difficult choices and decisions.
'So we've had to make those choices. And, let me tell you, people would not thank us if we duck the difficult decisions and then the country paid a much heavier price down the road.
'That's where the Conservatives took us; we're not going back there again.'
It came after days of protests, led by Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU), against the decision to make the payment means-tested, as part of cost-cutting plans
Keir Starmer has refused four times to apologise for stripping winter fuel payments from pensioners
Addressing conference, Ms Graham blasted ministers for cutting cash handouts for the old while leaving the super-rich 'untouched'
Addressing Labour's conference this morning to move her union's motion, Unite secretary general Sharon Graham blasted ministers for cutting cash handouts for the old while leaving the super-rich 'untouched'
'This is not what people voted for, it's the wrong decision and it needs to be reversed,' she said.
After the vote Jon Trickett, the former frontbencher who was the only Labour MP to vote against the winter fuel payment cut in the Commons, said: 'Unions and party delegates were not persuaded to vote for cuts to winter fuel allowance. The conference spoke for poorer pensioners.'
It came after Sir Keir, who is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, refused four times to apologise for making the change.
The PM was repeatedly challenged to say sorry to vulnerable old people who were losing out on up to 300, but blamed the Tories for 'putting him in this position'.
He took the defiant stance in a bruising clash with Susanna Reid on ITV's Good Morning Britain before he headed for a UN summit in New York.
Asked how he could justify the cut, Sir Keir said: 'Well, it's tough and I think the first thing to say and to explain is why we had to do it.
'We inherited a really damaged economy, we did an audit and we discovered an undisclosed 22billion black hole this year, which we have to fix.'
The PM's took a defiant stance in a bruising clash with Susanna Reid on ITV 's Good Morning Britain before he headed for a UN summit in New York
The Unite union staged a protest at the Labour conference today ahead of a vote on the issue
Pressed if he wanted to apologise to pensioners, Sir Keir said: 'Well, I am really concerned that we've been put in this position.
'When you inherit an economy with 22billion missing, it is a really difficult set of choices.
'But what I don't want to do is to allow the economy to run out of control. What I want to make sure is that every single pensioner, there is that increase through the triple lock each and every year...'
Told again that he had an opportunity to say sorry, the PM said: 'The people who should be saying sorry are the last government who left a hole of 22billion, and they should be sorry for that and they should apologise for that.'
Reid persisted: 'So you're not going to apologise?'
Sir Keir said: 'I've come in to fix the mess, fix the problems, and that's tough, really tough decisions.
'The cost of not doing it is to run the risk that we lose control of the economy again.
'I'm not going to do that because if I do, you will be saying to me in two or three years' time, if we lose control of the economy, will you now say sorry for having lost control of the economy?'
Pressed on if he wanted to apologise to pensioners, Sir Keir said: 'Well, I am really concerned that we've been put in this position.'
The conference motion to reinstate universal winter fuel payments was originally set to be debated on Monday - but was rescheduled for after Sir Keir had given his big speech and departed amid rumours of backroom manoeuvring.
It called for means testing of the winter fuel allowance to be reversed and for an end to fiscal rules which prevent borrowing to invest, as well as the introduction of a wealth tax.
Ms Graham had already suggested the payment cut could leave vulnerable dead before she took to the stage.
And in a tubthumping speech she said: 'Friends, we are the sixth richest economy in the world - we have the money. Britain needs investment, not austerity mark two.
'We won't get any gold badges for shaving peanuts off our debt. These fiscal rules are self-imposed and the decision to keep them is hanging like a noose around our necks.'
She added: 'Yes, Britain is broken and, yes, the Tories have left the mess and, yes, they are to blame. But Labour is now in Government and we cannot keep making everyday people pay.'
Senior CWU officials were at Labour's conference today as they are attending the funeral in Scotland of the union's former assistant general secretary Andy Kerr, who used to be on Labour's national executive.
Alan Tate, from the London CWU, said: 'For our members the important work that the Government, a Labour Government, has begun has been overshadowed by the winter fuel cut.'
He added: 'The CWU has been inundated with emails and calls from our retired members worried about choosing between heating and eating.
'Experts are warning this could increase the risk of illness or even death for vulnerable people this winter.
'Now we've heard from both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor describe this cut as a 'tough choice'.
'But, conference, the tough choice is not about switching off pensioners' heating this winter.
'The real choice is about picking up the phone to the tech giants like Amazon and the ultra wealthy and making them pay their fair share of tax.'
Mr Tate said Labour should be taxing the rich rather than 'taking away a lifeline for vulnerable people'.
Despite the motion being carried at its conference, Labour reaffirmed its decision to cut winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.
A spokesperson said: 'The Labour Party was elected on our manifesto commitment to sound fiscal rules, economic growth is our primary mission and we will take the tough decisions now to rebuild Britain and make every part of the country better off.'
A survivor of the Nova Festival massacre revealed she hid in a fridge to avoid being slaughtered by Hamas during their incursion into Israel last October.
Elinor Gambarian, 24, filmed herself saying goodbye to her eight-year-old son, Oshri, in a heartbreaking video as gunmen swept through the festival site.
Elinor, a single mother, would spend hours hiding as the people around her were gunned down and cars were torched - but could only think of her little boy.
'I'm hiding here inside a fridge,' she said in a short recording to her son, aired in a new documentary. 'I am going to die today.'
Hours later, she emerged to find bodies soaked in blood on the ground - and Hamas gunmen approaching as they shot another survivor pleading for his life.
She lay motionless as they drew near, expecting these would be her final moment - until someone called out in Arabic and, as if by miracle, they walked away.
Elinor could only think of her eight-year-old son as she faced the possibility of death
She thought quickly to hide as Hamas gunmen stormed through the Nova site on October 7
Hamas filmed themselves stalking festivalgoers with Kalashnikov-style rifles on October 7
Huge traffic jams stopped people from escaping as Hamas pursued with assault rifles
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 Saturday, October 7
Hamas led the charge of six armed Palestinian groups to sweep from Gaza into southern Israel on October 7, unleashing hell on people near the border.
Elinor was among the 3,000 people who had spent the night dancing at a peace festival before rockets came crashing down around 6:30 in the morning.
A huge bottleneck of traffic stopped her and hundreds of others from escaping the site, with many forced to flee on flee on foot as gunmen gave chase.
Distressed calls of 'Run! Run! Run!' can be heard over mobile footage from the scene.
When Elinor realised terrorists were storming the area, she fled her car and ran back to the arena.
Taking shelter behind a bar with scores of other festivalgoers as Hamas fighters approached, she urged the people around her to hide in the fridges.
There was only space for one person, and a man she was with said 'You're the smartest one of us, you should get in'.
'I thought of Oshri and I climbed in the fridge,' she said, appearing on the harrowing 'We Will Dance Again' documentary chronicling the event as the conflict in Gaza approaches its first anniversary.
As rockets flew overhead and men with Kalashnikovs marched through the campsite, firing indiscriminately at civilians, Elinor's quick-thinking action likely saved her life.
Elinor passed out from lack of oxygen after recording a message for her eight-year-old son, telling him she expected to die.
When she came out for air, she looked down and saw a blood-soaked body, she recalled.
She could hear Hamas lifting the lid of a nearby fridge and finding someone. They begged for their life, saying 'why?', before they were shot dead.
Elinor was lucky not to be among the 400 people who were killed or violently abducted from the festival last year.
She stayed motionless as the terrorists closed in, fearing that she would be next.
They approached her fridge, shouted in Arabic - and then moved away.
Hours later, she heard people calling out for survivors in Hebrew.
She feared it was Hamas fighters trying to coax her out, but was losing oxygen again and chose her moment.
IDF soldiers had arrived to rescue her.
Elinor was led out through the piles of bodies, and remains traumatised a year on.
Many survivors have documented anxiety and stress disorders from their experiences at the festival.
One, speaking on the new documentary, reflected he was 'never going to be the person he was before October 7'.
Those responsible for identifying the bodies reported that victims showed signs of sexual abuse and rape, or had been mutilated before they were killed.
A harrowing report published in February documented 'sadistic' crimes alleged to have occurred at the festival, in surrounding villages, on IDF bases and in captivity.
Elinor was among the 3,000 people who had spent the night dancing at a peace festival before rockets came crashing down
Israeli soldiers surround a Palestinian who ran at them with a knife at the site of a music festival near the border with the Gaza Strip Thursday, October 12, 2023
Destroyed cars and belongings left at the Supernova Music Festival site where hundreds were killed and dozens taken by Hamas militants near the border with Gaza, on October 12, 2023
Destroyed cars are seen at the party site near the Kibbutz Re'im on Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Fleeing for their lives, people had no time to react when told the abandon their cars and run. Pictured: car keys are left in the ignition of a destroyed car at the festival on October 12
An Israeli officer walks around a campsite at the festival near Re'im kibbutz on October 17
Testimonies heard by the Association of Rape Crisis Centres included claims Hamas gunmen repeatedly stabbed an injured woman while they raped her; that victims had nails, grenades and knives inserted into their sexual organs; and how survivors fleeing the festival witnessed 'girls whose pelvises were simply broken from being raped so much'.
Young men and women fleeing the Nova festival were 'hunted' and dragged by their hair, screaming, according to witness testimonies. In most cases, they were killed after or during their rape.
One survivor of the Nova festival said the aftermath was an 'apocalypse of bodies, girls without clothes, some missing their upper, some their lower parts'.
The report concluded Hamas insurgents operated systematically to target both women and men in villages and kibbutzim during the assault, executing victims during or after instigating sexual abuse.
We Will Dance Again premiered on Paramount+ on September 24.
Former White House advisor Kellyanne Conway's relationship with her daughter Claudia has been a point of public fascination even since the Gen-Z influencer exploded onto the political scene by publicly criticizing then-President Donald Trump in 2020.
At the time, Kellyanne was one of Trump's most trusted aides and critics pounced on the evidence of a rift in the mother-daughter duo.
But the truth, it appears, is far more interesting.
In an exclusive clip of Fox Nation's new show 'Here's The Deal with Kellyanne Conway,' Kellyanne and Claudia clear the air and reveal that they agree on far more than the naysayers would care to admit.
That's, perhaps, a lesson that many Americans would do well to heed.
'I can look at you and love you even though you have a different political opinion than I do,' said Claudia in the episode set to air Thursday.
'The divisiveness and the lack of unity in our political atmosphere right now is what is going to drive us further apart,' explained the 19-year-old political independent, who boasts a 1.5 million-strong TikTok following.
Kellyanne and her daughter see eye to eye on this, though the veteran political pollster and consultant conceded that many of her friends and acquaintances are perplexed by how they manage to make it all work.
In an exclusive clip of Fox Nation's new show 'Here's The Deal with Kellyanne Conway,' Kellyanne and Claudia clear the air and reveal that they agree on far more than the naysayers would care to admit.
'The divisiveness and the lack of unity in our political atmosphere right now is what is going to drive us further apart,' explained the 19-year-old political independent, who boasts a 1.5 million-strong TikTok following.
'I like to think that you were raised along with your siblings as independent thinkers and that you come to your own politics,' said Kellyanne.
Indeed, Claudia, who posed for Playboy Magazine in March 2023, is not one to hide.
In a 2020 interview, Claudia was asked if she'd hold back her criticism of Trump, while her mother was advising the president.
'I'm not going to because I think I have a right to my own freedom of speech. If she works for Trump, she works for Trump,' she said at the time.
That natural tension briefly erupted into view when Claudia, then 15 years old, said in a now-deleted 2020 tweet: 'My parents, particularly my mother, are trying to silence me by getting me to delete my social media. Haha.'
Then in January 2021, Claudia controversially posted that she was 'pursuing emancipation' from her mother
Now, those issues appear to be in the past.
'I applaud you and commend you for having me on your show and having people of all different backgrounds on your show because I think these conversations are the most important conversations,' Claudia told her mother.
Claudia is emerging as an expert on the mindset of Generation Z.
In a 2020 interview, Claudia was asked if she'd hold back her criticism of Trump, while her mother was advising the president.
'I applaud you and commend you for having me on your show and having people of all different backgrounds on your show because I think these conversations are the most important conversations,' Claudia told her mother on Fox Nation.
From her perspective, this election is 'strikingly different' from past cycles, because voters aged 18-29 years old are engaged like never before due to the influence of social media.
Kellyanne agreed: 'Our youngest generation seems to be among the most politically active right now. I don't think we've seen that as a nation for quite a while.'
The issues that are driving young voters, according to Claudia, are reproductive health, the state of the U.S. economy, the Israel-Hamas war and, in a potential warning to Trump who they view as the candidate most likely to break from the past.
'I think that [Gen-Z voters] look at Donald Trump and Joe Biden and they see two older men, who have been involved in politics forever,' Claudia explained.
'They look at Kamala Harris, even though she's directly associated with Joe Biden, which many people do acknowledge. they see a change.'
Speaking for herself, Claudia said: 'I look at Kamala Harris and I don't see a perfect person. I don't see a perfect leader, but I do see change.''I'm not one for identity politics, but it would be nice to have a woman in the White House.'
This episode of 'Heres The Deal with Kellyanne Conway' will premiere on Fox Nation on Thursday, September 26th
A baby girl has been found alone outside in her diaper while her parents went to a strip club in Miami.
The two-year-old child was found wandering by herself by security guards as they did their rounds along a South Beach building on Thursday at around midnight.
Miami Beach Police officers soon arrived at the scene and found the barefoot child gripping a baby bottle, dressed in just a t-shirt and diaper.
After trying to locate where the baby had come from, authorities discovered that her parents, Daryl Lamont Lentz, 40, and Ciera Hurd, 36, had left behind three other children who were found sleeping inside a room.
The parents told CBS News they brought their family from Maryland to Florida so they could celebrate Lentz's birthday.
After about four-and-a-half hours at Club Madonna, police tracked down and arrested the parents for abandoning the toddler and their other children, aged 12, 11 and five.
A two-year-old girl was found wandering by herself by security guards as they did their rounds along a South Beach building on Thursday around midnight
Authorities discovered that her parents, Daryl Lamont Lentz, 40, (left) and Ciera Hurd, 36, (right) had left behind three other children who were found sleeping inside a room
The moment the baby was found was captured on police body cam footage as officers opened a gate connected to the building and found the toddler.
One of the officers, Brandon Miller, crouched down and asked the child: 'Are you OK mama?'
The little girl then inched closer to him as he put his arms out.
He then asked the girl where her mom was as the baby looked at him while holding the bottle in her arm.
The cops then asked the guards what they saw when they found the abandoned child, as one of them said she gripped the gate as if she was trying to get out.
Officer Brandon Miller is seen talking to the young girl after he and another cop arrived at the scene
He quickly comforted the child and picked her up before finding where she came from
'Mama, mama, mama,' a security guard recalled the little girl saying.
In another clip, Miller was seen picking the girl up and they searched for where she came from.
Soon enough, they discovered an open door on the third floor of the apartment complex and found the parents' three other children asleep.
Shortly after finding the children, the Miami Beach Police Department posted a heartwarming image of Officer Miller holding the two-year-old in his arms to their Instagram.
'As investigators attempted to locate the parents, Officer Millers nurturing instincts kicked in as he attentively comforted the child, eventually soothing her to sleep,' the department said.
Lentz said that before he and Hurd went to the nightclub, where they 'engaged in festivities with employees,' he told their oldest to lock the door behind them.
The father claims the children were only left alone for 30 minutes, police said.
After leaving their children to fend for themselves, the couple (pictured) said they regret their decision.
Shortly after finding the children, the Miami Beach Police Department posted a heartwarming image of Officer Miller holding the two-year-old in his arms to their Instagram
Meanwhile, Hurd said all of their kids were asleep before they left for the night.
After leaving their children to fend for themselves, the couple told CBS News they regret their decision.
'Yeah, we're definitely not doing it anymore,' Lentz said.
'Yeah, we will, never, ever do that again,' Hurd chimed in.
Both of them were arrested and taken to jail, but were later released, according to records. They face four felony charges each.
All of their children were taken to the Department of Children and Families, as Lentz and Hurd have promised to fight to regain custody.
A judge is currently allowing them to have contact with their kids, but they remain in state custody until their next hearing on Tuesday, the outlet reported.
President Joe Biden apparent joke about smashing rival Donald Trump like a bug is drawing scrutiny given the tense political times amid threats.
Playing along during a taping of ABC's 'The View' Wednesday, Biden forcefully smacked his hand onto the table when comedian and co-host Whoppi Goldberg compared rival Donald Trump to an 'insect.'
'He just wouldn't - he was like a bug. He just kept being there., who's like a bug right there - bzzz,' the comedian said, simulating a bug harassing her forehead, during a discussion of Biden's decision not to seek reelection.
Biden underlined her routine, looking down at the table in front of him and smacking his hand, prompting hosts and members of the crowd laughed at the gesture.
It wasn't a laughing matter for some during a tense week where a man was charged in the second assassination attempt against Trump.
'In the wake of two attempted assassinations and reports that Iran is trying to kill Donald Trump, The Views Whoopi Goldberg compares Trump to a bug. Joe Biden then responds by pretending to kill a bug on a table,' wrote Steve Guest, a former aide to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, posting the clip online, posting on X.
President Joe Biden appeared on ABC's 'The View' and slammed his hand down on the table with co-host Whoopie Goldberg compared Donald Trump to a bug
Trump's campaing also complained about a televised comment by Biden's Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who blasted Trump for telling a 'lie' and said 'Let's extinguish him for good.'
Earlier in the broadcast, Biden got a question about many of Trump's own incendiary comments, including referencing 'Second Amendment people' and calling for a televised military tribunal of Rep. Liz Cheney, a prominent Trump critic.
'Not a lot of social redeeming value there. He really does not believe in democracy and the guardrails that our system has set up for the abuse of power,' Biden said of Trump, on a week when he was in New York for the meeting of the UN General Assembly.
Whoopi Goldberg described Donald Trump as a 'bug'
Goldberg compared Trump to a bug, in a characterization Biden did not dispute
Biden claimed he could have beaten Trump himself, and cast aside polls that showed him in deep trouble in critical swing states.
'I never fully believed that assertions that somehow there was this overwhelming reluctance on my running again. I didn't sense that,' he said. 'We were always within in range of beating this guy.'
Trump himself faced denunciations after a speech last November where he referred to migrants as 'vermin.'
'We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country,' Trump said.
Goldberg also spoke to her loyalty to Biden, even at a time when Democrats were lining up to push him out. 'You were my ride or die,' she said. 'Thank you for everything you have done in my lifetime.'
Trump himself tore into the FBI during a speech Wednesday, a day after being briefed on an assassination threat coming from Iran. He said Biden should tell Iran's leaders he will blow
Former President Donald Trump said President Biden should threaten a massive military response to Iran if it were to try to assassinate him, saying the response should be to blow the country to 'smithereens.'
He said at a campaign event in North Carolina that Biden should issue the massive massive threat to Iran about how the US would respond if they harm him.
The stark comment came the Trump campaign says top U.S. intelligence officials briefed him on threats from Iran to assassinate him.
Trump, who has suffered two recent assassination attempts, said Biden should communicate to Iran's leaders that 'If you do anything to harm this person we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens.
We are under threat. I have been threatened very directly, Trump told a crowd near Charlotte.
He repeated the threat later in his remarks. He said the threat should be: Your country gets blown to smithereens, as we say.
Former President Donald Trump said President Biden should tell Iran's leaders their country would be blown 'to smithereens' if he gets harmed, after he got briefed on an assassination threat
Trump made the comments after he tried to raise suspicions about the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, asking why the alleged shooters father had gotten one of the best and most expensive lawyers in the state. He said of that attempt: It could be Iran based. It also could be something else.
Thomas Matthew Crooks has been charged attempted assassination for allegedly firing an AR-style rifle during Trump's rally, killing one man, injuring two and wounding Trump's ear.
Crooks, 20, was fatally shot by snipers during the incident. Authorities say his father legally owned the AR-15 weapon used in the shooting. Experts have said he is unlikely to be charged, although some family members have faced charges in prominent mass shooting events.
As you know, there have been two assassination attempts on my life that we know of, and they may or may not involve, but possibly do Iran, but I don't really know, can't be sure,' Trump said during his events.
Trump also complained federal investigators haven't been able to scrape data from the devices of the suspects who allegedly tried to kill him.
'The FBI has been unable to open the three potentially foreign based apps. And in the second case, the assassin had six cell phones in his car, yet the FBI has likewise been unable to penetrate their guard. Shouldn't be tough to do,' Trump said.
Trump demanded access to devices of assassination suspects, then complained about the classified documents case against him that has been dismissed by a Florida judge.
'Who is he calling? Who is he calling? In the old days, the FBI and the DOJ used to capture people before anything happened. In current days, the upper echelon of the FBI is all talk while they focus on the sitting President's political opponents,' he claimed, resurrected his repeated claims of facing political prosecution in multiple cases brought by state, local, and federal prosecutors.
He quickly switched to the cases against him, including the classified documents case that Judge Aileen Cannon, who has drawn the second assassination case, has drawn.
'That's what they're doing. They spend so much time we won the case in Florida. It's all a big scam. It's all against a political opponent me, who's doing better in the polls than anybody else and should be hopefully able to recapture the presidency in 41 days and make our country great again, but all they focus on is their political opponent.'
'They must get Apple to open these foreign apps, and they must get Apple to likewise, open the six phones from the second lunatic who is a lunatic, and open them immediately, because we have a lot at stake.'
Trump suggested without the attempts could be 'Iran-based,' while referring to jailed January 6 defendants as 'hostages.'
'They had no problem breaking into the apps of the January 6 hostages. They broke into those apps. And they could be Iran-based. They could also be something else, but we'll never know until they're opened,' Trump said.
The FBI said in a July 15 statement two days after the Butler shooting that 'FBI technical specialists successfully gained access to Thomas Matthew Crooks phone, and they continue to analyze his electronic devices.'
In a court filing seeking pre-trial detention for second assassination suspect Ryan Routh, authorities make frequent reference to evidence already obtained through cell phone searches.
'The agents also found six cellphones. One of the cell phones contained a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico,' according to one line, suggesting a getaway plan.
Other information says the FBI obtained cell site records for two of the cell phones found in the suspect's Nissan Xterra. It showed ROUTH traveled from Greensboro, North Carolina, to West Palm Beach, Florida, on August 14, 2024 and that on 'multiple days and times from August 18, 2024, to September 15, 2024' his cell accessed towers near Trump's Florida golf course and residence at Mar-a-Lago.
That could be key information putting him near the crime scene.
According to the filing, a civilian witness contacted law enforcement and provided a box the witness said Routh provided several months ago containing 'ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phones, and various letters.'
Trump previously blasted prosecutors for only charging Routh for alleged gun offenses, but prosecutors routinely hold suspects on lower charges and bring more serious charges later. Within hours, Routh was charged with attempted assassination.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said Trump got briefed on 'real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate [Trump] in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States'.
Trump made the comments at an event where he said North Carolina voters would tell VP Harris 'You're fired.'
A jobless mother-of-eight has told how she wants to turn her life around by finally getting work while still claiming benefits she is entitled to.
Marie Buchan, 42 - dubbed 'Britain's welfare queen' and newly pictured today after making her pledge - told MailOnline: 'It's time to finally get a job!
'I don't want to keep being portrayed as the benefits scrounger.'
The former lap dancer is determined to silence her cruel online abusers, who brand her a 'parasite', 'scrounger' and 'scum' and say they hope she dies soon.
She had previously said that living off the state has also allowed her to enjoy a life of extravagance and splash out on pricey cosmetic surgery and a horse.
Marie Buchan (seen in 2017), 42 - dubbed 'Britain's welfare queen' - has told how she wants to turn her life around by finally getting work while still claiming benefits she is entitled to
Newly pictured today after making her pledge, she told MailOnline: 'It's time to finally get a job! I don't want to keep being portrayed as the benefits scrounger'
The single mother-of-eight (seen with all her children, now aged from 10 to 23) had previously said that living off the state has also allowed her to enjoy a life of extravagance and splash out on pricey cosmetic surgery and a horse
She has decided try to secure her first job in seven years 'because the kids are growing up and I don't need to be running around for the them as much'.
She last worked in 2017 as a part-time carer.
Ms Buchan, who has long blonde hair, plumped lips and designer lashes, spoke briefly outside her council home in Selly Oak, near Birmingham, West Midlands, saying: 'I want to get back to work as soon as possible.
'I'll still be able to claim benefits, like child benefits and others, that's the crazy world we live in.
'But living on benefits only for the rest of your life, and not earning, is no way to live.'
Ms Buchan, who is a single parent to seven daughters and a son, aged from 10 to 23, and has a two-year-old grandson, hopes to become a health care assistant.
She said: 'I'm not working now but I want to go back to work. I'd love to work for the NHS.'
She told how she has recently been offered jobs in marketing and retail but her 'aim is being in health to help others'.
Seen earlier, Ms Buchan said: 'Living on benefits only for the rest of your life, and not earning, is no way to live'
The busy mother, who appears to be continuously doing school runs, errands and household chores, spoke out after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer yesterday announced a crackdown on benefits fraud in a bid to tackle 'worklessness'
She added: 'I'll still be able to claim benefits, like child benefits and others, that's the crazy world we live in'
The busy mother, who appears to be continuously doing school runs, errands and household chores, spoke out after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer yesterday announced a crackdown on benefits fraud in a bid to tackle 'worklessness'.
Ms Buchan, who said she is proud to be bringing up her kids alone without the help of a partner, has been in the system for 23 years and has received around half a million pounds in government handouts.
In the past she has boasted about the 'luxuries' she has bought with taxpayers' cash - claiming that being on benefits for most of her adult life has never held her back.
She caused fury in 2018 after travelling to Turkey for a 1,500 boob job, going from a 34A cup to a 34D.
And the following year, she jetted off again for laser treatment to achieve a 'designer vagina'.
She also bought a horse with her benefits, but said she later had to give him away as she couldn't afford to keep him.
'Being on benefits has never held me back from doing anything,' Ms Buchan said according to The Sun. 'I have had a lot of luxuries.'
'I paid 600 upfront for the horse and then had to pay an additional 100 a month to keep him at the yard. Food was around 25 a month.
'It was a big mistake. I was rubbing it in people's faces and I was showing off and I really regret that.'
Ms Buchan has insisted that she used money raised from car boot sales to pay for her plastic surgeries but says she understands now why people were outraged.
It is also likely that the items sold at the events were bought with money she claimed from the state.
The mother-of-eight, who said she didn't have a lot growing up, entered the benefits system when she had her first child at 19.
She said she was on and off benefits at the time as whenever she had a child she would stop work.
The former lap dancer (pictured in 2017) is determined to silence her cruel online abusers, who brand her a 'parasite', 'scrounger' and 'scum'
She previously revealed how she receives horrendous online abuse from haters who tell her she is a 's***' and say they 'hope she dies'
Ms Buchan has caused fury in the past, spending money to fly to Turkey for a boob job and later jetting off for treatment to achieve a 'designer vagina'
Ms Buchan said she eventually chose to stay on benefits to be able to dedicate herself to bringing up her children.
She explained that there is little incentive to work as her family is 'better off on benefits'.
'It's very easy to sit in the system for the rest of your life,' Ms Buchan said.
She previously hit the headlines after claiming she was being forced to use foodbanks to feed her children due to benefit cuts.
Ms Buchan said back in 2021: 'It is a huge struggle for me. Two of my daughters are over the age of 16 now so I have had my benefits, like child benefits and tax credit, cut.
'I am around 160 per week worse off now. It is a struggle and I use food banks just to survive. I basically live on food banks at the moment.
'You have to do what you have to do to survive and I am so grateful that I can turn to them. They are a lifesaver for me and so so many other people.'
She continued: 'Unfortunately I have been given the nickname octomum and that has stuck. It is definitely holding me back from getting a job.
'I have applied for a number of jobs. Employers seem keen at first but when they realise who I am, I am rejected.
'I fear I will never be able to shake the octomum tag off.'
Ms Buchan also revealed how she receives horrendous online abuse from haters who tell her she is a 's***' and say they 'hope she dies'.
She said: 'Some of the abuse I receive is just vile. They call me a parasite, a s*** and they 'hope I die soon'.
'Others say I'm a 'scrounger' and I've had threats of men coming to get me and 'teach me a lesson'.
'It can be hell at times. I don't know what people get out of being so horrible but they must just get sick kicks.
'It is very hard at times to read that stuff and horrible for the children as well. When you are feeling low it can really make you sink even lower.
'It has got to stop. People don't understand the impact on someone who is in the limelight. I have contacted the police before due to the threats.'
Ms Buchan moved into the semi-detached house in 2015 after moaning Government cuts to the benefits cap would leave her family on the breadline.
But she fell behind on payments despite raking in a 500-a-week benefits package consisting of council tax, child benefit, child tax, income support and housing benefit.
In January 2021, Ms Buchan revealed she had been isolating at home with coronavirus when she became extremely ill and was hospitalised.
An ambulance was sent to her home and she was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she was placed on a drip.
Ms Buchan told how she thought she was going to die as she coughed up blood and suffered coughing fits but survived.
The single mother previously attended a course for an NHS job but was told she couldn't take up her place as her youngest child wouldn't be entitled to childcare.
Almost three million people in the UK are currently out of work due to ill health. This is 500,000 more than it was in 2019.
The cost of sickness and disability benefits are expected to increase by 30bn in the next five years, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.
The Prime Minister has announced his government will be cracking down on benefit fraud with new legislation in a bid 'to tackle worklessness'.
Sir Keir said during his Labour conference speech on Tuesday: 'If we want to maintain support for the welfare state, then we will legislate to stop benefit fraud, do everything we can to tackle worklessness.'
Sir Keir said during his Labour conference speech on Tuesday: 'If we want to maintain support for the welfare state, then we will legislate to stop benefit fraud, do everything we can to tackle worklessness'
He also said that he believes long-term benefit claimants need to look for work if they are able to.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the Prime Minister said: I think the basic proposition that you should look for work is right.
'Obviously there will be hard cases, but the way I would do it is to say yes, that's the basic proposition, but we also want to support that so that more people can get into work.'
He had earlier said: 'I've gone out and looked at schemes where businesses are supporting people back into work from long term sickness.
'Because quite often I think what lies behind this is a fear for someone who's been on long-term sickness, that can they get back into the workplace? Are they going to be able to cope? Is it all going to go hopelessly wrong?
'Yes they need to be back in the workplace where they can, but I do think that if we can put the right support in place, which I've seen pilots of, they work pretty well, and we want to see more of those across the country.'
Airports are bracing for impact from Hurricane Helene by announcing closures as the storm intensifies along the Gulf of Mexico on a path to Florida.
Hurricane-force winds could be felt far inland Wednesday afternoon as forecasters predict it will move rapidly northward into southern Georgia after striking Florida.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center center has issued hurricane warnings for part of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Florida's northwestern coastline, where large storm surges of up to 15 feet are expected.
Two Florida airports - Tampa International Airport and St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport - announced upcoming closures ahead of the storms arrival.
'Tampa International Airport will suspend all commercial and cargo operations beginning at 2 a.m. Thursday ahead of Hurricane Helene, with the Airport remaining closed to the public until it can assess any damage after the storm,' the airport said.
Hurricane-force winds could be felt far inland Wednesday as Hurricane Helene is forecast to pick up speed as it barrels toward Florida and the Southern U.S.
Tampa International Airport (pictured) and St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport announced upcoming closures ahead of the storms arrival
At least 24 counties in Florida are under an evacuation order ahead of the storm
'The three other public airports managed by the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority - Peter O. Knight, Tampa Executive and Plant City Airports - will also close at 2 a.m. Thursday.'
St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport will close after the last flight arrives on Wednesday because it is in a mandatory evacuation zone and plans to reopen on Friday.
Major airlines including American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, United and Frontier have issued travel alerts for passengers flying to and from Florida and Georgia, reported ABC News.
The Department of Transportation does not require airlines to offer a full refund to customers if a flight is canceled or significantly delayed due weather.
Ahead of Hurricane Helene's arrival in Florida, at least 24 counties in the state are under an evacuation order by midday Wednesday, according to the state Division of Emergency Management.
Gov. Ron DeSantis warned Floridians to expect widespread power outages, heavy rainfall and high winds.
'Just know these effects are coming to the state of Florida, and it's not a matter of whether we're going to get effects, it's just a question of how significant those effects will be,' he said. 'The eye of the storm is coming in this region.'
People fill sandbags in Florida ahead of Hurricane Helene's arrival that is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge
People bag sand in preparation for possible flooding from Helene that could produce total rain accumulations of 5 to 10 inches
More than 30 counties in southern Georgia were under a hurricane warning from the National Weather Service, including some rural areas roughly 100 miles north of the Georgia-Florida line.
The hurricane warning area for Georgia included Albany, southwest Georgia's largest city with a population of 67,000, as well as Valdosta, home to 55,000 along Interstate 75.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a State of Emergency ahead of Hurricane Helene on Wednesday as the state prepares for severe weather impacts that could threaten life and property through Saturday morning.
'Helene threatens heavy rain, flash flooding, landslides, and damaging winds to the mountains and Piedmont areas of our state,' Cooper said.
'Now is the time for North Carolinians to prepare, make sure emergency kits are up-to-date and pay attention to the weather alerts in your area.'
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster also declared a state of emergency advising residents to monitor local forecasts and begin taking proper precautions.
'Although South Carolina will likely avoid the brunt of Hurricane Helene's impacts, the storm is still expected to bring dangerous flooding, high winds, and isolated tornadoes to many parts of the state,' said McMaster.
Helene was pelting Mexico's Caribbean coast resorts from Cozumel to Cancun (pictured) on Wednesday
Waves and strong winds caused by Hurricane Helene in Cancun
The National Hurricane Center forecasts life-threatening storm surge from Helene along the entire Florida Peninsula and Florida Big Bend as it increases in speed and is expected to make landfall by Thursday.
'Tropical storm conditions are expected in southern Florida later today and will spread northward across the rest of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina through Thursday,' the center said.
'Over the Southeastern U.S. into the Southern Appalachians, Helene is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 5 to 10 inches with isolated totals around 15 inches.'
Helene was pelting Mexico's Caribbean coast resorts from Cozumel to Cancun with rain, high waves and strong winds early Wednesday.
Showers and thunderstorms have already been raging over the Caribbean and surrounding areas in Central America, with localized flash flooding and mudslides expected.
A winery owner is suing a California county after being fined for allowing his longtime vineyard manager and his family to live rent-free on his property.
Michael and Kellie Ballard, who operate Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards, have been allowing Marcelino Martinez and his family to stay on their 60-acre property in Saratoga.
Martinez asked in 2013 if he could move a trailer on to the property, after having no luck in finding affordable housing options in the area for him and his family - to which the couple happily agreed to.
Without the Ballard family moving in to help them, Martinez said him and his family would have had to give up their jobs and move out of the area entirely.
In 2017, Santa Clara County learned of the trailer and informed them it was illegal to live in a trailer in the area. Officials asked Ballard to evict the family or face fines.
The county has managed to fine the couple a total of $120,000, despite plans being in place to resolve the issue, causing the Ballards to sue them over the decision.
Michael and Kellie Ballard, who operate Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards, have been allowing Marcelino Martinez and his family to stay on their 60-acre property in Saratoga
The Ballards are now seeking to challenge the fines, arguing that the constitution's Excessive Fines Clause requires that any fines must be proportional to the offense.
The fines have not been imposed by a judge or a jury, but a county official called a 'hearing officer' brought them.
The Ballards agreed that the family would stay on the land, and would help build them a permanent home on their 60 acre plot.
After delays brought on by Covid-19 and other issues, their plan has not yet to take shape.
Michael Ballard told Injustice for Justice: 'We first started dealing with the county in 2017, when an inspector came and first informed us we would have to remove the trailer from the property.
Martinez asked in 2013 if he could move a trailer onto the property, after having no luck in finding affordable housing options in the area for him and his family
In 2017, Santa Clara County learned of the trailer and informed the Ballards it was illegal to live in a trailer in the area
'They said the reason that they were enforcing this was because we were creating a public nuisance.
'Somehow the Martinez family living in a trailer on the back of 60-acres, where no one can see them and they don't come into contact with anyone else, that could be interpreted as a public nuisance made little sense at all.'
'When they started to enforce fines they were such bullies, they came in here and said they'd charge us $1,000 a day until we kicked the Martinez family off the property.'
'The Martinez family is like family to us, when you go through those kind of human experience there's a bond that gets created. There was just no way in the world we were going to throw these people out on the street.'
The Ballards agreed that the family would stay on the land, and would help build them a permanent home on their 60 acre plot
The fines have not been imposed by a judge or a jury, but a county official called a 'hearing officer' brought them
Marcelino Martinez said: 'It's very hard to live in San Jose, everything is so expensive. To pay rent and buy the food is very expensive.
'The schools in Saratoga are very good schools, that's where my children go - a very good school. I'd like them to stay there.'
'The fines I don't understand, I want them to stop fining Mike. We aren't hurting anyone, it's just me and Mike - we don't have any neighbors around.'
The lawsuit argues that separation of powers and trial by jury guarantees demand that any American facing a fine are entitled to defend themselves in court.
According to lawyers representing the Ballards, the county's fines and proceedings 'trampled on all those rights'.
In a statement, Santa Clara County said: 'In short, it is inaccurate that the County is currently seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for the RV violation at Mr. Ballards property that was noticed by County in 2018 and that has yet to be finally abated.
'The County has for many years sought to work with Mr. Ballard toward abatement and has made multiple offers to significantly reduce the fines approved by the independent Hearing Officer in exchange for Mr. Ballards formal agreement to complete abatement of the violation according to specific deadlines that would be set forth in a compliance agreement.
'In the last year, Mr. Ballard provided evidence of financial hardship and the County made a reasonable offer to resolve this matter that accounts for Mr. Ballards ability to pay, even though he did not dispute his ability to pay before the County Hearing Officer. More details about this matter are set forth below.'
President Joe Biden made a statement with his outfit as he walked into The View's stage and did a little jog.
Biden, 81, showed his support for Ukraine by sporting a pin showing the US and Ukrainian flags side by side.
The Democrat was given a standing ovation by the hosts and audience of the ABC talk show on Wednesday.
But many viewers were angered by Biden's pin choice, accusing the president of putting foreign interests above those of America.
The right-wing outlet Townhall.com noted the pin on X, writing: 'Joe Biden is sporting a Ukraine flag pin on "The View."'
President Joe Biden showed his support for Ukraine by sporting a pin showing the US and Ukrainian flags side by side during his appearance on The View
The Democrat was given a standing ovation by the hosts of the ABC talk show on Wednesday
An X user supported Biden's Ukraine statement in a comment under the outlet's post, writing: 'Yes, and? Ukraine is our ally, unlike the MAGA Republicans in Congress.'
But other X users took issue with the president's decision to wear the pin, claiming his administration puts too much focus on Ukraine following Russia's invasion.
One person wrote: 'Biden goes on the sitcom The View wearing a joined US/Ukraine flag pin. Where is his Israel/US pin? As an American Im sickened by the Biden Harris administrations unfair hate for some of our allies and even more disgusting by their hate and disregard for half of Americas citizens and for the United States and all this country stands for.'
Another added: 'I saw a clip today with Biden on the view. He is wearing a pin with both the American and Ukrainian flag. He is a disgrace. Our president should wear only ONE flag, the American flag.'
many viewers were angered by Biden's pin choice, accusing the president of putting foreign interests above those of America
The Democratic party has remained committed to supporting Ukraine since the nation was invaded by Russia in February 2022.
Showing his commitment to the Ukrainian cause, Biden urged Ukraines backers to stand firm in his final address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday,
'We cannot grow weary,' he said. 'We cannot look away.'
His appearance before the international body offered Biden one of his last high-profile opportunities as president to make the case to keep up robust support for Ukraine, which could be in doubt if former President Donald Trump defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
During his appearance on The View, Biden slammed Trump as having no redeeming social value and indicated he'd like to squash him like a bug.
The president got a rock star welcome from the hosts, who fawned over him, and the audience, which gave him a standing ovation.
'It's like having one of the Beatles at the table,' The View's Sara Haines gushed.
Whoopi Goldberg praised the president repeatedly during his 30-minute appearance on the show.
'You were my ride or die,' she said. 'Thank you for everything you have done in my lifetime.'
The president got a rock star welcome from the hosts, who fawned over him, and the audience, which gave him a standing ovation
'He's a kissy guy,' Joy Behar said. 'i like that about him.'
When Biden first walked out to the sustained applause, Behar told him of the audience: 'They love you.'
'It's always better when you're leaving,' Biden responded.
Biden also talked about his decision to leave the race and being blunt of his assessment of Trump.
'I am at peace with my decision,' Biden said of exiting the presidential race.
However, he had tough words for Trump, giving some of his harshest criticism to date of Republican presidential nominee.
'There's not a lot of social redeeming value there,' Biden said of the former president. 'He really does not does not believe in democracy.'
Whoopi Goldberg described Donald Trump as a 'bug'
'I'm not sure he even understands what he is doing,' he added.
The president repeated his argument he could have beat Trump but decided 'I love my country more' an argument he has used repeatedly as he described his decision to step down, which came amid pressure from his party to leave the race.
'I never fully believed that assertions that somehow there was this overwhelming reluctance on my running again. I didn't sense that,' he said. 'We were always within in range of beating this guy.'
'I was confident. I would beat Trump,' he said.
But Democrats, led by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, believed Biden would lose and take the party down with him after his disastrous debate with Trump. Party leaders pressured him to step aside.
Biden laughed when the hosts of The View asked him about Pelosi.
'Our relationship is fine,' he said.
Biden, who beat Trump in the 2020 election, revealed the advice he gave Harris, describing her as a partner in his administration.
'Be yourself. She's smart as hell, number one. She's tough,' he said.
'As vice president there wasn't a single thing I did that she couldn't do. I was able to delegate her responsibility from everything from foreign policy to domestic policy,' he noted.
He was effusive in his praise of his vice president.
'I just think she has the energy the intelligence the grits the stamina and she has the guts to do the right thing,' he said of Harris.
Biden, 81, also seemed in disbelief about his age.
'It's hard for me to even say how old I am. Seriously. I give my word. It's like holy god that can't be right.'
Two people have been injured after a man set off an explosive device at a California courthouse.
The incident took place at Santa Maria Superior Court complex on Wednesday morning.
The suspect reportedly threw a backpack containing a device which went off in front of Department 9, the arraignment courtroom.
'We have two reports of non-life-threatening injuries,' spokesperson Raquel Zick said in a post on X.
She added that the explosion came from an, 'intentionally set improvised explosive device'.
Two people have been injured after a man set off an explosive device at a California courthouse
A man was immediately detained at the scene and was in custody by 9am.
'This stage of the investigation is slow moving and detectives dont believe there are any additional outstanding suspects,' Zick added.
'The bomb team is processing the scene and the suspect is still being interviewed.'
A large emergency services presence remains at the area which has been taped off. Police are urging the public to stay away.
'Please avoid the area. Scene has not been deemed safe. More info to follow,' Zick added.
Superior Court Executive Officer Darrel Parker told Noozhawk that the court is currently figuring out how to manage the day's court appointments.
A Santa Maria spokesman told KSBY that City Hall, the finance department, public library and recreation and parks department were all locked down and will remain closed for the rest of the day.
A man was immediately detained at the scene and was in custody by 9am
The incident took place at Santa Maria Superior Court complex on Wednesday morning
Governor Gavin Newsom's office said it is 'actively monitoring the explosion' and coordinating with law enforcement.
Witness Shane Mellon told KSBY that he was sitting in the court when he heard a 'loud bang' which he thought was chairs falling over.
'Then the bailiff was escorting the judge out of the courthouse and back into their chambers and evacuated us out in front.
'When we came out front I noticed there was a sweater or something that was smoldering, it was on fire it was crazy.
'An individual was screaming with four or five people on top of him trying to keep him restrained and he was just screaming at the top of his lungs.
'Someone showed me a video of them trying to cut the clothes off him he had a bunch of bullets coming out of his clothes.
Witness Shane Mellon heard a large 'bang' inside the court room before he and others were evacuated out and saw an object 'smoldering' and the suspect being detained
The suspect reportedly threw a backpack containing a device which went off in front of Department 9, the arraignment courtroom
'I think this could have been way worse than it was if not for the deputies just jumping on top of that guy.'
The court is around 150 miles from Los Angeles and is where Michael Jackson was once tried and acquitted of child abuse charges almost 20 years ago.
The singer was accused of abusing boys at his Neverland ranch in the 2005 trial but was found not guilty on all charges.
It comes after another California court located 280 miles away received a bomb threat this morning.
San Joaquin Superior Court said that the Stockton Courthouse was evacuated and closed for the day 'out of an abundance of caution'.
A mother desperately searching for her missing child was confronted with a scene right out of a horror movie - her daughter's killer, 'covered in blood' and riding his teenaged victim's scooter.
The body of Michelle 'Luna' Jackson, 17, of Farnhamville, a tiny town of fewer than 400 people in northwest Iowa, was found Monday morning, less than 24 hours after her mother first reported her missing.
Jackson's frantic mother and sister went searching the neighborhood Sunday night after Jackson failed to come home - that is when they came upon the horrific sight of her alleged killer riding off.
Nathaniel Bevers-McGivney, 21, was taken into custody and held in the Carroll County jail on abuse of a corpse charges, and failure to disclose a known location.
He was initially accused of hiding the girls body to conceal a crime, KTIV News reported.
The Calhoun County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday evening that Bevers-McGiveny was later charged with first-degree murder.
Michelle 'Luna' Jackson, 17, of Farnhamville, a town in Northwest Iowa, was found dead Monday morning, less than 24-hours, after her mother first reported her missing. She was a victim of a homicide
Nathaniel Bevers-McGivney, 21, was taken into custody and was held in the Carroll County jail on Monday on abuse of a corpse charges, and failure to disclose a known location, meaning he was accused of hiding the girls body to conceal a crime , KTIV News reported.
Before Jackson's identity was confirmed she had been listed as Jane Doe, authorities said.
It was unclear what led to Jackson's death and if the pair knew one another.
When Bevers-McGIvney was located he had possession of the teen's scooter and some of her other personal belongings.
He refused to answer any questions, police said.
However, a criminal complaint revealed the location where Jackson's body was found alleging that Bevers-McGivney intentionally hid the young woman's body to conceal a crime.
Her body was found on Monday around 9am in a farm field south of town.
The Daily Mail reached out to the Carroll County Sheriff's Office for more information on the case but they were unavailable.
Many in the community were shaken by Jackson's death.
Jackson's obituary said she was 'a victim of a senseless act of violence.'
The park was lined with police tape during the police investigation
Jackson was starting her junior year at Southeast Valley High School. She was remembered as someone 'who brought joy to those around her'
'I am shocked. I never thought you would see something like this in Farmhamville. I thought this was a safe place,' he said.
'I feel for the family.'
Grief-stricken friends and family described the young woman, a junior at Southeast Valley High School, 'as someone who 'brought joy to those around her.'
She was remembered for her 'love for Minecraft, virtual conversations with friends, and her love for swinging in the park and passion for music.'
'Luna took great pleasure in pampering herself, often frequenting Bath and Body Works for fragrant delights,' the obit stated.
'Her interest in the show Supernatural, combined with her love for anime, especially the series "Soul Eater," showcased her unique and inquisitive spirit.
Jackson pictured with her mother Annette
Jackson smiling after catching a fish
Private funeral services are planned for Thursday at the funeral home in Gowrie. A celebration of life for friends and family will also be held 'sometime' in the future.
The tribute further stated, in part: 'Luna's presence will forever be missed, but her spirit and memories will live on in the hearts of those who knew and loved her.'
Jackson's high school, South East Valley, was heartbroken by the news and offered counseling for students and staff. 'Our thoughts are with the family and those affected by the tragedy,' the school said.
A candlelight vigil was held on Sunday evening at Farnhamville City Park. Attendees wore purple or black as those were Jacksons favorite colors, The Messenger local outlet reported.
The family also plans to decorate the swing set that Jackson loved to sit on with flowers.
Troy Jepsen, the mayor of Farnhamville, posted a statement to Facebook on Wednesday afternoon.
'My heart hurts for all involved in this weeks tragedy. I hurt for this family that has to endure this. Ive tried to make sense of it, but its absolutely senseless,' he said/
'One of our youths was taken from us way too early, before she was able to fully make her mark on the world, Michele Luna Jackson
'I remember Michele from holiday parties in grade school when I would volunteer to help, she was in the same grade as my son, she was always so excited to have someone new in the classroom to show her pictures to that they might have been working on, or the excitement of the party that was going on.
Later you could usually find her on the swings in the park, or riding her bike with her headphones on, just being a kid, like it should be in a small town.
'What has happened in our city should never happen anywhere,' he said, in part.
A GofundMe was created to help Jackson's family deal with this unimaginable tragedy
A GoFundMe has also been created by family friends to assist Jacksons family. The Southeast Valley High School student body has planned a Red Out for the remainder of the week, asking students to wear red, which is the symbolic color of National Homicide Awareness Day, which is today.
A GoFundMe was created to help the family with expenses and deal with the incomprehensible loss. As of Wednesday, $more than $2,000 was raised toward their goal of $10,000.
Bevers-McGivney is expected in court for a preliminary hearing on October 4.
Coca-Cola sparked backlash after reportedly banning the words 'Jesus' and 'Trump 2024' from its personalized cans - while seemingly allowing support for Kamala Harris and 'Satan' and 'Allah'.
The company fixed the glitch after the outrage from conservatives when the problem was documented and posted on X by Liberals of TikTok.
The updated version now bans all monikers that are 'trademarked, political in nature, names of countries, celebrities, religious figures, as well as anything that could be considered offensive for other reasons,' the personalizer tool says.
After the glitch circulated online, some began calling for a 'boycott' of the iconic soda company with some wryly noting: 'Funny how these things always seem to go one way.'
Coca-Cola sparked backlash after fans claimed it was allowing customers to personalize cans with 'Harris Walz 2024', but seemingly banned 'Trump 2024'
The personalizer website bans any monikers that are 'trademarked, political in nature, names of countries, celebrities, religious figures, as well as anything that could be considered offensive for other reasons'
The glitch was first shared by Facebook user Antwoine Hill, and circulated widely after being pushed by conservative X account Libs of TikTok, which shared images of a 'Harris Walz 2024' can being allowed, but 'Trump 2024' not being allowed.
Others followed by sharing videos of their attempts to put religious names on the cans, with 'Satan' and 'Allah' appearing to be allowed.
Attempts to put 'Jesus loves you' on the can was met with a warning that the company couldn't personalize the can with the word 'Jesus.'
Some pointed out that excluding the name 'Jesus' would limit a common name for men in America, however Coca-Cola's website notes that 'a name might be accepted if you add a last name to the submission.'
The personalizer notably blocks cans with the names of political figures such as Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and Barack Obama, but does allow other celebrities such as Elon Musk.
Footage shared online appeared to show a Coca-Cola can personalizer allowing 'Satan' and 'Allah' but banning 'Jesus'
The personalizer notably blocks cans with political figures such as Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and Barack Obama, but does allow other celebrities such as Elon Musk
After the posts went viral, Hill said he was surprised that his pointing out of the glitch captured interest, but stood by the anger he triggered.
'I am pointing out the obvious, the only name that gets this much backlash and hate is the name of Jesus,' he told the Daily Dot.
Amid some conservatives calling to boycott the brand, he said would support the move 'if it sends the message that we stand for the name of Jesus.'
'I'm also very conflicted with the whole thing because I'm in the streets daily seeing the much bigger issues, drugs, violence, homelessness,' he said.
'So for me this just doesn't seem nearly as big as these issues, but nonetheless I won't support any company that doesn't support Jesus.'
In a statement, Coke said, 'The tool does not approve names or phrases that are religious in nature or are for political candidates, trademarks or celebrities.
'If a submission is not approved, such as for a specific name, a consumer at a store can show ID with their legal name for a store manager to approve for printing. If the submission is online, a consumer can also modify their request.
'We recognize technology is imperfect, which is why we have additional layers of approval.'
A Russian ship loaded with 20,000 tons of explosive cargo - and has previously been dubbed 'the floating bomb' - has been spotted near the Kent coast today.
The ship, nicknamed the Ruby, was located near Margate according to VesselFinder - a service that provides real-time data on the location of numerous ships.
This comes shortly after the damaged Malta-flagged cargo ship was seen near a Norwegian military base, mere days after the NATO country gave the boat the boot.
The vessel had been stocked with cargo from a port in Kandalaksha in northern Russia on August 22, before making its way to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.
However, the Russian ship made the decision to stop in Troms on September 3, whilst seeking safety from a storm, Newsweek reports.
A Russian cargo ship (pictured) loaded with explosives was spotted off the coast of Kent
Dubbed 'the floating bomb', the vessel also known at the Ruby was recorded by VesselFinder as being near Margate
Its propeller, hull, and rudder had been damaged, but following several days authorities insisted the ship leave as fears grew among locals.
Residents became increasingly concerned as the ship was anchored near a university campus. a hospital, as well as hundreds of homes.
The Ruby is packed with an explosive substance, which is also used in fertilizer, known as ammonium nitrate.
The vessel has around seven times more of this explosive substance than the 2,750 tons which devastated the Port of Beirut in Lebanon and killed 218 people, four years ago.
According to Newsweek, authorities did not outright say the ship would erupt however they did say it was 'not desirable' for the vessel to be so close to the Norwegian city.
According to Marine Traffic - a global ship tracking website - the Ruby left Norway and made its way towards the country's north -near the municipality of Andy.
The decision was made to pump 37.5 million kroner into the Andya Air Station, which was constructed in 1951, following a NATO meeting.
The money was to be used for defending the air base which will eventually be used for the use of long-range drones to monitor the seas.
In May, the Norwegian Defence Minister Bjrn Arild Gram said: 'Andya plays an important role in national security, allied defence and technological development.
'The growing military-strategic significance of the base for Norway and NATO requires that we continue manned guarding.'
(Pictured: The devastation in Lebanon in 2020) The Ruby has seven times more of ammonium nitrate than found in this disaster, which killed 218 people
The NATO member state opted to invest more in the base following increasing tensions between the diplomatic mission and Russia regarding the conflict in Ukraine, which has now entered its third year.
Russia had previously accused NATO of involving itself in the conflict by supplying Ukraine with weapons and military aid.
Russian officials have often suggested they would possibly attack members of NATO as retaliation for helping Ukraine.
Ingrida Simonyte, the Prime Minister of Lithuania stated on September 12 that the Ruby would not be allowed to dock at Klaipeda for repairs, according to local media.
It is understood that the vessel remains of the coast of Margate for refuelling - outside of UK territorial waters - as it refuels and waits for appropriate weather conditions.
HM Coastguard is in regular contact with the vessel and is monitoring its progress.
MailOnline has approached Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for comment.
Music enthusiasts who prefer one-hit wonders over frequently-played radio hits can smile now National One-Hit Wonder Day is here.
Several X users have listed their favorite ones in honor of the day, most of which were released between the 1980s and 2010s.
Chart-topping hits like Gotye's 'Somebody I Used to Know' and Aqua's 'Barbie Girl' are just two of the many songs that were the top one-hit wonders.
However, some songs that were not mentioned were Los Del Rio's 'Macarena' and Vanilla Ice's 'Ice Ice Baby.'
Gotye's 'Somebody I Used to Know' was one of the most-talked about songs on X in honor of National One-Hit Wonder Day
Several X users have excitedly given opinions over what they believe is the best one-hit wonder all day
Several X users who are fans of eighties music insisted 'Take On Me' by A-ha was the best one-hit wonder out there.
The 1985 hit took home six out of eight MTV Video Music Awards in 1986, and its video was nominated for an American Music Award.
'One of my favorites is 'Take On Me' by a-ha. Though they had more success in Europe, this 1985 hit became iconic for its catchy tune and innovative music video,' an X user tweeted.
Another eighties song that's popular amongst X users is the 1982 hit 'Come On Eileen' by Dexys Midnight Runners.
Not only did it debut on the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but it was Great Britain's best-selling single of 1982.
Other eighties classics that multiple X users mentioned were '867-5309/Jenny' by Tommy Tutone, 'Mickey' by Toni Basil, and 'Don't You Forget About Me' by Simple Minds.
'Take On Me' by A-ha took home six out of eight MTV Video Music Awards in 1986
Happy National One-Hit Wonder Day!
What is one of your favorite one-hit wonders?
I'll start: Come on Eileen pic.twitter.com/3EXSt05FkX Jeff Whitmire (@JeffWhitmire1) September 25, 2024
Mickey by Toni Basil. Not even my generation, but this is one of the few songs I dance in public for pic.twitter.com/Suz72C8loq .*:masquerade:*. (@writer_at_dawn) September 25, 2024
Various X users were fans of A-ha, but they also mentioned Tommy Tutone, Toni Basil, and David Bowie
The 1990s were full of plenty one-hit wonders that have resurfaced over the years in media.
One song X users mentioned more than once was 'Return of the Mack' - the 1996 Mark Morrison hit that debuted in the top three of the Billboard Hot 100.
'Return of the Mack will be played today,' an X user wrote in response to a post created by Pop Base.
Another nineties tune that X users have mentioned several times is 'You Get What You Give,' which was New Radicals' most popular hit from their one and only 1998 studio album.
The group performed the song for the first time in over 20 years to celebrate the Inauguration of President Joe Biden, to which he said was his family's 'rallying theme song.'
'New Radicals' 'You Get What You Give' has finally displaced 'Walking on Sunshine' as my favorite 'one-hit wonder,'' tweeted an X user.
Other one-hit wonders of the nineties that social media raved about include 'Tubthumping' by Chumbawamba, 'Macarena' by Los Del Rio, and 'Barbie Girl' by Aqua.
The 1990s were full of plenty one-hit wonders that have resurfaced over the years in media.
New radicals - you get what you give pic.twitter.com/hNiOpF9eMN Gavin Owen (@gowenmedia) September 25, 2024
One song X users mentioned more than once was the 1996 one-hit wonder 'Return of the Mack'
The 2000s and 2010s are full of songs sung by Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, but music enthusiasts could still recite lyrics to one-hit wonders by Psy and Carly Rae Jepsen.
Psy's 'Gangnam Style' was an instant viral K-pop hit that took the US by storm in 2012, and at one point, it was the most viewed video on YouTube.
He also made numerous appearances, and with the help of MC Hammer, he made celebrities get up and dance to his 'Gangnam Style' performance at the American Music Awards.
'Saying PSY is a one hit wonder... You'll never understand the impact of that that and gentleman,' an X user tweeted.
Despite him only being a one-hit one in the US, he's still popular in Korea, and is considered one of the musicians who helped K-pop become more popular in America.
Carly Rae Jepsen was known for competing in Canadian Idol, and after she was praised by Justin Bieber, she released her number one hit 'Call Me Maybe' in 2011.
Not only was it the best-selling digital single worldwide in 2012, but it also spend nine weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100.
'Call Me Maybe was too big that she did not stand a chance,' an X user wrote.
Two popular one-hit wonders from the 2010s that X mentioned were 'Gangnam Style' by Psy and 'Call Me Maybe' by Carly Rae Jepsen
Despite there being hundreds of one-hit wonders to choose from, most X users have seemingly selected 'Somebody That I Used to Know' as the top pick.
'Anyone who isn't saying Gotye for Somebody That I Used To Know isn't picking a good choice,' tweeted a fan.
The song won Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 2013 Grammy Awards, and after its fame calmed down, Gotye left the spotlight.
'I always wondered what happened to Gotye. Bugger just disappeared into thin air after 'Now You're Just Somebody That I Used To Know,'' an X user wrote.
This is the hilarious moment a cyclist crashed into a cow while speeding down a mountain track in Austria.
German tourist Mike Burgbacher, 23, ploughed straight into the animal when it unexpectedly appeared in his path.
Despite trying to do an emergency stop, Mike was unable to avoid the crash but fortunately both he and the cow came off unscathed.
Mike said: 'My friend and I were riding down the track as usual when suddenly a cow was just standing right in front of us.
'My friend pushed the cow to the side, trying to stop me from hitting it, but I still ended up colliding with it.'
This is the hilarious moment a cyclist crashed into a cow while speeding down a mountain track in Austria
German tourist Mike Burgbacher, 23, ploughed straight into the animal when it unexpectedly appeared in his path
Despite trying to do an emergency stop, Mike was unable to avoid the crash but fortunately both he and the cow came off unscathed
Footage has recently emerged of the collision which happened on August 9, 2022, in Solden, Austria.
Mike continued: 'We stopped to check on the cow, but she just kept eating, completely unimpressed by what had happened.'
Mike and his friend then inspected their bikes and found no damage, though the close call left a lasting impression.
He said 'I've never had such a fall in my life, and I hope it never happens again.
'It's dangerous because these tracks are built for speed and jumps, and having cows wander onto them can be risky.'
Despite the incident, Mike was thrilled to be biking in Austria, which he describes as having 'many great bike parks, more than in Germany.'
Currently working as a tractor mechanic, Mike has aspirations to make biking his profession in the future.
Footage has recently emerged of the collision which happened on August 9, 2022, in Solden, Austria
Fortunately the cow came off unscathed in the collision and 'kept eating grass'
The mother of missing hiker Austin King has spoken about the final call from her 'ecstatic' son as he sat at the freezing summit of a Yellowstone mountain.
No-one has seen the 22-year-old since the he phoned mom Pandora King back home in Minnesota on September 17 after a solo climb of the 11,400-foot Eagle Peak in one of America's remotest spots.
He was due to return home to Winona within days after spending the summer working in the park, but friends said he had been talking about the mountain for 'weeks'.
His mother has joined his father Brian Henke in a hotel at the foot of the mountain as an army of rescuers, scour the slopes for signs of life amid six-foot snowdrifts.
'Every day they come back with you know, 'We're still looking. We're not giving up. We're still searching',' the 52-year-old said.
Austin, of Minnesota , is described 6 feet, 160lbs, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He was last seen wearing glasses, gray pants and a black sweatshirt. (Pictured: Austin in July 2023)
Austin's mother Pandora King said her son her son was days from coming home to Minnesota after a summer working in the national park
'This was the pinnacle of his summer because he had to go home in two weeks. So, this was it. This was the grand adventure.'
Austin had driven to the park in his 2006 Chevy Silverado and was planning a seven-day trip when he set out to conquer the mountain on September 14.
A boat dropped the fit young hiker at Terrace Point on a southern spur of Lake Yellowstone just under 10 miles from the mountain peak.
Two days later he was spotted by a backcountry ranger who spoke to him on the banks of Howell Creek as he skirted the foothills on his way to a cabin on the east of the mountain.
'He was headed to site 6D8 for the night and planned to climb Eagle Peak on Tuesday, September 17,' the National Park Service said in an alert.
But it was 7.30pm and darkness was falling before he finally reached the summit and took out his phone to break the news.
Among those he phoned was his oldest friend Desmond McGroarty, 22, who had also got a job in Yellowstone after following him from their home town.
'He was super ecstatic,' McGroarty told cowboystatedaily.com.
'He did say his hands were cold and stuff, but it sounded like he just didn't care, because he was so excited he made it to the top.'
Rescuers have reported snow drifts up to six feet deep as they search the 11,361-foot mountain
More than 85 rescuers from two national parks have been assisted by two helicopters, a search dog team, and an uncrewed aircraft
Austin's dad Brian Henke has also arrived to help with rescue efforts
The National Parks service released a map on Wednesday afternoon showing the extent of terrain covered by rescuers in the first three days of the search
But the excited climber also mentioned the 'fog, rain, sleet, hail and windy conditions' at the summit as he prepared to set out on his journey back down the slopes.
It was another three days before the alarm was raised when he failed to make a planned rendezvous with the boat on Lake Yellowstone.
And it was Saturday morning before a search team was dispatched to look for the climber who had last been heard from more than 80 hours earlier.
After failing to return to the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center on September 20, park officials started search and rescue efforts the following day.
They soon found where Austin had been camping to the east of the mountain with some of his supplies still in place.
But his sleeping bag was missing.
'I'm the one who told him to come out here,' his father told ktvq.com after arriving in Yellowstone.
'You know, I was like, 'You're 22. Go see the United States'.
'He took on something he was not prepared for.'
'That's why he moved to Yellowstone,' Pandora added. 'I mean he's been working out here all summer. 'He gets to live in his camper. He gets to hang out with his friends all night.'
But his parents can only watch as 85 rescuers from both Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks have set off each day to look for their son.
'The helicopters come and go every 15 minutes and that's kind of how I've timed my life - by every 15 minutes,' his mother said. 'Next helicopter, next helicopter, next helicopter.'
Austin King, 22, a concession employee at Yellowstone National Park, was last heard from on September 17 after venturing out on September 14
His oldest friend Desmond McGroarty, 22, said Austin had been talking about the mountain for weeks and was 'ecstatic' when he phoned him from the summit
Visitors to the park are being asked to look out for the missing man
Austin's grandfather, Richard King, has also posted updates on Facebook, urging family and friends to keep his grandson and family in their thoughts.
'Come on kid, show us where you are. 2 helicopters, 4 boats, a drone, 48 people on the ground and a dog are all out there,' he wrote.
Austin, who was last seen wearing glasses, gray pants and a black sweatshirt, has climbed mountains before and was competing in triathlons as recently as two years ago.
But McGroaty said his old kindergarten friend had 'never done' anything as challenging as Eagle Peak before.
'He showed everybody his plan (that) he wrote out on paper,' he added.
'He can be really determined on things he wants.'
A California woman was left appalled after finding out that Chase bank allowed dozens of strangers to be authorized users of her credit card - all without her knowledge.
Jodi Hayes, from Walnut Creek, was on a cruise ship vacation when she and her husband received an 'informed delivery' email from the U.S. Postal Service.
But the delivery was nothing she could've expected.
Thirty-five credit cards, all of which were in other people's names, showed up in her mail, ABC 7 reported.
Even worse - none of them were friends or family. They were names she had never even heard before. These 35 authorized users had the power to charge up to $19,000 on her card.
Jodi Hayes, from Walnut Creek, California, was shocked to find out on her vacation that 35 people had been added to her credit card as authorized users
Hayes called Chase bank while still on a cruise ship to ask what happened - but they didn't seem worried about the incident and attributed the mix-up to their systems glitching
They also had the ability to use the card and get up to $950 cash back.
'This fiasco ruined the end of our vacation,' Hayes told ABC 7.
Hayes and her husband were vacationing in August when they got the suspicious email, which prompted her to get in touch with Chase bank while still on the boat.
But she said Chase didn't seem too worried about the ordeal. In fact, according to her, they acted very normal toward the entire situation, attributing the mix-up to their systems.
'They were just very basic - oh okay yeah. Maybe it's some computer glitch. We'll stop it,' she added.
Chase also put her in touch with their fraud department who ended up calling her when she returned back from vacation.
Hayes assumed that the department would ask her more questions about the people who were now authorized under her own credit card. She even hoped that they would open an investigation into exactly what happened.
The authorized users that were under Hayes' credit card had the power to charge $19,000 on the card as well as use the card to get up to $950 cash back
Hayes ended up receiving applications from a slew of other banks - including Capital One, Discover and Citi Bank
But similar to Chase, the fraud department's response to the severity of the situation left her feeling unsatisfied at the way it was being handled.
They left her with zero explanation, telling her 'we'll take care of it, we'll send you a new card and a new number', Hayes added.
Frustrated by the companies responses, she called 7 On Your Side - an investigative branch of ABC News.
From there, Hayes was then put in touch with the United States Postal Inspection Service.
'My immediate reaction is that sounds like an identity fraud scheme,' said a U.S. Postal Inspector, Matthew Norfleet, to ABC 7.
'Search warrants, surveillance, grand jury subpoenas, those are all tools that we use to investigate fraud schemes big and small,' he added.
As recently as April of this year, National Public Data - which aggregates data to provide background checks - confirmed that it had suffered from a massive data breach involving Social Security numbers and a slew of other personal data on millions of Americans, according to USA Today.
News about the incident first came from a class action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
That's when it was discovered that 2.9 billion records were stolen from National Public Data - the records including names, addresses, Social Security numbers and even relatives dating back to at least three decades.
But the scheme was even bigger than it looked. It didn't end with just Chase.
Hayes received an application from almost every bank - including Capital One, Discover and Citi Bank, ABC 7 added.
Thankfully, all of the cards were denied due to not having enough credit history.
'All of these names are the same as some of the people on the credit cards they sent. A lot of repeated names. Brittany Jackson like four times,' Hayes added.
Chase got Hayes in touch with their fraud department, whose response also left her unsatisfied - she hoped for an investigation, but instead they said they'd send over a new card
When reading off the names of the authorized users on her own credit card, none of the names sounded familiar until applications kept appearing and names started to repeat
Luckily, Hayes had a lockbox on her mailbox - keeping her mail and personal documents less prone to crime and significantly more secure than those without - and informed delivery.
In a statement that was emailed to 7 On Your Side Investigates, a Chase spokesperson wrote: 'We monitor customer accounts for suspicious activity and promptly contact them if something unusual is detected.'
'In this instance, our vigilant customer alerted us first. We closed the unauthorized cards, issued a new account and card and apologized for the inconvenience caused during her vacation.'
As of now, Hayes froze her credit card.
But the worst part is that the perpetrators could be anywhere - overseas or even right next door.
U.S. Postal Inspector, Matthew Norfleet, said that the second he heard of the incident, it instantly sounded like an identity fraud scheme. Pictured: JPMorganChase world headquarters
Thankfully, Hayes has 'informed delivery alerts' - which lets you know when mail is heading your way - and a lockbox on her mailbox, but the scheme still ruined her vacation
'Once somebody's figured out a fraud scheme, they are going to do it as many times as they can,' Norfleet added.
He noted that using the mail to commit any type of fraud scheme is a crime - one that carries up to 20 years.
If Hayes never had a lock box and 'informed delivery' - an alert that lets you know when mail is heading your way - the outcome of the situation could've gone very differently.
The U.S. Postal Service recommends both of the safeguards and noted that while you're traveling, it's always safer to have mail held at the post office until you return home.
At the end of the day, no mailbox is safe from an attempted fraud scheme.
'I have good credit, but I've never seen anything like this ever,' Hayes added.
A devoted husband who was forced to sell the Porsche his wife gifted him to pay for her dementia care has told how he was ripped off by a ruthless car dealer.
Hans Claassen from Montrose, Colorado, claims he is owed $112,000 by CPR Classic, which currently has dozens of lawsuits filed against it, NBC reports.
The Fallbrook-based dealership allegedly took in his silver Porsche 911 and agreed on a sale price of $135,000.
Claassen says he was told by the dealership's owner Andrea Doherty that the buyer backed out so he has been left without his money - but also his car.
'They're not telling me anything,' he told NBC. 'They're not keeping me updated with what's going on.'
Devoted husband Hans Classen, who was forced to sell the Porsche his wife gifted him to pay for her dementia care, has told how he was ripped off by a ruthless car dealer
Classen turned to Mark MacHale, a volunteer who works with seniors who had helped him in the past.
'The lies just started to pack up and the excuses,' he said.
But he was able to persuade Doherty to being a $10,000 a month repayment plan but that this dried up after the first installation.
'I really thought I had done a good job for Hans and I was pretty happy. And to have it turn out to be a lie, you know, he's, he's pretty fragile,' MacHale said.
He explained that Doherty went as far as providing 'fake tracking numbers' during the back and forth.
Classen was gifted the car by his late wife Christine in the spring of 1970 after he used up all his savings to buy her engagement ring.
Claassen from Montrose, Colorado, was gifted the silver Porsche 911 in the spring of 1970
Classen, pictured with his late wife, says he handed the vehicle over but never received the proceeds of the sale
'She felt like she kind of owed me something for that,' he explained.
The couple used the vehicle for the next 50 years and it was imbued with a lot of fond memories.
'I really loved that car. I have a lot of memories attached to that car, trips that my wife and I had made together,' Classen said.
The widow fears he has now joined the ranks of dozens of other CPR Classic customers who say they have also been cheated out of money and who have filed lawsuits.
An NBC investigation estimates that the complaints claims customers are owed $11,745,106 in total.
He claims he is owed $112,000 by CPR Classic, which currently has dozens of lawsuits filed against it
Some have been filed by sellers who say they were never given the proceeds of their sale, while some came from buyers who say they paid for vehicles which they never received.
CPR Classic describes itself as, 'a one-stop resource for complete restoration of classic Porsches' with more than 40 years' experience, which offers 'a handful of classic and rare Porsches for sale'.
DailyMail.com has contacted CPR Classic for comment.
Russian soldiers wearied by fighting for Vladimir Putin are being shot at by their own snipers, while others are deliberately injuring themselves to leave the battlefield, one disillusioned fighter has revealed.
The frontline soldier, known only as 'Viktor', said morale among Russian troops has dropped to an all-time low and he is not alone in his sentiments.
His thoughts were conveyed in an intercepted message provided to I Want To Live, a project set up in 2022 by Ukraine's military intelligence, which helps Russian soldiers safely surrender, Kyiv Post reports.
He also said commanders had been known to abandon their units without food, water or means of communication.
In a message to his wife, Viktor wrote: 'Today someone tried to leave, and they were shot dead.
'A sniper is watching from the corner. There's no way through.
Russian soldiers wearied by fighting for Vladimir Putin are being shot at by their own snipers, while others are deliberately injuring themselves to leave the battlefield, one disillusioned fighter has revealed
One soldier claimed commanders had left their units without food, water or means of communication, while morale among troops had sunk to an all-time low
Thousands of Russian soldiers have contacted a Ukrainian project, I Want To Live, that helps Russian soldiers safely surrender, Ukraine's military intelligence has claimed
Sir Keir Starmer has blamed Putin for causing 'colossal human suffering' by launching an illegal invasion, including the deaths of 600,000 Russian soldiers
Russia is treating its own citizens as 'bits of meat to fling into the grinder' in Ukraine, Keir Starmer told the UN Security Council today
'Commanders bailed, so survive however you can... Nothing good here, I wish they'd kill me sooner, it's all f**ked up.'
He added that some soldiers have contemplated blowing themselves up with grenades so that they will be taken off the battlefield to recover in hospital, but - having anticipated this - Russia's military commanders are no longer evacuating the wounded.
In a previously intercepted call, a Russian commander was said to have threatened soldiers and his comrades with death if they refused to participate in an assault on the Kharkiv region.
Reports that Russian snipers are turning against their own troops have been circulating since the early months of the invasion, which began in February 2022.
Nine months into the conflict, UK government defence chiefs revealed that Putin would deploy special units to shoot his own military if they retreated from the war in Ukraine.
A shocking video shows Russian barrier troops appearing to shoot their fellow soldiers as they attempt to flee the field of battle
Britain's Ministry of Defence said Russia would deploy so-called 'blocking units' which 'threaten to shoot their own retreating soldiers in order to compel offensives'.
Stalin's Order No. 227: 'Not a step back!' During the first stages of the Second World War on the Eastern Front, the Soviet forces suffered from heavy losses - but also from mass retreat and desertion - as Nazi Germany advanced towards Moscow. In an attempt to counter this, on July 28, 1942, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin issued Order No. 227 - known for its famous line: 'Not a step back!'. The order commanded each front (or Soviet military formation) to create up to three penal battalions made up of 800 middle-ranking commanders and high-ranking commanders accused of disciplinary problems. These battalions were sent to the most dangerous sections on the frontlines. From 1942 to 1945, more than 422,000 Red Army personnel were sentenced to join penal battalions. The order also established 'blocking detachments' at the rear, tasked with shooting 'panic-mongers and cowards' within the Red Army's ranks. In the first three months, blocking detachments killed 1,000 penal troops and sent 24,000 more to penal battalions. Records from October 1942 show that 15,649 soldiers were picked up having fled the Stalingrad Front. Of these, 278 were shot dead. By October 1942, the idea of regular blocking detachments were quietly dropped by Soviet leadership. Advertisement
Stalin similarly used 'barrier troops' in the Second World War as part of his 'No One Turn Back' order.
Last June, shocking footage emerged of Russian 'barrier troops' appearing to shoot their fellow soldiers as they attempted to flee the field of battle.
Captured by a Ukrainian drone and posted to online messaging platform Telegram, the footage shows three Russian soldiers aiming weapons in the direction of at least seven comrades, and seemingly firing off rounds.
The latest revelations about the state of morale among Russian soldiers comes as military experts estimate some 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded during the Ukraine invasion.
In addition to this, more than 35,000 civilians have been killed or injured, six million forced to flee and almost 20,000 Ukrainian children forcefully deported - or 'kidnapped' as Sir Keir Starmer described it in a speech to the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
The PM gave a damning assessment of Vladimir Putin's actions as he demanded an 'end' to the war.
He pointed the finger at Moscow for causing 'colossal human suffering' by launching an illegal invasion.
Starmer said Russia, another permanent member of the Security Council, was also behind the 'greatest violation' of the UN charter 'in a generation'.
'I wonder how Russia can show its face in this building,' he added.
Sir Keir said: 'Russia's invasion of Ukraine is illegal. It threatens global security. And it has caused colossal human suffering.
'The UN Charter which they sit here to uphold speaks of human dignity. Not treating your own citizens as bits of meat to fling into the grinder,' he added.
Sir Keir said 'there must be accountability' to show that 'aggression cannot pay'.
'Russia started this illegal war. It must end it and get out of Ukraine,' he said.
Ukraine's territorial integrity 'must be the basis of any just and lasting peace', he added.
A police officer examines the debris of an apartment building destroyed during an airstrike in Kharkiv, on September 24
Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a shelling on a high-storey residential building in Kharkiv
Meanwhile Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was also in attendance, said his country is 'closer to the end of the war' with Russia after more than two and a half years since the invasion.
'I think that we are closer to the peace than we think,' he told ABC News on Monday. 'We are closer to the end of the war.'
The Ukrainian leader said that only from a 'strong position' can Ukraine push Russian President Vladimir Putin 'to stop the war'.
Ukraine has fought back defiantly, able to make significant gains in Russian territory in recent weeks, having endured daily strikes with allied support.
Zelensky arrived in the United States on Sunday for the UN General Assembly and urged continued support from the West in order to ensure 'a shared victory for a truly just peace'.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to grind down Ukraine's appetite for the fight and sap the West's support for Kyiv by drawing out the conflict.
Russian forces have been creeping forward on the battlefield this year, but the progress has been costly.
The UK Defence Ministry estimates more than 1,000 Russian troops are being killed or wounded each day.
Disheartening footage has shown Brian Laundrie's parents refusing to cooperate with police in their search for his then-missing girlfriend, Gabby Petito.
Gabrielle Petito, 22, never returned from her ill-fated 'trip of a lifetime' three years ago as her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, 23, beat and strangled her to death on their cross-country trip.
He left her body in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, while he returned to North Port, Florida alone.
Newly surfaced police footage showed North Port police at Laundrie's Florida home - the night Petito's mother, Nicole Schmidt, reported her missing - asking for cooperation in their search for the woman.
When officers knocked on the dimly-lit Laundrie home on the evening of September 11, 2021, Laundrie's parents, Christopher and Roberta, can be seen suspiciously opening their front door, standing in the doorway enough to block the view of the home's interior.
Newly surfaced police footage shows North Port police at Brian Laundrie's Florida home asking for cooperation from parents, Christopher and Roberta, in their search Gabby Petito in 2021
Gabrielle Petito, 22, never returned from her ill-fated 'trip of a lifetime' as her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, 23, beat and strangled her to death on their cross-country road trip in 2021
When officers knocked on the dimly-lit home on the evening of September 11, Laundrie's parents, Christopher and Roberta, can be seen suspiciously opening their front door, standing in the doorway enough to block the view of the home's interior. Pictured: Christopher and Roberta Laundrie
'I'm not talking to anyone,' Christopher said after police revealed they had a New York detective on the phone.
Following repeated attempts by the North Port officers, Christopher insisted he did not want to talk.
The footage shows Christopher dressed in a sleeveless shirt while his wife, Roberta, stands in his shadow blocking the narrow sliver of open doorway before the officer asked: 'When was the last time you saw Brian and Gabrielle?'
Stuttering over his words, Christopher revealed that Brian was inside their North Port home and 'that's all I'm going to say.'
Christopher proceeded to tell the officer that he has an attorney and police can contact him, before he slipped inside to gather the contact information.
Never opening the door more than a sliver, Christopher hands the officer a post-it sized note allegedly with Laundrie's attorney's contact information before angrily confirming with officers that Petito was not inside the home with Laundrie.
'No, no, she's not here,' he said before agitatedly explaining someone was questioning him the night before on Petito's whereabouts.
Christopher told the officer that he has an attorney and police can contact him, before he slipped inside to gather the contact information
Before leaving the Laundrie home that evening, the officer inquired about the lone-white van in the driveway, registered only to Petito. Pictured: Gabby Petito
Following the confrontation the officer explains the van is solely registered to Petito and that he is arranging for a tow to come pick up the vehicle. Pictured: Petito's cross-country van being towed by North Port Police
Before leaving the home, the officer inquired about the lone-white van in the driveway, registered only to Petito.
'Is this her vehicle? Her van?' the officer questioned.
Christopher said as he walked inside: 'It's... it's both of them.'
While deliberating with the on-phone detective outside the Laundrie's home, the officer shares that the family 'is tired of being harassed and being called by the [Petito] family.'
The detective then divulged additional information of a story provided by Laundrie's sister, Cassie, placing him on a flight back from Wyoming - where he left Petito - though the van they were traveling in together was parked in the Florida driveway.
She shared with the officer that Petito's phone has been off for 10 days and that her family has not had 'any contact with her whatsoever' since.
About 45 minutes after their first encounter, the officer revisited the Laundrie doorstep attempting to appeal to their sympathetic side pleading: 'I'm trying to figure something out for her parents. You guys, as parents, all they want to know is that their daughter, that she's safe.'
'We don't know anything,' Christopher replied as Roberta stand behind him, silent.
The officer pleaded for more help and information regarding the last time Laundrie saw Petito, further asking to speak with Laundrie himself.
Authorities say after Laundrie bludgeoned and strangled his then-girlfriend, he left her body in the Bridger-Teton National Forest and drove home to his parents' house in North Port using her van and debit card
'This nightmare never ends,' Schmidt told Fox News Digital today, just over three years after her daughter's remains were found
Petito, of Blue Point, New York, had last been seen alive at a grocery store with Laundrie in Jackson, Wyoming on August 28, 2021
Talking firmly and with his hands, Christopher told the officer Laundrie would not talk to him or to anybody.
Questioning the oddity that was the Laundrie couple's behavior, the officer pleaded again trying to extract any information possible.
Laundrie's father told the officer and detective he has been conferring with to call his attorney and 'that's that.'
Following the confrontation the officer explained the van was solely registered to Petito and that he was arranging for a tow to come pick up the vehicle.
'This nightmare never ends,' Schmidt told Fox News Digital today, just over three years after her daughter's remains were found.
Authorities say after Laundrie bludgeoned and strangled his then-girlfriend, he left her body in the Bridger-Teton National Forest and drove home to his parents' house in North Port using her van and debit card.
Petito, of Blue Point, New York, had last been seen alive at a grocery store in Jackson, Wyoming on August 28, 2021.
An assortment of long-lost luxury cars were dug up after more than four decades of sitting in an unsuspecting California junkyard.
Now, these vintage treasures are worth millions and are going up for auction in late October. This auction is expected to bring in millions, according to the RM Sotheby's website.
Some of the vehicles for sale will include three restorable Lamborghini Miuras, which is considered the first ever supercar, which are collectively worth roughly $2million.
This extensive collection - over 566 cars and parts - belonged to a German man named Rudi Klein, who immigrated to Los Angeles in the 1950s.
He worked as a butcher for some time, but his true calling was collecting classic European cars, according to Wheelz.
A 1968 Lamborghini Miura is one of three of these iconic models that will be auctioned off
A 1967 red Lamborghini Miura is listed at $450,000
There are over 566 cars and parts are will be auctioned live and online from October 26 to October 28
Klein opened his iconic junkyard, Porsche Foreign Auto, in 1967. He then started to grow his exotic array of vehicles.
Magneto described the junkyard as 'a place of mystery, an enigma' because it was an unsuspecting place to keep the hidden treasures.
From the outside looking in, the junkyard was rundown with steel fencing and razor wire on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
But the inside of the yard was a different story, with luxury cars from manufactures Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini.
This auction is expected to bring in millions of dollars, based on the RM Sotheby's website
The collection was never made public, even after Klein died in 2001
While running the scrapyard, Klein never made his exclusive collection public - only a few people were ever let inside.
The car collector died in 2001, but his family made sure to keep his collection completely untampered with.
The auction will be the first time the public will be able to see or purchase any of the cars.
Car auction company RM Sotheby's will be hosting a live auction titled 'The Junkyard: The Rudi Klein Collection' on October 26, where 208 lots will be up for bidding.
A 1939 Maybach SW38 'Ponton-Sport' Cabriolet is listed at $150,000
While Klein was alive, he operated his scrapyard as usual, but hardly ever let anyone see the collection of cars he had
An additional 358 lots will be sold online from October 26 to October 28.
One gem of the assortment is lot three, a 1968 Miura P400 believed to have belonged to engineer and test driver Claudio Zampolli. He went on to make the Cizeta supercar.
A 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL 'Alloy' Gullwing is expected to be sold for $6million. A 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400 will sell at an anticipated $700,000.
From the outside, Rudi Klein's junkyard looked like an unsuspecting place to hold such luxury cars
Vintage pieces of cars are also for sale. For instance, a 1970 Lamborghini Miura S Engine with Parts is listed at $125,000.
Cary Ahl, a car specialist at RM Sotheby's, told Robb Report: 'Each car will necessitate a courageous collector prepared for a comprehensive restoration.
'But the rewards for bringing these incredible supercars back to their former glory is immense.'
Students at the University of Notre Dame appear more willing to support former President Donald Trump according to a shocking new poll.
The Irish Rover surveyed 705 likely student voters between September 15 and September 18 soliciting their choice for president.
The poll showed that 47.6 percent of students favored Trump for president while 45.9 percent favored Kamala Harris.
The results shows that 5.5 percent of students chose a candidate whose name was not included in the poll and only four votes for Green Party's Jill Stein and two votes for Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver.
Students at the University of Notre Dame may be more supportive of former President Donald Trump according to a new poll
The polling results mark a surprising shift toward Trump despite a long over 12-year history of a majority of Notre Dame students preferring the Democratic nominee for president.
A 2020 Notre Dame Student Government mock election results showed that 66 percent of students favored Joe Biden for president while only 29 percent preferred Trump.
A 2016 mock election showed that 59 percent favored Hillary Clinton and only 24 percent selected Trump.
The poll demonstrated a gender divide among the student body between those supporting Trump versus Harris.
Fifty-seven percent of men chose Trump while 35 percent of men chose Harris. Likewise, 57 percent of women on campus supported Harris with only 38 percent supporting Trump.
Harris needs support from Catholic voters if she is going to win important swing states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
The poll of students at Notre Dame is different than slightly different than polls of American Catholic voters overall.
An EWTN/RealClearPolitics poll of Catholic voters showed that 50 percent of Catholic voters plan to support Kamala Harris for President, while 43 percent support Trump.
The poll featuring 1,000 Catholic voters was conducted August 28-30, 2024 with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.
Police Scotland have been forced into a humiliating U-turn and finally confirmed male rapists will not be allowed to self-identify as woman.
The under-fire force told MSPs they should be absolutely assured that a man who commits rape or serious sexual assault will always be recorded as male.
It had previously sparked outrage when it told a Holyrood committee that the sex or gender identification of anyone who comes into contact with the force would be based on how they present or how they self-declare.
Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs also told the criminal justice committee on Wednesday that DNA samples are taken from those charged with or convicted of serious sexual assaults which determine their biological sex.
He said: A point was raised during First Ministers Questions on 12th September which suggests a male rapist can demand to be called a woman and further traumatise his victim - this would not happen.
Police Scotland has been criticised in the wake of high-profile cases including that of Adam Graham, who began identifying as Isla Bryson while waiting to stand trial accused of two rapes
The committee should be absolutely assured that a man who commits rape or serious sexual assaults will be recorded as a male.
There is no instance or record on police systems of a male having been arrested and charged with rape whose gender has been recorded as female. This has not happened.
Campaigners yesterday welcomed the clarification on Police Scotlands approach to gender self-ID.
Lucy Hunter Blackburn of the Murray Blackburn Mackenzie (MBM) think-tank, said: This is a major U-turn by Police Scotland. We welcome that Police Scotland has at last recognised that allowing sex offenders to self-identify their sex is indefensible.
It is, however, an extraordinary act of institutional gaslighting to pretend that this is not a significant policy change from their position over almost five years.
The controversial policy under Chief Constable Jo Farrell had come in for criticism
Over that period, Police Scotland has persistently and vigorously defended the use of self-ID for recording the sex of all offenders, including sex offenders, as being in line with its values.
Feminist writer Julie Bindel said: Police Scotland were strongly criticised for telling MSPs that allowing rapists and rape suspects to declare their own sex fosters a strong sense of belonging. This is both beyond offensive, and beyond belief.
Rape is an underreported and barely convicted crime across the UK. The idea that police should pretend that rapists are really women is not just an abject act of appeasement designed to keep trans activists happy it is an insult to the victims of rape.
Police Scotland said in its letter to the criminal justice committee that it established an operational policing position on the issue in 2019 in the absence of direction.
The position states that it requires no evidence or certification as proof of biological sex or gender identity other than a persons self-declaration.
Feminist writer Julie Bindel was astounded when police said allowing rapists and rape suspects to declare their own sex fosters a strong sense of belonging"
But it goes on to state that this approach is taken unless it is pertinent to any investigation with which they are linked as a victim, witness or accused and it is evidentially critical that we legally require this proof, or there is reason for further enquiry based on risk.
DCC Speirs said: By way of further reassurance, as it relates to individuals charged with, or convicted of serious sexual assaults, Police Scotland obtain DNA samples from individuals accused of serious sexual assaults and from this sample a DNA profile will be obtained that will determine the persons biological sex.
This profile, and biological sex, is retained on the Scottish DNA Database and is available to be searched against crime scene samples to aid historic and future investigations.
The controversy over the Police Scotland approach came in the wake of high-profile cases including that of Adam Graham, who began identifying as Isla Bryson while waiting to stand trial accused of two rapes.
Bryson was convicted of rape in February 2023 and jailed for eight years, initially being sent to the all-female Cornton Vale prison outside Stirling, before being transferred to a male prison after the case sparked public uproar.
Police Scotland had originally written to the committee after MBM lodged a petition calling on the SNP government to require Police Scotland, the Crown Office and the courts to accurately record the sex of people charged or convicted of sexual offences. The think-tank said allowing male sex offenders to self-declare as female would lead to skewed data.
Police Scotland previously told MSPs that allowing people to self-identify their gender was consistent with the values of the organisation and the values of respect, integrity, fairness and human rights whilst promoting a strong sense of belonging.
In 2023, Police Scotland stated publicly that a woman could be recorded as having committed rape, which under Scots law requires a penis, if they held a gender recognition certificate or if an officer was satisfied the individual presents as female.
At First Ministers Questions earlier this month, John Swinney claimed that he was powerless to prevent police from allowing rapists to identify as women.
Scottish Conservative MSP Rachael Hamilton said: Despite the deputy chief constables protestations, this announcement does appear to represent a significant change in policy from Police Scotland.
The Isla Bryson scandal exposed the dangerous way in which the SNPs flawed gender self-ID policy could be exploited. It enabled a predatory male-bodied criminal to access a womens prison and led this rapist to be described as her in government briefings.
The self-ID policy, which the Scottish Conservatives were the only party to oppose, has become rooted in numerous Scottish Government bodies in recent years.
We need to know that this belated victory for common sense will now be embedded in Police Scotland, the wider justice system, and indeed all public bodies. The safety and protection of women and the safeguarding of single-sex spaces must always come first.
A Louisiana pastor and ex-Survivor contestant who claims to 'protect the innocence of children in schools' has been convicted of juvenile cruelty.
John Raymond, 62, the lead minister of New Horizon Church in Slidell and the founder and headmaster of Lakeside Christian Academy, was found guilty after a six-day jury trial.
The Republican church leader who was hoping to win a seat in St. Tammany Parish had taped the mouths of three 13-year-old students to punish them at the Academy.
Raymond was a contestant on the fifth season of Survivor, set in Thailand back in 2002. He was the first contestant voted off the island.
He will be sentenced on October 23 and his bond is set at $100,000.
John Raymond, 62, the lead minister of New Horizon Church in Slidell and the founder and headmaster of Lakeside Christian Academy, was found guilty of juvenile cruelty
The Republican church leader who was hoping to win a seat in St. Tammany Parish had taped the mouths of three 13-year-old students to punish them at the Academy
In a public statement, he said that he was dealing with a troublesome group of middle school students who chose to have their mouths taped rather than be suspended.
While he pleaded his innocence and claimed he 'loves children', numerous incidents of abuse have emerged during the trial.
According to Law and Crime, in one such incident Raymond covered the mouth and nose of a four-year-old pre-K student who was known for sitting on the ground while kicking and screaming during 'tantrums' to prevent him from breathing.
Officials stated that he suffocated the boy to the point of him going 'limp' and only stopped when a staff member intervened.
The employee reportedly told detectives the child had mucus coming out of his nose, was unable to stand up and seemed 'out of it and lethargic.'
After this instance emerged, he also faced a second-degree child cruelty charge.
Raymond was a contestant on the fifth season of Survivor, set in Thailand back in 2002
The abuser is an elected member of the Republican Parish Executive Committee and currently serves on the Republican State Central Committee
The abuser is pictured here with his wife, Elizabeth Raymond. He will be sentenced on October 23 and his bond is set at $100,000
In another such incident, Raymond dragged the four-year-old across the floor 'by his ankles' and held him upside down and 'whipped him on the buttocks,' officers said.
Northshore District Attorney Collin Sims who prosecuted the case said after the verdict: I'm glad that the victims obtained justice. The law is the law and, at the end of the day, you cant put your hands on kids that arent yours without a parents permission.'
Assistant District Attorney Christina Fisher also added: 'It was a pastors duty to counsel, not suffocate, the child.'
The abuser is an elected member of the Republican Parish Executive Committee and currently serves on the Republican State Central Committee, according to NOLA.
In the dystopian world of gender ideology we currently inhabit, there is at last some good news or at least what is actually a reversal of some very bad police practice: Police Scotland has just performed a major about-turn on its previous policy of recording the gender identity of rapists, rather than their biological sex.
Since rape can only ever be committed by a person with a penis (otherwise known as a male), it never should have been complicated.
This reverse ferret is being presented as though it is not a momentous change in policy. But it is.
Time and again over the past five years, Police Scotland has defended the use of self-identification for recording the sex of all offenders, rapists included, because this was in line with its values.
Feminist writer Julie Bindell is happy Police Scotland has finally seen sense over the gender of rapists
You may recall the case of double rapist Adam Graham, who, whilst awaiting trial after his arrest, changed his name to Isla Bryson and began identifying as female.
Apparently, Police Scotland had discussed the possibility of recording Bryson as female once released. How they can say this isnt a policy shift, I do not know. There are other cases, and data has been skewed.
A statement from policy analysts Murray, Blackburn McKenzie (MBM) reads, We welcome that Police Scotland has at last recognised that allowing sex offenders to self-identify their sex is indefensible.
It is, however, an extraordinary act of institutional gaslighting to pretend that this is not a significant policy change from their position over almost 5 years. Too right!
Just a few days ago, Labour MSP Pauline McNeill asked John Swinney whether he agreed that male rapists should not get their own way in being allowed to self-identify as women.
Swinney appeared to take offence at use of the word male to refer to trans-identified men, telling parliament he has no power to intervene in Police Scotland policies.
The question was asked after MBM lodged a petition calling on the SNP government to require Police Scotland, the Crown Office and the courts to accurately record the sex of those charged or convicted of sexual offences.
Adam Graham raped two women as a man but changed his name to Isla Bryson and began identifying as a female while awaiting trial
Swinney maintained he would not interfere in police decisions, and refused to accept MBMs accusation that it makes a mockery of the governments violence against women strategy if violent male offenders can present as women.
At no point did he question whether or not this was Police Scotland policy.
Some members of the public choose to turn away from the Isla Bryson scandal because they could never imagine themselves or their loved ones in prison yet surely, we can all imagine the terrible impact on a woman or girl who has been raped of having to refer to her attacker in court as she.
Whilst Police Scotland say there is no case of someone being arrested and charged with rape being recorded as female on police systems, we know that some men suspected of, or arrested for, rape have been recorded as female.
In 2023, Police Scotland stated that a woman could be recorded as having committed rape (which under the Scottish law requires a penis) if that man either holds a Gender Recognition Certificate or an officer was satisfied the individual presents as female.
Earlier this month, Police Scotland were strongly criticised for telling MSPs that allowing rapists and rape suspects to declare their own sex fosters a strong sense of belonging. This is both beyond offensive, and beyond belief.
Were it not for the outrageous self-identification policy promoted by Nicola Sturgeons government, this would never have been allowed to happen.
Isla Bryson would never have been sent to womens prison if transactivists hadnt got hold of Holyrood.
Rape is an underreported and barely convicted crime across the UK.
The idea that police should pretend that rapists are really women is not just an abject act of appeasement designed to keep trans activists happy it is an insult to the victims of rape.
I have been involved in campaigning to end all forms of sexual and domestic violence against women and girls for more than 40 years.
Mens rights activists have always been there, attempting to distort crime figures with false claims that men are targeted by domestic violence as much as women; that women are as likely to abuse children as are men, and so on.
Feminists like me have always had to fight back against the misogynistic resistance to what we are saying namely, that the abuse of women by men is prevalent.
And whenever we suggest that these men should be punished and imprisoned for their crimes, there has always been pushback.
Trans ideology is just more of the same mens rights activism, although unfortunately, swathes of liberals, and whole institutions, have become convinced it is a just cause.
Perhaps these scandalous facts about Police Scotland recording even rapists according to their chosen gender identity will shock people who have until now remained complacent into speaking out about it.
Women are already worn down, exhausted, by having to live with everyday acts of male violence including murders, stalking, sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Do we really also have to deal with transgender ideology?
The time is coming when it will be acknowledged yes, even by some of those who have been knee-deep in promoting this crazed ideology that this set of beliefs has been one of the maddest, and most damaging, in decades.
Veteran broadcaster Andrew Marr has condemned the ridiculous proliferation of Gaelic signs throughout Scotland.
The former BBC presenter launched into a rant against bilingual place names singling out Edinburghs Haymarket.
The railway station has had signs declaring it to be Margadh an Fheoir, which literally means market of hay, since 2010.
Mr Marr, speaking at an event at the Labour conference in Liverpool, also attacked Scottish exceptionalism as one of the most offensive loads of tripe in modern politics.
He fumed at the Scottish Nationalist view that if youre Scottish, youre a better person; because youre Scottish, youre more innately liberal; because youre Scottish, youre more progressive.
Veteran broadcaster Andrew Marr has strong views on Gaelic language signs
The SNPs 2021 Holyrood manifesto said independence would see a Scotland based on fairness, equality, compassion, security, happiness and love.
The veteran Glasgow-born journalist, who now works for LBC and Classic FM, was hosting an In Conversation event with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
After an audience member asked him about promoting the Welsh language, Mr Sarwar mentioned Gaelic and Mr Marr intervened.
He said: Perhaps I disagree totally with Anas here, I dont know.
I find it equally offensive that all sorts of parts of Scotland, which have never been Gaelic, have never had Scots spoken.
Why does Haymarket have to have the Gaelic for Haymarket under it? Its ridiculous.
The Scots are made up of many different peoples historically.
Many different groups of people have come to Scotland and they brought different languages and I think we should let languages rest and prosper where they come from.
He said that would let the Gaidhealtachd, the traditional Gaelic-speaking Highlands and Islands, remain the Gaidhealtachd, and likewise for the English-speaking parts.
Andrew Marr believes bilingual signs belong to areas which traditionally are bilingual - but not in the English-speaking parts
Mr Sarwar then cut him off to ask if Torcuil Crichton, the Gaelic speaking Labour MP for the Western Isles, was in the room.
I sincerely hope not, said Mr Marr, as Mr Sarwar joked he would not appreciate the one-man protest from the broadcaster.
The 2022 census found there were just 58,000 Gaelic speakers in Scotland - 1.1 per cent of the population - and half live in the Western Isles.
The last monolingual Gaelic speakers died out around half a century ago.
Mr Sarwar said he did not take the Andrew Marr view, but did accuse the Scottish Government of using Gaelic signs as symbolism for a Nationalist message.
He criticised the Scottish Governments Gaelic language strategy for being rooted around signs and symbolism rather than economic opportunity and outcomes.
Gaelic heritage should be pitched at global Scots to boost tourism and investment, he said.
It feels like when it comes to language, when it comes to culture and the arts, the Government treats it as a nice-to-have add-on or symbolism for a Nationalist message rather than an economic message we can leverage in to deliver more positive outcomes for communities, particularly for island communities and island communities.
Mr Marr, 65, who in the past described himself as a mad Leftie when young, concluded by appearing to endorse Mr Sarwars bid to become First Minister.
Wrapping up the hour-long session: Wouldnt it be great to imagine Scotland with a proper grown-up First Minister? It wont be that long.
Mr Sarwar revealed his father, former Labour MP Mohammad Sarwar, didnt speak to him for six months after he told him early in his career that he didnt want to follow him into politics.
There is no legal duty to install bilingual road signs, although many councils erect them.
Transport Scotland also spent 2million on new bilingual signs on the A82 and other trunk roads connecting to Gaelic-speaking communities between 2002 and 2010.
The SNP Government has also insisted on bilingual signs for the A9.
A doctor who drove exceptionally slowly on one of Scotlands busiest trunk roads has avoided a ban.
Ayodeji Alabede was allowed to dodge a driving ban after telling a court he was driving carelessly because he was tired at the end of a 12-hour shift.
The doctor - who was not qualified to drive in the UK - was spotted doing just 16mph on the A90 dual carriageway linking Perth and Dundee.
His Vauxhall Corsa was spotted crawling along the centre of the road, straddling both lanes, as well as veering from side to side and striking the roadside kerb.
Police officers spotted the 54-year-old with a queue of traffic forming behind him while he drove at between 16 and 32mph on December 18, 2023. The road has a 70mph limit.
Dr Ayodeji Alabede was shown mercy by a sheriff for driving too slowly after a long shift left him tired
At Perth Sheriff Court, the paediatrician, of Dundee, admitted driving carelessly on the dual carriageway near Glendoick.
He admitted driving at excessively low speed, driving down the centre of two lanes, across centre line markings, mounting the nearside kerb and drifting across lanes and striking the offside kerb.
He also admitted being a provisional driver without a qualified driver or L plates.
Fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson told the court: This was at 7pm and officers on patrol were on their way back to the station when their attention was drawn to the accuseds vehicle.
They pulled the vehicle over. The accused co-operated with the police procedure and stated that he was very, very tired.
He passed a roadside breath test.
She told the court Alabede expressed shock and surprise to the police when it was pointed out to him that his Nigerian licence was not valid in Scotland.
Solicitor Steve Lafferty, defending, said: He is a doctor. He is working and undertaking training as his specialist interest is paediatrics.
His wife is a student and he came over to join her in July 2023. He was essentially looking after their daughter. He is keen to obtain a visa and register with the GMC to become a paediatrician here.
He obtained a car and had obtained advice from friends and thought his international driving licence from Nigeria would cover him.
He had been working 12-hour shifts and was tired and was looking to come into a lay-by. It was not a good standard of driving, but it is not indicative of his normal standard. Its quite bad driving - he accepts that.
Sheriff Garry Sutherland imposed five penalty points and fined Alabede 600.
He said: Ive listened carefully to whats been said and understand your explanation as to how the offences occurred.
A DOCTOR took her own life in a psychiatric ward despite clear evidence being given to nursing staff that she was planning to commit suicide, her grieving son has said.
Dr Sara MacRae died at the Royal Edinburgh psychiatric hospital shortly after her son Christopher had found evidence of her intentions in her room and alerted staff.
He said the nurse promised to search her room and confiscate anything that posed a risk but she was able to use an item to end her life.
Dr MacRae, a former psychiatrist who had battled mental illness since the 1990s, had been assessed as high risk for attempting suicide the year before her death in March 2020.
NHS Lothian has now apologised to the family of the 55-year-old and the circumstances are being investigated at a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
Christopher MacRae with his mum Dr Sara MacRae, who took her own life at the Royal Edinburgh psychiatric hospital in March 2020
Her son, now 30, has described her as his absolute world and has spoken out about how he raised his concerns for her well-being on his last visit to her in the hospital, when she showed him an item which could be used in a suicide attempt.
Among her last words to him were Please dont leave me, I dont want to die alone, he said.
He told the BBC: To me, it seemed like if something wasnt done about that I was going to lose her.
It never happened. My mum would in likelihood still be with us today if he had cleared her room and looked for any similar objects because, as it turned out, there was a prominent similar object in her room.
Mr MacRae added: My family has been left in the dark for over four years waiting to find out what actually happened on that day.
What I do know was that I handed this object to someone and there was no doubt she planned to use this object to take her life. I trusted him to protect my mum, to do the right thing and take care of her - and he didnt.
I took my mum there because I thought that was going to be the place where she was going to be saved and the day she died she was more unwell than on the day she went in.
Dr MacRae had been an inpatient for six weeks and on the day she died had been unable to assure her son she would survive the night.
He added: She reached a point where she felt she could no longer fight, she told me she was considering taking her own life.
For 26 years she always said: Dont worry Ill be here tomorrow, Ill just get through the night.
This was the first time she had said no, I cant promise Ill see you tomorrow - and that was the hardest thing Ive ever heard.
The FAI has heard evidence from the nurse who Mr MacRae spoke to, who said he took the object from him and went into the staff room where he shared what he had been told.
He admitted it was an error of judgement not to have taken the warning more seriously and that he should have searched Dr MacRaes room.
It has also emerged that a safety briefing for staff working on the night of Dr MacRaes death was not completed until four weeks later.
Staff on the ward were also unaware that she had made previous similar attempts to take her life.
A serious adverse event review (SAER) was carried out by NHS Lothian and found nothing to say Mr MacRaes evidence or concerns had been formally recorded or shared verbally.
Mr MacRae has also paid tribute to his mother, who brought him up alone despite having suffered a childhood trauma and bouts of depression and psychosis.
He said: She was the kindest and most caring person Ive ever known, who put absolutely everything into bringing me up and being the best mother she could be. She was and is my absolute world, and shell be forever missed.
Ive always felt shes been a forgotten member of society, as is the case with so many people suffering from mental health issues.
She is free now, and her journey has come to an end, but her fight is nowhere close to finished. She often asked me to carry on her fight if she ever died.
Dr Tracey Gillies, medical director at NHS Lothian said: It would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing legal process, but we extend our sincere condolences to Christopher and his family.
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a branch or go to www.samaritans.org.
A Texas cop has been convicted for killing a couple during a controversial 'no-knock' drug raid.
Gerald Goines was found guilty of two counts of murder in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his wife Rhogena Nicholas, 58.
The couple, along with their dog, were fatally shot after officers burst into their home using a 'no-knock' warrant that didn't require them to announce themselves before entering.
Goines lied to obtain the raid warrant by claiming a confidential informant had bought heroin from the couple's Houston home before later changing his story.
The probe into the drug raid also uncovered allegations of systemic corruption, with a dozen officers tied to the narcotics squad that carried out the raid later indicted on other charges.
Texas cop Gerald Goines has been convicted for killing a couple during a controversial 'no-knock' drug raid
During the raid, US Navy veteran Tuttle exchanged gunfire with the raiding police, who fatally shot him and his wife, and also killed their pet pit bull.
Goines later said there was no informant and he had bought the drugs himself. Police found small amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the house, but no heroin.
Goines, once a respected Houston officer, has been accused of making bogus drugs arrests after investigators looked into the deadly 2019 incident.
His casework came under intense scrutiny and as a result, more than 160 of his convictions - mostly drug related - have been dismissed.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned at least 22 convictions linked to Goines, who also faces federal charges.
One of the other cases tied to Goines that remains under scrutiny is his 2004 drug arrest in Houston of George Floyd, whose 2020 death at the hands of a Minnesota police officer sparked a nationwide reckoning on racism in policing.
A Texas board in 2022 declined a request that Floyd be granted a posthumous pardon for his drug conviction stemming from his arrest by Goines.
Goines was found guilty of two counts of murder in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his wife Rhogena Nicholas, 58
He faces life in prison with his sentence decided by the same jury which convicted him
During the trial - which began on September 9 - prosecutors presented testimony and evidence they said showed Goines lied to get a search warrant that falsely portrayed the couple as dangerous drug dealers
Goines faces up to life in prison. The same jury that convicted him will also decide his sentence after hearing additional testimony and evidence during the trials punishment phase, which is set to begin Thursday.
During the trial - which began on September 9 - prosecutors presented testimony and evidence they said showed Goines lied to get a search warrant that falsely portrayed the couple as dangerous drug dealers.
During closing arguments in the trial, prosecutor Keaton Forcht said Goines' actions wrongly led officers to the couple's home, resulting in a violent confrontation in which also saw four officers shot and wounded and a fifth injured.
Goines' lawyers acknowledged the ex-officer lied to get the search warrant but minimized the impact of his false statements.
They said his actions did not merit a murder conviction and he had been overcharged.
The couple, along with their dog, were fatally shot after officers burst into their home using a 'no-knock' warrant that didn't require them to announce themselves before entering
The couple's Houston home on Harding Street which was shot up during the road
Officers announced themselves as Houston Police before entering, but as they opened the front door but said they came under fire
Nicole DeBorde, one of Goines attorneys, portrayed the couple as armed drug users and said they were responsible for their own deaths because they fired at officers who entered their home.
Tuttle and Nicholas' families have filed federal civil lawsuits against Goines and 12 other officers involved in the raid and the city of Houston which are set to be tried in November.
This is a breaking news story, please check back for updates...
Sharon Graham, leader of the Unite union, was only given a couple of minutes for her speech but that was enough. Short, shouty Sharon doesn't need a long runway. Her oratory has the explosive acceleration of an aircraft-carrier fighter jet.
It was the last morning of Labour's conference and a few delegates had overdone it in the disco the previous night. Sore heads prevailed even before Ms Graham blasted forth her high-decibel speech. She may be petite but there is cutting power in that voice. Sharp as a butcher's cimeter.
'Solidarity!' she hollered. Jeepers that stung. Ms Graham complained about Sir Keir Starmer's winter fuel payments cut. Her speech evoked the radicalism of Clement Attlee and denounced Sir Keir's arguments as 'absolute rubbish!'
Some delegates whooped. Others continued to flinch as her voice sawed into their hangovers.
When she said 'solidarity' she punched a clenched left hand in the air. Union delegates, all dressed in short-sleeved black polo shirts, leapt to their feet, cheering and smacking their palms in defiant applause. Having extracted billions from the Starmer government in public-sector pay rises, the unions were now furious that spending elsewhere was having to be trimmed.
Sharon Graham, leader of the Unite union, was only given a couple of minutes for her speech but that was enough, writes Quentin Letts
Short, shouty Sharon doesn't need a long runway. Her oratory has the explosive acceleration of an aircraft-carrier fighter jet
'Solidarity!' she hollered. Ms Graham complained about Sir Keir Starmer's winter fuel payments cut
Was some of the anger perhaps a little performative? The unions are canny enough to see that a little tension between them and ministers will dilute accusations that they have Sir Keir by the sausage-skin and that they intend to take him for several billion more.
The debate was not all in one direction. Maggie Cosin, a Labour councillor from Dover, announced that she was prosperous enough not to need the 200 she was sent every year for winter fuel. She claimed that she always spent it on supplies for her local food bank. Halo for Maggie, please.
This debate on winter fuel payments should have been held on Monday but the conference agenda committee fixed that problem. In recent days it has repeatedly been alleged that 'nothing in Britain works any more' but Labour's conference agenda committee remains magnificently efficient at stiffing critics of the party leadership. It is a Rolls-Royce operation and a credit to Soviet-era standards of message control.
One delegate complained at the start of proceedings that agreed procedures were being ignored. She was brushed aside effortlessly by Wendy Nichols, the national executive committee member who was chairing this session. Wendy is a figure of heroic inaction, slumped low in her platform chair (she could be driving a Lamborghini) while croaking unimpressed verdicts into her microphone. She would have made a wonderful judge in Robespierre's France.
So yes, this union composite demanding a rethink on the winter fuels payments had been pushed to the end-of-conference slot, between a debate on artificial intelligence and the singing of the Red Flag. There was time for just three speeches from the floor. That sufficed for the unions to make formulaic noises of protest (while pocketing their pay rises) but it was not enough to kindle dangerous dissent among the rank and file membership.
Sir Keir himself was by this time on the far side of the Atlantic. Last day of a Labour conference invariably feels like losers' day: the plodders left behind after the club-class smoothies have vanished.
Liz Kendall, work and pensions secretary, claimed that Labour had 'done more to help pensioners in the last two months than the Tories did in 14 years'. Eh? And Bridget Phillipson, education secretary, snarled her way through a speech that boasted about her VAT tax-whack on private schools. Chilly Bridget kept remembering that she was supposed to smile. It was like watching someone looking in the bathroom mirror to check if they have spinach between their teeth.
The conference ended with a Classic FM sort of version of the Red Flag. Cabinet office minister Pat McFadden, the Andrei Gromyko of Labour frontbenchers, turned up on the platform and threw himself into the singing. A most unlikely Caruso.
The Secret Service has responded to claims agents were responsible for a 'security lapse' following reports an armed man approached former president Barack Obama's motorcade.
Obama was being guarded by his protective detail inside a black SUV on a trip to LA when an armed man said he approached the vehicle, according to TMZ
The unidentified man was there checking on the situation in his capacity as a security guard for the bar mitzvah, after being informed there were federal agents stationed outside, the report stated.
Upon approaching, he says he came across the government vehicle, then snapped an image of it, only to see the former president seated in the passenger side of the vehicle.
He said he quickly walked away, aware that he was carrying a weapon, which might be perceived as a threat by Obama's protective detail.
The agency is on alert for threats after two assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump, and has been tightening up presidential protection. (The Senate on Tuesday passed legislation to boost Secret Service protection for federal candidates).
The Secret Service has responded to claims agents were responsible for a 'security lapse' following reports an armed man approached former president Barack Obama's motorcade
The Secret Service later denied claims there was a breach and no one was in the vehicle at the time.
'The Secret Service cannot provide the details on our means and methods of protection, but we can confirm that at no time were any Secret Service protectees in the vehicle while the individual was walking down the alleyway,' a spokesman told Newsweek.
'These claims are inaccurate'.
According to the TMZ report, the man who didn't want his name used, says he greeted the agents protecting Obama, then returned to the bar mitzvah.
Later, he says his boss asked him to provide his credentials and concealed carry permit for review, the outlet reported an indication Obama's guards felt the need to follow up.
The president's adult daughters Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23, were joining their dad for dinner at Mother Wolf, rated a top upscale pizza restaurant.
Even though he meant no harm, the unidentified guard indicated his ability to get close to the former president with a weapon was a lapse. He said of his interactions with the agents on the detail, 'I think they were obviously embarrassed by the situation.'
The office of the former president declined to comment. DailyMail.com has sought comment from the Secret Service, which was the subject of a scathing report by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on security failures leading up to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally.
The unidentified security guard said he approached Obama's SUV while possessing a concealed weapon, which he was licensed to carry
Daughters Malia and Sasha Obama attended the event at restaurant Mother Wolf in Hollywood
The Obama daughters kept a low profile at the event
The interaction involving Obama's detail happened at 7:30 on September 21st.
The event happened hours after Biden hosted his first solo fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris, helping haul in $4 million for her presidential campaign.
That event was held at the home of former Obama ambassador to Spain James Costos and his partner Michael Smith,
James Costos, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Spain and Andorra under Obama, and his partner, Michael S. Smith, who served as White House decorator under Obama.
Obama spoke at the Democratic Convention, mocking Trump's 'weird obsession with crowd sizes,' and members of his former campaign team were among the most vocal voices pushing President Biden to step aside.
Diplomatic efforts to avert an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah went into overdrive on Wednesday as the U.S. and France raced to reduce tensions and avert a bigger, regional conflict.
Israel's military and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon have stepped up exchanges of rockets and missiles in recent days, almost a year since Hamas gunmen killed 1200 Israelis.
President Joe Biden said there was still a chance of reaching a ceasefire, and suggested there was a chance to link a solution to the cross-border crisis with the war in Gaza.
'It's possible and I'm using every bit of energy I have with my team to get this done,' he said during an appearance on The View.
'There's a desire to see change in the region.'
President Joe Biden appeared on ABC's `The View' and said
In the meantime, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut has told any Americans still in the country to leave immediately, as Biden sends troops to the region.
The chief of Israel's army said Wednesday it was preparing for a possible ground operation and, after Hezbollah fired a missile at Tel Aviv for the first time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised he would ensure families could return to their abandoned homes close to the Lebanon border.
'We are inflicting blows on Hezbollah that it never imagined,' he said.
'We are doing it with might; we are doing it with stratagems. I promise you one thingwe will not rest until they return home.'
With world leaders convening at United Nations headquarters in New York Wednesday, the result was a diplomatic scramble to avert further escalation.
The U.S. and France were trying to hammer out an interim accord to halt hostilities as well as potentially opening broader talks on a ceasefire in Gaza, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides told Reuters.
Details are being discussed on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting.
And sources told Reuters that an accord to was the Israel-Hezbollah crisis could include the release of hostages still being held by Hamas.
That leaves Americans looking for ways out of the country.
Israeli military Chief of Staff, Major General Herzi Halevi, visited the 7th Brigade on the northern border, Wednesday, to tell them to prepare for a possible ground war
Volunteers prepare shelters for people who fled from southern Lebanon following Israeli military strikes in recent days, in Sidon, Lebanon
The embassy is providing limited flight options out of the nearest airport despite a majority of airlines canceling flights.
If American citizens wishing to leave lack funds to go back, the embassy is offering financial assistance via repatriation loans.
'We recommend that U.S. citizens who choose not to depart Lebanon prepare contingency plans for emergency situations and be prepared to shelter in place for an extended period of time,' diplomats added in a statement.
Israel expanded its aerial assaults on Lebanon with airstrikes Monday that killed nearly 500 people, wounded over 1,600 more and appeared to signal the start of a broader military campaign.
The state of Israel said it was targeting 'terrorists' linked to Hezbollah, the group that has been firing rockets into Israel.
The Pentagon announced on Monday that 'additional' service members would be deployed to join the 40,000 already stationed in the region along with a dozen warships and fighter jet squadrons.
Israeli forces have ramped up their airstrikes deep inside Lebanon and the State Department has warned all Americans to leave as the risk of conflict spirals to levels not seen in years.
The United States' embassy in Beirut is telling any Americans still in the country to get out, as Joe Biden sends in troops to respond to a surge in violence between Israel and Hezbollah
The embassy is providing limited flight options out of the nearest airport despite a majority of airlines canceling flights
Tensions have reached boiling point in the last seven days, and started to deteriorate when pagers and walkie talkies owned by members of Hezbollah exploded in a coordinated attack last week.
Devastating airstrikes by the Israeli military on Monday killed at least 100 people and injured another 400 in Lebanon as IDF warplanes pummeled targets across the country.
Terrified residents in Beirut and elsewhere received calls and texts warning them to move away from Hezbollah targets, with Lebanon's information minister condemning the alerts as a tactic of 'psychological war implemented by the enemy'.
Schools have been closed early during the heavy attacks that have sparked calls for international intervention.
The Biden administration has warned Israel that escalation is not in their best interest and still want a diplomatic solution.
At a speech given at the United Nations Tuesday, Biden called for peace in the Middle East.
Security forces and medical teams arrive in the area after the Israeli army targeted the 4th and 5th floors of a building in the Ghobeiry municipality, where Hezbollah is strong in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon
At a speech given at the United Nations Tuesday, Joe Biden called for peace in the Middle East
'Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms, bring the hostages home and secure security for Israel and Gaza, free of Hamas grip ease the suffering in Gaza and end this war. October 7,' he said.
'Since October 7, we've also been determined to prevent a wider war that engulfs the entire region,' he said.
'Our task, our test is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than those that are pulling us apart,' Biden said. 'I truly believe we're in another inflection point of world history. For the choices we make today will determine our future for decades to come.'
At the Pentagon, Press Secretary Gen. Pat Ryder would not confirm how many troops would be deployed or where they are going.
'In light of the increased tensions in the Middle East, and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional US military personnel forward to augment our forces that are already in the region,' he said.
'Due to the unpredictable nature of ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and recent explosions throughout Lebanon, including Beirut, the U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial options still remain available,' the State Department cautioned Saturday.
This is the terrifying moment a group of balaclava-clad thieves stormed a barber shop with assault-style weapons.
The four heavily armed suspects charged into Yadiel Barbershop on Main Street in Patterson, New Jersey around 2pm Friday, and robbed five people inside the establishment.
They used the weapons to hold up employees and customers inside the shop while they stole cash, jewelry, phones, and key fob, according to ABC 7 New York.
One of the men, wearing an all-black outfit with his face covered, came into the store with a long gun raised to his chest as he walked up to a barber who was trimming a customer's hair.
The barber calmly took off his bracelet and handed it to the man.
Two others were seen harassing a man outside the store, while two went in the shop, surveillance footage shows.
Four heavily armed suspects charged into Yadiel Barbershop on Main Street in Patterson, New Jersey around 2pm Friday, armed with guns, where they would rob five people.
The owner, who did not want to be identified, told News 12 New Jersey that the men stole around $1,200 in cash, a bracelet, and a necklace.
The owner, who did not want to be identified, told News 12 New Jersey that the men stole around $1,200 in cash, a bracelet, and a necklace.
Afterward, the brazen thieves left in a silver Nissan Murano.
City Councilmen, Luis Velez, who spoke with the shop's owner said they 'feel lucky' and were 'glad they didn't make a false movement' while the robbery was happening.
Mayor Andre Sayegh called the attack 'unprecedented' and 'brazen.'
'We've never seen anything like this happen,' Mayor Andre Sayegh told ABC 7 New York.
'In broad daylight near our cathedral, around school dismissal time,' he said in disbelief.
Sayegh is now calling for the local police department to be able to take control from the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. The AG's Office took control last year while it investigates a fatal police shooting involving a mentally ill suspect, ABC 7 said.
City Councilmen, Luis Velez, who spoke with the shop's owner said they 'feel lucky' and were 'glad they didn't make a false movement' while the robbery was happening
'Its beyond brazen and its time for [Attorney General] Matt Platkins failed political experiment to end,' Sayegh told News 12.
However, Platkin said crime has been down in Patterson since the AG's Office took over in March 2023. Sayegh argues that crime was already falling before the power was reassigned.
The barbershop shooting was the second one to occur in the area that day, with another holdup taking place around 10:30am several blocks away on Slater Street, according to ABC 7.
The victim involved in the first robbery reported two armed men dressed in all-black and ski mask approached him and demanded money. They also took jewelry and and the victim's phone.
It is unclear if the two robberies are connected.
'Im at a loss for words, and that doesnt happen very often,' resident and activist, Ernest Rucker, told NorthJersey.com. 'I couldnt believe what I saw. The brazenness of it, that was something else,' he said of the second robbery.
Just a few weeks ago, city officials announced a $1.7million plan that would have more officers doing walking patrols to keep the city safe, however that section of Main Street was not included, the local outlet reported.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump ridiculed the partisan hosts of The View for their fawning interview of President Joe Biden on Wednesday, but were enraged by their discussion about the former president as a 'bug' and were disgusted by their comparison of Biden to that of President George Washington.
Host Whoopie Goldberg angered Republican viewers after she referred to Trump as a 'bug,' buzzing around her head which prompted Biden to slam the table as if he was squashing a bug.
'Slap him down,' Joe Behar said gleefully.
The Trump campaign featured the clip on social media, asserting that 'Democrats are the party of violence.'
'Two assassination attempts on his life isnt enough for these sick people,' wrote conservative media host Toni Lahren.
President Joe Biden appears on The View
Two assassination attempts on his life isnt enough for these sick people Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) September 25, 2024
'Is this incitement to violence? Just imagine if Trump did this,' wrote Chaya Raichik of the popular 'Libs of TikTok' account.
Whoopi Goldberg compares Trump to a bug.
Biden then imitates smashing a bug d*ad on the table.
Hosts and audience laugh.
Is this incitement to violence? Just imagine if Trump did thispic.twitter.com/BKgvVGFc7w Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 25, 2024
Others mocked host Sunny Houston for comparing Biden to America's first president George Washington, when she suggested he would be 'etched into the history books as Washington.'
'Sub-40% approval rating Joe Biden is George Washington. That's how deranged these people are,' wrote X user Johnny Maga.
The View host Sunny Hostin says Biden's legacy will be "etched into the history books as Washington."
Sub-40% approval rating Joe Biden is George Washington. That's how deranged these people are. pic.twitter.com/T7JavTi5eU johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) September 25, 2024
'Delusional,' added Ian Miles Cheong.
Delusional. Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 25, 2024
'These people are truly scum,' wrote user Joe Wallin.
These people are truly scum Joe Wallin (@joewallin) September 25, 2024
'Yes, it will. As the worst President in the history of the country,' wrote Kelly Leak. 'He makes Jimmy Carter look like George Washington.'
Yes, it will. As the worst President in the history of the country.
He makes Jimmy Carter look like George Washington Kelly Leak (@BadKellyLeak) September 25, 2024
President Joe Biden appears on The View
Biden was warmly welcomed by the hosts who praised his legacy and his decision to step away from his reelection.
But Goldberg told Biden she was not happy about how the process.
'I didnt like the way they did it. Im going to just say it out loud because nobody says it out loud. I didnt like the way it was done publicly. I thought they could have done this in a different way because we didnt need to hear all the inner-fighting,' she said.
Goldberg said she fully supported Biden for reelection before he stepped away from his campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
'Im saying it to you. You were my ride or die. I was going wherever you were going, thats where I was going,' she said.
President Joe Biden led a group of more 30 countries in expressing their support for Ukraine on Wednesday, as President Volodymyr Zelensky tries to rally the world to his peace plan and keep his country in the spotlight.
The leaders surrounded Biden and Zelensky on stage for a group photo at the start of the event, in a visual show of support, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
There were a few hiccups: Biden welcomed the leaders to Washington (they're in New York) and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni gave her remarks over zoom but forgot to unmute herself at the top.
Biden said the leaders had gathered 'to make it clear that we with stand with Ukraine now and in the future. That starts on the battlefield.'
He said he would announce more military commitments on Thursday when Zelensky visits the White House. He plans to give more than $8 billion worth of military assistance for Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shakes hands with US President Joe Biden
But Biden also argued support for Ukraine didn't stop with weapons. The new plan includes helping Kyiv regain financial stability, repair its infrastructure, boost its energy sector, and strengthen anti-corruption efforts.
'Ukraine's future victory is about more than what happens on the battlefield,' Biden noted.
'Today we show Ukrainians you are not alone in the fight. You are not alone in the reconstruction that comes after,' he said.
Zelensky compared the support to the Marshall Plan, which helped Europe rebuild after World War II, calling the plan 'one that will promote a peaceful Ukraine and all of Europe.'
'Thank you all my friends,' he said.
Earlier in the day, Zelensky implored the United Nations to remember his war-ravaged country in a speech before the general assembly on Wednesday.
He is in New York to persuade leaders to his 'victory plan,' which includes enhancing Western security guarantees for Ukraine, increasing military aid and securing further financial support.
He hasn't released the full details and wasn't expected to ahead of his meeting with President Joe Biden.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has reportedly been briefed on the plan and said it 'can work' but it's unclear how.
Biden, on Wednesday, will hold an event to rally world leaders to what he is calling the Ukrainian Recovery and Reconstruction.
Ahead of that event, Zelensky, in his address to the General Assembly, tried to make the issue personal to the member states, pointing out Russian troops still occupied one of Ukraine's nuclear plants. He warned a nuclear catastrophe would 'not respect state borders.'
'Recently, I received yet another alarming report from our intelligence. Now, Putin does seem to be planning attacks on our nuclear power plants and infrastructure, aiming to disconnect the plants from the power grid,' Zelensky said from the high rostrum of the main United Nations hall. 'Any missile or drone strike or any critical incident in the energy system could lead to a nuclear disaster. A day like that must never come.'
His remarks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country should be able to use nuclear weapons if it was attacked by a state that was supported by a nuclear power.
'It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any nonnuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation,' Putin said in a meeting at the Kremlin.
US President Joe Biden (2nd (R) poses alongside President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission (2nd L), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) during an event supporting Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at an event in support of Ukraine
The Ukrainian Army continues to lose ground to Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces now occupy more than 18% of the territory there.
Zelensky has been pushing for permission to fire more Western-made weapons into the heart of Russia. Western leaders fear Putin will see that as an attack from the West and expand his war.
He also has struggled to hold world attention as the war in the Middle East spreads. Israel has increased its attacks into Lebanon as it targets members of Hezbollah.Zelensky next heads to Washington where he will hold separate meetings at the White House on Thursday with Biden and Kamala Harris.
Sir Keir Starmer faced down Russia over the war in Ukraine, accusing it of treating its own citizens as 'meat to be thrown in to the grinder'.
Addressing the United Nations Security Council for the first time today, the Prime Minister asked Vladimir Putin's representative how he dare show his face in the building.
He said the illegal invasion had caused 'colossal human suffering' with 35,000 casualties, 6million people forced to flee and almost 20,000 Ukrainian children 'kidnapped'.
Sir Keir was also due to hold talks with Volodymyr Zelensky at the gathering of world leaders in New York as Ukraine's president prepares to present his 'victory plan' to end the war in a crucial White House meeting tomorrow.
The PM told the security council, on which Russia has a permanent seat: 'Six hundred thousand Russian soldiers have also been killed or wounded in this war. And for what?
Sir Keir Starmer faced down Russia over the war in Ukraine, accusing it of treating its own citizens as 'meat to be thrown in to the grinder'
With Russia's deputy UN representative Dmitry Polyanskiy (pictured last month) in the room, the PM urged: 'Aggression cannot pay. Borders cannot be redrawn by force. Russia started this illegal war. It must end it - and get out of Ukraine'
Sir Keir was also due to hold talks with Volodymyr Zelensky at the gathering of world leaders in New York as Ukraine's president prepares to present his 'victory plan' to end the war in a crucial White House meeting tomorrow
'The UN Charter - which they sit here to uphold speaks of human dignity. Not treating your own citizens as bits of meat to fling into the grinder.'
He said the war had also triggered a 'global energy crisis and a global food security crisis' while Russia was now deepening its military ties with North Korea and Iran.
With Russia's deputy UN representative Dmitry Polyanskiy in the room, the PM urged: 'Aggression cannot pay. Borders cannot be redrawn by force. Russia started this illegal war. It must end it - and get out of Ukraine.'
His strongly-worded intervention came after the Foreign Secretary branded Russia a mafia state.
Addressing the UN gathering on Tuesday, David Lammy said in a direct message to President Putin: 'Your invasion is in your own interests. Yours alone. To expand your mafia state into a mafia empire. An empire built on corruption.
'Robbing from the Russian people as well as Ukraine. An empire built on crushing dissent. Courageous opponents like Navalny.
'An empire built on lies. Spreading disinformation at home and abroad to sow disorder.'
He called out the Russian representative for being 'on his phone as I speak' and said that as a black man descended from slaves he recognised Imperialism when he sees it: 'And I will call it out for what it is.'
His strongly-worded intervention came after Foreign Secretary David Lammy branded Russia a mafia state yesterday
In his own address to the meeting today Ukraine's President accused Russia of preparing to attack nuclear power stations in his country.
'Recently, I received yet another alarming report from our intelligence,' Mr Zelensky told the UN Security Council.
'Now, Putin does seem to be planning attacks on our nuclear power plants and infrastructure, aiming to disconnect the plants from the power grid.
'Any missile or drone strike or any critical incident in the energy system could lead to a nuclear disaster. A day like that must never come.'
He warned: 'If, God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, radiation will not respect state borders.'
His week-long diplomatic push will end in Washington DC tomorrow as he gives US President Joe Biden his ideas to end the conflict that has dragged on since February 2022.
Mr Zelensky is under mounting pressure to agree a peace deal with Russia and is expected to demand Ukraine be immediately allowed to join Nato as a condition of any truce.
He is also still pushing for his forces to be given permission to fire Anglo-French Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory - but there is little expectation of a breakthrough.
Speaking en route to New York, Sir Keir told reporters: 'The support for Ukraine is resolute. We supply quite a lot of capability already under the last government; we've increased that under this government - that's not a criticism of the last government - and we will always listen very carefully to what Ukraine says it needs by way of capability.'
But he went on: 'I don't think the victory plan will be about a sole issue like long-range missiles, it will be about a strategic, overarching route for Ukraine to find a way through this and succeed against Russian aggression.'
Authorities in Wisconsin have made a major breakthrough in the unsolved murder of a student whose body was found decapitated and burned on the side of the road in 1985.
Officials announced on Tuesday they have arrested Michael Popp, 60, and charged him with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Terry Dolowy, 24, nearly 40 years after the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse senior was mysteriously killed.
Dolowy and her white poodle had disappeared on Valentine's Day 1985, and the door to their house was left ajar, WXOW reports. Just four days later, Dolowy's body was found decapitated and burned in a roadside culvert. The poodle was never found.
Police now say Popp, who was 21 years old at the time, knew Dolowy and lived near the Barre Mills home she shared with her fiancee, Russell Lee.
Michael Popp, 60, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the 1985 death of Terry Dolowy, 24
He had even told law enforcement in March 1985 that he, his girlfriend, Dolowy and Lee would attend pool tournaments together and were often partners, according to the La Crosse Tribune.
Officers in Vernon County continued to work on Dolowy's murder case for years, on and off.
There was finally a breakthrough in September 2022, when investigative genealogists identified Popp as a person of interest and authorities were able to obtain a search warrant to get a DNA sample from him.
They were then able to determine that Popp's DNA sample matched genetic material that was found in Dolowy's autopsy.
When presented with the evidence in March 2023, Popp allegedly admitted that he and Dolowy 'maybe had a little affair' for six to eight months.
He said he had lied that they were only casual acquaintances because 'it's a pretty serious case' and he did not 'want to be associated with it,' according to a complaint obtained by the La Crosse Tribune.
Popp went on to deny killing the student, saying he is not a violent person.
Dolowy and her poodle had mysteriously disappeared on Valentine's Day 1985, and the door to their house was left ajar. Just four days later, Dolowy's body was found decapitated and burned in a roadside culvert. The poodle was never found
But when police previously interviewed Popp's ex-girlfriend, who broke up with him in 1986 and filed a court injunction against him for physical abuse, she was asked whether Popp could have committed Dolowy's murder.
She reportedly replied: 'Mike is capable of doing something like this because he has a lot of different personalities.'
Still, the ex-girlfriend said she did not believe he was involved in Dolowy's death.
Yet the complaint also says a witness told police in 2004 he recalled seeing a vehicle drive up to Dolowy's house at around 4.30am on the day of her disappearance.
The witness said he saw two men who 'muscled' Dolowy into a Chevy Impala or Caprice.
Popp's girlfriend at the time owned a vehicle matching that description and often let him drive it, according to the criminal complaint.
Vernon County Sheriff Roy Torgerson denied that it was ever a cold case as he announced Popp's arrest and the charges against him on Tuesday
'Some may refer to this as a cold case,' Vernon County Sheriff Roy Torgerson said at a news conference on Tuesday. 'I fervently disagree.
'Terry's case has never been cold but has been very actively paused over these many years.'
'We got it done,' he added as he announced Popp's arrest and the charges against him.
'I am so grateful to the men and women of law enforcement who carried the torch.'
A judge set Popp's bail at $1million, after Monroe County District Attorney Kevin Croninger - who was acting as a special prosecutor - petitioned for the bail to be set at $2million
Popp had originally been arrested in Monroe County for an unrelated incident, but was moved to the Vernon County Jail on Monday to face charges of first-degree murder, Torgerson and other authorities said.
He is also facing charges of stalking, domestic abuse and drug possession in Monroe County.
At a hearing later on Tuesday, Monroe County District Attorney Kevin Croninger - who was acting as a special prosecutor - asked a judge to set Popp's bail at $2million, describing the allegations against him 'particularly gruesome' and noting that he worked as a truck driver, and therefore had the means to flee.
Popp, who did not have a lawyer present at the hearing, objected to the high bail amount and at one point said, 'I didn't do it.'
He later argued that the criminal complaint 'said she was killed at 4.30am, I'm still milking cows at 5,' according to the La Crosse Tribune.
In the end, a judge set his bail at $1million as he remains at the Vernon County Jail.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night as he proceeded to state why he believes Canada is better than the United States.
In a somewhat smug appearance, Trudeau's comments took on a belittling tone as he compared the diversity of the Canadian population with the U.S. - emphasizing how Canada celebrates diversity, whereas in the States people are more expected to assimilate.
Trudeau also made remarks about the U.S. paying too much for Canadian lumber due to tariffs before making a jab about Canada's universal healthcare that also came with a dose of condescension, as he implied how Canada has a better system.
It was Trudeau's first time appearing on the comedian's late night talk show, but throughout he brought an underlying sense of superiority as he portrayed Canada to be more progressive in some areas.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night as he proceeded to state why he believes Canada is better than the U.S.
Trudeau said Canada was more than just maple syrup and mountains
Colbert appeared humbled as he introduced Trudeau, eager to find out more about America's neighbor to the north.
'We love your Ryans, both Gosling and Reynolds,' Colbert began, joking about the country's top acting talent, 'But I dont know everything about Canada. Imagine I come from a country that mostly thinks about itself, and I hear really good things about Canada, so here I am,' Colbert beckoned.
'Canada is the best country in the world. Like, you see the beautiful mountains, the rivers, the lakes...', Truedeau began.
'Everyone focuses on the land, but really, Canada is about the people. It is a range of people from every possible background who come together. Its a little different from the melting pot of the United States where everyone gets to be American,' he explained.
'We try to celebrate differences, people keep their cultures and keep their languages. When the Polish prime minister came to visit, he was super amazed and pleased that so many members of the Polish community speak Polish, even though theyve been here for generations, whereas in the U.S., everyone becomes American more,' Trudeau said in a subtle dig.
Trudeau's comments took on a smug tone as he compared the diversity of the Canadian population with the U.S. emphasizing how Canada celebrates diversity
Colbert appeared humbled as he introduced Trudeau, eager to find out more about America's neighbor to the north. Pictured, the twinkling lights of Montreal
'Ive heard that America is a melting pot, whilst Canada sees itself as a mosaic,' Colbert said.
'Its an amazing country, and I really encourage you to come up and see more than just the maple syrup and mountains, although, those things are good too,' the Canadian PM said.
Colbert asked Trudeau what he believed Canadians and Americans fight over.
'You guys are paying too much for your lumber because you have tariffs on them, and that doesnt make any sense. We keep trying to point that out for you,' the PM said. 'Well keep working on it.'
Colbert noted how Americans often travel to Canada to obtain cheaper pharmaceutical drugs.
'We're happy to help you out, but it would be a lot easier if you guys had universal healthcare,' Trudeau said to rapturous applause.
Colbert also noted how Canadian coins including pennies and quarters often infiltrate American's wallets.
'You have monarchs on your money. The Queen recently passed away, so what happens to the money now? Do you have to get King money?' he inquired.
'They will phase in the King money,' Trudeau explained noting how there was no great urgency.
'You still have Lincoln on your penny,' he joked.
'We try to celebrate differences, people keep their cultures and keep their languages,' Trudeau said. Pictured, Trudeau shakes hands with a Syrian refugee during Canada Day 2016 celebrations
Colbert noted how Canadian currency often infiltrated American's wallets
On Wednesday Trudeau easily survived a vote of confidence on after his main political rival failed to muster enough support to end nine years of Liberal Party rule
Back in Canada on Wednesday Trudeau easily survived a vote of confidence on after his main political rival failed to muster enough support to end nine years of Liberal Party rule.
Legislators in the House of Commons voted 211-120 to defeat a motion by the official opposition Conservative party declaring a lack of confidence in Trudeau's minority Liberal government.
Trudeau, whose popularity has slumped amid unhappiness over rising prices and a housing crisis, became more politically vulnerable this month when the smaller New Democratic Party tore up a 2022 deal to keep him in power until an election scheduled for the end of October 2025.
The Armed Forces need to be bigger and stronger to stand any chance of deterring Britain's enemies, a parliamentary report has warned.
It insists that more troops, better equipment and increased investment are vital to ensure Russia and China back off from any future conflict and the lack of such a deterrent was a major factor in Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The report, by members of the Lords international relations and defence committee, which was published last night, follows the Mail's 'Don't Leave Britain Defenceless' campaign which has demanded a major revamp of the Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.
Describing the two-year conflict in Eastern Europe as a 'sobering wake-up call' which 'exposed the limitations of our own military strength', they said: 'Our Armed Forces lack the mass, resilience and internal coherence necessary to maintain a deterrent effect and sustain prolonged conflict.
The Armed Forces need to be bigger and stronger to stand any chance of deterring Britain's enemies, a parliamentary report has warned (file picture)
Pictured: Former Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Houghton who is in the committee
French, British and American paratroopers training together in south of France on November 15
'The UK Government must commit to spending more on defence, and spending better.'
They also warned that due to soldier shortages, the Army which now stands at just 73,000 troops cannot 'make the expected troop contribution to Nato'.
They also argued against the reliance on technology, condemning it as 'not a magic bullet that can swiftly end the war'.
The Mail has called for an urgent overhaul of the Services, with investment increased to the benchmark figure of 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) as soon as possible.
UK defence spending currently amounts to around 2.2 per cent of GDP and, as the Mail has revealed, the Ministry of Defence is currently making drastic savings, including cuts to training budgets.
The report, Ukraine: A Wake-up Call, was published as President Volodymyr Zelensky prepares to reveal his 'victory plan' to US President Joe Biden today.
And addressing the United Nations Security Council yesterday, Mr Zelensky said: 'This war can't be calmed by talks. Action is needed.'
In July, Prime Minister Keir Starmer launched a Strategic Defence Review to examine the threats faced by Britain (file picture)
Vladimir Putin leads the Security Council meeting on nuclear deterrence at the Kremlin in Moscow on September 25
Members of the Lords committee including former Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Houghton found that the 'size and structure' of Britain's Armed Forces is woefully out of date, and based on an assumption that 'conflicts would be resolved within weeks, rather than years'.
The peers said this must be rectified as soon as possible, with a surge in troop numbers and equipment being prioritised in decision making.
They said: 'All in all, the evidence we heard points to the current size of the British Army being inadequate.
'While size is not the only measure of credibility, we question whether the British Army is prepared to meet the growing threat posed by Russia to European security.
'Additionally, the use of advanced technology has been used to justify smaller troop numbers. But the war in Ukraine has shown that in a conflict between technologically capable states, technology is not a magic bullet that can swiftly end the war.'
The Lords said the MoD must improve recruitment and retention figures, reinvigorate reservists and build more resilience into the UK's 'homeland defence'.
In July, Prime Minister Keir Starmer launched a Strategic Defence Review to examine the threats faced by Britain.
The Lords said the MoD must improve recruitment and retention figures, reinvigorate reservists and build more resilience into the UK's 'homeland defence' (file picture)
Junior Soldiers parade as they graduate from the Army Foundation College in Harrogate on February 15
However, defence chiefs have since been ordered to make drastic cutbacks to meet the Treasury's 22 billion savings targets, with Defence Secretary John Healey saying the MoD must 'do its bit'. Training budgets have already been slashed, with troops even being ordered not to fire expensive ammunition.
The MoD is already facing a 16.9 billion 'black hole' in its finances over the next decade, according to the National Audit Office, which could increase to as much as 29.8 billion depending on future spending plans.
An MoD spokesman said last night: 'This Government is clear-eyed about the threats we face, with the world becoming more volatile and technology changing the nature of warfare.
'That is why we have committed to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence as soon as possible. Our commitment to Nato is unshakeable, and the key principle of the alliance is collective defence.
'The Strategic Defence Review will also make sure our Armed Forces are bolstered and that our country has the capabilities needed to ensure the UK's resilience for the long term.'
Sir Keir Starmer has said he no longer belongs to a class despite being a wealthy former barrister who owns a 2m house.
The Prime Minister has spoken at length about his working class roots but said he would no longer ascribe a class to himself.
Reflecting on his Labour conference speech in which he talked about his background, LBC's Nick Ferrari asked him what class he belonged to now.
'Well, my roots are working class,' he said. 'But Nick, I accept, if this is what you're putting to me, that I've been able to take advantage of huge opportunities in my life.
'I'm now Prime Minister of this country. I don't ascribe a class to me.'
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to LBC's Nick Ferrari during the Labour Party Conference
Sir Keir said he no longer belongs to a class despite being a wealthy former barrister who owns a 2m house
He added: 'The example I gave in my speech was, and this is the story we do tell, of people from a working class background like mine and plenty of other examples who have come through the class ceiling if you like, because of the opportunities that they have had.'
He said these stories needed to be told because they were 'aspirational' and while not all children would smash through the class ceiling, they all deserved the opportunity to.
Sir Keir has spoken at length about his working class roots and always been at pains to play down his privilege.
The son of a toolmaker and nurse, he grew up in a pebble-dashed semi in rural Surrey and attended a leading grammar school that later went private, though his fees were covered by the council.
He attended a private music school before becoming the first in his family to go to university, reading law at Leeds and then Oxford.
He then became a human rights barrister, before becoming the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The Prime Minister attended a private music school before becoming the first in his family to go to university, reading law at Leeds and then Oxford
His 20 years as a lawyer before his move into politics has put him comfortably into the country's top 1 per cent of earners.
His property dealings and gold-plated pension pot alone place his worth at around 3 million and the Mail this week revealed he recently paid off the mortgage on his four-bed north London townhouse, worth 2m.
The 62-year-old is also entitled to two annual salaries - one as a constituency MP and one as PM - totalling 166,786.
Before entering politics, Sir Keir earned 1 million as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) between 2008 and 2013.
He also amassed a 700,000 pension which - on top of his MP's retirement allowance - is expected to give him a publicly funded pot worth about 1
Joe Biden warned the Middle East is now on the brink of 'all-out war' with Israel preparing to open a second front with a ground invasion of Lebanon.
The president joined pleas for de-escalation from international leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, adding that he thinks the opportunity remains 'to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region'.
Israel and Hezbollah's burgeoning conflict took a dramatic turn overnight as army chief Herzi Halevi told troops to 'prepare' themselves to strike into Lebanon behind the salvoes of rockets continuing to pound Hezbollah strongpoints.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hezbollah is being hit harder 'with blows it never imagined' as he vowed to ensure the thousands of Israelis evacuated from the northern border would soon be able to return to their homes and jobs.
But with more than 90,000 people newly displaced across Lebanon, pressure fell on Britain's Keir Starmer to ensure the safety of nationals caught in the crossfire. As many as 10,000 are stranded as Britain scrambles contingency plans for emergency evacuations.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike near the village of Khiam, Lebanon, Sept 25
The president joined pleas for de-escalation at the UN General Assembly in New York
Emergency workers at the scene of an Israeli airstrike in Maisara, Lebanon on Wednesday
Major General Herzi Halevi (left) visits troops on the northern border on Wednesday
Vehicles wait in traffic in the town of Damour, south of Beirut as people flee southern Lebanon
Lebanese people, fleeing southern Lebanon, walk with their belongings along the Damour highway towards Beirut amid a mass exodus of displaced people seeking shelter
Israeli troops gather at the site of a rocket attack on Sa'ar settlement on Wednesday
Heavy clashes along Lebanon's southern border continued for a third day as international onlookers urged de-escalation and restraint.
Israeli jets carried out extensive strikes in the south of Lebanon, with NASA reporting huge fires growing throughout the region.
Exchanges of rockets between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been ongoing since the war in Gaza erupted on October 7.
But the most clear admission of escalation came on Wednesday as Israeli Major General Halevi told troops on the northern border: 'Your boots will enter enemy territory.'
He said the punishing airstrikes this week were designed to 'prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.'
The Israeli military has said in recent days it had no immediate plans for a ground invasion, but Halevi's comments were the strongest yet suggesting troops could move in.
Israel said Wednesday it would activate two reserve brigades for missions in the north - another sign that Israel plans tougher action.
'This will enable the continuation of combat against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation,' it said in a statement.
Tensions ratcheted up as Hezbollah targeted Tel Aviv with missiles, reportedly for the first time in the group's history.
Hezbollah claimed the rockets were aimed at Mossad's headquarters, but Israel said they were heading for 'civilian areas'.
Mediators have scrambled to find a way to stop the conflict from spilling over into a much larger war amid fears Iran and its other proxies could be dragged in.
Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron met on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss new ceasefire proposals.
Macron had earlier told the UN that there 'must not be war in Lebanon', adding that he would send his foreign minister to the former French administration by the end of the week.
France pressed the UN security council to hold an emergency session on the matter soon.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also urged Israel and Hezbollah to step back, saying all-out war would be disastrous for the region and its people.
Netanyahu's spokesperson David Mencer said that while 'we favour a diplomatic solution... we have tried... for eleven and a half months'.
'Yesterday our president described the US diplomat [involved in negotiations] as talented but with all his talent he hasn't been able to negotiate any sort of climbdown from Hezbollah,' he said.
Israeli attacks into Lebanon have killed more than 600 people to date, according to the latest figures by the Lebanese health ministry, separate from Hezbollah.
This figure includes scores of women and children.
The ministry said that at least 72 people were killed in strikes and 400 injured on Wednesday alone.
Lebanon is still reeling from an attack that saw the detonation of thousands of pagers and walkie talkies used by Hezbollah last week, reportedly also killing children. Israel has denied involvement.
Around 3,000 people were said to have been injured in the attacks, with 37 killed.
Hezbollah, formed in 1982 ostensibly to fight Israeli aggression and the occupation of southern Lebanon, has stepped up its rocket attacks into Israel, with leader Hassan Nasrallah insisting the group is prepared to match Israel's force.
'This could be called a declaration of war,' Nasrallah said in a televised address after devices exploded last week, adding that Hezbollah was not agitating for escalation.
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Tyre
Planes work to extinguish fires set by Hezbollah rocket barrages in northern Israel, Sep 25
Yemeni university staff and students burn an Israeli flag during a protest staged against the Israeli aerial attacks on Lebanon, on September 25
Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in the southern village of Kfar in southern Lebanon
People stand by an impact crater next to a destroyed warehouse at the site of an Israeli air strike in Jiyeh along the highway linking Beirut to the southern city of Sidon on September 25
A handout image released by the Hezbollah military media press office on September 25, 2024, shows a 'Qader 1' ballistic missile. Hezbollah said today it had targeted Mossad's HQ
With the threat of war looming over Lebanon, British nationals have urged to flee as soon as possible.
Keir Starmer told British nationals in Lebanon on Wednesday 'don't wait' for contingency plans to swing into action.
'Leave now. It's very important. The situation is escalating,' he told citizens via the BBC.
'We are ramping up the contingency plans for an evacuation as you would expect, but my message is, 'don't wait for that'.
'There are commercial flights still coming out. It is important to leave and to leave now.'
Britain's Ministry of Defence is ramping up contingency plans for a desperate evacuation of UK citizens from Lebanon, with a 700-strong force of Royal Marine commandos, sailors and combat engineers being rushed to the region.
The MoD's rescue mission template, known in military circles as 'Operation Meteoric', could see commandos making beach landings in Lebanon with UK citizens escorted on to a flotilla of military vessels.
Such plans would also see warships and RAF jets already stationed in Cyprus tasked with facilitating the rescue mission, with thousands of Brits still stuck in the country.
Some have reported that their families have not received a response from the British consulate as flights out of Beirut are cancelled amid the ongoing Israeli airstrikes.
Chloe Lewin, a 24-year-old freelance journalist from London, told the BBC that she was among others who could not feasibly leave as flights are already fully booked.
'Keir Starmer's telling everyone to get out but we can't. You can't get out this week because they're [flights] all full and every time you get to the last page of the booking, it just crashes and it says you can't book a flight,' she said.
'And then people I know who have had flights, they're all getting cancelled. My friends were meant to leave this morning on Egyptair - that got cancelled, so they can't get out.'
Comedian Dom Joly revealed his son was among those now desperately trying to get out, having moved to Beirut for a summer internship.
'He was totally relaxed in Beirut - having grown up there I kind of get it,' he told The UK Tonight With Sarah Jane Mee.
Joly said his son 'didn't feel particularly in fear' but was getting 'more and more panicked' by the recent escalation before leaving to Cyprus on Sunday.
Border Force officers are now being deployed to assist in getting British nationals safely out of Lebanon, with some reportedly already operating in the country.
A larger team are said to be on a 24 hour notice ready to fly to the Middle East should tensions swell to the point of a mass evacuation.
Officers will have to ensure that passports, travel documents and visas are checked before those fleeing Lebanon are able to return to the UK.
And the Foreign Office announced Britain would be sending 5 million in humanitarian aid to help the people of Lebanon, to be distributed by UNICEF.
Traffic jams continue to stall movement out of targeted zones in the south, with many thousands of people trying to reach shelters hastily set up in Beirut.
Beirut has not been exempted from the strikes, with the IDF reporting this week that it had targeted Hezbollah commanders in the capital.
For some, there is nowhere else to go. Many thousands of Syrian refugees, who fled to Lebanon to escape the devastating civil war in their home country, have found themselves with 'nowhere to go'.
At least 56 refugees from Syria have been counted among those killed by Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, according to the Access Center for Human Rights.
Eight remain missing.
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike on Wednesday
A fire burns in northern Israeli after Hezbollah fired rockets across the border on Wednesday
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Lebanon's city of Baalbeck
Pelicans fly as the Israeli Iron Dome intercepts a barrage of Hezbollah rockets on Wednesday
A huge blast is seen near a residential building in southern Lebanon
People inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike that hit the seaside town of Jiyeh
Iran's foreign minister meanwhile warned that the Middle East faces a full scale 'catastrophe' if the clashes continue to gather pace.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said late Wednesday that Iran would 'stand with the people of Lebanon with all means' if required.
Hezbollah is considered a proxy group for Iran, receiving significant military and financial support.
He also urged that UNSC to 'intervene to restore peace and security'.
Israel meanwhile finds itself under growing pressure to ensure the 60,000 people displaced from the northern border with Lebanon can return home to their jobs.
To allow displaced Israelis to return to their homes, 'we are preparing the process of a manouevre,' Halevi told troops.
He added: 'The goal is very clear - to safely return the residents of the north,'
Hezbollah's retaliation to the war in Gaza has forced thousands to leave behind their livelihoods and live out of shelters.
Last week, top level officials cast doubt on whether a ceasefire with Hamas could achieved before the US election.
Antony Blinken has said Israel and Hamas representatives had already agreed to '90 per cent' of a proposed deal, and the Pentagon assured last Thursday: 'I can tell you that we do not believe that deal is falling apart.'
The heartbroken partner of a mother-of-five who became the first person to die from a Brazilian Bum Lift procedure in the UK has thanked family and friends for their 'very beautiful messages' in the wake of the tragedy.
Alice Webb, 34, died on Monday just hours after having the surgery, which is believed to have been performed in the West Country.
Gloucestershire Police confirmed it is investigating the death and has arrested two people on suspicion of manslaughter.
The practitioner alleged to have carried out the surgery whose identity is known to MailOnline is one of those who has been arrested.
Yesterday evening, Alice's partner Dane Knight asked people not to speculate on the circumstances surrounding her death and to be mindful around her five daughters, who are 'extremely vulnerable' at this time.
Dane Knight (left) has been left devastated by the death of his partner Alice Webb (right) after she died from a Brazilian Bum Lift procedure in the UK
Alice Webb (pictured), 34, died on Monday just hours after having the surgery, which is believed to have been performed in the West Country
Dane Knight (pictured) has urged people not to speculate on the circumstances surrounding Alice's death
In an emotional post on Facebook he wrote: 'Want to say a heart felt thank you to all family and friends that were here for us at our time of need, including all of the kind messages sent to my children and myself.
'There was some very beautiful messages sent by some of your children that formed a start of a smile from the corner of my kids mouth.
'I feel this is important saying this as I will not accept speculations from adults being accidentally being eaves dropped by children and unnecessary questions raised to the 5 girls, so be extremely carful on what you say and who's around! My children are extremely vulnerable!
'Alice left us Monday at 11.30pm. 2 people have been arrested and currently in custody on potential charges of corporate manslaughter.
'Please, please have these 5 girls feelings at heart here.'
Alice was an advanced aesthetic practitioner at Crystal Clear in Wotton-under-Edge, a market town in Gloucestershire.
A GoFundMe page set up by her pal Abigail Irwin revealed the tragedy. It said: 'I am hoping to raise as many funds as we can to support Dane, the partner of Alice and their five beautiful children at this very difficult sad time.
'Alice passed away Monday evening after having the BBL treatment which has gone wrong.
'Alice joined the beauty & Aesthetics industry two years ago and she has been smashing it, doing amazing.
Alice (pictured) was an advanced aesthetic practitioner at Crystal Clear in Wotton-under-Edge and is thought to have had the operation in the West Country
Alice Webb (pictured), 34, died on Monday just hours after having the procedure
'She cared about her clients, she would always check in to see if they were OK, Alice was a beautiful person inside and out and I feel very lucky to have known her and to have spent time with her in our salon.
'Alice would ask for advice all the time and ask to check if there was anything more she could do to improve her skills but she was just a pure natural and never needed my help but always wanting to be the best at her job and that she was.
'Alice has passed away at a young age of 34. Alice was beautiful inside and out with the biggest heart, her family was her world she is leaving behind her partner Dane & 5 beautiful children.
'Delsie 15, Preete 13, Gracie 12, Nylie 10, Clarie 7 as you can imagine this is a very difficult heart breaking time for them all so if we can all help donate or share to help take of some financial stress it would be really appreciated by the family.'
By late Wednesday the fund stood at 740 of a 3,000 target.
Alice's death was also confirmed by campaign group Save Face.
Director Ashton Collins told MailOnline: 'We are aware of this sad incident and are offering our support to her family.
'This is a very tragic time for them and we warned the Government nine months ago that deaths were likely unless there was intervention.
'We get hundreds of complaints from people and more needs to be done to investigate these procedures and there have been deaths from sepsis as a result.
'I understand that the surgeon involved has been arrested and is being questioned by police.'
A GoFundMe page set up for Alice, where tributes have been shared to the much-loved mother-of-five
A GoFundMe has been set up and a tribute said: 'Alice was a beautiful person inside and out.'
According to a report from Save Face published in July there has been an 'alarming increase in the number of patient reported complaints relating to non-surgical breast augmentation and BBLs'.
The report said that more than half have resulted in severe and life-threatening complications, including sepsis, abscesses and infections.
Save Face's investigation tragically concluded by saying: 'This is a crisis waiting to happen. Without urgent intervention, we fear it will only be a matter of time until there are fatalities.
'We are calling upon the Government to take immediate action to ban these procedures to ensure public safety.'
Speaking on Wednesday to The Mirror, Ashton Collins of Save Face said: 'We made it absolutely clear that without urgent intervention, someone would die.
'It makes me incredibly sad and angry that today our fear has been confirmed and a family has been shattered.'
In a statement, Gloucestershire police said: 'Police had been called by the ambulance service at around 11.35pm on Monday (23 September) with a report a woman had become unwell following a suspected cosmetic procedure.
'She was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and died in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
'Her next of kin and the coroner are aware.
'The woman's family are being supported by specially trained officers.
'An investigation, led by the Major Crime Investigation Team, is ongoing. The two people who had been arrested have been released on police bail.'
Kaydell Brown, 38, (pictured) is one of several Brits who have died abroad following BBL surgery. She died last month having paid 5,400 for a 'mummy MOT' in Turkey
Kaydell had hoped the surgery would get her life 'back on track' after she put on weight due to breaking her ankle, according to her sister
Several British women have died overseas following BBL surgery in the last few years as the procedure is usually cheaper and popular destinations include Turkey, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Last month, Kaydell Brown, 38, of Sheffield, died after having a BBL in Turkey that she hoped would change her life.
The mother of two paid 5,400 for a 'mummy MOT' - a package deal involving a Brazilian butt lift, a tummy tuck and a boob job. The cost in Britain would have been around 15,000.
The hairdresser underwent the procedures at Clinic Expert in Istanbul on the morning of March 26, 2024, but never came out.
Her heartbroken sister Leanne, 40, who was due to have the same surgery, slammed the Turkish clinic, branding it a 'pop-up butcher shop that needs shutting down'.
Demi Agoglia, 26, of Salford, Greater Manchester, died in January days after she also had BBL surgery in Turkey.
She became ill despite doctors initially declaring her surgery was successful.
The young woman was taken into intensive care but was tragically pronounced dead.
The mother reportedly flew to Turkey having already had dental work which was botched as well as another surgery.
Demi Agoglia, 26, of Salford, Greater Manchester, died in January just days after having a Brazilian bum-lift in Turkey
Her devastated brother Carl, 37, said Ms Agoglia's family and partner had tried to convince her not to go through with the bum-lift as they were concerned for her safety.
Fat is first harvested from the hips, lower back, abdomen, thighs and other areas via liposuction . Special equipment is used to prepare it for transfer before it is injected directly into the glutes at specific points, giving the buttocks a bigger, curvier appearance
Her devastated brother Carl, 37, said Ms Agoglia's family and partner had tried to convince her not to go through with the bum-lift as they were concerned for her safety.
The father-of-four said: 'It is tragic what happened. We are just in shock. She went to Istanbul to have it done.
'She had previously gone to have her teeth done. No one wanted her to go out and have it done but she is one of those people.
'Her partner is still out there and his dad has just flown out there to be with him.
'If anyone is thinking of flying to Turkey for an operation I would say don't do it! Even her boyfriend didn't want her to do it. But she is 26 and has her own mind. Her mum didn't want her to go out either.'
Last November the death of 31-year-old Melissa Kerr after BBL surgery prompted UK government officials to meet with their counterparts in Turkey to discuss the dangers of cosmetic tourism.
Ms Kerr was admitted to the Medicana Kadikoy Hospital in Istanbul in 2019 and died after the procedure to collect fat and inject it into her buttocks.
The procedure carries a death rate at 'least 10 times higher than many other cosmetic procedures'.
Melissa Kerr, 31, from Norfolk, was on holiday in Istanbul when she had a BBL procedure
She paid 3,200 for the surgery (Pictured is Ms Kerr and her partner Skye Birch)
Ms Kerr's medical cause of death was given as pulmonary thromboembolism and fat embolism, as a result of elective cosmetic surgery
Norfolk's senior coroner Jacqueline Lake said that Ms Kerr, of Denton, Norfolk, was only given 'limited information regarding the risks and mortality rate' associated with the operation.
The coroner wrote to the Department of Health and Social Care with her concerns following an inquest heard in September last year.
She wrote: 'I am concerned that patients travelling to Turkey for this procedure are not being made aware of the risks and the high mortality rate associated with this surgery.'
Ms Lake also raised concerns that there were 'no or limited controls with regard to such surgery taking place'.
The son of an AFL legend has died suddenly at the age of just 24, leaving his family 'heartbroken and devastated'.
Kye David Hart died on September 21 on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
His father played in the AFL for the West Coast Eagles in the 1980s and 1990s where he gained All Australian selection and won a premiership in 1994.
Kye followed in his father's sporting footsteps and played in the QAFL for the Noosa Tigers.
Family member Jess Hart said on a GoFundMe created to cover funeral expenses that Kye 'had the biggest heart'.
'We are absolutely heartbroken and devastated. There aren't enough words to describe how much we love Kye and how much we will miss him,' she said.
Ms Hart said the family had lost a son, brother, uncle, nephew and grandchild.
'Kye's love and affection was contagious, his cheeky beautiful smile would light up any room. Kye had the biggest heart and only wanted to give and help others,' she said.
Kye David Hart, the son of West Coast Eagles AFL player David Hart, died on the weekend
David Hart (pictured) playing for the Eagles in 1994 at the MCG, the year he won a premiership
'In this incredibly difficult time we are reaching out for your support to navigate through the challenging times ahead. The funds raised will go towards covering immediate expenses and funeral costs.
'We are grateful for your kindness, prayers and support through this tragedy.'
David Hart played 184 games for the West Coast Eagles between 1987 and 1997.
Originally from Victoria, he was raised in the small town of Bruce Rock two hours east of Perth.
We send our heartfelt condolences to David Hart and his family on the passing of his son, Kye.
Sending all our love and support to the Hart family pic.twitter.com/FaQqVCF3Ue West Coast Eagles (@WestCoastEagles) September 26, 2024
He played for West Perth and South Fremantle in the WAFL before he was recruited by West Coast.
He recovered from an injury-plagued 1992 season to play every game in 1994 where he scored a premiership medal with his side's win in the grand final over Geelong.
'We send our heartfelt condolences to David Hart and his family on the passing of his son, Kye,' the club said on Thursday.
'Sending all our love and support to the Hart family.'
Lifeline: 131 114
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 or beyondblue.org.au
Headspace: 1800 650 890 or headspace.org.au
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 or kidshelpline.com.au
He was the Eton-educated royal playboy who massacred nearly all his family after a row about the woman he wanted to marry.
On June 1, 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal shot dead eight relatives, including his parents - the king and queen - and siblings before turning one of his weapons on himself at the family's palace in Kathmandu.
Despite being in a coma with grievous head wounds, Dipendra, 29, was named as the new king - but 'reigned' for just three days before his life support machine was switched off.
Now, the troubled playboy's motive for the killings that shocked the world is being explored in the penultimate episode of Daily Mail podcast series Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things.
Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and his co-presenter Professor Kate Williams examine Dipendra's long-held desire to marry Devyani Rana, the daughter of an Indian princess.
Listen to the episode in full:
On June 1, 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal shot dead eight relatives, including his parents - the king and queen - and siblings before turning one of his weapons on himself at the family's palace in Kathmandu. Above: Crown Prince Dipendra examining an automatic rifle in a Pakistan ordinance factory
Princess Diana poses with King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya and their son, Crown Prince Dipendra during her visit to Nepal in March 1993
His mother, Queen Aishwarya, was particularly against the match, and on the night of her murder, she and her husband - King Birendra - had a stand-up row with Dipendra.
During his time at Britain's most prestigious private school, he was given the nickname 'Dippy' and was known for his obsession with guns and martial arts.
Birendra had become the monarch in 1972 after the death of his father, King Mahendra.
Birendra willingly gave up some of his power to make his kingdom more democratic, but the move was unpopular with traditionalists in his family, including his wife and oldest son.
Princess Diana got on well with Dipendra when she visited Nepal in early 1993, a few months after she separated from Prince Charles.
Mr Hardman recounted how the royal went missing one evening during her visit, which was her first official trip after her separation.
The historian was told that she had gone off with Dipendra, who drove her around Kathmandu after getting the police to shut down all the roads.
On the night of the royal massacre, the family had come together for dinner at the Narayanhiti Palace in Kathmandu because it was the end of the week.
While discussing affairs of state, things 'started to go wrong', Mr Hardman says.
The royal family of Nepal poses for a photo at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace in Katmandu, Nepal. From left: Princess Shruti, King Birendra, Crown Prince Dependra, Queen Aishwarya and Prince Niranjan
King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, talking to Crown Prince Dipendra in Kathmandu during his visit in 1998
Charles is given a warm send off by Crown Prince Dipendra in Kathmandu at the end of his four-day visit, February 1999
Crown Prince Dipendra (pictured above in 1998) wanted to marry Devyani Rana (right)
The ninth episode of new Daily Mail podcast, Queen's Kings and Dastardly Things, airs from today
The podcast is presented by Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Professor Kate Williams
Dipendra had a 'huge standup row' with his parents and then 'gets up and he leaves the room.'
'Instead of going off to stew in his apartments, the crown prince wasn't letting this lie.
'We know that he changed into fatigues. And there, suddenly, to everyone's horror,
'At the door of the room, there is the crown prince in military kit, and he's armed, and he opens fire.
'He shoots his father, his father the king, but then as other members of the family either rush forward or rush away, he starts to shoot them as well.'
Dipendra, who was armed with weapons including an MP5 submachine gun, a shotgun and a Colt carbine - even chased his own mother out of the room before executing her.
King Dipendra is taken for cremation in Kathmandu, wearing a flower on his forehead to hide the fatal bullet hole
A distraught mourner is held back in front of a picture of slain King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya on the street in Kathmandu, June 4, 2001
Pall bearers carry coffins with bodies of Nepal's royal family through the river Bishumati for cremation in Kathmandu June 2, 2001
After Dipendra's death in hospital, the Nepalese crown went to the king's brother, Prince Gyanendra, who was the younger brother of Birendra
The Daily Mail's coverage of the massacre, from June 2, 2001
As well as refusing to spare his brother and sister, Dipendra killed his aunts, one of his aunt's husbands and a princess who was a cousin of the king.
'By the end of this extraordinary, horrific act of regicide, it's not just the king who lies dead, there are eight members of the royal family, and then he turns the gun on himself,' Mr Hardman adds.
After Dipendra's death in hospital, the Nepalese crown went to the king's brother, Prince Gyanendra, who was the younger brother of Birendra.
Gyanendra, who had briefly ruled Nepal as king from 1950 to 1951 as a toddler, had not been at the fateful family dinner.
Like his nephew, he was opposed to the democratic reforms that had been enacted by his brother.
However, his rule proved deeply unpopular, ultimately leading to the abolition of the Nepalese monarchy in 2008.
But as for the role that Dipendra's love for Devyani Rana played in his unfathomable decision to kill his whole family, listen to the latest episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things to hear the verdict of Mr Hardman and Professor Williams.
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.
Despite rubbing shoulders with the Royal Family for years, Mohamed Al Fayed's relationship with the British monarchy went up in flames after the death of his son.
The now-disgraced late billionaire used to ensure that Harrods - the luxury department store he owned until 2010 - displayed the four royal warrants it held.
But after his son Dodi was killed in a car crash in Paris alongside Princess Diana on August 31, 1997, Al Fayed accused Prince Philip of being involved in their deaths.
In the year 2000, Al Fayed was told that the late Duke of Edinburgh, who died in 2021, did not want to renew his warrant because his shopping at the store had declined.
Al Fayed then took down three others granted by Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother and the then Prince Charles.
Al Fayed later revealed that he had the warrants burned.
A BBC documentary revealed last week that the businessman, who died aged 94 last August, has been accused of sexual assault and rape by more than 20 women.
Harrods, which is now owned by Qatar, said they are 'utterly appalled' by the allegations and have 'sincerely' apologised to his victims.
Former Harrods' owner Mohamed Al Fayed with Queen Elizabeth at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May 1997
A giant representation of Queen Elizabeth's crest seen being carried away by workers after being removed from Harrods' exterior in December 2000
The Prince of Wales' crest being removed from Harrods and put into a van in December 2000
Prince Philip at the Royal Windsor Horse Show next to a Harrods' carriage that displays the four royal crests
The royals' formal association with Harrods stretches back more than a century, with its first royal warrant being granted in 1913.
In 1938, the Queen Mother awarded the store a warrant for china, glass and fancy goods that was due to last indefinitely.
Queen Elizabeth's warrant was presented in 1955 for provisions and household goods while King Charles' was awarded in 1980 and 1985 for being his outfitter and saddler.
Prince Philip asked Harrods to be his outfitter in 1956. It meant that the store held four royal warrants simultaneously, until Al Fayed torpedoed the relationship.
The Daily Mail told in December 2000 'workmen on cranes arrived to remove the store's four royal coats of arms and loaded them into vans'.
Al Fayed had warned Buckingham Palace in July that year to say that he would not be applying for the warrants granted by the Queen and Charles to be renewed.
Both warrants had one year remaining when the crests of the monarch and her son were removed.
Prince Philip's crest being removed from the front of Harrods in 2000
The royal warrants granted by Queen Elizabeth (top), the Queen Mother (second from top), Prince Philip (second from bottom) and Prince Charles seen on the wall of Harrods in Knightsbridge in 2000
Princess Diana, Prince Charles and Al Fayed during the Harrods Polo Cup in 1987
The Queen Mother and Prince Philip at Hillington Church in Sandringham in January, 2000
Al Fayed said at the time: 'Since neither has shopped in Harrods for several years, displaying the royal warrant would be totally misleading and hypocritical.'
After the giant crests were removed from the front wall of Harrods, the space remained empty until a large new sign displaying the shop's name was put in its place.
Harrods' stationery and packaging was then redesigned to reflect the warrants' removal.
The crests were also painted over on the store's iconic green and gold vans.
Workmen preparing to remove the royal warrant crest granted by the Prince of Wales
Al Fayed and Princess Diana attending a charity dinner at Harrods in February 1996
A decade later, Al Fayed revealed how he ordered for the royal warrants that once hung on his store to be burned.
The tycoon even described the warrants as a 'curse' on his luxurious store.
He was said to have been 'outraged' at the implication that the royals had ordered for the warrants to be removed.
He wrote in a letter to a newspaper: 'This is not so. I ordered their removal. Later, I had them burned. They were a curse and business tripled following their removal.'
The royal warrants displayed above an entrance into the store, pictured in 1990
The Daily Mail's coverage of the warrants being removed in December 2000
The Mail reported in 2010 how Al Fayed revealed he had burned the royal warrants after removing them from the store
Al Fayed had two memorials to Diana and his son Dodi installed in Harrods. The first (above) was erected in 1998
The store also had a statue in memory of Diana and Dodi called 'Innocent Victims' and featured the couple holding each other's hands.
There was another memorial that featured a wine glass used by Diana and a ring Dodi had bought the day before the couple died.
Al Fayed also urged the new owners of the store to remove the two features.
In the letter he added that he doubted that members of the Royal Family 'would dare to show their faces' again in Harrods.
A Texas man who admitted to stomping and strangling his own baby after he molested the three-month-old called his execution by lethal injection 'assisted suicide' in his final words.
Travis Mullis, 38, spoke his last words while strapped to a gurney in the death chamber in Huntsville, Texas, on Tuesday night.
After waiving his legal right to appeal his execution for the 2008 killing of his baby, Mullis said he 'took the legal steps to expedite to include assisted suicide.'
'I don't regret this decision to legally expedite this process,' he said in his last statement.
'I do regret the decision to take the life of my son. It was my decision that put me here,' the convicted killer added.
Mullis brutalized his own son, Alijiah, after trying to rape another child on Jan. 29, 2008, according to KPRC.
Travis Mullis, 38, pictured above in the most recent image available of him through the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Alijah James Mullis seen here in a photo shared by his family on Facebook
At the time, Mullis, his girlfriend and newborn were living with a friend who had a daughter because they could not afford their own place.
In a police confession days after the killing, Mullis told police he tried to assault the 8-year-old at a playground.
'I had asked her to take her pants off, she said, "No,"' Mullis confessed told investigators.
'She started to cry, she got scared, I also got startled. I was upset about what I was doing. I knew that it was wrong. So, I told her, "Lets just go home."'
Mullis told police he himself had been sexually abused as a child and thought he could get rid of the flashbacks if he 'acted on them.'
Mullis told his girlfriend what had happened between him and the girl, and the couple feared they would get kicked out of the mobile home once her dad heard about it.
He said: 'Im guilty of what I did and the death penalty is the legally justified and, I believe morally, sentence for what Ive done' in 2018
Baby Alijah pictured with his mother
Claiming he was going for a drive to figure out next steps, Mullis went for a drive with this infant in Galveston.
The dad, then 21, claimed the baby woke up during the drive and began to cry uncontrollably.
'I had hit my breaking point with stress, and I was, you know, scared,' he told police.
'I was panicking, I, you know, hit my breaking point and I broke at that point. I felt that the only way to make him stop crying was to kill him.'
Mullis strangled the baby and them stomped him to death.
While he didn't confess to it, prosecutors said there was evidence he had molested the baby boy as well, before his dumping his body on the side of the road near the sea wall.
Mullis went on the run for three days before surrendering to the cops in Philadelphia.
Pictured above: the area where Alijah's body was dumped in Galveston, Texas near the sea wall
Travis Mullis seen confessing to killing his son in a taped interview with police
In 2011, he was convicted and sentenced to death.
Seven years later, he filed a motion to waive his appeals and fire his attorney, hoping to expedite his execution.
'Im guilty of what I did and the death penalty is the legally justified and, I believe morally, sentence for what Ive done. I'm ready to accept my punishment,' he said during an interview at the time.Officials declared him dead at 7:01 p.m. CDT. No one his side or the baby's mother witnessed the execution.
Chinese movie week opens in Iran
Xinhua) 09:47, September 25, 2024
TEHRAN, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- The 4th Chinese Movie Week kicked off on Monday in the Iranian capital Tehran, attracting over 300 attendees, including officials, movie industry professionals, and media representatives from both countries.
Movies have played a crucial role in fostering bilateral relations. Collaboration in cinema between the two countries has become increasingly active, said Chinese Ambassador to Iran Cong Peiwu during his speech at the opening ceremony.
He expressed hope that the two countries would further deepen people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, enhance communication, and continue to write a new chapter of traditional friendship.
Mohammad Khazaei, deputy minister of culture and Islamic guidance, noted that movie and art exchanges are essential to deepening cultural exchanges between the two countries and bringing people closer.
This week's events have strengthened the ties between the Iranian and Chinese film industries. Khazaei is optimistic about the increased presence of Iranian movies in the Chinese market.
This year's movie week lasts until Sept. 27 and will screen five Chinese movies, including "The Battle at Lake Changjin" and "Cloudy Mountain."
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
It has been more than 4,000 years since the last woolly mammoth vanished from the face of the Earth. But if one group of scientists is right, it may be less than four years before these gentle giants walk the planes of North America once again. Ben Lamm, CEO and founder of Colossal Biosciences, now says he's 'positive' the first woolly mammoth calves will be born by late 2028. However, introducing any species into the wild is risky and Mr Lamm says that even his scientists can't be 100 per cent sure what will happen when mammoths return. MailOnline sat down with Mr Lamm to ask him why his Jurassic Park-like plan matters, and why he's so sure it's a good idea.
This is the first image of a UFO shot down by American fighter jets during a chase near Alaska last year.
The photo shows a seemingly glowing horse shoe-shaped object with ill-defined edges over the Yukon territory in northwest Canada on February 11, 2023.
It was shot down by a US Air Force F-22 stealth fighter on a joint mission with the Canadian Armed Forces following the now infamous Chinese spy balloon drama that made international news that month.
Redacted documents show that this UFO image was designated as 'unclassified' within just days of the now 19-month-old incident, yet Canada's defense department did not release it to the public until now.
Canada has released the first-ever image of the UFO shot down during a chase above Alaska and the Yukon that followed the Chinese spy balloon drama of February 2023 (above)
The odd pic shows a seemingly circular white object that had been shot down by a US Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter in a joint mission with the Canadian Armed Forces. Above, another USAF F-22 Raptor during an air show over Toronto, Canada on August 31, 2024
A possible reason, as one public affairs official with Canada's Department of National Defence (DND) warned colleagues, was internal fears that releasing this unclassified UFO image 'may create more questions/confusion.'
This official, a director of communications named Taylor Paxton, advised military colleagues that this confusion would be inevitable 'given the current public environment and statements related to the object being benign.'
Paxton suggested that any move by the Royal Canadian Air Force to publish the photo on social media would likely only raise more inquiries from the general public and the press 'regardless of the text that will accompany the post.'
The craft was one of three shot down over Alaska, Yukon and Lake Huron between February 10 and 12, 2023.
The three objects were reportedly much smaller than the Chinese spy balloon that was grounded off the coast of South Carolina days earlier.
The new emails obtained along with the eerie new UFO photo by CTVNews.ca reporter Daniel Otis via an open records law request also included efforts by members of Canada's armed forces to better understand the craft that had been shot down themselves.
One email from Canadian Brigadier-General Eric Laforest described the UFO as a 'cylindrical object.'
'Top quarter is metallic, remainder white. 20-foot wire hanging below with a package of some sort suspended,' Brig. Gen. Laforest wrote. 'Best description that we have.'
The suspected spy balloon was one of four airborne objects gunned out of the sky by the US over eight days of February 2023. One unusual feature of the newly released UFO photo is that it had already been designated 'unclassified' within just days of these 19-month-old incidents
A possible reason, as one public affairs official with Canada's Department of National Defence (DND) warned colleagues, was the Canadian military's own internal fears that releasing this UFO image 'may create more questions/confusion'
Dark portions visible along the top center of the UFO in this newly released image may depict either that upper metallic region or the remains of the alleged 'package.'
But this release only adds more mystery to the wave of espionage-tinted UFO activity that surrounded the confirmed downing of an authentic Chinese-government spy balloon earlier that month off the coast of South Carolina's Myrtle Beach.
Iain Boyd, a professor of aerospace engineering and director of the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado, described the Canadian government's reticence to release the image as an issue of national security despite the image's 'unclassified' designation.
'It comes down to these episodes illustrating a potential vulnerability in the U.S./Canada defensive system,' Boyd opined.
'Certainly the failure to provide more information has fed conspiracy theories,' as he told CTVNews.ca, 'but the military will likely accept that outcome over disclosing information that may help an adversary identify defensive weaknesses.'
According to the report for CTV News, the network's journalists plan to petition the Canadian military for a higher resolution version of this UFO image.
An archaeologist has uncovered a 200-year-old rock painting that depicts an ancient, horned serpent roaming across the land.
This discovery adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests this mythical creature was more than just a legend.
Julien Benoit, a senior researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand, found the painting at La Belle France, a rock-art site in northern South Africa.
It appears to show a long-bodied animal with downward-turned tusks that looks unlike any living animal in the region today.
A rock painting and unidentified fossils discovered in South Africa may confirm the existence of a legendary 'horned serpent'
The paintings are about ten years older than the first formal scientific descriptions of this horned serpent, which were made in 1845
Analysis revealed that they were made between 1821 and 1835 by an indigenous group called the San.
According to San legend, this creature was a 'rain animal' from the 'spirit realm,' which means it was probably involved in rain-making ceremonies, Benoit told IFLScience.
But scientists, including Benoit, believe it's possible that this myth was based on real dicynodont fossils.
Dicynodontia is an extinct clade of terrestrial herbivores that typically bore a pair of tusks. Hence their name, which means 'two dog tooth.' They roamed the Earth from the Middle Permian through the end of the Triassic periods.
They likely died out during the end-Permian extinction that wiped out most other therapsids - the larger clade of terrestrial animals that Dicynodontia belongs to.
An abundance of dicynodont fossils have been found in the Karoo Basin, a sedimentary basin that spans 60,000 square miles across the central and southern South Africa.
La Belle France, where the painting was uncovered, is located north of the Karoo Basin. But the painting was found in the immediate vicinity of unknown tetrapod (or four-legged vertebrate) fossils.
The Horned Serpent Panel
Benoit published his findings this month in the journal PLOS ONE.
He thinks that a fossil discovery could have led the San to paint the horned serpent, guided by an ancient legend in which their ancestors described these creatures as 'great monstrous brutes, exceeding the elephant or hippopotamus in bulk,' he said.
Together, the painting and nearby fossils 'suggest a case of indigenous paleontology,' Benoit wrote. Perhaps the San weren't painting a fictitious creature, but rather documenting a scientific finding.
Benoit told IFLScience that 'many cultures explored the world of fossils before Western scientists did.'
The rock painting was discovered at La Belle France, a rock-art site in northern South Africa
The fossils were found beneath the star in photo A, and fossils were found at the locations shown in photos B, C and D.
'The Native Americans knew about fossils before colonization and interpreted them in various ways, some implying they knew they belonged to long-gone animals,' he said.
'The San, in southern Africa, also collected fossils, as exemplified by the Bolahla rock shelter, in which they carried a dinosaur phalanx which may be, by the way, the first time a dinosaur bone was ever discovered,' he added.
What's more, the painting of a dicynodont by the San would also suggest that they integrated at least some fossils into their belief system, according to the study.
'During rain-making ceremonies, the San enter a state of trance and enter the realm of the dead to catch rain-animals and bring the rain back to the world of the living,' he said.
'By picking a species such as a dicynodont, that they knew was extinct and thus dead, they likely hoped this rain-animal had some increased potency to bridge the two worlds,' he added.
But this painting alone is not enough to officially confirm that this legendary horned serpent actually existed, or that the unidentified fossils found at La Belle France are its remains.
It will take additional research to determine whether this ancient monster was fact or fiction.
Following the devastating Notre-Dame cathedral fire of 2019, Paris authorities were intrigued when they uncovered two lead-lined coffins 65 feet below the church floor.
One skeleton was quickly identified as a local cleric born in the 17th century, but the experts were left perplexed by the second, simply describing him as an 'unknown nobleman'.
Now, they announce that it was the body of Joachim du Bellay, a celebrated French Renaissance poet and critic, born in Lire, western France in 1522.
Dubbed 'the Horseman' due to his penchant for riding horses, du Bellay died of chronic meningitis due to tuberculosis in 1560, at the age of just 37.
Following his death, his remains were thought to be buried at Notre-Dame but were never identified until now.
The coffin found under Notre-Dame cathedral after the devastating 2019 fire has been identified as belonging to 16th century Frenchman Joachim du Bellay. Pictured, the lead sarcophagus of the previously 'unknown' individual surrounded by 19th century heating flues
Joachim du Bellay (c. 1522 1 January 1560) was a French poet, critic, and a founder of La Pleiade, a group of 16th-century French Renaissance poets
The new findings were revealed by University of Toulouse III and France's National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP).
Dr Eric Crubezy, professor of anthropology at University of Toulouse III, said he died of 'chronic tuberculous meningitis in the 16th century'.
'[This] age is rarely represented among the burials of important people in the cathedral,' the professor added.
Following the Notre-Dame cathedral fire of April 2019, two lead-lined coffins were found under paving stones in a spot where the 'nave' and the 'transept' meet.
In a cross-shaped cathedral like Notre-Dame, the nave and the transept are the two straight parts that are at right angles to each other.
The coffins were first uncovered in March 2022, but the opening of the tombs only occurred eight months later that November.
Forensic experts have been able to link such physical evidence from his remains to the life and death of Joachim du Bellay as detailed in the literature
Following the Notre-Dame cathedral fire of April 2019, two coffins were found under paving stones in a spot where the 'nave' and the 'transept' meet
Pictured are the two side-by-side. The 'unknown nobleman' - now known to be Joachim du Bellay - is on the left and the cleric is on the right
Although burials in cathedrals were practiced throughout the medieval and modern periods, a burial in a lead coffin was special an act 'reserved for an elite' and the men were deemed to be once wealthy.
One of the coffins was identified as containing Antoine de la Porte a cleric of the cathedral who died in 1710 at the age of 87 largely thanks to an identification plate with his name on the coffin.
Born in 1627, Antoine de la Porte provided financial support to the redevelopment of the enclosure of the choir of Notre Dame in fulfillment of the Vow of Louis XIII.
Although no organic tissue was left on the bones, the remains were still well-preserved including his hair and beard.
However, the other lead coffin unearthed during the excavation remained 'anonymous for the moment' due to the lack of any name plate.
This brass plate of the priest's coffin reads: 'THIS IS THE BODY OF MESSIRE ANTOINE OF THE CANON PORTE OF THE CHURCH [word erased] DEATH DECEMBER 24, 1710 IN HIS 83RD YEAR. RESQUIETCAT IN PACE'
The lead sarcophagi were discovered during the reconstruction of the cathedral. They were buried more than 65 feet below the floor of the church
Notre-Dame cathedral was built in the shape of a Latin cross. Construction began in 1163 and the cathedral was largely completed by 1345
Examination of the bones revealed he was between 25 and 40 years of at death and spent much of his early life riding horses, giving him the nickname 'le Cavalier' (the Horseman).
There are several markings associated with horse-riding on his upper limbs.
Forensic experts have been able to link such physical evidence from his remains to the life and death of Joachim du Bellay as detailed in the literature.
Traces of bone tuberculosis and chronic meningitis were found on the skeleton, of which the poet showed symptoms in the last years of his life.
"He matches all the criteria of the portrait.' Dr Crubezy said at a news conference last week, as quoted by La Croix and Live Science.
'He is an accomplished horseman, suffers from both conditions mentioned in some of his poems, like in 'The Complaint of the Despairing'.
'He describes "this storm that blurs [his] mind" and his family belonged to the royal court and the pope's close entourage.'
However, Christophe Besnier, an INRAP archaeologist and excavation leader, suggested that some doubts remain.
'Certain elements do not support this hypothesis,' Besnier said.
'Isotope analysis of the teeth indicates that the individual lived in the Paris region or Rhone-Alpes until he was 10 years old.
'However, we know that Joachim du Bellay grew up in Anjou.'
It's thought that without the cathedral fire five years ago the sarcophagi would be still lying undiscovered.
Drone footage from the French Interior Ministry showed the devastation to the cathedral's centuries-old timber roof
On April 15, 2019, millions worldwide watched in horror as firefighters battled through the night to save the cathedral as a fire tore through its roof and toppled the steeple
On April 15, 2019, millions worldwide watched in horror as firefighters battled through the night to save the cathedral as a fire tore through its roof and toppled the steeple.
The 300-foot-tall Gothic spire collapsed into the embers early in the blaze to pained cries of locals transfixed by the unfolding scene.
One of one of Europe's most-visited landmarks, the fierce blaze broke out just before 7pm local time in a roof area undergoing renovations.
'Notre-Dame survived all the wars, all the bombardments. We never thought it could burn. I feel incredibly sad and empty,' Stephane Seigneurie, a consultant who joined other shocked onlookers in a solemn rendition of 'Ave Maria' as they watched the fire from a nearby bridge.
Firefighters bravely worked to stop the flames and French authorities said the holy building was within '15 to 30 minutes' of complete destruction.
In September 2021, the French government announced the cathedral was finally stable and secure enough to start work to rebuild it.
Following restoration work largely funded by 840 million (700 million) from donors, Notre-Dame cathedral is due to reopen December 8 this year.
Hurricane Helene is set to strike within the next several hours and its rapidly growing size is causing 'tremendous' concern among experts.
The storm, currently a category two hurricane, is rampaging across the gulf of Mexico and is now only a few hundred miles away from Florida.
A newly released chart revealed the heat coming off the Gulf measured about 85 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday - roughly 20 degrees higher than the average for this time of year.
The sea temperature and ocean heat are at record levels, which could fuel Helene to rapidly intensify, possibly hitting Florida as a Category 3 or 4 system.
'The amount of damage will be tremendous,' Professor Pam Knox, from the University of Georgia told DailyMail.com.
The waters in the Gulf of Mexico are warmer than usual, causing Hurricane Helene to grow rapidly as it heads for the west coast of Florida
Tropical Storm Helene was upgraded to a hurricane on Wednesday, the day before it's expected to make landfall over Florida
The hurricane is expected to batter Florida's west coast between 6 and 10pm ET on Thursday with winds will reach speeds of up to 125 miles per hour.
This is nearly twice as strong as the winds felt by Hurricane Debby which struck last month, causing an estimated $28 billion in damage and economic losses.
Hurricane Helene will stretch as far inland as Atlanta before traveling up the east coast to North and South Carolina, which hasn't been hit by a major hurricane in nearly three decades.
'The storm is intensifying rapidly and is also moving fast, so the strong winds around the storm will affect a larger area than usual,' Knox said.
'It is also a very large storm, so the impacts will extend farther out from the center than they do in more compact storms.
'The impacts will hit many places like Atlanta which dont often get hit by winds and rain this extreme, so a lot of people will not be prepared for it.'
A category 4 hurricane or higher is certainly within the realm of possibility this week, meaning areas like Tallahassee in Florida could look very different on Friday morning.
There are roughly 32 million people already under a flood watch ranging from South Florida to Southern Virginia.
The force from the tropical winds is expected to reach more than 400 miles wide - twice the size of Hurricane Debby and Hurricane Idalia which struck in August last year.
Hurricane Idalia was responsible for 12 deaths while Debby claimed the lives of 10 people.
Meteorologists are concerned that people in the impacted regions like Atlanta and the Carolinas aren't prepared for the storm because a category 3 or higher hurricane hasn't reached the area in decades.
The major area of concern will be Florida and Georgia, although states like Alabama and Tennessee - which aren't used to these storms - will also get hit with heavy winds, flash-flooding and power outages caused by downed trees and power lines.
Hurricane Helene is expected to cause flooding up to 15 feet high in some areas
The severity of the hurricane may cause normally dry areas to experience floods the likes of which they have never seen, including Ochlocknee River in southwest Georgia, which could see a flooding surge as high as 10 to 15 feet.
The heavy rain can overwhelm the drainage and pump systems, leaving the water with nowhere to go and can leave people stranded for days and weeks until rescue personnel can get to the area.
'If you live along the coast, especially the Florida coast from Apalachicola to Tampa, the storm surge will be very high and they will be evacuating many people in advance of water levels that could rise 12 feet or even more,' Knox said.
The hurricane is strengthening as it moves past Mexico and up toward the Gulf Coast and has already reached wind speeds of 80 miles per hour.
Forecasters have warned that the hurricane, fueled by record-breaking temperatures in Gulf waters, could reach maximum winds of 125 miles per hour by the time it makes landfall.
'Helene is just now moving into the Gulf of Mexico,' said Knox, 'so there is really nothing to keep it from growing stronger.'
The chart, published by the University of Miami, reaffirmed fears that the Gulf's warmer temperatures have caused the hurricane to be upgraded from a tropical storm.
'There is some evidence the [hurricanes] that do occur are strengthening more rapidly and dropping more rain than in the past,' Knox said, adding that 'those effects can be attributed to warmer ocean water that is caused by global warming.'
Two components are causing the hurricane to grow, including the 'record-setting warm temperatures in the eastern Gulf of Mexico,' where the storm is expected to pass directly over.
'The warm water acts like fuel to the storm, increasing its strength quickly. We call this 'rapid intensification' because the storm's pressure can drop rapidly and the wind speed around the center of the storm will grow in concert with this,' Knox said.
Parts of Florida are already under an evacuation order as the storm could reach a category 4
The second factor is the change in wind speed or direction, called a wind shear, which has decreased as the storm approaches the US.
A wind shear will have the effect of blowing the top off a developing tropical cyclone, much like a hat blown off your head, which will keep it from developing into a stronger storm.
However, if the wind shear disappears or decreases - as it's done during Hurricane Helene - the storm can grow vertically, making its circulation stronger and giving it a wider range.
The NHC is now urging people to prepare for the impending storm and several Florida counties have already received orders to evacuate.
Experts have not commented on the specific amount of devastation that could accompany Hurricane Helene, but the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has confirmed that it could be 'life-threatening.'
The NHC said Hurricane Helene will impact almost the entirety of Florida's west coast over a 36-hour period and residents should plan on the heavy winds and rain downing trees and power lines that will cause power outages and could last for several days.
Florida Storm Chasers said in a post on X that the latest Global High-Resolution Atmospheric Forecasting (GRAF) model 'is still suggesting that Helene could blow up into a Category 4 before making landfall somewhere in the Big Bend of Florida.'
Meteorologists warned that the hurricane is likely to down trees and power lines, causing widespread power outages across Florida's west coast and Georgia
Knox advised that people invest in generators or batteries to provide them with temporary power while they wait for companies to fix the broken lines.
People should prepare by making sure their gas tanks are full and cell phones are charged and ensure they have enough water and non-perishable food that will last for at least a week after the storm.
'Any loose items that are out in yards like chairs, tables, and ornaments should be taken indoors so that they do not become airborne missiles,' Knox said.
Josh Morgerman, a self-proclaimed hurricane chaser, posted about the 'ominous signs this morning' coming from Helene and warned that 'a dangerous situation is developing.'
He warned Floridians against making any assumptions about Helene based on past experiences with Debby and Idalia, stating 'this one is likely to be much more severe' and warned people to 'take it seriously.'
A tantalizing image of a UFO shot down by the US Air Force last year has left public speculation rife over what the horseshoe-shaped white visage actually depicts.
Some have compared it to the silvery, chevron-shaped crafts first reported by pilot Kenneth Arnold in 1947 the historic sighting that launched the modern era of 'flying saucer' cases.
Others have compared it ominously to the alien 'engineer' spacecraft in the Ridley Scott's 2012 sci-fi horror film 'Prometheus.'
But DailyMail.com has spoken to a former officer with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), who has discussed the case with three active-duty members of the operational staff directly involved in this February 11, 2023 UFO shootdown.
Canada has released the first-ever image of the UFO shot down during a chase above Alaska and the Yukon initiated during the Chinese spy balloon drama of February 2023 (above)
Some have compared the UFO ominously to the alien 'engineer' spacecraft in the Ridley Scott's 2012 sci-fi horror film 'Prometheus'
According to this source, retired RCAF warrant officer Rocky Swanson, the military officers involved said the object was difficult to track.
But once they got close, they could 'very clearly' see it was a balloon, similar to the Chinese spy craft shot down days before this encounter.
'I've spoken to three different folks that were involved in that particular event,' Swanson told DailyMail.com, 'and their stories are all the same.'
'For the most part, you're staring at a white object in a white sky, right? And so they are looking for this thing and it's small and they're having a hard time tracking it, because there's not a lot to track.'
'They're flying in an extraordinarily remote area,' he continued, 'trying to look for basically a needle in a stack of needles, you know?'
From his conversations with military personnel involved in the case, he believes that the image depicts the underside of a aerial platform not dissimilar from the larger Chinese spy balloon with its intelligence-collecting package hanging beneath it.
'The round shape that you're seeing, you know, if it was three dimensional, you would see that it's a balloon,' he said.
The apparent dark regions that give the UFO its 'Pac-Man'-like shape, he said, were caused by this package and its 'shadow.'
'There's nobody that got excited about that event within the military,' Swanson said. 'It's not thought of as a big deal [...] It's legitimately a balloon.'
Two F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets from US Air Force Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska had been dispatched to intercept the UFO last February.
Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder said at the time: 'As the object crossed into Canadian airspace, Canadian CF-18 and CP-140 aircraft [joined] the formation to further assess the object.'
The odd pic shows a seemingly circular white object that had been shot down by a US Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter in a joint mission with the Canadian Armed Forces. Above, another USAF F-22 Raptor during an air show over Toronto, Canada on August 31, 2024
At approximately 3:41 pm Eastern time, in the bitterly cold subarctic climate over Mayo, Yukon, one of these F-22 Raptors successfully blasted the UFO out of the sky with an an AIM 9X 'sidewinder' missile.
Curiously, redacted documents released by the Canadian government along with the new UFO image show that it was designated as 'unclassified' within just days of this now 19-month-old UFO incident.
And yet, Canada's Department of National Defence (DND) did not release it until now.
Swanson believes that Canadian DND officials withheld the grainy images because the UFO it depicted looks more otherworldly than the object really was.
'I can understand why they wouldn't want to put that out, because I would be like, "Oh, God. What are we going to do with that?"' he said in a telephone interview.
Military aircraft fly towards UFO wreckage that was believed to have landed in remote Alaska in an incident just days before the February 11, 2023 UFO shoot-down over the nearby Yukon territory. All told, four objects were downed during that month's Chinese spy balloon drama
Above, a timeline of the UFO shoot-downs which took place over eight days of February 2023. One unusual feature of the newly released UFO photo, per military records, is that it had already been designated 'unclassified' within just days of these 19-month-old incidents
The episode was one of four UFO shootdowns that occurred in rapid succession that month, beginning with the confirmed downing of an authentic Chinese-government spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina's Myrtle Beach on Feb. 4.
The new image depicts one of the three objects that met the same fate between Feb. 10 and 12 of that year over Alaska, Lake Huron on the border of Michigan, and Canada's Yukon territory.
All three of these objects were reportedly much smaller than the Chinese spy balloon that splashed down near Myrtle Beach days earlier.
That object, the only confirmed Chinese spy balloon of the four shot down, per Pentagon reports, carried a payload of spy sensors approximately the size of a bus via a balloon that was bigger than Disney's famous geodesic sphere at Epcot Center.
Swanson told DailyMail.com that his three military sources would not come forward publicly: 'These are currently serving members of the military. So, they're not going to be willing to come out. They can't.'
'What I'm willing to say is they're operational staff,' he added. 'They are flight crew is what I'll say.'
A possible reason, as one public affairs official with Canada's Department of National Defence (DND) warned colleagues, was the Canadian military's own internal fears that releasing this UFO image 'may create more questions/confusion'
Above, a US Air Force pilot looks down at the first, alleged Chinese spy balloon as it glided over Montana on February 3, 2023. Unlike the smaller UFOs shot down later that month, this device was massive - its balloon was reportedly bigger than Disney's geodesic sphere at Epcot Center
Some on social media (above) have compared this new 'Pac-Man' UFO photo to the silvery, chevron-shaped crafts first reported by pilot Kenneth Arnold in 1947 - the historic sighting that launched the modern era of 'flying saucers'
But their anonymity will likely do little to dampen the speculation and mistrust of both the Canadian and US government's official account of these UFO intercepts, which continues to pervade the general public.
The new UFO photo, obtained by CTVNews.ca reporter Daniel Otis via an open records law request, also included efforts by members of Canada's own armed forces to better understand the craft that had been shot down.
Some of the Canadian military's written descriptions of the UFO appear to be at odds with statements suggesting that it was a simple balloon.
One email from Canadian Brigadier-General Eric Laforest described the UFO as a 'cylindrical object.'
'Top quarter is metallic, remainder white. 20-foot wire hanging below with a package of some sort suspended,' Brig. Gen. Laforest wrote. 'Best description that we have.'
In an industry where bigger often seems to mean better, citizenM hotels are proving that luxury doesn't need to come in oversized packages.
The Netherlands-based hotel and lifestyle brand continues to grow rapidly across the U.S., opening its 16th location in the country this month.
citizenM Boston Back Bay - its second property in the city - opened its doors on September 3, with an official launch party held for local media, businesses, and hotel guests last week.
Standing tall at 15 stories, the Boston Back Bay location is the brand's largest hotel to date, featuring 399 signature rooms - with a rooftop bar promising stunning views of the city set to open in early 2025.
Nestled in the heart of the historic Back Bay neighborhood, it's located just steps away from iconic Boston sites and popular tourist attractions such as Fenway Park and Newbury Street.
The latest addition is part of citizenM's ongoing U.S. expansion and its goal to double its portfolio by 2030.
A room at citizenM's new Boston Back Bay location
The Netherlands-based hotel chain and lifestyle brand continues to expand in the U.S., with 16 locations across the country so far. Pictured: citizenM Boston Back Bay
And it seems like the company is on track to do just that, having already celebrated the launch of properties in Austin and Miami this year alone, with its first Washington D.C. hotel currently under development.
citizenM's rapid expansion, as ambitious as it is, appears to be a testament to the success of its brand and its unique, streamlined design and concept.
In fact, the hotel chain was launched in Amsterdam in 2008 with a purpose to 'disrupt the traditional, stale hotel industry' by redefining 'affordable luxury', according to the company.
It started with founder Rattan Chadha's vision to create a hotel that is equipped with 'everything travelers need, and nothing they don't.'
That same philosophy was applied during citizenM's U.S. debut in 2014 and is now evident in all its compact, yet comfortable guest rooms, showcasing the hotel's commitment to innovative design and high-tech amenities.
The concept has even simplified the hotel booking process by eliminating the overwhelming range of options and 'unnecessary extras' and offering every guest the same, sleek, but comfortable experience instead.
Each room consists of 150 square-feet and is equipped with a XL king-sized wall-to-wall bed and luxury bedding.
Within the property, guests have access to stylish amenities, including a cozy living room perfect for leisure travelers catching up on emails
General views of citizenM Boston Back Bay hotel's 'living space'
Guests can enjoy amenities such as a cozy living room space for business travelers, the 24/7 canteenM (pictured) for snacks and drinks
All rooms also include a 4K widescreen TV offers streaming options via free super-fast Wi-Fi, so that guests can enjoy their own content.
The en-suite bathroom - although tight - makes up for its size with a powerful rain shower with full-size shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, as well as giant fluffy towels.
The room ambiance is fully controlled by an in-room iPad the blinds, climate, the TV, even the lights with changeable colors or via the award-winning citizenM app.
The hotel offers unique amenities outside the guest rooms, such as a cozy 'living room' space for business travelers, as well as a 24/7 'canteenM' for snacks and drinks.
The new Boston hotel, which comes five years after the city welcomed its first citizenM location in North Station in the West End, has also provided Back Bay with a more scenic, modern backdrop and a new view of the city.
The property was built as part of the mixed-use development, Lyrik - designed by citizenM's long standing architecture partner concrete Amsterdam - on what was once a mere shabby bus stop overlooking the Massachusetts Turnpike.
As part of its Boston Back Bay debut, citizenM launched a photography exhibition spotlighting eight local 'citizens' representing Boston's rich cultural tapestry
'We are thrilled to open our largest hotel yet in such a creative city,' said Robin Chadha, Chief Brand Officer.
'citizenM Boston Back Bay will not only showcase local artistry but also become a vibrant hub for travelers seeking both luxury and affordability.'
The hotel brand is also unique in its commitment to engage with the local community of its host city.
As part of its Boston Back Bay debut, citizenM launched a photography exhibition spotlighting eight local 'citizens' representing Boston's rich cultural tapestry.
The display, also considered 'a love letter to all the creators, entrepreneurs, artists and storytellers who call Boston home', features Kimberly Flynn, director of marketing at Trident Booksellers, founder of The Sausage Guy founder David Littlefield, electric violinist Vivian Luo, the Boston Celtics official DJ Brek.One, fashion designers Doug Ansine and Frank 'The Butcher' Rivera, Boston's Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola, and Boston-based muralist Rixy.
The exhibition - which will be on display until November 11 - comes as a continuation of the brand's 'citizens of the world series' program which first launched during the citizenM New York Bowery opening.
As of August 2024, citizenM's portfolio has 36 hotels in 21 exciting cities: London, Glasgow, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Paris, Copenhagen, Rome, Zurich, Geneva, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Austin, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington DC, Chicago, Menlo Park, Taipei and Kuala Lumpur.
Its the worlds largest beer festival and, on the face of it, the rules would appear to be quite simple turn up and drink.
But for Munichs Oktoberfest (which has actually already started), there are some dos and donts worth knowing about, as we discovered when we spoke to Lonely Planets destination editor for central and eastern Europe, Sandie Kestell.
Here, she reveals why you should always bring cash, how to avoid getting on the wrong side of locals - and why you should never visit puke hill in the evening.
It is not all about drinking
Sandie, who lived in Germany for more than six years and has visited Oktoberfest as a tourist, says: One of the more surprising things is that there is a huge amusements aspect to it.
Lonely Planets destination editor for central and eastern Europe, Sandie Kestell, reveals do's and don'ts for Oktoberfest. One is that there's lots to do besides drinking
There are bumper cars, roller coasters, booths and games for adults and children alike. You dont have to drink and there are lots of things to do during the daytime.
There is a family area with baby changing facilities and space for younger children to play. You can bring your own food, which is great for little ones.
There is something for everyone whether that be kids or adults. Anyone can go to Oktoberfest - its not just your typical group of friends going for lots of beers!
You will be thrown into Bavarian culture
Germany fan Sandie says: 'There is lots of traditional food on offer'
For Sandie, the best thing about Oktoberfest is the festival atmosphere and the Bavarian culture.
She says: A lot of local people will wear traditional costumes. The dirndl is a traditional Bavarian dress worn by women. They are all very elaborate and different.
Seeing that culture brought to life was my favourite thing. I think its quite striking for people when they see it because people may not know that they are still a part of modern Bavaria.
There is lots of traditional food on offer. I would recommend trying Bismarck, which is a very thick pancake chopped up with icing sugar and apple sauce!
Dancing on tables is a no and avoid puke hill at night!
'Rowdy behaviour or dancing on the tables will get you thrown out,' reveals Sandie
OKTOBERFEST ORIGINS Oktoberfest was born on October 12, 1810, as a celebration of the marriage of the crown prince of Bavaria, later King Louis I, to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. Advertisement
As with all festivals, there are rules to follow.
Sandie says: There is always music on so singing and dancing are expected. But rowdy behaviour or dancing on the tables will get you thrown out.
There are horror stories of puke hill where people go after drinking a few too many beers. In my opinion its a little overplayed.
Its around the back of a few of the tents and you do get people who are a little worse for wear visiting it in the later evenings.
During the daytime it can be a normal area where people sit in the sun on nice days!
I would always say do as the locals do. If you dont see anyone else doing it, dont start doing it yourself.
It is very accessible - but make sure to book!
Most people are unaware that entry to the event itself is free.
Sandie says: You only pay when you start buying beers or going on rides.
You can go in free for a look around, which makes it very accessible.
If you do want to take part in any activities make sure to book ahead as its a huge festival.
Booking tables in tents ahead of time is a really smart thing to do, especially if youre part of a group.
In Germany, cash is king, much more so than in the UK and Ireland. Its always best to carry change for buying beers or paying for rides. Its not such a tap-happy culture as Britain has!
Beer is a common language
At the festival, they are very used to visitors from all over the world.
Sandie says: A lot of the menus will have English translations and pictures.
The lucky news is the German word for beer is bier, which is pronounced the same way as the English!
Great British Bake Off is back for a new series and its return has left Channel 4 viewers divided as they opted for a unique Barbie-inspired intro for their first episode back on Tuesday.
The programme opted for a trendy opening of the series as show hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding dressed in Barbie theme.
As the camera panned to the duo stood outside the famous white tent, the greenery was set up to liken that of a typical Barbie set - complete with a fake swimming pool and a pink lip-shaped couch.
For the intro, Alison was dressed in a blonde wig, a pink Marylin Monroe-inspired poodle dress and pink heels.
Meanwhile Noel looked fabulous in a platinum blonde wig, a pink shirt which he paired with a matching mini skirt and white tights.
Great British Bake Off is back for a new series and its return has left Channel 4 viewers divided as they opted for a unique intro for their first episode back on Tuesday
The programme opted for a trendy opening of the series as show hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding dressed in Barbie theme
Joining in on the Barbie fun, food expert Paul Hollywood looked dashing in a black satin cowboy shirt, which featured a fringe around the chest.
He paired the shirt with a pink bandana, black cowboy boots and white cowboy hat.
Prue Leith commanded attention as she wore a hot pink 80s-inpired dress, a crazed blonde wig, yellow printed tights and brown leather boots.
And while their opening was very creative, many viewers critised the choice and dubbed it 'so last year'.
One penned: 'Bizarre Barbie intro. Not really my cup of tea'
'What was that Barbie intro about?'
'A Barbie intro in Oct 2024 was unexpected'
'Well that intro was weird'
As the camera panned to the duo stood outside the famous white tent, the greenery was set up to liken that of a typical Barbie set - complete with a fake swimming pool and a pink lip-shaped couch
For the intro, Alison was dressed in a blonde wig, a pink Marylin Monroe-inspired poodle dress and pink heels
Meanwhile Noel looked fabulous in a platinum blonde wig, a pink shirt which he paired with a matching mini skirt and white tights
Joining in on the Barbie fun, food expert Paul Hollywood looked dashing in a black satin cowboy shirt, which featured a fringe around the chest
And while their opening was very creative, many viewers critised the choice and dubbed it 'so last year'
But the imaginative intro was well received by some viewers as one confessed it made them 'giggle'
'Watching #GBBO on +1 - that Barbie sketch was VERY cringe'
'This Barbie cold open for #GBBO is so last year'
But the imaginative intro was well received by some viewers as one confessed it made them 'giggle'.
One penned: 'British Ken and Barbie lool. In Bakeoffland. Loving it.'
'OMG ITS BARBIE THEMED!'
'fab Barbie'
'Bake of and Barbie. The combination i didnt know i needed'
'BARBIE ALISON AND BARBIE NOEL'
One of the new Bake Off hopefuls is future dentistry student Sumayah, 19, this year's youngest baker, who began by dedicating her first showstopper to a very special animal - her pet duck Pato.
During the first episode, Sumayah shows off her showstopper illusion cake and sheds light on its inspiration.
The student-to-be, who is taking to the tent amid her gap year, replicates her pet duck Pato as she bakes an orange and balsamic strawberry cake.
'My cake is my pet duck,' she tells presenter Noel . 'We hatched him from an egg in like 2018. He goes missing sometimes, if he's ever missing contact me!'
In a mock up of Sumayah's 'Pato the Duck' illusion cake, Noel narrates: 'Built from orange sponge, Sumayah's feathered friend will contain layers of orange buttercream and balsamic strawberries.'
One of the new hopefuls on this year's Great British Bake Off is future dentistry student Sumayah, 19, who began by dedicating her first showstopper to her pet duck Pato
Sumayah shows off her showstopper illusion cake and sheds light on its inspiration
'You've got a pet duck, what's he called?' Noel asks the young baker, to which she replies: 'Yeah Pato, it's Spanish for duck.'
'Is he Spanish,' asks Noel, to which Sumayah replies: 'I don't think so.'
Noel continues: 'Does he speak Spanish? Does he quack Spanish? What's your favourite duck, is it the mallard?'
'No my loves are really basic, I like runner ducks,' Sumayah added.
'Weird innit, you ever think about your life and think you'd be in a tent creating the body of a duck out of cake,' Noel says.
The pair burst out laughing before Sumayah jokes: 'I had nightmares.'
This year's youngest contestant, Sumayah decided to fill her gap year with a sugary challenge before heading off to study dentistry next year.
Good at creating things from scratch, Sumayah is also a keen sewer and even makes her own clothes.
The student admitted her audition for the show didn't quite go to plan, yet she had a gut feeling she was destined for the tent.
'Despite my disastrous audition, I had this inexplicable feeling that I would get into the tent,' she explained.
In a mock up of Sumayah's 'Pato the Duck' illusion cake, Noel narrates: 'Built from orange sponge, Sumayah's feathered friend will contain layers of orange buttercream ad balsamic strawberries'
'Not because I was confident in myself, but more a sense of impending fear. I still can't believe I actually got in, it's unbelievable!
'I missed the phone call five times, so I was the last baker they notified.'
A fun new trailer for the hotly-anticipated next instalment launched on Channel 4 earlier this month ahead of the show's return on Tuesday.
The Great British Bake Off kicks off on September 24 at 8pm on Channel 4.
A BBC News legend has revealed she was left 'devastated, embarrassed and angry' after being targeted by sick scammers.
Moira Stewart made the candid confession on Wednesday's episode of Lorraine where she discussed how easy it is for people to become the victims of fraud.
The Classic FM presenter, 75, explained she almost lost a 'fortune' from her account when she was targeted by thieves.
The star admitted she hadn't expected to be the victim of a scam and thought she was generally shrewd from her years working as a reporter.
She added that she had expected attempts to de-fraud her out of her money to come through the internet and never expected to be targeted over the phone.
BBC News legend Moira Stewart, 75, has revealed she was left 'devastated, embarrassed and angry' after being targeted by sick scammers
The presenter made the candid confession on Wednesday's episode of Lorraine where she discussed how easy it is for people to become the victims of fraud
The star admitted she hadn't expected to be the victim of a scam and thought she was aware of them from her years working as a reporter but was almost conned out of 6,000
On the morning show, Moira told Lorraine: 'I was arrogant enough to think I could check whether something was supposedly genuine and I thought, "gosh, it never struck me it would come by phone."'
The presenter was targeted over the phone by scammers who were posing as her bank.
She explained that she didn't question them having her number as she was 'ex-directory' .
She described how the fraudsters hoodwinked her by telling her that someone from her local branch had stolen her money.
They told Moira that in order to catch them red handed, she needed to visit an alternative branch and transfer 6,000 out of her account and they would 'intercept' it.
Moira added that they had reassured her that they would talk her through any interactions with bank staff and it was only when she arrived that 'the penny dropped'.
The former BBC reporter said she was 'saved' by a young bank clerk who realised something was wrong and allowed her to 'escape'.
Moira then went on to discuss the dangers of fraud with financial journalist Claer Barrett (right) who advised viewers to confirm the authenticity of any phone calls from a 'bank'
The star said that the feeling of intrusion never leaves you and is now raising awareness of scams with BT Group and AbilityNet to encourage people to learn new digital skills
The star added 'it doesn't matter whether your nine or 90, you have to be careful.
Meanwhie in an interview with The Times Moira said she felt absolutely devastated, embarrassed and angry with myself.
She continued: 'If youre very independent, as I am, it feels like you have let yourself down, your family, everyone who knows you.
'This feeling, this intrusion, it doesnt leave you.'
Moira then went on to discuss the dangers of fraud with financial journalist Claer Barrett, who advised viewers to confirm the authenticity of any phone calls from a 'bank'.
She said that legitimate banking calls should ask you a series of security questions and if in doubt double check with your branch.
Moria is now raising awareness of being a victim of a scam and has joined forces with BT Group and AbilityNet to encourage people to learn new digital skills and to report fraud.
The Great British Bake Off fans have raged that 'it's far too soon' after a shocking moment during the series premiere on Tuesday night.
Judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith were back for the new series alongside hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding, which kicked off as always with Cake Week.
No one was sent packing in the first week - instead two are now at risk in the next instalment - while John was announced as the very first Star Baker of the series.
However, one standout moment from the beginning of the episode saw contestant Illiyin Morrison receive a Hollywood handshake during the very first challenge of the entire season.
The challenge saw the bakers create their own unique versions of a signature loaf cake, with the 31-year-old midwife from Norfolk whipping up a delicious cake inspired by a cinnamon roll.
The Great British Bake Off fans have raged that 'it's far too soon' after a shocking moment during the series premiere on Tuesday night
A standout moment from the beginning of the episode saw contestant Illiyin Morrison receive a Hollywood handshake during the very first challenge of the entire season
After tasting the creation, Paul left the contestants speechless by awarding Illiyin a handshake - the highest praise you can get from the judge, which is usually reserved for much later in the series.
He gushed: 'Really nice, well done. Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful cinnamon cake'.
Fellow judge Prue excitedly added: 'It tastes exactly like a cinnamon roll' and Noel Fielding jokingly quipped that she had 'already won'.
While some viewers were pleased with the gestures, other fans of the beloved baking competition took issue with the early handshake, taking to X to write:
'Paul giving out handshakes in Week 1 is a joke and devalues the whole point of the handshake #GBBO.'
'Handshake AND illness in the first episode? This is carnage #GBBO.'
'Paul Hollywood dishing out a handshake on week 1, task 1 is like Strictly dishing out 8s on dance 1 Wrecking all the benchmarks for the series already min. #GBBO.'
'A Hollywood Handshake?! In episode 1?! #GBBO.'
The challenge saw the bakers create their own unique versions of a signature loaf cake, with the 31-year-old midwife from Norfolk whipping up a delicious cake inspired by a cinnamon roll
She was left speechless after being given the handshake which he usually reserves for later in the series
While some viewers were pleased with the gestures, other fans of the beloved baking competition found issue with the early handshake
Judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith were back for the new series alongside hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding which kicked off as always with Cake Week
When announcing the results Noel said that in fact they would all be going through to the next round
'Too early for a handshake tbh sorry not sorry #GBBO.'
'If Paul gives out another handshake before at least week 5 I'm gonna scream #GBBO.'
'A Hollywood handshake on week one? Surely thats a record #GBBO.'
During the debut episode, the 12 contestants had to first make a loaf cake for the Signature Challenge, then they had to recreate a Battenberg for the Technical before heading onto the Showstopper to make an illusion cake.
This year's bunch includes a fashion designer, paediatric nurse and farm manager who even made the shortlist for Young Farmer of the Year.
But when announcing the results Noel said that in fact they would all be going through to the next round.
It came after Jeff couldn't complete the last two tasks due to unexpected illness.
The programme also opted for a trendy opening of the series as show hosts Alison and Noel dressed in Barbie theme
For the intro, Alison was dressed in a blonde wig, a pink Marylin Monroe-inspired poodle dress and pink heels
Some viewers were glad they all get another chance to impress, while others branded the decision a 'cop out'.
The programme also opted for a trendy opening of the series as show hosts Alison and Noel dressed in Barbie theme.
As the camera panned to the duo stood outside the famous white tent, the greenery was set up to resemble a typical Barbie set - complete with a fake swimming pool and a pink lip-shaped couch.
For the intro, Alison was dressed in a blonde wig, a pink Marylin Monroe-inspired poodle dress and pink heels.
Meanwhile Noel looked fabulous in a platinum blonde wig, a pink shirt which he paired with a matching mini skirt and white tights.
Joining in on the Barbie fun, food expert Paul Hollywood looked dashing in a black satin cowboy shirt, which featured a fringe around the chest.
He paired the shirt with a pink bandana, black cowboy boots and white cowboy hat.
Prue Leith commanded attention as she wore a hot pink 80s-inpired dress, a teased blonde wig, yellow printed tights and brown leather boots.
The Great British Bake Off kicked off on September 24 at 8pm on Channel 4
An Antiques Roadshow guest had to fight back tears as he learned the truth behind an 'irreplaceable' ring with a heart-wrenching backstory.
The episode saw lots of hopeful antique owners head to The Royal Hall in Harrogate for a valuation of their beloved possessions.
But one guest in particular had a very emotional experience when he discussed his treasured item with Geoffrey Munn.
The resident expert asked for the backstory of a tiny blue ring.
Geoffrey was intrigued by the guest's piece of jewellery and asked the guest to tell him all about it.
An Antiques Roadshow guest had to fight back tears as he learnt the truth behind an 'irreplaceable' ring with a heart-wrenching back-story
One guest in particular had a very emotional experience when he discussed his treasured item with Geoffrey Munn, showing him a small sapphire signet ring (pictured right)
Geoffrey was able to confirm the man's suspicions and added that the carved head was a portrait of Julius Cesar and that the ring had been made in Italy
The guest then revealed: 'It was left to me by a very dear friend who I'd known for many years and he passed [away] quite recently.
'I'd not seen him for nearly two years though and I just got a letter out the blue saying that I'd been left a load of his things.
'He was a great man. He collected everything, artwork, jewellery, he loved jewellery.
'And when I was very little I used to go into his shop, he had a shop at the time, and I used to go among different objects, knock things over and there would be the odd time I'd be screamed out of the shop, not welcomed back.'
The guest revealed that he thought the ring could be a sapphire and had an intricate carving which looked almost ancient.
Geoffrey was able to confirm the man's suspicions and added that the carved head was a portrait of Julius Cesar and that the ring had been made in Italy.
The valuer then explained: 'We should just say that sapphires are the second hardest material known to man so to carve it in what we call intaglio, which means to cut in, it's a tour de force.
'And what else have you noticed about the ring?'
The shocked guest then heard that he had 'a near classic head of Julius Cesar, carved by the Castellani in a tiny signet ring which could be worth an incredible sum
And while all of the ring's background was very impressive, it was the emotional connection to the ring that made an impression on the antique dealer
The guest had brought in a ring left for him by a dear friend who had recently passed away and said he wouldn't part with it no matter how much it was worth
The owner revealed: 'I know it has a little signature on the bottom, it looks like a niggle.'
The expert chuckled before going on to clarify that the mark was 'more than a niggle'.
He said: 'The back-to-back Cs are the monogram of possibly the most famous jeweller working in 19th century Europe.
'It's the monogram of the Castellani in Rome.'
Geoffrey revealed to the surprised guest that the Castellani was a jewellers located near the world famous Trevi Fountain in Rome.
The revelation seemed to come as a shock to the guest who could barely speak as the Antiques Roadshow expert explained that the operation itself was active for almost 100 years, from between 1860 and 1930.
He went on to add that it was 'a sort of honeypot for the elite of Europe' and that everyone wanted to be seen there.
The shocked guest then heard that he had 'a near classic head of Julius Cesar, carved by the Castellani in a tiny signet ring.'
Fighting back tears, the guest explained he 'wouldn't replace it if you told me it was worth 1,000' before Geoffrey revealed it was worth up to 5,000
And while all of the ring's background was very impressive, it was the emotional connection to the ring that made an impression on the antique dealer.
Fighting back tears, the guest explained he 'wouldn't replace it if you told me it was worth 1,000' after his friend told him to 'never let it go'.
Geoffrey then replied: 'And you couldn't replace it, because it's a token of your friendship and I have a funny feeling that he might have just known some part of this and perhaps wanted you to discover.'
He then revealed to the tearful guest that his ring was worth a whopping 5,000.
The revelation left the guest in shock and his seemed lost for words after revealing the history of the intimate and personal item.
Fans of The Great British Bake Off have slammed the Channel 4 show for introducing a 'cruel' twist during the first episode of the new season on Tuesday.
Judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith were back for the new series alongside hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding, which kicked off as always with Cake Week.
No one was sent packing in the first week - instead two are now at risk in the next instalment - while John was announced as the very first Star Baker of the series.
However, fans have been left divided over a major format change, with some slamming it as 'brutal' and claiming they would 'walk out' if it were them.
The shocking new rule, which was announced by hosts Noel and Alison, saw the bakers undertake the technical challenge without a recipe, instead relying on taste alone to recreate a Battenberg cake.
Fans of The Great British Bake Off have slammed the Channel 4 show for introducing a 'cruel' twist during the first episode of the new season on Tuesday
The shocking new rule, which was announced by hosts Noel and Alison, saw the bakers undertake the technical challenge without a recipe
Noel told the contestants: 'In a change from the norm, this is a taste and bake challenge. Under your gingham cloth is the perfect mini Battenburg.
'You'll have five minutes to inspect your Battenburg, then you'll have to recreate that with no recipe.'
The bakers were stunned to silence and viewers couldn't believe the shake-up, taking to X to write:
'Calling OfCom and the Exam Board because the rules of the Bake off technical challenge have changed #GBBO #GreatBritishBakeOff #BakeOff.'
'No recipe for the technical challenge? Oh bog off Bake Off.'
'WHAT, THIS TECHNICAL?! #GBBO.'
'Omg theyve changed the technical challenge?!?! that is BRUTAL. #GBBO.'
'Woah. This technical challenge is madness #GBBO No recipe.'
Noel told the contestants: 'You'll have five minutes to inspect your Battenburg, then you'll have to recreate that with no recipe'
The bakers were stunned to silence and viewers couldn't believe the shake-up
'Well that's a cruel week 1 technical challenge #gbbo.'
'The taste-and-bake plot twist in the technical challenge. My jaw has DROPPED. #GBBO.'
'People have been complaining about the Technical Challenge getting too complicated recently, WHY ARE YOU MAKING IT EVEN MORE COMPLICATED?
'I just wanna see people make a simple bake with a minimal guide, not something already complicated and making them rely on taste alone #GBBO.'
'This technical?! I would actually walk out #GBBO.'
However, not everyone found issue with the twist and other fans welcomed the switch-up, adding:
'As #GBBO opening episodes go, that was one of the best. Fun set of contestants, Alison and Noel on top form, great new twist on the technical and some amazing showstoppers (that duck was insane!). Tuesday nights are looking good now.'
'Really liking the 'taste and recreate' twist with no recipe for the technical. This should be fun! #GBBO.'
Elsewhere in the episode the 12 contestants had to first make a loaf cake for the signature challenge, before heading onto the Showstopper to make an illusion cake
When announcing the results Noel said that in fact they would all be going through to the next round
The tent was also shocked by a very early Paul Hollywood handshake - as he was incredibly impressed with Illiyin's cinnamon loaf cake
'Battenburg cake taste & bake technical challenge, with no recipe. What a great new twist #GBBO.'
Elsewhere in the episode the 12 contestants had to first make a loaf cake for the signature challenge, before heading onto the Showstopper to make an illusion cake.
This year's bunch includes a fashion designer, paediatric nurse and farm manager who even made the shortlist for Young Farmer of the Year.
When announcing the results Noel said that in fact they would all be going through to the next round.
It came after Jeff couldn't complete the last two tasks due to unexpected illness.
Some viewers were glad they all get another chance to impress while other branded the decision a 'cop out'.
The tent was also shocked by a very early Paul Hollywood handshake - as he was incredibly impressed with Illiyin's cinnamon loaf cake.
The 31-year-old healthcare worker from Norfolk was given the handshake by the judge after the first round of bakes - but some viewers thought it was 'too soon' to give out.
The Great British Bake Off kicked off on September 24 at 8pm on Channel 4
Amelia Gray Hamlin covered up in an olive-green leather jacket and a plaid grey skirt on Wednesday as she stepped out for lunch in Paris.
The American model, 23, looked cool as she hid behind opaque black sunglasses on her way to Hotel Costes for a meal.
Amelia completed her look with sheer knee-high black socks, black trainers, and a shiny black handbag.
The plaid pattern of her knee-length skirt was diagonal and featured hints of white, black, and red.
Wednesday's covered-up look was a far cry from what Amelia wore to Saint Laurent's Paris Fashion Week party on Tuesday.
Amelia Gray Hamlin, 23, covered up in an olive-green leather jacket and a plaid grey skirt on Wednesday as she stepped out for lunch in Paris
The American model looked cool as she hid behind opaque black sunglasses on her way to Hotel Costes for a meal
Amelia completed her look with sheer knee-high black socks, black trainers, and a shiny black handbag
On Tuesday, Amelia joined numerous celebrities to party into the early hours of the morning to celebrate Saint Laurent's triumphant PFW show the day before.
Saint Laurent - so often a pioneer of international style and sophistication - sexed up their Spring-Summer 2025 womenswear presentation as proceedings got underway at Musee Yves Saint Laurent Paris.
And after enjoying their FROW seats on the runway, the celebs made the hop across town to the afterparty held at the fashion house's HQ on Rue de l'Universite.
Kate Moss, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Amelia were all looked equally stunning in their lingerie-inspired looks.
However, Amelia stole the show when she went braless under a cut-out fishnet bodysuit - pairing it with shiny black leather-look trousers.
Amelia is the daughter of American actors-turned-reality television stars Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin.
Prior to the show, the starlet revealed how she really felt about her X-rated look.
'I feel amazing,' Amelia enthused in a video posted to TikTok by user @Taoualitamar. 'I don't think I've ever felt so amazing. I'm so ready for the show. I can't wait.'
The plaid pattern of her knee-length skirt was diagonal and featured hints of white, black, and red
Wednesday's covered-up look was a far cry from what Amelia wore to Saint Laurent's Paris Fashion Week party on Tuesday
On Tuesday, Amelia joined numerous celebrities to party into the early hours of the morning to celebrate Saint Laurent's triumphant PFW show the day before
Prior to the show, Amelia had enthused: 'I can't wait. I don't think I've ever felt so amazing. I'm so ready for the show. I can't wait'
Amelia is the daughter of American actors-turned-reality television stars Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin
On Saturday, Amelia took to the floor at Milan Fashion Week.
She walked the Ferrari runway and held her own alongside a catwalk giant - Russian model Irina Shayk.
Amelia showcased her incredibly toned abs in a tiny tan leather bralette and matching skirt set.
The belt she wore with the skirt artistically trailed the floor, and Amelia rocked the same black tasselled heels as Irina.
Luke Burgess and his fiancee Tori May have welcomed their second child together, a boy named Jackson Mark Burgess.
The NRL star, 37, and Tori confirmed the exciting news in a sweet Instagram post shared to the platform on Wednesday.
The couple - who already share a daughter Charlotte, two - shared a series of adorable pictures of their newborn baby.
They confirmed the little one's adorable name as they gave their fans a candid update on their family life.
'A very special moment welcoming our son into the world. World class performance from Mum to make sure that he was delivered safely,' Luke wrote.
'He is everything we could've hoped for and more and are extremely grateful to be blessed with a beautiful baby boy.'
'Welcome to the world Jackson Mark Burgess. 24/9/24.'
Their famous friends and followers were quick to flock to the comments section to share their congratulatory messages with the happy couple.
Luke Burgess and his fiancee Tori May have welcomed their second child together, confirming the news in a sweet Instagram post
'So much love fambam. What a special lil man,' Joanna Burgess wrote.
'Congratulations to you all and another boy to add to your tribe well done,' another person said.
'Congrats Tori & Luke! You look exceptionally fresh for just having given birth! Enjoy your newest angel, lots of love,' a third comented.
The couple, who got engaged last year, tend to keep their romance and family life relatively private, sharing rare updates on Instagram.
On Easter Sunday, they confirmed they were expecting their second child together in a sweet Instagram post.
Tori shared pictures of her baby bump and ultrasound scan as she excitedly told fans of their big news.
'One of us had a few too many Easter choccy eggs,' Tori joked in a caption.
The couple - who already share a daughter Charlotte, two - shared a series of adorable pictures of their newborn baby
The loved-up couple started dating in early 2020 and became engaged at Shelly Beach in NSW in December.
In a post shared at the time, Tori showed off her dazzling engagement ring as she posed in a bikini on the beach with Luke.
In a second image, the lovebirds were seen locking lips and cuddling as they celebrated the joyous occasion.
Luke captioned the moment with some tender words, writing: '23/12/23 She said YES!
'The perfect way to bring 2023 to an end. We are so excited to start this next chapter of our lives together.'
Luke also shares a daughter Grace, eight, with his ex-partner Yolanda Hodgson, who he dated for seven years until their 2019 split.
Luke first made a name for himself in the UK with Leeds Rhinos in the English Super League, winning a title in 2009.
He then moved to Australia ahead of the 2011 NRL season, signing a deal alongside his three siblings - Sam as well as twins, George and Tom - at South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Jamie Oliver is rapidly discovering what landed gentry have always known that historic country homes are money pits.
The 'Naked Chef' spent 6million on Spains Hall, a magnificent Elizabethan stately home, in 2019.
Now, he's discovered that the windows and doors are rotting, with rain dripping in, and the red-brick facade is crumbling.
Oliver, 49, has been forced to seek permission to fix the problems because Spains Hall, near Finchingfield in Essex, is a Grade I listed building.
It has 12 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, two drawing rooms, a great hall and is one of the most important buildings of its kind in Britain.
The rain in Spains: Jamie Oliver 49, has been forced to seek permission to fix the problems at his country pile near Finchingfield in Essex, because it is a Grade I listed building
The TV star has asked planners at Braintree District Council to be allowed to go ahead with 'repair works to windows, glazed doors, masonry, coping stones and ancillary works'
The TV star has asked planners at Braintree District Council to be allowed to go ahead with 'repair works to windows, glazed doors, masonry, coping stones and ancillary works'.
These works comprise, 'sensitive repairs to Georgian timber sash windows and French doors on the South wing of the house.
'Sensitive repairs and repointing to brickwork [and] replace rotten 20th-century timber pentice boards and string course on the South wing using like-for-like materials and mouldings.'
Spains Hall has 12 bedrooms, ten bathrooms, two drawing rooms, a great hall and is one of the most important buildings of its kind in Britain
A report sent to town hall bosses says some of the windows and doors have swollen shut because of rainwater and others leak and masonry has begun to drop off parts of the building's facade, which needs urgent attention.
Spains Hall, which dates from the 16th century, was previously owned by the Ruggles-Brise family for almost 260 years.
Baronet Sir Timothy's eldest son, Archie, manages the 2,000-acre estate which the family retained.
Oliver has hosted a three-day 'culinary journey' at Spains Hall for 2,000 a head, hosted by top chefs and suppliers.
Groups of about 14 people take part in cooking classes, demos and dining experiences and a tour of his home.
Sweet success for Wonka star
Congratulations to Wonka star Paterson Joseph on being awarded an honorary doctorate by Roehampton University.
'I was branded educationally sub-normal as a kid, so it means a lot,' says the 60-year-old actor at the Royal Festival Hall, London.
Wonka star Paterson Joseph was awarded an honorary doctorate by Roehampton University
Debbie can't conjure up love
She was memorably asked by comedian Caroline Aherne on The Mrs Merton Show: 'But what first, Debbie, attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?'
Now a wealthy widow, 'the lovely' Debbie McGee says she she hasn't had one single approach from a man since the magician's death nine years ago.
'Men want young totty and I am getting older,' sighs Debbie, 65, who reached the Strictly Come Dancing final in 2017. 'I haven't had many offers.'
Even competing on Strictly didn't do the trick: 'It puts people off I don't know why.'
Perhaps they were scared off by her dance partner, Giovanni Pernice, who has since left the show amid controversy?
Not a lot: Debbie McGee admits she hasn't had one single approach from a man since her magician husband Paul Daniels died nine years ago
Maureen's 'fiasco' memory
Dame Maureen Lipman's revelation that she has just become engaged to David Turner, a business consultant, brought back memories for her Coronation Street co-star Rula Lenska about her own former fiance.
Dame Maureen says: 'My friend Rula told me when she was with the late Dennis Waterman her mother introduced him as, 'and this is my daughter's fiasco.'
Maureen Lipman recalled a humourous anecdate concerning her co-star Rula Lenska and the late Dennis Waterman
Rosie takes on granny pants
With Bridget Jones soon to be back on our screens, could we also expect frumpy underwear to make a return?
Not according to model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who is determined to make big knickers fashionable.
'For a very long time the idea of wearing shapewear was like a dirty sort of secret [much like] Bridget Jones-like knickers or suck you in things that look very ugly.'
However, the mother of two, who has launched her new M&S Rosie ContourWear range, said: 'We've been able to take the technology of contour wear but make it look very beautiful.'
Big is beautiful: Model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is determined to make big knickers fashionable
Poet Ayres her grievances
Sir Keir Starmer, who promised to place the arts at the centre of a Labour government, has inspired poet Pam Ayres to compose this ode: 'Dear Mr Starmer/ Have this old anorak/ It isn't very glamorous/ But I don't want it back/ I like to help the needy/ But glasses have I none/ So have this pair of hearing aids/ I've got another one/ To help you hear them chattering/ In bitter weather cruel/ The teeth of chilly pensioners/ Without their winter fuel.'
Pam gets political: Sir Keir Starmer, who promised to place the arts at the centre of a Labour government, has inspired poet Pam Ayres to compose a special ode
Why red carpet isn't for Fry's guy
Although polymath Stephen Fry, 67, is rarely seen with his husband, Elliott Spencer, a comedian 30 years his junior, this is not because they are unhappy.
'There are people in the public eye who like turning up to premieres and in front of the cameras, and good luck to them, but Elliott is not one such and I rather respect that,' Fry says.
The actor added: 'He understands that there is a world in which promotion and self publicity is necessary [but it's not for him].'
Stephen Fry is rarely seen with his husband, Elliott Spencer on the red carpet
Deborah's drama off-stage
Olivier Award-winning actress Deborah Findlay failed to captivate at least one theatregoer during a performance on the West End stage.
'There was this groaning from the audience,' the 76-year-old recalls.
'The St John Ambulance [soon] arrived. It turned out a man in the audience had just fallen asleep.'
Not quite captivating: Deborah Findlay (second from right) had one theatregoer fall asleep during her performance
Isabella gins and bears it
There was an awkward moment at Fortnum & Mason, the King's grocer in London's Piccadilly, where a party was being held to celebrate the launch of a new Salcombe Gin product.
When a cocktail named 'Alexander' was served, eyes fell on Isabella Charlotta Poppius the 'It' girl who recently split with Alex Ogilvy, once described as 'the hottest royal you've never heard of'.
A guest tells me: 'Isabella gave a cheerful eye roll.'
They broke up before the 27-year-old grandson of Princess Alexandra joined military academy Sandhurst earlier this month. Isabella, 27, told pals: 'He is so down to Earth he doesn't act like he's royal at all.'
Isabella Charlotta Poppius the 'It' girl who recently split with Alex Ogilvy
An Aussie mum has revealed the simple act she performed while taking care of her kids on an international flight that made her ill for almost a week.
Influencer Indy Clinton and her husband Ben Azar recently flew from Fiji to Australia with their three young children.
However when one of the kids' dummies fell on the plane floor, Indy decided to 'clean it with her mouth' before returning it to her child, according to her Instagram Stories.
The 27-year-old said she believe that one action caused her to become violently ill.
'I fell [like death], wrote the social media star on Monday, before adding that she now had 'fever and chills' for 'the 5th night' in a row.
'Don't clean you child's dummies with your mouth when they fall on the plane floor,' Clinton advised her followers.
She then joked that 'the best thing about whatever I've caught from the plane floor is that I have lost my appetite.'
Clinton was criticised on social media earlier this week after she posted a chaotic video of herself and her family on the plane on her TikTok account.
An Aussie mum has revealed the simple act she performed while taking care of her kids on an international flight that made her ill for almost a week. Pictured: Indy Clinton
Clinton and her husband Ben Azar recently flew from Fiji to Australia with their three young children. However when one of the kids' dummies fell on the plane floor, Indy decided to 'clean it with her mouth'
In the clip, the couple's children were seen climbing all over them and making a lot of noise.
Indy also complained about her kids dropping their pacifiers on the floor and moaned about the size of aircraft.
At one point, Ben was filmed walking up and down the cabin's aisle barefoot as he tried to rock one of their children to sleep.
Users took to Reddit to blast the mummy blogger for her behaviour.
'Anyone else annoyed at her lack of respect and consideration for other people on a flight by letting her annoying, loud and unhinged kids run an absolute muck?' one ranted.
'How bloody annoying for all the passengers. She's got air for brains not like she would even dare consider those around her and their frustrations. I'm frustrated for them just watching the videos. Selfish brat she is.'
'The complaining about the size of the plane got me, like Qantas has a personal vendetta against her and sent their smallest plane. Heaven forbid she has to fly on a normal-sized plane in economy,' read another reply.
'Wow prayers to millionaire Indy for having to take a 5 hour flight, with the help of her husband, with the kids she chose to have, from another paid trip to paradise. How will she recover? Is there any way we can donate? A Gofundme?' one said sarcastically.
'The father picks the slack up because he carts some sort of parent guilt. As I said before shes like a 14 year old raising babies,' wrote someone else.
The 27-year-old said she believe that one action caused her to become violently ill
'I fell [like death], wrote the social media star on Monday, before adding that she now had 'fever and chills' for 'the 5th night' in a row
Other Redditors were more sympathetic, insisting that flying with children is difficult at the best of times.
'Flying with kids is hard. Most people on that flight had kids she said, I assume most of them were doing the same thing,' one wrote.
While another replied: 'I was on a flight recently with my child with plenty of other children I can tell you right now not one of them behaved that way.'
Meanwhile, comments on the original video warned Ben about walking barefoot on a plane.
'As cabin crew I highly recommend you do not walk on the airplane in your bare feet. You dont want to know the stuff been on that floor and not cleaned properly,' one follower said.
'So probably don't give your child their dummy after it drops on the floor,' another fan replied.
'I love you guys but I could never walk on an airplane without shoes. My anxiety!' wrote another follower.
Indy has over 1.9million followers on TikTok and was crowned Australia's TikTok creator of the year in 2024.
She shares three children with husband Ben - son Navy, three, daughter Bambi, one, and daughter Soul, eight months.
Phillip Schofield reportedly turned down a selection of big money TV offers before choosing to sign up for Cast Away - 16 months after his departure from This Morning.
The presenter, 62, has secretly filmed Channel 5 special Cast Away, in which he lives on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean for 10 days.
An insider has now said that over the past few months he has had a steady stream of offers come in but 'steadfastly turned them all down'.
It has been reported that he consulted with his family and friends before saying yes to this show - the details of which were kept 'top secret'.
A new report suggest he decided to take on the challenge so he could share his story in an 'unedited and honest' way.
Phillip Schofield reportedly turned down a selection of big money TV offers before choosing to sign up for Cast Away - 16 months after his departure from This Morning
The presenter, 62, has secretly filmed Channel 5 special Cast Away, in which he lives on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean for 10 days
He will discuss his acrimonious departure from ITV and daytime show This Morning while fending for himself on the island, located off the coast of Madagascar.
Viewers will see the axed presenter discuss the emotional impact of his exile from mainstream TV after news of his affair with a 20-year old runner on daytime show This Morning came to light.
A source told The Sun: 'Over the past few months Phil has had quite a few offers for various things - but has steadfastly turned them all down.
'This sort of challenge has always appealed to him though and after consulting with friends and family, he decided to go for it. It's all been top secret, and has been an incredibly quick turnaround in order to keep the news quiet.'
'With 10 days to himself, no camera crews or production around, he shot some unbelievably raw footage - some of it makes for tough, emotional viewing.
'But he wanted a chance to share his story, unedited and honest, and let viewers see another side to him.'
A representative for Phillip has been contacted by MailOnline for comment.
The three-part series will air on Channel 5 from Monday evening and will be Schofield's first TV work since leaving This Morning under a cloud in 2023.
It was May 2023 when the presenter admitted to having a relationship with a much younger male colleague on This Morning, and later lying about it.
An insider has now said that over the past few months he has had a steady stream of offers come in but 'steadfastly turned them all down'
The presenter has secretly filmed Channel 5 special Cast Away, in which he lives on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean for 10 days
Schofield will discuss his acrimonious departure from ITV and daytime show This Morning while fending for himself on the island, located off the coast of Madagascar
Viewers will see the axed presenter discuss the emotional impact of his exile from mainstream
He described their romance as 'unwise but not illegal' and explained it took place during his nearly 30-year marriage to Stephanie Lowe, with whom he is a parent to two children.
Schofield subsequently resigned from both This Morning and ITV and said that he was 'so very sorry' to Lowe for being unfaithful.
At the time, it was reported that Steph had been left 'devastated' by the revelation and angry that her husband had lied to her.
However, it was later revealed she is choosing not to file for divorce because she does not want him to 'fall any further' then he already has, and despite everything, 'the love is still very much there.'
As well as the breakdown of his marriage, Schofield's relationship with co-host Holly Willoughby faltered in the midst of the scandal, with the pair understood to be at loggerheads.
Schofield's daughter Molly is now his publicist after she quit the talent agency that once represented her father.
PR guru Mark Borkowski says his tepid return to the public eye has come after a year away to disappear and get himself together.
Calling him a rare talent, Borkowski said: 'He's testing the waters. But audiences are very forgiving.'
Schofield told the BBC in an emotional interview last June the affair had finished his career and revealed that the fallout had left him feeling suicidal.
He told how his two daughters - Molly and Ruby - had saved his life and had 'guarded me and won't let me out of their sight'.
He admitted during the sit-down interview with Amol Rajan denied he had groomed the younger colleague, before telling critics: 'Do you want me to die? Because that's where I am.'
Schofield also insisted he had not 'groomed' his young lover, despite first meeting him when he was 15.
He said: 'Attraction is attraction. It's no different in the gay world as it is in the heterosexual world or in the lesbian world.
'There shouldn't be a difference. This is where homophobia comes in. We did first meet when he was 15, I visited the drama school [he attended].'
He said the fallout from his admission that he lied about his affair with a younger male colleague had been 'relentless', revealing he has had suicidal thoughts.
Schofield said: 'My girls saved my life. They said last week they haven't left me for a moment. They've been by my side every moment because they're scared to let me out of their sight. What is that like for daughters to have to go with something like that?
'And they said to me, 'don't you dare do this on our watch. We're supposed to be looking after you'. If my girls hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here, because I don't see my future.'
Schofield also slammed 'a handful of people' with 'persistently loud voices' in a statement days after leaving This Morning - and rejected claims of a 'toxic' culture on the programme.
The daytime show was plunged into meltdown since revelations over Schofield's relationship with a much younger man at ITV emerged with the channel losing millions of pounds in sponsorship deals and some guests refusing to appear on the sofa.
ITV deny losing sponsorship deals. Shark Ninja have been the show's sponsor since September 2023.
But speaking out on social media in May 2023, Schofield hit out at those 'with a grudge against me'.
In a statement posted on his Instagram, the presenter said: 'Now I no longer work on This Morning I am free to say this. I hope you have noticed that it's the same handful of people with a grudge against me or the show who seem to have the loudest voice.
'This Morning IS the best show to work on, with the best people. In all the years I worked there there was no toxicity. You can listen to those persistently loud voices if you like.
'But the thousands of guests over the years, thousands of staff and crew, hundreds of presenters and contributors all know it, it IS a family of wonderful, talented, kind, hard, working people.'
Bosses at ITV published the much anticipated review into the scandal and allegations of toxic working culture in December. It was conducted by an independent lawyer, Jane Mulcahy KC.
Shamed TV presenter Schofield speaks to the BBC's media editor Amol Rajan about his affair
One employee told the Mail of their 'sheer bewilderment' that only one junior worker was aware of the relationship.
The report found that ITV did not cover-up the relationship and that station bosses had made 'considerable efforts' to discover the truth in 2019 four years before the affair broke.
The external review found that the channel was 'unable to uncover the relevant evidence' until Schofield's own admission in May 2023, when he told the Mail that he had been having the relationship and later lied about it.
ITV bosses have said both Schofield and his former lover, a runner who has never been named, 'repeatedly denied' allegations of a relationship until the star dramatically quit ITV and formally apologised.
It added that only one person out of 48 interviewed a junior employee said they knew about the presenter's relationship with a younger male former colleague before he revealed it in May.
The three-part series will air on Channel 5 from Monday evening and will be Schofield's first TV work since leaving This Morning under a cloud in 2023
It was May 2023 when the presenter admitted to having a relationship with a much younger male colleague on This Morning, and later lying about it (pictured with co-host Holly Willoughby)
Schofield with his wife Stephanie Lowe and daughters Molly - who is now his publicist - and Ruby in London in 2018
Mulcahy revealed that Schofield refused to take part in the review into the circumstances surrounding the his departure because of 'the risk to his health'. She added that she was informed that the host's mental health had since deteriorated.
Schofield's former colleague and lover also declined to participate in the report.
However, staff at ITV have been left cross, accusing the report of being a 'waste of time'.
The findings did reveal that there was a culture of silence at the channel, saying that junior employees at ITV's This Morning still fear that speaking out will damage their careers in the industry.
An iconic 90s sitcom star looked unrecognizable while sporting a scruffy beard during a lowkey outing in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The actor is no stranger to the world of television - and appeared on a hit NBC series which aired for a total of nine seasons, with the last episode premiering in May 1998.
The star has garnered various award nominations throughout his Hollywood career thus far, and won the SAG award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series 30 years earlier.
He showed off his trim frame while strolling through a parking lot during the daytime excursion - after celebrating his 65th birthday on Monday, September 23.
But can you guess who it is?
An iconic 90s sitcom star looked unrecognizable while sporting a scruffy beard during a lowkey outing in Los Angeles on Tuesday
The actor is none other than Jason Alexander - who notably portrayed the character of George Costanza on the NBC series, Seinfeld.
The show - which was created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David - also starred Jerry, Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine) and Michael Richards (Cosmo Kramer).
Alexander stepped out in L.A. donning a pair of black pants as well as a plaid shirt that was buttoned at the front.
He layered the ensemble with a dark purple vest that was left unzipped, and also slipped into a pair of comfy, black sneakers.
Jason completed the outfit by adding a flashy, silver watch on his left wrist and sported a pair of black-rimmed glasses.
The Pretty Woman actor enjoyed a coffee run and was seen exiting Starbucks while carrying a warm drink and a snack in his other hand.
Earlier this week on Monday, Alexander rung in his 65th birthday and previously opened up on the topic of aging.
During an interview for The Thread a few months earlier in June, the star expressed, 'I've become more jealous of time as I get older, because I know there is less of it.'
The actor is none other than Jason Alexander - who notably portrayed the character of George Costanza on the NBC series, Seinfeld
Alexander stepped out in L.A. donning a pair of black pants as well as a plaid shirt that was buttoned at the front
He layered the ensemble with a dark purple vest that was left unzipped, and also slipped into a pair of comfy, black sneakers
'There's nothing left that I need to do, although there's a lot of things that I'd like to do,' he further explained.
Jason later added, 'I find these days, more and more opportunity to be of service, to use the mindboggling and disproportionate blessings I've had in my life and somehow pay it back and pay it forward.'
'The only thing I'm greedy of when it comes to time is I want to see things. I want to see my grandson as an adult. I want to know what he thinks - what he chooses to do with his life.'
Alexander continued, 'I am curious to see my friends through to the end and my family through to the end, and to be there in any way I can...'
Along with appearing in Seinfeld, Jason has taken on other roles over the decades, such as in Pretty Woman alongside Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and also Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Back in May, his former co-star Michael Richards revealed that Alexander had threatened to quit Seinfeld during its third season over not receiving enough screen time.
In his memoir, Entrances And Exits, Richards expressed that Jason did not appear in an episode titled, The Pen, and while he had accepted not starring in the episode with 'equanimity,' he had also been upset.
'Jason threatens to quit after learning that he's also not in the episode. He's furious,' Michael wrote, per Page Six.
Back in May, his former co-star Michael Richards revealed that Alexander had threatened to quit Seinfeld during its third season over not receiving enough screen time; seen in 1990
'Jason came onto the show with the most confidence of anyone. He had won a Tony Award on the New York stage, not an insignificant achievement, and until the table read for The Pen he has assumed that Seinfeld is a buddy show, starring him and Jerry.'
Richards added, 'But this business breeds both massive egos and incredible insecurity, and this episode is one of those ego-jarring wakeup calls.'
Michael then recalled not being written into an episode titled, The Chinese Restaurant - which aired during the show's second season.
'I sit at the table without uttering a single word, and this is because not a single word has been written for Kramer.'
And late last year in November during an interview with Extra, Alexander shared his thoughts on rumors of a Seinfeld reboot.
'There is only one reason for that rumor,' the actor told the outlet. 'Apparently, at the end of some stand-up thing, [Jerry] went, "Larry [David] and I are thinking of something."'
'Good for you. I don't know anything about itNo one called me. Apparently, they don't need George and they may not need Elaine 'cause Julia [Louis-Dreyfus] and I went, "Do you know anything about this? I don't know anything about this."'
He added, 'And I just talked to Michael [Richards] the other day and I don't think he knew anything about it.'
Alexander has been keeping busy by focusing on new projects, and was recently cast in the L.A. revival of Fiddler On The Roof, per Playbill.
Alexander has been keeping busy by focusing on new projects, and was recently cast in the L.A. revival of Fiddler On The Roof, per Playbill; seen in 2020 in West Hollywood
Opening night will take place later this year on November 9 at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.
Jason will portray the role of Tevye in the production, and other cast members that are slated to join him include Valerie Perri, Rachel Ravel, Alanna J. Smith, Emerson Glick, Cameron Mabie, Remy Laifer and Ron Orbach.
Lonny Price - who will direct the revival - said in a statement: 'Fiddler On The Roof is one of the undeniable masterpieces of the American musical, and it has been a dream of mine to direct the show.'
'And to think I get to work with my old friend Jason Alexander on this extraordinary piece really is a dream come true. I can think of no other actor more perfect to play Tevye, and I believe he will redefine the role (and the show) for a new generation!'
Abbey Lee put on a very eye-popping display as she stepped out at Yves Saint Laurent's womenswear show during Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday.
The Australian model, 37, went completely braless beneath a sheer brown maxi dress with a ruffled neckline which showed off her assets.
She accessorised her very daring look with a silver waist chain and toted her essentials in a vibrant red handbag.
Abbey made sure all eyes were on her as she joined the star-studded guest list for the designer's catwalk show, including the likes of Kate Moss and Gwyneth Paltrow.
She added to her stunning features with a high-glamour make-up palette and styled her golden tresses in a straight fashion across her shoulders.
Abbey joined the fashion elite at the Musee Yves Saint Laurent Paris for the first day of Paris Fashion Week, with models including Bella Hadid strutting their stuff on the catwalk.
Also in attendance were the likes of A-list talents Zoe Kravitz, Nicole Richie, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Carla Bruni, among many others.
Abbey is no stranger to rubbing shoulders with the Hollywood elite, having recently starred alongside Kevin Costner in a blockbuster movie.
Abbey Lee put on a very eye-popping display as she stepped out at Yves Saint Laurent's womenswear show during Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday
The Australian model, 37, went completely braless beneath a sheer brown maxi dress with a ruffled neckline which showed off her assets
The pair have taken to the screen in Horizon: An American Saga, and Abbey recently told how she was impressed with the Yellowstone actor's flippant attitude to the 'rules' of filmmaking.
'Kevin is making up the rules. He's going, "F**k the system. I make up the rules." And I think he's deserved that,' she said at the Venice International Film Festival (VIFF).
Abbey portrays Marigold in the epic western, the love interest of Kevin's character Hayes Ellison. Kevin also served as the director, producer and co-writer.
In July, Abbey revealed that Kevin made her feel 'really comfortable' while filming the sex scene between their characters in Chapter 1.
'Kevin was very sensitive about that. He made sure that I was really comfortable and we had a long talk about it beforehand,' Abbey told People in an article at the time.
Abbey said Kevin 'told me how it would be shot, that there wouldn't be any nudity, that there would be nothing graphic'.
Abbey made sure all eyes were on her as she joined the star-studded guest list for the designer's catwalk show
Abbey is no stranger to rubbing shoulders with the Hollywood elite, having recently starred alongside Kevin Costner in a blockbuster movie
Abbey portrays Marigold in the epic western, the love interest of Kevin's character Hayes Ellison. Kevin also served as the director, producer and co-writer
'You have to talk about the details of it so you understand what's going on so everyone feels safe and comfortable. And we obviously had those conversations,' she added.
Meanwhile, Kevin only had glowing things to say about Abbey's performance in his hours-long western drama as he gave an insight into their friendship.
'I wanted to continue her story a little bit and I couldn't sleep at night, which also drove people crazy. Kevin, you're done with [Chapter] 2. No, I'm not,' he said.
'I want to do something with Abbey too. I can't help it. She's so fabulous in the movie. I mean, she's one of the most inventive actresses I've met.'
Cheryl Hines is reportedly dodging questions about her husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s explosive sexting scandal.
Last week, the 70-year-old former presidential candidate's alleged affair with New York Magazine political reporter Olivia Nuzzi, 31, was exposed.
The two met in 2023 when Nuzzi who has since been put on leave amid the fallout visited the $7million California home Kennedy shares with Hines to write a profile on him.
Kennedy denied having an inappropriate 'personal relationship' with Nuzzi and insists he's only met her 'once in his life.'
Hines has since been spotted without her wedding ring and RFK Jr. was noticeably absent from her 59th birthday celebration in Milan over the weekend.
And now, Puck has reported that Hines refused to discuss the scandal while attending a Milan Fashion Week show on Saturday.
Cheryl Hines is reportedly dodging questions about her husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s explosive sexting scandal; seen in February 2024
In the category of most unexpected yet news-making fashion show guest: Cheryl Hines at Bally. pic.twitter.com/osdrTXY9o6 Vanessa Friedman (@VVFriedman) September 21, 2024
When asked about the allegations at the Bally runway show, Hines 'politely declined to comment.'
Despite the drama in her personal life, Puck reporter Lauren Sherman described Hines as looking 'all fresh and clean' at the fashion show.
'Being out and about, and looking great, while your world implodes is an oft-used, and oft-effective tactic,' Sherman added.
Hines' MFW sighting comes days after she celebrated her 59th birthday alongside her daughter Catherine Rose Young, 20, and stepdaughter Kyra LeMoyne Kennedy, 29, in Milan on Saturday night.
RFK Jr. was a noticeable no-show and Hines was also spotted without her large diamond wedding ring on over the same weekend.
She and Kennedy wed back in August 2014 after three years of dating.
The Curb Your Enthusiasm actress shared precious moments from her birthday dinner via Instagram.
Dressed in a white lace turtleneck top and black pants, she captioned the photo of herself with her daughters: 'Me & my girls', while RFK was nowhere in sight.
He also skipped his niece Grace Kennedy Allen's wedding party over the weekend amid his affair scandal.
Meanwhile, New York Magazine placed Nuzzi on leave after details of the affair emerged.
Nuzzi admitted in a statement to DailyMail.com that 'the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal', but she claimed the relationship was never physical.
Last week, the 70-year-old former presidential candidate's alleged affair with New York Magazine political reporter Olivia Nuzzi (seen in April 2023) was exposed
Since the news broke, Hines has been spotted without her wedding ring and RFK Jr. was noticeably absent from her 59th birthday bash over the weekend; seen in 2018
Days later, a 2015 tweet she wrote came back to haunt her - as eagle-eyed social media users unearthed a post she made asking: 'Why does Hollywood think female reporters sleep with their sources?' alongside a link to a NYMag story.
Nuzzi's relations with the political heavyweight began when she visited his $7 million California home to write a feature article last year.
RFK Jr. has insisted he only met the political journalist on this one occasion.
'Mr. Kennedy only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece,' his spokesman told CNN.
A source added that the nature of the relationship was 'emotional and digital in nature, not physical'.
But insiders told the New York Post the pair had engaged in 'sexting' despite RFK Jr. being married and Nuzzi being engaged at the time.
'Earlier this year, the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal,' Nuzzi said.
'During that time, I did not directly report on the subject nor use them as a source,' she said.
'The relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict. I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I've disappointed, especially my colleagues at New York.'
New York magazine acknowledged an inappropriate relationship in a statement about Nuzzi's hiatus, deeming it 'a violation of the magazine's standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures'.
'Had the magazine been aware of this relationship, she would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign,' the statement read. 'An internal review of her published work has found no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias.
'She is currently on leave from the magazine, and the magazine is conducting a more thorough third-party review. We regret this violation of our readers' trust.'
And now, Puck has reported that Hines refused to address the scandal while attending a Milan Fashion Week show on Saturday; seen on September 15
Hines' MFW sighting comes days after she celebrated her 59th birthday alongside her daughter Catherine Rose Young, 20, and stepdaughter Kyra LeMoyne Kennedy, 29, in Milan on Saturday night.
The Curb Your Enthusiasm actress shared precious moments from her birthday via Instagram
RFK Jr. surfaced for the first time since the scandal broke as he appeared at an event on Capitol Hill on Monday (pictured), where he posed for photos with prominent Republican lawmakers
RFK Jr. surfaced for the first time since the scandal broke as he appeared at an event on Capitol Hill on Monday, where he posed for photos with prominent Republican lawmakers.
Ahead of the Monday event, GOP Rep. Thomas Massie shared a picture with Kennedy, noting that they had dined together Sunday night.
Fellow Republicans, Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Chip Roy, also shared snaps with Kennedy, while Sen. Ron Johnson had him appear on a panel discussion entitled: 'American Health and Nutrition: A Second Opinion.'
The tour of Washington comes as Kennedy is reportedly considering suing Nuzzi over the pornographic content she sent to him.
Jessica Read Kraus, who writes the popular House Inhabit Substack, wrote Saturday that Kennedy is exploring his legal options after Nuzzi allegedly 'bombarded him with increasingly pornographic photos and videos.'
A 2018 clip of Ellen DeGeneres' talk show included a subdued chat with Sean 'Diddy' Combs in which she alluded to his penchant for parties.
The clip comes under new scrutiny as Combs, 54, remains incarcerated amid his arrest last week on sex trafficking allegations, which included claims he organized parties that involved sexual exhibitions dubbed 'Freak Offs.'
In the February 2018 appearance, DeGeneres, 66, noted that Combs had arrived late to her taping and asked if he would be tardy for a party she was planning.
'Are you gonna be early for my party?' said DeGeneres, whose career has been scorched over the past four years following a toxic workplace scandal that eventually saw her long-running show canceled.
Combs responded, 'Yes I am - no - you know I have to arrive fashionably late,' to which DeGeneres said, 'Not too late, though - please.'
A 2018 clip of Ellen DeGeneres' talk show included a subdued chat with Sean 'Diddy' Combs, 54, in which the comic, 66, alluded to his penchant for parties
The clip comes under new scrutiny as Combs remains incarcerated amid his arrest last week ago on sex trafficking allegations, which included claims he organized parties that involved sexual exhibitions dubbed 'Freak Offs'
Combs asked DeGeneres, 'What time would you like me there?' to which she said, 'I'll tell you later.'
She added: 'But not too late - cause, you know, once you get there the party really starts, you know what I'm saying?
'Yeah ... I got you - I promise you I'm not gonna let you down on this big one, for real,' Combs said. 'Your feet are gonna have blisters, you're gonna be dancing so hard.'
DeGeneres - whose awkward November 2019 exchange with Dakota Johnson preceded an onswell of bad publicity during the 2020 pandemic - told Combs, 'I can't wait.'
In the wake of Combs' indictment, there has been attention on celebrities who had past been pictured attending his parties, or spoke about them in interviews.
Among the stars who have acknowledged attending the events include Khloe Kardashian and Ashton Kutcher, while other celebrities photographed at his events include Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez, Tommy Lee and Russell Simmons (whose own career was halted by allegations of misconduct).
During his concert Sunday, Ice Cube told the crowd he had never attended any of Diddy's events.
The reexamining of the talk show clip comes more than a week after Combs pleaded not guilty to allegations of federal sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
In the February 2018 appearance, DeGeneres noted that Combs had arrived late to her taping and asked if he would be tardy for a party she was planning
'Are you gonna be early for my party?' said DeGeneres, whose career has been scorched over the past four years following a toxic workplace scandal that eventually saw her long-running show canceled
Ellen told Diddy, 'Once you get there the party really starts, you know what I'm saying?'
Diddy replied, 'Yeah ... I got you - I promise you I'm not gonna let you down on this big one, for real'
In an indictment, authorities said that the rap mogul had abused, threatened and coerced women 'to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,' with allegations going as far back as 2008.
Combs twice attempted to get bail following his arrest, but was ordered to remain in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. If convicted, he faces at least 15 years in custody and maximum life sentence.
Combs faced another lawsuit on Tuesday, as a woman named Thalia Graves said that the music mogul and his head of security raped her and recorded it on video at his New York recording studio in 2001.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in New York, the latest of several similar suits against Combs, comes a week after he was was arrested and a federal sex trafficking indictment against him was unsealed.
Thalia Graves alleges that when she was 25 and dating an executive who worked for Combs in the summer of 2001, Combs and Joseph Sherman lured her to a meeting at Bad Boy Recording Studios. She said they picked her up in an SUV and during the ride gave her a drink 'likely laced with a drug.'
According to the lawsuit, Graves lost consciousness and awoke to find herself bound inside Combs' office and lounge at the studio. The two men raped her, slapped her, slammed her head against a pool table and ignored her screams and cries for help, the lawsuit alleges.
At a news conference in Los Angeles with one of her attorneys, Gloria Allred, Graves said she has suffered from 'flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts' in the years since.
'It has been hard for me to trust others to form healthy relationships or even feel safe in my own skin,' Graves said, crying as she read from a statement.
Combs last week pleaded not guilty to allegations of federal sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. Pictured in NYC in 2018
She said it is 'a pain that reaches into your very core of who you are and leaves emotional scars that may never fully heal.'
His representatives did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the latest lawsuit. There was no immediate indication from the lawsuit or from Combs representatives whether Sherman had a separate attorney who could comment on the allegations.
The lawsuit was filed under the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act, and comes during a two-year window that suspends legal deadlines and allows sexual assault victims to sue over abuse that might otherwise be too old to pursue.
Allred declined to say whether her client had spoken to investigators in Combs' criminal case. The indictment in that case mentions only allegations since 2008.
Graves' lawsuit also alleges that late last year, after Combs' former singing protege and girlfriend Cassie filed a lawsuit that began the surge of allegations against him , Graves learned through her former boyfriend that Combs had recorded her rape, shown it to others and sold it as pornography.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused, unless they come forward publicly as Graves and Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, have done.
Graves' lawsuit says both Combs and Sherman contacted her multiple times in the years after the assault, threatening repercussions if she told anyone what had happened to her. She was in a divorce and custody fight at the time and feared losing her young son if she revealed anything, the suit says.
Combs faced another lawsuit on Tuesday, as a woman named Thalia Graves claimed that the music mogul and his head of security raped her and recorded it on video at his New York recording studio in 2001
At a news conference in Los Angeles with one of her attorneys, Gloria Allred, Graves said she has suffered from 'flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts' in the years since
Graves said at the news conference that the guilt and shame attached 'often made me feel worthless, isolated and sometimes responsible for what happened to me.'
The lawsuit seeks damages to be determined at trial and for all copies of the video to be accounted for and destroyed.
The lawsuit also names as defendants several companies owned by Combs, the three-time Grammy winner and founder of Bad Boy Records who was among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades.
As the presenter of TVs What Not To Wear, she was known for delivering ruthless home truths as she helped men and women find their new look.
And Trinny Woodall, 60, has revealed she is just as cutting in her personal life as she says if people drain her energy, she will let them go.
Showing off her sense of style in a leopard-print suit on the cover of Woman & Home magazine, the entrepreneur and TV presenter said: Im ruthless when it comes to letting go of people from my life.
If people drain my energy, they have to go. Friends should bring each other energy.
Last year, Ms Woodall split from her partner of a decade, art collector and Nigella Lawsons ex-husband Charles Saatchi, 81.
Trinny Woodall , 60, has revealed she is just as cutting in her personal life as on TV
Showing off her sense of style in a leopard-print suit on the cover of Woman & Home magazine, the entrepreneur and TV presenter said: Im ruthless when it comes to letting go of people from my life'
She says: If people drain my energy, they have to go. Friends should bring each other energy'
Speaking about dating again, Ms Woodall said: Being single in your 50s and 60s is interesting... Is there a difference between me saying Im 59 and dating, and being 60 and dating? Not at all... its all about how we come across 60 used to feel old, but now its like being 40.
Ms Woodall was previously married to businessman Johnny Elichaoff from 1999 to 2009. He tragically took his own life in 2014. At the time of his death, the star was launching her beauty company Trinny London, which she has turned into a 180 million beauty empire.
Ms Woodall and Susannah Constantine became household names in 2001 as co-hosts of What Not To Wear, where they got a reputation for their straight-talking fashion advice.
Speaking about their relationship, Ms Woodall said: Of all my friendships, ours is the most equal... It can be very intense and sometimes we needed a break, but we totally accept each other for who we are.
It comes just days after she was the epitome of old-school glamour as she celebrated the opening of her flagship store.
Ms Woodall looked elegant as she donned a floor-length silver sequin dress with fringe detailing for the launch of her latest store named after herself earlier this month.
The businesswoman showed of her figure in the dazzling dress which she paired with silver platform sandals and simple silver bangles.
The star kept her brown locks loose and added a touch of glowy make-up to her ensemble.
Exes Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have found themselves in the same country, just a year after Heard moved abroad.
The 61-year-old Depp is continuing his comeback trail by attending the world premiere of his new film Modi at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
The actor was spotted greeting a slew of fans at his hotel upon his arrival on Spain's north coast on Monday.
Approximately five hours southwest in Madrid, Depp's ex Heard was spotted with her three-year old daughter Oonagh Paige on Monday as well.
The actress - who moved first to Mallorca, Spain in late 2022 before relocating to Madrid - gave a brief statement when asked about how she feels about her ex being in Spain as well, albeit several hours away.
Exes Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have found themselves in the same country, just a year after Heard moved abroad
Approximately five hours southwest in Madrid, Depp's ex Heard was spotted with her three-year old daughter Oonagh Paige on Monday as well
'I'm living here in Madrid, I love Spain. I'm very lucky to be here, and regarding my past, I don't feel like thinking or talking about it, because I'm happy and in peace,' Heard said.
She was spotted taking a stroll with her daughter Oonagh Paige, who was seen enjoying a cookie on the walk.
Heard opted for a light blue blouse and a tan skirt with brown flat shoes for the outing.
Another report from El Diario de Mallorca claims that Heard has changed her name to Martha Jane Cannary, though that has yet to be confirmed.
Roughly five hours north of Madrid, Heard's ex Depp arrived at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
The actor and filmmaker was in town for the world premiere of his directorial effort Modi on Tuesday.
Depp seemed to reference his time with Heard as well at a San Sebastian press conference for the film.
The actor was asked about the 'artist's life,' and he seemed to reference his ex Heard in his response, though he didn't mention her by name.
'I'm living here in Madrid, I love Spain. I'm very lucky to be here, and regarding my past, I don't feel like thinking or talking about it, because I'm happy and in peace,' Heard said
She was spotted taking a stroll with her daughter Oonagh Paige, who was seen enjoying a cookie on the walk
Heard opted for a light blue blouse and a tan skirt with brown flat shoes for the outing.
Another report from El Diario de Mallorca claims that Heard has changed her name to Martha Jane Cannary, though that has yet to be confirmed
Roughly five hours north of Madrid, Heard's ex Depp arrived at the San Sebastian Film Festival
The actor and filmmaker was in town for the world premiere of his directorial effort Modi on Tuesday
Depp hit the red carpet in a black dress shirt with a white scarf draped over his shoulders
The actor completed his look with a burnt red suit coat, black pants and black and white dress shoes
'Each [character] has their story because Im sure we can say that Ive been through number of things here and thereMaybe yours didnt turn into a soap opera. I mean, literally, televised,' Depp said, seemingly referencing his trial with Heard.
Depp hit the red carpet in a black dress shirt with a white scarf draped over his shoulders.
He also wore a black hat and lightly-tinted glasses while accessorizing with several silver hoop earrings and rings.
The actor completed his look with a burnt red suit coat, black pants and black and white dress shoes.
The exes first meet in 2009 when they were cast in the Hunter S. Thompson adaptation The Rum Diary.
They started dating in 2012 and tied the knot in a civil ceremony in 2016, though the marriage lasted just over a year.
Heard filed for divorce and a restraining order against Depp in May 2016, accusing Depp of being abusive throughout their relationship.
'Each [character] has their story because Im sure we can say that Ive been through number of things here and thereMaybe yours didnt turn into a soap opera. I mean, literally, televised,' Depp said, seemingly referencing his trial with Heard.
Depp hit the red carpet in a black dress shirt with a white scarf draped over his shoulders
Depp fired back with a libel suit against the publisher of UK's The Sun for calling him a 'wife-beater,' which he ultimately lost and his attempt to appeal was rejected.
He filed a 2019 lawsuit against Heard for defamation for her December 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post.
The actor was ultimately awarded $10 million in compensatory damages to Depp and $5 million in punitive damages.
Heard counter-sued and was awarded $2 million in damages, and while both parties appealed, they settled the case in December 2022.
Andy Lee has detailed a surprising incident that occurred between his fiancee Rebecca Harding and a Sydney Swans player.
The comedian, 43, shared details of what happened while explaining why he won't be rooting for the Swans in the AFL Grand Final after his club Carlton were knocked out.
Speaking on B105 Breakfast with Stav, Abby and Matt, Andy said Bec 'hooked up' with Sydney Swans player Dane Rampe 15 years ago during Schoolies week.
He quipped that he has a 'vendetta' against the Swans because of the unlikely connection and said he will be instead rooting for the Brisbane Lions on Saturday.
'I am going for the Lions because I like it when the team that knocks my team out goes on to win it, it makes it feel like you came second,' he said.
'The other reason is that Bec hooked up with Dane Rampe - who plays for the Sydney Swans - at Schoolies. It was like 15 years ago but there's got to be a natural vendetta.'
Andy recently got engaged to his longtime partner Rebecca but revealed they are in no rush to walk down the aisle.
Speaking on the Kyle and Jackie O show, he said they haven't started wedding planning because they are renovating their $8.5million historic Melbourne mansion.
Andy Lee has revealed the shock reason why he won't be lending his support to the Sydney Swans during the AFL Grand Final - and it is linked to his fiancee Rebecca Harding
'[The wedding] is something we have not discussed at all,' Andy said.
'We tried to start it, but I think it bounces between, let's have everyone there and have a massive party.
'Then we look at the cost of that and the fact that we're trying to finish the house. And we're like, "oh, maybe we'll just sneak away by ourselves". But it won't be any time soon, though.'
Andy also revealed he waited so long to propose to Rebecca because he wasn't 'keen on getting married'.
'I didn't really think that it was something I needed to do. It represented a waste of money and to be honest, I'm a bit of a wedding Grinch,' he admitted.
He shared: 'I used to sit there and go, "Why do we have to go and sit and watch people for four hours tell us how much in love they are?"'
'And then as people change, I just thought, "No, actually, I do want a bit of this". And I was surprised with what it does to a relationship.
Speaking on B105 Breakfast with Stav, Abby and Matt, Andy said Bec 'hooked up' with Sydney Swans player Dane Rampe (pictured) 15 years ago during Schoolies week
'Even just getting engaged. I think you feel a bit more like a team. So, it's been a lovely surprise.'
Andy and Rebecca announced their engagement on May 1 after ten years together.
Andy got down on one knee at the couples decrepit Melbourne mansion and proposed with a napkin, which symbolised how they met in 2014.
'When I first met Bec, in a cafe, she was a waitress, and she was busy and I wrote on a napkin,' Andy recalled at the time.
'I left my email address (on the napkin), which she didn't like, but I just said, 'If you have a boyfriend, just tell him that I'm using you to get to him. I bet he's handsome'.'
Andy returned to the same cafe the next morning and wrote another message on the napkin.
The couple went public with their relationship at the 2015 Australian Open but briefly split for six months in 2016 before rekindling their romance.
Tommy Lee's wife Brittany Furlan said their beloved pet dog Neena 'is safe' after a coyote attack in the backyard of their Woodland Hills, California home.
The comedian, 38, who has been wed to the 61-year-old Motley Crue rocker since 2019, posted on Instagram Tuesday security footage of the harrowing incident, in which a coyote yanked their dog before she rescued the canine off-camera.
'I climbed up the wall and grabbed her out of its mouth,' Furlan said. 'Thank God shes a little bit fat because he couldnt make it over the wall with her.
'If it was teenie she wouldve been gone. This is in Broad daylight at 1 PM.'
Furlan said that local coyotes 'are getting more brazen and hungry' and that she's 'not even letting the dogs out anymore.'
Tommy Lee's wife Brittany Furlan said their beloved pet dog Neena 'is safe' after a coyote attack in the backyard of their Woodland Hills, California home. Pictured last year in LA
Furlan added, 'Please be safe ... this is ridiculous. Hug your babies extra tight.'
Furlan told TMZ that the dog did not suffer any injuries in the incident, as the coyote appeared to grab her fur.
In the clip, a man who appeared to be the veteran musician was seen hurrying in the backyard, as was Furlan.
Furlan wrote in the Instagram post, 'Trigger warning: I was letting the dogs out to pee and I was watching them and a coyote came and grabbed Nene in broad daylight.'
She advised her followers, 'Please be very careful with your dogs.'
Furlan said the incident marked the first time in four years at the abode that they had an encounter with a coyote, adding that the coyotes 'are desperate.'
According to KTLA, the presence of coyotes on the San Fernando Valley's westside, where the celeb couple live, 'are a common sight.'
Coyotes rarely attack humans but often set their sights on small canines, the station reported.
Furlan said the incident marked the first time in four years at the abode that they had an encounter with a coyote
In the clip, a man who appeared to be the veteran musician was seen hurrying in the backyard
Furlan was seen emerging in the yard in the wake of the incident
Furlan ran outside to save her dog in the daytime incident
Furlan told TMZ that the dog did not suffer any injuries in the incident, as the coyote appeared to grab her fur
Furlan received well wishes from a number of her 2.2 million followers on the platform
Furlan received well wishes from a number of her 2.2 million followers on the platform.
'Oh my god Im so happy shes ok,' TikTok personality Claudia Chiavaroli said.
Digital creator Cameron Lee said, 'Omg I would be traumatized. So glad you got out there so fast.'
Sunny-Michel wrote, 'Oh my God!!!! Thank God you saved her omg my heart sank when he grabbed and you screamed I hope shes doing okay!!'
Jessica Biel is making a rather surprising exit from her new Peacock limited series The Good Daughter.
The 42-year-old actress signed on to both star in and executive produce the limited series, based on Karin Slaughter's 2017 best selling book of the same name.
Now she's leaving the project, with details about her exit currently unknown, according to Deadline.
The news also comes just three months after her husband Justin Timberlake was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) in Sag Harbor, New York.
A casting search is under way to find Biel's replacement, with a new actress playing Charlotte Quinn expected to be announced soon.
Jessica Biel is making a rather surprising exit from her new Peacock limited series The Good Daughter
The 42-year-old actress signed on to both star in and executive produce the limited series, based on Karin Slaughter's 2017 best selling book of the same name
The news also comes just three months after her husband Justin Timberlake was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) in Sag Harbor, New York
Biel has not addressed her exit from the project publicly on her verified social media channels at this time.
The limited series was given a straight-to-series order on Peacock back in late March, bypassing the pilot stage completely.
The 'suspenseful crime drama' series follows sisters Charlotte (Jessica Biel) and Samantha Quinn, with the latter sister having not been cast yet.
The sisters, 'have spent the last twenty-eight years trying to piece together the lives that were fractured by a single night of violence,' according to the show's description.
After a similar attack in the small town of Pikeville, Charlotte is the first witness on the scene... and she has become a lawyer like her father.
Charlotte is, 'forced to confront her own demons as the case twists through one shocking revelation after another.'
'In the end, both she and Samantha find themselves wondering if the price of being the good daughter was worth it after all,' the description concludes.
Author Slaughter will be writing every episode and serving as an executive producer, though it doesn't seem that a director is attached.
Biel has not addressed her exit from the project publicly on her verified social media channels at this time
The limited series was given a straight-to-series order on Peacock back in late March, bypassing the pilot stage completely
The 'suspenseful crime drama' series follows sisters Charlotte (Jessica Biel) and Samantha Quinn, with the latter sister having not been cast yet
After a similar attack in the small town of Pikeville, Charlotte is the first witness on the scene... and she has become a lawyer like her father
Slaughter will executive produce with Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky and Casey Haver for Made Up Stories (Pieces of Her, Big Little Lies, Wolf Like Me)
Also executive producing is Michelle Purple for Biel's production company Iron Ocean (The Sinner, Cruel Summer).
Biel was most recently seen in the 2022 mini-series Candy, based on the true story of Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore.
She also stars in the upcoming Prime Video series The Better Sister alongside Elizabeth Banks, Kim Dickens and Matthew Modine.
Joshua Jackson has sparked new romance rumors with German model Nastassja Roberts.
The actor, 46, and Nastassja were pictured attending the premiere of Ryan Murphy's new series Grotesquerie on Monday in New York City in photos published by DeuxMoi.
Although they were spotted together, there were no signs of public affection, making it unclear if they were there as friends or more.
A number of anonymous sources also told Deuxmoi that Joshua and Nastassja were together at Gurneys Spa in Montauk this past week and were seen sharing a 'kiss.'
The Dr. Death star was most recently been romancing Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o, 41, though the pair have not seen seen together since June.
Joshua Jackson, 46, has sparked new romance rumors with German model Nastassja Roberts as they attended the premiere of Grotesquerie on Monday in New York City; (L) Joshua seen on Monday, (R) Nastassja seen in a modeling shot from 2013
While at the premiere, the Dawson's Creek actor looked suave in a dark brown long-sleeved shirt, matching pants and velvet loafers.
He sported a newly shaved look, with his hair slightly gelled up.
Joshua doesnt appear in Grotesquerie, but he worked with Ryan on the upcoming ABC series Doctor Odyssey, which will premiere this week.
Meanwhile Nastassja wowed in a dark textured sleeveless dress that showed off her toned arms.
She completed the look with a chic black purse and matching heels.
Her raven tresses were licked back into a chic bun.
Nastassja is both a model and a talent buyer in the music industry.
The 5'10" beauty was scouted by Alexander Kern from SMC Model Management at a party in Frankfurt.
In the comments of the DeuxMoi post fans of Jackson were divided. Some were thrilled about his possible new romance, while others are questioned what happened to his relationship with Nyong'o.
'JJ is the modern-day George Clooney. How far hes come since Capeside,' one wrote, in reference to his role as Pacey on Dawson's Creek.
'He moves on like the flash,' wrote one commenter. 'Damn Pacey moves quick!' another user added.
'But Lupita!!!!' another added, with a crying emoji.
'What happened to Lupita?!?' another questioned.
Although they were spotted together, there were no signs of public affection, making it unclear if they were there as friends or more
A number of anonymous sources also told Deuxmoi that Joshua and Nastassja were together at Gurneys Spa in Montauk this past week and were seen sharing a 'kiss'
Nastassja is both a model and a talent buyer in the music industry. The 5'10" beauty was scouted by Alexander Kern from SMC Model Management at a party in Frankfurt; seen in 2013
The Dr. Death star was most recently been romancing Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o, 41, though the pair have not seen seen together since June; the pair seen in March
Joshua and Lupita went public with their romance in December 2023, as they were photographed holding hands publicly; (L) Lupita seen in June, (R) Jackson seen in May
Joshua and Lupita went public with their romance in December 2023, after his split from wife Jodie Turner-Smith, 37.
Jodie filed for divorce in October 2023, citing 'irreconcilable differences' after four years of marriage. The two stars agreed to join custody of their daughter named Juno Rose Diana Jackson, four.
Sources told DailyMail.com at the time Joshua had been left 'heartbroken' over the split.
But, just weeks later, Joshua confirmed his romance with Lupita as they were photographed holding hands publicly.
Lupita also endured a break-up in October 2023 as she confirmed the end of her relationship with longtime boyfriend Selema Masekela, 52, on Instagram.
In a Glamour magazine interview, she opened up about the 'painful' split and why she chose to announced it publicly.
'Honestly, the thought of having to update people one at a time was going to be harrowing,' she told the outlet.
'I had made the choice to share the relationship with the world, and I wanted to make the choice to share the end of it with the world.'
Though she's found love again with Joshua, Lupita insisted that she is going back to the 'old ways' of keeping her dating life private.
Joshua's ex Jodie recently broke her silence on the new romance eight months after they went public in an interview with The Cut.
'Good for them,' Jodie said of the couple. 'We need happiness in order to peacefully co-parent. I'm trying to get us to the Gwyneth [Paltrow] and Chris Martin level.
It came following his split from wife Jodie Turner-Smith, 38. Jodie filed for divorce in October 2023, after four years of marriage. The two share daughter named Juno, four; they are seen in 2019
Jodie recently broke her silence on his and Lupita's romance eight months after they went public in an interview with The Cut; Jodie seen in May
'I truly hope they're happy and that it benefits us as a family,' The Acolyte starlet said, putting their daughter first.
The actress went on to explain what co-parenting with Joshua is like and how she's adapted to life as a single mother.
'I just have to do everything that I can to set Juno up to win and to peacefully co-parent with someone whom I once loved very, very much,' she told the outlet.
'Peace is what's needed right now. Grace is what's needed right now. Love, empathy, compassion. I'm trying to be all those things and have faith that when I'm all those things, I will see that reflected back toward me,' she finished.
Nicole Richie made heads turn while attending the Saint Laurent show during Paris Fashion Week.
The Simple Life star, 43 who recently celebrated her 43rd birthday with best friend Paris Hilton looked elegant in a lowcut emerald mini dress on Tuesday.
She accessorized with matching heels and gold necklace as she rocked the red carpet.
Her highlighted locks were styled in a side parted slicked back ponytail and she opted for a full face of makeup.
The daughter of music legend Lionel Richie teamed her look with a faux-fur coat while flaunting her slender figure.
Nicole Richie looked elegant in a lowcut emerald mini dress on Tuesday while at the Saint Laurent show at Paris Fashion Week
Model Amelia Gray Hamlin, Kate Moss, Zoe Kravitz and, Gwyneth Paltrow also made a special appearance at the star studded fashion show.
Showing off Saint Laurent's spring and summer 2025 collection, the brand unveiled fifty trendy looks suited for the office and vibrant ensembles for special occasions.
One famous face owning the runway for YSL included supermodel Bella Hadid. She was dressed in an oversized suit and tie synonymous with the luxury brand's signature style.
Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello began the show with masculine looks with broad shouldered suits, sunglasses and ties before transitioning to more feminine floral ensembles.
Nicole's outing in the City of Lights is not the first time she has shown support for support for the designer brand.
She rocked a Saint Laurent crossover-strap knitted halter neck bodysuit and pencil skirt back in April while appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
This season, Paris Fashion Week will be held from Monday, September 23 to Tuesday, October 1.
Other brands at that showcased their summer and spring collections include: Dior, L'Oreal, Pressiat and Christian Dior.
She accessorized with matching heels and gold necklace as she rocked the red carpet
Her highlighted locks were styled in a side parted slicked back ponytail and she opted for a full face of makeup
The daughter of music legend Lionel Richie teamed her look with a faux-fur coat while flaunting her slender figure
Nicole is a mother to daughter Harlow, 16, and son Sparrow, 14, who she shares with her husband Joel Madden.
The multihyphenate founded her fashion brand, House of Harlow, back in 2008 which sells clothing, jewelry, stationary and eyewear.
She has famously appeared on Fashion Star, Candidly Nicole and Making the Cut. She is currently working on a new reality series with her The Simple Life co-star Paris Hilton.
Nikki Garcia was pictured in Napa Valley, California on Tuesday, amid news her estranged husband Artem Chigvintsev will not face domestic violence charges after a 'thorough' criminal investigation was completed by the Napa County District Attorney.
Garcia, 40, who rose to fame in WWE with twin sister Brie as The Bella Twins, was pictured with a grocery cart loaded with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes as fall commences.
Garcia, who has filed for divorce from the professional dancer, 42, kept a low profile as she wore a black tank top and leggings with black sunglasses and a brown straw hat with a black band.
The former WWE star had a light blue denim shirt tied around her waist, a purse slung across her shoulder and gray trainers on the autumn day.
Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley announced Tuesday that her office has declined to file criminal charges against Chigvintsev, 42, in connection with his August 29 arrest on suspicion of felony domestic violence.
Nikki Garcia, 40, was pictured in Napa Valley, California on Tuesday, amid news her estranged husband Artem Chigvintsev, 42, will not face domestic violence charges
Garcia was pictured with a grocery cart loaded with pumpkins of all sizes as fall commences
The decision to not file charges against Chigvintsev was made after a thorough review of the criminal investigation and careful evaluation of the evidence presented to the DA's Office, officials said.
'While we take every arrest seriously and stand firmly against domestic violence, we have an ethical obligation to only file charges when supported by the evidence,' Haley said in a statement obtained by DailyMail.com.
Haley said, 'We are required to prove any and every criminal charge "beyond a reasonable doubt" which is the highest standard in the American criminal justice system. If the available evidence doesnt rise to this level of proof, then we cannot ethically file charges.'
Domestic violence can either be filed as a felony or a misdemeanor and has a statute of limitations of three years or one year, respectively.
At any time within the statute of limitations, the Napa County District Attorneys Office may revisit the case if it learns of other incidents, or otherwise learns of facts or evidence not previously known.
Haley added that the Napa County District Attorney's Victim Services Division works closely with victims of domestic violence and other crimes and links them to available resources whether charges are filed or not.
Earlier this month, the Dancing With The Stars pro cited 'irreconcilable differences' as the reason for their split in his own divorce filing.
He listed the date of separation as August 29 - which was the same day that he was arrested for felony domestic violence charges following the alleged altercation at their home in Napa, California.
Nikki Garcia's estranged husband Artem Chigvintsev will NOT face domestic violence charge after 'thorough' criminal investigation. Pictured in LA in 2019
Chigvintsev has requested for joint legal and physical custody of his and Nikki's four-year-old son, Matteo, in his own divorce filing
Chigvintsev was booked into the Napa County Jail on felony domestic violence charges at 10:59 am before being released on a $25,000 bond
Chigvintsev has also requested for joint legal and physical custody of his and Nikki's four-year-old son, Matteo. The Russian-born dancer has asked for spousal support, and also requested that Garcia pay for his legal fees.
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.
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.'
A new documentary produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon is being ruled ineligible to compete for Best Documentary at the upcoming Oscars.
The film - Kiss the Future - screened in 139 AMC Theatres cinemas nationwide, including several Oscar-qualifying markets like Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Atlanta.
However, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences documentary branch claims that the film only played two times per day throughout the run, and not three times a day which is listed in the Oscar rules.
Affleck, Damon and fellow producer Sarah Anthony filed an appeal to the Academy, though it was rejected, according to Deadline.
Now the film's director - Nenad Cicin-Sain - is arguing that the Academy should honor the rules, which technically shouldn't exclude the film.
A new documentary produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon is being ruled ineligible to compete for Best Documentary at the upcoming Oscars
The film - Kiss the Future - screened in 139 AMC Theatres cinemas nationwide, including several Oscar-qualifying markets like Los Angeles , New York, San Francisco and Atlanta
Now the film's director - Nenad Cicin-Sain - is arguing that the Academy should honor the rules, which technically shouldn't exclude the film
After the original story ran on Monday, many noted that there was nothing in the rules that stated the film had to play on just one single screen in a qualifying market.
If you take into account all the qualifying markets Kiss the Future played in collectively, it should qualify.
Cicin-Sain wrote to the Academy on Monday, stating that there is no specific rule that should deem his film ineligible.
'There is no specific rule stating that the required three daily screenings for Academy Award qualification must all occur in the same theater within a qualifying city, Cicin-Sain wrote to Natalie Wade, the Academys Senior Director, Member Relations and Awards Administration.
'The rule emphasizes that the film must play at least three times a day over a consecutive seven-day period in one of the qualifying U.S. metro areas. These cities include Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, and the San Francisco Bay Area, the director added.
'Kiss the Future played in all those markets for two weeks and far exceeded the minimum requirement of screenings per day (more than 3 times a day),' Cicin-Said added.
Cicin-Sain added, 'The rulebook you provided specifies that a film must play **three times daily** in a qualifying city, but it **does not explicitly state** that these screenings must all occur in the *same theater* within the qualifying city Can you please provide where it says "3 times a day in the same theater?"'
The director adds that the rulebook they were provided with, which the filmmakers claim was for the 96th Oscars, includes no mention of a documentary needing to play in one single location three times a day.
However, the Academy claims a rule was added for the upcoming 97tth Academy Awards, which states, 'The seven consecutive days of the theatrical release are required to occur in one venue.'
The Academy has yet to indicate why this new rule was added that would narrow, not broaden, the qualification, since most qualifying documentaries get a token one-theater a.k.a. 'four wall' release
After the original story ran on Monday, many noted that there was nothing in the rules that stated the film had to play on just one single screen in a qualifying market
If you take into account all the qualifying markets Kiss the Future played in collectively, it should qualify
'There is no specific rule stating that the required three daily screenings for Academy Award qualification must all occur in the same theater within a qualifying city, Cicin-Sain wrote to Natalie Wade, the Academys Senior Director, Member Relations and Awards Administration
'What theyre doing is theyre enforcing the letter of the rule and not the spirit of the rule, Cicin-Sain told said on Monday
There is no indication from the Academy why it would introduce such a narrow parameter for the 97th Oscars. And the existence or non-existence of that rule does not speak to the filmmakers larger argument that if the Academys goal is to get people to watch films in theaters, Kiss the Future more than met the mark. Most qualifying documentaries only receive a token four wall release, but KTF got what amounts to a wide release for a nonfiction film.
'What theyre doing is theyre enforcing the letter of the rule and not the spirit of the rule, Cicin-Sain told said on Monday.
'And if the spirit of the rule is to put movies in theaters and thats what we did by exhibiting it in as many theaters possible and then youre not qualifying, somethings wrong,' he added.
The film explores the 1990 siege of Sarajevo, and showcased how the music of U2 helped uplift the city's residents,
Gwyneth Paltrow exuded effortless style while attending the Saint Laurent Womenswear Spring-Summer 2025 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday.
The Talented Mr. Ripley star, 51, was chic as ever at the star-studded event, wearing an oversized grey suit, with a matching silk blouse underneath.
The Goop founder completed her look with a pair of black pointed toe heels.
Her light blonde tresses were parted in the middle and styled straight for the evening.
The actress kept her accessories minimal, wearing only two rings, and opted for a smoky eye makeup look.
Gwyneth Paltrow, 51, exuded effortless style while attending the Saint Laurent Womenswear Spring-Summer 2025 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday
The Talented Mr. Ripley star was chic as ever in an oversized grey suit, with a matching silk blouse underneath
The show was attended by a number of stars, including Kate Moss, her daughter Lila Moss, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Nicole Richie, Carla Bruni and more.
Meanwhile an androgynously dressed Bella Hadid was among the models who strutted a dimly lit catwalk.
Gwyneth was also seen mingling with Justin Theroux, Lenny Kravitz and Francois-Henri Pinault at the event.
Earlier in the day Gwyneth was seen with her husband Brad Falchuk, 53, in Paris.
The lovebirds were holding hands as they smiled and laughed while chit chatting in the City Of Lights.
The Oscar-winning actress - who is returning to films with a new Timothee Chalamet movie - modeled a black double-breasted pea coat by her very own G. Label with a silk turtleneck also by G. Label and wide-legged blue denim jeans and white sneakers.
She added a black crossbody purse and black Ray-Ban sunglasses.
Her spouse went for a lighter look with a plaid brown-and-beige coat over a white V-neck T-shirt and ripped acid-washed blue jeans with a pocket on the leg as he added beige lace-up work boots and dark sunglasses.
The Goop founder completed her look with a pair of black pointed toe heels
Her light blonde tresses were parted in the middle and styled straight for the evening
The actress kept her accessories minimal, wearing only two rings
Gwyneth opted for a smoky eye makeup look
The show was attended by a number of stars, including Kate Moss, her daughter Lila Moss, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Nicole Richie, Carla Bruni and more
Earlier in the day Gwyneth was seen with her husband Brad Falchuk, 53, in Paris
The Montecito, California based stars have been married since 2018. They have recently become empty nesters as all of their children are at college.
Last month they dropped off his son at college.
The AHS producer's only boy Brody, 17, is attending prestigious Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Brad shares Brody as well as daughter Isabella, 19, with his first wife and fellow TV producer Suzanne Bukinik, whom he was married to from 2002 to 2013.
He and Gwyneth, who first met in 2010, were first linked in 2014, the year Gwyneth announced her separation from her first husband Chris Martin.
Together Gwyneth and Chris have daughter Apple, 20, and son Moses, 18.
Meanwhile, Gwyneth's daughter Apple is at college too.
She attends Vanderbilt University, a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. Her son Moses is at Brown University in Rhode Island.
In May Gwyneth talked about a how a blended family can be tricky when at the Visionary Womens International Womens Day Summit.
After asking if there were any other stepmothers in the crowd, the Oscar-winning actress said frankly: 'Yeah, its a b****, right, guys?' per Page Six.
Gwyneth was also seen mingling with Justin Theroux, Lenny Kravitz and Francois-Henri Pinault at the event
Justin opted for a classic tuxedo, while Lenny was cool as ever in an all black look
The trio happily posed for snaps
Meanwhile an androgynously dressed Bella Hadid was among the models who strutted a dimly lit catwalk
Jokes aside, she added: 'No, I actually, I really like to talk about this because its one of my biggest learnings as a human being.'
She reflected that 'my area of growth personally came from the initial difficult relationship I had with my step kids and now theyre like my kids.'
Although she enjoys a warm bond with her stepchildren now, she did not shy away from admitting: 'The path to here was really rough.'
The Royal Tenenbaums actress claimed: 'Its almost like you have to embody the spirit of the sun and just give and not expect anything back. I just learned to try to just keep shining like the sun and never keeping score.'
Mel Gibson was seen on Tuesday in a rare red carpet appearance with the youngest of his nine children, daughter Lucia and son Lars.
The Braveheart actor-director, 68, was seen at a special screening of his new movie Monster Summer at the Directors Guild Of America in Los Angeles Tuesday.
The Lethal Weapon actor posed with Lucia, 14, who he shares with ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, 54, and Lars, seven, who he shares with girlfriend Rosalind Ross, 34, at the screening of the adventure horror motion picture.
The Oscar-winning actor-director - who attended Vince Vaughn's ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last month - donned a navy blue checkered sport coat over a white button-up shirt. He rounded out his ensemble with dark blue jeans and black sneakers at the cinematic event, sporting a full beard.
Lucia was clad in a shoulderless red skirt with strappy heels and her brown locks down and parted, while Lars wore a button-up white shirt with dark blue jeans and black sneakers, sporting long blonde hair.
Mel Gibson, 68, was seen Tuesday in a red carpet appearance with the youngest of his nine children, daughter Lucia, 14, and son Lars, 7, at the Directors Guild Of America in Los Angeles
The Braveheart actor-director was seen at a special screening of his new movie Monster Summer
The Passion of the Christ filmmaker is also father to seven children from his 29-year marriage to Robyn Moore, which ended in 2009.
They are Hannah Mae Brobst, 43; Christian Gibson, 42; Edward Gibson, 42; Will Gibson, 38; Louie Gibson, 35; Milo Gibson, 33; and Thomas Gibson, 25.
Joining Gibson in the cast of Monster Summer includes Lorraine Bracco, Kevin James, Patrick Renna, Mason Thames, Nora Zehetner and Abby James Witherspoon, the lookalike niece of Reese Witherspoon.
According to a logline for the film, 'When a mysterious force begins to disrupt their big summer fun, Noah and his friends team up with a retired police detective to embark on a monstrous adventure to save their island.'
Gibson has worked on a number of smaller-scale projects in recent years, as he continues to rebuild his career more than a decade after a series of damaging scandals.
In a July 28, 2006 incident in Malibu, California, Gibson was arrested in connection with DUI, after which a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy said the actor went on an anti-Semitic tirade making statements such as, 'F*****g Jews ... the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,' according to TMZ.
Gibson's career careened further four years later in 2010, when a series of recordings surfaced in which he used multiple racial slurs and threatened violence against his former girlfriend Grigorieva.
In the wake of the 2010 scandal, Gibson lost a role in The Hangover 2 after the cast and crew protested his presence in the motion picture.
The Oscar-winning actor-director donned a navy blue checkered sport coat over a white button-up shirt with dark blue jeans and black sneakers, sporting a full beard
The Lethal Weapon actor posed with Lucia, who he shares with ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, and Lars, who he shares with girlfriend Rosalind Ross
Lucia was clad in a shoulderless red skirt with strappy heels and her brown locks down and parted
Lars wore a button-up white shirt with black jeans and black sneakers
The Passion of the Christ filmmaker is also father to seven children from his 29-year marriage to Robyn Moore, which ended in 2009
The Hollywood veteran was pictured with the film's director David Henrie, 35
(L-R) Henrie posed with cast members Noah Cottrell, Abby James Witherspoon, Gibson, Lilah Pate, Julian Lerner and Mason Thames at the event
The Hollywood veteran has made a comeback over the last decade with roles in 2013's Machete Kills, 2014's The Expendables 3 and 2017's Daddy's Home 2.
Gibson received a Best Director and Best Picture Oscar nominations for his 2017 World War II drama Hacksaw Ridge, which garnered six overall nominations in 2018.
In recent years, Gibson has been seen in movies such as Desperation Road, Confidential Informant, On the Line, Bandit, Hot Seat, Father Stu, Agent Game and Panama.
Earlier this month, he traveled to Europe to look at potential filming locations for a sequel to The Passion of the Christ, Variety reported last week.
He had been in Malta and Italy to look at multiple rural locales, Puglia Film Commission director Antonio Parente told the outlet.
Gibson's publicist Alan Nierob confirmed that 'they were scouting locations recently' but there's 'not a lot to discuss at this early stage.'
Katy Perry is set to reportedly be paid a staggering $5million to perform at the AFL grand final in Melbourne on Saturday.
The US pop star is being paid the huge amount to sing five songs to a roaring crowd of 100,000 at the MCG before Sydney take on Brisbane, reports the Herald Sun.
The huge sum the 39-year-old is being paid for her brief pre-game performance is said to come with some strings attached - that she performs a selection of older well-known hits, rather than songs from her new 143 LP.
There are also rumours that Australian pop legend Tina Arena will perform alongside Katy at the huge sporting event.
'There's going to be a surprise performance of a favourite Australian artist that I look up to,' Katy revealed on Channel Seven breakfast show Sunrise.
'She will be singing a little bit with me, I'll be singing a little bit with her. I've been sworn to secrecy, locked up, chains, all of it.'
Katy's telling use of the word 'chains' led viewers to suspect she was hinting at performing alongside Tina, who had a huge hit in 1994 with a song of that name.
Channel Nine reporter Tom Morris revealed on Monday that AFL big wigs told the hitmaker they expected her to perform her older hits, such as Firework, Roar and I Kissed A Girl.
Katy Perry (pictured) is set to be reportedly be paid a staggering $5million to perform at the AFL grand final in Melbourne on Saturday
Appearing on SEN Breakfast, the veteran AFL journalist claimed that Katy's team had pushed back against an AFL request that the Teenage Dream hitmaker perform just one new song.
'She's playing about five songs and the AFL was very keen for her to play five classic tunes, she wanted to play two new ones,' he said.
Tom added that both camps had reached a compromise with Katy reportedly agreeing to just one new track.
'In the end they met halfway and she's playing one new song and four classics,' he said.
The US pop star, 39, is being paid the huge amount to sing five of her songs to a roaring crowd of 100,000 at the MCG before Sydney takes on Brisbane, reports the Herald Sun
Co-host and AFL great Kane Cornes, admitting he was a Katy Perry fan, added that the AFL should have a say in the planning of the blockbuster stadium show.
'The AFL are saying: "We only want your hits. We only want your bangers. We want Roar, Teenage Dream, Firework." They want all the songs we know and love. And she's pushed back and said, "No, I want to play two of my new songs."
He added: 'You know when you go to a concert and maybe they're old and all you want is their good stuff. You want their greatest hits.'
Margot Robbie showed off her cozy maternity style while stepping out in Brentwood, Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The Barbie star, 34, put her growing baby bump on display in a sheer black off-shoulder top and a comfortable pair of oversized sweatpants.
The Australian beauty who is awaiting the arrival of her first child with husband Tom Ackerley, 34 accessorized with Prada sunglasses and chunky black sandals from the same brand.
She wore a black bag slung over her shoulder, and carried a laptop and papers under her arm.
The outing comes following news that Margot and Jacob Elordi, 27, are set to play gothic lovers in a new film adaptation of Emily Brontes classic novel Wuthering Heights, with the casting sparking controversy among some fans.
Margot Robbie, 34, showed off her cozy maternity style while stepping out in Brentwood, Los Angeles on Tuesday
Margot will play Catherine Earnshaw, while the Saltburn actor will portray her iconic lover Heathcliff, as per Deadline.
The news has been met with backlash, with some criticizing the 'weird' and 'terrible' casting and the age gap between the actors and the characters.
Cathy is around 19-year-old when she dies in the book, with Heathcliff around 22 at that time, and in his early forties when he dies.
Many took to social media to express their ire with the choice to use two stars who 'look like they belong on Instagram' in a film set during the 1800s.
Some even claimed that the director Emerald Fennell, 38 who also helmed Saltburn has 'not read' the classic Emily Bronte novel.
Elsewhere, social media hit out at the 'whitewashing' of the romantic lead - as Heathcliff is often described to be 'dark skinned' and is subject to 'racist abuse'.
In the book, Heathcliff, known as one of the most infamous and complex romantic heroes in Western literature, is described as having dark hair, dark eyes, and dark skin and is often believed to have Roma or Gypsy heritage.
It's not known how closely Fennells version will follow the book.
The Barbie star put her growing baby bump on display in a sheer black off-shoulder top and a comfortable pair of oversized sweatpants
The outing comes following news that Margot and Jacob Elordi, 27, are set to play gothic lovers in a new film adaptation of Emily Brontes classic novel Wuthering Heights, with the casting sparking controversy among some fans
News that Margot and Jacob are set to play the lead roles in Emerald Fennell's adaptation was revealed yesterday by Deadline
It was met with backlash, with some criticizing the 'weird' and 'terrible' casting and the age gap between the actors and the characters
'Yikes. Can we please have new actors,' another one wrote
Elsewhere, social media hit out at the 'whitewashing' of the romantic lead - as Heathcliff is often described to be 'dark skinned' and is subject to 'racist abuse'
Another fan complained about directors 'erasing canonically BIPOC characters'
'Heathcliff is described as a dark-skinned brown man in the book'
'Isn't Heathcliff supposed to be dark skinned?'
'Truly the worst casting I've ever perceived'
'Looking forward to hearing those distinctive Yorkshire twangs!'
Someone else complained about the 'weird (terrible) choices in adaption classics recently'
Some even claimed that the director Fennell, 38 who also helmed Saltburn has 'not read' the classic Emily Bronte novel
'I lost interest as soon as it was going to be directed by Emerald Fennell,' another added
It's not known how closely Fennells version will follow the book
Following the announcement, fans took to Twitter to express their discontent, with one writing, 'just a not so friendly reminder: Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights is explicitly dark skin and Romani, and his experiences as a man of color influence his entire character and story as a man suffering racist abuse from his adoptive family.'
Another added, 'I think its so unfair and ridiculous how hollywood casting directors keep erasing canonically BIPOC characters in important roles especially in classic literature and historical roles like in Wuthering Heights, the 2011 adaptation is the only one that had an accurate Heathcliff.'
'Guys I can ONLY assume that Emerald Fennell isn't actually adapting Wuthering Heights, she's just using it as inspiration and it's loosely based on and the only similarities are the characters' names and it's set in this time period and it's a different story entirely right?' one joked.
Another wrote: 'Truly the worst casting I've ever perceived, I'm gagged by how Emerald Fennell is committed to never serving.'
A third quipped: 'Looking forward to hearing those distinctive Yorkshire twangs!'
Margot's LuckyChap company is on board to produce the film. LuckyChap also produced two of Emerald's other movies: Saltburn and Promising Young Woman.
The film is currently in pre-production, and will shoot in the United Kingdom next year.
Bronte's Wuthering Heights, published in 1850, is considered a masterpiece of English literature.
The story revolves around the tumultuous relationship between the brooding Heathcliff, an orphan adopted by the Earnshaw family, and Catherine Earnshaw, the youngest daughter of the family.
Their love is passionate but complex, marked by obsession, jealousy, and revenge.
There have been a number of film adaptions of the book over the years, with perhaps the most well known being the 1939 version directed by William Wyler, and starring Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier.
There have been a number of film adaptions of the book over the years, with perhaps the most well known being the 1939 version directed by William Wyler, and starring Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier (pictured)
The most recent adaption is the 2011 film by Andrea Arnold, starring Kaya Scodelario and James Howson.
Margot recently starred in the blockbuster film Barbie, which grossed over $1.4 billion worldwide and earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
Her next project is Kogonada's A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, set for release in May.
Meanwhile Elordi recently portrayed the iconic Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola's Priscilla.
He is also set to star in Justin Kurzell's The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein.
Debbie McGee has revealed how she turned down Omar Sharif as a young woman after he spotted her in the BBC canteen.
The TV and radio star, 65, spoke on best's Suddenly Single podcast about why she turned down the famous Hollywood Lothario before finding love with her late husband Paul Daniels, who died of a brain tumour age 77 in 2016.
Debbie admitted that she was worried that Omar, who was 26 years her senior, only wanted to sleep with her and she turned him down because of her young age.
During her appearance on the podcast, Debbie spoke about how she generally isn't approached by men, before revealing her past encounter with Omar, who died of a heart attack age 83 in 2015.
She said: 'I don't get approached. I don't think I got approached once on Strictly. I think being on TV and being seen on Red Carpets does the opposite it put people off. I don't know why.
Debbie McGee has revealed how she turned down Omar Sharif as a young woman after he spotted her in the BBC canteen
During her appearance on the podcast, Debbie spoke about how she generally isn't approached by men, before revealing her past encounter with Omar, who died of a heart attack age 83 in 2015 (Omar pictured in 1965)
She said: 'Omar Sharif asked me out when I was 21 and I didn't goit was at the BBC, and he was at the table next to us every day at lunch I said I'd think about it. But I think I didn't because I was very young, and I just expected he'd want to sleep with me'
'Since Paul died, I haven't had that many offers. if you're looking you end up unhappy because you're wanting something that you haven't got.'
'Most men want a young totty, and I am getting older. I'm not on dating apps or websites. I really believe if you look for love, you won't find it'
'Omar Sharif asked me out when I was 21 and I didn't goit was at the BBC, and he was at the table next to us every day at lunch I said I'd think about it. But I think I didn't because I was very young, and I just expected he'd want to sleep with me.'
Debbit went on to say she did fancy at other men while married to her husband of almost 30 years, but said she only ever 'looked at the menu'.
She said: 'I don't think I have a type. Men that I've fancied over the years, and when you're married it's OK to look at the menu, it's all about someone's personality and never about how they look. That's why I think going on a dating app wouldn't work for me.'
On finding love again as a widow, she said that while she loves Paul she has learned to enjoy life without him but would be open to romance in the future.
She said: 'I'm very contented with my life so if I'm honest I'm a bit frightened of upsetting that applecart. I'm in a very good place. I still miss Paul loads but I've learned how to enjoy my life without him.'
'I really believe that if you look for romance you won't find it. It has to just happen.'
'I've learned to be happy on my own and if the universe brings somebody to me, that will happen, but I'm not going to go on websites to find them.'
The TV and radio star, 65, spoke on best's Suddenly Single about why she turned down the famous Hollywood Lothario before finding love with her late husband Paul Daniels, who died of a brain tumour age 77 in 2016 (pictured Debbie and Paul in 1983)
'I do need someone that has got a zest for life who wants to get up every day and enjoy it. Somebody who wants to sit and watch TV every day and do nothing is not the person for me.'
'I've got lots of gay friends that I go out withif people saw us in a restaurant, they'd probably think we are together.'
'I have lots of flirtations with men and I go out for dinner and drinks, but I haven't found anybody where we both felt this could be more than a friendship.'
'I find most men open up to meI have got lots of male friends and they say we tell you things we don't tell other people.'
'If you are looking, you will be unhappy. I've learnt to be happy on my own. It might happen but I'm not going on websites to find it.'
Debbie went on to discuss how men want a 'young totty' and how Paul waited for years to date her hoping the press would be less harsh about their 20-year age gap.
She said: 'When I met Paul, I didn't know who he was. And I hated magicians, well I hated magic. We were married for 30 years and together for 9 years (before that).'
'Paul thought I was far too young and kept saying 'go and meet someone your own age'. So I had to do a lot of chasing. We had an instant chemistry and made each other laugh.'
'For a long time, he'd take me out to dinner but say no, you're too young for me. I had other boyfriends, and he had other girlfriends. When I got to about 27, I'd become very independent, had bought my own flat and was working in Europe, I think he suddenly thought I'm going to lose her. But he always said you'd got a bit older; I thought the press wouldn't be so tough on us.'
'He (Paul) had a girlfriend at the time and he said if I finish with her, would you be prepared to have a relationship? I said 'finish with her and we'll see!'
Eddie Mcguire has weighed in on the current bloodbath at Channel Seven that has seen a number of on-air personalities defect to rival network Nine.
The Herald Sun reported that the former Nine CEO said 'legal action may be around the place', in the wake of Footy Classified panel stars Kane Cornes, Caroline Wilson and Craig Hutchison jumping ship to Seven ahead of the 2025 AFL season.
Kane has already confirmed his move while it has been reported that Caroline is under contract with Nine until December.
Her contract includes a restraint clause that would mean she couldn't begin with Seven until halfway through 2025.
Speaking in Melbourne at the Carbine Club Lunch at Crown on Tuesday, Eddie was still unsure if the show would air on Tuesday night saying tensions had been rising.
'Footy Classified tonight, who's going to be on it we're still not sure, I'm waiting for a phone call to come through as we speak.'
'Some legal action may be around the place, it's all getting very hotted up.'
The show did air on Tuesday night with Cornes, Wilson and Hutchison on the panel.
Eddie Maguire has weighed in on the current bloodbath at Channel NIne that has seen a number of on-air personalities defect to rival network Seven
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Channel Nine for comment.
Former Port Adelaide premiership-winner Cornes, veteran journalist Wilson and media identity Hutchisonwill all jump ship, with the latter to use his TV production company to aid Seven's footy programming.
The trio were set to preview the AFL decider with Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd.
The Herald Sun reported that the former Nine CEO said 'legal action may be around the place', in the wake of Footy Classified panel stars Kane Cornes, Caroline Wilson and Craig Hutchison jumping ship to Seven ahead of the 2025 AFL season
Lloyd is set to be frustrated at the situation, telling 3AW Radio on Monday night: 'I'm bitterly disappointed, but no one is bigger than the show.'
Footy Classified was rescheduled for Tuesday this week following the staging of the Brownlow Medal on Monday.
According to News Corp, the likes of Eddie, Geelong great Jimmy Bartel and footy reporter Damian Barrett were told to be on standby as the broadcaster examines its options.
Hutchison - along with Wilson - was one of the original panellists on Footy Classified, now in its 18th season.
Cornes, who is known for his outspoken views, announced his switch in August.
Speaking in Melbourne at the Carbine Club Lunch at Crown on Tuesday, Eddie was still unsure if the show would air on Tuesday night saying tensions had been rising
He ruffled a few feathers at Seven before even starting at the network following his recent brutal takedown of Richmond legend Trent Cotchin.
'It [criticism] got back to me,' Cornes said on the Howie Games podcast.
'They [Seven] were really, really upset by it (the segment parodying Trent Cotchin).
'That made me feel a little bit guilty.'
It came after Cornes made a now infamous video where he mocked Cotchin's delivery on camera in his new role as an AFL analyst.
Rebecca Judd stole the show on Wednesday as she attended the highly anticipated re-launch party for Bianca and Bridgett in Melbourne.
The AFL WAG, 41, dazzled in a figure-hugging red midi dress from the brand's new collection, which retails for $350.
The rebranding, which was announced last Sunday, sees Judd taking on a new role as the face of the Melbourne-based fashion label.
Arriving at the chic French restaurant Entrecote, Rebecca showcased her flawless style in the statement red gown, which featured a daring thigh-high split, drawing attention to her toned legs.
The dress was beautifully accented with a large, sculpted rose detail on the hip, adding an extra touch of elegance and drama.
She paired the ensemble with matching red heels, elongating her already enviable figure, and carried a stylish designer clutch.
Her long, honey-toned hair was worn down in soft waves, cascading over her shoulders, while her makeup was kept natural and glowing, highlighting her flawless complexion.
With minimal accessories, Rebecca let her striking look do all the talking, embodying effortless glamour and sophistication.
Rebecca Judd stole the show on Wednesday as she attended the highly anticipated re-launch party for Bianca and Bridgett in Melbourne. Pictured with Bianca Roccisano
The AFL WAG, 41, dazzled in a figure-hugging red midi dress from the brand's new collection, which retails for $350
Rebecca was seen laughing and chatting with founder Bianca Roccisano as they made their way into the event, exuding confidence and style.
Bianca opted for a chic monochrome outfit, wearing a strapless black-and-white mini dress that also featured bold lines and minimalistic design.
Nadia Bartel also attended the event and stunned in a sophisticated neutral-toned ensemble.
Bianca opted for a chic monochrome outfit, wearing a strapless black-and-white mini dress that also featured bold lines and minimalistic design
Nadia Bartel stunned in a sophisticated and neutral-toned ensemble
The fashion entrepreneur and former WAG donned a chic camel-coloured blazer dress, which featured structured shoulders and a tailored fit, giving her look a sharp, polished edge.
The dress, with its short hemline, showed off Nadia's toned legs, adding a touch of glamour to the overall elegant style.
She paired the look with classic white pointed-toe stilettos, elevating her outfit with a sleek and refined touch.
Nadia accessorised her ensemble with a Louis Vuitton tote bag, held stylishly in her hands, further enhancing the high-fashion feel of the look.
The fashion entrepreneur and former WAG donned a chic camel-coloured blazer dress, which featured structured shoulders and a tailored fit, giving her look a sharp, polished edge
Bridgett Roccisano also looked effortlessly stylish in a tailored black suit with contrasting white details
Elsewhere, Bridgett Roccisano looked effortlessly stylish in a tailored black suit with contrasting white details.
Her ensemble featured a sharp black blazer with bold white lapels and cuffs, giving the outfit a modern and chic twist.
The structured blazer was complemented by matching black wide-leg trousers, which also had sleek white stripes running down the sides, elongating her frame and adding a sporty yet elegant touch to her look.
Underneath her blazer, Bridgett opted for a plunging neckline, adding a hint of sultriness to the otherwise structured outfit.
She accessorised with a small, quilted white handbag, which added a pop of brightness and played perfectly with the white accents in her suit.
The A-list partied into the night on Tuesday to celebrate Saint Laurent's triumphant Paris Fashion Week Show.
On the first full day of PFW proceedings in the French capital, the luxury brand - so often a pioneer of international style and sophistication - sexed up their Spring-Summer 2025 womenswear presentation as proceedings got underway at Musee Yves Saint Laurent Paris.
And after enjoying their FROW seats on the runway, the celebs made the hop across town to the afterparty held at the fashion house's HQ on Rue de l'Universite.
Kate Moss, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Amelia Gray Hamlin were all looking stunning in their lingerie-inspired looks.
The A-list partied into the night on Tuesday to celebrate Saint Laurent's triumphant Paris Fashion Week Show with Kate Moss, 50, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley leading the guests
Amelia Gray, 23, turned heads in a very risque fishnet bodysuit and leather skirt, baring all as she went braless under the barely-there top
Kate, 50, led the A-list arrivals, wearing a sheer gown which showed off her thigh-high leather boots.
Rosie, 37, looked incredible in a brown satin shirt dress with built-in suspender stockings, putting on a very leggy display as she exited her car.
Amelia Gray, 23, turned heads in a very risque fishnet bodysuit and leather skirt, baring all as she went braless under the barely-there top.
Prior to the show, the starlet gushed about feeling 'amazing' and expressed her excitement while flaunting her X-rated look.
'I feel amazing,' she said in a video posted by TikTok user @Taoualitamar. 'I don't think I've ever felt so amazing. I'm so ready for the show. I cant wait.'
Nicole Richie, 43, looked elegant in a lowcut emerald mini dress with matching heels.
Gwyneth Paltrow was also spotted making her arrival, still rocking her charcoal blazer, loose fitting trousers and burgundy stiletto heels.
Rosie's dress had built-in suspender stockings, with the top model putting on a very leggy display as she exited her car
Rosie looked stunning in the satin mini with a belt to show off her trim waist
The high-light of her Fashion Week look was her suspenders and heels
Paris Fashion Week runs from September 23 to October 1, with a string of major designers choosing the City of Light to showcase their next collections.
L'Oreal kicked things off on Monday with a star-studded runway featuring the likes of Kendall Jenner, Heidi Klum, Eva Longoria and Cara Delevingne.
Tuesday saw Dior welcomed Anya Taylor-Joy and Rosamund Pike to the FROW before Saint Laurent was the highlight of the evening calendar.
The third day offers up Courreges and Mugler presentations while Thursday will see the spotlight on Hermes and Giambattista Valli.
On Friday, Victoria Beckham will be supported by her A-list friends as she unveils her next ready-to-wear looks, with Rick Owens and Balenciaga also showcasing collections that day.
Valentino and Stella McCartney will also be hot tickets before French fashion house Louis Vuitton closes the week with its glitzy show.
Kate led the A-list arrivals, wearing a sheer gown which showed off her thigh-high leather boots
The Brit icon added plenty of accessorises, piling up chunky bangles and statement earrings
Gwyneth Paltrow was also spotted making her arrival, still rocking her charcoal blazer, loose fitting trousers and burgundy stiletto heels
The Hollywood star happily greeted the huge crowd of excite fans outside
Nicole Richie, 43, looked elegant in a lowcut emerald mini dress with a brown furry coat
Nicole added matching heels to her look and rocked a sleek bun to complete her Paris party look
Jasmine Tookes also rocked satin, wowing in a slinky slip dress while Elsa Hosk looked incredible in a tailored suit and headscarf
Zoe Kravitz slung a blazer around her shoulders as she arrived at the bash with her rocker dad
Lenny Kravitz kept a low profile as he was surrounded by autograph hunters
Zoe Kravitz and Kate Moss shared a interaction as the excited actress sat beside the supermodel on the Saint Laurent front row at Paris Fashion Week.
The pair were among those in attendance at the star-studded Saint Laurent's Ready To Wear womenswear show in Paris on Tuesday.
Supermodel Kate, 50, led the A-list arrivals, wearing a sheer gown and velvet blazer, while Zoe donned a very revealing black lace mini dress.
But it was the Blink Twice director's adorable reaction to being sat beside Kate that really pulled attention.
Zoe was seen clasping her hands together with an ecstatic expression on her face as she sat down alongside model icon Kate.
Zoe Kravitz and Kate Moss shared a interaction as the excited actress sat beside the supermodel on the Saint Laurent front row at Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday
Supermodel Kate, 50, led the A-list arrivals, wearing a sheer gown and velvet blazer, while Zoe donned a very revealing black lace mini dress
Joining the pair on the front row were Nicole Ritchie and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
The model, who rose to fame as part of the heroin chic trend in the 1990s, led the A-list arrivals wearing a sheer gown.
Kate teamed her dress, which featured a plunging neckline and a pleated skirt, with an embellished velvet blazer and stacks of gold bangles.
The supermodel carried a quirky clutch bag, pushed her hair back from her face and added a pop of colour to her look with a red lip.
Meanwhile, Zoe and her father Lenny Kravitz put on a stylish display as they stepped out together for the show.
The Catwoman actress, 35, sent pulses racing as she attended the fashion event wearing a black lace mini dress.
She went braless for the event as she layered the high-neck garment with some black underwear.
Adding inches to her statuesque frame, she slipped into a pair of black satin sling-back stilettos.
But it was the Blink Twice director's adorable reaction to being sat beside Kate that really pulled attention
The pair were among those in attendance at the star-studded Saint Laurent's Ready To Wear womenswear show
Zoe was seen clasping her hands together with an ecstatic expression on her face as she sat down alongside model icon Kate
Joining the pair on the front row were Nicole Ritchie and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
The model, who rose to fame as part of the heroin chic trend in the 1990s, led the A-list arrivals wearing a sheer gown
Kate teamed her dress, which featured a plunging neckline and a pleated skirt, with an embellished velvet blazer and stacks of gold bangles
Meanwhile, Zoe put on a stylish display as she stepped out together for the show, sending pulses racing as she attended the fashion event wearing a black lace mini dress
She went braless for the event as she layered the high-neck garment with some black underwear
Zoe slicked her black tresses back into a chic bun as she accessorised with a pair of pearl dangly earrings.
Meanwhile, her rockstar father, 60, cut an edgy figure in a large black trench coat which featured exaggerated padded shoulders.
He layered the coat over a pair of flared trousers and a black and white pinstriped shirt, which featured a dramatic tie design around the collar.
To accessorise, he kept it simple with black leather boots and large black sunglasses.
Kate's daughter Lila, 21, followed closely behind her mother at the show, in a full lace bodysuit.
Lila embraced the lingerie theme in a plunging lace dress with exposed black underwear and platform heels.
Lenny layered his stylish coat over a pair of flared trousers and a black and white pinstriped shirt, which featured a dramatic tie design around the collar
To accessorise, he kept it simple with black leather boots and large black sunglasses
Kate's daughter Lila, 21, followed closely behind her mother at the show, in a full lace bodysuit
Lila embraced the lingerie theme in a plunging lace dress with exposed black underwear and platform heels
Their appearance comes shortly after Zoe's latest film Blink Twice was released on August 23.
In the black comedy psychological thriller film, Tatum whom she got engaged to in October 2023 after working with him on the movie and dating for two years stars as a tech billionaire named Slater King.
He meets a cocktail waitress named Frida (Naomi Ackie) at his fundraising gala and invites her to join him and his friends at his private island. However, it's there Frida discovers the dream vacation is not what it seems and she must uncover the mystery and find a way to escape.
Brooklyn Beckham and his wife Nicola Peltz kept it stylish as they arrived in the French capital for Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday.
The couple put on an animated display as the actress, 29, was seen laughing as she wowed in a black leather jacket and furry black scarf.
Completing the simple look with denim blue jeans, the star wore her dark brunette locks in an half up half down look as she kept stride with her husband.
Meanwhile it is an exciting time for Brooklyn, 25, who announced his latest cooking venture on Tuesday as he launched his new hot sauce business Cloud23.
Priced at a steep 27 a bottle, the aspiring chef has created two flavours, Hot Habanero and Sweet Jalapeno, as well as a range of clothing merchandise.
Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz put on an animated display as they arrived at Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday on the same day the aspiring chef launched his new hot sauce business
Meanwhile it is an exciting time for Brooklyn, 25, who announced his latest cooking venture on Tuesday as he launched his new hot sauce business Cloud23
And the aspiring chef made sure to promote the brand as he wore a black baseball cap from the collection adorned with the brand's logo of two cherubs.
He completed the look with a simple black top and faded charcoal trousers.
Nicola was left beaming with pride after the launch of Brooklyn's new brand as she took to her Instagram to praise her husband.
Unable to contain her pride she gushed: 'I cant believe today is the day, I am so beyond proud of you baby.
'Watching you bring cloud23 to life has been so special for me to witness. you have worked so hard on this and I'm so happy people get to finally try it
'Its available now exclusively at whole foods everywhere and c23.com'.
Smiling in the promo shots, Brooklyn kept it casual in a simple white long-sleeved top and sand coloured trousers.
Showing off his array of tattoos the star smouldered as he looked into the camera before also sharing a behind the scenes shot from the shoot.
The actress, 29, was seen laughing as she wowed in a black leather jacket and furry black scarf
The aspiring chef made sure to promote the brand as he wore a black baseball cap from the collection adorned with the brand's logo of two cherubs
The eldest of the Beckham clan took to Instagram on Tuesday to reveal the launch of his new hot sauce business Cloud23
Nicola couldn't contain her pride as she gushed: 'I cant believe today is the day, I am so beyond proud of you baby'
Introducing the product Brooklyn wrote: 'Introducing Cloud23: a hot sauce where innovation and tradition meet in perfect harmony.
'When we set out to create Cloud23, I wanted to share my passion for blending culinary exploration with the simple joy of making something delicious in the kitchen.
'This hot sauce is more than just a condimentits my invitation to you to celebrate every meal.
'With the finest organic ingredients, weve taken traditional flavors and given them a fresh twist to elevate your dishes beyond the plate.'
Back in June, Brooklyn showed off his culinary skills as he took part in a cooking demonstration at the Cannes Lions International Festival Of Creativity.
The aspiring chef took to the stage in Cannes alongside host Makho Ndlovu where he whipped up a gazpacho soup and ceviche soup with cod.
During the demo, Brooklyn also chatted about his personal life including his marriage to actress Nicola and how he is the one to do all the cooking.
Priced at a steep 27 a bottle, the aspiring chef has created two flavours, Hot Habanero and Sweet Jalapeno, as well as a range of clothing merchandise
Brooklyn looked fully focused in a behind the scenes shot from the promo campaign
Sharing a snap with a bottle of the delicious sauce, Nicola wrote: 'it's so good'
Asked how married life is, he replied: 'It's so important to find that one person you want to spend the rest of your life with. I married my best mate so it's the best.'
Brooklyn also confirmed he does all the cooking and cleaning at home, saying: 'My wife can't cook at all.'
The former model said he and Nicola are homebodies who generally prefer to 'dine in' rather than go out.
Discussing his passion for food, Brooklyn told how he was lucky to be exposed to a wide variety of cuisines while travelling with his father David as a child.
The pair are competitive with each other in the kitchen and have had cook-offs judged by Nicola and Brooklyn's mother Victoria.
He said: 'I love making spaghetti bolognese, that's my favourite. I love it al dente.
'Me and my dad have this thing where he thinks he makes the best spaghetti bolognese, we have competitions.'
Angry viewers have slammed The Block and accused the reality show of 'cultural appropriation.'
The accusations came after Tuesday's episode featured an art challenge that tasked the five teams with designing artwork for a surfboard to be displayed in their homes.
And it was Ricky and Haydn's 'Indigenous-style design' that drew the ire of many fans.
The pair explained that their design was inspired by a similar piece called Saltwater Dreamtime by Indigenous artist Zachary Bennett-Brook.
Sensing a potential backlash, Ricky said: 'I hope they're not offensive to the culture if it's that bad. But hopefully they'll see the inspiration that we've drawn from it.'
Judge Darren Palmer appeared speechless when he stood in front of the completed artwork.
'This is very orange and it's also got some tones of Indigenous art to it, so that's interesting,' Darren said.
Struggling to find words, he continued: 'Yeah it's a lot.'
Angry viewers have slammed The Block accusing the reality show and Channel Nine of 'cultural appropriation'
It appeared that viewers agreed with Darren's assessment with many taking to Instagram to voice their displeasure.
'I hope one of the boys is first nation. Otherwise you need to take this down and apologise,' one fan wrote.
Another slammed Channel Nine saying: 'Does channel 9 have anyone with cultural competency training on staff? How on earth did this go to air?'
Ricky and Haydn's 'Indigenous-style design' drew the ire of many fans
The pair explained that their design was inspired by a similar piece called Saltwater Dreamtime by Indigenous artist Zachary Bennett-Brook
Another fan chimed in with a similar sentiment adding that they were 'extremely disappointed' that no producers stepped in to educate the pair on cultural appropriation.'
'Extremely disappointing no one in production stepped to let Ricky and Haydn know that replicating Indigenous art is inappropriate and cultural appropriation,' they wrote.
Yet another augmented the feeling of many with: 'We've stolen their land and much more why do you feel the need to steal their culture and art too? Stop. This is culturally inappropriate.'
'I hope one of the boys is first nation. Otherwise you need to take this down and apologise,' one fan wrote on Instagram
Despite the backlash, some fans defended Ricky and Haydn's 'Indigenous-style design'.
'If you think about it, art is supposed to push boundaries, spark conversation and evoke feeling... with that in mind the boys win for sure! great work fellas,' one said.
'We're all bloody Aussies. Great job guys. I really like it personally, and Indigenous people should be flattered that the boys had them in mind,' another wrote.
A spokesperson for Nine told news.com.au that Ricky and Haydn had been guided by a 'traditional owner of the land' in the artwork's creation.
'Ricky and Haydn's surfboard is a piece inspired by First Nations artists. Ricky and Haydn reached out to a traditional owner of the land who guided them on the protocols around interpreting indigenous art,' the spokesperson said.
'The artwork was inspired by, but never intended to be a mimic of an original indigenous artwork.'
Phillip Schofield broke down in tears and said the scandal around his departure from This Morning 'destroyed' him as he released a trailer for his new TV survival show today.
The disgraced presenter has secretly filmed a special three part series for Channel 5, which required him to give up his home comforts for 10 days of soul-searching on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean, which he described as his 'story of survival'.
It will be the first time Schofield has been on TV since leaving the ITV's This Morning in May 2023 after admitting to having a relationship with a much younger male colleague.
The scandal, which dominated the headlines for months, led to the breakdown of his friendship with co-presenter Holly Willoughby and 'devastated' his wife Steph. The couple separated in 2020 when Phillip came out as gay but had remained close until his betrayal was revealed.
Billed as 'an authentic and intense physical and mental challenge' Channel 5 have confirmed that Phillip was 'left alone with only a handful of cameras to document his own experience.'
One clip from the show, released today, sees Schofield in tears telling the camera: 'I know what I did was unwise, but is it enough to completely destroy someone?'
But while Schofield may hope the move will allow him to reconnect with viewers, the show has already been met with disdain by the public and TV critics alike, with some it a 'disgrace' and branding the former presenter 'narcissistic'.
Phillip Schofield has broken his silence on his TV return. Posting on Instagram on Wednesday morning, the star shared photos promoting his Channel 5 show Cast Away
The presenter has secretly filmed Channel 5 special Cast Away, which required him to give up his home comforts for 10 days of soul-searching on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean
He told his followers: 'Now you know how I spent my Summer! Alone for 10 days, no food, no water, no crew'
The series will air across three nights from Monday September 30 to Wednesday October 2, in three 60 minute installments.
It follows Phillip as he is cast away for ten days and nine nights on a remote, unpopulated island off the coast of Madagascar.
Viewers will see the axed presenter reflect on the emotional impact of his exile from mainstream TV after news of his affair with a 20-year old runner on This Morning came to light.
It's understood that Schofield was given a handheld camera, body cameras and a sound pack before being left to record his emotional week-and-a-half long journey.
The TV comeback has been met with disdain by the public with one declaring: 'If this is designed to make people feel sorry for him, it will backfire massively. People were just starting to forget, and now they are raking it all up again.'
One said: 'Theres shameless. Totally shameless,' while another added: 'How tke [sic] f*** is Phillip Schofield getting a tv show? This is a disgrace.'
Scott Bryan added: 'Quite shocked by that Phillip Schofield show but then I remembered that this is Channel 5 so hardly not surprising.'
TalkTV presenter Renee Hoenderkamp branded the star as a 'narcissist', adding that she did not think he should be having anymore screen time. She said: 'Is this not a chance for a narcissist to just have more me time on screen? I don't want to know his story, I'm not interested in it.'
Schofield's predecessor on This Morning, Eamonn Holmes, reacted to news of the new show while live on GBNews.
When former Home Office Minister Norman Baker sarcastically remarked 'my heart bleeds', Holmes let out a chuckle in a very telling reaction to the news.
Phillip Schofield is returning to mainstream TV after signing up for a new show - 16-months after his departure from This Morning
The presenter has secretly filmed Channel 5 special Cast Away, in which he lives on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean for 10 days
The TV comeback has been met with disdain by the public
In a statement to promote the series Phil said: 'This is most definitely a first for me and the only thing I felt compelled to do.'
'It appealed to me on so many levels. I've recently had a lot of time to think about my life, what went right and what went wrong, but I've always had the safe arms of friends and family wrapped around me.'
'This time it's just me, no 'phone, no comforts, no crew and only lip balm as a luxury. I'm looking forward to exploring the island, trying to tie knots to secure my shelter and foraging and fending for myself in the wild with no help.'
'Maybe I'll be Robinson Crusoe, or maybe I'll just be Tom Hank's Wilson and quietly drift off into the wild blue yonder!!'
Channel 5 Commissioning Editor, Guy Davies, added: 'This isn't just a survival challenge, it's chance for Phillip to look back over the last explosive 18 months of his life, and explore what happened.'
'The audience will learn how he feels now about television and the future, as well as the past. And it will be Phillip Schofield as we have never seen him before unguarded, emotional and brutally honest'.
'This solitary island existence presents an opportunity for Phillip to confront the challenges of total isolation, the forces of nature and provides the time to battle within his own mind as he explores his own controversial story.'
While Phillip was alone on the island for ten days, the production team were stationed 30 minutes offshore, and were told only to intervene in the event of an extreme emergency.
Phillips mental health and physical safety were monitored as the experience progressed.
A source told The Sun: 'Over the past few months Phil has had quite a few offers for various things - but has steadfastly turned them all down.
'This sort of challenge has always appealed to him though and after consulting with friends and family, he decided to go for it. It's all been top secret, and has been an incredibly quick turnaround in order to keep the news quiet.
'After 42 years on telly, Phillip has learnt from some great crews and teams on how to film and tell a story.'
Schofield will discuss his acrimonious departure from ITV and daytime show This Morning while fending for himself on the island, located off the coast of Madagascar
Viewers will see the axed presenter discuss the emotional impact of his exile from mainstream
The source added: 'With 10 days to himself, no camera crews or production around, he shot some unbelievably raw footage - some of it makes for tough, emotional viewing.
'But he wanted a chance to share his story, unedited and honest, and let viewers see another side to him.
'Whilst this is a massive coup for Channel 5, and huge for Phillip, he's in no rush to come back to TV full-time yet; he remains very bruised, and is just taking some time now to weigh things up before he makes any major decisions.'
It was May 2023 when the presenter admitted to having a relationship with a much younger male colleague on This Morning, and later lying about it.
He described their romance as 'unwise but not illegal' and explained it took place during his nearly 30-year marriage to Stephanie Lowe, with whom he is a parent to two children.
Schofield subsequently resigned from both This Morning and ITV and said that he was 'so very sorry' to Lowe for being unfaithful.
At the time, it was reported that Steph had been left 'devastated' by the revelation and angry that her husband had lied to her.
However, it was later revealed she is choosing not to file for divorce because she does not want him to 'fall any further' then he already has, and despite everything, 'the love is still very much there.'
As well as the breakdown of his marriage, Schofield's relationship with co-host Holly Willoughby faltered in the midst of the scandal, with the pair understood to be at loggerheads.
Schofield's daughter Molly is now his publicist after she quit the talent agency that once represented her father.
The three-part series will air on Channel 5 from Monday evening and will be Schofield's first TV work since leaving This Morning under a cloud in 2023
It was May 2023 when the presenter admitted to having a relationship with a much younger male colleague on This Morning, and later lying about it (pictured with co-host Holly Willoughby)
PR guru Mark Borkowski says his tepid return to the public eye has come after a year away to disappear and get himself together.
Calling him a rare talent, Borkowski said: 'He's testing the waters. But audiences are very forgiving.'
Schofield told the BBC in an emotional interview last June the affair had finished his career and revealed that the fallout had left him feeling suicidal.
He told how his two daughters - Molly and Ruby - had saved his life and had 'guarded me and won't let me out of their sight'.
He admitted during the sit-down interview with Amol Rajan denied he had groomed the younger colleague, before telling critics: 'Do you want me to die? Because that's where I am.'
Schofield also insisted he had not 'groomed' his young lover, despite first meeting him when he was 15.
He said: 'Attraction is attraction. It's no different in the gay world as it is in the heterosexual world or in the lesbian world.
'There shouldn't be a difference. This is where homophobia comes in. We did first meet when he was 15, I visited the drama school [he attended].'
Schofield with his wife Stephanie Lowe and daughters Molly - who is now his publicist - and Ruby in London in 2018
He said the fallout from his admission that he lied about his affair with a younger male colleague had been 'relentless', revealing he has had suicidal thoughts.
Schofield said: 'My girls saved my life. They said last week they haven't left me for a moment. They've been by my side every moment because they're scared to let me out of their sight. What is that like for daughters to have to go with something like that?
'And they said to me, 'don't you dare do this on our watch. We're supposed to be looking after you'. If my girls hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here, because I don't see my future.'
Schofield also slammed 'a handful of people' with 'persistently loud voices' in a statement days after leaving This Morning - and rejected claims of a 'toxic' culture on the programme.
The daytime show was plunged into meltdown since revelations over Schofield's relationship with a much younger man at ITV emerged with the channel losing millions of pounds in sponsorship deals and some guests refusing to appear on the sofa.
But speaking out on social media in May 2023, Schofield hit out at those 'with a grudge against me'.
In a statement posted on his Instagram, the presenter said: 'Now I no longer work on This Morning I am free to say this. I hope you have noticed that it's the same handful of people with a grudge against me or the show who seem to have the loudest voice.
'This Morning IS the best show to work on, with the best people. In all the years I worked there there was no toxicity. You can listen to those persistently loud voices if you like.
'But the thousands of guests over the years, thousands of staff and crew, hundreds of presenters and contributors all know it, it IS a family of wonderful, talented, kind, hard, working people.'
Shamed TV presenter Schofield speaks to the BBC's media editor Amol Rajan about his affair
Bosses at ITV published the much anticipated review into the scandal and allegations of toxic working culture in December. It was conducted by an independent lawyer, Jane Mulcahy KC.
One employee told the Mail of their 'sheer bewilderment' that only one junior worker was aware of the relationship.
The report found that ITV did not cover-up the relationship and that station bosses had made 'considerable efforts' to discover the truth in 2019 four years before the affair broke.
The external review found that the channel was 'unable to uncover the relevant evidence' until Schofield's own admission in May 2023, when he told the Mail that he had been having the relationship and later lied about it.
ITV bosses have said both Schofield and his former lover, a runner who has never been named, 'repeatedly denied' allegations of a relationship until the star dramatically quit ITV and formally apologised.
It added that only one person out of 48 interviewed a junior employee said they knew about the presenter's relationship with a younger male former colleague before he revealed it in May.
Mulcahy revealed that Schofield refused to take part in the review into the circumstances surrounding the his departure because of 'the risk to his health'. She added that she was informed that the host's mental health had since deteriorated.
Schofield's former colleague and lover also declined to participate in the report.
However, staff at ITV have been left cross, accusing the report of being a 'waste of time'.
The findings did reveal that there was a culture of silence at the channel, saying that junior employees at ITV's This Morning still fear that speaking out will damage their careers in the industry.
Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystal put on a cosy display as they filmed a sweet dog walk scene in Essex for Strictly Come Dancing.
The TOWIE star, 36, and the pro dancer, 30, sparked romance rumours earlier this month when they were spotted together at the National Television Awards.
And on Tuesday, they kept putting their arms around one other as they took Pete's beloved pups for a walk.
In one sweet snap, the dance partners were all smiles and could hardly take their eyes off one another as they engaged in conversation.
It comes after it emerged they have a speciall code to communicate with one another.
Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystal put on a cosy display as they filmed a sweet dog walk scene in Essex for Strictly Come Dancing
The TOWIE star, 36, and the pro dancer, 30, sparked romance rumours earlier this month when they were spotted together at the National Television Awards
Jowita cut a stylish figure in a cropped beige trench coat and a slate grey top as she strolled alongside Pete.
She teamed the coat with a pair of dark blue flared denim jeans and sported a pair of black boots.
To complete her ensemble, the beauty wore a coffee-brown cowboy hat as she let her locks flow freely.
Meanwhile, her dance partner Pete sweetly matched her ensemble as he sported a cream cowboy hat.
He covered up from the cold in a yellow jacket and sported a smart white polo shirt.
The reality TV star completed his look with a pair of black denim jeans and smart brown suede shoes.
The star was also pictured puffing on a cigarette as they took a quick break from filming.
It comes after Pete and Jowita put on a passionate display last week as they got stuck into rehearsals for their first dance.
And on Tuesday, the pair couldn't keep their hands off each other as they took Pete's beloved pups for a walk
In one sweet snap, the dance partners were all smiles and could hardly take their eyes off one another as they engaged in conversation
They were also spotted with their arms wrapped around one another and continued to look close after filming had concluded
Jowita cut a stylish figure in a cropped beige trench coat and a slate grey top as she strolled ahead of Pete
She teamed the coat with a pair of dark blue flared denim jeans and sported a pair of black boots
To complete her ensemble, the beauty wore a coffee-brown cowboy hat as she let her locks flow freely
The couple, who were practising the Paso Doble to The Prodigy's Breathe, were spotted getting up close and personal with one another during the Latin dance.
The professional dancer was seen with her hand in Pete's hair before they later embraced during the session.
After performing the routine during Saturday's show, Pete looked gutted as the judges dished out a score of just 17, with Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke both showing their five paddles.
It comes before Vicky Pattison revealed that she has given Pete the unique task of being her 'flower girl' at her lavish Italian wedding this Wednesday. Which means the TOWIE star will be forced to miss crucial hours in the Strictly training room.
During Tuesday's instalment of Lorraine, Vicky appeared as a guest to discuss her upcoming nuptials, her struggles with PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder), and Pete's important role at her wedding.
Meanwhile, her dance partner Pete sweetly matched her ensemble as he sported a cream cowboy hat
He covered up from the cold in a yellow jacket and sported a smart white polo shirt
The reality TV star completed his look with a pair of black denim jeans and smart brown suede shoes
The star was also pictured puffing on a cigarette as they took a quick break from filming
In one snap, Jowita and Pete can be seen with their arms wrapped around one another again as a film crew member takes a sweet snap of them
Meanwhile, in another snap Pete beamed as Jowita went to place his matching hat on his head
Jowita seemed in high spirits as she bonded with Pete's beloved pups
The star looked slightly windswept as she larked about with the dogs in the field
Pete then took the reigns for a while as he was pictured strolling along with the happy pups
Later in the day, he opted for a quick outfit change. The star looked effortlessly cool in a black biker jacket and red jogging bottoms as he and Jowita strolled through a town centre
During last Saturday's first live show, Pete performed a sultry Paso Doble routine with Jowita and the energetic pair scored just 17 points
Strictly Come Dancing: Week One Scores 1. JB Gill and Amy Dowden - Waltz to When I Need You by Leo Sayer: 31 out of 40 2=. Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola - Quickstep to 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton: 30 out of 40 2=. Tasha Ghouri and Alja korjanec - Cha Cha to Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter: 30 out of 40 3=. Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe - Foxtrot to Is You Is or Is You Aint My Baby by Dinah Washington: 26 out of 40 3=. Wynne Evans and Katya Jones - Samba to Help Yourself by Tom Jones: 26 out of 40 4=. Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell - Cha Cha to Twist and Shout by The Beatles: 23 out of 40 4=. Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin - Foxtrot to Where Did Our Love Go by The Supremes: 23 out of 40 4=. Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas - Viennese Waltz to Beautiful Things by Benson Boone: 23 out of 40 4=. Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova - Tango to Golden by Harry Styles: 23 out of 40 5. Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu - Samba to Do I Do by Stevie Wonder: 21 out of 40 6. Punam Krishan and Gorka Marquez - Cha Cha to Love At First Sight by Kylie Minogue: 19 out of 40 7. Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk - Jive to We Built This City by Starship: 18 out of 40 8=. Paul Merson and Karen Hauer - American Smooth to Vindaloo by Fat Les: 17 out of 40 8=. Pete Wicks and Jowita Przysta - Paso Doble to Breathe by The Prodigy: 17 out of 40 9=. Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones - Tango to Ray Of Light by Madonna: 12 out of 40 Advertisement
The former Geordie Shore star, 36, hilariously revealed that Pete will 'embrace his role as flower girl' as he prepares to jet to Italy in the middle of his busy Strictly schedule.
She told Lorraine Kelly: 'Pete is embracing his role of flower girl. Hes going to arrive tonight and I have no doubt going to show us some fantastic moves as he walks down that aisle.'
She added: 'When we found out he had the Strictly gig we'd already planned him coming to the wedding so he's flying in and out very fast.'
'Hes a really good friend so this has been conflicting for him.'
The lavish event in Puglia will be packed with celebrities, including TOWIE's Ferne McCann and Mario Falcone, and even Bake Off's Candice Brown among the 120 guests.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson proved he really could be the next James Bond after he shared hunky beach snaps reminiscent of Daniel Craig in the film Casino Royale.
The Kick Ass star, 34, took to Instagram on Tuesday to document a recent loved-up trip with director Sam, 57.
But as he flaunted his gym-honed torso while posing by the ocean, he looked eerily similar to those iconic images of Bond actor Daniel, 56, back in 2006 - amid reports Aaron has been offered to take over the role.
Fans of the English star will remember the scene from the movie where a very-buff-looking Daniel emerges from the sea in the Bahamas.
And as Aaron puffed away on a cigarette and enjoyed the sea views while on holiday with his love, his fit physique exuded the energy of Daniel's in the motion picture.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson proved he really could be the next James Bond after he shared hunky beach snaps reminiscent of Daniel Craig in the film Casino Royale on Instagram on Tuesday
Aaron simply penned in the caption: 'Little get away', along with some pink love heart emojis.
The snaps come after reports Aaron has been offered to play the new James Bond - taking over from Daniel.
The Sun reported the British actor had been 'formally offered the opportunity to play James Bond', putting an end to months of speculation regarding Daniel Craig 's successor.
But insiders denied reports that he has been cast as the new Bond in the 007 movies, leaving speculation to swirl.
Responding to the rumours he could step into Bond's shoes last week, Aaron played coy, telling Numero: 'I find it charming and wonderful that people see me in that role. I take it as a great compliment.'
A poll commissioned by Lottoland carried out among 2,000 British Bond fans, saw Luther star Idris Elba top the list of stars they'd like to see take over.
Meanwhile Tom Hardy, Henry Cavill and the Oscar-winning man with the golden gong, Cillian Murphy, also featured on the 20-strong list.
The long-running Bond franchise is famous for turning those who play the secret agent into global superstars.
Fans of the English star will remember the scene from the movie where a very-buff-looking Daniel emerges from the sea in the Bahamas - and as Aaron puffed away on a cigarette and enjoyed the sea views while on holiday with his love, his fit physique exuded the energy of Daniel's in the motion picture
Aaron simply penned in the caption: 'Little get away', along with some pink love heart emojis
The snaps come after reports Aaron (Pictured in August) has been offered to play the new James Bond - taking over from Daniel
And it isn't shy of casting left-field stars to take on the role; the late Sean Connery, one of the most recognisable Bonds, had only featured in a series of TV films when he accepted the role of the titular British spy in 1962's Dr. No, catapulting him to international fame.
But while Idris was the top choice, fans may end up disappointed after the actor ruled himself out of playing the role last year so he could focus on his deal with Netflix, where he is starring in Luther: The Fallen Sun.
The actor brought up the persistent discussions about him taking over as Ian Fleming's famed British spy in February 2023.
He had been the bookies' favourite to replace Daniel, as the super spy, but is keen to pursue other roles - and has even put forward a list of proposed names to producer Barbara Broccoli of actors to play 007.
Aaron began acting as a child and has seen his career go from strength to strength, with three huge film appearance this year alone.
He has previously been nominated for two BAFTAs and previously won Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes for Nocturnal Animals.
A recent poll commissioned by Lottoland carried out among 2,000 British Bond fans, saw Luther star Idris Elba top the list of favourites to take over (Daniel as Bond in 2006)
His biggest upcoming role will see him rejoin the superhero universe, as he will be playing the titular role in Kraven the Hunter, the fifth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe - which lands in cinemas on December 13.
It is the first time Sony Pictures has restricted a Marvel feature to only fans aged over 18 and, as attendee Rob Keyes tweeted, it's because Aaron's titular character bit the flesh off a poacher and spat it out in the sneak peek.
Marvel did previously release the R-rated Logan and Deadpool movies, but Sony always rated their prior Marvel movies (Tom Holland-led Spidey flicks, Venom, and Morbius) PG-13.
Aaron beat out Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, John David Washington and Adam Driver for the multi-picture role of the fur-wearing, big-game hunter and Russian conservationist Sergei Kravinoff.
Katy Perry fever has officially hit Melbourne with the US pop star touching down ahead of her anticipated set at this weekend's AFL Grand Final.
And the Teenage Dream hitmaker gave fans a special treat with an impromptu meet and greet on Wednesday.
Katy, 39, looked stunning in a form fitting ankle-length black dress from Parisian designer Coperni as she posed with fans outside Channel Ten studios ahead of her interview on The Project.
The stretch dress featured a high turtleneck and gave off futuristic vibes thanks to circular silver embellishments.
The stunning dress clung to Katy, showing off the pop star's enviable form.
She finished her ensemble with a pair of simple black pointed heels.
Wearing her raven locks tied back for the occasion, Katy accessorised with some silver ear bling.
She finished her look with a light rose blush and a matching shade for her lip.
Katy Perry fever has officially hit Melbourne with the US pop star touching down ahead of her anticipated set at this weekend's AFL Grand Final
The Teenage Dream hitmaker gave fans a special treat with an impromptu meet and greet on Wednesday
Hundreds of fans waited patiently to snap a selfie with the pop idol, and Katy was only too happy to oblige.
Looking totally in her element, Katy happily hammed it up with fans as she posed for numerous shots.
She seemed genuinely chuffed to be in the company of so many adoring fans, beaming broadly as she got up-close-and-personal.
Katy looked stunning in a form fitting ankle-length black dress from Parisian designer Coperni
The stretch dress featured a high turtleneck and gave off futuristic vibes thanks to circular silver embellishments
The stunning dress clung to Katy, showing off the pop star's enviable form
While there were plenty of fans clambering to get some time with their pop idol, there was one in particular that caught Katy's eye.
One superfan brought their pooch along for the meet and greet and the cute-as-a-button pooch was decked out in an outfit that proclaimed 'I Love Katy Perry'
The sentiment was not lost on the Roar songstress who took time out meeting with her human fans to give the puppy some special attention.
She even went in to give the super-fan pooch a kiss before gratefully signing the doggies outfit.
She finished her ensemble with a pair of simple, black pointed heels
Hundreds of fans waited patiently to snap a selfie with the pop idol, and Katy was only too happy to oblige
Looking totally in her element, Katy happily hammed it up with fans as she posed for numerous shots
It appears that Katy Perry and the AFL have butted heads over the songs the US pop star will be singing at the upcoming Grand Final in Melbourne.
The hitmaker was announced as the headline pre-game act for next weekend's clash back in July.
Appearing on SEN Breakfast on Monday, veteran AFL journalist said Tom Morris claimed that Katy's team had pushed back against an AFL request that the Teenage Dream hitmaker perform just one new song.
While there were plenty of fans clambering to get some time with their pop idol, there was one in particular that caught Katy's eye
One superfan brought their pooch along for the meet and greet and the cute-as-a-button pooch was decked out in an outfit that proclaimed 'I Love Katy Perry'
The sentiment was not lost on the Roar songstress who took time out meeting with her human fans to give the puppy some special attention
'She's playing about five songs and the AFL was very keen for her to play five classic tunes, she wanted to play two new ones,' he said.
Tom added that both camps had reached a compromise with Katy reportedly agreeing to just one new track.
'In the end they met halfway and she's playing one new song and four classics,' he said.
Co-host and AFL great Kane Cornes, admitting he was a Katy Perry fan, added that the AFL should have a say in the planning of the blockbuster stadium show.
'The AFL are saying: "We only want your hits. We only want your bangers. We only want your best stuff"' he said.
She even went in to give the super-fan pooch a kiss before gratefully signing the doggies outfit
She seemed genuinely chuffed to be in the company of so many adoring fans, beaming broadly as she got up-close-and-personal
'We want Roar, We want Teenage Dream, we want Firework. They want all the songs we know and love. And she's pushed back and said, "No, no I want to play two of my new songs."
He added: 'You know when you go to a concert and maybe they're old and all you want is their good stuff. You just want their greatest hits.
'That's what the AFL have requested with Katy Perry. And she's gone: "clearly, I want to promote some of my new music.'''
Katy released her latest album 143 last week, which contains the controversial first single Woman's World and follow up Lifetimes.
Katy is due to perform at this weekend's AFL Grand Final between the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions
The Beckhams have taken over Paris as Victoria prepares to launch her Spring/Summer 2025 collection during Fashion Week.
The designer's eldest son Brooklyn, 25, and his wife Nicola Peltz have flown in to enjoy the festivities of Fashion Week before Victoria's show on Friday, and were seen arriving at the Courreges show on Wednesday morning.
Brooklyn channeled his dad David Beckham's infamous leather look, rocking a Courreges jacket and matching trousers.
David's 1999 leather look has gone down in fashion history, with Victoria later admitting that the couple's decision to sport matching Gucci still 'haunts me'.
Brooklyn Beckham and his wife Nicola Peltz were seen arriving at the Courreges show in Paris on Wednesday morning. Brooklyn channeled his dad David Beckham's infamous leather look
Brooklyn rocked a Courreges jacket and matching trousers and boots for the PFW show
Nicola meanwhile was looking chic in a strapless white jumpsuit with sheer details on the side for the Wednesday show.
The actress went braless, almost baring all, whilst she completed her look with platform heels.
The couple arrived in Paris on Tuesday while Victoria was busy with her preparations on Monday, making her arrival in the French capital with son Romeo, 22.
Romeo cut a stylish figure in a black leather Rhude X Lamborghini jacket on Tuesday night as he was pictured out and about in the city.
While Brooklyn channelled David, Romeo appears to have taken inspiration from his mother's stylish 2001 wardrobe as she previously stepped out in a similar style Dolce & Gabbana leather jacket.
The motocross jacket worn by Victoria originally cost 965, however, they are now being snapped up second-hand for 7,800 on one pre-loved site.
The jacket proved incredibly popular at the time with stars including Naomi Campbell, Madonna and Jennifer Saunders being spotted in it.
Earlier this year, Nicola Peltz, 29, also paid homage to her mother-in-law as she stepped out in the exact same leather jacket.
David's 1999 leather look has gone down in fashion history, with Victoria later admitting that the couple's decision to sport matching Gucci still 'haunts me'
Nicola meanwhile was looking chic in a strapless white jumpsuit with sheer details on the side
The couple have flown in to enjoy the festivities of Fashion Week before Brooklyn's mum Victoria's show on Friday
Whilst her sons partied, designer Victoria was seen arriving back at her city centre hotel late on Tuesday after a busy day of fittings.
Fashion queen Victoria dressed down for her day at work, teaming loose-fit jeans with her own branded t-shirt as she was escorted back to her hotel by her security team.
Victoria spent her day at work with best friend Eva Longoria, sharing a sweet photo taken at a fitting as she prepares for her Friday show.
Nicola shared a snap of the couple sitting front row for the runway presentation
The couple were swarmed by fans as they left the show with Nicola gripping her husband's arm
Brooklyn flashed a thumbs up as he showed off his distinctive look
Nicola flashed a look at her 800 Courreges Holy Logo Plaque shoulderbag
She bared some skin in the rainy Paris weather in her risque top
Juliette Binoche looked stunning in her head-to-toe black look as she sheltered from the rain outside the show
French model and actress Laetitia Casta had a big smile despite the downpours
The long-time friends cuddled up close for the photo, which was taken in front of a poster of a Victoria Beckham marketing campaign.
Victoria captioned the Story: 'Someone special just arrived for her fitting. Love you @evalongoria.'
Paris Fashion Week runs from September 23 to October 1, with a string of major designers choosing the City of Light to showcase their next collections.
L'Oreal kicked things off on Monday with a star-studded runway featuring the likes of Kendall Jenner, Heidi Klum, Eva Longoria and Cara Delevingne.
Tuesday saw Dior welcomed Anya Taylor-Joy and Rosamund Pike to the FROW before Saint Laurent was the highlight of the evening calendar.
Romeo Beckham cut a stylish figure in a black leather Rhude X Lamborghini jacket on Tuesday as he was pictured out and about in the city
Whilst her sons partied, designer Victoria was seen arriving back at her city centre hotel late on Tuesday after a busy day of fittings
Victoria spent her day at work with best friend Eva Longoria , sharing a sweet photo taken at a fitting as she prepares for her Friday show
The third day offers up Courreges and Mugler presentationas while Thursday will see the spotlight on Hermes and Giambattista Valli.
Friday will see Victoria supported by her a-list friends as she unveils her next ready-to-wear looks, with Rick Owens and Balenciaga also showcasing collections that day.
Valentino and Stella McCartney will also be hot tickets before French fashion house Louis Vuitton closes the week with its glitzy show.
She recently revealed her relationship with Evan Campbell was over after he dumped her earlier this month.
However Lottie Moss appeared to be showing her ex boyfriend just what she was missing as she posed up a storm on her Instagram Story on Tuesday.
The model, 26, flaunted her toned abs in a skimpy white bikini top as she took a selfie video while heading to the airport.
After a cheeky Ibiza getaway to end the summer, the star appeared in great spirits as she paired the swimwear with ripped faded grey jeans and black boots.
Wheeling her suitcase and completing the look with a black pair of stylish sunglasses she captioned the short video: 'Cya later Ibizaaaa'.
Lottie Moss showed her ex boyfriend what he is missing as she flaunted her toned abs in skimpy white bikini top after cheeky Ibiza getaway on Tuesday
Wheeling her suitcase and completing the look with a black pair of stylish sunglasses she captioned the short video: 'Cya later Ibizaaaa'
After a weekend of partying on the Balearic Island, Lottie's snaps come after she revealed she threw a bouquet of flowers in the bin from her ex-boyfriend Evan earlier this month.
The star went public with the musician in June, but revealed in a recent tweet that she had been dumped.
A day later, Lottie looked unimpressed as she chucked flowers from Evan in a black bin bag in a clip she shared to TikTok.
She wrote on the video: 'Throwing away the last thing reminding you of him hits different'
Lottie - who recently called an end to her three-year feud with elder sister Kate Moss - previously shared on X, formerly Twitter: 'Just got dumped so I guess its feral fall'.
She added on her Instagram Story: 'If you're a straight man pls don't speak to me for the foreseeable future thanks.'
Lottie also shared that she'd been sent a gift box from Tinder , revealing: 'it's a first date kit which is great because I'm newly single.'
Prior to her romance with Evan, Lottie enjoyed a fling with Love Island star Adam Collard after they met while filming Celebs Go Dating.
After a weekend of partying on the Balearic Island, Lottie's snaps come after she revealed she threw a bouquet of flowers in the bin from her ex-boyfriend Evan earlier this month
Lottie - who recently called an end to her three-year feud with elder sister Kate Moss - shared on X, formerly Twitter: 'Just got dumped so I guess its feral fall'
A day later, Lottie looked unimpressed as she chucked flowers from Evan in a black bin bag in a clip she shared to TikTok
Lottie added on her Instagram Story: 'If you're a straight man pls don't speak to me for the foreseeable future thanks'
The pair had been seeing where their relationship goes since it started blossoming on the show.
But after spending three nights in bed together, Lottie seemed to have developed a lot more feelings than he did.
During an awkward brunch which saw Adam's previous date arrive, she revealed that he said to her 'things are nothing more than physical with Lottie'.
In disgust, Lottie was left fuming after hearing what Adam had said seeing as they spent night's together as well as calling each other 'every single day'.
Adam was then asked to pick who he wanted to take on another date between Jasmine, Autumn and Lottie during the tense brunch.
Before her romance with Adam, Lottie dated The Vamps drummer Tristan Evans in 2021. The pair were first spotted out together in July 2021 but by November they had decided to part ways.
In August 2020, it was reported that Lottie had enjoyed a date with TV and radio presenter Roman Kemp at a private members' club and shared a kiss at the end of the night.
A source told The Sun On Sunday: 'They have known each other through the party circuit for a few years, but nothing has ever happened before.
'Roman's always thought she was beautiful and decided to pluck up the courage to ask her out. They had a really fun, very tipsy date and have been in touch every day since.'
Lottie was said to have enjoyed a 'secret fling' with Brooklyn Beckham before his relationship with Hana Cross, who he split from in 2019.
News of their alleged fling came to light that November, with a source telling The Sun on Sunday that Brooklyn's parents David and Victoria Beckham were 'less than impressed' after finding out.
Some of Lottie's earliest relationships were with former Made In Chelsea stars Alex Mytton and Sam Prince.
While Evan may have cut things off with Lottie, she has rekindled another relationship - her bond with half sister Kate.
It comes just hours after Lottie was rushed to hospital after she took high doses of Ozempic given to her by a friend who bought it under the counter from a doctor.
The model, 26, was violently ill, suffering a seizure and severe dehydration after taking the drug when she weighed around 60kg - just 9stone.
She said she would rather 'die' than use Ozempic again - which is meant to treat the obese or diabetics and has suffered global shortages.
Her sister is supermodel Kate Moss, 50, who was poster girl for 'heroin chic' in the 1990s due to her slim frame and once famously declared, 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels'.
Prior to her romance with Evan, Lottie enjoyed a fling with Love Island star Adam Collard after they met while filming Celebs Go Dating
Before Adam, Lottie dated The Vamps drummer Tristan Evans in 2021 (pictured August 2021)
In August 2020, it was reported that Lottie had enjoyed a date with TV and radio presenter Roman Kemp at a private members' club (pictured in May 2024)
Lottie recalled having the seizure, which was caused by severe dehydration, and said her face and hands clenching up was one of the 'scariest' experiences she has ever endured.
She said there were, 'small things I wish I'd known before taking it' and revealed her weight plummeted to around 53kg in a few weeks.
After being seen by medical professionals, Lottie learned the dosage of Ozempic she was injecting into her leg should be prescribed to someone weighing at least 100 kilos - nearly double her size.
Lottie explained: 'A few months ago, I was not feeling happy about my weight, I had a friend, and she could get it for me.
'It was below board, from a doctor, but it wasn't like you go into a doctor's office and he prescribes it for you, takes your blood pressure, and takes tests, which is what you need when you go on something like Ozempic.
'At the end of the day it is a medication, it is dangerous and really meant for weight loss of people of a very large size.
'When I was taking it, the amount that I was taking was meant for people who are 100 kilos and over and I'm in the 50s range.
'It's these small things I wish I'd known before taking it. But I took it, you inject it into your leg, and it was the worst decision I ever made.
'This is a warning to everyone. Please, if you're thinking of taking it, do not take it, it's so not worth it.'
The OnlyFans star described the severe side effects she suffered as a result of taking the drug such as vomiting, losing the colour in her face, and dramatically dropping in weight.
Speaking on her podcast Dream On, Lottie said she weighed approximately 60 kilos before she dropped to 57 following her first dose and was 53 kilos at her lowest, which is just over eight stone.
Last week, Lottie and Kate revealed their three-year feud was over this week when they posed for sweet snaps together at their father's birthday bash alongside Kate's daughter Lila.
The model had a seizure during an emergency trip to the hospital after she took a high dosage of the weight loss drug for two weeks, causing her to be violently ill
It was a pivotal moment for the pair who have not been pictured together in years, with Lottie previously claiming Kate 'doesn't even reply to my texts', despite once being so close that Lottie was a bridesmaid at Kate's wedding and even moved into her sister's Cotswolds mansion during the Covid pandemic.
However, tensions soon grew over Lottie's wild ways that saw her regularly taking drugs five times a week, which was a huge red flag to Kate.
Kate's love of boozing, which reportedly extended to flutes of prosecco at 8am and glasses of wine and vodka at lunch, saw friends coin her the nickname 'The Tank', but in recent years she's embraced yoga, wellness and quiet nights in.
Their lifestyle clash came to a head between the pair during lockdown, when Kate invited Lottie to stay at her Cotswolds mansion.
An insider told Page Six: 'Kate was frustrated because Lottie kept on wanting to drink and posting sexually provocative stuff on Instagram all the time.
'It isn't easy for Kate to be around people who are drinking, and she definitely won't be around anyone who is using cocaine.'
Kate was famously dubbed 'Cocaine Kate' when she was photographed snorting the substance in 2005 , while dating Pete Doherty , who has made no secret of his own past drug use and addiction to heroin.
When Lottie finally departed the Vogue cover star's home 'in a foul mood', she reportedly left behind two bottles of her sister's favourite bottle of wine which was interpreted as a 'f*** you' gesture.
Despite public perception that her famous older sister must have boosted her career, Lottie later insisted the opposite was true.
Yet according to a family member, the pair did once share a bond , which cooled along with Lottie's public proclamations about their relationship.
There was a time when they were a lot closer,' they told MailOnline.
But they insisted they dont want to talk about the sisters feelings for each other in public - but should address any issues privately within the family.
Lottie was said to have enjoyed a 'secret fling' with Brooklyn Beckham before his relationship with Hana Cross, who he split from in 2019 (pictured in May 2024)
Lottie and Kate Moss revealed their three-year feud was over last week when they posed for sweet snaps together at their father's birthday bash alongside Kate's daughter Lila (centre)
Then, there was the controversial launch of her X-rated OnlyFans career, where she stripped naked for the subscription service, leaving behind her career in high fashion.
Lottie was swiftly removed from the Storm modelling agency website, with her admitting her family 'was in turmoil over it'.
A family source claimed at the time, even Kate's daughter Lila, 21, 'wouldn't have anything to do with Lottie' due to her antics with the wrong crowd.
In early 2022, Lottie ended up in rehab after moving to America and she later revealed she had a 'very bad' cocaine addiction and used alcohol to mask her depression .
The OnlyFans star's mother Inger and her best friend staged an intervention and encouraged Lottie to seek help for substance abuse issues at the rehab centre in Arizona.
Party-goers in a Las Vegas karaoke bar got the surprise of their lives when they were serenaded by a music superstar.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin decided to surprise revellers on Saturday night, rocking up to Dino's bar in disguise.
The musician was unrecognisable in an oversized brown suit teamed with a yellow shirt and blue tie. He added a red-haired wig and glasses to complete his look.
Chris, who was in Vegas for the iHeartRadio Festival, had the bar crowd cheering as he belted out a rendition of Coldplay's unreleased track All My Love.
Revellers soon started to recognise the star's distinctive voice before he ended the performance by whipping off his wig.
Party-goers in a Las Vegas karaoke bar got the surprise of their lives when they were serenaded by a music superstar
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin decided to surprise revellers on Saturday night, rocking up to Dino's karaoke bar in disguise
The star was reportedly filming part of a new music video in the bar.
Dino's Las Vegas took to Instagram to talk about their Chris Martin visit, posting:
'Thank you Chris Martin for choosing us to record your music video with. Such a viral moment. Biggest surprise of the year. Thank you again for being such a cool dude. Good luck on the new album & we hope to see you in the future.'
All My Love is thought to be the next single off Coldplay's upcoming album Moon Music. The band's 10th studio album is set to be released on October 4.
The Vegas surprise comes just four weeks after Coldplay fans packed into one of Dublin's busiest streets to catch a surprise appearance by the band.
Social media went wild with speculation a major act would be playing an unannounced gig after shoppers saw camera crews arrive at Grafton Street on Wednesday.
Fans from all over the capital wedged into the shopping thoroughfare ahead of the predicted 8pm start time.
Chris, accompanied by rapper Burna Boy, walked into Grafton Street shortly after 8pm amid heightened security and an increased presence of the Irish police.
The musician was unrecognisable in an oversized brown suit teamed with a yellow shirt and blue tie. He added a red-haired wig and glasses to the look
The Vegas surprise comes just four weeks after Coldplay fans packed into one of Dublin's busiest streets to catch a surprise appearance by the band
After a rumour spread a major act would be playing an unannounced gig on Grafton Street, fans from all over the capital wedged into the shopping thoroughfare
They were met with cheers and applause as the upstairs windows of various shops were opened to reveal several professional cameras filming the action below
They were met with cheers and applause as the upstairs windows of various shops were opened to reveal several professional cameras filming the action below.
Martin and Burna Boy were joined by Little Simz, Elyanna and TINI for the first public performance of We Pray involving all the artists.
They performed the same song several times as fans took videos on mobile phones and sang along.
The short session was part of a music video to debut on the band's official TikTok channel.
Some people in the large crowd were disappointed that they were too far away to hear properly.
Niamh Burke, a teacher from Tipperary, said she did not know why the same song had been played over and over but added: 'I enjoyed it. It was a thrill to see them in person.'
Amanda Holden looked stunning in a white dress and leather jacket as she joined fellow radio host Ashley Roberts while departing Global Radio studios on Wednesday.
The BGT judge, 53, turned the streets of central London into her own catwalk sporting a chic maxi dress which featured an attached belt.
The presenter gave an edgy touch adding a stylish cropped black leather jacket, matching a quilted shoulder bag to carry the essentials.
Amanda looked typically radiant as she beamed happily on her way out, adding elegant black stilettos and animal print shades.
Elsewhere Ashley, 43, nailed a head-turning street style as she donned a fitting black long-sleeve T-shirt teamed with vibrant red oversized trousers, flashing black stilettos underneath.
Amanda Holden (pictured) looked stunning in a white dress and leather jacket as she joined fellow radio host Ashley Roberts while departing Global Radio studios on Wednesday
The BGT judge, 53, turned the streets of central London into her own catwalk sporting a chic maxi dress which featured an attached belt
The former Pussycat Doll exuded confidence and accessorised with a black mini handbag and squared shades.
It comes after last week Amanda showed off the new puppy she has adopted following the departure of daughter Lexi to university on Heart FM.
The TV and radio personality first announced her family was gaining a new member during her show.
Over the previous 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.
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.
The presenter gave an edgy touch adding a stylish cropped black leather jacket
She matched a quilted shoulder bag to carry the essentials
Amanda looked typically radiant as she beamed happily on her way out, adding elegant black stilettos and animal print shades
Elsewhere Ashley, 43, nailed a head-turning street style as she donned a fitting black long-sleeve T-shirt teamed with vibrant red oversized trousers, flashing black stilettos underneath
It comes after last week Amanda showed off the new puppy she has adopted following the departure of daughter Lexi to university on Heart FM
Earlier this month, Amanda had bid an emotional farewell to her eldest daughter Lexi, 18, who was headed off to begin her first year
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.
Molly-Mae Hague shared a glimpse of her wholesome day out with daughter Bambi on Instagram on Wednesday morning as she returned home after attending Paris Fashion Week.
After her fashionable trip to Paris the former Love Island star, 25, was also spotted at her office, ready to continue work on her fashion brand Maebe, which launches online on September 29.
She cut a stylish figure for her busy day in a bomber jacket and white T-shirt which she teamed with a pair of black wide legged jeans and UGGs.
Molly headed to The Hollies Farm Shop in Cheshire to pick up some groceries and Halloween items before her day at work.
Ahead of the outing, Molly posed for a sweet mirror selfie while holding her little girl, 20-months, who she shares with ex fiance Tommy Fury.
Molly-Mae Hague shared a glimpse of her wholesome day out with daughter Bambi on Instagram on Wednesday morning as she returned home after attending Paris Fashion Week
Ahead of the outing, Molly posed for a sweet mirror selfie while holding her little girl, 20-months, who she shares with ex fiance Tommy Fury
The influencer styled her long blonde tresses in a neat half up do as she held hands with Bambi as they walked from the car park into the shop.
Molly dressed Bambi in an adorable navy bomber jacket which she teamed with blue jeans and white trainers.
Inside the shop, the toddler was in good spirits as she played in the Halloween section and tried on a giant spider headband.
Molly also snapped a picture of her shopping trolley, which included a number of pumpkin themed items, baked pies and a watermelon, as Bambi sat in the seat.
She was also joined on the outing by pal and Manchester United ace Luke Shaw's girlfriend Anouska Santos, 33, as she shared a snap of the pair picking up a number of coffees.
Mother-of-three Anouska cut a casual figure for the outing in a brown ribbed sweatshirt and matching wide legged tracksuit bottoms.
It comes after Molly mingled with fashion A-listers at Paris Fashion Week on Monday as she attended the star-studded L'Oreal show after launching own clothing brand.
The mother-of-one looked sensational in a dramatic fitted red gown which boasted a draping sleeve detailing and long skirt.
She added inches to her frame in a pair of towering pointed toe heels and toted her belongings around in a matching red 8,850 Chanel handbag.
After her fashionable trip to Paris the former Love Island star, 25, was also spotted at her office, ready to continue work on her fashion brand Maebe, which launches online on September 29
She cut a stylish figure for her busy day in a bomber jacket and white T-shirt which she teamed with a pair of black wide legged jeans and UGGs
She was spotted climbing into her Mercedes-AMG G Wagon after stopping by her office
The doting mum shared sweet photos of Bambi sporting a spider headband as they browsed the shop
The influencer styled her long blonde tresses in a neat half up do as she held hands with Bambi as they walked from the car park into the shop
Molly also snapped a picture of her shopping trolley, which included a number of pumpkin themed items, baked pies and a watermelon, as Bambi sat in the seat
Inside the shop, the toddler was in good spirits as she played in the Halloween section and tried on a giant spider headband, Molly wrote: 'I think you've got something on your head x'
She was also joined on the outing by pal and Manchester United ace Luke Shaw 's girlfriend Anouska Santos, 33, as she shared a snap of the pair picking up a number of coffees
Molly shares daughter Bambi, who was born in January 2023, with ex Tommy Fury
The outing comes after Molly looked sensational in a dramatic red gown on Monday as she attended the star-studded L'Oreal show during Paris Fashion Week
Earlier in the day, Molly was all smiles as she posed backstage at the show wearing a stylish brown suede jacket with a white top and black wide legged jeans.
Styling her long blonde tresses loose, the former reality star toted her belongings in a small 5,270 Chanel crossbody handbag.
During the evening, Molly sat front row outside Opera National de Paris to watch the likes of supermodels Kendall Jenner, Heidi Klum, Cara Delevingne and actress Eva Longoria take to the runway.
It comes after Molly said she is looking forward to a 'new era' in her life following her split from fiance Tommy Fury.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline for the first time since the shock break-up in August, the influencer says she feels 'emotional' but is channelling all her energy into the couple's one-year-old daughter, Bambi, and her new clothing line Maebe, which she launched this week.
Molly admitted while her life looks picture-perfect, the past six months have been a juggling act and she has found parenting as well as running her existing businesses 'tricky.'
But navigating the launch of her fashion label alongside the end of her five-year relationship has given Molly the chance to focus on the next chapter as she admits: 'It was really good timing for this to happen for me. It has all just aligned perfectly.'
It has been five years since she and Tommy fell head over heels for each other on national TV, but Molly says she doesn't recognise the 19-year-old who strutted into the villa and the creation of Maebe has given her a newfound confidence.
Molly told MailOnline: 'When I became a mum, I changed a lot as a person and different things became important to me in terms of fashion, it was the right time to launch Maebe. I was really ready to sink my teeth into something new.
The influencer showed off her amazing figure in the fitted long sleeved number which boasted a draping sleeve detailing
During the evening, Molly sat front row outside Opera National de Paris to watch the likes of supermodels Kendall Jenner, (L) Heidi Klum, Cara Delevingne (R) take to the runway
It comes after Molly entered the fashion world herself as she launched her own clothing brand Maebe last week
'I have a really good feeling about this new era of my life and think it's going to be so special and a great thing for me to focus on and put my time into as well as being a mum to Bambi.
'It was really good timing for this to happen for me. It has all just aligned perfectly really. I am so excited about it... I really do have an amazing feeling about the brand. I see Maebe having a huge future.
'I know if I make the right steps with it and I do this well, I do genuinely see it becoming really huge and being one of those brands that everybody knows and that's my dream and my goal.'
The launch of Molly's brand has been three years in the making after her plans were put on hold following the birth of Bambi in January 2023.
On Saturday, she opened her first ever pop-up shop where fans could experience the clothing before the 12-item drop goes on sale next Sunday evening at 7pm.
It is a landmark moment in Molly's career after she spent years lending her name to brands such as Beauty Works and PrettyLittleThing, where she even stepped up as creative director in 2021.
On Saturday, Molly opened her first ever pop-up shop where fans could experience the clothing before the 12-item drop goes on sale next Sunday evening at 7pm
Molly said she is looking forward to a 'new era' in her life following her split from fiance Tommy and told MailOnline she feels 'emotional' but is channelling all her energy into the couple's daughter, Bambi and Maebe
She said: 'I do feel emotional, but I am so focused.
'I feel so empowered. The whole experience of building the brand has been so empowering for me. It has given me a lot of confidence and taught me to be more of a businesswoman.
'I can say how I actually feel and speak up. I have always been a soft person and go with the flow, if I don't like something I can usually be quite withdrawn.
'I have grown up and it's given me the chance to be focused and driven. I have more confidence now to say how I feel. I am in my yes era.'
Molly's transition from Love Island star, which saw her experiment with lip and face filler, to one of the UK's biggest influencers, has been rapid.
Indeed, her eight million Instagram followers combined with her two million subscribers on YouTube has in part enabled her to buy a Cheshire mansion and own a designer wardrobe complete with 25,000 Birkin bag and a collection of Chanel pieces.
Nick Frost revealedhe had a 'very stressful' time last weekend as his hotel room in Austin, Texas got completely flooded.
The actor, 52, who was in the city for the 2024 Fantastic Fest, shared a video of the damage that had been done to his hotel room with his Instagram followers on Wednesday.
Showing the front area of his hotel room, Nick said: 'So I literally was just on the bed. Got off the bed to come and put my shoes on and my room is under several inches of water.'
He then proceeded to open the door to his hotel room to show his followers the extent of the damage.
Revealing the entire corridor of the hotel was filled with water, Nick sighed as he added: 'It's everywhere. Water is everywhere. f*****g hell.
Nick Frost took to his Instagram on Wednesday to reveal to his followers that he had a 'very stressful' time last weekend as his hotel room in Austin, Texas got completely flooded
The comedian, 52, who was in the city for the 2024 Fantastic Fest, shared a video of the damage that had been done to his hotel room with his Instagram followers on Wednesday
Showing the front area of his hotel room, Nick said: 'So I literally was just on the bed. Got off the bed to come and put my shoes on and my room is under several inches of water'
Nick captioned his post with: 'This happened last weekend while at fantastic fest. Very stressful. Ruined my Torsions [Adidas trainers] too. (cry emoji)'
Nick was in the city promoting his new slasher comedy movie Get Away, which is directed by Steffen Haars and written by Nick himself.
Get Away centres on the Smith family, who are looking forward to spending a vacation on the small Swedish island of Svalta.
However, the mainlanders warn them to avoid the island at all costs, especially during the Karantan festival which is precisely when they're going.
The family opts to take the ferry to the island anyway. However, while they are there, the locals are actively hostile and rude, with their extreme behaviour suggesting that something bad is about to happen.
The movie will be released in theatres near the end of the year before making its way to Shudder sometime in early 2025.
The star, who is famous for his screen partnership with Simon Pegg, previously spoke out on his battle with an eating disorder which saw him secretly binge on junk food.
The comedy actor has since lost six stone in a bid to be around for his young family, explaining: 'I have a two-year-old, you know, and I'm just aware that big fat men in their fifties don't become big fat men in their sixties, and that's just a fact.'
He then proceeded to open the door to his hotel room to show his followers the extent of the damage
Revealing the entire corridor of the hotel was filled with water, Nick sighed as he added: 'It's everywhere. Water is everywhere. f*****g hell'
Nick was in the city promoting his new slasher comedy movie Get Away, which is directed by Steffen Haars and written by Nick himself. The movie will be released in theatres near the end of the year
Speaking to The Sunday Times magazine in September 2023 about his battle with eating, Nick explained how he would 'hide in his car and eat two iced buns and four Snickers', and that he knew he was suffering from a form of disorder.
Nick went on to discuss how his struggle with eating largely began when he quit smoking and drinking, as he replaced his old bad habits with a new one.
He said: 'It was interesting stopping cigarettes and any kind of mind-altering chemicals and drinking, and thinking, "Yes, I'm good, I've done it."
And suddenly you find yourself eating six Wispas in a dark room and hiding all your s***, enjoying the James Bondness of addiction, all the secret bits.'
However, Nick says he has now taken responsibility for his eating and his health, he proudly told the publication he had lost six stone, adding: 'So now only an XXXL.'
The star, who is famous for his screen partnership with Simon Pegg, previously spoke out on his battle with an eating disorder which saw him secretly binge on junk food (pictured in 2023)
Speaking to The Sunday Times magazine about his battle with eating, he explained how he would 'hide in his car and eat two iced buns and four Snickers' (pictured in 2020)
Revealing how he lost the weight, he said: 'I've taken responsibility for it, because it's fine me saying, "I'm gonna make sure the kids have the best dad they can have," but it's b******t if I'm secretly eating in the toilet. So I've had to not do that.'
Nick shares his daughter, two, and his son, four, with his partner and the family lives together in southwest London.
Nick's girlfriend has never been photographed and their little boy's name has never been shared publicly.
He also has a 12-year-old son, Mac, from his marriage to ex-wife Christina.
They were married in 2008 and after seven years of marriage, the couple split in 2013, before divorcing in 2015.
Married At First Sight's Domenica Calarco has revealed she has 'never been happier' after announcing her new romance with Sydney skater Jarod Bogunovich.
After sharing an image of the pair together on Instagram this week, Domenica, 31, opened up about her new relationship during an interview with 9Now.
She explained how Jarod has been the 'the best thing' during an 'extremely difficult period in my life'.
'I finally have a man that puts me first and it is the best feeling in the whole entire world,' she said.
Domenica recently revealed a heartbreaking mental health struggle that saw her spend 21 days in a mental health ward.
She added to the publication that Jarod was by her side for the duration of her stay.
'He was a friend to me throughout my hospital stay, checking in on me all the time which meant the absolute world to me during that extremely difficult period in my life,' she said.
'My life really changed a lot. The best thing to come out of all that is him.'
Married At First Sight's Domenica Calarco has revealed she has 'never been happier' after announcing her new romance with Sydney skater Jarod Bogunovich
Domenica officially went public with her new romance with Jarod this week, sharing a loved-up snap on Instagram.
After taking a few months off from the public eye to focus on her mental health, Domenica looked happier than ever as she posed arm-in-arm with her new beau.
The couple, enjoying the stunning backdrop of Bondi's iconic Icebergs restaurant, looked relaxed and effortlessly stylish for the romantic outing.
Domenica wore a chic oversized brown blazer, showing off her toned legs with black stiletto heels, while Jarod kept things casual in a white T-shirt, light blue jeans, and white sneakers, with a red jumper casually draped over his shoulders.
The couple weren't alone for the night as one of Domenica's cousins from Croatia joined them for dinner, making the evening a family affair.
While little is known about Jarod, he's no stranger to the local Bondi scene, as he's followed by high-profile comedians including Chris Lilley and Jesse Noonan.
The laid-back skater has clearly caught Domenica's eye, offering her a fresh start after a difficult few months.
After sharing an image of the pair together on Instagram this week, Domenica, 31, opened up about her new relationship during an interview with 9Now
Domenica has been open about her recent struggles with mental health, revealing earlier this year that she took some time off to focus on her well-being.
She revealed the depths of her struggle, describing a moment when she realised she needed more help than her friends and family could provide.
'It was a moment where I just was in a sadness that I'd never felt before,' Domenica shared.
'And things that would generally make me happy, like my dog or having my morning coffee, those little things couldn't even get me out of it. I just knew I needed a circuit breaker.'
Domenica admitted she was in such a dark place that she didn't want to be here anymore.
Reflecting on where she was just four months ago, she expressed disbelief at how far she has come.
'It's really sad even when I think back to four months ago where I was at I'm a changed person now.'
Domenica officially went public with her new romance this week, sharing a loved-up snap on Instagram with Bondi skater Jarod
Jarod has been nothing but supportive of Domenica, recently taking to his Instagram channel to share photos of Dom from a recent shoot
'I think I'm still dealing with the anxieties and the depression, like I feel like that'll be my journey for a while. But having all of those new tools in my tool kit now to help me through is just, oh my god, it's amazing.'
Living in the public eye has only added to the pressure, Domenica admitted, but she has found solace in the very platform that often draws criticism.
'People are really quick to judge and say get off social media, get out of the limelight,' she explained.
'But hang on, this is a career that I've chosen and that I really enjoy. And social media has actually been a great part of my healing.'
Domenica revealed that group therapy during her stay in the mental health ward was a turning point for her, and she now uses her social media platforms as a form of extended group therapy, where she fosters a safe space for her followers to share their struggles.
'I've built this really amazing community on there, and it's something I'm very proud of,' she said, highlighting the positives of social media in contrast to its often negative reputation.
Looking to the future, Domenica is determined to use her platform to make a difference in the mental health space.
She acknowledged how fortunate she was to have access to private health insurance, which allowed her to receive the care she needed, but she expressed concern for those who are not as privileged.
'Being in a mental health ward, knowing how hard it was to even get into one I think Australia really has a lot to learn when it comes to mental health,' she said.
Domenica also touched on the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, noting how it exacerbates mental health struggles.
The former makeup artist shared her harrowing journey through depression and anxiety in a candid interview on the Today Extra earlier this month
She called for greater focus on equipping people with the tools to help those in need.
'I really want to partner with a charity We need to focus on that mental health first aid,' she urged.
'If your friend, your wife, your sister comes to you and says I'm really not struggling, we don't have the tools to help that person. To triage them.'
As she continues her own healing journey, Domenica is committed to sharing her story in the hope that it will help others.
'Just being open and vulnerable I know that it helps so many people. And if sharing my story can help one person, then I'm just going to keep doing it.'
For those struggling with mental health, help is available. You can reach Lifeline on 13 11 14
Eamonn Holmes failed to hide his true feelings live on air on Wednesday after it was announced Phillip Schofield is set to make his TV comeback next week.
The presenter, 64, was hosting GB News as usual during the news bulletin and while the Irish broadcaster didn't speak on the matter, his reaction said it all as he scoffed at the announcement.
His co-host Isabel Webster introduced the segment to an incredibly negative reception from the panel as GP Dr Renee Hoenderkamp fumed: 'Is this not just the chance for a narcissist to have more me time on screen?
'I don't want to know his story, I'm not interested in it. I know that he's a celeb and people do seem to lap up any news, whether it's good or bad but I think it's time maybe he stayed on the island.'
Agreeing, former Home Office Minister Norman Baker argued: 'So what? I don't want to know about it, I'm not interested in it.
Eamonn Holmes reaction said it all as he responded to the news of Phillip Schofield's shock TV comeback live on GB News on Wednesday amid the pair's long-running bitter feud (stock image)
Phillip's new Channel 5 show Cast Away will air across three nights from Monday September 30 to Wednesday October 2, in three 60 minute installments
'Why is The Sun giving two pages to it? I suppose it sells papers but really, is that the most important thing in the papers?'
Attempting to provide some balance to the discussion, while Eamonn remained silent, Isabel continued: 'Well, he was one of our most high-profile presenters in the country, he was married and he had two children when the scandal emerged.
'He lost all of his TV work including Dancing On Ice, he fell out with his one time best friend and co-host Holly Willoughby, who also quite frankly, didn't she lose her job off the back of it all?'
As Norman sarcastically hit back: 'My heart bleeds', Eamonn couldn't help but let out a laugh as he poked fun at Phillip Schofield's plight.
The broadcaster was then heard adding: 'Very good' before the conversation was steered elsewhere.
Eamonn's reaction will come as no surprise to the public after the pair's long-running bitter feud.
Phillip left ITV's This Morning in May 2023 after admitting to having a relationship with a much younger male colleague.
And at the time Eamonn described his colleague as a 'chief narcissist' who didn't know the names of any of his staff.
The presenter, 64, was hosting GB News as usual and while he didn't speak on the matter, he scoffed at the announcement (pictured together on This Morning in 2013)
As former Home Office Minister Norman Baker sarcastically hit back: 'My heart bleeds', Eamonn couldn't help but let out a laugh as he poked fun at Phillip Schofield's plight
The broadcaster was then heard adding: 'Very good' before the conversation was steered elsewhere
He also called him 'delusional' and 'a liar' after the under-fire host issued a statement insisting there had been 'no toxicity' at the daytime show.
Phillip's new Channel 5 show Cast Away will air across three nights from Monday September 30 to Wednesday October 2, in three 60 minute installments.
In a newly released trailer the broadcaster is seen breaking down in tears as he says the scandal around his departure from This Morning 'destroyed' him in a newly released trailer.
It will be the first time Schofield has been on TV since leaving This Morning amid a scandal, which dominated the headlines for months, led to the breakdown of his friendship with co-presenter Holly Willoughby and 'devastated' his wife Steph.
Eamonn - a broadcasting institution of over five decades - has known Phillip for most of his professional life. They began working together on This Morning in 2006 when Eamonn joined the programme four years after his rival.
The men were never close, but appreciated each others broadcasting styles and worked professionally alongside each other, according to insiders.
But all that changed in 2019, when Eamonns now estranged wife and This Morning co-host Ruth Langsford filed an official complaint against Phillip.
While working on Loose Women, Ruth was snubbed by Phillip when she was cut off mid-link while explaining what was coming up on the show during a mini-segment on This Morning.
Later in November 2021, Eamonn and Ruth were controversially axed from the show after 15 years and replaced on the Friday show by Dermot OLeary and Alison Hammond.
Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Langsford, Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield used to be the faces of This Morning (pictured in 2020) before relations turned sour
Eamonn later described the statement as 'delusional', adding: 'Believe me Pip if ur looking for a fight u have picked on the wrong person'
Eamonn was particularly aggrieved about being let go by ITV, claiming he was never given an accurate reason.
His culling was made even more frustrating by his belief Phillip had been given unwavering support by ITV, despite his behaviour off set, a belief shared by Phillips former co-host Fern Britton and Amanda Holden, who briefly hosted This Morning alongside him in 2015, while Holly was on maternity leave.
The incident confirmed Eamonn's belief that Phillip had constantly been feted despite his poor behaviour behind the scenes, sources claimed.
Following his move to GB News, Eamonn appeared less restrained in his public criticism of Phillip and Holly, with the star liking a meme that mocked the pair for 'jumping the queue' at the Queen's lying in state last year.
It's been over a year since Phillip Schofield left This Morning in a cloud of scandal - after he admitted to having an affair with a much younger male colleague.
But after being absent from TV screens for 16 months, Phillip is set to return next week for Channel 5's Cast Away.
Billed as 'an authentic and intense physical and mental challenge' Channel 5 confirmed that Phillip was 'left alone with only a handful of cameras to document his own experience'.
Announcing the news on Instagram on Wednesday, Phillip wrote: 'Now you know how I spent my Summer! Alone for 10 days, no food, no water, no crew. My story of survival, both on a desert island and off it.'
But what has the presenter's life looked like since he stepped away from the screen?
From drafting in PR help from his family to reuniting with celebrity pals, here, MailOnline takes a look back at Phillip's year off the air - ahead of his imminent return.
It's been over a year since Phillip Schofield left This Morning in a cloud of scandal - after he admitted to having an affair with a much younger male colleague
From drafting in PR help from his family to reuniting with ITV pals, here, MailOnline takes a look back at Phillip's year off the air - ahead of his imminent return
'Story of survival' TV comeback
Phillip broke down in tears in a trailer for the upcoming 'survival' show, as he said the scandal around his departure from This Morning 'destroyed' him.
The disgraced presenter spent his summer secretly filming a special three part series for Channel 5, which required him to give up his home comforts for 10 days of soul-searching on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean. He described it as his 'story of survival'.
One clip from the show, released today, sees Phillip in tears telling the camera: 'I know what I did was unwise, but is it enough to completely destroy someone?'
The series will air across three nights from Monday September 30 to Tuesday October 1, in three 60 minute instalments.
Phillip broke down in tears in a trailer for the upcoming 'survival' show, as he said the scandal around his departure from This Morning 'destroyed' him
It follows Phillip as he is cast away for ten days and nine nights on a remote, unpopulated island off the coast of Madagascar.
Viewers will see the axed presenter reflect on the emotional impact of his exile from mainstream TV after news of his affair with a 20-year-old runner on This Morning came to light.
It's understood that Phillip was given a handheld camera, body cameras and a sound pack before being left to record his emotional week-and-a-half long journey.
Drafting in family PR help
Phillip was swiftly dropped by his agents at YMU Group last year after he admitted his affair with a younger staffer.
But it seems his daughter has stepped up to the plate and taken over as his manager.
Phillip tasked his daughter Molly, 30, with the pleasure of representing him - turning his brand into a family one.
On talent database The Media Eye, Molly is listed as Phil's manager and it appears she is now running her own firm called MMS Projects.
Her first project appeared to be curating a new positive image online for Phil, it was revealed previously.
Phillip was swiftly dropped by his agents at YMU Group last year after he admitted his affair with a younger staffer - but it seems his daughter has stepped up to the plate and taken over as his manager (Pictured in August 2022)
Amid reports he is eyeing up a new career in television, Phil returned to posting on his Instagram earlier this year, positioning his dog Alfie front and centre.
Until January this year, Molly worked at YMU, the talent agency that represented Phil for 35 years.
Uncomfortably, it was reported that she was in the office when she learned her dad had confessed to his affair with a young male runner on This Morning.
Reuniting with celebrity pals
While absent from British TV screens, Phillip has been supported by his celebrity pals since leaving the channel.
In May, Phillip joined I'm A Celebrity host Declan Donnelly for a discreet four-hour dinner and drinks.
The dinner took place close to the fallen star's West London home and also joining the giggling pair for dinner was Dec's wife Ali Astall and Phillip's pet pooch.
But it's not just Ant who is said to have supported the star over the last year, as a source explained previously Alison Hammond was also in his corner.
The current This Morning presenter showed her support for Phillip in June when she liked an Instagram post, a picture of his pet pooch.
In May, Phillip joined I'm A Celebrity host Declan Donnelly for a discreet four-hour dinner and drinks, as it was revealed he was being supported by friends from ITV
Phillip and Dec's dinner is the first time the pair have been seen publicly together since the This Morning scandal.
Onlookers reported that the pair looked in good spirits and were seen laughing and joking together like it was an ordinary night out.
A friend of the presenter revealed Phil's plans for a possible return to TV as they spoke of his ITV friends' support.
They said: 'They have all been rallying around him and their support, especially from Dec who is such a good friend, has really helped Phil. Some TV executives have been in touch with Phil about a possible return and his friends have told him he should consider it.
Another friend by Phillip's side was Vanessa Feltz - with the pair spotted smiling on a night out together last summer.
The pair were seen as they left the Little Bird restaurant in Chiswick, West London, with Phillip helping his long-term friend into her car before departing on foot.
In snaps of the outing, Phillip appeared to listen intensely to Vanessa as they walked to her car, before waving her off with a cheerful goodbye, ahead of her stint presenting This Morning.
Another friend by Phillip's side was Vanessa Feltz - with the pair spotted smiling on a night out together last summer
Selling 'plush' flat used for 'secret trysts'
In February it was revealed that Phillip had sold the flat where he used to spend 'Playtime Thursdays' with his younger lover, after slashing the asking price.
Phillip and his wife Stephanie were said to have put the 'immaculate' two-bedroom penthouse in south London on the market for 1.2million - 25,000 less than they paid in 2012 when it had just been built.
And in a listing by estate agent Cluttons it has since been described as 'sale agreed' - after they were advertising it for 'offers in excess of 1million'.
The property was where Schofield would take his junior colleague for secret trysts before the studio runner left the next morning in a taxi paid for by ITV, his former colleague Eamonn Holmes claimed.
'It has been on the market for a while now. Apparently there has been one offer recently but the buyer dropped out,' a source told The Sun last year.
In February it was revealed that Phillip had sold the flat where he used to spend 'Playtime Thursdays' with his younger lover, after slashing the asking price (Pictured in the apartment)
'It seems like the Schofields are now unfussed about making a profit and just want rid of it since their split.'
In an interview with Dan Wootton on GB News, Holmes claimed Schofield's lover was secretly ferried between ITV's studios and the presenter's flat in an attempt to hide their affair.
The pair are said to have entered through an adjacent hotel to avoid any suspicions of their secret trysts.
Eamonn said: 'Thursday was playtime when he and Phillip would hit the town and then he obviously stayed overnight. There are records to show that he was brought in the next day separately in cars paid for by ITV.'
Calling the younger man 'lovely', and a 'really good talented fella', he said the taxi to work on a Friday morning was part of a 'cover-up' by ITV bosses.
Pete Wicks revealed he had jetted to Italy on Wednesday for '24 hours' as he shared a video from close pal Vicky Pattison's lavish second wedding.
The former TOWIE star, was forced to miss crucial Strictly Come Dancing rehearsals with partner Jowita Pzystal to attend the nuptials as he had one very special job during the ceremony.
Former Geordie Shore star Vicky, 36, revealed earlier this week that Pete is her 'flower girl' as she prepares to tie the knot a second time with husband Ercan Ramadan.
In the video, the podcaster dressed to impress in a dapper black tuxedo as he made his way down a giant outdoor staircase while smoking a cigarette.
He wore his long brunette locks neatly tied back and opted for a pair of sunglasses as he walked towards the camera.
Pete Wicks revealed he had jetted to Italy on Wednesday for '24 hours' as he shared a video from close pal Vicky Pattison 's lavish second wedding
The former TOWIE star, was forced to miss crucial Strictly Come Dancing rehearsals with partner Jowita Przystal to attend the nuptials as he had one very special job during the ceremony
Former Geordie Shore star Vicky, 36, revealed earlier this week that Pete is her 'flower girl' as she prepares to tie the knot a second time with husband Ercan Ramadan
The reality star wrote: '24 hours in Italy'
Vicky and Eran tied the knot officially in Marylebone in August, surrounded by their loved ones.
Now, they're ready to celebrate their union in style with a grand wedding in Puglia, all of which will be captured for E4's new series, Vicky Pattison: My Big Fat Geordie Wedding.
While discussing getting married again, Vicky explained on Lorraine that she now feels 'less nervous' this time arounds and revealed she and Pete didn't know at the time that he would be taking part in the BBC competition.
She told Lorraine Kelly: 'Pete is embracing his role of flower girl. Hes going to arrive tonight and I have no doubt going to show us some fantastic moves as he walks down that aisle.'
She added: 'When we found out he had the Strictly gig we'd already planned him coming to the wedding so he's flying in and out very fast.'
'Hes a really good friend so this has been conflicting for him.'
It comes after Pete and Jowita are busy learning their week two Strictly dance after the TV personality the Paso Doble to The Prodigy's Breathe last Saturday.
In the video, the podcaster dressed to impress in a dapper black tuxedo as he made his way down a giant outdoor staircase while smoking a cigarette
He wore his long brunette locks neatly tied back and opted for a pair of sunglasses as he walked towards the camera
The reality star wrote: '24 hours in Italy'
Vicky and Eran tied the knot officially in Marylebone in August, surrounded by their loved ones
Podcast Pete also attended Vicky's special day in London
After performing the routine during Saturday's show, Pete looked gutted as the judges dished out a score of just 17.
It comes after Pete put on a cosy display with dance partner Jowita on Tuesday as they filmed a sweet dog walk scene in Essex for Strictly.
The TOWIE star and the pro dancer, 30, sparked romance rumours earlier this month when they were spotted together at the National Television Awards.
And on Tuesday, they kept putting their arms around one other as they took Pete's beloved pups for a walk.
In one sweet snap, the dance partners were all smiles and could hardly take their eyes off one another as they engaged in conversation.
Jowita cut a stylish figure in a cropped beige trench coat and a slate grey top as she strolled alongside Pete.
She teamed the coat with a pair of dark blue flared denim jeans and sported a pair of black boots.
It comes after Pete and Jowita are busy learning their week two Strictly dance after the TV personality the Paso Doble to The Prodigy's Breathe last Saturday
After performing the routine during Saturday's show, Pete looked gutted as the judges dished out a score of just 17
To complete her ensemble, the beauty wore a coffee-brown cowboy hat as she let her locks flow freely.
Meanwhile, her dance partner Pete sweetly matched her ensemble as he sported a cream cowboy hat.
He covered up from the cold in a yellow jacket and sported a smart white polo shirt.
The reality TV star completed his look with a pair of black denim jeans and smart brown suede shoes.
The star was also pictured puffing on a cigarette as they took a quick break from filming.
The trailer for the highly anticipated movie Wolfs dropped on Wednesday morning.
Wolfs stars longtime friends George Clooney and Brad Pitt as rival fixers brought in to clean up the same crime in NYC.
The two start out as strangers who arrive at the same crime scene and they dislike each other right from the get go, trading mean barbs.
They compete side by side as they dodge threats from the police and the Albanian mob.
Wolfs - which already has a sequel in the works - will debut on Friday on Apple TV+.
The trailer for the highly anticipated movie Wolfs dropped on Wednesday morning
Pitt and Clooney first acted together in 2001's Ocean's Eleven.
And like that remake riff on the Rat Pack original, Wolfs is as much, if not more, about its movie stars as it is anything else.
The movie's appeal is mostly in their easy charm and chemistry - the little eye rolls and games of one-upmanship that accrue until, finally, they're buddies, like we want them to be.
Clooney is 63 and Pitt is 60, and there are few bits about back pain and Advil in the film.
But Wolfs is designed to show you that they can still, without ever really breaking a sweat, get the job done.
When their characters meet, they are both standing in the penthouse of a luxury New York hotel where a tough-on-crime district attorney (Amy Ryan) is in desperate need of a cover up.
Wolfs stars longtime friends George Clooney and Brad Pitt as rival fixers brought in to clean up the same crime in NYC
They compete side by side as they dodge threats from the police and the Albanian mob
The two start out as strangers who arrive at the same crime scene and they dislike each other right from the get go, trading mean barbs
Wolfs - which already has a sequel in the works - will debut on Friday on Apple TV+
A young, nearly naked man is seemingly dead on the floor.
She's frantically searched her phone for a number once given for such emergencies.
That brings the first never-named fixer (Clooney) to the door.
Not long after, the second, also unnamed fixer (Pitt) knocks.
After a moment of confusion, he points to a small camera at the ceiling. He's been dispatched by the hotel owner (an unseen Frances McDormand) who doesn't want any bad press.
Informed that they have to finish the job together, the two fixers begin to go about the business of getting rid of the body.
The dead body they need to get rid of is not really dead, it turns out
Clooney is a salt and pepper wonder as he models a slick black leather jacket
They eye each warily, disinterested in giving away any tricks of the trade.
This mostly falls to Clooney's character, whose creative way of lifting the body onto a luggage rack begins to earn the respect of Pitt's character.
They turn out to have much, maybe everything, in common.
Slowly, reluctantly, they inch toward a partnership.
Once outside the hotel, Wolfs unspools over the course of one night, shot sleekly in the shadows of downtown Manhattan by cinematographer Larkin Seiple.
Things get a jolt when the body in question turns out to be alive, and kind of a hoot, too.
The kid, credited only as 'Kid,' is roused from a drug-induced stupor, and quickly, in tighty whities, goes escaping down the street, forcing the two fixers on an extensive chase leading up to the Brooklyn Bridge.
The actors seen at a restaurant as they discuss their dilemma
A sequel has already been announced. Wolfs turns out to be both the beginning and the coda of a beautiful friendship
The kid is played with a lot of goofy moxie by Austin Abrams (Euphoria, The Walking Dead), and his account of how he got into this mess, delivered in a cheap motel, may be the films best sequence.
Regarding Clooney and Pitt, both in leather jackets, from the back seat of the car, he otherwise correctly assesses them, calling them 'like the two coolest people I've ever met.'
A sequel has already been announced. Wolfs turns out to be both the beginning and the coda of a beautiful friendship.
Wolfs, an Apple Studios release is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for language throughout and some violent content. Running time: 108 minutes. Three stars out of four.
Lena Dunham had her social media followers blushing as she gave them a risque revelation about how she met her husband of three years, Luis Felber, on Wednesday.
To celebrate their wedding anniversary, the Girls creator took to Instagram to reveal that the pair's love affair started with a one-night stand, while also saying Felber was 'the only straight man I could ever share a house with.'
She shared college - which included a picture of them cuddling, and a throwback picture of herself and himself.
Lena, 38, and Luis, 38, met in January 2021 on a blind date - after being set up by friends - and tied the knot in September 2021.
Lena Dunham had her social media followers blushing as she gave them a risque revelation about how she met her husband of three years, Luis Felber, on Wednesday
Lena wrote: 'I'm so happy that we survived all this.. to become this. Happy third wedding anniversary to this indie sleaze icon, the only straight man I could ever share a house with, my collaborator, caretaker, lover and pal. It's us or bust. p.s. This is your sign to marry your one night stand (but only if they're up for it.)'
During their first date, Lena and Luis spent hours together, with Luis telling The New York Times their date was about 'eight hours' long.
They were walking around London talking and getting to know each other during their January 2021 meet up.
'It was a blind date. A mutual friend of ours basically set us up. The first time we hung out, we didn't stop talking for, like, eight hours.... I think it was sort of incredible you know. I walked into that,' Luis told the NYT.
'I'd been on quite a few dates in the past year. As someone who's quite open, I find you hold a lot back on your first three dates. Or first 10 dates. I was just a big fed up with that, so I just walked into the situation very myself, shall I say. And Lena liked that. And she's the same,' he added.
During their first date, Lena and Luis spent hours together, with Luis telling The New York Times it was about 'eight hours;' seen September 20, 2022 in London together
Months after their first date, the couple moved in together.
'I think when you know, you know. I've only been alive for 35 years in this lifetime, and I think it's another archaic thing for guys to hide their feelings. I'm way more into the flow of getting to know the person. And I think Lena's the same, and I think - I'm going to sound cheesy - but when you find your soulmate, you just know,' he said to the outlet.
They married in September 2021 at Union Club in London - which is a members only club.
Her pal Taylor Swift served as one of her bridesmaids.
Luis, who is a musician, has also worked together professionally.
His music video for his song Tucked in Tight was directed by Lena.
He also wrote the music for her movie Sharp Stick.
The couple are also co-producing and co-creating the series Too Much for Netflix.
They married in September 2021 at Union Club in London - which is a members only club
In May, Lena spoke out about her genetic condition, Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, in an Instagram post.
The star revealed she was diagnosed with hEDS in 2019.
Hypermobile Ehlers-Danos syndrome is one type of EDS, caused by defects in a person's collagen.
Common symptoms of the condition include muscle and bone pain, hypermobility, easily bruised, skin that is slightly elastic, according to the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center.
The star has been also candid about her struggles with endometriosis, her decision to have a hysterectomy at 31 due to her endometriosis and also mental health issues.
Dan Gilroy, Shelley Duvall's partner of 34 years, has opened up about the final days of her life.
The actress died on July 11 at age 75 due to complications from diabetes. And now Gilroy, 77, has told People about the end of her battle as he shared, 'We found moments of joy.'
He recounted, 'I'd bring my computer in, wed watch some shows Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme and things she had produced over the years and those gave some comfort.'
The couple met on the set of Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme, a made-for-TV Disney Channel musical, in 1990 and 'were pretty inseparable from then on.'
'We fell in love on the set,' Dan said about the start of their decade-spanning relationship.
Dan Gilroy, Shelley Duvall's partner of 34 years, has opened up about the final days of her life; pictured in 1992
The actress died on July 11 at age 75 due to complications from diabetes and Gilroy, 77, told People about the end of her battle, 'We found moments of joy'
Leaving Hollywood in 1996, the couple relocated in Texas, where they cared for their pets, which included 'little tiny birds, finches, parrots, dogs, cats, lizards.'
'It was like a traveling menagerie,' Dan remembered.
'I never had a dog growing up, but when I met Shelley and fell in love with her, she had maybe seven dogs,' he shared.
The musician added about their three surviving parrots Austin, Birdie and Taxi, 'They whistle all the time and sometimes use her voice. That makes me both happy and sad.'
He went on to say about the later years of Shelley's life: 'One month everything got really weird and paranoid, she felt under attack and asked the neighbors to come over and bring weapons to protect us.
'Her mother's second husband was a former FBI agent, and she just felt under attack off and on from then on.'
After five years, 'Her brother and late mother invited her to Houston for dinner, a four-hour drive. When we arrived, two guys forcibly took her to Houston Methodist Hospital for about a week to 10 days,' Gilroy told the publication.
'She put up such a fuss they did discharge her with a diagnosis of diabetes and dementia, but it made a rift in the family and trust went out the window. It scared the hell out of her,' he said.
Gilroy recounted, 'I'd bring my computer in, wed watch some shows Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme and things she had produced over the years and those gave some comfort'; pictured in 2004
Duvall was diagnosed with diabetes and dementia in the later years of her life, slowing her down
After the diagnoses, Duvall's longtime love said, 'We stopped being able to walk. She was bedridden for a long time, but we could still drive she loved to drive.'
'She never thought about not being here or that the end is near, but at some point, it was just too far gone. The mental challenges made her, I think, unaware of what was going to happen and just as well, maybe,' he reflected.
Recalling Duvall's last night, Gilroy expressed feeling a deep sense of regret.
He admitted, 'I had a room next to hers, and in her final months she would call me three or four times a night because she needed to change position or be cleaned up or wanted a beverage.
'The night before she died, I told her, "Shelley, I have an interview tomorrow. I can't keep waking up like this." I found her the next morning and I couldn't stop holding her and kissing her even though she wasn't there anymore.'
The couple met on the set of Mother Goose Rock n'' Rhyme, a made-for-TV Disney Channel musical, in 1990 and 'were pretty inseparable from then on'; pictured in 1994
Leaving Hollywood in 1996, the couple relocated in Texas; seen in 1990
Duvalls final film The Forest Hills will be released on October 4. 'She never stopped thinking of herself as an actor,' Gilroy said about her last job.
'It lifted her spirits and it made her aware that, "This is my latest thing." She was in many movies and she felt like it connected her to the rest of her career, which was quite fabulous,' he noted.
He will remember Shelley as someone who made life 'an adventure.'
'There was a mix of smartness and innocence about her that I saw in no one else ever. She was always just so enthusiastic and so much fun every day. And that was Shelley. She made it all an adventure,' he said fondly.
Dick Van Dyke was seen for the first time since canceling an upcoming public appearance as the star stepped out to run errands in LA this week.
The screen icon, 98, leaned on a leopard print walking stick as he chatted with a companion during the day.
The Mary Poppins star looked sprightly in a pale blue shirt and joggers as he toted a bag on his outing.
This comes after the star was forced to cancel his first public appearance outside of Los Angeles in months due to old age.
The Diagnosis Murder star - who will turn 99 in December - was due to appear at the three day FanX event from September 26-29 in Salt Lake City.
Dick Van Dyke was seen for the first time since canceling an upcoming public appearance as the star stepped out to run errands in LA this week
A statement from the organizers read: 'We are sorry to announce that Dick Van Dyke is not able to travel to FanX.
'He expresses his gratitude to all of those who continue to support him but, at almost 99 years of age, traveling and interacting with thousands of people is more than he is able to do at this time.'
Van Dyke previously attended the event back in 2017.
He was last seen in public earlier this month at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards and joked he's still 'looking for work' before turning 99 years of age.
The star attended the Fan Fusion convention in Phoenix in May.
Van Dyke recently tied a record set by Norman Lear as the oldest Emmy winners, both doing so at 98 (Lear in 2020).
He won Outstanding Variety Special for his 2023 birthday special Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic at the Creative Arts Emmys on Saturday.
After receiving the award, Van Dyke told reporters (via People) that he hoped to be remembered for 'laughter.' He remained seated on the red carpet in the winner's room.
'I hope for making people laugh for 75 years. I've been in the business 75 years. I can't believe that I'm still here and performing,' he said.
The screen icon, 98, leaned on a leopard print walking stick as he chatted with a companion during the day
The Mary Poppins star looked sprightly in a pale blue shirt and joggers as he toted a bag on his outing
The star was stepping out after pulling out of a recent fan expo
Van Dyke was spotted running errands in Malibu
Van Dyke recently tied a record set by Norman Lear as the oldest Emmy winners, both doing so at 98
The icon played Bert in legendary 1964 musical Mary Poppins - seen with Julie Andrews
The star is also known for his role as Dr Mark Sloan in Diagnosis Murder alongside real life son Barry as his onscreen son Steve - pictured 1993
The legendary funnyman looked around the room and then joked, 'I'm looking for work if anybody has.'
When asked what advice he would give to younger performers, he said to stick with the craft.
'You have to stick with it. You're gonna go through hard times and a lot of auditions ... but you have to stay with it,' Van Dyke said.
'Be patient if you've got the confidence in yourself, and it's very important to believe that you can do it,' he added.
When asked if he had any plans for his 99th birthday, the icon said, 'Just praying that I make it,' with one of his trademark laughs.
When asked how he was feeling as he walked to the vehicle, Van Dyke just said, 'I'm very old' with another laugh,
Renee Poche, a contestant on season five of Love is Blind, revealed the shockingly low amount that she was paid for appearing on the top-ranked reality show.
Despite the hugely popular series ranking among the most-watched programs on Netflix, the veterinarian, 32, claims to have only been paid a mere $8,000 for her time on the dating show, in which contestants date and get engaged without seeing each other.
Previously, it was revealed by Variety that cast members were paid a 'flat rate of $1,000 per week despite forcing them to work up to 20 hours per day, seven days per week.'
The publication pointed out that the amount 'works out to as little as $7.14 per hour, well under the minimum wage in Los Angeles County of at least $15 per hour.'
In a lawsuit filed by season two contestant Jeremy Hartwell in July 2022, he accused producers of the show of 'intentionally underpaying the cast members, depriving them of food, water and sleep, plying them with booze and cutting off their access to personal contacts and most of the outside world.'
Renee Poche, a contestant on season five of Love is Blind, revealed the shockingly low amount that she was paid for appearing on the top-ranked reality show
As a result, his attorney, Chantal Payton, claimed that this 'made cast members hungry for social connections and altered their emotions and decision-making.'
Despite the questionably salaries, season two alums Deepti Vempati and Natalie Lee both claimed to be making $500,000 a year as influencers since appearing on the show in 2022.
Last year, Lee told Fortune that she was 'three times' her corporate salary as a tech consultant since resigning to pursue a career in social media influencing.
Lee explained the bulk of her earnings came from brand deals with companies like Burt's Bees, SoFi, Fidelity Investments and Lulu's.
Earlier this year, Poche sued Netflix and production companies Kinetic Content and Delirium TV after allegedly being penalized for 'breaching her contract by publicly discussing her experience on the show,' according to USA Today.
The producers who were also sued by another contestant in October took out an arbitration against her in November, for 'some limited public remarks about her distressing time on the Program, including the terrifying experiences she had with Wall.'
In her countersuit, filed on January 2nd by lawyers Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos, Poche shared that she felt like 'a prisoner' during her time on the show, and alleged producers matched her with a 'violent addict.'
'On her first night in Los Angeles, the Programs production staff seized Poche's phone, passport, and drivers license,' the suit states, according to Deadline.
Earlier this year, she sued Netflix and production companies Kinetic Content and Delirium TV after allegedly being penalized for 'breaching her contract by publicly discussing her experience on the show,' according to USA Today
'When not filming, Poche was locked in her hotel room, unable to leave without a "castwrangler" accompanying her. She was expressly forbidden from interacting not only with other participants but also with random hotel guests and staff. In some ways, and this is a sentiment shared by many participants, Poche felt like a prisoner.'
'This dispute is ripe for adjudication because Delirium has initiated arbitration against Poche for purportedly violating her unlawful nondisclosure agreement,' the suit continues.
'Poche contends that the Agreement is itself illegal and unenforceable and brings this action to vindicate her legal rights under California law.'
In the lawsuit Poche also claims her pre-determined match, Carter, was 'unemployed, addicted to drugs and alcohol, estranged from his family, homeless, violent and dead broke' as per TMZ.
In the reality show contestants go to private pods to meet their dates without being able to see them.
Before they can finally meet the other person they must get engaged.
Poche shared that she got along well with Carter at first, but soon realized he had lied and that Delirium must have known about Carter's 'troubling issues' and 'mental instability' since contestants are put through meticulous background checks.
She claims she became scared to spend time with Carter but was forced to film with him for long periods of time by producers.
Poche alleges that Carter was 'emotionally abusive on and off camera, abused drugs and alcohol and threatened a camera operator in Mexico.'
The producers took out an arbitration against her in November, for 'some limited public remarks about her distressing time on the Program, including the terrifying experiences she had with Wall'; seen in a still from the show
In her suit Poche shared she felt like 'a prisoner' during her time on the show, and alleged producers matched her with a 'violent addict'; (L-R) Poche, Taylor Rue, and Aaliyah Cosby
She goes on to claim that producers threatened her with legal action if she did not move forward with the pair's engagement.
After the show wrapped filming, Renee claims she was told her and Carter's relationship would be removed, alleging it was because Carter claimed he would 'commit suicide if the footage aired.'
Renee has since called off her engagement and spoke about her experience in a number of podcasts, which she believes is why Netflix and Delirium have reportedly claimed that she violated her NDA, and are seeking $4 million from her, despite the fact she only made $8,000 for being on the show.
Poche alleges that her match, Carter, was emotionally abusive on and off camera, abused drugs and alcohol and threatened a camera operator in Mexico as per TMZ; Carter seen in a promotional image
Poche is seeking damages, a jury trial, as well as a court declaration that the NDA is 'illegal, invalid and unenforceable.'
It's not the first lawsuit the producers of the show are facing.
In October 2023, they were sued in a case of sexual assault, false imprisonment, and negligence by former season five contestant Tran Dang.
According to TMZ, Dang who did not make it onto the show after final edits said the incident occurred in 2022 and was at the hands of fellow contestant Thomas Smith.
In October the show's producers were sued in a case of sexual assault, false imprisonment, and negligence by former season five contestant Tran Dang
Dang sued the producers for dismissing her after she brought the alleged assault to their attention.
False imprisonment was introduced in the lawsuit as Dang claimed she was forced to be on-call in her hotel room.
At the time Love Is Blind creator Chris Coelen spoke to People, and said he was 'never told that [Dang] felt unsafe or experienced any of the allegations that she made.'
Delirium TV and Kinetic Content also referred to the claims as baseless.
Jessica Alba took to Instagram this week to reveal the outdoor home makeover she gifted her parents Cathy and Mark Alba.
The 43-year-old Honest Company founder who hosts the Roku series Honest Renovations uploaded a slew of photos to show her 20.6 million followers the improvements she made.
Sharing some background on her mom and dad, she began the caption, 'If you know my parents, you know they love to entertain. Whether theyre inviting you over for a BBQ, to catch a game, homemade pizza night, a pool party, or just to hangout - you can always count on having a good time at their place!'
The actress continued, 'So when it came to redoing their backyard, I knew I really wanted to give them an outdoor kitchen.'
She called the before and after images 'insane' as she urged fans to swipe through her carousel post.
Jessica Alba took to Instagram this week to reveal the outdoor home makeover she gifted her parents Cathy and Mark Alba
The 43-year-old Honest Company founder uploaded a slew of photos to show her 20.6 million followers the improvements she made
Sharing some background on her mom and dad, she began the caption, 'If you know my parents, you know they love to entertain'
The mother-of-three shouted out @rtaoutdoorliving and @coyoteoutdoor, sharing that they made her hope for an outdoor kitchen a 'total dream come true.'
She noted, 'Working with their team to customize the outdoor kitchen so it perfectly fit the space and my parents needs was a total breeze.
'Now, Im just hoping my parents invite me over to hang and enjoy their dreamy backyard oasis! I mean - just look at these before & after shots - what a vibe!'
The makeover included equipping her parents with pristine stainless steel appliances, a large inground pool, and a sprawling table with bar chairs.
The outdoor space also boasts a light gray sectional couch, flat screen television, and plenty of plants.
In August, the entrepreneur shared a YouTube video with fans that showed Mark's emotional reaction to his daughter purchasing his childhood home.
He was moved to tears as Jessica told him her plans to renovate the house.
Mark said about his late father, Jessica's grandfather: 'He would be so proud of you.'
The trio posed alongside the new stainless steel appliances
Built-in lounge chairs were designed inside the pool, making for ultimate relaxation
Finishing touches included a light gray sectional sofa and matching rug. There were also plants set throughout the scene
In the episode, Jessica explained that she was incentivized to take on the project to preserve her grandfather's legacy.
She said: 'Even though grandpa passed, like, his legacy is this house, and I tried to infuse grandpa throughout the house.'
The Hollywood fixture emphasized that the home stood as a symbol that her grandfather had 'made it' and would serve to give his children opportunities he wasn't afforded.
She explained that her grandmother's medical bills nearly forced the family to sell the home before she swept in an bout it as a surprise for her parents.
A flat screen TV hangs on the outdoor kitchen wall and the space has protective roofing
Jessica included a large table with bar stools for comfortable eating and drinking
Alba called the before and after images 'insane' as she urged fans to swipe through her carousel post. The modest 'before' photos pale in comparison to the renovations
Jessica co-hosts Honest Renovations with best friend Lizzy Mathis, who appeared with her in the surprise house episode its subsequent follow-up.
The two were involved in the demolition of the home as they brought out the sledge hammers to break things down.
Alba and Mathis launched the series in August 2023.
The logline reads: 'Parenting is tough, and it's even more challenging when a family's home doesn't meet people's needs. That's where best friends Jessica Alba and Lizzy Mathis come in.'
It goes on to say, 'They're surprising parents with renovations that take their homes from cluttered and chaotic to functional and fabulous. This isn't the average home renovation show.
'This duo gets honest about the pain points of parenting and the pressure points of a family home, with heartwarming moments and plenty of laughter along the way.'
Jackass star Bam Margera has been released from prison after he was detained for a DUI parole violation earlier this month.
The TV star, 44, who has fought a public battle with drug and alcohol addiction, was arrested in connection with driving under the influence arrest earlier this month and had been in custody at Chester County Prison in Pennsylvania since last Wednesday.
'Today was a good day in court for Mr. Margera,' Margera's lawyer Michael T. van der Veen told Dailymail.com Wednesday in a statement. 'He is being released from jail today and going for some short-term treatment. He is back on the road to his successful career and wonderful life with his wife.'
Margera is going to Recovery Centers of America for Inpatient Treatment and his case can officially be closed once his treatment is over, his lawyer said.
Margera 'chose the facility for treatment' and 'the period will be 28 days unless Recovery Centers of America (RCA) deems a shorter period is appropriate,' his lawyer said.
Jackass star Bam Margera, 44, has been released from prison after he was detained for a DUI parole violation earlier this month. Pictured in June with wife Dannii Margera and lawyer Michael T. van der Veen
Margera's attorney van der Veen was pictured speaking in a news conference Wednesday
A bench warrant will be issued if any noncompliance with his treatment is reported, TMZ reported.
Margera on Monday appeared in handcuffs Monday ahead of Common Pleas Judge Patrick Carmody for a hearing in which an addiction evaluation was ordered, according to NBC10.
The West Chester, Pennsylvania native, who wed fitness model Dannii Marie in May in New Mexico, was seen 'mouthing words to his wife,' who was present during the hearing, according to the station.
van der Veen told Dailymail.com in a statement Monday, 'Judge Carmody has ordered a drug and alcohol evaluation for tomorrow, and we expect Bam will be released tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest.
'Bam has been doing very well and for the past year or more has passed all his drug and alcohol screenings. His professional life has been going well and we look forward to his release so he can continue his growth.'
In the hearing Monday, Carmody said that Margera's past history with DUI - he also got arrested in California in January of 2018 - figured into his decision-making process in the case, as it was frightening to him that Margera has been arrested for the offense on multiple occasions.
Margera told the judge that his spouse has been impactful in helping him stay sober, and that his slip-up was the result on going on a road trip without her, according to the station.
Margera's attorneys are slated to meet with officials with the court and probation department to determine the next course of action, as they are aiming to put the MTV alum into rehab, with probation officials specifying where he would go.
Margera's lawyer William J. Brennan said in a news conference, according to NBC10, after the hearing that the Jackass alum is a 'good guy that has an addiction.
'Everybody in the system - from the defense team to the prosecution to the probation office and the judge - are interested in seeing Bam get what he needs, which is not punishment, but treatment ... nobody's here with ill-intent. It helps Bam get the needed treatment that he will probably be recommended to get.'
Margera is 'interested in getting better' and 'getting this case behind him' van der Veen said during the news conference.
Margera is going to Recovery Centers of America for Inpatient Treatment and his case can officially be closed once his treatment is over
Margera's lawyer Michael T. van der Veen told TMZ the star is heading straight back to treatment to 'get his life back on track' after securing a court victory on Wednesday with his release (seen in 2023)
Margera wed fitness model Dannii Marie in May in New Mexico, prior to his latest arrest
Margera's most recent arrest on September 16 was handled by Pennsylvania State Police. It breached terms he agreed to in entering probation in June following a guilty plea over a April 2023 incident involving his brother at the family's Pocopson, Pennsylvania home.
Margera was taken into custody Wednesday after speaking with officials (who determined he violated his parole) at the Justice Center and Office of Pretrial Services, where the county probation department is located.
The court ordered Margera to complete six months of probation under their supervision in connection with the terms of his guilty plea to a pair of disorderly conduct counts.
Under the terms of his plea, Margera had to submit to random drug tests and undergo treatment for his mental health.
Margera also is slated to appear at a preliminary hearing in connection with the DUI and reckless driving charges.
Probation Officer Bradford Griffith said that Margera, with the latest breach, presented an 'overt danger' to himself and others with his conduct, according to court records reviewed by the outlet.
Griffith said Margera had not complied with the area of his probation in regards to seeking help for drug and alcohol abuse.
Margera told the judge in June following his guilty plea, 'I just want to says thanks for this whole situation. It lets me clean up my life. It is a blessing in disguise.'
The Jackass alum's lawyer said of Margera: 'His professional life has been going well and we look forward to his release so he can continue his growth'
He told MediaNews Group in June that he was 'on the right path' - adding, 'with the path I was on with alcohol and drugs, I needed to hit some rock bottom to turn things around.'
Margera initially was charged with simple assault and terroristic threats in the 2023 incident, according to the outlet, and each charge was a misdemeanor that could have led to prison with a conviction.
In a July 2023 hearing, Margera older brother Jess Margera said the MTV personality had exhibited 'frightening and unpredictable' behavior in an April 23, 2023 incident in which he punched him repeatedly and threatened his girlfriend; and parents Phillip and Jess Margera.
Jess said in a hearing, according to the outlet, 'He was threatening everybody. The whole house. My girlfriend looked like she had just gotten back from Afghanistan, with PTSD.'
An arrest affidavit indicated that Margera's parents told a state trooper that Bam had ran into the nearby woods following the violent outburst.
Margera in 2021 was fired from the film Jackass Forever after producers said he breached a wellness pact he'd agreed to in appearing in the movie.
Tasha Ghouri commanded attention in a dramatic black gown which featured a racy slit up the leg as she stepped out to the UK Premiere of Joker: Folie A Deux on Wednesday.
The Love Island star, 26, looked incredible at Cineworld Leicester Square in a dress featuring a leather corset bodice and a long puffed skirt.
Accentuating her fabulous figure, the dress featured dramatic padding around the hips and a long train that trailed down the red carpet.
Adding an inch to her statuesque frame, she slipped into a pair of black kitten heel slingbacks.
To accessorise, she kept it simple with a pair of leaf-dangly earrings and a thick silver bangle.
Tasha Ghouri commanded attention in a dramatic black gown which featured a racy slit up the leg as she stepped out to the UK Premiere of Joker: Folie A Deux on Wednesday
The Love Island star, 26, looked incredible at Cineworld Leicester Square in a dress featuring a leather corset bodice and a long puffed skirt
Tasha slicked her blonde tresses back into a simple bun with a neat middle part.
Her appearance comes after she faced a 'fix' row on Saturday after BBC fans slammed her for being a 'professional dancer' as she received a standing ovation on week one of Strictly Come Dancing.
She nearly topped the leaderboard with her Cha Cha Cha to Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter with partner Aljaz Skorjanec, who was returning to the show, with the pair hot favourites to win this year's Glitter Ball.
Head Judge Shirley Ballas said the reality star has 'the most spectacular leg actions she has ever seen on this show' and was awarded a massive 30 points from the panel.
However fans took to X - formerly known as Twitter - to complain Tasha, who was born deaf, was previously a 'professional dancer' before appearing on Love Island.
'Tasha gonna be good she's a dancer; Do the #Strictly judges not know Tasha used to be a pro dancer?; Tasha will be good as she is already a professional dancer!!
'Tasha is SO LIKEABLE, I dont even mind that she is a dancer already (not ballroom etc but its an advantage); Wasn't Tasha a dancer??? I appreciate how impressive she is but I'm almost sure she was a dancer.'
Motsi Mabuse agreed with Shirley and said Tasha had 'started up here, so high, you can't drop lower now'.
Accentuating her fabulous figure, the dress featured dramatic padding around the hips and a long train that trailed down the red carpet
Adding an inch to her statuesque frame, she slipped into a pair of black kitten heel slingbacks
To accessorise, she kept it simple with a pair of leaf-dangly earrings and a thick silver bangle
Tasha slicked her blonde tresses back into a simple bun with a neat middle part
For the glitzy evening, Tasha posed elegantly as she gazed down the barrel of the camera for the red carpet
Her appearance comes after she faced a 'fix' row on Saturday after BBC fans slammed her for being a 'professional dancer' as she received a standing ovation on week one of Strictly Come Dancing
The Love Island star nearly topped the leaderboard with her Cha Cha Cha to Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter with partner Aljaz Skorjanec and received glowing reviews from the judges
While Anton Du Beke said: 'You are terrific and I was watching Aljaz who was like "this is great" I am looking forward to watching you'.
Meanwhile strict judge Craig only had three words for Tasha as he said, 'Slay, slay, slay.'
Following the performance, Aljaz admitted, 'the potential is amazing and I think I'm struggling more than you are right now.'
Fans were delighted as Aljaz returned to the BBC show after he left the show in 2022 of his own accord.
They wrote: 'So lovely to have Aljaz back where he belongs; Aljaz is back!!; Aljaz we have missed you so much'.
Head Judge Shirley Ballas gushed that the reality star has 'the most spectacular leg actions she has ever seen on this show' and was awarded a massive 30 points from the panel
However fans took to X - formerly known as Twitter - to complain that Tasha, who was born deaf, was previously a 'professional dancer' before appearing on Love Island
Craig (pictured) only had three words for Tasha as he said, 'Slay, slay, slay'
Following the performance, Aljaz admitted, 'the potential is amazing and I think I'm struggling more than you are right now'
The decision to bring back the star to the BBC show has reportedly raised eyebrows, especially given a string of scandals that have beset the show in recent weeks.
Two years after his exit, it was reported in recent weeks that Aljaz departed the show after an alleged 'shocking' incident with a fellow female professional dancer on the nationwide tour.
A source told The Sun: 'Has the BBC learned nothing from the past ten months?
'Amid ongoing furore around the behaviour of its male pros, they actively recruited a dancer who left under a cloud.
'Aljaz was touted as an unproblematic, returning legend but that couldn't be further from the truth.'
The source claimed the crew and cast were 'relieved' to see his departure two years ago and are now 'aghast' to see him back on the show
They revealed he allegedly got 'very drunk' on a night out on tour two years ago which led him being involved in a 'very serious, pretty shocking altercation' with a female.
The incident was said to have made the female dancer feel 'deeply uncomfortable'.
Aljaz's scene has been reportedly discussed backstage at length since and the decision to bring him back has 'baffled' the crew.
'Execs would have to be living in a cave not to have heard the rumours', the source added.
According to the publication, the BBC denied an official complaint was made over the incident, and it had been previously stated that Aljaz left of his own accord.
The BBC declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline, and told The Sun that they did not recognise the claims against Aljaz.
Fans were delighted as Aljaz returned to the BBC show after he left the show in 2022 of his own accord
The Slovenian dancer returned to the BBC show for its 20th series, two years after an altercation on the 2022 live tour (pictured with celebrity partner Sara Davies in 2021)
Aljaz is married to fellow Strictly pro and It Takes Two host Janette Manrara, and sources claim that after his 2022 altercation, the crew are 'aghast' bosses have invited him back
A spokesperson for Aljaz said: 'Aljaz has the utmost respect for everyone he works with.
'He chose to leave the show in 2022 of his own accord but he has always loved Strictly and was delighted to be asked back.
'It is untrue to say or suggest he was forced out or that he acted in an aggressive manner at any time. He is excited to make his return to the dancefloor this year.'
A representative for Brad Pitt has weighed in on the online scams that saw five people arrested after they frauded two women out of more than $350,000 and convinced them they were having relationships with the actor.
The Spanish Ministry of the Interior announced in a statement that five individuals were taken into custody who were connected to a 'criminal organization' and had poised as fake Brads to get women to hand over loads of cash.
Matthew Hiltzik, a representative for the 60-year-old actor, told People that it was 'awful that scammers take advantage of fans strong connection with celebrities' and reminded supporters to 'not respond to unsolicited online outreach.'
'Especially from actors who have no social media presence,' they told the magazine on Wednesday.
The five individuals got the two Spanish women, who were not identified, to believe 'they had become so close to the well-known American actor that they believed they had a romantic relationship with him,' the statement said.
Matthew Hiltzik, a representative for the 60-year-old actor, told People that it was 'awful that scammers take advantage of fans strong connection with celebrities' and reminded fans to 'not respond to unsolicited online outreach'
The police recovered 'numerous mobile phones, bank cards, prepaid telephone cards, two personal computers and documents were seized, including a diary in which the phrases used by the scammers to deceive their victims were noted,' during the investigation
They exchanged instant messages and emails with the scammers prior to them asking for large sums of cash.
One message read, according to the Times of London: 'My love for you is true. Feeling from my heart and forever, please forgive me and accept me it is because I love you and am very much in love with you.'
One of the women, who lived in Biscay in the Northern part of the country, sent over $168,000 in multiple transfers to the scammers, while the other woman, from Granada, sent around $195,000.
To make matters worse, police found that the Granada victim's son also stole $19,000 from his mother and made three fraudulent charges on her bank card. He was arrested but was found to not be in connection with the organized crime group.
Around $95,000 of the women's money have been recovered, according to the Ministry.
Police began their investigation into the scammers after the Granada woman reported she had been scammed out of thousands of dollars in August 2023, which eventually led them to discover a second victim.
They discovered the scammers were contacting the women through an online fan page and had convinced them to send money to invest in several 'commercial projects,' according to the Ministry.
Investigators also found the scammers had done their research on the women and discovered they were 'vulnerable people with emotional deficiencies and in a depressive state,' making them the perfect targets.
The Spanish Ministry of the Interior announced in a statement that five individuals were taken into custody who were connected to a 'criminal organization' and had poised as fake Brads to get women to hand over loads of cash
'They also used instant messaging platforms to exchange messages and emails with the two women until they reached a point where they believed they were WhatsApping with Brad Pitt himself, who promised them a romantic relationship and a future together,' the Ministry said.
The Civil Guard found that the cybercriminals had created a 'network of bank accounts registers with falsified documents for people of African nationalities such as Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, where they received the scammed money.'
They also used 'mules,' who received the money in turn for a small payment and later transferred the funds into the other accounts to launder it.
They recovered 'numerous mobile phones, bank cards, prepaid telephone cards, two personal computers and documents were seized, including a diary in which the phrases used by the scammers to deceive their victims were noted,' during the investigation.
Two of the scammers were arrested in November in San Isidro de Nijar and a third in Malaga.
Later on, the two leaders of the dismantled crime organization were arrested in Malaga, according to the Ministry.
The crime group has been accused of qualified fraud, money laundering, document forgery, and gang membership.
Cybercrimes are increasing in the European Union, with Secretary General of Interpol, Jurgen Stock, calling it an 'epidemic.'
Millions of Europeans have been frauded due to online crimes in 2023, according to the Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment, a report.
Through nearly 5,000 investigations, Europol helped stop the loss of nearly $36million in losses in 2023, the report said.
Pitt isn't the only Hollywood star who had to remind fans they wouldn't ask for money, as the likes of Whoopi Goldberg and Tom Hanks have as well.
Florence Pugh - who recently admitted she's in a relationship - had to take to her Instagram story in August to 'remind' fans that 'I don't have any other account other than this one' and that the only official communication would come from that page.
'Been brought to my attention that some people have been asked for money/pictures/communication through pages pretending to me,' the 28-year-old wrote.
Penelope Cruz shared a heartwarming photo to her Insta Stories on Tuesday.
The 50-year-old Spanish actress had her arm around 61-year-old Hollywood movie star Johnny Depp.
They were both attending the 72nd San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain.
It has been 23 years since they played a volatile married couple in their 2001 cocaine drama Blow from director Ted Demme.
Depp played real-life criminal George Jung, who single-handedly became the world's premiere importer of cocaine from Colombia's Medellin cartel in the 1970s.
Cruz played his volcanic Cuban wife Mirtha Jung.
Penelope Cruz shared a heartwarming photo to her Insta Stories on Tuesday. The 50-year-old Spanish actress had her arm around 61-year-old Hollywood movie star Johnny Depp
It has been 23 years since they played a volatile married couple in their 2001 cocaine drama Blow from director Ted Demme
The movie became an instant classic.
The gritty film was based on a book.
David McKenna and Nick Cassavetes adapted Bruce Porter's 1993 book Blow: How a Small Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All.
It is based on the real-life stories of U.S. drug trafficker Jung and his connections including narcotics kings Pablo Escobar and Carlos Lehder Rivas (portrayed in the film as Diego Delgado), and the Medellin Cartel.
Also in the film was Franka Potente as Barbara 'Barbie' Buckley.
And a very young Emma Roberts played Kristina Sunshine Jung, the child of Cruz's and Depp's characters. Jaime King played the older version of Kristina.
Penelope was seen at the opening ceremony for the festival; her husband Javier Bardem was honored.
Depp was at the festival to promote his movie Modi, Three Days on the Wings of Madness.
Modi Three Days on the Wing of Madness is a 2024 biographical drama film based on the life of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani.
It is directed by Depp from a screenplay by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski, which is based on the play Modigliani by Dennis McIntyre.
In March Cruz said is happier now but still misses the 'antics' of her younger days.
Depp played real-life criminal George Jung, who single-handedly became the world's premiere importer of cocaine from Colombia's Medellin cartel in the 1970s
Cruz played his volcanic Cuban wife Mirtha Jung
Penelope, left, was seen at the opening ceremony for the festival; her husband Javier Bardem was honored. Depp, right, was at the festival to promote his movie Modi, Three Days on the Wings of Madness
Cruz and Depp attend the Blow Hollywood premiere in 2001 at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood
The actress admitted she prefers the relationship she has with herself now to decades past.
Pondering how experience gives you 'peace of mind', she told Elle Spain: 'If you ask me what my relationship with myself was like now and the one I had in my 20s or 30s, I honestly prefer the one now.
'Because of how I feel, and maybe there have been other times where I wouldn't have said it.'
She added: 'I take advantage of every decade, every moment, and I never think that "I was better before."'
While the Ferrari star is happy with how she has grown and developed, she does miss the 'kind of unconsciousness' that came with youth. She said: 'Sometimes I would like to do more antics and return more to that kind of unconsciousness.'
Cruz and husband Javier Bardem at the photo call for the opening of the 72nd San Sebastian Film Festival on September 20 in San Sebastian, Spain
She noted that while some aspects of life 'have not been easy', she takes any struggles as lessons. She explained: 'Everything I've learned so far or all the mountains I've had to climb some of which haven't been easy, and I don't mean anything to do with success or that part of the job are part of my daily learning.'
Penelope previously admitted her regular director collaborator Pedro Almodovar, 74, has always viewed her as a mother on screen.
She told Elle magazine: 'At my age, 80 per cent of the characters that I play will be about motherhood or divorce or abandonment or characters who didn't want to have children or couldn't or who lost children.
'I've played mothers since I was very young. Pedro always saw me as a mother.
'We have known each other since I was 17. He would watch me going to talk to strangers just to see their babies.
'He always saw that strong, inevitable instinct in me, and I saw him see it.'
Gigi Hadid modelled a quirky ensemble as she walked for Rabanne during Paris Fashion Week on Wednesday.
The supermodel, 29, wore three layered shirts, including a pink striped T-shirt, and two blue tops, with a pair of denim shorts.
She added pink stiletto heels, that featured an unusual clear cover, and slicked her hair back into a neat bun.
Gigi was seen snapping selfies backstage at Palais de Tokyo before strutting down the runway for the brand's RTW Spring 2025 collection.
Tuesday was the first full day of Paris Fashion Week proceedings in the French capital with Gigi having last walked for Versace in Milan.
Gigi Hadid modelled a quirky ensemble as she walked for Rabanne during Paris Fashion Week on Wednesday
The supermodel, 29, wore three layered shirts, including a striped pink T-shirt, and two blue tops, with a pair of denim shorts
Gigi inevitably commanded attention courtesy of her latest catwalk appearance on Wednesday evening
Last Thursday, Gigi threw a baby Yoda-themed fourth birthday party for her daughter Khai.
Fans went nuts over the images shared to social media and they revealed the child's last name for the first time.
A photo of the Descendants-themed scroll read: 'Khai Malik,' with an invite from King Ben and his 'councilors' for her to attend Auradon Prep, the school featured in the Disney TV films.
Fans were excited that the model who split from the Zayn Malik, 31, in 2021 finally shared Khai's surname after previously evading the question.
'THE 11TH PIC WHEN ITS WRITTEN KHAI MALIK,' one fan exclaimed.
It's unclear if Gigi's current boyfriend, 49-year-old actor Bradley Cooper, or Zayn were at the party as neither were featured in the snaps.
Both Gigi and Zayn shared touching tributes to their daughter for her special day.
The model posted a number of snaps from the colorful party, accompanied by a gushing caption about her 'adventurous' and 'loving' daughter.
She added pink stiletto heels, that featured an unusual clear cover, and slicked her hair back into a neat bun
The model wore a very subtle makeup look
Gigi was seen snapping selfies backstage at Palais de Tokyo before strutting down the runway for the brand's RTW Spring 2025 collection
'Our girl is 4 today and we celebrated all week!!! She loves animals (fantastical ones too), music, baby yoda, all things nature & bugs, Descendants, anything squishy or miniature, and if possible will be in the water from dawn til dusk,' she said.
'She is curious, adventurous, loving, and oh so witty... Khai - it is my lifes greatest joy and pride to be your mama!!!!'
Gigi's post showed her and Khai looking over at the pink and green birthday cake featuring Grogu the adorable character from the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, who resembles the iconic Star Wars character Yoda.
'May the FOURce be with you,' the writing on the cake read.
Zayn shared his own birthday message to his daughter to Instagram.
He shared a snap of him holding Khai at the beach, and wrote, 'Happy birthday to the most important person in my life.
'I love you more than words allow me to express, beyond proud to call you my daughter... grateful for every second I get to spend next to you, as you become the incredible person I know you already are. Four years ago today my life changed forever and I wouldnt be the man I am today without you.'
Last Thursday, Gigi threw a baby Yoda-themed fourth birthday party for her daughter Khai
Fans went nuts over the images shared to social media and they revealed the child's last name for the first time
Zayn shared his own birthday message to his daughter to Instagram. He shared a snap of him holding Khai at the beach, and wrote, 'Happy birthday to the most important person in my life'
Gigi and Zayn dated for approximately five years. Reported tension between Zayn and and Gigi's mother eventually led to their separation in 2021; The former couple seen in 2017
Gigi and Zayn dated for approximately five years. They welcomed their daughter in September 2020.
Reported tension between Zayn and and Gigi's mother eventually led to their separation in October 2021.
Zayn was charged with four counts of harassment after he pleaded no contest to the charges after allegedly pushing Yolanda into a dresser and calling her a 'f*****g Dutch sl*t' in September 2021.
She has since moved on with Bradley, who shares a seven-year-old daughter with model Irina Shayk, 38. The pair were first linked in October 2023.
She is known for her fashionable ensembles as well as impressive acting career.
And Monica Bellucci put on a typically stylish display as she joined her partner Tim Burton at the 72nd San Sebastian Film Festival on Wednesday night.
Italian siren Monica, 59, held hands with the director, 66, and flashed her black lace underwear under a chic brown suit.
She looked great in the oversized jacket and wide-leg trousers and completed her trendy look with dark shades.
Monica wore her long dark tresses in a poker straight style and opted for glowing, natural makeup.
Monica Bellucci put on a typically stylish display as she joined her partner Tim Burton at the 72nd San Sebastian Film Festival on Wednesday night
Italian siren Monica, 59, held hands with the director, 66, and flashed her black lace underwear under a chic brown suit
Her partner of nearing two years, Tim, looked smart in an all-black suit and rocked a quirky hat and blue-tinted glasses.
The couple have been to first met 16 years ago but are said to have started dating after seeing one another at the Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon in October 2022.
Monica confirmed their relationship in June of the following year as she told Elle France: 'What I can say... I'm glad I met the man, first of all.'
'It's one of those encounters that rarely happens in life... I know the man, I love him, and now I'm going to meet the director, another adventure begins.'
She added: 'I love Tim. And I have great respect for Tim Burton.'
Monica is starring in the new Beetlejuice film directed by Tim alongside Jenna Ortega, Micheal Keaton and Winona Ryder.
Tim Burton's Beetlejuice Beetlejuice open the Venice Film Festival on August 28.
Jenna recently opened up about what it was like meeting Winona Ryder for the first time on the set of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
She looked great in the oversized jacket and wide-leg trousers and completed her trendy look with dark shades
Monica wore her long dark tresses in a poker straight style and opted for glowing, natural makeup
Her partner of nearing two years, Tim, looked smart in an all-black suit and rocked a quirky hat and blue-tinted glasses
The couple have been to first met 16 years ago but are said to have started dating after seeing one another at the Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon in October 2022
Monica confirmed their relationship in June of the following year as she told Elle France : 'What I can say... I'm glad I met the man, first of all'
She added: 'It's one of those encounters that rarely happens in life... I know the man, I love him, and now I'm going to meet the director, another adventure begins'
Monica is starring in the new Beetlejuice film directed by Tim alongside Jenna Ortega, Micheal Keaton and Winona Ryder
The Wednesday star, 21, plays Astrid Deetz, the daughter of Ryder's, 52, Lydia Deetz in the film.
'She was so warm and welcoming and kind and inviting right from the jump, and I couldn't be more grateful,' Ortega explained in an interview with the New York Times.
'It was at a time where my career was taking a different turn, and I didn't realize that I needed that from somebody who could relate, but I did,' she said, adding that she was in a 'transformative' period in her life after shooting to overnight superstardom on Netflix's Wednesday.
'The way Winona and I got along was quite weird. It was like we were reading each other's minds a little bit,' she added.
Kayla Itsines shared an adorable video of her daughter Arna, five, comforting her on Tuesday when she became bedridden with a stomach bug.
The fitness guru, 33, who shares her eldest child with her ex-fiance Tobi Pearce, uploaded the clip to her Instagram Stories as she detailed her health woes.
In the clip, Arna quietly entered her bedroom to sweetly offer her sick mother something to cuddle with during her ailment.
Upon seeing her mother awake, Arna promptly marched into the room to her mother's side and pointed to something off camera.
'So if you need me just hug this, but I won't know, but just hug it and then you'll feel like I'm with you,' she said before swiftly walking back out again.
Kayla captioned the adorable home video: '24 hours ago. Constantly coming into my room in different outfits. (This was the peak of my stomach bug.)'
As well as Arna, Kayla also shares a son Jax, one, with her new husband Jae Woodroffe, and the family all recently enjoyed a lavish European getaway together.
The happy couple, who tied the knot in December, were spotted packing on the PDA at a beach in Sicily last month as they lived it up in the hilltop town of Taormina.
Kayla Itsines has shared an adorable video of her daughter Arna, five, comforting her when she became bedridden with a stomach bug. Pictured: Kayla with her children Arna and Jax
The clip saw Arna quietly enter Kayla's bedroom to offer her sick mother something to cuddle with during her ailment in an adorable gesture
Before jetting off to Sicily, the newlyweds also visited Crete in Greece and enjoyed a visit to London, but it wasn't all smooth-sailing during their trip to the UK.
At the time, Kayla gave an urgent warning to other tourists as she revealed she'd discovered an 'unreal' sinister side to the English capital city.
Taking to Instagram, she detailed how she'd witnessed several thefts within mere hours of arriving in the bustling city.
'We saw, on four different occasions, in two hours, people steal something and RUN,' she explained.
'We asked a random security guy if it was bad and he said, "Every day, I stand here and watch people's phones get stolen out of their hands. Kid's iPads, older people, school kids, they don't care."'
Kayla and Jae tied the knot in December during a lavish outdoor wedding in Adelaide before moving to the sunny Queensland from South Australia a month later.
50 Cent's long-awaited Diddy docuseries exploring sexual assault and violence claims against the star is officially in production at Netflix.
Last week Diddy - real name Sean Love Combs - was indicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges - and is currently awaiting trial at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City.
In Da Club hitmaker 50 Cent - a longtime enemy of Diddy's - has been teasing the docuseries for many months - with the star and director Alexandria Stapleton telling Variety the series would be a 'complex narrative spanning decades.'
A statement read: 'This is a story with significant human impact. It is a complex narrative spanning decades, not just the headlines or clips seen so far.
'We remain steadfast in our commitment to give a voice to the voiceless and to present authentic and nuanced perspectives.
50 Cent's long-awaited Diddy docuseries exploring sexual assault and violence claims against the star is officially in production at Netflix
Last week Diddy - real name Sean Love Combs - was indicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges - and is currently awaiting trial at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City - pictured together
'While the allegations are disturbing, we urge all to remember that Sean Combs story is not the full story of hip-hop and its culture. We aim to ensure that individual actions do not overshadow the cultures broader contributions.'
50 Cent will executive produce through his G-Unit Film & Television banner, while Stapleton executive produces for House of Nonfiction.
50 also took to X in the wake of the announcement, writing: 'I been telling yall about all this weird s**t, I dont do NO puffy partys. you didnt believe me but I bet you believe me now!' [sic]
50 - real name Curtis Jackson - mocked Diddy last week in the wake of the rapper's indictment on sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
Among the most shocking claims is how federal agents seized 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant from his Miami and Los Angeles homes during raids earlier this year.
They were used in 'freak offs' - 'elaborate and produced sex performances' that Diddy allegedly arranged and participated in - with 'baby oil' quickly trending worldwide and stunned fans posting memes.
50 quickly took aim at the star by posting a snap of himself with Drew Barrymore.
The barbed caption read: 'Here I am keeping good company with @thedrewbarrymoreshow and I dont have 1,000 bottles of lube at the house' before tagging his companies @bransoncognac @lecheminduroi.'
Fans quickly inundated the post with comments, including: 'Who else ran to his page?', 'We were all waiting on you', 'Why did we all wait for 50 to post.'
In Da Club hitmaker 50 Cent - a longtime enemy of Diddy's - has been teasing the docuseries for many months - with the star and director Alexandria Stapleton telling Variety the series would be a 'complex narrative spanning decades'
50 also took to X in the wake of the announcement, writing: 'I been telling yall about all this weird s**t, I dont do NO puffy partys. you didnt believe me but I bet you believe me now!' [sic]
Others wrote: 'I got here as quickly as I could', 'I know Im not the only one who has been waiting on 50 to post' and 'I been waiting all morning for this post.'
50 and Diddy have bad blood stemming back at least 18 years , as 50 Cent in 2006 put out a song titled The Bomb hurling insults at his longtime rap rival, implying that Diddy was aware of the identity of the person who killed Notorious B.I.G. in 1997.
The series was sold to Netflix after what was described as 'a massive bidding war' in May.
This came days after a 2016 clip of Diddy beating his ex-girlfriend Cassie was released in a video by CNN.
Diddy admitted that he beat his ex-girlfriend Cassie in a hotel hallway in 2016 after CNN released video of the attack, saying in a video apology he was 'truly sorry' and his actions were 'inexcusable.'
'I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. Im disgusted now,' the music mogul said in a video statement.
After Diddy's apology video, 50 Cent expressed his skepticism of Diddy trying to navigate through what looks to be a career-ending crisis.
He wrote: 'Now Im sure puffy didnt do it, he is innocent this proves nothing!
'This is what his lawyers are gonna say, God help us all,' he added.
'This is not going to work, who is advising him right now?' the Grammy-winning rap artist said on the social media platform. 'SMH bad move.'
Combs was sent to jail Tuesday to await trial in his federal sex trafficking case, after a magistrate ordered him to be held without bail in a case that accuses him of presiding over a sordid empire of sexual crimes
50 Cent, whose hits include Candy Shop, P.I.M.P. and If I Can't, initially reacted to the circulation of the clip Friday, saying, 'Now Im sure puffy didnt do it, he is innocent this proves nothing! This is what his lawyers are gonna say. God help us all.'
50 Cent led the initial charge of Hollywood stars reacting to raids on Diddy's homes in March.
He was quick to repost footage of the investigation, writing: 'S*** just got real. The Fed's in all the cribs, d*** they got the kids in cuffs.'
He subsequently turned his attention toward his ex-girlfriend Daphne Joy, who was alleged to be a 'sex worker' in a lawsuit filed by producer Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones Jr. against Diddy.
Joy has adamantly denied the accusation, calling it 'character assassination.'
It was recently revealed that Combs has 'been able to speak briefly to family members and his children via phone' as per People.
Diddy's phone call home came amid news his lawyers are not asking for him to be moved from the 'Hell on Earth' Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset, Brooklyn.
'He is very concerned about his kids and their well-being,' the source stated.
'He has three minor children, two of whom now have no living parent available with him incarcerated. Four of his seven children have neither parent available with him incarcerated.'
Another source said that the Combs kids are 'in a state of crisis and shock' following Diddy's arrest.
'It's heartbreaking to see the children in the state they're in. This is their father. But to them, he's not Diddy he's Dad. He has always been a loving, devoted father.'
He shares Christian, Jessie and DLila with the late model and actress Kim Porter, who died in 2018 at age 47.
Quincy was Porters son with partner Al B. Sure!, and Combs went on to adopt him.
Among the most shocking claims is how federal agents seized 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant from his Miami and Los Angeles homes during raids earlier this year; seen in 2022
He shares Justin with stylist Misa Hylton, and Chance with businesswoman Sarah Chapman.
In December 2022 he welcomed the arrival of his youngest child, daughter, Love, with model Dana Tran.
On Tuesday Justin, Christian, and Quincy arrived together at a New York City courtroom to support their father.
Combss three daughters and 23-month-old baby girl were nowhere in view.
Another source told People that Diddy is not getting any special accommodations at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.
'He is being treated like any other detainee awaiting trial. As with all public figures in his position, he was placed on suicide watch upon admittance to the facility as a precaution.'
Diddy was arrested and charged last week for sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The charge, which details allegations dating back to 2008, accuses him of abusing, threatening and coercing women for years 'to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.'
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following his arrest, he was denied bail by a judge after he used both his and his mother's homes in Miami - worth $50 million - as collateral.
On Wednesday, he lost an appeal to overturn the decision and will remain in custody while pending trial.
This nepo baby just landed a major modeling job with a massive French brand.
This Los Angeles based cutie, who is in her early 20s, was seen in the first images shared by Dior on Instagram on Tuesday.
The budding star - who looks like Kaia Gerber - normally has blonde hair but is chocolate brown in these shots. The fit is perfect as she looks to have all the makings of a supermodel on the rise.
She has some fancy roots: her mom is an Oscar winner who just gets better with age. After starring in blockbusters for years she is now producing shows for streamers.
Mom's close Hollywood pals are Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Garner.
Dad is handsome and has made dozens of movies like Cruel Intentions. And he has worked with Salma Hayek and Glenn Close.
Who is this kid?
This nepo baby just landed a major modeling job with a massive French brand. This Los Angeles based cutie, who is in her early 20s, was seen in the first images shared by Dior on Instagram on Tuesday. She has some fancy roots: her mom is an Oscar winner and dad was in Cruel Intentions. Who is this kid?
She has modeled before but this is a higher profile job; she looks like the next Bella Hadid with her dark hair
She is 25-year-old Ava Elizabeth Phillippe.
Her mother is Reese Witherspoon, 48, who is now on The Morning Show.
Dad is Ryan Phillippe, 49, who was just in the movie Prey.
He worked with Salma Hayek in the movie 54 and with Glenn Close on Damages.
Ava is well known thanks to her famous parents who she poses with at high profile events.
Reese also has son Deacon, 20, with her first husband Phillippe, whom she was with from 1997 till 2006.
With her talent agent second husband Jim Toth, whom she divorced in 2023, Reese has another son, Tennessee, 11.
The siren now dates private equity financier Oliver Haarmann.
She is 25-year-old Ava Elizabeth Phillippe. Her mother is Reese Witherspoon , 48, who is now on The Morning Show. Dad is Ryan Phillippe, 49, who was just in the movie Prey
Here she is seen with lighter hair thanks to the lighting of the shoot
Earlier this year, Reese partied with Ava in Paris and shared the photos to Instagram.
In one image, they were both spotted enjoying white wine in long-stemmed glasses while at a small bistro-style outdoor table with a tiny glass of peanuts at the center.
'January in Paris ,' wrote Reese in her caption while Ava added a two champagne glass emoji in the comments section.
Pal Jessica Alba wrote in the comments section, 'Mother Daughter trips are Everything!'
Ava with dark and light hair
Ava and mom Reese in Paris in January where they both sipped wine
Reese with all three of her kids: Ava, Deacon and Tennessee. She was also pictured with husband Jim Toth, whom she has since divorced
Both ladies were in all black. Reese had a black coat over her shoulders with a black cardigan and slacks.
The ladies looked like twin in matching hair color and lip color as they enjoyed some down time at the busy bistro. And both had on shiny yellow gold jewelry.
They were also seen checking out large black-and-white photographs at an art gallery.
And they joined some of Reese's friends like a woman named Jenny Belushi.
Seen left at Balmain in Paris and right at alice + olivia in NYC
In 2023, Reese appeared in one film - rom-com Your Place Or Mine? - with Ashton Kutcher who had not had a main film role since 2013.
Later this year, she will appear in Amazon Prime comedy You're Cordially Invited with Will Ferrell.
The film follows the father of the bride (Will) who discovers his daughter's dream wedding venue has been double-booked for another bride and her wedding-planner sister (Reese).
Reese has won an Oscar, an Emmy, and two Golden Globes over the 33 years of her Hollywood career.
The mother-daughter duo joined Zendaya at the Fendi show
Skye Wheatley has broken her silence on rumours she was the frontrunner to replace Sophie Monk as host of Love Island Australia.
The former Big Brother star, 30, was reportedly considered for the role by Channel Nine but knocked out of the running after her recent plastic surgery controversy.
However, the influencer told her Instagram followers on Wednesday the claims were untrue and that any headlines suggesting otherwise were 'click bait'.
A fan wrote to Skye during a Q&A, asking the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Australia winner if she was 'supposed to be the host of Love Island'.
The blonde beauty simply responded, 'No it was click bait!' alongside an image of dog faeces on her driveway.
Daily Mail Australia recently revealed Skye Wheatley was slated to replace Sophie, 44, as Love Island host as she's said to be leaving the dating show soon.
However, a source went on to say the Instagram star was knocked out of the running because of her changed appearance after multiple plastic and cosmetic surgeries.
Skye recently returned from Turkey where she underwent a fox eye lift, liposuction, a temporal lift and a blepharoplasty.
Skye Wheatley, 30, (left) has broken her silence on rumours she was the frontrunner to replace Sophie Monk, 44, (right) as host of Love Island Australia
These procedures were just the latest in a series of operations the reality TV star has undergone over the last decade in her quest to achieve the 'perfect' appearance.
Upon her return to Queensland, Skye was left devastated when Nine contacted her to say the network no longer required her services as a host of Love Island.
'The idea was floated that Skye could slip in and take over Love Island Australia,' a source said, revealing Sophie wanted to focus on other Nine projects.
'Executives believed Skye could do a very similar job to Sophie.'
The former Big Brother star was reportedly considered for the role by Channel Nine but knocked out of the running after her recent plastic surgery controversy
However, the insider said Nine ultimately decided to not work with Skye after she drastically changed her appearance through cosmetic surgery.
'This whole idea came crashing down as the network noticed [she] had drastically changed her look, which turned Nine off the idea to cast her.'
Skye recently went to Turkey to visit a renowned cosmetic surgeon, who performed an eye surgery known as a fox eye lift on her.
She later revealed that in addition to the fox eye lift, she also got liposuction on her arms and inner thighs, a temporal lift and a blepharoplasty, or eyelid surgery.
'The problem with changing your appearance and even your hair colour is that your brand is often wrapped up in a look you are famous for,' the source said.
'I don't think Nine was unconfident with her ability to host the show. I think it was just "the look" they were hiring her for that has changed.'
Kate Winslet stunned in a black suit on Tuesday night as she greeted fans in NYC following her appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
The Lee actress, 48, paired the black suit, with cropped trousers, with a grey shirt and layers of gold necklaces and large gold hoops.
She accessorised with black slingback heels and black-framed glasses.
Kate talked intently with the fans that crowded the Sullivan Theater, where the Late Show is filmed, and signed autographs.
And once inside the studio she spoke to host Stephen, 60, about her new film Lee, which hit cinemas on September 13.
Kate Winslet, 48, stunned in a black suit on Tuesday night as she greeted fans in NYC following her appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
The Lee actress paired the black suit, with cropped trousers, with a grey shirt and layers of gold necklaces and large gold hoops
She accessorised with black slingback heels, large black glasses, and complemented her necklaces with a number of gold rings
Lee is a British biographical drama film following the life of model-turned-Vogue WWII journalist Lee Miller, portrayed by Kate.
Ellen Kuras' feature film directorial debut premiered at the 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023. It was based on the book The Lives Of Lee Miller by Lee's son Antony Penrose.
The drama also stars Josh O'Connor, Marion Cotillard, Alexander Skarsgard, and Andy Samberg.
Kate told Stephen of the real-life Lee: 'She went to bear witness. She kept her eyes open. She didn't look away.
'She could have gone home. She could have decided it was too dangerous. She could have decided it was too much.
'But, she didn't. Because, to be that visual voice for the victims of conflict, was something she felt utterly compelled to do.
'Because, exactly as you say, those stories may never otherwise have been told. And, everyone has a right for their story to be remembered in conflict.
'And that is so relevant to today.'
She spoke to host Stephen, 60, about her 2023 film Lee, which hit cinemas on September 13. In Lee, Kate stars as model-turned-Vogue WWII journalist Lee Miller
Kate talked intently with the fans that crowded the Sullivan Theater, where the Late Show is filmed, and signed autographs
Kate was eventually escorted away by a smartly dressed bodyguard with a fan's pen still in her hand
In September, Kate revealed she was told to hide her 'belly rolls' on the set of Lee.
Kate told BBC's Laura Kuenssberg that she responded: 'It was my job to be like Lee. She wasnt lifting weights and doing Pilates, she was eating cheese, bread and drinking wine and not making a big deal of it, so of course her body would be soft.'
'But I think were so used to perhaps not necessarily seeing that and enjoying it the instinct, weirdly, is to see it and criticise it or comment on it in some way.
'Its interesting how much people do like labels for women. And they very much liked them in Lees day, and, annoyingly, they sort of still do we slap these labels on women that we just dont have for men. Its absolutely bizarre to me.'
Priyanka Chopra cut a glamorous figure in a halterneck red dress in London on Tuesday evening at an Amazon drinks reception in honour of her series Citadel and its spin-offs.
The actress, 42, posed elegantly in the form-fitting dress which had wrap detailing at the waist and pooled at her feet.
Priyanka posed with Samantha Ruth Prabhu, 37, star of Indian Citadel spin-off Citadel: Honey Bunny, and Matilda De Angelis, 29, star of Italy's Citadel: Diana.
The original Citadel, co-led by Priyanka, is an American spy action for Prime Video, executively produced by the Russo Brothers of Marvel fame.
Priyanka beamed as she sat with her chin on her hand and her 'Daddy's lil girl' wrist tattoo was visible.
Priyanka Chopra, 42, cut a glamorous image in a halter neck red dress in London on Tuesday evening at an Amazon drinks reception in honour of her series Citadel and its spin-offs
The actress, 42, posed elegantly in the form-fitting dress which had wrap detailing at the waist and pooled at her feet
Priyanka beamed as she sat with her chin on her hand, showcasing her 'Daddy's lil girl' wrist tattoo. She got it, in her father's handwriting, just before he died from cancer in 2013
The actress got the inking, in her father's handwriting, just before he died from cancer in 2013.
Along with Richard Madden's Mason Kane, Priyanka's character Nadia Sinh is a Citadel agent.
The couple discover a dangerous new organisation, Manticore, and their memories are wiped - with the pair living as strangers.
Eight years later, Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci) desperately needs the help of Citadel's top operatives - but faces the battle of convincing them of their past selves that they can't remember.
At the event, Matilda stunned in a plunging short-sleeved gold dress. Her series of Citadel begins on October 10.
She beamed next to Joe Russo who wore a navy polo top and a maroon material-lined black leather jacket.
Joe and his brother Anthony are two of several executive producers for the $300million series, which began in April 2023.
Samantha stunned in a strapless navy gown with a gorgeous sheer design on its bottom half. Citadel: Honey Bunny will debut in November and was created by famed Indian duo Raj & DK.
The series marks Samantha's Bollywood debut as she previously worked exclusively in Telugu and Tamil films. Honey Bunny was filmed in India and Serbia.
Priyanka posed with Samantha Ruth Prabhu, 37, (left) star of Indian Citadel spin-off Citadel: Honey Bunny, and Matilda De Angelis, 29, (right) star of Italy's Citadel: Diana
The original Citadel, co-led by Priyanka, is an American spy action for Prime Video, executively produced by the Russo Brothers of Marvel fame
Along with Richard Madden's Mason Kane, Priyanka's character Nadia Sinh is a Citadel agent whose memory is wiped and who has to re-learn how to be a spy with the clock ticking
Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci) desperately needs the help of Citadel's top operatives (pictured) - but faces the battle of convincing them of their past selves they can't remember
Matilda stunned in a plunging short-sleeved gold dress. Her series of Citadel begins on October 10
She beamed next to Joe Russo who wore a navy polo top and a maroon material-lined black leather jacket
Joe and his brother Anthony are two of several executive producers for the $300million series, which began in April 2023
Samantha stunned in a strapless navy gown with a gorgeous sheer design on its bottom half. Citadel: Honey Bunny will debut in November and was created by famed Indian duo Raj & DK
Gina Gardini stunned in a short-sleeved thick khaki top and grey trousers and a huge silver chain link necklace
Priyanka posed with the managing director for Prime Video UK, Chris Bird, who looked great in a black suit
Series one of Citadel had six episodes.
Citadel was renewed for a second series in March 2023, the month before it debuted, and Joe was announced to be directing all episodes.
Despite being one of the most expensive television shows ever created, Citadel has received mixed reviews.
Filming on the main series began in January 2021 and wrapped in December 2022. However, reshoots occurred in early and mid-2022 under the supervision of creator David Weil, the Russos, and series one director Thomas Sigel.
A recipe change in a popular Whole Foods product has raised alarms for incredulous shoppers who claim the store has 'ruined everything.'
The $5 Berry Chantilly Cake was a popular treat among Whole Foods shoppers until one curious fan discovered how it suddenly changed for the worse.
A online creator shared her frustrations and showed viewers the cake she bought, flat rated at $5, which she describes as having major changes from its original lush, fruit-filled recipe.
'It's now just a little English tea cake,' she said, further describing that the new version had berries on the outside, filled with jam in the middle of the sponge and is now 'half the size it used to be.'
The cake according to users online now is filled with jam in the middle instead of fruit, doesn't taste the same and is half the size it used to be
'It tastes like raspberry jam flavored cleaning product,' she said after tasting the cake.
The creator commented in another recent video that Whole Foods had been making all kinds of changes to their products and stores that equally disappointed customers.
Including taking the rotisserie machines off the floor, the discontinuation of sushi chefs in store, and the recipe change to the mac and cheese.
'We've let them ruin everything!', she said.
One commenter wrote, 'The way I audibly gasped.'
Another said, 'I used to work at whole foods bakery and its crazy ever since amazon bought it, they've gotten everything frozen and its more expensive.'
Another creator was equally disappointed.
Lisa, who usually posts about her law school experiences, referred to the change as 'criminal behavior'.
She continues that the 'worst news ever in my entire life' came when she found out the product was being changed.
The user says she used to get a slice on a weekly basis, but went in finding no slices available and was told it was because of the recipe change.
'He was like "oh we actually changed the recipe, we don't do it like that anymore",' she said, '"now they're sending to us frozen, there's no more fruit in the middle" and I was like why would they do that?'
She goes on to say: 'Not only are they taking the fruit out but they're increasing the price.'
Lisa, a user online, shared frustration in a video after finding out the cake she bought on 'a weekly basis' was now getting shipped in frozen with a change to the recipe
Lisa was also told the only original Chantilly cakes left are the full cakes, so she bought one and hoped to freeze the pieces but found out that the full cake still wasn't the same taste.
She ends the video expressing her disappointment and that she 'thinks all of America is disappointed', asking Whole Foods to reverse their decision.
Commenters on both videos shared their own disappointment, expressing their love for the old version of the cake.
One said, 'They have been getting rid of all the good stuff.'
Another tagged the Whole Foods account and said, 'WHAT, I'M UPSET @Whole Foods Market'
'NO, I GET THIS CAKE FOR MY BIRTHDAY EVERY YEAR', another commented.
Whole Foods told the Daily Dot: 'Previously, our Berry Chantilly by-the-slice cake program varied by store location.'
They continued: 'We recently aligned the flavor profile, size, packaging, and price so customers will have the same high-quality experience in each of our stores a delicious cake slice with fresh fruit, berry compote, cream cheese mascarpone, and fluffy vanilla cake layers.'
Companies are axing Gen Z workers just months after hiring them fresh from college, a new report has found.
Six in ten employers had already fired some college graduates they had recruited earlier in the year, a survey conducted by Intelligent.com found.
One in seven the employers said they also might not hire fresh college grads next year after finding a raft of problems with young workers.
Business leaders listed concerns in areas such as communications skills and professionalism that made them wary of hiring Gen Z.
They also said the workers of that age are often unmotivated and need to be constantly told what to do - rather than using their initiative - is another issue.
Business leaders admitted to already firing Gen Z hires they made earlier in the year
'Many recent college graduates may struggle with entering the workforce for the first time as it can be a huge contrast from what they are used to throughout their education journey,' Intelligent's Huy Nguyen wrote in the report.
'They are often unprepared for a less structured environment, workplace cultural dynamics, and the expectation of autonomous work,' he explained.
Three-quarters of companies surveyed said some or all of their recent graduate hires were unsatisfactory in some way.
A half said their Gen Z hires had a lack of motivation, making them difficult to work with.
The survey was posted on Reddit under the subject 'Companies Are Quickly Firing Gen Z Employees', prompting one user to write: 'Yeah checks out.
However, HR consultant Bryan Driscoll argues that it is not just young employees presenting a problem, but the education system itself which is not preparing its graduates for the working world.
Another wrote: 'As a milennial working with Gen Zs I have to admit that I've told a couple not to wear their bizarre trendy dirty 90s Filas to work.
'I literally never thought that would have been appropriate in an office environment as a young person.'
A third person said: 'They have issues showing up everyday where I work, so it's mainly attendance problems.'
'As someone who went through years of education, including law school, I can tell you this: colleges are not preparing students for real-world work,' Driscoll told Newsweek.
'Education today emphasizes theory over practice. Sure, learning Greek mythology is fascinating, but unless you're teaching it, how does that prepare you to communicate effectively in a corporate meeting or demonstrate professionalism? It doesn't.'
'Instead of teaching new hires what they want from them, employers are simply firing workers for not being prepared. It's a cyclical issue that reflects systemic failure on multiple levels,' he argued.
Nguyen acknowledged that some of the workplace issues were the fault of colleges failing to adequately prepare students.
'Although they may have some theoretical knowledge from college, they often lack the practical, real-world experience and soft skills required to succeed in the work environment,' he wrote in the report.
'Companies are failing workers by not taking responsibility for training and hoping that a college degree can substitute,' Driscoll concluded.
'It never has and, in our current system, it never will.'
Southwest Airlines is cutting almost a third of its flights to and from Atlanta in a blow to the city and staff based there.
It comes just days after the carrier warned that it will have to make some 'difficult decisions' in coming days under a plan to restore profits.
The cuts to flights, announced in a memo to staff on Wednesday morning, comes as the future of its passenger-friendly policies are under threat.
Changes will cut more than 300 pilot and flight attendant jobs from Atlanta, but there will be no job losses. Staff will have to relocate to another hub.
Flights to or from the city will fall from 567 per week to 361 as of April, the airline said Wednesday. Cities served from Atlanta will drop from 37 to 21.
Southwest has also boosted flights from Nashville, Tennessee as part of the new schedule that runs through June 4. The carrier will also start offering overnight flights from Hawaii to Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Southwest Airlines has warned that it will have to make some 'difficult decisions' in coming days under a plan to restore profits
The airline is desperately trying to cut costs as it battles Elliott Investment Management, a powerful hedge fund that has amassed a ten percent stake in the carrier. Elliott is demanding measures to cut costs and boost profits.
Already, Southwest has said it is axing its popular open seating policy after half a century. Instead, it will soon charge passengers a fee to pick a seat.
As well as a change of management, Elliott is demanding that Southwest's iconic 'bags fly free' perk is ditched - as the activist investor says charging for baggage will bring in tens of millions of dollars in revenue.
The loss of flights at Atlanta comes after even more drastic changes in April, when Southwest axed flights to four airports and fired 2,000 staff.
There is set to be more bad news for Southwest customers and staff tomorrow at an investor day at the airline's HQ in Dallas.
At the event, CEO Bob where Jordan is expected to outline a plan to restore the carrier's long-term profitability - a standard investors came to expect from the airline before the pandemic.
The proposed changes include plans to switch to assigned seating and extra-legroom seating. Those changes were first announced earlier in the summer - but tomorrow Jordan will explain the finer details.
Passengers will be able to pay a fee to select a seat in advance. They will also be offered more more premium seats - again, of course, for a fee.
Charging for extra legroom seats or ones that come with food and drinks is a move that competitors like Delta and United Airlines embraced years ago.
Elliott is fighting to oust CEO Bob Jordan and instill a new board with its own nominees.
Southwest, which once boasted a record 47 consecutive years of profit prior to the pandemic, is currently struggling to regain sustained profitability.
Interviews with analysts, investors, and workers suggest that the airline's long-running success may have led to overconfidence and stubbornness among its leaders.
'They have been far too ingrown and ... far too smitten with 'we've got to do it the Southwest way,'' said Rob Britton, a professor at Georgetown University.
It echoes an argument that Elliott, one of the airline's biggest investors, has made.
The activist investor has said Jordan and Southwest's soon to be former chairman Gary Kelly have refused to adapt the airline's business model.
The carrier has already pulled passenger-friendly policies like open seating, as it attempts to fend off changes demanded by activist Elliott Investment Management
The new steps will be announced during an investor day in Dallas, as investors like Elliott look to oust CEO Bob Jordan and instill a new board with its own nominees
In response to the criticisms, a Southwest spokesperson said the company typically does not make a decision unless there is data to support it.
'Throughout its history, Southwest has been very deliberate in decision making when it comes to the markets it serves and its business model,' the spokesperson said.
A report out earlier this year showed how airlines including Delta, United and American pocketed a staggering $33.3 billion from just baggage fees last year - a sharp 15 percent rise from $29 billion in 2022.
This sum is solely made up of fees from larger carry-on bags, standard checked baggage fees, and fines for overweight or extra large checked bags and accounted for 4.1 percent of global airline revenue last year.
Momentum is building for simultaneous elections, but with constitutional and political challenges ahead, its successful implementation remains uncertain
The ' one- nation -one poll' idea is moving towards Parliament and public debate, with the Modi government deciding to force the issue last week. The cabinet decided to bring a bill to Parliament in the coming session. The concept has been debated many times in the past, but no political consensus has evolved.The ruling BJP has been pushing to change the electoral system for a long time.
Congress rejected the idea when approached by former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and later BJP leader L K Advani in the past.The timing of the move was excellent, as it was on the day Modi completed 100 days in office in his third term last week. This is one of the critical electoral reforms the BJP has suggested in its manifestoes for about two decades. While the idea seems reasonable and doable, several questions have arisen. Is India ready for such a reform?
Does Prime Minister Modi have the required two-thirds majority to get the bill to amend the Constitution passed in Parliament? Is there a political consensus? These are a few questions that need answers.The primary and most important thing is that the bill can only be passed by mobilising two-thirds of the majority in Lok Sabha. In the recent 2024 polls, the BJP was 40 short of a majority in the house and could form the government only with the help of J.D. (U) and TeluguDesam. The BJP needs the support of the allies and also friendly parties. The BJP is for the reform as it would stop disruptions caused by the frequent changes in the election cycle. It would also help cut down on poll-related expenditures. Most Opposing parties reject the idea of simultaneous polls. They include the Congress, the Left parties, the Trinamool Congress, and regional and smaller parties. They reject it mainly to settle political scores and apprehension that they may benefit the BJP.
Former President Ram Nath Kovind's committee to go into the issue has unanimously endorsed the proposal after eliciting opinions from political parties. Thirty-two parties supported the problem, and 15 rejected it. The panel also indicated that the Centre formed a panel to oversee the implementation of this proposal. Also, there should be a joint electoral roll for all elections so that voters will use the same list for national, state, and local polls.
It would reduce errors in voter registration. The panel plans to talk with all the stakeholders. They also suggest having the votes in two parts. The first will be for Lok Sabha and Assembly votes, and the second for local groups. Historically, from 1952, the first election that was held, to 1967, it was a synchronised poll. But this changed when Indira Gandhi came to power. She began invoking Article 356 to dismiss the Opposition-ruled governments and thus started the independent election. It is continuing till today. However, the bill faces constitutional, legal, and political challenges. The panel has recommended amending the last five articles of the Constitution to hold simultaneous polls in the country. They are amendments to Articles 83 and 172. The BJP does not have a majority, while constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority. Also, the Constitution is silent over whether polls should happen simultaneously. The ultimate test is how Modi would mobilise an adequate number of M Ps in Parliament. Second, a political consensus is yet to be made. The BJP has not tried to deal with or persuade the opposition parties to agree.
The Opposition is in an aggressive mood and has yet to come on board because they believe simultaneous polls would mean an advantage for the BJP. Significantly bigger parties like Congress oppose it. The Left parties, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen have rejected the idea. The 15 opposing parties account for 205 MPs, while Modi requires 362 votes.
A legal framework is also needed to meet the necessary changes for simultaneous polls. It could address problems with the state governments collapsing in the middle of the term and toppling games played by the Centre. Since the idea is good and checks the wastage of money and policy paralysis, as well as the occurrence of elections every two years, the Opposition must think twice before rejecting the idea. They should bring that for public debate if they have an alternate plan.
On the whole, Modi is bringing this legislation to Parliament with a game plan. Win or lose, Modi gets the benefit. If he wins, it is the fulfilment of the poll promise. He can always claim that he brought the reform with good intentions if the bill is defeated, but the Opposition sabotaged it. While the bill may be delayed, it is still worth debating and finding ways to do so eventually. After all, election expenditure is also taxpayers' money.
(The writer is a popular columnist; views are personal)
An incident of molestation inside a Bhubaneswar police station has sent shockwaves across the country and caused outrage among the Fauji fraternity
A most despicable and obnoxious incident has taken place in Bhubaneswar, which till the incident occurred was believed to be the safest place for people especially women. The incident involving molestation inside a police station of an Army veteran's daughter and a serving officer's fiance has caused a turmoil within the community of the uniformed forces, which the government would find difficult to douse.
The task has become more difficult with the IT Cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its troll soldiers adding fuel to the fire. Social media influencer Rishi Bagree, known outpost of the IT Cell, posted some videos of the incident trying to put the blame on victim for inviting outrage of her modesty by the cops.
While this video may have had thumps up from the IT Cell followers but it has further added to the anger within the Fauji (defence) community.
A video released on the Daughter's Day last Sunday by a Fauji daughter and film-maker Nidhie Sharma, admonished likes of Bagree on micro blog platform X saying, Those who're outraged by the 'overconfident, arrogant' Army Daughter; who've convinced themselves she deserved to be assaulted, molested and flashed inside a police station because she dared the cops to do their job, and those what are now character assassinating her, need to know this. Fauji kids are no pushovers! And nor is the Fauji Fraternity. We stand together today.
The tweet has garnered more than 42K views. More damaging for the establishment is the fact that it has been circulated in the several thousand WhatsApp groups of the Fauji community, where the pain of a Fauji child being first molested and then berated is being severally expressed.
It's time for the people in the position of power, who may be yet to realise the angst the incident has caused among people in general and the Faujis in particular, to put their ears to the ground. The degree of anger is particularly high among the young officers and the armed forces brass has been working overtime to assuage the hurt feelings.
The petition before the Chief Justice of Odisha High Court was filed by the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Madhya Bharat Area, who on learning about the incident travelled from his headquarters in Madhya Pradesh to the Bhubaneswar for the purpose. This shows the enormity of concern which the brass had following the knowledge of the anger seething through the rank and file of armed forces.
In an extra-ordinary move to reach out the rank and file, a message purported to have been released by the GOC was also circulated through the various WhatsApp groups explaining the course of action and the relief it brought for the harassed officer and his fiance, including grant of bail by Odisha High Court. The message also gave the information that the police did its best to not let bail be listed for hearing and the High Court judge pulled up the Deputy Registrar for the oversight. This must have reassured the young officers.
However, this outreach initiative of the Army brass to keep the simmering anger under control would be thwarted if the IT Cell of the ruling party is left to its whims and fancies. Remember them calling the agitating farmers anti-nationals and terrorists. What did it end in, BJP being routed not just in Punjab assembly polls but all the farmer dominated seat in north India during the last Lok Sabha polls.
The Bhubaneswar incident came just a few days after the equally despicable incident in Indore. Earlier this month, two Army officers and their women friends were assaulted by six person at a picnic spot near Mhow cantonment. One of the women friends was also gang raped.
Though swift action followed and police arrested the alleged accused, what made the Fauj angry was the local Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police announcing that a departmental enquiry has been ordered against the officers too. Why should police speak for an internal matter of the Army?
These incidents are adding to the long fermenting anger caused by the unresolved issues of one-rank-one-pension, Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), Agneepath scheme and pay disparity among others. While the Narendra Modi government has emphasized national security and military prowess in its public messaging, many Indian Army officers feel that their professional concerns, particularly related to pay, promotions, and long-term welfare, have not been adequately addressed.
This has created a growing sense of disillusionment among the officer cadre. The government must realise that this disillusionment could get critical if its social media handles promote trolling of the Fauji families falling victim to civilian callousness. The government has lost faith of the Kisans, it should not lose trust of the Jawans.
(Sidharth Mishra is author & president Centre for Reforms, Development and Justice; views expressed are personal)
The deepening communal rivalry in Manipur demands urgent attention, dialogue and reconciliation for the future of this region
As part of my responsibilities as a Member of Parliament, I have had the opportunity to visit Northeast India to expand the community development programms initiated by the Government of India. Given the evolving turbulence in the region, I find myself reflecting on those visits, struggling to reconcile my previous perceptions with the current unrest.
During my visits, I had the pleasure of meeting several tribes across different states in the Northeast. The warmth and hospitality of the people were touching. In many villages, I was welcomed with such affection that it left a lasting impression. The people of this picturesque region are generally peaceful, cultured, talented, and well-educated. Manipur, in particular, has a rich cultural heritage, with its people being tolerant and possessing high aesthetic values. Each tribe follows its traditions with pride and devotion, which I found remarkable. Traveling all the way from Kerala, I felt completely at home.
However, it deeply saddens me to witness the current state of Manipur, which has become a center of violence and atrocities committed by one community against another. This heartbreaking situation stems from a decision on April 20, 2023, when the Manipur High Court directed the state government to "consider the request of the Meitei community to be included in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list." This ruling enraged the Kuki community, who feared that granting the Meiteis ST status would allow them to purchase land in the hilly areas reserved for tribes. Tensions escalated, and the Meitei community became increasingly vulnerable to attacks by the Kukis.
I view this crisis as more of a communal rivalry than a political or terrorist conflict. In light of this, I believe that religious leaders, particularly those from the Church, such as the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), as well as influential Cardinals and Archbishops, should step in to initiate a dialogue with the Central Government. Their involvement could help mediate and bring peace to this disturbed region. They could also appeal to Kuki rebel leaders to surrender their weapons and work towards eradicating illegal poppy cultivation, thereby contributing to lasting peace in Manipur. We've seen such successful strategies of surrender and reconciliation in other states like Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh in the past.
At the same time, the authorities seeming apathy towards those responsible for organized crime in Manipur raises concerns about incompetence or vested interests. Many criminals have fled the region, and it is crucial for the authorities to trace them and ensure they face the legal process. Additionally, those who have lost property or land due to the conflict must be compensated by the government. Delaying justice will only embolden the perpetrators and prolong the violence. The citizens of India expect prompt and decisive action to restore peace in Manipur.
The region's significant involvement in opium cultivation has allowed certain groups to amass both wealth and power, fueling the cycle of violence. It is disheartening that despite their Christian faith, some are failing to adhere to the teachings of the Church and the laws of the land. Their actions not only perpetuate violence but also set a dangerous precedent for the younger generation, leading to a rise in drug addiction and moral degradation.The people of the Northeast yearn for peace, and the entire country prays for an end to this violence. The insurgency and militancy must cease. At this critical juncture, my heartfelt plea is that the Kukis, find it within themselves to share love, compassion, and respect for other tribes, so they may live together in peace.
(The writer is a former Member of Parliament; views are personal)
Filmmaker Payal Kapadia's "All We Imagine As Light" is set to arrive in theatres across France on October 2, its lead actor Kani Kusruti said on Wednesday.
The news comes days after the Malayalam-Hindi movie, the winner of the Grand Prix award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, was released in limited screens in Kerala on September 21 by Rana Daggubati's production house Spirit Media.
"All We Imagine As Light", titled "Prabhayay Ninachathellam" in Malayalam, narrates the story of two Kerala nurses Prabha (Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha) co-habiting in Mumbai. It is an official Indo-French co-production between Chalk and Cheese Films from India and petit chaos from France.
Kusruti, currently in Paris with co-star Prabha, posted about the film's France release in an Instagram post.
"Our movie 'ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT' scheduled to be released in France by @condordistribution on 2 October 2024. Thrilled to see our film's poster in Paris, France!
"Grateful to be part of world cinema, where stories speak every language. #allweimagineaslight #WorldCinema #CrossingBorders #DreamsOnScreen Ps: Missing all the other actors and crew in this picture," she wrote alongside a series of pictures and videos.
"All We Imagine As Light", also starring Chhaya Kadam, will subsequently be released across all major cities in India by Spirit Media.
The movie charted history earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival, where it became the first Indian film ever to win the prestigious Grand Prix. It was also the first film from India to make it to the European gala's main competition in 30 years.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held separate meetings with his counterparts from Spain, Cyprus and Moldova on the sidelines of the UNGA, discussing regional issues, including the ongoing conflicts in West Asia and Ukraine, while exchanging views to enhance bilateral ties.
Jaishankar is in the US to participate in the 79th session of the high-level UN General Assembly (UNGA) and will address the General Debate on September 28.
On the sidelines of the General Assembly session on Tuesday, he also held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Bolivia and Guyana, and the European Commissioner for Climate Action.
Jaishankar said he was "delighted" to meet Spain's Foreign Minister J?ose Manuel Albares Bueno, with whom he had a "good" talk.
"Delighted to meet FM @jmalbares of Spain this afternoon in NY. Good conversation on our bilateral cooperation as well as on Ukraine and West Asia," he said in a post on X.
Bueno also took to X, asserting that India is an "essential global player" and a "priority" partner for Spain.
"We discussed our bilateral relations, including trade and cultural relations. We also discussed the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific," Bueno said.
Jaishankar also met Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos and discussed the conflict in West Asia and its "larger implications".
"A good conversation with FM @ckombos from Cyprus on sidelines of #UNGA79 today. We focussed on ongoing developments in West Asia and their larger implications. Also discussed taking our bilateral cooperation forward," he said in a separate X post.
Jaishankar held a meeting with his Moldovian counterpart Mihai Pop?oi, who is also the country's Deputy Prime Minister.
"Appreciate meeting FM @MihaiPopsoi of Moldova today. Discussed the potential for cooperation in investment, education and tourism. Also exchanged views on the Ukraine conflict," he said in a separate post.
The external affairs minister also met his "dear friend", EU Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra.
"Always good to see dear friend and EU Commissioner @WBHoekstra, this time on the sidelines of #UNGA79. Appreciate his support for deepening India-EU partnership," Jaishankar said in an X post.
He also met his counterparts from Guyana, Hugh Hilton Todd, and Bolivia, Celinda Sosa Lunda, and discussed various facets of bilateral ties, while exchanging ways to bolster these further.
Earlier, he met his counterparts from France, Panama and Malta.
In a veiled attack on Congress first family, the Gandhis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accused the Congress on handing over Haryana to dalals (middlemen) and damads (sons-in-law). While Modi did not explicitly name anyone, his allusion was clear to many in the audience, who erupted in applause.
Wherever the Congress has put its foot, corruption and bhai-bhatijawaad (nepotism) are inevitable. Congress has given birth to corruption in the Government system. The Congress party is the mother of corruption in our country, the Prime Minister said.
During an election rally in Gohana, Sonipat that before the October 5 Assembly polls, he also lashed out at the Congress over the issue of reservation, alleging opposing reservation and hatred towards it are in its DNA. Modi firmly established that every Prime Minister from the Congress royal family has consistently opposed reservations. 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.
He cautioned the public that even the fourth generation of the Congress royal family is now advocating for the abolition of reservations. He urged citizens to remain vigilant against Congresss anti-reservation tactics.
Ahead of PM Modis rally in Sonipat, the Congress claimed that Haryanas farmers have completely lost trust in the BJP and asked Prime Minister Modi to spell out his partys vision for ensuring that the states farmers can make a decent living.
The Prime Minister observed that in every Congress-ruled State, their Chief Ministers and Ministers are embroiled in disputes, showing no concern for the peoples suffering. He noted that the rising disputes within Congress are evident to all of Haryana, stating: Voting for Congress means putting Haryanas stability and development at risk. Slamming the main Opposition party, he said Congress Governments are known for instability.
In the past few years wherever it formed Governments, Chief Ministers and Ministers were involved in infighting. They have nothing to do with the pain and problems of the people, Modi said as he cited the example of Congress-ruled Karnataka.
In Karnataka, its Chief Minister and deputy Chief Minister are busy in internal fighting. In Telangana and Himachal Pradesh, it is the same story, he said in his second rally in the State, the first being over a week ago in Kurukshetra.
Modi also mentioned about alleged infighting in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh when the Congress was in power there.
Therefore, Haryana has to be cautious. Haryana has right over me. Remember, if Congress comes to power even by mistake, it will ruin Haryana due to its infighting, he warned.
The way infighting is rising in Congress, entire Haryana is watching, he said. Voting for Congress means putting Haryanas stability and development at stake and opening the doors of destruction, he further said.
This instability will stop every work in Haryana. Investment and jobs will be impacted, said Modi. Notably, with Haryana going to polls next month, the ruling BJP has been targeting the Congress over the alleged infighting in its Haryana unit and even claimed that Lok Sabha member and prominent Dalit leader Kumari Selja is unhappy with her party over ticket distribution and so is staying away from the poll campaign. Former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had also invited Selja to join the BJP but she dismissed any possible switch, saying, I am a Congress person, I will remain a Congress person.
Referring to his US visit, Modi said he met top leaders and representatives of large companies. I told them about the talent of Indian youth. He said under the BJP Government, Haryana has made a place among top states in industry and agriculture sectors. Today, the worlds biggest companies are interested in setting up factories in India, he said, adding when industrialisation increases, its biggest benefit goes to poor, farmers and Dalits.
A healthy voter turnout of over 56 per cent was recorded in the second phase of polling across 26 Assembly segments of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday amid unprecedented security arrangements.
In the first phase, 61.38 per cent voter turnout was recorded across 24 Assembly segments.
The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi seat in the Jammu region recorded the overall highest voting percentage at 79.95 %, followed closely by Poonch Haveli at 73.78 per cent, till 6.00 pm.
Compared to the recent Lok Sabha polls the voter turnout across six districts, which went to the polls in the second phase, recorded a tentative jump of 5 per cent.
Since morning, the atmosphere at the polling stations was vibrant and the excitement was writ large as first-time voters, centenarians, and specially-abled people expressed their resolve to strengthen the grassroots democracy.
Feeling elated, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar Wednesday described the ongoing Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir as history in the making, saying people are standing in long queues outside polling booths at places where calls were once given to boycott the democratic exercise.
It is a festival of democracy. Voting is taking place in areas where it did not take place earlier. There were calls for disruption and boycotts in the past. It is a standing ovation for democracy, the CEC said in the presence of fellow election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.
A total number of six districts, three each in Jammu and Kashmir region witnessed healthy participation of voters. Barring a few incidents and allegations of slow polling, the overall polling process passed off peacefully. Briefing media persons in Srinagar, Chief Electoral Officer, PK Pole said in the second phase voter turn out of approximately 56.79 per cent was recorded across 26 Assembly segments till 6pm.
Out of six districts, Reasi district in Jammu recorded the highest voter turn out of over 74.14 per cent while Srinagar reported the lowest voter turn out of around 29.24 per cent. Poonch recorded a total turnout of 73.78 per cent, Budgam 63 per cent and Ganderbal 62.63 per cent.
The maximum voting percentage among the 15 Assembly segments in the Kashmir valley was recorded in Kangan (ST) at 71.89 per cent and Khansahib at 71.66 per cent. It was followed by Chrar-i-Sharief at 67.44 per cent. However, the lowest 18.39 per cent voting was recorded in the Habbakadal constituency here till 6pm. Rajouri district also witnessed 70 per cent polling. All five Assembly constituencies in the district witnessed healthy voter turn out, especially in villages located close to the line of control.
The second phase of polling will decide the fate of 239 candidates including former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, contesting from two seats - Budgam and Ganderbal, J and K BJP Chief Ravinder Raina contesting from Nowshera Assembly segment of Rajouri, JKPCC Chief Tariq Hamid Karra Central Sheltang in Srinagar.
The Election Commission of India had set up 3,502 polling stations in these segments. There are 1,056 urban polling stations and 2,446 rural polling stations.
A multi-tier security blanket was thrown around each polling station to instill a sense of security among the voters.
A Special Court on Wednesday ordered Lokayukta police probe against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case. The court also directed the police to file the investigation report by December 24. The order of the Special Court Judge, Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, came a day after the High Court upheld the sanction granted by the Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to conduct an investigation against Siddaramaiah on
the allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife BM Parvathi by MUDA.
Reacting to the Special Court order, Siddaramaiah reiterated that he was ready to face an investigation. Already I have said that I am ready to face an investigation. I am not afraid of a probe, Siddaramaiah told reporters here. I am ready for a legal fight. I had said this yesterday and I am reiterating it today as well.
The Special Court deals exclusively with criminal cases related to former and elected MPs/ MLAs issued the order directing the Lokayukta police in Mysuru to initiate an investigation on the complaint filed by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna.
The Court issued directions to take up investigation under section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) (that gives a magistrate the power to order an investigation into a cognisable offense.)
The HC had dismissed Siddaramaiahs petition challenging the legality of the Governors August 16 order granting approval for investigation under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988.
In the MUDA site allotment case, it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiahs wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been acquired by the MUDA. The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts. It is alleged that Parvathi had no legal title over this 3.16 acres of land at survey number 464 of Kasare village, Kasaba Hobli of Mysuru taluk.
The Opposition BJP and JD(S) in Karnataka sought to step up its demand for Siddaramaiahs resignation. Holding posters, placards and raising slogans, members of BJP Yuva Morcha marched towards Chief Ministers residence Cauvery, but the police thwarted their attempt, took them into preventive custody and whisked them away in a bus. Leaders and workers of the JD(S), an NDA partner, headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, staged a demonstration at the Freedom Park here before proceeding to Cauvery but were stopped by police.
Come this winter, citizens of the national Capital can experience relief from the notorious air pollution that plagues Delhi, especially during the winter months, with a range of measures, including drone monitoring, an intensified anti-dust campaign, road-sweeping machines, and the deployment of 200 mobile anti-smog guns among others.
Emphasising collaboration between the Government and residents to combat Delhis seasonal pollution spike, State Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday launched the citys Winter Action Plan which also includes a special task force, penalties for dust violations, a ban on firecrackers, and public awareness initiatives.
The Government has formed a six-member task force consisting of representatives from key departments, including transport, environment, revenue, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and the traffic police. Under the theme Mil Kar Chale, Pradushan Se Lade, drone monitoring will be used for the first time to track pollution hotspots in real-time in a bid to ensure more precise and targeted interventions.
Starting from October 7, the anti-dust campaign will be rolled out, targeting construction sites larger than 500 square meters, which must register on a designated website. Strict penalties will be imposed on violators who contribute to dust pollution. Additionally, the city will deploy 85 road-sweeping machines and 500 water-sprinkling vehicles to control road dust, one of the major contributors to air pollution.
In the plan, public awareness campaigns will play a crucial role in the plan with initiatives like the Harit Padyatra, where participants will walk with plants on their heads to raise awareness about greenery, and the Red Light On, Gadi Off campaign, aimed at curbing vehicular emissions, will be part of this effort. An electric vehicle parade and an anti-pollution march are also planned to encourage people to adopt more sustainable practices.
As part of efforts to control air pollution during the winter, the Government will increase the use of mobile anti-smog guns, which will now be deployed three times a day, compared to once daily last year. The ban on firecrackers, introduced in previous years, will continue this year.
The citys Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) will also be activated to implement emergency measures when air quality deteriorates. The Government has formed 588 teams to prevent the open burning of garbage, another significant source of winter pollution.
Rai also highlighted the improved air quality in Delhi over recent years, noting that the number of polluted days had decreased from 243 in 2016 to 159 in 2022, representing a 34.6 percent reduction. However, he acknowledged that pollution from neighbouring states, particularly stubble burning, remains a challenge.
To combat stubble burning, which significantly worsens air quality during the winter months, bio-decomposers will be sprayed across 5,000 acres of farmland to minimise its impact. Additionally, a 360-member team has been established to monitor vehicle emissions and ensure that older vehicles comply with emission standards.
The Minister emphasised that, if necessary, the city could reintroduce the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme to reduce traffic emissions. The Government is also exploring the possibility of inducing artificial rain to clear pollutants from the air during critical periods of high pollution.
The Winter Action Plan also aims to incentivise efforts to reduce pollution by introducing the Harit Ratan Award, which will recognise individuals, organisations, or Government departments that make significant contributions to pollution control.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Madhya Pradesh (GoMP)organized a workshop on Tuesday to commemorate 25 years of partnership and reaffirm their commitment to further strengthen this collaboration to support the state's long-term economic growth.
The workshop, attended by senior officials from the GoMP led by Additional Chief Secretary of the General Administration Department Sanjay Dubey, discussed potential ADB investments and knowledge support to address the emerging development needs of the state. India's Department of Economic Affairs Joint Secretary Juhi Mukherjee joined the workshop along with officials from several state governments associated with implementing ADB projects. ADB staff in Manila and the India Resident Mission led by its Country Director Mio Oka, attended the workshop.
"ADB has been a steadfast partner in Madhya Pradesh's economic growth and development," Dubey said that. "We look forward to ADB's continued partnership in our next phase, which will emphasize comprehensive development in urban and industrial sectors. connectivity, education and skill enhancement and multi-sector approach to boost state's economic competitiveness."
Oka stated, "We deeply appreciate the trust placed in us by the Government of Madhya Pradesh, instrumental in building and sustaining this enduring 25-year partnership." "ADB looks forward to continue its support to the state's development agenda including focus on harnessing the state's solar energy potential, promoting agribusiness, improving school education, developing the health and care workforce and fostering public-private partnerships."
Mukherjee stated, "We are pleased that ADB's partnership with the state has been based on innovations and robust finance plus elements, which should be documented and shared with other states as well," She also recommended that the next phase of ADB support should adopt a strategic approach, focusing on multisector and transformative projects to maximize the multiplier effect of ADB financing.
It may be mentioned that the collaboration between ADB and Madhya Pradesh Govt. began in 1999. In Madhya Pradesh, ADB has assisted various projects in transport, energy, urban development, Irrigation, and education sector.
Currently six ADB assisted projects worth Rs 16596 crores are being implemented in the State of Madhya Pradesh in the sector of Urban, Road, Energy. Irrigation and Skill Development. Two other projects in the sector of urban and New and Renewable energy are in the pipeline that shall be implemented.
Udbhav has been doing a commendable job of connecting the youth with Indian culture. The work that Udbhav is doing in a committed manner to take Indian culture to the highest level on the global map is highly commendable. The activities of Udbhav to connect the youth with their culture is priceless.
These were among some of the views expressed by the Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi during his interactions with the delegation of Udbhav at the Army Headquarters.
The Army Chief added that Gwalior is a city of music and that he will definitely be happy to come to Gwalior for Udbhav's event.
On this occasion, Udbhav presented the souvenir "Gwalior to Rome" published on its 25-year journey to the Army Chief and informed him about the work being done by Udbhav at the national and international level. On behalf of Udbhav, the Army Chief Upendra Dwivedi was also invited to come to Gwalior for the Udbhav festival.
On Wednesday, during the inaugural ceremony of the UP International Trade Show-2024, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a special meeting with the Vietnamese delegation.
As part of the five-day global industry mahakumbh, which commenced on Wednesday at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida, Chief Minister Yogi engaged with various delegates, including the Ambassador of Vietnam.
It is anticipated that Vietnamese companies will soon invest in the food processing and IT sectors in Uttar Pradesh.
Notably, Vietnam is serving as the partner country for this major event. In this context, Chief Minister Yogi expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Vietnamese team for their participation. He praised Vietnam from the stage during the inaugural session. The chief minister also thanked the Vietnamese ambassador during his meeting with him.
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese delegation also featured artisets showcasing traditional arts, who captivated visitors from across the nation and around the globe during the cultural programme held on Wednesday.
Upset over the defacement of public property during the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday said the vice chancellor should take strict action, including annulment of the polls, or defer them till all the defacement is removed.
A bench of Chief Justice Designate Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said crores of rupees were prima facie being spent by candidates and orally asked the university vice chancellor to step in and take strict action. People are "behaving like illiterates" in a place of learning, the court said and added the election system is not there to corrupt the youth.
The bench suggested that the university should defer the elections, scheduled for September 27, or disqualify the candidates and start nomination afresh or should allow polling but not declare the results till all the defacement is removed.
The university counsel, on instructions of the chief election officer of the university who was present in the court, urged that the matter be taken up on Thursday as the authorities plan to take a decision on it by then.
The court then listed the matter for further hearing on Thursday and directed the Delhi Police to cooperate with the Delhi University, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Delhi Metro to ensure that no further defacement of public property takes place and the defacement already done is removed.
Look at the amount of defacement done. The vice chancellor should act on this and if it takes annulment of elections, let it be done. Let all the money spent go into drains. Whosoever's poster is there, send the bill to him, the bench said.
Going through photographs of the defacement of public property, the bench said the situation during the DUSU polls was worse than the general elections.
It observed that elections are a festival of democracy and not of laundering money and said, this amounts to corruption. If the students end up getting corrupt at this stage, there is no end. People have so much money power in these elections. It is a festival of democracy and not a festival of laundering of money. This is laundering of money, which is going on. These are some crores being spent here.
The election system is not to corrupt the youth. The use of this amount of money in students' union elections is corrupting the students right at the inception. In a place of learning, people are behaving like illiterates. Only an illiterate can behave like this. Delhi University is doing nothing. Take stringent action so that these people get to know that they cannot get away like this. This shows there is no dearth of money. Let the vice chancellor call a meeting today itself, an annoyed bench said.
Justice Manmohan observed, This is done by a literate group or is it an illiterate group doing this? This sort of defacement and all will be done by someone who is illiterate. I think this is the failure of our education system and these activities should be dealt with heavy hands.
You tell them to first clean it up, it must be repainted, restored and then you allow elections to take place, the court said. The court was hearing a plea seeking action against the prospective DUSU candidates and student political outfits involved in damaging, defacing, soiling or destroying the beauty of public walls.
Petitioner Prashant Manchanda, a practising advocate, also sought action against those involved in damaging classrooms, thus denying the citizens a clean and beautiful environment and surroundings free from defacement as well as depriving the students of their right to education.
The remarkable progress of Uttar Pradesh under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths leadership took centre stage at the UP International Trade Show-2024 at Expo Mart in Greater Noida on Wednesday.
The event drew a large crowd on its opening day, showcasing the states rapid development.
Utprerak from Siddharthnagar launched a startup a year ago, producing bakery products made from black salt rice. He shared that he applied for startup support through Invest UP.
The business commenced within the designated timeframe, and the Yogi government provided a subsidy. Furthermore, the government consistently encourages my business, he noted, mentioning his participation in exhibitions in countries such as Thailand.
Ayesha Begum from Prayagraj creates products from moonj grass, employing 20 women in her venture. Ayesha explained that the government trained her team in munj production, providing food and kits during the training.
Plastic poses a significant threat to the environment. The Yogi government has raised public awareness about this issue, leading to an increased demand for moonj products, she stated.
On the opening day of the trade show, Gunjans stall in Ambedkar Nagar attracted a significant crowd, with attendees praising her pizzas while she expressed gratitude to the government. Gunjan recounted how her husband lost his hotel job during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I borrowed Rs 10,000 from a self-help group to purchase a pizza-making machine. The business quickly took off. Later, I borrowed Rs 50,000 for a second machine and eventually obtained Rs 1,00,000 for a larger machine, she explained.
Sanyam from Muzaffarnagar, who runs a jaggery business, noted the substantial benefits entrepreneurs gain from such trade shows. He stated, The Yogi government offers more subsidies than those available in Delhi. Law and order in Uttar Pradesh has improved significantly, and we now have 24-hour electricity, which is boosting business activities.
Sanskriti from Varanasi, a zari craft entrepreneur, remarked on the eradication of corruption under Yogi Adityanaths administration. She noted the enhanced law and order, stating, As a woman, I never feel afraid. The government is empowering women with security, respect and self-reliance.
Roshan Kumar, a handloom entrepreneur from Ghazipur, mentioned that this is his second consecutive year setting up a stall at the trade show. He expressed optimism based on last years successful business.
Vinod Kumar from Aligarh also commended the Yogi government for fostering a business-friendly environment.
The Uttar Pradesh government, under the guidance of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, is gearing up to host Krishi Bharat Mela, on the lines of the UP International Trade Show, in November.
Scheduled to be held in Lucknow from November 15 to 18, the event aims to promote innovations in the states agricultural sector.
The Netherlands has been included as a partner country for this fair, similar to the International Trade Show.
Spanning over 20,000 square metres, the Krishi Bharat Mela is expected to feature more than 200 exhibitors and attract over one lakh farmers.
The event will also include more than 10 seminars and see the participation of over 4,000 agriculture-related business visitors. Farmers from eight states have been invited to attend the event.
The fair will serve as a platform to showcase the latest innovations in agriculture and offer farmers an opportunity to engage with these advancements.
Various stalls will highlight different aspects of agriculture, such as Agriculture Tourism, a Sustainability Zone, a Farmer Wellness Zone and a Young Farmers Zone.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, while speaking at the inauguration of the UP International Trade Show-2024 at India Expo Mart in Greater Noida, praised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths leadership, saying law and order defines democracy and the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath defines law and order.
How can one best describe CM Yogi Adityanath? Under his dynamic governance, the countrys largest state is flourishing, and his game-changing approach is significantly benefiting the entire nation. I am truly impressed by his unique style of working tirelessly, 24x7, he said.
Nothing is more crucial for attracting investment than maintaining law and order. Law and order defines democracy and the Chief Minister of UP, Yogi Adityanath, defines law and order, he remarked.
Before the formal inauguration of the UP International Trade Show-2024, marked by the lighting of the ceremonial lamp Manideep, Vice President Dhankhar, along with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, toured the various stalls set up across the exhibition halls.
Expressing his delight at the event, the Vice President Dhankhar conveyed his heartfelt congratulations. He remarked, Walking through the stalls here, I felt as though I was in one of the most developed nations in the world. This trade show offers a tremendous platform, connecting the states artisans and craftsmen with global buyers. I commend Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his visionary, practical, and forward-thinking leadership.
The vice president expressed his pleasure at Vietnam, a nation with a remarkable GDP in Southeast Asia, joining as the partner country for the second edition of the UP International Trade Show. He assured Vietnam that it was in the right place to connect with the best minds at this event. Here, we experience the rich cultures of both India, especially Uttar Pradesh, and Vietnam. The similarities between the two nations are truly fascinating, he remarked.
Vice President Dhankhar stressed that the visitors from Uttar Pradesh and across India will also have the opportunity to savour authentic Vietnamese cuisine, known for its distinct flavours, further strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modis visionary leadership for raising the voice of the global south on the global stage, emphasising that this event will leave every attendee with a sense of joy and fulfillment.
The vice president stressed that the entire country should be made aware of this significant event, recommending its broadcast on Sansad TV.
The exhibition showcases the states technical prowess, cultural heritage and initiatives like One District-One Product.
He commended the seamless coordination between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in implementing development projects, highlighting that there is no room for corruption or inefficiency. He noted that UP is rapidly transforming into an Udhyam Pradesh due to Chief Minister Yogis relentless efforts.
Reflecting on Indias rich history, Vice President Dhankhar stated that while the country has always been proud of being the worlds oldest civilisation, it had lost its momentum for a time. Now, we have regained that momentum, which is immensely satisfying, he said.
He praised Chief Minister Yogi for taking bold, forward-thinking steps in governance, noting that while the states economic situation was shaky for a decade, the current comprehensive transformation has made UP a favoured destination for global investors.
The vice president highlighted that Uttar Pradesh is thriving with development and innovation across all sectors. He confidently stated that in the next two years, Indias economy will surpass Germany and Japan, becoming the third largest globally.
Vice President Dhankhar credited Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths leadership for establishing world-class infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh, including airports, expressways and highways.
In the third term of Prime Minister Modis government, 12 new industrial areas have been developed and artificial intelligence is making significant strides. The World Bank and IMF have lauded Indias progress, particularly in digitalisation and technological advancements. After a decade of the Make in India initiative, the positive outcomes are clear across multiple sectors, with Uttar Pradesh emerging as a leader, he remarked.
Vice President Dhankhar stressed that nothing is more crucial than law and order. He recalled how Uttar Pradesh, with its rich cultural heritage, once struggled with lawlessness, fear and limited development opportunities. However, under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths leadership, the state has witnessed unprecedented transformation, he added.
This change is nothing short of extraordinary, he said, noting that corruption is now a thing of the past, and UP has reemerged as a formidable force within India.
He further emphasised that Uttar Pradesh aims to achieve a $1-trillion economy by 2027, with a strong focus on infrastructure development.
The Yogi Effect is driving this progress, he added.
Noida alone contributes 10 per cent to the states GDP, a testament to the regions skill-rich workforce. Uttar Pradesh is now a key engine of growth, propelling the nation forward, he pointed out.
This is not merely an exhibition, but a gateway of opportunities for everyone, Vice President Dhankhar remarked. He emphasised that this event embodies the vision of a self-reliant India and the journey from local to global. He likened the nations progress to a grand maha yajna aimed at achieving the goal of a fully developed India by 2047, urging that every individual must contribute and make sacrifices to realise this vision.
Union MSME Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, UPs Industrial Development Minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi, MSME Minister Rakesh Sachan, Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh, Fisheries Minister Sanjay Nishad, Transport Minister Daya Shankar Singh, Minister of State for Public Works Brijesh Singh, Minister of State for Industrial Development Jaswant Saini, Gautam Buddha Nagar MP Dr Mahesh Sharma, Rajya Sabha member Surendra Nagar, MLA Dhirendra Singh, Tejpal Singh Nagar, MLC Narendra Bhati Expo Mart Chairman Rakesh Kumar, entrepreneurs, handicraftsmen, exhibitors, buyers and others from the country and state were present in the inaugural ceremony.
UP now a favorite destination
for investors, says Manjhi
Greater Noida (PNS): Speaking at the event, Union MSME Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi commended Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and extended his best wishes for the success of the second edition of the UP International Trade Show.
He lauded the ODOP scheme, noting that UP is playing a pivotal role in fostering an industrial ecosystem in India.
The countrys economic growth is closely tied to the progress of UP, he remarked, adding that the world-class infrastructure developed under Chief Minister Yogis leadership has made the state a top choice for investors.
The Union minister also assured that the Central government would extend full support to Uttar Pradeshs MSME sector.
Highlighting the sectors importance, he mentioned that MSMEs contribute 45 per cent of Indias exports, with 14 per cent of the countrys MSME units over 9.6 million located in Uttar Pradesh. This not only bolsters the national economy but also plays a significant role in empowering women, he added.
Managing Director of MP Transco, Er. Sunil Tiwari took a review meeting of Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company in view of the upcoming Rabi season in Madhya Pradesh.
In the meeting, Managing Director Er Sunil Tiwari discussed the current affairs of the company, reviewed the progress of maintenance work of transmission lines and substations and seriously discussed the challenges of possible increase in electricity demand during irrigation in the months of November and December and measures to deal with it. In this review meeting, he directed that M. P. Transco officials should be prepared to handle the possible maximum power demand in the upcoming Rabi season in Madhya Pradesh.
The Managing Director directed that all maintenance works should be completed on time before the Rabi season and availability of all materials and spare parts to be used in emergency situations should be ensured.
He said that the work related to Prime Minister Jal Jeevan Mission should be completed on priority and the remaining work of installation of capacitor banks in sub-stations should be completed soon so that its benefits start getting from this Rabi season.
Er. Sunil Tiwari gave instructions to maintain tight arrangements during Rabi season.
He said during the meeting that to maintain excellence in all the works of MP Transco, there is a need to work with changes and new technology as per the times.
While giving instructions to follow the safety norms during work, he said that the safety of the employees is of paramount importance, hence there is a need to develop a culture of working with safety among them.
Appreciating the continuous weekly training being given to the employees in MP Transco on various subjects, he gave special instructions to provide training on new subjects like personality development, communication skills and life saving CPR technique in emergency. Heads of departments of Transco's head quarter Jabalpur and senior officials from entire Madhya Pradesh participated in this meeting.
Chhindwara police have arrested a miscreant who stole a four-wheeler by feeding the driver eayables laced with intoxicants. The police have also arrested two accused who bought stolen vehicles.
An Ertiga car bearing registration number MH40AR1675 worth about Rs 4 lakh, a grey coloured Dzire car bearing registration number MP18ZD1138 worth about Rs 6 lakh and a white coloured Dzire car bearing registration number MP04ED4523 worth about Rs 6.5 lakh have been seized from the accused.
Complainant Kanhaiya Nagle of Azad Ward, Multai complained that on September 10 at 9.30 am, car owner Sanjay Taywade called him and told him that he has to take a person to Chhindwara by car. I brought an unknown person to Chhindwara in an Ertiga car bearing registration number MH40AR1675. The unknown person left me in the car and went away telling him that he had some work and after 15-20 minutes he brought juice for and offered, after which I started feeling dizzy and fainted. When I regained consciousness at around 07 pm, the unknown person had gone somewhere with the car. When I could not find him after searching a lot, I called the owner and told him the whole incident. A crime was registered in the Kotwali police station.
During the investigation, the police team collected important evidence regarding the incident using all technical resources, in which CCTV footage of the suspects was collected and informers were activated.
On the night of September 22 information was that a person resembling the appearance of the person who stole the car was roaming near the bus stand Chhindwara. On the information, the police team immediately nabbed the person from the bus stand Chhindwara and brought him to the police station Kotwali, the accused told his name as Zulfiqar alias Zulfi Saifi resident of Jabalpur and admitted to stealing the applicant's car. Apart from this incident, the accused also admitted to committing 03 other incidents with his partner Siraj Ahmed.
He confessed that he booked a Bolero pickup vehicle from Chhindwara district and took it to Narsinghpur district. He fed sleeping pills to the driver of the pickup and stole the pickup vehicle from there, he sold this pickup vehicle to Lallu Gupta, a resident of Shahdol.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Wednesday, paid homage to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya on the latters birth anniversary by garlanding his statue at the Deendayal Upadhyay Smritika near Jai Narain College on Charbagh Road.
In his address, Yogi emphasised that it was Upadhyayas visionary leadership that brought villages, the underprivileged, farmers and women to the forefront of political agendas across parties.
He said, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was the pioneer of Antyodaya, a profound thinker, philosopher and one of the founding leaders of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. The principles that Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya introduced to Indian politics 60-70 years ago continue to resonate in Indian democracy today, as reflected in numerous programmes initiated by political parties.
Yogi remarked that Pandit Deendayal Upadhyayas ideology focused on the uplift of villages, the poor, farmers, marginalised sections of society and women, guiding them toward self-reliance.
He championed the motto, Work for every hand, water for every field, believing that true economic progress is not reflected by the prosperity of the elite, but by the uplift and well-being of those at the bottom of society, he stated.
Yogi Adityanath added, The vision Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya introduced to Indian politics 70 years ago remains as relevant today as ever. This vision is evident in the significant strides made since the COVID-19 pandemic: 80 crore people receiving free rations, 12 crore households gaining access to toilets, 10 crore families benefiting from free Ujjwala Yojana cooking gas cylinders, four crore poor receiving houses, and 12 crore farmers benefiting from the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. This reflects a commitment to holistic development, aiming to uplift society through cultural progress and the nations overall growth.
Chief Minister Yogi further noted that under Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership, this vision has been brought to life over the past decade, paving the way for a new India.
He mentioned that the Bharatiya Janata Party, the worlds largest political party, has chosen to commemorate Pandit Upadhyayas birth anniversary as the day to launch its membership campaign. He also commended the BJPs Lucknow Mahanagar team for their ambitious goal of enrolling 100 members at every booth.
The chief minister echoed Prime Minister Modis belief that elections are won not at the district, parliamentary or assembly level, but at the booth level.
The booth is the Kurukshetra of elections. Winning the booth means winning the election. A strong booth ensures victory, he said.
BJP state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh, Mayor Sushma Kharkwal, Rajya Sabha member Brijlal, MLA Neeraj Bora, MLC Mukesh Sharma, Ramchandra Pradhan, Lalji Prasad Nirmal, former minister Mohsin Raza, BJP city president Anand Dwivedi, councilor Sushil Tiwari, booth president Manish Kumar and others were present at the programme.
During the event, the chief minister also inducted five new members into the Bharatiya Janata Party as part of its membership drive.
He expressed confidence that the targets set by the BJP at the national, state and booth levels would be easily met by the partys dedicated workers. So far, the city of Lucknow has successfully added 2,52,494 new members.
In a remarkable medical achievement, an 18-year-old boy presented at the cardiology outpatient department (OPD) of AIIMS hopal with complaints of tiredness and shortness of breath. He had sought a second opinion after being advised of a mitral valve replacement due to leakage in the left side of the heart.
Dr. Bhushan Shah, a senior cardiologist at AIIMS Bhopal, conducted a thorough examination of the patient, including an echocardiogram (ECHO), which revealed no signs of typical conditions like rheumatic heart disease, infective endocarditis (valve infection), connective tissue disorders, or congenital abnormalities. To gain further clarity, a 3D Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE) was performed, mapping the valve structure. It was discovered that the leak was from the periphery of the left mitral valve, a rare condition typically treated by surgery.
However, given the patient's young age, Dr. Bhushan Shah decided to take a less invasive approach. Instead of opting for traditional open-heart surgery, which would have required lifelong medication, Dr. Shah chose to close the leakage without surgery using a nitinol device.
This minimally invasive procedure was performed by Dr. Bhushan Shah and Dr. Ashish Jain, with anesthesia support provided by Dr. Haresh Kumar and his team, using 3D TEE guidance to successfully close the mitral valve perforation via a transcatheter approach.
Prof. (Dr.) Ajai Singh, Executive Director of AIIMS Bhopal, praised the team for their innovative approach:
"This procedure is a testament to the expertise and dedication of our cardiac team. It is the second time such a procedure has been performed in India, showcasing AIIMS Bhopal's commitment to providing cutting-edge treatments for complex conditions. By avoiding open-heart surgery, we have significantly improved the quality of life for this young patient."
The patient was discharged the very next day and is now recovering well. This successful intervention once again highlights AIIMS Bhopal's capabilities in offering advanced medical solutions while minimizing risks for patients.
A joint team of Maharajpura police station and Crime Branch in Gwalior has arrested the criminals who shot and looted Chahat Soni, proprietor of Ram Raja Jewelers, in an encounter at 9:00 pm on September 23, 2024 in Kheria Mirdha police station area of Gwalior.
It is noteworthy that a reward of Rs 10000 was also announced by the Superintendent of Police Gwalior on the arrest of the accused of robbery. During the search of the spot, the police team recovered a 32 bore pistol, 3 live rounds, an empty shell and a motorcycle from the spot.
A police team was formed to trace the accused and track the accused.
In joint action the police station Maharajpura and Crime Branch cordoned off the area near Khiriya Mirdha Community Hall. To avoid arrest, the accused opened fire on the police party with the intention to kill them. In the retaliatory action taken by the police, a miscreant, Arun Chauhan (25) of Rupahati police station Ambah district Morena, was injured after he was hit by a bullet in his leg.
Thereafter, the police admitted the accused to JS Hospital in Gwalior for treatment. Along with this, the police also surrounded and arrested two other miscreants Pramod Singh Tomar (25) of Udar Pur Porsa district Morena and Radha Swami alias Chhotu Jatav(25) of Ramnagar Porsa district Morena.
Arun Chauhan, a habitual criminal caught by the police encounter, has more than a dozen crimes registered against him like murder, robbery and dacoity. Accused Pramod son of Narendra Singh Tomar,has cases booked for murder and robbery.
In a move geared towards helping citizens give up tobacco, the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) on Tuesday dedicated a de-addiction facility for this purpose.
The Tobacco Cessation Clinic is part of the Tobacco-Free Campaign 2.0, which was inaugurated virtually by Union Minister of State for Health, Pratap Rao Jadhav, from his office in the national capital.The clinic at BMHRC will provide assistance to individuals who desire to quit tobacco or gutkha.
This clinic will operate every Wednesday from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM under the Department of Psychiatry.Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Manisha Shrivastava, Director in charge of BMHRC, said, "Given the serious health issues associated with tobacco addiction, this initiative is extremely important. We are committed to providing proper support and assistance to those who are trying to quit tobacco.
"Patients at this clinic will be treated by Dr. Sanjukta Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry. Counseling and medications will be provided, and a personalized treatment plan will be developed based on the severity of the addiction in each patient.
The clinic is part of the Tobacco-Free Youth Campaign 2.0, aimed at raising awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco and providing support to those seeking to quit."BMHRC remains committed to providing advanced medical services, and this new clinic marks another important step in the field of public health and rehabilitation," said a statement released to the media.
Commentary: U.S. tariffs cannot halt Chinese innovation, risk backfiring
Xinhua) 10:16, September 25, 2024
BEIJING, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The United States using tariffs to limit imports from China, specifically targeting tech-intensive products, is a strategic misstep that will not only fail to halt China's innovation, but also inflict harm on its own economy.
The tariff hikes on tech-intensive products and other imports from China, including a 100 percent duty on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), 50 percent on solar cells and 25 percent on steel, aluminum, EV batteries and key minerals, are set to take effect on Sept. 27, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).
American politicians often use tariff hikes and other protectionist measures, like the ban recently proposed by the U.S. Commerce Department on Chinese-developed software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles, as a weapon against China. Such practices are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of China's innovation capability and the global economic landscape.
China has cultivated a robust innovation ecosystem, whose capacity relies on the country's vast talent pool, abundant sci-tech resources and advanced infrastructure, rather than any "favor" from certain countries.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization's preliminary report on the "Global Innovation Index (GII) 2024," China is home to 26 of the world's top 100 science and technology innovation clusters, maintaining its position as the global leader for two consecutive years.
Moreover, with a complete system of manufacturing industries, a vast and dynamic domestic market, and an extensive cooperation network with the world, China is well-positioned to continue its sci-tech innovation cycle regardless of external pressures.
As an example of China's innovative technologies, Chinese EVs are gaining foothold in markets of Southeast Asia, South America and Europe. With advanced technology, good quality and reasonable prices, Chinese EVs are very popular worldwide.
In addition, China's EV technologies also attract foreign partners. With comprehensive industrial categories and a well-rounded manufacturing system, China has attracted global firms to strengthen their investment in the country. Volkswagen Group in April announced an investment of 2.5 billion euros (about 2.8 billion U.S. dollars) in expanding its production and innovation hub in Hefei.
According to Reuters report, General Motors is also in talks to buy EV batteries relying on technology from China's major battery maker CATL, which will be assembled at a new plant to be built in the United States.
Imposing high tariffs on Chinese products is bound to backfire as the move increases costs for American consumers and businesses. According to Moody's Investors Service's report in 2021, U.S. importers absorbed more than 90 percent of the additional costs caused by the increased U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.
Jason Oxman, president of Washington-based Information Technology Industries Council, said the tariffs have cumulatively cost American businesses and consumers 221 billion dollars, blaming USTR for relying on "the blunt and ineffective tool of tariffs with no support for their effectiveness," according to Reuters report.
Protectionist measures can't solve the core issues that the United States faces regarding its industrial competitiveness. By shifting the blame to China, the United States diverts attention away from the much-needed reforms that could bolster its economic strength. It is time for the country to reevaluate its strategy and focus on internal reform and development, rather than protectionism and confrontation.
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Amid two days left for the keenly fought battle of Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) poll, university students expressed concerns over the increasing role of money and muscle power in the elections along with many complaining about inconvenience due to the campus rallies which have been keeping both North and South Campuses buzzing.
Luxury cars, including Range Rover, Thar, SUVs, and other high-end vehicles, formed part of convoys of candidates contesting elections amid hundreds of people from other states being brought in as a show of strength ahead of the elections.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has brought in around 100-150 supporters from various states to bolster its campaign. National Students Union of India (NSUI) national delegate Y Pawan, from Telangana, mentioned that 100 supporters from Telangana had come to support the students' union.
However, even as Wednesday marks the last day of campaigning, students claimed that it is mainly ineffective with many unable to recall the names of any candidate from any student union including ABVP and NSUI.
A student claimed that the rallies cause disruptions in their classes. "Whenever the rallies pass by a college gate, the authorities lock it up, including the faculty gates, to ensure that no one crosses the premises. This causes major inconvenience for us. If the rally goes on for ten minutes, we are stuck and get late for our classes," said Ritika, a student from the Arts Faculty.
Aakansha, another student from the Arts Faculty, shared her indifference towards the elections. "I am not interested in all this college politics. Their campaigning revolves around just wasting paper. No one is even interested in looking at the pamphletsthey just walk over them.
Many students also stated how there is an increasing role of money and muscle power in the DUSU polls even as candidates use lavish cars for campaigning. There is no connection with the candidates. All these student unions do is litter the roads and waste tons of money. They just released their manifesto but dont talk about itthey just focus on showcasing their money and muscle power. That disconnect is the reason I wont be voting, said Himanshu, a student from the Department of Library and Information Science.
A Hindu college student Gauri said that these campaigners dont value private space and create nuisance on campus with wastage of resources and pamphlets with them creating noise pollution. She claimed that she has also seen girls being harassed during the campaigning.
A law student Manthan Tripathi alleged that there is no law and order while the campaigning is ongoing for the polls which will not even benefit students.
The DUSU elections, slated to be held on September 27, have sparked concerns, as many first-year students will have barely spent a month on campus, with their classes beginning only on August 29. Many argue that this limited time leaves them unfamiliar with the university environment and student politics, making them more susceptible to influence by campaigners with some accusing campaigners of exploiting this inexperience to sway votes by offering them with superficial gestures.
"The campaigning has changed over time. Its all about banners and clashes, with candidates focused more on politics than student issues. The nominees are not chosen based on the work they want to do but on their money and power.
They dont want to connect with students anymore. Instead, they try to lure first-year students with movie tickets, canteen tokens, and trips," Vimlesh Tripathi, an MA student in Sanskrit, said.
Close on the heels of arrest of two Samajwadi Party leaders amongst the 10 held for supplying Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN), now trouble is in store for former president of Uttar Pradesh Congress Ajay Kumar Lallu as the investigating agency served notice on him in the said case.
As Lallus photo appeared adjacent to one of the arrested accused, Aurangzeb, the Kushinagar district police chief served him notice in the case. seeking his explanation on the issue.
Lallu, however, dared the police to interrogate him, claiming that he will give answer to all the queries as the move is nothing but a political game plan of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to harass leaders of the opposition parties.
He alleged the Kushinagar police were trying to derail the investigation.
Along with this, Lallu also said that the police were trying to give a political and religious colour to this matter.
Kushinagar police are making statements against me under political pressure. I will give a complete and appropriate answer to the questioning, Lallu asserted while demanding that the police make a fair investigation and not be influenced by their political masters.
Earlier, Lallu raised questions on Kushinagar police in this matter on social media. He said that the FICN accused who were paraded on a wheel chair by Kushinagar police with plasters on their legs, could later be seen going with the police on their own feet without plaster after the hearing.
This is clear in the video. DGP Uttar Pradesh should tell whether this plaster was just a show? Was it PR? Was there any agenda? The public wants to know the truth, Lallu said on social media platform `X.
It may be mentioned that in Kushinagar district, the police had arrested 10 people while exposing a fake currency racket. SP leader Rafi Khan was among those arrested. Rafi Khan was the kingpin of the fake currency syndicate.
Exposing this big gang printing counterfeit currency, police recovered counterfeit currency with face value of Rs 5.62 lakh from them. Police also recovered eight laptops, 26 SIM cards, 10 pistols and bombs along with a luxury car from them.
According to information received from sources, Naushad Khan, who is the national vice-president and an official of the Sanskriti Cell, has also been arrested by the police. This gang used to be active from Nepal to India. Kushinagar police are now making further investigations into the matter.
A delegation of diplomats from 16 countries, including the US, Norway and Singapore, arrived here on Wednesday to observe the ongoing assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
The delegation visited a polling station in Ompora area of Budgam district soon after their arrival in the valley, officials said here.
Deputy Commissioner, Budgam, Akshay Labroo, who is also the District Election Officer, briefed the observers on the voting process during their visit to the polling station.
The delegation comprised diplomats from Delhi-based missions of the US, Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria and the Philippines, people familiar with the matter said.
Most of the embassies are represented by their Charge d'affaires and deputy chief of missions, they said.
Others are represented by political officers at minister-counselor and counselor ranks.
This is perhaps for the first time since the eruption of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir that foreign observers have been allowed to witness the elections. The earlier governments stoically dismissed any suggestion of allowing international observers into Jammu and Kashmir during polls.
The Centre invited the foreign delegates with the objective of showcasing the peaceful poll process and the good voter turnout that has been witnessed since the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.
National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah lashed out at the Centre's move to invite foreign delegates to observe the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the polls were an internal matter of India.
"I don't know why foreigners should be asked to check elections here. When foreign governments comment, then the government of India says 'this is an internal matter for India' and now suddenly they want foreign observers to come and look at our elections," Abdullah told reporters here.
He said the assembly elections in J-K "are an internal matter for us", and "we do not have their certificate".
"Also, this participation is not because of the government of India, it is in spite of everything that the government of India did. They have humiliated people, they have used all the machinery of the government to detain and harass people," the former chief minister said.
"Inspite of that, people are coming and participating in the elections. So, this is not something the government of India should be highlighting. But, anyway, that's the way they are," he said.
Elections in Jammu and Kashmir are being held in three phases. Voting for 24 seats in the first phase was held on September 18 while polling for 26 seats in the second phase is underway on Wednesday. The voting for 40 seats in third phase will be held on October 1 while counting of votes will be held on October 8.
A Delhi court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing on AAP leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain's bail plea in a money laundering case till October 5.
Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on May 30, 2022, on the charge of laundering money through four companies allegedly linked to him. He is currently in judicial custody.
Special Judge Rakesh Syal, who was scheduled to hear the arguments on Jain's bail plea on Wednesday, adjourned the matter for 10 days.
The ED case stems from an FIR lodged against Jain by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday said his father and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is the "most accepted face" in the state at present.
While Congress leaders have pointed out that the chief minister's post traditionally goes to the party in an alliance that wins the highest number of seats, Aaditya said at the India Today Conclave here that his father was one of the "foremost leaders who can lead Maharashtra."
Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) are part of the Opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state and INDIA grouping at the national level.
Asked what would the Sena (UBT) do if the Congress won more seats in the coming state elections, Thackeray referred to the work done by his father's government during the coronavirus pandemic, and said it was one of the best governments of the past few decades.
"Even today, he is the most accepted face. If you go out to the hinterlands of Maharashtra, farmlands of Maharashtra, and (ask people) they will tell you that Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray is the only man who stood with us in our toughest of times," Aaditya said.
Asked if he would like Uddhav Thackeray projected as the face of the alliance, Aaditya said, "If today there is a person who can lead the state in a unified manner, in a manner that is able, (then) yes, Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray stands as one of the foremost people who can lead Maharashtra because we want someone who will speak about Maharashtrian pride.
"As of today, if you ask me do you pitch him as chief minister candidate? I think it depends on how we perform," Aaditya added.
Seat-sharing talks of the MVA were proceeding in a better manner than those of the BJP and its "broken" allies in the ruling Mahayuti coalition, he claimed.
To a question about the Shiv Sena (UBT)'s low strike rate in comparison to its allies in the Lok Sabha elections, Thackeray said his party won nine seats even after it had lost 40 MLAs and 12 MPs (when Eknath Shinde split the party in June 2022 and toppled the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government).
The votes it polled in Thane and Dombivli, considered to be Chief Minister Shinde' strongholds, were "very good", he added.
Of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, the Congress won 13 of the 17 seats it contested, Sena (UBT) won nine out of 21 and NCP (SP) eight out ten. The Sena (UBT)'s strike rate of 42 percent was lower than the rival Shinde-led Shiv Sena's 47 per cent strike rate.
"We may go low in terms of strike rate but we will not lose out on principles which the BJP compromises on for electoral gains," the Thackeray scion further said.
"We have a clear-cut understanding in the MVA. We are not fighting for the post. We are not for the chief minister's post or selfish purposes, which is why the BJP broke its alliance with us. We are fighting this for the pride of Maharashtra which is lost due to BJP's misgovernance," he further said.
The MVA, which is fighting to "save the state from the BJP," will win the electoral battle, Aaditya added.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said if the NC-Congress alliance comes to power in Jammu and Kashmir, it will promote the famous Sopore apple in international markets.
The Congress leader lamented that while walnuts, cashews and resins were put on his table, the famous Sopore apple, the main horticulture produce of the area, was missing.
"The main issue is of the Sopore apple. This apple has to be taken abroad. Your future lies in this and it has to be taken forward. It should not only reach across the country, but it should reach US, China, and Japan too," Gandhi said, with an apple in his hand.
Addressing an election rally here in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, Gandhi said people were eating apples from foreign countries, but "I want this apple to go to America."
"If this apple has to reach Japan and America, the first step has to be restoration of statehood. Without that it is not possible," he said.
The Congress leader said the Narendra Modi-led central government was working for a few billionaires. "The reason why farmers are not getting good price for their apples be it here or in Himachal, is because of Adani."
Gandhi reiterated his party's poll promise of a minimum support price of Rs 72 per kg for apple produce and said it will be covered under the crop insurance scheme as well.
He said the alliance will put a stop to the eviction of the poor and spend Rs 2,500 crore on irrigation.
Gandhi said he was informed by his colleague, AICC general secretary G A Mir, that the Sopore apple is exported and is not processed locally.
"Our target is that the apple is exported to Japan and America. But there should be processing plants here as well so that people of Sopore get the benefit of the apple industry," he said.
Gandhi also said the NC-Congress alliance will do away with the smart electricity metres a flagrant local issue.
Chinas test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday has further increased tensions in the region, raising security concerns and prompting questions about Beijings intentions. The Defense Ministry, in a statement posted on social media, confirmed that the missile carried a dummy warhead and landed in a designated area of the sea.
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While China insists the launch was part of routine annual training and compliant with international law, the timing and location of the test have sparked widespread international scrutiny. Experts and analysts are highlighting the unusual nature of the test, as China has not conducted a similar launch into international waters since 1980.
A Symbolic Act with Global Implications
The 1980 test, also conducted in the South Pacific, clearly demonstrated Chinas nuclear capabilities. The current launch echoes this sentiment, sending a message to the United States, Chinas primary global rival, and the wider international community.
When they havent done something for 44 years, and then they do it, thats significant, notes James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Its Chinas way of telling us, Like you, were not ashamed we have nuclear weapons, and were going to behave like a great nuclear power.
The test also comes during heightened tensions between China and the US, with both nations engaged in an apparent arms race. Experts like Jeffrey Lewis, a missile expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, observe a shift in Chinas approach, suggesting a stronger focus on operational readiness and a willingness to demonstrate its military capabilities to the world.
Beyond the Test Range: Domestic and Regional Implications
The ICBM launch has implications beyond the geopolitical landscape. It also reflects internal pressures and concerns within China itself. The test coincides with a series of corruption arrests targeting high-ranking officers within the Peoples Liberation Armys Rocket Force, alongside the detention of two former defense ministers facing allegations of misconduct.
The test could serve as a show of force, reinforcing the Communist Partys grip on power and demonstrating its commitment to asserting Chinas global prominence, particularly amidst economic challenges. The test also casts a shadow over regional tensions, notably with Taiwan and the Philippines. The recent deployment of the U.S. Typhon missile system in the Philippines has heightened anxieties, with Filipino officials confirming an indefinite deployment to deter China.
A New Era of Strategic Competition in the Pacific
The ICBM test marks a new era of strategic competition in the Pacific region. Chinas growing military assertiveness, coupled with the ongoing US-China rivalry, has significantly increased regional tensions. The test serves as a stark reminder of the potential for escalation and regional stability challenges.
Many experts believe the test will have a lasting impact on the security landscape in the Pacific. It underscores the importance of dialogue and cooperation in addressing the complex challenges posed by Chinas growing military capabilities and its assertive foreign policy. However, the test also highlights the potential for miscalculation and unintended consequences in a region already characterized by deep-seated mistrust and historical grievances.
The Implications of Chinas Military Modernization
Chinas ICBM test into the Pacific Ocean is a significant event, marking a turning point in the regions security dynamics. It showcases Beijings evolving military capabilities and assertive stance on the world stage. The tests timing and location underscore Chinas determination to project its power globally while simultaneously addressing internal concerns and navigating regional tensions. The implications of this test extend far beyond the immediate impact, raising crucial questions about the future of international security and the role of China in shaping the global order.
Councillor Kathleen McGurk, has formally requested a meeting with the Executive Office following the British Governments decision to pause the Causeway Coast and Glens Growth Deal.
In an email sent to the Private Secretary for the Office of the First and Deputy First Ministers, the Sinn Fein councillor expressed serious concerns regarding the economic impact of this decision, particularly in rural areas that already experience low GDP and average wages.
Westminster was due to provide approximately 50 per cent of funding for nine Growth Deal projects in the borough which included the regeneration of Dungiven town centre and digital hub.
This decision comes despite the head of terms being signed on April 24 this year.
The Growth Deal was poised to bring substantial investment and opportunities to encourage economic growth, job creation and enhanced infrastructure.
"The Causeway Coast and Glens region is facing a critical situation," said Councillor McGurk.
"The decision to pause the Growth Deal will have a profound effect on the economic health of the area, particularly on communities like Dungiven, which have long been in need of regeneration."
Councillor McGurk raised specific concerns about the Dungiven regeneration programme, a key project within the Growth Deal.
"The Dungiven regeneration programme represented a vital opportunity to reverse decades of neglect and decline in a region of low socio-economic status. If the British Government fails to reverse their decision, it will not only harm Dungiven but deepen the existing divide between rural and urban areas in the North."
Councillors McGurk and McGlinchey have also organised a meeting tomorrow (Thursday, September 26) at 7.30pm in Dungiven Library to provide local residents and community groups with an update on the current situation and to mobilise support to oppose the decision by the British Government.
"The time to act is now," Councillor McGurk stated.
"We cannot afford to let rural communities bear the brunt of this decision."
Councillor McGurk also also called on the Executive to secure the portion of Growth Deal funding that was allocated directly from the Executives budget, urging them to explore how this funding could be used to progress key projects despite the pause.
A self confessed drugs dealer from Ballymena, who was caught as a result of a joint investigation by police forces in France, Holland and the U.K., has been jailed for forty-four months at the Crown Court in Derry.
Joseph Dornan, 45, a father of five from Casheltown Road in Ahoghill, was arrested in 2022 after police in France and Holland managed to gain access to encrypted mobile phone data on Encrochat phones used by drugs dealers.
Using the username "Symbolic-Phone" the defendant sent his mobile phone number as well as his business name to another Encrochat user whose phone was one of those hacked by the investigating authorities.
Dornan also had a business van with the same phone number printed on the side of the vehicle.
Following his arrest he pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply, guilty to possessing criminal property namely 20,000 and guilty to offering to supply cocaine. He committed the offences on dates in June and July of 2020.
A prosecutor told Judge Neil Rafferty KC that the cannabis charge related to the importation from Holland of twenty-three kilograms of the drug. Dornan and two associates divided the cannabis equally among themselves. The 20,000 was Dornan's share of the cannabis transaction.
The prosecution barrister said an aggravating factor of the case was Dornan's previous conviction in 2005 for his involvement in the smuggling from Holland of sixty-one kilograms of cannabis resin and forty-one kilograms of herbal cannabis. He said in the present case it was accepted Dornan is "a person who is supplying smaller retailers for commercial profit".
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Defence barrister Michael Duffy KC said Dornan became involved in this offending "when his business collapsed and he made a very foolish decision to get involved in this". He said given his previous time in custody for similar offending Dornan " is terrified of going into custody. He has now paid the price."
Jailing Dornan Judge Rafferty said Dornan's previous drugs offending and his use of an Encrochat phone were aggravating factors.
"I appreciate imprisonment has an impact on the broader family but there are mothers and fathers who watch the health of their children decline through drugs misuse", he said.
The highly anticipated NI Food To Go Roadshow took place this week at the historic Guildhall in Derry.
Industry leaders, business owners, and food enthusiasts from across the region gathered to gain insight into this fast-growing market and connect with key players in the food industry.
Organised by the NI Food To Go Association, the roadshow brought together a vibrant community of suppliers, retailers, and food service operators, creating a platform for networking, education, and the exploration of new business opportunities.
With the UK food to go market valued at approximately 21 billion, the event highlighted Northern Irelands potential to continue thriving in this rapidly expanding sector.
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Speaking at the event, Michael Henderson, CEO of the NI Food To Go Association, said:
"We are thrilled with the success of this years roadshow. The enthusiasm from both the exhibitors and attendees demonstrates how vital the food to go sector is to Northern Irelands economy. As consumers continue to demand the latest in convenient food options and modern-day technologies, events like these are crucial in helping our local businesses unite, support one another, and grow, ensuring they stay ahead of the curve."
Sponsored by Go Succeed, Derry City and Strabane District Council, Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and Henderson Foodservice, the roadshow also provided an opportunity for local businesses to connect, collaborate, and form valuable partnerships, paving the way for possible future collaborations.
The NI Food To Go Roadshow is expected to return in the coming years, offering even more opportunities for businesses to grow and adapt in this thriving market.
A fresh inquest has been requested into the death of a man in a hospital in Derry following a road crash.
John OSullivan, a Customs and Excise Officer from County Donegal, died following the incident in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Altnagelvin Hospital in 1973.
His family have raised questions, contending that on arrival at the hospital, doctors had assessed his chance of recovery as reasonable.
In the same period of time, two police officers from the then Royal Ulster Constabulary were admitted to the same ICU following a republican paramilitary attack.
Mr OSullivans family said they understand he died when his assisted breathing apparatus became disconnected.
They said there was no RUC investigation into his death in hospital, and an open verdict was later recorded by the local Coroner following an inquest in Derry.
They also said they have been refused a request by the Northern Ireland Office for a public inquiry.
They are now requesting that the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, Dame Brenda Kind directs a Coroner to conduct a fresh inquest into his death.
They said there are questions to be answered around inconsistencies, discrepancies and questions which could be addressed by way of a coronial investigation.
In a statement they said: Our family firstly, has endured five decades of guessing about the last moments of life for an adored son, cherished brother, loved husband and caring father, in his unaccounted death while recovering within the ICU at Altnagelvin Hospital in 1973, a needless death when secondly, his initial assessment looking so promising, he having so much more to offer, ever-more devastating for our late mother.
We thirdly, only recently finding original inquest papers that were previously thought lost and our home being in the Republic of Ireland, we considered these questions on his death being limited. However, we have now made an application to the Attorney General for Northern Ireland for her to direct a fresh inquest into his death.
They added: There are too many questions remaining which can still be answered by an independent coronial investigation.
There was no police investigation: the original inquest was flawed: the only path cruelly offered to a widow with a young family, being to engage in a protracted five-year civil action against a health authority answering no questions.
This ICU was meant to be a sanctuary of clinical care with a code of safety, offering a shield in the expected recovery of our loved one. These systems failed him failed our family and most importantly our mother, and lastly these unanswered questions could continue to endanger others loved ones even today.
Representing the family, Christopher Stanley of KRW Law said a fresh inquest could answer the familys questions.
KRW has applied to the Attorney General for Northern Ireland for her to find it advisable to direct a fresh inquest into the death of John OSullivan, he said.
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Mr OSullivans death in Altnagelvin Hospital ICU in 1973 was not investigated and was subject to a flawed inquest. His widow contested the circumstances of his death with the local health authority and with the British government.
There was media coverage of his death at the time and questions asked then remain unanswered today.
A fresh inquest could attempt to answer those questions and provided some respite for from the grief of his family.
A new cross-departmental strategy is aiming to crack down on domestic and sexual abuse.
The seven-year strategy, developed in consultation with stakeholders, comes with an action plan aimed to protect and support those at risk, bring perpetrators to justice and make Northern Ireland a place where domestic abuse and sexual abuse are not tolerated.
Justice Minister Naomi Long described the level of abuse in Northern Ireland as shocking, with domestic abuse being reported to the PSNI every 16 minutes on average.
Police statistics indicate that officers responded to 32,763 domestic abuse incidents in 2023/24, and almost 20,000 domestic abuse crimes were recorded in the same year.
Within the same period there were more than 4,000 sexual offences recorded by police an average of one sexual offence recorded every two hours.
Domestic homicide reviews (DHR), which are sparked when an incident results in a death, were introduced in December 2020.
Ms Long said since December 2020, some 20 DHRs have been commissioned, covering 14 female victims and six male victims, with the age range from 21 to 84 years.
The departments of justice and health have jointly published a new domestic and sexual abuse strategy for Northern Ireland along with an initial three-year action plan to support its delivery.
Ms Long launched the strategy at the NSPCC in Belfast with stakeholders where she described a commitment to creating a society where domestic and sexual abuse are not tolerated.
We know that domestic and sexual abuse transcends boundaries of gender, age, sexual orientation, and ethnicity, she said.
It is insidious and pervading, leaving an indelible mark. Its victims are those who have been directly impacted by it and those who have witnessed it, or who live in its formidable shadow.
We are committed to creating a society in Northern Ireland where domestic and sexual abuse are not tolerated, where victims receive the support they need and where those responsible are held to account.
This strategy is our sincere attempt to deliver on that aim, so that no-one has to live in fear of abuse.
Ms Long and Health Minister Mike Nesbitt also announced a childrens sexual offences legal advisers (SOLA) scheme, which will provide free legal advice to children and young people affected by sexual crime, as well as a small grant scheme to support the invaluable work provided by the community and voluntary sector.
Mr Nesbitt, who was not at the event due to an illness, said in a statement: Everyone has the right to live a life that is safe and free from the fear of domestic and sexual abuse. That is the ultimate aim of this strategy.
We are building on what we know works, on evidence-based practice, and we will continue to listen to the voices of those with lived experience.
Partnership is a key thread running through this strategy. If we are going to tackle domestic and sexual abuse, we need to work together. None of us can do this alone.
Bronagh Muldoon, assistant director at NSPCC Northern Ireland, welcomed the strategy.
Sexual abuse in childhood can have a long-lasting negative impact that can reach into adulthood, she said.
Domestic abuse always has an impact on children. They do not have to hear or witness it, simply living in a home where domestic abuse takes place can cause immense trauma.
The strategy is an important milestone and provides a focus on key areas that require cross-government action.
NSPCC NI is committed to working with government and our partners to prevent, recognise and respond to child sexual abuse and domestic abuse in Northern Ireland.
Two city and growth deals in Northern Ireland have been left in limbo-land amid funding uncertainty.
The UK Government announced earlier this month that funding for the four city and growth deals in the region would be paused.
It later emerged that the Belfast and the Derry and Strabane deals would not be affected because those deals were at a later stage.
However two other deals, which cover Causeway Coast and Glens and the Mid South West region, are awaiting the conclusion of the spending review to hear whether the funding pause will be lifted.
A deal for Argyll and Bute in Scotland is in a similar situation.
Jillian Gilmore, director of city and growth deals in the Department of Finance, said some of those involved in the deals where funding remains paused feel like it is a city versus rural issue.
She briefed MLAs in the Stormont Finance Committee on the matter on Wednesday.
The Treasury are saying its got more to do with the stage that theyre at in the process, the two growth deals arent impressed with that narrative because it was the UK Government who announced the funding for these deals, so it was really down to when they announced it, she told MLAs.
Theyre not far behind, its just a different time frame. So much work has gone on with those two growth deals, they have had strategic outline cases approved for all of their projects. Causeway Coast and Glens have signed its heads of terms in April and Mid South West was actually due to sign, an event was planned, a venue was booked for mid-October.
Ms Gilmore recalled receiving an email around the pausing of funding at 10.45am on Wednesday (September 11) after she had chased Treasury officials around funding for the deals.
She said the Treasury has told them that they need the evidence to say why this is value for money and should go ahead, adding they are working with the deals and the Northern Ireland Office to supply that evidence.
However Ms Gilmore said they do not expect to hear an outcome until the spending review is completed at the end of next month.
Committee chairman Matthew OToole said it was quite a large cock-up by the UK Government, contending it had handled it appallingly.
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He questioned Ms Gilmore on what the pause means for the affected deals, to which she replied: Its limbo-land when everything had just transpired, that first weekend, the four deals were having special meetings, there was a real confusion, What do we do, does this mean we tell our consultants to put pens down and not to develop anything else, there was worry about work being lost.
Some of the partners were talking about the experience through Covid when there was a bit of stop-start, and trying to get consultants to come back again.
There were very valid questions, the Finance Minister (Caoimhe Archibald) put that to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, but we dont really have much more clarity.
Removal of anti-immigration posters must not be left to the police to deal with alone, the Justice Minister has said.
Naomi Long said there was a need for all statutory agencies and Executive ministers to show a willingness to step up to tackle racism and xenophobia in Northern Ireland.
Ms Long was commenting after a senior police commander expressed frustration at the response of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) to the erection of anti-Muslim posters on lampposts in the Rathcoole estate in Newtownabbey last month.
Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said it was unacceptable that the posters had been allowed to stay on the lampposts for around seven weeks when he would have anticipated a response from the DfI to remove them within hours of them going up.
Mr Singleton said the PSNI ultimately took the decision to take down the posters themselves.
He said leaving the posters up for such a protracted period was damaging the Muslim communitys confidence in police and other state agencies, and perpetuating a view that the authorities were not taking the issue seriously.
We didnt believe that it would take anything like this length of time, he told BBC Radio Ulster.
We didnt think that we would be into weeks, we thought hopefully we would be talking about hours before its been removed.
So, yes, it has taken far too long and its got to the point where police have decided that we must intervene, albeit we still maintain the position that actually the removal should have been done by the Department for Infrastructure.
In response to the claims, the department said that Infrastructure Minister John ODowd wrote to PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher earlier this month asking the police to remove the posters as he believed their erection constituted a crime.
A DfI spokesperson said: Racism is a scourge in our society, and there can be no tolerance for hatred and discrimination in our communities.
Earlier this month, the Minister for Infrastructure wrote to the Chief Constable to highlight the racist and discriminatory nature of these signs and to request that the police remove them.
The department has been clear that when a crime has been committed, it is for the PSNI to investigate and to act to resolve matters.
It appears that the PSNI do, in fact, believe that these posters constitute a hate crime and so it is right that the police act.
Justice Minister Ms Long acknowledged police had a role in regard to removing hate material but she insisted they could not be left to deal with the issue alone.
Im very clear that theres no place for expressions of hate, for xenophobia, for racism, for Islamophobia, for antisemitism, for hatred at all in our community, whether thats hanging on a poster on a lamppost, whether its scrawled on a gable wall, it has no place in our community, and it should be removed, she told the PA news agency on Wednesday.
I am pleased that the police intervened in this occasion and removed those posters. I think that is the right thing to do in terms of keeping people safe and ensuring that they feel safe.
But it is not only a job for the PSNI, its important that all of the agencies, all of the statutory partners, all of my Executive colleagues, are willing to step up and commit to tackling these issues, because its only with a whole society approach to tackling not just the visible aspects of racism and hatred, but actually the attitudes that underpin it, that were actually going to see a change in our community.
So I welcome what the PSNI have done. I think that was the right decision. Im glad the posters have been removed. I hope if theyre put up again, they will be removed again, because we need to send a very clear and very strong message that this will not be tolerated.
But I also think its important that we look at how other departments can make a contribution to ensuring that this kind of stuff isnt left to fester, isnt left to hang on walls, because, when its left there, it creates the impression that there is some level of tolerance of the views that are expressed on those posters and there absolutely isnt, and cant be and shouldnt be.
Ms Long said the police were willing to provide support if other agencies had concerns around threats or intimidation when carrying out the removal work.
But she added: Every agency needs to be willing to play their part. It cant only be for the PSNI. They clearly have a key role, but it cant be only for them to deal with. Its a societal problem, its a community problem, and its something that I think the whole of the Executive need to tackle.
MLAs are to seek legal advice on compelling institutions involved in historical abuse cases to give evidence to an Assembly committee.
The move comes after several of the institutions declined invitations to appear before the Executive Office committee.
Committee chairwoman Paula Bradshaw said officials had been involved in cat and mouse exchanges in their unsuccessful attempts to get the institutions to come before the committee.
In 2017, the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, led by the late Sir Anthony Hart, revealed the extent of sexual, physical and emotional abuse at homes run by the state, church and charities in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 1995.
The report recommended six organisations make contributions towards the cost of the redress scheme and specialist support services for victims and survivors.
The De La Salle Order, the Good Shepherd Sisters and Barnardos have all made contributions to date. The process of seeking payments from the Sisters of Nazareth, Sisters of St Louis and the Irish Church Missions is ongoing.
At a meeting of the Executive Office committee on Wednesday, TUV member Timothy Gaston raised concerns about the failure of institutions to come to give evidence.
He then referred specifically to the De La Salle Order and Sisters of Nazareth and correspondence they had sent the committee about their non-attendance at the meeting.
Mr Gaston noted that Section 44 of the Northern Ireland Act could be invoked to compel institutions to appear.
I would like to ensure that this committee takes all appropriate measures to bring them here, he said.
Ms Bradshaw said committee officials had been very tenacious in trying to get the institutions to attend. She said the committee clerk is now working on fulfilling the requirements of invoking the compellability power.
We had tried to get them here, I think it was June first of all, some of the institutions, and we have been playing this cat and mouse game ever since, she said.
Asked by Mr Gaston if the committee would take all measures possible to ensure their attendance, Ms Bradshaw replied. We are, were not letting this go.
She said the hearing on Wednesday was the effective deadline for the institutions to agree to attend voluntarily.
We invited them all to come today, she said.
So it was only then, whenever the lack of communication against that invitation and the refusal etc, it was only then, once this date had passed, then that allows us then to demonstrate that we had done everything up to this point. And well now move into this next section.
The committee clerk told members they were at the beginning of a lengthy process in regard to compelling the witnesses to attend.
He said the institutions had already been advised of the Section 44 power held by the committee.
The clerk said all communications with the institutions were now being compiled ahead of securing legal advice from the Legal Services department of the Assembly to ensure the committee was on a sound footing to invoke the power.
In regard to committee invites, the clerk said some of the institutions had not even replied.
On Wednesday the committee did hear from Mr Justice Fowler, who is president of the Historical Institutional Abuse Redress Board.
The board began receiving applications in 2020 and will formally close to new claims at the start of April next year.
In 2021, the Commissioner for Survivors of Institutional Childhood Abuse, Fiona Ryan, had voiced concerns that the then rate of processing could see it take 10 years for the boards redress panels to get through all the anticipated 5,000 claims.
Justice Fowler made clear that prediction would not come to pass.
He said that as of August 31, the board had received in excess of 4,600 compliant applications and had considered around 4,500 of those. The board president said financial awards of more than 93.5 million had been made.
Currently, at present only 57 applications and one appeal remains to be considered, he added.
He said while the board had a target of considering applications within 20 weeks, the current timeframe was much shorter, at between seven to seven-and-a-half weeks.
This compares very favourably against other redress schemes within Ireland and the UK, some of those schemes incur timescales of between 12 months and 22 months, he said.
Im aware that this committee in 2021 previously took testimony from others that it would take somewhere in the region of 10 years for the redress board to consider such applications. This is clearly not the position.
HIGHLIGHTS Googles decision to continue using third-party cookies in its Chrome browser is under renewed scrutiny in the UK. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expressed concerns about the tech giants revised approach to managing cookies. These cookies play a crucial role in tracking users across the web.
Googles decision to continue using third-party cookies in its Chrome browser is under renewed scrutiny in the UK. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expressed concerns about the tech giants revised approach to managing cookies, which track users online activities.
In July, Google reversed its earlier plan to phase out third-party cookies from Chrome, a move that had been in the works for a long time. These cookies play a crucial role in tracking users across the web, helping advertisersGoogles primary revenue sourcedeliver personalised ads. Advertisers argued that removing cookies would hinder their ability to target ads effectively and increase reliance on Googles own user data.
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To address these concerns, Google announced that Chrome users would have the option to allow cookies when browsing. However, this shift has not satisfied the CMA, which invited stakeholders to share their views on Googles decision following the reversal.
After reviewing the responses, the CMA stated, Based on careful consideration of the responses we received, the CMAs view is that competition concerns remain under Googles revised approach. If the CMA is not able to agree changes to the commitments with Google which address the competition concerns, then the CMA will consider what further action may be necessary, it added.
Also read: Ex-Google executive said that search giant was trying to crush rival advertising networks
Googles use of cookies has also attracted attention from other regulatory bodies, including the UKs Information Commissioners Office (ICO), which had previously supported Googles plan to eliminate the tracking tools.
In response to the CMAs concerns, a Google spokesperson told Reuters that the companys approach would enable users to make informed choices when browsing the web with Chrome. As we finalize this approach, well continue to consult with the CMA, ICO, and other regulators globally, and look forward to ongoing collaboration with the ecosystem to build for a private, ad-supported internet.
The CMAs latest comments highlight the ongoing regulatory pressure on Google as it navigates the balance between maintaining user privacy and supporting its ad business. It remains to be seen how the company will adapt its strategy in response to these challenges.
How many iPhone generations can AI support last through? Experts anticipate growth potential
Apple's new iPhone 16 series hit the market on the 20th, finally featuring the much-anticipated Apple Intelligence. However, telecommunications industry personnel and supply chain sources are divided on whether Generative AI (GenAI) will boost sales for the iPhone 16 generation.
Supply chain sources have remained cautious when observing the new iPhone's sales. Despite the trend shifting from AI PCs to AI mobile phones this year, Apple's inability to fully implement its AI capabilities in one step has created uncertainty regarding the release momentum.
A telecommunications industry insider's analysis of the initial presale wave revealed that although the iPhone 16 features a more powerful processor at the same price point as its predecessor, the Pro Max model was still the first to sell out. This suggests that cost-effectiveness does not necessarily dictate consumer purchasing decisions or preferences.
In contrast to the supply chain's reserved outlook, telecommunications industry personnel have a different perspective. Chunghwa Telecom held a launch event on the 20th, where Chairman Shui-yi Kuo expressed optimism about the sales momentum of the new iPhone 16 series. In a post-event interview, Kuo stated that sales could potentially surpass those of the iPhone 15 in 2023, marking the largest phone replacement wave since the introduction of 5G.
GenAI is considered the primary catalyst for this replacement trend. Rong-shy Lin, senior executive vice president of business at Chunghwa Telecom, identified three key factors driving GenAI's strong influence.
Firstly, the shift from expert systems to inclusive AI will enable natural language activation, significantly lowering the barrier to AI usage. Secondly, while GenAI's primary selling point is text applications, ongoing development in multimodal integration, including image generation and audio processing, is creating more opportunities for innovation.
The maturation of 5G technology, now in its fourth year since release, has also contributed to this trend. With both software and hardware requirements now met, the timing is ideal for introducing AI capabilities.
Kuo noted that while early adopters will primarily consist of Apple enthusiasts, the future expansion of AI language support will directly benefit third-party application developers. This will not only showcase more innovative multimodal AI applications but also accelerate overall app development.
Looking ahead, the robust support from the App Store coupled with AI-integrated smartphones could potentially transform daily life, attracting non-Apple users and triggering another wave of phone replacements. This suggests that not only the iPhone 16 but also future mobile phone releases will benefit from this trend. In conclusion, while the impact of AI on overall iPhone sales is undoubtedly positive, its long-term effects are expected to be the main driver of future growth.
Taiwan's AI data center boom faces power bottleneck
The increasing power demands of AI data centers are prompting operators to expand carbon-free energy initiatives and advance liquid cooling technologies to enhance energy efficiency and reduce consumption. Industry leaders emphasize that ensuring an uninterrupted power supply is the first crucial step in establishing AI data centers in Taiwan.
Concerns over power shortages often arise during summer peaks, and 2024 has seen heightened discussions as global tech giants plan to establish data centers in Taiwan. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs' 2023 National Power Supply and Demand Report, electricity demand for AI applications in Taiwan is forecasted to surge from 240 MW in 2023 to 2,240 MW by 2028, an increase of over eightfold.
Data centers' power needs are driven primarily by server operations and cooling systems. Industry insiders highlight that power stability is the top priority when choosing a data center location. In early planning stages, projects must be submitted to Taipower for review before proceeding with other construction details.
On the supply side, tech behemoths such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are pushing toward carbon-neutral energy sources, including nuclear power in Taiwan, which remains controversial. A case in point is Microsoft's recent agreement with Constellation to restart the Unit 1 reactor at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant to power its AI and cloud computing operations.
In terms of energy efficiency, air cooling remains the prevailing server cooling method. However, to improve efficiency, many leading firms are shifting toward liquid and immersion cooling technologies, significantly lowering power usage effectiveness (PUE).
According to DIGITIMES Research, about 80% of a data center's electricity consumption stems from server operations and cooling. Liquid cooling, especially immersion cooling, can slash a data center's PUE to between 1.02 and 1.05. Globally, governments are increasingly regulating data centers by setting stringent PUE benchmarks, with new builds required to maintain PUE levels below 1.4.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Bank have outlined six key strategies for green data center transformation: climate resilience, sustainable design and construction, renewable energy, sustainable cooling, and electronic waste management.
Beyond ensuring power stability, data center operators are also focused on securing renewable energy sources. Taiwan's energy policy, which emphasizes a nuclear-free transition, has driven aggressive renewable energy development. With international companies flocking to Taiwan to establish data centers, securing early access to green energy has become a priority.
Energy providers note a marked increase in inquiries for green energy from data centers. However, discussions are still in preliminary stages, and given that customers often purchase green power in bulk, suppliers remain unsure whether this energy will be exclusively allocated to data center operations. Further commentary remains premature.
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Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council, Cllr Kevin Callan, has described as "utterly indefensible", the decision of Failte Ireland to omit the county from its advertisement of Irelands Ancient East.
The matter which was raised on RTEs Liveline programme which received complaints about the omission, has led Cllr Callan to call for an urgent meeting with Failte Ireland and Louth County Council to discuss the matter and how to reduce the impact of the decision.
In response to complaints from Louth residents on RTEs Liveline, the tourism authority said it has invested heavily in the County with it 466,000 in the reimagine Boyne Valley drive, 400,000 into the Boyne Valley Infrastructure Capital Project, over 1.1 million into the Urban Animation Capital investment scheme in Drogheda and half a million euro into the Drogheda Destination towns.
Failte Ireland described its capital grant allocation of 400,000 from the Office of Public Works for the development of King John's Castle, in Carlingford as a "key project". The statement added that a further grant of 118,000 was given to Louth County Council to develop an outdoor dining facility in Carlingford. According to the authority, it is only running one television advertisement and it could only include so much content.
Cllr Callan said that these advertisements are "crucial in driving tourism in from areas such as the United States. We sat with the representatives of the tourism body last Saint Patrick's week in New York and were briefed on many different initiatives to create new flight routes to locations across the continent being generated which were building on a new generation of Irish American tourist. Louth was a key part of this messaging as we have so much to offer."
The Independent councillor continued: "To be missing from these promotional videos in the age of influencer and digital content being the main areas where people decide on their destination is a serious issue.
"Our restaurants, hotels and visitor destinations all have bought into the Ancient East initiative and to be left out is not acceptable, if time limits were an issue then other locations not in the Ancient East area should have been omitted.
Cllr Callan added, "I will be asking officials of the Council who are tasked with tourism promotion to interact with Failte Ireland on this as a matter of urgency."
The Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI) is calling on the Government to maintain momentum in funding dementia support and services in Budget 2025 by funding much-needed dementia-specific Day Care at Home Services in Louth.
The ASI is looking to increase its Day Care at Home offering in Louth in areas including Dundalk, Drogheda, and Cooley but this is pending funding being allocated from the Government in Budget 2025 taking place on October 1st. In June, The ASI called on the Government to invest 5.5 million in dementia supports and services to address inequity of access across the country. The recommendations are contained in The ASIs Pre-Budget Submission 2025; Equal Dementia Supports, Building on Momentum in 2025.
The ASIs submission asks Government to build on the momentum of the past four years with an investment of 5.5m, alongside tangible policy solutions to address:
Ongoing geographical inequity in dementia services and supports (including Day Care, Day Care at Home, Weekend Activity Clubs, Dementia Advisers, Clinical Nurse Specialists in Dementia)
Financial struggles of family carers
Mental health needs of people living with dementia and those who care and support them
A sustainable dementia workforce
Support for Irish dementia research.
The ASI is seeking an increase in funding for Dementia Specific Day Care at Home Services by 1,000,000 in Budget 2025 to expand the reach of the services across all areas across the country. It says that Day Care at Home meets an urgent unmet need for people with dementia and their families by providing variety, stimulation, and personalised enjoyable activities, and that it delivers quality psycho-social support by providing person-centred activities in block hours.
The allocation of 480,500 made available in Budget 2024 has enabled The ASI to introduce Day Care at Home to new areas which had the most urgent need. This, in addition to 1.7m already in place, will be spent in 2024. The demand for this service continues to rise, it says, and there is need to increase service provision and introduce it to new areas.
The ASIs Head of Operations and Community Engagement, Siobhan OConnor said: There has been enhanced investment in dementia supports from the Government over the last number of years however, there is a need to keep pace with demand.
"The ASI is asking the Government to build on the momentum of the last few years with increased funding for Day Care services and Day Care at Home to support, reach and help as many people impacted by dementia in our communities as possible.
An independent evaluation of the Day Care at Home service highlights that the service enhances well-being and improves the everyday lived experience of both people with dementia and their carers. It provides a unique level of flexibility and continuity of care and can help to delay and even avoid admission to long-term care by creating a more sustainable family care situation.
"Not only is this important from an economic perspective, it aligns with the wishes of most people living with dementia and many family carers - which is to care for their loved one at home for as long as possible.
In addition, a further Government investment will enable The ASI to expand Day Care services, providing much-needed support, to people affected by dementia. An independent evaluation of the role and contribution of dementia-specific day centres states the service is highly valued by people with dementia and their families.
"There are a range of benefits including the opportunity to socialise, develop friendships, partake in physical activity, retain abilities and skills, enjoy a nutritious meal with others, and respite for family carers.
Moneycube.ie is inviting business owners and employees in Louth to register their interest in receiving one-to-one retirement planning advice with a visit from its Pop-Up Pension Test Centre.
The Pop-Up Pension Test Centre initiative forms part of Pensions Awareness Week 2024 (PAW24), which runs run this week until Friday, September 28. The pop-up events can be booked during PAW24 but can run any time over the coming months across all workplaces in Ireland.
As part of the offer, the Moneycube.ie team will visit the offices of businesses around the country to conduct National Pensions Tests (NPTs) and provide one-to-one information sessions on a variety of financial wellbeing topics.
Launched to mark the beginning of PAW24, the new NPT is designed to gauge peoples readiness to start a pension. It also will test their knowledge of how to track the performance of their investments, their readiness for retirement, and their understanding of optimal employee benefits.
The theme of PAW24 is: "You wouldnt ignore your NCT, why neglect your NPT?" With that in mind, and to raise awareness about retirement planning, Moneycube.ie is also offering a free will to all those who take the test.
It is expected that after the NPT, employees will have a more complete understanding of why they should start a pension, their pension contributions, the company benefits to which they are entitled, and how much income they will need enjoy a comfortable retirement. To register to host a free Pop-Up Pensions Test Centre for PAW24, businesses are requested to fill out the online form.
The NPT is also available online via the PAW24 website www.pensionsawarenessweek.ie along with the NPT Calculator, an online dashboard which helps people calculate the savings they will need for retirement.
PAW24 is a designed to raise awareness about retirement planning and to help people take charge of their long-term savings. Backed by a host of business industry partners, PAW24 is an initiative from Moneycube.ie, experts in the pensions industry. PAW24 partners include including New Ireland, Standard Life, Zurich Life, the Retirement Planning Council of Ireland, Ibec, the Small Firms Association, and Royal London Ireland.
Feargal McKenna, Head of Corporate at Moneycube.ie, says: Moneycube.ie is delighted to announce the launch of our Pop-Up Pensions Test Centres, an initiative which forms part of Pensions Awareness Week 2024 (PAW24).
"Companies from all over Ireland are eligible to apply to host one of our pop-up centres and we encourage those who might want one-to-one advice about starting a pension, tracking the performance of their investment, and whether they have sufficient money set aside for retirement, to register their interest online via the PAW24 website.
For more information on PAW24, visit PensionsAwarenessWeek.ie
Freshers Week at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) was a buzz of excitement last week. Dundalk Credit Union was thrilled to be on campus, collaborating with the Students' Union in a new partnership aimed at supporting students' financial wellness.
Throughout the week, the teamled by Victoria and Naomiengaged with hundreds of students, particularly new first-years, eager to get involved in campus activities. Among the highlights was the Financial Wellness Wheel of Wisdoma fun, interactive game designed to test students financial knowledge while offering essential insights into key money matters.
Naomi ODonoghue, Head of Sales and Business Development at Dundalk Credit Union, reflected on the experience: This wheel is always a big hit! Its a great icebreaker, but its one of the best ways weve found to engage young people in financial topics which they may otherwise find dull.
Its a lot of fun, but we were surprised that over 95% of the students we met this week were unaware of what a money mule is. It is quite concerning, but we were able to spread the word to hundreds of students in a way that resonated with them, and we will continue to inform students throughout the year through on-campus participation.
So, what exactly is a money mule? This is when an individual, often unknowingly, allows their bank account to be used to transfer money linked to criminal activities. Young people, including students, are often targeted by criminals, lured in with the promise of quick cash in exchange for allowing their account to be used.
This may seem harmless at first glance, but money mule activity is illegal, and anyone caught participatingknowingly or notcan face serious consequences, including prosecution and losing access to banking services.
Raising awareness about these scams is crucial, especially as they continue to evolve and target more vulnerable individuals.
Along with highlighting the dangers of money mules, the credit union team also discussed vital topics like debit card protection and fraud, budgeting, saving, and setting financial goals.
Below: Victoria Prendergast from Dundalk Credit Union at DkIT during Fresher's Week
Holly Lambe-Sally, Students Unions President noted: We believe that supporting young people in understanding financial topics can have a lifelong impact, helping them to develop strong financial habits early on, thats why we are delighted to partner with Dundalk Credit Union this year.
Together, we are committed to helping our students become more financially savvy and were excited about the opportunities ahead.
Businesses in Louth installing solar PV technology can now make net savings of 188,000 over 25 years, according to a new survey by solar energy firm, Swyft Energy.
The Swyft Energy Solar PV Q3 Index reveals that typical systems can deliver a lifetime return on investment of over 500% and pay for themselves in four years at least two years earlier than the six or seven-year payback period that was the case until recently.
The quicker payback time has been fuelled by higher electricity rates in recent years and the introduction of Solar PV grants.
Over the expected 25-year lifespan of a 44KWp system, the Index shows that a company could look forward to net savings of over 188,000, said Adrian Casey, CEO of Swyft Energy.
One business to recently switch to solar PV from Swyft Energy is NeoGen, a leading digital printing and signage firm in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15. Sustainability played a major role in NeoGens decision to equip one of its two buildings with a 21KWp system last November.
NeoGen is one of the few Irish companies which is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) audited and accredited, said Director of NeoGen, Ciaran Clancy. FSC-certified forests are managed to strict environmental, social and economic standards. The decision to invest in solar PV generation was a natural progression in our sustainability strategy.
Were now aiming to generate the vast majority of our annual electricity needs directly from solar in June, we were 68.1% self-sufficient in electricity and this is reflected in far lower bills.
Businesses installing larger systems have experienced similar savings. In August last year, Ayrton Group, one of Irelands leading health and safety specialists based in Newmarket, Co Cork, commissioned Swyft Energy to install a 44 KWp solar PV system.
We had a clear aim to go greener and work in a way that was more energy efficient, said Kieran Linehan, CEO of Ayrton Group. One of the companys main requirements was that their solar PV system would pay for itself within five years. By combining savings made through lower electricity bills with revenue generated from excess power sold back to the grid, the company is on target to meet its payback goal.
Over their solar PV systems lifetime, the Swyft Energy Commercial Index estimates that the Ayrton Group will receive a total return on investment of over 640% and save approximately 211 tonnes of C02.
According to Mr Casey, the current availability of generous grants and tax allowances make solar PV an even more attractive option for companies of all sizes.Right now, businesses can draw on Government grants of up to 162,600, depending on the size of their system, and claim the cost of the system against their profits to reduce their corporation tax bill at year end, said Mr Casey.
The environmental benefits of solar PV are already obvious and now the Commercial Index has highlighted the clear financial benefits that solar PV systems offer companies of all sizes.
A 14-year-old activist will tell a protest at Leinster House on Thursday that Ireland is an international embarrassment on child disability issues.
Cara Darmody, a disability rights campaigner from Ardfinnan in Co Tipperary, is the older sister of Neil, 11, and John, seven, who are autistic and non-verbal.
She has met with the last three Taoisigh to discuss disability services in Ireland, and told Simon Harris at a meeting in June that the Government was breaking the law on its obligation to children with special needs.
Parents have voiced their frustration and upset at not being able to access crucial assessments of need, therapies and school places for their children.
Protests have been held outside the Department of Education demanding school places be secured for children with special needs, who are forced out of routines that are vital for their education and wellbeing.
Cara is pledging to continue to protest outside the Dail for two hours every Wednesday from noon, until she feels real action is taken on improving access to crucial services for children with special needs.
Among the issues being focused on is for the Government to sign up to the United Nations Optional Protocol, which would give people with disabilities stronger legal rights.
Cara is expected to tell a monster meeting rally at Leinster House, to be held at 11am on Thursday, that childhoods are being stolen because of Government inaction.
She is expected to tell the demonstration that the Government has had it good as it has not yet suffered international embarrassment from their disgraceful treatment of children with disabilities.
She will add that she will try to bring global attention to Irelands treatment of children with disabilities, through both the European Parliament and the United Nations, in a campaign similar to that of climate activist Greta Thunberg.
In my opinion, only when international reputational damage is potentially caused will their minds suddenly be focused on this issue, she is to say.
She will also meet opposition politicians to brief them on what issues to question the government about, as part of a new approach to push for action on the rights of children with disabilities.
Caras father, Mark, said the determined teenager has taken the family on the most incredible journey.
He added: Its stuff you could never dream about. Were very humble people, we dont do celebrity or fame or anything.
But there are moments where, even when she told the Taoiseach but youre breaking the law, and he was silent, and he didnt know what to say, youre looking at her thinking Wow, thats my daughter.
She just said it in the nicest way possible, and he likes her. You can see that he absolutely likes her.
Its very hard not to be proud of her.
A spokesperson for the Taoiseach said: The Taoiseach has had very positive engagement with Cara over recent months.
Upon taking office, the Taoiseach established a Cabinet committee on disability to address these issues and make progress. As the Taoiseach told Cara at their recent meeting, this would take time but he is absolutely committed to making the necessary progress.
The Taoiseach, who is in New York this week attending the UN General Assembly, also mentioned Caras work and advocacy in comments to the media.
Ballymun-Finglas councillor Conor Reddy, co-founder of the Equality in Education Dublin North West campaign, said it was appalling that disability and special education services have been allowed to reach this shocking state when the Government has billions of euro in surpluses.
He added: Sheer frustration has driven parents and campaigners to protest and take court cases at a rate of 25 new cases per month.
So far the Government, like the HSE, have shown they are intent to do the bare minimum. They seem to have found an acceptable level of failure and crisis, a cost they are willing to levy on children and families to avoid making the significant investment required to cut waiting lists, provide school places and the supports that children need.
It is totally unacceptable and must be a central issue in the upcoming general election you can judge a society and its political leadership by the way the most vulnerable are treated.
Flights have been cancelled for the day at Weston Airport after a major fire broke out at the Dublin site.
The fire occurred near the control tower of the Lucan airport at 10pm on Tuesday, and the fire was quickly reported to emergency services.
Thankfully, no injuries were reported, but the private airport's business has been massively affected for the day.
All arriving and departing flights cancelled on Wednesday as a result, as the airport remains closed..
A full investigation into the cause of the fire has been launched on Wednesday morning.
In a statement, the airport said: Weston can confirm there was a small outbreak of fire in a room close to the Control Tower at 22:00 Tuesday night 24th September. The fire was brought under control by the Fire Service and there were no injuries.
A full investigation into the cause of the fire will start in the morning. The Airport is closed Wednesday with all flights cancelled.
Dublin Fire Brigade said firefighters from Tallaght, Blanchardstown, and Tara Street were called to the fire. In a statement, it said: The fire was contained and quickly extinguished by firefighters in breathing apparatus.
The building was then ventilated using positive pressure fans to clear any remaining smoke.
Weston bills itself as Irelands only executive airport offering services for helicopters, and private planes and jets.
The airport was established by Darby Kennedy in 1931, and is home to several flying clubs.
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Water quality improves at source of major Chinese river
People's Daily Online) 10:19, September 25, 2024
Photo shows the Chinese characters "Han Jiang Yuan" (Source of the Hanjiang River) engraved on a rocky cliff at the Hanjiang River's source in Ningqiang county, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (People's Daily Online/Bai Ge)
Conservation efforts have significantly enhanced water quality at the source of the Hanjiang River, China's largest tributary of the Yangtze.
As the source of Hanjing River, Ningqiang county, in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, is vital to the country's South-to-North Water Diversion Project and the biodiversity of the Qinba Mountains.
Local authorities have implemented a series of measures to protect the aquatic ecosystem. These include instituting a "lake chief" system for oversight, imposing logging and grazing bans, restricting polluting enterprises, renovating drinking water facilities and rural toilets, and prohibiting direct sewage discharge, all aimed at improving water quality.
Additional initiatives include river channel regulation, embankment construction, riverbank greening, and planting aquatic vegetation to create a self-sustaining environmental cycle.
(Intern Li Jingyan contributed to this story.)
Photo shows a cascading waterfall at the source of the Hanjiang River in Ningqiang county, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (People's Daily Online/Bai Ge)
Photo shows Jiutai Mountain in Ningqiang county, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (People's Daily Online/Bai Ge)
Photo shows tourists at a wetland park in Ningqiang county, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (People's Daily Online/Bai Ge)
Photo shows Ningqiang county surrounded by lucid water and lush mountains in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Photo/ Liu Binglin)
Photo shows a street in Ningqiang county, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Photo/ Liu Binglin)
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Hongyu)
A group of residents in The Glen have come together to take a stand against ongoing discoloured water which they say they can no longer trust to drink, even if it looks safe.
Elaine Eager, one of the residents of Mount Farran, explained that the community has had intermittent issues with water quality for the last two years but, in the last two months, the situation has worsened significantly.
We could be running the water for two hours with no difference thered be a mix of colours, dark brown, orange, yellow.
Weve been raising complaints with Uisce Eireann this whole time, and they have been completely unsatisfactory theyll register the complaint, give you a reference number, then nothing happens, she said.
Theyre telling us about long-term plans, investments, or new water treatment plants, but we just want to know when we will have safe water.
A neighbour who had Uisce Eireann come to take samples of the water at his house found dangerous levels of manganese in the water, an odourless and tasteless mineral that cannot be easily detected, said Ms Eager.
Water in Mount Farran.
Were a city centre residential area, so we have a real mix of demographics.
Were worried about people with dementia drinking the water.
One lady was bathing her tiny baby and the water started going brown in the middle of the bath.
One man cant wash his chef whites at home anymore.
Theres been no mention of providing alternative water to us, and we cant trust the water we have.
They tell us theyre flushing all the time, but its just making it temporarily worse and then back to the way it was.
The Mount Farran Residents Organisation are holding a water-crisis information-sharing event tomorrow evening from 6.30pm-7pm and are inviting local elected representatives to bring urgent attention to the issue.
They plan to set up a table in the centre of their crossroads to share information about the problem, and will also be bringing samples of the water, so people can see the quality.
The residents of Mount Farran have been forced to deal with a really bad episode of this brown water for weeks and weeks now, Cork North Central Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Mick Barry told The Echo.
Im pleased to see that they have decided to come together to speak out against whats been going on.
I hope other communities follow their example.
In response, Uisce Eireann told The Echo that it is investing 1.6m at the Lee Road Treatment Plant, with two new processes, one to remove manganese and a second to condition the final water.
In recent years, we have identified increased instances of the naturally occurring mineral, manganese, in raw water, in a number of water supplies across the country, the company said.
The manganese-removal system should be in place by the end of 2024, while the scheduled completion date for the installation of all works is mid-2025, they said, adding that mains rehabilitation works are also under way.
Public health remains our top priority, and water is safe to drink once it is running clear.
We continue to encourage customers to contact us directly in the event of discolouration.
Each report is actioned, giving us a better understanding of any ongoing issues and allows us to prioritise the worst-impacted areas.
We recognise that instances of discolouration are still arising in areas of Cork city, and want to assure householders and businesses that our dedicated taskforce is undertaking all possible measures to minimise discolouration and address the underlying issues across the city, Uisce Eireann said.
The occupation of University College Corks Quad by pro-Palestine protesters this summer contributed to expenditure of almost 30,000, the university has said.
According to figures released to The Echo following a freedom of information request, the university spent an additional 15,332 on security while protesters occupied its main quadrangle for six weeks between mid-May and late June.
In addition, UCC says that it also spent 13,971.32 on repair of the lawns after the occupation.
The quad was occupied for six weeks between May 14 and June 26 by members of the UCC Boycott Divestment and Sanction Student Group.
Around 30 tents were pitched on the lawn in the quadrangle.
The students were calling on UCC to sever all financial links and research partnerships with Israeli academic institutions, Israeli state institutions, and Israeli and non-Israeli companies that are profiting from the occupation of Palestine.
The occupation came to an end when UCC reached an agreement with the group, with the university saying: UCC is fully committed to implementing the meaningful actions agreed and they hold promise for genuine, transformative impacts.
In response to The Echos FoI request, UCC said despite ongoing maintenance of the quad, the quality of the surface has deteriorated in recent years, with the encampment having a further negative impact in recent months.
Once the protests finished, the university buildings and estates office decided to undertake much-needed ground enhancement to improve drainage levels and a significant sanding and reseeding programme, the statement said.
We also improved the gravel pathways through the area. Costs associated with works carried out following the end of the protest reflect addressing the much-needed ground enhancement as well as the impact of the encampment. The cost of this work was 13,971.32.
The statement said: To ensure the security of students, staff, visitors, and of the university estate during the period of protest, UCC provided additional security presence at night.
The cost of this additional security was 15,332.
UCC did not respond when asked, prior to this summers work, when the quad had last been renovated and at what cost.
Asked whether the protesters bore any responsibility for the additional expenditure of UCC funds necessitated by the occupation, Donnchadh O Laoghaire, Sinn Fein TD for Cork South Central, said a price could not be imposed upon the fundamental right to protest, whatever the cause.
Universities are spaces where ideas and opinions are at the centre of things, Mr O Laoghaire said.
Across the world, students are standing up to protest the slaughter of Palestinians, and Ireland isnt any different.
Cork is set to become the epicentre of astronomical wonder and scientific innovation as Space Week Ireland returns next month.
This years festival, running from October 4 to October 10, is set to be even more out of this world, with astronaut Steve Swanson joining the celebrations on a nationwide road trip, bringing the cosmos to communities across the country.
Co-ordinated by MTU Blackrock Castle Observatory, the annual festival aims to inspire the next generation of space enthusiasts, foster collaboration within the aerospace community, and showcase Irelands growing footprint in the global space industry.
Whether you are a seasoned astronomer, a curious student, or simply someone who marvels at the night sky, this years line-up of events has something extraordinary in store.
Kicking off this years Space Week Roadtrip in Cork, a free interview and Q&A session with Mr Swanson will take place at Corks School of Music, followed by interactive space and science booths.
Space Week Ireland national outreach co-ordinator Rob OSullivan said: Theres something in Irish culture that draws us to the stars.
With a rich history of contributing to space science including having the worlds largest telescope for 70 years its no surprise we embrace Space Week so enthusiastically.
The MTU Blackrock Castle Observatory will also host the #NovaHunter competition on Instagram as part of Space Week 2024, where the winner will receive a family pass to Blackrock Castle Observatory and a prize pack filled with Space Week goodies.
To enter the competition, capture an image of the Corona Borealis constellation between October 1-15, and upload it to Instagram with the hashtag #NovaHunt, tag @blackrockcastleobservatory, and include your location and who youre sharing the experience with.
To find out more information, visit: www.spaceweek.ie.
The Cork Business Association (CBA) is set to hold its inaugural Safe and Clean event next week.
Earlier this year, the association established a working group with business owners in the city as a means to lobby and develop initiatives and measures to ensure the highest standards of safety and cleanliness in Cork city.
The inaugural event, sponsored by Cork City Council, will take place at the Clayton Hotel Cork City on Tuesday, October 1.
It aims to address common challenges facing urban areas, identify effective measures businesses can take to tackle certain security and crime issues, and introduce exciting, new CBA-led initiatives aimed at enhancing the citys vibrancy and safety.
The voluntary business organisation will also launch its newly developed Safe and Clean Strategy during the event.
Cork Business Association president Aaron Mansworth said: This is an excellent opportunity to meet committee members, key stakeholders who can make a difference, and fellow local business owners.
Together, we will discuss concerns, exchange ideas, and work towards creating a more welcoming environment for everyone in Cork city.
Featured guest speakers at the event will include senior executive engineer with the cleansing team at Cork City Council Tony OSullivan, Inspector James Hallahan with An Garda Siochana, and area manager of Lodge Security Services Jamie Furey.
CBA members and non-members are invited to attend.
Shouting scumbags at gardai has resulted in a man being convicted and fined at Cork District Court.
Sergeant Gearoid Davis said that on Tuesday, June 4, at Maylor Street, Cork, David Heffernan of 35 Loughmahon Road, Mahon, Cork, was on the street after 3.30 a.m. and he shouted scumbags at gardai before running off.
He later repeated his threat telling one of the guards to f*** off.
Eddie Burke solicitor said that for the accused, who is aged around 40, the end of a ten-year relationship prompted him to go drinking heavily.
Judge Philip OLeary convicted and fined him 200 for engaging in threatening behaviour and took a charge of being drunk and a danger into consideration.
A book of evidence is to be prepared in the case against a 23-year-old man accused of dangerous driving causing serious harm to two young women at Eastgate Retail Park in Little Island.
Sergeant Dave Delea applied for an adjournment of the case at Cork District Court until November 19 to allow time for the preparation and service of a book of evidence.
Judge Philip OLeary adjourned the case for that purpose.
Luke Martin of St. Judes Hermitage, Ballybrowney, Rathcormac, County Cork, was charged by Garda Ruth Healy with two counts, each alleging dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to a young woman on September 16 2023 at Eastgate retail park.
Gardai objected to bail being granted to a 62-year-year-old man from Ballinlough accused of causing criminal damage to a car outside his neighbours house and threatening the owner.
Sergeant Sean Minihane said of the attitude Richard Ahern has taken to parking outside his neighbours house, I have tried everything but I just cannot get through to him.
Sgt. Minihane said the 62-year-old was already before Cork District Court on five counts when he allegedly committed the two new offences on Monday, September 23, and that all counts relate to the same party, parking outside her parents home, which neighbours Mr Aherns property.
Richard Ahern believes that Knockrea Drive, off Ballinlough Road, Cork, is residents parking only.
Sgt. Minihane says Mr Ahern takes exception to the woman parking outside her parents home when she visits them.
The new charges relate to Mr Ahern allegedly damaging her car and threatening her on Monday when she visited and parked outside her parents home.
Sgt. Minihane said evidence included extensive CCTV and video footage recorded by phone.
It is his belief that she has no right to park in front of her parents home and he says that the injured partys parents should be visiting her at her house, Sgt. Minihane said.
Judge Philip OLeary granted the bail application made by solicitor Frank Buttimer for Richard Ahern.
However, the judge attached a condition that requires the defendant not to interfere with the parties next door and not to engage with them.
The case was adjourned until October 22 to allow time for directions in the case from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
A popular Irish cafe chain could be set to open an outlet in Cork City.
Sprout and Co Kitchen Ltd has applied for planning permission from Cork City Council for a development at the former Ulster Bank unit in nos 16/17, Winthrop St.
They are seeking permission for a change of use of the ground and first floors from financial services to cafe, along with new business signage, and any associated site development works.
This would be the first Cork and first outside-Leinster location for the health cafe, which has six locations in Dublin and one in Kildare and a menu offering wraps, salads, and a selection of meat and fish rice bowl dishes.
The idea for the business, which is run by brothers Jack and Theo Kirwin, was born in Cork, with their website explaining, a freshly-picked, organic tomato at Ballymaloe Cookery School started Sprout.
When Jack tasted its full-flavour punch, it sparked the idea for a locally-sourced, seasonal, healthy food business.
A decision by the council is due on November 11.
Three Chinese nationals an engineer and two language students were allegedly beaten horrifically by two intruders who burst into their bedrooms in Cork city in the early hours of the morning.
Detective Garda Brian Barron objected to bail being granted to the two accused men who were arrested and brought before Cork District Court on multiple charges arising out the incident.
During his evidence of the allegations in the case, the detective said the victims complied in every way with the demands of the intruders handing over all their cash and phones. However, even after they had done so they were beaten with a crowbar and seriously injured. The entire incident went on for seven minutes.
32-year-old Aidan Cullinane of St Josephs Park, The Lough, Cork, and 41-year-old Gerard Quinlan of Gilabbey Mews, Connaught Avenue, Cork, were both charged with the same four counts, namely carrying out a burglary and assault causing harm to one man and two women. The injured parties were in their early to mid-twenties.
Det Garda Barron testified: It is alleged that at 5.45am on April 17 Gerard Quinlan and Aidan Cullinane entered a dwelling house at Millerd St, Cork city, as intruders. They were not known to the people living there three occupants are Chinese nationals. They were asleep at their home.
The intruders burst into the two upstairs bedrooms simultaneously, demanding cash and mobile phones from the three petrified victims.
"It is alleged that following complete compliance with the demands of the two and having handed over what little money and mobile phones they had the three residents were then subjected to a vicious and sustained assault at the hands of Aidan Cullinane and Gerard Quinlan, where all three were beaten with a crowbar.
It resulted in significant injuries. One man had a 7 cm laceration to his forehead and other injuries.
A young woman had a 4 cm laceration to her scalp and multiple abrasions and bruising to her face, arm, shoulder abdomen and back. She sustained three broken ribs.
A second woman suffered several wounds to her dominant right hand, including two broken bones. It required surgical intervention and stabilisation by insertion of metal wire.
The horrific ordeal lasted approximately seven minutes. They escaped with 200 approximately and a laptop.
Recovery time from the physical injuries has been put at various lengths from three to 12 months.
"A huge quantity of CCTV was harvested in the investigation tracking suspects to and from the scene, Det Garda Barron said.
The detective said no bail conditions would satisfy the state and he said that there were real concerns for the safety of the community if either of the accused was released on bail.
Aidan Cullinane, represented by solicitor Frank Buttimer, and Gerard Quinlan, represented by barrister William Bulman, were both refused bail by Judge Philip OLeary who remanded them in custody until October 2 at Cork District Court. Sergeant John Kelleher said directions would be sought from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
A 36-year-old woman who confessed to the wilful neglect of children at a convenience shop Cork city more than one year ago was put on a 12-month probation bond.
The case arose following an alert raised about children in a dishevelled state in the neighbourhood shop.
Judge Philip OLeary said at Cork District Court, It is a distressing case on the face of it. But she has shown genuine remorse and has engaged with the CFA (Child and Family Agency) in a proper manner.
She is managing quite well going forward. She is doing well with the probation service. I will put her on a 12-month probation bond. Defence solicitor Frank Buttimer submitted that the accused had been doing very well since this incident occurred in June 2023.
The 36-year-old woman pleaded guilty to two charges. Each charge states that on June 26 2023 at a shop near her home, being a person having custody of a child (boys name), she did wilfully neglect the child in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering to the childs health. The defendant cannot be named as it could lead to identification of the two boys whose identities are protected under the Childrens Act.
Gardai initiated the investigation following a complaint about children in a disheveled condition without parental supervision attending a shop. This prompted an investigation which saw the involvement of gardai and social workers from Tusla to ensure the safety and welfare of the children after this neglect.
Senator Jerry Buttimer is to be added to the Fine Gael ticket in Cork South Central to contest the seat vacated by Simon Coveney.
Cork city councillor in the South Central ward Shane OCallaghan and Cork county councillor for Carrigaline Una McCarthy had already been selected to run in the region.
Mr Buttimer, the cathaoirleach of the Seanad, was one of five candidates to contest a selection convention for the constituency at the end of July alongside OCallaghan, McCarthy, Cork city councillor and former lord mayor Des Cahill, and John Mullins, who ran unsuccessfully in the European elections.
Senator Buttimer said: I am honoured to have been asked by An Taoiseach Simon Harris to contest the next General Election for Fine Gael in Cork South-Central.
An Taoiseach Simon Harris is campaigning with a new dedication and a new energy. Throughout my career, I have always brought that same dedication and energy, not only to campaigning for Fine Gael at election time, but also to representing the people of Cork and the constituency of Cork South-Central in particular."
Mr OCallaghan topped the poll with over 120 votes, Mr Buttimer came in second with over 60 votes, while John Mullins and Des Cahill received more than 30 votes.
Una McCarthy had between 10 and 20 votes, though minister of state Jennifer Carroll MacNeill who chaired the convention had read a party directive decreeing that two candidates be chosen and that one had to be from the Carrigaline area, meaning Ms McCarthy was to be automatically selected.
She told The Echo on the news of a third candidate: It doesnt change anything for me, I allowed my name to be put forward because I believe I can win and be a new generation TD."
Mr OCallaghan said: I received the overwhelming support of the the local party membership when I won the selection convention in July. Since then, the momentum of my campaign has been building by the day.
It will be essential for Cork that Fine Gael maintains a seat in Dail Eireann in this constituency. It will be crucial for the region that the great work that Simon Coveney has done over the last 26 years continues. Mr OCallaghan, who topped the poll in the recent local elections and increased the Fine Gael vote in his local ward by 50%, said: Nothing changes for me and my campaign team.
"I wish my party colleague the very best.
By Jonathan McCambridge, PA
Simon Harris has accepted an invitation to meet US president Joe Biden at the White House in October.
Following the meeting, the Taoiseach and Mr Biden will both speak at an event to mark the centenary of bilateral diplomatic relations between Ireland and the US.
A statement from the Government said the event will also be an opportunity to reflect on President Bidens career-long friendship with Ireland.
During his visit to Washington DC, the Taoiseach will also undertake a number of other engagements.
A former Cork Rose is spearheading an event to raise funds for an Irish charity working in Kenya, and shes persuaded some of her fellow Roses to get onboard.
Jenny Byrne, the 2022 Cork Rose, who is also studying a PHD in International Development, is organising Bring a Dress, Buy a Dress which looks set to be a fun event, where everyones a winner.
A long-time lover of pre-loved clothes, Jenny says they formed a huge part of her Rose of Tralee wardrobe, and she is urging people to think second-hand in a bid to help the circular economy and aid sustainability, as well as raising much- needed funds for Brighter Communities Worldwide, a charity based in East Cork where she works.
Kate Shaughnessy - 2023 Cork Rose, Shauna O Sullivan 2024 Cork Rose and Jenny Byrne - 2022 Cork Rose, launching the dress sale for charity.
Brighter Communities World is a superb charity. It works in partnership with local communities in Kenya, creating sustainable and lasting change through education, health, and economic empowerment initiatives. Its unique model of working has paid dividends, making real improvements to the quality of life that people can enjoy, said Jenny.
The 28-year-old made a conscious effort to include some second-hand pieces in her Rose wardrobe, and these ultimately became some of her favourite outfits.
I sourced occasion dresses and ball gowns from local charity shops, and borrowed what I could from friends.
During the Rose of Tralee Festival, many of us also swapped outfits and shared accessories, creating our own little sustainable community, she said.
Despite all her efforts, Jenny still has many gowns left over from the festival, which shell be donating to the event which will take place on September 28 at the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh.
Former Cork Rose Jenny Byrne.
By doing this, we are not only saving beautiful dresses from landfill, but also supporting a really good cause, international development work at Brighter Communities World, she said.
As a passionate advocate for sustainable development and community empowerment, Jennifer is almost finished her PhD in international development, where she worked with women with physical disabilities in Cambodia and Rwanda.
Cork Rose Jenny Byrne enjoying the day at the Galway Races back in 2022. Picture: Hany Marzouk
As part of her research, she spent three months in each country to understand the womens needs when it came to education and employment, and establish how NGOs can better engage with them.
They all would have experienced routine discrimination, on a similar scale to here, where theyd be overlooked for jobs, and their capabilities underestimated.
Jenny hopes to use her research to bring about change and give a voice to these women, and said shes already had great buy in from NGOs and other Irish charities.
She admits its a lofty ambition, but she is committed to using her research to implement progress.
In the meantime, its full steam ahead to organise the fundraiser with past and present Roses either attending in person, or donating gowns.
Rose of Tralee International Festival host Daithi O Se pictured with Cork Rose, Jenny Byrne (2022) and Arizona Rose, Sophie Owen. Picture Andres Poveda
I have always loved dressing up, ever since I was a little girl. Even now, any chance I have to don a ball gown, I will grab with both hands. Im so looking forward to the event and people will have the opportunity to show off their fabulous frocks at our Kenya Ball on November 30, one of the highlights of the Cork social calendar.
The Buy a Dress, Bring a Dress is not just about finding a beautiful dress; its about coming together as a community to support a cause that can make a real difference in peoples lives.
Anyone wishing to donate a gown can drop to the charitys Cobh office before the event, which takes place on Saturday, September 28. It runs from 11am -1pm; 5 entry fee (covers tea/coffee and canapes on arrival, entry into raffle, live music, and free hair and make-up demos); all dresses priced 20-50.
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.
CALPIRG staff, students and coalition partners show support for legislation that improves upon an existing law from 2014. Andy Smith / TPIN
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Senate Bill 1053 banning all plastic bags at grocery stores in the state beginning in 2026.
In 2014, California passed a ban on plastic shopping bags, but a loophole allowed shoppers to still be able to purchase bags made of thicker plastic for a dime apiece.
A decade later, the choice will no longer be, Paper or Plastic, but I brought my own, Paper or No, thanks.
Plastic bags create pollution in our environment and break into microplastics that contaminate our drinking water and threaten our health, said State Director of California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) Jenn Engstrom in a press release from PIRG. Californians voted to ban plastic grocery bags in our state almost a decade ago, but the law clearly needed a redo. With the Governors signature, California has finally banned plastic bags in grocery checkout lanes once and for all.
Plastic bags not only pollute the environment, often almost immediately following their use, but break down into tiny toxic plastic pieces called microplastics that have found their way into drinking water, posing a threat to public health.
When California banned plastic grocery bags in 2014, they were the first state in the country to do so. But stores were still allowed to provide reusable and recyclable plastic bags at checkouts. Unfortunately most of these thicker plastic bags were not reused or recycled, exacerbating the states plastic waste problem.
The law did drastically reduce the total number of bags, but their thickness meant more plastic in the trash, reported The New York Times. In 2021, for every 1,000 people in the state, plastic bags weighing 5.89 tons were discarded, a CALPIRG analysis found. Seven years earlier, the same number of people had binned 4.08 tons.
According to CALPIRG, plastic bags are typically only used for 12 minutes, then thrown away. After their brief useful life, they end up in landfills and oceans, where they stay for hundreds of years, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces and posing a risk to marine life who ingest and get caught in them.
Nothing we use for a few minutes should pollute the environment for hundreds of years, said Laura Deehan, Environment Californias state director, in the press release. Finally, with this necessary update to the bag ban, plastic grocery bags will no longer be a threat to sea turtles, birds, and other wildlife in California.
As world wide as the web is, language barriers still often limit how much of a site people can explore. Well, Reddit is using AI in an attempt to lessen this issue. The company announced Redditors across more than 35 countries will soon be able to automatically translate their entire feeds. The tool first launched in France earlier this year.
The machine learning-powered feature is now available in Brazil and Spain, where Redditors can click a translate icon displayed in the overflow menu. This move will translate their entire feed, including comments, into Portuguese and Spanish, respectively. The setting also allows people to post and comment in their language and have it auto-translated into the community's set language. The key here is that unlike platforms like Instagram, for instance, which require you to click translate for each post, Reddit is automating the process. Redditors can access this feature on the app, mobile browser or desktop.
In the coming weeks Reddit will expand its translation feature to Germany, Italy, the Philippines and countries across Latin America. The platform will also be adding a banner on any translated posts and a quick button to see the original content helpful if a sentence gets a bit wonky in translation. Plus, Reddit is planning to roll out translated content on search engines.
Although Meta Connect 2024 lacked a marquee high-end product for the holiday season, it still included a new budget VR headset and a tease of the magic glasses Metas XR gurus have been talking about for the better part of a decade. In addition, the company keeps plowing forward with new AI tools for its Ray-Ban glasses and social platforms. Heres everything the company announced at Meta Connect 2024.
Orion AR glasses
Meta
Todays best mixed reality gear like Apples Vision Pro and the Meta Quest 3 are headsets with passthrough video capabilities. But the tech industry eventually wants to squeeze that tech into something resembling a pair of prescription glasses. Well let you judge whether the Orion AR glasses pictured above pass that test, but theyre certainly closer than other full-fledged AR devices weve seen.
First, the bad news. These puppies wont be available this year and dont have an official release date. A leaked roadmap from last year suggested theyd arrive in 2027. However, Meta said on Wednesday that Orion would launch in the near future, so take what you will from that. For its part, Meta says the full-fledged product prototype is truly representative of something that could ship to consumers rather than a research device thats decades away from shipping.
The glasses include tiny projectors to display holograms onto the lenses. Meta describes them as having a large field of view and immersive capabilities. Sensors can track voice, eye gaze, hand tracking and electromyography (EMG) wristband input.
The glasses combine that sensory input with AI capabilities. Meta gave the example of looking in a refrigerator and asking the onboard AI to spit out a recipe based on your ingredients. It will also support video calls, the ability to send messages on Metas platforms and spatial versions of Spotify, YouTube and Pinterest apps.
Meta Quest 3S
Meta
This years new VR headset focuses on the entry-level rather than early adopters wanting the latest cutting-edge tech. The Meta Quest 3S is a $300 baby sibling to last years Quest 3, shaving money off the higher-end models entry fee in exchange for cheaper lenses, a resolution dip and skimpier storage.
The headset includes Fresnel lenses, which are familiar to Quest 2 owners, instead of the higher-end pancake ones in Quest 3. It has a 1,832 x 1,920 resolution (20 pixels per degree), a drop from the 2,064 x 2,208 (25 PPD) in the Quest 3. Meta says the budget models field of view is also slightly lower.
The Quest 3S starts with a mere 128GB of storage, which could fill up quickly after installing a few of the platforms biggest games. But if youre willing to shell out $400, you can bump that up to a more respectable 256GB. (Alongside the announcement, Meta also dropped the 512GB Quest 3 price to $500 from $650.)
The headset may outlast the Quest 3 in one respect: battery life. Meta estimates the Quest 3S will last 2.5 hours, while the Quest 3 is rated for 2.2 hours.
Those ordering the headset will get a special Bat-bonus. Quest 3S (and Quest 3) orders between now and April 2025 will receive a free copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow, the VR action game coming next month.
The Quest 3S is now available for pre-order. It begins shipping on October 15.
Out with the old
To celebrate the arrival of the Meta Quest 3S, Meta is kicking two older models to the curb. The Quest 2 and Quest Pro will be discontinued by the end of the year. The company says sales will continue until inventory runs out or the end of the year, whichever comes first.
The company now views the Quest 3S, with its much better mixed reality capabilities, as the new budget model, so the $200 Quest 2 no longer has a place. The Quest Pro, which never gained much traction with consumers, has inferior cameras and passthrough video than the two Quest 3-tier models. The Pro launched two years ago as a Metaverse-centric device back when the industry was pounding that word as hard as its pushing AI now. The headset launched at a whopping $1,500 and was later reduced to $1,000.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Although the hardware stays the same, Meta is adding new AI features to its tech-filled sunglasses. The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses will get an updated AI assistant.
The assistant will now let you set reminders based on objects you see. For example, you could say, Hey Meta, remind me to buy that book next Monday to set an alert for something you see in the library. The glasses can also scan QR codes and dial phone numbers from text it recognizes.
Metas assistant should also respond to more natural commands. Youll need to worry less about remembering formal prompts to trigger it (Hey Meta, look and tell me). It will let you use more casual phrasing like What am I looking at? The AI can also handle complex follow-up questions for more fluid chats with the robot friend living in your sunglasses.
According to Meta, the glasses live translation is also getting better. While last years version struggled with longer text, the company says the software will now translate larger chunks more effectively. Live translations will arrive in English, French, Italian and Spanish by the end of 2024.
Meta
The company said Met AI now supports voice chats. Although this capability existed before, it was limited to the Ray-Ban glasses.
Meta also partnered with celebrities to help draw customers into its chatbots. Thats right, folks: You can now hear Metas chatbot responses in the dulcet tones of the one and only John Cena! Other celebrity voices include Dame Judi Dench, Awkwafina, Keegan Michael Key and Kristen Bell.
Metas AI can now edit photos with text prompts, performing tasks like adding or removing objects or changing details like backgrounds or clothes. AI photo editing will be available on Metas social apps, including Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
Meanwhile, Metas Llama 3.2 AI model introduces vision capabilities. It can analyze and describe images, competing with similar features in ChatGPT and Anthropics Claude.
Catch up on all the news from Meta Connect 2024!
Google filed a complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission on Wednesday. In it, Google accused Microsoft of making it prohibitively expensive for cloud customers to move their work from Azure to other providers, like Google Cloud.
Google claims Microsofts cloud licensing terms restrict European customers from switching to competing cloud platforms despite no technical barriers to doing so. In a blog post explaining its complaint, Google wrote that Microsofts practices have significantly harmed European companies and governments, costing European businesses 1 billion ($1.1 billion) annually, wasting taxpayer money and stifling competition.
Amazons AWS leads Europes cloud market. Microsofts Azure is second, followed by Google in third. Oracle, Salesforce and IBM rounded out the top six in Q2 2024.
On Wednesday, a European Commission spokesperson confirmed to Engadget that the EU governing body received Googles complaint. We will assess it according to our standard procedures, EC spokesperson Lea Zuber wrote.
Googles complaint referred to a settlement this summer between Microsoft and CISPE (Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe), the trade body for Europes cloud industry. The latter filed a complaint against Microsoft in late 2022, accusing the company of anti-competitive practices with Azure (strikingly similar to Googles complaints from today). The full details of the settlement, which led to CISPE withdrawing its complaint, werent made public. CISPE wrote in July that Microsoft would make changes to address its concerns. Those included releasing an enhanced version of the Azure Stack HCI, which would bring features that Microsoft's customers enjoy to European cloud providers.
In a statement to Engadget, Microsoft was optimistic that the EC would dismiss Googles complaint. Microsoft settled amicably similar concerns raised by European cloud providers, even after Google hoped they would keep litigating, a Microsoft spokesperson wrote, referring to a Bloomberg report that Google offered a $500 million alternative deal to keep the antitrust complaint alive. Having failed to persuade European companies, we expect Google similarly will fail to persuade the European Commission, Microsofts spokesperson wrote.
Google says Windows Server is at the heart of its complaint. Describing it as a must-have workhorse in many IT environments, the company says Microsoft changed its practices after cloud computing became a more lucrative business. But as Azure faced more competition, Microsoft introduced new rules that severely limited customer choice, Google wrote.
Google said the licensing terms Microsoft adopted in 2019 imposed extreme financial penalties on companies who wanted to use Windows Server software with Azure competitors like AWS and Google Cloud. Microsofts own statements indicate that customers who want to move their workloads to these competitors would need to pay up to five times more, Google wrote, citing an archived 2023 webpage comparing Azure pricing to that of AWS. Google said Microsoft also limited security patches and created other barriers to choice in cloud providers.
Google also linked to research from Professor Frederic Jenny, a French economist and chair of the OECD Competition Committee. The study claims that European companies and government organizations pay unfair, additional costs to customers who license software to run on cloud infrastructure from independent service providers. Professor Jenny claimed those choosing non-Microsoft cloud providers sucked an additional 1,010,394,489 out of the European economy in 2022.
Google Clouds Head of Platform Amit Zavery wrote on Wednesday that Microsofts practices lock customers into Azure, hurt cybersecurity and limit innovation. Zavery also spoke with CNBC, advocating for a more open market for cloud providers. Today the restrictions [do] not allow choice for customers, he said. Zavery wants Microsofts restrictions to be removed and allow customers to have and choose whatever cloud provider they think is best for them commercially and technically.
Mozilla is the latest company to get in trouble with the EU. Austrian advocacy group Noyb has filed a complaint against Mozilla for setting a Privacy Preserving Attribution (PPA) feature to default without informing its users. Noyb claims the setting impacts millions of Europeans.
According to Mozilla, PPA involves websites asking Firefox to remember ads they show and to potentially generate an interest report. Firefox creates the data but then submits it to an aggregation service, where the report is combined with similar ones. The company claims individual's browsing activity isn't shared with any third-parties, making it a safer system.
Noyb's complaint alleges that this still interferes with EU users' GDPR-confirmed rights while taking a dig at widespread tracking being the "norm" in the US. "Mozilla has just bought into the narrative that the advertising industry has a right to track users by turning Firefox into an ad measurement tool," said Felix Mikolasch, a data protection lawyer at Noyb, in a statement. "While Mozilla may have had good intentions, it is very unlikely that 'privacy preserving attribution' will replace cookies and other tracking tools. It is just a new, additional means of tracking users." Users wanting to turn PPA off must navigate to the browser's settings and click opt-out in a sub-menu.
The complaint ends with Noyb requesting that the Austrian data protection authority investigates Mozilla's privacy settings. It also states that Mozilla should alert users about its data processing steps, use an opt-in system and delete "unlawfully" processed data. Noyb has previously lodged complaints against tech companies such as Microsoft, Meta and OpenAI.
Metas annual VR / AR shindig kicks off a few hours after this newsletter hits your inboxes. As usual, itll lay down the direction of travel for the next year of strapping stuff to your face. So, before the awkward stage banter begins, its worth reading up on whats to come. Weve prepared our usual roundup of all the rumors, scuttlebutt and leaks about what well see.
That includes Orion, a pair of Buddy Holly glasses offering augmented reality in a more user friendly package. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already hinted about its potential, but he added well only see the prototype today. We can also expect a cheaper version of the Quest 3 and some more AI doodads to come to the Ray-Ban smart glasses.
Once youve studied up, you can follow our coverage of Meta Connect 2024 live to get a blow-by-blow of the show the minute it happens. Everything kicks off at 1PM ET / 10AM PT, but the color commentary will start long before then.
Dan Cooper
All the (mostly games) news you might have missed
She was a key witness in Sam Bankman-Frieds criminal trial.
Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda Research and advisor to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, has been sentenced to two years in prison. Ellison pled guilty at the end of 2022 for her role in the FTX fraud and was a key witness in Bankman-Frieds criminal trial. Ellison will spend a further three years on supervised release once she has left prison. In a statement, the disgraced crypto executive expressed remorse for her conduct.
Continue Reading.
Except in Japan, for obvious reasons.
Pocketpair
Depending on your loyalties, Palworld is either an exciting spin on the adventure genre or a shameless rip-off of Pokemon, but with guns. Developer Pocketpair is being sued in Japan by Nintendo, who is firmly in the latter camp, but that isnt yet slowing Palworlds progress. The title was just surprise-launched for the PS5 in 68 countries, with Japan an obvious exception.
Continue Reading.
I want this thing so darn much.
Duolingo
Ive been a fan of cute pianos that teach you how to play for a long while and have reviewed a few for Engadget. Now, Duolingo is getting in on the action, teaming up with baby digital piano makers Loog to produce its own learning piano. Itll integrate with Duolingos app, which has music courses to teach folks how to grasp the basics of playing. And, did I mention that I really want to play with one of these?
Continue Reading.
Raise your hand if you didnt know this was a thing.
TikTok Music
TikTok has announced TikTok Music, the companys streaming service to rival Spotify and Apple Music, is closing down. The platform announced itll cease operations on November 28 and delete all user data and login information soon after. It has advised subscribers to reach out to their payment platforms of choice to get refunds before that date. Dont worry though, Im a technology journalist and even I didnt know TikTok had its own standalone streaming service.
Continue Reading.
Metas AI assistant has always been the most intriguing feature of its second-generation Ray-Ban smart glasses. While the generative AI assistant had fairly limited capabilities when the glasses launched last fall, the addition of real-time information and multimodal capabilities offered a range of new possibilities for the accessory.
Now, Meta is significantly upgrading the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses AI powers. The company showed off a number of new abilities for the year-old frames onstage at its Connect event, including reminders and live translations.
With reminders, youll be able to look at items in your surroundings and ask Meta to send a reminder about it. For example, hey Meta, remind me to buy that book next Monday. The glasses will also be able to scan QR codes and call a phone number written in front of you.
In addition, Meta is adding video support to Meta AI so that the glasses will be better able to scan your surroundings and respond to queries about whats around you. There are other more subtle improvements. Previously, you had to start a command with Hey Meta, look and tell me in order to get the glasses to respond to a command based on what you were looking at. With the update though, Meta AI will be able to respond to queries about whats in front of you with more natural requests. In a demo with Meta, I was able to ask several questions and follow-ups with questions like hey Meta, what am I looking at or hey Meta, tell me about what Im looking at.
When I tried out Meta AIs multimodal capabilities on the glasses last year, I found that Meta AI was able to translate some snippets of text but struggled with anything more than a few words. Now, Meta AI should be able to translate longer chunks of text. And later this year the company is adding live translation abilities for English, French, Italian and Spanish, which could make the glasses even more useful as a travel accessory.
And while I still havent fully tested Meta AIs new capabilities on its smart glasses just yet, it already seems to have a better grasp of real-time information than what I found last year. During a demo with Meta, I asked Meta AI to tell me who is the Speaker of the House of Representatives a question it repeatedly got wrong last year and it answered correctly the first time.
Catch up on all the news from Meta Connect 2024!
Sean "Diddy" Combs is facing potential food-related challenges while being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges.
According to a former prisoner, the disgraced music mogul is reportedly suspicious that someone might try to poison him, leading him to avoid consuming the meals provided at MDC, where he has been held since his arrest a week ago.
In a recent TV appearance, ex-MDC inmate Larry Levine shared insights from a confidential informant familiar with the situation.
"Imagine if someone paid someone off on the inside to poison his food, give him a heart attack and he dies," Levine told 'NewsNation.'
Diddy's reluctance to eat stemmed reportedly from his growing apprehension and unease about potentially becoming a target.
Levine continued, "If somebody got to one of the correctional officers, this could happen. They don't make a lot of money and there's people out there that he's got stuff on that do have a lot of money."
"[Diddy is] really, really paranoid. He's really, really scared. Doesn't know what to think. He doesn't know who to trust or what to believe."
In light of logistical considerations, it has also come to light that Diddy and crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried are currently sharing accommodations within the confines of MDC.
The area where Diddy is being held can accommodate about 18 to 20 people, and it's usually meant for high-profile individuals or those who are cooperating with law enforcement.
Diddy has reportedly had a religious visit and had a nutritionist consult during his time at MDC.
Read more: Diddy And His Head of Security Accused Of Drugging And Recording Violent Sexual Abuse In A New Lawsuit
Additionally, he has been visited by a mental health professional several times daily.
"He's still on suicide watch. A shrink is coming to see him several times a day."
It is reportedly common for prisoners to refuse the food they are given. Levine noted that inmates in solitary confinement, such as Diddy, often receive lower-quality meals compared to those in general population.
"They feed the people in the shoe last. The food is bland, it's a lot of carbohydrates. It fills you up but you get sick eating it."
"There's mold in a lot of that food. Maybe he got sick from the food, that's another possibility."
Diddy is currently embroiled in a legal battle over accusations of human trafficking and mistreatment of women. Amid his arrest September 18, he maintained his innocence when he pleaded not guilty during court proceedings.
Despite multiple attempts to secure bail, they have all been denied, resulting in his confinement at the MDC.
Jennifer Aniston is the latest celebrity to fall victim to "swatting."
"Swatting" is a prank that deceives emergency services into sending police to another person's address, and is on the rise in Hollywood.
According to 'TMZ,' the 'Friends' alum was awaken early Friday morning after a prank caller said they were worried about a friend in distress. Aniston was not mentioned by name, but the caller said his friend was "not doing well" and asked for them to conduct a welfare check.
Cops did just that, but was confronted by the actress' security, who was not expecting them.
The 55-year-old, per the outlet, told authorities everything was okay before they retreated. Moving forward, police said they will check with security if another call is made to the address.
Aniston isn't the only star who has been "swatted."
Ashton Kutcher, Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, and Kim Kardashian have all been swatted.
A Kansas man, Andrew Finch, was inadvertently killed by police in his own home in December 2017 after cops were called to his house during the prank, 'CNN' reported.
Read more: People are getting hurt because of an exploding egg trend on TikTok
Two years later, in 2019, the man who made the hoax call to police, Tyler Ray Barriss, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to making a false report resulting in death and numerous other counts related to prank calls.
Stephen McAllister, the US Attorney for the District of Kansas, stated how "swatting is no prank."
He added: "Sending police and emergency responders rushing to anyone's home based on utterly false information as some kind of joke shows an incredible disregard for the safety of other people."
Russell Simmons is resisting efforts to be deposed in a lawsuit filed by a former Def Jam executive who has accused him of sexual harassment and battery.
Court records show the accuser, using the alias Jane Doe, asked Simmons, 66, to participate in a deposition via Zoom, where he would answer questions under oath about the case.
Jane Doe and her attorney told the court that, after discussions with Simmons' legal team, it appears the two sides are stuck on several critical matters, according to 'InTouch Weekly.'
The accuser also requested the depositions of several former Def Jam employees, alongside Simmons.
Read more: Diddy And His Head of Security Accused Of Drugging And Recording Violent Sexual Abuse In A New Lawsuit
Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam Productions in 1984, has not yet responded to a list of questions submitted by Jane Doe. She believes that if he were deposed, it would eliminate the need for him to answer her interrogatories, though Simmons has not agreed to either.
In the lawsuit, Jane Doe accused the entrepreneur of sexually assaulting her at his apartment when she was working as a senior music executive at Def Jam.
The legal complaint alleges, "This case details how a woman pursuing her career as a music executive was sexually harassed, assaulted, and raped by her employer, Russell Simmons, a prominent figure whose influence allowed such behavior to go unchecked for many years."
The suit claims that Jane Doe was invited to Simmons' Manhattan apartment for a work-related meeting to review a new video. Once there, Simmons allegedly tried to playfully "wrestle" her, but it soon became aggressive, culminating in him pinning her down on the bed and raping her, despite her repeated protests.
Her attorney noted that the alleged incident caused significant emotional distress, leading her to suffer panic attacks and eventually leave her role at Def Jam shortly after the alleged assault.
In response, the record executive has denied any wrongdoing, stating that the claims were covered under a 1997 agreement in which Jane Doe had released him from liability. Additionally, he cited that he now lives in Bali and no longer owns property in New York, making the case irrelevant.
Simmons' legal team claims a deposition is unnecessary, arguing it is duplicative and intended to harass him. However, a judge recently ruled depositions should proceed despite dismissing certain requests made by Jane Doe as overly broad.
Bella Hadid is making her way back to the catwalk!
The supermodel unexpectedly strutted the catwalk for the first time in two years for Anthony Vaccarello's Spring/Summer 2025 Saint Laurent Collection.
Back like she never left, Hadid appeared in a bold and structured look, featuring a slick back bun, smart eyewear, and a double-breasted pants suit.
According to 'W Magazine,' the model's look was reportedly an homage to the late designer Monsieur Saint Laurent himself who was known for his bold structural ensembles and sophisticated tailored looks.
Read more: Eve Recalls Janet Jackson Saving Her Life With This Concoction After Being Drugged At A VMAs Party
Per the media outlet, Hadid embodied "his way of dressing, with fluid suits and jackets over blazers."
The 27-year-old had successfully climbed her way to superstar status, but unapologetically took a break to focus on her mental and physical health earlier this year. "After 10 years of modeling, I realized I was putting so much energy and love and effort into something that, in the long run, wasn't necessarily giving it back to me," she stated in an interview with 'Allure' back in April.
The Palestinian and Dutch model described the process of her healing journey as "a roller coaster" and not "linear."
"Just as I have styled myself for years now which I still do I love being able to do my own hair and makeup, be happy with how I look, and get ready with my girlfriends here in Texas," Hadid said. "For the first time now, I'm not putting on a fake face. If I don't feel good, I won't go. If I don't feel good, I take time for myself. And I've never had the opportunity to do that or say that before."
The fashionista who launched her fragrance venture Orebella in May spoke candidly about battling Lyme's disease, which is liable to cause muscle aches, extreme tiredness, and problematic immune responses.
Lyme disease is an illness caused by borrelia bacteria, spread to humans from the bite of a tick carrying the bacteria, according to the Mayo Clinic. Battling with the effects of the disease, the model's last catwalk appearance was Miu Miu's Spring 2023 runway show.
It appears things might be looking up for the Palestinian supermodel, as she revealed on Instagram last year that she'd be back when she's "finally healthy."
Brittany Furlan, wife of Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, recently saved their dog from a dangerous encounter with a coyote, as revealed in a chilling video shared on her Instagram. The incident took place in their backyard in Woodland Hills, California, and was captured on their home's security camera.
In the video, a coyote is seen darting into the yard, grabbing their English cream miniature dachshund named Neena, and attempting to run off with her. Furlan immediately sprinted after the wild animal, successfully snatching her dog from the coyote's jaws.
"I was letting the dogs out to pee and a coyote came and grabbed Neena in broad daylight," Furlan wrote in her post, warning others to be cautious with their pets. She added that she had lived in the area for four years without ever seeing a coyote, making the incident even more shocking.
As the video continues, the 38-year-old is seen frantically running back to the house, shouting to Tommy Lee, "A coyote grabbed Neena!" Lee, 61, quickly rushed outside to assist, but Furlan had already pulled their dog to safety. She explained that Neena's size helped slow down the coyote, allowing her to intervene before it escaped over the wall with the dog.
Fortunately, Neena was unharmed, and their other dog, who was also in the yard at the time, was untouched.
The actress and comedian assured her followers that she won't let the dogs out unattended again, emphasizing how terrifying the encounter was.
In response to the incident, Furlan posted a sweet update showing Neena receiving treats from their concerned neighbors, highlighting the supportive community around them.
Furlan, a social media personality, rose to fame on Vine and later gained millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram. She and Tommy Lee met through the celebrity dating app Raya in 2017 and married in 2019.
Amid the recent onslaught of legal troubles faced by Sean "Diddy" Combs, Freddy P has expressed that he believes that Fonzworth Bentley had a intimate relationship with the rapper.
Freddy P, who was a member of Diddy's hip hop group Da Band, formed during MTV's 'Making the Band' competition series, has come forward sharing more allegations about the embattled music mogul.
During a recent interview with 'The Art Of Dialogue,' he revealed how he thinks Diddy, whom he called "Puffy," is "gay." Freddy expressed a strong belief that those in Diddy's inner circle also identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community, insisting that "everybody around him [Diddy] gay."
Read more: Diddy And His Head of Security Accused Of Drugging And Recording Violent Sexual Abuse In A New Lawsuit
He elaborated that individuals must "prove that either you are with the s**t or the s**t don't bother you," hinting at a complex social dynamic surrounding the music executive.
Freddy P suggested that Diddy, 54, harbors an "addiction" to "turning people out," insinuating that he seeks to engage others in sexual encounters. He also alluded to Fonzworth Bentley's past relationship with Diddy, speculating that Bentley could have been Diddy's "little boyfriend, girlfriend, at one time."
Reflecting on Bentley's treatment, Freddy remarked, "He talked to you like his b***h," indicating a potentially troubling power dynamic.
Additionally, the rapper highlighted a social media post by Bentley that read, "'Don't let me tell my story,' or some s**t like that," hinting at untold experiences related to his relationship with the "All About the Benjamins" rapper.
Diddy was indicted for racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and sexual assault last week. As the case goes on, more seems to come to light about the performer, including those that may have interacted with him during his alleged wrongdoings. Some of his connections have left the rapper with a fear of being poisoned while behind bars as he awaits trial after his bail was denied.
The serious nature of the allegations against Diddy is underscored by claims in the indictment that he exploited his wealth and influence to manipulate victims, funding abusive gatherings described as "Freak Offs," which allegedly involved drugging and sexual abuse.
As of now, both Diddy and Bentley, whose real name is Derek Watkins, have remained silent regarding any romantic involvement. The Atlanta, Georgia, native is perhaps best known for being Diddy's ex-personal valet and assistant as first seen in 'Making the Band 2.'
The 50-year-old also hosted MTV's 'From G's to Gents' in 2008.
Reese Witherspoon has announced an open casting call to find a young Elle Woods for the 'Legally Blonde' prequel series.
Through her production company Hello Sunshine, Witherspoon is bringing a prequel series titled 'Elle' to Prime Video.
The original Elle Woods made the announcement about the casting call in an Instagram reel posted September 25.
"Okay, so I have big news to announce today. I can't wait to tell you that we are starting the casting process, and we are making it open," she said. The open casting is specifically for the younger version of Elle Woods during her high school years.
Witherspoon encouraged potential candidates to audition, saying, "So send in your submissions. I cannot wait to see all of the Elle Woods out there."
The 'Elle' series will delve into the origins of Elle Woods as a teenager in the 1990s.
Witherspoon expressed her excitement about exploring the new narrative. "I truly couldn't be more excited about this series! Fans will get to know how Elle Woods navigated her world as a teenager with her distinct personality and ingenuity," she stated.
"I had this crazy idea that the world might want to know the origin story of Elle Woods... we're going back to high school with Elle," the 48-year-old said.
Alongside Witherspoon, Laura Kittrell will serve as an executive producer, contributing to the creative team from Hello Sunshine.
Vernon Sanders, the Head of Television for Amazon MGM Studios, also shared his thoughts on the series, praising its significance: "One of the most quotable, iconic, and beloved characters... has to be Elle Woods, and we are honored to bring her origin story to our global Prime Video customers."
'Legally Blonde,' directed by Robert Luketic in his feature directorial debut, premiered in 2001. The romantic comedy was based on Amanda Brown's 2001 novel of the same name.
The film follows Elle Woods, a sorority girl who attempts to win back her ex-boyfriend by attending Harvard Law School.
'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' reality star Eduardo Xol has died in his California apartment.
He was 58.
Xol died on Thursday, September 19, days after he was reportedly attacked and stabbed in his home located in downtown Palm Springs, California. Per 'The Desert Sun,' the reality TV star sustained "significant injuries consistent with an assault."
The outlet reported that the 58-year-old was attacked at 12:19 p.m. on September 10.
Per the news outlet, Xol was stabbed on Arenas Road, according to the Riverside County coroner and local police. The interior decorator died at Desert Regional Medical Center.
The Palm Springs Police Department had previously reported receiving a call from a man requesting help in the 400 block of East Arenas Road.
When officers arrived at the scene, they discovered a man in an apartment suffering from significant injuries. The victim proceeded to inform officers that he had been stabbed, however, he didn't identify the assailant. It was reported that he was taken to a local hospital while in stable condition.
Officers later apprehended a man, Richard Joseph Gonzales of Cathedral City, on charges related to attempted murder in connection to the apparent stabbing, per the news outlet.
After investigating, police officials gathered that Gonzales, 34, was the suspect in the incident after Gonzales called police dispatch at 9:13 a.m. that morning claiming to have been assaulted the previous night.
RIP Eduardo Xol
Shocked to hear he was killed. Had such a crush on him. Had some interaction with him on Twitter. Great singer too. Sad news. pic.twitter.com/xKoUsoNKGQ Jacob Gardner (@ThatBoyyJacob1) September 25, 2024
Eduardo Xol was a Mexican-American landscape designer and television personality, best known for his work on the show 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.' He gained recognition for his creative landscaping and design solutions, transforming outdoor spaces into beautiful and functional environments.
Gonzales was booked into the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio. He is currently being held without bail.
Some of Halle Berry's most raw and unpolished roles have been the ones she cherished most throughout her 30-year career.
In a recent interview with 'Sway's Universe,' Berry shared how challenging yet rewarding it was to take on roles like her character in the 1995 film 'Losing Isaiah,' where she portrayed Khaila Richards, a crack-addicted mother trying to regain custody of her son.
The Cleveland, Ohio, native admitted she stopped showering, brushing her teeth, and combing her hair to fully embody her movie character. "She was nasty," Berry explained, believing this physical transformation helped her connect with Vivian.
The 58-year-old actress made her film debut in 1991's 'Jungle Fever,' a Spike Lee film, where she starred alongside Samuel L. Jackson as crack addict Vivian, opposite Jackson's character, Gator.
While Jackson had personal experience with addiction, having overcome his own struggles just before filming, Berry had no such background.
who played a crackhead better than her ??? pic.twitter.com/qtU9J1wntl sharniece (@shaarniiece) June 19, 2020
"That was a big leap for me," Berry, 58, reflected about playing Khaila. "Jungle Fever gave me Viv, the crack ho, and I loved it," she said, with a smile, as she described her passion for taking on these kinds of characters.
"I was so into it," Berry continued. She revealed that to prepare for her role as Vivian, she spent time in real crack houses, determined to make her performance as authentic as possible, even though it was a dangerous decision. "I was such a young actor at the time... I didn't know the world of crack. But I knew I wanted to play the crack ho', even though I knew nothing about it."
Berry's extreme commitment to the role left her colleagues, including Jackson, in shock. "They couldn't believe I did that," she said. "They were like, 'What [...] is wrong? You did what? Why? It's called acting!'"
In 2021, Berry celebrated the 30th anniversary of 'Jungle Fever,' reflecting on how Vivian remains one of her favorite characters to this day.
Her latest film, 'Never Let Go,' in theaters now, is a survival horror thriller film directed by Alexandre Aja. The film, written by Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby, also stars Percy Daggs IV, Anthony B. Jenkins, Matthew Kevin Anderson, Christin Park, and Stephanie Lavigne.
Theres been no shortage of ink spilled over the ascendance of populism in the current U.S. political debate, particularly among conservatives. Strains of populism have long coursed through the Republican Party, animating long-running debates on issues ranging from trade to immigration. Today, well-funded and organized efforts are trying to push conservatives toward a more populist economic policy, abandoning the free market, low-tax, growth-focused economics that has dominated Republican politics for the last several decades.
These populist advocates have claimed early success in pushing the party to embrace a new approach on economics, including a larger role for government to shape the economy, and rejecting tax cuts as a way to drive growth.
Yet in assessing this emerging dynamic, a key question quickly emerges: Does this populist energy reflect a shift in thinking among Republicans generally? Or is this trend overstated, egged on by a news media that often craves GOP infighting and contrarian voices? Indeed, it seems vital to understand what actual voters believe.
We set out to test this question, commissioning leading polling firm Fabrizio Ward to survey voters' political and policy preferences in the pivotal Blue Wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, whose votes will likely determine the next president.
Its abundantly clear from the results that voters across the industrial Midwest strongly embrace pro-growth policies, including lower taxes, fewer regulations, and smaller government. As Fabrizio Ward makes clear: to win the Blue Wall states in November, Republicans shouldnt pursue a half-hearted embrace of the progressive policy agenda but rather double down on a winning and successful pro-growth policy plan.
Overall, pro-growth policy messages resonate with Blue Wall state voters. 91% of all voters, 95% of GOP voters, and 88% of Democratic voters surveyed support promoting pro-growth economic policies. A message that rejects high taxes, stifling regulations, and bloated government can form the building blocks of a winning coalition. This contradicts the narrative that a populist policy agenda has displaced traditional conservative policy priorities.
On the issue of taxes on businesses and corporations, 71% of all voters and 92% of GOP voters support maintaining current tax rates on businesses or lowering them further. More specifically, 59% of all voters and 82% of GOP voters support reducing the corporate tax rate. These same voters likewise take a dim view of an expanded role for the federal government in the economy. 71% of all voters and 90% of GOP voters reject a big-spending federal industrial policy and believe the free market should drive manufacturing.
A majority of voters believe that, despite all its challenges, the free market, rather than the government, should guide economic outcomes. 54% of all voters and 80% of GOP voters believe the federal government's role in the economy should be reduced to allow the free market to shape commerce. Lastly, voters roundly reject forced unionization, with 82% of all voters and 97% of GOP voters supporting the right to work without forced union representation.
Some advocates have claimed that a new right populist agenda has displaced traditional pro-growth economic policy views among Republicans, but our new results show the opposite is true. Blue Wall state Republicans and swing voters serially reject an expanded role for the federal government in shaping commerce and for spending billions on a government-led industrial policy. Further, the right to work, rather than forced unionization, is almost universally embraced by Blue Wall state Republicans and swing voters.
Gordon Gray leads Pinpoint Policy Institute as Executive Director. Prior to launching Pinpoint, Gordon served as the Vice President for Economic Policy at the American Action Forum, where his portfolio included the federal budget, taxes, the macroeconomic outlook, and general economic policy matters.
SALEM, Ohio Things are finally settling down at the Comp Dairy Farm in Dorset, Ohio after a fire destroyed the farms milking parlor.
The Comp family relocated more than 1,000 dairy cows in less than 24 hours, an amazing feat of logistics made possible by the quick-acting dairy and farming community in Ohio and the surrounding area.
It was very impressive that the community could pull together like that, Jerry Comp said. It was like something I hadnt seen in a long time.
The fire started around 7 p.m. on Sept. 22 in the milking parlor and spread quickly. Comp was in a field airing up a tire and when he came back, he saw flames coming from the back of the parlor.
He told the workers inside to let the cows loose and get out of there. No one was harmed in the fire, and most of the cows survived.
The Dorset Fire Chief said in a press release that more than 70 firefighters, including departments from Ashtabula, Trumbull and Geauga counties in Ohio and Crawford County in Pennsylvania, worked to get the fire under control.
A special thank you goes out to the excavators and their operators whose expertise and equipment played a critical role in containing the fire, Chief Jared Rogge said, in a statement. The resources they provided made a significant difference in the success of our efforts.
The work didnt stop after the fire was contained. Without a milking parlor, the family needed to find temporary homes for their milking herd of nearly 1,100 cows. The Comp Dairy milked three times a day, with the parlor running 24 hours a day.
The call for help went out late that night and the community responded immediately.
Cows were moved through the night and well into the next day, Sept. 23. Once housing was found for all of the cows, another call went out to find additional transportation.
It below my mind the amount of trailers we had lined up, Comp said.
Mandy Orahood, organization director with Ohio Farm Bureau who headed up some of the logistical work, said cows went to about a dozen farms. In addition to moving animals, numerous people dropped off donated food and drinks.
Weve had farmers reach out from Quebec, Canada to Kentucky and Missouri to Vermont, Orahood said.
The outpouring of support from the community has been overwhelming at times, but its also been amazing, Comp said. He said the way everyone pulled together for his family and their employees was very American.
The Comp Dairy Farm has been in the family for generations. Jim Comp, Jerrys father, told Farm and Dairy in a 2001 story about how the farm was founded in the late 19th century by his grandparents. It grew piece by piece from a stanchion barn to the modern free-stall barn with a milking parlor.
The farms dry cows and young stock are still at the main farm in Dorset. The barns were not damaged in the fire.
Comp said they cleaned up some of the fire-damaged buildings Sept. 23 to find out the extent of the damage to their equipment and infrastructure. The farm is insured, but the family will still need to decide what the next moves are for the farm.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the state fire marshals office.
West Midlands dairy farmer Michael Oakes, who was the former NFU dairy chairman, has been awarded for his 'outstanding contribution' to British farming.
A tenant dairy farmer based near Birmingham, Oakes won the award at the 2024 Cream event due to the work he has done for British dairy.
At a national level, he sat on the NFU dairy board for nearly 14 years; two as vice chair and almost eight as chairman.
Before this, he held various roles during his tenure with the union, including Worcestershire county chair, West Midlands regional board chair and council delegate.
The current NFU dairy board chair, Paul Tompkins, said Oakes 'worked tirelessly' to improve trust and cooperation across the UK dairy supply chain.
In particular, Michael has always gone above and beyond in his efforts to support dairy producers across the UK who reach out to him personally," he added.
I've had the pleasure of working with Michael throughout his tenure as national dairy board chair and have seen him give up much of his personal time to help individuals who dont feel they have anywhere else to turn.
"This work is often unrecognised, and certainty unpaid, and comes at some considerable personal emotional expense.
NFU Cymru deputy president Abi Reader, who sat on the national dairy board with Oakes, said he had done an 'incredible service' for the sector.
She commented: I cant think of any individual more worthy of this award. Michael has given so much to the dairy industry, its time he got something back.
Michael has served as NFU Dairy Board chair for a total of eight years and done an incredible service for the industry."
Ms Reader explained his 'crowning glory' was seeing the regulation of dairy contracts over the line.
"The work that has gone into this, dreamt up in 2016 has been incredible and dairy farmers everywhere owe Michael a lot for being one of the key driving forces," she added.
"He has done many other things, guiding the Dairy Roadmap, and always very conscious of diversity."
The Cream awards, which is an event solely for UK dairy farmers, takes place annually in September.
The UK government has been urged to follow Wales's 'positive example' and ensure more schools across the country are signed up to milk provision schemes.
The call comes as new research from the School and Nursery Milk Alliance (SNMA) reveals that Wales is leading the way in school milk provision.
It has an average servings per pupil per annum of 98 under the School Milk Subsidy Scheme, which is led by Defra.
Last year's winner, England, comes in second place with 93 and Scotland last with 80 servings.
Wales is unique amongst UK nations in providing free milk for all children in Key Stage One, rather than just subsidising it.
The research comes as part of today's (25 September) World School Milk Day 2024, which celebrates the benefits of school milk.
SNMA chair Jon Thornes met with Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner to discuss how the dairy sector and government can work with schools to ensure more children are drinking milk.
By encouraging schools to offer milk, he said that children's oral health would improve and the NHS could save millions through preventative healthcare.
However, millions of children were still missing out due to a lack of awareness of the government's available schemes.
"It is heartening to see that so many people across the UK believe it is important for school children to have access to free or subsidised milk," Mr Thornes said.
"Providing milk in schools is not just about nutritionit's about combatting child poverty and supporting children's educational attainment.
"We know that children who are well-nourished perform better in school, and milk plays a key role in keeping them focused and healthy."
Mr Thornes urged the UK government to ensure more schools across the UK were signed up to these school milk schemes.
"This is a crucial step in ensuring that as many children as possible can benefit from healthy milk while at school creating brighter futures for both our children and our nation."
A record breaking NSA Wales & Border ram sale saw a rise in turnover of more than 10% totalling over 2.2 million, with a 92% clearance, 5% up on last year.
As selling got underway at the Royal Welsh Showground on Monday (23 September), the top price of 30,000gns for a Texel shearling broke the all-time sale record.
The shearling ram, from Phil Weaver of Little Manor Farm, Nottinghamshire, sold to W&C Ingram, Logie Durno Farm, Aberdeenshire.
A range of five figure headline prices and increased averages across the board reflected the strength of the trade.
More than 3,000 rams from across the UK were inspected before entering the sale ring, with all inspectors fully briefed about bluetongue as concerns were growing of the threat of the disease.
NSA Wales & Border Ram sale chair, Geoff Probert said he was delighted with the overall sale results and with the averages achieved for his pens of pedigree Mortimer Charollais and Texels.
He took the champion Charollais title in the pre sale show and achieved a 98% clearance to average just over 1000gns.
The standard of sheep forward was a credit to all vendors. The bar just gets higher each year," he said.
Following the record breaking Texel, another shearling Texel ram from C E Pryce, Yr Helyg, Powys, sold for 24,000gns to W O J Reed & Company, Upper Scolton, Pembrokeshire.
The Blue Faced Leicester champion, a ram lamb, sold for 20,000gns, from McClymont & Son, Kirkstead, Scottish Borders, went to David Jones, the Ddole, Llanbadarn Fynydd, Powys.
The top price Suffolk, a yearling from J&M Hartwright, sold for 4,200gns, going to Mark of LE Lloyd & Sons, Sarnsfield, Herefordshire.
Nicki Hartwright said she was thrilled to have achieved what is thought to have been the highest breed price ever achieved at the NSA Wales & Border ram sales.
She said he was a special ram that doesnt come along very often, a very modern, smart tup with the style to match.
The Charollais highest price went to the reserve champion, Gareth Jones of RG & RA Jones & Sons, Robleston Hall, Camrose, Pembrokeshire. It sold for 3,500gns to John Owens, Woodhouse, Herefordshire.
The highest price North Country Cheviot from H Cockburn, Kingside, Peebleshire, was sold for 2,000gns to A Jones, Llangollen, Denbighshire.
Ram sale chair Geoff Probert concluded: The buyers that come to Builth are prepared to pay for quality and this was reflected in the record average price and clearance rate.
"Were grateful for the loyalty of all the supporters. Its been a fantastic day.
Men and women feel pain in drastically different ways.
Women are more sensitive to pain than men
Analysis conducted in recent decades demonstrates that females suffer pain at higher rates than males with hormonal differences pinpointed as the key reason.
This is because testosterone, which is higher in men, inhibits pain by determining how the body spots and transmits aches and discomfort.
The results are something of a surprise as women often argue that they have a higher pain tolerance because they are capable of enduring childbirth.
Other factors such as stress, childhood trauma and anxiety can also worsen pain.
Jeffrey Mogil, a professor of psychology at McGill University in Canada, told The Hill: "The biological processing of pain, regardless of how much pain is produced, is dramatically sex dependent.
"Different genes are being used in both sexes, different proteins, different cell types, dramatically different biology in each case."
Sean Diddy Combs is facing new sexual assault allegations.
Diddy is facing a new lawsuit
The 54-year-old rap star - who is currently awaiting trial on federal sex crime charges - and his former bodyguard, Joseph Sherman, have been accused of raping Thalia Graves at the Bad Boy Records studio in New York City in the summer of 2001.
During a press conference about the new lawsuit on Tuesday (24.09.24), Graves explained that the alleged assault left her feeling "worthless and isolated".
Graves claimed that she's suffered PTSD, flashbacks, nightmares and thoughts of suicide over the last 23 years.
She added: "It's a pain that reaches into your very core."
Combs is currently in jail in New York awaiting trial, and Graves observed that his situation has provided a "temporary feeling of relief".
She said: "I'm glad Diddy is locked up but that's a temporary feeling of relief."
Combs' legal team has not yet responded to the latest allegations.
However, Combs pleaded not guilty to allegations of sex trafficking earlier this month.
The rap star appeared at a court in Manhattan 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 rapper'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.
Marc Agnifilo - Combs' lawyer - said later that the music star is determined to "establish his innocence".
Agnifilo told reporters outside the court: "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."
Julianne Hough finally "let go" of her dead dogs after undergoing a soul retrieval ceremony.
Julianne Hough's dogs were killed by coyotes
The 'Dancing with the Stars' host was left devastated almost five years ago when her canine companions Lexi and Harley passed away after being attacked by coyotes and she struggled with her grief until she attended an energy retreat and learned about the concept of soul fragmentation.
Speaking on 'The Jamie Kern Lima Show', she said: "When something really tragic happens, and a piece of your soul gets fragmented and it goes with whatever happened."
The 36-year-old star felt a piece of her soul had fragmented following the deaths of her dogs and a piece of her was still with her pets.
She said: "I did a retrieval of bringing my soul back and also giving their piece of them back to them too."
"I realised, 'Oh, I'm holding them back.' They need to be able to move forward and move on."
Following the process, Julianne felt "very whole" for the first time since Lexi and Harley's passing and it inspired her writing the song 'Tiny Oceans', which stemmed from her new novel 'Everything We Never Knew', which features a main character named after one of her dogs.
She said: "In the book, Lexi goes through a loss and so I wrote this song, very intentionally about my soul fraction or fragmentation, and that loss with my girls, and the worst kind of pain I've ever experienced of grief."
The 'Rock of Ages' star was away at a bachelorette party when she found out her dogs had died.
She recalled: "I had just arrived that night and went to sleep, and I woke up before my phone even rang and I knew. And I picked up the phone, and my assistant at the time was just like screaming."
But after rushing home to have the dogs' bodies cremated, Julianne could still feel them with her.
She said: "My brother just stopped the car and the sun was pouring in, and I was totally feeling them and they were kissing me. And I was with themI felt their souls so clearly. And that was so beautiful."
Jared Harris "doesn't understand" why the 'Harry Potter' books are being made into a television series.
Jared Harris has refused to take part in the Harry Potter reboot series
The 63-year-old actor is the son of the late Richard Harris - who famously played Professor Albus Dumbledore in the first two blockbuster adaptations of JK Rowling's magical book series - and doesn't want anything to do with the HBO reboot that recently went into the casting stages.
Asked if he would like to take on the role made famous by his father, he told The Independent: "No, thank you! Also, I mean, why do it? I dont understand. The films were fantastic leave them alone."
Richard initially accepted the role of the Hogwarts headmaster in 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' at the behest of his granddaughter, and also starred in the second instalment 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' but passed away in 2002 at the age of 72 and was replaced by Sir Michael Gambon for the remaining six films.
The team behind the new series is looking for a new trio to take on the roles of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger with children from the UK and Ireland invited to audition
The casting call reads: "We are currently only able to consider children who are aged 9-11 in April 2025, and a resident of the UK or Ireland.
"Please only apply if you meet the brief."
This suggests filming will be underway in seven months, which matches the timeline it took to cast Daniel Radcliffe in the title role back in 2000, when he was 11 years old.
Emma Watson and Rupert Grint - who played Hermione and Ron in the original films - were 10 and 12 when they were cast.
The brief adds: "We are committed to inclusive, diverse casting.
"For every role, please submit qualified performers, without regard to ethnicity, sex, disability, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other basis protected by law unless otherwise specifically indicated.
Prince Harry believes good mental health is a "necessity" - not a "luxury".
Prince Harry believes good mental health is a necessity
The 40-year-old royal - who has been candid about his own mental health issues over the years - believes it's important to "talk openly about our mental health without fear of judgement".
Speaking at the United Nations in New York City, Harry explained: "Good mental health, mental fitness, is not a luxury - it is a necessity for every single one of us. More so, perhaps, for our decision makers and those sitting in positions of power and influence.
"Addressing this issue requires not only global action, but also the courage to break the stigma, to talk openly about our mental health without fear of judgement."
Harry recently urged politicians to take a hands-on approach to tackling the mental health crisis.
The prince said: "Surely one of the solutions here is for governments to implement, or at least find people-young people like yourselves-and bring them into decision making, policy-making situations, before the problems exist.
"Were very good at creating problems for ourselves to try and solve, but surely by bringing young people in at the early stages surely that is where the difference is going to be made.
"Why is that not happening?"
Harry also observed that courage is needed to tackle the mental health crisis.
He said: "Every single one of us needs courage in order to really move the dial and create positive change in todays world, probably more so now than ever.
"Now we need to listen, constantly listen, and then act on the advice and the vision that you have because otherwise its your future thats being stolen from you and that is unacceptable."
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Junglee Music, a division of Times Music, and Windows Production are set to once again deliver a stellar lineup of Bengali films, continuing their decade-long collaboration that began in 2013. Known for iconic hits like Belaseshe, Belashuru, and Rosogolla, the duo is now preparing to release four highly anticipated films, including Bohurupi (October 2024) and Amar Boss (December 2024), with two more blockbusters in the pipeline.
The excitement is already building around Bohurupi, which will hit theaters on 8th October, with the full album releasing two days prior. One of the films standout tracks, Dakatiya Banshi, has grabbed attention with its vibrant rhythm, composed by Bonnie Chakraborty and performed by Shrestha Das, Nanichora Das Baul, and Chakraborty himself.
Mandar Thakur, CEO of Junglee Music, expressed his excitement about the continued partnership with Windows Production. He said, "Our collaboration with Windows Production has always yielded remarkable results. Together, weve created music that not only resonates with Bengali audiences but also reaches listeners across the country. With our upcoming projects, we are excited to continue this legacy."
While Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Co-Founder of Windows, emphasized the success of their musical collaboration over the last decade. He said, "Our association with Junglee Music has been a remarkable journey of over 10 years, beginning in 2013. Together, we've given the Bengali film industry some of its most iconic hits, such as Rangabati and Tapa Tini. Junglee Music has played a pivotal role in bringing our cinematic stories to life through music, and their support has been invaluable to us. As we look forward to the release of Bohurupi and Aamar Boss later this year, we are thrilled to announce the launch of yet another dance anthem from Bohurupi today. With this track, we are hoping for a hat trick. We believe this song will continue the legacy of our historic association with Junglee Music and once again strike a chord with audiences."
Both are eager to see their latest projects connect with audiences once again. With their proven track record, these upcoming films are expected to become major hits.
Watch the video on the Times Music Bangla YouTube Channel:
The actress also spoke about her strong connection to Telugu traditions, expressing how important it is to her to incorporate her roots into the wedding. She said, I always wanted Teluguness to be a part of moments like this because I am very attached to my roots and close to my parents. Sobhita also revealed her long-time wish to get married and experience motherhood, valuing the heritage and vibrancy of such ceremonies.
The couples engagement was a private affair with close friends and family in attendance. Nagas father, veteran actor Nagarjuna, shared the happy news with fans on social media. This marks a new chapter for Naga Chaitanya after his previous marriage to Samantha Ruth Prabhu ended in 2021.
Sobhita Dhulipala has finally spoken about her engagement with Naga Chaitanya, which took place on August 8, 2024. During an interview, promoting her upcoming project Love Sitara, Sobhita explained why the couple chose to have a simple and intimate ceremony. She shared, It was quite relaxed, simple, sweet, intimate, and warm. It was everything I thought it would be.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 24, 2024) - Eureka Lithium Corp. (CSE: ERKA) (OTCQB: UREKF) (FSE: S580) ("Eureka Lithium" or "Eureka" or the "Company") announces that it has amended the terms of the warrants (the "Warrants") to be issued in connection with the non-brokered private placement financing LIFE financing (the "Offering") of up to 8,333,333 units of the Company ("Units") at a price of $0.15 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $1,250,000 announced on August 14, 2024.
The terms of the Warrants have been amended such that the Warrants will only be exercisable if either: (i) shareholders of the Company approve the terms of the Offering by an ordinary resolution; or (ii) such exercise would not result in the number of issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Company exceeding 100% of its current issued and outstanding Common Shares (other than as a result of the exercise of the Warrants).
Closing of the Offering is anticipated to occur on or about the week of September 23, 2024. Closing is subject to certain conditions, including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals. The net proceeds of the Offering are intended to be used to advance the Company's Quebec mineral exploration assets and for general corporate purposes. Finders' fees may be paid to eligible arm's length persons with respect to certain subscriptions accepted by the Company.
Subject to compliance with applicable regulatory requirements and in accordance with National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions ("NI 45-106"), the Units issuable under the Offering will be offered for sale to purchasers in of the provinces of Canada (except Quebec) pursuant to the listed issuer financing exemption under Part 5A.2 of NI 45-106. Pursuant to NI 45- 106, the securities issued to Canadian resident subscribers under the Offering will not be subject to resale restrictions.
There is an amended offering document dated September [23], 2024 related to the Offering that can be accessed under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and on the Company's website at www.eurekalithiumcorp.com. Prospective investors should read this offering document before making an investment decision.
The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or available exemptions from such registration requirements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States, or in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
About Eureka Lithium Corp.
Eureka Lithium is the largest lithium-focused landowner in the northern third of Quebec, known as the Nunavik region, with 100% ownership of three projects comprising 1,408 sq. km in the emerging Raglan West, Raglan South and New Leaf Lithium Camps. These claims were acquired from legendary prospector Shawn Ryan and are located in a region that hosts two operating nickel mines with deep-sea port access.
Cautionary Statement
Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements which may contain words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", or similar expressions, and statements related to matters which are not historical facts, such as statements regarding the contemplated completion of the Acquisition and the Concurrent Financing, are forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's expectations and are based on certain factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct, nor that the Acquisition will be completed as contemplated, or at all, or that the Concurrent Financing will be completed as contemplated, or at all. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any future revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as expressly required by law.
The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this press release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224486
SOURCE: Eureka Lithium Corp.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 24, 2024) - Buzz Capital 2 Inc. (TSXV: BUZH.P) ("Buzz2" or the "Company"), a capital pool company as defined under Policy 2.4 of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"), announces that, subject to regulatory consent, it proposes to effect certain changes in management and transfers of certain escrow share positions.
Change of Management and Appointment of New Directors and Officers
The following persons are being proposed as new directors and officers of Buzz2:
Zachary Goldenberg (Director, C.E.O., C.F.O. and Secretary)
Mr. Goldenberg is the principal of Liberty Venture Partners, a Toronto-based advisory and investment firm focused on startup and growth companies in rapidly emerging industries. A corporate lawyer by background, Zach has significant experience in both the private and public markets as an advisor, investor and board director and has spent much of the past decade working with companies transitioning from private to public navigate the Canadian public venture markets and to source and close strategic transactions. He is a graduate of the combined JD / HBA from Western Law and Ivey School of Business and is a member of the TSX Venture Exchange's Ontario Advisory Committee. He is and has been a director of multiple Exchange capital pool companies, a number of which have completed successful Qualifying Transactions.
Dennis Beker (Director)
Mr. Beker is a Toronto based corporate, securities and mergers and acquisitions lawyer and is currently a partner at the firm Founders LLP, practicing in the areas of corporate finance and corporate transactions. He previously worked as the Vice President of Legal and Corporate Strategy at a European focussed manufacturer and distributor of medicinal products and as a lawyer at Goodmans LLP, where his practice focused on both public and private companies, with a particular emphasis on public offerings, debt and equity financings, private placements, mergers and acquisitions and corporate reorganizations. Mr. Beker received his BBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University, where he graduated with honours and distinction, and his JD from Western University, where he graduated with distinction and as a member of the Dean's Honour List. He is currently a director of another Exchange capital pool company.
Fraser Hartley (Director)
Fraser Hartley is a lawyer and a partner at the firm Edwards, Kenny & Bray LLP, practicing in the areas of corporate finance and corporate transactions. Mr. Hartley has an LLB from the University of British Columbia. In addition to his legal practice, he is also currently a director and officer of a CSE listed critical metals mining company.
Raymond D. Harari (Director)
Raymond David Harari Benaim is the founder of Canalis Capital, a merchant bank focused on disruptive industries. Prior to founding Canalis, Mr. Harari worked at Credicorp Bank in its private wealth group in Panama and Nomura's consumer and retail investment banking group based in New York City. Mr. Harari graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in systems engineering and a minor in engineering entrepreneurship and mathematics. Mr. Harari is an active angel investor across the technology, mining, fashion, cannabis, e-commerce, and energy sectors. Mr. Harari also served as the deputy director of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Panama.
Anne McGinnis (Director)
Anne McGinnis is a private investor with over 30 years investment experience in numerous industries and markets. She has acquired holdings as a public shareholder in numerous capital pool companies and, more recently, as a seed shareholder including Good2GoRTO Corp. (which became FRX Innovations Inc. following a qualifying transaction) and Pentagon I Capital Corp.
Upon approval of the foregoing appointments, Mr. Patrick Lalonde will resign as director, C.E.O. and C.F.O. while Mr. Hugo Alves will be resigning as Secretary. Messrs. Chuck Rifici and Lorne Gertner will resign as directors.
The current Board and Management are stepping down from the Company at this time to focus their attention on other business ventures they are currently engaged in. The Company would like to thank them for their service and wishes them well in their future endeavours.
Escrow share transfers
In conjunction with the change of management, it is proposed that an aggregate of 4,000,000 escrowed shares currently held by current Board and Management will be transferred to the incoming directors and officers.
Disinterested Shareholder Approval
In addition to Exchange approval, the proposed changes of management and escrow transfers require approval by a majority of disinterested shareholders. Shares of the Company which are held by interested parties to the change of management and escrow share transfers will not be eligible to provide their approval. The Company will be seeking disinterested shareholder approval by way of written consent.
About Buzz Capital 2 Inc.
Buzz2, a capital pool company within the meaning of the policies of the Exchange, was incorporated May 8, 2018 and was listed on the Exchange on November 6, 2018. Buzz2 does not have any operations and has no assets other than cash. Buzz's business is to identify and evaluate businesses and assets with a view to completing a qualifying transaction under the policies of the Exchange.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224491
SOURCE: Buzz Capital 2 Inc.
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.
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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 24, 2024) - Onyx Gold Corp. (TSXV: ONYX) (OTCQX: ONXGF) ("ONYX" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a property consisting of one mining lease and four unpatented mining claims from an arm's length party located in the Matheson area, east of Timmins, Ontario. The Property is contiguous with the Company's Munro-Croesus Property ("Munro-Croesus" or the "Project") which will total 10,588 ha (105.8 km2) following the acquisition. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company will pay a cash consideration $20,000, and will issue 120,000 of its common shares to the vendor subject to regulatory approval. The property is subject to a pre-existing 2% NSR payable to another arms-length party.
Results of Annual General Meeting
The Company announces that its annual general meeting of shareholders was held yesterday and all of the directors were re-elected for another term until the next annual meeting.
About Onyx Gold
Onyx Gold is an exploration company focused on well-established Canadian mining jurisdictions, with assets in Timmins, Ontario, and Yukon Territory. The Company's extensive portfolio of quality gold projects in the greater Timmins gold camp includes the Munro-Croesus Gold property, renowned for its high-grade mineralization, plus two additional earlier-stage large exploration properties, Golden Mile and Timmins South. Onyx Gold also controls four properties in the Selwyn Basin area of Yukon Territory, which is currently gaining significance due to recent discoveries in the area. Onyx Gold's experienced board and senior management team are committed to creating shareholder value through the discovery process, careful allocation of capital, and environmentally/socially responsible mineral exploration.
On Behalf of Onyx Gold Corp.
"Brock Colterjohn"
President & CEO
Forward looking information: This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively "forward looking statements").
Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections, and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "forecast", "expect", "potential", "project", "target", "schedule", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the acquisition of additional mineral property in Timmins, Ontario, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. 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 are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Company's expectations include actual exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital, and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials, and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events, or results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause such actions, events, or results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and accordingly readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224494
SOURCE: Onyx Gold Corp.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania--(Newsfile Corp. - September 24, 2024) - Jason Rabinovich, founder and Managing Partner of Rabinovich Sokolov Law Group has been selected to receive the Rising Stars award by Super Lawyers for his outstanding achievements between 2016 and 2024. Receiving this reward in 2024 is a continuation of another remarkable feat, as Rabinovich was also dubbed a "Rising Star" in 2022.
Super Lawyers, a legal authority comprised of the most experienced and renowned US lawyers, attorneys, and legal experts, is annually bestowing the coveted "Rising Stars" awards to professionals who demonstrate exemplary performance and excellence.
Founder of RS Law Group Jason Rabinovich Receives Rising Stars 2016-2024 Award by Super Lawyers
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
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After extensive internship throughout the Greater New York City Area and Washington D.C. with ING, US Securities and Exchange Commission, and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Rabinovich began stringing a long line of victories in his career.
From being listed among the top 3 attorneys in Philadelphia and being counted among the Nation's top 1% of Attorneys by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel to being recognized by the Philadelphia Legal Intelligencer as a "Lawyer on the Fast Track", Jason Rabinovich's mark in the US legal industry made him uniquely poised to carry the title of Super Lawyers' "Rising Star".
The comprehensive multi-step selection for this title encompasses a multitude of procedures, from peer nominations and third-party feedback to independent research and peer evaluation, to a rigorous final selection where only 2.5% of attorneys meet ever meet. According to Super Lawyers, the goal of this intricate procedure is to objectively pinpoint and distinguish the most prolific and respected professionals:
"Super Lawyers select attorneys using a patented multiphase selection process. Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with independent research. The objective is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel."
The wealth of experience and insights Jason Rabinovich accumulated throughout over a decade of his service across Pennsylvania, Washington, and New York are harnessed by his RS Law Group to providing unrivaled legal counsel and client representation.
Jason Rabinovich and his team are proudly serving as top-rated Philadelphia Real Estate Lawyers while also offering comprehensive business and corporate legal services. In celebration of Jason's new distinction, RS Law Group is cordially inviting business owners who seek professional legal services to contact the fastest growing practice in the industry:
"When you're looking for a law firm to advise and represent you in business matters, you want one that employs nothing but the best, most experienced attorneys. The attorneys at Rabinovich Sokolov Law Group have years of experience representing Philly clients in a wide variety of business matters, and now we would like the opportunity to advise you. Make RS Law Group the first law firm you call."
More information about RS Law Group is available on the company's official website.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/223427
SOURCE: Plentisoft
Kunstliche Intelligenz hat spatestens nach dem Raketenstart von Chat GPT das Leben aller verandert. Doch der Superzyklus steht nach Meinungen von Experten erst am Anfang. Wahrend Aktien wie Nvidia von der ersten Aufwartsentwicklung stark profitieren konnten, versprechen aussichtsreiche Player aus der
zweiten Reihe noch enormes Aufwartspotenzial.
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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.
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DUBAI, UAE and NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- GITEX Global, one of the world's most prominent tech events, will occur from October 14th to 18th, 2024, at Dubai World Trade Centre. This event is all set to feature some profound breakthroughs in technology. GITEX Global 2024 provides several opportunities for the technology sector to demonstrate their offerings to international businesses. Continuing the tradition of being the most active and enthusiastic participant, Hyperlink InfoSystem, a leading AI-driven software development company, is extremely excited to announce its participation in GITEX Global 2024.
Hyperlink InfoSystem has been a prominent and active attendee of GITEX Global since 2016 and is now excited to demonstrate its competence in a wide range of modern IT offerings and emerging technologies, including mobile app development, web development, software development, AI & machine learning, AR/VR, IoT, blockchain, Salesforce, DevOps, and more. The company's participation demonstrates its dedication to boosting innovation and digital transformation for enterprises in a variety of industries.
Being the largest and best rated tech and AI event in the world, GITEX Global brings together over a whopping 18,000+ attendees, 250+ exhibitors, 40+ countries, and 100+ speakers from 170+ countries. GITEX presents this annual event, which lasts a week and draws some of the world's most well-known companies and entrepreneurs. Founded in 2011, Hyperlink InfoSystem has become a trusted name in the tech industry, delivering over 4500 innovative mobile apps and 2300+ cutting-edge websites. With 2700+ happy clients globally, the company has expanded its expertise to include 120+ AI and IoT solutions, 140+ engaging games, and 120+ Salesforce solutions. In addition, Hyperlink InfoSystem has developed 25+ blockchain solutions, 60+ data science projects, and boasts a team of 1200+ dedicated developers committed to providing best-in-class tech solutions and services.
Harnil Oza, CEO & Founder of Hyperlink InfoSystem, commented, "We've always been impressed by the caliber of entrepreneurs, businesses, and tech leaders at GITEX. This year, Hyperlink InfoSystem is excited to showcase our excellence in the IT industry, digital transformation, and discuss how emerging technologies like AI, ML, IoT, and Salesforce can drive business growth." He also said, "As a leading IT solutions provider with an emphasis on the Middle East expanding tech market, we're eager to connect with industry professionals and explore new partnerships." Hyperlink InfoSystem is delighted to return to GITEX Global, a premier tech event that has consistently provided valuable business opportunities.
Hyperlink InfoSystem will also showcase its latest services and offerings while reaffirming its commitment to driving digital change across industries. Interested entrepreneurs with advanced technical innovations can pitch directly to the team at GITEX Global 2024. To inquire more, call +1(309) 791-4105 or email info@hyperlinkinfosystem.com.
About Hyperlink InfoSystem
Hyperlink InfoSystem is a prominent international enterprise excelling in IT solutions in many domains. Since its humble beginnings in 2011, its specialization in technologies has expanded across web development, mobile app development, enterprise software solutions, and now Artificial Intelligence (AI). With over 1200+ employees and a global presence in the USA, UK, UAE, France, India, and Canada, Hyperlink InfoSystem is dedicated to assisting corporations to leverage the complete power of technology to accomplish their goals.
Contact Details:
Hyperlink InfoSystem
Harnil Oza
+1-309-791-4105
info@hyperlinkinfosystem.com
New York Address:
One World Trade Center
285 Fulton Street suite 8500,
New York, NY 10007,
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Ahmedabad Address:
C-308, Ganesh Meridian,
Opp Kargil Petrol Pump, S.G. Highway,
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London Address:
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Canada Address:
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On the eve of the Monaco Yacht Show 2024, the second annual edition of The Honours celebrated three exceptional individuals making significant contributions within and beyond the superyachting community. This year's prestigious Bowsprit award recognised Frederic Jousset, art philanthropist and creator of the first boat museum; Nick Entwisle, founder of Yachting Gives Back; and renowned explorer Mike Horn, leader of the Pangaea X project.
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Honourees of the 2024 Bowsprit award: Frederic Jousset, art philanthropist and creator of the first boat museum; Nick Entwisle, founder of Yachting Gives Back; and renowned explorer Mike Horn, leader of the Pangaea X project. (Graphic: The Superyacht Life Foundation)
Organised by The Superyacht Life Foundation and Monaco Yacht Show, The Honours showcases these laureates' extraordinary achievements and their embodiment of purpose-driven leadership that brings positive change to the industry and wider society. With almost 300 nominees this year, an expert panel selected honourees whose work exemplifies leadership across various areas, showcasing the transformative influence of the superyachting community.
Spotlight on the Honourees
Frederic Joussetfounder of Art Explora Foundation dedicates himself to democratising access to culture and bringing art to the masses. In 2023, he combined his passions for art and sailing to launch ArtExplorer, the world's largest catamaran, supporting the foundation's mission. This floating museum began a two-year Mediterranean voyage in 2024, visiting over 15 destinations to offer free access to "art and artistic experiences." At each stop, a festival village showcases arts, culture, and performances. ArtExplorer has attracted tens of thousands of visitors, many experiencing art for the first time. Supported by the EU, UNESCO, and institutions like the Louvre, Jousset sees ArtExplorer as a movement to expand cultural access beyond traditional museums. "The genesis of ArtExplorer comes from a very simple idea: I think the power of art is such that everyone should be able to experience it. If people don't turn up to museums, then museums should turn up to them wherever they live. Art just makes us better people!", says Jousset.
After decades in the superyacht industry, Nick Entwisle created Yachting Gives Back in 2019 to combat hunger and poverty in Mallorca. The charity quickly attracted support from the yachting community, evolving into a well-organised initiative that donates food, clothing, and financial aid to organisations like Mallorca Sense Fam and Associacio Tardor. Volunteers from across the industry share Nick's commitment to connecting communities and reducing waste. Nick shared "Connecting to others is within every yachtie's heart. I like to think that, through our efforts of garnering support, we've been able to build a bridge between two communities: yachting and locals of our island."
Mike Horn, a South African-born adventurer, has spent over 20 years pushing the limits of exploration, achieving feats like swimming the Amazon, circumnavigating the equator, and trekking from the Arctic Cape to the North Pole. In 2008, he launched Pangaea, a 35-metre sailing vessel, for a 60,000-mile expedition involving youth in environmental and social projects across destinations like Antarctica, India, and Africa. He tells us, "I want young people to explore the world, to experience its wonders up close, and to build a genuine emotional connection to the environment. Nature can take care of humans if we respect and understand it." His Pangaea X initiative continues this mission, educating the next generation on environmental challenges through the Young Explorers Program, a six-month incubation that empowers young innovators to tackle global issues.
The Honours: An Evening to Experience
The evening celebration took place at Monaco's Salle des Etoiles where the audience enjoyed inspirational documentaries and on-stage discussions. The Honours was both a celebration, and a platform for fostering deep conversations about the industry's future, environmental stewardship, and the lasting legacy of these exceptional leaders.
"The Honours evening stands as a testament to our community's unwavering commitment to excellence and positive impact," says Gaelle Tallarida, Managing Director at Monaco Yacht Show. "It is a night where we not only celebrate remarkable achievements but also foster dialogue and connections that inspire lasting change. The passion and commitment of our honourees highlight the innovation and philanthropy that define our industry, and it was a privilege to showcase their remarkable stories."
Dilan Sarac, Executive Director of The Superyacht Life Foundation, adds: "The stories that we heard this evening about the work of Nick, Frederic and Mike are truly inspirational and epitomise the reason we created The Honours. Thanks to the generosity of spirit they demonstrate, we can ensure that our industry continues to have a positive impact on the world around us, and we can inspire other people within the industry and beyond to put their best foot forward and create lasting change that can benefit generations to come."
The 2024 edition was sponsored by Agusta, Feadship, Fred, Jetex, Richard Mille, Sanlorenzo and automotive partner Mercedes-Maybach.
Nominations for the 2025 edition of the Honours will open on 02 December 2024.
For more information, please contact: d.sarac@thesuperyachtlife.com
Notes to editors
The Honours 2024 video content:
Mike Horn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-deJ98lZic&ab_channel=TheSuperyachtLifeFoundation
Nick Entwisle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXMhEvoBVHk&ab_channel=TheSuperyachtLifeFoundation
Frederic Jousset: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qf_lVQt4Bs&ab_channel=TheSuperyachtLifeFoundation
About The Superyacht Life Foundation
The Superyacht Life Foundation is a non-profit, commercially agnostic industry body that champions the positive people, places and projects surrounding the superyachting good life. The Foundation, together with its 27 partners from different sectors within the industry, uses its unbiased status to educate, inform and engage opening up the world of superyachts to new audiences and securing the long-term health of our superyacht industry.
About The Monaco Yacht Show
The Monaco Yacht Show (MYS) is an international superyacht show created in 1991. 120 superyachts and megayachts and 560 yachting and luxury companies are exhibited in the port Hercule of Monaco. The MYS is organised under the High Patronage of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco.
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Contacts:
syl@milkandhoneypr.com
Switching between adalimumab and adalimumab-fkjp in Phase 3 study in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis supports interchangeability between adalimumab and adalimumab-fkjp
Biosimilarity between Bmab 1200 and reference biologic-Ustekinumab in pivotal Phase 3 trial in patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis
AMSTERDAM and BENGALURU, India, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Biocon Biologics Ltd (BBL), a subsidiary of Biocon Ltd (BSE code: 532523, NSE: BIOCON), today announced new dermatology data presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) 2024 Congress in Amsterdam. The results from two separate pivotal Phase 3 clinical studies supported interchangeability between adalimumab and adalimumab-fkjp as well as underscoring biosimilarity of bUstekinumab.
Uwe Gudat, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Biocon Biologics said, "The extensive range of new data being presented at EADV this year underscores Biocon Biologics' commitment to a high-science portfolio of biosimilar medicines that meet the clinical needs of physicians and patients while providing important sustainability benefits to health systems. These clinical studies support the interchangeability of adalimumab-fkjp at low-concentration with high-concentration adalimumab and ustekinumab biosimilarity without variation of clinical outputs in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis."
Poster Title: Multiple switching between the biosimilar adalimumab-fkjp low concentration and reference adalimumab high concentration in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis: a phase 3, double-blind, randomised, parallel-group study
Authors: Sarika Deodhar, Subramanian Loganathan, Ramesh Ks, Gopi Ranganna, Shiyao Liu, Matthew A. Hummel Hummel, Stefan Daniluk, Anna Hanczewska, Kamelia Vekovska, Maria Zegadlo-Mylik, Grazyna Pulka, Elena Wolff-Holz
Abstract ID: 3809
Poster ID: P3241
Date/Time: 9:00am EDT, September 25, 2024
This study evaluated the pharmacokinetics (PK), efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity in patients with moderate to severe chronic Plaque Psoriasis (PPs) receiving adalimumab continuously and those undergoing repeated switches between reference adalimumab and adalimumab-fkjp. The primary objective was to evaluate interchangeability of low-concentration adalimumab-fkjp (40 mg/0.8ml) and high-concentration adalimumab (40 mg/0.4ml) by comparing adalimumab steady-state PK between switching and non-switching arms.
The overall number and proportion of patients with Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) responses and static Physicians Global Assessment (sPGA) success were highly similar between the two arms at week 28. Treatment-emergent Adverse Events were comparable between switching [54 subjects (29.8%)] and non-switching arms [66 subjects (34.2%)]. The overall number and proportion of patients with PASI responses and sPGA success were highly similar between the two arms at week 28.
This study confirmed that the subjects receiving adalimumab-fkjp low concentration and adalimumab high concentration in alternate fashion had highly similar time concentration curves compared to continuous administration of high-concentration reference adalimumab, and demonstrated PK equivalence between switching and non-switching arms. The overall data supports interchangeability between high-concentration adalimumab and low-concentration adalimumab-fkjp.
This study was conducted to fulfill the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirement for designation as an "interchangeable" and has been submitted to the FDA.
Uwe Gudat, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Biocon Biologics said, "For physicians, an important unmet need is understanding the comparative safety, efficacy and exposure of an adalimumab biosimilar formulated at a low concentration and high-concentration adalimumab at dose parity. The data from the study shows clearly that in patients the same safety, efficacy and exposure when used at dose parity can be expected for both products. This in the context of multiple switches between the reference product and the biosimilar as required of an interchangeability study."
Poster Title: A Randomized, Double-blind, Parallel Group, Multicenter, Phase 3 Study to Compare the Efficacy and Safety of Bmab 1200 and Reference Biologic-Ustekinumab in Patients with Moderate to Severe Chronic Plaque Psoriasis 28-week Results
Authors: Jacek Szepietowski, Adam Reich, Steven Feldman, Grazyna Pulka, Lally Mekokishvili, Nino Junior Tsiskarishvili, Inese Kolontaja-Zaube, Airi Poder, Gursharan Singh, Subramanian Loganathan, Elena Wolff-Holz, Sarika Deodhar, Ashwani Marwah, Sandeep Athalye
Abstract ID: 4382
Poster ID: P3266
Date/Time: 9:00am EDT, September 25, 2024
This pivotal Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, active controlled, parallel-group, multicenter study compared the efficacy, safety, immunogenicity, and pharmacokinetics (PK) of Bmab 1200 with the reference product ustekinumab in adult patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis (Pso).
A total of 384 patients were evaluated for 52 weeks and the primary efficacy endpoint was percentage change from baseline (%CFB) in PASI at Week 12. In the primary efficacy analysis at 28 weeks, Bmab 1200 and ustekinumab were equivalent and the data support biosimilarity. The study established equivalent efficacy and comparable safety of Bmab 1200 with ustekinumab in patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque Pso.
Uwe Gudat, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Biocon Biologics said, "This pivotal trial of bUstekinumab clearly met the safety and efficacy endpoints, thereby fulfilling the expectations set for a biosimilar. bUstekinumab offers tangible promise for all patients qualifying for treatment with Ustekinumab."
About Biocon Biologics Limited:
Biocon Biologics Ltd. (BBL), a subsidiary of Biocon Limited, is a unique, fully integrated, global biosimilars company committed to transforming healthcare and transforming lives. It is capitalizing on its 'lab to market' capabilities to serve millions of patients across 120+ countries by enabling affordable access to high quality biosimilars. The Company is leveraging cutting-edge science, innovative tech platforms, global scale manufacturing capabilities and world-class quality systems to lower costs of biological therapeutics while improving healthcare outcomes.
Biocon Biologics has commercialized eight biosimilars in key emerging markets and advanced markets like U.S., Europe, Australia, Canada, and Japan. It has a pipeline of 12 biosimilar assets under development across diabetology, oncology, immunology, ophthalmology, and other non-communicable diseases. The Company has many 'firsts' to its credit in the biosimilars industry. As part of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitment, it is advancing the health of patients, people, and the planet to achieve key UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Website www.bioconbiologics.com; Follow us on X(formerly Twitter): @BioconBiologics and LinkedIn: Biocon Biologics for company updates.
Biocon Limited, publicly listed in 2004, (BSE code: 532523, NSE Id: BIOCON, ISIN Id: INE376G01013) is an innovation-led global biopharmaceuticals company committed to enhance affordable access to complex therapies for chronic conditions like diabetes, cancer and autoimmune. It has developed and commercialized novel biologics, biosimilars, and complex small molecule APIs in India and several key global markets as well as Generic Formulations in the US, Europe & key emerging markets. It also has a pipeline of promising novel assets in immunotherapy under development.
Website: www.biocon.com; Follow-us on X (formerly Twitter) @bioconlimited and LinkedIn: Biocon for company updates.
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Genespire raises 46.6 million (~$52 million) in a Series B round to advance its first pediatric in-vivo gene therapy into the clinic
One of the largest private Italian Biotech company financings to date
Financing co-led by Sofinnova Partners, XGEN Venture and CDP Venture Capital forming a strong syndicate with Indaco SGR
Funds dedicated to advancing off-the-shelf pediatric gene therapy for Methylmalonic Acidemia (MMA) into the clinic, and to bolstering the Company's gene therapy pipeline
Milan, ITALY - 25 September 2024 - Genespire, a biotechnology company developing off-the-shelf gene therapies for pediatric patients affected by genetic diseases, today announced the closing of a 46.6 million (~$52 million) Series B financing, co-led by Sofinnova Partners, XGEN Venture and CDP Venture Capital through its Large Venture Fund forming a strong syndicate with Indaco SGR.
The financing will enable the development of GENE202, the company's lead candidate, up to a Phase I/II clinical trial for the treatment of MMA, a devastating genetic disorder impairing the metabolism of certain amino acids and fats.
MMA has onset in early infancy, is associated with significant mortality and morbidity, and is characterized by severe clinical manifestations including muscular weakness, seizures, developmental delays and organ damage. Currently, there are no disease-modifying treatments for MMA. GENE202 is a pioneering off-the-shelf gene therapy which harnesses the company's Immune Shielded Lentiviral Vector (ISLV) platform. ISLVs are designed to be used intravenously, enabling the patient's liver to produce the therapy throughout its lifetime. This unique mode of action makes Genespire's approach optimally suited to address pediatric patients affected by genetic diseases who currently face the most pressing unmet medical needs, while also benefitting adult patients. The ISLV technology was developed by Genespire's scientific co-founders and gene therapy leaders, Pr. Luigi Naldini and Dr. Alessio Cantore, at the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (SR-Tiget).
This Series B financing round will also strengthen the Company's pipeline by fostering discovery and preclinical work on candidate products targeting several additional genetic diseases.
Karen Aiach-Pignet, Genespire's CEO said, "Our highly innovative ISLV platform gives Genespire the unique ability to bring groundbreaking treatments that have the potential to transform the lives of children suffering from genetic disease. The support from our new and existing investors reflects the enthusiasm and confidence in our platform'spotential, with further validation achieved from the promising data generated to date.We extend a heartfelt gratitude to our previous CEO, Julia Berretta, for her instrumental role in this financing round, and we look forward to working closely with CDP Venture Capital, XGEN Venture and Indaco SGR, alongside our founding investor, Sofinnova Partners, as well as the SR-Tiget team, as we drive our first therapy in MMA towards the clinic."
"Since our initial investment, we've been deeply convinced by Genespire's world-class team and its groundbreaking lentiviral technology." said Lucia Faccio, Partner at Sofinnova Partners."We remain firmly committed to supporting the company's growth in collaboration with our colleagues from XGEN, CDP Venture Capital and Indaco, to pave the way for single treatment approaches for several genetic disorders in children."
"Gene therapy is starting to deliver results with several recent clinical successes and product approvals and we believe that Genespire's approach offers huge opportunities. We look forward to working with fellow investors and the Management team to help realize this potential." commented Paolo Fundaro, Founder and Managing Partner from XGEN Venture.
"Health, particularly Biotechnology Research dedicated to therapeutic needs, is one of the strategic macro-areas prioritized in our 2024-2028 Business Plan," says Agostino Scornajenchi, CEO and General Manager of CDP Venture Capital, "Genespire's research started in the renowned laboratories of the San Raffaele Institute, and is being advanced by an ambitious team that, through advanced gene therapy technologies and gene therapies, aims to offer curative treatments for diseases that currently lack effective therapeutic options, such as MMA. We look forward to supporting the company to set a new international gold standard."
In connection with the Series B round, Marco Dieci, Senior Advisor at CDP Venture Capital and Chief Executive Officer of Simis S.r.l., will join Genespire's Board of Directors as the representative for CDP Venture Capital, alongside Paolo Fundaro, Founder and Managing Partner from XGEN Venture.
Enquiries:
Genespire Tel: +39 02 80896651
info@genespire.com (mailto:info@genespire.com) ICR Consilium Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5700 Amber Fennell/Ashley Tapp/Jonathan Edwards Genespire@consilium-comms.com (mailto:Genespire@consilium-comms.com)
About Genespire
Genespire is a biotechnology company, developing off-the-shelf gene therapies based on immune shielded lentiviral vectors.
About Sofinnova Partners
Sofinnova Partners is a leading European venture capital firm in life sciences, specializing in healthcare and sustainability. Based in Paris, London and Milan, the firm brings together a team of professionals from all over the world with strong scientific, medical and business expertise. Sofinnova Partners is a hands-on company builder across the entire value chain of life sciences investments, from seed to later-stage. The firm actively partners with ambitious entrepreneurs as a lead or cornerstone investor to develop transformative innovations that have the potential to positively impact our collective future.
Founded in 1972, Sofinnova Partners is a deeply established venture capital firm in Europe, with 50 years of experience backing over 500 companies and creating market leaders around the globe. Today, Sofinnova Partners has over 2.8 billion under management. For more information, please visit: www.sofinnovapartners.com. For more information about the Sofinnova Telethon Strategy, visit: https://sofinnovapartners.com/strategy/telethon.
About XGEN Venture
XGEN Venture is a Milan-based, recently created life science venture capital firm. We work with a group of exceptional scientists and entrepreneurs to translate high level science into solutions for patients. Our company creation strategy identifies and supports the most convincing opportunities to build effective businesses and create value.
Investing in technologies that truly improve severe health conditions is at the core of what XGEN does and is committed to doing so in a responsible and impactful way, promoting best ESG practices within the meaning of SFDR art 8. For more information, please visit www.xgenventure.com.
About CDP Venture Capital
CDP Venture Capital is an asset management company participated by CDP Equity (70%) and Invitalia (30%) with the goal of making venture capital a cornerstone of Italy's economic development and innovation, creating the conditions for the overall, sustainable growth of the entire innovation ecosystem. CDP Venture Capital manages 13 investment funds, amounting to over 3 billion euros in resources that support innovative enterprises at all stages of their life cycle, making both direct and indirect investments (funds of funds).
For more information: www.cdpventurecapital.it
About Indaco Venture Partners SGR
Indaco Venture Partners SGR is one of the largest independent Italian venture capital asset management companies, with over 370 million in assets under management, focused on companies that innovate in electronics, robotics, new materials, medtech, biotech - pharma and digital. Indaco Bio Fund (around 100 million) is exclusively dedicated to investing in the development of innovative pharmacological therapies, across all therapeutic indications but with particular attention to Oncology, CNS, Ophthalmology, Metabolic diseases, Virology, and Infectious diseases. Indaco is focused on the Italian Biotech sector with select investments in other European countries, USA, Canada, and Israel.
About SR-Tiget
The San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy
YULIN, China, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From September 13th to 15th, the 18th Yulin International Coal and High-end Energy Chemicals Industry Expo, co-hosted by the Yulin Municipal Committee, Yulin Municipal People's Government, and Shaanxi Provincial Council for the Promotion of International Trade, was held in Yulin City, a western city in China. Over 800 companies from more than ten countries and regions, including Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom, participated in the exhibition, focusing on core contents such as high-end energy chemistry, intelligent digitalization, new energy and materials, large-scale equipment, etc.
A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link.
Yulin International Coal and High-end Energy Chemicals Industry Expo for this year highlights the concepts of greening, intelligentization, and digitalization in its exhibition layout, by setting up six major exhibition areas including high-end energy and chemical, intelligent digital, large-scale equipment, new energy and materials, comprehensive image, and international exhibition areas. It has also established Korean and Indonesian pavilions in the form of national pavilions, with a total exhibition area of 85,000 square meters, presenting an increase of 25,000 square meters compared to 2023. The exhibition area, the number of participating companies, and the number of exhibitors have all reached a new high in history.
The Coal Expo for this year is committed to building a multi-stakeholder dialogue and communication platform for governments, industry organizations, enterprises, universities, scientific research institutes, etc., by focusing on high-end energy, green transformation, dual-carbon development, ecological restoration, and other contents. Special activities were also held, including the Opening Ceremony of the Expo and the 2024 International Dual-Carbon Industry Innovation and Development Exchange Activities.
During the Expo, a total of 26 projects were signed, including 13 contract projects and 13 agreement projects, attracting an investment amount of 27.876 billion yuan. Exhibiting enterprises connected with local counterparts through multiple channels. The on-site procurement transaction volume of various large-scale mining machinery equipment and intelligent manufacturing equipment reached 960 million yuan.
At present, the world is focusing on the "dual carbon" strategy. China is actively accelerating the transformation and upgrading of the energy and chemical industry. As an important energy and chemical base in China, Yulin is endowed with unique natural resources. The predicted coal reserves have reached 280 billion tons, accounting for one-fifth of China's reserves.
Zhang Shengli, Mayor of Yulin, mentioned that Yulin takes building an innovation demonstration zone for the energy revolution as the main starting point for promoting high-quality development currently, by adhering to taking scientific and technological innovation as the lead, and promoting the deep integration of the innovation chain, industrial chain, talent chain and capital chain, and creating a scientific research and innovation base, an industrialization demonstration base, and a base for the integration of science, education and industry. Efforts are also made to insist on taking multi-energy integration as the main line, accelerate the construction of a new energy system, and facilitate the implementation of "dual carbon" strategy.
Zhang Shengli said that the Yulin Coal Expo has become a platform for opening up to the outside world, a platform for exchange and cooperation, and a platform where new technologies, new equipment, and new concepts compete to shine.
Source: Yulin Municipal People's Government
DUBAI, UAE, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Puravankara Limited, one of India's leading real estate companies, has announced the 'Purva NRI Home Fest,' a special event designed to showcase its projects to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in Dubai. The two-day event will take place at the Shangri-La Dubai, from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM on Saturday, 28th September, and Sunday, 29th September 2024.
The Purva NRI Home Fest presents an opportunity for NRIs to explore over 4,000 homes across 20+ prestigious projects in five major Indian cities-Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai, and Pune. This event will showcase an array of luxury apartments, world-class villas, and villa plots, providing potential buyers with diverse property options to suit their investment needs.
Purva's NRI Home Fest will showcase a comprehensive range of property options. Prospective buyers will have the opportunity to explore a diverse portfolio that includes 1-5 BHK apartments, penthouses, villas and villa plots, with sizes ranging from approximately 600 sq. ft. to 5,000 sq. ft.
Abhishek Kapoor, Group CEO of Puravankara Limited, said, "Post Covid,there is a definite interest among NRIs in purchasing a property back home that they can return to. This is evident in the numbers as money flowing into NRIs' deposits rose by 84.4 per cent from $6.40 billion to $11.8 billion between April 2023 and February 2024. The Purva NRI Home Fest is a chance for them to experience our 'YOU' Philosophy, which puts the customer at the heart of everything we do. We will ensure that every NRI home buyer feels confident and supported in their journey towards owning a home in India."
From premium luxury apartments like Purva Windermere (Chennai), Purva Clermont (Mumbai) and Purva Park Hill (Bengaluru) to the innovative Worldhome Collection projects such as Purva Somerset House (Chennai) and Purva Orient Grand (Bengaluru), there is something to match every taste and preference. For those seeking the ultimate in luxury, the Presidential Villas at the Purva Sound of Water in Bengaluru provide an unmatched living experience. Additionally, villa plots in projects such as Vanam, Raagam, and Soukhyam under the Purva Land brand offer ideal opportunities for buyers looking to build custom homes.
To ensure a smooth transition from purchase to occupancy, Puravankara offers comprehensive post-sales support. This includes assistance with loan facilitation, ensuring buyers can access financing options easily. Through Purva Streaks, buyers can also avail of customised interior design services, allowing them to tailor their new homes to their specifications. Additionally, the company provides CRM support to manage agreements and documentation. This holistic support system reaffirms Puravankara's commitment to delivering a stress-free experience for NRIs investing in India.
Puravankara has also curated exclusive offers for this event to enhance the purchasing experience. Buyers who book during the event can take advantage of vouchers by Purva Streaks, the interior design arm of the company, ranging between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakhs.
For more information, visit www.puravankara.com.
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Global technology corporation FPT recently celebrated the opening of its second office in Germany. As part of the company's expansion, this move will further strengthen FPT's delivery capabilities and partnerships in the European region, targeting the automotive, manufacturing, and green transformation sectors.
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The office inauguration took place within the framework of the Technology Forum Nuremberg in Germany (Photo: Business Wire)
Located in Nuremberg, Bavaria-a German automotive and machinery stronghold, the new office enables FPT to solidify its local reach and consulting services, further accompanying industry giants such as Volkswagen, BMW, Daimler, and ebm-papst. Boasting strategic access to major tech centers and cities across Germany and Europe, this office is set to become a pivotal innovation hub for FPT in the region, powered by its core competencies in IoT, Data Cloud, Digital Twins, AUTOSAR, and Embedded Software.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dzung Tran, Chief Executive Officer of FPT Software Europe said: "As we continue to expand our global presence and client base, Europe remains a cornerstone of our global strategy. Our strategic directions also align with the region's focus on AI, smart mobility, and green technologies, and we are committed to providing seamless support and cutting-edge solutions that are tailored to different business needs here."
The signing ceremony was held at the Technology Forum Nuremberg in Germany, with over 120 business leaders in attendance. The event facilitated discussions on the future of sustainable technology, highlighting the impact of generative AI and other emerging technologies in driving innovation, operational efficiency, and resource optimization.
Since entering the European market in 2008, FPT has established itself as a trusted partner in digital transformation for over 150 leading businesses across industries, including German giants such as E.ON, RWE, Schaeffler, Covestro, Viessmann, and most recently, ebm-papst. With a strong presence in nine countries, including its recent expansion into Sweden, FPT also continues to deepen its footprint through strategic partnerships and acquisitions, highlighted by the acquisition of RWE IT Slovakia, a subsidiary of European energy leader RWE, in 2014, and French IT consulting firm AOSIS in 2023.
Workplace development and employee empowerment are also core focuses in FPT's strategy, with its German subsidiary recently honored as a Great Place to Work. By 2030, the company aims to expand its workforce to 1,000 IT professionals in this region, with 50% of roles being filled by local talent
FPT's Nuremberg office is located on the 26th floor of Business Tower Nurnberg, Ostendstrae 100, 90482 Nuremberg, Germany.
About FPT Corporation and FPT Software
FPT Corporation is a global technology corporation and a leader in consulting, providing, and deploying technology and telecommunications services and solutions. It records a global workforce of 48,000+ and a total revenue of $2.17 billion (2023).
FPT Software, a subsidiary of FPT Corporation, is a global technology and IT services provider headquartered in Vietnam, with $1 billion in revenue (2023) and over 30,000 employees in 30 countries.
The company champions complex business opportunities and challenges with its world-class services in Advanced Analytics, AI, Digital Platforms, Cloud, Hyperautomation, IoT, Low-code, and so on. It has partnered with over 1,100 clients worldwide, nearly 100 of which are Fortune Global 500 companies in Aviation, Automotive, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, Healthcare, Logistics, Manufacturing, Utilities, and more. For more information, please visit https://fptsoftware.com/
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240924734854/en/
Contacts:
Mai Duong (Ms.)
FPT Software
PR Manager
MCP.PR@fpt.com
Opening of a subsidiary in Liege (Belgium) with a team of 5 brokers already in place
Group presence now in 3 European countries: France, Spain and Belgium
Regulatory News:
Mon Courtier Energie Groupe (ISIN code: FR001400H3A0 Ticker: ALMCE), an energy broker for businesses, today announced the launch of its activities in Belgium.
Guillaume Rouaud, CEO of Mon Courtier Energie Groupe, comments: "The Belgian energy market has a great deal of potential, thanks to its maturity and the advanced liberalization it has undergone since the early 2000s. Our offer fits in perfectly with the needs of this fragmented market, particularly to meet the demands of the very large number of SMEs, who are confronted with a complexity of offers. We wanted to support them and adopt a personalized brokerage approach, taking into account the specificities of this country, while steadily developing the energy transition and decarbonization component, which represent a major challenge for the coming years. Following the example of our strategy in France and Spain, our ambition is to transform complexity into simplicity, enabling our customers in Belgium to focus on their core business, while optimizing their energy bills."
A Belgian energy market conducive to the brokerage business
Since 2003 for Flanders and since 2007 for Wallonia and Brussels-Capital, Belgium has opened its energy market to competition. A wide range of players are now present on the market. In addition, the organization of the Belgian territory makes this sector more complex than in France, in terms of stakeholders (3 regions, 3 regulators, 3 national languages). This structure of the Belgian energy market means that the sector is marked by strong needs on the part of local companies, particularly SMEs, which make up the bulk of the industrial fabric.
Gradual expansion, with the first B2B contracts already in place
In September 2024, Mon courtier energie groupe opened a subsidiary in Liege, with a team of 5 senior brokers who will be responsible for its rollout. The Group's aim is to create a number of branches optimized for this region with its high density of SMEs, before extending its activities to the Flemish region. Some ten new hires are planned over the next few months to ensure an optimal presence to meet local customer demand.
Next financial publication
2024 first-half results: October 18, 2024 (before market opens)
About Mon Courtier Energie Groupe
Founded in Bordeaux in 2017, in just a few years Mon Courtier Energie Groupe has become a major player in energy brokerage and the leading French network on the B2B market. The Group's mission is to help companies with the global management of their energy budget in order to reduce or optimise their gas and/or electricity bill. Mon Courtier Energie Groupe service offer comprises brokerage and advice regarding energy purchasing, the management and optimisation of contracts and energy transition guidance.
Mon Courtier Energie Groupe draws on the expertise of circa 180 people at its head offices and in "licenced" branches around the country.
For further information, please go to www.moncourtierenergie.com.
Disclaimer regarding forward-looking statements and risk factors
This press release contains forward-looking statements, not historical data, and should not be construed as a guarantee that the facts and data stated will occur. These forward-looking statements are based on data, assumptions and estimates considered reasonable by Mon Courtier Energie Groupe. Mon Courtier Energie Groupe operates in a competitive and rapidly changing environment. The company is therefore unable to anticipate all risks, uncertainties or other factors that may affect its business, their potential impact on its business or the extent to which the materialization of any risk or combination of risks could lead to results materially different from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Mon Courtier Energie Groupe draws your attention to the fact that forward-looking statements are in no way a guarantee of its future performance, and that its actual financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, as well as developments in the industry in which Mon Courtier Energie Groupe operates, may differ materially from those contemplated or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained herein. Furthermore, even if the financial position, results of operations, cash flows and development of the sector in which Mon Courtier Energie Groupe operates are consistent with the forward-looking information contained in this document, such results or developments may not be a reliable indication of Mon Courtier Energie Groupe's future results or developments. Readers are invited to carefully examine the risk factors described in the registration document approved by the Autorite des Marches Financiers ("AMF"), which is available free of charge on the Company's website. Should any or all of these or other risk factors materialize, Mon Courtier Energie Groupe shall in no event be liable for any decision made or action taken in connection with the information and/or statements contained in this press release, or for any damages related thereto. This information is given only as of the date of this press release. Mon Courtier Energie Groupe undertakes no obligation to update this information or the assumptions on which it is based, except in the event of any legal or regulatory obligation applicable to it.
This press release and the information it contains do not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for shares in Mon Courtier Energie Groupe in any country.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240924021553/en/
Contacts:
Mon Courtier Energie Groupe
Guillaume Rouaud
CEO
investisseurs@moncourtierenergie.com
NewCap
Mathilde Bohin Dusan Oresansky
Investor Relations
mce@newcap.eu
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94
NewCap
Nicolas Merigeau
Media Relations
mce@newcap.eu
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 98
Al-Yacoub is a seasoned C-suite advisor in strategic and financial communications with a track-record of achievements across vital sectors and critical projects
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Instinctif Partners, one of the leading and fastest growing strategic reputation advisors in MENA has further strengthened its leadership position by appointing Ikram Al-Yacoub as Managing Partner and Head of Saudi Arabia. This strategic move signifies strong ongoing commitment to its regional integrated advisory approach while navigating the rapidly evolving landscape in Saudi.
In this role, Ikram Al-Yacoub will be instrumental in driving Instinctif's growth initiatives, creating value through sound and experienced client advice while further deepening key stakeholder engagement and fostering strategic partnerships. Al-Yacoub brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will be pivotal as Instinctif continues building and enhancing its operations across the Kingdom in industries undergoing significant growth and transformation. Instinctif prides itself on helping its clients navigate critical global issues while ensuring local relevance.
Samantha Bartel, CEO MENA, Instinctif Partners said:
"We are delighted to have Ikram join our successful and growing team. We are proud to have been advising clients in Saudi Arabia for over a decade and are excited to build on our successful momentum with the appointment of Ikram. With Al-Yacoub's stewardship and her strong relationships in the Kingdom we will continue to deliver best in class reputation management through investor relations, corporate reporting, ESG, public policy, and crisis communications, in Saudi Arabia."
Ikram will work closely with the EMEA teams to identify opportunities, optimize Instinctif's approach, and ensure that client and partner needs in Saudi Arabia are effectively met.
Al-Yacoub is a Saudi citizen, holds an MBA from City University London. Prior to her Management degree, Ikram has earned a master's degree of International Political Economy of Resources from Colorado School of Mines, USA, where she focused on energy sustainability and economic valuation of natural resources. Most recently, she served as Managing Director and General Manager at Brunswick Group, where she led its strategic expansion to Saudi and advised clients on financial communications, mergers and acquisitions, and public listings. Al Yacoub is a media veteran and has previously led critical initiatives as a business Managing Editor of Al Arabiya News Channel.
Ikram Al-Yacoub, Managing Partner & Head of Saudi Arabia, Instinctif Partners said:
"It's an honor to join such a leading firm and build on its capabilities and offerings. With the region moving at an unprecedented pace of economic development and transformation, clients are in in constant hunt for true and genuine partners with the right expertise and skillset to think through and help them with critical issues to navigate complex situations. Instinctif stands in a unique proposition when bringing localized, world class specialized capabilities to corporate situations. I look forward to taking this advisory model from a strength to strength."
Bartel added: "We are confident that under Ikram's leadership we will be a driving force in the Kingdom and provide a growth path for our talented people."
Al-Yacoub is also a member of the 'Middle East Investor Relations Association (MEIRA) KSA Memberships and Events Committee' whose objective is to raise the profile of investor relations in Saudi Arabia.
Instinctif Partners boasts a growing blue chip client list across the region and internationally, and awarded 'Large Consultancy of the Year, MENA in 2024' by PRCA MENA.
About Instinctif Partners:
Instinctif Partners is an EMEA business communications consultancy. As partners in change, we help navigate societies' constantly changing rules. We provide an integrated service drawing on expertise in communications, capital markets, content & design, digital, insight, public affairs and sustainability. Our aim is to build trust through transparency and honesty, so that together with our clients, we can be a force for good.
Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2515002/Instinctif.jpg
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/instinctif-partners-further-strengthens-its-industry-leading-position-by-appointing-ikram-al-yacoub-as-head-of-instinctif-saudi-arabia-302258176.html
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Sienna Resources Inc. (TSXV: SIE) (OTC Pink: SNNAF) (FSE: A1XCQ0) ("Sienna" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has significantly increased its acreage on the "Case Lake West Cesium and Spodumene Pegmatite Project" in Larder Lake Mining division of Ontario, Canada, roughly 100 km north of Kirkland Lake, NE Ontario. This project now consists of approximately 4,200 contiguous acres prospective for Cesium and Spodumene Pegmatites directly bordering Power Metals Corp.'s Case Lake cesium and pegmatite swarm discovery. On May 22, 2024, Power Metals announced, "world-class cesium results up to 18.13 per cent at Case Lake." This was very exciting news regarding this growing cesium district. Sienna management cautions that past results or discoveries on properties in proximity to Sienna may not necessarily be indicative of the presence of mineralization on the Company's properties.
Jason Gigliotti, President of Sienna Resources Inc. stated, "We are pleased to almost double our acreage on the Case Lake West Cesium and Spodumene Pegmatite Project in Ontario. This area is one of the world's only areas prospective for Cesium. Sienna has significantly increased its acreage and management looks forward to getting the work program underway on this exciting project. Sienna is coming into a very active period and management is very optimistic about the short and long term growth drivers in place now."
Case Lake West Cesium and Spodumene Pegmatite Project
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/854/224495_96f2d584940c5a40_002full.jpg
About Sienna Resources Inc.
Sienna has significantly increased acreage of the "Stonesthrow Gold Project", consisting now of approximately 31,718 contiguous acres prospective for gold. Sienna has also recently acquired the "Case Lake West Cesium and Spodumene Pegmatite Project" in Larder Lake Mining division of Ontario, Canada roughly 100 km north of Kirkland Lake, NE Ontario. This project consists of approximately 4,200 contiguous acres prospective for Cesium and Spodumene Pegmatites. Sienna has also just acquired the 10,357 acre "Uranium Town Project" bordering Denison Mines Corporation, the now 23,134 contiguous acre "Dragon Uranium Project" bordering Cameco Corporation and the 55,440 acre "Atomic Uranium Project" in the world renowned Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan. Also, Sienna recently expanded the "Elko Lithium Project" in Elko County, Nevada. This project consists of approximately 1840 contiguous acres directly bordering Surge Battery Metals' "Nevada North Lithium Project" in Elko County, Nevada who announced the highest grade lithium deposit in the USA. Sienna is also one of the larger landholders in Clayton Valley Nevada. Sienna's Clayton Valley projects include the Blue Clay Lithium Project, the Silver Peak South Project, and the Clayton Valley Deep Basin Lithium Project. Clayton Valley is home to the only lithium production in North America, being Albemarle Corp's Silver Peak deposit. This project is also near Tesla Motors Inc.'s Gigafactory in Nevada. On March 18, 2021, Schlumberger New Energy Venture announced the development of a lithium extraction pilot plant through its new venture, NeoLith Energy in a strategic partnership with Pure Energy. The deployment of the pilot plant will be in Clayton Valley, Nevada, USA. The NeoLith Energy sustainable approach uses a differentiated direct lithium extraction (DLE) process to enable the production of high-purity, battery-grade lithium material while reducing the production time from over a year to weeks. Results from this pilot plant are expected in 2024 and could have a significant impact on the brine prospects within Clayton Valley Nevada as Sienna is located in the deepest section of this brine deposit.
This new acreage was acquired via staking.
Qualified Person:
Mr. Frank Bain, PGeo, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained within this news release.
If you would like to be added to Sienna's email list, please email info@siennaresources.com for information or join our twitter account at @SiennaResources.
"Jason Gigliotti"
President, Director
Sienna Resources Inc.
Statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-Looking statements are statements that are not historical, and consist primarily of projections - statements regarding future plans, expectations and developments. Words such as "expects", "intends", "plans", "may", "could", "potential", "should", "anticipates", "likely", "believes" and words of similar import tend to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-Looking statements in this news release include uncertainty of exploration and development plans regarding the property; commodity price fluctuations; political or economic instability and regulatory changes; currency fluctuations, the state of the capital markets; uncertainty in the measurement of mineral reserves and resource estimates; the Company's ability to attract and retain qualified personnel and management; potential labour unrest; reclamation and closure requirements for mineral properties and the availability of capital to fund the Company's projects, as well as other risks and uncertainties identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's continuous disclosure documents filed on SEDAR. You are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used. The Company cannot assure you that actual events, performance or results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements, and management's assumptions may prove to be incorrect. These forward-looking statements reflect current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224495
SOURCE: Sienna Resources Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Hybrid Power Solutions Inc. (CSE: HPSS) (OTC: HPSIF) (FSE: E092) ("Hybrid" or the "Company"), a leading provider of sustainable energy solutions, is pleased to announce a significant energy sale secured following its participation in the quarterly superintendent meeting in Ottawa.
As the exclusive vendor invited to this event, attended by over 20 superintendents, Hybrid engaged with key industry decision-makers, resulting in a confirmation of a sale of the Spark from a key procurement manager. This sale will see Hybrid's innovative trailer mounted hybrid Spark powering major pieces of equipment on their construction site.
Francois Byrne, CEO of Hybrid Power Solutions, commented: "This major sale is a testament to the effectiveness and appeal of our sustainable energy solutions. The procurement manager's enthusiasm suggests our products align perfectly with their organization's commitment to achieving net zero by 2050." The sale addresses critical industry challenges highlighted during the meeting, including the costs associated with operating on diesel power generators and the need to reduce emissions Superintendents revealed spending up to $9,000 to $10,000 per month on diesel for on-site office trailers, a cost that Hybrid's solutions aim to significantly reduce.
Hybrid's partnership with EllisDon Corporation, a leading construction services company, played a crucial role in securing this sale. During the meeting's sustainability portion, EllisDon featured Hybrid's diesel + solar hybrid system and the trailer-mounted Spark, emphasizing Hybrid's pivotal role in the future of construction energy.
"This sale, in collaboration with EllisDon Corporation, marks a significant milestone in our mission to transform the energy landscape in the construction industry," added Byrne. "Our solutions not only offer substantial cost savings, but also enhance safety and efficiency on-site, supporting the industry's transition towards sustainable practices."
Hybrid Power Solutions anticipates that this major sale will contribute significantly to its revenue growth and further strengthen its position in the clean energy market, particularly within the construction sector.
For additional information on this project, please see following articles - EllisDon Hybrid Generator Test and Zero Emissions Day with Hybrid Power.
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/224465
SOURCE: Hybrid Power Solutions Inc.
Return to office mandates continue to miss the mark as 74% of UK workers still prefer hybrid work
Nearly three quarters (73%) of UK employees willing to sacrifice their salary for a four-day work week
WFB (working-from-bed) on the rise, as 72% of hybrid and fully remote workers say they are less likely to take a sick day
64% admit they've been caught "coffee badging" by their employers
A supportive boss is almost as important (89%) as salary compensation (90%)
Owl Labs, the first company to build AI-powered, 360-degree video conferencing solutions, today launches its annual State of Hybrid Work Report polling 2,000 full-time employees across the UK, as well as 8,000 respondents globally.* The research reveals that in the wake of the new Labour Government's pledges to introduce the 'right to switch off' and the right to request a four-day work week, UK workers value flexible work more than ever.
The hybrid revolution: Dismantling over a hundred years of working tradition
As the UK continues to shift to a hybrid working model, employees have made it clear that they want to move on from the previous 100 years of working tradition. As it stands, over 1 in 2 workers (51%) adopt a hybrid working model, up five percentage points from 2023 (46%). Only 11% would prefer to work in the office full time, with the most popular number of in-office days being three (35%).
Despite return to office (RTO) mandates as seen at PwC, Santander and Amazon flexibility over where and when UK employees work has become a non-negotiable for the UK workforce. So much so that 17% of workers would expect a pay increase if they could no longer work hybrid or remote, while almost half (47%) of workers would look for a new job that offered more flexibility in where and when they work if they lost their hybrid work privileges.
With the Government's recent 'Make work pay' policy promise, it's clear that the UK has reached a watershed moment where the majority of UK workers are unlikely to return to five days in the office. Companies that continue to push RTO mandates and in-office badge-swipes risk a mass exodus of employees.
Death of hustle culture
As the cultural narrative around work is changing, many UK employees are turning their backs on the once revered "hustle culture" in pursuit of a better work-life balance. As it stands, the top reason employees are looking for a new job is for a better work-life balance (50%), up from 41% in 2023. As the Government considers the right for UK workers to request a four-day working week, almost three quarters of workers (73%) would be willing to sacrifice some of their salary for a four-day work week up from 65% in 2023. What's more, a further 76% are willing to sacrifice some of their salary for flexible work hours.
With a greater focus on flexibility and work-life balance, the UK workforce is challenging the corporate status quo. Just over two thirds (67%) of UK workers are experiencing changes to traditional corporate norms, with 23% of employees needing increased praise and a further 20% wanting their personal and professional values to align.
UK workers now expect a strong working culture that incorporates both purpose and perks. As a result, employees are becoming intention seekers as 72% believe it's important to have a sense of purpose at work. What's more, 70% of workers feel they can be authentic and bring their whole selves to work while 65% feel connected to their company's purpose, mission, values.
Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs comments: "It's clear from our data that employees regardless of age are craving more authentic employment experiences that allow them to follow their passions and foster more meaningful connections. Tired of burnout, workers are looking for novel ways to tackle workplace stress. With 55% of employees having worked remotely from places besides a home office or coworking space, trends such as workcations or "quiet vacationing" are on the rise.
A nation of clock blockers
As employees resist hustle culture, workers are more emboldened to set stricter boundaries between their work and personal lives as a way to carve out more flexibility. Given that 43% of employees feel disengaged at work, with a further quarter (26%) feeling burnt out, nearly 1 in 5 workers (19%) are instilling greater boundaries by not taking on work outside of their specific job descriptions. What's more, a further 20% won't answer work messages outside of work hours.
When it comes to meetings, 3 in 5 employees (61%) think starting meetings at 8 a.m. or before is too early while 92% believe a meeting post 4:30 p.m is too late. As a result, 63% of workers admit that they "clock block" where they block out time in their calendar to protect it from meetings. Millennials are the most likely to "clock block" (57%) compared to Gen Z (22%) and Gen X (16%).
Coffee badging, a trend that was made popular last year, whereby employees allocate a few hours to being in the office before heading home to continue their workday remotely, continues to grow as a key workplace trend. Currently, 39% of workers "coffee badge" up from 23% in 2023. And managers seem to be on board with this trend. While 64% of workers who admit to "coffee badging" have been caught by their employers, over half (54%) said their employer didn't mind.
By enabling meeting-free days and encouraging a task-based work schedule, employers can help ensure that workers have the opportunity to deliver their best possible work.
Managing managers: How hybrid work is shaking up the management landscape
With employees prepared to adopt bolder tactics to ensure they get greater flexibility, managers are under increasing pressure to manage hybrid expectations effectively. As a result, good management has climbed the ranks of work non-negotiables. This year, a supportive supervisor or "green flag boss" is almost as important (89%) as employee salaries (90%).
"Green flag" managers are increasingly in favour of hybrid work. Currently, 53% of managers believe that flexible working has made their team more productive up 5% from last year. However, as senior executives push for RTO mandates, almost half (46%) of managers are concerned that those working in a hybrid or remote capacity are missing out on impromptu feedback.
As a result, proximity bias continues to take its toll on the workplace as 54% of managers said they are more likely to ask the opinion of colleagues they physically work with over remote ones, compared to 52% last year. This isn't going unnoticed by workers themselves as 47% are worried that working remotely will impact how visible they are to executive team members.
Weishaupt continues, "Our data backs up the old adage that people don't leave companies, they leave managers. Companies, therefore, need to continue to invest in management training so that we're creating a workforce of 'green flag bosses'.
"Executives who continue to push RTO mandates could also be putting the wider economy at risk. With office workers often deemed to be harder working than their remote counterparts, some executives are giving rise to working-from-bed (WFB) as 72% of hybrid and fully remote workers say they are less likely to take a sick day and completely unplug from work when ill. This is having a detrimental impact on overall UK productivity as recent analysis from The Institute for Public Policy Research suggests that people who refuse to take sick days are costing the economy billions every year."
Methodology
*The survey was conducted in May 2024 by Vitreous World in which 8,000 full-time employees across the UK, US, Germany and France were interviewed in the UK (2,000), US (2,000), France (2,000) and Germany (2,000).
About Owl Labs:
Owl Labs is the first company to build AI-powered, 360-degree video conferencing solutions for hybrid organizations. Its connected device system and Owl Intelligence System software make meetings more inclusive and collaborative by leveling the playing field between remote and in-room participants. The Meeting Owl 4+ is the latest generation of the first WiFi-enabled, 360-degree camera, microphone and speaker that automatically zooms in on whoever's speaking. Owl Labs has raised $47 million in funding and is based in Boston, with remote and hybrid employees all over the world. To learn more and explore the company's research on the State of Hybrid Work, visit OwlLabs.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240924532205/en/
Contacts:
press@owllabs.com
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China diversifies rural elderly care with localized solutions
10:28, September 25, 2024 By Huang Yuzhang and Wang Aihua ( Xinhua
BEIJING, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- In a village in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, a center whose name translates as "happy mutual aid" offers two meals a day to over 20 senior citizens.
Each day, the elderly villagers of Wenhua Village gather in the center to enjoy their meals and chat. Some also bring vegetables they have grown or help in the kitchen, which largely relies on social donations for its operations.
Li Huizhi, a retiree who pioneered the institution two years ago, said the place not only helps feed the elderly customers, but also helps them feel less lonely. "Many of the elderly live alone because their children have left home in search of better job opportunities," Li added.
With 120 million people in rural areas aged 60 or above, China has been exploring diverse and targeted solutions to care for seniors scattered across vast rural areas. They generally have lower incomes than their urban peers and are less willing to live in commercial institutions for daily care.
In June this year, the Chinese government issued a national-level guideline specifically on promoting rural elderly care. The document called for joint participation from the government, villages, non-profit organizations, companies and financial institutions to support the cause.
Data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs shows that China currently has around 16,000 rural elderly care nursing homes that collectively provide over 1.68 million beds. The rural areas are also home to around 145,000 mutual-aid elderly care facilities.
Lu Jiehua, deputy director of the Peking University Center for Healthy Aging and Development, expects China to find the most suitable models of elderly care in the coming years based on grassroots experiences, which include pooling together villagers for mutual aid and integrating medical and elderly care services.
Li Yuqing, 54, is a member of the mutual aid team in a village in the mountainous Miyun District, Beijing. She often visits the homes of her more senior neighbors and checks on their state of health.
"Our team members carry medical kits containing common drugs and tools to test the blood pressure and blood sugar levels of the seniors," Li said.
They are part of the local government's effort to employ public-spirited villagers in their 40s and 50s to help elderly neighbors living alone. Each of the younger villagers is designated 10 neighbors nearby to help with cleaning, shopping and accessing medical services.
Zhang Hao, an official with the civil affairs bureau of Miyun, said this model of villagers helping their elderly neighbors suits areas like Miyun because the villages are far away from each other and the elderly are not willing to live in commercial nursing homes.
Apart from mobilizing rural residents, local governments are also pinning hopes on eligible businesses providing door-to-door services to rural seniors.
Lang Zhizun, who runs an elderly care service company in Beijing, said they provide door-to-door services for rural elderly people four times a month, and the local civil affairs bureau pays for it. "We talk to the seniors first and offer help according to their requests," he said.
Experts believe more input is needed from both the government and social organizations to increase elderly care services and facilities in rural areas, and to optimize the whole system.
In the June document, China set the targets for the further improvement of its rural elderly care service network by 2025. The overall coverage rate of elderly care service centers at the township level will be no less than 60 percent, it noted.
Lu Zhiyuan, minister of civil affairs, has pledged greater efforts to shore up the weaknesses in rural elderly care and ensure the accessibility of basic elderly care services to all senior individuals.
Since 2016, China has also piloted and expanded its trials for long-term care insurance that provides recipients with caregiving guarantees and fiscal subsidies. The initiative prioritized the group of disabled or partially disabled elderly people. China also provides assistance to the low-income rural population with special difficulties, including the elderly.
"I hope more public financial resources can be directed to rural areas to genuinely improve the sense of security and happiness for the elderly there," said Lu Jiehua.
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Released today, the eighth edition of the CBI Index provides data-driven analysis into the world's top investment migration programmes in 2024.
This year's CBI Index has a unique focus on balancing global calls for transparency with the transitions necessary to achieve this transparency.
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The CBI Index is a comprehensive ranking of operational Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programmes. Nearing a decade of excellence, the Index is the ultimate cross-jurisdictional investment tool for global investors.
This year, the CBI Index focusses on the challenges and opportunities that arise from an industry that is balancing global calls for transparency with transitions and innovations necessary to achieve transparency.
Uniquely, the CBI Index is useful for discerning investors who wish to use the Index to compare CBI programmes as a whole, seeing the 'big picture' of CBI, and for investors who wish to compare specific aspects of each programme.
Taking stock of industry trends and favouring a data-focused approach, the Index is a trusted voice in the industry. As the investment migration industry faces heightened scrutiny and a chaotic geopolitical environment, the Index's offering has never been more important.
The CBI Index also features an in-depth look at the state of the investor migration industry, with experts giving their analysis in an 'Ensuring Citizenship by Investment's Long Term Sustainability' panel.
Panellists include Prof. Kristin Surak, Associate Professor in Political Sociology at the London School of Economics; Bruno L'ecuyer, Chief Executive of the Investment Migration Council; and Henry Fan, CEO and founder of the Globevisa Group.
'The CBI Index has established itself as a vital instrument for individuals embarking on the daunting journey of choosing a CBI programme in the current climate. Just as we're seeing in financial markets, investors are having a particularly tough time maintaining and safeguarding the value of their portfolios whilst navigating the elevated macroeconomic and geopolitical instability of today. And here, investment migration is no different,' says James McKay, creator of the CBI Index and independent research consultant with expertise in global trend analyses.
'Therefore, the value of the CBI Index's mandate to both provide readers with the biggest changes in the industry and appraise all key elements of active citizenship by investment programmes for individuals considering them has arguably never been greater,' McKay added.
The CBI Index approaches CBI programmes through the lens of nine factors, denoted as 'pillars,' to evaluate programme features and desirability of different jurisdictions.
Each year, the Index uses these pillars to rank the performance and appeal of CBI programmes across a diverse range of indicators and measures.
As programmes continually change, the Index provides the industry with timely, annual updates to better understand why programmes have gained popularity, renown and relevance.
Selected for their relevance and comprehensiveness of measurement, the 2024 CBI Index pillars include:
Standard of Living
Freedom of Movement
Investment Options and Threshold
Mandatory Travel or Residence
Citizenship Timeline
Ease of Processing
Due Diligence
Family
Certainty of Product
The intricate combination of benchmarking, statistical analysis, and comparative investigation is what makes the CBI Index the number one tool for cross-jurisdictional planning for investors looking to set up their businesses, grow their assets and even find a new home for their families in different markets.
St. Kitts leads Index with four perfect scores
For the second year in a row, St. Kitts and Nevis is the outright winner in the 12-country strong CBI Index ranking.
Five Caribbean countries snagged the top five spots; following St. Kitts and rounding out the top five ranked countries in the Index were Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Antigua and Barbuda.
Consistent with previous years, the Caribbean CBI programmes overtook European and Asian counterparts, rounding out the Index's top five.
Adjusting to the ever-shifting geopolitics of the industry and world at large, St. Kitts and Nevis took first place at 84 per cent. Receiving a perfect score in four pillars and receiving high marks in almost all pillars, the Federation has once again distinguished itself as an industry leader.
Each of the nine pillars is scored out of a maximum of ten points and St. Kitts and Nevis got full marks for Mandatory Travel or Residence, Ease of Processing, Due Diligence and Certainty of Product.
Dominica received perfect scores for Mandatory Travel or Residence and Ease of Processing.
Grenada took third place, while Saint Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda took fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Enhanced transparency for a world in transition
The investment migration industry adapted to an increasingly uncertain environment, with regulatory changes and geopolitical tensions.
With this ever-changing backdrop, the CBI Index took stock of industry changes and geopolitical tensions to assess the state of the industry in 2024.
Perhaps the most striking industry development in 2024 occurred in March, when Caribbean CBI countries banded together to sign the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA).
Addressing concerns from international partners in Europe and the United States, this landmark agreement harmonised CBI practices, including minimum investment thresholds and information sharing between Unit heads.
Geopolitics also encouraged countries to fortify their programmes against potential threats, with St. Kitts, Dominica and others introducing enhanced and consolidated CBI regulations.
For example, the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East and continued war in Europe encouraged high-net-worth individuals to seek out a viable 'Plan B.' Programmes had to adjust to these realities, including by banning applicants from certain high-risk countries.
Demonstrating an adaptability to changing geopolitics, the 2024 CBI Index spotlights how Caribbean CBI countries adjusted their compliance, investment thresholds, due diligence and other mechanisms to meet the standards of international partners.
CBI Index, still the most trusted cross-jurisdictional planning tool
Entering its eighth year, the CBI Index stands as the most trusted source for discerning global investors pursuing Citizenship by Investment solutions.
All 12 CBI programmes are analysed and subsequently ranked according to nine pillars with reliance being placed on official sources and data publications from institutions of the highest international standing, as well as on the specialised input of industry experts, whose contributions and responses were used to obtain and interpret both qualitative and quantitative data used in the construction of the CBI Index.
In the 2024 CBI Index, the Standard of Living Pillar is a measure of the level of wealth, comfort, and material goods offered by the 12 CBI jurisdictions under assessment. This pillar is vital to those who yearn to relocate and secure a prosperous and fulfilling lifestyle and for those wanting to take advantage of local business opportunities or seeking additional geographical diversification for their assets.
The Freedom of Movement Pillar measures the relative strength of each country's citizenship on the basis of three equally weighted factors: the number of destinations to which a country's passport allows travel without restriction; the number of business-friendly centres to which it provides access; and the degree to which a given citizenship provides settlement rights in other nations.
The newly-redesigned Investment Options and Threshold Pillar measures one of the most practical and foremost considerations of CBI: how much capital is required for the investor to become an eligible applicant for the programme of their choosing and what the available options are to deploy said capital.
The Mandatory Travel or Residence Pillar examines the travel or residence conditions imposed on applicants both before and after the granting of citizenship. Often busy with running a business or international travel, global citizens have little time to fulfil minimum stay requirements.
The Citizenship Timeline Pillar looks at the average time taken for citizenship to be secured by the applicant. The time at which application forms and supporting documentation are processed, and
the steps involved in approving an application, vary between programmes. Therefore, a thorough inspection of applicable laws, regulations, and policies was made to determine the official processing times mandated by each jurisdiction.
The Ease of Processing Pillar measures the end-to-end complexity of the CBI application process. In some jurisdictions, the application process can be a labour-intensive and painstaking task that is time-consuming for the applicant; in others, it is streamlined, and the applicant receives clear directives on how to proceed.
The Due Diligence Pillar focuses on each nation's commitment to ensuring that their programme remains transparent and effective at evaluating potential candidates for citizenship. It is, therefore, a measure of each programme's integrity.
The Family Pillar measures the extent to which investors can obtain citizenship for their immediate and extended family. The CBI Index recognises that the rise of increasingly complex family relationships is driving investors to seek programmes that allow for a more diverse range of family members to be included under a primary application. While most CBI programmes provide for the inclusion of spouses and minor children, only a handful of countries do so for adult children and extended family.
The Certainty of Product Pillar encompasses a range of factors that measure a programme's certainty across five different dimensions: longevity, popularity and renown, stability, reputation and adaptability. With the CBI industry currently in a state of flux amid a tightening regulatory landscape, it is more important than ever to provide investors with a means of differentiating a programme's relative robustness.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224398
SOURCE: CBI Index
LONDON, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Quid, the leading AI customer and market intelligence platform, today announces the appointment of Anthony Lye as its CEO, effective immediately.
Silicon Valley veteran Anthony Lye, known for leading high-performing teams and driving transformative strategies, has been appointed to spearhead Quid's next phase of growth and innovation. Most recently, he served as CEO of Amplience, an AI-driven content company working with over 400 leading brands. Before that, he was Global Head of the Apollo and Product Led Growth Business Unit at Palantir Technologies, the world's leading enterprise AI software company.
Lye joins Quid at an exciting time as the company expands its mission as an AI company that empowers its customers to sell more products, manage crises and accelerate revenue growth. Trusted by a third of Fortune 500 organizations, Quid is set for continued growth and innovation as it expands its AI capabilities to deliver custom metrics and qualitative and quantitative AI summaries through its latest innovations including a Chat Agent.
Lye follows the greatly respected outgoing CEO, Peter Caswell, who has served the business with distinction for over 13 years and led Quid on its successful growth journey. Caswell has decided to step down to spend more time with his family while ensuring Quid is in strong hands for the future. He will remain with the business -for a period of time that is still being determined-to oversee a smooth transition with Lye.
Anthony Lye, CEO at Quid, comments: "I am truly honored to join Quid at such a pivotal and exciting time. Working with an exceptional team who are passionate about transforming businesses through the power of multiple AI technologies, I look forward to empowering sales, marketing and customer service people across the world through our market-leading solutions. I can't wait to work alongside this talented team and embark on this journey together."
Former CEO, Peter Caswell, adds: "It is bittersweet to be stepping down as CEO. In 13 happy years at Quid, I've seen our revenues grow 200X and overseen the development of an excellent team of committed professionals. I'm very proud of all we've achieved. At the same time, I am honored to be passing on the baton to Anthony - he's hugely admired for his wealth of experience in the technology industry, and I have no doubt he will be a great success in leading this fantastic company."
About QUID
Quid is at the forefront of AI-powered consumer and market intelligence, serving as a compass in a rapidly changing business landscape. With a foundation built on advanced AI, Quid processes vast amounts of structured and unstructured data, translating it into actionable insights that drive business reinvention. Our platform doesn't just gather information; it anticipates the future, bridging the gap between mere data accumulation and predictive precision. We're more than just data listeners; we're strategic visionaries, transforming patterns into predictions, and in turn, magnifying profits. Trusted by industry giants like Ogilvy, T-Mobile, Lufthansa, and Walmart, Quid is the go-to partner for a holistic understanding of customer context, fostering data-driven decisions and impactful strategies. Discover Quid at www.quid.com
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EDINBURGH, Scotland and LONDON, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Zumo, the B2B digital assets infrastructure, has launched a new out-of-box feature that enables crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) active in the European Union (EU) to comply with the upcoming sustainability requirements of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.
Recent industry research has suggested that more than 80% of CASPs may be unaware of the need to report sustainability indicators from ESMA's end-of-year deadline.
Under new rules, CASPs with a EU client footprint - including exchanges, brokerages, custodians and trading firms - will need to provide a compliant website disclosure covering the environmental impact of offered crypto-assets from 30 December 2024.
Amidst a flurry of incoming requirements, Zumo's new Oxygen MiCA compliance module will help CASPs across the EU to streamline and simplify their sustainability compliance through auto-generated MiCA website disclosure reports, and allows CASPs to easily access MiCA-compliant sustainability metrics for their listed crypto-assets.
The solution draws on best-in-class sustainability data from Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI), one of Zumo's strategic partners, and further builds on Zumo's Oxygen proposition, first introduced to help providers of crypto-asset services better align their digital asset activities with net zero principles.
Nick Jones, Founder and CEO, Zumo, said: "MiCA's sustainability requirements are going live to a tight deadline, and bring with them complex data questions and unfamiliar compliance requirements at a time when the industry is already having to confront a wide range of new operational mandates."
"It's become clear that CASPs across Europe simply aren't ready. With our MiCA solution, we're removing one small headache by providing the single interface that helps CASPs cut through the hassle of pulling sustainability data together, formatting an appropriate template, and providing the output that ESMA is looking for."
"It's another important step on our sustainability journey to develop the tools that will enable service providers to comply with current and future sustainability compliance requirements."
Zumo is widely seen as a pioneer for its sustainability work in the digital assets sphere. The company was a member of the World Economic Forum's Crypto Sustainability Coalition, recently signed the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Declaration and has been recognised via a number of prestigious awards programmes.
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LONDON, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tutors International, a global leader in bespoke private tutoring, is proud to announce a new partnership with Archer Franklin, a consultancy that specialises in university admissions for expatriate and international students.
This collaboration will provide Archer Franklin's clients with access to world-class private tutors, offering unrivalled academic support, university preparation, and personalised educational experiences.
A Synergistic Partnership for Personalised Academic Excellence
Archer Franklin's 'fit-first' philosophy, which emphasises the importance of matching each student with the right educational resources, perfectly complements Tutors International's expertise in full-time, residential private tuition. This partnership enhances Archer Franklin's ability to deliver tailored educational solutions on a global scale, providing students with the best possible guidance as they navigate their academic journeys.
Kate Bock, Founder of Archer Franklin, commented:
"At Archer Franklin, our 'fit first' philosophy is rooted in the belief that every student deserves an educational experience that is uniquely tailored to their individual needs and aspirations.
"Our partnership with Tutors International represents a significant milestone in our mission to deliver world-class, personalised education. By combining our expertise in bespoke university admissions consulting with Tutors International's unparalleled global network of private tutors, we are able to extend our reach and provide even more comprehensive support to students and their families.
"Together, we are uniquely positioned to offer transformative educational experiences that not only ensure academic excellence but also nurture the personal growth of each student, no matter where their educational journey takes them."
This partnership is designed to enhance Archer Franklin's comprehensive educational services by providing personalised academic support, including:
University Preparation Tutors : Tutors International are experts in preparing students for the rigours of university life, from exam preparation and entrance tests to developing the skills needed for higher education success. Private tutors can also accompany students to university, offering ongoing academic guidance and support as they transition to new environments.
: Tutors International are experts in preparing students for the rigours of university life, from exam preparation and entrance tests to developing the skills needed for higher education success. Private tutors can also accompany students to university, offering ongoing academic guidance and support as they transition to new environments. Special Educational Needs (SEN) Tutors : Tutors International specialises in sourcing tutors with expertise in supporting students with special educational needs, ensuring that every student can achieve their full potential with the right guidance and care.
: Tutors International specialises in sourcing tutors with expertise in supporting students with special educational needs, ensuring that every student can achieve their full potential with the right guidance and care. Gap Year Tutors : For students embarking on a gap year, Tutors International tutors can create a learning programme that complements their adventures. Whether it's continuing academic studies, learning new languages, or developing skills in a unique environment, private tutors ensure the experience is both enriching and educational.
: For students embarking on a gap year, Tutors International tutors can create a learning programme that complements their adventures. Whether it's continuing academic studies, learning new languages, or developing skills in a unique environment, private tutors ensure the experience is both enriching and educational. Cultural Transition Support: Moving to a new country for university can be daunting. Tutors International provides tutors who can help students adjust to different cultures and educational systems, ensuring a smooth transition into university life.
Adam Caller, Founder and CEO of Tutors International, said:
"Our tutors are the best in the world, chosen for their ability to meet the exact needs of each student. This partnership with Archer Franklin is a perfect fit. We're excited to provide their clients with the same bespoke, world-class educational support that we're known for, whether it's preparing for university, supporting special needs, or offering guidance through gap year adventures."
Archer Franklin's 'fit-first' philosophy ensures that students are matched with the right university, one that aligns with their academic goals and potential. This philosophy closely mirrors Tutors International's approach of finding the perfect tutor for each client's unique circumstances. Together, the two companies offer families a seamless, personalised education experience that supports students throughout their entire academic journey.
This partnership brings together the strengths of both organisations, ensuring that families have access to the highest calibre of educational support. Tutors International's rigorous tutor recruitment process guarantees that each student is paired with the ideal tutor, who will provide bespoke learning and guidance tailored to their specific needs and goals.
Adam Caller concludes:
"By working together, Tutors International and Archer Franklin will ensure that students receive not just a tutor, but a complete academic experience. Whether it's supporting students through a crucial exam year, preparing them for university, or helping them navigate a new cultural environment, we can ensure that every student has the tools they need to thrive."
About Tutors International
Tutors International (www.tutors-international.com) provides world-class private tutoring services, offering highly personalised education solutions for families worldwide. Founded by Adam Caller, Tutors International is known for recruiting the finest tutors who offer full-time, one-to-one tuition tailored to each student's needs, whether at home or while travelling.
About Archer Franklin
Archer Franklin (https://www.archerfranklin.com) specialises in university admissions consulting for expatriate and international students. Their 'fit-first' approach ensures that each student finds the right university to match their goals and potential. Archer Franklin provides personalised support at every stage of the educational journey, from school selection to cultural transition.
Media Enquiries
Web: www.tutors-international.com
Email: marketing@tutors-international.com
Phone: +44 (0) 1865 435 135
Tutors International
Prama House
267 Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 7HT
England
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LONDON, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ms. Gugu Mkhize emerges victorious as the "Most Inspiring Women Leader (Insurance Training Authority), South Africa - 2023" at the distinguished Global Brand Awards.
The Global Brand Awards, an esteemed annual event organized by Global Brands Magazine (GBM) based in England, recognizes exceptional international brands across various industries. GBM's comprehensive evaluation process assesses numerous factors, including leadership excellence, impact on the industry, community and social impact. Ms Gugu MKhize has distinguished herself through outstanding performance in these areas, achieving well-deserved commendation from Global Brands Magazine.
Commenting on winning the award, Jay Reddy, CEO, Global Brands Magazine said, "We are incredibly proud to honor Ms. Gugu Mkhize with the 'Most Inspiring Women Leader (Insurance Training Authority), South Africa - 2023' award. Her unwavering dedication, visionary leadership, and commitment to excellence have not only set a benchmark in the insurance industry but have also inspired countless professionals across South Africa. Ms. Mkhize's achievement is a testament to the profound impact she has made, and we look forward to seeing her continue to shape the future of this vital sector."
Commenting on winning the award, Ms. Gugu Mhize, CEO, INSETA, said, "Winning the Global Brands Awards for Most Inspiring Women Leader for 2023 is a profound honour and a testament to the collective efforts of my incredible team and the unwavering support of our community. This recognition fuels my commitment to fostering inclusive leadership and empowering the next generation of leaders. Additionally, INSETA being named the Best Training Institute for 2023 is a reflection of our relentless dedication to excellence in education and skills development. Together, we are paving the way for a brighter, more inclusive future."
ABOUT INSETA
The Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority (INSETA) is a pivotal organisation in South Africa dedicated to fostering skills development and enhancing educational opportunities within the insurance and related sectors. Established to address the industry's specific training needs, INSETA plays a crucial role in promoting sustainable growth by aligning workforce capabilities with market demands. It offers a range of innovative programmes, including learnerships, internships, and bursaries, aimed at improving the qualifications and competencies of both new entrants and existing employees. Through its initiatives, INSETA not only enhances the professional standards of the insurance sector but also contributes significantly to the broader goals of national economic development and transformation.
ABOUT GLOBAL BRANDS MAGAZINE (ENGLAND)
Global Brands Magazine (GBM) has been at the forefront, bringing news, views and opinions on brands shaping the future of their industry. The UK-based magazine provides its readers with the latest news and information on 'best-in-class brands across the globe. Each year, GBM develops awards for companies that stand out, have a unique vision, exceptional service, innovative solutions and consumer-centric products among their industry leaders. The Magazine has over 10 million visitors and 14 million page views per month, making it one of the best online magazines. We offer a curated selection of leading brands across various categories, including the top 10 laptop brands, best mobile brands, best car brands in the world, top air conditioner brands, best luxury handbag brands, and more on our website to help you choose the best brands for your needs. The Magazine also maintains a strong presence on social media, with over 20k+ Facebook likes, 10k+ Instagram followers, 25k+ Twitter followers, and 3k+ LinkedIn followers.
ABOUT THE GLOBAL BRAND AWARDS
Global Brand Awards honours brands for their excellence in performance and rewards companies across different sectors for the quality of their services. The Brand Awards highlight the accomplishments of organisations that have performed remarkably well in finance, education, hospitality, automotive, lifestyle, education, real estate, technology, and others. Global Brand Awards recognise vital players who progress towards excellence by providing a platform to acknowledge their efforts. In addition, GBM strives to create awareness concerning the significance of such organisations and rewards them for their notable efforts with the ultimate global recognition. To learn more about the awards, please visit the Brand Awards Winners section on the GBM website.
Find a curated selection of leading brands across various categories, including the top 10 laptop brands , best mobile brands, top air conditioner brands , and more on our website. This resource may assist the visitors in selecting the best brands for their needs
To nominate your company or business leader for the Global Brand Awards 2023, please click on the following link:
https://www.globalbrandsmagazine.com/nomination-form/
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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Inverite Insights Inc. (CSE: INVR) (OTC Pink: INVRF) (FSE: 2V00) ("Inverite" or the "Company"), a leading AI-driven software provider utilizing real-time financial data to empower businesses to transact more effectively with consumers, is excited to announce its strategic partnership with Mortgage Automator, award-winning, end-to-end loan origination, servicing, and fund management platform for private lenders. This collaboration will integrate Inverite's innovative Instant Bank Verification and Risk/Confidence Scoring solution into Mortgage Automator's platform, significantly enhancing the mortgage application and approval process for brokers across Canada.
Through this partnership, Mortgage Automator's platform will now provide its growing network of private lenders and Mortgage Investment Corporations (MICs) with advanced tools for faster and more accurate borrower data verification. Inverite's cutting-edge scoring solution will enhance risk assessment capabilities, setting a new benchmark for accuracy and efficiency in mortgage processing. To date Mortgage Automator has funded in excess of $30B in mortgages with over 400 private lenders using their Loan Origination and Management Software ("LOS/LMS") platform.
"We are thrilled to collaborate with Mortgage Automator to bring our state-of-the-art technology to their platform," said Estelle L'Heureux, CFO of Inverite. "This integration represents a key milestone in our mission to revolutionize the financial services industry. By combining our real-time data analytics with Mortgage Automator's comprehensive platform, we're delivering powerful solutions that enhance operational efficiency and decision-making for mortgage lenders and MICs."
Joseph Fooks, Founding Partner, Chief Strategy Officer of Mortgage Automator, added: "Integrating Inverite's AI-powered tools into our platform aligns with our mission to deliver connected, streamlined, secure, and fully compliant lending experiences. This partnership is another step towards ensuring our lenders have the most advanced technology at their fingertips, transforming how they verify and assess borrower risk with great precision."
This partnership marks an exciting development for both companies and promises to deliver transformative benefits to mortgage lenders throughout Canada
About Mortgage Automator
Mortgage Automator is a modern SaaS platform and ecosystem that serves the full private and asset-based lending value chain. Built by industry veterans, its advanced end-to-end offering including origination, servicing, fund/MIC management, and reporting helps private lenders and MICs grow faster and more efficiently. Mortgage Automator manages daily workflow for customers and provides them access to an unparalleled 360-degree private lending community. The company has achieved the industry's top accolades for product innovation and customer service including Innovator of the Year by The Mortgage Awards of Excellence and Industry Service Provider of The Year by The Canadian Mortgage Awards.
For further information about Mortgage Automator, please visit: mortgageautomator.com
About Inverite Insights Inc.
Inverite Insights Inc. ("Inverite") (CSE: INVR) (OTC Pink: INVRF) (FSE: 2V00) is a Vancouver-based, AI-driven software provider specializing in real-time financial data. With a vast database of over 20 billion financial data points from more than five million unique Canadian consumers transactions, Inverite empowers businesses to transact more effectively with consumers through innovative solutions for data enrichment, identity, risk management and compliance.
For further information about Inverite Insights, please visit: inverite.com
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider/Market Maker (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release, nor has in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction nor approved or disapproved the contents of this press release.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes that any forward-looking statements in this news release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. The Company cautions readers that all forward-looking statements, are based on assumptions none of which can be assured and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements represent management's best judgment based on information currently available. Readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such risks and uncertainties and should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and no undertaking is given to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws or the CSE. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224485
SOURCE: Inverite Insights Inc.
AddSecure leads the European fleet management services industry with its innovative transport solutions, leveraging artificial intelligence and a strong software-as-a-service model to enhance operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan recently researched the fleet management services industry and, based on its findings, recognizes AddSecure with the 2024 Europe Market Leadership Award. AddSecure is a market-leading secure data and critical communications solution provider with an extensive IoT offering including fleet management, transport management, and video telematics solutions that optimize performance and enhance business success.
AddSecure offers a full-featured suite of sophisticated solutions that deliver tailor-made and data-driven services to meet ever-growing industry needs. Through a robust software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, the company delivers its solutions in scalable packages-such as FMS Lite, FMS Plus, and FMS Pro-that cater to businesses of all sizes. This streamlined, package-based service model ensures that its customers receive high-quality, scalable solutions tailored to their needs.
AddSecure leverages AI-powered features for route optimization, automatic trailer coupling and an electronic proof of delivery (ePod) system to provide customers with real-time insights and automation capabilities that streamline operations and reduce costs. Examples of other innovative products include the RoadHero solution for digital claims management and the SaaS based Transport Management System (TMS), It significantly improves fleet performance and customer satisfaction while meeting ongoing fleet management challenges. Additionally, the company's strategic acquisitions across Europe have significantly expanded its geographic footprint, portfolio, and business capabilities, ensuring sustained market growth in the next few years.
"AddSecure Group plans to grow its annual revenues from 200 million in 2023 to 500 million in 2027 in two ways. The first involves further geographic expansion by taking advantage of the fragmented nature of the European transport and logistics industries. The second is expansion into new transport and IoT verticals by leveraging digitalization and technology trends such as electrification, micro-mobility, and video telematics," said Jack Palmer, principal consultant for Frost & Sullivan's mobility practice.
AddSecure's research and development (R&D) strategy supports its rapid growth and expansive portfolio. The company consistently invests in cutting-edge technologies like IoT connectivity to enhance the value of its offerings and strengthen its leadership in the industry. As a result, this focus on innovation and expansion enabled AddSecure to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape of the transport and logistics industry and become one of the undisputed fleet management services leaders.
"One of the main challenges is coordinating the R&D efforts of the many businesses it has been formed from. AI is one enabler that AddSecure's management believes holds benefits across the entire product portfolio," noted Palmer.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has developed an innovative element in a product by leveraging leading-edge technologies. The award recognizes the value-added features/benefits of the product and the increased ROI it offers customers, which, in turn, raises customer acquisition and overall market penetration potential.
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:
Tarini Singh
P: +91- 9953764546
E: Tarini.Singh@frost.com
About AddSecure
AddSecure is a leading European provider of secure IoT connectivity and end-to-end solutions. We help customers optimize their operations, drive business value, and secure vital functions.
By combining connected, data-driven, and sensor-based solutions with best-in-class expertise, we meet our customers' needs regardless of industry. We provide both managed services and connect any device in need of secure communications and data transfer. Imagination is the only limit.
Our secure IoT solutions are used within the areas of buildings, alarms, transportation and logistics, personal safety and security, health care, construction, municipalities, schools, rescue services, power grids, and more.
AddSecure's headquarters is in Stockholm, Sweden. Our main market is Europe, yet we serve customers worldwide. With over 1,000 employees, we help make the world safer, smarter, and more sustainable.
AddSecure is majority-owned by Funds, managed by? Castik Capital , a European private equity fund with a long-term approach to value creation.
Contact:
Kristina Grandin
P: +46 (0) 70 689 52 08
E: kristina.grandin@addsecure.com
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EQS-News: Averi Finance / Key word(s): Miscellaneous
Averi Finance Endorsed and Supported by the White House and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Government as a Leading Private Investor and Financier of the Energy Sector in Africa
25.09.2024 / 11:30 CET/CEST
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Averi Finance Endorsed and Supported by the White House and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Government as a Leading Private Investor and Financier of the Energy Sector in Africa
With a proven track record of success, Averi Finance's management has participated in over 100 projects and transactions, arranging more than $16 billion across 15 emerging market countries
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States, September 25, 2024/ -- His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, and President Joseph R. Biden Jr. met today at the White House during an official visit of His Highness President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to the United States. The visit is the first-ever by a President of the United Arab Emirates to Washington and marks the leaders' fourth bilateral meeting in the Biden-Harris Administration. The leaders affirmed the enduring U.S.-UAE strategic and defense partnership, bolstered areas of deepening cooperation in advanced technology and investments, and discussed global and regional matters. The leaders pledged to pursue new opportunities to strengthen their economic and defense partnership; promote peace and stability across the Middle East and wider region; and deliver global leadership on issues of shared importance.
As a result of the meeting, Averi Finance is honoured to receive the endorsement and support from the White House and the UAE Government. This recognition highlights Averi Finance as a key player, investor and financier in the energy sector across Africa and reflects our extensive track record and work over the years, investing, financing, structuring projects and advising African Governments, UAE corporates, and public and private stakeholders to channel capital into various sectors, into the various sectors particularly energy.
"The collaboration between the U.S. and UAE represents a significant opportunity to accelerate sustainable development efforts globally," said Gaspar Lino, CEO of Averi Finance. "We are enthusiastic about the emphasis on private sector engagement and look forward to exploring partnerships that will enhance the positive impact of our work across Africa."
Averi Finance is an emerging markets investment and finance firm focused on Africa. As a specialist provider of capital investment and financing solutions to growth markets globally, we leverage unique project structuring capabilities to deliver impactful results. Recently, Averi Finance acquired 3.85 GW of solar and wind energy projects in South Africa and is investing in over 1,500 kilometers of high voltage transmission lines across the SADC region as a private investor.
Under the U.S.-UAE Partnership to Accelerate Clean Energy (PACE) initiative, Averi Finance intends to facilitate $5 billion in investments, build 3 GW of power generation projects, construct over 3,000 kilometers of transmission and distribution lines, and establish over 500,000 new home and business connections. We also aim for a CO2 equivalent reduction or avoidance of 90 million tons, underscoring our commitment to sustainable energy solutions1-including our ongoing green and blue hydrogen projects designed to enhance energy security and promote environmental sustainability.
As a UAE-based private sector partner under the U.S.-led Power Africa Initiative, Averi Finance is committed to supporting this vital effort, through its local offices in Angola, Southa Africa, Zambia, DRC, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Mauritius.
With a proven track record of success, Averi Finance's management has participated in over 100 projects and transactions, arranging more than $16 billion across 15 emerging market countries. Our team's extensive experience and strong local networks enable us to consistently deliver impactful results.
Averi Finance is dedicated to leveraging this strategic partnership to drive innovative financing solutions that address the pressing challenges of energy sustainability and economic development in Africa. By aligning our efforts with global initiatives, we aim to contribute meaningfully to the region's sustainable future.
For more information about Averi Finance and our projects, please visit our website at www.AveriFinance.com .
1. https://apo-opa.co/47MsqVJ
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Averi Finance.
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Contact:
Gaspar Lino
Tel: +971503706701
Email: glino@averifinance.com
25.09.2024 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
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Event highlights India's position as world's fastest growing steel market and AM/NS India's vision to become the benchmark for quality, scale and sustainability in Indian steelmaking
25 September 2024, 11:30 CET
ArcelorMittal today hosted an investor day at AM/NS India's flagship plant in Hazira, Gujarat. The event provided members of the investment community with the opportunity to witness first-hand the progress AM/NS India - a 60/40 joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel - is making with the first phase of its project to grow steelmaking capacity in Hazira and insight into its long-term vision to reach 40 million tonnes of annual capacity.
In addition to the site tour the event included presentations and a question and answer session with Aditya Mittal, ArcelorMittal CEO and AM/NS India Chairman, and members of the AM/NS India management committee including Dilip Oommen, CEO of AM/NS India. The focus of the presentations was on AM/NS India's progress over the past four years and its growth plans, including:
AM/NS India's strong performance since the acquisition in 2019: capacity debottlenecking has led to record levels of production in the first quarter of this year, and AM/NS India's Ebitda per tonne exceeded the average of Indian steel peers in the first half of 2024.
Cash generation of $5.8 billion since acquisition, which has enabled $5.8 billion of growth investment - including securing the company's supply chain and enhancing profitability through several strategic acquisitions including slurry pipelines, iron ore mines, ports, power plants and land. Despite these investments net debt has remained stable since the acquisition given low cash needs, including very competitive funding costs.
Insight into the progress being made on the first phase of AM/NS India's transformational expansion project at Hazira. The upstream capacity expansion ($5.1 billion) targets growing annual steelmaking capacity from 9 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes by 2026, while the downstream expansion ($1 billion) will significantly enhance AM/NS India's ability to produce technically sophisticated steel products for the most demanding customer sectors, including automotive, and introduce advanced products such as Magnelis, which offers best-in-class corrosion resistance, to its product portfolio.
These projects - part of an overall $7.7 billion investment programme - are progressing to plan, with transformational impacts on profitability anticipated; following phase 1, AM/NS India's Ebitda and investable cash flow (operating cash flow less maintenance capex) are expected to increase by a factor of 2.5x.
Plans are under development to further expand production. Phase 2A is a capex-efficient expansion project that would see steelmaking capacity grow to 18 million tonnes by 2028 with phase 2B taking capacity at Hazira to 24 million tonnes by the end of the decade, making AM/NS Hazira the world's largest, single site, coastal steelmaking facility. Upon completion, Ebitda and investable cash flow would grow to approximately 4x current levels.
Further greenfield development options are under consideration to take steelmaking capacity to 40 million tonnes in the long-term, meaning AM/NS India is ideally positioned to capture the anticipated growth in Indian domestic demand in this decade and beyond.
India is forecast to be the world's third largest economy by 2028 with GDP in excess of $5 trillion; domestic steel demand is set to grow at a CAGR of over 6 per cent over the next decade making India the world's fastest growing steel market.
AM/NS India's plans to ensure its growth is delivered in a responsible and sustainable manner: target to reduce the carbon intensity of the steel it produces by 20 per cent by 2030 (from a 2021 baseline); ambitious plans to develop captive renewable energy capacity ($0.7 billion, 1GW renewable energy project - funded by ArcelorMittal - recently commissioned with further projects under evaluation).
Copies of the presentations used during today's meeting can be found on the company's website at https://corporate.arcelormittal.com/investors/equity-investors/shareholders-events
AM/NS India expansion plans (progress to date and phase 1) in detail
Following completion of the acquisition in 2019, AM/NS India embarked on a $0.8 billion debottlenecking project to realise the Hazira plant's 9 million tonne nameplate capacity. This project is nearing completion and AM/NS India has achieved a production run-rate in excess of 8 million tonnes this year.
Organic growth has been supplemented several strategic acquisitions over the past four years, including: four power plants with total capacity of 1345MW; a 250km slurry pipeline; several key infrastructure port and power assets; two downstream coating facility (Uttam Galva (1.2 million tonne capacity) and Indian Steel (0.6 million tonne capacity)).
Phase 1 expansion: the $5.1 billion phase 1 upstream expansion project to increase annual production capacity to 15 million tonnes is underway with project completion anticipated in 2026. The project involves construction of two state-of-the-art 3.5 million tonne capacity blast furnaces and associated assets (three basic oxygen furnaces, hot strip mill, two sinter plants, pellet plant, four coke oven batteries, plus ancillary equipment and raw material handling systems)
Phase 1 expansion: the $1 billion phase 1 downstream expansion project is designed to improve AM/NS India's ability to deliver technically sophisticated, added-value products for sectors including automotive. It involves construction of a cold rolling mill complex, which includes: a pickling line and tandem cold mill; a 1 million tonne capacity continuous galvanizing and annealing line; and two 0.5 million tonne capacity continuous galvanizing lines, the second of which was commissioned in December 2023 and is a dedicated facility to produce Magnelis.
ENDS
About ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal is one of the world's leading integrated steel and mining companies with a presence in 60 countries and primary steelmaking operations in 15 countries. It is the largest steel producer in Europe, among the largest in the Americas, and has a growing presence in Asia, including India, through its joint venture AM/NS India.
ArcelorMittal sells its products to a diverse range of customers including the automotive, engineering, construction and machinery industries, and in 2023 generated revenues of $68.3 billion, produced 58.1 million metric tonnes of crude steel and 42.0 million tonnes of iron ore.
Our purpose is to produce smarter steels for people and planet. Steels made using innovative processes which use less energy, emit significantly less carbon and reduce costs. Steels that are cleaner, stronger and reusable. Steels for the renewable energy infrastructure that will support societies as they transform through this century. With steel at our core, our inventive people and an entrepreneurial culture at heart, we will support the world in making that change.
ArcelorMittal is listed on the stock exchanges of New York.
GUANGZHOU, China, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- HDL Automation,a leading global provider of smart living solutions, has been awarded the prestigious Manufacturing Champion Enterprise title, a recognition given to companies that excel in specialized manufacturing sectors. This honor reflects HDL's advanced innovation, cutting-edge production technologies, and strong global market presence. The rigorous selection criteria focus on industry leadership, continuous innovation, and high operational efficiency-areas where HDL constantly excels.
39 Years of Leadership in Building Automation
Founded in 1985, HDL Automation has become a leading name in building automation, delivering advanced solutions for residential, commercial, and hospitality sectors. Its innovations enhance the efficiency, safety, and comfort of buildings around the world.
Recently, HDL was also named the No. 1 Wired Automation Control Brand in China by EqualOcean, one of China's most authoritative research institutions, solidifying its position as an industry leader.
HDL's commitment to design and innovation has earned it several prestigious awards, including the Red Dot Award, iF Design Award, and IDEA Award. A standout product, the Source 7 Panel, features a sleek knob design and elegant color options, enhancing both functionality and aesthetic appeal. Its smooth knob adjustment and user-friendly interface allow for effortless control of smart home systems.
HDL's products are used in major projects globally, including Dubai's S-Tower, Baiyun Station, the Czech State Opera, and BMW Welt. For example, the Guangzhou Baiyun Railway Station, opened on December 26, 2023, covers 430,000 square meters and features 11 platforms and 24 tracks. It manages up to 15,364 passengers per hour at peak, ranking it among Asia's largest and busiest hubs. HDL's automation solutions there improve lighting management and, through smart panels and visualization software, enable centralized control and real-time energy monitoring, boosting operational efficiency.
The Manufacturing Champion award and recognition by EqualOcean boost HDL's standing in the global smart technology market. As demand for intelligent building solutions grows, HDL remains committed to creating healthier, more sustainable living environments through innovation. Looking ahead, HDL aims to expand its global footprint while continuing to lead in technology and sustainability.
With nearly four decades of experience, a wealth of prestigious awards, and landmark projects, HDL Automation continues to shape the future of building automation. The recent government recognition and industry accolades affirm HDL's leading role in shaping smart living.
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Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Copper Fox Metals Inc. (TSXV: CUU) (OTCQX: CPFXF) ("Copper Fox" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its unaudited interim consolidated July 31, 2024, financial statements have been filed on SEDAR+.
For the nine months ended July 31, 2024, Copper Fox had a net loss of $826,730 (July 31, 2023 - $882,395) which equated to $0.00 loss per share (July 31, 2023 - $0.00 loss per share). As of the date of the MD&A, September 24, 2024, the Company's cash position was $1,145,000.
During the nine months ended July 31, 2024, the Company incurred $825,069 in exploration expenditures primarily furthering the development of the Van Dyke (Globe-Miami Mining District, AZ), Mineral Mountain (Mineral Mountain Mining District, AZ), Sombrero Butte (Bunker Hill Mining District, AZ) and Eaglehead (Liard Mining District, BC) copper projects. Copies of the financial statements, notes, and related management discussion and analysis may be obtained on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, the Company's web site at www.copperfoxmetals.com or by contacting the Company directly. All references to planned activities and technical information contained in this news release have been previously announced by way of news releases. All amounts are expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.
Elmer B. Stewart, President and CEO of Copper Fox stated, "During the Quarter, the positive results from the geotechnical study at Van Dyke included a safer, faster and more environmentally friendlier method to develop the decline and that the project's geotechnical data was sufficient to meet the threshold for a prefeasibility study (PFS). The permitting process to allow completion of the four-drillhole "maiden" drilling program at Mineral Mountain and the surface exploration at Sombrero Butte are progressing. The stream water sampling program completed at Eaglehead during the Quarter showed no appreciable changes in the water quality since inception of the program in 2021.
At Schaft Creek, the Schaft Creek Joint Venture (SCJV) completed the field portion of the most comprehensive annual program since formation of the joint venture, budgeted at C$18.7 million. The drilling filled in gaps in the geotechnical data and extended the mineralization in the Schaft Creek deposit to the north. While the preliminary indications from the metallurgical testwork are encouraging, the testwork is progressing slower than expected. Lock cycle testing of the rougher concentrate samples is underway and the testwork program is expected to be completed in Q4-2024. The results of the metallurgical program are necessary to better understand the metallurgical performance of the mineralization and optimize the processing flowsheet design."
2024 Q3 Highlights
On May 22, 2024, the Company provided an update on the application to obtain a permit to conduct drilling operations at its 100% owned exploration stage Mineral Mountain porphyry copper property.
On May 30, 2024, the Company provided an update on its 100% owned Sombrero Butte project which included planning a deep penetrating geophysical survey to define the size and the chargeability anomalies underlying Target #1 and #2.
On June 18, 2024, the Company announced that the 2024 field program at the Schaft Creek project is underway.
On July 10, 2024, the Company announced the results of the geotechnical investigation at Van Dyke copper project. Call & Nicholas was contracted to collect geotechnical data in support of a planned prefeasibility-level design study of a decline from which to establish injection and recovery well stations to enable leaching of the oxidized portion of the Van Dyke copper deposit. Highlights of the geotechnical investigation are as follows: The current drillhole data coverage will support a PFS. Geotechnical parameters of the Gila Conglomerate are generally consistent, and match expected ranges of the Gila Conglomerate in other parts of the Globe-Miami Mining District. A preliminary assessment of the rock quality of the Gila Conglomerate suggests that excavation of the spiral decline utilizing a road header is viable. Shotcrete and rock bolting will be required for permanent ground support. When excavating the decline, a two-pass ground support strategy will consist of a first-pass flash coat (two inches) of shotcrete and a second pass consisting of rock bolts and a final coat of shotcrete.
On July 17, 2024, the Company extended the porphyry trend at Mineral Mountain and suggested the introduction of several phases of molybdenite mineralization during emplacement of the porphyry system. The field portions of the archeological, cultural, and biological investigations required to complete the Environmental Review (ER) have been completed. Results are being compiled. The ER and Solicitation of Public Comments on the Plan of Operations is expected to take approximately four to six months to complete with an estimated cost of US$45,000. The estimated timeline and costs are subject to change contingent on amendments to the scope of work that could be requested by either Federal or State authorities. Utilization of fertility indices supports the porphyry potential of the Laramide-age Mineral Mountain intrusive and has extended the potential strike length of this mineralized trend approximately three kilometers to the northeast. Indicators of distal to proximal hydrothermal activity related to porphyry-style mineralization have been identified within Target #1, #2, and #3.
On July 31, 2024, the Company completed a non-brokered private placement for a total of 5,116,000 units at $0.22 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,125,520.
Subsequent to the Quarter-end
On September 24, 2024, the Company provided an update on the Schaft Creek Project. Highlights of the program are as follows:
The 2024 Geotechnical Drilling Program has been completed with 6 drillholes totalling 2,472 meters (m).
Three of the six geotechnical holes intersected significant intervals of porphyry style mineralization.
The mineralization intersected in DDH SCK-24-472 extended the hydrothermal breccia of the Paramount zone approximately 250 m to the north.
Lock cycle testing of the rougher concentrate samples is underway. The metallurgical testwork is expected to be completed by the end of Q4 2024.
Environmental Baseline data collection continues with surface and ground water sampling and hydrological measurements taken on a monthly basis as well as meteorology, fish and glacial surveys.
Archaeology investigations were conducted in the area around the proposed Tailing Management (TMF) and Rock Storage (RSF) facilities.
Final reports on the 2023 Environmental Baseline programs are under review.
Camp upgrades have been completed to support future programs of up to 85 people, including the commissioning of the solar and battery power system.
Subsequent to July 31, 2024, the Company received $900,000 from the exercise of 3,600,000 warrants.
Elmer B. Stewart, MSc. P. Geol., President of Copper Fox, is the Company's non-independent, nominated Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approves the scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release.
Selected Financial Results
3 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 3 Months Ended July 31, 2024 April 30, 2024 January 31, 2024 October 31, 2023 Loss before taxes $ 293,185 $ 302,668 $ 230,877 $ 232,117 Net loss 293,185 302,668 230,877 232,117 Comprehensive (gain) / loss 199,184 (167,103)
905,445 (602,417)
Comprehensive loss per share,
basic and diluted 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 3 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 3 Months Ended July 31, 2023 April 30, 2023 January 31, 2023 October 31, 2022 Loss before taxes $ 348,787 $ 254,018 $ 279,590 $ 461,137 Net loss 348,787 254,018 279,590 401,137 Comprehensive (gain) / loss 870,509 (43,966)
563,026 (668,062)
Comprehensive loss per share,
basic and diluted 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Liquidity
As at July 31, 2024, the Company's cash position was $689,082 (October 31, 2023 - $1,368,852).
About Copper Fox
Copper Fox is a Tier 1 Canadian resource company focused on copper exploration and development in Canada and the United States. The principal assets of Copper Fox and its wholly owned Canadian and United States subsidiaries, being Northern Fox Copper Inc. and Desert Fox Copper Inc., are the 25% interest in the Schaft Creek Joint Venture with Teck Resources Limited on the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project located in northwestern British Columbia and the 100% ownership of the Van Dyke oxide copper project located in Miami, Arizona. For more information on Copper Fox's other mineral properties and investments visit the Company's website at www.copperfoxmetals.com.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Elmer B. Stewart
President and Chief Executive Officer
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and forward-looking information within the meaning of the Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information in this news release include statements about; positive results from the geotechnical study at Van Dyke and that the geotechnical data is sufficient for a PFS; obtaining permits for a "maiden" drilling program at Mineral Mountain and the surface exploration at Sombrero Butte are progressing; the stream water sampling at Eaglehead showed no appreciable changes; and that the drilling at Schaft Creek filled in geotechnical gaps and extended the mineralization to the north.
In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, Copper Fox and its subsidiaries have made numerous assumptions regarding, among other things: the geological, financial, and economic advice that Copper Fox has received is reliable and is based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with industry standards; that the mineral reserve and resources estimates and the key assumptions and parameters on which such estimates are based are reasonable; the costs and results of planned exploration activities are as anticipated; and the stability of economic and market conditions. While Copper Fox considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies.
Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause Copper Fox's actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, the Van Dyke project may not progress to the PFS stage; exploration permits may not be received; surface exploration may not progress as planned; metallurgical testwork results may not be received or provide the information expected; the overall economy may deteriorate; uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; copper prices and demand may fluctuate; currency exchange rates may fluctuate; conditions in the financial markets may deteriorate; trading prices of the Company's common shares may decrease below the exercise price of any outstanding warrants of the Company; and uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals.
A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing Copper Fox is disclosed in Copper Fox's continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedarplus.ca. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and Copper Fox disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events, or developments, except as required by law.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224488
SOURCE: Copper Fox Metals Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Provenance Gold Corp. (CSE: PAU) (OTCQB: PVGDF) (the "Company" or "Provenance") is pleased to provide an update on its ongoing core drilling program at its Eldorado project in Malheur County, Eastern Oregon.
Drilling of the first core hole (EC-01: orientated N10W at - 680 dip, with a planned depth of 300 m) is ongoing. At the time of this update, the hole was at a depth of 207 m in highly altered and mineralized granodiorite with visible gold located at multiple horizons (30m, 108m, and 158m). The hole was designed to test the down dip extent of Provenance's 2023 reverse circulation hole ED-07 which averaged 3.085 g/t gold over its entire length of 114 meters and terminated while still in strong mineralization (See Press Release dated July 31, 2023). In addition, EC-01 crosscuts the projected northeast trend of the high-grade mineralization in this part of the Eldorado gold system and the presence of visible gold in the mineralization continues to expand the known mineralization along strike and to depth. Logging and core processing is ongoing and additional results will be released once available.
Figure 1 - Down dip visible gold locations in EC-01.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5654/224499_8c835af1b46a291f_001full.jpg
Provenance Gold's Chairman, Rauno Perttu, stated, "The first core hole has already demonstrated the gold mineralization extends much deeper than the depth of approximately 120 meters we went to on holes ED-07 and ED-11 during our RC drilling program last summer. Furthermore, our field work has identified additional mineralized zones well beyond the current and historic drilling. Even though we have 242 historic holes and EC-01 is our 12th new hole, the gold system remains wide open for expansion with multiple visible gold occurrences over several intervals. We are very pleased with what we are seeing in the core at this early stage. This is an exciting time for our company."
Core hole EC-01 has already provided important and positive information about the gold system on three key fronts:
The high-grade portion of the gold system is not controlled by or limited to a breccia zone, as had been previously postulated. The core to date is dominated by altered granodiorite with disseminated sulphides (predominantly pyrite) with multiple visible gold grains across multiple zones.
At the current drilling depth of 207 meters, the mineralization extends deeper than previously recognized and additionally supports the presence of Provenance's postulated deeper high-grade zone.
The core is not strongly silicified, confirming that the mineralization is a late-stage or even separate lower temperature mineralizing event which is consistent with the excellent gold recoveries experienced by Provenance and by historic laboratory testing (See Press Release dated February 07, 2024).
Private Placement
The Company expects to close on the second tranche of its private placement as announced on June 28th, 2024, on or around October 4th, 2024. The private placement is expected to be over-subscribed, and the Company would like to thank all that have indicated their participation.
Qualified Person
The technical content disclosed in this press release was reviewed and approved by Jo Price, P.Geo., M.Sc., a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101.
About Provenance Gold Corp.
Provenance Gold Corp. is a precious metals exploration company with a focus on gold and silver mineralization within North America. The Company currently holds interests in Nevada, and eastern Oregon, USA.
Provenance is also active on social media and invites investors to follow us on X to stay up to date with our latest news and developments:
Safe Harbor Statement: Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange, nor its regulation services provider, accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When or if used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224499
SOURCE: Provenance Gold Corp.
Press Release
Atos selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to expand the capabilities of the Destination Earth (DestinE) services platform
Funded by the European Commission, the DestinE initiative powers a platform harnessing extensive climate data using a digital model of Earth
Paris, France - September 25, 2024 - Atos today announces that it has been selected by the European Space Agency(DestinE) services platform. To accomplish this task, the Group will design and implement advanced applications and services (AAS).
Kick-started by the European Commission, DestinE has the following components: digital twins of the Earth; a data lake to process big data in the cloud; and a services platform engineered by ESA. AAS will expedite the use of DestinE platform data as well as the roll-out of services by stakeholders within Europe's ecosystem. As a result, European Union member states, European institutions, manufacturers, academics and scientists will be able to devise strategies for adapting to climate change and implement accurate, actionable measures that ensure mitigation.
Together with its partners Mewsand ACRI-ST, Atos will support ESAin its efforts to pinpoint and deploy pioneering technologies in generative AI, data fusion and 3D visualization. These technologies will be integrated into the DestinE services platform, forming the application and architectural building blocks that will enable users to unlock the full potential of the data lake and digital twin capabilities to create content, services and decision-making tools. Users will enjoy access to a host of different algorithms, collaborative digital tools, thematic information, models, simulations, forecasts and graphic visualizations.
The platform's components will accelerate the development of multiple use cases spotlighting the impact of natural phenomena and human activities on Earth while planning for extreme weather events, adapting policy to climate challenges and raising public awareness. For instance, what are the effects of climate change on land use? Which initiatives should be led in cities and regions and how can we monitor their positive impact over the course of decades? What tools should be deployed to address the impact of manufacturing and educate others on climate issues?
ESA entrusted Atos with its expertise in developing and operating advanced services into DestinE platform under large-scale European initiatives, and the Group's ability to combine its partners' know-how, in this case, Mews' consulting acumen and ACRI-ST's core business skills to process and manage satellite data. Full knowledge of Atos' cloud platforms will be key, since DestinE runs on a flexible and secure open-source computing infrastructure which is supported by public cloud operators located in Europe.
This initiative is spearheaded by Atos' Toulouse-based teams who specialize in deploying and utilizing Earth observation platforms, backed by interdisciplinary experts working for Atos' Inno'Labs- innovation hubs that are home to scientists, data scientists, AI specialists, IT architects and software developers.
Raoul Roth, CEO France, Atos, commented: "We are honored that ESA places its trust in our Group. It is a testament to our expertise and long-standing commitment to helping organizations across Europe deliver services with high value-added technologies and a lasting impact on the future of our planet."
The DestinE services platform is powered by ESA's space observation data thanks to the Earth Explorers and Copernicus Sentinel missions, coupled with data provided by Europe's meteorological organizations, ECMWFand EUMETSAT. DestinE uses climate simulation models based on Europe's High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems.
The European Commission launched the DestinE initiative in 2022. The services platform, data lake, and digital twin engine have been launched in 2024. Focusing on weather-induced extremes and climate change adaptation, the first two digital twins also went through demo testing. Between now and 2030, additional digital twins will be integrated, culminating in DestinE's development as a full digital replica of the Earth.
***
The DestinE platform is co-funded by the European Union. The perspectives and opinions expressed in this press release are those of the contributing authors only, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them.
***
About Atos
Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with c. 92,000 employees and annual revenue of c. 10 billion. European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high-performance computing, the Group provides tailored end-to-end solutions for all industries in 69 countries. A pioneer in decarbonization services and products, Atos is committed to a secure and decarbonized digital for its clients. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea) and listed on Euronext Paris.
The purpose of Atosis to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space.
Press contact
Isabelle Grange | isabelle.grange@atos.net| Tel: +33 (0) 6 64 56 74 88
Attachment
Nextech3D.AI (the "Company") (OTCQB:NEXCF)(CSE:NTAR)(FSE:1SS) is pleased to announce that it has closed the first tranche of its previously announced private placement (the "Offering") pursuant to which it has issued an aggregate of 4,750,000 units ("Units") at a price of $0.10 per Unit, to raise aggregate gross proceeds of $475,000. The securities underlying the units issued on closing of the Offering will all be subject to a four-month statutory hold period commencing on the date of issuance.
Each Unit will be comprised of one common share of the Company (a "Share") and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"); with each whole Warrant exercisable to acquire one additional Share at a price of $0.15 for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance thereof, provided that if the daily volume weighted average trading price of the Shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange exceeds $0.30 for ten consecutive trading days, the Company may accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants to the date which is 30 days following the date upon which the Company provides notice of such acceleration to the holders of the Warrants.
The net proceeds from the Offering will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes. The Company will pay a cash finders fee of 8% to eligible registrants assisting in the the Offering, and issue 8% broker warrants ("Broker Warrants") to such registrants, with each Broker Warrant entitling the holder to acquire one Share at $0.15 for a period of 24 months.
The Offering remains subject to the receipt of all regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.
The net proceeds from the Offering will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes. The Company paid a finders fee of $5,600 to eligible registrants assisting in the first tranche of the Offering, and issued an aggregate of 56,000 broker warrants ("Broker Warrants") to such registrants, with each Broker Warrant entitling the holder to acquire one Share at $0.15 for a period of 36 months.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.
About Nextech3D.ai
The Company is a diversified augmented reality, AI technology company that leverages proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) to create 3D experiences for the metaverse. Its main businesses are creating 3D WebAR photorealistic models as a Amazon ECP for 3D models as well as many other online retailers. The Company develops or acquires what it believes are disruptive technologies and once commercialized, spins them out as stand-alone public companies issuing a stock dividend to shareholders while retaining a significant ownership stake in the public spin-out.
To learn more, please visit our website: https://www.nextechar.com .
For further information, please contact:
Nextech3D.AI
Evan Gappelberg
CEO and Director
866-ARITIZE (274-8493)
Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information
This news release includes certain statements and information that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements and forward-looking information specifically include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to the anticipated size and timing of Offering, insider participation in the Offering, and the receipt of all applicable approvals in connection therewith.
Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainty affecting the business of the Company. Such statements can generally, but not always, be identified by words such as "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "forecasts", "schedules", "prepares", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. All statements that describe the Company's plans relating to operations and potential strategic opportunities are forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. These statements address future events and conditions and are reliant on assumptions made by the Company's management, and so involve inherent risks and uncertainties, as disclosed in the Company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, and the assumptions underlying the forward-looking information, actual results could materially differ from those currently projected, and there is no representation by the Company that the actual results realized in the future will be the same in whole or in part as those presented herein. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements or information except as required by law. Readers are referred to the additional information regarding the Company's business contained in the Company's reports filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events, or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that could cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. For more information on the Company and the risks and challenges of its business, investors should review the Company's filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
The Company provides no assurance that forward-looking statements and information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company does not undertake to update any for-ward looking statements, other than as required by law.
SOURCE: Nextech3D.ai
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - EarthLabs Inc. (TSXV: SPOT) (OTCQX: SPOFF) (FSE: 8EK0) ("EarthLabs" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update to its global media portfolio featuring exciting developments from EarthLabs Expeditions, CEO.CA, MINING.COM, The Northern Miner and Canadian Mining Journal.
The Northern Miner Group ("TNM Group"): Celebrating Over a Century of Mining Excellence
Recognized as one of the mining industry's largest media outlets, The Northern Miner Group brands (The Northern Miner, MINING.COM & Canadian Mining Journal) are read by 674,000+ monthly users, recording 1,480,000+ monthly pageviews and 173,200+ digital subscribers. In addition to the news and media division, the group includes virtual and in-person events through TNM Symposiums as well as data products including TNM Marco Polo, a mining intelligence subscription platform and TNM Maps, distributed to an online audience of over 800,000+ as well as key mining events and trade shows throughout the year (PDAC, CIM, MinExpo).
Consistent Upward Trend in Digital Engagement
MINING.COM experienced a 92% increase in site traffic compared to August of the previous year.
NorthernMiner.com saw a 50% year-over-year growth in the same period.
The Northern Miner's International Metals Symposium will return to London this year on December 1st and 2nd. The event aims to bring together the industry's top leaders and showcase exploration opportunities to an international investment audience. To date, over 200 qualified delegates have registered to attend.
For more information and registration details, visit the International Metals Symposium website.
Launch of The Mining & Metals Brief
In mid-October, TNM Group will introduce its first cross-brand e-digest, The Mining & Metals Brief. This weekly publication is curated by the Editors-in-Chief of The Northern Miner, MINING.COM, and Canadian Mining Journal. Designed to equip readers with the most critical stories and data points, the brief ensures subscribers start their week fully informed about industry developments. Get a head start and sign up here.
Precious Metal Coin Giveaway Ends October 17
The Northern Miner's inaugural precious metal coin giveaway concludes on October 17. Three winners will be selected and announced on that date for a 1oz. Canadian Maple gold coin, a 10oz. Germania silver bar and a 1oz. Canadian Silver coin. Participants are encouraged to register before the contest closes to seize this opportunity. For contest details and registration, visit the official contest page.
We are proud to highlight The Northern Miner, the industry's most trusted source for global mining and mineral exploration news since 1915. With over a century of expertise, The Northern Miner delivers unparalleled journalism and insightful analysis.
Industry-First Documentary Series, EarthLabs Expeditions
In August, EarthLabs launched EarthLabs Expeditions, a bold new reality documentary series set to revolutionize how audiences experience the junior mining and exploration industry. EarthLabs Expeditions spotlights companies with significant discoveries, impactful projects, and compelling stories. Hosted by the charismatic and fearless Jonathan Brazeau, the show takes viewers on a journey that goes beyond boardrooms and polished presentations to explore the real, gritty work of the junior mining industry. EarthLabs Expeditions highlights not just the challenges but also the pride and dedication of those whose work is essential yet often goes unnoticed.
SUBSCRIBE & WATCH NEW EPISODES NOW
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Delivering Content to a Growing Audience
EarthLabs has significantly increased its digital footprint through its various media subsidiaries and new shows hosted on the CEO.CA platform like Inside the Boardroom, your premier source of in-depth, intimate interviews with the CEOs shaping the future of their industries, hosted by James Pettem. Mel on the Street, hard-hitting interviews with top CEOs and industry insiders with Melanie Schaffer, The Chairman's Briefing, a weekly briefing of junior mining headlines we're watching, and The Corner Office, hosted by Rachel Lee. These shows are broadcast directly on the CEO.CA platform alongside YouTube. The company's subsidiaries now deliver daily content to over 615,000 social media followers and reach millions of web users, enhancing engagement with a broader audience and reinforcing its position as an industry leader.
To maximize additional reach, EarthLabs recently acquired additional social media accounts in the Canadian and global finance sectors. As consideration for the social media accounts, the Company issued 243,902 common shares of EarthLabs at a deemed price of $0.205 per share, representing an aggregate value of $50,000. There are no finder's fees associated with the acquisition and the common shares are subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus one day, expiring on January 26, 2025.
Join Us on This Exciting Journey
EarthLabs is committed to innovating and expanding our offerings to better serve the mining and investment communities. We invite you to join us as we explore new horizons and continue to deliver exceptional value to our audience.
About EarthLabs Inc.
EarthLabs Inc. (TSXV: SPOT) (OTCQX: SPOFF) (FSE: 8EK0) is a mining investment, technology, and media company that aims to provide strategic leverage to the metals and mining sector through investments, royalties and a full suite of data-driven media SaaS tools and services including CEO.CA, The Northern Miner, MINING.COM, Canadian Mining Journal and DigiGeoData.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"), OTC Best Market "(OTCQX") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, these forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "estimate", "estimates", "estimated", "potential", "open", "future", "assumed", "projected", "used", "detailed", "has been", "gain", "upgraded", "offset", "limited", "contained", "reflecting", "containing", "remaining", "to be", "periodically", or statements that events, "could" or "should" occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations.
Forward-looking Statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with securities regulators and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedarplus.ca. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.
Forward-looking statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224493
SOURCE: EarthLabs Inc.
The Government of Canada awards funding to support installation of ground station
Leaf Space, a global leader in ground segment as-a-service (GSaaS) solutions, is proud to announce the signing of a new contract to install and operate a state-of-the-art ground station to be hosted at Spaceport Nova Scotia, Canada, a launch facility owned and operated by Maritime Launch Services (Cboe CA: MAXQ, OTCQB: MAXQF).
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240925834569/en/
This agreement represents a key step in Leaf Space's mission to expand its global network of ground stations and provide seamless connectivity to satellite operators around the world.
Maritime Launch is developing Spaceport Nova Scotia, Canada's first and only commercial spaceport located near Canso, Nova Scotia. The launch site will support multiple domestic and international launch vehicle operators, strengthening Spaceport Nova Scotia's position as a growing hub for commercial space launch operations in North America.
Jonata Puglia, CEO of Leaf Space, commented, "This 10-year partnership with Maritime Launch Services to host our new ground station at Spaceport Nova Scotia is a major milestone for Leaf Space. Leaf Space is committed to expanding our infrastructure to meet the increasing demand for reliable ground segment providers. Our GSaaS solution, combined with the strategic northern location of Spaceport Nova Scotia, will provide unparalleled connectivity for our satellite operators across the globe."
The ground station installation at Spaceport Nova Scotia will form part of Leaf Space's broader strategy to increase its global footprint offering global telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) and payload data downlink services. By partnering with Maritime Launch Services (MLS) in Canada, Leaf Space will be able to offer customers a prime geographic location for optimized satellite coverage, particularly for polar orbit and low Earth orbit (LEO) missions.
Stephen Matier, President and CEO of Maritime Launch Services, said, "We are excited to welcome Leaf Space to Spaceport Nova Scotia as they bring their advanced ground station technology to our site. This partnership enhances the services we offer to our clients and reinforces our commitment to creating a world-class facility that supports all aspects of space missions, from launch to operations."
The ground station is expected to be fully operational by Q1 2025, with installations beginning in the fall of 2024. Once completed, this facility will serve as a critical node in Leaf Space's rapidly expanding global network, offering satellite operators greater flexibility and improved access to data from space.
The Government of Canada, through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), is providing a $120,000 repayable contribution to Maritime Launch Services to prepare for the installation of specialized tracking and communications equipment at Spaceport Nova Scotia.
Mike Kelloway, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, and Member of Parliament for Cape Breton-Canso, on behalf of the Honourable Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for ACOA, said, "This is a thrilling time as we are on the cusp of a new space sector in Nova Scotia. It is no longer the final frontier, but rather an asset of growing importance as we look to innovate, grow the economy and strengthen our country's global competitiveness."
Matier added, "The Government of Canada continues to demonstrate its commitment to the growth of the commercial space sector with this support. This $120,000 contribution enables us to accelerate our preparations and ensures that we remain on track to meet key milestones. This support is invaluable in helping us build the infrastructure necessary to position Spaceport Nova Scotia as a leading hub for commercial space launch operations in North America."
Leaf Space currently operates 26 antennas in 17 locations. Leaf Space increases the network capacity without transferring the costs to the users. This ensures lower operational costs for startups and established operators alike.
About Leaf Space
Leaf Space operates a fully owned, globally distributed network of ground stations, empowering satellite operators to communicate with their spacecraft in the simplest and most flexible way. Leaf Space enables TT&C (Telemetry, Tracking, and Command) and payload data transmissions via an easy-to-use interface, a proprietary autonomous scheduling software, and its network's global coverage. Founded in 2014, Leaf Space has offices in Lomazzo (Italy) and in Delaware (US).
About Maritime Launch Services
Maritime Launch is a Canadian-owned commercial space company based in Nova Scotia. Maritime Launch is developing Spaceport Nova Scotia, a launch site that will provide satellite delivery services to clients in support of the growing commercial space transportation industry over the widest range of launch inclinations available anywhere in North America, from a single site. The development of this facility will serve the constellation market clients delivering global broadband, near earth imaging and other science related activities. This will be the first commercial orbital launch complex in Canada.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: the timing and number of launches from Spaceport Nova Scotia and supply of payloads, which may be impacted by financing, regulatory approvals and market conditions.
Forward-looking statements in this news release are based on certain assumptions and expected future events, namely: the Corporation's ability to continue as a going concern; the Corporation's ability to continue to develop revenue-generating applications; continued approval of the Corporation's activities by the relevant governmental and/or regulatory authorities; the continued growth of the Corporation; the Corporation's ability to finance its operations until profitability can be achieved and sustained. 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, including but not limited to: the potential inability of the Corporation to continue as a going concern; risks associated with potential governmental and/or regulatory action with respect to the Corporation's operations; the inability of the Corporation to provide the enumerated services; and availability of launch vehicles.
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 news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and reflect the Corporation's expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Corporation 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.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240925834569/en/
Contacts:
Leaf Space
Chaitanya Mandala, Product Marketer
chaitanya.mandala@leaf.space
+39 328 783 6087
Maritime Launch Services
Sarah McLean, VP Communications and Corporate Affairs
Sarah.mclean@maritimelaunch.com
902.402.6947
In a move to enhance fan experiences and introduce new dynamics in how the Danish esports leader engages with its global community, Astralis has entered into a strategic partnership with GoWish, the world's no. 1 app for wishlists and Social Shopping, and now official sponsor of Astralis, to bring gamers closer to their favorite Counter-Strike team players and make one lucky fan's wishes come true each month.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ahead of Blast Premier today on September 25, 2024 Astralis, the Danish leader in global esports, is excited to announce a major strategic partnership and sponsorship agreement with GoWish; the world's no. 1 app for wishlists and Social Shopping. The collaboration is designed to enhance Astralis' fan engagement by utilizing GoWish's innovative wishlist technology trusted by millions of users worldwide, allowing fans to publish their gift wishes and connect more closely with their favorite team players by e.g. co-creating and sharing wishlists featuring personal picks from the world of Counter-Strike, official Astralis merchandise, exclusive experiences and much more.
"Since day one, Astralis has been about pushing boundaries, and with our new strategic partnership with GoWish, we're thrilled to introduce alternative ways to inspire and reward our fans, making it also easier than ever to engage with the Astralis Main team on more personal levels. By incorporating GoWish's wishlist technology, we can offer more interactive experiences, making it easier for fans to stay connected with the Astralis family as well the wider esports community whom we hope will follow us into GoWish's wonderful world dedicated to 'fixing gifting' - a challenge we back 100%," says Mads Rasmussen, Commercial Director of Astralis.
Bridging generational gaps with the 'Creator Universe'
The strategic partnership aims to introduce gamers of all ages to a new and innovative solution to create wishlists, share inspiration and buy gifts & goods at the best prices online: Wish. Share. Compare - to make dreams come true and double gifting, unspent gift cards and returns a thing of the past. And to celebrate this, Astralis and GoWish will each month fulfill a wish from a selected fan's wishlist, provided it is merchandise from the official Astralis webshop, giving fans a unique opportunity to win their most desired Astralis gear, says GoWish's COO Morten Bjrn Mortensen:
"We are excited to partner with Astralis at a time when esports and gaming have become global phenomena, captivating the imagination of millions of people daily - just like GoWish. This collaboration enables us to engage directly with new generations of digitally-native fans while also helping parents connect with their teenagers' passions and wishes. Thus, we believe the Astralis partnership can bridge the generational gap in today's digital age and with our new Creator Universe we open up exciting opportunities to stage Astralis in a way that feels both natural and authentic to their global audience," ends Morten Bjrn Mortensen.
About GoWish
Founded in 2015 by the Danish national postal service PostNord as 'nskeskyen', Gowish is today an independent tech company trusted by millions of users worldwide in all generations, to fulfill hundreds of thousands of wishes every day and a total of more than 12 million wishlists. With almost 1 in 2 Danes being active users, GoWish is the market leader and category owner in Denmark - and a Social Shopping phenomena spreading quickly throughout the world with a mission of 'Fixing Gifting'.
About Astralis
Founded in 2016, Astralis has been one of the world's leading esports organizations since day one. With more than 80 employees, digital channels with millions of followers, live streaming of all the organization matches on its broadcast channel, a large retail and gaming centre in the heart of Copenhagen and fans all over the globe, the Astralis brand is a true powerhouse in international esports and gaming. Combined with a record-breaking four Major wins, 24 international trophies, and the longest streak as number one on the world rankings, Astralis is not only dominant as a brand but also as the best-performing team in Counter-Strike history.
For further inquiries, please contact:
Astralis Media Relations:
Email: mara@astralis.gg
Phone: +45 2681 1558
GoWish Media Relations:
Email: press@gowish.com
Phone: +45 31356352
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
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https://mb.cision.com/Public/14178/4042576/aba1e7507694ee0e_org.jpg GoWish x Astralis
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/astralis-and-gowish-announce-strategic-partnership-ahead-of-blast-premier--to-make-fans-wishes-come-true-302258479.html
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Renegade Gold Inc. (TSXV: RAGE) (OTCQX: TGLDF) (FSE: 0702) ("Renegade" or the "Company") is pleased to report further results from the second phase of drilling at its advanced Newman Todd Deposit, which continues to support the Company's new geological model and exploration strategy (Table 1). Hole NT-24-019 intersected 14.0 g/t Au over 7.3 m including 28.3 g/t Au over 3.5 m at 200 m below surface. Drilling has successfully increased mineralization at depth by an additional 500 m, confirming the deposit extends down from surface to just over 800 m to date.
Highlights
High-Grade Gold Intersections at Key Location: Drilling has confirmed high-grade gold mineralization at the intersection of the Hinge Fault and the Newman Todd deposit. Hole NT-24-019 intersected 14.0 g/t Au over 7.3 m including 28.3 g/t Au over 3.5 m at 200 m below surface (Figures 1 and 2). Hinge is one of multiple faults that intersects the Newman Todd deposit and was the primary focus for phase two drilling.
Further Confirmation of the New High-Grade Geological Model: The strength of mineralization in hole NT-24-019, together with other recently announced high-grade holes (see Renegade news release dated September 12, 2024) provides strong confirmation of Renegade's updated geological model. The model indicates major potential for new, high-grade zones within the Newman Todd deposit, located where faults intersect the 2.2 km long Newman Todd strike.
Ongoing Drilling Strategy: Future drilling efforts will focus on areas down plunge from the intersection of the Hinge Fault and Newman Todd Zone. Targets will also include previously undrilled areas, as well as new zones of mineralization within the hanging wall and foot wall of the Newman Todd structure.
Nav Dhaliwal, President and CEO for Renegade, commented, "These new results are further confirmation that the mineralized system Newman Todd is far larger, and much higher grade, than was previously understood. The new model of mineralization developed by our team earlier this year has resulted in superb drill targeting - extending the deposit in width and depth, and now returning some of the strongest grades drilled on the property to date."
Figure 1. Plan map of the Newman Todd Project showing latest drill results with modelled gold mineralization projected to surface.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
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Figure 2. Cross section A-A' at the Newman Todd Project looking east, showing recent step out drilling extending width of mineralization and at depth (NT-24-019).
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Table 1. Newman Todd Drill Result Highlights
Hole ID Hole Length (m) Azimuth (deg.) Dip (deg.) From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au (g/t) NT-24-019 453.0 25 -50 343.4 350.7 7.3 14.0 inc.
346.0 349.5 3.5 28.3
Hole NT-24-020 encountered a fault and experienced significant core loss at the target depth, resulting in unrepresentative gold mineralization results for this hole.
About Newman Todd
The 100% owned Newman Todd deposit can be located approximately 26 km west of Evolution's mining operations, just 1 km south of West Red Lake's Mount Jamie advanced deposit. The Newman Todd Zone (NTZ) is the dominant host for gold mineralization on the property and is interpreted to span across the property boundary, over 2 km. The NTZ structure varies in width from 60 to 160 m and is open to depth throughout and is host to multiple styles of mineralization, including multiple breccia vein systems and late high-grade quartz veining, often associated with visible gold.
Recent drilling has given strong confidence that the Newman Todd structure and associated HG gold structures continue beyond a depth of 700 m, beyond double of the previous drill horizon. Increased intercepts of gold mineralization in the HW of the NTZ support that gold mineralization is more widespread than historically thought.
QA/QC
Drill core is logged and sampled at a secure core processing facility in Red Lake, Ontario. Core samples from the drill program are cut in half using a diamond cutting saw with half sent for assay at SGS Laboratories Ltd. in Red Lake, Ontario. The other half is secured and retained at a secure storage facility. All samples are analyzed for gold using standard Fire Assay-AA techniques. Samples returning greater than 10.0 g/t gold are analyzed utilizing standard Fire Assay-Gravimetric methods. In addition to SGS internal QAQC procedures, certified reference materials, blanks and duplicates are routinely inserted into the sample stream as part of Renegades quality control/quality assurance program. Results are monitored regularly for contamination and accuracy.
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dale Ginn, P.Geo., the Executive Chair and director of the Company and a Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101.
About Renegade Gold Inc.
Renegade Gold Inc. is a growth focused company engaged in the business of acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties located in the Red Lake Mining District of Northern Ontario. As part of its regional-scale consolidation strategy, the Company has assembled one of the largest prospective land packages in and around the Red Lake mining district in proximity to major mines and deposits, as well as along the Confederation Lake and Birch-Uchi greenstone belts. The recent completion of the acquisition of Pacton Gold Inc. extends the Company's ownership in Red Lake to over 89,600 hectares of prospective and diversified exploration properties with significant potential for gold and critical minerals on trend with the major structures hosting known gold occurrences in the Red Lake mining district today.
For further information, please contact:
Renegade Gold Inc.
Nav Dhaliwal
President, CEO and Director
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "anticipate," "significant," "expect," "may," "will" and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify Forward-Looking Information. Forward-Looking Information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking information. In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in this press release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, assumptions that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner; that all requisite approvals will be received, and all requisite information will be available in a timely manner. Factors that may cause actual results to vary materially include, but are not limited to, inaccurate assumptions concerning the exploration for and development of mineral deposits, currency fluctuations, unanticipated operational or technical difficulties, risks related to unforeseen delays; general economic, market or business conditions, regulatory changes, timeliness of regulatory approvals, the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits, changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets and the inability to raise additional financing. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this Forward-Looking Information. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update this Forward-Looking Information after the date of this release or to revise such information to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224444
SOURCE: Renegade Gold Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Prospector Metals Corp. (TSXV: PPP) (OTCQB: PMCOF) (FSE: 1ET) ("Prospector" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update for the Devon Ni-Cu Project in NW Ontario. While Prospector is primarily focused on the ML project in the Yukon, the Devon Ni-Cu Property remains a robust pipeline project that adds significant value and exposure to additional value streams.
The Company has been approved by the Ontario Junior Exploration Program (OJEP) to receive a $200,000 grant to help fund exploration activities within the province of Ontario. The OJEP grant, a provincial program aimed at incentivizing exploration in the critical-minerals sector, supports the discovery and development of mineral resources vital to the global green transition by providing grants that cover 50% of eligible exploration expenditures. To date, Prospector has incurred approximately $250,000 in eligible expenditures (completed property-wide VTEM geophysical survey) and will incur an additional $150,000 in fully funded expenditures on prospecting and ground truthing of the resulting geophysical anomalies. A 2-week field program to test the geophysical targets has commenced and results will be announced when available.
"Our Ontario nickel and gold projects offer Prospector investors year-round access to exploration results in a Tier 1 political jurisdiction and our results to date at the road accessible Devon Ni-Cu Project justify detailed ground investigation of priority geophysical targets followed by initial drilling in early 2025. These funds are greatly appreciated and will be used directly in the ground."
Devon Nickel Project Highlights
The Devon Project lies on the Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift system (MSR) which hosts a diverse suite of magmatic and hydrothermal mineral deposits in the Lake Superior region where rift rocks are exposed at or near the surface. Historically, hydrothermal deposits, such as Michigan's native copper deposits and the White Pine sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposit, were major MRS metal producers.
The Devon Project comprises 12,200 hectares acquired through staking, 50km SW of Thunder Bay Ontario, and is road accessible (Figure 1) and is intruded by numerous mafic-ultramafic intrusives (Crystal Lake Gabbro, Pigeon River and Logan intrusives), mostly dyke-form intrusions, which can contain disseminated to locally massive magmatic Ni-Cu sulfides with PGEs. The dykes are emplaced along normal faults which provide ideal conduits for deep seated fertile mafic magmas to rise quickly through the crust without losing their chalcophile elements or PGEs.
Significant portions of the area remain underexplored despite its favourable setting and ease of access. Most of the historic work in the west was focussed on vein and breccia hosted silver mineralization
A VTEM TM Plus survey covering approximately 1500 line km's over three blocks, at a line spacing for 150m was completed during the summer 2024. The VTEM TM Plus survey is excellent for locating discrete conductive anomalies as well as mapping lateral and vertical variations in resistivity, both of which are critical in identifying covered sulphide bearing targets at the Devon Project.
Plus survey covering approximately 1500 line km's over three blocks, at a line spacing for 150m was completed during the summer 2024. The VTEM Plus survey is excellent for locating discrete conductive anomalies as well as mapping lateral and vertical variations in resistivity, both of which are critical in identifying covered sulphide bearing targets at the Devon Project. Recent field work completed by Prospector returned samples with up to 1.125 % Cu, 0.53 % Ni, and 3.54 g/t Pd+Pt, and 0.123 % Co.
At the Copper Hill Occurrence, angular boulders returned assays of up to 1.125 % Cu, 0.4 % Ni, and 2.35 g/t Au+Pd+Pt and 1.015 % Cu, 0.298 % Ni, and 3.81 g/t Au+Pd+Pt. Over a dozen similarly mineralized angular blocks were noted within an area several hundred metres in extent, ranging from 15 cm cobbles up to several angular boulders greater than 1 m in diameter.
Multiple occurrences along the Pigeon River dykes were identified in outcrop returned assays of up to 0.73 % Cu, 0.53% Ni, 0.114 % Co, and 0.22 g/t Au+Pd+Pt, 0.64 % Cu, 0.437 % Ni, and 0.267 g/t Au+Pd+Pt, and 0.47% Cu, 0.097 % Ni, and 0.404 g/t Au+Pd+Pt.
Target deposits are analogous to Eagle & Eagle East, MI, USA Tamarack, MN, USA, and Voisey's Bay Reed Brook Zone, NL (massive to net textured high-grade Ni-Cu-PGE deposits) or Current Lake, Ontario (PGE-dominant, heavily disseminated magmatic sulfides).
Figure 1. Geology and 2023 Sampling Results, Devon Project, Ontario
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Qualified Person
The technical content disclosed in this press release was reviewed and approved by Jo Price, P.Geo. VP Exploration for Prospector Metals and a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument NI 43-101 ("NI 43-101").
About Prospector Metals Corp.
Prospector Metals Corp. is a proud member of the Discovery Group. The Company is focused on district scale, early-stage exploration of gold and base metal prospects. Creating shareholder value through new discoveries, the Company identifies underexplored or overlooked mineral districts displaying important structural and mineralogical occurrences similar to more established mining operations. The majority of acquisition activity occurs in Yukon and Ontario, Canada - Tier-1 mining jurisdictions with an abundance of overlooked geological regions possessing high mineral potential. Prospector establishes and maintains relationships with local and Indigenous rightsholders and seeks to develop partnerships and agreements that are mutually beneficial to all stakeholders.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Prospector Metals Corp.
Dr. Rob Carpenter, Ph.D., P.Geo.
President & CEO
Forward-Looking Statement Cautions:
This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the Company's plans with respect to the Company's projects and the timing related thereto, the merits of the Company's projects, the Company's objectives, plans and strategies, and other project opportunities. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective,", "strategy", "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the risk of accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, or the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other agency or governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans and risks of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes in the jurisdictions where the Company carries on its business that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR+) at www.sedarplus.ca for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects.
Neither the 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/224445
SOURCE: Prospector Metals Corp.
TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Reported quarterly adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.37
Total assets under management and fee-earning assets of $49.7 billion
Declared quarterly dividend per share of 11.5 cents
AGF Management Limited (AGF or the Company) (TSX: AGF.B) today announced financial results for the third quarter ended August 31, 2024.
AGF reported total assets under management and fee-earning assets1 of $49.7 billion compared to $47.8 billion as at May 31, 2024 and $42.3 billion as at August 31, 2023.
"Amid an uncertain economic backdrop and significant market volatility, we are pleased to see early signs of improvement with positive retail net flows complementing our solid investment performance," said Kevin McCreadie, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, AGF. "This improvement can be attributed to our long-term strategic plan which diversifies our business across asset classes and client channels ensuring we thrive through changing market cycles."
AGF's mutual fund gross sales were $1,012 million for the quarter compared to $934 million in the previous quarter and $633 million in the prior year quarter. Mutual fund net sales were $14 million compared to net redemptions of $112 million in the previous quarter and net redemptions of $151 million in the prior year quarter.
"Given the current market environment and industry trends, we are pleased with the trajectory of our sales strategy," said Judy Goldring, President and Head of Global Distribution, AGF. "Heading into the final months of 2024, we remain focused on diversifying our capabilities and offerings through a vehicle agnostic approach that meets the evolving needs of our clients."
_________________
1 Fee-earning assets represents assets in which AGF has carried interest ownership and earns recurring fees but does not have ownership interest in the managers
Key Business and Financial Highlights:
AGF International Advisors Company Limited, a subsidiary of AGF, was once again accepted as a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code, a best-practice benchmark in investment stewardship.
AGF Management Limited partnered with Archer Holdco, LLC - a leading technology-enabled service provider to the investment management industry - to help further grow its Separately Managed Accounts (SMA) model business through additional product offerings and investment strategies.
AGF SAF Private Credit LP was named a Top Contender for a 2024 Canadian Hedge Fund Award Fund.
Adjusted EBITDA 2 for the three months ended August 31, 2024, was $40.2 million, compared to $37.0 million for the three months ended May 31, 2024 and $33.7 million in the prior year comparative period.
for the three months ended August 31, 2024, was $40.2 million, compared to $37.0 million for the three months ended May 31, 2024 and $33.7 million in the prior year comparative period. Net management, advisory and administration fees 2 were $78.7 million for the three months ended August 31, 2024, compared to $81.2 million for the three months ended May 31, 2024 and $73.8 million for the comparative prior year period.
were $78.7 million for the three months ended August 31, 2024, compared to $81.2 million for the three months ended May 31, 2024 and $73.8 million for the comparative prior year period. Adjusted revenue from AGF Capital Partners for the three months ended August 31, 2024, was $18.5 million, compared to $12.0 million for the three months ended May 31, 2024 and $7.3 million for the comparative prior year period. The increase quarter over quarter and year over year were driven by higher fair value adjustments and distribution income and the consolidation of a full quarter of KCPL financial results. Revenue from AGF Capital Partners can be variable quarter to quarter and can be impacted by fair value adjustments, timing of monetizations and cash distributions as well as performance fees and carried interest.
Adjusted selling, general and administrative costs 2 were $59.6 million for the three months ended August 31, 2024, compared to $60.0 million for the three months ended May 31, 2024 and $50.3 million for the comparative prior year period.
were $59.6 million for the three months ended August 31, 2024, compared to $60.0 million for the three months ended May 31, 2024 and $50.3 million for the comparative prior year period. Adjusted net income attributable to equity owners was $24.5 million ($0.37 adjusted diluted EPS) for the three months ended August 31, 2024, compared to $23.6 million ($0.35 adjusted diluted EPS) for the three months ended May 31, 2024 and $22.9 million ($0.34 adjusted diluted EPS) for the comparative prior year period.
Three months ended Nine months ended August 31, May 31, August 31, August 31, August 31, (in millions of Canadian dollars, except per share data) 2024 2024 2023 2024 2023 Revenues Management, advisory and administration fees $ 114.4 $ 116.4 $ 107.4 $ 339.4 $ 324.0 Trailing commissions and investment advisory fees (35.7 ) (35.2 ) (33.6 ) (104.6 ) (101.5 ) Net management, advisory and administration fees2 $ 78.7 $ 81.2 $ 73.8 $ 234.8 $ 222.5 Deferred sales charges 1.4 1.9 1.8 5.3 5.7 Adjusted revenue from AGF Capital Partners2 18.5 12.0 7.3 54.7 29.4 Other revenue2 1.2 1.9 1.1 5.1 2.4 Total adjusted net revenue2 99.8 97.0 84.0 299.9 260.0 Selling, general and administrative 66.3 68.2 50.2 192.3 156.2 Adjusted selling, general and administrative2 59.6 60.0 50.3 173.1 155.0 EBITDA2 33.0 26.6 33.8 104.8 103.8 Adjusted EBITDA2 40.2 37.0 33.7 126.8 105.0 Net income - equity owners of the Company 20.3 18.1 23.0 68.9 70.9 Adjusted net income - equity owners of the Company 24.5 23.6 22.9 81.8 71.9 Diluted earnings per share 0.30 0.27 0.34 1.03 1.05 Adjusted diluted earnings per share 0.37 0.35 0.34 1.23 1.07 Free cash flow2 29.1 23.7 22.9 73.9 62.8 Dividends per share 0.115 0.115 0.110 0.340 0.320
(end of period) Three months ended Aug. 31, May 31, Feb. 28, Nov. 30, Aug. 31, (in millions of Canadian dollars) 2024 2024 2024 2023 2023 Mutual fund assets under management (AUM)3 $ 28,104 $ 26,961 $ 26,186 $ 24,459 $ 24,377 ETFs and SMA AUM 2,128 1,800 1,676 1,465 1,332 Segregated accounts and sub-advisory AUM 6,430 6,313 7,162 6,774 7,058 Total AGF Investments AUM 36,662 35,074 35,024 32,698 32,767 AGF Private Wealth AUM 8,186 8,026 7,836 7,341 7,360 AGF Capital Partners AUM 2,774 2,663 48 46 42 Total AUM $ 47,622 $ 45,763 $ 42,908 $ 40,085 $ 40,169 AGF Capital Partners fee-earning assets4 2,080 2,081 2,104 2,095 2,090 Total AUM and fee-earning assets4 $ 49,702 $ 47,844 $ 45,012 $ 42,180 $ 42,259 Net mutual fund sales (redemptions)3 14 (112 ) (125 ) (224 ) (151 ) Average daily mutual fund AUM3 27,542 26,604 25,197 23,840 24,168
2 Net management, advisory and administration fees, adjusted revenue from AGF Capital Partners, total net revenue, adjusted selling, general and administrative, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow are not standardized measures prescribed by IFRS. The Company utilizes non-IFRS measures to assess our overall performance and facilitate a comparison of quarterly and full-year results from period to period. They allow us to assess our investment management business without the impact of non-operational items. These non-IFRS measures may not be comparable with similar measures presented by other companies. These non-IFRS measures and reconciliations to IFRS, where necessary, are included in the Management's Discussion and Analysis available at www.agf.com.
3 Mutual fund AUM includes retail AUM and institutional client AUM invested in customized series offered within mutual funds.
4 Fee-earning assets represents assets in which AGF has carried interest ownership and earns recurring fees but does not have ownership interest in the managers.
For further information and detailed financial statements for the third quarter ended August 31, 2024, including Management's Discussion and Analysis, which contains discussions of non-IFRS measures, please refer to AGF's website at www.agf.comunder 'About AGF' and 'Investor Relations' and at www.sedarplus.com.
Conference Call
AGF will host a conference call to review its earnings results today at 11 a.m. ET.
The live audio webcast with supporting materials will be available in the Investor Relations section of AGF's website at www.agf.comor at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/fwjgan3c/. Alternatively, the call can be accessed over the phone by registering hereor in the Investor Relations section of AGF's website at www.agf.com, to receive the dial-in numbers and unique PIN.
A complete archive of this discussion along with supporting materials will be available at the same webcast address within 24 hours of the end of the conference call.
About AGF Management Limited
Founded in 1957, AGF Management Limited (AGF) is an independent and globally diverse asset management firm. Our companies deliver excellence in investing in the public and private markets through three business lines: AGF Investments, AGF Capital Partners and AGF Private Wealth.
AGF brings a disciplined approach, focused on incorporating sound, responsible and sustainable corporate practices. The firm's collective investment expertise, driven by its fundamental, quantitative and private investing capabilities, extends globally to a wide range of clients, from financial advisors and their clients to high-net worth and institutional investors including pension plans, corporate plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations.
Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, AGF has investment operations and client servicing teams on the ground in North America and Europe. With nearly $50 billion in total assets under management and fee-earning assets, AGF serves more than 800,000 investors. AGF trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol AGF.B.
AGF Management Limited shareholders, analysts and media, please contact:
Ken Tsang
Chief Financial Officer
416-865-4338, InvestorRelations@agf.com
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements about the Company, including its business operations, strategy and expected financial performance and condition. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or include words such as 'expects,' 'estimates,' 'anticipates,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes' or negative versions thereof and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as 'may,' 'will,' 'should,' 'would' and 'could.' In addition, any statement that may be made concerning future financial performance (including income, revenues, earnings or growth rates), ongoing business strategies or prospects, fund performance, and possible future action on our part, is also a forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are based on certain factors and assumptions, including expected growth, results of operations, business prospects, business performance and opportunities. While we consider these factors and assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events and are inherently subject to, among other things, risks, uncertainties and assumptions about our operations, economic factors and the financial services industry generally. They are not guarantees of future performance, and actual events and results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements made by us due to, but not limited to, important risk factors such as level of assets under our management, volume of sales and redemptions of our investment products, performance of our investment funds and of our investment managers and advisors, client-driven asset allocation decisions, pipeline, competitive fee levels for investment management products and administration, and competitive dealer compensation levels and cost efficiency in our investment management operations, as well as general economic, political and market factors in North America and internationally, interest and foreign exchange rates, global equity and capital markets, business competition, taxation, changes in government regulations, unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings, technological changes, cybersecurity, the possible effects of war or terrorist activities, outbreaks of disease or illness that affect local, national or international economies, natural disasters and disruptions to public infrastructure, such as transportation, communications, power or water supply or other catastrophic events, and our ability to complete strategic transactions and integrate acquisitions, and attract and retain key personnel. We caution that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. The reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors carefully and not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Other than specifically required by applicable laws, we are under no obligation (and expressly disclaim any such obligation) to update or alter the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For a more complete discussion of the risk factors that may impact actual results, please refer to the 'Risk Factors and Management of Risk' section of the 2023 Annual MD&A.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. hosts Real Leather. Stay Different. final at Embassy celebrating the future of sustainable leather design
LONDON, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Josslyn Shi, from California College of Art, was named overall winner of the Real Leather. Stay Different. (RLSD) International Student Design Competition final held at the U.S. Embassy in London (23 September 2024).
Josslyn, 21, was selected from four category winners who presented their designs to a judging panel including Christopher Koerber (HUGO BOSS), Anna Melegh (Christian Louboutin), Adrien Yakimov Roberts, Mike Adler and Matteo Mastrotto (CEO, Rino Mastrotto).
Ambassador Jane D. Hartley said: "It was a pleasure to host this event showcasing what an ancient material like leather can do in the hands of talented and creative designers. As a firm believer in slow and sustainable fashion, I believe it's essential we use - and reuse - materials like real leather that help reduce our waste and support vital industries. My thanks to all who made it possible, and congratulations again to our winners."
Kerry Brozyna, President, Leather & Hide Council of America, commented: "Real Leather. Stay Different. celebrates the next generation of design talent. It underscores the importance of using natural materials, such as leather, which is not only a by-product but also a sustainable, durable and versatile. These young designers show the way forward by focusing on sustainable solutions that stand the test of time."
Christopher Koerber added: "The talent on show has been outstanding. Real Leather. Stay Different. plays an important role in showcasing and elevating young designers who are embracing leather as a material to create innovative designs, to global audience."
Developed by Leather & Hide Council of America, the RLSD Student Design Competition celebrates young designers using leather as a natural alternative to fast fashion. Participants were encouraged to use natural materials to create a bespoke leather item using 50% or more cattle-hide leather that falls into one of three categories: apparel, footwear or accessory.
The winner's design, along with those of the category winners Mor Elfassy, Roscha Dinler and Bingbing Bai joins a capsule collection that highlights the importance of natural materials and sustainable design. Finalists have gone on to work for top design brands including Loewe, Dior, Oscar de la Renta and Louboutin.
https://chooserealleather.com
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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/josslyn-shi-from-usa-wins-2024-international-student-design-competition-302258506.html
New World Solutions Inc. (CSE:NEWS)(OTC PINK:REGRF)(FSE:RT5) ("New World" or the "Company") announces that its majority-owned dialMKT Corp.("dialMKT") subsidiary has launched an updated version of its website at www.WatchReporter.com. The site is an integrated part of the company's content strategy and media platform including social media, serving the global watch enthusiast market.
dialMKT's global watch enthusiast community is 18,000 across Instagram, YouTube, WatchReporter.com, and e-mail newsletter subscribers
WatchReporter.com is written by watch enthusiasts - for watch enthusiasts and features the latest relevant articles, and videos on: watch auction news, collector interviews, watch reviews, and a growing database on buyer guides on vintage and modern watches.
dialMKT CEO and New World Chairman Jack Marks commented "dialMKT has a fast-growing online community of almost +18,000 users across its website and social media channels, including, YouTube, Instagram, and a growing e-mail newsletter. From our interactions with our community, we know many of these enthusiasts have watch collections worth $50,000 to $1 million. Our business model anticipates that a significant number of our community members will turn into customers on our e-commerce platform to buy, sell and trade their collections in the months ahead"
dialMKT's e-commerce platform is expected to launch in the next 30 days and be integrated into WatchReporter.com to align with the upcoming fourth-quarter end-of-the-year Holiday sales season.
Current top content on www.WatchReporter.com includes:
Collector Interviews:
Collector Interview: From Casio G-Shock to Richard Mille, Audemars Piguet (of course ROLEX)
RARE & WILD: Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron! Super Collector Roni Madhvani Talks VINTAGE
"Bruce Lee" Hong Kong Super Collector Discusses his $3 Million Collection
For these articles and more content, please visit www.WatchReporter.com
Auction News:
FutureGrail's Patek Philippe Singapore Auction and Discussion with Arnaud Tellier (former Patek Philippe Museum Director & Top Patek Expert.)
For these articles and more content, please visit www.WatchReporter.com
Watch Knowledge Base & Horological History
Secret History of Rolex GMT: How Chuck Yaeger Helped Make it the TOP GUN of Pilot Watches
King of Hollywood Michael Ovitz & Patek Philippe
Cartier Crash: Everything You Wanted To Know But Were Afraid to Ask.
Is Franck Muller the Next Vintage Hype Watch?
For these articles and more content, please visit www.WatchReporter.com
Collection Reviews:
CIA & SEAL Shawn Ryan Watch Collection Review: Rolex & Breitling
Shah of Iran Watch Collection Review: Patek Philippe, Rolex, Audemars Piguet
For these articles and more content, please visit www.WatchReporter.com
About dialMKT
dialMKT is addressing the digital transformation of the multi-billion dollar global wristwatch enthusiast market by developing a blockchain-powered digital ecosystem that integrates content, e-commerce, and community. The WatchReporter.com site will serve as an integral part of the three pillar content/commerce/community growth strategy.
The global pre-owned watch market is expected to reach $29-32 billion by 2025, according to a recent report from McKinsey & Co.
Source: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion
Rolex (), Patek Philippe (), Audemars Piguet (), Cartier () Frank Muller () and Richard Mille () are licensed trademarks of their respective owners. The company is not an authorized dealer or has any commercial relationship with these brands.
About New World
New World Solutions is an innovative technology company, driving innovative solutions to new world problems. Through our blockchain and technology experience, we are leveraging solutions in the decentralized finance space as well as the electric vehicle area. We look to acquire and launch a balanced spectrum of solutions to become a leader in this dynamic tech landscape.
For additional information on New World and other corporate information, please visit the company website at https://www.newworldinc.io/.
For further information, please contact:
Paul Haber, C.P.A., C.A., C.Dir
Chief Executive Officer
New World Solutions Inc.
Phone: (416) 318- 6501
Email: phaber@newworldinc.io
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking statements.
Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". Forward-looking information in this news release are 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, including but not limited to: the potential inability of the Company to continue as a going concern; the risks associated with the blockchain in general, the risk that the Transaction will not be completed as contemplated or at all. 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 news 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.
The Canadian Stock Exchange (the "CSE") does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this 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.
SOURCE: New World Solutions Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Myriad Uranium Corp. (CSE: M) (OTCQB: MYRUF) (FSE: C3Q) ("Myriad" or the "Company") announces that it has commenced its inaugural exploration drill program at the Copper Mountain Uranium Project, in Wyoming, USA. Myriad Uranium holds a 75% earnable interest in the Copper Mountain Uranium Project which saw C$117m (2024$) in exploration and development expenditures by Union Pacific during the 1970s.
Harris Exploration Drilling Co. Ltd. of Fallon, Nevada is contracted to conduct the drilling using two diamond drills and one reverse circulation drill. DGI Geoscience US Inc. is on-site to survey the holes as they are completed with Spectral Gamma Ray and Acoustic and Optical Televiewer.
Thomas Lamb, Myriad's CEO, commented: "Myriad Uranium has completed the first borehole of the Company's 2024 campaign and it is being surveyed as I write this. I would like to thank our lead geologist George van der Walt for his excellent work to-date. I would also like to thank our technical advisors Jim Davis and Doug Christopherson for their invaluable input. Mr. Davis was Union Pacific's exploration manager at Copper Mountain during the late 1970s."
A September 23, 2024 news release which contains detailed technical and historical information can be viewed here. Photos and videos of the drilling will from time to time be posted at our Twitter account here.
About Myriad Uranium Corp.
Myriad Uranium Corp. is a uranium exploration company with an earnable 75% interest in the Copper Mountain Uranium Project in Wyoming, USA. Copper Mountain hosts several known uranium deposits and historic uranium mines, including the Arrowhead Mine which produced 500,000 lbs of eU3O8. Copper Mountain saw extensive drilling and development by Union Pacific, which developed a mine plan and built a leach pad for one of the deposits at Copper Mountain. Operations ceased in 1980 before mining could commence due to falling uranium prices. Approximately 2,000 boreholes have been drilled at Copper Mountain and the project area has significant exploration upside. Union Pacific is estimated to have spent C$117 million (2024 dollars) exploring and developing Copper Mountain, generating significant historical resource estimates which are detailed here. The Company's presentation can be viewed here. A recent interview with Crux Investor can be viewed here.
Myriad also has a 50% interest in the Millen Mountain Property in Nova Scotia, Canada, with the other 50% held by Probe Metals Inc., For further information, please refer to Myriad's disclosure record on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), contact Myriad by telephone at +1.604.418.2877, or refer to Myriad's website at www.myriaduranium.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking information" that is based on the Company's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections. This forward-looking information includes, among other things, the Company's business, plans, outlook and business strategy. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "likely", "expect," "anticipate," "intend", "estimate", "plan", "forecast", "project" and "believe" or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect, including with respect to the Company's business plans respecting the exploration and development of the Company's mineral properties, the proposed work program on the Company's mineral properties and the potential and economic viability of the Company's mineral properties. Forward-Looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: changes in economic conditions or financial markets; increases in costs; litigation; legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; and technological or operational difficulties. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect our forward-looking information. These and other factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking information. The Company does not intend, and expressly 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 law.
The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224500
SOURCE: Myriad Uranium Corp.
EQS Newswire / 25/09/2024 / 13:45 CET/CEST
HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 25 September 2024 - Hong Kong's vibrant economy and strategic location offer boundless opportunities for European firms. Starting in Spain, a delegation led by Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Paul Chan, is visiting Madrid (September 22-25, 2024) and London (September 25-28, 2024) to promote Hong Kong's advantages, in particular the city's burgeoning innovation and technology ecosystem.
In a keynote speech to Spanish business, financial, I&T leaders during a business luncheon, Mr Chan pointed out that with the singular advantages under the "one country, two systems" principle, Hong Kong was solidifying its role as a "super-connector" linking Mainland China to the rest of the world. Mr Chan welcomed Spanish enterprises to use Hong Kong as a springboard to tap into the vast markets of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Mainland China and broader Asia.
Hong Kong's vibrant economy and strategic location continue to make it a leading business centre, fostering innovation and connecting international markets.
"We are the only jurisdiction in China practising the common law system, our judiciary exercising its powers independently. Information, capital, goods and people flow freely in and out of our city. Our taxes are low and simple, with a currency pegged to the US dollar. Our regulatory systems and professional services align with the best international standards," Mr Chan said.
Highlighting Hong Kong's full spectrum of fund-raising and financial services, Mr Chan also pointed out that Hong Kong was a leader in green finance in Asia with its green standards compatible with those of the European Union. At the same time, Hong Kong's burgeoning I&T ecosystem can collaborate with Spain's tech ecosystem across key sectors such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, fintech and new energy and new materials.
Hong Kong's Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan (right), joins a dialogue session with Professor Pedro Nueno of the Business School of IE University of Spain.
The Hong Kong delegation engaged with relevant institutions and members of Spanish venture capital funds and I&T circles to seek co-operation opportunities. With the fruitful results in Madrid, Mr Chan's next stop is London.
Hashtag: hongkong brandhongkong asiasworldcity spain madrid delegation collaboration business partnering
News Source: Information Services Department
25/09/2024 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
Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American and TASE: LCTX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing allogeneic cell therapies for unmet medical needs, today announced that Brian M. Culley, Lineage's Chief Executive Officer, will be presenting at the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 2024 Copenhagen International Symposium, PSC-Derived Cell Therapies: Clinical Advances, NextGen Technologies, and the Path to Success. Mr. Culley has been invited to participate as part of a panel entitled "Clinical Trial Updates: PSC-Derived Therapies of the Eye," on Wednesday, October 2nd, 2024, from 10:30 am to 12 pm CEST. The panel is being chaired by Kapil Bharti, Ph.D., Senior Investigator and Scientific Director, Ocular and Stem Cell Translational Research Section at the National Eye Institute (NEI), and will also feature executive presenters from Vision Care and Regenerative Patch Technologies, Inc. The 2024 Copenhagen International Symposium will take place October 2 4, 2024 at The Black Diamond, Royal Danish Library, Copenhagen, Denmark, and is being presented by the ISSCR in partnership with Novo Nordisk.
RG6501 (OpRegen) is a suspension of human allogeneic retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells currently in development for the treatment of GA secondary to AMD. OpRegen subretinal delivery has the potential to counteract RPE cell loss in areas of GA lesions by supporting retinal cell health and improving retinal structure and function. It is being developed under an exclusive worldwide collaboration between Lineage, Roche, and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, and is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2a clinical study in patients with GA secondary to AMD (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05626114).
The 2024 Copenhagen International Symposium presentation, "OpRegen: A Suspension Of Allogeneic Retinal Pigment Epithelial (RPE) Cells In Patients With Geographic Atrophy (GA) Secondary To Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)," will be available on the Events and Presentations section of Lineage's website, following the conclusion of the ISSCR panel presentation.
About The 2024 Copenhagen International Symposium: PSC-Derived Cell Therapies: Clinical Advances, NextGen Technologies, and the Path to Success
Pluripotent stem cell-derived cell therapies are accelerating rapidly into clinical trials. The ISSCR, in partnership with Novo Nordisk, is pleased to invite attendees to Copenhagen, Denmark in October 2024 for an event that will gather pioneers at the forefront of ESC and iPSC-derived cell therapies. Here, world-renowned scientists and innovators will share the latest updates on ongoing clinical trials, as well as groundbreaking platforms and technologies that will revolutionize the next generation of cell therapies for devastating and intractable diseases. For more information visit https://www.isscr.org/upcoming-programs/2024-copenhagen-international-symposium/program or follow the organization on X/Twitter: @ISSCR.
About the OpRegen Phase 1/2a Study
The Phase 1/2a study is an open-label, single-arm, multi-center, dose-escalation trial evaluating a single administration of OpRegen delivered subretinally in patients with bilateral GA secondary to AMD. Twenty-four patients were enrolled into 4 cohorts. The first 3 cohorts enrolled only legally blind patients with a best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/200 or worse. The fourth cohort enrolled 12 patients with impaired vision (BCVA from 20/65 to 20/250 with smaller mean areas of GA). Cohort 4 also included patients treated with a new "thaw-and-inject" formulation of OpRegen, which can be shipped directly to sites and used immediately upon thawing, removing the complications and logistics of having to use a dose preparation facility. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the safety and tolerability of OpRegen as assessed by the incidence and frequency of treatment-emergent adverse events. Secondary objectives include evaluating the preliminary activity of OpRegen treatment by assessing the changes in ophthalmological parameters measured by various methods of primary clinical relevance.
About Geographic Atrophy
GA is an advanced form of AMD characterized by severe loss of visual function. GA is a leading cause of adult blindness in the developed world, affecting at least 5 million people globally. There are two forms of advanced AMD: neovascular AMD and GA. GA and neovascular AMD can occur simultaneously in the same eye, and patients treated for neovascular AMD may still go on to develop GA. GA typically affects both eyes.
About Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc.
Lineage Cell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel, "off-the-shelf," cell therapies to address unmet medical needs. Lineage's programs are based on its proprietary cell-based technology platform and associated development and manufacturing capabilities. From this platform, Lineage designs, develops, manufactures, and tests specialized human cells with anatomical and physiological functions similar or identical to cells found naturally in the human body. These cells are created by applying directed differentiation protocols to established, well-characterized, and self-renewing pluripotent cell lines. These protocols generate cells with characteristics associated with specific and desired developmental lineages. Cells derived from such lineages are transplanted into patients in an effort to replace or support cells that are absent or dysfunctional due to degenerative disease, aging, or traumatic injury, and to restore or augment the patient's functional activity. Lineage's neuroscience focused pipeline currently includes: (i) OpRegen, a retinal pigment epithelial cell therapy in Phase 2a development under a worldwide collaboration with Roche and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, for the treatment of geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration; (ii) OPC1, an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell therapy in Phase 1/2a development for the treatment of spinal cord injuries; (iii) ReSonance (ANP1), an auditory neuronal progenitor cell therapy for the potential treatment of auditory neuropathy; (iv) PNC1, a photoreceptor neural cell therapy for the potential treatment of vision loss due to photoreceptor dysfunction or damage; and (v) RND1, a novel hypoimmune induced pluripotent stem cell line being developed in collaboration with Eterna Therapeutics Inc. For more information, please visit www.lineagecell.com or follow the company on X/Twitter @LineageCell.
Forward-Looking Statements
Lineage cautions you that all statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this press release, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, in some cases, can be identified by terms such as "believe," "aim," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "design," "intend," "expect," "could," "can," "plan," "potential," "predict," "seek," "should," "would," "contemplate," "project," "target," "tend to," or the negative version of these words and similar expressions. Lineage's forward-looking statements are based upon its current expectations and beliefs and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to: the potential therapeutic benefits of OpRegen in patients with GA secondary to AMD. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Lineage's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release, including, but not limited to, the following risks: that positive findings in early clinical and/or nonclinical studies of a product candidate may not be predictive of success in subsequent clinical and/or nonclinical studies of that candidate; that OpRegen may never be proven to provide durable anatomical functional improvements in dry-AMD patients, that the ongoing Israel-Hamas war may materially and adversely impact our manufacturing processes, including cell banking and product manufacturing for our cell therapy product candidates, all of which are conducted by our subsidiary in Jerusalem, Israel; and those risks and uncertainties inherent in Lineage's business and other risks discussed in Lineage's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Further information regarding these and other risks is included under the heading "Risk Factors" in Lineage's periodic reports with the SEC, including Lineage's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and its other reports, which are available from the SEC's website. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. Lineage undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240925984921/en/
Contacts:
Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. IR
Ioana C. Hone
(ir@lineagecell.com)
(442) 287-8963
Russo Partners Media Relations
Nic Johnson or David Schull
(Nic.johnson@russopartnersllc.com)
(David.schull@russopartnersllc.com)
(212) 845-4242
Company plans to cease manufacturing operations in second half of 2025 due to declining market conditions
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SI Group, a leading global developer and manufacturer of performance additives, process solutions, pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediates, announced it plans to close its alkylphenol manufacturing facility located on Jurong Island in Singapore in the second half of 2025. SI Group will continue supplying alkylphenols from its market-leading global footprint with supply points in both Europe and the Americas.
SI Group opened its alkylphenol manufacturing plant on Jurong Island in 2006 to provide alkylphenols to Asia Pacific consumers and for production of SI Group antioxidant products. Yet, due to the substantial changes in the antioxidant value chain in the region in recent years, paired with high costs in Singapore, the company will cease production there next year. "SI Group's manufacturing facility in Singapore has been a valuable asset for our past growth and global presence," said Joey Gullion, SVP & Chief Commercial Officer at SI Group. "However, the current supply-demand balances in Asia and the cost to manufacture in the region, make this a necessary move to ensure the long-term sustainability of our global business."
As a global leader in performance additives, SI Group remains committed to being a value-added solutions provider to customers worldwide, including those in Asia Pacific. With alkylphenol manufacturing facilities in Europe and the Americas, SI Group will maintain its alkylphenol market leadership and uphold its customer and technical service support levels.
"We've shifted our strategy in Asia Pacific to better serve our customers' needs. The region is important to our business, and we believe this new approach will help us balance the market dynamics with our cost position," said David Bradley, President & CEO of SI Group. "Our recent partnership with Dingjide, along with the difficult but essential decision to close our Singapore site, underscores our commitment to serving our customers-we are now better equipped and excited to support our customers' growth, both now and in the future."
SI Group's Singapore manufacturing facility is expected to cease manufacturing operations in the second half of 2025. The company will provide support and assistance to all employees impacted by the plant closure.
About SI Group
SI Group is a global leader in the innovative technology of performance additives, process solutions, and chemical intermediates. SI Group's solutions enhance the quality and performance of industrial and consumer goods in the plastics, rubber & adhesives, fuels & lubricants, oilfield, and pharmaceutical industries. Headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, USA, SI Group operates 19 manufacturing facilities across three continents, serving customers in 80 countries with the support of approximately 1,800 employees worldwide. In 2023, SI Group published its inaugural ESG report, showcasing its commitment to continuous improvement and sustainability. SI Group innovates and drives change to create value with a passion for safety, chemistry, and extraordinary results. Learn more at www.siigroup.com.
Media Contact:?
Joseph Grande?
ph: + 1.413.684.2463?
joe@jgrandecommunications.com
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Strategic investment supports growing global demand for digital trust solutions
Sectigo, a global leader in Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM) and digital certificates, today announced the opening of its newest office in Chennai, India. The expansion strengthens Sectigo's presence in one of the world's fastest growing technology hubs, where demand for digital trust solutions continues to accelerate.
The Chennai office, a 14,000-square-foot-facility, is located in the heart of the city's tech corridor and will serve as a "Center of Excellence" with localized validation and tech support, enhanced service capabilities, and dedicated resources for expedited customer service delivery. The center, which can accommodate up to 300 employees, will enable Sectigo to better serve its rapidly growing customer base and strategic partners across the globe. The large-scale multidisciplinary team will support global business operations with site leadership and functions in all areas including people operations, IT, engineering, compliance, sales, and development.
"The launch of our Center of Excellence in Chennai represents a key milestone in Sectigo's mission to deliver world-class digital trust, enterprise security, and automated certificate management solutions on a global scale," said Kevin Weiss, CEO at Sectigo. "We are strategically expanding our geographic footprint into the fastest growing marketplaces across the globe. Scaling in this region allows us to offer more local expertise and resources, ensuring that we meet and exceed the expectations of our customers and partners."
"This expansion is about more than just business growth-it's about building a thriving community for our customers and employees. By further strengthening our presence in Chennai, we're able to attract top talent in the region while delivering world-class support and services locally," said Julie Gettys, Chief People Officer at Sectigo. "We are deeply committed to creating an environment where our teams can innovate and grow, which ultimately drives enhanced experiences and better outcomes for our customers."
This strategic expansion comes as organizations across the world prepare to meet Google's impending mandate to limit encryption certificates to a 90-day lifecycle. A shorter lifecycle makes manually managing certificates an unsustainable practice and may lead to incorrect certificate renewals causing potential SSL/TLS outages and data breaches. The switch to automated certificate lifecycle management is essential as organizations across industries increasingly prioritize the need for end-to-end digital trust solutions to secure their digital transformation initiatives.
For more information about Sectigo's global operations and solutions, visit www.sectigo.com.
About Sectigo
Sectigo is the industry's most innovative provider of comprehensive certificate lifecycle management (CLM), with automated solutions and digital certificates that secure every human and machine identity for the world's largest brands. Its automated, cloud-native, universal CLM platform issues and manages digital certificates provided by all trusted certificate authorities (CAs) to simplify and improve security protocols across the enterprise. Sectigo is one of the longest-standing and largest CAs with more than 700,000 customers and two decades of delivering unparalleled digital trust. For more information, visit www.sectigo.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240925184863/en/
Contacts:
Media
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- Klea Edge R-444A provides a high-performing, direct replacement to R-1234yf while advancing Orbia's sustainability-driven purpose -
Orbia Advance Corporation S.A.B. de C.V.'s (BMV: ORBIA*) Fluor Energy Materials business today launched Klea Edge 444A, a direct replacement for R-1234yf, to the EU and U.K. markets. Designed as a higher performing, low global warming potential (GWP) solution for automotive aftermarket applications, the refrigerant meets the European Directive on mobile air conditioning systems (MACs).
Klea Edge 444A provides the industry with a more economical alternative to R-1234yf. It also delivers increased vehicle performance while maintaining ease of use and recovery for service technicians and vehicle owners.
"Innovations like Klea Edge 444A are impactful to Orbia's greater purpose of advancing life around the world and are crucial to decarbonization and the energy transition," said Shawn Shorrock, Global Vice President, Refrigerants, Orbia Fluor Energy Materials. "Leveraging more than 50 years of experience delivering high-performing refrigerant solutions, we continue to evolve our business and product portfolio with low-GWP refrigerants that create progress towards our global climate impact goals."
Klea Edge 444A delivers the following key benefits:
Colder air, faster: Third-party lab data confirms that R-444A pulls down cabin temperature up to four minutes faster than R-1234yf.*
Third-party lab data confirms that R-444A pulls down cabin temperature up to four minutes faster than R-1234yf.* Increased vehicle performance: R-444A's higher energy efficiency can enable internal combustion engine vehicles to see improved fuel economy while electric vehicles may experience extended range.
R-444A's higher energy efficiency can enable internal combustion engine vehicles to see improved fuel economy while electric vehicles may experience extended range. Diversification in market options: R-444A is compatible with R-1234yf and its components.
R-444A is compatible with R-1234yf and its components. An economical alternative: R-444A is a competitively priced direct replacement for R-1234yf.**
R-444A is a competitively priced direct replacement for R-1234yf.** Ease of use and recovery: As a direct replacement, service technicians and vehicle owners can rely on the same servicing equipment, gauges and tools to replace R-1234yf with R-444A.
As a direct replacement, service technicians and vehicle owners can rely on the same servicing equipment, gauges and tools to replace R-1234yf with R-444A. Meets evolving regulations: Complies with current and new regulations, including those that restrict refrigerants with a GWP greater than 150.
Complies with current and new regulations, including those that restrict refrigerants with a GWP greater than 150. REACH approved: R-444A is authorized for use in automotive aftermarket applications under U.K. and EU standards.
R-444A is authorized for use in automotive aftermarket applications under U.K. and EU standards. TEXA Certified: Any R-1234yf TEXA A/C cart is compatible and certified to be used with R-444A in the EU. TEXA is one of the largest A/C manufacturers in the EU, and other manufacturer approvals are in progress.
"With increasing environmental regulations in the EU and U.K. for refrigerants, we're committed to leading the industry with solutions that lower the environmental impact significantly without compromising on performance," said Michael Mukai, Global Market Management Director, Refrigerants, Orbia Fluor Energy Materials.
Orbia Fluor Energy Materials' strong and growing product portfolio for the global automotive aftermarket sector is a testament to the organization's commitment to decarbonization. In addition to Klea Edge R-444A, it includes industry award-winning Klea 456A, a lower GWP direct replacement for R-134a that delivers the same energy efficiency while also providing a 50% reduction in GWP.
For more information on Orbia Fluor Energy Materials' next generation solutions and products for the automotive aftermarket, visit: www.kouraglobal.com/applications/refrigerants
* Independent test lab data shows an improvement in pull down times.
** Based on market conditions in EU/U.K. July 2024
About Orbia
Orbia Advance Corporation, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: ORBIA*) is a company driven by a shared purpose: to advance life around the world. Orbia operates in the Polymer Solutions (Vestolit and Alphagary), Building Infrastructure (Wavin), Precision Agriculture (Netafim), Connectivity Solutions (Dura-Line) and Fluor Energy Materials (Koura) sectors. The five Orbia business groups have a collective focus on expanding access to health and well-being, reinventing the future of cities and homes, ensuring food, water and sanitation security, connecting communities to information and enabling the energy transition with basic and advanced materials, specialty products and innovative solutions. Orbia has a global team of over 24,000 employees, commercial activities in more than 100 countries and operations in over 50, with global headquarters in Boston, Mexico City, Amsterdam and Tel Aviv. The company generated $8.2 billion in revenue in 2023. To learn more, visit: orbia.com
About Orbia Fluor Energy Materials (Koura)
Orbia's Fluor Energy Materials business (branded as Koura) is a global leader in the development, manufacture and supply of Fluoroproducts that play a fundamental role in enhancing everyday lives and shortening the path to a sustainable, circular economy. Backed by over 35 years of experience, Orbia Fluor Energy Materials' products are used in a vast range of applications including electric vehicles and energy storage, urban and rural infrastructure, indoor climate management, food and medicine refrigeration and even in treating respiratory conditions through the development of healthy and innovative low-GWP propellants for metered dose inhalers. Orbia Fluor Energy Materials has 1,600 employees and 13 manufacturing facilities worldwide, serving 60 countries through a global sales and distribution network.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240925405075/en/
Contacts:
Katherine Hogue
PR and Media Manager Orbia
katherine.hogue@orbia.com
+1 (224) 496-0568
Pamela McGowan
Global Marketing Communications Lead,
Refrigerants, Orbia Fluor Energy Materials
pam.mcgowan@orbia.com
+1 330-810-4918
EQS-News: CPI PROPERTY GROUP / Key word(s): Real Estate
Final Results of Tender Offer for 2026 and 2027 Notes
25.09.2024 / 14:23 CET/CEST
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN THE UNITED STATES, ITS TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS, ANY STATE OF THE UNITED STATES OR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (THE "UNITED STATES") OR IN OR INTO ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE IT IS UNLAWFUL TO RELEASE, PUBLISH OR DISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT. Final Results of Tender Offer for 2026 and 2027 Notes
25 September 2024 Further to the announcement made by CPI Property Group (the "Company") on 16 September 2024 (the "Launch Announcement") in relation to its invitation to holders (subject to certain offer and distribution restrictions) of its outstanding (i) EUR 750,000,000 2.750 per cent. Senior Notes due 2026 (ISIN: XS2171875839) (of which EUR 627,061,000 is currently outstanding) (the "2026 Notes") to tender the 2026 Notes for purchase by the Company for cash (the "2026 Notes Offer"); and (ii) EUR 750,000,000 1.625 per cent. Senior Notes due 2027 (ISIN: XS2069407786) (of which EUR 617,558,000 is currently outstanding) (the "2027 Notes" and, together with the 2026 Notes, the "Notes") to tender the 2027 Notes for purchase by the Company for cash (the "2027 Notes Offer" and, together with the 2026 Notes Offer, the "Offers" and each an "Offer"), the Company today announces (i) the Maximum Acceptance Amount, (ii) the aggregate nominal amount of the Priority Notes of each Series and the Tender Only Notes of each Series validly tendered, (iii) the Final Acceptance Amount, (iv) each Series Acceptance Amount, (v) the details of any Scaling Factor to be applied to Tender Only Notes for each Series, and (vi) the aggregate nominal amount of the Notes that will remain outstanding following completion of the Offers. The Offers were made on the terms and were subject to the conditions set out in the tender offer memorandum dated 16 September 2024 (the "Tender Offer Memorandum"). Capitalised terms used in this announcement but not otherwise defined have the meanings given to them in the Tender Offer Memorandum. Final Results The Expiration Deadline for the receipt of valid Tender Instructions in order for Noteholders to participate in the Offers was 4.00 p.m. (London time) on 24 September 2024. As at the Expiration Deadline, a total of (in each case, rounded to the nearest EUR 1,000) (i) EUR 126,338,000 in aggregate nominal amount of 2026 Priority Notes and EUR 244,249,000 in aggregate nominal amount of 2026 Tender Only Notes were validly tendered for purchase pursuant to the 2026 Notes Offer and (ii) EUR 156,846,000 in aggregate nominal amount of 2027 Priority Notes and EUR 143,653,000 in aggregate nominal amount of 2027 Tender Only Notes were validly tendered for purchase pursuant to the 2027 Notes Offer. In accordance with the terms of the Offer, for any aggregate nominal amount of Notes tendered pursuant to Tender and Priority Acceptance Instructions that have exceeded the aggregate nominal amount of Notes for which such Noteholder has received an allocation in the New Notes, such excess amount has been accepted in full without any scaling but has been treated as a Tender Only Instruction. The Company has decided to set the Final Acceptance Amount at EUR 671,086,000 in aggregate nominal amount of Notes. Therefore, the total amount payable by the Company for all Notes so accepted for purchase pursuant to the Offers (including Accrued Interest) is EUR 646,943,734. The Company has decided to set the Series Acceptance Amount in relation to (i) the 2026 Notes at EUR 370,587,000 and (ii) the 2027 Notes at EUR 300,499,000. Accordingly, as the aggregate nominal amount of Priority Notes and Tender Only Notes validly tendered for purchase does not exceed the Final Acceptance Amount, the Company has accepted all Notes validly tendered for purchase (without proration), subject to the New Financing Condition. Subject to the New Financing Condition, the expected Settlement Date for the Offers is 1 October 2024. Following settlement of the Offers, EUR 256,474,000 in aggregate nominal amount of the 2026 Notes will remain outstanding and EUR 317,059,000 in aggregate nominal amount of the 2027 Notes will remain outstanding. For Further Information A complete description of the terms and conditions of the Offers is set out in the Tender Offer Memorandum. Further details about the transaction can be obtained from: DEALER MANAGERS Banco Santander, S.A.
Ciudad Grupo Santander
Avenida de Cantabria s/n
28660
Boadilla del Monte
Madrid
Spain
Attention: Liability Management
Email: LiabilityManagement@gruposantander.com
Barclays Bank Ireland PLC
One Molesworth Street
Dublin 2
Ireland D02 RF29
Attention: Liability Management Group
Email: eu.lm@barclays.com Goldman Sachs International
Plumtree Court
25 Shoe Lane
London EC4A 4AU
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 207 774 4836
Attention: Liability Management Group
Email: liabilitymanagement.eu@gs.com Societe Generale
17, cours Valmy
92987 Paris La Defense cedex
France
Attention: Liability Management
Email: liability.management@sgcib.com TENDER AGENT Kroll Issuer Services Limited
The Shard
32 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9SG
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 207 704 0880
Attention: David Shilson
Email: cpi@is.kroll.com
Website: https://deals.is.kroll.com/cpi
This announcement is released by the CPI Property Group and contains information that qualified as inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 ("MAR"), encompassing information relating to the Offers described above. For the purposes of MAR and Article 2 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1055, this announcement is made by David Greenbaum, Chief Executive Officer at CPI Property Group. Disclaimer This announcement must be read in conjunction with the Launch Announcement and the Tender Offer Memorandum. The offer period for the Offers has now expired and no further tenders of Notes may be made. No offer or invitation to acquire any securities is being made pursuant to this announcement. The distribution of this announcement, the Launch Announcement and the Tender Offer Memorandum in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this announcement and/or the Launch Announcement and/or the Tender Offer Memorandum comes are required by each of the Company, the Dealer Managers and the Tender Agent to inform themselves about, and to observe, any such restrictions.
25.09.2024 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Archive at www.eqs-news.com
DUBLIN, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- BrowserStack, the world's leading software testing platform, today announced the launch of App Accessibility Testing, a comprehensive solution designed to make mobile applications more inclusive and accessible to all users.
As the digital world evolves, accessible apps are essential for high-quality, consistent user experiences. Regulations like US Section 508, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and European Accessibility Act (EAA) are driving this shift, encouraging companies to develop more inclusive digital solutions.
App Accessibility Testing takes a proactive approach, allowing companies to address accessibility early in development. In addition, it fosters inclusive innovation and broadens audience reach, potentially boosting revenue. Its key capabilities include:
Instant access to real iOS and Android devices with zero setup.
Workflow scanner, powered by BrowserStack's proprietary rule engine, makes accessibility testing 5x faster.
One-click access to TalkBack and VoiceOver screen readers, with the ability to capture issues via recordings and screenshots.
Centralized reporting dashboard with annotated screenshots offers insights and actionable remediation steps for easy resolution.
According to WebAIM's Screen Reader User Survey, the preference for mobile app usage for common online tasks such as shopping and banking has increased to 58% in 2024, up from 51.8% in 2021, highlighting the growing importance of accessible mobile applications.
"App Accessibility Testing reflects our commitment to digital inclusion," said Nakul Aggarwal, CTO and Co-founder of BrowserStack. "This frictionless solution empowers QA and developer teams to create truly inclusive apps, advancing our vision for accessible software across all platforms."
With App Accessibility Testing for mobile apps and Accessibility Testing for websites, BrowserStack now offers a comprehensive suite of tools that empowers development teams to create accessible digital experiences.
About BrowserStack
BrowserStack is the world's leading software testing platform powering over two million tests every day across 19 global data centers. BrowserStack helps Amazon, NVIDIA, MongoDB, Microsoft, X and over 50,000 customers deliver quality software at speed by moving testing to their Cloud. BrowserStack's platform provides instant access to 20,000+ real mobile devices on a highly reliable cloud infrastructure that effortlessly scales as testing needs grow. With BrowserStack, Dev and QA teams can move fast while delivering an amazing experience for every customer.
Founded in 2011, BrowserStack is a privately held company backed by Accel, Bond, and Insight Partners. For more information, visit https://www.browserstack.com.
Media Contact
Press Relations Team
press@browserstack.com
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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Canadian Gold Corp. (TSXV: CGC) ("Canadian Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an exploration update on the Hammond Reef South property, located near Atikokan, Ontario, and adjacent to Agnico Eagle's fully permitted Hammond Reef Project (Fig. 1). The Company also announces that it has been approved for the Ontario Junior Exploration Program ("OJEP") grant by the Ontario Ministry of Mines. The grant will provide funding for 50% of exploration expenditures, to a maximum of $200,000, incurred between April 2024 and February 2025 at the Hammond Reef South property.
The grant will allow Canadian Gold to advance its exploration activities at the highly prospective Hammond Reef South property. The property is located only 2 km from Agnico Eagle's fully permitted Hammond Reef Project, which contains a large mineral resource of more than 5 million ounces of gold and occurs in the same geological environment (Fig 1).
In August 2024, the Company reported the discovery of a new high-grade zone with surface samples returning 35.4 and 7.1 gpt gold within the northern part of the property (see news release August 6, 2024).
A follow-up program has since been completed to better evaluate the newly discovered high-grade gold mineralization. A stock work vein system was identified that has a minimum strike length of 80 metres with widths of up to 20 metres (Fig 2). The mineralization remains open along strike in both directions and returned samples from nil to 34.5 gpt gold. A channel sample across the zone returned 3.3 gpt gold over 1.05 metres including 6.42 gpt gold over 0.45 metres. New sampling 80 metres north of the original discovery, and before going under a swamp, returned 11.6 gpt gold from surface sampling.
This recent work has outlined a potential mineral system over a large 6.7 km gold trend that passes through the property (Fig 3). The Company is currently planning an induced polarization (IP) survey for late fall in order to identify areas of increased sulphide, which is strongly associated with the gold mineralization to outline exploration targets for further sampling and drill hole targeting. The project's exploration permit was approved in July and allows for drilling, trenching and ground geophysical work.
"We are grateful to the Ministry of Mines and the Honourable George Pirie, Minister of Mines, for their continued support of Ontario's exploration sector through initiatives like OJEP," said Michael Swistun, President and CEO of Canadian Gold. "This funding allows us to advance our exploration efforts and enhances our ability to make meaningful discoveries."
For Further Information, Please Contact:
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release was reviewed and approved by Wesley Whymark, P. Geo., Consulting Geologist for the Company, and a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101.
About Canadian Gold Corp.
Canadian Gold Corp. is a Toronto-based mineral exploration and development company whose objective is to expand the high-grade gold resource at the past producing Tartan Mine, located in Flin Flon, Manitoba. The historic Tartan Mine currently has a 2017 indicated mineral resource estimate of 240,000 oz gold (1,180,000 tonnes at 6.32 g/t gold) and an inferred estimate of 37,000 oz gold (240,000 tonnes at 4.89 g/t gold). The Company also holds a 100% interest in greenfields exploration properties in Ontario and Quebec adjacent to some of Canada's largest gold mines and development projects, specifically, the Canadian Malartic Mine (QC), the Hemlo Mine (ON) and Hammond Reef Project (ON). The Company is 35% owned by Robert McEwen, who was the founder and CEO of Goldcorp and is Chairman and CEO of McEwen Mining.
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This news release of the Company contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Canadian Gold's actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Figure 1. Overview location of the Hammond Reef South property illustrating the location of Agnico Eagles Hammond Reef Deposit.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3276/224492_120f4a79d40678dc_001full.jpg
Figure 2. Location of the new high-grade discovery on the Hammond Reef South property.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3276/224492_120f4a79d40678dc_002full.jpg
Figure 3. Location of the Hammond Reef South property illustrating a large 6.7 km gold trend.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3276/224492_120f4a79d40678dc_003full.jpg
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224492
SOURCE: Canadian Gold Corp.
TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PTX Metals Inc. (CSE: PTX) (OTCQB: PANXF, Frankfurt: 9PX) ("PTX" or the "Company"), a minerals exploration Company focused on high-quality gold, copper, nickel and PGE projects that are of fundamental importance to powering the global green and digital economy, located in northern Ontario, is pleased to provide an update on recent project and corporate activities related to its subsidiary Green Canada Corporation ("GCC") of which PTX has a 51% equity ownership.
During the past six months GCC has analyzed historical exploration results in the region and acquired by way of low-cost claims staking a large mineral rights position in the Thelon Basin Nunavut, Canada and the prospective Baker Lake and Amer Lake uranium districts (the "Nunavut Uranium Claims" or the "Claims"). The Claims package, totaling 324 km2, contains fertile and highly prospective geological terranes capable of hosting uranium deposits as seen in the Thelon Basin including Kiggavik and Angilak uranium projects.
The Thelon Basin is highly underexplored and its similarities to Athabasca Basin makes the Claims an ideal area for GCC, complementing its existing projects including Beartooth Island Uranium Project, Athabasca Basin, Matoush-Otish Mountain Project and Mistassini Project in Quebec, which also includes ground immediately north and south of IsoEnergy's Matoush Uranium Deposit, a large high-grade uranium deposit and the Cypress uranium and copper project in the Athabasca Basin.
Highlights include:
The Nunavut Uranium Claims are described below, and project location is provided in the attached image.
Historical drill results on the claims include drilling 25.9m @ 0.125% U3O8 ;
; The Amer Lake package controls a major structure surrounding Amer Lake uranium deposit along strike located near Agnico Eagle's operating Amaruq gold project;
High grade uranium boulders and till geochemistry anomalies and strong basement conductors, walk-up drilling targets are abundant along the Amer Lake trend; and
100% ownership with no royalties outstanding subject to potential government royalties.
Nunavut Uranium Claims Overview:
Baker Lake South : Comprises a series of 19 uranium prospects across 85 km2 land packages to the south of Baker Lake. The project is located the Churchill Structural Province on the southern side of Baker Lake within the Baker Lake Basin.
Bisset Lake South prospect drilling includes 25.9m @ 0.125% U 3 O 8 ; and
; and Prospective for i.e. unconformity style, sandstone-hosted mineralization, structurally-controlled (fault and/or dyke) mineralization (e.g. Kiggavik, Tatiggaq).
Amer Lake Trend: Three large land packages totaling 230 km2 in the Amer Lake Trend covering both the Titan project to the west and Amer Lake deposit.
The mineralization at Amer Lake is prospective for Syngenetic mineralization, Unconformity-vein type mineralization, Sandstone-hosted mineralization, Structurally-controlled (fault and/or dyke) mineralization (e.g. Kiggavik,Tatiggaq);
High grade uranium boulders and till geochemistry anomalies; and
Amer Lake is situated approximately 20 km north of the operational Amaruq gold project, which hosts extensive infrastructure, including trafficable roads facilitating access to the local town of Baker Lake.
Next steps:
GCC is currently permitting the Claims for exploration activities to consist of ground truthing, access reconnaissance, geochemical sampling and ground geophysics. Potential drilling of high priority targets could occur as early as 2025 once permitting is in place.
Overview of Uranium Geology in Amer Lake and Baker Lake:
Uranium mineralization in the Amer Lake terrane can be classified into four main types:
Syngenetic mineralization found near the contact between the Showing Lake and Oora Lake formations. This style of mineralization is characterized by pore-filling and fine disseminations of uraninite, chalcopyrite, magnetite and calcite in pink, sandy layers of the siltstone. The grade of this syngenetic mineralization is generally low (<0.05% U 3 O 8 ). Unconformity-vein type mineralization (discovered in boulders and outcrop) occurs as narrow stockwork veins cross-cutting Amer Group rocks. Mineralized veins are commonly associated with illite, chlorite and hematite alteration Grades for unconformity-vein type mineralization discovered in boulders can be high. Grab samples of > 10% U 3 O 8 have been reported from the area. Sandstone-hosted phosphatic (matrix of the sandstone or phosphatic breccia) and non-phosphatic mineralization has been located in float with concentrations of uranium ranging from 0.01% to 1.0% U 3 O 8 . The non-phosphatic boulders are limonitic, vuggy and contain secondary uranium minerals such as torbernite and autunite. Structurally-controlled (fault and/or dyke) mineralization such as Orano's Kiggavik project and Forum's recently enhanced Tatiggaq project, both of which have encountered much higher grades than currently observed in the Amer Group rocks. Grab samples of > 10% U 3 O 8 have been reported from the area. Amer Lake North hosts 5 uranium prospects, Wolverine Point, 76-5, 76-2 and 77-2 and a new discovery all of which present as till anomalies and/or uriniferous boulder anomalies.
Uranium Mineralization in the Baker Lake region can be classified as:
Structurally controlled/hosted encountered in fractured and brecciated fractured/faulted conglomerates and arkoses of the Baker Lake Basin. e.g Kazan Sandstone or South Channel Conglomerate, containing some fracture filling disseminated pitchblende in salvages associated with these structures Unconformity-vein type mineralization (discovered in boulders and outcrop) occurs as narrow stockwork veins cross-cutting Baker Lake Group rocks and into stratigraphically underlying basement rocks of Archean age. Volcanic basement hosted shears (volcanic) (Beaverlodge-style) with minor graphite and hematization was noted in the basement rocks which are also commonly fractured and sheared.
Elliot Lake Claims:
GCC is in the process of letting these claims lapse to manage costs and focus its priorities on Nunavut and on other opportunities.
Muskrat Dam Project:
GCC recently issued 166,667 common shares at 15 cents per share to an arm's length party related to final anniversary payment.
Qualified person
The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Rhys Davies, PGeo for GCC, a consulting geologist of GCC and qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
About PTX Metals Inc.
PTX is a minerals exploration Company focused on high-quality critical mineral projects, including two flagship projects situated in northern Ontario, renowned as a world-class mining jurisdiction for its abundance of mineral resources and investment opportunities. The corporate objective is to advance the exploration programs towards proving the potential of each asset, which includes the W2 Copper Nickel PGE Project and South Timmins Gold Joint Venture Project.
PTX's portfolio of assets offers investors exposure to some of the world's most valuable metals including gold, as well as essential critical minerals for the clean energy transition: copper, PGE, nickel, uranium and rare metals. PTX's portfolio of assets was strategically acquired for their geologically favorable attributes, and proximity to established mining companies. PTX mineral exploration programs are designed by a team of expert geologists with extensive career knowledge gained from their tenure working for global mining companies in northern Ontario and around the world.
PTX is based in Toronto, Canada, with a primary listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol PTX. The Company is also listed in Frankfurt under the symbol 9PF and on the OTCQB in the United States as PANXF.
For additional information on PTX, please visit the Company's website at https://ptxmetals.com/.
For further information, please contact:
Greg Ferron, President and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: 416-270-5042
Email: gferron@ptxmetals.com
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, including statements regarding the potential development of mineral resources and mineral reserves which may or may not occur. 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, general economic and political conditions, and includes those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at Sedar+. 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 approvals, including governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. 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, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by applicable laws. For more information on the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ from current expectations, please refer to the Company's public filings available under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca.
Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e9b04c61-ddf7-49cd-8aff-56c1473dca80
Amphera B.V., a late-stage biotechnology company developing MesoPher cell therapy to treat cancer, announces publication of the results of a phase II trial in resected pancreatic cancer (REACTIVE) in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).
Highlights from the REACTIVE trial in resected pancreatic cancer:
The phase II trial, including 38 patients with resected pancreatic cancer who had completed standard-of-care chemotherapy, met the primary endpoint demonstrating a clinically significant increase in 2-year recurrence-free survival of 64% compared to an expected 40%. This was accompanied with only low grade side effects.
The 2-year overall survival rate was 83%. Translational immune-profiling supports an induction of an effective immune-activation against the tumor.
Patients in the REACTIVE trial received 3 bi-weekly injections of Amphera's MesoPher dendritic cell therapy and booster injections at 4 and 7 months.
Prof Casper van Eijck, pancreatic cancer surgeon, Erasmus MC in Rotterdam and Principal Investigator of the REACTIVE trial said: "These results are promising as recurrence rates are high and long-term survival is rare in this patient group. We are now preparing a randomized phase II/III trial to replicate this efficacy signal. I am happy to announce that the DPCG, the Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Group, one of the world's leading research groups in this field, has committed to participate in this trial."
Ilona Enninga, COO of Amphera added "We have created a promising cell therapy bridgehead. MesoPher is derisked as to safety and manufacturing. This trial shows that MesoPher induces a clinically meaningful immune response, causing an increase in patient survival. EMA has granted MesoPher Orphan Designation for pancreatic cancer, based on potential significant benefit. We are very happy to announce today that the FDA has granted MesoPher Orphan Designation for pancreatic cancer as well."
Rob Meijer, CEO of Amphera said "The potential of MesoPher cell therapy is increasingly recognized in the scientific and regulatory community. The JCO publication will certainly help us to realize the necessary funding and partners for our next step: a randomized trial in resected pancreatic cancer."
About Amphera http://www.amphera.nl
Amphera B.V., a late clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops MesoPher cell therapy for the treatment of cancer. Our lead indications are mesothelioma and pancreatic cancer. MesoPher is comprised of autologous dendritic cells loaded with our proprietary allogeneic tumour cell lysate PheraLys. PheraLys is a well-characterized, innovative source of a broad repertoire of Tumour Associated Antigens.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240924023419/en/
Contacts:
Amphera BV
Rob Meijer (CEO) rob.meijer@amphera.nl
Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ: 046890), a leading global innovator of LED products and technology, and its affiliate Seoul Viosys (together "Seoul"), announces that it has won a patent litigation case against Everlight, a Taiwanese LED company ranked 6th globally.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240925330051/en/
Seoul Semiconductor's WICOP_ No wire, a robust and highly-efficient structure (Graphic: Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd.)
In August 2024, the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) dismissed Everlight's patent invalidation action against Seoul's WICOP patent No Wire LED technology. This decision has once again confirmed the strength of the WICOP patent portfolios registered across 18 European countries.
Since the ruling of the UK Patents Court in 2018, Seoul has won all patent lawsuits against Everlight and its distributor. These victories have spanned across five countries over the past seven years. Seoul has won lawsuits related to WICOP technology applied in lighting, automotive, and display applications, as well as those involving fundamental LED patents, thereby gaining recognition for the strength of Seoul's patented technology.
The No Wire LED technology is an essential technology used not only in display products such as Micro LEDs, but also in new technologies like ADB headlamps and STOP lamps that communicate with and help protect drivers and pedestrians in the automotive sector.
LEDs opened a new era for optical semiconductors with the development of blue and white LEDs by Dr. Shuji Nakamura, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, contributing to longer lifespans and energy savings across various applications. However, many companies have focused solely on price competitiveness and performance in LED development, ignoring some of the potential health impacts of certain lighting.
Seoul has invested nearly $100 million annually, which is 10% of its sales, in research and development (R&D) over the past 20 years to create new lighting. This investment has led to the successful development of technologies such as SunLike, which produces natural light that can alleviate the health effects of artificial indoor lighting, and No Wire Technology WICOP. With an overwhelming 18,000 patents in the LED industry, Seoul's unique value in advanced technology has been recognized once again in this litigation.
Chung Hoon Lee, Seoul's founder and CEO, said, "Immoral companies continue to sell infringing products by simply changing a product's name even after patent infringement judgments, and some large corporations knowingly use infringing products to save a few cents. It drives young startup founders and innovative companies to despair."
Mr. Lee was born as the son of a farmer and, by mortgaging his home, rented a corner of a commercial building and invested nearly $100 million annually in research and development. Through this effort, he built Seoul Semiconductor and Seoul Viosys into today's global LED companies with an overwhelming 18,000 patents.
Seoul believes that while the fate given to us from birth cannot be controlled, opportunities in society should be fair so that young people and companies can achieve success.
About Seoul Semiconductor
Seoul Semiconductor is the world's second-largest global LED manufacturer, a ranking excluding the captive market, and has more than 18,000 patents. Based on a differentiated product portfolio, Seoul offers a wide range of technologies. Seoul Semiconductor also mass produces innovative LED products for indoor and outdoor lighting, automotive, IT products like mobile phones, computer displays, and other applications, as well as the UV area. Seoul's world first development and mass production products are becoming the LED industry standard and leading the global market with a package-free LED, WICOP; a high-voltage AC-driven LED, Acrich; an LED with 10X the output of a conventional LED, nPola; a cutting edge ultraviolet clean technology LED, Violeds; an all-direction light emitting technology, filament LED; a natural sun spectrum LED, SunLike; and more. For more information, please visit www.seoulsemicon.com/en, YouTube, LinkedIn.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240925330051/en/
Contacts:
Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
Jinseop Jung
jjs8732@seoulsemicon.com
Sanner Group acquires Gilero to expand its global medical device offering
Acquisition drives Sanner Group's mission to offer a suite of world leading development and manufacturing services for its customers across the drug delivery and medical device sectors
25 September 2024 - Sanner Group ("Sanner"), a leading global healthcare packaging and medical device CDMO has acquired Gilero LLC ("Gilero"), a world class medical device design, development, and contract manufacturer headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.
The addition of Gilero will enhance Sanner's offering, positioning the business as a leading provider of end-to-end services across drug delivery, diagnostics and medtech device sectors. An established medical device and drug delivery system CDMO, Gilero's capabilities in design and development, assembly, packaging and contract manufacturing will bolster Sanner's streamlined and integrated offering to its customers. Gilero's team of expert engineers across facilities in the United States, Mexico and Ireland will also expand Sanner's reach on both sides of the Atlantic.
Hans-Willem van Vliet, CEO of Sanner, commented: "Gilero is the perfect fit for the ambitions of Sanner in our journey to become a leading global provider of customer-specific solutions in medical technology, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and consumer healthcare. Following the acquisition of Springboard Pro late last year which strengthened our offering across the entire medical device development process, Gilero now expands our manufacturing and end-to-end capabilities in the US. Gilero will also broaden Sanner's production facilities in the US to offer onsite production capabilities for our desiccant healthcare packaging solutions."
"Gilero's commitment to providing exceptional service to its customers aligns with our long-standing dedication to support our clients. Additionally, with a greater global footprint, notably across the US and Mexico in key biopharma and medtech hubs, we foster greater collaboration with partners and can mitigate global supply chain issues by providing our services at a local level. We are excited to welcome the Gilero team to Sanner as we continue to deliver on excellence at all stages of the product lifecycle."
Ted Mosler, Co-Founder and CEO of Gilero added: "We are thrilled to join forces with Sanner, offering our customers the advantages of 130 years of market leadership and quality, along with their extensive manufacturing footprint across Europe and Asia. We now offer in-house injection molding services across the globe, and we are already embarking on opening an injection molding facility in North Carolina to further vertically integrate our operations and better serve our customers. By leveraging Sanner's longstanding manufacturing expertise and international presence, our customers will benefit from expanded capabilities, including enhanced international manufacturing facilities and global-scale injection molding. Together, we will be a truly global CDMO from design to delivery for our Pharmaceutical and MedTech customers, helping patients worldwide."
Sanner is building a next generation medical device-CDMO offering that combines agility and smart thinking with a long tradition in the active primary healthcare packaging sector, including the world's largest portfolio of desiccant packaging and moisture management solutions. The acquisition of Gilero is a pivotal part of Sanner's strategy to enhance and strengthen its CDMO end-to-end activities on a global scale. Sanner's new design, develop, manufacture, assemble and delivery capabilities in the US, along with its new facilities in Germany and Asia further reinforces its position as a leading global CDMO providing full-service activities to its customers in the world's largest markets.
Sanner was advised by Alvarez & Marsal as financial advisors and Deloitte as tax structuring advisors with Norton Rose Fulbright acting as legal advisor.
Alira Health advised Gilero with Hutchison PLLC acting as legal advisor.
Media contact (Germany)
Commha Consulting GmbH & Co. KG
Annette Crowther
Poststrae 48
69115 Heidelberg
Germany
Tel. +49 (0)6221 18779-27
sanner@commhaconsulting.com
Media contact (UK/US)
ICR Consilium
Amber Fennell, Kris Lam, Jon Edwards
sanner@consilium-comms.com
About Sanner
Sanner GmbH was founded in 1894. Headquartered in Germany with best-in-class manufacturing facilities across Germany, France, Hungary, China and the US, Sanner has successively developed from a global market leader for desiccant closures and effervescent tablet packaging into a sought-after provider of customized solutions in the areas of medical devices and diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, and consumer healthcare. Today, Sanner supplies its products to more than 150 countries globally and has over 750 employees. In November 2021, GHO Capital, Europe's leading specialist investor in healthcare, acquired a majority stake in Sanner to partner with the fourth generation of the Sanner family to continue to support the growth of the company with a specific focus on transforming Sanner into a global MedTech CDMO.
About Gilero
Gilero provides end-to-end services in design, development, and contract manufacturing in the medical device and drug delivery/combination product markets. With an expanding global footprint, Gilero utilizes years of industry experience and in-house engineering talent to design, develop and manufacture everything from consumable medical devices to complex electromechanical drug delivery systems.
With offices in Durham, NC, Carlsbad, CA, Chicago, IL, and Athlone, Ireland, Gilero has a team of over 130 employees with its expert engineers spanning the biomedical, mechanical, electrical, and software engineering specialties, as well as employing experts in regulatory affairs, product development, manufacturing, supply chain, and strategic planning to support its clients.
More information you will find on: https://www.gilero.com/about/
Attachment
TURIN, Italy, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 50Steel Almax by Sanlorenzo achieves SEA Index certification. Sanlorenzo, Yacht Club de Monaco partner, wanted the carbon intensity analysed of its latest addition, previewed at YCM just. The 50m superyacht, the world's first to be fitted with a Reformer - Fuel Cell modular system, achieved three stars. It transforms green methanol into hydrogen then electricity to power the boat's hospitality equipment without having to store hydrogen onboard. The technological challenge of integrating the system has been developed in collaboration with Siemens Energy. After a detailed study undertaken by the Sea Index in collaboration with Lloyd's Register's recognised technical teams and elements supplied by Sanlorenzo, the boat received official certification.
"The Sanlorenzo 50Steel represents an important step on our path towards a more sustainable yachting industry and embodies the passion for challenges that has always guided us. We are adopting ground-breaking solutions to achieve this objective while maintaining our elegant, comfortable lines. Our 2030 roadmap, which is part of our carbon neutrality strategy, is now taking shape and we are keen to bring our new ambitions to fruition. This revolutionary solution allows the yacht to generate up to 100kW of electricity to power all hospitality services around 85% of the time," says Massimo Perotti, Chairman and CEO of Sanlorenzo.
The SEA Index, set up in 2020 by Yacht Club de Monaco and Credit Suisse (UBS Group Company), has become the standard of reference for assessing CO2 emissions of pleasure boats. Its purpose is to support yacht owners keen to be more sustainable and accompany them in their transition towards better practices. Certified by Lloyd's Register, Sea Index guarantees ratings accuracy through a rigorous procedure before granting certification. Recently recognised by the CAPENERGIES label, the SEA Index is also now deployed in 15 harbours and marinas in a triangle between Menton, Saint-Tropez and Bonifacio in Corsica, including YCM Marina and Monaco's harbours (SEPM), as well as the Seychelles (Eden Marina and Port Victoria), the Blue Economy Ministry having recently joined the SEA Index initiative.
For more information:
Press Office LaPresse - ufficio.stampa@lapresse.it
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eac6a042-42ad-4ea5-a78d-b671c4192dd5
New platform would combine seven European sites acquired from Recipharm with additional facilities in agreed transaction for Synerlab
Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC ("Blue Wolf"), a middle market private equity firm specializing in the industrial and healthcare sectors, announced that it has finalized the acquisition of seven European pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities from Recipharm, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization ("CDMO").
The seven facilities acquired from Recipharm are Solna, Stangnas, Hoganas, Karlskoga and Uppsala OTC Development in Sweden, Pessac in France, and Parets in Spain. With a focus on the production of oral solid, semi-solid, and liquid dosage form pharmaceutical products, these sites serve over 120 customers worldwide and have a strong track record of quality and regulatory compliance.
In addition, Blue Wolf has also agreed, subject to regulatory clearances, to acquire Synerlab, a CDMO headquartered in Strasbourg, France, with six operating facilities in France and Spain. Synerlab has expertise in manufacturing and development across multiple dosage forms, in addition to niche technical processes such as freeze drying and liquid sterile finished dosage forms.
The two transactions mark a significant step forward in helping advance Blue Wolf's goal of building an industry-leading CDMO.
Blue Wolf also plans to name a new team of experienced pharmaceutical executives who will lead the proposed combined organization and serve on its board of directors. Bruce Vielle, Chief Executive Officer of Synerlab, is expected to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the future platform. He would be joined by:
Chief Commercial Officer Peter Kruger, previously Chief Business Officer of the facilities Blue Wolf acquired from Recipharm;
Chief Financial Officer Rich Fenton, previously CFO for the TFL Group and Norgren Europe;
Chief Operating Officer Steve Leonard, previously Corporate Vice President of Global Operations and Supply Chain at Integra Life Sciences;
Chief Strategy Officer Saurabh Singh, previously Vice President of Strategy Business Development for Avet Pharmaceuticals and Director of M&A for AMRI; and
Group Head of HR, Amy Mort, who previously served in a similar role for the facilities Blue Wolf acquired from Recipharm.
Two long-time CDMO industry executives with deep operational and commercial experience, William Marth and George Svokos, are expected to join the board of directors.
Mr. Marth is President and Chief Operating Officer of Resilience, a technology-focused biomanufacturing company. He was previously the CEO of AMRI (now known as Curia) and spent 14 years at Teva Pharmaceuticals, where he served as President and CEO of Teva Americas.
Mr. Svokos is President and CEO of Avet Pharmaceuticals. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer at AMRI and spent more than 30 years in leadership roles at Teva across manufacturing, operations, sales and marketing, and business development.
"I am delighted and enthusiastic to bring the team from the seven Recipharm sites together with Synerlab to build a new CDMO platform," said Bruce Vielle, Chief Executive Officer of Synerlab. "By honoring both cultures, we will create an even stronger and more exciting one to serve our customers and patients."
The proposed combined platform, to be headquartered in the UK, would have a manufacturing and employee footprint diversified across major Western European geographies and would serve as the cornerstone of a new best-in-class CDMO. Blue Wolf will support further growth with the goal of expanding the proposed platform's commercial reach to span across the entire European continent and beyond.
"The opportunity to acquire multi-site, full-service CDMO assets with a track record of delivering high-quality pharmaceutical manufacturing solutions is exciting, and we see significant growth potential in these facilities," said Shashank Patel, Principal at Blue Wolf. "We look forward to working together with our new partners in Europe to build a best-in-class CDMO focused on delivering outstanding service and exceptional high quality pharmaceutical products to customers and patients worldwide."
Blue Wolf expects to announce the new corporate name of this platform by the end of the year. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The Synerlab transaction is expected to close in Q4 2024, following regulatory approvals.
About Blue Wolf Capital Partners
Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC is a private equity firm that focuses on value investments in middle market companies in the healthcare and industrial sectors. The firm's integrated team of investment professionals and veteran operating executives work collaboratively to generate returns by driving transformational change using operational and strategic experience. Blue Wolf seeks to invest in businesses that have catalysts for value creation that involve organizational transformation, union or human capital issues, government presence, or the opportunity to use ESG-informed strategies. For additional information, please visit www.bluewolfcapital.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240925679693/en/
Contacts:
Kate Spaziani
Director, Government Affairs and Communications, Blue Wolf Capital Partners
kate@bluewolfcapital.com
Sam Reinhardt
Vice President, Global Strategy Group
sreinhardt@globalstrategygroup.com
212-392-5270
Platform Enables $160B Upgrade of North American Grid Infrastructure to Support Electric Vehicle, Grid Electrification and Data Centers Growth
OTTAWA, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / BluWave-ai announced today that it has expanded its patent portfolio to 30 applications filed in the U.S. Patent Office and internationally of which seven have been granted and one application recently allowed in September 2024. The company has built this technology platform over the last seven years of strategic research and development to address the key areas to enable the global energy transition and wide-scale electrification of the transport, industrial, residential and energy sectors in general.
BluWave-ai 2024 Patent Updates
BluWave-ai 2024 Patent Updates
The company portfolio strategically covers the enabling technology and underpins its products for: electric vehicles and other smart loads; utilities; energy consumers including residential applications, industrial, institutional and fleet operations; electricity system operators and generation.
In recent years the demand on North American grids has been fairly level with conservation measures coming into effect while demand from electrification started to grow. Over the next 10 years, this picture is expected to change quickly as the demands of electrification in the transport and energy sector take off driven by government incentives to tackle emissions and climate change risks. The US Energy Department estimates that total investments for grid modernization in that country alone require from $350 to $500 billion (Transforming the Nation's Electricity System: The Second Installment of the QER). A report by the Brattle Group estimates that for the next 10 years, the additional investment to support a high electrification scenario will amount to $160 billion.
"To achieve this goal, BluWave-ai over its 7-year history has embarked on an ambitious path of inventions to manage the demand and variable renewable generation sources replacing fossil-fuel generation is an intelligent software overlay on the grid, to balance generation with demand and offset expensive capital investments," said Devashish Paul, CEO of BluWave-ai, "BluWave-ai estimates the market for these intelligent software solutions to be $14B - $20B or 4% of expected grid CAPEX upgrades in lifetime software deployments for the grid electrification in North America. Our patent portfolio and products enable this software grid transition overlay."
BluWave-ai has deployed the patents and inventions with its Edge & Center Energy Optimization platform, including Atlas which has built a database of operational data over the years along with a set of trained AI models.
"BluWave-ai's advanced technologies are empowering the global evolution of traditional electrical grids toward more sustainable, efficient, and resilient software-defined smart grids in the face of growing energy demands and climate changes," said Thomas Triplet, Senior Director of Engineering at Bluwave-ai, "offering cost-effective and scalable solutions for enhancing grid performance and reliability and contributing to global sustainability goals."
BluWave-ai's growing IP portfolio now consists of 30 U.S. patent applications filed with seven granted, including the following:
Two patents (11,133,676 and 11,831,163) relating to systems and AI-based methods for the optimization of fluctuating Renewable Energy-Battery systems while maximizing battery life
Three patents (10,510,128, 11,170,456 and 11,830,090) to enhance and optimize energy grid systems. The patents describe in particular the predictive optimization of energy grid systems using AI models and signatures. The improved efficiency leads to reduced energy losses and more effective utilization of grid resources and is widely applicable to various energy systems, including wind farms, solar farms, and energy storage systems.
One patent (11,267,362) relating to systems and methods for adaptive optimization for electric vehicle fleet charging. They cover in particular AI models to predict resource availability/demand, and electric vehicle fleet charging based on fluctuating renewable energy generation and electricity pricing.
One patent (12,040,650) relating to AI-based methods for the optimal and dynamic charging of energy storage assets connected to a power grid
"As Canada's Law Firm, we are excited to work with BluWave-ai. Their cutting-edge work in AI-powered solutions for energy optimization aligns perfectly with our commitment to the environment and innovation," said Rob Morris, Chief Operating Officer of BLG. "We wish BluWave-ai every success as they take their product to market."
Mike McLean, CEO of the Innovation Asset Collective said, "To become global technology champions, Canadian companies need to understand the use of IP as a strategic business tool and build strong IP ownership positions to support their growth. You cannot commercialize what you don't own. Only companies with sufficient freedom to operate can be assured of capturing the high returns that deliver prosperity to Canada's economy. It is exciting to see companies like BluWave-ai building the ownership of IP that will allow them to capture the financial benefits of their innovation."
BluWave-ai is open to discussing strategic opportunities for licensing and cross-licensing its IP portfolio to select customers, partners, research labs and universities. As an added benefit, BluWave-ai's customers under contract to use its products automatically get access to use the IP portfolio embedded in its product during the duration of all contracts. Please contact info@bluwave-ai.com to learn more.
About BluWave-ai
Founded in 2017, BluWave-ai is building the world's premier transport electrification and renewable energy AI company headquartered here in Canada's capital of Ottawa. We are focused on driving the proliferation of renewable energy and electric transportation worldwide with SaaS-based AI solutions. Our products optimize in real-time different energy sources, both renewable and non-renewable. This lets our customers - fleet operators, corporations, and utilities - improve their energy decisions for sustainability and costs. BluWave-ai has raised over $16M to date inclusive of a Series A round led by Ontario Power Generation's Fleet Electrification subsidiary PowerON Energy Solutions and non-dilutive funding in its seed round from Sustainable Development Technologies Canada.
For More Information Please Contact:
Brandon Paul, Senior Corporate Marketing Manager, BluWave-ai
brandon.paul@bluwave.ai.com
www.bluwave-ai.com
Contact Information
Brandon Paul
Senior Corporate Marketing Manager
brandon.paul@bluwave-ai.com
SOURCE: BluWave-ai
View the original press release on newswire.com.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - YORK HARBOUR METALS INC. (TSXV: YORK) (the "Company" or "York Harbour") is excited to announce the successful closure of the first milestone of the previously disclosed option agreement (the "Option Agreement") with Firetail Resources Limited (ASX: FTL) ("Firetail"), an Australian-listed company. The Option Agreement provides Firetail with the option (the "Option") to earn up to an 80% interest in York Harbour's Copper Zinc-Silver Project (the "York Harbour Project") in Newfoundland and Labrador. This strategic project covers seven mineral licenses and 189 mineral claims, spanning 4,725 hectares in Newfoundland, a mining-friendly jurisdiction known for its rich mineral resources. The Option Agreement further strengthens York Harbour's commitment to advancing high-grade mineral projects within Newfoundland.
Following the completion of the first milestone, Firetail now holds a 49% interest in the York Harbour Project, with an option to earn up to an additional 31% undivided interest in the York Harbour Project upon completion of three remaining milestones, as further described below. Upon completion of the first milestone, Firetail granted a 2% net smelter returns royalty to York Harbour over the York Harbour Project.
President & CEO Blair Naughty commented, "We are thrilled to partner with Firetail Resources, whose experienced leadership and technical teams have a proven track record in advancing mineral projects. With Firetail's involvement, we anticipate accelerated progress at the York Harbour Project, creating value not only for our shareholders but also for the local Newfoundland community."
Option Agreement
The key terms of the Option Agreement remain consistent with those outlined in the Company's June 6, 2024, announcement. Highlights include:
Option Period: Firetail may exercise the option over a three-year period, during which it can earn up to an 80% interest in the York Harbour Copper-Zinc-Silver Project.
Total Consideration: $500,000 AUD in cash payments. 175,000,000 ordinary shares in Firetail Resources. Completion of 10 kilometres of drilling on the York Harbour Project.
A detailed breakdown of the deliverables is as follows:
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Finder's Fee : A finder's fee equal to $226,393 is payable in cash to Kluane Capital FZCO, an arm's length party, in connection with the completion of the first milestone.
Joint Venture: Upon Firetail exercising the Option in full, or the Option Agreement being terminated after the exercise of a minimum 49% interest in the York Harbour Project, a joint venture between the Company and Firetail will be formed, provided that if Firetail acquires an 80% interest in the York Harbour Project, then York Harbour will get a free carried interest until Firetail produces and delivers a pre-feasibility study on the York Harbour Project. If Firetail acquires less than an 80% interest, then the parties will pay their pro-rata share of expenditures going forward, provided that York Harbour's interest cannot be reduced to less than 20% if York Harbour elects not to contribute to any expenditures going forward. If York Harbour's interest is reduced to 20%, then York Harbour will get a free carried interest until Firetail has completed the second milestone and/or the third milestone, as applicable, and completed the pre-feasibility study.
Share Consolidation
York Harbour also announces that its Board of Directors has approved a 3:1 share consolidation, subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. The consolidation aims to improve the Company's capital structure, reduce share volatility, and better position the Company for future growth initiatives. Following the consolidation, every three pre-consolidation shares will be exchanged for one post-consolidation share. Further details regarding the timing and implementation of the consolidation will be provided in future updates.
About York Harbour Metals
York Harbour Metals Inc. (TSXV: YORK) (OTCQB: YORKF) (Frankfurt: 5DE0) is a mineral exploration and development company focused on high-grade projects in Newfoundland. The Company has recently closed the first milestone of an Option Agreement with Firetail Resources Limited on the York Harbour Copper-Zinc-Silver Project, located approximately 27 km from Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Additionally, York Harbour holds a 100%-interest in the Bottom Brook Rare Earth Elements Project, covering 15,150 hectares, situated next to the Trans-Canada Highway and only 27 km from a deep-water port at Turf Point, Newfoundland.
About Firetail Resources
Firetail Resources (ASX: FTL) is a battery minerals company with a project portfolio focused on multiple battery mineral commodities. Firetail has commenced drilling in Peru, where its tenure includes the Picha Copper-Silver Project and Charaque Copper Project. Picha hosts multiple drill-ready targets, while Charaque has a farm-in deal with Barrick Gold Corporation. Additionally, Firetail has projects in Western Australia and Queensland, including the advanced Mt Slopeaway Project.
For more information on Firetail Resources, please visit website: www.firetailresources.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
"Blair Naughty"
CEO and President
Email: info@yorkharbourmetals.com
Phone: 778-302-2257
Website: https://yorkharbourmetals.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.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding receipt of regulatory and, if applicable, approval from the TSXV and ASX of the remaining milestones of the Option; the Company and Firetail completing the outstanding transactions as contemplated by the Option Agreement; the Company and Firetail forming a joint venture following the exercise of the Option; and Firetail maintaining the York Harbour Project in good standing during the option period. These forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations based on available information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements including adverse market conditions and other factors beyond the control of the parties. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and, accordingly, undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to their inherent uncertainty. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include general market conditions, regulatory and exchange requirements with respect to the Option Agreement, and other factors beyond the control of the Company. 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 required by applicable law.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224518
SOURCE: York Harbour Metals
Combined Organization Offers Holistic Legal Operations Platform to Legal Teams Around the Globe
PARIS, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DiliTrust, the AI-powered suite for in-house legal teams, has acquired the U.S.-based Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) software company doeLEGAL, which provides matter management, eBilling and eDiscovery solutions.
This strategic acquisition accelerates DiliTrust's U.S. market entry while strengthening the group's product offering. DiliTrust is committed to empowering in-house legal teams with proprietary and secure AI-powered software designed to digitize their workflows, increasing productivity and mitigating risks.
From contracts to legal entities including matters and board of directors management, DiliTrust provides scalable, all-in-one software for in-house legal departments. Its proprietary, secure AI is GDPR-compliant and meets the most rigorous SOC 2, ISO 27001, and ISO 27701 standards.
A trusted partner to some of the world's leading companies, including AccorHotels, Royal Bank of Canada, BNP Paribas, Caisse de Depot et de Gestion du Maroc, Campari, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Desjardins, Eutelsat, LVMH, UNICEF, Veolia and Vivendi. DiliTrust has decades of experience supporting blue-chip companies to conduct efficient and collaborative legal and corporate governance operations.
U.S.-based doeLEGAL has a strong client portfolio, including multiple Fortune 500 companies in the healthcare and insurance sectors. Its software provides insights, helping clients to reduce legal costs by as much as 50% and boost legal teams' productivity by up to 65%.
"In-house legal teams are facing increasing pressure to do more with less. Our acquisition of doeLEGAL enables us to provide a holistic platform that addresses these challenges head-on, leveraging AI to drive even more efficiency, cost savings, and ultimately empowering their business partner role within the organization" said Yves Garagnon, Global CEO of DiliTrust.
Bruce Kuennen, president of doeLEGAL, emphasized the synergy between the two companies. "DiliTrust and doeLEGAL share a vision of simplifying and streamlining legal operations through innovative technology. By combining our decades of expertise with the DiliTrust Governance Suite, we can further empower legal teams to achieve greater productivity and deliver more strategic value to their organizations."
Under Kuennen's leadership, doeLEGAL achieved remarkable revenue growth of 150%. This success was driven by a strategic focus on innovative product development, and a commitment to exceptional customer support.
Following the acquisition, DiliTrust group has over 300 employees around the world. The Paris-based company currently serves over 60 countries with offices in Canada (Montreal), UAE (Dubai), France (Paris), Germany (Munich), Italy (Milan), Mexico (Mexico City), Spain (Madrid) and the United States (Wilmington, DE).
As part of the transaction, all doeLEGAL employees will join DiliTrust; financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This strategic acquisition marks DiliTrust's fourth acquisition in two years since the investment of financial sponsors Cathay Capital, Eurazeo, and Sagard in 2022 and reinforces its commitment to provide cutting-edge legal tech solutions globally and its dedication to empowering in-house legal teams and allowing them to focus on strategic decision-making and to maximize their impact within the organization.
About DiliTrust
DiliTrust is a global provider of AI-powered SaaS solutions dedicated to empowering in-house legal teams by giving back valuable time and peace of mind.
Leveraging its proprietary AI, DiliTrust secures and streamlines legal operations, allowing teams to focus on strategic decision-making and maximize their impact within the organization.
The DiliTrust Governance Suite enables legal departments to efficiently manage the entire contract lifecycle, centralize entity management, secure board meetings, and maintain control over matter management. Supporting more than 2,500 businesses across over 60 countries, DiliTrust has a presence in key locations, including Canada, Dubai, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain and the United States.
Committed to fostering simplicity, innovation and security, DiliTrust helps legal departments work smarter while enhancing operational efficiency and minimizing risk.
Discover more at www.dilitrust.com.
About doeLEGAL
doeLEGAL is a U.S.-based provider of Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) solutions, driving cost savings and performance improvements for in-house legal teams. The company's flagship product, Ascent ELM, simplifies billing, vendor and matter management while delivering business insights when and where legal teams need them. www.doelegal.com.
Contact
Christophe Henner
christophe.henner@dilitrust.com
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The growth of the Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market is driven by several key factors. Increasing integration of advanced electronics in vehicles, such as infotainment systems, safety features, and power management systems, is significantly boosting demand for reliable and efficient electromechanical relays. The rise in vehicle electrification, including the adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles, further accelerates the need for high-performance relays to manage complex electrical circuits. Additionally, the growing emphasis on vehicle safety and automation, including advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving technologies, is driving innovation and demand in this sector.
LEWES, Del., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market Size was valued at USD 12.2 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 18.03 billion by 2031. This growth reflects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5% from 2024 to 2031. The market expansion is driven by increasing automotive electronics integration, advancements in relay technology, and rising demand for efficient and reliable automotive systems.
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202 - Pages
126 - Tables
37 - Figures
Scope Of The Report
REPORT ATTRIBUTES DETAILS STUDY PERIOD 2020-2031 BASE YEAR 2023 FORECAST PERIOD 2024-2031 HISTORICAL PERIOD 2020-2023 UNIT Value (USD Billion) KEY COMPANIES PROFILED Panasonic Corporation, TE Connectivity, Omron Corporation, Hella GmbH & Co. KGaA, Delphi Technologies, Siemens AG, Littelfuse Inc., Bosch Automotive, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, and Fujitsu Limited. SEGMENTS COVERED By Type, By Application And By Geography CUSTOMIZATION SCOPE Free report customization (equivalent to up to 4 analysts working days) with purchase. Addition or alteration to country, regional & segment scope
Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market Overview
1. Market Size and Growth
The Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market was valued at USD 12.2 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 18.03 billion by 2031, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5% from 2024 to 2031. This growth is driven by increasing automotive electronics integration and rising demand for advanced vehicle systems. The market expansion reflects the broader trend of integrating sophisticated electronic components into vehicles to enhance performance, safety, and comfort. The continuous evolution in automotive technology and rising consumer preference for high-tech features contribute to the steady growth of the electromechanical relay sector.
2. Key Drivers
Several factors are driving the growth of the Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market. The integration of advanced electronics in vehicles, such as infotainment systems, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and electric powertrains, necessitates reliable and efficient relays. Additionally, the growing adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles is creating increased demand for specialized relays that can handle complex electrical circuits. Innovations in relay technology, focusing on improved durability, performance, and miniaturization, are also contributing to market expansion.
3. Technological Advancements
Technological advancements play a crucial role in shaping the Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market. Innovations include the development of high-performance relays with enhanced durability, miniaturization, and advanced features such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. Improvements in relay materials and manufacturing processes are driving the creation of more reliable and efficient products. The integration of smart relays, which offer diagnostic and monitoring capabilities, is also becoming increasingly important in modern automotive systems. These advancements are essential for meeting the growing demands of sophisticated vehicle electronics.
4. Market Segmentation
The Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market is segmented by relay type, application, and vehicle type. Key relay types include power relays, signal relays, and latching relays, each serving different functions in automotive systems. Applications range from controlling lighting and ignition systems to managing power windows and door locks. Vehicle types include passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and electric/hybrid vehicles. Each segment experiences varying growth rates influenced by technological advancements, regulatory requirements, and consumer preferences. Understanding these segments helps in targeting specific market needs and opportunities.
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5. Regional Analysis
Regional analysis reveals significant variations in the Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market. North America and Europe lead the market due to advanced automotive technology and high adoption rates of electronic features. The U.S. and Germany are key markets, driven by innovations in vehicle safety and electrification. In contrast, the Asia-Pacific region is experiencing rapid growth due to increasing vehicle production, rising disposable incomes, and expanding automotive industries in countries like China, Japan, and South Korea. Emerging markets in Latin America and the Middle East also show promising growth prospects.
6. Competitive Landscape
The Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market is competitive, with several key players dominating the industry. Leading companies include Panasonic Corporation, TE Connectivity, Omron Corporation, and Hella GmbH & Co. KGaA. These companies are focusing on innovation, strategic partnerships, and acquisitions to strengthen their market positions. They invest in research and development to introduce advanced relay technologies and meet the evolving needs of the automotive industry. Competitive strategies also involve expanding production capabilities and enhancing product offerings to cater to diverse customer requirements.
7. Challenges
The Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market faces several challenges. One significant issue is the increasing complexity of automotive electrical systems, which demands more sophisticated and reliable relays. Additionally, the market must address concerns related to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and thermal management, which can impact relay performance and durability. Regulatory requirements for automotive components, including environmental and safety standards, add another layer of complexity. Manufacturers must continuously innovate to overcome these challenges and meet the growing demands of the automotive industry while adhering to stringent regulations.
8. Future Outlook
The future outlook for the Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market is promising, driven by ongoing advancements in automotive technology and increasing demand for high-performance relays. The market is expected to continue growing as vehicle electrification, advanced safety systems, and automation technologies become more prevalent. Innovations in relay technology, such as smart relays with integrated diagnostics and enhanced materials, will play a crucial role in shaping the market's future. The industry will need to adapt to evolving consumer preferences and regulatory requirements while capitalizing on emerging opportunities in the automotive sector.
Geographic Dominance:
Geographic dominance in the Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market is shaped by varying regional factors. North America and Europe are leading markets, benefiting from advanced automotive technologies, high adoption rates of electronic features, and stringent regulatory standards. The U.S. and Germany, in particular, drive significant market growth due to their focus on innovation and vehicle electrification. In contrast, the Asia-Pacific region is experiencing rapid expansion, driven by increased vehicle production, rising disposable incomes, and robust automotive industries in China, Japan, and South Korea. Emerging markets in Latin America and the Middle East are also showing strong growth potential, influenced by expanding automotive sectors and rising demand for advanced vehicle components. These regional dynamics highlight the diverse growth opportunities and market trends shaping the global automotive electromechanical relay landscape.
Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market Key Players Shaping the Future
Key players shaping the future of the Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market include Panasonic Corporation, TE Connectivity, Omron Corporation, Hella GmbH & Co. KGaA, Delphi Technologies, Siemens AG, Littelfuse Inc., Bosch Automotive, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, and Fujitsu Limited.
Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market Segment Analysis
The Automotive Electromechanical Relay market is segmented based on By Type, By Application and Geography, offering a comprehensive analysis of the industry.
By Type
Power Relays: These relays handle high-current applications and are crucial for controlling large electrical loads, such as engine systems, lighting, and power windows in vehicles. They ensure reliable operation and safety in managing high power circuits. Signal Relays: Used for switching low-current signals, these relays are essential for functions such as controlling audio signals, communication systems, and minor control tasks. They provide precise and reliable signal management within automotive electronics. Latching Relays: These relays maintain their state after activation without continuous power supply, making them ideal for applications that require consistent operation, such as locking mechanisms and memory functions in vehicle systems.
By Application
Lighting Systems: Relays in this category control the operation of various lighting systems in vehicles, including headlights, taillights, and interior lights. They ensure reliable switching and enhance the safety and functionality of automotive lighting. Powertrain Control: This application involves relays used in managing engine systems, transmission controls, and fuel systems. They play a critical role in the operation and efficiency of the vehicle's powertrain. Comfort and Convenience Features: Relays in this category control features such as power windows, door locks, and seat adjustments. They enhance user comfort and convenience by providing reliable and efficient control over these systems. Safety and Security Systems: Relays used in safety and security applications include those in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), airbags, and anti-theft systems. They are essential for the reliable operation of critical safety features.
By Geography
North America: This region is a major market for automotive electromechanical relays, driven by advanced automotive technology and high demand for electronic vehicle components in the U.S. and Canada. Europe: Europe is a key market due to the presence of leading automotive manufacturers and stringent regulations promoting advanced vehicle safety and environmental standards. Countries like Germany, France, and the UK are significant contributors. Asia-Pacific: The region shows rapid growth in automotive electromechanical relays, driven by increased vehicle production, rising disposable incomes, and expanding automotive industries in China, Japan, and South Korea. Latin America: Emerging markets in Latin America are expanding, supported by growing automotive sectors and rising consumer demand for advanced vehicle technologies, particularly in Brazil and Mexico. Middle East and Africa: The market in this region is growing due to increased automotive activities and investments in vehicle technology, with significant contributions from South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Internet, Communication and Technology:
The Automotive Electromechanical Relay Market is increasingly shaped by advancements in internet, communication, and technology. The integration of IoT (Internet of Things) and connected vehicle technologies is driving the demand for more sophisticated and reliable relays to manage complex electrical systems in modern vehicles. With the rise of smart vehicles and the automotive industry's shift toward automation, relays are playing a critical role in ensuring seamless communication between various electronic systems, including infotainment, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication networks. Additionally, advancements in communication protocols and data transfer technologies are enhancing the efficiency and real-time performance of these systems. As vehicles become more connected and autonomous, the demand for durable, high-performance relays will continue to grow, enabling precise control and monitoring of electronic circuits. These technological developments are essential for ensuring the reliable operation of advanced automotive systems and for meeting the evolving needs of the next-generation vehicle market.
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About Us: Market Research Intellect
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The Virginia Tech Office of Postdoctoral Affairs within the Office of Research and Innovation has piloted a unique hybrid training program with Publication Academy, an evidence-based online professional development suite aiming to break down barriers to success and accelerate the impact of students, faculty, and administrators at Institutions of Higher Education.
The service offers a wide selection of hundreds of high-definition On Demand courses that demystify the complex academic landscape, equipping professionals with the critical skills needed to fund, publish, and disseminate best-in-class research. Each program is designed to meet best practices in eLearning, resulting in curricula which past research has found increases scholarly productivity across disciplines and cultural backgrounds.
The Writing and Publishing High Impact Journal Articles Training Program piloted at Virginia Tech featured 11 modules focused on the full lifecycle of the journal article writing and publishing process.
The program was carried out with the grant support from the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), the nonprofit operations arm of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA), under its Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) program.
Through online, On Demand content on Canvas and weekly Zoom discussions on the topics, a group of over 175 graduate students, postdoctoral associates, and other researchers were able to collectively learn more about navigating the peer-reviewed journal article process. Participants included individuals from the social sciences, life sciences, STEM fields, and humanities. Participants who completed the program and engaged in at least 90% of the weekly discussion sessions received a digital badge.
According to CEO, Dr. Jay P. Singh: "Publication Academy is thrilled to have had the opportunity to serve Virginia Tech's outstanding graduate, postdoctoral, and faculty communities. Based on the exceptional findings of this pilot, we look forward to continuing working closely with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and Office of Research and Innovation to explore ways to roll out new programs to further support VT's long track record of research excellence."
PROGRAM OUTCOMES
All individuals registered for the Canvas course were sent a post-program assessment survey, with respondents being 43% PhD students, 34% postdoctoral associates, 8% Master's students, and the remainder being researchers and faculty in various roles at Virginia Tech.
Nearly 90% of graduate students indicated they would recommend future graduate students have access to the program, and over 87% indicated they would like other members of their research team to have access to the program.
Self-assessed confidence in publishing peer-reviewed journal articles increased by over 300% after the program compared to before. Even among those participants who completed less than half of the program, there was still a reported 69% increase in publishing confidence.
According to Dr. Jess Strickler, a Postdoctoral Associate in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics who participated: "Publication Academy course helps you understand not only how to put an effective journal article together but also how to navigate the systems in place for identifying a potential journal to submit to, submitting your article, and even ways to get your publications seen. Online course instructor Dr. Jay Singh does a great job of explaining the process in a way that someone from any discipline can easily follow and benefit from his extensive experience. If you have ever struggled with any aspect of the publication process, I highly recommend this program."
IMPACT ON NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS
70% of participants indicated that English was not their native language, indicating that the course content was of great interest to this group who may lack confidence in writing scientific/scholarly articles in English.
Indeed, surveys revealed that participants whose native language was not English were over 20% less confident in publishing peer-reviewed journal articles before the program began. Hence, in anticipation of serving this group, an optional Publication Academy module, "Mastering Academic Writing for Non-Native English Speakers", was added to the Canvas course.
By the end of the program, confidence in writing in English for academic purposes impressively doubled among non-native English speakers. In addition, overall increases in confidence in publishing peer-reviewed journal articles were higher in the non-Native English speakers than in Native English speakers.
NEXT STEPS
Over 80% of participants self-reported interest in further Publication Academy programming in grant seeking, grant writing, and grant management in the future. Hence, the Office of Research and Innovation at Virginia Tech plans to expand Publication Academy offerings by launching a Grant Seeking, Writing, and Management Training Program in 2024.
According to Dr. Chris Smith, the Postdoctoral Affairs Program Administrator who facilitated the weekly online discussion groups for participants as a supplement to the On Demand content stated: "We often assume that graduate students and postdoctoral associates learn how to write and publish peer-reviewed articles organically from working in a research group or from their faculty supervisors/advisors. Having asynchronous, online content and synchronous discussions to delve into the journal writing process from start to finish provides a space for early-career researchers to gain important information and knowledge without feeling judged. Sometimes they may not want to ask what they perceive as "silly" questions to the faculty they work with. So the peer community this program provides allows for learning to occur in a safe space. Furthermore, participants were very active in sharing resources, tools, and advice via online discussions on Canvas which I think added value to their experience - they learned from one another. In summary, this program provides critical information and tools to assist graduate students, postdocs, and other early career researchers in navigating the peer-review journal process (from writing to submission to responding to peer review) in a supportive learning environment."
About Publication Academy
Publication Academy Inc. is the premiere online professional development platform aiming to break down barriers to success and accelerate the impact of students, faculty, and administrators at Institutions of Higher Education, as well as grantees, fellows, and staff at mission-focused nonprofit organizations. The platform offers an end-to-end streaming service that demystifies the complex academic landscape, equipping members with the critical skills needed to fund, publish, and disseminate best-in-class research as well as prepare successful graduate school and faculty job applications, all while prioritizing their mental health. Members have unlimited access to an extensive training library that integrates seamlessly with their institution's existing LMS and features hundreds of hours of high-definition video courses taught by rigorously vetted experts from prominent institutions, including Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, UPenn, NASA, the Smithsonian, PBS, and Discovery Channel. Each premium course is designed to meet evidence-based best practices in eLearning, resulting in curricula proven to increase scholarly productivity and positive career outcomes across disciplines and cultural backgrounds. For more information, visit www.publicationacademy.com
Media Contact
Ginger Tett (gingertett@publicationacademy.org)
SOURCE: Rezon8 Capital & Advisory Group, LLC
A Selling Exhibition of Multidisciplinary Works by 8 Global Artists
LONDON, ENGLAND / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / HOFA Gallery and PhillipsX announce the launch of 'SPACES', the inaugural selling exhibition in HOFA's new curated digital realities series; which brings together leading voices in the intersection of technology and art. The selling exhibition, set to debut at Phillips, London, from 3 - 10 October, during Frieze 2024, will showcase 10 works by eight global visionaries blending digital innovation with artistic expression: Sougwen Chung, Emily Xie, Refik Anadol, Krista Kim, Ana Maria Caballero, Shirin Abedinirad, Random International and Joseph Klibansky.
Sougwen Chung, Spectral, 2024. Acrylic on Perspex, Created with DOUG6. (Photo by David Sprangl)
Sougwen Chung, Spectral, 2024. Acrylic on Perspex, Created with DOUG6. 152.5 x 152.5 cm (Photo by David Sprangl)
SPACES is a series of immersive exhibitions exploring the profound challenges and possibilities presented by computing technologies and their impact on humanity. The first edition at Phillips will feature a curation of contemporary artworks integrating digital techniques with tangible media, as well as digital works that challenge conventional perceptions of art, inviting viewers to reconsider the boundaries between the digital and physical realms.
Elio D'Anna, curator and co-founder of HOFA Gallery, says, "HOFA is honoured to present SPACES with Phillips. This series explores the evolving interplay between digital technology and contemporary art, showcasing how artists are integrating AI and digital techniques into their work."
D'Anna adds, "SPACES highlights the transformative impact of these technologies on art forms and reveals new possibilities for creative expression."
One of the main highlights of SPACES is Sougwen Chung, the Chinese-Canadian artist named as one of TIME100's top AI innovators and whose human-machine collaboration was the first AI model acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
At Phillips, Chung will unveil Spectral, a dynamic new installation where a robotic arm will collaborate with them in the painting process, exemplifying the evolution of machines as creative partners rather than mere tools. This work explores the innovative interplay between humans and AI, and technology and artistic expression.
Other highlights include:
Krista Kim
Krista Kim, founder of Techism, is a pioneering artist who explores digital consciousness through art, technology and philosophy, working across both digital and physical mediums. As a cultural leader at the World Economic Forum since 2022, Vogue Singapore's metaverse editor, and one of UNESCO's '50 Minds for the Next 50,' Kim is widely recognised for her innovative contributions to the art world. Her notable works include the 2022 immersive installation Continuum in Times Square, and the 2024 installation Mirror of the Mind featured on The Sphere in Las Vegas.
SPACES will showcase a triptych of Kim's signature gradient works, UV-printed on Trulife Plexi and mounted on Dibond. These pieces, created using digital software from as early as 2012, represent her vision of technology as a tool for mental wellness and cultural reflection. Her meditative gradients explore the fluid intersection of art and technology, symbolising constant transformation in the digital age.
Emily Xie
Xie is a New York-based artist known for her innovative use of algorithms to create lifelike textures and forms. Her work has been showcased at the Singapore ArtScience Museum and the Armory Show in New York. Inspired by traditional Chinese embroidery, Xie's exhibited work Cresting Figure is a digital collage integrating rich textures and intricate patterns, reimagining ancient techniques through generative AI within a digital framework. Bridging the gap between contemporary art and 21st Century technology, it offers a beautiful perspective on cultural heritage.
Refik Anadol
Anadol is a Turkish-American media artist and director renowned for his innovative approach that blends art with data, creating captivating experiences through digital mediums. Anadol has collaborated with prestigious institutions such as MoMA New York and Sotheby's and has digital collectible sales surpassing $30 million. SPACES will present Winds of Yawanawa #888, part of his Winds of Yawanawa collection. This series comprises 1,000 unique NFT Data Paintings that merge weather data from the Yawanawa tribe's Amazonian village with the artistic expressions of young Yawanawa artists, showcasing a dynamic interplay between traditional art forms and digital innovation.
Miety Heiden, Deputy Chairwoman and Head of Private Sales at Phillips, says "Phillips is thrilled to collaborate with HOFA Gallery on SPACES, an exhibition that pushes the boundaries of contemporary art by exploring the intersection of digital innovation and creative expression. SPACES reflects our commitment to supporting artists whose practice comprises cutting-edge technologies."
Contact Information
Emma-Louise O'Neill
Comms & Brand Collaborations Director
emmalouise@thehouseoffineart.com
+447515136909
SOURCE: HOFA Gallery
View the original press release on newswire.com.
Atlas Planning Platform Standardized Processes Across Business Units for Global Plastics and Metal Manufacturer
AUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / John Galt Solutions, a global leader in automating supply chain planning to empower businesses to make better decisions faster, today announced that its market-leading Atlas Planning Platform was successfully implemented at Myers Industries Inc., to help the company standardize processes and support growth across its separate business units.
Myers, a leading manufacturer of a wide range of plastic and metal products and a distributor for the tire, wheel, and under-vehicle service industry, faced challenges as the business expanded, both organically and through acquisitions. As a result, Myers required an advanced supply chain planning solution that could unify fragmented processes and systems into a centralized platform, establishing best practices to support its continued growth.
Myers selected John Galt Solutions' Atlas Planning Platform for its superior ability to improve visibility across the end-to-end supply chain. With Atlas, Myers can pull data from different external and internal data sources into a single platform, optimizing and improving processes across the business.
Since the implementation, Myers has benefited from a uniform view across its supply chain. The platform's data-driven dashboards provide real-time insights into key performance indicators (KPIs) across the network and help guide the supply chain team to accelerate decisions that best align with company objectives. The standardization of processes has helped the company align its operations with its financial goals, moving Myers toward a fully integrated business plan.
"The Atlas Planning Platform has provided our business with the visibility and integration we required to support our growth," said Jeff Baker, Senior Vice President of Shared Services at Myers. "We now have a single, unified view of our supply chain, which has greatly improved our ability to forecast demand and align operations with our financial objectives. The dashboards have become instrumental in driving consistent metrics and providing greater visibility into performance across the organization. Atlas empowers our team to work more effectively toward an integrated business plan, ensuring that every part of the company is moving in the same direction."
Looking ahead, Myers is preparing to enter the next phase of its collaboration with John Galt Solutions, which will focus on the implementation of what-if scenario planning, leveraging the Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities in the Atlas Planning Platform. This will allow Myers to conduct simulations that stress-test its supply chain under various conditions, delivering deeper insights into how the supply chain reacts under uncertainty and helping the company make more informed decisions.
"We're excited to continue supporting Myers Industries as they explore new opportunities to further advance their supply chain planning and enhance performance," said Matt Hoffman, Vice President of Product and Industry Solutions at John Galt Solutions. "With the power of AI and what-if scenario planning, Myers will be better equipped to plan, manage, and respond to the complexities of their diverse markets and industries, ensuring their supply chain stays agile and resilient."
About Myers Industries
Myers Industries Inc. (NYSE:MYE), based in Akron, Ohio, is a manufacturer of sustainable plastic and metal products for industrial, agricultural, automotive, commercial, and consumer markets. The company is also the largest distributor of tools, equipment and supplies for the tire, wheel, and under-vehicle service industry in the United States. Visit myersindustries.com to learn more.
About John Galt Solutions
More than ever, companies must be able to sense and respond to the dynamics of complex global supply chain performance, seize new opportunities, reduce?costs,?and drive profitability. John Galt Solutions' Atlas Planning Platform is a comprehensive end-to-end supply chain planning software solution with advanced analytics and machine learning to automate planning, break down business silos and deliver greater visibility. A SaaS-based platform, Atlas transforms S&OP processes;?demand,?inventory,?and replenishment;?supply and inventory optimization;?manufacturing planning and scheduling;?financial budget and sales forecasting. We partner closely with companies such as MARS, Continental Tire, Milwaukee Tool, Deschutes Brewery, Netgear, and American Red Cross to empower planners to make better and faster decisions with greater confidence. To learn how John Galt Solutions can help you improve supply chain performance, visit?johngalt.com.??
Contact Information
John Galt
Public Relations Manager
connect@johngalt.com
312-701-9026
SOURCE: John Galt Solutions
View the original press release on newswire.com.
Khalid Safir, Director General of Caisse de Depot et de Gestion (CDG), and Said Ibrahimi, CEO of Casablanca Finance City Authority (CFCA), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a regional voluntary carbon market, aligned with the Paris Agreement. This innovative project, in line with global greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals, supports Morocco's efforts to position itself as an international leader in sustainable development and a pioneer in sustainable finance in Africa. This project is aligned with the Directives of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, which emphasize sustainable development and environmental preservation.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240925082844/en/
Voluntary Carbon Market: Casablanca Finance City and CDG forge a Strategic Partnership (Photo: AETOSWire)
A Carbon Market to Address Climate Challenges
In line with the Paris Agreements, countries have committed to reduce GHG emissions through nationally determined contributions. The voluntary carbon market will help Morocco develop a carbon-efficient ecosystem, support global decarbonization commitments, and enhance export competitiveness.
Said Ibrahimi highlighted the market's potential, stating: "This voluntary carbon market offers Morocco and Africa a unique opportunity to lead in sustainable finance. Our partnership with CDG is a major step toward building an innovative carbon-efficient ecosystem aligned with national sustainability goals."
Khalid Safir added: "The voluntary carbon market will strengthen Morocco's position on the international stage. This project marks a turning point in Morocco's commitment to climate and sustainable development, positioning the Kingdom as a key player to address one of the most critical issues of the coming decades."
A Shared Vision for Morocco and Africa
CFCA and CDG share a common goal of driving carbon initiatives at national, regional, and global levels. Africa's abundant natural resources make it an ideal setting for generating high-quality, low-cost carbon credits, enabling the continent to become a leader in decarbonization efforts.
About Casablanca Finance City (CFC)
Casablanca Finance City (CFC) is a leading pan-African financial hub, fostering investment and supporting corporate expansion across Africa since 2010. With over 200 member companies, CFC is Africa's premier financial center, providing a robust regulatory framework and specialized services for investors.
About Caisse de Depot et de Gestion (CDG)
The Caisse de Depot et de Gestion is a public financial institution dedicated to collecting and safeguarding regulated savings while channeling long-term savings into sustainable, profitable investments that generate socio-economic growth. Over the years, CDG has developed unique expertise in executing large-scale structural projects for Morocco.
*Source: AETOSWire
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240925082844/en/
Contacts:
Fadwa Aboussarair
fadwa.aboussarair@cfca.ma
The Combined Company Optimizes and Improves Production, Quality, Equipment Maintenance, and Safety of Mid-Market and Enterprise Manufacturers Globally
LINCOLN, RI / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / CAI Software, LLC, ("CAI" or "CAI Software"), a portfolio company of STG and a leader in industry-specific enterprise resource planning (ERP), manufacturing execution and supply chain solutions to manufacturers and distributors, today announced that they have acquired Parsable, Inc., a leading cloud-native Connected WorkerTM platform used daily by global tier-1 manufacturers for production, maintenance, quality, safety and ESG.
CAI Software Logo
Founded in San Francisco, Parsable has a blue-chip customer base in the food & beverage, oil & gas, chemical, and various process and discrete manufacturing industries across the globe, including such notable brands as Grupo Bimbo, Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling, and Holcim. Their leading SaaS-based platform has helped transform customers' plant floors from paper-based to paperless with its powerful mobile solution and AI-powered analytics that improve mission-critical production and operational KPIs. Together, CAI Software and Parsable will focus on building solutions that transform how manufacturers drive greater efficiency and transparency across their organizations.
"Combining CAI Software and Parsable brings digital instructions to manufacturers which layers in with their existing manufacturing execution and warehousing systems to drive production, quality, safety, and operational improvements," said Brian Rigney, CEO of CAI Software. "As we bring the companies together, we will continue to collaborate with our customers to develop purpose-built solutions to serve the unique requirements of their industry. In our next chapter of growth, I look forward to working with the Parsable team and continuing to innovate the Parsable platform."
"This marks a pivotal moment for our industry," says Parsable CEO Matt Belkin. "Together with CAI, we're setting a new standard, equipping frontline workers with innovative digital tools that elevate productivity, safety, and quality to new heights. This partnership propels us toward a future where manufacturing is more connected, agile, and transformative than ever before."
"Parsable has been an early innovator and leader in the connected worker vertical and is mission-critical to daily operations of tier-1 manufacturers globally," said Wesley Jiang, Vice President of STG. "Parsable will deepen CAI's manufacturing capabilities in providing a comprehensive suite of ERP, supply chain and manufacturing solutions."
Barry Eggers, Founding Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners, added, "Parsable pioneered the connected worker movement 10 years ago, transforming how frontline workers operate. Now, with CAI, that vision can scale across the entire supply chain. Together, they are set to redefine productivity and efficiency in manufacturing, enabling companies to unlock unprecedented value from the factory floor to the global supply chain."
Lightspeed Venture Partners and other existing investors will remain significant investors in the combined company. David Lincoln of Activate Capital will join the CAI Board of Directors and Matt Belkin will continue as CEO of Parsable reporting to CAI CEO Brian Rigney.
Houlihan Lokey served as Parsable's exclusive financial advisor.
About Parsable
Parsable helps leaders at the world's largest industrial companies unlock the big data and insights needed to improve their frontline operations and build a more sustainable future. Leading manufacturers rely on Parsable's Connected Worker platform every day to track millions of data points from their frontline operations and leverage unprecedented visibility to optimize productivity and drive ROI. Parsable is headquartered in San Francisco with a presence throughout North America and Europe. www.parsable.com.
About STG
STG is a private equity partner to market-leading companies in data, software, and analytics. The firm brings experience, flexibility, and resources to build strategic value and unlock the potential of innovative companies. Partnering to build customer-centric, market-winning portfolio companies, STG creates sustainable foundations for growth that bring value to existing and future stakeholders. The firm is dedicated to transforming and building outstanding technology companies in partnership with world-class management teams. STG's expansive portfolio consists of more than 50 global companies. www.stg.com.
About Lightspeed
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally including Affirm, Carta, Cato Networks, Epic Games, Faire, Forty Seven, Guardant Health, Mulesoft, Navan, Netskope, Nutanix, Rubrik, Sharechat, Snap, Udaan, Ultima Genomics and more. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage $25B in AUM across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia. www.lsvp.com.
Contact Information
Drea Toretti
CMO
info@caisoft.com
800.422.4782
Related Images
CAI Software Logo Parsable Logo
SOURCE: CAI Software
View the original press release on newswire.com.
SkyDeck welcomes prominent climate tech investor as Chairs of its Climate Tech Track
BERKELEY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / Berkeley SkyDeck , the global hub for entrepreneurship and a leading accelerator, today confirmed its Demo Day for Batch 18 will take place October 1, 2024. Nineteen new companies will present to some of Silicon Valley's most connected and experienced investors, with 18 of those companies featuring climate tech or applied AI. Ahead of Demo Day, Berkeley SkyDeck has welcomed August Fern , partner at Baruch Future Ventures with 20+ years of climate tech investment experience, as Chair of the Climate Tech Track. The full list of participating startups is available here .
"Berkeley SkyDeck has always sought out companies with bold ideas and the vision to execute them. Batch 18 tackles some particularly pressing challenges, like rare earth metal processing and sustainable fibers for clothing, and we believe they have the potential to hit their ambitious growth targets," said Caroline Winnett, Executive Director, Berkeley SkyDeck. "August has been at the forefront of climate-focused investment and innovation for decades, and we are honored to have her mentor the next generation of visionaries as our new Climate Tech Track chair."
The upcoming Demo Day follows on the heels of Pitchbook naming UC Berkeley the world's leading university for the number of startups founded by undergraduates, the number of total undergraduate founders, and the leading university for venture-backed female founders. In total, UC Berkeley founders have raised a collective $59.7 billion in the last decade. SkyDeck startups have raised nearly $2 billion. Recent examples include SkyDeck alumnus Hylight , a company that inspects energy infrastructure and recommends climate-resilient changes, attracting investors like Y Combinator and Earth Venture Capital for venture funding. Hayden AI , another SkyDeck alumnus, focuses on AI mobile perception and has raised over $100 million from investors, including Mitsubishi Electric Innovation Fund and Bridgestone Corporation.
Moving forward, Fern will serve as the Chair of the Climate Tech Track to mentor and advise climate tech companies accepted to SkyDeck programs. She has spent nearly two decades advising investors on climate tech companies, with a deep expertise in energy. A Berkeley alumna, she co-founded the International Youth Nuclear Congress, the globally recognized organization for young people in the nuclear industry, just after graduation.
"Cal set me on my path in energy and climate tech and taught me that a small group in Berkeley can change the world. Joining Caroline, Chon Tang, founder of Berkeley SkyDeck Fund, and the entire SkyDeck team as a Climate Tech Track chair represents a meaningful way for me to give back and help these startups build the next generation of businesses to solve our climate challenge," said Fern. "Having previously attended Demo Days as an investor, I know Batch 18 will wow the audience."
The Berkeley SkyDeck Demo Day for Batch 18 will be hosted at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, California, at 2:00 pm PDT on October 1, 2024. Accredited investors interested in receiving an invite can apply here .
About Berkeley SkyDeck
Berkeley SkyDeck is a leading accelerator and the global hub for entrepreneurship. As UC Berkeley's largest and most prominent accelerator, SkyDeck combines hands-on mentorship with the vast resources of its research university. SkyDeck is the only accelerator of its kind that offers the value of a dedicated investment fund alongside the resources and network of a top university. To date, SkyDeck startups have raised more than $2 billion in aggregate. Participating startups have access to SkyDeck's 700 advisors, 70 industry partners, and a network of more than 510,000 UC Berkeley alumni. For more information, see skydeck.berkeley.edu .
Media Contact
Songue PR for Berkeley SkyDeck
skydeck@songuepr.com
SOURCE: Berkeley SkyDeck
HAMBURG, Germany, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- At WindEnergy Hamburg, CRRC Corporation Limited ("CRRC", SHA: 601766) showcases its line-up of wind-solar-hydrogen-storage integration solutions, attracting visitors to Booth 241 in Hall B7 of the Hamburg Messe und Congress. The exhibit demonstrated how electricity from wind and PV sources is transferred to the urban grid via a booster station, with surplus power either stored in an energy storage system or used for hydrogen production. CRRC also displayed the full process of energy production, storage, and application within its systems, emphasizing a green, low-carbon, and sustainable ecosystem.
Its renewable energy portfolio includes wind, PV, hydrogen production, and energy storage. With its complete wind turbines as the cornerstone, CRRC has developed a technology and industry chain that spans all facets of clean electricity - from generation to transmission, distribution, and usage. The Company is equipped to offer customized wind-solar-hydrogen-storage integration solutions for various scenarios, accelerating the global shift towards carbon peaking and neutrality.
A Comprehensive Full-Category Wind and Solar Power Industry Chain Established
In 2023, 60% of all new wind power capacity added globally came from China, underscoring China's substantial role in the expansion of wind energy worldwide. CRRC, a pioneer in China's wind power equipment manufacturing sector, boasts a complete industry chain and wide range of products. It has successfully created an industrial cluster for wind power equipment, encompassing complete wind turbines, generators, blades, tower barrels, converters, gearboxes, transformers, and more. CRRC offers over 80 models, with flagship products spanning 1.5 MW to 12 MW for onshore applications and 8 MW to 20 MW for offshore applications. Its capabilities in equipment development, design, and manufacturing rank among the world's best, serving more than 260 wind farms globally with a total installed capacity exceeding 13,000 units.
In April this year, Brinckmann (BM), one of the world's top renewable energy consulting and research firms, announced the market share rankings for the top four component manufacturers in wind turbine blades, gearboxes, converters, and generators. CRRC secured the top global position for wind generators.
Beyond wind power, CRRC has also advanced the PV industry. Leveraging core technologies from the rail transit sector, such as system integration, converters, and control systems, CRRC has developed a series of portfolio of centralized and string inverters, with over 50GW delivered cumulatively. The offerings are suited for environments ranging from large-scale desert and mudflat power plants to industrial and commercial rooftops, and are used in more than 20 countries worldwide.
Hydrogen Energy and Energy Storage: Flexibility, Safety, Efficiency
The surge in renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, has positioned green power-to-hydrogen as a pivotal solution to address the volatility and intermittency of these resources.
CRRC's flexible green power to hydrogen system maintains a dynamic balance between hydrogen production load and wind-solar generation capacity. Utilizing wind-solar forecasting, energy scheduling, cluster control, and gas-liquid regulation, the solution embodies flexibility, safety, efficiency, and intelligence. It offers optimal system-level benefits for multiple renewable energy hydrogen production scenarios, including AC/DC, grid connection/stand-alone, and others.
Energy storage is crucial for the development of renewable energy and is a key element of the new power system. It stores and releases energy, reduces wind and solar curtailment, manages peak demand, and enhances power supply reliability. CRRC has introduced the 5.X liquid-cooling energy storage system, featuring a 5 MWh single-cabin capacity and 99% maximum converter efficiency. The system ensures superior safety, longevity, and reliability.
As a global energy technology leader, CRRC aims to spearhead technological advancements, drive the evolution and upgrading of renewable energy technologies, and contribute to the global energy transition towards a cleaner, more beautiful Earth.
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SINGAPORE, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ewpartners, the first international private equity firm to establish an Asian-Saudi cross boarder investment platform, will use its speaking appearance at SuperReturn Asia this week to outline the significant investment potential of the Middle East for APAC investors searching for diversified risk-adjusted returns.
Mr. Cliff Chau, Managing Partner at ewpartners, will be speaking on Thursday 26th September on the cross-border investment opportunity between Asia and the Middle East and North Africa ('MENA') region. ewpartners was founded in Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2017 and has witnessed the incredible growth of the Kingdom over the past seven years. Through its funds, ewpartners invests across three key themes: digital infrastructure & solutions, advanced manufacturing & energy transition, and logistics & consumer enablement. Its first-mover advantage and local knowledge of the region is a crucial benefit for APAC investors.
To exemplify the MENA region's progress, Mr. Chau will discuss Saudi's Vision 2030 as a primary example of how the Kingdom is encouraging foreign investment as part of its wider blueprint to diversify its economy. Launched in 2016, the project is just past its halfway point, prompting an ideal moment to reiterate the progress the Kingdom has made in shifting their economy away from oil dependence and towards a more vibrant environment for both citizens and investors.
Over the past eight years, Saudi Arabia has launched $1.3 trillion into real estate and infrastructure projects to craft the country into a more attractive place to work, live and travel. At the same time, the Kingdom has become a leading fintech hub with the establishment of Fintech Saudi. Over $1 billion has been invested into the industry, and a regulatory environment created which is supportive of growth and innovation.
Mr. Chau will highlight how this transformation into a wider economic base offers unparalleled opportunities for investors who are looking for long term projects that align with their strategic objectives.
As Saudi has opened its doors and expanded business opportunities, countries have risen to the occasion. MENA countries have effectively communicated their commitment to mitigating perceived risk association in the region whilst simultaneously revising investment legislation, easing market entry and strengthening investment promotion agencies. Mr. Chau will speak directly to APAC investors on how these advancements have resulted in a drastic rise of Foreign Direct Investment into MENA from $57 billion in 2020 to $103 billion in 2023[1].
The growing foreign investment landscape in the MENA region is largely driven by players such as the United States, European countries and China, presenting a unique opportunity for investors from the global market to expand their presence, particularly in the region's non-oil sectors. Areas such as renewable energy, technology, logistics, and tourism are becoming key areas of investment. Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 has attracted over $12 billion in green energy investments, and the UAE is set to increase its FDI in the tech sector by 7% annually. MENA countries continue diversifying their economies away from oil, and Asian nations, with their growing expertise in industries like technology, renewable energy, and manufacturing, are well-positioned to capitalize on these opportunities. Strategic investments from Asia can help accelerate the MENA region's economic transformation while fostering deeper economic ties and partnerships.
Rebranding
Since its launch in Riyadh in 2017, ewpartners has raised and fully deployed 400 million USD for its Fund I and is targeting 1 billion USD for its Fund II as a direct response to strong investor interest. The company, previously known as eWTP Arabia Capital, recently re-branded to ewpartners to symbolise a broadening out of its initial focus to include investments into the wider MENA region. The ' e ast w est' wording incorporated into ewpartners symbolises the transfer of knowledge and investment that the company facilitates between Asia and the Middle East.
ewpartners has successfully built companies that not only create significant value for APAC investors but also contribute meaningfully to key industries in the MENA region, achieving exceptional business growth. A prime example is Saudi Cloud Computing Company (SCCC), which ewpartners have built up to drive digital infrastructure in the region, benefiting consumers, companies, and investors alike. Additionally, ewpartners supported J&T Express, a last-mile delivery service operating across Saudi Arabia, in achieving top-tier ranking in delivery efficiency and securing a place among the top three companies in the industry by average daily order volume. This not only highlights ewpartners' role in driving growth and operational excellence in critical sectors like logistics but also demonstrates how upgrading the logistics industry has fueled the growth of the e-commerce market, unlocking the high purchasing power of the Middle East region.
Speaking at an event held at ewpartners offices in the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh to celebrate the new brand, ewpartners Founder and Managing Partner Jessica Wong said:
"We were the first cross-border investment platform to establish ourselves in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and our first-mover advantage has meant the last seven years has been a period of great success for us. 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 region's vision of connectivity, growth, and global prominence."
Mr. Chau's panel at SuperReturn Asia will dive deeper into ewpartners' role in developing the MENA region into a future hub of innovation and how APAC investors can rely on them to facilitate trans-border investment.
About ewpartners
ewpartners (formerly eWTP Arabia Capital) is an international investment firm specialising in cross-border investments between Asia and the MENA region. Backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the firm has been active in Saudi Arabia since 2017 and was the first investment firm to launch a cross-border platform between the Kingdom and China.
Headquartered in Riyadh, ewpartners focuses on building value across borders by establishing strategic partnership with exceptional companies. Our team's expertise in shaping innovative conducive policy frameworks can support governments in fostering economic transformation and diversification driven by innovation and technology.
We are committed to investing in, supporting, and growing successful businesses across the Asia and MENA regions, with a focus on key industries and themes such as digital infrastructure & solutions, advanced manufacturing & energy transition, and logistics & consumer enablement.
For additional information, please visit https://ewpartners.fund/
[1] Source: World Bank Group, 2023: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.KLT.DINV.CD.WD?locations=ZQ
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Ashburn, VA, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Codan Communications | DTC is pleased to announce that the Codan Group (Codan) (ASX:CDA), through a wholly owned subsidiary Codan US Inc., has entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100% of US-based organisation SKT2 LLC dba Kagwerks (Kagwerks).
This acquisition marks a significant step forward in our strategic growth plan as we continue to strengthen and grow our position as a leading provider of full tactical military radio solutions within our core markets.
The acquisition of Kagwerks brings complementary capabilities to our Tactical Communications business unit and enables us to broaden our portfolio of solutions. Notably, Kagwerks brings industry-leading intellectual property, technology, and products to our Group. This includes its battle-proven, radio-agnostic dismounted soldier systems which will continue to be part of its systems portfolio of proprietary DOCK branded hardware and software solutions, supporting high-powered, third-party soldier communications in contested battlefield conditions. These technologies will also position Tactical Communications as a US soldier communications solutions provider delivering more comprehensive, full-spectrum tactical military connectivity solutions to our customers.
Paul Sangster, Tactical Communications President and Executive General Manager, said: "We are excited to welcome the Kagwerks' team to our Tactical Communications division and its technology suite to our solutions offering. Kagwerks' intellectual property has been field-tested and accepted into U.S Department of Defence, and its proven pedigree enables us to participate in additional tenders for other Programs. A key strategic objective is to improve our revenue predictability, and by participating in Programs of Record this will increase predictability by securing stable, long-term multi-year contracts.
The compatibility of DTC's mesh radio with Kagwerks' technology is highly complementary for our existing business. Together Tactical Communications and Kagwerks represent a full solutions provider that will increase opportunities across key military and law enforcement markets. The combined business also positions us to leverage international distribution channels, opening new growth and collaboration opportunities in global markets."
Niko Hughes, Kagwerks' President, said:
"We are excited to announce that Kagwerks' has officially joined the Tactical Communications division of the Codan Group, a global leader in communications technology. By partnering with Codan's world-class manufacturing capabilities and top-tier suppliers, we are positioned to scale our operations, delivering even greater quality, value, and service to support the needs of our customers. This relationship empowers Kagwerks' to expand our global presence and reach new markets, enhancing our ability to serve customers worldwide. We remain fully committed to providing cutting-edge, radio agnostic dismounted soldier systems."
The acquisition aligns with Codan Group's commitment to investing in new technologies and expanding its market presence. By integrating Kagwerk's advanced solutions, we continue to provide our customers with cutting-edge, mission-critical communication systems that deliver unmatched value and performance.
This strategic acquisition reinforces Tactical Communications' dedication to becoming the leading provider of tactical communications solutions across our core markets and supports our goal of enabling mission success for customers around the world.
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Codan is a technology company that develops robust technology solutions to solve customers' communications, safety, security and productivity problems in some of the harshest environments around the world.
Tactical Communications is a Codan business unit that delivers innovative communication solutions for defence, law enforcement, unmanned systems, broadcast, and humanitarian operations globally.
With a focus on reliability, mobility, and interoperability, its leading SDR mesh and HF radios ensure seamless connectivity and operational effectiveness in diverse and challenging environments.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Aftermath Silver Ltd. (TSXV: AAG) (OTCQX: AAGFF) (FSE: FLM1) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") whereby the Company completed the issuance of 14,285,714 units (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.35 per Unit for gross proceeds of $5,000,000.
Each Unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Common Share") and one-half of one transferable Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable by the holder to acquire one additional Common Share for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance at a price of C$0.45 per Common Share.
The Company intends to use the net proceeds to complete geological, metallurgical and engineering studies at the Company's Berenguela Silver-Copper-Manganese project in southern Peru ("Berenguela") and for general working capital purposes.
The Private Placement remains subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities issued pursuant to Private Placement are subject to a hold period expiring on January 26, 2025, in addition to such other restrictions as may apply under applicable securities laws of jurisdictions outside Canada. In connection with the Private Placement, the Company paid a cash commission of $150,000 to Canal Front Investments Inc.
None of the securities sold in connection with the Private Placement have been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and no such securities may be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
Mr. Eric Sprott, through 2176423 Ontario Ltd., a corporation which is beneficially owned by him, acquired 14,285,714 Units for $0.35 per Unit or a total consideration of $5,000,000. The acquisition of 14,285,714 Units resulted in an increase of holdings of approximately 5.7% of the outstanding Common Shares on a partially diluted basis (assuming exercise of all Warrants) from what was reported in 2176423 Ontario Ltd.'s last early warning report. Prior to the Private Placement, Mr. Sprott beneficially owned and controlled 35,459,694 Shares and 2,000,000 Warrants representing approximately 15.1% of the outstanding Shares on a non-diluted basis and 15.8% on a partially diluted basis assuming the exercise of such Warrants. Following the completion of the Private Placement, Mr. Sprott beneficially owns and controls 49,745,408 Shares and 9,142,857 Warrants representing approximately 19.98% of the outstanding Shares on a non-diluted basis and 22.8% on a partially-diluted basis assuming the exercise of such Warrants.
The Units were acquired by Sprott for investment purposes. Mr. Sprott has a long-term view of the investment and may acquire additional securities of the Company including on the open market or through private acquisitions or sell securities of the Company including on the open market or through private dispositions in the future depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other relevant factors.
The participation by 2176423 Ontario Ltd. 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 Company has relied on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as neither the fair market value of the securities issued to 2176423 Ontario Ltd. nor the consideration for such securities will exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization.
A copy of Sprott's early warning report will appear on Aftermath Silver's profile on SEDAR+ and may also be obtained by calling Mr. Sprott's office at (416) 945-3294 (1106-7 King Street East, Toronto, ON, M5C 3C5).
Berenguela Project: Background
The Company has an option to acquire a 100% interest in Berenguela through a binding agreement with SSR Mining.
Berenguela hosts a potentially open- pittable silver-copper-manganese Mineral Resource close to Santa Lucia in Puno province, southern Peru.
Silver, copper and manganese have crucial industrial applications in the clean energy and battery spaces. Copper and manganese have been designated critical metals by the US government and the European Union.
The project is less than 6km from road, rail and power lines and 4 hours from Arequipa by sealed road.
Aftermath published a resource estimate in March 2023 based on over 300 core and RC holes.
Metallurgical test work is underway adding to historic work, with the goal of producing silver and copper metal and a commercial battery-grade or fertilizer-grade manganese product.
Qualified person
Michael Parker, a fellow of the AusIMM and a non-independent director of Aftermath, is a non-independent qualified person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Parker has reviewed the technical content of this news release and consents to the information provided in the form and context in which it appears.
About Aftermath Silver Ltd.
Aftermath Silver Ltd. is a leading Canadian junior exploration company focused on silver, and aims to deliver shareholder value through the discovery, acquisition and development of quality silver projects in stable jurisdictions. Aftermath has developed a pipeline of projects at various stages of advancement. The Company's projects have been selected based on growth and development potential.
Challacollo Silver-Gold project. The Company owns a 100% interest in the Challacollo silver-gold project. A NI 43-101 Mineral Resource was released on December 15, 2020 (available on SEDAR+ and the Company's web page). The Company is currently completing environmental permitting in anticipation of an upcoming drill program.
Cachinal Silver-Gold project. The Company owns a 100% interest in the Cachinal Ag-Au project, located 2.5 hours south of Antofagasta. On September 16, 2020, the Company released a CIM compliant Mineral Resource and accompanying NI 43-101 Technical Report (available on SEDAR+ and on the Company's web page).
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 Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including the completion and anticipated results of planned exploration activities, the anticipated use of proceeds from the Private Placement and receipt of regulatory approvals with respect to the Private Placement. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connation thereof.
Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, that the Company will use the proceeds of the Private Placement as anticipated, and that the Company will receive regulatory approval with respect to the Private Placement. Although the assumptions made by the Company in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's plans or expectations include the risk that the Company will not use the proceeds of the Private Placement as anticipated, that the Company will not receive regulatory approval with respect to the Private Placement, risks relating to the actual results of current exploration activities, availability of capital and financing, general economic, market or business conditions, and regulatory changes.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information or implied by forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.
The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.
THIS NEWS RELEASE IS INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION ONLY IN CANADA AND IS NOT INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES, OR FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION, OR DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR IN THE UNITED STATES OR IN THE UNITED STATES.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224560
SOURCE: Aftermath Silver Ltd.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Phenom Resources Corp. (TSXV: PHNM) (OTCQX: PHNMF) (FSE: 1PY0) ("Phenom" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that permits and drill contractors are in place for a mid October start to the initial drilling campaign on the Company's Crescent Valley Gold Project. The drill program follows positive results from an IP geophysical survey completed in August. The Crescent Valley Gold Project represents a high-grade, bonanza-vein gold prospect strategically located within the Northern Nevada Rift flanking the southwest fringe of the Carlin Gold Trend in Northern Nevada.
Dave Mathewson, Director and Geological Advisor to the Company states, "The Crescent Valley Project represents the core portion of the largest quartz vein system in Nevada that I am aware of. The project is a low-sulphidation bonanza-vein epithermal gold opportunity with a setting remarkably similar to that of the SLEEPER deposit located in Humboldt County, Nevada. The SLEEPER Mine was a high-grade gold mine operated by AMAX Gold from 1986-1996 and was considered the lowest cost gold producer in the world in 1988 at $103/oz because of its open pit mined Bonanza vein and wall-rock gold grades which, combined, averaged 0.48 opt Au."
The Crescent Valley Gold Project located 22 km (13 miles) southwest of the town of Carlin, Nevada controls a 4 kilometre (2.5 mile) strike-length of the large low-sulphidation epithermal vein system developed along the western margin of the northern Cortez Range. The range-front/margin vein system is a zone of multi-event, silica-healed, hydrothermal breccias. Portions of the veins display minor repetitive banding, coarsely-bladed calcite, and quartz pseudomorphs of the calcite, within larger zones of phreatic-type brecciation that typically represent above-boiling zones of hydrothermal fluids and also above the prospective deposition levels of gold.
About Phenom Resources Corp.
Phenom has 100% interest in the Carlin Gold-Vanadium Project, located in Elko County, 6 miles south from the town of Carlin, Nevada and Highway I-80 which hosts the Carlin Vanadium deposit, North America's largest highest grade primary vanadium resource. The Project lies within the prolific Carlin Gold Trend. Approximately 9 million ounces comprised of multiple gold deposits, including past producing mines, are present near the Phenom property (5-15km). The Company has options on three gold projects in Nevada, the King Solomon and Dobbin Properties which are Carlin Gold-type targets and the Crescent Valley Property.
Technical disclosure in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dave Mathewson, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, director and Geological Consultant of the Company.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-looking information
Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking" statements. These statements relate to future events or the Company's future performance. All such statements involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to vary from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, they should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and they will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions on the date of this news release, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof 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 required under applicable securities regulations.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224563
SOURCE: Phenom Resources Corp.
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / Antea Group
Antea Group USA is delighted to announce the addition of two distinguished professionals to our team: Jason Lagowski, CPG and Nasim Pica, Ph.D. Their arrival significantly enhances our capabilities in managing and mitigating PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) contamination, further cementing our status as an industry leader in emerging contaminant consulting.
Jason Lagowski, CPG, brings over three decades of rich, diverse experience in environmental consulting, having worked across the US, Canada, and Australia. His expertise in the management and remediation of emerging contaminants, particularly PFAS, has been instrumental in setting new industry standards. With a strong background in hydrogeology and project management, Jason has led numerous innovative projects that have transformed PFAS treatment technologies across chemical, government and transportation industries. His previous roles include Senior Technical Director of Remediation Technologies at Arcadis Australia, Market Leader (Midwest) for Environment at GHD Services and most recently Senior Client Services Manager and National PFAS Leader (Private Sector) for Brown and Caldwell. Jason holds a bachelor's degree in Geology from Michigan Technological University.
Nasim Pica, Ph.D., is a highly skilled environmental engineer with over 15 years of experience working with environmental contaminants. She specializes in supporting complex projects involving environmental site assessment and characterization, forensic analysis, source tracking, and remediation of emerging contaminants including PFAS and 1,4-dioxane. Nasim has successfully led multidisciplinary teams in PFAS projects for the Department of Defense, offering innovative solutions and technical support. Before joining Antea Group, she served as a Subject Matter Expert at Weston Solutions, where she developed and executed advanced remediation strategies and trained teams on PFAS-related challenges. She holds a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Colorado State University and a master's degree in civil engineering from Sharif University of Technology.
Commitment to Excellence in PFAS Management
For over a decade, Antea Group has been at the forefront of helping clients identify and navigate their PFAS risk issues to build business resiliency. Our team provides comprehensive PFAS risk management services, including operational PFAS screenings and exposure evaluations, supply chain evaluations, site investigation, contaminant fate and transport modeling, remediation strategies and expert testimony for our client's most challenging projects. Our scientifically grounded services assist companies in identifying PFAS sources, complying with regulations, managing liabilities, and avoiding business interruptions.
"Our recent hires, Jason and Nasim, embody our commitment to delivering exceptional solutions for PFAS management," says Scott Recker, Vice President and Environmental Remediation Practice Leader. "Their combined expertise and innovative approaches will undoubtedly enhance our ability to tackle the most challenging PFAS projects and deliver results that protect human health and the environment."
Learn more information about Antea Group's PFAS management services and our team of experts.
About Antea Group
Antea Group is an international engineering and environmental consulting firm specializing in full-service solutions in the fields of environment, infrastructure, urban planning, and water. By combining strategic thinking and multidisciplinary perspectives with technical expertise and pragmatic action, we do more than effectively solve client challenges; we deliver sustainable results for a better future. To learn more, visit us.anteagroup.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Alison Bryant
Marketing & Communications Director
alison.bryant@anteagroup.us
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Antea Group on 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Antea Group
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/antea-group
Email: info@3blmedia.com
SOURCE: Antea Group
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Dryden Gold Corp. (TSXV: DRY) (OTCQB: DRYGF) ("Dryden Gold" or the "Company") is providing a correction to the increased maximum number of shares being issued under its the previously announced (September 23, 2024) non-brokered equity financing (the "Upsized Financing"). The Upsized Financing has been increased by an additional 4,000,000 FT shares and the aggregate maximum number of shares to be issued will be 42,000,000 while the maximum aggregate proceeds will remain at up to $5,100,000.
The Upsized Financing is comprised of (1) the increased number of FT Shares at a price of $0.13 per FT Share, (2) charity flow-through units (the "CFT Unit") at a price of $0.15 per CFT Unit and (3) hard dollar units (the "HD Units") at a price of $0.11 per HD Unit. The CFT Units 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 consist of one common Share of the Company and one-half of one Warrant. The Upsized Financing 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 Upsized Financing 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.
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 collaborative relationships with First Nations communities and benefits from proximity to an experienced mining workforce.
For more information go to our website www.drydengold.com.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION INTO THE USA
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224621
SOURCE: Dryden Gold Corp.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Leaders and colleagues from BMO, including John Mitrano (Co-Head of BMO Global Equities, BMO Capital Markets), Deland Kamanga, (Group Head, BMO Wealth Management) and Camilla Sutton (Head of Equity Research Canada & UK, BMO Capital Markets) joined Rizwan Awan (President, Equity Trading, TMX Group) in celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the BMO Equity Through Education program with ringing the closing bell on September 25.
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For 20 years, BMO Capital Markets has donated North American and European institutional equity commissions from one day of trading to charitable organization partners to help diverse, bright, deserving students work towards their post-secondary educational ambitions. BMO Wealth Management's InvestorLine business joined the trading day this year for the first time, and donated their equity & ETF trading commissions earned on September 25th. Since inception, almost C$32 million has been donated to help close to 5,500 students achieve their potential through scholarships, bursaries, mentoring and leadership development.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224633
SOURCE: Toronto Stock Exchange
Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or for dissemination in the United States.
Forward Water Technologies Corp. ("FWTC" or the "Company") (TSXV:FWTC) is pleased to announce that, further to its previous press release relating to the business combination with Fraser Mackenzie Accelerator Corp., the consolidation of the outstanding common shares of the Company (each, a "Common Share") on the basis of one post-Consolidation Common Share for every ten pre-Consolidation Common Shares is anticipated to be made effective for trading purposes at the opening on September 27, 2024 (the "Effective Date"). It is anticipated that the Common Shares will begin trading on the TSX Venture Exchange on a post-Consolidation basis at market open on the Effective Date. The new CUSIP of the Common Shares will be 34988A201 and the new ISIN will be CA34988A2011.
Shareholders with physical certificates will receive a letter of transmittal from TSX Trust Company, the Company's transfer agent. All registered shareholders will be required to send their certificate(s) representing pre-Consolidation shares, along with a properly executed letter of transmittal, to the Company's transfer agent, in accordance with the instructions provided in the letter of transmittal. Shareholders who hold their shares through a broker, investment dealer, bank or trust company should contact that nominee or intermediary on the procedures for processing the Consolidation of their shares, and for determining their post-Consolidation positions.
Further details regarding the Consolidation are provided in the Company's information circular dated August 20, 2024 which can be found under the Company's profile on www.sedarplus.ca.
About Forward Water Technologies Corp.
Forward Water Technologies Corp. (TSXV:FWTC) is a publicly traded Canadian company dedicated to saving the earth's water supply using its patented Forward Osmosis technology. FWTC was founded by GreenCentre Canada, a leading technology innovation centre supported by the government of Canada. FWTC's technology allows for the reduction of challenging waste streams simultaneously returning fresh water for re-use or surface release. FWTC's mandate is to focus on the large-scale implementation of its technology in multiple sectors, including industrial wastewater, oil and gas, DLE, mining, agriculture and ultimately municipal water supply and re-use market sectors.
FWTC has immediate plans to treat brine from the direct lithium extraction (DLE) sector using its mobile pilot equipment this summer in conjunction with its partners. This project will establish FWTC's iFOTM technology as a valuable component in producing lithium carbonate from aquifer sourced brines for use in applications such as electric vehicle (EV) battery production.
In addition, FWTC has initiated early-stage R&D for the treatment of food and beverage process streams.
For more information, please visit www.forwardwater.com.
Contact Information:
Forward Water Technologies Corp.
C. Howie Honeyman, Chief Executive Officer
E-mail: howie.honeyman@forwardwater.com
Telephone: (519) 333-5888
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.
Caution Concerning Forward Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this press 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", "will", "estimates", "believes", "intends" "expects" and similar expressions which are intended to identify forward-looking statements. More particularly and without limitation, this press release contains forward looking statements concerning the timing of the effective date of the Consolidation. FWTC cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, assumptions and expectations, many of which are beyond the control of FWTC, including those described in FWTC's disclosure documents available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of FWTC. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. 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.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and FWTC does not undertake to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by securities law.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction.
SOURCE: Forward Water Technologies Inc.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Liquid Meta Capital Holdings Ltd. (Cboe CA: LIQD) (FSE: N5F) (OTC Pink: LIQQF) ("Liquid Meta" or the "Company") announces that following the termination of the binding letter of intent with Cellview Imaging Inc., as announced on August 9, 2024, the board of directors is continuing to evaluate potential strategic alternatives to preserve and maximize value to shareholders of the Company and consider a range of options available to the Company, including, but not limited to, a sale, merger, divestiture, return of capital, issuer bid, other strategic transactions or whether to continue to operate as an independent public company. See the Company's press releases dated December 21, 2022, March 9, 2023 and May 29, 2023.
There can be no assurance that the evaluation of strategic alternatives will result in any strategic alternative, or any assurance as to its outcome or timing. The Company has not set a timetable for completion of its review and does not intend to disclose developments related to its review unless and until the evaluation of strategic alternatives has been completed or the board of directors has concluded it is necessary or appropriate.
As a result of the Company discontinuing its operations as a liquidity crypto mining business and development of its technology, as announced in the Company's press release dated May 29, 2023, Cboe Canada has initiated a delisting review and advised that absent the Company carrying on a business, or completing a strategic alternative resulting in the Company carrying on a business, the common shares of the Company will be delisted from Cboe Canada as of close of trading on December 23, 2024. As part of its review of strategic alternatives, the Company is considering options to provide a market for its securities, however there can be no assurance that the common shares will not be delisted from Cboe Canada or that another market for the common shares will be available.
About Liquid Meta
Prior to discontinuing its operations, Liquid Meta was a DeFi and Web3 focused company developing best-in-class technology and operational expertise allowing it to build a scaled business within proof-of-stake based networks. Liquid Meta was focused on liquidity mining operations and planned to build proprietary software and tools to access, automate, and scale operations within the fast-growing DeFi segment of the blockchain industry.
Neither CBOE Canada nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CBOE Canada) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information
This news release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of Liquid Meta with respect to the review of strategic alternatives for the Company and the timing thereof, if at all, and the future business activities and operating performance of the Company and the delisting of the common shares of the Company and the timing thereof. Often, but not always, forward-looking information 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 forgoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans, strategies or beliefs 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 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 Liquid Meta and are based on management's current expectations, beliefs, 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 contained herein is made as of the date of this news release and, other than as required by applicable law, Liquid Meta 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. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224595
SOURCE: Liquid Meta Capital Holdings Ltd.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Strategic Minerals Europe Corp. (Cboe CA: SNTA) (FSE: 26K0) (OTC Pink: SNTAF) ("Strategic Minerals" or the "Company"), today announces that its wholly-owned Spanish subsidiary, Strategic Minerals Spain, S.L.U. ("SMS"), has commenced a voluntary structured insolvency process that includes the appointment of an insolvency administrator over SMS and its property by the Spanish court.
As previously disclosed, despite the Company's eagerness to resume operations during the first half of 2024, operations remained suspended due to the Superior Court of Xustiza of Galicia's decision to provisionally suspend the section C permit for the Company's Penouta tin-tantalum mine in Spain (the "Penouta Project"). Following the termination of the previously announced business combination agreement between the Company and IberAmerican Lithium Corp. on August 1, 2024, the Company has failed to secure new sources of financing.
As a result of the insolvency proceedings for SMS, the Company also announces its intention to voluntarily delist its common shares from Cboe Canada Inc. (the "Delisting"). The Delisting will be subject to, among other things, Cboe Canada Inc. approval.
About Strategic Minerals Europe Corp.
Additional information on Strategic Minerals can be found by reviewing its profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information:
This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "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 involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Strategic Minerals to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements are described under the caption "Risks Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form dated March 27, 2024, which is available for view on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. These risks include but are not limited to, the risks associated with the mining and exploration industry, such as operational risks in development or capital expenditures, the uncertainty of projections relating to production, and any delays or changes in plans with respect to the exploitation of the site. Forward-looking statements contained herein, are made as of the date of this press release, and Strategic Minerals disclaims, other than as required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, results, future events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Strategic Minerals Europe Corp.
Further Information
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224596
SOURCE: Strategic Minerals Europe Corp.
In a country where no insulin is produced locally, people managing diabetes have few options, limited further by violence and instability. These health providers are changing that.
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / Every couple of weeks, a child arrives in a diabetic coma at Haiti's Hopital Sacre Coeur. Some are experiencing the initial onset of Type 1 diabetes, while others have run out of the injectable insulin their bodies need to keep them alive.
"Their family cannot afford to buy their insulin, and very often we have witnessed them come to the hospital in a coma," said Dr. Harold Previl, CEO of Hopital Sacre Coeur, the largest private hospital in northern Haiti. "In a country where people are struggling for food, they are bearing a disease whose treatment [must be continued] for their entire lives."
A child in Haiti diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 10 has a life expectancy of 13 more years, compared to 57 more years of life for a similar child in the United States, according to a study in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. Many die before even learning they have the disease; 35,000 young people around the world died at the onset of Type 1 diabetes in 2021 without being diagnosed, according to the T1D Index.
Insulin isn't manufactured in Haiti, leaving Haitians who need it entirely dependent on imported medicine. (All people with Type 1 diabetes and an estimated 7.5% to 15.5% of those with Type 2 diabetes require insulin.) Years of severe political instability and civil disorder have stretched Haiti's already-fragile medical supply chains to the point of snapping.
Violence Disrupts Medicine Imports and Distribution
Haiti's primary international airport and seaport in the capital Port-au-Prince were shut down for nearly three months earlier this year by heavily armed gangs. The land border with neighboring Dominican Republic has been periodically closed, and with gangs controlling the capital's streets, local distribution of medicine ranges between very dangerous and impossible.
"With air and sea ports closed amid mounting violence in Haiti, access to critically needed supplies came to a sudden halt - including medicines, food, and basic necessities," said Genevieve Bitter, Senior Director of Program Operations at Direct Relief. "For months, the only source for medicine was local vendors within Haiti."
Successfully delivering insulin and other cold-chain medicines is especially challenging. Cold-chain medicines must be kept within a specific temperature range from the moment of manufacturing until the time they are administered to the patient. If the temperature goes above the required range for long enough, the medicine is considered potentially unsafe for patients and must be destroyed.
Getting access to insulin and other medicine under these circumstances has required creativity and persistence. Hopital Sacre Coeur has never completely run out of insulin. "We never let that happen," Dr. Previl said. "We look everywhere, we have to knock at the doors of everyone, and if we have to purchase it, we purchase it."
Testing New Delivery Channels
Direct Relief is testing new transportation channels, successfully delivering two shipments of insulin in recent months into northern Haiti, which has been less disrupted by violence. The deliveries have been made possible by working with the Haiti Health Network, or HHN, a collaborative group of healthcare providers and support organizations who meet regularly to discuss current needs, share knowledge, and coordinate resources.
In July, Direct Relief and HHN flew a test shipment of insulin, donated by Eli Lilly and Company, on a small plane from Miami into the northern Haiti airport of Cap-Haitien, where it was delivered to healthcare providers including Hopital Sacre Coeur. An earlier test shipment of insulin made it through in May, days before heavily armed men set fire to Cap-Haitien's customs office.
HHN's support for the insulin deliveries was driven by what it heard in monthly meetings of its members. "For a number of meetings in a row we heard first-hand crisis stories from HHN members about children in diabetic comas, patients dying needlessly from the lack of available insulin, and the stress that searching for insulin was having on healthcare providers and families," said Rachel Bernard, Haiti country director for the Dalton Foundation, which helped launch the Haiti Health Network and continues to support its activities. "We couldn't listen to these stories over and over and not do something to help."
Direct Relief is working on a third test delivery of cold-chain medicines and large pharmaceutical refrigeration units, with the hopes that it can restart regular shipments of insulin to Haiti with its global diabetes partner Life for a Child, said Kelsey Grodzovsky, Direct Relief's Director of Global Programs. The shipment is intended for La Fondation Haitienne de Diabete et de Maladies Cardiovasculaires, or FHADIMAC, whose clinics provide care to thousands of Haitians with diabetes.
The third delivery will be sent through the Port-au-Prince airport. Because it isn't feasible to ship large volumes of aid into the northern airport in Cap-Haitien and transport it by road to Port-au-Prince in south-central Haiti, increasing the volume of medical aid to the country will depend on being able to reliably ship through the Port-au-Prince airport, Grodzovsky said.
Beyond Security: Long-Term Challenges in Getting Medical Aid to Haiti
While Haiti's need for donated medical supplies is high - it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and little medicine is domestically manufactured - bureaucratic hurdles have long made it a very difficult country to get medicine into. The challenges predate the security breakdown of the past three years.
The process of getting medicine through customs can be difficult and unpredictable. Shipments have gotten stuck in customs for months. Licenses to import medicine expire every three months, and renewing those licenses can take six months.
"Many businesses reported difficult and slow customs clearance processes, resulting in long waits for imported products to become available," said the U.S. State Department in a 2024 report. And customs clearance is only the first challenge. "The proliferation of gangs in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and persistent roadblocks put in place by the gangs along the main north and south access routes to the capital create major challenges for goods to freely circulate in the country."
Intermediate-acting human insulin in prefilled injection pens, donated by Eli Lilly and Company and delivered by Direct Relief and Haiti Health Network to Hopital Sacre Coeur in Milot, Haiti. (Photo courtesy of Haiti Health Network)
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Direct Relief on 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Direct Relief
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/direct-relief
Email: info@3blmedia.com
SOURCE: Direct Relief
Compassion Center celebrates and champions the Coalition for Patient Rights (CPR) in leading the charge for urgent reforms in Nevada's medical cannabis laws, advocating for reduced fees, patient cultivation rights, and an overhaul of outdated DUID laws. Join CPR in protecting patient access, promoting fair legislation, and ensuring the safe use of natural, organic cannabis for qualifying patients across the state. Get involved by attending monthly meetings or supporting CPR's Washington D.C. delegation.
LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / The Compassion Center celebrates and champions the Coalition for Patient Rights (CPR) in urgently calling for reform of Nevada's medical cannabis laws to protect patient access to safe and affordable medicine, and supports CPR's Washington D.C. delegation in speaking up on behalf of patient rights. In light of growing concerns surrounding the current regulatory framework, the upcoming DEA rescheduling hearing, and the ongoing lack of understanding about medical cannabis, CPR is advocating for legislation that reduces fees and eliminates barriers to access. Our goal is to ensure that patients' safety and rights are always protected, while providing law enforcement and regulators with clear, actionable guidelines.
CPR Town Hall Las Vegas
CPR Town Hall Las Vegas, Nevada
As medical cannabis continues to be recognized as a vital tool in managing a range of chronic conditions, qualifying patients in Nevada face unnecessary financial and procedural hurdles. CPR is urging lawmakers to take swift action to reduce registration fees, and even eliminate the fees altogether for disabled veterans and patients with permanent disabilities, while eliminating the current pre-application qualifications, streamlining patient access, and further eliminating the obstacles that disproportionately affect low-income and vulnerable populations.
Central to this reform is the protection of a patient's right to grow their own cannabis at home, free from exposure to harmful chemicals and pesticides, plant growth regulators (additives) and irradiation. CPR supports legislation that allows patients to cultivate natural, organic cannabis without the burden of taxation, ensuring they can safely manage their own treatment without any unnecessary interference, undue burdens on their privacy and liberty, without an excessive cost.
Additionally, CPR advocates for a complete overhaul of Nevada's pro se DUID laws, which are currently preventing medical cannabis patients from legally operating vehicles, boats, or aircraft while using cannabis to alleviate their conditions, making pharmaceuticals the only option for a professional or those supporting a family, which we all know can lead to harmful damage from side-effects. The current law is overly broad and does not account for varying levels of patient tolerance or experience, unfairly penalizing patients who rely on cannabis for chronic relief. CPR supports replacing these outdated laws with proven techniques to identify actual impairment, backed by police officer-worn body camera footage to ensure fairness and transparency.
"With the DEA's move to hold a hearing on rescheduling cannabis to a CSA schedule III, CPR believes the time has come for Nevada to modernize its approach to medical cannabis and the Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) laws regarding medical cannabis patients," said Jeff Krajnak, CPR President and President of Pardon Me, Please. "Our laws should protect the patients who rely on this medicine, not punish them for seeking natural relief. Reforming access, protecting home cultivation, and replacing outdated DUI laws with science-backed measures will ensure that patients can live healthier, safer lives without fear of legal repercussions", said Mr. Jason Greninger, CPR Director of Legislative Advocacy."
CPR is dedicated to collaborating with legislators, healthcare providers, and patient advocates to ensure that Nevada's medical cannabis laws align with the needs and rights of its patients. We invite you to attend one of our monthly meetings, held on the last Wednesday of each month, or to consider donating to support a delegation that will testify at the upcoming DEA hearing in Washington D.C. on December 2nd, 2024.
"While we acknowledge the consideration to reschedule cannabis to a Schedule III substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) will open up many doors for insurance billing and inpatient integration, we hope to see the plant restored to its original status in the updated U.S. Pharmacopeia as a plant-based medicine under the Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) designation" Said Nurse Julie Monteiro, RN, BSK, Senior Vice President of Patient Education. "Additionally, it is critical to prioritize patients, their rights, and the accessibility and affordability of cannabis as the DEA moves forward with rescheduling." Said James B. Creel, PgM, Board Secretary-Treasurer of Compassion Center, and Patient Advocate representing Coalition For Patient Rights (CPR) as a Research Fellow of Compassion Center's Center for Incubation & Findings Research (CIFR).
For more information or to get involved by volunteering or donating to send our delegation to Washington, D.C., please visit CPR at: https://coalitionforpatientrights.org/donate/
To attend a Monthly CPR Town Hall Meeting, speak on a particular subject or just vent about the high cost of healthcare, please visit: https://coalitionforpatientrights.org/nevada-rsvp/ and a link/ ticket will be sent directly to you so you can attend. It is vital for you to let your voice be heard. We hold both in-person and online meetings regularly to ensure the voice of the people is heard.
To be part of the next meeting, please email Vicki Higgins, Executive Vice President of Legislative Action at: Vicki.Higgins@MyCPR.us to obtain a personal invitation and directions or a link to the meeting. While some meetings are held in person at any one or more NV libraries, community centers and offices, CPR often conducts online-only meetings to ensure that the entire community has unfiltered access and the ability to get involved in the conversation.
Contact Information
James Garvey
CIFR Director of Collaborative Programs
james.garvey@compassion-center.org
844-842-COMPASSION Ext 1
Vicki Higgins
Executive Vice President: Legislative Action
vicki.higgins@mycpr.us
844-842-8687 Ext 1
Related Files
CPR Flyer VOX Populi
Related Images
CPR Town Hall Las Vegas
CPR Town Hall Las Vegas, Nevada Nevada Legislative Hearing
Legislative Hearing in Nevada CPR Founders in Carson City
Julie Monteiro, RN, BSK; Cindy Fried Brown; Vicki Higgins CPR-NV-Official Logo
CPR Nevada Logo
Related Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLqqFFqolQY
SOURCE: Coalition for Patient Rights
Victoria, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - ALUULA Composites Inc. (TSXV: AUUA) ("ALUULA" or the "Company") today reported its financial results for the three and nine-month periods ended July 31 2024 ("Q3 2024" and "YTD Q3 2024" respectively). All currency amounts are listed in Canadian dollars.
"We are encouraged to see a 43% increase in sales YTD Q3 2024 compared to YTD Q3 2023. While we have remained focused on growing our core windsports business, which reported a 39% increase in sales, with additional brands commercializing kites and wings. We have also directed our resources to establish ALUULA materials in the broader performance outdoor market. These efforts are starting to materialize through sales with incumbent brands, with an increase in sales in our emerging pack and bag market. We have onboarded several new brands in Q3 that have commercialized products, with others coming to market in 2025. It's promising to see the successful execution of this new focus area," said Sage Berryman, CEO & President of ALUULA.
The YTD Q3 2024 financial results also show progress in other key verticals for the Company. An example of this is seen in the sailing market with an increase of 181% through the purchase of materials for prototype field testing by industry leading brands.
The Company also reported an increase in sales from the commercial industrial channel as customers within the airship and wind power vertical markets progressed their research and development projects utilizing ALUULA materials. This channel made up 7% of sales in Q3 2024 compared to 1% in Q3 2023.
Key YTD Q3 2024 Highlights
Sales were $4,692,368 YTD Q3 2024 compared to $3,280,490 during the YTD Q3 2023 period, which represents a 43% increase.
This increase was driven by sales growth across various vertical markets within the performance outdoor channel. The windsport vertical market reported a 39% increase in sales as a growing number of brands commercialized kites and wings featuring ALUULA material. The pack and bag vertical market reported a 14x increase in sales as customers moved from field testing and prototype production to commercial orders. The sailing vertical market reported a 181% increase in sales as customers purchased materials to support prototype production and field testing.
Cost of sales increased to $2,741,400 compared to $2,236,347 for YTD Q3 2023.
Gross Margin increased to 42% in YTD Q3 2024 from 32% in YTD Q3 2023.
Net and comprehensive loss from continued operations was $1,467,234 in YTD Q3 2024 compared to $3,105,519 in YTD Q3 2023, representing a decrease of $1,638,285. The YTD Q3 2023 net and comprehensive loss included a one-time listing expense of $1,640,538 related to the Company's April 2023 reverse takeover transaction. If the listing expense were excluded from YTD Q3 2023 results, the net and comprehensive loss in YTD Q3 2023 would have been consistent with YTD Q3 2024.
Net and comprehensive loss from discontinued operations was $649,307 in YTD Q3 2024 compared to $1,205,657 in YTD Q3 2023. The $556,350 decrease is due to cost control measures put in place to minimize operating losses during the fiscal 2024 year.
Key Q3 2024 Highlights:
Sales were $1,291,938 in Q3 2024 compared to $966,565 during Q3 2023, which represents a 34% quarter over quarter increase.
This increase was driven by sales growth across both key channels, performance outdoor and commercial industrial. The performance outdoor channel reported a 28% sales increase primarily due to commercial orders from customers within the pack and bag vertical market. The commercial industrial channel grew to 7% of total sales in Q3 2024 from 1% in Q3 2023 as the Company increased materials sold to customers within the airship and wind power vertical markets.
Cost of Sales in Q3 2024 increased to $804,148compared to $632,082 in Q3 2023.
Gross margin increased to 38% in Q3 2024 from 35% in Q3 2023.
Net loss and comprehensive loss from continued operations was $1,215,139 in Q3 2024 compared to a net and comprehensive loss of $441,786 in Q3 2023 representing a quarter over quarter increase of $773,252. The increase in net and comprehensive loss from continued operations is primarily due to the write-off of accounts receivable, not expected to recur, and inventory adjustments that negatively impacted cost of sales and operating expenses.
Net and comprehensive income from discontinued operations was $91,930 in Q3 2024 compared to a net and comprehensive loss of $92,094 in Q3 2023. The $184,024 quarter over quarter increase to net and comprehensive income was due to a reduction in operating expenses after the decision was made to hibernate operations and the successful collection of aged accounts receivable previously written off as bad debt.
Outlook
The Company continues to work with its growing list of brand partners, developing products that are lighter, stronger, and recycle-ready. These partnerships are built on the mutual understanding that performance and circularity can be synonymous in the outdoor industry and beyond. The products that are born from these partnerships work to change the industry for the better.
The windsports and performance outdoor categories are still the core drivers of ALUULA's growth as more new companies move from concept into commercialization launching new ALUULA enabled products in these areas. Collaborative research and development programs with other industrial partners, such as Michelin Inflatable Solutions and AirSeas, continue to advance the materials' development as these opportunities move closer to commercial viability.
Product innovation, strength, weight, and circularity are key areas of focus for ALUULA and its brand partners. ALUULA management believes that focusing on these areas, as well as continued improvements to the patented manufacturing process, will continue to improve efficiencies and profitability. The Company continues to focus on stabilizing the corporate foundation to enable a strong base for future growth.
Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis
This earnings press release should be read in conjunction with ALUULA's interim financial statements for the three and nine months ended July 31, 2024 and the related management discussion & analysis, which can be found on ALUULA's website and its issuer profile on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval Plus at www.sedarplus.ca.
About ALUULA Composites
ALUULA is an ultra-light, high performance and recycle-ready composite materials brand that enhances the performance of outdoor gear. Proudly owned and manufactured on the Canadian west coast, ALUULA's innovation is driven by a deep understanding that equipment does not need to sacrifice performance for sustainability. ALUULA's materials are known for their unique construction capabilities and their ability to make products lighter, stronger, and more sustainable.
aluula.com | TSXV: AUUA
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Sage Berryman
Chief Executive Officer
1-888-724-2470
For ALUULA investor inquiries, please contact:
1-888-724-2470, ext. 4
IR@aluula.com
For ALUULA media relations, please contact:
media@aluula.com
ALUULA's Brand Partners
The term "brand partners" does not refer to formal partnerships with our customers. The term refers to marketing relationships with our customers who use ALUULA's technology as a brand ingredient in their products.
TSX Venture Exchange
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.
Forward-Looking Statements
The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans, and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based on assumptions subject to significant risks and uncertainties as described in the Company's management discussion and analysis. Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, including the timing and receipt of all applicable regulatory, corporate third-party approvals, the actual results, expectations, achievements, or performance may differ materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward-looking statement will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224640
SOURCE: ALUULA Composites Inc.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Maritime Resources Corp. (TSXV: MAE) ("Maritime" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Allen Palmiere, an existing member of the Company's board of directors (the "Board"), has been named Chairman of the Board. John Hayes has stepped down as Chairman but will continue as a member of the Board.
Garett Macdonald, President and CEO, commented, "This change is being made to support the Company as it transitions towards development with the near term cash flow from our Hammerdown Gold Project in Newfoundland and Labrador. Maritime closed an $8 million rights offering backed by the Company's largest shareholder Dundee Corporation, who further increased their ownership to approximately 43% (calculated on a partially diluted basis), since the rights offering closed on September 11, 2004. This represents an important endorsement of the Company's potential. We think that Allen's 35 years of management experience in the mining industry will be of significant benefit to Company at this stage. I would like to thank John Hayes for his contribution as board chair over the last five years, where he successfully led the board through challenging capital markets while being instrumental in Maritime reaching this important inflection point."
Echoing support for the current position of the Company, Jonathan Goodman, CEO of Maritime's major shareholder Dundee Corporation commented, "Maritime presents a unique opportunity. With a fully permitted mine at Hammerdown and an operational mill at Pine Cove, Maritime has a pathway to become a cash flow generating company. Add the exploration potential, and you have the requirements for a long-term successful venture. Dundee is committed to supporting Maritime and all our portfolio companies to unlock value for investors."
About Maritime Resources Corp.:
Maritime (TSXV: MAE) (OTC Pink: MRTMF) is a gold exploration and development company focused on advancing the Hammerdown Gold Project in the Baie Verte District of Newfoundland and Labrador, a top tier global mining jurisdiction. Maritime holds a 100% interest directly and subject to option agreements entitling it to earn 100% ownership in the Green Bay Property which includes the former Hammerdown gold mine and the Orion gold project. Maritime controls over 439 km2 of exploration land including the Green Bay, Whisker Valley, Gull Ridge and Point Rousse projects. Mineral processing assets owned by Maritime in the Baie Verte mining district include the Pine Cove mill and the Nugget Pond gold circuit. The Company also owns the Lac Pelletier gold project in Rouyn Noranda, Quebec.
On Behalf of the Board
MARITIME RESOURCES CORP.
3200-650 West Georgia St.
Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 4P7
Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements:
Certain of the statements made and information contained herein is "forward-looking information" within the meaning of National Instrument 51-102 - Continuous Disclosure Obligations of the Canadian Securities Administrators. These statements and information are based on facts currently available to the Company and there is no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements and information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "targets", "estimates", "plans", "expects", "may", "will", "could" or "would". While the Company considers its assumptions to be reasonable as of the date hereof, forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees of future performance and readers should not place undue importance on such statements as actual events and results may differ materially from those described herein. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements in this news release include without limitation, statements with respect to development of the Hammerdown Gold project and near term cash flow, among others. All forward-looking information contained in this press release is given as of the date hereof, and is based on the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as of the date hereof. 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 may be required by applicable securities laws.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the 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/224618
SOURCE: Maritime Resources Corp.
Bogdan Uzbekov, founder, Apron
Apron, a London, UK-based business payments company, raised a $30m Series B funding round.
The round was led by Zinal Growth, with participation from existing investors Index Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners, Visionaries Club, alongside investor Tony Fadell, inventor of the iPod and Principal at Build Collective.
The company intends to use the funds to expand product and engineering teams ahead of major expenses management launch and development of product range for larger business customers.
Led by Bogdan Uzbekov, Founder & CEO, Apron provides a payments platform for small businesses to digitise and simplify their payments processes whether capturing invoices, enabling collaboration for approvals, or combining long lists of invoices into one batch pay solution.
Through its proprietary payments platform, Apron enables customers to pay anyone, whether its employees or suppliers anywhere in the world. Apron also integrates with a businesss existing accounting tools (Xero or Quickbooks) for instant payment reconciliation.
Today, thousands of invoices and millions in payments pass through the platform daily, helping more businesses save time and get back to doing what they love.
FinSMEs
25/09/2024
Oak Essential, a Los Angeles, CA-based beauty brand, received an investment from Silas Capital and Unilever Ventures.
The amount of the deal was not disclosed.
The company intends to use the funds for enhanced product development, increased marketing efforts, and broader distribution.
Founded by Jenni Kayne, Oak Essentials offers an assortment of skincare essentials including the cult-classic Moisture Rich Balm, Ritual Oil, and Dew Body Oil. In the three years since inception, the brand has launched 26 products, initially focusing on skincare before expanding into body care. Oak Essentials has sold over half a million products since launch.
Most recently, the brand launched Renew Face Polish, which contains biodegradable, sustainably sourced ingredients. Upcoming launches through the end of 2024 will include a moisturizing cleanser and bath products.
FinSMEs
25/09/2025
Seen, a NYC-based haircare brand, closed a $9m Series A funding.
Backers included:
Mitch Rales, Co-Founder of Danaher Corporation;
Somerville SPV;
Sator Grove Holdings;
George Mrkonic, a Board Director of Ulta Beauty, Inc., and
Dr. Rox Anderson at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate growth.
Led by Harvard-trained Dermatologist Dr. Iris Rubin and Greg Maged, Seen is a premier science-backed, clinically-proven beauty brand, which sits at the intersection of multiple billion-dollar markets, including haircare, sensitive skin, acne, eczema, dry scalp, and hair thinning. Its products are clean, vegan, cruelty-free, and formulated without clogging oils, silicones, phthalates, parabens, dyes, gluten, or formaldehyde-releasing preservatives.
Seen has been issued five patents, over 7,000 5-star reviews, and over a dozen beauty awards, and holds the National Eczema Associations Seal of Acceptance for its fragrance-free line. The products are available nationwide at HelloSeen.com, ULTA, Amazon, Dermstore, and SkinStore.
The brand also provides financial support to laser clinics in Armenia and Vietnam, which treat children with disfiguring birthmarks and scars.
FinSMEs
25/09/2024
ShipTop, a Vancouver, BC-based eCommerce logistics platform provider, raised $500K in Seed funding.
The round was led by Dino Verbrugge and Jared Vegosen, co-founders of DV Trading Company, a Chicago-based proprietary trading firm.
The company intends to use the funds to enhance its technology platform, expand its service offerings, and reach a broader market of eCommerce merchants.
Led by CEO Ash Jamshidpour, ShipTop is a eCommerce fulfillment provider utilizing advanced technologies to help businesses optimize and scale their logistics operations. Its digital platform combines omnichannel capabilities with essential features of order and inventory management, enabling fast, accurate fulfillment and a real-time, cross-channel view of all key processes. With its network of fulfillment centers across Canada and the U.S., the company offers logistics solutions to meet the diverse needs of global merchants. By combining industry expertise with digital innovation, it empowers brands of all sizes to streamline their fulfillment processes at competitive rates, driving growth and operational efficiency.
FinSMEs
25/09/2024
Hyundai Motor India Limited got market regulator Sebis nod for its around $3 billion IPO after the automaker filed draft papers in June this year read more
Hyundai Motor India Limited, the Indian arm of South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Co has secured markets regulator, Sebis, approval to float its proposed initial public offer (IPO) of around $3 billion (around Rs 25,000).
This record breaking Hyundai Motors IPO, considered to be Indias biggest, is expected to be launched within a few days from now in October.
On 15 June this year, Hyundai Motor India Ltd had filed a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) targeting a valuation of around $18 billion-$20 billion.
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9 things about Hyundai Motor India Ltd IPO
1 - If the listing plans fructify, Hyundai Motor Indias IPO would be India Incs biggest-ever and surpass the earlier record set by LICs share sale of Rs 21,000 crore in 2022.
2 - In the DRHP filed by Hyundai Motor India in June, the company proposed that its public offering is entirely an Offer-for-Sale (OFS) of 142,194,700 equity shares by promoter Hyundai Motor Company, with no fresh issue component.
3 - The face value of Equity Shares will be Rs 10 each.
4 - Hyundai Motor India also expects that listing of the Equity Shares will enhance its visibility and brand image as well as provide liquidity and a public market for the Equity Shares in India.
5 - Hyundai IPO will be an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 142 million shares, or a 17.5 per cent stake, by its South Korean parent.
6 - Hyundai Motor India would be the first car manufacturer to go public in India in two decades, following Maruti Suzukis IPO in 2003.
7 - Hyundai Motors India is being advised by Citi, HSBC Securities, JP Morgan, Kotak Mahindra Capital and Morgan Stanley for the issue.
8 - Law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas is acting as the company counsel, while Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas is the banks counsel.
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9 - Latham and Watkins is the international counsel of the company.
Kangana Ranaut will be next seen in Emergency. The film was supposed to release on 6th September but got postponed due to delay in certification process read more
Actress and politician Kangana Ranaut, who is known for her bold and controversial statements, accused Bollywood actors of assaulting women in the industry.
Do you know how do these heroes assault women? They call them for dinners, message them, ask them to come home, Kangana told News18.
Look at rape threats to me. We know that we do not respect women. The film industry is no different. College boys comment on females. Film heroes are no different. They are also like this. We know how a woman is treated at a workplace, she added talking about the Kolkata murder and rape case.
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With a heavy heart I announce that my directorial Emergency has been postponed, we are still waiting for the certification from censor board, new release date will be announced soon, thanks for your understanding and patience Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) September 6, 2024
INDIA is INDIRA & INDIRA is INDIA!!!
The Most Powerful Woman In The History of the country,
The Darkest Chapter She Wrote in its History!
Witness ambition collide with tyranny. #EmergencyTrailer Out Now!#KanganaRanauts #Emergency Unfolds In cinemas worldwide on 6th September pic.twitter.com/6RYUQpadfk Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) August 14, 2024
Reflecting on Saroj Khans comment on rape, she said, Even Saroj Khan was once asked about rape and sexual assault in the film industry when she said, Rape toh karte hai par roti bhi dete hai. This is the situation of our daughters in this film industry.
Choreographer Saroj Khan once grabbed the headlines with her statement as she said, Government ke log karte hain to tum film industry ke peeche kyun pade ho? Wo to roti to bhi deti hai, rape karke chorr to nahi deti. (Even people in the government abuse girls and women, why are you after the film industry? The industry also provides livelihood, it does not discard the woman after that)
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However, after backlash, she apologised for her statement.
Amid the growing controversy surrounding the alleged adulteration of laddus at the Tirupati temple, authorities at Odishas iconic Jagannath Temple have decided to test the purity of the ghee used in preparing the mahaprasad. Though there have been no specific complaints about the offering, the temple administration has decided to test the ghee read more
Authorities in Puri have decided to test the purity of the ghee used in preparing mahaprasad. Image courtesy: X
Amid the growing controversy surrounding the alleged adulteration of laddus at Tirupati temple, Odishas iconic Jagannath Temple has come under the scanner. Authorities in Puri have decided to test the purity of the ghee used in preparing mahaprasad.
Although no specific complaints have been raised about the sacred offering, the temple administration is not leaving anything to chance. A state government-led investigation into the quality of ghee has been initiated, an official confirmed to The Times of India on Tuesday.
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Heres a closer look at how the issue unfolded at Odishas most revered temple
Decision to examine mahaprasad
Puris District Collector, Siddharth Shankar Swain, clarified that although no allegations of adulteration have been made, the administration will still proceed with testing the quality of the ghee used for preparing Kotha Bhoga (prasad for the deities) and Baradi Bhoga (prasad on order) at the 12th-century shrine.
Thousands of devotees visit the Jagannath Temple in Puri every day and have prasad. The temple kitchen has the capacity to cook for one lakh devotees a day. The mahaprasad, prepared in earthen pots using firewood, relies heavily on ghee as a key ingredient, reports Indian Express.
Once cooked, it is first offered to Lord Jagannatha and then to Goddess Bimala, after which it becomes mahaprasad.
The decision to conduct these tests comes amid the wider controversy over alleged adulteration of laddus at the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. On September 18, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, citing a National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) report, claimed that animal fat had been used in Tirupati laddus during the previous government, when YS Jagan Mohan Reddy served as Chief Minister.
A row has broken out over the alleged use of substandard ingredients and animal fat in the preparation of the world-renowned Tirupati laddu. Image Courtesy: X
In response, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), led by Reddy, dismissed the accusations as heinous allegations designed for political gain.
Earlier, Mumbais renowned Siddhivinayak Temple faced a similar controversy after a viral video showed mice crawling over torn prasad packets. However, the temple authorities denied these claims saying that the video was shot outside the temple premises.
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Lakhs of laddus are distributed daily, and the place they are prepared is clean. The video shows a dirty place. I can see it is not of the temple and has been shot somewhere outside, Sada Sarvankar, Shiv Sena leader and chairperson of the Shree Siddhivinayak Ganpati Temple (SSGT) Trust, told PTI.
Nonetheless, a probe has been launched at the Siddhivinayak Temple to further investigate the matter.
We will check the CCTV, and an officer of DCP rank will be appointed to conduct an inquiry. Action will be taken against whoever is found guilty, Sarvankar said.
Set standard for ghee used at the shrine
Swain emphasised that the Odisha Milk Federation (Omfed), a government-owned entity, has been supplying ghee to the temple for several years.
However, a decision has been taken to examine the standard of ghee being supplied by Omfed to allay any fear of adulteration, he told PTI, adding that discussions will take place with both Omfed representatives and temple servitors responsible for preparing the prasad.
The district administration has already held talks with the food safety authorities to check the standards of materials stored at present, the collector said.
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The administration has also decided to check the quality of ghee used for diyas in the temple. Image for Representation. Imge courtesy: Instagram/@ak_atulkrishna
The administration has also decided to check the quality of ghee used for diyas in the temple, said the district collector after Jagannath Swain Mohapatra, a servitor at the temple, alleged that earlier adulterated ghee was found to be used for lighting diyas or lamps on the temple premises.
That has been stopped. We will request the temples chief administrator for a complete test of the ghee used here, he said, maintaining that the faith of devotes was very important.
With input from agencies
Two days after the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case was shot dead in retaliatory firing, Badla Pura (revenge completed) hoardings featuring Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis brandishing a gun appeared across Mumbai. In the lead-up to the Maharashtra Assembly polls, the case and the accuseds untimely death have become major points of contention read more
The death of the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case in a retaliatory firing on Monday has sparked a massive controversy in Maharashtra.
Two days after the incident, hoardings congratulating Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have appeared in various locations.
This comes ahead of the crucial Maharashtra Assembly elections that are scheduled to take place in the second week of November.
It looks like the ruling NDA bloc has intensified its political rhetoric in the lead-up to the polls.
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Heres how it could be a turning point in the run-up to the elections.
The posters
Several banners featuring Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis have appeared across Mumbai.
One of the posters features Fadnavis brandishing a revolver while the words Badla Pura which means revenge completed are displayed boldly.
Notably, many of these posters dont specify which political party they are linked.
After Badlapur sexual abuse accused Akshay Shinde's death in a custodial van, posters of 'Badlapura' with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were seen in Mumbai. #Badlapur #BadlapurCase pic.twitter.com/qod5ottyMD Vani Mehrotra (@vani_mehrotra) September 25, 2024
Furthermore, in some banners, the Maha Vikas Aghadi has been singled out by the BJP, saying that the MVA encouraged corruption while in office.
One of the posters claims, During the MVA administration, police collected money for the government, now, the police protect the public.
The Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, has also run newspaper advertising in which they refer to the chief minister as Dharamvir and blame competitors of politicising sensitive issues such as rape, as per NDTV.
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A turning point
Crucial Maharashtra Assembly elections are coming up in November.
In the run-up, the Badlapur sex assault case and the accuseds untimely death have become major points of contention.
After suffering a loss in the June Lok Sabha election, the ruling NDA alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawars NCP is hoping to reverse the trend in the state polls.
The bloc was put on the defensive, especially after the opposition questioned the states law and order situation after two four-year-old girls were sexually assaulted by Akshay Shinde at a schools toilet last month.
Now that the accused is dead, the alliance will try to control the narrative and gain the upper hand.
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CM Shinde and Fadnavis both have slammed the opposition for questioning the accuseds death in custody.
The incident
Akshay Shinde, 24, was being taken from Taloja jail to Badlapur for an investigation into a new abuse and rape case filed by his ex-wife.
He allegedly snatched assistant police inspector Nilesh Mores service gun when they were near Mumbai Bypass and fired three rounds. Two of the shots missed their aim and one struck Mores leg.
Akshays family has alleged a conspiracy planned by the police and the Badlapur school management, where the accused worked as a sweeper. News18 Marathi
Another official retaliated by firing back at Shinde, leaving him critically injured. He was declared dead at a hospital. A team of five doctors at JJ Hospital conducted the post-mortem and handed over the body and report to the Mumbra police.
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Shindes father, Anna Shinde, has now approached the Bombay High Court, alleging that his son was killed in a fake encounter. The family has alleged that Akshay was killed as part of a conspiracy by police and management of the school. We want justice. The family would have accepted the verdict delivered by the court after a trial, but we are poor people; we dont have a voice, Anna told PTI.
The opposition, too, termed it a fake encounter, while demanding a judicial probe.
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? ? Vijay Wadettiwar (@VijayWadettiwar) September 23, 2024
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Governments response
CM Eknath Shinde and his deputy Fadnavis said police shot dead Akshay in self-defence.
Shinde slammed the opposition by saying, Earlier, the opposition parties demanded that Akshay Shinde be hanged. Now, they are taking his side and questioning the integrity of Maharashtra police. Such act of the opposition leaders is condemnable and unfortunate.
He explained that the police were taking him to Badlapur to probe allegations made by his ex-wife.
The opposition raises questions on every issue. They had wanted him to be hanged. It is wrong to say such things when the police tried to save lives, the Deputy CM echoed.
Bombay HC on the encounter
Hearing the petition submitted by Akshays father, the Bombay High Court questioned the cause and circumstances leading to the 24-year-olds death.
The state governments counsel said the pistol allegedly snatched by Akshay could in unlocked in two ways. One way is pulling the upper portion, the deceased pulled the slider, it popped and he fired, he said. However, the court said this was hard to believe" that the police could not overpower a layman.
It requires strength for the slider to pop. (A) layman cannot fire a pistol unless he is trained, (a) revolver is different. According to you, he fired three bullets. Only one hit the police officer. What about the others?
Why was the accused shot in the head, and not in the hand or legs first? How could we believe that the police could not overpower the accused? the court asked.
Till he fired three shots, where were you? You could have easily overpowered (him). It is not like he was a hefty man. This cant be termed as an encounter. This is not an encounter, the court said.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan also directed the government to check CCTV cameras and conduct an impartial investigation.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing on October 3.
CID investigation
The Maharashtra government has instructed the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) to conduct a probe into Akshays death.
The team is expected to visit the Mumbra Bypass crime scene and take statements from the police officers who were present during the incident.
The sexual assault case
Two kindergarten students in Badlapur were sexually assaulted in a school toilet by Akshay on August 12. He was appointed on a contractual basis to clean school washrooms on August 1.
The 23-year-old accused was arrested on August 17 five days after the parents learnt about the incident and filed an FIR.
Following the horrifying rape-murder of a young doctor at a hospital in Kolkata, the tragedy had sparked widespread protests in the Thane town. Police had to physically remove thousands of people who had been blocking local train tracks for hours.
Police personnel try to disperse people blocking railway tracks in protest at Badlapur railway station, in Thane district, Tuesday, August 20, 2024. PTI
The police investigation was harshly criticised by the Bombay High Court, which had acted suo motu. The court specifically pointed out that the police deviated from rules while questioning the children.
The mandate of the law is not followed by Badlapur police. They attempted to record the victim girls statements at the police station. There is complete non-compliance with the mandate. Asking the victim and her parents to come to the police station for a statement recording is completely insensitive and against the law, the court said.
The school faced criticism as well; the court questioned their recruitment process and their decision to let male attendants and cleaners into the girls restrooms.
With inputs from agencies
Chinas Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric project in the world, doesnt just generate immense power it might also affect Earths rotation. Nasa scientists suggest that the dams massive reservoir, holding 40 cubic kilometres of water, could increase the length of a day by 0.06 microseconds and shift Earths axis by 2 centimetres read more
A general view shows the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in Yichang, Hubei province, China, May 4, 2017. File Image/Reuters
The Three Gorges Dam in China, the worlds largest hydroelectric power station, has long been a subject of fascination not only for its engineering marvel but also for its potential impact on Earths rotation.
While this claim might sound far-fetched, there is scientific evidence suggesting that the dam could indeed alter the planets spin, albeit in very subtle ways.
What makes the Three Gorges Dam so unique?
The Three Gorges Dam, located on the Yangtze River in Chinas Hubei Province, stands as a monumental achievement of human engineering. The dam was completed in 2012 after nearly two decades of construction. Its staggering dimensions 2,335 metres (7,660 feet) long and 185 metres (607 feet) high make it the largest dam ever built.
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The dams reservoir has a capacity of 40 cubic kilometres (about 10 trillion gallons) of water, which can produce up to 22,500 megawatts of electricity, meeting the energy needs of millions.
Beyond its hydroelectric capabilities, the dam also controls flooding and improves river navigation, making it a key part of Chinas broader economic and infrastructural strategy.
However, despite these benefits, the project has been mired in controversy, largely due to its environmental and social impacts. The dam displaced over 1.3 million people and flooded 632 square kilometres of land, affecting wildlife habitats and local ecosystems.
How does the dam impact Earths rotation?
The most surprising claim about the Three Gorges Dam is its potential effect on Earths rotation, a topic that first came into the spotlight in a 2005 Nasa post.
According to Dr. Benjamin Fong Chao, a geophysicist at Nasas Goddard Space Flight Center, the dams massive reservoir holds enough water to shift the distribution of Earths mass. This is based on the principle of moment of inertia, which governs how the distribution of mass affects an objects rotational speed.
Chao calculated that the dams reservoir could increase the length of a day by approximately 0.06 microseconds. In addition to slowing Earths spin, the dam could also shift the planets pole position by about 2 centimetres (0.8 inches).
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Its not much, but its fairly significant for a human-made structure, Chao said. While these changes are minute and imperceptible in daily life, they highlight how human engineering can, in theory, have planetary-scale effects.
Can disasters effect Earths rotation?
The notion that human activity can affect Earths rotation isnt entirely new. In fact, Nasa scientists have long studied how natural disasters, such as earthquakes, can impact the planets spin.
A particularly striking example occurred in 2004 when a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the Indian Ocean. This catastrophic event, with its large-scale tectonic plate movements, shortened the length of a day by 2.68 microseconds, according to Nasa research.
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Although the effect of the Three Gorges Dam is much smaller than that of an earthquake, the comparison highlights the delicate balance of Earths rotational dynamics. Large-scale redistributions of mass whether caused by natural events or human-made structurescan shift the planets moment of inertia and slightly alter the length of a day.
The events and the effect they have had on a days length:
Three Gorges Dam: +0.06 microseconds
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake: -2.68 microseconds
Climate change (Est. effect): Gradual increase
What role does Climate change play in Earths mass?
Humanitys influence on Earths rotation isnt limited to monumental infrastructure like the Three Gorges Dam. Climate change also plays a significant role in shifting the distribution of the planets mass.
As global temperatures rise, the polar ice caps melt, and sea levels increase, causing more water to accumulate near the equator. This redistribution of mass could, in theory, further slow Earths spin.
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Humans are influencing the rotation of the Earth in other ways too, according to Nasa scientists. This gradual accumulation of mass at the equator, combined with the polar ice melt, has the potential to slow down Earths rotation over the coming decades.
However, much like the effect of the Three Gorges Dam, the changes would be minuscule and barely noticeable in everyday life.
Will it change the way we keep time?
One of the most fascinating implications of these changes, however small, lies in the field of global timekeeping. As Earths rotation gradually slows, even by tiny fractions of a second, time-keeping mechanisms like atomic clocks, which are used for ultra-precise measurements, may need to be recalibrated.
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Some scientists have suggested that a negative leap second a minute with just 59 seconds might be required in the next few decades to adjust for these gradual changes in day length.
While this might seem trivial, the cumulative effects of time-keeping errors could disrupt modern technologies that rely on precise timing, including GPS systems, satellite communications, and financial transactions.
The effect is negligible to our everyday perception of life on planet Earth but it could lead to confusion for super-accurate time-keeping devices like atomic clocks, reported IFL Science.
With inputs from agencies
China has successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) carrying a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean. This is the first such launch in over 40 years. Usually, Beijing carries out nuclear weapon tests domestically read more
Military vehicles carrying the DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles roll during a parade to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing. On Wednesday, China test-fired this into the Pacific Ocean. File image/Reuters
Chinas military strength and weapons arsenal has often been spoken about. On Wednesday morning, this power was put on display when the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean.
The timing of the launch is significant; it comes during the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York.
However, while China noted that the launch was routine, analysts and China watchers differed, saying it was unusual. Heres why.
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What do we know of the test launch?
On Wednesday morning, at 8.44 am local time, Chinas PLA launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), carrying a simulated warhead into the Pacific Ocean.
This ICBM is the DF-41, which first came into service in 2017. It is known to have an operational range of up to 12,00015,000 km, capable of reaching the United States mainland.
Chinese state-run media have claimed the missile can load up to 10 MIRV warheads with a total weight of 2,500 kg.
Chinas defence ministry and state media offered little to no other details about the test.
Later, the Chinese defence ministry in a statement said that the ICBM carrying the dummy warhead, fell into expected sea areas, and that it was a routine arrangement in the militarys annual training plan.
It is in line with international law and international practice and is not directed against any country or target, it said.
The DF-41, which first came into service in 2017, is known to have an operational range of up to 12,00015,000 km, capable of reaching the United States mainland. File image/Reuters
Why is the launch unusual?
While the Asian giant maintains that the missile launch was routine, experts dont agree.
They note that this is the first time that China has launched an ICBM in international waters since 1980. Usually, when China tests nuclear weapons, it is usually done in the countrys Taklamakan Desert in the Xinjiang region.
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However, in May 1980, China had launched an ICBM the DF-5 which flew 9,070 km from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre and landed in the Pacific. That test, according to a BBC report, had involved 18 Chinese naval ships and is still regarded as one of Chinas biggest naval missions.
Speaking of Wednesdays launch, Ankit Panda, a nuclear weapons expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote on X, Unless Im missing something, I think this is essentially the first time this has happened (and been announced as such) in a long time.
He also pointed out that calling it routine and annual was odd, given that they dont do this sort thing either routinely or annually.
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Interestingly, China said that it had notified other countries about the launch in advance, with NHK reporting that Australia and the US had been informed. However, a top government official in Japan said that it had received no prior intimation. There was no advance notification from the Chinese side to the Japanese side, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a news conference, adding that the missile was not confirmed to have passed over Japanese territory.
New Zealand also called the missile test an unwelcome and concerning development.
What does Chinas nuclear arsenal look like?
Experts believe that Wednesdays ICBM launch by China is an indicator of the countrys growing nuclear and missile arsenal. The Pentagon had earlier reported that the Xi Jinping-led country was developing its arsenal more quickly than the United States had anticipated.
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China has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads in its arsenal, of which approximately 350 are ICBMs, and will probably have over 1,000 warheads by 2030, the Pentagon has estimated. It further said that Chinas military is also constructing hundreds of silos for land-based ICBMs.
On the other hand, the US has 1,770 operational warheads while Russia has 1,710.
Experts also note that the launch was Beijings way of sending a message to the world. Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Singapores Nanyang Technological University told CNN, This is quite a statement to launch a ballistic missile into the Pacific at this time when China is in conflict with many of its neighbours. This launch is a powerful signal intended to intimidate everyone.
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With inputs from AFP, Reuters and agencies
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to address the UN General Assembly today in New York. In India, Jammu and Kashmir will head to polls for Phase 2 of the Assembly Elections in 26 constituencies across the Union Territory. A Group of Ministers (GoM) will meet in Goa to discuss the revision of tax slabs and rates under GST read more
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the the Summit of the Future at United Nations headquarters. AP
It is set to be a packed Wednesday with several events lined up for the day.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) today in New York while many districts of Jammu and Kashmir are set to cast their votes in the second phase of the elections slated to take place.
A Group of Ministers (GoM) will meet to discuss the potential revisions of tax slab and rates while French President Emmanuel Macron is headed to Canada to hold bilateral talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
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Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will hear Sharad Pawar-led partys plea seeking that both factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) be given new poll symbols. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to attend the 9th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Uzbekistan.
Here are some of the events planned for the day ahead.
Ukraines President Zelenskyy to address UNGA
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to address the United Nations General Assembly today. As per the Ukrainska Pravda, Zelenskyy is expected to use the opportunity to hold talks with Ukraines partners about the Russian invasion.
Ukraine is seeking permission to use weapons provided by its partners against targets set deep in the Russian territory from where they launch bloody attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Second phase of Jammu and Kashmir elections
The second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir elections is set to take place today in 26 assembly seats. Some of the districts headed to polls are Budgam, Srinagar and Ganderbal in Kashmir and Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu.
Also See: In Photos: Jammu and Kashmir votes for the first time in 10 years
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As per the Election Commission (EC), more than 2.5 million people are eligible to cast their votes in the second phase of the elections. Security arrangements have been tightened across the region in view of the polls.
During the first phase of the elections in the Union Territory,
GoM to discuss GST tax slabs, rates revision
The ministerial panel on Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate rationalisation will meet on September 25 to discuss the tweaking of tax slabs and rates. The six-member Group of Ministers (GoM) under Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, last met on August 22 and submitted a status report to the GST Council on September 9.
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The meeting of the GoM on rate rationalisation is scheduled for September 25 in Goa, an official told PTI. The six-member GoM also includes Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, Rajasthan Health Services Minister Gajendra Singh, and Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal.
During the August meeting, the panel tasked the fitment committee comprising tax officers from the Centre and states to analyse the implication of tax rate change on some items and gather more data. Currently, goods and services tax (GST) is a four-tier tax structure with slabs at 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent.
French President Macron to visit Canada
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The President of France Emmanuel Macron is set to visit Canada from September 25 to 26 to hold bilateral talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Macron will visit Ottawa, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec.
As per an official statement by the Canadian government, the two leaders will discuss the support that Canada and France are providing to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russias war of aggression. They will also explore ways to strengthen our two countries capacity to respond to emerging threats, including countering disinformation and advancing other critical issues.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the occasion of their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris. AP
In Montreal, the Prime Minister will showcase to the President Canadas innovation and highly skilled workforce in science, research, and technology, especially in artificial intelligence (AI). He will reaffirm Canadas commitment to working together with France and other international partners on the responsible adoption of AI, including within the framework of the successive G7 Presidencies that Canada and France will hold, in 2025 and 2026 respectively, the official statement informed.
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SC to hear Sharad Pawar-led partys plea seeking both NCP factions be given new poll symbols
The Supreme Court is set to hear a plea filed by Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to allot new poll symbols to both factions ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
In an earlier hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi who is appearing for te Sharad Pawar faction submitted that they want urgent listing of the matter in view of the assembly elections in Maharashtra. Singhvi said that till the matter is finally decided, both the groups should be given new symbols ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
The issue arose after the EC allotted the NCP symbol clock to the group led by Ajit Pawar. Meanwhile, the NCP, founded by Sharad Pawar, had a clock as its election symbol before its split. On March 19, the top court allowed the Sharad Pawar faction to use Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar as its name along with the symbol of Man blowing Turha ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in the country.
Finance Minister Sitharaman to attend AIIB annual meet in Uzbekistan
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to attend the 9th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) scheduled in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. She will also hold bilateral meetings with her counterparts from Uzbekistan, Qatar, China, and AIIB President.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her interaction with MSMEs and Chamber of Commerce of Coimbatore in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. PTI
As per a finance ministry notice, she will embark on an official visit to Uzbekistan from September 24 to 28. In the Annual Meeting of AIIB, the Union Finance Minister will attend as the Indian Governor to the AIIB. India is the second largest shareholder of the bank. The multilateral discussions centred around a broad spectrum of important global issues relevant to the development agenda, the finance ministry said.
As part of the official visit, she is expected to call on Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Uzbekistan, informed news agency PTI. During the visit, the finance minisrtry said Sitharaman will sign a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between India and Uzbekistan.
On this day
Birth anniversary of co-founder of Jana Sangh Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya
Birth anniversary of renowned Indian space scientist Satish Dhawan
Birth anniversary of actor Feroze Khan
Birth anniversary of actor Michael Douglas
Birth anniversary of actor Will Smith
The first human blood transfusion was in 1818
The International Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery was first signed in 1926
The Royal Jordanian Air Force was founded in 1955
Two terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammed raided the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar in 2002, killing 30 people
With inputs from agencies
Japan, which recorded its lowest inventory of rice since 1999 in June, last month witnessed panic buying of its staple. Japans officials have blamed hot weather for a decline in harvest last year, while local media have blamed tourists for increasing the demand for rice-based dishes read more
With an annual consumption of around seven million tons per year, it is by far the most consumed food staple in the country. Reuters
Japan is staring at a rice shortage.
A mix of hot weather and an increase in tourists has left the country facing a shortfall of its staple.
Throughout summer 2024, Japan has been grappling with a table rice shortage resulting in empty supermarket as demand outpaced production for the last three years causing stocks to deplete to their lowest levels in over 20 years, the US Department of Agriculture wrote in a report last week.
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Lets take a closer look at what happened:
What happened?
The importance of rice in Japanese culture cannot be underestimated.
Rices harvesting has shaped the nations landscape even being used as a currency in the 7th Century.
With an annual consumption of around seven million tons per year, it is by far the most consumed food staple in the country.
August witnessed rice shelves in some stores going bare and stocks rationed after the government warned against panic buying.
We could only procure half the usual amount of rice this summer and bags of rice get quickly sold out, a clerk at a branch of the popular Fresco supermarket chain told AFP in the Japanese capital.
Rice shelves in some stores emptied or stocks were rationed after a government warning of a possible megaquake, as well as several typhoons and the annual Obon holiday.
Other factors include lower harvests caused by hot weather and water shortages, as well as increased demand related to record numbers of foreign tourists.
CNBC quoted local media as saying that tourists, who have been flocking to Japan, have been increasing the demand for rice-based dishes.
Around 17.8 million tourists came to Japan in the first half of 2024.
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In July, 3.3 million visitors entered the country the most for a single month.
The outlet quoted Oscar Tjakra, senior analyst at global food and agriculture bank Rabobank as saying tourists consumed 51,000 tons of rice from July 2023 through June 2024.
A crowd of tourists walk at Nishiki Market in Kyoto, western Japan. Reuters
That number was at just 19,000 tons from July 2022 to June 2023.
At one food store in Tokyo, a sign seen by AFP read: In order for many customers to be able to buy, we ask you to purchase one (bag of rice) a day per family.
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A worker at another store in Tokyo said: We cant purchase any rice at all, and theres no prospect of buying anytime soon.
The Fresco worker told AFP that daily stocks ran out by midday.
Customers queue up before the store opens but piles of bags, each of which contains 10 kilograms (22 pounds), are always sold out during the morning, he said.
CNBC quoted local media as saying rice prices touched $112.67 per 60 kilos in August.
Thats a three per cent increase from July and a five per cent hike since the beginning of 2024.
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Japans private inventories of rice stood at 1.56 million tons for June, marking the lowest in years, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
The nations stockpile in June was the lowest since 1999 when comparable data was first collected, but officials believe the inventory is sufficient.
The chief reasons behind the record-low inventory is a decline in production last year due to high temperatures combined with water shortages, and the relative cheapness of rice prices compared to prices of other crops such as wheat, farm ministry official Hiroshi Itakura told Agence France-Presse.
The increase in demand by foreign tourists has also contributed, Itakura added.
Japan last September witnessed its highest temperatures since records began being kept 100 years ago.
A new harvesting season has started with 40 percent of the crop available by the end of September, a farm ministry official told AFP.
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Though Japan had an average harvest in 2023, its quality of rice was notably inferior.
As per The Diplomat, just under 60 per cent of the rice was given the highest marks by the authorities.
In 2022, that number was around 76 per cent.
Isolated from world market
Some say Japans policies are also an issue.
The country imposes a heavy 778 per cent tariff on rice imports to safeguard its farmers.
The Japan rice economy remains largely isolated from the world market, Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, told CNBC.
Japan previously witnessed riots over rice in 1993 and 1918, as per The Diplomat.
Others have denied that tourists have played a major role in the shortage of rice.
The Diplomat quoted ex-MAFF official Yamashita Kazuhito as calling them a minor factor.
Tourists account for, at most, 0.5 percent of Japans total annual rice consumption, as per the outlet.
Farm minister Tetsushi Sakamoto appealed for calm.
Please be cool-headed in your purchase activity by buying only the amount of rice you need, Sakamoto said, stressing the supply shortage situation will be gradually resolved.
Demand has been falling for some time, however, because of a declining population and changing eating habits by many Japanese as they opt for alternatives.
With inputs from agencies
Voting for the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections is underway, sealing the fate of 239 candidates in the fray. Here are the key seats and prominent faces read more
J&K is voting in the Assembly polls for the first time in a decade. File Photo/AP
Jammu and Kashmir is holding the second phase of its Assembly elections today (September 25). As many as 239 candidates are in the fray as 26 Assembly seats in six districts of the Union Territory vote.
More than 25.78 lakh people are eligible to exercise their franchise in the second phase of J&K Assembly polls. Of these, 13.12 lakh are male voters, 12.65 lakh are women voters and 53 are third-gender electors.
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What are the key constituencies and who are the important candidates? Lets take a look.
J&K Assembly phase 2 polls: Key seats
The Kashmir Valleys three districts Ganderbal, Srinagar and Budgam and the Jammu regions Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch districts will vote on Wednesday.
The key constituencies in this phase include Nowshera, Central-Shalteng, Ganderbal, and Budhal.
The contests on the seats of Kangan (Scheduled Tribe), Channapora, Hazratbal, Khanyar, Lal Chowk, Charar-i-Sharief and Eidgah are also to watch out for.
Other constituencies going to polls are Gulabgarh (ST), Reasi, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Kalakote-Sunderbani, Nowshera, Rajouri (ST), Thannamandi (ST), Surankote (ST), Poonch Haveli and Mendhar (ST).
J&K Assembly phase 2 polls: Key contenders
Of the 239 candidates in the race, 93 are contesting in the Srinagar district which has eight assembly segments. Forty-six are in the fray in Budgam district which has five seats, 34 in Rajouri district with five seats, 25 in Poonch district with three seats and 21 in Ganderbal district with two seats.
Twenty candidates are running in the Reasi district which has three Assembly seats.
Here are the prominent candidates in the second phase:
Omar Abdullah: Former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is the National Conference (NC) contender for two seats central Kashmirs Ganderbal and Budgam.
Ganderbal is considered an NC bastion, having elected three generations of the Abdullah family. NC founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah first won the seat in 1977. His son and former Jammu and Kashmir CM, Farooq Abdullah, secured the constituency thrice in 1983, 1987, and 1996.
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National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah holds the party flag as he takes a shikara ride during a rally ahead of second phase election of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, at Dal Lake in Srinagar, September 22, 2024. PTI
Ganderbal elected Farooqs son, Omar Abdullah, in 2008. These are the first Assembly polls in J&K in a decade. This is also the first Assembly election since the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state in two UTs J&K and Ladakh.
Omar Abdullahs NC has promised to restore Article 370 and statehood to J&K. In a campaign rally in Budgam, he vowed to release jailed youth. There is hardly any house where a youth does not face a case in police stations. No week when they are not summoned by the police. Many youths have been shifted to outside jails. We will review all FIRs lodged in the past five years and withdraw cases. Those jailed outside under the Public Safety Act will be brought back to Kashmir and the process of release will be initiated. We will revoke the PSA, The Hindu quoted him as saying.
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In Budgam, the NC leader is up against seven candidates, including Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Awami National Conferences (ANC) Aga Syed Ahmad Moosvi.
Tariq Hameed Karra: Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra has thrown his hat in the ring from the Central Shalteng seat in Srinagar. He was the founding member of the PDP.
Karra gained the limelight in 2014 when he trounced Farooq Abdullah from the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, delivering the NC president his first electoral defeat. His relations with the Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP turned sour over various issues, including the alliance with the BJP to form a coalition government ten years back.
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He quit the party in 2016 and joined the Congress a year later.
Karra is being challenged by PDPs Abdul Qayum Bhat, ANCs Riyaz Ahmad Mir and Apni Partys Zaffer Habib Dar.
Ravinder Raina: J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina is seeking to retain the Nowshera seat in the Rajouri district. He had registered a victory in the constituency in the 2014 Assembly election.
This time, he is facing an uphill battle from ex-BJP colleague Surinder Choudhary, a former MLC who is fighting on a National Conference ticket. In the 2014 polls, Raina had defeated Choudhary, who was with the PDP then, by a margin of 9,503 votes. It remains to be seen whether the BJP leader can repeat his previous performance to win the hilly constituency.
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Union Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah with J&K BJP President Ravinder Raina during a rally for J&K Assembly elections, in Naushera, Jammu and Kashmir, September 22, 2024. PTI
Altaf Bukhari: It is a triangular contest in Channapora where Altaf Bukhari, the founder-president of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party, is battling the NCs Mushtaq Ahmad Guroo and Iqbal Trumboo of the PDP. The BJP has fielded Hilal Ahmad Wani from the constituency.
Bukhari, a businessman-turned-politician, is the wealthiest candidate in the second phase. Channapora, which was known as Amirakadal before the 2022 delimitation exercise, was won by him in 2014 as a PDP candidate. He floated the Apni Party after being expelled by the PDP in January 2019.
Sarjan Ahmad Wagay: Jailed separatist leader Sarjan Ahmad Wagay, popularly known as Sarjan Barkati, is hoping to defeat NCs Omar Abdullah from the Ganderbal Assembly seat. Barkati is also contesting the polls from Beerwah.
This comes after his nomination papers were rejected from the Zainapora constituency in South Kashmir. Barkati was arrested by the State Investigation Agency (SIA) for an alleged fundraiser last year. The case pertains to Barkatis involvement in orchestrating an extensive fundraising campaign, resulting in the generation of funds amounting to crores. These funds were subsequently misused, involving money laundering and acquisition of undisclosed assets for propagation of radicalism within the Kashmir Valley, the SIA had said, as per Indian Express.
Barkati had gained the spotlight during the 2016 protest rallies in South Kashmir, triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. He was arrested over the protests and booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA).
If he succeeds in pipping Abdullah in the polls, he would be the second separatist leader to do so this year. The NC vice president had lost the Lok Sabha polls from Baramulla to Engineer Rashid.
Rashids party Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) has given a ticket to former Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) president Sheikh Ashiq and the PDP has fielded Bashir Ahmad Mir from Ganderbal.
With inputs from agencies
Harini Amarasuriya, Sri Lankas new prime minister, is the first woman to hold the position in over two decades. She has strong academic ties to India, having studied at Delhi Universitys Hindu College read more
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya is seen during her swearing-in ceremony, at the Presidential Secretariat, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, September 24, 2024. Sri Lanka President Media via Reuters
Sri Lanka has appointed its 16th prime minister, Harini Amarasuriya, an academic-turned-politician with old ties to India, marking a historic milestone for the South Asian island nation.
Amarasuriya is the first woman to assume the role since 2000 and only the third woman to hold the position in Sri Lankan history.
What is Amarasuriyas link to India?
Harini Amarasuriya, now 54, spent a considerable part of her academic life in India, completing her Bachelors degree in Sociology at Delhi University between 1991 and 1994.
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She studied at the prestigious Hindu College, an institution known for producing prominent figures in various fields, including politics, the arts, and academia. Her time at Hindu College is believed to have been pivotal in shaping her future political career.
Anju Srivastava, the principal of Hindu College, reflected on this connection, telling news agency PTI: Its an honour to know that a Hinduite has become the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Harini was a student of Sociology from 1991 to 1994, and we are extremely proud of her accomplishments. I hope her time at Hindu played a part in shaping her path to success.
Hindu College has long had a tradition of student governance, and Srivastava added, Hindu College has a long tradition of student government, and we elect a prime minister and a leader of opposition every year. Harinis appointment is another milestone in our colleges storied history.
Bollywood director Nalin Rajan Singh, a batchmate of Amarasuriya, reminisced about the early 90s at Hindu College: I vaguely remember her, but I know she was very involved in college festivals and debates. It was the 90s, and a lot of us were starting to make our mark. To see her become prime minister is amazing.
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Singh also mentioned the excitement among Hindu College alumni and the hope that Amarasuriya might visit the college again in the future.
Why is Amarasuriyas appointment as Sri Lankan PM historic?
Amarasuriya was sworn in by Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who also assumed the role of finance minister as Sri Lanka battles its worst economic crisis in seven decades.
The appointment is seen by many as a move that could strengthen ties between Sri Lanka and India, especially given Amarasuriyas educational background and connections in Delhi.
Her appointment as the first female prime minister in 23 years is a notable achievement, with her predecessors being Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1960, the worlds first woman prime minister, and Bandaranaikes daughter, Chandrika Kumaratunga, in 1994.
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Born and raised in Colombo, Amarasuriya pursued her Masters degree in applied anthropology in Australia before earning her PhD in social anthropology from the University of Edinburgh.
She only entered politics in 2020 as part of the National Peoples Power (NPP) coalition. Her academic and intellectual background sets her apart from many other politicians in the region, and her appointment is seen as a step toward greater cooperation between India and Sri Lanka, particularly in areas of education, technology, and investment.
What challenges await Amarasuriyas governance?
Amarasuriyas appointment comes during a critical time in Sri Lanka, which is struggling with severe economic issues, including its first debt default and a punishing financial crisis. The countrys new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who won the election decisively, has taken on a host of key portfolios himself, including finance, economic development, and tourism.
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His decision to slash taxes and reconsider the terms of a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout has raised concerns among investors. Analysts fear that any delays in the restructuring of Sri Lankas $25 billion debt could worsen the economic situation.
The timeline for the IMFs next payout, which was expected in November, is now unclear.
Sri Lankas new cabinet is composed of individuals with varied experience. Veteran legislator Vijitha Herath, 56, was appointed to manage foreign affairs and public security, while Amarasuriya will oversee critical portfolios such as education, media, and women and children affairs.
Where is Sri Lanka and its new government headed?
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As Sri Lanka emerges from the shadows of last years economic collapse, the new leadership faces an uphill battle. The countrys previous government, led by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was ousted in 2022 following mass protests and an economic freefall triggered by a severe shortage of foreign exchange.
The crisis left the country unable to pay for essential imports like fuel, medicine, and cooking gas, leading to widespread unrest.
Dissanayake and Amarasuriyas National Peoples Power (NPP) coalition holds only three seats in the 225-member parliament, limiting their immediate ability to pass critical reforms.
Analysts predict that Dissanayake will dissolve parliament and call a snap general election soon, a move aimed at bolstering support for his government.
Also Watch:
During his inauguration, Dissanayake made promises to root out corruption and create a cleaner political culture. Our politics needs to be cleaner, and the people have called for a different political culture, he said. I am ready to commit to that change.
However, the balance between welfare promises and IMF obligations remains precarious, with both domestic and international stakeholders awaiting the governments next steps.
The new leadership, spearheaded by Dissanayake and Amarasuriya, is expected to implement an interim government, but the road ahead remains fraught with challenges. Investors are wary of Dissanayakes intentions to renegotiate IMF terms, and any delay could further destabilise Sri Lankas fragile recovery.
With inputs from agencies
Sadaf Fatima, an employee at Lucknows HDFC bank reportedly fell off her chair and died under suspicious circumstances while working on Tuesday. She was employed with HDFC Bank as an additional deputy vice president. While her colleagues allege work pressure, Fatimas brother-in-law says she had blood pressure and was on three-day sick leave before resuming work read more
Sadaf Fatima had been working with HDFC Bank since June last year. News18
The untimely death of a 26-year-old woman at Ernst & Young (EY) in Pune has shed light on the missing work-life balance in India.
On Tuesday, a similar case made headlines in Lucknow.
A woman at a prominent bank reportedly fell off her chair in the office and died under suspicious circumstances while working.
Heres all we know.
Lucknow employee dies at work
The woman, identified as Sadaf Fatima, was working with HDFC Bank as Additional Deputy Vice President.
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The 45-year-old was a resident of Wazirganj, according to TV9 Hindi.
The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon (September 24) when Fatima fell off her chair while working in Gomtinagars Vibuti Khand branch office, as per News18.
She was rushed to a hospital, where she was declared dead upon arrival.
Her body was later sent for a post-mortem, according to the report.
According to a police official, the initial investigation suggests the cause of death was a heart attack. Though no complaint from the family has been received yet, officials have recorded their statements.
While her colleagues allege work pressure, Fatimas brother-in-law, as per TV9, informed the police that she had blood pressure, due to which her health had deteriorated three days ago. She was on three-day sick leave after she received treatment at King Georges Medical University (KGMC) in Lucknow. She resumed work on Tuesday.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Fatima had been working with HDFC Bank since June last year. She was an alumnus of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University.
Akhilesh Yadav criticises BJP government
In a Hindi post on X, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav called the tragic death concerning, and that it is a symbol of the current economic pressure in the country.
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, ,
pic.twitter.com/Xj49E01MSs Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) September 24, 2024
All companies and government departments will have to think seriously in this regard. This is an irreparable loss of the countrys human resources. Such sudden deaths bring the working conditions under question. The real measure of the progress of any country is not the increase in the figures of services or products but how mentally free, healthy and happy a person is. Due to the failed economic policies of the BJP government, the business of companies has reduced so much that to save their business, they make fewer people do many times more work, according to a rough translation of Yadavs post.
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Taking a dig at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamans recent suggestion that the youth under work pressure need lessons on stress management, he said, Instead of improving the working conditions, the BJP minister, who is lecturing the youth of the country to develop the strength to withstand pressure, is further distressing the youth in this environment of grief, and is requested that if her government cannot provide any solace, cannot bring about any improvement, then it should not do so, but should not increase public anger with its heartless and insensitive advice in the context of this incident."
, , Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) September 24, 2024
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He concluded, To overcome this problem, companies and government departments should make active and meaningful efforts for immediate improvement.
EY employees death due to work pressure
In July this year, a 26-year-old female chartered accountant, identified as Anna Sebastian Perayil, passed away due to work stress, merely four months after joining SR Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Maharashtras Pune.
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Following her death, her mother, Anita Augustine, wrote to EY India Chairperson Rajiv Memani in September, alleging that the workload and extended working hours took a toll on her daughter. She further called on the company to change the work culture that seems to glorify overwork while neglecting the very human being behind the role.
The firm, however, denied the allegations.
After the letter caused uproar on social media, Union Minister for Labour Mansukh Mandaviya said Perayils case is being probed.
How toxic work culture can be fatal
People working more than 54 hours per week are more prone to die from overwork, according to a 2021 study published in Environment International.
It said that ischaemic heart disease and stroke kill three-quarters of a million people each year due to extended working hours. Also known as coronary heart disease, the condition is caused by narrowed heart arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle.
Moreover, overwork can adversely affect health in two ways: chronic stress and unhealthy behaviours. The high levels of stress can increase the risk of heart attacks and heart failure, mostly in young people, as per Time magazine that quoted Dr Alan Yeung, the medical director at Stanford Cardiovascular Health.
Dr Yeung said that heart failure due to stress becomes fatal only when combined with other factors, such as chronic stress, a sudden stressful situation and a likely underlying heart condition.
A social problem in India
In India, overwork is glorified.
According to the International Labour Organizations (ILO) 2024 data, the average working hours in India is 46 hours a week, adding the nation to the list of top countries with the longest average working hours. Only Bhutan, Lebanon, Lesotho, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Pakistan are above India.
The ILOs Global Wage Report 2020-21: Wages and Minimum Wages in the Time of COVID-19 report says the South Asian country also has the lowest minimum wage globally, except for some sub-Saharan African countries.
Last January, the Delhi High Court observed toxic work culture is a social problem and there is a need for government, labour unions, corporates, and health officials to formulate policies.
With inputs from agencies
Kelly Andrade flew from Colombia to New York to work as a nanny for the four children of Michael Esposito, a millionaire who owns three franchises of a popular eatery. However, weeks into her new job, she found that her employer had been secretly filming her through a camera he had placed in her room and had hundreds of hours of footage featuring her in the nude. Heres what we know read more
Just weeks of service to the ultra-rich family, Andrade uncovered a shocking reality: her employer had secretly recorded "hundreds" of hours of footage featuring her in the nude, including many instances of her "nude and/or dressing/undressing," as stated in her lawsuit. Image for Representation. Pixabay
What began as a promising job opportunity in New York quickly spiralled into a nightmare for 25-year-old Colombian nanny Kelly Andrade.
Just weeks of service to the ultra-rich family, Andrade uncovered a shocking reality: her employer had secretly recorded hundreds of hours of footage featuring her in the nude, including many instances of her nude and/or dressing/undressing, as stated in her lawsuit.
Feeling petrified, the young au pair fled her employers home in fear and subsequently took legal action against fast-food mogul Michael Esposito. Recently, a Manhattan jury awarded her $2.7 million in damages, yet Andrade remains outraged that her millionaire boss faced only a slap on the wrist from prosecutors.
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Heres how this disturbing saga unfolded.
Hundreds of recordings
In 2021, Kelly Andrade flew from Colombia to New York to work as an au pair for the four children of Michael Esposito, a 35-year-old owner of three LaRosa Grill franchises, and his wife, Danielle, as reported by the New York Post.
Prior to her arrival in the US, Andrade underwent extensive training through Cultural Care Au Pair, a placement firm that got her a job with the affluent Esposito family. The couple was staying at Danielles parents waterfront home in Tottenville, Staten Island, while their $2.3 million mansion was undergoing renovations.
As time passed, Andrade began to feel uneasy about her employer. She noticed that he frequently tinkered with the ceiling smoke alarm in her bedroom and was constantly being repositioned."
Less than three weeks into her job, Andrade decided to inspect the smoke detector and discovered a tiny camera hidden inside, complete with a memory card filled with hundreds of recordings, many showing her nude and/or dressing/undressing, she charged in the lawsuit.
Less than three weeks into her job, Andrade decided to inspect the smoke detector and discovered a tiny camera hidden inside, complete with a memory card filled with hundreds of recordings, many showing her nude and/or dressing/undressing, she charged in the lawsuit.
Within minutes of her discovery, Esposito arrived at the house. He seemed very nervous and he seemed very worried when he arrived to the house, she recalled.
Attempting to create distance, Andrade pretended to be asleep, but the dad-of-four began banging on the door, prompting her to enter fight or flight mode, she told The New York Post.
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I need to get away, she recounted, fearing for her safety. Believing he might be armed, she leapt from the first-floor window, injuring her knees in the process. She spent the rest of the night hiding in a bush on the street.
The following morning, the nanny reported the incident to the police, leading to Espositos arrest on March 24, 2021, on charges of unlawful surveillance, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison.
Slap on the wrist
In April 2022, Staten Island businessman Michael Esposito entered into a two-step plea.
After completing a year of counselling, he was allowed to withdraw his felony plea and instead pled to attempted unlawful surveillance, a misdemeanour, resulting in just two years of probation, according to the Staten Island District Attorneys office.
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During the four-day civil trial this month in Brooklyn Federal Court, Kelly Andrade testified for three days, while Esposito never took the stand. Andrade expressed she was in shock merely being in the same room as him, as reported by The New York Post.
Her attorney, Zachary Holzberg, pointed out the lack of consequences for Esposito, stating, who got probationa slap on the wrist. He emphasised, Despite him doing this, he got to go home to his wife and children in their mansion and shes sleeping on the street.
The jury ultimately awarded Andrade $780,000 in emotional distress damages against both Michael and Danielle Esposito, along with $2 million in punitive damages against Michael, bringing the total to $2.8 million.
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Its not enough for the whole situation Ive been through these three years. Its not enough, Andrade told the New York Post, voicing her frustration. I was angry because the damage that he caused me is irreversible.
Now living in New Jersey with her husband of two years, Andrade is determined to speak out to encourage many au pairs and also immigrants who have been victims of abuse. Dont keep quiet. Dont be afraid to report your aggressor.
With input from agencies
A total of five executions are taking place in the US within a single week. It will mark the first time since July 2003 that so many executions will be carried out in seven days read more
A lethal injection chamber as seen at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama. The US will see five executions in one week in years. AP
One week and five executions. That is what the United States is witnessing now, marking a huge shift from the declining trend in the use and support of capital punishment in recent years.
Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas are carrying out the death penalties, marking the first time since July 2003 that five executions will take place within such a short timeframe, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
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Among the five, the first took place last week. In South Carolina, Freddie Owens, convicted for the 1997 murder of a convenience store clerk during a robbery in Greenville, South Carolina, was put to death last Friday. Notably, Owens killed another inmate while awaiting trial. Two separate juries and a judge heard his confession, and all of them announced a death sentence for him.
Owens became the first person to be executed in South Carolina in 13 years. AP
South Carolina law permits convicts to choose between lethal injection, a firing squad, or an electric chair that was built in 1912. Owens decision was made by his lawyer, as per his request, who chose lethal injection for her client. Owens was put to death using pentobarbital, a drug commonly used for euthanising animals, according to the South Carolina Law Review.
If the remaining four executions proceed as scheduled, the United States will have carried out a total of 1,600 executions since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said.
Several experts believe that the scheduling of five executions in a single week is a rare occurrence, primarily due to individual states setting dates after inmates exhausted their legal options.
Eric Berger, a law professor at the University of Nebraska, said, I dont see any particular reason beyond coincidence.
Berger said that certain issues, such as difficulties in obtaining the required lethal drugs, as seen in South Carolina, or delays caused by botched executions, like in Oklahoma, can lead to a backlog of executions.
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Who are the other four convicts?
Alan Miller in Alabama
This Thursday, Alabama plans to conduct the nations second-ever execution using nitrogen gas, following its first use of the method in January. Alan Miller is set to die via a process where a mask is placed over his head, forcing him to inhale pure nitrogen.
Alan Miller is seen being escorted from the Pelham City Jail by authorities in Alabama on August 5, 1999. File image/AP
In September 2022, Miller was taken to the execution chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama, where his lawyers claim he faced both physical and mental torture. Strapped to a gurney for two hours, the execution team repeatedly attempted to insert needles into his arms, hands, and feet, searching for a vein to insert lethal drugs. After failing to find one, they raised the gurney into a vertical position, leaving Miller suspended for about 20 minutes, according to court documents. When he was lowered, blood was seen leaking from the punctures and the execution was eventually called off.
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Miller was convicted for the murders of three men Terry Jarvis, Lee Holdbrooks, and Scott Yancy during a workplace shooting in 1999.
Marcellus Williams in Missouri
On Tuesday, Marcellus Williams was executed by lethal injection for the murder of Lisha Gayle, a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter, in 1998. Gayle was stabbed during a burglary at her home in University City, a suburb of St. Louis. However, supporters of Williams, who defend his innocence, continue to push for a reprieve.
During the sentencing phase of his trial, Williams attorneys provided evidence of his role as a caring and loving father. Family members, including his son and stepdaughter, testified about his positive relationship with his children, stating that his execution would have a significant effect on his family.
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On Monday, Williams legal team requested a halt to the execution due to procedural issues with jury selection and mishandling of the murder weapon. However, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected the appeal, and Governor Mike Parson denied his clemency plea, allowing the execution to move forward.
Emmanuel Littlejohn in Oklahoma
Emmanuel Littlejohn is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday in Oklahoma. He was convicted of the murder of Meers, a 31-year-old convenience store owner, during a robbery-turned-shooting in 1998. While Littlejohn admits to participating in the robbery, he maintains that his accomplice fired the shot.
I accept responsibility for what I did but not what they want me to accept responsibility for, he said. They want me to accept that I killed somebody, but I havent killed somebody.
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Clemency advocates for Littlejohn point out that witness testimonies indicate the taller man was the shooter, referring to his accomplice, Glenn Bethany, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole in 1993.
The state, represented by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, described Littlejohn as a repeat violent offender and provided testimonies from robbery survivors who identified him as the shooter.
The 52-year-old has spent the last 30 years on death row. The states Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 last month to recommend that Governor Kevin Stitt spare Littlejohns life, but the governor has yet to decide on clemency.
Travis Mullis in Texas
Travis Mullis, a 38-year-old man with a long history of mental illness, was put to death in Texas on Tuesday. He sought to waive his right to appeal his death sentence repeatedly. Mullis was sentenced to death for the murder of his infant son, Alijah, whom he stomped to death after attempting to strangle him in January 2008. His execution took place at the Huntsville State Penitentiary.
An undated photo of Travis Mullis was provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. AP
According to authorities, Mullis drove to Galveston with his son following an argument with his girlfriend. After parking his car, Mullis sexually assaulted his son. When the child began crying, Mullis strangled him and then stomped on his head outside the car.
Since his 2011 conviction, Mullis has frequently clashed with his legal team, sometimes asking to forgo appeals, only to later change his stance. If the execution proceeds, Mullis will be the fourth inmate executed this year in Texas, the countrys most active death penalty state, and the 15th execution nationwide in 2024.
With inputs from AP
Hezbollah has fired a Qader-1 ballistic missile at Mossads headquarters near Israels Tel Aviv. The Lebanon-based group has claimed that it was targeting the building where the pager attack was planned. Israel said it intercepted the missile using the Davids Sling defence system and that no injuries or deaths have been reported. Lets take a closer look at the missile and what is happening on the ground read more
The The Qader-1 is a surface-to-surface missile developed by Iran. Image courtesy: Mohammad Sadegh Heydari
Hezbollah has fired a ballistic missile at Israel.
The Lebanon-based terror group targeted a location near Tel Aviv.
The development came a day after the group backed by Iran launched half a dozen missiles at Israeli air bases and an explosives factory.
Israeli airstrikes on Monday had left over 550 dead and 1,500 wounded in southern Lebanon.
But what do we know about the ballistic missile and the target? And whats going on?
Lets take a closer look:
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What do we know about the ballistic missile and the target?
As per Al Jazeera, Lebanon fired a Qader-1 missile at Israel.
The Qader-1 is a surface-to-surface missile.
Developed by Iran, the missile is designed to be used for medium-range attacks.
The weapon, which has a range of 200 to 300 kilometres, is famed for its accuracy and payload.
The Qader-1 is between 15.5 and 16.58 meters long.
It has a diameter of 1.25 meters.
The Qader 1 weighs between 15 and 17.5 tons.
Its warhead weighs between 700 to 1,000 kilograms.
It uses a combination of liquid and solid fuel and its trajectory is similar to ballistic missiles.
The target was Mossads headquarters near Tel Aviv.
The Islamic Resistance launched a Qader 1 ballistic missile at 6:30am (03:30 GMT) on Wednesday, 25-9-2024, targeting the Mossad headquarters in the outskirts of Tel Aviv, Hezbollah said in a statement. This headquarters is responsible for the assassination of leaders and the explosion of pagers and wireless devices.
Hezbollah claimed that the location was where Israel planned its recent pager attacks on Lebanon.
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It added that the strike was undertaken in defence of Lebanon and its people as well as the people of Gaza.
The IDF has said it intercepted the ballistic missile using the Davids Sling defence system.
A Davids Sling launcher system can be seen during a ceremony in which Israel declared its Davids Sling intermediate-range air defence shield fully operational, at Hatzor air base in southern Israel. File image/Reuters
As per The Times of Israel, there were no reports of injuries or damage.
The IDF said it later hit the launcher used to fire the missile in Nafakhiyeh in southern Lebanon.
Al Jazeeras Imran Khan said the Qader-1 was fired at Tel Aviv to send a message.
Its only one missile, so its more than likely to be a message from Hezbollah that they still have ballistic missile capability, Khan said.
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The Israeli army says that their missile defence system intercepted it. The fear for the Israelis is that the missile defence system simply gets overwhelmed.
What is happening?
CNN reported that at least 10 people were killed by airstrikes on Lebanon on Wednesday.
This included three dead and 13 injured in the town of Ain Qana, three others dead and nine hurt in Al-Maaysra, and four more dead and seven injured in Joun.
The IDF has claimed to have hit over 100 targets in Lebanon on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that a possible ground invasion of Lebanon could be in the offing.
It said Defence Minister Yoav Gallant met soldiers training for a ground invasion scenario.
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Early on Wednesday, an Israeli strike hit the seaside town of Jiyyeh, north of the border with Israel, two security sources said.
Hezbollah early on Wednesday confirmed senior commander Ibrahim Qubaisi was killed by Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday. Israel said Qubaisi headed the groups missile and rocket force.
Israel on late Tuesday said that fighter jets carried out extensive strikes on Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa region to the north.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the attacks had weakened Hezbollah and would continue.
People gather at the site of an Israeli strike in Beiruts southern suburbs, Lebanon. The IDF airstrikes in Lebanon seems to be targeting Hezbollahs senior leadership. Reuters
Hezbollah has suffered a sequence of blows to its command and control, its fighters, and the means to fight. These are all severe blows, he told Israeli troops.
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He accused the UN of shirking its responsibility to prevent Hezbollahs attacks into Israel.
The new offensive against Hezbollah has stoked fears that nearly a year of conflict between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza is escalating and could destabilise West Asia.
Britain urged its nationals to leave Lebanon and said it was moving 700 troops to Cyprus to help its citizens evacuate.
Events in the past hours and days have demonstrated how volatile this situation is, which is why our message is clear, British nationals should leave now, Defence Secretary John Healey said as per Indian Express.
Asked about the duration of Israels operations in Lebanon, military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said at a news conference that it aims to keep them as short as possible, thats why were attacking with great force. At the same time, we must be prepared for it to take longer.
Hezbollah said its missile attacks Tuesday targeted eight sites in Israel, including an explosives factory in Zichron Yaakov, 60 kilometers from the border.
Hezbollah said it launched rockets at the Dado military base in northern Israel and attacked the Atlit naval base south of Haifa with drones, among other targets.
It fired 300 rockets, injuring six soldiers and civilians, most of them lightly, according to Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman.
The renewed exchange came after Mondays barrages racked up the highest death toll in any single day in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising monthlong war in 2006.
The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Lebanon for Wednesday at the request of France.
Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon the people of Israel and the people of the world - cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza," UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrives to attend a session on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Energy, Africa and Mediterranean on the second day of the G7 summit in Borgo Egnazia, Italy, June 14, 2024. File Image/Reuters
Pope Francis called Israeli strikes on Lebanon a terrible escalation of the conflict in West Asia.
He made the remarks on Wednesday at the end of his weekly general audience at the Vatican, which went ahead two days after he cancelled meetings over mild flu.
The pope said the attacks, in which Israel says it has been striking targets affiliated with the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, were unacceptable and urged the international community to do everything possible to halt the fighting.
Francis did not specifically identify Israel, but said he was saddened by news from Lebanon in recent days that bombardments have caused much destruction and many victims.
Israel said it targeted sites where Hezbollah had stored weapons. Data from American fire-tracking satellites analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press showed the wide range of Israeli airstrikes aimed at southern Lebanon, covering an area of over 1,700 square kilometers.
NASAs Fire Information for Resource Management System typically is used to track US wildfires, but can also be used to track the flashes and burning that follow airstrikes. Data from Monday showed significant fires across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa Valley.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 564 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Monday, including 50 children and 94 women, and that more than 1,800 have been wounded a staggering toll for a country still reeling from a deadly attack on communication devices last week.
In Beirut, thousands of displaced people who fled from southern Lebanon were sheltering in schools and other buildings.
At the Technical Institute of Bir Hassan, volunteers brought water bottles, medicine and other supplies for the new arrivals.
In one classroom, 11-month-old Matila slept on a mattress while children elsewhere stood on chairs to pass time by scribbling on a whiteboard. Rima Ali Chahine, 50, said the shelter provided diapers, pastries and milk for the children.
Its a lot of pressure for grownups and children. Theyre exhausted and stressed. They could not sleep, she said. The kids - they are living through terrible conditions.
Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Hezbollah will not be beaten by its leaders being targeted.
Yes, they incur damage. Some of the effective and valuable elements of Hezbollah were martyred, it was definitely a loss for Hezbollah. But, it is not enough to destroy Hezbollah, Khamenei was quoted a saying by CNN.
Hezbollahs organizational and personnel strength is much more than this. Their authority, their ability, their strength is beyond getting seriously damaged by these martyrdoms.
Nearly a year of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel had displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border before this weeks escalation. Israel has vowed to do whatever it takes to ensure its citizens can return to their homes in the north, while Hezbollah has said it will keep up its rocket attacks until there is a cease-fire in Gaza, which appears increasingly remote.
The Israeli military says it has no immediate plans for a ground invasion but is prepared for one. It has moved thousands of troops who had been serving in Gaza to the northern border. It says Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including some capable of striking anywhere in Israel, and that the group has fired some 9,000 rockets and drones since last October.
Israel said its warplanes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets Monday, destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and attack drones, including weapons concealed in private homes.
Mondays escalation came after a particularly heavy exchange of fire Sunday, when Hezbollah launched around 150 rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel.
Last week, thousands of communications devices used mainly by Hezbollah members exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000, many of them civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny responsibility.
With inputs from agencies
During a recent hearing at the Karnataka High Court, Justice Srishananda allegedly called a Muslim-populated area in Bengaluru Pakistan read more
The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on Karnataka High Court Judge Justice V Srishananda over his recent controversial remarks.
A five-judge bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud closed the proceedings against Srishananda and cautioned courts against making comments that may be construed as misogynistic or directed towards a particular gender or community and said no part of Indian territory can be called Pakistan.
What did Srishananda say?
During a recent hearing at the Karnataka High Court, Justice Srishananda allegedly called a Muslim-populated area in Bengaluru Pakistan.
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In the same landlord-tenant dispute case, the judge also made misogynistic comments about a woman advocate.
The video of the proceeding quickly became viral on social media, drawing strong condemnation from people.
Courts should be careful making remarks
The apex court, which took up Srishanandas case suo moto, said, Casual observations may well reflect a certain degree of individual bias particularly when they are likely to be perceived as being directed to a particular gender or community, the bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy, said on Wednesday.
Courts, therefore, have to be careful not to make comments in the course of judicial proceedings which may be construed as being misogynistic or for that matter prejudicial to any segment of our society, it said.
Meanwhile, Justice Srishananda has apologised for making the remarks following which the Supreme Court took note of it while pronouncing its order.
The bench said the prevalence and reach of social media has included wide reporting of court proceedings and most high courts in the country have now adopted rules for live streaming or for conduct of video-conferencing.
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Emerging as a necessity in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, video-conferencing and live streaming of proceedings has emerged as an important outreach facility of courts to promote access to justice, it said.
The bench said all stakeholders in the judicial system, including the judges, lawyers and litigants particularly parties-in-person, have to be conscious that the reach of proceedings which takes place in the courts does not extend to merely those who are physically present but also to audiences.
With inputs from agencies
Even as India overtook Japan to be ranked third in Asia, the Asia Power Index (API) of the Lowy Institute noted that Indias rise has been slower than expected read more
India is the most powerful nation in Asia after the United States and China, according to Australian think tank Lowy Institute.
In the 2024 edition of Lowys Asia Power Index (API), India overtook Japan to arrive at the third position in Asia with a score of 39.1 out of 100.
The API has ranked Australia as the fifth most powerful nation in Asia.
The API has been released at a time when China is increasingly demonstrating aggression in Southeast Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region. To counter its expansionist aggression and hegemonic designs, India, the United States, Japan, and Australia have partnered under multiple frameworks, such as the Quad.
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Even as the United States ranks first, China is ahead in terms of military power in Asia even as its economy has plateaued, as per API.
India is rising but slower than expected
Even as India overtook Japan to be ranked third in Asia, the API report noted that Indias rise has been slower than expected.
India has a lot of unrealised potential when it comes to asserting influence east of the Malacca Strait, according to the report.
The fact that Indias influence remains well below the level promised by its resources suggests it still has ample potential for further growth as a major power, says the API report.
Even as Indias ranking has increased, the overall power score in the API has decreased during 2018-23. The report notes that while Indias diplomatic score has increased, economic links in the region remains weak.
Indias low-level economic integration with the larger economies in Asia and weak participation in regional economic architecture means this trend is set to continue, notes the API report.
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Susannah Paton, the main author of the report, told Australias ABC News that Indias strong economic growth and energetic diplomacy in the region had bolstered its position, although there were still question marks over its trajectory.
The glass-half-full view of India is that its growing strongly and its diplomatic influence has increased, but the more downbeat assessment is that theyre still lagging in their economic relationships with the region. Thats no surprise given Indias reluctance to join regional trade arrangements and that it remains fairly inwards looking economically, said Paton.
US partnerships & economy gives edge over China
Even as China now has a stronger military than the United States in Asia along with more diplomatic and trade links in the region, the United States is still ahead as it has much closer and trusted partnerships in the region and its economy continues to fare better than China.
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While China lacks trust across the Indo-Pacific as it has clashed with almost all South Asian nations and continues to have a military stand-off with India, the United States has forged key partnerships. While South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Australia are traditional treaty allies, new partnerships such as the AUKUS including Australia and the United Kingdom have also been forged. The Quad has also become central to countering Chinas hegemonic designs.
The United States and China appear to be digging in for a long contest, notes the API report.
Chinas power is neither surging nor collapsing, but plateauing. Flatlining economic capability, driven by slower economic growth and longer-term structural challenges, means that Chinas economic clout, while still commanding, is no longer growing, says the report.
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The United States continues to confound pessimists by demonstrating its staying power in the region, buoyed by its economic capabilities and alliance networks, according to the report.
Noting the role of partnerships in propping US power in the region, the report said, A key component of the Biden administrations answer to an eroding US military advantage has been to deepen Washingtons Defence Networks with capable regional partners. In 2024, the USJapan alliance reached new levels of integration and coordination, and the AustraliaUS alliance continued to grow, including under the auspices of AUKUS. The Biden administration has also shored up ties with South Korea and managed its alliance with the Philippines effectively.
The delegation comprised diplomats from Delhi-based missions of the US, Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria and the Philippines read more
The Ministry of External Affairs invited a delegation of diplomats from 16 countries including the US, Norway and Singapore to observe the assembly elections in the region which are taking place after 10 years. PTI
Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday voted in the second phase of assembly elections and the polling process was observed by foreign diplomats who hailed it for being very democratic and healthy.
The Ministry of External Affairs invited a delegation of diplomats from 16 countries including the US, Norway and Singapore to observe the assembly elections in the region which are taking place after 10 years.
#WATCH | A delegation of diplomats from various countries in Jammu & Kashmir to witness Assembly elections in the UT visits Srinagar's Dal Lake pic.twitter.com/isD9zGiguP ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2024
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The US deputy Chief of the Mission in Delhi Jorgan K Andrews said the voting process looked healthy and democratic.
It is great to see the enthusiasm; its great to see Kashmiris out voting after a pause for 10 years. We are very excited to see the results. It looks very healthy and very democratic, Andrews told PTI Videos at a polling station here.
He added that the polling process that he witnessed in J&K is very similar to how it happens in US.
The delegation comprised diplomats from Delhi-based missions of the US, Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria and the Philippines, people familiar with the matter said.
Meanwhile, South Korean diplomat Sang Woo was fascinated by the existence of the Pink polling station, a campaign by the Election Commission of India where certain polling booths are operated by an all-female staff.
It is my first time here in Kashmir. I am happy to be here as a part of the MEA delegation. I see it is a beautiful place and people are very nice. It is special to witness how democracy works. This idea of a pink polling station is very ingenuous. It is a great way to attract more people to come to vote, Lim added.
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Singapore deputy head of the mission in Delhi Cheng Wei Wei Alice said it was wonderful to be part of the delegation observing the polls here.
I am glad that all the voters showed up. Thats wonderful to see. The process is very similar to how we conduct elections in Singapore. We use government buildings for polling stations so that it is easily accessible to voters, she said.
Dont need their certificates
Slamming the central government for inviting foreign diplomats to observe J&Ks election, National Conferences Omar Abdullah said that polls are an internal matter of India and that we do not need their certificates.
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I dont know why foreigners should be asked to check elections here, the NC vice president told reporters here. When foreign governments comment, then the Government of India says this is an internal matter for India and now suddenly they want foreign observers to come and look at our elections. This guided tour is not a good thing, he said, alleging the Centre wants to take credit for the peoples participation in these polls which is a betrayal with the people here.
With inputs from PTI
Inderwal recorded over 82 per cent polling while Padder Nagseni registered close to 81 per cent polling. Baniwal, Doda, Doda West, Kishtwar and Pahalgam have already recorded over 70 per cent polling read more
Polling in the second phase of the three-phased Jammu and Kashmir election is underway as the Union Territory is voting for 26 of the 90 assembly seats. The Election Commission data shows that an average 36 per cent polling was recorded till 1 pm.
Some of the constituencies reported a very high polling percentage. Inderwal recorded over 82 per cent polling while Padder Nagseni registered close to 81 per cent polling. Baniwal, Doda, Doda West, Kishtwar and Pahalgam have already recorded over 70 per cent polling.
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The second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election began this morning in 26 constituencies. The assembly election is being held after 10 years in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The voting began for the second phase of the assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir in which over 2.5 million voters will decide the fate of 239 candidates in the fray for 26 seats, including that of former chief minister of the erstwhile state Omar Abdullah, officials said.
The voting began at 7 am across the 26 assembly constituencies amidst tight security arrangements, the officials said.
They said these assembly constituencies are spread over six districts three in the Valley and as many in the Jammu division.
The Election Commission of India has established 3,502 polling stations in these segments. There are 1,056 urban polling stations and 2,446 rural polling stations, the officials said.
Security personnel comprising police, armed police and central armed paramilitary forces have been deployed in strength around the polling stations.
A multi-tier security blanket has been thrown around each polling station to ensure the voting for the second phase is held in an atmosphere free of fear, they added.
For this phase, 157 special polling stations have been established 26 pink polling stations managed by women, 26 polling stations manned by specially-abled persons, 26 polling stations manned by youths, 31 border polling stations, 26 green polling stations and 22 unique polling stations, the officials said.
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Voting will end at 6 pm.
During this phase, 93 candidates are in the fray in Srinagar district, followed by 46 in Budgam district, 34 in Rajouri district, 25 in Poonch district, 21 in Ganderbal district and 20 in Reasi district.
The constituencies in Srinagar district are Hazratbal, Khanyar, Habbakadal, Lal Chowk, Channapora, Zadibal, Central Shalteng and Eidgah.
The segments in Budgam district are Budgam, Beerwah, Khansahib, Chrar-I-Sharief and Chadoora, while there are two constituencies in Ganderbal district Kangan (ST) and Ganderbal.
The seats going to polls in Jammu division are Gulabgarh (ST), Reasi, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi (in Reasi district), Kalakote-Sunderbani, Nowshera, Rajouri (ST) (in Rajouri district), Budhal (ST), Thannamandi (ST), Surankote (ST), Poonch Haveli and Mendhar (ST) (Poonch district).
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Key leaders whose fate will be determined in this phase include former chief minister Omar Abdullah, JKPCC president Tariq Hamid Karra and BJP J-K chief Ravinder Raina.
Abdullah is contesting from the Ganderbal and Budgam seats, while Karra is contesting from Central Shalteng. Raina will be trying to retain his Nowshera seat in Rajouri district, which he won in the 2014 assembly polls.
Jailed religious cleric Sarjan Ahmad Wagay alias Barkati is hoping to repeat Engineer Rashids Lok Sabha poll feat against the National Conference leader.
Barkati is contesting from the Beerwah and Ganderbal segments.
Popularly known as Rashid Engineer, Sheikh Abdul Rashid contested the parliamentary polls held earlier this year from Tihar jail and still managed to defeat Abdullah by a margin of more than two lakh votes from the Baramulla constituency.
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Over 61 per cent of the electorate cast their ballots in the first phase of polling on September 18. The third phase will go to polls on October 1. The votes will be counted on October 8.
Voting took place across 26 assembly constituency seats including Srinagar. The prominent candidates whose fates were sealed in this round of polling include National Conferences Omar Abdullah, BJPs Ravinder Raina and Congress Tariq Hamid Karra read more
The third and final phase of voting in Jammu and Kashmir will take place on October 1 and votes will be counted on October 8. PTI
The second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections is over. Wednesdays polling process went smoothly with no cases of violence or skirmishes reported.
Voting took place across 26 assembly constituency seats including Srinagar. The prominent candidates whose fates were sealed in this round of polling include National Conferences Omar Abdullah, BJPs Ravinder Raina and Congress Tariq Hamid Karra.
The third and final phase of voting in Jammu and Kashmir will take place on October 1 and votes will be counted on October 8.
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Voter turnout
J&K logged an approximate voter turnout of 54 per cent in the second phase of elections. The districts of Rease and Poonch recorded the highest voter turnout at 71.81 per cent and 71.59 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, Srinagar recorded the lowest turnout trend at 27.31 per cent.
The second phase saw a comparatively lower voter turnout than the previous phase which logged 61.38 per cent.
Foreign diplomats observe polling
The polling process was observed by foreign diplomats who hailed it for being very democratic and healthy.
The Ministry of External Affairs invited a delegation of diplomats from 16 countries including the US, Norway and Singapore to observe the assembly elections in the region which are taking place after 10 years.
The delegation comprised diplomats from Delhi-based missions of the US, Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria and the Philippines.
History in making
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday described the ongoing Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir as history in the making, saying people are standing in long queues outside polling booths at places where calls were once given to boycott the democratic exercise.
Taking to reporters here as the second phase of polling was underway on 26 seats in the Union Territory, Kumar said 100 per cent CCTV coverage is available for this phase and one could see youngsters, women and senior citizens patiently standing in queues, awaiting their turn to exercise their franchise.
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It is a festival of democracy. Voting is taking place in areas where it did not take place earlier. There were calls for disruption and boycott in the past. It is a standing ovation for democracy, the CEC said in the presence of fellow election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.
Kumar said history is in the making in Jammu and Kashmir and its impact will be felt for a long time as he lauded the enthusiastic participation of the voters in the poll process.
With inputs from PTI
West Kowloon Station port celebrates 6th anniversary, as passengers embrace Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link
11:18, September 25, 2024 By Zhang Yiyi ( Global Times
An attendant is seen on a train of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL), in Hong Kong, south China, Aug. 16, 2018. The trial run of the Hong Kong Section of XRL has been completed on Thursday. The 26-km Hong Kong section of the XRL links up Hong Kong with the mega high-speed rail network of the Chinese mainland. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)
The port at the West Kowloon Station, the Hong Kong terminus of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Guang-Shen-Gang XRL) celebrated its 6th anniversary on Monday.
The passenger traffic between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland has constantly hit new records during the past six years, significantly enhancing connectivity across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Passengers taking trips on the Guang-Shen-Gang XRL have reached over 62.8 million. Daily passenger traffic has repeatedly set new records, with the peak hitting 121,000 passenger trips.
The Guang-Shen-Gang XRL was launched in 2018. One Hong Kong resident surnamed Luo told the Global Times on Tuesday that the high-speed railway is popular among locals for its convenience, speed, and lower cost, compared to driving the same distance.
"I traveled from Hong Kong West Kowloon to Guangzhou and it cost 200 yuan ($28) and just one hour while driving a car would take 3.5 hours," Luo said.
"During holidays, it's even harder to get a train ticket. Last Chinese New Year, I tried to book a train to Quanzhou, in East China's Fujian Province, but the tickets sold out the moment they went on sale," she added.
A PhD student, Huang Yujie, who studies in Hong Kong and dwells in Shenzhen, commutes between the two cities twice a week via Guang-Shen-Gang XRL. "I often book my train ticket one or two days in advance, except for holidays. It's convenient, comfortable and cost-effective," Huang said.
"When I travel from Shenzhen to Hong Kong, the high-speed train cuts my travel time, making same-day return easy," a Shenzhen resident Li Wenzhen told the Global Times on Tuesday. "It saves the cost of staying a night in Hong Kong, as the return train back to Shenzhen costs just half an hour."
Currently, starting from Hong Kong's West Kowloon Station, travelers can reach 79 Chinese mainland destinations.
"The high-speed train is more than just an infrastructure project. It plays a vital role in saving time, fostering economic growth, and strengthening connections across the Greater Bay Area. Its contribution to the region's integrated and coordinated development has been invaluable," Wang Jinwei, a professor at the School of Tourism Sciences at Beijing International Studies University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The West Kowloon Station has processed 700,000 foreign passenger trips so far this year, a 104-percent increase year-on-year.
Nearly 100,000 foreign visitors entered the Chinese mainland under the special visa-free policy arrangement, meaning one in seven overseas travelers has benefited from the visa-free entry --16.3 times higher than the same period last year, according to data from Shenzhen General Station of Immigration Inspection.
"Overseas visitors can enter the mainland via China's special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macao (SARs), making SARs key gateways to the mainland, ensuring a smoother travel experience," Wang said.
"The six-year operation of the Guang-Shen-Gang XRL has seen remarkable success and gained high acclaim from tourists. To further boost regional economic development and integration, the XRL will continue to improve service, with plans to expand routes and offer more competitive pricing," Wang added.
(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
It is indeed ironic that Irans Supreme Leader would be worried about the treatment of minorities in India, much less compare it to Gaza and Myanmar. This is a nation where religious minorities, including Bahais, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians, face systemic discrimination and persecution. The Bahai community, in particular, has been subject to decades of oppression, with their leaders routinely arrested, their properties seized, and their religious practices suppressed.
Conversion from Islam to other religions is punishable by death, and non-Muslims are routinely treated as second-class citizens. While the Supreme Leader criticises India, his own nation has made life unbearable for its minorities, turning religious persecution into a state policy.
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The treatment of ethnic minorities in Iran is no less brutal. The Kurdish, Azeri, Baluchi, and Arab populations, among others, face routine discrimination and economic marginalisation. The Iranian government systematically denies them cultural and linguistic rights, often punishing expressions of ethnic identity as acts of rebellion. Kurdish activists face execution, while Baluchi regions remain severely underdeveloped, with high levels of poverty and state neglect.
Irans treatment of women is another grotesque example of state repression disguised as religious morality. The mandatory hijab law, which forces women to cover their hair in public, has been a point of contention for decades. Women who refuse to comply face harassment, imprisonment, and even torture. The recent protests, where women courageously burned their hijabs, have been met with violent crackdowns. Irans morality police continue to terrorise women into submission, and the regimes obsession with controlling womens bodies has turned half of its population into prisoners of a medieval ideology.
India promptly and rightly responded to the unsolicited advice. We strongly deplore the comments made regarding minorities in India by the Supreme Leader of Iran. These are misinformed and unacceptable. Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others, the Ministry of External Affairs stated. It was a clear and firm message to Tehran: India does not need lectures on minority rights from a regime that tramples on them daily.
Moreover, contrary to the distorted narratives pushed by certain media outlets, Muslims in India are not facing any form of apartheid or genocide. There are fundamental misconceptions regarding the position of Muslims in India. Unlike Iran, which is a rigid theocracy, India is a vibrant parliamentary democracy. The Indian Constitution does not classify citizens based on religion, ensuring equality for all. At the social level, Muslims are not merely a minority; they are the second-largest community in the country. In fact, Muslims in India enjoy perks and privileges that are arguably unmatched in any other democracy. If anything, they are one of the most politically and socially pampered minorities in the world.
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After a bloodied partition of India and Pakistan along communal lines, Pakistan became a Muslim theocracy, while India chose the path of a secular, democratic republic. But even within this democratic framework, Muslims were allowed to retain their personal laws, effectively creating a small theocracy within a secular system. India houses a Ministry of Minority Affairs, specifically tasked with promoting minority welfare, including initiatives tailored for Muslims. Minority institutions thrive, and affirmative action programmes benefit Muslims across various sectors. Prominent Muslims in Indiafrom the armed forces to the highest political offices, from renowned academics to Bollywood starsenjoy widespread success and respect. India does not need to be schooled by Iran on how to treat its citizens.
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There is another dimension behind Irans irksome comments against India, and something more sinister might be at play. Since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the United States imposed harsh sanctions on Russia in an attempt to cripple its economy. However, India did not halt its purchase of Russian oil, much to the visible dismay of the West. The backlash was so intense that India had to push back diplomatically, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visiting international forums to explain that Indias energy security, coupled with its fragile economic base, left little room to engage in moral debates over oil supplies. Eventually, Indias position was accepted, if not embraced, in international discourse.
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In stark contrast, after the US sanctions on Iran, India did stop buying Iranian oil, which was a severe blow to Irans already struggling economy. For years, Iran had been one of Indias top three oil suppliers, with energy forming the backbone of India-Iran economic ties. Indian refineries, such as the Mangalore Refinery (MRPL), were specifically designed to process the heavy crude that Iran supplied. The cessation of these imports not only hurt Irans economy but also strained diplomatic ties between the two nations.
The numbers reflect the economic fallout. India-Iran bilateral trade plummeted by a staggering 90 per cent over the past three years due to US sanctions. According to the Department of Commerce of India, bilateral trade fell from a high of $17 billion in 2018-19 to just $2.33 billion in 2022-23. Thats an 86.29 per cent decline, with Indias exports to Iran standing at $1.66 billion, while imports from Iran amounted to a meagre $672.12 million. The previous fiscal year (2021-22) saw an even lower trade volume, with bilateral trade hitting a low of USD 1.94 billion. The data for April-July 2023 shows a further decline, with total trade decreasing by 23.32% compared to the same period the previous year.
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This economic strain is likely one of the reasons for Irans irresponsible comments about Indias treatment of minorities. However, this needs to be understood that there is a significant difference between Indias relationships with Russia and with Iran. Diplomatic and trade ties with Russia go back to the very inception of the modern Indian republic. As Kabir Taneja, a Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, notes, Indias military preparedness today, especially in the wake of heightened tensions with China following the 2020 border clashes, relies heavily on close cooperation with Moscow. Russia is Indias primary defence supplier, offering critical technologies, including nuclear submarines, which no other country currently provides to New Delhi. This deep-rooted military and technological relationship is crucial for Indias national security and strategic autonomy.
Moreover, there are practical challenges in importing oil from Iran that do not exist while trading with Russia. The logistical hurdles and the geopolitical risks involved in continuing economic engagement with Iran, given the ongoing U.S. sanctions, make the relationship fraught with complications.
Above all, it is the prerogative of any nation to take actions that prioritise the well-being of its own people. Indias decision to stop importing Iranian oil was a pragmatic choice driven by its need to balance global diplomatic pressures with its own economic and security interests.
It is also inaccurate to claim that India has made no efforts at all to maintain trade relations with Iran. Even in the face of US sanctions, particularly under the presidency of Donald Trump in 2018, New Delhi and Tehran attempted to preserve the oil trade through various strategies. For instance, India submitted its payments to a bank account in Kolkata, which eventually accumulated over $4 billion. However, accessing these funds became increasingly difficult for Iran as global pressure mounted on Tehran to agree to terms that would constrain its nuclear ambitions. By 2015, the avenues for India to pay Iran for oil had become nearly non-existent, as India, being a signatory to several international financial treaties, found itself caught between compliance with global transparency efforts and maintaining a critical trade relationship with Iran.
In more recent developments, in May 2024, India signed a 10-year deal with Iran to further develop the strategically crucial Chabahar port. Despite US warnings about the potential risks involved in conducting business with Iran, India stood its ground, backing the agreement and emphasising its regional benefits. Responding to Washingtons concerns, Jaishankar pointed out that the US itself had previously appreciated the strategic relevance of Chabahar. He reiterated that a long-term partnership with Iran was necessary to improve the ports operations and that its success would be a boon for the entire region.
This brings us to a perplexing question: why, at such a crucial time, would Irans top leadership choose to provoke India? Why would Tehran risk jeopardising a significant project like Chabahar, which has the potential to reinvigorate not just Irans economy but that of the entire region?
Is it an attempt to placate the hardline conservative factions within Iran, now that the Ayatollahs are losing their grip over the increasingly disenchanted population? Or, is it a desperate bid by a Shia-majority nation to prove its Muslim credentials to the wider Sunni world? Did the Messiah of Muslim Ummah forget to mention the suffering of Uyghurs because China is currently the top buyer of Iranian oil despite US sanctions? Above all, would Iran be willing to sabotage its own national interests in hopes of gaining relevance in this imaginary unity of the Muslim Ummah?
These are hard questions that Iran will have to answer soon enough. While Tehran seeks to hold on to its ideological posturing, it risks alienating one of its most important allies. India, meanwhile, will continue to focus on what truly mattersits strategic and economic security, driven by pragmatism rather than the empty rhetoric of a fading theocracy.
The writer takes special interest in history, culture and geopolitics. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
The cyberattacks were earlier focused on software. Hardware supply chain attacks are far rarer as they involve getting hands on the componentsa reason this incident stands even unique and horrifying read more
A photo taken on September 18, 2024, in Beirut's southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display at an undisclosed location. File Image/AFP
On September 17, nine people, including a young girl, were killed and over 2,800 were injured, including some critically, across Lebanon after handheld pagers used by members of Hezbollah to communicate exploded. Photographs of the attack were soon flooding social media.
Irans Ambassador to Lebanon was among the people who were wounded by the simultaneous blasts in the capital Beirut and several other places.
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. The group blamed Israel for what it called a criminal aggression and vowed that it would get just retribution.
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Hezbollah said an unspecified number of pagers, which the group relies on heavily for communications due to the risk of mobile phones being hacked or tracked, exploded at around 15:30 local time (18:00 IST). The wave of explosions lasted around an hour after the initial detonation.
The Israeli military did not comment on the pager explosions but said the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, had held a situational assessment with commanders focussing on readiness in both offence and defence in all arenas.
Background
A day after the October 7 incident, Hezbollah began attacking Israel from Lebanon using various rockets and missiles. This resulted in the displacement of a large number of Israelis from Northern Israel bordering Lebanon. Hezbollah has been stating that it is acting in support of Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.
Hours before the explosions, Israels Security Cabinet had said that stopping Hezbollah attacks on the north of the country to allow the safe return of the displaced 60,000 residents was an official war goal.
The Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, during a meeting with US envoy Amos Hochstein on September 16, stated that the only way to return the Northern residents was through military action and the possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas and refuses to end the conflict.
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Since October 8, it is reported that at least 589 people have been killed in Lebanon, the vast majority of them Hezbollah fighters. On the Israeli side, 25 civilians and 21 members of security forces have been killed.
The Visuals
A CCTV video in a supermarket showed an explosion in a mans pocket; he is then seen falling backwards to the ground and crying out in pain as other shoppers run for cover.
As per reports, ambulances were still rushing to hospitals hours later, overwhelmed with the number of casualties, 200 of whom the Lebanese Health Minister said were in a critical condition, while relatives were waiting outside in the hope of receiving updates.
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The LAU Medical Centre in Beiruts Ashrafieh District closed its main gate and was limiting the number of people getting in. Its very sensitive, and some scenes are horrific, as per the BBC.
Most of the wounds were at the level of the waist, face, eyes, and hands, he said, adding, A lot of casualties have lost fingers, in some cases all of them.
The wife of Iranian Ambassador Mojtaba Amani said he was slightly injured by one of the explosions and that he was doing well in the hospital. Though there are reports that the Ambassadors injuries were more serious than initially reported and that he would be evacuated to Tehran for treatment.
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The son of Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar and the daughter of a Hezbollah member in the Bekaa Valley were among those killed, as per reports. While the son of another lawmaker, Hassan Fadlallah, was wounded.
14 people were also wounded by exploding pagers in Syria, where Hezbollah is fighting alongside government forces in the countrys civil war, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Lebanons 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.
Health Minister of Lebanon, Firass Abiad, said on the evening of September 17 that health officials were beginning to direct the injured to medical facilities outside of Beirut and its southern suburbs, where hospitals are overwhelmed.
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One of those hospitals, the American University of Beirut Medical Centre, said earlier that it had received more than 160 seriously injured people in the span of three hours.
The World Health Organisation said it was assisting hospitals in Lebanon and providing supplies because many health facilities were at capacity with injured patients. The UNs public health agency described the situation as an emergency, according to a statement.
Imagination Knows No Bounds
Imagine knowing that a particular batch of pagers manufactured by one company has been ordered by Hezbollah and thereafter putting a small amount of explosive in each device. Thereafter, possessing the technology to create a virus that heats up the device at a particular time, causing the lithium batteries to overheat and explode.
The attackers would have needed to work with the manufacturers of either the devices or of a particular component of the devices to be able to implement this. Further, it opens up endless possibilities of targeting mobile phones, laptops, and other electronic devices in the future.
As per a report, the devices were of Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. However, 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 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, is what he told reporters, without naming the company which did make the devices.
The senior Lebanese security source identified a photograph of the model of the pager, an AP924, which, like other pagers, wirelessly receives and displays text messages but cannot make telephone calls.
There is no doubt that, like the placing of an explosive device under the bed of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, there has to be a degree of complicity. But this attack no doubt raises serious concerns regarding the security at the manufacturing plants and a larger net of complicity, which will particularly affect those countries that rely more heavily on imported components from manufacturing plants where security concerns loom.
Supply chain attacks will now be a concern in the security world as hackers gain access to products while they are in development. But these attacks were earlier focused on software. Hardware supply chain attacks are far rarer as they involve getting hands on the components.
The Wall Street Journal cited a source as saying the affected devices were from a new shipment that Hezbollah had received in recent days. A Hezbollah official also told the newspaper that some people had felt the pagers heat up before the blasts.
Overheated lithium-ion batteries can catch fire, but as per experts, hacking into the pagers and making them overheat would not usually cause such explosions.
A former British Army munitions expert, who asked not to be named, told the BBC the pagers would have likely been packed with between 10g and 20g of military-grade high explosive, hidden inside a fake electronic component. Once armed by a signal, called an alphanumeric text message, the next person to use the device would have triggered the explosive, the expert said.
As per a report quoting a Lebanese source, the devices had been modified 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 pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives.
Lina Khatib, a Middle East analyst at the UK-based Chatham House think tank, told the BBC: Israel has been engaging in cyber operations against Hezbollah for several months, but this security breach is the largest in scale.
Nicholas Blanford, a Beirut-based senior fellow of the US think tank the Atlantic Council, said: Israel in one fell swoop has rendered combat ineffective hundreds if not thousands of Hezbollah fighters, in some cases permanently.
Conclusion
The Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati blamed Israel for the explosions, saying that they represented a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he told his Lebanese counterpart that he strongly condemned Israeli terrorism. While the US, Israels closest ally, denied any involvement and urged Iran not to heighten tensions.
There is no doubt that this is an attack that is unprecedented in the use of technology, scale, and nature and is a harbinger of modern-day warfare. It marks a new phase in technological warfare that is acquiring a form of its own.
The UNs spokesman said the latest developments in Lebanon were extremely concerning, especially given that this is taking place within a context that is extremely volatile.
Hezbollah would now face extreme pressure from within to retaliate. Hence the attack marks another dangerous moment, if not the most dangerous moment in the Hezbollah-Israel conflict since October.
Undoubtedly, this is a game changer and defining moment in cyber warfare and will have reaching implications across the globe, both for those wanting to carry out such an attack and for those safeguarding themselves from such an attack.
The author is a retired Major General of the Indian Army. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
The distance between New Delhi and Washington is not just geographical but one of trust; bridging it will demand sustained diplomatic engagement read more
There was a time when an Indian prime ministers visit, indeed even Narendra Modis previous ones, to the US held the promise of grand strategic outcomes, cementing alliances, and shifting geopolitical paradigms.
This time, however, expectations were decidedly more tempered. Indeed, the image of US President Joe Biden disoriented at the meeting set the tone for what was to come: a meeting whose modest deliverables were overshadowed by the asymmetry of their expectations.
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It is summit diplomacys job to cut through the fog, yet this fog remained thick and unyielding. However, to dismiss the visit entirely would be a mistake. Incremental progress, even when it falls short of fanfare, holds its own value.
Despite the visits low-key nature, it did produce some notable outcomes, particularly in the Indo-Pacific theatre. The launch of the MAITRI initiative, ostensibly framed as a maritime training programme for the Indo-Pacific, conceals its true ambitiona long-term strategic deployment. Equally significant was the logistics agreement cementing the Indo-Pacifics pivot. Spanning two-thirds of the globe, this vast maritime expanse is now central to the Quads strategic calculus, enabling both sea control and sea denial. The joint communique placed renewed emphasis on enhancing maritime security cooperation, including the expansion of underwater domain awarenessan essential component for any credible deterrence in these waters.
Yet, the visit also underscored the complexity of Indias neighbourhood challenges. Just before PM Modis arrival, the White House played host to Khalistani separatistsa dangerous development for India, which has long viewed these factions as a threat to its territorial integrity. Furthermore, the US tacit support for an Islamist-influenced military coup in Bangladesh and its simultaneous courtship of Pakistan pose real challenges for Indias regional strategy. These actions suggest that, for all the talk of partnership, Washington still sees its relationship with India as largely transactional.
The transactional nature of US-India ties was reflected in the deals struck. As Washington seeks to stifle China in its semiconductor supply chain, a deal to establish a semiconductor fabrication plant in UP dedicated to Indias defence stood out as the summits crowning achievement. In the healthcare domain, a cancer vaccine initiative marked a notable step towards improving health outcomes. Soft power, too, received a boost with the Quad fellowships.
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The anticipated $4 billion for 31 MQ-9 drones is expensive and the drones vulnerability in contested airspace may still prompt a reevaluation.
All told, this visit was a diplomatic gesturea courtesy call, if you will. Yet, in the delicate dance of international relations, sometimes such gestures are the price of sustaining long-term engagement. One must occasionally invest in relationships that are not yet fully formed.
The takeaway from Modis visit is that the US has not yet decided to invest the political capital necessary for Indias uncontested rise as a preeminent Asian power. The distance between New Delhi and Washington is not just geographical but one of trust. Bridging this gap will require much more than high-level summits; it will demand deeper and more sustained diplomatic engagement. Only then can India and the US navigate the intricate balancing act that their partnership demands.
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The writer is a senior journalist with expertise in defence. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
The three most important issues that will possibly decide J&Ks future are: the authority of the Lieutenant Governor under the new set up, the question of pending statehood, and the participation of former separatists and pro-Pakistan elements in the ongoing elections read more
As Jammu & Kashmir votes for the second round of the three-phase Assembly elections, theres a heightened sense of relief, optimism and hopefulness. The last time the Assembly elections were held in J&K was in 2014. The elections then had resulted in the formation of a coalition government between the Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata party, which for many analysts was a strange coalition given that the two parties had diametrically opposite ideologies or political programmes. The coalition soon proved to be unstable and finally broke in 2018 when BJP withdrew support from Mehboob Muftis government. The state then came under the governors/presidential rule.
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A year later, the Narendra Modi government scrapped the special status for J&K. It de-operationalised Articles 370 and 35A on August 5, 2019, taking away all the degree of autonomy that the former state of Jammu & Kashmir had enjoyed for long. Abrogation of Article 370 was long overdue for the BJP as it formed an important element of its core ideology. Additionally, the state was bifurcated into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh under the Reorganisation Act, 2019, which came into force on October 31 the same year. However, the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir was established with a legislative assembly of its own. The ongoing 2024 Assembly elections are thus first of its kind for the UT of J&K.
The Assembly elections might prove to be a watershed moment for the politics of Jammu and Kashmir. The three most important issues which will possibly decide this future politics are: the authority of the Lieutenant Governor (LG) under the new set up, the question of pending statehood, and the participation of former separatists and pro-Pakistan elements in the current elections.
In the new set up established under the 2019 reorganisation act, the LG, who is appointed by the Centre, will have powers over some of the critical areas of administration in the union territory. The LG will enjoy powers over public order and police, bureaucracy, financial matters and the Anti-Corruption Bureau. This will effectively deprive the Assembly or elected government from control over these areas. A power tussle between LG and Assembly or elected government will be set in motion which will not only impact the smooth governance in the UT but has implications on relations between the Union and the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. NC leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah has already expressed his concerns over this issue.
Second important issue is the question of full-fledged statehood for Jammu and Kashmir. The Central government and the top BJP leadership have time and again promised the restoration of statehood to the people of J&K. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised statehood to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters in Srinagar. Almost all regional parties have made it a poll issue now. However, both the question of statehood as well as the structure of it is partly going to be decided by the outcome of the 2024 Assembly elections.
As of now no clear predictions can be made about the performance of different political parties in the elections. However, the delimitation exercise which was carried out in 2022, the extension of job reservations to Pahari ethnic group and other communities by the Central government, holding of elections after a gap of 10 years and finally the participation of former separatists or militants who make up a good number of some of the more than 350 odd independent candidates in the election fray, will have some bearing on the outcome and might disturb the hitherto voting patterns in Jammu and Kashmir. If the BJP manages to emerge as the largest party and takes lead in the formation of government, the question of restoration of statehood and its structure will be left to the mercy of the Central government
In case the NC-Congress alliance or some other regional formulation comes to power, a process of negotiations between the UT and the Central government will be set in motion regarding the contours of the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. Since there is no legally binding timeline which such restoration should take place, it might take longer than many of us in J&K currently imagine. As for Article 370, it has almost become a settled question now: There is hardly any serious talk about it in the ongoing election campaigning.
Finally, what is most unprecedented in the 2024 Assembly elections is the participation of former separatists, religious leaders, militants and Jamaat-e-Islami cadre who make up a significant chunk of more than 350 independents currently in the election fray. Former militant and JKLF leader Farooq Ahmad Dar is contesting on a Samajwadi Party ticket. Prominent JeI-backed candidates are Seyar Ahmad Reshi, Talat Majid, Dr Kalimullah Lone, etc. The daughter of Sarjan Barkati, who led virulent anti-India campaigns in South Kashmir in the wake of Burhan Wanis killing in 2016, is also contesting the elections.
Others are joining mainstream parties and contesting on their tickets. The return of these political forces to electoral politics might lead to the overturning of the 1987 moment in the history of Kashmir. The 1987 assembly elections which were allegedly rigged in favour of the NC-Congress alliance, had witnessed the participation of Islamists, pro-Pakistan elements and religious groups under the banner of the Muslim United Front. This was the last time the currently banned Jamaat-e-Islami participated in the electoral process. This was also the last time that the separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani took part in elections. Syed Salahuddin who later became a militant leader and now heads the United Jihad Council in POK had also contested in 1987 elections from Srinagar. But the alleged rigging of the elections seemed to have shaken their faith in the electoral process. What followed next was the rise of violent unrest and militancy, leading to a large number of Kashmiri Pandits leaving their homes in the Valley.
So the participation of former separatist elements or JeI in the elections is a great opportunity for New Delhi to capitalise on. While there is no guarantee of their success in the current elections, they should be given a fair opportunity to participate and reach out to their constituencies. Their faith in the system should be restored and their participation in the elections holds a huge potential for the peace and progress of Kashmir. If they are embracing democracy, this is in the interest of New Delhi and the people of Kashmir.
Liyaqat Nazir is a doctoral fellow at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
From a broader industry perspective, the decision to assemble display modules in India is considered significant. Currently, India relies heavily on imports, particularly from China, for its display requirements. About 60-65% of displays across various segments are imported from China read more
The company has already secured approximately 500,000 square feet at the ESR Oragadam Industrial & Logistics Park, located near its existing smartphone assembly plant in Chennai. This strategic location is expected to facilitate seamless integration with their current operations. Image credit: Reuters
Renowned Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn, is reportedly considering a significant investment of approximately $1 billion to establish a display assembly unit in Tamil Nadu.
This move, as reported by the Economic Times, marks Foxconns first such facility in India. The primary purpose of this unit is expected to support Apples production of iPhone display modules, further solidifying Foxconns role as a key supplier for the iconic tech brand.
However, Foxconns approach to this new facility will be somewhat unique. It is being designed to not only serve Apple but also to provide components to other contract manufacturers such as Pegatron and Tata Electronics.
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By allowing these manufacturers to source locally assembled modules instead of importing them from China, Foxconn aims to reduce dependency on foreign imports and streamline the supply chain.
Although a specific timeline for the project has not been confirmed, it is understood that Foxconn is keen to have the facility operational as quickly as possible.
The company has already secured approximately 500,000 square feet at the ESR Oragadam Industrial & Logistics Park, located near its existing smartphone assembly plant in Chennai. This strategic location is expected to facilitate seamless integration with their current operations.
Industry experts believe that this new venture will significantly enhance Indias position in the global electronic assembly and manufacturing landscape. The local assembly of display modules is seen as a critical step towards increasing value addition within the country.
While smartphone assembly currently contributes around 5 per cent in local value addition, the inclusion of display assembly could potentially add an extra 2-3 per cent, a modest but notable improvement.
The move also aligns with Foxconns broader strategy to expand its footprint in India. The company has been aggressively growing its smartphone business in the country and has plans to venture into other sectors such as information and communication technology (ICT), electric vehicles (EV), batteries, and semiconductors.
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Additionally, Foxconn is set to begin assembling Google Pixel phones in India, and this new unit is expected to further smoothen the manufacturing process for its clients.
From a broader industry perspective, the decision to assemble display modules in India is considered significant. Currently, India relies heavily on imports, particularly from China, for its display requirements. Estimates suggest that 60-65 per cent of display modules across various segments are imported from China, with certain segments relying on China for up to 90 per cent of their needs.
South Korea, the second-largest supplier, accounts for 20-25 per centjkllllll of imports. By establishing local assembly operations, Foxconn could reduce lead times and costs, thereby improving the efficiency of the supply chain.
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Despite the potential benefits, there are challenges that Foxconn and other manufacturers may face in this endeavour. One of the key obstacles is the supply of components, which predominantly originates from China. Moreover, Indias current skill set in advanced display technologies is not as developed, which could pose challenges in scaling up operations effectively.
This development ties into Apples broader strategy of diversifying its supply chain away from China. As Apple intensifies its focus on India, partners like Foxconn are playing a crucial role in expanding operations and deepening the supply chain within the country.
During the trial, Ellison provided critical testimony against Bankman-Fried, detailing how he misused customer funds to finance risky ventures through FTXs sister company, Alameda Research read more
Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research and a key figure in the FTX cryptocurrency scandal, has been sentenced to two years in prison for her involvement in one of the largest financial fraud cases in history.
Ellison, who was also the former girlfriend of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, played a crucial role in the trial that ultimately led to Bankman-Frieds conviction.
Ellison faced a potential sentence of up to 110 years after pleading guilty to seven charges, including fraud. However, her sentence was significantly reduced due to her cooperation with prosecutors.
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During the trial, Ellison provided critical testimony against Bankman-Fried, detailing how he misused customer funds to finance risky ventures through FTXs sister company, Alameda Research. Her defence team had argued against any prison time, but the Manhattan District Attorneys Office left the final sentencing decision to Judge Lewis Kaplan, who acknowledged her cooperation when determining her sentence.
Bankman-Fried, once a celebrated figure in the cryptocurrency world, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March for his role in the collapse of FTX. The trial revealed that FTX, which had rapidly grown into the worlds second-largest cryptocurrency exchange after its launch in 2019, was involved in highly unethical practices.
The company misused billions of dollars in customer deposits to engage in risky trades through Alameda Research, purchase luxury real estate, and fund political contributions.
Ellisons testimony was instrumental in exposing the depth of the fraud orchestrated by Bankman-Fried. Despite his attempts to shift blame onto Ellison, describing her as an incompetent manager, the court found him guilty of orchestrating the scheme that led to FTXs downfall.
The company imploded in November 2022, leaving behind over $8 billion in debt and prompting one of the most significant bankruptcies in the crypto industry.
In addition to her prison sentence, Ellison has been ordered to return $11 billion, a staggering sum reflecting the scale of the financial damage caused by the fraudulent activities at FTX and Alameda Research. Her sentencing marks another chapter in the ongoing fallout from the collapse of FTX, as authorities continue to unravel the complex web of deceit that led to one of the most significant financial scandals in recent memory.
There is a broader concern about how AI-generated content shows up on search engines like Google. The sheer volume of AI-generated material now available online, makes it difficult for search algorithms to accurately differentiate between genuine and AI-created content read more
AI-generated image of a cluster of mushrooms. Experts highlight that many individuals depend on visual references, and when these references are inaccurate, the risk of misidentification increases significantly. Image: AI Generated image
Over the years AI has become a major reason to be concerned about for disinformation and the impugning of the election process in several countries across the world. However, because of recent developments, AI-generated content is now spurring one of the biggest health crises in the US and EU since the pandemic.
Googles recent use of AI-generated images in search results is sparking concerns among experts, particularly in the context of mushroom identification. The potential danger lies in the fact that these AI-generated images, when presented as real, could lead to life-threatening mistakes for foragers who rely on visual cues to determine whether a mushroom is safe to eat.
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The issue was brought to light by a moderator from the Reddit community r/mycology, which focuses on fungi-related topics, including hunting, foraging, and cultivation. The moderator, known as MycoMutant, discovered that when searching for the fungus Coprinus comatus commonly referred to as shaggy ink cap the first image displayed in Googles featured snippet was an AI-generated image.
Alarmingly, this image bore little resemblance to the actual Coprinus comatus, posing a serious risk to anyone relying on it for identification.
This situation isnt isolated. Googles search results have previously surfaced AI-generated images from various sources and presented them as if they were genuine.
In this case, the problematic image was taken from a stock image website, Freepik, where it was clearly labeled as AI-generated. Despite this label, the image was incorrectly tagged as Coprinus comatus, and Googles algorithm pulled it into the search snippet without flagging it as AI-generated content.
The implications of this are severe. Mushroom foraging is an activity where accurate identification is crucial, as many edible mushrooms have toxic look-alikes. The spread of incorrect information, especially in such a visually driven field, could lead to severe health consequences.
Experts, like those from the New York Mycological Society, have expressed concern over the dangers posed by AI-generated images in this context. They highlight that many individuals depend on visual references, and when these references are inaccurate, the risk of misidentification increases significantly.
Moreover, there is a broader concern about how AI-generated content is being integrated into search engines like Google. The challenge lies in the sheer volume of AI-generated material now available online, making it difficult for search algorithms to accurately differentiate between genuine and AI-created content. This issue is compounded by the fact that AI-generated images can often look close enough to the real thing, which might lead to confusion and, in the worst cases, dangerous outcomes.
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Google has acknowledged these concerns, stating that it has systems in place to ensure a high-quality user experience and that it is continually working to improve these safeguards. However, the incidents involving AI-generated images in search results highlight the limitations of these systems and the urgent need for better identification and labelling of AI-generated content.
The risks are not new; last year, AI-generated foraging books, which included mushroom identification, appeared on platforms like Amazon. These books were flagged by experts as potentially life-threatening due to the inaccuracy of the information they contained. Similarly, Google has previously featured AI-generated images of famous artworks and historical events, presenting them as real in its search snippets.
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The rise of AI, with its ability to generate vast amounts of content quickly, has introduced new challenges in information accuracy. For communities like r/mycology, which strive to educate and protect people, the spread of incorrect information is particularly troubling. As AI-generated content becomes more prevalent, the need for robust systems to filter and correctly label such content is more pressing than ever to prevent misinformation and potential health crises.
The development of Fugaku Next will be spearheaded by the Japanese research institute RIKEN in collaboration with technology giant Fujitsu. The project is set to commence in 2025. Fugaku operates at a speed of 0.44 exaFLOPS whereas Fugaku Next will have 1 zetaFLOPs read more
Japan is gearing up to construct a revolutionary supercomputer, poised to outpace todays most advanced machines by an astonishing 1,000 times.
This cutting-edge zeta-class supercomputer, known as Fugaku Next, is expected to cost over $750 million and is projected to be operational by 2030. The initiative marks a significant leap forward in computational power, promising to redefine the boundaries of scientific research and artificial intelligence.
The development of Fugaku Next will be spearheaded by the Japanese research institute RIKEN in collaboration with technology giant Fujitsu. The project is set to commence in 2025, with the supercomputer intended to succeed Japans current supercomputer, Fugaku.
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Fugaku, which once held the title of the worlds fastest supercomputer, was surpassed in 2022 by the United States Frontier. Currently ranked fourth globally, Fugaku operates at a speed of 0.44 exaFLOPS, meaning it can perform 0.44 quintillion calculations per second.
In comparison, the upcoming zeta-class supercomputer is expected to achieve an unprecedented speed of 1 zetaFLOPS, capable of performing one sextillion calculations per second. This leap from exaFLOPS to zetaFLOPS represents a monumental milestone in computational capacity.
The significance of this development is underscored by the potential applications of such immense computing power. The term FLOPS, or floating-point operations per second, is the standard metric for measuring a computers ability to solve complex problems.
Achieving a zetaFLOPS scale would mark a historic achievement, unlocking new possibilities in AI development, climate modelling, drug discovery, and a host of other fields that require massive computational resources.
The Japanese government is fully backing this initiative through its Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), which has already allocated an initial budget of 4.2 billion yen ($29 million) for the project. The total investment could reach as high as 110 billion yen ($761 million), reflecting the scale and ambition of the project. However, this massive undertaking is not without its challenges.
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One of the most significant concerns is the energy consumption required to power such a supercomputer. Experts have warned that using current technologies, Fugaku Next could demand as much energy as 21 nuclear power plants, raising questions about its sustainability and environmental impact.
Despite these challenges, Japan is pressing forward with the project, aiming to solidify its position as a global leader in scientific research and AI-driven innovation. If successful, Fugaku Next will not only become the worlds most powerful supercomputer but will also position Japan at the forefront of the next generation of technological advancements, driving forward the capabilities of computational science on a global scale.
The driving force behind this expansion is the increasing development of AI systems and the construction of massive data centres needed to support these technologies. The demand for chip components for ICs is expected to spike by over 30% by 2026 read more
Around the world, governments in countries like Canada, France, India, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates are pouring billions into AI. Theyre focusing on building domestic AI capabilities, investing in infrastructure, and developing indigenous AI models. Image Credit: Freepik
The global market for AI-related products is on track to experience explosive growth, potentially reaching up to $990 billion by 2027, according to a recent report by Bain & Co. As AI technology continues to integrate into various sectors, its rapid adoption is set to transform businesses and economies on an unprecedented scale.
In Bain & Cos latest Global Technology Report, the consulting firm predicts that the AI market, which includes both services and hardware, will grow by 40 per cent to 55 per cent annually. This surge will propel the market from $185 billion in 2022 to somewhere between $780 billion and $990 billion by 2027.
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The driving force behind this expansion is the increasing development of advanced AI systems and the construction of massive data centres needed to support these technologies.
However, this rapid growth comes with its own set of challenges. Bain warns that the soaring demand for AI could strain global supply chains, particularly for essential components like semiconductors.
As companies and governments race to adopt AI, the pressure on supply chains might lead to shortages in key technologies, including chips, personal computers, and smartphones. The report also highlights that geopolitical tensions could further complicate these supply issues.
The demand for chip components, particularly for integrated circuits and related intellectual property, is expected to spike by over 30 per cent by 2026. This increase will likely put significant pressure on manufacturers.
Moreover, the average cost of building large-scale data centres, currently ranging from $1 billion to $4 billion, is predicted to skyrocket to between $10 billion and $25 billion as these centres expand their capacity to accommodate the growing demands of AI.
These developments will have far-reaching implications for the infrastructure that supports data centres, including areas like power production, cooling systems, and engineering. As companies move beyond mere experimentation and begin integrating AI into their operations on a large scale, theres a growing interest in more efficient, smaller AI models.
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These models, which offer cost and privacy benefits, are becoming increasingly appealing to both businesses and governments.
Around the world, governments in countries like Canada, France, India, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates are pouring billions into AI. Theyre focusing on building domestic AI capabilities, investing in infrastructure, and developing AI models that are trained on local data.
However, Bains Anne Hoecker notes that establishing these sovereign AI ecosystems will be a lengthy and expensive process.
As AI technology continues to evolve, its clear that both companies and governments are gearing up for what could be a major shift in how we approach everything from business operations to technological innovation. The race to harness AIs full potential is just beginning, and the stakes have never been higher.
The AI Act, which was agreed upon by EU lawmakers in May, is set to be the first comprehensive regulation governing AI. It requires companies to provide detailed summaries of the data used to train their AI models read more
Meta says it is concentrating on its compliance efforts in preparation for the AI Act, rather than signing the voluntary pact at this time. Image Credit: Reuters
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, has decided not to immediately join the European Unions AI Pact, which serves as a transitional framework ahead of the EUs AI Act.
This decision was confirmed by a company spokesperson, who stated that Meta is concentrating on its compliance efforts in preparation for the AI Act, rather than signing the voluntary pact at this time.
The AI Pact was introduced by the EU as a voluntary measure to encourage companies to begin aligning with the forthcoming AI Act, a landmark piece of legislation aimed at regulating artificial intelligence across Europe.
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The AI Act, which was agreed upon by EU lawmakers in May, is set to be the first comprehensive regulation governing AI, requiring companies to provide detailed summaries of the data used to train their AI models. The majority of the rules under the AI Act will come into effect on August 2, 2026.
While the European Commission has urged companies to join the AI Pact as a preparatory step, Meta has opted to focus on meeting the legal requirements of the AI Act, potentially joining the pact at a later stage.
The company expressed support for the harmonised rules that the EU is implementing and emphasised its commitment to ensuring full compliance by the 2026 deadline.
The AI Act is a critical part of the EUs broader legislative framework, which includes other significant regulations like the Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act, Data Governance Act, and Data Act.
Together, these laws aim to create a robust regulatory environment for the digital economy in Europe. Metas decision to delay joining the AI Pact reflects a cautious approach as it navigates the complex and evolving regulatory landscape.
In response to these security lapses, Microsoft has declared that security is now its top priority. To back up this claim, the company has released an update on its, a programme launched in November 2023 to enhance Microsofts cybersecurity defences read more
To improve threat detection and monitoring, Microsoft has introduced standardized security audit logs and centralized log management, now covering 99 per cent of network devices. Image Credit: Reuters
Microsoft has had a challenging year when we look at cybersecurity and the nature of beaches it had to suffer. The tech giant has been grappling with a series of significant security breaches involving some of its most important and widely used products.
Now the company has admitted to falling short in its cybersecurity efforts, as evidenced by several high-profile incidents. Among these breaches, Russian state-sponsored hackers managed to steal sensitive US government emails by compromising Microsofts corporate email accounts.
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In another alarming event, a Chinese state-sponsored group breached Microsoft Exchange Online mailboxes, including those belonging to key figures such as Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, US Ambassador to China R. Nicholas Burns, and Congressman Don Bacon.
In response to these security lapses, Microsoft has declared that security is now its top priority. To back up this claim, the company has released an update on its Secure Future Initiative (SFI), a programme launched in November 2023 aimed at significantly enhancing Microsofts cybersecurity defences.
The SFI progress report outlines the steps Microsoft is taking to prioritise security above all else. These include substantial updates to governance, new programmes for upskilling employees, and rigorous security reviews. The company is focusing on addressing its core pillars of cybersecurity, reflecting a commitment to fundamental changes in its approach to protecting user data and systems.
Over the past year, Microsoft has bolstered its governance framework by establishing a Cybersecurity Governance Council. This council, composed of Deputy Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), regularly reviews all cybersecurity matters, including risk management, compliance, and defence strategies.
To ensure accountability, Microsoft has also tied executive compensation to security performance, creating a strong incentive for leaders to focus on preventing errors and improving security outcomes. Additionally, the company has introduced a Security Skilling Academy, designed to equip employees with the latest cybersecurity skills and knowledge.
In terms of specific cybersecurity measures, Microsoft has concentrated on six key pillars. These include enhancing identity and secret protection by improving token management and phishing resistance within its access management solution, Microsoft Entra ID. The company has also streamlined app lifecycle management and reduced the attack surface by removing inactive tenants, thereby improving tenant and production protection.
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Network security has been strengthened by isolating certain virtual networks with backend connectivity, reducing the potential for lateral movement by attackers.
Furthermore, Microsoft has implemented stricter Admin Rules for Azure Storage, SQL, Cosmos DB, and Key Vault to assist customers in securing their data. The Secure Future Initiative has also seen 85 per cent of Microsofts production build pipelines for commercial cloud services come under centralized governance.
Personal Access Tokens have been limited to a seven-day lifespan, and the software development cycle has been enhanced with additional security checks. The number of elevated roles with access to engineering systems has been reduced, further safeguarding critical infrastructure.
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To improve threat detection and monitoring, Microsoft has introduced standardized security audit logs and centralized log management, now covering 99 per cent of network devices. The company has also committed to enhancing transparency and reducing the time needed to address common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) across its cloud infrastructure. This includes updating processes and establishing the Customer Security Management Office to better communicate with customers during security incidents.
Despite these efforts, Microsoft acknowledges that the work is far from complete. Charlie Bell, Executive Vice President of Microsoft Security, emphasized that cyber threats are continually evolving, and Microsoft must evolve in tandem. The company is fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement, aiming to make security not just a feature, but the foundation of its operations going forward.
Lebanon said 15 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday even as Hezbollah claimed it fired a ballistic missile at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv in the deepest hit yet read more
Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in the southern village of Kfar Rouman, seen from Marjayoun, south Lebanon, on Wednesday. AP
Hezbollah said it had fired a ballistic missile at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Wednesday, with Israel launching more air strikes on Lebanon after its military intercepted the unprecedented launch.
It is the first time Hezbollah has claimed a ballistic missile strike since its nearly year-long battle with Israel began after its Palestinian ally Hamas carried out its October 7 attack.
Israel conducted more air strikes on areas around Lebanon on Wednesday, after raids earlier this week killed at least 558 people in the deadliest day of violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
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The Lebanese health ministry said Wednesdays strikes killed 19 people and injured 94, including in mountain areas outside Hezbollahs traditional strongholds.
The health ministry said an Israeli strike on the village of Joun in the Chouf mountains, southeast of Beirut, killed four people.
Another Israeli strike killed three people in Maaysra - a Shiite-majority village in a mostly Christian mountain area about 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of Beirut.
Eight people were killed in Israeli strikes in the south, the ministry said.
According to Lebanese officials, hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled their homes in southern and eastern Lebanon to escape the violence between the Iran-backed militants and Israel.
Nour Hamad, a 22-year-old student in the Lebanese city of Baalbek, described living in a state of terror all week.
We spent four or five days without sleep, not knowing if we will wake up in the morning, she said.
The sound of the bombardment is very frightening, everyones afraid. The children are afraid, and the grown-ups are afraid too.
In Tel Aviv, sirens sounded following Hezbollahs unprecedented missile launch, which the Israeli military intercepted.
The situation is difficult. We feel the pressure and the tension. Its been going for a long time now, Tel Aviv resident Hedva Fadlon, 61, told AFP.
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I dont think anyone in the world would like to live like this.
Longtime foes Hezbollah and Israel have been locked in near-daily exchanges of fire since Hamass October 7 attack on Israel.
The attack sparked a war in Gaza that has drawn in ally Hezbollah and other Iran-backed armed groups from across the Middle East, including Yemen and Iraq.
Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said the vast majority, if not all of the 558 people killed in Israels aerial bombardment on Monday were unarmed civilians in their homes.
The United Nations Security Council said it will hold an emergency meeting on the crisis in New York on Wednesday, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the situation was critical.
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Rocket commander killed
Hezbollah claimed 18 attacks on Israel on Tuesday, while the Israeli military said the Iran-backed group fired about 300 rockets across the border.
Hezbollah also confirmed an Israeli claim that it had killed their rocket forces commander Ibrahim Kobeissi in a strike on the Lebanese capital.
At the UN General Assembly in New York, Secretary-General Guterres issued a stark warning.
We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink, he said, while cautioning against the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza.
US President Joe Biden, whose government is Israels main backer, warned against a full-blown war in Lebanon in his speech during the New York gathering.
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Full-scale war is not in anyones interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible, Biden said.
Lebanons foreign minister, also at the UN assembly, said the number of displaced Lebanese had soared to nearly 500,000 since Israel ramped up its military campaign.
A security official in neighbouring Syria told AFP about 500 people had crossed the border to flee the bombing.
Defiant Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his departure for New York until Thursday, where he too is due to speak at the General Assembly.
During the day, the prime minister will hold consultations to discuss the continuation of the attacks in Lebanon, his office said.
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Netanyahu defied international calls for restraint, vowing on Tuesday to keep up Israels campaign against Hezbollah.
We will continue to hit Hezbollah the one who has a missile in his living room and a rocket in his home will not have a home, he said.
Iran, Hezbollahs main backer, condemned Israels raids, with its president, Masoud Pezeshkian, saying its ally cannot stand alone.
On Wednesday, Irans supreme leader Ali Khamenei said the recent killing of Hezbollah commanders would not crush the group.
Some of the effective and valuable forces of Hezbollah were martyred, which undoubtedly caused damage to Hezbollah, but this was not the sort of damage that could bring the group to its knees, he said.
New phase
While the Israel-Lebanon border has seen near-daily clashes for a year, the violence escalated dramatically last week, when coordinated communications device blasts that Hezbollah blamed on Israel killed 39 people and wounded almost 3,000.
Then Israel carried out an air strike on Hezbollahs south Beirut stronghold, killing a top military commander and other fighters and civilians.
Efforts to end the war in Gaza, which analysts say are key to stopping the escalation in Lebanon, remain stalled.
The war in Gaza began with Hamass October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israels retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,495 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territorys health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with Bangladeshs foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain in New York on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) read more
In a first after over a month following the ouster of Bangladeshs former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and interim government taking over the charge of Indias neighouring nation, India and Bangladesh had their first high-level in-person engagement.
The venue was New York on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with a key member of Bangladeshs interim leader Muhammad Yunus team, his foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain.
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Both the leaders met on Tuesday and their conversation was focused on India-Bangladesh ties.
There was also a possibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Yunus meeting on the sidelines of the UNGA, but they could not due to different arrival and departure timings.
1 - The bilateral between Jaishankar and Hossain took place amid rising anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh in wake of the fall of Hasina-led government.
2 - According to a report by Times of India, Jaishankar is learnt to have reiterated Indias emphasis on restoration of law and order in Bangladesh.
3 - During the bilateral meeting with Hossain, Jaishankar also reportedly highlighted the need for the safety of minorities in Bangladesh.
4 - Jaishakar is also believed to have reaffirmed Indias commitment to work with a peaceful and stable Bangladesh.
5 - Hossain and Jaishakars meeting came within days after the former said in a recent interview that it was not the ideal situation for governments to say that the relationship was good while people of Bangladesh have anti-India sentiments.
6 - Right before meeting Jaishankar, Hossain said, Acknowledging the problem is important for addressing it. We will definitely try to sort out the tension and maintain working relations. The relationship will have to be based on mutual respect and fairness."
7 - Also, the meeting between the two leaders comes a week after Hossain said, Bangladesh wishes to have a normal relation with Pakistan. For the last several years, relation with Pakistan was cold. Pakistan wants to come out of that phase. We also want to move ahead in the relation with Pakistan to the extent possible. We have a few issues with Pakistan about which discussions have been stalled. We intend to build a normal relation in which Pakistan will look after its interest and we will look after our interests, he said during an interview with BBC Bangla.
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Hindus in Bangladesh are our citizens
Talking to the media in New York, after meeting Jaishankar, Hossain on Tuesday also claimed that Yunus-led government was doing everything possible to protect everything possible for the protection of our citizens and the Hindus in Bangladesh are our citizens, we are taking care of them."
It is correct that some violence has taken place, but any violence that has taken place is being shown as violence against Hindus, this is not correctI think the Indian media needs to come out of this hyping of this issue, he further said.
Since the fall of the Hasina-led government, anti-India sentiments have been on rise among radicals in Bangladesh. She resigned and departed Dhaka on August 5 after the student-led quota reform movement escalated into a widespread agitation.
Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have partnered with Russias Roscosmos for surveillance and telecom satellites. This deal has the potential to boost national security for Sahelian states while also strengthening Russias growing influence in the region read more
Russian space agency has made pacts with Sahelian states that have tensions with the West. Representational image.
Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, three West African nations under military juntas, have entered an agreement with Russia to acquire telecommunications and surveillance satellites.
Here are seven key takeaways from the recent pact involving Russias aerospace agency, Roscosmos, and the military governments of these Sahelian nations.
1. Context of alliance of Sahel states: In September 2023, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso established the Alliance of Sahel States, a mutual defence pact aimed at addressing shared security concerns.
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The satellite deal with Russia is seen as an extension of this alliances efforts to strengthen military cooperation and develop robust security strategies, particularly as Islamist insurgencies continue to pose a significant threat, Business Insider Africa reported.
2. Russias expanding influence in the Sahel: Russia has steadily been increasing its influence in Africa, particularly in the Sahel, where relations between these nations and their traditional Western allies have deteriorated, according to BBC.
Despite ongoing security challenges, Russia has supplied weapons and mercenaries to assist these nations in their fight against insurgents.
This satellite deal is part of a broader strategy by Russia to cement military and political ties with African countries.
3. Russias controversial role in Africa: Russias presence has not been without controversy. Russia has been accused of pushing propaganda and misinformation in the region, while its mercenaries, often linked to the Wagner Group, have been accused of committing atrocities against civilians.
Despite these concerns, the junta governments continue to turn to Russia for military assistance, viewing Moscow as a reliable alternative to former Western allies.
4. Focus on national security, surveillance: The deal with Roscosmos is designed to bolster border surveillance and national security in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
According to Malis Finance Minister, Alousseni Sanou, the satellite technology will play a critical role in monitoring the vast, porous borders of these countries, which have long struggled with Islamist insurgencies. The surveillance capabilities are expected to help address long-standing security vulnerabilities across the region.
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5. Secure comms in insurgent-dominated areas: One of the primary benefits highlighted by the three governments is the potential for secure communications. In areas where insurgents operate, ensuring the confidentiality and reliability of military communications is crucial.
These satellites will provide the three nations with enhanced, encrypted communication channels, improving coordination among military forces fighting insurgencies across their shared borders.
6. Telecom infrastructure expansion in remote areas: The satellite deal includes the acquisition of telecommunications satellites. These may provide essential internet and telephone services to underdeveloped and remote regions of the Sahel, improving connectivity for millions living in isolated areas.
The satellites will also enable the broadcast of television and radio signals across the three countries.
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7. Addressing natural disasters: Beyond military applications, the satellites will help the three countries respond more effectively to natural disasters such as floods, droughts, and fires.
Malis Finance Minister said that this technology would provide critical real-time data to monitor and manage natural disasters, improving disaster preparedness and response strategies across the Sahel region.
Senior members of the former government had dumped the state-owned cars and SUVs without a proper handover, according to Wasantha Samarasinghe, a member of Anura Kumara Dissanayakes JVP party read more
Hundreds of pricey government vehicles have been abandoned around Sri Lankas capital after the countrys new Marxist-leaning president took office, a member of his party said Wednesday, with hundreds of others missing.
Senior members of the former government had dumped the state-owned cars and SUVs without a proper handover, according to Wasantha Samarasinghe, a member of Anura Kumara Dissanayakes JVP party.
The fleet includes four-wheel-drive Toyota Land Cruisers and utility vehicles.
We have launched an investigation into who abandoned these vehicles and on what authority they used them, Samarasinghe told reporters at a public park where the vehicles had been left.
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He did not say whether the keys had been left with the cars.
Out of a fleet of 833 vehicles registered at the colonial-era Presidential Secretariat, there was no trace of 253, he added.
The vehicles are believed to have been taken by senior politicians and officials of previous administrations.
Dissanayake came to power following Saturdays election, riding a promise to change the countrys political culture and tackle corruption and abuse of power.
Local election monitors reported the main malpractice recorded during the peaceful vote was the misuse of state-owned vehicles and other resources.
Cars are prohibitively expensive in Sri Lanka, which in March 2020 banned the import of vehicles amid a worsening foreign exchange shortage that ultimately saw supplies of food, fuel and medicine run out.
A 10-year-old Toyota SUV currently goes for around $150,000, while a five-year-old Range Rover exceeds $300,000.
Months of street protests during an economic meltdown brought on by the foreign exchange crisis culminated in the storming of the presidential palace in July 2022, forcing then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign and flee the country.
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His successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, secured a $2.9 billion bailout from the IMF and introduced tough austerity measures while maintaining the ban on car imports.
US President Joe Biden met Vietnams president To Lam for talks on Wednesday, aiming to deepen relations with the Southeast Asian country and manufacturing hub and counter its ties with China and Russia. read more
US President Joe Biden meets with Vietnam's President and ruling Communist Party Chief To Lam on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United National General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City, US, on Wednesday. Reuters
US President Joe Biden met Vietnams president To Lam for talks on Wednesday, aiming to deepen relations with the Southeast Asian country and manufacturing hub and counter its ties with China and Russia.
Biden and Lam, the ruling Communist Party chief making his first visit to the U.S. as president, met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Lam has met this week in New York with representatives of US companies, including Meta (META.O), which pledged to expand investments in the Communist-ruled country with a population of 100 million.
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Lam asked business leaders to back Hanois bid to have Washington remove it from the list of non-market economies (NMEs) and lift other trade restrictions and for the US and Vietnam to cooperate on semiconductor supply chains.
Biden visited Hanoi a year ago and secured deals on semiconductors and minerals and an upgrade in diplomatic ties, despite US concerns about human rights issues.
On meeting Biden on Wednesday, Lam hailed what he called Bidens historic contribution to elevating bilateral relations.
Biden said that since beginning a new era in relations last year, the two countries had made historic investments in semiconductors and supply chains and launched unprecedented cooperation on cybersecurity.
He also said they stood united in commitments to freedom of navigation and the rule of law - a reference to regional maritime disputes with China.
Recalling his address to the UN assembly on Tuesday, Biden added: Theres nothing beyond our capacity if we work together.
Lam spoke at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday and his travels include a stop in Cuba, Vietnams long-term Communist partner.
Ahead of his trip, Vietnamese authorities released some prominent activists from prison before the end of their jail terms, sources told Reuters.
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They included Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison in January 2010 on charges of subversion, and environment activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong, who was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of tax fraud in September last year, but other dissidents remain in detention.
Sources told Reuters that the United States has been urging Vietnam to avoid Chinese companies in its plans to build 10 new undersea cables by 2030.
While Lam was likely to raise the NME issue, it was not Bidens prerogative to offer concessions on that, given Commerce Department criteria, said Murray Hiebert, a senior associate of the Southeast Asia Program at Washingtons Center for Strategic and International Studies.
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Vietnam has long argued that it should be freed of the NME label given recent economic reforms and that retaining the moniker is bad for increasingly close two-way ties that Washington sees as a counterbalance to China.
Opponents, including politically influential US labor lobbies, argue Vietnams policy commitments have not been matched by concrete actions and it is increasingly being used as a manufacturing hub by Chinese firms to circumvent US curbs on imports from China.
U.S. Representative Michelle Steel, a California Republican who represents a large population of Vietnamese Americans, called on Biden to directly address worsening human rights abuses in Vietnam under Lams leadership.
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Hiebert said he did not expect the meeting to go much beyond a brief courtesy meet and greet given that Biden has four months left to his term and Lam only took office in August after nearly two years of political turmoil due to Vietnams anti-corruption campaign.
I think the two leaders will recommit to the comprehensive strategic partnership agreed to one year ago, but on which few implementing initiatives have been taken because of the distraction in Hanoi, he said.
Alexander Vuving, a Vietnam expert at the Hawaii-based Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, said the meeting was important to helping Lam consolidate power.
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Geopolitically it would signal Vietnams balanced position between the great powers, given Lams recent visit to China and meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the importance of the Hanoi relationship in US Asia policy, Vuving said.
Soon after images of Musk and Meloni in New York surfaced online, social media erupted with comments speculating about a potential romance. A Tesla fan club posted a picture of them and wrote, Do you think theyll date? read more
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni clicked together at an award ceremony in New York. Source: X / @GiorgiaMeloni
Billionaire Elon Musk and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently sparked dating rumors after they were clicked together at an award ceremony in New York. The event was a part of the United Nations General Assembly and saw the Tesla CEO praising Meloni for her leadership and character.
Meloni, who is recognised for her strong support of the EU and her role as Italys first female prime minister, on her part, thanked Musk for his kind words on her official X (previously Twitter) account.
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However, soon after images of the two surfaced online, social media erupted with comments speculating about a potential romance.
One user wrote, I am totally shipping these two. Perfect, while another remarked, Now that is the kind of international power couple I can get behind.
Phrases like Thats Amore (Thats love) also circulated, with fans expressing their admiration for the duo.
A Tesla fan club also posted a picture of Musk and Meloni and wrote, Do you think theyll date?"
Musk, on his part, quickly put an end to the speculation. Responding to a post questioning whether he and Meloni would date, he stated plainly, Not dating.
We are not dating Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 24, 2024
Meanwhile, while presenting Meloni with the Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award, Musk expressed his admiration for her, going on to state, Its an honour to present the accolade to someone who is even more beautiful on the inside than she was on the outside. He further described Meloni as authentic, honest, truthful - and that cant always be said about politicians."
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Also Read: Invited on Melonis request, Musk praises Italy PM as someone who is even more beautiful
Meloni was honoured for her strong support of the EU and for becoming the first female prime minister of Italy.
This is, however, not the first time social media users have paired Musk and Meloni. In December last year, several posts on X claimed that the two were together after Musk accepted Melonis invitation to attend a political festival in Rome.
Macrons statement is believed to be a reference to Russias acts in the Russia-Ukraine war. However, for Western nations, it could become a double edged sword, especially in light of the mounting criticism of their role in arming Israel read more
French President Emmanuel Macron's call for reform of the use of the UNSC veto was likely targeted towards Russia. Reuters
Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday (September 25) called for reform of the United Nations Security Council to limit veto power in cases of mass killings.
Reform of the composition alone of the Security Council is not sufficient to make it more effective. I also wish for reform to change the operational methods to limit the right to a veto in case of mass crimes, the French president told the UN General Assembly.
First proposed in 2013 by France, regulation of use of the veto would mean that the five permanent members of the Security Council China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States would voluntarily and collectively undertake not to use the veto where a mass atrocity has been ascertained.
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France had proposed that in order to determine the existence of mass atrocities, the UN Secretary-General would decide to refer the matter to the Security Council either on his own initiative or on a proposal from the High Commissioner for Human Rights or from a certain number of Member States.
Being a voluntary measure, it would not require a revision of the United Nations Charter.
Macrons statement is believed to be a reference to Russias acts in the Russia-Ukraine war.
However, for Western nations, it could become a double edged sword, especially in light of the mounting criticism of their role in arming Israel as it continues operations in the brutal war in Gaza.
A host of UN experts, including Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, have called Israels actions in Gaza a genocidal assault. They have repeatedly called Western nations like the United States to stop providing arms to Israel.
Macron seemed at least somewhat ready to face the consequences of this double-edged sword. The Gaza war has gone on too long, Macron told the United Nations, adding that there is no explanation possible for the thousands of civillian deaths.
Dozens of protesters gathered in Herald Square in New York City and chanted Hands off the Middle East, Free Palestine and Biden, Harris, Trump and Bibi; none are welcome in our city read more
Demonstrators listen to remarks during a protest against Israel's attacks on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon during a rally near the White House in Washington, US, September 24, 2024. Source: REUTERS.
Protesters in some US cities demonstrated on Tuesday against American military support for Israel as risks have risen of a full-fledged conflict in the Middle East, with anti-war activists demanding an arms embargo against the US ally.
Dozens of protesters gathered in Herald Square in New York City on Tuesday evening and carried banners that read Hands off Lebanon now and no US-Israeli war on Lebanon, according to the ANSWER coalition group, which stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism.
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Protesters chanted Hands off the Middle East, Free Palestine and Biden, Harris, Trump and Bibi; none are welcome in our city, referring to US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A smaller protest with similar slogans and banners was also seen near the White House in Washington on a rainy Tuesday evening.
Israels attacks in Lebanon and the ongoing siege and genocide in Gaza are made possible by the huge amount of bombs, missiles and warplanes provided by the US government, the ANSWER coalition group said in a statement. It said protests were also being organised on Tuesday in other cities like San Francisco, Seattle, San Antonio and Phoenix, among others.
Israel says its actions are an act of self-defence against militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah that it considers hostile. The United States has maintained support for its ally during this war despite domestic and international criticism.
In May, Biden said US support for Israel was ironclad, while also calling for an immediate ceasefire. Whats happening in Gaza is not genocide. We reject that, Biden said at a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House.
The United States has seen months of protests over Israels war in Gaza that has killed over 41,000, according to the local health ministry, caused a hunger crisis, displaced the entire 2.3 million population of the enclave and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israeli denies.
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Israels military assault on Hamas-governed Gaza followed a deadly attack by the Palestinian Islamist group on October 7 that killed around 1,200 people and in which about 250 were taken as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israels offensive in Lebanon since Monday morning has killed over 560 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,800. Israel says it has struck targets of Lebanese Hezbollah militants who are supported by Iran while Hezbollah has also said it fired rockets at Israeli military posts.
The situation has raised concerns of a widened regional war that could destabilise the Middle East. Leaders of different United Nations member states met this week in the United States with the situation in the Middle East being top of the agenda.
Hong Kong is battling to regain its coveted position of being a premier tourist destination for its nightlife after being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Its administration may announce tax cuts on liquor next month read more
Bar staff members stand in the middle of the road to promote their bars and restaurants in Lan Kwai Fong, a popular nightlife destination, in the financial central district of Hong Kong, China. Reuters
Reeling under the declining number of tourists since the Covid-19 pandemic, Hong Kong is planning to make spirits cheaper in its bid to regain its edge as a premier destination for nightlife, dining and shopping. Hong Kong is likely to reduce the amount of tax it levies on spirits, Bloomberg reported quoting people familiar with the matter.
This comes as the Asian financial centre seeks to regain its attraction among international tourists for the citys nightlife. The new reduced taxes are expected to be announced in mid-October when Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee makes policy announcements.
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Currently, Hong Kong levies 100 per cent tax on liquor with an alcohol content of more than 30 per cent among the highest anywhere in the world. The local government is said to be considering a tiered system lower taxes for expensive spirits.
The move is aimed at boosting spending on premium liquor and attracting a higher value type of clientele. This is also expected to discourage consumers from stocking up on cheap drinks in a bid to also limit health risks.
Why make liquor cheaper
Drop in retail sales has worried the Hong Kong administration falling 12 per cent in July compared to the same month last year. The overall retail sales are 25 per cent down compared to the 2018 levels that is before political unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic hit Hong Kongs economy. Bars are particularly hit hard, with retail sales down by almost 30 per cent.
Hong Kong removed all duties on non spirits-based alcohol drinks in 2008, boosting a strong growth in the wine trade in 2009. Imports jumped 80 per cent to $411 million that year. Hong Kong hopes the move it plans will give a similar fillip to the business.
Though the plan is not final yet, the Bloomberg report said, it comes as Hong Kongs fresh move to beef up sales for restaurants, bars and retailers all these businesses have been struggling since the pandemic curtailed tourist inflow.
Rising competition
The economic woes got complicated as Hong Kong has also seen a slowdown in domestic spending, particularly in property and financial market segments. In the post-Covid period, Hong Kong is also facing tough challenges from metropolises from mainland China, Singapore and Japanese cities, which have seen a tourism boom with the yen weakening considerably.
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Data from the World Spirits Alliance showed that spirits trade contributed $730 billion to the global economy in 2022, including $390 billion in tax revenue.
More than 800 businesses related to wine sprung up in the following two years, including traders, retailers, restaurants, bars and logistics firms. Total industry revenue meanwhile grew 30% over two years to $706 million.
In Hong Kong, tax on spirits accounts for a relatively small amount of overall revenue from duties less than six per cent. But it contributes to other business such as tourism, restaurants and hotels.
When Scot Morrison was treasurer, he visited China in 2017. Jim Chalmers will become the first Australian minister since then to travel to China this week read more
Treasurer Jim Chalmers will this week become the first Australian government minister in that key economic role to visit China in seven years, in the latest sign that strained bilateral relations are mending.
Chalmers flies to Beijing on Thursday for a two-day visit. The last Australian treasurer to visit China was Scott Morrison in 2017.
Morrison rose to become prime minister a year later and bilateral relations further soured under his rule until his conservative government was replaced by Prime
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Minister Anthony Albaneses center-left Labor Party after the 2022 general election.
Chalmers said Wednesday that the main purpose of his visit was to co-chair the Australia-China Strategic Economic Dialogue on Thursday with He Lifeng, chair of Chinas National Development and Reform Commission.
Discussions will focus on growing trade and investment with China and opportunities for Australian and Chinese businesses to cooperate, government documents say.
This is another really important step towards stabilizing our economic relationship with China, Chalmers told reporters in Brisbane.
It will be part of the Albanese governments methodical and coordinated efforts to reestablish dialogue with China, Australias largest trading partner, Chalmers added.
The dialogue was last held in 2017.
The bilateral relationship plumbed new depths in 2020 after the Morrison government called for an independent investigation into the origins of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
China imposed a series of official and unofficial bans in 2020 on Australian products, including coal, cotton, wine, barley, beef, lobsters and wood that cost Australian exporters up to 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year.
Most of those trade obstacles have been removed since the conservative government was ousted after nine years in office.
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In November, Albanese became the first Australian prime minister to visit China in seven years. In June, Li Qiang became the first Chinese premier to visit Australia in seven years.
But Australia remains wary of China as a trading partner despite improving relations and is keen forge closer economic ties to the worlds most populous nation, India.
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met with his Australian counterpart Don Farrell in Australia on Wednesday to discuss progress on a new bilateral free trade deal that furthers a 2022 pact.
As a testimony of the importance that the Australia relationship is to India, we are looking at significantly upscaling our partnerships in trade, investment, tourism and technology and therefore one of the first announcements Id like to make is that we shall shortly be setting up in Sydney an office covering all these four areas, Goyal told reporters in Farrells hometown of Adelaide.
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Australia has had a free trade agreement with China since 2015.
Israels military said it intercepted a drone approaching Eilat and reported that another drone crashed nearby, causing two minor injuries read more
Members of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq have long carried out drone attacks. AFP
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, claimed responsibility Wednesday (September 25) for a drone strike on Israels Red Sea port of Eilat.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq attacked a strategic target in Eilat using drones, the group said in a statement on Telegram.
The IRI is a coalition of militias operating in Iraq and Syria, linked to Iran but not always under the direct command of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a network of militias-turned-state actors.
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While closely aligned with Tehran, the IRI at times acts autonomously, pursuing its own objectives, according to Al Jazeera.
In Wednesdays incident, Israels military said it intercepted a drone approaching Eilat and reported that another drone crashed nearby, causing two minor injuries.
Earlier, Abu Ali al-Askari, a spokesman for Iraqs Hezbollah Brigades, urged more aggressive operations against Israel, arguing that current efforts fell short of the ambitions of the pro-Iran Axis of Resistance, a coalition that includes the IRI, Lebanons Hezbollah, and Yemens Houthi rebels.
We hope factions in the Islamic Resistance, which support Palestine and Lebanon, will increase the number and severity of their operations, Askari said.
The IRI has become a key player in regional conflicts, regularly launching drone and missile attacks under the banner of resisting foreign influence.
In recent months, the group has claimed at least 170 attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria, leveraging its status as an independent actor to avoid direct attribution to the Iraqi government, according to analysts. This allows the IRI to escalate conflicts without directly implicating the PMF or Iraqi authorities.
Israels military has acknowledged several attacks from the east since April, often intercepting the drones but without publicly naming the attackers. The IRIs recent strikes reflect a broader strategy shared among Iran-backed groups to challenge Israeli and US interests in the region.
With inputs from AFP
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and have destabilised the global trade read more
Flames and smoke rise from the damaged Greek-flagged oil tanker MV Sounion, which was attacked by Houthi terrorists in the Red Sea on September 15, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)
Iran has brokered talks between Russia and Yemen-based Houthi terrorists for the supply of advanced Russian missiles, according to a report.
The Houthis are among the anti-West and anti-Israel network of terrorist and armed groups supported by Iran across the Middle East. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War last year, the Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and have disrupted the global trade.
Now, Reuters has reported that Iran is brokering talks for the sale of Russian Yakhont missiles to the Houthis.
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The Yakhont missiles, also known as P-800 Oniks, are anti-ship cruise missiles. The missiles have ground-, air-, and submarine-launched variants with a range of around 300 kilometres (186 miles), according to Missile Defense Project of the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Sources told Reuters that Russia has not yet decided whether to provide the missiles to the Houthis.
Previously, it been reported that Russia was considering sending missiles to the Houthis. The role of Iran as a mediator has been reported for the first time.
The news comes as Iran and Russia have effectively built a bloc opposed to the West along with China and North Korea. Even as they help each-other against the West such as Iran providing armed drones and missiles to Russia, North Korea providing missiles to Russia, and China rescuing Russia economically they are also cultivating a network of non-state actors against the West and Western partners.
Retaliation for US posturing regarding Russia?
Three sources told Reuters that there is a possibility that Russia could be supply Yakhont missiles to Houthis in retaliation to the United States potentially allowing Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia with Western weapons.
For months, Ukraine has been pressing US President Joe Biden for permission to use long-range missiles such as US ATACMS and British-French Storm Shadow for strikes deep inside Russia just like Russia strikes deep inside Russia frequently.
A senior US official told the news agency that the Russia-Houthi talks seem to be related to our posture in Ukraine and what were willing or not willing to do regarding Ukraines requests for allowing the use of long-range US-supplied weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.
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Russian and Houthi officials have met at least twice in Tehran this year and talks include the supply of dozens of missiles, according to the agency.
Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned in June that if the United States allowed Ukraine deeper strikes with US or other Western weapon systems, then Russia could also send advanced long-range weapons to Western adversaries.
The State Secretary also said that people in Lebanon too have to flee owing to the barrage of airstrikes launched by Israel. And what everyone wants is a secure environment in which people can simply return to their homes, kids can go back to school. Thats what Israel is after, Blinken said read more
US State Secretary Antony Blinken on Wednesday said that the Israel-Hezbollah conflict can be solved through diplomacy.
Israel has a real and legitimate problem. After the horrific events of October 7 by Hamas in Israels south, Hezbollah from Lebanon joined in and started firing rockets at Israel," Blinken told NBC News.
He added, People who lived in northern Israel had to evacuate their homes. Villages were destroyed, homes were destroyed and 70,000 Israelis were forced from their homes, and Israel started firing back.
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The State Secretary also said that people in Lebanon too have to flee owing to the barrage of airstrikes launched by Israel. And what everyone wants is a secure environment in which people can simply return to their homes, kids can go back to school. Thats what Israel is after, Blinken said.
The best way to get that is not through war, not through escalation. It would be through a diplomatic agreement. While there is a very legitimate issue here, we dont think war is the solution.
US President Joe Biden during his address to the UN General Assembly said that diplomacy is the only solution to prevent the situation in Lebanon and Israel from escalating.
Meanwhile, the White House has expressed concern over Hezbollah launching a missile at Tel Aviv in Israel.
Its certainly deeply concerning, obviously to the Israelis, of course, but also to us, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN.
Although US has said that it had no idea about Israels military moves when it first allegedly orchestrated the electronic device attacks in Beirut and subsequent airstrikes, Irans Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei is of the belief that Washington knew everything about Israels plan.
With inputs from agencies
Hezbollah early on Wednesday confirmed senior commander Ibrahim Qubaisi was killed by Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday on the Lebanese capital as Israel announced earlier. Israel said Qubaisi headed the groups missile and rocket force read more
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as pictured from Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, on Tuesday. Reuters
An Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed a senior Hezbollah commander on Tuesday as cross-border rocket attacks by both sides increased fears of a full-fledged war in the Middle East and Lebanon said only Washington could help end the fighting.
Hezbollah early on Wednesday confirmed senior commander Ibrahim Qubaisi was killed by Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday on the Lebanese capital as Israel announced earlier. Israel said Qubaisi headed the groups missile and rocket force.
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Israels offensive since Monday morning has killed 569 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV.
The new offensive against Hezbollah has stoked fears that nearly a year of conflict between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza is escalating and could destabilise the Middle East. Britain urged its nationals to leave Lebanon and said it was moving 700 troops to Cyprus to help its citizens evacuate.
The U.N. Security Council said it would meet on Wednesday to discuss the conflict.
Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon the people of Israel and the people of the world - cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
At the U.N., which is holding its General Assembly this week, U.S. President Joe Biden made a plea for calm. Full-scale war is not in anyones interest. Even if a situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible, he said.
Lebanons Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib criticized Bidens address as not strong, not promising and said the U.S. was the only country that can really make a difference in the Middle East and with regard to Lebanon. Washington is Israels longtime ally and biggest arms supplier.
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The United States is the key to our salvation, he told an event in New York City hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
In Beirut, thousands of displaced people who fled from southern Lebanon were sheltering in schools and other buildings.
At the Technical Institute of Bir Hassan, volunteers brought water bottles, medicine and other supplies for the new arrivals.
In one classroom, 11-month-old Matila slept on a mattress while children elsewhere stood on chairs to pass time by scribbling on a whiteboard. Rima Ali Chahine, 50, said the shelter provided diapers, pastries and milk for the children.
Its a lot of pressure for grownups and children. Theyre exhausted and stressed. They could not sleep, she said. The kids - they are living through terrible conditions.
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Early on Wednesday, an Israeli strike hit the seaside town of Jiyyeh, 75 km (46 miles) north of the border with Israel, two security sources said.
Hezbollah weakened, says Israel
Half a million people are estimated to have been displaced in Lebanon, said Bou Habib. He said Lebanons prime minister hoped to meet with U.S. officials over the next two days.
The U.S. and fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt have so far been unsuccessful in their efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the nearly year-old war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, a Hezbollah ally.
Irans President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose country and Israel are arch-enemies, told the U.N. General Assembly the international community must secure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and bring an end to the desperate barbarism of Israel in Lebanon, before it engulfs the region and the world.
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Israels military said its airforce conducted extensive strikes on Tuesday on Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and dozens of launchers that were aimed at Israeli territory.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the attacks had weakened Hezbollah and would continue. Hezbollah has suffered a sequence of blows to its command and control, its fighters, and the means to fight. These are all severe blows, he told Israeli troops.
He accused the U.N. of shirking its responsibility to prevent Hezbollahs attacks into Israel.
Hezbollah said it launched rockets at the Dado military base in northern Israel and attacked the Atlit naval base south of Haifa with drones, among other targets.
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Suspected Israeli missiles were also launched at the Syrian port city of Tartous and were intercepted by Syrian air defences, Syrian army sources said. The Israeli military declined to comment on the report.
Since the Gaza war started in October, Israel has intensified a years-long air campaign targeting Iran-aligned armed groups and their weapons transfers in Syria.
Funerals were held on Tuesday for people killed in Lebanon by Israels bombardment. In the coastal city of Saksakiyeh, Mohammed Helal was defiant as he mourned his daughter Jouri.
We are not afraid. Even if they kill, dissect and destroy us, he said.
Hezbollah said it had targeted Israels Mossad spy agency on Tel Avivs outskirts in the morning the first time it has fired a ballistic missile in almost a year of cross-border clashes sparked by the Gaza war read more
Israeli security and rescue forces work at the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. - Image- AP
Israels army chief told soldiers on Wednesday to prepare for a possible ground offensive to fight Hezbollah in Lebanon as the air force conducted hundreds of deadly strikes around the country.
We are attacking all day, both to prepare the ground for the possibility of your entry, but also to continue striking Hezbollah, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi told a tank brigade, according to a statement from the military.
Lebanons health minister said Wednesdays strikes killed 51 people and injured 223, including in mountainous areas outside Hezbollahs traditional strongholds.
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Hezbollah said it had targeted Israels Mossad spy agency on Tel Avivs outskirts in the morning the first time it has fired a ballistic missile in almost a year of cross-border clashes sparked by the Gaza war.
In response, Israel said it hit 60 Hezbollah intelligence sites, among hundreds of the groups targets struck across Lebanon.
It came amid escalating cross-border clashes, after Israeli raids on Monday killed at least 558 people in the deadliest day of violence since Lebanons 1975-90 civil war.
Nour Hamad, a 22-year-old student in the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, described living in a state of terror all week.
We spent four or five days without sleep, not knowing if we will wake up in the morning, she said.
In Tel Aviv, sirens sounded following Hezbollahs unprecedented missile launch.
Tel Aviv resident Hedva Fadlon, 61, told AFP: The situation is difficult. We feel the pressure and the tension I dont think anyone in the world would like to live like this.
Israel calls reservists
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Hezbollahs attack on Tel Aviv was deeply concerning but added there was still time and space for a diplomatic solution here to de-escalate the tensions and to prevent an all-out war.
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The Israeli military said over 280 Hezbollah targets had been struck across Lebanon on Wednesday, adding the strikes were ongoing.
Fighter jets struck 60 terrorist targets belonging to Hezbollahs intelligence directorate, the army said.
It also said two reserve brigades were being called up for operational missions in the northern arena, adding this would enable the continuation of combat against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation.
The United Nations Security Council said it would hold an emergency meeting on the crisis in New York on Wednesday, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the situation was critical.
Rocket commander killed
The UNs International Organization for Migration on Wednesday said 90,000 people had been displaced in Lebanon since Monday.
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Among them, many of the more than 111,000 people displaced since October are likely to have been secondarily displaced, a statement from the UNs Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs added.
It came after two days of what the Israeli military called extensive strikes on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.
The Lebanese group on Tuesday confirmed an Israeli claim that it had killed their rocket forces commander Ibrahim Kobeissi in a strike on the Lebanese capital.
At the UN General Assembly in New York, Secretary-General Guterres issued a stark warning.
We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink, he said, while cautioning against the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza.
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US President Joe Biden, whose government is Israels main backer, said full-scale war is not in anyones interest.
Defiant Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his departure for New York until Thursday, where he too is due to speak at the General Assembly.
During the day, the prime minister will hold consultations to discuss the continuation of the attacks in Lebanon, his office said.
Netanyahu defied international calls for restraint, vowing on Tuesday to keep up Israels campaign against Hezbollah.
We will continue to hit Hezbollah the one who has a missile in his living room and a rocket in his home will not have a home, he said.
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Iran, Hezbollahs main backer, condemned Israels raids, with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying the recent killing of Hezbollah commanders would not crush the group.
Some of the effective and valuable forces of Hezbollah were martyred, which undoubtedly caused damage to Hezbollah, but this was not the sort of damage that could bring the group to its knees, he said.
Elusive ceasefire
While the Israel-Lebanon border has seen near-daily clashes for a year, the violence escalated dramatically last week, when coordinated communications device blasts that Hezbollah blamed on Israel killed 39 people and wounded almost 3,000.
Then Israel carried out an air strike on Hezbollahs south Beirut stronghold, killing a top military commander and other fighters and civilians.
Efforts to end the war in Gaza, which analysts say are key to stopping the escalation in Lebanon, remain stalled.
Netanyahu has been accused by critics of stalling in Gaza ceasefire negotiations and prolonging the war to appease far-right coalition partners.
The war in Gaza began with Hamass October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israels retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,495 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territorys health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Russia can only be forced into a peace settlement and vowed not to negotiate on Moscows terms to end the conflict read more
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the the Summit of the Future at United Nations headquarters. AP
The Kremlin said Wednesday that forcing Russia into peace would be a fatal mistake, rejecting comments made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Russia can only be forced into a peace settlement and vowed not to negotiate on Moscows terms to end the conflict.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wednesday that such a position is a fatal mistake, a systemic mistake.
It is a profound misconception that will inevitably have consequences for the Kyiv regime, he added.
Russia is in favour of peace, but with the conditions that its stability is ensured and the objectives of the special military operation are fulfilled, he added, using Moscows official language for the Ukraine campaign.
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Without the achievement of these goals, it is impossible to coerce Russia, Peskov said.
Zelenskyy is in the United States this week hoping to boost international backing for Kyiv.
We know some in the world want to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky told the UN on Tuesday.
Clad in his trademark military fatigues, he called such views insanity.
Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly whats needed forcing Russia into peace, he added.
More than two and a half years after Russia launched its full-scale military offensive, the two sides appear as far apart as ever when it comes to a possible deal to end the fighting.
Kyiv launched a shock counter-offensive into Russias western Kursk region last month, the first assault on Russian territory by a foreign army since World War II.
Moscow has demanded Kyiv abandon territory it currently controls in the east and south of Ukraine as a precondition for peace talks.
The United Nations on Wednesday said that more than 90,000 people have been displaced in five days of Israeli strikes on Lebanon amid escalating hostilities read more
People look at a damaged house that was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, near Safed, northern Israel, on Wednesday. AP
The United Nations on Wednesday said that more than 90,000 people have been displaced in five days of Israeli strikes on Lebanon amid escalating hostilities.
Since Monday, the UNs International Organization for Migration has recorded 90,530 newly displaced persons, a statement said.
According to The Associated Press, citing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, a total of 200,00 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel nearly a year ago, drawing Israeli retaliation.
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On Wednesday, Hezbollah launched dozens of projectiles into Israel, including a missile targeting Tel Aviv its deepest strike to date.
The military intercepted the missile, marking an escalation following Israeli strikes on Lebanon that killed hundreds.
Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israels Mossad intelligence agency, which it blames for a recent string of targeted killings of its top commanders and for an attack last week in which explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of people and wounded thousands, including many Hezbollah members.
The Israeli military said it was the first time a projectile fired from Lebanon had reached central Israel. Hezbollah claimed to have targeted an intelligence base near Tel Aviv last month in an aerial attack, but there was no confirmation. The Palestinian Hamas militant group in Gaza repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv in the opening months of the war.
Air-raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and central Israel, but there were no reports of casualties or damage. Israel, meanwhile, retaliated by targeting the missile launch site in southern Lebanon.
As hostilities intensify, the region risks descending into all-out war while Israel continues its conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
Recent Israeli airstrikes killed at least 560 people in Lebanon, forcing thousands to flee.
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Families have sought refuge in Beirut and Sidon, filling schools and public spaces, while others attempted to leave the country, creating traffic jams at the Syrian border.
Meanwhile, in response to rising tensions, the Israeli military announced it would activate reserve troops.
Israels announcement to activate reserve troops signals a shift toward tougher action against Hezbollah, calling up two brigades for northern missions.
This comes as Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel, injuring two in Kibbutz Saar.
In retaliation, Israel launched strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, killing at least three and wounding nine near Byblos.
While the Israeli military has ruled out immediate ground invasions, tensions have escalated significantly over the past 11 months, with Hezbollah targeting Israel in solidarity with Hamas.
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The UN Security Council has called an emergency meeting on Lebanon amid ongoing conflict.
Recent rocket fire has disrupted life for over a million people in northern Israel, closing schools and businesses. Israel has moved thousands of troops to the northern border, citing Hezbollahs stockpile of 150,000 rockets capable of striking anywhere in the country.
With inputs from agencies
In an address to the UN Security Council (UNSC), British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said even though Russian President Vladimir Putin claims to speak for the Global South, all he cares about his expanding his mafia state into a mafia empire read more
The United Kingdom has slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin for running a mafia state.
In an impassioned address to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said even though Russia is a UNSC member and Putin claims to speak for the Global South, all he cares about his expanding his mafia state into a mafia empire.
Vladimir Putin, when you fire missiles into Ukraine hospitals, we know who you are. When you send mercenaries into African countries, we know who you are. When you murder opponents in European cities, we know who you are. Your invasion is in your own interests, yours alone: to expand your mafia state into a mafia empire, an empire built on corruption, said Lammy.
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Putins invasion of Ukraine is in his interest - and his interest alone.
To expand his mafia state into a mafia empire.
This government will call out Putins imperialism for what it is. pic.twitter.com/P2EJLXxdJm David Lammy (@DavidLammy) September 25, 2024
The remarks come as the Ukraine-Russia War appears to be at a turning point. After more than two years of fighting, no end appears to be in sight. Even though Ukraine scored victories in Russias border province of Kursk last month, Russia has continued to make gains in eastern Ukraine and appears close to winning two strategically important cities.
Lammy further likened Putin to a slave-owner and said that Russias expansionist designs were akin to the slave-owning mindset of yesteryears.
As a Black man, Lammy invoked his own ancestors who he said were slaves, and said Russian actions should be called out as what they are: imperialism.
I speak not only as a Briton, as a Londoner, and as a foreign secretary, but I say to the Russian representative, on his phone as I speak, that I stand here also as a Black man whose ancestors were taken in chains from Africa at the barrel of a gun to be enslaved, whose ancestors rose up and fought in a great rebellion of the enslaved. Imperialism: I know it when I see it and I will call it out for what it is, said Lammy.
Putin denies Ukraine as an independent sovereign state and is committed to ending its government. Formally, the objectives of its war is to control the eastern Ukraine where Russia currently controls around 80 per cent of the territory. It has also formally annexed four provinces of Ukraine in part: Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia.
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Lammy said that even though Russia is a member of the UNSC, its actions tear up the UN charter.
Putin has broken so many international norms and rules that he wont stop on his own, Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly whats needed, forcing Russia into peace, as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter, Zelenskyy said read more
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walks as he attends a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine, on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, US, on Tuesday. Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that the war between Russia and Ukraine cannot be calmed by talks alone, but that Moscow must be forced into peace.
Zelenskyy has sought the support of Western leaders for what he calls a victory plan to end the war that began when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of his country in February 2022.
Zelenskyy said the war would end one day but not because someone got tired of the war or through a trade with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a reference to proposals that Ukraine cede some territory seized by Russia to settle the conflict.
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This war cant be calmed by talks. Action is needed, Zelenskyy said, thanking nations who have provided Ukraine support.
Putin has broken so many international norms and rules that he wont stop on his own, Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly whats needed, forcing Russia into peace, as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter, Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy took aim at North Korea and Iran for providing arms to Russia for the war, calling them de facto accomplices of Moscow.
Ukraine faces an uncertain future. A victory by former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 US election could prompt a reset of Washingtons policy on Ukraine, which relies heavily on US military and financial support. Opinion polls show a tight US race.
More than 2-1/2 years since the invasion, Russia controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory and has been advancing in the east.
Zelenskyy has said that if his plan is backed by the West, it will have a broad impact on Moscow, including a psychological one that could help compel Putin to end the war diplomatically.
Zelenskiy has said very little so far about his victory plan except that it would act as a bridge to a second Ukraine-led summit on peace that Kyiv wants to hold and invite Russia to later this year.
Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia spoke up at the meeting to reject the 15-member councils hosting of Zelenskiy.
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Western countries could not refrain from poisoning the atmosphere once again, trying to fill the air time with the hackneyed Ukrainian issue, Nebenzia said of the meeting.
The top diplomats of China and the United States also clashed in the meeting.
North Korea and Iran are not the only ones aiding and abetting Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the council. China - another permanent member of this council - is the top provider of machine tools, microelectronics and other items that Russia is using to rebuild, to restock, to ramp up its war machine and sustain its brutal aggression.
Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi rejected US accusations that Beijings support for Russia was allowing it to continue its war in Ukraine.
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I wish to make it clear that on the Ukraine issue, any move to shift responsibility onto China, or attack and smear China, is irresponsible and will lead nowhere, he told the council.
The move further stigmatises LGBTQ individuals as Russia reinforces its traditional values amid growing estrangement from the West read more
Russias parliament Wednesday voted to back a bill banning the adoption of Russian children in countries that allow gender reassignment, the latest in a series of ultra-conservative social measures.
Moscow has long portrayed itself as a bulwark against liberal values, but that trend has hugely accelerated since the Kremlin launched its Ukraine offensive, further rupturing ties with the West.
The bill would ban citizens of countries that authorise the change of sex by medical intervention, including with the use of medicine, or allow individuals to change their gender on official identity documents.
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It is the latest attack and stigmatisation of LGBTQ people by Moscow, President Vladimir Putin having massively re-inforced his conservative, anti-liberal vision for the country since launching his Ukraine campaign in February 2022.
A day earlier lawmakers had called for a ban on promoting childless lifestyles, depicting what they called the movement and ideology of couples choosing not to have children as a decadent Western influence, antithetical to a Russias traditional values.
MPs said Wednesday they wanted to ensure that adopted Russian children would not go through gender reassignment abroad.
With this law we are protecting the child, we are doing everything for the child not to end up in a country where same-sex marriage and sex change is allowed, Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said.
Earlier this month gave an interview to Russian media in which he branded Europe and the US as sick for allowing gender reassignment, and attacked people who were men yesterday and who today call themselves women.
Foreign adoption virtually stopped
Lawmakers voted almost unanimously to back the proposed law in a first reading, with 397 in favour and one against.
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The bill still needs to be passed in two more readings and approved by the upper chamber before it can be signed into law by Putin.
The foreign adoption of Russian children has fallen drastically since 2012, when Moscow banned Americans from adopting. It has virtually stopped completely since the Ukraine offensive was launched in 2022.
In 2023, only six Russian children were adopted by foreign citizens, according to official figures.
At the start of the year, some 358,000 children were in Russian care homes, Russian media reported citing government statistics.
Children waiting to be adopted have been caught in the fallout of the conflict in Ukraine, as Moscow has considered a ban on adopting into unfriendly countries since 2022.
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There are also now the logistical complications of physically getting to Russia for prospective parents looking to adopt.
Slumping demographics
The Kremlin, faced with an ageing population, has tried to stop Russias demographic slump worsened by the Ukraine campaign, which has seen hundreds of thousands of men sent to the front. Experts have warned it has affected Russias birthrate.
I am generally against children being forcibly taken out of Russia like commodities, lawmaker Pyotr Tolstoy said.
Are our demographics so good that we should turn into an incubator country? Or under the influence of liberal propaganda to change sex?, he added.
The latest proposals are a new version of a bill put forward in 2022 that aimed to ban the adoption of Russian children by parents from unfriendly countries a term Moscow uses to refer to states that have sanctioned Russia for its Ukraine offensive.
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A post on the State Duma website said the bill aimed to ban the adoption of Russian children by NATO countries.
MP Nina Ostatina, one of its authors, said: The hybrid war unleashed against us touches our children Russia has become an outpost on preserving traditional values.
Russia has created an inhospitable environment for LBGTQ people for years. In July 2023, it banned the international LGBT movement as extremist and made gender reassignment illegal.
Putin himself has repeatedly mocked people who have undergone gender reassignment, as well as LGBTQ people.
Russia has established a weapons programme in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine, according to a report, citing two sources from a European intelligence agency read more
Russia has established a weapons programme in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine, according to two sources from a European intelligence agency and documents reviewed by Reuters.
IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned weapons company Almaz-Antey, has developed and flight-tested a new drone model called Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists, according to one of the documents, a report that Kupol sent to the Russian defence ministry earlier this year outlining its work.
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Kupol told the defence ministry in a subsequent update that it was able to produce drones including the G3 at scale at a factory in China so the weapons can be deployed in the special military operation in Ukraine, the term Moscow uses for the war.
Kupol, Almaz-Antey and the Russian defence ministry didnt respond to requests for comment for this article. Chinas foreign ministry told Reuters it was not aware of such a project, adding that the country had strict control measures on the export of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Fabian Hinz, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based defence think-tank, said the delivery of UAVs from China to Russia, if confirmed, would be a significant development.
If you look at what China is known to have delivered so far, it was mostly dual-use goods - it was components, sub-components, that could be used in weapon systems, he told Reuters. This is what has been reported so far. But what we havent really seen, at least in the open source, are documented transfers of whole weapon systems.
Still, Samuel Bendett, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a Washington-based think-tank, said Beijing would be hesitant to open itself up to international sanctions for helping Moscows war machine, and that more information was needed to establish that China was playing host to production of Russian military drones.
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The White House National Security Council said it was deeply concerned by the Reuters report of the drones programme, which it said appeared to be an instance of a Chinese company providing lethal assistance to a U.S.-sanctioned Russian firm.
The White House has not seen anything to suggest the Chinese government was aware of the transactions involved, but China has a responsibility to ensure companies arent providing lethal aid to Russia for use by its military, a spokesperson added.
The G3 can travel about 2,000 km with a payload of 50 kg, according to the reports to the Russian defence ministry from Kupol, which was placed under US sanctions in December 2023. Samples of the G3 and some other drone models made in China have been delivered to Kupol in Russia for further testing, again with the involvement of Chinese experts, they said.
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The documents dont identify the Chinese drone specialists involved in the project that it outlined and Reuters was unable to determine their identity.
Kupol has taken delivery of seven military drones made in China, including two G3s, at its headquarters in the Russian city of Izhevsk, according to the two separate documents reviewed by Reuters, which are invoices sent to Kupol in the summer by a Russian firm that the two European intelligence sources said serves as an intermediary with Chinese suppliers. The invoices, one of which requests payment in Chinese yuan, dont specify delivery dates or identify the suppliers in China.
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The two intelligence sources said the delivery of the sample drones to Kupol was the first concrete evidence their agency had found of whole UAVs manufactured in China being delivered to Russia since the Ukraine war began in February 2022.
They asked that neither they nor their organisation be identified due to the sensitivity of the information. They also requested certain details related to the documents be withheld, including their precise dates.
Double standards on arms sales
The sources showed Reuters five documents in all, including two Kupol reports to the ministry in the first half of the year and the two invoices, to support their claims of the existence of a Russian project in China to manufacture drones for use in Ukraine. The programme has not previously been reported.
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Kupols reports to the ministry didnt give more precise locations for sites related to the project. Reuters was also unable to determine whether the defence ministry gave the company the green light to proceed with the serial production proposed.
Beijing has repeatedly denied that China or Chinese companies have supplied Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, saying the country remains neutral. In response to questions for this article, the foreign ministry told Reuters that Chinas position presented a contrast with other nations with double standards on arms sales whom it said had added fuel to the flames of the Ukrainian crisis.
The ministry said earlier this month that there were no international restrictions on Chinas trade with Russia when responding to a Reuters report that Kupol had started to produce the Garpiya-A1 long-range military drone in Russia using Chinese engines and parts.
The new documents reported here indicate state-owned Kupol has gone further by sourcing complete UAVs from China.
Both Russia and Ukraine are racing to ramp up their production of drones, which have emerged as highly effective weapons in the war.
David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector who heads the Institute for Science and International Security research group and has conducted extensive work on Chinese and Russian cooperation on drone production, told Reuters that Kupol could skirt Western sanctions on Russia by setting up a production facility in China where it could access advanced chips and expertise.
But Bendett at CNAS said Beijing had reason to tread carefully: For a factory to exist officially that builds UAVs for the Russians exposes China to some of the more severe effects of the sanctions, so its not clear the extent to which China would be willing to expose itself.
The Ukrainian government didnt respond to a request for comment for this article.
Comparable to US Reaper drone?
The G3 is an upgraded version of the Garpiya-A1 drone, according to Kupols reports sent to the defence ministry. It was redesigned by Chinese experts working off blueprints of the Garpiya-A1, they said.
Kupol said that within eight months, the project in China would be ready to produce a Chinese-designed REM 1 attack UAV with a payload of 400kg. The two European intelligence sources said this system would be similar to the U.S. Reaper drone.
The sources said another Russian defence firm called TSK Vektor acted as the intermediary between Kupol and Chinese suppliers in the project. They said the Russian firms worked with a Chinese company called Redlepus TSK Vector Industrial, based in Shenzhen, without specifying Redlepus role.
TSK Vektor and Redlepus didnt respond to requests for comment.
A separate document reviewed by Reuters reveals plans involving Kupol, TSK Vektor and Redlepus to establish a joint Russian-Chinese drone research and production centre in the Kashgar special economic zone in Chinas Xinjiang province.
Reuters was unable to determine who produced the document, which bore the logos of the three companies, or identify the intended recipient. The 80-hectare Advanced UAV Research and Manufacturing Base would be able to produce 800 drones a year, the document said. No timeline was given for when it would be operational.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his military had received around 140,000 drones in 2023 and that Moscow planned to increase this number tenfold this year.
Whoever reacts faster to demands on the battlefield wins, he told a meeting in St Petersburg about drone production.
With political threats becoming an issue of debate in the US presidential election, the incident coming close on the heels of assassination attempts at her rival Donald Trump raises a serious question of security of the candidates read more
The campaign office of US Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party nominee in the presidential election, came under attack, reports said. Shots were fired into her campaign office on Monday at Tempe in Arizona, where Harris is expected to hold a rally on Friday.
With political threats becoming an issue of debate in the US presidential election, the incident coming close on the heels of assassination attempts at her rival Donald Trump raises a serious question of security of the candidates.
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We are grateful to Tempe Police for coming quickly to the scene and are fortunate no one was present or injured, Axios quoted Sean McEnerney, Arizona Democratic Party coordinated campaign manager, as saying.
Reports said that the Tempe police issued a statement on Tuesday saying that this was the second time criminal damage occurred at the Democratic campaign office.
We can confirm that on 9/23/24, what appears to be damage from gunfire at a DNC Campaign Office, was discovered, NBC quoted the Tempe police as saying.
The police said another attempt was made on September 16, when the front windows of the office were shot with what appeared to be a BB or pellet gun just after midnight.
Armed with AI sensors, thermal cameras and cutting-edge surveillance, Singapore is turning its fight against rats into a high-tech showdown thats straight out of science fiction read more
Singapore has long been known for its efficiency in tackling urban challenges, but its latest battle is something straight out of a science fiction movie. With cutting-edge tools like infrared cameras and AI-powered sensors, the island nation has taken its fight against rats to a whole new level. This isnt just pest controlits a full-blown high-tech war between humans and rodents and Singapore seems to be winning.
High-tech arsenal
According to a The Strait Times report, in the ongoing effort to control the rat population, Singapores National Environment Agency has rolled out an impressive array of advanced technology. At the forefront are thermal surveillance cameras, which can detect rats by sensing the heat they emit. These cameras, tested in areas like Buffalo Road and Telok Ayer Street, track rat movement, revealing routes that the rodents take to access food sources. The results? A 50 per cent drop in rat burrows detected in 2024 compared to 2023, thanks in part to these high-tech gadgets.
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Passive Infrared cameras have also played a significant role. These smaller, battery-powered devices are placed in hard-to-reach spots like drains and false ceilings, where rats often hide. Triggered by movement, they provide surveillance in areas that are less accessible to humans, ensuring no rat goes undetected.
How rats are being outwitted
Its not just the technology thats fascinating, its how rats are being caught off-guard. In a scene reminiscent of a sci-fi movie, thermal cameras light up red whenever a warm-blooded animal like a rat is nearby, turning Singapores streets into battlegrounds. Authorities can now visualise not only where rats are hiding but also how they move around the city. This real-time data is shared with stakeholders like town councils and food operators, who are then able to eliminate the rodents and prevent their return.
In just four months of trials, these thermal cameras have provided critical insights, allowing authorities to target rat infestations with surgical precision. Its a game of high-tech hide and seek and the rats are losing.
Science behind the success
Behind the flashy gadgets lies a robust strategy. The key to Singapores success has been its ability to combine technology with strong enforcement and public cooperation. Thermal cameras and infrared sensors arent just catching ratstheyre helping experts understand the patterns behind infestations. By mapping rat activity both temporally and spatially, the NEA can deploy resources more efficiently, focusing efforts where they are needed most.
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This high-tech approach is backed by rigorous enforcement against poor waste management, a major contributor to rat infestations. In the first half of 2024 alone, about 380 cases of enforcement action were taken against premises with rat-related lapses, further tightening the grip on potential food sources for the rodents.
Victory is near, but the war isnt over
While Singapores technological innovations have led to a significant reduction in the rat population, authorities caution against complacency. A single lapse in waste management or public vigilance could lead to a resurgence. Rats are notorious for their rapid breeding cycles, so maintaining strict control measures is crucial.
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According to mothership.sg, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Baey Yam Keng warned against complacency as a single lapse may lead to recurrence as rats multiply very quickly. The fight may be leaning in Singapores favour, but as with any war, constant vigilance is key to ultimate victory.
Mexico published the guest list a week ago for Sheinbaums inauguration, who will be the countrys first woman president following her left-wing ruling partys landslide June election victory read more
Spain announced on Tuesday that it would boycott the swearing-in ceremony of Mexican president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum because King Felipe VI was not invited.
Madrid called the kings exclusion from the ceremony on October 1 unacceptable.
For this reason, the Spanish government has decided not to participate in the inauguration at any level, the Spanish foreign ministry said in a statement.
Mexico published the guest list a week ago for Sheinbaums inauguration, who will be the countrys first woman president following her left-wing ruling partys landslide June election victory.
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King Felipe VI was not on the list, which includes regional leftist leaders as well as US First Lady Jill Biden.
While Mexico and Spain have close historical and economic links, relations between the Latin American nation and its former colonial ruler have been strained since outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador an ally of Sheinbaum took office in 2018.
Madrid has rejected his demand for an apology for the events of the Spanish conquest five centuries ago.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) had provided over $2.9 billion bailout to Sri Lanka a lifeline for the beleaguered country on the condition that it would put austerity measures in place read more
Sri Lankas newly elected leftist president said on Wednesday (September 24) that he wanted to immediately restart negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a $2.9 billion bailout that threw a lifeline to his bankrupt country, but imposed punishing and unpopular austerity measures.
We plan to begin negotiations with the International Monetary Fund immediately and proceed with activities related to the extended credit facility, Anura Kumara Dissanayake said in a televised address
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In his 10-minute address, Dissanayake, who was elected just a couple of days ago, laid stress on the need to move quickly in renegotiating the terms of the IMF bailout and advancing debt restructuring efforts.
To advance our debt restructuring program, we are negotiating with relevant creditors to expedite the process and secure necessary debt relief, he said.
He added that he aims to conclude a deal to restructure the countrys international sovereign bonds and secure additional concessions for the struggling economy.
The IMF, which provided a financial lifeline to Sri Lanka during its 2022 economic collapse, expressed readiness to resume discussions with the new government.
We look forward to working together with President Dissanayake towards building on the hard-won gains that have helped put Sri Lanka on a path to economic recovery, an IMF spokesperson said Monday (September 23) from Washington. The spokesperson also confirmed plans to coordinate the third review of the IMF-supported program with the new administration.
Sri Lankas severe economic crisis last year toppled the previous president, but the turmoil has given Dissanayake, a leftist leader, the chance to rise in popularity after vowing to reform the islands corrupt political system.
On Tuesday (September 24), he dissolved the 225-member parliament, in which his party had held just three seats, and called for fresh elections on November 14 in the hopes of bolstering his own supporter base.
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With inputs from AFP
Thailand the third place in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, to allow same-sex marriage. The bill grants full legal, financial and medical rights for marriage partners of any gender read more
Participants hold posters celebrating equality in marriage during the Pride Parade in Bangkok, Thailand. Source: AP / FILE.
Thailands landmark marriage equality bill was officially written into law Tuesday, allowing same-sex couples to legally wed.
The law was published in the Royal Gazette after endorsement by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and will come into effect in 120 days. This means LGBTQ+ couples will be able to register their marriage in January next year, making Thailand the third place in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, to allow same-sex marriage.
The bill, which grants full legal, financial and medical rights for marriage partners of any gender, sailed through the house of representatives and the Senate in April and June respectively.
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Congratulations to everyones love, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra wrote on X, adding the hashtag #Love
Thailand has a reputation of acceptance and inclusivity but struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law. Thai society largely holds conservative values, and members of the LGBTQ+ community say they face discrimination in everyday life.
The government and state agencies are also historically conservative, and advocates for gender equality had a hard time pushing lawmakers and civil servants to accept change.
Thailand embarked a remarkable judgement and became the third country to legalise same sex marriage by encompassing the equality bill on June 18, 2014.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday said that the world understands how Russia is working to grab more territory while wanting to destroy its neighbour but there can be no just peace without Ukraine as it is the Ukrainian people who are suffering the consequences of Russias war read more
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday said that the world understands how Russia is working to grab more territory while wanting to destroy its neighbour but there can be no just peace without Ukraine as it is the Ukrainian people who are suffering the consequences of Russias war.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, he said it is Ukrainian children who are learning to distinguish the sounds of different types of artillery and drone.
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It is the Ukrainian people who are forcefully separated because Vladimir Putin decided he could do whatever he wants, The Guardian quoted the President as saying.
He said that every world leader who supports Ukraine understands how Russia wants more territory, which is insane, and is working to seize more land while wanting to destroy its neighbour.
Thats why we say there can be no just peace without Ukraine, said Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy said every neighbouring country of Russia in Europe and central Asia knows that the war will come to them as well.
He said that nearly 100 nations and international organisations support his proposed peace formula, including countries that have gone through wars themselves, and those accustomed to peace are all were equal.
He emphasised that all these leaders, whom he has met during the UN General Assembly, share a common vision: It must be a real, just peace.
Zelenskyy said his country would never accept a deal imposed from the outside, as he questioned the motives of China and Brazil in pushing talks with Russia.
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Ukrainians will never accept - will never accept - why anyone in the world believes that such a brutal colonial past, which suits no one today, can be imposed on Ukraine now, he told the UN General Assembly.
He lamented that resolving war issues at the UN is impossible due to the veto power of Security Council members.
When the aggressor exercises veto power, the UN is powerless to stop the war. But the peace formula there is no veto power in it. Thats why its the best opportunity for peace, said Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy criticized other proposals from various countries for neglecting the interests and suffering of Ukrainians most affected by the conflict.
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He warned that these alternatives only provide Russian President Vladimir Putin with political space to continue the war.
He said maybe somebody wants a Nobel Prize instead of real peace for parallel or alternative attempts to put forward settlement plans, but the only prizes Putin will give you in return are more suffering and disasters.
Zelenskyy asserted that Putin is seeking to break the Ukrainian spirit by deliberately targeting Ukraines energy infrastructure, including attacks on power plants and the entire energy grid.
Russia has destroyed all our thermal power plants and a large part of our hydroelectric capacity. This is how Putin is preparing for winter, hoping to torment millions of Ukrainians Putin wants to leave them in the dark and (force) Ukraine to suffer and surrender, said the Ukrainian president.
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The Ukrainian president also noted that he has received reports that Putin plans to attack the countrys nuclear power plants and infrastructure.
Zelenskyy warned that any missile or drone strike on Ukraines energy system could result in a nuclear disaster, stating, A day like that must never come These are nuclear power plants. They must be safe.
He added that if God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, radiation will not respect state borders."
Zelenskyy emphasized the need to restore nuclear safety and halt the use of energy as a weapon. He insisted on ensuring food security and the return of all captured Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.
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The Ukrainian president also demanded that the UN Charter must be upheld to protect his countrys territorial integrity and sovereignty.
He said that Russian occupiers must withdraw and that we must hold those responsible for war crimes accountable.
We need to make it clear the war is over. This is the peace formula, he added
In closing his address to the UN General Assembly, Zelenskyy declares:
I want peace for my people, real peace and just peace, and I am asking for your support from all nations of the world. We do not divide the world. I ask the same of you. Do not divide the world. Be united nations, and that will bring us peace."
Concluding his address, Zelenskyy said, I want peace for my people, real peace and just peace, and I am asking for your support from all nations of the world. We do not divide the world. I ask the same of you. Do not divide the world. Be united nations, and that will bring us peace.
With inputs from agencies
In recent years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan invoked Kashmir in one way or the other at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) read more
For the first time in years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not mention Kashmir at the United Nations (UN).
Instead, Erdogan focussed on conflicts in Syria and the Gaza Strip and continued with his criticism of Israel and advocacy of the Palestinian cause.
In recent years, as Erdogan has sought to project himself as the leader of the worlds Muslims, he has frequently raised the issue of Kashmir, the Muslim-majority region of the union territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir. He has been particularly sharp since 2019 when the Narendra Modi government scrapped J&Ks special status by abrogating Article 370 and bifurcated the state into two UTs of J&K and Ladakh.
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For such an articulation of his Islamist foreign policy, Erdogan has frequently sought the UN General Assembly (UNGA) sessions but not this time. The notable omission of Kashmir comes as Turkey looks forward to join BRICS where India is a founding member.
Erdogans remarks on Kashmir over years
In 2023, Erdogan called for India and Pakistan to engage for lasting peace in South Asia.
Another development that will pave the way for regional peace, stability and prosperity in South Asia will be the establishment of a just and lasting peace in Kashmir through dialogue and cooperation between India and Pakistan, said Erdogan.
In 2022, Erdogan expressed regrets over the lack of peace between India and Pakistan but without mentioning the Pakistan-sponsored terrorism that has stopped such a peace. He further called for such peace to extend to Kashmiris.
We regret that a strong peace, and cooperation between India and Pakistan has still not yet been established, despite 75 years following their
independence. We hope that a just and lasting peace, and tranquillity will be reached in Kashmir, said Erdogan.
In 2021, Erdogan called for a resolution of the Kashmir conflict through UN mechanism. He did so in 2020 and 2019 a well.
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In 2019, Erdogan said that the Kashmir dispute must be resolved through dialogue on the basis of justice and fairness rather than conflict.
Just like world stopped Hitler, Netanyahu needs to be stopped
This time, however, Erdogan focussed on the ongoing conflicts in the world, including in Syria, Gaza, Ukraine, and Africa.Even as the Civil War is more or less settled and the Islamic States Caliphate is no longer there, he said that the situation is still far from stability.
The harshest comments were reserved for Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Comparing Netanyahu to Hitler and Israel to the Nazi Germany, Erdogan said that the world needs to unite against them just like the world united against Nazis.
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Netanyahu said, Israels attitude has once again shown that it is essential for the international community to develop a protection mechanism for Palestinian civiliansJust as Hitler was stopped by the alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped by the alliance of humanity.
Netanyahu also called Gaza the worlds largest cemetery for children and women.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. Security Council that Russian President Vladimir Putin is committing an international crime and has broken so many international rules that he wont stop on his own read more
Ukraines president dismissed the notion of peace talks with Moscow on Tuesday, calling instead for unspecified global action to force Russia into peace for invading his country and to comply with the U.N. Charters requirement that every country respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all other nations.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. Security Council that Russian President Vladimir Putin is committing an international crime and has broken so many international rules that he wont stop on his own.
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And thats why this war cant simply fade away. Thats why this war cant be calmed by talks, Zelenskyy said at a meeting on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly. Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly whats needed forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the U.N. Charter.
The high-level meeting on the more than 2-year war in Ukraine was attended by ministers from 14 of the councils 15 member nations. Russia chose to send its lower-level U.N. ambassador.
Vassily Nebenzia opened the meeting protesting that Zelenskyy was being given the U.N. spotlight again. He also criticized Slovenia which holds the rotating council presidency this month for allowing the Ukrainian leaders chorus to speak. He meant about 10 European Union and NATO members who arent on the council but march in lockstep every time they come to the council to malign the Russian Federation.
When it comes to listening to these hackneyed statements, and these cookie-cutter statements, we have no intention of wasting time on that, Nebenzia said.
Ukraines sovereignty is defended
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefed the council, reiterating the United Nations strong support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity under the U.N. Charter.
Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 following the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and city of Sevastopol a decade ago is a clear violation of these principles, the U.N. chief said.
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Zelenskyy said Ukraine knows some countries want to talk to Putin. But, he asked, What could they possibly hear from him that hes upset because we are exercising our right to defend our people, or that he wants to keep the war and terror going just so no one thinks he was wrong?
China has repeatedly called for talks between Ukraine and Russia. Its foreign minister, Wang Yi, told the council that the suffering and destruction and increasing volatility in the region must be turned around.
Wang stressed that Chinese President Xi Jinping believes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected. China is pursuing peace talks and conducting shuttle diplomacy, Wang said, and its efforts have received wide international support. He pointed to a joint China-Brazil peace plan issued earlier this year.
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Zelenskyy also went after countries that supply weapons and ammunition to Russia, telling the council Moscow has no legitimate reason to make Iran and North Korea de facto accomplices.
The U.S. includes China, Iran and North Korea in its accusations
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised similar issues but also accused China, which has close ties to Russia, of providing Russia with machine tools, microelectronics and other items it is using to rebuild, restock and ramp up its war machine and sustain its brutal war.
Wang, who spoke after him, didnt directly respond but said: I also wish to make it clear that on the Ukraine issue, any move to shift responsibility onto China or attack and smear China is irresponsible and will lead nowhere.
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Blinken also accused Iran of providing armed drones to Russia since 2022 and transferring hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles a few weeks ago which its new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has denied. North Korea has also delivered trainloads of weapons and ammunition to Russia including ballistic missiles and artillery rounds, Blinken said.
The more Russia relies on their support, the more Iran and North Korea extract in return, Blinken said. And the more Putin gives to Pyongyang and Tehran, the more he exacerbates threats to peace and security.
To those who ask how the United States and others can help Ukraine defend itself and criticize countries supplying military materiel to Russia, Blinken said the answer is simple: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim.
Harris has already won the endorsement of smaller Muslim groups, including the Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund and the American Muslim Democratic Caucus read more
US Muslim advocacy group Emgage Action on Wednesday endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, saying former President Donald Trump posed a greater danger to the community with his promise to reinstate a travel ban affecting majority-Muslim countries.
The group, which endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020 after first backing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, says it mobilised 1 million Muslim voters in that election.
Harris already won the endorsement of smaller Muslim groups, including the Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund and the American Muslim Democratic Caucus ahead of the November 5 election.
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Trumps campaign had no immediate comment.
He says he will reinstate the so-called travel ban that restricts entry into the United States of people from a list of largely Muslim-dominant countries. Biden rolled back the ban shortly after taking office in 2021.
The Biden administration, where Harris serves as vice president, has faced calls from both fellow Democrats and international allies throughout Israels campaign in Gaza to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government to ease the devastating humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.
The US, Israels 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, US officials told Reuters in June.
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, Israels 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.
Donald Trump has repeatedly shared conspiracy theories amid the election cycle. On Monday, he did it again, when he shared a claim pushed by an OnlyFans model that people are being paid to attend Kamala Harriss campaign rallies. The outlandish story was first shared by Samantha Gangewere, which she apparently heard at a nail parlour read more
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks as an image of democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris appears on screen during a campaign event at the World Market Centre, Friday, September 13, 2024, in Las Vegas. AP
Former US President Donald Trump is regularly seen uttering colourful lies that are entirely unattached to the truth.
From inflammatory assertions about Ohio immigrants eating pets to fake or paid attendees at Vice President Kamala Harriss rallies ahead of the US presidential election, the list is never-ending.
On Monday, the Republican Presidential candidate shared yet another baseless claim pushed by an OnlyFans model that people are being paid to attend Harriss campaign rallies.
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But, heres the truth.
The recent claim
Donald Trump posted the claim first shared by Samantha Gangewere, which she apparently heard at a nail parlour.
In the video, Gangewere says, I just left my nail salon and my nail tech said their one cousin is in South Philly and she is getting paid $700 a week to go to wherever Kamalas campaign tells them to go to. Shes not even a citizen, she cant vote, but she wants that extra money.
The model has 125,000 TikTok followers and 1.9 million followers on Instagram. Why is Kamalas campaign all based on lies and scams?! the post was captioned.
Their campaign is getting a bunch of people, thats why you see these people on the side of the road with signs or whatever going to these protests. They get travel paid for and everything and theyre not even able to vote, she said in the video.
Gangewere is the co-owner of a steakhouse in Pennsylvanias Bethlehem, alongside her husband, according to The Daily Beast.
The truth
Gangewere reacted to Trump sharing her video on Instagram Tuesday night.
I still cant believe Trump posted my story yesterday but my story is real. I dont make s*** up, she said.
However, there is no evidence to back up the claim. It is also unclear how the 78-year-old former president found Gangeweres account.
Well, Gangewere often posts conservative views on the internet. Earlier, she made transphobic comments, suggesting that trans people belong in a mental ward.
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In 2023, she wrote, Yall are way too concerned about (Trump). We got trannys running around thinking their biological woman (sic) shooting up our schools.
Reuters noted that the vast majority of mass shooting suspects are cis men last year.
More on Trumps long history of misleading claims
The shocking truth behind young, beautiful women promoting Trump on X
The Trump-Musk chat on X needed a fact-check: What were the false claims the former US president made?
Donald Trump claims Kamala Harris failed the bar exam? Is it true?
Are US migrants eating pet cats and ducks? Bizarre rumour pushed by Donald Trump
False claims about Harris in the past
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In the past, there have been numerous times when Trump littered his public remarks with false claims, such as claiming that any excitement around the Harris campaign was either wholly fictitious or the result of paid attendees.
In August, the Republican presidential nominee claimed an image of a large crowd at the Harris-Walz rally at the Detroit Metro Airport was AI-generated. Many right-wingers supported his claim, with several even highlighting the inconsistencies. However, the crowd size could easily be proven by numerous videos of the event. Eventually, Harriss campaign hit back by calling Trump low energy and reiterating the picture was real.
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While speaking to Fox News, he also claimed that President Joe Biden had supposedly sent Harris to Russia in 2022 to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to prevent an invasion of Ukraine. She went. She said she gave her case. He attacked three days later. He attacked three days later. He laughed at her. He thought she was a joke. However, this story is false, as the Kremlin in July admitted that Harris and Putin never spoke nor did Harris travel to Russia prior to the invasion. Rather, Harris visited Germany to meet with US allies, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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Trump has also attacked Harris on a personal level by saying that she used to only promote her Indian heritage, then all of a sudden made a turn and became a Black person. None of this is true as Harris embraced her Black identity since her youth while also fondly discussing her South Asian heritage.
Similar instances
The rumour that took a serious turn was his claim about Haitian immigrants in Ohios Springfield eating pet cats and dogs.
Republican leaders disseminated an unverified Facebook post. Trump even mentioned it during his ABC News debate stage and got ridiculed for amplifying unverified claims.
The issue escalated when several institutions in Springfield even received bomb threats. The local police later confirmed there was no case of pet stealing. of pet stealing.
JD Vance, Trumps running mate, highlighted that while the allegations may be overstated, Springfield does have an immigration problem, and that creating stories to draw attention to the issue is not harmful.
Similarly, Trump had once said that the protests supporting Palestine at Columbia University were attended by paid and professional agitators.
Even back in 2016, he claimed that demonstrations against him before and after the election were attended by paid protesters.
Female voters: Trump campaigns core weakness
Notably, women have emerged as a core weakness for Trumps campaign, and he is viewed less favourably by women than men.
A September AP-NORC poll found more than half of registered voters who are women have a somewhat or very favorable view of Harris, while only about one-third have a favorable view of Trump.
The gender gap the difference between the share of men and women who say theyre supporting each candidate has been in the double digits for Trump and Harris in several recent polls. That split has been attributed, in part, to Trumps role in appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned the constitutional right to an abortion a ruling he continues to celebrate at his events.
Women will be healthy, happy, confident and free. You will no longer be thinking about abortion, Trump said Monday, insisting the issue no longer pertains, even as women living in Republican-led states grapple with a wave of new restrictions that have left emergency rooms refusing to treat pregnant women and been linked by ProPublica to at least two preventable deaths.
With inputs from agencies
In an interview with News 18, American political scientist John Mearsheimer said Israel wants to draw Iran and the US into a war. He also spoke about the chances of Donald Trump winning the presidential election in November. read more
American political scientist John Mearsheimer, in a wide-ranging interview with News 18, said on Wednesday that Israelis are itching to get Iranians and Americans into a war, and also that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is doing very well in swing states and he could very well end up being the new President even if he loses the popular vote.
An average of all the polls done that have been out in September shows Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris with 49.2 per cent of the popular vote and Trump with 45.8 per cent as of today.
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In an exclusive interview to News 18, Mearsheimer said that in the United States the popular vote does not determine who becomes the President.
In the United States the popular vote does not determine who becomes the president. If it did Hillary Clinton would have won the election in 2016, its where the votes end up in electoral college. That means that series of swing states in the US really determine who becomes the president. There are number of states that are gonna go for Kamala Harris no matter what and there are number of states that are gonna go for Donald Trump no matter what. The critical question is what happens in the swing states, said Mearsheimer.
If you look at the swing states, Donald Trump is doing very well. This is not to say he is doing much better than Kamala Harris but he is basically neck and neck if not slightly ahead in a number of those swing states. So Donald Trump could very well end up being the president even if he loses the popular vote, he added.
When asked what explains his competitiveness, given that he is leading in some of the swing states, despite his chaotic first term and thereafter in 2020 when he lost the election, the whole insurrection and so on, then multiple felony charges that have been brought against him, Mearsheimer said there are fundamental political differences between Americans and there are a lot of people who think that the democrats are far of all evil.
Almost no matter who the Republican nominee is, they will vote for that Republican. Many Republicans fully understand that Trump has all sort of liabilities but they think that Trump with liabilities is better than the democrats. So, its just important to understand that these deep fissures in American body politics make it possible for someone like Donald Trump, despite all his legal troubles and other troubles to be competitive, added Mearsheimer.
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When asked about Kamala Harris journey after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, Mearsheimer said Harris has a number of liabilities.
She was not highly regarded before she became a candidate. I dont think she is specially good at articulating her views on foreign policy and on domestic policy. She has the problem that she is seen as joined at the hip with Joe Biden. I mean she is the vie president so she running on the administration record. But those problems not withstanding, I think she has done by almost all it counts a brilliant job of running the campaign since she became the nominee after Joe Biden stepped out. She has done a great job and thats why she is doing so well, said Mearsheimer.
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What actually happens in the early November is hard to say but you have to admit that Harris has done the best possible job, given the difficult circumstances that she was facing when she became the nominee, he added.
Talking about the Israel-Hamas war and Russia-Ukraine war, Mearsheimer said that new administration will back Israel no matter who wins the elections.
Whether you have Trump or Harris in the White House, US will support Israel unconditionally. This is just the way American politics works. There is no president on the horizon who could put any meaningful pressure on Israel. Its just not gonna happen, said the strategic analyst.
When asked about how its going to be close to an year since the war with Hamas started and Israel has also opened a new front against Hezbollah, which many say is untenable, Mearsheimer said that the Ukraine war is heading into its third year and that these wars can go on.
I dont see the war in Middle East ending anytime soon. And even if you get a ceasefire, there is going to be a conflict of one sort or the other between the Palestinians and the Israelis, between Hezbollah and the Israelis, and even between the Iranians and the Israelis over time, he added.
When asked if Iran will eventually get in the mix, Mearsheimer said that there is a serious possibility that the Iranians will have to come in.
It wont involve Hamas and it wont involve the Houthis. It will involve Hezbollah. It appears that the Israelis are deeply interested in escalating their conflict with Hezbollah. Its obvious that their first goal is to try to coerce Hezbollah to end its firing of rockets and missiles into Israel. This is a huge problem for Israel. And the Israelis are bashing Lebanon and Hezbollah in particular for the purpose of trying to coerce Hezbollah to stop firing those missiles, said Mearsheimer.
He said he also thinks there is a second or an alternative goal here, which is to inflict enough damage on Lebanon that Iran comes into the fight.
Israelis are itching to get Iranians and Americans into a war. Its a question in my mind and in the minds of most people I know who study this issue. So I think Israelis will like it very much if Iran comes or tries to come to recue of Hezbollah, in which case the Americans will really come in. And then you will have a war between the United States and Iran. And of course the Israelis will be allied with the US. This is a long term goal of the Israelis, he added.
Iran rejected accusations that it is trying to kill Trump earlier this summer, shortly after a gunman opened fire at a rally in Pennsylvania, killing one person and wounding the presidential candidate read more
Secret Service agents whisk away Donald Trump, who raises his fist in the air after being shot in a foiled assassination bid. File image/ AP
US intelligence has warned Donald Trump of real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him, his presidential campaign said in a statement Tuesday.
President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said in the statement.
Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference, he added.
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The campaign did not elaborate on the claims, which come as international pressure increases on Iran to reduce soaring tensions in Lebanon, where Israel has carried out a bombing campaign against sites belonging to Lebanese group Hezbollah which is backed by Tehran.
Iran rejected accusations that it is trying to kill Trump earlier this summer, shortly after a gunman opened fire at a rally in Pennsylvania, killing one person and wounding the presidential candidate.
Days after the July 13 assassination attempt, US media reported that authorities had received intelligence on an alleged Iranian plot against the Republican, prompting his protection to be boosted. Iran rejected the malicious accusations.
If they do assassinate President Trump, which is always a possibility, I hope that America obliterates Iran, wipes it off the face of the Earth If that does not happen, American Leaders will be considered gutless cowards! Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, at the time.
It was not immediately clear if the threats referred to by the campaign Tuesday were new or the threats that had been previously reported.
The United States has also accused Iran of a hack targeting Trumps campaign, alleging Tehran is seeking to influence the 2024 election.
Earlier this month, US authorities said Iranian cyberattackers had offered stolen, non-public material from Trumps campaign to staff for his then White House rival, Joe Biden.
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Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities as Election Day in November approaches, the US statement said, singling out Russia, Iran and China as trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in US society for their own benefit.
The US agencies said the Iranian cyberattackers had also attempted to share the information stolen from the Trump campaign with US media organizations. It did not name the outlets.
Iran has also vehemently denied those accusations.
Trumps presidential rival, Democrat Kamala Harriss campaign said on August 13 that it too had been targeted by foreign hackers, but did not give an indication of which country was believed to be behind the attempt.
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The United States goes to the polls on November 5. Polls show Trump and Harris, who launched her campaign after Biden dropped out earlier this summer, are neck and neck.
Biden had promised during a summit of African leaders he hosted in Washington in late 2022 to visit Africa the following year. His visit was to be the capstone of an administration effort to shore up ties with the continent, partly to counter growing influence there from China, a US rival read more
President Joe Biden will make his long-awaited visit to Africa when he travels to Germany and Angola in mid-October, the White House announced Tuesday.
Biden had promised during a summit of African leaders he hosted in Washington in late 2022 to visit Africa the following year. His visit was to be the capstone of an administration effort to shore up ties with the continent, partly to counter growing influence there from China, a US rival.
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Several Cabinet members and Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as first lady Jill Biden, visited African nations in 2023, but the year passed without a visit from Biden.
Now, with just a few months left in office after he ended his reelection campaign, Biden plans to travel to Berlin and Luanda, Angola, from October 10-15, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced while Biden was in New York. He delivered his final address as president to the UN General Assembly earlier Tuesday.
Biden will be the first US president to visit sub-Saharan Africa since 2015.
During meetings in Berlin with German leaders, Biden will shore up alliances and express appreciation to Germany for supporting Ukraines defence against Russian aggression, hosting US service members and for its contributions to the NATO alliance, Jean-Pierre said.
The president will visit Luanda, the capital of Angola, in central Africa, from October 13-15 to discuss collaboration on a number of issues with President Joao Lourenco, economic partnerships and infrastructure, including a rail project that would start in Lobito, Angola, and ultimately connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, among other issues, Jean-Pierre said.
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Asked in May about the timing of an Africa trip, Biden said he hoped to visit after the November presidential election.
I plan on going in February after I am reelected, Biden said then as he welcomed Kenyan President William Ruto to the White House during his US state visit.
The specifics of the cease-fire proposal are still being finalised, but one US official noted that Israel is supportive of efforts to deescalate tensions read more
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following Israeli strikes, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, southern Lebanon. Reuters
Joe Biden and his administration have been pushing for a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah to ease the escalating conflict that has displaced tens of thousands in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, AP quoted United States officials as saying on Wednesday (September 25).
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with other senior Biden administration officials, has spent the past three days lobbying for international backing of the plan during meetings at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
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The proposal is aimed at securing longer-term stability along the volatile border, AP quoted officials as saying.
The President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, confirmed the efforts to broker a ceasefire on Wednesday. He said that the US and France are trying to hammer out an interim accord to halt hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah with a view to opening broader diplomatic talks.
He told Reuters on the sidelines of the UNGA, I dont see that we can have a (broad) agreement but a form of interim agreement in order to avoid further escalation. This is the effort right now especially from the United States and France. in New York.
During the last days there are a lot of deliberations to avoid further escalation, especially with Lebanon. There is a diplomatic initiative from the United States and France, he said, adding that meetings in New York on Wednesday would be crucial.
The specifics of the cease-fire proposal are still being finalised. AP quoted one US official as saying that Israel is supportive of efforts to deescalate tensions.
Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged near-daily fire since the Gaza war began on October 7. Recently, the clashes have become much more intense, adding to the instability in the region. Both sides have vowed not to stop the attacks or back down.
With inputs from AP
It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation, Putin said read more
Russian president Vladimir Putin announced changes proposed to Russia's nuclear doctrine. These allow for use of nuclear arms in a wider range of scenarios File image
President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday (September 25) that Russia could use nuclear weapons if attacked by any state, and that a conventional assault supported by a nuclear power would be treated as a joint attack on Russia.
Speaking at a meeting of Russias Security Council, Putin outlined proposed changes to Russias nuclear doctrine, which would further clarify the conditions under which Moscow might deploy its nuclear arsenal.
It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation, Putin said.
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The conditions for Russias transition to the use of nuclear weapons are also clearly fixed, he noted.
He said that Russias right to use nuclear weapons would be triggered if it detected the start of a massive missile, aircraft, or drone attack against its territory.
Additionally, Putin reaffirmed that Russia and its ally Belarus reserved the right to use nuclear weapons if subjected to aggression, including by conventional forces.
The proposed revisions to Russias nuclear policy are meant to address modern military threats, Putin said, and are a response to recent geopolitical tensions a not-so-subtle reference to the Russia-Ukraine war and talks of permitting Ukraine to use Western-made weapons to attack Russian territory.
Russias current doctrine states that nuclear weapons could be used in retaliation for a nuclear or mass destruction weapon attack or if the existence of the state is at risk due to a conventional military threat.
The doctrine changes come amid Putins repeated warnings to the United States-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) members that supporting Ukraines use of long-range Western-supplied weapons to strike Russian territory would equate to Russia being at war with Nato.
Since launching its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has frequently raised the specter of its nuclear arsenal to deter Western nations from increasing military aid to Kyiv.
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With inputs from AP
By framing the Rohingya crisis as a global problem, Bangladesh is calling on the world to step in before the situation escalates into widespread instability across South and Southeast Asia read more
The Rohingya crisis, which began with waves of refugees fleeing Myanmars Rakhine State in 2017, has been a monumental challenge for Bangladesh. With nearly a million refugees now residing in makeshift camps in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh has sought to address the issue at various international forums. At the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus reiterated the dangers of treating the Rohingya situation as a national issue, emphasising its regional and global consequences if not properly addressed.
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Regional instability and security risks
Yunus appealed to the international community to focus on the Rohingya crisis stems from a growing fear that the problem could extend far beyond Bangladeshs borders. During the UNGA side event, Yunus warned that without sustained attention, the entire region could face destabilisation. The presence of nearly a million stateless people creates a hotbed for insecurity, with the risk of radicalisation, human trafficking and organised crime. As borders in South and Southeast Asia are porous, any unrest in Bangladesh could ripple across neighbouring countries like India, Myanmar and Thailand.
Yunus highlighted the urgent need for innovative solutions including convening a global conference to revisit international strategies. By framing the crisis as a potential regional destabiliser, Bangladesh is signalling that this is not simply a humanitarian issue but one that could impact regional security.
Overwhelming burden and global responsibility
Since 2017, Bangladesh has been hosting the largest concentration of refugees in the world and its resources have been stretched to the breaking point. Despite the initial surge of international support, funding for the Joint Response Plan (JRP)which is managed jointly by the UN and Bangladeshhas been steadily declining. Yunus called for a renewed push for political will and resources warning that without sustained financial support the humanitarian crisis will worsen.
Bangladesh has continually stressed that it cannot shoulder the responsibility of hosting such a large refugee population alone. This is why Yunus has repeatedly emphasised the need for international donors to step up their contributions. The US has been a leading contributor, providing over $2.5 billion since 2017, including a new $199 million pledge announced by US Under Secretary of State Uzra Zeya. However, other nations have lagged behind in their financial commitments leaving Bangladesh and its refugee camps to face deteriorating conditions.
Call for justice and accountability
A key element in Yunus appeal is the need for justice and accountability regarding the crimes committed against the Rohingya. The atrocities carried out by Myanmars military junta in 2017 have been recognised by many international bodies as genocidal. Yunus stressed that long-term peace and security in the region depend on redressing the wrongs inflicted on the Rohingya.
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While the wheels of international justice often turn slowly, Yunus called for immediate action, urging world leaders to support the ongoing investigation and trials at the International Criminal Court. By framing the crisis not just as a humanitarian issue but also as one of human rights and accountability, Bangladesh is appealing to the international communitys moral and legal obligations.
Risk of global neglect and humanitarian collapse
As global attention shifts to other crises, such as the war in Ukraine and conflicts in West Asia, there is a danger that the Rohingya crisis could be forgotten. Yunus participation at the UNGA side event was a reminder that the world must not turn away from one of the most persecuted minorities on the planet.
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The reality on the ground is stark. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are living in congested camps with inadequate access to basic services like education, healthcare and employment. With a heavy reliance on international aid, which is now dwindling, many refugees are at risk of being pushed into further poverty and exploitation. As the UN has described the Rohingya as the most persecuted minority in the world, ignoring their plight could lead to the creation of a permanent underclass of stateless individuals.
Way forward
While short-term aid is critical, Bangladesh has made it clear that sustainable, long-term solutions are essential for resolving the Rohingya crisis. This involves ensuring that refugees are not perpetually dependent on humanitarian aid but are provided with opportunities for education, skills training and legal employment. Zeya pointed out that creating these opportunities will help mitigate the risks of exploitation by criminal elements within the camps. By projecting the crisis as a global problem, Bangladesh is pushing for collective action that addresses not only the immediate humanitarian needs but also the root causes of the conflict in Myanmar. The Rohingya crisis is not just a test of Bangladeshs resilience but a litmus test for global humanitarian solidarity and justice.
Iraqi authorities have hanged at least 21 people, including a woman, most of them convicted over terrorism charges, three security sources said on Wednesday read more
Iraqi authorities have hanged at least 21 people, including a woman, most of them convicted over terrorism charges, three security sources said on Wednesday.
It was reportedly the highest number of executions reported in one day in years in Iraq, which has previously come under fire over its trial processes and the use of capital punishment on a mass scale.
Twenty-one convicts including a woman were executed on charges including terrorism and being part of the Islamic State jihadist group, an Iraqi security official told AFP.
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The woman was part of a group who killed a person in 2019 as anti-government protesters demonstrated elsewhere in Baghdad, the source said.
A young man accused of firing shots was killed and his body hanged from a pole.
The same security source said they were executed in Al-Hut prison in the southeastern city of Nassiriya. Two other sources said they were all Iraqi nationals.
A medical source in Dhi Qar province, of which Nassiriya is the capital, said the forensic department had received the bodies of the executed convicts from the prison authority.
It was not immediately possible to confirm when the executions took place, with some sources saying Tuesday and others Wednesday.
Courts have handed down hundreds of death and life sentences in recent years to Iraqis convicted of terrorism, in trials rights groups have denounced as hasty.
In July, authorities hanged 10 terror convicts in Nassiriya, prompting a rights group to call for an end to the death penalty.
And in May, eight people were executed after being convicted on similar charges, while another 11 people were hanged earlier that month.
In late January, UN experts looking into the issue expressed deep concern at reports that Iraq has begun mass executions in its prison system.
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The independent experts, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but do not speak on its behalf, mentioned in their statement executions carried out late last year in the Nassiriya prison.
The statement said that 13 male Iraqi prisoners - previously sentenced to death - were executed on 25 December 2023, calling it the largest number of convicted prisoners reportedly executed by the Iraqi authorities in one day since November 16, 2020, when 20 were executed.
At the end of July, Iraqs Justice Minister Khaled Shuani dismissed the UN experts analysis as not based on documented evidence, the official Iraqi News Agency reported.
Promate, an electronic and mobile accessories brand, has launched Punch speaker. It is a 3W magnetic Bluetooth speaker that comes with MagSafe compatibility. Its lightweight, compact, and attaches to iPhones as a stand for a convenient experience.
The Promate Punch offers 3W output and 40mm dynamic drivers that deliver HD sound. It has Bluetooth 5.3 compatibility, a 700mAh battery that can last up to 12 hours, and features TWS technology, connecting multiple speakers to a single mobile device. Also, it comes with a metal ring, making it compatible with non-magsafe devices.
Promate Punch Magnetic Bluetooth Speaker Specifications:
3W Sound output
40mm dynamic drivers
Bluetooth 5.3; SBC/AAC codec supported
MagSafe and Non Magsafe Compatible, True Wireless Stereo (TWS) Technology
Multifunctional button Power on/off, hands-free call, pause/play music
Metal design
Weight: 99g
700mAh battery life; Total Playtime: 12 hours @ 50% Volume
Pricing and Availability
The Promate Punch comes in Black, Navy Blue, Silver, and Pink colors, is priced at Rs. 1,999, and is available on Amazon.in and leading retail stores in India.
Regarding the launch, Gopal Jeyaraj, Head of Sales, India and SAARC, Promate Technologies, said,
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2024.
Nathan graduated with his journalism degree from Auburn University in 2017. After growing up in the flatlands of rural Alabama with his parents and older sister, Nathan enjoys Western Colorado's natural resources and recreational opportunities. He currently covers education and business for The Daily Sentinel.
Tue Tuesday
84 /53
Times of sun and clouds. Highs in the mid 80s and lows in the low 50s.
Secretary Antony J. Blinken at the Ministerial Meeting on Transforming Humanitarian Response for the 21st Century
US Department of State
Remarks
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
Palace Hotel
New York City, New York
September 23, 2024
SECRETARY BLINKEN: All right. Well, good afternoon, colleagues. Thank you all so much for coming together this afternoon. To our co-hosts, Foreign Secretary Lammy, the international development bank President Goldfajn, World Economic Forum President Brende: Thank you for your leadership and thank you for your partnership.
We gather at a time of extraordinary, enormous humanitarian need. Catastrophic hunger has more than doubled this year. For the twelfth consecutive year, the number of forcibly displaced people around the world has risen; it now exceeds 120 million people - one out of every 69 people on this planet that we share. Climate emergencies and violent conflicts are increasing in frequency, in magnitude, and in duration.
Despite these mounting challenges, the humanitarian system remains significantly under-resourced. In August, the UN reported that global humanitarian appeals were only 30 percent funded. As a result, humanitarians are being forced to make wrenching choices about which essential aid to cut.
To meet this moment, each of us must do more - and do so urgently.
The United States is by far the world's largest humanitarian donor. Since 2021, we have contributed more than $52 billion dollars in vital aid - clean water, food, medicine, shelter. In 2023, roughly one out of every three dollars for the World Food Programme's global operations came from the United States. This is something that I'm very proud of.
We also have to work to prevent crises before they start - and to address their root causes. That's why the Biden administration has made unprecedented investments in global health security, forging resilience to climate change, spurring broad-based economic opportunities.
In addition, this era of severe and protracted crises requires us to fundamentally reevaluate our current humanitarian system and its capacity to help those whose needs are the greatest.
This conversation simply has to start by including a broad range of voices: government officials, civil society, multilateral development banks, philanthropy, the private sector, humanitarian organizations - and maybe most crucially, the people affected by these crises.
That's the coalition that we've assembled here today. Our goal is to chart a more sustainable, more effective humanitarian system - one that not only saves lives, but can actually disrupt the cycles that entrench governments in poverty, insecurity - excuse me, generations in poverty, insecurity, and displacement.
So three quick suggestions on how we might think about this and how we might start to do that.
First, we have to strengthen the link between humanitarian and development efforts. This is a basic concept that's not exactly new; we've all been talking about this for a while. But I think it's even more imperative than it's been before. Too often, we know these streams of work proceed in parallel. But when these groups plan and act together - when the humanitarians and the development experts work and plan together - especially from the onset of a crisis, we can assist more people with the same resources.
An integrated approach also tends to produce longer-term solutions that move people toward sustainable livelihoods. And we know that when individuals become self-reliant and able to live with dignity, we see more peaceful outcomes to the conflicts that are affecting their communities.
Second, we need to deepen support for host countries as they work to integrate displaced people. Here again, something that we've talked about for some time, but I think we need to do more to address. What we've learned is this: It takes years, sometimes generations, for people who are fleeing conflict and persecution to actually be able to safely return to their countries and communities of origin. That's why we need to accelerate efforts to move from a model that relies on emergency social services to one that helps host governments incorporate displaced persons into national health, education systems, economies - permitting them to fully participate in society; and one that helps the host communities benefit from stronger, better-resourced services and support.
Colombia, for instance, has provided legal status to more than 2 million Venezuelans since 2021. And the impact is clear. According to a recent report, this population contributed $529 million to the Colombian economy in 2022 alone.
Finally, we have to find ways to deepen cooperation with the private sector. Together, we can pursue blended finance strategies to lower the risks for investment in fragile markets, and attract much needed capital - expanding opportunity, reducing the need for aid. For example, just last year, USAID announced EDGE - a program through which the United States and corporate partners match and jointly coordinate investments that advance development goals.
The private sector can also help us engage innovative technologies - like AI-powered predictive capabilities that forecast the displacement of people after natural disasters, that identify the host communities where refugees are most likely to succeed.
So I'm confident that this group will look at these but also have so many other ideas that we can make the system more effective with while building further on its existing strengths.
Readapting this global humanitarian architecture is not just a strategic necessity. I think for all of us it's a moral imperative - for the people we aim to assist, and for the humanitarian workers who are serving with such incredible courage on the front lines every day.
So far this year, 2024, at least 220 aid workers have been killed - the vast majority from the communities where they came. In Gaza alone, more than 280 humanitarian workers have been killed since the conflict began.
The scale of these losses is unprecedented. It's also heartbreaking. And it should be unacceptable. We can - we must - do better. For these brave humanitarians, for the people they seek to help, for the larger humanitarian system - we have to do better. Because all of these together - saving lives, empowering people to live with dignity, strengthening all of our societies - and I'm convinced that when we come together, when we pool our ideas, our resources, and our energies, we will in fact do better.
And with that, I thank you very, very much. (Applause.)
ASSISTANT SECRETARY NOYES: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I'm Julieta Valls Noyes. I'm Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration. I'll be moderating this initial session. I'd now like to invite Foreign Secretary Lammy to say a few words.
FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY: Well, Tony, thank you so much for setting out the vast challenges before our global community. All of us here are determined to support those whose worlds have been shattered, including the many driven from their homes. We can and we must do more - working together as reliable, as effective, and as partners. That's what our countries are to each other, Tony - we stood side by side in Kyiv earlier this month, and we have obviously been in constant touch about the appalling crisis in Gaza. But in Yemen, in Haiti, in forgotten situations like the situation in Afghanistan, there is so much more to do. And as I look around this room, I'm really pleased to see other key partners, including the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Economic Forum.
Just allow me to land on two areas that I'd like to throw a spotlight on.
The first of course is innovation - not just to respond to crisis but to get well ahead of the crisis. And we've been trying to do that in the UK. Our Humanitarian Innovation Hub, supported by scientific expertise, puts creativity to the fore. We've been working on innovative ways to address disaster risk, particularly at a time of climate change, like regional insurance schemes, which pay out after a specific trigger such as an earthquake or hurricane. We've also supported locally led vaccine rollouts in conflict-afflicted communities. And we've been using AI to predict humanitarian needs. There is huge scope for us to do more in this area to get ahead of the problem.
And alongside fresh thinking, it's essential to strengthen international financial institutions. We need rapid funding and joined-up responses right across the board - humanitarian, development, climate, and of course peacebuilding and conflict prevention. And we need to ensure the work of all donors reflects the insights of organizations on the ground who know most of all where the needs are. An ambitious IDA replenishment will be key to this, and the UK will pay its part. In all of this, we must work through respectful partnerships, listening to those most affected by crisis.
Today is a great opportunity to put our heads together, and I look forward to hearing the outcomes. Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY NOYES: Thank you, Mr. Foreign Secretary. I now invite President Goldfajn of the Inter-American Development Bank to speak.
MR GOLDFAJN: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Secretary Blinken. Thank you, Secretary of State Lammy, President Brende, Excellencies, distinguished guests.
Forced migration and displacement aren't new, but the challenge today is more acute than ever. Let me tell you about our region, Latin America and the Caribbean. Venezuela faces the worst, largest displacement crisis - almost 7.8 million migrants since 2015, more than displacement of Ukraine and other. In Haiti, gang violence and dire conditions have displaced over half a million people.
Secretary Blinken, we agree we need to coordinate and work humanitarian and also development, and it's crucial to involve the private sector.
More than half of Latin American migrants have spent over five years in their host communities - half of them already have more than five. Supporting them is important. Supporting them in the region means that you reduce the odds of risky onwards migration. Development banks like ourselves have a role to play. Secretary, you mentioned Colombia. We are involved - deeply involved - in Colombia and exactly on those projects, but we're also involved in Peru, in megacentros.
We also have projects that reintegrate migrants when do - they do return home. That's very important, because you provide skills, training, certification - you integrate them back with formal jobs. That's routine.
We need to think about fundamentals. We need to think about rule of law, stability - even more now, organized crime - and also climate change. All of those are fundamentals today for migration. How can we do it in terms of development? Well, we have our loans, our policy-based loans where we, on the ground, we create the conditions that create jobs and help real people in their countries. Our own presence there means that we can provide bridges from one government to the next government, because we are there for the medium and long term.
Let me give you an example recent - and I mentioned it: Haiti - where integration of humanitarian development and the private sector is crucial. The IDB is collaborating in the humanitarian work, but we are also fostering development because we need to generate the jobs, we need to generate the income that takes people out of poverty and allow people to stay in their country.
The private sector is important. We have our IDB Invest, the private-sector arm of the IDB, and they have been investing even now in companies like Sigora and Plastech, and all of them have created jobs and that has been quite important. So development, humanitarian, private sector involvement, even in Haiti, has been important - is going to be even more important.
In sum, we need an integrated approach - one that fosters collaboration between NDBs, government, NGOs, UN, the private sector, in their efforts. I look forward to your insight in the discussion today.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY NOYES: Thank you, President Goldfajn. I'm going to make a slight adjustment to this schedule - for schedule reasons, and I'd like to now ask Deputy Assistant Administrator of USAID Coleman to provide USAID's perspective.
MS COLEMAN: Thank you, Julieta, and thank you, Secretary Blinken, Foreign Secretary Lammy, Mr. Goldfajn, and Mr. Brende for bringing us together today. As you all have emphasized, every year, global humanitarian needs reach record highs. Today, more than 80 percent of the countries where USAID works, encompassing roughly 2 billion people, are fragile or conflict-affected environments.
Our humanitarian assistance spending in response to crises has tripled in the last decade while development assistance has remained flat. In other words, we're dedicating more and more of our resources to responding to crises instead of investing in long-term efforts to prevent them. This is simply not sustainable. The solution requires all of us - humanitarian, development, and peace practitioners, governments, and the private sector - to more effectively meet the staggering global humanitarian needs while continuing to drive development gains. This is why in January, USAID launched an agency-wide initiative to align our humanitarian, development, and peace efforts across all of our policy, planning, and programming so that even while we're responding to crises, we are also making critical investments in long-term stability and prevention.
We are also taking practical steps to change the way we work, such as conducting an information campaign to increase the use of existing award flexibilities; aligning our humanitarian and development strategic planning processes; and co-hosting a global forum with the UK, Germany, the World Bank, UNICEF, and WFP on social protection and fragility in conflict. USAID is also leveraging funding from the Global Fragility Act to facilitate the kinds of private investment that can be so pivotal to preventing and more sustainably addressing global humanitarian needs.
Today, I'm pleased to announce that we have partnered with U.S. Development Finance Corporation to create a new specialized unit to focus on identifying promising investment opportunities in fragile environments where investments are often more complicated, riskier, and time-consuming. We are eager to partner with you in catalyzing these critical investments which align with so many of the goals that we are discussing here today. I commend this group for your commitment to breaking down silos and identifying more sustainable and cost-effective ways to address the staggering global humanitarian needs we face today. USAID is committed to advancing this agenda with you. Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY NOYES: Thank you, Deputy Administrator Coleman. I now invite World Economic Forum President Brende to speak.
MR BRENDE: Thank you so much, and thank you to Secretary Blinken, Tony, for hosting us here. I couldn't agree more than - with you than that we are facing extraordinary needs. We are faced with unprecedented geopolitical recession, but this meeting is about building resilience. In a new norm, the situation - it seems like crises are the new norm and then we have to be resilient.
The challenge is that at the same time as we are facing these challenges, we know that the ODA has peaked and in many countries is going down. So the needs are increasing, and the money available are less. And it doesn't look very good either because we are more indebted globally than we have been since the Napoleonic Wars. So we need to think out of the box when it comes then to mobilizing new resources.
We have to also involve the private sector, as all of you also underlined, and the private sector is not, in this context, philanthropy. It is also about making sure that the private sector is involved. It is different business models. Secretary Blinken also mentioned innovation, AI - all this can be applied.
Traditionally, it was said that private sector has to stay out when there is, like, a humanitarian crisis, but now they're protracted. Look at South Sudan, for example. The crisis has been there now for 30 years. So it's a combination of a very bad humanitarian crisis and also a development crisis. And here I think we can come together. And we are unfortunately very much mispricing risks when it comes to frontier markets. There is possible for private sector to get involved, maybe not the first day after humanitarian crisis, but even in early recovery, even when we start to rebuilding, private sector needs to be there.
And if you happen to also look at the risk and mitigate the risks, we are ready to do so. And that's the initiative we have had with the U.S. and also supported with the Ikea Foundation. You are aware of this humanitarian and resilience investing. We have now 100 partners and companies that coming in and say, we want to be there in the frontier markets. We know there is a risk. But we also have good examples that many of these companies have contributed, but it's also been profitable over time. And the frontier markets are growing.
So we would like to continue with this initiative, humanitarian resilience investing initiative, to make companies also accountable and show to them that they have to be part of the solution because the ODA and the humanitarian assistance is not necessarily there, and the private sector still has money, and they should put also the money to work for the people in need. Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY NOYES: Thank you, President Brende. I'm now delighted to invite Mr. Mohammed Naeem, the chair of the U.S. Refugee Advisory Board, to speak.
MR NAEEM: Secretary Blinken, Foreign Secretary Lammy, Assistant Secretary Noyes, President Goldfajn, President Brende, Your Excellencies, esteemed colleagues: As a New Yorker, it is my honor to generously welcome you to our city.
I have called a number of places home across my life - some that I've never been to but have memorialized, such as Kandahar, others that hosted me, like Karachi. But there has been one place, a small, mostly refugee community in Flushing, Queens, that I've called home since I was four years old. Nicknamed Kalacha, or "village," it has served as a crossroads, where coexistence is a revered value, where new beginnings begin, and where distant futures are imagined and where they are realized, like this moment.
As I look across this gilded room, I am struggling to imagine what rooms like these must have felt like over the last century without refugees in it, what might have been the contours of the dialogue, and how were our lives and livelihoods fully dignified.
Today, as Secretary Blinken had noted, there are over 120 million displaced people, one out of every 69 on Earth. And while the international community has generously shouldered the physical price of the system, it is us who have paid a compounding cost - walls instead of bridges, radar alerts instead of lifeboats, handcuffs instead of a welcoming handshake; and for too many, rubble, both past and sadly present, that metaphorically represents the sheer volume of silent scars that they will carry for the rest of their lives.
I know this raises several uncomfortable truths, but I believe that acknowledgment can serve as a renewal of our conviction to shape a more responsible humanitarian system and strengthen underlying norms and principles. We can center humanity with the wisdom of proximity. We can act with impartiality rooted in the sacred truth of transparency. We can exhibit neutrality while upholding moral clarity, and we can lead with independence, with respect for self-determination.
Our institutions can choose to become an access point in exercising these principles. And in that choice, we, as formerly and currently displaced people, are not only eager to work together but are clear-eyed about leveraging a shared and ambitious imagination, the likes of which is in this room today, to meet the demands of this century.
In closing, over the last few months I've been reflecting about the last images of Afghanistan that my mother's eyes witnessed as she traveled across dusty plains into Pakistan during the 1980s. I know that I will never - never - fully honor her sacrifices. But because of them, I serve to build new beginnings and new homes for the millions of displaced people on this Earth.
Ultimately and simply, that is what we are called upon to do. And this mission can only be achieved if we, too, script a chapter for our humanitarian architecture, one that I hope that we shall write together, beginning today.
Thank you, and I look forward to the discussion ahead.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY NOYES: Thank you so much, Mohammed. And after the press departs, Secretary Blinken will lead us in the discussion of our first question.
# # #
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Secretary Antony J. Blinken at the Summit of the Future
US Department of State
Remarks
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
UN Headquarters
New York City, New York
September 23, 2024
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Good afternoon. At this summit, Secretary-General Guterres and many world leaders have argued powerfully that to fulfill the crucial purpose of the United Nations, we urgently need support, reform, and revitalization. The United States fully agrees.
That's why we joined fellow member states in shaping and committing to a broad range of priorities in the Pact for the Future; forging the Digital Global Compact; signing on to the Declaration on Future Generations; enabling the United Nations and international institutions to better respond to shocks like pandemics and natural disasters, made more severe by frequent - by the climate crisis; addressing growing and diverse threats to international peace and security on land, the sea, the air, in outer space, and in cyberspace; ensuring that universal human rights are respected equally online and offline; empowering women and girls across the UN's efforts; reforming the UN Security Council to better represent the developing world and, more broadly, the world as it is today.
The United States believes that this should include two permanent seats for Africa, one rotating seat for Small Island Developing States, permanent representation for Latin America and the Caribbean, in addition to the permanent seats for countries we've long endorsed: Germany, Japan, India. The United States supports starting negotiations on council reforms immediately.
The Pact for the Future does not include every priority, every reform that we believe the UN needs, but it is a significant step toward strengthening and evolving this institution that every member-state should get behind and work to achieve.
We're also pursuing reforms in other international institutions - as well as in our own country - that advance the bold goals and the aspirations of many member-states, particularly those we've heard directly from developing countries.
We strongly supported the African Union joining the G20 so that African voices are better represented in that group. We're leading efforts to strengthen the ability of multilateral development banks to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals. We're making the biggest investments of any country ever to accelerate the transition to clean energy at home, while dedicating billions to help people in developing countries adapt to and manage the impacts of the climate crisis. And as the world's leading humanitarian donor, we are forging new partnerships across public and private sectors to meet what are unprecedented needs around the world.
These are important steps, but more must be done, because simply preserving the status quo is not an option. The United States is committed to adapting the UN system to reflect this world of today and tomorrow, not the one that existed in 1945.
But we are and we will remain resolutely opposed to revisionism. We will not accept efforts to tear down, dilute, or fundamentally alter the core principles of the UN Charter - sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence. We will continue to affirm that no member-state has the right to redraw borders by force or repress their own people. We'll continue to oppose the idea that nations can assert spheres of influence or dictate who other countries ally or partner with. We will push back fiercely against attempts to undermine the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international human rights treaties.
It's one thing to revitalize, to reform, to adapt the organization to meet the challenges of the future. It's quite another to try to change its core purpose and principles that are essential to avoiding repeating horrors of the past. In this Pact for the Future, reform has pride of place; revisionism should have no place at all. At a time of great testing for the multilateral system, that's an accomplishment we can - and we must - build on in the years to come.
The United States is committed to this collective effort. We know that we're stronger, we're better off, we're more effective when we're all working together in common purpose. This is what the world needs in this moment, and it needs a strong multilateral system if it is going to meet the goals and aspirations of the people that we all represent. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
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Secretary Blinken's Meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa and Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Cho
US Department of State
Readout
Office of the Spokesperson
September 23, 2024
The below is attributable to Spokesperson Mathew Miller:
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken held a trilateral meeting today with Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko and Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul during UNGA High Level-Week.
Secretary Blinken, Foreign Minister Kamikawa, and Foreign Minister Cho reiterated their commitment to institutionalize our trilateral cooperation. They discussed the need for close coordination to respond to deepening military cooperation between the DPRK and Russia, which threatens stability in both Northeast Asia and Europe. They affirmed their strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the maritime domains of the Indo-Pacific.
The Secretary and Foreign Ministers stated their positions on Taiwan remain unchanged and reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity in the international community. They called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.
The Secretary and Foreign Ministers also reflected on the success of our trilateral cooperation at the United Nations Security Council and around the world. They concluded by reaffirming our shared commitment to creating the U.S.-Japan-ROK Trilateral Secretariat, to be finalized by the three leaders when they meet before the end of the year. This step will help institutionalize this crucial partnership into the future.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken's Meeting with Guyana's President Irfaan Ali
US Department of State
Readout
Office of the Spokesperson
September 23, 2024
The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Guyanese President Irfaan Ali today to discuss the strong U.S.-Guyana partnership and our shared goal of enhancing security and prosperity for our people and the region. They reviewed growing U.S.-Guyana trade and economic cooperation. Secretary Blinken and President Ali discussed the importance of increasing support to the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti so it can fulfill its vital mission to help restore security and democracy for the Haitian people.
Secretary Blinken underscored our commitment to Guyana's territorial integrity and the importance of our cooperation under the U.S.-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis 2030 (PACC 2030) to foster climate resilience and food security in the region.
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September 24, 2024
Release
Readout of International Contact Group Meeting on Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response
Department of Defense Spokesperson Lisa Lawrence provided the following statement:
Today, senior representatives from Austria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States, convened virtually for a meeting of the International Contact Group on Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response.
The participants discussed the importance of mitigating civilian harm caused by military operations as well as responding effectively when civilian harm does occur. The participants also emphasized that efforts to mitigate and respond to civilian harm reflect mutual values and directly contribute to both mission success and public confidence in the armed forces.
All the representatives from participating countries, guided by their shared values and commitment to preserving international norms, expressed their commitment to promote civilian harm mitigation best practices within their respective armed forces.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3915930/
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Egypt - Stinger Missiles
Media/Public Contact: pm-cpa@state.gov
Transmittal No: 24-41
WASHINGTON, September 24, 2024 -- The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Egypt of Stinger Missiles and related elements of logistics and program support for an estimated cost of $740 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today.
The Government of Egypt has requested to buy seven hundred twenty (720) Stinger missiles for vehicle-based use on existing Avenger systems, including twenty (20) Product Verification Flight Test (PVFT) munitions. The following non-MDE items will also be included: spare and repair parts; testing equipment; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistical and program support. The total estimated cost is $740 million.
This proposed sale will support U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that continues to be an important force for political stability and economic growth in the Middle East.
The proposed sale will improve Egypt's capability to meet current and future threats by enhancing Egypt's ability to defend itself against regional malign actors and improve interoperability with systems operated by U.S. forces and other regional security partners. Egypt's continued investment in its defensive capabilities is crucial to protecting its borders, transportation infrastructure, and its residents. Egypt will have no difficulty absorbing Stinger missiles into its armed forces.
The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.
The principal contractor will be RTX Corporation, located in Tucson, AZ. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.
Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to Egypt.
There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.
The description and dollar value are for the highest estimated quantity and dollar value based on initial requirements. Actual dollar value will be lower depending on final requirements, budget authority, and signed sales agreement(s), if and when concluded.
All questions regarding this proposed Foreign Military Sale should be directed to the State Department's Bureau of Political Military-Affairs, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs, pm-cpa@state.gov.
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China's drone industry rapidly advancing, driving the low-altitude economy
11:21, September 25, 2024 By Chen Qingrui ( Global Times
A staff member operates a drone at the booth of Chinese drone maker DJI at the fourth China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) in Haikou, capital city of south China's Hainan Province, April 15, 2024. Lasting from April 13 to 18, the expo themed "Share Open Opportunities, Co-create a Better Life" hosts over 4,000 brands from 71 countries and regions, showcasing their novel and upmarket products for global consumers. (Photo: Xinhua)
China's drone sector is developing rapidly, with 1.875 million drones registered nationwide as of June 2024, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Tuesday. Experts suggest that the widespread application of drones across various sectors is driving growth in the low-altitude economy.
As of June 2024, over 14,000 commercial drone enterprises were registered in China with more than 225,000 pilot licenses issued, according to the CAAC, as reported by CCTV News on Tuesday. From January to June this year, civil drones in China accumulated a total of 9.816 million flight hours, representing an increase of 134,000 hours compared to the same period last year.
The data was released at the 3rd China Civil UAS Development International Forum which opened in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin Province on Tuesday.
The forum focused on regulations and the development of low-altitude flight services, analyzing policies and sharing operational practices to stimulate innovation and promote high-quality development of the low-altitude economy, according to CAAC.
Experts noted that the low-altitude economy and general aviation industryboth with substantial potentialare emerging as key areas for cultivating new growth drivers in China. Many cities are increasingly recognizing these sectors as promising "new tracks" for development.
"Drones are crucial for driving industry development as an emerging application. This forum will further explore topics related to drone governance and applications," Zhang Yi, CEO of iiMedia Research Institute, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
According to China's Ministry of Transport, at least 29 provinces, including autonomous regions and municipalities, have included "low-altitude economy" in 2024 government work reports.
(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
UNGA: Press remarks by High Representative Josep Borrell after the informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers
European External Action Service (EEAS)
24.09.2024
New York
EEAS Press Team
Check against delivery!
Thank you very much for waiting.
It has been one of the shortest [informal] Foreign Affairs Council meetings, but I have to say one of the most tense, in a more challenging environment. I do not want to exaggerate, but certainly the situation [around the world] is worrisome - wherever you have a look.
We had the visit of the new Foreign Affairs Minister of Ukraine [Andrii Sybiha] with news from Ukraine. We [were] dedicated to the two most pressing issues for the European Union and for the wider world impact in this week: the Russia's war against Ukraine and the very dangerous escalation in the Middle East - I mean Gaza, Lebanon, West Bank, wherever in the region.
First, on Russia and Ukraine: For the first time, we were joined by Ukraine's new Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, who substitutes our friend, [Dymitro] Kuleba.
He briefed us about the continuing and intensified Russian escalation and bombing of civilian targets with missiles, drones, and glide bombs. It is clear that Russia has been receiving new arms, in particular missiles from Iran. This is what we believe - even if Iranians deny it, but it looks like it.
In any case, Russian drones and missiles have been continuing to approach and sometimes entering into the European Union Member States' space. This is very risky. The Russian drones and missiles are entering and approaching, and, in some cases, borderline entering in our airspace.
Russia continues to hamper global food security. For a long time we have not been talking about food security, but the threat here continues. Most recently, they [Russians] have been hitting a ship transporting Ukrainian grain to Egypt, in the Black Sea, in the Romanian economic zone. Not in the territorial waters, but in the Romanian economic zone. A ship transporting grain to Egypt has been hit by Russian missiles.
In the middle of this situation, Ukraine is reacting fully and in line with its right to self-defence - Article 51 of the United Nations Charter - and needs more than ever our support.
In the last days, Ukraine managed to destroy important stockpiles of Russian weapons very deep into Russian territory - in some cases, 500 kilometres from the border. This has been an important success for the Ukrainian army: it was about two big stockpiles of ammunition at 500 kilometres from of the border, which is certainly an important military capacity.
On the other side, unhappily, there is the energy situation.
This morning, I attended the G7+ meeting, chaired by Secretary of State [of the United States, Anthony] Blinken and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, where we discussed about the energy situation in Ukraine. It is clear that Russia wants to put Ukraine into the dark and the cold. The winter is coming, and following Russian attacks against energy targets, Ukraine's energy production capacity has been reduced by two-thirds.
Just imagine, here in New York, or in any European Union Member State, losing two-thirds of the energy capacity production. First, on the electricity, due to the siege of Zaporizhzhia by the Russian troops. Secondly, due to the last bombings, they lost 9 gigawatts of production capacity.
Winter is coming, and we have to support Ukraine, not only providing military capacity, but electricity production capacity. Otherwise, this country will be facing a very hard time in winter.
In order to support Ukraine, we have made - at the [European] Commission - a proposal to raise up to 35 billion alone to support Ukraine, both militarily and economically.
Both things have to be done at the same time. It does not make sense to provide [it] with an electricity generator today, if it will be destroyed tomorrow. It is not just "destroy and replace". We cannot replace everything being destroyed, because it will be an endless process.
So, we have to provide [Ukraine] with electricity generation capacity, with energy production capacity. One Member State is taking a power plant and taking it into pieces and sending to Ukraine to be reconstructed inside Ukrainian territory. At the same time, we have to provide air defence capacity, in order to avoid these capacities being destroyed as soon as they are being put into work.
The call is to support Ukraine from energy and from the military side. For that we will provide this loan - 35 billion. Well, it is a proposal, it is not done. It is a proposal. Sometimes we announce proposals as if they were decisions. The decisions belong to the Council [of the European Union]. And the Council will have to take their position by a qualified majority, in this case.
Yes, the situation in the battlefield, it is complicated. But Russia is still trying to fight in different fronts, especially the one opened with success by Ukrainian forces in the last weeks [in Kursk].
But there is a critical situation for Ukraine: it is energy production. No civilised country, no industrial country can survive without energy, without electricity. When you lost lose two-thirds of your production capacity, you are on the brink. So, we have to reinforce our capacity to supply capacities - both to replace what has been destroyed and to avoid these to be destroyed the following day.
More air defence capacity and more capacity to allow the Ukrainians to attack the Russians from where the Russians are attacking them, from where they are attacking them. Otherwise, they will do it with full impunity.
At the same time, there is a peace process - or there is a will to end the war. And we are supporting the process started by Ukraine to achieve a just and lasting peace, a real peace. This is the only viable way forward.
This will be our coordinated message here in the United Nations this week when we will meet our partners [from all] around the world. We will meet a lot of people around the world today, here, tomorrow, this week.
And we want to support the peace process started with the Summit of Peace in Switzerland this June. 110 countries and organizations participate in this process.
We look forward to the presentation by President [of Ukraine, Volodymyr] Zelenskyy of his 'Victory Plan' - a different thing. Ukraine has to improve their military situation in order to go to the peace negotiations in a good way, in a position of strength.
So, victory plan is about how to conduct the war, Peace Plan is about how to get peace. And one thing is strongly related with the other.
We see other peace proposals emerging. I want to be clear: any viable way forward has to be based on [respect for the] United Nations Charter respect. And these include Ukraine's sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and the right to self-defence.
There is a United Nations General Assembly resolution, of February 2023 - not so long ago - with 141 votes in favour; and this should guide the peace efforts.
And this resolution, allow me to remind it, calls on Russia to completely and unconditionally withdraw from Ukraine following a cessation of hostilities. This was, this is, and this remains [the basis for] a just and lasting peace basis.
The Minister debriefed us on Ukraine's efforts to advance on the European Union path, while defending itself from Russian aggression. I welcome and I can only encourage this approach, because remember, Ukraine is a candidate to become member of the European Union.
I mention it because in a few weeks, before the end of my term, I will present together with my colleagues in the [European] Commission, the next enlargement report, where we will take stock of the progress achieved by our candidates, and, in particular, by Ukraine.
Ukraine is fighting on several fronts at the same time, doing the reforms required to be a Member of the European Union, and fighting in the battlefield, and fighting in the rearguard. Trying to make the civilian population to survive, to be protected from the attacks, and to have the economic and financial capacity to fulfil all the commitments of a state.
And our military support to Ukraine has reached 46 billion with the last figures, which is certainly an important amount. Together with our economic, financial, humanitarian support, it is more than anyone else in the world, and overpassing the 100 billion.
Then we discussed on the Middle East.
The meeting was very short, but these two issues, together with the third one, Venezuela, kept the Ministers very busy.
On the Middle East, we discussed the ongoing, intensified hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, across the Lebanese border - and in Beirut itself - and the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
There are no more words to describe the situation in Gaza. There are no more words. The catastrophe continues. And the escalation in Lebanon is extremely dangerous and worrying.
I was in Lebanon some days before, just before the explosion of these electronic devices [that] has been creating terror among the Lebanese population.
The escalation is extremely dangerous and worrying. I can say that we are almost in a full-fledged war. We are seeing more military strikes, more damage, more collateral damage, more victims.
Since Tuesday, in Lebanon, 500 people have been killed, and over 4,400 people have been injured. Among them, a high number of children and women.
And what do we see through the TV screens? We see thousands of people escaping to the north, provoking big jams on the transport system, escaping because they have been warned that the attacks will continue, and the bombing too.
I was some days ago on at the border between Lebanon and Israel, visiting the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) troops with a certain high-level degree of risk. I learned from them how things are going, the intensity of the fighting, of the bombing, both sides - each one has its own responsibility.
But now we are seeing how civilians in Lebanon are paying an intolerable, unacceptable price.
When in some days we talk about 500 people killed and 4,400 people injured, this is something that escapes any kind of consideration about the civilian casualties.
It is again in the Geneva Convention [the prohibition] to make explosives at a distance without taking any consideration for the environment where these explosives are exploding - either in a queue in a commercial centre, in a public square, on the street, in a hospital, wherever.
These are targeted and at the same time random attacks. Targeted because of the purpose and random because of the consequences.
I condemned it. I continue condemning it. The civilians are paying a high price, almost a full-blown war, which must be averted, including by renewing intense diplomatic mediation efforts. Here in New York, it is the moment to do that. Everybody has to put all their capacity to stop this path to war.
Two weeks ago, I said I was in the south of Lebanon, and despite the warning signal, I think we are still hoping and working to stop this escalation. But the worst scenario - I have to say it - is materialising. The worst expectations are becoming reality. We need peace in the Middle East, because the ongoing escalation is a danger for the whole region.
The path towards peace starts with a single step: ceasefire in Gaza.
Ceasefire in Gaza and the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which was adopted in 2006 - my God, almost 20 years ago. Almost 20 years ago [after], I am still asking for the implementation of this resolution.
You understand why the Secretary General of the United Nations [Antonio Guterres] has said these days that the Security Council is losing legitimacy? [It is] because either they do not agree on anything, or when they agree, it is not implemented.
This is a serious concern for the international community. These are the words of the United Nations Secretary General. The multilateral system is gripped.
It is [now] United Nations General Assembly who is taking the political lead because the Security Council is unable to take decisions. And when they take decisions, [like the one] almost 20 years ago, we are still asking for its implementation.
The resolution calls for a full cessation of hostility between Israel and Hezbollah and the withdrawal of both to the delimitation line. Well, we need to continue asking for this immediate ceasefire across the Blue line, as well as the situation in Gaza.
They are not different. They are interlinked. They are strongly interlinked. What is happening in Gaza is triggering other war scenarios in Lebanon, in the Red Sea, and unhappily - and we do not talk enough about it - on the West Bank.
The West Bank, which is called openly 'Judea and Samaria' by the Israeli authorities, as if it was already being annexed.
Certainly, a ceasefire in Gaza is the only way to facilitate [to avoid] the escalation in the whole region. [It has not been] not reached yet.
There was a "Biden Plan" presented, I do not know how many weeks ago. By the way, presented as a plan coming from the Israeli side. Well, it is still not there.
Yesterday we had an important dinner to discuss about the prospects of the peace in the Middle East. And someone said - and I think he is right: "Start discussing about the political solution. Do not wait for the ceasefire, because the ceasefire maybe will not come ever." So, do not wait for that, start discussing about the political solution, because you have been waiting for too long about the ceasefire.
But I think it is our collective responsibility to continue asking for the [respect of] international law, humanitarian law, [to] engage with all parties, and to keep pushing them to the negotiation table. That is what the Foreign Ministers will do, all of them in a coordinated manner in their outreach to partners this week.
Let me add two words on Venezuela.
The issue was raised by Spain at the beginning of our discussion.
You know the situation in Venezuela. You know that we cannot recognise the legitimacy of Maduro as being democratically elected. That we regret that Edmundo [Gonzalez Urrutia], the candidate from the opposition, had to flee to leave the country and to look for political asylum in Spain. We will continue supporting the Venezuelans' right to democracy, to freedom, and political rights. I asked the Venezuelan authorities to end the repression, to end the arbitrary arrest and harassment of the opposition and civil society.
We call for an immediate return of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to Caracas. And we insist that only a Venezuelan-led, peaceful, and inclusive solution will make a democratic transition in Venezuela possible.
And allow me to finish my grim report with a positive note. The positive note is the Pact for the Future adopted. It is a milestone for the international community. Certainly, very much important.
The Pact for the Future has been approved and it shows that we can come together and take decisions if the interest of future generations is there. I want to remark the Russia's attempt to spoil it and again to undermine our multilateral systems and the global cooperation.
We held a tripartite meeting - African Union, European Union, United Nations, with the Secretary General yesterday - and together with our African partners, we have been working hand in hand in the adoption of this pact. I can say - with an important contribution of the European Union Member States - that this pact has been agreed.
And I think that we have been working hard in order to take into consideration the concerns of the African people. People all around the world were very much interested in approving this pact, while Russia was trying to obstruct this agreement. But happily, it [Russia] has been clearly isolated in this purpose.
Thank you.
Q&A
Q. Did you discuss this 'victory plan' today in this meeting with your colleagues? And the second question, you already said it a couple of times, that you believe that Ukraine should not have any limits with using weapons, like Western weapons, on Russian territory. Do you see any positive signs that this decision can be eventually made?
We will continue discussing that during this week, and in particular at the G7 level. I am leaving you to attend a meeting of the G7. This was an informal meeting. In informal meetings, decisions are not taken. In any case, Member States consider that this is something that belongs to their national capacity to decide. Some have already taken this decision, others still not, or they do not want to. Others, maybe they have not, but they do not say it. In any case, I know that inside and even [in] the decision-making process of the United States, this is being discussed. I will continue discussing it during this week. You know my position; my position is clearly in favour. Not everybody is supporting this position, but let's see what the position is at the end of the week.
Q. Did you discuss the victory plan on this meeting?
We do not know the victory plan. We know the label, but we have to wait to know what is inside the box.
Q. I have two questions for you. First one is about Lebanon. You said we are almost in a full-fledged war. Do you expect an Israeli invasion very soon of Lebanon, a ground invasion, I mean? My second question, will you be meeting with the Iranians this week to discuss Lebanon and to discuss weapons sent to Russia, Ukraine.
Yes, I am going to have a meeting with my Iranian counterpart [Abbas Araghchi]. I always do it. This is my seventh, and last United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Seventh; and I always meet with the Iranian minister. Unhappily, I am sorry, the last one was, as you know, was killed in a helicopter accident. I know the new Minister because I have been working with him in the past. We will discuss about everything, and in particular the nuclear deal, the support to Russia. We will do it, but I cannot tell you [about it] before doing it. We have to keep the lines of communication with Iran open. Whatever we disagree on, whatever we think we are not doing in the right way - there is a new President in Iran. The new President of Iran has been meeting with the President of the European Union Council; it is normal. We have to continue having lines of communication with Iran. That is why my Political Director [Deputy Secretary General, Enrique Mora] attended the inauguration in Iran. We will continue discussing with Iran, even to tell them what we think is being done wrong.
[On Lebanon] in less than one week - less than one week - 4,400 people are wounded and almost 500 killed. If this is not a war situation, you will tell me how do you call it. Certainly, [there] has not been an land invasion. I am not a member of the staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, so I cannot tell you which are their plans, but it is clearly that they have been announcing once and again that the only solution is a full-fledged war, an invasion.
It is not an invasion [yet], but there are air attacks, there are strong bombings. I do not want to say that on the other side, Hezbollah does not have a lot of responsibilities also. Everybody has to understand who is doing what. But certainly, the influence of Iran in the Lebanese politics is evident. From one side or the other, due to the war in Gaza or wherever, hundreds or thousands of people have been displaced, both in the north and in the south. Also in the south, 150,000 Israelis also had to leave. But the solution is, I think, is not to increase the level of warfare. I do not know if it is going to be a land invasion or not, but in some cases you do not need to. You do not need to. If you have a strong aerial control, and you have a strong military capacity to bomb, maybe you do not need to invade. I am worried by the situation of the United Nations forces in Lebanon. Certainly, they could be caught in a fight. I hope that this is not going to create a difficult situation for them.
Q. You condemn, you call for a ceasefire. You are not the only one, of course. Israel does not seem to be listening. What more can you do, for instance, tonight with the G7? What more can you do, Europe can do? What more can the U.S. do to really influence Israel? Thank you.
That is a good question. Certainly, it seems that in spite of all the diplomatic capacity that we have deployed, nothing has been able to stop the war. I see that in these peace negotiations both sides are procrastinating. They pretend to [negotiate], but in fact, for one reason or another, there is not a ceasefire agreement. So, in these situations in the past - [we must] have a look at the history. The history is very long. The history is very, very, very long. In [19]82, it was '82 there was a big war in Lebanon. And in 1991, in 1982, 1982. And in 1991, it there was a peace process in Madrid. In both cases, the diplomatic pressure came together with some, let's say, incentives. Measures. It seems that by for the time being, this is not the case. "Why should I change my behaviour if I do not pay any penalty for doing [this]? Why should I change if there is are no consequences?". This week, we will talk about it.
Q. The Al Jazeera Bureau has been closed in Israel. And now in the last few days, our operations have been shut down in the West Bank, which is being illegally occupied by Israel. Now, once again, this is an example of Israel acting with impunity on its action on the press, but it also appears to be typical of what you have just said, of it is operating without any pressure from outside forces.
Yes, the closing of the Al Jazeera offices was in Ramallah, no? And with the West Bank. It is very bad news and we certainly have to condemn it. Israel has imposed in Gaza the longest blackout in a war in of the history. The longest blackout. No press was inside Gaza, only Al Jazeera - paying a high toll on the number of journalists being killed. This is something that everybody has been condemning. But believe me, I do not have any capacity to make this behaviour to change. This makes [creates] a lack of information of what is happening inside Gaza or what is happening in the West Bank. That is a fact. I am not inventing anything. This is a blind situation where there is no witness on to what is there, being able to explain and to show what is happening. Al Jazeera was there, and was giving a precious service to the information of the people. So, I regret and I condemn the closing of the office in Ramallah.
Q. How do you take the fact that these attacks happen in this moment when it was supposedly a week where everybody was supposed to meet in New York and discuss peace? Do you take this as a provocation already? And my second question, I am coming back to Leon's question; this morning one of the 27 heads of state told us "only Netanyahu can stop this." You are telling us we need to do concrete actions; we need to push. So, what kind of concrete actions can be taken or are we in total powerlessness?
You know, I am not a commentator. I am not a politologue [political analyst] or another think tanker. I have full responsibility of what I am saying and what I cannot say. So, you will understand perfectly that, you know, the diplomats have to say the truth, only the truth, but not all the truth. So, there are issues in which I cannot enter without taking a lot of risk. But have a look at the history. I cited you two dates in the history, 1982 and 1991, and explore what was happening then.
Q. What can you do? What are your tools in your toolbox?
We have [them]. Well, thank you for your attention. I am sorry for presenting things in a way that is not exactly the best situation, but things are the way they are. Put the action on the positive note, that we agreed on the Pact for the Future. And Russia was completely isolated in this discussion.
Thank you.
Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-261096
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China firmly supports Lebanon in safeguarding its security and national dignity: Chinese FM
Global Times
By Zhao Yusha and Shen Sheng Published: Sep 24, 2024 07:42 PM
China firmly supports Lebanon in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and national dignity, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib in New York on Monday. According to media reports, Israeli strikes Monday on Lebanon killed at least 558 people as of press time, in what is considered the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
Thousands of families have also fled their homes as the Israeli military announced it had hit 1,600 Hezbollah targets in a campaign to destroy infrastructure that the armed group had built up since the 2006 war, BBC reported.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched over 200 rockets into northern Israel, according to Israeli military sources.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, told the Lebanese Foreign Minister in New York that with a long-lasting traditional friendship with Lebanon, China has been closely following the latest developments in the region, especially the recent explosions of communication devices across Lebanon, and is firmly opposed to indiscriminate attacks against civilians, he said.
Force does not equate to rightness and violence against violence will not solve the problems in the Middle East, Wang said, adding that China strongly condemns any action that violates the basic norms governing international relations.
The current situation is a manifestation of the spillover effect of the conflicts in Gaza, and China calls for realizing a "permanent ceasefire and comprehensive withdrawal of troops" and ensuring an effective implementation of "the two-state solution," he said.
Wang voiced hope that the Lebanese side will take effective measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens in Lebanon.
For his part, Bou Habib thanked China for speaking up for Lebanon at the United Nations and other multilateral occasions.
China is closely following the current tensions between Lebanon and Israel and feels deeply shocked by the heavy casualties inflicted by relevant military operations. China opposes any infringement on Lebanon's sovereignty and security, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Tuesday in response to the massive attacks by Israeli military in southern and eastern Lebanon, which have resulted in over 2,000 casualties.
"We oppose and condemn any move that harms innocent civilians. We call on relevant parties to take measures immediately to cool down the situation, prevent further escalation of tensions in the region, uphold peace and stability in the Middle East, and protect the safety of the people there," Lin said.
Currently, the tension between Lebanon and Israel has escalated into nearly a full-scale military conflict, experts said. Israel has launched large-scale military operations against Lebanon, and there are indications that it may deploy more ground troops into southern Lebanon, Wang Jin, an associate professor at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at Northwest University in Xi'an, told the Global Times om Tuesday.
The Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of its widening air campaign against Hezbollah, AP reported.
Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the Israeli Defense Forces are fully prepared for a ground invasion of Lebanon if necessary, the Independent reported on Monday.
Wang Jin predicted the tension between Israel and Lebanon may deteriorate rapidly. If Israel sends ground troops to Lebanon, Hezbollah may increase its rocket and long-range missile attacks on Israeli territory. Additionally, other militant groups in the Middle East, such as Houthis in Yemen which the Hezbollah has close connection with, might also get involved in the conflict, leading to further escalation and spillover of the conflicts.
The Chinese Embassy in Lebanon on Tuesday reminded Chinese citizens residing in areas affected by attacks to return to China as soon as possible or to quickly relocate to safe areas to avoid risks. Those who need to stay in Lebanon should closely monitor the local situation and avoid traveling to high-risk areas.
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Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide met President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas
Government of Norway
News story | Date: 24/09/2024
At the meeting in New York on Monday 23 September, Minister of Foreign Affairs Barth Eide reaffirmed Norway's continued strong support for Palestine.
President Abbas warmly thanked Norway for recognizing the State of Palestine and expressed concern for the situation in the West Bank. The escalation in the West Bank, which recently only has worsened, undermines the Palestinian Government's ability to govern the country.
'At the meeting, I emphasized Norway's continued support for a political process to build a Palestinian state. In recent months, the Arab Peace Vision, of which Norway is a strong supporter, has gained increasing support. For far too long, the two-state solution has been something everyone supports, but without taking concrete steps to make it happen. A clear majority of the world's countries support the establishment of a viable Palestinian state, so that the two-state solution becomes a reality. But the reality is that the two-state solution is threatened by Israel's prolonged occupation, by the many illegal settlements and systematic attacks on Palestinian institutions. It is therefore urgent to do what we can to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution, we cannot wait until the war in Gaza is over. I therefore hope the meetings in New York on Thursday, of the International donor group for Palestine (the Ad-hoc Liaison Committee, AHLC) and the Ministerial meeting on the implementation of the two-state solution, can help more countries become more specific on what we can do together to realize a viable Palestinian state,' said Minister of Foreign Affairs Barth Eide.
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Press Briefing by IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari- September 24, 2024
IDF Press Release
September 24, 2024
24.09.24
IDF
Good evening,
In today's strike in the heart of Dahieh in Beirut, we eliminated Ibrahim Muhammad Qabisi, the Head of Hezbollah's Missile and Rocket Unit. Israeli Air Force fighter jets accurately struck a level in a building where he was with other commanders from Hezbollah's Missile Unit. At least two of them were eliminated, and we are still assessing the results of the strike.
Qabisi was a key figure in activating missiles, predominantly precision-guided missiles. He was responsible for a series of attacks on Israeli territory. In recent days, he was responsible for the rocket fire toward Haifa, including this morning. We continue to degrade Hezbollah's capabilities, also focusing on eliminating the commanders who operate them.
Today, approximately 300 rockets were fired toward the Israeli home front, and six civilians and soldiers were injured, most of them lightly. I want to again emphasize the responsible behavior of the citizens of Israel, particularly the residents of the north. This behavior saves lives and prevents enemy achievements. Continue to follow the Home Front Command's instructions and act responsibly. Hezbollah wanted to fire more today, but we are intercepting, striking, and disrupting their attacks.
In the past 24 hours, we continue to examine the significant strikes we carried out yesterday, refining our future strikes moving forward. I will not elaborate this evening on the data regarding the degradation of Hezbollah's capabilities. We are in possession of this [data], studying it, and deepening them. I will not go into detail in order not to endanger our intelligence or provide the enemy with a clearer picture. We still have work to do, and although the achievement is significant, we must remember one thing - Hezbollah still possesses various different capabilities. Our role is to deal with each one of them, but first and foremost, we are focusing on their strategic capabilities, which pose the greatest risk to the Israeli home front.
Throughout the day, we continued to strike in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley. Hezbollah has turned these areas into a combat zone. In the videos here, you can see additional strikes on three houses where weapons were stored. It is clear that missiles are exploding from the houses, missiles that are launched in every direction. Here, for example, you see a building where a truck carrying a medium-range rocket launcher was hidden. Hezbollah hides many such trucks inside homes, homes where Lebanese families live, to transport weapons between locations. With precise intelligence, we struck the building, and destroyed the launcher and rockets.
We will continue to release and distribute such videos in various languages to the entire world, to show what Hezbollah has been doing over the past twenty years, in a vast project where they have turned thousands of civilian homes in southern Lebanon and not only in southern Lebanon, into terror bases, turning southern Lebanon into a combat zone. They are using the civilian population as human shields, and by doing so endangering them and continuing to do so.
Alongside the operations in the north, two divisions are currently operating in Gaza, continuing to dismantle Hamas around the clock. In today's situational assessments with the Defense Minister, the Chief of the General Staff, and MG Nitzan Alon, it was emphasized that the return of the hostages is a central objective, and the defense establishment is committed to this goal, working on all efforts to achieve it.
We set important goals at the beginning of the war, very important goals, goals concerning all arenas, and we will continue to act with full force until they are achieved.
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ELIMINATED: Ibrahim Muhammad Qabisi, Head of Hezbollah's Missiles and Rockets Force
IDF Press Release
September 24, 2024
24.09.24
The IDF eliminated Ibrahim Muhammad Qabisi, Head of Hezbollah's Missiles and Rockets Force
The IDF announces that today (Tuesday), September 24, 2024, with the direction of precise IDF intelligence, the IAF struck in the area of Dahieh in Beirut and eliminated the terrorist Ibrahim Muhammad Qabisi, Head of the Missiles and Rockets Force of the Hezbollah terrorist organization. Qabisi was struck alongside additional central commanders in Hezbollah's Missiles and Rockets Force.
Qabisi commanded several missile units within the Hezbollah terrorist organization, including the Precision Guided Missile Unit.
Over the years and during the war, he was responsible for launching missiles toward the Israeli civilians.
Qabisi was a significant source of knowledge in the field of missiles and had close ties to senior military leaders in Hezbollah.
Ibrahim Muhammad Qabisi joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and has since held several significant military roles within the terrorist organization, including as a senior officer in Hezbollah's Operations Unit in southern Lebanon and commanding the Badr Unit on Hezbollah's Southern Front.
In these roles, he was responsible for planning and executing numerous terror attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.
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President Pezeshkian never had any discussion on reducing tension with Israeli regime: Iran FM
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Sep 24, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- In response to misquoting President Pezeshkian's recent statements, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi underlined that President Pezeshkian's recent statements were interrupted, distorted and misinterpreted.
"I emphasize once again that there was no discussion about the necessity of easing tension with the Zionist regime," Araghchi said in an interview with IRIB's channel 3 on Tuesday.
Araghchi, who is currently in New York, said regarding the meetings held during his trip: "Both working days of the president in New York were very busy and a set of different agendas were in the program. Yesterday we had the President's speech at the summit and for the future, and today we have his main speech at the UN General Assembly."
He continued: Yesterday, President Pezeshkian had an interview with CNN and today he has an interview with Al Jazeera English. Group meetings with some American media executives and representatives of Abrahamic religions from Christians, Jews and Muslims present in America have also been planned.
Araghchi pointed out that right now, President Pezeshkian has another meeting with some Shia scholars in America. Along with these programs, bilateral meetings are being held and they met with the leaders of different countries.
"For example, yesterday, there were meetings with Mr. King Abdullah of Jordan, the presidents of Switzerland, Finland, and the president of the European Council, and of course other meetings that were also reflected in the news and media," the Iranian foreign minister added.
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Iran president condemns 'shameful' Israeli aggression in Lebanon
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Sep 24, 2024
New York, IRNA -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has condemned the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, saying "it is shameful" that innocent women and children are being bombed by those who call themselves "civilized."
Pezeshkian made the remarks in a meeting with leaders of divine religions in New York, where he will address the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.
Highlighting the United Nations' motto of peace and justice, the Iranian president lamented the stark contrast between these ideals and the current situation in Lebanon, where at least 558 people, including 50 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes since Monday.
"In Lebanon, women, children, men, and the elderly are being bombed, while those responsible call themselves civilized. This is shameful," he said.
The Iranian president emphasized the immense suffering of some nations in the world due to oppression and injustice, questioning why some individuals and entities ignore the rights of others and infringe upon them.
"We live in a world where they talk about freedom, humanity and human rights, yet they bomb people and destroy them," Pezeshkian said.
He asserted that true coexistence is only possible through the implementation of rights and justice.
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Iran president criticizes 'senseless' UN inaction against Israel's crimes
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Sep 24, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has described the United Nations' inaction against crimes committed by the Zionist regime as "senseless and incomprehensible".
Pezeshkian wrote in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday, "In my meeting with the Secretary-General of the United Nations [Antonio Guterres], I said the UN inaction against the crimes of the occupying regime is senseless and incomprehensible."
He also mentioned, "I expressed my deep concern about the escalating conflict in the entire Middle East and highlighted that the Zionists have killed 200 UN forces in Gaza."
The President emphasized that the world's silence, especially Western countries, in response to the deaths of 41,000 innocent people in Gaza is incomprehensible.
He stressed, "The Islamic world will not allow Lebanon to be turned into another Gaza."
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Hezbollah fires 20 missiles toward northern occupied Palestine
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Sep 24, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has fired at least 20 missiles into northern occupied Palestine.
According to the Al-Mayadeen news network, Hezbollah fired at least 20 rockets into the Galilee region and Haifa in the north of occupied Palestine.
Some of the missiles reportedly hit the designated targets, as one landed in Haifa city.
As part of the recent wave of attacks targeting northern occupied Palestine, Hezbollah has used missiles identified as Fadi-1 and Fadi-2, for the first time in the current conflict.
Several hours after the attacks, Hezbollah released additional details about the rockets, including images and videos documenting their launches.
The video released by Hezbollah claimed that the Fadi 1 is a 220 mm rocket, measuring 6 meters in length and equipped with an 83 kg warhead. Its operational range is said to reach 70 km.
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Iraqi resistance conducts drone attack on occupied Golan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Sep 24, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- The Islamic Resistance in Iraq says it has targeted a vital position in the occupied Golan with a drone.
In a statement, the Iraqi resistance said it had attacked the target in the occupied Golan with the "Al-Arfad" drone.
It emphasized that the operation was carried out in line with resisting the Zionist occupation, helping the Palestinian people, and responding to the massacre of civilians by the Zionists.
The Iraqi resistance groups stressed on Monday night that they support Hezbollah against the Israeli invaders in terms of weapons and manpower.
The New Arab quoted a senior Iraqi resistance official as saying they had agreed that drone and missile attacks from inside Iraq and Syria towards targets in occupied Palestine will continue.
The resistance groups reached agreements, the most important of which was to directly enter the battles alongside the Lebanese Hezbollah against the Zionist enemy, the official stated.
The commanders of the Iraqi resistance have made contacts with the Lebanese Hezbollah in the past few hours to make arrangements regarding any possible developments.
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Hezbollah rejects Zionist claims of assassinating top cmdr.
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Sep 24, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- Lebanon's Hezbollah Resistance Movement has rejected Israeli media claims that its senior commander Ali Karki was martyred in the Zionist regime's attack on Beirut.
Considering the Zionist enemy's claim of assassinating Karki, we announce that he is fine and in good health and has been moved to a safe place, IRNA reported on Monday night city the media cell of the resistance group.
The statement followed the Zionist regime's announcement that it had bombed a target on the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen news channel also reported that the Israeli army targeted a house in the Al-Madi neighborhood in Beirut with missiles.
The Zionist regime later claimed the assassination of Ali Karki, one of Hezbollah's senior commanders, in this attack without giving any evidence.
Israel has recently intensified its attacks on southern Lebanon, killing hundreds of civilians and injuring thousands others since last week. Hezbollah has lost its members, including several senior commanders in those attacks.
However, Hezbollah has not remained silent in the face of attacks on civilians, and since the early hours of the Sunday morning, it has launched several operations against Zionist positions and settlements in the northern occupied Palestinian territories.
Hezbollah's attacks have also caused fear and panic among the Zionists prompting them to close all educational facilities in the occupied port city of Haifa and the residents are asked to go to the shelters.
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PM Netanyahu at an IDF Intelligence Base
Israel - Prime Minister's Office
Events and Speeches
The 37th Government
24.09.2024
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited an IDF Intelligence base where he received an intelligence briefing by the Head of IDF Intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Shlomi Binder and the commander of Unit 8200, Brig.-Gen. Yossi Sariel.
The Prime Minister thanked the soldiers and intelligence officers for their vital contribution to the security of the State of Israel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu [translated from Hebrew]:
"I have just finished visiting one of our intelligence bases. I must say that I am deeply impressed by the work that is being done and I am no less impressed by the work that you will do. We will continue striking Hezbollah.
I say to the people of Lebanon: Our war is not with you. Our war is with Hezbollah. Nasrallah is leading you to the edge of the abyss. I told you yesterday to evacuate homes in which there is a missile in the living room and a rocket in the garage. Whoever has a missile in the living room and a rocket in the garage will no longer have a home.
But I tell you something else. He is putting your country in danger. Free yourselves from Hezbollah's grip. Free yourselves from Nasrallah's grip, for your own good."
The Prime Minister was accompanied by his Chief-of-Staff Tzachi Braverman, his Military Secretary Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman and his Spokesperson, Dr. Omer Dostri.
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Pakistan condemns Israel's aggression against Lebanon
Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Pakistan condemns in the strongest possible terms, Israel's latest military aggression against Lebanon, massacring hundreds of civilians.
This act of aggression against the Republic of Lebanon is a grave violation of the UN Charter and international law. It is a dangerous escalation that has further endangered peace and security in an already volatile region.
Pakistan reaffirms its full support for Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity and stands in solidarity with the people of Lebanon and for their right to live in peace and security.
We call upon the international community to take urgent steps to hold Israel to account for its alarming adventurism in the region and its acts of aggression and genocide.
Islamabad
24 September 2024
168/2024
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China firmly supports Lebanon in safeguarding sovereignty, security: Chinese FM
People's Daily Online
(Xinhua) 13:16, September 24, 2024
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- China firmly supports Lebanon in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and national dignity, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Monday.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib in New York to exchange views on the situation in the Middle East.
With a long-lasting traditional friendship with Lebanon, China has been closely following the latest developments in the region, especially the recent explosions of communication devices across Lebanon, and is firmly opposed to indiscriminate attacks against civilians, he said.
Force does not equate to rightness and violence against violence will not solve the problems in the Middle East, Wang said, adding that China strongly condemns any action that violates the basic norms governing international relations.
The current situation is a manifestation of the spillover effect of the conflicts in Gaza, and China calls for realizing a "permanent ceasefire and comprehensive withdrawal of troops" and ensuring an effective implementation of "the two-state solution," he said.
Wang voiced hope that the Lebanese side will take effective measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens in Lebanon.
For his part, Bou Habib thanked China for speaking up for Lebanon at the United Nations and other multilateral occasions.
For a small country like Lebanon, it is important to maintain sovereignty and independence under the framework of the United Nations, Bou Habib said.
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Chinese military chopper tailing BFAR aircraft unprofessional - Navy
Philippine News Agency
By Priam Nepomuceno
September 24, 2024, 4:09 pm
MANILA -- The Chinese military helicopter tailing a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) air patrol over Bajo de Masinloc in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) is "unprofessional" and "unsafe", a ranking Philippine Navy (PN) official said Tuesday.
"These are unsafe maneuvers. They are uncalled for, unprofessional," PN spokesperson for the WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said in a press briefing.
He said they are leaving it to the BFAR to issue the "appropriate official statement" on the incident last Sept. 21 involving a Chinese Harbin Z-9.
Initially, a Chinese warship issued a radio warning against the Philippine aircraft.
Trinidad said tailing or getting too close to another aircraft increases the potential for any untoward incident and poses a danger for the pilots and passengers.
Such actions have no place in aviation and that rules of engagement and international law should be followed.
"Not only for aircraft but even for ships. Hence, the need for all the actions to be within the rules of engagement and international law," Trinidad said. (PNA)
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Iraqi resistance hits Israel's Ramon air base, and targets in Jordan Valley
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 11:26 PM
Iraq's Islamic Resistance has conducted two retaliatory attacks on Israeli targets in occupied Palestine.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of anti-terror fighters, said in a statement published on its Telegram channel early on Wednesday that it targeted several Israeli military targets in the Jordan Valley using drones.
It said the drone strike was carried out in continuation of resistance against the occupying Israeli regime, in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
"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 fighters of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, on Wednesday 25-09-2024, attacked a target near the Jordan Valley in our occupied lands using drones," the statement said.
"Permission has been granted to those who are being fought, because they have been wronged. And indeed, Allah is able to give them victory," the statement added.
The Israeli defense system failed to intercept the drone that hit the Ramon air base causing fire.
According to the Israeli media, this is the first time Iraqi resistance drones hit Ramon base.
The Iraqi resistance also launched another strike against a vital target in the north of the occupied lands with an advanced Al-Arqab cruise missile.
On Tuesday, fighters from Iraqi anti-terror resistance groups carried out an operation against a strategic position in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in retaliation for the Tel Aviv regime's relentless strikes on Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The resistance announced that it had launched the attack with an al-Arfad kamikaze drone.
It said the drone strike was carried out in retaliation for the massacres that the usurping Zionist entity is perpetrating against unarmed Palestinian civilians.
The coalition noted that it will continue to target and destroy important installations across the occupied lands.
Israel has been waging an atrocious onslaught against the Gaza Strip, targeting hospitals, residences, and houses of worship after Palestinian resistance movements launched a surprise attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, on October 7.
At least 41,455 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and another 95,878 individuals have sustained injuries in Gaza so far. According to estimates, 1.9 million people in the war-ravaged territory are internally displaced - including people displaced up to nine or 10 times.
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Sept. 24: 'Axis of Resistance' operations against Israeli occupation
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 10:12 PM
By Press TV Website Staff
Amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,500 Palestinians so far, the majority of them children, resistance groups in Palestine and across the region continue their operations against the Tel Aviv regime and its Western backers.
The major operations carried out by the Palestinian and regional resistance groups on Monday, September 24, are as follows:
Al-Quds Brigades' operations on Sept. 24:
Targeted an Israeli military vehicle advancing northwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip using a Thaqib-piercing barrel explosive device.
Attacked a gathering of Israeli forces in Yamoun, west of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, with pre-planted explosive devices.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' operations on Sept. 24:
Targeted Israeli forces' supply lines along the "Netzarim" axis with a barrage of Aqsa rockets (Type 107).
Struck a gathering of Israeli soldiers at the "Fajjah" military site with a 122 mm caliber Asif missile.
Attacked Israeli military supply lines in the "Be'eri" settlement with heavy caliber mortar shells.
Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces storming the town of Tammoun, south of Tubas in the occupied West Bank, using machine guns and explosive devices.
Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces storming Askar Al-Jadeed camp, east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, with machine guns and explosive devices.
Engaged in intense clashes with Israeli forces storming the town of Yamoun, west of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, with machine guns and explosive devices.
Hezbollah's operations on Sept. 24:
Targeted the Megiddo military airport, west of Afula, with salvos of Fadi 1 and Fadi 2 rockets.
Struck Ramat David airbase and military airport with a salvo of Fadi 2 rockets.
Targeted the Megiddo military airport, west of Afula, a second time with Fadi 2 rockets.
Attacked Amos Base, the main logistics hub for the northern region, with a salvo of Fadi 1 rockets.
Targeted an Israeli military explosives factory in the Zikhron area, 60 km from the border, with a salvo of Fadi 2 rockets.
Fired a salvo of Fadi 2 rockets at the Kiryat Shmona settlement.
Struck logistical warehouses of the 146th Brigade at the Naftali base with a rocket salvo.
Targeted the Elyakim camp, affiliated with the northern region command south of Haifa, with Fadi 2 rockets.
Fired dozens of rockets at the main warehouses of the northern region at Nimra Base.
Launched a barrage of rockets at the Rosh Pina settlement.
Targeted the Samson Base, a leadership and regional preparation unit, with Fadi 3 rockets.
Fired a salvo of rockets at the Hagoshrim settlement.
Targeted the Katzrin settlement with a barrage of rockets.
Fired a salvo of rockets at the Gesher Haziv settlement.
Launched a salvo of at least 50 rockets at the Israeli army's northern region command headquarters at Dado Base.
Fired 40 additional rockets at Dado Base, targeting the northern region command headquarters for a second time.
Conducted an aerial attack with a swarm of strike drones on the headquarters of the Israeli Navy's special unit "Shayetet 13" at Atlit Base.
Islamic Resistance in Iraq's operations on Sept. 24:
Attacked an Israeli military site in the occupied Golan Heights with an Al-Arfad drone.
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Defeated in Gaza, Israel can't repair myth of invincibility with barbarism in Lebanon: Pezeshkian
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 8:49 PM
President Masoud Pezeshkian says the Israeli regime has been defeated in its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip and now cannot "repair its myth of invincibility" through resorting to barbarism against Lebanon.
The president made the remarks in New York on Tuesday, addressing the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
He was referring to the regime's failure in the face of the Gaza-based resistance movement Hamas in the Palestinian territory and the escalation of the regime's attacks against Lebanon since the onset of the war.
As part of the escalation, the regime carried out extensive airstrikes against southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 569 people, including 50 children and 94 women, and wounding 5,000 others.
The attacks came less than a week after the regime killed 38 people in an attack on a residential building in a southern suburb of Lebanon's capital Beirut. A couple of days earlier, it had also detonated thousands of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkie radios across the country, killing at least 39 people and wounding 3,000 others.
Pezeshkian said, "The insane Israeli barbarism in Lebanon should be stopped before setting the region and the world on fire."
"Naturally, the blind and terrorist crimes of the past days and the extensive aggression against Lebanon that shed the blood of thousands of innocent people will not remain unanswered," he added.
"Those governments that stand in the way of cessation of this terrible catastrophe and still call themselves defenders of the human rights, have to bear the consequences [of these atrocities]," the president noted.
Pezeshkian, meanwhile, pointed to the regime's killing of more than 41,000 Palestinians, mostly woman and children, during the course of the Gaza war that began on October 7.
"The people of the world have witnessed the nature of the Israeli regime throughout the past year. They have seen how the regime's rulers perpetrate crimes," he said.
The regime, though, refers to its "genocide, war crime, and state terrorism as 'legitimate defense' and identifies hospitals, kindergartens, and schools as 'legitimate military targets,'" the president noted.
He also denounced branding of those who have been protesting the Israeli war across the world as "ant-Semites," pledging that the Islamic Republic stands by the international protesters.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Pezeshkian addressed the issue of the Palestinians' right to self-determination, lambasting the Israeli regime and its supporters for trying to identify the Palestinians, "who have risen up [to claim the right] after seven decades of occupation and humiliation, as 'terrorists.'"
"The only means of ending the 70-year nightmare of insecurity in the West Asia and the world lies in restoration of the Palestinian people's rights to self-determination," he noted.
In order to exercise such right, all of Palestine's current and former inhabitants have to partake in a referendum, thus determining their future, Pezeshkian said, echoing a proposal forwarded by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
"We believe that through such mechanism, sustainable peace can be achieved. It is only through this course that Muslims, Jews, and Christians can end up living in one land alongside one another amid calm and away from racism and apartheid," the president stated.
'Iran after peace for all'
Pezeshkian said Iran pursued peace for the entirety of the international community, asserting, "We want peace for all and are not after engaging in war and fighting with anyone."
"Take a look at the contemporary history of the region. Iran has never acted as an initiator of any war," the president said, adding that the country had, in all cases, "just heroically defended itself in the face of others' aggression and caused the aggressors to regret [their transgressions]."
Throughout its modern history, Iran has repeatedly been subjected to threats, warfare, occupation, and sanctions, he said, noting how other countries withheld their assistance from the country, ignored its assertions of neutrality, and even backed the aggressors on those occasions.
"We have learned through experience that we can only rely on the people and our indigenous capabilities. The Islamic Republic is intent on providing and guaranteeing its own security, not on causing insecurity for others," Pezeshkian remarked.
He noted that the country had not only neither occupied any foreign territory nor coveted the interests of other countries, but also had repeatedly forwarded various proposals to its neighbors and international organizations for establishment of sustainable peace and stability in the region.
"We have spoken about the necessity of regional unity and formation of a strong region," the president stated.
Realization of such prospect, he said, depended on such principles as the regional countries' attaching respect to the essence of good-neighborliness, their rejection of foreign intervention due to its contribution to insecurity, their common endeavor towards emergence of a new, inclusive, and sustainable regional order that benefits the interests of all, and finally the countries' refraining from using their resources towards attritional competitions and arms races.
"Our region suffers from war, sectarian tensions, terrorism, extremism, drug smuggling, shortage of water resources, refugee crises, environmental destruction, and foreign interference," Pezeshkian said, adding, "We can address these common challenges towards ensuring a better future for the next generations."
Citing an instance of the Islamic Republic's advocacy for peace, he mentioned the country's favoring realization of sustainable peace and security for both Ukraine and Russia, which have been engaged in a conflict since 2022.
The Islamic Republic, he said, lays emphasis on the need for expedient cessation of military conflict in Ukraine, supports whatever peaceful resolution, and believes that the crisis can only be resolved through negotiation.
Pezeshkian, meanwhile, contrasted the Islamic Republic's peaceable attitude with the Israeli regime's aggressive behavior towards either the Iranian nation or other regional peoples.
He cited the cases of the regime's assassination of at least seven Iranian nuclear scientists in the past, its deadly attack against the Islamic Republic's Consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus in April, and its assassination of Hamas' former Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran in July.
He also mentioned the regime's provision of "open and clandestine support for [the Takfiri terrorist group of] Daesh and [other] terror outfits."
"On the contrary, Iran has supported liberating and popular movements that have been the victim of the Israeli regime's crimes and colonialism for four generations."
'Unilateral sanctions targeting Iranian people, economy'
Pezeshkian, meanwhile, addressed the issue of the unilateral sanctions that have been imposed on Iran by the United States and its allies.
The allies partially removed the sanctions in 2015 after conclusion of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a nuclear agreement. They, however, returned the measures three years later after the US's unilateral withdrawal from the deal in line with former President Donald Trump's policy of "maximum pressure."
Pezeshkian said Iran and world countries managed to arrive at the agreement by adopting an "opportunity-oriented attitude." Under the agreement, the Islamic Republic accepted the most rigorous inspections of its nuclear energy activities in exchange for those countries' recognition of the Iranian nation's rights and removal of the sanctions, he added.
Trump's departure from the deal, though, "indicated [his seeking recourse to] a threat-oriented perspective in the political area and a power-oriented attitude in the economic area," he said.
Pezeshkian reminded that the "maximum pressure" policy was deployed against the Iranian nation at a time, when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had verified the country's commitment to all of its obligations under the JCPOA.
"Unilateral sanctions have targeted the [Iranian] people, and seek to destroy the foundations of Iran's economy," the president said.
"The purpose is securitization of Iran, and the result will be insecurity for everyone," he added.
Pezeshkian also noted that the US had coupled the sanctions with engaging in military build-up around Iran by setting up various military bases near the country's borders.
Addressing the American people, he said, "It is not Iran that has sanctioned your country and prevented you from engaging in commercial relations with the world. It is not Iran that has set up military bases near your borders."
"We are not the ones, who have assassinated your army chiefs. It is rather the United States, which assassinated Iran's dearest general at Baghdad airport," Pezeshkian also said. He was referring to the Trump's administration's assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), outside the main airport in the Iraqi capital in January 2020.
The US's hostile approach towards Iran comes while, "in the current interconnected world, one country's security and interests can never be provided through destruction of others' security and interests," the president said.
"We need [to adopt] a new attitude towards resolution of international issues. Such attitude has to focus on opportunities instead of threats. Based on this very interaction-minded logic, new opportunities can be created for cooperation."
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UNHCR confirms Israel killed 2 staff members in Lebanon
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 6:18 PM
The UN refugee agency has confirmed two of its employees were among the people killed in Israel's bombardment of Lebanon.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the UNHCR said it was "outraged and deeply saddened" by the incident.
Dina Darwiche, from their Bekaa office in eastern Lebanon, died after the building she was residing in was hit by an Israeli missile on Monday.
"Her husband and one of her children were rescued and are being treated in hospital for serious injuries. Dina and her youngest son's bodies were tragically recovered today," the statement said.
It added that Ali Basma, who also worked in the UNHCR's Tyre office in southern Lebanon, was confirmed dead on September 23.
"UNHCR is outraged by the killing of our colleagues, and we extend our deepest sympathies to their families and loved ones."
The UNHCR head Filippo Grandi posted a message on X, extending his condolences over the killings. "Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon are now relentlessly claiming hundreds of civilian lives."
"And I am very saddened to confirm that two UNHCR colleagues were also killed yesterday."
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Hezbollah pounds Israeli base with dozens of missiles
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 6:12 PM
Hezbollah has conducted new missile strikes against the northern occupied territories in retaliation for Israel's bombardment of Lebanon.
On Tuesday, the Lebanese resistance movement fired 50 rockets at Dado base, the headquarters of the Northern Command of the Israeli military, located northwest the occupied city of Safad, just 12 kilometers from Lebanon's border.
"In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, in support of their valiant and honorable resistance, and in defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic Resistance fighters bombed the Dado base on Tuesday with 50 rockets," Hezbollah stated.
Dado was established in 1948. The base is responsible for the command of the ground forces operating in the northern region, and it is in charge of managing the conflict on the Lebanese and Syrian fronts.
With an area of 240 square kilometers, the base manages several regional and combat divisions, including the 210th Division, as well as the 91st Division, and the 146th Division.
Separately on Tuesday, Hezbollah said it had targeted the Samson base, a command preparation center and regional preparation unit, using Fadi 3 missiles for the first time.
Samson is a camp of the Technology and Maintenance Corps of the Israeli military near the Golani interchange in the Lower Galilee region of northern occupied territories to the east of Haifa and west of Tiberias.
On Monday, Israeli warplanes conducted extensive airstrikes on towns and villages in Lebanon. 558 people, including 50 children, have been killed. 1,835 have been wounded.
Meanwhile, a source close to Hezbollah, who requested anonymity, told AFP that the group's military commander Ibrahim Kobeissi has been killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said the Israeli strike on Ghobeiri in Beirut's southern suburbs killed six people and injured 15.
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Israel kills 22 more Palestinians in Gaza
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 5:41 PM
Israel has killed 22 more Palestinians and injured at least 40 in the central and southern parts of the besieged Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials say.
Six of the Palestinians, including three women, were killed in one strike targeting a house on Tuesday in the Nuseirat refugee camp, one of Gaza's historic camps.
Israeli tanks advanced in northern and western Rafah. Palestinian resistance fighters responded with anti-tank rockets, planted bombs, and mortar fire.
Reports indicate Israeli forces targeted an ambulance near Nuseirat and bombarded a house in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
Due to the full blockade imposed on Gaza since October last year, the Palestinian territory faces severe shortage of water, food, and medicine.
Al-Aqsa Hospital in southern Gaza is struggling to operate. Diseases would lead to indirect deaths among the Palestinians in Gaza, thereby adding to the death toll from Israel's barbaric military attacks.
Palestinian doctors, quoted by Al Jazeera, said they are running out of essential medicines and supplies, with Israel continuing to block medical aid from entering Gaza.
Israeli strikes have sharply increased, hitting densely populated areas across central and northern Gaza, including in Beit Lahiya.
Israel has killed more than 41,400 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. Over 95,900 Palestinians have also been injured.
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Tehran urges UN Security Council intervention amid Israel's Lebanon strikes
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 3:49 PM
Iran has called for "immediate intervention" by the United Nations Security Council to prevent the recurrence of the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip in Lebanon.
"We are concerned about the repetition of disasters like those that happened in Gaza and Rafah, and therefore, we demand immediate intervention by the UN Security Council," said Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani during a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday.
In her statement, Mohajerani also referred to President Masoud Pezeshkian's trip to New York, stating that it carries a message of "stable peace" to all nations despite the "full-scale genocide in Gaza" and the "disgusting and crazy behavior of a racist [Israeli] regime and its continued assaults on Lebanon."
Her comments followed a day of heavy Israeli bombardment in Lebanon, which killed at least 558 people and left at least 1,800 injured, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, President Pezeshkian, who is in New York to attend the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, condemned the Zionist regime for the bombardment of Lebanon and called for an immediate halt to the Israeli attacks.
In remarks on Monday, Pezeshkian demanded a "cessation of the Israeli occupation" in Palestine.
And speaking in an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Pezeshkian warned of the potential for the war to escalate. "There is a danger that the fire of what is happening in Lebanon could spread across the region."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also condemned Israeli actions in a post on X. "Israel's crimes, enabled by the US, are crystal clear for the world to witness. Do not look away. This brutal and criminal disregard for human life cannot be allowed to continue."
Araghchi concluded his post with, "Iran will NOT remain indifferent. We stand with the people of Lebanon and Palestine."
Monday's Israeli strikes marked the deadliest attacks in Lebanon since 2006.
In response, Hezbollah has launched rockets targeting Israeli military-industrial sites.
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UNICEF says Israeli strikes 'catastrophic' for children of Lebanon
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 3:07 PM
UNICEF has warned that any further escalation would be "catastrophic" for Lebanon's children, particularly those displaced by Israel's relentless airstrikes on the Arab country.
"On Monday alone, at least 35 children were reportedly killed in Lebanon. This is more than the number of children killed in Lebanon in the past 11 months. Eleven months in one day. 35 children, in one day among 492 reportedly killed," UNICEF deputy representative to Lebanon Ettie Higgins told a UN press briefing in the Swiss city of Geneva on Tuesday.
Higgins said "countless more children are in danger as I speak, exposed to ongoing attacks, displaced from their homes and unable to rely on an overstretched and under-sourced health system."
"This violence has to stop immediately or the consequences will be unconscionable."
"Schools are closed today across the country, leaving children at home in fear. Their caregivers are themselves afraid of the uncertainty of the situation."
"If we return to a conflict, like those dark days of 2006, I fear this time could be even worse for the children of Lebanon."
Families in Lebanon are already "at the brink" due to economic and political crisis, the UN official said.
UNICEF is on the ground now, providing lifesaving supplies. But without a permanent ceasefire, Lebanon is at risk of a full scale war.
Israel has killed at least 558 people, including 50 children, in Lebanon since Monday.
Residents of villages in southern Lebanon have shared images on social media depicting their towns under attack, prompting thousands to flee southern Lebanon and causing significant traffic jam on the main highway leading to Beirut.
The psychopathic bombardment has produced an outpouring of condemnation across the globe.
The Israeli strikes came less than a week after the regime coordinated sabotage attacks targeting resistance movement Hezbollah's communication devices.
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Lebanon on 'brink' amid Israel's most intense strikes in years, UN chief warns
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 2:37 PM
The UN chief has warned world leaders that Lebanon is on the brink as violence rages with Israel's airstrikes having forced tens of thousands from their homes since Monday.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was addressing the 79th UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
He said the world leaders "should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink."
Guterres warned against "the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza."
In Gaza, Israel has massacred over 41,460 Palestinians, displacing around 1.9 million people - nine in 10 - since October 2023.
On Monday, the regime's military carried out over 330 raids in more than 117 Lebanese towns and cities, particularly in the south and Beqaa regions. At least 558 people, including 50 children, have been killed.
"Gaza is a nonstop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it. Look no further than Lebanon," Guterres said.
Without mentioning Israel by name, the UN chief slammed regimes who feel they are "entitled to a get out of jail free card" to wage wars against others.
"They can invade another country, lay waste to whole societies, or utterly disregard the welfare of their own people. And nothing will happen."
"The level of impunity in the world is politically indefensible and morally intolerable," Guterres warned.
Tens of thousands displaced in Lebanon
Meanwhile, UN refugee agency spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh raised the alarm over the number of civilians displaced in Lebanon since Monday.
"We are gravely concerned about the serious escalation in the attacks that we saw yesterday."
"Tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes yesterday and overnight and the numbers continue to grow."
As world leaders gathered in Manhattan for the annual General Assembly, UN Security Council member France called for an emergency meeting on the situation.
The European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell said that "we are almost in a full-fledged war," and the United States, Israel's staunch ally, warned the regime's leaders against a full-blown ground invasion of Lebanon.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has called for an urgent meeting of Arab leaders on the sidelines of the event over Israel's airstrikes on Lebanon.
Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group think tank said he expected many leaders to "warn that the UN will become irrelevant globally if it cannot help make peace."
More than 100 heads of state and government are scheduled to speak during the grand diplomatic gathering, which will run until September 30.
"This may be an opportunity for Western and Arab diplomats to have some quiet conversations with the Iranians about the need to stop the regional situation spinning out of control," Gowan said.
The Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor warned earlier that the regime's military's intentionally leaves civilians both in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon with insufficient time to flee from bombed areas.
Other speakers on the opening day of the General Assembly warned the international community about Israel's psychopathic behavior.
Erdogan: UN system dying in Gaza
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said Israel has turned Gaza into "the world's largest children's and women's cemetery."
Erdogan also criticized the UN for inaction on Israel's campaign of genocide in Gaza.
"Not only children but also the UN system is dying in Gaza... The truth, the values that the West claims to defend are dying."
The Turkish president warned that Israel is dragging the entire region into war, calling on the UN Security Council to put a stop to Israel's "cruelty" and "barbarianism" in Gaza.
Jordan's king: Israel's forced displacement of Palestinians 'war crime'
King Abdullah of Jordan ruled out the possibility of his country becoming an "alternative homeland" for the Palestinians.
"The idea of Jordan as an alternative homeland (for Palestinians)... will never happen," he told the UN General Assembly. The kingdom, he said, "will never accept the forced displacement of Palestinians, which is a war crime."
Israel's authorities have repeatedly suggested that, instead of an independent state, Palestinians should accept Jordan as their homeland. Jordan borders the occupied West Bank and hosts a large number of Palestinian refugees.
The leader of Jordan used his speech to urge the international community to join "a massive relief effort to deliver food, clean water, medicine and other vital supplies" to the besieged Gaza Strip, where Israel has generated "unprecedented suffering."
Biden defends Israel in last UN speech
In his last speech as the president of the United Sates before the Assembly, President Joe Biden, a self-proclaimed Zionist, said the Israeli regime maintains the right to war in Gaza.
"Any country, any country, would have the right responsibility to ensure that such an attack could never happen again," Biden said, referring to Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against Israel on October 7, 2023.
Biden claimed he is "determined to prevent a wider war that engulfs the entire region."
"Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest," he said. "Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible."
Qatar: Israel's war on Gaza 'genocide'
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar said Israel's campaign in Gaza was "the most barbaric, heinous and extensive aggression, violating human values, international conventions and norms."
"We oppose violence and the targeting of innocent civilians by any party," he said.
"But after a year of this war and with all that has taken place and continues to take place, it is no longer tenable to talk about Israel's 'right to defend itself' in this context without being complicit in justifying the crime."
Sheikh Tamim was apparently referring to Joe Biden, who stands accused of being complicit in the regime's war crimes in Gaza.
When Gaza dies, humanity will die: Colombia leader
President Gustavo Petro of Colombia told the world leaders that only the voices of the most powerful countries are heard on the international stage.
He said this is particularly felt when it comes to Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, and the political cover offered by certain powerful countries.
"The power to destroy life is the power that allows voices to reverberate throughout the United Nations."
"When Gaza dies, humanity will die, the whole of humanity," he said.
Petro also called Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel "a criminal" who is letting those bombs rain down on Gaza.
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World must not allow Lebanon to become another Gaza: Pezeshkian
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 1:48 PM
President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran has called on the international community to stop Lebanon from becoming another Gaza.
The Israeli regime's intensified attacks on Lebanon, the president stated, carry the risk of dragging the entire region into conflict.
Pezeshkian is in New York to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
He made the remarks in an exclusive interview with CNN on Tuesday, a day after Israel carried out its deadliest airstrikes on Lebanon since 2006.
"We must not allow Lebanon to become another Gaza at the hands of Israel," Pezeshkian said.
"The events that are unfolding in Lebanon may turn into a regional conflict that could be dangerous for the future of the world."
"Therefore, we must prevent Israel's criminal actions."
The Iranian president urged the UN Security Council to "take immediate action" against the "insane" Israeli escalation.
Pezeshkian said the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah is facing an entity armed to the teeth with access to advanced weaponry.
"Hezbollah cannot stand alone against an entity that is being defended and supported and supplied by Western countries, by European countries and the United States."
On Monday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X that "Iran will not remain indifferent."
"We stand with the people of Lebanon and Palestine."
On the same day, Israeli warplanes conducted extensive airstrikes on towns and villages in Lebanon.
At least 558 people, including 50 children, have been killed. 1,835 have been wounded in two days of Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
The psychopathic bombardment has produced an outpouring of condemnation across the globe.
At least 182 killed, 727 wounded in Israeli air raids across Lebanon
Residents of villages in southern Lebanon have shared images on social media depicting their towns under attack, prompting thousands to flee southern Lebanon and causing significant traffic jam on the main highway leading to Beirut.
The Israeli strikes came less than a week after the regime coordinated sabotage attacks targeting Hezbollah's communication devices.
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Hezbollah strikes Kiryat Shmona, Israeli bases deep in occupied lands 'in defense of Lebanon'
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 11:17 AM
The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah says its fighters shelled the illegal Kiryat Shmona settlement in the northern side of the 1948 Israeli-occupied territories with a barrage of rockets in retaliation for the unrelenting Israeli attacks on the Arab nation, which have killed hundreds of civilians.
Hezbollah also fired overnight volleys of Fadi-1 and Fadi-2 rockets at the Megiddo military airport west of Israel's Afula, the Ramat David air base near Haifa, the Amos logistic base and the Zikhron explosives factory.
Hezbollah said it launched the missiles at the Israeli military bases, hours after 180 of its projectiles and an unmanned aerial vehicle crossed into Israeli airspace, prompting people in the city of Haifa to run for shelter.
The Lebanese resistance group also announced that its members struck the logistical warehouses of the 146th Division of the Israeli military at the Naftali base with a barrage of rockets.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said in a statement that more than 50 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into the northern flank of the occupied lands on Tuesday morning.
According to Israeli media outlets, rocket sirens were sounded in the Mount Carmel region, south of Haifa, amid the intense rocket attack from Lebanon.
The alerts were activated in Yokne'am, Daliyat al-Karmel, Isfiya, and several other towns in the area.
Galilee Medical Center, a hospital located in the coastal city of Nahariya, said nine individuals were brought to the facility on Tuesday morning after rocket fire in the Western Galilee area.
At least 558 people, including 50 children, have been killed and 1,835 others wounded in fierce Israeli bombardment on Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Fifty-four hospitals are now treating the patients. Four paramedics have also been killed and 16 others have been wounded in Israeli attacks.
The UN human rights office has called for the protection of civilians following Israel's air attacks on Lebanon on Monday, describing the assaults as "the deadliest day of violence in years."
"International humanitarian law is very clear. All parties to an armed conflict must at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives," spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.
"Constant care must be taken to spare the civilian population and civilian objects. The laws of war also oblige all parties to observe the principle of proportionality," the statement added.
The UN human rights office also called for independent, thorough and transparent investigations into incidents in which civilians were killed or seriously wounded.
Nasser Yassin, the Lebanese minister coordinating the crisis response, told Reuters news agency that 89 temporary shelters have been set up in schools and other facilities as civilians fled "Israeli atrocities."
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Pezeshkian tells UN chief Iran 'seriously concerned' about expansion of regional tensions
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 10:33 AM
President Masoud Pezeshkian has expressed Iran's "serious" worries over the expansion of tensions in West Asia due to Israel's acts of terror and aggression.
He made the remarks during a Monday meeting with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.
Pezeshkian said that on the first day of his presidency, Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, political leader of the Palestinian Hamas resistance group, in the Iranian capital Tehran, adding, however, that the Islamic Republic exercised patience to prevent the escalation of tensions.
The Zionist regime, he added, has killed more than 41,400 Palestinians in its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip and has now spread the aggression to Lebanon, where it has killed many others.
"We are very seriously concerned about the expansion of the conflict across the entire region," he continued.
The Iranian chief executive also appreciated Guterres for his expression of sympathy over Saturday's deadly coal mine explosion in the eastern Iranian city of Tabas.
He said the bitter incident is a result of the unfair sanctions against Iran that ban the import of mining equipment to the country.
Pezeshkian further emphasized that Iran is seeking to establish sustainable peace and security in West Asia with the help of neighboring governments, including those in the Persian Gulf region.
"Iran is in no way seeking [to obtain] nuclear weapons. We have not initiated any war and conflict in the past 200 years and we are basically seeking to live in peace, security, and tranquility."
The UN chief, for his part, hoped that during Pezeshkian's tenure, Iran will seek further development and West Asia will witness peace and security.
He said ending the war in Gaza is a priority, referring to Israel's genocide in the besieged territory that has been going on since October 7, 2023, following a historic Hamas operation against the usurping entity.
The October 7 incident does not justify the crimes in Gaza and the mass killing of Palestinians, Guterres pointed out.
He also called for restoration of Palestinians' rights both in Gaza and the occupied West Bank through an end to Israel's killings as well as settlement construction activities, stressing that Lebanon should not turn into another Gaza.
Moreover, Guterres expressed his satisfaction at the improvement of Iran's relations with the Persian Gulf countries.
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Sept. 23: 'Axis of Resistance' operations against Israeli occupation
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 6:01 AM
By Press TV Website Staff
Amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,500 Palestinians so far, the majority of them children, resistance groups in Palestine and across the region continue their operations against the Tel Aviv regime and its Western backers.
The major operations carried out by the Palestinian and regional resistance groups on Monday, September 23, are as follows:
Al-Qassam Brigades' operations on Sept. 23
Ambushed a convoy of Israeli military vehicles in a planned operation along the supply line of the invading Israeli forces east of Rafah city, southern Gaza Strip.
Targeted three Israeli military bulldozers of the D9 type and 2 Merkava tanks as they passed through the eastern George intersection in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, using Al-Yassin 105 shells and guerilla-explosive devices.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' operations on Sept. 23:
Carried out an artillery and missile fortification operation on the supply line and positions of Israeli soldiers on the "Netzarim" axis with mortar shells and K-132 rockets.
Targeted the "Kochav Ya'akov" settlement north of the occupied Al-Quds with a barrage of bullets.
Al-Quds Brigades' operations on Sept. 23:
In a joint operation with the Martyr Omar Al-Qasim Forces, targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with a barrage of heavy-caliber mortar shells.
Engaged in fierce battles with Israeli forces that stormed the Balata camp in Nablus, occupied West Bank, using a heavy barrage of bullets and explosive devices.
Al-Asifah Forces' operations on Sept. 23:
Targeted the "Netzarim" axis with a barrage of 107mm rockets.
Martyr Omar Al-Qasim Forces' operations on Sept. 23:
In a joint operation with Al-Quds Brigades, targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles at the "Netzarim" axis with a barrage of heavy-caliber mortar shells.
Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades' operations on Sept. 23:
Targeted a gathering of Israeli forces north of the central governorate with regular 60mm mortar shells.
Targeted a gathering of Israeli forces north of the central governorate with 60mm mortar shells.
Hezbollah's operations on Sept. 23:
Targeted the Northern Corps reserve headquarters, the Galilee Division reserve base, and its logistical warehouses in the Amiad base northwest of Lake Tiberias, and the Rafael military industries complexes in the Zevulun area north of the occupied city of Haifa, with dozens of rockets.
Targeted the main warehouses of the northern region in the Nimra base, west of Lake Tiberias, with dozens of rockets.
Targeted the headquarters of the missile and artillery battalion in the Yoav barracks in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights with dozens of rockets.
Targeted the headquarters of the Northern Corps in the Ein Zeitim base, northwest of the occupied city of Safad, with dozens of rockets.
Targeted the Rafael military industries complexes in the Zevulun area, north of the occupied city of Haifa, with dozens of rockets.
Targeted the Ramat David Air Base, southeast of the occupied city of Haifa, with dozens of rockets.
Targeted for the second time northern region in the Nimra base west of Lake Tiberias with dozens of rockets.
Islamic Resistance in Iraq's operations on Sept. 23:
Targeted a surveillance base of the Israeli military's "Golan Brigade" in the occupied territories with appropriate weapons.
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Islamic Resistance in Iraq hits Israeli target in occupied Golan Heights with drone
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 5:50 AM
Fighters from Iraqi anti-terror resistance groups have carried out an operation against a strategic position in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in retaliation for the Tel Aviv regime's relentless strikes on Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of anti-terror fighters, announced in a statement published on its Telegram channel early on Tuesday that it had launched the attack with an al-Arfad kamikaze drone.
It said the drone strike was carried out in continuation of resistance against the occupying Israeli regime, in support of Palestinians in Gaza, and in retaliation for the massacres that the usurping Zionist entity is perpetrating against unarmed Palestinian civilians.
The coalition noted that it will continue to target and destroy important installations across the occupied lands.
On Sunday, the umbrella group of resistance factions said it targeted several Israeli military targets in the Jordan Valley, using Arfad drones.
The resistance group said most of the drones hit their targets as Israeli defense systems failed to intercept many of them.
Islamic Resistance in Iraq has been launching several attacks on Israeli targets ever since the occupying regime started the genocidal war on Gaza last year in October.
Israel has been waging an atrocious onslaught against the Gaza Strip, targeting hospitals, residences, and houses of worship after Palestinian resistance movements launched a surprise attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, on October 7.
At least 41,455 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and another 95,878 individuals have sustained injuries in Gaza so far. According to estimates, 1.9 million people in the war-ravaged territory are internally displaced - including people displaced up to nine or 10 times.
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New wave of far-reaching Hezbollah strikes hit occupied territories
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 2:41 AM
Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement has carried out a new wave of far-reaching strikes against the northern part of the occupied Palestinian territories, a day after Israeli air raids claimed the lives of hundreds of people in the country.
The movement announced targeting the Megiddo military airport, west of the city of Afula, with missile barrages on three occasions on Tuesday. Footage recorded of the strikes showed the projectiles making numerous direct impacts.
The group also fired another missile barrage against Ramat David, an Israeli air force base located just 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of the city of Haifa.
Hezbollah named two other targets hit by volleys of its projectiles as the Amos base, which it identified as the main base for transportation and logistical support for the northern areas, and an explosive device production factory in the Zikhron area, 60 kilometers (37 miles) away from the Lebanese border.
The strikes used the movement's 220-milimeter caliber Fadi-1 missiles, which have a range of 80 kilometers (49 miles), and 303-milimeter caliber Fadi-2 ones that can fly as far as 105 kilometers (65 miles).
The operations came a day after the Israeli raids targeted vast swathes of southern and eastern Lebanon, killing at least 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, and wounding 1,645 others.
Later on Monday, Hezbollah released volleys of rockets against at least seven targets in the occupied territories, including Rafael Electronics Company north of Haifa, in response to the raids.
According to Israeli media outlets, hundreds of thousands of illegal settlers fled to their local bomb shelters amid the barrages.
The regime has markedly intensified its attacks against the country since October 7, when it launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah has responded with numerous strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories as a means of both retaliating against the regime and displaying support for the war-hit Gazans.
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Philippine ratification of Japan military pact uncertain in 2024: Senate leader
Reciprocal Access Agreement will allow Japanese troops on Philippine soil for the first time since World War II.
By Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews 2024.09.24 -- The Philippine Senate may not be able to ratify a crucial defense pact with Japan this year because it's still waiting for government agencies to send a copy of the signed agreement, the chamber's president warned on Tuesday.
In early July, Tokyo and Manila inked the Reciprocal Access Agreement, or RAA -- a pact which aims to blunt China's growing assertiveness in waterways where they have territorial disputes with Beijing, although it does not mention the Asian superpower by name.
The RAA provides a framework for bilateral security operations and cooperation in military training, including joint drills and maritime patrols in South China Sea waters within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. The deal will also define the legal status of visiting troops.
"As of this day, we have not yet received the RAA, so how can I give you a timeline if we haven't received the proposed treaty for ratification?" Senate President Francis Escudero said during an appearance at the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.
Once the agreement is ratified by both the Senate and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., it will allow Japanese troops to return to Philippine soil for the first time since the Imperial Japanese Army's occupation during World War II.
Escudero said the document was still under review by the foreign office and other relevant agencies, but he warned that time was running out to pass the treaty through the Senate.
"As soon as we get it, probably it would take us about a month to deliberate on it and put it to a vote," he said. "So hopefully we would be able to do it within the year if they give it to us before the end of October."
Philippine government officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the issue from BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news organization.
Under Philippine law, the country's president has the power to ratify a treaty or international agreement but the Senate, the upper house of Congress, must first concur with ratification.
First in Asia
Japan has pursued similar agreements with a handful of countries, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, but the RAA is its first bilateral defense pact with an Asian country.
The Philippines also has a pact with the U.S., the Visiting Forces Agreement, which was signed in 1999 and sets the terms under which American military personnel can operate on Philippine soil.
Japan, unlike the Philippines, does not have territorial claims that overlap with China's expansive ones in the South China Sea. But Tokyo has a separate dispute with Beijing over a group of uninhabited Senkaku Islands (also known as the Diaoyu Islands) in the East China Sea.
The RAA is also expected to lead to "cooperative activities" between both Manila and Tokyo, including disaster relief drills, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said.
Some Filipino activist groups, however, have opposed the signing of the pact. These include Lila Pilipina, a group representing the victims of wartime military sexual slavery by Japanese troops during World War II.
"This agreement, far from promoting peace and stability, represents a troubling resurgence of Japan's hegemonic ambitions in the region, under the baton of U.S. imperialism," Lila Pilipina and other activist groups said in a statement in July.
"It is deeply concerning that Japan seeks to expand its military presence without fully addressing and providing justice for its wartime atrocities, particularly the horrific system of comfort women that devastated countless lives across Asia," the groups said.
China has also criticized the signing of the RAA by reiterating that bilateral cooperation should not "target" third parties.
Beijing likewise reminded Tokyo of its "aggression and colonial rule" over Manila and other Southeast Asian countries during World War II.
Deterrence policy
Despite the delay in ratifying the RAA, a Filipino security analyst believes the defense pact would help Manila and Tokyo push back against Beijing's maritime activities in the South China and East China seas.
"[The RAA] can be translated as a hopeful [remedy] to strengthen close security relations of the two most vocal critics of China," said defense analyst Chester Cabalza, president of International Development and Security Cooperation, a Philippine policy think-tank.
"The gap [in the ratification of the RAA] is not yet in stalemate in spite of China's ratcheted maneuvers in [the South China Sea]," Cabalza told BenarNews.
Jojo Rinoza in Manila contributed to this report.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.
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US, South Korea, Japan to finalize trilateral secretariat establishment
The three-way partnership will be finalized when their leaders meet later this year.
By Taejun Kang for RFA 2024.09.24 -- Foreign ministers of the United States, South Korea and Japan agreed to finalize the establishment of a trilateral cooperation secretariat, while pushing for a leaders' summit this year, said a U.S. State Department spokesperson.
The three countries have been working on establishing the secretariat to maintain forward momentum for their growing cooperation on security, technology and other areas.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa met on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Monday, reiterating their efforts to "institutionalize" the three-way partnership.
"They concluded by reaffirming our shared commitment to creating the U.S.-Japan-ROK Trilateral Secretariat, to be finalized by the three leaders when they meet before the end of the year," said Matthew Miller, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.
"This step will help institutionalize this crucial partnership into the future," he added.
Blinken, Cho and Kamikawa also discussed the need for close coordination to respond to deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, which they believe threatens stability in both Northeast Asia and Europe, said Miller.
South Korea's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the trio agreed to continue close coordination to lead efforts to implement U.N. Security Council resolutions while responding sternly to any provocations from the North.
Apart from that, the three ministers affirmed "strong opposition" to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific, and reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an "indispensable" element of security and prosperity in the international community, according to Miller.
"The security environment surrounding us is becoming increasingly severe, and the free and open international order based on the rule of law is facing serious challenges, and that is making our strategic collaboration more important than ever," said Kamikawa, who underscored the importance of trilateral security cooperation in the midst of regional and global security challenges.
"We would like to further strengthen our coordination in dealing with North Korea and in a wide range of fields."
Separately, Blinken said that trilateral cooperation would remain crucial regardless of leadership changes in the U.S. and Japan.
"We have political transitions in Japan and the United States, but this trilat, irrespective of those transitions, will remain vital to the future of all three of our countries - a future that we are working to shape together," he said, referring to the trilateral alliance.
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.
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World is stuck in 'purgatory of polarity': UN chief
UN chief Antonio Guterres and US President Joe Biden gave contrasting speeches at the UN General Assembly opening.
By Alex Willemyns for RFA 2024.09.24 -- U.N. General Secretary Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that growing instability in Asia, the Middle East and Europe was the consequence of an unstable geopolitical order, describing the world as being stuck in "purgatory" as its biggest players hash out a global pecking order.
His speech, which came at the opening of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, contrasted sharply with that of U.S. President Joe Biden, who in his fourth and final speech to the chamber insisted that the "center has held" in the face of multiple and severe global crises.
Guterres pointed to the Russian war in Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the breakdown of order in Haiti and the civil wars in Myanmar, Yemen, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as examples of suffering that the world has been unable to stop.
He blamed the lack of regional and international cooperation on humanitarian crises on the shifting power landscape in the world.
"Instability in many places around the world is a byproduct of instability in power relations and geopolitical divides," Guterres said. "For all its perils, the Cold War had rules. There were hotlines, red lines and guardrails. It can feel as though we don't have that today."
"Nor do we have a unipolar world. We are moving to a multipolar world, but we are not there yet. We are in a purgatory of polarity," he added. "In this purgatory, more and more countries are filling the spaces of geopolitical divides, doing whatever they want with no accountability."
The current system is "unsustainable" he said, calling for a revamping of the U.N. structure, which was designed in the wake of World War II with just 51 countries, to restore its relevance.
"We can't go on like this," Guterres said. "The challenges we face are solvable, but that requires us to make sure the mechanisms of international problem solving actually solve problems."
UN failures
Much of Guterres' message was mirrored by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, who was next up to the podium, following a Cold War-era custom that Brazil's leader is the first head of state to speak - a 1947 "fix" that placated both the United States and Soviet Union.
Lula slammed the United Nations for its inability to coordinate an end to the conflicts in the Middle East and in Ukraine. In the absence of any multilateral solution, China and Brazil would jointly offer a six-point plan for Russia and Ukraine to begin talks, he added, without elaborating.
But individual countries should not be forced to facilitate such peacemaking, Brazil's president argued to the assembly.
"About to turn 80, the United Nations Charter has never undergone comprehensive reform. Only four amendments were passed - all of them between 1965 and 1973," Lula said, slamming the organization for failing to tackle "some of humanity's most pressing challenges."
Lula, who has long campaigned for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council for Brazil, said the 79-year-old United Nations is a relic of a past geopolitical order and is in need of deep changes.
"When the U.N. was founded, we were 51 countries. We are now 193," he said. "Several countries, mainly on the African continent, were under colonial rule when the U.N. was founded, and had no say over its composition. There is no gender balance in the highest positions."
To applause in the chamber, Lula pointed out that the role of U.N. secretary-general, now onto its ninth officeholder in Guterres, had not once been held by a woman. (Earlier, also to applause, Guterres had criticized the "unacceptable" fact that "less than 10%" of the leaders scheduled to speak before the assembly this week are women.)
Better late than never
An awkward gap followed the Brazilian president's speech, with dead air filling the U.N. General Assembly as it became clear that Biden - next up to speak on the schedule - was not yet in the building.
After about 10 minutes, the U.S. president's arrival was announced, with Biden coming out to the podium for the final time before he hands over power on Jan. 20 to either his vice president, Kamala Harris, or predecessor, Donald Trump, depending on November's election.
Biden poked fun at his age, telling the gathered world leaders that he had witnessed a grand sweep of world history in his time as a senator, vice president and president, despite looking "like I'm only 40."
Vietnam and the United States were at war when he became a U.S. senator in 1972, Biden noted, with America "divided and angry" and facing "questions about our staying power and our future." A similar situation prevails in the country today, he argued.
"The United States and the world got through that moment," Biden said of the 1970s. "It wasn't easy or simple, or without significant setbacks, but we'd go on to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons through arms control, and then go on to bring the Cold War itself to an end."
"Last year in Hanoi, I met with Vietnamese leadership. We elevated our partnership to the highest level," he said, calling the reversal in ties between the countries in the span of his career "a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the capacity for reconciliation."
"Today, the United States and Vietnam are partners and friends as proof, even from the horrors of war, there's a way forward," he said. "Things can get better. We should never forget that."
'The center cannot hold'
Biden then read from the 1919 poem "The Second Coming" by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats, quoting the lines: "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world."
"I see a critical distinction in our time: The center has held," he said of the world's current struggles, calling for an optimistic stance.
Leaders "from every region and across the political spectrum" have stood together to fight against political extremism, climate change, COVID-19 and the invasion of Ukraine, Biden argued.
"There will always be forces that pull our countries apart and the world apart - aggression, extremism, chaos and cynicism, a desire to retreat from the world and go it alone," Biden said. "Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger."
Biden is scheduled to meet with the new Vietnamese president, To Lam, in New York on Wednesday, a U.S. official said Monday.
Lam himself appears before the assembly on Tuesday evening.
Edited by Joshua Lipes.
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.
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Cambodia's Funan Techo canal exposes cracks in Vietnam ties
China could reap long-term gain from 'Pride of Khmer people' project
By Luna Pham for RFA 2024.09.24 -- Cambodia's plan to build a canal linking its capital to the coast to end dependence on Vietnamese ports has raised a barrage of questions about its economic viability and environmental impact.
In the second part of the report, RFA examines the possible impact of the planned Funan Techo canal on the Vietnam-Cambodia relationship.
Veteran Cambodian leader Hun Sen and his son, Prime Minister Hun Manet, have waged a campaign to rally support for the Funan Techo canal project that they say embodies the spirit of the Cambodian nation and has stirred a surge of national pride.
But it has also exposed some underlying cracks between neighbors Vietnam and Cambodia, whose fates have been intertwined since the earliest days of their history, particularly since Vietnam defeated Cambodia's Khmer Rouge in early 1979.
Between the 1st and 6th centuries, Angkor Borei, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Phnom Penh, was the capital of Funan - a kingdom that covered parts of what are now Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia.
Adopting the ancient kingdom's name for the Funan Techo canal invokes a Khmer culture and prosperity that, during its heyday, was far superior to that of its neighbors.
'Their land, their rules'
Just 10 minutes by boat from the modern Angkor Borei, in the middle of a swamp, is a tiny settlement of about 10 simple dwellings of Vietnamese fishing folk. One of them, Nguyen Chi Cuong, hails from An Giang province less than 10 kilometers (six miles) away over the border in Vietnam.
Cuong said he had heard of the canal but didn't know much about it.
"I was told we may have to pack up and go back to An Giang, leaving this area for the canal construction, but we're not sure when," the man said. "This is Cambodia: their land, their rules. We can't do anything but comply."
"We're thankful enough they let us stay here to fish, the Cambodians treat us very kindly and we can go back and forth without any problem," Cuong added.
But away from the relaxed border, the Funan Techo canal has stirred the sort of animosity between Cambodia and Vietnam that has not been seen in years, with China looking likely to be the main beneficiary of the strife.
Vietnam complained about a lack of information from Cambodia about the US$1.7 billion canal, which will link Cambodia's capital to planned ports on its coast and end dependence on Vietnamese ports to the south.
The Vietnamese foreign ministry repeatedly urged Cambodia to provide an impact assessment on water flows and ecological balance of the Mekong River delta. Cambodian officials responded in an uncharacteristically offhand way, saying they didn't have to.
They said that Cambodia was only required to notify the Mekong River Commission - a four-country intergovernmental organization in charge of jointly managing the river - as the project does not connect directly to the Mekong but to the Bassac River, which is considered by Cambodian planners a tributary rather than the mainstream of the Mekong.
The Bassac branches off the Mekong just south of Phnom Penh and then meanders south, alongside the Mekong, into the delta and the South China Sea. The canal will link the Mekong to the Bassac, then run from the Bassac west to the Cambodian coast.
Cambodia insists the canal will not reduce the flow of the Mekong into Vietnam's main rice-growing delta region and the impact downstream will be negligible.
The Washington-based Stimson Center, in a report on the canal, rejected the Cambodian position, saying the project's designation of the affected stretch of river should be changed from "tributary" to "mainstream" in order to initiate a consultation process mandated for mainstream projects.
'Ambitious plan'
Vietnamese scientists disagree about the extent of disruption the canal may cause to the Mekong's flow.
Some, like Le Anh Tuan from Can Tho University, reckon the flow could be reduced by as much as 50% during the dry season.
Others, like independent specialist To Van Truong, say Tuan's estimate is "overblown" and give a much lower estimate of just 4%.
One thing they seem to agree on is the need for more consultation and information to protect the delta, home to 17.4 million people and already suffering from saltwater incursions.
While the media has focused largely on the environmental impact and financial viability of the project, Vietnamese analysts weigh the geopolitical ramifications, especially in light of China's looming presence over the region.
Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol met Zheng Shanjie, a high-ranking official in charge of development policies, in Beijing on Sept. 9 to discuss Chinese projects in the kingdom, including the Funan Techo canal, and "ensure their timely completion," the Khmer Times reported.
State-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation is one of the main investors in the canal.
Nguyen Minh Quang, a lecturer at Can Tho University, said that the canal was aimed at transforming southern Cambodia, where China already has military interests, both economically and strategically.
"Early evidence reveals that the Funan Techo canal is only phase one of an ambitious plan," the Vietnamese lecturer said in a recent analysis that he co-authored.
"Urbanization, agricultural modernization, mining activities, and infrastructure investment, including the construction of a deep seaport in Kep, will follow the canal, which will likely make way for Chinese-backed economic enclaves and military logistic supporting nodes in southern Cambodia."
The analyst argues that if those development hubs were to be realized, it would give the Chinese navy perfect access at the Ream naval base, nearby in Cambodia's Sihanoukville province, to localized military supply chains and resources.
"This, in turn, would essentially translate as a unique advance for China's alleged de facto military outpost in the Gulf of Thailand," Quang added.
Nationalist sentiments
Most coverage of the canal in Vietnam's media has been factual, reflecting the official, measured call for information and transparency.
The picture is quite different in Vietnam's social media sphere, however, where patriots in May launched barbs at Hun Sen on his TikTok posts with a blizzard of rude comments.
"Vietnam sacrificed its blood for peace in Cambodia," one social media user said, referring to a Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in late 1978 to oust the notorious Khmer Rouge and install a breakaway faction of the Cambodian communist party that included Hun Sen.
Vietnam forces remained in Cambodia for the next decade, battling the Khmer Rouge and other guerrillas and securing the foundations of a Cambodian administration that remains in charge today.
"Don't forget tens of thousands of Vietnamese volunteers who were killed in Cambodia," read another social media post, reflecting Vietnamese anger about the way Hun Sen dismissed Vietnamese concerns about his pet project.
"Ungrateful," "China's puppet," and "traitor" were among the terms Vietnam's social media critics leveled at Hun Sen.
Relations between Vietnam and Cambodia can become politically charged, especially in Cambodia where a legacy of resentment over perceived injustices and conquests can be whipped up, at times into violence.
Cambodia's political parties have all used the anti-Vietnam card to bolster legitimacy and support, and Hun Sen is particularly vulnerable to such politicking as he rose through the ranks of a government installed by Vietnam, analysts say.
Vietnam and the Phnom Penh government were implacable foes of China through the 1980s but that has changed radically.
In 2015, the Cambodian foreign ministry sent stern diplomatic notes calling on Vietnam to halt all encroachment in disputed areas between the two countries.
Now Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party are unwavering Chinese allies and the canal controversy has revealed a surprisingly hard line on Vietnam.
In almost unprecedented criticism of his old ally, Hun Sen, responding to Vietnam's questioning of the canal, said in a speech in April that Vietnam was "building a lot of dams to protect their crops and these have an impact on Cambodia."
Cambodia was "not inferior to Vietnam," he said. "Cambodia knows how to protect its interests, Vietnam doesn't need to care."
'Cambodia's responsibility'
Older folk on the Vietnamese side of the border remember the war that forged ties between the neighbors along a river that has bound their fates.
"We share one river, of course we care," said farmer Le Van An, 63, in Vietnam's An Giang province. "It's Cambodia's responsibility to let us know what they will be doing."
The former soldier said a reduced flow of water would be disastrous.
"I hope the Vietnamese party and government will prevent that from happening," he said.
In Ba Chuc village, a memorial stands as a reminder of the horror of nearly 50 years ago when Khmer Rouge forces attacked deep into Vietnam in 1978 massacring more than 3,000 villagers.
An, who fought in the Vietnam-Cambodia border war triggered by the massacre, said he held no grudge against Cambodians.
"They're just like us," he said, though adding that he didn't trust the Cambodian government.
"Especially now that it has China's backing."
Edited by Taejun Kang.
Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content 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.
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Israel's Deadly Strikes On Lebanon Mark Start Of New War
Kian Sharifi September 24, 2024
Israel has conducted the deadliest bombardment of Lebanon since a devastating five-week conflict with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in 2006.
The September 23-24 attacks that killed hundreds of people mark the start of a new war between Israel and its longtime foe, Hezbollah, experts say.
The sides have exchanged constant cross-border strikes since Israel launched its war in the Gaza Strip in October. Hezbollah has said it has fired rockets on Israel in solidarity with Palestinians.
But Israel's deadly air strikes, coming soon after a series of exploding device attacks in Lebanon that was widely blamed on Israel, indicate the outbreak of a new conflict.
"Both sides can escalate further, but we're already at a level of violence that matches the Second Lebanon War" in 2006, said Michael Horowitz, head of intelligence at the Bahrain-based Le Beck International consultancy.
The distinction between the ongoing conflict and a full-scale war "is becoming so narrow that it's almost irrelevant," Horowitz added.
Iran-backed Hezbollah is reeling from a series of setbacks in recent months as Israel has assassinated key members of its leadership and command structure. Israel's suspected attack last week targeting pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah fighters also compromised the group's communications.
Despite suffering significant losses, experts say the Lebanese militant group should not be written off.
Horowitz warned that putting Hezbollah "fully out of combat is not a realistic objective," given its military arsenal as well as its manpower, which numbers in the tens of thousands.
Hezbollah has retaliated to Israel's aerial bombardment by firing rockets at northern Israel. But the group has yet to use its more sophisticated weapons, such as drones and medium- and long-range rockets that can strike deep into Israeli territory.
Hezbollah insists it will continue to strike Israel unless a cease-fire deal is reached to end the Gaza war. Israel, however, says its goal is to ensure security along its northern border with Lebanon so that displaced Israelis can return home.
"The Israelis think that if they apply enough pressure on Hezbollah, the group will eventually agree to decouple the Lebanon front from the Gaza front -- or face so many losses that its ability to continue the war of attrition it waged against Israel for 11 months will be significantly reduced," Horowitz said.
But experts say Israel is adopting a dangerous strategy by ramping up its attacks against Hezbollah.
"The assessment may be that Israel can neutralize a significant part of Hezbollah's arsenal before the group can use it to carry out massive attacks against central Israel, and that Iran and Hezbollah may also be deterred from escalating," Horowitz said. "That's a very risky bet."
Iran, Hezbollah's key backer, has been reluctant to directly get involved in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
Speaking to RFE/RL's Radio Farda, London-based political commentator Jalali Hashemi said Hezbollah's relatively muted response to the September 23-24 attacks and Iran's unwillingness to get into a direct confrontation with Israel have emboldened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to carry out "more devastating attacks."
Iran and Israel have come to the brink of war on several occasions, including after the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, in Tehran in July. Tehran blamed Israel and pledged to retaliate, although there has been no direct military response by Iran.
Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian warned that Israel's air campaign in Lebanon "may turn into a regional war."
Ali Mohtadi, a Britain-based regional expert, said that during the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006 Tehran refrained from getting directly involved in the hostilities. Instead, Iran provided its ally with logistical support and weapons.
"It is possible that this time, even though Iran is in a different place compared to 2006, it will continue to provide the same level of support to Lebanon [Hezbollah]," Mohtadi told Radio Farda.
With reporting by Elaheh Ravanshad and Hooman Askary of RFE/RL's Radio Farda
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/israel-hezbollah- new-war-hizballah/33132283.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Kosovo Says Indictments Ignore Serbian Role In Deadly Siege
By RFE/RL's Kosovo Service and RFE/RL's Balkan Service September 24, 2024
Senior Kosovo officials on September 24 honored an ethnic Albanian policeman killed by a commando-style group of armed Serbs last year in northern Kosovo, while the country's interior minister said on the eve of a trial for suspects in the attack that the indictments were "incomplete" because they ignored official Serbian involvement.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti said during a visit to the slain police sergeant's hometown that Serbia "is responsible and must be held accountable" for what he and other officials have described as a "terrorist" attack.
Belgrade has denied involvement in the ambush by dozens of heavily armed paramilitary gunmen near the Serbian Orthodox Banjska Monastery complex in September 2023 that killed the policeman and injured another. Three gunmen were killed before the group escaped into rugged terrain near the Kosovo-Serbia border.
The incident alarmed observers already concerned about stalled normalization efforts and escalating tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, where ethnic Serbs are in the majority in four northern regions along the mutual border.
A trial is scheduled to begin in Kosovo on September 25 of the group's alleged ringleader, fugitive former Kosovar Serb politician Milan Radoicic, and 44 unnamed subjects of indictments announced earlier this month.
Serbian officials have said Radoicic confessed his involvement last October and is complying with court reporting requirements, but they are continuing their own investigation. They say any legal process will take place "before domestic courts" and categorically reject extradition.
Kosovar Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla told RFE/RL in an extensive interview that the Banjska indictments were "late but also incomplete, since we know that there were somewhere around 100 terrorists directly involved in this attack...[and] organization and support from the institutions of Serbia has been evident."
Svecla insisted there is "indisputable evidence" that the Banjska attackers trained at an official Serbian Army barracks in Pasulanske Livade, about 100 kilometers from the Kosovar border.
Kurti has led a sweeping crackdown on the unofficial ties that have kept tens of thousands of Serbs in northern Kosovo heavily dependent on Belgrade, including use of the Serbian dinar, banks, and post offices.
The United States and European Union have repeatedly criticized Kosovar government actions over the past 18 months as "uncoordinated," "unilateral," and a potential obstacle to progress on decade-long talks to normalize the Balkan countries' relations.
In remarks as he dedicated a local road to the late policeman, Kurti accused Western officials of "appeasement" toward Belgrade out of "caution or fear" of actions by Russia with which Belgrade has maintained trade and diplomatic relations despite unprecedented U.S. and EU sanctions since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Kurti added that "there are no more internal sources of insecurity or instability that we can't control or manage."
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said the Banjska incident was "not terrorism at all."
Serbia's Higher Public Prosecutor's Office told RFE/RL that its investigation into the Banjska events was not complete, but it is treating Radoicic as a suspect in three crimes, including endangering security and weapons charges.
Pristina says Belgrade has ignored its request for Radoicic's handover despite an Interpol warrant issued at its request in December.
Radoicic is a former vice president of the Serbian List party that dominates political life and many parallel institutions for ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo. He resigned from that post and relinquished control of a Serbian business around the time he was said in October to have acknowledged responsibility for the Banjska incident under questioning by Serbian authorities.
The United States imposed sanctions on Radoicic and several associates in 2021 for alleged corruption and their suspected involvement in the 2018 murder of Kosovar Serb businessman and Serbian List critic Oliver Ivanovic.
Kurti has alleged that Radoicic has held multiple meetings with Serbia's Security and Information Agency (BIA) in the past year.
The U.S. State Department has urged Serbia to hold all participants in the deadly attack accountable.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo-serbia-banjska-terrorism- trial/33132516.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Qatar Leader Says World Needs to Take Concrete Steps to Reach Ceasefire in Gaza
Sputnik News
20240924
UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - Concrete steps need to be taken to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the Israeli occupation of all Arab territories, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Tuesday in his address to the UN General Assembly.
"There is no point in talking about security, peace and stability in the Middle East region and across the world, if not backed by concrete steps leading to an immediate ceasefire and an end to the Israeli occupation of all Arab territories," Al Than said.
The Qatari leader called the situation in Gaza "the most barbaric, heinous, and extensive aggression" violating human rights and norms.
On October 7, 2023, Israel was subjected to a 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 Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords in the Gaza Strip and announced a complete blockade of the enclave. The enclave's health ministry said that the death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since October 7 had exceeded 41,000.
Sputnik
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Biden Instructs Administration to Prepare Final Proposal for Gaza Ceasefire Deal - Reports
Sputnik News
20240924
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden has instructed his administration this month to prepare the best and final proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Gaza Strip, NBC News reported on Tuesday, citing US officials familiar with the matter.
The administration chose this timing to coincide with the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in order to urge all parties to accept the agreement now, with all eyes on them, two current and one former US officials said.
At the same time, Biden administration officials are concerned about the lack of information about Israel's plans in its conflict with Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah, the broadcaster reported.
Despite this, the US continues to support Israel through arms supplies, even though the situation in the Middle East is on the verge of serious escalation, and Israel is not sharing its plans with Washington, three defense officials told NBC News.
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 Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords in the Gaza Strip and announced a complete blockade of the enclave. The enclave's health ministry said that the death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since October 7 had exceeded 41,000.
The 79th session of the UN General Assembly opened in New York on September 10 and will run until September 28.
Sputnik
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Russia Condemns Large-Scale Military Attacks by Israel Against Lebanon
Sputnik News
20240924
MOSCOW, (Sputnik) - Russia condemns the large-scale military attack by Israel against Lebanon, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.
"We strongly condemn the large-scale military attacks against Lebanon. We would especially like to emphasize our principled position on the categorical inadmissibility of indiscriminate attacks, the victims of which are civilians," Zakharova said in s statement.
Russia is ready to coordinate efforts with the Middle East countries to prevent a catastrophe in light of the Lebanese-Israeli escalation, the ministry said.
"We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, which would prevent further bloodshed and create conditions for moving the situation towards a political and diplomatic settlement. Everything possible must be done to prevent the Middle East from plunging into a full-scale armed conflict, the devastating consequences of which will inevitably affect everyone - both in the region and beyond. We are ready to coordinate with international and regional partners in order to prevent such a catastrophic scenario. We proceed from the fact that the security of any state in the region should not be ensured at the expense of others," the statement read.
Sputnik
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G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the High-Level Week of the United Nations General Assembly
US Department of State
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
September 24, 2024
The text of the following statement was released by Antonio Tajani, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy in his capacity as Chair of the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly.
Begin Text:
1. Introduction
In today's meeting in New York, in the wake of the Summit of the Future, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the High Representative of the European Union reiterated their commitment to upholding the rule of law, humanitarian principles and international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, and to protecting human rights and dignity for all individuals.
They re-emphasized their determination to foster collective action in order to preserve peace and stability to address global challenges, such as the climate crisis and to advance the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In doing so, the G7 members renewed their commitment to the promotion of free societies and democratic principles, where all persons can freely exercise their rights and freedoms.
2. Summit for the Future
In the spirit of the renewed determination to strengthen the multilateral system based on the UN Charter's principles, as reflected in the Pact for the Future adopted at the Summit of the Future by world Leaders, the G7 members committed to continue working with countries and all relevant stakeholders within the UN system through dialogue, mutual understanding and respect in the pursuit of common solutions, with the aim of upholding and reforming the multilateral system so that it better reflects today's world and is fit to respond to the complex global challenges of the future. They reaffirmed their commitment to work with all UN member states to strengthen the roles of the UNSG as well as the UNGA. They also recommitted to the reform of the UNSC.
3. Steadfast Support to Ukraine
The G7 members reaffirmed their unwavering support to Ukraine as it defends its freedom, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, against Russia's brutal and unjustifiable war of aggression. The G7 members strongly condemned Russia's blatant breach of international law, including the UN Charter, and of the basic principles that underpin the international order. They strongly condemned the serious violations of international humanitarian law perpetrated by Russia's forces in Ukraine, which have caused a devastating impact on the civilian population. Violence against civilians, including women, children, and prisoners of war is unacceptable.
They expressed their outrage at Russia's repeated attacks against critical infrastructure and they condemned in the strongest possible terms any targeting of civilian buildings and even hospitals. Ensuring the protection and resilience of Ukraine's energy grid and its power generation capacity remains a fundamental and urgent priority as winter approaches. They welcomed the international conference on energy security held on August 22. .as well as the ongoing coordination of the G7 energy group. They reiterated their commitment to help Ukraine meet its urgent short-term financing needs, as well as support its long-term recovery and reconstruction priorities.
Russia must end its war of aggression and pay for the damage it has caused to Ukraine. The G7 members reiterated their commitment to explore and use all possible lawful avenues by which Russia is made to meet those obligations.
The launch of the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) Loans for Ukraine, as mandated by G7 leaders, will make available approximately USD 50 billion in additional funding to Ukraine that will be serviced and repaid by future flows of extraordinary revenues stemming from the immobilization of Russian sovereign assets held in the European Union and other relevant jurisdictions.
The G7 Foreign Ministers and the High Representative are working, together with Finance Ministers, to operationalize the G7 Leaders' commitment by the end of the year. They will maintain solidarity in this commitment to providing this support to Ukraine. The G7 members confirmed that, consistent with all applicable laws and their respective legal systems, Russia's sovereign assets in their jurisdictions will remain immobilized until Russia ends its aggression and pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine.
They also committed to strengthening the Ukraine Donor Platform to help coordinate the disbursal of funds and ensure they align with Ukraine's highest priority needs at a pace it can effectively absorb. This will play a key role in advancing Ukraine's reforms in line with its European path and in contributing to a successful Ukraine Recovery Conference to be held in Italy in 2025.
Any use of nuclear weapons by Russia in the context of its war of aggression against Ukraine would be inadmissible. They therefore condemned in the strongest possible terms Russia's irresponsible and threatening nuclear rhetoric, as well as its posture of strategic intimidation. They also expressed their deepest concern about the reported use of chemical weapons as well as riot control agents as a method of warfare by Russia in Ukraine.
The G7 members remained committed to holding those responsible accountable for atrocities in Ukraine, in line with international law. They also condemned the seizures of foreign companies and called on Russia to reverse these measures and seek acceptable solutions with the companies targeted by them.
They condemned Russia's seizure and continued control and militarization of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which poses severe risks for nuclear safety and security, potentially affecting the entire international community. They reiterated their support to the International Atomic Energy Agency's efforts directed at mitigating such risks.
They underlined once again their support for Ukraine's right of self-defense and reiterated their commitment to Ukraine's long-term security, recalling the launch of the Ukraine Compact in Washington on 11 July 2024. They re-affirmed the intention to increasing industrial production and delivery capabilities to assist Ukraine's self-defense. They highlighted their support to Ukraine in its efforts to modernize its armed forces and strengthen its own defense industry. They expressed their resolve to bolster Ukraine's air defense capabilities to save lives and protect critical infrastructure.
They remained committed to raising the costs of Russia's war of aggression by building on the comprehensive package of sanctions and economic measures already in place. Though existing measures have had a significant impact on Russia's war machine and ability to fund its invasion, its military is still posing a threat not just to Ukraine but also to international security.
The G7 members expressed the intention to continue taking appropriate measures, consistent with their legal systems, against actors in China and in third countries that materially support Russia's war machine, including financial institutions, and other entities that facilitate Russia's acquisition of items for its defense industrial base.
They expressed their intention to continue to apply significant pressure on Russian revenues from energy and other commodities. This will include improving the efficacy of the oil price cap policy by taking further steps to tighten compliance and enforcement, including against Russia's shadow fleet, while working to maintain market stability.
They especially emphasized the urgency to support Ukraine's energy security, including by coordinating international assistance through the G7+Ukraine Energy Coordination Group. They underscored the importance to continue working with the Ukrainian authorities and International Financial Institutions through the Ukraine Donor Platform, and by mobilizing private investments and fostering participation of civil society.
They highlighted the reality of millions of internally displaced Ukrainians and the importance of an inclusive rights-based, gender-responsive recovery, including the reintegration of veterans and civilians with disabilities, and to address the needs of women, children as well as other population groups who have been disproportionately affected by Russia's war of aggression. They reiterated their condemnation of Russia's unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children and welcomed coordinated efforts to secure their safe return. They called on Russia to release all persons it has unjustly detained and safely return all civilians it has illegally transferred or deported, starting with children. They welcomed the Ministerial Conference on the Human Dimension of Ukraine's 10 point peace formula that will be hosted by Canada on October 30-31.
They reiterated the need to support Ukraine's agriculture sector, which is critical for global food supply, particularly for the most vulnerable nations, and called for unimpeded exports of grain, foodstuffs, fertilizers and inputs from Ukraine.
They acknowledged the importance to involve the private sector in the sustainable economic recovery of Ukraine. They welcomed and underscored the significance of Ukraine itself continuing to implement domestic reform efforts, especially in the fields of anti-corruption, justice system reform, decentralization, and promotion of the rule of law. These endeavors are in line with the Euro-Atlantic path Ukraine has embraced. The G7 members were unanimous on the need to continue to support efforts of the Ukrainian government and people in these endeavors.
They resolutely condemned Russia's holding of illegitimate 'elections' in the occupied Ukrainian Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Russia's actions once again demonstrate its blatant disregard for Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, and the UN Charter. They called on all members of the international community to refrain from recognizing Russia's illegitimate actions.
They welcomed the Summit on Peace in Ukraine that took place in Switzerland on June 15-16 and its focus on the key priorities needed to achieve a framework for peace based on international law, including the UN Charter and its principles, and respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. They remained committed to follow up on the Conference through constructive engagement with all international partners to reach a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.
The G7 members acknowledged that Russia continues to expand its campaigns of foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI). They condemned Russia's use of FIMI to support its war of aggression against Ukraine. They reiterated their determination to bolster the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism by developing a collective response framework to counter foreign threats to democracies.
4. Situation in the Middle East
The G7 members reiterated their condemnation of Hamas' horrendous attacks on October 7, 2023. 101 hostages are still in the hands of Hamas. They noted with deep concern the trend of escalatory violence in the Middle East and its repercussions on regional stability and on the lives of civilians shattered by this conflict, from the Gaza Strip to the Israeli-Lebanese Blue Line. Actions and counter-reactions risk magnifying this dangerous spiral of violence and dragging the entire Middle East into a broader regional conflict with unimaginable consequences. They called for a stop to the current destructive cycle, while emphasizing that no country stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East.
They expressed their deep concern about the situation along the Blue Line. They recognized the essential stabilizing role played by the Lebanese Armed Forces and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon in mitigating that risk. They demanded the full implementation of UNSCR 1701 (2006) and urged that all relevant actors implement immediate measures towards de-escalation.
The G7 members reaffirmed their strong support for the ongoing mediation efforts undertaken by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to reach a resolution between the parties to the conflict in Gaza. They reiterated their full commitment for the implementation of the UNSC Resolution 2735 (2024) and the comprehensive deal outlined by President Biden in May that would lead to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, a significant and sustained increase in the flow of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza, and an enduring end to the crisis, to secure a pathway to a two-state solution with a safe Israel alongside a sovereign Palestinian state. They urged the parties to the conflict to unequivocally accept the ceasefire proposal, stressing the need for countries in a position to directly influence the parties to cooperate in strengthening mediation efforts. They called for the full implementation of the terms of the ceasefire proposal without delay and without conditions.
They called on all parties to fully comply with international law, including international humanitarian law. They expressed their deep alarm for the heavy toll this conflict has taken on civilians, deploring all losses of civilian lives equally and noting with great concern that, after nearly a year of hostilities and regional instability, it is mostly civilians, including women and children, who are paying the highest price. Protection of civilians must be an absolute priority for all parties at all times.
The G7 members expressed concern at the unprecedented level of food insecurity affecting most of the population in the Gaza Strip. Securing full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access in all its forms and through all relevant crossing points remains an absolute priority. They urged all parties to allow the unimpeded delivery of aid and ensure protection of humanitarian workers by properly implementing de-confliction measures. They recognized the crucial role played by UN agencies and other humanitarian actors in delivering assistance especially health care for the most vulnerable persons, including the polio vaccination campaign. They expressed their support for UNRWA to effectively uphold its mandate, emphasizing the vital role that the UN Agency plays.
The G7 members reaffirmed their unwavering commitment, through reinvigorated efforts in the Middle East Peace Process, to the vision of a two-state solution where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions, and in this regard stress the importance of unifying the Gaza strip with the West Bank under Palestinian Authority. We note that mutual recognition, to include the recognition of a Palestinian state, at the appropriate time, would be a crucial component of that political process. They expressed their concern about the risk of weakening the Palestinian Authority and underlined the importance of maintaining economic stability in the West Bank. They welcomed the EU's 400 million Euro emergency package for the Palestinian Authority. All parties must refrain from unilateral actions and from divisive statements that may undermine the prospect of a two-state solution, including the Israeli expansion of settlements and the "legalization" of settlement outposts. They condemned the rise in extremist settler violence committed against Palestinians, which undermines security and stability in the West Bank and threatens prospects for a lasting peace. They expressed their deep concern regarding the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank.
They reiterated their commitment to working together - and with other international partners - to closely coordinate and institutionalize their support for civil society peacebuilding efforts, ensuring that they are part of a larger strategy to build the foundation necessary for a negotiated and lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace. The G7 members called on Iran to contribute to de-escalation of tensions in the region. They demanded that Iran cease its destabilizing actions in the Middle East. They underlined that they stand ready to adopt further sanctions or take other measures in response to further destabilizing initiatives.
They reiterated their determination that Iran must never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon and that the G7 will continue working together, and with other international partners, to address Iran's nuclear escalation. A diplomatic solution remains the best way to resolve this issue. As the IAEA remains unable to verify that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively peaceful, they urged Iran's leadership to cease and reverse nuclear activities that have no credible civilian justification and to cooperate with the IAEA without further delay to fully implement their legally binding safeguards agreement and their commitments under UNSCR 2231(2015).
They condemned in the strongest possible terms Iran's export and Russia's procurement of Iranian ballistic missiles. Evidence that Iran has continued to transfer weaponry to Russia despite repeated international calls to stop represents a further escalation of Iran's military support to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Russia has used Iranian weaponry such as UAVs to kill Ukrainian civilians and strike their critical infrastructure.
They reiterated that Iran must immediately cease all support to Russia's illegal and unjustifiable war against Ukraine and halt such transfers of ballistic missiles, UAVs and related technology, which constitute a direct threat to the Ukrainian people as well as European and international security more broadly.
They reaffirmed their steadfast commitment to hold Iran to account for its unacceptable support for Russia's illegal war in Ukraine that further undermines global security. In line with their previous statements on the matter, they underscored that they are already responding with new and significant measures.
They also reiterated their deep concern about Iran's human rights violations, especially against women and minority groups. They reiterated their call on Iran to allow access to the country to relevant UN Human Rights Council Special Procedures mandate holders.
De-escalation efforts in the region must also include the immediate and unconditional termination of any attack by the Houthis against international and commercial vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea. The G7 members reiterated their strong condemnation of these attacks and the right of countries to defend their vessels from attacks. They called for the immediate release by the Houthis of the Galaxy Leader and its crew. They expressed their strong concern about the August 21 attack on the merchant vessel Sounion and the ongoing risk of an environmental catastrophe as salvage operations continue. They welcomed the efforts by the EU maritime operation Aspides and by the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect vital sea lanes. They appreciated the efforts of those countries that are committed to protect freedom of navigation and trade, as well as maritime security, in line with UNSCR 2722 (2024) and in accordance with international law.
5. Fostering partnerships with African Countries
The G7 members reaffirmed their commitment to support African nations in the pursuit of sustainable development as well as the creation of jobs and growth. The focus remains on fostering fair partnerships, built on shared principles, democratic values, local leadership, and practical initiatives.
They reiterated their intention to align actions with the African Union's Agenda 2063 and the specific needs of African countries, including plans to improve local and regional food security, infrastructure, trade, and agricultural productivity. They expressed their support for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, a crucial factor for Africa's growth in the next decade.
The G7 members emphasized the need to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation with African countries and regional organizations. In addition to maintaining financial support for African nations, they expressed their determination to improve the coordination and effectiveness of G7 resources, mobilizing domestic resources and encouraging increased private investments.
They welcomed the African Union's permanent membership in the G20, and the creation of an additional Chair for Sub-Saharan Africa on the IMF Executive Board in November.
They reaffirmed their commitment to the G20 Compact with Africa, a tool aimed at enhancing private investment, driving structural reforms, supporting local entrepreneurship, and fostering cooperation, particularly in the energy sector. The G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), and initiatives like the EU's Global Gateway can contribute to promote sustainable, resilient, and economically viable infrastructure in Africa, ensuring transparency in project selection, procurement, and financing. In this framework, they welcomed Italy's Mattei Plan for Africa.
They recognized that sustainable development, peace and security and democracy go hand in hand, reaffirming their commitment to help African governments in strengthening democratic governance and respect for human rights, while addressing conditions conducive to terrorism, violent extremism, and instability.
They expressed their deep concern about the destabilizing activities of the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group and other Russia-supported entities. They called for accountability for all those responsible for human rights violations and abuses.
6. Indo-Pacific
The G7 members reiterated their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, based on the rule of law, which is inclusive, prosperous and secure, grounded on sovereignty, territorial integrity, peaceful resolution of disputes, fundamental freedoms and human rights. They reaffirmed the importance of working together with regional partners and organizations, notably the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). They reaffirmed their thorough support for ASEAN centrality and unity. They reaffirmed their intention to work to support Pacific Island Countries' priorities, as articulated through the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
As they seek constructive and stable relations with China, they recognized the importance of direct and candid engagement to express concerns and manage differences. They reaffirmed their readiness to cooperate with China to address global challenges. They expressed their deep concern at the China's support to Russia. They called on China to step up efforts to promote international peace and security, and to press Russia to stop its military aggression and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Ukraine. They encouraged China to support a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on territorial integrity and the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, including through its direct dialogue with Ukraine. They also expressed their deep concern at China's ongoing support for Russia's defense industrial base, which is enabling Russia to maintain its illegal war in Ukraine and has significant and broad-based security implications. They called on China to cease the transfer of dual-use materials, including weapons components and equipment, that are inputs for Russia's defense sector.
They recognized the importance of China in global trade. However, they expressed their concerns about China's persistent industrial targeting and comprehensive non-market policies and practices that are leading to global spillovers, market distortions and harmful overcapacity in a growing range of sectors, undermining our workers, industries and economic resilience and security, as well as impacting on currencies. The G7 members are not decoupling or turning inwards. They are de-risking and diversifying supply chains where necessary and appropriate and fostering resilience to economic coercion. They called on China to refrain from adopting export control measures, particularly on critical minerals, that could lead to significant supply chain disruptions. Together with partners, the G7 members will invest in building their respective industrial capacities, promote diversified and resilient supply chains, and reduce critical dependencies and vulnerabilities.
They remained seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas and reiterated their strong opposition to any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force or coercion. They reaffirmed that there is no legal basis for China's expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, and they reiterated their opposition to China's militarization and coercive and intimidation activities in the South China Sea. They re-emphasized the universal and unified character of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and reaffirmed UNCLOS's important role in setting out the legal framework that governs all activities in the oceans and the seas. They reiterated that the award rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal on 12 July 2016 is a significant milestone, which is legally binding upon the parties to those proceedings and a useful basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties. They reiterated their strong opposition to China's dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia in the South China Sea and its repeated obstruction of countries' high seas freedom of navigation. They expressed deep concern about the dangerous and obstructive maneuvers, including water cannons and ramming, by the China Coast Guard and maritime militia against Philippines vessels.
The G7 members reaffirmed that maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is indispensable to international security and prosperity, and called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues. There is no change in the basic position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including stated One-China policies. They supported Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organizations as a member where statehood is not a prerequisite and as an observer or guest where it is.
They remained concerned by the human rights situation in China, including in Xinjiang and Tibet. They are also worried about the crackdown on Hong Kong's autonomy and independent institutions, and ongoing erosion of rights and freedoms. They urged China and the Hong Kong authorities to act in accordance with their international commitments and applicable legal obligations.
The G7 members strongly condemned North Korea's continuing expansion of its unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile programs in violation of multiple UNSC resolutions and its continuous destabilizing activities. They reiterated their call for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and demanded that North Korea abandons all its nuclear weapons, existing nuclear programs, and any other WMD and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, in accordance with all relevant UNSC resolutions. They called on North Korea to return to dialogue to promote peace and stability in the Korean peninsula. They urged all UN Member States to fully implement all relevant UN Security Council resolutions. They reiterated their deep disappointment with Russia's veto last March on the mandate renewal of the UNSC 1718 Committee Panel of Experts.
They condemned in the strongest possible terms the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including North Korea's export and Russia's procurement of North Korean ballistic missiles and munitions in direct violation of relevant UNSCRs, as well as Russia's use of these missiles and munitions against Ukraine. They are also deeply concerned about the potential for any transfer of nuclear or ballistic missiles-related technology to North Korea, in violation of the relevant UNSCRs. They urged Russia and North Korea to immediately cease all such activities and abide by relevant UNSCRs. They urged North Korea to respect human rights, facilitate access for international humanitarian organizations, and resolve the abductions issue immediately.
They called on China not to conduct or condone activities aimed at undermining the security and safety of our communities and the integrity of our democratic institutions, and to act in strict accordance with its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
7. Regional Issues
Venezuela
The G7 members reiterated their deep concern about the situation in Venezuela, following the vote on July 28.
They emphasized that the announced victory of Maduro lacks credibility and democratic legitimacy, as indicated by reports of the UN Panel of Experts and independent international observers as well as data published by the opposition. They underscored that it is essential for electoral results to be complete and independently verified to ensure respect for the will of the Venezuelan people.
They expressed their outrage for the arrest warrant and constant threats to the security of Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who decided to seek refuge in Spain. According to the above-mentioned independent reports, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia appears to have won the most votes.
They urged Venezuelan representatives to cease all human rights violations and abuses, arbitrary detentions and widespread restrictions on fundamental freedoms, particularly affecting the political opposition, human rights defenders, and representatives of independent media and civil society. They called for the release of all political prisoners and for a path to freedom and democracy for the people of Venezuela.
They urged the international community to keep Venezuela high on the diplomatic agenda and they expressed their support for efforts by regional partners to facilitate the Venezuelan-led democratic and peaceful transition that the people of Venezuela have clearly chosen in the polls.
Haiti
The G7 members expressed their determination to continue supporting Haitian institutions - including the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) and the Government of Prime Minister Conille - in their commitment to create the necessary conditions of general security and stability for the convening, by February 2026, of free and fair elections. The expression of popular will would set the foundation for the full restoration of democracy and the rule of law in Haiti.
They also expressed full support to the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, which is providing critical support to the Haitian National Police as they counter criminal gangs engaged in illicit trafficking and inflicting brutal violence upon the population.
The G7 members emphasized the importance of continued support to the MSS mission through financial contributions to the UN Trust Fund as well as contributions in kind. They expressed their strong appreciation for the commitment of the Government of Kenya - which has already deployed 380 personnel on the ground - to support the Haitian National Police in restoring peace and security.
They called on all countries that have committed to deploy their contingents to the MSS mission to do so as soon as possible, to consolidate the mission and its fundamental role in the Country. They called on Haiti's partners to continue their humanitarian assistance to the Haitian people and to expedite their financial and in-kind contributions to the MSS mission to help ensure that the mission is resourced for success.
They called also on the United Nations Security Council to consider a UN Peace Operation to maintain the security gains of the Haiti National Police and the MSS mission for holding free and fair elections and called on the Secretary-General accordingly to provide support.
The G7 members welcomed the work of the G7 Working Group on Haiti in monitoring institutional, political, social and security developments in Haiti, with a view to supporting the stabilization of the country and the restoration of full democratic governance.
Libya
The G7 members reiterated their unwavering commitment to Libyan stability, sovereignty, independence and unity. They expressed deep concern about recent developments in the country, in particular those involving the leadership of the Central Bank of Libya and the High Council of State, which show the fragility and unsustainability of the present status quo. They urged relevant Libyan parties to rapidly reach the necessary compromises to begin to restore the institutional integrity of the Central Bank of Libya and its standing with the international financial community. They called on Libyan political actors to refrain from taking harmful unilateral actions that create further political tension and fragmentation and make the country vulnerable to harmful foreign interference.
They noted advances made in the organization of local elections and they called for a free, fair and inclusive participation of all Libyans. It is now imperative to relaunch a Libyan-led and Libyan-owned political process facilitated by the UN towards free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections.
They expressed their support and commended the efforts made by UNSMIL officer in charge Stephanie Koury in support of the stabilization of Libya. They called on the Secretary General to appoint a new Special Representative without delay.
Sudan
The G7 members reiterated their grave concern over the ongoing fighting, mass-displacement and famine in Sudan.
They condemned the serious human rights violations and abuses against the civilian population, including widespread sexual and gender-based violence, as well as international humanitarian law violations by both sides to the conflict. They called for an immediate end to the escalating violence, which is creating further displacement, and urged the warring parties to ensure the protection of civilians. They reiterated their commitment to holding accountable all those responsible for violations of international law in Sudan.
They condemned the emergence of famine in Sudan as a direct consequence of efforts to restrict access of humanitarian actors. They noted recent progress in relation to the re-opening of the Chad-Sudan Adre border crossing, in the wake of the Paris Conference and of the Geneva talks. They called for full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access both into Sudan and across lines of conflict so aid can reach all those in need.
They urged all parties to cease hostilities immediately and to engage in serious negotiations aimed at achieving a lasting ceasefire, humanitarian access and protection of civilians without pre-conditions.
They called on external actors to refrain from fueling the conflict, to respect the UN arms embargo on Darfur, and to play a responsible role in resolving the crisis.
They welcomed mediation efforts by regional and international actors and organizations to facilitate a durable peace for the country.
Inclusive, national dialogue, aimed at restoring democracy, re-establishing and strengthening the civilian and representative institutions after the end of the conflict, is a prerequisite for lasting peace. The G7 Members emphasized that it is necessary for representatives of Sudanese civil society, including women, to be fully engaged in the reflection on the political future of the country.
End Text.
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No: 197, 24 September 2024, Regarding the Social Media Post by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office
Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The statement by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office concerning President Erdogan's reception of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the margins of the UN General Assembly is an attempt to cover up the crime of genocide Israel has been committing.
Israel's accusations against President Erdogan are nothing but a manifestation of a sense of guilt.
We are observing with concern the efforts by Israel and its supporters to discredit international courts.
Netanyahu and his government, who continue their genocide policies and attempts to spark a regional fire, will be held accountable for their crimes before the international courts.
Turkiye will continue to stand by the innocent Palestinian people and all its friends and brothers in the region.
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UNICEF Geneva Palais Briefing Note on the impact of the attacks in Lebanon on children
UNICEF
This is a summary of what was said by UNICEF Deputy Representative to Lebanon Ettie Higgins - to whom quoted text may be attributed - at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva
24 September 2024
GENEVA/BEIRUT, 24 September 2024 - "I am speaking to you from Lebanon to highlight the situation of children in light of the dangerous escalation that has had adverse effects on their physical and mental well-being.
"On Monday alone, at least 35 children were reportedly killed in Lebanon. This is more than the number of children killed in Lebanon in the past 11 months (previously 22).
"Eleven months in one day. 35 children, in one day - among 492 reportedly killed.
"Further, over 1645 people were injured on Monday, including children and women, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
"Countless more children are in danger as I speak, exposed to ongoing attacks, displaced from their homes and unable to rely on an overstretched and under-sourced health system.
"If we return to a conflict, like those dark days of 2006, I fear this time could be even worse for the children of Lebanon.
"Lebanon has recently been devastated by a protracted economic and political crisis; the massive Port of Beirut explosion; the impact of COVID-19; and the fifth year of a crippling economic downturn that has sent poverty soaring. Many families are already at the brink. And now this conflict is making every one of these factors many magnitudes worse.
"Any further escalation in this conflict would be catastrophic for all children in Lebanon, but especially families from villages and towns in the south and the Bekaa, in Eastern Lebanon, who have been forced to leave their homes. These newly displaced add to the 112,000 people who have been displaced since October.
"87 new shelters are accommodating the increasing number of displaced people in the South, Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Baalbek - Hermel, Bekaa and the North governorates.
"Schools are closed today across the country, leaving children at home in fear. Their caregivers are themselves afraid of the uncertainty of the situation. This fear cannot be overstated, as the barrage of shelling and air raids continue, and increase, daily.
"UNICEF has worked to support and protect the children of Lebanon for 76 years, and we are ramping-up our response.
"We are preparing to deliver food, water, and essential supplies such as mattresses and hygiene kits to displaced families, especially those in collective shelters.
"We have already procured and delivered 100 tons of emergency medical supplies to hospitals facing severe shortages and supply stock-outs and have more medical supplies set to arrive this week.
"UNICEF urgently calls for an immediate de-escalation and for all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of civilian infrastructure and civilians, including children, humanitarian workers and medical personnel.
"This includes facilitating the safe movement of civilians seeking safety.
"Yesterday was Lebanon's worst day in 18 years. This violence has to stop immediately or the consequences will be unconscionable."
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Lebanon escalation: Have we learned nothing from Gaza, UN humanitarians ask
24 September 2024 - As Lebanon mourns the victims of a wave of Israeli airstrikes believed to have left hundreds dead, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday against a return to the "dark days of 2006" when full-scale war broke out, calling for an urgent de-escalation and the protection of civilians.
Speaking from Beirut in the aftermath of Lebanon's "worst day in 18 years", the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) deputy representative in the country, Ettie Higgins, said that unless the violence stopped, the consequences could be "unconscionable".
The wide-ranging Israeli strikes conducted on Monday in retaliation to attacks by the armed group Hezbollah killed at least 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Another 1,645 were also injured across the country.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted a key line from his speech to world leaders on Tuesday morning that Lebanon stood "on the brink." The people of Lebanon and the world "cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza", he said.
Rules of war reminder
UN human rights office (OHCHR) spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani expressed alarm at the "sharp escalation" of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah and called on all parties "to immediately cease the violence and to ensure the protection of civilians".
Since the start of the war in Gaza last October, cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah has intensified, displacing tens of thousands of people in Israel and in southern Lebanon. The situation escalated further last week when dozens of people in Lebanon were killed and thousands were injured when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded. Over the weekend, Hezbollah reportedly launched 150 rockets into northern Israel.
"Any further escalation in this conflict will be absolutely catastrophic for all children in Lebanon, and especially families from towns and villages in the south and Bekaa, in eastern Lebanon" who have been forced to leave their homes, UNICEF's Ms. Higgins insisted. She stressed that the newly displaced were in addition to the 112,000 people already uprooted since last October.
Fleeing in panic
The UNICEF official reported that schools were closed across the country on Tuesday, "leaving children at home in fear". Those on the move are "arriving only with clothes that they left in" as many "slept in cars and on the side of the road, in Beirut and Saida," she said, while "their caregivers are themselves afraid of the uncertainty of the situation".
UNICEF said that 87 shelters have been set up to accommodate the displaced, whose numbers are growing by the hour, in the South, Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Baalbek, Hermel, Bekaa and the North governorates.
From the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh noted that Lebanon has for many years been a "generous host" to refugees, including an estimated 1.5 million Syrians living in the country.
He warned that owing to the current escalation, many face displacement once again - a fresh crisis "after COVID-19, the economic downturn and the impact of the Beirut blast" in the capital's port more than four years ago.
History repeating
OHCHR's Ms. Shamdasani deplored the "spillover" of violence, asking, "Have we not learned anything from what has been happening in Gaza over the past year?"
Referring to the impact of last week's pager attacks, she said that it was "extremely abnormal" to have "people losing their eyes and when you have hospitals not able to cope with the amount of amputations that they need to carry out".
"We've heard all this before, haven't we? Last year and throughout the past year. This is not normal and this needs to stop," she insisted.
"The High Commissioner is calling for an immediate de-escalation. The United Nations General Assembly is meeting. World leaders are gathering in New York. They need to prioritize bringing this conflict to an end."
Ms. Shamdasani also pointed out that Hezbollah "has been firing hundreds of rockets into Israel", raising concerns about the "indiscriminate nature" of their attacks.
"Our calls for the respect for international humanitarian law go to all parties to the conflict, and this, of course, includes Hezbollah," she said.
Healthcare overwhelmed
Addressing the health situation in the country, Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Lebanon, said that following last week's attacks, over 2,000 surgeries have been performed on the wounded and close to 1,000 people are still hospitalized.
Speaking from Beirut, Dr. Abubakar said that WHO had been working with the Lebanese health authorities since last October to prepare for a potential mass casualty event, but that the impact of the wireless device attacks was "unprecedented" and could "overwhelm any health system". Most of the related wounds have been to the face and hands, he explained, and many people had both eye and hand injuries, requiring "two different sets of operations".
"Most of the people who are still in admission in the hospitals... are still waiting for surgery, but also waiting for amputation," he said. "We have never seen so much of injuries related to the hands and face and nerves," requiring interventions by specialized doctors.
Panic, fear and chaos
Turning to Monday's deadly airstrikes, OHCHR addressed reports that tens of thousands of people in Lebanon had received mobile phone messages from the Israeli military instructing them to stay away from places where Hezbollah stores weapons. Ms. Shamdasani said that the messages seemed to assume that civilians would be aware of arms storage locations and had contributed to spreading "panic, fear and chaos".
"If you warn people of an imminent attack, that does not absolve you of the responsibility to protect civilians," she said. "The obligation to protect civilians is paramount. So, whether you've sent out a warning telling civilians to flee, [it] doesn't make it okay to then strike those areas, knowing full well that the impact on civilians will be huge."
"What we have seen here raises questions about the respect of international humanitarian law," which is meant to "protect civilians and thus our common humanity," Ms. Shamdasani insisted.
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UN's Guterres urges global solutions as uncertain world edges toward a 'powder keg'
24 September 2024 - The world is locked in a "purgatory of polarity" with a growing number of governments and others feeling entitled to a "get out of jail free card", Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN General Assembly, which opened its annual high-level meeting on Tuesday.
Delivering his 2024 report on the UN's work ahead of the general debate, Mr. Guterres said world leaders were gathering in the shadow of raging conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere, and rising uncertainty over climate change, ending poverty and reigning in AI.
"Our world is in a whirlwind. We are in an era of epic transformation - facing challenges unlike any we have ever seen - challenges that demand global solutions," the UN chief said.
He warned that geo-political divisions are deepening, temperatures around the world are rising, wars are raging - without any end in sight, and nuclear posturing and new weapons are "casting a dark shadow".
"We are edging towards the unimaginable - a powder keg that risks engulfing the world," he said.
Two overriding truths
Mr. Guterres told Heads of States and Government in attendance that he stood before them with two "overriding truths":
"First, the state of our world is unsustainable - we cannot go on like this. And second, the challenges we face are solvable - but that requires us to make sure the mechanisms of international problem-solving actually solve problems."
While the Summit of the Future, which preceded the annual high-level week and saw UN Member States agree a forward-looking declaration known as the Pact for the Future "was a first step," the Secretary-General underscored "we have a long way to go."
Getting there requires confronting three major drivers of unsustainability:
A world of impunity - where violations and abuses threaten the very foundation of international law and the UN Charter.
A world of inequality - where injustices and grievances threaten to undermine countries or even push them over the edge.
And a world of uncertainty - where unmanaged global risks threaten our future in unknowable ways.
"These worlds of impunity, inequality and uncertainty are connected and colliding," said Mr. Guterres, adding that the level of impunity is politically indefensible and morally intolerable," and there are those who feel they can trample international law, violate the UN Charter, and invade other countries but are "entitled to a get out of jail free card".
'Nonstop nightmare in Gaza'
The Secretary-General said that this impunity was starkly evident in the Middle East, in the heart of Europe, in the Horn of Africa, and beyond.
Emphasizing that the war in Ukraine "is spreading with no signs of letting up, and with civilians paying the price in rising death tolls and shattered lives and communities, "It is time for a just peace based on the UN Charter, on international law and on UN resolutions.
"Meanwhile, Gaza is a non-stop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it.
Look no further than Lebanon. We should all be alarmed by the escalation.
Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon - the people of Israel - and the people of the world - cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza,' stated the UN chief.
On Sudan, he said a "brutal power struggle" had sparked a humanitarian catastrophe that was unfolding as famine spreads. "Yet outside powers continue to interfere with no unified approach to finding peace," he said.
A 'purgatory of polarity'
Going on to say the conflicts and deepening political divisions have left the world in a "purgatory of polarity,' the Secretary-General said that more and more countries are filling the spaces of geopolitical divides, doing whatever they want with no accountability.
"That is why it is more important than ever to reaffirm the Charter, to respect international law, to support and implement decisions of international courts, and to reinforce human rights in the world. Anywhere and everywhere," he stated.
'We must choose the future we want'
The UN chief stressed that it is in all our interests to manage the epic transformations underway; to choose the future we want and to guide our world towards it.
"Many have said that the differences and divisions today are just too great. That it is impossible for us to come together for the common good. "You proved that is not true," he said, recalling that the Summit of the Future showed that with a spirit of dialogue and compromise, "we can join forces to steer our world to a more sustainable path."
But the Summit is not the end, he stated, "It is the start of a journey, a compass in the whirlwind. Let's keep going. Let's move our world towards less impunity and more accountability .... less inequality and more justice ... less uncertainty and more opportunity."
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UN's Guterres urges global solutions as uncertain world edges toward a 'powder keg'
24 September 2024 - Ongoing heavy fighting in Sudan has continued to kill and uproot the country's people who global leaders should remember as they gather in New York on Tuesday, UN humanitarians have said.
In an appeal for greater global solidarity with the people of Sudan, the World Food Programme (WFP) said that around 800,000 people have fled to Ondo in neighbouring Chad after enduring "unimaginable violence".
WFP Communications Officer Leni Kinzli told journalists in Geneva that those fleeing areas at risk of famine said that they had left "because there was nothing left to eat and all their crops had been destroyed by floods".
Too dangerous to farm
Others said that "they could not even farm because it was too unsafe to go to their fields" because of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces which erupted on 15 April last year.
"We are doing everything we can, but we cannot stop widespread starvation and hunger-related deaths without the support and attention of the international community," said Ms. Kinzli. "World leaders need to give this humanitarian catastrophe the attention it requires that attention that needs to be translated into concerted diplomatic efforts at the highest levels to push for a humanitarian ceasefire and ultimately, an end to the conflict."
Aid access granted
Since the Adre border crossing from Chad into Sudan reopened a month ago, WFP has transported 2,800 tons of food and nutrition supplies into the Darfur region - guaranteeing enough aid for a quarter of a million people. Of that number, 100,000 are at risk of famine, the UN agency said, warning that the war has pushed some 36 million people into hunger in Sudan and the neighbouring region.
"Trucks carrying vital food and nutrition supplies are crossing that border every single day, despite facing delays due to flooded seasonal rivers and muddy road conditions where aid convoys are getting stuck," Ms. Kinzli said.
Although Chad is not at war, the needs are staggering there too, the WFP officer explained: "People are only met with hunger and destitution" once they cross the border from Sudan, she said. "Despite receiving food assistance, many are struggling to get by, eating once a day if they are lucky. Like a teenage girl I met...who lost her parents and is taking care of her younger siblings. Sometimes she's only able to offer them water instead of a meal. If that is the situation for people in a comparatively safe and stable place, it is hard to imagine what people facing famine or at risk of famine in Sudan are going through."
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Security Council Committee Established Pursuant to Resolution 2653 (2022) Concerning Haiti Discusses Panel of Experts' Final Report
Press Release
Security Council
SC/15830
24 September 2024
On 11 September 2024, members of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2653 (2022) concerning Haiti held informal consultations to discuss the final report of the Panel of Experts on Haiti, submitted in pursuance of paragraph 20 of resolution 2700 (2023).
During the meeting, the Coordinator of the Panel of Experts provided an overview of the findings and recommendations contained in the Panel's final report and an update on recent events.
The Coordinator noted that since the appointment of the Panel in November 2023, the political and security situation in Haiti has evolved significantly, with increasing gang violence, particularly since February 2024 when gangs from the two main rival coalitions coalesced under the Viv Ansanm alliance and launched a series of coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince. The Coordinator further noted that despite a slight improvement in the security situation since the formation of the new Government, the country continued to be afflicted by alarming levels of violence.
Members of the Committee welcomed the briefing by the Coordinator and expressed support and appreciation for the work of the Panel. Committee members also reiterated their commitment with the full and effective implementation of the sanctions regime and looked forward to receiving updated information from the Panel of Experts.
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USS Leyte Gulf Decommissioned
US Navy
24 September 2024
From USS Leyte Gulf Public Affairs
NORFOLK, Va. -- The crew of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) held a decommissioning ceremony onboard Naval Station Norfolk on September 20th.
Over 500 attendees including plankowners and former crew members joined together to celebrate the ship's distinguished 37 years of naval service. Vice Adm. Eugene Black III, Leyte Gulf's 14th commanding officer, served as the ceremony's keynote speaker, wishing the current crew fair winds and following seas as they bade their ship farewell.
"What a great opportunity to celebrate the Sailors who brought this ship to life, kept her operating at the highest level and ready for a fight throughout her long and illustrious career of service to our nation," he said.
Cmdr. Brian M. Harrington, who served as the 23rd and final commanding officer of Leyte Gulf, led the ship's final crew through the decommissioning process, assuming command following Leyte Gulf's deployment to the Caribbean Sea and South Atlantic earlier this year.
"It's been an honor to lead America's Battle Cruiser and her crew through the final chapter in her storied career. This crew accomplished the final mission with professionalism and dedication that honors all Leyte Gulf Sailors past and present."
The ceremony atmosphere was one of fond but somber remembrance as Black and Harrington shared a few memories created over Leyte Gulf's 37 years of service, inviting shared laughter from crewmembers past and present.
Leyte Gulf was built at Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and commissioned in Port Everglades, Florida, on September 26, 1987. Leyte Gulf's namesake commemorates the largest naval battle in history, fought from October 23-26, 1944 during World War II.
Since her maiden deployment in 1988, the warship has been vital to America's national defense strategy, leading the way in air defense throughout 17 deployments around the world. After decommissioning, the ship will be towed on October 16th to the Navy's Inactive Ship's facility in Philadelphia, Pa., where it will be in a Logistical Support Asset status.
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In his final UN address, Biden spotlights world conflicts, calls for peace
By Anita Powell September 24, 2024
President Joe Biden used his final address before world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly to call for peace in Lebanon and an end to the conflict in Gaza two prospects that analysts say are unlikely to happen soon.
"A full-scale war is not in anyone's interest," Biden said, referring to the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. He said a diplomatic solution is still possible.
As the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza nears the one-year mark, Biden urged the parties to "finalize the terms" of a cease-fire and hostage deal that has been endorsed by the U.N. Security Council.
And on Ukraine's efforts to fight off Russia's invasion, Biden said, "We cannot grow weary. We cannot look away, and we will not let up on our support for Ukraine, not until Ukraine wins with a just and durable peace."
But it was this line about his decision not to seek reelection that garnered the most applause from the packed audience, which included leaders from the body's 193 member states.
"My fellow leaders, let us never forget: some things are more important than staying in power," he said. "It's your people."
Yet several delegations did not react during Biden's 25-minute address notably, the delegations from China and from Russia, who did not clap for any of his remarks.
Mideast concerns top agenda
Gaza and the threat of spiraling conflict in that region topped Biden's list of concerns as he made his appeal to world leaders. The U.S. position there is not in line with the rest of the General Assembly, which last week overwhelmingly passed a resolution demanding that Israel end its occupation of Palestinian territory within the next 12 months. The United States was among the 14 no votes.
After the vote, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. vote is in line with Washington's opposition to "unilateral measures that undermine the prospect of a two-state solution."
And on Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a "just peace" in Ukraine and warned of damaging trends around the world.
"We see this age of impunity everywhere in the Middle East, in the heart of Europe, in the Horn of Africa and beyond," he said. "The war in Ukraine is spreading with no signs of letting up. Civilians are paying the price in rising death tolls and shattered lives and communities. It is time for a just peace based on the UN Charter, on international law and on U.N. resolutions.
"Meanwhile, Gaza is a nonstop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region. Look no further than Lebanon. We should all be alarmed by the escalation."
Biden, too, spotlighted these conflicts - and in Tuesday's speech, looped Sudan and its escalating humanitarian crisis into the trifecta of urgent conflicts that need to end.
'A call to resolve conflicts"
John Fortier, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told VOA that it's unlikely Biden will get his wish.
"It looks very much like these will be conflicts that will persist and will continue on past his presidency," he said. "So, it was a call to resolve conflicts that have been plaguing him and his administration, for at least part of his administration. But it doesn't seem like the end of either of these conflicts [Ukraine and Gaza] is likely to be within his reach."
One thing is clear: As the Israel-Hamas conflict heads for its first anniversary, nearly 100 hostages are thought to remain in Hamas' custody. The White House says bringing them home is its top priority and the key pillar of a deal to halt the fighting between Israel and the U.S.-designated terrorist group.
For months, Biden's emissaries have raced between Qatar and Cairo to try to bring the sides together. And for months, they have appeared to be on the precipice of a deal, only for it to fall apart.
Kim Lewis contributed from Washington.
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To preserve sea power, US looks to Japan for help
By William Gallo September 24, 2024
U.S. naval dominance, unchallenged for decades, is now coming under strain as China's state-backed shipbuilding industry rapidly expands, while the U.S. Navy faces severe maintenance delays.
The impact is being felt across the Navy. While some ships and submarines are stuck waiting for repairs at overcrowded U.S. shipyards, others are forced into extended deployments, pushing crews and vessels to their limits.
Analysts say the delays undermine the U.S. ability to project strength and deter conflict, especially in key areas like the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, where China is upsetting the status quo.
To help fix the problem, the U.S. is turning to its allies particularly Japan, one of the world's largest shipbuilders. Earlier this year, U.S. and Japanese officials began negotiating a plan to expand Japan's role in performing major repairs on U.S. Navy vessels at its shipyards.
Rahm Emanuel, U.S. ambassador to Japan, sees the proposal as crucial for keeping U.S. ships in the region. "The Indo-Pacific is an away game for us...but with allies, it's closer to a home game," Emanuel told VOA.
The discussions underscore Japan's broader shift toward a more active regional security role, as it steps away from decades of pacifism. It's also part of a strategy by the U.S. to encourage its Asian allies to take on greater security responsibilities in the face of China's rising influence.
However, the proposal faces major hurdles. In the U.S., legal changes would be needed to allow foreign shipyards to overhaul Navy vessels. In Japan, there are concerns about becoming a bigger target for China.
Severe backlog
But for the U.S. Navy, the challenge is severe.
According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), about a third of the U.S. attack submarine fleet is currently out of service, either undergoing maintenance or awaiting repairs.
Fewer than 40% of the Navy's scheduled ship repairs are completed on time, according to recent congressional testimony. By some estimates, the Navy is 20 years behind in maintenance work.
A wide range of key shipbuilding projects are also running years behind schedule an "extraordinary situation" in the post-World War II history of the Navy, according to CRS.
Emanuel argues this reflects a broader decline in the U.S. defense industrial base, which has been hollowed out since the 1990s and is "not ready" to meet U.S. security needs.
"Every weapon that we've agreed to here, I've had to renegotiate the contract once it's signed because we can't meet the budget at the timeline," Emanuel said. "It's really bad planning [and] really bad preparation."
According to a recent CRS report, the Navy's repair backlog is caused by a shortage of skilled workers and limited capacity at the four U.S. government-run naval shipyards.
China challenge
Meanwhile, China boasts 20 large shipyards, which it is using to quickly build up what is already the world's largest navy in terms of overall vessels.
According to a recent unclassified slide released by U.S. naval intelligence, China's shipbuilding capacity is over 200 times that of the United States, fueled by generous government subsidies.
Even though the U.S. still maintains significant naval advantages such as 11 aircraft carriers compared to China's three and an unrivaled network of global alliances some observers believe that China's ability to dwarf U.S. shipbuilding represents a fundamental shift in the regional balance of power.
"We've let that underlying capacity atrophy to the point where we're behind the eight ball at the moment, and that's a big, thorny problem," said Sam Byers, the senior national security advisor at the Washington D.C.-based Center for Maritime Strategy.
Benefits and drawbacks
In Emanuel's estimation, the U.S.-Japan ship repair proposal could alleviate the U.S. Navy's maintenance backlog, freeing U.S. shipyards to focus on meeting their construction goals. It would also allow U.S. ships to stay for longer in Asia, he said.
But not everyone agrees.
Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, argues that the problem isn't a lack of shipyard capacity but rather their inconsistent use, due to fluctuating demand from the Navy. He suggests that repairing more ships overseas could help manage these fluctuations and minimize disruptions for Japan-based crews.
"And repair yards in Japan could gain experience working on U.S. ships, which could be beneficial in a conflict," he added.
However, he cautioned that shifting work overseas wouldn't solve the underlying issues of funding and planning that contribute to the Navy's repair delays.
"Of course, the Japanese ship repair yards may do a better job or be more efficient than their American counterparts. If that is the argument, then U.S. officials should make that clear," Clark said.
Others in the shipbuilding industry have argued against what they see as outsourcing U.S. Navy shipbuilding and repairs, a step they characterize as "kicking American shipyard workers to the curb."
Japan risks
There are also barriers in Japan, where public opinion doesn't always align with the government's more assertive security stance.
While certain segments of the Japanese public appear more supportive of increased military involvement after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it's unclear how deep or lasting this shift is, warned Misato Matsuoka, an associate professor at Teikyo University.
"There is this gap of understanding when it comes to what is going on in the security area," Matsuoka said. "I don't see a lot of Japanese who are even aware of these changes."
Matsuoka also warned that the U.S.-Japan ship repair proposal could eventually be seen as one of many factors escalating U.S.-China tensions, potentially impacting Japan negatively.
"All the things Japan is doing makes it more important within the U.S. alliance but that also increases the risk of something happening to Japanese territory," said Robert Ward, Japan Chair at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
While Japan deepens ties with the U.S., it is careful not to provoke China, Ward noted. Nonetheless, Japan, like many countries, remains wary of what it sees as China's destabilizing behavior in the region.
"This isn't happening in a vacuum," Ward said, referring to Japan's changing security posture. "There are very good reasons why all this is happening."
When it comes to the U.S.-Japan ship repair deal, the choices are also complex for the United States, Emanuel acknowledged. However, he argued, sometimes "you've got to choose between what's bad and what's worse."
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Hamas demands 'immediate action' to end war in Gaza
By VOA News September 24, 2024
Hamas said in a statement Tuesday that it is expecting the U.N. to take "immediate action" to end the war in Gaza.
"We demand immediate action to stop the Israeli aggression and the war," said the Hamas statement, which was directed at United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
But the Palestinian group also said it will not participate in new cease-fire talks. It said will not waver from its position "against entering new negotiations that would provide (Israel) with cover to continue its aggression."
In recent days, there have been fewer strikes on Gaza as Israel escalates attacks in Lebanon it says are aimed at Hezbollah.
However, Israel launched deadly strikes Tuesday across Gaza, killing at least 22 people and injuring at least 40, according to Palestinian health officials. One of the strikes, on the Nuseirat refugee camp, six Palestinians were killed, three of them women.
Israeli tanks battled Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters in northern and western Rafah, according to residents and a statement from the two Palestinian groups both of which are designated terrorist organizations by the U.S. and others.
The militants said they used anti-tank rockets, IEDs and mortar fire against the Israeli army. Residents said the Israelis destroyed several homes in the city, which is near the border with Egypt.
The Israel Defense Forces had no comment.
The Israel-Hamas war was ignited by Hamas' shock October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people and took hostage about 250 others.
Both Hezbollah and Hamas are Iranian-funded groups designated by the U.S. and other countries as terrorist organizations that have vowed to destroy the Jewish state of Israel.
In remarks Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Gaza "a nonstop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it."
Guterres told the opening of the annual United Nations General Assembly, "We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza."
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Israel bombards Lebanon for second day as death toll tops 560
By VOA News September 24, 2024
Israel bombarded Hezbollah militant targets in Lebanon again on Tuesday, with the death toll from airstrikes since Monday mounting to 564, along with another 1,835 injured.
In all, Israel said it struck 1,600 sites, with Lebanese health officials saying 50 children had been killed in the barrage, along with at least 94 women.
The Israeli military said its strikes on Tuesday hit dozens of Hezbollah targets, including militants involved in launching several rounds of rockets at northern Israel.
Israel said one of its strikes in Beirut's southern suburbs killed Ibrahim Muhammad Kobeisi, identified by Israel as a senior Hezbollah military commander who oversaw Hezbollah's missile systems.
The United Nations refugee agency said it was "outraged and deeply saddened" by other Israeli attacks that killed two of its staff members.
Thousands of Lebanese, on their own and at the urging of Israel, have fled southern Lebanon in search of safety from the Israeli attacks, clogging roads north to Beirut. But Israel has also targeted sites in the capital, with one attack hitting a six-story building, killing six and injuring 15.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the opening of the annual United Nations General Assembly, "We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza," where Israel and Hamas militants have been fighting for nearly a year.
But with Israel focusing on Hezbollah, its attacks on Hamas in Gaza have been sharply curtailed.
Both Hezbollah and Hamas are Iranian-funded groups designated by the U.S. and other countries as terrorist organizations that have vowed to destroy the Jewish state of Israel. Guterres called Gaza "a non-stop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it."
"The international community must mobilize for an immediate cease-fire [in Gaza], the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and the beginning of an irreversible process towards a two-state solution," the creation of an independent Palestine alongside neighboring Israel.
The U.S. and some Arab countries support such an eventual outcome in the Mideast, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government are opposed. Cease-fire talks have been stalemated for months.
With fighting on two fronts, Netanyahu told Israelis that they are headed into "complicated days."
The Israeli military on Monday warned residents of the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon's east to stay away from Hezbollah's armament supply depots.
In a recorded message to Lebanese civilians, Netanyahu urged them to heed Israeli calls to evacuate, saying they should "take this warning seriously."
"Please get out of harm's way now," Netanyahu said. "Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes." Tens of thousands of people have fled southern Lebanon, mostly headed north to Beirut.
The surge in fighting along the Israel-Lebanon border during the past week has raised fears of a widening regional conflict, especially since there is no cease-fire on the horizon to halt fighting in Gaza.
Foreign ministers from the Group of 7 leading industrial nations issued a statement late Monday calling for "a stop to the current destructive cycle."
"Actions and counter-reactions risk magnifying this dangerous spiral of violence and dragging the entire Middle East into a broader regional conflict with unimaginable consequences," the diplomats said.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire since the outbreak of the war in Gaza last October 7, when the militant group began firing rockets in solidarity with the Palestinians and its fellow Iran-backed ally Hamas. The fighting has killed dozens of people in Israel, hundreds in Lebanon, and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the frontier.
The war in Gaza began with Hamas' shock October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage. They are still holding around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead. More than 41,400 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, with the Israeli military saying the death toll includes thousands of Hamas fighters.
Hamas has been designated a terror group by the U.S., the United Kingdom, the European Union and others. Hezbollah also is a U.S.-designated terror group.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Egypt confirms sending new arms shipment to Somalia
By Harun Maruf September 24, 2024
The Egyptian government has confirmed sending arms shipments to Somalia amid regional tension over Ethiopia's controversial deal with the self-declared republic of Somaliland.
Ethiopia agreed to recognize Somaliland in return for the lease of 20 kilometers of sea to Ethiopia, according to Somaliland officials. Somalia sees the deal as an infringement of its sovereignty.
Somalia wants Ethiopia to cancel its deal with Somaliland and reaffirm respect for the sovereignty of Somalia.
Egypt, which has a separate dispute with Ethiopia over the sharing of Nile river waters, strongly supports Somalia. Leaders of the two countries in August signed a defense agreement, followed by the first shipment of military equipment delivered by two C-130 military aircraft, according to two Somali officials.
[Sunday's second weapons shipment from Egypt was delivered by a cargo ship operated by the Egyptian military.
The arrival of the shipment was confirmed in a statement by Ambassador Tamim Khallaf, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt.
"Within the framework of Egypt's support for Somalia's efforts to achieve security and stability, combat terrorism, and preserve its sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, a shipment of Egyptian military aid for the Somali army has arrived in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, with the aim of supporting and building its capabilities," Khallaf said in the statement.
He said the aid was part of "implementing Egypt's obligations under the recently signed military cooperation protocol with Somalia, and as an affirmation of the continuation of Egypt's pivotal role in supporting Somali efforts to possess national capabilities and potentials to achieve the aspirations of the brotherly Somali people for security, stability and development."
The offloading of military equipment was first reported by some Mogadishu port staffers who said they were told on Sunday to take the day off. This was followed by residents who took pictures of the weapons, including howitzers pulled by military vehicles.
There has been no official statement from the Somali government, but defense minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur has published on his Facebook page a photo of him and Somali army commander General Ibrahim Sheikh Muhiyadin observing the offloading of the equipment from the Egyptian-flagged ship at Mogadishu port.
Somali lawmaker Mursal Khalif says Somalia has a right to seek support from friendly countries.
"Somalia asking for allies, in order to defend our territorial integrity and our sovereignty is the right thing to do, and I fully support President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his administration on that effort," he told VOA Horn of Africa Service. "Egypt is not taking land or sea that belongs to Somalia or Ethiopia. Egypt is not proposing to redraw the map of any African country in the region, especially."
Ethiopia has thousands of troops in Somalia serving as part of African Union peace-keeping mission, but Somalia wants these troops out by December, unless it cancels the deal with Somaliland.
Without naming a specific country, Ethiopia has made no secret of its opposition to new regional geopolitical maneuvers, including expressing concerns about the planned transition to the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, which aims for a 2025 start.
"Ethiopia is being expected to ignore hostile statements, and the continued attempt to undermine the sacrifices s of Ethiopian Defense Forces," Ethiopia's ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Aug. 28.
Ethiopia cannot stand idle while other actors are taking measures to destabilize the region, the statement added.
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At UN, Africa renews calls for Security Council seats
By Timothy Obiezu September 24, 2024
Nigeria has joined the growing calls by Africans leaders for permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council.
On the sidelines of the 79th U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Nigerian Defense Minister Mohammed Badaru said such a change would promote fairness and inclusivity.
"We have been in 41 different United Nations' missions to provide security across the world," Badaru said. "Based on that background and the effort of Africa, we also call on the United Nations to reform the Security Council so that Africa can have a permanent seat. It is time. We deserve it for justice and for equity."
Other African nations also are clamoring for change.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday said, "Placing the fate of the world's security in the hands of a select few when it is the vast majority who bear the brunt of these threats is unjust, unfair and unsustainable."
Similarly, Kenyan President William Ruto criticized the multilateral system, saying, "It has proven inadequate."
Many African countries were still under colonial rule at the time the Security Council was established. In 2005, the African Union adopted the so-called Ezulwini Consensus in Ethiopia for Africa to have at least two permanent and five nonpermanent seats at the U.N. council.
To date, though, the U.N. General Assembly elects five new members from different geographical zones for two-year terms on the council. Africa has three rotational seats on the 15-member council.
The founder of Security Watch Africa Initiative, Patrick Agbambu, said Africa needs to be united to make a good representation.
"The biggest threat to Africa getting that seat is Africa itself," Agbambu said. "Africa does not have a united front; they do not have a common voice to be able to push two countries or one country forward. You can't go for such with a divided house.
"As it stands, the various blocs in the African Union seem very divided, with each having a very strong opposition to the other. So, the world is just watching Africa," he said.
Last week, the United States, one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, said it is open to having two African seats on the council but without the veto power of the original permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S.
Security analyst Senator Iroegbu said African representation on the Security Council is the right call but warned that it wouldn't solve all problems.
"Nigeria stands in the right mix because it's one of the most important countries in Africa and it's the most populous nation in Africa, with huge economic potential," he said. "But just being a member of [the] U.N. Security Council doesn't guarantee stability at home if all the factors causing insecurity are not well addressed."
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Sudan's famine-hit Zamzam camp receive vital food, as WFP faces a race against time to save lives
World Food Programme
24 September 2024
This is a summary of what was said by Leni Kinzli, spokesperson for WFP Sudan (speaking from Nairobi) to whom quoted text may be attributed - at a press briefing In Geneva today.
Nairobi/Geneva: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is in a race against time to save lives in war-torn Sudan, as 1.5 million people across the country either face famine or are at risk of famine. Without urgent assistance, hundreds of thousands of people could die.
WFP is working tirelessly to get aid into the hands of people who are facing starvation, and we are saving thousands of lives every single day in Sudan. So far this year, we've supported 5.4 million people with life-saving food and nutrition assistance. As we speak, we are urgently getting basic staple foods into the hands of 180,000 people facing famine in Zamzam camp. Vulnerable communities are receiving a package of wheat flour, lentils, oil and salt.
Meanwhile in Khartoum, WFP is supporting community kitchens to provide around 175,000 hot meals daily. We've also just started in-kind food distributions for around 155,000 people in Karrari and Omdurman where people will receive two-month rations. Around 16,000 people in the metropolitan area received mobile money transfers in July and August, with a higher number planned for this month. WFP has also launched self-registration pilots to expand mobile money transfers to North and South Darfur, South Kordofan, and Gezira State.
WFP is taking advantage of the reopening of the Adre border from Chad into the conflict-rattled Darfur region. Trucks carrying vital food and nutrition supplies are crossing that border most days, despite facing delays due to flooded seasonal rivers and muddy road conditions where aid convoys are getting stuck. Since Adre reopened one month ago, we've transported 2,800 metric tonnes of food supplies into Darfur region via this route, enough aid for over 250,000 people. Of that, over 100,000 people in risk of famine areas in West Darfur have so far received emergency food and nutrition supplies.
Even though we are doing everything we can - it's just a drop in the ocean compared to the needs, not just in Sudan but regionally. Across Sudan, South Sudan and Chad, around 36 million people have been pushed into hunger because of the ongoing war.
I was recently in Adre, Chad - where around 800,000 people have fled to. After enduring unimaginable violence, they are only met with hunger and destitution. Despite receiving food assistance, many are struggling to get by, eating once a day if they are lucky. Like a teenage girl I met called Thuraya who lost both her parents and is solely responsible for her younger siblings, sometimes only able to offer them water instead of a meal. If that is the situation for people in a comparably safe and stable place - it is hard to imagine what people facing famine or at risk of famine in Sudan are going through. I did get a glimpse from the stories I heard of women who had recently fled from 'risk of famine' areas. Women like Nadjua. Nadjua, along with other new arrivals, risked their lives to get to safety in Chad because there was nothing left to eat, and all their crops had been destroyed by floods. Others said they could not farm because it was too unsafe to go their fields. Health and nutrition workers in the camp told me that over half of their malnutrition cases in the camp were new arrivals coming from risk of famine areas in Sudan.
It is people like Thuraya and Nadjua - who are among tens of millions bearing the brunt of the brutal war in Sudan - that world leaders need to pay attention to. It is for them that they need to step up for during the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week. WFP and other aid agencies cannot tackle these challenges alone. We are doing everything we can, but we cannot stop widespread starvation and hunger-related deaths without the support and attention of the international community, too.
World leaders need to give this humanitarian catastrophe the attention it requires. That attention then needs to be translated into concerted diplomatic efforts - at the highest levels - to push for a humanitarian ceasefire and ultimately an end the conflict. We also need the international community to step up in demanding that the warring parties guarantee safe and unfettered humanitarian access and adhere to international humanitarian law. Lastly, we need a surge in funding to address the extraordinary level of need - over $600 million in coming six months, to provide urgent aid to people in the most severe levels of hunger across the region. We would require even more to help everyone who needs it.
For over 500 days the Sudanese people have been bearing the brunt of this war, feeling forgotten and abandoned by the world. They are still holding on to hope that one day they can return to their lives. Together, we owe it to the Sudanese people to step up collective action and prevent mass-scale starvation. The hopes of the Sudanese people, their future, are riding on what we do next. We cannot let them down.
# # #
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
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Readout of President Joe Biden's Meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
September 24, 2024
President Joseph R. Biden Jr. met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres September 24 at UN Headquarters in New York and underscored how the United States and United Nations are working together to advance peace, safeguard human rights, and help countries develop. The President spoke about his life-long commitment to building alliances, relationships, and multilateral solutions to solve global crises, and to upholding international principles and norms, including those enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. The President also emphasized the need to advance a stronger, more effective United Nations to tackle 21st century challenges. He also noted U.S. efforts to invest billions in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
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Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre En Route Queens, NY
September 24, 2024
3:44 P.M. EDT
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hey, guys. Sorry
Q Hey!
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: for the delay. How's everybody doing?
Q How are you?
Q Good.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right. As you all know, we're on our way to New York City and tomorrow President Biden will attend the 79th meeting of the U.N. General Assembly.
When President Biden came to office nearly four years ago, he pledged to restore American leadership on the world stage.
The president's engagements at UNGA this week will reflect his vision for the world, where countries come together to solve big problems. And it will be an opportunity for him to reaffirm how this approach has pro- produced results for the American people and for the world.
Tomorrow morning, the president will deliver an address to the U.N. General Assembly outlining his vision for how the world should come together to resolve these big problems and defend fundamental principles, such as the U.N. Charter.
Throughout his engagements in New York, the president will rally global action to tackle the world's most pressing challenges, including climate change; the opioid epidemic; mobilizing resources for developing countries; managing the risk and benefits of artificial intelligence; and helping end the brutal wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan; among many others on the many other critical critically important issues.
With that, Aamer?
Q So, what what kind of, sort of, I guess, work on the Hezbollah aspect of ending the war in the Middle East has been going on in addressing the speech?
And then, I think, just also largely, 270 people, I think, at least, died today in Lebanon. Huge swaths of the south are being told to move. Is this an all-out war now?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, as it relates to just the escalation that we're seeing currently in the Middle East, look, we're concerned. You heard that from the president yesterday when he talked to some of your colleagues when asked the question.
The risk of escalation is real. And so, we continue to believe a diplomatic resolution is both achievable and urgent. Our commitment to Israel's security is ironclad and unwavering against all Iran-backed threats, including Hezbollah.
The conflict along the Blue Line between Israel and Hezbollah has gone on for long enough. It's in it's in it's in everyone's interest to resolve it quickly and diplomatically, and that's where we've been. That's what we continue to say. We need to see a diplomatic resolution. That's what the president is going to continue to call for.
That's why we've been working around the clock on the ceasefire deal, the that hostage deal yes, get hostages home; yes, get that increase of of aid into Gaza; and to stop the war.
But we believe that by doing that, it would certainly help with the tensions in the region. And so, a diplomatic resolution that's what we're going to continue to work towards.
Q The address itself, are we going to see a huge sort of focus on the Blue Line?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: And so, look, I'm not going to get ahead of the president. I kind of laid out a little bit of broad strokes of what the president is going to focus on, but I'm going to let him obviously speak to this.
I talked about the importance of working together to end the wars that we're seeing. Right? I talked about Gaza. I talked about Ukraine and also Sudan.
And so, obviously, the president will lay out his vision, his his thinking, and I it will be an important moment. So, as I like to say: Stay tuned.
Q What what will he say about Ukraine in terms of, you know, the the increasing support for Ukraine? You've got Zelenskyy coming, who's going to present a peace plan. The president is going to meet with him Thursday.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q What will he how what talk about that piece.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, as far as it relates to Thursday, the president certainly is looking forward to sitting down, having that bilat with President Zelenskyy when he comes to the White House. I expect the leaders will discuss the state of the war and the latest development on the battlefield and the United States' strong support for Ukraine and its defense against Russia aggression Russian aggression.
So, we have been particularly focused over the last two months on helping Ukraine strengthen their air defenses and protect its energy grid against Russian strikes. The president is also looking forward to hearing from President Zelenskyy about the strategic planning for the months ahead.
The president and the vice p- and the vice president have been clear that their commitment to stand with Ukraine until it prevails in the war is unshakable. And so, I expect you'll hear more of that on Thursday.
And so, I think that that'll certainly be the focus: our continued engagement, our continued support for Ukraine and their, kind of, thinking as well as it relates to the peace plan.
So, look, we've al- we've been very clear when it comes to that particular issue. We support Ukraine's pursuit of a just, lasting, and c- comprehensive peace to this war. And the president is committed to providing the Ukrainian military with the equipment they need to strengthen their position.
And so, we you know, on that particular subject, though, the we have not been fully briefed on that, and so on President Zelenskyy's victory plan, to be specific. And so, I don't want to get ahead of that.
So, our understanding is President Ze- Zelenskyy intends to share further details about the plan with us soon. And so, we're we look forward to to having those discussions.
Q And and just one more thing. This is his last time to to appear before this the body as president. Is he going to have a lot of pull-asides with different world leaders? What what are you expecting there?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, you know, at these types of of gatherings, summits, there tends to be some pull-asides. So, we'll certainly read that out if tho- if they do happen. You know, those kind of happen on the ground, spontaneously. So, you know, we'll see what happens.
I would say NSC is going to be giving a a backgrounder later later this afternoon, I believe, around 5:30. So, they'll certainly share more of what you all can expect the president's kind of what the president is going to be doing, what we're going to be doing more broadly for UNGA this week. But
Q Given the rising tensions or what's going on in the Middle East, specifically Lebanon, I believe Prime Minister Netanyahu will be giving remarks at the U.N. as well. Can we expect any sort of maybe a phone call with President Biden, meeting, just given the what's going on in Lebanon?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, what I can say is that, as you know, the president and the the prime minister have a long-standing decades long-standing relationship. They are able to because of that decades-long relationship, they're able to have those really direct conversations. And so, I and they have spoken, gosh, more than a dozen times easily and I might be undercounting that over the past almost a year now since certainly, after what we saw happen on October 7th last year.
I don't have anything right now to share about any any conversation, any calls. But certainly, our team our team here at the White House are in regular conversations, regular discussions on a daily basis regular basis with the Israeli government.
Q President Trump earlier, like right before we took off, said that China is not living up to the Phase One agreement. I was just wondering if the White House has any comment to
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I'm just not going to comment on
Q Okay.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: on what he's saying as a candidate.
Q On engagements, the Iranian delegation is in town. Are there going to be any conversations between them and American officials and on what?
And then, secondly, President Biden has supported U.N. Security Council enlargement to include two African countries but does not want to give them veto power. And they're asking: How is that fair? Can I ask you to explain that?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, you just said what the president has supported. And so, I'll just leave it there. I talked at the top about his the continuing support for the U.N., obviously, Security Council. I I'm not going to get ahead of that.
I will say, though, as I stated, NSC is going to have is going to be holding a press call later this afternoon. They'll certainly share more about your first part of your question. I just don't have anything to share as to any other engagements right now at this time, but NSC will certainly share more.
Q And, Karine, more generally about this UNGA. A
lot you know, part of the legacy of the the president, in terms of foreign relations, would be at risk if Donald Trump is elected president. And we hear concerns by foreign leaders about the election. So, is the president going to address these concerns? And what will he tell those foreign leaders who are worried about what happens in November?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I'm it's a this is a campaign-related question, so I'm not going to certainly dive into that.
But I will say and obviously, the each country can speak to for themselves. But as it relates to the president's legacy, I mean, this is a president who has been able to accomplish as we talk about, maybe, the last administration right? reaffirm American leadership at the U.N. and restore America's standing on the world stage. That's the something he's been able to do for almost four years.
And if you think about reinvigorating and strengthening NATO, that's something that th- this president did with his leadership. Forge historic partnerships in Indo-Pacific. Built a global coalition in support of Ukraine. Invested at home to outcompete China. And he looks forward to building on that progress this week.
And so, I'm just not going to dive in- into the politics of November.
3:53 P.M. EDT
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Background Press Call on President Biden's Engagements at UNGA
September 24, 2024
3:44 P.M. EDTVia Teleconference
5:33 P.M. EDT
MODERATOR: This is Michael Feldman with the NSC press team. Just as a reminder for today's call, it is on background and attributable to senior administration officials. The call is also under embargo until 5:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time tomorrow morning.
For awareness and not for attribution, on today's call we have [senior administration official] and [senior administration official]. I will now turn the call over to [senior administration official] to give some opening remarks. Over to you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Excellent. Thank you. And good evening, everybody. We're very excited for the President's trip to this year's U.N. General Assembly, the last one of his presidency.
So, at meetings at the U.N. this week, we're going to get a lot of business done for the American people. The President, the Secretary of State, other Cabinet officials, and even some members of Congress are here in New York to advocate for our country's interests and values.
At the General Assembly, the President will do what he has done throughout his presidency: rally global action to tackle some of our world's biggest challenges. So, for example, he'll be talking this week about the climate crisis and the environment. We'll be talking about the need to strengthen our systems for providing humanitarian assistance; to end brutal wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan; and we'll also be talking about the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence.
When President Biden came to office nearly four years ago, he pledged to restore American leadership on the world stage. And given that this is the President's last General Assembly, it's a chance for him to talk about how this approach has produced results, real achievements for the American people and for the world.
The President's engagements this week reflect his vision for a world where countries come together to solve big problems. This stands in contrast to some of our competitors, who have a more cynical and transactional worldview, one where countries interpret their self-interest very narrowly and don't work together for the common good.
An overarching theme at this year's General Assembly will be the need to reform and strengthen our global institutions, including the U.N., to make them more effective and inclusive. And that's been a big theme of the U.N. Secretary-General's Summit for the Future, the marquee event at high-level week this year.
Last week, President Biden released a video message ahead of the summit. I encourage you all watch it. You can find it on the Web. In the video, the President spoke about using this moment to reaffirm our commitment to the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And he talked about pushing for a stronger, more effective United Nations and a reformed and expanded Security Council. And he also talked about our efforts, investing billions in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and building on the global consensus that we achieved last spring in the United Nations General Assembly on principles for the use of artificial intelligence.
We're going into a General Assembly this year with the world facing many steep challenges, problems so big no one country can solve them on their own, but that's why the President feels so strongly the world needs strong and effective global institutions, including an adapted United Nations. This is his vision of countries working together. It has been a theme of his presidency and an important part of his legacy.
Let me just briefly note the President's key engagements, and then I'll turn over to my colleague to discuss the major event that he's hosting on the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats.
On Tuesday morning, tomorrow, he will deliver and address to the U.N. General Assembly. It will have many of the themes that I've mentioned here and talk about again, some of the achievements of his approach to the United Nations and global cooperation.
The President will also meet tomorrow with U.N. Secretary-General Guterres to talk about how the United States and the United Nations are working together to advance peace, safeguard human rights, and help countries develop.
On Tuesday afternoon, the President will host a summit of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats, and I'll turn over to my colleague in a second to talk about that.
The President is also giving a major address later that afternoon on the urgent need to combat climate change.
On Wednesday, the President will meet with the President of Vietnam, To Lam. The President of Vietnam just came into office four months ago, and this meeting will be an important opportunity for the two leaders to talk about our shared interest in stability and prosperity in Southeast Asia.
The President will also attend, that afternoon, a meeting focused on Ukraine reconstruction with other world leaders.
And then on Wednesday evening, at the Met, the President will host world leaders and senior U.N. officials for a reception.
This is just a small slice of all the diplomacy and business that we're doing here at the U.N. General Assembly. There'll be high-level meetings on the future of multilateral cooperation, sea level rise, antimicrobial resistance. Really, every big, major challenge will be addressed here, and we'll have senior U.S. representatives at all of these main events on issues such as the impact of emerging technology and specific meetings on global crises such as the difficult situation in Haiti, Sudan, Venezuela, Ukraine, Syria, and the Rohingya refugee crisis.
Other U.S.-hosted and U.S.-attended side events will focus on climate; scaling clean energy for Africa; a major core group meeting of countries committed to LGBTQ rights that was attended by the First Lady; and partnering for a lead-free future.
So, again, this is just a small slice of everything that is going on, plus the countless private sector and civil society events focusing on the great challenges of the 21st century.
So, as I mentioned, we're going to use this high-level week, the President's last U.N. General Assembly, to get as much done for the American people in the coming days.
I'd like to now turn over to my colleague who will discuss the President's summit on the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Great. Thanks so much, and thanks to all of you for joining this call.
I wanted to share with you the exciting news that, on Tuesday, President Biden will, as [senior administration official] already said, host a summit of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats. This is a coalition that President Biden launched in June 2023 to mobilize international action to tackle the synthetic drug crisis.
In just over one year, this global coalition has grown to include 158 countries and 15 international organizations working together to prevent the illicit manufacture and trafficking of synthetic drugs, to detect emerging drug threats, and to promote effective public health interventions.
With the summit as a motivating force, we now have 11 core coalition countries that will be joining the President tomorrow, and they will be announcing new initiatives that will continue to advance the work of the coalition, including work to prevent, detect, and disrupt the supply chain of synthetic drugs.
It's important to emphasize that these international efforts complement intensive work that's already been done and is being done domestically, including an increased focus on coordinated disruption of drug trafficking networks and concerted efforts to make the opioid overdose reversal medication, naloxone, widely available over the counter.
These are just some of a wide array of actions that the Biden-Harris administration has taken to tackle the synthetic drug threats.
And as a result of these efforts, we're starting to see the largest drop in overdose deaths in recorded history. When President Biden and Vice President Harris came into office, the number of drug overdose deaths was increasing by more than 30 percent year over year. Now we have the latest provisional data released from the Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics, showing an unprecedented decline in overdose deaths of roughly 10 percent from April 2023 to April 2024.
But there's a lot more to be done, and the Global Coalition's work recognizes that we need a global solution to a global problem.
We are thrilled that we have so many countries coming together tomorrow to celebrate the work of the coalition, and we also will be announcing a new pledge that all of the core coalition members will be announcing will be signing on to tomorrow, and we will be working over the coming months to ensure that all coalition members sign on to this pledge.
And we truly think that this is a reflection of President Biden's commitment to work both domestically and globally on the most important challenges that we face, recognizing that we need both domestic action and global action working together.
And with that, I'll turn it back to [senior administration official].
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks, Michael. I'll turn it back to you.
MODERATOR: All right. Thank you, [senior administration officials]. All right, with that, we will take some questions.
The first question is going to go to Zeke Miller. You should be able to unmute yourself.
Q Thanks so much for doing this. You mentioned this is the President's last U.N. of his presidency. He's going to deliver remarks to the General Assembly tomorrow. Can you give us a preview, potentially, of what his message will be? And will it be different from his prior remarks, in the sense you know, obviously, world events have changed, but, you know, with an eye towards his legacy? Or is there some message he's trying to give on the world stage before he leaves office in January? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: You know, the themes I thanks, Zeke. The themes I previewed at the beginning will be really central to the President. So, again, he came into office four years ago with a vision of America returning to the world stage, having a new way of interacting with other countries, bringing countries together to solve some of these big challenges. This will be a good opportunity for him to look at the results that have been achieved.
We live in a world with many problems, with many divisions, but we have a story to tell about what we've done to rally the world to defend Ukraine's sovereignty, uphold principles of the U.N. Charter; what we've done to manage responsibly our competition with other countries including China; and also what we're doing to deal with the ongoing and serious conflicts in our world in places like Gaza, where the President has worked tirelessly to get a hostage ceasefire deal, and conflicts like Sudan, where you have absolutely unprecedented displacement and a really serious crisis that we think needs to get more attention.
So I think that will be the frame, and I'll leave the details for the President's speech tomorrow.
MODERATOR: Great. Thank you very much. Our next question is going to go to Asma Khalid. You should be able to unmute yourself.
Q Yes. Hi. Thanks for doing this. Similarly, sort of on the speech, could I get a sort of broad, I guess, framework or tone that you all are thinking about? I know you say that the President came into office talking about building international coalitions, wanting to rebuild the United States stature on the world, but this is a really different moment than when the President even gave the speech last year, before October 7th. He is now leaving office, and there are multiple sort of intractable problems right now in the world. And can you just kind of give us any sense of tone in how the President is thinking about that and the very limited time he has left to solve them?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks, Asma. Look, I think it's a good question. The world has changed. The world has gotten more difficult in many ways, as you noted.
But, you know, as I said, the President came into office with a vision of how countries need to work together, how they need to work through institutions, how they need to partner to solve big global challenges. And the fact that we do have these challenges, the fact that we do have Gaza, the fact that we do have Ukraine and Sudan, still serious issues in our world, just underscores the need for that kind of cooperation. And I think you'll hear that in his speech.
Yes, he'll talk about the significant accomplishments, achievements of his approach, but also talk about how we need the spirit, we need to continue working together to solve these big challenges, whether it is the wars you mentioned or other challenges such as the climate crisis or managing the implications of some of the new technologies.
So I think this will be an important moment to say: Where do we go and what are the principles in which we're going to solve these problems? Thanks.
MODERATOR: Thank you very much. Our next question is going to go to Paris Huang. You should be able to unmute yourself.
Q All right. Hi. Thank you, Michael. Thank you, [senior administration official]. Two-parts question. So, kind of follow up on the questions from Zeke and Asma. So, of course, we know China and Russia have been heavily influencing the U.N. for years. You know, we see all those voting records. And President Biden have been doing a lot of reform during the four years. Does he believe that those changes will sustain after he leaves the White House?
And second question: In last year's UNGA remarks, President Biden talked about the peace and stability of Taiwan Strait, which was the first time a U.S. president actually talked about Taiwan at the UNGA. So, will he include Taiwan again in his remarks this year? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks. And I appreciate the question. I think it's a good question in terms of, you know, have we left the United Nations as an institution better off. I think we do have results, and the President will talk about that. You know, it's a time of great divisions, and the U.N. has already been has always been a reflection of the world as it is.
That said, when you look at what we've done, including through the United Nations, to, for example, rally the world to defend the U.N. Charter after the Ukrainian invasion, we secured a U.N. General Assembly resolution in which 141 countries stood up and said, "We condemn this, and we stand in favor of the U.N. Charter."
You've also seen a more progressive and forward-leaning position on institutional reform. For example, two years ago, the President announced a shift and a more forward-leaning position in reforming and expanding the United Nations Security Council. And that's definitely a piece of this well as well.
I won't get into the details on, you know, specifically what he'll mention on individual issues, but I will say that an important part of the President's legacy has been thinking about how we responsibly manage our competition with China, and that includes many facets, economic security, and those will be addressed in the speech.
MODERATOR: Thank you very much. Our next question is going to go to Sheryl Gay Stolberg. You should be able to unmute yourself, Sheryl.
Q Hi. Thank you for doing this call. You know, this is not a political speech, but it does occur in the context of an election in which one of the candidates has an isolationist vision that is far apart, diametrically opposed to that of the President. And I'm wondering, to what extent can the President use this speech to ensure that his own vision of global alliances survives? Is he concerned that that vision will unravel?
And will this speech be in any way directed to the American people, as much as to world leaders, as a reminder of the importance of America's place in the world?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Look, as you said, this is not a political speech, but the President, again, he has a vision. He came into a vision into office. That vision has produced results. And there are many opponents and critics of that vision, not just internationally but at home. It has been the President's view that he needs to explain why this vision of working together with countries to solve these big challenges actually produces results, and that's actually how we're going to be measured.
And when I say "produces results," that means internationally, in terms of ending war, in terms of tackling challenges like sustainable development, the debt crisis, climate, but it also means that he needs to explain how his vision has produced results for the American people. And that's where I think there's a very strong record, and some of it is very, very tangible.
For example, the summit on the coalition on synthetic drugs, that is him bringing together countries, all of whom share a challenge dealing with synthetic drugs but convening them here, talking about deliverables, talking about how we're going to work together. And this is something that directly affects the situation of the American public, as my colleague briefed earlier, in terms of the overall record on issues like fentanyl.
So I think he'll lay that out tomorrow, and I think it will stand as representing that vision and what it's achieved.
MODERATOR: Thank you very much. We will go to Danny Kemp. You should be able to unmute yourself.
Q Thanks very much for doing this. I just wanted to ask about the current situation in the Middle East. I mean, you know, the speech tomorrow is really going to be a bit overshadowed by the events in Lebanon, where we've seen nearly 500 people killed in the space of a day. How's he going to address that? And more particularly, how will the President be seeking to will he be talking to other leaders about that? What's he actually going to be doing at the UNGA more generally to try and get this thing sorted out? Thanks.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: This is one of the advantages of the U.N. General Assembly: You literally have the whole world here. So when you do have crises of the day, they'll be addressed. And I have no doubt that the situation in the Middle East will be an important theme in a lot of the meetings, not just that the President has, but other senior U.S. officials who will be convening to talk about various aspects of the crisis and what we can do to stabilize the situation.
He will address the Middle East, especially this very, very difficult year that we have all gone through. And again, I think it's an opportunity to talk about what we have achieved and what we still need to do, given a situation that is just heartbreaking where hostages have not been returned, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and, as you know, just such a sensitive issue, such a delicate and dangerous situation between Israel and Lebanon right now.
Thanks.
MODERATOR: Thank you very much. And unfortunately, that is all the time we have today. Thank you all for joining this call. Thank you to our speakers. And feel free to follow up with our team at the NSC press team with any questions.
And again, this call is under embargo until 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. Thank you all again, and hope you have a great rest of your evening.
5:53 P.M. EDT
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Death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon rises to 558
People's Daily Online
(Xinhua) 09:14, September 25, 2024
BEIRUT, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from intensive Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon since Monday reached 558, including 50 children and 94 women, with injuries reaching 1,835, Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad said on Tuesday.
Abiad said the airstrikes targeted 14 ambulances, killing four paramedics and injuring 16 others.
He condemned the Israeli forces for targeting civilians, medical teams, and the Bint Jbeil hospital.
"The Israeli enemy's claims of only targeting Hezbollah members are false; The figures we mentioned show that the enemy is targeting innocent civilians and medical staff," he said.
The Israeli army has launched intensive airstrikes on villages and towns in southern and eastern Lebanon since Monday, displacing thousands of families to safer areas.
Since Oct. 8, 2023, Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been exchanging fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border, raising concerns of a broader conflict as the war between Hamas and Israel continues in the Gaza Strip.
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Leaders at UNGA gravely concerned with Middle East violence, slam Israel for "genocide"
People's Daily Online
By Xia Lin, Gao Shan, Pan Yunzhao (Xinhua) 08:16, September 25, 2024
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Leaders addressing the General Debate of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday called for cessation of the violence that has ravaged the Middle East for months, and some of them directly pointed their fingers at Israel for the "genocide" it committed against the Palestinians.
UNGA President Philemon Yang noted the various conflicts raging from the Middle East to Ukraine, and from Haiti to South Sudan. "I call for an immediate ceasefire in all these conflict settings," he said, adding that the people of Gaza and Israel "have been caught in a spiraling cycle of conflict and retribution" for nearly a year.
"I take this opportunity to call for an immediate ceasefire for the Hamas-Israel war, the unconditional release of hostages and for all parties to abide by international law, including international humanitarian law, and work towards a just and lasting solution grounded in the United Nations Charter, relevant resolutions and international law, ensuring dignity for both Palestinians and Israelis," he said.
Delivering his 2024 report on the UN's work ahead of the General Debate, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that world leaders are gathering in the shadow of raging conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere, and rising uncertainty over climate change, ending poverty and reigning in artificial intelligence.
"Our world is in a whirlwind. We are in an era of epic transformation -- facing challenges unlike any we have ever seen -- challenges that demand global solutions," the UN chief said.
He warned that geopolitical divisions are deepening, temperatures around the world are rising, wars are raging, without any end in sight, and nuclear posturing and new weapons are "casting a dark shadow."
"We are edging towards the unimaginable -- a powder keg that risks engulfing the world," he noted.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said his nation has benefited from a wave of international solidarity in the battle to end apartheid and usher in a new democratic era. "We will not remain silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against others" in Gaza as Israel continues its collective punishment of the Palestinians, he added.
He called for a collective effort through the UN system and other multinational institutions to end civilian suffering and for South Africa's legal action taken against Israel through the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prevail.
CONDEMNATION
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Trkiye condemned Israel for "disregarding basic human rights, trampling on international law at every opportunity, practicing ethnic cleansing, a clear genocide against a nation and a people, and occupying their lands step by step."
He underscored the imperative for the international community to develop a protection mechanism for Palestinian civilians, reiterating that "we have no animosity or hostility towards the people of Israel. We oppose antisemitism in the same way we oppose the targeting of Muslims just because of their faith."
Indeed, said the president, Gaza has become "the world's largest cemetery for women and children" at a time when truth itself "is dying" and "the hopes of humanity to live in a more just world are dying one by one." However, he insisted that "we will not hold back from defending the family, the human being and the creation in solidarity with other member states."
King Abdullah II of Jordan told the General Debate that "now is the time to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people. It is the moral duty of the international community to establish a protection mechanism for them across the occupied territories."
"Impunity gathers force. Left unchecked, it gains momentum," he said, noting that the world is watching Gaza, "and history will watch us by the courage we show."
The Jordanian leader said that nearly a year into the war, the world has failed politically, "but our humanity must not fail the people of Gaza any longer."
Meanwhile, both leaders insisted that the world body is far from delivering its obligations in regard of containing the violence in the Middle East.
With innocent civilians and aid workers with the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, suffering months of bombardment in Gaza, "the UN is under attack, literally and figuratively," said the king.
"The United Nations has failed to fulfill its founding mission and has gradually become a dysfunctional structure," Erdogan said, pointing to the massacre in Gaza, where more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the continuous Israeli attacks for almost one year.
CRITICISM
In his first address to the General Assembly, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called Israel out on its operations in Gaza and Lebanon. "Israel's state terrorism in Lebanon cannot go unanswered," he said. "Responsibility for all consequences will be borne by those governments who have thwarted all global efforts to end this horrific catastrophe."
Criticizing Israel for what he called "genocide in Gaza," the president said that "it is imperative that the international community should immediately ... secure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and bring an end to the desperate barbarism of Israel in Lebanon, before it engulfs the region and the world."
"We seek peace for all and have no intention of conflict with any country ... Iran opposes war and emphasizes the need for an immediate cessation of military conflict in Ukraine," Pezeshkian said.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu said that the ongoing massacre -- the genocide -- by Israel in Gaza, is a travesty of justice and the international system, over the repeated destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, humanitarian infrastructure, as well as the repeated cycles of killings of men, women, children, babies.
"The world is struggling to process the deaths of so many civilians in Gaza and now Israeli raids in Lebanon claiming hundreds more civilians lives there. Their cries haunt anyone with humanity. Their tears, bitter on our conscience," said the president, adding that Israel is even targeting and killing journalists, which are brutal attempts to prevent the world from knowing about the crimes taking place.
"Israel must be held accountable for these acts of terrorism, for these violations of international law and UN resolutions," he insisted. "We must accept a sovereign and independent Palestinian State on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital... We welcome the decision to seat our brothers and sisters from Palestine with us here in the General Assembly, for the first time, instead of behind us. Now, we must ensure that Palestine becomes a full member of the UN."
ATTITUDES
"Too many on each side of the Israeli-Lebanon border remain displaced. Full scale wars not in anyone's interest. Even a situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," U.S. President Joe Biden told the UNGA Tuesday morning. "In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely."
"That's what we're working tirelessly to achieve," Biden said. "As we look ahead, we must also address the rise of violence against the innocent Palestinians on the West Bank and set the conditions for a better future, including a two-state solution, where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition, and normalizes relations with all its neighbors; where Palestinians live in security, dignity and self-determination in a state of their own."
Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters on Tuesday that Israel prefers a "diplomatic solution" in Lebanon to deal with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah but would use "other methods" to show "we mean business."
Asked by CNN's Tara John if Israel is prepared for a second front on its border with Lebanon after repeatedly striking Hezbollah targets in the country, Danon said that "we are not eager to start any ground invasion anywhere. I don't want to send my son, and we don't want to send our boys to fight in a foreign country, but we are determined to protect the civilians of Israel."
The UNGA General Debate started Tuesday for world leaders heading to New York to deliver their statements, as they take part in high-level discussions on the existential threat of sea-level rise, accelerating progress in combating the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, and driving forward the UN's long-term goal of achieving global nuclear disarmament with a plenary meeting marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
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US Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove condemns inaction on Sudan conflict
By John Tanza September 25, 2024
Fifty Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to President Joe Biden in late August requesting more humanitarian assistance for Sudan and calling on the U.S. to do more to help end the conflict. Leading the effort is U.S. Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California, who told VOA in a recent interview that she is concerned that international partners aren't doing enough to support humanitarian aid delivery to families affected by the conflict.
"Famine has erupted. Deaths are happening every day, and the warring parties are working together, in my opinion, to prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid," she told VOA. "It is unconscionable. And it is inhumane."
Without more aggressive leadership by the U.S., she said, the conflict risks international neglect amid the war Ukraine and an expanding conflict in the Middle East.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
VOA: Your colleagues have joined you to raise awareness about Sudan. A lot of Sudanese who spoke to us say the world has forgotten them. How do you feel about their sentiments?
U.S. Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove: I am disheartened to hear that, but I understand why they would say it, and that is exactly why I wrote this letter and encouraged my colleagues to sign on. Fifty Democratic members of Congress signed with me, to ask this administration to do more. We want them to raise awareness of this war. Get [U.S.] Secretary [of State Anthony] Blinken out in front. We want to rally our international partners to also take this more seriously and pledge more dollars to help with the support around humanitarian aid delivery. Because if we are not taking the lead on this, then it will signal to the rest of the world that this is not important and of course it is.
VOA: What about international attention? Are you getting that?
Kamlager-Dove: No, we're not getting [international attention.] I have my own suspicions that people just don't care, or don't respect the continent of Africa. I think that is wildly ignorant. And we know with forces like China and Russia working to compete against us [the U.S.], and to dismantle democracies, we know that there are other agents and actors playing in this war as well. That is why it is incumbent upon us to take the lead and call for more aid and call for more discussions.
VOA: What about America's foreign policy and its resources? Where does it go? I mean, I know that the war in Ukraine and Gaza is shifting attention.
Kamlager-Dove: Thankfully, we have an administration that is trying to engage. They finally got a special envoy, [Former U.S. Representative Tom Perriello], to Sudan. You know, a year too late, but he needs to be supported with more resources and more staff. It is very important that Secretary Blinken shows his face more on the continent and reminds folks that this administration cares.
VOA: The U.N. made an appeal for humanitarian assistance. They were projecting $2.7 billion and only 37% of that was received. What should be done to get pledges from donor countries?
Kamlager-Dove: Well, I do think we have to make a concerted effort to ask the international community to pledge more. It is important to give more, but if those resources are thwarted because you have bad actors keeping humanitarian aid from the people and the civilians that need it the most, then it doesn't matter.
VOA: The U.S. government slapped sanctions on both sides in Sudan the Rapid Support Forces [RSF] and some leaders of the Sudan Armed Forces [SAF]. And it appears like these sanctions are not biting hard because the two belligerent forces have decided not to sign any cease-fire. Are there other instruments of diplomacy in the toolbox that is yet to be used to bring pressure on these two groups?
Kamlager-Dove: Well, it is certainly unfortunate that neither party wants to show up to the negotiating table. It's very hard to come to a resolution when you don't even sit at the table. The other thing that is unfortunate is even if you have sanctions, you know, if you're still able to buy guns and get the weapons into the country, then obviously you need different kinds of teeth and authority. I think we should be looking at the folks who are supplying the arms to the forces, because that is as important as sanctioning both SAF and RSF. If you don't stop the flow of arms, what are you really doing?
VOA: When Perriello testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he mentioned that those aiding the war in Sudan must be held accountable, or the U.S.'s efforts will be in vain. How do you respond to that?
Kamlager-Dove: I wholeheartedly agree. We have an obligation to focus on what is happening in the Sudan. But I want to say I'm grateful that he was actually able to show up. You know, we have not had a full committee hearing in the Foreign Affairs Committee on Africa since the beginning of this term.
VOA: The last time we heard about funding [for Sudan] was 2017. And just a month ago, nongovernmental organizations, international aid agencies are saying Darfur is on the verge of famine, there's famine already there. ... If you are given an opportunity to speak directly to the people who are making decisions on where aid money should go, what would you tell them?
Kamlager-Dove: I would say the world is watching and the world is waiting. And every moment that you do not sit at the table and find a way, using any quiver that you have in your toolbox every day you wait is a day that someone dies in the Sudan. And this is not something that I am willing to keep in my heart. And this is not something that the United States should let happen. So, get off your tuchus (rear end) and find a way to bring about a cease-fire, and to make sure that humanitarian aid is able to get to the Sudan.
This Q&A originated in VOA's English to Africa Service.
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Russo-Ukraine War - 24 September 2024 - Day 944
Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that In total, since the beginning of this day, there have been 137 combat clashes. Ukrainian defenders continue to decisively interrupt the Russian attempts to advance into the depths of Ukrainian territory, giving him a fiery impression.
Russian zagarbniki made on the territory of Ukraine one missile strike, 57 air strikes, dropping 82 controlled aviation bombs. In addition, more than 730 kamikaze drones were recruited for impressions and carried out more than 3,600 shelling at the positions of Ukrainian troops and settlements.
In the Kharkiv direction, the Russian opponent three times unsuccessfully stormed the positions of Ukrainian units in the Vovchanska area. At the same time, Russian aviation from the side of Shebekino (Russia) carried out destructive strikes with controlled aviation bombs on residential areas and civilian infrastructure of Kharkiv (seven CAB) and Vovchansk.
In the Kupians komu direction, the Russian aggressor carried out offensive actions near synkivka, stelmahivka, andriyivka, sand, kruglyakivka and lozova. Ukrainian defenders stopped 11 Russian attacks. Near Kruglyakivka, the battle is still being sharpened.
In the Lyman direction Russian zagarbniki 22 times attacked the positions of Defense Forces near Druzhelyubivka, Cherneshchyna, Grekivka, Nevsky, Torsky, Makiyivka, Zarichny and Novosadovoye. Seven clashes are still ongoing.
In the Sivers komu direction, Ukrainian defenders repelled three assault Russian actions towards Verkhnyokamiansky and Bilogorivka.
In the Kramators komu direction, Russian forces with the support of aviation attacked Ukrainian positions near Mankivka, Kalinivka, Stupochok and White Mountain. Defense forces stopped seven attacks of the zagarbnikiv, two more clashes continue.
There were 10 fights in the Toretsky direction. Russians also with the support of aviation stormed the positions of Ukrainian units towards Toretsk and Scherbinivka. All the Russian attacks have been repelled.
In the Pokrovsky direction, since the beginning of this day, Russian forces attacked 24 times in the areas of Vozdvizhenko, Novotoretsk, Green Field, Novogrodivka, Krasnoy Yara, Nikolaivka and Marinivka. Ukrainian defenders repelled 23 Russian assault actions. The fight is still ongoing near the Red Yar. Today, according to preliminary data, 328 occupants were defecated in this direction, of which 134 were irrevocably. Five tanks, six BBMs and eight cars were also destroyed. Another tank, three BBMs, 11 artillery systems and three vehicles were damaged.
In the Kurakhiv direction, Russian forces made 19 attempts to break through Ukrainian defense near Tsukuriny, the Desired Second, Georgievka, Dalnyi, Konstantinivka and Katerynivka. Fifteen clashes completed, four more to go. In this direction, according to preliminary data, the Russian losses were irreversible and wounded amounted to 52 persons. A combat armored vehicle and car were also destroyed.
In the Vremivs komu direction, Russian forces attacked Ukrainian units eight times near Vugledara, Pavlivka, Katerynivka and Vodanogo. Half of the attacks Ukrainian warriors at this time have been repelled, four more combat - continue.
In the Pridniprovsky direction, Russian troops tried three times unsuccessfully to push Defense Forces units from their occupied positions. Took the losses and stepped back.
In the rest of the destinations - there are no special changes.
The operation is ongoing in the Kursk region. The Russian enemy's aviation continues to destroy controlled aviation bombs their villages and cities.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in Liptsy and Volchansk directions, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on formations of the 57th Motorised Infantry Brigade of the AFU, 36th Marine Brigade, and 113th Territorial Defence Brigade near Liptsy, Volchansk, and Volchanskye Khutora (Kharkov region).
One counter-attack launched by an assault detachment of the Kraken nationalist formation was repelled. The AFU losses amounted to up to 65 troops, three motor vehicles, and one 122-mm D-30 howitzer.
Units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 43rd, 44th, 66th mechanised brigades, 3rd Assault Brigade of the AFU, and 114th Territorial Defence Brigade near Kupyansk, Zagoruykovka, Kolesnikovka, Lozovaya, Novoyegorovka (Kharkov region), Makeyevka, Nevskoye (Lugansk People's Republic), and Torskoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
Four counter-attacks launched by assault detachments of the 14th, 63rd mechanised brigades of the AFU, and 1st National Guard Brigade were repelled. The AFU losses amounted to up to 420 troops, one Kozak armoured fighting vehicle, three pickup trucks, one U.S.-made 155-mm M198 howitzer, one 152-mm Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, one 152-mm D-20 gun, one 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, one 122-mm D-30 howitzer, and one UK-made 105-mm L-119 gun. Four AFU field ammunition depots were destroyed.
Units of the Yug Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions as well as inflicted losses on formations of the 24th, 28th, 30th, 54th, 93rd mechanised brigades, 56th Motorised Infantry Brigade, 5th Assault Brigade, 25th Airborne Brigade of the AFU, 116th Territorial Defence Brigade, and the Lyut Assault Brigade of the National Police of Ukraine near Kramatorsk, Seversk, Verkhnekamenskoye, Kalinino, Stupochki, Predtechino, Belaya Gora, Maksimilyanovka, and Katerinovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 810 troops, one armoured personnel carrier, one armoured fighting vehicle, 15 motor vehicles, one Polish-made 155-mm Krab self-propelled artillery system, one U.S.-made 155-mm M777 howitzer, two UK-made 155-mm FH-70 howitzers, one 152-mm D-20 gun, two 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems, one 122-mm D-30 howitzer, two 105-mm guns, namely, one UK-made L-119 and one U.S.-made M119. One electronic warfare station and four field ammunition depots were destroyed.
Units of the Tsentr Group of Forces continued advancing to the depth of the enemy's defences and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 67th, 100th mechanised brigades, 142nd, 144th, 152nd infantry brigades, 95th Air Assault Brigade, 55th Artillery Brigade, 78th Air Assault Regiment of the AFU, 109th, 118th, 119th territorial defence brigades, and 14th National Guard Brigade near Dzerzhinsk, Nelepovka, Rozovka, Krasnoarmeysk, Dimitrov, Grodovka, Ukrainsk, Gornyak, and Kurakhovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Ten counter-attacks launched by assault detachments of the 53rd, 150th, 151st mechanised brigades, 68th Jaeger Brigade of the AFU, 3rd, 12th, 15th national guard brigades, and the Omega Special Operations Detachment were repelled.
The AFU losses amounted to up to 555 troops, one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, one Turkish-made Kirpi armoured fighting vehicle, five pickup trucks, one 152-mm Msta-B howitzer, one 152-mm D-20 gun, and three 122-mm D-30 howitzers.
Units of the Vostok Group of Forces improved the tactical situation along the front line and inflicted losses on formations of the 33rd Mechanised Brigade, 58th Motorised Infantry Brigade of the AFU, 116th, 127th territorial defence brigades, and 21st National Guard Brigade near Dobrovolye, Ugledar, Zolotaya Niva, Shakhtyorskoye, Rovnopol (Donetsk People's Republic), and Temirovka (Zaporozhye region).
One counter-attack launched by an assault detachment of the AFU 72nd Mechanised Brigade was repelled. The AFU losses amounted to up to 130 troops, five motor vehicles, and one Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery system.
Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the AFU, 35th Marine Brigade, 103rd, 108th, and 123rd territorial defence brigades near Malaya Tokmachka, Nesteryanka (Zaporozhye region), Zaporozhye, Tokaryovka (Kherson region), and Kherson.
The AFU losses amounted to up to 50 troops, four motor vehicles, one 152-mm Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, one 152-mm Msta-B howitzer, and one 152-mm D-20 gun. One Anklav-N electronic warfare station and one field ammunition depot were destroyed.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, and Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces delivered strikes at a defene industry enterprise of Ukraine, which produced and serviced gas turbine engines for AFU combat aircraft, as well as the power facilities that ensured their operation, infrastructure of a military airfield, two UAV production workshops and one UAV assembly point, one POL depot, as well as engaged AFU manpower and hardware clusters in 149 areas.
Air defence units shot down two U.S.-made HARM anti-radiation missiles and three HIMARS MLRS projectiles as well as 63 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 646 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 32,187 unmanned aerial vehicles, 579 anti-aircraft missile systems, 18,343 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,458 MLRS combat vehicles, 15,150 field artillery guns and mortars, and 26,436 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation also reported that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of the Russian Federation.
Units of the Sever Group of Forces continued offensive actions and inflicted losses on formations of the 21st, 22nd, 41st, 115th Mechanised Brigade, 17th Tank Brigade, 95th Air Assault Brigade, 36th Marine Brigade, 1st National Guard Brigade, and 129th Territorial Defence Brigade of the AFU near Lyubimovka, Daryino, Novy Put, Nikolayevo-Daryino, and Plekhovo.
Over the past 24 hours, units of the Sever Group of Forces repelled two enemy attacks in the direction of Malaya Loknya and Obukhovka. As a result, the AFU losses amounted to up to 20 troops killed and wounded; two motor vehicles were destroyed; four AFU servicemen were taken prisoner.
With support of Army Aviation and artillery fire, five AFU attempts to break through the border of the Russian Federation in the direction of Medvezhye and Novy Put were foiled. The AFU losses amounted to up to 40 troops killed and wounded, one infantry fighting vehicle, three armoured fighting vehicles, and one motor vehicle.
Army Aviation and artillery strikes inflicted losses on manpower and hardware clusters of the 21st, 22nd, 41st, 61st, 115th mechanised brigades, 17th Tank Brigade, 80th, 95th air assault brigades, 36th Marine Brigade, 1st National Guard Brigade, 112th, and 129th territorial defence brigades near Bogdanovka, Guyevo, Ivashkovsky, Zazulevka, Kurilovka, Kolmakov, Lyubimovka, Makhovka, Martynovka, Mikhaylovka, Malaya Loknya, Malaya Obukhovka, Medvezhye, Novaya Sorochina, Novy Put, Novoivanovka, Pravda, Plekhovo, Russkoye Porechnoye, Tolsty Lug, Cherkasskaya Konopelka, and Yuzhny.
Operational-Tactical Aviation and Missile Troops delivered strikes in Sumy region at concentration areas and reserves of the 21st, 41st mechanised brigades, 17th Tank Brigade, 95th Air Assault Brigade, 1st National Guard Brigade, 1004th Security and Service Brigade, 103rd, and 129th territorial defence brigades near Belopolye, Bruski, Bunyakino, Vorozhba, Volkovka, Kazachye, Kislaya Dubina, Malushino, Mazeyevka, Novaya Sloboda, Pavlovka, Partizanskoye, Rechki, Svoboda, Shalygino, and Ugroyedy.
Over the past 24 hours, the AFU losses amounted to more than 360 troops and 13 units of hardware, including one infantry fighting vehicle and 12 armoured fighting vehicles, as well as four artillery guns, two MLRS launchers, three electronic warfare stations, and 11 motor vehicles. Four AFU servicemen were taken prisoner.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost more than 16,700 troops, 127 tanks, 61 infantry fighting vehicles, 95 armoured personnel carriers, 809 armoured fighting vehicles, 508 motor vehicles, 136 artillery guns, 31 MLRS launchers, including eight of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, eight SAM launchers, five transport-loading vehicles, 35 electronic warfare stations and eight counter-battery radars, two air defence radars, 18 engineering vehicles, including 11 counterobstacle vehicles and one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, as well as one armoured recovery vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
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Russo-Ukraine War - 25 September 2024 - Day 945
Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]
The UK Ministry of Defence reported that Russian forces have made further gains in the vicinity of Vuhledar in south-eastern Ukraine. It is highly likely that Russian forces now threaten the town from three sides. They are already contesting the outskirts of the town, against which Russia has made repeated assaults since 2022. It is likely that Russian forces will continue to pressure on this heavily defended part of the line over the next week.
In central Donetsk oblast, Russian forces are fighting within the eastern half of Toretsk and south of Pokrovsk. They have made only slow progress around Chasiv Yar. It is likely that Russian forces are attacking multiple objectives simultaneously to stretch Ukrainian forces. However, this has also prevented Russia from massing forces on a single point of the line to have a more significant effect.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that since the beginning of the day, there have been 159 combat clashes, Russian forces launched two missile strikes using four missiles, 59 air strikes using 86 CABs, more than 600 kamikaze drones strikes and about 3.5,000 shells of Ukrainian troops and settlements using different types of weapons.
In the Kharkiv direction, there were three combat clashes with Russian zagarbnikami. All attacks in the areas of Vovchansk and Pacific were repelled by Ukrainian soldiers.
In the Kupyans ,komu direction, Russian forces nine times tried to push Ukrainian units out of occupied positions near Sinkivka, Lozova and Kruglyakivka. Two attacks are underway.
21 times, Russian forces attacked in the Lyman direction, trying to advance towards the settlements of Grekivka, Novosadove, Bilogorivka, Zarichne and Yampil. Eleven attacks of the enemy Ukrainian units managed to repel, ten more combat clashes continue, the situation is tense.
Seven combat clashes took place in the Kramators komu direction. The activity of the Russian occupiers was manifested in the areas of Grigorivka, Temporary Yar and Klishchievka, all Russian attempts to improve their position have been stopped by Ukrainian soldiers, a combat confrontation near Grigorivka is ongoing.
Russian forces tried to infiltrate Ukrainian defense nine times in the Toretsky direction. Since the beginning of the day, the Russian occupiers in the areas of the settlements of Toretsk, Cherbinivka and Nelipivka nine times received a harsh cut off from Ukrainian defenders. Two attacks are underway.
Intensely Russian attacks of Ukrainian defenders in the Pokrovsky direction. Here, during the day, Russian forces committed 53 assault and offensive actions. The largest activity of Russian occupiers is kept in the regions of Novotoretsk, Lisivka, Novogrodivka, Hrodivka, Selidovoye and Konstantinivka. In total, 47 attacks in the direction of Ukrainian defenders have already repelled, six more combat clashes are ongoing. The situation is complicated, but controlled by the Defense Forces. Ukrainian soldiers are making efforts to prevent the advancement of the opponent into the depths of Ukrainian territory.
According to the information available at this time, 345 people have been killed and injured as of today's loss of the Russian aggressor in this direction. Two tanks, three artillery systems, 14 cars, six armored vehicles, four motorcycles and three buggies were destroyed. In addition, seven BBM, two Russian cannons and ten cars were damaged.
In the Kurakhiv direction at this time of the day, there are 23 combat encounters. Zagarbniki maintain high activity, trying to advance in the areas of settlements Tsukurine, Girnyk and Georgiyivka. Defense Forces units repelled 16 Russian attacks, seven attacks are still ongoing.
There were eight boezitknen in the vremivs komu direction. Seven Russian assaults have been stopped in the districts of Vugledar and Vodanogo. Another battle is underway. The situation is controlled by the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
In the Orihiv direction, four unsuccessful Russian attacks were repelled by Ukrainian defenders during the day, ongoing battle near Robotiny.
In the Pridniprovsk direction, Ukrainian soldiers twice repelled the attacks of Russian zagarbnikiv on the position of the Ukrainian army.
Defense Forces of Ukraine continue the operation in the Kursk region. Russian aviation continues to strike controlled aviation bombs on the territory of Russia. At the moment it is known about 15 aviation strikes with the application of 26 kab.
In other directions, there have been no significant changes in the environment.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the Sever Group of Forces inflicted damage on formations of 21st Mechanised Brigade, 57th Motorised Infantry Brigade of the AFU, 36th Marine Brigade, and 113th Territorial Defence Brigade near Barilo (Sumy region), Liptsy, Volchansk, and Volchanskye Khutora (Kharkov region).
Russian units repelled three counter-attacks launched by assault groups of the AFU 82nd Air Assault Brigade. The enemy lost up to 120 troops, three tanks, an infantry fighting vehicle, four motor vehicles, two 122-mm Grad MLRS launchers, a 152-mm D-20 gun, five 122-mm D-30 howitzers, and a U.S.-made 105-mm M101 gun.
?The Zapad Group of Forces took more favourable lines and positions, inflicted damage on manpower and materiel of the 14th, 28th, 116th mechanised brigades of the AFU and 115th Territorial Defence Brigade near Kupyansk, Boguslavka, Kolesnikovka, Kruglyakovka, and Lozovaya (Kharkov region).
Three counter-attacks launched by assault detachments of the AFU 66th Mechanised Brigade were repelled. The enemy losses are up to 390 troops, ten motor vehicles, two Czech-made 122-mm Vampire MLRSs, two U.S.-made 155-mm M198 howitzers, a UK-made 155-mm Braveheart self-propelled artillery system, two U.S.-made 155-mm M777 howitzers, a 152-mm Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, a 152-mm D-20 gun, a 122-mm D-30 howitzer, a U.S.-made 105-mm M101 gun, and a UK-made 105-mm L-119 gun. Russian troops eliminated two EW stations and four ammunition depots.
?The Yug Group of Forces liberated Ostroye and Grigorovka of the Donetsk People's Republic.
Moreover, Russian forces inflicted damage on formations of 24th, 54th mechanised brigades of the AFU, and 119th Territorial Defence Brigade near Nikolayevka, Konstantinovka, and Kurakhovo (Donetsk People's Republic).
The enemy losses amounted to up to 835 troops, seven motor vehicles, a UK-made 155-mm FH-70 howitzer, two 152-mm D-20 guns, a 122-mm D-30 howitzer, an Ankalv-N EW station, as well as the following armament produced in the USA: two 155-mm M777 howitzers, a 155-mm M114 howitzer, a 105-mm M119 gun, and one AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar. Seven ammunition depots were destroyed.
The Tsentr Group of Forces continued to advance in the depth of the hostile defence and engaged manpower and materiel of the 23rd Mechanised Brigade of the AFU, 116th, 118th territorial defence brigades, and 12th National Guard Brigade near Kleban-Byk, Gornyak, Zoryanoye and Shcherbinovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Russian units repelled ten counter-attacks launched by assault groups of the 25th Airborne Brigade, 59th Motorised Infantry Brigade, 68th Jaeger Brigade, 100th and 151st mechanised brigades of the AFU. The hostile formation losses amounted to up to 580 troops, an armoured fighting vehicle, four motor vehicles, a 152-mm Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, four 152-mm D-20 guns, a 152-mm Msta-B howitzer, and two 122-mm D-30 howitzers.
?The Vostok Group of Forces improved the tactical situation at the forward edge and inflicted damage on formations of 33rd Mechanised Brigade, 58th Motorised Infantry Brigade of the AFU, 118th Territorial Defence Brigade near Novoukrainka, Zelyonoye Pole, and Zolotaya Niva (Donetsk People's Republic).
Russian troops repelled three counter-attacks launched by assault detachments of 72nd Mechanised Brigade and 110th Territorial Defence Brigade. The losses of the enemy are as follows: up to 135 troops, three motor vehicles, a UK-made 155-mm FH-70 howitzer, and a French-made 155-mm Caesar howitzer.
?The Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted damage on manpower and materiel of the 128th Air Assault Brigade of the AFU, 35th, 37th marine brigades, 124th Territorial Defence Brigade near Zherebyanki (Zaporozhye region), Vesyoloye, Ivanovka (Kherson region), and the city of Kherson.
The AFU losses amounted to up to 30 troops, three motor vehicles, and two 152-mm Msta-B howitzers. One ammunition depot was wiped out.
?Operational-Tactical Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces engaged radio communication centre of the AFU, workshops producing UAVs, and a UAV depot, and clusters of manpower and materiel of the enemy in 153 areas.
The AD downed four French-made Hammer guided bombs, 14 U.S.-made HIMARS and Czech-made Vampire rockets, and 31 fixed-wing UAVs.
?In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 646 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 32,218 unmanned aerial vehicles, 579 anti-aircraft missile systems, 18,348 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,462 MLRS combat vehicles, 15,187 field artillery guns and mortars, and 26,467 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation also reported that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of the Russian Federation.
?The Sever Group of Forces continued offensive and inflicted losses on formations of the 21st, 22nd, 41st mechanised brigades, 17th Tank Brigade, 95th Air Assault Brigade, 36th Marine Brigade, and 112th, 129th territorial defence brigades of the AFU near Lyubimovka, Daryino, Novy Put, Nikolayevo-Daryino, and Plekhovo.
Over the past 24 hours, units of the Sever Group of Forces repelled two enemy counter-attacks near Lyubimovka.
As a result, the AFU losses amounted to up to 15 troops killed and wounded, an armoured fighting vehicle, and two motor vehicles. One AFU serviceman was taken prisoner.
With the support of army aviation and artillery fire, three AFU attempts to break through the border of the Russian Federation in the direction of Novy Put were foiled.
The AFU losses amounted to up to 50 troops killed and wounded, three tanks, an infantry fighting vehicle, an armoured fighting vehicle, and a motor vehicle.
Air strikes, artillery fire, and actions of the troops inflicted losses on manpower and hardware clusters of the 21st, 22nd, 41st, 61st, 115th mechanised brigades, 17th Tank Brigade, 80th, 95th air assault brigades, 36th Marine Brigade, 103rd, 116th, and 129th territorial defence brigades of the AFU near Bogdanovka, Viktorovka, Goncharovka, Ivashkovsky, Kruglenkoye, Kositsa, Martynovka, Mikhaylovka, Malaya Loknya, Malaya Obukhovka, Medvezhye, Novy Put, Pravda, Pokrovskoye, Plekhovo, Rubanshchina, and Tolsty Lug.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, and Missile Troops delivered strikes in Sumy region at concentration areas and reserves of the 21st, 22nd, 41st, 47th, and 115th mechanised brigades, 82nd, 95th air assault brigades, 1st National Guard Brigade, and 103rd, 106th, 107th, and 129th territorial defence brigades of the AFU near Belopolye, Belovody, Boyaro-Lezhachi, Bruski, Vladimirovka, Zhuravka, Komsomolsky, Manukhovka, Novaya Sloboda, Obody, Pavlovka, Rechki, Revyakino, Sosnovka, Stepanovka, Sumy, Shalygino, and Khoten.
Over the past 24 hours, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have suffered the following losses: over 300 troops, seven armoured vehicles, three tanks, including two German-made Leopard tanks, an infantry fighting vehicle, and three armoured fighting vehicles, two artillery guns, and six motor vehicles.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost more than 17,000 troops, 130 tanks, 62 infantry fighting vehicles, 95 armoured personnel carriers, 812 armoured fighting vehicles, 514 motor vehicles, 138 artillery guns, 31 MLRS launchers, including eight of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, eight SAM launchers, five transport-loading vehicles, 35 electronic warfare stations and eight counter-battery radars, two air defence radars, 18 engineering vehicles, including 11 counterobstacle vehicles and one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, as well as one armoured recovery vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
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Xi calls for accelerating progress in China's space endeavors
People's Daily Online
(Xinhua) 08:05, September 24, 2024
BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday encouraged personnel in China's space industry to continue to work hard and accelerate progress in space endeavors.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, met with the representatives of space scientists and engineers who participated in the research and development of the Chang'e-6 lunar mission at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Xi stressed that the achievements of the lunar exploration project embody the wisdom and hard work of several generations of Chinese aerospace workers, and demonstrate the remarkable accomplishment the country has made in scientific and technological self-reliance in recent years.
He urged efforts to promote the spirit of lunar exploration, characterized by "chasing dreams, daring to explore, collaborating to overcome challenges, and achieving win-win cooperation," to further enhance the national confidence and pride of all Chinese people, and build up a great force for comprehensively promoting the building of a strong country and realizing national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.
The Chang'e-6 probe was launched from China on May 3. On June 25, its returner made a landing in north China, bringing back 1,935.3 grams of samples from the far side of the moon.
Xi noted that Chang'e-6, for the first time in human history, collected samples from the moon's far side, breaking through a number of key technologies, marking another landmark achievement in China's endeavors in space as well as in science and technology. It is an important milestone for China's lunar exploration project.
Over the past 20 years, the lunar exploration project has focused on key core technologies and achieved fruitful results in scientific discovery, technological innovation, engineering practice, achievement application, and international cooperation. It has blazed a path of high-quality and cost-effective lunar exploration, making a major contribution to the development of China's space industry and human space exploration, he said.
Xi stressed that over the past 75 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the space industry has grown from weak to strong, and achieved historic, high-quality and leap-forward development.
Xi noted that outer space is a domain shared by humanity, and that space exploration is humanity's common cause. The lunar exploration project has always followed the principles of equality, mutual benefits, peaceful utilization and win-win cooperation.
The Chang'e lunar missions, which belong to both China and all people in the world, have provided a broad stage for international scientific and technological cooperation, and contributed Chinese wisdom and strength to the world's deep space exploration, he said.
He urged those in attendance to keep an open mind, deepen various forms of international exchange and cooperation in the field of space, share development achievements with other countries, improve outer space governance, and make space science and technology achievements more beneficial to all people.
Stressing that there is no end to space exploration, Xi encouraged aerospace workers to conduct elaborate scientific research on lunar samples, continue major space projects, and promote the comprehensive development of space science, technology and application.
Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, all of whom are members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also attended the event.
Xi and the other leaders also viewed lunar samples and an exhibition on the lunar exploration project's 20 years of achievements.
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Exercise Pacific Protector Kicks Off
Issued by Defence Media
24 September 2024
Australia's ongoing commitment to counter the illicit trade of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) continues, with the commencement of Exercise Pacific Protector 2024 on 24 September 2024.
As a founding partner of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), Australia hosted this year's iteration of the Asia-Pacific Exercise Rotation, a global effort to support the capacity of countries in the Indo-Pacific region to impede illicit WMD-related trade.
Taking place in Sydney from 24 to 27 September 2024, the exercise comprises academic sessions, a table-top exercise, boarding exercises, demonstrations and training activities.
Dr Sheridan Kearnan, Defence's First Assistant Secretary for Strategic Policy, said Pacific Protector 2024 allowed Australia and its PSI partners to build networks, tools and capabilities aimed at enhancing capacity and interoperability.
"The exercise provides an opportunity to practice scenarios and improve mechanisms for sharing intelligence, aligning decision-making processes and deploying capabilities and assets for interdiction operations," Dr Kearnan said.
"It sends a clear signal to proliferators that their activities are being monitored and PSI partners are prepared to take individual or collaborative action to stop illicit WMD proliferation."
The 28 participating countries include Argentina, Australia, Chile, Cook Islands, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, Turkiye, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Border Force, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Australian Federal Police and NSW Police are also participating in the exercise.
In addition, on Monday 23 September 2024, Australia hosted the annual PSI steering group meeting - the Operational Experts Group - welcoming Chile as the newest member.
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China and Japan to maintain communication to prevent negative impact of individual case on bilateral ties: Chinese FM
Global Times
By Global Times Published: Sep 23, 2024 11:09 PM
Concerning the death of the boy from the Shenzhen Japanese School, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Monday that the two countries agreed to maintain communication to prevent negative impact of individual case on the bilateral ties, and noted that both countries recognized each other's effort to properly and calmly handle the tragic incident.
The statement was made in response to a question about the meeting between China's Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong and Japan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Tsuge Yoshifumi on Monday morning. The two sides exchanged views on China-Japan relations and issues of mutual interest, said Lin.
The two sides reiterated their stance of valuing and growing China-Japan relations and agreed to work together to deliver on the important common understandings between the leaders of the two countries, and comprehensively advance the strategic relationship of mutual benefit, said Lin.
"We've learned that the case is still under investigation. The Shenzhen authorities released information on the progress made in the investigation. China will continue to provide as much facilitation and assistance as possible to the boy's family in handling related matters," Lin noted.
When asked to comment on the matter that the Shenzhen school had received over 1,000 bouquets of flowers in condolences of the boy, with most of the flowers coming from local Chinese residents, Lin said "Chinese people expressing their condolences of their own accord reflects their simplest sentiments of grief and their respect for life."
The Chinese culture values kindness, credibility, justice and togetherness. It is a culture for peace and tolerance. Our tradition of welcoming all foreign friends with every sincerity and treating them as our equals will not change. And we will do everything possible to protect the safety and property of foreign nationals in China, Lin noted.
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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian's Regular Press Conference on September 24, 2024
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China
Updated: September 24, 2024 19:51
Beijing Youth Daily: The UN Summit of the Future opened in New York and adopted the Pact for the Future, proposing plans for action in areas of international peace and security to tackle global challenges. At the Summit, UN Secretary-General AntAnio Guterresanotedathat, "Our world is going through a time of turbulence and a period of transition. We must take the first decisive steps towards updating and reforming international cooperation. People everywhere are hoping for a future of peace, and prosperity.aAnd they see the United Nations as essential to solving these challenges."aCould you share with us China's participation at the Summit? How does China view the UN's role in tackling global challenges?
Lin Jian: On September 23 local time, special representative of President Xi Jinping, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the UN Summit of the Future in New York and delivered a speech titled "Bearing in Mind Our Common Future And Jointly Building a Better Tomorrow."
Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted that the future carried the hope of human development. Facing transformation unseen in a century, it is highly relevant to hold the Summit of the Future, adopt the Pact for the Future to galvanize collective efforts for world peace and development, and to map out the future of humanity. President Xi Jinping has put forward the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, advocated high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and proposed the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative. These vision and initiatives have provided new solutions for tackling the common challenges of humanity and drawn a new blueprint for building a better world.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi elaborated on the four-point proposal made by China. Countries of the world need to build a future of peace and tranquility.aCountries should uphold the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. Major countries, in particular, should lead by example. They should break geopolitical circles and rise above bloc confrontation. Countries of the world need to build a future of development and prosperity.aCountries need to share development opportunities and pursue win-win cooperation.aWe need to follow a people-centered development philosophy and advocate a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, so as to deliver the fruits of development to our people and ensure common prosperity for all countries. Countries of the world need to build a future of fairness and justice.aWe need to build an equal and orderly multipolar world, strengthen the authority of international rule of law, reject the law of the jungle where the strong bully the weak, oppose acts of hegemonism such as unilateral sanctions, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries. Countries of the world need to build a better future.aWe need to push back the frontier and explore new practices, and make global governance more just and equitable. China supports the UN in serving as the main channel in AI governance, and will propose the AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All.
Facing global challenges such as conflicts and turbulence, development imbalances and governance disorder, the international community needs solidarity and cooperation, rather than division and confrontation. It is fundamental to uphold true multilateralism. Only by firmly defending the UN-centered international system and the international order based on international law, can multilateralism be translated into action and can global governance be able to make progress. China stands ready to advocate true multilateralism at the Summit of the Future and the UN General Assembly, and work with countries around the world to advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and make the world a better and more peaceful place.
TASS: Southern and eastern Lebanon suffered massive attacks by Israeli military. As of last night, over 1,300 targets have been hit by Israeli airstrikes, leaving more than 2,000 dead or injured, including women and children. What's China's comment?
Lin Jian: China is closely followingathe current tensions between Lebanon and Israel and feels deeply shocked by the heavy casualties inflicted by relevant military operations. China opposes any infringement on Lebanon's sovereignty and security. We oppose and condemn any move that harms innocent civilians. We call on relevant parties to take measures immediately to cool down the situation, prevent further escalation ofatensions in the region, uphold peace and stability in the Middle East, and protect the safety of the peopleathere.
Anadolu Agency: To follow up about Lebanon situation. There are increasing concerns that the escalation could lead to a spillover of the conflict inathe Middle East.aSo does China plan to call for an emergency meeting of UN Security Council about the situation?
Lin Jian: The more severe the situation in the Middle East is, the more important for the international community to jointly cool down the situation and deescalate the tensions. No matter how the situation may evolve, China will stand on the side of justice, and stay committed to keeping the Middle East peaceful and stable. We stand ready to work with all parties and continue making relentless efforts for peace and stability in the region.
Hubei Media Group: I've learned that a delegation of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weaponsa(OPCW) was invited to visit China. Could you share more details with us?
Lin Jian: From September 17 to 22, OPCW Director-General, Chairpersonaof the OPCW Executive Council, Chairpersonaof the Conference of the States Partiesato the Chemical Weapons Conventiona(CWC), and diplomatic envoys and representatives from 13 member states ofathe OPCW Executive Councilavisited China.
The visit of the delegation aims to thoroughly and completely destructachemical weapons abandoned by Japan in China (Japanese ACWs)aas early as possible, uphold the authority of the CWC, and realizeathe goal of creating "a world free of chemical weapons". During their stay in China, the delegation made a field visit to the sites where the ACWs have been excavated, recoveredaand destructed. All parties stressed that the CWC clearly stipulates Japan's obligation to destructathe Japanese ACWs, and supported the OPCW in continuing its serious review, monitoring and verificationain order to ensure the effective implementation of relevant articles.
Let me stress that during the war of aggression against China, the Japanese army used and abandoned a huge quantity of chemical weapons in China, the grave harm of which still haunts this land. To remove the hazardous Japanese ACWs is Japan's unshirkable historical, political and legal responsibility. Japan needs to strictly abide by the CWC and the relevant MOU between the governments of the People's Republic of China and Japan, act with greater urgency and a sense of responsibility,aand do everything possible to speed up the full chain disposal of the ACWs so that the day will come sooner when the hazardous Japanese ACWs are destroyed completely and thoroughly, and the Chinese people no longer have to live on soil tainted by ACWs.
China looks to the OPCW playing a greater role in monitoring Japan's fulfillment of its commitments under relevant convention and continuing striving for the lofty goal of creating "a world free of chemical weapons."
NHK: Regarding the fatal stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy in Shenzhen, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa in New York, "The Japanese side should view this calmly and rationally and avoid politicization and exaggeration." So could you elaborate on what politicization and exaggeration means in this case?
Lin Jian: Let me reiterate that it's an individual case, and China is investigating and handling the case in accordance with the law. We noted that some in Japan have been linking this individual case with so-called "anti-Japan"acomments on Chinese social network, and exaggerating and sensationalizing so-called "safety risks."aThis type of rhetoric is clearly not what the facts have shown.aI made clear China's position yesterday.aI want to stressaagainathat China will as always protect the safety of all foreign nationals in China, and we hope Japan can view this individual case in a calm and rational way, and avoid the case from being politicized or inflated.
AFP: The Canadian former diplomat Michael Kovrig has said in an interview with CBC news that he was psychologically tortured by being held in solitary confinement in a Chinese prisonaforanearly six months from 2019. And does China have a response to this allegation of psychological torture?
Lin Jian: China is a country that upholds the rule of law. The judicial authorities in China handle cases in strict accordance with law. Lies and smears can't change the fact that the person you mentioned committed illegal activities. We urge relevant party to respect facts and reflect on the wrongdoings.
Dragon TV: It's recently reported by some US and European media outlets that the US is drafting a "New York Joint Statement"athat is set to be signed later this month in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, and EU member countries are discussing whether to join the pledgeaor not. Countries signing the statementawill promote "reliable and trusted cable components and services"aand "encourage undersea cable network service providers and operations and maintenance providers to have transparent ownership, partnerships, and corporate governance structures."aThey would also demand network operators to have supply chain security and data security measures in place. Some media believed that by doing so, the US attempts to exclude Chinese companies from the global undersea cable supply chain. What's China's comment?
Lin Jian: International undersea cables are the most important type of information carrier in international communications of our time and the underpinning infrastructure for international digital economy and cross-border trade. Regrettably, however, the US has in recent years blatantly contravened international rules and business operation models, built a small yard with high fences targeted at China in the field of undersea cables, and kept abusing state power to go after and suppress Chinese companies, products and technologies. The fact that the US advocates the signing of such an exclusive joint statement on undersea cables during the UNGA says everything about its ill intention.
Undersea cables are typical international infrastructure for civilian uses, which bear on global cyber connectivity and the wellbeing of people around the world. China firmly opposes the US turning undersea cables into a political and security issue, which severely disrupts international market rules, threatens global digital connectivity and cybersecurity, and denies other countries, especially developing countries, the right to develop their undersea cable industry and independently choose undersea cable suppliers. China will, as always, firmly defend the lawful and legitimate interests of Chinese companies, support the international community in conducting undersea cable cooperation under the principles of fairness, justice, equality and inclusiveness, and firmly oppose the US's unilateral and hegemonic moves.
Bloomberg: The Biden administration proposed new rules blocking the sale or import of connected vehicle softwareaand hardwareaoriginating from Chinaaand Russia to prevent the threat of hacking.aThe Department of Commerce believes that it concerns national security. What's the Foreign Ministry's comment?
Lin Jian: I'd refer you to competent authorities for the specifics. I have elaborated our position on this issue yesterday. The discriminatory practices of the US targeting particular companies and products of certain countries violate the basic principles of the WTO, disrupt international trade and investment, destabilize global industrial and supply chains and will eventually undermine the US's own interests. China has noted there is much doubt from the industry of the US itself.
What the US needs to do is to stop bringing down and containing other countries in the name of national security and create an open, fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for companies from all countries. China will firmly safeguard its lawful rights and interests. a
TASS: The FinnishaAhtari Zooaannounced in a news release that two giant pandas would return to China ahead of schedule. Could you provide more information?
Lin Jian: I noted that the China Wildlife Conservation Association has released relevant information, which you may refer to.
NHK: Just a follow-up question on Shenzhen incident. You're saying some people are connecting anti-Japanese comments on social network in China to this individual case. That's what youasaid, right?aThat is not consistent with facts. So are you saying that China concluded that this incident is not relatedato theaanti-Japanese posting and comments on social network?
Lin Jian: Did you come to the press conference yesterday? (NHK: I watched the press conference yesterday.) Same question was raised yesterday and I have responded to it. China does not teach its people to hate Japan. After the incident, many local Chinese laid flowers to mourn the boy. These actions of their own accord showed their opposition to violence and aspiration for ever-lasting friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people.
Let me stress once again that we believe that to learn from history is not for perpetuating hatred but for avoiding the tragedy of war from repeating itself, cherishing the hard-won peace and creating a bright future.
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China hits back at Biden's 'hot mic' comment on aggression
Beijing labels the Quad a US tool to 'contain China and perpetuate hegemony.'
By RFA Staff 2024.09.24 -- China has responded angrily to comments by U.S. President Joe Biden, at a weekend summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, about Chinese aggression, saying the grouping was a U.S. tool to ensure its hegemony.
Leaders of the so-called Quad, which groups the United States, Australia, India and Japan, met on Saturday in Delaware, Biden's home state on Saturday.
During their talks the U.S. president made comments that were transmitted by a microphone he did not realize was on, a so-called hot mic incident, saying: "China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region. It's true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia and the Taiwan Straits."
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, asked about the comments at a media briefing in Beijing on Monday, said the grouping was "a tool the U.S. uses to contain China and perpetuate U.S. hegemony."
Spokesman Lin Jian said the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy was essentially an attempt "to patch up forces to exclude and contain China."
"Though the U.S. claims that it does not target China, the first topic of the summit is about China and China was made an issue throughout the event," Lin said, adding: "the U.S. is lying through its teeth" and Washington needed to "get rid of its obsession with perpetuating its supremacy and containing China."
The Quad was established in 2007 but Australia withdrew in 2008. It was re-established in 2017 and was immediately denounced by Beijing as a U.S. effort to gang up to create "an Asian NATO."
U.S. and other Quad officials have repeatedly denied that they are attempting to form a defense alliance in the region to counter China.
'Lack of significant decisions'
The Quad summit's 5,600-word final statement did not mention China by name but said that Quad members "are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas."
"We continue to express our serious concern about the militarization of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea," the group said.
"We condemn the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, including increasing use of dangerous maneuvers," it said, without mentioning any other countries.
The statement underscored that the 2016 Arbitral Award, which rejected all China's claims in the South China Sea, should be the basis for peacefully resolving maritime disputes.
Yet on the issue of maritime security, Quad members only agreed to launch a first Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission between coast guards in 2025 "to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety," without releasing further details.
"There weren't any really significant decisions made," said Malcolm Davis, a senior defense analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, or ASPI.
"I suspect given that this is the last ones for Joe Biden and Kishida Fumio - with a U.S. presidential election fast approaching - and with an Australian election occurring by May next year - they decided to 'mark time' for this one."
"So, a missed opportunity to set a firm stance going into 2025, with a potential return of Trump, and an uncertain situation in Japan in terms of likely replacement for Kishida," the analyst added.
'Quad has to step up'
Stephen Nagy, a Tokyo-based professor of politics and international studies agreed that the group had likely avoided making commitments that new leaders might question.
"With President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida departing soon, I suspect the Quad statement was focused on presenting a broad vision rather than concrete initiatives that incoming leaders may not agree to," said Nagy.
The Quad's function had "evolved significantly away from being a security provider to a public good provider and regional problem solver, and this explains the lack of concrete details as to how to deal with China's assertive behavior in the South and East China Seas," added Nagy.
The summit's final statement reaffirmed that "the Quad is here to stay" and that the U.S. would host the next Quad foreign ministers' meeting in 2025 while the next Quad Leaders' Summit would take place in India, also in 2025.
"I definitely think that the Quad has to step up and become a more powerful and visible group - and that means it needs to start dealing more decisively on defense and security matters, rather than avoiding them," said ASPI's Davis.
"It shouldn't be an 'Asian NATO' per se, but it does need to do more than low-level diplomatic decisions," he said.
"China will continue to treat the Quad with contempt if the group doesn't take on a more visible role, and the group will lose influence."
There have reportedly been some proposals to expand the grouping's dialogue mechanism to Quad Plus to attract wider support but Nagy said the Quad was "designed as a foursome to maximize the decision making process."
"Adding more members would slow down decisions and potentially lead it down the road of the tyranny of multilateralism," he argued, "But ad hoc, functional cooperation with other nations in a Quad Plus format may be possible."
Edited by Mike Firn.
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At UN meetings, China focuses on Taiwan, security, climate change
By Legu Zhang September 24, 2024
This year's United Nations General Assembly meeting, which opened Tuesday, takes place against a backdrop of intense competition between the United States and China, mounting geopolitical and security challenges, and pressing issues such as climate change and digital security. What Beijing brings to the conversation and says will be watched closely.
China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, will address the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday and is participating as a "special representative" of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Wang did not attend the U.N. meetings last year but is already using the opportunity to step up China's diplomatic engagement.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Wang has already met individually with foreign ministers from Japan, Lebanon and Venezuela and spoken at the "Summit of the Future," a high-level meeting on addressing the challenges facing the 21st century.
China's foreign ministry spokesperson, Liu Jian, said Beijing is hosting a series of events on the sidelines of this year's meetings. Wang will attend events to promote Beijing's Global Development Initiative a a Chinese Communist Party multilateral initiative to support 2030 sustainability goals - and "enhance international cooperation on AI."
Balancing existing international organizations and China-led and created groupings, Wang will meet with other foreign ministers, attending a meeting for G20 foreign ministers and those who are members of BRICS a a political and economic grouping that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and a growing number of countries.
Some key China issues to watch at this year's meeting:
Taiwan: Taiwan says it should be included within the U.N. framework and has accused China of misinterpreting U.N. Resolution 2758 in 1971 to keep Taiwan from participating in the world body. Resolution 2758 transferred the seat for China at the U.N. from the Republic of China, Taiwan's official name, to the People's Republic of China. Taiwan has been self-governed since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, but Beijing claims that the island of 23 million and its outlying islands are part of China's territory.
South China Sea: Disputes over the South China Sea have increased over the past year as Beijing has increased its assertiveness, particularly in waters within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, heightening tensions with Manila and other Southeast Asian claimant states. Earlier in September, the Philippine ambassador to the United States, Jose Manuel Romualdez, said that at least 20 countries will be holding a summit to discuss ways to "talk some sense" into China as tensions rise over territories that Beijing claims in the South China Sea.
Multilateralism and global governance: China maintains it is a steadfast supporter of multinationalism, focusing on addressing global issues through multilateral actors such as the United Nations. This year's UNGA meeting will be an opportunity for Beijing to call on the international community to strengthen cooperation by promoting Xi Jinping's Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Civilization Initiative, which emphasize development and poverty reduction in the Global South.
Climate change and green development: The UNGA meeting will give China an outlet to reiterate its commitment to fighting climate change. Beijing is likely to emphasize its commitment to promoting green economic development and carbon neutrality and call on developed countries to help developing countries promote positive climate change policies. This past July, China announced that 51% of new car purchases were new energy vehicles, or NEVs, highlighting this transition. However, countries and international organizations such as the United States, Canada and the European Union have accused Bejing of flooding international markets with cheap electric vehicles and solar panels. China says the goods are helping move the global green transition forward.
Global security issues: China is likely to discuss its role in mediating global security issues. China will likely discuss its role as a mediator in Middle East reconciliation, emphasizing it is promoting diplomatic dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran to demonstrate its positive role in global peace. Beijing is also likely to discuss its peace plan for the Russia-Ukraine conflict. On Tuesday, Ukraine's presidential adviser, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, told reporters that China supplies roughly 60% of the foreign parts found in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Economic and supply chain recovery: It is also likely that China will seek to address how to best promote global supply chain stability and economic recovery through its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative and other economic cooperation mechanisms. It is also expected that China will call for reducing international trade barriers. On September 18, the EU postponed a vote about potential tariffs on electric vehicles produced in China amid discussion between Beijing and Brussels regarding the tariffs.
Technological cooperation and AI governance: In July, the UNGA adopted a resolution proposed by China that works to strengthen international cooperation on artificial intelligence a also known as AI a capacity building. The resolution received broad support with 140 countries signing on to the resolution. Bejing is expected to build on this support and call for the establishment of a global technology governance framework at the summit, "encouraging international cooperation and practical actions to help countries, especially developing countries, strengthen AI capacity building," according to China's foreign ministry.
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Academic freedom declines under Hong Kong's national security regime, report finds
By William Yang September 24, 2024
A report released on Wednesday finds that Hong Kong's national security law, enacted in July 2020, has eroded academic freedom in the former British colony.
The report, co-authored by Human Rights Watch, and the Washington-based advocacy organization Hong Kong Democracy Council, said university authorities have imposed greater control and limitations on student activities and that students and faculty members are increasingly exercising self-censorship to avoid getting into trouble.
"Students, academics, and administrators, especially those from Hong Kong studying contemporary socio-political issues, feel as if they are living under a microscope," the report says.
Some analysts say the opaque definition of what constitutes a violation of the security law has created a chilling effect among students and faculty members at Hong Kong universities.
"When the red line isn't clear, there will be a pervasive sense of fear, and students and faculty members will try to make adjustments to ensure they don't get into trouble," Maya Wang, the associate China director at Human Rights Watch, told VOA by phone.
The report said Hong Kong's eight public universities have been managed by people who hold views favored by Beijing following the imposition of the law in 2020. Since then, university officials have increased crackdowns on student unions and banned symbols or events viewed as promoting pro-democracy values.
"University officials have punished students for holding peaceful protests and gatherings, and have broadly censored student publications, communications, and events," the report reads.
Wang at Human Rights Watch said since many college students and academics were involved in 2019 protests over an extradition bill, one of the Chinese government's priorities following the implementation of the law is to "impose ideological control" over universities.
"The decline of academic freedom in Hong Kong's universities is part of Beijing's attempt to impose ideological control over the entire city," she told VOA.
Exercising self-censorship
Most of the 33 students and academics interviewed for the report said self-censorship is a common practice at universities in Hong Kong, especially on socio-political topics related to China and Hong Kong.
"They do this when expressing themselves in classrooms, when writing and researching academic articles, and when inviting speakers for academic conferences," the report says, adding that academics teaching Hong Kong and China current affairs feel "especially vulnerable."
In some cases, university officials have asked academics in the social science field to stop offering courses on topics that Beijing considers sensitive. Others face censorship imposed by university administrators or academic publishers.
Some academics said the prevalence of self-censorship at universities in Hong Kong will reduce international understanding of the dynamics in China.
"Hong Kong was always an important space that gives the international community some insight into what's happening in Hong Kong and the broader China, but that space is now rapidly disappearing," Lokman Tsui, a research fellow at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab and a former journalism professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told VOA by phone.
The law's negative impact on academic freedom in Hong Kong seems to differ between academics in different fields. "Some said [the NSL] affected everything they do; others said it has very little impact," the report says.
Since university management is stacked with supporters of the Chinese government's position, the report says university administrators have worked with Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to harass, intimidate or even remove academics voicing different opinions.
"The government does that by defaming and intimidating those academics perceived to hold liberal or pro-democracy views in the state-owned media and denying or not issuing visas to foreign academics expressing such opinions," the report says, adding that universities would then fire, let go or deny tenure to these academics.
Human Rights Watch and Hong Kong Democracy Council said the Chinese government's efforts to "cleanse" universities in Hong Kong have led to a "harmonization" of opinion in academia in Hong Kong. They also help amplify Chinese and Hong Kong authorities' claim that pro-democracy voices are now "in the minority."
"The Chinese government's overall intention has been to 'cleanse' the universities [and] the result is a sanitized version of higher education compliant with the Party's views, which so far continues to deliver a high-caliber education," the report says.
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Press Statement of Vice Department Director of WPK Central Committee Kim Yo Jong
Korean Central News Agency of DPRK
Pyongyang, September 24 (KCNA) -- Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, released on Tuesday the following press statement titled "An abnormal object appeared at Pusan Port: U.S. strategic assets would not find their resting place in the Korean peninsula."
The Aerospace Reconnaissance Agency, an independent intelligence organ directly under the head of state of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, captured an abnormal object at a wharf, a subject of its constant attention at Pusan Port of the ROK at 10:03:10 on Monday and reported its reconnaissance data.
A nuclear submarine appeared on the wharf where a U.S. aircraft carrier used to moor at.
The latest nuclear submarine, which has never appeared openly since it was commissioned in 2020, made its appearance at the Pusan operation base for the first time in history. It can be hardly regarded as a "sightseeing voyage".
Given the U.S. has been demonstrating its overall strength recently while making public the "might" of its nuclear strategic assets in order, one can easily guess the true aim of the open portcall of the nuclear submarine which should have been concealed under the "surface of water."
In June the U.S. forces launched Minuteman-3 intercontinental ballistic missiles twice and on September 18 they opened to the public the test-flight image of B-21 Raider, a next-generation stealth strategic bomber, for the first time.
The U.S. let the latest nuclear submarine of the U.S. Navy anchor in Pusan Port of the ROK, thus took out all its cards called "three nuclear strategic assets".
This clearly reveals the frantic military and strategic attempt of the U.S. hell-bent on intentionally demonstrating the "superiority of strength" before the world.
The U.S. is now experiencing unprecedented strategic inferiority in the Korean peninsula and the Asia-Pacific region and is very afraid of the reality in which the entity of the strong power of independence against the U.S. and the fortress for defending justice is beginning to make its appearance in the region.
Therefore, it is deploying all nuclear strategic assets in the Korean peninsula and its vicinity while cooking up various large and small military blocs in the region to contain the DPRK and independent sovereign states by force of arms and to "bind" the group of its followers who feel uneasy and impatient.
The Wilmington Declaration making the "nuclear threat" from anyone the subject of discussion was fabricated at the QUAD summit meeting held in Delaware State of the U.S. some days ago and the promise for the U.S.-Japan-ROK cooperation to cope with the so-called "ever-increasing nuclear threat" was made at the U.S.-Japan summit held on the same day. They are also typical products of the U.S. geopolitical sinister intention to politically and militarily encircle and stifle the DPRK and regional countries.
The U.S. latest nuclear submarine's visit to the port of the ROK is a proof that the U.S. ambition to often take up nuclear strategic assets, boast of its strength, increase its threat to the rival and "enjoy" its hegemonic privilege by dint of its malicious strength at any cost is getting ever more extreme.
No matter how the U.S. may demonstrate its "overwhelming capability" by rising to the surface even a submarine whose mission is to mount a final nuclear strike under the sea, nothing will change.
The DPRK's nuclear war deterrent to cope with and contain various threats from outside is bound to be bolstered up both in quality and quantity continuously and limitlessly as the security of the state is constantly exposed to the U.S. nuclear threat and blackmail.
The U.S. nuclear submarine's call at Pusan Port may be a break time for the U.S. marines and a comfort for the U.S. stooges, but it can never be an object of fear in the face of the super-powerful entity standing over against the U.S.
The U.S. strategic assets will never find their resting place in the region of the Korean peninsula.
We will continue to inform that all the ports and military bases of the ROK are not safe places.
The U.S. is by no means a "pronoun of security". -0-
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Transcript of Special Briefing by Foreign Secretary on Prime Minister's visit to USA (September 23, 2024)
India - Ministry of External Affairs
September 24, 2024
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good evening friends, welcome to this Special Press Briefing by Foreign Secretary, Shri Vikram Misri on the Prime Minister's visit to the United States. We are also joined here by Ambassador of India to the United States, Ambassador Vinay Kwatra and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Ambassador P. Harish. As also Joint Secretary who looks after the United States of America in Ministry of External Affairs, Shri Nagaraj Naidu. With that, I invite Foreign Secretary to make his opening remarks. So over to you.
Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary: Thank you, Randhir. Good evening all. The Prime Minister has just concluded a very intense and successful visit to the United States and will be departing shortly for India. Now, we had kept you posted on the various elements of his program through yesterday and today as well; I think yesterday, there were Press Releases issued on all elements of his program, the Community Event in Long Island, the Tech Roundtable that had been organized by the MIT School of Engineering, the bilateral meetings that he had yesterday with the Prime Minister of Nepal, the Crown Prince of Kuwait and the President of Palestine.
Prime Minister also had a meeting yesterday with the CEO of Holtec International, an Indian American, Mr. Krishna Singh, a very useful meeting. Today, as you are aware, was largely multilateral day. As I told you, this was a visit that had the bilateral, the plurilateral and the multilateral. Today was a multilateral day, primarily with Prime Minister's address to the Summit of the Future in the morning. And this afternoon, the Prime Minister had a meeting with the President and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, His Excellency To Lam. And he has just concluded his engagements for the day with a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.
I have a few additional details. I think the Community Event, most of you must have watched it or you were present for it, so I won't go into the details of the event except to say that it once again showed the kind of connect that the Indian American community has built in the United States and the manner in which it acts as a living bridge between our two countries. And the Prime Minister acknowledged that in his remarks. The highlights, of course, were his announcement about India's plans to open two new Consulates in Boston and Los Angeles, and also the naming of Thiruvalluvar Chair in Tamil studies at the University of Houston.
The Tech Roundtable, I had said in my curtain raiser Press Briefing as well as in my briefing on the first day of the visit here, that this visit has a very strong technology element to it. You saw that technology element reflected in the Quad Joint Statement as well. You saw it reflected in the US India Bilateral Fact Sheet as well, and in his other meetings as well, this has been reflected not just with the MIT organized Roundtable but also in his meeting with the CEO of Holtec.
The Roundtable was especially useful. It gathered the who's who of the leading companies in the field of AI, semiconductors, quantum computing, life sciences, IT and communications. I think the list is already available with you, so I won't go into that. But what was striking about the Roundtable was the extent of involvement that all of these companies already have in India, the degree to which they are enthused by the prospects in India, the policy environment in India and their plans to continue to grow in India and grow with India for themselves and for the rest of the world. And I think that's what was really a feature of the remarks of practically every one of the CEOs of how excited they are for their own businesses in India, especially at this moment in time when things like AI and quantum computing are changing the world as we know it.
The particular sense in India at this time that technology can be a driver of seminal change for the nation but also for countries of the Global South in general, which should not be left behind in this race for technology. They felt that India could play a leadership role in this regard. The Prime Minister of course shared with them his own thoughts about the new policies that are coming into play. You are aware of the India Semiconductor Mission, for instance, there is a second edition of that, that is in the works, and he shared his thoughts about those policies that are coming, and invited them to be a part of this exciting journey that India has embarked on and also it gave the opportunity to reflect on how technology has become a core driver of the India-US strategic partnership.
Insofar as the bilateral meetings are concerned, I think you already have some sense of the meeting that took place with the Prime Minister of Nepal, this was the first time that the two Prime Ministers were meeting after Prime Minister's own election for the third term, because Prime Minister Oli was not in office at that time and then Prime Minister Oli took office in Nepal. So, this was their first meeting in this particular phase, gave them the opportunity to reflect on the unique and close bilateral relationship between the two countries and their intention to make progress in all areas of bilateral relations including the development partnership, the cooperation on energy, on power; on connectivity insofar as energy is concerned, physical connectivity, people to people connectivity, etc.
Prime Minister also had a meeting with the Crown Prince of Kuwait where he remarked on the very close relationship between the two countries and in fact the Crown Prince of Kuwait said that India is a part of Kuwait's history and in fact cited some old sayings from Kuwait that reflected the closeness of the relationship between the two countries. There are a few high level visits in both directions that were deliberated upon and these will be planned in the coming months.
The Prime Minister's meeting with the President of Palestine, the Prime Minister referred to India's historic support for Palestine in the United Nations on the international stage as also the consistent and sustained humanitarian support that India has provided to Palestine in the fields of health, education, capacity building and others. He also expressed deep concern at the unfolding crisis in Gaza where the situation remains complicated and tensions remain high and reiterated once again that only a two-State solution can deliver sustainable peace in this area. The President of Palestine thanked the Prime Minister for the assistance that India had provided including on the political issues and hoped that India would continue to play its role for bringing peace in the region.
Today, as I said, the Prime Minister had meetings with the President of Vietnam and the President of Ukraine. With the President of Vietnam again, as you know, the President has also just very recently taken over as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The Prime Minister congratulated him on his assumption of this new position. He also recalled the visit of the Vietnamese Prime Minister to India recently, the significance of the India-Vietnam strategic relationship. He expressed condolences for the recent devastation in Vietnam on account of Cyclone Yagi.
General Secretary and President To Lam thanked Prime Minister for his good wishes, thanked him for the aid operation that India had launched under Operation Sadbhav recently to bring relief aid to Vietnam. Prime Minister also invited him to visit India, an invitation which was accepted and will be worked on through other channels. Both sides remarked on the growing relationship, especially in the fields of defence and security, energy and of course cultural contact, which remains a very strong part of the relationship.
The day ended just a short while ago with a meeting between Prime Minister and President Zelenskyy. This, as you would have remarked, is the third meeting between the two leaders in the space of about four months, probably three months if I am not mistaken. It gave an opportunity to take stock again of the recent developments. Our Prime Minister recalled his visit to Kiev, their discussions on all matters, the bilateral issues, as well as issues surrounding the Russia-Ukraine conflict. President Zelenskyy was very appreciative of India's attention to these issues and said that Prime Minister's visit had been highly appreciated. And he thanked the Prime Minister for the efforts that he was making for peace and a pathway to finding a way out of this conflict. Both sides appreciated that there was positive momentum on a lot of issues in the bilateral relationship. And they agreed to remain in close touch, either directly or through exchanges of visits at various other levels. As you would probably be aware, there is an Inter-Governmental Commission between the two sides. And there was some discussion about arranging a meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission, which is headed at the levels of the two Foreign Ministers.
There was this meeting yesterday with Dr. KP Singh, as I said, who is chairman of Holtec International, which is a leading US player in the civil nuclear field, and especially in the exciting new field of small modular reactors. And there was a discussion on the possibility of the application of that technology in the Indian context. And I imagine that these discussions will continue at the technical levels.
Last, but certainly not the least, was today's main event, which was Prime Minister's address at the Summit of the Future at the UN General Assembly. Here, as you are aware, the Summit is taking place against the backdrop of conflict in the world, challenges to sustainable development, including in the fields of climate, health, energy, education, gender, etc. The objective of the Summit is to rebuild trust in the multilateral system and showcase the power of international collaboration in addressing current and future challenges. And for the first time, the entire UN membership, through the Pact for the Future that was adopted this morning, has agreed on a pathway to transform global governance. And it is expected that this will provide some momentum to the processes that are already underway in many of these areas within the UN system.
Prime Minister, therefore, highlighted in his remarks, which you would have seen, that in order to stay relevant, the multilateral system has to reform. Reform is the key to relevance, as he said. And he spoke of India's own example and said we've shown how sustainable development can take place at scale successfully, and demonstrated India's readiness to share our experiences with the world, especially in the field of digital public infrastructure. I think his speech is available. Overall, this has been, as I said, an extremely intense visit. I think it's lasted about 55 or 56 hours in all. But we've had very significant outcomes in the bilateral, in the plurilateral, and in the multilateral domains that have enabled India to say its piece and share its thoughts on a global stage. And I'm sure the results from this will stand us in good stead as we move forward.
Let me stop there. I think the delegation is on a really, really short time slot. I think we can take a few questions.
Vishnu: Good evening, sir. Vishnu Som from NDTV. At whose request did the meeting between the Ukrainian President and Prime Minister happen? And was there acceptance of our argument that the import of Russian oil does not translate into furthering Russia's war effort?
Krishna Mohan: Sir, Krishna Mohan Sharma from Bharat Express. Prime Minister ne apni speech mei kaha ki sustainable development jo hai woh battleground mei nahi ho sakta, uske baad Ukraine ke Zelenskyy se unki mulakat hui, toh iska kya natija dekha jaye? Kuch aisi umeed hai ki ye yuddh khatam hoga kyuki pura vishwa jo hai woh Bharat ki taraf dekh raha hai?
[Question in Hindi: Approximate translation] Sir, Krishna Mohan Sharma from Bharat Express. In his speech, Prime Minister said that sustainable development cannot happen in the battlefield, and after that, he met with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy. What should we see as the outcome of this? Is there any hope that this war will end, as the whole world is looking towards India?
Prashant: Sir, Prashant Jha of the Hindustan Times. One question on tech, sir. In the conversation yesterday with the CEOs, while they were appreciative of India's strengths, were there regulatory legislative changes that they suggested which could enable them to participate in the India story more? And did DPI come up and what are the mechanisms through which we are pushing or planning to push DPI out?
On Ukraine, sir, a quick follow up to Vishnu's question. Besides the normative desire for peace, which the Prime Minister has consistently pushed, was there a discussion on the empirical pathway to peace and the specifics of what that would entail? Thank you.
Seema: Seema Sirohi, The Economic Times. Mr. Foreign Secretary, I had a question about the US-India big picture. As you might know, there was some meeting that the White House called with Sikh activists and also there is a case going on. Some people think that's why the NSA did not come in the delegation. While the Bilateral Joint Statement is expansive, substantive and great, there are these little things that keep happening. I mean, I don't know if I should call them little, but how should we interpret the big picture in this case?
Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary: Okay, the meeting with President Zelenskyy was a meeting that the Ukrainian side requested and that accordingly took place. Insofar as your question related to oil is concerned, that did not figure in the discussions today. As I said, you know, this is the third meeting between the leaders in the last three months or so. A lot of the issues have been discussed, but at this particular meeting, this particular subject was not discussed.
Krishna aapka jo sawal tha ki Pradhan Mantri ji ne kaha ki sustainable development yuddh ke mahol mei nahi ho sakta, toh ek tarah se jo Rashtrapati Zelenskyy ke sath bhi bhent hui hai usmei bhi Pradhan Mantri ji ko ye kehne ka avsar mila ki unhone hamesha shanti ka prastav le ke, shanti ke path par aage badhne ki baat ki hai. Toh saaf baat hai ki agar shanti nahi hai toh ek tarah se sustainable development bhi nahi ho sakta. Toh ye donon chizain judi hui hain. Kya yuddh ka ant hoga? Ye to samay hi batayega. Lekin sab logon ki jo koshish hai woh isi or kendrit hai ki kisi tarah se yuddh ka ant dhunda jaye aur Pradhan Mantri ji ne apni jo unki Rashtrapati Zelenskyy se batchit hui usmai unhone unko bataya bhi, unki alag-alag deshon ke jo neta hain unse batchit hui hai aur is vishay par batchit hoti rehti hai aur sabka mat yahi hai ki kisi na kisi tarah se humko yuddh viram ke liye koi na koi rasta nikalna padega aur isiko lekar hamari bhi koshishe jari hain.
[Answer in Hindi: Approximate translation] Krishna, your question was about the Prime Minister's statement that sustainable development cannot happen in the battlefield. In a way, during the meeting with President Zelenskyy, Prime Minister had the opportunity to reiterate that he has always proposed moving forward on the path of peace. It's clear that without peace, sustainable development cannot happen. These two things are interconnected. Will the war end? Only time will tell. But everyone's efforts are focused on finding a way to end the war. The Prime Minister also mentioned during his conversation with President Zelenskyy that he has been in talks with leaders of different countries, and discussions on this matter are ongoing. The consensus is that we must find a way to achieve a ceasefire, and our efforts are continuing in that direction.
Prashant, about the meeting with the tech CEOs, yes, a few of them did comment on the issues related to the regulatory and the legislative environment. I would say that some of them, while they said or referred to some aspects that needed addressing in India, but at the same time they were also enormously appreciative of the ecosystem and the environment that already existed in India, and that in fact enabled them to take advantage of the opportunities that were there in India. So, the idea was that we are doing well. We, I mean in terms of the companies in India are doing well. They can do even better and they intend to do even better, and some enabling measures by the government would help in that regard. The Prime Minister said that he remained open to hearing their suggestions and doing everything that was necessary in order to enable India to take advantage of the enormous opportunities that are presented by these breakthrough technologies, finding fertile ground in India, to not only make India grow, but for these companies growing in India and enabling their operations elsewhere in the world also to grow.
On DPI, yes, there was a reference. I think the reference was mostly complementary in terms of the manner in which India had rolled out this concept and, in fact, shown a third way to the world of how digital prowess could be leveraged for social and public good, not just in one country, but in a scalable manner to the rest of the world. And we are, in fact, at work back home to develop a model. Some aspects are already under discussion with some of our interlocutors and partners in other countries, but we are working on a plan to see how we can get this to roll out on a much larger scale in countries where there would be a requirement for this.
On your supplementary question about Ukraine and whether, in addition to the normative, there is clarity on the specifics; in some senses, first there has to be clarity on the normative aspect. As Mahatma Gandhi, I think, said once, there is no path to peace. Peace is the path. So there needs to be agreement on that. But in addition to that, I would say that the discussions that are ongoing today, they are focused on the specifics. There have been, earlier as well, questions about these specifics. There are obviously discussions going on in multiple forums around the world. You have various processes that are underway, various formats that we have seen. And we have been involved in some of those, where the idea has been to try and see if there is something around which a consensus can develop. As a result of the Prime Minister's visit to Kyiv, you are following the development since then, where the Prime Minister subsequently has been in touch with President Putin in Russia, with President Biden here in the US, our National Security Advisor visited Russia also recently. So there are a number of conversations that are going on. The attempt in all of these is to try and move towards some specifics. I don't say that the specifics are available today, but the attempt is to do precisely that.
Seema, on your question related to the US-India big picture and then what you refer to as things that keep happening; frankly speaking, what you have referred to, honestly, the question would probably be better directed at the actors that are involved in these things, as you say. We are quite clear in so far as the big story here is concerned, which is the very important relationship between India and the United States. We intend to keep working on that. There are elements that you have referred to; on that, our position is very clear. So I'm not going to repeat that again at this forum. But if you want details with regard to that and what the motivation of these things is, what the purpose is, and what ends this is supposed to serve; I think it would be better to direct this question at the people who are directly involved in this.
Manish: Foreign Secretary, Manish Chand, India Writes Network. On the Pact for the Future, how did India shape the outcomes? What is the Indian imprint there? And number two, of all the world leaders who are at the UNGA, Prime Minister chose to speak to the Palestinian leader, as well as to Ukraine's. And in his UNGA address also, there is a lot of emphasis on peace building and peacemaking, you know, preventing conflicts. Is this a conscious effort to project India as a peacemaker, a peace builder, an apostle of peace? What is the narrative here? Thank you.
Ayushi: Sir, good evening. This is Ayushi Agarwal from ANI. I have two questions. During the Indian Prime Minister's meeting with Zelenskyy, was there any discussion on the second Peace Summit, since Zelenskyy had earlier proposed holding a Summit in India? So any discussion on that? Second, was there any request from the Bangladesh's interim government to hold a meeting with the Prime Minister? Thank you.
Yoshita: Thank you. Yoshita Singh with Press Trust of India. I have a question on the UN Security Council reform. The Pact for the Future contains some language on it, which officials here have said is groundbreaking. How does India see the language on UN Security Council reform? Is it satisfied? Does it move the needle a bit, or is it the same language in a new Pact? Thank you.
Sriram: Sriram Lakshman from the Hindu, thank you. One of the questions was, there have been many efforts to reform the UN and especially the Security Council, and they haven't really borne fruit. What is different about this Pact and this Summit? Are you confident? And what gives you this confidence that this is actually going to move things forward on Security Council and UN reform? The second question is about the discussion with President Abbas. How did the discussion around India's abstention vote last week on Israel vacating the occupied territories go? Can you flesh out that discussion for us a little bit? Thank you.
Sarjana: Good evening, sir. I'm Sarjana, Sanmarg se hoon. Vinay Kwatra ji se mera sawal hain ki kal jab community program ke baad bahut saare American-Indians mile hamain, unka ye kehna tha ki humain ummeed thi ki shayad Pradhan Mantri dohri nagrikta ki ghoshna karain aur hamain bahut nirasha hui ki Prime Minister ne is baare mai kuch nahi bola. Dusra unka concern tha ki hum India mei business karna chahte hain, lekin hamain bahut saari problems aati hain, uske baare mai bhi hamain abhi tak koi bahut positive response nahi milta.
[Question in Hindi: Approximate translation] Good evening, sir. I'm Sarjana from Sanmarg. My question to Vinay Kwatra sir is that yesterday, after the community program, we met with many Indian-Americans, and they said they were hoping that the Prime Minister would announce dual citizenship, but they were very disappointed that the Prime Minister did not mention anything about it. Their second concern was that they want to do business in India, but they face many problems, and so far, they have not received any very positive response on that matter as well.
Vishnu: Vishnu from News India Times. Prime Minister announced the opening of two new Consulates in Boston and Los Angeles. Do you have any timelines as to when they'll be inaugurated? Thank you.
Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary: So, I think on the question related to the Pact for the Future and India's contribution to it, now, we have been involved in the negotiations related to this for the better part of two decades? Yes, I mean, but insofar as the Pact for the Future is concerned, the better part of the last four to six months that we've been involved in it. So there's been a lot of input that has gone into it. One thing, of course, is that, if you would recall that in August this year, the Prime Minister convened the 3rd Voice of the Global South Summit. And that was also an opportunity to hear the concerns of the Global South, because often their voice is not heard on several global platforms; and to see what their concerns were. And it enabled us to formulate our own thinking. And those inputs have gone into not just the Pact for the Future, but also the annex documents related to the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on the Youth as well. So we have contributed to not just the elements related to global governance, transformation of global governance, but also our concerns related to sustainable development, climate change, etc. All of these have figured in the final outcome document. And ours has been one of the most closely involved teams, right till the finalization of the Pact for the Future this morning.
Your question related to the significance of the meeting with President Zelenskyy, and does it sort of burnish our role? So, look, I mean, our voice in support of peace and a path to peace through dialogue and diplomacy is not a new one. It's natural for us to assume this role. And I think the Prime Minister's meeting with President Zelenskyy also reflects his own, in a sense, commitment to this effort. Because he's deeply concerned by this conflict, not just in terms of the human toll that it is taking, something that he has recognized, but also in terms of the toll that it is taking on the world at large, and especially on countries in the Global South. So his meeting with President Zelenskyy demonstrates his commitment to finding a way forward and to contributing in any way possible to a resolution of this conflict.
Ayushi, regarding discussions with President Zelenskyy on a second Peace Summit, as I said, the discussions covered a lot of issues related to the issue of finding a way forward. A number of things came up in this, the Peace Summit that was held in Switzerland, the ideas that have been floated after that, the efforts that Ukraine is making on its own, and the possibility of a second Peace Summit that Ukraine has been talking about. But I think we are not, right now, at a stage where the second Peace Summit can be discussed in any detail. I think there is a lot of work that remains to be done before that. So there was not a great deal of discussion on that specific issue.
I think, you mentioned about the meeting with Bangladesh. As you are aware, the Prime Minister is leaving in a few minutes from now. The Chief Adviser of Bangladesh is not here yet, so there hasn't been any possibility of a meeting on this occasion.
Yoshita, your question... I think, both yours and Shriram's questions are more or less on the same lines as to whether the new language on Security Council reform is something that would give us any conviction or confidence in the possibility of real reform in the governance. I would only point you in the direction of the fact that for the first time, a UN Summit document has a detailed paragraph on UN Security Council reform. So it may not have every single detail in every area that we would imagine or we would like there to be, but I think it's a good beginning. And we look forward eventually to the beginning of text-based negotiations in a fixed time frame going forward. But this should be seen as the first stop towards that objective. And the fact that till now, we haven't really had discussions on the basis of a text, but an agreement at this level in the Pact where it keeps open the possibilities of a reform of the UN system is a gain, from any perspective.
The question related to the meeting with President Abbas of Palestine and his stance, look, as I said, the meeting was a very good meeting. And it gave the opportunity to President Abbas to, in fact, appreciate the stance that India has taken in an overall sense on the Palestine issue. And we have had repeated opportunities in the last several months to express that support on several occasions. Our fundamental position on the Palestine issue remains what it has long been. In the present context, there is much greater urgency related to issues of humanitarian assistance and support, which we have continued to provide and will continue to provide. I want to tell you that President Abbas did explicitly state that he was very appreciative of India's support not just for humanitarian assistance, but also for India's political support to Palestine on the international stage.
Actually, on that question addressed to Ambassador Kwatra and the two new Consulates, I think you are probably best placed to address that as well.
Shri Vinay Kwatra, Ambassador of India to the United States: Thank you very much, Foreign Secretary. Dekhiye jahan tak aapka jo prashn tha ki jo community event hua uske baad ki jo charchayain community ke bich mei hui. Dekhiye, mujhe sangyan nahi hain ke aap community ke event mei upasthit thi ya nahi thi, lekin yadi aap thi jo ki aapke prashna se lagta hain ki thi. Aapne dekha hoga ke community event mei kis prakar ki urja thi, kis prakar ka utsah tha, kis prakar ki umang thi ek prakar se yadi main kahu toh. Toh main aapke vishay vishesh ke baare mei toh tippani nahi karunga kyuki vishay bhartiya samuday jo ki ek parakar se Bhartiya pariwar ki extension hai, woh vishwavyapi hain, vyapak hain, toh unke jo welfare se related issues hain woh bahot saare hain, toh visheshatmak prashno pe tikpani karna shayad uchit nahi hoga. Lekin mool bhaav isme spasht hai, aapne jab Pradhan Mantri ji ka kal vaktavya suna toh, yadi aap vaktavya ka mool bhaav dekhian, uska mool bhaav yahi hai ki Bhartiya pariwar jahan bhi hoga aur unse judne ke liye, unse sahyog, sahkarya, sakaratmak sahyog sehkarya karne ke liye jo bhi karna hoga, kis prakar se woh Bhartiyata ko United States mei ek prakar se United States ki jeevan shaili ka ek prakar se ek abhhin ang sa banate hain karke, woh bhav mool roop se ubhar ke aaya. Aur kitna jo ek prakar se kahun ke kis prakar se ek bahar vishwa mei faila Bhartiya pariwar Bharat se ek prakar se abbhina roop se juda hua hai, woh bhavna, ek prakar se spasht roop se bahar aayi.
[Answer in Hindi: Approximate translation] Thank you very much, Foreign Secretary. Look, as far as your question about the discussions within the community after the community event is concerned, I am not aware whether you were present at the community event or not, but from your question, it seems you were. You must have seen the kind of energy, enthusiasm, and excitement that was present at the community event, if I may put in this way. I won't comment on the specific issue you raised because the Indian community, which in a way is an extension of the Indian family, is global and widespread. There are many welfare-related issues concerning them, so it may not be appropriate to comment on specific concerns. But the core sentiment is clear, if you had listened to the Prime Minister's statement yesterday, the key message was that wherever the Indian community is, India will connect with them and work together through positive cooperation and collaboration with them. The idea of how they make Indian culture an integral part of the lifestyle in the United States was clearly emphasized. If I put it in this way, the feeling that the Indian diaspora around the world is inseparably connected to India came out strongly.
Jahan tak ekal nagarikta ka prashna hai, wo aap bhi acchi tarah se janti hain hamare samvidhan mei nihit hain toh us prashna pe baat karne ke liya aur platform hain. Jahan tak, business ki aapne baat ki, dekhiye aapne dekha hoga ke pichle das salon mei, 2014 ke baad Pradhan Mantri Modi ji ki sarkar banne ke baad, tabse lekar ab tak kis prakar ke kadam, jahan tak bharat mei ease of doing business ka jo conceptualization hua, wo Pradhan Mantri Modi ji ne hi kiya tha. Uske baad yadi aap tabse le ke aaj tak dekhain, toh aap payenge ke Bharat mei jo vyavsay, nivesh, vyapar se jude jis prakar ki bhi kanoon vyvastha hain, jis prakar ki bhi sarkari ek aupcharik vyavastha hain usmei kitni saralta aayi hain pichle ek darshak mei, uska jo ek praman hain woh sabko pata hain, lekin ye lagataar prakriya hai, ye prakriya aapne aap mei ek prashna mei nihit nahi hoti. Lekin main sirf itna hi kehna chahunga ke Bharatiya samuday se jude, jis prakar ke, har prakar ke mudde se, Bharatiya dootawas, America mei sthit bharatiya consulates, main toh halaki mera ye adhikrit nahi hai, lekin, pure vishwa mei jahan bhi Bharatiya consulate aur embassy hain, woh bharatiya samuday se har prakar se judte hain aur har prakar se jo unke vichar hain, unke jo vimarsha hain unko hum apne karyo mei sanlagn karte hain. Lekin ekal nagrita ka prashn, wo hamare samvidhan se juda hua hai.
[Answer in Hindi: Approximate translation] As far as the question of single citizenship is concerned, you are well aware that it is enshrined in our Constitution, so there are other platforms to discuss that issue. As far as your question on business is concerned, you must have seen that over the past ten years, after Prime Minister Modi's government came into power in 2014, the steps taken, the conceptualization of ease of doing business in India was done by Prime Minister Modi himself. If you look at the period from then to now, you will find that significant improvements have been made in the legal frameworks and government processes related to business, investment, and trade in India over the past decade. This progress is well known to everyone, but it is a continuous process and not confined to one particular question. I would just like to say that the Indian community, and the various issues they face, are always connected with Indian Embassy and Consulates in America; as also with Indian Embassies and Consulates globally, although I am not authorized to speak on it. We always incorporate their concerns and discussions into our functioning. However, the issue of single citizenship is connected to our Constitution."
Dekhiye, jahan tak aapke Consulates ka jo prashan hain (Look, regarding your question on Consulates), in both Los Angeles and Boston; you would recall that... I think it was during the last State visit, that it was announced that two new Consulates will be opened. And Prime Minister made that announcement. You all saw that. And we will now work with the US administration to carry forward the implementation of that decision. Thank you.
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: With that, we come to the close of this Special Briefing. Thank you very much.
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Iran has right to retaliate against Haniyeh assassination: Zarif
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Sep 24, 2024
New York, IRNA -- Iran's vice president for strategic affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran has the right to retaliate against the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
In an interview with NBC News, Zarif said Iran has the right to retaliate at a time of its choosing for Haniyeh's assassination in the Iran capital Tehran in July.
After the assassination, Zarif continued, "we were asked by the international community to exercise restraint in order to bring about an end to the war in Gaza." But the promise of a cease-fire deal never materialized, he added.
Zarif also said the Iranian government was ready to work with other countries to end the conflict in Gaza.
"We want to move in a more peaceful, more stable world for our citizens and for the citizens of the world. We don't seek war, but we will defend ourselves," he said.
He said the US had only itself to blame, as he said it was the US that withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord during President Donald Trump's administration.
"It was the miscalculation of the Trump administration that withdrew from the nuclear deal. It has been a lose-lose situation," Zarif said.
Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on July 30, when he was assassinated at his residence.
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Iranian Hackers Behind Attack Urging Revenge For Koran Burnings, Sweden Says
By RFE/RL's Radio Farda September 24, 2024
Iran's security service was behind a special operation against targets in Sweden, the Nordic country's Prosecutor's Office said.
The operation saw hackers send thousands of text messages to Swedes calling for revenge over 2023 burnings of the Koran, according to the Prosecutor's Office.
Senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said in a statement on September 24 that a preliminary investigation showed "it was the Iranian state via the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), that carried out a data breach at a Swedish company that runs a major SMS service."
He added that investigators were able to establish the identities of the Iranian hackers who carried out the data breach.
"The aim was to further tighten the situation and increase the conflict that prevailed between different groups in society," Ljungqvist said, adding that while the conditions for prosecution abroad or extradition to Sweden "are lacking" for those suspected of being behind the breach, the case can be reopened.
It "does not mean that the suspected hackers have been completely written off. As long as the crime is not time-barred, prosecutors can open the preliminary investigation again," Ljungqvist said.
The Iranian Embassy in Stockholm said that the accusations and the act of publishing them "poison and affect the atmosphere of bilateral relations."
The embassy "considers the accusations to be baseless and rejects them," Iran's Tasnim news agency quoted the embassy as saying.
Sweden last summer saw a series of Koran burnings that sparked massive unrest and strained relations between Stockholm and several Middle Eastern countries.
While the Swedish government officially condemned the burnings of a book Muslims consider as the sacred word of God, lawmakers also said they could not stop the actions as they were protected by freedom of speech and assembly laws.
The issue also delayed Sweden's entry to NATO as Turkey raised objections saying it was "unacceptable to allow anti-Islam protests in the name of freedom of expression."
Swedish prosecutors said a group calling itself the Anzu team was the sender of the 15,000 text messages sent to Swedes that called for revenge against Koran burners.
They did not identify the Swedish company that runs the SMS text service.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/sweden- blames-iranian-hackers-for-attack-urging- revenge-for-koran-burnings/33131987.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Iraq - Follow-On Technical Support for Vessel Maintenance and Repair
Media/Public Contact: pm-cpa@state.gov
Transmittal No: 24-60
WASHINGTON, September 24, 2024 -- The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Iraq of Follow-On Technical Support Vessel Maintenance and Repair and related equipment for an estimated cost of $65 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today.
The Government of Iraq has requested to buy additional services that will be added to a previously implemented case whose value was under the congressional notification threshold. The original Foreign Military Sales case, valued at $39 million, included follow-on technical support (FOTS) for vessel maintenance and repair (VMR), which may include ship repair; maintenance; sustainment; support services; repair; upgrades; overhaul services; associated labor and support; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services of off-shore vessels, patrol boats and defenders of U.S. origin; fuel for quarterly tri-lateral exercises; and other related elements of logistics and program support. This notification is for the continuation of this support and services. The estimated total cost is $65 million.
This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a strategic partner.
The proposed sale will improve Iraq's capability to meet current and future threats by enhancing the strength of its homeland defense. Iraq will have no difficulty absorbing these services into its armed forces.
The proposed sale of this equipment and services will not alter the basic military balance in the region.
The principal contractor will be Amentum, located in Chantilly, VA. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.
Implementation of this proposed sale will require the assignment of approximately sixty-five contractor representatives from various nationalities to be stationed in Iraq annually to support the VMR program.
There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.
The description and dollar value are for the highest estimated quantity and dollar value based on initial requirements. Actual dollar value will be lower depending on final requirements, budget authority, and signed sales agreement(s), if and when concluded.
All questions regarding this proposed Foreign Military Sale should be directed to the State Department's Bureau of Political Military-Affairs, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs, pm-cpa@state.gov.
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Myanmar junta bombs rebels despite peace gesture
China has tried to push both sides to settle differences and protect its businesses.
By RFA Burmese 2024.09.24 -- Myanmar's junta attacked a powerful insurgent group on Tuesday, just days after the rebels said they would stop fighting and end cooperation with a shadow civilian government opposing military rule.
The junta's air force bombed Lashio, the main town in northern Shan state that the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, captured in August, killing a woman and wounding more than a dozen people on Tuesday, residents said.
The attack will raise new doubts about a Chinese effort to promote peace in its fractious neighbor.
The MNDAA is a member of a three-party insurgent alliance that made unprecedented gains against the military from late last year, especially in areas of Shan state on Myanmar's northeastern border with China.
The MNDAA said in August that China, which has extensive economic interests in Myanmar including energy pipelines running up from the Indian Ocean coast, had warned it to stop fighting and closed off the border to trade to pressure the group into complying.
Days later the rebels said they would no longer cooperate with the National Unity Government, or NUG, which was set up by pro-democracy politicians after the military ousted a civilian government in 2021. The MNDAA also said it had no plans to seize the Shan state capital Taunggyi or Myanmar's second-largest city Mandalay.
But Tuesday's air raids would appear to be a setback to China's efforts to push Myanmar's warring rivals into a settlement.
"The military's aerial bombardments, which are targeting civilian areas, are harming the efforts of those working to promote the peace process," the MNDAA said in a statement.
The MNDAA said it would work with China to end the conflict and reiterated that it would not attempt to expand its territory. But it stopped short of promising to end all hostilities, saying it would defend its territory if necessary to ensure its autonomy.
Radio Free Asia tried to telephone Shan state's junta spokesperson, Khun Thein Maung, to ask about the airstrike in Lashio but he did not answer his telephone.
Hotels bombed
A Lashio resident said junta jets carried out two bombing attacks on the town, about three hours apart, hitting the Ya Htike Hotel and the Fully Light Hotel as well as some shops.
"Four bombs were dropped on the same places in the two strikes. The hotels were badly damaged," said the resident, who declined to be identified.
"The Lucky Gold Shop was also hit in the second strike, killing a woman near that building and injuring nearly 15 people," the resident said.
MNDAA forces took the wounded, who were all residents of the area, to hospital, the resident added.
There was no immediate comment from China on the bombing.
China is known to have contacts with both the junta and its opponents fighting the military, especially the insurgent groups operating in northern and northern Myanmar on the Chinese border, like the MNDAA.
All sides have promised to protect China's business interests and citizens in Myanmar and China twice brokered ceasefires in Shan state this year though both quickly collapsed.
Analysts say China is hoping that an election the junta has promised to hold next year can pave the way for a resolution of Myanmar's conflict, and it has offered help to organize the vote and a census that the military said will be held soon.
The MNDAA reiterated that it would not have any relationship with the civilian NUG, which says the junta's election will be a sham, or any group that opposed China's plans.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.
Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content 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.
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UN Human Rights Council 57: Interactive Dialogue on Myanmar
Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Myanmar. Delivered by the UK's Human Rights Ambassador, Eleanor Sanders.
24 September 2024
Thank you Deputy High Commissioner for your update. And we thank the High Commissioner for his report.
The humanitarian and human rights crisis in Myanmar continues to deepen. In August, more than 42,000 people were displaced, and the Myanmar military conducted more airstrikes than in any other month since the coup, targeting villages, schools and hospitals. At the same time, the military continues to obstruct aid, preventing vital supplies from reaching those in need.
We call on the Myanmar military, and all other actors, to allow safe, unimpeded humanitarian access to vulnerable communities. This is crucial as people suffer from the impacts of flooding, growing food insecurity and shortages of health and sanitation supplies. The UK will provide more than A40 million in assistance this financial year. We encourage other Member States to also consider what more they can do.
20,000 people remain arbitrarily detained, including journalists, healthcare workers and political prisoners. The IIMM (Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar) has found credible reports of widespread torture and deaths in detention, including physical abuse and sexual and gender-based violence of the most horrific kind, including against children. The military must release all those arbitrarily detained. We also call on Myanmar to comply with the UN Convention against Torture and respect the rights of detainees.
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September 24, 2024
Release
Joint Press Statement for the 25th Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue
The Republic of Korea (ROK) Ministry of National Defense (MND) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) held the 25th Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) from September23-24, 2024, in Seoul.
Deputy Minister (DEPMIN) for National Defense Policy, Mr. Cho Chang Lae, led the ROK delegation. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for East Asia, Mr. Anka Lee, led the U.S. delegation. Key senior ROK and U.S. defense and foreign affairs officials also participated in the dialogue.
Both sides had an in-depth discussion focusing on the three pillars of the "Defense Vision of the U.S.-ROK Alliance": enhancing extended deterrence efforts against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), modernizing Alliance capabilities based on science and technology cooperation, and strengthening solidarity and regional security cooperation with like-minded partners. They acknowledged the importance of faithfully implementing the Defense Vision to strengthen the U.S.-ROK Alliance, and reviewed implementation of specific tasks. In addition, the two sides noted progress to align U.S.-ROK bilateral defense mechanisms under the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) to effectively and efficiently support strengthening the Alliance through the implementation of the Defense Vision, and pledged to continue assessing them.
The two sides reaffirmed their common goal of the complete denuclearization of the DPRK, and concurred on the importance of the Alliance's close coordination to maintain a vigilant combined defense posture. Both sides exchanged views on ever-changing DPRK threats, as well as its advancing nuclear and missile capabilities, which are destabilizing the Korean Peninsula and the region. Both sides strongly condemned DPRK provocations and threats that undermine regional peace and stability, including its diversification of nuclear delivery systems and continuing space launch attempts.
Both sides commended the Alliance's efforts to enhance extended deterrence in an integrated manner since President Biden and President Yoon's April 2023 Washington Declaration and committed to continue strengthening extended deterrence cooperation through the work of the Nuclear Consultative Group.
The United States reaffirmed its enduring and ironclad commitment to the defense of the ROK, utilizing the full range of U.S. defense capabilities - including nuclear, conventional, missile defense, and advanced non-nuclear capabilities - and reiterated that any nuclear attack by the DPRK against the United States or its Allies and partners is unacceptable and will result in the end of the Kim regime. Both sides affirmed that the full capabilities of the two countries would contribute to the Alliance's combined defense posture.
Both sides reviewed the progress from a joint study of the Alliance's comprehensive counter-missile strategy and also discussed future enhancements in information sharing through the U.S. Shared Early Warning System (SEWS) to respond to DPRK's advancing missile threats. The two sides pledged to continue developing response capabilities and posture through the Counter-Missile Working Group (CMWG).
The two sides expressed grave concern over the DPRK's continuing sending of filth balloons. They also recognized the need for closely coordinated responses to intensifying DPRK's gray zone provocations, such as cyber and electromagnetic attacks, and threats in the vicinity of the Northwest Islands and Northern Limit Line (NLL). Both sides noted that the NLL has been an effective means of separating military forces and preventing military tension over the past 70 years, and the ROK side urged the DPRK to accept the practical value of, and abide by, the NLL.
The two sides shared assessments of the recent ULCHI FREEDOM SHIELD 24 (UFS 24) exercise, which included realistic threats such as DPRK's advancing nuclear and missile threats, GPS jamming and cyber attacks. They agreed that UFS further enhanced the Alliance's crisis management and strengthened deterrence and defense capabilities. In addition, they assessed that combined field training exercises (FTX), which were more extensive than the past year in land, maritime and air domains, enhanced interoperability and combined capabilities to execute Alliance operations as well as demonstrated a robust ability to defend the ROK. Based on these achievements, both sides agreed to strengthen combined exercises and trainings in line with rapidly changing security environment of the Korean Peninsula.
The two delegations also discussed the danger of DPRK-Russian military cooperation following the signing of the "Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" between Russia and the DPRK. In particular, they expressed grave concern over illegal arms trade and transfer of high-technology between Russia and the DPRK that violate United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs), and pledged to respond by working closely together with the international community. The two sides reaffirmed the importance of full implementation of UNSCRs by the entire international community, including China and Russia, and concurred that such endeavors back the complete denuclearization of the DPRK.
The ROK and United States agreed to continue strengthening efforts made to date for further modernizing Alliance capabilities and evolving based on science and technology cooperation. The two delegations applauded the progress establishing a Defense Science and Technology Executive Committee under the SCM, and pledged to expedite efforts for practical cooperation under this consultative body within the year. In addition, based on such cooperation, they shared the understanding that areas of cooperation need to be expanded further, including artificial intelligence, autonomous technology, crewed-uncrewed teaming, and next-generation communications. In that vein, both sides consulted on a ROK proposal to hold a joint ROK-U.S. Defense Science and Technology Conference from the year 2025.
The two sides also pledged to continue expanding cooperative measures to enhance the defense industrial base and interoperability of both the United States and the ROK. The delegations agreed that cooperative efforts for a Regional Sustainment Framework being developed by the Defense Department would strengthen posture and capabilities of the Alliance. As such, they highly appreciated a ROK's participation in the Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) pilot project, in an area of Air Force's aviation maintenance, and pledged to continue discussions for expanding cooperation into the Army aviation and naval vessels. The two sides also welcomed the recent U.S. Navy contract with ROK shipyards for the conduct of MRO for U.S. vessels. In addition, both sides recognized the need to provide reciprocal market access to deepen defense cooperation and enhance supply chain resiliency, and pledged to advance progress on a Reciprocal Defense Procurement Agreement (RDP-A).
Both sides commended the work of the Space Cooperation Working Group (SCWG), including ROK's participation in the Joint Commercial Operations (JCO) led by the U.S. Space Force. They emphasized that such cooperation contributes to enhancing interoperability and information sharing for space domain awareness of the Alliance and strengthens joint response capabilities against increasing space threats. Furthermore, the two sides welcomed the work of the Cyber Cooperation Working Group (CCWG), including the Cyber Alliance and Cyber Flag exercise.
The two sides reviewed the progress on the Conditions-based OPCON Transition Plan (COTP) agreed upon by the ROK and the United States through Conditions-based OPCON Transition Working Group (COTWG). They exchanged views on this year's bilateral evaluation on the capabilities and systems required for OPCON transition, pledged to pursue OPCON transition in a systematic and stable manner, and reaffirmed the two nations' commitment to strengthening combined defense posture of the Alliance.
DEPMIN Cho and DASD Lee also reviewed the regional and global security environments and pledged to deepen cooperation with like-minded countries to achieve shared security goals. They acknowledged that the 2nd ROK-UNC Member States Defense Ministerial Meeting, which was held in Seoul in early September reaffirmed the commitment and resolve of the UNC Member States to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. They reviewed the work of the Regional Cooperation Working Group (RCWG) aimed at enhancing peace and stability in the region, and pledged to strengthen cooperative efforts based on the respective Indo-Pacific strategy of both countries. In that vein, they closely discussed measures for regional cooperation to pursue expanded cooperation with the ASEAN members and Pacific Islands Countries, and agreed to report the outcomes of the discussions at the 56th SCM.
In addition, both sides concurred that ROK-U.S.-Japan security cooperation should continue to be strengthened to achieve shared security goals on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region. They pledged to intensify cooperation to respond to regional security landscape based on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework (TSCF), including high-level policy consultations, information sharing, and trilateral multi-domain exercises. To this end, the two sides resolved to continue efforts for the implementation of cooperative tasks agreed through the Defense Trilateral Talks (DTT) held in early September.
DEPMIN Cho and DASD Lee agreed that the 25th KIDD reaffirmed a robust solidarity of the ROK-U.S. Alliance and provided guidance to strengthen the Alliance's cooperation in accordance with the Defense Vision of the U.S.-ROK Alliance. Based on these outcomes of the Alliance's cooperation, the two sides pledged to continue efforts to achieve meaningful progress at the 56th SCM, to be hosted in late 2024.
On the occasion of this meeting, both sides visited a General Outpost along the central front, reviewing increasing DPRK military activities in the vicinity of the border region and assessing our response. They expressed appreciation to service members of the ROK and the U.S. for maintaining an overwhelming combined defense posture to respond to any DPRK provocations.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3915402/
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'Russia's New Elite'? Perm Region Elects Ex-Wagner Fighter Amid Crime Surge
By RFE/RL's Russian Service September 24, 2024
A former Wagner mercenary who fought for Russia in Ukraine has been elected speaker of a local parliament in the Perm region amid controversy over hundreds of reports about crimes committed by returning members of the group.
The head of the Krasnovishersk city district, Yevgeny Vereshchagin, said on September 24 that Mikhail Ostryansky had been voted in as the chairman of the district's parliament.
The result appears to hand Ostryansky, a 65-year-old former police officer, the highest position currently held by a returning soldier since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said those fighting in Ukraine must become "Russia's new elite" and allowed to occupy state posts.
General elections in early September saw more than 300 people who have taken part in Russia's aggression against Ukraine elected as lawmakers across the country. The majority of them were elected via lists of the ruling United Russia party.
But the reintegration of hundreds of soldiers -- many of whom joined the war as part of a deal to have their prison sentences commuted -- has proven problematic.
Hundreds of cases of violent crimes, including murders and sexual attacks, have been committed by former Wagner mercenaries and other military personnel after returning from the war in Ukraine.
Courts in Russia tend to hand mitigated sentences to such people, citing their "patriotism" and "contributions" they made to Russia's war against Ukraine.
Wagner's late leader and founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in late June 2023 that 32,000 former inmates recruited by his group from prison had returned home after being granted clemency as part of their remuneration for fighting in Ukraine.
In October 2023, the presidential administration urged state-run media outlets to refrain from covering crimes committed by individuals who returned from the war in Ukraine.
In January, amid the increasing number of crimes committed by participants in the Ukrainian conflict, Putin ended the practice of exonerating people recruited to the war from prisons.
Such people instead were officially granted "a release on parole," while their criminal records not cleared.
With reporting by The Moscow Times
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/mikhail-ostryansky- wanger-mercenary-speaker-parliament-perm/33132089.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Russian and Laotian servicemen prepare for second phase of Laros 2024 joint military exercise
24.09.2024
Russian and Laotian servicemen prepared for the second phase of the Laros 2024 joint Russian-Laotian military exercise at the Sergeyevsky training ground in Primorsky region.
During the second phase of the exercise, which is to be held on 26 September. The joined group of the Eastern Military District and Laos will fulfil the tasks to chase, block, and neutralise manpower and hardware of the mock enemy, deliver an air strike to hit manpower and military hardware.
Special forces units, tanks, and infantry combat vehicles, flame thrower units, artillery and Igla MANPADS crews, as well as Russian Aerospace Forces ground-attack and army aviation will be involved in the drills.
Tactical airborne troops of the Armed Forces of Russia and the Lao People's Army will also be deployed as part of joint assault groups of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Press Service of the Eastern Military District
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UN Human Rights Council 57: UK Statement on the Russian Federation
Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation. Delivered by the UK's Permanent Representative to the WTO and UN, Simon Manley.
24 September 2024
Merci Monsieur President, and welcome to the Special Rapporteur.
Let me thank her for her report this morning. It's a sobering picture in which she depicts a worsening human rights situation.
And it's clear what we've seen over the last year is a widespread and systemic application of oppressive legislation to further strengthen the Russian state's oppressive hold over its own population and society. Just over that last year, it's intensified its persecution of anyone it deems to be a political opponent. And it seems to be seeing enemies everywhere in Russian society, creating a climate of fear and making examples of specific individuals to intimidate the wider population.
Special Rapporteur, you noted in particular the deterioration of treatment of political prisoners. Of course, Alexei Navalny's tragic death was a stark reminder to us all of the risks faced by those brave individuals who speak out against the Kremlin. The Russian state has to meet its international obligations and we in the UK will continue to hold those responsible for the violations of such obligations to account.
Mr President, Russia's repression domestically both enables and is driven by its aggression abroad, and the international community must hold Russia to account for violations of human rights both domestically and internationally.
Evidencing the scale of human rights violations is key. So we support your request, Special Rapporteur, to travel to Russia as part of your mandate and we welcome your suggestions this afternoon in how we might support you.
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Taiwan to join U.S.-led initiative to tackle weapons supply constraints
ROC Central News Agency
09/24/2024 08:12 PM
Philadelphia, Sept. 24 (CNA) The United States will soon launch the Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience (PIPIR) with at least 12 of its allies in the Indo-Pacific and Europe, including Taiwan, to address supply chain constraints regarding weapons, a senior U.S. defense official said Monday.
Jedidiah Royal, the U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, made the announcement during a closed-door speech he gave at the U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Philadelphia, a source who attended the event told CNA.
The U.S. will chair an inaugural meeting of the PIPIR in Hawaii in two weeks, the source quoted Royal as saying.
The new initiative is expected to jump-start collaborations with the U.S.' allies, including Taiwan, to address "defense industrial base (DIB) vulnerabilities" by fast-tracking the production of weapons systems, the source quoted Royal as saying.
Royal underlined the importance of collaboration with the U.S.' Indo-Pacific allies, citing as examples its projects with Japan to jointly produce missiles and with India to co-produce fighter jet engines, according to the source.
Royal said a U.S. trade mission consisting of 20 companies is currently in Taiwan seeking unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and counter-UAS business opportunities, which is a crucial step in helping Taiwan develop its indigenous manufacturing capacity in such systems, according to the source.
Royal also applauded the then record-high defense budget of US$18.8 billion passed by Taiwan's Legislature last December.
He expressed hope that Taiwan's lawmakers, who are currently reviewing the general budget, will continue to support increases in the country's defense spending so the U.S. can continue to assist Taiwan and ensure it has sufficient self-defense capability, according to the source.
A three-day 2024 U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference began in Philadelphia on Sunday, with Greg Hermsmeyer, director of the Office of Security Assistance under the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Political Military Affairs, scheduled to give a closing speech on Tuesday.
(By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Sean Lin)
Enditem/AW
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Taiwan urges U.S. to include it in joint weapons production list
ROC Central News Agency
09/24/2024 06:10 PM
Philadelphia, Sept. 23 (CNA) Taiwan's Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Yen-pu () on Monday called on the United States to include Taiwan on a list of countries with which it engages in joint or licensed production of weapons.
In his keynote speech at the 2024 U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Philadelphia, Hsu said Taiwan has never forgotten that it is responsible for its own safety and called on the U.S. and other allies to help quicken the development of weapons production.
For instance, Hsu said that if Taiwan and the U.S. deepened their collaboration in the arms industry, it would send a message to China "not to recklessly go to war with Taiwan."
Arguments for integrating Taiwan into the U.S.' "defense supply chain" include Taiwan's high-tech arms industry, professional talent and emphasis on confidentiality and occupational safety, Hsu said.
Hsu added that he hopes the U.S. will allow Taiwan to join countries such as Japan and Australia in the joint or licensed production of parts and components needed for F-16 jets and drones, thereby helping Washington expand its export of these defense articles to its allies.
As U.S. laws on technology transfers involve significant bureaucracy, which has caused delays in Taiwan's acquisition of core technologies or parts necessary for developing weapons, Hsu said he hoped Washington would revise relevant laws and regulations to simplify procedures.
Although Taiwan's arms industry attaches great importance to developing main systems independently, it relies on the free market for the manufacturing of subsystems and critical modules, Hsu said.
Hsu noted that eligible U.S. companies as well as those from other countries were welcome to participate in the development process.
In addition, Hsu said, Taiwan hopes to create a common operational picture (COP) with the U.S. to increase the compatibility between weapons systems and other military equipment on both sides.
For example, the U.S. could use datalinks to transmit coordinates of enemy targets to Taiwan's intelligence systems, thus boosting the target acquisition ability of the latter, Hsu said.
Taiwan's overall defense budget, including special budgets and nonprofit special funds, will reach record-high US$20.2 billion in 2025, representing year-over-year growth of 7.7 percent, Hsu noted.
The vice minister added that Taiwan's government is poised to continue increasing the country's defense budget after factoring in its overall finances and administrative plans.
Meanwhile, Taipei City Councilor Chao Yi-hsiang (), who represented the ruling Democratic Progressive Party at the conference, highlighted the need for cooperative action to remove barriers for democratic countries to sell weapons to Taiwan.
So far, only the U.S. is willing to sell weapons to Taiwan, but many advanced weapons systems are jointly developed by the U.S. and European countries, Chao later told reporters.
If Taiwan cannot overcome obstacles in securing foreign technology transfers or arms sales from countries other than the U.S., it will pose a challenge to Taiwan's bid to strengthen its defense, Chao said.
Chao added that he had suggested friends in the U.S. that they should work to remove these restrictions by making the international community realize Taiwan's acquisition of advanced weapons would help maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (), the KMT's representative at the forum, said her party's stance on Taiwan's defense budget had been "misrepresented."
The KMT is not attempting to block the defense budget but believes it should be strictly reviewed so that government funds are used on the most urgent items, Hsu told reporters at another forum.
The KMT is open to further increasing Taiwan's defense budget, which will reach 2.45 percent of the country's GDP next year, but believes that the U.S. should first address delays in delivering the weapons Taiwan has purchased, she said.
According to a recent report released by the Cato Institute, the value of the U.S.' backlog of the weapons it has agreed to sell but yet to deliver to Taiwan currently stands at US$20.53 billion.
Opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Legislator Huang Shan-shan (), the TPP's representative at the forum, said her party was in favor of increasing Taiwan's defense budget to bolster its self-defense but would strictly review the Ministry of National Defense's requests to avoid wasteful spending.
This year's three-day defense industry conference, held from Sept. 22-24, is "a platform for discussing crucial issues surrounding defense cooperation between the U.S. and Taiwan, aiming to enhance mutual understanding and develop strategic solutions for future challenges," according to organizers.
(By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Sean Lin)
Enditem/ASG
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PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan
ROC Ministry of National Defense
2024/09/24
PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan
Date
6 to 6 a.m. (UTC+8) Monday to Tuesday, Sep. 23-24
PLA activities
6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities.
Illustration of flight path is not provided due to no PLA aircraft operating around Taiwan were detected during this timeframe.
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UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine finds additional evidence of common patterns of torture by Russian authorities
United Nations Human Rights Council
23 September 2024
GENEVA / VIENNA - The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine found new evidence showing common patterns of torture by Russian authorities against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war in occupied Ukrainian territories and in the Russian Federation.
The wide geographic spread of locations and the prevalence of shared patterns in the way torture is committed demonstrate that torture has been used as a common and acceptable practice with a sense of impunity, the Commission said in its latest update to the Human Rights Council today.
The Commission's further investigation into cases of torture provides evidence that Russian authorities committed torture in the Ukrainian regions where they have taken control of territories. The new evidence reinforces the Commission's previous finding that torture committed by Russian authorities has been widespread.
The Commission has identified additional common elements in the use of torture by Russian authorities, reinforcing its earlier finding that this was systematic. One element is the consistency of violent practices imposed in detention centres where detainees from Ukraine have been held in the Russian Federation, and the replication of these practices in several large penitentiary centres in occupied areas of Ukraine.
Another common element emerging from the evidence points towards a coordinated use of personnel from specific services of the Russian Federation involved in torture in all the detention facilities investigated by the Commission.
A further common feature is the recurrent use of sexual violence, mainly against male victims, as a form of torture in almost all of these detention centres.
Moreover, the Commission notes testimonies of former detainees about penitentiary personnel in the Russian Federation referring to orders to inflict brutal treatment. Testimonies also illustrate that in some detention facilities higher ranking Russian authorities ordered, tolerated, or took no action to stop such treatment.
A civilian man subjected to torture for ten consecutive days told the Commission: "The scariest thing was that the perpetrators were doing everything in silence, and very professionally. I understood they were doing this to many people, and they did not perceive us as human beings."
These violations have left many of the victims with grave or irreparable physical harm and trauma. Most of them emphasised the deep psychological impact of these experiences for them and their families.
Some victims reported immense challenges in reintegrating into the society and relating to their loved ones. They invoked a need for psychological and social support for themselves and their families.
The Commission has also continued its documentation of attacks with explosive weapons affecting civilian objects in populated areas with devastating consequences. It investigated attacks that struck medical institutions, cultural objects, residential buildings, and supermarkets in territories under Ukrainian Government control.
Pursuing its investigation of Russian Federation's large-scale waves of attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure a some of which have resulted in power outages affecting millions of civilians a the Commission has found new evidence of the impact of such attacks on the health and well-being of the population.
The blackouts have particularly affected certain categories of the population. Older persons and persons with disabilities have, for instance, suffered from difficulties to access shelters during emergencies, reduced access to life-saving medical devices, and increased isolation, which accentuated their vulnerabilities.
The power outages have also led to disruptions of online education, resulting in greater losses for displaced children and children with disabilities, who are more likely to enrol in remote education.
The Commission reiterated the importance of continuing investigations, identification of perpetrators, and accountability, as well as comprehensive support for victims. It calls upon all parties to cooperate and coordinate their efforts on these important matters.
The oral update statement as presented to the UN Human Rights Council can be found here.
The Members of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine are available for interviews.
Background: The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine is an independent body mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to, among other things, investigate all alleged violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, and related crimes in the context of the aggression against Ukraine by the Russian Federation. The Commission will submit reports of its activities to the General Assembly in October 2024, and to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2025. The Commission comprises Erik MAse (Chair), Pablo de Greiff and Vrinda Grover.
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Foreign Minister Tsahkna at the G7+ meeting with Ukrainian foreign minister: Ukraine's resilience depends on support from the West
Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
24.09.2024
Yesterday 23 September, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna attended the meeting of G7+ foreign ministers to support Ukraine's energy sector. The event was hosted by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani representing the G7's Italian Presidency and Ukraine's new Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also attended.
Tsahkna told the meeting that Russia's aim was to destroy Ukraine's economy and resilience. "In cooperation with like-minded countries, we must offer the necessary support Ukraine needs ahead of the winter to defend and restore its energy infrastructure," Tsahkna said. "We cannot accept a situation where Russia can brutally destroy Ukraine's infrastructure. Ukraine must be given better tools for defending itself from destructive air strikes. At the same time, we must make efforts to mitigate the harsh impact if the war on the civilian population by restoring the energy infrastructure."
As part of the UN's high-level week, Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers met with their Ukrainian colleague to discuss military assistance to Ukraine and progress with the country's NATO and European Union membership. Additionally, a meeting of European Union foreign ministers was held in New York, where, in addition to Ukraine, the agenda included the increasingly tense situation in the Middle East.
Tsahkna also spoke at 50-in-5, a public event on digital infrastructure, and at an event on Belarusian political prisoners with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of the democratic forces of Belarus. The foreign minister also announced Estonia would become Chair of the Freedom Online Coalition in 2025.
His bilateral meeting with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani covered opportunities for developing political and economic cooperation between Estonia and Bahrain. They also spoke about the need to uphold the principles of the UN Charter because everyone's security would be ensured only by an international order based on these principles.
Today Tsahkna will speak at an event on multilateralism and at a meeting of the Group of Friends of Accountability. He will hold bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of North Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Philippines, the Technology and Science Minister of Zambia and the head of UN Habitat. Foreign Minister Tsahkna is also attending a transatlantic dinner on the invitation of the US secretary of state.
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Baiba Braze at the UN General Assembly in New York: We'll continue joint efforts to restore Ukraine's energy system and erode Russia's military capabilities
Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
24.09.2024
On 23 September 2024 in New York, during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba Braze, took part in the G7+ Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the meeting of the Baltic and Nordic (NB8) Foreign Ministers with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, and a global high-level forum on AI governance hosted by the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.
At the G7+ Foreign Ministers Meeting on Ukraine Energy Sector Support, the Minister underlined the need not only to ensure urgent support for the restoration and strengthening the energy infrastructure but also to undermine Russia's military capabilities. She highlighted the importance of eroding Russia's ability to continue its systematic attacks on Ukraine, and even more so, on the peaceful population and civilian infrastructure. The participants agreed that it was necessary to degrade Russia's military capabilities and prevent Russia from destroying the energy infrastructure of Ukraine. Practical support provided by Latvia's energy companies to the Ukrainian energy sector this year year included several power plants, hydropower plants, power generators, as well as more than 50 transformers.
Together with the Baltic and Nordic (NB8) Foreign Ministers, Baiba Braze met with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha. An exchange of views with the new Ukrainian Foreign Minister focused on a coordinated approach to sustaining and stepping up international support to Ukraine. The NB8 states reaffirmed their commitment to providing further financial, humanitarian and military support to Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor.
The Foreign Minister met with representatives from Google, with whom she discussed the ways for deepening cooperation in the field of new technologies based on the advantages and innovations of Latvia's information and technology sector, including in the field of security. The Minister introduced the Google experts to Latvia's plans on the establishment of a National Centre for Artificial Intelligence.
Foreign Minister Braze attended an event on artificial intelligence organized by the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, with the focus on advancing sustainable development through safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence. Latvia has gained good grounds in this field in the private sector, so it is important to forge international scientific and technological partnerships to foster further development. Latvia stands up for balance between the opportunities offered by AI and potential risks. Opportunities created by AI should be harnessed towards both economic development and strengthening of cyber security.
The informal meeting of EU foreign ministers addressed two issues: tensions in the Middle East, and the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Ministers underlined the need for achieving an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and preventing of regional spill-over.
In the context of Russia's aggression, the ministers had an in-depth discussion with the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha, who offered thanks for current support to Ukraine and called for stepping up military assistance to fight against Russian aggression. Ukraine urgently needs further support in terms of deliveries of air defence systems and ammunition, as well as in the energy sector.
Baiba Braze reaffirmed Latvia's readiness to continue providing all forms of support to Ukraine and emphasised in particular the need to take further steps in the adoption of sanctions against Russia and its "shadow fleet", as well as intensifying cooperation with third countries to prevent the possibility of sanctions circumvention.
In addition to other events that day, the Foreign Minister had a bilateral meeting with Dominique Hasler, Foreign Minister of Liechtenstein, focusing on cooperation to ensure Russia's accountability for its war of aggression launched against Ukraine.
The High-level Week the 79th Session of the UNGA in New York is held from 21 to 30 September. Alongside discussions on international developments, the key focus of this session will be placed on the strengthening of international solidarity and the rules-based order.
Topics to be highlighted while participating in UN events will be Russia's accountability for international crimes committed in Ukraine, the strengthening of multilateralism and international order, and the need for a global governance reform.
At the events of the High-Level Week, Latvia is represented by President Edgars Rinkevics, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba Braze, and the Minister of Health, Hosams Abu Meri.
For updates on the working visit, follow the Foreign Ministry on its social network accounts.
Further information
G7, or the Group of Seven, is an intergovernmental economic and political forum of the world's major industrialised countries consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The G7+ Foreign Ministers' meetings are convened three to four times annually, one of them being held at the UN in New York.
Latvia's support to Ukraine According to figures compiled by the MFA, the planned amount of Latvia's assistance to Ukraine in 2024 will reach at least EUR 204 million or 0.5% of GDP , including support from the Ministry of Defence in the amount of 0.25% of GDP, or EUR 105 million. Total (state and public) support to Ukraine for the period from 24 February 2022 to 31 December 2024 is expected to reach at least EUR 820 million or 0.7% of GDP .
Latvia's candidacy for the United Nations Security Council
Latvia is currently standing as a candidate for membership of the United Nations Security Council for the period of 2026-2027, which is one of the long-term goals in Latvia's foreign policy laid down the National Development Plan until 2027. Latvia is actively engaged in the UN agenda by providing its own experience and expertise. Latvia has been elected to important UN bodies such as the Human Rights Council, the Economic and Social Council, and the Peacebuilding Commission. Latvia advocates international legal order, independence and territorial integrity of all UN Member States, as well as accountability for violations of international law, and combating intolerance, with a view to ensuring just and sustainable peace.
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The Foreign Minister at the UN Human Rights Council: Russia's domestic repressions go hand in hand with its external aggression against Ukraine
Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
24.09.2024
On 24 September 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba BraAe, addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council on behalf of the Nordic and Baltic states, highlighting Russia's brutal human rights violations against its people.
In her statement, the Minister referred to the latest report by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia, Mariana Katzarova.
"Russia has systemically stifled dissent, silenced independent media, spread disinformation and repressed civil society organisations," Baiba BraAe underlined.
The Foreign Minister thanked the Special Rapporteur for her work and voiced strong support for the continuation of her mandate.
The Minister also drew attention to domestic repressions in Russia going hand in hand with its external aggression against Ukraine threatening international peace and security.
Baiba BraAe noted that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and blatant disregard for international law and human rights have fostered a climate of terror and fear across the country. "Political prisoners, including human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists are held hostage for leverage," Baiba BraAe emphasised.
The Foreign Minister recalled that all international instruments must be mobilised to hold Russia accountable for its grave human rights violations.
Background information
The statement delivered on behalf of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden was transmitted in a video format during an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia as part of the 57th Session of the UN Human Rights Council.
The 57th Session of the UN Human Rights Council is held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 9 September to 11 October 2024.
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Landsbergis at the G7+ meeting in New York: "If we don't allow Ukraine to strike back, all the support we have given could be in ruins"
Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2024-09-24
On 23 September, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis, attended the G7+ Ministerial Meeting on Ukraine Energy Sector Support.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken hosted the event, during which foreign ministers discussed providing assistance to Ukraine in preparation for the upcoming winter season.
"If we don't allow Ukraine to strike back, all the support we have given could be in ruins," Landsbergis said at the G7+ meeting.
During the event., Landsbergis showed his counterparts the debris from the destroyed Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant.
As Russia continues to attack Ukraine's energy infrastructure, the international community's support is critical.
"Lithuania's support to Ukraine's energy sector amounts to EUR 63 million, and the dismantling of a thermal power plant is currently being completed. Lithuania will hand over the dismantled power plant to Ukraine," said the head of Lithuania's diplomacy.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha shared the country's ambitious plans, ranging from the transition to renewable energy sources and the decentralisation of production and distribution networks to the construction of an underground power station.
The foreign ministers of the countries that make up the G7 - the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, France and Germany, as well as Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and other countries - attended the event.
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Experts of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances Commend Ukraine's Law on Missing Persons in Special Circumstances, Ask Questions on Secret Detentions and the Forced Transfer of Children to the Russian Federation
24 September 2024
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances today concluded its consideration of the initial report of Ukraine, with Committee Experts commending the State on the adoption of the law on the legal status of persons missing in special circumstances, while asking questions on secret detentions and the forced transfer of children to the Russian Federation.
Several Committee Experts paid tribute to the courage and resilience of the people of Ukraine in the context of the ongoing war on its territory. Carmen Rosa Villa Quintana, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, said the Committee could not be indifferent to war in any circumstances. It was essential to bring about peace in line with the United Nations Charter.
Olivier de Frouville, Committee Chair and Country Rapporteur, congratulated the State party for adopting the law on the legal status of persons missing in special circumstances, and for its 2022 revision, which contributed positively to the search for missing persons. Could Ukrainian State agents be held accountable under the law?
Mr. de Frouville said there were allegations of secret detentions in Kharkiv, particularly during the period of 2014 to 2016, and that basements of buildings in Kyiv were being used as unofficial detention sites. Did the State party have information on these allegations? There did not seem to be an effective mechanism to prevent these practices from continuing.
Addressing the forced transfer of children to the Russian Federation and occupied territories, Mr. de Frouville asked how many of the 19,546 children who had been transferred were considered as victims of enforced disappearance. Was there a specific procedure for reviewing placements of children who had been illegally adopted?
Introducing the report, Leonid Tymchenko, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and head of the delegation, said that the law on the legal status of persons missing under special circumstances stipulated that the Ukrainian State was obliged to take all possible measures to trace a person missing in special circumstances. The law also established enforced disappearance as an offence in national criminal law.
Since September 2015, Mr. Tymchenko reported, law enforcement agencies had registered more than 5,000 criminal offences directly related to enforced disappearances, including the deprivation of liberty of more than 14,000 civilians.
The delegation said investigations had been carried out that had disproven allegations of incommunicado detentions. The State party investigated all such allegations.
Regarding the forced transfer of children, Mr. Tymchenko said several heads of the occupation authorities and two deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation were charged by Ukraine with committing criminal offences in this regard, while the International Criminal Court had issued an arrest warrant for President Putin and lvova-Belova, the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights.
The delegation added that the State party was doing everything possible to obtain information on the missing children. It was negotiating an agreement regarding the return of around 300 children. Russian officials had not recognised the transfer and illegal adoption of Ukrainian children and had made falsified documents to hide these crimes.
In concluding remarks, Horacio Ravenna, Committee Vice-Chair and acting Chair for the dialogue, said the Committee and the State party shared a common goal: full implementation of the Convention. Ukraine had shown its commitment to this goal. He called on the State party to remain in contact with the Committee, which would support its efforts to implement the Convention. The Committee's strong hope was that peace would be achieved in Ukraine.
Mr. Tymchenko, in his concluding remarks, said cooperation with the Committee would help the State party in its efforts to uphold its international obligations. He called on the Committee to keep in mind the current circumstances in Ukraine. Every day, aerial attacks were being carried out across the State. The State party was aware that it needed to uphold human rights, even those of its enemies.
The delegation of Ukraine consisted of the Commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances and representatives of the Office of the Prosecutor General; Security Service; Ministry of Internal Affairs; National Police; and the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Committee will issue its concluding observations on the report of Ukraine at the end of its twenty-seventh session, which concludes on 4 October. Summaries of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here, while webcasts of the public meetings can be found here. The programme of work of the Committee's twenty-seventh session and other documents related to the session can be found here.
The Committee will next meet in public this afternoon, Tuesday 24 September, at 3 p.m. to consider the initial report of Morocco (CED/C/MAR/1).
Report
The Committee has before it the initial report of Ukraine (CED/C/UKR/1).
Presentation of Report
LEONID TYMCHENKO, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and head of the delegation, said this dialogue was an important event that marked a new chapter in the protection of human rights and freedoms. In the midst of an unprovoked war with the Russian Federation, Ukraine remained committed to human rights principles and this dialogue was an important part of the collective struggle for justice. In 2015, Ukraine became a State party to the Convention, and thus undertook to eradicate and prevent enforced disappearances. Currently, enforced disappearances committed on Ukraine's sovereign territory were related to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. Despite these challenging times, Ukraine continued to comply with its international obligations.
Ukraine took measures to ensure the uniform application of the Convention within its internationally recognised borders, including in the territories controlled by the aggressor State and its occupation forces, including Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Kharkiv regions, as well as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. It ensured that all reports of unlawful acts as defined in article two of the Convention deliberately committed by representatives of the occupation administration of the Russian Federation were promptly, thoroughly and impartially recorded and properly investigated, with all perpetrators identified and brought to justice, and, if found guilty by a court, punished in accordance with the gravity of their actions.
The law on the legal status of persons gone missing under special circumstances stipulated that the Ukrainian State was obliged to take all possible measures to trace a person missing in special circumstances. The law also established enforced disappearance as an offence in national criminal law. On 21 August 2024, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on the ratification of the Rome Statute. In order to implement the Rome Statute, it adopted in the first reading a draft law that would add articles to the Criminal Code on crimes against humanity, which would include enforced disappearance within the meaning of article five of the Convention.
Since September 2015, law enforcement agencies had registered more than 5,000 criminal offences directly related to enforced disappearances, including the deprivation of liberty of more than 14,000 civilians. Special attention should be paid to the results of the investigation conducted by the State into the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine from 2022 to 2024, their deportation to the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus and the forced granting of Russian citizenship, and their placement in Russian families and adoption.
Several heads of the occupation authorities and two deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation were charged with committing criminal offences by Ukraine in this regard, while the International Criminal Court had issued an arrest warrant for President Putin and lvova-Belova, the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights, for the illegal transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children.
The Prosecutor's Offices had served 275 persons with notices of suspicion in 137 criminal proceedings, and 119 indictments against 241 persons were sent to bring the perpetrators to justice. The State party had also established a unified register of persons gone missing under special circumstances, which had been in operation since May 2023. As of today, it contained information on 48,324 such individuals who were currently being sought to determine their fate. Around 4,700 people had been confirmed to be in captivity; the actual number could be much higher. The aggressor State was not fulfilling its international obligations under the Geneva Conventions, denying the Red Cross access to visit places of detention and holding civilian hostages. This made it impossible to exert influence on the Russian Federation, which was not a State party to the Convention.
Measures had been taken to release both captured Ukrainian defenders and illegally detained civilians. In the period before the full-scale invasion, 3,497 people were released; since the invasion, 3,669 people had been released. More than 90 per cent of persons returned from captivity reported that they were subjected to various forms of violence and torture by representatives of the aggressor State, and in the period before the full-scale invasion, all detainees without exception were subjected to psychological and physical violence.
The Constitution of Ukraine stipulated that everyone had the right to liberty and personal inviolability. No one could be arrested or held in detention, except by a reasoned court decision and only in accordance with the conditions and procedures established by law. Ukraine had established a national preventive mechanism to ensure the effective prevention and elimination of enforced disappearances. In 109 territorial units of the national police, the "Custody Records" information subsystem was implemented, designed to guarantee the safe stay of detained persons under police control.
The State ensured the police's ability to effectively fight crime without violating human rights through the introduction of electronic recording of all actions against persons under police control, as well as a mandatory interview of the detained person and the police officer who carried out the detention. The State also ensured that there was sufficient infrastructure in the police unit; round-the-clock video surveillance; a human rights inspector; and remote oversight by authorised officials of the central police authority. In 2018, Ukraine established the State Bureau of Investigation, a State law enforcement agency responsible for preventing and investigating criminal offences committed, in particular, by law enforcement officers.
During this time of crisis for Ukraine, the country had a special responsibility to take strict measures to prevent and eliminate enforced disappearances in accordance with the requirements of the Convention. The end of the aggressive war of the Russian Federation would prevent enforced disappearances in Ukraine. Ukraine's strategic goal was a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in the State for the security of the whole world, which it hoped to achieve through the Ukrainian peace formula initiative put forward by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Questions by Committee Experts
OLIVIER DE FROUVILLE, Committee Chair and Country Rapporteur, said the Committee acknowledged that Ukraine had a situation of armed conflict in its territory which affected the implementation of the Convention. This was particularly true in the context of the large-scale invasion conducted since February 2022. Mr. de Frouville paid tribute to the resilience of the Ukrainian people. Despite the difficult situation, Ukraine continued to exert efforts to comply with its international obligations. It was acting to search for victims of enforced disappearance on its territory and uphold the rights of families. He expressed hope that the dialogue would help the State party to better apply the Convention.
The report was drafted by the national Ukrainian police in collaboration with other State agencies. Were victims' associations or other civil society organizations involved in drafting the report? Had the State party made any response to communications sent to it under the urgent actions procedure? Were there any examples of courts directly invoking the Convention? The Ukrainian Human Rights Commission had contact with the Russian Human Rights Commission. Had the sharing of information between these bodies led to the identification of missing persons? What efforts had been made to increase the financing and human resources of the Human Rights Commission and to implement its recommendations?
Mr. de Frouville congratulated the State party for adopting the law on the legal status of persons missing in special circumstances, and for its 2022 revision, which contributed positively to the search for missing persons. The law covered some cases of enforced disappearance, but not cases that did not have a link to the armed conflict or other special circumstances. The law also potentially excluded enforced disappearance committed by the Ukrainian State. Could Ukrainian State agents be held accountable under the law?
The Committee welcomed the unified register of missing persons. The register was limited to cases of special circumstances leading to disappearances. The clear category of enforced disappearance was not included in the register; would this be done in future? When would DNA data be included in the register, and was the DNA data of relatives of disappeared persons being collected? The State party had several different databases related to human rights violations; were these connected to the register of missing persons? The Prosecution Service had identified over 1,000 victims of enforced disappearance. Could this data be included in the missing persons register?
What risks had the State party identified related to martial law declared as part of Ukraine's state of emergency? Had the State party taken steps to prevent violations in the context of the state of emergency?
CARMEN ROSA VILLA QUINTANA, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, paid tribute to the courage of the people of Ukraine. The Committee could not be indifferent to war in any circumstances. It was essential to bring about peace in line with the United Nations Charter.
The State party had reported that it had not identified any facts implying that Ukrainian authorities were involved in any cases of enforced disappearance. However, the Ukrainian Security Service was investigating several cases of violations of the laws and customs of war. Were there any cases that could fall into the category of enforced disappearance? Third party information indicated that there were individuals or groups involved in cases of enforced disappearance. In one case, two police officers had been found to have committed crimes of enforced disappearance and torture in 2021. There was information about the enforced disappearance of 30 journalists. What investigations had been carried out into these cases? Had perpetrators been held accountable? How was the State party implementing the Istanbul Protocol?
There were cases of Russian officials being prosecuted without being informed of the charges against them. Would the State party make informing accused persons of the charges against them a legal requirement? Did judges have the ability to define crimes as enforced disappearances? How did the State party address violations of the Convention in the territories occupied by the Russian Federation?
What institutions were involved in investigating the disappearance of two members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church? How was the State party investigating cases of enforced disappearance in the context of human trafficking, migration or forced displacement due to armed conflict and working to prevent this phenomenon? Did the State party intend to define the forced transfer of children to the Russian Federation as acts of enforced disappearance? Could information be provided on the outcomes of investigations into these cases?
Ms. Villa Quintana welcomed planned amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. Did the State party plan to increase the penalty for the crime of enforced disappearance, which was currently not commensurate with the seriousness of the crime? When would the amendments to the two Codes be adopted? Was enforced disappearance being considered as a stand-alone crime in these amendments, and were aggravating circumstances being considered?
Legal provisions on hierarchical responsibility were not in line with international standards. What progress had been made to adopt draft legislation on hierarchical responsibility? What was the statute of limitations for enforced disappearance? When did it start? The provisions on the statute of limitations in the Convention had not been incorporated in national law. Could foreigners responsible for enforced disappearance who were not residing in Ukraine be tried in Ukraine? Were accused persons given access to a lawyer, and appointed a lawyer if they could not afford them? What measures were in place to notify accused persons from Russia to guarantee their active participation in trials? What was the procedure for the appointment and removal of judges and prosecutors, particularly those charged with corruption?
Which authorities were responsible for searching for missing and disappeared persons? How did the State party ensure that they cooperated and carried out their mandates effectively? The Code on Criminal Procedures established that persons charged with a crime could be suspended from their positions. How rigorously was suspension applied; could the State party provide examples?
A Committee Expert paid tribute to the courage and resilience of Ukraine. Were the 5,000 cases of enforced disappearance registered by Ukraine cases of disappearance carried out by State agents against non-State actors?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said the State party had established a database of persons who went missing in special circumstances to address disappearances related to the Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine. However, the national police collected biological material and DNA of persons who went missing in all contexts and registered it in relevant databases. Authorities could also collect the DNA of the relatives of missing persons. Data in State databases on enforced disappearances was unified. In future, Ukraine planned to add DNA data collected by the International Commission on Missing Persons to its databases to help identify missing persons. The Commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances and relatives of victims, including those who lived abroad, had access to the information in registries of missing persons.
Judges could apply the Convention directly and there were examples of cases in which judges had done so. The State party did not have access to occupied territories and could not conduct investigations there. However, it had identified two mass graves in liberated regions, in which around 125 bodies were buried, and around 400 bodies buried in other graves in these regions. It predicted that there were many more such graves in the occupied territories.
Victims of human rights violations committed by Ukrainian authorities had the right to seek redress. All persons had the right to a lawyer. Persons who could not hire a lawyer were provided one by the State. In cases where authorities were not able to arrest suspects residing in the Russian Federation, trials could be held in absentia. After the State party had ratified the Rome Statute, it would be required to investigate hierarchical responsibility. Prosecutors who were suspended for corruption or other violations were no longer able to work on cases; they were replaced immediately.
There was a clear division between trafficking in persons and enforced disappearance in the Criminal Code. The State party had registered cases of the trafficking of persons to the occupied territories. Seven minors had been identified as victims in these cases and four perpetrators had been identified. All cases of disappearance of children by Russian authorities qualified as war crimes. Investigations into such crimes were being carried out in cooperation with non-governmental organizations to determine the fate of these children.
When authorities received allegations that State agents had committed a crime, the State Bureau of Investigation investigated these allegations independently.
The law on the legal status of persons missing in special circumstances did not define the precise characteristics of the victims of enforced disappearance. The State party welcomed the Committee's advice concerning the revision of the law in this regard.
Questions by Committee Experts
CARMEN ROSA VILLA QUINTANA, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, asked for information on regions where large numbers of enforced disappearances were reported, and how the State party obtained information on these cases. Was there a specialised unit within the Security Service for investigating enforced disappearance? Were there investigations being carried out into disappearances of activists? What protection mechanisms were in place for persons involved in investigations of enforced disappearances and family members of victims? Had specialised protection been provided to such persons?
What conditions were applied regarding extradition agreements? Had there been applications for extraditions of persons allegedly involved in enforced disappearance? How did the State party uphold international standards in the investigation of missing persons and exhumations? Were there any cases of intimidation or reprisals against witnesses of enforced disappearance? How were prosecutors nominated?
OLIVIER DE FROUVILLE, Committee Chair and Country Rapporteur, asked about the mandate of the Commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances. How was Ukrainian law that addressed hierarchic responsibility adapted to the provisions of the Rome Statute? What follow-up was carried out regarding urgent actions, particularly when protection measures were requested? Was cooperation between the Ukrainian Human Rights Commission and the Russian Human Rights Commission effective? Did the Ukrainian Commission promote the provisions of the Convention? How did the State party prevent prolonged detention and arbitrary arrests in the context of the state of emergency?
A Committee Expert asked whether the 5,000 enforced disappearances reported by the delegation included cases carried out against Ukrainian forces. These should not be considered enforced disappearances. Did the State party investigate Ukrainian citizens who were accomplices in acts of enforced disappearance?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said the State party worked together with the Commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances and the Ukrainian Human Rights Commission to provide truth for the families and loved ones of victims.
The State party had qualified 438 war crimes involving enforced disappearance. At least 14,000 Ukrainian civilians were being detained by the Russian Federation. The Government had given the Human Rights Commission the power to work on liberating Ukrainian prisoners of war; this had led to cooperation with the Russian Human Rights Commission. The Prosecution Service had a war crimes department, which conducted investigations into war crimes.
Ukraine had ratified bilateral agreements with five countries that addressed extraditions. The State did not extradite persons unless it received guarantees that the safety and fair trial rights of the person involved would be respected. Judicial registries were open to the public.
The 5,000 cases of enforced disappearance recorded by Ukraine mainly concerned detained citizens held by Russian authorities. The State party did not have statistics on journalists and the occupations of detained persons; Russian authorities often classified civilian prisoners as combatants. Prosecutors were faced with a large workload and their work was hindered by ongoing attacks. Some investigators had been killed while carrying out investigations.
The Commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances was empowered to cooperate with relevant national and international institutions, including the Ombudsman and law enforcement personnel, in investigations. The Commissioner provided family members and relatives with information on the outcomes of investigations, and determined whether disappearances were committed by military personnel.
Complaints of enforced disappearance against Ukrainian State agents could be taken to civilian courts, whereas complaints of enforced disappearances carried out by Russian authorities needed to be submitted to the dedicated Commission. The Government provided protection measures for victims of enforced disappearance such as name changes; however, it did not have a sufficient budget to provide measures such as safehouses.
In 2023, responsibility for searching for missing persons in special circumstances was transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Special circumstances included armed conflicts and natural or man-made emergencies. In October 2023, a hotline was established within the Commission for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances, which relatives of missing and detained persons could use to file reports. The Commissioner had met with more than 5,000 family members and held meetings with several non-governmental organizations.
The armed forces participated in searches for missing persons. They removed bodies and documented deceased persons. Around 55,000 people had been given "missing" status. This number included both military personnel and civilians. Around 5,000 cases had been discontinued due to the discovery of the body.
Questions by Committee Experts
OLIVIER DE FROUVILLE, Committee Chair and Country Rapporteur, asked whether the State party planned to incorporate the risk of enforced disappearance into its legislation on extraditions? There was an agreement with Sweden regarding the confidential exchange of information towards locating missing persons. Could more information be provided about this positive practice?
There were allegations of secret detentions in Kharkiv, particularly during the period of 2014 to 2016, and that basements of buildings in Kyiv were being used as unofficial detention sites. There were also credible allegations that around 240 prisoners of war were being held in unofficial detention sites after a drone attack on a detention centre. Did the State party have information on these allegations? Rulings had been made on incommunicado detention conducted by the police, but there did not seem to be an effective mechanism to prevent these practices from continuing.
The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture had reported that not all persons deprived of liberty were given the right to contact family members and lawyers. This right needed to be respected. How was the right to habeas corpus implemented? Had there been complaints of delays in the registration of deprivation of liberty, or gaps in registration? What follow-up was made? There were reports of difficulties in registering the transfer of detainees. This could lead to enforced disappearance. How was the State addressing this? What training on enforced disappearance and international human rights law was provided for State agents, judges, prosecutors, civilians and family members?
It was positive that Ukraine was addressing legal difficulties created by disappearances. How was the State party working to resolve overlaps between the laws that addressed enforced disappearance? There was criticism that legislation related to enforced disappearance was complicated and that the compensation it provided was not sufficient. Did the State party plan to expand protection to all civilian victims of enforced disappearance, rather than only civilian prisoners?
The State party needed to adopt specific legislation to address crimes listed in article 25 of the Convention. How many of the 19,546 children who had been transferred to the Russian Federation were considered as "disappeared"? How were the best interests of the child and the rights of children to express their opinions respected regarding the return of children to their families? Was there a specific procedure related to the revision and review of a placement of a child who had been illegally adopted?
CARMEN ROSA VILLA QUINTANA, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, asked whether persons who were not relatives of victims but were under their guardianship could be categorised as victims. How were the rights established in the Criminal Procedural Code and the Criminal Code regarding truth, reparation and compensation provided to victims? Could the crime of enforced disappearance be subject to a reconciliation measure?
Damages for crimes of enforced disappearance could be obtained through a civil case in some cases, but the State was responsible for reparation in other cases. In what cases were perpetrators responsible for providing reparations? What amount was paid by the State? Did the State party plan to make amendments to legislation in this regard? Was access to compensation subject to a conviction, and was there a deadline by which compensation needed to be provided? How many victims of enforced disappearance had received reparation? What was the standard of proof for the granting of reparation?
What measures were in place related to medical, social and educational support for persons deprived of liberty? Did the State party adopt a differentiated approach for different categories of victims?
The Human Rights Commission and the Office of Persons Missing in Special Circumstances, as well as the Ukrainian police and other State and international bodies were involved in searches for disappeared persons. How did the State party coordinate these efforts and what resources were available in this regard? What outcomes had these activities achieved; how many disappeared persons had been identified overall? Were investigations being carried out by sea and water? Had sentences for enforced disappearance been handed down that were commensurate with the severity of the crime?
Were the two separate registries on missing persons interconnected and how did they contribute to the identification of deceased persons? How were places of burial registered? In how many cases had deceased persons been identified? There were allegations that State authorities had refused to provide information to relatives of victims regarding the whereabouts of disappeared persons. How would the State party prevent this?
In which registry were persons who had been transferred to the Russian Federation registered? How did the State party conduct searches for such persons? How many burial sites was the State party aware of that had not been exhumed? How many exhumed bodies had been returned to relatives? Had the State party mapped mass burial and common grave sites and taken measures to protect them?
The inclusion of missing persons in State registers could take around 48 hours. Did search activities begin before registration had finished? Did the State party follow the Committee's guidelines on search practices? Were tools such as photographs and fingerprints used to identify missing persons? What organization was responsible for keeping human remains? Did relatives of victims have access to the State registry on human genomic information? Biological material was taken on a compulsory basis from State agents in cases of martial law. Was this information included in the registry on human genomic information? Who could access this information? In which registries were unidentified bodies registered?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said the Ministry of Reintegration was responsible for collecting information about persons relocated within the country. It maintained a registry of reintegrated persons. To identify persons, the State party used facial recognition systems, tattoos, personal documents and fingerprints. When these methods were unsuccessful, DNA tests were conducted. The biological material of military personnel was collected by each military division, which held this material while the person was under their charge. When military personnel went missing, this data was registered in the missing persons registry. There was a DNA database that would soon be integrated with the registry of missing persons.
As of today, Ukraine had registered over 55,000 missing persons, including around 48,000 persons who had gone missing under special circumstances. The State had located around 2,500 unidentified bodies. Around 4,000 bodies had been identified through cooperation between State bodies and a procedure for identification had been developed.
Relatives of persons who went missing in special circumstances had the right to a comprehensive investigation of those persons' whereabouts. Their property was subject to protection and marriages were valid until investigations were closed or the missing person was declared dead. Searches were not stopped until the person or their remains were located.
The family members of persons who went missing in military service were provided with payments by the State in line with the missing person's salary. Families had the right to social protection. Guardianship for dependents of persons who went missing was established in accordance with domestic law. Persons whose family members had died or gone missing were not subject to conscriptions.
Investigation had been carried out that had disproven allegations of incommunicado detentions. The State party investigated all allegations of incommunicado detentions.
Training was provided to prosecutors and investigators, including by international experts. Seven training sessions were held for over 400 prosecutors and investigators on torture and enforced disappearance. Staff of the national police's missing persons unit received special training on international humanitarian law.
There was no statute of limitations currently on the crime of enforced disappearance. Judges decided on the sum of money granted for compensation to victims by the State in civilian court cases. The Government was working to make the compensation process easier for civilians. Debate was ongoing about the amount and source of compensation funds. Under the Criminal Procedure Code, non-relatives who were close to victims could be recognised as victims.
A draft law was being prepared that would provide compensation for victims of illegal activities conducted by Russian authorities. The Register of Damage for Ukraine, which recorded claims and evidence on damage, loss or injury caused by the Russian Federation's acts in or against Ukraine, had been established in the Netherlands, supported by the Council of Europe.
The Prosecutor General's Office coordinated investigations involving a range of State bodies. It convened roundtables on investigations that included United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations. It was open to revising its processes. All identified bodies from mass graves were returned to families and buried in accordance with the family's religion.
Ukraine had no bilateral agreement with Sweden. Its relationship with Sweden was governed by the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine.
The Commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances was appointed and dismissed by the Cabinet of Ministers and the term of their office was not specified by law.
Questions by Committee Experts
CARMEN ROSA VILLA QUINTANA, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, asked whether the Register of Damage for Ukraine was a physical register. Was there a single register of victims that allowed the State to assess the scale of compensation? Was the State party providing measures promoting non-recurrence? Almost all court cases held in absentia had led to guilty verdicts. Were the persons subject to trials properly notified? There were allegations that conscientious objectors had been held in police stations, sometimes in incommunicado detention. Had investigations identified State agents who had carried out incommunicado detentions?
A Committee Expert asked about the criteria that judges used to decide whether to provide compensation in criminal proceedings or whether to refer the case to civil proceedings. Was there a State fund that provided compensation when perpetrators were unable to provide compensation?
OLIVIER DE FROUVILLE, Committee Chair and Country Rapporteur, asked about measures to improve the monitoring of deprivation of liberty. Were there cases of the transfer of Ukrainian children that had been classified as cases of enforced disappearance? Was there legislation that allowed for the review of adoption procedures that had arisen out of enforced disappearance?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said a specific compensation mechanism was being created for persons who were victims of serious crimes to support these persons to integrate back into society. Many returned Ukrainian soldiers had suffered torture. If Ukrainian State agents were found to be guilty of enforced disappearance, the State provided compensation to victims. Judges assessed the nature of the crimes to determine compensation amounts.
The State party was doing everything possible to obtain information on the missing children. It was negotiating an agreement regarding the return of around 300 children. Russian officials had not recognised the transfer and illegal adoption of Ukrainian children and had made falsified documents to hide these crimes. There were specific rules regarding investigations of crimes involving children. Special child-friendly rooms were used for interviews with child victims to prevent traumatisation.
Closing Remarks
HORACIO RAVENNA, Committee Vice-Chair and Acting Chairperson for the review of Ukraine, said the Committee and the State party shared a common goal: full implementation of the Convention. Ukraine had shown its commitment to this goal. He called on the State party to remain in contact with the Committee, which would support its efforts to implement the Convention. The Committee praised the efforts exerted by civil society partners and the Ukrainian Human Rights Commission to prevent enforced disappearance. Its strong hope was that peace would be achieved in Ukraine. Humanity had been deeply shaken by the horrors that were unfolding in the war. The Committee was aware that the aid that it could provide the State party in this situation was limited. It wished for a swift end to the dreadful war.
LEONID TYMCHENKO, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and head of the delegation, said the dialogue had been fruitful. The presence of the high-level Ukrainian delegation demonstrated the importance that Ukraine attached to the issue of enforced disappearance. Cooperation with the Committee would help the State party in its efforts to uphold its international obligations. Mr. Tymchenko called on the Committee to keep in mind the current circumstances in Ukraine. Every day, bombs could be heard, and aerial attacks were being carried out across the State. The State party was aware that it needed to uphold human rights, even those of its enemies. Both State agents and citizens had had very difficult experiences over the past few years. The war had made the citizens of Ukraine aware of the price of freedom, independence, and the territory of their country.
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Russia Can Only Be Forced Into Peace, Zelenskiy Tells UN Security Council
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service September 24, 2024
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the United Nations Security Council on September 24 that Russia can only be "forced" into peace, and denounced Iran and North Korea as "accomplices" who have helped Moscow by providing weapons it has used in attacks on Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has "broken so many international norms and rules that he won't stop on his own, Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed -- forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter," Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy said the idea of talking with Putin would be "insanity" as he also criticized Russia for making Iran and North Korea "de facto accomplices in its criminal war in Europe, with their weapons killing us, killing Ukrainians."
Before the meeting, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said that the Russian delegation did not intend to listen to "cloned speeches" criticizing Moscow for its aggression against Ukraine. But Nebenzya did not leave the hall during Zelenskiy's speech.
Zelenskiy earlier on September 24 called on Washington to take "decisive" action to bring the end of the war closer as Russia launched a fresh series of strikes on Ukraine's second-largest city, killing three people.
"The targets of the Russian bombs were an apartment building, a bakery, a stadium. In other words, the everyday life of ordinary people," Zelenskiy said on X. "Russia is a terrorist, and it proves this every day with its own actions, with its choice to wage war, and attempts to expand it."
He posted a picture showing the severely damaged facade of a nine-story apartment building and debris strewn across the street. He said at least three people were killed and 24 injured.
Earlier, regional officials said one man was killed and six were wounded, including two children, by "massive" Russian air strikes on the southern city of Zaporizhzhya late on September 23.
Zelenskiy, who is in the United States for the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), met with a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers, voicing Kyiv's gratitude for what he called Washington's unwavering support for Kyiv and highlighting the critical U.S. role in defending Ukraine's freedom.
The United States, Ukraine's main supporter, and Western allies have given Kyiv billions of dollars in military aid and other assistance while also slapping several rounds of sanctions on Russia.
During his meeting with Senators Ben Cardin (Democrat-Maryland), chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Dan Sullivan (Republican-Alaska); Christopher Murphy (Democrat-Connecticut); and Representative Gregory Meeks (Democrat-New York), Zelenskiy said he informed the U.S. lawmakers about the current situation of the conflict and Russia's moves.
"Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year. Our Victory Plan will help bring Russia to peace in practice," Zelenskiy said on Telegram after the meeting.
"Now, at the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States," he said.
Zelenskiy, who is due to speak at the UNGA on September 25 and then hold talks with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol on September 26, also held bilateral meetings on the sidelines with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
In an interview with ABC News due to be released in full on September 24, Zelenskiy said that only a "strong position" would allow Ukraine to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin "to stop the war."
"I think that we are closer to the peace than we think," Zelenskiy was quoted as saying in excerpts from the interview. "We are closer to the end of the war."
Although Russia occupies some 20 percent of Ukraine's territory and has been advancing toward the strategically important hub of Pokrovsk in the eastern region of Donetsk, Kyiv has taken Moscow by surprise, launching an incursion into Russia's western Kursk region last month and seizing dozens of villages on Russian soil.
The Kursk incursion, Zelenskiy told ABC, exposed Putin's precarious position.
"He's afraid very much," Zelenskiy said. "Why? Because his people saw that he can't defend -- that he can't defend all his territory."
Russia, however, has kept pounding Ukraine with dozens of drones and missiles.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 66 of the 81 drones launched by Russia at eight regions on September 24, the Ukrainian Air Force reported on Telegram, adding that Moscow also fired four missiles during the early morning attack.
The Russian strikes targeted the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy, Vinnytsya, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Sumy, and Mykolayiv regions, the air force said. Separately, regional authorities in the eastern region of Poltava said the Russian attack damaged energy infrastructure.
Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones overnight over the Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk regions.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/zelenskiy-un-general- assembly-ukraine-war/33131767.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Biden Tells UN Assembly That Putin Has 'Failed' In Ukraine
By RFE/RL September 24, 2024
U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a blunt message to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on September 24, telling the gathering that Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine had "failed at its core aim," and he urged members of the world body meeting to continue supporting Kyiv.
Putin "set out to destroy Ukraine, but Ukraine is still free," Biden said in his last address as U.S. president to the annual UNGA in New York City.
"The world has to choose whether to sustain support for Ukraine or walk away from that aggression. My answer is we will not let up on our support for Ukraine," Biden said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was among the leaders present as Biden spoke, previously called for the UNGA to discuss Russia's attacks on his country.
"We just need to stop the terror. To have security. To have a future. We need Russia to end this criminal and unprovoked aggression that violates all global rules," Zelenskiy said.
Biden also spoke about the war in Gaza, urging Israel and Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, to finalize a cease-fire proposal that Washington has worked on for months with partner countries in the region.
"Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms," he said of the deal brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt.
Biden said the world "must not flinch from the horrors of October 7" -- the date that Hamas raided southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, who Biden said are "going through hell" along with innocent civilians in Gaza.
But at the same time it must recognize that the deal put forth by the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt will "bring the hostages home and secure security for Israel and Gaza free from Hamas's grip, ease the suffering in Gaza, and end this war.
He also warned against "full-scale war" in Lebanon, where hostilities have shifted and where hundreds of people were killed the day before in Israeli strikes aimed at rooting out militants belonging to Hezbollah, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, and their ammunition stocks.
"Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," Biden said, also stressing that the UN must work to ensure that Iran "will never, ever obtain a nuclear weapon."
Biden, 81, who in July decided against seeking a second term as president, clearing the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee, struck a note of optimism during his speech.
He said he had seen much despair in the world over his time as a U.S. senator, vice president, and president, but the world has the capacity for reconciliation.
"There will always be forces pulling us apart," he said. "Our test is that the forces that are holding us together are stronger than the forces pulling us apart."
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/biden-unga-russia-ukraine- iran-gaza-israel-lebanon/33132508.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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A Critical Trip For Zelenskiy As Battlefield Worsens And U.S. Election Looms
By Todd Prince September 24, 2024
WASHINGTON -- At a Pennsylvania munitions factory where 155-mm artillery shells are churned out by the thousands, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy grinned and shook hands, and he signed one of the shells that the Ukrainian military is heavily dependent on.
"It is in places like this where you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail," he said in a post on X, "thanks to people like these -- in Ukraine, in America, and in all partner countries -- who work tirelessly to ensure that life is protected."
The munitions plant was Zelenskiy's first stop on a weeklong visit to the United States, a trip shaping up to be one of the most consequential trips for the Ukrainian leader since Russia launched its all-out invasion in February 2022.
In speeches at the United Nations and meetings at the White House, Zelenskiy is hoping to rally the world to his cause fighting Europe's largest land war since World War II -- and also get permission to expand his military's ability to hit Russia more forcefully inside Russia itself.
Global attention on the Ukraine war is waning, increasingly eclipsed by the widening conflict in the Middle East. In the United States, Americans are increasingly impatient with U.S. support for Ukraine, sentiments channeled by Donald Trump, the former president and Republican candidate in the November 5 election. And on the ground, Russian troops continue to grind forward in eastern Ukraine even as they suffer immense losses, closing in on the key cites of Pokrovsk and Vuhledar.
"It's important for Ukraine to present some kind of consistent and realistic vision on how specifically assistance from the West can help it achieve its strategic goals," Mikhail Alexseev, a political science professor at San Diego State University, told RFE/RL.
Global South In Focus
Zelenskiy will address the UN General Assembly in New York on September 25, where he is expected to remind the world of Russia's invasion, launched in February 2022.
Zelenskiy will need to focus his address in particular on the Global South, said Andriy Veselovskiy, Ukraine's former representative to the European Union.
That's a term that refers to the countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, most of which are ambivalent at best about the war, concerned more about the dangers of economic turmoil or spiking food prices. Many nations in that loose grouping view the fighting as a proxy war between the United States and Russia.
All of the 40 nations that abstained or voted against a March 2022 UN resolution condemning Russia's invasion were located in the Global South.
"Ukraine needs to avoid the separation of the West and South on the question of Ukraine," Veselovskiy told RFE/RL. "We need to at least make the positions of some countries milder. We need to change the mood on the question of Ukraine."
The Global South broadly speaking has leverage with Russia, experts said, given that the Kremlin has destroyed its relationship with the West. But right now, the mood is that Ukraine should make the effort to hold talks with the Kremlin, said Richard Gowan, the UN director for International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based research organization.
"There's a sense that it's really time for Ukraine to sit down and negotiate with Russia," Gowan told RFE/RL. "There may not really be an appreciation of how difficult it would be for the Ukrainians to get a viable deal with Moscow."
West Wing
Zelenskiy's visit to the White House on September 26 will be just as consequential, if not more so.
Despite Ukraine's daring incursion into Russia's Kursk region in August, Russian forces continue to grind forward in Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials have pleaded for months for not only more weaponry; Washington is the single largest supplier of arms and equipment, including the artillery shells from the Pennsylvania factory.
During his meeting with President Joe Biden, Zelenskiy will also request permission to use U.S. long-range missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russia like depots and airfields housing fighter jets.
Those jets are being used with devastating consequences by Russia, dropping heavy, guided bombs that flatten entire city blocks or obliterate Ukrainian defensive positions and are difficult to shoot down. The bombs have also heavily damaged the country's energy infrastructure.
Up to 4,000 such bombs are being dropped on eastern Ukraine each month, Zelenskiy told CNN in an interview last week.
For that reason, Ukrainian commanders want to use Western weaponry to hit Russian airfields.
Biden administration officials have so far denied Ukraine's request, fearing it would cross a red line for Russian President Vladimir Putin. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin earlier this month suggested such long-range fire would turn the tide in the war.
Alexseev said Kyiv cannot outright win in a war of attrition, but it can push back Russian troops by disrupting supply lines.
Last week, Ukraine hit two ammunition depots far beyond the front line, apparently with homemade drones. At one depot in the Tver region, up to three months of munitions may have been destroyed, according to estimates by Estonia's defense intelligence agency.
Critics of the U.S. policy have pointed out that several of the Kremlin's apparent red lines have already been crossed in the past with no repercussions.
However, Biden may be more cautious this time with the U.S. presidential election just six weeks away, experts said.
Kamala Harris, Biden's vice president, is running neck-and-neck with Trump in the election campaign, according to many polls.
Some Republicans, like Trump running mate Senator JD Vance, say the United States should not give more aid, arguing Kyiv has little chance of driving Russia out.
Other Republicans oppose it on the grounds the money could be better spent at home.
Though Ukraine is not at the top of most Americans' concerns for the election, the question has resonated with some voters, and polls have shown growing American impatience.
Victory Plan
Zelenskiy is also expected to unveil his "victory plan" -- a detailed road map to end the war as Ukraine sees it.
Few details of the plan have been released, though Zelenskiy administration officials have signaled they think it is realistic and achievable, so long as it gains Western backing.
"Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year. Our victory plan will help bring Russia to peace in practice," Zelenskiy said after meeting with a group of Republican and Democratic senators on September 24.
"Now, at the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States," he said in a post on Telegram.
More Money, More Weapons, More Aid
Regardless of who wins the presidency and control of Congress on November 5, U.S. aid to Ukraine next year is most likely to decline from the $61 billion package passed in April, analysts said.
By how much will depend on various factors, including which party comes out on top.
Democrats would likely support a larger package than the Republicans. Harris has clearly stated she wants Ukraine to prevail in the war.
Trump, meanwhile, has dodged the question, saying only that he wants the war to end, but has given few details of how that would happen.
Zelenskiy's visit to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Pennsylvania was in part aimed at reminding lawmakers and American voters that aid to Ukraine also generates jobs in the United States, Alexseev said.
"It's obviously important to highlight that benefit as it has a broad appeal to the traditional Democratic base but also to the Republican base, since a lot of support for Trump is based on grievances about the loss of manufacturing jobs," he said.
RFE/RL multimedia producer Stuart Greer in Prague and correspondent Aleksandr Palikot in Kyiv contributed to this report.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-zelenskiy-us-visit-victory- weapons/33132189.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Belarus Reeducating Ukrainian Children Into 'Enemies Of Their Own People,' Report Says
By RFE/RL's Belarus Service September 24, 2024
Rights groups have called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Belarus and Russia, saying they have proof that hundreds of Ukrainian children were forcibly taken to Belarus during Russia's full-scale invasion and are being "reeducated" to turn against their homeland.
The Ukraine-based Zmina human rights center said on September 23 that its experts, along with colleagues from Freedom House and Ukraine's Regional Human Rights Center, filed a report with The Hague-based court documenting the "political indoctrination and military reeducation of Ukrainian children on the territory of Belarus."
The groups said documents and exclusive data confirm the "participation of Belarusian agents in the eradication of the Ukrainian ethnic identity of children, turning them into enemies of their own people."
The report says 18 entities in Belarus were identified as being involved in exposing at least 2,219 Ukrainian children aged 6 and older to forms of "discriminatory pressure."
Russia has come under heavy criticism for transfers of Ukrainian children to Russia, with the ICC issuing an arrest warrant in March 2023 for President Vladimir Putin over the issue.
Earlier this year, evidence gathered by RFE/RL's Belarus Service and Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, found similar evidence to the report from the rights groups on September 23.
RFE/RL found that Belarus was organizing "vacations" for children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine where the children were taught to identify with concepts that both Moscow and Minsk promote.
According to the United Nations, Russian agents have taken at least 19,546 children to that country from Ukraine since February 18, 2022.
The report by the rights groups also gives a detailed look at the financing and ways the "reeducation program" was being implemented.
The rights organizations said the "indoctrination and militarization of Ukrainian children" carried "elements of crimes against humanity."
Zmina did not disclose the identities of the Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian citizens implicated in the crimes.
The authoritarian ruler of Belarus, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, said last week while speaking with the Russian-installed leader of occupied parts of Ukraine's Donetsk region that Ukrainian children in Belarus "are provided with medical treatment and resting."
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-russia-ukraine- children-reeducation/33132306.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Russian Defence Ministry reports on repelling AFU attempt to invade Russian territory in Kursk region (24 September 2024)
24.09.2024
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of the Russian Federation.
Units of the Sever Group of Forces continued offensive actions and inflicted losses on formations of the 21st, 22nd, 41st, 115th Mechanised Brigade, 17th Tank Brigade, 95th Air Assault Brigade, 36th Marine Brigade, 1st National Guard Brigade, and 129th Territorial Defence Brigade of the AFU near Lyubimovka, Daryino, Novy Put, Nikolayevo-Daryino, and Plekhovo.
Over the past 24 hours, units of the Sever Group of Forces repelled two enemy attacks in the direction of Malaya Loknya and Obukhovka. As a result, the AFU losses amounted to up to 20 troops killed and wounded; two motor vehicles were destroyed; four AFU servicemen were taken prisoner.
With support of Army Aviation and artillery fire, five AFU attempts to break through the border of the Russian Federation in the direction of Medvezhye and Novy Put were foiled. The AFU losses amounted to up to 40 troops killed and wounded, one infantry fighting vehicle, three armoured fighting vehicles, and one motor vehicle.
Army Aviation and artillery strikes inflicted losses on manpower and hardware clusters of the 21st, 22nd, 41st, 61st, 115th mechanised brigades, 17th Tank Brigade, 80th, 95th air assault brigades, 36th Marine Brigade, 1st National Guard Brigade, 112th, and 129th territorial defence brigades near Bogdanovka, Guyevo, Ivashkovsky, Zazulevka, Kurilovka, Kolmakov, Lyubimovka, Makhovka, Martynovka, Mikhaylovka, Malaya Loknya, Malaya Obukhovka, Medvezhye, Novaya Sorochina, Novy Put, Novoivanovka, Pravda, Plekhovo, Russkoye Porechnoye, Tolsty Lug, Cherkasskaya Konopelka, and Yuzhny.
Operational-Tactical Aviation and Missile Troops delivered strikes in Sumy region at concentration areas and reserves of the 21st, 41st mechanised brigades, 17th Tank Brigade, 95th Air Assault Brigade, 1st National Guard Brigade, 1004th Security and Service Brigade, 103rd, and 129th territorial defence brigades near Belopolye, Bruski, Bunyakino, Vorozhba, Volkovka, Kazachye, Kislaya Dubina, Malushino, Mazeyevka, Novaya Sloboda, Pavlovka, Partizanskoye, Rechki, Svoboda, Shalygino, and Ugroyedy.
Over the past 24 hours, the AFU losses amounted to more than 360 troops and 13 units of hardware, including one infantry fighting vehicle and 12 armoured fighting vehicles, as well as four artillery guns, two MLRS launchers, three electronic warfare stations, and 11 motor vehicles. Four AFU servicemen were taken prisoner.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost more than 16,700 troops, 127 tanks, 61 infantry fighting vehicles, 95 armoured personnel carriers, 809 armoured fighting vehicles, 508 motor vehicles, 136 artillery guns, 31 MLRS launchers, including eight of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, eight SAM launchers, five transport-loading vehicles, 35 electronic warfare stations and eight counter-battery radars, two air defence radars, 18 engineering vehicles, including 11 counterobstacle vehicles and one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, as well as one armoured recovery vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
Department for Media Affairs and Information
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Ukraine Loses Over 16,700 Soldiers During Operation in Kursk Area - MoD
Sputnik News
20240924
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian armed forces have eliminated more than 16,700 Ukrainian servicemen and 127 tanks during military operations in the border areas of the Kursk Region, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Tuesday.
In total, during the military operations in the Kursk area, the Ukrainian armed forces have lost more than 16,700 servicemen, 127 tanks, 61 infantry fighting vehicles, 95 armored personnel carriers, 809 armored combat vehicles, 508 cars, the MoD said in a statement.
Over the past 24 hours, Kiev lost more than 360 soldiers in battles in the Kursk Region, the ministry added.
The Russian troops repelled two counterattacks in two directions of the Kursk Region, during which the Ukrainian forces lost up to 20 soldiers, the ministry said.
The Russian armed forces have also repelled five attempts by Ukrainian troops to break through the Russian border in the Kursk region, eliminating up to 40 Ukrainian troops and a tank.
A Sputnik
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We Came to the United States for Positive Answers - President at the Meeting with the Ukrainian Community
President of Ukraine
24 September 2024 - 12:32
We Came to the United States for Positive Answers - President at the Meeting with the Ukrainian Community
In New York, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska met with the Ukrainian community and visited the exhibition "Alexandra Exter: The Stage is a World" at the Ukrainian Museum.
The meeting was attended by the heads and leaders of major Ukrainian public organizations, cultural and financial institutions, scientists, and educators.
"First of all, we thank our community for the invitation. Not only for the opportunity, but frankly, for the pleasure of communicating. We do not have much time for art, and I want to thank you for these minutes. It is a pleasure to see such a promotion of Ukrainian identity," the Head of State said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the Ukrainian community has been helping to keep the U.S. focused on Ukraine and urged them to continue this work.
The President spoke about the steps Ukraine is taking to achieve victory and restore a just peace, as well as the purpose of his visit to the United States and the issue of long-range capabilities.
"At first, everyone was afraid to talk about it, then when we raised the issue, we were lightly insinuated that the questions were not timely and very dangerous. And today, to be honest, we came for positive answers. Although it seems impossible. But I believe we must do everything to open this chance," he stated.
During the meeting, they also discussed the results of the operation in the Kursk region and its strategic goals, the impressions of the visit to the United States, including the visit to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, and Ukraine's future in NATO.
"I believe that Ukraine has never been closer to the Alliance than it is today. It is true. With a little more determination, we will succeed," Volodymyr Zelenskyy concluded.
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Winterization of Ukraine's Energy System: President Met with Executives of Leading American Energy Companies
President of Ukraine
24 September 2024 - 12:12
In New York, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with executives of leading American energy, financial, and insurance companies. The meeting was also attended by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma.
The Head of State thanked the American business community and the U.S. Administration for their support in the restoration of Ukraine's energy facilities.
"The energy issue is not only important for the present, but also for the future. We need to prepare for the heating season, because this is our weakness today, as the energy grid is under attack every day, indeed every day. This is not just rhetoric, these are real pragmatic attacks by Putin," the President said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that a lot has been done to prepare for winter thanks to the support of partners. At the same time, the work done by our state is also important, in particular for the decentralization of the energy system. However, Ukraine still needs more assistance, especially with transformers.
"The biggest challenge is what to do when there is no electricity. The situation in summer is one thing, but as winter approaches it is quite another. After all, it is not just about electricity, but also about heating, communication, phones - everything. This is your life," the Head of State added.
Samantha Power noted that every winter Vladimir Putin tries to use the cold as a weapon to force people to leave the country.
"So, this time he also hopes that Mother Nature will be on his side, he hopes that the Ukrainian people and all of us will get tired of this struggle. And I think we are here today to show him that he is wrong, that his bet is wrong, as it has been so far," she said.
During the meeting, the parties discussed in detail plans for the winterization of Ukraine's energy system and the possibility of implementing joint projects in the energy sector.
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Ukraine's Plan for Victory Contains a Clear Vision of Steps Towards a Just and Lasting Peace - Andriy Yermak
President of Ukraine
24 September 2024 - 11:15
Ukraine's Plan for Victory, presented by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the United States, contains a clear vision of the steps to be taken to ensure a just and lasting peace. This was stated by the Head of the Office of the President, Andriy Yermak, in his speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
The Head of the Presidential Office stressed that the Plan for Victory includes both military and diplomatic components.
"We must have an advantage on the battlefield to force Putin into stopping the hostilities. We are trying very hard. Without ships, we have destroyed the Black Sea Fleet. Without air superiority, we have stopped the Russian advance in most directions, including Kharkiv. Without fear, we brought the war back to Russia," he said.
Andriy Yermak noted that since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine has increased its arms production sixfold. However, we still lack the resources, technologies and time to produce everything we need.
"I call on our allies to increase and speed up the delivery of military assistance packages. Air defense equipment, drones, electronic warfare equipment, long-range systems, and artillery shells are on our priority list," the Head of the Presidential Office emphasized.
Andriy Yermak also urged partners to increase investments in Ukrainian arms production and stressed the importance of granting Ukraine permission to strike targets on the territory of the Russian Federation and use frozen Russian assets to support our state.
In the course of the discussion that followed the speech, the Head of the Presidential Office outlined the prospects for holding the second Peace Summit and the preliminary preparatory work, which includes a series of thematic conferences on each of the points of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Peace Formula. Andriy Yermak also noted that Ukraine's invitation to NATO is a part of the Plan for Victory and encouraged partners to ignore Russia's threats of escalation.
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy Discussed Prospects for Trade and Economic Cooperation with the President of Paraguay
President of Ukraine
24 September 2024 - 02:10
In New York, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President of Paraguay Santiago PeAa.
The Head of State thanked Paraguay for supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined the battlefield situation and the outcomes of the first Peace Summit.
"You couldn't attend our first, inaugural Summit, but the Joint CommuniquA is open for signing. You know that 11 Latin American countries joined the inaugural Summit, and of course, we very much hope that Paraguay will also join the CommuniquA," said the President of Ukraine.
During the meeting, they discussed regional and global security challenges, prospects for trade and economic cooperation, and the exchange of expertise in mining and agriculture. They also instructed their teams to explore the most promising areas for collaboration.
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Strengthening Cooperation and Intensifying Joint Efforts on International Platforms: Volodymyr Zelenskyy Met with Narendra Modi
President of Ukraine
24 September 2024 - 01:49
In New York, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.
The President thanked India for supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Narendra Modi discussed the implementation of cooperation in areas agreed upon during the Prime Minister's historic visit to Kyiv a month ago. These included enhancing trade and economic relations, defense cooperation, India's involvement in post-war reconstruction, and collaboration in education, science, and culture.
During the meeting, special attention was paid to strengthening interaction on international platforms, particularly within the UN and G20, as well as implementing the Peace Formula and preparing for the second Peace Summit.
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China upholds fairness and justice to promote Gaza ceasefire -- Chinese FM
Xinhua) 14:02, September 25, 2024
NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- China upholds fairness and justice to promote a ceasefire in Gaza, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday when meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
China supports regional countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia in continuing to improve their relations and resolving regional security issues through unity and cooperation, taking control of the Middle East's fate into their own hands, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
Noting that both China and Iran are ancient civilizations that have made significant contributions to human progress, Wang said that China is ready to enhance practical cooperation with Iran in various fields to support each country's development.
Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China is ready to develop the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Iran, Wang said.
Regardless of changes in the international or regional situation, China will always be a trustworthy partner for Iran, continuing to support Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national dignity, while opposing external interference in Iran's internal affairs as well as sanctions, Wang said.
Pezeshkian said that Iran is firmly committed to the one-China policy and developing friendly relations with China, adding that Iran is willing to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative.
In this rapidly changing world, as some countries pursue unilateralism and hegemonic practices, Iran and China should strengthen cooperation, join hands to face challenges, and jointly uphold multilateralism and international fairness and justice, he said.
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Volodymyr Zelenskyy Met with Members of the U.S. Congress
President of Ukraine
24 September 2024 - 00:56
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with a bipartisan delegation from the United States Congress. The meeting was attended by Senators Ben Cardin, Dan Sullivan, Christopher Murphy, and Representative Gregory Meeks.
"We are grateful to both parties and both chambers of the U.S. Congress, as well as to President Biden, for the support. And, of course, we are here to thank your people," said the President.
He provided a detailed update on the situation on the frontline, the course of the operation in the Kursk region, the needs of Ukrainian warriors, and the importance of timely delivery of defense packages.
Special attention was paid to the Victory Plan, which Volodymyr Zelenskyy will present to President Joseph Biden, the U.S. Congress, and both presidential candidates this week.
"This is a very specific plan on how to strengthen Ukraine without any decisions or pressure from Russia. This plan does not depend on any decisions made by Putin," the President added.
The meeting also covered prospects for reconstruction projects. With winter approaching, strengthening Ukraine's energy system is one of the key priorities. Additionally, Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of tightening sanctions against Russia.
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Energy Support and Stepping Up Sanctions Against Russia: Volodymyr Zelenskyy Met with Fumio Kishida
President of Ukraine
24 September 2024 - 00:12
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida.
The President awarded the Japanese Prime Minister with the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, I class.
"I am very happy to meet you. This award is not only from me - it's from the entire Ukrainian people. We are deeply grateful for such strong support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people since the beginning of the full-scale invasion," said the President.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Japan for its financial and humanitarian assistance, amounting to over a12 billion, as well as for its support of sanctions against Russia. The President emphasized the importance of continuing efforts to close all loopholes that Russia uses to evade sanctions.
Topics of discussion included cooperation with G7 and EU partners to establish a practical mechanism to secure $50 billion from frozen Russian assets.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also provided an update on the current energy situation. Fumio Kishida announced that Japan is preparing a new energy assistance package, which will include transformers, generators, and other equipment.
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With Political Will, 'Diplomacy Can Succeed', Secretary-General Tells Ministerial-Level Security Council Meeting on Ukraine
Meetings Coverage
Security Council
9731st Meeting (PM)
SC/15831
24 September 2024
"Let us intensify our efforts to seek peace in Ukraine," United Nations Secretary-General AntAnio Guterres urged a ministerial-level Security Council meeting today, as speakers debated ways to stop the war in that country, with some offering mediation and pledging support and others calling for the cessation of weapon delivery to the Russian Federation.
In his briefing to the Council, Secretary-General Guterres recalled that on 22 September, in the newly agreed Pact for the Future, world leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the Charter of the United Nations. "Our Organization is based on the principle of sovereignty of all Member States a within their internationally recognized borders," he stressed. With the largest international presence in Ukraine, the UN provided aid to 6.2 million people. However, he reported that the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan was only half funded.
Also expressing concern over a resurgence of incidents around the Zaporizhzhia and Kursk Nuclear Power Plants, he emphasized: "The longer this tragic war continues, the greater the risk of escalation and spillover." Nonetheless, he pointed out that the Black Sea Grain Initiative and continued exchanges of war prisoners serve as a reminder that, when there is political will, diplomacy can succeed a even in the darkest hour. "Today, though the prospects for peace may seem distant, I am inspired by the growing calls for dialogue," he added.
In the ensuing discussion, many Council members rejected weapons deliveries to the Russian Federation, while others sounded the alarm over the possibility of further escalation and the use of nuclear weapons.
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States, said that support from Tehran and Pyongyang is "helping Putin inflict carnage, suffering and ruin." The quickest the quickest way to stop the conflict is to stop those who are enabling and fuelling "Putin's aggression," he declared.
For his part, Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said the recent transfer of short-range ballistic missiles by Iran to the Russian Federation represents a substantive material escalation and a direct threat to European security.
Similarly, Cho Tae-yul, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, expressing concerns over the Russian Federation and Democratic People's Republic of Korea's military cooperation, said that this partnership threatens not only peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, but in Europe as well.
Noting that the weapons deliveries have "absolutely not helped in bringing this war to an end," PAter SzijjArtA, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Hungary, said that the question now is what "is the quickest way to peace." Echoing that stance, Wang Yi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of China observed that the more the weapons are sent to the battlefield, the more difficult it is to achieve the goal of cease-fire, while noting that "China has all along stood on the side of peace."
Ian Borg, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade of Malta, also expressed concern about possible escalation due to weapons and related materials being delivered to the Russian Federation from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Iran and urged the Council to ensure compliance of all weapon transfers.
For his part, Akahori Takeshi, Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, said that "as the only country to have ever suffered atomic bombings during the war, his country does not accept Russia's nuclear threats, let alone its use of nuclear weapons." Jean-NoAl Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs for France, noting that Ukraine's struggle "is ours" as well, urged all States to stop delivering weapons and dual-use goods to the Russian Federation.
Also stressing that the conflict cannot be solved through military means, Hugh Hilton Todd, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Guyana said: "Only a serious political and diplomatic process can pave the path to peace and commended the efforts of those who have committed to finding pathways to peacefully end the war." Along those lines, Manuel GonAalves, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique emphasized: "Violence, regardless of its justification by any party, cannot establish the conditions necessary for lasting peace."
"Why are we unable to agree on the path to peace?" Ignazio Cassis, Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department for Foreign Affairs of Switzerland questioned, spotlighting that his country organized the first Summit on Peace in Ukraine, held in June 2024 in Lucerne. "It is now essential to continue this dialogue with the Russian Federation as well," he stated.
Voicing regret over the lack of inclusive international initiatives and diplomatic avenues for peace, Ahmed Attaf, Minister for Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad of Algeria said that his country's President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune has proposed to mediate between the two parties.
However, Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that "Russia can only be forced into peace", stressing that from the start of the war, the Russian Federation acted in ways that cannot be justified under the United Nations Charter. More so, every point of the Peace Formula a proposed in 2022 a is rooted in the principles, purposes and norms of the Charter. Underscoring the need for a second Peace Summit, he said: "All of us already know how to achieve it. What is needed is determination."
Offering a contrasting perspective, the representative of the Russian Federation said that Moscow started its Special Military Operation after the "regime in Kyiv" refused to implement the Minsk Agreements and had, instead, intensified strikes on Donbas. "If the Western camp does not excise the cancerous tumour of the current Kyiv regime peacefully" and if Washington, D.C., continues to supersede the salvation of the country, Moscow will continue its Special Military Operation until its objectives are met militarily," he added.
However, David Lammy, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, rebutted that narrative, declaring: "Your invasion is about your own interests. Yours alone." The Russian Federation was trying to "return to the world of the past. A world of imperialism...". He reminded that country's representative, that, as a Black man whose ancestors were taken in chains from Africa and whose ancestors fought in a great rebellion of the enslaved, that he recognized imperialism. "I know it when I see it. And I will call it out for what it is."
Also voicing concerns of many speakers, Robert Golob, Prime Minister of Slovenia, Council President for September, spoke in his national capacity, noting that if the Russian Federation wins, "gross violations of the Charter will win as well", making the whole world "less safe and less stable".
Adding to that, Jaime Barberis, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, called on the Russian Federation to end its military operations in Ukraine "so that we can move without further delay toward a negotiated solution for sustainable peace." For his part, Musa Timothy Kabba, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone, urged the Council to speak with one voice in the interest of global peace and security.
While many speakers from countries in the region, including Italy and TArkiye, affirmed their unwavering support to Ukraine in its self-defence and in the rebuilding of its infrastructure, others expressed concern over the failure to find peace. Juraj BlanAr, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia, highlighted the lack of a firm commitment from global powers to the peace process, including in the Council. "This conflict cannot be solved unless the competition of global powers is replaced by their cooperation," he pointed out.
LuminiEa Odobescu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Romania, stressed that the war is undermining the security of the wider Black Sea area and challenging neighbouring States' stability. Speaking about the abductions of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation, RadosAaw Sikorski, Minister for Foreign Affairs for Poland, underlined that "this is not collateral war damage. It was a plan devised before the war and ruthlessly executed."
Lars LAkke Rasmussen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark, speaking also for Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and Gitanas NausAda, President of Lithuania, speaking also for Estonia and Latvia, called for the Russian Federation to be held to account, with the latter urging that a special international tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine be established and for war criminals must be arrested under International Criminal Court arrest warrants.
"We as European neighbours, we as Germans were responsible for the worst crime on the European continent," noted Annalena Baerbock, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany. "We are lucky to live in peace again because other European friends and partners were there for us." Germany cannot stop helping Ukraine in its self-defence or ignore what is happening, she added, because "my country pledged to always stand up for the principles of the United Nations."
At the outset of the meeting the representative of the Russian Federation made a point of order that the programme of work for the Slovenian Security Council Presidency did not include a high-level meeting on Ukraine and questioned the participation of 11 non-Council member delegations under Rules 37 and 39 of the Security Council's Rules of Procedure.
Slovenia's representative, Council President for September, responded that Rule 37's criterion is based on the interests of States specially affected. Further, non-members invited for this meeting were invited to participate in prior meetings on this topic and thus met the criterion of being "specially affected".
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Zelenskyy: Russia can't be talked into peace
By VOA News September 24, 2024
Russian strikes Tuesday on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv killed three people and wounded more than 30, Ukrainian officials said.
"The targets of the Russian bombs were an apartment building, a bakery, a stadium. In other words, the everyday life of ordinary people," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement.
Zelenskyy released a photograph of the apartment building which showed an immense hole in the middle of the structure, several floors destroyed, blown-out windows and rubble strewn across the ground.
The attack on the Ukrainian town came while Zelenskyy is in the United States. He addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday afternoon.
"There is much discussion now at the U.N. General Assembly about collective efforts for security and the future. But we just need to stop the terror. To have security. To have a future," he said.
He later told the United Nations Security Council that the war between his country and Russia "can't be calmed by talks. Action is needed."
"Putin has broken so many international norms and rules that he won't stop on his own," Zelenskyy said. "Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed, forcing Russia into peace, as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the U.N. Charter."
The mayor of Kharkiv said the same building had been attacked at the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and repairs were nearly complete. The mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said on Telegram that the most densely populated part of the city was hit. Regional prosecutors said, also on Telegram, that the city was hit by six Russian guided bombs.
Two people also were reported killed in Pokrovsk by Russian shelling, according to Agence France-Presse.
Ukrainian officials said earlier Tuesday that Russian attacks on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least one person and injured six others.
Ivan Fedorov, the regional governor of Zaporizhzhia, said the attack destroyed a house and damaged an infrastructure facility.
Ukraine's military said Russia attacked the country with four missiles and 81 drones, with Ukrainian air defenses shooting down 66 of the drones. Intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy, Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr regions.
In the Poltava region in central Ukraine, officials said debris from destroyed Russian drones damaged energy infrastructure and knocked out electricity to some areas.
Russia's Defense Ministry said Tuesday it shot down seven Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod region, five drones over Kursk and another drone over Bryansk.
Some information for this story was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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UN accuses Russia of systematic torture of Ukrainian civilians, prisoners
By Lisa Schlein September 24, 2024
Investigators at the United Nations accuse Russia of using torture and sexual violence with impunity against Ukrainian citizens and prisoners of war in occupied Ukrainian territories and in the Russian Federation.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine submitted its latest update on the situation in Ukraine on Monday to the U.N. Human Rights Council, which continued a review of its findings during an interactive dialogue on Tuesday.
In his oral presentation, commission chair Erik Mose told the council that men were most of the victims subjected to torture, and that new evidence shows that sexual violence is used as a means of torture "mainly against male victims in detention, and of rapes targeting women in villages under Russian control."
"The wide geographic spread of locations where torture was committed, and the prevalence of shared patterns, demonstrate that torture has been used as a common and acceptable practice by Russian authorities, with a sense of impunity," Mose said, adding that the latest findings reaffirm previous reports that torture committed by Russian authorities has been "widespread and systematic."
"Our recent investigations show that Russian authorities have committed torture in Ukrainian regions where they have taken control of territories. This reinforces the finding that torture has been widespread," Mose said.
The commission has identified several common elements in the use of torture by Russian authorities, "reinforcing its earlier finding that this was systematic."
It notes that similar forms of torture were practiced in detention centers where detainees from Ukraine have been held in the Russian Federation, as well as in large penitentiary centers in occupied areas of Ukraine.
Another common element emerging from the evidence points toward a coordinated use of personnel from specific services of the Russian Federation "who are involved in torture in all the detention facilities" investigated by the commission.
"A further common feature is the recurrent use of sexual violence as a form of torture in almost all these detention centers," Mose said.
Russia boycotted the meeting, refusing to respond to the commission's report as a concerned country. Russia had its supporters, however, several of whom disproved of the report.
Belarus called the commission's accusations "false and unsubstatiated by facts" and invited specialized national organizations "to study the situation on the ground for themselves."
Eritrea, Syria and Venezuela echoed these sentiments, as did the representative of North Korea, who described "the Ukraine incident" as one of the big geopolitical crises facing the world today and "a direct product of the confrontation of the West against the Russian Federation."
Most of the other countries participating in the interactive dialogue condemned Russia's blatant defiance of the U.N. Charter and international law. They demanded that Russia "cease its illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression," including the relentless airstrikes against Ukrainian civilians and critical infrastructure.
Michele Taylor, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, thanked the commission for its detailed work in "documenting Russia's violations of international law in Ukraine."
"Since Russia's brutal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we have seen over and over again credible reports that Russia targets civilian objects in violation of international humanitarian law.
"The effects of Russia's brutal attacks in Putin's war of choice are severe," she said, adding that more must be done "to hold those who commit any such acts accountable and ensure justice for the victims."
Ukrainians personally involved in Putin's "war of choice" welcomed the commission's findings.
Ukraine's prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin, underscored the importance of ensuring justice and accountability for torture, sexual violence and other "atrocities that Russia has brought to Ukraine's soil" 10 years after Russia invaded Ukraine, and over two years after its full-scale aggression on Ukraine.
"Thousands of Ukrainian captives, including civilians and particularly children, are forcibly detained by Russia in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and in Russia in particular," Kostin said.
"I am grateful to the U.N. Commission of Inquiry for maintaining an investigative focus on the systematic torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian captivity and increasing reports of their summary execution," which he said "amount to war crimes and potentially other crimes under international law."
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian parliament commissioner for human rights, also expressed his gratitude to the commission for its work in preparing evidence for international judicial bodies and paving the way "for bringing the perpetrators" of crimes against his people to justice.
"Unfortunately, due to the unprovoked Russian invasion, Ukraine has become a country where brutal crimes continue to be committed," including the murder of civilians, deportation of children, executions of prisoners of war and massive missile attacks and destruction of civilian infrastructure.
"I urge you to continue your work despite all the difficulties," Lubinets said, noting that the documentation of crimes, victims' testimonies and facts are the basis "for ensuring the proper international justice that Ukraine needs."
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NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, continues to investigate potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Paragon 28, Inc. (NYSE: FNA) resulting from allegations that Paragon 28 may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.
SO WHAT: If you purchased Paragon 28 securities you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The Rosen Law Firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses.
WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the prospective class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=27557 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email case@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.
WHAT IS THIS ABOUT: On July 30, 2024, after the market closed, Paragon 28 filed a current report on Form 8-K with the SEC disclosing that the Companys previously issued audited consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, contained within the Annual Report on Form 10-K for that year . . . and the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements contained within the Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2023, June 30, 2023, September 30, 2023, and March 31, 2024 should no longer be relied upon due to errors in such financial statements, and therefore a restatement of these prior financial statements is required.
On this news, Paragon 28s stock fell $1.24 per share, or 13.7%, to close at $7.79 per share on July 31, 2024.
Then, on August 8, 2024, the Company issued a press release announcing its financial results for the second quarter of 2024. In it, the Company issued revised full-year revenue guidance of $249 million to $255 million, down from a previous range of $249 million to $259 million. The Company also announced the implementation of an operational efficiency strategy that involved a 7% reduction in workforce, an inventory burn-down, and a [o]ne-time realignment of executive compensation for 2024.
On this news, Paragon 28's stock fell $1.67 per share, or 20.1%, to close at $6.64 per share on August 9, 2024.
WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs Bar. Many of the firms attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.
Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Contact Information:
Laurence Rosen, Esq.
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The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 686-1060
Toll Free: (866) 767-3653
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NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 24, 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 September 30, 2024 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. (ABR or the Company) (NYSE: ABR), if they purchased the Companys securities between May 7, 2021 and July 11, 2024, inclusive (the Class Period). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
What You May Do
If you purchased securities of ABR and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-abr/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by September 30, 2024 .
About the Lawsuit
Arbor Realty and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.
On March 14, 2023, NINGI Research reported that ABR has been hiding a toxic real estate portfolio of mobile homes with a complex web of real and fake holdings companies for more than a decade. On this news, the price of ABR shares fell from $12.99 per share on March 13, 2023, to $12.12 per share on March 14, 2023, and then $11.53 per share on March 15, 2023. Then, on July 12, 2024, Bloomberg reported that the Company was the subject of a probe by federal prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York that were inquiring about lending practices and the companys claims about the performance of their loan book. On this news, the price of ABR shares fell from $15.53 per share on July 11, 2024, to $12.89 per share on July 12, 2024.
The case is Martin v. Arbor Realty Trust, Inc., No. 24-cv-05347.
About Kahn Swick & Foti, 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
Technip Energies (PARIS: TE) and JGC Corporation have been awarded the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contract by ExxonMobil on behalf of Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV), a joint venture of ExxonMobil, Eni, and CNPC for the Rovuma LNG project at Palma in the Afungi peninsula, Northeast of Mozambique.
The Rovuma LNG project will consist of an LNG plant with a total production capacity of 18 Mtpa(1), comprising 12 fully modularized LNG trains of 1.5 Mtpa each.
The plant design will feature electric-driven LNG trains instead of gas turbines, reducing greenhouse gases emissions compared to conventional LNG projects. It will also include prefabricated and standardized modules to be assembled at the project site in Mozambique, offering cost competitiveness and certainty in delivery schedule.
Mario Tommaselli, SVP Gas and Low Carbon Energies of Technip Energies commented: We are honored to have been selected by ExxonMobil and its partners to design the Rovuma LNG project. By leveraging our expertise in modularization and electrified LNG, we are committed to support ExxonMobil and its partners towards final investment decision, as well as strengthening our presence in Mozambique to contribute to long-term economic growth and its ambition to become one of Africas leading LNG exporters.
Farhan Mujib, Representative Director, President of JGC, commented: We are pleased to have been awarded by ExxonMobil and its partners, large-scale and environmentally efficient LNG Project in Mozambique. With the global focus on decarbonization and energy security, the JGC Group is accelerating the promotion of energy transition, and this project is firmly in line with the direction of our strategy. We are convinced this project of national significance will contribute to enhance economic and industrial growth in Mozambique and East Africa."
(1) Mtpa: million tons per annum
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
About JGC Corporation
Since its founding in 1928, JGC Corporation has delivered plants and facilities serving a wide range of purposes, mainly in the energy industries, such as LNG, oil, natural gas and petrochemical plants, but also other energy and industrial infrastructure.
JGC Corporation has executed some 20,000 projects in more than 80 countries and its proven capabilities have established its reputation as a leading engineering contractor worldwide.
With our corporate purpose Enhancing planetary health, we intend to further promote the expansion of our business fields and contribute to economic progress, industrial advancement and sustainable growth throughout the world. For more information, please visit
https://www.jgc.com/en/
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
Dublin, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Vietnam Cement Export Research Report 2024-2033" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The primary downstream industries for cement include the construction industry, infrastructure development, and the precast concrete products industry. Cement demand in these sectors is large and continues to grow, especially in developing countries and emerging markets. According to the publisher, the major cement exporters in the Asia-Pacific region and globally include China, India, and Vietnam.
Vietnam has gained a significant position in the global cement market in recent years due to its abundant limestone resources and relatively low production costs. Additionally, Vietnam's cement production technology and quality standards have been steadily improving.
Vietnam's construction industry has been rapidly expanding in recent years, making it one of the highest-return sectors in the Asia-Pacific region and a crucial pillar of the Vietnamese economy. Over the past two years, the construction sector has contributed more than 6% to Vietnam's GDP, with the contribution rate reaching 6.8% in the first quarter of 2024. The Vietnamese government promotes around 100 infrastructure projects annually, leading to strong demand for cement in downstream industries.
The cement industry in Vietnam is also a key industry, with domestic cement manufacturers continually expanding production capacity and improving technological levels to meet both domestic and international market demands. Vietnam not only satisfies its domestic infrastructure and real estate needs but also exports significant quantities of cement to other Asian countries and regions, becoming a vital player in the global cement market. Based on the data from the publisher, Vietnam's cement export value exceeded USD 1.2 billion in 2023. With global cement market demand expected to remain strong in 2024, Vietnam's cement exports reached USD 500 million in the first five months of the year.
The primary export destinations for Vietnamese cement from 2021 to 2024 were China, the Philippines, and Singapore. Major companies importing cement from Vietnam include CEMEX International Trading LLC, SCG International Corporation, and Philfirst Global Marketing Inc. Cement exporters in Vietnam consist of large domestic conglomerates as well as subsidiaries of international construction material producers and distributors based in Vietnam. The main exporters of Vietnamese cement include VIS Group, Chi Nhanh Cong Ty TNHH Long Son T?i Khanh Hoa, and HUGK.
In recent years, global manufacturing capacity has gradually shifted to Vietnam, leading to significant progress in technology, equipment, experience, and capital within the country. The publisher has projected that due to Vietnam's numerous free trade agreements and the strong competitiveness of Vietnamese cement in the international market, there are significant opportunities and growth potential for Vietnam's cement exports. In the coming years, Vietnam's cement exports are expected to continue growing.
Topics covered:
The Export Volume and Value of Cement in Vietnam (2021-2024)
Total Export Volume and Percentage Change of Cement in Vietnam (2021-2024)
Total Export Value and Percentage Change of Cement in Vietnam (2021-2024)
Total Export Volume and Percentage Change of Cement in Vietnam (January-May 2024)
Total Export Value and Percentage Change of Cement in Vietnam (January-May 2024)
Average Export Price of Cement in Vietnam (2021-2024)
Top 10 Export Destinations for Vietnam Cement and Their Import Volume
Top 10 Suppliers in the Export Market of Cement in Vietnam and Their Export Volume
Top 10 Buyers in the Export Market of Cement in Vietnam and Their Import Volume
How to Find International Distributors and End Users of Cement in Vietnam
How Foreign Enterprises Enter the Cement Export Market of Vietnam
Forecast for the Export of Cement in Vietnam (2024-2033)
Key Attributes:
Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 80 Forecast Period 2024 - 2033 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $1.24 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2033 $1.69 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 3.5% Regions Covered Vietnam
Key Topics Covered:
1 Overview of Vietnam
1.1 Geography of Vietnam
1.2 Economic Condition of Vietnam
1.3 Demographics of Vietnam
1.4 Domestic Market of Vietnam
1.5 Recommendations for Foreign Enterprises Entering the Vietnam Cement Export Market
2 Analysis of Cement Exports in Vietnam (2021-2024)
2.1 Export Scale of Cement in Vietnam
2.1.1 Export Value of Cement in Vietnam
2.1.2 Export Price of Cement in Vietnam
2.1.3 Export Volume of Cement in Vietnam
2.1.4 Export Dependency of Cement in Vietnam
2.2 Major Destination for Cement Exports in Vietnam
3 Analysis of Major Destination for Cement Exports in Vietnam (2021-2024)
3.1 China
3.1.1 Analysis of Export Value and Volume
3.1.2 Analysis of Average Export Price
3.2 Philippine
3.2.1 Analysis of Export Value and Volume
3.2.2 Analysis of Average Export Price
3.3 Singapore
3.3.1 Analysis of Export Value and Volume
3.3.2 Analysis of Average Export Price
3.4 United States
3.5 Hong Kong
3.6 Bangladesh
4 Analysis of Major Buyer in the Export Market of Cement in Vietnam (2021-2024)
4.1 CEMEX INTERNATIONAL TRADING LLC
4.1.1 Company Introduction
4.1.2 Analysis of Cement Imports from Vietnam
4.2 SCG INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
4.2.1 Company Introduction
4.2.2 Analysis of Cement Imports from Vietnam
4.3 PHILFIRST GLOBAL MARKETING INC
4.3.1 Company Introduction
4.3.2 Analysis of Cement Imports from Vietnam
5 Analysis of Major Suppliers in the Export Market of Cement in Vietnam (2021-2024)
5.1 VIS GROUP
5.1.1 Company Introduction
5.1.2 Analysis of Cement Exports
5.2 CHI NHANH CONG TY TNHH LONG SON T?I KHANH HOA
5.2.1 Company Introduction
5.2.2 Analysis of Cement Exports
5.3 HUGK
5.3.1 Company Introduction
5.3.2 Analysis of Cement Exports
6. Monthly Analysis of Cement Exports in Vietnam from 2021 to 2024
6.1 Analysis of Monthly Export Value and Volume
6.2 Forecast of Monthly Average Export Prices
7. Key Factors Affecting Cement Exports in Vietnam
7.1 Policy
7.1.1 Current Export Policies
7.1.2 Trend Predictions for Export Policies
7.2 Economic
7.2.1 Market Prices
7.2.2 Growth Trends of Cement Production Capacity in Vietnam
7.3 Technology
8. Forecast for the Export of Cement in Vietnam, 2024-2033
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/klga3a
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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.
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Dublin, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Vietnam Steel Pipes Import Research Report 2024-2033" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
In 2023, Vietnam's total steel pipe imports exceeded USD 300 million, with pipes used for oil or gas transportation and drilling accounting for over USD 100 million. The market demand in 2024 is even more robust, with cumulative import values exceeding USD 150 million from January to May 2024, and this trend is expected to continue growing in the coming years.
Globally, major producers and exporters include China, the United States, Japan, and Germany. Among these, China, with its vast production capacity and comprehensive industrial chain, is one of the largest steel pipe producers and exporters in the world. Vietnam currently faces challenges in large-scale steelmaking, including issues related to technology, equipment, and quality control, limiting its domestic production capacity. Consequently, the Vietnamese steel pipe market relies heavily on imports.
In Vietnam, with the acceleration of industrialization and urbanization, the demand for steel pipes in the Vietnamese market is increasing. Although there are some domestic steel pipe manufacturers in Vietnam, the technological level and production capacity are relatively limited, unable to fully meet the rapidly growing market demand. Therefore, Vietnam needs to import a large quantity of steel pipes from overseas markets to supplement domestic production. Steel pipes are vital materials for industrial and infrastructure construction, and the market prospects and development potential for steel pipes in Vietnam are very promising.
The publisher analyzes that between 2021 and 2024, the primary sources of steel pipe imports for Vietnam included China, South Korea, and Japan. The main companies exporting steel pipes to Vietnam include ZARNEST SERVICE LTD, ATA GLOBAL LOGISTICS CO., LTD, and CHARM MING CO., LTD.
The main importers of steel pipes in Vietnam are companies in industries related to oil and gas, infrastructure construction, machinery manufacturing, and various heavy industries, mainly foreign-invested enterprises. According to the publisher, these companies include Vietsovpetro, LTD., GE POWER SYSTEMS CO., LTD., and DOOSAN VINA.
Overall, as Vietnam's population grows, industrialization and urbanization continue to progress, the market demand for steel pipes in Vietnam will also continue to increase. The publisher projects the import volume of steel pipes in Vietnam to maintain a growth trend in the coming years, which will play a crucial role in the stability and growth of Vietnam's industry.
Topics covered:
The Import Volume and Value of Steel Pipe in Vietnam (2021-2024)
Total Import Volume and Percentage Change of Steel Pipes in Vietnam (2021-2024)
Total Import Value and Percentage Change of Steel Pipes in Vietnam (2021-2024)
Total Import Volume and Percentage Change of Steel Pipes in Vietnam (January-May 2024)
Total Import Value and Percentage Change of Steel Pipes in Vietnam (January-May 2024)
Average Import Price of Steel Pipes in Vietnam (2021-2024)
Top 10 Sources of Steel Pipes Imports in Vietnam and Their Supply Volume
Top 10 Suppliers in the Import Market of Steel Pipes in Vietnam and Their Supply Volume
Top 10 Importers of Steel Pipes in Vietnam and Their Import Volume
How to Find Distributors and End Users of Steel Pipes in Vietnam
How Foreign Enterprises Enter the Steel Pipes Market of Vietnam
Forecast for the Import of Steel Pipes in Vietnam (2024-2033)
Key Attributes:
Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 80 Forecast Period 2024 - 2033 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $350 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2033 $671 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 7.5% Regions Covered Vietnam
Key Topics Covered:
1 Overview of Vietnam
1.1 Geography of Vietnam
1.2 Economic Condition of Vietnam
1.3 Demographics of Vietnam
1.4 Domestic Market of Vietnam
1.5 Recommendations for Foreign Enterprises Entering the Vietnam Steel Pipes Products Market
2 Analysis of Steel Pipes Imports in Vietnam (2021-2024)
2.1 Import Scale of Steel Pipes in Vietnam
2.1.1 Import Value and Volume of Steel Pipes in Vietnam
2.1.2 Import Prices of Steel Pipes in Vietnam
2.1.3 Apparent Consumption of Steel Pipes in Vietnam
2.1.4 Import Dependency of Steel Pipes in Vietnam
2.2 Major Sources of Steel Pipes Imports in Vietnam
3 Analysis of Major Sources of Steel Pipes Imports in Vietnam (2021-2024)
3.1 China
3.1.1 Analysis of Import Value and Volume
3.1.2 Analysis of Average Import Price
3.2 South Korea
3.2.1 Analysis of Import Value and Volume
3.2.2 Analysis of Average Import Price
3.3 Japan
3.3.1 Analysis of Import Value and Volume
3.3.2 Analysis of Average Import Price
3.4 Russia
3.5 Singapore
3.6 Thailand
4 Analysis of Major Suppliers in the Import Market of Steel Pipes in Vietnam (2021-2024)
4.1 ZARNEST SERVICE LTD
4.1.1 Company Introduction
4.1.2 Analysis of Steel Pipes Exports to Vietnam
4.2 ATA GLOBAL LOGISTICS CO, LTD
4.2.1 Company Introduction
4.2.2 Analysis of Steel Pipes Exports to Vietnam
4.3 CHARM MING CO LTD
4.3.1 Company Introduction
4.3.2 Analysis of Steel Pipes Exports to Vietnam
5 Analysis of Major Importers in the Import Market of Steel Pipes in Vietnam (2021-2024)
5.1 Vietsovpetro, LTD.
5.1.1 Company Introduction
5.1.2 Analysis of Steel Pipes Imports
5.2 GE POWER SYSTEMS CO, LTD
5.2.1 Company Introduction
5.2.2 Analysis of Steel Pipes Imports
5.3 DOOSAN VINA
5.3.1 Company Introduction
5.3.2 Analysis of Steel Pipes Imports
6. Monthly Analysis of Steel Pipes Imports in Vietnam from 2021 to 2024
6.1 Analysis of Monthly Import Value and Volume
6.2 Forecast of Monthly Average Import Prices
7. Key Factors Affecting Steel Pipes Imports in Vietnam
7.1 Policy
7.1.1 Current Import Policies
7.1.2 Trend Predictions for Import Policies
7.2 Economic
7.2.1 Market Prices
7.2.2 Growth Trends of Steel Pipes Production Capacity in Vietnam
7.3 Technology
8. Forecast for the Import of Steel Pipes in Vietnam, 2024-2033
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/21i2nf
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.
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Dublin, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Infant Formula Market - Forecasts from 2024 to 2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The global infant formula market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.6% over the forecast period, from US$64.183 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach US$84.268 billion by 2029.
The growing female participation within the worldwide workforce is set to push the market for infant formula forward as it is forecasted to boost disposable income and decrease breastfeeding of infants within the worldwide market. Within the past two years, the worldwide female labor force expanded from 39.7% in 2022 to almost 40.1% in 2023, according to the World Bank information. The data further expressed that in countries like Japan and the USA, female workforce participation expanded from 44.9% and 46.3% in 2022 to 45.1% and 46.5%, respectively, in 2023.
The constantly growing global population is expected to boost the demand for infant formula
One of the major driving variables anticipated to push the worldwide demand for infant formula is the continually growing global population. With this increment, the number of children born worldwide will increase. This increment in the worldwide population and increasing childbirth are anticipated to boost the worldwide demand for infant formula in the forecasted period.
The World Bank observed in its report that the global population reached 8.02 billion in 2023, up from 7.95 billion in 2022. This represents a steady rise in the worldwide population, particularly in developing countries such as India, Malaysia, and Vietnam. India is home to the biggest population globally, with around 1.43 billion individuals living within the country in 2023. The expanding population surges the market's requirement for infant food and formula.
The cow's milk protein-based infant formula is anticipated to boost the market expansion
The infant formula market for cow's milk protein-based is driven by expanding consumer mindfulness of the healthy and nutritious benefits of cow milk protein for general infant development. Pediatricians broadly endorse cow milk protein-based infant formulas as an elective to breast milk. One of the primary variables driving this segment's development is the various well-being benefits of cow milk infant formula over other types of infant formula.
Moreover, the expanding infant mortality rate is one of the reasons for the need for nutritious infant formula within the nation. For instance, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the infant mortality rate within the United States in 2022 was 5.60 per 1,000 live births, which was 3% higher compared to 2021, where the infant mortality rate was 5.44 per 1,000 live births. The increase in cases of newborn mortality is expected to be one of the major reasons for the bolstering of the market for cow milk protein-based infant formula within the anticipated period.
Key market players and new entrants are investing in major market activities such as product launches, developments, and collaborations to meet the growing demand for cow milk protein-based infant formula products.
The United States region is predicted to contribute significantly to market growth
The demand for organic infant formula is anticipated to rise in the United States. The demand for specialty infant formula is expected to increase nationwide. These specialty formulas have specialized ingredients such as hydrolyzed protein, amino acids and prebiotics.
Furthermore, companies are increasing their investments in the United States infant formula market, which is expected to drive market growth in the coming years. For instance, in March 2022, Bobbie, one of the first organic infant formula companies manufacturing in the United States, announced that it had closed funding to US$50 million. This included its Series B funding, which was led by Park West, with existing investors Nextview and VMG. This funding will help the company accelerate the production of its infant formula and support the growing demand for nutritious formula. Hence, such rising investments are expected to fuel the market growth.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the total number of infants (0-5 years) in the United States in 2023 was 1,85,11,160. Of this, 94,59,399 were males, and 90,51,761 were females. Currently, according to the World Bank, 18% of the United States population comprises children aged 0-14 years. Hence, in the coming years, with the rising infant population, the demand for infant formula is anticipated to grow.
Key Attributes:
Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 149 Forecast Period 2024 - 2029 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $64.18 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2029 $84.26 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 5.6% Regions Covered Global
Key Topics Covered:
1. INTRODUCTION
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
3.1. Key Findings
4. MARKET DYNAMICS
4.1. Market Drivers
4.2. Market Restraints
4.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis
4.4. Industry Value Chain Analysis
4.5. Analyst view
5. GLOBAL INFANT FORMULA MARKET BY FORMULA TYPE
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Cow's Milk Protein-Based
5.3. Soy-Based
5.4. Protein Hydrolysate
6. GLOBAL INFANT FORMULA MARKET BY FORM
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Powdered
6.3. Concentrated Liquid
6.4. Ready-to-Use
7. GLOBAL INFANT FORMULA MARKET BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
7.1. Introduction
7.2. Offline
7.3. Online
8. GLOBAL INFANT FORMULA MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY
9. COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT AND ANALYSIS
9.1. Major Players and Strategy Analysis
9.2. Emerging Players and Markey Lucrativeness
9.3. Mergers, Acquisitions, Agreements, and Collaborations
9.4. Competitive Dashboard
10. COMPANY PROFILES
Abbott
Nestle
Dana Dairy Group
Danone
Ausnutria Dairy Corporation Ltd.
Perrigo Company
Else Nutrition
Biostime
HHPL Healthcare
Mead Johnson & Company
Estrellas Life Sciences
Nutricore Biosciences
Morinaga Milk Industry Co.
Meiji Holdings Co.
Bean Stalk Snow Co.
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/wb1en4
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.
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Dublin, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Taiwan Alternative Lending Market Business and Investment Opportunities Databook - 75+ KPIs on Alternative Lending Market Size, By End User, By Finance Model, By Payment Instrument, By Loan Type and Demographics - Q2 2024 Update" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The alternative lending in this region is expected to grow by 24.0% on an annual basis to reach US$266.3 million in 2024. Alternative lending adoption is expected to grow steadily over the forecast period, recording a CAGR of 15.9% during 2024-2028. The alternative lending market in the country will increase from US$214.7 million in 2023 to reach US$480.8 million by 2028.
Medium to long term growth story of alternative lending in Taiwan remains strong. This report provides a detailed data-centric analysis of the Alternative Lending industry, covering market opportunities and risks across a range of industry categories. With over 50 KPIs at the country level, this report provides a comprehensive understanding of Alternative Lending market dynamics, market size and forecast, and market share statistics.
It breaks down market opportunity by type of payment instrument, loan types, and consumer behavior. In addition, it provides a snapshot of marketing objective and industry spend dynamics in Taiwan. KPIs in both value and share term help in getting in-depth understanding of end market dynamics.
Reasons to buy
Gain a thorough understanding of the Alternative Lending market dynamics: Market opportunities, significant trends, and forecasting (2019 - 2028) are listed. To stay ahead of the curve, comprehend market trends using important KPIs like Value and Share.
Insights by Industry: Evaluate new opportunities across multiple industries, and obtain market dynamics by industry in order to swiftly catch up with the latest and upcoming developments in Alternative Lending markets.
Market-specific strategies: With our unique blend of quantitative forecasting and cutting-edge insights, we can identify growth sectors that are focused on particular opportunities and analyse market-specific risks as well as significant trends in the Alternative Lending industry.
Through industry intelligence, forward-looking research of Alternative Lending market spend, and key opportunities in Taiwan, develop proactive and profitable company plans.
Key Attributes:
Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 189 Forecast Period 2024 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $266.3 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $480.8 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 15.9% Regions Covered Taiwan
Scope
Taiwan Economic Indicators
Gross Domestic Product at Current Prices
Population
Unbanked Population
Unemployment Rate
Loan Default Rate
Taiwan Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast
Transaction Value
Average Transaction Value
Transaction Volume
Taiwan Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by End User
End User - Business
End User - Consumer
Taiwan Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Finance Models
P2P Marketplace Consumer Lending
P2P Marketplace Business Lending
P2P Marketplace Property Lending
Balance Sheet Consumer Lending
Balance Sheet Business Lending
Balance Sheet Property Lending
Invoice Trading
Debt Based Securities
Equity Based Crowd Funding
Real Estate Crowd funding
Taiwan Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Payment Instrument - Transaction Value, Volume and Average Value
Cash
Cheques
Credit Transfer
Direct Debits
Debit Card
Credit Card
E- Money
Taiwan Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Payment Instrument to Model
Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Payment Instrument to P2P Marketplace Consumer Lending
Cash
Cheques
Credit Transfer
Direct Debits
Debit Card
Credit Card
E- Money
Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Payment Instrument to P2P Marketplace Business Lending
Cash
Cheques
Credit Transfer
Direct Debits
Debit Card
Credit Card
E- Money
Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Payment Instrument to P2P Marketplace Property Lending
Cash
Cheques
Credit Transfer
Direct Debits
Debit Card
Credit Card
E- Money
Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Payment Instrument to Balance Sheet Consumer Lending
Cash
Cheques
Credit Transfer
Direct Debits
Debit Card
Credit Card
E- Money
Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Payment Instrument to Balance Sheet Business Lending
Cash
Cheques
Credit Transfer
Direct Debits
Debit Card
Credit Card
E- Money
Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Payment Instrument to Balance Sheet Property Lending
Cash
Cheques
Credit Transfer
Direct Debits
Debit Card
Credit Card
E- Money
Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Payment Instrument to Invoice Trading
Cash
Cheques
Credit Transfer
Direct Debits
Debit Card
Credit Card
E- Money
Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Payment Instrument to Debt Based Securities
Cash
Cheques
Credit Transfer
Direct Debits
Debit Card
Credit Card
E- Money
Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Payment Instrument to Equity Based Crowd Funding
Cash
Cheques
Credit Transfer
Direct Debits
Debit Card
Credit Card
E- Money
Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Payment Instrument to Real Estate Crowd funding
Cash
Cheques
Credit Transfer
Direct Debits
Debit Card
Credit Card
E- Money
Taiwan Alternative Lending Market Size and Forecast by Loan Types
B2C Loans
Personal Loan
Payroll Advance
Home Improvement
Education/Student Loans
Point of Sale
Auto Loans
Medical Loans
B2B Loans
Lines of Credit
Merchant Cash Advance
Invoice Factoring
Revenue Financing
Taiwan Alternative Lending Analysis by Consumer Attitude and Behaviour
By Age
By Income
Gender
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/snd3jh
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.
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TORONTO, Sept. 25, 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 provide an update on construction of the Demonstration Plant (Demo Plant) where construction is continuously moving forwards, a video showing this with CEO Charles FitzRoy, Group Process Engineer Justin Taylor and Lead Process Engineer Desiree Meyer will be released tomorrow September 26, 2024.
Highlights:
The Demo Plant in Johannesburg is moving into the detailed fit-out phase, with all modular process skids ( Process Modules ) now installed. Cabling and piping work has commenced to connect the Process Modules in preparation for commissioning.
) now installed. Cabling and piping work has commenced to connect the Process Modules in preparation for commissioning. As well as progress at the Demo Plant, concurrent metallurgical test-work is underway at CM Solutions, a metallurgical consultancy and laboratory in Johannesburg, to optimize the flowsheet. Giyani is focussed on reducing reagent use where possible and has evolved its process to remove hydrofluoric acid ( HF ). This is an important development, as it eliminates the requirement to store and handle potentially hazardous HF at both the Demo Plant and the planned Commercial Site.
). This is an important development, as it eliminates the requirement to store and handle potentially hazardous HF at both the Demo Plant and the planned Commercial Site. In support of the Demo Plant operations, Minopex, a DRA Global Company [JSE:DRA], have now been engaged to operate the Demo Plant. Minopex is a world-renowned group who have operated and maintained approximately 50 plants, and commissioned and ramped-up over 90 globally. Giyani is pleased to have gained a reputable partner with relevant expertise to advance the project.
Simulation test-work continues on the Yokogawa Distributed Control System ( DCS ) software that will be used to control the Demo Plant, which will operate as a continuous process flow, rather than batch basis.
) software that will be used to control the Demo Plant, which will operate as a continuous process flow, rather than batch basis. The continuous process flow of the Demo Plant is a significant advantage for Giyani, as it enables the team to operate the plant at steady state and confirm the ability to produce consistent specification battery-grade manganese (HPMSM). By demonstrating this ability to potential offtake partners, Giyani can satisfy their requirements for a consistent product specification and production rate.
As the Demo Plant is a direct copy of the proposed Commercial Plant, albeit at smaller scale, Giyani will better understand how the proposed Commercial Plant (in Botswana) will respond, in advance of construction, commissioning and ramp-up. This enables further optimisation of the engineering design in parallel with the Definitive Feasibility Study ( DFS ) which is underway, and due to complete in 2025.
) which is underway, and due to complete in 2025. The Demo Plant remains on track for commissioning and production of up to 600kg a day of battery-grade manganese (HPMSM) in Q4 2024. HPMSM produced from the Demo Plant will be provided to offtakers for testing and qualification. Giyani will keep the market updated of progress at the Demo Plant and all other developments.
Charles FitzRoy, President and CEO of the Company, commented:
Giyani is entering a metamorphic stage on its trajectory as a battery metals developer, with the first production of battery-grade manganese on track for delivery in Q4 this year. The Demo Plant, to our knowledge, is the largest of its kind in the world, and offers Giyani many advantages that would not be available with other smaller or non-continuous facilities. In particular, the continuous process flow of the Demo Plant will allow the team to target steady-state operations, and prove Giyanis ability to produce consistent battery-grade manganese to potential offtake partners, as well as the ability to satisfy offtake requirements.
The Demo Plants ability to operate continuously at this pre-commercial scale will allow Giyani to understand how the Commercial Plant will respond, allowing pre-emptive engineering to de-risk potential issues that could arise during ramp-up and operations.
Successful construction and operation of the Demo Plant will, therefore, demonstrate the inherent value of the project to investors. The value of this facility as a tool to optimize our proprietary flowsheet and reduce operating costs is immeasurable and will ultimately advance Giyanis development as a producer of high-grade manganese for the EV battery market. We look forward to providing further updates on its progress.
Demo Plant Construction Update
The Demo Plant construction process follows a set order of Process Module installation to ensure a straightforward construction process. The Demo Plant consists of nine Process Modules, each a self-contained process system within a fixed frame. The Demo Plant has been built from the Crystallizer Units to the ore delivery and ball mill (See Figure 3 for Demo Plant 3D render). Within the Plant, the following progress has been made since the last Demo Plant update in August:
All Process Modules have been installed. See Figures 1 and 2 for the additional Process Modules.
All tanks, reactors and agitators (leach tank agitators due shortly) have been installed.
All ventilation circuits have been installed.
Cabling for power and instrument signalling is progressing rapidly, and the main 1,000kVA transformer station is powering the construction activities in the lead up to commissioning.
The process off-gas scrubber unit, which controls atmospheric emissions from the Demo Plant, has been installed.
Piping installation has commenced on a broad scale across the Demo Plant.
Figure 1: Leach Reactor Installation
Construction and Commissioning Update
Following the installation of the final two Process Modules, the leach reactors have been installed and all large components are now in place. This represents a significant construction milestone, as there are now no further heavy lifts to undertake.
Figure 2: Waste Storage Area, with Scrubber in Foreground
The Demo Plant is designed at a scale factor of around 1:10 to the planned Commercial Plant. This provides robust and reliable scale-up from the Demo Plant data when the Commercial Plant is implemented. To illustrate, the leach tanks have a 60cm diameter in the Demo Plant and this is expected to be 8-10x larger at approximately 5m in the Commercial Plant.
Figure 3: Demo Plant Render
The construction program takes advantage of sequential mechanical, piping, electrical, and instrumentation installation to allow cold commissioning to follow the Process Module installation sequence in a highly efficient manner.
With the completion of mechanical equipment installation, the next stages of piping, instrumentation and wiring installation are progressing rapidly. Following the completion of C1 certification (see Stages of commissioning below), the exciting process of C2 and C3 commissioning can commence. These stages can be undertaken at an individual Process Module level, as units become available. Commissioning of the full process flow (C4 & C5) will commence once all the individual Process Modules are ready.
Stages of commissioning:
C1 Full mechanical completion (individual Process Modules)
C2 Dry testing, direction testing, loop testing (individual Process Modules)
C3 Cold/Water Commissioning, software testing (individual Process Modules)
C4 Hot Commissioning with reagents and steam (full Process)
C5 Production Ramp-up (full Process)
The commissioning process will be led by Desiree Meyer, Giyanis Lead Process Engineer. Desiree has extensive experience in commissioning hydrometallurgical facilities across Africa. Desiree will lead the Minopex operations team in these efforts. By working through commissioning, Minopex will rapidly develop its familiarity with the facility, making Demo Plant production operations safer and more efficient.
Demo Plant Operations Update
Giyani is continuing with software developments on the Yokogawa DCS software that will be used to operate Giyanis fully continuous Demo Plant. The ability to continuously operate at this pre-commercial scale will allow Giyani to understand how the Commercial Plant will respond ahead of construction, minimizing issues that could arise during ramp-up and operations. Unlike a lab- or pilot-scale operation, a full, industrial control system is required to operate this large-scale, automated, hydrometallurgical plant.
The development of all process standard operating procedures (SOPs) is now complete. As the Demo Plant is a duplicate of the anticipated Commercial Plant, the overall operating requirements and system requirements are very similar. Alongside the engineering, commercial and research benefits of the Demo Plant, the development of SOPs will facilitate a smooth transition to full-scale production.
Finalization of the contract for the on-site, independent, ISO-certified, hydrometallurgical laboratory is imminent. This laboratory, which includes ICP-OES and XRF equipment, will allow full commercial-level metal accounting and provide rapid assay turnaround times to enable effective operation of the Demo Plant.
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 battery grade manganese (HPMSM), a lithium-ion battery cathode precursor material critical for EVs.
The Company has secured financing of US$26m from two strategic partners, ARCH Sustainable Resources Fund LP and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, enabling it 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/ .
About Minopex
Minopex is a global leader in plant operations and maintenance, employing over 2,000 personnel across different operations. With nearly three decades of experience, Minopex has collectively operated some 50 different processing facilities as well as having commissioned and ramped-up over 90 globally, establishing itself as a leader in a variety of minerals processing technologies. For more information about Minopex, visit: www.minopex.com.
About CM Solutions
CM Solutions is a dynamic metallurgical laboratory and consultancy that executes test-work, and goes further to interpret it, model it, and incorporate the results into customer-specific metallurgical designs via an integrated team approach. CM Solutions is a certified ISO 9001:2015 and 14001:2015 company with over 300 clients in the minerals and mining industry across five continents.
Qualified Persons / NI 43-101 Disclosures
A National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) technical report including results of the PEA and the MRE can be found on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and made available on the Company's website at https://giyanimetals.com/.
Mr. Justin Taylor CEng FIMMM QMR BSc Eng (Chem) is a qualified person, as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Taylor is the Companys Group Process Engineer and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content contained in this news release but is not independent for the purposes of NI 43-101.
On behalf of Giyani Metals Corp.
Charles FitzRoy, President and CEO
Contact:
Charles FitzRoy, President & CEO
cfitzroy@giyanimetals.com
Tel: +1289-291-7632
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.
Such statements include without limitation: the Company the ongoing construction, commissioning and operation of the Demo Plant, and timing thereof, completion and timing of the DFS or at all.
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 anticipated operations in future periods, planned construction and development of its properties and facilities, 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 governmental regulations; risks related to obtaining necessary licences and permits; risks related to Giyani's business being subject to environmental laws and regulations; risks related to the Company's 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 the Company's 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 the Company's 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 continuous disclosure documents which are filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b4f3c270-8a56-4fd3-a057-c5f2cb5483ee
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8a4c4259-32cf-4bc8-9375-6ca166ffe46d
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SYDNEY, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Honcho has launched new artificial intelligence (AI) tools to simplify creating and launching business websites. This new suite of enhanced tools aims to make website building even more accessible to startup and small business owners who lack technical, creative, or marketing skills.
Photo by afotostock
Our goal with these AI-enhanced tools is to remove the barriers many small business owners face when trying to establish an online presence - namely creative and technical skills, said Matt Abrahams, CEO of Honcho. With Honcho, users can easily create and launch a professional website in minutes without any prior experience.
AI streamlines the website creation process. Users can input minimal information, often just a business name and industry, and the AI will automatically generate a customized website complete with text, images, and optimized design elements.
Most small business owners just want a fully functioning website up and running and fast, added Abrahams. Using our platform, business owners can begin marketing their business, and in turn, start adding to their bottom line, much faster.
Honcho is a well-established Australian business service with over 800,000 clients and has been operating in the website-building space for some time. The prototype version of the newly launched site has been in stealth mode in Australia for two years while the company perfected its operations. While the company will not provide numbers, it is understood thousands of clients have successfully used Honchos website-building services to date.
A minimum viable product aptly named 'Instant Website' was launched first on Sept. 18, 2022, prior to AI becoming the hot commodity it is today. Version 2 of Instant Website, incorporating a range of new features, including business and domain name generators, automatic AI text generation and free photo library services, was released in February of 2024. Honcho launched its latest version with a completely new design interface and built for the global market on its premium Honcho.com site in September 2024.
The company has big plans for the future with more features featuring AI soon to be launched, Abrahams noted. We are not an AI company. We are service-focused specialists helping business owners globally to design, create and launch professional websites for their business - fast and simply. AI is another technology that adds value to our robust ecosystem, similar to many of the other technology tools we incorporate, he said.
About Honcho
Honcho is a provider of business services to startups and small businesses. The technology company is dedicated to simplifying the process of creating and launching business websites. Honcho has delivered business services to more than 800,000 clients. With a focus on user-friendly design and AI technology, Honcho continues to set standards in the sector. For more information, visit Honcho's website.
Contact:
Name: Morgan Davies
Company: Honcho
Website: Honcho.com
Email: media@honcho.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e20860ed-4d91-46fa-9238-cc480e6365b1
New York, NY, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mount Sinai Health System, a leading health system in the United States and one of the largest in the New York City area, and Noom, the leading digital health care company committed to chronic disease prevention and empowering people to live better and healthier lives, have partnered to provide patients with a whole-person approach to healthy, long-lasting weight loss.
The collaboration between Mount Sinai and Noom aims to provide patients with always-on digital behavior-change support as they work towards their health goals between doctor visits, while keeping Mount Sinai physicians informed of their patients progress to enhance care decisions.
The numbers are clear: 160 million adults in the United States want to improve their health and well-being through weight loss. For those affected by obesity, reducing weight by just 5-10 percent can improve risk factors and reduce medical complications.
Every weight-loss journey is different, and Mount Sinai recognizes that patients have different needs that may also vary over time, said Lauren Lisher, Senior Vice President of Mount Sinai Solutions. We want to ensure our patients are living their healthiest lives and are supported clinically and beyond. By integrating the Noom platform into our care approach, were enhancing the patient experience with digital tools that support their health goals. This partnership makes it easier for patients to embrace and stick to personalized care plans that seamlessly fit into their lifestyles."
As part of the launch of Mount Sinais partnership with Noom, select patient populations may now get a referral from their Mount Sinai physician for the scientifically proven Noom Weight app to help them successfully change their eating habits through innovative technology and psychology. The system offers personalized support, including tailored nutrition plans, fitness, and macro tracking.
Additionally, Noom will offer access to world-leading experts at Mount Sinai for a variety of weight loss-related health care needs, ranging from ongoing chronic care support to any type of specialty or complex care needs.
"At Noom, we believe that true success in weight loss goes beyond just numbers on a scale; it's about holistically supporting every aspect of people's health," said Jodi Bryant, President of Healthcare at Noom. "By offering comprehensive, personalized support that addresses the full spectrum of our users' physical, emotional, and behavioral needs, we empower them to achieve lasting results. Our platform is designed to meet individuals where they are on their health journeys, providing the tools and guidance necessary to navigate and succeed at every stage.
About the Mount Sinai Health System and Mount Sinai Solutions
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 48,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex healthcare challenges of our time discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Mount Sinai Solutions is a division of Mount Sinai Health System focused on the needs of patients, their employers and unions. Serving over 450,000 lives, it offers products, either directly or through partnerships, designed to enhance service and access to care via the Mount Sinai Health System. For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org/solutions or find Mount Sinai Solutions on LinkedIn.
About Noom
Noom is a digital healthcare company empowering everyone, everywhere to live better longer, through an unwavering commitment to innovation and whole-person health. Noom connects people to content, coaching, community, and clinicians to promote positive behavior and healthy habits, in an effort to promote healthspan and better living. Noom also works with leading health plans and employers offering Noom Med Center Of Excellence, Noom GLP-1 Companion, Noom Healthy Weight, and Noom Diabetes Prevention to millions of covered lives. The company has been awarded multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health and was the first mobile application to be recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a certified diabetes prevention program. With offices in New York City and Princeton, NJ, Noom has been named one of Inc.'s Best Places to Work, Quartz's Best Workplaces for Remote Workers, and Fortune's Best Workplaces in Technology. For more information, please visit noom.com, subscribe to our blog, or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
HOUSTON, TX, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Urgent Care for Kids, Texas largest pediatric urgent care provider, is excited to celebrate the grand opening of its newest clinic in Conroe, Texas. Expanding their reach within the Houston area, this new location will offer even more families access to the exceptional, convenient, and compassionate healthcare that Urgent Care for Kids is known for.
In July of 2024, Urgent Care for Kids significantly expanded its footprint in the Houston area with the acquisition of 10 additional clinics. With the addition of the Conroe location, they now operate 23 clinics across the state, representing the majority of pediatric urgent care facilities in the region. This growth underscores their commitment to making high-quality healthcare accessible to even more families.
Urgent Care for Kids is dedicated to supporting the needs of busy parents by offering flexible, extended hours. Their clinics are designed to provide convenient access to high-quality care when its most neededbeyond the limits of regular office hours and traditional urgent care schedulesmaking healthcare more accessible for todays families.
Im incredibly proud of our substantial growth in the Houston area. Our clinics have become a trusted part of the communities we serve, and were excited to welcome Conroes families as their go-to choice for pediatric urgent care, said Brian White, CEO of Urgent Care for Kids.
Conveniently located off I-45, the new Conroe clinic provides a full spectrum of urgent care services, including telehealth visits for added flexibility. In addition, the clinic collaborates closely with local pediatric providers, ensuring seamless coordination with each childs primary care medical home to maintain continuity of care and comprehensive follow-up after urgent medical concerns are addressed.
Building trusted relationships with providers and families is a long-term commitment, and were excited to make that investment with the Conroe community, said Christine Scafuri, Director of Regional Clinic Operations of Urgent Care for Kids.
As Urgent Care for Kids expands its network, their commitment to providing exceptional pediatric care remains unwavering. By combining high-quality care with unmatched convenience, they are well-positioned to make a lasting, positive impact on the health and well-being of children and families across Houston.
About Urgent Care for Kids
Urgent Care for Kids, a subsidiary of Goodside Health, is dedicated to delivering high-quality, compassionate medical care tailored specifically for children. Our mission is to ensure every child receives fast, professional care in a welcoming, child-friendly environment. Staffed by a team of board-certified pediatricians and healthcare experts, we specialize in treating a broad range of non-emergency illnesses and injuriesfrom colds and the flu to minor fractures and sprains. To learn more, visit urgentcarekids.com.
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SINGAPORE, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MELD, a new Neobank coming to the market with a new type of banking services platform that merges crypto services and fiat services into a single platform for both users and businesses alike, giving them the ability to have a traditional deposit account and a crypto wallet. MELD account holders can exchange between crypto/fiat and transfer funds between MELD accounts for free while earning interest on stablecoins. Bringing the best of both worlds together in one account.
This new network is the latest component of MELD neobanking solution, built directly on the blockchain and employs the benefits of being transparent and verifiable. Blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum have been doing this for more than ten years. MELDs innovation is bringing these qualities to the traditional financial space and applying it to banking transactions.
In its zkBanking network, MELD has built a high performance banking system in line with traditional solutions used by banks today. With each transaction the details of the transaction are confirmed and then processed into a blockchain transaction with a confirmation code. This confirmation is then turned into a proof and published on the MELD public blockchain.
When a MELD Neobank user wants to prove to a third party they have paid for something or do not have the funds in their bank account, they can share the proof which has been verified. This applies to both private and business accounts in the MELD Neobank.
This new type of verification becomes particularly useful when businesses are doing cross border trade and need to prove they have the funds to pay for a trade deal. Also businesses can build technology on top of zkProofs to verify a transaction without receiving sensitive private data from a user.
The network will go live on January 1, 2025. zkBanking nodes will be initially run by five parties with plans to expand that to more than ten in the coming months. MELDs ambition is to make the traditional neobank network as decentralized as the MELD blockchain while meeting the regulatory requirements of running a global neobank.
MELD neobank offering will be launching in October, giving retail and businesses in 160 countries crypto-friendly banking. MELD is different because they are crypto native, coming from the world of decentralized finance (DeFi) and integrating classic banking products with a twist.
MELD is doing a presale of their zkBanking nodes to boost the decentralized nature of the network and give users access to the networks block rewards while they secure the network at the same time. For more details about the node sale go to: https://docs.meld.com/meld-blockchain/zkbanking-network
About MELD
MELD is a crypto-native global neobank powered by the blockchain. Bringing fiat currencies like (30+ including USD and EUR) and crypto currencies (1000+ BTC and ETH) together in one seamless wallet supporting more than 150 countries. MELD makes it easy to navigate between these two worlds and get the best out of both. From generating a yield on your crypto to debit cards and business accounts, MELD brings fundamental banking services to everyone.
The MELD blockchain powers more than just the MELD Neobank, with a non-custodial lending and borrowing protocol and more than 30 businesses building on MELD. Users interact with all of this through the MELD web and Mobile app helping people and businesses take full advantage of both their crypto and fiat assets.
You can follow the project and stay up to date with its development at these links: Website | X (Twitter) | Telegram |
Contact:
Ken Olling
press@meld.com
Disclaimer: This content is provided by MELD. The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the content provider. The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities. Please conduct your own research and invest at your own risk.
Bellingham, Wash., Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Heray Spice , a Chicago-based family-owned business specializing in premium Afghan saffron, has been named the latest recipient of the Non-GMO Project's Equitable Transfer Program (ETP) and has signed on as a founding brand member of the Project's new Food Integrity Collective .
Equity Transfer Program Grant
The ETP , launched by the Project in 2023, supports equity and inclusion in the natural products industry by offering financial resources to Black, Indigenous, multi-racial, and people of color (BIMPOC)-led brands for Non-GMO Project verification costs.
Founded in 2017 by Mohammad Salehi, a former military linguist from a farming family, Heray Spice ensures fair-trade prices for farmers. It established a farmers' cooperative with profit-sharing options in 2019. Today, Heray Spice's team partners with 110 Afghan farms, and has expanded into diverse crops based on consumer demand and farmer availability.
"The Non-GMO Project team impressed us at every turn. Their unique approach, clear communication, and genuine care set them apart. Achieving this verification reflects not just our commitment to transparency, but also the Project's exceptional support throughout our journey. Their mission resonates with ours," said Salehi.
Heray Spice used the ETP grant to complete Non-GMO Project verification for five products, including: Afghan Saffron, Afghan Caraway Seeds, Green Coriander Seeds, Herati Mint Leaves, and Afghan Wild Cumin Seeds. New packaging featuring the Non-GMO Project's Butterfly label will be available soon.
The Project recently closed its fourth round of applications for ETP and has doubled its support to $10,000.
Food Integrity Collective Founding Member
Heray Spice has also joined the Non-GMO Project's new Food Integrity Collective as a founding brand cohort member. This initiative aims to revolutionize the retail food system by addressing root causes of food and health crises through an interdependent approach. In doing so, Heray Spice joins other pioneering brands, such as Atlantic Sea Farms, Califia Farms, and Pasturebird.
Salehi shared, "We're excited to contribute to a movement that prioritizes food integrity and the wellbeing of communities and environments that produce it."
Megan Westgate, CEO of the Non-GMO Project and Food Integrity Collective, said: "Heray Spice's dedication to transparency, ethical sourcing, and community empowerment exemplifies the values we aim to embrace in transforming our food system."
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About the Non-GMO Project
The Non-GMO Project is a mission-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to collaboratively creating a retail food system that promotes and restores health in humans, communities, and the broader collective of life on Earth through its Non-GMO Project Verified seal and the new Food Integrity Collective . The Projects seal remains North Americas most trusted third-party verification for GMO avoidance. Backed by our rigorous Standard, the Butterfly label is a meaningful way for brands and retailers to show their commitment to non-GMO choices and the food transparency that shoppers seek. Learn more at www.nongmoproject.org .
About Heray Spice
Heray Spice is a Chicago-based company specializing in premium Afghan spices. Founded by Mohammad Salehi, a former US Army linguist and immigrant from Afghanistan, Heray Spice is dedicated to creating a transparent supply chain that supports Afghan farmers and provides chefs and home cooks with the finest quality spices. Learn more at https://herayspice.com/ .
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SAN DIEGO, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Measurabl , the worlds most widely-adopted ESG technology for real estate, has expanded its leadership team to include several new members, including the promotion of Maureen Waters to the newly created role of President from her previous role of Chief Growth Officer. Other new leadership members include Sara Anzinger, SVP Capital Markets and ESGx, Vivek Ghosh, VP Product, Sara Maffey, SVP Managed Services, and Chris Zegal, SVP Marketing.
The new promotions and leadership team expansion coincide with achievement of a series of major milestones including the launch of Measurabls Next-Gen Real Estate Sustainability Platform, major global partnerships with London Stock Exchange Group, Preqin, the global leader in alternative assets data, and Susteco, a Bosch company focused on creating a comprehensive smart building ecosystem across Europe and globally, a series of marquee customer successes in Europe and North America, and brand update.
Maureen, and each new leader at Measurabl, has demonstrated superior customer service, innovative spirit, and teamwork, particularly over this last year of growth, said Matt Ellis, Measurabl Co-Founder and CEO. I am privileged to work with each of them and to affirm their extraordinary contributions with these promotions. I believe they are leaders not just for Measurabl, but our industry.
With over 25 years experience in real estate services and investments, technology, and venture capital markets, Waters career spans many facets of the industry. From Chief Strategy Officer at Cushman & Wakefield and Head of Real Estate at Bill Gates Investments to her role as President of Ten-X, and Partner at Metaprop. Her experiences on both the customer and services sides of the industry have enabled Waters to play a significant role in design and implementation of Measurabls strategic plan to ensure an operationally integrated, customer-centered growth formula. Her ability to understand and deliver on customer needs has been central to Measurabls ability to develop and deliver innovative solutions that exceed industry expectations.
Other, major Leadership Team promotions include:
Sara Anzinger, transitioning to SVP of Data Strategy and ESGx, will leverage her extensive background in real estate finance and sustainability to lead business model innovation, the ESGx incubator, data initiatives and coalition building with Measurabls Capital Markets customer base. Her focus will be on the interconnectedness between real estate owners and their debt and equity investors who are demanding investment-grade data to drive capital allocation toward transformation of the existing building stock. Saras experience in ESG and global financial markets, having worked with Fitch Ratings, GRESB and Royal Bank of Canada, contributed to her prior success leading the development and go-to-market strategy for Measurabls data solutions focused on transaction due diligence, risk management, real estate securities and benchmarking.
Vivek Ghosh, promoted to VP of Product, will define and drive Measurabls overall product strategy and roadmap in alignment with the broader Leadership Team. He brings over 12 years of SaaS product leadership and sustainability experience in real estate working for startups, scale ups, and public companies, including Enel, EnerNOC and most recently as Head of Product at Hatch Data. In his new role, he will position the Product Management & Design teams to deliver continuous, rapid innovation across Measurabls platform by working closely with customers to ensure solutions meet evolving market needs.
Sara Maffey, promoted to SVP of Managed Services, will evolve Measurabls advisory service delivery and enhance customer experience, as she continues to lead go-to-market strategy. Her impressive background includes deep experience throughout the built environment lifecycle from construction management at Turner Construction to commercial real estate at Cushman & Wakefield and Transwestern, where she served as a board member. Sara was previously a Presidential Management Fellow under the Obama Administration and Head of Corporate Strategy at PropTech startup, Local Logic. Her expertise in real estate strategy, building ecosystems and process efficiency will support Measurabl with its global expansion.
Chris Zegal, appointed SVP of Marketing earlier this year, is joining the Leadership team and has an expanded scope responsibility. Zegal will integrate the Marketing and Demand and Lead Generation teams, drawing on over two decades of experience in marketing strategy, demand generation, branding, and public relations. His real estate marketing leadership experience from Walker & Dunlop and Ten-X as well as Go-to-Market strategy experience from Marketbridge will be pivotal in driving Measurabls growth and customer acquisition.
Measurabl has prioritized customer service, product innovation, and talent development within our three year plan. In just this first year, I feel we've made significant strides in every regard. I am excited and privileged to work with this exceptional leadership team to drive the transformation of Measurabl and pursue our mission of sustainable real estate. - Maureen Waters, President
As a long-standing customer and member of the companys Customer Advisory Board, we are thrilled to see Measurabl accelerating the pace of innovation and progress toward achieving its strategic goals. With the latest platform release, Maureens guidance and the new leadership team, Measurabl continues to advance the state of the art for sustainability technology in Real Estate. Ben Myers, Senior Vice President, Sustainability, BXP
When we scanned the market for best-in-class partners for our smart-building ecosystem, Measurabl clearly stood out for the sophistication of its next-generation ESG platform and quality of thought leadership on sustainability. I have been impressed by the rapid strides Measurabl has made over the past year with Maureens guidance and the new leadership team. We are thrilled to have Measurabl as a partner and anticipate much more to come as we expand together in Europe and beyond. Johanna Fuchs-Boenisch, Chief Executive Officer, Susteco
PRESS ENQUIRIES:
Olivia Guy Jenkins
olivia@bloxspring.com
About Measurabl
Measurabl is the world's most widely adopted ESG data platform, empowering over 1,000 customers across 93 countries representing more than 18 billion square feet of real estate to measure, manage, report, and act on ESG. Measurabl helps real estate organizations leverage ESG data to drive superior asset value and lower cost of capital, resulting in more profitable real estate.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d4e5d893-9abe-4c50-a3a8-eef3e34c12ce
Dublin, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Data Center Cooling Market - A Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Product, Application, and Country-Level Analysis - Analysis and Forecast, 2024-2034" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The global data center cooling market is projected to reach $107.13 billion by 2034 from $21.50 billion in 2023, growing at a CAGR of 15.72% during the forecast period 2024-2034. The growth in the global data center cooling market is expected to be driven by the increasing number of data centers and government initiatives for energy-efficient data centers. The need to address the water scarcity issue has further resulted in the adoption of data center cooling technologies.
The global data center cooling market is poised for significant growth, driven by the increasing number of data centers and government initiatives promoting energy-efficient solutions. As data centers generate substantial heat, advanced cooling systems are essential for maintaining optimal temperatures and preventing equipment failure. The market encompasses various cooling methods, including air, liquid, and free cooling systems, each suited to different data centers, such as hyperscale, colocation, and edge facilities. Demand for efficient cooling technologies is intensifying with the rise of data-intensive applications such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and cloud computing. Liquid cooling solutions, particularly direct-to-chip and immersion cooling, are gaining traction due to their superior heat management and sustainability benefits. This market is expected to increase, with companies investing in innovative cooling technologies to reduce operational costs and environmental impact.
North America has the maximum number of data centers in the world. This is due to enormous industrial and commercial enterprises that have significantly impacted the demand for data centers in the region. North America is followed by Asia-Pacific and Europe in terms of market size. North America is expected to have a massive demand for data center cooling technologies due to numerous data centers and the growing demand for innovative technologies and spending in the region.
IT and Telecom to Dominate the Global Data Center Cooling Market (by End-Use Industry)
The IT and telecom segment is the dominating application segment. With new technologies such as 5G, IoT, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence, the telecommunications industry is evolving to cater to huge data processing. As a result, telecom data centers are also transforming to handle high data volume and low latency needs. The banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) segment is expected to anticipate the highest growth rate due to digitization, which involves utilizing the most cutting-edge technology to boost data center usage, thereby augmenting the data center cooling solutions.
Market Driver: Increasing Number of Data Centers and Spendings
The significant rise in data generation across various industries has spurred the demand for data servers and centers. As of January 2021, CloudScene data showed nearly 8,000 data centers globally, with six countries hosting the majority, i.e., the U.S. (33%), the U.K. (5.7%), Germany (5.5%), China (5.2%), Canada (3.3%), and the Netherlands (3.4%). About 77% are in OECD member states, and 64% are in NATO countries.
In 2021, the U.S. data center market absorbed 493.4 megawatts (MW), a 31% increase from 2019 and a 50% rise from 2020, according to CBRE. Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL) reported 885.7 MW absorption across 14 domestic markets, a 44.3% year-on-year increase driven by expansions from major cloud and tech companies.
The outlook for data centers remains optimistic due to the surging use of streaming services, virtual collaboration tools, and remote work, leading to record demands in 2020 and 2021. Major operators saw increased enterprise-level demand from the technology, financial, and healthcare sectors. The accompanying figure highlights the rise in data center spending from 2012 to 2023.
Market Challenge: High Investment Costs for Non-Conventional Cooling Systems
While it costs money to buy the equipment needed to cool and power the servers, the recurring costs start to add up. Standard data centers operate at around 20C to 22C to optimize performance. When running a data center in a hot climate, up to 33% of the energy consumed is dedicated to operating the cooling systems and infrastructure, and electricity costs may contribute more than 50% of the operating expenses. The spread-out locations and lack of infrastructure make edge data centers tougher to cool. For example, real estate and electricity may cost much more for an edge site in a busy urban area. As of 2021, an investigation revealed that between 30% and 55% of the total energy is used to cool the IT equipment in data centers.
To maximize performance, typical data centers run at temperatures between 20C and 22C. When operating a data center in a warm climate, up to 33% of the energy used is just for running the infrastructure and cooling systems, and electricity costs may make up more than 50% of operating costs. It is more challenging to cool edge data centers due to their dispersed locations and lack of infrastructure. For instance, a busy urban edge site might have much higher real estate and electricity costs.
Market Opportunity: Growing Emphasis for Retrofit Data Center
As processor capacities grow, they generate more heat, increasing the thermal loads in colocation data centers due to higher packing densities. Additionally, continuous workloads necessitate replacing or upgrading servers and devices with the latest designs. According to Moore's Law, electronic devices become obsolete within years. Many data centers built in the past decade seek modernization to enhance efficiency and incorporate AI, IoT, and other digital advancements. Consequently, periodic upgrades are essential to prevent devices from becoming obsolete and to maintain optimal performance.
Retrofitting data centers might gradually become a persuasive idea for operators over the forecast period 2024-2034. The factors driving retrofitting of data centers are expanding IT densities, new technological advancements, aging hardware, the need for better cooling systems, and the need for energy-efficient and power-saving technologies. When retrofitting a data center, a rating of 1.8 PUE is acceptable, and 1.6 PUE is attainable. Retrofitting can also help provide powerful new layers of security, intelligence, and automation. Therefore, even cloud or hyperscale data centers built recently or sooner are being retrofitted to address the abovementioned requirements.
Key Market Players and Competition Synopsis
Key players in the global data center cooling market analyzed and profiled in the study involve cooling solution providers, 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 data center cooling 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.
Some prominent names established in the data center cooling market are:
Vertiv Group
Schneider Electric
Asetek
Submer
Munters
ZutaCore
Coolcentric
Midas Immersion Cooling
Motivair Corporation
PEZY Computing
Alfa Laval
Condair Group
Fujitsu
Danfoss
Modine Manufacturing Company
Boyd
Johnson Controls International plc.
Carrier
Key Attributes:
Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 241 Forecast Period 2024 - 2034 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $24.88 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2034 $107.13 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 15.7% Regions Covered Global
Key Topics Covered:
1 Markets
1.1 Trends: Current and Future Impact Assessment
1.1.1 Trends Shaping Data Center Cooling Market
1.1.2 Increase in Data Requirements
1.1.2.1 Increasing Rack Power Density - New Data Center Reality
1.1.2.2 5G Services to Drive Exponential Growth in Data Centers
1.1.3 Growth in Demand for Environment-Friendly Cooling Systems
1.1.3.1 Carbon Neutrality
1.1.3.2 Utilization of Renewable Energies
1.1.3.3 Green Initiatives by Government Body
1.2 Evaporative Cooling Market for Data Center Overview
1.3 Supply Chain Overview
1.4 Research and Development Review
1.5 Ecosystem and Ongoing Programs
1.6 Adoption of Cooling by Data Center Age
1.6.1 Retrofitting and Brownfield Projects
1.6.2 Green Field Projects and New Installation
1.6.3 Historical Analysis of Cooling Equipment Deployment (2018-2022)
1.6.4 New Data Center Trends toward Adoption of Cooling Technology Type (2023-2027)
1.7 Market Dynamics Overview
1.7.1 Market Drivers
1.7.1.1 High-Efficient Cooling Systems
1.7.1.1.1 Emerging Technologies Promote Cost-Effectiveness
1.7.1.1.2 AI-Assisted Automatic Cooling Control
1.7.1.1.3 Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) Optimization with Economic Cooling Solutions
1.7.1.2 Increasing Number of Data Centers and Spendings
1.7.1.3 Thermal Energy Recovery Conversion from Data Centers
1.7.1.4 Water Usage Effectiveness Driving Adoption of Alternate Cooling Solutions
1.7.1.5 Retrofitting to a Free Cooling Data Center
1.7.2 Market Restraints
1.7.2.1 High Investment Costs for Non-Conventional Cooling Systems
1.7.2.2 Technical Challenges to Cooling Systems
1.7.2.2.1 Air and Free Cooling Systems Adaption Complexities
1.7.2.2.2 Reliability Limitations with Immersion Liquid Cooling
1.7.2.3 Lack of Synergy between Hardware and Cooling Vendors
1.7.2.4 Infrastructure Development Gap between End Users and Data Centers
1.7.3 Business Opportunities
1.7.3.1 Growing Emphasis for Retrofit Data Center
1.7.3.2 Data Center Infrastructure Management for Power Management
1.7.3.3 Increasing Number of Distributed or Edge Data Centers
1.8 Key Start-Ups in the Global Data Center Cooling Market
2 Application
2.1 Application Segmentation
2.2 Application Summary
2.3 Global Data Center Cooling Market (by End-Use Industry)
2.4 Global Data Center Cooling Market (by Data Center Type)
3 Products
3.1 Product Segmentation
3.2 Product Summary
3.3 Global Data Center Cooling Market (by Solution)
3.3.1 Air Cooling
3.3.2 Liquid Cooling
3.3.3 Free Cooling
3.4 Global Data Center Cooling Market (by Rack Density)
3.4.1 Low Rack Density (1-4 kW)
3.4.2 Medium Rack Density (5-9 kW)
3.4.3 High Rack Density (Above 9 kW)
4 Regions
5 Competitive Benchmarking & Company Profiles
Vertiv Group Corp.
Schneider Electric
Asetek, Inc.
Submer
Munters
ZutaCore, Inc.
Coolcentric
Midas Immersion Cooling
Motivair Corporation
PEZY Computing Inc.
Alfa Laval
Condair Group
Fujitsu
Danfoss
Modine Manufacturing Company
Boyd
Johnson Controls International
Carrier
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/2s29wc
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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.
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Inauguration of Angelika Amon research building in Vienna
Sustainable research building at a cost of EUR 60 million offers modern office and laboratory space
Over the past five years, Boehringers capital investments reached EUR 6.0 billion
Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the world's leading research-oriented pharmaceutical companies. The clinical pipeline is constantly being further developed, and Boehringer Ingelheim expects new approvals also in oncology in the coming years.
An important investment in the future is the new Angelika Amon Research Building, opened on September 25, in the presence of guests from politics and science. The modern and sustainable building offers ideal conditions for researchers on 11 floors, where 150 people work on promising therapeutic approaches against cancer in an environment fitted with the state-of-the-art research equipment. It is named after the internationally renowned Viennese cancer researcher Angelika Amon (19672020) who was closely connected to Boehringer Ingelheim. The investment sum of around EUR 60 million is another testimony to Boehringer Ingelheim's commitment to cancer research.
However, the completion of the new research building is only one of many investments. To support the companys growth, Boehringer announced last year a 5-year plan, covering EUR 7.0 billion capital investment. In 2023, capital expenditure reached EUR 1.2 billion under this program. Over the past five years, Boehringers capital investments amounted to EUR 6.0 billion.
Hope in the fight against cancer
R&D investments in Human Pharma rose to EUR 5.8 billion in 2023, around 25% of Human Pharma net sales, ranking Boehringer Ingelheim among the top R&D investors in the industry. "Our goal is to create more health for humans and animals," says Paola Casarosa, Head of Innovation Unit, explaining the focus on a promising and broad portfolio in the fight against cancer. "Especially in the field of oncology, there is still a massive unmet medical need. We are working with great enthusiasm to make cancer a treatable disease."
Norbert Kraut, Global Head of Cancer Research, says "Our declared goal is to cure cancer. The big challenge is that cancer is not a single disease, but a term for different diseases of different organs. In the future, around one third of the new products at Boehringer Ingelheim will come from oncology."
New high-tech facility
Newest technologies and laboratories allow scientists to faster achieve their goal to develop innovative therapies for people living with cancer. The new building with a gross floor space of circa 11,000 sqm is also state-of-the-art in terms of sustainability. Photovoltaic arrays on the roof and the facade of the 38 m high building save 45 tons of CO 2 per year. Electrochromic glass darkens automatically with the sunlight and reduces cooling requirements by 30%.
Boehringer Ingelheim
Boehringer Ingelheim is a biopharmaceutical company active in both human and animal health. As one of the industrys top investors in Research and Development, the company focuses on developing innovative therapies in areas of high unmet medical need. Independent since its foundation in 1885, Boehringer takes a long-term perspective, embedding sustainability along the entire value chain. More than 53,500 employees serve over 130 markets to build a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable tomorrow. Learn more at https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com.
Intended Audiences Notice
This press release is issued from our Corporate Headquarters in Ingelheim, Germany and is intended to provide information about our global business. Please be aware that information relating to the approval status and labels of approved products may vary from country to country, and a country-specific press release on this topic may have been issued in the countries where we do business.
References
New research building: Boosting innovation in oncology | Boehringer Ingelheim (boehringer-ingelheim.com)
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Dublin, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "United States Bimodal Identity Management Solutions Market, By Region, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2019-2029F" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
United States Bimodal Identity Management Solutions Market was valued at USD 5.4 billion in 2023 and is anticipated to project robust growth in the forecast period with a CAGR of 19.7% through 2029
The United States Bimodal Identity Management Solutions Market is experiencing significant growth, driven by the escalating complexity of cybersecurity threats and the need for organizations to adopt versatile identity management strategies. Businesses are recognizing the limitations of traditional identity management systems and turning to bimodal solutions that integrate legacy approaches with innovative technologies. This approach allows enterprises to maintain robust security measures while incorporating agile solutions to counter emerging threats.
The market is further fueled by the increasing adoption of cloud-based services, the rise of remote work, and the need for regulatory compliance. Organizations are seeking comprehensive solutions to safeguard their digital assets, leading to continued expansion of the United States Bimodal Identity Management Solutions Market. This market offers a strategic and future-proofed approach to identity and access management challenges.
Adoption of Zero Trust Architecture
An emerging trend in the United States Bimodal Identity Management Solutions Market is the widespread adoption of Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) principles. Zero Trust is a security concept centered around the belief that organizations should not automatically trust any entity, whether internal or external, and must verify all requests for access to resources before granting entry. This approach represents a departure from traditional perimeter-based security models, which rely on the assumption of trust within the network perimeter.
The adoption of Zero Trust Architecture is driven by several factors, including the growing sophistication of cyber threats, the proliferation of cloud-based services, and the rise of remote work. Traditional security models, such as network segmentation and perimeter defenses, are no longer sufficient to protect against advanced threats that can evade perimeter-based controls and compromise internal networks. By adopting Zero Trust principles, organizations can implement granular access controls, continuous authentication, and least privilege access policies to minimize the risk of unauthorized access and lateral movement within their environments.
The increasing adoption of bimodal identity management solutions complements Zero Trust Architecture by providing the necessary identity and access management capabilities to support Zero Trust initiatives. Bimodal solutions enable organizations to implement multifactor authentication, risk-based access controls, and real-time monitoring to enforce Zero Trust principles across hybrid IT environments.
This integration of bimodal identity management with Zero Trust Architecture enhances security posture, reduces the attack surface, and improves visibility and control over user access and activities. As organizations continue to prioritize cybersecurity and adopt Zero Trust principles, the demand for bimodal identity management solutions that support Zero Trust Architecture is expected to grow.
Vendors in the market are increasingly incorporating Zero Trust capabilities into their offerings, providing organizations with the tools and technologies needed to implement a comprehensive Zero Trust strategy. By embracing Zero Trust Architecture and leveraging bimodal identity management solutions, organizations can enhance their security posture, mitigate cyber risks, and ensure the integrity and confidentiality of their digital assets.
Emphasis on User-Centric Identity Management
A notable trend in the United States Bimodal Identity Management Solutions Market is the increasing focus on user-centric identity management. Traditionally, identity management systems have followed rigid authentication rules and policies, often resulting in a standardized approach that may not fully cater to the diverse needs and preferences of users.
However, with the evolution of digital experiences and the demand for personalized services, there's a growing acknowledgment of the importance of placing users at the forefront of identity management strategies. User-centric identity management entails customizing authentication and authorization processes to suit individual users' needs, preferences, and risk profiles. This approach recognizes that users may require varying levels of access to resources based on factors like their role within the organization, location, device, and data sensitivity.
By adopting user-centric identity management practices, organizations can enhance security, improve user experience, and gain greater flexibility and agility in identity management. One of the driving forces behind the emphasis on user-centric identity management is the increasing consumerization of IT. Both employees and customers expect seamless and convenient access to digital resources regardless of their location or device. Traditional identity management methods that impose cumbersome authentication processes or rigid access restrictions can impede productivity and frustrate users. In contrast, user-centric identity management solutions prioritize usability and convenience while upholding robust security measures.
The surge in remote work and the widespread use of mobile devices further highlight the significance of user-centric identity management. Remote workers access corporate resources from various locations and devices, necessitating adaptive authentication methods that can adjust to different contexts and risk levels. User-centric identity management solutions enable organizations to implement features such as adaptive authentication, biometric authentication, and single sign-on capabilities, enhancing security without compromising user experience.
Key Attributes:
Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 86 Forecast Period 2023 - 2029 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $5.4 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2029 $16.03 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 19.7% Regions Covered United States
Report Scope:
Key Market Players
IBM Corporation
Microsoft Corporation
Oracle Corporation
RSA Security LLC
Ping Identity Holding Corp.
ForgeRock, Inc.
OneLogin, Inc.
SailPoint Technologies Holdings, Inc.
United States Bimodal Identity Management Solutions Market, By Vertical:
Education
BFSI
Manufacturing
Telecom and IT
Energy
Healthcare and Life Sciences
Public Sector & Utilities
Retail
United States Bimodal Identity Management Solutions Market, By Organization Size:
Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
Large Enterprises
United States Bimodal Identity Management Solutions Market, By Deployment:
Cloud-based
On-Premise
United States Bimodal Identity Management Solutions Market, By Region:
South US
Midwest US
North-East US
West US
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/q41n0s
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.
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Dublin, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "India IT Training Market by Region, Competition, Forecast and Opportunities, 2020-2030F" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The India IT Training Market was valued at USD 9.8 Billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 12.95 Billion by 2030, rising at a CAGR of 4.60%
The India IT Training Market is experiencing robust growth, driven by the country's rapid digital transformation and the escalating need for a highly skilled IT workforce. As India emerges as a global technology hub, both domestic and international companies are investing heavily in IT infrastructure, which amplifies the demand for specialized training programs. The proliferation of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, and cloud computing, necessitates continuous skill development to keep pace with technological advancements.
Additionally, the rise in startups and the expansion of established tech companies across diverse sectors further fuel the need for comprehensive IT training solutions. Educational institutions and private training providers are responding to this demand by offering a range of programs, from certification courses to advanced degree programs, tailored to various skill levels and industry requirements.
Government initiatives aimed at promoting digital literacy and upskilling the workforce also contribute to the market's growth. With an increasing number of professionals seeking to enhance their technical expertise and career prospects, the India IT Training Market is set to continue its upward trajectory, supported by ongoing investments and evolving industry needs.
Rapid Technological Advancements
The rapid pace of technological advancements is a primary driver of the India IT Training Market. As technology evolves, new tools, platforms, and methodologies emerge, necessitating continuous learning and skill enhancement. Innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, blockchain, and cloud computing are transforming various industries, leading to a heightened demand for professionals skilled in these areas.
Companies require employees who can adeptly handle these new technologies, driving the need for specialized training programs. Educational institutions and training providers are responding by developing curricula that address the latest technological trends and industry requirements. By equipping individuals with up-to-date skills, IT training programs help bridge the gap between current knowledge and emerging technology demands. As India continues to grow as a global tech hub, the emphasis on staying current with technological advancements ensures a sustained and dynamic IT training market.
Government Initiatives and Support
Government initiatives aimed at promoting digital literacy and skill development significantly influence the India IT Training Market. Various programs and schemes, such as the Digital India initiative and Skill India mission, focus on enhancing IT skills across different segments of the population. These initiatives often include funding for training programs, collaborations with educational institutions, and the development of online learning platforms. By fostering an environment conducive to skill development and providing resources for training, the government plays a crucial role in expanding the IT training market. These efforts are particularly impactful in rural and underserved areas, where access to quality IT education and training can drive inclusive growth and create a broader talent pool for the industry.
Growth of the Startup Ecosystem
The expansion of India's startup ecosystem is a significant driver of the IT training market. As startups proliferate across various sectors, there is an increasing demand for innovative solutions and skilled professionals who can contribute to their growth. Startups often require expertise in cutting-edge technologies, agile methodologies, and digital marketing, among other areas. This demand translates into a need for specialized training programs that cater to the unique requirements of startups.
Additionally, many startups partner with training providers to upskill their employees or to develop custom training solutions that align with their business needs. The vibrant startup culture fosters an environment where continuous learning and skill development are essential, driving the growth of the IT training market.
Shift Towards Online and Remote Learning
The shift towards online and remote learning has become a pivotal factor in the growth of the India IT Training Market. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital learning platforms, making education more accessible and flexible. Online training programs offer a range of benefits, including the ability to learn at one's own pace, access to global experts, and the convenience of studying from any location.
This mode of learning is particularly advantageous for IT training, as it allows professionals to acquire new skills without disrupting their current employment. The proliferation of online courses, webinars, and virtual workshops has expanded the reach of IT training programs, accommodating a larger audience and addressing diverse learning needs. As remote learning continues to gain popularity, it is expected to drive sustained growth in the IT training market.
Increased Focus on Emerging Technologies
The increasing focus on emerging technologies is a prominent trend in the India IT Training Market. As industries adopt new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), blockchain, and cybersecurity, there is a growing need for specialized training programs that cover these areas comprehensively. Training providers are developing and expanding their offerings to include courses and certifications specifically tailored to these technologies.
The emphasis is on providing hands-on experience with real-world applications and tools, preparing professionals to tackle complex challenges in their respective fields. Partnerships with technology companies and industry leaders are becoming more common, allowing training institutions to stay updated with the latest advancements and ensure that their curricula are relevant. This trend reflects the industry's demand for highly skilled professionals who can leverage emerging technologies to drive innovation and growth.
Key Attributes:
Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 86 Forecast Period 2024 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $9.8 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $12.95 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 4.6% Regions Covered India
Report Scope:
Key Market Players
TD SYNNEX Corporation
SAP SE
Dell Technologies Inc.
Oracle Corporation
IBM Corporation
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company
Plurasight LLC
Coursera Inc.
Simplilearn Solutions Pvt Ltd.
Firebrand Training Ltd.
India IT Training Market, By Application:
IT Infrastructure Training
Enterprise Application & Software Training
Cyber Security Training
Database & Big Data Training
Others
India IT Training Market, By End User:
Corporate
Schools & Colleges
Others
India IT Training Market, By Region:
North India
South India
West India
East India
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/cc4l9i
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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.
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Jacksonville, Florida, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IQ Fiber, a Jacksonville, FL based provider of 100% fiber-optic internet, is deploying its high-speed, state-of-the-art network to Savannah, GA. Design and engineering work is complete, and construction of the over $50 million project will begin in the coming weeks with first customers coming online in 2025.
We are excited to welcome IQ Fiber to Savannah and appreciate their investment in bringing advanced fiber-optic internet service to our community, said Savannah Mayor Van R. Johnson, II. Their presence will offer residents more choice, helping to ensure that Savannah remains competitive and connected in the digital age.
IQ Fiber's expansion into Savannah marks its third major market, following successful deployments in the Jacksonville and Gainesville, Florida metro areas. This growth further solidifies the companys position as a leader in residential fiber-optic internet, known for offering a seamless, stress-free experience with no contracts, hidden fees, or data caps.
We are thrilled to bring our 100% fiber-optic network to Savannah, said Ted Schremp, CEO of IQ Fiber. Weve seen tremendous demand for a better internet experienceone thats fast, reliable, and hassle-free. Our success in Jacksonville and Gainesville demonstrates that people are ready for a fresh, no-nonsense option, and were excited to bring a modern internet choice to Savannah."
IQ Fibers 100% fiber-optic network is capable of symmetrical speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second and is far superior to telephone or cable-based internet. The network is built on the latest optical networking technology, allowing the company to provide the fastest internet speeds available while also supporting the explosive growth in internet usage and demand.
Recently recognized by Ookla as the provider of the Fastest Speeds and Top Internet Service in Jacksonville, IQ Fiber offers simple month-to-month plans with no contracts, fees, surcharges, or surprise price increases. Plans range from 250 Mbps for $65 per month to 5 Gbps for $125 per month, all of which include symmetrical speeds, whole-home Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi 6e coverage, and professional installation. IQ Fiber also provides a user-friendly app to manage the increasing number of devices in the home, ensuring a stress-free, reliable internet experience.
IQ Fiber is a rapidly expanding, Jacksonville, FL based fiber-optic internet service provider. IQ Fiber delivers a seamless customer experience and provides the fastest and most reliable internet access, all while maintaining a 4.8-star rating across over 1,200 reviews. Building on its success in North Florida, it continues to transform the broadband market with an expanded footprint now covering 3 major metro areas: Jacksonville (FL), Gainesville and Alachua County (FL) and Savannah (GA.). For more information, visit www.iqfiber.com.
Dublin, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Autoinjectors Market Industry Trends and Global Forecasts to 2035: Distribution by Usability, Route of Administration, Type of Molecule Delivered, Volume of Container, Type of Actuation Mechanism, End-user, Target Indication and Key Geographical Regions" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The Global Autoinjector Market is valued at USD 90.6 billion in 2024 growing at a CAGR of 6.2% during the forecast period 2024-2035.
Autoinjectors are self-injection devices inbuilt to deliver a specific dose of a drug / therapeutic substance with a simple push of a button. They are spring-loaded syringes working on several mechanisms (ranging from simple push-on-skin devices to fully automated button activated technologies) and include pre-measured medication, thereby, eliminating the need to draw medication from a separate vial, thus resolving various injection-related compliance issues faced by the patients.
The Global Autoinjectors Market is driven by a growing demand for self-administration devices largely due to the increasing chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Moreover, these conditions have also been adding to the increasing healthcare burden. A study conducted in the year 2022 reveals that there are around 133 million individuals suffering from one or more chronic illness within the US alone, wherein the predicted value by 2030, is 177 million. The market insights reveal that the treatment of chronic diseases in the hospitals involves intensive care and costs more than USD 1.50 trillion per year with additional expenses throughout an individual's lifetime.
The frequent need to take the medication, necessitating regular hospital visits, contributes to the major share of the expenses incurred by patients suffering from chronic diseases. In addition, the reluctance of individuals to receive injections in a clinical setting due to privacy concerns and discomfort complements the challenges for healthcare providers, compromising the treatment process.
Hence, the above-mentioned challenges are addressed by various self-administering drug delivery systems, such as prefilled syringes, large volume wearable injectors, needle free jet injectors, turning out to be a breakthrough. These drug delivery devices impart greater independence, eliminating the dependence on healthcare providers for drug administration, leading to reduced healthcare costs. However, these drug delivery systems possess certain limitations, such as skin sensitivity issues, manual needle insertion, and needle stick injuries, thereby creating the need for better administration solutions.
Because of the insufficiency of the conventional drug delivery systems, the rapid gaining performance of autoinjectors is worth noticing, specifically in the immediate treatment of emergency situations, such as anaphylactic shocks, strokes and rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, the audio-visual features in some of the autoinjectors allow the patient to remove the device from the skin, on completion of dose. The growing adoption of self-administration devices and ongoing advancements in the technologies (focused on integrated needle safety, Bluetooth connectivity and monitoring of historical injection logs), tends to create a growing market of Autoinjectors henceforth.
Research Coverage:
An overview of various self-administrable devices for drug delivery, specifically focusing on autoinjectors. The report provides information on the progression of autoinjectors, along with related details such as, their individual components, device categories and associated manufacturing / packaging processes. It also discusses the advantages of autoinjectors that have led to their growing adoption over the last several years along with the existing concerns related to needlestick injuries and the various preventive laws that have been passed worldwide, for addressing the pressing need for introducing advanced safety features in such devices. In addition, it also includes a discussion on the prospects of this industry.
The report also discusses about the various types of primary drug containers that are utilized in autoinjectors. It demonstrates information on current trends related to the use of prefilled syringes, cartridges and vials. In addition, enlistment the diverse types of primary drug containers that are available in the market, along with details on companies that are involved in the production of such containers is also included in the chapter.
A thorough analysis of current market landscape of autoinjectors based on several relevant parameters, such as status of development, usability, type of primary drug container, requirement of needle, volume of container, type of dose delivered, route of administration, type of actuation mechanism, type of feedback mechanism, availability of connectivity feature, target indication, type of molecule delivered and end user.
The report includes a detailed biopsy of the leading autoinjector manufacturers, highlighting the current perceptions regarding their proprietary brands across different device types. It takes into consideration several aspects, such as strength and diversity of product portfolio, routes of administration, type of actuation mechanism, type of feedback mechanism, geographical presence / reach and supplier strength of each player.
A comprehensive profile of key autoinjector manufacturers
An in-depth analysis of the partnerships inked between stakeholders engaged in this industry, during the period 2019-2023.
A detailed exploration of patents related to autoinjectors, filed / granted, since 2019, based on the type of patent, patent publication year, patent application year, patent jurisdiction, cooperative patent classification (CPC) symbols, type of applicant and most active players.
Current market landscape of commercialized autoinjectors combination product, such as approval year, usability, type of primary drug container, requirement of needle, volume of container, injection time, type of dose delivered, route of administration, type of actuation mechanism, type of feedback mechanism, availability of connectivity feature, target indication, severity of indication, type of molecule delivered, end user and target population.
Detailed progression of the current market landscape of early and late stage autoinjectors combination product, such as stage of development, route of administration, dose strength, target indication, severity of indication, type of molecule delivered, end user, target population and gender of target population.
Comprehensive set of profiles of the key players that are engaged in the autoinjector combination products domain. Each profile provides an insight of the company and information on its autoinjector product portfolio.
A detailed analyzed evaluation highlighting the key opinion leaders (KOLs) in this domain
A case study converged on the role of medical device CMOs in the manufacturing and assembly of drug-delivery devices, including autoinjectors. It enlists service providers with details on their operational scale and types of services provided for device production.
An intricate case history of prefilled syringes that either fall into the category of commercialized or under development. It includes an itemized description of the prefilled syringes, based on several relevant dynamics, such as, type of barrel fabrication material, number of barrel chambers and type of needle system. Further, the chapter provides a detailed analysis of prefilled syringe manufacturers, along with information on their year of establishment, company size and location of headquarters.
A projection of the current and future opportunity within the autoinjectors market across usability, such as disposable autoinjectors and reusable autoinjector.
Detailed projections of the current and future opportunity within the auto injector market size across several types of dynamics, which include route of administration, such as intramuscular, intravenous and subcutaneous, the type of molecule, such as antibodies, peptides, proteins, small molecules and others, type of actuation mechanism, such as manual and automatic, volume of container, such as less than 1 mL, 1-2 mL and more than 2 mL, various end user, such as ambulatory surgical centers, home care and hospitals and clinics.
An in-depth insightful projection of the current and future opportunity within the autoinjector market across target indication, such as anaphylaxis, diabetes, migraine, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, weight loss and other indications.
Leading Market Companies
Amgen
Antares Pharma
ChemProtect.SK
Elcam Medical
Eli Lilly and Company
Jiangsu Delfu Medical Device
Kindeva Drug Delivery
Merck
Novartis
Novo Nordisk
Oval Medical Technologies
Owen Mumford
PreciHealth
Recipharm
Sanofi
SHL Medical
Teva Pharmaceuticals
Union Medico
Ypsomed
Key Topics Covered:
1. PREFACE
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3. ECONOMIC AND OTHER PROJECT SPECIFIC CONSIDERATIONS
4. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
5. INTRODUCTION
5.1. Chapter Overview
5.2. Types of Drug Delivery Systems
5.3. Drawbacks of Conventional Parenteral Delivery Systems
5.4. Emerging Trend of Self-Administration
5.4.1. Rising Burden of Chronic Diseases
5.4.2. Healthcare Cost Savings
5.4.3. Need for Immediate Treatment in Emergency Situations
5.4.4. Growth of Injectable Biologics Market
5.4.5. Addressing Key User Safety Requirements
5.5. Types of Self-Administration Devices
5.5.1. Prefilled Syringes
5.5.2. Pen-Injectors
5.5.3. Needle-Free Injectors
5.5.4. Large Volume Wearable Injectors
5.5.5. Autoinjectors
5.6. Overview of Autoinjectors
5.6.1. Components of Autoinjectors
5.6.2. Classification of Autoinjectors
5.6.3. Manufacturing / Packaging of Autoinjectors
5.6.4. Benefits of Autoinjectors
5.7. Regulatory Considerations
5.8. Future Perspectives
6. PRIMARY DRUG CONTAINERS USED IN AUTOINJECTORS
6.1. Chapter Overview
6.2. Types of Packaging
6.3. Primary Drug Containers
6.4. Comparison of Different Fabrication Materials
7. AUTOINJECTORS: MARKET OVERVIEW
7.1. Chapter Overview
7.2. Autoinjectors: Overall Market Landscape
7.3. Autoinjector Manufacturers: Overall Market Landscape
8. PRODUCT COMPETITIVENESS ANALYSIS
8.1. Chapter Overview
8.2. Assumptions and Key Parameters
8.3. Methodology
8.4. Autoinjectors: Product Competitiveness Analysis
8.4.1. Disposable Autoinjectors
8.4.2. Reusable Autoinjectors
9. BRAND POSITIONING ANALYSIS
9.1. Chapter Overview
9.2. Assumptions and Key Parameters
9.3. Methodology
9.4. Autoinjector Manufacturers: Brand Positioning Framework
9.4.1. Brand Positioning Framework: Owen Mumford
9.4.2. Brand Positioning Framework: Ypsomed
9.4.3. Brand Positioning Framework: Elcam Medical
9.4.4. Brand Positioning Framework: SHL Medical
9.4.5. Brand Positioning Framework: Union Medico
9.4.6. Brand Positioning Framework: Antares Pharma
9.4.7. Brand Positioning Framework: PreciHealth
9.4.8. Brand Positioning Framework: Jiangsu Delfu Medical Device
9.4.9. Brand Positioning Framework: Oval Medical Technologies
9.4.10. Brand Positioning Framework: Recipharm
10. AUTOINJECTOR MANUFACTURERS: DETAILED COMPANY PROFILES
10.1. Chapter Overview
10.2. Antares Pharma
10.3. Elcam Medical
10.4. Jiangsu Delfu Medical Device
10.5. Oval Medical Technologies
10.6. Owen Mumford
10.7. PreciHealth
10.8. Recipharm
10.9. SHL Medical
10.10. Union Medico
10.11. Ypsomed
10.3. Recent Expansion Models
10.4. Emerging Peptide Synthesis Technologies
10.4.1. Chemo-Enzymatic Peptide Synthesis Technology
10.4.2. Continuous Flow Technology
10.4.3. Green Chemistry
11. PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS
11.1. Chapter Overview
11.2. Partnership Models
11.3. Autoinjectors: Partnerships and Collaborations
12. PATENT ANALYSIS
12.1. Chapter Overview
12.2. Scope and Methodology
12.3. Autoinjectors: Patent Analysis
12.4. Patent Benchmarking Analysis
12.5. Patent Valuation
12.6. Leading Patents by Number of Citations
13. DEMAND ANALYSIS DRUG DEVICE COMBINATIONS: COMMERCIALIZED AUTOINJECTORS
13.1. Chapter Overview
13.2. Drug Device Combinations: Commercialized Autoinjectors
13.3. Drug Device Combinations: Commercialized Autoinjector Developers
14. DRUG DEVICE COMBINATIONS: EARLY AND LATE STAGE AUTOINJECTORS
14.1. Chapter Overview
14.2. Drug Device Combinations: Early and Late Stage Autoinjectors
14.3. Drug Device Combinations: Early and Late Stage Autoinjector Developers Landscape
15. SHORT COMPANY PROFILES: AUTOINJECTOR COMBINATION PRODUCT DEVELOPERS
Amgen
ChemProtect.SK
Eli Lilly and Company
Kindeva Drug Delivery
Merck
Novartis
Novo Nordisk
Sanofi
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
16. KEY OPINION LEADER ANALYSIS
17. CASE STUDY: KEY THERAPEUTIC INDICATIONS
Anaphylaxis
Multiple Sclerosis
Migraine
Rheumatoid Arthritis
18. CASE STUDY: MEDICAL DEVICE CONTRACT SERVICE PROVIDERS
Challenges Associated with Medical Device Manufacturing
Role of CMOs in Medical Device Manufacturing
Services Offered by Medical Device CMOs
Advantages Offered by Medical Device CMOs
Risks Associated with Outsourcing to CMOs
Drug Delivery Device Service Providers
19. CASE STUDY: PREFILLED SYRINGES
19.1. Chapter Overview
19.2. Prefilled Syringes: Market Landscape
19.2.1. Analysis by Type of Barrel Fabrication Material
19.2.2. Analysis by Number of Barrel Chambers
19.2.3. Analysis by Type of Needle System
19.3. Prefilled Syringes Manufacturers: Overall Market Landscape
19.4. Future Perspectives
20. SWOT ANALYSIS
20.1. Chapter Overview
20.2. Strengths
20.2.1. Ease of Drug Delivery
20.2.2. Ability to Minimize / Eliminate Medication Errors
20.2.3. Enhanced Safety Features
20.2.4. Economic Advantages
20.2.5. Drug Life Cycle Management
20.3. Weaknesses
20.3.1. Manufacturing Complexities
20.3.2. Customized Design for Different Formulations
20.3.3. Use Errors
20.3.4. Stringent Regulatory Guidelines
20.4. Opportunities
20.4.1. Rich and Growing Pipeline of Biologics and Biosimilars
20.4.2. Growing Preference for Self-Injection Devices
20.4.3. Integration of Advanced Technologies
20.4.4. Rising Popularity across the Globe
20.5. Threats
20.5.1. Material Compatibility Issues
20.5.2. Availability of Alternative Drug Delivery Devices
20.5.3. Concern Related to Numerous Product Recalls In Past
21. GLOBAL AUTOINJECTORS MARKET
22. AUTOINJECTORS MARKET, BY USABILITY
23. AUTOINJECTORS MARKET, BY ROUTE OF ADMINISTRATION
24. AUTOINJECTORS MARKET, BY TYPE OF MOLECULE DELIVERED
25. AUTOINJECTORS MARKET, BY TYPE OF ACTUTATION MECHANISM
26. AUTOINJECTORS MARKET, BY VOLUME OF CONTAINER
27. AUTOINJECTORS, BY END-USER
28. AUTOINJECTORS MARKET, BY TARGET INDICATION
29. AUTOINJECTORS, BY KEY GEOGRAPHICAL REGION
30. AUTOINJECTORS MARKET, FOR RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS AND PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS
31. AUTOINJECTORS MARKET, FOR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
32. AUTOINJECTORS MARKET, FOR DIABETES
33. AUTOINJECTORS MARKET, FOR ANAPHYLAXIS
34. AUTOINJECTORS MARKET, FOR WEIGHT LOSS
35. AUTOINJECTORS MARKET, FOR MIGRAINE
36. AUTOINJECTORS MARKET, FOR OTHER INDICATIONS
37. CONCLUDING REMARKS
38. EXECUTIVE INSIGHTS
Aktiv Pharma
Rx Bandz
Kindeva Drug Delivery
DALI Medical Devices
Elcam Medical
Pharma Consult
IDEO
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Oval Medical Technologies
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LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STAX Engineering, a pioneer in maritime emissions capture and control, signed a five-year deal with Olympus Terminals, LLC. STAX will service all tankers calling at berth F209 at the Olympus Terminals facility in the Port of Long Beach, bringing the vessels into compliance as the new California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards take effect in January 2025. STAX remains the first and only emissions control provider to service the three major classes of maritime vessels in the state of California: container ships, auto carriers, and tankers.
As one of the largest independent liquid fuels storage providers in Southern California, Olympus Terminals services the greater Los Angeles area with a variety of renewable and petroleum products; tankers navigate in and out of the Port of Long Beach on more than 150 service visits per year. Under the agreement, STAX will provide its patented, flexible exhaust capture system for at least 30,000 hours of emissions management over the five-year term to control more than 390 tons of emissions.
STAX technology provides a seamless solution to not only meet important emissions regulations but decrease the impact on the communities local to the port, said Vince Godfrey, CEO of Olympus. STAXs cutting-edge technology is the most cost-effective, immediate, and safest path to emissions reduction for tankers. This partnership takes us and our stakeholders one step closer to meeting our rigorous environment standards and leading industry transparency.
STAXs technology complements shore power to ensure all vessels have a path to compliance. STAX technology easily attaches to all vessel classes without modification to remove 99% of emitted particulate matter (PM) and 95% of emitted oxides of nitrogen (NOx). With land- and barge-based mobile emissions capture and control solutions, STAX services shipping terminal and fleet operators without needing costly, time-consuming retrofits. The company is expanding across California with exclusive service agreements at major ports, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Hueneme, Benicia, Richmond, and Oakland.
All vessels contribute to the emissions that impact the air quality near ports and contribute to climate changeincluding tankers. We set out to provide a solution that would work with all vessel types without modification, and were doing just that. Our partnership with Olympus signals increased momentum in building strong relationships and trust within the industry, said Mike Walker, CEO of STAX. Our emissions capture and control service provides a cost-effective, hassle-free, and safe alternative to ensure all vessels have a path toward a clean-air future.
Since its launch in Q1 2024, STAX has treated at-berth vessels for a cumulative of 5,574 hours and 43 tons of pollutants controlledand counting. Visit www.staxengineering.com .
About STAX Engineering
STAX's patented, flexible exhaust capture system is designed to fit all ships without modification, even in the most congested ports. Once the exhaust is captured and funneled into the STAX system, it is filtered. STAX removes 99% of particulate matter (PM) and 95% of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) before being released as purified gas. To date, STAX has treated 112 at-berth vessels for a cumulative of 5,574 hours and 43 tons of pollutantsand counting. Learn more at www.staxengineering.com .
About Olympus
Olympus terminals is the second-largest independent petroleum storage provider in Southern California, Headquartered in Long Beach, California. Olympus Terminals serves the greater Los Angeles area with refined products, including diesel, gasoline, renewables and biodiesel. Positioned for growth and service, the enterprise fuel terminal is ready to meet the demands required to store and deliver fuel in todays world of high consumption and rigorous environmental standards.
For more information, please visit www.olympusterminals.com .
Media Contact
LaunchSquad for STAX
stax@launchsquad.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c9cbfd64-f48a-4f05-9df4-482834f29778
Nashville, Tenn. (September 25, 2024), Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nashville Entrepreneur Center (NEC) announces a major restructuring of its programs, aimed at increasing the odds of success for founders by giving them more autonomy and reducing their time-to-market. All programs are now aligned to one calendar timeline, providing more flexible, efficient, and targeted support for entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey.
The revamped structure, led by CEO, Sam Davidson, and VP of Programs, Dakota Simpson, reflects input from NECs board and industry leaders, emphasizing speed, flexibility, and impact.
Starting in 2025, NEC will host two accelerator cohortsspanning 12 weeks eachdesigned to meet the unique needs of founders. Participants will gain access to on-demand webinars, expert mentorship, and personalized learning paths.
Key Enhancements:
Efficient learning tracks: Entrepreneurs are no longer confined to one learning path. Instead, they can opt into multiple programs during the same 12-week period to go further faster.
Broader network: Founders will intersect across programs multiple times, broadening their networks significantly and building a larger community.
Condensed time investment: NEC has streamlined its programming to help entrepreneurs bring products to market faster, cutting the learning time to just 1-4 or hours per week over a 12-week period.
On-demand access: Entrepreneurs can now access key content and mentorship when they need it, ensuring timely support during critical business phases.
Simpson explains, Nashville is the ultimate launchpad for startups because we give founders the freedom to move fast and the support to scale. Whether you're in healthcare, financial services, or any industry from Middle Tennessee, our resources and connections can help you succeed. If you believe in your business, Nashville is the place to make it happenand were here to back you every step of the way.
Cohort Details:
Cohort 1: February 24 May 16
Cohort 2: September 8 December 5
Sam Davidson, CEO of NEC, adds, Entrepreneurship thrives on collaboration, and weve seen that firsthand across the country. By working with top accelerator programs, incubators, and conferencesboth through the LaunchTN network and beyondwe give our founders the resources and connections they need to succeed. With flexible programs and a strong support network, we aim to help entrepreneurs move faster and smarter on their path to growth.
Entrepreneurs are encouraged to learn about program options and apply here .
About Nashville Entrepreneur Center (NEC):
Nashville Entrepreneur Center (NEC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) founded in 2010 to help make Nashville the best place to start and grow a business by increasing the likelihood of success for entrepreneurs. Through world-class education and a vibrant membership community, NEC has supported over 14,000 entrepreneurs who have collectively raised $300M in capital, generated over $400M in revenue, and facilitated over $100M in exits. For more information, visit www.ec.co and follow @entrecenter on LinkedIn , Instagram , Facebook , YouTube & X .
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SPRINGFIELD, Mo., Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Helene is forecast to rapidly intensify and accelerate while it moves northward across the eastern Gulf of Mexico and approaches the Florida Gulf coast. The storm is expected to intensify and grow significantly reaching major hurricane intensity as it approaches the Florida coast and impacting the southeast region. American National strongly encourages its policyholders to prepare for their insurance needs. We hope you will find the following informational resources helpful while preparing for this storm. Please be advised to follow the orders of local authorities.
If you are an American National policyholder:
There are several ways to report a claim (to ensure efficient claims service, check that your login credentials are up to date):
Mobile: Use the AN Mobile app, available for free at the Apple App store or Google Play. An account is required. Online: Claims (AmericanNational.com) and login to your account to file claim. To create an account, go to AmericanNational.com > Customer Login > Personal Insurance Log In > Register. If reporting on behalf of the insured and do not have a login: Claims (AmericanNational.com) and click the "Start Claim Online" link. Phone: Call the 24-hour claims hotline at (800) 333-2860.
Stay alert, stay safe:
Refer to the National Hurricane Center at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov for hurricane preparedness, weather tracking and additional updates.
Check your local area forecast and follow instructions from local authorities to protect yourself, your family, and your property. Be sure to secure your home and property, follow your disaster plan and heed all storm warnings.
APCIA urges the following actions to prepare for a tropical storm or hurricane:
Gather copies of your insurance policies. Keep copies of your insurance policies (home, flood and auto) in a safe, dry, and accessible location or have your policy numbers available. Save your insurers contact info. Save your insurers toll-free claims number to your cell phones contacts. APCIA has a list of insurers toll-free numbers here. APCIA American Property Casualty Insurance Association | APCIA Make a home or business inventory. Use your smartphone to take photos or videos of your belongings, including furniture, appliances, clothes, lawn equipment, jewelry, and art. Save your inventory to a place where you can easily retrieve it. You can also check if your insurer has an app to help with creating a home inventory.
For more information on how to prepare, visit https://www.weather.gov/safety/hurricane-plan.
ABOUT AMERICAN NATIONAL
American National is a group of companies writing a broad array of insurance products and services and operating in all 50 states. American National Insurance Company was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Galveston, Texas. Life insurance, annuities, credit insurance, pension products, and other products and services are written through multiple companies. Property and casualty insurance is written through American National Property And Casualty Company, Springfield, Missouri, and affiliates. In New York, business is written through Farm Family Casualty Insurance Company, United Farm Family Insurance Company, and American National Life Insurance Company of New York, Glenmont, New York. Not all products and services are available in all states. Not all companies are licensed in all states. Each company has financial responsibility for only the products and services it issues. For more information, please visit AmericanNational.com
Contact:
Becky Hudzik-Presson
SVP, Chief Claims Officer, P&C Claims Executive
Becky.Hudzik-Presson@AmericanNational.com
Urges Stockholders To Vote Their Shares
NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE: SAR) (Saratoga Investment, Saratoga or the Company) today announced that the Company anticipates that it will not have a sufficient number of shares of the Company's common stock present in person or represented by proxy at the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the "Annual Meeting"), scheduled for Thursday, September 26, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, to constitute a quorum. The majority of the votes received are in favor of the motion being proposed which is to elect Christian L. Oberbeck as director of the Company, to serve until the 2027 Annual Meeting. The Company has decided to postpone the Annual Meeting to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, October 23, 2024 at the offices of Ropes and Gray, located at 1211 Avenue of The Americas, 38th Floor, New York, NY 10036.
The close of business on July 29, 2024 will continue to be the record date for the determination of stockholders of the Company entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting. Stockholders of the Company who have previously submitted their proxy or otherwise voted and who do not want to change their vote do not need to take any action.
No changes have been made in the proposals to be voted on by stockholders at the Annual Meeting. The Company encourages all of its stockholders to read the Companys definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on August 1, 2024 (the Proxy Statement), which is available free of charge on the SECs website at www.sec.gov, and on the Companys website at 3fc2212d-02d6-476f-aebb-fdc690bcfd74 (saratogainvestmentcorp.com).
The Company will continue to solicit votes from its stockholders with respect to the proposal set forth in the Proxy Statement. The Company encourages all stockholders who have not yet voted to do so before Tuesday, October 23, 2024 at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time. Your vote is important regardless of how many shares you own. Voting as soon as possible will help us save on the costs associated with the Annual Meeting.
About Saratoga Investment Corp.
Saratoga Investment is a specialty finance company that provides customized financing solutions to U.S. middle-market businesses. The Company invests primarily in senior and unitranche leveraged loans and mezzanine debt, and, to a lesser extent, equity to provide financing for change of ownership transactions, strategic acquisitions, recapitalizations and growth initiatives in partnership with business owners, management teams and financial sponsors. Saratoga Investments objective is to create attractive risk-adjusted returns by generating current income and long-term capital appreciation from its debt and equity investments. Saratoga Investment has elected to be regulated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and is externally managed by Saratoga Investment Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor focusing on credit-driven strategies. Saratoga Investment Corp. owns two active SBIC-licensed subsidiaries, having surrendered its first license after repaying all debentures for that fund following the end of its investment period and subsequent wind-down. Furthermore, it manages a $650 million collateralized loan obligation (CLO) fund and co-manages a joint venture (JV) fund that owns a $400 million collateralized loan obligation (JV CLO) fund. It also owns 52% of the Class F and 100% of the subordinated notes of the CLO, 87.5% of both the unsecured loans and membership interests of the JV and 87.5% of the Class E notes of the JV CLO. The Companys diverse funding sources, combined with a permanent capital base, enable Saratoga Investment to provide a broad range of financing solutions.
Contact:
Henri Steenkamp
Saratoga Investment Corp.
212-906-7800
Vancouver, BC, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The future is bright, and it's filled with girls and science, technology, engineering, arts & design, and math (STEAM)! Science Worlds 7th Annual Girls and STEAM Summit, presented by STEMCELL Technologies, is thrilled to announce its theme: "Future Forward!" This action-packed day on Saturday, November 2nd ignites a passion for innovation in the next generation of STEAM leaders.
Aligned with Science World's purpose of "Science for All," the Girls and STEAM Summit tackles the ongoing gender gap in STEAM careers. With women making up just 24% of STEM bachelor program entries in Canada[1], this event inspires and mentors girls, introducing them to potential careers and challenging them to think big. To further support this development, Girls and STEAM offers year-round online resources, workshops, livestreams and events. While the terms women and girls are used for this program, this event is inclusive of attendees and mentors who identify as women, girls, trans, genderqueer, non-binary, two-spirit, and gender questioning.
Throughout the day, the girls will explore engaging workshops, showcase booths and a mentor cafe, concluding with an inspiring keynote. Interactive workshops will delve into topics ranging from bodies to machines while the mentor cafe will connect participants with over 50 STEAM professionals.
Building on the success of previous years, the "Future Forward!" theme looks ahead on how to tackle unprecedented challenges and create groundbreaking solutions. From designing sustainable cities to developing life-saving medical technology, the Summit aims to empower girls to dream big about the possibilities that lie ahead.
The event will be anchored by keynote speaker, Moronke Harris, an award-winning deep-sea scientist and Oceanography student. She has experience in climate engineering, intergovernmental research expeditions, and a deep fascination with exploration, innovation, and the blue economy. Harris is a specialist in the alien world of deep-sea hydrothermal vents, venturing thousands of meters below the surface to explore Earth's final frontier. This keynote recording will be available for viewing after the event at scienceworld.ca.
"We are incredibly excited to bring the 'Future Forward!' theme to life at this year's Girls and STEAM Summit," says Issy Worrall, Manager, Public Programs and Engagement at Science World. "By showcasing the diverse and groundbreaking work being done by women in STEAM fields, we hope to inspire girls to become the future inventors, problem-solvers, and leaders who will shape our world for the better. We couldnt do it without the support of our corporate and community partners, and were so thankful to the entire STEAM community for their participation.
This is the second year STEMCELL, which is located down the street from Science World, has provided support for Girls and STEAM as a presenting partner.
The science community is stronger when people gather to collaborate, exchange ideas, and learn from one another, said Sharon Louis, Senior Vice President of Research and Development, STEMCELL. Through hands-on activities and engaging discussions, the Girls and STEAM program provides many wonderful opportunities for young women and girls to participate and experience first-hand how real-world communities of science and technology are built. STEMCELL is proud to support Girls and STEAM and the Future Forward! Summit to inspire the next generation of scientists and leaders, strengthen our community, and help pave the way for the breakthroughs of tomorrow.
Visit scienceworld.ca to learn more about the ongoing Girls and STEAM offerings throughout the year.
About Science World
Science World is a charity that provides engaging and playful STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art & design and math) learning experiences. Visitors to the iconic dome in Vancouver explore interactive, hands-on exhibits, galleries and events that nurture discovery and inspire connection with their natural, physical and built environments. Beyond the dome, outreach programs inspire students, teachers and families in every region of British Columbia through virtual and in-person visits and programs. Science World's mission is to ignite wonder and empower dreams through science and nature. And their vision is a sustainable future filled with critical thinkers, problem solvers and wonder seekers. Learn more at scienceworld.ca.
About STEMCELL Technologies
STEMCELL Technologies, Canada's largest biotechnology company, provides over 2500 high-quality cell culture media, cell separation technologies, instruments, accessory products, and services to scientists around the world working on stem cell, immunology, cancer, regenerative medicine, and cellular therapy research. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, STEMCELL is an anchor company and we are passionate about ensuring the success of the province's life sciences sector. We are Scientists Helping Scientists who are dedicated to improving lives by advancing knowledge and scientific discovery, fostering inclusion in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and investing in sustainability and corporate social responsibility. For more information, visit www.stemcell.com/our-responsibility.
[1] https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/education-at-a-glance-2024_c00cad36-en.html
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TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jeff Wendling, President & CEO of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), announced today that he will be retiring in 2025 after more than a quarter of a century with the organization.
Mr. Wendling was appointed President & CEO in April 2020. He will remain in the position until HOOPPs Board of Trustees appoints a successor in 2025 and will work closely with the Board to ensure a smooth transition.
One of the things that first drew me to HOOPP, when I joined in 1998, was that I saw an organization with a lot of potential to become even more successful than it was at the time, Mr. Wendling said in a message to staff on Wednesday. After 26 years, together, we have proved that to be the case. Working toward our mission, delivering on the pension promise for Ontarios healthcare workers, has been at the core of what we do.
Mr. Wendling became President & CEO just as the coronavirus pandemic was beginning to impact the global economy. Under his leadership, HOOPP grew both its membership and assets under management ($112.6 billion at the end of 2023). HOOPPs funded status remains very strong at 115%, meaning that for every dollar owed in pensions, the Plan has $1.15 in assets. HOOPP has been selected as one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers for four years in a row and has been commended for its focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).
Dan Anderson, Chair of the Board of Trustees for HOOPP, and Gerry Rocchi, Board Vice Chair, praised Mr. Wendlings leadership during his time as President & CEO.
Jeff helped HOOPP solidify its place as one of the top-performing pension plans in the world and keep us fully funded through some of the most challenging market conditions in history. The resulting Plan strength has also allowed us to keep member and employer contribution rates unchanged since 2004 and at least until the end of 2026, and provide members with three benefit improvements since 2020.
Prior to being appointed as President & CEO, Mr. Wendling was HOOPPs Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer (CIO). He joined HOOPP in 1998 as a Senior Portfolio Manager on the Public Equities team.
About the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan
HOOPP serves Ontarios hospital and community-based healthcare sector, with more than 670 participating employers. Its membership includes nurses, medical technicians, food services staff, housekeeping staff, and many others who provide valued healthcare services. In total, HOOPP has more than 460,000 active, deferred and retired members.
HOOPP is fully funded and manages a highly diversified portfolio of more than $112 billion in assets that span multiple geographies and asset classes. Over $60 billion of HOOPPs assets are invested in Canada and HOOPP is one of the biggest investors in Canadian bonds, with over $40 billion in total government bond holdings. HOOPP is also a major contributor to the Canadian economy, paying more than $3 billion in pension benefits to Ontario healthcare workers annually.
HOOPP operates as a private independent trust, and is governed by a Board of Trustees with a sole fiduciary duty to deliver the pension promise. The Board is jointly governed by the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) and four unions: the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union (OPSEU), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). This governance model provides representation from both management and workers in support of the long-term interests of the Plan.
Contact:
Scott White, Senior Director, Media Relations & External Communications
swhite2@hoopp.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7e10ad26-b0ad-4d30-b1f1-881e3d566307
Press Release
Nokia joins the AI Pact, a new framework to prepare for the European Unions AI Act
AI Pact initiative is aimed at facilitating companies early preparation for compliance with the new EU AI Act covering the use of AI systems.
Nokias AI Pact pledges demonstrate an ongoing commitment to the responsible, innovative and business-oriented implementation of AI.
Nokia has built up strong expertise in trustworthy AI and governance, and actively contributes to the creation of European standards that enable compliance with the AI Act.
Nokia welcomes this opportunity to share its learnings and work together with industry peers and the EU AI Office.
25 September 2024
Espoo, Finland Nokia announced today that it has officially joined the AI Pact, a voluntary framework to prepare for compliance with the European Unions AI Act.
The AI Act is a binding legal framework that regulates the use of AI systems according to the level of risk they pose. The AI Act came into force in August 2024, and its significant obligations will take effect in stages over the next three years.
The AI Pact is a business-focused initiative to help companies prepare for full compliance with the Act, adapt their existing AI compliance processes, and share their ideas and experience through EU-organized workshops.
Ingrid Viitanen, General Counsel, Nokia Strategy & Technology, said: Nokias AI Pact pledges underscore our ongoing commitment to the responsible, innovative and business-oriented implementation of artificial intelligence in our AI-powered products and services. Nokia has set up an AI Governance Framework program to strengthen our internal AI-related processes and build trust with stakeholders, including customers, suppliers and authorities. In parallel, we continue to contribute actively to building industry standards reflecting the AI Acts requirements. We look forward to sharing our learnings collaboratively and transparently with our industry peers and with the EU AI Office.
Nokias research arm, Nokia Bell Labs, is an industry leader in AI technologies and its applications to communication networks and industrial automation solutions. Nokia Bell Labs has a strong emphasis on Responsible AI and in 2022 defined six principles to guide AI research and development in the future along the lines of fairness, reliability, privacy, transparency, sustainability and accountability. These principles continue to be relevant as Nokia embraces the telecom industrys renewed focus on environmental sustainability, social responsibility and good governance.
Resources and additional information
Website: Nokia
Website: Nokia Bell Labs
Website: Responsible AI - Nokia Bell Labs
Website: AI: Always Innovating - Nokia
Website: EU Artificial Intelligence Act
About Nokia
At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.
As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs.
With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.
Media inquiries
Nokia Press Office
Email: Press.Services@nokia.com
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Vaughan, Ont., Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) is encouraging all levels of government to push for immediate action to lower taxes, fees, levies and development charges on new housing and speed-up approval times for developments.
RESCON president Richard Lyall, along with senior staff and board members from the association, met with Ontario Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra today to discuss a variety of challenges facing the homebuilding sector, including exorbitant taxes and extremely slow approval times which are impacting higher prices for new homes and seriously affecting housing supply.
We appreciate the actions that Minister Calandra and the provincial government have taken to date to encourage more homebuilding, which includes eliminating the HST on new purpose-built rentals, however we continue to face a perfect storm of high taxes, endless bureaucracy, particularly at the municipal level of government, and an approvals system that is slow, dysfunctional and killing the housing market, especially for first-time buyers, says Lyall. We have a devastating housing affordability and supply crisis yet are still in the dark ages across many municipalities when it comes to residential development approvals. We can and must do better.
We always welcome the opportunity to meet with Minister Calandra to discuss these important issues and we are urging the minister to drive changes at the federal level to lower taxes on new housing and encourage municipalities to lower development charges as they have jacked up the fees that are impacting our ability to build new homes. Federal taxes are too high and municipal development charges are like a runaway train. Costs to consumers for new housing are too high and most first-time buyers and renters cant afford the cost. Why is it that development charges on a new home in Vaughan are $192,000 while they are $22,000 in Calgary?
At the meeting, RESCON officials noted that new home sales are lacklusture, and the homebuilding industry is facing serious financial challenges. New development application submissions have slumped and starts for 2025 are sparse. The financial realities of the new housing market are not workable and regulations and policies are only adding to the inability to build.
Taxes on new housing in the Greater Toronto Area, for example, are the highest in North America and have combined with other factors to eliminate homebuyers especially first-timers from the market. In Toronto, development charges alone for single detached homes have increased nearly 2,000 per cent in 20 years.
The situation is urgent. Recent figures show the construction of new homes is not keeping pace with population growth and housing affordability continues to get worse. A report by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis found that 31 per cent of the cost of a new home is due to taxes, fees and levies, with the federal government accounting for the largest chunk of the taxes.
In the City of Toronto, it presently takes far too long to get a housing project approved. Red tape and bureaucracy are increasing, making it difficult for builders to build homes that people can afford. The present economics for new builders are not working. Meanwhile, other regulatory issues are standing in the way of new housing being built, such as municipalities pressing ahead with unrealistic green building standards beyond what is prescribed in the Ontario Building Code.
Immediate action is needed to lower taxes and fees, speed up the approvals process and create conditions conducive to building homes, adds Lyall. Development charges, in particular, have become a cash cow that municipal governments now rely on to fund infrastructure and other amenities. While municipalities rely on the levies, a big chunk is not being spent. Instead, it is going into reserve funds. The levies must be reduced to a more manageable level so the savings can be passed on to homebuyers.
RESCON is the provinces leading association of residential builders committed to providing leadership and fostering innovation in the industry.
Mine Life Extended to the End of 2032 with 36% Increase in Total Silver Equivalent Production
Strong Free Cash Flows Throughout the Updated Life of Mine
Numerous Opportunities Available for Further Growth, Mine Life Extension and Margin Improvement
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gatos Silver, Inc. (NYSE/TSX: GATO) (Gatos Silver or the Company) today reported an updated life of mine plan (the 2024 LOM Plan) that adds two years of additional reserves and a 36% increase in silver equivalent production compared with the prior LOM plan at the Cerro Los Gatos Mine (CLG) in Mexico.
Gatos Silver also disclosed an updated mineral reserve estimate (the 2024 Mineral Reserve) and mineral resource estimate (the 2024 Mineral Resource) (and together with the 2024 LOM Plan, the 2024 Updates) with an effective date of July 1, 2024.
The Company has a 70% interest in the Los Gatos Joint Venture (LGJV), which in turn owns the CLG mine. The Company has agreed to be acquired by First Majestic Silver Corp. (First Majestic) subject to certain conditions, including approvals of the shareholders of Gatos Silver and First Majestic. All dollar amounts are expressed in, and references to $ refer to, United States dollars unless otherwise noted.
Dale Andres, CEO of Gatos Silver, said: We continue to deliver on CLGs growth potential through disciplined optimization of our assets and successful near-mine resource expansion and conversion. The 2024 LOM Plan represents our second consecutive multi-year mine life extension with the current mine life now extended to the end of 2032 in conjunction with higher mill throughput rates, which are now expected to exceed design capacity by 40% starting in mid-2025.
The 2024 LOM Plan shows strong cash flows and attractive all-in-sustaining costs that demonstrate why CLG is one of the highest-quality primary silver operations. Together with ongoing exploration drilling, the results of the 2024 Updates illustrate the long-term potential at CLG and why it is expected to become a cornerstone district of the First Majestic portfolio going forward.
Summary
Robust 2024 LOM Plan at CLG with strong annual cash flow profile (100% LGJV basis): Mine life extended to the end of 2032, an addition of two years at higher throughput rates of 3,500 tonnes per day Low by-product all-in sustaining cost (AISC) 1,2 of $6.29 per ounce of payable silver, and co-product AISC 1,2 of $14.89 per ounce of payable silver equivalent
Average annual after-tax free cash flow 2 , 3 of $80 million, resulting in an after-tax net present value (NPV) 3 of $539 million based on 2024 reserve price assumptions at a silver price of $23/oz, and significant leverage to higher metal prices. The spot silver price on September 24, 2024 was $32.15/oz (XAG:USD) 4 .
Average annual after-tax free cash flow 2 ,5 of $111 million, resulting in an after-tax NPV 5 of $760 million, at a silver price of $30/oz Average annual after-tax free cash flow 2 ,5 of $136 million, resulting in an after-tax NPV 5 of $935 million, at a silver price of $35/oz Total silver equivalent production 6 over the LOM expected to increase by 36% and total silver production expected to increase by 22% Average annual production of 7.0 million ounces of silver and 14.0 million ounces of silver equivalent expected during the 2025 to 2027 period with further optimization potential Average annual production over the LOM of 6.1 million ounces of silver, 67 million pounds of zinc and 50 million pounds of lead, or 12.9 million ounces of silver equivalent production 2024 Mineral Reserve of 10.3 million tonnes at 172 g/t silver, 3.89% zinc, 2.07% lead, 0.22 g/t gold and 0.21% copper, with 57.3 million ounces of contained silver, up 28% from 8.1 million tonnes a year earlier 7 . For all of the mines five payable metals (silver, zinc, lead, gold and copper), contained metal increased even though grade was lower for all except copper. 2024 Mineral Resource includes 0.8 million tonnes of measured and indicated resource, up 98% from 0.4 million tonnes a year earlier and 1.51 million tonnes of inferred resource, down 67% from 4.58 million tonnes a year earlier 7 , reflecting successful resource to reserve conversion
Numerous opportunities to extend mine life and further increase margins at CLG: Drilling continues to expand the SE Deeps zone beyond the 2024 Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates, as described in our news release dated July 23, 2024 Two drill rigs currently drilling the Central Deeps target below the current Central and North-west zones Drilling of near-mine and district exploration targets increased in Q2 2024 with initial results at San Luis and Portigueno targets showing mineralization, as described in our news release dated July 23, 2024, and with follow-up drilling continuing Several capital efficient margin improvement projects being studied, including metallurgical recovery optimization through ultra fines recovery and potential mill throughput growth up to 4,000 tpd
2024 CLG LOM Plan Update Summary
Table 1 presents a comparison of key metrics of the 2024 LOM Plan to the previous life of mine plan announced on September 6, 2023, (the 2023 LOM Plan) considering the comparable periods from July 1, 2024 onwards (the effective date of the 2024 LOM Plan).
On this basis, total estimated silver equivalent production in the 2024 LOM Plan has increased by 36% compared with the 2023 LOM Plan, with lower unit operating costs resulting primarily from higher mill throughput rates which increase to a steady state of approximately 3,500 tpd by mid-2025. Total tonnes processed increased by 47% to 10.33 million tonnes. Sustaining capital increases by 63% reflecting additional underground development and infrastructure required to mine the additional tonnage. Silver equivalent production averages 12.9 million ounces per year over the mine life, and averages 14.0 million ounces during the 2025 to 2027 period. Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 present annual and cumulative free cash flows, mill throughput rates and silver head grades, silver production and by-product AISC, and silver equivalent production and co-product AISC, respectively.
Table 1 Summary of the 2024 LOM Plan and Comparison to the 2023 LOM Plan (100% LGJV Basis)(1,2,3)
LOM Plan comparisons are presented from July 1, 2024 through to end of respective mine lives 2024 LOM Plan
(H224+) 2023 LOM Plan
(H224+) Change Change (%) End of Mine Life Oct. 31, 2032 Dec. 31, 2030 Total Tonnes Processed (Mt) 10.33 7.01 3.33 47% Average Mill Throughput Rate (tpd) 3,401 2,951 450 15% Total Silver Production (Moz) 50.5 41.3 9.1 22% Total Silver Equivalent Production (Moz)(1) 107.2 78.6 28.5 36% Average Silver Production (Moz / year)(2) 6.1 6.4 (0.3) (5)% Average Zinc Production (Mlbs / year)(2) 67.2 63.7 3.5 5% Average Lead Production (Mlbs / year)(2) 50.0 46.8 3.2 7% Average Silver Equivalent Production (Moz / year)(1) 12.9 12.1 0.8 6% Site Operating Costs ($/tonne milled) $82.14 $87.72 ($5.58) (6)% Sustaining Capital ($M) $186.9 $114.7 $72.19 63% By-Product AISC ($/oz Ag pay.)(3) $6.29 $7.22 ($0.94) (13)% Co-Product AISC ($/oz AgEq pay.)(3) $14.89 $14.17 $0.72 5%
(1) Silver equivalent production for the 2024 LOM Plan is calculated using 2024 reserve price assumptions to convert zinc, lead, gold and copper production contained in concentrates to equivalent silver ounces (contained metal, multiplied by price, divided by silver price). Silver equivalent production for the 2024 LOM Plan uses 2024 reserve price assumptions of $23/oz silver, $1.25/lb zinc, $0.95/lb lead, $1,850/oz gold and $4.00/lb copper. Silver equivalent production for the 2023 LOM Plan did not include copper due to relatively low payable quantities, and used prices of $22/oz silver, $1.20/lb zinc, $0.90/lb lead, $1,700/oz gold, $3.50/lb copper.
(2) Silver production is silver contained in Pb, Zn and Cu concentrates, zinc production is zinc contained in Zn concentrate, lead production is lead contained in Pb concentrate.
(3) By-product AISC and Co-product AISC include the LGJV management fee and administrative costs of $1.35 / oz Ag payable and $0.65 / oz AgEq payable, respectively in the 2024 LOM Plan and $1.13 / oz Ag payable and $0.60 / oz AgEq payable, respectively in the 2023 LOM Plan from July 1, 2024. Refer to Table 9 for AISC details.
Figure 1 2024 LOM Annual Free Cash Flow (100% LGJV Basis)
Figure 2 LOM Mill Throughput and Silver Grade (2024 LOM Plan and 2023 LOM Plan)
Figure 3 2024 LOM Silver Production and By-Product AISC (100% LGJV Basis)
Figure 4 2024 LOM Silver Equivalent Production and Co-Product AISC (100% LGJV Basis)
2024 CLG Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource Tables
The 2024 Mineral Reserve for CLG by reserve category is summarized in Table 2 and the 2024 Mineral Resource for CLG reported by category is summarized in Table 3.
Table 2: 2024 CLG Mineral Reserve as at July 1, 2024 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)
100% LGJV Basis Mt Ag
(g/t) Zn
(%) Pb
(%) Au
(g/t) Cu
(%) Ag
(Moz) Zn
(Mlbs) Pb
(Mlbs) Au
(koz) Cu
(Mlbs) Proven 3.49 300 4.35 2.09 0.29 0.09 33.6 334.4 160.6 32.6 7.0 Probable 6.85 107 3.66 2.06 0.18 0.26 23.6 552.3 310.9 40.5 40.0 Proven and Probable 10.33 172 3.89 2.07 0.22 0.21 57.3 886.7 471.4 73.1 46.9 70% GSI Attributable Basis Mt Ag
(g/t) Zn
(%) Pb
(%) Au
(g/t) Cu
(%) Ag
(Moz) Zn
(Mlbs) Pb
(Mlbs) Au
(koz) Cu
(Mlbs) Proven 2.44 300 4.35 2.09 0.29 0.09 23.5 234.1 112.4 22.8 4.9 Probable 4.80 107 3.66 2.06 0.18 0.26 16.5 386.6 217.6 28.4 28.0 Proven and Probable 7.23 172 3.89 2.07 0.22 0.21 40.1 620.7 330.0 51.2 32.8
(1) Mineral Reserves are reported on a 100% LGJV basis and 70% GSI attributable basis and exclude all Mineral Reserve material mined prior to July 1, 2024.
(2) Specific gravity has been assumed on a dry basis.
(3) Tonnage and contained metal have been rounded to reflect the accuracy of the estimate and numbers may not sum exactly.
(4) Values are inclusive of mining recovery and dilution. Values are determined as of delivery to the mill (point of reference) and therefore not inclusive of milling recoveries.
(5) Mineral Reserves are reported within stope shapes using a variable cut-off basis with a Ag price of US$23/oz, Zn price of US$1.25/lb, Pb price of US$0.95/lb, Au price of US$1,850/oz and Cu price of $4.00/lb. Metallurgical recoveries used in the NSR calculation for generation of the stope solids vary based on the block Pb:Cu ratio. For a Pb:Cu ratio >15 the NSR metallurgical recovery parameters were 88.2% Ag, 63.4% Zn, 89.4% Pb, 54.2% Au and 0% Cu, for Pb:Cu of >7 and <15, the NSR metallurgical recovery parameters were 88.2% Ag, 63.4% Zn, 89.4% Pb, 54.2% Au and 60% Cu and for Pb:Cu ratio of <7 the NSR metallurgical recovery parameters used were 88.2% Ag, 63.4% Zn, 87.2% Pb, 54.2% Au and 82% Cu. The metallurgical recovery parameters in the economic analysis, after plant production modelling, average 88.2% Ag, 63.1% Zn, 88.5% Pb, 54.2% Au and 71.5% Cu to concentrates where the metal is payable.
(6) The Mineral Reserve is reported on a fully diluted basis defined by mining method, stope geometry and ground conditions.
(7) Contained Metal (CM) is calculated as follows:
Zn, Pb and Cu, CM (Mlb) = Tonnage (Mt) * Grade (%) / 100 * 2204.6
Ag and Au, CM (Moz) = Tonnage (Mt) * Grade (g/t) / 31.1035 ; multiply Au CM (Moz) by 1000 to obtain Au CM (koz)
(8) Under SEC Regulation S-K 1300, a Mineral Reserve is an estimate of tonnage and grade or quality of indicated and measured mineral resources that, in the opinion of the qualified person, can be the basis of an economically viable project. More specifically, it is the economically mineable part of a measured or indicated mineral resource, which includes diluting materials and allowances for losses that may occur when the material is mined or extracted.
(9) The SEC definitions for Mineral Reserves in Regulation S-K 1300 were used for Mineral Reserve classification and are consistent with Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (CIM (2014) definitions).
(10) The Mineral Reserve estimates were prepared under the supervision of Mr. Stephan Blaho, P.Eng. an employee of WSP Canada Inc. who is the independent Qualified Person for these Mineral Reserve estimates.
Table 3: 2024 CLG Mineral Resource as at July 1, 2024 (Exclusive of Mineral Reserves) (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11)
100% LGJV Basis Mt Ag
(g/t) Zn
(%) Pb
(%) Au
(g/t) Cu
(%) Ag
(Moz) Zn
(Mlbs) Pb
(Mlbs) Au
(koz) Cu
(Mlbs) Measured 0.24 222 2.78 1.51 0.36 0.07 1.7 14.7 8.0 2.8 0.3 Indicated 0.55 75 3.71 2.00 0.21 0.25 1.3 44.8 24.1 3.7 3.1 Measured and Indicated 0.79 120 3.43 1.85 0.26 0.20 3.0 59.5 32.0 6.5 3.4 Inferred 1.51 80 4.22 2.01 0.22 0.29 3.9 140.2 66.9 10.5 9.5
70% GSI Attributable Basis Mt Ag
(g/t) Zn
(%) Pb
(%) Au
(g/t) Cu
(%) Ag
(Moz) Zn
(Mlbs) Pb
(Mlbs) Au
(koz) Cu
(Mlbs) Measured 0.17 222 2.78 1.51 0.36 0.07 1.2 10.3 5.6 2.0 0.2 Indicated 0.38 75 3.71 2.00 0.21 0.25 0.9 31.4 16.9 2.6 2.1 Measured and Indicated 0.55 120 3.43 1.85 0.26 0.20 2.1 41.6 22.4 4.6 2.4 Inferred 1.06 80 4.22 2.01 0.22 0.29 2.7 98.2 46.8 7.4 6.7
(1) Mineral Resources are reported on a 100% LGJV basis and 70% GSI attributable basis and are exclusive of Mineral Reserves.
(2) Under SEC Regulation S-K 1300, a Mineral resource is a concentration or occurrence of material of economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form, grade or quality, and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for economic extraction. A mineral resource is a reasonable estimate of mineralization, taking into account relevant factors such as cut-off grade, likely mining dimensions, location or continuity, that, with the assumed and justifiable technical and economic conditions, is likely to, in whole or in part, become economically extractable. It is not merely an inventory of all mineralization drilled or sampled. 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, marketing, or other relevant issues.
(3) The SEC definitions for Mineral Resources in S-K 1300 were used for Mineral Resource classification which are consistent with Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (CIM (2014) definitions).
(4) The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Mineral Resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred Mineral Resources as an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading Inferred Mineral Resources to an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource category.
(5) Specific gravity has been assumed on a dry basis.
(6) Tonnage and contained metal have been rounded to reflect the accuracy of the estimate and numbers may not sum exactly.
(7) Mineral Resources exclude all Mineral Resource material mined prior to July 1, 2024.
(8) Mineral Resources are reported within stope shapes using a $70.94/tonne net smelter return (NSR) cut-off calculated using an Ag price of US$23/oz, Zn price of US$1.25/lb, Pb price of US$0.95/lb, Au price of US$1,850/oz and Cu price of $4.00/lb. The NSR cutoff includes mill recoveries and payable metal factors appropriate to the existing CLG processing circuit augmented with a pyrite leach circuit and copper separation circuit. The milling recoveries for these additional projects is based on existing metallurgical testwork. The metallurgical recoveries that are used as inputs to the resource NSR are 93.2% Ag, 63.4% Zn, 61.1% Au and range between 87.2%-89.4% Pb and between 66.5%-82.0% Cu.
(9) No dilution was applied to the Mineral Resource which are reported on an insitu basis (point of reference).
(10) Contained Metal (CM) is calculated as follows:
Zn, Pb and Cu CM (Mlb) = Tonnage (Mt) * Grade (%) / 100 * 2204.6
Ag and Au, CM (Moz) = Tonnage (Mt) * Grade (g/t) / 31.1035 ; multiply Au CM (Moz) by 1000 to obtain Au CM (koz)
(11) The Mineral Resource estimates were prepared under the supervision of Ronald Turner, MAusIMM(CP) an employee of Golder Associates S.A. who is the independent Qualified Person for these Mineral Resource estimates.
Diamond Drilling
The increases in mineral reserve and mineral resource are primarily driven by extensive diamond drilling completed between the 2023 and 2024 updates. The 2024 Mineral Resource update for CLG used a total of 1,666 diamond drill holes totaling 346,639 metres. Between the updates, data from 53,689 metres of surface resource drilling from 75 holes and 12,354 metres of underground definition drilling from 118 holes was added to the database; these new drillholes are shown in Figure 5 below. The data cut-off date used for the 2024 Updates was March 31, 2024.
Various control measures are in place at CLG to ensure reliable drilling data for estimation, including a secure database system, quality assurance and quality control measures and periodic reporting and gyro downhole surveying for surface drill holes.
Figure 5 New Drilling Added between 2023 and 2024 Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource Updates
Mineral Resource Estimation
The 2024 Mineral Resource uses an estimation methodology that is similar to the methodology used for the 2023 mineral resource estimate. Geological interpretation of 3D domain solids was completed using all available information including detailed underground mapping, channel sampling and surface and underground diamond drilling. The block model estimation uses assay information from diamond drill core only. The model interpolation is by multiple pass ordinary kriging using locally varying anisotropy to follow the changes in dip and azimuth of the veins. Control of outlier grades is by traditional top cutting. The limits set for the top cut were based on statistical analysis and comparison of mined areas to actual production. CLG mineral resources are reported exclusive of mineral reserves and within stope shapes to define reasonable prospects of economic extraction.
Changes from 2023 are the change from high grade restriction to top cutting and the removal of the fourth estimation pass with longer ranges that was previously used for inferred resource only.
2024 Mine Design and Scheduling
The methodology used to prepare the 2024 mine design is similar to the methodology that was implemented for the 2023 updates, with updates to account for changes in actual operating performance.
Long-hole (LH) mining methods were applied where amenable throughout the mine which represents approximately 73% of total LOM stope production. Stope production in the mine plan varies between approximately 55% to 80% LH in 2025-2028, increasing to greater than 90% LH towards the end of the mine life. Areas that are not amenable to LH mining are planned to be extracted using cut and fill (C+F) methods. See Figure 6 below for a comparison of the 2024 mine design versus the 2023 mine design.
Mineral reserve stopes are planned to be filled using primarily paste fill, with uncemented rock fill and, to a lesser extent cemented rock fill, also considered in certain stopes and areas.
Mine dilution and mine recovery estimates are based on recent actual operating performance. These assumptions are applied based on the mining method, stope width, zone inclination and proximity to hanging-wall faults.
Operating and sustaining capital cost assumptions are based on recent actual costs with minor allowances for business improvement initiatives that are defined and being implemented. Mine operating costs were developed separately for LH and C+F mining methods.
Figure 6 Long Section of CLG 2024 and 2023 Mineral Reserve Solids
2024 LOM Production Plan
The 2024 LOM Plan is based on a steady-state processing rate of 3,500 tonnes per day from mid-2025 onwards, resulting in a mine plan that exhausts current mineral reserves in Q4 2032. Steady-state LOM mining rates are approximately 8% higher than current operating rates and are projected to steadily increase through the end of 2024 and first half of 2025. Underground development for mining the 2024 Mineral Reserve is expected to be materially complete by 2030.
Mineral processing at the current operation uses conventional sulphide flotation, producing separate lead and zinc concentrates. The 2024 LOM considers the installation of a copper-lead separation circuit to produce a separate copper concentrate from higher copper mill feeds, which is expected to be operational in 2026. Predicted metallurgical recoveries over the 2024 LOM Plan average 88.2%, 63.1%, 88.5%, 54.2% and 71.5% for silver, zinc, lead, gold and copper, respectively. Recoveries were estimated based on recent actual plant performance, as well as recent metallurgical test work on South-East zone copper-lead separation. A total of 107.2 million ounces of silver equivalent are estimated to be produced according to the 2024 LOM Plan, comprised of 50.5 million ounces of silver, 560 million pounds of zinc, 417 million pounds of lead, 39.6 thousand ounces of gold and 33.5 million pounds of copper.
Production and recovery numbers are calculated based on metals recovered to concentrates where the grades are expected to be in payable quantities. Silver production and recoveries are silver contained in lead, zinc and copper concentrates; zinc production and recoveries are zinc contained in zinc concentrate; lead production and recoveries are lead contained in lead concentrate; gold production and recoveries are gold contained in lead and copper concentrates; and copper production and recoveries are copper contained in lead and copper concentrates.
Table 4: Life of Mine Projected Processing and Production Summary (100% LGJV Basis)(1)
Plant Metrics Units H2
2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 LOM Processed Material Mt 0.60 1.26 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.16 0.93 10.33 Process Rate tpd 3,247 3,444 3,500 3,500 3,500 3,500 3,500 3,166 3,055 3,401 Ag Grade g/t 260 221 193 167 154 153 153 146 141 172 Zn Grade % 4.02 4.30 4.42 4.05 3.98 4.22 3.35 3.30 3.24 3.89 Pb Grade % 1.89 2.04 2.13 2.10 2.12 2.13 1.99 2.05 2.09 2.07 Au Grade g/t 0.26 0.23 0.25 0.20 0.22 0.24 0.21 0.19 0.18 0.22 Cu Grade % 0.09 0.12 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.21 0.37 0.33 0.27 0.21 Ag Production Moz 4.4 7.9 7.0 6.0 5.6 5.5 5.5 4.8 3.7 50.5 Zn Production Mlbs 33.4 75.2 78.7 72.0 71.0 75.1 59.5 53.1 42.0 559.9 Pb Production Mlbs 22.2 50.6 53.3 52.6 53.0 52.8 49.0 45.7 37.8 417.0 Au Production koz 2.8 5.1 5.6 4.5 4.9 5.4 4.6 3.8 3.0 39.6 Cu Production Mlbs 0.7 2.0 0.9 2.8 3.4 4.5 8.4 6.7 4.2 33.5 AgEq Production Moz 7.5 14.8 14.1 13.0 12.6 13.0 12.6 11.0 8.6 107.2
(1) LOM begins on July 1, 2024. The 2024 Mineral Reserve excludes all mineral reserve material processed prior to July 1, 2024.
CLGs short term definition drilling and short term mine plan updates required for execution may cause actual annual operating results to differ significantly from the 2024 LOM Plan schedule shown in Table 4. Gatos Silver provides annual production guidance and quarterly production results for CLG, and such results can vary quarter over quarter based on short term execution plans and constraints. The Company cautions investors that guidance might differ from the 2024 LOM Plan, and actual results might significantly differ from guidance.
2024 LOM Cash Flows
Table 5 presents a summary of 2024 LOM Plan cash flows. In the 2024 LOM Plan, silver accounts for 49% of the total payable metal value, with zinc, lead, gold and copper representing 28%, 17%, 2% and 4%, respectively.
Table 5: Summary of 2024 LOM Plan Free Cash Flow at Various Silver Prices(1,2) (100% LGJV Basis)
After-tax Free Cash Flow ($M)(2) H2
2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033+ LOM Silver Price $21/oz 40.7 76.5 64.0 58.2 59.4 83.8 88.5 71.7 57.8 (16.4) 584.2 2024 Reserve Prices ($23/oz Ag) 48.6 88.6 72.2 65.4 66.3 90.7 95.5 77.4 62.1 (16.4) 650.4 Silver Price $25/oz 56.5 101.7 83.9 72.6 73.1 97.6 102.4 83.1 67.9 (16.4) 722.5 Silver Price $30/oz 76.4 134.3 113.3 92.8 90.2 114.9 120.6 101.8 83.4 (16.4) 911.3 Silver Price $35/oz 96.2 167.2 142.4 118.0 112.3 135.0 143.6 121.7 98.9 (16.4) 1,118.9
(1) Prices for zinc, lead, gold and copper are maintained at 2024 reserve assumptions of $1.25/lb, $0.95/lb, $1,850/oz and $4.00/lb, respectively.
(2) See Non-GAAP Financial Measures below.
Figure 7 presents a sensitivity of 2024 LOM Plan net present value to silver prices.
Figure 7 Summary of 2024 LOM Plan Net Present Value at Various Silver Prices(1) (100% LGJV Basis)
(1) NPV as of July 1, 2024 at a 5% discount rate. Prices for zinc, lead, gold and copper are maintained at 2024 reserve assumptions of $1.25/lb, $0.95/lb, $1,850/oz and $4.00/lb, respectively.
Total sustaining capital costs for the 2024 LOM Plan at CLG are estimated at $186.9 million. Sustaining capital costs are summarized in Table 6 below.
Sustaining capital costs include underground access development to the lower levels in the Central and North-West Zones, and development of the South-East Deeps zone. They also include ventilation infrastructure, together with equipment replacements and other infrastructure projects including installation of the copper-lead separation circuit, upgrades to the underground dewatering system as the mine is developed further, and two additional tailings dam raises anticipated to be completed in 2025 and 2027/2028.
Table 6: 2024 LOM Plan Sustaining Capital Costs Summary
Sustaining Capital Costs LOM ($M) Mine Development $96.1 Infrastructure and Equipment $90.8 Total Sustaining Capital Cost $186.9
The average 2024 LOM Plan site operating costs are estimated at $82.14 per tonne milled and are summarized in Table 7 below. Operating costs have been developed based on recent actual costs considering the continued ramp-up to 3,500 tpd, the transition to a higher proportion of LH stoping mining in the plan, and minor allowances for business improvement initiatives that are currently being implemented. Operating costs are based on long term assumptions, including a Mexican Peso exchange rate of MXN 20.00 per US$1.00.
Table 7: 2024 LOM Plan Unit Operating Costs Summary
Unit Operating Costs LOM ($/t) Mining $42.16 Processing $24.77 Mine General and Administrative $15.20 Total Operating Cost $82.14
All-in sustaining costs are defined in the Non-GAAP Financial Performance Measures section and summarized in Table 8 below.
Table 8: 2024 LOM Plan All-In Sustaining Costs(1)
Cash Costs and All-In Sustaining Costs Units LOM Cash Costs $M $1,147.8 Sustaining Capital $M $186.9 All-In Sustaining Costs $M $1,334.7 Payable Silver Ounces Moz 45.5 All-In Sustaining Costs before by-product credits $/oz Ag payable $29.33 By-Product Credits $/oz Ag payable ($24.39) By-product All-In Sustaining Costs $/oz Ag payable $4.94 Payable Silver Equivalent Ounces Moz AgEq 93.8 Co-product All-In Sustaining Costs $/oz AgEq $14.24
(1) By-product AISC and Co-product AISC exclude the LGJV management fee and administrative costs of $1.35 / oz Ag payable and $0.65 / oz AgEq payable, respectively. Refer to Table 9 for AISC details.
Opportunities Growth, Margin Improvement and District-Scale Potential
The LGJV is analyzing multiple value enhancement projects beyond the 2024 LOM Plan and 2024 Mineral Reserve. The CLG team is focused on continuing to gradually increase mine production rates by implementing various optimization and improvement initiatives across the maintenance and mine operation functions. Capital efficient modifications to the existing plant to increase throughput rates beyond 3,500 tpd are being evaluated. The LGJV has completed preliminary metallurgical testwork on potentially improving silver, zinc and gold recoveries through either ultra fines recovery or increasing silver and gold recovery through a pyrite recovery circuit. These processing concepts along with mill expansion projects will continue to be analyzed over the coming year in conjunction with targets to increase mineral reserves and further mine life extension initiatives, with the potential to increase throughput rates up to 4,000 tpd.
The Los Gatos District (LGD) is comprised of a large land package covering over 103,000 hectares with an established pipeline of prospects and more than 50 targets identified to date. Since the database cutoff on March 31, 2024, drilling at South-East Deeps has shifted back towards resource extension drilling, testing for the limits of mineralization potential along strike, down-plunge and shallower within the overall SE Deeps zone, with drilling results described in our news release dated July 23, 2024 demonstrating the extension of this mineralization beyond what formed the basis of the 2024 Updates, and continuing to highlight additional potential of the system. Following the March 31, 2024 database cutoff, the focus of exploration has shifted to explore the broader LGD, including drilling at the Portigueno, Central Deeps and San Luis targets, with early results showing mineralization as described in our news release dated July 23, 2024. Quarterly exploration program updates will continue with the next one expected in early October.
Esther Mineral Resource Unchanged since 2022
The Esther Mineral Resource was not updated during 2024 and remains the same as reported in 2022 and 2023.
Updated Technical Reports
The Company expects to file an updated technical report summary prepared in accordance with subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K (S-K 1300) in the United States on the EDGAR section of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website at www.sec.gov, and file an updated technical report prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) in Canada under the Companys profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca (collectively, the 2024 Technical Reports), to support the disclosure regarding the 2024 Updates. The 2024 Technical Reports are expected to be filed within 45 days.
About Gatos Silver
Gatos Silver is a silver dominant exploration, development and production company that discovered a new silver and zinc-rich mineral district in southern Chihuahua State, Mexico. As a 70% owner of the Los Gatos Joint Venture (LGJV), the Company is primarily focused on operating the Cerro Los Gatos mine and on growth and development of the Los Gatos district. The LGJV includes approximately 103,000 hectares of mineral rights, representing a highly prospective and under-explored district with numerous silver-zinc-lead epithermal mineralized zones identified as priority targets.
On September 5, 2024 Gatos Silver and First Majestic Silver Corp. (First Majestic) announced they entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which First Majestic will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Gatos Silver. The proposed transaction would consolidate three world-class, producing silver mining districts in Mexico to create a leading intermediate primary silver producer. Information relating to the proposed transaction can be found at the Companys website at www.gatossilver.com.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control
The half core samples from the LGJVs surface exploration drillholes are shipped directly in sealed bags to the ALS Limited (ALS) preparation facilities in Chihuahua City, Mexico. After sample preparation in Chihuahua, sample pulps are shipped to ALS in North Vancouver, Canada for analysis. The remaining half core is retained on site. Samples sent for analysis are sawn half-core NQ or HQ in diameter and normally 2m in length but varied based on geological contacts. Samples are prepared using a method whereby the entire sample is crushed, and a subset is pulverized. Samples are analyzed for base metals and silver using inductively coupled plasma methods. Gold and overlimit silver are assayed using fire assay techniques. Sample batches include intermittent blanks, duplicates, and certified standards. The results of the assaying of the QA/QC material included in each batch are tracked to ensure the integrity of the assay data. ALS is a third-party independent laboratory.
Qualified Person
Scientific and technical disclosure in this press release regarding the Cerro Los Gatos 2024 Mineral Resource was based upon information prepared by or under the supervision of Ronald Turner, MAusIMM(CP), an employee of Golder Associates S.A. Scientific and technical disclosure in this press release regarding the 2024 Mineral Reserve, the 2024 LOM Plan and other economic analyses that will also be set out in the 2024 Technical Reports was based upon information prepared by or under the supervision of Stephan Blaho, P.Eng. an employee of WSP Canada Inc. Scientific and technical disclosure in this press release regarding the metallurgical assumptions for the 2024 LOM Plan and other economic analyses that will also be set out in the 2024 Technical Reports was based upon information prepared by or under the supervision of Adam Johnston, FAusIMM(CP), Chief Metallurgist with Transmin Metallurgical Consultants (UK). Other scientific and technical disclosure in this press release was approved by Anthony (Tony) Scott, P.Geo., Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Technical Services of Gatos Silver. Each of Ronald Turner, MAusIMM(CP), Stephan Blaho, P.Eng., Adam Johnston, FAusIMM(CP), and Tony Scott, P.Geo. is a Qualified Person, as defined in S-K 1300 and NI 43-101. Ronald Turner, MAusIMM(CP), Stephan Blaho, P.Eng. and Adam Johnston, FAusIMM(CP) are all independent of Gatos Silver and the LGJV. Each Qualified Person has verified the data disclosed herein in respect of the subject matter associated with the Qualified Person identified above, including sampling, analytical, and test data underlying the related information or opinions.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The Company uses certain measures that are not defined by GAAP to evaluate various aspects of our business. These non-GAAP financial measures are intended to provide additional information only and do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. The measures are not necessarily indicative of operating profit or cash flow from operations as determined under GAAP.
Cash Costs and All-In Sustaining Costs
Cash costs and all-in sustaining costs (AISC) are non-GAAP measures. AISC was calculated based on guidance provided by the World Gold Council (WGC). WGC is not a regulatory industry organization and does not have the authority to develop accounting standards for disclosure requirements. Other mining companies may calculate AISC differently as a result of differences in underlying accounting principles and policies applied, as well as definitional differences of sustaining versus expansionary (i.e. non-sustaining) capital expenditures based upon each companys internal policies. Current GAAP measures used in the mining industry, such as cost of sales, do not capture all of the expenditures incurred to discover, develop and sustain production. Therefore, we believe that cash costs and AISC are non-GAAP measures that provide additional information to management, investors and analysts that aid in the understanding of the economics of the Companys operations and performance compared to other producers and provides investors visibility by better defining the total costs associated with production.
Cash costs include all direct and indirect operating cash costs related directly to the physical activities of producing metals, including mining, processing and other plant costs, treatment and refining costs, general and administrative costs, and royalties. AISC includes total production cash costs incurred at the LGJVs mining operations plus sustaining capital expenditures. The Company believes this measure represents the total sustainable costs of producing silver from current operations and provides additional information of the LGJVs operational performance and ability to generate cash flows. As the measure seeks to reflect the full cost of silver production from current operations, new project and expansionary capital at current operations are not included. Certain cash expenditures such as new project spending, tax payments, dividends, and financing costs are not included.
Free Cash Flow
Management uses free cash flow (FCF) as a non-GAAP measure to analyze cash flows generated from operations. As used herein, FCF is cash provided by operating activities less cash used in investing activities. The Company believes that this measure assists in evaluating the Companys ability to generate cash flow after capital investments. The most directly comparable measure prepared in accordance with GAAP is cash provided by operating activities. The Company believes FCF is also useful as one of the bases for comparing the Companys performance with its competitors. Although FCF and similar measures are frequently used as measures of cash flows generated from operations by other companies, the Companys calculation of FCF is not necessarily comparable to such other similarly titled captions of other companies. The Company is unable to provide without unreasonable efforts a reconciliation of forward-looking free cash flow on a per-year basis to cash flow provided by operating activities due to the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts, some of which may be material, that are necessary for such reconciliation.
Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures
Table 9 below presents a reconciliation between the most comparable GAAP measure of the LGJVs expenses to the non-GAAP measures of (i) cash costs, (ii) cash costs, net of by-product credits, (iii) co-product AISC and (iv) by-product AISC for the Companys operations.
Table 9: Reconciliation of Cash Costs and AISC to Cost of Sales (as defined under US GAAP)(1,2,3,4,5)
Cash Costs and All-In Sustaining Costs Units 2024 LOM Plan
(H224+) 2023 LOM Plan
(H224+) Mining Costs $M $435.6 $305.3 Milling Costs $M $256.0 $185.6 Transportation Costs $M $148.7 $99.9 Cost of Sales $M $840.2 $590.8 Royalties $M $5.0 $2.6 General and Administrative $M $157.1 $123.7 Expenses $M $1,002.3 $717.1 Treatment and Refining Costs $M $145.5 $125.0 Cash Costs $M $1,147.8 $842.1 Sustaining Capital $M $186.9 $114.7 Accretion Expense $M $0.0 $0.0 All-in Sustaining Costs (AISC)(1)(2) $M $1,334.7 $956.9 By-product Credits(3) $M ($1,109.9) ($729.1) Payable Silver Moz 45.5 37.4 Cash Costs before By-product Credits $/oz Ag payable $25.23 $22.52 AISC before By-product Credits $/oz Ag payable $29.33 $25.59 By-product Credits(3) $/oz Ag payable ($24.39) ($19.50) Cash Costs, net of by-product credits $/oz Ag payable $0.83 $3.02 By-product AISC(1) $/oz Ag payable $4.94 $6.09 Payable Silver Equivalent(3)(4) Moz 93.8 70.5 Co-product Cash Cost $/oz AgEq payable $12.24 $11.94 Co-product AISC(1) $/oz AgEq payable $14.24 $13.57 Management Fee and Admin. Costs $M $61.2 $42.3 By-product AISC(5) $/oz Ag Payable $6.29 $7.22 Co-product AISC(5) $/oz Ag Eq. Payable $14.89 $14.17
(1) Excludes LGJV management fee and administration costs of approximately $7 million per year, equivalent to $1.35 / oz Ag payable and $0.65 / oz AgEq payable, respectively in the 2024 LOM Plan and $1.13 / oz Ag payable and $0.60 / oz AgEq payable, respectively in the 2023 LOM Plan.
(2) Excludes any exploration costs related to future resource expansion and conversion.
(3) Uses 2024 reserve price assumptions of $23.00/oz silver, $1.25/lb zinc, and $0.95/lb lead, $1,850/oz gold and $4.00/lb copper for the 2024 LOM Plan. Uses 2023 reserve price assumptions of $22.00/oz silver, $1.20/lb zinc, and $0.90/lb lead, $1,700/oz gold and $3.50/lb copper for the 2023 LOM Plan.
(4) Payable silver equivalent ounces include payable copper aligned to current payable terms for copper in lead concentrate and expected payable terms for copper concentrates.
(5) Includes LGJV management fee and administration costs of approximately $7 million per year in the 2024 LOM Plan and $6 million per year in the 2023 LOM Plan
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that constitute forward looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. and Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements regarding production including potential production increases, cash flows, CLGs life of mine and mine life extensions, mining rates and mill throughput rates, growth potential and margin improvement opportunities, mineral resource and reserve estimates, future prices for silver, zinc, lead, gold and copper, potential cash distributions to LGJV partners, NPV, projected capital, operating costs, sustaining and all-in sustaining costs, the exchange rate for the Mexican Peso to the U.S. Dollar, mine design, mine scheduling and mining methods including the proportion of LH stoping and filling methodologies, mining dilution and recovery estimates, timing of filing of updated 2024 Technical Reports, viability of potential modifications and projects to improve efficiency, timing of proposed drilling, potential results from exploration including possible increases to the LOM, and the timing of exploration updates are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on managements beliefs, assumptions, current expectations about future events and on information currently available to management including without limitation assumptions about commodity prices, mining methodologies, the accuracy of Mineral Reserve and Resource estimates, operating and capital costs, plant throughput and processing recoveries, operating conditions, and including other assumptions set out herein and to be set out in the 2024 Technical Reports. Such statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements including without limitation, commodity prices, change in regulations, failure to retain or obtain permits and licenses, environmental risks, cost and timing of exploration, development and production, opposition to mining may arise, labour interruptions, other general risks associated with mining operations and such other risks and uncertainties described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities commissions. Further, although the Company has attempted to identify factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Gatos Silver expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which such statements are based unless required to do so by applicable law. No assurance can be given that such future results will be achieved, and as such, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.
Investors and Media Contact
Andre van Niekerk
Chief Financial Officer
investors@gatossilver.com
(604) 424 0984
__________________
1 Includes LGJV management fee and administrative costs. Refer to Table 9 for AISC details.
2 See Non-GAAP Financial Measures below.
3 NPV is as of July 1, 2024 using a 5% discount rate. 2024 NPV and free cash flow assume reserve price assumptions of $23/oz silver, $1.25/lb zinc, $0.95/lb lead, $1,850/oz gold, $4.00/lb copper and a Mexican Peso exchange rate of MXN 20.00 per US$1.00. 2023 NPV used prices of $22/oz silver, $1.20/lb zinc, $0.90/lb lead, $1,700/oz gold, $3.50/lb copper and a Mexican Peso exchange rate of MXN 20.00 per US$1.00.
4 As of 16:00 Pacific time on September 24, 2024
5 NPV and free cash flow sensitivities presented here consider $30/oz Ag and $35/oz Ag, with other prices reflecting the 2024 reserve price assumptions described above. NPV is as of July 1, 2024 using a 5% discount rate.
6 Silver equivalent production for the 2024 LOM Plan is calculated using 2024 reserve price assumptions to convert zinc, lead, gold and copper production contained in concentrates to equivalent silver ounces (contained metal, multiplied by price, divided by silver price).
7 2024 Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource figures as at July 1, 2024; 2023 Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource figures as at July 1, 2023
Figures accompanying this announcement are available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/05e3189f-3c45-4b8f-8a91-3531e1000019
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/282b7682-e2fc-425d-a39c-b33a7f4789c1
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/48b9b9b0-3774-404d-a89d-d43d4edace4f
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7a0f44d9-6f10-4ecd-82b6-fe52c9d49447
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/75c7ad31-de0f-4c73-93a7-247d4ea8f03f
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/db4dbc68-675b-4f3b-8a08-3896dc418961
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9d2fcfab-ecca-4cb3-ba37-24587d44655a
Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ValOre Metals Corp. (ValOre or the Company) (TSX-V: VO; OTCQB: KVLQF; FRANKFURT: KEQ0) announced that between September 19th and 24th, the CEO of the Company has sold an aggregate of 33,653,000 common shares of the Company from his personal holdings, for net aggregate proceeds of approximately $2,000,000.
The CEO of the Company is expected to use the proceeds generated from the sale of these shares to subscribe for an aggregate of approximately 26,650,000 newly issued treasury securities of the Company under its previously announced private placement offering of Units at a price of CDN$0.075 per Unit (refer to press release dated September 19, 2024). Each Unit will consist of one common share (a Share) in the capital of the Company and one transferable common share purchase warrant (each whole common share purchase warrant being a Warrant). Each Warrant will be exercisable to acquire one Share at a price of CDN$0.10 per Share for a period of 36 months from the date of issuance subject to an acceleration clause.
The Company is seeking to raise up to a total amount of $3,562,500 under the Offering and such subscription is expected prior to the closing of the Offering which is expected to occur on or before October 4, 2024. All securities issuable pursuant to the Offering, including the Shares, if any, issuable on the exercise of the Warrants are subject to a four month and one day hold period from the date of issuance in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.
Upon purchase of the Units by the CEO at closing, insider participation will be in excess of 25% of the private placement. The issuance of securities to the CEO pursuant to the Private Placement will be considered to be a "related party transaction" subject to the requirements of TSXV Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company intends to rely on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements provided under sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(a) of MI 61-101 on the basis that amount invested in the private placement by the insiders will not exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization.
Closing will be subject to receipt of all required consents and approvals, including acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.
About ValOre Metals Corp.
ValOre Metals Corp. (TSXV: VO) is a Canadian company with a team aiming to deploy capital and knowledge on projects which benefit from substantial prior investment by previous owners, existence of high-value mineralization on a large scale, and the possibility of adding tangible value through exploration and innovation.
ValOres Pedra Branca Platinum Group Elements Project comprises 45 exploration licenses covering a total area of 51,096 hectares (126,260 acres) in northeastern Brazil. At Pedra Branca, 7 distinct PGE+Au deposit areas host, in aggregate, a 2022 NI 43-101 inferred resource of 2.198 Moz 2PGE+Au contained in 63.6 Mt grading 1.08 g/t 2PGE+Au. ValOres team believes the Pedra Branca project has significant exploration discovery and resource expansion potential. (CLICK HERE to download 2022 technical report* and CLICK HERE for news release dated March 24, 2022).
*The 2022 Technical Report is entitled Independent Technical Report Mineral Resource Update on the Pedra Branca PGE Project, Ceara State, Brazil was prepared as a National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on behalf of ValOre Metals Corp. with an effective date of March 08, 2022. The 2022 Technical Report by Independent qualified persons, Fabio Valerio (P.Geo.) and Porfirio Cabaleiro (P.Eng.), of GE21, commissioned to complete the mineral resource estimate while Chris Kaye of Mine and Quarry Engineering Services Inc. (MQes), was commissioned to review the metallurgical information. The Mineral Resource estimates were prepared in accordance with the CIM Standards, and the CIM Guidelines, using geostatistical, plus economic and mining parameters appropriate to the deposit. Mineral Resources, which are not mineral reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability, and may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, marketing, and other relevant issues. Mineral Resources are based upon a cut-off grade of 0.4 g/t PGE+Au, correlated to Pd_eq grade of 0.35 g/t, and were limited by an economic pit built in Geovia Whittle 4.3 software and following the geometric and economic parameters as disclosed in the 2022 NI 43-101 Technical Report,
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Jim Paterson
James R. Paterson, Chairman and CEO
ValOre Metals Corp.
For further information about ValOre Metals Corp., please visit www.valoremetals.com or contact Investor Relations by email at contact@valoremetals.com. Or via telephone 1-778-773-9882
ValOre Metals Corp. is a proud member of Discovery Group. http://www.discoverygroup.ca/
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Although ValOre believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events that may prove to be inaccurate. These factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information to ValOre. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. A number of important factors including those set forth in other public filings could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the future operations of ValOre and economic factors. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release and, except as required by applicable law, ValOre does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. ValOre undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of ValOre, or its financial or operating results or (as applicable), their securities.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eldorado Gold Corporation (Eldorado or the Company) will release its Third Quarter 2024 Financial and Operational Results after the market closes on Thursday, October 31, 2024, and will host a conference call on Friday, November 1, 2024 at 11:30 AM ET (8:30 AM PT).
Q3 2024 Financial and Operational Results Call Details
The call will be webcast and can be accessed at Eldorado Golds website: www.eldoradogold.com, or via: https://event.choruscall.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=EB9o82Zh.
Conference Call Details
Replay (available until December 6, 2024)
Date: November 1, 2024 Vancouver: +1 412 317 0088 Time: 11:30 AM ET (8:30 AM PT) Toll Free: 1 855 669 9658 Dial in: +1 647 484 8814 Access code: 6725564 Toll free: 1 844 763 8274
Participants may elect to pre-register for the conference call via this link: https://dpregister.com/sreg/10192246/fd5e1d8d60. Upon registration, participants will receive a calendar invitation by email with dial in details and a unique PIN. This will allow participants to bypass the operator queue and connect directly to the conference. Registration will remain open until the end of the conference call.
About Eldorado Gold
Eldorado is a gold and base metals producer with mining, development and exploration operations in Turkiye, Canada and Greece. The Company has a highly skilled and dedicated workforce, safe and responsible operations, a portfolio of high-quality assets, and long-term partnerships with local communities. Eldorado's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: ELD) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: EGO).
Contact
Investor Relations
Lynette Gould, VP, Investor Relations, Communications & External Affairs
647 271 2827 or 1 888 353 8166
lynette.gould@eldoradogold.com
Media
Chad Pederson, Director, Communications and Public Affairs
236 885 6251 or 1 888 353 8166
chad.pederson@eldoradogold.com
TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a first for legal education in Canada, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University has launched a unique collection of one- and two-credit courses for students in the Juris Doctor (JD) program who want to gain more in-depth knowledge and skills in specific areas of legal practice.
Designed to complement the foundational knowledge provided by the core JD curriculum, professional skills micro-courses give students a head start on mastering the practical aspects and inevitable challenges from managing finances to building relationships with clients that are part of any legal career.
As our JD students combine rigorous legal training with hands-on experience to prepare for their careers, its important that they also learn to navigate the day-to-day realities of practising law, says Osgoode Dean Trevor Farrow. In creating this innovative collection of micro-courses focused on specific professional skills, were reinforcing Osgoodes long-time leadership in cutting-edge legal education.
Exploring a diverse range of career-focused topics
Osgoode has announced its inaugural offering of professional skills micro-courses for the JD programs 2024-25 academic year:
AI and Technology in Legal Practice: An in-depth look at how artificial intelligence and other technological innovations are transforming the practice of law. Students will gain hands-on experience with applications from digital management tools to software enabling AI-assisted research, analysis, and decision-making support.
Legal Practice Dynamics: Teaches the skills and strategies required to become a successful legal practitioner in any environment, whether at a firm, as part of a corporate team, or in the public sector.
Mental Health, Wellness and the Legal Profession: Provides the analytical insights and practical tools needed to navigate mental health challenges in legal practice and to intervene, when appropriate, in a spirit of empathy and trust.
Financial Literacy for Lawyers: Designed to help future lawyers gain a basic understanding of financial reporting and accounts, along with the ways such information can be leveraged in legal practice.
More micro-courses coming soon
Additional subjects in development include: juridical French, Indigenous languages, and client relations and communications. The common thread is providing knowledge and skills that JD graduates can apply immediately as they embark on their careers.
At Osgoode, we dont draw a hard line between law school and the so-called real world, says Farrow. Our JD program offers unrivaled opportunities to gain direct legal experience. And now these unique micro-courses enable students to start developing professional skills today that theyll use throughout their careers.
To learn more about professional skills micro-courses, visit Osgoodes website.
About Osgoode Hall Law School
Around 900 students are enrolled in Osgoodes three-year Juris Doctor (JD) program, including its joint and combined programs. The schools highly selective graduate LLM and PhD programs are among the most highly regarded in North America, and finest in the country. Osgoodes professional development courses and certificates offer degree and non-degree programming for Canadian and international lawyers, non-law professionals, firms and organizations.
Founded in 1889, Osgoode is one of Canadas largest and most respected law schools and a centre of influential legal research and thinking. The schools students, teachers and scholars share a common goal: to advance positive change in a world where rights are often contested, and justice can be complex. Throughout Osgoodes long history, the practice of law has always been seen as more than a means to an end. Its a journey that takes one from identifying the issues that matter to creating meaningful impact.
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York University is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. York's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. Yorks campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.
Media Contact:
Nichole Jankowski, York University Media Relations and External Communications, York University, 647-995-5013, jankown@yorku.ca
Anita Herrmann, Director, External Relations, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, 416-736-5364, aherrmann@osgoode.yorku.ca
CHEYENNE, Wyo., Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Taco Johns, the beloved Midwestern Mexican chain where Taco Tuesday was born, is celebrating National Taco Day with an irresistible offer for their Bigger Bolder Rewards Members, a free Beef Stuffed Grilled Taco with any purchase!
National Taco Day was originally slated for Friday, October 4th, but thanks to the National Day Calendar team, has been moved to Tuesday, October 1st, ensuring that this year, and years moving forward, National Taco Day will fall on Taco Tuesday. As the creators and longstanding champions of Taco Tuesday, Taco Johns will keep the freebie party going the entire month of October, with Rewards Club Members seeing new offers each Wednesday during the month.
Were grateful to the National Day Calendar team for officially moving National Taco Day to the first Tuesday in October, confirming the celebration always falls on Taco Tuesday, said Korey Love Taylor, Director of Digital Engagement at Taco Johns. We love any opportunity to demonstrate the unmatched quality Taco Johns offers, and with a free Beef Stuffed Grilled Taco with any purchase for our Rewards Members, we hope everyone comes out to experience that with us.
To sign up for Bigger Bolder Rewards, download the Taco Johns app and enter your information for this and other great offers!
About Taco Johns
With nearly 350 restaurants in 22 states, Taco Johns is one of America's largest Mexican quick-service restaurant brands. Founded in 1969 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Taco Johns has been serving bigger. bolder. better. flavors for more than 55 years. Offering signature specials like Taco Tuesday, the $2-3-4 Value Menu, and beloved originals like Potato Oles, Taco Johns takes pride in made-to-order menu using fresh, high-quality ingredients, seasonings, and sauces. Recognized as one of Entrepreneurs "Top Food Franchises of 2023" and hailed by QSR Magazine as a "Top 15 Chain Ready to Contend as Fast Foods Top Players," Taco Johns continues to expand into new territories. For more information, visit TacoJohns.com and follow Taco Johns on Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok.
Media Contact:
Joshua Levitt
PR for Taco Johns
josh@fikacollective.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/84321aa0-6e44-4e94-a430-5a332604daa2
SYRACUSE, Italy, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The second leg of the LemON Tour, organized by the Syracuse Lemon PGI Consortium, will be held during EXPO Divination in Syracuse, Sept. 21-29, in conjunction with the G7 Agricoltura, scheduled for Sept. 26 and 27.
The Lemon Truck will be positioned in one of the most prestigious locations of the event, inside the courtyard in front of the Maniace Castle, a symbol of the city of Syracuse. Here, visitors will be able to discover the values behind the LemON Tour project, thanks in part to the information materials distributed and dedicated staff. The exhibition will focus on crucial issues, such as the sustainability of agricultural production and the fight against climate change, through virtuous practices such as improving soil fertility, using renewable energy and saving water, and protecting pollinating insects.
During the event, the audience of tourists and industry professionals will be able to learn more about the concept of No-Waste: the Syracuse Lemon PGI, in fact, thanks to its production specification, is a product that can be used entirely, including the peel. This anti-waste approach will be the leitmotif of the activities offered by the LemON Truck, where it will be possible to taste sorbets, granitas and lemonades made with Limone di Siracusa IGP.
This choice is not random: the event represents a unique opportunity to turn our gaze toward Europe and the future, highlighting the strong link between nature and tradition that characterizes the Syracuse Lemon PGI. The participation of the LemON Tour is part of a framework of events dedicated to sustainability and the protection of certified products, central themes of the global debate to be held during the G7 Agriculture. The Consortium is committed to promoting the defense of the identity and authenticity of the Syracuse Lemon PGI, in synergy with the guidelines of the European project that embraces sustainability and the protection of natural resources. This stage will also be an opportunity for discussion with other consortia and international organizations, fostering the creation of shared strategies for the protection of protected geographical indications (PGIs) and to promote sustainable agricultural production.
For further details:
SECNewgate Italia
Renato Pagani +39 335 6839561 renato.pagani@secnewgate.it
Giorgia Rizzi +39 340 0010762 giorgia.rizzi@secnewgate.it
News about the Consortium for the Protection of Syracuse Lemon PGI
The Consortium for the Protection of Syracuse Lemon PGI is one of the most important citrus-growing communities in Europe. Formed on July 13, 2000, it includes 163 consortium members: 130 producers, 60 packers, 36 users and 62 ambassadors, for a vocated area of 1,450.91 hectares, representing 32% of Italian production. At the production level, the Consortium represents 100% of the production of Limone di Siracusa PGI, and at the national level 3 lemons out of 100 come from the Syracuse area. The Consortium's tasks include identifying the production areas and varieties to be subject to protection, supervising activities in the area of origin and in the markets on the correct use of the name Limone di Siracusa IGP, and carrying out promotional initiatives in Italy and abroad aimed at spreading knowledge, the image of the product and the IGP trademark.
Funded by the European Union. However, the views expressed belong to the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting administration can be held responsible for them.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cc5f3168-b1e2-4a11-bd7a-ca2cb050a4ab
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a release issued under the same headline today by Mirasol Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: MRZ) (OTC: MRZLF), please note that the number of units to be issued is 6,666,667, not 666,667 as previously stated. The clarification follows:
Mirasol Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: MRZ) (OTC: MRZLF) (the Company or Mirasol) announces that further to the Companys news release of todays date, the Company wishes to correct the number of units to be issued in its non-brokered private placement financing. The number of units to be issued is 6,666,667 at a price of $0.45 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $3.0 million.
For further information, contact:
Tim Heenan, President & CEO
or
Troy Shultz, Vice President Investor Relations
Tel: +1 (604) 602-9989
Email: troy.shultz@mirasolresources.com
Website: www.mirasolresources.com
Forward Looking Statements: The information in this news release contains forward looking statements that are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences include: changes in world commodity markets, equity markets, costs and supply of materials relevant to the mining industry, change in government and changes to regulations affecting the mining industry and to policies linked to pandemics, social and environmental related matters. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding future exploration programs, operation plans, geological interpretations, mineral tenure issues and mineral recovery processes. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Mirasol disclaims any obligations to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be 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 release.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TECK.A and TECK.B, NYSE: TECK) (Teck) noted today that one of four sections of the Trail Operations Electrolytic Zinc Plant has been shut down following a localized fire on September 24.
There were no injuries and there are no expected environmental impacts as a result of the fire. Production from the other three sections of the Electrolytic Zinc Plant continues at Trail Operations as does production of lead and other specialty metals and by-products. Teck is investigating the cause of the incident and will provide further information once available.
About Teck
Teck is a leading Canadian resource company focused on responsibly providing metals essential to economic development and the energy transition. Teck has a portfolio of world-class copper and zinc operations across North and South America and an industry-leading copper growth pipeline. We are focused on creating value by advancing responsible growth and ensuring resilience built on a foundation of stakeholder trust. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Tecks shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols TECK.A and TECK.B and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TECK. Learn more about Teck at www.teck.com or follow @TeckResources .
Investor Contact:
Fraser Phillips
Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Strategic Analysis
604.699.4621
fraser.phillips@teck.com
Vancouver, September 24, 2024 - Zodiac Gold Inc. (TSXV: ZAU) ("Zodiac Gold" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce the results of voting at its Annual General and Special Meeting of shareholders held on September 23, 2024 (the "AGSM").
Shareholders voted in favour of all items put forward by the Board of Directors and Management. David Kol, Mark Kol, Douglas Cater, Graham Warren and Michael Demeter were all elected as Directors of the Company. The shareholders appointed McGovern Hurley LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants, as auditor of the Company, approved the Company's Equity Incentive Plan and a shares for debt settlement, all as set out in the Company's management information circular dated August 13, 2024, which can be found on SEDAR+.
Shares for Debt Settlement
As previously announced on July 29, 2024, the Company has settled an aggregate of $215,555.50 owing to certain directors, officers and service providers of the Company by issuing a total of 2,155,555 Common Shares (the "Settlement Shares") to them at a price of $0.10 per share (the "Debt Settlement"). In accordance with TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") requirements, the issuance of certain of the Settlement Shares received disinterested shareholder approval. The issuance of the Settlement Shares was also approved by the disinterested members of the Board of Directors. Further details of the Debt Settlement are contained in the Company's management information circular dated August 13, 2024. All Settlement Shares are subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance.
Because insiders were issued Settlement Shares, the Debt Settlement is considered to be a "related party transaction" as defined under the policies of the TSXV and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company relied on exemptions from the minority shareholder approval and formal valuation requirements applicable to the related party transactions under sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a), respectively, of MI 61-101, as neither the fair market value of the Common Shares issued to the participating insiders nor the consideration received from them exceeds 25% of the Company's market capitalization.
About Zodiac Gold
Zodiac Gold Inc. (TSXV: ZAU) is a West-African gold exploration company focused on its flagship Todi Project situated in Liberia -- an underexplored, politically stable, mining-friendly jurisdiction hosting several large-scale gold deposits. Strategically positioned along the fertile Todi Shear Zone, Zodiac Gold is developing a district-scale gold opportunity covering a vast 2,316 km2 land package. The Todi project has undergone de-risking, showcasing proven gold occurrences at both surface and depth, with five drill-ready targets and high-grade gold intercepts.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward Looking Information
This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation.
Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections, and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "forecast", "expect", "potential", "project", "target", "schedule", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's planned exploration programs and drill programs and potential significance of results are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. 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 are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Company's expectations include actual exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital, and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials, and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events, or results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause such actions, events, or results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and accordingly readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/224456
No.24-14 BMM: TSX-V
VANCOUVER, Sept. 24, 2024 - Black Mammoth Metals Corp. (TSXV: BMM) (OTC: LQRCF) ("Black Mammoth" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that further to the Company's news release dated September 10, 2024, a final agreement has been signed for the Raven and Callaghan gold properties, located in central Nevada. Drill permitting is underway to begin testing the Carlin- type targets at South Ravenswood and Callaghan districts under notice of intent level permits with the BLM.
There are no work commitment amounts, finder's fees or share compensation in connection with this transaction. The Company also continues to acquire non-core exploration interests in the western US, by purchase and by staking.
About Black Mammoth Metals Corporation:
In 2024, Black Mammoth Metals has acquired a 100% interest in the America Mine gold property, San Bernardino, CA, the Quito gold property, Lander County, NV and has consolidated South Ravenswood and Callaghan gold Districts, also in Lander County NV.
At the Company's 100% owned, 1,213 hectare (2,997 acre) Happy Cat gold property, Lander County, NV, an approximate 4 square kilometre area is identified as being hydrothermally altered. Structural modelling suggests the density of the alteration and its' density contrast relative to the host rock is typical to that of alteration zones present at other Carlin-type deposits in northern Nevada. The alteration encompasses an area where northerly trending high-angle faults intersect indicated NW-trending re-activated faults that are known to be of age and orientation as ore-controlling faults occurring at other Carlin-type deposits. The Company intends to prioritize drill targets within the alteration area.
Black Mammoth also has a 100% interest in the Blanco Creek gold property in the Elk Creek Mining District, central Idaho, which hosts three historic underground mines along 3,550 meters (11,644 feet) of strike on the north-east trending regional Blanco Shear Zone. Exploration by two previous operators identified a geological target for the Blanco Creek property in the order of 1.70 to 2.48 million tons, grading 0.20 to 0.33 oz/ton Au (1.54 to 2.24 million tonnes, grading 6.85 to 11.31 g/tonne Au); see the Company's press release dated February 14, 2017.
Black Mammoth cautions investors to note the potential quantity and grade of the geological target are conceptual in nature. A qualified person has not completed sufficient work to classify the geological target as mineral resources as defined by NI 43-101, and it is uncertain if future exploration will result in the target being delineated as mineral resources.
Mark J. Abrams, CPG #11451, a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and director of Black Mammoth, has reviewed and approved the technical content in this release. Historical information contained in this news release cannot be relied upon as Mr. Abrams, the Company's Qualified Person, has not prepared nor verified the historical information.
On behalf of the board,
"Dustin Henderson"
Dustin Henderson, BBA
President & CEO
Website: www.blackmammothmetals.com
This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including statements regarding the Company's completion of the Transaction and related transactions are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions or are those which, by their nature, refer to future events. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, 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. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include that the requisite corporate and TSXV for the Transaction may not be obtained; that the Company or IDA Mining, as applicable, may be unable to satisfy any or all closing conditions necessary for the completion of the Transaction; and other risks that are customary to transactions of this nature. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. All of the Company's public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedarplus.ca and readers are urged to review these materials, including the latest technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SOURCE Black Mammoth Metals Corp
Vancouver, September 25, 2024 - Bolt Metals Corp. ("Bolt" or the "Company") (CSE: BOLT) (FRANKFURT: A2QEUB) (OTCQB: PCRCF) is pleased to announce that further to its press release of June 17, 2024 and subsequent to significant expansion of the property via staking, the Company is providing full details of the Soap Gulch copper project located in Silver Bow and Madison counties, Montana, USA.
Property Highlights
Historic drill intercept; 11.7m of 1.2% copper, 0.20g/t gold and 0.04% cobalt
5,000m of preserved historic drill core never assayed for copper
20km gossanous zone trend of mineralization
Comparable target is Teck's long-lived Sullivan Mine
Road accessible via interstate highway, 1 hour from major airport
"The acquisition of the Soap Gulch property provides the Bolt with another advanced and highly prospective copper asset in a tier-one mining jurisdiction," remarked Branden Haynes, Bolt's President and CEO. Soap Gulch like our recently acquired Silver Switchback copper project is a drill-ready, easily accessible, low cost to explore property that we anticipate should provide additional near-term re-rating opportunities for the Company."
Soap Gulch Details
The road accessible Soap Gulch property lies within Silver Bow and Madison Counties, 32 kilometres south of Butte, Montana, the location of the world-renowned Butte copper mine. It is comprised of 216 Federal Unpatented Lode Claims and totals 4,320 acres.
More specifically, the Soap Gulch Property:
a) is underlain by the important Proterozoic meta-sedimentary rocks. These rocks are of significance such that they are age equivalent to the important past producing Sullivan Mine in British Columbia which over its lifetime, from 1909-2001, produced 26 million tonnes of lead, zinc and silver concentrates. By the time the Sullivan Mine closed in 2001, it had become one of the largest underground mines in Canada with almost 500 kilometres of tunnels1;
b) has significant historic drill and trench results including up to; 4.7% copper, 19% zinc, 2.3 g/t gold, and 0.3% cobalt;
c) has ease of access to the properties;
d) is within a mining friendly jurisdiction;
e) was previously held by major mining companies for long periods of time, and whom continue to express interest today; and
f) has a number of significant geophysical anomalies identified in a 2018, 327-line kilometre, high resolution airborne geophysical survey.
Information in this press release is based on the January 3, 2019, NI 43-101 Technical report for the Soap Gulch Property, Silver Bow County & Madison County, Montana, USA authored by Dean Besserer B.Sc., P. Geol.
Until the original historic data has been recovered and/or archived drill core can be re-logged, photographed and sampled, the historic intercepts should not be relied upon. The company has not completed any quality assurance program or applied quality control measures to the historical data.
1 https://www.teck.com/operations/canada/legacy/sullivan-mine/sullivan-mine-legacy
Qualified Person
Mr. Garry Clark, P. Geo., a member of the Company's Board of Directors, a "Qualified Person" under NI 43-101, has reviewed the technical contents of this news release and has approved the disclosure of the technical information contained herein.
Bolt Metals Corp.
Branden Haynes - Director and CEO
(604) 817-1595
info@boltmetals.com
Reader Advisory
This news release may contain statements which constitute "forward?looking information". The words "may", "potential", "should", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", and similar expressions, are intended to identify such forward?looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward?looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward?looking statements. There can be no assurances that such information will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws.
The Canadian Securities Exchange has not approved or disapproved this news release.
Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/
MATHESON, Sept. 25, 2024 - Mayfair Gold Corp. (TSXV: MFG) (OTCQB: MFGCF) ("Mayfair" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it intends to complete a financing of common shares by way of a non-brokered private placement for aggregate proceeds of approximately $6 million, subject to increase at the discretion of the board of directors of the Company (the "Offering"). Participation in the Offering will be led by the Company's largest shareholder (funds controlled by Muddy Waters Capital LLC ("Muddy Waters")) and new investors. Muddy Waters is expected to subscribe for $2.7 million of the Offering.
The Offering is expected to be for up to 3,340,000 common shares at a price of $1.80 per share. The closing of the Offering is expected to occur on or before October 1, 2024 (the "Closing Date") and is subject to receipt of all applicable regulatory approvals, including approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"). The proceeds raised from the Offering will be used by the Company for permitting and feasibility studies, general and administrative expenses and working capital.
The common shares issued under the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the Closing Date.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy 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.
The Offering is expected to be a related party transaction subject to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") as a result of the participation of Muddy Waters and possibly other insiders of the Company, but exempt from the formal valuation requirements of MI 61-101 pursuant to subsection 5.5(b) of MI-61-101 (as the Company's common shares are listed only on the TSXV) and from the minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 pursuant to subsection 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 (as neither the fair market value of the common shares to be issued to insiders nor the consideration to be paid by insiders pursuant to the Offering is expected to exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization as determined in accordance with MI 61-101).
About Mayfair
Mayfair Gold is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on advancing the 100% controlled Fenn-Gib gold project in the Timmins region of Northern Ontario. The Fenn-Gib gold deposit is Mayfair's flagship asset and currently hosts an NI 43-101 (as defined below) open pit constrained mineral resource estimate with an effective date of September 3, 2024 with a total Indicated Resource of 181.3M tonnes containing 4.313M ounces at a grade of 0.74 g/t Au and an Inferred Resource of 8.92M tonnes containing 0.14M ounces at a grade of 0.49 g/t Au at a 0.30 g/t Au cut-off grade. The Fenn-Gib deposit has a strike length of over 1.5km with widths ranging over 500m. The gold mineralized zones remain open at depth and along strike to the east and west. Recently completed metallurgical tests confirm that the Fenn-Gib deposit can deliver robust gold recoveries of up to 94%.
Cautionary Notes to U.S. Investors Concerning Resource Estimates
This news release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of the U.S. securities laws. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the terms "mineral reserve", "proven mineral reserve", "probable mineral reserve", "inferred mineral resources," "indicated mineral resources," "measured mineral resources" and "mineral resources" used or referenced in this release are Canadian mineral disclosure terms as defined in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") under the guidelines set out in the 2014 Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines, May 2014 (the "CIM Standards"). The CIM Standards differ from the mineral property disclosure requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") in Regulation S-K Subpart 1300 (the "SEC Modernization Rules") under the U.S. Securities Act. As a foreign private issuer that is eligible to file reports with the SEC pursuant to the multijurisdictional disclosure system, the Company is not required to provide disclosure on its mineral properties under the SEC Modernization Rules and will continue to provide disclosure under NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards. Accordingly, the Company's disclosure of mineralization and other technical information may differ significantly from the information that would be disclosed had the Company prepared the information under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules.
Forward Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements") that relate to Mayfair's current expectations and views of future events. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as "will likely result", "are expected to", "expects", "will continue", "is anticipated", "anticipates", "believes", "estimated", "intends", "plans", "forecast", "projection", "strategy", "objective" and "outlook") are not historical facts and may be forward-looking statements and may involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. 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.
Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Mayfair's control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the ability of the Company to close the Offering on a timely basis or at all. Mayfair undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Mayfair to predict all of them, or assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Any forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
SOURCE Mayfair Gold Corp.
VANCOUVER, Sept. 25, 2024 - Saga Metals Corp. ("TSXV: SAGA") ("SAGA" or the "Company"), a North American exploration company focused on critical mineral discovery in Canada, is pleased to announce the successful closing of its initial public offering (IPO) and provide updates on its major projects. SAGA shares began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) under the symbol "SAGA" on September 24, 2024.
A Strategic Focus on Critical Minerals in North America
SAGA is dedicated to advancing North America's critical mineral supply for the global green energy transition. The company owns four 100%-owned properties in Canada targeting high-demand minerals, including uranium, lithium, titanium, vanadium, and iron ore. These minerals are essential for renewable energy technologies, and SAGA's diverse portfolio places the company at the forefront of critical mineral exploration.
Map of SAGA Metals Projects
SAGA's Key Critical Mineral Projects Driving Shareholder Value:
Regional map of the Double Mer Uranium Project in Labrador, Canada
1. Double Mer Uranium Project (Labrador, Canada)
Strategically Located: The property sits within the northeastern part of the Grenville Structural Province and contains similarly linked geology to the Central Mineral Belt located just north of the property boundary and host to other notable Uranium projects including Atha Energy and Paladin Energy as shown in the map above.
Significant Potential: Over 1,024 claims covering 25,600 hectares, with historic exploration identifying highly prospective uranium oxide (U3O8) grades.
Ongoing Exploration: A 14 km zone of prospective uranium samples (up to 4,280 ppm) with extensive radiometric results including up to 22,000 counts per second (cps) from the scintillometer. The Uranium radiometrics highlight an 18 km east-west linear trend averaging approximately 500 meters in width.
What's Next: Ongoing sampling and mapping at the Double Mer Uranium project are paving the way for focused drilling efforts to expand key uranium trends. Since early August, SAGA's team has been on-site, setting up the camp to support both summer and winter exploration programs. This includes preparations for future drilling, outcrop sampling, mapping, and channel sampling of identified uranium targets.
SAGA has also launched a detailed channel sampling program at four key uranium zones on the property. These samples will help define the size, shape, and concentration of the uranium deposits. High-resolution drone imagery is being used to support this work, which will play a crucial role in planning the upcoming drilling program.
A map of the "Lithium Neighborhood" at the Legacy Lithium Project in Quebec
2. Legacy Lithium Project (James Bay, Quebec)
Rio Tinto Partnership: Under the Option Agreement, Rio Tinto Exploration Canada (RTEC) has the option to acquire a 51% interest in SAGA's Legacy Lithium Project over four years if it meets the following conditions: C$410,190 cash payment to SAGA (received by SAGA in August 2024). C$9.57 million in exploration spending, with at least C$1.71 million committed within the first 20 months. Annual cash payments of C$68,365 (totaling C$273,460) and additional payments of C$225,000 for claim acquisitions owed by SAGA to the original property vendors.
Once RTEC earns the initial 51% interest, it has the option to increase its stake to 75% over five more years by spending an additional C$34.18 million on exploration. RTEC will oversee the project during both the first and second option periods, and a joint technical committee will plan the exploration programs.
Prime Location: Situated in a region known for significant lithium discoveries, including Winsome Resources Adina Project, Loyal Lithium's Trieste Project, and Rio Tinto's Galinee Project as shown in the map above.
Exploration in Motion: Fieldwork conducted by Rio Tinto Exploration Canada is ongoing, with a focus on pegmatite mapping and geophysical surveys. The option agreement with Rio Tinto is a major growth driver for SAGA.
Expanded Land Holdings: SAGA has also acquired the Amirault Lithium Project, expanding its total land holdings to 1,274 claims covering 65,849 hectares and creating two project opportunities. This acquisition makes SAGA the largest contiguous landholder in the eastern region of James Bay, as shown in the map above.
Radar Project Hawkeye zone and corresponding geophysics cutline program overview
3. Radar Titanium-Vanadium Project (Labrador, Canada)
Promising Discovery: A 3.5 km zone highly prospective for titanium (up to 6.63%) and vanadium (up to 3,670 ppm) as shown in the map above.
2024 Exploration Program Complete: The recent field program at SAGA's Radar Titanium-Vanadium (Ti-V) Project focused on surface geochemistry in areas with geophysical anomalies uncovered through historical data. Two major northwest (NW) striking trends were identified: Hawkeye Zone: Previously sampled by SAGA in July 2023, providing the first promising results for titanium and vanadium targets. Trapper Zone: Newly discovered in 2024, named after local Cartwright residents who helped cut over 16 km of access trails. These anomalies were so strongly magnetized that the team's compasses couldn't function during the snow-covered months.
Guided by geophysics, the team accurately targeted both zones, which run parallel to each other and may have a shared geological origin. Further exploration will focus on confirming the geochemical connection between these zones. See map below:
Hawkeye and Trapper Zone with Corresponding Geophysics post 2024 Field Program
The Hawkeye Zone revealed several significant surface outcrops, including an impressive 4-meter outcrop containing 16 individual magnetite layers ranging in size from centimeters to 0.3 meters wide within a Gabbro-Norite/Leuco-Gabbronorite host. Several new outcrops with massive magnetite layers were also discovered, showing a rich distribution of magnetite within the host rock.
During the two-week field program, 211 rock samples and 557 soil samples were collected across the property. Soil grids were placed over the northern half of the Hawkeye Zone and the entire Trapper Zone. Rock samples from both zones, as well as additional targets across the property, revealed magnetite-bearing samples at all sites. Some samples from the Hawkeye Zone contained up to 80% visually estimated magnetite.
The near future exploration at the Radar Ti-V Project will likely focus on follow-up prospecting, mapping, back pack drilling, and channel saw sampling to better define the surface width and extent of the magnetite zones discovered in 2024.
Regional map of the North Wind Iron Ore Project in Labrador, Canada
4. North Wind Iron Ore Project (Labrador, Canada)
Historic Data: This project includes previous drill data with iron ore grades averaging 20.74% Fe with the highest graded stratigraphy being LRGC at 24.74% FE over 277m. SAGA will be reviewing the historical data and plan further exploration to capitalize on global iron demand.
Looking Ahead to Q4 2024:
SAGA anticipates an exciting year ahead with plans for drilling, sampling, and continued exploration on all its properties. Key updates on assay results from the summer 2024 programs and plans for winter drill programs will be announced soon.
Mike Stier, CEO & Director of SAGA Metals Corp. states, "Saga is committed to delivering quality projects. With the IPO now closed, we can fully concentrate on advancing our initiatives through the vital stages of exploration and development."
Michael Garagan, CGO & Director of SAGA Metals Corp. states, "Starting in July and stretching through to the fall, our exploration team has been running full tilt towards a successful field season. Hard work is paying off, as the samples and observations in the field having been encouraging thus far. We look forward to bringing our ground programs to a close as the weather turns, with assay results expected in October from the Double Mer Uranium project."
With strong partnerships, an expansive portfolio of critical minerals, and a strategic focus on supporting the global energy transition, SAGA Metals Corp. is poised for growth in the mining sector.
About SAGA Metals Corp.
SAGA Metals Corp. is a North American mining company focused on the exploration and discovery of critical minerals that support the global transition to green energy. The company's flagship asset, the Double Mer Uranium Project, is located in Labrador, Canada, covering 25,600 hectares. This project features uranium radiometrics that highlight an 18-kilometer east-west trend, with a confirmed 14-kilometer section producing samples as high as 4,281 ppm U3O8 and spectrometer readings of 22,000 cps.
In addition to its uranium focus, SAGA owns the Legacy Lithium Property in Quebec's Eeyou Istchee James Bay region. This project, developed in partnership with Rio Tinto, has been expanded through the acquisition of the Amirault Lithium Project. Together, these properties cover 65,849 hectares and share significant geological continuity with other major players in the area, including Rio Tinto, Winsome Resources, Azimut Exploration, and Loyal Lithium.
SAGA also holds secondary exploration assets in Labrador, where the company is focused on the discovery of titanium, vanadium, and iron ore. With a portfolio that spans key minerals crucial to the green energy transition, SAGA is strategically positioned to play an essential role in the clean energy future.
For more information, contact:
SAGA Metals Corp.
Investor Relations
Tel: +1 (778) 930-1321
Email: info@sagametals.com
www.sagametals.com
Qualified Persons
Michael Cullen, P. Geo., Rochelle Collins, P. Geo., and Peter Webster, P. Geo., of Mercator Geological Services Limited are each a "qualified person" as defined under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and have reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content of this news release regarding the Double Mer Uranium Property, Radar Titanium-Vanadium Property and North Wind Iron Ore Property.
Kamil Khobzi, P. Eng., MBA, of Kamil Khobzi & Associates Inc. is a "qualified person" as defined under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content of this news release regarding the Legacy Lithium Property
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service 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 Disclaimer
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipates", "expects", "believes", and similar expressions or the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information pertaining to plans with respect to its mineral exploration properties. 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, 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 satisfy closing conditions in respect of the Offering, risks and uncertainties involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, and the risks detailed in the Prospectus and available under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca, and in the continuous disclosure filings made by the Company with securities regulations from time to time. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. 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 news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements only as expressly required by applicable law.
LONGUEUIL, Quebec, Sept. 25, 2024 -- Greenheart Gold Inc. (TSXV: GHRT) (the "Company" or "Greenheart Gold") is pleased to announce that it has signed a binding Heads of Agreement outlining the key terms of an option to purchase a 100% interest in the IGAB project in Suriname. This 95 square kilometers, early stage project is located 30 kilometers south of Newmont's operating Merian mine (3.9 Moz Au in reserves plus 1.5 Moz Au in measured and indicated resources) and can be easily accessed via road and a short boat ride along the Marowijne river (see Figure 1).
Justin van der Toorn, the Company's President and CEO, said, "IGAB is the third and latest project that we are excited to add to Greenheart Gold's exploration portfolio. We expect to achieve our strategic goal of acquiring and maintaining a pipeline of up to 5 to 6 early-stage exploration projects across Guyana and Suriname in the near future."
About the IGAB Project
From a regional geological perspective, the IGAB project is situated in northeast Suriname where the northern limb of the Marowijne Greenstone belt bifurcates from an east-west orientation to a north-south and east-west at the nose of a regional fold. Artisanal alluvial and saprolite mining occurs on and around this regional fold structure, whilst locally the project extent straddles a contact zone between a large granodiorite intrusion underlying the southern portion of the property, and a mafic volcanic/metasedimentary rock unit that dominates the majority of the area to the north (see Figure 2).
Previous work on behalf of the Suriname government and recent work by the concession holder confirm the presence of alteration and shearing along the granodiorite-volcanic contact, whilst grab samples collected in an area previously mined by the concession holder returned highlighted assays of 94.2 g/t Au, 56.0 g/t Au and 4.0 g/t Au (see Figure 2). Additional grab samples from the granodiorite taken over 3 km to the south of this location returned assay highlights of 5.6 g/t Au and 2.0 g/t Au and indicate the potential for a significant gold mineralized system within the project area.
Several aspects of the geological setting of IGAB are similar to that of the recent Oko West discovery (previously discovered by the Greenheart Gold exploration and management team under Reunion Gold Corporation and containing a gold resource of 4.3 Moz Au in measured and indicated resources, plus 1.6 Moz Au in inferred resources) including its geological setting along the contact between a major granitic batholith and volcanic/sedimentary units that were subject to significant shearing and alteration, and indications of gold mineralization demonstrated by artisanal mining in close proximity to the contact zone. Despite IGAB's favorable geologic setting, proximity to Newmont's Merian mine, and the active artisanal mining, to the best of the Company's knowledge the property has seen little exploration for primary gold deposits using modern methods, and therefore makes it an attractive exploration target.
About the Heads of Agreement
The Company has entered into a binding Heads of Agreement ("HoA") with an arm's length private Surinamese company to acquire a 100% interest in the mineral right over the IGAB project. Pursuant to the HoA, the Company has the sole and exclusive right to carry out technical and legal due diligence for a period of four (4) months before entering into the option agreement. The execution of the option agreement is at the sole discretion of Greenheart Gold.
About Greenheart Gold Corporation
Greenheart Gold is an exploration company that builds on a proven legacy of discoveries in the Guiana Shield, a highly prospective geologic terrain that hosts numerous gold deposits, though remains relatively under-explored. The Company is aiming to build a portfolio of early-stage projects in Guyana and Suriname that are prospective for orogenic gold deposits. Greenheart Gold is a Canadian corporation that was created as a "spin-off" from the business combination between G Mining Ventures Corp. and Reunion Gold Corporation completed on July 15, 2024. The Company is led by former executive team members of Reunion Gold, a team that was most recently noted for the discovery and delineation of the Oko West deposit in Guyana, which is set to become the next gold development project in the region.
Greenheart Gold trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol 'GHRT'. Additional information about the Company is available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) and the Company's website (www.greenheartgold.com).
For further information, please contact:
GREENHEART GOLD INC.
Justin van der Toorn, President and CEO, or
Doug Flegg CFA, Corporate Development Advisor
E: d.flegg@greenheartgold.com
E: info@greenheartgold.com
Telephone: +1 450-800-2882
Technical Information
All scientific and technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Justin van der Toorn, CGeol FGS, EurGeol, President and CEO of Greenheart Gold, and a Qualified Person under Canadian National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of certain securities laws and are based on expectations and projections as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, without limitation, those related to the Company's plans and objectives, the addition of the IGAB project in Greenheart Gold's portfolio and timing of and execution of planned exploration activities, geological interpretation, potential favorable setting and mineralization, potential acquisition of other projects, other statements relating to the and business prospects of Greenheart and more generally, the section entitled "About Greenheart Gold Inc".
Forward-looking statements are based on beliefs, expectations, estimates and projections as of the time of this press release. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the time of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Such assumptions include, without limitation, those underlying the statements in the section entitled "About Greenheart Gold Inc".
Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can directly or indirectly affect, and could cause, actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific in nature, including among others, those risks and uncertainties set forth in the Listing Application (Form 2B) dated August 30, 2024, management's discussion & analysis for the initial period from April 19, 2024 to June 30, 2024 and other documents and reports filed by the Company with Canadian securities regulators available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, and the risk that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future outcomes. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important risk factors and future events could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates, assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. The Company cautions that the list of factors set forth in the Company's filings that may affect future results is not exhaustive, and new, unforeseeable risks may arise from time to time. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent 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 press release.
Figure 1 - Location of Greenheart Gold projects in relation to the greenstone belts of the Guiana Shield. The location of major deposits (white), past (yellow) and currently active mining operations (red) also shown.
Link to Figure 1: https://www.greenheartgold.com/240925-pr?pgid=m1i15dfn-33eea482-7c0e-4501-b4fe-d10210d4f3d4
Figure 2 - Location of the IGAB project, 30 km due south of the Merian mine operated by Newmont.
Link to Figure 2: https://www.greenheartgold.com/240925-pr?pgid=m1i15dfn-6843d755-33c2-4e17-a749-a92e4d0c0b0d
VANCOUVER, Sept. 25, 2024 - Mirasol Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: MRZ) (OTC: MRZLF) (the "Company" or "Mirasol") today announced it is arranging a non-brokered private placement financing (the "Offering") of up to 666,667 Units (the "Units") at a price of $0.45 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $3.0 million. Each Unit will be comprised of one (1) common share and one-half of one (1/2) non-transferable common share purchase warrant (the "Warrant"), with each whole Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of $0.60 for a period of twelve (12) months from closing of the Offering.
The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to expand Mirasol's successful exploration programs and for general corporate purposes. Finders' fees may be payable on a portion of the Offering. The shares issued under the Offering will be subject to a four month hold period. The Offering is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval from the TSX.V, and is expected to close on or about October 25, 2024.
This press release is not an offer of common shares for sale in the United States. The Shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act, or any state securities laws.
About Mirasol Resources Ltd
Mirasol is a well-funded exploration company with 20 years of operating, permitting and community relations experience in the mineral rich regions of Chile and Argentina. Mirasol is currently self-funding exploration at the flagship Sobek Copper-Gold project located in the Vicuna Copper-Gold-Silver District of northeast Chile and controls 100% of the high-grade Virginia Silver Deposit in Argentina. Mirasol also continues to advance a strong pipeline of highly prospective early and mid-stage projects.
For further information, contact:
Tim Heenan, President & CEO
or
Troy Shultz, Vice President Investor Relations
Tel: +1 (604) 602-9989
Email: troy.shultz@mirasolresources.com
Website: www.mirasolresources.com
Forward Looking Statements: The information in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences include: changes in world commodity markets, equity markets, costs and supply of materials relevant to the mining industry, change in government and changes to regulations affecting the mining industry and to policies linked to pandemics, social and environmental related matters. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding future exploration programs, operation plans, geological interpretations, mineral tenure issues and mineral recovery processes. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Mirasol disclaims any obligations to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be 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 release.
Toronto, September 25, 2024 - Maritime Resources Corp. (TSXV: MAE) ("Maritime" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Allen Palmiere, an existing member of the Company's board of directors (the "Board"), has been named Chairman of the Board. John Hayes has stepped down as Chairman but will continue as a member of the Board.
Garett Macdonald, President and CEO, commented, "This change is being made to support the Company as it transitions towards development with the near term cash flow from our Hammerdown Gold Project in Newfoundland and Labrador. Maritime closed an $8 million rights offering backed by the Company's largest shareholder Dundee Corporation, who further increased their ownership to approximately 43% (calculated on a partially diluted basis), since the rights offering closed on September 11, 2004. This represents an important endorsement of the Company's potential. We think that Allen's 35 years of management experience in the mining industry will be of significant benefit to Company at this stage. I would like to thank John Hayes for his contribution as board chair over the last five years, where he successfully led the board through challenging capital markets while being instrumental in Maritime reaching this important inflection point."
Echoing support for the current position of the Company, Jonathan Goodman, CEO of Maritime's major shareholder Dundee Corporation commented, "Maritime presents a unique opportunity. With a fully permitted mine at Hammerdown and an operational mill at Pine Cove, Maritime has a pathway to become a cash flow generating company. Add the exploration potential, and you have the requirements for a long-term successful venture. Dundee is committed to supporting Maritime and all our portfolio companies to unlock value for investors."
About Maritime Resources Corp.:
Maritime (TSXV: MAE) (OTC Pink: MRTMF) is a gold exploration and development company focused on advancing the Hammerdown Gold Project in the Baie Verte District of Newfoundland and Labrador, a top tier global mining jurisdiction. Maritime holds a 100% interest directly and subject to option agreements entitling it to earn 100% ownership in the Green Bay Property which includes the former Hammerdown gold mine and the Orion gold project. Maritime controls over 439 km2 of exploration land including the Green Bay, Whisker Valley, Gull Ridge and Point Rousse projects. Mineral processing assets owned by Maritime in the Baie Verte mining district include the Pine Cove mill and the Nugget Pond gold circuit. The Company also owns the Lac Pelletier gold project in Rouyn Noranda, Quebec.
On Behalf of the Board
MARITIME RESOURCES CORP.
3200-650 West Georgia St.
Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 4P7
Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements:
Certain of the statements made and information contained herein is "forward-looking information" within the meaning of National Instrument 51-102 - Continuous Disclosure Obligations of the Canadian Securities Administrators. These statements and information are based on facts currently available to the Company and there is no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements and information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "targets", "estimates", "plans", "expects", "may", "will", "could" or "would". While the Company considers its assumptions to be reasonable as of the date hereof, forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees of future performance and readers should not place undue importance on such statements as actual events and results may differ materially from those described herein. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements in this news release include without limitation, statements with respect to development of the Hammerdown Gold project and near term cash flow, among others. All forward-looking information contained in this press release is given as of the date hereof, and is based on the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as of the date hereof. 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 may be required by applicable securities laws.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the 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/224618
During the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, held in Incheon, South Korea, sections of the Seoul Statement relating to the church's response to homosexuality were changed. The Lausanne statement's editorial team adjusted two paragraphs addressing homosexuality and says more non-substantive changes are likely.
According to the current version of the Seoul Statement posted on the Lausanne website, paragraph 69 describes the church's understanding and response to same-sex attracted Christians. Compared to the original version mentioned in a report by Christian Daily, a Korean Christian media outlet, the revision removes phrases such as ignorance and prejudice and discrimination and injustice, and the challenges of many local churches was simplified to Christian communities. At the same time, the original statement of we repent for our failures and lament the harm this has done to our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ was changed to we repent for our lack of love towards our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ.
Paragraph 69 as originally posted reads:
We recognise that a number of people, both within and outside the church, experience same-sex attraction, and that for some, this is the only or dominant attraction. The biblical insistence that Christians must resist temptation and so maintain sexual holiness, in both desire and behaviour, applies equally to heterosexually attracted individuals as it does to same-sex attracted persons. We acknowledge, however, that Christians who are same-sex attracted face challenges in many local churches due to ignorance and prejudice, and have consequently suffered discrimination and injustice within Christian communities. We repent of our failures and lament the harm this has done to our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
Revised paragraph 69 reads:
We recognise that a number of people, both within and outside the church, experience same-sex attraction, and that for some, this is the only or dominant attraction. The biblical insistence that Christians must resist temptation and so maintain sexual holiness, in both desire and behaviour, applies equally to heterosexually attracted individuals as it does to same-sex attracted persons. We acknowledge, however, that Christians who are same-sex attracted face challenges even in Christian communities. We repent of our lack of love towards our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
In addition to this, the phrase faithful believers in paragraph 70 has been altered. The original version reads, We urge Christian leaders and local churches to recognise within our communities the presence of faithful believers who experience same-sex attraction, and to support them in their discipleship by pastoral care and by developing healthy communities of love and friendship. The revised version removes the word faithful, simplifying the phrase to believers to avoid misunderstandings.
According to Christian Today Korea, the Korean religious community reacted to the passage in question, saying the statement shows that some local churches or Christian communities may have done wrong to homosexuals, but this presents it as if many local churches and Christian communities did wrong, even though most local churches and Christian communities did not."
However, when asked about the change by Christian Daily International at a press conference on Tuesday, the Lausanne spokesman said the edit was actually made before the Seoul statement was first released, calling it an oversight. He says the changes were made to ensure more precise wording and that most of the tweaks were minor changes in the editorial process. He added that in the future, there may be [further] changes, but those changes are not substantive or significant.
The early release of the Seoul Statement, rather than after the conference, also raised eyebrows among some participants. David Bennett, Program Director of the Foruth Lausanne Congress, said the statement "stands as part of the larger collection of key documents within the Lausanne Movement, building on the legacy of the Lausanne Covenant, the Manila Manifesto, and the Cape Town Commitment. It is designed not to replace, but to complement these foundational documents, providing fresh insights into contemporary theological and missional challenges."
(Contributed to by Christian Daily International)
Aston Martin must improve before Newey arrives says Alonso
Aston Martin must up its game next year, the team's lead driver Fernando Alonso insists.
Fernando Alonso, Singapore GP 2024
Aston Martin Racing
The Spaniard and former two-time champion enjoyed a series of podiums in his green car last year, but Aston Martin's progress subsequently stalled.
That is despite the fact that Red Bull technical genius Adrian Newey has been successfully lured to the Silverstone based team by owner Lawrence Stroll for early 2025 and beyond.
Newey's first Aston Martin will be the 2026 car for the all-new regulations.
I think 2026 is in our heads for everyone at Aston, Alonso, 43, told DAZN. "The biggest hope is the arrival of Adrian Newey, Enrico Cardile and a few other names.
This is going to be great and the future looks bright, but what we are doing now is not good enough. We have to change the pace in 2025, he insisted.
I'm currently putting all my effort in to overcome the lack of pace we have, said Alonso. "A lot of work was done between Baku and Singapore. After practice we left the computers at two in the morning.
We have increased the workload to find answers more than ever before.
Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack declared in Singapore that key updates will be added to the 2024 package in Austin next time out.
Unfortunately, updates haven't worked as they should, he admitted. And the others are improving their cars more than we are. It's pretty simple.
Alonso concluded: We are putting all our effort into it, but we are realising that miracles cannot be worked here on the track and we need the help of the factory in terms of developing the car.
(GMM)
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A lawsuit filed against Education Superintendent Erik Swanson and the Guam Education Board wont go to trial just yet, with Superior Court Judge Elyze Iriarte on Tuesday granting the plaintiffs more time to gather evidence in the case.
The suit, filed by parents of two Guam Department of Education special education students L.A. and G.D., was initially set to go to trial on Nov. 12.
Attorney Daniel Somerfleck, representing the students, told Iriarte on Tuesday that he wants more time to inspect the respective schools of the two students, and to interview key witnesses in the suit.
The lawsuit asks the court to order GDOE to fix alleged unsafe and unsanitary conditions at Agueda Johnston Middle School and Oceanview Middle School, where L.A. and G.D. attend class, respectively, and to provide a certified teacher for L.A.
It was filed in August 2023, on the heels of damage to the school district from Typhoon Mawar and public controversy about poor health conditions at local campuses.
The judge said she would allow Somerfleck until Oct. 30 to depose any witnesses whose testimony was related to the school health inspections.
The judge is weighing whether to allow him to depose the head of GDOEs special education program, deputy superintendent Tom Babauta.
A new trial date will have to be set in the case.
Somerfleck told the judge Tuesday he has an inspection of both Agueda and Oceanview scheduled for Oct. 7 and 11. But both dates come after an Oct. 3 cutoff for parties to obtain evidence in the case.
He said he also wants to depose, or interview, the heads of GDOE maintenance and special education program, and potentially the lead maintenance staff from both schools and the lead health inspector for the Department of Public Health and Social Services.
Attorney Jesse Nassis, representing GDOE, pushed back on the request.
He argued Somerfleck has had a list of witnesses on file with the court for over a year, and has had adequate time to depose any of them in the case.
Nassis also questioned what would be gained from admitting evidence from Somerflecks inspection of the two schools, noting Public Health inspectors have already deemed both Agueda and Oceanview safe enough for students to return to.
The lack of health inspections was a key issue raised when the lawsuit was filed last August, Nassis said.
All of a sudden, thats not enough, the attorney said.
He called Somerflecks request a fishing expedition to find evidence to support a lawsuit against Nassis clients. The attorney noted that a request from plaintiffs to inspect the school stated they would be using a ladder to push up ceiling tiles.
Besides inspections being completed, Nassis also asserted that L.A. had been provided with a certified teacher.
Somerfleck told Iriarte that one of the difficulties his clients faced in the suit was that they were denied an injunction back in 2023.
Now, a year later, GDOE was asserting it had fixed the issue, he said.
Well, did they? he added.
Depositions of maintenance staff would be influenced by whatever was learned from the school inspections, which GDOE had not gone along with prior to a court order, Somerfleck said.
The attorney added that an interview with special education staff would provide more perspective in the suit about the types of services really being supplied to his clients as special education students.
There was also the possibility that more students in the school district faced similar issues with certified teachers, Somerfleck added.
How deep it goes, we dont know, Somerfleck said, noting that media reports reflected GDOE being short 50 teachers.
Nassis interjected, noting that Iriarte this month ruled that plaintiffs could not bring forward claims on behalf of other GDOE students in a similar situation.
Somerfleck responded that it was at the discretion of the judge whether to hold up the decision, stating that it may make more sense to combine claims rather than use court resources fighting multiple lawsuits.
At one point during the hearing, Nassis and Somerfleck got into an extended argument about whether paperwork in the case was filed on time, with both attorneys accusing each other of being dishonest in the case.
Are you going to let them have the inspection? And are you going to interfere with the inspection? Iriarte asked Nassis during the course of the hearing.
Nassis told the judge that GDOE would allow it, and that they would not interfere in the case.
The Supreme Court of Guam affirmed a 2020 trial court verdict that convicted Gilberto Florendo Kusterbeck on one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct for multiple incidents that occurred in 2018 and 2019.
Kusterbeck is serving an 18-year prison term for his conviction.
He asked the Supreme Court to vacate his conviction, stating that there was insufficient evidence on the timing of the offenses, that hearsay was admitted as evidence through officer testimony, and that the expert witness used by the government in the trial was not properly qualified.
In a 25-page opinion authored by Justice F. Philip Carbullido and joined by Chief Justice Robert J. Torres and Justice Katherine A. Maraman, the justices reaffirmed and reiterated that time is not an essential element to prove criminal sexual conduct.
Justices found sufficient evidence to prove that the incidents occurred.
We have repeatedly held that time is not an essential element for these crimes, Carbullido wrote. The People need only have proved that the incident occurred reasonably near the period alleged in the indictment.
On the hearsay argument, justices found that the alleged hearsay was invited by Kusterbeck through his counsel and while there was an admission of hearsay testimony, it was not enough to be declared a plain error.
Kusterbeck also failed to show how the error affected his substantial rights, said the opinion.
Finally, Kusterbeck argued that Maria Teresa Aguon was not properly qualified to testify as an expert on delayed reporting.
The issue was initially brought up during voir dire, when the defense objected to admitting her as an expert. That objection was overruled and Aguon was allowed to testify.
Justices said the trial court properly considered the requirements for an expert witness, that Aguon was qualified, her testimony was reliable and helpful to the jury and therefore the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing her testimony.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, docks alongside Kilo Wharf during a port visit to the Naval Base Guam on Feb. 6, 2024.
A hurricane watch and warnings of storm surges up to 15 feet high were issued Tuesday for almost all of Floridas western coastline as Tropical Storm Helene formed over the northwestern Caribbean Sea.
The storm, previously designated Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine, officially formed Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said in an 11 a.m. ET advisory.
The storm is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane at a breakneck pace. It could take Helene just 48 hours to go from a 45 mph tropical storm to a Category 3 major hurricane as it rapidly intensifies over the extremely warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. A Category 3 hurricane has sustained winds of 111 mph to 129 mph.
That leaves little time for Florida to prepare for damaging winds, flooding rainfall and potentially life-threatening storm surge. Helene could potentially reach Floridas Gulf Coast late Thursday, the hurricane center said.
There could be shifts in Helenes track in the coming days, which could alter where its worst impacts occur, the hurricane center warned. The hurricane watch extends from Indian Pass in northwest Florida near Panama City, down to Englewood, and includes Tampa Bay.
Regardless of where Helene makes landfall, the impacts from the storm will be felt throughout the southeast U.S.
Tracking Helene
Tropical Storm Helene has formed in the Caribbean Sea. Rapid strengthening is expected over the next couple of days before the storm makes landfall late Thursday, possibly as a Category 3 major hurricane.Courtesy National Hurricane Center
At 2 p.m. ET, Tropical Storm Helene was located about 175 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, and about 175 miles south of the western tip of Cuba. Maximum sustained winds were 45 mph and the storm was moving west-northwest at 12 mph. Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles to the east of the center.
A turn toward the northwest is expected later Tuesday as the center of Helene moves across the far northwestern Caribbean Sea to near the northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. On Wednesday and Thursday, a northward to north-northeastward motion at a faster forward speed is expected as the storm moves across the eastern Gulf of Mexico Wednesday and Thursday.
Tropical storm-force wind gusts could begin as early as Wednesday afternoon for the Florida Keys and spread northward, reaching much of the Florida Peninsula by Thursday morning at the earliest. Hurricane-force wind gusts could follow closely behind for many coastal areas.
The worst wind and rain in the Tampa area could start late Wednesday night. It wont let up through Thursday evening, with hurricane-force winds possible, according to the National Weather Service office in Tampa Bay.
The Tallahassee area will have a few more hours to prepare. Landfall is expected southeast of Tallahassee late Thursday, but the worst conditions will arrive in the city earlier and last throughout the day.
Tropical storm-force winds will spread over more of the Southeast by Thursday evening and, along with soaking rainfall, could bring down trees and trigger widespread power outages.
Heavy rainfall is possible for much of the Southeast starting around midweek, but the most torrential rain will fall Thursday into Friday morning. A Level 3 of 4 risk of flooding rain is in place for parts of Florida, Georgia, Alabama and parts of the Carolinas on Thursday, according to the Weather Prediction Center.
Widespread rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches are expected from Floridas Gulf Coast into parts of Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia. Totals could approach 12 inches in parts of the Florida Panhandle and the southern Appalachians. Much of this rain will fall by Friday for the Gulf Coast.
Storm surge risk
The peak storm surge forecast for Helene is shown. The Big Bend of Florida is expected to see the highest storm surge up to 15 feet.Courtesy National Hurricane Center
A storm surge watch has been issued from Indian Pass Florida southward to Flamingo, on the tip of the Florida Peninsula.
Evacuations are likely Tuesday for coastal areas of Florida facing down potentially life-threatening storm surge. Taylor County in Floridas Big Bend region is likely to issue a countywide evacuation order later Tuesday, according to a social media post from the Sheriffs Office.
The Big Bend is expected to bear the brunt of the storm surge. Up to 15 feet is possible from the Ochlockonee River to Chassahowitzka, Florida. The storms large size and intensity also could mean a storm surge of 5 to 8 feet in the greater Tampa area, with a surge of multiple feet possible in areas farther south.
Florida prepares
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has expanded an emergency declaration from 41 to 61 of the states 67 counties Tuesday over the threat of additional impact inland. The declaration helps expedite preparations and coordination between the state and local governments ahead of the Helenes arrival.
At least 3,000 members of the Florida National Guard are standing by to assist with storm efforts and the Florida State Guard has been activated, DeSantis confirmed at a news conference Tuesday. Additionally, the state has hundreds of Starlinks to deploy in case internet access is lost, DeSantis said.
Sandbag locations have opened up at several sites, with local officials urging everyone in low lying and flood prone areas to take advantage of the free resources.
Haiti - FLASH : Results of the 2024 Baccalaureate exams for 2 departments
The Ministry of National Education informs that the results of the secondary school leaving examinations (BAC 2024) are currently available for two Departmental Directorates of Education (DDE): the North and the North-East.
According to the information provided by the National Office of State Examinations (BUNEXE), for the secondary school leaving examinations (BAC) in the North, out of a total of 11,694 participants, 5,463 candidates are admitted, i.e. a success rate of 46.72% (slight decrease to 47.54% in 2023)
For the second session of the failed candidates of the academic year 2023-2024 (permanent baccalaureate), out of a total of 403 participants, 286 candidates are admitted, which gives a success rate of 70.97% (a sharp increase to 56.37% in 2023)
For the Northeast, out of a total of 4,407 participants, 1,516 candidates are admitted, i.e. a success rate of 34.40% for the secondary school leaving exams (bac). (down 70.33% in 2023)
For the second session of the failed candidates of the 2023-2024 academic year (permanent baccalaureate), out of a total of 1,104 participants, 371 are admitted, i.e. a success rate of 33.61% (a sharp drop 61.97% in 2023)
School heads are invited to collect their school's rankings from their Departmental Directorate.
The Ministry specifies that the results of the bac exams for other DDEs will be published gradually.
HL/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - Politic : Brazilian President Lula da Silva promises help to Garry Conille
Earlier this week, on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Garry Conille, accompanied by his Chief of Staff Nesmy Manigat and Chancellor Dominique Dupuy, met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Garry Conille welcomed the support of Brazil, which has provided weapons to the Haitian National Police (PNH) and the Haitian Armed Forces (FAdH) and will provide training to more than 400 Haitian police officers.
Conille described to Lula the difficult situation in Haiti caused by the actions of armed groups and explained the actions of international forces that have helped the Government stabilize the situation and recover territories dominated by gangs. He mentioned that the defense forces are being reorganized and that there is no doubt that there is a solution to the situation, but that it is necessary to have equipment and training.
President Lula da Silva stressed the need to formulate an international action plan to help Haiti recover and indicated that Brazil was willing to assist Haiti in developing this plan and in promoting the debate, both in terms of political awareness and resource mobilization.
Lula promised to work with international partners to find lasting solutions to the Haitian crisis while advocating Haiti's cause in the summits that his country will participate in, including the upcoming G20 and also in the BRICS community.
"President Lula has generously committed to mobilizing other countries to support the situation in Haiti. He has of course been generous with his time, inspiring in terms of ideas, and we look forward to continuing to cooperate with Brazil in the future," Garry Conille said after the meeting.
S/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - News : Zapping...
UN : Call by President Ruto
Kenyan President William Rutos call to the UN Security Council for renewed support for the MMSS mandate reiterated that "[...] collective action is the only path to lasting peace. Are we prepared to rise above national interests for the common good ? Time is running out !"
Sunrise Airways NOTICE
Sunrise Airways cannot board travelers whose documents do not comply with the requirements of the immigration authorities of Panama or any other destination country. These requirements are strict and all airlines are required to ensure that passengers meet the entry requirements in force in the country of arrival. Passengers are encouraged to inquire about these requirements before their trip.
Caribbean Cup : Ouanaminthe FC eliminated
On Tuesday, as part of the Caribbean Cup, Ouanaminthe FC faced the Grenada selection and absolutely had to win after its defeat against Moca [3-1] https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-43248-haiti-news-zapping.html to qualify. Unfortunately Ouanaminthe did not manage to do better than a draw [2-2]. Willinx Joseph on penalty equalized for Haiti at the 45th minute [1-1] and still Willinx Joseph equalized again for Haiti at the 69th minute [2-2]. Last in the standings with only two points, Ouanaminthe is eliminated.
UN : Speech by Advisor Leslie Voltaire (Video)
Speech by President-Advisor Leslie Voltaire at the Future Summit at the UN General Assembly:
PNH : Special Units, Risk Bonuses available
The risk bonuses for the agents of the special units of the Haitian National Police (PNH) are available. The information was confirmed by Lionel Lazarre, Deputy Spokesperson of the PNH, who informed those concerned that they could check or withdraw the amounts of these bonuses from their card at any branch of the National Credit Bank (BNC).
Busy agenda of President Leblanc Fils
The Communication Office of the Presidency informs that President Edgard Leblanc Fils arrived in New Yok, where he was welcomed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dominique Dupuy and the Permanent Representative of Haiti to the UN, Ambassador Antonio Rodrigue. He will participate this Wednesday in an international forum on Haiti, where several heads of state and government will be present. President Leblanc Fils is also invited to a series of official receptions. He will deliver his speech at the UN podium on Thursday, September 26 and is also among the guests at a dinner with the Biden presidential couple scheduled for this Wednesday.
HL/ HaitiLibre
China's first domestically built cruise ship boosts tourism, economy
People's Daily Online) 14:10, September 25, 2024
The impact of China's first domestically built large cruise ship, the Adora Magic City, has continued to grow since its commercial maiden voyage on Jan. 1 this year.
The cruise ship has made a splash in China's tourism sector. So far, it has completed over 50 trips and served more than 200,000 tourists, accounting for around 40 percent of the country's cruise tourism market.
This aerial photo taken on Jan. 1, 2024 shows the large cruise ship Adora Magic City at the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)
Yang Guobing, chairman of the ship's operator CSSC Cruise Technology Development Co., Ltd. and Adora Cruises Limited, said the ship's popularity has exceeded expectations.
In recent months, each voyage has seen more than 4,700 passengers, with a peak of over 5,000 in May, according to Yang.
For many Chinese consumers, the domestically built cruise ship has become a gateway to their first-ever cruise experience.
Liu Yan, from southwest China's Sichuan Province, said, "I began to learn about cruise tourism out of curiosity and desire for the domestic cruise ship."
"It's surprisingly affordable, and the decor feels familiar," Liu added, noting that she is considering more cruise vacations in the future.
One of the Adora Magic City's main selling points is its fusion of cultures. "Chinese tourists value cultural and spiritual experiences. Our blend of cruise experiences with cultural elements has been very successful," Yang said.
Yang noted that the ship plans to introduce more culturally themed offerings this year, incorporating industrial, Silk Road, and maritime elements. These new experiences will aim to blend Eastern and Western cultural aspects for passengers.
The official operation of the cruise ship has boosted the Chinese cruise tourism market, especially in the first half of this year, said Cheng Chaogong, chief researcher of the Tongcheng Research Institute.
Cheng added that the cruise ship marks a watershed moment in China's cruise tourism industry, signifying a major leap forward in China's position in the global cruise tourism industrial chain.
This photo taken on Dec. 24, 2023 shows an interior view of the cruise ship "Adora Magic City" docked at the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)
The domestic cruise ship has ensured stability in the cruise tourism supply chain. In the summer of 2024, the voyages completed by the cruise ship accounted for nearly a quarter of total cruise voyages in Shanghai.
China has become the world's second-largest cruise market, according to Cheng, adding that the integration of cruise tourism with other forms of tourism and cultural consumption has further unlocked spending potential. The country has made significant progress in cruise ship design, construction, operations and international cruise services.
In the first half of 2024, the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal handled 592,700 passenger trips, about 70 percent of all cruise passengers in China. As Asia's largest cruise hub and the world's fourth-largest, it's projected to receive about 1.5 million passenger trips this year.
Cheng said the domestically built cruise ship has directly boosted consumption in Shanghai and neighboring cities.
The Adora Magic City has also created jobs. It employs nearly 1,300 crew members and staff from over 30 countries and regions. Yang Guobing, chairman of Adora Cruises Limited, said the company plans to recruit over 2,000 professionals in various fields in the coming years.
The cruise ship has also opened a significant market for supplies. Feng Yue, procurement manager for Adora Cruises Limited, said the ship requires over 2 million yuan ($283,000) in supplies for a six-day, five-night cruise. Annual purchases total about 200 million yuan, boosting local economic development.
China's success with its first domestic cruise ship has set the stage for future industry growth. The country's second cruise ship is expected to be delivered by the end of 2026.
Yang projects the annual cruise industry value in China will exceed 400 billion yuan by 2035.
(Web editor: Chang Sha, Hongyu)
(CNBC) Caroline Ellison, the star witness in the prosecution of her former boyfriend, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, was sentenced Tuesday in New York federal court to two years in prison and ordered to forfeit $11 billion for her role in the massive fraud and conspiracy that doomed the cryptocurrency exchange once valued at $32 billion. The prison term was significantly stiffer than the recommendation by the federal Probation Department.
To read this article:
Foldables have been around for around six years, but this one is different. The Huawei Mate XT doesn't just have one hinge that connects two halves of the casing, but two that hold three parts together. When unfolded, it reveals a 10.2-inch display. We had the opportunity to test it briefly.
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The Mate XT has been available in China since last weekend. The foldable combines the smartphone and tablet genres even more consistently than previous folds. The aspect ratio of the flexible display panel is roughly 4:3 when open, making it more suitable for movies than the almost square screens of devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6.
The general design and the construction of the hinges are very reminiscent of the particularly flat Honor Magic V3, just with one more element. Although Huawei's Mate XT can only be opened and closed with one hand with great effort, its hinges make a robust impression. They ensure that the flat flounder does not feel fragile, but rather like a particularly thin, lightweight tablet. The protruding camera hump is helpful if you want to hold the device with one hand. Fingers quickly find a grip there.
Bild 1 von 15 Huawei Mate XT Hands-on (15 Bilder) Huawei Mate XT Hands-on Das Huawei Mate XT mit zwei Scharnieren (Bild: heise online/sht )
Smartphones could hardly get any thinner, as the USB-C port is already the thickest part, and you can't make it any thinner. When fully closed, the Mate XT is around two millimeters thicker than Google's current foldable, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. However, at around 300 grams, the Mate is a real heavyweight for a smartphone or as light as a feather for a tablet, depending on the viewing angle.
Large display, old processor
Unlike current foldables, the Mate XT does not have two displays, but only one, which can be used one third, two thirds or completely depending on how far you open the smartphone. The resolution is 2232 3184 pixels in total, only 1008 2232 pixels are used when fully closed, and 2048 2232 pixels when fully opened. The screen appeared pleasantly bright and sharp when we first tried it out, and the colors were more bright than subtle.
The Kirin 9010 that powers the Huawei Mate XT is no longer quite up to date. The eight-core processor with a maximum of 2.3 GHz is manufactured with a 7 nanometer structure width and is fast enough for everyday smartphone use. However, you should not expect outstanding performance, for example in complex games such as "Genshin Impact". The XT flits through the Android menus and home screens quickly enough and without noticeable delays.
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Huawei's SoC does not support 5G networks, and LTE is the end of the line. Together with the lack of Google services, this makes the Mate XT difficult to sell in Germany despite its exciting form factor, especially considering the price. In China, the Mate XT in the smallest storage version with 256 GB costs the equivalent of a good 2,500 euros; with the local taxes and duties for import, it is likely to be closer to 3,000 euros. Huawei currently has no plans to launch the Mate XT on the European market. First, demand in China must be met. Over six million pre-orders have already been received there, said a company spokesperson.
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Since the middle of the year, there have been a number of notebooks with particularly long battery life, namely those with Qualcomm's newcomer processor Snapdragon X. As a unique selling point of these notebooks, which bear the marketing label Copilot+, Microsoft is once again emphasizing innovative AI functions that run on integrated, powerful AI accelerators (Neural Processing Units, NPUs). AMD has already taken on the Snapdragon competitor with Ryzen AI 300 (Strix Point), now Intel is following suit with Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake).
The first notebook equipped with it in the c't lab is the ZenBook S 14 (UX5406) from Asus. The test device uses the Core Ultra 7 258V, which has 32 GB of RAM. Yes, it comes with it: With Lunar Lake, the LPDDR5X chips are an indispensable part of the CPU carrier, which is one of many tricks to reduce energy consumption and enable particularly long battery runtimes. Apple has been using the same design since the M1, while AMD and Qualcomm solder the memory chips separately onto the motherboard. Incidentally, the design doubles the number of model variants at Intel: A CPU with identical specifications except for 16 GB of RAM does not have the same designation, but is called Core Ultra 7 256V.
Intel designed Lunar Lake specifically for thin and light notebooks that remain quiet even under computing load. But while the design was originally intended as an out-of-series special, Intel's entire mobile future now rests on it: it is the only design in the Intel portfolio with an NPU powerful enough to meet Microsoft's requirements for Copilot+ and the new AI functions of Windows 11. When Microsoft communicated this requirement to its closest partners last year, Intel massively accelerated development. According to the original schedule, Lunar Lake would probably not have been ready until the end of 2025 instead of being available in notebooks now.
Intel's Lunar Lake processor: It consists of three chiplets (called tiles by Intel) and places two LPDDR5X components directly on the CPU carrier (also called package). (Image: c't / mue)
TDP performance and first benchmarks
The shift in the balance of power in the notebook market means that notebook manufacturers can now use Lunar Lake CPUs with higher thermal design power (TDP): Up to 37 watts are permitted, which requires complex cooling systems or makes their indispensable fans audible nothing for slim notebooks that use purely passive cooling like the MacBook Air. At the lower end of the TDP range is 8 watts, but we have not yet seen any systems where the chip is operated at such low speeds.
Asus operates the Core Ultra 7 258V in the ZenBook S 14 in factory settings (Windows: Balanced, MyAsus: Standard mode) with a moderate 17 watts (peaks up to 22 watts), which corresponds to the nominal TDP and can still be reconciled with the original concept of the chip. However, this specification also inevitably brings to light the problem: Intel originally opted for a combination of only four efficiency cores and four performance cores; the latter also have to make do without Hyper-Threading. Something like this cannot be changed at a later date , especially not when a chip design has to be completed even faster, as is the case here.
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In concrete figures: The Core Ultra 7 258V only manages just under 500 points in the multithreading test of the Cinebench 2024 render benchmark. Although this is suitable for everyday use, it is less than what the predecessor Core Ultra 7 155H (Meteor Lake), which is only nine months old, achieved (over 570 points in the ZenBook sister model UX3405). Meteor Lake can nominally burn 28 watts and also has more cores, namely up to six P-cores (including hyperthreading), up to eight E-cores plus two low-power E-cores. Even the most modern production process Lunar Lake uses TSMC's 3-nanometer process N3B for the CPU and new core architectures for P and E cores cannot make up for this. By the way, Apple's M3, which is also manufactured in N3B, achieves a good 600 points.
You can coax more performance out of the ZenBook in higher energy profiles, but then it gets loud. Although its fan is not inaudible in factory settings, it is so inconspicuous that you never feel disturbed.
Lunar Lake doesn't come close to the competition from AMD and Qualcomm in terms of CPU performance: both the Ryzen AI 300 and Snapdragon X Elite are twelve-cores, and that's without the heavily trimmed E-cores. The fact that some are slightly modified implementations that make do with fewer transistors at the expense of the peak clock rate is irrelevant for maximum performance in TDP-limited notebooks. Depending on the TDP selected, these also pull away with 700 to 900 points. And HX processors from AMD and Intel, which are allowed to burn much more energy in expansive gaming notebooks, deliver four-digit results up to over 1300 points.
Under load on just one computing core, all CPUs for Windows notebooks are roughly at the same level around 120 Cinebench points, with only Qualcomm's Snapdragon variants without Turbo landing below 110 points. No one can compete with Apple in this discipline, as the M3 achieves 140 points.
Windows patches
Note: In the middle of the ongoing tests, Intel announced shortly before the editorial deadline that the Windows 11 update KB5043080 from the September patch day was slowing down notebooks with Core Ultra 200V; single-threaded tests were particularly affected. We did not comply with the request to uninstall the update for the tests: It seems questionable to uninstall an officially released update just to prettify benchmark results. Finally, the update will continue to be distributed to all systems with Windows 11 24H2 and thus also to all first-time buyers of Lunar Lake notebooks in order to close known and already exploited security vulnerabilities.
According to Intel, Microsoft is working on a fix, but has not given a release schedule. We will be happy to check as soon as the bug has been fixed and any major delays become apparent. As things stand today, this is not to be expected: Our qualitative assessments of performance above also match benchmark results without KB5043080, which Intel has provided as reference values for comparison.
MTV on Friday reported that Tavio decided that Finland will not join the alliance due to its mission to also promote the interests of gender and sexual minorities, according to official sources.
MINISTER for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio (PS) has raised eyebrows among both opposition and ruling-party lawmakers by deciding not to participate in an alliance for a gender-responsive and inclusive recovery in Ukraine .
The minister did not rebuff the report, saying it was a question of what to emphasise.
The emphasis has been more on the disabled, the elderly and whatnot when it comes to Ukraine support. Its a question of emphasis in that sense, he explained to the news outlet.
Established at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin in June, the alliance is made up of the foreign ministries and foreign development agencies of countries such as Denmark, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the US, as well as the EU. The partners are committed to taking into account gender equality and womens empowerment in re-building Ukraine.
President Alexander Stubb criticised Tavio and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs over the decision while speaking to journalists in conjunction with the UN General Assembly in New York, the US, on Tuesday.
I hope that in future we dont see similar mistakes from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where the president isnt notified of matters that belong to the foreign trade and development co-operation minister but relate to our foreign and security policy, he was quoted saying by YLE.
The Finnish public broadcasting company interpreted the unusually stern and direct statement as an indication of value-related disagreements within the foreign policy leadership of Finland.
Finlands foreign policy is led by the president in co-operation with the government. Stubb has also been an ardent advocate of equality throughout his political career, having as a lawmaker drafted a bill for a gender-neutral marriage act, as foreign minister served as the patron of Helsinki Pride and served as vice president of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights.
Criticism from both sides of the aisle
The Social Democratic Party announced last week it will submit an interpellation against Tavio, drawing support from the Green League and Left Alliance.
Tytti Tuppurainen, the chairperson of the Social Democratic Parliamentary Group, said on X that the decision not to participate in the alliance undermines the foreign policy objective of promoting equality and the interests of girls, women and minorities. The decision is embarrassing and pathetic, added Nasima Razmyar, a deputy chairperson of the Social Democrats.
Also the Centre is puzzled by the apparent incompatibility of the government lines on human rights and supporting Ukraine, chairperson Antti Kaikkonen stated on Friday. Tavio, he argued, is refusing to support the very population groups that the government pledged to support in the foreign and security policy report published last summer.
Ruling parties always have disagreements, but Finland can only have one stance. It looks like Finlands stance now depends on who you ask. There should be no ambiguity in regards to supporting Ukraine, he wrote in a press release.
The Centre Parliamentary Group has yet to discuss whether or not to support the interpellation, chairperson Antti Kurvinen told STT on Friday.
Henrick Wickstrom (SFP) similarly stressed that Finland should support Ukraine on all issues.
I dont think this is the right decision. Finland has to support Ukraine on all issues. I see contradictions between this and the international stance of Finland. I hope that the government will re-examine the issue, he said on X.
Also Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) commented on the issue on Friday, arguing that the non-participation decision does not alter the position of Finland. When Helsingin Sanomat asked him whether he approves of the decision, though, he opted not to give a direct answer.
I think it wouldve been perfectly in line with the governments stance to participate, but the minister decided to prioritise in this way, he said.
Tavios conservative values have bubbled to the surface also at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Helsingin Sanomat wrote in August that Tavio has banned his speech writers from using various terms referring to certain non-traditional gender and sexual identities and expressions, such as the acronym LGBTQ.
He also made headlines around the Paris Olympics in July, for saying sexual minorities turned the opening ceremony into a freak show.
On the other hand, Tavio was one of three Finns Party lawmakers who received a reprimand from the party for breaking the party line and voting in favour of a gender-neutral marriage act in 2016.
Aleksi Teivainen HT
A Robinson rout would endanger GOP's Council of State candidates
Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was likely to lose the 2024 gubernatorial election to Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein before the Sept. 19 CNN piece tying him to a series of grotesque posts made more than a dozen years ago on a pornography site.
In five September surveys of likely North Carolina voters taken before the story broke, Stein led Robinson by an average of nine points. A subsequent Siena College poll, done in partnership with the New York Times, included interviews on September 20 and September 21. It put the Democrats lead at 10 points.
As the general-election campaign unfolded, I never thought Stein could win by double digits. North Carolinas recent history of competitive races for governor argued strongly against it. I still find such an outcome hard to believe, even though most of Robinsons campaign team has departed and national actors such as the Republican Governors Association and the Trump campaign will be keeping their distance from now on. The electorate remains highly polarized, after all.
But if the Robinson candidacy the vulnerabilities and risks of which Ive written before ends in a Josh Stein blowout, Republicans may be significantly hampered in their ability to compete for other statewide offices on the ballot this year.
The richest polling data on this question can be found in the Carolina Journal/Cygnal survey from mid-September. Across a wide range of races, it generally showed a pro-Democratic bounce after the Kamala Harris-Donald Trump debate on Sept. 10. In August, the CJ poll had the presidential race at Trump +3.1 points. Now, its essentially tied at Trump +0.3. During the same period, Steins lead for governor grew from 4.4 points to 6.3 points.
Continuing down the ballot, the latest CJ poll has Democrats leading by at least a point in the races for state superintendent of public instruction (Mo Green +4.1 points), supreme court (Allison Riggs +2.5), secretary of state (Elaine Marshall +1.7), attorney general (Jeff Jackson +1.5), and lieutenant governor (Rachel Hunt +1.5). In most cases, their GOP opponents had slight leads back in August.
Republicans still enjoy modest leads in races for agriculture commissioner (Steve Troxler +3.2), state treasurer (Brad Briner +1.7), and insurance commissioner (Mike Causey +1.4). In two other contests, the candidates are separated by less than a point. For labor commissioner, its Democratic Braxton Winston at 41.3% and Republican Luke Farley at 40.9%. For state auditor, its Republican Dave Boliek at 38.9% and Democrat Jessica Holmes at 38.3%.
Finally, the poll poses generic ballot questions for Congress and General Assembly. Republicans lead in the former by 3.1 points and in the latter by less than a point.
With the exception of the gubernatorial and superintendent races, the spreads are smaller than the 3.99% margin of sampling error. More importantly, 15% or more of likely voters remain undecided in most of these matchups. With even the leading candidates polling in the low 40s, there is still plenty of play here.
Democrats could end up reclaiming a solid majority of Council of State seats. Or late-breaking voters could give Republicans a near-sweep of them. Election Day is still six weeks away. Well see many more political stories between now and then.
On second thought, perhaps suffer would be a more fitting verb than see.
A final note: some readers may feel disinclined to trust polling data from Carolina Journal, since its editorial page leans rightward. Naturally, as its founder, I dont feel that way. But theres no need to take my word for it. Over its long history, what is now called the Carolina Journal Poll has always attempted to model North Carolinas electorate accurately. Survey research for public consumption is costly. If the results routinely differ from reality, the investment is wasted.
In the 2022 race for U.S. Senate, for example, the last CJ Poll gave Ted Budd a 3.8 point lead over Cheri Beasley. He won by 3.2. No other public poll was closer to the final result.
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John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member. His latest books, Mountain Folk and Forest Folk, combine epic fantasy with early American history (FolkloreCycle.com).
25 September 2024, Mumbai: Saudis national tourism brand, Saudi Welcome to Arabia, has kickstarted its first-ever immersive event Spectacular Saudi in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Currently hosted at the citys R2 Ground in BKC, the 8-day-long extravaganza began with an exclusive VIP showcase on September 24.
The VIP preview brought together the very best of Indian cinema, business, sports, and fashion giving them a sneak peek into Saudis warm hospitality, iconic experiences, and culture. Welcoming popular personalities from the film industry like Vicky Kaushal, Shraddha Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar, Arjun Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, and Suniel Shetty, Shilpa Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Khemu, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Neha Dhupia, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Tisca Chopra among others, each experience offered an interactive element starting with traditional coffee, dates, and Bakhour.
Saudis warm hospitality, iconic experiences, and culture.
Renowned fashion designers like Gaurav Gupta, JJ Valaya, Raghavendra Rathore alongside legendary sportspeople like Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, and Mary Kom, including Olympians Manu Bhaker, Swapnil Kusale, among others explored the immersive exhibits, taking in the Saudi wonders on display.
Business tycoons, royalties and industrialists including Yash Birla, Suketu Shah, Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar along with acclaimed filmmakers like Guneet Monga, Farah Khan, and others were also a part of the exclusive showcase.
As attendees walked through the curated exhibits such as the mountains and mirrors display, inspired by the iconic Maraya Hall in Alula, and the 360 Selfie Corner the excitement was palpable. The VIP guests also had the opportunity to apply for their Saudi visas by simply presenting a valid Mastercard or Visa credit card and prep for their forthcoming visits to Saudi, with exclusive travel deals and packages.
Spectacular Saudi is now open to the public from September 25 to 2 October 2024, with exclusive giveaways, culinary explorations, and travel offers, including discounts on Saudi travel packages, this event is a must-visit for anyone planning their next trip to the country. Dont miss out and register here to experience a piece of Saudi, right in the heart of Mumbai.
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.
Melinda French Gates said that top CEOs who say they sleep for less hours to put in more at work are so dumb. On those top bosses who claim to sleep three or four hours a night, the philanthropist told Vanity Fair, Some of us didnt want to be around them! Lets be honest! She also shared that she aims to sleep for seven or eight hours every night. US philanthropist Melinda French Gates denounced top CEOs for minimizing sleep, advocating for 7-8 hours nightly. Bill Gates shared his past misconceptions about sleep, now emphasizing its critical role in health, especially after witnessing Alzheimer's effects. Elon Musk has also shifted to prioritize more sleep.(AFP)
Melinda French Gates' ex-husband Bill Gates said earlier that in his youth he was influenced by other entrepreneurs bragging about not needing enough sleep which led him to believe that sleep is laziness and unnecessary. At the time, he also copied these people but now he aims for a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night.
He had then said, "[I] would be like, I only sleep six hours. And the other guy says, I only sleep five! and Well, sometimes I dont sleep at all. Id be like, Wow, those guys are so good. I need to try harder, because sleep is laziness and unnecessary.
The Microsoft co-founder changed his habits after his father was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease, he shared, saying, One of the strongest things to emerge in [the Alzheimers] area is the importance of good sleep. Its one of the most predictive factors of any dementia, including Alzheimers, whether youre getting good sleep.
Even Elon Musk has talked about pulling all-nighters and sleeping under his desk when his electric vehicle company Tesla tried to meet its production goals. But last year, he said he changed his sleeping habit and now tries to sleep for at least six hours every night.
Bidding for Pakistan's national airline will be held on Oct. 1, broadcaster Ary News reported on Tuesday, citing a statement by the head of the National Assembly privatisation committee. The auction for Pakistan International Airlines will occur on Oct. 1, as reported by Ary News. The government plans to sell a majority stake to address ongoing losses, following IMF reform suggestions, according to National Assembly official Farooq Sattar.(Reuters)
"The (Pakistan International Airlines) auction will be finalised on the first day of next month," National Assembly member Farooq Sattar was reported to have told a session of the committee.
Pakistan's government has previously said it would sell between 51% and 100% of the loss-making airline as part of reforms urged by the International Monetary Fund.
Sept 24 - Starbucks' new CEO Brian Niccol said on a letter on Tuesday that he "deeply respects" the right of the coffee chain's workers to choose to be represented by a union, and that he was committed to "engage constructively." Starbucks CEO Niccol says committed to "engage constructively" with workers union
Starbucks continues contract negotiations with the Workers United union this week. The session would be the first with Niccol at the helm after a surprise CEO change by the company last month.
Niccol's remarks come in response to a letter addressed to him by 298 baristas who are bargaining delegates from the union.
Earlier this month, Niccol said in an open letter that he would work to improve coffeehouse culture at the chain's stores in the United States and plans to spend time in stores meeting with suppliers and partners to make improvements.
In his Tuesday letter, Niccol also reiterated his commitment to creating a "great work environment" at the stores, and added that the company "values" direct relations with workers.
"If our partners choose to be represented, I am committed to making sure we engage constructively and in good faith with the union and the partners it represents," Niccol wrote.
Starbucks began negotiations with Workers United in April on a "foundational framework" to guide collective bargaining in the U.S. The union's bargaining delegation represents more than 10,500 partners across over 490 stores.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a lower court's injunction sought by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board ordering Starbucks to rehire seven Memphis employees who were fired as they sought to unionize.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Volkswagen AG and unions start negotiations over wide-ranging cost cuts on Wednesday including possible worker retrenchment, with tensions between both sides higher than theyve been in years. Volkswagen AG and unions negotiate cost reductions, including possible layoffs and factory closures, sparking heightened tensions. Union leaders threaten strikes if plans proceed, challenging CEO Oliver Blume as competition increases from Chinese electric vehicle makers.(Reuters)
The talks center on VWs plan to potentially shutter factories in Germany for the first time after scrapping decades-old job protections earlier this month. The IG Metall union has vowed to fight those plans, threatening strikes that could paralyze Europes biggest carmaker for weeks.
There will be no talks about factory closures and mass layoffs with us, said Thorsten Groger, the unions lead negotiator. If VW sticks to its cutback plans, then tens of thousands of colleagues will force the company back on the right track.
The dispute is a major test for Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume after union clashes felled a number of his predecessors. The CEO has warned that costs in Germany are too high as sales wane and Chinese manufacturers push into Europe. VW has also lost momentum in the key Asian market, where homegrown brands dominate on electric cars.
VW could force through decisions on plant closures this year, paving the way for more than 15,000 job cuts, analysts at Jefferies said earlier this month. The carmaker is eyeing closing two to three facilities, with as many as five German sites under consideration, the analysts said.
Earlier this month, the company got a taste of the wrath triggered by its cutback plans, with thousands of workers shouting down managers at the Wolfsburg factory, Europes largest. Executives lamented flagging sales that have left it with about two plants too many.
Job cuts at VW are harder to push through than elsewhere. Half the seats on its supervisory board are held by labor representatives, and the German state of Lower Saxony which owns a 20% stake often sides with trade unions.
The first round of talks will take place in Hanover, with union members expected to protest outside the venue.
Zerodha co-founder and CEO Nithin Kamath said that the company is currently facing a plateau in revenue while preparing for a significant dip in the same later this year. In a blog post, Nithin Kamath pointed to new regulations from markets regulator Sebi, which are expected to impact the brokerages business operations starting October 1 this year. Nithin Kamath, CEO of Zerodha, indicated the firm is facing a revenue plateau with an expected decline later this year due to Sebi regulations. He noted potential drops in earnings from index derivatives and changes in Annual Maintenance Charges affecting revenue.(X/Nithin Kamath)
He noted, "We are already seeing revenue and profit plateau, and we are bracing for a big revenue hit later this year. Sebi's true-to-label circular will go live on October 1, 2024. We expect a 10% revenue dip".
Moreover, another regulation on index derivatives could lead to a 30% to 50% reduction in earnings, he said, adding, Index derivatives today are a significant portion of our revenue, and any change will impact us.
Nithin Kamath also highlighted changes to the Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC) under the new Basic Services Demat Account (BSDA) thresholds and said, We can charge full AMC from customers with a demat holding of 10 lakhs and more, as opposed to 4 lakhs today. Combined with us removing the account opening fee, this would be a meaningful drop in revenue.
Zerodhas referral program has also taken a hit due to new guidelines from stock exchanges restricting payouts to only registered Authorised Persons, he said as the change has reduced the number of referrers from thousands to only a few registered partners.
Despite all this, Zerodha is at a strong position in the market although there is a tough road ahead for the company due to regulatory shifts, Nithin Kamath acknowledged.
A 31-year-old product marketing head at a multinational company in Bengaluru was allegedly scammed out of 51.29 lakh by cybercriminals posing as FedEx and Mumbai police officials. The victim received an automated call on September 17, where the caller claimed her Aadhaar details were being used in a narcotics smuggling operation, The Indian Express reported. The woman was kept on a digital arrest via a Skype call for 10 hours. (Pic for representation)
She was coerced into a 10-hour Skype call, during which the scammers repeatedly threatened her with arrest if she did not cooperate.
The criminals, posing as law enforcement officers, informed her that a parcel containing drugs had been seized and her identity was being misused. They then transferred her to a fake Mumbai cybercrime officer, who claimed her Aadhaar was linked to illegal activities, the report said.
The scammers convinced her to stay on the video call and isolated her from family, including her husband, while they took out a 50 lakh loan from her ICICI bank account without her authorization, the publication noted.
The criminals drained 1.99 lakh from her salary account and transferred the rest of the loan amount to various other accounts. One of the scammers even impersonated a senior police officer, claiming her Aadhaar details were linked to serious crimes such as money laundering and arms purchases, the report added. He sent her a fake Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) document to maintain her silence.
Based on her complaint that was filed on September 21, police have registered a case under sections 66(c) and 66(d) of the Information Technology Act and section 318 (4) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Courier firm FedEx had earlier clarified that it does not request personal information through unsolicited calls and urged people to report such incidents to authorities immediately, especially after frequent incidents of courier scams in Bengaluru.
In a significant development, the Bengaluru city police have identified a colleague of Mahalakshmi, named Mukti, as the prime suspect in her murder. The gruesome crime wherein Mahalakshmis body was found chopped into as many as 59 pieces and stuffed into a refrigerator in a one bedroom apartment in Bengaluru sent shockwaves across the nation. Mahalakshmi's body, cut into 59 pieces, was stuffed in a refrigerator, the police said.
According to police sources, Mukti opposed Mahalakshmis relationship with another man, though the identity of this person remains undisclosed, a report by News18 said.
Earlier this week, Mahalakshmi's estranged husband, Hemanth Das, reportedly accused a man named Ashraf of being involved in the murder. He claimed that Ashraf, who is from Uttarakhand, had been in an extramarital relationship with Mahalakshmi.
Mahalakshmi, a 29-year-old saleswoman, had not been seen since early September. On September 21, her dismembered body was discovered in her apartments refrigerator after neighbours complained of foul smell. Police revealed that her body had been cut into 59 pieces, leading them to suspect a deeply planned crime.
The Karnataka Home Minister, G Parameshwara, confirmed the main suspect was from Odisha but had been living in Bengaluru before fleeing, according to the report. Authorities are now searching for Mukti near the Odisha-West Bengal border, but his exact whereabouts are still unknown, it added.
Further investigation is ongoing, with police examining fingerprints found at the crime scene and awaiting the results of toxicology tests to determine if Mahalakshmi was poisoned. Her family remains devastated, with her mother last seeing her during the Rakshabandhan festival, and her sister demanding justice for the horrific act.
Hemanth, who was estranged from Mahalakshmi, continues to point fingers at Ashraf, believing that his wife's relationship with him was a key factor in the crime. However, police have not yet confirmed this claim.
The prime suspect in the brutal murder of 29-year-old Mahalakshmi, whose dismembered body was discovered in a refrigerator at her Bengaluru residence, has died by suicide in Odisha, police said on Wednesday. Mahalakshmi's body, cut into over 30 pieces, was stuffed in a refrigerator, the police said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Central Bengaluru, Shekar H Tekkannavar, announced that the accused, Mukthirajan Pratap Roy, took his own life while being pursued by law enforcement.
Earlier in the day, Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara stated that police had information about the suspect's presence in Odisha and had dispatched multiple teams to apprehend him.
"We have taken the case very seriously, as the murder had shaken the entire Bengaluru," Parameshwara told reporters.
He added that the police had identified Roy as the main suspect and had been actively tracking his movements as he fled across various locations in Odisha.
Mahalakshmis murder, discovered on Saturday, shocked the city, drawing parallels with the infamous Shraddha Walkar case from Delhi in 2022, where the victim was also dismembered and her body stored in a refrigerator. Mahalakshmi's maggot-infested body was found by her mother and sister at her home in Vyalikaval, cut into several pieces and concealed in the fridge.
Speaking to the press earlier, Parameshwara confirmed that multiple individuals had been taken into custody for questioning, but Roy emerged as the primary suspect based on available evidence. "After securing him, we would have been able to gather more information," the minister had said. The victims estranged husband had also raised suspicions about a man known to Mahalakshmi, who lived nearby and was believed to have had close contact with her.
Addressing concerns about womens safety in Bengaluru, Parameshwara noted that several precautions were already in place, including the Nirbhaya programme and the installation of CCTV cameras.
"We are very careful and take many precautions, but we need to put in more effort to ensure womens safety," he said, assuring that further measures would be taken.
The apartments and housing communities in Bengalurus Mahadevapura and Whitefield areas are facing water vows once again after April. As many of the residential complexes are solely dependent on tankers for water supply, the villagers in Hoskote taluk are protesting against the tanker operators for allegedly drawing excess amounts of water from the borewell points, which is resulting in the depletion of groundwater. Water crisis back in Bengaluru? Apartments face shortage after villagers' protest against tankers
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The water tanker owners are now asking the residents to reach out to the government for uninterrupted water supply as the issue is not getting the required attention. RVN Babu, president of the Water Tankers Association, said, We as tanker owners and water point owners have been discussing with Government officials (Tahsildar, DC, Inspector of Police at the Taluk) and Politicians, local body representatives but no way to ger out of the problem. If this situation continues, then we will all face a severe water crisis as our area's 70-80% water demand will be addressed by tankers.
Also Read - Water crisis causes waves of woes in Bengaluru
He said that the water tanker association wants to give an uninterrupted water supply to the residents, but there must be cooperation from all sides. I request the residents to communicate via Email, Twitter, Facebook...etc, about the issue to take it to the government, particularly Mahadevpura and Hoskote regions of Politicians and Government Officials, to arrange hassle-free tanker water supply. The Tanker Association takes a lot of initiatives to streamline water supply/service. Also ready to adhere to the govt norms of becoming a licensed trade community, he added.
Meanwhile, the residents said that they are likely to face the April-like situation where they completely ran out of water and had to wait for the tankers to provide the supply. A user said, We thought the water problem in Bengaluru was solved but it looks like it is going to be a never-ending battle. I hope the government intervenes and solves the issue.
Another user said, All of particularly @BBMPCOMM @bwssbchairman, must work towards making Bengaluru into a SPONGE CITY.Better Drainage,Soak Pits,Greenery, SewageTreatmentPlants, Lake mgmt,etc. are the need of the hour. Bye-laws must be strictly enforced too. Run-off of rainwater must be avoided.
BHOPAL: Two Class 12 students were found dead in a water tank of a government-run hostel in western Madhya Pradeshs Dhar district on Wednesday morning, police said. The district has announced an ex-gratia assistance of 3 lakh each from two funds (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Police said the two students, inmates of the hostel run by the states tribal department, were identified as Vikas Singh, 17, and Akash Ninama, 18,
The two were found in the water tank on Wednesday morning by some villagers who informed the hostel warden about the tragedy.
A hostel inmate Rohit Singh said, We were going for breakfast in the morning. A few villagers who came to fill water from the hostel informed that two students were lying in the tank. We reached there and brought them out. They were alive then. They were rushed to hospital where doctor declared them dead.
A police officer said the two are suspected to have come in contact with a live wire from the tanks water pump when they entered the tank with a bucket and mug,.
The families of the two students accused the hostel warden Bansingh Kannauj of forcing students to clean the tank.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Umang Singhar said, The bodies of two 12th class students were found in the water tank in the hostel premises. The hostel management is not saying anything about how and why this incident happened.
Singhar demanded that MP chief minister Mohan Yadav take action against the hostel superintendent since this was a clear case of negligence and announce necessary assistance for the family members.
Dhar district collector Priyank Mishra suspended hostel superintendent Bansingh Kannauj and formed two-member committee comprising of the area sub-divisional magistrate and an engineer of electricity department to probe the matter. The probe committee will find why the students entered in the tank and how this accident happened.
An ex-gratia of 2 lakh each has been announced for the next kin of the deceased. Another 1 lakh each will be given from Red Cross Fund, the collector added.
Mandi BJP MP Kangana Ranaut on Wednesday withdrew her remarks calling for bringing back the three farm laws that were repealed in 2021 and said that was her opinion and not the partys. Mandi BJP MP Kangana Ranaut posted a video message on social media on Wednesday to announce that she was taking back her words on the three contentious farm laws, which were repealed after prolonged protests by farmers. (X)
She said she might have disappointed many with her statement on the contentious laws which she regretted.
The Himachal Pradesh BJP has also distanced itself from the Mandi MPs statement.
In a post on X, Ranaut wrote, My views on farmers laws are personal and they dont represent the partys stand on those Bills.
She also posted a video on X in which she said, When farmers laws were proposed, several of us had supported them. But with great sensitivity and sympathy, our respected Prime Minister had withdrawn those laws.
I regret if I left anybody disappointed with my words and opinions. I take my words back, she said in the clip.
BJP national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill condemned Kanganas remarks on farmers. In a post on X , Shergill said: As a Punjabi, must say that Ms Kangana Ranauts consistent, baseless, illogical rant against the farmers of Punjab and Sikh community has a damaging impact on all the good work done/being done by PM @narendramodi Ji for the welfare of Punjab, Punjabi & Punjabiyat. The PMs bond with farmers and Punjab cannot be and must not be judged through the lens of one MPs irresponsible comments.
Speaking at an event in Mandi district on Tuesday, Ranaut said the three farm laws faced protests only in some states. Farmers are a pillar of strength in Indias progress. Only in some states, they had objected to farm laws. I appeal with folded hands that farm laws should be brought back in the interest of farmers, she had said.
She said the country is on the path of progress and restoring the farm laws would ensure better financial stability and growth for farmers, ultimately benefiting the agricultural sector.
The Congress alleged that the remarks are an indication that the ruling party was making efforts to bring back the three laws and asserted that Haryana will give a befitting reply to it.
Ranauts remarks come at a time when political parties are preparing for the assembly polls in Haryana on October 5. Haryana had witnessed major protests by farmers, particularly at Delhis borders, demanding that the three laws be repealed. The laws were eventually withdrawn by the Modi government in 2021.
(With inputs from HTC, Jalandhar)
Two bike-borne miscreants on Wednesday allegedly snatched the gold earrings from an 80-year-old woman who was standing outside her house in Kasabad village, officials said. A video grab of the two suspects fleeing after snatching gold earrings from an elderly woman in Kasabad village of Ludhiana on Wednesday. (HT Photo)
They added that as the unidentified accused were snatching the jewellery, the elderly woman fell on the ground and suffered injuries.
Police said the incident was captured on the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in the area, and they have procured the footage for help in identifying and tracing the accused.
The victim, Manjeet Kaur, said she was looking at vegetable vines hanging on the boundary wall of the house when the bike-borne accused crossed the street.
She alleged that they returned shortly after and snatched her jewellery. Following a complainant by the womans kin, the Salem Tabri police reached the spot and took up an investigation.
New Delhi A bench of chief justice designate Manmohan and justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked the universitys vice-chancellor to hold a meeting with Delhi Police, MCD and DMRC. (Representative photo)
The Delhi high court on Wednesday asked the Delhi University (DU) to take stern action against the widespread defacement of property by candidates contesting in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections by cancelling or deferring the polls till the defaced walls are repainted and restored, underlining that the same involved laundering of money and corruption by the students and was worse than general elections.
Expressing dismay over the candidates spending crores of rupees, a bench of chief justice designate Manmohan and justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked the universitys vice-chancellor to hold a meeting with Delhi Police, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), saying that polls are a festival of democracy and not a festival of laundering money.
Terming the issue serious and a failure of the education system, the court said that DU needed to come out with a heavy hand so that people could get lessons regarding their money being wasted.
The DUSU polls are scheduled to be held on September 27. However, the counsel for DU told the court that a decision on the polls would be taken by Thursday. The court duly deferred the case to Thursday.
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Calling DU a place of learning, the bench said that using money in the elections was corrupting students right at the inception.
You might as well defer the elections till everything gets cleaned up, you disqualify them, ask for new nominations to be filed or third, you allow the election on the date fixed but dont allow the result of the elections till everything gets cleaned up. You have options with you. This sort of defacement will be done by someone who is illiterate. I think this is a failure of our education system. I think you will have to come out with a heavy hand, the bench said to advocate Rupal Mohinder, who appeared for DU.
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You either cancel the elections, these people have spent a lot of money. You tell them, first clean it up, it must be repainted, restored, then you allow the elections to take place or you allow the elections to take place. Mr Rupal, this is worse than general elections. I think its time for the vice-chancellor to make a decision. If he has to allow the elections, he will allow the elections. You enforce your order, the bench said.
The bench said, It must be a few crores which is being spent, it is not only in lakhs. They (candidates) have so much money, power in the elections no. What is the use of having the elections? Its a festival of democracy, not a festival of laundering of money. This is laundering of money which is taking place over here. This election system is not to corrupt the youth, no. It is absolute corruption of the youth. See, its a place of learning. Please take some action so that people can get lessons for their lifetime that this money can go waste.
The court was responding to an application filed by advocate Prashant Manchanda, seeking action against the prospective candidates of DUSU elections and student political outfits involved in damaging, defacing, soiling or destroying the beauty of public walls. The application was filed in a plea disposed of in 2019, seeking a complete ban on the defacement of public property by DUSU poll candidates.
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On Tuesday, the high court took DU and other authorities to task for their failure to act against the contesting candidates for defacing public property, and asked DU to issue disqualification notices and also recover the damages caused.
On Wednesday, DUs counsel submitted that on September 22, it issued notice to all 21 contesting candidates to remove banners and posters bearing names and ballot numbers within 24 hours of the receipt of the notice. He said that DU on Tuesday again issued a notice directing them off/remove any campaign material latest by 5pm, warning of disqualification in case of non-compliance. He added that DU asked them to submit a compliance report by Wednesday.
The counsel also informed the court that DU issued a show cause notice to 14 candidates on Wednesday after they failed to submit the affidavit, asking why their candidature should not be cancelled. On instructions of the election officer, the counsel urged the court to adjourn the matter for Thursday, saying that DU was planning to take a decision on the elections by then.
The counsel for MCD submitted that the civic body, between September 13 and 25, removed four truckloads of material, including around 16,000 boards, 17,000 hoardings and 200,000 posters.
Accordingly, the court adjourned the matter for Thursday.
Lucknow: The main opposition party in the state, the Samajwadi Party has launched Matdata Jodo Abhiyan, a campaign aimed at adding more voters to its fold on booths which the party had lost in 2022 state assembly elections. The party has also upped its game on social media asking its senior leaders to follow party workers to boost their morale. The main opposition party in the state, the Samajwadi Party has launched Matdata Jodo Abhiyan, a campaign aimed at adding more voters to its fold on booths which the party had lost in 2022 state assembly elections. (Pic for representation)
The Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party had won 111 assembly seats on its own in the 2022 UP assembly elections. Now 10 assembly seats have fallen vacant due to various reasons and the party is gearing up to contest the bypolls on them. Though it is not clear if the SP will contest on these 10 assembly seats in alliance with the Congress, both the parties have asked their workers to gear up for the bypolls. The SP aims to strengthen the party at booth level as the SP chief has been talking in person to the booth adhyaksh of several districts to strategize for by-polls.
Samajwadi Party spokesperson and former MLC Sunil Singh Sajan said, In all the constituencies which have to undergo bypolls, Samajwadi Party workers of have already met our national president Akhilesh Yadav. The booth level data which we have got and analysed shows on which booths we won as well as those where we lost. We have been working on how to further strengthen the booths which we had won and how to win the ones which we had lost. Our focus is to find out which community people are living in those villages, etc and bring them to our fold. Our focus is only booth at the moment and each person has been given responsibility of his respective booth. No one has been given responsibility of more than one booth.
SP national president Akhilesh Yadav has already met these booth adhyaksh in person and given them the responsibility of their respective booths. Our focus is to bring all the castes together to our fold in order to win the booths, added the SP spokesperson.
On the dynamic social media policy of the SP, Sunil Singh Sajan said, Big leaders have been asked to follow local workers to boost their morale . If we follow our workers, then its obvious the following will also increase . Prabharis have been appointed on all the 10 assembly seats and they have already started working . We are not copying the BJP but doing better than them and will give better results too.
The SP spokesperson also said that there was no third front (PDM) in the state and there was a direct fight between two ideologies. There is a direct contest between two ideologies in the state, one which wants to end the reservation and does not believe in our Indian Constitution and the other comprises those with INDIA alliance, fighting for the rights of the PDA.
However, reacting to SPs booth level preparation and social media policy, UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi has said that the SP had no vision of its own. Samajwadi Party has no vision of its own. SP started its digital campaign after copying the BJP. They (SP) have always been trying to divide the society with caste-based politics, whereas BJP always takes everyone along with it.
The 10 assembly seats for which bypolls will be held include Katehri in Ambedkar Nagar, Karhal in Mainpuri, Milkipur in Ayodhya, Meerapur in Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Majhawan in Mirzapur, Sisamau in Kanpur Nagar, Khair in Aligarh, Phulpur in Prayagraj and Kundarki in Moradabad.
If a child experiences frequent fevers without a clear cause, along with fatigue and pain, it could be a sign of leukemia, a form of blood cancer. Timely diagnosis and treatment can cure cancer in children, but awareness about early detection is crucial. The Kalyan Singh Cancer Institute in Lucknow (HT File Photo)
This was said by Dr RK Dhiman, director, Kalyan Singh Cancer Institute, during a paediatric cancer awareness event themed Gold September.
On Tuesday, a new playroom for children was inaugurated at the OPD block of the institute. The room is equipped with toys to help children relax before and after treatments, easing their pain and stress.
Dr Dhiman also highlighted common types of cancers in children, such as brain cancer, which causes symptoms like vomiting, headaches, and vision or hearing issues. Another prevalent form, lymphoma, causes swollen lymph nodes, fever, and rapid weight loss.
He mentioned that paediatric cancer cases are on the rise but can be treated effectively with new drugs and technologies. Each year, over 50,000 paediatric cancer cases are treated in India, with Uttar Pradesh contributing to about 20% of these cases. Unfortunately, only half of them receive treatment, largely due to a lack of awareness.
The event emphasised the importance of early detection and collaboration between healthcare professionals and the public to improve treatment outcomes.
LUCKNOW The UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) launched an investigation after the fastag hacking of 21 roadways buses surfaced on September 23, which led to losses of over 1 lakh in a day. A complaint was also lodged against a bank in this regard, said officials. The NHAI is also probing the possible involvement of toll plaza operators. (Pic for representation)
A statewide inspection had been launched to check the fastag devices of all state buses at different depots to ascertain whether they had been compromised. The NHAI was also probing the possible involvement of toll plaza operators. The buses found to have hacked fastag systems were from Prayagraj, Kanpur and Jhansi. The staff raised an alarm when the accounts attached to the fastags reflected zero funds balance at toll booths. The drivers of these buses had to pay from their pocket, only to find that the accounts reflected full funds on the UPSRTC servers.
UPSRTC general manager (technical) Ankur Vikas said the matter had been escalated to the assistant regional manager (finance) Rajkumar Nigam, who was coordinating with the police on the investigation. We have filed an FIR with the police, and the investigation is already underway. However, we are yet to arrive at solid conclusions, and are working on ensuring that no other vehicles in the state bus fleet have been hacked, said Vikas. The UPSRTC has over 11,000 buses equipped with fastag devices.
The transport corporation spends 1 to 2 crore on fastag every day, and has accounts with State Bank of India and Axis Bank. On behalf of UPSRTC, IT head Yajuvendra Kumar has denied any negligence on the part of his department, saying, To say that the repeated hacking incidents are due to the negligence of the IT department is baseless, which seems to be an attempt to defame our hard work and dedication.
According to UPSRTC technical officer Ajit Singh, these particular buses were found to be attached to accounts of the two banks simultaneously. The corporation statement read, After investigation, it became clear that the possibility of collusion of some bank cannot be ruled out.
Three vehicles, including a school bus, were involved in a pile-up on Wednesday morning near Samta Mulak Chauraha in Lucknow. For representation only (HT File Photo)
No one has been injured in the accident, and police force was sent to the spot, said Gomti Nagar SHO Vipin Singh.
According to eyewitnesses, first a car collided with a dumper of the municipal corporation. After that a school bus which was behind also collided with the car.
However, there were no children in the school bus except the driver and the bus conductor when the accident took place.
The police reached the spot and pacified everyone. After mutual agreement, they were sent home from there.
Reportedly, the dumper driver suddenly applied brakes due to which both vehicles collided. Eyewitnesses said that the dumper of the municipal corporation was going ahead, behind it was a car and a school bus.
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has given his approval to an extensive development plan for Mumbai's Backbay Reclamation area. The proposal, which includes plans for a marina, beaches, a new legislative building, and residential and commercial zones, was greenlit on Tuesday during a meeting of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) chaired by Shinde. South Mumbai's Backbay Reclamation. (Hindustan Times)
The revised draft development plan for the Backbay Reclamation Scheme (Blocks III to VI) takes into account ongoing projects by various organisations in the area, including slum rehabilitation and metro initiatives. The plan divides the area into residential and commercial zones, with particular attention paid to natural features such as beaches and mangroves.
"The draft plan includes the expansion of the New Legislative Building and the introduction of new link roads, among them a proposed connectivity between Netaji Subhashchandra Marg (Marine Drive) and General Jagannath Bhosle Marg. Additionally, a dedicated marina for tourism is proposed, which will include ports for small boats and yachts to boost tourism in the area," stated the document presented for approval during Tuesday's meeting.
Another significant project that received approval was the preliminary alignment report for an access-controlled highway connecting Kalyan, Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath, and Badlapur with Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. Estimated at 10,833 crore, the project aims to reduce travel time between these cities and Mumbai to 60 minutes, and to Navi Mumbai to 30 minutes. The highway will provide direct connectivity to the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport and NAINA, while also alleviating congestion in Thane and nearby highways.
The Badlapur to Virar-Alibaug Multimodal Corridor project will feature an eight-lane divided carriageway with service lanes, designed for speeds of up to 80 kmph. Major interchanges are proposed with key roadways, including the Mumbai-Vadodara Spur, Katai-Badlapur and the Kalyan Ring Road.
An initial budgetary allocation of up to 100 crore was made to initiate the execution of the Economic Master Plan for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). This ambitious roadmap, jointly developed by NITI Aayog and the Government of Maharashtra, aims to position MMR as a central growth hub in India. Earlier this month, a Memorandum of Collaboration was signed with the World Economic Forum.
The meeting also approved a proposal to allot a plot to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in Bandra Kurla Complex, allowing for a built-up area of 5 lakh square feet.
Sanjay Mukherjee, Metropolitan Commissioner of MMRDA, emphasised the authority's vision: "We are focused on creating a balanced approach to growth that integrates infrastructure development, environmental conservation, and the well-being of local communities. The revised development plans and major connectivity projects, such as the Backbay Reclamation and the access-controlled highway, are critical to shaping the future of MMR. Our vision is to enhance connectivity, promote economic growth, and ensure that every project respects the natural and social fabric of the region."
A right to information (RTI) activist from Assam was arrested in Delhi on Wednesday in connection with the suicide of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from the northeastern state, officials said. An Assam Police team has reached Delhi to secure Boras custody and take him back to Assam on a transit remand. (Representational image)
The RTI activist, Dulal Bora, is accused of abetment to suicide of a panchayat representative in Rajapukhuri in Charaideo district. He allegedly filed RTI applications regarding misuse of public money in construction of a temple in the area. But despite replies to his queries, he allegedly harassed the panchayat representative, who was responsible for the project. The BJP leader died by suicide on Friday leaving a note, accusing Bora and three others of being responsible for his act.
We had information that Bora was in Delhi, and we requested the police there to trace and arrest him. He was arrested on Wednesday morning. A team from Assam Police is already there. Bora will be produced in court in Delhi and brought to Assam either on Wednesday evening or Thursday on a transit remand, said Charaideo police superintendent Hiranya Kumar Barman.
Barman said that two other accused in the case, who have been named in the suicide note, a former block development officer, Ranjit Buragohain, and a journalist, Parismita Phukan Baishya, have already been arrested. The fourth accused, a journalist, Rafiq Ahmed, is yet to be arrested.
The Delhi Police confirmed that they apprehended Bora from the residence of his daughter at Kriti Nagar in West Delhi, after their counterparts in Assam informed them about his presence in the city and sought assistance to catch him in the abetment to suicide case.
A senior Delhi Police officer, who did not want to be named, said that the Assam Police alerted the west district police about Boras presence in a private hospital for treatment. We were told that Bora was a fugitive, and he had fled his hometown in Assam to avoid his arrest in the case, he said.
The Assam police, the officer said, learnt that Boras daughter is a cardiologist in a private hospital, and he was admitted there for treatment of his ailments.
We sent a police team to the hospital in the morning (Wednesday), where the team members learnt that Bora was discharged some moments ago. The team then went to the residence of the cardiologist, where Bora was found. He was apprehended and brought to the Kirti Nagar police station. An Assam Police team has already reached Delhi to secure Boras custody and take him back to Assam on a transit remand, for which they will produce him in a Delhi court and seek permission, the officer said, and added that Bora was not arrested by the Delhi Police, since he was not wanted in any case in the city.
Bora has been in the headlines in Assam for allegedly misusing the RTI Act to blackmail people and extort huge sums. Following a CID report this month that he has 31 criminal cases of cheating and extortion against him, the state information commission decided recently to keep all his second appeals and applications in abeyance.
Bora is accused of filing hundreds of RTI applications seeking information on projects and he used the replies to blackmail government officials and contractors to extort large sums. According to the state information commission, he had filed 2,173 second RTI appeals, which are filed when an applicant is not satisfied with the responses received. The RTI activist runs a news portal and had even contested the 2021 assembly polls.
The state cabinet will take a decision urging all government departments and the state information commission not to reply to any RTI applications filed by Bora in future. He should be treated as a criminal and not as an RTI activist, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday.
BHUBANESWAR: Nurses of state-run hospitals and healthcare centres in Odisha on Wednesday launched a two-day agitation to demand implementation of their 10-point list of demands including regularisation of contractual workers and scrapping of outsourcing. The nurses had gone on a token strike in August to draw the governments attention to their 10-point charter of demands (FILE PHOTO/Representative Image)
The nurses, agitating under the banner of Odisha Nursing Employees Association (ONEA), have also threatened to completely stay off hospital duties from September 27 if their demands are not met. Suchismita Dash, the ONEA president, said currently nurses at state-run hospitals except those posted at emergency services, intensive care units and operation theatres are participating in Wednesdays agitation.
The nurses are demanding that the duration of their contractual service should be treated as a period of qualifying service for consideration of promotion, a modified assured career progression (MACP) and notional increments.
Though the BJD (Biju Janata Dal) government abolished the contractual system, several nursing employees are not getting due financial benefits and many senior nurses are still getting salaries on par with juniors or even less. We demand promotion of eligible nursing officers to the post of senior nursing officers and assistant nursing superintendent by way of relaxation of residency period, recruitment against the post of community health officers under the National Health Mission, reverting the deployed regular nursing officers to their parent cadre and regularisation of left out contractual nursing officers, said Dash.
The state government has asked heads of all healthcare facilities to take action against the nursing staff under the Odisha Emergency Services (Maintenance) Act, 1988 if they go for cease work.
Odishas nursing director Dr Artabandhu Nayak has asked directors of Bhubaneswars Capital Hospital, Cuttacks Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer (AHPGIC) and Rourkela Government Hospital, superintendents of medical colleges and hospitals and all CDMOs to act against nurses under ESMA.
Health minister Mukesh Mahaling said the nursing association has been called for a meeting on Wednesday.
We have invited them to discuss their issues. The discussion will be successful and health services will not be affected, he told reporters.
The University of Essex is accepting applications for its wide range of masters degree programmes in Business Analytics, AI, Psychology, and other areas, for the January 2025 intake. Interested students can submit their applications by November 11, 2024. University of Essex has opened applications for its diverse range of master's degree programmes including Business Analytics, AI, Psychology and more.
There are several courses offered by the university for the masters degree. For instance, the masters in public policy is aimed at preparing students to influence and implement policies in the dynamic field of governance, while the MSc in Business Analytics focuses on data-driven decision-making to solve complex business challenges.
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Furthermore, students inclined toward science can opt for the MSc Applied Science, which combines theoretical knowledge with practical applications to address real-world scientific problems.
There are other advanced courses offered by the university in the field of data science and technology which include MSc Data Science which is designed to build expertise in data analysis, machine learning, and computational methods.
Besides, the MSc in Data Science with Professional Placement provides practical industry experience alongside academic training, whereas the MSc in Artificial Intelligence offers in-depth knowledge of AI and machine learning.
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For law aspirants, the LLM International Law course offers specialisation in international legal systems and justice frameworks.
Also, the MA in Psychology helps students to expand their understanding of psychological theories and methodologies, thereby enabling them to carve a way for careers in psychology and related fields.
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Students who are interested in pursuing a masters degree from the University of Essex can visit the official website www.essex.ac.uk for additional details. The university also advises prospective students to submit their applications early to ensure consideration for scholarships and financial aid.
West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board will release the WBJEE B.Pharm 2024 seat allotment result for Round 1 on September 25, 2024. Candidates who have registered for the Pharmacy round can check the result through the official website of WBJEEB at wbjeeb.in. WBJEE B.Pharm 2024 seat allotment result for Round 1 releasing today
As per the official schedule, the payment of the seat acceptance fee and reporting to allotted institutes for document verification and admission can be done from September 25 to September 28, 2024.
MP NEET UG 2nd round allotment result today at dme.mponline.gov.in, here's what happens next
WBJEE B.Pharm 2024 seat allotment result for Round 1: How to check
All the registered candidates can check the results by following the steps given below.
Visit the official website of WBJEEB at wbjeeb.in.
Click on WBJEE B.Pharm 2024 seat allotment result for Round 1 link available on the home page.
A new page will open where candidates will have to enter the login details.
Click on submit and your seat allotment result will be displayed on the screen.
Check the seat allotment result and download the page.
Keep a hard copy of the same for further need.
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The candidate must pay a refundable seat acceptance fee /caution money of Rs. 5000/- through online mode- Debit card, Net Banking, Credit Card or UPI. Once the payment is done, candidates can download the allotment letter. If the candidate fails to pay the seat acceptance fee, the current allotment will be cancelled, and he/she will not be considered for seat allotment in the Upgradation Round.
Read more: AP ECET 2024 seat allotment result for Pharmacy course releasing today at ecet-sche.aptonline.in
After downloading the allotment letter, the candidate must report it to the allotted institute with the allotment letter and all other documents for physical verification. In case the candidate is unable to report to the institute for document verification, the current allotment will be cancelled automatically, and he/she will not be considered for seat allotment in the Upgradation Round.
The Bar Council of India on Tuesday asked law schools to immediately implement several regulatory measures, including a system to check students' criminal backgrounds, attendance compliance, CCTV monitoring at institutes, and student declarations regarding their academic pursuits and employment status. Bar Council of India issues notice for students' criminal background checks and attendance compliance at law schools (barcouncilofindia.org)
The notification has been issued in response to judicial observations regarding the need to monitor the backgrounds of law students and to ensure transparency and accountability in attendance and conduct.
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To uphold the ethical standards of the profession, law students must maintain a clean criminal record. All law students are now required to declare any ongoing FIR, criminal case, conviction, or acquittal before the issuance of their final marksheets and degrees, the council said.
Further, they must declare that they are not pursuing any other regular academic programme along with their LLB degree, except for short-term, part-time certificate courses such as language or computer applications. However, they are allowed to pursue distance learning programmes.
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Students are not allowed to be engaged in any job, service or vocation during the course of their LLB degree, unless they have obtained a valid NOC (No Objection Certificate), BCI said.
It is made clear that no one will be allowed to be enrolled in any State Bar Council, if he/she fails to inform the Bar Council of India and obtain NOC from his/her employer.
The institutes must wait for the BCI's decision before awarding degrees to such students. Strict disciplinary action will be taken against students and institutes that do not comply, it added.
The council has asked all centres of legal education to install biometric attendance systems and to ensure accurate monitoring of student attendance.
BCI said CCTV cameras must be installed in classrooms and other key areas, and the recordings must be preserved for one year to support any necessary verification or investigation related to attendance and student conduct.
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Students who do not disclose their background, simultaneous degree status, or employment details will face academic and legal consequences, including the withholding of mark sheets and degrees.
Institutions failing to enforce these measures will face disciplinary actions, including de-recognition or disapproval of affiliation, BCI said.
Anna University in an official notification has invited applications from students who would like to apply for revaluation in the Feb/March 2024 examinations for PG (Distance Education Programmes). Incomplete applications will be rejected and the fee will neither be refunded nor adjusted towards any fee due to the university (FOR REPRESENTATION)
As per the notification, students who would like to apply for revaluation should first apply for a photocopy of the answer script by paying 3000 per script in the form of a Demand Draft drawn in favour of Controller of Examinations, Distance Education, Anna University, Chennai -25 from September 25, 2024, to September 30, 2024.
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Students who belong to the non-functioning Study Centres of Distance Education, need to register for photocopy of the answer script by contacting the study centre coordinator with the demand draft, informed the university.
Students need to note that no application will be accepted beyond the due date prescribed, incomplete applications will be rejected and the fee will neither be refunded nor adjusted towards any fee due to the university, mentioned the press release.
For more information regarding the revaluation process, visit the official website.
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In a setback to the state government, the Himachal Pradesh High Court restrained the concerned authorities from transferring 112 hectares of land of Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Agriculture University, Palampur, to the tourism department for the tourism village project. The interim order directed the chief secretary, secretaries of tourism and agriculture departments, deputy commissioner, Kangra and the registrar of the University to file their replies by October 17. (File)
The interim order passed by the division bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Ranjan Sharma on Tuesday, directed the chief secretary, secretaries of tourism and agriculture departments, deputy commissioner, Kangra and the registrar of the University to file their replies by October 17.
The interim order was passed on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Teachers' Association asserting that the transfer of land of the university for the Tourism Village project would have an adverse effect on agriculture education.
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The petitioner said that locals had submitted representations to the Governor and chief minister in this regard on August 29. Seven former vice-chancellors of the university had also requested the state not to transfer the land.
The students, alumni, teachers, non-teachers, retirees and former vice chancellor and the University have appealed to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to reconsider the decision and restore the land to the University.
Sukhu had told the House on September 6 that the decision to transfer 112 hectares of land of Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar (CSK) Agriculture University, Palampur to the Tourism Department for setting up a tourism village was final and the land would be transferred soon.
He had said that during the past 48 years, even 50 hectares of land was not developed by the University. If the need arises in the future, the university would be provided with private land.
The letter had said that the transfer of University land will adversely affect the interests of agricultural education and the farming community, especially at a time when the proposal of upgrading CSKHPKV Palampur to Central Agricultural University of North-Western Himalayan Region, aimed at serving the farming community of Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, is under active consideration of the Union Ministry of Agriculture.
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Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras Professor Ravindra Gettu has been awarded Honorary Member, the highest recognition of RILEM (International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems, and Structures). IIT Madras Professor Ravindra Gettu has been awarded Honorary Member, the highest recognition of RILEM.
Prof Gettu had served as RILEMs President from 2018-21, making him the first and only Asian to do so in its 78-year history, a press release informed.
Apart from this, Prof Gettu was also the Vice-President and Chair of the Technical Activities Committee of RILEM.
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A former Dean of Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research at IIT Madras, Prof Gettu graduated from the Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, with a B.E. (Honours) degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Madras in 1984.
Following this, he studied in the USA and obtained an M.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Marquette University, Milwaukee, and a Ph.D. degree in Structural Engineering from Northwestern University, Evanston.
At present, Prof Gettu is the V.S. Raju Chair Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Madras and has led the technology development and implementation of Fibre reinforced concrete (FRC) in India, the release added.
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With a keen focus on technological implementation, Prof Gettu is currently working on diverse projects which include textile-reinforced concrete and sustainability assessment of construction, among others.
Some of his areas of research include fracture mechanics of concrete and rock, nonlinear behaviour of cement-based materials, high strength, fibre reinforced and self-compacting concretes, sustainability, and the effective use of chemical admixtures.
Meanwhile, expressing his gratitude to RILEM for the honour, Prof. Gettu, remarked that he had the wonderful opportunity of leading the worlds most significant organization of researchers in construction materials, in a phase of growing global footprint and scope.
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Highlighting an aspect from this tenure, Prof Gettu said he saw the transition to communications and interactions based on social media and online meetings, particularly during the pandemic, opened the doors for reaching remote parts of the world and gave the chance to researchers to voice their opinions and showcase their investigations.
Prof Manu Santhanam, the Dean of Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research at IIT Madras, and an active RILEM member and Fellow, congratulated Prof Gettu and highlighted that his presidency and term were marked with many firsts such as the establishment of the RILEM Youth Council and the online workshop series.
His excellent stewardship of this organization through the difficult period of the Covid pandemic exemplifies his commitment to sustaining quality research and collaboration, Prof Santhanam added.
The University of Windsor announced a strategic delegation visit to India, led by Dr Robert Gordon, Vice-Chancellor and President, who will be accompanied by Dr Bill Van Heyst, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, and Dr Chris Busch, Associate Vice President. The visit also aims to build strong global partnerships and enhance the educational journey for aspiring students in India. (Representative file image)
The visit by the delegation aims to forge academic partnerships, promote collaborative programs, and enhance cross-cultural exchanges between India and Canada.
The visit also aims to build strong global partnerships and enhance the educational journey for aspiring students in India. The team intends to meet top institutes across Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Trichy and Mumbai, from September 23, 2024, to October 2, 2024, to promote cross-cultural exchanges to provide seamless global exposure and cohesive study abroad opportunities.
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During this tour, the delegation will be interacting with the teams at IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, DTU, JNTU, Vel Tech Institute, SASTRA Trichy and IIT Mumbai along with an MoU signing ceremony at Vel Tech Chennai.
This visit is a vital opportunity for us to strengthen our academic ties with India. With over 320,000 Indian students studying in Canada in 2023, they represent more than 35% of all international students. By engaging with leading Indian universities and industry leaders, we aim to create a robust framework for reciprocal mobility that will benefit both our institutions and our students. Our commitment to fostering these relationships not only enhances educational opportunities but also acknowledges the significant contributions Indian students make to our economy, supporting over 170,000 jobs across various sectors," said Dr Robert Gordon, Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Windsor.
Our goal is to showcase the commitment of University of Windsor to innovation in education. By partnering with new Indian institutions and expanding existing ties, we can create collaborative solutions that provide Indian students with access to world-class learning opportunities in Canada as well as provide research and training opportunities that benefit both countries," said Dr Bill Van Heyst, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Windsor.
Discussions will also center around the creation of scholarship programs, financial aid programs and internship and study-abroad opportunities to enhance reciprocal understanding of cultures in India and Canada, mentioned the press release.
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The anime summer season wrapped up with a bang, bringing us a sizzling lineup that had something for everyone. From action-packed adventures to heartwarming tales, this season was packed with unforgettable stories. Lets dive into the best anime that made this summer truly epic. A compilation of best anime of summer 2024.(Crunchyroll)
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Best anime of Summer 2024
Following is a list of the top anime picks from the summer season of 2024, according to the Anime News Network.
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MONOGATARI Series: OFF & MONSTER Season
Synopsis:
The anime is based on the novels written by NISIOSIN and animated by SHAFT. The plot follows the journey of Koyomi Araragi after he graduates from high school. The main focus of the series is on the girls he saved earlier. While his story ends at the high school, the girls journeys have just begun.
NieR:Automata Ver 1.1a Part 2
Synopsis:
The machine forms Adam and Eve are put to rest and the android forces can finally go off to reclaim the Earth for humanity. However, a new challenge awaits 2B, 9S and A2 which will not only disrupt their perspective of the world but will also make them question each other.
Mayonaka Punch
Synopsis:
Bringing in the cool breeze in the hot summer, Mayonaka Punch is a light-hearted comedy anime. The plot revolves around a NewTuber who is abandoned by her group after she punches a collaborator in the face. In order to regain her online reputation and fans, Masaki partners up with Live, a vampire who is obsessed with drinking her blood.
The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies
Synopsis:
The animation series is about a magical girl who has sworn to prevail over peace, justice and love. But what will happen when a lieutenant who was born into a military family that serves an evil empire falls in love with the magic girl?
YATAGARASU: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master
The fantasy drama dives into the world of shapeshifting ravens, Yamauchi. This world is ruled by the Yatagarasu clan who have the ability to shift between the form of a crow or a human. The focus is on Yukiya, the Northern Leaders son who is called upon by the Imperial Prince amid murders and mysteries from an unknown enemy.
Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines
Kazuhiko Nukumizu, a plain and friendless guy, is shocked to see popular girl Anna Yanami get friend-zoned by her crush. He soon notices that other popular girls are facing similar rejections. Unbeknownst to him, Kazuhiko becomes caught up in the romantic drama where all the leading heroines are struggling in love.
Senpai is an Otonoko
It is a romantic drama which revolves around a young man named Makoto Hanoaka who dresses up like a woman and the love triangle that ensues because of this trait of his.
Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction
The story is set in a world where a massive alien spaceship, known as the Mothership, has been hovering over Tokyo for three years. The Japanese government attempted to destroy it but was unable to succeed.
Actor Aishwarya Rai, who recently attended the Paris Fashion Week 2024, returned to Mumbai early on Wednesday. Several videos and pictures showed the actor exiting the Mumbai airport with her daughter Aaradhya Bachchan. (Also Read | Alia Bhatt shares pics with Aishwarya Rai, other celebs from Paris Fashion Week) Aishwarya Rai and Aaradhya Bachchan were sen at the Mumbai airport.
Aishwarya clicks pics with paparazzi
The mother-daughter duo smiled as they walked out of the terminal building. Aaradhya Bachchan was seen holding Aishwarya's arm as they walked towards their car. Aishwarya also chatted with the paparazzi.
She also posed for pictures and selfies with them. Before getting inside her car, Aishwarya folded her hands at the camerapersons stationed at the airport. The actor also mouthed 'thank you'. For the travel, Aishwarya and Aaradhya twinned in black outfits.
Aishwarya attended Paris event with Aaradhya
Aishwarya walked the ramp on Monday at the event as brand ambassador of a beauty label, L'Oreal Paris. She was dressed in a balloon hem red dress. Her walk became more special when she greeted the French audience with 'namaste'.
About Aishwarya
Aishwarya recently won the Best Actress award at the South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) for her performance in Mani Ratnam-directorial Ponniyin Selvan 2. The SIIMA 2024 award was presented to Aishwarya by filmmaker Kabir Khan.
After winning the award, she shared a heartfelt gratitude, thanking the entire team of Ponniyin Selvan. She said, "Thank you so very much, SIIMA, for honouring me with this award. It means the world to me because Ponniyin Selvan was a movie so close to my heart. Directed by my mentor Mani Ratnam, this award recognises not just my work as Nandini but the efforts of the entire team." Aishwarya is yet to announce her next project.
Ponniyin Selvan 2 was directed by Mani Ratnam. It is the sequel to the 2022 film Ponniyin Selvan. Actor Kamal Haasan lent his voice to the film's narration. Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman has composed the music for the film.
Alia Bhatt recently debuted at the Paris Fashion Week when she walked for LOreal with Aishwarya Rai, Eva Longoria, Kendall Jenner, Heidi Klum, Cara Delevingne and others. Shes back in Mumbai with her family - Ranbir Kapoor, daughter Raha and Neetu Kapoor - in tow. (Also Read: Internet impressed with Alia Bhatt's Telugu after she sings Chuttamalle from Devara Part 1. Watch) Alia Bhatt returned to India on Wednesday after debuting at the Paris Fashion Week.
Alia back in Mumbai
On Wednesday, pictures and videos of Alia returning to Mumbai surfaced on social media. In a video, Raha looks sleepy as she cuddles Ranbir, and Neetu kisses her. The family all dressed up in comfortable casuals for the trip and looked ready to go home and rest after an exciting trip to France. After getting into a sprinter van, Raha sat in her fathers lap, looking at fans clicking their photographs wide-eyed.
After returning home, Alia also posted numerous behind-the-scenes photos from her ramp walk debut in Paris, captioning them Backstage. Some pictures show her looking stunning in the silver breastplate and black pants she wore to walk the ramp, while others show her getting ready for the walk. One picture even shows her sitting in the front row at a fashion show with supermodel Heidi Klum.
A day earlier, Alia posted pictures of her and other LOreal ambassadors walking the show, writing, a night to uplift, embrace & inspire; because were all #WorthIt. The Walk Your Worth show was part of L'Oreal's Women's Ready-to-wear Spring-Summer 2025 collection. Some Reddit users accused her of cropping out Aishwarya in one of the pictures.
Upcoming work
Alia will soon appear in Jigra, directed by Vasan Bala. The film, which will be released in theatres on October 11, also stars Vedang Raina. Ranbir will soon appear in Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Love and War with Alia and Vicky Kaushal, as well as Nitesh Tiwaris Ramayana with Sai Pallavi.
Filmmaker Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light is set to arrive in theatres across France on October 2, its lead actor Kani Kusruti said on Wednesday. (Also Read | Laapataa Ladies actor Chhaya Kadam admits 'feeling bad' as All We Imagine As Light isn't picked as Indias Oscars entry) All We Imagine As Light won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.
The news comes days after the Malayalam-Hindi movie, the winner of the Grand Prix award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, was released in limited screens in Kerala on September 21 by Rana Daggubati's production house Spirit Media.
All We Imagine As Light, titled Prabhayay Ninachathellam in Malayalam, narrates the story of two Kerala nurses Prabha (Kani) and Anu (Divya Prabha) co-habiting in Mumbai. It is an official Indo-French co-production between Chalk and Cheese Films from India and petit chaos from France.
Kani, currently in Paris with co-star Divya, posted about the film's France release in an Instagram post.
"Our movie ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT scheduled to be released in France by @condordistribution on 2 October 2024. Thrilled to see our film's poster in Paris, France! Grateful to be part of world cinema, where stories speak every language. #allweimagineaslight #WorldCinema #CrossingBorders #DreamsOnScreen Ps: Missing all the other actors and crew in this picture," she wrote alongside a series of pictures and videos.
All We Imagine As Light, also starring Chhaya Kadam, will subsequently be released across all major cities in India by Spirit Media. The movie charted history earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival, where it became the first Indian film ever to win the prestigious Grand Prix. It was also the first film from India to make it to the European gala's main competition in 30 years.
The trailer of Vikramaditya Motwanes cyber thriller CTRL was unveiled on Wednesday morning by streaming giant Netflix. The film stars Ananya Panday as a young woman who relinquishes control of her life to artificial intelligence after a traumatic event. But this comes back to haunt her. (Also read: CTRL: Ananya Panday's thriller to arrive on Netflix in October. Watch teaser) CTRL stars Ananya Panday and a Ranveer Singh-looking AI
What is in CTRL trailer
The trailer introduces Ananya as Nella, who makes an account on a platform called CTRL. It allows an AI assistant to control your life and happiness. It is revealed that Nella is trying to escape a bad breakup where her boyfriend had cheated on her. She asks Ctrl to remove her ex. And then she learns he has gone missing, which implies there are real-world implications of the AIs meddling.
The trailer left many impressed with its unique and timely focus on social media obsession and the fear of AI. One fan commented, This is all we want. Everything is perfect. Another wrote, Eagerly Waiting to watch itVery Fresh and full of surprises this film is.
However, many compared it to Black Mirror, the hit British dystopian sci-fi series that also focusses on the drawbacks of technology. Black Mirror India, read one comment.
Motwane and Ananya on CTRL
In a statement, director Vikramaditya Motwane said, CTRL has been a totally unique journey for me and the team. It's told in what we call the screen life format, which is telling a story in an almost voyeuristic way using the tech that we use literally every single day. Our goal has been to create this incredible immersive experience, and Netflix as a platform has really helped us in reaching our global audience.
Talking about her character and the film, Ananya Panday added, My character Nella, is like any of us. She's caught up in a world dominated by technology and social media. CTRL explores how we navigate the fine line between our online presence and who we are in real life. Working with Vikram sir and Nikhil sir has been an incredible journey, and I can't wait for you to watch it on Netflix and uncover the connection between Nella and Allen.
The trailers caption describes CTRL as a cyber-thriller starring Ananya Panday and Vihaan Samat. Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, CTRL releases on 4 October, on Netflix.
Alia Bhatt and Aishwarya Rai rubbed shoulders with the biggest stars from around the world earlier this week as they walked the ramp at the star-studded Paris Fashion Week for cosmetics giant LOreal. After the first pictures from the show appeared on social media, Alia herself shared a number of photos from the night on Instagram. Many eagle-eyed followers were quick to jump on to a big omission from the pictures though Aishwarya. As fans of the senior actor accused Alia of cropping her out, Reddit set out to set the record straight. (Also read: Alia Bhatt, Aishwarya Rai are lost in conversation as they get ready together for fashion show in Paris: Pics) Alia Bhatt and Aishwarya Rai both walked the ramp at a L'Oreal show at the Paris Fashion Week on Monday.
What pictures did Alia share?
On Tuesday night, Alia shared a bunch of pictures from the LOreal Paris Runway on her Instagram. The carousel post includes her solo shots from the runway as well as long shots of the Bollywood actors with other international stars, including Kendal Jenner among others. However, fans noted that Aishwarya who also walked the ramp was not part of the group photo. In fact, some pointed out that her dress sleeve was visible on the left side of the picture, which meant she had been cropped out from the picture.
Did Alia crop Aishwarya out?
As the pictures went viral, Aishwaryas fans accused Alia of deliberately cropping her out. This shows jealousy, one wrote on Reddit. She doesnt want to share the spotlight, added another on Twitter. However, on Wednesday, some Reddit users shared the images that Alia had originally posted, pointing out that the images were from Getty, the global photo agency, and the cropping was done by the agency itself and not Alia. The post read, Getty images posted these photos. Alia didn't crop anyone. Other loreal ambassadors posted the same pic as alia did so are they jealous of Aish?
Fans defended Alia in the comments. One wrote, Honestly, I think people are thinking way too much. Many celebs were present at the event and some of them got cut because they joined late or stood behind. Another added, They just werent going to get everyone in frame for this type of photoor maybe they did and those that didnt make it werentphotographed well in that moment. Some even pointed out that Alia did post another photo that had Aish in it.
All about Aish and Alia in Paris
Alia and Aishwarya were among the LOreal ambassadors like Kendall Jenner, Heidi Klum, as well as actor Eva Longoria and actor-model Cara Delevingne. Alia included a video of them in her Paris Fashion Week post. The Walk Your Worth show was part of L'Oreal's Women's Ready-to-wear Spring-Summer 2025 collection.
Fardeen Khan recently dedicated a heartfelt note to his father Feroz Khan on his birth anniversary. The actor shared a collage on Instagram Reels from the late actor-filmmaker's younger days to later years with his family. Fardeen penned an emotional message on behalf of himself and his sister Laila, celebrating the legacy of their father. (Also read: Fardeen Khan breaks silence on not being part of No Entry 2: You should call Boney Kapoor) Fardeen Khan paid a heartfelt tribute to his father Feroz Khan on his birth anniversary.
Fardeen Khan remembers father Feroz Khan
Fardeen captioned his post: 15 years without you, and though time has passed, your presence is felt deeply in the lives of those you never had the chance to meet. Your grandchildren, the third generation of Khans, carry pieces of your fearless heart and unmatched spirit. They live with stories of the legend you wereyour grace, your strength, and your timeless charisma. Though fate kept you apart, your essence runs through their veins, a bond unspoken but deeply understood. Taken from us too soon, but through them, your legacy endures in ways words cannot capture. Happy Birthday, pa. You live on through us, always. Laila & Fardeen.
Esha Deol added heart and folded hands emojis in her comment. Bobby Deol dropped heart emojis. A user commented, What a heart warming ode to your dad. Left me teary eyed. A fan wrote, The most charming n handsome man in our industry. Another fan commented, Style icon of Bollywood.
Feroz Khan's Bollywood career
Feroz Khan was known for acting in popular Hindi films such as Arzoo (1965), Safar (1970), Mela (1971), Apradh (1972), Khotte Sikkay (1974), Kala Sona (1975), Dharmatma (1975), Nagin (1976), Qurbani (1980), Janbaaz (1986) and Welcome (2007). He also directed Prem Aggan (2000) and Janasheen (2003) with his son Fardeen.
Fardeen Khan's comeback and upcoming projects
Fardeen recently made his comeback to acting after with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Heeramandi (2024). He was also seen in Kookie Gulati's action-thriller Visfot (2024). The film was produced by Sanjay Gupta's White Feather Films. It is based on the 2012 Venezuelan film Rock, Paper, Scissors. Fardeen also starred in Akshay Kumar's comedy-drama Khel Khel Mein (2024). He will be making his Kannada debut with Darshan starrer action film Devil: The Hero.
Kiss the Future, a new documentary feature produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, has landed in hot soup ahead of Hollywoods awards season. The film has been deemed ineligible for Oscars by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the governing body of the awards. However, the films producers have criticised the Academys ruling over a rule that they say has been misinterpreted. (Also read: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon to reunite after Air for crime thriller RIP) Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have co-produced Kiss the Future
Why Kiss the Future was deemed ineligible for Oscars
On Monday, Deadline reported that the Academy had deemed Kiss the Future ineligible for the 2025 Oscars as its theatrical release had not satisfied and fulfilled the criteria set in the rules. All films that vie for the Oscars need to have a wide release in a specific number of theatres in the US. The Academy stated that Kiss the Future played fewer shows than were required hence, it was deemed ineligible.
The producers appeal
However, the films producers - Damon, Affleck and Sarah Anthony, argued the films wide release in 139 AMC cinemas including screens in the qualifying markets of Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Atlanta should be enough to make it Oscar-eligible. The Academy argued that Kiss the Future only played two shows a day and not the minimum three, as specified in Rule 12 of Oscar guidelines. The producers appeal was, hence, rejected.
However, after the story was broken by Deadline, many social media users investigated the Oscar guidelines and pointed out that nowhere is it mentioned that the film needs to have three shows on one screen. If all the screens in a city are counted, then Kiss the Future played much more than just three shows and hence, must be deemed eligible.
All about Kiss the Future
Kiss the Future, directed by director Nenad Cicin-Sain, tells the story of the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s and how U2s music helped inspire the citys beleaguered residents. The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival last year, followed by its US premiere at Tribeca Festival. It was nominated for the Cinema for Peace Award and won the Audience Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Five years ago, fans in a theatre in India celebrated the entry of Thor in Avenger: Infinity War by throwing popcorn in the air. It is an enduring image and nothing like he had seen before, says actor Chris Hemsworth whose role as the superhero propelled him to the dizzying heights of stardom. (Also Read: Chris Hemsworth hits back at Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola for criticising Marvel films) Chris Hemsworth at the premiere for the film Transformers One recently in London.(Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Chris Hemsworth on Indian fans
"I love India. I love Indian fans," the Hollywood star told PTI, adding that footage from that screening comes to his mind every time he visits India. India is also where he shot a significant portion of his 2020 movie Extraction.
"I remember the 'bring me Thanos' moment during Infinity War. There was footage of a cinema hall in India where that happened and people (were) throwing popcorn and cheering, I'd never seen anything like it. Every time I go to India, I think of that moment," the Australian actor added in the virtual interview.
The scene features the actor as Thor, making a spectacular entry during a battle sequence in the 2018 movie and thundering "Bring me Thanos", a dare to the enemy forces and the film's main villain Thanos. It is considered one of the most remembered moments in Chris' portrayal of the iconic superhero, which he essayed in four stand alone films and four Avengers movies.
On headlining Transformer One
The Hollywood superstar is now associated with another fan-favourite franchise, Transformers. He appears as a voice actor in Transformers One and is hoping the film resonates with audiences in India in a similar way.
Transformers One, an animated film which released in Indian theatres last week, serves as the prequel to the franchise's earlier live-action movies, which revolved around two factions of alien robots, the Autobots and the Decepticons, who have the ability to transform into vehicles and machines, and are engaged in an eternal war.
The animated movie has a "similar energy" to the MCU, said the actor, who has voiced the character of Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots. "The themes in there are relatable to audiences across the globe. And it has a great sense of humour and a huge amount of heart, visually stunning. This film really is epic and we're all incredibly proud of it," Chris added.
Touted as the "first-ever fully CG-animated Transformers movie", the movie explores the untold story of Optimus Prime and Megatron's friendship before they became sworn enemies and leaders of their respective groups. Chris said he recently saw the film and was blown away by what director Josh Cooley has done with it.
"(It's) why you go to the cinema, the transportation to another universe and to be swept up with larger than life characters, but have them also be relatable. I think people in India are going to love it," the actor said. Transformers One also features the voices of actors Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence FishburnQe and Jon Hamm.
The Paramount Pictures India film is currently playing in theatres in English and Hindi, in 2D, 3D, 4DX and IMAX formats.
Ellen DeGeneres is opening up about past allegations of being mean in her new stand-up show for Netflix, For Your Approval. The comedian has now addressed that her career in the industry forced her to care for what people think but after a lifetime of caring she cannot continue going on like that anymore. (Also read: OTT Spotlight: Taaza Khabar 2 trailer drops, Ellen DeGeneres announces last comedy special) Ellen Degeneres was earlier accused of leading a toxic work environment.
What Ellen said
Ellen shared, When youre a public figure, youre open to everyones interpretation. And Im sure youve heard the saying that, What other people think of me is none of my business. Because people will say all kinds of things and you have no control over that. But you know the truth and thats all that matters. If they like you, youre in, and if they dont, youre out. And Ive spent an entire lifetime trying to make people happy and Ive cared far too much what other people think of me. So, the thought of anyone thinking that Im mean was devastating to me, and it consumed me for a long time. After a lifetime of caring, I just cant anymore. So I dont.
She went on to add, "But if Im being honest and I have a choice of people remembering me as someone who was mean or someone who was beloved. Be-lov-ed? Beloved? Beloved. Someone who is beloved? I choose that.
More details
Ellen hosted the highly successful chat show The Ellen DeGeneres Show for 19 seasons. It ran for 2003 to 2022. In 2020, several employees accused the daytime talk show of intimidation, racism and sexual misconduct. Ellen gave an on-air apology, while three producers were fired after an investigation.
The comedy special titled Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval, premiered globally on September 24 on Netflix.
BTS member Kim Taehyung, who is currently serving in the South Korean military, is on vacation. Gym instructor Ma Sun-ho took to Instagram on Wednesday and shared a photo featuring himself, actor Kim Min-jae and Taehyung, aka V. (Also Read | BTS' V transforms into TaeJun as he attends IUs historic concert with J-Hope) Kim Taehyung will be discharged from military service in 2025.
Taehyung shares a new pic
In the picture, Taehyung wore a black sleeveless T-shirt, grey shorts and white sneakers. He held a water bottle and flashed the peace sign while looking at the mirror inside the gym.
Min-jae and Sun-ho seen with V
Min-jae and Sun-ho posed in black and grey outfits. They stood on either side of Taehyung, posing for the mirror. Sharing the photo, he wrote, "Taehyung & Minjae, proud young men who exercise diligently even on vacation. I'm so happy after doing full body weights for two days! I envy your youth.. I envy your face.. Looking forward to the next holiday. Lets eat soy sauce crabs again. He geo-tagged the location as Seoul.
BTS ARMY reacts to pic
Reacting to the post, a fan said, "Baby bear is the size of two whole Hobis. You cant even see the elephant moles on his arms anymore." A comment read, "Those buffed-up arms. Tae I try to see you with tender eyes, but it's impossible now I start to see you with mischievous eyes." A person wrote, "OMG !!!!! KIM TAEHYUNG. Calm down, let me breathe" "What are you doing to us, man? We cant imagine how you will be in 2025," an Instagram user said.
About V and BTS
Taehyung is currently serving in the South Korean military. He began his service in December 2023. Taehyung is part of BTS also featuring--RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, and Jungkook. While Jin was discharged from the military in June, J-Hope will complete his service next month. Jin enlisted in 2022, followed by J-Hope in last April. Suga started his service in September 2023. RM, Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook started their service in December 2023.
Tamil actor and music composer Vijay Antony is busy promoting his upcoming film Hitler. The actor survived a hard time last year, with the tragic demise of his daughter Meera. She was found dead at her Chennai home last year in September. In a new interview with India Today, Vijay talked about the film while also opening up on the tough circumstances which he faced in his personal life. (Also read: Vijay Antony issues first statement after daughter Meera's death: 'I have died along with her') Vijay Antony will be seen in the film Hitler.
What Vijay said
During the interview, Vijay talked about the loss of his daughter and meeting an accident and said, Nothing is hard. Everything is a part of our life here. From my childhood itself, I dont believe in anything. When you see nothing, where can you hold? When theres nothing, what do you hold on to?
Vijay Antonys daughter was reportedly found dead in her room at around 3 am on September 19. The actor and music composer rushed her to a nearby private hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival. Meera's sudden death came as a shock to many from the Tamil film industry, who extended their condolences to Vijay and his family.
More details
The actor also revealed why he has abstained from wearing footwear during promotions, Wearing no footwear is actually a luxury for me. You are wearing shoes and are tied down by things like this. I am, on the other hand, luxurious. I can go without all of this. Whenever I am feeling difficulties, I will definitely wear slippers. We had a shoot in the forest, where there were many insects and other things. At that time, I wore shoes. And for my live concert in Sri Lanka, I wore it because there were electrical wirings all over the place. It wasnt safe. So, I wear them when it becomes a necessity. But mostly, 70% of the time I walk barefoot. The more you detach yourself from materialistic things, the soon you will attain that state.
Directed by Dhana, Hitler also stars Riya Suman, and Gautham Vasudev Menon. The film will release in theatres on September 27.
If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist. Helplines: Aasra: 022 2754 6669; Sneha India Foundation: +914424640050 and Sanjivini: 011-24311918
Jr NTR surprised the audience at Beyond Fest in Los Angeles by turning up at the free screening of RRR. The organisers held the screening in preparation for the film festival, which will take place from September 25 to October 9. The actor received a rousing welcome at the festival, where his upcoming film Devara: Part 1 will be screened soon. (Also Read: Devara Part 1: Jr NTR thanks Telangana government for extra shows, hiked ticket prices) Jr NTR looked excited to talk about his upcoming film Devara: Part 1 at Beyond Fest.
Jr NTR at Beyond Fest
The official X (formerly Twitter) page of Beyond Fest posted a picture of Jr NTR talking at the festival and wrote, Unreal. The icon NTR made a surprise appearance tonight to tell us about his new film DEVARA. The world is not ready.
Jr NTRs team also posted a video on X in which the host can be seen introducing him before he comes on stage. He says, I wanna welcome to the stagehe has travelled from Hyderabad, India, and is met with loud cheers. He continues, It is unbelievable that were in this position, even in the same building as this man, introducing him as the star of RRR and Devara.
The audience can be seen hooting and cheering as Jr NTR takes the stage, even standing up to welcome him. The host says, So, Los Angeles, please give it up for the Man of the Masses. He's a wonderful international superstar. There's no one like him. He's the star of RRR. He's the star of Devara. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for NTR.
Devara: Part 1 to be screened soon
SS Rajamoulis RRR, which stars Jr NTR and Ram Charan in the lead roles, was screened at the inaugural of the film festival. Koratala Sivas Jr NTR, Saif Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor-starrer Devara: Part 1 will be released in theatres on September 27 and screened at the film festival on September 26 at 6:30 pm. Recently, the film's pre-release event was cancelled in Hyderabad due to overcrowding. Jr NTR and his wife Lakshmi Pranathi flew out of Hyderabad the same evening.
Narcoterrorismor the trafficking of illicit drugs by terrorist and insurgent groupshas long threatened Indias national security. Security agencies are attempting to address this challenge, which involves various groups like Khalistani terrorist organisations, Kashmirs separatist militants, and insurgent groups in the northeast; their efforts have achieved mixed results. This brief examines recent trends in drug trafficking and narcoterrorism and their impact on Indias national security, and explores the countermeasures employed by the countrys security agencies. The authors used existing literature, analysed government policies, and drew insights from interactions with law enforcement officials and the legal fraternity. The brief focuses on narcoterrorism in the Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) regions, and outlines recommendations for arresting the narcoterrorism phenomenon. Narcoterrorism (HT Photo)
In the 1980s, when it first entered the security lexicon, narcoterrorism referred to the use of terror tactics by drug trafficking syndicates in Latin America. Today, narcoterrorism describes the use of drug trafficking networksroutes, funding mechanisms, and incomesby terrorist organisations. The use of advanced tactics like cross-border drone sorties by drug trafficking syndicates on the India-Pakistan border, the emergence of maritime routes for narcotic smuggling, and the rise of narcoterrorism in the Kashmir Valley underline the persistence of this challenge. The imperative is for a stringent crackdown on drug trafficking and criminal and terrorist networks, as well as strengthened international cooperation.
Terrorist financing comes from multiple sources, both legitimate and unlawful. This complicates the task of countering terrorist financing. For the narco-trade, engagement with drug trafficking provides terrorist organisations with lucrative sources of funding, with drug trafficking syndicates and terrorist organisations leveraging each others resources and networks to facilitate their operations; terrorist organisations also use drug smuggling to destabilise a country to achieve their political objectives. Drug trafficking is often perceived as a reliable and quicker way of generating cash revenue for arms and other logistical requirements. By its very nature, drug trafficking transcends national borders through a web of criminal networks and terrorist activities.
This paper can be accessed here.
This paper is authored by Ayjaz Wani and Sameer Patil, ORF.
Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor recently jetted off to France for Paris Fashion Week 2024. They were accompanied by their daughter Raha Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor, who took the internet by storm with their super cute reunion at the airport. In a video that went viral within seconds, Raha excitedly greeted her dadi before their flight in a super cute voice. In Paris, Alia made her debut on the Paris Fashion Week ramp in a silver breastplate, but the real question on many minds was where is Raha? Well, much to our delight, the beloved star kid made another cute appearance at the airport today. Raha returns from Paris with Alia, Ranbir and dadi Neetu
The happy family was snapped at the airport today when they returned to Mumbai from their workation. Alia and Ranbir were dressed casually with a sleepy Raha in her daddy dearests arms. But what stole our heart was yet another aww-dorable moment between Raha and her dadi. In a clip shared by the paparazzi, Neetu gives her granddaughter a sweet kiss before walking to her car. While many netizens were left gushing over the dadi-poti duo after this video surfaced on the internet, there are some trolls who gave their nasty two cents in the comment section below.
Netizens react to Neetu and Raha's airport video
Fans showered love as always. One social media user gushed, Raha look's like a little Alia Bhatt , whereas another netizen stated: Dadi loves her granddaughter very much. But a majority of comments were sadly by trolls. One particular nasty message read: Iski dadi kitna drama kar rahi ha camera dekhke, whereas another internet user claimed, Dadi ko ghr mein time nhe milta payar krny ka. Another comment read: But Dadi Ke pyar se Raha irritate Ho gayi , while another netizen opined, Alia ko sasumaa ki presence achi nhi lagi lagta hai muh latka hua hai.
Well, we dont know about trolls, but we are loving Neetu and Rahas adorable moments!
Bhumi Pednekar was among the list of attendees for the big banner Saudi Welcome To Arabia event, held in Mumbai last night. It goes without saying that the actor off late has chosen to weaponise fashion to re-establish her street cred as a the next big thing on the block. Some looks have been a hit, others a sore miss. Her latest at the Saudi event however? Unmissable. And for a spate of reasons. Bhumi Pednekar's latest look repurposes a rug as a skirt: The internet is divided(Photos: Instagram/bhumipednekar)
Is that...a rug?
Yes it is. In a bid to hop on to the very cool sustainable fashion bandwagon, Bhumi opted for a Georges Hoebika ensemble. A zebra-printed skivvy top in green was paired with a tasseled skirt in blue, repurposed from a rug. The Rene Caovilla heels and the Zayn by Sunena ring, styled by Manisha Melwani, made for clean accessories. But the rug sorry skirt acts as a great detractor. Don't get us wrong, we love green fashion. But, the problem here lies in the fact that the rug still very much looks like one, so much so that even Bhumi herself doesn't look convinced carrying it. The internet sort of agrees. Some comments calling this out read: "Jis table cloth ko aapne phena hai woh mere dost ke restaurant ke table ka hai", Didi meri chaddar Wapis kar do, thandd lagti hai raat ko!, Lag raha hai ki blanket hai and We also have the same carpet in our house.
That being said, the intention is definitely worthy of appreciation and the same was not lost on the internet's conscience. Some comments echoing this read: "Kudos to you for choosing a stunning, sustainable outfit ! ", "We love a sustainable queen" and "Only you could turn a rug into a runway moment! This look is everything sustainable, creative, and stunning".
What do you have to say about this polarising look from Bhumi?
Divya Dutta has taken a day off from her shoot schedule in Lucknow to spend time with her family and friends today, as she turns sweet 16, once again. Divya Dutta has take a day off from shoot to celebrate her birthday
Having completed three decades in showbiz, the actor says that many roles have given her gratification, and it only grows as she now gets to play key characters. I am at a stage where roles are being written for me and people say if you dont do it, I wont make it (the project). I am getting good projects and titular roles, and dheere-dheere apna mukaam bana rahi hoon, says Dutta.
Last seen in Sharmajee Ki Beti, the actor is currently shooting a web series with actor Sanjay Mishra. I also completed a film co-starring Manoj Bajpayee recently. They are all lead roles and I feel grateful that this phase has come in my life, says Dutta, who will also be seen in the Vicky Kaushal-starrer Chhaava, Ek Ruka Hua Sa Faisla and the next season of the web show Bandish Bandits.
Meanwhile, she has also been enjoying her stint as a writer. Having penned two books, Me and Ma and The Stars in the Sky, Dutta now plans to write a book for children. I am working on a fiction book of short stories. When I go home, I tell children stories and they always say that I should write a book on them so now I have decided that I will write childrens book of short stories, says Dutta.
Meanwhile, the actor turns 47 today and she plans to keep things low-key: My family is planning something for me and a few of my friends would come over. Sometimes, simple is nice! Small things like kids shelling out their pocket money to get gifts for their bui (paternal aunt), yeh sab bahut cute cheezen hoti hain and I look forward to that.
The Naga food festival This food festival will feature the delicacies of the Naga cuisine, along with exploring the rich culinary heritage of the North-East. Chef Karen Yepthomi has curated the menu and is celebrated for her mastery of authentic Naga dishes. Food festivals to explore in September and October in Delhi.(Photo: Shutterstock)
Date: 26 September
Location: The Qube, The Leela Palace, Chanakyapuri
Sake Soiree pop-up
Visitors will be taken to Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, during this event. Chef Rinki Saha and head mixologist Sanjay Rawat created the menu, which includes many additional dishes that are influenced by izakaya fare, like shrimp karaage, salmon tartare, and tebasaki wings with takinaku sauce. Among the cocktails are shichimi, junmai, and sake kakuteru.
Date: All through September
Location: MKT, The Chanakya Mall, Chanakyapuri
Korean Thanksgiving food festival
This food festival features Korean cuisine for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian palates to celebrate Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving. The menu is specially crafted by Chef Lee, from Suwon, South Korea with delicacies like bibimbab, gujeol pan, ddeokbakki, and kkanppong, taraegua and others.
Date: 13 September - 13 October
Location: Pan Asian restaurant, Holiday Inn, Mayur Vihar
Taste of Uttarakhand
Capturing the essence of Uttarakhand cuisines and flavours, this festival celebrates the diverse culinary heritage of the state. Guests can indulge in several dishes such as bhatt ki churkani, lingda sabji, jangli murg, palak ka kappa, kumaoni raita, mach pakor, jakhiya aloo, jhangore ki kheer among other authentic delicacies.
Date: Till 30 September
Location: The Park Hotel, Sansad Marg, Connaught Place
Jalsa-E-Punjab
If you are fascinated by the culture and vibrancy of Punjab, this festival is the right place to be. A lineup of Sufi music along with delicacies from Punjab such as dal makhani, butter chicken, sarson ka saag and more, Jalsa-E-Punjab will offer a great celebration of Punjabi culture.
Date: 28 September
Location: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Lodhi Road
In yet another setback to the YSR Congress Party, the partys Rajya Sabha member Ryaga Krishnaiah resigned from his membership in the Upper House on Tuesday, a parliamentary notification said in the evening. In yet another setback to the YSR Congress Party, the partys Rajya Sabha member Ryaga Krishnaiah resigned from his membership in the Upper House on Tuesday (ANI)
According to the notification, Krishnaiah submitted his resignation to chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and it was accepted with effect from Monday.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Krishnaiah said that he took the decision to resign from his Rajya Sabha membership, after discussing with the various OBC groups. I shall work for the strengthening of the OBC communities, he said, without disclosing his future political plans.
Krishnaiah is the third Rajya Sabha member of the YSRCP to have resigned in the past one month, the other two being Mopidevi Venkataramana and Beeda Mastan Rao, who resigned from the party as well as their MP seats on August 29.
Krishnaiah, however, is yet to resign from the party.
He would resign from the party in a day or two and is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, people familiar with the development said.
The other two MPs Venkataramana and Mastan Rao declared that they will join the ruling Telugu Desam Party soon.
With the resignation of Krishnaiah, the strength of YSRCP in Rajya Sabha has come down from 11 to eight.
Krishnaiah was nominated to Rajya Sabha in June 2022 and his term will expire in 2028. Venkataramanas term in Rajya Sabha will expire in June 2026, Mastan Raos term will end in June 2028.
A prominent leader of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from Telangana, Krishnaiah is the president of National OBCs Welfare Association and heads over a 100 OBC organisations across the country.
He entered into the electoral politics in 2014 and got elected as the MLA representing LB Nagar constituency in 2014 on a TDP ticket. He has been championing the cause of OBCs parallelly. He, however, had not been active in TDP politics. In 2022, he joined the YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh and was nominated to Rajya Sabha.
The YSRCP is yet to respond to Krishnaiahs resignations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Make in India initiative, lauding the countrys achievements in manufacturing and its growing role in the global economy. During the launch of Make in India in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre would push for Indias ease of Doing Business ranking to be within the top 50.(AP)
In a LinkedIn post, Modi described the initiative as a "roaring success" that has transformed India from a nation reliant on imports to an emerging manufacturing hub. He credited the progress to the "tireless efforts" of citizens, calling them pioneers, visionaries, and innovators.
"The impact of 'Make in India' shows that Bharat is unstoppable," he said.
Also Read | Piyush Goyal on 10 years of Make in India: World looks up to India
The 'Make in India' campaign, launched in 2014, aimed to boost the country's manufacturing sector and reduce dependency on imports. Highlighting major achievements, Modi pointed to the exponential growth in mobile manufacturing, a sector that had only two units in the country in 2014.
"Today, that number has risen to over 200," he noted, adding that mobile exports surged from 1,556 crore to 1.2 lakh crore, a staggering 7,500% increase.
He also emphasized that 99% of mobile phones used in India are now domestically produced, making the country the second-largest mobile manufacturer globally.
Other sectors, including steel, semiconductors, renewable energy, electric vehicles, and defence, have also seen significant growth.
Modi highlighted that India has become a net exporter of finished steel, while investments in semiconductor manufacturing have surpassed 1.5 lakh crore, with new plants set to produce over seven crore chips daily.
In renewable energy, we are the 4th largest producer globally, with capacity increasing by 400% in just a decade. Our electric vehicle industry, practically non-existent in 2014, is now worth $3 billion, the prime minister wrote.
Also Read | Russian Army marches with Made in Bihar safety shoes from Hajipur
Modi also praised the defence sector, noting that exports have grown from 1,000 crore to 21,000 crore, reaching more than 85 nations. He pointed out the success of the countrys burgeoning toy industry, with exports rising 239% while imports have halved.
He further highlighted the growth of niche sectors, such as the toy industry, which has seen exports increase by 239% while imports have been halved, benefitting local manufacturers.
According to Modi, the Make in India initiative has played a key role in empowering ordinary citizens, particularly in the MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sector.
"It has given the poor the wings to dream big and aspire it has given them the confidence that they can be wealth creators," he said.
The prime minister credited government measures like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for driving thousands of crores in investment and creating millions of jobs, as well as improving ease of doing business.
Many of the icons of todays India our Vande Bharat trains, BrahMos missiles, and the mobile phones in our hands all proudly bear the Make in India label. From electronics to the space sector, it represents Indian ingenuity and quality, Modi said.
Reflecting on this past decade, I cannot but be filled with a sense of pride in how far the strength and skills of 140 crore Indians have got us. The imprint of Make in India has become visible across sectors, including areas where we never even dreamt of making an impact, he added.
Modi's message to youth
Modi expressed optimism about India's future role in the global economy, citing the countrys "perfect blend of democracy, demography and demand." He called on young entrepreneurs to continue propelling the country forward, stressing the importance of quality manufacturing and innovation.
We all must strive for excellence. Delivery quality should be our commitment. Zero defect should be our mantra. Together, we can continue to build an India that not only meets its own needs but also serves as a manufacturing and innovation powerhouse for the world.
Sixteen of the Capitals top institutions battled it out in the inaugural regional round of the Hindustan Times Centennial Debate on Tuesday morning at Bikaner House. The inaugural regional round of the Hindustan Times Centennial Debate at Bikaner House. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)
Centred on the motion This house believes the social media generation is more lost than found, the three-hour event saw thoughts, ideas and arguments fly thick and fast as speakers attempted to convince the audience and an esteemed jury.
A team of Parth Mahajan and Mehar Chhabra from Ashoka University came up tops as the team winners of the Delhi round. They will proceed to the national finals of the HT centennial debate, along with team runner-up OP Jindal Global University, comprising Nikeeta Singh and Saheyba Kaur Rai.
Mahajan was also adjudicated the best speaker of the day, followed by Tuba Shamsi from Jamia Millia Islamia. The second runner-up position was secured jointly by Diwakar G from Shiv Nadar University and Mouli Chawla from Ramjas College.
The jury comprising Indias G20 sherpa Amitabh Kant, senior journalist Sonia Singh and businessman Suhel Seth hailed the centenary of Hindustan Times, and held out advice for the debaters.
Kant, a former CEO of NITI Aayog who played a pivotal role in driving key national initiatives such as Make in India, Startup India, and Incredible India, told the students to focus on content. Singh, editorial director of NDTV dialogues and visiting fellow at Cambridge Judge Business School, underlined the importance of passion in speaking and suggested that young people be as curious about their immediate neighbourhood as they are about global affairs. And Seth, a leading figure in the fields of advertising, branding, and public relations, stressed on how pivotal humour and insight are to the debating process, and cautioned them against reading out speeches.
Students faced-off against each other on either side of a topic that is at the core of a fractious global debate. Speakers in favour of the motion underscored the myriad harms of social media on young people and the perils of misinformation, arguing that social media held imagination captive and caused mental health problems. Those against the motion pointed out that social media had democratised information, helped create a safe space for marginalised communities, and brought attention to ongoing crises such as that in Gaza.
In his speech, Mahajan spoke about how social media had blunted interpersonal relationships and diluted real-life engagement, while encouraging fake news and trend-chasing behaviour. Shamsi argued that social media had forced young people to seek constant validation, noting that an average person is likely to spend more than five years on social media throughout their lifetime.
The debate, which will now be held across Indias biggest cities over the next few months before culminating in a battle of Indias top speakers next year on the national stage, commemorated the journey of Hindustan Times, which turned 100 on Sunday. This journey spans a century and straddles an extraordinary range from a small band of men and women braving brutal colonial censorship laws to stoke the embers of freedom in the hearts of Indians, to a globally respected voice chronicling the churn in the worlds most populous nation.
At stake were bragging rights and the chance to hold forth on a platform that was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi. And there were prizes to add to the shimmer.
After his return from the United States, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will resume his election campaign on Wednesday, September 25, in Haryana's Sonipat for the upcoming state assembly election. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
In a post on social platform X, PM Narendra Modi said the people of Haryana have made up their minds to give the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a landslide victory in the upcoming elections.
"Haryana has made up its mind to ensure a landslide victory for the BJP in the assembly elections. In this atmosphere of enthusiasm and excitement in the celebration of democracy, we will have the good fortune of receiving the blessings of the people at the rally in Sonipat tomorrow at 12 noon," Modi posted on X.
Senior BJP leaders, including chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, will share the stage with the prime minister. Three helipads have been prepared near the rally site for the prime minister's chopper to land and take off.
Rahul Gandhi's rallies in Jammu, Sopore
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi will address two election rallies in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. After his arrival in the Jammu city, the Congress leader will interact with a group of professionals at the Radisson hotel in the city. Later, he will head to J&K Resort ground around 12.30pm to address an election rally.
Rahul Gandhi's second meeting is scheduled in Sopore town in Baramulla district of Kashmir Valley. This public meeting will take place at the government higher secondary school ground at Dangarpora in Sopore around 3.25pm.
Earlier on Monday, Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally in Srinagar which a party leader described as the "first major gathering in the Valley for the party in 37 years which marks a "new dawn" for the Congress". He alleged that outsiders were ruling the union territory through an appointed king. Gandhi reiterated the party's call to restore statehood to J&K and promised to raise local issues in Parliament.
(With agency inputs)
Inspector Sanjay Shinde, who shot Badlapur sexual assault case accused Akshay Shinde, has claimed that the latter had warned that he would not spare anyone after grabbing a pistol inside a police van. A forensic team examines the police van in which Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case of two minor girls, was killed in police encounter, in Thane, on September 24, 2024. (PTI)
The Mumbra police in Thane registered a First Information Report against Akshay Shinde for attempt to murder for opening fire on the police officer.
The FIR is based on the complaint of Sanjay Shinde, investigating officer of the SIT formed to probe the sexual assault of two kindergarten girls at a school in Badlapur, the case in which Akshay Shinde (24) was the accused.
Badlapur sexual assault accused shot killed: 10 points
Inspector Sanjay Shinde said he retaliated in self-defence as Akshay Shinde's demeanor suggested he would kill everyone. In his complaint, Sanjay Shinde said he was also conducting probe into another offence registered by Badlapur police on a complaint by Askhay Shinde's first wife, accusing him of sexual harassment and unnatural sex. On Monday evening, a police team took Akshay Shinde out of Taloja jail for probe of the case filed his wife, the complaint said. The police inspector sat beside the driver in the driver's cabin, while two constables and assistant police inspector Nilesh More sat in the back of the van with Akshay Shinde. When they reached near Shil-Daighar police station, API More called inspector Sanjay Shinde and told him that Akshay Shinde was asking why they were taking him away and what new crime he had committed. Akshay Shinde then started abusing the cops, so inspector Shinde stopped the van, and went into the back section and sat there with others, the complaint said. Akshay Shinde was flanked by API More and constable Abhijit More. Sanjay Shinde and constable Harish Tawde were seated opposite. At 6.15pm, when the van reached the base of Mumbra Devi temple on Mumbra bypass, Akshay Shinde suddenly tried to pull out API More's pistol, the complaint said. In the ensuing scuffle, the pistol got unlocked and one round got fired; the bullet hit API More who collapsed, the complaint said. Akshay then seized the pistol, and pointing it at inspector Shinde and the constable, said now I will not leave anyone alive, the complaint claimed. He fired two rounds but they dodged successfully, inspector Shinde claimed. Akshay Shinde's body language suggested he would certainly try and kill everyone in the van, Sanjay Shinde further said, adding that hence, he fired one round in self-defence which hit Akshay. The Akshay Shinde fell, and the constables pinned him down while the van drove to Kalwa civil hospital where doctors declared Akshay dead, the complaint said.
Akshay Shinde's family moves Bombay high court
Akshay's family has challenged the police's version, claiming that he died in a staged encounter. His father has moved the Bombay high court seeking a probe by an SIT.
The Opposition as well as the kin of Akshay Shinde on Tuesday picked holes in police's version of his killing and accused the government of trying to shield the school management.
His mother and uncle had alleged on Monday night that it was a conspiracy by police and management of the Badlapur school where the alleged sexual assault had taken place.
Akshay could not have snatched the weapon of a policeman as claimed by officials, they said.
A Border Security Force (BSF) trooper was detained for over six hours after around 15-20 Bangladeshis abducted and handed him over to Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB), prompting the Indian authorities to lodge a protest on Tuesday. BSF called the incident a serious breach of border security. (AP/File)
In a statement, the BSF said its North Bengal Frontier inspector general (IG) reached out to the Bangladeshi counterpart demanding the troopers immediate release. The trooper was released around 5pm on Tuesday after a flag meeting with the BGB at the sector commander level.
Bangladesh media quoted BGB officers, claiming that the trooper crossed the border after which he was detained. BSF denied this and called the incident a serious breach of border security and alarming.
In a serious breach of border security, a personnel of the BSF was abducted during a routine patrol near the Biral border in Dinajpur, India. The incident involved a group of 15 to 20 illegal Bangladeshi miscreants who crossed into Indian territory and forcibly took the BSF jawan into Bangladesh and was put in the custody of the BGB, said the BSF statement.
In response to this alarming situation, the IG of BSF North Bengal has promptly reached out to the region commander of the North West Region, BGB, demanding the immediate release of the abducted jawan... The jawan was returned by BGB after the meeting between the sector commanders.
The BSF statement added the force is committed to the policy of zero firing at the border and sought BGBs cooperation in maintaining law and order.
The border guarding forces of the two countries have been at loggerheads since the fall of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas government in August. On Saturday, the BGB stopped BSF personnel from constructing a border fence in South Bengal. The arrest of Indian civilians straying across the border accidentally has led to tensions. The Bangladesh forces also shot dead a teenager attempting to enter India.
The woman whose dismembered body was found stuffed inside a fridge in a Bengaluru flat last week was likely killed by a 31-year-old colleague who she was in a relationship with, police officers involved in the investigation said, a possible breakthrough in a case that has stunned the nation. The victim and the suspect worked at the same mall and had been friends since 2023. (PTI)
The man, whose name the police did not reveal, allegedly stabbed the woman, Mahalakshmi (29), on the suspicion that she was involved with another man, said a Bengaluru police officer who asked not to be named.
The man reportedly confessed to his brother, who is one of the three people who Bengaluru police have detained in connection with the case, which came to light on Saturday, when her mother found 22 pieces of her corpse in a fridge in their Malleswaram flat.
According to the officer cited above, Mahalakshmi and the suspect worked at the same mall and had been friends since 2023, when the woman who was estranged from her husband and moved to the Karnataka capital.
The two started seeing each other in late 2023, said the officer.
The latest disclosures come after the suspects brother told police his sibling had confessed to the crime over a phone call and told him he was fleeing the city. Police teams have now fanned out to West Bengal, where the suspects cellphone location ended, and Odisha, where the man hails from.
Relations between the two soured when the man began to suspect Mahalakshmi was involved with another person.
He allegedly confronted her, demanding she end the affair. A heated argument ensued, which, police believe, led to the murder, said the officer.
He confessed to his brother soon after committing the crime, said police.
Despite the brothers attempts to convince him to surrender, the suspect fled the city, he said.
Call records from the victims phone detailed that Mahalakshmi and him had frequent conversations. Their colleagues also corroborated that the two were together.
Police have reached out to the suspects parents in Odisha for potential leads, though officers said it did not appear he had returned to his village.
We hope to arrest him soon, said the officer.
Kangana Ranaut, Bharatiya Janata Party's Mandi MP, has once again sparked a controversy after she suggested that the three farm laws that were repealed following prolonged farmer protests should be brought back. As the actor-turned-politician's remarks drew the Opposition ire, the BJP on Tuesday night distanced itself from her the comments stating that Kangana Ranaut is not authorised to make such statements on the party's behalf. BJP's Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut (PTI file)
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia in a video message said the remarks are personal statement of Kangana Ranaut and doesn't depict the the party's view on farm bills.
On the social media platforms, BJP MP Kangana Ranaut's statement on the farm bills that was withdrawn by central government is going viral. I want to make it clear that this statement is a personal statement of her. Kangana Ranaut is not authorised to make such a statement on behalf of BJP and it doesn't depict BJP's view on the farm bills. We disapprove of this statement, Gaurav Bhatia said.
Also Read | BJP leader warns Kangana Ranaut over Bhindranwale remarks: Must restrain
Responding the BJP spokesperson's statement, Kangana Ranaut acknowledged that it was her personal view.
Absolutely, my views on Farmers Laws are personal and they dont represent partys stand on those Bills. Thanks, Kangana Ranaut wrote on social media platform X.
Earlier, the actor-turned-politician had told the media, I know this statement could be controversial, but the three farm laws should be brought back. Farmers themselves should demand it.
The statement did go down well with the Opposition as Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja criticised the actor, calling her habitually controversial.
Also Read | Intellectual bankruptcy, Congress slams Kangana over remarks on HP funds being diverted to Sonia Gandhi
I think she is mentally unstable. Some people are accustomed to creating controversy, and the BJP benefits from her statements. She talks about farmers, Punjab, the Emergency, and Rahul Gandhi. There are other MPs who never make such remarks, the Congress leader said.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also shared the video of Ranaut on X and said, "'All three farm laws should be brought back': BJP MP Kangana Ranaut. More than 750 farmers were martyred while protesting against the three black farmer laws. Efforts are being made to bring them back."
"We will never let that happen. Haryana will answer first," she said in an apparent reference to the assembly polls in Haryana.
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera also shared the video on X and said it was the BJP's "real thinking".
"How many times will you deceive the farmers, you two-faced people?" Pawan Khera said in a post in Hindi.
Kangana Ranaut's recent controversies
Notably, this is not the first time, the BJP has distanced itself from Kangana Ranaut's remarks and stated that she is not authorised to make such statements on the party's behalf.
Last month, the BJP distanced itself from the Mandi MP's statement about the farmers' agitation and also asked her to refrain from giving such statements in the future.
"The statement made by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut in the context of the farmers' movement is not the opinion of the party. Bharatiya Janata Party expresses disagreement with the statement made by Kangana Ranaut. On behalf of the party, Kangana Ranaut is neither permitted nor authorized to make statements on party policy issues," the BJP said in a release.
"On behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Kangana Ranaut has been directed not to make any such statements in future. Bharatiya Janata Party is committed to following the principles of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas' and social harmony," it added.
The actor had then claimed that farmer protests were a build up to a Bangladesh-like situation in India and several killings and rapes were reported from the protest sites.
About the three farm laws
The three laws -- Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act were repealed in November 2021.
The farmers' protest started at the fag-end of November 2020 and ended after Parliament repealed the three laws. The legislations came into force in June 2020 and were repealed in November 2021.
(With inputs from agencies)
After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dubbed her statement on the need to bring back the repealed farm laws as contrary to the party line, Mandi lawmaker Kangana Ranaut expressed regret over her statement and said, I take my words back. Kangana Ranaut. (PTI)
This is the second time in two months that the BJP has had to distance itself from Ranauts statement pertaining to the farmers issue. In August, the party was quick to point out that the MPs statement on the farmers agitation for repealing the laws was not the partys position and she is not authorised to speak on policy issues. Referring to the year-long agitation, she had said that a Bangladesh-like situation could have erupted in India during the protests if strong measures had not been taken by the Union government.
Despite the partys instruction to not speak out of turn, the actor turned politician, who represents Mandi Lok Sabha constituency in Himachal Pradesh, stoked a fresh controversy after she told media persons in the state that the three laws that were repealed in 2021 after a prolonged protest by the farmers should be brought back.
Following an uproar within the BJP and its allies and the Oppositions criticism of the statement, which can harm the BJPs prospects in poll-bound Haryana, the lawmaker issued a statement expressing regret. A section of farmers from Punjab and Haryana were at the forefront of the agitation against the laws and had demanded their rollback.
The media asked me questions about the farm laws, and I suggested that we should request the PM to bring those back. When the laws were proposed, many of us had supported them...but expressing sympathy and sensitivity the PM repealed them...as party workers, it is our duty to honour his decision, she said.
Even as several leaders including BJP ally, JDUs KC Tyagi, sought action against her for the statement, Ranaut said, she must be mindful that her opinion must be aligned with the party line.
I need to be mindful I am not an artist, but a BJP worker and my opinions should not be mine, but the partys stand... I take my words back...If I have disappointed people, I express regret.
Read more: Kangana Ranaut sorry' as actor-BJP MP withdraws 3 farm laws statement
The Opposition, however, was unrelenting and Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi demanded an apology from PM Narendra Modi.
Who is deciding the governments policy? A BJP MP or Prime Minister Modi? Even after the martyrdom of more than 700 farmers, especially the farmers of Haryana and Punjab, the BJP people are not satisfied. INDIA will not allow any conspiracy of BJP against our farmers to succeed - If any step is taken to harm the farmers, Modi ji will have to apologise again, he said in a statement.
Late on Tuesday night, party spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, Ranaut is not authorised to make such a statement on behalf of the BJP, and it doesnt depict the BJPs view on the farm bills. On the social media platforms, BJP MP Kangana Ranauts statement on the farm bills that were withdrawn by central govt, is going viral. I want to make it clear that this statement is a personal statement of hers. Kangana Ranaut is not authorised to make such a statement on behalf of BJP and it doesnt depict BJPs view on the farm bills. We disapprove of this statement, he said in a statement.
BJP allies JDU and LJP also dubbed her statement as personal opinion.
JDU national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said, After the partys decision to distance itself from the statement, BJP MP Kangana Ranaut had no option but to apologise.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior party leader said the BJP leadership has sent a terse message to the MP to refrain from speaking on issues that can create trouble for the party. As an MP she cannot have an individual opinion on policy issues...she was told this before as well. The party line must be followed, and statements must be made with sensitivity, she was told, the senior leader said.
Referring to the impact that her statement can have on the October 5 polls in Haryana, the leader said, Such statements have the potential to damage the partys prospects...there is an election narrative decided by the leadership and taking a position contrary to that means giving the Opposition a handle to hurt the party and the government...
This is not the first time that Ranaut has been in the crosshairs for her statement on farmers and the agitation that led to the recall of the three farm laws. In June she was slapped by a CISF personnel at the airport, who was miffed at the actor for casting aspersions on those who participated in the agitation.
Lok Sabha MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday alleged the BJP-led NDA at the Centre does not have intentions to protect, develop or bring efficiency in Waqf properties. AIMIM chief and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi.(PTI)
He said the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, has been introduced by the Centre to permanently abolish the Waqf Board.
Citing legal provisions, Owaisi explained that the Waqf Act of 1995 is based on the concept of 'Waqf by user,' which mandates that if a place is used for prayers, functions as an orphanage, or serves as a graveyard, it becomes Waqf property, something the government now intends to dismantle.
In Hinduism, there are many endowment boards where places become religious by usage. In Uttar Pradesh, out of 1,21,000 registered properties under the Sunni Waqf Board, 1,12,000 are Waqf by user. Once Waqf by user is abolished, what law will they implement? asked Owaisi.
He also alleged that the draft of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill states that a practising Muslim of five years can donate to the Waqf Board. However, it does not clarify what is meant by practising Muslim, he said.
Does it imply someone who offers prayers five times a day, keeps a beard, wears a skullcap, or doesn't have a non-Muslim wife? Owaisi questioned.
He added that no such law applies to people of the Hindu religion, where anyone can donate at any time without these legal restrictions.
I want to ask the government, why did they come up with such terminology as 'practising Muslim'? Who are they to identify whether I am practising or not? Will Narendra Modi now peep into our houses? Or will they say after five years, now you are a Muslim and need to get a certificate? the AIMIM leader said.
The Bill also mentions that a Waqf property under the control of the government will be decided by the district collector, who is himself part of the government. How can they be the judge of the matter? asked Owaisi.
Badlapur sexual assault case: The Bombay high court on Wednesday pulled up the Maharashtra Police over the custodial death of Badlapur sexual assault accused Akshay Shinde, saying there appeared to be foul play and an impartial probe was needed into the incident. Badlapur sexual assault case: The Thane police crime branch killed Akshay Shinde, a suspect arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two 4-year-old girls in a pre-primary school in Badlapur East. HT Photo
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan said if it finds that the probe is not being done properly, then it would be constrained to pass appropriate orders.
The Bombay high court said the probe into the death of the Badlapur sexual assault case accused should be conducted in fair and impartial manner.
The high court also noted that the shoot-out of Akshay Shinde could have been avoided asking why the police did not try to overpower him first.
Why was the accused shot in head directly and not in legs or arms first, the Bombay high court questioned.
The moment he pulled the first trigger the others could have easily overpowered him. He wasn't a huge built up or strong man. This is very difficult to accept. This cannot be termed as an encounter, Justice Prithviraj Chavan said.
Akshay Shinde's father Anna Shinde has in a petition to Bombay high court on Tuesday through lawyer Amit Katranvare alleged that his son was killed in a fake encounter and demanded a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case.
During the hearing, the high court told the public prosecutor that a revolver can't be unlocked quickly by a physically weak man. It is not very easy, it said.
The public prosecutor told the court that the officer's pistol was unlocked.
To that, Justice Chavan said, It is difficult to believe this. Prima facie there seem to be issues. A common man can't fire a pistol because it needs strength. a revolver can't be unlocked quickly by a physically weak man. It is not very easy.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing on October 3, by when the police would have to take a decision on the complaint submitted by Akshay Shinde's father, seeking an FIR against the police officers concerned.
The Bombay high court also directed for all case papers to be immediately handed over to the Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department (CID), which would be conducting a probe into Shinde's death.
Why are the files not handed over to the CID yet? Preservation of evidence is vital. Any delay on your part would raise doubts and speculations, the court said.
The court said while it was not raising any suspicion at this stage, it was very hard to believe that Akshay Shinde managed to seize a pistol from a police officer and open fire.
The encounter of Akshay Shinde by Thane Police on September 23 has sparked a controversy between the ruling Mahayuti government and the Opposition in Maharashtra who are headed for the assembly elections later this year.
The 24-year-old accused was arrested on August 17, five days after he allegedly sexually abused two four-year-old girls at a school toilet.
The former school janitor was being brought from Taloja Central Jail to Thane Crime branch office under transit remand when he opened fire on the police with their revolver near the Mumbra bypass. The central unit of the Thane Crime branch had taken custody of the accused in a case that was filed against him by his ex-wife.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday closed proceedings initiated on its own motion against controversial remarks made by a Karnataka high court judge during recent judicial proceedings, even as it criticised the judge for referring to a Muslim-dominated area in Bengaluru, Gori Palya, as Pakistan. The videos in question show the Karnataka HC judge making objectionable remarks during hearings. (PTI file photo)
No one can call any part of India as Pakistan. It is fundamentally against the territorial integrity of the nation, observed a bench comprising the five seniormost judges of the top court, underscoring the need for decorum and restraint from judges in the digital age when court proceedings are frequently live-streamed and closely watched.
The bench was headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, and included justices Sanjiv Khanna, Bhushan R Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy.
The bench, however, took note of the contrite apology made by the high court judge in an open court proceeding on September 21, saying the interest of justice and institutional respect for the high court would prompt closure of the suo motu matter.
Also Read: Supreme Court directs Delhi govt to decide on remission plea within 3 weeks
Simultaneously, the bench issued a detailed order warning that casual observations by judges may reflect a certain degree of individual bias, particularly when they appear to be directed against a gender or community. Modulation of behaviour by the judges, the top court emphasised, is a must because it is as important for the stakeholders of the judiciary to appear fair and unbiased as rendering justice.
The bench had on September 20 ordered a report from the Karnataka high court registry over two videos of the high court judge showing him making certain gratuitous comments.
The videos in question, which recently surfaced on social media, show Karnataka high court judge, justice Vedavyasachar Srishananda, making objectionable remarks during hearings.
In one clip, the judge is heard referring to a Muslim-dominated area in Bengaluru, Gori Palya, as Pakistan, while in another, he makes inappropriate comments directed at a woman advocate.
The video clips of justice Srishanandas remarks sparked widespread criticism on social media, drawing the ire of legal professionals and the public alike. Prominent lawyers, including Indira Jaising and Sanjoy Ghose, condemned the judges comments, emphasising the importance of judicial conduct and the potential repercussions of such statements, especially when shared widely through livestreams.
Jaising had posted the video clip on her X account on September 19, saying that justice Srishananda should be trained on gender sensitisation.
We call upon the Chief Justice of India to take suo motu action against this judge and send him for gender sensitisation training, the senior counsel wrote.
A day after the Supreme Court took up the matter, justice Srishananda, in an open court statement, said his observations were unintentional, but they were reported out of context on social media platforms.
I express my sincere regrets if they hurt any individual or any section of the society or community, said the judge on September 21.
On Tuesday, the Karnataka high court restrained public and social media platforms from sharing the court proceedings, live-streamed on high courts YouTube channel.
The interim order was issued on a petition filed by the Advocates Association, Bengaluru (AAB), which complained that the social media platforms and the private YouTube channels were editing the videos of live-streamed proceedings of the high court contrary to the Karnataka Rules on Live-Streaming and Recording of Court Proceedings, 2021.
India does not seek to control every political move of neighbours, and does not expect that the political dynamics within neighbouring countries will adhere to what India may think is desirable, but Delhi is confident that fundamental realities of interdependence will ensure that relationships with neighbours remains constructive and positive, external affairs minister S Jaishankar has said. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar speaks at the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting, in New York on Wednesday. (ANI)
At a time when a regime change in Bangladesh through street protests and a government change in Sri Lanka through electoral route has generated questions about Dhaka and Colombos ties with Delhi, Jaishankar also made it clear that India remains focused on building economic regionalism in South Asia.
During a conversation at Asia Society in New York, the minister was asked about Indias non-reciprocal approach to neighbours hasnt yielded benefits with the rise of potentially governments, and about Indias role regarding the treatment of minorities in Bangladesh.
Jaishankar said that India stepped forward in the case of Sri Lanka at a time when others didnt -- in a timely manner and on scale -- and that helped stabilised the island states economy. When we did it, we did not have a political conditionality that accompanied it. We were doing it as a good neighbour that did not want to see an economic meltdown at the doorstep. What happens politically in Sri Lanka is for their politics to work out. At the end of the day, each one of our neighbours will have their own dynamics. It is not our intention to suggest that their dynamics must necessarily adhere to what we might consider being better for us. He added that this was a real world, everyone made their choices and countries then found a way to adjust and work together.
Over the weekend, elections in Sri Lanka saw the victory of Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the Janata Vimukhti Peramuna (JVP), an old Marxist party, as a part of wider coalition. While India has engaged with Dissanayake both before and after the election his past critical positions on elements of Indian policy and economic interests, at a time of Chinas continued engagement, have given rise to apprehensions about Colombos approach to India under a new dispensation.
In the case of Bangladesh, which he acknowledged as being a different situation, the ministers traced back the progress of the past decade.
What we have done is to do projects that have been good for both of us. Economic activity has overall picked up. Logistics of that region has improved. I would urge you not to be deterministic about it. It is not as if India is seeking to control every political move of every neighbour. Thats not how it works. It doesnt work for us and it doesnt work for anyone else.
In Bangladesh, student protests and a brutal state response morphed into a mass upsurge against the Sheikh Hasina-led government that was widely seen as authoritarian and corrupt and having presided over unfair elections. Hasina had to flee to India, which had traditionally supported her party, the Awami League. This, in turn, has made India an object of suspicion in Bangladeshs new political configuration. For its part, Delhi has been deeply concerned about the manner of regime change in the country, the rise of Islamist forces as a part of the new political dispensation, the possibility of state sipport to radicalisation, the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, the political instability in the country, and the potential security consequences for India especially in the Northeast. Jaishankar met Bangladeshs new foreign advisor in the interim government, Touhid Hossain, on Monday in New York.
Jaishankar said that in foreign policy, all that a country could do was read, anticipate and respond to those dynamics. He then projected a more confident outlook for the future. The realities of interdependence, mutual benefit and our ability to get along will serve both our interests will reassert themselves. That has been the history, he said. Look back at the last few years. Something happens and people suggest it is an irretrievable situation. Then you see the correctives manifest itself. I am quite confident that in both these cases, our relationship will remain positive and constructive.
The Congress on Tuesday expressed concerns over a purported decision of the State Bank of India (SBI) to convert its outstanding debt into equity in Supreme Infrastructure India Limited (SIIL) and sought the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)s intervention in the matter. Jairam Ramesh (PTI)
In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared a media report which claimed that SBI will take a dual role in the debt restructuring of defaulter SIIL, by transitioning from being the firms primary creditor to becoming an equity stakeholder.
In an extraordinary move, the SBI has decided to convert its outstanding debt into equity in Supreme Infrastructure India Limited (SIIL), a firm that declared bankruptcy. The lendors, including SBI, took a 93.45% haircut on the debt, he said in the post in Hindi.
Such an arrangement creates a dangerous precedent in Indias corporate debt landscape, Ramesh said, adding that it encourages other defaulting companies to seek similar deals, where they can retain control and value even after significant defaults. It raises questions about the effectiveness of Indias insolvency resolution framework and the role of public sector banks in managing distressed assets, he said.
The SBI appears to be aligning itself with the interests of the defaulting borrower (SIIL) rather than prioritising the recovery of public funds, Ramesh said. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) needs to step in and examine SBIs decision-making process in this matter, he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Wednesday that support for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is growing while the Congress is losing ground in Haryana as the assembly elections inch closer. Sonipat: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public meeting in Sonipat, Haryana, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.(PTI)
As the day of voting nears, the Congress is losing hope. The support for BJP is increasing day by day in Haryana, PM Modi told a large gathering in Sonipat.
Modi accused the Congress of handing over Haryana to "dalals" (middlemen) and "damads" (sons-in-law), in a veiled reference to the Gandhi family. While Modi did not explicitly name anyone, his allusion was clear to many in the audience, who erupted in applause.
"Wherever the Congress has put its foot, corruption and 'bhai-bhatijawaad' (nepotism) are inevitable. Congress has given birth to corruption in the government system. The Congress party is the mother of corruption in our country," the prime minister said.
Also Read | Conspiracy to destabilise govt in garb of farmers protests: Khattar
In a heartwarming moment during the rally, Modi acknowledged a young boy in the crowd who had drawn a picture of the prime minister. Modi asked the boy to hand over the picture to his security team, promising to write him a personal letter.
The prime minister also invoked the legacy of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, saying the empowerment of Dalits has always been closely linked to industrial growth.
"Today, Haryana ranks among the country's top states in the field of agriculture and industry under the BJP government. When industrialisation happens, poor, farmers, Dalits receive most of the benefits," says PM Modi.
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.
Congress attacks PM Modi
Ahead of PM Modi's rally in Sonipat, the Congress claimed that Haryana's farmers have completely lost trust in the BJP and asked Prime Minister Modi to spell out his party's vision for ensuring that the state's farmers can make a decent living.
"Haryana's farmers have completely lost trust in the BJP. When the farm protests were called off in 2021, farmers left after being reassured by the non-biological PM and his government that they would meet their demands," Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in charge of communications, said.
Ramesh accused the BJP of resorting to force when farmers took to the streets again to demand action on their issues. "Instead of listening to them, the Double Anyay Sarkar (double injustice government) lathi-charged and tear-gassed them," he said, referring to the BJP's governments at both state and central levels.
"What is the BJP's vision to ensure that Haryana's farmers can make a stable, decent living?" he asked.
Tamil Nadus anti-graft agency, Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), has registered a second case against former AIADMK minister R Vaithilingam, who has been accused of amassing wealth to over 32 crore disproportionate to his income. DVAC has registered a second case against former AIADMK minister R Vaithilingam, who has been accused of amassing wealth to over 32 crore disproportionate to his income. (File photo)
The FIR dated September 19 stated that the minister amassed 32,47,10,566.53, which is 1,057.85% higher than his known sources of income, during the period starting from May 2011 up to March 2016. The period corresponds to when Vaithilingam was the minister for housing and urban development under the then AIADMK regime.
During the check period in order to legitimise the accuseds ill-gotten wealth the accused AO-1 (accused number 1 Vaithilingam) had decided to purchase movable and immovable properties in the name of his elder son accused A2 (accused number 2) V.Prabhu and in the name of Muthammal Estates Pvt., Ltdduring the check period, the FIR read.
It said: The above information discloses prima-facie that the accused AO-1 Tr.R.Vaithilingam has abused his official position as Minister for Housing and Urban Development and obtained ill-gotten money through Muthammal Estates Private Limited owned by his elder son accused A2 Tr.V.Prabhu.
The accused A2 Tr.V.Prabhu is actively aided the AO-1 and used the AO-Ts ill-gotten money for the purchase of various lands and assets in the name of Muthammal Estates Private Limited. Hence the accused AO-1 Tr.R.Vaithilingam and his elder son accused A2 Tr.V.Prabhu have committed the offences of criminal misconduct and abetment, it added.
This came after DVAC filed the first FIR against Vaithilingam and his sons in a case of alleged bribe given for a planning permission. It is stated that Shriram properties routed 27.9 crore bribe to a shell company run by Vaithilingams sons in lieu of planning permission given to the conglomerate for construction of 1,453 residential and IT buildings, the FIR read.
Calling it a matter of grave concern, the Supreme Court on Tuesday has ordered all state and union territories to furnish details from 2020 on the number of missing children, those found, and the mechanism available at district level to track them. The next hearing is expected to take place in October. (HT photo)
Passing directions on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a non-government organisation Guria Swayam Sevi Sansthan, a bench headed by justice Hrishikesh Roy said, Multiple first information reports (FIRs) have been filed in different states which indicates well-entrenched inter-state network of child trafficking. There are people to arrange for their abduction so that they can be handed over for valuable consideration. What is stated in the petition gives a correct picture which definitely points to a situation of grave concern.
Also Read: Watching, possessing child porn a crime: SC
The petition argued by advocate Aparna Bhatt highlighted the problem by presenting five cases registered at Uttar Pradesh last year where minor boys and girls were abducted and transported through a network of middlemen to states like Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The bench, also comprising justice SVN Bhatti, directed all states and UTs to provide information to the Centre on the number of missing cases of children from 2020.
Additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati appearing for the Centre said that this portal was in addition to the Khoya-Paya portal launched in 2015 to exclusively deal with information on missing children. She said that if a child remains missing for a period of four months, the case is forwarded to the anti-human trafficking unit (AHTU) in each district across the country.
The bench further asked the states and UTs to provide information on whether the AHTUs have been set up and what powers have been vested with them to handle such cases.
The information shared by states will be compiled by ASG Bhati and presented to the court on the next date of the hearing, expected to be in October.
A group of diplomats from 15 countries, including the US, Singapore, South Korea and South Africa, visited Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to observe the second phase of polling in the union territory. Twenty-six constituencies across six districts of the union territory are voting on Wednesday. (Sourced photo | MEA)
The group, which included US charge daffaires Jorgan Andrews, South Korean deputy chief of mission Lim Sang Woo and Singapores deputy high commissioner Alice Cheng, travelled to polling stations at various places in Srinagar and Budgam, people familiar with the matter said.
This is the first time in recent years that the government has organised a visit by foreign diplomats to the Kashmir Valley to witness the election process. After the government scrapped Jammu and Kashmirs special status and divided the state into two union territories in 2019, it organised trips to the region for groups of envoys and members of the European Parliament the following year.
Also Read: PM Modis policies focussed around people: Singapore speaker
The countries that sent representatives for the day-long visit organised by the external affairs ministry are the US, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa, Norway, the Philippines, Spain, Algeria, Guyana, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Rwanda, Somalia and Tanzania, the people said.
Many countries were represented by their deputy chiefs of mission or charge daffaires, and some by political officers or counsellors. Among the Indian officials accompanying the diplomats was JP Singh, joint secretary for the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran desk and joint secretary in the external affairs ministers office.
The people said several factors were behind the choice of countries for this visit, including representation from the P-5 or five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) and from different geographic regions, and ensuring adequate security for the diplomats. In this context, they pointed to recent terror attacks on the armed forces, mainly in Jammu region.
It had to be a diverse group that could make a first-hand assessment of the situation on the ground. Because of security reasons, it couldnt be a very large group, one of the people cited above said. The group will visit polling stations in Srinagar and Budgam, which are among the places where polling is being held in the second phase of elections.
Twenty-six constituencies across six districts of the union territory are voting on Wednesday. Among the key candidates in the second phase are former chief minister Omar Abdullah and BJP leader Ravinder Raina. The first phase of polling on September 18 saw a turnout of more than 61%.
Besides visiting polling stations at Ompura area in Budgam and Bemina area of Srinagar, the diplomats also went to Amira Kadal, SP College and Chinar Bagh, part of the Lal Chowk constituency. At SP College, the group toured a special pink polling station managed entirely by women.
Some of these polling stations had recorded a very low turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
While briefly interacting with the media, Singapores deputy chief of mission Alice Cheng thanked the external affairs ministry for organising the visit to witness the polling, while South Koreas deputy chief of mission Lim Sang Woo, who was on his first time to Kashmir, pointed to the vibrant enthusiasm among voters and said: This is really democracy working.
However, a handful of the 20-odd countries invited to visit Kashmir last week declined the opportunity, citing reasons such as the short notice given by the Indian side and the lack of a detailed itinerary, the people said. The Indian side can only extend the invitation, it is up to an individual country to accept, a second person said.
The government also has plans to send a second group of diplomats to Jammu and Kashmir for the third phase of polling on October 1, the people said.
UN pins hope on Summit of the Future for sustainable multilateralism in global governance
14:20, September 25, 2024 By Xia Lin, Gao Shan ( Xinhua
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations concluded its two-day Summit of the Future on Monday after adopting a 42-page Pact of the Future.
The pact says that the world is in a period of transformation as "we are confronted by rising catastrophic and existential risks, many caused by the choices we make."
"The centerpiece of the Summit of the Future is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine the multilateral system and steer humanity on a new course to meet existing commitments and solve long-term challenges," said the UN in its release.
EXPECTATION
"We stand at a crossroads of global transformation, facing unprecedented challenges that demand urgent, collective action," UNGA President Philemon Yang said at the opening segment on Sunday.
The pact represents the world body's pledge to address immediate crises, and lay the foundations for a sustainable, just, and peaceful global order, for all peoples and nations, he said.
"I called for this summit to consider deep reforms to make global institutions more legitimate, fair and effective, based on the values of the UN Charter," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the summit.
"In short, our multilateral tools and institutions are unable to respond effectively to today's political, economic, environmental and technological challenges. And tomorrow's will be even more difficult and even more dangerous," added the secretary-general.
The annexes of the pact, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations, cover a broad range of themes including peace and security, sustainable development, climate change, digital cooperation, human rights, gender, youth and future generations and the transformation of global governance.
These three landmark agreements are a step-change toward more effective, inclusive, networked multilateralism, said Guterres, adding that their implementation will prioritize dialogue and negotiation, end the wars tearing the world apart, and reform the composition and working methods of the Security Council.
CHINA'S VOICE
"Facing transformation unseen in a century, it is highly relevant that we gather at the Summit of the Future and, together, adopt the Pact for the Future to galvanize our collective efforts for world peace and development," Wang Yi, special representative of Chinese President Xi Jinping, told the summit on Monday.
"Chinese President Xi Jinping has put forward the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, advocated high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and proposed the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative," Wang said, who is also Chinese state councilor and foreign minister.
China proposes that countries of the world build a future of peace and tranquility, a future of development and prosperity, and a future of fairness and justice, Wang said.
"All countries, regardless of their size and strength, are equal members of the international community. International affairs should be handled through consultation by all countries," he added.
China will work hand in hand with countries worldwide to advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and create a more peaceful and better tomorrow.
SUPPORT AND REFLECTION
President of Angola Joao Lourenco said that the adoption of the pact represents "a real turning point" for a more dynamic, engaged and assertive approach to the issues that are of concern to humanity."
President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel said that the pact creates a solid base for a better and more effective multilateral system.
President of Ecuador Daniel Noboa said that all global decisions and commitments must be determined with "the involvement and contribution of those who today can build tomorrow."
President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon said that the inclusion of climate and water issues in the final document "underscores the imperative for sustained and urgent action" to secure a peaceful and sustainable future.
Albert II, Prince of Monaco, said that the pact establishes a bedrock for a more prosperous world and allows young people to flourish in an environment free from security threats such as transnational crime.
Speaking on behalf of the Least Developed Countries Group, Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli said that millions of children are going hungry every day, highlighting the clear inequality evident around the globe.
Nangolo Mbumba, president of Namibia, noted that the world is at a crossroads. One path leads to environmental catastrophe, widening inequality, global conflict, destruction, and the rise of dangerous technology; the other to peace, the eradication of poverty and hunger, and the responsible harnessing of digital technologies for the benefit of humanity.
Olaf Scholz, chancellor of Germany, urged those present to take steps towards a more peaceful, fairer world, stating that, while "the road ahead is rocky," history will judge UN member states for their commitment to the plan at hand.
"We do not have time to waste," stressed Sadyr Zhaparov, president of Kyrgyzstan, urging "decisive" action to strengthen the connections between nations and forge global partnerships to address challenges such as forced migration, climate threats and the unjust distribution of resources.
Stressing that "inaction is not an option," Chandrikapersad Santokhi, president of Suriname, pointed to Caribbean nations' lack of financial resources to invest in health, education, and infrastructure due to external debt.
Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, highlighted the "great responsibilities of those who will succeed us," and urged them not to back down from the promotion of equality between men and women and the fight against racism and all forms of discrimination.
OBSERVATION
"The vast majority of UN member states still support multilateral cooperation, but disagreement over the scope of reform has been a major flashpoint," said Stewart Patrick and Minh-Thu Pham, two researchers at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in a commentary titled "The Good-and Bad-News about the UN's Summit of the Future."
"The pact was approved despite objections from some countries, including Russia and Venezuela, which criticized the lack of negotiations on the pact and said its contents favored Western countries," said The National, a UAE state-owned daily newspaper.
"Where it does address peace and security, the pact should focus on commitments and areas of reform where UN member state consensus can make a measurable difference and where major powers' interests either align or do not directly conflict," said U.S. think tank and publisher Council on Foreign Relations in an article titled "Security Challenges Cloud UN's Summit of the Future."
"Facing a swirl of conflicts and crises across a fragmented world, leaders attending this week's annual UN gathering are being challenged: work together -- not only on front-burner issues but on modernizing the international institutions born after World War II so they can tackle the threats and problems of the future," reported The Associated Press.
UN chief Guterres told reporters last week that the summit "was born out of a cold, hard fact: international challenges are moving faster than our ability to solve them."
For more than a year Guterres had hoped that by confronting world leaders with the scale of future challenges they collectively face, they could be persuaded to set aside some of those divisions about the present, said The Guardian.
"Still, diplomats are optimistic about the possibility of change," said CNN in its report on the summit. "The UN secretary-general thinks the final document has the most significant reform in a generation. Another diplomat said 'It should make the UN more relevant.'"
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
The Rajasthan high court on Wednesday exonerated Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in connection with the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam case, in a verdict that the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader hailed as the victory of truth. Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (ANI)
A single bench of justice Arun Monga disposed of a petition filed by Shekhawat tourism and culture minister seeking quashing of the case against him. The order came after the special operations group (SOG), which had filed a first information report (FIR) against the BJP leader, submitted a detailed report in the court stating there was no incriminating evidence against him in the case.
The court said there was no point in maintaining the petition if the SOG has not found petitioners involvement. It also clarified that SOG cannot further investigate against Shekhawat without taking permission from the trial court.
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The Sanjivani scam, under investigation since 2019, pertains to accusation of defrauding thousands of investors to the tune of 900 crore. Shekhawats name first surfaced when then chief minister Ashok Gehlot publicly alleged the involvement of the BJP leader and his family in the scam last year.
The high court had on April 13, 2023 granted Shekhawat relief from arrest. It had come days after the SOG submitted an initial factual report naming Shekhawat as an accused for the first time, claiming he served as a director of Navprabha Buildtech Private Limited, a firm involved in the scam, from November 3, 2005 till March 10, 2014.
ALSO READ- Jammu and Kashmir assembly election: 20 of 26 assembly segments see lower turnout than 2014
On Wednesday, however, the SOG said Shekhawat had resigned from the post of director from all these companies and thus cannot be held responsible for the acts done post his resignation as a director in the companies. The detail report came after the high court on September 17 directed the SOG to file a response to the query whether it intended to file a charge sheet against Shekhawat.
Senior counsel Vivek Raj Bajwa, representing Shekhawat, said despite several charge sheets being filed since the FIR was registered in 2019, Shekhawat was neither named as an accused nor listed in the FIR.
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Shekhawat termed the courts order as a triumph of the truth and said it was mere an attempt to malign his reputation and frame him in the matter.
It was an attempt to drag me into this case due to the frustration caused by his political ambitions, loss of his son in the election and victory of the BJP, Shekhawat said, in an apparent dig at former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, whose son Vaibhav had lost to the BJP leader in 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Jodhpur constituency.
Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said he will not hesitate to face a probe in a case pertaining to purported irregularities in allotment of 14 sites to his wife but will consult legal experts and Congress leaders to decide on the next course of action, even as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged a huge scam and demanded his resignation. The developments came after the Karnataka high court dismissed Siddaramaiahs plea against governor Thaawarchand Gehlots approval on August 16 for a probe against him into the alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife. (PTI)
The developments came after the Karnataka high court dismissed Siddaramaiahs plea against governor Thaawarchand Gehlots approval on August 16 for a probe against him into the alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife B M Parvathi by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) in a prime locality.
Both Siddaramaiah and his deputy, DK Shivakumar, said there is no question of the chief ministers resignation and alleged a big conspiracy against the former by the Opposition.
I still say I have done no wrong. The order (of the high court) is read to be restrictive to an approval (for investigation) under section 17A of the (Prevention of Corruption) Act and not an order granting sanction under section 218 of BNSS (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita). Why should I resign? Has (H D) Kumaraswamy (Union minister) resigned? He is on bail, ask him, Siddaramaiah said. It could not be immediately ascertained which case against Kumaraswamy was Siddaramaiah referring to.
Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act pertains to investigation of offences related to recommendations made or decisions taken by a public servant during discharge of duties. Section 218 of BNSS deals with prosecution of judges and public servants.
It is only said that an inquiry needs to be done. At the inquiry stage itself resignation is sought? I will answer them I will not hesitate from facing investigation we will face them politically because it is a conspiracy, he added.
Kumaraswamy hit back and said: Many allegations have been reported against me. Let the investigation into them be completed. Until then, I will not give any response. Some ministers cannot bear to see me as a Union Minister and are making allegations. The final decision is in the hands of the people and the court.
The Karnataka Lokayuktas special investigation team (SIT) recently sought the governors nod to file a chargesheet against Kumaraswamy in an illegal mining lease case.
Siddaramaiah, while speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, said he will decide on the next course of action after holding talks with legal experts, cabinet ministers and party leaders.
Accusing the BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) of conspiracy and misuse of Raj Bhavan, the chief minister said he will not be afraid of them as the people of the state are with him and he and his party have their blessings.
All ministers including deputy CM (DK Shivakumar), MLAs, party leaders, workers and high command are with me. The (Congress) high command will cooperate with me in continuing the legal fight, he said.
The Narendra Modi-led government (at the Centre) is doing vendetta politics, not only against me, but against opposition state governments across the country, he said, adding that the BJP wants to destabilise the state government like they have done in other parts of the country.
Shivakumar also said there is no question of Siddaramaiah quitting his post over the case and alleged a big conspiracy against him.
There is no question, the chief minister has not done anything wrong. He is not involved in any scam. It is a political conspiracy by the BJP against all opposition leaders in the country, this is what is going on.. We stand by him, Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress chief, said.
I am telling you again, there is no setback to the chief minister. It is a big conspiracy against all our leaders, including me which I faced earlier. Didnt I come out clean?... We respect the legal system of this country. We will get justice, he added. He was referring to the Supreme Courts decision on March 5 to quash proceedings against him in a 2018 money laundering case.
Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge said he was not surprised by the high courts decision. I am not surprised. The idea of involving the governor and governors office was to ensure that this plays out like this. The governor has very clearly overstepped his legal ambit and he has done these things, he said.
The BJP, however, held a protest in Hubli, demanding the chief ministers resignation. Union minister Pralhad Joshi demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
....This is a huge scam and it cant happen without any political influence. I strongly urge the chief minister to resign and demand for a CBI probe into the matter, the Dharwad BJP lawmaker said.
There are more than 500-1,000 sites allocated to other people also illegally. Most of them have happened in the last few months and hence they have to be investigated, he added.
At a press conference in Bengaluru, senior BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar said: The high court has validated the action of the governor. The BJP demands that Siddaramaiah tender his resignation and make way for a free and independent investigation into the allegations of shameful corruption.
He added: Siddaramaiah is only continuing the tradition of the Congress under Rahul Gandhi of coming into governance in the name of (welfare of) poor by making false and fake promises but always enriching themselves and their families.
BJP lawmaker Jagadish Shettar demanded an impartial investigation in the matter.
BJP has been relentlessly fighting against the corrupt Congress government. But they said that BJP is doing a political conspiracy against us, state BJP president BY Vijayendra said.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday he has invited India already to participate in the second international peace summit to end his country's prolonged war with Russia, news agency PTI reported. New York [US], Sep 24 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in New York on Tuesday. (File)(ANI)
Zelensky stressed that unity always works for peace and called for collective preparation from all countries to end the war altogether. "And I invite all of you, all principal nations to join us in this process, all who truly respect the UN Charter. We invite China. We invite Brazil. I have already invited India. We are working with African nations, all of Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe, the Pacific region, and North America. All, Zelensky said while addressing a UNSC meeting.
Also read | Lot of work to be done before second Ukraine peace summit: Foreign secretary
The Ukraine president stressed that the second peace summit will lead to real peace and pointed at the UN Charter as one of the ways to achieve it. "This process will lead us to peace, to a just peace, a real peace, a peace that will last. All of us already know how to achieve it. We have the peace formula; we have the UN Charter, and we have all the strength needed to make it happen. What's needed is determination, Zelensky added.
What PM Modi said
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Ukrainian President on Monday during his three-day visit to the United States. We are committed to implementing the outcomes of my visit to Ukraine last month to strengthen bilateral relations. Reiterated Indias support for early resolution of the conflict in Ukraine and restoration of peace and stability, the prime minister said on X following the meeting.
Did India attend first Ukraine peace summit?
An Indian delegation from the Ministry of External Affairs participated in the 'Summit on Peace in Ukraine' hosted by Switzerland at Burgenstock on June 15-16. India did not sign any communique or the outcome document from the summit, but the MEA said that India will continue to remain engaged with all stakeholders to ensure an early end to the conflict.
(With PTI inputs)
The Andhra Pradesh government appointed senior IPS officer Sarvashresth Tripathi as the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Tuesday to probe the alleged adulteration of ghee used in making the famous Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) temple laddu prasadam, people familiar with the matter said. On Sunday, Naidu ordered a probe by the SIT into the alleged irregularities at the TTD to be headed by a high-ranking officer (PTI)
Tripathi, a 2006-batch IPS officer of Andhra cadre, is presently working as the inspector general of police, Guntur range.
Apart from Tripathi, the SIT will comprise two more senior IPS officers Visakhapatnam range deputy inspector general of police Gopinath Jetty and Kadapa district superintendent of police Harshavardhan Raju.
Tripathi had earlier worked as the superintendent of police in Guntur and Krishna districts. He was posted as the Guntur range IG during the recent assembly elections, replacing IPS officer Pala Raju, as per the directions of the Election Commission. He has since been posted there.
Apart from the circumstances that led to the adulteration of the ghee used in the preparation of the Tirumala laddu, the SIT will also look into other irregularities that have allegedly taken place during the previous regime in the last five years, an official in chief minister N Chandrababu Naidus office said, on condition of anonymity.
On Sunday, Naidu ordered a probe by the SIT into the alleged irregularities at the TTD to be headed by a high-ranking officer.
Stating that action would be taken against the guilty based on the SIT report, he vowed to purify Tirumala and restore its glory.
Earlier, Naidu alleged that the ghee mixed with animal fat was used in making laddu prasadam when the YSRCP led by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was in power. Samples from four tankers supplying the ghee were sent to the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) for analysis, Naidu added.
Quoting a lab report, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) pointed out that some samples of ghee which was used for the preparation of the laddus revealed the presence of beef tallow, lard (relating to pig fat), and fish oil.
Meanwhile, several Hindu religious leaders, including those from the Andhra Pradesh Hindu Sadhu Parishad, staged a protest outside the temples administrative building over the issue on Tuesday.
The protesters demanded stringent punishment to those involved and said a case should immediately be filed.
Such desecration of Tirumala has never happened before. Those involved in tarnishing the sanctity of Tirumala should not be spared, one of the protesters said. He demanded that the government conduct a thorough probe into the affairs of TTD during the last five years.
In the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls on Wednesday, 20 out of the 26 assembly segments saw a decline in voter turnout compared to the 2014 elections. Voters wait in queues to cast their votes for the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in Budgam on Wednesday. (Election Commission of India-X)
The overall voting in the 2014 assembly polls for the six districts that voted on Wednesday exceeded 60 per cent, according to data from the Election Commission of India.
Chief electoral officer of Jammu and Kashmir, PK Pole said that approximately 56.05 percent voter turnout was recorded in the six districts during Wednesday's polling.
In the 2014 elections, there were 25 assembly segments in the districts of Srinagar, Ganderbal, Budgam, Reasi, Rajouri, and Poonch. However, after the delimitation exercise in 2022, the number of segments in these six districts has increased to 26.
While five assembly segments in the Srinagar district witnessed higher voter turnout compared to the 2014 polls, all other segments across the remaining five districts saw a decrease in turnout.
In central Kashmir, the Budgam (66.32 percent) and Chrar-e-Sharief (82.44 percent) assembly segments experienced the largest decline in voter turnout, with both segments dropping by 15 percentage points. Budhal, which had a turnout of 82.50 per cent in 2014, followed closely with a 14 percentage point fall.
Read: Rahul says would fight in Parliament, take to streets to restore J&K statehood
The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi segment in Reasi district achieved the highest turnout this year at 79.95 per cent, though it remains below the 82.68 per cent recorded in 2014 when it was known as Gool Arnas.
In contrast, the Habbakadal assembly segment, which has a significant migrant voter population, reported the lowest turnout at 18.39 per cent, a decline from 21.31 per cent a decade ago.
Notably, none of the assembly segments that experienced an increase in turnout surpassed the 38 per cent mark, while all constituencies with a decrease still managed to exceed 50 per cent.
According to Pole, the segment-wise turnout in Jammu division seats was Gulabgarh (73.49), Surankote (75.11), Reasi (71.00), Nowshera (72.00), Kalakote-Sunderbani (68.71), Poonch-Haveli (74.92), Rajouri (70.64), Budhal (68.58), Thannamandi (69.66) and Mendhar (71.08).
In the Kashmir valley seats, the turnout was Khansahib (71.66), Kangan (71.89), Chrar-e-Sharief (67.44), Chadoora (55.25), Ganderbal (56.97), Beerwah (63.31), Budgam (51.13), Hazratbal (30.69), Khanyar (26.07), Habbakadal (18.39), Lal Chowk (32.11), Channapora (29.35), Zadibal (30.73), Central Shalteng (31.07) and Eidgah (36.93).
With PTI inputs
Jammu and Kashmir assembly election: The central government on Wednesday took a delegation of diplomats from 16 countries, including the US, Norway and Singapore, a polling station in Ompora area of Budgam district to witness the phase 2 polling process of the ongoing Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) assembly election. A delegation of diplomats from various countries at a polling booth in Budgam area to witness the polling process. (HT photo)
The trip is a part of efforts to showcase the democratic transition in the union territory.
The delegation comprised diplomats from Delhi-based missions of the US, Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria and the Philippines, people familiar with the matter said.
Most of the embassies are represented by their Charge d'affaires and deputy chief of missions, they said.
Others are represented by political officers at minister-counselor and counselor ranks.
This is perhaps for the first time since the eruption of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir that foreign observers have been allowed to witness the elections. The earlier governments stoically dismissed any suggestion of allowing international observers into Jammu and Kashmir during polls.
The Centre invited the foreign delegates with the objective of showcasing the peaceful poll process and the good voter turnout that has been witnessed since the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.
Also read | Jammu and Kashmir assembly election: Phase 2 polling for 26 seats in 6 districts today
The aim is to showcase the peaceful conduct of the electoral process and participation of people at a large scale, as this phase is considered the most feasible to organise such a visit, The Indian Express reported quoting an official.
The foreign diplomatic team will also visit Srinagar district, and likely to skip Jammu.
The assembly election is the first such exercise in J&K in a decade and comes after the abrogation of special status under Article 370 and degradation of statehood into a Union territory. It also comes after a controversial delimitation exercise earmarked 47 assembly seats for Kashmir and 43 for Jammu in its final order.
Also read | Pak barbs fly as campaigning for 2nd phase ends
Reacting to the visit, National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah questioned the need for guided tours when the union government refuses to accept any international criticism of its actions in J&K. "If diplomats can be brought on guided jaunts, why have all foreign journalists including those with OCI cards had their requests for permission to cover the elections turned down?, he asked while speaking to The Indian Express.
PDP spokesperson Waheed Para said the credit for successful conduct of elections should be given to the people and their urge to get a representation in power. On one hand, the government says we dont want any interference from outside and no international attention on Kashmir, and on the other, they hold G20 and showcase peoples participation as their own success story," he added.
The BJP welcomed the visit and questioned the need to oppose a visit which aims to show the festival of democracy being celebrated in a free, fair and transparent manner. "We are only opposed to outside interference of any kind, said chief spokesperson of J&K BJP Sunil Sethi.
Jammu and Kashmir assembly election: A total of 26 assembly constituencies across six districts in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is voting on Wednesday, September 25, in phase 2 of assembly election to decide the fate of 239 candidates. Polling officials carrying electronic voting machines (EVMs) and other election materials leave for their respective polling stations on the eve of the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, at a distribution centre in Srinagar, on Tuesday. (ANI Photo)
Polling began at 7 am and will end by 6pm, with over 2.5 million voters set to vote across six districts - three in the Kashmir Valley and three in Jammu division. This is the first assembly poll in the restive region since its special status and statehood were scrapped five years ago.
10 points on phase 2 of J&K assembly election
1. Security has been tightened across all the regions to ensure peaceful conduct of polls. Many assembly seats fall along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, and officials predict lesser chances of cross border shelling due to ongoing ceasefire between India and the neighbouring country.
2. Three among the six districts -Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch-have been hit by back-to-back terror attacks over the last three years.
3. Eleven seats in the hill districts have been the most volatile, with over a dozen terror attacks since 2021, with latest being the brutal attack on a pilgrimage bus in Reasi.
Also read | Pak barbs fly as campaigning for 2nd phase ends
4. The 26 constituencies set to elect their new MLA's are- Kangan (ST), Ganderbal, Hazratbal, Khanyar, Habbakadal, Lal Chowk, Channapora, Zadibal, Eidgah, Central Shalteng, Budgam, Beerwah, Khansahib, Chrar-i-Sharief, Chadoora, Gulabgarh (ST), Reasi, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Kalakote - Sunderbani, Nowshera, Rajouri (ST), Budhal (ST), Thannamandi (ST), Surankote (ST), Poonch Haveli and Mendhar (ST).
5. Key candidates in phase 2 are former chief minister Omar Abdullah, BJP J&K chief Ravinder Raina and JKPCC president Tariq Hamid Karra.
6. Omar Abdullah is contesting the polls from two assembly seats - Ganderbal and Budgam, while Karra is contesting from Central Shalteng. J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina is contesting the polls from Nowshera in Rajouri, a seat he has held since 2014.
7. The wealthiest candidate is J&K Apni party chief Altaf Bukhari whose wealth exceeds 165 crore. He is contesting from Channapora seat in Srinagar and faces PDP's Mohammed Iqbal Trumboo, National Conference's Mushtaq Guroo, and BJP's Hilal Ahmad Wani.
8. Campaign discourse largely centered around terrorism, abrogation of Article 370 and restoration of statehood, and the resumption of dialogue with Pakistan over the Kashmir dispute.
9. Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asifs remarks on Article 370 and the Congress-NC alliance gave the BJP fresh ammunition to target the alliance and accuse them of being on the same page with the neighbouring country.
10. In an effort to showcase the democratic transition in J&K, Government of India has invited a delegation of foreign diplomats to visit the Union Territory to have a first-hand account of polling.
(With agency inputs)
Jammu and Kashmir assembly election 2024 live updates: People queued up at a polling station in Ganderbal assembly constituency.
Jammu and Kashmir assembly election 2024 live updates: The second phase of voting on 26 seats in six districts for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections has begun on Wednesday, September 25, and will conclude at 6pm. Security has been tightened in key constituencies such as Rajouri, which along with Poonch and Reasi has witnessed a surge of terror attacks over the last few years....Read More
More than 2.5 million voters will decide the fate of 239 candidates, including 79 in the Pir Panjal region of Jammu during the second phase of elections. This is the first assembly election being held in Jammu and Kashmir in 10 years, after the abrogation of Article 370.
The first phase of voting was held on September 18 across 24 constituencies in seven districts, according to the Election Commission of India. The third phase will take place on October 1, after which counting of votes will be held on October 8.
The first phase of elections recorded a voter turnout of 61.13 per cent, which was held in 24 constituencies in seven districts.
One of the key candidates during the second phase of assembly elections is National Congress' Omar Abdullah, who is contesting from two seats - Ganderbal and Budgam.
Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party chief Ravinder Raina is contesting from Nowshera in Rajouri, a seat that he has held for a decade.
According to the election commission, 157 special polling stations have been established including 26 'pink polling stations' headed by women, 26 polling stations managed by specially abled persons, 26 polling stations held by youths, 31 border polling stations, 26 green polling stations and 22 unique polling stations.
On Monday, during a rally in Srinagar, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lost his confidence saying, He used to boast about a 56-inch chest but he is not the same person anymore.
The BJP dismissed his claims as "utterly baseless" and laughable.
The Congress and National Conference have formed an alliance, with the BJP and the PDP also playing a key role in the elections.
Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday likened the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological fountainhead of the BJP, to "rats" and accused both of them of undermining communal harmony in the poll-bound state for electoral gain. Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.(PTI)
Addressing a rally virtually from Ranchi, Soren claimed the BJP was sowing discord between Hindu and Muslim communities in Jharkhand and pointed to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's involvement.
"RSS is invading the state like rats and destroying it. Chase such forces away when you see them entering your villages with 'handia' and 'daru' (locally brewed liquor)...They want to create communal disturbances and tension ahead of elections for political gains," Soren said during the rally in Bhognadih, Sahibganj.
Also Read | Soren writes to PM Modi; urges release of pending 1.36 lakh cr dues to Jharkhand
Predicts provocative incidents
Soren warned of provocative incidents such as throwing meat into temples and mosques. He also characterised the BJP as a party of "traders and industrialists," accusing it of buying political leaders to serve its agenda, in an apparent reference to former Jharkhand CM Champai Soren, who recently defected to the BJP.
The chief minister dismissed BJP claims of demographic changes in Jharkhand, urging critics to examine neighbouring West Bengal's data instead.
Also Read | Shivraj Chouhan says grave threat to Jharkhand if JMM wins assembly polls
Questioning Himanta Biswa Sarma's presence in Jharkhand while tribal communities in his home state face what Soren described as numerous atrocities, Soren said, They talk about spoiling the demography and Bangladeshi intruders. I would like to tell them to go and get the data from the Centre and see in which district and in which state it has changed. They don't like places where people live in peace and harmony. They cook their political plans and conspiracies ignited by them. You need to identify them and show them their worth.
Soren accused the BJP of obstructing the state's development and questioned why the tribal religion code had not yet been granted. "Why are we not being given the tribal religion code? Why are our tribal brothers and sisters in Assam denied their rights?" he asked.
With hopes of meeting a Pakistani social media influencer from Multan in Pakistan, Imtiyaz Sheikh, a resident of Bandipora district in Jammu and Kashmir, travelled to Gujarat's Kutch to cross the border but was detained by police.
Sheikh, 36, believed he could legally enter Pakistan through the Kutch border and sought assistance from local residents in Khavda village to obtain permission from the authorities, said officials. A security personnel at BOP Narabet near India-Pakistan international border in Gujarat.(Siddharaj Solanki/ Hindustan Times File Photo)
Sheikh reached Khavda hoping to cross the border and enter Pakistan to meet a woman he met online. He was under the impression that he could cross into Pakistan from this border. We detained him after he reached Khavda on Tuesday, PTI quoted Kutch (west) superintendent of police Sagar Bagmar as saying.
However, after a preliminary investigation and fact-checking with Sheikhs family and local police in Jammu and Kashmir, authorities found no threat and released him later that evening.
Bagmar also said that Sheikh seemed to be mentally unstable.
Inspector MB Chauhan said that Sheikh's misguided attempt arose from his quest for a more straightforward route to meet the influencer, as traveling from Kashmir was impractical.
Sheikh was attracted towards a Pakistani social media influencer from Multan city and decided to meet her. He used Google Maps and concluded that Kutch was his best option, added Chauhan.
He sought help from villagers to secure permission from authorities to legally enter Pakistan. "We brought him to the police station after being alerted by villagers," Chauhan said.
Also read: Jammu and Kashmir assembly election: 20 of 26 assembly segments see lower turnout than 2014
Earlier in June, a cross-border love story that started on social media came to an abrupt halt when a youth from Uttar Pradesh was detained by the Border Security Force at the Khokhar border outpost near the international border in Fazilka.
The youth identified as Juneil, son of Khurshid had reached the border and was reportedly attempting to cross into Pakistan to meet his lover before being handed over to the police.
A woman employee of HDFC Bank in Lucknow allegedly died due to work pressure on Tuesday, days after a similar incident involving an Ernst & Young employee in Pune, News18 reported. Sadaf Fatima was posted as Additional Deputy Vice-President at HDFC Banks Vibuti Khand branch in Gomti Nagar.(@Hellobanker_in)
The employee identified as Sadaf Fatima was posted as additional deputy vice-president at HDFC Banks Vibuti Khand branch in Gomti Nagar. The News18 report claimed that Fatima died in office after she fell off her chair inside bank premises, quoting unnamed colleagues. She was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead and her body was sent to undergo a postmortem.
Reacting to the incident, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav said the work pressure and stress has become the same everywhere from government to private jobs and people are working out of compulsion.
The condition of employed people has become worse than bonded labourers because they do not even have the right to speak. Government is there to solve problems, not to give baseless suggestions, Akhilesh Yadav posted X.
The SP chief took a dig at finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's recent suggestion that the youth under work pressure need lessons on stress management.
Instead of improving the working conditions, the BJP minister who is lecturing the youth of the country to develop the strength to withstand pressure, is further distressing the youth in this environment of grief, and is requested that if her government cannot provide any solace, cannot bring about any improvement, then it should not do so, but should not increase public anger with its heartless and insensitive advice in the context of this incident, he wrote.
What happened at EY Pune?
The employee named Anna Sebastian Perayil passed her CA exams in 2023 and worked at EY India for four months as part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune. Her career was cut short as she passed away due to what her mother claimed as glorification of overwork.
In her letter, Annas mother claimed that it was her daughters first job, and she was excited about joining the company. Within just four months, however, she succumbed to excessive workload. The victim also worked late into the night and on weekends, returned to her PG accommodation completely exhausted on most days. She was also burdened with backbreaking work as a newcomer, the letter claimed, noting that nobody from the company attended her funeral.
The Bombay high court on Wednesday raised serious doubts over a controversial police encounter in Maharashtra two days ago that killed a man accused of sexually abusing minors, insisting that the probe into the incident be fair and impartial. Posters in Mumbai shows Devendra Fadnavis with message, "Badla Pura" (Revenge completed). (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)
Akshay Shinde, a cleaner who was accused last month of assaulting two four-year-old girls in a pre-primary school in Badlapur East, was killed while in police custody on Monday.
Police said the incident occurred when the 24-year-old snatched a policemans gun and fired three rounds at him, injuring him in the leg. He was killed in retaliatory firing, the police added.
ALSO READ- Mumbai rain: Schools, colleges to remain shut on Sept 26; flights, trains disrupted
But on Wednesday, a division bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan punched several holes into this version of events. It asked the police if the officers were negligent and careless, how one man overpowered four officers, how he snatched a pistol from armed personnel and undid the safety latch, and why he was shot in the head instead of in the legs.
We are not suspecting the police on their activities, but come clean on all aspects, the court said, adding that it would be constrained to pass appropriate orders if the probe was not conducted properly.
ALSO READ- Jammu and Kashmir assembly election: 20 of 26 assembly segments see lower turnout than 2014
This is hard to believe. Prima facie, this cannot be trusted the court added.
The developments came on a day chief minister Eknath Shinde defended the police and said officers shot Shinde in self-defence, even as posters featuring deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnaviss face and the words Badla Pura (revenge completed) came up across Mumbai. The Opposition has alleged that the encounter was a bid to shield the management of the school where the rapes occurred, and flagged it as an example of an extrajudicial killing in order to impart instant justice for political gain.
The high court was hearing a petition by Shindes father Anna Shinde, who alleged his son was killed in a fake encounter.
He wasnt of huge built or a strong man. This is very difficult to accept. This cannot be termed as an encounter, the judges said. What is the SOP or guidelines when an accused, especially in such a serious crime, is taken in custody? Why should they (police) be so negligent and careless? they asked.
The officer who shot at the accused was an inspector with experience in how to react in such a situation, the court noted, and asked why Shinde was shot in the head.
Ordinarily, the retaliation would be on the leg or arm. Why directly on the head? Does he not know where the shot has to be fired? It may have been spontaneous. The first reaction should have been to disarm him, the court said.
It also questioned the polices assertion that Shinde managed to seize the pistol and opened fire.
This is very hard to believe. I have fired a pistol a hundred times. It is hard to unlock and fire. We are not suspecting at this stage but just looking at the possibilities. Revolver is easier. Any Tom, Dick or Harry can do it. But a pistol is very hard to fire, the court said.
The high court also questioned how one man could overpower four officers from the Thane crime branch.
Four officers were there in the vehicle. One of the officers was involved in encounters in the past. Four officers couldnt overpower the accused? How can we believe they couldnt overpower the accused. The accused was not hefty or strong. You all could have overpowered him, the court said.
The bench asked if the shot fired at Shinde was from a distance or point-blank range, if it was a ricochet or direct shot, and if it was a brush of the bullet of through-and-through shot.
We want to know whether it was point-blank range...distance from where the shot was fired. Ballistic experts would know. Was it an entry and exit wound? If yes, where was the exit, it said.
All these details would have to be submitted on the next date, the court said, adding: The investigation has to be done fairly and impartially. If we find this is not done, then we would be constrained to pass appropriate orders.
It posted the matter for further hearing on October 3, when the police have to take a decision on the complaint submitted by Shindes father, seeking a first information report against the four officers.
The court also directed that all case papers be immediately handed over to the Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department (CID), which will be probing the case.
Why are files not handed over to CID yet? Preservation of evidence is vital. Any delay on your part would raise doubts and speculations, it said.
The high courts sharp observations are likely to add to the swirling controversy around the Badlapur rape, and now the encounter death.
The sexual assault cases sent shock waves across Maharahtra last month, when Badlapur East police booked Shinde, who was part of the cleaning staff at the school, for sexually assaulting two four-year-old kindergarten girls in the school premises. The cases had rocked Maharashtra and prompted widespread protests.
A third case against Shinde was initially registered in Boisar, and was transferred to the Badlapur police station last week. A 23-year-old woman in her complaint stated that she married Shinde in 2021, who forced her to have unnatural sex with him.
The encounter has kicked up a political storm. On Wednesday, Shinde defended the police.
The police shot in self-defence. They had guns not for a showpiece. If he had fled, the Opposition would have criticised and said that we made him flee. The cops got injured in the encounter. We should support the police, Shinde said at the India Today Conclave Mumbai.
ALSO READ: Paracetamol, Pan D among 53 medicines to fail drug regulator's quality test; raise safety concerns
Meanwhile the Opposition attacked the government saying it was a planned killing to cover up other accused involved in the case. The other accused in the case, who are trustees of the school, are still absconding.
Leader of the opposition leader in the Maharashtra assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, sought a probe into the role of the officer who shot dead the accused. His role needs to be probed. It is also need to be clear whether the whole thing was done to help the ruling parties which are on their way out, he said.
In the court, the division bench directed the police to collect forensic samples of the hands of the deceased and the four police officers to verify if there was any residue from the use of pistols.
Amit Katarnaware, representing Anna Shinde, told the court that the parents met Shinde the day he was killed, and that he inquired about his bail. This shows he (Shinde) was not in a mental state to take any such drastic step, he said.He added that around an hour before the Thane crime branch took his custody, Akshays parents met him at Taloja jail, where he asked them to send him some him some money to buy food in prison.
Shindes parents want to take custody of the body but are unable to find a burial site for the final rites, he said. Public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar said the police would get in touch with local authorities and make necessary arrangements.
A Bengaluru court on Wednesday directed the Lokayukta police to investigate Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah in connection with allegations of irregularities in the allotment of Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) sites. The probe was ordered by Special Court Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, just a day after the Karnataka high court upheld Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's sanction for an inquiry into the matter. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah addresses a press conference, in Bengaluru, on Tuesday. (PTI)
The court issued directions to take up investigation under section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) (that gives a magistrate the power to order an investigation into a cognisable offense.) It directed the Lokayukta police to file the investigation report by December 24.
The chief minister said he was not afraid of a probe.
Already I have said that I am ready to face an investigation. I am not afraid of a probe, Siddaramaiah told reporters. I am ready for a legal fight. I had said this yesterday and I am reiterating it today as well.
The high court dismissed Siddaramaiahs plea against the governors August 16 order sanctioning an investigation under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988. The governor's approval was in response to complaints lodged by activists Pradeep Kumar S P, T J Abraham, and Snehamayi Krishna, accusing the chief minister of benefiting from the illegal allotment of valuable MUDA plots.
Also Read | Exploring what is best course of action: Karnataka CMs legal advisor after HC verdict on MUDA scam
In its ruling, the single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna noted that while governors typically act based on the advice of the Council of Ministers under Article 163 of the Constitution, exceptions could be made in certain cases. Justice Nagaprasanna deemed this case an exceptional circumstance where the governor's independent decision was warranted.
Asserting that the gubernatorial order nowhere "suffers from want of application of mind", the Judge said, "It is not a case of not even a semblance of application of mind by the Governor, but abundance of application of mind."
"No fault can be found with the Governor exercising the independent discretion to pass the impugned order; it would suffice if the reasons are recorded in the file of the decision-making authority, particularly of the high office, and those reasons succinctly form part of the impugned order. A caveat reason must be in the file. Reasons for the first time cannot be brought before the constitutional court by way of objections," he added.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wasted no time in capitalising on the high court's decision, demanding that Siddaramaiah step down to allow for an independent investigation.
The high court has validated the action of the governor. The BJP demands that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tender his resignation and make way for a free and independent investigation into the allegations of shameful corruption, senior BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar said at a press conference in New Delhi.
Also Read | Congress party in disarray as state leaders wait for central leadership to intervene
Siddaramaiah strongly denied any wrongdoing, characterising the entire case as a politically motivated conspiracy.
He rejected opposition calls for his resignation, asserting, Why should I resign? Has (H D) Kumaraswamy (Union Minister) resigned? He is on bail, ask him....it is only said that inquiry needs to be done. At the inquiry stage itself, resignation is sought. I will answer them...We will face them politically because it is a conspiracy, he said at a press conference.
With inputs from agencies
The Supreme Court on Tuesday condemned the expansion of the non-resident Indian (NRI) quota in Punjabs medical colleges, calling it a fraud that forces more meritorious students out of the admission process. A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud dismissed a set of petitions challenging a Punjab and Haryana high court order (ANI)
A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud dismissed a set of petitions challenging a Punjab and Haryana high court order that had quashed the Punjab governments move to broaden the NRI quota criteria, including distant relatives of NRIs.
We must stop this NRI quota business now! This is complete fraud, and this is what we are doing to our education system, remarked the bench, which included Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, emphasising that the NRI quota was being exploited to sidestep merit-based admissions.
The bench said that such a broad interpretation of NRI eligibility, which even allowed distant relatives to qualify, amounted to a money-spinning tactic that undermines the integrity of the education system.
All three petitions are dismissed. Let us put a lid on this. This fraud has to come to an end. This NRI business is nothing but a fraud. This comes to an end now. What is ward? You just have to say I am looking after X. See the students who got three times high scores have lost out. We cannot lend our authority to something which is blatantly illegal, observed the bench.
The top courts stern comments came against the backdrop of a Punjab government notification issued on August 20, which redefined NRI candidates to include relatives like uncles, aunts, grandparents and cousins. This expansion was quashed by the Punjab and Haryana high court on September 11, which found the move unjustified and contrary to the original purpose of the NRI quota meant to provide genuine NRIs an opportunity to study in India.
During the hearing, senior advocate Shadan Farasat argued that the broader interpretation of the NRI quota was already being used in other states, including Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The Supreme Court, however, firmly rejected these arguments, reiterating that the broader definition diluted merit and allowed less deserving candidates to gain admission based on financial power and connections rather than academic performance.
Senior advocate Abhimanyu Bhandari, representing the original petitioner who had challenged the notification before the high court, pointed out that a constitution bench in the PA Inamdar judgment (2005) frowned upon the fact that the NRI quota cannot be a way for the people to use money power to get in.
Agreeing with Bhandari, the bench underscored that NRI quotas should only be reserved for genuine NRIs and that merit should not be sidelined.
A senior official in the Punjab medical education department said the government is yet to study the Supreme Courts order. A statement can be made only after studying the full judgment, the official said, seeking anonymity.
The crime branch of Odisha Police will conduct a polygraph test on the station house officer (SHO) Dinakrushna Mishra of the Bharatpur, who has been suspended over the alleged sexual assault case on fiancee of an Indian Army officer on September 19, reported India Today. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) women's wing members hold placards as they stage a sit-in protest in front of the Raj Bhavan against the alleged sexual assault on a woman in police custody and demanding a court-monitored SIT probe and judicial inquiry into the alleged torture of an army officer and his fiancee at Bharatpur Police Station, in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. (ANI Photo)
Dinakrushna Mishra among five other officers were suspended after the incident sparked a political slugfest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Odisha and Opposition parties such as the Congress and BJD. Sub-Inspector Baisalini Panda, assistant sub-inspectors Salilamayee Sahoo and Sagarika Rath, and constable Balaram Handa are four other officers under scrutiny for the incident.
Police sources claimed that Mishra has consented to undergo the polygraph test, and the crime branch will file an application in a local court to seek permission for the test.
In a related development, the Odisha government on Wednesday sanctioned the deployment of personal security officers (PSO) to provide security to the Army officer and his fiancee, PTI reported. The decision was taken after the victim along with her father and some ex-army men met chief minister Mohan Majhi at the state secretariat on Tuesday.
The victim told the CM that she could face threats from the police because of the case. She also expressed relief and said she was hopeful of securing justice from the judicial probe ordered by the state government.
What happened?
The woman claimed that they approached Bharatpur police station on September 19 to complain against a group of people who tried to pick a fight with them on early hours of September 15 in Bhubaneswar.
Also read | Naveen Patnaik demands judicial probe into Army officer assault case
The police allegedly took offence to her claim that it was their duty to register a complaint even at odd hours, as she was a lawyer. The woman alleged that the situation quickly escalated and led to sexual assault when she questioned the police action to detain her husband over the incident.
(With agency inputs)
In the aftermath of the death of a 26-year-old Ernst & Young (EY) employee due to allegedly high workload, an investigation has found that the company was operating without a state permit to regulate working hours since 2007, reported news agency Reuters. The offices of Ernst & Young are being investigated for not following mandatory labour rules on work hours
The mother of audit executive Anna Sebastian Perayil wrote a letter to EY India's chairman Rajiv Memani claiming that her daughter had died due to the "overwhelming workload" while working at the EY office in Pune. Anna Sebastian Perayil's family said she died due to a cardiac arrest.
She worked late into the night, even on weekends, with no opportunity to catch her breath, Anna Perayil's mother stated in the letter. The letter sparked a conversation about the effect of high-pressure jobs on the physical and mental health of employees.
Maharashtra's additional labour commissioner Shailendra Pol and his team inspected the Pune office of EY and stated that it had been operating without a mandatory permit under the state's Shops and Establishments Act, reported Reuters.
According to the law, the maximum working hours for adults are nine hours each day and 48 hours each week.
Pol told Reuters, "The company applied for a registration with the labour department only in February 2024 and we rejected it because it had not applied since 2007 when it started this office."
EY India has been given seven days to respond and explain this lapse. In case non-compliance with the law causes an accident that leads to serious bodily injury or death of a worker, the company could be fined up to 5 lakh and the head could get jail time up to six months.
EY had previously stated that the well-being of all employees was of utmost importance and that they were taking up the family's issues with seriousness and humility.
Shailendra Pol and his team will also be looking into the EY log book for employee hours, welfare policies in the company and whether Perayil had been overworked excessively during her four months of work at the company.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also taken suo motu cognisance of the case, stating that if the reports are true, excessively overworking people was a grave violation of their rights.
The human rights body issued notice to the union ministry of labour and employment and has sought a detailed report on the matter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new underground Metro corridor from Civil Court to Swargate in Pune on Thursday, September 26. PM Narendra Modi will also lay the foundation stone for an extension of the corridor from Swargate to Katraj. PM Modi will inaugurate the new underground metro corridor in Pune from Civil Court to Swargate on September 26.(HT PHOTO)(HT_PRINT)
Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis told news agency PTI, PM Modi will inaugurate the new Metro route and perform the 'bhumipujan' of another route on September 26. Pune will become one of the best urban accommodation centres in the coming days.
Fadnavis also added that more than 3.5 lakh people had used the Metro during the ganpati festival signifying that it had become a popular mode of transport.
Route
The line will be functional from September 26. The government has also planned to add two extensions to the route, one from PCMC to Nigdi and another from Swargate to Katraj.
The Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (Maha-Metro) handles two lines and the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) is managing the purple line in collaboration with the Tata Group.
Also Read: The Pune Metro and Modi
The PCMC-Swargate corridor comes under the purple line of the Pune metro. It is 17.4 kilometres long and includes 14 stations. The inauguration event will be PM Modi's sixth visit to the city in connection with the metro.
Minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol said, according to a Hindustan Times report, We promised and we delivered. The PM carried out the groundbreaking of this project and has come himself for its inauguration.
According to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar the only solution to curb traffic snarls in Pune, is to expand the metro routes to other areas.
He also ordered Pune police officials on Monday to allow Metro workers to carry out work on metro line 3 on public holidays for 24 hours.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday reiterated the promise of restoring Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)s statehood, saying they would fight for it in Parliament as well as take to the streets. He said the statehood was snatched because the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to run the region through the lieutenant governor (LG) and outsiders to end the prosperity of the people. Until the lieutenant governor is here, outsiders will continue to get benefits at the expense of the people of J&K, he said at a rally in Jammu. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. (X)
The rally coincided with the second phase of the first assembly elections in J&K since 2014. J&K was divided into two Union territories when the region was stripped of its semi-autonomous status under the Constitutions Article 370 in August 2019.
He said the elections in J&K were all about peoples rights. We will ensure statehood and then the government will protect local industries. The doors of banks will be opened for common people.
He said there have been instances in the countrys history since 1947 wherein Union territories were made states and states divided into two but never was a state downgraded to a Union territory. It was grave injustice with the people, he said.
Click here for LIVE updates on Jammu and Kashmir elections
Gandhi said J&Ks democratic rights were snatched. We thought that the statehood would be restored before elections and it was the right way but they went for polls first, he said.
He promised to apply the entire might of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) if the BJP did not return the statehood. If the BJP did not do it for any reason, then the first job under the INDIA government will be to give statehood because this is your right.
Gandhi alleged the BJP government continued to work for the two prominent business tycoons. While the entire government worked for Ambani and Adani, two weapons GST [Goods and Services Tax] and demonetisation were used to clear the way for these two billionaires at the cost of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). He claimed the government waived the debts of 25 billionaires at the cost of poor people. ...wrong decisions like demonetisation and GST destroyed the MSME sector that gave jobs to the people. As a result, employment is not available to the youth, he said.
Gandhi described Jammu as the hub for businesses and the link between Kashmir and the rest of the county. I just met professionals and entrepreneurs, they told me how the spine of the MSME sector has been broken here [Jammu]. He added unless small and medium businesses stand on their feet, employment will not be available.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that some of the records pertaining to the rape and murder of a junior doctor in the RG Kar Medical College were "falsely created" and "altered" at the Tala police station in Kolkata. The probe agency told a special court in Kolkata that the CCTV footage from the police station has also been seized. CBI's new revelation in RG Kar rape-murder case (HT FILE)
The seized CCTV footage from the Tala police station has been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for further examination, CBI told the court.
The CBI, which interrogated Tala Police Station officer in charge Abhijit Mondal and medical college's former principal Sandip Ghosh in its custody, informed the court that "new/additional" facts emerged in its probe showing that "some false records pertaining to the instant case were created/altered in PS Tala".
Further, the probe agency produced Mondal and Ghosh in front of the court after the completion of their remand on Wednesday. The special court extended their judicial custody till September 30.
There was an unnecessary delay of two days in the seizure of prime accused Sanjay Roy's clothes and belongings that could have resulted in strong evidence against him, the CBI alleged.
The prime suspect, Sanjay Roy, was arrested the next day of the gruesome incident after "his role in the commission of crime had already emerged". The agency is now probing criminal conspiracy, if any, between Roy, Ghosh and Mondal.
On August 9, the body of a trainee doctor was found in the seminar hall of the RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, and the autopsy report showed that she had been raped and murdered.
Sanjay Roy has been named as the sole accused of the gruesome crime till now.
The case sparked widespread protests across the nation, with junior doctors in Kolkata refusing to return to duty and demanding justice for the victim. The deceased doctor's family also levelled allegations against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Kolkata police for trying to cover up the crime and attempting to give the family money.
(With inputs from PTI)
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday assured that most recommendations of a high-level committee on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord of 1985 that seeks to give more protection to indigenous people of the state will be implemented in a time-bound action plan. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. (PTI)
The committee headed by justice (retired) Biplab Kumar Sarma, which was formed by the Centre in July 2019, had submitted its recommendations to the then chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal in February 2020. It had stipulated 1951 as the cut-off date to determine who an Assamese is (those who themselves or their ancestors were living in the state in that year).
The Assam Accord was a tripartite agreement signed in 1985 between the Centre, the All Assam Students Union (AASU) and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP) that brought the six-year-long anti-foreigner movement in the state to an end.
Clause 6 of the accord states, Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.
On Wednesday, the state government held a meeting with representatives from AASU to discuss the recommendations of the committee and their implementation.
In our meeting, we analysed what are the recommendations of the justice (retired) Biplab Kumar Sarma committee which can be exclusively implemented by the state government, and we have decided to go ahead with their implementation, CM Sarma said.
He said that certain recommendations which require constitutional amendments fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of the central government. The state government will take up with Centre regarding their implementation and request them to discuss with AASU regarding those recommendations, Sarma said.
The committee had made 67 recommendations. Apart from setting 1951 as the cut-off year to determine who an Assamese is, the other recommendations include protection of the states culture, heritage and languages, job safeguards (100% reservation in Grade III and IV jobs and 70% in Grade I and II jobs for Assamese people), protection of land of indigenous people as well reservations in parliamentary and assembly seats for indigenous people and introduction of Inner Liner Permit (ILP) that will regulate entry of outsiders to the state.
Sarma mentioned that 40 of the recommendations are exclusively under the domain of the state government, 12 under joint purview of the state and Centre and 15 are exclusively to be determined by the Centre.
Sarma said that the state government would release an action plan within a month on how to implement the 52 recommendations which can be implemented by Assam.
That plan will be handed over to AASU on October 25 and our second round of discussions with them will take place. Following the deliberations with AASU, we will try and implement the action plan by April next year, he said.
He stated that the recommendations wont get implemented in the three districts of Barak Valley, which have a dominant Bengali-speaking population, and can be implemented only after requisite permission in the two hill districts, which are under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution.
Sarma said that those who (or their ancestors) were born or residing in Assam since 1951 will be considered as Assamese under Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. The recommendations of the high-level committee had stated that while the 1951 deadline would be applicable to rural areas, the same wont apply in urban areas.
This was the first meeting between the state government and AASU on implementing recommendations of the high-level committee. Our deliberations were positive. Since the committee was appointed by the Centre, we hope New Delhi will keep its commitment on giving constitutional protection to Assamese people. Till that happens, our struggle will continue, said AASU chief adviser Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharjya.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday told the Tamil Nadu government to immediately release YouTuber Savukku Shankar detained under the Goondas Act after the state informed that his detention has been revoked on the recommendation of the Advisory Board. A view of Supreme Court of India (HT Photo/Sanjeev Verma)
Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Siddharth Luthra, who appeared for the state government, informed the court that no orders would be required as the advisory board revoked the detention order on Wednesday (September 25).
A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took the statement on record and disposed of the petition, saying, In view of the aforesaid, the detenue Savukku Shankar shall be released forthwith, if not required in any other case.
The top court was hearing a petition filed by Shankars mother A Kamala who challenged the detention order of August 12 under the Goondas Act, formally known as Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, Forest Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Sand Offenders, Goonda, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Sand Offenders, Slum Grabbers and Video Pirates Act, 1982.
Advocate Balaji Srinivasan appearing for Shankars mother submitted that the fresh detention order was issued to prevent his release from jail and that a similar detention order was issued on May 12, which was struck down by the Madras high court on August 9.
Srinivasan said that Shankar exposed cases of corruption in the state government, including the cash-for-jobs case involving former minister V Senthil Balaji, who resigned in February this year.
The state denied these charges and had told the court that the latest detention order was passed following recovery of narcotic substance from his possession.
Shankar, a former employee of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) who later started Savukku Media comprising a web portal and a YouTube channel, faces 16 FIRs in the state following an interview on YouTube where he made controversial statements against women police officers.
Shankar has also challenged these FIRs in a separate petition and sought orders to club them since the cases were linked to the same interview given by him in April. On August 14, the court issued notice on this plea and stayed any coercive action against him in these FIRs.
The top court also asked the government to confirm that the FIRs relate to the same interview, observing that they would need to be clubbed if this was the case. The FIRs have been lodged under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women (Amendment) Act, Information Technology Act and separate provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said he was not afraid of the Lokyukta probe ordered by a special court in Bengaluru in the alleged MUDA land allotment scam. Putting up a brave face, Siddaramaiah said he was ready to face any probe against him, adding that he would decide his next course of action soon. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah (PTI)
The Karnataka chief minister posted on X, It has come to my attention through the media that the Special Court for Elected Representatives has ordered an investigation by the Mysuru Lokayukta. I will provide a detailed response after reviewing the full copy of the order. I am ready to face the investigation and continue the legal fight.
As I said yesterday, I repeat today: there is no question of fearing an investigation; I am determined to face everything. After discussing with legal experts, I will decide the next course of action, he added.
It was alleged that Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi was illegally allotted 14 sites worth 56 crore by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout, as per the allegations.
Earlier, the high court granted temporary relief to Siddaramaiah in its interim order passed on August 19, directing a special court in Bengaluru to defer further proceedings and not to take any precipitative action pursuant to the sanction granted by the Governor.
However, the special court in Bengaluru said in its order on Wednesday that Karnataka Lokayukta's Mysuru district police will conduct the investigation into the allegations and will submit its report in three months. The court also said that an FIR needs to be registered in the case.
This comes a day after Karnataka high court dismissed Siddaramaiah's petition challenging Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's approval for an investigation into alleged illegalities in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority's (MUDA) allotting sites to his wife.
(With inputs from PTI)
And so it begins, like clockwork. Delhis air quality index (AQI) on Wednesday surged past the 200 mark and settled at 235, its worst level in 99 days as dust, dry winds, and the effect of crop stubble being burnt in Punjab heralded the arrival of the national capitals dreaded annual pollution blight. A farmer sets fire to paddy stubble after harvesting a paddy crop in the field in Amritsar, on Wednesday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT Photo)
The routine is now familiar and Wednesday was only an appetiser, although rain later in the week is expected to offer a marginal, and temporary, respite.
For the next three months, perhaps more, Delhis 20 million-plus residents will inhale lungfuls of toxic air with every breath. Dipping temperatures, slowing winds and smoke from stubble fires in upwind Punjab and Haryana will drive up pollution levels to the worst in the world. The skies will turn grey, silhouettes will blur, and administrative collapse will be on display as authorities turn to the methods that have failed year after year.
ALSO READ- Mumbai rain: Schools, colleges to remain shut on Sept 26; flights, trains disrupted
Wednesdays AQI was, to be sure, down to only a fraction of the usual factors local emissions, a six-day dry spell and nearly still winds. But with stubble fires already peppering the farmlands of Punjab, cultivators expecting a bumper paddy crop, the wind direction set to turn northwesterly and temperatures likely to dip, experts warned that Delhis problem will only get more acute in the weeks to come.
In fact, this is the earliest the citys post-monsoon AQI has dipped into the poor zone (a reading between 201 and 300) in six years. In 2018, the AQI passed 200 on September 29 (219).
Last year, it crossed that threshold only on October 6 (212). The year before that, it happened on October 16 (232), and in 2021 on October 7 (215).
Delhis AQI was last higher on June 19, when the reading hit 306.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) categorises pollution levels on an ascending band between 0 and 500. It categorises readings between 0 and 50 as good, 51 and 100 as satisfactory, 101 and 200 as moderate, 201 and 300 as poor, 301 and 400 as very poor and above 401 as severe.
The citys air has tumbled in recent days, buoyed largely by the absence of rains, which kept pollution in check for nearly four months from early June. The AQI first worsened to 116 on September 21, then 164 on September 22, 167 on September 23 and 197 on September 24.
Weather scientists pinned this sustained dip to calm winds and lack of rain.
Winds were calm overnight and with no rain, we are gradually seeing a rise in pollution as pollutants accumulate in the Capital. During the day, you are also seeing dust upliftment as the soil is again dry, said Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet meteorology.
ALSO READ: Paracetamol, Pan D among 53 medicines to fail drug regulator's quality test; raise safety concerns
However, they underscored that the spike was not an aberration fuelled by atypical weather conditions, but rather a preface to the weeks of laboured breathing that lie ahead.
Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment said that in the absence of rain, Delhi starts to see a spike in pollution from October, aided by adverse meteorological conditions. We see a dip in wind speed, little to no rain and low temperatures, all of which negatively impact AQI, she said.
Experts also underlined that the ultimate headline number will spiral well into deep red once stubble-burning season in Punjab and Haryana gets underway starts to increase in number and long-range transport winds blow in from the northwest and bring in dark, toxic plumes from these fires. Punjab has only reported 93 farm fires so far. Last year, the state recorded 36,623 of them.
Transport winds play a key role in Delhis air quality. A northwesterly wind brings in smoke from farm fires in Punjab and Haryana, and most other winds push the plumes away.
These factors, combined with local emissions and the winter chill, pushed Delhis AQI to a peak of 468 on November 3 last year, the highest since 2021. Delhis all-time high AQI was 497 (severe) on November 6, 2016.
Wednesdays pollution also shattered an unusually long period of relatively clean air for the Capital as record monsoon showers and strong winds shielded the city from the bad-air menace.
Between June 20 and September 20, Delhis AQI peaked only at 172 and averaged 94, giving the city a tryst with much more pleasant air than it is accustomed to, even in the non-winter months. For Delhis air is always bad, a function of its proximity to the desert (the Thar), its location in the plains, its high vehicular traffic (more vehicles than the next three biggest metropolitan cities combined), and the insidious habit of garbage burning. Colder temperatures, the absence of winds, and wind direction make it worse. And then, the stubble burning pushes it over the edge.
The AQI usually averages between 50 and 150 from June to September, according to CPCB records.
ALSO READ- Jammu and Kashmir assembly election: 20 of 26 assembly segments see lower turnout than 2014
Delhi has so far received 1074.6mmrain this year, well beyond the average of 774.4mmit receives all year. The weather office has predicted some showers on Friday, though these are unlikely to influence air quality to a noteworthy degree.
Delhi recorded 33 consecutive days of satisfactory air quality between July 28 and August 30 this year the highest count of such days since 2020, when covid-led lockdowns and rainfall set a record streak of 51 consecutive days of good or satisfactory air quality.
Delhis regular winter air travails also underscore the administrative failure to control a scourge that leaves millions across the National Capital Region (NCR) at risk of a raft of severe illnesses and kicks off a political war of words
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) a body formed to bring Delhis unfettered winter pollution under control during a meeting on Wednesday evening meanwhile decided not to invoke stage-1 measures of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), citing possible improvement in the coming days.
Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai, meanwhile unveiled the governments 21 point winter action plan on Wednesday, which includes using drones for monitoring hotspots and the possibility of using artificial rain.
HYDERABAD: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the Lord Venkateshwara temple at Tirumala, on Wednesday filed a formal police complaint against Tamil Nadu-based dairy firm, AR Dairy Foods Pvt Ltd, for allegedly supplying adulterated ghee to the temple in July this year, people familiar with the matter said. (X/TTDevasthanams)
The complaint was lodged with the Tirupati town police after the government set up a special investigation team (SIT) headed by inspector general of police Sarvashresht Tripathi to probe into the recent allegations of adulteration of ghee used in the making of laddu prasadam.
In his complaint, TTD general manager (procurement) P Muralikrishna said the temple management placed an order with AR Dairy Foods on May 15 for supply of 10 lakh kg of ghee to the temple for making of laddu prasadam. The firm supplied four tankers of ghee on June 12, 20 and 25 and July 6.
The TTD used this ghee for making of prasadam after conducting the quality testing of this ghee using old methods, but it did not go in for adulteration testing. In view of the various complaints from pilgrims over the lack of quality of laddu, the TTD decided to get the adulteration test done at National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Muralikrishna said.
Accordingly, TTD collected the ghee samples from four tankers supplied by AP Dairy Foods on July 6 and June 12 and sent them to NDDB labs for adulteration testing.
The reports indicated that the ghee samples had tested positive for presence of vegetable and animal fat, he said in the complaint.
Muralikrishna said show-cause notices were issued to the company on July 22, 23 and 27 seeking an explanation. The company responded on September 4, denying the adulteration charge. Subsequently, the TTD ordered for an inquiry, he said.
Meanwhile, the YSR Congress party headed by former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, which has been the target of chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu over the adulterated ghee row, said Naidus allegatoins were driven by political motives and had deeply hurt the sentiments of devotees.
In light of this, the party is calling for participation in temple poojas on September 28th to purify Tirumalas sacredness and restore the honour of Lord Venkateswaras prasadam, Reddy said in a post on X.
Jagan urged people to oppose Naidus false claims that Tirumalas sacred laddu prasadam was adulterated with animal fat. It not only misled devotees, but also tarnished the revered image of Lord Venkateswara, he said.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar explained on Tuesday that he meant only disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh when he mentioned that 75 per cent progress on border dispute talks with China, news agency ANI reported. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar speaks at the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats, in New York on September 24, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)(AFP)
"When I said 75 per cent of it has been sorted out, it's only of the disengagement. So, that's one part of the problem, S Jaishankar said.
Speaking at the Asia Society at the Asia Society Policy Institute, Jaishankar said China's violation of previous border agreements and increased troop deployment during the Covid-19 pandemic led to increased tension along eastern Ladakh and ultimately resulted in clashes. The EAM explained that the clashes has overshadowed other areas in bilateral relationship with Beijing.
Also read | Why foreign diplomats have a field day in India
"We have a difficult history with China. Despite the explicit agreements we had with China, we saw in the middle of Covid that the Chinese moved a large number of forces in violation of these agreements to the line of actual control (LAC). It was likely a mishap would happen, and it did. So, there was a clash, and a number of troops died on either side. That, in a sense, overshadowed the relationship," Jaishankar added.
The minister explained that dispute along major friction points has been managed, but said challenges persist on deciding patrolling rights along border areas. He also stressed on the need for de-escalation as crucial next step to improve other areas in New Delhi's bilateral relationship.
"So, we've been able to sort out much of the disengagement in the friction points, but some of the patrolling issues need to be resolved...The next step will be de-escalation," he added.
Taking a broader view of India's relationship with China, he called it a key to the future of Asia but said New Delhi has to be prepared to face "volatility and unpredictability" in the international order.
India's talks with China
India and China held the 31st meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) in Beijing on August 29 to resolve the continuing border standoff along Eastern Ladakh.
The meeting agreed to intensify contact to narrow down their differences and find an early resolution to outstanding issues. India stressed that respecting positions on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is essential to restore normalcy in bilateral relationship.
(With ANI inputs)
The Congress party on Wednesday intensified its attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party after actor-politician Kangana Ranaut called for the return of the three farm laws, demanding that the BJP expel her from the party if it does not agree with her statements. Lok Sabha MP Kangana Ranaut from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi(HT File)
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the states going to the polls including Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir would respond strongly to the ruling party.
Meanwhile, Ranaut retracted her remarks calling for the return of the three farm laws, saying they were her personal opinions and did not reflect the party's stance.
The actor-politician acknowledged that she must remember she is not only an artist but also a BJP member, emphasising that her statements should align with her party's policies.
On Tuesday, the Congress shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) in which Ranaut said in Hindi, Farm laws that have been repealed should be brought back. I think this may get controversial. The laws in farmers' interest should be reinstated. Farmers should themselves demand this (to bring the farm laws back) so that there is no hindrance to their prosperity.
Farmers are a pillar of strength in India's progress. Only in some states, they had objected to farm laws. I appeal with folded hands that farm laws should be brought back in the interest of farmers, she added.
In response to Ranaut's comments, Kharge remarked, The anti-farmer BJP and Modi government still fail to acknowledge their serious wrongdoing, even after the loss of 750 farmers' lives. They are now discussing the reintroduction of the three controversial farm laws, which the Congress party strongly opposes.
He said the 62 crore farmers remember how the Modi government responded to their protests, using vehicles, barbed wire, teargas from drones, and other forms of violence against them.
This time, the states heading to the polls, including Haryana, will respond firmly to the prime minister's derogatory remarks in Parliament, where he referred to farmers as 'andolanjeevi' and 'parasites, said Kharge.
Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said that Kangana Ranaut got a ticket at the behest of PM Modi andwhen she speaks, PM Modi should condemn this.
"More than 750 were martyred and this is an insult to those martyred. If I make a serious statement which is not in line with my party, the party would expel me, has the BJP expelled her? If you do not agree with her remarks, why are you not expelling her?" he said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters here.
With PTI inputs
Italian designer Alberta Ferretti announced on Tuesday she is stepping down as creative director of the eponymous brand she founded more than 40 years ago. On September 17th, you attended my last fashion show, Ferretti wrote in a letter sent out by email. Italian designer Alberta Ferretti (centre), models wear creations as part of the Alberta Ferretti Spring Summer 2025 collection in Milan. (AP )
Alberta Ferretti says goodbye
Yes, its time for me to make room for a new chapter for my brand, a new narrative. It was a difficult, complicated, but a very thoughtful choice, she added.
Ferretti, 74, said the brand will continue to bear her name and she will announce her successor soon.
Fashion group Aeffe -- which owns the Alberta Ferretti brand along with Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini, Moschino and Pollini -- said that Ferretti will retain her role as vice president of the group.
At her last show during Milans fashion week, Ferretti presented her summery creations in the courtyard of a former cloister, now a science museum, with an elegant dome rising in the background, emphasizing the artisanal heritage in her collection.
They are real summer clothes, because the world in the summer is very warm. I know a show is supposed to be a show but reality is important, she said backstage, without hinting at her decision of stepping down soon.
Ferretti, who grew up in her familys dressmaking shop before opening her own boutique as a teenager, has remained true to her signature gentle feminine silhouettes since the launch of the brand in 1981.
The Alberta of that day is in many ways still the Alberta of today, even if in the meantime a small family business has become a company with 1500 employees, she wrote in her letter.
Priyanka Chopra and Samantha Ruth Prabhu recently attended a special screening of Citadel. While Priyanka dazzled in a bright red floor-length gown, Samantha chose sheer embellished pants and a corset blouse. Read on as we decode the two style icons' looks. Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Priyanka Chopra at Citadel special screening.
Priyanka Chopra and Samantha at the Citadel screening
Pictures from the special screening were shared by Priyanka Chopra's fan pages on Instagram. The photos capture Priyanka and Samantha at the event, also attended by Matilda De Angelis, who stars in Citadel: Diana, the Italian instalment of the Citadel franchise. Meanwhile, Samantha stars in the Indian instalment of the series, and Priyanka is part of the American show created by Josh Appelbaum, Bryan Oh, and David Weil. The event was also attended by Russo Brothers, the show's executive producers.
Decoding Priyanka's outfit
Priyanka's red dress features a sleeveless silhouette, a turtleneck design, metal ball embellishments on the waist, gathered details on the front, a mermaid fit hugging her enviable frame, and a floor-grazing hem. The actor styled the ensemble with striking mixed metal jewellery, including gold hoop earrings, a sleek bracelet, and rings on both hands.
Meanwhile, for the glam, Priyanka chose feathered brows, mascara-adorned lashes, muted brown eye shadow, coral red lip shade, rouge-tinted cheeks, and black eyeliner. She tied her hair in a side-parted coiffed hairdo with a few strands sculpting her face.
What did Samantha Ruth Prabhu wear?
Samantha dazzled at the event in a head-turning ensemble featuring a unique corset blouse and sheer embellished pants. The bottoms are made of blue crystal beads that are strung together and feature a see-through silhouette and a flared fit. She paired it with a matching blue satin blouse featuring a strapless design, a bodycon fit, a pleated silhouette, and a floor-length train attached on the back.
Samantha accessorised the ensemble with black pumps, a silver metal chain-link choker, hoop earcuffs, and a bracelet. For the glam, she chose smoky eyes, mascara-adorned lashes, blushed cheeks, nude pink lips, darkened brows, and a dewy base. Lastly, she left her hair loose in a side parting and styled it in a wet look with hair gel.
The time has arrived for an amazing shopping experience at the Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale 2024. This is your ultimate chance to grab amazing deals on a wide range of beauty products, including skincare, hair care, makeup, bath and shower essentials and more. So, dive deep into the Amazon Diwali Sale 2024 and explore interesting and irresistible deals and offers. Whether you want to enhance your skincare routine or enrich your self-care routine, this sale has got you covered. Amazon Diwali Sale 2024 Countdown: Discover the best deals on beauty products with up to 70% off.(Freepik)
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Unlock the secret of lustrous and vibrant hair with exclusive deals on the best hair care products. This Amazon Sale 2024 features top brands, limited-edition bundles, unique formulations and exclusive deals you won't find elsewhere. From nourishing oils to revitalising hair conditioners, each product is specially designed to enhance your hair health, targeting issues like dryness, damage and dullness. So, don't let this opportunity slip away, transform your hair care routine and get a salon-fresh look every day. Shop now and elevate your hair care routine!
ALSO READ: Amazon Sale 2024 Countdown: Grab pre-deals on yoga mats, dumbbells and more with up to 80% at Great Indian Festival Sale
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Explore top deals on the best bath and shower products with up to 80% off
Revitalise your self-care routine with exclusive deals on bath and shower products during the Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale! This is your ultimate chance to explore unique bath and shower products from top brands at reasonable prices. Get your hands on luxurious body washes, aromatic bath oils, and rejuvenating scrubs that can transform your daily rituals into a spa-like experience. These deals are specially curated to help you elevate your bath time and nourish your skin. So, pamper yourself, enhance your well-being and make your shower a blissful escape.
ALSO READ: Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale 2024: Enjoy pre-deals on skincare and hair care products with up to 70% off
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Discover the best deals on deos and fragrances with huge discounts
During the Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale, you can grab the best deals on deos and fragrances. This is your chance to discover a curated selection of luxurious perfumes and long-lasting deodorants at unbeatable prices. Unlike regular sales, these offers feature limited-edition scents and popular brands that you won't find easily, making your fragrance collection truly unique. Don't let this opportunity go away as these extraordinary deals are perfect for refreshing your self-care routine.
ALSO READ: Amazon deals on bath and shower essentials: Grab up to 50% off on shower gels and more to enhance your self-care routine
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Transform your beauty routine with amazing deals on makeup products during the Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale! These deals feature top brands that can help to elevate your makeup game. Whether you are looking for vibrant lipsticks, flawless foundations or eye-catching palettes, you will find unique formulations that are designed to enhance your natural beauty and boost your confidence. This exclusive offer can help you redefine your look and make a statement.
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During the Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale, you can grab the best deals on luxury beauty products from top brands. This is your chance to elevate your skincare and makeup routine without digging a hole in your pocket. This Amazon India sale offers exclusive deals, discounts, cashback and more to help you grab the best products at irresistible prices. This deal can help you pamper your skin and enhance the natural radiance. So, enjoy luxurious textures and premium ingredients that can rejuvenate and refresh your skin.
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Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale - FAQs What is the Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale? The Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale is the annual shopping spree. During this sale, Amazon India offers exclusive deals, discounts, cashback and more on a wide range of products, including beauty. You can grab the best beauty products at up to 70% off during the sale which is all set to start from September 27, 2024.
Are all brands available during the sale? Yes, the sale features a variety of brands, including popular names like Cetaphil, The Derma Co, L'Oreal and many others, offering something for every preference.
Can I return beauty products purchased during the sale? Yes, Amazon offers a return and exchange policy for products purchased during the sale. But make sure to check the specific return window for beauty products.
Are there any additional benefits on beauty products during the Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale? Yes, during the sale, you can get a 10% instant bank discount on SBI credit and Debit cards. Prime members can also enjoy exclusive offers and free same-day or 1-day delivery.
Disclaimer: At Hindustan Times, we help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and products. Hindustan Times has an affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. We shall not be liable for any claim under applicable laws, including but not limited to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, with respect to the products. The products listed in this article are in no particular order of priority.
Running on empty stomach, juggling tasks and giving all your energy to everyone but yourself? You are not alone. In a constantly demanding world, it is easy to forget that your mental health needs attention too. Feeling burnt out? Save your sanity with these 7 easy self-care habits to boost your mental health today (File Photo)
Taking time for some healthy habits can help you feel more balanced, calm and connected as improving your mental well-being begins with self care - a crucial activity that is sometimes disregarded in the busy life. Self-care not only lowers stress levels but also fosters a strong sense of emotional stability and self-love.
Following self-care practices can improve your mental well-being:
1. Mindful Meditation:
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Gorav Gupta, CEO and Senior Psychiatrist at Tulasi Healthcare, recommended, Spending only a few minutes of time every day on mindfulness exercises can help you become more grounded, less anxious, and relax. You can better control your thoughts and emotions if you keep your attention on the here and now.
Power of meditation(Image by Freepik)
Bringing his expertise to the same, Saurabh Bothra, CEO and Certified Yoga Instructor at Habuild, suggested, Silence is a great answer to overwhelm! Pause and take a few deep breaths whenever you feel heavy. You could try meditation apps, a few minutes of deep breathing, or simply enjoying the moment without distractions.
2. Stay Active With Regular Physical Activity:
Dr Gorav Gupta shared, Regular exercise, be it yoga, swimming, or brisk walking, promotes the release of endorphins, which are the body's natural mood enhancers. Engaging in physical activity enhances emotions of wellbeing and improves mental clarity.
Exposure to the morning sun and exercise in the morning hours can help keep ones biological rhythm intact(Photo: Shutterstock (For representational purposes only))
Saurabh Bothra added, Moving your body moves your moods too! You dont have to hit the gym, try a short walk, or dance to your favourite song. Yoga is another incredible way to sync your mind-body-soul. Just 10-15 minutes of movement can release endorphins, the 'feel-good' hormones.
3. Writing down thoughts or journalling:
Dr Gorav Gupta revealed, Expressing your ideas and emotions in writing enables introspection and emotional release. Journaling promotes self-awareness and healing by assisting with emotional processing, progress monitoring, and a greater sense of self-connection.
Writing down your thoughts and feelings of gratitude can make you more giving(Shutterstock)
Saurabh Bothra asserted, Write it all out! Even a few lines a day can help you process emotions, clarify your thoughts and release stress. Just let the words flow and see where it takes you. Its your space to be completely honest with yourself.
4. Healthy Sleeping Habits:
According to Dr Gorav Gupta, making sleep a priority is crucial for mental wellness. Getting enough sleep helps you wake up feeling rejuvenated and prepared for the day by restoring brain function, elevating your mood, and lowering irritability.
5. Positive Self-Talk:
Dr Gorav Gupta pointed out, Developing an inner voice of compassion can change your perspective on obstacles. A good mindset and self-acceptance are fostered by repeating affirmations and thinking positive ideas.
Positive self talk(Unsplash)
6. Practise Gratitude Daily:
We often take for granted what we already have and feel sorry for our lives. Saurabh Bothra advised, Take a few moments each day to think about three things youre grateful for. It can be as simple as a sunny day, a good cup of tea, or a kind word from a friend. Gratitude shifts your focus to the positive, helping you feel happier and more content.
7. Connect with Nature:
Saurabh Bothra said, Nature engages all your senses and helps you feel grounded which can improve your mood significantly. Whether its a walk in the park, sitting in your garden, or even just opening a window for fresh air, connecting with nature has a calming effect on the mind and body.
You will have more emotional equilibrium, mental clarity and a stronger sense of self-love if you adopt these routines into your everyday life as you will learn more about the value of putting yourself first, the more time and effort you put into self-care. These small, everyday habits are simple yet powerful ways to nurture your mental health so start with one or two habits that resonate with you and gradually build them into your routine. The more you practice, the better you wll feel and the more you will start to experience that deep, unconditional love for yourself.
By Mata Press Service
The Canadian government has announced more new restrictions on visas for international students and workers as part of its efforts to control the country's burgeoning immigration rates, which have recently pushed the population beyond 41 million.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has outlined a series of targeted adjustments designed to slow the pace of incoming temporary residents while ensuring the country's economic and educational sectors continue to thrive.
The adjustments come at a time when major cities like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver are experiencing housing shortages and increased pressure on public services.
We are reforming the International Student Program, tightening eligibility requirements for temporary foreign workers, enforcing employer compliance more strictly, and making labour market impact assessments more rigorous to mitigate fraud, and more. IRCC said in a statement.
The additional measures include;
a further reduction in the intake cap on international student study permits for 2025 based on a 10% reduction from the 2024 target of 485,000 new study permits issued, and then stabilizing the intake cap for 2026 such that the number of study permits issued remains the same as 2025. For 2025, this means reducing study permits issued to 437,000
updating the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program this fall to better align with immigration goals and labour market needs
limiting work permit eligibility, later this year, to spouses of masters degree students to only those whose program is at least 16 months in duration, and
limiting work permit eligibility later this year to spouses of foreign workers in management or professional occupations or in sectors with labour shortagesunder Canadas work permit programs
The reality is that not everyone who wants to come to Canada will be able tojust like not everyone who wants to stay in Canada will be able to, said Immigration Minister Marc Miller.
We are taking action to strengthen our temporary residence programs and roll out a more comprehensive immigration plan to meet the demands of todays changing landscape. And as we look forward, we will do everything it takes to achieve that goal and set newcomers up for success.
Experts are divided on the impact of these changes.
Some argue that reducing the influx of international talent could hinder Canadas competitiveness on the global stage, especially in high-tech industries where skilled workers are in high demand.
Others applaud the decision, suggesting that a moderated approach to immigration will allow better integration of newcomers into the Canadian economy and society.
IRCC said that like many countries, Canada is experiencing more asylum claims as the number of displaced people worldwide continues to grow, and that contributes to growing temporary resident volumes.
To align with our humanitarian responsibilities, the government has been working on several measures to address integrity issues and strengthen the in-Canada asylum system, including:
implementing partial visa requirements for Mexican nationals
improving claims processing while maintaining the fairness and integrity of the asylum system, as announced in 2024
reviewing visa decision-making so that our highly trained officers have the right tools to detect fraud and reduce the number of non-genuine visitors
exploring more measures to further strengthen visa integrity
The policy changes come on the heels of two surveys that show that a majority of Canadians say the country should accept fewer immigrants.
According to a Nanos survey for CTV News, two out of three, or 64 percent, of Canadians surveyed said the country should accept fewer immigrants in 2025 compared to 2024. Meanwhile, about one in four, or 26 percent, of Canadians said we should let in about the same number of immigrants, while only five percent said we should accept more.
The survey also found an overwhelming number of Canadians, 72 percent, want the number of immigrants coming into Canada reduced until housing becomes affordable.
When it comes to refugees people who leave their countries to escape either war, persecution or natural disasters -- the Nanos survey found that more than two in five, or 46 percent, of Canadians, wanted fewer to be let into the country. Just over one in three, or 35 percent, said Canada should accept the same number, while 15 percent said we should accept more.
Another survey, by the Angus Reid Institute found Canadians support a reduced Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) program as they express concerns over its effect on the housing and job markets.
A plurality (43%) says the program is fine to continue after the changes implemented by the federal government take effect later this month. A further one in seven (14%) believe the changes were not necessary and the program was okay as it was. A minority of one in five (22%) believe the program should be abolished entirely.
Forthcoming changes to the program, include reducing the maximum proportion of a businesss workforce eligible to be made up of TFWs from 20 to 10 percent, and not allowing businesses to apply for workers if the local unemployment rate is above six percent, which are overwhelmingly popular.
Restaurants Canada said the changes in the TFW will result in severe consequences for the hospitality industry.
The agency says there are currently 73,000 openings in the industry, with positions in rural, remote, and tourist regions the hardest to fill.
The organization notes that while only 3% of food service employees are hired through the TFW program, it is essential for restaurant operators who struggle to find Canadian workers for specific roles.
Meanwhile, Universities Canada said that fewer students are coming from abroad to study at Canadian universities this fall and warned that the numbers have dropped below the cap the federal government set on international student visas this year.
Universities Canada president and CEO Gabriel Miller expressed concerns over the impact of the cap on the number of international students studying in Canada in the future, describing them as an asset to institutions.
He added that the limit on international student enrollment would hurt Canadas ability to compete for the talent it wants to attract and keep.
Jordan is an underrated gem with surreal natural wonders and stunning landscapes that seem otherworldly. Offering numerous bucket-list-worthy experiences, Jordan is home to a plethora of breathtaking places that are not only visually stunning but also therapeutic. From UNESCO World Heritage sites to mesmerizing natural phenomena, Jordan captivates travelers with its rich history and awe-inspiring beauty, making it a destination that promises unforgettable moments. Here are some must-visit places in Jordan. Jordan has numerous places that feel otherwordly and beautiful. (Pexels)
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Dead Sea beach
It's a surreal experience to float in the Dead Sea.(Pexels)
For non-swimmers, this lake is a paradise, as they can simply float effortlessly. This landlocked salt lake offers a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The high salt content makes the water extremely buoyant, allowing nothing to sink. It is the lowest water surface on Earth, located below sea level. The minerals in the adjacent mud by the banks are also highly therapeutic, making it a unique experience to slather on the mud and float in the buoyant waters.
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Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum is a red-sand desert.(Pexels)
The rocky red desert landscape, with its striking red sand and unusual rock formations, feels surreal, almost like Mars on Earth. Also known as the "Valley of the Moon," Wadi Rum boasts stunning cliffs, canyons, and dunes that will take your breath away. Adding to the sci-fi atmosphere, dome-like accommodations dot the vast desert, enhancing the futuristic vibe. This area is also steeped in cultural heritage, as ancient inscriptions on the rock formations reveal that humans inhabited the region, dating back to ancient periods. The stark, rugged landscape is perfect for adventure seekers, offering a range of ways to explore, from camel rides to jeep safaris.
Petra
Petra is a UNESCO World Heritage site.(Pexels)
Petra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is famous for its rock-cut architecture. The ancient city is a must-visit place for history enthusiasts. Petras natural beauty, with towering sandstone cliffs and dramatic canyons, creates a breathtaking backdrop for the citys historical wonders.
Dana Nature Reserve
It is a wildlife sanctuary and perfect for nature lovers. Its home to a wide variety of flora and fauna like caracals, red foxes, mountain gazelles, and more. There are also hiking trails that offer picturesque views of the mountains.
Amman
The capital city of Jordan is a unique blend of ancient ruins and a bustling modern city. The Jordan Museum houses a large collection of ancient artifacts, while the Amman Citadel features impressive ruins atop a hill. Additionally, the Roman Theatre is a well-preserved amphitheater that showcases the city's rich history.
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In a recent incident in Bhubaneswar, a young woman accompanied by her fiance was allegedly subjected to brutal physical violence and profound humiliation by police personnel. Her fault? She remonstrated with duty personnel in a police station for not registering a complaint. A source of concern for the military has been the progressive blurring of lines between them and the home ministrys central armed police forces. (AP Photo/Channi Anand) (AP)
Such an incident is unlikely to shock the average citizen because he/she is used to the rude and heavy-handed behaviour of the police as well as frequent instances of complainants or victims being subjected to violence and branded perpetrators. The reason is that the Indian policeman has retained the mentality of a colonial oppressor, the only difference being that while earlier he wielded the lathi at the behest of our British rulers, he does so now for his current political masters.
So, where is the leadership of our police forces, which should provide supervision and guidance to the constabulary in the performance of its prescribed duties? Although law and order is a state subject, officers of two central cadres the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) play a key role in state police operations. Authority over the police force is held by the states chief secretary, an IAS officer, and the force is headed by a director general of police (DGP) assisted by several additional DGPs, all belonging to the IPS.
It is these functionaries who should be leading and managing the police rank and file in the efficient discharge of policing functions, namely, maintenance of law and order, prevention and detecting of crime, traffic management, and ensuring public safety. Sadly, the performance of the police forces in all these aspects remains dismal. So low is the confidence in our police personnel and so belligerent their behaviour, that the ordinary citizen hesitates to approach a constable or the police station for help.
The Bhubaneswar incident has another equally disturbing aspect, which impinges on the armed forces. The womans male escort, a serving officer of the Indian Army, was also, allegedly, manhandled, humiliated and illegally detained by the Odisha police. The growing indifference and disrespect being shown by civilian authorities towards members of the countrys military is cause for serious concern, which requires a deeper probe and remedial action.
The roots of the extant civil-military relations can be traced to the obsessive fear in the mind of Indias first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, of a military takeover of the fledgling State. This led to a downgrading of the top military leadership while the status and pay of both civil servants and the police saw a sharp increase after Independence. While this was par for a new democracy, another act of omission that contributed to the steady decline in the militarys status in the States hierarchy was the failure of post-Independence governments to accord formal recognition to the countrys armed forces.
Apart from 49 Group A Services inherited from the British that constitute the huge government bureaucracy, three new All India Services IAS, IPS, and the Indian Forest Service were created by Article 312 of the Constitution. However, the functions, responsibilities and status of the armed forces, their chiefs and senior leadership, found no mention anywhere in the Constitution, in an act of Parliament or in the governments Rules of Business. This lack of a defined status has been used by the bureaucracy, with tacit political approval, to downgrade the standing of Indias military.
Successive pay commissions, using arbitrary equivalences, as well as a devious stratagem, termed non-functional upgradation accorded to the civil services, but denied to the military have steadily depressed the militarys emoluments, relative to the other services. Since emoluments form the basis for deciding seniority in the governments pecking order, military officers have found themselves, repeatedly, superseded by civilian and police personnel, who were, earlier, equal or junior to them in rank/precedence with consequences in public image/prestige.
Another source of concern for the military has been the progressive blurring of lines between them and the home ministrys seven central armed police forces (CAPF). Growing steadily in strength, the CAPF today are 1.1 million strong. As in the state police forces, the leadership of six of the seven CAPF has also been garnered by IPS officers, who use military rank badges. Since the CAPF constables wear camouflage uniforms, they are indistinguishable from the military and both are often clubbed together as security forces.
The past decade has seen the last vestiges of the Nehruvian legacy swept away. Major policy shifts seemed to bring a sharper focus on defence matters. Amongst significant developments were the 2016 and 2019 cross-border retaliatory strikes on Pakistani territory, the 2020 constitution of the Chief of Defence Staff, and the creation of a department of military affairs. The expectation that the last two would bring about an improvement in the militarys status/standing has, so far, been belied. At the same time, while political mileage is extracted from the militarys achievements, the MoD relentlessly wages legal battles against veterans and widows.
There are other issues, too, impacting the militarys public image and its self-esteem. While disregarding the seniority principle in promotions, and dangling post-retirement carrots may guarantee a compliant military leadership, this must be weighed against certain drawbacks: One, a military leader beholden to the establishment for promotion, loses credibility within the service; two, the quality of his advice becomes suspect; and three, high-level military decisions may be skewed to please those dispensing favours.
The Bhubaneswar episode is just the most recent instance in a widespread phenomenon wherein military personnel are treated with disrespect by unsympathetic civil authorities. Today, the question uppermost in the mind of every jawan will be, if a commissioned officer can be slapped around and locked up by a police constable, what can happen to me, my family or my old parents, back in the village?
The politician and bureaucracy must take urgent and pragmatic steps to restore the confidence of the military that their uniform and selfless service will be accorded respect and regard by civilian authorities. Anything that undermines the elan and esprit de corps of our military can only be detrimental to the countrys security.
Arun Prakash is a former chief of Indian Navy. The views expressed are personal
Real estate developer DRA Homes has acquired the Marina Mall Residences in Chennai at a value of 25.10 crore with funding facilitated by fintech platform YuBi, the company said on September 25. DRA Homes acquires Marina Mall residences in Chennai for 25.10 crore(DRA Homes)
The Marina Mall Residential Project funded by financial technology platform provider YuBi, is located on the Old Mahabalipuram Road (popularly known as Information Technology Corridor) in the city. It would offer a lifestyle with integrated mall, hotel and sea-facing residences among other amenities.
The acquisition has been done for 25.10 crore in which YuBi contributed 16.50 crore. We are expecting a revenue of 153 crore from this acquisition, DRA Homes Managing Director Ranjeeth Rathod told HT.com.
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About the project
Located on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, the Marina Mall project is owned by OMR Developers Private Limited. Spread across 6.58 acres, it a mixed-use development, inclusive of a 5.12-lakh square feet mall, 1.5-lakh square feet hotel, and a sea-facing residential tower spanning 1.53 lakh square feet.
The project allows the subscription of NCDs by retail high net worth individuals through YuBi financial technology platform, the company statement said.
Rathod highlighted that the company expects to secure the necessary approvals for the residential development within six months and completion of the project by 2027.
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"We are incredibly excited to lead the residential development at Marina Mall. This project not only embodies our commitment to excellence and innovation in real estate but also serves as a catalyst for transforming the residential landscape of Chennai," said Rathod.
"By enabling HNIs to invest through YuBi, we are opening doors to a new wave of opportunities, fostering community growth and enhancing the lifestyle of residents in this thriving city" he added.
DRA Homes is currently present in two cities - Bengaluru and Chennai - with a footprint of over 10 million square feet, largely in the mid and upper mid residential segments.
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The fourth meeting of the Group of Ministers on boosting the real estate sector held in Goa has decided no further exemption in GST should be granted on long term lease of land by private entity and sector specific exemption such as for tourism purposes. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant hosted the fourth meeting of the Group of Ministers on boosting the real estate sector (Representational photo)(HT File Photo)
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant hosted the meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Tuesday.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare, Gujarat Finance Minister Kanubhai Mohanlal Desai, his Kerala counterpart K N Balagopal, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, central government GST officials were among those who attended the meet.
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A media statement issued after the meeting said there were deliberations on various issues pertaining to the real estate sector.
"The issues pertaining to grant of GST (Goods and Services Tax) exemption on the long term lease of land by private entity and sector specific exemption such as for tourism purposes was discussed at length," it said.
The Group of Ministers unanimously agreed and recommended that no further exemption is required. GST at applicable rates will continue to be levied on the same, the statement said.
Also Read: Commercial property rentals now under Reverse Charge Mechanism: GST Council
There were certain other issues pertaining to taxability of supply of construction services by co-operative housing societies to its members in a new project or redevelopment projects, which were discussed comprehensively, the statement said.
"Various views emerged during the discussion and it was decided that these issues need to be deliberated further after obtaining the relevant data from the states," it said.
It was also decided that the Committee of Officers shall examine all these issues after obtaining relevant information/data from the states before taking a final decision in the next GoM meeting.
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On reviewing the value limit of 45 lakh for the definition of affordable residential apartment for a metropolitan region, it was decided that inputs from the states of Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Delhi need to be taken to arrive at a consensus on the issue.
The issue related to determining the value of land for arriving at the value of construction services in case of sale of apartments has been deferred for further examination, the statement said.
The next meeting of GoM is likely to be held on October 25.
Australia continues to be one of the most desirable immigration destinations, offering an exceptional mix of economic opportunity, lifestyle, and cultural diversity. With its breathtaking landscapes, dynamic cities, and friendly communities, Australia is an ideal choice for individuals and families seeking a better life. Below, lets explore the top 10 reasons by WWICS (World Wide Immigration Consultancy Services) why Australia is a top choice for immigration in 2024-25, highlighting its robust job market, world-class education system, and family-friendly policies. Reasons to Immigrate to Australia
1. Thriving Economy
Australia's economy remains resilient, offering a variety of opportunities for skilled workers, entrepreneurs, and investors. In 2024, the country is expected to welcome over 160,000 permanent residents, with a particular focus on filling skill gaps in sectors such as healthcare, technology, and finance. The governments proactive immigration strategies aim to fuel economic growth and innovation, ensuring Australia continues to thrive as a global economic leader.
2. World-Class Education
Australia is home to over 30 universities ranked among the worlds best, making it a prime destination for students. With a strong emphasis on vocational training and research, Australian institutions provide students with the skills needed to excel in their careers. Additionally, the availability of government subsidies and scholarships makes education more accessible and affordable for both local and international students.
3. Universal Healthcare
Australias publicly funded healthcare system, Medicare, offers affordable and high-quality medical services to citizens and permanent residents. This includes coverage for doctor visits, hospital stays, mental health services, and more. The country's emphasis on preventive care and community health ensures that residents enjoy a high standard of living and access to world-class healthcare facilities.
4. Strong Job Market
Australia's expanding economy translates into a strong job market, particularly in key sectors like healthcare, technology, and finance. In 2024, over 150,000 jobs are projected to be created across these industries, offering professionals diverse career opportunities with competitive salaries. The governments initiatives to foster innovation and entrepreneurship further contribute to job growth.
5. Iconic Landscapes
Australia is renowned for its iconic natural landscapes, including the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, and the Blue Mountains. With over 500 national parks, Australia offers endless opportunities for outdoor adventures. From pristine beaches to rugged outback terrains, nature lovers will find Australia to be a true paradise.
6. Family & Social Support
Australia is a family-friendly destination, offering comprehensive healthcare, high-quality education, and generous family benefits. Programs like parental leave and childcare subsidies make it easier for families to thrive. The country's safe, inclusive communities also ensure that newcomers feel welcome and supported, contributing to a high quality of life.
7. Personal Growth Opportunities
Australias vibrant culture and outdoor lifestyle foster personal and professional growth. Professionals can advance their careers in diverse industries, while entrepreneurs benefit from Australias innovation hubs and startup programs . The emphasis on work-life balance, cultural experiences, and opportunities for community engagement promotes emotional well-being and personal development.
8. Business-Friendly Environment
Australia is a hub for entrepreneurs and startups, thanks to its pro-business policies, tax incentives, and access to funding. Cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane are home to thriving innovation ecosystems. The Entrepreneur Visa Program encourages foreign investment and job creation, making Australia a favorable location for launching and expanding businesses.
9. Exceptional Quality of Life
Australia consistently ranks among the countries with the highest quality of life. Its clean environment, excellent infrastructure, and strong focus on work-life balance make it an ideal destination for both professionals and families. Whether enjoying urban sophistication or the tranquility of coastal living, residents benefit from a well-rounded lifestyle.
10. Low Crime Rate
Australia is known for its low crime rate, particularly when it comes to violent crime. This makes it one of the safest countries in the world, contributing to the sense of security and well-being of residents. The governments focus on community engagement and proactive policing ensures that public safety remains a top priority.
Expert Assistance for Australian Immigration
Navigating the immigration process can be complex, but our team of experts at WWICS (World Wide Immigration Consultancy Services) is here to help you. We provide comprehensive support, including:
Skill Assessment: Determine your eligibility for Australian visas. Eligibility Review: Identify the most suitable visa pathways. Application Preparation: Ensure all necessary documents are ready. Submission: Timely and accurate submission to Australian authorities. Case Representation: Advocate on your behalf with the Department of Home Affairs. Application Monitoring: Keep you updated on the status. Pre-Departure and Post-Arrival Support: Provide guidance on settling in Australia, including housing and cultural integration.
Get started today by booking a consultation with one of our expert migration agents to discuss your personalized immigration strategy.
Sources
Australian Government, Department of Home Affairs: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/
Migration Data Portal: https://migrationdataportal.org/
Times Higher Education: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings
Australian Government, Study in Australia: https://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au/
Australian Government, Medicare: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/medicare
Job Outlook Australia: https://joboutlook.gov.au/
Parks Australia: https://parksaustralia.gov.au/
Australian Government, Services Australia: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/families
StartupAus: https://startupaus.org/
Australian Trade and Investment Commission: https://www.austrade.gov.au/
Entrepreneur Visa, Australian Government: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas
OECD Better Life Index: https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/
Australian Institute of Criminology: https://www.aic.gov.au/
Disclaimer: This article is a promotional feature and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times.
Makeup artist Bubah Alfian got emotional after meeting Aishwarya Rai Bachchan backstage at the Paris Fashion Week 2024. Alfian shared an Instagram video of his heartwarming encounter with the Bollywood star, who walked the ramp at the fashion week as a brand ambassador for L'Oreal. Aishwarya Rai met makeup artist Bubah Alfian in Paris(Instagram/@bubahalfian)
Aishwarya Rai was seen getting her hair and makeup done backstage before her Paris Fashion Week appearance when she was approached by the makeup artist. After greeting him warmly, she was heard asking Alfian not to cry as he teared up.
In the video, the Jodha Akbar actress was seen getting hair extensions applied when approached by Alfian. The makeup artist also presented her with some gifts and posed with a picture with her later.
She remembers me.. I'm so happy.. Love youuuu, Alfian captioned his Instagram video.
Take a look at the video below:
Both Aishwarya Rai and Alia Bhatt walked the ramp at Paris Fashion Week 2024 as brand ambassadors for LOreal.
Aishwarya, a longtime ambassador for the beauty giant, took the ramp in a red satin gown. Meanwhile, Alia Bhatt, recently inducted into the LOreal family, looked radiant in a metallic silver bustier.
(Also read: Aishwarya Rai at Paris Fashion Week: Fans say 'face card is lethal' but call her red balloon dress great disservice)
Alfian met both the actresses backstage and also teared up on meeting Alia Bhatt.
Social media users were full of praise for Aishwarya Rai for greeting an old acquaintance so warmly.
So sweet she is, wrote one person in the comments section of Alfians viral Instagram video. Youre so lucky. She's a Miss World, another said.
(Also read: Alia Bhatt, Aishwarya Rai are lost in conversation as they get ready together for fashion show in Paris: Pics)
Aishwarya Rai, along with her daughter Aaradhya, returned to Mumbai on Tuesday night.
For those who travel frequently by air, the concept of layovers is all too familiar. However, a recent post that has gained traction online showcases a rather luxurious layover experience at the Abu Dhabi airport. A X user shared his 13-hour layover at Abu Dhabi Airport, showcasing luxury shops and lounges.(X/@hkarteek)
(Also read: Matrimonial agency inside Chennai airport raises eyebrows. See pic)
An Indian man named Karteek shared a video on X that highlights the airport's impressive array of showrooms featuring renowned brands such as Hermes, Balenciaga and Gucci, among others. In his post, he captures the essence of the airport, stating, 13 hours overnight layover in Abu Dhabi before I fly to Madrid. This airport is basically a luxury mall where flights also land and take off.
Take a look here:
The video has left many in awe, showcasing an airport experience that transcends the typical travel hustle and bustle.
A lounge like no other
In a follow-up post, the traveller provided further glimpses of his layover in Abu Dhabi, expressing surprise at the facilities available to travellers. Didnt even know one could take long hot showers in an airport. The very concept of lounges was alien. But it is totally worth getting yourself a nice credit card that enables access, especially if you travel internationally. Also, side notethe Emiratis have cracked luxury and hospitality like no one else.
(Also read: Passenger gets into an argument after Lufthansa staff deny her boarding the plane, company reacts)
His photos featured a beautifully maintained waiting lounge, immaculate washrooms, and a glimpse of the delicious food he enjoyed. The contrast between this experience and the typical airport layover is striking, raising questions about the varying standards of airport amenities around the world.
Check out the post here:
A peculiar find
While Kartik's luxurious experience at Abu Dhabi Airport highlights the pinnacle of airport amenities, it also raises an interesting contrast with other airports around the world. Numerous airports feature an array of shops and cafes, yet not all provide the same level of luxury. In a striking example, a photo of a matrimonial agency located within Chennai Airport had earlier gone viral, surprising many travellers.
Social media user @Aarsun shared an image of the "Elite Matrimonial" store with a humorous caption: Lol, MAA airport doesnt have a pharmacy or a convenience store in case of emergencies, but look what I found.
See the post here:
This unexpected find in a bustling terminal has baffled and amused netizens, illustrating the diverse offerings that can be found in different airports across the globe.
An Indian-origin founder has launched a wearable device that he claims will give the user infinite memory of their life. Advait Paliwal announced the launch of Iris, an AI wearable, in social media posts yesterday. Advait Paliwal wears the Iris device around his neck(X/@advaitpaliwal)
Iris, he explained, is a device that takes pictures of every minute which are then stored on the device or uploaded to the cloud. The idea behind the device is to document the small moments of life and capture the little moments we usually let slip away, revealing patterns we never noticed.
The device not only takes photographs but also captions and organises the pictures into a timeline. It uses AI to help wearers remember forgotten details. Iris also has a focus mode. It notices when you get distracted and proactively tells you to get back on track, Paliwal added.
In his blog post, the India-born, San Francisco-based entrepreneur said the devices design is inspired by the evil eye symbol. He said he spent the summer working on the device at Augmentation Lab in Cambridge, which is a two-month hacker accelerator residency programme for AI and hardware talent.
At the end of the programme, he presented Iris to over 250 people at the MIT Media Lab. Many loved the idea and even wanted to get one for themselves, he claimed.
The good and the bad of Iris
Paliwal highlighted the safety and health benefits of Iris, suggesting doctors can use it to understand a patients daily habits. In workplaces, it could be used to ensure people are following safety protocols. For elderly care, it could help caregivers monitor patients without being intrusive, he noted.
The idea of lifelogging is not new, he said, reminding readers of Microsoft Research that created a camera to assist Alzheimer's patients. He also gave the example of Google Clips, a small, hands-free, AI-powered camera launched by Google in October 2017. Google Clips attempted to autonomously capture important moments but struggled with accurate detection, resulting in discontinuation, Paliwal said.
At the same time, he acknowledged that some users may have privacy concerns with such a device.
There are good and bad sides to this. On one hand, Iris could really help people with memory problems or help us stay focused on our goals. But it also raises concerns about privacy and how these recordings might be used, he wrote, adding that at the end, it is users who decide how to use a device.
Paliwal was met with similar privacy concerns on X.
It's an interesting concept, but I wouldn't want to interact with someone who had this on, taking a photo every minute, wrote one person, to which he responded saying that people are constantly taking mental photos anyway.
The craze for Grammy-winning band Coldplay's upcoming concerts is not dying down any time soon as scores of fans are now joining virtual queues to grab tickets to see the band perform in Abu Dhabi next year. The band, which had scheduled one show in the Middle Eastern city on January 11, will now perform again on January 12 for their growing number of fans. Coldplay fans shares screenshots showing them waiting in long virtual queues for the band's tickets.(X/@Catechist123)
Last week, thousands of Indian fans were left disappointed due to a massive rush to get the concert passes for the band's Mumbai show after queueing up for hours on BookMyShow.
(Also read: I don't even like Coldplay': Delhi woman cuts meals, bathroom breaks to book tickets for family. Viral post
A BookMyShow repeat
The fans, who queued up to get the prized tickets, took to social media to complain about the website slowing down and malfunctioning in a scene similar to BookMyShow during the sale for Mumbai tickets.
Among those wanting to see the band perform was TV personality and DJ Nikhil Chinappa who also shared his frustration about not being able to secure the tickets. "Not sure what happened here, Ticketmaster. The screen went from your turn to buy, to a static screen of the stadium graphic," he wrote in a post showing his computer screen reloading after it said he was next in line to buy the passes.
"Ticketmaster Stuck for the last 10 mns for Coldplay Abu Dhabi . What has to be done!" one user complained, sharing a photo of his screen showing him as 11,000th in line.
"Ticketmaster its my turn since 15 mins, doesnt go ahead," wrote another user.
Indian fans booking for Abu Dhabi show?
In top posts about the Abu Dhabi tickets, most users' locations in their X bios were in India which led many to believe that Indian fans have decided to travel to UAE to watch their favourite band perform. Some users from Bangalore and Mumbai also shared screenshots of their booked tickets.
"Is all of India coming to Coldplay's concert in Abu Dhabi?," one user asked.
"Indians have flooded Abu Dhabi show of Coldplay already, thanks to influencers Hong Kong will also look like a coldplay concert in India. Best to wait for a few months till Indian Coldplay Hunger dies," another user said.
How much would it cost?
A post suggesting a lavish trip to Abu Dhabi to watch the musicians perform had gone viral on social media.
Instead of spending lakhs on the Mumbai show, a content creator suggested a round-trip to the Middle East to watch the band perform at a marginally cheaper cost.
In the post's caption, he provided a breakdown of the whole trip along with cost estimates for food, travel, hotels and even sightseeing. He estimated the price of the trip to be 1.7 lakh for two people.
(Read viral post here: Planning for Coldplay in Abu Dhabi? Viral post explains how you can also get gourmet food, 3-star hotel)
Commentary
By Lee Harding
The fall harvest is in the storehouse, and its time to put away all proposals to cap fertilizer use in the name of saving the planet.
The Saskatoon-based Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) conducted a comprehensive analysis of carbon emissions across Saskatchewan, Western Canada, Canada, and among international peers. Its study examined emissions from transportation, seed production, fertilizer and manure use, crop inputs, field activities, energy consumption, and post-harvest processes.
The studies, published last year, had very reassuring results. Canadian crop production was less carbon intensive than other places, and Western Canada was a little better yet. This proved true crop by crop.
In other words, Canadian farmers are focused on ensuring food security, not causing the droughts, fires, or storms that critics unfairly blame on them.
Carbon emissions per tonne of canola production were more than twice as high in France and Germany as in Canada. Australia was slightly less carbon intensive than Canada but still trailed Western Canada.
For non-durum wheat, Canada blew Australia, France, Germany, and the U.S. away with roughly half the carbon intensity of those countries. The U.S. had twice the carbon intensity for durum wheat as Canada, and Italy almost five times as much.
Canada performed exceptionally well in lentil production. Australian producers had 5.5 times the carbon emissions per tonne compared to Canada, while U.S. producers had eight times as much. In some parts of Canada, lentil production even acted as a net carbon sink, absorbing more carbon than it emitted.
Canadian field peas produce one-tenth of the carbon emissions per tonne as found in Germany and one-sixth that of France or the United States.
According to GIFS, Canada excels in agriculture through practices such as regenerative agriculture, including minimal soil disturbance, robust crop rotation, covering the land, integrating livestock and the effective management of crop inputs.
The adoption of zero-till farming is especially important. Zero-till farming is an agricultural practice where the soil is left undisturbed by avoiding plowing or tilling, which helps retain nutrients, moisture, and greenhouse gases in the soil.
Western Canada has been especially keen to adopt the zero-till approach, unlike the United States, where only 30 percent of cropland is zero-till.
The adoption of optimal methods has already reduced Canadian carbon emissions substantially. Despite this progress, some net zero advocates are pushing to reduce carbon emissions from fertilizer use by 30 percent, similar to cuts being proposed in other sectors.
This target is unfair to Canadian agriculture, as the industry has already made significant progress in reducing emissions. Nitrates are essential for crop growth, so farmers are already highly motivated to keep them in the soil rather than losing them to the atmosphere, regardless of concerns about global warming. Fewer nitrates would lead to lower yields and decreased protein content in crops.
Farmers are already motivated by their personal and economic interests to use fertilizer as efficiently as possible. While universal adoption of optimal techniques might reduce emissions slightly, Canada is so far ahead in this game that a hard cap on fertilizer emissions could only be detrimental.
In 2021, Fertilizer Canada commissioned a study by MNP to estimate the costs of a 20 percent drop in fertilizer use to achieve a 30 percent reduction in emissions. The study suggested that by 2030, bushels of production per acre would drop significantly for canola (23.6), corn (67.9), and spring wheat (36.1). By 2030, the annual value of lost production for those crops alone would reach $10.4 billion.
If every animal and human in Canada died, leaving the country an unused wasteland, the drop in world greenhouse gas emissions would be only 1.4 percent. Any talk of reducing capping fertilizer inputs for the greater good is nonsense.
Lee Harding is a Research Fellow for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
Marques Brownlee has responded to backlash against his steeply-priced, subscription-based wallpaper app Panels. The noted tech YouTuber promised to address some of the concerns raised by his followers after his product an app where users pay a yearly fee of $49.99 to access high-resolution wallpapers met with overwhelming criticism online. YouTuber Marques Brownlee launched a wallpaper app called Panels.(X/MKBHD)
Who is Marques Brownlee?
Marques Brownlee, often known as MKBHD, is a popular American tech YouTuber. He is best known for his in-depth technology reviews, particularly on consumer electronics like smartphones, laptops, and gadgets.
With 20 million YouTube subscribers, Brownlee holds significant sway in influencing peoples decisions when it comes to buying electronics. In fact, he has even been blamed for tanking companies and products with his negative reviews, as happened most recently with the Humane AI pin.
What is Panels?
Panels is a wallpaper app that allows its subscribers to access a selection of stunning full resolution wallpapers from digital artists. The app, launched by Brownlee on Monday, comes with a hefty price tag - it costs $49.99 per year for a Panels Plus subscription. Users can also opt for the monthly subscription plan of $11.99 per month.
Users who subscribe will be able to download wallpapers in full resolution. People can also use the app for free - although then they will be able to download lower resolution images and will have to watch two ads.
Why the criticism against Panels?
Brownlee announced his new app as part of his iPhone 16 review on Monday. By Tuesday, social media had been filled with criticism against the wallpaper app, with some calling it a cash grab and others raising concerns about data privacy.
Most critics were surprised that such a product came from Marques Brownlee, who has built a reputation for his well-researched insights into the latest tech releases.
Hard to understand someone spending all these years building up the best reputation in tech, and then suddenly blowing it all by releasing this ad-spamming, location-tracking, $11.99 a MONTH wallpaper trash. What on earth? wrote one person on X.
Imagine having a large enough audience to make almost any idea work, and then settling on a subscription-based wallpaper app, another wrote.
Much of the criticism was directed towards the cost of the subscription, with users pointing out that people did not want to pay $50 for wallpapers. Some, however, praised MKBHD for supporting digital artists at a time when generative AI artwork is on the rise.
Brownlees response to criticism
Marques Brownlee responded to the backlash on social media platform X. He addressed two major points of criticism - concerns about pricing and data privacy.
Several people had pointed out that the Panels app can track users location, usage data, and other personal identifiers across apps and websites, according to TechCrunch.
First thing we're doing is fixing the excessive data disclosures, as people rightfully brought up. For transparency, we'd never actually ask for your location, internet history, etc. The data disclosures (that everyone is screenshotting) is likely too broad, and largely driven by what the ad networks suggest. Working to fix that ASAP, Brownlee said.
The American YouTuber said he is working on a plan to dial back advertisements on the app.
As far as pricing, I hear you! It's our own personal challenge to work to deliver that kind of value for the premium version. (Weekly Friday drops are already starting) I'll also be dialing back ad frequency for the free experience, he posted.
Browlee acknowledged that the target market for a subscription-based wallpaper app is insanely small.
A project manager claimed unjust termination by an Indian company just one day after submitting their resignation, which was filed due to health concerns. To complicate matters, the company allegedly not only terminated the employee but also threatened to damage their background verification (BGV) process, asserting that they had left improperly. Furthermore, the company claimed to demand three months salary in exchange for providing an experience certificate. A Reddit user shared their ordeal of being wrongfully terminated after resigning for health reasons.(Pixabay)
(Also read: Startup employee claims she was fired for liking a LinkedIn post on toxic workplaces)
The incident, shared on Reddit by the user named @Randy31599, sparked outrage and sympathy within the online community. The employee sought help from fellow Redditors in finding their next job, particularly in Chennai.
The user explained that the decision to resign was driven by declining health and unbearable work pressure.
Resignation rejected despite illness
The Redditor had been with the company for over eight months and initially tendered their resignation due to medical issues. I had been with the company for over 8 months and even received a raise, but the work pressure became too much. I was diagnosed with fatty liver, and soon after, contracted chickenpox. When I asked for 3 days of leave, the CEO instructed me to work from home, but I was only able to partially support the team, they shared.
(Also read: Punjab woman claims toxic boss fired her, cut salary over Raksha Bandhan off. Company hits back)
Feeling overwhelmed, the employee requested an early release, but the company rejected the resignation and demanded they continue working, even though their health was worsening.
Second attempt rejected after accident
The employee tried to resign again after being involved in an accident, which injured their hand. However, the company once again rejected the resignation, showing no empathy. The stress caused the user to take two days off to process the situation.
Check the post here:
Termination and threats follow
The day after the second resignation attempt, the company took drastic action. They sent me a termination email and threatened to report that I left improperly in the BGV process, the user claimed. Additionally, the company demanded three months' salary to issue the experience certificate.
Redditors were quick to support the user, with one writing, This is unethical! You should consult a lawyer. Another added, Its extortion. Report them! Many others offered sympathy and advice, encouraging the employee to stand their ground.
A 64-year-old US woman this week became the first person to end her life using the controversial suicide pod in Switzerland. Several people were arrested shortly afterwards on suspicion of inciting, and aiding and abetting suicide, reported BBC. A handout picture released by "The Last Resort" and taken on the morning of September 23, 2024 shows the Sarco pod at the location where it was allegedly used by a 64-year-old American woman(AFP)
The American woman, who has not been named, used the portable, 3D-printed chamber called Sarco to end her life on Monday in Switzerland. Sarco, short for sarcophagus, is a controversial suicide pod that enables its occupant to kill themselves at a press of a button.
Police said the pod was used on Monday at a woodland retreat in the Merishausen area, which lies near the Swiss-German border. Cops were tipped off about the use of the Sarco by a law firm.
Active euthanasia is banned in Switzerland but assisted dying has been legal for decades. However, it is strictly regulated, and the suicide pod has raised a host of legal and ethical questions.
The pod can be operated using a button on the inside, allowing occupants to end their lives without medical supervision.
Peaceful, dignified
The Last Resort organisation, an assisted dying group, presented the Sarco pod in Zurich in July, saying they expected it to be used for the first time within months, and saw no legal obstacle to its use in Switzerland.
In a statement to AFP, The Last Resort said the person who died was a 64-year-old woman, who was not named, from the midwestern United States.
She "had been suffering for many years from a number of serious problems associated with severe immune compromise", the statement said. "The death took place in open air, under a canopy of trees, at a private forest retreat, the statement added, describing her death as peaceful, fast and dignified.
Police have "opened criminal proceedings against several people for inducement and aiding and abetting suicide... and several people have been placed in police custody," a police statement said.
(With inputs from AFP)
NEW ORLEANS A Texas county that wants to keep 17 books off its shelves some dealing humorously with flatulence and others with issues including sex, gender identity and racism argued its case Tuesday before 18 federal appeals court judges amid questions on whether the rights of the patrons or county officials were at risk. A Texas county has told an appeals court it has a right to cull books on sex, gender and racism
Library patrons filed suit in 2022 against numerous officials with the Llano County library system and the county government after the books were removed. A federal district judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction requiring that the books be returned in 2023. But the outlook became murkier when three judges of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals split three ways on the issue in June one saying all 17 books should stay on the shelves, another saying only eight had to stay, and another saying the court should leave it up to the county.
The upshot was that eight books were to be kept on the shelves. But the full court voted to toss that ruling and rehear the case. Tuesday's arguments were heard by the 17 full-time judges of the 5th Circuit, plus Jacques Wiener, a senior 5th Circuit judge with a reduced workload who was part of the original panel.
It is unclear when the full court will rule. Tuesday's arguments
Judges closely questioned attorneys on both sides as attorneys supporting the county said government officials' decisions in curating a library's book selection amount to protected government speech.
If private speech could be passed off as government by simply affixing a government seal of approval, government could silence the most powerful, unfavorable ideas, Judge Leslie Southwick said. It seems to me that there is a risk of that occurring here that we are calling this particular activity, that occurred in this library, government speech, when in fact it is suppression of unpleasant, unacceptable ideas to some group of people.
Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan was more sympathetic to the county, noting a litany of weeding guidelines libraries use in deciding which books to stock based on a variety of factors from the age and condition of the book to subject matter that could be considered outdated or racist.
He raised questions of whether a library could be allowed to remove an overtly racist book by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke or the children's book The Cat in the Hat," which has been criticized for allegedly drawing on racist minstrel show culture.
If a public librarian removes The Cat in the Hat, has the public librarian violated the First Amendment?" Duncan asked.
If the librarian removes the Cat in the Hat" because he or she is substantially motivated by suppressing the viewpoint in it, then yes," said Matthew Borden, attorney arguing for the library patrons. What are the books?
The books at issue in the case include Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson; They Called Themselves the K.K.K: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti; In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak; Its Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health by Robie H. Harris; and Being Jazz: My Life as a Teen by Jazz Jennings.
Other titles include Larry the Farting Leprechaun by Jane Bexley and My Butt is So Noisy! by Dawn McMillan. Already divided
In June's panel ruling, Wiener, who was nominated to the 5th Circuit by former President George H. W. Bush, said the books were clearly removed at the behest of county officials who disagreed with the books messages.
Another panel member was Southwick, a nominee of former President George W. Bush, who agreed with Wiener partially. He argued that some of the removals might stand a court test as the case progresses, noting that some of the books dealt more with juvenile, flatulent humor than weightier subjects.
I do not find those books were removed on the basis of a dislike for the ideas within them when it has not been shown the books contain any ideas with which to disagree, Southwick wrote.
Also on that panel was Duncan, a nominee of former President Donald Trump, who dissented fully. The commission hanging in my office says Judge, not Librarian. Duncan wrote.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Venezuelan authorities launched an investigation Tuesday into a mysterious online fundraiser fronted by the founder of infamous US security contractor Blackwater, who claims to have raised over $1 million towards ousting President Nicolas Maduro. Blackwater founder probed by Venezuela over anti-Maduro campaign
The "Ya Casi Venezuela" campaign site was launched in early September, in response to the country's July 28 disputed presidential election.
Incumbent Socialist strongman Maduro claimed victory in the election, which the opposition says he stole.
Much of the international community has refused to recognize Maduro's win, demanding to see detailed election results to back his claim.
Launched earlier this month on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X, "Ya Casi Venezuela" promises that Venezuelans will be "witnesses and protagonists in the fall of the regime" of Maduro, but stops short of saying how it will achieve that end.
The campaign first featured a countdown in days, hours and minutes until September 16, which it said would mark the start of a movement to "fulfill the will of the Venezuelan people."
When the countdown ended, the campaign turned into a fundraiser led by Blackwater founder Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL with links to US ex-president Donald Trump.
"Venezuela, you voted on July 28 for freedom. Now, it's time to vote with your dollars. Democracy will prevail, we are almost there," Prince said in a video posted on social media that has been viewed 5.9 million times.
Three days later, he posted a new video claiming the campaign had already raised over $1 million.
Venezuela's opposition has distanced itself from the campaign and did not respond to AFP's requests for comment.
AFP also tried to contact "Ya Casi Venezuela" about its plans but received no response.
Prince, a pioneer of private military operations, gained infamy as the founder of Blackwater since renamed Academi whose contractors were accused of massacring 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007.
Four Blackwater security guards who were convicted in connection with the killings were pardoned by Trump in 2020.
Prince's sister Betsy DeVos was Trump's education secretary at the time.
Maduro has linked the "Ya Casi Venezuela" campaign to his claims that Western intelligence services are plotting to overthrow him.
"Faced with countdown clocks, we have to clean our rifles," he told a recent public gathering in Caracas, in an apparent reference to the site.
Last week, Venezuela announced it had arrested four Americans, two Spanish nationals and a Czech national on suspicion of plotting to assassinate the president.
Washington, Madrid and Prague have denied involvement in any such plot.
In a telephone call Friday with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Maduro warned about the "hiring of mercenaries to invade the country."
Guterres, for his part, expressed concern about human rights abuses in Venezuela, where 27 people were killed and over 2,000 arrested in the post-election unrest.
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This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
A large group of Bangladeshi nationals in the United States staged a protest against Muhammad Yunus, who is leading Bangladesh's interim government, over the alleged attacks on minorities in the country on Tuesday. The protests took place outside a hotel in New York where Muhammad Yunus is staying for attending the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session. Bangladeshi nationals raise slogans during the protest against the head of Bangladesh's interim government, Mohammad Yunus, over attacks on minorities in their country, outside a hotel in New York where he was staying for attending the 79th UNGA session, on Monday. (ANI)
Videos doing rounds on social media show the protesters chanting slogans such as go back and step down. The demonstrators also held posters saying: Sheikh Hasina our Prime Minister.
According to one of the protesters, Yunus came to power with dirty politics.
Muhammad Yunus took the power unconstitutionally, illegally. He captured power with dirty politics, and a lot of people have been killed. So far, our elected PM, Sheikh Hasina, has not resigned. We request UN humbly that he did not represent Bangladeshi people here, the protester told news agency ANI.
Another protester said: I am here to protest the illegal, unelected person representing 117 million people of Bangladesh...He is not elected, he has been appointed by students. He doesn't care about minorities or anybody...He has illegally occupied the country.
Yunus took charge as the head of Bangladesh's interim government on August 8 after Hasina resigned and fled the country following widespread protests against her Awami League-led government over a controversial job quota system. Over 200 people were killed in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country amid the political crisis.
Shortly after Hasina's downfall, some protesters vandalised temples belonging to the minorities and carried out loot and arson attacks in the country.
Also read: Muhammad Yunus slams Sheikh Hasina for making remarks on Bangladesh from India
Muhammad Yunus in US
On Tuesday, Yunus attended a high-level meeting at an event on the sidelines of the 79th UNGA in New York. During the meeting, he stressed the urgent need for the repatriation of Rohingyas in Bangladesh, saying that the significant challenges the country has been facing are due to the presence of over 1.2 million displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar.
Despite hosting the Rohingyas with great empathy, a densely populated Bangladesh has been incurring so much in terms of social-economic-environmental costs. These culminate in a series of traditional and non-traditional security risks for us. Much of our own development gains are at stake. Clearly, Bangladesh has reached its limits. Therefore, as much as Bangladesh engages in humanitarian aspects or ensuring justice, repatriation of the Rohingyas remains the only sustainable solution to the protracted crisis, he said.
The head of Bangladesh's interim government also met US President Joe Biden. The two leaders affirmed the "close partnership" between the United States and Bangladesh, which is rooted in shared democratic values and strong people-to-people ties, the White House said in a statement. Biden also welcomed further engagement between the two governments and offered continued US support as Bangladesh implements its new reform agenda.
On Monday, Yunus met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and discussed a range of issues related to mutual interests between Bangladesh and India.
He is set to address the general debate of the UNGA on Friday, September 27.
(With inputs from agencies)
The Israeli military is preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon, the Israeli army chief said Wednesday as Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets into Israel and a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was the militant group's deepest strike yet. Demonstrators hold Palestinian flags during a gathering called in support of Lebanon, in Madrid on September 25, 2024. (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP)(AFP)
Addressing troops on the northern border, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the latest airstrikes were designed to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.
In an apparent reference to the missile fired at Tel Aviv, he told troops: "Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves.
It was not clear whether Halevi was referring to a ground operation, airstrikes or some other form of retaliation against Hezbollah, which is Lebanon's strongest political force and, with backing from Iran, is widely considered the top paramilitary group in the Arab world.
The Israeli military has said in recent days it had no immediate plans for a ground invasion. Halevi's comments were the strongest yet suggesting troops could move in.
With hostilities intensifying, the Israeli military said Wednesday it would activate two reserve brigades for missions in the north another sign that Israel plans tougher action.
ALSO READ- Israel-Hezbollah conflict: Death toll from two Israeli strikes touches 558; 50 of them children
In the southern Israeli city of Eilat, a building at the port was struck by a drone, an attack that injured two people and was claimed by an umbrella group for Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. A second drone was intercepted, the Israeli military said.
Footage aired on Israeli media showed a plume of smoke in the area and at least one damaged building. The army said the drones were identified approaching from the East.
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have steadily escalated since war broke out 11 months ago between Israel and Hamas, another Iran-backed militant group. Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and Hamas. Israel has responded with increasingly heavy airstrikes and the targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders while threatening a wider operation.
Nearly a year of fighting had already displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border before the recent escalation.
Israel has vowed to do whatever it takes to ensure its citizens can return to their homes in the north, while Hezbollah has said it will keep up its rocket attacks until there is a cease-fire in Gaza, something that appears increasingly remote.
To allow displaced Israelis to return to their homes, we are preparing the process of a maneuver, Halevi said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel and Hezbollah to step back, saying all-out war would be disastrous for the region and its people.
In New York for the annual U.N. General Assembly, Blinken said the U.S. was working with other partners on a temporary cease-fire plan to reduce tensions and allow Israelis and Lebanese to return to their homes in border areas.
U.S. officials say they are floating ideas but have not been specific. Some may be discussed at a special U.N. Security Council meeting on Lebanon that France called for later Wednesday.
Lebanon's health minister said more than 50 people were killed Wednesday in the continuing Israeli strikes, raising the death toll from the past three days to 615, with more than 2,000 wounded.
At Dar Al Amal hospital in the eastern city of Baalbek, Soumaya Moussawi lay in bed with her head bandaged and face bruised.
She had been sitting outside with relatives when warplanes started striking in the distance, she said.
Then suddenly it hit next to us. We were all thrown in different directions, she said. Two cousins and her father were killed, and another cousin was badly wounded.
This week has been the deadliest in Lebanon since the bruising 2006 monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah.
ALSO READ- Lebanon: How Israel sent warning texts before bombing Hezbollah locations
Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, which it blames for a recent string of targeted killings of its top commanders and for an attack last week in which explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of people and wounded thousands, including many Hezbollah members.
Israeli military officials said they intercepted a surface-to-surface missile that set off air-raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel. There were no reports of casualties or damage. The military said it struck the launch site in southern Lebanon.
Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the missile fired Wednesday had a heavy warhead but declined to elaborate or confirm it was the type described by Hezbollah. He dismissed Hezbollah's claim of targeting the Mossad headquarters just north of Tel Aviv as psychological warfare.
The Israeli military said it was the first time a projectile fired from Lebanon had reached central Israel. Hezbollah claimed to have targeted an intelligence base near Tel Aviv last month in an aerial attack, but there was no confirmation. Hamas repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv in the opening months of the war in Gaza.
The launch ratcheted up hostilities in a region that appeared to be teetering toward another all-out war, even as Israel continues to battle Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Iranian-made Qader is a medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile with multiple types and payloads. It can carry an explosive payload of up to 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds), according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. Iranian officials have described the liquid-fueled missile as having a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles).
Israel said Wednesday its air force had struck some 280 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon by early afternoon, including launchers used to fire rockets on the northern Israeli cities of Safed and Nahariya.
Our view: Israel action triggers fears of regional war
Fleeing families have flocked to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along the beach. Some sought to leave the country, causing a traffic jam at the border with Syria.
The United Nations said more than 90,000 people have been displaced by five days of Israeli strikes. In all, 200,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel nearly a year ago, drawing Israeli retaliation, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Hezbollah's latest strikes included dozens of rockets fired Wednesday into northern Israel, the military said.
Rocket fire over the past week has disrupted life for more than 1 million people across northern Israel, with schools closed and public gatherings restricted. Many restaurants and other businesses are shut in the coastal city of Haifa, and there are fewer people on the streets. Some who fled from communities near the border are coming under rocket fire again.
Israel has moved thousands of troops who had been serving in Gaza to the northern border. It says Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including some capable of striking anywhere in Israel, and that the group has fired some 9,000 rockets and drones since last October.
Cross-border fire began ramping up Sunday after the pager and walkie-talkie bombings, which killed 39 people and wounded nearly 3,000, many of them civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny responsibility.
The next day, Israel said its warplanes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and attack drones, including weapons concealed in private homes. The strikes racked up the highest one-day death toll in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising monthlong war in 2006.
LONDON, Sept 24 - 'Leave now', Britain tells nationals in Lebanon as it mobilises troops
Britain on Tuesday mobilised hundreds of soldiers to Cyprus to help its nationals evacuate following a significant escalation between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, urging people to leave immediately.
As contingency plans are rolled out to support British nationals in Lebanon and the region, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement around 700 troops, backed by the border force, would move to Cyprus in the coming hours.
The air force also have aircraft and transport helicopters on standby to provide support if necessary, the FCDO added.
"Events in the past hours and days have demonstrated how volatile this situation is, which is why our message is clear, British nationals should leave now," said Defence Secretary John Healey.
Fierce fighting this week between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah has increased fears that nearly a year of conflict will explode and destabilise the Middle East, where a war between Hamas and Israel is already raging in Gaza.
Israel has said it is shifting its focus from Gaza to the northern frontier, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, which like Hamas is also backed by Iran.
Israel's offensive since Monday morning has killed 569 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV.
Thousands of displaced people who fled from southern Lebanon were sheltering in schools and other buildings.
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The internet has labelled Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as a perfect couple after the former praised her at an awards ceremony in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Elon Musk (Twitter)
Seeing the two together at the event, netizens exploded the internet with comments like, I am totally shipping these two. Perfect and Now that is the kind of international power couple I can get behind. Some users also wrote, That's Amore (That's love).
I wanna find someone that looks at me the same way Meloni looks at Musk, another user wrote.
However, Musk silenced all the comments on Wednesday by replying to an X post that questioned if he and Meloni would date.
To this, Musk wrote: Not dating.
This is not the first time the internet has paired the two leaders. In December last year, several posts on X (formerly known as Twitter) claimed that the two were together after Musk accepted Melonis invitation to attend a political festival in Rome.
Elon Musk's praise for Meloni
Bestowing an Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award on Giorgia Meloni, Elon Musk said it was an honour to present the accolade to someone who is even more beautiful on the inside than she was on the outside.
Shes also someone who is authentic, honest, truthful and that cant always be said about politicians, he added.
Meloni received the award for her strong support of the EU and becoming the first female prime minister of Italy.
#Melodi
Previously, the internet was occasionally flooded with Prime Minister Narendra Modi-Meloni memes, jokingly portraying the romance between the two prime ministers. Some posts even created an imaginary phone call between the two. Such memes went viral on social media, especially during the G20 Summit in India and then after the BJP fell short of a majority in the Lok Sabha elections.
Netizens also created a #Melodi - connecting Meloni and Modi's names.
In December of last year, Meloni used the hashtag on a selfie she posted with Modi after meeting him on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai. She also shared a similar picture with Modi in June this year.
An American think tank has labelled the ruling that the details of Prince Harrys US visa application should remain private "suspicious. Conservative group The Heritage Foundation took legal action against the US government in an attempt to force the Duke of Sussexs documents into the public eye. Prince Harrys US visa ruling called suspicious (Photo by Alex Kent / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP)
On Monday, US judge Carl Nichols said in a ruling, "The public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the dukes immigration records."
The Prince Harry scandal just got a lot more suspicious
Mike Howell, the executive director of the think tank's Oversight Project, has now told Newsweek, "The Prince Harry scandal just got a lot more suspicious.
Howell continued, "While our case is far from over as we explore appeal, I'd say that these very curious redactions point to something serious afoot. President Trump has already suggested that Prince Harry will be deported next year - and the case for that just got a lot more compelling! Americans deserve an immigration system with both secure borders and also fairly applied rules for high-profile immigrants like Harry."
"It certainly appears that Harry was given special treatment... and now we know it for something so serious that it involves extensive redactions. Americans will know the full story soon enough... Perhaps, Mr and Mrs Markle will tell us what's beneath the redactions on their next Netflix special, Howell added.
The think tank had previously expressed its concerns over Harrys confession of taking drugs in his memoir, Spare. In the book, Harry wrote that cocaine "didnt do anything for me", but "marijuana is different... that actually really did help me.
Harry would be required to fill out a form asking if he had ever used illegal drugs while applying for his residency permit in the United States. However, talking to GB News, Melissa Chavin from Chapman Immigration Law Office previously said that the Duke is likely to hold an A1 visa, which is typically owned by ambassadors, heads of state and members of the royal family.
Chavin said that as a result, Harry would be in the country "on something that none of us see, which is an "uncommon and rare" visa.
The Heritage Foundation stated that drug use "generally renders such a person inadmissible for entry" to the US. But judge Nichols said on Monday, "Like any foreign national, the duke has a legitimate privacy interest in his immigration status."
Commentary
By Ian Madsen
Dissatisfaction with the current state of Canadas airports is palpable among the public, airlines, and the federal government. Landing fees, shop and restaurant rental fees, and airport improvement fees seem high and uncompetitive compared to U.S. airports. This collective discontent underscores the urgent need for change.
Monette Pasher, a spokesperson for the Canadian Airports Council, representing about one hundred airports across the country, was unconvincing in her recent defence of the unsatisfactory status quo. Pasher, representing about one hundred airports across the country, claims that the sale of airports to investors would, axiomatically, increase costs: Boosters of the for-profit model [say] that the returns will come from efficiencies of privatization, but Canadas airports have already been privatized. So the circle will inevitably be squared with higher revenues a.k.a. higher fees.
There are several problems with her argument. First, financial viability is crucial for the survival of an enterprise. Taxpayers and citizens have no obligation to use its products or services or to finance its losses if its offerings are unattractive to customers. That is one of the main reasons to sell off public sector enterprises: to remove risk to the government.
The second problem is that these large airports are not truly privatized.
They occupy a strange, limbo-like role that serves nobody well. With no shareholders, they operate with low accountability, which is a cause for concern. Their non-profit status further diminishes financial discipline, allowing them to hike landing fees and embark on projects that may not generate revenue but look good.
Empire-building may be a motivation in some cases.
Pasher complains about the substantial land-use fees airports pay to Ottawa, a major problem that amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars annually. However, this problem could be solved by transferring the land outright to the airports and then prepping them for sale as stand-alone publicly traded infrastructure companies. Proceeds from the sale of airports could be divided between the newly public companies and Ottawa, with the cash retained by the airports either used for their projects, if necessary, or to pay down unserviceable debts.
The sale of Canadian airports to pension funds alone is not pre-ordained. Rigorous preparation for initial public offerings (IPOs), including developing credible plans for debt reduction and possible radical restructuring, will make airports more valuable and attractive. It could be that pension or private equity funds will not be the highest bidders for airports.
After operational and financial restructuring, a proper auction process could proceed, open to a wide variety of interested bidders (with the real possibility, even probability, of the IPO threat prodding the participants to pay what the market will bear). Generating the maximum proceeds should be the goal, for Ottawa and the airports.
As of 2019, before the distortions caused by the COVID-19 shutdown, the six largest Canadian airports held combined gross assets valued at $17.6 billion. The proceeds from selling these airports would likely be less for Ottawa, as the government would need to swallow significant debt, recapitalize the airports before sale, and grant them full ownership of the land.
However, the potential benefits of privatizing Canadian Airports could be substantial for the airports, passengers, taxpayers, cargo customers, airlines, and overall economic growth and market dynamism.
Dithering, timidity, and short-term thinking are not viable strategies.
Ian Madsen is the Senior Policy Analyst at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
On Tuesday in New York, Prince Harry made a powerful statement about his role as a father and his unwavering dedication to his family in an emotional speech that put to rest rumours of him enjoying time apart from them. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex speaks about social media's impact on children's mental health at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) on September 24, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Alex Kent / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP)
Speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative, where he promoted the Parents Network, a charity he and Meghan Markle founded to protect children from the dangers of social media, Harry referenced his own children, saying, My lock screen is a picture of my kids, what is yours? The screen behind him then displayed the heartbreaking images of children who had taken their own lives due to social media bullying.
These children and thousands more, meant the world to their families. The beautiful faces you see before you, their smiles, their dreams, all lost, all too soon and all because of social media. It is why we launched the Parents Network, a global community that provides crucial support to parents whose children have suffered from the harmful effects of social media, he then said.
ALSO READ| Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly living very separate lives
Harry's video call and speech seem calculated
The reference to his own family by the Duke seemed to be a calculated effort to oppose ongoing accusations from critics that Harry may enjoy spending time apart from his wife and kids.
Just a day earlier, Harry was seen making a video call to his family in a semi-public setting, further dispelling the rumours. The call took place at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel, where Harry was preparing to go on stage with Diana Award recipients.
One of the award winners, Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang, 18, told People, Backstage, he was actually calling Meghan. I thought that was just so sweet, and it helped humanize him. He made sure we had no nerves at all, and his children, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, were on the call.
ALSO READ| King Charles III and Prince William likely to snub Prince Harry during UK visit
The video call and Harry's public acknowledgement of his children looked as though they were each cunningly staged to fight against the present narrative from critics and social media commentators who have mused about a divide between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. While in New York this week, Harry has been spending time separately from Meghan, attending several different events.
Sept 24 - Russia hit a high-rise apartment block and a bakery in Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv with guided bombs on Tuesday, killing at least three people and injuring 34, with others feared trapped under rubble, authorities said. Russia strikes apartment block in Ukraine's Kharkiv, three killed, 34 injured
Russian forces also launched a fresh attack further south on the city of Zaporizhzhia, the target of a series of strikes in recent days. Seven people were injured.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, writing on X, said of the Kharkiv attacks: "The targets of the Russian bombs were an apartment building, a bakery, a stadium. In other words, the everyday life of ordinary people."
The strike took place as world leaders, including Zelenskiy, gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
"There is much discussion now at the UN General Assembly about collective efforts for security and the future. But we just need to stop the terror. To have security. To have a future," Zelenskiy said.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, writing on Telegram, said the Russians had hit four city districts with guided bombs. Some of the bombs hit an open area and caused little damage.
Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said a 17-year old was among the injured. Four people were in serious conditions.
Images from the site showed a hole blown through the nine-storey apartment block, several floors of it totally destroyed. The building was hit directly, officials said.
Terekhov earlier said the building had previously been attacked by Russia at the start of its 2022 invasion.
"It was almost repaired, windows were installed, it was insulated, and prepared for the heating season. The enemy hit it a second time," Terekhov said, adding that the section of the building that suffered most damage was housing 82 people.
Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, and the surrounding region regularly come under Russian attacks. Moscow's troops extensively use highly destructive guided bombs that Ukrainian air defences struggle to intercept.
Russian forces also used guided bombs in their latest attack on Zaporizhzhia, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said.
Several private homes were destroyed in the strike and four of the seven injured were in hospital. One person was killed in an overnight strike on the city.
Kyiv, which is pressing allies to allow deep strikes into Russia, says the most effective means of reducing the attacks is to target not the bombs but planes and airfields hosting them.
Russia denies targeting civilians, although it has killed thousands during more than 2 1/2 years of war.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
* Russian forces storming east Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, bloggers and media say
Russia says advancing across Donbas - defence ministry
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Russian forces storming Vuhledar - bloggers and media
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Russia says it defeats Ukrainian units at Vuhledar
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Ukraine acknowledges fighting around Vuhledar
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Ukraine says Russia using guided aerial bombs
MOSCOW, Sept 24 - Russian forces have begun storming the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, a stronghold that has resisted Russian attack since the beginning of the 2022 war, according to Russian war bloggers and state media.
Russian forces in eastern Ukraine advanced at their fastest rate in two years in August, according to multiple open source maps, even though a Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk region sought to force Moscow to divert troops.
Ukraine's military made no reference to Russian gains around Vuhledar but acknowledged there was fighting in the area.
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia's primary tactical goal is to take the whole of the Donbas region in southeastern Ukraine. Russia controls just under a fifth of Ukraine, including about 80% of the Donbas.
Russian forces have been pushing westwards at key points along some 150 km of the front in the Donetsk region, with the logistics hub of Pokrovsk a key target. They captured nearby Ukrainsk on Sept. 17 and were now entering the hilltop town of Vuhledar, about 80 km south of Pokrovsk.
"Russian units have entered Vuhledar - the storm of the town has begun," said Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger. Multiple pro-Russian war bloggers confirmed the attack.
Russia's defence ministry said its forces had defeated Ukrainian units at a series of settlements including Vuhledar, which Russians call Ugledar, and that the Eastern Grouping of Russian forces had improved their tactical positions. It gave no further details on Vuhledar.
Unverified video on Russian state media showed Vuhledar, which had a population of over 14,000 before the war, under heavy artillery and aerial bombardment.
Vuhledar's military administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces, in a report issued late on Tuesday, said Russian troops had launched eight attacks around Vuhledar and two nearby villages. "As of now, our forces have repelled half the attacks. Four are still going on," the report said.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Security Council's Centre for Countering Disinformation, said Russia's use of guided aerial bombs had helped it to advance in the area.
" used to be easy to defend, it is on high ground. But with the active arrival of guided aerial bombs at the front, the enemy managed to destroy it and move to the flank," Kovalenko said. "Guided aerial bombs and aviation are the only things that allow the enemy infantry to move."
Ukraine's Deep State open-source intelligence analysts said on Telegram that Russian troops were trying to encircle Vuhledar and had been pummelling it with artillery and guided bombs.
CRUCIAL TURNING POINT
The Russian advance westwards comes at a crucial turning point in the war.
Ukraine is seeking to win greater Western involvement in the war by securing permission to use U.S., British and French missiles for strikes into Russia, a step Putin has said would mean the West was fighting Russia directly.
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns cautioned in April that if the West failed to give more assistance to Ukraine, its forces would suffer more defeats on the battlefield - a development he said would embolden the West's competitors around the world.
Neither side gives convincing casualty figures for losses. The Wall Street Journal said this month that about one million Ukrainians and Russians had been killed or wounded in the war.
The relatively swift westward advance of Russia's forces - which have a numerical advantage - has involved encircling towns and forcing often exhausted Ukrainian troops to withdraw.
"I think that a gradual withdrawal from positions there is inevitable, given the developing trends," Kyiv-based military analyst Oleksandr Musienko said on Tuesday, adding that Vuhledar had fulfilled its role in defence of the eastern front.
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BANGKOK Thailands landmark marriage equality bill was officially written into law Tuesday, allowing same-sex couples to legally wed. Same-sex couples in Thailand can get married when equality law takes effect in January
The law was published in the Royal Gazette after endorsement by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and will come into effect in 120 days. This means LGBTQ couples will be able to register their marriage in January next year, making Thailand the third place in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, to allow same-sex marriage.
The bill, which grants full legal, financial and medical rights for marriage partners of any gender, sailed through both the House of Representatives and the Senate in April and June respectively.
Congratulations to everyones love, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra wrote on X, adding the hashtag #Love Wins.
Thailand has a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity but struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law. Thai society largely holds conservative values, and members of the LGBTQ community say they face discrimination in everyday life.
The government and state agencies are also historically conservative, and advocates for gender equality had a hard time pushing lawmakers and civil servants to accept change.
Bangkok Deputy Governor Sanon Wangsrangboon said last week that the city officials will be ready to register same-sex marriages as soon as the law gets enacted.
The legislation amended the countrys Civil and Commercial Code to replace gender-specific words such as men and women with gender-neutral words such as individual.
The government led by the Pheu Thai party has made marriage equality one of its main goals. It made a major effort to identify itself with the annual Bangkok Pride parade in June, in which thousands of people celebrated in one of Bangkoks busiest commercial districts.
The organizers of Bangkok Pride announced on Facebook that it will organize a wedding for couples who wish to register their marriage on the very first day that the law becomes effective.
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WASHINGTON Waverly B. Woodson Jr., who was part of the only African American combat unit involved in the D-Day invasion during World War II, spent more than a day treating wounded troops under heavy German fire all while injured himself. Decades later, and nearly 20 years after his death, his family finally received the recognition that was denied many Black service members. 80 years after D-Day the family of a Black World War II combat medic receives his medal for heroism
Woodson's 95-year-old widow, Joann, was presented Tuesday with the Distinguished Service Cross he was awarded posthumously for his extraordinary heroism. Generations of Woodson's family packed the audience, many of them wearing T-shirts with his photo and the words 1944 D-Day US Army Medic" on the front.
Its been a long, long road to get to this day, Woodson's son, Steve, told the crowd. My father, if he could have been here today, would have been humbled.
The award, the second-highest honor that can be bestowed on a member of the Army, marked an important milestone in a yearslong campaign by his widow, supporters in the military and Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen for greater recognition of Woodson's efforts that day.
Ultimately, they would like to see him honored with the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration that can be awarded by the U.S. government and one long denied to Black troops who served in World War II.
Van Hollen, who first heard Woodson's story when Joann Woodson reached out to his office nearly a decade ago, told the crowd that Woodson's valor stood out. He said there was only one thing that stood between Woodson and the country's highest military honor and that was the color of his skin.
Righting this wrong matters. It matters for Waverly Woodson and his family, and it matters for our entire country because we are a stronger, more united country when we remember all of our history and when we honor all of our heroes, Van Hollen told the audience, which included troops from Woodson's unit, the First Army.
Woodson, who died in 2005, received the award just days before the 80th anniversary of Allied troops landing in Normandy, France. First Army troops took the Distinguished Service Cross with them to France in June and in an intimate ceremony laid the medal in the sands of Omaha Beach, where a 21-year-old Woodson had come ashore decades earlier.
At a time when the U.S. military was still segregated by race, about 2,000 African American troops are believed to have taken part in the invasion that proved to be a turning point in pushing back the Nazis and eventually ending World War II.
On June 6, 1944, Woodsons unit, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, was responsible for setting up balloons to deter enemy planes. Two shells hit his landing craft, and he was wounded before even getting to the beach.
After the vessel lost power, it was pushed toward the shore by the tide, and Woodson likely had to wade ashore under intense enemy fire.
He spoke to the in 1994 about that day.
The tide brought us in, and thats when the 88s hit us, he said of the German 88mm guns. They were murder. Of our 26 Navy personnel, there was only one left. They raked the whole top of the ship and killed all the crew. Then they started with the mortar shells.
For the next 30 hours, Woodson treated 200 wounded men all while small arms and artillery fire pummeled the beach. Eventually, he collapsed from his injuries and blood loss, according to accounts of his service. At the time, he was awarded the Bronze Star.
Like many World War II veterans, Woodson didn't talk much about his experiences during the war or what it was like to be in the middle of some of the most intense combat U.S. troops saw, his son said.
Speaking after the ceremony to The Associated Press, Steve Woodson said it wasnt until 50 years after the invasion and his father had returned from an anniversary ceremony in France that he started to share memories of that day.
Woodson told his son one particular story that remained with him of a soldier who had been blown in half but was still alive and calling for God. There was little Woodson could do except console him until the soldier died.
That troubled him through all of his life, Steve Woodson said.
In an era of intense racial discrimination, not a single one of the 1.2 million Black Americans who served in the military during World War II was awarded the Medal of Honor. It wasn't until the early 1990s that the Army commissioned a study to analyze whether Black troops had been unjustly overlooked.
Ultimately, seven Black World War II troops were awarded the Medal of Honor in 1997.
At the time, Woodson was considered for the award and he was interviewed. But, officials wrote, his decoration case file couldnt be found, and his personnel records were destroyed in a 1973 fire at a military records facility.
Woodsons supporters believe not just that he is worthy of the Medal of Honor but that there was a recommendation at the time to award it to him that has been lost.
U.S. First Army historian Capt. Kevin Braafladt has made it his mission to research Woodson's D-Day role and he'd combed through an estimated 415 feet of army records in the search for the truth. Even after the ceremony Tuesday, that search would continue for Braafladt, who was planning to go Wednesday to see another collection at the Library of Congress. He said he became interested in Woodson's story when he realized how he was overlooked because of the bureaucracy and racism at the time.
It really touched me, Braafladt said. There was an opportunity here to fix something that was wrong in the past.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
By Kanishka Singh Activists protest US support for Israel as risks rise of wider Middle East war
WASHINGTON, Sept 24 - Protesters in some U.S. cities demonstrated on Tuesday against American military support for Israel as risks have risen of a full-fledged conflict in the Middle East, with anti-war activists demanding an arms embargo against the U.S. ally.
Dozens of protesters gathered in Herald Square in New York City on Tuesday evening and carried banners that read "Hands off Lebanon now" and "no U.S.-Israeli war on Lebanon," according to the ANSWER coalition group, which stands for "Act Now to Stop War and End Racism."
Protesters chanted "Hands off the Middle East," "Free Palestine" and "Biden, Harris, Trump and Bibi; none are welcome in our city," referring to U.S. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A smaller protest with similar slogans and banners was also seen near the White House in Washington on a rainy Tuesday evening.
"Israel's attacks in Lebanon and the ongoing siege and genocide in Gaza are made possible by the huge amount of bombs, missiles and warplanes provided by the U.S. government," the ANSWER coalition group said in a statement. It said protests were also being organized on Tuesday in other cities like San Francisco, Seattle, San Antonio and Phoenix, among others.
Israel says its actions are an act of self-defense against militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah that it considers hostile. The United States has maintained support for its ally during this war despite domestic and international criticism.
In May, Biden said U.S. support for Israel was "ironclad", while also calling for an immediate ceasefire. "What's happening in Gaza is not genocide. We reject that," Biden said at a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House.
The United States has seen months of protests over Israel's war in Gaza that has killed over 41,000, according to the local health ministry, caused a hunger crisis, displaced the entire 2.3 million population of the enclave and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israeli denies.
Israel's military assault on Hamas-governed Gaza followed a deadly attack by the Palestinian Islamist group on Oct. 7 that killed around 1,200 people and in which about 250 were taken as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's offensive in Lebanon since Monday morning has killed over 560 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,800. Israel says it has struck targets of Lebanese Hezbollah militants who are supported by Iran while Hezbollah has also said it fired rockets at Israeli military posts.
The situation has raised concerns of a widened regional war that could destabilize the Middle East. Leaders of different United Nations member states met this week in the United States with the situation in the Middle East being top of the agenda.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
While her husband is busy on the campaign trail in the final weeks of the presidential race, Melania Trump is involved in a different kind of campaign: promoting her forthcoming book. Away from campaign trail, Melania Trump promotes upcoming memoir
The reclusive former First Lady is breaking her silence to support her memoir, out on October 8, less than a month before the presidential election which could return Donald Trump to the White House.
The 54-year-old former model, who has for years sought to evade the spotlight, has published a rare series of videos on social media in recent days.
"As a private person, who has often been the subject of public scrutiny and misrepresentation, I feel a responsibility to clarify the facts," she says in a black-and-white clip. "I believe it is important to share my perspective."
In other videos, the Slovenia-born Trump addresses a host of issues, which she had never or barely discussed previously, including the July assassination attempt on her husband and the Black Lives Matter social justice protests in Washington in 2020. - 'Independence project' -
Melania Trump also mentions her nude photographs, which were published by American tabloids in 2016, saying "I stand proudly behind my nude modeling work."
"Are we no longer able to appreciate the beauty of the human body?" she asked.
In another video, she condemns an FBI raid on the Trumps' home in Florida in 2022 as a violation of privacy on the part of the government.
Why is the elusive and media-shy former First Lady finally breaking her silence?
Katherine Jellison, a history professor at Ohio University who studies presidential couples, said that while the main goal is to market the book, Trump is also "boosting an image of herself as a strong woman in charge of her own life and destiny."
Jellison added that Trump's refusal to take any significant part in her husband's current presidential campaign "is part of that independence project."
The 256-page memoir is entitled simply "Melania," and a signed version accompanied by photographs sells for $250.
Not only was Trump absent from court in New York this spring, where Donald Trump was convicted in a criminal case involving hush money payments to a porn star, she has also snubbed all of her husband's election rallies so far this campaign.
Such absence is unusual in American politics, where a candidate's spouse usually takes an active role in campaigning. By contrast, Doug Emhoff, the husband of Donald Trump's election rival Vice President Kamala Harris, has been by her side at many rallies and events and campaigned enthusiastically on her behalf.
The apparent distance between Melania and Donald Trump has long fueled speculation about the nature of their relationship.
The former president sought to dispel that image in an interview on Fox News. "I do believe she loves her husband," he said of Melania. "That's probably the biggest surprise to a lot of people, but she loves her husband."
The conservative news channel will host Melania Trump on Thursday morning for her first interview in more than two years.
Besides her book, the former First Lady will discuss "the Trump campaign's strategy in the remaining six weeks until the election, the two assassination attempts on her husband and other news of the day," the channel said.
cjc/ev/md/st
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Joe Biden is confident he would have defeated Donald Trump had he not dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. On his Wednesday appearance on ABC's The View, the President of the United States reflected on his decision to not seek reelection. While he called the GOP nominee a loser, Biden stumbled when questioned if Nancy Pelosi forced him to drop out. Joe Biden said on The View that he was 'confident' about defeating Donald Trump in the November election(The View)
Biden calls Trump loser, stumbles when asked if Pelosi forced him to drop out of race
On the latest episode of The View, co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin queried if Biden's own party members, including the former House speaker, drove him to quit the race. Did you feel that your hand was forced, and what is your relationship with Speaker Pelosi now? Griffin asked.
ALSO READ: Jimmy Kimmel brings out wife Molly to fire back at Trump's insults, Shut up and go away
My relationship is fine, the 81-year-old said before stumbling on his words. Look I, Biden uttered before finally saying, I never fully believed the assertions that somehow there was this overwhelming reluctance to my running again; I didnt sense that.
The president defended his polls, saying that he was always within range of beating this guy. Biden went on to say, There were some folks who would like to see me step aside so they have a chance to move on. I get that. Thats just human nature. But that wasnt the reason that I stepped down.
ALSO READ: Richard Branson condemns execution of Marcellus Williams: Shameful day for Missouri
I stepped down because I started thinking about it. You know, its hard to think of I know youre only 30 but its hard to think of, its hard for me to even say how old I am. Its like, Holy God, that cant be right,' he added. However, when Griffin asked whether he thought he could win the November election, Biden said, Yes. I was confident I would beat Trump he's a loser.
By Yoshita Singh Biden will be most proud of deepening partnership with India: White House
New York, The India-US relationship is strong and getting stronger, the White House said, adding that President Joe Biden when looks back at his term will be most proud of deepening the partnership with India, making it more inclusive and broadening.
"I think one word well, actually, three words: strong, and getting stronger, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said on Tuesday during a press briefing here.
Kirby was responding to a question by Press Trust of India on how he would characterise the trajectory of bilateral relations under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Biden as his term as the American leader ends soon.
Biden has invested a lot in our bilateral relationship with India, Kirby told PTI.
He elevated the Quad group of Australia, Japan, India and the US to the leader level and hosted Modi for an official state visit in June last year.
Weve elevated our strategic partnership to the highest level. We are pursuing a defence relationship on various systems that will make not just the Indian people safer, but people safer throughout the Indo-Pacific, Kirby said.
Kirby said Biden appreciates the perspective Modi brings to these discussions.
I mean, he lives in that neighbourhood; he understands it. And of course, hes the leader of one of the most vibrant democracies in the world.
So I think as the president looks back at his term, I believe one of the things hell be most proud of is deepening this partnership with India, but just as critically, making that partnership more inclusive and broadening it so that it is not just a bilateral its a strong bilateral relationship," he said.
Biden on September 21 hosted Quad leaders Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan in Wilmington, Delaware, for the fourth Quad Leaders Summit.
Kirby said India, as witnessed in Wilmington, a full-on member of this Indo-Pacific Quad, is a real contributing partner. And its more than just the security. Its on the economic, its on technology, its on energy and clean energy transition, and international investments, on so many levels.
Biden addressed world leaders from the podium of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, delivering his last address as President of the US as his term comes to an end following his decision to pull out from the presidential election.
The US heads into presidential elections in just over a month with Americans set to vote on November 5 and pick either Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican candidate former president Donald Trump as their next leader.
Biden announced earlier this summer that he would not seek re-election as President of the United States, passing on the baton to Harris, who has made history as the first woman of Indian and Black heritage to be nominated as an American presidential candidate.
This summer, I faced a decision whether to seek a second term as President. It was a difficult decision. Being president has been the honour of my life. There's so much more I want to get done. As much as I love this job, I love my country more. I decided, after 50 years of public service, it's time for the new generation of leadership to take my nation forward. My fellow leaders, let us never forget that some things are more important than staying in power. It's your people, Biden said to a round of huge applause from the world leaders in the UNGA hall.
We are here to serve the people, not the other way around.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Former US President Donald Trump recently shared a very baseless claim made by MAGA OnlyFans model Samantha Gangewere, alleging that people are being paid to attend Vice President Kamala Harriss campaign rallies. Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives during a campaign rally at the Johnny Mercer Theatre on September 24, 2024 in Savannah, Georgia. (Photo by Brandon Bell / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP)
Trump reposted a TikTok video by Gangewere (@thatboostedchick) on his platform, Truth Social, on Monday, where the OnlyFans model shares a story she heard at a nail salon, saying, I just left my nail salon and my nail tech said their one cousin is in South Philly and she is getting paid $700 a week to go to wherever Kamalas campaign tells them to go to.
ALSO READ| Jimmy Kimmel attacks Donald and Melania Trump, in his latest episode
OnlyFans model alleges Harris Campaign is getting a bunch of people for few bucks
Gangewere goes on to suggest that, Shes not even a citizen, she cant vote, but she wants that extra money.
Their campaign is getting a bunch of people, thats why you see these people on the side of the road with signs or whatever going to these protests.
She then added that the attendees are allegedly compensated for travel and other expenses, despite being ineligible to vote. They get travel paid for and everything and theyre not even able to vote, she said.
A Daily Beast report shows Gangewere has amassed nearly two million Instagram followers and co-owns a steakhouse in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with her husband.
The model has previously made several inflammatory remarks like transgender individuals belong in a mental ward, or she criticized the focus on Trump, writing, Yall are way too concerned about [Trump]. She went on to make the offensive claim, We got trannys running around thinking their biological woman [sic] shooting up our schools.
MAGA OnlyFans model's nail salon conspiracy about Harris goes viral
This isnt the first time Trump has made baseless claims about political campaigns. Like During his 2016 presidential run, Trump claimed that protests against him, both before and after the election, were orchestrated by paid protesters.
ALSO READ| Donald Trump faces heightened assassination threats from Iran, his campaign claims
Even earlier this year, he alleged that protests at Columbia University in support of Palestine were attended by paid agitators and professional agitators. Last month, Trump even claimed that a large crowd photographed at one of Harriss rallies was digitally manipulated using AI.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong has implored world leaders that the country 'cannot become the next Gaza'.
The couple had their flight home to Sydney cancelled after recent airstrikes by Israel. Now they're in limbo in an effective war zone. Source: The Project
Australians stranded in the Middle East say they are "scared" as flights are shut down and the US president Joe Biden warns of the possibility off "all out war" in the region.
The Israeli conflict with militant group Hamas has spilled into Lebanon as fighting with Lebanon-based paramilitary group Hezbollah also intensifies. Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong has implored world leaders that the country "cannot become the next Gaza" and urged any Aussies to get out while they can.
However for some, it's not that easy.
Juliette and Saba Tass are desperate to get back to Sydney after visiting Juliette's sick mother in the capital of Beirut. However their scheduled flight home yesterday was cancelled after recent Israeli attacks and they've now been told they won't be able to leave for another 10 days.
"Of course we're scared," Juliette told The Project overnight.
"Not just scared... you are stuck," Saba said. "You cannot go out of the country because there is one airport. You get stressed when you try to book and it is full.
"It's a little bit scary. [I'm] a little bit stressed."
People stand next to a destroyed car, at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 24. Source: Reuters
Members of the civil defence and firefighting unit work at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon September 24, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
The couple are in contact with their children at home in Australia but remain unsure when they'll be able to join them. "They want us to come home as soon as possible, but there's no options," Juliette said.
She described the current situation in the country as "a nightmare". "We are in Beirut next to where all the explosions happened. We could hear them. We heard everything We tried to find a location just to escape from Beirut."
According to officials in Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes on Monday (local time) killed 492 people and sent tens of thousands fleeing for safety. It was the country's deadliest day in decades. Israel had earlier warned people in Lebanon to evacuate areas where it said the armed Hezbollah movement was storing weapons.
Reports on Thursday morning (AEST) claimed Israel's military chief told troops to prepare for a possible ground offensive in Lebanon as heavy Israeli airstrikes continued for a third day
Joe Biden warns of major Middle East war
US President Joe Biden says an all-out war is possible in the Middle East but there was also the possibility of a settlement in Israel's conflicts in the Gaza Strip and with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"An all-out war is possible but I think there's also the opportunity we're still in play to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region," Biden said in an appearance on US TV.
The US president is in New York this week for United Nations General Assembly meetings, and has been working to calm tensions as the nearly year-long war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip threatens to engulf more of the Middle East.
Joe Biden has called for a diplomatic solution at the UN General Assembly. Source: Reuters
Israel widened its air strikes in Lebanon on Wednesday (local time) and shot down a missile Hezbollah said it fired at the Mossad spy agency near Tel Aviv.
The Hamas-Israel war is approaching the one-year mark on October 7 when Hamas invaded southern Israel, and has caused tens of thousands of deaths, the majority being of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and left many of the enclave's residents displaced.
The US is reportedly spearheading a new diplomatic effort to end hostilities in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, linking the two conflicts as part of a single ceasefire initiative.
with Reuters
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Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have made swing states a top priority for their campaigns with their visits and grand rallies as the 2024 US election season heats up toward November 5. Harris vs Trump: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia will decide the winner in the November 5 election, according to a report from The Independent.(AP)
In this year's presidential election, 93 electoral votes that are up for grabs will probably determine who will take over the White House next January. Therefore, the outcome remains very much in play in seven swing states that span from the Upper Midwest to the South and back to the desert Southwest. However, the 2024 presidential candidate requires some swing states to win the battle. What are they?
How many swing states does Trump or Harris need to win?
In the highly-heated contest, three crucial states will ultimately determine the future of Harris and Trump.
Losing these three states could be harmful to the candidates since these states affect the results of polls in neighboring states as well.
The key swing states include Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, and Georgia. Out of these seven battleground states, only three will play a major role in determining the outcome for US presidential candidates.
In the November 5 election, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia will decide the winner, according to a report from The Independent.
Should Harris succeed in winning these three states, the effect will also be felt in nearby states, causing the Republicans to collapse like a pack of cards when the avalanche hits. But it's also important to remember that Harris is a relatively fresh candidate and this is Trump's third attempt at winning the US presidency. It means he is well-aware about the importance of swing states that could help him achieve his goal of victory.
According to experts, Harris should focus on battleground states as they might potentially aid her in gaining a majority in the polls.
Also Read: New poll shows Kamala Harris, Donald Trump locked in tight race in four swing states
All you need to know about 3 crucial states
Pennsylvania (Electoral Votes: 19)
In 2020, the Keystone State assisted its native son Joe Biden win both the blue wall and the presidency.
Democratic candidates dominated Pennsylvania for years before Trump's victory in 2016, and Biden's victory in 2020 was narrowly decided by 1.2 percentage points. Pennsylvania has the highest number of electoral votes among swing states.
North Carolina (Electoral Votes: 16)
According to a US News analysis, the Tar Heel State may lean Republican, as Trump won North Carolina in 2020 by a mere 1.3 percentage points.
Democrats hope North Carolina turns out to be the Georgia of 2024. Biden made the state the final stop on a post-State of the Union tour of swing states before he announced his withdrawal from the campaign.
Should other battlegrounds support Trump, the state might potentially be a critical win for Harris.
Georgia (Electoral Votes: 16)
With Biden's significant win in Georgia in 2020, the Peach State went to a Democratic presidential nominee for the first time since Bill Clinton's victory in 1992.
Black voters were crucial to Biden's victory in 2020 due to their fervor and turnout. The same scenario may play a major role in November.
The Los Angeles Police Department encircled a bus following the reports of hostage situation at the intersection of South Alameda Street and 6th Street. Los Angeles bus hijacking: While the bus driver has reportedly fled the hostage situation, the suspect's current situation remains unknown.(X)
An armored police truck is parked in front of an MTA bus that has stopped along the route, as shown in pictures and live footage obtained by local media. Additionally, a SWAT squad has arrived at the site geared up for action.
The bus driver was allegedly one of the people being kept captive in the video that emerged from the site of the incident. He has escaped the hostage situation. [The] driver is out of the bus with the help of SWAT, uninjured, informed an LAPD spokesperson, as per NBC News.
Suspect held, witness says frantic chase 'looked like the movie Speed'
As the incident transpired on Wednesday at about 12:45 am, the unidentified gunman shot a passenger, who later died in a hospital. The victim has been identified as a 48-year-old man who was shot twice, as per the Citizen crime reporting app.
A SWAT team arrested the suspect after police officers chased him for over six miles through the city. Authorities have not disclosed the identity of the suspect or the reason behind the tragic incident, but they have stated that they believe he was connected to an earlier shooting.
According to a witness, the frantic chase through the California city looked like the movie Speed.
During a standoff with police, the gunman seemed to be holding at least one person hostage.
Police stated that they initially believed that more than one person had taken over the bus as the driver appeared to be following the hijacker's instructions at gunpoint.
Meanwhile, LA Metro released a statement, stating that they are grateful for the LAPDs swift action regarding this mornings bus hijacking incident and is grateful the operator was unharmed.
Metro is providing the operator with the support he needs, the statement added.
The LAPD 's investigation into the incident is underway.
A passenger was killed after a gunman hijacked a city bus in Los Angeles early Wednesday, leading to a slow police chase through downtown before the suspect was eventually arrested, authorities said. A bus was hijacked by an armed subject with passengers on board Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. One person was fatally shot before police apprehended the suspect(AP)
The armed man boarded the Metro bus with the driver and two passengers aboard shortly before 1 a.m. in South Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Officers approached the bus as it slowly rolled away. A cavalcade of police vehicles followed it as the driver drove at gunpoint for the next hour. A flashing sign on the front of the bus read: Emergency. 911 Call Police.
Police deployed spike strips, which punctured one of the tires. After traveling more than 7 miles (11 kilometers), the bus eventually came to a stop at a downtown intersection near the city's Arts District, and the suspect surrendered, officials said.
Also Read: Explosion in California Courthouse
Los Angeles Police chase caught on camera
TV news footage showed a series of small explosions around the bus stopped in the neighborhood of lofts and warehouses, then police storming aboard with shields. The bus driver climbed out of window and ran to safety behind an armored vehicle while officers moved in.
A man was found inside the bus with gunshot wounds, but details about what led up to the shooting were not immediately available. The victim was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.
The driver and the second passenger were treated by paramedics at the scene and released. In a statement, Metro said the bus driver was OK and receiving the support he needs.
Police praised the driver for keeping calm.
This operator continued to operate the bus in as safe a manner as he could under the circumstances, with the police trailing him for an hour before the spike strips finally took effect, said Deputy Chief Donald Graham told reporters.
The killing is the latest in a series of violent incidents. including stabbings and shootings. on buses and trains as Los Angeles seeks to expand the transit system ahead of hosting the Olympics in 2028. In May, Mayor Karen Bass called for increased security on transit routes.
In March, a man who indicated he had a gun hijacked a Metro bus in downtown LA and then grabbed the wheel, causing the bus to collide with several vehicles and crash into a hotel.
A man was hospitalised after being brutally stabbed on a subway train in the Bronx on Tuesday, September 24, the NYPD said. The attack took place on a northbound no. 4 train around 3 am at 138th Street and Grand Concourse, police said, according to NBC New York. Man, 45, brutally stabbed in chest on subway train in the Bronx (Pixabay - representational image)
The 45-year-old victim sustained stab wounds to the upper chest. However, he was alert and conscious, and was able to report the attack to the booth operator at the station. He was then rushed to Lincoln Hospital in stable condition.
Police said it remains unclear what led to the attack. No one has been arrested yet.
Similar recent incidents
This incident is just the latest in a string of violent subway station attacks. Just a few days ago, a knife-wielding man stabbed a stranger in the back at a Manhattan subway station. The attack happened because the victim accidentally bumped into the suspect on the staircase, police said, as reported by New York Post.
The suspect was identified as 27-year-old Raymond Kwok, who attacked the victim, 29, at the entrance to the L train at 14th Street and First Avenue in the East Village. Kwok was busted two days later, and was found carrying three knives in his pocket. He was subsequently charged with assault in the second degree, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon, according to prosecutors. Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Michael Gaffey later granted him supervised release, even though prosecutors requested he be held on $25,000 cash bail.
Recently, another man shoved a 62-year-old woman onto Brooklyn subway tracks after she reportedly ignored his request for a lighter. The victim was pulled back to safety by bystanders. The suspect, Shadrach Ford, 30, of Uniondale, LI, was apprehended at the Jefferson Street station in Bushwick, cops said. He now faces charges including attempted murder. As per online records, he was ordered held without bail.
Meanwhile, over the weekend, a 15-year-old boy was shot during a spat that began on board a Bronx MTA bus. He was rushed to Harlem Hospital, and was listed in stable condition. No arrests have been made in the case.
MINNEOLIS A Minnesota judge sentenced a woman to 20 years in prison Tuesday for her alleged role in the 2019 New Year's Eve killing of a Minneapolis real estate agent. Minnesota woman gets 20 years in real estate agent's killing as part of plea deal
Elsa Segura pleaded guilty to kidnapping to commit great bodily harm or terrorize as part of an agreement with prosecutors in the case of the death of Monique Baugh, the Hennepin County Attorneys Office said.
Segura had been found guilty of murder and other counts in 2021, but the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned the conviction this year, citing faulty jury instructions. The plea deal means Segura will avoid a second trial.
Prosecutors say Segura lured Baugh to a phony home showing in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove, where she was kidnapped. Baugh was found, fatally shot, in a Minneapolis alley in the early hours of 2020.
Prosecutors said she was killed in a complicated revenge scheme against Baughs boyfriend, Jon Mitchell-Momoh, a recording artist who had a falling out with former business associate Lyndon Akeem Wiggins, who was also a drug dealer and Segura's romantic partner.
Mitchell-Momoh, whom Wiggins allegedly considered a snitch, was also shot in front of the couple's children, then ages 1 and 3. He survived.
The state Supreme Court also tossed Wiggins' conviction this year, similarly citing faulty jury instructions. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office said Tuesday that he is being held in the county jail and faces retrial.
The high court has affirmed the convictions of two other defendants who were accused of kidnapping Baugh. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced all four to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Richard Branson has condemned the execution of Missouri death row inmate Marcellus Williams. The 55-year-old, who the English business magnate tried to save, was convicted of the 1998 gruesome killing of Lisha Gayle. Despite Branson and several other high-profile figures demanding a reprieve, Williams was administered a lethal injection at Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre on Tuesday. Deacon Dave Billips, with the Office of Peace and Justice with the St. Louis Archdiocese, holds a sign as he stands with protesters holding space to halt the execution of Marcellus Williams on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, outside the Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis. (Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)(AP)
Richard Branson condemns Marcellus Williams' execution
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Branson called out the state of Missouri in a series of tweets for killing Williams for a crime he didn't commit. Its a shameful day for Missouri, and a shameful day for Governor Mike Parson, who failed in his duty to protect an innocent man from injustice, the 74-year-old wrote.
Our thoughts in this moment are with Mr Williams family and friends, but of course also with Felicia Gayles loved ones, who did not want to see the death penalty imposed, he went on, adding, This horrible miscarriage of justice has once again exposed how fundamentally broken Americas system of capital punishment really is.
ALSO READ: Trump breaks silence on heightened assassination threats from Iran: The entire US military
Branson explained that he is opposed to the death penalty under any circumstances. but if a modern justice system cannot protect the innocent, if reasonable doubt no longer carries any weight, even the proponents of this inhumane punishment will have to agree that its high time to end it for good, he remarked.
Though Williams was convicted of Gayle's murder in 2001 after testimony from 22 witnesses, many have demanded his death sentence be called off, including the victim's family. The cascade of failures that led to Mr Williams execution, and the stubborn refusal of courts and elected officials to stand up for what is right and just are dark reminders that the death penalty can never be applied fairly. And most Americans agree, Branson added.
At this time, Sean 'Diddy' Combs is in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center (M.D.C.) in Brooklyn. According to The New York Times, the music mogul is sleeping in a communal-style room next to Sam Bankman-Fried, the convict cryptocurrency entrepreneur who is guilty of fraud, along with other defendants. Music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs is detained at M.D.C. in Brooklyn, facing serious charges including racketeering and sexual assault. (Reuters)
Combs has been arrested for almost a week now after the unsealing of a federal prosecutor's indictment that charges him with racketeering conspiracy along with sexual assault and sex trafficking. The charges claim a decades-long pattern of physical and sexual violence.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His legal team argued for his release on bail, offering a $50 million bond and proposing a security team to monitor him around the clock. However, the US judge rejected this proposal, citing concerns that Combs might attempt to tamper with witnesses, which resulted in his placement in a special housing unit reserved for high-profile inmates.
ALSO READ| Leonardo DiCaprio claims he is not in contact with Sean 'Diddy' Combs for years as controversial pictures resurface
The agency does not provide information about conditions of confinement, including housing assignments or internal security practices for any particular incarcerated individual, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons said.
Who is Sam Bankman-Fried?
FTX cryptocurrency exchange's founder, Bankman-Fried, has occupied M.D.C. since the revocation of his bail in the previous year. His attorneys had earlier criticized the poor conditions at the jail, stating that restricted internet access made it hard for their client to generate materials for defending himself. As a vegan, Bankman-Fried was reportedly subsisting on just water, bread, and peanut butter. Thus, for the present, he chose to remain at M.D.C. as he appealed the conviction, which produced a 25-year prison sentence for his role in a broad fraud scheme involving billions of customer funds.
Diddy's lawyers claimed MDC's condition is too horrific to live
On the other font, the Coming Home star's defence team expressed concerns about the facility too, with his lawyers describing the conditions as too horrific for a defendant awaiting trial.
However, his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, has praised the staff at M.D.C., saying, The dedicated professionals at the M.D.C. are doing everything possible to help him and his lawyers prepare his defence, and I personally thank them.
ALSO READ| Sean Diddy's ex-bodyguard makes shocking revelations about freak off sessions: This is all bigger than
Hes strong, focused and our meetings are very productive. I cant say enough good things about the M.D.C., which has been responsive to our and his needs.
Combs's lawyers indicated that, for now, they do not plan to request his transfer to another detention center.
Shots were reportedly fired into Kamala Harriscampaign office in Arizona, police have confirmed. The bullets were fired by someone after midnight. Damage from the bullets was discovered at the Democratic National Committee campaign office near Southern Avenue and Priest Drive in Tempe, the Tempe Police Department told New York Post. Shots fired into Kamala Harris campaign office in Arizona (AP/PTI) (AP09_20_2024_000066A)(AP)
No one was inside the office during the overnight hours, but this raises concerns about the safety of those who work in that building, as well as those nearby, said Public Information Officer Sgt. Ryan Cook.
Detectives are now analysing evidence at the scene, Additional measures have reportedly been taken to beef up security in the area, for staff and others, police said.
Staff workers arrived at the office and reported that there appeared to be gunshots fired through the front windows. This is, in fact, the second time criminal damage has been reported at the office in recent days. On September 16, just after midnight, the front windows were shot with a BB gun or pellet gun, cops said.
In both the incidents, no arrests have been made yet. All possible motives are reportedly being investigated by authorities.
Assassination attempts on Donald Trump
This incident comes shortly after a second assassination attempt on Donald Trump. 58-year-old Hawaii resident Ryan Routh was arrested after the Secret Service noticed himhiding at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, with an AK-47, a GoPro camera and other items. At the time, the former president was golfing at the venue. Routh fled in a car after the Secret Service opened fire at him, and was subsequently arrested.
Days before that, Trump survived an assassination attempt at his Pennsylvania rally. Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire at the rally, wounding Trump and two others, and killing firefighter Corey Comperatore. Crooks was eventually killed by snipers.
Donald Trump has a message for Iran. The former president was briefed on Tuesday about heightened assassination threats from the country in the Middle East. Following the claims made by his campaign, the GOP nominee took to Truth Social to make a bold declaration about the alleged threats from Iran. Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Johnny Mercer Theatre on September 24, 2024 in Savannah, Georgia. (Photo by Brandon Bell / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP)
Trump breaks silence on heightened assassination threats from Iran
On Wednesday, Trump wrote on his social media platform, Big threats on my life by Iran. The entire U.S. Military is watching and waiting. He alleged that the foreign country would once again try to kill him after two assassination attempts. Moves were already made by Iran that didnt work out, but they will try again, the Republican presidential candidate added.
ALSO READ: Yikes! Trump campaign confuses state of Georgia with European country in new ad
Trump went on to say that this is not a good situation for anyone. I am surrounded by more men, guns, and weapons than I have ever seen before, he continued before expressing his gratitude to Congress and the Secret Service for protecting him. For a change, he did not lambast his rival party.
Thank you to Congress for unanimously approving far more money to Secret Service - Zero NO Votes, strictly bipartisan, Trump said. Nice to see Republicans and Democrats get together on something. An attack on a former President is a Death Wish for the attacker! he added.
ALSO READ: America's Got Talent 2024 winner revealed: All about Indiana's singing janitor Richard Goodall
Trump's remarks came after his campaign issued a statement that read, President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States, per Reuters.
Experts say these deadly stonefish hide themselves among the rocks and mud, making them particularly hard to spot.
Australians have been reminded to always practise caution by the water's edge after a stunned Aussie fisherman stumbled across one of the country's most venomous and deadly animals "just sitting there in the mud", metres away from playing children.
Queensland-based fisher Jimmy Prymal took to social media to share footage of a "very mean-looking" stonefish he found in Cape Hillsborough near Mackay earlier this week. "Have a look at that big evil stonefish, thats Australias most venomous fish," he said. "Hes right up here on the flats, out of the water, where all the kids are.
"This is where everyones walking to get to that rock pool, and hes just sitting there in the mud very dangerous." Prymal said he later moved the fish into deeper water and away from nearby families.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Dr Silvia Saggiomo at QIMR Bergohfer Medical Research Institute said while "sandy beaches are not their preferred place" the video does highlight the fact Australians should be aware of all the many animals we share our natural environment with.
Cape Hillsborough is a coastal locality in the Mackay region in Queensland. Source: Facebook
"The stonefish pictured is called the estuarine stonefish, found in the Indo-Pacific region. As the name would suggest, it is mainly found in estuarine regions, in rocky shores, around tidal beaches," she said.
"Both estuarine and reef stonefish are considered the most venomous fish species on the planet."
Australia's deadliest fish also conveniently a 'master of disguise'
Saggiomo said this species of stonefish can stay out of the water for hours waiting for the tide to reach them and are dangerous because "they're masters of disguise", making them extremely hard to find.
"As you can see in the video, they camouflage themselves amongst the rocks and the mud, making it hard to spot them. So someone might be walking along, unsuspecting, and the next thing they might be stepping on one of these guys," she said.
Stonefish venom is painful, can cause death, but fatalities are rare
"Although they are considered the worlds most venomous fish species, deaths caused by them are rare, with only one case being well-documented. The most striking characteristic of their sting is the pain the victim feels. It is described in the scientific literature as excruciating."
The pain is followed by swelling, redness, tenderness and, if left untreated, can lead to amputations, so if stung, seek medical help as fast as possible, Saggiomo added. Australia produces an anti-venom on home soil and experts say it's very effective. Not only against stings from stonefish, but also against lionfish and other venomous fish species found in tropical waters.
"Sandy beaches are not the stonefish's preferred place, so you don't need to be on high alert," Saggiomo said. "They prefer being around rocks and mud, where they can hide themselves.
"Their spines can punch through the sole of shoes and heavy-duty gloves, so if you ever see one, don't touch them, don't poke them or handle them, as the man did. They are not going to jump on you, they are very sluggish and 'heavy' fish, made for stalking, not swimming. There's no need to panic."
These 'masters of disguise' can kill people and are hard to spot but thankfully, they don't like beaches all that much. Source: TikTok/Jimmy_Prymal
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As US presidential elections are set to take place on November 5, several polls have revealed the voters' choice between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. According to a new survey, both the Democratic and Republican candidates are tied in four swing states. While Harris and Trump received 47 percent support in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, they got 45 percent backing in Nevada.
From 2006 to 2016, 38 of the 50 states have supported the same political party in elections. A few swing states, sometimes referred to as purple or battleground states, usually determine the outcome of an election. The seven key states in this year's election include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada, and North Carolina.
Harris, Trump neck-and-neck in WH race
There is a deadlock between Harris and Trump for support in four of these battleground states -- Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, according to a Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll of 9,794 swing state voters, which was released on September 23 for The Telegraph.
While Harris and Trump received 47 percent support in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, they got 45 percent backing in Nevada.
Redfield & Wilton discovered that Trump had 48 percent of the vote in Georgia, two points more than Harris. In Michigan, Harris had a somewhat higher percentage (46 percent) than Trump (45 percent). With 48 percent of the vote, Trump prevailed by one point in North Carolina.
Additionally, Florida, where Trump was ahead by five points, and Minnesota, where Harris topped by six, were included in the poll.
Also Read: Donald Trump mocked for being obsessed with Kamala Harris' McDonald's job as he declares 'I'm gonna go to'
2024 election will be the closest-ever in US history
Several polls have indicated that the 2024 election will be the closest-ever in American history. The most recent polls frequently show Harris and Trump divided by percentage points in various states as well as nationwide, all within the poll's margin of error, which is at least three.
Andrew Wroe, a professor in American politics at the University of Kent in the United States, told Newsweek that the outcome of swing states will decide the winner of this election.
According to Wroe, political junkies take great interest in state polls. What they see is that swing-state polls show that race is much tighter than the national polls indicate.
Earlier, RealClearPolling, an aggregator, showed Harris receiving 49.4 percent of the vote, compared to 47.2 percent for Trump.
If a candidate for president does not receive 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes, a total determined by the number of delegates from each state in the Senate and House of Representatives, they may win this contest but still lose the presidency.
The US Secret Service on Wednesday informed that it is looking into claims that one of its agents sexually molested a female employee of Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign. The agent has been placed on administrative leave, as per reports. A Secret Service agent has been accused of sexually abusing a staff member of Vice President Kamala Harris.(AP)
According to Real Clear Politics, the agent allegedly forced himself on the woman and groped her in her hotel room last week. The incident occurred after the accused enjoyed dinner and drinks with several other Harris campaign staffers at a restaurant in Green Bay, Wisconsin, as part of a visit to scout possible campaign stops for the vice president.
In an email to CNBC, a Secret Service representative stated that the incident is being investigated by the US Secret Service Office of Professional Responsibility.
Stressing that the agency holds its personnel to the highest standards, the spokesman said, The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Here's what Harris office has to say
In response to the report, Harris' office sent NBC News a statement saying, the VP office takes the safety of staff seriously.
We have zero tolerance for sexual misconduct. Senior OVP officials were alerted by the USSS about an incident involving an agent and informed that USSS initiated an investigation, it asserted, while denying to give any further information.
As per Real Clear Politics report, the agent's behavior toward the Harris campaign employee were witnessed by other people.
The event comes at a time when the Secret Service is still being heavily criticised for their role in the July 13 attempted assassination of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania.
In a report released on Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security Committee and its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations determined that the Secret Service failed to sufficiently coordinate with state and local law enforcement and that its duties and advance personnel roles for the ex-president's rally were unclear and lacked accountability.
Missouri officials executed death row inmate Marcellus Williams on Tuesday, September 24, at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre. Williams was put to death a few hours after the US Supreme Court rejected his final appeal. The inmate's final words were, All praise to Allah in every situation. Missouri executes Marcellus Williams, 55, for 1998 murder (Missouri Department of Corrections via AP, File)
Williams was sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Gayle was stabbed over 40 times with a butcher's knife taken from her kitchen in her gated community in University City, Missouri, during a daytime burglary at her home in August.
Williams, 55, died after 6 pm by lethal injection. He was backed in his appeals for clemency by St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell. In fact, the victims family, too, had reportedly asked that Williams be spared death.
Who was Marcellus Williams?
Williams was convicted in 2001 of Gayles murder. Physical evidence at the crime scene, including fingerprints, bloodied shoe prints and hairs, reportedly could not be tied to Williams. He was arrested based on a jailhouse informants testimony, who said Williams confessed to the slaying. During testimony at Williams murder trial, his then-girlfriend, too, claimed that he had confessed to the murder.
Meanwhile, Bell issued a statement saying, Marcellus Williams should be alive today. There were multiple points in the timeline when decisions could have been made that would have spared him the death penalty. If there is even the shadow of a doubt of innocence, the death penalty should never be an option. This outcome did not serve the interests of justice.
Bell made a final effort to reduce Williams statement by filing a case under a 2021 state law allowing prosecutors to bring new evidence to the courts. This law was used in a death penalty case for the first time.
However, on Monday, September 23, Gov. Mike Parson said he would not stop the execution as the appeals did not convince him. No jury nor court, including at the trial, appellate, and Supreme Court levels, have ever found merit in Mr. Williams innocence claims, Parson said. At the end of the day, his guilty verdict and sentence of capital punishment were upheld. Nothing from the real facts of this case have led me to believe in Mr. Williams innocence, as such, Mr. Williams punishment will be carried out as ordered by the Supreme Court.
Williams became the 100th person to be executed by Missouri since 1989. That year, executions resumed in the state after a two-decade lapse.
Larry Komp, one of Williams attorneys, claimed that his client maintained his innocence until his death. While he would readily admit to the wrongs he had done throughout his life, he never wavered in asserting his innocence of the crime for which he was put to death tonight, Komp said, according to CNN. Although we are devastated and in disbelief over what the State has done to an innocent man, we are comforted that he left this world in peace.
Texas executed Travis James Mullis on Tuesday, September 24, for the 2008 murder of his infant son. Mullis became the fourth inmate to be executed in the state this year. Texas executes Travis Mullis, 38, for brutal 2008 murder of his infant son (Photo by Handout / Texas Department of Criminal Justice / AFP) (AFP)
Mullis was put to death by lethal injection. He was pronounced dead at 7:01 pm, confirmed Amanda Hernandez, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, according to USA Today.
Who was Travis James Mullis?
Mullis, 38, was accused of killing his three-month-old son Alijah. The baby was reportedly molested, stomped to death and abandoned at the Galvestons Seawall, which is a popular tourist destination south of Houston.
Mullis was 21 years old at the time of the crime. He said he had reached a "breaking point" after the infant would not stop crying.
The night before the murder, Mullis had been bickering with then-girlfriend and mother of his child, Caren Kohberger, after he had attempted to make his roommate's daughter, 8, pull her pants down, according to court records. In the morning, Mullis drove south toward Galveston, taking Alijah with him, because he apparently wanted to clear his mind. When the baby started crying and Mullis could not get him to stop, he molested and choked him. He then pulled Alijah out of the car and placed him on the ground, and then went on to stomp on his head. He fled the state after flinging the car seat and the babys body toward the other side of the seawall.
However, a couple of days later, Mullis turned himself in and offered a confession to authorities in Philadelphia. He was subsequently extradited back to Texas, where he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in March 2011. He had earlier waived his right to appeal his death sentence.
In his final words, Mullis thanked and apologised to his loved ones. He thanked people who "accepted me for the man I became during my best and worst moments."
"I want to thank the field ministers, the Warden, and the correctional staff for all the changes being made across the system," Mullis said. "Even the men on Death Row, to show it is possible to be rehabilitated, and not deemed a threat and not the men we were when we came into the system. We have changed. We are not the same."
Mullis added that he does not regret the fact that he took the "legal steps" to expedite his death sentence. "I do regret the decision to take the life of my son. I apologize to the mother of my son, the victim's family," he said. "I have no ill will towards the court, the judicial system, the prosecution or the execution protocol. The morality of execution is between you and God ... It was my decision that put me here. I'm ready Warden.
Mullis' defence attorney Shawn Nolan said his client has "always accepted responsibility" for the crime. "Texas will kill a redeemed man tonight. He never had a chance at life being abandoned by his parents and then severely abused by his adoptive father starting at age 3, "Nolan wrote. "During his decade and a half on death row he spent countless hours working on his redemption. And he achieved it." He added that the Mullis Texas wanted to kill is "long gone.
The decision has left parents of three nearby schools at odds with neighbours of the roughly 30 homes in the street being used as a short cut.
There are around 30 houses on Lismore Street and surrounds, which lie between three busy schools, Malek Fahd Islamic School, Good Samaritan Catholic College and Hoxton Park Public School. Source: ACA
A major Aussie council has stood firm on its decision to block "rat-runners" from accessing a suburban street as a "short cut" to drop their kids off to school, despite parents arguing it shaves half an hour from their morning trip.
Residents of Lismore Street in Hoxton Park in Sydney's west, on the other hand, say before non-residents were banned the normally quiet street was transformed into a highway each morning, which they said made exiting their driveways extremely unsafe. They claimed it took them 30 minutes to simply leave their home.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, a spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said the street will remain accessible to residents only for the foreseeable future but "welcomed feedback from the community" during "this transition period", in which parents are being forced to find alternate routes.
Those caught flouting the new rules and driving on the forbidden street can expect to receive fines of $272, the council confirmed.
Bitter feud erupts between parents and residents
The decision has left parents of three nearby schools Malek Fahd Islamic School, Good Samaritan Catholic College and Hoxton Park Public School at odds with neighbours of the roughly 30 homes on Lismore Street.
"People living in residential streets should not need to put up with highway levels of traffic," the council spokesperson told Yahoo. "Before the changes were made, it was taking residents up to 30 minutes to simply get out of their driveways and the street was clogged to the point that it was becoming unsafe for residents and pedestrians.
Parents in Hoxton Park dropping their children off to school have been forced to sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic after Lismore Street was closed to non-residents. Source: ACA
"Parents wanting to use the road to drop kids off at Good Shepherd Catholic School will soon have special windscreen permits, meaning they will not be booked by the local police," they added.
According to council, the major issue in the area as for many parts of Liverpool, it argued is that the main roads and public service infrastructure has not kept pace with development. "Enquiries about major road planning should be directed to the NSW Government," the spokesperson pointedly said.
"Council understands this is a period of transition for those who have been using Lismore Road as a short cut, but as they would not like their home streets to be treated like a highway, we ask for consideration for the residents of Lismore Street."
Decision made in consultation with experts, council says
The spokesperson explained the controversial move was made following a number of direct complaints from residents, and a review of the road network by subject matter experts. They said there had been multiple car accidents and pedestrian near-misses on the street, formerly being used by 42,000 cars a week, way in excess of its rated maximum capacity of 14,000.
Local woman Barb agued that prior to the street's closure to non-residents, she didn't feel she could safely cross the road. Source: ACA
Council said it is open to community consultation moving forward and will be monitoring the effectiveness of new signs in the area, warning drivers of the changes. They said over the last few months there had been an average of an accident per week.
The divisive decision has seen locals at odds, many vocally expressing their frustration. "From 7.30am to 8.30 you don't get out of your driveway," a local woman told A Current Affair. "You have to get out before 7.30, or it's 9 o'clock."
"It's now basically become like a super highway," another resident of Lismore Street, Barb, said. "They won't let you out, they're banked up, and they're in a hurry. Everyone's in a hurry they're beeping and they're carrying on. I can't cross the road and I'm scared because there's a lot of traffic."
This young mother said she thought distributing fines to non-residents is "a little bit pathetic." Source: ACA
Meanwhile, a young mum who opposes the street's closure said fines in place to restrict access are "not fair at all".
"I don't agree with it, it's a little bit pathetic." Adding that residents are "definitely" being unreasonable. Another man against the decision claimed it now takes him 45 minutes to drop his children off, compared with "five to 10 minutes" using the rat-run.
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Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with SingHaiyi for Hyatt Regency Samarafushi Maldives. Located in the picturesque North Male Atoll, Hyatt Regency Samarafushi Maldives will mark Hyatt Regency's brand entry into the Maldive Islands. Slated to open in late 2027, the new all-villa resort will join Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa and Alila Kothaifaru Maldives as the third Hyatt property in the Republic of Maldives.
"With plans to be SingHaiyi Hospitality's second property in the Maldives, Hyatt Regency Samarafushi Maldives will enhance our strategic presence in the destination. We have selected Hyatt because of its established reputation and leadership in the hospitality industry. We are excited to collaborate with Hyatt to develop a resort which will embody the elements of the Hyatt Regency brand that guests appreciate," said Mr. Gallant Tang, executive director of SingHaiyi.
Located only 25 minutes away from Valena International Airport in Male by speedboat, the resort's prime location will be a large draw for sun-seekers, culture lovers and marine enthusiasts seeking an accessible yet tranquil retreat. North Male Atoll is close to the capital and known for its proximity to popular diving and snorkeling sites where manta rays and hawksbill turtles are frequently spotted. Prime surfing destinations like Pasta Point and Sultans will also be seamlessly accessible from the resort.
Nestled across 24 acres (10 hectares) of picturesque land, the resort will feature 130 well-appointed beachfront, treetop, and overwater villas, all with a private pool. The architectural design by Park + Associates intersects traditional Maldivian architecture with a light and natural palette. Guests can look forward to enjoying a variety of culinary experiences at a sunset bar, a beach club, a Japanese specialty restaurant, and an all-day-dining concept. World of Hyatt Globalists and guests who book villas with club access can also unwind with complimentary refreshments in the signature Regency Club lounge. A dedicated kid's club, a marine and diving center, a fitness pavilion, a yoga deck, and a spa with eight dedicated treatment rooms will cater to guests of all ages and interests.
Two young skippers reeled in the giant oarfish in the Top End last week despite the usually-hidden animals rarely seen in the ocean.
Two young fishermen reeled in the mega oarfish while fishing in the Top End last week. Source: Fishing Australia TV
A remarkable catch by two young fishermen has left Aussies in awe, with some admitting they've never seen anything like it before. And that's probably because the long, slender fish with a horse-like head is hard to come by, an expert told Yahoo News Australia, with the sea animal "rarely seen" in waters around Australia.
A photo of the catch was shared on social media last week showing two Top End skippers holding the mammoth creature, known as an oarfish. "There are only three species with the giant oarfish growing to eight metres in length," Professor Culum Brown from Macquarie University told Yahoo News.
The marine biologist said if people do ever see one, it's usually washed ashore already dead. "They inhabit pretty much the entire ocean in tropical to temperate oceans in waters below 250m so we rarely see them," he said.
'Crazy' oarfish compared to seahorse
When the image was shared on Facebook by Tiwi Islands Adventures, and shared by Fishing Australia TV, many likened the giant fish to a seahorse or mystical creature. The fishermen described it as a "crazy creature".
"Giant sea horse," said someone commenting on the photo. "Surely its this big thing from Neverending Story," another said, noting the iconic 80s film. They're also at the centre of many urban myths and legends.
"Oarfish turn up before disasters, old Japanese saying," said one. "It's a bad omen," suggested another. It's often referred to as the "doomsday fish" for this reason.
Speaking to Yahoo, Professor Brown said, "In the past people believed they 'rowed' through the water with their pectoral fins, but in fact they undulate their dorsal fin to move. It may be that these fish are the source of the sea serpent tales."
There have been a few sightings in southern Australia, according to the Australian Museum. However, most are already dead having washed ashore. Source: The Australian Museum
Few oarfish sightings reported in Australia
Despite the historical references, however, not much is known about them. In fact, it's not exactly clear where they are known to frequent.
It's thought they're found worldwide in all tropical and temperate marine waters. Although without many sightings, it's hard to know for sure. In Australia, there have been few public sightings, according to the Australian Museum.
Mostly around the northern states including NSW, Tasmania, South Australia and southern WA. There have been no recorded sightings in the Top End until now.
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Club Quarters , a hotel brand and management company, is delighted to unveil the stunning transformations of Club Quarters, St. Paul's and Club Quarters, London City . Located in the world's most iconic neighborhoods where business and culture intersect, Club Quarters has seamlessly integrated its core brand pillars of service, design, and experience into every aspect of these renovations, enhancing the guest experience with modern amenities and stylish spaces that embody refined comfort and effortless elegance.
Both of these iconic hotels in the heart of London have been reimagined through a total of 468 modernized guest rooms, updated public spaces, and a vibrant Club Lounge, offering a creative and timeless setting for both work and relaxation. As part of the transformation, Club Quarters has also introduced a new, vibrant coffee and cocktail concept - The Counter - serving specialty coffees, artisanal pastries, and curated cocktails throughout the day.
The recent renovations at Club Quarters have been thoughtfully considered with attention to every detail, from new carpets and furnishings to enhanced lighting and curated artwork. With a focus on efficiency and functionality, each space has been optimized to provide maximum comfort and utility. A standout feature is the introduction of the exclusive Club Quarters desk, now a signature element in all rooms and suites. This versatile desk not only offers a spacious work area but also features a discrete vanity compartment, perfect for use as a dressing table, blending practicality with elegance.
Each Club Quarters hotel is deeply rooted in its locale, and these recent updates not only celebrate the unique features of the buildings but also highlight the talents of local artists, artisans, and craftsmen, enhancing both the overall design and guest stay.
Beyond the impressive physical upgrades, Club Quarters is raising the bar for the entire industry by elevating service standards with a renewed focus on personalized interactions, seamless efficiencies, and meticulous attention to detail. These latest renovations go beyond enhancing the visual appeal of the properties; they underscore the company's unwavering commitment to creating an inviting environment tailored to the modern traveler, fundamentally transforming the guest experience.
Hotel website
Today, Hilton proudly announces the appointment of Nazaret Carbonari as the new general manager of Waldorf Astoria Cancun. Since joining the property this summer, Carbonari has overseen the guest experience and hotel operations of the 173-room property and has been responsible for managing the resort's day-to-day hotel services and activities.
Originally from Mar del Plata, Argentina, Carbonari brings over twenty years of experience in the hospitality industry, having worked with prestigious brands such as Sheraton, The Luxury Collection, Four Seasons, Westin, W Hotels, and Canopy by Hilton across four different countries.
Carbonari's passion for the hospitality industry began at a young age, and her career has evolved from roles in food and beverage to leadership positions, including her most recent role as General Manager of Canopy by Hilton in Cancun. In her new position as General Manager of Waldorf Astoria Cancun, she oversees the overall operations, leading the team to deliver the exceptional experiences that Hilton is renowned for.
Holding a degree in Hotel Business Administration from Escuela Superior de Hoteleria in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Carbonari has consistently demonstrated her expertise in luxury service, successfully managing properties to ensure guest satisfaction and financial success.
The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) this week is hosting its annual Hotels on the Hill fly-in event, which will draw more than 200 hoteliers and industry leaders from 36 states to Capitol Hill to lobby for a variety of important policies.
The Sept. 24-25 event will include meetings with members and staff from more than 150 House and Senate offices.
Americas nearly 64,000 hotels are a bright spot for Americas economy and include more than 33,000 small businesses. The hotel industry supports nearly 1 in 25 American jobs, and in 2024, hotels are projected to pay employees a record $123 billion in wages, salaries, and other compensation while generating nearly $83.4 billion in tax revenue.
To maintain these positive economic contributions in communities across the nation, hoteliers are calling on lawmakers to:
Grow the hotel workforce by co-sponsoring and passing the Closing the Workforce Gap Act (H.R. 7262), from Reps. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Jack Bergman (R-Mich.). The bill would replace the arbitrary annual cap of 66,000 available H-2B temporary visas with a new, needs-based system.
by co-sponsoring and passing the Closing the Workforce Gap Act (H.R. 7262), from Reps. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Jack Bergman (R-Mich.). The bill would replace the arbitrary annual cap of 66,000 available H-2B temporary visas with a new, needs-based system. Protect small businesses by extending the pass-through tax deduction (199A), which is set to expire in 2025 and provides crucial tax relief to franchisees and other hotel small businesses.
by extending the pass-through tax deduction (199A), which is set to expire in 2025 and provides crucial tax relief to franchisees and other hotel small businesses. Help to create jobs and support hoteliers by maintaining the like-kind exchange (section 1031), which allows hoteliers to defer capital gains taxes when they sell one property if they roll the proceeds into the purchase of a larger one, thereby helping create new jobs and contributing to economic growth.
by maintaining the like-kind exchange (section 1031), which allows hoteliers to defer capital gains taxes when they sell one property if they roll the proceeds into the purchase of a larger one, thereby helping create new jobs and contributing to economic growth. Protect the franchise business model by opposing any efforts at the federal level to weaken the franchisee-franchisor relationship a cornerstone of the hotel industry.
by opposing any efforts at the federal level to weaken the franchisee-franchisor relationship a cornerstone of the hotel industry. Protect consumers and establish parity for the lodging industry by passing the bipartisan Hotel Fees Transparency Act (S. 2498) and the No Hidden FEES Act (H.R. 6543),which would establish a single and transparent standard for mandatory lodging fee display and an even competitive playing field for hotels, short term rentals, online travel agencies, and metasearch sites.
During Climate Week NYC 2024, HNtv INSIDERS had the unique opportunity to engage with experts with Megan Epler-Wood (Cornell University, USA), Jeanne Varney (Cornell University USA) and Willy Legrand (IU International University of Applied Sciences, Germany) and discuss key insights from the Sustainability in Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality Roundtablesan event jointly hosted by Cornell University, its Center for Hospitality Research, and the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise. This discussion spanned a variety of pressing topics, from innovative green financing and the escalating costs of insurance in the face of climate risks, to sustainable agricultural practices and the capacity to manage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions via our Destination Marketing/Management and National Tourism organizations in tourism destinations worldwide. Join us for a concise 20-minute summary that captures the essence of these discussions and a chance to grasp how the tourism and hospitality sectors are navigating the multifaceted challenges of climate mitigation and adaptation.
Global RevPAR (excluding the U.S.) rose 5.6% on a 7.8% ADR gain. For the 13th time this year, RevPAR surpassed the $100 threshold ($101 to be exact). - Image Credit STR
STR Weekly Insights on Global Hotel Industry Performance: 8th September - 14th September 2024
U.S. falls again
The week ending 14 September was sluggish for the U.S. hotel industry as revenue per available room (RevPAR) decreased for a second consecutive weekthis time 1.4% year over year (YoY). Occupancy was down 1.1 percentage points (ppts) with the largest declines seen at the start of the week. Average daily rate (ADR) was almost flat YoY (+0.2%) and unchanged from the previous week. RevPAR comparisons turned positive during the weekend but at less than +1%. Rosh Hashana was on Saturday during last years comparable, so we expected stronger results.
All chain scales reported RevPAR declines as did the Top 25 Markets (-1.7%), which saw nearly equal decreases in occupancy and ADR. The Top 25 Markets were significantly impacted by San Francisco, which hosted Dreamforce 2023, Salesforces mega event, during the comparable period a year ago. Excluding San Francisco, RevPAR for the remaining 24 markets was basically flat (+0.3%) on rising ADR and falling occupancy. Dreamforce 2024 occurs in the week ending 21 September, so we will see the positive side of that calendar shift. RevPAR for the remainder of U.S. markets as whole was down 1.2% driven by occupancy as ADR increased.
Calendar shifts impactful
As we have seen time and time before, shifts in holidays and events affect performance. Not only did San Francisco impact the Top 25, it also hurt total U.S. RevPAR. Excluding San Francisco, U.S. RevPAR comps were still negative but at a lesser rate (-0.5%) as occupancy dropped 1.1ppts while ADR rose 1.2%. San Franciscos RevPAR declined 37.2%, all due to ADR (-36.7%).
Las Vegas also experienced a slow week with RevPAR down 13.8%, partially because of the absence of the biennial PACK EXPO which took place during the matching week last year. Across the rest of the Top 25 Markets, Anaheim (Orange County) and Chicago posted the largest RevPAR gains of +25.5% and +20.5%, respectively, with Chicago lifted by the IMTS manufacturing conference and Orange Country hosting the RE+ 24 energy conference.
RevPAR down across all chain scales
RevPAR fell across all chain scales, ranging from -0.5% in Luxury to -3.7% in Economy. Occupancy decreased in all chain scales except Luxury (+2.4ppts). The occupancy gain was driven by hotels in Maui, Fort Lauderdale, and San Diego, where occupancy was up by more than 13ppts. While Luxury occupancy increased, ADR in the segment showed the largest decrease of any chain scale (-3.7%), with nearly half of the decrease coming from San Francisco.
Upper Upscale showed the smallest occupancy decline (-0.3ppts), resulting in a 0.2 RevPAR decrease. Upscale followed with an occupancy decrease of 1.3ppts, resulting in a 1.1% decline in RevPAR. Occupancy declines across the bottom three chains scales ranged from -1.4ppts to -1.8ppts with RevPAR decreases between -2.0% to -3.7%. Economy was the only other chain scale besides Luxury to post an ADR decline (-1.2%). Room demand for economy hotels has fallen by 3.6% over the past three weeks, which is aligned with what we saw earlier this year.
U.S. group demand strong
Group demand for Luxury and Upscale hotels (+1.5%) was a bright spot in a week that wasnt good, as the level was the second highest of the year so far (2.2 million rooms). However, group ADR decreased 0.9%, also likely due to San Francisco. Last year, September and October saw the highest group room demand, and we expect the same this year. With the shift of the Jewish observances from September in 2023 to October in 2024, we believe the next two weeks will show strong group demand followed by a slight decrease in the first week of October (Rosh Hashana occurs on Thursday October 3). We believe the observance will be less impactful this year given the observance is at the end of the week versus the beginning or middle. Yom Kippur shouldnt have a meaningful impact on group given it is on a Saturday this year.
Weekly transient demand was up slightly (+0.5%) while ADR declined (-0.7%). During the fall months, transient demand generally follows the opposite pattern from group regarding calendar shifts although the impact is more subtle.
Strong global performance continues into the September
Global RevPAR (excluding the U.S.) rose 5.6% on a 7.8% ADR gain. For the 13th time this year, RevPAR surpassed the $100 threshold ($101 to be exact). Occupancy reached 70.2%, 1.5ppts below what it was in the same week of 2019.
Mexico, Spain, and Indonesia each saw strong RevPAR gains, exceeding 20%, primarily driven by ADR. Key markets in all three countries continued to see strong performance. In Mexico, standout markets included Mexico City, where RevPAR rose 71% on a 50.6% ADR gain. RevPAR in Yucatan/Campeche was up 31.1% via ADR (+20.7%). In all, eight of the 12 markets saw double-digit RevPAR growth, mostly via ADR.
In Spain, eight of the nine markets posted RevPAR increases with Barcelona leading at +37.5% and Madrid close behind at +31.4%. ADR in the country drove the gains, rising by 16.2%.
Indonesia also recorded significant growth, with Northern Sumatra up 62.4% and Bali up 26.8%. Like with Mexico and Spain, ADR was the growth driver with the measure up 15.9% for the country.
Weekly RevPAR in China fell 6.3%, due entirely to a 4.4ppt drop in occupancy with the measure at 65.4%. Each the countrys 10 largest markets experienced occupancy declines with Chengdu seeing the largest drop at -10.7ppts and Guangdong the smallest at -1.5ppts. After 29 weeks of consecutive decreases, ADR was flat and was mixed across markets ranging from a 13.9% gain in Shenzhen to an 8.3% decrease in Hangzhou.
Looking ahead
The weeks soft performance was somewhat unexpected, although explainable to a degree due to convention calendar shifts. We expect the rest of September to see better results buoyed by the results of Dreamforce and other conferences and events, but the month will be impacted by its composition, which includes one less weekend than a year ago. Early October will be soft as the Rosh Hashana observance takes place on Thursday, impacting some groups/meetings. Similar results are expected globally although we expect performance to continue its moderation as it returns to normal.
This article originally appeared on STR.
Images bottom left, clockwise: Kimpton Frankfurt Main, Verno House Budapest Vignette Collection, voco Stockholm - Kista, voco Szekesfehervar, Hotel Indigo Krakow Wawel Castle, Kimpton BEM Budapes - Image Credit IHG Hotels & Resorts
Latest openings and signings include seven brand debuts across four countries
IHG Hotels & Resorts surpasses 200** open hotels in its Northern Europe market, with a number of IHG brands making debuts across four countries.
Germany is set to welcome the groups luxury boutique brand, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, and midscale conversion brand, Garner, later this year. IHGs extended stay brand, Candlewood Suites is also set to make its debut in early 2025. Elsewhere in Northern Europe, Hungary has welcomed guests to its first hotels under the Kimpton and Vignette Collection brands from IHGs luxury and lifestyle portfolio, whilst its premium brand, voco hotels, has debuted with an opening in Sweden and a signing in Poland.
Further growth across IHGs Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn brands is marked with pipeline properties in cities such as Krakow, Munich and Lublin respectively. The growth also includes 30** new openings under IHGs Holiday Inn the niu brand collaboration with NOVUM Hospitality.
Mario Maxeiner, Managing Director Northern Europe, IHG Hotels & Resorts said: The recent growth we are seeing in our Northern Europe markets is incredibly encouraging, particularly as it includes new hotels across all four of our Luxury & Lifestyle, Premium, Essentials and Suites portfolios. These markets are benefitting from the investment we are making in local capability, commercial platforms and on-the-ground expertise to drive and realise growth and quality. It is a sign of our own confidence in these markets, of our owners who continue to trust us, and of the many guests who continue to choose to experience our brands.
Germany
Holiday Inn Express Munich Airport-Erding (in development): The 118-guest room hotel signed with HR Group is due to open in late 2024. The hotel is pet-friendly and features conference space, and a bar that stocks from a neighbourhood brewery.
Kimpton Frankfurt Main (in development): The first Kimpton-branded hotel in Germany is set to open in late 2024 as part of the FOUR development shaping Frankfurts new skyline. Signed with Gross & Partner, the property features 155 guest rooms, meeting and event space, a gym, two restaurants and two bars.
Holiday Inn the niu (open and in development): This brand collaboration between IHGs Holiday Inn brand and NOVUM Hospitalitys the niu brand has already achieved 30** openings in the 162** days since the signing of a long-term agreement in April 2024. This brand collaboration opened most recently in Hamburg and can also be found in cities including Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Bremen**. Two more** Holiday Inn the niu properties have now been signed in addition to the initial 52 agreed.
Garner (in development): 56 Garner hotels were signed in April 2024 as part of a long-term agreement between IHG and NOVUM Hospitality. These hotels will be converted to IHGs newest midscale conversion brand from NOVUM Hospitalitys Yggotel, Select Hotels and Novum hotel brands. The first Garner hotels are slated to open in Germany from late 2024.
Candlewood Suites (in development): 11 Candlewood Suites properties were also signed in April 2024 as part of IHGs long-term agreement with NOVUM Hospitality. These hotels will convert from NOVUMs acora Living the City brand, and are due to begin opening from early 2025.
Poland
Holiday Inn Express Lublin (in development): Set to open towards the end of 2024, this hotel marks IHGs fourth Holiday Inn Express hotel in Poland, and its first in Lublin. Signed with one of the largest Polish owners and operators, Polski Holding Hotelowy, as a conversion from an independent hotel, the property offers 150 guest rooms, a restaurant and meeting facilities, and is located in the city centre close to Lublins Old Town.
voco Katowice (in development): This 167-guest room hotel marks the voco hotels brands entry into Poland, having also been signed with Polski Holding Hotelowy as a conversion from an independent property. Planned to open in 2025, voco Katowice will be located in the heart of the city, close to the International Congress Centre, and the concert hall of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Hotel Indigo Krakow Wawel Castle (in development): This property is IHGs second Hotel Indigo in Krakow and is set to open in 2025. Signed with local premium real estate developer, Howell Estates, the hotel features 74 guest rooms, a restaurant, bar and wellness area. Guests will also enjoy being few steps away from Krakow Old Town, Wawel Royal Castle and Kazimierz Jewish District.
Hungary
Kimpton BEM Budapest (now open): Opened in July 2024, Kimpton BEM Budapests interior honour Hungarian folklore while celebrating the citys modern vitality. The hotel was developed with owning company MAM Buda Project Kft. and features 127 guest rooms and three innovative restaurants. The transformation of this 19th-century Grade-two historical building has been meticulously created by the renowned Marcel Wanders.
Verno House Budapest, Vignette Collection (now open): This new opening is the perfect one-of-a-kind boutique retreat for travellers wanting to escape the hustle and bustle of the city opened as part of IHGs Vignette Collection in August Owned and operated by BDPST Group, the property features 48 stylish guest rooms, a Michelin Guide-recommended restaurant and a dedicated BOTANIQ Collection Wellness Department.
voco Szekesfehervar (in development): This hotel has been signed as the first IHG property outside of the Hungarian capital Budapest, and as the first voco hotels property in the country. The hotel is owned by CBA-Ujhegy and operated by Hotel & More Group. Featuring 95 guest rooms, a bar, restaurant, gym and meeting space, its planned to open in 2025.
Sweden
voco Stockholm - Kista (now open): Having opened in early September 2024, this hotel marks IHGs re-entry into Sweden With 201 guest rooms and located in the heart of Stockholm's Silicon Valley, the brand new, full-service hotel is an exciting addition to the city scape welcoming business and leisure guests from around the world. The property was developed by Revelop and is operated by Mogotel.
Belgium
Holiday Inn Express Brussels - Airport (now open): This recently opened hotel was signed and developed with Borealis Hotel Group, featuring 208 guest rooms. A short journey from the heart of Brussels and next to the citys airport, it also is conveniently located for NATO Headquarters and other major businesses.
IHG has 197 open hotels and 169 properties under development across its Northern Europe market, which comprises 13 countries. Brands currently available to book** include Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental, Vignette Collection, Kimpton, Hotel Indigo, voco hotels, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites.
*All numbers are as at 30 June 2024 unless stated otherwise
** Data as at 24 September 2024
Empathetic Leadership: The Key to Success and Satisfaction - Image Credit Unsplash+
Empathy is a crucial element in retaining and developing outstanding professionals in the hospitality industry. The new generation of workers expect their leadership to display empathy toward their teams, building trust, creating a positive work environment, and fostering strong team dynamics. Empathetic leaders understand the needs and concerns of their employees, providing support and resources to help them succeed.
High emotional intelligence, effective communication, and focused effort are cornerstones of empathetic leadership. One-on-one meetings, casual coffee outings, and really listening to employees enable leaders to know whats important to their team members. These focused interactions also help leaders learn what intrinsically motivates their employees.
Employee engagement and job satisfaction can be increased by empathetic leaders who put in the time and effort to recognize and value employees contributions. By fostering a supportive and inclusive culture, empathetic leaders enhance team cohesion and collaboration. Organizations with empathetic leaders are more likely to retain their employees and attract top talent, as a positive work environment is a key factor in employee retention and recruitment.
In hospitalitys fast-paced, demanding environment, leaders may find that practicing empathy can come with challenges. Can the empathic leaders come across as too nice? Balancing empathy with authority is crucial for maintaining respect and discipline, so leaders must set clear boundaries and expectations to achieve this balance. While managing stress is another challenge, implementing stress management techniques and promoting work-life balance are effective strategies.
Further Reading:
Questions for Your Team
How can leaders in the hospitality industry implement empathy in their daily interactions with team members to foster a positive and productive work environment? What are some specific challenges that hospitality leaders face in maintaining emotional connections with their teams, especially in a digital-first or post-pandemic work setting and what is a true solution to overcoming them? How does effective and empathetic leadership impact employee retention and job satisfaction in the hospitality industry? In what ways can hospitality leaders balance the need for empathy with the demands of achieving growing business goals and maintaining high standards of service? What role does creativity play in empathetic leadership, and how can leaders encourage innovative thinking while still providing emotional support to their teams?
Tre Wilke IV, Sales Manager, Bahia Resort Hotel, Catamaran Resort Hotel and Spa, HSMAI Rising Sales Leader Council Member. Connect with Tre on LinkedIn.
This article originally appeared on HSMAI.
Handwritten Collection Waterloo - Image Credit Accor
Accor continues its strong growth trajectory in Singapore with the signing of two new-build properties with three hotel brands set to open by 2027 with its long-standing partners, Fragrance Group Limited and Global Premium Hotels Limited, both owned by Koh Wee Meng. This landmark agreement will introduce Movenpick Singapore, the largest Movenpick hotel in Asia Pacific, the first Movenpick Living in Singapore, and a Handwritten Collection branded hotel situated alongside the city-state's famed and culturally rich Waterloo Street.
These new signings reaffirm Accor's position as the preferred partner for hotel owners across Asia's premium, midscale, and economy (PM&E) segments. As the region's leading operator in these categories, Accor is committed to driving value and business performance through its extensive expertise and platforms.
Located near the central business district at Hoe Chiang Road, Movenpick Singapore will be the largest Movenpick hotel in Asia Pacific, featuring approximately 808 keys. Movenpick offers a warm and premium experience, with a focus on culinary excellence that helps foster moments of indulgence and human connection. The same building will house Movenpick Living Singapore, an approximately 37-key property ideal for business and leisure travellers seeking extended stays.
In late 2025, Waterloo Street, renowned for local arts and culture in the heart of Singapore's civic centre, will welcome a new hotel under the Handwritten Collection brand. This 502-key curated and stylish hotel will showcase unique character in every detail. As Singapore's second Handwritten Collection property, it follows the successful launch of Hotel Faber Park Singapore - Handwritten Collection in late 2023. The Handwritten Collection brand continues to show momentum across Asia, reflecting the high demand for bespoke hospitality offerings and character-rich experiences.
Garth Simmons, Chief Operating Officer of Accor's Premium, Midscale, and Economy Division in Asia, commented, "Singapore is a key destination for both tourism and business in Asia, and we are thrilled to strengthen our presence with these new properties. This signing not only demonstrates the robust demand from owners and investors for brands within Accor but also reinforces our commitment to leading the region's growth and redefining the future of hospitality in Asia. Each of these properties will cater to the diverse needs of travellers, offering high-quality hospitality. We look forward to a successful partnership with Fragrance Group Limited and Global Premium Hotels Limited as we continue to expand our footprint in Asia."
Accor has a longstanding strategic partnership with Fragrance Group Limited and Global Premium Hotels Limited, operating 17 hotels in Singapore, 5 in Australia, and 3 in the United Kingdom, under brands such as MGallery, Movenpick, Novotel, Mercure, Handwritten Collection, ibis Styles, and ibis budget brands.
Koh Wee Meng, Founder and Chairman of Fragrance Group Limited, commented, "We are excited about this new chapter in our partnership with Accor. These new properties will allow us to continue curating enriching experiences for our guests and further diversify our hospitality offerings in Singapore. As we expand our portfolio, we are committed to delivering memorable stays that cater to the evolving needs of travellers. We look forward to working closely with Accor to bring these exceptional properties to life."
Accor currently operates 35 hotels across 13 brands in Singapore, including Raffles, Fairmont, Sofitel, Mondrian, Swissotel, Pullman, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure, Handwritten Collection, ibis, ibis Styles, and ibis budget.
Mandarin Oriental Kanai, Riviera Maya - Image Credit Mandarin Oriental
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has today announced that it will manage a luxury beachfront resort with branded residences on Mexico's Riviera Maya, on the Yucatan Peninsula. The resort is expected to open in 2028 and has been meticulously designed to respect the diversity of the environment and reflect local culture, blending serene architecture and exceptional craftsmanship with Mandarin Oriental's renowned legendary service. Notably, acclaimed Mexican artist Bosco Sodi has been chosen as the art curator for this project.
Located in the heart of the Riviera Maya with its year-round tropical climate, within a 30- minute drive from Cancun Airport and 10 minutes from Playa del Carmen's downtown, Kanai is a 680-acre masterplan. The beach front resort is nestled within a secure, gated community and surrounded by a pristine jungle and protected mangrove reserve. Only 9% of the land is dedicated to buildings and roads, ensuring the utmost care is taken in preserving the natural habitat and its diverse wildlife.
Mandarin Oriental Kanai, Riviera Maya will feature 120 elegantly refined guestrooms and suites with private pools, offering views over the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. Each carefully curated space will provide seamless indoor-outdoor living, enhanced by natural materials including marble, wood, leather and locally woven fabrics. Fifty thoughtfully appointed and spacious branded residences, with access to a private resident-only beach club, will also form part of the overall offering.
Migdal Arquitectos, an acclaimed architectural practise based in Mexico City, demonstrate a profound respect for the natural setting with designs that blend seamlessly with the environment, drawing poetic inspiration from Mayan architecture. Designed by the New York- based William Gray, a new luxury offering by renowned studio Meyer Davis, the resort interiors will beautifully blend a curated collection of art and design, resulting in a tranquil, luxurious ambiance, harmonising with the surrounding natural beauty, landscaped by Maat Handasa. The Spa at Mandarin Oriental and Beach Club will encapsulate special design elements by Esrawe Studio.
Adding to the resort's unique character, Bosco Sodi will serve as Art Curator and design consultant. Known for his richly textured and elemental works, Sodi's involvement brings a distinct artistic vision to the project. His approach, embracing the Japanese Wabi Sabi philosophy which finds beauty in imperfections and the signs of age, merges with age-old Mayan traditions and contemporary aesthetics. Bosco Sodi commented:" Our creative approach will enhance the resort's ambiance, creating spaces that inspire contemplation and connection with the environment."
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Mandarin Oriental will bring its culinary expertise to a wide range of dining options, nestled in the natural surroundings of the resort, featuring distinctive international cuisines in specialty restaurants in addition to locally inspired culinary delights with an emphasis on locally sourced ingredients. A beach club, cafe and pool bar will also provide all day refreshments. Elegant event spaces traverse the resort indoors and out, creating the perfect backdrop for weddings and social occasions.
The spacious resort will feature three outdoor pools that blend into the environment, providing different experiences for families and adults. The beach club will offer opportunities for a myriad of watersports while a fully comprehensive Kid's Club will deliver a wide range of experiences for children of all ages.
For those seeking relaxation, an all-inclusive Spa at Mandarin Oriental will offer a serene sanctuary and the most comprehensive range of wellness, beauty and massage treatments available in the region. Spa goers will enjoy Mandarin Oriental's signature programmes as well as specifically developed treatments inspired by Mexican traditions and customs. The dedicated wellness space includes an indoor lap pool and outdoor spa trail experiences.
Laurent Kleitman, Group Chief Executive of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group commented: "Mandarin Oriental Kanai, Riviera Maya exemplifies our commitment to delighting our fans at every opportunity. Nestled in a breathtaking setting and embracing local culture through a curated range of exceptional experiences, art and design, this resort promises to bring the next level of luxury hospitality to the region. As shapers of culture and masters of our craft, we have designed every aspect of this resort with our guests at its heart, reflecting our dedication to legendary service and exceptional experiences. Extending our portfolio in the Americas, brings the brand closer to our North American fans and will introduce Mandarin Oriental to many new audiences. We are particularly excited to have partnered with the visionary developer GIM Desarrollos and Abraham Metta Cohen on this ambitious project, and we are delighted they are fans of Mandarin Oriental."
Riviera Maya is a tropical paradise renowned for its inviting Caribbean Sea waters and lush tropical forests. Rich in Mayan heritage, the region is home to significant archaeological sites such as Chichen Itza and Tulum with their iconic pyramids. Guests will be able to explore these historical landmarks through curated Mandarin Oriental experiences and enjoy the region's refined culinary scene, which offers a fusion of traditional and contemporary flavours.
The resort is being developed by GIM Desarrollos, prominent real estate developers with operations throughout the region. Abraham Metta Cohen, Partner stated: "We are thrilled to
bring this exceptional luxury hospitality experience to Riviera Maya, offering guests an unparalleled connection to the rich cultural heritage of the region. Enhancing the guest experience by integrating environmental awareness and cultural richness is extremely important to us and to Mandarin Oriental and we are delighted to be partnering with them and to bringing the brand's renowned levels of luxury hospitality to this unique resort."
Rendering of Moxy Antwerp Hotel - Image Credit Marriott International
Playroom at Moxy Barcelona Hotel - Image Credit Marriott International
Rendering of Moxy Cork Hotel - Image Credit Marriott International
As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, the brand revealed plans to reach the 100-hotel mark in its Europe region by the end of 2025, with the anticipated addition of 17 hotels, including market entries into Spain, Turkiye and Luxembourg.
Moxy Hotels has been boldly breaking the rules of a conventional hotel stay in Europe since its inception a decade ago. Today the brand has established itself as a leader in the upper midscale lifestyle segment across the region, with 89 hotels in operation across 18 destinations - representing 60 percent of the brands global portfolio.
As we celebrate the 10th anniversary for Moxy Hotels, it has been remarkable to witness how the brands bold vision has resonated with travellers across Europe, says Jerome Briet, Chief Development Officer, Europe, Middle East & Africa, Marriott International. We continue to see a strong demand for hospitality experiences in the region that are as stylish as they are affordable. Our ambitious expansion plans for Moxy are less about being everywhere, in every market, and more about finding the right destinations that help us honour the playful spirit that the brand is known for.
For over a decade, Moxy Hotels has challenged the status quo on traditional and transactional hotel stays in Europe - from checking in at the bar with a complimentary cocktail or mocktail to focusing on social spaces from morning to night. With each of its hotels, Moxy aims to be at the social heart of the destination, sparking local community engagement and connection between business and leisure travellers, as well as locals.
Design has been a key differentiator for the brand from the beginning, by creating smart, flexible guestrooms, and vibrant, eclectic spaces that offer guests the chance to play during their stay. The success behind Moxys design has been the focus on encouraging each hotel to add in their own unique styling components as authentic nods to their surroundings and community, while staying true to the common brand narratives of escape, styling, and play. The soundtrack across Moxy Hotels has also been integral to its programming, with handpicked music that reflects the distinct vibes and playful spirit of the brand and the destination, from jazz, to chill to underground genres, blending nostalgia with discovery.
Tailored to today's modern travellers who are social beings at heart, Moxy Hotels also introduced the Moxy Guestbook, becoming one of the first brands to leverage user generated content into a digital interactive platform at each property across the globe.
Sandra Schulze-Potgieter, Vice President, Premium & Select Brands, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Marriott International added, Moxys expansion into existing and new destinations across Europe reflects the aspirations and expectations of the next generation traveller. Our anticipated openings will stay true to the brands origins and focus on bringing a local design narrative in every public space, ensuring that every hotel feels ingrained in the local culture.
Moxy Hotels is slated to add 17 properties to its European portfolio by the end of 2025, including its recent and upcoming entries into three markets:
Moxy Barcelona is expected to open in October, marking the brands its spirited entrance into Spain. Located in the up-and-coming neighbourhood of Sants, the hotel is a stones throw away from the High-Speed train station, the historic city centre and FC Barcelona Stadium. When it opens, Moxy Barcelona will feature 414 stylish guestrooms, buzzing social spaces and a rooftop pool offering the ultimate chill out area with cabanas, a bar, pop-up food stalls and city views.
is expected to open in October, marking the brands its spirited entrance into Spain. Located in the up-and-coming neighbourhood of Sants, the hotel is a stones throw away from the High-Speed train station, the historic city centre and FC Barcelona Stadium. When it opens, Moxy Barcelona will feature 414 stylish guestrooms, buzzing social spaces and a rooftop pool offering the ultimate chill out area with cabanas, a bar, pop-up food stalls and city views. The brand is anticipated to make its debut in Turkiye with the opening of Moxy Istanbul Beyoglu by the end of the year, followed by the expected addition of Moxy Izmir. Moxy Istanbul Beyoglu is slated to open following a complete restoration of the historical Afrikahan building that was built in 1905. The 168-room Moxy will be located in the heart of Istanbul within walking distance from Taksim Square one of the most renowned tourist destinations in the area.
by the end of the year, followed by the expected addition of Moxy Istanbul Beyoglu is slated to open following a complete restoration of the historical Afrikahan building that was built in 1905. The 168-room Moxy will be located in the heart of Istanbul within walking distance from Taksim Square one of the most renowned tourist destinations in the area. The newly opened Moxy Luxembourg Airport marked Marriotts debut in Luxembourg. Featuring 129 stylish and comfortable rooms, the hotel is located within the Skypark Business Center at Luxembourg Airport and is directly connected to the airport terminal via an indoor walkway.
The brand also plans to expand its presence in France, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Belgium, Poland, Serbia and Germany by the end of 2025. Upcoming highlights include:
China-Australia ties see positive progress: Chinese FM
Xinhua) 15:01, September 25, 2024
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- China-Australia relations have made positive progress, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi when meeting his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
Both sides should continue to build a more mature, stable, and fruitful comprehensive strategic partnership, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
Both sides should properly handle the issues in bilateral exchanges and not define China-Australia relations from the perspective of differences, Wang said, hoping Australia joins hands with China to ensure that bilateral relations go on the right track and achieve more results.
Wong, for her part, said Australia is ready to work with China to strengthen economic and trade cooperation, engage in constructive communication on issues of differences, and promote the stable development of bilateral relations.
The Australian side's adherence to the one-China policy has not changed, Wong said.
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
The mishap comes as authorities urge 4WD motorists to be careful when going off road.
About a dozen crocs were filmed in the area as the ute sat half submerged nearby. Source: Facebook
It might be short, but it could be Australia's most notorious stretch of road. And this shows why.
A ute has had to be fished out of croc infested waters after a mishap while making its way over Cahills Crossing. The road, through the Northern Territory's East Alligator River is world famous for its local inhabitants, with dozens of crocodiles calling the section of river home.
The ute was being dragged by a truck this week when the towing rope snapped and it was swept into the water with two men inside. As the men clamoured on top of the roof a woman filmed the incident unfold.
"Don't get out of the car, don't get out of the car," she could be heard saying in a video obtained by Nine News.
The truck which was towing the ute then returned to rescue the two men, leaving the Toyota Hilux behind.
The men waited atop their car as water gushed around them. Source: Nine News/Jen Curtis
Footage of the aftermath shows another ute driver wade into the river as a crocodile lurks nearby while a local man behind the camera casually provides commentary for the scene.
"There's a crocodile in the middle of the road," he says. "The car's just got washed off ... it's the top of the tide."
The crocodile appears completely unperturbed as a second ute drives towards it trying to cross.
"It would be 12 or 14 feet," the man says of the animal.
According to the local, it's about the tenth time this year a vehicle has been washed off or become stuck at the crossing. He initially assumed the driver had taken the slightly submerged bridge too fast and lost traction. "You go too fast, you lose traction and you're gone."
However Nine News later confirmed the ute had become stuck after the towing accident.
The ute reportedly came off the back of a road train after a rope broke. Source: Facebook/Andy Ralph
Dozens of tourists could be seen watching on as the ute, momentarily abandoned, sat idle in the river. "Another victim to Cahills Crossing the most dangerous piece of road in the country," the local said.
Parks Australia said in a statement the vehicle has since been removed after the incident, before rangers were able to attend the scene.
"Traditional Owners at Kakadu National Park have expressed disappointment at this visitor behaviour, which puts everyone involved at risk of injury or death," it said.
Warning over risky 4WD behaviour
The accident comes as authorities warn 4WD motorists setting out on trips to be careful and not take risks when heading off-road with an increase in rescue call-outs expected this school holidays.
The warning comes after one driver attempting a risky night-time river crossing required rescuing after becoming wedged between rocks in the Warren River at Moon's Crossing near Northcliffe, about 340 kilometres south of Perth.
The driver had reportedly chosen the wrong route through the river crossing, causing the car's wheels to get lodged among the rocks.
"I've never had anything this bad before that we couldn't get out," a vehicle rescue operator told the ABC. "He's very lucky that he walked away. Especially when you're on your own and you don't know anyone else around you."
The driver, who was travelling on his own, was fortunate enough to have gotten stuck close to a popular campsite. But in a more remote area, it could have been far worse, the rescuer warned.
A 4WD owner recently got stuck in the Warren River attempting to cross Moon's Crossing in WA. Source: Kayla White via ABC
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Hyatt Regency Samarafushi Maldives - Image Credit Hyatt
Hyatt Regency Samarafushi Maldives - Image Credit Hyatt
Hyatt Regency Samarafushi Maldives - Image Credit Hyatt
Accessible from Male by speedboat, the resort will debut the Hyatt Regency brand in the Maldives archipelago
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with SingHaiyi for Hyatt Regency Samarafushi Maldives. Located in the picturesque North Male Atoll, Hyatt Regency Samarafushi Maldives will mark Hyatt Regencys brand entry into the Maldive Islands. Slated to open in late 2027, the new all-villa resort will join Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa and Alila Kothaifaru Maldives as the third Hyatt property in the Republic of Maldives.
The Hyatt Regency brand is rooted in a culture of bringing people together and fostering a spirit of community. For more than 55 years, it has inspired Hyatt guests to seek personal connections and professional collaborations in more than 40 countries around the globe, said David Udell, group president, Asia Pacific, Hyatt. Were thrilled to collaborate with SingHaiyi to invite travelers to open their minds and hearts to new perspectives and experiences in the Maldives, one of worlds most desirable resort destinations.
With plans to be SingHaiyi Hospitalitys second property in the Maldives, Hyatt Regency Samarafushi Maldives will enhance our strategic presence in the destination. We have selected Hyatt because of its established reputation and leadership in the hospitality industry. We are excited to collaborate with Hyatt to develop a resort which will embody the elements of the Hyatt Regency brand that guests appreciate, said Mr. Gallant Tang, executive director of SingHaiyi.
Located only 25 minutes away from Valena International Airport in Male by speedboat, the resorts prime location will be a large draw for sun-seekers, culture lovers and marine enthusiasts seeking an accessible yet tranquil retreat. North Male Atoll is close to the capital and known for its proximity to popular diving and snorkeling sites where manta rays and hawksbill turtles are frequently spotted. Prime surfing destinations like Pasta Point and Sultans will also be seamlessly accessible from the resort.
Nestled across 24 acres (10 hectares) of picturesque land, the resort will feature 130 well-appointed beachfront, treetop, and overwater villas, all with a private pool. The architectural design by Park + Associates intersects traditional Maldivian architecture with a light and natural palette. Guests can look forward to enjoying a variety of culinary experiences at a sunset bar, a beach club, a Japanese specialty restaurant, and an all-day-dining concept. World of Hyatt Globalists and guests who book villas with club access can also unwind with complimentary refreshments in the signature Regency Club lounge. A dedicated kids club, a marine and diving center, a fitness pavilion, a yoga deck, and a spa with eight dedicated treatment rooms will cater to guests of all ages and interests.
Releasing Albums still matters in the Digital Age
As streaming platforms increasingly favor single releases, artists like Dua Lipa and Jack White demonstrate that releasing albums still matters to an artists career even as some genres like electronic music often prioritize singles.
Releasing Albums still matters in the Digital Age
by Harry Levin of Chartmetric
For the past 66 years, the Album of the Year Grammy has been announced at the end of every ceremony. Its the equivalent of Best Picture at the Oscars or Best British Album at the BRIT Awards. Its the headlining award.
Even though Forbes headlines are proclaiming The Music Album Is Dead, clearly, respected institutions still place albums in very high regard. Consumers also place albums in very high regard considering the resurgence in vinyl . DJs and collectors may be buying singles and 45s, but the casual fan is generally buying an artists album on vinyl.
Most of all, artists place albums in high regard because the format gives them an opportunity to share their creativity without limits.
Most artists in the world that you speak to, big or small, want to release an album, says Steve Milbourne, a producer, manager, and creative director who has worked with artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Mark Ronson, Michael Jackson, and AC/DC, among many others. Its that way of giving an audience a clear expression of who someone is as an artist.
While artists certainly want to share that clear expression, many modern aspects of the music industry reject the album format. Streaming services lend themselves to singles with the rise of editorial playlists (which simply do not have room for a full album) and social platforms like TikTok befit incredibly short songs.
PinkPantheress is an example of an artist who blew up on TikTok by posting short snippets of music. One of her first songs to go viral, Break It Off, is 105 seconds long. Yet even after reaping all the rewards of leaning into limited formats, she still released her debut album, Heaven knows, last year.
Albums are still necessary for artists to do and its still a very good expressive venture for artists to dig into. I dont think that the general streaming ecosystem, music consumption ecosystem, really benefits albums at the moment, though, says Harrison Bennett who manages artists like Sippy, Levity, and Zeds Dead, and also runs Zed Deads label, Deadbeats. Thats why I think that its even more important now as a vehicle for converting people into superfans and making people excited about every project as opposed to Oh, this is like a hit, and so Im into it.
A hit is deemed as such because of its measurable success. Streams. Chart placement. But the Grammys dont award Album of the Year to the record with the most streams. This creates an interesting conundrum for artists. Releasing an album may not be the best thing to grow their career, but it is a chance for them to create without limits.
In truth, the way an artist releases music is as individual as their music, and fans adapt to the way artists release music whether theyre big or small; whether theyre aiming for the next #1 hit, putting their heart and soul into a full album, or releasing singles to keep their fans engaged.
Consider Dua Lipa, who is currently 25th globally by Chartmetric rank, and 18th in the world on Spotify with 67.7 million monthly listeners. Dua just released her third album, Radical Optimism, back in May, her first since 2020s Future Nostalgia.
Dua, like many artists in the pop/rock sphere, follows the traditional pattern of releasing an album every few years with a few singles ahead of the long-player. In this cycle the three singles in advance were Houdini, Training Season, and Illusion.
However, thanks to streaming she was actually able to release far more than just three singles and an album. Between the release of Houdini on November 9, 2023, and Radical Optimismon May 3, 2024, there are 12 other clickable releases on Duas Spotify including five versions of both Houdini and Training Season.
Looking at the data surrounding Duas full Radical Optimism campaign, when Houdini was released Dua was at 66.8 million Spotify monthly listeners. The song spiked her up to 72.8 million, and then other than a few dips along the way, the consistent stream of releases kept her growing until the highest point in the campaign when the full album dropped with 78.5 million listeners.
Following the album release, shes shared five new versions of Illusion and a separate album of extended versions of the songs on Radical Optimism, but even on the back of those releases, her listenership has since fallen below 68 million. Clearly, the biggest moment in this campaign was the album itself. Thats what Dua had spent the last four years working on, and now in support, shes touring againselling out two nights at Wembley Stadium.
Another artist who demonstrates the persisting value of the album is Jack White. Similar to Dua he releases an album every few years (six between 2012 and 2024), but dissimilar to Dua, he doesnt release dozens of singles and other variants in between albums. In fact, for his last three albums he either released one or zero singles. His most recent, No Name (2024), was a completely surprise release. No promotion at all.
Other than No Name, White released three albums since Chartmetric has been tracking Spotify data: Boarding House Reach, Fear of the Dawn, and Entering Heaven Alive. Soon after Boarding House Reach came out in April 2018, White had 2.4 million monthly listeners. By the following December he was down to 1.2 million, which is generally where he remained for the next three years when he didnt put out any new music.
White released one single, Love Is Selfish, in January 2022 ahead of Fear of the Dawn in April, which brought him up to 2.4 million once again. Entering Heaven Alive was a companion album to Fear of the Dawn which kept him in the 2.1 million range until September 2022. Then he faced another sharp drop to a plateau of around 1 million until the release of No Name got him back up to 1.8 million.
The spikes for new music and the consistency without it demonstrate that White has developed a solid audience by releasing music his way. People will flock to a new record (even one that receives subpar reviews ). Some will lose interest, but his core fanbase will remain. After releasing albums so consistently for 25 years, thats what his fans expect, and, more importantly, thats what sustains them.
Theyve developed a connection to their favorite album the same way fans of Zeds Dead have developed a connection to their only official long-player: Northern Lights (2016).
[Northern Lights] generated super fans. It gave people who were Zeds Dead fans, something more to sink their teeth into and really showcased the full depth of what [Zeds Dead] are capable of musically, Bennett says. I see that with their fans all the time. People are always very heavily referencing that album. Its what got them into this music.
But Zeds Dead, like the majority of electronic artists, mostly release singles and EPs. Their last longer body of work was their 2021 mixtape, Catching Zs, which, with the combined release of the single, late night drive, gave them a boost of 254.9k monthly listeners from March 5 to April 18, 2021.
Since then they have released 24 original singles amounting to 34 clickable releases on Spotify. Their 2021 single, Alive gave them the biggest boost in that period, increasing their listeners by 721.2k from June 27 to Aug 1, 2021.
Ive spent as much on singles as I have on albums before, Bennett says, referring to his role as the label manager for Deadbeats. If youre trying to build momentum with an act, then single releases is definitely the preferred method at the moment because it lets you constantly be on cycle. Release stuff as needed and propel the project.
But this begs the question, would releasing more larger bodies of work lead to sharper growth? If singles can steadily build audiences and provide major spikes along the way, wouldnt, by that same logic releasing numerous albums amplify that growth?
One genre in particular is the model for examining this hypothesis: rap.
Unlike pop and rock artists who generally release an album every few years and electronic artists who rarely release albums, rappers constantly release albums and other larger bodies of work.
Consider Drake, the 3rd artist by Chartmetric rank and the 12th artist on Spotify by listeners. Beginning in 2015, he has released at least one larger body of work every year. Sometimes two. Chief Keef, another major rapper with 12.1 million monthly listeners has released 36 larger bodies of work since 2015.
Rap culture was like massively ahead of the curve in terms of creating content, so to speak, and theres definitely an argument for that. Its its not a new thing. Creedence Clearwater Revival had six albums out in four years before they broke up, Milbourne says.
It certainly works for Chief Keef. From March 28, 2018 (the very beginning of Chartmetrics Spotify records on him) until October 26, 2023, a period when he released 14 larger bodies of work, his audience grew by 7.5 million monthly listeners. There were no major spikes for any of these releases, but his audience almost quadrupled. In the same period, Drake, who released seven larger bodies of work, increased from 48.1 million to 77.2 million. Almost 30 million.
Overall, there is no way to formulate any singular release that will guarantee an artist reaches the next level. Linking back to Dua Lipa, the biggest spike in her listenership by far was when she released the single Dont Start Now which currently has over 2 billion streams. When that single came out she jumped from 26.1 million listeners (a career low) to 41.2 million in six weeks and she has never fallen below there since.
There are now seven different versions of Dont Start Now on Spotify, but streaming also gives artists the ability to capitalize on albums the same way, which Noah Kahan has done with Stick Season.
The popularity of that album is based on the title track which has now 1.1 billion streams, but instead of releasing different versions of the single, hes released two new, and longer, versions of the whole album: Stick Season (Well All Be Here Forever) which includes seven more songs than original (21 total); and Stick Season (Forever), which includes 30 songs.
Kahan likely has numerous takes of Stick Season in a vault somewhere. And if not, at the very least he could have released an acapella and an instrumental (both of which Dua did for her single, Illusion).
But Kahan chose to release more larger bodies of work instead because albums offer that unique expression. Stick Season (Forever) more accurately depicts himself as an artist than another version of Stick Season. Thats something he values, his fans value, and the people who pick Grammy winners value as well.
Charts and editing by Sarah Kloboves and Nicki Camberg; cover image by Crasianne Tirado
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Pvt. First Class Erwin S. King of Clarksburg was buried Tuesday next to his parents in Southview Cemetery in North Adams. PreviousNext
Clarksburg's Erwin King Laid to Rest 82 Years After Falling at Guadalcanal
Erwin King's niece Judith LaBonte Richard speaks at his funeral at Flynn & Dagnoli Funeral Home on Tuesday. NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The community turned out in force on Tuesday to pay respects to long missing World War II Marine Erwin S. King.
Veterans, officials, community members and students from King's alma mater Drury High School and from McCann Technical School greeted the funeral procession in Southview Cemetery, where King was laid to rest next to his parents, Erwin and Emilia King, with full military honors. It was 82 years to the day of his death on Guadalcanal.
His remains arrived in the Berkshires on Friday and a brief wreath-laying ceremony was held at Clarksburg Town Hall where his name appears on the town's honor roll.
Raised in Clarksburg, he was unexpectedly born in Shaftsbury, Vt., when his parents' car broke down. They gave him Shaftsbury as his middle name and he would grow up with the nickname "Shazy."
"One of his greatest desires was growing up was to become the United States Marine," said his nephew Bruce LaBonte, who traveled from Bradenton, Fla., to attend his uncle's services Tuesday at Flynn & Dagnoli Funeral Homes.
"After hearing of the attack on Pearl Harbor when he was 17, he asked my grandfather if he could enlist in the Marines. He at first refused, but later, after constantly being asked that he wanted to serve his country, he persuaded our grandfather to sign the permission papers to enlist in the Marines."
King had turned 18 years old aboard ship on his way across the Pacific. He came ashore at Guadalcanal on the second day of the battle and was killed with nine others of his company by a Japanese machine gun nest. They were buried near where they fell and attempts to recover them after the war were unsuccessful for more than 70 years.
LaBonte said his grandfather blamed himself for allowing King to enlist but they held out hope that his body would at least be returned and purchased the plot so he could lie beside them.
The Dalton American Legion riders and North Adams Police escorted the funeral procession, which made its way along route in Southview lined with small American flags set out by veterans organizations and high school students representing the 2,883 Bay State service members missing in action.
A Marine detachment stood as pallbearers, honor guard and rifle salute as a Navy chaplain conducted the services. LaBonte was presented with King's dog tags and the flag from his coffin, which contained a full Marine dress uniform.
King's relatives wore brooches with the picture of him in uniform and red, white and blue ribbons created by grandniece Lisa Pruden Miottke. None of the relatives who attended the services were around when King was alive but Miottke said some remember older relatives speaking about him. Most of the relatives were children and grandchildren of King's sisters Lucille King LaBonte and Gertrude King Clarke.
"You have to understand that this is a man that was killed in battle, like five years before I was even born," said LaBonte. "And there was such time period that elapsed before we heard anything that they had found his remains, and we're going to bring him home ... we remembered him, we had photo albums and his picture. But to say I was overwhelmed when I got that phone call would be an understatement. I almost dropped the phone. I could not believe it. After 82 years, my sister on the phone saying, Bruce, you're never going to guess uncle Shaz has been found."
King's niece Judith LaBonte Richard of New Hampshire, speaking at the funeral, said it was not easy to pay tribute to a man they didn't know.
"However, paying tribute to a hero is an honor. If your sister, our mother, was here today, she would be able to tell the stories of your youth," she said. "She would be able to tell us about your hopes, she would be able to tell us that you were her baby brother and that she loved you dearly and she'd never forgot you. It wasn't until I was much older that I understood and experienced the tears that she shed on Memorial Day holidays, and really why she shed them.
"If your father and mother, our grandfather and grandmother were here today, they would be able to recount that your one grand mission was to be a member of the Marine Corps. And as the story goes, once America entered the war, they gave their your consent to enlist. Your greatest ambition was accomplished. Your sacrifice will never go unnoticed. Your sacrifice will be forever in our heart, your sacrifice is why we are the home of the brave and the lamp of the free."
Among the mourners were Michael and Lisa DeMarsico, whose son Army Pvt. First Class Michael DeMarsico Jr. was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan and buried not far away in Southview. Like King, he was a young man and a Drury alum who had a passion to serve his country. Lisa DeMarsico said her son had always looked up to men like King who fought in World War II.
"It's like he's already up there with Erwin, I know they're sharing stories," she said. "You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine."
The city's Veterans Agent Mitchell Kiel, who had a part in coordinating the funeral, said family members described King's return as a miracle.
"It really is the only way to look at it," he said. "Especially knowing that they tried three or four years later and tried twice in the 40s and were unable to locate the location. The fact they were actually able to identify them, and there's still family around, even in the area, and you couldn't ask for a better community turnout."
King's niece Lynda LaBonte Pruden of Pownal, Vt., thanked the Marines, the anthropologists and the scientists who brought King home.
"I can't tell you how much it means to to our family. I know what it means to my mother and my aunts and uncles, my grandparents and all of us here because all of you have come up to us as family honor. We are privileged to have you all here with us today. It is an honor, and I can't say it because they'll bleep me out, but it's a miracle that he is here and we thank you for being here."
The truck driver's act has prompted police to weigh in, issuing a warning to motorists thinking of doing something similar.
A truck driver has been called out for their illegal modifications to their rims. Source: Reddit
Police have warned Australian motorists against modifying their vehicles unlawfully, after footage emerged of a truck driver's "dangerous" custom alteration. The vision, taken in Victoria, shows a large truck travelling along a busy motorway with what appears to be stick-on spikes attached to its rim.
"What a knob. This was slightly higher than the sill on an ordinary road car, so would slice right through a car door into your kids hip," a frustrated driver said online when uploading the footage. Seems like a "great idea", they added sarcastically.
The post attracted an onslaught of responses, with people questioning the legality of the move.
Police confirm truckie's act is against the law
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, a spokesperson for Victoria Police confirmed the driver's act is definitely illegal. "This is considered a modification which would be illegal and covered under the Vehicle Standards Information 8," they told Yahoo.
Under official safety standards, no part of the rotating wheel can extend past the guard when wheels are pointed straight ahead. "Any modification to these components... outside of the vehicle manufacturers specifications will require a VASS Approval Certificate," VicRoads states.
People responding to the video blasted the driver over the move, which they argued could cause damage to both pedestrians and other vehicles. "Can someone explain why truckies do this? what are they trying to gain, do they think it's cool or something," one person asked?
"Dude has watched Grease one too many times," another joked. "Theyre all like this in the US," somebody else claimed. Others thought the spikes might be plastic and therefore less damaging.
"They wont rip through your car, theyll come off. Which means some lucky person might run over one of those and get it lodged in their tyre. Classy," a person said.
"Theres heaps of chrome (or plastic) products for rims, wheel nuts, mirrors, mud flaps, chassis bolts etc. its just a common bit of bling popular with a section of truck drivers," another commented.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
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More than 21,000 litres of oil was discharged, with a small amount entering the Aussie ocean.
Located over 40km from Ninety Mile Beach, there are now over 23 offshore platforms and installations in Bass Strait. Source: Getty/ExxonMobil
The ability of a US multinational to keep Australias oceans free of pollution is in serious question after the company leaked 21,000 litres of diesel from an offshore rig. And in a damning report, the offshore petroleum regulator NOPSEMA found the problem is likely to occur again.
The spill occurred in Bass Strait at the Marlin B facility which extracts gas and oil from the Gippsland basin in the Bass Strait. While the facility is out of site from the land, it's just 40km from one of the world's longest and most beautiful stretches of sand, Ninety Mile Beach.
The project is operated by Esso, which is owned by ExxonMobil, one of the worlds largest publicly traded fossil fuel production companies. Its the third spill from its operations in just the past six months. And environmentalists Friends of the Earth have called the situation extremely worrying.
ExxonMobil's Marlin B platform is connected to the older Marlin A by a bridge. Source: ExxonMobil
How will marine life be impacted by the fuel spill?
On August 7, a storage tank was overfilled, leading to the spill, which was discovered by workers. While the majority of the leak was contained before it entered the water, approximately 150 litres leaked into the ocean. In a report made public on September 19, NOPSEMA found there could be a significant threat to the environment, including possible lethal impacts.
The site is home to fish, sharks and rays, marine reptiles, birds and marine mammals, including species listed as threatened with extinction which the federal government is bound to protect.
(Esso) has contravened a provision of an environmental management law and is likely to contravene that provision again, NOPSEMA said in its environmental improvement notice.
Esso declined to answer direct questions about the incident from Yahoo News, but issued a statement claiming it prides itself on operating its offshore platforms in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.
It added; There were no observed impacts to the environment and the sheen dissipated quickly.
Esso ordered to complete 'urgent' repairs
NOPSEMA told Yahoo News its investigators flew to the rig after being notified of the spill. During the investigation, inspectors found that Esso had failed to rectify known defects in its system and equipment, contributing to the spill, a spokesperson said.
The regulator issued an improvement notice requiring Esso to undertake repairs and review the design of the equipment within 60 days. It is unclear whether those repairs have been completed, but NOPSEMA said it is monitoring the companys progress.
We have moved quickly to assess the repairs required and are already executing changes which will ensure this does not happen again, as well as addressing NOPSEMAs concerns, Esso claimed.
When fuel leaks into the ocean it can have a devastating impact on marine environments and wildlife. This image shows the Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska in 1989 which was a major environmental disaster. Source: Getty
Concern about US company's repeated fuel spills
In August, six conservation groups Greenpeace, Wilderness Society, Australian Marine Conservation Society, and Friends of the Earth, issued a joint statement raising concerns about Australias decaying offshore oil and gas rigs. Decaying and abandoned oil and gas infrastructure is threatening the marine environment and the safety of offshore oil and gas industry workers, it said.
They argued new laws, stronger compliance and better enforcement were urgently needed. After the latest spill the Wilderness Society issued a statement on Monday, saying Esso had shown a flagrant disregard for Australias sea life and the marine environment and called on NOPSEMA to issue serious fines and prosecute the company.
The incident also led Friends of the Earth to question Essos other controversial plans for the Gippsland Basin. While Marlin B is relatively new, much of the company's infrastructure is at the end of its life, and gas supplies are drying up. This has prompted the company to request permission from the federal government to abandon many of its rigs. It wants to save money by removing most contaminated structures close to the waterline while leaving behind the structures steel legs.
Speaking to Yahoo News on Wednesday, its offshore gas campaigner Jeff Waters said the situation was extremely worrying as he believes the companys environmental record shows contempt for the Australian public.
A lot of infrastructure was made in the 1960s and 1970s, so its been out there for a very long time. Many of these things are so decrepit theyve had to pour thousands of tonnes of concrete into the ocean to keep them standing, he said.
This recent incident shows Esso holds us all in contempt. They're about to undertake this massive job of removing these things from the ocean, but how can we trust them?
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To give more Filipinos convenient access to a portfolio of loan products, GCash, through its lending arm Fuse, has partnered with Security Bank, one of the leading universal banks in the country. The alliance will enable select GCash users to have direct access for application to Security Bank credit cards, and soon, to its home and auto loans.
(L-R) Security Bank SVP secured lending division head Paz Gonzales, SVP customer segmentation head Patricia Tan, Fuse Lending president and CEO Tony Isidro and head of business development Racquel Holazo.
Through this groundbreaking partnership, qualified GCash users can now take a significant step toward financial empowerment by applying for their first Security Bank credit card directly within the GCash app. This initiative offers a seamless way for users to access financial products, including credit cards, and soon, auto and housing loans, all in just a few simple steps. Additionally, applicants can unlock exclusive rewards, with the added benefit of Security Banks newest no-annual-fee credit card.
"Our partnership with Security Bank helps us strengthen our ongoing efforts to provide innovative and accessible financial services to millions of Filipinos," said Fuse Lending president and CEO Tony Isidro. "By making Security Bank's reputable loan products available on the GCash app through our Loans Marketplace, we are able to provide many of our users with their first access to a bank loan, and a seamless and inclusive experience that meets their needs."
Since its initial launch, credit card approvals have exceeded expectations, with GCash ads reaching a wide audience of users each month.
We are excited to partner with GCash as we continue to provide valuable services to our customers. This partnership allows us to leverage our banking expertise to reach more Filipinos, offering them customized financial solutions through a platform that is both accessible and innovative for everyone, said Security Bank EVP and retail banking segment head, Rahul Rasal.
GCash and Security Banks collaboration ensures a convenient and streamlined experience, allowing Filipinos to easily discover and access relevant financial solutions through the GCash Loans Marketplace.
Likewise, the alliance between GCash and Security Bank, which currently has over 328 branches and 662 ATMs nationwide serving retail, commercial, corporate, and institutional clients, also serves as a significant step toward their shared commitment to expanding access to quality, fair loans and retail banking products for Filipinos, particularly the 44% still unbanked sector in the country.
For its part, GCash through its lending arm Fuse, has disbursed more than PHP 155 billion worth of loans to over 5.4 million Filipinos, including those in the grassroots sector, namely, sari-sari store owners, public market vendors, and farmers, putting the app well on its way toward its mission of Finance for All.
With its drive to bridge the financial gap in the country, GCash together with its partners continues to intensify its endeavors to foster an inclusive digital economy that leads to financial freedom where people have different ways and options of increasing their wealth and giving them a shot at their dreams for a better future all with just a few taps on their phone.
For more information, please visit www.gcash.com.
As moms, we only want the best for our kids, and that means going the extra mile to ensure they are cared for even when they're not at home. On school days, this means giving them a well-prepared baon that they can look forward to be it cute bento-style lunches or fun snacks even with limited time and a budget.
Every baon is a reflection of our love and effort to make sure our children enjoy their meal breaks and come back energized. We also know how important variety is in keeping our children excited about their meals, ensuring they wont get bored of the same old choices. An assorted baon is also a great way to introduce them to new flavors and food.
Thats where Alaska Fruitti Yo! steps in. As the perfect addition to your childs baon rotation, this new fruitti-yummy yoghurt-flavored milk drink makes snack time even more enjoyable and adds a burst of flavor that will keep your little one eager for their meal. Alaska Fruitti Yo! brings variety to your childs baon with its fun fruit flavors strawberry, green apple, and the new orange flavor making each recess or lunch break a little more special.
With Alaska Fruitti Yo!, you can elevate your childrens baon with ease, knowing that you're adding something both refreshing and exciting to their packed lunches. Make the most out of this delicious snack time partner with these practical tips that will make your kids meal time a breakciting experience!
1. Mix and match
Try pairing Alaska Fruitti Yo! with different baon items like sandwiches, biscuits, or rice meals. With flavors like strawberry, green apple, and the new orange variant, you can mix and match to find your childs favorite combo. Dont be afraid to get creative with their meals!
2. Add an artistic touch
Elevate your kids school snack by adding cute, decorative touches. Use cookie cutters to shape fruits or sandwiches, or add a sprinkle of color with sliced vegetables. Even the lunchbox itself can become part of the fun let your kids pick out their favorite designs for the containers and utensils to make their break time more enjoyable!
3. Prep ahead for busy mornings
To avoid the morning rush, do a bit of prep the night before. Slice fruits, pack veggies, and prep sandwiches ahead of time. Then, simply grab a chilled Alaska Fruitti Yo! in the morning, and youre good to go! Not only does it save time, but it also ensures that your childs baon is complete and ready for the day.
4. Involve your kids
Let your children be part of the decision-making process. Allow them to choose which fruits or snacks they want for the day, or even let them make their sandwiches. This gives kids a sense of ownership over their baon, making your little ones more excited to eat it.
5. Include a surprise treat
Who doesnt love a little surprise? Sneak in a small treat like a fun-shaped fruit or some sweets to keep things interesting! Little surprises can make a big difference in how kids feel about their baon.
6. Variety is key
Rotate between Alaska Fruitti Yo!s different flavors and other baon favorites throughout the week to keep snack time unpredictable. Switching things up not only prevents boredom, but also helps make snack prep less repetitive for moms.
The baon breakthrough
For mommies who want to up their baon game and make school lunches more breakciting, Alaska Fruitti Yo! Yoghurt-Flavored Milk Drink is here to help. With flavors like the new orange variant, strawberry, and green apple, theres an Alaska Fruitti Yo! for every childs taste. And the best part? Its not just delicious its affordable too for Php9.00 SRP only, making it an ideal option for budget-conscious moms looking for a snack solution that wont break the bank.
Aside from its fruity flavors, Alaska Fruitti Yo! is packed with essential vitamins like B1 and D3, making it both tasty and nutritious. Its available in leading grocery stores and supermarkets nationwide, so its easier for moms to grab a few bottles and stock up for the week ahead.
Add Alaska Fruitti Yo! to your childs baon rotation and see how much they look forward to their breakciting recess or lunch time. Youll be surprised how much a little variety can make a big difference.
And dont forget to join the Alaska Nanay Club to get more baon tips and connect with other moms. Let's make break time a fun and exciting experience for our kids!
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Galleries are mostly quiet places. Nothing but whispers and rustling tote bags. Not so at the Turner Prize exhibition, now in its 40th year, where pop songs blast out of a vintage red Ford Escort parked in the Tate Britain by one of four artists up for winning this years 25,000 prize: Jasleen Kaur.
Kaur, 38, a Glaswegian who grew up in the citys Sikh community, creates sculptures from gathered and remade objects that evoke her heritage in Alter Altar. Bottles of Irn-Bru, Scottish pound notes, lottery tickets, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan CDs are trapped in a plastic ceiling. Underfoot lies a huge Axminster carpet that invites you to sit while calming worship bells play. The carpet is a bid for intimacy, the artist told the exhibitions curator, Linsey Young. Im longing for people to congregate.
She had to take apart the Ford Escort, get it delivered and piece it back together, reveals Young of the process of transporting Kaurs work from the Tramway art centre in Glasgow. The thing about the Turner Prize is theres no other show like it, she adds of the hectic nature of the exhibitions curation. You get the [nominee] announcement in April, then you open in September. So, you have five months to make a major exhibition across one of the biggest spaces we have at Tate Britain.
open image in gallery Jasleen Kaurs presentation in Turner Prize 2024 at Tate Britain ( Tate/Josh Croll )
Quickly, as you turn the corner, the exhibitions audio landscape shifts from Kaurs prayer and party music to the grief-filled atmosphere of Roma-Traveller artist Delaine Le Bass Incipit Vita Nova, an immersive warren that she created shortly after her Nandied. Ink hearts, skulls, and human faces hang on painted fabrics, while Justin Langlands ominous soundscape accompanies the work. A horse stuffed with hay, modelled on Le Bass grandfathers, cowers in the corner. Blood red footprints decorate the floor.
My grandmother was dying when I was thinking about making this work, Le Bas told Young, who spent hours meticulously timing when the installations floor could be laid, walls painted, fabrics hung and process repeated in order to achieve its overall labyrinth effect. I was spending a lot of time up at night, when the shadows and the sounds and everything is different thinking about how to make art during a time of chaos, Le Bas recalled.
open image in gallery Delaine Le Bas presentation in Turner Prize 2024 at Tate Britain ( PA )
In contrast, Claudette Johnsons rooms are markedly silent after the tumult of Le Bas. But the impact of her display, Presence, is loud. Portraits of Black men and women in oil and watercolour line the walls, with the aim of countering the marginalisation of Black people in Western art history. Theres something about the tradition of portraiture that goes against what Im trying to do, Johnson told Young. Ive lifted my figures out of their environment and displaced them.
I wanted to give Claudette this big, long, elegant area, Young says of the exhibitions largest room. Because people underestimate the scale of her work.
The most powerful work in Presence is Johnsons modern Pieta painting. Johnsons take on the classic image of the Virgin Mary, with the crucified Jesus Christ in her arms, is inspired by George Floyds death in 2020, and shows a black mother cradling her dying son, alongside the words every mother was called when he called for his mother.
open image in gallery Claudette Johnsons Pieta on display at the Tate Britain ( Tate/Josh Croll )
She read that on Instagram around the time of Floyds death, says Young. It relates to so many incidents across the world, in the UK, and to the ongoing institutional police violence against bodies of colour.
The intention of the Turner Prize, since it was first awarded to Malcolm Morley in 1984, was to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art. When you first walk into this years exhibition, youre met with Filipino artist Pio Abads To Those Sitting in Darkness, which includes an enormous concrete version of a ruby and diamond pearl bracelet. This bracelet made up part of the 15.7m hoard of jewellery that Imelda and President Ferdinand Marcos stole from the Filipino people, and hid in the nappies of their grandchildren, when they fled to exile in Hawaii in 1986.
open image in gallery Pio Abads presentation in Turner Prize 2024 at Tate Britain ( Tate/Josh Croll )
I thought there was something quite fun about going from a museum into a museum, says Young of launching visitors into the space with Abads work. Its kind of weird. Its like a double take, she says.
One of the things all of the artists are talking about is decolonisation and anti-imperialist struggle, and they have a lot of questions about what the role of the museum is. What the role of culture is. But theyre all doing it in a way that is global. No one is thinking of themselves as isolated.
The winner of the Turner Prize 2024 will be announced on 3 December. Kaur, Le Bas, Johnson and Abads works are on display at the Tate Britain from 25 September until 16 February 2025.
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Amid the praise for Quentin Tarantinos film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, one eagle-eyed celebrity viewer spotted a glaring historical inaccuracy in the blockbuster flick.
The moment occurs towards the end of the film, when Leonardo DiCaprios character Rick Dalton is reported to have arrived back in Hollywood from Europe on a Boeing 747. But it was John Travolta, who is a plane enthusiast and trained pilot, who said that this would have been impossible given the film is set in 1969.
Well, the 747 had its test flight in February 1969, but it went into service in January 1970. Theyre nine months off! He would have been on a Boeing 707! he said.
We can forgive Tarantino for that. But its hard to believe that some slip-ups whether its Judy Garland without her ruby red shoes in The Wizard of Oz or Julia Roberts eating a croissant that gets swapped for a pancake in Pretty Woman actually made it through the editing process.
According to the website Movie Mistakes, Captain Marvel starring Brie Larson features no less than 60 errors over its two-hour duration.
Is there a film where somebody hasnt screwed up?
Here, we list 29 mistakes in films that you might not have caught.
Batman (1989)
open image in gallery Batman 1989: 'Gentleman Let's Broaden Our Minds, Lawrence!'
The Tim Burton-directed superhero film has multiple mistakes, but a major one happens when Joker and his crew deface paintings at a museum. One of his gang members slaps a painting with his hands that are covered in red paint, but in the next shot, the handprints have disappeared from the artwork.
Once Upon a Time In Hollywood (2019)
open image in gallery Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood' ( Sony )
Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, flies back to Hollywood on a Boeing 747. But it would have been a 707. The film was set in 1969 and the 747 went into service in January 1970.
The Graduate (1967)
open image in gallery ( Embassy Pictures )
Dustin Hoffmans character drives in the wrong direction across the Bay Bridge in San Francisco on his way to Berkeley, California. He is travelling on the top deck of the bridge for traffic going from California to San Francisco.
Pretty Woman (1990)
There is a continuity issue at breakfast when Julia Robertss character takes a bite out of a croissant. Shes in the hotel room with her co-star Richard Gere, but when the camera pans back to her, it transforms into a pancake. Then when she takes a second bite out of the pancake, there is only one bite mark in it.
open image in gallery Pretty Woman ( Rex Features )
North by Northwest (1959)
open image in gallery ( MGM )
One of the children playing an extra in Alfred Hitchcocks film covers his ears a few seconds before Eva Marie Saints character unexpectedly fires a gun at Cary Grants character in the Mount Rushmore cafeteria.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
open image in gallery ( Rex Features )
Bullet holes can be seen in the walls of the apartment where John Travolta and Samuel L Jacksons characters go to get a briefcase, but its before the shoot-out has happened.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
open image in gallery ( Warner Bros )
John Connors Cessnas plane numbers keep changing in the film. When he is in the hanger on the runway it is N3035C, but once its flying, the numbers change to N3413F.
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
open image in gallery Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz ( MGM )
Judy Garland isnt wearing her iconic ruby red slippers in the scene where the trees pelt Dorothy and the Scarecrow with apples. Instead, she can be seen wearing plain black shoes.
Why do blockbuster movies cost so much to make?
American Sniper (2015)
open image in gallery
The baby that Bradley Cooper holds while adapting to civilian life after the Iraqi War is plastic. In fact, it looked so fake, even he admitted it was nuts.
Independence Day (1996)
open image in gallery ( Claudette Barius/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock )
When computer expert David Levinson, played by Jeff Goldblum, is throwing a tantrum in the hanger housing the captured alien craft, he knocks over a bin that is labelled Art Dept. Clearly, a set designer left it there by mistake.
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
open image in gallery ( Univeral Pictures )
In a scene when Jesse and Tran race, Tran is wearing a shirt with sleeves, but in the next shot hes in a tank top. Didnt anybody notice when they edited it?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)
open image in gallery ( Warner Bros )
We were always told that Harry Potter had his mothers blue eyes. But when we see Lily Potter as a child, she has brown eyes.
Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (1977)
open image in gallery Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford in 'Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope' in 1977 ( Rex Features )
As a group of stormtroopers enter a control room, one of them accidentally bangs his head on a door. The actor responsible, Laurie Good, couldnt believe it made it into the final film.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
open image in gallery ( Rex Features )
There is a crew member wearing a cowboy hat and looking out to sea behind Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow on the pirate ship.
Quantum of Solace (2008)
open image in gallery Bond girl: Gemma Arterton with Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace (2008) ( Rex Features )
A street cleaner behind Daniel Craigs James Bond is pretending to sweep the road but is holding his broom several inches off the ground.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
open image in gallery ( Buena Vista Pictures )
When Bianca accidentally shoots a gym teacher with an arrow, an extra, who is playing a student, runs off to get urgent help but once she thinks she is out of shot, she stops and looks back at the camera.
Braveheart (1995)
open image in gallery ( Rex Features )
There is a modern car in the background of a big battle scene. Considering the film is set in the 13th century, its hard to imagine how it stayed in the final cut.
Django Unchained (2012)
open image in gallery ( TWC )
Leonardo DiCaprio accidentally cut his hand while filming a scene in which he slams his hand on the table and breaks a glass. But rather than shout cut, he carried on in character. Tarantino liked it so much that he kept it in the film.
Captain Marvel (2019)
open image in gallery ( AP )
Many of the mistakes are related to the films 1990s time period. These include computers using a wrongly dated version of Windows and Carol Danverss memories being jogged by a Nirvana song that wasnt out until after she left Earth.
Spider-Man (2002)
open image in gallery ( Rex )
Toby McGuires Spider-Man saves Kirsten Dunsts Mary Jane from a group of attackers. He throws them through a set of windows before he kisses her upside down in the rain. But during their romantic embrace, the windows behind her are perfectly intact.
Halloween (1978)
open image in gallery ( * )
John Carpenters slasher film starring Jamie Lee Curtis was set in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois, but all the cars have Californian number plates and there are shots of palm trees, as the film was shot in Southern California.
The Goonies (1985)
open image in gallery ( Rex Features )
At the end of the cult film, Data tells news reporters that the octopus was really scary, but this actually refers to a deleted scene. It was only added back in for the Disney Channel version.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
open image in gallery ( * )
Eagle-eyed fans have noted that Ant-Man can be seen in two places at once during the final battle scene in the van, and in his giant form, fighting alongside the other Avengers.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
open image in gallery ( Rex )
Merry and Pippin are captured by the Orcs at the start of the film, and Pippin is seen in handcuffs. But he doesnt have them anymore in the fight scene. And then they reappear on his wrists a few moments later.
Gladiator (1999)
open image in gallery ( Rex )
Ridley Scotts epic film took place many centuries before fuel-powered vehicles. But during the Battle of Carthage, a gas canister can be seen on the back of a chariot when it flips over.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
open image in gallery ( Rex )
There is a mix up over whether it is day or night at the beginning of the stock market heist scene in Christopher Nolans film. It is clearly daylight, but suddenly, after the police chase, its pitch black.
Titantic (1997)
open image in gallery ( Rex )
When Jack (Leonardi DiCaprio) is painting a naked Rose (Kate Winslet) and tells her to go over by the bed, and then says he means the couch, it was DiCaprio flubbing his lines. But James Cameron kept it in the film because it was funny.
Jurassic World (2015)
open image in gallery ( Rex )
The blockbuster featured about 33 mistakes, including a scene in which lead actor Chris Pratt talks to co-star Bryce Dallas Howard without his mouth moving. In another scene, a phones broken screen suddenly appears fixed.
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Sean Diddy Combs has issued a statement from prison, calling a damning memoir allegedly written by his late ex-wife Kim Porter, a fake.
The 54-year-old music mogul and father of seven was arrested on 16 September and indicted on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. Despite having pleaded not guilty to the charges, hes been denied bail twice and remains in jail.
In the 60-page book titled Kims Lost Words: A Journey for Justice, from the Other Side..., which is said to be filled with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, a number of graphic allegations are made about the incarcerated rappers sexual encounters, including accusations of physical abuse.
His attorney Erica Wolf said in a statement: The Kim Porter memoir is fake. It is also offensive a shameless attempt to profit from tragedy.
Unlike the fabrications in his sickening memoir, it is an established fact that Ms Porter died of natural causes. May she rest in peace.
Porter and Combs children have also distanced themselves from the book as they said in a statement, We have seen so many hurtful and false rumours circulating about our parents, Kim Porter and Sean Combs relationship, as well as about our moms tragic passing, that we feel the need to speak out.
In a 14-page indictment, prosecutors allege Combs coerced and drugged women to participate in recorded highly orchestrated performances of sexual activity which he called Freak Offs that would sometimes last days and often included male commercial sex workers. Over 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant were found at Combs property.
Combs attorney, Marc Agnifilo, denied any allegations of wrongdoing, claiming his client is an innocent man with nothing to hide.
Diddy has slammed the alleged memoir as a fake ( Getty )
He said: Mr. Combs is a fighter, hes going to fight this to the end.
The music mogul was also recently hit with a $100m default judgment over an alleged sexual assault from a 1997 party against Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith.
Lenawee County Circuit Court Judge granted the award to Cardello-Smith, an inmate who filed the lawsuit against Combs, accusing him of drugging and sexually assaulting him at a party 30 years ago. Combs has strenuously denied all wrongdoing.
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Its a bit of a risk to put a lesser-known Shakespeare play with a vaguely comical name in the National Theatres massive Olivier space. But you wouldnt know it from the monumental confidence of Lyndsey Turners swaggering production, full of antique grandeur and up-to-the-minute fireworks. The storys set in the early days of Ancient Rome the citys fierce origin myth referenced by a giant statue of the wolf who suckled its twin founders. But Turners aesthetic is refined rather than feral, gesturing towards the remote elite that stifled Rome until it declined and fell.
In slo-mo fight scenes with a cinematic polish we see Coriolanus, played by David Oyelowo, earn his reputation as a formidable warrior. The actor moves beautifully in flashes of strobe, the messiness of battle forgotten. Then, the Roman Senate anoint him as consul, and he becomes less sure of his movements, faced with the task of winning over the citys ordinary citizens like Cordelia in King Lear, hes reluctant to put on a public performance of sentiment, Oyelowo closing himself off in nervous detachment as they demand to see his battle scars. Some productions make the people of Rome into an unruly rabble for Coriolanus to sneer at: here, theyre still and dignified, and his jibes about their smelly clothes feel more like an outlet for his deep social awkwardness.
There are so many potential modern parallels to Coriolanus: the leader who refuses to bow to populism, or to understand that the people whove raised him up are equally capable of tearing him down when it suits them. Turner takes an intriguing sideways step away from politics by setting the stage in an art gallery, referencing movements like Rhodes Must Fall, or the campaigns to decolonise the British Museum. Set designer Es Devlin has crafted stages for the likes of Beyonce, and shes on full, voluptuously extravagant form here, unleashing an intricate succession of concrete cuboids that reference the National Theatres own Brutalist battlements, studded with treasures. Ancient statues linger on stage, a reminder of how classical learning has underpinned the thinking of modern political elites or how power is stolen and hoarded. A gilded replica of the Elgin Marbles appears behind Coriolanus when he eventually descends into full misanthropic fury, Oyelowo making brilliant, snarling work of a speech where he turns his back on the establishment that formed him.
There arent many jokes in this sombre play, but Turners staging brings out all its ironic wit: when Coriolanus crashes into the HQ of his enemies the Volscians, she sets the scene in a bustling hotel kitchen whose white-clad chefs are bewildered by this bedraggled warriors sudden appearance. And its hilarious duo of officious tribunes Brutus (Jordan Metcalfe) and Sicinius (Stephanie Street) feel like theyre straight from a political sitcom, resolutely ordinary amid the chaos they cause.
open image in gallery Coriolanus refuses to bow to populism ( Misan Harriman )
The plays deepest bond is between Coriolanus and his mother, Volumnia here, Pamela Nomvete is imperious and grand as this matriarch, their love feeling a little abstract until the touching moment when she kneels and stumbles a little, her ankles sore, and her sons distant pride crumbles too. This production moves at a clip through the early scenes, meaning relationships like this dont have space to bloom, and plot points are hard to parse as expert orator Menenius, Peter Forbes stands out for treating his lines with a welcome care and relish.
Still, this is epic, blockbuster Shakespeare in the vein of the NTs 2018 Antony and Cleopatra: exciting to watch, packed with powerful performances and memorable images. And beneath the bombast, theres a reminder of the dangers of elitism even if ironically that message is delivered in stylishly opaque form.
National Theatre, until 9 November; nationaltheatre.org.uk
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Jennifer Anistons home in Los Angeles was visited by police on Friday (September 20) evening after a swatting prank where a hoax caller requested a wellness check.
The Friends star, 55, was reportedly at home at the time of the incident and soon assured officers she wasnt in danger.
TMZ reports that an unidentified male caller rang a 911 dispatcher and said he was worried about a friends wellbeing without mentioning The Morning Show actor by name.
The caller said the friend wasnt doing well, gave Anistons address and failed to identify themselves.
When LAPD arrived at the home shortly after midnight they were met by surprised security staff. The officers were only then informed that they were at Anistons residence and spoke to the star, who confirmed that she had no intention of self-harm.
In a statement to The Independent, LAPD confirmed that officers responded to a welfare check and that they then determined the radio call was a swatting incident.
open image in gallery Jennifer Aniston attending the Emmys in September 2024 ( Frazer Harrison/Getty Images )
A swatting incident is when a prank call is made to the emergency services to set up a response to a specific location, such as the home of a politician or other public figure, with the aim of getting the authorities, possibly a SWAT team, to appear at the address.
Other celebrities such as Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj have been targeted in similar incidents, with police or swat teams called to their homes unnecessarily.
It is not only celebrities who have been targeted by such pranks. In January this year, emergency service workers rushed to the White House in response to reports of a fire that was later determined to be a likely swatting incident.
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In April, a British video gamer was spared jail after a hoax call to US police led to the shooting of an innocent man.
Robert Walker-McDaid, 28, from Coventry, rang a US terrorism hotline in 2015 claiming he had plastic explosives and hostages.
The call led to a Swat unit being sent to the home of Tyran Dobbs, who was shot with plastic bullets.
Walker-McDaid had been posing as Dobbs, who was shot in the face and chest and suffered severe life-changing facial injuries.
Walker-McDaid became the first person in the UK to be charged over swatting, according to the Crown Prosecution Service, which worked with the US Department of Justice and the FBI.
He earlier admitted perverting the course of justice and was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court on Friday to 20 months in prison suspended for 18 months.
He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and pay compensation of 1,000 to Mr Dobbs.
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Phillip Schofield has spoken out about his controversial return to TV after revealing he will be fronting his own survival series for Channel 5.
On Tuesday (24 September), it was announced that the former This Morning host had spent the summer secretly filming a three-part series, titled Cast Away, which sees him spending 10 days trying to survive on an island in the Indian Ocean.
The 62-year-old posted two photos of himself from the show on Instagram the following day. In the first image, he is sitting cross-legged on a beach, with a scruffy beard and in the second, he is seen reclining and using what appears to be a backpack as a pillow.
Now you know how I spent my Summer! Schofield captioned the post, which had been liked more than 25,000 times within an hour of it going live. Alone for 10 days, no food, no water, no crew. My story of survival, both on a desert island and off it. Cast Away starts Monday on @channel5_tv & My5 at 9pm.
The post follows a cryptic Instagram Story that the former TV host posted on Tuesday evening (24 September): Watch this space... 9am, he wrote alongside a winking emoji.
The announcement has sparked derision online, with viewers calling it a disgrace.
Phillip Schofield on a desert island for ten days in his TV comeback? The only way Ill be watching that is if the island is heavily populated with lions, tigers, snakes and crocodiles, one person posted on Twitter/X.
open image in gallery Schofield announced the show on Wednesday ( Instagram/@schofe )
If this is designed to make people feel sorry for him, it will backfire massively. People were just starting to forget, and now they are raking it all up again, another added.
The series will mark Schofields return to television after he sensationally left ITV last year following 20 years with the broadcaster.
In a statement issued at the time, the married presenter said he had had a consensual on-off relationship that was unwise, but not illegal.
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He apologised for the affair, which happened while he was married to his wife of 30 years, Stephanie Lowe.e
Schofields presenting partner Holly Willoughby left This Morning after 14 years in October 2023, explaining her decision as one made for me and my family.
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Phillip Schofield is set to make an unexpected return to television 16 months after exiting ITV over his widely reported affair scandal.
The former This Morning host has kept a low public profile since last summer, when he admitted to having an affair with a younger male colleague.
The Sun reported on Tuesday that the 62-year-old has secretly filmed a Channel 5 special, titled Cast Away, which sees him marooned on a tropical island for 10 days.
The tabloid shared screenshots from the series of Mr Schofield looking grizzled in a dirty grey t-shirt and a white beard.
Over the past few months Phil has had quite a few offers for various things but has steadfastly turned them all down, a source told The Sun.
This sort of challenge has always appealed to him though and after consulting with friends and family, he decided to go for it. Its all been top secret, and has been an incredibly quick turnaround in order to keep the news quiet.
open image in gallery Phillip Schofield in the Channel 5 special, titled Cast Away, which sees him marooned on a tropical island for 10 days ( Channel 5 )
After 42 years on telly, Phillip has learnt from some great crews and teams on how to film and tell a story.
With 10 days to himself, no camera crews or production around, he shot some unbelievably raw footage - some of it makes for tough, emotional viewing.
But he wanted a chance to share his story, unedited and honest, and let viewers see another side to him.
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Whilst this is a massive coup for Channel 5, and huge for Phillip, hes in no rush to come back to TV full-time yet; he remains very bruised, and is just taking some time now to weigh things up before he makes any major decisions.
Channel 5 teased the special on Monday with a clip showing just the back and legs of an unnamed celebrity as fans guessed who it might be.
The broadcaster captioned its post: Coming Soon to Channel 5 A celebrity marooned on an uninhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar for 10 days is challenged with total isolation, the forces of nature, and the battle within their own mind.
Cast Away airs over three nights beginning 30 September.
The news comes hours after Mr Schofield posted the message watch this space to his Instagram story, alongside a winky face emoji.
open image in gallery Phillip Schofield is set to return to television on Channel 5s Cast Away ( Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images )
The series will be Mr Schofields first time on television since he sensationally left ITV last year following 20 years with the broadcaster.
Mr Schofields presenting partner Holly Willoughby left This Morning after 14 years in October 2023, explaining her decision as one made for me and my family.
In a statement at the time, Mr Schofield said he had had a consensual on-off relationship that was unwise, but not illegal.
He apologised for the affair, which happened while he was married to his wife of 30 years, Stephanie Lowe.
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A prominent Chinese economist has reportedly disappeared from the public eye after he criticised president Xi Jinping in a private group chat, becoming the latest individual to face repercussions for critiquing the government.
Zhu Hengpeng, 55, who worked at a government think tank for around a decade, has vanished from public view after he allegedly dissed the Chinese president for his economic policies in a private WeChat group, reported TheWall Street Journal.
Mr Zhu, who worked as deputy director of the Institute of Economics at the state-run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) was detained shortly after he made offensive remarks about Chinas sluggish economy as well as potential remains against Mr Xi, it reported citing sources.
He has reportedly not been seen in public since April when he addressed an event organised by Chinese media outlet, Caixin. Its not clear when he made the comments on WeChat.
It comes after Hong Kong media reports said a major shake-up of the top management at the institute saw the director and secretary also removed from their posts.
Mr Zhu was investigated, removed from his posts, and later detained, it reported. His name and website related to his work at the think tanks affiliated Tsinghua University have also been taken down.
The details of Mr Zhus controversial remarks in the chat are not known. However, a report in Sing Tao Daily said it improperly discussed central policies while WSJ said he made a reference to Xis mortality.
Alibaba founder Jack Mas sudden temporary disappearance caused a stir in 2020 after multi-billionaire Chinese lamented the countrys financial regulatory system ( Getty )
The economist is the latest Chinese elite to have disappeared as Mr Xis government ramps up crackdowns on criticism of his leadership and governance amid concerns over the flagging economy. The worlds second largest economy is sluggish and missing its rather modest 5 per cent growth target. In July 2024, Chinese government data revealed GDP growth has declined below the governments target.
The economic downturn has come on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns as it followed a draconian zero Covid policy.
In July, former Global Times editor and outspoken supporter of the Communist Party Hu Xijin, abruptly went silent on social media after he shared a controversial assessment of Beijings economic strategy discussed at a conclave led by Mr Xi last month.
It prompted detractors of the Communist Party to speculate about ongoing attempts to censor discussion around the countrys economic slowdown.
Former Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang also disappeared before he was stripped of his position ( AP )
Chinese former foreign minister Qin Gang mysteriously disappeared from public view in the summer of 2023. The so-called wolf war diplomat of China was later removed from his position and was reportedly demoted to a low-level publishing job.
In 2020, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma disappeared from the public eye after he criticised Chinese regulators. He remained in the shadows for years after his controversial speech in which he lamented the countrys financial regulatory system before emerging but maintaining a low profile since.
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China conducted the rare first public test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the Pacific Ocean in more than four decades, a move that can aggravate tensions in the Asia-Pacific region.
The missile that can cross continents carried a dummy nuclear warhead as it was launched by the Peoples Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) at 8.44am Beijing time on Wednesday, the Chinese defence ministry announced.
It accurately landed in the predetermined sea area during what it called a routine arrangement in our annual training plan, it said.
It was Chinas first publicly announced test of an ICBM in 44 years, occurring amid escalating tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, where Beijing is regularly involved in disputes with Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
Spectators wave Chinese flags as military vehicles carrying DF-41 nuclear ballistic missiles roll during a parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of Communist China in Beijing on 1 Oct 2019 ( Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )
China conducted the first known test of an ICBM in May 1980, when a DF-5 missile took a flight of more than 9,000km. Since then, China is believed to have conducted most of its nuclear weapons tests underground.
The ministry said the test was not directed at any country or target and it informed the countries concerned in advance.
Beijing did not comment about the path or trajectory of the missile or where exactly in the high seas of the Pacific Ocean it fell after the successful launch.
A map published in Chinese newspapers at the time showed the target area as roughly a circle in the centre of a ring formed by the Solomon Islands, Nauru, the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu, western Samoa, Fiji and the New Hebrides.
Analysts have said China usually carries out these tests within its own airspace.
Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said ICBM testing in the Pacific Ocean is not the standard operating procedure for PLARF these days.
Most testing takes place over PRC territory, he said on X, adding that it is essentially the first time this has happened (and been announced as such) in a long time.
PRC statement description of this specific test as routine and annual seems odd given that they dont do this sort thing either routinely or annually.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said the unusual ICBM test serves to highlight its ability and readiness to strike the US mainland if it chose to do so.
To Washington, the message is that direct intervention in a conflict across the Taiwan Strait would involve the American homeland being vulnerable to attack, he said.
To US allies in Asia, Chinas provocative test, conducted during its expansive regional military exercises, demonstrates its capabilities to fight on multiple fronts simultaneously, he said, underscoring the need for stronger international cooperation on security and arms control.
Singapore-based security analyst Alexander Neill said the test fit a pattern of China simultaneously engaging and warning.
This move is designed to show in clear terms that the means of delivering its strategic deterrent is still functioning, said Mr Neill, an adjunct fellow with Hawaiis Pacific Forum think-tank.
Drew Thompson, a visiting research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, said the launch is a powerful signal intended to intimidate everyone.
Timing is everything, he wrote on X. [Chinas] statement claims the launch does not target any country, but there are high-levels of tension between China and Japan, Philippines, and of course perpetual tension with Taiwan.
Japan reported no damage to its vessels in the region but said it would continue to analyse information on the movements of the Chinese military.
A Japan Coast Guard official said it had received a navigation warning from China on Monday for space debris in three zones in the South China Sea and the Pacific north of the Philippines Luzon island, and in the South Pacific, ahead of Wednesdays test.
Chinas most advanced and latest ICBM is known to be DF-41 with a range of up to 12,00015,000km (7,460-9,320 miles), capable of reaching the US mainland. It first came into service in 2017 and has been displayed at the Beijing Exhibition Centre.
The operation range is more than the typical ICBM greater than 5,500km (3,420 miles).
According to Pentagon estimates, China has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads, out of which approximately 350 are ICBMs. It is expected to have over 1,000 warheads by 2030.
In comparison, the US and Russia have deployed 1,770 and 1,710 operational warheads, respectively.
The public acknowledgement of the ICBM test comes as the US remains the main global rival of China, although Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and others have blamed it for territorial disputes in the Pacific and South China Sea with countries in the region.
In April, the US military deployed its mid-range capability (MRC) missile system, also known as the Typhon, to the Philippines, a move that has prompted Beijing government officials to complain about the weapon repeatedly twice in the past week alone.
It was the first time the US deployed such a weapon in the Asia Pacific region since a 1987 arms control treaty between the US and the then-Soviet Union. The intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) treaty banned the deployment of land-based missiles ranging from 500km to 5,500km (311-3,420 miles).
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Chinas commerce ministry said on Thursday it will investigate the fashion company PVH, which owns brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, for suspected violations of trade rules.
The ministry said in statements posted online that it would investigate the companys suspected boycott of products from the far western Xinjiang region, where Chinas ruling Communist Party is accused of holding members of mostly Muslim ethnic groups in detention camps.
Washington has blocked some imports from Xinjiang, while Beijing has protested against such moves. China denies any abuses and says steps it has taken are necessary to combat terrorism and a separatist movement.
Companies that buy clothing, cotton, tomatoes and other goods from Xinjiang face pressure from western consumers over alleged human rights violations in the region, while Beijing has whipped up Chinese anger at brands that express concern about possible forced labour.
In this 18 March 2021 file photo, residents wearing masks walk along the streets of Aksu in western China's Xinjiang region ( Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )
The US PVH Group is suspected of violating normal market trading principles and unreasonably boycotting Xinjiang cotton and other products without factual basis, seriously damaging the legitimate rights and interests of relevant Chinese companies and endangering Chinas sovereignty, security and development interests, the ministry said.
PVH says in a statement on its website that it complies with laws and regulations wherever it does business, including with respect to US government policy regarding the Xinjiang region.
The commerce ministry said the investigation would be under the rules of China's Unreliable Entities List, which is used as a counter-sanction against measures taken against Beijing.
PVH was expected, within 30 days of Tuesday's announcement, to provide information to China to explain if it had taken discriminatory measures against Xinjiang-related products in the past three years, it said.
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Sri Lankas new president Anura Kumara Dissanayake has named Harini Amarasuriya, a member of his National Peoples Power (NPP) coalition, as the countrys prime minister.
The leftist president, popularly known as AKD, was sworn into office on Monday after securing a landslide victory in the first presidential election held since the anti-government protests in 2022 that forced then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign and flee.
He called for snap parliamentary elections after dissolving parliament shortly after his weekend election victory.
Ms Amarasuriya, 54, is the first woman in more than two decades and the only third woman in the history of independent Sri Lanka to take charge as the prime minister. She is a sociology lecturer and known for her activism on gender and minority rights.
The last woman to serve as prime minister was Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who became the worlds first female head of government after the post in 1960. Her daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga took office in 1994.
A government notification on Tuesday said that the 225-member parliament was dissolved effective midnight and that the fresh election was set for 14 November, nearly a year ahead of schedule.
The move is seen as the president's bid to consolidate power in parliament, where Mr Dissanayake's NPP holds just three seats. We will have the smallest cabinet in the history of Sri Lanka, party member Namal Karunaratne told reporters.
Mr Dissanayake's lack of a majority makes it difficult for him to appoint a fully-fledged cabinet, and he had vowed during the campaign to dissolve parliament and call a snap election. The present parliament's five-year term ends next August.
Despite being a minority in parliament, the 2022 protests triggered by the economic crisis in the island paved the way for Mr Dissanayake's rise to power. "Your commitment has brought us this far, and for that, I am deeply grateful. This victory belongs to all of us, he wrote in a post on X after securing 42 per cent of votes.
"The task facing her is extraordinarily challenging, but she is a woman of extraordinary capacities," Jonathan Spencer, emeritus professor at the University of Edinburgh, told The Hindu.
Mr Dissanayake retained the defence, energy and agricultural portfolios while handing over justice, education, labour, science, health and investment ministries to the prime minister.
A third member of the coalition, Vijitha Herath, was appointed the new foreign minister with an additional charge of public security.
The president will address the nation on Wednesday as he prepares to renegotiate the economically embattled country's International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme.
Former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who secured the third-highest votes in the presidential election had warned that any move to alter the basics of the bailout agreement would delay the release of a fourth tranche of nearly $3bn (2.24bn).
We will not shred the agreement, said Bimal Ratnayake, a senior aide to the new president. "It is a binding document, but there is a provision to renegotiate," he told AFP.
The IMF offered its congratulations to Mr Dissanayake, saying it "looked forward to working together with the president ... towards building on the hard-won gains that have helped put Sri Lanka on a path to economic recovery".
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The king of Thailand has given approval to the marriage equality bill passed by parliament earlier this year, making it the third Asian territory to formally legalise same-sex unions.
The law, endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, takes effect in 120 days. It enables same-sex couples to marry and get full legal, financial, and medical rights.
This makes Thailand the first Southeast Asian country and the third in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage after Taiwan and Nepal.
Though Thailand is known for its acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, legalising same-sex marriage took decades of effort and advocacy in a largely conservative Buddhist society.
The government of the Pheu Thai party, which had made marriage equality a priority, plans to celebrate the laws enactment at the next Bangkok Pride.
Congratulations to everyones love, prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on X, adding the hashtag #LoveWins.
Bangkok deputy governor Sanon Wangsrangboon said last week that city officials will be ready to register same-sex marriages once the law takes effect.
The new law amends Thailands Civil and Commercial Code, replacing gender-specific terms like men and women with gender-neutral terms like individual.
Today we are not only getting to write our names in marriage certificates but we are also writing a page in history, Ann Chumaporn, LGBTQ+ activist and co-founder of the Bangkok Pride movement was quoted as saying by theBBC. That tells us that love never set a condition of who we were born to be.
Its a triumph of equality and human dignity.
Another activist, Siritata Ninlapruek, told AFP: We are all delighted and excited. Weve been fighting for our rights for over 10 years, and now its finally happening.
Thai king Maha Vajiralongkorn has given approval to the new same-sex marriage law according to the Royal Gazette announced on 24 September 2024 ( AFP via Getty )
Former prime minister Srettha Thavisin described the new piece of legislation as a significant step for Thailand.
Equity and equality have become concrete in the Thai society. Gender diversity will eventually be fully accepted. Congratulations, he wrote on X.
It means a lot. This is the eighth year of our relationship but our status isnt legally recognised, Naphat Krutthai, who has been in a same-sex relationship for eight years, told Associated Press last December.
When either of us gets sick or has an emergency, we cant take care of each other properly. So it really matters to us, he said.
The Netherlands was the first country to legalise same-sex unions in 2001. Since then over 30 countries worldwide have followed suit.
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Sainsburys has agreed to sell its ATM machines to operator NoteMachine, as the chain sharpens its focus on the retail business after offloading its main banking arm.
NoteMachine will take over the management of some 1,370 ATMs across the UK.
All the machines will stay open and in their current place, meaning people will still access the free-to-use cash service outside Sainsburys supermarkets and local stores.
Were confident that NoteMachine is the right partner for us and our customers Simon Roberts, Sainsbury's chief executive
The sale comes several months after Sainsburys struck a deal with NatWest to sell the bulk of its banking business, including personal loans, credit card balances and customer deposits.
Its banking arm now consists of its commission income businesses including insurance and cash money.
Sainsburys had revealed earlier this year that it was winding down its banking division in order to focus on its retail business a decision echoed by rival Tesco which also offloaded most of its banking activities to Barclays.
NoteMachine is set to take full ownership of the ATMs by May next year.
As part of a long-term partnership, Sainsburys will continue to receive some commission from the income generated by the cash machines, which will be allowed to remain located across its stores.
Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsburys, said: We are really pleased that we can keep offering our customers free access to cash at all of our existing locations while also simplifying our banking business and reducing our costs.
Were confident that NoteMachine is the right partner for us and our customers.
NoteMachine has one of the largest cash machine networks across the UK and is part of The Brinks Company, a US-based ATM group.
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Theresa May has launched a blistering attack on Donald Trump and other leading right-wing politicians including Nigel Farage and Marine Le Pen over their climate-change denial.
In a wide-ranging speech in New York, Baroness May also warned that the climate crisis is now fuelling the cruelty and criminality of the modern slave trade.
The former prime minister was giving the keynote speech at The Independents Climate 100 event, as world leaders including British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
Baroness Mays anger at those like Trump and Mr Farage who describe climate change as a hoax or a scam echoes warnings made ahead of the Climate 100 event in a powerful intervention by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.
open image in gallery Former British prime minister Theresa May speaks at The Independents inaugural Climate 100 event on September 25 in New York ( Alex Kent )
As Tory chair in 2002, after a second humiliating defeat to Tony Blair, Ms May famously delivered a warning to the Conservatives that they had become the nasty party by turning their backs on the issues that resonated with ordinary voters.
Her attack on Trump and Mr Farage also includes an implied criticism of her own party, where the four leadership candidates have all moved towards Reform, pulling away from green policies like those she championed in government.
She made a passionate appeal for leaders to take the climate crisis seriously, not just to save the planet but also for the sake of humanity.
She raged against those who pit the people against an out-of-touch elite, accusing them of using the climate change debate to fight a culture war.
open image in gallery Donald Trump has claimed that climate change is a hoax ( AP )
Turning her fire on Trump, whom she met at the White House as prime minister and held hands with as she walked down the stairs, Baroness May said: Here in the United States, action on climate change is already a feature of the upcoming presidential election, with one of the two main candidates promising to repeal recent climate legislation and ramp up drilling for fossil fuels.
Its a position arising partly from a long-held conspiracy theory that climate change is a hoax.
The intervention comes just weeks away from the US election, in which Trump will stand against current vice-president Kamala Harris as he attempts to return to the White House.
The Independents Climate 100 event marks the launch of the Climate 100 List, a roll call of leading climate activists, innovators, scientists, business leaders, creators, policymakers and entrepreneurs from around the world, selected by The Independent.
At a time when Sir Keir is focused on delivering economic growth, Baroness May reminded her audience and the wider political class that green policies are positive forces for economic growth and job creation, not a cost imposed on the taxpayer.
Despite the opportunities ahead of us, our aspirations of transitioning our economies towards sustainability are increasingly under attack particularly in Western democracies.
open image in gallery Nigel Farage has said that climate-change measures drain money from taxpayers ( AFP via Getty )
Baroness May cited the type of rhetoric used by Marine Le Pen, who narrowly failed to win in Frances recent parliamentary elections, and Alternative for Germany (AfD), who could end up sharing power in the German parliament after next years general election.
Those of us who advocate accelerating our progress towards net zero emissions are labelled fanatics and zealots. Ironically, the name-calling often emanates from ideologues at the political extremes or from populists who offer only easy answers to complex questions.
Those who drive wedge issues that seek to divide us. Who crave deeper polarisation in our societies in order to rally support for their cause.
But her ire was also focused on Britain and the rise of Mr Farages Reform UK, with its intent to undermine attempts to tackle climate change.
In my own country, climate change has become politicised by some on the right of British politics. We saw in the recent general election how the Reform party campaigned on a platform of opposing the UKs climate objectives.
open image in gallery Robert Jenrick, pictured speaking at a Conservative Party leadership campaign event, has questioned the importance of net zero policies ( PA Wire )
It framed net zero as a cost imposed from on high that threatens livelihoods and will send jobs abroad.
Baroness May highlighted how important the Climate 100 event is in terms of making the case for action.
Well done to The Independent for its leadership in this area, not just today, but for placing climate change and environmental concerns at the core of its journalism for many years, she said.
But she warned: Lets face it: we have been talking about this for years, and still we are not achieving the change we need. In many ways, the term climate change has just become another part of the everyday language of politicians, used so often that people forget what it really means. Dismiss it from their thinking, get on with life, think: It doesnt mean anything to me and in any case, someone else will have to sort it out.
The onus is on those in the political centre ground to provide due challenge.
When the sceptics say that the green transition will cripple business, we say they could not be more wrong. Study after study shows that the transition to renewable energy will unlock global market opportunities worth trillions of dollars over the next decade alone with businesses in every world region able to capitalise.
She added: When the critics say transitioning to renewables costs too much, we say its wrong to see it as a cost. Its an enormous investment opportunity for the private sector, where, over time, the economic returns far outstrip the investment required.
But more than the economics and the need to save the planet, Baroness May was concerned about the immediate impact on humanity. She noted that she had witnessed climate change on her holidays to Switzerland with her husband Sir Philip.
When we stand at Rotenboden above Zermatt, we see the retreat of the glaciers. And this year, there was so much rainfall in June that it caused flooding in the village, and brought about landslips that closed the railway down the valley.
Im told that the replacement buses alone cost 1 million Swiss francs, let alone the cost of the repair work to this vital transport artery.
But the most troubling stories come from the way in which the climate crisis is fuelling modern slavery.
As home secretary and prime minister, Ms May was responsible for taking on the scourge of modern slavery, which affects millions around the globe. She also brought in some of the most far-reaching reforms on clean air, and instigated a 25-year environment plan.
Her stark warning to those gathered in the audience and beyond was that the evil trade in human beings is being fuelled by the climate crisis and the despair it creates.
Climate change has and will lead some to poverty and desperation.
Some of the most dire outcomes of climate change are humanitarian. When extreme weather events destroy homes and livelihoods, when harvests fail, when water supplies dry up, when sea levels destroy communities, and when political instability and conflict take hold, people are often left destitute with no roof over their head, no economic security, no reliable means to feed their families, and no support network.
Life becomes a matter of survival from one day to the next, and into that picture come the criminal gangs making money out of human suffering. Because these situations make people more vulnerable to being trafficked and taken into slavery.
She told of the harrowing tales that had crossed her desk of a 53-year-old Romanian electrician, a girl she called Jane who was forced into the sex industry, and a seven-year-old girl used as a slave and forced to sleep with the dogs.
She said: These are stories from the UK and the USA, but slavery is worldwide. In nine years, one safe house in London has taken in women from 50 different countries.
Baroness May founded and chairs the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, which brings together influential figures from politics, civil society, business and academia to restore lost political momentum in addressing this issue.
She said: The World Bank estimates that, by 2050, a further 143 million people will have been forced from their homes in Africa, south Asia and Latin America because of climate change. It will contribute to a global migration phenomenon that far surpasses anything we are experiencing today.
So the window of opportunity is closing to act on climate change, to preserve our planet, and to alleviate human suffering.
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Scientists have uncovered coral colonies in the Great Barrier Reef that can withstand higher temperatures than previously thought, boosting hopes for the survival of corals that have been under dire threat in recent years.
A study published on Monday found that certain corals have a greater ability to resist bleaching, a condition where corals lose their vibrant colour and are at risk of dying when exposed to heat stress, a more frequent and longer phenomenon now due to the climate crisis.
This discovery offers hope that these naturally resilient corals could play a critical role in helping the Great Barrier Reef, which is experiencing its fourth global mass bleaching event due to record-high sea temperatures, survive.
Researchers at Southern Cross University tested over 500 colonies of the table coral acropora hyacinthus from 17 different locations across the Great Barrier Reef.
Using a portable experimental setup, the researchers took their equipment out to sea to measure the heat tolerance of these coral colonies directly on the reefs. This allowed them to observe how different corals responded to increased temperatures and stress in their natural environment.
We found heat-tolerant corals at almost all the reefs that we studied, highlighting how corals across the entire Great Barrier Reef may hold the key to protecting and restoring the reef, the lead author of the study Melissa Naugle said.
A school of fish swim over a coral head along the Great Barrier Reef in August. ( Washington Post )
Heat-tolerant corals are colonies that can survive in warmer water without bleaching. Coral bleaching occurs when corals are stressed by rising sea temperatures and expel the algae living in their tissues, which they rely on for food. Without these algae, corals turn white and become more vulnerable to disease and death.
The ability to withstand heat varies among coral colonies, and this variation is important for the survival of coral reefs.
Ms Naugle explained: Naturally occurring heat tolerance variation is crucial for corals to adapt to climate warming and for the success of restoration initiatives.
One of the most important findings from the study is that not all corals are equally affected by rising temperatures. Some coral colonies, due to genetic differences, are more resilient to heat than others.
Australias Great Barrier Reef is increasingly threatened by rising temperatures ( Getty )
This is essential for the process of natural selection, where the more resilient corals are likely to survive and pass on their heat-tolerant traits to future generations.
Differences between individual corals provide the fuel for natural selection to produce future generations of more tolerant corals, said Dr Line Bay, senior principal research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS) and co-author of the study.
In other words, as ocean temperatures continue to rise, these more heat-tolerant corals could help rebuild and restore the reef by producing offspring better suited to the warming environment.
Bleached cora in the Great Barrier Reef ( PA )
The next step for the research team is to analyse the genetic makeup of these heat-tolerant corals using DNA sequencing.
By identifying which specific genes contribute to heat tolerance, scientists could better understand how these resilient corals adapt to their changing environment and use this information to inform conservation strategies.
The discovery of heat-tolerant corals has significant implications for coral restoration programmes. One approach is selective breeding, where corals with the strongest heat tolerance are bred to produce offspring with even greater resilience to warming waters. This method could help speed up coral adaptation to climate change.
Selective breeding could accelerate adaptation by producing coral offspring better suited to warmer waters, Dr Emily Howells, a co-author and senior research fellow at the university, said.
However, she added that the effectiveness of this approach depends on how much of the heat tolerance is tied to genes that can be passed on to future generations.
Currently, the most heat-tolerant corals identified in this study are being used in selective breeding trials as part of the RRAP, a large-scale initiative aimed at protecting and restoring the Great Barrier Reef.
Australias Great Barrier Reef has suffered its most widespread coral bleaching on record ( James Cook University )
While the discovery of heat-tolerant corals offers a promising path forward, scientists stress that its not a complete solution to the broader threat of climate change.
The Great Barrier Reef has been severely impacted by a series of mass bleaching events, and rising global temperatures continue to pose a significant risk.
Coral bleaching is becoming more frequent and severe, and many experts fear that if global temperatures rise by more than 1.5C, the vast majority of coral reefs worldwide could be wiped out.
This work shows that naturally heat-tolerant corals can be targeted for large-scale reef restoration and conservation efforts, helping to protect this critical ecosystem from the warming ocean temperatures that are already locked in due to climate change, Dr Cedric Robillot, executive director of the reef restoration and adaptation program, said.
Despite these restoration efforts, Ms Naugle and her team say that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is still the most crucial factor in ensuring the long-term survival of coral reefs.
While restoration initiatives like selective breeding may strengthen coral populations, reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the most critical action we can take to give coral reefs the best future possible, she said.
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The Prince of Wales has dubbed the 2024 Earthshot Prize finalists as the most exciting, innovative and impactful he has seen.
William announced the contenders, hoping to be named winners at the awards ceremony in Cape Town this autumn, in a video message while still sporting his summer beard.
The finalists, from countries including France, Ghana, Indonesia and Nepal, are vying for a 1 million prize pot awarded to each winner of five categories, with the money earmarked to develop their ideas.
The Prince of Wales attending an Earthshot Prize event in London in June (Kin Cheung/PA ( PA Wire )
The future King, Earthshots founder and president, said in his video message filmed at Windsor earlier this month: Im delighted to introduce you to this years 15 new Earthshot Prize finalists.
These solutions are some of the most exciting, innovative and impactful weve seen, and the people behind them are true inspirations.
Awards are presented in five categories, or Earthshots Protect and Restore Nature; Clean Our Air; Revive Our oceans; Build a Waste-Free World; and Fix Our Climate.
The initiative was inspired by former US president John F Kennedys Moonshot project which set scientists the challenge of placing an astronaut on the moon and returning him safely and in the process helping advance mankinds achievements.
Among the finalists in the Build a Waste-Free World category is Keep It Cool, a Kenyan based company using solar powered refrigeration to help cut harvest waste for farmers.
William is shown part of the low carbon concrete manufacturing process, during a visit to 2022 Earthshot Prize finalists Low Carbon Materials, in Seaham, County Durham (Oli Scarff/PA ( PA Wire )
The Fix Our Climate category features American company Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems, which is converting excess heat, produced during the making of steel or cement, into electricity.
While Build Up Nepal, a social enterprise, has developed an earthquake-resilient brick with 75% lower carbon emissions compared to traditional clay-fired bricks.
UK start-up NatureMetrics, a Protect and Restore Nature finalist, is using environmental DNA technology to identify species populations and report environmental and conservation impacts.
In a written message, William said: The passion of these finalists is a testament to what can be achieved when we tap into the enormous creativity, ingenuity, and optimism of communities around the world.
Representing every corner of the globe, these finalists are leading the way in solving some of the most urgent environmental challenges.
Their ground-breaking work is inspiring hope and action as we work to create a sustainable future for generations to come.
The Prince of Wales has this week personally been recognised for his environmental work, by making The Independents inaugural Climate 100 List. The list is a roll call of leading climate activists, innovators, scientists, business leaders, creators, policymakers and entrepreneurs from around the world, selected by The Independent.
To coincide with the launch on the list, an The Independents Climate 100 event will take place in New York City on 25 September, during Climate Week NYC. The event will be broadcast over Zoom, and you can attend online for free. Simply register here to reserve your place.
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Anna Delvey allegedly cried in the bathroom after the premiere of Dancing with the Stars due to the amount of hate she received online.
The 33-year-old faux heiress made her television debut on September 17, dancing to Sabrina Carpenters Espresso with Ezra Sosa for season 33 of DWTS.
According to her dance partner, their performance left Delvey hiding in the lavatory after receiving a vast amount of criticism on social media.
On TikTok, Sosa, who was promoted to pro dancer for this season of the star-studded dance competition, opened up about the highs and lows that followed the premiere. He admitted his heart broke for Delvey when he found her alone and upset upon seeing all the backlash.
I just want to come on here and just talk about my first official show as a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars, he started before adding how hed received positive feedback from fans of the show.
open image in gallery Anna Delveys ankle monitor was featured in her first dance performance ( ABC )
To Sosa, premiere day was the best day ever, but to Delvey, the time was devastating.
On my partners end, she wasnt receiving the same. I think the hardest part of my day after [the] press line, she was reading the comments and we couldnt find her, he explained. They finally found her in the bathroom. She was crying. Ive never seen her like that, and it broke my heart.
As her partner, I wanted to give her the best experience she possibly could, and knowing that thats not the case, it really did break my heart.
Delveys notorious past put a target on her back heading into the televised competition. In October 2017, Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorkin, was arrested for stealing over $200,000 from banks, businesses, hotels, and wealthy individuals.
Posing as a German heiress in New York, Delvey was able to con many into trusting her. She was ultimately charged, convicted, and sentenced, serving about two years in prison before being released on house arrest in 2022. Delvey was born in Russia but emigrated to Germany with her family when she was young.
Though the convicted con artists controversial criminal behavior landed her behind bars, her efforts were glamorized, garnering an exorbitant amount of attention. The same year she was released from prison, Netflix released a limited series inspired by her story entitled Inventing Anna.
Still, DWTS fans didnt seem too pleased with Delveys September 17 performance. Many slammed her online for appearing emotionless. Others were bothered by Delvey showing off her bedazzled ankle monitor in the first few seconds of the performance.
On X, one harsh user wrote: The way Anna Delveys first #DWTS performance sucked all the energy and happiness out of the ballroom was something I dont think Ive witnessed in 33 seasons. Honestly, that was kind of shocking.
Is it possible to charge Anna Delvey with another crime for how emotionless that dance was? a second critic questioned.
In response to her haters who claimed she shouldnt have been cast on the show due to her criminal history, Delvey said: I served my time... I think I should be afforded to have a chance to move forward.
Sosa didnt excuse Delveys past behavior, but he echoed her same sentiments. She deserves a second chance. She has stepped up to the plate, and I just cannot wait for yall to see how much she has improved, he added in his TikTok video.
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Brad Pitt representative issued a warning to fans after five imposters were arrested in Spain after defrauding two women out of $362,000 by posing as the actor.
According to a statement released on September 23 by Spains Interior Ministry, five people have been arrested and face fraud and money laundering charges with three of the online swindlers arrested last November and two more arrested in July.
The statement revealed that the imposters reached out through an online Brad Pitt fan page, exchanging instant messages and emails with the women, who were under the impression that they were speaking to the real A-list actor. The imposters tricked the women into believing that their online interactions had evolved into a romantic relationship.
In order to find their victims, the cyber criminals studied their social networks and put together a psychological profile of them, discovering as a result that both women were vulnerable people suffering from depression and a lack of affection, the statement said.
They also used instant messaging platforms to exchange messages and emails with the two women until they thought they were chatting via WhatsApp with Brad Pitt himself, who promised them a romantic relationship and a future together.
Authorities added that the situation escalated once the Pitt imposters began to ask the victims for money, with one losing up to $168,000, while another sent around $195,500. Both of the women made numerous bank transfers to the imposters until realizing they were being scammed, thats when they went to the authorities. Throughout the ongoing investigation, they have so far only recovered $94,000.
open image in gallery Brad Pitts representative remind fans that the actor has no social media presence ( Getty Images )
They also found that the scam was run via multiple bank accounts created using fake identity documents, with mules helping the fraudsters launder the money.
As a part of their operations, they raided five homes, reportedly seizing several mobile phones, bank cards, two computers and a diary in which the phrases used by the fraudsters to deceive their victims were written down.
Pitts publicist Matthew Hiltzik, dispelled any notion that the Bullet Train actor was on social media, stating to the New York Times: Its awful that scammers take advantage of fans strong connection with celebrities. But this is an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence.
The Fight Club actor has long been off social media platforms including Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and Facebook.
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.
SAIC-GM, CATL launch 6C ultra-fast charging LFP battery
On September 25, SAIC-GM, in collaboration with CATL, introduced the automotive industry's first 6C ultra-fast charging lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery. This breakthrough battery technology is expected to be integrated into the upgraded Ultium platform with a quasi-900V high-voltage architecture starting in 2025.
Photo credit: SAIC-GM
BatteroTech, Yaluxing New Energy sign investment cooperation agreement
On September 23, BatteroTech and Shenzhen Yaluxing New Energy Materials Co., Ltd. ("Yanluxing New Energy') signed an investment cooperation agreement. The two companies will collaborate on a project to produce and develop aluminum battery shells and top covers in Pinghu Economic and Technological Development Zone, Zhejiang Province. This venture will be carried out through a newly established joint company.
BYD's DENZA N9 model teased in new spy shots
On September 25, Zhao Changjiang, General Manager of BYD's DENZA Sales Division, shared teaser images of the upcoming DENZA N9 SUV on social media. He revealed that the N9 will be nearly 5.3 meters long and will feature BYD's advanced e4 technology.
BYD hits production milestone of 9 million new energy vehicles
On September 25, BYD celebrated the rollout of its 9 millionth new energy vehicle (NEV) at its factory in Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone, Shenzhen city, making it the first automaker in the world to achieve this milestone.
Maserati appoints Yu Hanbang as new General Manager for China
On September 25, Maserati, the luxury automotive brand, announced the appointment of Mr. Yu Hanbang as the new General Manager for Maserati China, effective immediately. In his new role, Mr. Yu will oversee the Trident brand's commercial operations across the Chinese market.
Zhuoyu teams up with NVIDIA to develop flagship smart driving solutions
On September 20, 2024, Zhuoyu (formerly DJI Automotive) and NVIDIA held a partnership ceremony to announce their collaboration on developing flagship intelligent driving solutions, leveraging NVIDIA's next-generation centralized vehicle computing platform, NVIDIA DRIVE Thor.
Dongfeng Motor, Huawei inaugurate joint intelligent vehicle control center
On September 23, Dongfeng Motor's R&D Institute announced the establishment of the Joint Innovation Center for Intelligent Vehicle Control with Huawei's Qiankun Automotive Control unit.
SAIC-GM-Wuling launches new strategy targeting ASEAN market development
On September 24, the 21st China-ASEAN EXPO ("CAEXPO") opened in Nanning city, Jiangxi province, where SAIC-GM-Wuling ("SGMW") officially launched its "One Two Three Go" ASEAN Strategy, targeting the ASEAN market as a key area for global expansion in the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector.
Joyson Safety Systems to further support GAC AION in global market expansion
On September 24, Joyson Safety Systems, automotive safety arm of Joyson Electronics, signed a global strategic cooperation agreement with GAC AION in Guangzhou, signaling a deepening collaboration between the two companies, according to a post on Joyson Electronics' WeChat account.
Sinopec grants EV charging access to NIO, ONVO's users
On September 25, NIO announced a new partnership with Sinopec, enabling NIO users to access Sinopec's nationwide network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations through the NIO app, NIO Power app, and NIO's in-car systems.
Leapmotor unveils camouflage photos of first global model B10
On September 25, Leapmotor revealed the first official camouflage images of the B10, the debut globally-oriented model from its B platform, marking a major step in the company's global expansion strategy.
Dongfeng Motor puts MHERO 917's movie-inspired edition onto market
Dongfeng Motor's luxury electric off-roader brand, MHERO, officially put a movie-themed special edition of the MHERO 917 model, named Jiaolong Zhanjia (translating to "Dragon Armor" ) onto the market.
Tencent Cloud, Dongfeng Motor to co-boost in intelligent connected vehicle development
Recently, Dongfeng Motor signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Tencent Cloud for vehicle-cloud integrated smart innovation ecosystem exploration.
BYD delivers 100 full-electric buses to Uruguay's CUTCSA
On September 19, BYD delivered 100 pure electric buses to CUTCSA, Uruguay's largest electric public transport operator, at its Qingdao factory. This handover ceremony marks another significant breakthrough for BYD in the international commercial vehicle market and provides a fresh boost to Uruguay's push towards green transportation.
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Elon Musk has denied that hes in a relationship with Giorgia Meloni after the two were pictured in close conversation at the Atlantic Councils gala dinner on Monday (September 23).
The 53-year-old billionaire took to X/Twitter (which he owns) the following day to address his friendship with the Italian Prime Minister.
I was there with my Mom, he wrote. There is no romantic relationship whatsoever with PM Meloni.
Musk presented Meloni with a Global Citizens Award at the black-tie event, which is part of the United Nations General Assemblys annual gathering of world leaders.
[Meloni is] someone who is even more beautiful on the inside than she is on the outside, Musk said in his speech, according to Politico, going on to call her authentic, honest and thoughtful.
That cant always be said about politicians, he added, prompting a laugh from the crowd.
In response, Meloni praised the Tesla CEOs precious genius.
open image in gallery Elon Musk and Giorgie Meloni have been spotted together several times this year ( Getty Images )
The two have gotten together several times throughout the last year, with Musk speaking at Melonis Christmas Party for young conservatives organized by the Brothers of Italy party in December 2023. Before the event, he also met Meloni in Italy to discuss the countrys low birth rate, artificial intelligence (AI), and the EU.
Before the dinner, Meloni spoke about receiving the Global Citizens Award, explaining why Musk was chosen to deliver the honor. According to La Voce di New York, it was decided months ago that he would give this award, with the move having nothing to do with the American election campaign.
The attempt to deploy Italy in the American campaign is, I believe, above all an Italian attempt, but it doesnt seem particularly intelligent to me, she told journalists in New York before her speech at the dinner.
She added: I have already answered and explained a thousand times that I am not a supporter of foreign interference in the internal affairs of sovereign nations, I am not among those leaders who think they have the right to tell a citizen who lives in another nation what is best for his future.
Leading up to the 2024 US presidential election, Musk has made it clear that hell be voting for Republican nominee Donald Trump. I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery, the father of 12 wrote on X in July, just moments after the former president was targeted in an assassination attempt.
Trump was 15 minutes into giving a speech at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, this summer when shots rang out and the former president was seen clutching his ear, before ducking below the podium.
The martyr lived, Musk wrote in a later post, citing a reported debate between conservative venture capitalist Peter Thiel and LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman.
Musks clarifications about his friendship with Meloni also come one year after she publicly announced her separation from her partner of 10 years, Andrea Giambruno. At the time, she said that their paths had diverged for some time. The former couple also share a seven-year-old daughter, Ginevra.
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When their church no longer felt safe, deacon Francisco Alvicio and his congregation made a plan. Cautiously, discreetly, they took their worship to their homes.
If Im pursued at the church, I still have my Bible, the 63-year-old Nicaraguan said.
Praying in hiding became his last resort before fleeing his country in 2023.
Like him, several evangelical pastors, Catholic priests and human rights organizations have denounced the surveillance, harassment and the imprisonment of Nicaraguan faith leaders in recent years.
Arriving with a weapon is not kind-hearted, Alvicio said from Costa Rica, where he currently lives. If someone goes into a church wearing a uniform, speaking loudly, its to intimidate.
The relationship between Nicaraguan religious communities and the government has been strained since President Daniel Ortegas crackdown on massive street protests in 2018.
Ortega asked the Catholic Church to play a role as a mediator when political tensions arose, but the dialogue didnt last long. After priests sheltered demonstrators inside their parishes and expressed concern about excessive use of force, Ortega targeted them as terrorists who backed opposition efforts to overthrow him.
Among evangelicals, relatively few pastors have openly supported the president. Most congregations have refrained from any political participation, though this has not prevented leaders from being imprisoned and hundreds of organizations from being closed.
In northern Nicaragua, where Alvicio was born, most of the Indigenous Miskito people are evangelicals. The Moravian Church to which the deacon belonged was established in Nicaragua in 1894. Until its closure alongside more than 1,600 nongovernmental organizations last August, it had about 350,000 members in the country.
For decades, Alvicio said, the Miskitos could profess their faith freely. Services took place every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Elders and children alike gathered at the church, where clergy read the Bible and ceremonies ended by singing a Miskito hymn.
Things started shifting when the government imposed new rules on the congregation. First came a tax that its members had never paid. Then, an order to replace their logo.
We did not accept, Alvicio said. We cant change something just because the government wants to. The only path we follow is the one of God.
Before long, black-clad strangers started showing up at his church.
Those too afraid to attend a public service decided to pray at home. Some read their Bibles in solitude. Others with spare chairs turned their tiny houses into makeshift churches, calling in a few neighbors and leaders like Alvicio.
By changing venues every day, lowering their voices and gathering as early as 4 a.m. to avoid detection, they kept worshipping.
How evangelicals have been affected by Ortegas government
According to CSW, a British-based organization that advocates for religious freedom, violations against the faith practice of Nicaraguan Protestants have been less visible than those against the Catholic Church.
Anna Lee Stangl, CSWs head of advocacy, noted in a recent publication that the Catholic Church is a single religious organization whose structure spreads geographically and has a clear, public hierarchy.
The Protestant Church is made up of many different denominations and independent churches, some of which may be dominant in one part of the country and absent in another, and which do not necessarily work together or even communicate, she said.
In both Catholic and Protestant communities, violations reported by organizations and faith leaders are similar: restrictions on the length, location and frequency of services; prohibition of processions; invasion of masked men into churches; theft or destruction of religious objects and infiltration of informants.
The situation has seriously worsened, said Martha Patricia Molina, a Nicaraguan lawyer who keeps a record of religious freedom violations.
According to her latest report, 870 violations were committed against the Catholic Church between 2018 and 2024, and 100 against Protestants in the same period.
Additionally, said human rights organization Nicaragua Nunca Mas, more than 256 evangelical churches have been closed by the government in the past four years, while 43 Catholic groups have been targeted since 2022.
At least 200 religious leaders have fled Nicaragua, the organization said. More than 20 were stripped from their citizenship and 65 have been indicted for conspiracy and other charges.
The Nicaraguan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
An American pastors tale
Pastor Jon Britton Hancock didn't see it coming.
How could he suspect that 11 pastors from his evangelical church could be arrested if Ortegas government had greenlighted their operations for years?
He and his wife, both Americans and founders of Mountain Gateway, started working in Nicaragua in 2013. Two years later, they sent their first missionaries and began collaborating with local pastors.
For the next decade, they developed fair-trade coffee practices, offered disaster relief to families affected by hurricanes and organized mass evangelism campaigns.
But then, it all suddenly changed.
In December 2023, 11 of his churchs pastors and two lawyers were arrested; their families didn't hear from them for months. It wasnt until Sept. 5 that they were released on humanitarian grounds.
Hancock wondered why this happened. Though he never engaged in political discourse, he had preached in Congress and to the national police. He had met with officials. Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, had sent notes congratulating him on his churchs work.
I think the real reason is the Gospel is a threat to totalitarian ideas, Hancock said. Our perspective is about personal relationship with God and its based on love. And love doesnt thrive if theres control or coercion.
With Ortegas measures against faith communities, he said, not only freedom is lost.
Confiscations by the government have been a blow to church investments. And, in many cases, pastors imprisoned or forced into exile are the providers for their homes.
Mountain Gateways local leader, Walder Blandon, was arrested with his wife, so they were both separated from their 2-month-old baby. He and his brother, who is two years older, had to be taken in by their grandmother, who had health issues, until their parents were released in September.
So, whether or not the Nicaraguan government intends for people to be fearful, I can promise you that there is much fear and people are responding, Hancock said.
He, too, has heard of multiple people holding house meetings to pray. Parishioners modest sound systems are no longer an option, he said, because a guitar or a piano could attract police asking for a registration, so congregations have gone underground.
Its not very known whats happening with evangelicals in Nicaragua, he said. Evangelical pastors dont take their stands in the same way that Catholic priests do, so its kind of gone under the radar, but its certainly there.
Theres nothing left but leaving
One pastor had already gotten used to police watching his sermons and strangers listening to his conversations, but when someone told him theyre after your head, he decided he should flee.
The government wants to control everything, said the evangelical leader, who agreed to an interview on the condition his name and new home base be withheld for safety reasons. They fear that if one speaks against the government, the people will rise.
In his hometown, he said, he was targeted by informants who would seek to make his acquaintance, then surreptitiously use their phones to record sounds or video that the government might find of interest.
Now, with him gone, his family no longer goes to church. They worship at home and he joins them from a distance, praying for his people and the government, for justice and peace.
Alvicio, too, has kept his faith strong.
His church might be gone and he yearns to return to his country, but through his prayers, he remains tied to his land.
We, the Moravians, believe that wherever we are, we can pray to God, he said. So I can walk and speak and think bearing that power, knowing that, even if Im alone, hell be with me.
____
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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A man who pleaded guilty as a teenager to the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors is challenging his life-without-parole sentence, saying that the New Hampshire Constitution prohibits it.
Robert Tulloch was 17 when he killed Half Zantop and Susanne Zantop in Hanover as part of a conspiracy he and his best friend concocted to rob and kill people before fleeing to Australia with their ill-gotten gains.
A hearing was scheduled Wednesday in Grafton County Superior Court to consider legal issues raised in Tullochs case.
Tulloch, 41, awaits resentencing at a later date, following a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles amounts to cruel and unusual" punishment. Another opinion made that decision retroactive, giving hundreds of juvenile lifers a shot at freedom. In 2021, the court found that a minor did not have to be found incapable of being rehabilitated before being sentenced to life without parole.
At least 28 states have banned such sentences for crimes committed when the defendant is a child. But efforts to pass similar legislation in New Hampshire have not succeeded.
The New Hampshire Constitution says no court of law shall deem excessive bail or sureties, impose excessive fines, or inflict cruel or unusual punishments."
That language would include sentencing someone to life without parole when they commit a crime as a child, Tulloch's lawyer, Richard Guerriero, wrote in a memorandum. He also argued that the state constitution's language is broader and offers more protection than the U.S. Constitution's.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire and other organizations filed a brief in support of Tulloch.
Prosecutors said in court documents that Guerrieros argument is not compelling. They have said it is possible they will ask for a similar life-without-parole sentence for Tulloch.
If a judge finds that the state constitution permits life-without-parole sentences for crimes committed by children, Guerriero also asked for findings that a defendant is incapable of change and proof beyond a reasonable doubt that such a sentence is appropriate.
Tulloch is the last of five men who awaits resentencing under a state supreme court ruling. Three were resentenced to lengthy terms with a chance at parole. One was resentenced to life without parole after refusing to attend his hearing or authorize his attorneys to argue for a lesser sentence.
Tulloch's friend, James Parker, 40, was released from prison on parole in June. He was 16 when the crimes were committed. Parker had pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to second-degree murder in the death of Susanne Zantop. He served nearly the minimum term of his 25-years-to-life sentence.
Parker agreed to testify against Tulloch, who had planned to use an insanity defense at his trial. But Tulloch changed his mind and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
The teens, bored with their lives in nearby Chelsea, Vermont, wanted to move to Australia and estimated they needed $10,000 for the trip. They eventually decided they would knock on homeowners doors under the pretext of conducting a survey on environmental issues, then tie up their victims and steal their credit cards and ATM information. They planned to make their captives provide their PINs before killing them.
For about six months, they had tried to talk their way into four other homes in Vermont and New Hampshire, but were turned away or found no one home.
Parker, who cooperated with prosecutors, said they picked the Zantop house because it looked expensive and it was surrounded by trees. Susanne Zantop, 55, was head of Dartmouths German studies department and her husband, Half Zantop, 62, taught Earth sciences.
Parker and Tulloch were arrested weeks later.
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Under elaborate security, residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir began casting their votes Wednesday in the second phase of a staggered election for a local government.
About 2.6 million residents are eligible to elect 26 of the 239 candidates in six districts, including in the biggest regional main city of Srinagar, where voters in some polling booths queued outside early in the morning.
It is the first such election in a decade, and the first since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist government scrapped the Muslim-majority regions semi-autonomy in 2019. The former state was also downgraded and divided into two centrally governed union territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir. Both are ruled directly by New Delhi, allowing it to appoint administrators to run them along unelected bureaucrats and security setup.
The region has since been on edge with civil liberties curbed and media freedoms gagged.
The vote also comes for the first time in over three decades without any boycott call from separatists who challenge Indians sovereignty over Kashmir. Polls in the past have been marked with violence, boycotts and vote-rigging, even though India called them a victory over separatism.
Authorities erected checkpoints and laid razor wire in the voting districts as government forces wearing flak jackets and carrying assault rifles patrolled the constituencies.
The third phase is scheduled for Oct. 1 and votes will be counted on Oct. 8, with results expected that day. Voting began Sept. 18 with about 59% voter turnout in what the regions chief electoral officer said was an incident-free and peaceful" first round of polls.
Authorities have 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.
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. Many 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 many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
The multistage election will allow Kashmir to have its own truncated government and a local legislature, called an assembly, rather than being directly under New Delhis rule. However, there will be a limited transition of power from New Delhi to the local assembly as Kashmir will remain a Union Territory directly controlled by the federal government with Indias Parliament as its main legislator. Kashmirs statehood must be restored for the new government to have powers similar to other states of India.
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Ukraines president urged global leaders Wednesday to stand with his country and not seek an out instead of a real, just peace" more than two years into Russia's war.
At a time when he faces growing pressure from Western allies and some of his fellow Ukrainians to negotiate a cease-fire, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. General Assembly there's no alternative to the peace formula he presented two years ago. Among other things, it seeks the expulsion of all Russian forces from Ukraine and accountability for war crimes.
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.
Do not divide the world. Be united nations, he implored. And that will bring us peace.
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About 2,000 workers went on strike Tuesday at Hawaii's largest resort, joining thousands of others striking at other hotels in other U.S. cities.
Unionized workers at Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort the largest Hilton in the world began an open-ended strike at 5 a.m. They are calling for conditions including higher wages, more manageable workloads and a reversal of cuts implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic such as limited daily room cleaning.
Hilton representatives didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the strike.
Greg and Kerrie Sellers woke up Tuesday to drum beats, whistles and chants that they could hear coming from below their balcony at the resort.
We heard the commotion from when we first woke up this morning," Greg Sellers recalled as they sat on a bench overlooking a lagoon outside the resort. "I dont know that its going to have a great impact on our time here. I guess were sympathetic to the cause because ... the working rights over in Australia are much much better than what they seem to be ... over here.
Beachgoers sunbathing or sitting under umbrellas at the stretch of Waikiki beach near the resort could hear the strikers in the distance as hotel guests enjoyed the pool, shops and restaurants throughout the sprawling resort.
Outside on the street, workers marched and chanted bearing signs with slogans such as One Job Should Be Enough, which reflects how many Hawaii residents work multiple jobs to afford living in a state with an extremely high cost of living.
With the start of Tuesday's strike, more than 4,000 hotel workers are now on strike at Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott hotels in Honolulu, San Diego and San Francisco, according to the UNITE HERE union. They will strike until they win new contracts, the union said, warning that more strikes could begin soon.
More than 10,000 hotels workers across the U.S. went on strike on Labor Day weekend, with most ending after two or three days.
Aileen Bautista said she has three jobs, including as a housekeeper at Hilton Hawaiian Village, in order to makes ends meet as a single mom.
I am on strike again, and this time I am ready to stay on strike for as long as it takes to win," she said.
Her coworker, Estella Fontanilla, paused from using a megaphone to lead marching workers in chants to explain that preserving daily housekeeper is crucial because it is much harder to clean rooms that haven't been cleaned for days. She said she wants guests to keep asking for daily cleaning.
The hotel strike comes as more than 600 nurses are locked out of the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children after going on a one-day strike earlier this month. On Monday, 10 people were arrested for blocking busloads of temporary nurses from entering the Honolulu hospital where nurses are calling for safer patient-nurse ratios.
On Tuesday, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and Attorney General Anne Lopez urged hospital and union leaders to seek federal mediation to help reach an agreement.
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Researchers have identified nearly 200 chemicals used to make food packaging that could possibly increase the risk of breast cancer.
Found in plastics and paper, some of the potential mammary carcinogens include polysterene and polyamide, which are used in styrofoam to-go containers from restaurants and black plastic spatulas.
If theres one change youre going to make: stop using polysterene. Get rid of it, Jane Muncke, study co-author and the managing director of the Switzerland-based Food Packaging Forum, told The Independent on Monday.
The analysis, published in the journal Frontiers in Toxicology, builds upon research published earlier this year, which identified more than 900 chemicals as being potential mammory carcinogens. They ran that list against the forums own inventory of more than 14,000 food contact chemicals, finding an overlap of 189 chemicals.
I understand it can be a little bit overwhelming. Because, basically it tells us there are known carcinogens in our food supply, said Muncke.
Many plastics, including food packaging and other kitchenware, contain chemicals that leach into food. The chemicals could potentially increase the risk of breast cancer, a new study from the Food Packaging Forum says ( Getty Images/iStockphoto )
Of the 189 chemicals they identified, there is hard evidence than 76 are transferring into food from the packaging, and 68 chemicals have been detected in people.
But, the chemicals are not just transferred to food by its packaging. They can also spread using processing equipment, kitchenware, tableware, and electric tea kettles.
To navigate around these risks, and reduce exposure, consumers should be aware of four things. First, heat can increase the migration of these chemicals: whether thats in a microwave at home or before the item is purchased, while it is heat treated.
Second, long storage time can also be a factor, and Muncke advises users to transfer food items like rice, flour, and polenta into inert containers. Theres always a best before date on these foods and thats mostly to do with the migration from the packaging, she noted.
Thirdly, food chemistry plays a role, and items with higher fat content should not be put into containers that could leach the chemicals.
Lastly, acidity is also a concern, with lemons and tomato sauce able to increase migration.
If you squeeze lemon juice at home or orange juice, you could use a stainless steel or glass press for that, Muncke advised.
Electric kettles made out of plastic can also spread these concerning chemicals. To reduce exposure, users should stop using these kettles and other products that could transfer the chemicals into what theyre consuming ( (Andrew Matthews/PA) )
And, the less processed food and drink people consume, the better they are protected from the chemicals.
Muncke noted that their findings come after decades of research on chemicals with associations to cancer. Testicular cancer is associated with PFOA; the chemical was used in the production of teflon cookware until 2013.
The studys authors are calling for better regulation of these chemicals going forward. In addition, they want food packaging materials to be tested using modern science, like toxicology and screening. Muncke said that the rules need to be updated for testing chemicals before they are put on the market, as well as those already out in the world.
And, really ensure that these materials that we put into contact with our food stuff are actually fully safe.
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The mother of murdered student Libby Squire is urging women and girls to report crimes including flashing and voyeurism, as she warned her daughters death was totally preventable.
The Hull university student was killed by predator Pawel Relowicz, now 28, who had an extensive history of escalating sexual offending.
He dumped the 21-year-olds body in the River Hull after raping her on a playing field in the early hours of 1 February 2019. Her remains were found in Humber estuary seven weeks later.
The married butcher had previously committed a string of other sexually-motivated crimes in the citys student quarter, including peering through windows and breaking into the homes of young women to steal intimate items.
Now Libbys mother is urging women to make sure they report all non-contact sexual offences to help police stop predators like her daughters killer in their tracks.
Libby Squires killer had an extensive history of escalating sexual offending ( PA )
Lisa Squire, who developed the It Does Matter campaign with Thames Valley Police, said her daughter was enjoying her life at university when she tried to make her way home after being refused entry to a nightclub.
Libby never got home, she said. She was raped and murdered by a stranger who had an extensive history of non-contact sexual offences.
Libbys death was totally preventable.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that over 12,000 exposure and voyeurism offences were recorded annually by police in England and Wales between April 2021 and 2023.
However, this represents fewer than six per cent of the estimated total incidents, highlighting the significant underreporting of non-contact sexual offences.
A report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for UN Women also found that, although seven in ten women have experienced sexual harassment in a public place, 95 per cent of incidents are not reported.
Ms Squire urged all victims and witnesses to such non-contact sexual offences to ensure they speak up, adding: Because if the police dont know about it, they cant do anything about it.
Lisa Squire has launched a campaign with Thames Valley Police urging women to report non-contact sexual offences ( PA Archive )
Her warning comes amid growing concerns over inadequate responses to indecent exposure.
An inquiry into the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard in 2021 found her killer Wayne Couzens could have been stopped if police had better investigated eight flashing incidents linked to the serving Metropolitan Police officer.
Meanwhile law graduate Zara Aleenas killer Jordan McSweeney stalked at least five women before he sexually assaulted and murdered the law graduate as she walked home in Ilford, east London, in 2022.
Ms Squire called for more government funding to help forces to investigate non-contact sexual offences
I would like to see every person thats been a victim of a non-contact sexual offence report it, she added. I know that will give the police a whole lot more work but thats something Id always say Im very unapologetic for. But I think there needs to be more funding from Government for the police to investigate these things.
I think that Id like to see the non-contact offenders prosecuted and given help, forced to go into treatment services and given punishment for their crimes.
She acknowledged that in Libbys case, Pawels offending was already spiralling, but added: In reality, I dont think anything would have saved her life.
But in an ideal world, all of the non-contact offences he perpetrated would have been reported and he would have been apprehended. That wasnt the case. He was on a trajectory - he was going to extremes and this was going to happen.
Pawel Relowicz was jailed for life with a minimum of 27 years for the rape and murder of Libby Squire ( PA Media )
Assistant Chief Constable Katy Barrow-Grint, Force Strategic Lead for Violence Against Women and Girls, said: Many women and girls will have been subjected to non-contact sexual offences during their lives. This is likely to include your family and friends.
Many will have brushed it off as something that happens to all women, or found that others have laughed at their stories, making them question how serious it is.
We have created the It Does Matter campaign to encourage those who have been subjected to offences such as indecent exposure and voyeurism to absolutely report to the police.
We will investigate, and it will also provide intelligence that will help us understand patterns of offending to assist with locating those that commit such crimes. It really does matter.
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British police have arrested a man on suspicion of murder in connection to the death of a woman who fell off a balcony in Ibiza two years ago.
Robyn Eve Maines, 24, from Wallasey, the Wirral, is believed to have fallen to her death from a balcony of the Hotel Rosamar in Calle Huelva on the island in September 2022 .
Merseyside Police have now arrested a 27-year-old man from London in connection to her death. The force said the suspect has been interviewed and bailed pending further enquiries.
The arrest comes two years after Ms Maines body was discovered at 8:30am on 25 September 2022 near the San Antonio area of the island.
Following an investigation by police in Spain, and a review of materials sent over by Spanish authorities, her death is being investigated by Merseyside Police and is currently being treated as unexplained.
Robyn Eve Maines, 24, is believed to have fallen to her death from a balcony of the Hotel Rosamar in Calle Huelva ( Google Maps )
Appealing for witnesses to come forward, Detective Inspector Phil Ryan said: The authorities in Spain have now concluded their enquiries into Robyns death and an investigation is ongoing by Merseyside Police. At this stage we are treating Robyns death as unexplained.
On the second anniversary I am appealing for any witnesses who may have been staying at the hotel in September 2022 and who are based in the UK to come forward.
Perhaps you return to this same hotel on the same date every year. Were you there in 2022 and did you see or hear anything or do you have any other information which could assist with our investigation?
At this stage Robyns death is being treated as unexplained and we are carrying out a number of lines of enquiry but it is vital that people come forward and tell us what they know.
Robyns family have understandably been left devastated by her death and are still seeking answers as to what happened.
In a statement issued by Robyns family they said: Our beautiful daughter Robyn Eve Maines was tragically taken away from us on 25 September 2022 at the Hotel Rosamar in Ibiza.
Please if anyone saw or heard anything around this time can you please come forward and contact the police. We just want justice for Robyn.
Anyone who can help with the investigation is asked to DM @MerPolCC or call 101 quoting reference 22000713270. Information can also be passed anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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Police are urgently hunting a man who grabbed a baby girl from her mother on a train.
The would-be child-snatcher pounced as the woman was preparing to leave the train at Worksop, Nottinghamshire.
The man grabbed the baby from the mothers arms and took off down the carriage with her.
A relative managed to grab the baby back, British Transport Police said.
It happened at around 7.30pm on Saturday 17 August, but officers have only just revealed what happened, as they released a photograph of a man they want to question.
The suspect left the service at Barnsley, South Yorkshire, after the baby was returned to her mother.
Officers say they believe the man in the image may have information that could help their investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact BTP by texting 61016, or by calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference number 228 of 18 August.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On September 24, the 21st China-ASEAN EXPO ("CAEXPO") opened in Nanning city, Jiangxi province, where SAIC-GM-Wuling ("SGMW") officially launched its "One Two Three Go" ASEAN Strategy, targeting the ASEAN market as a key area for global expansion in the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector.
Photo credit: SGMW
According to SGMW, the "One Two Three Go" ASEAN Strategy aims to establish a comprehensive NEV industrial chain in ASEAN countries by 2030, encompassing vehicle production, sales, services, financing, energy systems, electronics, and intelligent electric drives. SGMW plans to pioneer this full-scope industrial expansion across all ten ASEAN member states. To ensure successful implementation, SGMW will focus on both product and industrial innovation, adopting a "trinity" operational model led by its headquarters, with manufacturing in Indonesia and ASEAN-wide collaboration. Additionally, SGMW aims to integrate China-ASEAN NEV supply chains through a "Cross-sea Synergy" system, fostering sustainable growth in branding, product ecosystems, and user experience for ASEAN customers.
Zhou Xing, SGMW's General Manager of Brand and Communications, stated, "Under the ASEAN Strategy, we will bridge the Chinese and ASEAN markets, achieving regional integrated operations. Through cross-border supply chain initiatives, SGMW will support the development of the ASEAN NEV industry and strive to reach a NEV industry chain milestone worth over 10 billion yuan by 2030."
Photo credit: SGMW
In the meantime, SGMW debuted its global NEV concept car, the "Light of ASEAN," at the CAEXPO. The concept car showcases the company's cutting-edge technologies, including ultra-low drag design, a zero-gravity floating cabin, and intelligent robot assistants, embodying SGMW's forward-looking vision of smart mobility. The concept model symbolizes SGMWs commitment to innovation and leadership in the NEV sector while serving as a bridge between China and ASEAN in advancing the region's NEV industry.
As one of the first Chinese automakers to expand internationally, SGMW has been deepening its global market presence since 1995. By August 2024, SGMW's cumulative exports reached 1.07 million units/sets, spanning 104 countries and regions, including Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The company's rapid NEV transformation was marked by a significant milestone at the end of August this year when it celebrated the production of its 2 millionth NEV, positioning itself at the forefront of intelligent electric mobility.
Indonesia plays a crucial role in SGMW's global expansion. As the first Chinese automaker to establish local manufacturing facility in Indonesia, SGMW has developed over 70 local suppliers, achieving a high level of localization in component supply. The company's NEV lineup in Indonesia, which includes the Air EV, Binguo EV, and Cloud EV, covers the mainstream passenger vehicle market priced between 200 million and 450 million Indonesian Rupiah (approximately 100,000 yuan to 220,000 yuan), catering to a wide range of consumers in the region.
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A man was arrested on suspicion of possessing an illegal knife just minutes after new Zombie knife laws came into force.
Kofie John-Welch, 29, was arrested at his Oxford home 22 minutes after the new law came into effect, Thames Valley Police said.
The new law defined the weapons as any bladed weapon over eight inches that also had either a serrated cutting edge, more thane hole in the blade, or multiple sharp points like spikes.
John-Welch was charged with threatening a person with a bladed article, affray, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon in a private place.
It comes only days after a 15-year-old boy was killed in a separate stabbing attack police believed involved a zombie-style weapon.
An amnesty was introduced allowing people to give up their knives ahead of the new law coming into force ( PA Wire )
Daejuan Campbell died on Sunday evening after he was found with a fatal stab injury on Eglinton Road, Woolwich.
A 52-year-old man and an 18-year-old man have been arrested on suspicion of murder, and both remain in police custody, according to the Metropolitan Police.
In the aftermath of the incident, the force issued a warning over zombie-style knives and said it was doing everything it could to remove them from Londons streets.
The government announced a ban on zombie knives and machetes earlier this year as part of efforts to reduce knife crime, with campaigners including actor Idris Elba pushing for the large blades to be outlawed.
Data obtained by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act showed that in 2023 machetes, swords and zombie knives were mentioned in more than 14,000 crimes recorded by 32 police forces in England and Wales.
A police officer holds two Zombie knives ( PA )
In 2019, there were 7,159 offences recorded as involving the large blades, which rose to 14,195 in 2023.
Nearly 10,000 of the offences recorded in 2023 involved machetes, double the number from five years before, the broadcaster reported.
Chairman of the National Police Chiefs Council Gavin Stephens has welcomed the ban, but said enforcement is only one part of reducing knife crime.
He said: Were acutely conscious that bans and the legislation and enforcement is only one part of the equation, and we know that theres a lot for us to do across the full range of our policing activities to deter young people from violence. Were not going to solve the problem of knife crime just by one aspect of it.
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Hundreds of gas emergency workers in England have voted to strike due to working conditions which pose a serious health risk to the public.
Almost 750 workers at Northern Gas Networks (NGN) are set to walk out due to long hours and fatigue, saying they are made to fix gas leaks across the north of England around the clock.
GMB Union says long hours pose a clear danger to the public because staff are working with flammable, toxic gas leaks.
Andrew Aldwinkle, GMB Organiser, said bosses at NGN dont care that their staff may be so fatigued that they make a mistake.
GMB Union says fatigued workers pose a danger to the general public ( PA Archive )
NGN which serves Yorkshire, the North East and northern Cumbria is also accused of failing to provide workers with sick pay if they have Covid a claim the company denies.
The union says workers have attempted to bring these issues to the management but that their grievances have fallen on deaf ears.
The ballot saw 74 per cent of votes cast 299 of 402 supported the action.
Strike dates are yet to be announced, but the union warns that industrial action may cause major disruption if gas leaks are left unfixed.
Mr Aldwinkle said: Emergency gas engineers do a difficult, dangerous job with toxic, flammable gas.
Do we really want them so fatigued they might make a mistake? Apparently, NGN bosses dont care.
"The fact they have no sick pay means many feel forced to work, even with Covid and even in places like care homes.
All these engineers want is reasonable working conditions and to keep the public safe.
If they dont get it, we face disruption right across the north of England.
NGN chief executive Mark Horsley said: Millions of customers across our region rely on us for heat and power and our focus will remain on this vital role throughout any form of industrial action.
The GMBs threat to strike is based on a ballot in which nearly two-thirds of our field workforce chose to either not vote at all or voted against this motion.
In addition, our colleagues have had an average salary increase of nearly 30 per cent in the past four years yet the union is still asking for unsustainable proposals which dont tackle fatigue and would double our annual pay bill.
At NGN we take the wellbeing of our colleagues incredibly seriously - with an industry-leading position on working time limits and the average tenure across our business of 10 years reflecting the positive working environment we create.
We are committed to working with the union to find a way through this dispute, but not at the detriment of our customers or long-term job security.
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Former Conservative minister Michael Gove has been appointed editor of The Spectator magazine following its 100m sale to GB News co-owner Sir Paul Marshall.
Mr Gove will take over from current editor Fraser Nelson on 8 October, the magazine has confirmed.
The move comes just months after Mr Gove stood down as an MP at the general election in July.
The former secretary of state for Levelling Up was one of the longest-serving Conservative ministers and also spent time as secretary of state for Education and secretary of state for Justice.
Earlier this month, hedge fund boss Sir Paul paid 100m to buy the influential political publication, often dubbed the bible of the right.
The takeover, which has been completed through the multi-millionaires company Old Queen Street Ventures (OQS Media), comes after a lengthy auction process to find a new owner.
Fraser Nelson has edited the magazine for 15 years ( Getty )
The Spectator, along with the Telegraph Media Group, had been up for sale after a proposed takeover by an Abu Dhabi-backed fund was blocked by the government earlier this year.
The Telegraph is still seeking a buyer, and it is understood that Sir Paul remains in the running for a bid.
Mr Gove will replace Fraser Nelson who is standing down after 15 years at the helm. Mr Fraser will continue to write for the magazine and become associate editor.
OQS Media also announced Charles Moore, former editor of The Spectator and The Daily Telegraph, will become non-executive chair of the magazine.
Mr Gove has regularly contributed to The Spectator over the years with comment pieces on politics and current affairs.
Before entering politics, he spent 17 years as a journalist across print and broadcast.
Hedge fund boss Paul Marshall may still bid for The Telegraph ( Alamy/PA )
Freddie Sayers, publisher of The Spectator and CEO of OQS Media, said: To be editor of The Spectator requires a rare breadth of intellectual interests and depth of journalistic experience. Alongside his political and journalistic nous, Michael brings a love of books, philosophy, art, opera, and a mischievous sense of humour. He is perfectly suited to this role, and I cant wait to work together to bring The Spectator to new audiences.
Fraser has achieved huge success over his 15 years as editor, modernising and building The Spectator into a formidable media brand. I am delighted that he will continue to write and, as associate editor, be part of the Spectator family.
Mr Nelson said: Theres never a good time to leave a job like mine but, after 15 years and a new owner with big ambitions, there is an obvious time. In many ways, Michael is the obvious successor. Hes a first-class journalist who took a detour into politics, he was my news editor when I was a young reporter at The Times and he first declared his ambition to edit The Spectator in an Aberdeen classroom at the age of seven.
Now, aged 57, he has made it. His experience, combined with his journalistic skills and the quality of the team around him, will make for quite a potent combination.
The Independent has contacted Mr Gove for comment.
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The subpostmaster who exposed the Post Office Horizon IT scandal received a knighthood at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.
Sir Alan Bates, 70, led a decades-long campaign to expose the national scandal, which saw more than 700 subpostmasters prosecuted by the Post Office and given criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015.
Sir Alan was the figurehead in the drive to clear his colleagues names and win compensation after they were wrongly accused of stealing money from the Post Office.
The accusations came after Fujitsus faulty Horizon IT system made it appear money was missing from some branches.
Sir Alan said he was surprised when the award was announced in June ( Andrew Matthews/PA Wire )
He arrived at Windsor Castle with his wife, Lady Suzanne Sercombe, where he was awarded the honour which recognises services to justice.
After collecting his award from the Princess Royal, Sir Alan said it came out of the blue when he was offered the knighthood in June.
It was a bit of a surprise, it sort of came out of the blue, he said.
He arrived at Windsor Castle with his wife, Lady Suzanne ( Andrew Matthews/PA Wire )
Im quite honoured by it to be recognised for the work that Ive done over the years. Its been a hard slog over many years.
"I accept it gratefully, but not just for myself, but for the whole group, and for everything we've all been through.
"If it gives me an extra sort of stick to beat the authorities over the head, so be it I'll put it to good use."
Last year Sir Alan rejected the offer of an OBE, saying it would not be appropriate to accept while Paula Vennells, CEO of the Post Office during the scandal, still held a CBE.
But after an ITV drama about the scandal renewed national outrage earlier this year, Ms Vennells handed back her CBE.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office dominated the national conversation ( ITV Studios )
Mr Bates vs the Post Office was watched by millions across the UK and starred Toby Jones as Sir Alan or simply Alan Bates during the time depicted.
The drama shows the foundation of the grassroots Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance in 2009, through which Sir Alan reached out to and supported hundreds of former post office workers who had been affected by the Horizon scandal.
Speaking after the ceremony, Sir Alan said the financial schemes to support affected subpostmasters have come to a standstill and seem to be failing now. The Labour government has not been in touch, he said.
Sir Alan added: I think weve got to get rid of the bureaucracy thats holding the whole thing up and driving it into the ground, and its proving such a headache for so many of the victims who are still suffering after so many years.
The Post Office is as bad as ever. The financial redress schemes are just not working to the extent that they should, and its just a mess. It needs to be taken out of governments hands, and it needs to be put into an organisation that can resolve things very, very quickly because its gone on too long, and people are still suffering.
Sir Alan and Lady Suzanne bought a post office and haberdashery in Llandudno, Wales, in 1998.
Two years later, the Horizon IT system was installed it was designed to help keep track of the subpostmasters finances.
But within just two months discrepancies appeared in the finances. After denying they were his fault and refusing to cover the shortfall, Sir Alan was fired from the Post Office in November 2003.
Sir Alans honour recognises services to justice ( Jonathan Brady/PA Wire )
Despite not being prosecuted, he lost the 65,000 he and Lady Suzanne had invested into the business.
The scandal was first reported in Computer Weekly in 2009. Hundreds of subpostmasters began coming forward to the Justice for Subpostmaster Alliance, and Sir Alan led 555 claimants in a legal case for compensation.
The case won a settlement of 57.75m, but after legal fees, the subpostmasters were left with little. Sir Alan continues to campaign for fair compensation.
An independent enquiry was set up by the government in 2020, which is now in its latter stages.
Close Prince Harry laughs as young boy pulls his beard at WellChild awards in London
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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.
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Some prisoners were wrongly released from jail under the governments new scheme to free up space, as the result of a system error.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed that 37 prisoners in jail for breaching restraining orders were mistakenly freed after their offences were logged under outdated legislation.
Five of the prisoners have not yet been returned to jail, but the other 32 were taken back into custody.
The department said that the prisoners were incorrectly charged and convicted under old legislation the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 when they should have been charged under the Sentencing Act 2020.
This meant that their sentences were not identified as rendering them ineligible for the early release scheme, which they should have been.
A man is pictured leaving HMP Liverpool earlier this month ( PA Wire )
The prisoners will each serve the remainder of their custodial sentence, and guidance has been issued to staff to ensure that all future releases are correct, the Ministry of Justice confirmed.
A spokesperson for the department said: Public safety is our first priority. That is why we took decisive action to fix the broken prison system we inherited and keep the most dangerous offenders locked up.
This included blocking the early release of domestic abuse offences, such as stalking and controlling behaviour.
We are working with the police to urgently return a very small number of offenders who were charged incorrectly and sentenced under repealed legislation to custody.
The convictions remain valid, with offenders monitored since their release, and [they] will soon be back behind bars.
Around 1,750 inmates were released early from jails in England and Wales earlier this month in an effort to alleviate the overcrowding crisis that is overwhelming prisons.
The policy saw the proportion of a sentence that some inmates must serve behind bars temporarily cut from 50 per cent to 40 per cent, amid government warnings that jails were being pushed to the point of collapse.
Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the move to release some prisoners early at the beginning of the month ( AFP/Getty )
The governments handling of the early release scheme has been fraught with problems. It emerged that hundreds of prisoners were freed without tags despite the devices being a condition of their release, and another prisoner was accused of sexually assaulting a woman on the same day he was freed. He has since been charged and recalled to prison ahead of a court date.
Pictures emerged of an inmate being sprayed with champagne by their friends at the prison gates as they were released, while ministers faced accusations when the policy was launched that serious career criminals were among those walking free.
Criminals serving prison sentences of less than four years for violent offences, including manslaughter, are among those eligible to be freed under the scheme.
Despite government efforts to prevent domestic abusers from leaving prison early, the restrictions will not apply to all criminals with a history of domestic abuse, as the policy only excludes particular offences, such as stalking.
Attackers convicted of other crimes, such as threats to kill or actual bodily harm, could still qualify for early release.
Rioters involved in this summers unrest are also not specifically excluded from early release. They will only stay behind bars for longer if they are serving more than four years for a violent offence.
Terrorists and sex offenders are excluded from the scheme, and will not be freed early.
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Rail workers have voted overwhelmingly to accept pay offers of over 4 per cent from train companies including Network Rail.
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) says the rail dispute is now concluded following the vote, which will likely see a reduction in the national rail strikes of the past two years.
Workers will now see pay increases of over 4 per cent in the next two years.
Network Rail members, who are mostly signallers and maintenance staff, will receive a 4.5 per cent increase this year.
RMT boss Mick Lynch became a public figure during RMTs strikes between 2022 and 2023 ( Lucy North/PA Wire )
Train operators, which covers train crew and ticket office staff, will see a 4.75 per cent backdated increase on last years pay alongside a 4.5 per cent rise for this year.
Members working for Network Rail were overwhelming in their vote in favour of accepting the deal (89 per cent), while members at other train operating companies voted to accept almost unanimously (99 per cent in favour).
The pay deal comes a week after train drivers in the ASLEF union accepted a pay rise of over 15 per cent over three years from the Department for Transport.
The overwhelming decision by ASLEFs 20,000 members ended a dispute with 16 train operating companies in England, which had led to 18 days of strikes.
The rail strikes from 2022 to 2023 were the largest the sector had seen since 1989, and involved tens of thousands of workers across the UK.
Train drivers from the Aslef union on the picket line at Euston station in London in April ( PA Wire )
More than 30 days of industrial action were held by the RMT since June 2022 following a previous pay dispute with rail companies, before deals were agreed last year.
The latest round of deals significantly reduces the chance of any further rail strikes in the immediate future.
After accepting the deal, the RMT said: This outcome reflects the collective efforts of our membership in defending their jobs, working conditions, pay, and pensions from the attacks of the previous Tory government and their private contractors.
We thank our members for their efforts during this long but successful campaign.
Their resolve has been essential in navigating the challenges posed during negotiations and in particular the previous Tory governments refusal to negotiate in good faith, alongside relentless attacks by sections of the media and the employers.
RMT remains focused and committed to supporting public ownership as a path to building a stronger future for the rail industry for both workers and passengers.
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Rochdale residents have voiced their shock at the arrival of a giant creepy baby puppet in the town square.
The 8.5 metre-high figure, named Lilly, has appeared as part of a project to encourage children to talk about climate change, the council said.
However, it has been met with a frosty reception as locals took to social media to express their fear of the freaky baby.
Announcing the towns special guest on Tuesday evening, Rochdale Borough Council wrote on social media: Rochdale welcomed a special guest today, a baby girl who made a surprise visit to Rochdale Town Hall!
Lilly, the 8.5 metre baby will be part of the Wild Wanders event next month. After waking up to meet local children, they sang to her and she was soon back asleep. Shes invited hundreds of local schoolchildren to come and meet her this week, to find out what they think about the future of our environment.
Residents were notably less enthusiastic about the figures arrival, with one commenting: Thats terrifying
Others called the installation so horrifying, while another simply stated: Chucky [an American horror TV series] goes north.
Replying to one social media user saying the baby would have given them nightmares for months seeing this as a kid, the council said: Lucky the baby is a puppet or she would be upset by that comment This is an event for young children and they love her, the response has been fantastic.
A number of people questioned whether the giant baby was a good use of funds, with one person asking: How much does this rubbish cost. Another wrote Fabulous piece of artwork. Meanwhile most of the children have empty bellies.
The council defended the figure and said the Wild Wanders event was funded by Arts Council England and the Garfield Weston Foundation.
School groups have visited the town square to speak to the baby about their thoughts on climate change and plans about looking after nature and animals.
The recordings are set to be played back in October as part of an outdoor environmental arts festival, Wild Wanders, organised at Hollingworth Lake by Rochdale Council.
Rochdale Council has been approached for a comment.
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At first glance, the small village of Shiptonthorpe in Yorkshire appears to be like any other sleepy community on a busy road with a petrol station, two churches and shop.
But dig further and speaking to locals reveals a bizarre state of affairs with the tiny population being terrorised by anonymous abusive letters. The poison pen letter scandal has even led some to comparing the case with the TV series Bridgerton.
Whoevers doing it is quite professional, village Councillor Leo Hammond told The Independent.
Like Lady Whistledowns troublemaking in the period TV drama, Councillor Hammond said countless people in the village, which has a population of around 500 people, have been targeted including elderly residents, parish councillors and volunteers.
One resident received a blank Christmas card that was simply filled with the word c*nt. While parish council chair, Victor Lambert, was told by the poison pen writer that they hoped he would be run over by a bus on the A1079.
Councillor Hammond has himself received around eight letters, with the first arriving through his letterbox in November 2022.
The first one was quite a shock, he said, but I do expect to receive a little slack as a politician.
The letters have been circulated on a local residents Facebook group ( Shiptonthorpe Residents/Facebook )
Another letter, shared in the residents Facebook group, said that they hoped the recipient would become a victim of climate change so your house can get flooded again and again.
It added: Most people in Shiptonthorpe are wanting rain and floods so you are washed away never to be seen again.
Councillor Hammond said the letters, which have been posted via the Royal Mail and not by hand, come in several formats including being handwritten and typed on different machines with several fonts and paper sizes.
Some of them, weirdly, have been signed by people who dont exist, he added.
Humberside Police have launched an investigation into the issue. A spokesperson for the Royal Mail told The Indeependent: Where relevant, Royal Mail will always support law enforcement agencies with their investigations in any way we can.
The village has been terrorised by a poison pen scribe on and off for over two decades ( Jonathan Thacker/Wikimedia )
I think I had my last letter earlier this year. At least two people have had them this month, and I think somebody else got one in August, Councillor Hammond said.
Questions have naturally turned to who is behind the letters.
Like in most villages the parish council is at the heart of the community - and its here, where decisions are taken, where Councillor Hammond suspects the wrath might be aimed.
Recent issues have reportedly upset some residents including rumours the village parish hall was to be let out commercially.
One of the letters wished cancer upon its recipient ( Facebook / Shiptonthorpe Residents )
Councillor Hammond said: The really sad thing is that its a really nice village. Its very socially active and a very united community. So its sad that its getting this really bad press over the poor behaviour of one or two individuals.
Mr Hammond added: At the end of the day, the parish councillors and volunteers are trying to do good stuff for their local village or the local community.
I'm assuming whoever's doing this is very plugged into the community to care this much to do this and have a very big ego.
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Zara Aleenas killer refused to appear in court after being accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a prison workshop instructor.
Jordan McSweeney, 31, is serving life with a minimum of 33 years in HMP Belmarsh for the murder of the 35-year-old law graduate as she walked home from a night out in Ilford, east London.
The attack took place in the early hours of 26 June 2022 - nine days after he was released from prison.
He was due to attend court on Wednesday alongside Hayley Jones, 33, who is accused of acting towards McSweeney in a way which amounted to an abuse of the publics trust.
But McSweeney failed to appear via video link at Woolwich Crown Court because he cant be bothered, staff at HMP Long Lartin told the court.
Jordan McSweeney, 31, is serving life with a minimum of 33 years in HMP Belmarsh for the murder of Zara Aleena ( PA Archive )
A staff member told Judge David Miller via video link: I despatched an officer at 1.30pm to collect him from his prison cell.
At 1.40pm I got a message saying he had refused to attend because he cant be bothered.
Judge Miller asked: Is that a quote?, to which they responded, Yes.
The judge added: If he continues to refuse to engage with proceedings then proceedings will go ahead in his absence. He must be reminded about the consequences of not being bothered to engage next time.
The staff member told the court McSweeney had also refused to sign failure to attend documents.
Ms Aleena was killed by McSweeney just days after he left prison ( PA Media )
Jones, of Strood in Kent, who appeared in person, is accused of misconduct in public office between 6 March 2023 and 7 April 2023.
McSweeney is charged with encouraging or assisting the commission of an indictable offence.
Jones was granted conditional bail at a previous hearing and told she must not contact McSweeney, or visit the prison where he is being held.
No pleas to the charges were entered during the short hearing and the case has been adjourned to 31 October.
McSweeney was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years at the Old Bailey in December 2022 after admitting to sexually assaulting and murdering Ms Aleena. He successfully had his minimum sentence reduced to 33 years after a Court of Appeal bid in November last year.
Read the full story on Backfire News
Russian Warlord Hates Elon Musk For Cybertruck Bricking
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made himself yet another enemy, only this time instead of a politician or celebrity its a warlord in Russia. Ramzan Kadyrov took to social media to criticize Musk after he said the man remotely bricked his Cybertruck he had been using in combat missions.
A Cybertruck owner is baffled at how many people hate his ride.
Kadyrov famously mounted a 50-caliber machine gun to the bed of his Tesla, shocking and amusing people around the globe. As an ally of Valdimir Putin, this act angered many as Musk denied he had donated the all-electric pickup to the Chechen warlord.
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But this sort of thing is par for the course for Kadyrov who loves using social media to post bombastic, ridiculous things for attention. The man behaves somewhat like a TikTok thirst trap girl, only with bloodthirsty troops at his command and a reputation for ruthless, crushing rule in Chechnya since 2007, which is an odd pairing.
According to Google Translate, this is what Kadyrov posted on Telegram:
Elon Musk did something ugly.
He gives expensive gifts from the heart, and then turns them off remotely.
You probably remember his gift - a Cybertruck, which we equipped with a machine gun and sent to the Northern Military District. The vehicle coped well with combat missions. Demonstrated maneuverability and good crew protection. So, Musk recently disabled the Cybertruck remotely. This is not masculine. I had to tow the iron horse. How so, Elon? Is this how it's done?
Some have questioned whether Kadyrov actually used the Cybertruck in missions or if this is yet another one of his over-the-top stunts to get attention. After all, with the machine gun mounted and ammunition loaded, that would greatly increase the vehicle weight, dropping the range rapidly. In most combat zones there are few if any Tesla Superchargers.
The other big question is how the warlord even got a Cybertruck. Thanks to US sanctions, they cant be sold in Russia, so that means a third party had to have sold the vehicle to Kadyrov. And that might be why it was bricked remotely, if the story is even true.
Story continues
After all, when dealing with a Russian warlord, one has to expect deception layered with deception.
Image via Kadyrov_95/Telegram
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Phillip Schofield acknowledged that not disclosing an affair with a younger colleague was unwise, but questioned whether it should absolutely destroy someone in a trailer showing his return to TV with a Channel 5 series.
The three-part show, Phillip Schofield: Cast Away, will see the former presenter marooned alone on a tropical island off the coast of Madagascar with a handful of cameras following his nearly two-year absence from the limelight.
In the teaser, he says to camera: Ive been cast away on a desert island, completely on my own, all I have is camera gear, and I can say whatever I want about whatever I want.
Its my chance to tell my side of my story. I know what I did was unwise, but is it enough to absolutely destroy someone?
The clip was interspersed with scenes of Schofield trying to find food and survive on the island.
Announcing the new series on Wednesday, more than a year on from his resignation from ITV last May, he called the show his story of survival, both on a desert island and off it on Instagram.
The series will air across three nights, from Monday until next Wednesday, and will see the former presenter getting to grips with isolation across 10 days and nine nights.
Channel 5 said the experience of Schofield being left alone allows him to confront the challenges of total isolation, the forces of nature and provides the time to battle within his own mind as he explores his own controversial story.
Schofield said: This is most definitely a first for me and the only thing I felt compelled to do. It appealed to me on so many levels.
Ive recently had a lot of time to think about my life, what went right and what went wrong, but Ive always had the safe arms of friends and family wrapped around me. This time its just me, no phone, no comforts, no crew and only lip balm as a luxury.
Im looking forward to exploring the island, trying to tie knots to secure my shelter and foraging and fending for myself in the wild with no help. Maybe Ill be Robinson Crusoe, or maybe Ill just be Tom Hanks Wilson and quietly drift off into the wild blue yonder.
In the 2000 film, Cast Away Tom Hanks character Charles Chuck Noland crashes in the Pacific Ocean, and has to fend for himself for years with only a volleyball for company. Robinson Crusoe tells the story of a shipwrecked sailor trapped for decades, and meeting mutineers and natives on an island.
Channel 5 commissioning editor Guy Davies said: This isnt just a survival challenge, its chance for Phillip to look back over the last explosive 18 months of his life, and explore what happened.
The audience will learn how he feels now about television and the future, as well as the past. And it will be Phillip Schofield as we have never seen him before unguarded, emotional and brutally honest.
Before the announcement, the channel posted a short clip of a mystery star walking across a remote beach, as it teased its brand new desert island programme on social media.
During the first season of Cast Away, comedian Ruby Wax was left on an island in the the Indian Ocean for 10 days, and had to document her own story with body and hand-held cameras.
Executive producer and managing director at production company Burning Bright Productions, Clive Tulloh, said: We are very excited about this powerful and emotional series. It is much-watch TV. It gives a whole new meaning to survival.
Channel 5 listings say the first episode sees Schofield excited and optimistic about the challenge ahead, when he lands on the beach, until a gale force rips through his camp in the middle of the night.
He will also receive a training day with a survival expert prior to arriving via boat, as he is left to navigate his new island home alone, attempting to scavenge for mangoes, find a water source and catch fish.
Schofield will also reflect on some of the tougher times in his life amid days without any meaningful food.
Hungry, he will try to catch crab for dinner during dusk, before getting lost in the dense jungle with only a headlamp and no idea of how to get back to camp, the episode description also says.
Schofield said last year he had lost everything after admitting to the affair, and that the fallout had had a catastrophic effect on his mind.
An external review, revealed in December, found that ITV made considerable efforts to find out the truth about an alleged relationship between him and a runner on This Morning in 2019 but was unable to uncover the relevant evidence until the presenters own admission in late May 2023.
Carried out by Jane Mulcahy KC, and commissioned by ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall, Schofield reluctantly declined to take part because of the risk to his health.
Holly Willoughby, who was a co-host of This Morning with Schofield for more than a decade left the daytime programme in October 2023, and continued at ITV by presenting Dancing On Ice with Stephen Mulhern, instead of her former on-screen partner.
Phillip Schofield: Cast Away begins airing at 9pm on Monday on Channel 5.
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Sir Keir Starmer has warned that the Middle East is on the brink of all out war ahead of his United Nations debut as prime minister on Wednesday.
It comes as Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire across the Lebanon border, with the UK sending around 700 troops to Cyprus in case an emergency evacuation is required.
Asked on Wednesday morning whether he thinks the Middle East is on the brink of all out war, Sir Keir told the BBC: I am deeply concerned about it and I have myself put it in those terms, that we are essentially at a brink point and we have to come back from the brink.
He will use his speech at the UN General Assembly, the annual gathering of world leaders, to set out how the UK will step up to play its part in a world increasingly dominated by conflict.
Speaking in New York, the prime minister will promise to deliver responsible global leadership amid conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine.
( AFP/Getty )
Britons have been urged to leave Lebanon but with airlines suspending flights to the country because of the escalating violence, commercial escape routes could be cut off as the situation deteriorates.
The deployment to Cyprus comes as the government begins the first stage of its contingency plan, with the military team supported by Border Force and Foreign Office officials.
Defence Secretary John Healey announced the movement of troops on Tuesday night following a Cobra meeting earlier in the day.
The gathering will also see Ukraine push for authorisation to use UK and US-supplied missiles to strike at targets within Russia.
US president Joe Biden has so far resisted calls for the missiles to be targeted at airbases and other facilities in Russia, despite Volodymyr Zelensky using the New York summit to lobby world leaders.
Defence Secretary John Healey at the Labour Party conference (Peter Byrne/PA) ( PA Wire )
There would need to be a shift in the US position for Mr Zelensky to secure a breakthrough on the issue.
Sir Keirs visit to the United States comes less than six weeks before the countrys presidential election, but it is not clear whether he will meet candidates Donald Trump or Kamala Harris while he is in New York.
In his speech, due to take place on Thursday, he will say: We are returning the UK to responsible global leadership.
This is the moment to reassert fundamental principles and our willingness to defend them. To recommit to the UN, to internationalism, to the rule of law.
Because I know that this matters to the British people. War, poverty and climate change all rebound on us at home. They make us less secure, they harm our economy, and they create migration flows on an unprecedented scale.
The British people are safer and more prosperous when we work internationally to solve these problems, instead of merely trying to manage their effects.
So, the responsible global leadership that we will pursue is undeniably in our self-interest.
Close Sue Gray quits: Defence secretary says Labour cabinet is most unified hes ever served in
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Sir Keir Starmer has warned that a two-state solution is the only viable long-term route through the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, as he said Britains thoughts are with the Jewish people on the anniversary of the 7 October attacks.
In a speech to the House of Commons, the prime minister called for an end to the living nightmare Palestinians are enduring, and vowed to use the power of diplomacy to try to minimise suffering on the ground, as he urged Israel to renew efforts for a ceasefire and called for more relief for civilians.
He took aim at Iran, saying the launching of 200 ballistic missiles at Israel last week exposes, once again, Irans malign role in the region.
His speech comes as David Lammy sought to reassure MPs the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar are not up for negotiation amid backlash over his decision to hand the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius.
The Foreign Secretary told the Commons: I want to reassure the House and all members of the UK family worldwide that this agreement does not signal any change in policy to Britains other overseas territories.
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner were among five cabinet ministers to attend a Labour Party conference fringe event to show solidarity with Israel and the remaining 101 hostages held by Hamas.
Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) on Tuesday evening had one of the most significant and largest turnouts by senior ministers for the entire event, as Palestinian flag-waving protesters remained outside the conference in Liverpool all week.
It was a powerful symbolic gesture for a party where LFI has come under huge criticism from pro-Gaza supporters, and Starmers government has been facing demands from party members for a much more anti-Israel response to the crisis.
Labour lost MPs at the election, including frontbencher Jon Ashworth, because of the refusal to back down over support for Israel.
Angela Rayner addresses the Labour Friends of Israel group at party conference ( LFI )
Israeli ambassador Tzipura Hotovely told the LFI event of how she was at home spending much of the day hiding with her family in a shelter on the day of the 7 October Hamas attacks.
She was cheered when she said: If you believe in peace, you need to support Israels right to self-defence and Israels duty to self-defence.
Ms Hotovely described how 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their homes because of attacks from Hezbollah.
She added: For 11 months Israel gave so many chances for diplomatic solutions and we would still like to restore peace. Hezbollah didnt want the diplomatic solution and it is about time for them to pay the price for all those who have been evacuated from towns destroyed by non-stop fighting since 8 October.
And she asked: Can you imagine Liverpool being evacuated for a year? You cant imagine that. We gave a chance to diplomacy.
She described Hamas as monsters who rejected a hostage deal time after time, and reminded those present that young children are among those who had been in captivity for 354 days.
Israels ambassador to the UK Tzipura Hotovely ( AFP/Getty Images )
Hamas launched a deadly attack from the Gaza Strip into Israel on 7 October, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage, around half of which remain in Gaza.
The subsequent Israeli aerial and ground assault in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the latest update from the local health ministry in the Hamas-run strip, and forced more than 90 per cent of the enclaves population to flee their homes.
The ambassadors remarks appeared to be a response to Ms Rayner, who was standing in for Keir Starmer who was flying to the UN in New York.
She opened proceedings with a speech calling for an immediate ceasefire from all sides which was met with silence - but was cheered and applauded when she called for the hostages to be brought home immediately.
The event also became a celebration of the LFIs role in helping change the party following the antisemitism row under Jeremy Corbyns leadership.
Ms Reeves, who was vice chair of the LFI for 14 years, said in her speech: Our party has changed for the last five years and much of it is down to people like you.
I want to thank all of you for the part you played in changing our party. From the bottom of my heart thank you.
She added rooting out antisemitism was a non-negotiable precondition to join Starmers frontbench.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves also gave a speech at the event ( PA Wire )
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden and science and digital secretary Peter Kyle, both former LFI deputy chairs, were also in attendance alongside business secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
The new LFI chair, newly elected High Peak MP Jon Pearce, made it clear he will be pushing for a crackdown on antisemitism fuelled by hatred of Israel, as well as demanding much firmer action against Iran.
He said: The threat posed by terror groups in Israel, in Europe and here in the UK wont be resolved until the threat posed by the Iranian regime is acknowledged and addressed. That is why we must stop by banning Irans terror army, the IRGC.
We must enhance the relations between Britain and Israel because Israel is our only ally in the region which shares our liberal democratic values. We must defend liberal democratic allies against autocrats, extremists and terrorists.
Lets not forget the missiles Vladimir Putin is launching against Kyiv are provided by the very same regime that provides weapons to Hezbollah to fire into Galilee. The Moscow-Tehran axis is a menace to all of us, who value freedom, peace and democracy.
The event also heard the harrowing stories of two relatives of elderly hostages still being held by the Hamas terrorist group, but the speeches also included criticism of Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to get a hostage deal and peace.
It was noted two of the UK cabinet ministers present had gone to one of the kibutzes where hostages were taken, but Mr Netanyahu has yet to make the journey himself.
Also present was Holocaust survivor Mala Tribich, and two former Labour MPs Louise Ellman and Luciana Berger who left the party during Mr Corbyns leadership but returned under Sir Keir.
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Michael Gove, who was a longtime U.K. Cabinet minister under successive Conservative Party governments, has been appointed as the editor of The Spectator, one of the worlds oldest political magazines.
Wednesday's announcement came little more than two weeks after billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Marshall bought the magazine via his company Old Queen Street Ventures. The Spectator has a long-standing reputation of supporting the Conservative Party and providing intellectual ballast to its discussions both in and out of power.
Marshall is already the co-owner of U.K. channel GB News, which launched three years ago as a right-leaning, Fox News-style alternative to mainstream news channels.
Alongside his political and journalistic nous, Michael brings a love of books, philosophy, art, opera and a mischievous sense of humor," said Freddie Sayers, chief executive of new owner OQS. He is perfectly suited to this role, and I cant wait to work together to bring The Spectator to new audiences.
Gove, who served in the successive governments of Prime Ministers David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, will take up his new role at the start of October. Gove served in a variety of Cabinet positions from 2010 until July, when the Conservative Party suffered its worst election defeat for nearly two centuries. The Tories lost power after 14 years, with the Labour Party taking the reins.
Before he became a lawmaker after the 2005 general election, Gove had been a prominent journalist at The Times and considered a close confidante of its owner Rupert Murdoch.
The Spectator is one of the worlds oldest politics and current affairs magazines, established in 1828 in Londons Old Queen Street, which has given its name to Marshall's OQS venture.
In theory, the annual conference is the Labour Partys supreme authority. Everyone has heard of Clause IV of the partys constitution, which sets out its aims and values, and which was rewritten in 1995 to remove a commitment to common ownership. Less well-known is Clause VI, which declares: The work of the party shall be under the direction and control of party conference.
That is not how it works in practice, however, because the leader has so much power especially if he (and one day no doubt she) has the support of a majority of members of the National Executive Committee (NEC).
The NEC is charged with running the party in between annual conferences, although in practice most of its power is exercised by the leader through the cabinet (in government) and shadow cabinet (in opposition).
So, who decides policy?
For much of the partys existence, this tension between theory and practice has fuelled factional conflict as supporters of Tony Benn and, later, Jeremy Corbyn tried to translate their majority among delegates into control of the party machine.
The Bennite insurgency briefly succeeded in imposing its policies on a reluctant leader Michael Foot and a reluctant shadow cabinet. But it wasnt enough for the Bennites to control the votes at the party conference: what was critical was that they had a majority in the Clause V meeting. Clause V being another vital part of the constitution, which says that the election manifesto should be decided by a joint meeting of the shadow cabinet and trade union representatives.
Thus it was that Labour fought the 1983 election on what Gerald Kaufman, shadow environment secretary, called the longest suicide note in history and was crushed.
What happened under Jeremy Corbyn?
When Benns politics were revived in 2015, the issue of who controls policy became a live one again. It turned out to be surprisingly difficult for Corbyn to assert his control over policy. In particular, he had to accept Labours support for the nuclear deterrent, partly because the trade unions defended the policy.
He also struggled to arrive at a coherent position on Brexit, which wasnt so much of a problem in the 2017 election, because Theresa Mays troubles were greater, but he ended up in a peculiar place in the 2019 election.
His difficulty was essentially political, in that he was trying to reconcile his own Euroscepticism with the pro-EU sympathies of many of his supporters but part of it was played out in the conference hall as Keir Starmer, his shadow Brexit secretary, tried to change policy from the platform.
What happened on Wednesday?
There was a vote on a motion tabled by two unions, Unite and the communications workers, demanding that the cut in winter fuel payments be reversed. It was carried on a show of hands, and there was no attempt to call for a card vote a full count that would have revealed exactly how much support the motion had. Presumably, the Labour leadership knew that they had been defeated decisively.
Sources close to Starmer continued to be defiant, saying that the vote will be noted and ignored.
There is nothing that the opponents of the cut can do to enforce the vote. It is embarrassing for Starmer and Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, but nothing more.
And the embarrassment could even be turned a little to their advantage if they use the defeat as a way of dramatising how difficult the decision was, emphasising their determination to see it through.
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Sir Keir Starmer accepted 20,000 worth of accommodation to help his 16-year-old son study for his GCSEs, it has emerged.
The prime minister was asked by the BBC about a 20,437 donation from Labour peer Waheed Alli between May and July, confirming that the sum was for somewhere his son could study peacefully.
He told the broadcaster: At the beginning of the election, which we didnt know when it was going to be called, my boy was in the middle of his GCSEs.
Keir Starmer came under renewed pressure over donations from Lord Alli ( Anadolu via Getty Images )
"I made him a promise that hell be able to get to his school, do his exams without being disturbed."
Sir Keir said there were lots of journalists outside our house where we lived".
And he added: Im not complaining about that, thats fine, but if youre a 16-year-old trying to do your GCSEs, your one chance in life, I promised him wed move somewhere, wed get out of that house, and go somewhere where he could be peacefully studying.
"Someone then offered me accommodation where we could do that, I took it up, and it was the right thing to do for my boy, it didnt cost the taxpayer a penny."
Asked if that was Lord Alli, Sir Keir says: "Yes, of course.
"But my primary concern wasnt about influencing government, it was making sure my boy could do his GCSEs without wading through loads of journalists outside the house."
The admission threatens to reignite the row over Sir Keirs relationship with Lord Alli, who has also gifted the prime minister, his wife and other Labour figures thousands of pounds of clothing and other gifts.
Sir Keir came under fire previously after it emerged Lord Alli had been handed a Downing Street pass, with the affair dubbed passes for glasses because the donations included multiple pairs of spectacles for the PM.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, with his wife Lady Victoria Starmer, after concluding his conference speech (Stefan Rousseau/PA) ( PA Wire )
Asked whether he would like to apologise for the row, he told LBC: Im not going to apologise for not doing anything wrong.
The Prime Minister also opened up about life inside Number 10 following Labours takeover in July.
It has been tough for the kids. Im not pleading a special case but theyre 16 and 13, he said. Thats a very important time.
The row over declarations by MPs and senior ministers had threatened to overshadow the Labour conference, with criticism aimed at both the PM and his ministers for accepting luxury gifts from wealthy donors while announcing cuts to the winter fuel allowance.
Sir Keir has said ministers will no longer take donations for clothing now they are in Government, but left the door open to receiving more access to events, such as the 4,000 worth of tickets to a Taylor Swift concert he accepted from the Premier League.
Asked whether he would rule out accepting such gifts in the future, he told ITVs Good Morning Britain: I think thats a matter of judgment. There has to be good reason.
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Watch as world leaders took part in the 79th annual UN General Assembly high-level debate on Wednesday 25 September.
Sir Keir Starmer delivered a speech on conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan.
The prime minister is in New York for the General Assembly this week, where Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will also present his plan for the next stage of the war to his allies.
Sir Keir has suggested the UK will listen carefully to Mr Zelenskys demands for military aid, and said that Kyivs desire to use western missiles to strike targets in Russia will not be the sole issue in their victory plan.
The US and UK have so far refused to give Ukraine permission to use the missiles they have supplied against targets in Russia, despite repeated pleas from Mr Zelensky.
The Ukrainian president has said that he is having to fight with his hands tied because he is unable to use the weapons to strike Russian airfields and military facilities which Vladimir Putin is using to launch deadly air raids, missiles and drones.
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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore welcomed King Abdullah II of Jordan to the state's Capitol on Wednesday for a roundtable discussion with business and education leaders from around the state.
It was the first time a foreign head of state has visited the Maryland State House on official business, Moore said in opening remarks.
This is a way to come together to talk about common goals, to talk about common interests and to talk about cooperation that we think is going to be so important, and we have brought leaders from across the state to engage in this historic visit, as we look to have this very vibrant discussion about our people and our economies and our opportunities and also are futures, Moore said.
We are instantly good friends. Hes a fellow paratrooper, so that goes a long way to this relationship, the king said, adding that the meeting would start a new page in the relationship between Maryland and Jordan.
Moore was a paratrooper with the U.S. Armys 82nd Airborne and saw combat in Afghanistan. The king is a former commander of Jordan's Special Forces.
Abdullah was in New York this week to speak at the United Nations.
Buick
The proposed rule would prohibit vehicles with connectivity software from China or Russia by model year 2027 and vehicles with the relevant hardware from those countries by model year 2030 to be sold in the US.
Targeted are telematics control units, Bluetooth cellular, satellite, and Wi-Fi modules, as well as ADAS software components, even if the vehicle was made in the United States.
Vehicles sold in the US for MY 2025 with significant software and components from China include the Cadillac XT4, CT4, and CT5; Buick Encore GX and Envision (pictured above); Hyundai Kona EV; Ford Mustang Mach-E; Volvo S90 T8 PHEV and S90 B6; Lincoln Nautilus; and Polestar 2.
The US Department of Commerce does not want Chinese- and Russian-supplied software and hardware controlling your automated, connected car or truck.
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To that end, the departments Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a proposed rule Tuesday that would prohibit vehicles with connectivity software from those countries by model year 2027 and vehicles with the relevant hardware from those countries by model year 2030 (or Jan. 1, 2029, for vehicles without a model year) to be sold in the US.
The rule would prohibit sale of vehicles with these foreign-supplied systems that allow them to communicate externally, including telematics control units, Bluetooth cellular, satellite, and Wi-Fi modules, as well as with ADAS software components that collectively allow a vehicle to operate without the driver operating the controls, even if the vehicle was made in the United States.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a prepared statement: Cars today have cameras, microphones, GPS tracking, and other technologies connected to the internet. It doesnt take much imagination to understand how a foreign adversary with access to this information could pose a serious risk to both our national security and the privacy of US citizens.
Under guidelines for federal agency rulemaking, the proposed rule is published in the Federal Register and is open for a period of public comment before it becomes law.
Story continues
Parts and supplies from Russian companies have been removed from most Western supply chains since Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine, notes Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions.
Since at least the COVID-19 pandemic, however, China and Russia have grown closer diplomatically at the same time as Chinese automakers have been squeezing Chinese-built foreign brands out of their local market.
The pandemic also caused critical shortages of semiconductors for automotive and other industries, which prompted Congress in 2022 to pass the CHIPS and Science Act, a federal statute that provides $280 billion for domestic chip research and manufacturing.
Compounding the economic diplomacy rift between the US and China is a law signed by President Biden last April that gave ByteDance one year to sell TikTok or face having to remove it from our market.
Vehicles sold in the US for the 2025 model year with significant software and components from China range from the Cadillac XT4, CT4, and CT5, and Buick Encore GX at 15%, to the Hyundai Kona EV with 50% Chinese content and the Ford Mustang Mach-E with 51%.
Chinese-built models sold here include the Volvo S90 T8 PHEV with 70%, the S90 B6 with 75% including engine, Lincoln Nautilus with 87% including engine and transmission, Buick Envision with 90%, and Polestar 2 with 95% including motor and transmission.
The privacy issue is not, however, limited to software and hardware from potentially hostile nations. Last September, the free software community Mozilla Foundation issued all 25 automotive brands sold in the US its Privacy Not Included Label, making passenger vehicles the official worst category of products for privacy ever reviewed.
Every car brand we looked at collects more personal data than necessary and uses that information for a reason other than to operate your vehicle and manage their relationship with you, Mozilla said in a release.
The Washington-based Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents 43 automotive brands including most major OEMs in the US, expressed some misgivings about the Commerce Departments rule proposal.
Important context: Theres actually very little technologyhardware or softwarein todays connected vehicle supply chain that enters the US from China. But this rule will require auto manufacturers in some cases to find alternate suppliers, AAI President and CEO John Bozzella said in a press release.
The lead time included in the proposed rule will allow some auto manufacturers to make the required transition, but it may be too short for others.
Do you think this rulemaking will materialize into an actual ban of this vehicle technology from China and Russia? Please comment below.
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Chilean journalist Eva Vergara, who in her four decades at The Associated Press covered stories including the first protests against the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet and revealed key information about abuses by members of the Catholic Church, died Tuesday. She was 68.
Vergara died as a result of a recently diagnosed cancer, said her son Camilo Torres Vergara.
As a correspondent in Chile, Vergara reported extensively on the end of the Pinochet era and the country's transition to democracy in 1990. She covered the many human rights violations and the thousands of missing people after the military coup against President Salvador Allende in 1973. She also reported on the gripping rescue of 33 trapped miners in the San Jose mine in 2010.
I saw Evas work every day covering the news in Chile during very, very difficult times, recalled retired Chilean journalist Eduardo Gallardo, who worked at APs New York headquarters when Vergara joined the team.
The first protests against the dictatorship broke out and they showed what would eventually become one of Evas notable characteristics as a reporter: courage and precision in covering street protests that invariably turned violent and dangerous, Gallardo said in a statement to the Chilean correspondents union following Vergaras death.
In 2018, Vergara and AP Vatican correspondent Nicole Winfield exclusively published a letter in which Pope Francis acknowledged that he was aware of abuse by members of the Catholic church in Chile and that he had nevertheless appointed a bishop at the center of the scandal to the helm of the diocese of Osorno. The case of Bishop Juan Barros sparked protests and dogged the pontiff during his visit to the South American nation that year.
Vergara also was part of the AP team that covered the takeover of the Japanese ambassadors residence in Lima by the subversive group Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement on Dec. 17, 1996, which ended with the rescue of the hostages five months later.
Vergara leaves behind her son Camilo, four grandchildren and her dog Luke.
____
Zamorano reported from Panama City
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A Colorado teenager has been accused of stabbing another man to death during an argument over a bottle of hot sauce.
George Vigil, 19, was arrested on suspicion of murder on September 22 after police responded to a 911 call reporting that a man had been stabbed inside a home on North Federal Boulevard in central Denver, Denver Police said.
A witness told police the victim, who has not been unidentified but had some sort of a relationship with Vigil, had arrived at the home to visit as he usually does more than one time per week, supposedly to check on something or someone there, according to the affidavit.
During the visit, the affidavit claims the victim wanted to make a sandwich and asked where the hot sauce was.
When Vigil stated the bottle was in his bedroom upstairs, the two men allegedly erupted into an argument, with the other people present having to physically separate them.
The victim, the affidavit states, verbally challenged Vigil, enticing him to fight by making statements to the effect of Lets take this outside, and began approaching him again.
It was at this point that the witness claimed she saw Vigil swing an arm, noting that the 19-year-old often carried a switchblade type knife in his front pants pocket.
The victim then fell to the ground and began bleeding profusely, prompting the emergency call.
In the 911 call, a woman told a dispatcher hello, I have someone stabbed, according to an affidavit seen by Law&Crime.
Voices were heard yelling in the background of the call, the affidavit states.
The caller then told the dispatcher she was with two gentlemen and a female, and one gentleman with a knife, describing the injury as having impacted the gentleman on the left side of his ribs.
I just need somebody here right away, she continued.
We need an ambulance here right away. Right now. Right now. Hes bleeding to death, please, she pleaded.
When asked who had stabbed the man, the woman allegedly told the dispatcher: George Vigil.
Upon arrival, officers found the victim suffering from apparent sharp force injuries, police said in a press release.
The victim was taken to the Denver Health Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators identified Vigil as the suspect in the fatal stabbing, with the affidavit claiming his hands and clothing were stained with apparent fresh blood.
He had no visible open or bleeding injuries to his person, the document continued. As officers took him into custody and were walking him to the vehicle, he asked for an attorney.
Vigil is now charged with second-degree murder. He appeared in court on Monday and was ordered to be detained without bond.
The Independent has contacted Denver Police for further details.
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Sean Diddy Combs is facing yet another civil lawsuit accusing him of sexual and physical abuse, this time brought by a woman who claims the music mogul and his employee recorded themselves violently sexually assaulting her in 2001.
Thalia Graves, who lives in Texas, filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York Tuesday accusing Combs and Joseph Sherman, his former head of security, of drugging her and then brutally raping and physically assaulting her.
It arrives approximately a week after Combs was arrested and federally charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation for prostitution.
Im glad that he is locked up but that is a temporary feeling of relief, Graves said in an emotional press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Gloria Allred (left) is representing Thalia Graves (right), a woman accusing Sean Diddy Combs of raping her and physically assaulting her in 2001 ( Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP )
Graves, who was 25 years old at the time of the assault, alleges that Combs exploited her relationship with one of his employees to lure into a meeting. She claims Combs personally called her concerning her boyfriends employment at Bad Boys and asked to speak in person.
During the meeting, she says she was given a glass of wine that caused her to feel dizzy and eventually lost consciousness. Graves claims she awoke bound and restrained surrounded by Combs and Sherman.
She alleges that the two violently raped her and physically assaulted her, causing her to sustain injuries.
They allegedly threatened to use their power to ruin her life if she told anyone of the assault, so she remained silent for years.
The trauma of the assault has taken a toll on my mental health, Graves said tearfully. Ive had PTSD, depression and anxiety. Im emotionally scarred, it has been hard for me to trust others, to form healthy relationships, or even feel safe in my own skin, she added.
In November 2023, around the time Combs ex-girlfriend Cassie filed a similar lawsuit against him, Graves learned from her ex-boyfriend that Combs and Sherman allegedly recorded the assault and showed the video to multiple people for years.
The complaint alleges that Combs and Sherman also may have sold the video as pornography.
The Independent has asked a lawyer for Combs for comment on the allegation.
Diddy in a federal courtroom after being criminally charged. He remains behind bars without bail ( REUTERS )
Gloria Allred, the well-known civil rights lawyer, is representing Graves in the case. Allred said the suit had been in the works before after federal prosecutors unveiled the federal indictment against Combs last week but it was time to file.
Allred said Graves is not the only alleged victim of Combs that she is representing. However, she declined to confirm if other lawsuits will be brought forward. The lawyer also asked anyone with evidence related to Graves complaint to come forward confidentially.
Graves lawsuit is at least the 12th lawsuit to be filed against Combs with allegations of rape and/or sexual or physical assault.
Combs is currently behind held in a New York jail awaiting the start of his federal charges trial. A start date has not been set yet.
Rainn offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)
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A federal judge in Georgia on Wednesday rejected a bid from former reality TV star Julie Chrisley to reduce her sentence for a fraud and tax evasion conviction.
Chrisley will still serve an 84-month sentence, after being found guilty in 2022 of conspiring with her husband Todd to hide their earnings from tax officials and defraud community banks in the Atlanta area by obtaining $36m in fraudulent loans.
Julie Chrisley, the star of the USA Network show Chrisley Knows Best, had been seeking a reduction to no more than a five-year sentence, citing the impact of her detention in a Kentucky prison on her two youngest children.
I cannot ever repay my children for what theyve had to go through, and for that Im sorry, Chrisley, 51, said in court. I apologize for my actions and what led me to where I am today.
Savannah Chrisley, Julies daughter, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution her mother plans to appeal.
Chrisleys family say she plans to appeal the sentence ( 2017 Invision )
Thats what you get from an Obama-appointed judge, she said.
Prior to becoming TV stars, the Chrisleys made a fortune in real estate.
During that time, prosecutors say they and a former business partner submitted false documents to Georgia banks to obtain large loans, while living a luxury lifestyle, until Todd filed for bankruptcy, leaving behind over $20m in unpaid loans.
Despite being in dire financial straits, the couple flaunted their wealth and lifestyle to the American public and hid their TV earnings, prosecutors alleged.
In June, an appeals court upheld the couples convictions, but ordered a lower court to resentence Julie Chrisley, finding insufficient evidence she was part of the six-year bank fraud scheme in its first year, 2006.
Todd Chrisley, 56, is serving a 12-year sentence in Florida.
The couples former accountant, Peter Tarantino, was also convicted, and is set for release in March from an Atlanta-area halfway house.
The Chrisleys were first indicted in 2019.
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A passenger has died after a person with a gun hijacked a bus in Los Angeles, leading to an hour-long police chase through the city in the early hours of Wednesday.
The driver and two passengers were on the bus when the incident unfolded and held hostage throughout the terrifying persuit.
The Los Angeles Police Department received radio calls about an incident on a bus in the area of Manchester and Figueroa around 12.45am.
After the passenger pulled out a gun, the bus driver pushed the panic button on the bus, prompting a sign on the back of the bus to flash: Emergency. Call 911, KTLA reported.
While officers tried to communicate with the driver as the bus was stopped at 117th and Figueroa, the vehicle pulled away, leading to an hour-long pursuit into the downtown area, police said.
The SWAT team joined police in its efforts to bring the bus to a stop and rescue the hostages. They were eventually successful at approximately 2.10am after police deployed spike strips and were able to puncture a tire, bringing the bus to a stop at Alameda Street and 6th Street.
The SWAT team then deployed noise flash diversionary devices and boarded the bus and the suspect was taken into custody.
A bus was hijacked in the early hours on Wednesday morning, leading to an hour-long persuit through downtown LA ( KTLA )
One passenger suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to the hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries.
The driver and the other passenger were shaken but uninjured, Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Donald Graham said at a media briefing on Wednesday morning.
The motivation for the hijacking is not immediately clear and the charges against the suspect have not been announced.
The suspect, passengers, and the bus driver have not been identified.
South Bureau Homicide detectives are conducting an investigation into the incident.
The Independent has reached out to LAPD for more information.
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A family who launched their own search for a missing Indigenous woman after becoming frustrated with authorities perceived lack of action found her body over a week later in the Californiadesert.
Amy Porter, 43, had been missing since September 14 in Lake Elsinore, in Riverside County and had reportedly fled an abusive relationship.
At around 9am on September 22, deputies from the Yucaipa Sheriffs Station responded to a medical aid call in an area near to the Interstate 10. A body was later identified to be Porter and an autopsy was due to be conducted to determine the manner of her death.
Porter was a member of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the subject of a Feather Alert for an at-risk/ missing person over the weekend.
Unfortunately, authorities havent been as helpful as we would like them to be, Angelina Lyons, Porters cousin, told OnScene.TV on Sunday morning. We feel like things werent taken seriously.
Amy Porter, 43, a member of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians was found dead on Sunday September 22 ( San Bernardino Sheriffs Department )
Lyons said she had discovered blood on a mattress and clothing in Porters bedroom, but she said authorities did not investigate properly.
Now they want to do their jobs, they want to investigate, want to go to the house, she added. They want to finally take what weve seen. We knew better.
Porters cousin Shannon Quesada and Lyons said they believed she was trying to flee from danger when she was involved in a car accident.
She was seen running from a hotel that they were both at, on foot, barefoot, running to her Suburban, Quesada said.
Porters boyfriend, whose name was unavailable late Monday, has not been linked to the case, according to The Los Angeles Times. He was taken into custody by police in Pomona on Friday on an unrelated parole violation, local news stations reported.
No arrests have been made.
Anyone with further information about this case is asked to contact Detective Daniel Berumen of the San Bernardino Sheriffs Department at (909) 890-4904.
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A University of Southern California student was arrested on Monday morning after reportedly striking a professor in the head with a metal water bottle, the schools student newspaper reported.
The universitys department of public safety responded to the incident in room 112 of the Verna and Peter Dauterive Hall. School security officials arrested the student, who was later booked by the Los Angeles Police Department for assault with a deadly weapon.
Neither the student nor the professor has been identified by university or law enforcement officials.
The instructor was treated at the scene by Los Angeles Fire Department personnel and then transported to a local hospital for treatment.
A person who witnessed the attack and spoke with USCAnnenbergMedia said they believe the incident had been unprovoked. The student had an outburst shortly before instruction began, the source said.
She was spotted yelling and slamming her water bottle on the table, the outlet reported.
Officials have not released additional details relating to the incident. The Independent has reached out to USC for comment.
USC, a private university based near downtown Los Angeles, had a total student population of more than 47,000 in the 2023-2024 academic year, and this years tuition alone costs $69,904.
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The judge who dismissed Jack Smiths classified documents case against Donald Trump will preside over the trial of his alleged would-be assassin.
Prosecutors charged Ryan Routh with the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate on Tuesday. Officials say he stalked the former president in Florida for about a month. As early as August 18, he positioned himself outside Trumps Mar-a-Lago. Cell phone data has confirmed that, according to CNN.
Now, Judge Aileen Cannon, who dismissed the documents case in June following months of delays and antagonistic behavior toward federal prosecutors, will preside over the case. Jack Smith, the DOJ-appointed special counsel, is currently appealing her decision.
Routh has also been charged with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer, in addition to the two previous gun charges. Officials took him into custody on September 15 following an incident at Trumps Florida home.
Routh is believed to have political views different to the former presidents but his social media accounts claim he voted for him in 2016.
Ryan Routh has been charged with the attempted assassination of a former president, prosecutors announced on Tuesday. Judge Aileen Cannon will preside over his case ( AP )
He was charged about two months after the first assassination attempt against the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania during a campaign rally. A 20-year-old Thomas Crooks opened fire on Trump from the roof of a nearby warehouse on July 13, striking Trumps right ear.
Members of the crowd were also shot before the Secret Service ordered a sniper to shoot him dead.
US District Judge Aileen M Cannon will oversee Ryan Routh trial ( AP )
Routh is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said, The attempted assassination on the former president is a heinous act, while speaking at a news conference on Tuesday. I am grateful that he is safe, and as I said immediately after the event, the Justice Department will spare no resource to ensure accountability.
Close Long-time friend of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush said Titan sub explosion was expected
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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.
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President Joe Biden said Wednesday that fighting between Israel and Hezbollah threatens to become an all-out war as his top diplomat and other advisers were working behind the scenes pressing for a temporary cease-fire to calm the escalating conflict that has killed more than 600 people.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US administration was intensely engaged with a number of partners to de-escalate tensions in Lebanon and to work to get a cease-fire agreement that would have so many benefits for all concerned.
The Biden administration has been floating a proposal for a temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah to calm the escalating conflict that has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, US officials said Wednesday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other US officials have spent the past three days at and on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly meeting of world leaders in New York lobbying other countries to support the plan, which they hope could lead to longer-term stability along the border, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic conversations.
However, they said the specifics of the proposal were not yet complete. An Israeli official said Netanyahu has given the green light to pursue a possible deal, but only if it includes the return of Israeli civilians to their homes. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing behind-the-scenes diplomacy.
Earlier Wednesday, Biden warned that all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah is still possible, but expressed hope that an off-ramp can be found to prevent further bloodshed. His comments came after days of back and forth between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon that have killed hundreds and rekindled fears of a broader war in the Middle East.
An all-out war is possible, Biden said in an appearance on ABCs The View, adding that he thinks the opportunity also exists to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region.
Biden suggested that getting Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a cease-fire could help achieve a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. That war is approaching the one-year mark on October 7 when Hamas invaded southern Israel, and has caused tens of thousands of deaths, the majority being of Palestinians in Gaza.
Preisdent Joe Biden with the panel of co-hosts at ABCs The View ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )
Its possible and Im using every bit of energy I have with my team to get this done, he said. Theres a desire to see change in the region.
Meanwhile, the chief of Israels army said Wednesday that the military is preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon as Hezbollah hurled dozens of projectiles into Israel, including a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was the militant groups deepest strike yet.
Blinken has been urging both Israel and Hezbollah to step back from their current intensifying conflict, saying that all-out war would be disastrous for the region.
In New York for the annual UN General Assembly, Blinken said Wednesday the US was working on a plan to de-escalate tensions and allow tens of thousands of Israelis and Lebanese to return to homes they have had to evacuate in border areas.
The best way to get that is not through war, not through escalation, he said in an interview with NBC News.
It would be through a diplomatic agreement that has forces pulled back from the border, create a secure environment, people return home, Blinken said. Thats what were driving toward because while theres a very legitimate issue here, we dont think that war is the solution.
US officials say they are floating a number of ideas to calm the situation but they have not been specific about what the scenarios would entail.
France has called a special UN Security Council meeting on Lebanon for later Wednesday at which some of those ideas may be discussed.
What were focused on now, including with many partners here in New York at the UN General Assembly, the Arab world, Europeans and others, is a plan to de-escalate, Blinken said.
If there were to be a full-scale war which we dont have and which were working to avoid thats actually not going to solve the problem, Blinken said.
LAS VEGASASGmax has announced its October Pride Studios Refresh with revamped Pride Studios brands, including its three main lines Extra Big Dicks, Men Over 30, and Family Creep. The rebranding features new logos and content, as well as changes in the casting and production.
We are so excited to finally share this new content with everyone, ASGmax Chief Creative Officer Jeremy Babcock said. This project has been months in the making, with our focus being to enhance the Pride brands with new casting, locations, stories, and a new director, Micah Martinez. This new content reflects the production value our members have come to expect on ASGmax and will really strengthen Pride Studios as one of the main pillars of the ASGmax network.
A renewed focus was placed on casting. For Men Over 30, were bringing some of the top performers in the industry, as well as over thirty newcomers, truly proving that sex gets better with age, Babcock continued. On Extra Big Dicks, the size does matter, and well be featuring models packing eight inches or more, paired with bottoms who can eagerly take them. Finally, for Family Creep, were leaning into the ever-popular fauxcest genre to pair older and younger models together for roleplay scenarios.
Director Micah Martinez has been a major creative force behind this brand refresh. Taking a primary role in casting, writing, and directing, this new content really showcases Micahs awesome creativity and ability to put together great videos, he added.
Offered Martinez, Jeremy Babcock and I have been able to really sit down and hammer out some fresh new concepts for sites that have existed for quite some time.
It has been fun really adding my own flair to sites that I've been a fan of and have seen grow over the years, he added. Shooting for Pride Studios, putting my own touch on it, really being a major part of the creative process, and breathing new life and creative flair on it has been an amazing and fun challenge for me. It has also been a blast working with a completely different Pride talent pool and really making it so that the three sites for Pride Studios are something that fans have not seen before, both current and newbies.
New Pride Studios content will launch on October 14, with ASGmax streaming new scenes on Tuesdays through the end of the year. The ASGmax October Pride Studios Refresh kicks off with Corporate ASSet, starring Roman Todd and Taylor Reign, which drops on October 14. Bigger Than Mine, starring Eddie Patrick and August Alexander, follows on October 21. Benny Fox and Marco Napoli star in Step-Sons Surprise, which premieres on October 28streaming exclusively on the ASGmax network.
New content from Pride Studios lines features industry performers like Roman Todd, Ty Roderick, Pierce Paris, Jake Waters, Eddie Patrick, Marco Napoli, and Derek Kage, among others.
For more, visit Pride Studios on the ASGmax website and follow the brand on X and Instagram.
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President Joe Biden slammed his predecessor and former 2024 election opponent as an anti-democratic demagogue who has no respect for the norms and traditions of democracy during an appearance on the popular ABC News program The View on Wednesday.
Biden was asked by host Joy Behar about Donald Trumps history of incendiary comments, including his suggestion that former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney face a military tribunal for having criticized him, and his recent suggestion that Democrats are responsible for inspiring the two recent assassination attempts against him.
Pressed for a response to the former president, Biden replied that Trump was most unusual before shifting gears and recalling how hed wanted to run for president in 2020 to restore the soul of the country, to grow the American middle class and bring the country back together.
Trump is not a lot of social redeeming value there, he said.
He really does not believe in democracy and the guardrails that our system has set up for the abuse of power and look at what he says and does, he added.
Continuing, Biden said Trump is probably terrifying to other world leaders because he fails to understand the value of partners, the value of alliances, the value of bringing the world together. He added that Trump would probably bring an end to NATO if returned to the White House.
Asked if Trump is only running for another term to spare himself a prison term if he fails to regain the presidency, Biden replied: Im not sure he even understands what hes doing.
The presidents appearance on The View came just over 24 hours following his final speech before the United Nations General Assembly, during which he addressed his decision to stand down from seeking a second term.
In remarks that echoed the speech he gave following the announcement of his withdrawal as a candidate, Biden told world leaders that hed made the preservation of democracy into a central cause of his time in office, and recounted how hed wrestled with the decision over whether to remain in the race after his poor performance against his predecessor in their June 27 debate.
As much as I love the job, I love my country more. I decided, after 50 years of public service, its time for a new generation of leadership to take my nation forward, he said.
Asked if he regretted withdrawing from the race, Biden told the television hosts: I am at peace with my decision.
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Senator Mitt Romney is seriously concerned Donald Trump will target him and his family if he is re-elected in November, his biographer has revealed.
The Republican became the first senator to vote to convict a president of his own party during Trumps first impeachment trial. Romney was asked by McKay Coppings, his biographer, whether he fears his family would be targeted by Trump if he beats Kamala Harris in the election given their history.
He initially said: Its hard for me to imagine that President Trump would take the time to go out and see if [he] can find something on members of my family.
When pressed again about how his family could be affected, the senator responded: Ive got 25 grandkids! How am I going to protect 25 grandkids, two great-grandkids? Ive got five sons, five daughters-in-lawits like, were a big group, The Atlantic reports.
Trump has often threatened to go after his enemies. In a speech last year he said: In 2016, I declared, I am your voice. Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution.
Mitt Romney fears for his family if Trump becomes president ( Getty Images )
In a Truth Social post from August 2023, he also wrote: IF YOU GO AFTER ME, IM COMING AFTER YOU!
And he has vowed to use the Justice Department to target his enemies. I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden, the entire Biden crime family, and all others involved with the destruction of our elections, borders and our country itself, Trump also said last year.
The 77-year-old senator, who is about to retire, said he does not believe Trump is all bluster.
I think he has shown by his prior actions that you can take him at his word, he told Coppings. So I would take him at his word.
Coppings says Romney is preparing for what a Trump win means for him and his family.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to go after his enemies ( Getty Images )
He is thinking seriously about what it will mean to be on a presidents enemies list, he told KSL TV this week. Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he will seek retribution against his political enemies when he comes back to the White House if he wins, and I think Trump means that, and Romney is kind of preparing for that reality.
Romneys fears have been echoed by Trumps former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who has revealed he is working on getting a foreign passport and a totally new name as a back-up in case Trump wins in November.
Cohen, who in 2018 pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, testified against the former president during his hush money criminal trial back in May.
Now, Cohen believes that he would be at the top of Trumps retribution list if he defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
As a result, the former fixer revealed on MSNBCs Deadline: White House on Tuesday that he will likely flee the country if a second Trump term does materialize, saying he is already working on a foreign passport under an assumed name.
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Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert slammed Democrats while on the House floor saying they hate Jolly St. Nick as she sparred with California Representative Katie Porter over the sales of Christmas trees on federal land.
Its so sad to hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle hate Christmas, Boebert dryly said Tuesday.
Her comment, which led to laughter from audience members in the chamber, was part of the debate over her proposed amendment to the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program which seeks to reduce wildfire risk and restore landscapes through collaboration between the public and the government.
Boeberts amendment requires regional foresters to submit an annual plan regarding the sale of Christmas trees and firewood on federal land. It is a measure she asserts would allow families to heat their homes cost-effectively and thin overgrown forests.
Controversial Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert responded to a colleagues opposition to her amendment by suggesting Democrats hate Christmas ( CPSAN )
Porter, a progressive member of the House, disputed the amendment believing it unnecessarily places a preference over a marketable product over landscape restoration.
Tree harvesting for anything other than the purpose of landscape restoration is not in the spirit of the program, Porter said.
The forest service already has broad authority to conduct the sale of firewood and Christmas trees, they dont need it under this restoration program, the California rep added.
But rather than address Porters concerns, Boebert first accused her colleagues on the other side of the aisle of hating Christmas.
Democratic Representative Katie Porter said she opposed Lauren Boeberts amendment to a forestry bill because it prioritized marketable plans over landscape restoration ( CPSAN )
The accusation seemingly lit a match under Porter who said as a Christian, she was offended that Boebert suggested she hates Christmas.
This bill is not about, nor has nothing to do, with inhibiting people from celebrating their religious holidays, Porter said.
The sudden pivot from the amendments purpose to a debate over the representatives fondness for Christmas is an unsurprising turn of events for a House floor debate. Conversations over bills and amendments have famously divulged into heated debates over unrelated topics.
In 2023, the Republican-controlled House used precious remaining hours to debate reinstating whole milk into schools. In 2019 two lawmakers got into a tiff about the band Nickleback while discussing a voting rights provision.
Porter concluded her argument, Many of us make happy family memories with trees that are living. We have ways to enjoy trees without cutting them down or burning them.
Ultimately, Boeberts amendment passed.
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Three former chairs of the Maine Republican Party have enthusiastically endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the race against former President Donald Trump, joining hundreds of Republicans and former GOP administration officials in backing the Democratic nominee.
Robert Monks, Ken Cole and Ted OMeara made the announcement in an op-ed for the Bangor Daily News.
Recalling a bygone era, they said they led the Maine Republican Party when candidates of both parties were not only civil and believed in the rule of law but also had the best interests of the state and entire nation in mind, despite any disagreements that may occur.
They added that they see these positive characteristics in the vice president but that they are completely lacking in Trump.
Monks, Cole, and OMeara argue that Trumps sole goal appears to be to divide people across the nation, within communities, families and friends.
Whether it is race, religion, gender, ethnicity or country of origin, Trump continues to pit us against each other in his frightening, cynical quest to get elected again, the ex-GOP chairs wrote in the op-ed published on Monday.
Meanwhile, the trio argued that Harris is collaborative and capable and, unlike Trump, is committed to bringing people together.
The authors said they trust her when she says she intends to be a president for the entirety of the US, before going on to lament that the big-tent Republican Party they represented no longer exists: Trumps MAGA Republican Party is unrecognizable to us.
Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris gestures as she speaks during a campaign event in Wisconsin. The Republican state party chairs in Maine have now endorsed her for president ( REUTERS )
They slammed Trump for the chaos and lies and noted the widespread support for Harris among more old-school Republicans such as former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, former top House Republican Representative Liz Cheney, and more than a dozen former Ronald Reagan staffers.
Monks, Cole and OMeara also noted that over 100 former top Republican officials signed a letter stating that Trump is unfit to serve again as president, or indeed in any office of public trust.
The trio lambasted Trump for refusing to state if he wants Ukraine to win the war against Russia during his appearance on the debate stage in Philadelphia on September 10 and for cozying up to dictators such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
They cited the worries of European allies at the prospect of a second Trump term and Chinas increasing aggression towards Taiwan, adding that the war-torn Middle East desperately needs calm and determined US leadership.
Trumps return to the White House would make our world a far more dangerous place, the former GOP state chairs argued.
The Maine Republicans also shared their concerns that Trump and his Project 2025 agenda would destroy programs good for Maine people, such as Medicare, Social Security and protections for pre-existing health conditions via the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Ed Fry Arena in Pennsylvania. Former state Republican party chairs in Maine have now endorsed his rival ( AFP via Getty Images )
The key question this fall is whether a majority of Maine people will vote for an America that believes in free and fair elections defends personal freedoms like a womans right to choose and get proper health care, and supports a tax structure where everyone pays their fair share, they added.
Or will they fall for Trumps election lies, endanger more of our personal liberties, and enable tax and trade policies that will hurt Maine workers, they asked.
The trio noted that large parts of the GOP and its leadership have joined the Trump cult, the members of which will care little for what we have to say.
They instead called on the many honest, hardworking, principled people in the Maine Republican Party to join them in backing the vice president.
Monks, Cole and OMeara went on to quote Republican Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan and his speech to the Democratic National Convention.
Let me be clear to my Republican friends at home If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, youre not a Democrat, youre a patriot, Duncan said last month.
On November 5, be a patriot, the three Republicans urged their readers.
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North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson has hired a Trump-aligned lawyer to go after CNN, which reported last week that the Republican left a litany of racist and disturbing comments on a pornography website before entering politics.
Robinson announced Tuesday he had hired attorney Jesse Binnall, who represented Trump in his unsuccessful attempt to overturn the 2020 election results in Nevada and defended the former president in a January 6 insurrection case.
I am confident that Binnall Law Group will leave no stone unturned and enable us to use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for their lies, Robinson, the current lieutenant governor of North Carolina, said in a statement obtained by The Hill. In the meantime, my campaign remains laser-focused on the issues at stake in this election.
Despite lawyering up, Robinson reportedly rejected attempts from supporters to connect him with IT experts to investigate the comments which might have exonerated him.
The Independent has contacted CNN for comment.
Mark Robinson claims CNN report on inflammatory past web comments is full of lies. ( AP )
Last week, the broadcaster reported that Robinson left comments on a porn site called Nude Africa calling himself a Black Nazi, praising Hitler, admitting to peeping on women as a teen, and describing his arousal from transgender pornography, despite publicly attacking trans people during his campaign.
Robinson has denied making the comments, which CNN said could be matched to biographical details and a common username and email Robinson used across various websites.
Im not going to get into the minutiae of how somebody manufactured this, these salacious tabloid lies, Robinson told CNN.
User data shows the account in question on Nude Africa accessed the site from a location near Robinsons home, according to further reporting by Politico.
In addition to imperiling his own campaign, Robinsons alleged comments may also threaten Donald Trump, who has previously lavished the North Carolina Republican with praise, calling him Martin Luther King, Jr., on steroids.
North Carolina is a key swing state, and the Trump campaign has since attempted to distance itself from Robinson.
This is an issue that has to do with Robinsons campaign and not President Trumps campaign, a Trump official told Axios on Thursday.
JD Vance has also tried to keep Robinson at arms length.
I dont not believe him, I dont believe him I just think that you have to let these things sometimes play out in the court of public opinion, he told NBC News when asked about the North Carolina candidate.
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Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi snapped at a CNN host when questioned about Donald Trumps comments on Kamala Harriss cognitive ability.
During The Lead on Tuesday night, Jake Tapper triggered the Democratic lawmaker by playing a clip of Trump accusing Kamala Harris of having more cognitive problems than President Joe Biden.
Why would you even cover that? Pelosi fired back. This is a person who is not on the level. He is their nominee for president. He is incompetent.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump held a rally in Savannah, Georgia, where he mocked Harris by telling the audience that the world was laughing at us but more specifically that the world was laughing at Kamala.
You talk about cognitive problems shes got bigger cognitive problems than he has in my opinion, he said about Harris and Biden.
Pelosi (pictured left) snapped at CNN presenter Jake Tapper (right) in an interview on Tuesday night ( CNN )
Pelosi hit out at Trump over the comments and at Tapper for amplifying them.
Lets not even talk about the silliness of it all, and the weirdness of it all and the assault on women that it is. Were not going to talk issues. Incompetent, she fumed.
The only thing he did as president. The only thing he did as president when he had the majority was to pass a bill tax cuts that gave 83 percent of the benefits to the top one percent adding $2trn to the national debt.
The worst job creation record of any president since Herbert Hoover.
Because of Covid? Tapper interjected.
Well its not because of Covid, we put $3trn into the economy
Donald Trump criticized Kamala Harris at his Savannah rally speech on Monday ( AP )
And what did he do with Covid denial and delay. Responsible for thousands and thousands of people dying so if youre going to forgive his job record because of Covid make sure you attribute many of those deaths to him as well.
She added: Forget silly and crazy and all the rest incompetent.
Pelosi has previously speculated that Trump could have dementia.
There are health care professionals who think that Trump has dementia, she told CNN in June, while defending Biden over his disastrous debate performance. If were just talking about mental acuity, lets be fair about it.
It comes as Trump is facing questions about his cognitive abilities as the oldest presidential candidate in American history, after Biden withdrew from the presidential race amid mounting questions about his own capacity to serve another term.
On Monday, Trump raised eyebrows for what spectators called his word salad as he meandered into nonsensical sentences while speaking to a crowd of MAGA supporters at a Pennsylvania rally.
I almost said the state of Pennsylvania but I said, I meant the Commonwealth, I never said the state, I was able to catch it because Im cognitively very strong, he said.
Despite the ramblings, he insisted that he is cognitively very strong.
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Democrats on Capitol Hill took aim at Project 2025 on Tuesday at a special hearing aimed at exposing Americans to the increasingly unpopular conservative policy plan drawn up by a host of right-leaning organizations.
It was a hearing billed as outlining the plans devastating impact on hardworking American taxpayers and dealing with a wide range of the plans proposals which are extensive in scope and deal with everything from energy policy to education.
But the vast majority of the hearings time centered around one issue: abortion access, and the dangerous circumstances which abortion bans across conservatives states around the country can leave women facing.
Its hard to fault Democrats for fixating on that part of the plan, given the shocking stories that have emerged from woment stuck waiting for their conditions to worsen before doctors would treat them, afraid of running afoul of legislation banning abortion care except in life-threatening circumstances. But the party could run the risk of overshadowing efforts to highlight other aspects of the plan, like how it represents a path to undoing decades of regulation and policies dealing with the environment and could bring to a halt the USs efforts to fight climate change. Theres also the blueprint for eroding the independence of the Justice Department, which has alarmed constitutional law and ethics watchdogs.
Still, the partys strategy is inarguably working: An NBC News poll released on Sunday indicates that the Project 2025 brand is in the absolute furthest depths of unpopularity. More than half of those surveyed registered voters from a nationwide sample of 1,000 have a negative view of the policy project, while just 4 percent viewed it positively.
Rep Jared Huffman, of California, leads the Democrats anti-Project 2025 task force in the House of Representatives ( Getty Images )
Just six pages into the more than 900 pages of Trump Project 2025 it says, quote, The Dobbs decision is just the beginning, Rep Ayanna Pressley warned at the hearing, which was only attended by Democratic members on the partys Policy & Steering Committee, party leaders and the Stop Project 2025 Task Force.
On Tuesday, several women who had been denied care until the last possible moment shared those same painful stories the Democrats have been highlighting for weeks. One was Gracie Ladd, who described having to leave her home state of Wisconsin to seek abortion care in Chicago because only one hospital in her entire home state would even consider the procedure necessary to keep her from delivering a baby who would have died in minutes if he was even born alive at all. Ladd said she was told by multiple doctors that her son Connor would have been born in agonizing pain.
Im angry because in my state, there's no way that I wouldn't be labeled a murderer for making the compassionate choice for my son, Ladd told the Democratic members. I'm angry that I had to drive to Chicago to receive abortion care two days in a row with a medical team I had never met, a medical team I did not feel comfortable with ... angry that although I was privileged enough to be able to take time off of work find childcare for my living son and I could travel to Chicago two days in a row, not all women can. What are their options? What do they do in this situation?
But mostly I'm angry that the people who were not even in that ultrasound room with me on the day that I received the worst news of my life want to try to tell me what I can and cannot do when it comes to the medical choice for my body and my son.
Her harrowing tale is one of many that Democrats have centered in recent weeks, which have forced the Trump campaign into a clear defensive position. Donald Trump himself remains content to continue espousing his role in the overturning of Roe vs Wade, but has been forced to repeatedly fight back against efforts from his own party to expand the fight against abortion rights and stake out positions in favor of exceptions to state-level bans upon which he would previously have avoided commenting entirely.
Trump claims he will be 'protector' of women if he wins the election
Trump has also sought to repair his image with women by embracing a plan to fund in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments through either government subsidies or through a private insurance mandate both prospects that have been unappealing to conservatives in his party.
But in general the ex-president has done little to repair the gender gap that is forming between him and Kamala Harris, and much of his response to criticism of conservative policies outlined in Project 2025 has been to deny his involvement or connections to the plan entirely.
NBCs poll if accurate shows Harris up more than 20 points among women nationally. A victory on those margins would be proof of a massive divide growing in American society among the gender lines, though one more pronounced among older and whiter communities.
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The Local police had warned about Crooks acting suspiciously before the rally. Secret Service failed with key lapses in its security plan and not communicating with local and state law enforcement agencies before a gunman opened fire at Donald Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a new report found.
The findings from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs came via interviews and 2,800 pages of documents. The panel determined the agency tasked with protecting the former president did not take a proper leadership role in planning and securing the site on July 13. About 20 minutes into the Trumps rally, gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire, wounding the former president, killing a spectator and injuring two more.
The Secret Service has faced intense criticism for its planning and the investigation into the attempted assassination.
[United States Secret Service] failures in planning, communications, security, and allocations of resources were foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the events resulting in the assassination attempt, the report says.
A new interim Senate report has outlined the failures of the Secret Service before the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. They included missed chances to catch the gunman and failure to take threats seriously ( Getty Images )
Some of the failures highlighted were the negligence in blocking a line of sight from the roof of the nearby building where the gunman would eventually be found. There were also credible threats about Iran targeting US politicians.
But most striking, the chaotic, and deficient, method of communication the Secret Service had with local and state law enforcement contributed to a delay in locating the gunman promptly and preventing the former president from taking the stage.
These are some of the failures found in the report:
Lack of leadership
The report found that a key failure was the lack of clearly defined responsibilities or chain of command in planning and making security decisions ahead of the rally.
No single individual was responsible for making decisions which meant the roles and responsibilities of the advance team, in charge of planning, were unclear and ultimately led to security oversights.
Federal, state and local law enforcement did not receive planning documents ahead of time because there was no single point of contact and meetings were informal. One Butler Emergency Services Unit Commander described the rally site walkthrough as incredibly disorganized and left feeling as though there was no plan.
The report recommends Congress require the Secret Service to identify defined roles and responsibilities for agents responsible for advance planning of any protective event.
Officials determined there was a lack of leadership in the security plan to help protect Trump while he was at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )
Failures to block line of sight
Secret Service failed to ensure the building where the shooter shot from was properly secured and covered despite acknowledging concerns about it.
That was because they believed local law enforcement would handle securing the building.
However, local law enforcement officials reportedly told the Secret Service planning team they were unable to secure the building due to lacking manpower. The agency allowed the rally to continue despite the sight lines not being blocked when agents arrived at the site in the morning.
Requests for additional resources were denied
Secret Service officials failed to provide unmanned aircraft systems, a counter-assault team liaison or counter surveillance unit to the rally all of which may have helped spot the gunman earlier.
Crooks had flown a drone over the site for 11 minutes before the shooting and was undetected by the Secret Service. An operator on the system, had to call tech support for help. The operator admitted he had less than an hour of total training on the system.
Lack of communication between agencies and creditable threats not being shared were prevalent on July 13 ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )
Acting director Ronald Rowe previously said that had the countermeasures been working, the agency might have found Crooks before the shooting.
No communication between different law enforcement agencies
Most obviously, the inability of all levels of law enforcement agents and officers to communicate effectively significantly contributed to the gunman being able to take a shot at Trump and rallygoers.
Secret Service agents did not provide local and state law enforcement with plans ahead of time nor did they ensure each department could share information in real time. On the day of, each team used a different communication method through text messages, radio, email and verbal which delayed the information.
Local police had warned about Crooks acting suspiciously before the rally. The warning did not get to many on the Secret Service because agencies were using different radio systems.
Still, snipers failed to pick up on reports about a possible shooter and watched local police approach Crooks with pistols drawn - without raising any alarms.
The gunman was initially spotted at 5:32 p.m. by a local sniper, in between then and when shots were taken at 6:11 p.m., at least eight Secret Service personnel were notified of the suspicious individuals presence.
When we looked, just plain eyes, no optics or anything, you could see police running towards the building with their hands on their pistols, a sniper team leader told Congress, according to CNN. I think one actually had a pistol facing towards the ground, out of a holster. Thats a pretty big deal for us, so immediately we turned and faced our guns towards the threat area. We didnt know what was happening, but it seemed pretty serious, especially with the locals response.
Secret Service snipers were only told to look for something at their three oclock two minutes before Crooks started shooting. It was around that time, that warning went out on the radios that a man was on a nearby roof.
Prior potential threats were not relayed
The report says Secret Service counter snipers were to be provided at the rally days before the shooting took place because there was credible intelligence of a threat. Yet, that information was never shared with Secret Service personnel responsible for planning the rally or any state or local law enforcement authorities.
There were reports about Iran targeting US officials, but it was not relayed to agents in the Pittsburgh field office or other Secret Service agents. Secret Service members told Congress they should have been aware of the threat because it would have allowed them to request extra resources.
This aerial photo of the Butler Farm Show, site on July 13. It shows the aftermath after a gunman opened fire on Trump during a rally. Now, Secret Service failures are being highlighted in a new report ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )
Despite the threat, there is no evidence Crooks was working with a foreign government.
Still, officials told CNN that the threat alone should have increased the security around Trump.
As a Site Agent or Lead [Advance] Agent assigned, you should have any intelligence or any information pertaining to an active threat to a particular protectee, absolutely, in case that we need to take, you know, take additional measures, or maybe plan for additional assets or additional resources for that particular matter So it shocked me, an agent said, according to the report.
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Leading mental health experts, including a former White House doctor, have expressed alarm over Donald Trumps mental faculties, suggesting hes showing signs of cognitive decline.
Several experts told The Independent their concerns about the Republican presidential nominee are similar to those they had about President Joe Biden before he dropped out of the race, warning Trump appears to have lost touch with reality, as exhibited by the 78-year-olds rambling speeches and erratic debate performance.
They join a growing number of mental health professionals calling for independent and objective cognitive testing as Novembers election edges closer.
Biden, 81, faced a deluge of questions about his mental fitness for another four years in office following his disastrous debate against Trump in June when he repeatedly stumbled over his words and trailed off. Now, all eyes are on Trump, who is prone to incoherent tangents and bizarre musings.
That was on full display at Monday nights rally in Pennsylvania, where Trump was mocked for his word salads.He said of Kamala Harris: She had the other interview with the other guy who was a nice guy I think from Philadelphia from Pennsylvania, he was a nice guy, he was asking her all these [inaudible] the daily take they dont take like I do! Anybody wants to go, go what the hell differences they make they have and how dishonest was ABC...
But Trump insists he is cognitively very strong.
On the campaign trail in Potterville, Michigan, Trump leapfrogged from one random topic to another ( Getty Images )
Earlier this month a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, Richard A. Friedman, said he was alarmed by what he witnessed during Trumps debate performance on September 10. In an op-ed for The Atlantic, he said Trump displayed some striking, if familiar, patterns that are commonly seen among people in cognitive decline.
Dr. Ben Michaelis, a clinical psychologist who has previously carried out cognitive assessments for the New York Supreme Court, agrees. He told The Independent that Trump is really not in a strong cognitive place.
Michaelis who stressed he has not examined Trump in person and could not offer any formal diagnosis watched the former presidents debate against Kamala Harris earlier this month, noting that it started at 9 p.m.
Theres a term when youre talking about people with dementia called sundowning, its a lot harder for them as the day goes on, he said, suggesting it appeared Trump could have been experiencing those symptoms.
Its very difficult for them to maintain focus on a topic, he continued. The idea of being able to maintain that level of focus for that amount of time, that late in the dayyou wouldnt think twice about it if that was your grandfather. Its just he happens to be running for president.
When it comes to Trumps rambling speeches, where he has often veered from one unrelated topic to another, Michaelis said it struck him as logorrhoea the Greek word meaning excessive talking which can be associated with dementia.
An example of this was at a speech in Potterville, Michigan, where Trump leapfrogged from talking about how he lost billions of dollars in San Francisco to where he ranks in a list of horribly treated presidents. In another speech, he began talking about bacon and within a minute had moved on to wind turbines.
Trump has addressed his tendency to venture off topic, bragging about what he calls the weave.
Psychiatrists observed Trump in the debate and said he displayed patterns seen in people in cognitive decline ( AP )
When I do the weave...Ill talk about nine different things and they all come back brilliantly together, he said. Friends of mine that are English professors, they say: Its the most brilliant thing Ive ever seen.
But the experts dont agree. Its excessive incoherent talking, Michaelis said.
Again, I am not diagnosing him with anything, but it can be a symptom of significant mental illness or dementia. [It is] that inability to maintain focus and to move in a sort of tangential way from topic to topic.
If youre observing him, [the topics] dont seem at all connected but they may have some random connection in his mind, thats what seems to be happening.
Allen Frances is a professor and the chair emeritus of psychiatry at the Duke School of Medicine as well as the architect of the DSM-IV the manual for diagnostic criteria of a range of mental disorders.
Frances is very much opposed to the misuse of the diagnostic system, and in 2016 he did not believe Trump displayed symptoms of a mental health disorder.
But, from what he has observed from afar, Frances told The Independent he believes the dial has now shifted, and it is likely Trump has deteriorated a great deal since he was in office.
First off, he seems pretty incoherent, he said. Its hard for him not to be tangential, circumstantial, not to stay on message. Hes all over the place.
Frances cited examples of unfounded claims Trump made in the debate: that babies are being executed after birth, schools are performing surgery on children, and Haitian immigrants are eating pets. The things hes saying suggest hes really lost touch with reality, he said. It seems to me likely although we cant be definitive about saying anything about anyone at a distance it seems likely he has deteriorated a great deal.
The psychiatrist, who conceded there is a possibility Trumps behavior can also be explained as a deliberate attempt to appeal to specific voters, argued there should be an upper age limit for candidates running for the presidency.
A number of experts believe there should be an age limit on candidates running for president ( Getty Images )
Former White House physician Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who has cared for Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton, agrees there should be a cap on the age of presidential candidates if they will not agree to undergo objective cognitive assessments.
We dont let you be an airline pilot because of public safety past the age of 65, we dont let you be an FBI agent past the age of 57, he told The Independent. [The President] has the most powerful position in the free world.
Kuhlman, who has never medically examined Trump, said independent cognitive testing would provide a much better objective picture of whether a candidate has some cognitive decline which he added everybody has to some degree after the age of 60 or if there is a presence of progressive dementia.
Dementia is more common for those in their eighties, which Donald Trump will be in about a year and a half, Kuhlman notes.
A cognitive assessment tests a persons vocabulary, spatial visualization, reasoning, memory and speed. So we know the vocabulary usually stays about the same, but those other four drastically start falling off past the age of 70, Kuhlman explains.
Kuhlman whose bookTransforming Presidential Healthcare: Ensuring Comprehensive Care for the Commander in Chief Amid 21st Century Threats is out now concurs with the observations of his peers.
If you listen to the debate, or if you listen to his speech every day, whats missing is reasoning or that critical decision making, he said.
The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.
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Donald Trump and JD Vance should be arrested for spreading baseless claims that Haitian immigrants are eating pets and neighborhood animals in an Ohio town, according to an affidavit filed by a Haitian advocacy organization.
The complaint from the Haitian Bridge Alliance, filed Tuesday in Clark County Municipal Court, accuses the pair of working together to knowingly spread a false and dangerous narrative.
Like those who falsely shout fire! in a crowded theater, the affidavit, obtained by the Miami Herald, reads. Trump and Vance do not color within the lines of the First Amendment. They commit criminal acts.
The affidavit claims that Trump and Vance should face seven counts, including aggravated menacing, knowingly making intimidating statements, and making false claims that lead to massive disruptions to public services.
Since Trump and Vance began spreading the claims about Haitians, the town of Springfield, Ohio, has faced at least 33 public safety and bomb threats, prompting officials to close schools and government buildings.
The affidavit asks the court to affirm whether theres probable cause to arrest the duo, ahead of Trumps stated intention to visit the community.
Legal complaint alleges Donald Trump and JD Vance knowingly spread false information that led to threats against Haitians in Ohio town
The Republican campaigns comments have also sent fear through the areas Haitian community.
Its creating so much panic in the community, Springfield resident Viles Dorsainvil recently toldThe Independent. ... The words that come out of their mouths matter. They are looking for the highest office in America. They have the obligation to do better, because words are powerful.
The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.
Local officials, including the police, have said theres no evidence behind the claims about Haitians, which originated in a fourth-hand rumor on a local Facebook group that was amplified by local neo-Nazi groups.
That didnt stop Trump from repeating it during his debate with Kamala Harris earlier this month.
Trump repeats debunked cat-eating claims during debate with Harris
Vance, who represents Springfield as Ohios US Senator, has said he got constituent calls about Haitians eating pets, while also appearing to admit in a recent interview his claims on the subject are false.
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, the senator told CNN earlier this month.
SAN FRANCISCOA federal district judge in California has officially dismissed a case lodged against Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, by the Adult Performance Artists Guild (APAG) accusing the Mark Zuckerberg-owned enterprise of engaging in a civil conspiracy with Fenix International Limited, owner of OnlyFans.com.
The conspiracy accused was an effort to blacklist adult performers on Meta-owned platforms who happen to use OnlyFans-competing platforms. U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California dismissed the case before the scheduled trial date in October of this year.
Judge Alsup said that he had "no choice," despite "questionable recordkeeping" by Facebook's parent company, via Law360.com. Additionally, Judge Alsup chose to grant Meta's motion for summary judgment because APAG's performers had not produced the necessary evidence to support their case.
Alsup wrote, "There is no claim left to try ... given that plaintiffs have been unable to produce the predicate data to move past the summary-judgment stage, judgment shall be entered accordingly. ... The plaintiffs have developed no proof sufficient to go to a jury on any of these claims."
AVN Hall of Famer Alana Evans, the president of APAG, initially filed suit in federal district court alongside other board members for the federally-recognized union.
The plaintiffs led by Evans alleged that Meta's platforms demoted or removed their posts directly linking to platforms where they post adult-oriented content. It was alleged that Meta throttled performance on these posts and intentionally limited the reach of the posts due to being listed on a so-called dangerous individuals or organizations list.
Per AVN's previous reporting, the APAG case has struggled on its merits, which resulted in Fenix International Limited, the parent company of OnlyFans, being removed from the case.
The plaintiffs were unable to establish personal jurisdiction in California.
They alleged that individuals employed in high positions at Meta Platforms in London conspired with Fenix to censor advertisements and block competitors.
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A huge king penguin chick named Pesto, who weighs as much as both his parents combined, has become a social media celebrity and a star attraction at an Australian aquarium.
Weighing 22kg at nine months, Pesto is the heaviest penguin chick the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium has ever had, its education supervisor Jacinta Early said on Friday.
By contrast, his doting parents, Hudson and Tango weigh 11kg each.
Pesto with his parents ( AP )
Pestos global fame has grown with his size. More than 1.9 billion people around the world had viewed him through social media, an aquarium statement said.
He ate more than his own substantial body weight in fish in the past week: 24kg, Early said.
The veterinary advice is that that quantity of food is healthy for a chick approaching adulthood.
His growth will plateau as he enters his fledging period. He has started to lose his brown feathers and will replace them with the black and white plumage of a young adult.
His keepers expect him to trim down to around 15kg in the process.
Hes going to start losing that really adorable baby fluff. It might take him one to two months to really get rid of it. Then hell be nice and sleek and streamlined, Early said.
But she expects Pesto will remain recognisable as the sought-after TikTok celebrity he has become for another two weeks.
For now, he's a star attraction.
Australia Pesto the Penguin ( SEA LIFE Melbourne )
Such a small head for such a big body, one admirer remarked on Friday as a crowd gathered against the glass of the penguin enclosure at feeding time.
Hatching on 31 January 31, Pesto was the only king penguin chick to hatch at the aquarium this year and the first since 2022, a year when there were six. The reason why there was none last year isnt clear.
Adult king penguins weigh between 9.5kg and 18kg, according to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, a global environmental group.
They are the worlds second largest penguin species, after the emperor penguin.
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Europes worst floods on record which just left entire towns submerged are now twice as likely to happen because of the climate crisis, revealing a grim preview of what lies ahead for the continent, scientists have warned.
The deluge caused by Storm Boris this month in many parts of central Europe left at least 24 people dead and caused billions of euros in damage. It was regarded as the worst flooding in the continent since records began.
Boris stalled over central Europe and, in just four days, brought unprecedented levels of rainfall across Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Romania, and the Czech Republic, leaving rivers overflowing and many places submerged.
A study published by an international team of scientists warns that as global temperatures rise, extreme floods like this one are becoming more frequent, with the climate crisis doubling their likelihood.
It notes that rainfall from the storm was 7 per cent heavier and attributes it to a warming atmosphere, which can now hold more moisture than in pre-industrial times.
The intensity of rainfall has increased from 68mm before the temperatures started rising due to the warming caused by human activities to 72mm today.
If average global temperatures rise 2C by the 2050s as projected, storms like Boris could become 50 per cent more frequent, unleashing more rain, upto 75mm, across Europe, the study by the World Weather Attribution states.
Yet again, these floods highlight the devastating results of fossil fuel-driven warming, Dr Joyce Kimutai from Imperial College Londons Grantham Institute said.
Until oil, gas, and coal are replaced with renewable energy, storms like Boris will unleash even heavier rainfall, driving economy-crippling floods.
Chart shows rising intensity of rainfall in Europe due to storms like Boris ( World Weather Attribution )
The flooding from Boris devastated many parts of Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Romania, and Czechia, with some of the worst impact felt in urban areas along major rivers.
Videos showed dramatic rescue operations involving helicopters, people carrying elders and children through waist-deep water, and people waiting on their roofs as their houses got submerged.
Towns along the Polish-Czech border were particularly hard hit, and Vienna saw parts of the city submerged as the Danube river overflowed. Some areas experienced five times the average September rainfall as authorities scrambled to evacuate people and erect flood defences.
A man stands in a flooded street in the town of Kodzko, Poland, on 15 September 2024 ( AP )
In Poland alone, thousands of homes were damaged and major infrastructure such as roads and bridges was swept away by the floodwaters. The storm has broken 12 dams, leading to widespread flooding.
Power outages forced schools, factories and hospitals to shut temporarily. Meanwhile, in Romanias eastern regions, entire neighbourhoods were submerged and emergency crews were stretched to their limits.
Danube river flowing past the illuminated Hungarian parliament building in Budapest on 16 September 2024 ( AFP via Getty )
Even with days of preparation, floodwaters still devastated towns, destroyed thousands of homes, and saw the European Union pledge 10 billion in aid, Maja Vahlberg, a technical advisor with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, said.
Countries need to plan for unprecedented floods and integrate climate change into land-use planning.
The new study suggests that while the number of Vb depressions the weather system responsible for these floods has remained consistent since the 1950s, the intensity of rainfall events has increased due to warmer air and ocean temperatures in the region.
The 1997 and 2002 floods in central Europe were described as once-in-a-century events, but two decades later, global warming has increased from 0.5 to 1.3C, and they have happened again, Dr Bogdan H Chojnicki, climatologist at Poznan University, said.
The trend is clear if humans keep filling the atmosphere with fossil fuel emissions, the situation will be more severe.
Map shows flooding from Boris impacted a greater area than flooding in 1997 and 2002 ( World Weather Attribution )
While Europe has advanced greatly in forecasting and emergency planning since those floods around the turn of the century, experts say more needs to be done to be able to cope with the increasing challenge of disasters. Europe is also the fastest warming continent due to the climate crisis.
Researchers say theres a need for better floodplain storage, improved warning systems, and more resilient infrastructure. But most importantly, the report stresses the need for stronger climate action to reduce the risks of future disasters.
Crippling droughts in southern Italy. Devastating wildfires in Portugal. Killer floods in Central Europe... climate change is wreaking havoc in Europe but politicians across the continent are trying to pull back on climate commitments, said Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London.
Climate change is an existential threat, especially for poorer parts of society. Europeans need to know that tackling it will make their lives so much better.
The cost of inaction will be measured not only in lives lost but also in the economic toll these disasters take, experts say.
The 10 billion pledged by the European Union for repairs following Storm Boris may just be the tip of the iceberg if global temperatures rise further.
Climate models and physics show us that these types of intense downpours are getting more frequent and more intense as the world warms, said professor Hannah Cloke from the University of Reading.
This should spur action to prepare for weather events that could happen at any time, as well as reducing the emissions that are contributing to their intensity.
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The co-leaders of Germany's Greens party, which is part of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's ruling coalition, said on Wednesday they would quit after a series of election blows that saw their party pushed out of two regional parliaments.
The decision of Omid Nouripour and Ricarda Lang comes at a time of turbulence for the coalition, buffeted by voter angst over the economic challenges facing Germany and by fierce debates over migration as a national election looms next year.
While their move has no direct impact on the government or on Greens ministers serving in it including Mr Scholz's deputy Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock it could bring greater political instability.
"The result in Brandenburg [regional election] on Sunday is a sign our party is in its deepest crisis for a decade," Mr Nouripour told a news conference. "It is time to lay our beloved party's fate in others' hands."
The Greens failed to clear the 5 per cent hurdle needed to enter parliament in Brandenburg and also that of Thuringia on 1 September.
Mr Habeck, who is Germany's economy minister, said he shared responsibility for the poor election results and called for an open debate on the Greens' future at their party congress in mid-November, when a new leadership will be elected.
"The Greens will reorder their ranks to start the catch-up ahead of the elections with new force," Mr Habeck said.
A new left-wing populist party and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) have outperformed all three coalition parties this year, while the main opposition conservatives lead in national polls. All three coalition partners also suffered big losses in their vote share in the Saxony regional election at the beginning of the month and for the European Parliament earlier this year.
Troubles have been piling up for the German economy since Mr Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) forged a three-way coalition with the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats in 2021.
Unemployment is ticking up as the export-focused industries that drive Europe's largest economy struggle with high energy and labour costs and increased competition from China and the United States, including a shift to electric vehicles that has challenged Volkswagen, the continent's largest carmaker.
Decades of underinvestment in crucial infrastructure are also taking a heavy toll, causing unreliable train services, a collapsed bridge in Dresden and other woes that have fed a growing sense among voters that Germany is falling behind.
"The coalition is cracking up live on camera," said Thorsten Frei, floor leader of the opposition conservatives. "Bold decisions are needed. People expect answers on the escalating economic crisis. And they want a U-turn in migration policy."
Some in Mr Scholz's party are asking if he should stand aside in favour of a more popular candidate for next year's election, while speculation about whether the Free Democrats might quit the coalition continues.
"This [move by the Greens' co-leaders] makes the coalition even more unstable," said Stefan Marshall, political scientist at the University of Duesseldorf, adding that Mr Scholz might face even greater governance challenges if he has to make concessions to keep a new, more radical Greens leadership on board.
The parliamentary leader of Mr Scholz's centre-left SPD, Katja Mast, said she believed the Greens would want to stay in the governing coalition.
Government pledges to crack down on irregular migration following a deadly knife attack by an immigrant in the city of Solingen appear to have further bolstered the AfD, for whom the topic is their core message.
The Greens need to adapt to a dramatically changed political climate, outgoing co-leader Ms Lang said at the party's news conference.
"Next year's election is not just any election," she said. "[It will be a choice between] a country focussed on achieving prosperity by sticking to climate neutrality or a country run by people who want to back away from all that."
Reuters
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A rare polar bear that was spotted outside a cottage in a remote village in Iceland was shot by police after being considered a threat, authorities said Friday.
The bear was killed Thursday afternoon in the northwest of Iceland after police consulted the Environment Agency, which declined to have the animal relocated, Westfjords Police Chief Helgi Jensson told the Associated Press.
It's not something we like to do, Jensson said. In this case, as you can see in the picture, the bear was very close to a summer house. There was an old woman in there.
A polar bear that was shot by poice ( Ingvar Jakobsson via AP )
The owner, who was alone, was frightened and locked herself upstairs as the bear rummaged through her garbage, Jensson said. She contacted her daughter in Reykjavik, the nation's capital, by satellite link, and called for help.
She stayed there, Jensson said, adding that other summer residents in the area had gone home. She knew the danger.
Polar bears are not native to Iceland but occasionally come ashore after traveling on ice floes from Greenland, according to Anna Sveinsdottir, director of scientific collections at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History. Many icebergs have been spotted off the north coast in the last few weeks.
The bear shot on Thursday was the first one seen in the country since 2016. Sightings are relatively rare with only 600 recorded in Iceland since the ninth century.
While the bears are a protected species in Iceland and it's forbidden to kill one at sea, they can be killed if they pose a threat to humans or livestock.
After two bears arrived in 2008, a debate over killing the threatened species led the environment minister to appoint a task force to study the issue, the institute said. The task force concluded that killing vagrant bears was the most appropriate response.
The group said the nonnative species posed a threat to people and animals, and the cost of returning them to Greenland, about 300km away, was exorbitant. It also found there was a healthy bear population in east Greenland where any bear was likely to have come from.
The young bear, which weighed between 150 and 200 kilograms, will be taken to the institute to study. Scientists took samples from the bear Friday.
They will be checking for parasites and infections and evaluating its physical condition, such as the health of its organs and percentage of body fat, Sveinsdottir said. The pelt and skull may be preserved for the institute's collection.
A coastguard helicopter surveyed the area where the bear was found to look for others but didn't find any, police said.
After the shot bear was taken away, the woman who reported it decided to stay longer in the village, Jensson said
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Russia and China are engaged in a secret weapons programme to produce long-range drones against Ukraine, a report claims.
A subsidiary of Russian state-owned weapons company Almaz-Antey, IEMZ Kupol, have allegedly developed a new drone model called Garpiya-3 (G3) in China, according to documents seen by news agencyReuters and sources they have spoken to.
The documents are said to show Kupol told the Russian Defence Ministry that it was able to produce drones including the G3 at scale at a factory in China with the help of local specialists.
Both Kupol and the defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
It comes as Ukraines presidential adviser Vladyslav Vlasiuk said around 60 per cent of the foreign parts found in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine come via China.
Beijing has repeatedly denied supplying weaponry or parts to any party and says it is not involved in the war in Ukraine. China's foreign ministry told Reuters it was not aware of such a project, adding that the country had strict control measures on the export of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Ukrainian serviceman remove a warhead from a Russian kamikaze UAV ( via REUTERS )
Fabian Hinz, a research fellow at think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that if confirmed, the delivery of UAVs from China to Russia is a significant development in the war.
Samuel Bendett, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), said Beijing would be hesitant to open itself up to international sanctions for helping Moscows war chest. He added more information is needed to show such a project exists.
For a factory to exist officially that builds UAVs for the Russians exposes China to some of the more severe effects of the sanctions, so its not clear the extent to which China would be willing to expose itself,, he told Reuters.
The G3 UAV can travel about 1,243 miles (2,000 km) with a payload of 50kg, according to the apparent Kupol reports to the ministry.
Samples of the G3 and some other drone models made in China have been delivered to Kupol in Russia for further testing, the reports allegedly said.
Ukrainian air defense intercepts a Shahed drone mid-air during a Russia aerial attack on the capital in Kyiv ( AP )
Kupol has taken delivery of seven military drones made in China, including two G3s, at its headquarters in the Russian city of Izhevsk, according to the two separate documents reviewed by Reuters. They are allegedly invoices sent to Kupol in the summer by a firm that the two European intelligence sources said serves as an intermediary with Chinese suppliers. The invoices, one of which requests payment in Chinese yuan, dont specify delivery dates or identify the suppliers in China.
The Chinese foreign ministry told the news agency that China has a neutral position over the war in Ukraine, which presented a contrast with other nations with double standards on arms sales whom it said had added fuel to the flames of the Ukrainian crisis.
Both Russia and Ukraine are racing to ramp up their production of drones, which have emerged as highly effective weapons in the war.
Last week, Russian president Vladimir Putin said his military had received around 140,000 drones in 2023 and that Moscow planned to increase this number tenfold this year.
Whoever reacts faster to demands on the battlefield wins, he told a meeting in St Petersburg about drone production.
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky urged world leaders to stand with Ukraine in the war against Russia as he presented his victory plan to the UN General Assembly.
At a time when he faces growing pressure from Western allies and some of his fellow Ukrainians to negotiate a ceasefire, Mr Zelensky said there is no alternative to the peace formula he presented two years ago.
The peace formula, among other things, seeks the expulsion of all Russian forces from Ukraine and accountability for war crimes.
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.
Mr Zelensky added that Russian president Vladimir Putin is attempting to break the Ukrainian spirit by targeting his countrys energy infrastructure with deliberate attacks on Ukraines power plants and entire energy grid.
This is how Putin is preparing for winter, hoping to torment millions of Ukrainians Putin wants to leave them in the dark and force Ukraine to suffer and surrender, he told the 193-member body.
Zelensky addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly ( AP )
He also questioned the true interest of a push by China and Brazil to end Russias war in Ukraine, telling the assembly: You will not boost your power at Ukraines expense.
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.
At the UN Security Council earlier in the week, Mr Zelensky argued that Russia needs to be forced into peace, saying theres no point in pursuing peace talks with Mr Putin.
The Kremlin called the plan by Mr Zelensky to force Russia to make peace a fatal mistake that would have consequences for Kyiv.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: Such a position is a fatal mistake, a systemic mistake. This is a profound misconception that will inevitably have consequences for the Kyiv regime.
Mr Peskov said Russia wants peace, but the issue cannot be forced, adding: A position based on an attempt to force Russia into peace is an absolutely fatal mistake, because it is impossible to force Russia into peace.
Russia is a supporter of peace, but on the condition that the foundations of its security are ensured.
Ukrainian troops fire an AS-90 self-propelled howitzer at Russians on a front line in Kharkiv ( Reuters )
Mr Putin has been adamant peace talks will only begin if Kyiv abandons swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine to Russia and drops its Nato membership ambitions.
Meanwhile, the Russian president will chair a meeting of Russias security council on nuclear deterrence on Wednesday as Moscow weighs a response to Ukraines requests that the US allow it to strike deep into Russia with long-range Western missiles.
On the battlefield, a Russian-guided bomb strike on Ukraines eastern town of Kramatorsk killed at least two people and injured 19 more, the Donetsk region governor said.
This is another war crime of the Russians and another sad reminder that there are no absolutely safe places left in the Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin said on the Telegram messenger.
Kramatorsk, which lies about 12 miles from the active combat line, regularly comes under attack by the Russians.
Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians in its invasion of Ukraine. It says its strikes on infrastructure aim to reduce Ukraines ability to fight.
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A woman almost immediately pressed the button of a suicide pod to end her life in Switzerland, the creator of the controversial invention claimed.
The 64-year-old US woman took her life after the 3D-printed capsule was set up in the woodland of Merishausen, northern Switzerland, on Monday.
The woman, believed to be a mother-of-two from the American mid-west, had reportedly been suffering with a very serious illness that involves severe pain and had wished to die for at least two years.
It looked exactly as we expected it to look. My guess is that she lost consciousness within two minutes and that she died after five minutes, Dr Philip Nitschke, the pods inventor, told Dutch newspaper Volkskrant.
When she entered the Sarco, she almost immediately pressed the button. She didnt say anything. We saw jerky, small twitches of the muscles in her arms, but she was probably already unconscious by then.
Australian inventor Dr Philip Nitschke stands next to his $1m suicide capsule ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )
Swiss police arrested several people shortly after her death, with investigators looking at possible incitement and accessory to suicide.
The public prosecutor in the Schaffhausen canton said that Sarcos creators had been warned not to use the device in the region, but that the warning had not been heeded.
We warned them in writing, prosecutor Peter Sticher said. We said that if they came to Schaffhausen and used Sarco, they would face criminal consequences.
Mr Sticher attended the scene with police and forensics teams on Monday, revealing that the operation lasted from early evening until around midnight.
We found the capsule with the lifeless person inside, he told Blick. We took the person out of the capsule and brought them to the Institute of Forensic Medicine. An autopsy will be performed there today.
Dr Philip Nitschke, a campaigner for assisted dying, is the inventor of the controversial suicide pod ( REUTERS )
He said arrests were made so that those at the scene were not colluding with each other or covering up evidence.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
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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.
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Israeli forces have launched a ground offensive in Lebanon as fears of an all-out war with Hezbollah continue to grow. A spokesperson for Israel said limited raids are being carried out in the south after months of conflict.
The raids come after, the Israeli military launching fresh strikes on Lebanon in late September, in the the deadliest day for the country since at least 2006.
The rapid escalation has taken place following a series of exploding device attacks in September, in which pagers and walkie talkies blew up around Lebanon. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attack. Israel has not commented.
Over 1,000 people have been killed according to Lebanons health ministry, including more than 100 women and children in the past two weeks.
The Independent takes a look at the recent timeline of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and an ally of Hamas in Gaza.
8 October: Strikes begin
After the act of terror by Hamas inside Israel which killed around 1,200 people and saw another 250 taken hostage into Gaza on 7 October, Hezbollah fired rockets into the Shebaa Farms region, an area in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights near the Lebanese-Syrian border. Hezbollah say they will not stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, with health officials in the strip saying more than 41,000 people have been killed there in the Israeli air and ground assault that has followed the Hamas attack.
Strikes intensified over the next few days across the Lebanon-Israel border.
Since October, more than 100,000 Lebanese citizens and 60,000 Israelis have been forced from their homes near the border.
More than 1,000 people from Lebanon have been killed by Israeli strikes since 8 October, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
13 October: Israeli strike kills Reuters journalist
As a group of Reuters, AFP and Al Jazeera journalists transmitted a video feed of a northern-Israel mil outpost, they were hit in a strike.
Reuters photojournalist Issam Abdallah was killed, while six other journalists were injured.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon concluded in February 2024 that there had been no exchange of fire between Lebanon and Israel in the 40 minutes before an Israeli tank fired. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said investigations showed the journalists were probably fired on deliberately by an Israeli tank crew. Israel denies targeting the reporters.
October to November: Conflict intensifies
Shells and rockets continued to be fired across the Blue Line - the line of withdrawal between Israel and Lebanon.
A boy inspects damage following Israeli airstrike in southern village of Akbieh ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )
Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem had previously said that "when time comes for any action, we will carry it out.
On 24 October the Israeli military targeted Syria for the first time, when it hit two military positions in the southwest of the country.
Late November: Temporary ceasefire
As Hamas and Israel called what would turn into a week-long truce in the fighting to release hostages in Gaza for Palestinians held in Israeli jail, Hezbollah said it would also respect the ceasefire.
Both Hezbollah and the Israeli military briefly halted military operations and a number of displaced people returned home.
But the de facto ceasefire lasted just a day after Hezbollah fired a rocket at an Israeli drone on 28 October, prompting Israeli shelling in Lebanon.
Israeli protesters are now marching in support of another Gaza ceasefire deal ( Reuters )
January to March 2024: Israel assassinates Hezbollah and Hamas commanders
Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy chairman of the Hamas political bureau, was killed by an Israeli strike in Beirut on 2 January, alongside six other members.
Wissam al-Tawil, Ali Hussein Barji, Abbas al-Dabs were three of a number of Hezbollah commanders assassinated over the next months.
Hadi Ali Mustafa, the leader of Hamas forces in Lebanon and Ali Abed Akhsan Naim, the deputy commander of Hezbollahs rocket and missiles unit were both killed in March.
April 2024: Israel strikes Iranian consulate in Syria
On 1 April, Israel struck the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria.
The strike killed eight people including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Hezbollah, the IRGC and the Houthis of Yemen also backed by Tehran launched a series of strikes into Israel in response. It included hundreds of drones and rockets, the vast majority shot out of the sky by Israel and its allies in the region and the West.
The embassy strike came just days after Israels deadliest strike on Syria for three years, which killed 38 Syrian soldiers, seven Hezbollah fighters and seven others at Aleppo International Airport.
New Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian spoke at the UN summit yesterday ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )
September 2024: Pager attack and intense airstrikes
On 17 September 17, thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah members exploded.
At least 12 people including three civilians have been killed as a result of the attack, with around 2,750 wounded.
The next day, at least 25 were killed and hundreds of others injured when walkie-talkies exploded across Lebanon.
This has prompted a major escalation in the conflict.
Since the heaviest round of Israeli strikes in nearly two decades the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006 began on 23 September, 558 people including 50 children in Lebanon have been killed, with thousands fleeing their homes.
27 September 2024: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is killed
In late September, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Lebanon. Irans supreme leader assassination will not go unavenged, prompting fears of major retaliation.
Nasrallah was not a terrorist, he was the terrorist, Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Nasrallahs killing was a necessary step toward achieving the goals we have set, returning residents of the north safely to their homes and changing the balance of power in the region for years to come.
October 2024: Ground invasion begins in Lebanon
In the early hours of 1 October, Israel crossed into southern Lebanon, beginning a ground offensive that much of the international community was hoping would be avoided.
In a brief statement, the Israeli military said it was launching limited, localized and targeted ground raids against Hezbollah in the region.
It is feared the escalation could see other countries drawn into the conflict. Iranian officials have not yet responded to the ground assault.
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Israel is preparing for a potential ground invasion of Lebanon, army chiefs said on Wednesday, as US president Joe Biden admitted all-out war is possible and Sir Keir Starmer urged British nationals to leave the area immediately.
Airstrikes in Lebanon are laying the groundwork for a possible operation to push Hezbollah back and safely return displaced Israeli citizens, said Israeli army general Lt Gen Herzi Halevi.
He told troops on Israels northern border the military is preparing the process of a manoeuvre, which means your military boots, your manoeuvring boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts.
A woman reacts at the scene of an Israeli airstrike in the town of Maisara, north of Beirut ( AP )
It came as tensions escalated further with Hezbollah launching its deepest strike yet into Israel, targeting Tel Aviv.
Following a day of heavy cross-border strikes, with Hezbollah firing dozens of projectiles into Israel, Lt Gen Halevis statement was the strongest yet that Israeli troops could move in.
The intensified violence has led to hundreds of deaths in Lebanon, forced hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the north to huddle in air raid shelters and prompted the displacement of 90,000 Lebanese people from their homes.
The prime minister renewed his calls for British nationals to get out while commercial flights are available though most, if not all, are sold out and others cancelled, leaving some stranded. The time to leave is now, he said.
If Israel bombs Lebanons only commercial airport in Beirut, as it did in the 2006 war against Hezbollah, it would sever the only means of escape. Britons in Lebanon have told The Independent how they are considering routes out of Syria as they see no other means of escape.
Rita El Kassis, 48, has a UK spouse visa and lives in London but is in Lebanon caring for a sick relative. Im trying not to panic but I have called the embassy and they said there is no plan, she told The Independent.
Israeli emergency responders arrive at the site of a rocket strike, fired from Lebanon, in the northern Israeli city of Safed ( AFP via Getty )
She continued: I had a search online yesterday and the only alternative flight available was a business class flight for 4,600 to Dubai. I would then need to book another flight to London. Rita says she and her family have discussed getting a flight from Turkey but that first means an eight-hour taxi through Syria.
President Biden said on Wednesday he remains hopeful a way can be found to prevent further bloodshed, but acknowledged all-out war is still possible.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah groups latest strike, it said in a statement, had targetted the Mossad spy agency headquarters in a Tel Aviv suburb in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip ... and in defence of Lebanon and its people.
It blames Mossad for the recent assassination of senior commanders in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Lebanese capital, as well as the explosion of electronic pagers and walkie-talkies last week.
Hours later, Israel announced it was carrying out more extensive strikes across southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley running along the border with Syria.
Israeli emergency responders inspect the site of a rocket attack, fired from Lebanon, in Kibbutz Saar, north of Nahariya ( AFP via Getty )
Hospitals in Lebanon have been filled with the wounded since a sharp intensification of bombing on Monday which was the countrys deadliest day since the end of a 1975-1990 civil war.
Lt Gen Halevis comments came after the Israeli military began activating reserve troops to send to its northern front. Israels military said it would call up two reserve brigades which could consist of 6,000 to 10,000 troops for operational missions in the north.
Israel has expanded the zones it has been striking since Tuesday night, with attacks for the first time on the beach resort town of Jiyyeh just south of Beirut and Maaysrah. The strikes also took place in Bint Jbeil, Tebnin and Ain Qana in the south, the village of Joun in the Chouf district near the southern city of Sidon, and Maaysrah in northern Keserwan district.
In Beirut, thousands of displaced people who fled from southern Lebanon were sheltering in schools and other buildings. More than 90,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Monday, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
People take cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from Lebanon, in Haifa ( AP )
This is in addition to the 111,696 people who have been displaced since October 2023. In northern Israel, about 60,000 people so far have been evacuated because of near-daily attacks by Hezbollah in Lebanon since October.
Hezbollah began to fire across Israels northern border on 8 October last year, a day after fellow Iran-backed Hamas launched a deadly attack from the Gaza Strip into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage, around half of which remain in Gaza.
The subsequent Israeli aerial and ground assault in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the latest update from the local health ministry in the Hamas-run strip, and forced more than 90 per cent of the enclaves population to flee their homes, many on multiple occasions.
Local officials in Gaza say the extent of Israels attacks on the enclave has lessened in recent days as Israel shifts its focus to the Israeli-Lebanon border and Hezbollah, at least temporarily. But Palestinians are still being killed. At least a dozen died on Monday, while 24 were killed on Sunday and 40 a day earlier, according to a civil defence spokesperson.
People mourn near the coffins of three Hezbollah members, who were killed in Israeli strikes ( Reuters )
Hezbollah says it will not stop firing rockets at Israel until they halt their war on Gaza.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to New York for a speech on Friday.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
Protectionism hurts Europe's competitiveness -- Chinese FM
Xinhua) 15:18, September 25, 2024
NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Protectionism is detrimental to Europe's competitiveness, and engaging in a trade war does not align with the interests of Europe or China, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Tuesday.
Wang made the remarks when meeting with French President's Diplomatic Counselor Emmanuel Bonne on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Wang expressed hope that the European side will demonstrate sincerity and engage in serious consultations with China to resolve trade disputes in a mutually acceptable manner.
China is committed to further deepening reforms comprehensively and expanding high-level opening-up, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, welcoming France to seize the opportunity to deepen and expand mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.
Bonne said that France is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in areas such as artificial intelligence and the ocean, and to continue expanding bilateral investment.
Europe and China can fully resolve differences through consultation and strive to avoid a trade war, he said.
On the same day, Wang also met French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot here.
Noting that both China and France are independent major countries, Wang said that the two sides should continue to uphold mutual respect, cooperate with each other for mutual benefit, and enhance exchanges for mutual learning, so as to promote the continuous fruitful development of China-France relations.
Barrot said that France always adheres to the one-China principle and is committed to strengthening cooperation with China, a position that will not change.
Both France and the European Union do not wish to engage in a trade war with China and hope to find ways to achieve fair trade, said Barrot.
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
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Watch as Hezbollah held a funeral for commanders who were killed in Tuesday's Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs.
The armed group, which is backed by Iran, said Ibrahim Qubaisi died in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment block in Lebanon's capital city.
They also said that Hussein Ezzedine was killed.
Israel said Qubaisi led the group's missile and rocket force.
Lebanon's health ministry says at least twenty-three people have been killed in the attacks as of Wednesday.
Fears of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah are growing; a rapid escalation has taken place following a series of exploding device attacks last week, in which pagers and walkie-talkies blew up around Lebanon. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attack. Israel has not commented.
Thousands of people have poured into the city of Aley, about 12 miles from Beirut, after fleeing southern Lebanon where Israel has focused its airstrikes.
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Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged the fire of thousands of rockets, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes. With the Israeli strikes on Lebanon being particularly intense, leaving more than 550 people dead and 1,800 injured in less than two days.
The Israeli military said warplanes struck 1,600 targets on Monday, claiming that they were being used by the Iran-backed Hezbollah Many, the military said, were hidden in residential areas and they called on resiudents to evacuate. Israeli warplanes resumed aerial attacks in the early hours of Tuesday.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, fired hundreds of rockets at the northern territories of Israel, highlighted in white in the map below, along with the occupied Golan Heights, on Sunday, Monday and again into Tuesday morning. It also struck southern Beirut on Tuesday afternoon, reportedly aiming for a Hezbollah commander.
The Lebanese health ministry, which is a separate authority to Hezbollah, says the Israeli strikes hit hospitals, medical centres and ambulances. Nearly 500 people, including 35 children and 58 women, were killed on Monday. That total became at least 558 on Tuesday. More than 1,800 people have been wounded according to Lebanons Health Ministry.
Israel maintains that, just as they look to destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip, their assaults in Hezbollah are intended to blunt the groups persistent threat to Israeli civilians.
Israel says Hezbollah has launched some 9,000 rockets and drones into Israel since last October, and has increased its capacity to 150,000 rockets in total.
Below, we look at where the strikes have hit over the past few days.
The large majority of Israeli strikes in Lebanon were concentrated in the southern regions controlled by Hezbollah.
Footage showed smoke rising across the hilly landscape south of Sidon. The cities of Tyre and Hamoul, both on the Mediterranean Coast, were badly hit.
The towns of Bint Jubayl and Marjayoun, close to the border with northern Israel, were also struck.
But the capital of Beirut further northwest was also hit later on Monday, where some senior Hezbollah personnel are located.
Lebanons state-run National News Agency reported three missiles hit southern Beiruts Beir al-Abed neighbourhood. Hezbollahs Al-Manar TV said six people were wounded.
On the other side of the country, on the border with Syria in the northeast of Lebanon, strikes hit residential areas in the south and the eastern Bekaa Valley. Hermel was also struck.
Israel said it was expanding the airstrikes to include areas of the valley along Lebanons eastern border with Syria. Hezbollah has long had an established presence in the valley, where the group was founded in 1982 with the help of Irans Revolutionary Guards in the wake of Israels invasion and occupation of Lebanon.
Hezbollah targets in Israel
In Israel, the affected areas were largely confined to the northern territories, as well as several districts near the city of Haifa. But the destruction wrought by Hezbollahs attack was largely blunted by Israels air defences.
Last week, the Israeli government added to its war aims the return of its displaced citizens from the north back to their homes.
Tens of thousands were forced to flee after the current conflict with Hebzollah was ignited on 8 October, a day after the groups allies Hamas attacked inside Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage into Gaza.
More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israels subsequent ground and aerial offensive intended to root out Hamas, according to health officials in the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah says it will not stop firing rockets into Israel until they cease their assault on Gaza.
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Thousands have poured into the city of Aley, about 12 miles from Beirut, after fleeing southern Lebanon where Israel has focused its airstrikes against Hezbollah.
Schools and other buildings have been turned into shelters. Some residents even donated their apartments, said Badr Zeidan, the district governor coordinating the efforts.
The numbers escaping the bombardment keep rising, he said, but are likely to have reached 10,000. We register them and then distribute them to schools or empty houses.
Nasreen and her family arrived in Aley very early in the morning, having barely slept. It took us 13 hours to get from Qana to Ghaziyeh, which usually takes less than one hour," she told The Independent. After that, it still took us 7 hours to get to Aley. We arrived at 3am.
At first, she wanted to stay in her family home, dismissing reports of an escalation as the same as always.
But then they started heavily shelling the hills around us, and the bombardments came closer and closer. We smelt the bombs. Then we started to see traffic jams. My children panicked and cried, so we decided to leave.
The journey to Beirut was exhausting. People were panicking, we had no food or water, and we saw missiles hit villages and buildings around us when we were stuck in the traffic jam. Ambulances could not pass, it was unbearable, she said.
The strikes from Israel which saw Hezbollah responding with dozens of rockets continued into Tuesday, with the death toll reaching at least 569 dead and more than 1,800 injured across the two days, according to Lebanons Health Ministry, a separate authority to Hezbollah. That figure included 50 children and 94 women.
The ministry added that the vast majority of those who were killed were unarmed civilians in their homes. Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, also confirmed that two UN employees had been killed in Mondays strikes.
Vehicles wait in traffic in the town of Damour, south of the capital Beirut ( AFP/Getty )
At least six people were killed in another Israeli airstrike on Beirut, Lebanons health ministry said with more than a dozen injured. The Israeli military said it had killed Ibrahim Qubaisi, who it claimed was the commander of Hezbollahs missiles and rocket force.
Israel has called on civilians to evacuate areas close to Hezbollah sites storing weapons, but residents may not know they are near. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue to pound Hezbollah targets and urged Lebanese citizens to escape the grip of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Anyone who has a missile in their living room and a rocket in their garage will not have a home," Mr Netanyahu said at an army base at an undisclosed location after the military said it had found ammunition in peoples homes.
Our war is not with you, our war is with Hezbollah. Nasrallah is leading you to the brink of the abyss ... Rid yourself from Nasrallahs grip, for your own good.
Events have pushed an already simmering region to the brink of full-scale war, with concerns the attack might be a precursor to an Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon. The threat of an all-out war has spiked in recent weeks, after nearly a year of cross-border fire sparked by the Israeli war against another group backed by Iran, Hamas, in Gaza.
Hezbollah has said it wont stop firing until there is a ceasefire in Gaza. The war there was triggered by a Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October that killed around 1,200 people with another 251 being taken hostage. Israels ensuing aerial and ground assault on Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, and displaced more than 90 per cent of the population.
The Israeli strike on Tuesday was conducted in an often-busy suburb of Beirut ( AFP/Getty )
Full-scale war is not in anyones interest; even if the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible, US president Joe Biden told the UN General Assembly in New York. To applause, Mr Biden also called on Israel and Hamas to finalise the terms of a ceasefire and hostage release deal put forward by Washington, Qatar and Egypt.
In Aley, one official helping coordinate the Lebanon relief effort, Laura Mukhtar abu Hassan, said families have been arriving with up to 50 people. People are in a very bad shape. They need food, diapers and milk for children and dont have the medicines they need, she said while showing a long list of urgently needed medication.
Jadi Hassan Abdallah fled from Maarakeh, about 50 miles south of Beirut, and is also waiting to get shelter with his family. The friend of my son got killed in a village close to us yesterday. I see the fear in my sons eyes. He thinks that this is possibly the start of a month-long war.
Mr Abdallah did not pack anything before he fled with his family and that of his brother. All I have are these clothes, he said, wearing just a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops. They warned people close to [Hezbollah] sites to evacuate but we have nothing close by, so we thought we could stay. Then we saw missiles everywhere close to our home.
He is worried about where they have to spend the coming weeks and how to earn money. I sell second-hand clothes, and if I dont work, I dont have an income, he said.
Mr Abdallah remembered the 2006 war, when Israel invaded the south of Lebanon in a month-long, large-scale offensive. Back then, I was in the south as well and fled to Syria. We were very well received there, Mr Abdallah said. But now the situation is much more severe. There are more missiles and they destroy everything. They even bombed our neighbour. We know him very well and he is not with Hezbollah. All he does is farm tobacco.
Rola Saad has just been relocated to a school in Aley with her brothers family. We are afraid for a big war. We hope the international community interferes and ensures concessions from both parties. A larger war will be horrible, all sides have victims, also in Israel. All we want is just to go back home and live our lives.
Close Israeli hostages families march to Netanyahus home on October 7 anniversary
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Sirens have sounded in central Israel after five projectiles were launched from Lebanon on the anniversary of the October 7th attacks.
The Israeli military said some of the projectiles, which were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory, were intercepted, while the rest fell in open areas.
Lebanons Hezbollah later issued a statement saying it launched a missile operation targeting a military intelligence unit near Tel Aviv.
Earlier, the Israeli military said it will launch operations on Lebanons southern coast as it told residents on a 60-kilometre stretch along the Mediterranean to stay off the beaches.
More than 2080 have been killed in total, and a further 9869 wounded, since Israel began bombing Lebanon a few weeks ago.
It comes as Israeli civilians mark the anniversary of Hamas deadly 7 October attack, during which they killed around 1,200 people and took 251 more hostage in Gaza, 101 of which remain in the enclave. Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have since been killed by Israels retaliatory air and ground attack in Gaza, according to the local, Hamas-run health ministry.
Families of the hostages marched to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus residence in Jerusalem this morning to mark the terror attack.
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British nationals in Lebanon have said they are struggling to find a way to escape the country despite the UK government urging people to leave immediately as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies.
Prime minister Keir Starmer said during a trip to the United Nations in New York on Wednesday that the time to leave is now as more than a thousand Israeli strikes across Lebanon have killed over 500 people and injured thousands more in just two days.
The prime minister urged citizens to leave while commercial flights are available, but the reality is that most, if not all, are sold out and others cancelled, leaving some British nationals stranded and in limbo.
The site of an Israeli air strike in Jiyeh along the highway linking Beirut to the south ( AFP via Getty Images )
Rita El Kassis, 48, has a UK spouse visa and lives in London but is in Lebanon caring for a sick relative. She has a return flight booked from when she came out earlier in the summer, but fears what could happen between now and the departure next week.
If Israel bombs the countrys only commercial airport in Beirut, or the roads to it, as it did in the 2006 war against Hezbollah, it would sever Ritas means of escape. Three people were killed today in the town of Al-Maaysra in Keserwan, north of Beirut, just 15 minutes from her family home.
Im trying not to panic but I have called the embassy and they said there is no plan, she told The Independent. I had a search online yesterday and the only alternative flight available was a business class flight for 4600 to Dubai. I would then need to book another flight to London. Rita says she and her family have discussed getting a flight from Turkey but that first means an eight-hour taxi through Syria.
Fears of an all-out war are now at their highest since Hezbollah stepped up its attacks on Israel, a day after the deadly Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October, in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Smoke rises after an air strike in Lebanon ( AP )
Dalia Richani feels like she is one of the lucky ones who had a pre-booked return flight back to the UK after visiting family in the summer. She and her family fled to Britain after Israel invaded southern Lebanon in 1982. Because of this, she says, there are 10s of 1000s of Brits in Lebanon.
She told The Independent: We have had three big wars but this one seems more insidious. People are saying: Oh we've gone through that before, we have gone through wars, but this is different. This feels different. Had I not had my husband and three boys sort of urging me to leave, I don't think I would have left. To tell you honestly, it feels terrible to leave your family.
Dalia fears some of her relatives have left it too late, she says her brother is leaving tonight via Jordan but there are many more without tickets and some people are going to the airport, just waiting, hoping that they can get tickets.
For others leaving home is not such an easy decision. Dalias cousin Hayat, who was born in the UK but has lived in Lebanon for 15 years, tells The Independent that despite the psychological warfare of the booms and explosions overheard she wont be leaving.
Map of Lebanon with Foreign Office advice ( FCDO )
Hayat said she doesnt know whether she is stupid or naive but feels she cant leave her life. For now, she has moved from southern to central Beirut to stay safe and put her dogs in a boarding facility in the mountains.
Ministers have been preparing for a possible evacuation of Britons in Lebanon, with 700 troops being deployed to Cyprus to ensure they are ready if an emergency airlift is needed. Many fear a repeat of scenes during the UK troop withdrawal from Kabul when the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021.
Ritas son in London, who wished not to be named, said he took a big gasp of air when he saw the strike close to their family home this morning. He said he goes on and off his desk at work calling his mother to make sure she is okay.
He told The Independent: I tried to call my mum on WhatsApp and she wasn't picking up. I tried to call her on the landline, but she wasn't picking up. I eventually saw on Find My Friends she was at a friends house, but you're just fearing for the worst.
He is also frustrated at the lack of information from the British embassy and cites American relatives who have received calls from their embassy as more commendable and proactive in their response.
He continued: There's absolutely no flights available for the next week to get out. The only option I'm considering at the moment is for her to exit through Syria into Turkey and then grab a flight from there. But a lone woman doing that is quite scary. I'm trying to see if she and my American uncle can go together. But we're trying to organise everything ourselves, alone, to be honest.
An FCDO spokesperson told The Independent they are working in lockstep with its allies to de-escalate tensions. They continued: The government is planning for a range of scenarios and is prepared to provide additional support to British nationals if required.
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Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has again apologised for the global IT outage sparked by a flawed update, as a company executive faced questions from legislators in the US.
Adam Meyers, a senior vice president at the firm, told the House of Representatives cybersecurity subcommittee that the company was deeply sorry and determined to prevent this from ever happening again.
The July incident, sparked by a flawed software update rolled out by the US firm, crippled around eight and a half million computers running Microsoft software, which brought businesses and infrastructure to a standstill.
Giving evidence to US legislators, Mr Meyers said: We appreciate the incredible round-the-clock efforts that our customers and partners who, working alongside our teams, mobilised immediately to restore systems.
We were able to bring many customers back online within hours. I can assure that we continue to approach this with a great sense of urgency.
The committee members pressed Mr Meyers on how the incident occurred in the first place, with legislators likening its impact to that of a well-planned, sophisticated cyber attack, but instead had happened because of a mistake inside CrowdStrikes software.
In its analysis of the outage published in the aftermath of the incident, CrowdStrike said an undetected error in a software update sparked the problem, with a bug in the firms content validation system meaning problematic content data was not spotted and then allowed to roll out to Microsoft Windows customers, causing the crash.
Mr Meyers said the cybersecurity firm would continue to share lessons learned from the incident to ensure it did not happen again.
Some watchers noted that the committee hearing did not see CrowdStrike face such an intense grilling as other tech executives have been subjected to in recent years, with those at the hearing instead placing an emphasis firms working with committees and government to prevent future incidents of a similar nature.
However, CrowdStrike still faces a number of lawsuits from people and businesses impacted by the outage it has been sued by its own shareholders as well as by US aviation giant Delta Airlines after it cancelled thousands of flights because of the system shutdown.
In the UK, the CrowdStrike outage left GPs unable to access the digital system to manage appointments or view patient records, as well as send prescriptions to pharmacies which were also widely impacted forcing doctors to return to using pen and paper.
Meanwhile flights were cancelled or delayed and passengers left stranded as airline systems were knocked offline or staff were forced to handwrite boarding passes and luggage tags.
Many small businesses also reported a substantial impact on their income, with some saying their websites being knocked offline by the incident cost them hundreds or even thousands of pounds in sales.
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Several celebrities have reposted a fake Instagram message that plays on concerns about Metas new artificial intelligence tools.
NFL star Tom Brady, actor James McAvoy and actress Julianne Moore were among hundreds of thousands of people to share the Goodbye Meta AI viral story template, believing that doing so would stop the tech giant from using their data to train AI.
Goodbye Meta AI. Please note an attorney has advised us to put this on, failure to do so may result in legal consequences, the text states.
As Meta is now a public entity all members must post a similar statement. If you do not post at least once it will be assumed you are okay with them using your information and photos. I do not give Meta or anyone else permission to use any of my personal data, profile information or photos.
A screenshot of the hoax Goodbye Meta AI viral post on Instagram ( Screenshot/ Instagram )
Instagram has flagged the post as false information, noting: The same information was reviewed by independent fact-checkers in another post.
Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, is under no legal obligation to stop using a persons information or photos as a result of that post, however there are ways to opt out of certain data practices.
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), residents in the UK and Europe are able to object to the way their personal data is collected and processed by Meta.
A section on the companys website explains to users how an objection can be submitted, noting that if an objection is successful then Meta will comply.
Metas information page states: We consider several factors when reviewing your objection, including: reasonable expectations; the benefits and risks to you, us, other users or third parties; and other available means to achieve the same purpose that may be less invasive and dont require disproportionate effort.
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Despite the occasional downpour, there are plenty of reasons to visit Thailand from May to October so pack your mac and sense of adventure, and get ready to see this spectacular country in a whole new light. From rejuvenated landscapes to rich cultural experiences, the rainy season reveals a side of Thailand that is often overlooked. And who knows? The off-season might just become your favourite time to visit.
Why you should visit Thailand in the low season
1. Go for the weather
This might have high-season purists spitting out their cha yen (iced tea) in horror, itching to inculcate would-be visitors with the well-worn wisdom that summer is the hot, humid, rainy season. And it is, but lets face it, Thailand is hot all year around, with temperatures remaining in the early-to-mid thirties from January to December, fluctuating only by a few degrees.
Yes, its humid we prefer sultry from May to October, but you really wont notice if youre spending your days on the beach being fanned by a gentle sea breeze (or a palm frond, if you have the means). When youre anywhere indoors, the air-conditioning is usually set to Arctic blast anyway.
For those who love natures drama, however, Thailands monsoon season is an experience in itself. The occasional rains, while heavy, are usually brief and refreshing, sweeping in to cool the air in the late afternoon, and washing the land with a shimmering sheen. The sight of nimbus clouds rolling over the Andaman Sea, the rumble of distant thunder, warm rain showering down upon you as you swim in bathwater seas English drizzle, this aint.
2. Its lush
open image in gallery Haew Narok waterfall in Khao Yai National Park in Thailand ( Getty/iStock )
You call it the off-season, we call it the green season. Well, we dont actually call it that, but we could, and we wouldnt be wrong.
One of the most compelling reasons to visit Thailand in the low season is the stunning transformation of its landscapes. The rains breathe life into the countryside, painting fields and forests with chartreuse and absinthe greens, before giddily bedding down on rice paddies that stretch out like Gaias quilts.
Waterfalls reduced to trickles in dry months roar back to life, cascading past mossy rocks with renewed vigour, while mountains are cloaked in diaphanous mists. Sure, you might be up to your ankles in mud at times, but Thailands parks feel almost mystical in the rainy season.
Read more: Chiang Mai city guide: Where to stay, eat drink and shop in Thailands northern creative hub
3. Spectacular seasonal festivals
Bun Bang Fai, or the Rocket Festival, is a folk tradition started by the Lao people in the Isan region of Thailand, in which huge rockets are shot from towering wooden frames high into the sky to mark the beginning of the rainy season.
Clearly unwilling to wait around for Halloween, the people of northern Thailands Loei province hold the Phi Ta Khon (or Ghost Festival) each June or July. Locals dress up in elaborate ghost costumes (or simply cake themselves in mud) and parade through the streets wearing painted masks made from rice steamers while making enough noise to wake the dead.
open image in gallery Dancers at the Rocket Festival in Thailand ( Getty )
Thailands off-season is dotted with tons of unique festivals, each worth planning a whole trip around. For example, in July, Asanha Bucha celebrates the anniversary of Buddhas first sermon, followed by Khao Phansa, the first day of Buddhist Lent. During this time, temples across the country hold mesmerising candlelight processions. In recent years, several cities in Thailand have begun hosting candle festivals and, in many cases, those plain old wax cylinders have been upgraded to gargantuan sculpted candles.
Starting on the eve of the ninth lunar month, which normally falls in September or October, the annual Vegetarian Festival in Phuket is a jaw-dropping, cheek-skewering spectacle of devotion and endurance. The streets fill with the smoke of firecrackers while participants perform acts of self-mutilation (although they cant take all the credit: they have plenty of help) such as piercing their faces with well, the limits are only your imagination/nightmares.
4. Youre supporting the local economy
Visiting during the off-season helps support local businesses that rely on tourism year round. Your visit can make a big difference to local communities, ensuring they thrive even when tourist numbers are low.
5. Authentic cultural connections
open image in gallery Fewer tourists means more opportunities to make connections with local people ( Getty )
The low season is a time when you can engage more meaningfully with local communities. Fewer tourists mean more opportunities to have genuine interactions with locals, who often have more time and inclination to share their stories and traditions with curious travellers.
6. Its cheaper
While its always great value for money, visiting in the low season means that you can enjoy Thailands renowned hospitality at a fraction of the usual cost. Luxury resorts, boutique hotels and beach-front properties offer significant discounts and off-season packages that include extras like spa treatments, making it possible to stay in the kind of comfort that might be out of reach during the high season. Flights can also be significantly cheaper, so youll have more cash to splurge on agonising massages, umbrellas, hand fans and elephant pants.
Read more: The Thailand island you must visit now before The White Lotus effect hits
7. The surfs up
Thailand isnt known as a big surfing destination and youre not going to find the kind of breakers you get in Indonesia here but the Andaman coast is good for beginners to practise on smaller waves. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the monsoon season is the best time to surf, when the swells are bigger, and the beaches are less crowded, giving you more room to ride the waves and more space on those white-sand beaches to take your obligatory surfboard selfies. It's harder to reach, but the island of Ko Phayam is affordable, idyllic, has fewer visitors and has some of Thailands best surf.
8. Amazing wildlife encounters
open image in gallery The resplendent great hornbill can be found in Khao Sok National Park ( Getty/iStock )
With fewer tourists around, wildlife tends to be more active and visible. Visit national parks like Khao Sok, and you might spot leopards, gibbons, elephants, spectacled langurs and exotic birds, undisturbed by chattering backpackers.
Read more: Why you should explore congested Bangkok by bike and boat
9. Its less crowded
Have you ever tried to strike a pose at the Grand Palace without being photo-bombed by hundreds of irritating tourists trying to enjoy their own holidays? In the off-season, youll have the space you deserve to become the next viral TikTok model without oblivious bystanders blocking your shots.
In the low season, you can explore the ancient ruins of Ayutthaya in a tranquil solitude that evokes the grandeur of its past. Coastal areas like Krabi and Phang Nga Bay which are usually teeming with tourists become places of serene beauty. On the island of Ko Lanta, you can explore hidden caves undisturbed, and youll find deserted beaches, where you can walk for miles with nothing but the sound of the waves for company. Even the capital slows down, with locals retreating indoors by day, while the bustling night markets come alive in the cooler evenings.
Find out more about ethical and sustainable travel options, and other ways to support local communities and protect the environment during your stay at Responsible Thailand.
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Two passengers on a United Airlines plane were taken to the hospital after the aircraft made a dramatic shift in its landing to avoid a potential collision.
The incident happened as flight 2428 that departed from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and was preparing to descend into San Francisco International Airport.
According to United Airlines, the pilots were alerted that another plane was flying nearby at a lower altitude during the final approach. In response, the crew slowed the planes descent to ensure a safe distance.
The seatbelt sign was illuminated at the time, and passengers had been advised to remain seated. While the maneuver successfully avoided any direct danger to the aircraft, the sudden change in altitude caused injuries to two passengers - including to one person who was not wearing a seatbelt.
A spokesperson for United Airlines told The Independent: United flight 2428 was descending to SFO on September 19 with the seatbelt sign on when it slowed its descent to account for another aircraft at a lower altitude. Two customers, including one who was out of their seat at the time, reported possible injuries and were transported to a hospital. Were grateful to our crew for their efforts to ensure the safety of our employees and customers.
The Federal Aviation Administration is now conducting an investigation into the event, which will include a review of air traffic control communications and radar data to determine how the two aircraft came so close during final descent.
This incident is just the latest for United Airlines this year.
In July, a plane lost a wheel during take-off from Los Angeles International Airport. In March, a United flight was forced to make an emergency landing after at tire fell off mid-flight while taking off from San Francisco, hurting no one but damaging several parked cars.
For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calders podcast
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Yellowstone National Parks famous geothermal pool named Morning Glory has reportedly changed color due to the volume of debris thrown in by visitors.
According to park historians and former employees, the once-jet blue water of the pool has been affected by coins, trash, and rocks that tourists have thrown in over the years.
We found tons, probably thousands of coins, former Yellowstone ranger Jeff Henry told Wyoming news outlet Cowboy State Daily. The main park road used to go right by Morning Glory, so that would account for some of the metal parts that looked like car parts chucked into the bottom of the pool.
According to the publication, the deep parts of the pool are now green and the edges of it have transitioned to yellow. As artifacts have continued to be thrown in the pool, this color change has also been due to the temperature of the water.
Hotter pools tend to be a brilliant blue, and cooler pools can be more colorful since bacteria can grow there, Mike Poland, scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, said. At Morning Glory, the temperature cooled because people throwing objects in caused the conduit to become partially blocked, and the temperature went down, allowing different types of bacteria to grow.
The tradition of throwing things into the pool dates back to 1872, when the park first opened, according to Yellowstone National Park historian Alica Murphy. She claimed that tourists have always been known for throwing objects into the pool, hoping for either good luck or to prompt a geothermic event.
open image in gallery Morning Glory Pool in the Yellowstone Upper Geyser Basin of the United States ( Getty Images )
People didnt understand the plumbing and how geysers worked, she told Cowboy State Daily. There were lots of ideas about, If we throw something into this pool, we might be able to make it erupt.
I think there was some trial and error and a misunderstanding of the damage they were doing.
Murphy added: Wishing wells are a time-honored tradition. Flip a coin into a wishing well and make a wish. There is something about a pool of water that gives humans a weird instinct to throw things into it.
However, Henry noted that he hasnt seen anywhere near as many coins in pools in recent years as he did at the beginning of his decades-long career.
The bottoms of the more accessible springs used to be paved with coins, but now its pretty rare to see anything thrown into the pools, he said.
He shared that throughout many of the pools at Yellowstone Park, hes seen fewer and fewer coins being thrown in there. I think people are much more respectful than they were in my early days. Its one way that values and behavior have changed over the years, he added.
According to the National Park Service, the Morning Glory Pool was named in the 1880s for its remarkable likeness to its namesake flower. As it has become a victim of vandalism, much of the debris thrown into it became embedded in the sides and vent of the spring, which reduced the water circulation and thus the water temperature.
However, natural changes may be cooling the water, with cool temperatures allowing orange-and yellow-colored bacteria to thrive. The average temperature of the pool is 159.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
Donald Trump has claimed that the two attempts to assassinate him "may or may not involve Iran."
Speaking at a rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, 25 September, the former president told attendees: "As you know, there have been two attempts on my life, that we know of, and they may or may not involve but possibly do Iran.
"But I don't really know, can't be sure."
His comments came after a federal grand jury in Florida charged Ryan Wesley Routh with attempting to assassinate Mr Trump.
In July, a would-be assassin grazed the former presidents ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The book value of the firms vehicles was 5.29m
Post-tax profits at independent tour operator Paddywagon more than doubled last year to 402,513.
New accounts show the post-tax profits in the 12 months to the end of October last are up on the 161,848 recorded in 2022.
The profit for last year resulted in accumulated profits of 2.3m at the end of October last.
In the buoyant year for the business, the companys cash funds increased from 1.87m to 2.23m.
The profits for 2023 and 2022 followed two years of Covid losses where the pandemic resulted in post-tax loss of 1.07m in 2021 and a pre-tax loss of 1.33m in 2020.
During 2023, the company invested in its fleet of trademark green buses with the accounts showing additions of 1.5m and disposals of 275,000 under 'motor vehicles'.
The accounts show that at the end of October 2023, the book value of the firms vehicles was 5.29m.
The company operates the Kingdom Lodge in Killarney. It is also operating the Frantic Chef restaurant in Liscannor a short distance on the Wild Atlantic Bay from Irelands busiest natural visitor attraction at the Cliffs of Moher.
The Paddywagon business was boosted in 2023 with visitor numbers rebounding at the Cliffs of Moher and numbers at the visitor attraction to the end of May were 440,000 in line with 2023.
The firm offers day tours for all of the most popular attractions in Ireland including the Giants Causeway, the Cliffs of Moher, the Wicklow mountains, Kilkenny, Connemara and Galway, Kerry, Belfast city, Blarney Castle and Cork.
Paddywagon is one of the best-known brand names in Irish tourism where in 2024 the total estimated expenditure of the visitors here was 7.3bn.
The firm increased its profits after its non-cash depreciation costs reduced from 1.17m to 311,553.
The profits also take account of the disposal of 400,000 of shares in subsidiary undertakings and the corresponding reduction in value of financial assets from 400,000 to zero.
Numbers employed last year remained at 58. The business was established by Cathal OConnell in 1998 and last year pay to directors Cathal OConnell and Cormac OConnell increased from 15,344 to 172,337 that included a pension contribution of 1,807. The company paid rent of 111,703 to parent firm Paddywagon Holdings Ltd.
Many families rely on health insurance, but the HIA believes the number of health cover plans on offer is 'overwhelming' for customers. Stock image
The regulator for health insurance is to make a determined effort to get providers to reduce the number of plans in the Irish market.
There are 349 schemes on offer, leaving consumers overwhelmed when trying to compare them, according to the Health Insurance Authority (HIA).
The regulator said it may propose legislation to the Department of Health if it cannot get agreement on providers voluntarily cutting the number of plans.
More schemes are set to be launched into the market with the entry of an Aviva-backed new health insurer, expected later this year.
The new chief executive of the HIA, Brian Lee, said research the authority has conducted shows that 71pc of those with health cover have never switched.
This aims to create a more competitive, transparent and consumer-friendly environment
And the average length of time people have a policy is 20 years.
Mr Lee said: We believe the market is too complicated and consumers are overwhelmed by too many products.
He said the HIA is urging all organisations in the health insurance market, including insurers and policymakers, to collaborate on simplifying and streamlining the market.
This aims to create a more competitive, transparent and consumer-friendly environment, Mr Lee said.
It is holding a conference today to discuss ways to get insurers to look at what has been done in other countries to reduce the number of plans.
Consumers have been warned to brace themselves for massive hikes in their health insurance when they renew their policies in the coming months.
Around one million people are due to renew their cover between now and January. But the cumulative impact of a spate of recent price rises from the three main health insurance providers means some plans are set to rise by as much as 25pc.
This means some adults will see the cost of their cover rise by as much of 515 a year.
Research conducted for the HIA found that huge numbers of people feel the price rises are not affordable or justified. The HIA said it was simplifying its health plan comparison tool which it expects to have in place by next March or April.
Asked why it has taken until now for the HIA to tackle the issue around there being too many plans leading to a market that is too complex for most consumers to compare Mr Lee said he has made the issue a priority since being appointed in June.
The board of the HIA has decided that streamlining the number of plans should be a key objective.
Mr Lee said the regulatory authority will see if legislation is needed to force providers to reduce the number of plans.
In May, VHI retired the old Plan B Option schemes such as Health Plus Extra, Health Plus Access, Health Plus Excess and Health Access.
Over the next 12 months, this will affect around 150,000 customers who will have to shop for replacement cover.
Irish Life Health has just retired 24 of its older schemes.
Asked about making sure health insurers do not offer members dearer plans as alternatives to ones they are retiring, Mr Lee said the HIAs priority was to make sure people in these situations were offered similar levels of cover.
The average policy costs 1,647, up 7pc this year so far, the HIA said.
Some 46.8pc of the population have health insurance, up 1.3pc from last year.
Three Wagamama restaurants have closed in Dublin, after unsuccessful talks between receivers appointed to part of the Press Up group and the headquarters of the British chain.
The branches on South King Street in the city centre, as well as in the Blanchardstown and Dundrum centres, are all closing immediately. Press Up says it is hoping to reopen the premises in South King Street and Blanchardstown under a new restaurant brand within four to eight weeks.
Press Up has been taken over by Cheyne Capital, a London-based investment firm, in a debt for equity swap that has left Paddy McKillen Jr, one of the co-founders, with a stake of about 10pc in the business. His co-founder, Matt Ryan, is no longer involved.
Last week Cheyne appointed Cormac OConnor and Shane McCarthy of KPMG as receivers to companies that operate three restaurant chains within the Press Up group. They were Elephant & Castle, which has several outlets including in Temple Bar and Rathmines; Wowburger, which has two restaurants in Dublin city centre, one of which has now closed, and Portalon Ltd, the operator of Wagamama.
It is business as usual at over a dozen other Press Up venues, which are not included in the receivership process.
Today's News in 90 Seconds - September 25th
In a statement today, Press Up said the joint receivers of Portalon had failed to reach agreement with Wagamama UK for the continued operation of the franchise in Ireland.
It said the joint receivers and the Press Up group would liaise with workers currently employed at the three Wagamama locations in Dublin to discuss the implications of the move. There are currently 106 employees, both full time and part-time, in Portalon Ltd.
The joint receivers will enter a consultation period with all staff, the statement said. The Press Up hospitality group will play an important role in these discussions and the hope is to redeploy as many of the affected staff members as possible across the wider group.
The statement added that Press Up has come to an agreement with the landlords of the South King Street and Blanchardstown branches of Wagamama for the venues to remain within the group.
Following the termination of the Wagamama franchise agreement, it has been determined that the Press Up group is not in a position to continue to trade at Dundrum Town Centre, the statement added.
It remains to be seen what Wagamama now plans for its franchise operations in Ireland, and whether it attempts to continue at Dundrum with a new operator. The brand is ultimately owned by The Restaurant Group, a British firm that also has other brands.
Tax-resident in Ireland, Avilease is owned by Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund
AviLease, the aircraft lessor headed by Ted OByrne and owned by Saudi Arabias PIF sovereign wealth fund, posted a $44m pre-tax loss last year.
Accounts filed for the business, which is tax-resident in Ireland, show that lease revenue jumped last year to $135.1m. It was the first full year of operations for the lessor.
Ray DArcy of RTE Radio 1 is pictured as he is inducted in to the IMRO Radio Awards Hall of Fame. Picture Andres Poveda
RTE Radio 1 presenter Ray DArcy has been honoured at the IMRO Radio Awards Hall of Fame today.
LMFMs Eddie Caffrey, Sunshine 106.8s Carol Dooley and Hugo Duncan from BBC Northern Ireland were also inducted.
The IMRO Radio Awards inducted Eddie Caffrey of LMFM, Carol Dooley of Sunshine 106.8, Hugo Duncan of BBC Northern Ireland and Ray DArcy of RTE Radio 1 into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the IMRO offices. Picture Andres Poveda
He first joined the national broadcasters ranks in 1985 before moving to Today FM. In 2015, the Ray DArcy Show returned to RTE.
Mr DArcy said he was delighted to be inducted into the IMRO Radio Awards Hall of Fame and to be recognised in such illustrious company as my fellow inductees.
"I am privileged to love what I do every day and would like to thank my loyal audience who tune in on a daily basis," he told RTE.
The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) said that the four nominees represent the heart and soul of radio in Ireland.
Their voices have resonated across the airwaves for decades, entertaining, informing, and inspiring countless listeners, it said.
From independent local stations to national broadcasters, they have shaped the nations soundscape, leaving a legacy that will be cherished for generations to come.
The IMRO Radio Awards Hall of Fame recognises exceptional careers in broadcasting and the ongoing passion and commitment to the industry.
It is a tremendous honour for IMRO to sponsor the prestigious Radio Awards Hall of Fame once again. We are delighted to recognise and celebrate the exceptional contributions of Hugo Duncan, Carol Dooley, Ray DArcy and Eddie Caffrey, said IMRO chief executive Victor Finn.
"Their legacy within the industry is undeniable, and they now take their well-deserved place among Irelands most esteemed broadcasters.
The IMRO Radio Awards will be held during an annual gala on October 4 at the Lyrath Estate Hotel in Kilkenny.
Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world's biggest dairy exporter, paid New Zealand farmers less for their milk this year but was able to soften the blow by increasing dividends even as earnings declined.
Net income fell 28% to NZ$1.13 billion ($716 million) in the year ended July 31, the Auckland-based company said Wednesday. Still the dairy group was able to increase its dividend to 55 cents a share from 50 cents a year earlier by providing a 15 cents special dividend.
"Our total dividend is the second largest since Fonterra was formed," Chief Executive Officer Miles Hurrell said. "Our capital management efficiency and ongoing balance sheet strength have enabled us to return an extra 15 cents per share to farmer shareholders and unit holders through a special dividend."
Shares of the Fonterra Shareholders Fund, which tracks the cooperative's earnings and dividends, rose 3.5% to NZ$4.69 at 10:15 a.m. in Wellington.
China's slower economic growth hit global dairy prices, reducing Fonterra's milk payment to its farmers to NZ$7.83 per kilogram of milk solids from NZ$8.22 in the previous season. But most farmers will receive the full dividend, lifting their total cash income.
In addition, Fonterra today projected the 2024-25 season milk price could be NZ$9 per kilogram, a 50 cent increase on its forecast little more than a month ago.
The improved outlook follows further recent strengthening in global dairy trade auction prices and constrained milk supply in key producing regions, Hurrell said.
Operating profit fell 11%, led by a sharp drop in earnings in the ingredients business. The favourable margins in value-added businesses such as proteins and cheeses didn't repeat, Hurrell said. Foodservice and Consumer unit profits improved.
The company in May said it may sell the consumer business, and that work is ongoing, Hurrell said today.
"The businesses in scope for potential divestment are performing well." he said. "We remain committed to a pathway that would maximize value of these businesses for our farmer shareholders and unit holders."
Bloomberg.
The current levels of bovine TB in the country cannot be controlled, Fine Gael Spokesperson on Agriculture, Tim Lombard, told the Seanad this week.
Nationally, as of 1st September 2024, on a 12-month rolling basis, herd incidence increased to 5.52% compared to 4.74% at the same time last year. In the past 12 months, 5,607 herds were restricted, compared to 4,872 in the previous 12-month period.
However, parts of the country are more significantly affected, including Lombard's home county of Cork.
"This is a really significant issue in my part of the world. In the past six months, the tuberculosis reactor rate has increased by 22%. The current levels of tuberculosis in Cork's bovine herds have gone through the roof. This is causing terrible stress and hardship for the families."
"As I was walking to the Chamber, I received a phone call from a neighbour who had a TB test done on his farm today. He lost ten cows. I met another man in Timoleague who had 52 reactors found during the week. The numbers are frightening," he told colleagues in the Seanad.
He claimed the country is experiencing an outbreak of TB that "we cannot control" and said the situation would get much worse: "because if there is TB in the bovine herd going into housing, God knows how it will react and spread through the herd when the herd is housed.
"We will see the levels of TB increase dramatically next spring, which will have a huge financial impact on family farms and the co-operative societies.
"It will cause unbelievable mental trauma for farmers to have their stock taken away to be slaughtered. Members of the veterinary community, coming into the yards of farmers they know very well, may have to put down a large percentage of their herds as reactors. That is another trauma in the system," he said.
Lombard reiterated that the TB eradication programme, which started in the mid-1950s, has been a failure and said increased funding has not addressed the issue.
"We will never eradicate TB from Ireland, and to call it a TB eradication scheme loses focus. At best, it is a TB control scheme aimed at trying to manage the problem," he said.
Lombard called for a debate on the situation with the Minister for Agriculture and stressed the need for adequate staff to deal with the issue.
"I have farmers who are under financial, physical, and mental pressure because of what has happened to their herds in the past few months," he said.
This comes as the secretary general of the Department, Brendan Gleeson, told a hearing of the Public Accounts Committee in July that taxpayer spending on the TB programme would reach 80m this year, not including staff costs, up from 57m in 2022.
"I think we're at a point now where we have to do something different," he told the Committee, adding that 2-3m in yearly funding from the EU will cease this year.
With the incidence of the disease now at over 5% of herds, Gleeson said measures must be adopted to ensure the disease does not spread to the other 95%.
"The short answer is there's not one single thing that can be done, but there are things that can be done, and they'll be difficult," he said, highlighting further restrictions on cattle movement and the use of technology such as vaccination.
"I do think there has to be a step-up in action now, and we're working with farmers through a TB forum.
"But I can tell you, some of what emerges might be contested.
"We really have to make sure we stop this disease from spreading, and a big part of the spread is movement between animals from farm to farm," he said.
Poultry and suckler farmer Finian OHarte, who lives in Clones, Co Monaghan, with his wife and three sons, criticised the disconnect from policymakers
Farmer Finian OHarte says he fears the challenges for the industry, ranging from rising costs to climate targets and growing isolation, will deter the next generation of farmers.
He is asking the Government to safeguard their livelihoods in the upcoming Budget so the next generation can afford to farm.
Temporary plans were passed by Belfast City Council for an Irish Language school in east Belfast in June
The Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) has faced a backlash after the group called on the education minister to halt any plans to build an Irish language school in east Belfast.
Representatives from the LCC, led by chair David Campbell, met with Paul Givan on Tuesday and said they had told the DUP minister that any proposed school has no meaningful support from the local unionist and loyalist population and no consultation had taken place with local residents.
In June, Belfast City Council gave the green light for a proposed temporary nursery and primary school, a soft play area, new access, parking, landscaping, and ancillary site works at lands adjacent and east of 44 Montgomery Road, east Belfast, with the applicant Bunscoil na Seolta of Glenmachan Road.
Temporary plans were passed by Belfast City Council for an Irish Language school in east Belfast in June
On a recorded vote, the application received 11 votes in support and five against the plan the opponents were all DUP councillors.
A spokesperson for Scoil na Seolta said: Our school offers a safe and inclusive environment for all children from across east Belfast. With over 100 expressions of interest from parents in the past weeks we look forward to welcoming children through our doors soon.
Our school is fully independent, sourcing its own funding, and has not relied on the Department of Education for any financial assistance.
The council had received just two objections from a resident and an elected representative and nine letters of support from the public.
Politicians from across the spectrum have condemned the LCCs criticisms.
Today's News in 90 Seconds - September 25th
Doug Beattie, ex-UUP leader, hit back on X, noting how the LCC felt threatened by: A temporary nursery, a primary school and a soft play area. I do not believe this represents the majority view of the loyalist community.
Brian Smyth, Green Party councillor for Lisnasharragh, in east Belfast, believes we live in a very sick and twisted society to have an organisation such as the LCC perpetuating fear about a school for children aged three to 11.
The LCC is made up of community representatives, and within that are also representatives for the UVF, UDA and Red Hand Commando groups.
Sinn Fein MP John Finucane said: Its outrageous that a group which includes representatives of loyalist gangs are attempting to influence decisions about our childrens future and right to be educated through the language of their choice.
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Alliance education spokesperson Nick Mathison also hit out, saying questions must be asked about the ministers judgment in this case; he should be seeking to remove all paramilitary influence over our children and young people, rather than giving their views a platform.
The LCC delegation meeting the minister also said its objective was ending educational underachievement in loyalist areas and outlined some of its pilot projects that have supported school activities in north and west Belfast.
They said the minister was asked if the Fair Start education strategy that had been commissioned by previous education minister Peter Weir was still on the table to be implemented and the minister confirmed that it remained departmental policy subject to funding.
One of the key findings of Fair Start was educational underachievement was particularly high in young Protestant boys, but despite providing a costed action plan, little progress has been made in addressing any of the issues raised.
The LCC delegation also emphasised support for the early intervention measures in the strategy and stressed that no child should leave primary school without core literacy and numeracy skills.
Brian Smyth responded: Political unionism has never treated its working class fairly. Its always used them as an angry mob. They have systematically let down working class communities for decades.
You want to end educational underachievement? What I think would help is having loyalist paramilitaries dissolving away, as young people in working class areas dont feel that sense of fear of being coerced into paramilitary structures.
A spokesperson for Northern Irelands Department of Education said: Paul Givan, Education Minister met with the LCC to discuss a range of issues relating to education underachievement in loyalist areas and undertook to share information on DEs RAISE programme and other relevant initiatives. The meeting was arranged at the request of the LCC.
The DUP and its leader Gavin Robinson, who is also MP for East Belfast, have been contacted for comment.
Drug dealer accused of supplying guns to Thomas Bomber Kavanagh has charges dropped
Daniel McLoughlin (37) was accused of providing firearms to Thomas Bomber Kavanagh (57) and his brother-in-law Liam Byrne (43) who are leading members of the organised crime group
Daniel McLoughlin
Irish Independent Wed 25 Sep 2024 at 14:37
A Liverpool drug dealer who was accused of supplying firearms to senior members of the Kinahan cartel saw charges against him dropped today.
I dont have a toaster or fridge licence why do I have a TV licence? Man willing to go to jail over non-payment as he appears in court
The case against James Scanlon was one of 70 prosecutions listed at Ennis District Court against people who did not have a TV licence.
Stock image
Gordon Deegan Wed 25 Sep 2024 at 12:24
A pharma worker has told a judge that he will not be paying his TV licence or any fines for not doing so because of "the corruption in RTE".
The number of hospital and nursing home staff who availed of a free flu vaccine fell last winter despite the potential risk to themselves and people they are caring for.
The 50.3pc uptake figure in hospitals compares to 54.2pc the previous winter and highlights how many staff are ignoring the jab.
In public and private nursing homes, uptake also dropped to 42.8pc from 48.9pc the previous winter, a Health Protection Surveillance Centre survey found.
Uptake also dropped among residents to 90.1pc while it fell to 70pc among those coming for respite. It was highest in Dublin and in hospitals across the southeast at 56.6pc and lowest in the west and north west group at 39.7pc.
Medical and dental staff in public hospitals had the highest uptake rates.
The report said that healthcare workers were entitled to obtain free vaccination in the primary care setting if it was more convenient for them to do so.
"It is possible, therefore, that some staff, who were vaccinated in these settings, may not have reported their status to their workplace managers, and, as a result the uptake reported would have been less than what it actually was," the report said.
Another possible factor is vaccination fatigue inertia or inaction towards vaccine information or instruction due to perceived burden and burnout and a general complacency among healthcare workers about the risks of flu to themselves, their patients and colleagues and families.
"That said, when it comes to uptake in long-term care facilities this is unlikely to be the only reason as those sites with less than a 30 maximum bed capacity had a higher uptake than those with capacity in excess of 30 or more.
"Other on-going issues are contributing to under-reporting of vaccine uptake by health staff in their place of work, the report said.
It also warned the continuous fall in uptake in recent years among health staff is of concern.
"While monitoring uptake is a key performance indicator that allows services to benchmark against other similar services, there remains an on-going need to improve that monitoring capacity within health care settings.
"Right now, uptake among health staff is not improving year on year and influenza prevention control measures need to be not only maintained but enhanced for the benefit and protection of both vulnerable patients and staff.
Fight Club star Edward Norton is coming to Dublin later this year to talk about a different kind of fight the battle to conserve nature.
The Hollywood actor will join former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson, in headlining a conference on the climate and biodiversity crises.
They are the main speakers at the AIB sustainability conference which is now in its eighth year and takes place on November 25.
Mr Norton is best known for starring in iconic movies such as Fight Club and the recent Netflix hit series, Glass Onion, but he also has a long history of environmental activism.
He is a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity and a founder of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust in Kenya.
The trust works with communities in southern Kenya to protect endangered wildlife and threatened forest ecosystems.
Farmers in the region are helped to develop nature-sensitive enterprises and are compensated for any livestock taken by wild animals so that they do not lose out by supporting conservation programmes.
He has spoken recently of applying those principles to the industrial economies of the global north so that nature and natural resources are better protected.
His other philanthropic works include the Solar Neighbours Programme that provides solar power technology to low-income households.
He also works with the Enterprise Foundation which works on sustainable, affordable housing projects and he established the Middle East Peacemakers Fund to support study abroad for college students interested in fostering peace in the region.
Mrs Robinson, chair of The Elders, is a long-time human rights and climate justice campaigner.
She speaks regularly to international audiences on the subject and an annual Mary Robinson Climate Conference takes place in her home town of Ballina.
AIB chief executive, Colin Hunt, said the reality of climate change and its impact on society and the economy had become undeniable and addressing it was everybodys business.
By being united in our resolve to combat climate change we can empower people to build a sustainable future, he said.
Through their actions Edward Norton and Mary Robinson have led the way on sustainability, and they, along with our other speakers will provide thought-provoking insights and solutions to the thousands of people who participate on the day.
The event in person is by invitation only but anyone can register to attend virtually on the AIB sustainability conference website.
A fire broke out last night at Weston Airport in Dublin, with all flights in and out of the facility cancelled on Wednesday.
Authorities said the small blaze that broke out in a room near the control tower of the small private airport was quickly brought under control last night.
No commercial flights operate to or from Weston Airport the airport has confirmed Dublin Airport will not be impacted.
In a statement, the airport said: Weston can confirm there was a small outbreak of fire in a room close to the Control Tower at 22:00 Tuesday night 24th September. The fire was brought under control by the Fire Service and there were no injuries.
A full investigation into the cause of the fire will start in the morning. The Airport is closed Wednesday with all flights cancelled.
Dublin Fire Brigade said it received great assistance" from the on-site Weston Airport fire service and confirmed no injuries were reported following the incident.
Four fire engines from Tallaght, Blanchardstown and Tara Street stations were mobilised to the incident and on arrival firefighters in breathing apparatus were quickly able to contain and extinguish a room fire in a building at the site, a spokesperson said.
The building was ventilated using positive pressure fans to clear any remaining smoke.
Weston bills itself as Irelands only executive airport offering services for helicopters, and private planes and jets.
The airport was established by Darby Kennedy in 1931, and is home to several flying clubs.
The National Flight Centre pilot academy has operated at Dublin Weston Airport since 1977.
Today's News in 90 Seconds - September 25th
Glenroe star Mary McEvoy and celebrity hairstylist Keith Harris are teaming up for a calendar that will raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society
Glenroe actor Mary McEvoy and hairstylist to the stars Keith Harris are among those involved in a gyms project to raise money for a cause close to their hearts.
McEvoy (70), who played Biddy in the popular rural soap for 16 years, will be posing for a calendar to help fund Irish cancer research. Styling her will be hairdresser Harris, the creative director for the project and a one-time apprentice of the legendary Vidal Sassoon.
McEvoy said the idea came about when she mentioned it to Olivia Purcell, the owner of Body Empowerment gym in Athboy, Co Meath.
The actors portrait will illustrate October for a calendar that will raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society.
I mentioned it to Olivia sort of offhandedly and before I knew it, it was organised in a blink, she said.
McEvoy said health has been to the fore in her mind, and added that her life had changed since she began attending Purcells gym regularly for the past two years after suffering from complications from a knee injury.
On the charity aspect of her latest role, McEvoy said she wanted to get involved after seeing members of her community in Adamstown, Co Westmeath, die from cancer.
Youre just thinking, whos next? she said.
They went before their time and that affected me because Ive known some of them longer than I did my own parents
The actor described the experience as grief after grief after grief, adding: In my particular area weve lost 10 people in the last year, including beloved neighbours.
She has also lost a cousin to cancer in recent months.
They went before their time and that affected me because Ive known some of them longer than I did my own parents. Theyd been there all my life, she said.
In a country area, you have a rhythm where so-and-sos tractors going up and down and its, Oh, there he goes. Theres something very grounding about that.
She added that there was not enough room for patients and survivors to express their fears about their illness and said that while she was initially apprehensive about posing for the calendar, she felt its initiative was more important than her.
Keith Harris
The calendar is going to empower women not that they need it, she said. Theyre such a wonderful community. None of us wanted to do it, initially, there was some fear, but were going to do it now.
Purcell previously did cancer rehab training within her gym.
She said the calendar was launched to raise money for the society, but also to showcase the support that can be within a gym and a community class to help people through those struggles.
Today's News in 90 Seconds - September 25th
The photos for the calendar, which will feature a different woman for each month all members of the gym will be taken by photographer Shaun Barry.
The project is particularly close to Harris, who will style all the women.
The British celebrity stylist contracted throat cancer 11 years ago and underwent reconstructive surgery on his jaw and chin.
He has had a fascinating career. His work has been featured in publications including Italian Vogue and he has been involved with Hollywood, where he has styled stars including Shania Twain, Pamela Anderson and supermodel Kate Moss.
Im still affected every day by the damage and am still constantly being checked.
He has also done the hair of some famous men, including Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and actor Richard E Grant.
Trained by some of the most famous and respected in his trade, he began his career in south London, where he was an apprentice of the late Vidal Sassoon.
However, he moved to Ireland during a tour for hair brand LOreal.
Harris said he had received his cancer diagnosis while in Italy, but added that he was very grateful for the way Irish hospitals treated me when I returned.
Im still affected every day by the damage and am still constantly being checked, he said.
On his involvement with the calendar, he said: What a wonderful reward to make someone feel good.
The theme of the calendar, which is due for release in mid-November, is empowered bodies.
It will be sold by local businesses, who hope a retailer will pick up stock to resell it.
They will also be distributed at Christmas markets.
The calendar will cost 20 and can be pre-ordered from the shop section of bodyempowerment.fit
Dublin District Coroners Court told that security guard Gary Crowley was not prioritised for urgent care despite being in severe pain
The family of the late Gary Crowley, parents Gus and Anne, and siblings Claire and Christopher outside Dublin District Coroner's Court. Photo: Collins
Claire Crowley, sister of the late Gary Crowley, pictured leaving Dublin District Coroner's Court after the inquest into her brother's death. Photo: Collins
A family-provided image of Gary Crowley, who died at Tallaght Hospital on September 21, 2021. Photo: Collins
A family provided image of the late of . the late Gary Crowley, who passed away on 21st September 2021 ...SEE COPY SEAN McCARTHAIGH... Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin
A man who died in the emergency department of Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) had been waiting 11 hours to be seen by a doctor when he should have been categorised a patient in need of urgent care who needed to be seen within 10 minutes.
An inquest at Dublin District Coroners Court heard evidence by several nursing staff at TUH that the emergency department was experiencing significant overcrowding and understaffing at the time.
The coroner, Clare Keane, was informed that the patient, Gary Crowley (35), should have been given a higher priority for being seen by a doctor. However, triage staff had been given two different versions of a system used for assessing patients and this had resulted in him being deemed in less urgent need of care.
Mr Crowley, a security guard from Killinarden Estate, Tallaght, died at TUH on September 21, 2021, after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Today's News in 90 Seconds - September 25th
The inquest heard that Mr Crowley had called his sister from the hospital a few hours earlier to complain of severe pains all over his body, but felt he was being ignored by nurses.
Claire Crowley said her brother, who lived at home with their parents, rang her to say he felt unwell on the morning of September 20, 2021, but did not want to tell their mother, Anne, who was travelling to Lourdes that day.
The inquest heard Mr Crowley had been taking anti-blood clotting medication for several years to treat deep vein thrombosis.
He was also diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder and was a heavy drinker.
Evidence was heard that Mr Crowley had been vomiting for four days and had drunk a bottle of rum every day for the three days prior to his admission to TUH.
Ms Crowley planned to call over to bring him to hospital, but discovered that their father had brought him straight away because of his condition.
As she was unable to attend the hospital because of Covid-19 restrictions, Ms Crowley said her brother called her around 7pm, and said he was feeling ignored by nurses.
A family-provided image of Gary Crowley, who died at Tallaght Hospital on September 21, 2021. Photo: Collins
At the time Ms Crowley said her brother, who had been sitting in a plastic chair, wanted to lie down as he had extremely bad pains everywhere and an irregular heartbeat.
She received a final text from him at 10.30pm when he wrote: Dont worry. Ill be alright.
Ms Crowley said her family had not been given clear communication or adequate information from the hospital about her brothers condition.
She described how her brothers death had a devastating effect on all her family, particularly her father, Gus, who had been in and out of hospital since his sons death.
If we can get some sort of justice from this for Gary, it would prevent something like this from happening to another person, said Ms Crowley.
She said her family had been contacted by an off-duty nurse, Danielle Connolly, who was in the emergency department and had noticed Mr Crowley in distress and coughing up coffee-brown blood.
Ms Crowley said Ms Connolly told her that she had twice raised a flag about Mr Crowleys condition with staff at a nursing station and pointed out that his care should be prioritised over her own relative, but she had been sent away.
One nurse, Fiona Regan, said TUHs emergency department was extremely short-staffed at the time with only two nurses available to triage patients half the usual number.
Ms Regan said 111 patients had presented to the emergency department during her shift that day.
The inquest heard Mr Crowley was registered by TUH at 12.13pm, but was not triaged for almost two hours when all arrivals should have been seen within 15 minutes.
Claire Crowley, sister of the late Gary Crowley, pictured leaving Dublin District Coroner's Court after the inquest into her brother's death. Photo: Collins
Ms Regan told the coroner that she had categorised Mr Crowley as a category 3 patient based on an assessment tool that meant he should be examined by a doctor within one hour.
However, she said that under a different version of the same tool available in the hospital, the patient should have been classified as category 2, which was for more urgent cases with a recommended medical examination within 10 minutes.
Ms Regan said an elevated early warning score recorded for Mr Crowley was not highlighted to other medical staff at the time, but would be under a new system now operated by TUH.
She also said she had completed an incident form at the end of her shift that night to raise concern about overcrowding and lack of staff in the emergency department.
Another triage nurse, Carol Greene, described finding Mr Crowley lying on the floor of a waiting area at 9.25pm due to his pain.
Ms Greene said she helped him into a wheelchair and brought the patient to another waiting area, where she passed on her concerns about his condition to another nurse.
Dr Gavin Sedgwick, who was a senior house officer at the time at TUH, said Mr Crowley was in distress and he had prescribed IV fluids for the patient, who he examined at 11.05pm.
Staff nurse Danilo Garin said he had been unable to give the IV fluids to the patient until around 1am.
Mr Garin said he was delayed in finding another nurse to sign off on administering the medication due to staff shortages and a busy workload.
The nurse said Mr Crowley was lying on a trolley in distress when he arrived with the IV fluids and the patient suddenly became unresponsive.
Mr Garin immediately sought help, but efforts to resuscitate Mr Crowley were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at 2.45am.
A consultant in emergency medicine, Aileen McCabe, said the treatment given to the patient was correct but added: Unfortunately it was delayed.
Dr McCabe said tests showed the patient had suffered an acute kidney injury from dehydration.
Post-mortem results showed that Mr Crowley died from metabolic ketoacidosis and upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
Dr McCabe told the coroner that changes had been made at TUH since Mr Crowleys death, including blood tests being ordered and completed within an hour in some cases before a patient is triaged.
The consultant said any patient with abnormal test results would be prioritised for care, while a colour-coded priority system is used to alert staff to the most urgent cases.
Dr McCabe told the inquest that 56 patients were waiting to be examined by a doctor at 9.30pm on the day Mr Crowley was there, with a further 13 patients waiting to be triaged.
Although the department now had additional staffing levels, the consultant said the number of doctors was still inadequate for the volume of patients coming to the hospital, as was the clinical space for examining them.
Dr Mr Cabe said the number of people attending the emergency department had increased despite the ending of the Covid-19 pandemic, with up to 6,000 now presenting on average per month.
Returning a verdict of death by misadventure, Dr Keane said she was deeply sorry for the pain, suffering and loss felt by Mr Crowleys family.
The coroner also acknowledged how staff at TUH were working in extremely challenging conditions and remarked that the extreme pressure they faced was very clearly established and heard.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee said her Department and the Irish Prison Service are trying to manage capacity issues in the country's prisons. Photo: PA
Irish prisons are overcrowded by almost 500 people, new figures released by the Justice Minister Helen McEntee show.
Around 245 prisoners are sleeping on mattresses on the ground due to the levels of overcrowding, according to the Irish Prison Service. The current official bed capacity within the system is 4,519 and there were 4,995 people serving sentences as of yesterday.
This means the prison system is at 111pc capacity, with over-capacity at 476 prisoners.
The Prison Service said in a statement it has no control over the numbers taken into custody and must accept everybody.
In response to a parliamentary question, Ms McEntee said: The Prison Service is working closely with officials in my Department to take steps to ensure a safe working environment for staff, and the safety and security of people in custody.
They are also working to identify short, medium and long-term proposals to manage capacity issues in our prisons as they arise.
She said short-term projects are in place that will see spaces for an extra 150 people this year. The Prison Service is also working with the Defence Forces to assess the feasibility of bringing the Curragh military prison into use, according to Ms McEntee.
Today's News in 90 Seconds - September 25th
A prison overcrowding response group was set up last year to look at solutions to the issue, and 12 measures have been put in place as a result.
A new working group on future prison capacity needs up to 2035 will also make recommendations, including on the future use of the site at Thornton Hall.
The Irish Prison Service is working closely with the Department of Justice to ensure a safe working environment for staff and the safety and security of all those in custody, said a spokesperson for the prison service.
Aontu leader TD Peadar Toibin said there is a serious problem in the lack of capacity and added that he is concerned capacity issues are influencing judges in terms of sentencing.
Many crimes are being committed by repeat offenders who never see jail time, he said.
Ireland needs a new prison, and Budget 2025 must make policing an attractive profession so as to drive recruitment.
The Irish Prison Service also said when the numbers in custody exceed the capacity, the service makes every effort to deal with this through a combination of inter-prison transfers and appropriate use of structured temporary release.
Two deaf students have launched a campaign for Irish Sign Language (ISL) to be made a Leaving Certificate subject, saying the current system puts them at a disadvantage in the third-level points race.
Shane Hamilton (17) and Ellie Woods (18), who are both Leaving Cert students at the Holy Family School for the Deaf in Cabra, Dublin, have said students who use ISL are unfairly disadvantaged as many are unable to sit an exam in their first language.
ISL was granted official language status alongside Irish and English in the Irish Sign Language Act of 2017, which requires public services be made available through ISL and greater access to education through ISL.
The State Examinations Commission currently provides exams in a number of non-curricular EU languages, including Latvian, Romanian, Slovenian, Modern Greek, Finnish, Estonian, Slovakian, Swedish, Czech, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Danish, Dutch, Croatian and Maltese.
Shane, who hopes to study politics at third-level, said: I learnt ISL before English and it is an official language of the State. Surely it is only fair that I sit a Leaving Certificate examination in it? Other students get to sit an exam in their first language.
Ellie, who would like to work with deaf children in the area of early intervention, said: It is about getting the points that deaf Leaving Certificate students deserve.
A lot of colleges require a grade in Irish, but many deaf students are unable to study it.
She believes the introduction of ISL to the Leaving Cert curriculum would remediate the fact that many deaf students are unable to learn Irish.
She also said it would allow students who are not deaf the option of learning another practical language and gain an understanding of the issues faced by people who are deaf and hard of hearing.
While my deafness is not a barrier to what I want to achieve, I need the support of a fair system, she said.
The failure to include ISL as a Leaving Certificate examination subject runs counter to the inclusivity and equality which should underpin education.
There are more than 5,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the Irish education system, with 95pc of those in mainstream schooling, according to Chime, the national charity for deafness and hearing loss.
About 40,000 deaf people and people who are hard of hearing use ISL on a daily basis.
Chime has said the introduction of ISL as an exam subject would also benefit family members who are not deaf but have deaf parents or siblings.
Brendan Lennon, the director of advocacy, research and public affairs at Chime, said: It is manifestly unfair and disadvantages deaf students because it means they cannot compete on the same basis as their peers for third level places and career opportunities. It is blatant inequality.
Aside from ignoring an indigenous Irish language, the failure to include ISL as a Leaving Certificate examination subject runs counter to the inclusivity and equality which should underpin education.
He believes that not having ISL on the curriculum marginalises the deaf community, which is already under-represented in third-level education.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said that until such time as ISL has been developed as a subject for senior cycle education, students can follow the Leaving Cert Applied (LCA) ISL course and have their achievement recognised with a set of integrated Leaving Certificate results.
They added that the Department recognises the importance of the 2017 Irish Sign Language Act and is working to ensure that students who communicate through ISL are supported in the school system with a number of supports in place for those who use ISL.
Currently, Irish Sign language forms part of the General Education strand of LCA programme. The LCA Irish Sign Language course, which consists of four modules, introduces students to Irish Sign Language and aims to develop their expressive and receptive communication skills.
"The course also develops awareness and appreciation of the Irish deaf community and its culture, they said, adding that students who are deaf or hard of hearing may take all four modules instead of the Gaeilge and Modern European Language courses.
Officials have engaged with a number of students and their teachers in special schools, special classes and in mainstream schools on ISL and it was clear from these interactions that a curriculum, which spans the continuum of learning in primary and post-primary, is needed.
Education Minister Norma Foley has requested that the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment begins work on developing a curriculum at primary and post-primary level for ISL and for ISL users, with a spokesperson for the Department adding that this process takes time and the development of a new examination for the SEC is a necessarily lengthy process.
Ukrainian, which will be offered for first examination in 2025, was first mooted in 2022. An examination for ISL would require a unique format and extensive time for development, therefore it would not be possible to have this exam in place by June 2025. In that regard, it will not be possible to offer students the opportunity to complete an examination in ISL as a Leaving Certificate subject in 2025.
In the interim period, until such time as ISL has been developed as a subject for the senior cycle stage of education, the Department and the SEC can offer interested students the opportunity to follow the LCA ISL course and to have their achievement recognised with a set of integrated Leaving Certificate results.
A spokesperson for the SEC said examinations policy is set by the education minister and the Department of Education.
They said the SEC provides exams in 15 subjects as part of the non-curricular languages, with the introduction of any new examination being a necessarily lengthy process.
"We have been engaging with the Department of Education on foot of the representations from the deaf and hard of hearing community on this issue noting that the NCCA has been tasked with developing Irish Sign Language as a curriculum for all levels, including for Senior Cycle.
They reiterated that interested students can follow the LCA course in the interim and their achievement will be recognised with a set of integrated results.
"This also aligns with policy for the redevelopment of Senior Cycle which seeks to break down barriers between the three Leaving Certificate programmes.
"This change has also seen LCA candidates now having access to subjects in the established Leaving Certificate and, for the first time in 2024, being provided with an integrated set of Leaving Certificate results.
Rachad Merashli with his family. Mr Merashli said its been hard to concentrate knowing the horrors back home
Lebanese families living in Ireland say they fear for their loved ones caught up in the conflict as they watch and wait anxiously for news.
Ibrahim Itani said he moved from Beirut to Dublin in January 2018 with his family because he didnt want the same life for his children.
Its horrific, its so disturbing. Its something that Ive been used to since I was born, he said of the unfolding situation in the Lebanon.
War has been always a reality and we have learned to be resilient, rebuild, grow again, try to find our way and build a better life. I think its becoming part of life, really.
I was tired of it and this is why I ended up in Ireland because I dont want to see my family and my kids live the same way I lived while I was a child.
Mr Itani said the escalating conflict in his home country has affected his daily life. Physically, Im here, but my mind and my heart are in Lebanon with my loved ones.
Seeing what happened in Palestine, youll always be pessimistic and plan for the worst.
Unfortunately, no one is stopping Israel from doing what it is doing, especially in 2024, where humanity should be doing a better job with all the technology, social media and the media itself.
Its shocking, really, and it leaves you feeling guilty that here I deserve to live in peace, continue my life, trying to achieve, trying to grow personally in my career, raise my children, while people in another place on this planet, they dont deserve to have the basics.
We are talking about shelter, safety, hospital oxygen, which is extreme. Talking about it now makes me so disappointed.
When we are fortunate enough to live in Ireland, we need to work on advocacy, on acting as a voice and reminder of what we are living here is more than normal for other people in other places.
Roland Mansour with his family
Father-of-two Rachad Merashli, also from Beirut, said he is worried for his loved ones.
It was stressful for the past few days, not only over the weekend, but since the beginning of last week when things started to escalate and tensions started to increase, he said.
My parents were in the southern part of Lebanon, so very close to Sidon, but thank God, we convinced them to actually move down to Beirut on Monday.
Family and friends are living over there. Seeing some of the images and videos over the internet and the TV with civilians and kids, women being killed.
It was shocking, it was horrifying for me.
Mr Merashli, who moved to Dublin in 2015 with his family, said he was not able to focus in work on Monday.
Lots of notifications coming into my phone, lots of people calling. I had to call family and friends to make sure they were safe. I wasnt able to focus on work, I was getting irritated with anything.
I want to see whats happening on the news and, at the same time, get on with all my duties here at home, it was distracting and, in a way, painful.
He said of the Lebanese community in Ireland: Some of the Lebanese, if they are from the north side or from Mount Lebanon side, where things, in a way, are safer compared to the south, they still felt the same, because its their brothers in the country who are suffering.
He moved to Ireland on the same day as his colleague, Roland Mansour, after their tech company in Lebanon allowed them to relocate to Dublin.
My two daughters are born here in Ireland. So Im a proud Lebanese-Irish, Mr Merashli said.
Roland Mansour (left) and Rachad Merashli (right)
Mr Mansour, from north Lebanon, said: Everybody keeps checking and sharing the news about whats happening. Every single Lebanese who is living here in Ireland has a family who is behind in Lebanon.
They keep bombing many villages. Were getting a lot of videos from the streets there.
Theres a lot of innocent people and children who are getting killed. Thousands of people that they are moving, thousands of people injured.
This is very concerning to all of the Lebanese community here in Ireland, so were trying to keep in contact with each other.
My concern is what if the situation escalates further?
The big question is whether Ireland would open its borders or facilitate the process for the Lebanese community in Dublin to evacuate their families from Lebanon.
We were thinking about raising awareness and seeing if there are fundraising activities that we can do to help any families that are stuck, that have moved, or that have been displaced.
Were using our platforms to spread some news related to people in the country who are offering homes for the people that do not have homes.
Xem them
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Khong con du lieu e load
Mr Harris confirmed the invitation as he attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Officials would not confirm the exact date for the first meeting of the two leaders which will come amid increasing speculation when the General Election will be held.
A statement from the Taoiseachs Office said Mr Harris accepted an invitation from Mr Biden to visit the White House next month.
The Taoiseach and President Biden will both speak at an event to mark the centenary of bilateral diplomatic relations between Ireland and the US, which was the first country to recognise Irelands place among the nations of the world, it said.
The event will also be an opportunity to reflect on President Bidens career-long friendship with Ireland, it added.
During his visit to Washington DC, the Taoiseach also plans to hold other engagements.
Mr Harris was in attendance at the United Nations headquarters for President Bidens address on Tuesday.
Speaking after the speech, Mr Harris said he welcomed the fact Mr Biden referenced the need for a two-state solution to bring to an end the violence in the Middle East.
A two-state solution is the way that provides peace and security for Israel, and peace and security for Palestine. And we have to be so careful to differentiate, when we're talking about these issues, between the people of Israel and the Prime Minister of Israel, because they're very different, he said.
There must be millions of people in Israel who want their kids to grow up in peace and security, and a better future, who want their grandkids to be safe and secure. And that's the same in Palestine. So we should never allow the actions of the head of a government to distort what is the view, I think, of so many people in the Middle East who just want to be able to live in peace and security. But the situation is grave, he added.
Mr Harris said he would not interfere in another countrys foreign policy when he was asked about the US continuing to supply weapons to Israel.
I wouldn't appreciate another country telling us our foreign policy or telling us how to proceed, but I know how hard President Biden has worked to try and bring about a ceasefire. Ive spoken to him on the phone. I've seen how many times, Secretary Blinken has travelled to the region an extraordinary number of times to have talks, he said.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik has criticised Sinn Fein Finance spokesman Pearse Doherty for saying Ukrainian refugees are pricing Irish people out of the rental market.
She said she was really disappointed with the "scapegoating" involved and the "singling out of those who came from Ukraine."
Mr Doherty had pointed to the Ukrainian-only Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) provides 800 per month tax-free to beneficiaries.
Because it is not means-tested and goes to Ukrainians who are working, it is "blatantly unfair," Mr Doherty said. He said it should be closed to new entrants "immediately."
Minister for Integration Roderic OGorman said he did not agree with the comments that Deputy Doherty had made.
He said there would be an impact on thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the war with Russia if the State were to cut or immediately end the payment.
Alternative accommodation would have to be found in such a case, he said. But he added that the scheme was under review.
Mr Doherty said his party believed the scheme should only be available to host families who open up their own homes - and not homes that really should be on the private rental market.
Mr Doherty said the latest figures showed that the number of new payments was increasing at a rate of nearly 1,000 a month, and you have built in an incentive for landlords to accept one renter over or another based on their nationality when the housing need of both are acute.
"That is wrong," he said, adding that it was impacting fairness in relation to two people working side by side, earning the same wages with the same family size.
He told the Minister: Under your scheme, you pay the rent for one but not the other, and we can see why more and more people are questioning the fairness of this payment.
"It is provided regardless of income, regardless of employment status, and that is simply not fair." Landlords are openly stating that they are getting more money from the accommodation recognition payment than they would receive if they let their properties to private renters, he said.
Minister O'Gorman said he anticipated that the current review "will feed into the decision as to whether we extend it in line with the temporary protection directive, and whether we extend it unamended, or we make changes in terms of its ambit".
But it is really important to say there are thousands of people supported by this payment right now. If we were to cut this payment, if we were to end it immediately, it is important that we understand the impact that that would have on Ukrainians and alternative accommodation would have to be found, he said.
And he said that Sinn Fein had not provided a clear suggestion as to how the issue could be addressed. Whoever is Minister has to find the accommodation they can, he said.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said Mr Doherty's remarks were "a new low in the political vernacular.
Ms Bacik said it was not helpful either to hear Government ministers appearing to scapegoat migrants in apparent reference to comments by the Taoiseach.
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns had earlier accused Simon Harris of a textbook dog whistle for his comments at the weekend when he said homeless numbers were now heavily impacted by people seeking international protection.
She said the biggest correlation with homelessness was not rising migration. Nearly 14,500 people are homeless, which was an indictment of the Government.
Mr O'Gorman said: The facts are that international protection applicants have no right to housing supports. They have no right to help. They have no right to access housing homelessness services. And Ukrainians, beneficiaries of temporary protection, have no right to housing supports, no right to have no right to access, to access homelessness services.
Tenants living in Ballsbridge apartment ordered to pay 35,000 in rent arrears
Couple said they did not mean to stay in the dwelling that long, but they could not find alternative housing
Tenant said it had been a 'difficult year'. Photo: Getty
Amy Molloy Wed 25 Sep 2024 at 03:30
Two tenants renting an apartment in Dublin 4 have been ordered by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) to pay more than 35,000 in arrears.
Its been tantalisingly close now so many times, only to have hopes snatched away again. It feels like we have been on the longest home straight in history when it comes to finally finishing the new National Childrens Hospital. So, what will it take to eventually reach the ribbon-cutting ceremony?
Courts
Unacceptable behaviour for visitors to our country, judge says, as tourists arrested trying to sell cocaine to garda
Workers at medical technology firm Becton Dickinson will begin a work-to-rule this afternoon in a dispute over an exit package.
Employees at the global medical technology firm had been told in July that, following a review of the companys manufacturing supply chain, the plant is to close with the loss of around 200 jobs.
The news came as a massive blow to workers, following on from 60 redundancies last year.
The US company has been in Drogheda for 60 years and in 2021 opened a new facility as part of a 62m investment to expand the companys production of BD PosiFlush syringes.
The work-to-rule will include a ban on overtime and lack of cooperation with compliance certification work.
Since the announcement on July 3 that this very profitable plant is to close fully by September 2026, SIPTU representatives have sought to work with management on alternatives that could maintain it in operation, SIPTU Sector Organiser, Andrea Cleere said.
She said 97pc of members voted in favour of industrial action.
It is understood that the company was offering a package worth less than a previous redundancy deal.
"We have provided management with every opportunity to consider options to protect our members jobs and reduce the impact that these redundancies will have on the workers, their families and the wider community.
Our members have remained patient over the last number of months while seeking meaningful engagement with the management of this US-headquartered company which has been in Drogheda for more than 60 years. However, their patience has run out and they have voted to commence industrial action from today.
SIPTU representatives remain available to engage in meaningful negotiations with management concerning the future of the plant.
At the time, the company said it remained committed to Ireland where it has a site in Limerick, a research and development facility in Dublin and a manufacturing facility in Wexford which received a 30m cash injection last year.
Siptu Manufacturing Divisional Organiser, Neil McGowan, said the union would not accept anything less than concentrated and swift Government intervention to ensure an IDA-backed manufacturing company remains in the area.
We cannot allow a situation where the skills of our members in BD and the infrastructure that is in place already is allowed to go to the wall while the Government sits on its hands, he said.
The first redundancies are expected to affect around 110 employees in March next year, with further job losses up to September 2026.
The company produces oncology, interventional radiology and critical care products at the plant.
Becton Dickinson said in a statement that it immediately engaged with representatives from unions and employees at the site to begin a consultation process following its July 3 announcement.
It said it continues to actively engage with unions and its employees to consult and negotiate in good faith, which included meetings this week.
The company said the consultation process is continuing and there will be a referral to the Workplace Relations Commission if agreement cannot be reached.
By removing ability to fully block users, platforms owner will make harassment easier
Are women still welcome on X? I ask, because the latest move by the social media platforms owner Elon Musk would suggest otherwise.
In all his wisdom, the amphibian-faced Silicon Valley bro is removing the ability to fully block other users. Which has all the hallmarks of a decision taken in an echo chamber with fewer X chromosomes than its name would suggest.
Having slipped undetected into Malis capital weeks ago, the jihadis struck just before dawn prayers. They killed dozens of students at an elite police training academy, stormed Bamakos airport and set the presidential jet on fire. The September 17 attack was the most brazen since 2016 in a capital city in the Sahel, a vast arid region stretching across sub-Saharan Africa.
It showed that jihadist groups with links to Al-Qaida or Islamic State, whose largely rural insurgency has killed thousands of civilians and displaced millions in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, can also strike at the heart of power. Overshadowed by wars in Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan, conflict in the Sahel rarely garners global headlines, yet it is contributing to a sharp rise in migration from the region towards Europe at a time when anti-immigrant, far-right parties are on the rise and some EU states are tightening their borders.
Attorney Gloria Allred (left) listens as one of Mohamed Al-Fayeds accusers, identified only as Natacha, discusses her involvement in the investigation. Photo: PA
When I first got to London, Harrods seemed to represent everything that was desirable and sophisticated. That dome-topped store with green awnings in Knightsbridge attracted the big celebs and symbolised social status characters in Noel Coward plays were always having stuff sent around from Harrods (the proud boast was that the store could supply everything from an elephant to a darning needle). I was delighted to flash my Harrods store card when indulging in my weakness for designer handbags.
When Mohamed Al-Fayed acquired it in 1985, Harrods went a bit blingy and flashy, but the food hall was still gorgeous and people still queued up every January for the unique Harrods sale, where posh kids brands like Le Petit Bateau were a great bargain.
And now we learn that the Harrods owner was a serial rapist who assaulted young women on his staff, repeatedly and persistently, over a period of 25 years. Thirty-seven women have accused the late Al-Fayed of rape and sexual assault and dozens more have come forward after the airing of a BBC documentary, Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods. In one alleged case, the young girl was only 15 when he assaulted her he was nearly 80.
A rich and powerful man, surrounded by security and loyal henchmen, behaves exactly as he pleases
As I was blithely browsing through the legendary toy department, young women who joined Harrods in anticipation of a retail career at the worlds most famous store were being summoned to the bosss private suite, either at Harrods or at his apartment at 60 Park Lane, being subjected to sexual assault. They had been picked out, at the shop floor level, being pretty and young, and then expected to be compliant.
Mostly, they were terrified of losing their jobs, of not being believed, sometimes of being killed.
I realised he could stop me breathing, recalled Alice, who was 18 when she was attacked. The assaults also occurred at the Paris Ritz and at the Villa Windsor in the Bois de Boulogne.
He enjoyed the chase the true characteristic of the predator and the fact that he aroused fear in his victims.
Yet this narrative has a familiar thread: a rich and powerful man, surrounded by protective security and loyal henchmen, behaves exactly as he pleases. Those around him know of his predilections the late publicist Max Clifford said Al-Fayed was 76 going on 18 when it comes to young ladies; and that randy old men with money and power could always access the favours of attractive young girls.
Tony Leeming, a former employee, said everyone knew what was going on Al-Fayeds behaviour was an open joke.
Attorney Gloria Allred (left) listens as one of Mohamed Al-Fayeds accusers, identified only as Natacha, discusses her involvement in the investigation. Photo: PA
Attempts to highlight the situation during Al-Fayeds lifetime came, mostly, to nothing. The laws of libel were invoked. The Crown Prosecution Service declared charges wouldnt stick.
An institution will always protect its own from the churches to the BBC (Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris) and Harrods not only protected its predator, it enabled him, according to lawyer Bruce Drummond.
The magazine Vanity Fair published an unflattering article in 1997, although the rape allegations had to be omitted. And then came the most dramatic, and tragic, turn of events: Al-Fayeds son, Dodi, was killed in that car crash with Diana, Princess of Wales.
And naturally, everyone was sorry for a man who had lost his son in these circumstances. Criticism was muted for more than two decades. But heres the question: if Diana had known the truth about Al-Fayed, would she have accepted hospitality from him? Would she have been friends with him their relationship so genially portrayed in Netflixs The Crown? Would she have met and become involved with Dodi? And would she have died while driven by Al-Fayeds chauffeur?
The store has profusely apologised and vowed to ensure young women are now safe
Her death could be linked with her association with the Harrods owner. He had inveigled Diana by telling her they were both outsiders. He gave young Prince William the run of the toy department. And then, when she and Dodi died, he erected a shrine at Harrods, and told the world that Prince Philip had had them both murdered to stop Diana marrying a Muslim.
Harrods came under new ownership in 2010 (Al-Fayed got 1.5bn for it), and the store has profusely apologised and vowed to ensure young women are now safe. Nonetheless, lawyers are investigating if there are employees who may have been complicit in the cover-up of Al-Fayeds offences (he died last year).
Its an irony that department stores were invented with a view to creating a safe and comfortable space for women. The Irish designer Sybil Connolly told me that when she first trained at Debenhams, the store provided special accommodation for young women employees, and manageresses who ensured their protection. It seems that young girls could be better looked after in the 1940s than in the 2000s.
US president Joe Biden in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, yesterday. Photo: Reuters
There are times when world leaders are doomed to make grave choices, the consequences from which there is no escape.
They may be doubly damned if they dont. We can only hope that the cohort attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York recognise that this is no time for turning their faces away from hard truths.
In the Middle East and Ukraine, events are in play that have the potential to shake the world on its axis.
Having pounded Gaza into oblivion after the Hamas attack of last October, Israel is now bombarding Lebanon. Commentators refer to it as an escalation, but what we are witnessing is further mass killing. It may be one step closer to a disastrous regional war.
Lebanon says 492 people were killed yesterday and more than 1,645 injured in Israeli airstrikes. The Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati says Israels actions amount to a war of extermination.
Unbowed, Israel says strikes will continue until we achieve our goals. Such unchecked cycles of retaliation can only draw further populations into the deepening hell of war.
This week, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will appeal directly to US president Joe Biden for permission to use long-range missiles to target military installations within Russia.
Without this permission, he does not believe he can resist Russian aggression or protect his people. There have been few moments in recent history when so much turns on decision-making in Washington.
Moscow has made an implicit threat of nuclear war, so the stakes could not be higher. Since Russias full-scale invasion, in February 2022, democracy has been under attack.
A lot of things dont look realistic until we get them done. We have to keep at it
The principle of the inviolability of borders has also been threatened. The future of the EU and the credibility of the United States have been challenged.
President Joe Bidens reluctance to give Kyiv permission is rooted in his understandable caution about widening the conflict with Russia. The Western alliances backing of Ukraines fight for its sovereignty has held.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has been stoking fears by laying down red lines, the crossing of which risks nuclear war.
To date, Mr Biden can claim credit for holding the line and leading the Western coalition to aid Ukraine. The coming days will test this commitment.
In the Middle East, the US presidents strategy has turned on securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. This now looks to be in tatters.
It was hoped that an agreement could be delivered. It was also envisaged that a ceasefire might pave the way for a deal between Israel and Hezbollah.
Asked recently if a ceasefire deal was realistic, Mr Biden said: A lot of things dont look realistic until we get them done. We have to keep at it.
We do have to keep at it.
But the Pentagon has just announced that the US is sending additional troops to the Middle East. A way out looks more elusive than ever.
The US Capitol building is seen in Washington, DC., on November 4, 2022. Photo: Xinhua
Global TimesChinese observers on Tuesday slammed smears presented in a US House committee report as a cliche that was aiming at stifling China's technological advancement and hyping up the "China threat" narrative.
The report, released on Monday by the Republican members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, claimed that hundreds of millions of dollars in US federal research funding over the last decade has contributed to China's technological advancements and military modernization and that collaborations between Chinese entities and US-funded researchers and universities have significantly contributed to China's progress in critical areas such as hypersonic and nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, and semiconductors, according to the New York Times.
This is just part of the US anti-China rhetoric, repeating the same cliche of smearing China, Lu Xiang, an expert on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The US has been hyping up the normal exchanges between China and the US, particularly since 2018, Lu noted.
House Republicans argued that these research publications could potentially be weaponized against the US in the event of a conflict with China, according to Fox News.
The report calls for stricter regulations on federally funded research and limiting the opportunities for researchers receiving US grants to collaborate with Chinese universities and companies that have military connections.
However, the Democrats on the China committee chose not to sign on to the report, saying that it was a conversation that required more nuance. "Cutting off all collaboration would not serve US interests either," reported New York Times, citing a representative for the committee's Democratic staff.
The GOP report clearly said it was the US Department of Defense and US intelligence agencies that are funding relevant schools and research institutes. Such claim is similar to accusing them of potential treason. Such accusation reflects the increasing intensity of political struggles within the US, Li Haidong, a professor from the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
A Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Tuesday that the US is once again overstretching the concept of "national security" and hyping the "China threat" rhetoric.
Scientific and technological researches themselves are neutral, and many of the projects are not military-backed, the above-quoted expert said. It is the US that unilaterally labeled them with the so-called military applications.
It is worth noting that the US report significantly exaggerates its own scientific research capabilities while downplaying China's research and development achievements, Lu said. He noted that China is in a leading position in many areas of the scientific research, especially in large-scale applications and integrated applications.
The House report examined several China-based joint institutes between Chinese and American universities, including the University of California, Berkeley and Georgia Institute of Technology. Both Berkeley and Georgia Tech disputed many of the report's findings, according to the New York times.
Many people in rural Ireland have no choice but to own a car. Photo: Stock image
On Monday, Environment Minister Eamon Ryan spoke on RTE News about plans to phase out the number of parking spaces in universities and colleges in line with the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate (2023).
The idea of resorting to increased public transport for the thousands of staff and students living outside urban areas is fantastical, even laughable.
Every day, we hear stories of parents struggling to access school places for their children due to the lack of public and private transport. So lets not run before we can walk, or even get on a bus.
Living in rural Ireland for 19 years with a young family, I had plenty of first-hand experience of the struggles involved in going from A to B.
I also saw for myself how other parents with young children, who were living in the countryside, needed a car each just to meet the logistics of everyday life.
As the children in those families got older, it wasnt unusual to see four, five or six cars outside rural dwellings on a Sunday. This was merely a reflection of how important cars are to the people living there. They couldnt possibly get around without them.
The idea of a city-standard bus service for the whole of rural Ireland is as far away as solving the problems of the emergency department at University Hospital Limerick.
Equally, it is as far away as providing enough affordable student accommodation for those who would rather not travel two or more hours each way, every day, to access third-level education.
Tracey Hawkins, Tralee, Co Kerry
Restricting abuse inquiry to certain schools unfair on all the good teachers
While it is absolutely correct that teachers who abused pupils are held to account, there are a few disturbing aspects to the Scoping Inquiry.
First, why is it being restricted to certain schools? It seems unfair that teachers within those schools who behaved properly are effectively being lumped in with the offenders.
The State itself has questions to answer. As far as Im aware, classroom corporal punishment was actually illegal in Ireland. It was only to be administered by the school principal in private, for serious or disruptive misbehaviour.
So the State was grossly negligent in allowing its use, which led to worse abuses.
Finally, many parents used excessive corporal punishment. Are they also to be included in any inquiry?
Eric Conway, Navan, Co Meath
Why we need to be more open about the nations backing Israeli aggression
Where does Karl Martin get the idea that I take issue with the use of the terms Iran-backed Hamas and Iran-backed Hezbollah? (Describing Hamas and Hezbollah as Iran-backed provides crucial context, Letters, September 21).
In my letter of September 20, I merely suggested that the media should also refer to US/UK/EU-backed Israel.
This would provide crucial context because these Western powers arm Israel, provide diplomatic cover for its violations of international law and international humanitarian law, and in some cases (Germany comes to mind) suppress their own citizens right to criticise Israels crimes.
Raymond Deane, Broadstone, Dublin
Global leaders must make sure Lebanon does not go the same way as Palestine
The international community has become accustomed to appalling statistics and human catastrophes.
Thousands of Lebanese people have been forcibly displaced from their homes and are collectively in the maelstrom of death, famine, starvation and multiple vulnerabilities.
Most of the victims are defenceless women and children. We cannot afford another Gaza in the making. No peace can stand on the smouldering ashes of Palestine.
The denial of Palestinians human rights and freedoms remains the main obstacle to global and regional peace and stability.
How can people believe in peace and global solidarity when Israel flagrantly violates human rights, expands illegal settlements, confiscates land, demolishes homes and bombs schools, hospitals, mosques and civilian infrastructures?
Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob, London
McDonald should forget about united Ireland and ask why SF fell from grace
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has requested that UK prime minister Keir Starmer set a date for a united-Ireland referendum.
Starmer already stated, before he took office, that such a vote is not on the agenda and nothing has changed in the interim to make him change that opinion. What part of that does she not understand?
There is no groundswell in the Republic for such a vote at the present time.
Surely the drop in support for McDonalds party tells her she will not get a majority in favour of this proposal.
It is more likely to set back relations between the Republic and Northern Ireland.
McDonald says if she goes into government, she will allow Northern MPs to speak in the Dail.
I would prefer if she got Sinn Fein MPs to represent their constituents in the House of Commons first.
Donough OReilly, Kilmacud, Co Dublin
British Labour in power a wet weekend and already on the way to messing up
The British Labour Party may have blown its chances come the next election.
The fact that it would not concede on winter fuel payments for pensioners, while taking freebies from rich donors and businesses, could derail everything Keir Starmers party wants to achieve in government.
The fact that it also gave union bosses what they wanted while at the same time talking about a 22bn (26.4bn) black hole and issuing dire warnings about stringent cutbacks and difficult times ahead makes for bad optics.
Christy Galligan, Letterkenny, Co Donegal
Hospital scandal is rightly attracting criticism, but not all of it makes sense
Sinn Fein has said Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is asleep at the wheel regarding the ongoing scandal surrounding the new National Childrens Hospital. I dont know where they get the idea that theres a wheel.
Peter Declan OHalloran, Belturbet, Co Cavan
First dreamed up decades ago, the National Childrens Hospital has become an ongoing crisis passed from one health minister to another, all at the expense of the Irish taxpayer. Now, a snag list has emerged, detailing a litany of problems with rooms that were supposed to be finished.
Meanwhile, the cost of the hospital has spiralled out of control and the latest deadline for completion has been missed. The builders will probably be finished next May, but the fit-out will take another six months on top of that.
The snag list includes basic items such as plumbing, walls and floors. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly was heavily critical of construction company BAM. He said: There are over 5,500 rooms/spaces in the new hospital, and whilst, to date, BAM has offered over 3,000 as complete, none were completed to the expected, acceptable standard. Finished rooms should be fully completed, in line with the specification in the agreed contract.
Where to next for one of the States biggest investments? And when will the doors finally be thrown open to the public?
On this episode of The Indo Daily, Ellen Coyne is joined by Fionnan Sheahan, Ireland Editor with the Irish Independent, to count the cost of the National Childrens Hospital, and to ask: who is to blame?
The starting rate for store assistants and warehouse operative positions is a market-leading 14.80 per hour
Supermarket chain ALDI is looking to fill more than 70 store and warehouse roles in County Cork.
ALDI has 27 stores across the county and a distribution centre in Mitchelstown and is looking to fill its vacant roles ahead of the busy Christmas centre.
The open roles are a mix of both new jobs and backfill positions and the starting rate for store assistants and warehouse operative positions is a market-leading 14.80 per hour, according to ALDI.
New recruits will have access to dedicated employee benefits and comprehensive wellbeing support.
ALDI said it also prioritises career progression opportunities for its employees; with initiatives such as the Women in Leadership Programme, which focuses on improving opportunities for women to progress to leadership roles across the business.
Brian OShea, HR director at ALDI Ireland, said that the supermarket chain creates a rewarding and supportive environment for its employees.
Our commitment to offering market-leading pay, comprehensive benefits, and a focus on employee wellbeing underscores our belief in nurturing a motivated and fulfilled workforce, Mr OShea said.
ALDI, which employs over 4,650 people and has 162 stores in Ireland, is encouraging interested individuals to apply promptly as the company continues its expansion efforts in preparation for the upcoming Christmas season.
Interested applicants can apply for open vacancies through www.aldirecruitment.ie.
Cork city libraries vast collections, eclectic programme of events, clubs and meeting spaces and outreach and home services will be showcased on Saturday
Colm Toibin, Novelist, and Irish Fiction Laureate with Naoise Dolan, Novelist, pictured at Cork City Library, Grand Parade, for The Art of Reading Book Club with the Laureate of Irish Fiction, in Association with The Arts Council. This is one of 12 such events taking place nationally. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO
Cork city residents are being encouraged to attend their local libraries on National Public Libraries Open Day this Saturday.
The 10 libraries in Cork, consisting of the City Library as well as those in Ballincollig, Bishopstown, Blackpool, Blarney, Douglas, Glanmire, Hollyhill, Mayfield and Ballyphehane, will be demonstrating some of the events and services they have to offer to the public on the day.
The libraries vast collections, eclectic programme of events, clubs and meeting spaces and outreach and home services will all be showcased on the day.
People have been urged to get involved and as an incentive, the City Library will be giving a free book published by Cork City Libraries to every new member on the day.
Last year, Cork City Libraries had 864,671 visits and there is an aim to increase that number in 2024.
The events programme for Cork city libraires for National Public Libraries Open Day is available at corkcitylibraries.ie.
The new affordable housing portal in Macroom is scheduled to open for applications on Monday, September 30 at 12 noon.
The affordable housing consists of 15 homes in Masseytown and Fianna Fail TD for Cork North West Aindrias Moynihan said that at least 30% of these units will be reserved for the people of Macroom Municipal District.
Deputy Moynihan said the affordable housing portal for houses in Masseytown provides the ideal opportunity for people who are interested in buying one of these affordable homes to get their application in.
Mr Moynihan has reminded people that applications are taken on a first come, first serve and only via the councils portal so it is hugely important to have your documentation ready.
Deputy Moynihan said: There has been good interest in the mix of two and three bedroom Masseytown homes, with the two bedroom homes priced from 220k, and the three bedroom homes priced from 274k. This development is further evidence of how Fianna Fails housing strategy is helping people purchase their first home through the housing policies we are implementing.
I urge people to get their relevant documentation ready to apply, said Deputy Moynihan. Providing certain documentation during the application process is a vital step. The portal will be open for up to three weeks to give people a chance to get their documentation uploaded. When the portal closes Cork County Council will assess the applications and then the allocating of these homes to the successful applicants.
The key documentation people will need is their mortgage approval in principle from one of the pillar banks. Bank statements are needed from all accounts including Revolut for example, and your Help to Buy revenue document that also verifies your first-time buyer status, he added.
Deputy Moynihan continued: If youre not a first-time buyer and you are a fresh starter, you will need court documentation such as a divorce decree for example or any other documentation. Photo ID is important, although a passport is specifically stated, a drivers license will suffice.
Dublin woman achieves university dream with support from Communiversity
Michelle McGoldrick is in the final year of an undergraduate degree in Social Science and Policy at Maynooth University. Pic: Fintan Clarke
A Dublin woman has described how an initiative available at her local library helped her to pursue a university degree in Maynooth.
Michelle McGoldrick (41), who lives in Belmayne, got involved in the Communiversity programme at her local library, where people can attend higher education courses.
Ms McGoldrick is currently entering her final year of an undergraduate degree in Social Science and Policy at Maynooth University.
Communiversity at Coolock Library opened my eyes to the future in terms of getting a university degree, she said.
The initiative is discussion-led and allows adults to complete a free pre-university course at their local library without the need for exams or projects. For Ms McGoldrick, it was a huge step in going to university.
It is run at public libraries by Dublin City Council, NUI Maynooth, and locally based development companies in Ms McGoldricks case, The Northside Partnership.
The initiative is available in public libraries across Dublin and in Kildare, Louth, and Monaghan.
A committed local activist and now chair of the Belmayne Community Group, Ms McGoldrick says her learnings, combined with renewed self-confidence, benefit her entire community.
The former childcare workers life was impacted by two road accidents in 2018. In 2021, she knew she had to make a fresh start through education.
I thought Communiversity at Coolock Library would be a great next step for me to explore my options, Ms McGoldrick said.
It got me really thinking about returning to third level. I needed to do something different with my life.
It was a huge step for me to think about going to Maynooth. But Communiversity convinced me it was the right thing to do.
We got to visit the campus. It was really exciting. I was really looking forward to going to university. I came to know the huge level of support out there for adults who want to go back to education.
I was lucky to receive a 1916 Bursary, which is awarded to students from communities under-represented in higher education. Community education has played a really important role in my adult life.
The concept meets people where they are and offers support, encouragement, and empowerment in a way you might not even realise at the time, she added.
Ms McGoldrick now hopes to progress into a career involving community development, and she has become chair of the Belmayne Community Group.
Going to Maynooth to pursue a degree was one of the best decisions she ever made.
Dr Stuart Hamilton, Head of Libraries Development for the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), said Irish libraries bring localities together.
Libraries are connectors in the community. The local librarian will know the groups working with learning, skills, job seekers, and those with special needs, and will be able to tell you who to talk to, he said.
According to Dr Derek Barker, Co-ordinator of Continuing Education Programmes at Maynooth University, Communiversity is about showing adults that a third-level experience will not mirror their school days.
Communiversity is very much about engagement, connecting people with higher education without them ever having to come on campus until they are ready, he said.
National Public Libraries Open Day takes place this Saturday, (September 28), when non-members and members alike are encouraged to visit their local public library to explore the myriad of free services on offer.
Dublin Bus reported 83 anti-social behaviour incidents taking place onboard last month, bringing the total number of of such incidents so far this year to 659.
A spokesperson from Dublin Bus said it has a number of measures in place to protect customers and employees, including 14 CCTV cameras.
Each vehicle is also equipped with a radio which facilitates immediate contact to the Central Control Centre.
Dublin Bus does not tolerate any anti-social behaviour towards customers or employees, the spokesperson said.
The safety of our customers and employees is our number one priority. All incidents are taken very seriously and fully investigated by the company.
Dublin Bus has a close working relationship with An Garda Siochana and has set up a number of community forums in different areas across the city.
These forums are made up of Dublin Bus representatives, the gardai, local area representatives, residents associations and Trade Union Representatives.
We also operate a Schools Education Programme which involves educating young people about the importance of the bus in their lives and in their local community.
The work of our School and Community Co-ordinators has also proven highly successful in encouraging young people to respect their bus and has assisted greatly in the reduction of incidents of anti-social behaviour.
In addition to this, we are also finalising an independent review of our safety and security procedures with a view to implementing enhanced safety and measures.
At the start of this year, Dublin Bus drivers threatened to suspend evening services on parts of the number 13 route in west Tallaght which had been plagued by anti-social behaviour.
Drivers had raised safety concerns over incidents such as stones being thrown at buses, as well as a log set on fire and thrown onto a bus.
The exhibition features 14 stories of peoples experiences on the Guinness family's impact on the local environment of the Liberties
Photographer Peter Varga behind Humans of Dublin and his wife Maria Souza at the launch of the exhibition
Peter Varga behind Humans of Dublin interviewed people in the Liberties on the Guinness brewerys impact on their lives
A City Within A City is a new installation now live at the Guinness Storehouse displaying the stories of people in the Liberties
A photographer who has spent the past decade documenting the lives and stories of Dubliners has launched a new exhibition at the Guinness Storehouse.
The exhibit focuses on the residents of the Liberties and their stories of how the Guinness family has shaped the local environment.
Photographer Peter Varga, the man behind Humans of Dublin, told the Irish Independent that he has been dedicated to this project since April.
Humans of Dublin is a photography project that documents the lives, stories, and experiences of people living in Dublin.
Founded by Peter Varga over a decade ago, the project aims to celebrate the rich diversity and personal narratives of the citys residents.
Through his powerful portraits and interviews, Varga captures the essence of everyday individuals, illuminating their unique stories of joy, struggle, hope, and resilience.
The exhibition was finally unveiled on Saturday, September 21, coinciding with Dublins Culture Night on Friday, and everyone featured in the exhibition was invited to the launch.
"I was working on it for months, literally walking around the streets of the Liberties trying to find stories, Mr Varga said.
In the beginning, I thought it would be difficult because I didnt realise how much impact Guinness had on the Liberties.
Some of the people I spoke to talked about growing up in poor conditions, but Guinnesss success trickled down into the community.
Its incredible to think how much they contributed, from social housing to public parks, he added.
Originally from Hungary, he moved to Dublin 16 years ago at the age of 19.
Photographer Peter Varga behind Humans of Dublin and his wife Maria Souza at the launch of the exhibition
He spoke about some of the highlights of the exhibition, including one woman who said that living near the storehouse came with the distinct smell of hops.
We grew up with that beautiful smell. Every time I feel it, it takes me back to when I was a child, hiding in tall grass, playing hide and seek next to the sheep with my sisters, she said.
Mr Varga noted that, from what he gathered from speaking to people who had worked for the Guinness family over the years, it was described as a job for life.
Another woman, who worked for the Guinness family for two decades, said that it was the best company she could ever work for.
We had parties on James's Gate; I remember them like they were yesterday. I would sing at those parties and was told I should be in the orchestra because I had a beautiful voice, but I never gave it a second thought because I already had the best job, she said.
One man who worked for the Guinness family for four decades said that getting the opportunity to work there was like winning a lottery ticket for life.
To cut a long story short, I spent 40 beautiful years working for them. I ended up retiring at 55. Guinness made an offer that I couldnt refuse, he added.
Others featured in the exhibition spoke about how the brewery provided steady employment for generations of workers from the Liberties, offering stable jobs when poverty was widespread in Dublin.
The Guinness family, particularly figures like Edward Cecil Guinness (1st Earl of Iveagh), were renowned for their philanthropy.
They funded various social housing projects, including the construction of the Iveagh Trust buildings in the early 20th century.
These blocks provided affordable and sanitary housing for the working-class poor of the Liberties, significantly improving living conditions in the area.
Peter Varga behind Humans of Dublin interviewed people in the Liberties on the Guinness brewerys impact on their lives
As part of their efforts to improve the Liberties, the Guinness family funded the development of parks and public spaces, including St. Patrick's Park near St. Patricks Cathedral.
Their investments in the urban fabric of the Liberties helped alleviate some of the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions that plagued Dublin in the 19th century.
The exhibition features 14 stories of people who grew up in the Liberties or were impacted by the massive success of the Guinness Brewery.
Titled A City Within A City, it will be a permanent fixture as part of the regular ticketed experience at the Guinness Storehouse and each personal story will be available to be read on Mr Vargas website Humans of Dublin.
The new traffic layout on Dublin's quays at Bachelor's Walk. Photo: Frank McGrath
Private car use in Dublin city has dropped significantly in the last number of weeks due to the changes made to traffic flow on the quays under the Dublin City Transport Plan.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) hosted their first meeting yesterday evening to monitor the implementation of the new traffic measures.
According to a recent survey, there has been a 60pc decrease in private cars using the quays, or more than 400 cars less per hour going through the city.
The breakdown shows 270 less cars an hour on average on the south quays and 170 less an hour on the north quays.
The meeting also heard there have been improvements for public transport, with an 11pc increase on the number of people using it since August 25.
The traffic changes on the north quays
The NTA also highlighted that public transport journey times have reduced by roughly 24pc over the past month on both the north and south quays.
Dublin Lord Mayor James Geoghegan said: We held a very constructive first meeting today.
We heard from the NTA, who indicated that their data shows public transport journey times have reduced by over 20pc on routes which include the north and south quays.
Several retail and business representative associations were present and Dublin Town, who deploy footfall counters throughout the city, indicated that footfall in the city has, in fact, increased in the month of September during the period of the traffic plans introduction, he said.
For the past month, traffic has been blocked between 7am and 7pm from passing OConnell Bridge on the north and south quays.
Representatives from Disability Persons Organisations were also present, and proposals were put forward about blue badge holders being able to access routes where bus gates are present. The NTA committed to exploring this proposal, the Lord Mayor added.
The traffic changes on the south quays
Overall, we concluded the meeting by collaboratively focussing on how to encourage more people to come into the city in the run-up to Christmas.
We committed to ensuring this forum is the vehicle for ongoing and future engagement with all affected stakeholders as transport plans for the city evolve.
Following the meeting, CEO of Dublin Bus, Billy Hann said: Today, I represented @dublinbusnews at the @LordMayorDublin working group for the Dublin City Centre Transport Plan.
Early feedback is clear - the plan is improving journey times. I advocated for this forum and will keep working with all stakeholders to ensure the plans success.
Evangeline Sapon Musch tragically died after she was swept out to sea off the coast of the Italian island
The funeral of a Kildare grandmother who drowned off the coast of the Italian island of Sardinia while on holiday is taking place in Ireland this week.
Evangeline Sapon Musch, a member of the Filipino community who was living in Athy, Co Kildare, tragically died after she was swept out to sea on Tuesday September 10.
Local publication LUnione Sarda reported that helicopters and specialist divers were involved in recovering the body of the 62-year-old.
Her body was recovered from the water near the village of Portu Maga.
Evangeline, who was a mother-of-four and grandmother to six grandchildren, worked as a nurse in St. Vincents Hospital in Athy.
Her colleagues from St. Vincents paid tribute to a woman who was always smiling.
"Our deepest sympathy to Evangelines family and friends. She was a true lady and was always smiling. She will be sadly missed by all the staff and fellow colleagues. May her gentle soul rest in peace.
Other colleagues added that Evangeline will always be known as the singing nurse.
"Deepest sympathy to Evangelines much loved partner Ben and her family at this difficult time. Evangeline always had a great smile and her singing would be heard all over Saint Josephs ward. You will be missed. May your gentle soul rest in peace.
Family of Evangelines former patients have also remembered her as a kind and caring person who looked after them in their darkness hour.
"So sorry to hear this sad news. You were such a kind, gentle, caring person who looked after our mother/mother-in-law/grandmother and you showed such empathy in our darkness hour. May you rest in peace. Amen.
A daughter of another former patient added: Sincere sympathy to Evangeline's partner, family, friends and work colleagues at St. Vincents Hospital Athy.
"We have been privileged to have received the devoted care and love of this beloved lady when she, along with her nursing colleagues, attended to my late father prior to his passing. For that we are eternally grateful. May Evangeline now rest in the care of the Lord.
Evangelines remains will arrive at St. Michaels Parish Church in Athy on Thursday, September 26 for requiem mass at 11am. A private cremation will take place later.
The beloved grandmother will be sadly missed by her partner, Ben and all her children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters, extended family, friends, all the Filipino community in Athy and her work colleagues at St. Vincents Hospital.
A two-vehicle collision in Jefferson County northeast of Harbine sent a Beatrice woman to a hospital this past weekend.
Witnesses told the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office that a 2024 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup driven by Joseph Bonnette, 40, of Texas heading north on Nebraska 103 failed to stop for a stop sign at the intersection of U.S. 136 around 4 p.m. Saturday. The pickup collided with a westbound 2019 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Emma Elliott, 24, of Beatrice.
Elliott suffered serious injuries in the collision and was transported by helicopter to a Lincoln hospital. Bonnette was treated at the scene by Diller Ambulance and released.
Aontu candidate Michael O'Dowd is calling for a public investigation as to how a Dundalk patient has been waiting for three years to have an operation under the National Treatment Purchase Fund
A Dundalk pensioner who was left waiting for over three years to have knee surgery carried out at Kingsbridge Private Hospital in Belfast under the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) has received an apology from Louth County Hospital.
Aontu general election candidate Michael ODowd has called for an external investigation into the case, saying that the man has been left in chronic pain for the past three years.
Following complaints by the man about the delays, the operations manager at Louth County Hospital has written to him apologising profusely for what has happened to you and your family.
She admitted there was no plan in place when she was off on unplanned leave and outlined the steps being taken to ensure this wouldnt happen again.
In a letter seen by The Argus she apologised for the stress and inconvenience that this has caused, saying, I can assure you that this is not the level of service we would wish to provide.
Mr ODowd described the apology as quite extraordinary and said he didnt think it was right for the investigation to be carried out by the hospital itself and that there should be an external investigation.
"This man has had to endure three years of distress and pain and should receive some compensation for that.
The 70-year-old was referred by his GP to the orthopaedic clinic at the Louth County Hospital after sustaining a knee injury in March 2021.
He was told the following October that he could be seen in Kingsbridge Private Hospital under the NPTF, but when he contacted the Belfast hospital he was told on numerous occasions that he was not on their list.
The man then contacted the Louth County Hospital who in turn got in touch with the Belfast hospital which was unable to provide a date for an appointment for him on three occasions in 2023.
The person in the Louth County Hospital that he had been in contact with went on unplanned leave and the matter wasn't followed up. He made efforts to contact her but didnt get a response.
In the letter sent to him, it is acknowledged that he should have been advised that there was a delay.
It also states that according to our records, the original referral from your GP was sent to Kingsbridge.
It also noted that the patient had received steroid injections following an appointment at the orthopaedic clinic at the Louth County Hospital in August. However, it stated that he would not be reimbursed for a scan which he availed of privately as it had not been ordered by the consultant who had seen him.
Mr ODowd said he had written to both the Minister for Health and the CEO of the HSE calling for an external inquiry but they had referred him back to the investigation carried out within the hospital.
A 32-year-old man is before the district court in Sligo charged with assault causing harm and also a threat to kill.
Shane Cannon, The Greenlands, Rosses Point, Co Sligo is charged with assaulting Emma Garvey causing her harm at The Greenlands on December 19 2022.
He is also charged on the same date and at the same location that he made to Emma Garvey a threat intending her to believe it would be carried out, to kill or cause her serious harm.
Sergeant Derek Butler told the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions had indicated summary disposal on two counts, assault causing harm and a threat to kill.
Judge Michael Connellan had previously accepted jurisdiction, the court heard.
Mr Tom MacSharry (solicitor) told Judge Sandra Murphy his client was pleading guilty to both. He said a Probation Report would be beneficial and there will be certain medical evidence.
Judge Murphy adjourned to December 12.
The Quiet Man (1952) Film4, 12.55p.m.
John Fords much-loved romantic drama is an emotional and humorous look at an Irish American (John Wayne) who goes back to his native Ireland to live a peaceful life but its turned upside down when he falls in love with a red-haired woman (Maureen OHara).
It is the most personal film that Ford ever made, (which may be why it won him an Oscar for Best Director), and most certainly one of his finest. John Waynes performance demonstrates his versatility and gives fans a refreshing glimpse of his work outside of Westerns. The sensational scenery, as well as the magical chemistry between Wayne and OHara, make The Quiet Man a classic.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
Apocalypse Now: Final Cut (1979) Film4, 9p.m.
As Francis Ford Coppolas Megalopolis arrives in cinemas this week, its the perfect time to revisit another movie where critics thought he might have bitten off more than he could chew.
For Apocalypse Now, Coppola took inspiration from Joseph Conrads novella Heart of Darkness to create an iconic Vietnam War drama. Martin Sheen plays Captain Willard, an assassin assigned to find and kill the renegade Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who is believed to have descended into insanity.
Winner of two Oscars, including Best Cinematography, and two Baftas, it has gone on to influence countless movies, from Tropic Thunder and Avatar, to the more recent Ad Astra. Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford and Laurence Fishburne also star, while Robert Duvall has a memorable turn as the surf-obsessed Colonel Kilgore.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
Lola (2022) Film4, 11.15p.m.
Writer-director Andrew Legges inventive, low-budget sci-fi stars Emma Appleton and Stefanie Martini as sisters Thomasina and Martha, who in 1940 create a machine that can receive broadcasts from the future. The siblings are initially wowed when their invention, which they name Lola, picks up pop songs by the Kinks and David Bowie.
However, when they start intercepting Nazi broadcasts from closer to their own time, they feel the need to use their knowledge to help the British war effort. While their intentions may be good, interfering with the course of history could have unexpected consequences The Divine Comedys Neil Hannon supplies the score.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
The World Is Not Enough (1999) ITV, 4.35p.m.
James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is assigned to protect Elektra King (Sophie Marceau), the daughter of a murdered oil tycoon. She not only inherited her fathers fortune, but also most of the rights to six trillion dollars worth of oil deposits. As Turkey, Russia and Iran each attempt to woo her to get their hands on her assets, Bond is drawn deeper into a relationship with her, but soon finds himself trying to stop all-out war and save the world.
Its not a patch on Goldeneye, which brought Bond back to the masses after a six-year hiatus and established Brosnan as the quintessential hero, but its still good fun, with some terrific set-pieces and the kind of action that the franchise has become synonymous with. Robert Carlyle makes a particularly impressive villain.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
Schindlers List (1993) BBC2, 10p.m.
Based on the novel by Thomas Keneally (which was in turn inspired by a true story) and shot almost entirely in black and white, Steven Spielbergs powerful Holocaust drama centres on businessman Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who uses his connections within the Nazi party to secure factory premises.
Aided by Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), Schindler hires Jews in his factory because they cost less. He subsequently witnesses a massacre ordered by SS officer Amon Goth (an unnerving Ralph Fiennes) and the businessman is deeply affected by the haunting image of lifeless young girl in a red coat. Schindler uses his money to bribe Goth and other SS guards in the hope that he can save his Jewish workforce from Auschwitz.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
Stardust (2007) Film4, 6.25p.m.
Hapless shop assistant Tristan resolves to bring back a fallen star for the girl of his dreams (who agrees to marry him if he completes the task). His journey leads him into a magical, parallel world, where Tristan captures a beautiful woman and embarks on the journey to his own land. However, their progress is halted by an evil witch among others.
Despite a relatively low budget, this is a charming slice of fantasy fun, with Charlie Cox and a pre-Homeland Claire Danes as the leads, and Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro and Mark Strong lending support. That star-studded cast would be enough to attract almost any film fan, but Stardust has just as much substance as style and the witty script cracks along at a great pace.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1
Aliens (1986) ITV4, 10p.m.
In James Camerons testosterone-fuelled sequel, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) wakes from hypersleep to discover that planet LV-426, home of the wily xenomorph, is now also home to a human colony. When contact is lost with this outpost, Ripley agrees to accompany Colonial Marine Lieutenant Gorman (William Hope) and Weyland-Yutani Corporation representative Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) to the planet to investigate.
The heavily armed Colonial Marines arrive on LV-426 and discover the base is deserted except for a traumatised young girl (Carrie Henn), who warns the new arrivals about alien predators that come out at night mostly.
Aliens manages the unthinkable: it improves on Ridleys Scotts masterful Alien, cranking up the tension until our nails are bitten down to the cuticles.
Orla Tyrrell and Ann Whelan at the annual Ballymanus GAA Field Day in aid of Down Syndrome Wicklow. Photo: Joe Byrne
Coffee Day thanks
Mary Walsh and family would like to say a sincere thank you to everyone who supported their coffee day recently, 2,600.33 was raised and your support is greatly appreciated.
Ploughing match
Carnew ploughing society are holding their annual ploughing match on Saturday 12th October.
Split the pot
The lucky winner of our split the pot draw for Scoil Aodan Naofa Carnew who won 237 was Luke House. Congratulations. Our sellers prize winners were Eoin Wafer and Grace Birchall. Our next draw takes place on Friday 27th September. Many thanks for your continues support.
Ballyellis NS Split the Pot
Winner of Split the Pot on Friday 20th September was Kate Byrne, Knocknamota, Ballyellis winning 115.
Split the Pot envelopes can be had from any parent in the school or by calling into the school. Many thanks to everyone for your support. It is much appreciated.
Irish Dance Classes
Irish Dance Classes from 4yrs upwards are starting on Wed 25th Sept in Askamore Hall from 5.30pm6-30pm.
All ranges from beginner to advanced welcome. Girls and Boys. Hennigan School of Dancing. Contact Lucy on 0876196590 for more details.
Table Quiz nights
There will be a table quiz on Friday 27th September at 9pm in Kennys for Carnew musical society and they will launch their show at 8pm, table of four 40.
John and Sarah Osborne are holding one on Friday 4th October at 9pm in Kennys for World Vision Ireland in Uganda where they will be visiting in October, table of four 40 all welcome.
Knitting Map Of Ireland
Due to popular demand, The map of Ireland exhibition in Carnew Community Care will be extended for next few weeks.
The ladies involved in this mammoth project would like to extend their thanks and gratitude to all the support from community care, all that came to view and wider community.
If you have not seen the exhibition we would encourage you to do so.
This is a truly unique project a must see for all. To be featured on nationwide shortly.
Viewings at Carnew Community Care, Monday through Friday, 2.00pm4.00pm
Scor na nOg
The First round of Scor na nOg will take place on Friday 18th October in Eire Og at 7pm, the categories are solo singing, recitation, instrumental music, ballad group, novelty act, Irish dancing, set dancing table quiz, if interested contact Maire or Shelly or email Michelledoran4@gmail.com or 087 2928426 as soon as possible.
Askamore Hall
Join our Gym: State of the Art Gym and full time Instructor in Askamore Community Centre. Join our 8 week exercise program starting in September, see our Metcon Fitness Facebook page. Enquiries to Colm on 085 7334076.
Pilates with Finch: Wednesday mornings 9am10am. Enquiries to Finch on 086 8468165.
Zumba and yoga
A 6 weeks free beginners program in yoga and Zumba, will take place in St Bridgets hall Carnew - yoga starts on 12th September and Zumba on 17th September, to book your space go to Eventbrite.
COOLBOY
Christmas Lights AGM
Coolboy Christmas Lights will hold their Annual General Meeting on Friday 4th October at 8pm in The Little Moon. New faces and ideas are always welcome.
COOLGREANY
Gymkhana postponed
Due to the possibility of bad weather on last Sunday the Annual Jonhstown/Cooolgreany Gymkhana was postponed until next Sunday 29th September with the usual programme in place, with the same events to continue, including the usual Dog Show being the main attraction. This is the main fundraiser for Parish funds and your support will be very much appreciated.
The Johnstown/Coolgreany Gymkhana Committee are looking for stories, pictures suggestions from our local community that can be added to our annual Gymkhana booklet this year. Please contact Mary at 087 6411680 E-mail: johnstowncoolgreanygymkhana@gmail.com
Birthdays
Birthday wishes to Lucy Russell, Croghan View who celebrates her 13th birthday on 24th September; also birthday wishes to Georgia Kelly, Main Street who celebrates her 12th birthday on 28th September; also good wishes to Nolan Byrne, Colorado whose 16th birthday is on 29th September.
Tidy Towns
Coolgreany Tidy Towns would like to thank Wexford Co Council through the arts and amenity grants for getting beautiful signs for the street and bridge and around he village, and a big thank you to Stephen who erected them.
Also a special thanks to Gavin and Colm at CK signs for their help in designing and sponsoring our new signs around the village. The woodpecker sign on the barrack hill, 1927 sign at the ball alley and all the flower and bee signs.
The Tidy Towns really appreciate their generosity, Thank You.
Coolgreany Drama
Coolgreany Drama has a busy autumn and winter schedule ahead. It will also be presenting its autumn one-act plays at St Mogues Hall in mid-October. Both are comedies: No Romance by Nancy Harris, directed by Eamonn OShiel, and Lovely People by Niall Hunter, Directed by Ned Dempsey. Lovely People will be Coolgreanys entry in the Drama League of Ireland All-Ireland One Act drama competition this year.
Local notes
Please forward all notes for the local papers to Dan by 6 p.m. on Sunday evening. Email danken9@gmail.com or phone 087 4605166.
TINAHELY
Events at Tinahely Library
Baby & Toddler Storytime - Every Wednesday at 10 a.m. all through the summer holidays. Stories, rhymes, songs, play and colouring.
Adult Book Club - Meet first Tuesday and first Thursday of the month. Next meetings are on Tuesday 1st October 7pm and Thursday 3rd October at 11am. Discover new books chosen by the members. Relax and enjoy the discussion.
Craft Market
The Tinahely Craft market is situated in the middle of the village opposite the butchers shop.
We have an amazing array of locally made crafts, using locally sourced materials as much as possible. The crafts include embroidered cards, junk journals and tallow creams, beaded jewellery, artworks, up and recycled textiles, candles and fab woodwork.
We are now stocking delicious homemade biscuits made locally by Articraft.
Our opening hours are Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please come along and support your local crafters.
Your news
If you have an upcoming event in the Tinahely area and surrounds. Please email details to us at tinahelynotes@gmail.com. Its a great way for people to see your event.
Niamh Doyle and Barry Dempsey have a look at the special tattoos on offer from Vic Levins of VLDC Tattoo after the Swim For Jigsaw in Bray. Photo: Leigh Anderson
Christ Church COI
Services of Worship for this Sunday, the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity: 11am Harvest Festival.
The Four Seasons Concert: Join us on Saturday October 5th at 7pm for a performance of Vivalids The Four Seasons featuring David ODoherty, Violin; Sheelagh Harte, Cello, and Tatania Konina, our Musical Director and Organist. Tickets, 10, available to purchase online at https://christ-church-bray.sumupstore.com/ or from the Parish Office, after Church on Sundays or from Fleurtique or The Travel Boutique.
Parish Life Centre [PLC] Bookings: The Parish Life Centre is available for day and evening bookings. Please contact Tracey in the Parish Office at 01-286 2968.
Parish Office: The Parish Office can be contacted at 01- 286 2968 or info@christchurchbray.ie between 9am to 1pm Monday to
Bray Methodist Church
Worship for this Sunday: 10amSunday Worship with Creche and Sunday School.
Bray Presbyterian Church
Worship for this Sunday: 11.30am Sunday Worship.
Christian Assembly Church
Worship for this Sunday: 10.45am Morning Worship; 6.30pm Evening Service of Bible teaching, singing and fellowship.
Wednesdays: 8pm Prayer Meeting & Bible study.
Monthly Ladies Meeting: For details see: www.christianassemblybray.com.
Cornerstone Church at The Well
Worship this Sunday: 11am.
Bray Christian Outreach
Free hot meals, Clothes, sleeping bags, toiletries etc, are available in Bray Methodist Church on Sundays from 3pm to 4pm.
Holy Redeemer Parish
Contact Holy Redeemer Parish: Call (01) 2868413. Website: www.holyredeemerbray.ie; Email office@holyredeemerbray.ie.
Parish Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: 9.30am to 11am. If you need to contact us email: office@holyredeemer.ie.
Mass Times: 10amMonday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday No Mass on Tuesday. Sunday Masses: 6pm Vigil Mass on Saturday and on Sunday at 10.30am and 12Noon. To book a Mass, please call into the Sacristy before or after our Masses.
Music at Mass on Sundays: 10.30am Folk Group; 12pm Gaudium Choir (Mainly Latin Church Music) on the 1st Sunday of the Month; 12pm on other Sundays of the Month: Parish Choir (Mainly English Church Music).
Mass Cards: Mass Cards may be purchased from the Parish Office during its opening hours.
Baptism: Registration for Baptism can be made online via the parish website www.holyredeemerbray.ie.
St. Annes Church, Shankill: The Vigil Mass on Saturdays is celebrated at 5pm. All are welcome.
St Peters Parish
Parish Office: Parish Office opening hours areMonday: 9.30am to 12.30pm; Tuesday: 9am to 12.30pm; Wednesday: Closed; Thursday: 9am to 12.30pm; Friday: 9am to 12.30pm. The parish office can be contacted by calling 01-282 4967 or by email: stpeterslittlebray1@gmail.com.
St Peters Church Mass Times: Sunday: 9.30am (Irish) and 11.30am. Holy Days of Obligation: 11.30am. No Weekday Mass. Mass on the First Friday of the Month is celebrated at 10am. Sunday Mass is broadcast on the parish web-site at 9.30am (Irish) and 11.30am (English)Google Chrome required.
Car Park Hours: These are from 9am to 12.30pm, Monday to Friday, for parish business and at the weekends during church ceremonies. The Cemetery is accessible via the laneway for pedestrians.
St. Peters Cemetery: There is a strict policy of No Dumping Allowed in any area of the cemetery. Visitors to the cemetery are requested to take home all forms of rubbish with them in order to keep the cemetery tidy. Your co-operation is appreciated.
St Fergals Parish
Mass Times: Mass times are 9.30am Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. No morning Mass on Thursdays and Saturdays. Saturday: 7pm Vigil Mass; Sundays: 8am and 10.30am.
Confessions: Are heard on Saturdays after the 7pm Vigil Mass.
Baptism: Baptisms take place on the first and third Saturday of each Month at 12Noon. Bookings can be made through the Parish Office Only. The Preparation meeting takes place on the Monday before the 1st Saturday of the month. Please call into the Parish Office three weeks in advance of the Baptism to complete the Baptism Form and to confirm the date.
St. Fergals Church Baptism Team: Our Baptism Team is in need of some extra volunteers to assist on a rota basis, with the twice monthly Baptisms which take place here in the Church. Training will be given, and Garda Vetting is a necessity. If you would be interested in joining this dedicated team please leave your name with Jenny in the parish office, or contact Monica Cornejo at: 086-0608384 or moncor44@hotmail.com.
St. Claires Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul: Messages for the St. Vincent de Paul should be sent to St. Clairs Centre, Ballymorris, Killarney Road, Bray call 01-2745325 and leave your message. Mobile No: 087 1738 235.
Syro Malabar Catholic Church
Mass is celebrated every Sunday at 12 noon in St. Fergals Church, Ballywaltrim.
Our Lady Queen of Peace
Church Opening Hours: The Church closes at 4.30pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
Eucharistic Adoration: Eucharistic Adoration takes place from 11am to 10pm on Mondays only in this Church.
Mass: Weekday Masses are celebrated at 10.30am on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Weekend Masses are at 6.30pm on Saturdays and 10.30am and 12 Noon on Sundays.
Mass Bookings: Anyone who wishes to book a Mass can do so by contacting the Parish Secretary via email at: secretary@queenofpeace.ie, or call 2745497.
Parish Centre: To book a meeting room in the Parish Centre please call 01-2760045 or email: villafas1@hotmail.com.
QOP youth club
The Queen of Peace Adventure youth Club based on Bray Seafront was founded 57 years ago. In the first year a two week programme was organised, and in the following year a monthly one was put in place. Two years after that the club had its first full year of activities listed, and this has continued to the present.
Advance planning and organisation along with dedicated volunteers has given the club continuity through so many years, and it will continue to do so provided there are available volunteers. Persons who would like to assist may call Mike on 086 0855151.
Diving club
Bray Divers Scuba Dive Club are coming together at the end of the month to agree a plan of training, diving, and social activities. Due to the weather conditions with adverse wind plus dredging in Dublin Bay the underwater visibility was not very good.
Despite this the club has had seventy-two dives this year to date, and it is not over yet. Next away trips include Hook Head, Portroe, Clifden, and Lanzarote. To join call 0876756439, and get into the water.
Bray Library
Opening hours are 10am to 5pm Monday to Saturday with late opening on Tuesday and Thursday until 8.30pm. The library can be contacted at 01-2862600 or email: braylib@wicklowcoco.ie.
Doodle Time for 9-12 year olds takes place every Thursday from 3pm to 4pm. The Junior Book Club (ages 9 to 11) is now accepting new members. It meets on the second Monday of each month at 3.15pm- email: braylibrary@wicklowcoco.ie or ask at the library desk to book a place.
Bray Library Knitting and Crochet meets on Wednesdays between 3pm and 4 p.m. until Wednesday September 25th just come along, no need to book. Bray Library Crime Club meets on the second Tuesday of the month at 7pm. To book a place email: braylib@wicklowcoco.ie. All are welcome.
Sustainable Sewing & Life Hacks with Tamara Fiabane takes place at 2pm today (Wednesday) booking required book in branch, call 01-2862600 or email braylib@wicklowcoco.ie
Relaxed Harp Meditation with Aisling Ennis takes place in the Library at 9.30am this Saturday morning. To book a place, email braylib@wicklowcoco.ie.
Bray Library and the Indian Classical Music Society of Ireland present An evening of Indian Classical Vocal Music with Debajyoti Sanyai and Dr. Supido Das at 7pm on Tuesday November 19th. All are welcome.
Ballywaltrim Library
Opening hours are 10am to 5 pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and 10am to 8pm on Wednesday. The library is closed on the Saturdays and Mondays on Bank Holiday weekends. The library can be contacted at 01-2723205 or by email at: ballywatrimlibrary@wicklowcoco.ie.
STEM Free Play returns in September watch library notice board for details. Page Turners Interested in joining a Wednesday Night Book Club? Please enquire by email or telephone ballywaltrimlibrary@wicklowcoco.ie or call 01-2723205. Storytime for All takes place on Saturday mornings at 11,30am and at 11.30am on the Tuesdays of this month no booking is required. Tummy Time for Babies takes place on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10.30am to 12pm when babies can play beneath the Magic Tables Projections. All are welcome no booking is required. Adult Scrabble takes place every Monday from 3pm to 4.30pm no booking is required.
Bray Cualann Historical Society
Last Thursday night Nigel Kingston was the guest speaker for the September meeting of the Bray Cualann Historical, the local history society for Bray and North Wicklow, in the Royal Hotel Bray, at which he presented The Meath Road, Bray which looked at the history of this road which dates from 1866 and runs in a north-south direction from Adelaide Road to the Putland Road, including the houses and numerous people who lived in them up to around 1900.
Events taking place in the week ahead which may be of interest to members and supporters of the Society are: today (Wednesday) Rob Goodbody will present Quakers in the Monkstown and Dun Laoghaire area at 6pm in The Lab, Level 3, dlr Lexicon, Dun Laoghaire. Admission is free and no booking is required; Edward Bourke will present The Battle of Pearse Street: March 14th 1921 at 6pm to the Old Dublin Society in the Conference Room, Dublin City Library & Archive, 139-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. All are welcome admission is free and no booking is required; tomorrow (Thursday) Brian White will present Dublin Women in Irish History: The Two Ladies of Crinken at 6.30pm in The Lab, Level 3, dlr Lexicon, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. Admission is free but booking is required call 01-2801147 or email: dlrlexiconlib@dlrcoco.ie; Andrew Ebrill will present Overview of All-Ireland Strategic Rail Review and Related Developments at 7.30pm to the Irish Railway Record Society in their Dublin Hueston station premises. Strictly members and their guests only; Liz Gillis will present We are Black and Tans children in the Irish Revolution at 8pm to the Rathmines, Ranelagh & Rathgar Historical Society in Rathmines Town Hall, Rathmines Road, Dublin 6. Members are free / visitors 4Swan Car Park Evening Rate: 4 from 7 p.m. to Midnight; next Tuesday Historian in Residence Katie Blackwood will present Memories of OConnell Street at 2.30pm in Dublin Central Library, Ilac Centre, Henry Street, Dublin 1. Admission is free but booking requiredAdmission is free but booking is essential call 01-222 8300 or email: centrallibrary@dublincity.ie; The Local Studies Team will present Glass Reflections of 19th Century Dun Laoghaire at 6.30pm on Level 5, dlr Lexicon, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. Admission is free but booking is required call 01-2801147 or email: dlrlexiconlib@dlrcoco.ie; Nicola Pierce will present A Brief History of OConnell Street, Dublin at 6pm to the Old Dublin Society in Dublin Central Library, Ilac Centre, Henry Street, Dublin 1. All are welcome admission is free but due to limited seating booking is required via centrallibrary@dublincity.ie; next Wednesday Caimin OBrien will present Recording our Archaeological Heritage: the Role of the Archaeological Survey in the National Monuments Service at 8pm to the Rathmichael Historical Society in Rathmichael National School, Stonebridge Road, Shankill, Co. Dublin. All are welcomeadmission is 5 for non-members.
The October meeting of the Bray Cualann Historical Society will take place at 8pm on Thursday October 17th in the Royal Hotel, Bray, when Bernadette Cunningham will present The Camino in Spain and Ireland. All are welcome admission is 8 for non-members. Those wishing to join the Society can do so at the meeting.
Shankill Classical Music Club
The next meeting takes place on Wednesday October 9th at 7.45pm in the Shankill Day Centre, Lower Road, Shankill. For further information call or text John at 087 2109175. New members are welcome.
Book Launch
Tomorrow (Thursday) Lady Fionnuala Ardee will launch Daisy, Daisy Stories by Carmel Cullen at 6pm in the Mermaid Arts Centre. Admission is free but booking is essentialcall 01-2724030 or via www.mermaidartscentre.ie. Wine reception with refreshments will be served. The launch will support Hospice coffee morning.
St. Cronans School
St. Cronans School, Vevay Crescent, Vevay Road, Bray, is now enrolling Junior Infants Girls and Boys for next September i.e. September 2025. For further information/details, call 01-2860440, email: office@stcronans.net, or log onto www.stcronans.ie.
W.H. Five Loaves Bingo
W.H. Five Loaves Bingo takes place every Sunday night at 8pm in the Little Flower Hall beside the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer.
Elliott and Esme O'Leary and Patrick O'Gara, who were in charge of the decorative lighting at Newcastle Parish Church for the Maria Doyle Kennedy/Emily O'Rourke performance during the Castle Music Festival. Photo: Leigh Anderson
Parish of Powerscourt with Kilbride
Services at Powerscourt with Kilbride: All Services are available on the Parish YouTube Channel.
Service of Worship in St. Patricks Church, Powerscourt, for this Sunday, the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity: 11.30am Service of the Word.
Service of Worship in St. Brigids Church, Kilbride, for this Sunday, the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity: 9.45am Service of the Word.
The Living Room: The next monthly gathering with St. Marys, Enniskerry, will take place at 11am next Wednesday (October 2nd) in St. Marys Church.
Irish Trefoil GuildGuiding for Life: Calling all former leaders of the Irish Girl Guides in Bray and the surrounding area. There is now a Trefoil Guild in Bray. Contact Anne at braytrefoilguild@gmail.com.
St Marys Church
Parish Website: www.enniskerryparish.ie is the Parish website of the Immaculate Heart of Marycheck it out for the latest information about our parish.
Facebook Page: There is a facebook page for the parish of Enniskerry, incorporating all four churches which facebook users will find under Enniskerry parish with a cover photo of trees and profile picture of a quote from Pope Francis. Please give it a like and feel free to post news from your community.
Enniskerry (also Curtlestown & Glencree) Parish Office opening times: Monday to Friday: 10am to 1pm; email: stmarys@enniskerryparish.ie; or call 01-2760030.
St. Mochonogs Parish Office opening times: Monday: 9am to 2pm, Tuesday: (by phone) 10am to 1pm, Wednesday: 10am to 2pm, Thursday (by phone) 10am to 1pm. Closed Friday.
Parish Churches Schedule of Masses: Enniskerry St. Marys: Saturday evening 6pm and also via parish webcam; Sunday 11am and also via parish webcam. Weekday Mass at Enniskerry is at 10.15am on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and also via parish webcam lay-led prayer service on Wednesday; and Saturday at 10.15am, and also available via the parish webcam. Masses in Curtlestown and Kilmacanogue are on Sunday at 10am. Mass in Glencree is at 9am on the first Sunday each month.
Baptism Requests: Requests for Baptism now take place online at www.enniskerryparish.ie.
Downtime Thursday/Adoration: Why not pop into the church for some quiet time.. You can sit in silence with candlelight and gentle music. Take a few minutes for yourself and just be. Light a candle, say a prayer. Just sit if thats what you need. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will take place. The next Downtime evening will take place tomorrow (Thursday) from 7.30pm to 8.30 p.m.
The Living Room: The next monthly gathering with St. Patricks Powerscourt will take place at 11am next Wednesday (October 2nd) in St. Marys Church.
New Here?: You are very welcome. You can keep up to date with us through the parish webpage at www.enniskerryparish.ie. You can register as a parishioner by mailing us at stmarys@enniskerryparish.ie or stmochonogs@enniskerryparish.ie. If you wish to receive items, or if you would like to receive the Parish Link by email weekly please phone the Parish Office in Enniskerry on 01-2760030 (10am to 1pm Monday to Friday or email: stmarys@enniskerry.ie; and Kilmacanogue on 01-2021882 (10am to 1pm Monday to Thursday) or email:stmochonogs@enniskerryparish.ie.
Broadcast List: A broadcast list for the parish is now up and running. This is to keep everyone up to date with what is happening in the parish and for easy communication in relation to building our communities. If you would like to have your name added to the list please contact Aideen at 086 8182 241.
History Society
Members and supporters of the Enniskerry History Society are asked to note that following event take place in the week ahead.
Today (Wednesday) Rob Goodbody will present Quakers in the Monkstown and Dun Laoghaire area at 6pm in The Lab, Level 3, dlr Lexicon, Dun Laoghaire. Admission is free and no booking is required; Edward Bourke will present The Battle of Pearse Street: March 14th 1921 at 6pm to the Old Dublin Society in the Conference Room, Dublin City Library & Archive, 139-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. All are welcome admission is free and no booking is required; tomorrow (Thursday) Brian White will present Dublin Women in Irish History: The Two Ladies of Crinken at 6.30pm in The Lab, Level 3, dlr Lexicon, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. Admission is free but booking is required call 01-2801147 or email: dlrlexiconlib@dlrcoco.ie; Andrew Ebrill will present Overview of All-Ireland Strategic Rail Review and Related Developments at 7.30pm to the Irish Railway Record Society in their Dublin Hueston station premises. Strictly members and their guests only; Liz Gillis will present We are Black and Tans children in the Irish Revolution at 8pm to the Rathmines, Ranelagh & Rathgar Historical Society in Rathmines Town Hall, Rathmines Road, Dublin 6. Members are free / visitors 4Swan Car Park Evening Rate: 4 from 7 p.m. to Midnight; next Tuesday Historian in Residence Katie Blackwood will present Memories of OConnell Street at 2.30pm in Dublin Central Library, Ilac Centre, Henry Street, Dublin 1. Admission is free but booking requiredAdmission is free but booking is essential call 01-222 8300 or email: centrallibrary@dublincity.ie; The Local Studies Team will present Glass Reflections of 19th Century Dun Laoghaire at 6.30pm on Level 5, dlr Lexicon, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. Admission is free but booking is required call 01-2801147 or email: dlrlexiconlib@dlrcoco.ie; Nicola Pierce will present A Brief History of OConnell Street, Dublin at 6pm to the Old Dublin Society in Dublin Central Library, Ilac Centre, Henry Street, Dublin 1. All are welcome admission is free but due to limited seating booking is required via centrallibrary@dublincity.ie; next Wednesday Caimin OBrien will present Recording our Archaeological Heritage: the Role of the Archaeological Survey in the National Monuments Service at 8pm to the Rathmichael Historical Society in Rathmichael National School, Stonebridge Road, Shankill, Co. Dublin. All are welcomeadmission is 5 for non-members.
Enniskerry Library
Opening hours are Tuesday 10.30am to 12.30pm & 1.30pm to 4.30pm; Wednesday: 2pm to 4.30pm & 6pm to 8pm; Friday: 10.30am to 12.30pm & 1.30pm to 4.30pm; Saturday: 10am to 2.30pm. The Library is closed on Mondays and Thursdays and on the Saturdays of Bank Holiday weekends.
The Library can be contacted at 01-2864339 or email: enniskerrylib@wicklowcoco.ie. Online services including e-books, audio-books, digital magazines and newspapers and e-learning are available from the library website.
Relaxed Harp Meditation with Aisling Ennis takes place in Bray Library at 9.30am this Saturday morning. To book a place, email braylib@wicklowcoco.ie.
Enniskerry Bridge Club
Enniskerry Bridge Club meets every Tuesday night in the Parochial Hall (beside Poppies) at 7.30pm. New members are very welcome. For more information please contact the Secretary on 085 7112179.
Comedian and actor Aisling Bea has spoken about why she kept her pregnancy a secret and revealed the babys gender.
In August, the Co Kildare native announced the arrival of her first child with her boyfriend, producer and composer Jack Freeman.
She didnt make her pregnancy public until June when she made an appearance at the Big Slick Kansas City fundraiser in the US.
Speaking to Christine Lampard on ITV chat show Lorraine, Bea said it was nice to keep her pregnancy private when so much of her personal life is in the public eye.
"I was trying to keep it a secret, and I got away with it for a while too, if it wasnt for those pesky kids, she said.
"I think especially when a lot of your life, or you talk about a lot of your life in public, its like keeping something a little bit precious for yourself thats private, and getting your head around it as well.
Bea said shes doing well after giving birth last month and joked her baby won a worldwide competition voted on by just her and Freeman.
"There was a big competition worldwide and it turns out my baby is actually best in the world. It was actually only voted by myself and my boyfriend but were really delighted with the award, she said.
"Shes the best that theres ever been, and a genius as well. You can really tell, just the way her legs move, we might have a genius on her hands. Not that Im biased anything.
Having kept the gender of her newborn under wraps, Bea revealed she is a mother to a baby girl. She also told the show she has been getting parenting help from other well-known names in comedy.
"I think if youre going through anything and you have people who are in a similar environment and theyre trying to do anything, like parenting in the same environment, she said.
"So, my child has basically been dressed by Katherine Ryan and Sarah Pascoes second-hand baby clothes.
No-one went home on the first episode of the 2024 season of The Great British Bake Off after former university lecturer Jeff felt unwell in the tent.
The New Yorker, 67, who has spent decades living in West Yorkshire and will return for the second episode of the Channel 4 show, came down with sickness after making a zesty lemon sponge cake, the first challenge of series 15.
Judge Paul Hollywood said his flavours are spot on but said his sponge looks such a mess, referring to the muddled look of Jeffs cake.
John, one of the contestants on series 15 of The Great British Bake Off (Channel 4/Love Productions/Mark Bourdillon)
As the technical challenge was announced as a Battenberg cake, Jeff was absent from the tent.
Explaining why, presenter Alison Hammond said: Welcome back bakers, as you can see Jeff is not with us at the moment, because hes not feeling very well, but hopefully hes going to be back next week.
Judges Dame Prue Leith and Hollywood awarded West Midlands NHS directorate support manager John this weeks coveted star baker and praised his overall work.
He made a black forest cake topped with macarons for his first challenge, which was praised by Dame Prue for its perfect texture.
John came fourth during the technical, and also triumphed during the showstopper with his illusion cake that looked like a pair of folded-up jeans.
Dame Prue called his cake really amusing and applauded the coconut sponge, saying his favours are just amazing.
Earlier, Hollywood had joked to presenter Noel Fielding that John would never get star baker as his eyes were bluer than his own.
(Back row, left to right) Gill, Illiyin, Hazel, Christiaan, Andy, Mike, John, and Jeff, and (front row, left to right) Sumayah, Dylan, Georgie, and Nelly. (Channel 4/Love Productions/Mark Bourdillon)
Coming first in the technical was Welsh paediatric nurse Georgie, from Carmarthenshire, who was told by Hollywood she did really well, with her neat version of the marzipan squared cake, Battenbergs.
Wiltshire farm manager Mike had looked like he was in trouble as he came last in the technical, but he restored the judges faith by delivering a realistic looking pile of books cake for the final challenge.
The contestants were then relieved to find out that the first episode would see none of them depart the competition.
In a piece to camera at the end of the show, Dame Prue said: Because Jeff couldnt be here, we decided not to send anybody home.
But theres also the fact that I have never seen such a bunch of great bakers, I didnt want to lose any of them.
The Great British Bake Off returns next week to Channel 4.
Keir Starmer appeals for patience from UK public in first conference speech as prime minister
Labour leader said he would not hesitate to make unpopular decisions if required
UK prime minister Keir Starmer with his wife Victoria Starmer, ahead of his keynote speech at the Labour Party annual conference in Liverpool. Photo: Reuters
Elizabeth Piper and Alistair Smout Wed 25 Sep 2024 at 03:30
UK prime minister Keir Starmer made a personal appeal to Britons yesterday to support his sometimes difficult plans to rebuild the country, promising he could deliver a brighter future with higher living standards, safer streets and better services.
Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded for unity from the West against Vladimir Putins war as Donald Trump claimed the Ukrainian president wanted Kamala Harris to win the US presidential election.
At a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mr Zelensky held talks on the sidelines with the leaders of Germany, India and Japan as he tried to shore up support for Kyivs war efforts.
A woman leads a chant as people gather to protest the escalation of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, in New York City, U.S., September 24, 2024. REUTERS/Kent J Edwards TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander on Tuesday as part of a two-day bombing campaign that has left more than 560 people dead and prompted thousands in southern Lebanon to seek refuge from the widening conflict.
With the two sides on the brink of all-out war, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel, including a longer-range projectile that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel. It was the group's farthest strike yet in nearly a year of exchanges. Israel said it intercepted the projectile, and there were no reports of casualties or damage.
Corporate Social Responsibility in India
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important component of business operations in India. With effect from April 1, 2014, CSR is a mandatory requirement for certain companies under section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, which compels them to engage in activities that contribute to the social, environmental, and economic development of the country.
This article provides an overview of CSR in India, detailing its legal framework, the process of implementing CSR initiatives, and the reporting requirements that companies must adhere to.
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Understanding how CSR works in India
The Companies Act, 2013, marked a paradigm shift by making CSR mandatory for companies meeting specific financial thresholds.
CSR provisions apply to companies meeting any of the following criteria in the preceding financial year:
Net worth: More than INR 5 billion.
More than INR 5 billion. Turnover: More than INR 10 billion.
More than INR 10 billion. Net profit: More than INR 50 million.
Such companies must spend a minimum of 2 percent of their net profit over the last three years on CSR activities.
For newly incorporated companies with less than three years of operations, the average net profit of available years is considered. For example, Company A was incorporated in FY 2018-19 and meets the eligibility criteria under Section 135(1) for FY 2020-21. Consequently, Company As CSR spending obligation under Section 135(5) would amount to at least two percent of the average net profits generated during FY 2018-19 and FY 2019-20.
The average net profit for determining CSR expenditure is calculated as per the provisions of Section 198 of the Companies Act, 2013, excluding the items specified under Rule 2(1)(h) of the Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014. Section 198 outlines specific adjustments to be made when calculating a companys net profit, excluding elements such as capital payments or receipts, income tax, and the set-off of previous losses. Profit Before Tax (PBT) is used for the computation of net profit under section 135 of the Act.
Excess CSR spending can be set off against the mandated 2 percent CSR expenditure for up to the immediately succeeding three financial years, provided that the conditions outlined in Rule 7(3) of the Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014 are met. However, it is important to note that excess amounts spent on CSR activities can only be carried forward from January 22, 2021, onwards.
Surplus in CSR activities: This refers to the income generated from CSR activities, such as revenue received from CSR projects, interest income earned by the implementing agency on CSR funds, proceeds from the disposal or sale of materials used in CSR initiatives, and other similar income sources. Any surplus resulting from CSR activities must be utilized exclusively for CSR purposes.
Mechanisms for monitoring the CSR process: CSR is primarily driven by the companys Board, which is responsible for planning, deciding, executing, and monitoring CSR activities based on recommendations from its CSR Committee. The CSR framework is disclosure-based, requiring CSR-mandated companies to file annual details of their CSR activities in the MCA21 registry. Additionally, companies must include necessary disclosures regarding CSR in their financial statements, including any instances of non-compliance. Existing legal provisions, such as mandatory disclosures, accountability of the CSR Committee and the Board, and audit requirements for the companys accounts, provide robust mechanisms for effective monitoring.
The role of CSR in business strategy
CSR in India is not just a legal obligation but also a strategic business tool. Companies integrating CSR into their core strategies can build a positive brand image, foster community goodwill, and attract socially conscious investors and customers. Successful CSR initiatives can enhance employee engagement, reduce business risks, and create long-term value.
CSR methodology and practice
Comprehensive impact assessment: Effective CSR involves assessing the impact of business activities on customers, suppliers, the environment, communities, and employees. Integration and sustainability: Organizations are encouraged to integrate CSR initiatives into their core business strategies, ensuring sustainable contributions that do not compromise business goals. Dedicated CSR departments: Many companies have established specific teams to develop policies and allocate budgets for CSR activities, often aligning them with the companys social beliefs or business domain.
Permitted CSR activities under Schedule VII
CSR activities are defined in Schedule VII of the Act and can include a wide range of projects, such as promoting education, healthcare, environmental sustainability, and rural development.
Companies can include the following activities in their CSR policies, as specified in Schedule VII:
1) Poverty, health, and sanitation:
Eradication of poverty, hunger, and malnutrition.
Promotion of healthcare, including sanitation and preventive healthcare.
Contributions to the Swachh Bharat Kosh and ensuring access to safe drinking water.
2) Education and employment:
Improvement of education, special education, and vocational skills for children, women, the elderly, and the differently abled.
Livelihood enhancement projects.
3) Gender equality and support for vulnerable groups:
Promoting gender equality and setting up homes and hostels for women and orphans.
Empowering women and establishing facilities for senior citizens and disadvantaged groups.
4) Environmental sustainability:
Initiatives for environmental sustainability, ecological balance, and conservation of natural resources.
Support for projects like river Ganga rejuvenation and agroforestry.
5) National heritage and culture:
Protection of national heritage, art, and culture, including restoring historical buildings and promoting traditional arts.
6) Support for armed forces and their families:
Welfare measures for armed forces veterans, war widows, and dependents.
7) Promotion of sports:
Training and promotion of rural, nationally recognized, Paralympic, and Olympic sports.
8) Contributions to government funds:
Contributions to funds like the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund, PM CARES Fund, and others aimed at socioeconomic development.
9) Support for research and development:
Contributions to R&D projects in science, technology, engineering, and medicine funded by government bodies or public institutions.
10) Support for educational institutions:
Contributions to public-funded universities, IITs, and national research bodies like DRDO, ICAR, and CSIR.
11) Rural development projects:
Initiatives focused on the development of rural areas.
12) Slum area development:
Development of slum areas as declared by the government.
13) Disaster management:
Activities related to disaster relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction.
CSR compliance: Forms CSR-1 and CSR-2
Form CSR-1
From April 1, 2021, entities undertaking CSR activities need to file Form CSR-1 with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). This form is mandatory for NGOs and other organizations to receive CSR funding from companies. The registration helps in effective monitoring of CSR spending and ensures compliance.
Applicability
The filing of Form CSR-1 is mandatory for companies undertaking CSR activities. Companies must ensure that CSR activities are conducted either directly or through registered entities such as:
Registered societies, public trusts, or Section 8 companies incorporated by the company.
Section 8 companies, registered societies, or trusts established by the Central or State Government.
Entities established under a State Legislature or Act of Parliament.
Section 8 companies, registered societies, or public trusts registered under Section 12A and 80G of the Income Tax Act with a minimum three-year track record in similar activities.
All these entities, along with companies planning to undertake CSR activities, must register by filing Form CSR-1 electronically.
Contents of Form CSR-1
Entities need to provide the following details:
Nature of the entity (type of organization).
CIN (Corporate Identification Number) or registration number.
Date of incorporation, address, and email ID.
PAN (Permanent Account Number) of the entity.
Details of directors, trustees, or authorized representatives.
DIN (Director Identification Number) and DSC (Digital Signature Certificate) of the signing director.
Certification by a practicing professional.
Filing process for Form CSR-1
Access the Form:
Visit the MCA portal and navigate to MCA Services > e-Filing > Company Forms Download.
Download Form CSR-1 from the Incorporation services section.
Fill and verify:
Extract and fill the Form CSR-1 PDF.
Get the form digitally verified by a Chartered Accountant (CA), Company Secretary (CS), or Cost Accountant (CA) in practice.
Submit:
Submit the digitally verified form on the MCA portal.
A unique CSR Registration Number will be generated upon submission.
Documents required for filing Form CSR-1
Entity documents:
PAN card.
Registration certificate.
12A and 80G exemption certificate, if applicable.
NGO Darpan ID, if applicable.
Authorized person documents:
PAN and DSC of the authorized person signing the form.
Company-specific documents:
Company CSR policy.
Company CSR report.
Details of the subsidiary and other entities involved.
Form CSR-2: Annual CSR reporting
Introduced through the Companies (Accounts) Amendment Rules, 2022, Form CSR-2 is mandatory for companies to report their CSR activities from the financial year 2020-21 onwards. It serves as an addendum to the annual financial statements filed through Form AOC-4 or its variants.
Applicability:
All companies covered under Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, which deals with CSR provisions.
Companies must file Form CSR-2 as an addendum to their annual financial statement filings.
Effective date:
For FY 2023-24, Form CSR-2 should be furnished separately on or before December 31, 2024, independent of filing the respective AOC-4 forms (see official notification here dated September 24, 2024). For FY 2022-23, companies were allowed to file the CSR-2 by March 31, 2024.
Key information required in Form CSR-2:
Net worth, turnover, and net profit of the company.
Details of the CSR committee, including meetings held and attended by directors.
Project details, including funds allocated and spent, locations, and modes of implementation.
Unspent CSR amounts and transfers to specified funds under Schedule VII.
Reasons for any shortfall in CSR spending and corrective measures taken.
READ: India Shortens Deadline for Filing CSR-2 Return: MCA Notification
Penalties for non-compliance
Failure to comply with CSR provisions can result in significant penalties. Companies not meeting the required CSR spend or failing to transfer the unspent amount to a specified fund, may be fined up to INR 10 million. Officers responsible for the default can also face penalties up to INR 200,000.
Company penalties: Up to INR 10 million or twice the unspent CSR amount required to be transferred, whichever is less.
Up to INR 10 million or twice the unspent CSR amount required to be transferred, whichever is less. Officer penalties: Up to INR 200,000 or one-tenth of the unspent CSR amount required to be transferred, whichever is less.
CSR in India in FY23
Key trends
Slower CSR spending growth: In FY 2022-23, the CSR spending by companies listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) increased by 5 percent to INR 155.24 billion, up from INR 148.16 billion in FY 2021-22. This growth was slower compared to a 13 percent rise in average net profit over the preceding three years. Decline in CSR as a percentage of net profit: CSR spending as a percentage of net profit fell to 1.87 percent, a six-year low, indicating a lag in CSR spending relative to profit growth. Compliance with CSR mandate: Despite the slowdown, 1,271 out of 1,296 companies required to spend on CSR did so, showing an improvement from the previous year.
CSR Expenditure in India Fiscal year Total number of companies Total amount of CSR spent (INR) States and Union Territories covered Total number of CSR projects Development sectors FY 2022-23 24,392 299.86 billion 40 51,966 14 FY 2021-22 19,888 265.79 billion 40 44,425 14 FY 2020-21 20,840 262.10 billion 39 39,324 14 FY 2019-20 22,985 249.65 billion 38 35,290 14 FY 2018-19 25,181 202.17 billion 39 32,071 14
Source: CSR National Portal, Ministry of Corporate Affairs
Examples of CSR spends by leading companies in India and their areas of focus
Some of the top companies in India for CSR and sustainability in 2023 according to The CSR Journal are: Reliance Industries Limited, SBI Limited, ITC Limited, Hero Motocorp, JSW Steel, Godrej Consumer Products, Dabur, Hindustan Zinc, Mahindra & Mahindra, Marico, Wipro, Infosys, Tata Consumer Products, L&T, HUL, Adani Ports & SEZ, Bosch, Tata Power, HDFC Ltd., Vedanta, among others.
Example: Hindalco
In the financial year 2022-23, Hindalco invested INR 360.4 million in CSR initiatives.
Hindalcos CSR efforts address key areas such as access to water, healthcare, and education. The company conducts medical camps, offers ambulance services, and supports health centers while targeting diseases like malaria and TB. In education, Hindalco promotes primary schooling and adult literacy, providing scholarships for girls.
Additionally, Hindalco prioritizes skills training and womens empowerment, engaging over 11,000 women in Self-Help Groups involved in microfinance and entrepreneurship activities. Its agricultural support includes irrigation schemes and training in sustainable farming practices.
Example: ITC Limited
Key aspects of ITCs CSR approach include participatory planning and community ownership, emphasizing behavioral change and asset creation. The Two Horizon approach guided ITCs Social Investments Program, promoting inclusive growth and livelihood enhancement.
ITCs CSR projects spanned 27 States/Union Territories and impacted over 300 districts. Notable initiatives included:
Social forestry: Afforested over 31,000 acres, benefiting 176,000 households.
Afforested over 31,000 acres, benefiting 176,000 households. Water stewardship: Enhanced water security across 136,000 acres with effective water-harvesting structures.
Enhanced water security across 136,000 acres with effective water-harvesting structures. Biodiversity conservation: Revived ecosystems over 150,000 acres, improving biodiversity.
Revived ecosystems over 150,000 acres, improving biodiversity. Climate smart agriculture: Covered 2.34 million acres, promoting sustainable farming practices.
Covered 2.34 million acres, promoting sustainable farming practices. Livestock development: Improved livelihoods for families engaged in various livestock rearing.
Improved livelihoods for families engaged in various livestock rearing. Women empowerment: Supported over 35,400 women and reached 210,000 self-help groups.
Supported over 35,400 women and reached 210,000 self-help groups. Education: Enhanced learning for over 250,000 children.
Enhanced learning for over 250,000 children. Skilling & vocational training: Trained over 14,400 youth, achieving a 68 percent placement rate.
Trained over 14,400 youth, achieving a 68 percent placement rate. Sanitation: Constructed toilets benefiting 115,000 community members.
Constructed toilets benefiting 115,000 community members. Health & nutrition: Improved health awareness for over 560,000 beneficiaries.
Improved health awareness for over 560,000 beneficiaries. Waste management: Developed models for zero waste to landfills.
Developed models for zero waste to landfills. ITC Sangeet Research Academy: Promoted Hindustani Classical Music through training.
Example: Tata Chemicals
In the fiscal year 2022-23, Tata Chemicals allocated INR 160 million to CSR initiatives. During FY23, Tata Chemicals collaborated with 5,245 farmers, providing training and support in areas like livestock management and organic farming, which improved farm productivity and farmers incomes.
The company also engages rural youth through skill development programs in areas such as fashion technology and welding, creating employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. These initiatives take place at various locations, including a skill development center in Mithapur and partner institutions like Tata Strive Skill Development Centre.
The company has established comprehensive CSR policies, including a Community Development Policy and Diversity & Inclusion Policy.
Conclusion
Corporate social responsibility in India, as mandated by the Companies Act, 2013, is a testament to the evolving role of businesses in society. By aligning business goals with societal needs, companies can contribute meaningfully to the countrys development while building sustainable and responsible business practices. Adhering to the prescribed regulations and effectively reporting CSR activities through Form CSR-1 and CSR-2 ensures transparency, accountability, and compliance, paving the way for a better, more inclusive future.
(This article was last updated September 27, 2024.)
Also read
Representational image from Wallpaper Cave
Chennai/IBNS: Foxconn is planning a $1 billion investment to establish a facility in Tamil Nadu for assembling smartphone display modules, according to a report by The Economic Times.
This will be Foxconn's first display module manufacturing unit in India, supporting Apples iPhone production, while the facility may also supply components to other manufacturers, such as Pegatron and Tata Electronics, the ET report said.
ET reported, citing an industry executive, that creating local assembly units will help reduce supply chain delays and costs, benefiting brands by shortening delivery times.
Foxconn has secured 500,000 square feet of land in an industrial park in Oragadam, near Chennai, adjacent to its existing smartphone assembly plant.
Foxconn is rapidly growing its smartphone business in India and has plans to diversify into sectors such as electric vehicles, batteries, and semiconductors.
Currently, India imports most of its display modules from countries like China and South Korea.
Leading global manufacturers of display modules include Samsung Display, BOE Technology, and LG Display, while local assembly is dominated by Chinese firms like TCL CSOT and TXD (India) Technology, as per reports.
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday called on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to maintain a client-centric approach and assist member countries, particularly low-income nations, in accessing financial resources through technical assistance, media reports said.
Sithraman said this during her meeting with AIIB President Jin Liqun ahead of the 9th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The finance minister praised AIIB for its rapid expansion in lending operations within just nine years.
"The Union Finance Minister suggested that @AIIB_Official should continue strengthening its client-centric approach and facilitate member countries, particularly Low-Income Countries to avail financial resources through technical assistance and other non-financial services," the Finance Ministry shared in a post on X.
Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. @nsitharaman met Mr. Jin Liqun, President, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank @AIIB_Official, ahead of the 9th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of AIIB, in Samarkand, today.
FM Smt. @nsitharaman congratulated Mr. Liqun pic.twitter.com/rPLtU9Sjeh Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) September 25, 2024
India, the second-largest shareholder and largest client of AIIB, was acknowledged by President Jin for its significant contributions to the banks governance and growth. Jin also expressed interest in exploring further opportunities to strengthen ties with India.
As a multilateral development bank based in Beijing, AIIB is committed to developing sustainable infrastructure across Asia, promoting investments in infrastructure and other sectors to drive sustainable economic development, create wealth, and enhance connectivity.
India, a founding member of AIIB since January 2016, holds 83,673 shares with a capital subscription of $8.4 billion, while China holds 297,804 shares with a $29.8 billion capital subscription.
Earlier in the day, Sitharaman also met with Qatars Finance Minister, Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, to discuss various topics including bilateral trade, investments, digital public infrastructure, and a bilateral investment treaty (BIT).
She highlighted the deep-rooted relationship between India and Qatar and reiterated India's commitment to strengthening ties.
Sitharaman emphasized that India remains the fastest-growing large economy in the world, offering attractive investment opportunities in sectors such as energy, infrastructure, logistics, hospitality, food security, and startups.
Al Kuwari praised Indias fast-growing economy and expressed interest in exploring foreign direct investment (FDI) potential in the country.
The meeting also saw both sides agree to collaborate on cross-border payments, digital transactions, and the fast-tracked finalization of the BIT, the Finance Ministry said in another post on X.
Photo courtesy: Screenshot grab from YouTube live-streaming video
New Delhi/IBNS: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Wednesday said no part of India can be called Pakistan besides taking a strong note of the misogynistic remark passed by Karnataka High Court Vedavyasachar Srishananda, media reports said.
In a court hearing, Justice Srishananda referred to a Muslim-majority area in Bengaluru as "Pakistan". The video of his remark went viral as the court proceedings are now live-streamed.
The same judge told a female lawyer that she has knowledge about her opponent to an extent that she even knows the colour of his undergarment.
In a suo motu cognisance, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by the CJI earlier had said there is a need to establish clear guidelines for constitutional court judges over their remarks in the courtroom.
On Wednesday, CJI Chandrachud said as quoted by NDTV, "No one can call any part of territory of India as 'Pakistan'," Chief Justice Chandrachud said. "It is fundamentally against the territorial integrity of the nation. The answer to sunlight is more sunlight and not to suppress what happens in court. The answer is not to close it down."
"Casual observational may indicate personal biases especially when perceived to be directed at a certain gender or community. Thus one must be wary of making patriarchal or misogynistic comments.
"We express our serious concern about observations on a certain gender or a community and such observations are liable to be construed in a negative light. We hope and trust that the responsibilities entrusted to all stakeholders are discharged without bias and caution," he added.
After a public apology from Justice Srishananda, the Supreme Court closed the proceedings.
Slamming Justice Srishananda, senior advocate Indira Jaising, who is now representing the West Bengal junior doctors in the RG Kar rape-murder case, had posted on X, " We call upon the Chief Justice of India to take suo moto action agsinst this judge and send him for gender sensitisation training."
In frame: Bombay High Court | Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
Mumbai/IBNS: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday refused to accept police's "encounter" claim after the man accused of sexually assaulting two nursery students in Badlapur near Mumbai was shot dead in a retaliatory firing when he attacked a cop inside a police vehicle on Monday evening.
After the court said police could have shot the accused somewhere below his knee, the state government replied the cop had hardly any time to think.
In response, the High Court said as quoted by NDTV, " How could we believe that the police could not overpower the accused?" "Till he fired three shots, where were you? You could have easily overpowered (him). It is not like he was a hefty man. This can't be termed as an encounter. This is not an encounter," the court added.
According to reports, the rape accused Akshay Shinde had snatched the weapon from a constable and opened fire on one of the officers, injuring him.
The officers from Badlapur had gone to Taloja jail to take custody of Shindefor questioning him in connection with a new case filed by his first wife. The woman, who left him five days after their wedding, has accused him of rape and assault.
Around 6:30 pm, when the police team reached the Mumbra bypass, Shinde snatched the gun from a constable and fired several rounds, injuring him. In retaliation, another officer shot Shinde, leaving him critically injured.
He was taken to the hospital where he died.
Akshay Shinde, 23, was appointed on a contractual basis to clean school washrooms on August 1. Within days of his appointment, he allegedly raped the four-year-olds in the school's washroom.
He was arrested on August 17, five days after the children reported the assault to their parents.
The incident occurred in the wake of the horrific rape-murder of a junior doctor at a Kolkata hospital and triggered massive protests in the town of Thane.
The Bombay High Court, which had taken up the case on its own, had slammed the police investigation, especially pointing to its deviation from rules in the questioning of the children.
"The mandate of the law is not followed by Badlapur police," the judges had said earlier.
In images Prakash Raj & Pawan Kalyan/ courtesy: Facebook
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has locked horns once again with actor-politician Prakash Raj over the alleged adulteration of the Tirupati laddoos, a row that has been grabbing headlines in recent times.
Pawan Kalyan, who is the chief of the Jana Sena and part of the ruling coalition in Andhra Pradesh as well as the Centre, had spoken out about the report that found traces of animal fat in the form of beef tallow, fish oil, and lard (pig fat) in the ghee used for the laddoos when YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy was in power.
We are all deeply disturbed with the findings of animal fat (fish oil,pork fat and beef fat )mixed in Tirupathi Balaji Prasad. Many questions to be answered by the TTD board constituted by YCP Govt then. Our Govt is committed to take stringent action possible.
But,this throws https://t.co/SA4DCPZDHy Pawan Kalyan (@PawanKalyan) September 20, 2024
The allegation was first made by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.
Responding to Kalyan's comments, Prakash Raj had said that the politician is part of the ruling coalition in the state and should focus on investigating the matter rather than provoking communal tensions.
Dear @PawanKalyan It has happened in a state where you are a DCM .. Please Investigate ..Find out the Culprits and take stringent action. Why are you spreading apprehensions and blowing up the issue Nationally We have enough Communal tensions in the Country. (Thanks to your https://t.co/SasAjeQV4l Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) September 20, 2024
During his visit to the Kanaka Durga Temple in Vijayawada on Tuesday to perform a purification ritual as part of his 11-day 'Prayaschitta Diksha' (penance for atonement) over the adulteration, Pawan Kalyan slammed Prakash Raj for questioning his secular credentials.
"I am addressing the sanctity of Hinduism and issues like food adulteration. Why should I not speak about these matters? I respect you Prakash Raj, and when it comes to secularism, it must be mutual. I do not understand why you are criticising me. Should I not speak out against attacks on Sanatana Dharma? Prakash should learn a lesson," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
"The film industry and others should not make light of this issue; I am very serious about Sanatana Dharma. Many critics have targeted Ayyappa and Goddess Saraswati. Sanatana Dharma is of utmost importance. Every Hindu should take responsibility in this regard. If similar issues arose in other religions, there would be a widespread agitation," he added.
Raj posted a video on X to clarify that he had been misinterpreted and would reply to Kalyan's questions when he returned to India after a shoot.
"Dear Pawan Kalyan garu, I saw your press meet. What I have said and what you have misinterpreted is surprising. I am shooting abroad; I will come back to reply your questions. Meanwhile, I would appreciate if you could go through my tweet earlier and understand," he wrote with the video.
Dear @PawanKalyan garu..i saw your press meet.. what i have said and what you have misinterpreted is surprising.. im shooting abroad. Will come back to reply your questions.. meanwhile i would appreciate if you can go through my tweet earlier and understand #justasking pic.twitter.com/zP3Z5EfqDa Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) September 24, 2024
The controversy escalated last week when the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), responsible for managing the Tirupati temple, confirmed lab reports that supported claims of animal fat in the temple's laddoos.
The TTD revealed that tests on the ghee used for the 'prasad' detected the presence of animal fat, including lard (pig fat).
The supplier of the adulterated ghee has since been blacklisted, and legal proceedings are underway.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu slammed the previous YSRCP government, accusing it of compromising the sanctity of the Tirupati laddoos by using impure ghee.
He further said that his administration had replaced the supplier with Karnataka's Nandini brand to restore the purity of the prasad.
Meanwhile, YSRCP president Jagan Mohan Reddy dismissed the accusations as "diversion politics," claiming that Naidu fabricated the controversy to shift attention from his governments failures during its first 100 days in power.
The issue has also drawn attention from the central government.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda has sought a detailed report from the Andhra Pradesh government, while Food Minister Pralhad Joshi has called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
Representative image/ courtesy: Pixabay
New Delhi/IBNS: The man suspected of being involved in the murder of a woman and then refrigerating her body after chopping it into 30 pieces in Bengaluru has been found dead in Odisha, media reports said.
The accused has apparently died by suicide, NDTV quoting sources in the Odisha police said.
The man, Mukti Ranjan Roy, was found hanging on a tree in Odisha's Bhadrak district on Thursday.
Roy was one of the woman's three key friends in Bengaluru and was the prime suspect in the case.
The chopped body of the woman, Mahalaxmi, was recovered inside the fridge, on Saturday, shocking the city.
About 30 pieces of body parts were partially decomposed, leading the police to believe that she was killed at least two weeks before.
The victim used to live in a one-bedroom apartment in Bengaluru's Vyalikaval area.
Despite being married, she was reportedly not staying with her husband.
Photo courtesy: Urmila Matondkar Instagram handle
Mumbai/IBNS: Bollywood actress-politician Urmila Matondkar has filed for divorce from husband Mohsin Akhtar Mir eight years after the two tied the knot, media reports said.
A report by The Indian Express claimed Urmila filed for divorce in Bandra, Mumbai four months ago.
Photo courtesy: Mohsin Akhtar Mir Instagram handle
They haven't headed for a mutual separation.
The reason for the separation is not known yet.
Urmila got married to Mohsin, a Kashmir-based businessman and model, on March 3, 2016.
Photo courtesy: Mohsin Akhtar Mir Instagram handle
The actress is known for films like Narsimha, Rangeela, Judaai, Dillagi, Khoobsurat, Om Jai Jagdish, Judai.
Urmila joined the Congress ahead of Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and quit the grand old party the same year. She then switched to Shiv Sena in December 2020.
Photo courtesy: PR Team
Aparshakti Khurana-starrer Berlin, which recently premiered on OTT, is receiving accolades from audiences as well as critics.
Amid the success, Aparshakti shared a picture from the sets of the spy-thriller, which is too cute for words.
The actor took to social media and shared a picture of himself with his daughter Arzoie. Aparshakti is seen dressed as Pushkin Verma, his character from 'Berlin', and he is seen taking care of his daughter.
"One of those days when Arzoie decided to come to papas work while mumma was busy with her other baby @laferiaevents #Berlin was the first set where Arzoie accompanied me to work!
"Its weird but honestly, I performed better that day, thinking that my daughter is watching me perform on the monitor," he captioned the post.
The actor also thanked the team of Berlin for being "extra considerate" on that day of shoot.
Aparshakti has been having an incredible year. The actor's versatility has taken the centre stage since the release of Jubilee.
The 2023 project celebrated Aparshakti's acting prowess, which was further solidified with Stree 2. And with Berlin, which recorded over 50 million watch minutes in just 3 days of its release, the actor took on a never-done-before role.
His upcoming projects are Badtameez Gill and Finding Ram.
Nestled within the buffer zone of Shantiniketan, a UNESCO World Heritage site, Srirangam Homestay is an art-filled retreat that offers a unique blend of traditional aesthetics, modern comfort, and cultural richness.
Created as an homage to Shantiniketans legacy as a hub of humanism, arts, and learning, Srirangam draws inspiration from world bard and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagores vision of a harmonious world, echoing the spirit of Vishwabharati University.
Srirangam was conceptualized by Shumon Sengupta, an international humanitarian and development professional, and his wife, Ananya Banerjee Sengupta, a self-taught artist.
Their shared love for art, culture, and travel has shaped this homestay into a tranquil, welcoming space for guests from all walks of life.
Srirangam also embodies the legacy of Shumon Senguptas paternal grandparents, who settled in Shantiniketan in the early 1950s and were deeply involved with the Vishwabharati community. Srirangam was conceptualized by Shumon, an international humanitarian and development professional, and his wife, Ananya Banerjee Sengupta, a self-taught artist. Their shared love for art, culture, and travel has shaped this homestay into a tranquil, welcoming space for guests from all walks of life.
Aesthetic and Architectural Harmony
Srirangams distinctive South Indian architectural influence, combined with elements inspired by Tagores Shantiniketan, makes it a visually captivating space.
Architect Gopa Sen, who was involved in the restoration of heritage sites, designed the villa, while builder Sabyasachi Roy brought this vision to life.
The exposed brickwork, crafted using the "rattrap" modular masonry bond, is a nod to the sustainable architectural practices championed by Laurie Baker.
Hand-carved stone pillars from Tamil Nadu line the verandas, evoking the collonaded corridors of medieval South Indian temples. A peaceful water lily pool and an amphitheatre, reminiscent of traditional step wells, create an aura of serenity at the rear of the property.
Inside, Srirangams interiors feature traditional Athangudi cement tiles, best experienced barefoot.
The main living area houses a striking acrylic painting of a Kathakali actor, evoking memories of nightlong performances in Kerala temples.
Every element of the house, from the Fenesta windows that provide sound insulation to the Alpana-patterned iron handrails, reflects a deep connection with both South Indian and Shantiniketan aesthetics.
Comfortable and Thoughtful Accommodations
Srirangam offers five well-appointed ensuite bedroomsAadi, Ananta, Adwaita, Anagha, and Arnaspread across the first and mezzanine floors.
A sixth room, Aananda, located on the ground floor, is reserved for the host family but can be made available for elderly guests or those with mobility issues.
The rooms vary in size, with Anagha and Arna being the largest, offering spacious, comfortable accommodations.
Each room is designed with a blend of comfort and artistic flair. King-sized beds (except for Adwaita, which features twin beds), reading tables, wardrobes, and curated artworks create a cozy yet refined atmosphere.
Bay windows in each room provide stunning views of the surrounding landscape, with vistas of Vishwabharati University grounds, the wooded Srajani Shilpagram complex, and more.
The ensuite bathrooms, while compact, are sleek and modern, featuring Jaquar fittings, rain showers, and organic bathroom amenities. Srirangam follows a minimal plastic waste policy and provides easy-to-wash Indian handloom towels, reinforcing the homestays commitment to sustainability.
Culinary Experiences
Guests at Srirangam are treated to a delightful breakfast, with both Indian and English options included in the room tariff. Breakfast is served in the common dining area on the first floor, where guests can also enjoy lounging in comfortable zones.
A tea and coffee counter, with a selection of teas and biodegradable utensils, is available for guests to use at any time.
For those wishing to experience local cuisine, guests can pre-order meals and snacks a day in advance. Additionally, Shantiniketan offers a variety of excellent cafes and eateries that the hosts are happy to recommend.
Art, Culture, and Community Engagement
Srirangam is more than just a place to stayits a cultural hub.
The 1,400-square-foot basement houses the Srinidhi Art Gallery, a well-lit, air-conditioned space where cultural events are held.
The gallery is periodically made available to young, aspiring artists from Shantiniketan, as part of the homestays contribution to the local community.
Guests are also encouraged to explore the cultural and historical richness of Shantiniketan, and the hosts are happy to help organize local tours.
From visiting the Vishwabharati University to exploring local handicraft markets, Srirangam offers curated experiences that immerse guests in the essence of Shantiniketan.
Mindful and Ecological Living
Srirangams philosophy centers on mindfulness, ecological sensitivity, and responsible living. Rather than offering opulent luxury, the homestay emphasizes comfort, moderation, and sustainability.
The property is designed to minimize its carbon footprint, with features such as sound-insulated Fenesta windows, organic bathroom products, and a commitment to reducing plastic waste.
Guests are encouraged to embrace the tranquility of their surroundings, whether by reflecting on Tagores poetry inscribed on the walls or by enjoying the quietude provided by Srirangams architectural design.
The homestay is a perfect retreat for those looking to unwind, nourish their body and soul, and experience the artistic and cultural beauty of Shantiniketan.
Pricing and Booking Information
Srirangam offers its rooms at competitive rates. The four standard roomsAadi, Ananta, Anagha, and Aadityaare priced at INR 5,000 per night, while Adwaita, with its twin bed configuration, is available at INR 4,500 per night.
Aananda, the family bedroom on the ground floor, is available under special circumstances for INR 5,500 per night. Tariffs include breakfast for two guests, and triple occupancy options are available in select rooms for an additional charge.
Getting to Srirangam
Shantiniketan is well-connected by rail, road, and air.
The nearest railway station is Bolpur, just 4.5 km from Srirangam, with regular train connections from Kolkata. By road, Shantiniketan is approximately 165 km from Kolkata, a drive of just over four hours.
The nearest airport is Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport in Durgapur, about 70 km away, with regular flights from major cities.
Srirangam Homestay is a thoughtfully designed retreat that balances cultural heritage with modern comforts. With its artistic influences, mindful living philosophy, and commitment to community engagement, Srirangam offers a truly enriching experience for guests looking to immerse themselves in the beauty and serenity of Shantiniketan.
Whether youre seeking relaxation, cultural exploration, or a deeper connection to Tagores legacy, Srirangam promises an unforgettable stay.
For bookings or inquiries, contact:
Sabysachi Roy
Phone: 8944-932312
Photo Courtesy:
The international community bears responsibility for its failure to stop the catastrophe in Gaza, the Amir of Qatar told world leaders at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, emphasizing that after almost a year of conflict, it is no longer tenable to speak of Israels right to defend itself without being complicit in justifying their actions.
Speaking at the Assemblys high-level debate, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani described the blatant aggression against Palestinians in Gaza as the most barbaric, heinous, and extensive breach of human values, international charters, and norms.
This is not a war as commonly understood in international relations, but a crime of genocide, by means sophisticated weapons against a people trapped in a detention camp, where there is no escape from a barrage of aerial bombing.
Expressing opposition to violence and the targeting of civilians by any party, he stressed that with all that has taken place and continues to be take place, it is no longer tenable to speak of Israels right to defend itself in this context without being complicit in justifying the crime.
The Amir said it was unfortunate that the Security Council failed to enforce its ceasefire resolution in Gaza and that it did not grant full UN membership to the State of Palestine, despite a General Assembly resolution.
The State of Palestines full UN membership neither establishes its sovereignty nor ends the occupation, but at least it sends a clear message to the far-right government involved in challenging international legitimacy that force does not eliminate rights.
In addition to its humanitarian efforts, Qatar has engaged in mediation alongside Egypt and the United States to end the conflict in Gaza and secure the release of prisoners and detainees. Despite challenges and attempts to obstruct these efforts, we will continue our mediation to resolve disputes through peaceful means, he affirmed.
The Amir also expressed concern over the escalation in Lebanon, particularly the targeting of communication devices with complete disregard for the identity or location of those affected.
He also referred to other conflicts and crisis, including Yemen, Syria, Sudan and Libya, and the war between Russia and Ukraine, urging peaceful settlements of dispute, in line with UN Charter and international law.
In conclusion, the Amir reaffirmed Qatars commitment to working with international partners and the United Nations to strengthen peace, security, sustainable development, human rights, and the rule of law, to achieve a better future for all.
Image posted by Kremlin on X
Moscow/IBNS: Russian President Vladimir Putin has called an urgent meeting of the top security council to discuss its nuclear deterrence amid rising concerns over Ukraine being allowed by Western powers to use cruise missiles to target locations in Moscow, media reports said.
As per reports, the UK has cleared the use of its 'Storm Shadow' cruise missile to be used to bomb Russia.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer even flew to Washington DC to meet US President Joe Biden. The two leaders reportedly discussed Ukraine's use of weapons on Russian soil.
Russian intelligence reportedly has information about the possibility of a nuclear missile attack and earlier this month said that "It has become necessary for Moscow to revise its nuclear doctrine because of the West's escalation of the war in Ukraine."
Speaking about the reports that the United States and the United Kingdom are about to give clearance to Ukraine to launch cruise missiles on Russian soil, President Putin earlier said: "The West would be directly fighting with Russia if it gave such permission to Ukraine (to bomb Russia)."
He added that Moscow would be forced to make "appropriate decisions" in such a scenario.
Russia has the world's largest nuclear power and together with the United States control, it controls 88 percent of the world's nuclear weapons.
Moscow's current nuclear doctrine was set in place by Vladimir Putin four years ago before the war with Ukraine broke out.
According to the current doctrine, Russia may use nuclear weapons in the scenario where it comes under a nuclear attack or if a conventional attack threatens the existence of the state.
Anura Dissanayake takes oath as Sri Lankan President. Photo Courtesy: Anura Dissanayake X page
Colombo/IBNS: In one of his first key moves after assuming office as Sri Lanka's newly-elected President, leftist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake Tuesday dissolved the country's Parliament and called for snap polls within one month.
The move comes close on the heels of his electoral promise to bring change in Sri Lanka's decades-old rule by political families.
The dissolution of Sri Lanka's Parliament will be effective from tonight and the fresh elections will be held on November 14, a special gazette notification said.
The last time that Sri Lanka's Parliament was convened was way back in August 2020.
The term, though in place till August 2025, comes to an end tonight, 11 months ahead of schedule.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake took oath as the ninth executive president of Sri Lanka on Monday, just years after the country experienced a severe economic crisis.
He was elected the president of the Island Nation after he registered a victory in the presidential polls.
Dissanayake's alliance with the National Peoples Power rose to prominence after the 2022 movement.
Bangladesh's interim government leader Muhammad Yunus faces 'go back' slogans amid protests against him in New York. Photo Courtesy: Video grab from X.
A large number of Bangladeshi diaspora members demonstrated outside the hotel where Bangladeshi interim government chief Muhammad Yunus is currently staying in New York over the recent attacks on Hindu minority in the South Asian country following the fall of the former PM Sheikh Hasina-led government in August.
Yunus is currently visiting the USA to attend the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session.
Several videos are currently circulating on social media where the protesters can be seen heard raising 'go back' slogans during their demonstration.
One of the demonstrators said Yunus 'unconstitutionally' came to power in the country.
The protester told ANI news agency: "Muhammad Yunus took the power unconstitutionally, illegally."
"He captured power with dirty politics, and a lot of people have been killed," he said.
He said Sheikh Hasina still remained the PM of Bangladesh she did not resign following her government's fall on August 5.
"So far, our elected PM, Sheikh Hasina, has not resigned. We request UN humbly that he did not represent Bangladeshi people here," he said.
Another protester told ANI: I am here to protest the illegal, unelected person representing 117 million people of Bangladesh."
Amid widespread protests against her government which turned into a massive movement, Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5, leading to the fall of her government.
She came to power in Bangladesh after winning the general polls in January.
The protests in Bangladesh initially began against a job quota row but it soon escalated into a violent mass movement against Hasina's regime.
Following the fall of the government, Bangladeshi newspapers and social media platforms claim several Hindu houses were attacked by radicals.
Yunus took charge as the head of the interim government on August 8.
Photo Courtesy: IBNS File
Bangladesh Police said security will be heightened across the country for the upcoming Durga Puja celebrations which is the biggest festival observed by the Hindu minority community in a nation that witnessed a massive political turmoil last month.
Durga Puja will be celebrated from October 9 to October 13 in Bangladesh.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mainul Islam has directed all police officials to ensure tight security in the country during the Durga Puja festival.
"Police officials will ensure security at all Puja Mondops at the highest level of alert," he told a meeting on law and order and security during Durga Puja at the Hall of Pride in the Police Headquarters as quoted by Dhaka Tribune.
"Police must remain vigilant to avert any untoward incident centering the puja celebration and the cyber monitoring team has been asked to remain alert to prevent the spread of any kind of rumours in social media," he added.
The IGP requested Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad (puja celebration council) leaders to contact the national emergency service number 999 or nearby police stations for any emergency needs.
He asked Puja Udjapan Parishad leaders to keep CCTV/IP cameras active and ensure round-the-clock security at all marquees.
Durga Puja is expected to be celebrated across 32,666 puja mandaps in the country this year.
Bangladesh witnessed major political turmoil in recent times when former PM Sheikh Hasina-led government was toppled amid violent protests.
An interim government is currently ruling the government.
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash
At least 12 people were injured in a blast that targeted a police van in Pakistan's Quetta city, media reports said on Wednesday.
Balochistan government spokesman Shahid Rind confirmed in a statement that a police van was targeted while the Balochistan Health Department released a list of 12 individuals who were injured in the incident, reported Dawn News.
Rind said a policeman was among those injured in the incident.
An investigation has been launched into the incident.
The health departments statement, issued by its media coordinator Dr Waseem Baig, was quoted as saying by Dawn News that the injured had been shifted to Quetta Trauma Centre for further treatment after they were provided with initial medical aid in Civil Hospitals emergency department.
Pakistan has been witnessing a spike in terror attacks in recent times.
According to data released by Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), an Islamabad-based think-tank, the country witnessed 59 terror attacks in August.
Photo Courtesy: Wallpaper Cave
Pakistani police have arrested a man who was charged with blasphemy, media reports said on Wednesday.
He was charged with blasphemy on September 21 by the Saddar Police Station.
The man was arrested from Islamabad on Monday.
DPO Faisal Shahzad confirmed with Dawn that the suspect was arrested and shifted for interrogation.
A Pakistani court has sent him to police custody for nine days.
The first information report, registered on the complaint of an ASI, alleged that the man, a resident of Chak 107/12-L, was posting hate material against the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on his Facebook account, reported Dawn News.
Photo courtesy: X/@Celtic_Colours
Cape Breton/IBNS: The Celtic Colours International Festival will return to Cape Breton in Nova Scotia from Oct 11 to 19, 2024 with hundreds of events and performances scheduled to take place in communities around the island.
A unique celebration of Cape Breton Islands living traditional culture, the Celtic Colours International Festival runs for nine days to showcase hundreds of events and activities taking place in communities all over the Island.
Leanne Birmingham-Beddow, CEO of the festival, said the festival had seen difficulty in recent years first with the pandemic and then a hurricane.
This year I think everythings in place and the colours are going to be great too, Birmingham-Beddow said. Cape Breton Island is always a wonderful backdrop for all of the wonderful music and cultural experiences.
Celtic Colours Festivals enormous impact on the Cape Breton tourism industry according to an audience and visitor survey was conducted last year with the help of Cape Breton Universitys World Tourism Institute, said Birmingham-Beddow.
Its pretty amazing, Birmingham-Beddow said, adding: Last year for instance, about 66 percent of our attendees were from off-island. She said the data they collected showed $16 million in direct audience spending for 2023.
Birmingham-Beddow added that according to the festival data indications that people who attend the festival enjoy it enough to come back, with 35 to 40 percent of attendees returning five times or more.
Theres 50 concerts and weve got a tremendous number of wonderful musicians, Birmingham-Beddow said, adding that the festival finale includes two acts by Grammy-Award winner Carlos Nunez and Julie Fowlis who sang as a Disney Princess in the 2012 film, Brave.
(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
Photo Courtesy: Youtube video grab
At least one person died after a gunman hijacked a Los Angeles bus in the USA, triggering a massive chase which eventually ended with the police taking the suspect into custody.
A person was found on the Metro bus early Wednesday with gunshot wounds, then died at a local hospital, Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Donald Graham was quoted as saying by CNN.
The driver of the vehicle and a passenger were rescued from the bus.
Crazy video of a MTA bus in LA being hijacked with hostages aboard. Police deployed spike-strips to stop it. LAPD is encircling it. The suspect has a weapon. Hostage negotiation team is on site. pic.twitter.com/qil5EMJnIx ProudArmyBrat (@leslibless) September 25, 2024
The SWAT team moved into the vehicle and rescued the driver and the passenger after the bus was stopped with tire-puncturing spike strips.
Hours after being taken into custody, the suspects motive remains unclear, a law enforcement source told CNN.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass thanked the driver and the police for their quick actions.
My thoughts are with the loved ones of the individual who was tragically killed early this morning. What happened this morning was completely unacceptable and has no place in Los Angeles.
Every Angeleno has the right to go about their lives safely especially on our public https://t.co/e0i8VycTAZ Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) September 25, 2024
" My thoughts are with the loved ones of the individual who was tragically killed early this morning. What happened this morning was completely unacceptable and has no place in Los Angeles," the Mayor posted on X.
"Every Angeleno has the right to go about their lives safely especially on our public transportation systems and I will be urgently working with the members of the Metro Board as well as our Chair and Metro CEO to enhance the safety strategies that we implemented earlier this year," she said.
Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha celebrated one whole year of being married yesterday, on September 24th 2024. The whole film fraternity, friends and family of the adorable couple showered them with love and blessings and shared heartwarming pictures of them, which were later shared by the actress on her Instagram story. While the duo got married in a lavish wedding in Udaipur last year, their first wedding anniversary celebrations were vastly different.
Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha's first anniversary celebration
Both Parineeti and Raghav are very private individuals and very rarely engage in any PDA. Even on their anniversary, rather than going all out with celebrations, the duo ringed in their first anniversary in intimate settings. The Bollywood actress took to her Instagram to share sneak peeks of the duo from their happy day.
In the pictures and videos shared by Parineeti, the blessed couple were seen enjoying a romantic stroll by the beach while another photo revealed the duo watching the beautiful setting sun from a dock. The couple were reportedly holidaying in the Maldives to celebrate the happy occasion.
Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha's love story
Parineeti and Raghav first met at a conference in London. In a weird twist of fate, Parineeti did not even recognise Raghav during their initial meeting but had to go back and google the politician. The actress then met Raghav for breakfast the next day and the Chamkil actress revealed during an interview that just 5 minutes into their first 'date', she knew that they would get married.
The duo dated for several years and then got married at the Leela Palace in Udaipur. Their wedding was attended by the duo's close friends and family. Since Raghav is a Rajya Sabha member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), then Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann also graced the occasion with their families.
For more on celeb lifestyle and fashion from around the world please visit Indiatimes Lifestyle.
Malayalam actor Siddique, embroiled in a #MeToo case, has reportedly gone into hiding after the Kerala High Court denied his anticipatory bail plea. Authorities are in pursuit of the actor, with the Kerala police ramping up their efforts to locate him.
According to recent reports, Siddique's phone was briefly active on Wednesday but he did not respond to calls, as reported by Manorama. A lookout circular has been issued, and the police have intensified their search to apprehend the actor. He is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court after his plea for interim bail was turned down by the Kerala HC.
Siddique went into hiding shortly after the court's decision, with his son seen at his counsels office, reportedly preparing to move forward with the Supreme Court appeal. The charges against Siddique were brought by a former actress, who alleged that he raped her in 2016 at a government-owned hotel in Thiruvananthapuram. This accusation came to light as part of the ongoing #MeToo movement in Malayalam cinema, which has shaken the industry.
Who is Siddique?
Siddique, born on 1 October 1962 in Kochi, Kerala, has been a towering figure in the Malayalam film industry. Over the course of his career, he has appeared in more than 350 films, gaining recognition for his performances in a variety of roles.
He made his acting debut with the film Aa Neram Alppa Dooram in 1985 but rose to fame with the 1990 comedy In Harihar Nagar. Following that, Siddique starred in numerous successful films, such as Neru, Sathyameva Jayathe, Lelam, and Drishyam 2.
Apart from his acting career, Siddique has also ventured into film production. He produced Nandanam in 2002 and Bada Dosth in 2006, both of which received positive reviews. His prominence in Mollywood has made his involvement in this case particularly shocking to fans and the wider public.
What are the charges against Siddique in Mollywoods MeToo case?
The allegations against Siddique surfaced after the release of the Hema Committee report on sexual misconduct in the Malayalam film industry. Actress Revathy Sampath, in a media interaction, accused the actor of sexually assaulting her when she was 21 years old.
She detailed the incident, explaining that Siddique initially contacted her on Facebook under the pretence of discussing a movie role. "After completing my Plus Two, I had a terrible experience. Siddique sent me messages on Facebook. I had come to discuss a film. This incident occurred when I was 21 years old. He first approached me by calling me 'Mole.' There was abuse from Siddique's side. During the discussion, he sexually abused me. The face he shows now is not the one I saw back then," Revathy said during the interview.
She further shared her ordeal, saying, "He assaulted me, both physically and mentally. Siddique is a criminal. I went through severe mental trauma. It even affected my professional life. No system stood by me."
Last month, an FIR was lodged against Siddique under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC after another actress accused him of sexually assaulting her at a state-owned hotel. The case was registered at the Museum police station in Thiruvananthapuram.
After this revelation, Siddique, who had recently been elected as the General Secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), stepped down from his position. Following his resignation, the entire committee, led by President Mohanlal, also decided to step down.
In court, Siddique argued that the actress in question had been harassing him since 2019 by repeatedly accusing him on social media of attempting to molest her at a theatre in 2016. After the Justice Hema Committee report came to light, she escalated her allegations, accusing him of rape at a different location during the same year.
Also Read: Who is Vashu Bhagnani, film producer who has accused director Ali Abbas Zafar of criminal conspiracy?
Latest updates in the case against Siddique
In a new development, reports suggest that the complainant and the Kerala government plan to file a caveat petition in the Supreme Court to counter Siddiques anticipated appeal. If this caveat is submitted, it may create further complications for the actor, who has remained out of the public eye since Saturday.
Siddique was last seen at the funeral of veteran actress Kaviyoor Ponnamma, where he was seen overseeing the arrangements for her last rites. Since then, there has been no confirmed sighting of the actor, and the police continue their efforts to track him down.
For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Libra, the zodiac sign symbolized by the scales, is known for its charm, balance, and love for beauty. Lets explore how these five Bollywood stars embody these classic Libra traits.
1) Ranbir Kapoor: Charm & charisma
Ranbir Kapoor is the epitome of charm and charisma. Known for his romantic roles, he effortlessly captivates audiences. Ranbirs Libra traits shine through his strong sense of justice and fairness, often advocating for social causes. His diplomatic nature helps him navigate the complexities of the film industry, earning respect from peers and fans alike. Whether its his performances or personal interactions, his balanced approach makes him a beloved figure.
prokerala.com/Pinterest
2) Parineeti Chopra: Creative flair, values harmony
Parineeti Chopra brings a refreshing energy to the screen, showcasing her bubbly personality and creative flair. As a true Libra, she values harmony and connections with others. Parineeti's ability to maintain a friendly vibe with colleagues speaks to her sociable nature. Her keen eye for style also reflects the Libra love for aestheticswhether in fashion or her film choices, she always aims for beauty and grace.
Instagram
3) Amitabh Bachchan: Wisdom & sense of justice
Amitabh Bachchan, the legendary actor, perfectly encapsulates the wisdom and fairness associated with Libras. Known for his deep voice and powerful presence, he is a pillar of strength in the industry. His Libra traits are evident in his thoughtful approach to various social issues, often using his platform to speak out against injustice. Amitabhs diplomatic skills and ability to maintain balance between his personal and professional life are truly admirable.
amitabh-bachchan
4) Shahid Kapoor: Ability to resolve conflicts
Shahid Kapoor is not just a talented actor but also a style icon, blending charisma with elegance. His Libran qualities come out in his desire for harmony in his relationships and work. Shahids knack for expressing emotions through dance and acting showcases the creative side of a Libra, while his calm demeanor and ability to resolve conflicts make him a true diplomat in the industry.
Instagram/Shahid Kapoor
5) Ali Fazal: Versatile, love for creativity
Lastly, Ali Fazal stands out for his versatility and charm. With a flair for international cinema, he embodies the Libra love for culture and creativity. His genuine nature and ability to connect with a diverse range of people highlight the Libran focus on relationships. Alis diplomatic personality and balanced outlook on life help him thrive in both Bollywood and Hollywood, making him a standout Libra.
Emmy 2024 nominations, Richa Chadha-Ali Fazal blessed with baby girl and more from ent/X
These Bollywood stars reflect the quintessential traits of Librascharm, diplomacy, creativity, and a strong sense of justice. Their ability to balance personal and professional lives while exuding elegance makes them truly admirable figures in the industry. Whether on screen or off, their Libran qualities continue to inspire fans and peers alike.
The breastplate corset trend has taken the fashion world by storm, and Bollywood celebs are leading the way with their bold and stunning interpretations. From high-fashion statements to intricately crafted designs, heres a look at five times our favorite stars rocked this daring trend.
1) Alia Bhatt
First up is Alia Bhatt, who made a spectacular debut in a custom Gaurav Gupta metal corset from the collection AAROHANAM, showcased at Paris Couture Week 24. This eye-catching silver corset featured beautifully intertwined snakes and birds, making it more than just a piece of clothingit's a work of art. Alia paired it with custom black sharara trousers, perfectly embodying the power-dressing aesthetic. To top it off, she accessorized with edgy, sculptural jewelry by Misho Designs, making her look unforgettable.
2) Radhika Merchant
Next, we have Radhika Merchant, who dazzled at an Ambani family-hosted toga party. She wore a custom gold breastplate and skirt designed by Grace Ling, which was 3D-carved and crafted by a team of 30 artisans. Radhikas look was complemented by wavy curls, bangles, and a gold bracelet. With a bold maroon lip and simple makeup, she radiated confidence and elegance.
3) Bhumi Pednekar
Bhumi Pednekar also made waves in a burgundy sculpted leather corset from J Phoenix London. She paired it with a slit maxi skirt, creating a striking silhouette. The matching burgundy lipstick added the perfect touch of drama, while her winged eyeliner brought out her eyes beautifully, making the look even more captivating.
4) Alaya F
Alaya F took a daring leap in a white version of the same brands corset, making a statement that turned heads. She combined the sculpted leather corset with a gathered skirt featuring a side slit. With her wavy hair half-tied like a Disney princess, and sharp winged eyeliner, Alaya showcased a whimsical yet fierce look that perfectly captured the trend's essence.
5) Tamannaah Bhatia
Finally, Tamannaah wowed attendees at a Vogue fashion event in a shiny golden breastplate. She paired it with a simple draped black skirt, striking a balance between bold and subtle. With soft makeup and flowing hair, Tamannaah added just the right amount of glam to her look.
These celebrities show us that the breastplate corset trend is not just a fleeting fashion statement; its a way to express individuality and confidence. Whether its through bold colors, unique designs, or striking accessories, each star puts her own spin on this high-fashion look, reminding us that style is all about making a statement.
As the political situation in Bangladesh becomes more volatile, the Hindu community continues to face increasing challenges. Reports indicate that Hindus are suffering in various ways, ranging from forced retirements of Hindu officials to alarming threats against the celebration of Durga Puja. The plight of minorities in Bangladesh appears to be worsening under the current conditions.
According to a report by CNN-News18, Indian intelligence is monitoring the developments closely and remains in contact with key officials in the Bangladeshi government.
"Our mission in Dhaka is watching these developments, and we are in touch with senior government functionaries of Bangladesh. These demands are unwarranted. The Muhammad Yunus government is responsible for the spread of this hatred against Hindus immediately after Sheikh Hasina's departure," sources informed the news outlet.
"This is concerning us, and we will take up the matter with concerned authorities," the sources added.
Hindu officer forced into retirement
One of the latest incidents highlighting the discrimination faced by Hindus involves Devdas Bhattacharya, a top officer from the 1997 batch of Bangladesh Civil Services and the Additional Inspector General of Bangladesh Police. Bhattacharya was forced into retirement, allegedly because of his religious background. Reports suggest that Bhattacharya had faced several hurdles earlier in his career during the BNP Jamaat regime, having been denied promotion on three occasions for being Hindu.
Additionally, a disturbing attack occurred over the weekend when 74-year-old Hindu freedom fighter Khagendra Nath Pramanik was attacked in his home in Gobindaganj Upazila, Gaibandha. The elderly man, who is well-respected and has no known enemies, was attacked with a sharp weapon.
Anonymous threats target Durga Puja celebrations
In a separate yet related incident, Hindus preparing for the upcoming Durga Puja have received anonymous threats demanding large sums of money. According to ABP News, these letters threatened that unless 5 lakh taka (approximately INR 5 lakh) was paid by each Durga Puja committee, the festivities would not be allowed to proceed.
The letters reportedly sent by Islamic extremists also threatened severe consequences if the demands were not met or if the situation was reported to the media. "If you want to celebrate Durga Puja, every temple committee must pay 5 lakh Taka donation. If you fail to comply, you will not be able to celebrate... Ready the money within a week. Place the cash at the spot we specify later. Remember, if you inform the administration or Press, we shall chop you into pieces," one such letter read.
Furthermore, these letters claimed the extremists had control over both the military and the administrative apparatus of Bangladesh.
Muslim terrorists are starting to persecute Hindus in independent Bangladesh. Has written to the Durga Puja Committee in the temple of #Dakop upazila of #Khulna district. It is said in the letter, "If you want to perform Durga Puja this year, you will have to pay Tk 5 million. pic.twitter.com/MAOk6lRNkl Pranto kumar Jibon (@pranto45023) September 22, 2024
In a separate development, local media reported that Bangladesh's interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has imposed restrictions on Hindu communities, instructing them to refrain from playing musical instruments during Durga Puja when namaz or azan is being conducted.
Hindu leaders speak out against the situation
Hindu community leaders have expressed deep concern over these developments, and some are considering the possibility of canceling Durga Puja celebrations altogether. According to WION, leaders discussed their options, with many members feeling reluctant to proceed with the celebrations given the threats.
Shekhar Chandra Goldar, president of the Kamarkhola Sarvajanin Durga Puja Celebration Committee in Dakop, stated, "Our members are no longer interested. This year we have to stop the puja."
On Friday, representatives from four temples lodged a general diary (GD) with the Dacope Police Station. Officer-in-Charge Sirajul Islam confirmed that the matter was being investigated, and security patrols were being stepped up.
Government steps up security for Durga Puja
Amid growing concerns over the safety of Hindus during Durga Puja, the Bangladeshi government has heightened security. Inspector General of Police Moinul Islam, in a statement to ANI, announced a three-tier security system to protect Durga Puja pandals. These measures will remain in place until the immersion of the idols.
Moinul Islam also assured that any Puja committee facing threats could dial emergency services via the 999 number. Furthermore, plainclothes officers, crisis response teams, and SWAT units will be on standby throughout the celebrations.
Attacks on Hindus following Sheikh Hasina's ouster
Following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina amid student-led violence, Bangladesh's minority Hindu population faced attacks, including vandalism of businesses, property destruction, and the desecration of Hindu temples. These incidents followed unprecedented anti-government protests, which culminated in Hasina's resignation on August 5 and her subsequent flight to India.
Also Read: Devotee alleges tobacco found in Tirupati laddu, shares video amid ongoing animal fat controversy
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus clarified that the violence was not communal but rather a result of political upheaval, as many perceive that most Hindus supported Hasina's now-deposed Awami League government. Hindus, once 22% of Bangladeshs population during the 1971 Liberation War, now make up around 8% of the 170 million citizens and have historically backed the Awami League for its secular stance.
For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
26-year-old Anna Sebastian Perayil tragically lost her life just four months into her role as an associate at the accounting firm EY, a death attributed to alleged overwhelming workload, according to a letter from her mother addressed to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani. This incident has ignited a significant conversation about toxic work cultures, not only at EY but across the industry. Now, a Reuters investigation has made a shocking revelation: EY has been operated without a labor welfare permit since 2007.
EY has been operating without a state permit regulating work hours since 2007, a senior government official revealed to Reuters.
This revelation comes on the heels of the tragic incident that has prompted a federal investigation into the firm's practices.
On September 19, Labour Minister Shobha Karandlaje had posted on X: "A thorough investigation into the allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment is underway. We are committed to ensuring justice & @LabourMinistry has officially taken up the complaint."
Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Anna Sebastian Perayil. A thorough investigation into the allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment is underway. We are committed to ensuring justice & @LabourMinistry has officially taken up the complaint.@mansukhmandviya https://t.co/1apsOm594d Shobha Karandlaje (@ShobhaBJP) September 19, 2024
In a statement released late Tuesday, EY confirmed that its global member firm, SRBC & Co. LLP, is fully cooperating with the Ministry of Labour's inquiry.
Shailendra Pol, Maharashtra's additional labour commissioner, highlighted that the EY office in Pune was operating without mandatory registration under the state's Shops and Establishments Act.
This law limits working hours for adults to a maximum of nine hours per day and 48 hours per week.
If found non-compliant, the company could face severe penalties, including up to six months in prison or a fine of up to 500,000 rupees ($5,979), or both, in the event of a serious workplace accident resulting in injury or death.
Reuters reported Pol as stating, "The company applied for a registration with the labour department only in February 2024 and we rejected it because it had not applied since 2007 when it started this office."
He also noted that EY has been given seven days to address this oversight.
For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
On September 24, 2024, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake appointed MP Harini Amarasuriya as Sri Lanka's Prime Minister. This decision is part of a new four-member Cabinet that will govern the nation until the parliamentary elections, set for November 14. The official announcement regarding the election date was made through a gazette released on the same day, which indicated that parliament would be dissolved at midnight.
Following his victory in the presidential elections held on September 21, Dissanayake stepped down from his position as a Member of Parliament, paving the way for a National Peoples Power (NPP) member to fill his seat. The NPP currently holds three seats in the 225-member parliament, which is expected to be dissolved shortly in preparation for the upcoming general elections.
President Dissanayake has taken on several significant roles, overseeing Defence, Finance, Energy, Agriculture, and Fisheries. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Amarasuriya will manage crucial ministries such as Justice, Education, Health, and Trade. Additionally, MP Vijitha Herath will oversee Foreign Affairs and other departments, according to an official statement.
Getting to know Harini Amarasuriya
Harini Amarasuriya, aged 54, is a notable figure in Sri Lankan politics, recognised as a prominent leader of the National Peoples Power (NPP). She earned her undergraduate degree in sociology from Hindu College, Delhi University, where she studied from 1991 to 1994. Hindu College, celebrated for its alumni who have excelled in various sectors, considers Amarasuriya one of its most successful graduates.
After completing her studies at Hindu College, Amarasuriya pursued a masters in applied anthropology in Australia and later obtained a PhD in social anthropology from the University of Edinburgh. She made her political debut in 2020, gaining a parliamentary seat through the NPPs national list.
Before venturing into politics, Amarasuriya was a respected academic with research focused on youth, politics, activism, gender, development, and state-society relations. She has authored numerous publications in these fields, solidifying her reputation as a leading expert in socio-political research.
Her extensive academic background and diverse experiences position Amarasuriya to make valuable contributions to Sri Lanka's political landscape. There is hope that her connections to India, particularly her time at Hindu College, will enhance the diplomatic ties between the two neighbouring countries.
Challenges ahead for the new administration
The newly elected President and his small cabinet, including Prime Minister Amarasuriya, are confronted with significant challenges as the nation grapples with the ramifications of the 2022 economic crisis. Citizens are currently enduring severe austerity measures as part of an International Monetary Fund (IMF)-led program.
Also Read: From forced retirement of officer to threats over Durga Puja, Hindus continue to suffer in Bangladesh
The IMF has expressed its eagerness to collaborate with President Dissanayake and his administration "towards building on the hard-won gains that have helped put Sri Lanka on a path to economic recovery since entering one of its worst economic crises in 2022." Furthermore, the Fund stated it would soon discuss the timing of the third review of its Sri Lanka program with the new government as soon as practicable, according to a statement released on September 24, 2024.
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A photo of billionaire Elon Musk and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at a recent event went viral, prompting social media speculation that the two were "dating." Musk lauded Meloni during an award ceremony in New York on Tuesday, describing her as "authentic, honest, and truthful".
Where did Elon Musk and Giorgia Meloni meet?
Two of the best leaders pic.twitter.com/1dJBGQkPCK Young (@cabygsg22) September 24, 2024
While giving the Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award on Meloni, Musk stated that it was an honour to offer the award to "someone who is even more beautiful on the inside than she was on the outside."
"Giorgia Meloni is someone I admire, who has done an incredible job as the Prime Minister of Italy," added the man. "She's also someone who is authentic, honest, truthful - and that can't always be said about politicians," Musk told reporters.
She also used her official X account to thank Musk for his compliments.
Meloni was honoured "for her strong support of the EU and becoming the first female prime minister of Italy," according to a media package given by the Atlantic Council. She was in New York for the annual high-level gathering of the United Nations General Assembly, which included leaders from over 190 countries.
What did Elon Musk say about the dating rumours?
We are not dating Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 24, 2024
A Tesla fan group then shared a photo of Musk with Meloni with the caption, "Do you think they'll date?." The 53-year-old millionaire stated that they are "not dating".
Also read: Thanks to Elon Musk, South Korean Olympic shooter Kim Yeji lands her first acting job as an assassin
What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.
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Every year, Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated on 2nd October to honour Mahatma Gandhis birth. He played a key role in Indias fight for independence from British rule. Known as the "Father of the Nation," Gandhi used peaceful and non-violent methods to achieve freedom for India. This day is observed as a national holiday across the country, and schools, colleges, and government offices remain closed to show respect to his legacy.
Significance of Gandhi Jayanti 2024
Gandhi Jayanti 2024 marks the 155th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. People all over the country celebrate this day with great respect. Educational institutions, government offices, and private organizations organize different events, like prayer meetings and rallies, to pay tribute to him. One of the most popular tributes is singing his favourite hymn, "Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram", which fills the atmosphere with his teachings and values.
How Gandhi Jayanti is Celebrated
On Gandhi Jayanti, a variety of events take place across the country. Schools, colleges, and communities organize programs to honour his life and teachings. Special events like speeches, essay writing, and cultural performances are held, where kids and students actively participate.
One of the most important aspects of this day is promoting the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign), which was close to Gandhis heart. Gandhi strongly believed in cleanliness and considered it important for the well-being of individuals and communities. On Gandhi Jayanti 2024, many cleanliness drives will be organized to promote the message of a clean and healthy India.
Speech Ideas for Students on Gandhi Jayanti
If you are preparing a Gandhi Jayanti speech in English, here are some great ideas to help you deliver a strong speech for Gandhi Jayanti 2024:
Gandhi Jayanti 2024 Speech for Students
Good morning everyone!
Today, we are gathered here to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti 2024, which marks the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of our Nation.
Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, Gujarat. He dedicated his life to fighting for India's freedom from British rule through non-violent methods. He believed in truth, non-violence, and justice for everyone. His peaceful ways of protest, such as the Dandi March and the Salt Satyagraha, inspired millions and eventually led to India's independence in 1947.
But Gandhis contributions were not limited to politics. He was also a social reformer who worked hard to uplift the poor and fight for the rights of women. His ideas on peace and harmony are still very important today in our world full of conflicts.
On this Gandhi Jayanti, let us remember his teachings and promise to follow the path of truth, peace, and non-violence to create a better world for everyone.
Thank you.
Simple Gandhi Jayanti Speech for Kids
Good morning everyone!
Today is Gandhi Jayanti, a special day to celebrate Mahatma Gandhis birthday, which is on October 2nd. He is called the "Father of the Nation" because he helped India gain independence from British rule using peaceful ways instead of fighting.
Gandhiji taught us to always be kind, honest, and live simply. One of the most famous things he did was lead a march to protest unfair salt taxes. He lived a very simple life to show us that we dont need much to make a big difference.
Lets use this day to remember his values and try to be kind and truthful in our own lives.
Thank you.
10 Lines Speech on Gandhi Jayanti 2024 for Kids and Students
Heres a simple 10-line speech for younger students to give on Gandhi Jayanti 2024:
Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated on 2nd October every year. Gandhi Jayanti 2024 marks the 155th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. He is known as the "Father of the Nation." Gandhi led Indias independence movement using peaceful methods. His birthday is also observed as the International Day of Non-Violence. Schools and communities organize events to celebrate his life. Kids often dress up as Gandhi and perform in school plays. His teachings of truth and non-violence are remembered by all. At the end of school programs, sweets are given to the children. Gandhis ideas of peace, unity, and simple living are still important today.
These speeches can be a part of Gandhi Jayanti 2024 celebrations in schools and communities. Mahatma Gandhis message of non-violence, truth, and equality continues to inspire people worldwide. His role in Indias freedom struggle and his dedication to uplifting society remain significant to this day. As we observe Gandhi Jayanti 2024, lets pledge to follow the values of kindness, peace, and simplicity to make the world a better place for everyone.
Work pressure took a 26-year-old EY employee's life and the news shook the nation. Anna Sebastian, who was a new joiner at EY's Pune office, succumbed to a stressful work life on the way to the hospital after fainting in her room. Sebastian's passing caused a commotion on social media about toxic workplaces, and now her cousin Dr Mithun James has shared what a workday in her life looked like.
Anna Sebastian's cousin shared what a workday in her life looked like
Credit: LinkedIn / Dr Mithun James
In an emotional post titled "A personal recollection of Annas last few months with us" on LinkedIn, Sebastian's cousin Dr Mithun James highlighted what a workday in her life looked like.
According to the post, Anna was thrilled to join one of the "Big 4" and arrived in Pune in March of this year. James then helped her find a place in the city she was new to. During her time in Pune, her cousin met "her only once."
"Woke up at 4 AM"
Credit: Canva | Sebastian was up by 4 AM checking on "a few reports"
In the post, the cousin highlights a "firsthand" experience of what a workday in her life looked like. Sebastian was up by 4 AM checking on "a few reports."
By 9 AM, she was ready for work and would leave for office. "By 9 AM, she was ready for office, after speaking to her parents, she left for the office in tears. That day, her parents were returning to Kerala. Post 10 PM, we urged her to call an Uber and come home to say goodbye to her parents. Her response struck meshe was still at the office, too afraid to ask if she could leave. She finally managed to come and meet them after 11 PM. It was clear just how much time she was clocking for work," the cousin shares.
"Returning to her room as late as 1 AM"
Credit: Canva | Sometimes she would come back from the office even at 1 AM
Sometimes she would come back from the office even at 1 AM, leaving her utterly exhausted. "She was working every single day, including weekends, often returning to her room as late as 1 AM, only to wake up early to complete unfinished tasks. There was no concept of overtime pay or compensatory leave for weekend work, and she, being new to corporate life, was unaware of such policies," cousin wrote in the post.
Also read: EY employee Anna Sebastian Perayil death: Nirmala Sitharaman denies victim-shaming amid intense backlash
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Navratri, also known as Shardiya Navratri, is a most important and auspicious festival celebrated by millions of devotees with great enthusiasm across the country, especially in the north and east. It represents the battle between good and evil that takes place over nine nights, with the tenth day celebrating the victory of good. During this time, devotees worship Goddess Durga, who symbolises power, strength, and wisdom.
Navratri 2024 Dates and Key Events
Navratri in 2024 will start on Thursday, 3 October 2024, and will end on Saturday, 12 October 2024, with the celebration of Vijaya Dasami. The key events during Navratri include:
Ghatasthapana: Thursday, 3 October 2024
Durgashtami: Friday, 11 October 2024
Maha Navami: Friday, 11 October 2024
Ghatasthapana Muhurat Time: 3 October 2024, 6:23 a.m. 10:18 a.m.
Pratipada Tithi Timing: 3 October 2024, 12:19 a.m. 4 October 2024, 2:58 a.m. (IST)
What is Navratri?
Navratri is a Hindu festival that celebrates the connection between the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and different aspects of the Divine. "Navratri" translates to "nine nights" and marks the period dedicated to worshipping the feminine aspect of the divine, represented by Goddess Durga.
The first nine days of the lunar cycle are considered feminine and are dedicated to Goddess Durga. The Navratri that occurs in October is the most important of all, as it is dedicated to Sharada, the goddess of learning. This time of the year highlights the importance of education and the power to learn, which is what sets humans apart from other creatures.
Religious Significance of Navratri
Credit: Wikipedia
According to Hindu mythology, Navratri is linked to the story of Mahishasura, the demon king who waged war against the gods. To defeat him, the gods, including Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma, combined their powers to create Goddess Durga. After nine nights of fierce battle, Durga defeated Mahishasura, and this victory is celebrated on the tenth day, known as Vijaya Dashami.
Another story connects Navratri with Lord Rama, who worshipped Goddess Durga before his battle with Ravana. With her blessings, Rama emerged victorious in the battle to rescue Sita.
In addition, Navratri also celebrates the return of Goddess Uma (Parvati) to her parents home for these nine days, symbolising her reunion with her family and the divine energy she brings to the world.
What are the 9 Colours of Navratri 2024 and Their Significance?
Each day of Navratri is associated with a specific colour that holds deep spiritual meaning. Wearing these colours is believed to bring blessings and align devotees with the energy of Goddess Durga.
Day 1 (3rd October 2024): Yellow
Yellow is a symbol of joy and happiness. Wearing yellow on the first day of Navratri is believed to bring warmth, positivity, and calmness throughout the year.
Day 2 (4th October 2024): Green
Green represents fertility, growth, and peace. Wearing green signifies new beginnings and helps create a sense of calm and balance.
Day 3 (5th October 2024): Grey
Grey symbolises humility and balance. Wearing grey on this day represents change and transformation, grounding the wearer with a sense of stability.
Day 4 (6th October 2024): Orange
Orange is a vibrant colour that brings energy and creativity. It is believed to dispel negativity and encourage a positive mindset.
Day 5 (7th October 2024): White
White stands for peace and purity. Wearing white during Navratri is believed to bring harmony, calmness, and clarity of thought.
Day 6 (8th October 2024): Red
Red symbolises love, passion, and strength. Wearing red is said to invoke the blessings of Goddess Durga, filling one with courage and vitality.
Day 7 (9th October 2024): Royal Blue
Royal blue signifies wisdom and authority. Wearing this colour represents power and elegance, helping devotees attract prosperity and respect.
Day 8 (10th October 2024): Pink
Pink is associated with affection, love, and kindness. Wearing pink brings harmony and charm, helping to spread love and good vibes.
Day 9 (11th October 2024): Purple
Purple is a colour of nobility and peace. Wearing purple is believed to bring opulence, prosperity, and blessings from Goddess Durga.
(Note: Dates/timings may be subject to change; details mentioned here are as per the information available.)
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Trigger Warning: This article discusses topics related to suicide, which may be distressing for some readers. Please be warned and proceed with caution. If you or someone you know is struggling, reach out to a professional for support.
On September 23, a 64-year-old American lady used the famous "suicide pod" to kill herself, making her the first person to use the self-killing gadget. The incident occurred in a forest near Merishausen, prompting Swiss authorities to begin a criminal investigation and jail numerous people for supporting her in committing suicide.
What is a Suicide Pod?
Credit: thelastresort.ch | Sacro Pod is a 3-D printed machine
The Sarco pod is a 3D-printed capsule designed by Philip Nitschke that allows humans to die from nitrogen hypoxia. This procedure substitutes oxygen with nitrogen, putting the subject to sleep and killing him or her within minutes.
Unlike other forms of euthanasia, the Sarco pod allows the user to initiate the process without the assistance of a doctor.
Where is assisted suicide legal?
Switzerland has authorized assisted suicide since 1942, but only in limited conditions. The legalisation of the Sarco pod has sparked numerous ethical concerns, with detractors claiming that it may promote suicide and does not require medical care.
Switzerland's Interior Minister, Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, stated that the device does not meet product safety regulations and raises issues under the Chemical Act.
Nitschke's idea aims to simplify death so that people can make more decisions about their deaths. Nonetheless, this example has sparked debate about the impact of such technologies on public perceptions of suicide and mental health.
Who assisted the 64-year-old woman in choosing death?
Credit: AFP | This is where 64-year-old US woman took her life
The company that assisted the woman in using the Sarco pod, Last Resort, maintained that she made her own decision. While disputes about the morality of assisted dying and the usage of devices like as the Sarco capsule continue, Switzerland stands at a crossroads when it comes to end-of-life options.
Also read: Switzerland Allows Suicide Pods To Help People End Their Lives Painlessly
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Former Greek Prime Minister and leader of the left-wing Syriza party, Alexis Tsipras, was honored on Tuesday with the Nikos Nikiforidis Peace Prize for his role in the 2018 Prespa Agreement, which resolved
a decades-long dispute between Greece and its northern neighbor, formerly known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
The landmark agreement, which was signed by the foreign ministers of Greece and FYROM, Nikos Kotzias and Nikola Dimitrov, led to the country officially being renamed the Republic of North Macedonia.
The deal, achieved under the leadership of Tsipras and his counterpart Zoran Zaev, was hailed as a significant diplomatic breakthrough, easing tensions and paving the way for North Macedonias accession to NATO and the European Union.
The Nikos Nikiforidis Peace Prize, awarded annually since 2018 by the Observatory of International Organizations & Globalization, commemorates the legacy of the Greek peace activist Nikos Nikiforidis.
The award recognizes individuals or initiatives that have made a substantial contribution to the promotion of peace and international cooperation.
The Prespa Agreement remains one of the most significant foreign policy achievements of Tsiprass administration, transforming relations between the two countries and fostering stability in the wider Balkan region.
iefimerida.gr
The Greek government is targeting a substantial reduction in the country's debt-to-GDP ratio over the next four years. According to Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, Greece aims to bring its debt level down to approximately 130% of GDP by the end
of 2028.
The ambitious goal represents a significant turnaround for Greece, which faced a debt crisis and near-exit from the Eurozone in recent years.
The government's optimistic outlook is underpinned by the strong performance of the Greek economy, which has outpaced most European countries.
Hatzidakis highlighted the government's commitment to fiscal prudence and its efforts to reduce the debt burden. He emphasized that the early repayment of loans and the ongoing privatization of state-owned assets are key components of the government's strategy.
The minister expressed confidence that Greece's progress in reducing its debt will be recognized by international investors and rating agencies. He also noted that the government's economic policies are aimed at ensuring long-term sustainability and prosperity for the country.
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Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis presented the prospects of the Greek economy and the government's reform plans during his government's second term, at a meeting with American investors, representatives of capital management funds, insurance organizations, and banks.
Mitsotakis, who is in New York
for the UN General Assembly meetings, underlined the significance of political stability and fiscal responsibility with a concurrent boosting of development. He also noted that his commitment to regain investment grade was achieved during the first year of his second term.
Referring to the new European five-year circle after EU elections, he spoke of Greece's role and of the opportunities emerging though the deepening of the unified European market and green development.
Mitsotakis also noted the high absorption rate of Recovery Fund resources by Greece, and of the investment opportunities in the sectors of education and health.
iefimerida.gr
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has distanced itself from the 27 members of the Rivers State Assembly loyal to the former State Governor, Nyesom Wike.
The leadership of the APC in the State stated that the 27 lawmakers led by Martins Amaewhule are not members of the party.
Tony Okocha, Chairman of the caretaker committee of the party in the state, denied the lawmakers membership of the party yesterday while addressing newsmen in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
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He however said the APC is trying to persuade the legislators to join the party.
READ ALSO: Rivers: Dont Cause Crisis, 2024 Budget Already Signed Into Law PDP To Pro-Wike Lawmakers
Okocha said: At some point I dont get it; the House of Assembly members have said over and over again that they are not members of the All Progressives Congress and I confirm to you that they are not.
What we are doing with them is to woo them to come and join us because we discovered that they were having their own internal crisis in their party.
I am speaking to you in all authority that they never defected to the All Progressives Congress. There is no record. At least, I am in charge; it would have been joy for me that they came over. They didnt.
The operatives of the Amotekun Corps, have arrested a woman, identified as Rebecca Ako, for allegedly spending fake money, in Sabo Market, Ilesa area of Osun state.
It was gathered that Mrs. Rebecca, a resident of Owenna community, said that she started the illegal business because ex-her husband left her.
According to the security organisation, while parading her on Tuesday, disclosed that the suspect was nabbed for engaging in various offences across the state .
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In a statement signed by the spokesperson for Osun Amotekun Corps, Yusuf Idowu, in Osogbo, noted that the Corps Commander, Dr Adekunle Omoyele, explained that the 30-year-old admitted committing the crime, giving excuse of the financial crises she was going through as the reason for her action.
READ MORE: Amotekun Apprehends 21 Suspected Criminals In Ondo
The suspect said: I am from Benue State and I live in Owenna. I used fake money to buy goods.
There is a woman, Mrs Elizabeth that I used to live with when my husband left me. The woman later left for Abuja and she called me one day and introduced me to the fake money telling me that I can spend it.
She usually send the fake naira to me through dispatch. When she gives me N100,000 fake money, I will give her N50,000 original money that I would have made in the course of using the fake money. That is how I used to do before I was caught.
The All Progressive Congress (APC), on Wednesday, described Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, as a serial complainer.
Speaking in an interview with Arise Television, Felix Morka, APC spokesperson, maintained that Obi will never accept results of any election not in his favour or his candidates.
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Morka said: Peter Obi is a serial complainer who will not accept the result of any election that is not in his favour or candidates that he supports.
Since the 2023 election, Obi has been in consistent denial of that election. He has a new pet project which is to deny the Edo State election.
READ ALSO: Edo Election: Damage You Caused Will Haunt Your Children Peter Obi To INEC
Whatever he thinks of the Edo election is completely irrelevant.
I think Olumide Akpata and Asue Ighodalo have a legitimate interest in that election and if they are not satisfied, they should do what they must do which is to head to court and prove the allegations that they are handling around now. They are spreading unsubstantiated allegations.
I have not listened to any of them finishing any evidence of the high-sounding allegations that they make. When you get to court, its not about the headlines; you must break it down to realistic evidence to support your argument of winning the elections.
The Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) has confiscated banned Styrofoam food packs from a warehouse at No 6 Ogusefunmi Street, off Nurudeen Street, Anifowoshe, Ikeja, on Tuesday.
Tokunbo Wahab, the states Commissioner of the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, made the announcement in a post on X.
He said LAGESC conducted the operation after the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources found the facility and received a tip from a whistleblower.
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READ MORE: Amotekun Arrests 27 Suspects In Connection With Kidnapping, Theft, Murder In Ondo
Following a tip-off by a whistleblower, Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources discovered another warehouse at No 6 Ogusefunmi Street off Nurudeen Street, Anifowoshe, Ikeja, Wahab tweeted.
The building is being used for storing the banned styrofoam packs. The operatives of the @LAGESCOfficial have confiscated the packs.
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Connect with the past through Chinese traditional dyeing handicraft in SW China's Sichuan
People's Daily Online) 15:44, September 25, 2024
In Mingyue village, Pujiang county, Chengdu city, southwest China's Sichuan Province, a very special experience awaits. That experience is Chinese indigo or blue dyeing, a traditional handicraft that has thousands of years of history dating back to the Han dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD). Making use of the indigo plant, the craft is an incredibly sustainable and green friendly method of dyeing clothing or other fabrics. It also results in the most wonderful blue color, creating beautiful and fashionable products.
Follow People's Daily Online reporter Michael as he creates his own indigo dyeing art work, step by step.
(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Du Mingming)
The Julius Abures led faction of the Labour Party, has accused partys governorship candidate, in the just concluded Edo state gubernatorial poll, Olumide Akpata, of buying his way into the race.
The Abures faction slammed Akpata over his claim that the Independent Electoral Commission, rigged the election, to favor the All Progressive Congress.
Recall that Asue Ighodalo came second with 247,274 votes behind the APC candidate who scored 291,667 votes..
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Meanwhile, Akpata of the LP, came a distant third in the race with just 22,763 votes.
Reacting to the outcome of the election on Monday, the Edo Labour Partys candidate, expressed disappointment with the conduct of the poll, and alleged manipulation.
Akpata said that powerful forces were expected to influence the election, but the real shock came from the electorates.
READ MORE: Edo Election: Damage You Caused Will Haunt Your Children Peter Obi To INEC
However, the LPs Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi, in a statement signed and made available to newsmen in Abeokuta, Ogun State, accused the former president of Nigerian Bar Association of rigging his way to emerge as the partys flag bearer.
He said: Olumide Akpata has no reason to complain about the election and buying of votes.
Akpata bought all the Labour Party delegates during the primary to get the Labour Party ticket.
He bought over the party structure, gave them vehicles. He even called police to harass those who pointed out the abnormality. He bought the National Working Committee over and took the ticket.
Whatever INEC does was correct. The problem with Nigerians and their leaders is that if anything doesnt favour us, that thing is wrong, but if it favour us even when its wrong, we described it as the right thing.
Today because they failed in Edo, INEC has done the wrong thing.
The former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus, has berated the ruling All Progressives Congress, over what he described as attempt to destroy democracy in the country.
Secondus, while reacting to the just concluded governorship election in Edo state, accused APC of orchestrating a plan to ground Nigeria through maladmiration.
The former PDPs chairman led this out on Tuesday, in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Ike Abonyi.
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Secondus described the Edo gubernatorial election as electoral fraud with blatant disregard for the rule of law and voters rights.
He said: From the results of all the off-cycle elections conducted in Imo, Kogi, and Edo States, the Mahmoud Yakubu-led Independent National Electoral Commission has shown no remorse for the disgraceful conduct of the 2023 election, which threw Nigeria under the bus.
READ MORE: #EdoDecides: APC Agents Are In PDP NWC Dino Melaye Alleges
With the shameless boast by the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, that they will apply the Edo template in other forthcoming off-cycle elections in Ondo and Anambra States, it is clear that 2027 may not even happen, as the ruling partys agenda is to create a one-party state by silencing the opposition.
The beauty of democracy lies in opposing voices that check the ruling party, but the APC is set to ruin Nigeria with their misrule and wont tolerate dissenting views.
The manipulation of the Edo election was blatant, beginning with the harassment and arrest of opposition leaders, as well as the compromise of key players, such as security agencies and electoral officials.
The world is watching the disgrace we bring to this beautiful system of government, which other nations use to stabilise and develop their countries.
No fewer than five police officers attached to the Kano State Police Command have been killed in a fatal motor accident along the Kano-Zaria highway.
Disclosing this to the public in a statement released on Tuesday, by the Commands Spokesman, Abdullahi Haruna, said that the horrible incident left 11 others sustaining injuries.
He added that the crash happened around Karfi village, Kura Local Government area of Kano State while the officers were on their way back to the state, from an official assignment.
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READ MORE: Five Killed, 12 Injured In Kano-Jigawa Road Accident
The statement reads: The accident occurred at Karfi, a few kilometres to Kano and five of the officers died as a result of the accident while 11 others sustained injuries.
The accident occurred in the early hours of today, around 1 am. A Trailer was attempting to reverse on the main road along the Kano-Zaria highway when the accident happened.
The officers were on their way from an assignment when the accident happened.
Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, a popular crossdresser, has disputed a bribery claim made against him by a social media influencer, Martins Otse, better known as VeryDarkMan.
In a viral audio leaked on Tuesday by VeryDarkMan, Bobrisky claimed that certain unknown Economic and Financial Crimes Commission officers took N15 million from him in exchange for dropping money laundering accusations against him.
The EFCCs Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, responded to the viral recording in a statement on Tuesday, saying the Commissions Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, had ordered an immediate investigation into the incident.
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Bobrisky however denied bribing any EFCC officer to drop money laundering charges against him in an Instagram post on Wednesday morning, stating that he served his jail term.
READ MORE: Bobrisky Paid EFCC N15m To Drop Money Laundering Charges Against Him VeryDarkMan Alleges
The contentious social media sensation also branded the viral audio tape as a forgery, emphasising that the allegation that he was never in prison was incorrect and should be ignored.
He wrote, My attention has been drawn to a fake voice recording circulating on the internet that I paid EFCC 15 million naira, and that I was never in prison I didnt pay any EFCC money, which is a very big lie. I served my term in full, and I came out. Discard any false information.
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American rap icon Nicki Minaj has publicly endorsed Afrobeats superstar Wizkid for a Grammy award, praising his outstanding talent.
Minaj, who has expressed admiration for Wizkid, believes his chart-topping hit Essence featuring Tems deserves Grammy recognition.
In a recent interview shared on Instagram Tuesday, Minaj emphasized that Essence merits a Best Global Performance nomination due to its exceptional musical quality.
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She noted that the song dominated Billboards international music charts upon its 2021 release, solidifying its impact.
READ MORE: Pain Has No Power Over Me, Ill Be Back In 2025 TG Omori
Minaj suggested that the music industry needs its own Grammy board, arguing that Wizkids Essence was snubbed.
We should have our own Grammy board because Wizkids Essence deserved to win Best Global Music Performance, she said.
Watch her speak below
Three persons have been sentenced to death over the death of Anthony Okeyin, the commandant of Nigeria Army Secondary School, Apata, Ibadan.
They were convicted and sentenced by the Oyo State High Court, sitting in Ibadan, on Tuesday.
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The convicts Agada Solomon, Taiwo Adeniyi and Bibisoye Kehinde, were sentenced to death by hanging by Justice Ajayi Ezekiel.
Justice Ajayi also sentenced the three to 14 years imprisonment each for the offences of conspiracy and armed robbery.
Six defendants were arraigned in the case in 2016 on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, murder and armed robbery, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
The three other defendants, Ewere Andrew, Udobata Oruza Uzie and Ephraim Obi, were discharged and acquitted.
The judge found the convicts guilty on count one of conspiracy, count two of murder, count three of conspiracy and four of armed robbery.
The first, second and third defendants gave confessional statements while the phone of the deceased commandant was found with the first defendant and are therefore convicted accordingly.
READ ALSO: Boat Mishap Kills Infant, Three Others In Borno
The only offence of the sixth defendant, Ephraim Obi, is that his Camry car was used to commit the crime.
However, establishing by evidence, therefore, Ewere Andrew, Udobata Oruza-Uzie, and Ephraim Obi are not guilty of armed robbery and are discharged and acquitted, Ajayi said.
Earlier, the counsel to the convicts, Mr F.O. Awonusi, in his allocutus, urged the court to temper justice with mercy.
At trial, the prosecuting counsel, Mrs K. K. Oloso, had alleged that the convicts committed the offences on Dec. 12, 2016, at 6:15 a.m.
The prosecutor had informed the court that the defendants conspired at the Commandants Quarters of Nigeria Army Secondary School, Apata, Ibadan, to murder Col. Anthony Okeyin.
The defendants allegedly caused the death of Okeyin, age 52, by breaking his skull while armed with an offensive weapon and robbed him of his Samsung X4 phone and N45,000 cash, Oloso said.
She said the offence was contrary to Section 316 and punishable under Sections 319 and 324 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Oyo State, 2000.
Oloso said that the offence also contravened Section 1(2) (a) and (b) and Section 6 (b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004
The All Progressives Congress has warned civil society and election observer, YIAGA Africa, for challenging Independent National Electoral Commission, over the results of the just concluded Edo State gubernatorial election.
APC in a statement released to the public by the partys National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, on Tuesday, criticized the group for allegedly attempting to second-guess INECs authority.
Morka also accused the civil society of making baseless allegations regarding the manipulation of results, stating that these claims lacked supporting evidence and were based on speculative data.
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The statement reads: INEC is the sole statutory authority for the conduct and declaration of election results.
Yiaga Africa is not and must desist from constituting itself as a parallel agency for the declaration of election results.
READ MORE: #EdoDecides: CDD Accuses INEC Of Over Voting To Favor APC
Alleging that results were manipulated without hard facts and figures, but based on some statistical guesswork, is a clear disservice to the electoral process.
Yiaga Africas report is a travesty, replete with methodological flaws, politicised observations, inconsistencies, and inaccuracies.
Election observer missions are not election management agencies and cannot usurp INECs statutory authority as the sole election management body in Nigeria.
Declaring or second-guessing the Edo State gubernatorial result based on unsubstantiated, unverified, and highly questionable statistical parameters created by Yiaga Africa is designed to create unnecessary confusion.
Toyin Adegbola, a Nollywood actress better known as Toyin Tomato, has urged women to shun divorce.
In an Instagram live session on Monday, Toyin Tomato asserted that marriage is not a place where equality exists.
She recommended women to continue with their unfaithful husbands while taking precautions against sexually transmitted infections.
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READ MORE: Gods Grace Carried Us Through Mike Bamiloye Reflects On Wedding Experience With Wife
No matter how terrible your husband is, dont ever think of chasing him out or leaving his house, because later, you will have to beg when your children have an important event. As the woman, you have suffered in your marriage, and if you leave, no single man will marry you. Stay in your husbands house and beg him to protect himself.
I have a friend who buys packs of condoms for her husband whenever he is visiting Nigeria. When the man arrived, he called me to let me know what my friend did. Wont he sleep with another woman? Can a woman come to Nigeria and her husband buys her condoms? We dont have equal rights, and I will continue to say this.
Please, men, take us as your cross and see us as your first child. We have also married you and taken you as our first child because, despite how wise men are, they can also be very foolish. Whatever we want you to see is what you will see, she said.
Watch her speak below
Chief of Army Staff, Taoreed Lagbaja, says it is unrealistic for two million security personnel to protect a population of over 200 million Nigerians.
Lagbaja made this remark during the 2024 distinguished personality lecture in Ilorin, Kwara state capital, on Tuesday.
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In a country of over 200 million people, it is unrealistic to expect security agencies, totalling around two million, including an army of just over 100,000 active personnel without a reserve force, to secure the entire population, Lagbaja said.
Represented by Sanni Mohammed, chief of army training, Lagbaja highlighted the militarys heavy reliance on imported defence equipment due to the countrys weak industrial base.
We import over 90 percent of our military needs, he said, noting that despite some local production efforts, the countrys dependence on foreign military supplies remains overwhelming.
READ ALSO: COAS Laments Drug Abuse Among Soldiers Fighting Terrorists
The army chief also expressed concerns over the inadequate funding of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), which he said significantly affecting the militarys operational performance.
The pursuit of national development alongside national security is a costly endeavour, as defence policy is capital-intensive.
In 2023, the entire AFN had a budget of about $2.8 billion, with an additional supplementary budget of around one billion dollars. However, not all budgetary allocations were fully released.
Although funding for the AFN has been improving annually since 2017, the countrys economic downturn has eroded the actual value of what is released.
The lack of funding affects the AFNs equipment holdings, which directly impacts performance, he said.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called on world leaders to fortify multilateralism and promote inclusivity within the United Nations (UN).
He also advocated for permanent seats for Nigeria and other African nations on the UN Security Council.
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Recall that the President issrepresented by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Speaking at the 79th UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Tinubu emphasized the need for Security Council reform, welcoming supportive indications from permanent members.
Some permanent members of the United Nations Security Council have offered encouraging, if tentative indications of support on the issue of reform of the Council. We welcome the change in tone and urge an acceleration in momentum to the process, he said.
According to him, the Security Councils expansion should reflect global diversity, supporting Secretary-General Antonio Guterres efforts.
READ ALSO: UNGA: Tinubu Stayed Back To Address Tough Challenges Bwala
His words: Africa must be accorded the respect that it deserves in the Security Council. Our Continent deserves a place in the permanent members category of the Security Council, with the same rights and responsibilities as other permanent members.
He criticized the growing trend of nationalism and unilateralism, hindering global challenge solutions.
He started that the pursuit of individual national interests obstructs collective goals of peace, sustainable development, and human rights.
Tinubu highlighted pressing global issues: terrorism, climate change, poverty, economic instability, inequality, and human rights abuses.
Today, these pillars of our organisation are threatened. They risk being broken by the relentless pursuit of individual national priorities rather than the collective needs of the nations, he said.
China is experiencing a rapid slowdown in reform and development and showing signs of economic, political, and societal instability, according to Professor Chenggang Xu of the University of Hong Kong. On the day before the 25th anniversary of the now legendary Tiananmen Square protests, Xu considered how long the country of over 1.3 billion can go on without functional constitutionalism, including constitutional rules that confine the power of the government, political pluralism, and separation of powers.
Xu, once an ardent believer in Marxism and communism, ultimately became a political prisoner after making remarks and participating in activities that authorities under China's former Communist Chairman Mao Zedong saw as revolutionary. He spent 10 years in solitary confinement, followed by a sentence in a labor camp under very harsh conditions,
Professor Chenggang Xu of the University of Hong Kong talks about China's economic and political challenges. Image credit: CEU/Daniel Vegel
noted Xu's colleague and friend, Janos Kornai, professor emeritus, Corvinus University and Allie S. Freed professor of economics emeritus, Harvard University, who introduced him at the CEU event. After the death of Mao, Xu returned to Beijing to continue his studies and ultimately attended Harvard. Xu's father, a physicist who translated Einstein into Chinese, was also a target of the regime who, after expulsion from the communist party, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (of which he was a founding member), remained under police surveillance until the end of his life.
Xu noted that the necessity of reforming China's political and legal institutions by establishing the constitutional rule has been a hotly debated issue, particularly right before the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012. Even setting aside democratic tenets such as human rights and pluralism, Xu said those who care only about the economy also have reason to despair.
Ranked by total GDP, today's China is the second largest economy in the world, Xu said. However, by per capita GDP ranking, China is worse than USSR in the 1980s. China is a fairly poor nation with a very poor Human Development Index (HDI) ranking that is getting worse and worse.
In the post-WW II world, all the developed economies in the world are constitutional democracies, Xu stated, and almost all of the most important inventions in last century came from democratic countries. In addition, Xu, a specialist in economic development, pointed out that constitutional rules are a precondition for functioning financial markets.
Without constitutional rule, the government violates property rights repeatedly, he said. This is the key reason the Chinese financial market doesn't work.
Professor Chenggang Xu of the University of Hong Kong recommends feasible, peaceful steps toward a constitutional system in China. Image credit: CEU/Daniel Vegel
Social instability brought on by the lack of property rights is a huge concern as well. Xu explained that the government engages in large-scale urbanization in which huge areas are being converted from agricultural to urban use. They grab the land from peasants and convert to state ownership and sell use rights to developers (there is a coalition between the government and the developers). They make large profits but they squeeze both the peasants and the urban citizens they force demolition and people have to move.
Anti-corruption campaigns have also failed because of the nature of China's Regionally Decentralized Authoritarianism (RDA), characterized by highly centralized political and personal control power and highly decentralized administration and economic powers. A remnant of this system, appointed bureaucrats are only accountable to their bosses, not to their constituencies.
Xu recommended feasible, peaceful steps toward a constitutional system, including aiming at a democratic federal state, starting from local elections; improving existing village/town elections; implementing local (municipality/provincial) elections; and a timetable for general national election.
Regarding reform of the ruling party, Xu would like to see an institutionalization of competing factions of the party as well as open elections within the party. Judicial independence and the establishment of private property rights are also of utmost importance to a constitutional government and national stability, he concluded.
The lecture was sponsored by CEU's School of Public Policy (SPP), the Department of International Relations and European Studies, and the Department of Economics.
The Eclipse Foundation has launched the Open Regulatory Compliance Working Group (ORC WG) to address evolving global regulations aimed at improving software quality and security.
The working groups formation follows Eclipses initial partnering with the Apache Software Foundation and other open source organizations in April. Announced September 24, the initiative looks to support participants globally across the open source community, including developers, enterprises, industries, and open source foundations, in navigating and adhering to evolving regulatory frameworks. In particular, the working group, with members such as the Python Software Foundation and the Rust Foundation, plans on helping companies navigate European Union regulatory requirements such as the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), along with EU AI and data sovereignty measures.
CRA is a legal framework that describes cybersecurity requirements for hardware and software products with digital elements placed on the market of the EU. Plans call for the working group to engage with regulatory bodies and governments to enhance their understanding of the unique open source development model.
A North Philadelphia woman who killed a man during a botched robbery in Pottstown in 2022 was sentenced Wednesday to 10 to 25 years in prison.
Jahme Barnes, 19, was handed that punishment by Montgomery County Court Judge William R. Carpenter. Barnes, who was 17 at the time of the fatal shooting, pleaded guilty in June to third-degree murder for killing Dakari Rome, 25, while sitting with him and a group of teens inside a parked car in Pottstown.
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Barnes, who has been in custody for two years, will be eligible for parole after eight more years, said her attorney James Lyons.
Barnes killed Rome, who her lawyers say was her friend, while they attempted to rob a 17-year-old of his gun, prosecutors said. Barnes and Rome plotted the robbery along with Kahseem Williams, 20, prosecutors said.
Rome, a friend of the teens, invited him to hang out with some girls in Pottstown on the night of Aug. 28, 2022, authorities said.
After spending a few hours together, the group sat inside Romes parked Audi SUV and at one point Rome asked to see the teens 9mm handgun. He then passed the gun to Williams, who passed it to Barnes, who posed with it and took selfies, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Barnes arrest.
Then Barnes pointed the gun at the teen and demanded to know what else he had on him, according to the affidavit.
The teen swatted the gun away from Barnes as she pointed it at him and it went off, the affidavit said. A bullet passed through the teens hand and struck Rome in the chest. The teen then ran from the car as Williams got out and fired at him, according to the affidavit.
Williams was later taken into custody and charged with third-degree murder and attempted murder. He pleaded guilty to those charges in July 2023 and was sentenced to 12 to 24 years in prison.
Barnes agreed to plead guilty to third-degree murder after prosecutors dropped a first-degree murder charge and agreed to cap her sentence at 12 to 25 years in state prison.
Assistant District Attorney Gabrielle Hughes said the judge had factored in the gravity of the crime and its impact on the community in reaching the sentence. But she said the Rome family was devastated and felt no sentence would be sufficient for the loss of a loved one.
Its hard to say its a just conclusion when you have a grieving family, said Hughes. I know that no number will feel like justice to the Rome family.
Barnes attorneys, Lyons and Karen Thek, said Wednesday that the judges sentence was fair. In her time in custody, Barnes has dedicated herself to rehabilitation, they said, and she was remorseful about her crime.
She cant take back what happened, but she is dedicated to having a better future, said Thek.
Prosecutors say Michael Erickson assaulted a female relative while she slept at a party at his home earlier this year. Read more
A 24-year veteran of the Nether Providence Police Department resigned this week after he was accused of sexually assaulting a female relative while she was passed out at a party.
Detective Sgt. Michael Erickson, 51, was charged Monday with indecent assault of an unconscious person, according to court records. He was released on $200,000 unsecured bail and resigned from the department the same day.
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Ericksons attorney, Vincent DiFabio, did not immediately return a request for comment. Attempts to reach Erickson were unsuccessful.
Prosecutors from the state Attorney Generals Office were contacted by the Delaware County District Attorneys Office on June 12 after the woman reached out to them, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Ericksons arrest. The local prosecutors referred the case to state prosecutors to avoid a potential conflict of interest.
Two witnesses told the Attorney Generals Office that they attended a party with the woman at Ericksons house in Aston on June 1, the affidavit said. During the party, they said, she went inside the home and fell asleep on a bed. Later, they said, the witnesses and Erickson went into that room to watch television, and the witnesses said they saw Erickson putting his hand on and rubbing the womans genitals above her clothing.
The witnesses said they told Erickson to stop, and then awakened the woman so they all could leave.
The woman later told police she had been drinking at the party before falling asleep and had no memory of what Erickson allegedly did to her, or of how she had gotten home that evening.
Afterward, Erickson sent text messages to the two witnesses, apologizing for his actions, which he said were completely inexcusable, according to a reproduction of the text included in the affidavit.
I am truly sorry for everything, and me being blackout drunk doesnt make an excuse, he wrote, adding that he had zero recollection of anything.
Erickson sent a similar email to the womans husband, the affidavit said, blaming his behavior on an alcohol problem of several years and mental health issues.
In a statement Tuesday, Nether Providence Police Chief David Splain said that the incident occurred while Erickson was off-duty, and that the department had no role in investigating the alleged assault.
Splain said he was first notified in July that prosecutors were investigating Erickson and was told earlier this month that he would face criminal charges.
Erickson submitted his resignation Monday. It was unclear if he had been working for the department between July and this week. Splain declined to comment further.
Former Penn President Amy Gutmann in her office at the Annenberg School For Communication. Read more
Amy Gutmann, the University of Pennsylvanias longest-serving president before she stepped down in 2022, is back on the West Philadelphia campus after nearly 2 years as the U.S. ambassador to Germany.
A political scientist who has written on the spirit of compromise, Gutmann, 74, has a joint appointment as a distinguished professor of political science and a professor of communication.
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I feel very free, Gutmann said of her new life, post-college presidency and ambassadorship.
READ MORE: Confirmed as the next U.S. ambassador to Germany, Amy Gutmann reflects on nearly 18 years as Penns president
In her 18 years of leading Penn, she raised more than $10 billion, oversaw construction of many new buildings, prioritized student aid, and led the school through a recession and pandemic.
Her name is already on a student residence hall and a professorship, and on Friday, Penn will officially christen Amy Gutmann Hall, a new data science building where professors will work together across disciplines on projects, such as ethical uses of artificial intelligence. During her tenure, Gutmann pioneered the hiring of professors who work across disciplines and have joint appointments.
From her office at the Annenberg School for Communication this month, Gutmann shared what it was like to return to Germany the country her father fled when the Nazis took over and where she, nearly 90 years later, launched a stand up and speak out campaign in support of democracy and against all forms of hatred. She also shared whats on her plate at Penn now, including the possibility of writing a family memoir, and her thoughts about the Ivy League universitys direction following a tumultuous year that saw the resignation of its president and board chair.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
What did you learn as ambassador?
My first full day there I met Vice President [Kamala] Harris on the tarmac. She arrived for her first Munich security conference. And we had a set of confidential meetings with [German] Chancellor [Olaf] Scholz. And I learned before those meetings from classified briefings that Putin was poised to launch a full-scale reinvasion of Ukraine. And what we communicated to the Germans was You need to be with us. Its going to happen. You need to be prepared.
My highest priorities included ending Nord Stream II pipeline [a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany that the U.S. feared would increase Europes energy dependence on Russia], modernizing their military, and upping their contribution to our mutual NATO defense.
So a week later, a full-scale invasion, troops, tanks, missiles, and three days after that, Scholz announces in a historic speech Nord Stream II is over. We are going to modernize our military. We are going to spend $100 billion euros on military modernization, and were going to meet our 2% NATO commitment.
What I learned very quickly is that diplomacy is every bit as important as I ever thought it would be and then some, because theres no way that Germany would have been prepared without our diplomacy.
What did you like most about the job?
Theres a lot, and like doesnt capture it.
The job was in some ways a mission of my lifetime to pay tribute to my father, who escaped Nazi Germany. I grew up boycotting Germany because of the Holocaust and the fact that Germany was the country under Hitler that perpetrated the Holocaust, so we wouldnt buy anything German.
What I most valued about doing the job was that I could show that there was and there is good beyond evil, to put it simply, that we can do the most good today by working closely with one of our strongest allies in the world, Germany, as a reunited democratic country. They need us, and we need them.
The most emotional, joyful but with tears running down my eyes and my daughters eyes moment was going back to my fathers hometown [Feuchtwangen] and being invited by the mayor.
He said, Theres an exhibit in our museum, which was created on the site to memorialize the synagogue of the town that was destroyed by the Nazis. Theres an exhibit in that museum of [Gutmanns] family.
So we went back three times. The second time we laid memorial stones for my father and each of the members of his family in front of their house where they also had a general store in the middle of town. It was just such an emotional moment. We had two musicians, one who played and the other who sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
And there I was, back. And the store, which had been taken over by the Nazis, is now owned and operated by wonderful people, and its an independent bookstore.
[The museum exhibit] also includes me now, which is an out-of-body experience.
How was the job different from college president?
Every day of my time there, I thought about my father.
The hardest part was getting used to all the security that I had. I had a security detail of 14 people, six of whom at any given time were with me no matter where I was outside of my residence.
I love to bicycle. They were in front of me [on bikes], they were in back of me. [Then she noticed a car thought it wanted to pass them.] So I say to the head of my security detail, Let the car go. And he says, Thats our car.
Were you as busy as you were as Penns president?
Yeah, in different ways. I remember on Easter weekend I got a call from our defense attache: Weve got to get in touch with the Germans. We need x. Theres no downtime.
And then there was a lot of entertaining, too.
Three Thanksgiving dinners a year. And it was the hottest ticket in Germany, basically, because the Germans love to learn about U.S. traditions. We had Amish turkeys flown in. We had Christmas, Hanukkah, and Iftar receptions, all of which were multireligious. All of these had a purpose, which was to further the understanding between us.
A lot of members of Congress came and visited, and we had those around the table, Republicans and Democrats alike.
Why did you decide to leave the job?
Michael [Doyle], my husband [a professor at Columbia University], had moved heaven and earth to be with me. And he was with me for 2 years, most of the time in Berlin. Its my turn to be with him.
READ MORE: Penn president and husband donate $2 million for nursing scholars program at the university
Whats it like to be back at Penn not as president?
Its wonderful. I have a sabbatical this year and Im thinking about doing some research on a book project that is just in the very, very earliest stages.
I have so many friends, people who were colleagues, who worked for me, who now are friends. They were friends then, but you cant do as expansive of a friendship when youre president.
I feel very free, too. So I dont believe in Janis Joplins Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. Freedom is really, really real.
How so?
I cant describe it, except to say that if you have for as many decades as I have had to have a phone right next to you, so if someone needed you this moment, youre available.
Obviously, if something happened in my family, I would want to be available, but its not that there are thousands of people who need to contact me in an emergency.
Do you miss being president?
No.
I did it for 18 years. I felt it was the right time for me to move on. [Interim president J.] Larry Jameson is doing a great job. He is a colleague and a friend. I hired him many, many years ago. He is the right person for the right time here.
I have confidence that Penn is strong and will weather the crises. I think it is weathering the crises.
READ MORE: J. Larry Jameson to remain interim Penn president through 2026 academic year
Has anyone at Penn asked you for counsel or help since you returned?
Some people ask confidentially on occasion, but I dont offer unless asked.
Has President Jameson asked?
Weve had conversations.
What was it like watching the turmoil at Penn last year over its handling of antisemitism and pro-Palestinian protests?
I was so busy I could not watch it. When Oct. 7 happened, it was the most gut-wrenching thing to happen to the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Im Jewish. Im also U.S. ambassador to the country that perpetrated and executed the Holocaust.
That was full-time. That took up my consciousness. And when I heard about what was happening on university campuses, it was another kind of gut punch.
But theres nothing I could do about that, and there was a lot I could do between U.S. and Germany.
Is there anything you would have done differently if you had been Penns president?
I was so far away from everything that was happening that it would be counterproductive for me to engage in that.
READ MORE: Penn president Liz Magill has resigned following backlash over her testimony about antisemitism
Your thoughts on Penns decision to refrain from making public statements about world events unless they directly affect Penn?
Its important to say it, but there will be a lot of gray areas, and it will be really important to navigate those. There are going to be as many hard cases as there are easy cases, and thats judgment. I think Larry has good judgment. Theres no substitute for good judgment.
READ MORE: Penn says it will no longer respond publicly to world events, unless they directly affect the university
What are you planning to do on sabbatical?
I am thinking about doing research on something Ive never done before, which is a memoir of my fathers fleeing from Nazi Germany and my returning, the trajectory
Writing your familys story?
Yeah. Its kind of rejecting and reclaiming roots. But its also a story about my mother and how my parents met. He was invited to a dance at a hotel in New York, and an attractive young woman came up to him. He was an eligible bachelor, and she said, Im a society reporter. Could I interview you?
He said, Sure. And he asked her to dance, and then he asked her out, and she said, I will be happy to go out with you, but I have to tell you Im not a society reporter. I was just pretending to get into this dance.
They were married a few weeks later. She went back with him to Bombay, India. I was conceived in India and born in the United States.
File: N'Namdee Nelson has been elected president of the Camden school advisory board, replacing Wasim Muhammad who resigned two weeks ago amid a civil sexual assault case involving a former student when he was her teacher. Read more
The Camden school advisory board elected a new president to replace former leader Wasim Muhammad, who resigned two weeks ago amid the fallout from a civil sex abuse lawsuit involving a former student that cost the district millions.
Without debate, the board voted 7-0 Tuesday to tap NNamdee Nelson as president. He had served as vice president of the nine-member board. Nelson also served as acting president when Muhammad took a leave of absence in January while the lawsuit was pending.
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READ MORE: The embattled Camden school advisory board president has resigned after months of protests
Also announced at the meeting was the departure of board member Nyemiah Gillespie. In her resignation letter, Gillespie said her resignation came from a place of deep disappointment, including the actions of the former board president.
My love for Camden runs deep, and my passion for advocating for children and their education has always been at the forefront of my commitment, Gillespie wrote. I believe it is essential for my well-being and that of my family to take some time to focus on my mental health.
Gillespie was on vacation and declined to comment further Wednesday. In a Facebook post, she said she was looking forward to the next chapter that God has planned for me. Her term was scheduled to expire in January 2026.
The board elected Jeanette Alvarez as vice president in a 7-0 vote.
The board has 65 days to fill the vacancies through appointments, said spokesperson Sheena Yera. Applications will be posted soon on the districts website.
Nelson sought to change the discourse that has plagued recent board meetings. Before Muhammads resignation, protesters disrupted the two meetings that Muhammad attended so that no business could be conducted.
We may not always agree on everything, but when we are able to communicate with one another respectfully, a lot more gets done, Nelson said. You have a committed board up here that is willing to work.
A board in disarray
The board has been in disarray since a lawsuit was filed against Muhammad by a former student alleging he sexually assaulted her when he was her teacher in 1994.
In the 2021 civil lawsuit, the student, Salema Hicks Robinson, accused Muhammad of sexually abusing her when he was her social studies teacher at Cooper B. Hatch Middle School. She said the abuse began when she was 14.
A six-member jury in May found that Muhammad, formerly known as Donnie Walker, had not sexually abused Robinson, but recklessly or intentionally committed extreme and outrageous conduct upon her.
Robinson, 45, was awarded $1.6 million, which was increased to $2 million under a settlement. The case cost the school system more than $800,000 in legal fees.
Muhammad has denied any wrongdoing and said he resigned because his tenure had become a distraction.
Because the Camden school system is under a state takeover, the board serves in an advisory capacity and has no real authority. Decisions are made by state Superintendent Katrina T. McCombs.
Here are some other takeaways from the meeting.
Struggles in graduation proficiency
McCombs announced New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment results that show Camden students continue to struggle in language arts and math.
Only 34% of 11th graders passed the language arts portion, compared with 82% statewide, she said. For math, 8.3% of Camden students met the standard, compared with 55% statewide, she said.
The test was administered last spring to juniors statewide and is required to graduate with the class of 2025. Students will get another chance to take the test, and students who fail the exam can still graduate through an alternative assessment or a portfolio appeals process.
McCombs said the district offered a graduation exam boot camp in July for rising seniors.
New Jersey is one of only 11 states that continue to require exit exams to graduate from high school. A state law on the books since 1979 mandates a high school exit exam.
READ MORE: Should New Jersey drop its high school graduation exam for good?
Harassment and bullying incidents
McCombs also released the latest tallies of incidents of harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB) in Camden schools. Districts are required by the state to provide those findings to the public twice a year.
Between January and June, 49 HIB incidents were investigated, McCombs said. Nine incidents, all occurring at K-8 schools, were substantiated, she said. There were no incidents reported at the districts high schools.
McCombs said disciplinary action taken included counseling, detention, and parent conferences. The district also has programs to promote social-emotional learning, peer relationships, and a safe climate and culture.
Although New Jersey has some of the toughest anti-bullying laws in the country, a state report in March found that bullying is on the rise in the states public schools, with an alarming number of students turning to social media to spread rumors or threaten classmates.
Cyberbullying increased from 15% of all bullying incidents in 2018-19 to 37% in 2021-22, according to the report by the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Task Force. It was second to verbal bullying, which accounted for 44% of incidents. Cyberbullying can take place on digital devices through emails, text messages, and social media.
READ MORE: Bullying in N.J. schools has jumped to its highest level ever, state report finds
The Upper Darby school board voted unanimously Tuesday to implement weapons detection systems at its high school and two middle schools, after parents implored the district to take action following the discoveries of a loaded gun and AR-style magazine at the high school earlier this month.
Addressing the board before a special voting session devoted to considering the new systems, parents said they feared their children were at risk in the 4,400-student high school, and supported any measures that would reduce the chances of a weapon making its way into the building.
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I just want him to be able to feel safe in the school, parent Eboni Darden said of her son. If other parents wont stop their children from getting access to weapons, Darden said, she wanted to be sure we have something in place.
The Evolv systems, which use artificial intelligence to detect possible weapons, will cost the district more than $1.1 million over four years with close to $920,000 in costs the first year.
Their implementation will require a significant adjustment, Superintendent Daniel McGarry told board members: At the high school, administrators anticipate it will likely take 40 to 60 minutes to process students through the detection systems. The detectors can be set off by items like Chromebooks, three-ring binders, and eyeglass cases; officials expect 400 to 600 searches a day will need to be conducted, until students get used to the systems and learn which items need to be removed while going through the lanes.
Searches will be conducted in a separate area, McGarry said. The district will use existing staff members to manage the new process, redirecting them from another system for students to scan their IDs upon entering the schools. (McGarry said the district would still have hall monitors to address the prospect of non-Upper Darby students entering the buildings.)
Parents like Christine Boggi said safety trumped logistical concerns. I dont care how much this costs, this is very, very important, said Boggi, who has a child in the autistic support program and said she was terrified in light of the recent incidents.
Not the first time
The conversation about adding weapons detection in Upper Darby isnt new; previous proposals had been rejected by the school board out of concerns about the psychological impact on children.
Some community members continued to express opposition Tuesday. I dont believe treating the entire community of children like potential criminals is the best way, said Edward Ganges. He said installing the systems will tell them they are not good enough to respect themselves, to reject deviant behavior on their own.
Others said the historically cash-strapped district had better uses for the money and warned against an overreaction to the recent incidents, which spurred lock-ins at the high school on Sept. 3 and Sept. 13 and further searches for weapons in the building.
McGarry said the weapons system proposal was not just the result of those incidents but other adult and student conduct that takes place outside our schools and, unfortunately, makes its way inside our schools. He told community members Tuesday that administrators were responding to threats 24/7.
Community members in favor of the systems said that they had become an unfortunate part of everyday life in other venues like airports and stadiums and that it was time for Upper Darby to follow suit. Some who have been pressing for more security also said they were tired of pleading for their safety.
Being in the high school when there is a gun in the building, and youre there? Your butts not there. Im sitting in there, said Amy Sandman, a staff member at the high school, addressing opponents of the proposal. And Im not going to be a sitting duck for your feelings any longer.
Caletta is the lounge attached to Bastia at Hotel Anna & Bel, 1401 E. Susquehanna Ave. Read more
Peter Martin is keeping the lights down at Izzys, the snug izakaya he opened last weekend in Ardmore, as he targets a Main Line audience that might otherwise head into the city for that kind of atmosphere. Its a contrast to the Ripplewood, his more energetic bar-restaurant two doors away.
In Fishtown, Form-Function Hospitality and Foyer Project are soft-opening Caletta, a cozy sister lounge to the new Mediterranean restaurant Bastia at the Hotel Anna & Bel which already has its own bar.
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Candles the real ones, not those battery-powered gizmos seem to be back. Perhaps this is the finale of social distancing. I wanted to create a spot post-COVID that I would want to eat at and drink at, said chef Chad Rosenthal, who soon will open Mary, a tavern in Ambler, with candles but no TVs. When its dim, people lean in to talk and lean in to eat. They are more present.
There seem to be more bars of a similar mindset on the way. Management plans to limit the lumens at venues big and small, including Mona, a luxe Mediterranean restaurant-nightspot due to open in October at 13th and Chestnut Streets; Enigma Sky, a nightspot on Delaware Avenue, on tap for fall; the Newsroom, a lounge behind a secret door penciled in for fall in Northern Liberties; and Lillians, a corner bar up for 2025 at 19th and Mifflin Streets in South Philadelphia.
READ MORE: 11 of our favorite secret bars in Philly
Izzys. Peter Martin, who owns the Ripplewood in Ardmore (as well as Ardmore Music Hall), has modeled his new 24-seater on the SG Club in Tokyo, with distressed tiles and a coffered ceiling. Where the Ripp two doors away is all about whiskey, Izzys focuses on sake and offers a menu of handrolls and bao buns.
The bar, with its chatty bartenders, generates energy, but you can settle into seats in the window or snag one of the two-seat tables along the wall (dubbed Tables 69 and 420) for a matcha-tini (lemongrass shochu, aloe, and chartreuse). Drinks are $15 to $18.
Izzys shares the Ripplewoods kitchen, where chef Biff Gottehrer and sous chef Su Djong create $15 handrolls filled with XO scallops, mao mao, or live red king salmon, and $16 bao buns (the birria is nearly sandwich-size). That and a few vegetable dishes (miso soup, edamame, seaweed salad, and spicy cucumbers) round out the menu.
Izzys, 35 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore. Hours: 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, 4 to 10 p.m. Thursday to Saturday.
Caletta. Theres a rustic elegance to this eight-stool lounge tucked behind Bastia, with grand windows and doors that fling out onto a leafy, very un-Fishtown patio and pool. As time goes by, expect a piano bar featuring both local and visiting musicians.
Chef Tyler Akins small-plate menu, informed by Sardinia and southern Italy, includes Italian sturgeon caviar with pane carasau and a colatura-cured egg yolk in a fines herbes salad; a burger with grass-fed bavette, roasted tomato, balsamic aioli, and Perrystead Moonrise cheese; and rib eye spiedini with walnut pesto and grilled radicchio.
Beverage director Benjamin Kirks drinks list is ambitious. Cicero Cant Hang has honeynut squash and turmeric leaf-infused genever, aquavit, creme de cacao, LHerboriste tea, amari, bitter honey simple syrup, and lemon. Saturn Descent mixes Amaro Pasubio, St. George aged rye gin, yuzu sake, a pomegranate and umeboshi cordial, Mirto (a myrtle liqueur), shiso, and BBQ bitters. Drinks are $18 to $22. There is a decent nonalcoholic list, too.
Caletta at Hotel Anna & Bel, 1401 E. Susquehanna Ave. Hours: 4 to 11 p.m. Thursday to Saturday (walk-in only). Bastias hours: 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday, 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday.
If the latest crop of bars and lounges is any indication, we may be seeing the grand finale of social distancing. Candlelight is in. Also this week, theres been a shakeup at a Center City restaurant, South Jersey landmark the Pub is packing them in again, and a Bucks County restaurant has given up its vegetarian menu. Read on for a slate of news, including new doings at Picnic and a flashback to the splashiest restaurant ever in Port Richmond.
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Mike Klein
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Candlelit elegance seems to be in vogue at a new crop of bars. Maybe this return to intimacy is a sign that social distancing is over. Last weekends opening of Izzys in Ardmore and the imminent opening of Caletta in Fishtown are only part of this trend.
Here are 11 lounges and bars in Philly you might enjoy that is, if you can find them.
After 56 years, Michael Galasso has packed up his salad bowl and cooking pans his Bucks County restaurant, Michaels, has closed. Hes about to turn 85, and thinks hes finally ready to retire. The tableside Caesar salad and steak Diane? Chefs kiss. I dropped by on his final night.
The Pub in Pennsauken, around since the 1950s, reopened Friday after a summertime hiatus. David Gelman, whose family owns this medieval monument of meat, said his staff served 750 dinners on that first knight, er, night.
The third annual Fishtown Falls Feastivale will pack more than 125 restaurants, breweries, and artisans along Frankford Avenue on Saturday, and Henry Savage explains this combo of family-friendly food festival and Frankford Halls Oktoberfest which will see roughly 30,000 attendees.
Food trucks parked late at night along Girard Avenue have sparked controversy in Fishtown. Now, the Fishtown District and the city have put together an overnight market with six trucks in the lot near the Fillmore, serving food till 4 a.m. four nights a week.
Libertine > Fia
Libertine has wrapped a six-year run at the Fairfield Inn & Suites at 13th and Spruce Streets, coinciding with last weekends retirement of chef Derek Davis (shown above) after a five-decade career that started at Hoagie City in Center City and included Apropos in the 1980s, along with a stellar run during Manayunks glory days in the 1990s/early 2000s (Sonoma, Dereks, Kansas City Prime, Arroyo Grille, Carmellas, River City Diner, Fish on Main).
The lights will not be out for long, as restaurateurs Felicia Wilson and chef Darryl Harmon of Amina and BlackHen in Old City will redecorate and open the 80-seat bistro on Friday as Fia, with an Afro-Latin menu. (Sample dishes: seafood tower, dressed-in-pink deviled eggs for $9; shrimp ceviche for $20; wood-fired grilled oysters for $18; crab potpie bisque for $18; crab cake pops for $22; and braised Caribbean oxtails with Jimmy Red grits for $46). At the start, Fia will be open from 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 5-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Weekend brunch will follow.
Wilson and Harmon (below) have two more on the way: the nearly 260-seat Avana, opening by late October in the east tower of Park Towne Place on the Parkway, and the 118-seat Amina Ocean, targeting late spring or early summer at 41st and Market Streets.
Scoops
Primary Plant Based, chef Mark McKinneys vegan BYOB on Girard Avenue near Second Street, has announced that it is closing after three years. Saturday the 28th, well have a little going-away party, McKinney wrote on Instagram. Lets call it a celebration of life. Probably from 3-7 or so. This will be free, BUTif youd like to leave a tip/donation to help tidy up payroll and contribute to our massive debt, back rent, and incoming legal issues, yes, please.
Picnic, the outdoor-vibe restaurant/wine shop in Kensington from Defined Hospitality that opened in July, has made some changes. In sum: Its added all-day service on Saturday and Sunday from noon-10 p.m.; there are now seats at the bar, and with that, happy hour is 5-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday with $1.50 oysters, $5 draft beers, and $9 cocktails and wines by the glass. Takeout service is now offered Sunday-Thursday, and, perhaps the biggest news of all, the QR code ordering has given way to full service.
Restaurant report
Spread Bagelrys Newtown Square location. The fast-spreading Spread Bagelry is keeping the wood-fired oven burning later in the day at its new location in Newtown Squares Ellis Preserve development.
It has added a menu of focaccia sandwiches and corresponding salads (priced lower), served 4-8 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. Shown below is the fried eggplant sandwich ($18), with olive tapenade, baby arugula, roasted red peppers, and garlic aioli. Spread also sells sliced focaccia (rosemary or plain) with dips: whipped ricotta, whipped feta, and pimento ($10 each, or a flight of dips for $14).
This location also has a tie-in with La Colombe Coffee; the dessert offerings include affogato, plus fried bagel holes. Theres plenty of seating indoors, as well as the landscaped common patio outside.
Spread Bagelry, 102 Squire Dr, Newtown Square. Hours: 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.
Federal Donuts & Chicken. The first suburban brick-and-mortar location will open at 7 a.m. Friday at 232 Radnor-Chester Rd. in Radnor, the former HipCityVeg. More locations are on their way under franchise operators: 4021 Welsh Rd. in Willow Grove (a former Jamba Juice at Willow Grove Pointe); 200 Ridge Pike in Conshohocken (next to Saladworks in Plymouth Square Shopping Center); and Marlton Square on Route 73 in Marlton.
Brynn Bradley Cheesesteaks. The Woodbury location has closed after four years as its planning to relocate to 1006 Mantua Pike (College Square Plaza on Route 45) in Woodbury Heights.
Briefly noted
Gurus Indian Cuisines move to a vegetarian menu was not well-received. The butter chicken is back at the Bucks County bar-restaurant and so are the customers.
Human Robots satellite space at Schuylkill Banks (2401 Walnut St.) will be open and serving its beer lineup on Monday nights through Oct. 28, while vermouth specialist Fell to Earth of East Falls will run a vermouth bar; winery Vox Vineti of Christiana, Pa., will offer wines; and Little Fish of Bella Vista will serve a rotating menu of small bites. The weekly pop-up, running 5-9 p.m., is pay as you go.
The chefs from South Phillys Paffuto Daniel Griffiths, Jake Loeffler, and Sam Kalkut will join Eric Leveillee, executive chef at Lacroix at the Rittenhouse, for a one-time multi-course dinner at the Rittenhouse Square restaurant on Oct. 6. Three limited seatings, with only 10 guests per turn, will start at 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30 p.m. at $125pp plus tax and tip, with an optional beverage pairing available. Reservations via Lacroixs Resy page.
East Passyunk Avenue will run First Friday art walks starting Oct. 4 from 5 to 9 p.m. between the 1300 and 1900 blocks of East Passyunk with various participating businesses. Subsequent outings will be Nov. 1 and Dec. 6.
Wine writer Marnie Old has found a good value for your cabernet sauvignon snobs.
Why might your cup of coffee be more expensive? Blame the heat and drought in Brazil and Vietnam.
Pop quiz
Wawa recently opened its first store in central Pennsylvania, aka Sheetz country. What kind of creature is Wawas mascot, Wally?
A) a goose
B) a turtle
C) a walrus
D) a ruffed grouse
Find out if you know the answer.
Ask Mike anything
My wife and I moved back to Philly six years ago after 25 years in New Jersey to raise a family. Since our return, we have been wracking our brains about the name of a restaurant we ate at before we were married, in the late 80s maybe early 90s. It was a steakhouse located on Delaware Avenue in a warehouse building lots of exposed brick, high ceilings and black-and-white photos of old Hollywood legends. Know what it was? Michael and Bonnie K.
That was Babes, which was in Imperial Plaza (3400 Aramingo Ave.) from 1988 till 1992. Developer Frederick Babe Kozlowski created the grand steakhouse with live music as an ode to his native Port Richmond. One newspaper columnist at the time said his tab for a steak dinner for two, including drinks and tip, was a princely $78.58. Thats $209.10 in 2024 dollars now a relative bargain. (For more background, I clipped you a Jim Quinn column from Inquirer Magazine.) The Babes space, incidentally, is now an IHOP.
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Sanitation workers remove items during the clearing of an encampment of people with addiction on Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia in May. The city is appealing the decision of a state committee to reject its spending of opioid settlement funds on neighborhood revitalization projects. Read more
A state committee ruled last summer that Philadelphia shouldnt have spent opioid settlement funds on a revitalization program that repaired homes, schools, and parks in Kensington, the beleaguered neighborhood at the heart of the citys opioid crisis.
The city has appealed that decision, arguing that evidence shows such initiatives would help combat a cycle of addiction and overdose deaths by addressing the trauma the neighborhood has long faced. Next week, the Pennsylvania Opioid Trust will meet again to reconsider its decision in the dispute.
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The trust was set up to oversee how local governments spend hundreds of millions in funds allocated to them from lawsuits against the pharmaceutical companies that manufactured, marketed, and sold the opioid painkillers widely blamed for fueling an ongoing overdose crisis. Philadelphia is set to receive about $200 million from the settlement, paid in $20 million increments over 18 years.
In June, the trust rejected $7.5 million spent by Philadelphia city officials on the Kensington Plan. The plan aimed to aid residents of the neighborhood, long home to one of the nations largest open-air drug markets. The members of the state committee ruled such spending did not fall under the approved uses of the funds as outlined in the settlement.
The trust can reduce or withhold future opioid settlement payments if it determines that a county is spending funds outside the settlements purview. Counties can appeal those decisions. If the decision stands, municipalities have three months to cure the misspending before the trust would reduce or withhold funds.
Appealing the trusts decision
In Philadelphias appeal, obtained by The Inquirer on Tuesday, city officials argued that the projects funded in Kensington were designed to alleviate trauma among residents that can leave them at higher risk for overdoses, citing studies showing links between drug addiction and having witnessed crime, violence, and disorder in a neighborhood.
Put simply, an entire body of research and recommendations from leaders in the field indicate that community-focused interventions are one of our most effective tools at preventing [substance use disorder and overdose], the document submitted by the city read. Keli McLoyd, the acting director of the citys Opioid Response Unit, coordinated the appeal.
For example, the city wrote, settlement money funded an initiative that gave Kensington residents up to $5,000 per household to pay rent for housing in an effort to prevent homelessness, which can lead to substance use disorder. Another initiative to support small businesses was aimed at reducing vacant lots in the neighborhood. City officials said that studies link vacant properties to an increased risk of crime and violence.
The city argued that the opioid settlements Exhibit E, which lays out how communities can spend settlement dollars, encourages them to take a broad approach to funding programs to prevent drug use.
The exhibit includes a list of 12 types of evidence-based prevention programs that communities can fund, but also notes that communities are not limited to those uses, the city said in its appeal.
Its unclear how the trust will vote at its meeting on the appeal, set for Oct. 3.
A spokesperson for trust member State Sen. Christine Tartaglione, a Democrat whose district includes Kensington, declined to comment, noting the senator sits on the subcommittee that will hear Philadelphias appeal next week. Tartaglione previously voted against approving Philadelphias spending on the Kensington Plan.
On Friday, Tartaglione and another trust member, State Sen. Greg Rothman (R., Perry), toured Kensington. The Kensington Voice reported that Rothman said he didnt realize how the opioid crisis had affected the neighborhood and felt differently about his vote against the Kensington Plan spending after seeing the area.
If you had asked me this morning how many kids live in Kensington, I wouldve said, There are no kids in Kensington, he told the Voice. I just saw [a school] a half a block from where we were walking.
Questions about transparency
In its appeal, the city also criticized the trusts lack of transparency. A working group made up of five members of the trusts board deliberated Philadelphias spending in a session that was closed to the public, the city noted.
The trust has been criticized for its use of private working groups. Transparency advocates and attorneys also have raised concerns that its not appropriate to hold such meetings in private, Spotlight PA and WESA have reported.
And in March, Rothman wrote a letter to the trusts chair saying that he was not sure the working groups could legitimately meet in private under state transparency laws.
Board members also expressed a subjective preference for programs that target individuals or include just-say-no type strategies, the appeal read.
Trust committee members also discussed how Philadelphia has other lawsuits pending against opioid manufacturers and may receive funds beyond those controlled by the trust, the city said. That is outside the boards purview, the city said.
Rather than determining whether [the Kensington Plan] funded evidence-based or evidence-informed practices to prevent opioid misuse and addiction in compliance with the Courts Order, the working group members imposed their own views of appropriate expenditures, the appeal read.
Editors note: This article has been updated to clarify why State Sen. Christine Tartaglione declined to comment on the appeal.
The facade of the federal courthouse in Center City Philadelphia, photographed in November 2020. Read more
The former head of Milwaukees school board was sentenced to two years in prison Wednesday for accepting more than $18,000 in bribes from a onetime executive at a Philadelphia-based charter school nonprofit founded by music legend Kenny Gamble.
Michael Bonds, who oversaw the citys schools from 2007 to 2018, chalked up his willingness to accept payoffs from Rahim Islam, former CEO of Universal Cos., as a bad decision one that ended up hurting the school district hed been elected to represent.
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But as U.S. District Judge Gerald A. McHugh fashioned Bonds punishment Wednesday, he credited a better choice the former administrator had made: his early decision to plead guilty and to testify against his onetime benefactor, helping prosecutors secure Islams conviction earlier this year.
Theres no question that Dr. Bonds has an inspiring life story, and he overcame great hardship to rise to a position of prominence, McHugh said shortly before announcing his sentence. And theres no question hes done a lot of good for the Milwaukee community.
Still, McHugh continued, addressing Bonds, a price had to be paid for criminal conduct.
Whats serious about this offense is the betrayal of public trust a betrayal because you overcame so much and the power and influence [you held] affected so many across the city of Milwaukee, the judge said.
Bonds, 66, emerged as a key government witness at Islams trial in March, offering testimony that ultimately led jurors to conclude that the former executive had embezzled more than a half-million dollars from Gambles nonprofit, then bribed Bonds as part of a scheme to cover up the cash crunch brought on by that theft.
At the time, Islam had been seeking to expand Universals charter school operations into Milwaukee, hoping they would prove more profitable than the seven financially struggling campuses the company oversaw in Philadelphia.
Bonds backed Universals efforts. And in 2012, the nonprofit was approved to operate two charter schools in the city, though both failed to meet enrollment targets and became, as former employees would later describe them, costly money pits.
Still, Bonds backed Islams request in 2014 to open a third Milwaukee campus, and two years later voted to defer $1 million in payments Universal owed on a district-owned property it was leasing for one of its schools.
All the while, Bonds has since acknowledged, he was accepting bribes from Islam, disguised as payments for books and art to a company Bonds owned that had not had a legitimate sale since 1994.
I wanted to do the right thing, Bonds later told jurors of his decision to flip on Islam, by telling the truth about what happened.
In the end, none of the expansions or concessions Bonds obtained for Universal helped put the nonprofits Wisconsin venture in the black.
Prosecutors have described the entire foray into Milwaukee as a disaster for everyone associated with it.
Universal lost money, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Dubnoff wrote in court filings last year, and in the middle of the 2016 and 2017 school year, [it] terminated its contract to provide charter services and never paid its deferred lease payments back.
In court Wednesday, Bonds acknowledged the district had lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the deal, due, in large part, to his actions.
Still, he and defense lawyer Franklyn M. Gimbel sought to shift blame to Islam, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in July.
I got caught up in all the hype of things [he said] he was going to do to help the neighborhood, Bonds said. But my activity did the opposite it ended up having a negative impact on the district.
At one point during his address to the court, Bonds said he should have been more up-front about the vendor issue posed by his relationship with Islam.
McHugh later corrected him.
It wasnt a vendor issue, the judge said, you were taking bribes.
Three people in Atlantic County have been charged with running an unlicensed marijuana production operation that used three houses to grow more than 4,000 plants that prosecutors said were potentially worth millions of dollars.
Hanzi Chen, 47; Suxia Li, 41; and Deng Huan Hong, 50, were arrested on Sept. 16 in Buena Borough and charged with first-degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and first-degree maintaining a narcotics production facility, the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office announced Tuesday.
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Their arrests came after a three-month investigation conducted by the New Jersey State Police Marijuana Eradication Team South, prosecutors said.
New Jersey State Police, along with police from two local departments, executed search warrants on the three houses in Buena, a town of about 4,500, and found the properties had been converted into sophisticated marijuana grow sites equipped with lighting, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, growth nutrients, water supply, and grow space, prosecutors said.
The defendants lived at the houses and did not have licenses for medical or recreational cannabis businesses, prosecutors said.
The defendants were being held at the Atlantic County Justice Facility pending detention hearings scheduled for Wednesday.
Scenes from Ocean City on the weekend of the end of summer and first day of autumn at the Jersey Shore Saturday Sept. 21, 2024. Gillian's Wonderland Pier rises above the dunes at 6th and the Boardwalk. The park that has been in the family for 94 years will close for good on October 13. Read more
OCEAN CITY, N.J. Alas, the sands in the hourglass of the beloved Gillians Wonderland Pier are running out. Oct. 13 will be the last day for watching your little ones take a spin in the boats and fire trucks, ride on the Wacky Worm roller coaster, or hey, why not, go yourself for a final ride in the swings.
Tentatively hinted at by park owner Jay Gillian, the mayor of Ocean City, since he broke peoples hearts in August and announced the pier would be closing, the Oct. 13 date was confirmed this week by developer Eustace Mita, who owns the land at 600 Boardwalk, assessed at $12.7 million, and controls its fate.
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Heres what you need to know about the forever closing of Gillians Wonderland Pier in Ocean City.
Is it really the end?
Its definitely the end of the Gillians involvement in Wonderland Pier. The Gillian family has been running amusements of one sort or another in Ocean City for 94 years, and Jay Gillian, the third-generation owner who is also Ocean Citys mayor, has reached the end of his rope.
Prior to closing the park, Gillian had been on complicated and shaky personal and professional financial footing.
He wrote in a letter that Wonderland Pier was no longer viable. He blamed Gov. Phil Murphy for increasing the minimum wage in New Jersey; Hurricane Sandy, which doubled his payroll; the pandemic; insurance costs; and a failed expansion into Sea Isle. In a recent ward meeting held at Tabernacle Baptist Church, he said he had tried his hardest but couldnt make it work.
If not for Eustace Mita saving the place from a sheriffs sale when it had defaulted on $8 million in loans, Gillian said, it would have already been a dirt lot.
What are the hours for the last day?
Posted fall hours for the park are Fridays 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturdays 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Sundays 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. A recording heard when you call the pier confirms the final day as Sunday, Oct. 13, so, weather permitting, Gillians Wonderland Pier will close for good at 6 p.m. that day.
What about my unused ticket credits?
Seems like everybodys got a bunch loaded onto a Gillians card theyve been carrying around for years. Never expires! Selling them probably wont work anymore, as many people are just giving them away. Ventnor resident Kelly Morgan, a teacher married to a firefighter, has been collecting them to give away to families for a final trip to Wonderland.
What has been the fallout from the closing?
People are heartbroken to lose such a defining Ocean City institution and experience, one they assumed theyd be able to pass on to the next generation. Many are trying to save the most beloved and historic of the rides, including the iconic kiddie rides, and the carousel and Ferris wheel.
People packed a ward meeting called by Councilman Keith Hartzell. Hartzell said that hes been in touch with Mita, who owns the Icona brand of Resort Hotels, and that he understands the importance of the rides to the city. Many of those most upset about the closing have joined a Facebook group called Save Our Boardwalks.
So what does Mita have planned?
Mita is a hotel guy and has previously proposed a $150 million resort hotel on the Ocean City Boardwalk. But to do that on the Wonderland property, hed need the city council to change the current zoning. Hartzell says its possible to envision a hybrid: a hotel that manages to incorporate some of the rides from Wonderland Pier.
Mita says hes taking six months to consider all his options.
As a basic premise, one should not vote for a congressional candidate who played a central role in a conspiracy to overturn a free and fair presidential election. Especially if that congressman spread lies about fraud and voted against certifying the 2020 election results.
A further disqualification is if said congressman ignored a subpoena from the very House body where they are a member. Or if they sent dozens of emails to the White House as part of a coup attempt, and then sought a presidential pardon.
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Another red flag for voters is when the FBI appeared with a search warrant and seized the congressmans cell phone as part of an ongoing federal investigation.
Given the serious business of Congress, voters should avoid candidates who vote against aid for allies, dismiss climate change, and dabble in conspiracy theories such as claiming, without any evidence, that ISIS was involved in a mass shooting in Las Vegas where investigators determined the gunman acted alone.
The same goes for any congressman who spreads racist lies about white Americans being replaced by Black and brown immigrants. Or compared Democrats to Nazis.
Any congressman who voted against a resolution to award the Congressional Gold Medal to police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack is unfit to serve.
The list of un-American activities goes on, but any voters still on the fence about whether to support such a disgraced congressman should be aware that this same congressman recently posted an antisemitic meme on his Facebook page.
All of this brings us to Republican Rep. Scott Perry, who is up for reelection in the 10th Congressional District and checks all the above boxes. If Perry had any decency or a conscience, he would have resigned after his actions came to light.
Perry declined to meet with the Editorial Board to defend his indefensible actions.
Fortunately, voters in Perrys district, which includes Harrisburg and York, have a qualified alternative. Even better, Perrys opponent supports the Constitution, the rule of law, and the peaceful transfer of power.
Janelle Stelson is a former longtime anchor at WGAL-TV in south-central Pennsylvania. She covered the district as a reporter for years and knows the strengths and needs of the people who live there.
Best of all, Stelson, a longtime Republican who recently changed her registration to Democrat, is not a career politician but understands the true meaning of public service.
She supports a 12-year term limit for members of Congress. If elected, she promised not to serve beyond that time even if such a provision is not in place.
Stelson also supports a ban on members of Congress owning individual stocks to avoid trading on inside information or influencing public policy. She also supports a ban on elected officials going to work as lobbyists once they leave office.
During a meeting with this board, Stelson explained that she was moved to run for Congress after reporting on big issues such as gun violence, the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
I needed to move from the public service of telling about our concerns and issues, and shining a bright light on problems, to actually trying to get down to Washington, raise my right hand, and do something about them, she said.
The 10th District leans Republican. But Stelsons commonsense approach on issues such as border security, foreign aid for allies, and lowering the cost of living for average Americans makes her perfectly suited to represent her constituents.
I dont think Republicans and Democrats are so different, she said. Everybody wants a better life.
Perry, on the other hand, is part of the chaos, division, and hate Donald Trump has inspired. He is more focused on serving Trump than following the Constitution or representing the taxpayers in his district.
Stelson will restore honor, decency, and common sense to the 10th District. The Inquirer endorses Janelle Stelson for Congress.
Mayor Victor Carstarphen with Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021. Murphys administration has approved a Camden bill that lifts a cap on the amount of taxpayer money that can be allocated toward current and former officials legal defense. Read more
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphys administration has approved a Camden decision to lift a cap on the amount of taxpayer money that can be allocated toward current and former officials legal defense.
The legislation, which passed Camden City Council earlier this month, prompted backlash from some residents and activists who said it appeared designed to benefit former Mayor Dana L. Redd, who was indicted in June on state racketeering charges alongside South Jersey Democratic power broker George E. Norcross III.
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After passing City Council, the measure went to the state Department of Community Affairs, which is led by Commissioner Jacquelyn A. Suarez, a Murphy appointee. The department oversees Camdens finances under a law that is set to expire in January 2025. The citys $214 million budget for 2024 anticipates $131 million in state aid.
Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen signed the legislation last week, according to a city spokesperson. It will take effect after the city publishes notice of the law.
The ordinance would authorize reasonable attorneys fees for current and former public officials in certain circumstances. That is a change from existing law, enacted in 2002, which set a maximum rate of $125 an hour, according to city officials.
As in the existing ordinance, the new one would allow the city attorney to refuse to provide defense if he or she determines, among other things, that the act for which the official is being prosecuted was because of actual fraud, willful misconduct, or actual malice.
The state will not approve any current or former employees legal fees unless the criminal case resolves in a manner favorable to the employee meaning the charges are dropped or the person is found not guilty, according to Murphy administration officials. During City Council meetings, some Camden residents spoke out against a provision of the ordinance that indicated the city would cover employees legal fees before the resolution of any criminal proceeding. The ordinance added that Camden could seek to claw back the fees if the person is found guilty.
Murphy administration officials said Camdens new reasonable standard is consistent with the law in other municipalities that receive transitional aid from the state.
Lisa Ryan, a DCA spokesperson, said Wednesday that the ordinance provides important revisions to Camdens existing law, including the payment of reasonable attorneys fees and requiring employees benefiting from its provisions to execute a cooperation or indemnification agreement with the city.
In our conversations with the city, we have been assured that the principles of common law, which only permit the indemnification of defense costs when it has been determined that the official executed his/her duties as authorized by law and in good faith, will be adhered to, Ryan said in a statement.
Without such a finding subsequent to a favorable resolution of the criminal action, she said, this office cannot approve any authorization of legal fee payments for any current or former employee.
Under the Municipal Rehabilitation and Economic Recovery Act, the state would be required to approve any Camden resolution seeking to reimburse a current or former employees legal fees, Ryan said. That law expires in January but could be renewed.
Antoinette Miles, state director of the New Jersey Working Families Party, said it was disappointing to see the ordinance move forward. However, understanding that DCA is going to have continued oversight, we hope and expect the city will adhere to the states guidance, Miles said.
Redds attorney, Henry Klingeman, has declined to say whether Redd intends to seek reimbursement from the city. Redd, who served as mayor from 2010 to 2018, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
This article has been updated to include additional context from Murphy administration officials.
Mike Long and Nicole Fitzgerald of Foxlane Homes, on the hillside site in the Glenmoore section of Wallace Township, Chester County, where their company has begun constructing 36 single-family homes. The Estates at Stonecliff is one of several upscale housing developments proposed or under construction along Devereux Road. Read more
Its not unusual this time of year to see a truck bearing freshly baled hay slowly make its way along Fairview Road in Wallace Townships Glenmoore section.
Called The Village by locals, Glenmoore is similar to countless other hamlets that once dotted rural Chester County. Its a community of two-lane roads and beautiful vistas, largely unchanged and thriving along with the suburban-style residential neighborhoods that continue to be built nearby.
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The latest development is The Estates at Stonecliff, 36 semi-custom homes on half-acre lots, all but three of them arranged at the crest of a hillside above Devereux Road. Portions of the 73-acre site, formerly known as the Heim Farm, were under cultivation until 2023.
The homes will be nestled up here and [the development] will be surrounded pretty much on all sides by existing woodlands, said Mike Long, production manager for Foxlane Homes, a Mid-Atlantic regional real estate firm headquartered in Fort Washington, Montgomery County.
Its rare to find a community where no homesite backs up to another, sales manager Nicole Fitzgerald said. There will be a lot of privacy. And the views are stunning.
READ MORE: The Philly-area luxury housing market sees bidding wars, strong demand, and fast sales
Prices at The Estates are expected to start at about $1 million.
Location, location, location
The 12 square miles of rolling hills, fields, woodlands, and wetlands that compose what is now Wallace Township were settled by Europeans in the 1600s on land that for centuries had been home to the Lenni Lenape people. The township was created in 1852 and grew slowly until the Pennsylvania Turnpikes expansion from Carlisle to Valley Forge opened in 1950.
Between 1950 and 1990, Wallace Townships population tripled, from 771 to 2541, and rose from 3,240 in 2000 to 3,711 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census.
Since 2020 several large residential developments, including The Estates at Stonecliff and The Trails at Marsh Creek, have been approved, are under construction, or have been proposed for land along what has traditionally been a rural stretch of Devereux Road.
READ MORE: Chester County has the most new housing in Phillys Pennsylvania suburbs
The peak of development in Chester County was from 1980 to before the Great Recession of 2008, said Brian OLeary, executive director of the county Planning Commission.
A lot of developments approved before the recession are now building, he said.
Views from The Village and beyond
Along Creek and Fairview Roads the Villages primary thoroughfares there are three churches, a variety of vintage houses, a volunteer fire company, recreational fields, access to walking trails, and a handful of businesses.
I think more people moving in could be great for our community and for our congregation, said Matthew York, pastor of Faith Alliance Church, in Glenmoore, where hes also a member of the volunteer fire company.
Royce and Julie Dorman opened Mean Bean Coffee & Cream, a coffee, pastry, and ice cream shop, in a vacant Creek Road storefront just after Christmas in 2023.
Business has been great, said Royce Dorman, 39, who grew up in Chester County and spent a dozen years surfing and bartending in California before moving to Glenmoore with his family seven years ago. He did most of the renovations to create Mean Bean from an old delis shell himself.
Dorman cherishes the small-town feel of the Village, where Mean Bean has quickly become a popular gathering place. And he doesnt expect the cozy vibe of the Village to be diluted by the Estates or other new residential developments like it.
Im excited that there will be more people living here, he said. More people mean more customers.
The prospect of more residential development does concern Mean Bean regular Wesley Kaufman, 37, whose two children attend Glenmoores sole elementary school.
We moved here five years ago because of how quiet it was and how much of a sense of community there was, she said.
But now everything seems to be building up, and we dont have the roads to handle it, she said, adding, It feels more and more like were not out in the country.
Sarah and Mike Walls grow and sell flowers at their Make Your Day Design business on Devereux Road, which also is their home.
The couple said they welcome the prospect of new residents and customers, but also have reservations.
Its no surprise that people would want to move here, to such a wonderful place, Mike said.
We love living here, so we get it, said Sarah. But it seems like everywhere I drive, theres a new development going up.
The issue is not new people, but old infrastructure, Mike said.
Hes one of a number of local residents who wondered out loud about the capacity of the Devereux Bridge.
The span was built in 1877 across a tributary of the Brandywine Creek, at the foot of Devereux Road. The heavy equipment at the Estates construction site doesnt use it.
We want to be sure that the township has everyones best interests at heart, Mike said.
The township weighs in
Elise Grashof, assistant manager of Wallace Township, said the Estates at Stonecliff is one of three developments in the same vicinity that were processed by the township around the same time.
The Estates as well as the others considered at the time incorporated the trails, open space, and other features called for in the ordinances, she said.
Grashof also noted that preserving the townships rural character and open space are elements of Wallace Townships Comprehensive Plan.
OLeary, of the county planning commission, also noted that the county has been able to protect 31% of its territory from development or preserve it as farmland. Some of those efforts have involved partnerships with land conservation organizations.
Development pressure, he said, is still here in Chester County.
Its still here and its still coming.
The view from the Estates at Stonecliff
During interviews at the construction site on Devereux Road, Fitzgerald and Long said Foxlane Homes intends to the make the Estates of Stonecliff a part of, and not apart from, the community.
Theyve met with residents of the adjacent Lexington Manor neighborhood and want to be respectful of their, and other local, questions about the project.
There will still be a lot of open space after were done building. There were still be a lot of green space, Long said.
Were only here to make this community better.
There are more and more items hitting the market that are powered by lithium-ion batteries as we move to a green future. Thats terrific on the one hand, but it also comes with emerging risk that our industry needs to understand and continue to learn more about, he said.
With financial services continuing to be the most targeted industry in APJ for web application and API cyberattacks, technology decision makers like chief information security officers must carefully decide where to automate, delegate, and outsource, ensuring scalable security solutions that not only defend assets but also preserve customer loyalty in an increasingly digital world, he said.
The misrepresentations enhanced Vanguards ability to attract investors to the fund and enhanced Vanguards reputation as a provider of investment funds with ESG characteristics, as compared to what would have been the case if Vanguard had accurately disclosed the ESG screening limitations and the funds exposure to issuers engaged in the excluded industries, OBryan said.
Kreuzer commented on the appointment, stating, "Robs promotion will be instrumental in driving the strategic direction of our property reinsurance portfolio in the US alongside myself and Phil Hough. Our US reinsurance team is entering an exciting phase as we expand and enhance our efforts to serve our customers evolving needs."
Gerald Hemphill, PIA national immediate past president and head of the search committee, echoed the sentiment, saying: One of the most exciting things about Mike is his ability to understand what members want from their associations and develop ways to deliver on those unmet needs.
How do we move beyond just talking and start making real changes? she asked. We need to take more concrete steps to include initiatives like NAAIA across the industry, promoting collaboration and uplifting one another, rather than seeing each other as competition.
Our combined team in the Americas will now support more than 200 clients. We are excited to share the benefit of more real-time data and analysis to consider property risks with clients. But even more, were eager to innovate and accelerate the development of tools and services that will drive improved carrier results as underwriters are empowered to make more informed, better decisions, Balakrishnan said.
Insurers have failed to win dismissal of a federal COVID-19 business interruption lawsuit against them by the luxury hotel chain Mandarin Oriental.
Judge John P. Cronan of U.S District Court in New York found that endorsement language about coverage for contagious disease in the hotels special peril policies could support breach of contract claims against the insurers for failing to consider or pay for any business interruption losses.
The judge denied a motion to dismiss the claims that was sought by HDI Global Insurance Co. and Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. He found that the claims should not be dismissed at this stage because the language in the endorsement is not clearly in the insurers favor.
The policies contain a special perils endorsement providing that this policy is extended to cover loss resulting from interruption of or interference with the business carried on by the insured in consequence of infectious or contagious disease manifested by any person while on the premises of the insured or within a radius of 5 miles.
Mandarin claimed that its hotels in Miami, New York, Washington, and Boston were substantially impacted by COVID-19 beginning in February and March 2020. The hotel claims it notified the insurers in March 2020 of its losses but got no response, prompting it to file suit later that year.
Mandarin sought damages and declaratory relief, alleging that HDI and Generali failed to honor their special perils provisions by not paying for business interruption losses Mandarin sustained in consequence of COVID-19 manifestations in persons within a five-mile radius of its four hotels.
In moving to have Mandarins complaint dismissed, HDI and Generali based their argument largely on the purported failure of the complaint to allege a plausible connection between particular COVID-19 cases and any interruption or interference with Mandarins business. According the insurers, the use of the phrase in consequence of in the endorsement establishes a proximity requirement for losses to be covered under the policy and, in particular, the policy requires Mandarin to allege a causal connection between its losses and any person with COVID-19 either on or within 5 miles of a Mandarin Oriental hotel.
Mandarin resisted what it called an attempt to read a narrow causation requirement into the endorsement. According to Mandarin, the endorsement does not require that any specific COVID case be the specific but-for or exclusive cause of the loss.
Mandarin maintained it was sufficient to claim as it did that the first COVID-19 manifestation in someone within a five-mile radius of those hotels occurred between February and March 2020, depending on the hotel.
Judge Cronan found that because the text of the endorsement does not unambiguously support the insurers narrow causation reading, dismissal of Mandarins claims at this pleading stage is not appropriate. While the endorsements in consequence of language certainly imposes some degree of casual relationship, the core question is how far the causal chain reaches, the judge explained.
The judge said one plausible reading of the endorsement is that it merely requires that the business interference or interruption loss be caused by an infectious or contagious disease, with that disease being manifested by any person within a five-mile radius of the hotel. The complaint plainly alleges as much and gives a specific date and losses, he found.
The judge concluded that, at least at the pleading stage, the in consequence of language is not so clear as to impose a demanding causation requirement that would preclude Mandarins breach of contract claim.
In a footnote, the court stated that Mandarins allegations are sufficient by themselves to survive dismissal. But they are bolstered by the city and state COVID-19 closure orders, which were submitted as public records. These public records show that, because of the pandemic, state and local governments ordered business closures and imposed gathering restrictions in the cities where Mandarins four hotels are located.
Mandarins original complaint cited business interruption losses through September 2020 of $69 million, a figure that had grown to more than $220 million by October 2023 when it amended its complaint.
Mandarin purchased all risks commercial lines insurance policies from a group of insurers that included HDI and Generali, under which the insurers had quota share percentages of coverage. HDI was responsible for 25% of coverage, Generali was responsible for 10% of coverage.
The remainder of coverage fell to the other insurance companies that are not party to the lawsuit. Their policies had similar endorsements but also had language clearly defining their liability that was missing from the HDI and Generali policies.
The HDI and Generali endorsements have a $10 million per occurrence sublimit, which Mandarin contended separately applies at each of Mandarins four separate hotel premises. Mandarins policies with the non-party insurers contained the same endorsement, but those policies expressly stated that coverage under the $10 million sublimit would be calculated in the aggregate, and thus limited recovery to a maximum loss liability of the insurers quota share. percentage of coverage, regardless of how many occurrences were alleged by Mandarin.
The judge declined to consider the motion for a declaratory judgment, finding that it was duplicative of Mandarins breach of contract claim.
Topics Trends USA Carriers COVID-19
A Virginia-based construction company converting a Cape Cod hotel into a Margaritaville Resort has reached a settlement with the state of Massachusetts over wage violations affecting 78 workers.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced a settlement with Remby Contractors, LLC, and its owner, Remberto Rodriguez, for violating the rights of employees working on a renovation project at the Cape Codder Hotel in Hyannis. The renovation project is part of the hotels rebranding to Margaritaville Resort Cape Cod, a new location of the nationally recognized hotel chain Margaritaville Hotels and Resorts.
The settlement agreement requires the employer to pay $368,997.55, including $298,997.55 in restitution to impacted workers and $70,000 in penalties.
The settlement resolves the claims by the attorney generals investigators that between September 2023 and April 2024, Remby Contractors violated a range of Massachusetts wage and hour laws. The alleged violations, impacting 78 workers, include nonpayment of minimum wage and overtime, failure to provide pay stubs, misclassification of employees as independent contractors, and failure to track accrual and usage of earned sick time.
As part of the agreement, the company has agreed to comply with all Massachusetts wage and hour laws, along with other state employment laws.
The settlement follows an investigation by the attorney generals Fair Labor Divisions construction field team, a multilingual team of investigators that conducts unannounced visits to construction sites in Massachusetts each week to ensure compliance with the states wage and hour laws.
Topics Contractors
An Ernst & Young (EY) office in western India, which employed a 26-year-old who allegedly died after facing a high workload, has operated since 2007 without a state permit which regulates work hours, a senior government official told Reuters.
EY faces scrutiny in India over the death of audit executive Anna Sebastian Perayil, which her mother blamed on a backbreaking workload in a letter to EY Indias chairman.
The incident has already sparked a federal government investigation.
In a statement late on Tuesday, EY said its global member firm where the inspection happened, SRBC & Co. LLP, was providing its full cooperation to the Ministry of Labour in its investigation. It declined to comment further.
The need for better efforts to shield employees in high-pressure jobs from faltering physical and mental health has been discussed widely after the death of a junior banker at Bank of America in May, and with JPMorgan last week creating a new role to tackle such concerns.
Maharashtras additional labor commissioner, Shailendra Pol, whose team inspected the EY office in the western city of Pune, said it was operating without a mandatory registration under the states Shops and Establishments Act.
The law caps the maximum working hours for adults at nine hours each day and 48 hours each week.
The company applied for a registration with the labor department only in February 2024 and we rejected it because it had not applied since 2007 when it started this office, Pol told Reuters on Tuesday, adding that EY has been given seven days to explain the lapse.
If non-compliance with the law results in an accident causing the serious bodily injury or death of a worker, it could lead to imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of up to 500,000 rupees ($5,979), or both.
Perayils mother, Anita Augustine, alleged her daughter faced overwhelming workload in her letter, which went viral on social media. She worked late into the night, even on weekends, with no opportunity to catch her breath.
EY has previously said that it placed the highest importance on the well-being of all employees and was taking the familys correspondence with the utmost seriousness and humility.
Perayils family has said she died of cardiac arrest.
Pol said his team has also sought details from EY including the companys log book for employee hours, welfare policies and whether Perayil was asked to work excessively during her four months as an associate at the accounting giant.
EY said it works with about 100,000 people at its member firms in India.
($1 = 83.6390 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi; editing by Aditya Kalra and Louise Heavens)
Australias federal court has fined Vanguard Investments Australia Ltd. A$12.9 million ($8.9 million) for making misleading claims about a fund, the highest penalty issued in the country so far over greenwashing.
In March, the court found the investment giant made numerous false or misleading claims surrounding the environmental, social and governance factors of its nearly A$1 billion Ethically Conscious Global Aggregate Bond Index Fund. As well as the fine, Vanguard has been ordered to publish a notice about the misconduct on its website for 12 months.
Vanguard apologizes to its clients for these errors, which were unintentional, a Melbourne-based spokesperson said in an emailed statement, adding that the firm has reviewed relevant internal processes and strengthened procedures, governance, technology and training.
The case was brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission as the watchdog ramps up its focus on environmental claims by companies and money managers. ASIC in August said it had made almost 50 regulatory interventions to address greenwashing in the 15 months through June.
The fine for Vanguard tops the penalty handed to Mercer Superannuation Australia Ltd. in August, which was ordered to pay A$11.3 million after ASIC sued the firm over misleading investors over some sustainable products.
Australia will introduce mandatory climate disclosures from January, and is also developing ESG labeling standards for products being marketed as sustainable.
Photograph: The Capital Wind Farm, operated by Infigen Energy, in Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia, on Sunday, July 21, 2024. Photo credit: Hilary Wardhaugh/Bloomberg
Copyright 2024 Bloomberg.
Topics Claims Australia
The heavy rains and severe floods of Storm Boris, which inundated Central and Eastern Europe during the second week in September, will be the most severe flood event in about a decade, carrying an insurance price tag of an estimated 2.2 billion ($2.5 billion), according to S&P Global Ratings in a report.
While insurers property/casualty performance will be affected, the companies rated by S&P have sound reinsurance protection, posted strong half year results in 2024, have diversified earnings streams, and sound capital adequacy, all of which should serve to protect credit quality, said the ratings agency in a report titled Central European Insurers Financial Strength Is A Barrage Against Flood Damage.
S&P noted that its estimates of insured losses of 2.2 billion (US$2.5 billion) across Czechia [the Czech Republic], Poland, Austria, and Romania are at the lower end of the 2 billion-3 billion (US$2.2 billion-US$3.3 billion) range indicated by reinsurance broker Gallagher Re. (Related story: Flooding in Central Europe Could Cause Billions in Economic Losses, Analysts Say)
On the other hand, Guy Carpenter estimated a market loss between 1.6 billion and 2.1 billion (US$1.8 billion-US$2.3 billion) in its report on the floods published on Sept. 24.
Guy Carpenter said the regions flood impact demonstrates its progress in preparedness as rainfall exceeded a 100-year return period, but resulted in 25-65 year losses for insurers in Czech Republic, Poland and Austria.
The flooding has claimed at least 24 lives across the most affected countries, Gallagher Re said in its commentary on the floods.
For now, S&P said, the main insured losses from the event are coming from the Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria. Although there was also significant flooding in Romania, S&P does not expect material insured losses in that country due to low insurance penetration.
Unsurprisingly, given the size of the affected areas, the economic costs of the flood will be high, said S&P Global Ratings analyst Jure Kimovec, in a statement accompanying the report. Because flood risk is commonly insured in Czechia, Poland, and Austria, we believe that property and casualty insurers operating in these countries are likely to report sizable natural catastrophe losses from the event.
Negative but Manageable
S&P said that the group of insurers it rates in the region are likely to see negative but manageable effects from the floods. These insurers are: Vienna Insurance Group AG, UNIQA Insurance Group AG; Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen S.A. (PZU); Towarzystwo Ubezpieczen i Reasekuracji WARTA S.A. (part of Talanx Primary Insurance Group); HDI Versicherung AG (part of Talanx); and Allianz Elementar Versicherungs AG (part of Allianz SE).
We do not expect claims resulting from the floods to result in any liquidity constraints for the rated groups, the ratings agency noted.
While we believe rated insurers could see some limited impact from the floods on their P&C underwriting results in 2024, we expect that reinsurance protection, strong overall earnings in the first six months of 2024, diversified earnings streams from life and health insurance, and sound capital buffers both under Solvency II and the S&P Global Ratings capital model are strongly supportive factors and a financial buffer against the natural catastrophe claims.
At the same time, S&P continued, all these insurance groups have very strongly profitable non-life business, with non-life combined ratios in the low to mid 90% range. (A combined ratio below 100 indicates an underwriting profit).
S&P also expects insurers capital positions to remain resilient and their Solvency II ratios to remain solid.
The ratings agency suggested that there could be an effect on the availability and the cost of reinsurance protection for the affected insurance groups, considering the extent of the flooding event, especially considering still-favorable market conditions for reinsurers.
Benefits of Flood Protection
Despite the severity of the damages, S&P suggested that the Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria are better prepared for such a natural catastrophe than they were during past events in 2013 or 2010, given improvements to flood protection and prevention measures over the last decade.
Improved warnings, along with recent increased investment in flood defenses have been critical in mitigating losses, Gallagher Re agreed in its report.
Guy Carpenter said the regions flood impact demonstrates its progress in preparedness as rainfall exceeded a 100-year return period, but resulted in 25-65 year losses for insurers in Czech Republic, Poland and Austria.
Unlike the devastating floods of 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2010, the impact of the 2024 flood was significantly mitigated by modern infrastructure, dams and flood barriers, Guy Carpenter said.
This reduction in losses is largely due to improved flood risk management and heightened public awareness across the region. Investments in flood defenses and timely preventive measures such as pre-emptive predicative reservoir management and reinforced levees, alongside more accurate early warning systems, played a key role in minimizing the financial impact and safeguarding major urban centers, Carpenter added.
Howden Re also pointed to the significant investment made by a number of Central European countries on flood defense measures since 2002, which has had a major impact in ameliorating the consequences of this extreme event.
Insured Losses by Country
S&P went on to discuss the insured losses from the recent floods on individual countries in the region.
The Czech Republic. The insured losses in the Czech Republic will reach about 17 billion Czech koruna (approximately $757.6 billion), said S&P, quoting the first estimates of the Czech Insurance Association (CAP). Losses are expected to be equally split between households and commercial entities, S&P said, noting that at this level of expected insured loss, the 2024 floods would likely exceed the insured losses of the 2013 floods in the Czech Republic and become the nations second most expensive natural catastrophe, behind the floods of 2002.
The insured losses in the Czech Republic will reach about 17 billion Czech koruna (approximately $757.6 billion), said S&P, quoting the first estimates of the Czech Insurance Association (CAP). Losses are expected to be equally split between households and commercial entities, S&P said, noting that at this level of expected insured loss, the 2024 floods would likely exceed the insured losses of the 2013 floods in the Czech Republic and become the nations second most expensive natural catastrophe, behind the floods of 2002. Poland. Regions in south-west Poland (Lower Silesia and Opole County), which neighbor the Czech Republic, were also heavily hit by the floods. As a result, S&P expects that Polish insurers will have to deal with material insured losses, which could be in a similar range to those in the Czech Republic.
Regions in south-west Poland (Lower Silesia and Opole County), which neighbor the Czech Republic, were also heavily hit by the floods. As a result, S&P expects that Polish insurers will have to deal with material insured losses, which could be in a similar range to those in the Czech Republic. Austria. In Austria, insured losses are also expected to be historically significant, with insured losses reaching an estimated 600 million to 700 million (US$668.4 million-US$780 million), said S&P, quoting the Austrian insurance association (VVO). This level of claims would make the floods Austrias largest ever insured natural catastrophe event.
In Austria, insured losses are also expected to be historically significant, with insured losses reaching an estimated 600 million to 700 million (US$668.4 million-US$780 million), said S&P, quoting the Austrian insurance association (VVO). This level of claims would make the floods Austrias largest ever insured natural catastrophe event. Romania. Although there was also significant flooding in Romania, S&P does not expect material insured losses due to the relatively low penetration of flood insurance, which means that most of the nations economic losses are not insured.
Photograph: A view of a damaged house after recent floods near Pisecna, Czech Republic, on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Related:
Topics Carriers Flood Europe
Axis Insurance Managers Inc., the Vancouver, Canada-based insurance broker, announced it has acquired the ONeill Group, one of British Columbias premier employee group benefits, life insurance, and wealth advisory firms.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
ONeill Group is a full-service benefits, life, and wealth advisory firm established in 1985, with 12 staff operating out of its Vancouver office. ONeill Group will operate as a practice group under Axis Insurances umbrella.
The strategic alliance with Axis expands our capabilities and extends our reach, enhancing the services we can provide to our clients. Having worked alongside Axis for over 10 years, we are confident in a shared vision and dedication to excellence, deeply rooted in our aligned values and company culture, and are excited to continue to provide personalized, top-tier service to our clients and plan members, said Thomas ONeill, president of ONeill Group.
With roots dating back to 1928, and over 350 employees, Axis Insurance specializes in commercial, life, employee benefits, and wealth advisory service, serving local, national, and international clients.
Expanding in the benefits and wealth advisory business with the acquisition of the ONeill Group represents an exciting new step for Axis, said Alex Meier, chief executive officer of Axis Insurance. The addition of ONeill Group continues to build upon our existing benefits practice, and positions Axis Insurance well on its journey to become a leading national specialty brokerage.
Source: Axis Insurance
Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Canada Employee Benefits
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Price Forbes Re and AXA XL.
A summary of these new hires follows here.
Price Forbes Re Taps Howdens Waterhouse as Head of Property Fac
Price Forbes Re, the London-based specialist reinsurance broker, announced the appointment of Oliver Waterhouse as the head of Property Facultative.
Waterhouse is based in Price Forbes Res London offices and reports directly to Nikki Melbourne, head of Facultative. In his new role, Waterhouse will spearhead the Property Fac division, a core area of growth for Price Forbes Re.
He brings 14 years of extensive experience in the global property market. He most recently managed facultative operations as an executive director at Howden Tiger. Previously, he worked at WTW as an executive director for international property and international fac. He also worked at Marsh within the Risk Management Practice.
Price Forbes Re (formerly Inver Re) is Ardonagh Specialtys reinsurance unit.
***
AXA XL Appoints Underwriters and Claims Adjusters to UK Cyber Team
AXA XL has strengthened its cyber capacity in the UK with new appointments in its underwriting and claims teams.
Vanessa Leemans, head of Cyber, UK & Lloyds, who joined in 2022 to lead AXA XLs cyber business in the UK, has added five cyber underwriters (which brings her team to eight) and two claims adjusters.
Daniel Garrett joins from Berkshire Hathaway as cyber underwriting manager, and brings with him over 13 years experience predominantly in cyber and technology underwriting.
Dan Lander joins from Liberty Specialty Markets as senior cyber underwriter, and brings with him six years experience in cyber underwriting and over 10 years experience in technology underwriting.
Adelaide Fragiacomo joins from AXA XL Australia as cyber underwriter bringing with her four years experience.
Fred Kelleher joins as cyber underwriter bringing with him a legal background and London market wording experience, having previously worked at AXA XL as a M&A underwriter.
John Wild joins as cyber underwriter bringing with him London market underwriting experience across open market and portfolio solutions having previously worked at AXA XL as a K&R underwriter.
Chloe Hargreaves joins as cyber claims adjuster from AXA XLs Graduate Scheme, and will work with Joseph Putnam, senior cyber claims adjuster, who joined the London team in 2023 from AXA XLs New York office.
As businesses are increasingly reliant upon digital platforms and cloud services, theyre becoming more vulnerable to cyber exploitation, and its against this backdrop that were seeing growth in the global cyber insurance market, commented Leemans.
In the London market, there is growth potential as we partner with London brokers and our large corporate clients globally with revenues exceeding US$500 million. Its important that were able to support demand on primary and excess cyber insurance with cyber expertise. Cyber remains a top concern amongst our clients and thats why were expanding our UK cyber team, she added.
Topics Cyber Claims Underwriting Property AXA XL
CHICAGO (AP) More than 200 men and women were sexually abused as children while in custody at juvenile detention centers in Illinois, according to lawsuits filed Monday, the latest in a string of complaints alleging decades of systemic child sex abuse.
Three lawsuits filed Monday detail abuse from 1996 to 2021, including rape, forced oral sex and beatings by corrections officers, nurses, kitchen staff, chaplains and others.
The State of Illinois has caused and permitted a culture of sexual abuse to flourish unabated in its Illinois Youth Center facilities, one lawsuit said, adding that Illinois has overwhelmingly failed to investigate complaints, report abusive staff, and protect youth inmates.
Overall, 667 people have alleged they were sexually abused as children at youth facilities run by the state and Cook County in lawsuits filed since May.
Theyre part of a wave of complaints with disturbing allegations at juvenile facilities across the U.S., including in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New Hampshire, California and New York. Few cases have gone to trial or resulted in settlements; arrests have been infrequent.
Illinois stands out for the magnitude of its problem.
Of all the states in which weve been litigating, we are seeing some of the worst and highest numbers of cases of staff perpetrating sexual abuse compared to anywhere in the country, said Jerome Block, a New York-based attorney whose office brought the lawsuits in Illinois and several other states.
Mondays complaints, based on the accounts of 272 people, name several repeat offenders. A handful have been convicted of sex crimes but not stemming from the accusations in the lawsuits. At least one employee accused in a lawsuit filed Monday still works for the state, according to state records.
The lawsuit with the largest number of plaintiffs, 222 men and women who are mostly Illinois residents, details abuse at nine state-run youth detention centers, of which five have since closed. The accounts documented in the complaints more than 400 pages are hauntingly similar.
Many said their abusers threatened them with beatings, solitary confinement, transfers to harsher facilities and longer sentences if they reported the abuse. Others were given extra food, cigarettes and rewards like the chance to play videos games if they kept quiet.
Most abusers are identified only as the survivors remembered them, including by physical descriptions, first names or nicknames.
Several plaintiffs independently described sexual and physical abuse from a chaplain at state facility in the Chicago suburb of St. Charles.
The chaplain would isolate children including in his church office, their rooms or the gym before forcing oral sex and other abuse, according to the lawsuit. In one instance, he told a teenager that his friends wouldnt look at him the same if they knew.
Most accusers are identified by initials in the complaints, though several have spoken out publicly. A news conference featuring survivors was planned for Tuesday.
The lawsuit covering state-run facilities names the state and the Illinois Department of Corrections and Department of Juvenile Justice as defendants. A spokesman for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker declined to comment Monday, citing pending litigation. State agency officials didnt immediately return requests for comment Monday.
The lawsuit, filed in the Illinois Court of Claims, seeks damages of roughly $2 million per plaintiff, the most allowed under law.
Another lawsuit, focusing on a troubled Chicago youth detention facility, was filed in Cook County court and names the county.
It covers allegations from 50 men and women who were in custody at the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. It said many instances of abuse took place during unlawful strip searches.
Children were as young as 11 when they were abused, according to the lawsuit, which seeks damages of more than $100,000 per plaintiff. Some of the 50 plaintiffs are seeking more damages in a third lawsuit filed Monday in the Illinois Court of Claims.
The Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, where children are held before their cases are adjudicated, has faced issues for years and calls for closure. A class-action lawsuit in 1999 alleged a lack of medical care, dirty conditions, overcrowding, understaffing and excessive use of room confinement. In 2007, state law stripped the county of its authority to run the center and gave it to the Office of the Chief Judge.
One person said he was 15 when he was sexually abused nearly every night during his 90-day stay.
Cook County has had notice of such abuse for decades and nonetheless neglected to protect its confined youth from sexual abuse and failed to implement policies necessary to ensure such protection, the lawsuit said. It furthermore employed individuals it knew or should have known would sexually abuse juveniles in its care and custody.
Officials with the Office of the Chief Judge and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle declined to comment Monday, citing pending litigation.
Topics Lawsuits Illinois
Brady Kelley, president and CEO of the Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association, said the organization has been doing a lot to promote the E&S segment in hopes of attracting talent
There is no doubt a real race for talent in this industry, Kelly told Insurance Journals Andrea Wells, vice president of content, at the WSIA Annual Marketplace in San Diego.
Kelley said WSIA has been reaching out to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Spanish-speaking institutions, risk management/insurance programs with diverse populations, and beyond RMI to attract professionals to the surplus lines industry.
Topics Excess Surplus Talent Training Development
Purdue Pharma LP said its making progress in settlement talks with members of the Sackler family who own the company and won another extension of a breathing spell thats shielded the family from civil lawsuits for years.
Judge Sean Lane said Monday hed extend through Nov. 1 an injunction that has paused suits against the Sacklers in order to continue facilitating talks with states, opioid victims and other creditors.
An injunction was put in place after Purdue filed Chapter 11 in 2019 and been extended multiple times after the US Supreme Court scuttled a $6 billion deal that would have settled civil suits accusing Purdues owners of helping fuel the nations opioid epidemic. Members of the Sackler family have denied wrongdoing and previously said theyd support a resolution that provides substantial resources to help combat a complex public health crisis.
Purdues request to extend the injunction several more weeks was supported by two mediators who have been overseeing the settlement discussions and the vast majority of creditors involved in the talks, Purdue lawyer Eli Vonnegut said during a court hearing. The extension was supported by a committee representing opioid victims as well as most states, though it was opposed by a handful of other states.
The mediation may not result in a new settlement. However, Vonnegut said most involved in the talks believe enough progress has been made to warrant a further litigation pause.
Purdues request was opposed by Rhode Island, Washington and Maryland. The injunction pausing civil lawsuits has meant that Sackler family members have thus far evaded the consequences of their misconduct for years, Washington said in a court filing.
The case is Purdue Pharma LP, number 19-23649, US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
Photo: Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Copyright 2024 Bloomberg.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The Oklahoma Supreme Court has rejected a request to reconsider its ruling to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the last two known living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
Without comment, seven members of the court earlier this month turned away the request by 110-year-old Viola Fletcher and 109-year-old Lessie Benningfield Randle to rehear its June ruling that upheld a decision by a district court judge in Tulsa to dismiss the case.
Justice James Edmondson would have reheard the case and Justice Richard Darby did not vote.
Fletcher and Randle survived the massacre that is considered one of the worst single acts of violence against Black people in U.S. history.
As many as 300 Black people were killed; more than 1,200 homes, businesses, schools and churches were destroyed; and thousands were forced into internment camps overseen by the National Guard when a white mob, including some deputized by authorities, looted and burned the Greenwood District, also known as Black Wall Street.
Damario Solomon-Simmons, attorney for Fletcher and Benningfield, was not immediately available for comment.
Solomon-Simmons, after filing the motion for rehearing in July, also asked the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation into the massacre under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act.
President Biden sat down with my clients. He promised them that he would see that they get justice, Solomon-Simmons said at the time.
Then he went to the next room and had a robust speech where he told the nation that he stood with the survivors and descendants of the Tulsa race massacre we are calling upon President Biden to fulfill his promise to these survivors, to this community and for Black people across the nation, Solomon-Simmons said.
The Emmett Till Act allows for the reopening of cold cases of violent crimes against Black people committed before 1970.
The lawsuit was an attempt under Oklahomas public nuisance law to force the city of Tulsa and others to make restitution for the destruction.
Attorneys also argued that Tulsa appropriated the historic reputation of Black Wall Street to their own financial and reputational benefit. They argue that any money the city receives from promoting Greenwood or Black Wall Street, including revenue from the Greenwood Rising History Center, should be placed in a compensation fund for victims and their descendants.
Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Oklahoma
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) Attorneys for two Black men who were tortured by Mississippi law enforcement officers said Monday that they expect to file more lawsuits on behalf of other people who say they were brutalized by officers from the same sheriffs department.
The Justice Department said Thursday that it was opening a civil rights investigation into the Rankin County Sheriffs Department. The announcement came months after five former Rankin County deputies and one Richland former police officer were sentenced on federal criminal charges in the racist attack that included beatings, repeated use of stun guns and assaults with a sex toy before one victim was shot in the mouth.
Attorneys Malik Shabazz and Trent Walker sued the Rankin County Sheriffs Department last year on behalf of the two victims, Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker. The suit is still pending and seeks $400 million.
We stand by our convictions that the Rankin County Sheriffs Department over the last decade or more has been one of the worst-run sheriffs departments in the country, and thats why the Department of Justice is going forth and more revelations are forthcoming, Shabazz said during a news conference Monday. More lawsuits are forthcoming. The fight for justice continues.
Shabazz and Walker have called on Sheriff Bryan Bailey to resign, as have some local residents.
The two attorneys said Monday that county supervisors should censure Bailey. They also said they think brutality in the department started before Bailey became sheriff in 2012. And they said Rankin Countys insurance coverage of $2.5 million a year falls far short of what the county should pay to victims of brutality.
There needs to be an acknowledgement on the part of the sheriffs department, on the part of Bailey and the part of the county that allowing these officers and this department to run roughshod for as long as it did had a negative toll on the citizens of the county, Walker said.
The Justice Department will investigate whether the Rankin County Sheriffs Department has engaged in a pattern or practice of excessive force and unlawful stops, searches and arrests, and whether it has used racially discriminatory policing practices, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said last week.
The sheriffs department said it will fully cooperate with the federal investigation and that it has increased transparency by posting its policies and procedures online.
The five former deputies and former police officer pleaded guilty in 2023 to breaking into a home without a warrant and engaging in an hourslong attack on Jenkins and Parker. Some of the officers were part of a group so willing to use excessive force they called themselves the Goon Squad. All six were sentenced in March, receiving terms of 10 to 40 years.
The charges followed an Associated Press investigation in March 2023 that linked some of the officers to at least four violent encounters since 2019 that left two Black men dead.
The Justice Department has received information about other troubling incidents, including deputies overusing stun guns, entering homes unlawfully, using shocking racial slurs and employing dangerous, cruel tactics to assault people in their custody, Clarke said.
The attacks on Jenkins and Parker began on Jan. 24, 2023, with a racist call for extrajudicial violence, according to federal prosecutors. A white person phoned Deputy Brett McAlpin and complained that two Black men were staying with a white woman at a house in Braxton.
Once inside the home, the officers handcuffed Jenkins and Parker and poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup over their faces while mocking them with racial slurs. They forced them to strip naked and shower together to conceal the mess. They mocked the victims with racial slurs and assaulted them with sex objects.
In addition to McAlpin, the others convicted were former deputies Christian Dedmon, Hunter Elward, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield.
Locals saw in the grisly details of the case echoes of Mississippis history of racist atrocities by people in authority. The difference this time is that those who abused their power paid a steep price for their crimes, attorneys for the victims have said.
___
Associated Press writer Michael Goldberg contributed.
Photo: FILE Lead civil attorney Malik Shabazz, second from right, speaks to reporters with his clients, Michael Corey Jenkins, right, and Eddie Terrell Parker, outside the federal courthouse in Jackson in March, following the sentencing of the second of six former Rankin County law enforcement officers who committed numerous acts of torture on Parker and Jenkins in 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Lawsuits Claims Mississippi
Citizens Property Insurance Corp., Floridas largest insurer, has suspended policy binding ahead of predicted Hurricane Helene, and a board member asked if the carrier could do more to help policyholders manage flood insurance claims from the looming storm.
My question is, how are we coordinating to help the citizens of Florida with their flood claims, board member Charlie Lydecker asked at Wednesdays board meeting.
He noted that Helene, with its strongest side projected to make landfall near the Big Bend region of Florida Thursday evening, is likely to produce more claims from storm surge, rain and flooding than from wind damage. Citizens, like most property insurers, does not cover flood claims, but many Citizens policyholders are now required to carry flood insurance, which is most often provided by the National Flood Insurance Program.
Lydecker, CEO of Foundation Risk Partners, an Ormond Beach-based insurance brokerage, wondered if Citizens staff could help stricken policyholders navigate the claims process with NFIP. With the storm expected to move inland across the heavily populated Atlanta area by Friday, flooded Floridians could potentially face a backlog with FEMA, Lydecker said.
But Citizens chief insurance officer, Jay Adams, explained that the NFIPs managing agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, does not generally engage with wind carriers on claims. Insureds usually have to provide a letter of declination from their primary insurer, then file a flood claim with NFIP, he noted. Insurers have 60 days to issue the letter of declination.
Can we be in a position to provide the insured with a declination immediately, so that homeowners can move faster to deal with FEMA, Lydecker asked. It seems like wed be doing a good thing if we provided something to get the ball rolling with FEMA quicker.
Adams said that claims must be investigated to determine how much damage on a property may be from wind and how much is from water. He added that nothing precludes a property owner from filing a flood claim the day of the event, and FEMA staff may not have to wait for the primary carriers denial to start the adjusting process.
The board took no action on Lydeckers query, but asked staff to explore ways to expedite the process for policyholders.
Hurricane Helene may be predicted to bring stronger winds than Hurricane Debby, which hit the same part of Florida last month. But Citizens Debby claims numbers may give some indication of what to expect.
Adams and Citizens President Tim Cerio said that Debby produced 2,778 residential claims for Citizens and 14 commercial claims, through the end of August. Some 1,950 of those of been closed, with an indemnity payout of $6.2 million.
Data that was not included in Adams presentation will show that in September, another 1,508 claims have been closed without payment, something regulators may raise concerns about. Adams noted that many claims were for flood damage, uncovered by Citizens, and a number of claims were small, below the policyholders deductible.
About 18% of Debby claims were from policyholders represented by plaintiffs attorneys. But attorneys seem to be less involved in claims after the 2022-2023 Florida legislative reforms, which removed some incentives for claims litigation. Citizens data posted at the meeting Wednesday show that the share of Citizens claims that were litigated has dropped sharply, from 44% in 2015 to just 10% in 2023. That number is expected to drop further, Cerio said.
A warming market responding to the litigation reforms, along with Citizens depopulation plan also appears to be having an impact on Citizens exposure, Cerio said. State regulators approved the takeout of 1 million policies this year; some 528,000 letters were sent to policyholders, and 132,000 policies were assumed by private-market carriers, staff explained.
Citizens will notify agents when binding of policies can resume, after Helene has passed.
Topics Florida Claims Flood
Californians for the past 54 years have relied on the states lemon law to fight back against car makers that sell them defective vehicles. Now, critics say Californians ability to recoup their money after buying a clunker could become more difficult, due to a hastily passed bill that lobbyists representing U.S. auto manufacturers and powerful attorneys groups drafted in secret.
Gov. Gavin Newsom hasnt signed or vetoed Assembly Bill 1755. His spokesperson, Brandon Richards, on Friday said the measure will be evaluated on its merits before Newsoms Sept. 30 bill-signing deadline.
But how the bill came to end up on his desk is the latest example of how influential lobbying groups write laws impacting millions of Californians behind closed doors and how the measures are often passed with little time for public input or legislative debate.
There wasnt a single person who represents the people of California who knew about this and was a part of those conversations for months, Democratic San Ramon Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahantold her colleagues on the Assembly Judiciary Committee last month in the final days of the legislative session.
They dropped this in our lap, and they expect us to buy an argument related to the urgency that feels, to be honest, not real. And were supposed to move this in a weeks time.
The bill seeks to address a massive uptick in lemon law lawsuits clogging the states court system, but it started out earlier in the session as a measure dealing with child support.
Then on August 20, with less than two weeks left in the session, the bill was stripped through the secretive gut-and-amend process. Its language was replaced with a 4,200-word bill that seeks to reform how lemon law disputes are resolved. The bill is so complicated its legislative analysis, which lawmakers should read to fully understand a measures consequences, was more than 10,000 words.
Former Los Angeles Democratic Assemblymember Mike Gatto said its unlikely that lawmakers actually read all that in those final chaotic days of the session with hundreds of other consequential bills still pending.
Unfortunately, when the Legislature makes complex policy like that with great haste, it increases the reliance on non-elected personnel, Gatto said. And it increases the reliance on special interest groups who tell the legislators what the legislation contains. Its very hard during that chaotic last week of session to, you know, be able to review things of great length like that.
Downey Democratic Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco, an attorney, told her Judiciary Committee colleagues she wasnt comfortable voting for the bill because she wasnt sure what it would do. I want to make sure that consumers are protected as well, she said. Those are our constituents. And so that is what we really should be caring about. And I dont know if consumers are really protected.
Lawmakers acknowledge secret negotiations
The bill by two Democrats, Santa Ana Sen. Tom Umberg and San Jose Assemblymember Ash Kalra, nonetheless easily passed the Assembly committee, as well as the full Assembly and Senate.
Umbergs office declined to answer CalMatters questions about the bill. Kalras office replied to an interview request with an emailed statement.
AB 1755 went through the full legislative process with two robust committee hearings, consideration of amendments and all procedural steps, Kalra said. Despite concerns over process, the vast majority of members in both houses concluded this was a better policy for consumers and we could build upon the policy framework in subsequent years.
Kalra acknowledged in his testimony that the measure was a product of negotiations between the groups behind the bill.
AB 1755 represents a compromise between the consumer attorneys, (civil) defense attorneys, and some auto manufacturers, most notably General Motors, Kalra told the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Opposing the bill were Tesla and foreign auto companies including Volkswagen and Toyota as well as consumer groups such as the Consumer Federation of America, the Center for Auto Safety, and Consumers For Auto Reliability and Safety, according to the Digital Democracy database.
Sen. Roger Niello, a Republican whose family owns car dealerships in the Sacramento area, said he was troubled that the bill split groups that are typically aligned on legislation. My concern about this bill is the process by which it was developed, Niello told his colleagues on the Senate floor. And all you have to look at to question that is the support and opposition. This is very unusual. We dont see this very often. We have people, organizations from similar sources with opposite views on this. Theres something wrong with that.
The alliances were unpredictable. Consumer attorneys fed up with clogged courts backed the bill, while consumer advocates opposed it. And while U.S. carmakers lobbied for it, foreign automakers argued it didnt go far enough and was too friendly toward trial attorneys.
As Kalra and Umberg pitched their bill to lawmakers in those frantic, waning days of the session, they said AB 1755 would address a growing backlog of lemon law cases that have been increasingly causing havoc in the states civil court system.
The number of lemon law cases in California courts climbed from nearly 15,000 filings in 2022 to more than 22,000 last year. In Los Angeles County, nearly 10% of all civil filings are now lemon law cases, according to the bills analysis.
The growing caseload is driven by a handful of aggressive law firms that file most of the suits, according to the Civil Justice Association of California. The association wasnt listed as having a position on the bill in the Digital Democracy database.
What it does is it reduces the number of filings, which I think logically would lead you to believe that it also reduces the amount of money spent on lawyers, Umberg told the Senate last month.
The California Judges Association also supported the bill.
Will lemon law bill make it harder for vehicle owners?
Under the proposed law, starting next year, auto companies and car buyers would be required to try to settle their disputes through mediation before beginning the discovery process that takes place after a lawsuit is filed.
Discovery is when the parties in a lawsuit gather evidence from each other that they think theyll need to prove their case. The proposed law also sets rules for what evidence can be requested. One of the reasons the courts are so backlogged from lemon law cases is due to tedious discovery hearings, the bills advocates say. It also would shorten the window during which a consumer can sue over a detective vehicle.
Umberg, a former federal prosecutor, and Kalra, a former public defender and law professor, told their colleagues that consumers would still be able to get their money back from a defective car. They argued that Californias lemon law, which Gov. Ronald Reagan signed in 1970, still would be stronger than that of any other state.
But Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, said the bill would harm car owners stuck with a lemon vehicle in several ways.
It would limit the amount of negative equity refunds consumers could get for their defective car, and it would shorten the period in which consumers can use the lemon law to just six years, even when their warranty lasts longer, she said.
This is a big deal for folks who pay extra for a vehicle with a warranty from the manufacturer, in order to avoid getting hit with a large unexpected repair bill, she said in an email.
The bill also would require that consumers notify their manufacturer in writing that their car is a lemon, instead of just taking it into a dealer for repairs and starting the process of getting their money back there, she said.
It also would limit the amount of time a consumer can file a lemon lawsuit from four years after a claim is filed to just a year from the expiration of a vehicles warranty, she said. This would make it easier for unscrupulous auto manufacturers to get away with doing cheap Band-Aid type repairs instead of fixing the underlying problem until the warranty expires, leaving consumers on the hook for a massive bill, she said.
The bills supporters include General Motors, Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) and Ford Motor Company, as well as RV manufacturers.
Combined, Ford and GM have given sitting lawmakers at least $1.5 million since 2015, according to the Digital Democracy database. The Consumer Attorneys of California has given at least $2.2 million during the same period.
The bill addresses urgent procedural problems with how lemon law cases are handled in the state of California, while keeping our lemon law the strongest in the nation, Nancy Drabble, a lobbyist for Consumer Attorneys of California, told lawmakers last month.
She argued that the proposed revision would be an improvement for car buyers since it would shorten the window that auto companies must respond to a consumer complaint to just 30 days, and it would require car companies to fix a defective car or replace it within 30 days after that. I think you will see an increase in buybacks of vehicles within that 60-day period, which will not even have a lawsuit filed, lobbyist Michael Belote told lawmakers, saying he represented GM.
Transparency Suffers When Lawmakers Rush
In an interview Friday, Belote said his lobbying firm also represents other parties involved in the negotiations, and he was speaking to CalMatters on those groups behalf and not GMs.
Belote said he rejects the premise that it watered down the lemon law.
He said the law itself wouldnt change. All the bill does, he said, is set clear rules for consumers and for auto companies that will reduce time-consuming court hearings, cut down on plaintiffs attorney fees and speed up the process of resolving disputes.
There is a strong reason to believe that this will get consumers what they need more quickly, he said, And what they need is a car to get to work and get their kids to school.
But why the rush? Why not wait until January when lawmakers reconvene for the new two-year session when they could fully vet and debate the bill?
One reason was proponents had threatened to take their case to voters. Belote and Shahan said that as part of their proposed ballot initiative, the groups threatened to put a 20% cap on the fees lawyers could collect from lemon law cases, creating a financial incentive for the attorneys groups to negotiate with the car makers.
Belote also disputed the suggestion that lawmakers didnt know what they were voting on.
There was an enormous lobbying campaign on both sides that hit, I believe, every member of the Legislature repeatedly in a very short time, he said. There was, you know, really a tsunami of information for legislators who had lots of questions that were answered.
Regardless of whether lawmakers fully grasped the issue, any time complicated legislation such as AB 1755 gets rushed through at the last minute, it harms the Legislatures credibility and makes it harder for voters to trust their elected leaders, said Gatto, the former lawmaker.
Transparency suffers, he said, And all the different stakeholders that keep the Legislature honest, whether its the electorate or the media, it makes it a lot harder for us to do our jobs.
This story was originally published by CalMatters and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics California Legislation
At the 2016 dedication of the first state-sponsored electric vehicle charging station in Beatty, former Gov. Brian Sandoval demonstrated how easy it was to charge an electric Ford Focus.
This is the first electric highway in the United States, the Republican then-governor said during the ceremony at the new charging station outside of Eddie World on U.S. Highway 95. Its significant steps like this that show the rest of the country that we are tech savvy, especially when it comes to electric cars and autonomous vehicles.
What those attending the ceremony didnt see was that the vehicle Sandoval was charging had to be shuttled to Beatty for the event. Nevada lacked frequent, reliable charging stations and with a range of just 76 miles, the car wouldnt make it on Highway 95 from Las Vegas to the small city more than 100 miles away on a single charge.
Its been nearly a decade since Sandoval announced the somewhat futuristic idea of turning Highway 95 into an Electric Highway, building out charging stations to eliminate range anxiety and make Nevadas highways accessible to electric vehicle (EV) drivers.
During that time, electric vehicles have gained in popularity, their driving range has drastically increased, and hundreds of thousands of charging ports and charging stations have popped up along the nations interstates and highways. Nationally, there are more than 210,000 publicly accessible charging ports at nearly 78,000 charging stations.
But in Nevada, construction is lagging.
Only around 2,155 of the nations charging ports are in Nevada, spread out over approximately 600 stations. There is only one charging station for every 73 EVs registered in Nevada. In the West, only Wyoming, Idaho and New Mexico have fewer charging ports than Nevada.
That shortage, in part, is due to the shifting plan for who is responsible for building charging stations in Nevada a hodgepodge of NV Energy, the state, federal and private entities. NV Energys much-heralded initative to build 120 charging stations in a three-year period has fallen well short of expectations, while the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) is hoping to build its first charging station using federal funds later this year.
While state-led efforts now appear to be headed in the right direction, the lack of a cohesive plan during the last eight years has resulted in sort of a mishmash of state, local, federal, utilities and obviously private enterprises, said Paul Bordenkircher, secretary of the Nevada Electric Vehicle Association. It is certainly one of our greater frustrations.
As a result, driving an EV across Nevada can still be daunting and confusing and in some places, impossible.
A Lot More Buildout
When the Nevada Electric Highway initiative kicked off nine years ago, there were only about 1,000 EVs registered in Nevada.
By 2022, there were 32,900 EVs registered in the state, according to the U.S. Department of Energys Alternative Fuels Data Center nearly four times greater than the number of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (just 8,800) but still small compared to the states 2.6 million gasoline-powered and 85,000 diesel-powered vehicles.
By 2023, there were nearly 54,000 electric vehicles, about 1.3 percent of all vehicles registered in the state.
Bordenkircher is one of those Nevada EV owners. He purchased his first EV roughly five years ago and says switching to an electric commuter car is one of the best choices hes ever made.
But he and his wife still own a gas-powered vehicle for long-distance trips. Driving across Nevada with an EV wouldnt be my first choice, he said. We need a lot more infrastructure and a lot more buildout. Especially for a state as wide open as we are.
Per federal guidelines, charging stations need to be sited a maximum of 50 miles apart along interstates to be considered fully built out. That requirement is not possible in parts of Nevada, Kandee Worley, division chief of sustainability and emerging transportation at NDOT, said.
Nevada has a ton of rural areas, Worley said. We have areas where we arent going to be able to meet that 50 mile (requirement.)
On U.S. Highway 93 between Ely and Las Vegas, Worley pointed out, there is a 250-mile-long stretch of road with no electricity, and it would cost millions of dollars to get infrastructure out there, let alone build charging stations.
Knowing that the majority of the states charging stations are still in urban areas rather than along the states rural highway corridors can make driving across the state in an EV daunting, Bordenkircher said.
We still have issues with charging stations with the cables being cut. Or gas vehicles parking in the EV charging station spots, he said.
And while existing statewide charging stations have broadly been mapped most are in urban corridors there is no official master list of Nevada-based EV charging stations drivers can access, since most existing charging stations were built by private businesses or equipment manufacturers, who are not required to map their locations. This can leave drivers potentially stuck if they are in an area with poor cell service and a non-functioning charging station.
We are still in a pain point when it comes to EV charging stations, Bordenkircher said.
NV Energys Electrification Plan
In 2021, lawmakers passed SB448, an omnibus bill that, in part, required NV Energy to create a plan to accelerate development of electric infrastructure in the state. The bill required that the utility invest 40 percent of total program expenditures in projects that benefit historically underserved communities. The utility responded by proposing the Economic Recovery Transportation Electrification Plan.
The plan was designed to stimulate the states economy with a $100 million investment to rapidly expand EV charging stations across the utilitys service territory between 2022 and 2024. The plan included everything from expansion of interstate and urban charging depots to workforce development.
Approved by utility regulators, the plan outlined steps to deploy nearly 2,000 chargers at 120 stations along interstate corridors, urban areas, with public agencies, regional transit commissions and school districts, and in recreation and tourism destinations.
While portions of the plan have had measurable success 287 apprentices and journeymen have been trained through it other portions have languished, most notably the charging station buildout.
The nearly $100 million plan outlined spending $9.4 million for development along interstate corridors and $26.3 million for urban charging stations, but during the 2023 calendar year, the programs second year, NV Energy spent less than $3.8 million on EV charging infrastructure programs, according to May filings with state energy regulators.
No chargers were installed that year.
Through mid-2024, the utility had spent just $4.75 million on the plan. Total expenditures will increase after all sites have been built out after 2024, according to an NV Energy spokesperson. As with other programs approved by utility regulators, NV Energy has the ability to recover costs from ratepayers later based on actual expenditures of the program.
But with just three months remaining in the three-year program, the spokesperson told The Nevada Independent that just three charging stations have been completed, with another 14 under design or construction well short of the planned 120 stations.
Every time we give NV Energy the ability to run a program, it falls short, Christi Cabrera-Georgeson, deputy director of the Nevada Nevada Conservation League, said in an email. The company has yet to explain why the vast majority of EV charging stations authorized in SB448 havent been built and are not ready to use.
NV Energy is continuing to work through its electrification plan and is actively seeking partners and organizations to meet the requirements laid out in the plan and by state legislation, the utilitys spokesperson said. And, the spokesperson added, building new infrastructure such as charging stations takes time.
Nevadas EV Charger Beginnings
The Nevada Electric Highway Program kicked off in 2015 when the Governors Office of Energy, NV Energy and a rural electric co-op earmarked sites along U.S. 95 in Fallon, Hawthorne, Tonopah, Beatty and Panaca for charging stations.
In 2018, after an influx of federal funds acquired through a settlement by Volkswagen brought on by allegations the company cheated on emissions tests, GOE expanded the project and sought partners to build additional charging stations along Nevadas highways and interstates.
Less than four dozen charging stations were installed through the Nevada Electric Highway program and Sandovals vision of an electric highway only partially came to fruition.
Charging stations now pepper U.S. Highway 95.
Just not every 50 miles.
If you have a car that runs about 200 miles, it makes the trip, Worley said. But to hit that every 50-mile plan has not been done.
The Nevada Electric Highway initiative wrapped up in June 2023, according to a spokesperson for the Governors Office of Energy. The office has since transitioned future EV infrastructure projects to NDOT and is not directly overseeing any EV station installations.
Building Charging Stations with Federal Funds
Around 2016, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) launched a program allowing states to nominate alternative fuel corridors. But there was no funding tied to the nominations.
It was more states saying Hey, we want to be good stewards and we would love to see alternative fuels,' said Worley.
A few years later, the FHWA shifted gears and, in 2022, announced its National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, allocating funds to states to construct EV charging stations and to facilitate data collection along alternative fuel corridors.
Nevada was awarded $38 million through 2027.
Similar to NV Energys slow buildout, NDOT has yet to build a charging station with the federal funds it received plans are to start construction later this year or early next year but in total, anywhere between 38 and 45 stations will be built through the life of the grant with a focus on interstates and U.S. highways, Worley said.
Federal requirements limit NDOTs contribution to each charging station to 80 percent; the agency must find private partners, such as businesses, to fund the other 20 percent. Finding partners to front that portion is a challenge, as that fraction of the total cost can range from the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Federal funding also requires that states monitor and report how much the new stations are used, something currently tracked only by the equipment manufacturer that owns each charging station. That information is not publicly shared.
Within three to five years, a lot of information will come in for the state, Worley said. It will be the aha moment of how many people are using the charging stations.
With the federal funding, Interstate 15 and Interstate 80 will be fully built out and the states highways will mostly have charging stations roughly every 75 to 100 miles.
Some highways, such as U.S. 93, will remain a challenge.
But with millions in federal funding and NV Energys plan still outstanding, Nevadas electric highways could look different in just a few years.
The onus is now on NV Energy and NDOT to use this money and historic opportunity to serve the public in a timely manner thats well-planned and transparent, said Cabrera-Georgeson.
This story was originally published by The Nevada Independent and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Auto
Houston - September 25, 2024 (Investorideas.com Newswire) KULR Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE American: KULR) (the "Company" or "KULR"), a global leader in sustainable energy management, today announced that it is on track to successfully complete its initial engagement with the United States Army by Q3 2024. Building on the momentum of this ongoing partnership, the Army will expand its battery contract with the Company to $2.4M. This contract includes the development of additional prototypes and comprehensive environmental qualification testing in accordance with MIL-STD-810E standards.
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As part of its broader growth strategy, KULR sees this collaboration as a key driver for expanding the deployment of its innovative technologies, such as the KULR ONE platform. This engagement with the U.S. Army enhances product capabilities and lays the groundwork for a growing adoption of KULR ONE, with product sales expected to accelerate in 2025. The Company's forward-looking strategy is centered on delivering solutions that drive both technological advancements and cost efficiencies for its partners.
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This contract aligns with KULR's long-term strategy of forming strong partnerships and developing technologies that enhance energy efficiency and resilience in critical military applications. Success in these efforts only reinforces KULR's role as a key contributor to mission readiness in the defense and aerospace sectors. For more information about KULR Technology Group and its cutting-edge energy management solutions, please visit http://www.kulrtechnology.com.
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Lawyers for Google Ireland Ltd have claimed South Dublin County Council erred in fact and in law in refusing planning permission for the firms planned new data centre for Grange Castle Business Park in south Dublin.
The four-page legal letter by Google Irelands legal representative, AL Goodbody, forms part of a comprehensive appeal to An Bord Pleanala against the council refusal issued last month.
In its decision, 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.
Now, AL Goodbody points out Google had already secured a grid connection for the data centre extension from EirGrid in 2021 and says the council is not the appropriate body to determine whether or not there is sufficient capacity on the network to accommodate the data centre and has made a clear error on the facts and circumstances related to the proposed development.
AL Goodbody said: EirGrid had already contracted with GIL to provide it with import capacity for the proposed development and therefore has already factored this demand into its capacity/demand forecasts.
Google is planning for the application to be 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 72,400sq m data storage facility involves the construction of eight data halls on a 50-acre greenfield/brownfield site.
In the main 42-page appeal document drawn up by planning consultants, Arup, they say despite recognition in the South Dublin County Development Plan 2022-2028 of the need for data centre development, the council has refused planning permission to every new data centre application which has been submitted since the commencement of the County Development Plan.
The appeal says this amounts to four refusals primarily on the same ground insufficient capacity in the electricity network.
Arup says the council's error over its claim that there is insufficient grid capacity to allow the development goes to the central pillar of SDCCs decision.
Arup says it does not appear any consultation was undertaken with EirGrid by the council before the refusal was issued.
It adds this suggests that SDCC reached its decision without access to comprehensive and authoritative information regarding the electricity networks capacity".
The appeal says this approach raises clear concerns about the accuracy and validity of its conclusions and how well informed its decision was.
The appeal says the data centre will be Google Ireland's third data centre building and is needed to meet the growing demand for computing power, arising from increased internet use and adoption of artificial intelligence.
It says data centres serve as the backbone of an increasingly digitally connected society and the foundation of cloud computing services.
The appeal further says it is correct to acknowledge data centres do consume a large amount of energy.
It adds: It should also not be overlooked that they contribute to carbon de-intensification in other ways. These include the widespread use of video-conferencing and facilitate remote working capabilities which help to reduce emissions from business travel.
The appeal is due to be decided at the end of January.
In the "long-running saga" of the 'forgotten farmers', Macra has said that Budget 2025 presents the "last chance saloon" for this group who missed out as a result of austerity cuts in 2008.
Support for the forgotten farmers is included in the programme for Government and Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has made commitments that he will deliver for the forgotten farmers.
Macra national president Elaine Houlihan said: "I call on the minister to give his full support and honour his commitment by putting in place the necessary funding in Budget 2025.
"A proposal to support forgotten farmers is part of Macras 2025 pre-budget submission and for the last decade or more Macra has been actively involved in discussion and has made countless submissions in relation to the forgotten farmers."
Every effort must be made to accommodate the forgotten farmers through the provision of a scheme that is rolled out before the end of 2024, Macra urged.
Macra has outlined five key action areas for budget support, which are: agricultural supports for young farmers; general practice healthcare; housing; transport; and rural wellbeing.
"Without any of these, there is no hope for rural Ireland," Ms Houlihan said.
"Macra sees a future in rural Ireland, a future where we have viable communities where our members can live, work, and bring up families.
"These communities are sustained by all of the services that are required to make rural living possible.
"The backbone of these communities are our people and our farms; these farms have to be ran in an economically sustainable manner as well as in an environmentally responsible manner."
There has been a 18.6% increase since 2015 in the proportion of three-month-old babies still being breastfed, new data from the HSE shows.
One West Cork mother told how support from a public health nurse and local breastfeeding group helped with breastfeeding her daughter, Halle.
Kelsie OMahony, living in Schull, needed help overcoming challenges from persistent blocked ducts and mastitis.
I am very grateful for the expert help and advice from my local public health nurse, Sheila, in getting through the persistent issues I had with blocked ducts on my right breast in particular with breastfeeding Halle, she said.
I wouldnt have been able to breastfeed for eight weeks, let alone exclusively breastfeeding Halle for eight months, without the constant support from the breastfeeding group and help from Sheila.
Kelsie OMahony and her daughter Halle with Sheila Lucey, HSE Infant Feeding Specialist in West Cork.
Nurse and infant feeding specialist, Sheila Lucey called on new mothers to find their local community breastfeeding group before giving birth. This can help with preparation, she said.
The Breastfeeding Action Plan Progress Report (2016-2023), published on Wednesday ahead of National Breastfeeding Week, also highlights other changes.
The number of dedicated infant feeding specialists has increased from 15 in 2017 to 59. There are now 215 support groups. Some 22,000 breastfeeding questions have been answered on HSE website mychild.ie since 2016.
Laura McHugh, HSE National Breastfeeding Coordinator welcomed this. Despite challenges, we have seen increased supports for breastfeeding mothers in hospitals and the community as well as the upward trend of breastfeeding rates, she said.
However she added: We know there is a lot more work to be done to ensure every family is supported to have the best possible infant feeding journey, every step of the way.
Feedback from parents helped lead to a new education programme being set up for midwives and public health nurses on infant feeding, she said.
Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Colm Burke said increasing numbers of mothers opting for breastfeeding is very positive to see.
We all have a role to play to promote breastfeeding; within our communities, in public services, in the workplace, along with the invaluable support of volunteer breastfeeding groups and dedicated staff in the health service, he said.
The US should review its sale of arms to Israel given the "reckless escalation" of the war in the Middle East, the Tanaiste has said.
The US last month approved $20 billion in arms sales to Israel, including scores of fighter jets and advanced air-to-air missiles. Israel this week opened up a second front in its war by bombing Lebanon.
At the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, US president Joe Biden warned against an all-out war in the region, but the US has indicated it will continue to arm its ally.
In an interview with the Irish Examiner in New York, Micheal Martin said while he believes Mr Biden wants a ceasefire, the decision to arm Israel should be reviewed.
"The US has to review that, I think, given the reckless escalation of this."
Emergency workers search for survivors at the scene of an Israeli airstrike in the town of Maisara, north of Beirut, on Wednesday. Picture: Bilal Hussein/AP
Mr Martin said he was "very struck" by the intensity of feeling of politicians from Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia who worry that violence in the region could destablise the whole Middle East.
"They're beginning to see the entire sort of edifice that was created over the last 30 years in other words, Egypt made peace with Israel, Jordan did all of that is at risk now because of Israel's war. It's incomprehensible, in my view. I don't understand the strategy.
"Jordan and Egypt feel it may be Israel has an ultimate agenda of forcing all of the Palestinians out of the West Bank into Jordan and into Egypt. That's absolutely not going to happen.
"So it's a powder keg at the moment, and I think those countries are urging moderation, and some of them wouldn't have great, historically, relationships with Iran but they're urging Iran not to escalate, and there's been a lot of diplomacy on that front.
Israeli army jeeps moving into the West Bank city of Nablus during a raid last Sunday. Micheal Martin told the Irish Examiner: 'Jordan and Egypt feel it may be Israel has an ultimate agenda of forcing all of the Palestinians out of the West Bank into Jordan and into Egypt. That's absolutely not going to happen. Picture: Majdi Mohammed/AP
"So it's very, very fraught, and I think the US is very conscious of that."
Mr Martin said his view is that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "taking a bet" on the outcome of the election in the US.
"I think in the aftermath of the presidential election, it's going to be crucial."
Mr Martin said he believes the Israeli government "has a lot of leverage in the US" and that the "reality" of politics in the region is that the US is concerned about Iran and sees Israel as a "counterbalance".
"It's interesting in Ireland that Iran has never got the same focus of attention in terms of its policies and how it has created, if you like, and supported Hamas, which is a very almost jihadist view of life. We saw that on October 7. That was quite jihadist in its execution.
Members of the Irish Defence Forces' 124th Infantry Battalion at Camp Shamrock in Debel who are serving with the United Nations Interim Force Lebanon (Unifil) ahead of the visit by Tanaiste Micheal Martin in May of this year.
"Hezbollah has been essentially funded and supported with weapons by Iran, the Houthis also, and that's the bigger power balance in the region."
The Tanaiste said the sense in the UN is that the US wants the war to end, but that Israel has used the wider implications in the region to "keep America on board".
"I have no doubt America wants a ceasefire," Mr Martin said. "That's the point I am making, having met with officials; they want a ceasefire. America does not want this war to go on and on."
The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) has directed trial on indictment in the case of alleged fraudster Samantha Cookes, Tralee District Court was told.
Ms Cookes appeared by video link from Limerick Prison at the regular sitting on Wednesday. She was represented in court by her solicitor Brendan Ahern.
She was allowed to address the court and said she did not wish to cost the Irish State any more money and was willing to be deported.
However this was not a decision for the district court, Judge Waters said, as she was being sent forward for trial to the Circuit Court.
Ms Cookes, of no fixed abode, is accused of stealing from the Department of Social Protection in alleged fraudulent disability claims, and two sample charges have been brought.
Ms Cookes has been in custody since July.
Further charges will be outlined next week and the book of evidence served, the court heard.
Mr Ahern welcomed progress in the case.
The court heard previously how she was arrested outside Tralee post office in early July when she was due to collect a weekly disability allowance worth 232.
Ms Cookes is charged that on July 12, 2024, at An Post, Edward Street, Tralee, she stole property, namely 232 in disability allowance payment issued on June 12 to Samantha Jade Cookes, and on the same date she stole the same sum issued on June 5 to the same name.
These were sample charges, with further charges, likely the court was told in mid-July.
In all, she is accused of defrauding the department of 59,094 in fraudulent claims in 238 separate payments over a four-year period, it heard.
She initially submitted a claim for supplementary welfare allowance in February 2020 on the basis she had Huntington's disease.
During the course of the investigation, it was discovered she posed as a safety consultant under the names Jane Harris and Samantha Jade Williams, providing a company name that is a variation of a currently trading company.
That court also heard from investigating gardai that Ms Cookes had a history of using multiple aliases, variations of her own name and her mother's, to hide her identity. Her motives were not clear as she did not always financially benefit from them, it heard.
For the past 18 months, she has been living at an address in Tralee under the name Jade OSullivan, but was no longer welcome at that address, the court has heard.
Other aliases include Carrie Jade Williams, Jade OSullivan, Lucy Fitzwilliams, Jade Harris and Sadie Harris.
Ms Cookes still believes she has Huntington's disease and has been suffering from neurological symptoms since 2019, the court also heard.
Ms Cookes has been granted legal aid.
Judge Waters remanded her in continuing custody to appear on Wednesday next week, October 2, for service of the book of evidence.
Plans to make all of the newly refurbished public toilets in a Co Cork town unisex have fallen foul of local councillors' objections.
The proposed design of the revamped toilets in Kinsale, Co Cork caused quite a stink when published. More than 110 submissions were received from the public, with the bulk of these criticising the limited number of cubicles being provided.
Councillors were also unhappy with the plans, claiming that just three cubicles was insufficient to cater for the needs of the local population and the large number of tourists who visit the popular spot.
Fianna Fail councillor Gillian Coughlan, who chairs the Bandon/Kinsale Municipal District Council, told officials that councillors representing the area were reluctantly approving the plans, but with some caveats.
She said they would only accept one unisex cubicle and that the two others must be clearly marked, one for male use and the other for female use. Ms Coughlan said a separate disabled cubicle must also be equipped with baby changing facilities.
In addition, Ms Coughlan said councillors want the towns superloo replaced in due course and a proper toilet block built in its place to cater for visitors.
Fine Gael councillor Marie OSullivan, who runs a restaurant/cafe in the town, said the refurbished toilet block must have a shelter at its entrance. Otherwise, those queueing to use it would be at the quayside which is exposed to the elements during bad weather.
We have been trying for a number of years to get a new toilet block. We are not happy with the design but we have to bite the bullet and accept it otherwise we wont have toilets, independent councillor Alan Coleman said.
Its with a very heavy heart that I have decided to support the plan, he added.
Meanwhile, Macroom Municipal District councillors are set to discuss the towns toilet woes at a meeting on Friday.
Fine Gael councillor Ted Lucey has tabled a motion saying it is totally unacceptable there is just one mens and one womens cubicle in the toilets at the town square and none at the towns bus depot, which see about 1,000 people passing through it on weekdays.
Health sector watchdog Hiqa has identified serious concerns at two Aperee Living nursing homes in Cork, with issues around governance and fire safety to the fore.
The two unannounced inspections were carried out at centres in Bantry and Churchtown in May, on the back of previous inspections that also highlighted significant issues.
Aperee Living Bantry
In the case of Bantry, Hiqa said that on foot of issues highlighted in five previous inspections, the chief inspector had issued a notice of a proposed decision to cancel the centres registration relating to serious concerns about the registered provider's fitness to operate the centre and their failure to complete the fire safety works within the agreed time line.
However, Aperee Living then outlined the actions it would take to address its non-compliance and asked the inspector to reconsider his decision.
In this most recent inspection, concerns were again raised about governance and management at the Bantry centre, with Hiqa judging the centre to be non-compliant in this area.
It said: An escape route was put out of use to facilitate construction works to an escape ramp; this had not been risk-assessed nor was there a contingency plan to ensure an adequate alternative means of escape for residents on this bedroom corridor.
The provider had failed to ensure the fire safety works would be complete by May 31, 2024, in line with the compliance plan for the previous inspection.
Hiqa also highlighted repeated delays in addressing known fire safety risks at the centre, and said arrangements for providing adequate means of escape while measures in place to contain fire were not effective.
Aperee Living Churchtown
Meanwhile, at the Aperee Living Churchtown nursing home, Hiqa highlighted how the centre was subject to significant regulatory escalation.
This was also ordered to shut by the chief inspector but the provider appealed this decision in the district court.
While it was compliant in a number of areas during this most recent inspection, such as staffing, infection control and health care, it was not compliant in other areas such as governance and management and fire precautions.
Significant concerns remained with regards the providers management systems and the overall governance and management of the service to ensure that the service provided was safe, Hiqa said.
The watchdog also said that the provider had given repeated assurances that appropriate action would be taken to complete the required works in the area of fire safety for residents protection.
However, the inspectors found that a significant body of work remained outstanding in the centre, it said.
In the case of both nursing homes, Hiqa outlined a plan to bring these centres into compliance with its obligations.
Background
The Irish Examiner reported in August that a receiver had been appointed to the troubled firms Bantry nursing home.
Earlier this month, Hiqa confirmed that the Aperee Living nursing home in the village of Camp outside Tralee would transfer to the management of the HSE.
This was arising from serious concerns about the governance and management of the centre, and the impact on the care and welfare of residents, it said.
Taoiseach Simon Harris will travel to the White House next month to meet US president Joe Biden.
Following their meeting, the Taoiseach and Mr Biden will both speak at an event to mark the centenary of bilateral diplomatic relations between Ireland and the US, which was the first country to recognise Ireland.
A statement from the Taoiseachs office said the event will also be an opportunity to reflect on President Bidens career-long friendship with Ireland.
This will be the second visit to the White House by an Irish leader this year after then taoiseach Leo Varadkar attended the traditional St Patricks Day celebrations in March.
The October visit by Mr Harris will lend further credence to speculation that a general election will be called for November.
Next years St Patricks Day visit will see the incoming US president Donald Trump or Kamala Harris greeting the leader of a new Irish government, if one has been formed, as an election must be held in Ireland before March 2025.
Simon Harris's October visit will be the second such trip by an Irish head of government this year after then taoiseach Leo Varadkar met US president Joe Biden during his St Patrick's Day visit earlier this year. Picture: Niall Carson/PA
The invitation was extended to Mr Harris while he was in New York for UN General Assembly week.
During a media appearance at the UN on Tuesday, Mr Harris said that Mr Biden was doing all he could to bring about a ceasefire in the Middle East.
At a broad level, I dont believe the world is doing everything it possibly can to bring about a cessation of violence," he said.
"I do think theres an onus on all of us on Ireland, on the European Union, and the United States of America, on every country that says it wants a ceasefire to say: What more can we do?
I know how hard President Biden has worked to try and bring about a ceasefire, Mr Harris said. "Ive spoken to him on the phone.
"Ive seen how many times Secretary Blinken has travelled to the region, an extraordinary number of times, to have talks.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has pledged to continue pushing for broader European recognition of the state of Palestine.
Mr Harris met with Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, in New York on Tuesday, marking their first discussion since Irelands decision to officially recognise Palestine.
After the meeting, Mr Harris said that it was "an honour" to speak with President Abbas and reiterated his commitment to encouraging other EU nations to recognise Palestinian statehood, which Ireland did in May.
Our heart is breaking for what is happening to people in Palestine. To see so many children and civilians losing their lives, to see the destruction of so much civilian infrastructure," he said.
"I wanted the President of Palestine to know that Ireland sees Palestine.
"We know what its like to live in a country where you have had to really work to be seen to have your right for self-determination. We know what that is like.
There is an absolute right to a Palestinian state, a state that can live in peace and security alongside the state of Israel.
"I know very clearly, and the people of Ireland know very clearly, that Palestine is not Hamas. Hamas offers the people of Palestine no future.
Mr Harris said that a ceasefire was needed "so the killing can stop, the aid can flow, the hostages can be released and we can get to a point where we can have a political process to bring about a two-state solution.
That was my message to President Abbas. It was an honour to meet him in person. It is the first time I have had the opportunity to meet him since Ireland took the decision to recognise the state of Palestine.
"I will continue to advocate at a European level for more states to recognise Palestine because you cannot have a two-state solution if you do not recognise the existence of two states.
"I will continue to work on behalf on behalf of the Irish people with other countries in terms of trying to get the aid to flow.
President Higgins along with Taoiseach Simon Harris during the opening session at the United Nations Building in New York. Picture: Maxwells
"I had a good meeting with the King of Jordan in relation to that today.
Meanwhile, President Michael D Higgins met with US President Joe Biden following Mr Biden's speech at the UN.
The two presidents spoke about a number of issues, a readout said, including the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
According to the readout, President Higgins "expressed his concern at the most recent developments in Lebanon and the need for these actions to cease". President Biden said he agreed and stated that he was "doing his best"t on the issues the President had raised.
"The Presidents exchanged wishes in relation to each other's families and President Higgins wished President Biden health and happiness for the future."
A Government scheme that gives an 800 tax-free payment to homeowners who rent their homes to Ukrainians is reducing housing supply and is an incentive to chose a renter based on their nationality, a Sinn Fein TD has claimed.
Pearse Doherty said the design of the scheme creates resentment and inequality in the rental market.
Mr Doherty told the Dail on Wednesday that the latest figures show the number of new payments made under the Government scheme is increasing at nearly a rate of 1,000 per month.
Since you extended your scheme earlier this year, thousands of homes have been taken out of that (rental) sector
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth Roderic OGorman said the scheme is under review but warned that any changes would have an impact on Ukrainians.
He said the State has provided refuge to over 100,000 Ukrainians over the last two years, and at its height, was directly providing accommodation supports to about 75,000 of those Ukrainians.
But he said that those numbers have since decreased.
Mr Doherty said the scheme should only be available to host families who open up their own homes to Ukrainians.
You have built in an incentive for landlords to accept one renter over another based on their nationality, when the housing needs of both are acute
We argued it should not be available to homes that should really be on the private rental market and we argued it should not be available for rooms that should really be used as student digs. We told you it was unfair, he added.
The scheme, as you know minister, provides 800 a month to pay for rent for Ukrainians, regardless of whether they are working and regardless of their income.
The payment is tax free, and that means to a landlord it is worth 1,600. Indeed, in constituencies like mine in Donegal, where the average rent is below 1,600, it is pricing other renters out of the market and reducing supply.
That flies in the face of the commitment your Government gave and assurances it said that any measures to temporarily accommodate Ukrainians would not impact on housing supply.
You yourself minister said that we do not want to pursue a measure that interferes with the private rental market, but that is precisely what you have done.
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth Roderic OGorman said the scheme was under review (Brian Lawless/PA)
He added: Since you extended your scheme earlier this year, thousands of homes have been taken out of that (rental) sector, and you have built in an incentive for landlords to accept one renter over another based on their nationality, when the housing needs of both are acute.
That is wrong. Two people working side-by-side, earning the same wages with the same family size under your scheme, you pay the rent for one but not the other.
We can see why more and more people are questioning the fairness of this payment. It is provided regardless of income, regardless of employment status, and that is simply not fair.
The Donegal TD said that anyone who is working should pay for their own accommodation.
Green Party leader Mr OGorman defended the Governments scheme, saying that many of the benefits and entitlements given to Ukrainian people who have sought refuge in Ireland have been scaled back.
There is a review under way at the moment, and that will feed into the decision now as to whether we extend it in line with the Temporary Protection Directive, and whether we extend it unamended, or we make changes in terms of its ambit
Under the legislation, theres a provision for the review of the workings of the the recognition payment, he added.
There is a review under way at the moment, and that will feed into the decision now as to whether we extend it in line with the Temporary Protection Directive, and whether we extend it unamended, or we make changes in terms of its ambit.
But it is really important to say, there are thousands of people supported by this payment right now deputy and if we were to cut this payment, if we were to end it immediately, it is important that we understand the impact that that would have on Ukrainians, who we are hosting as a country.
I think that has to be borne in mind in terms of any decision this Government or future governments makes in terms of the recognition payments.
The lead contractor for the National Childrens Hospital (NCH) has criticised misleading, ill-informed and incorrect allegations about its work on the project.
In a lengthy statement, BAM said its priority is to deliver the hospital for the benefit of the children of Ireland and their families as quickly as possible.
It rejected claims levelled against it by the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) and repeated in the Health Ministers letter to the Taoiseach last week which said the contractor was showing a disregard for children and seeking to extract a maximum amount of money from the Irish taxpayer.
It comes as NPHDB chief executive David Gunning told the Oireachtas Health Committee that the board was not receiving the BAM A game on the project, while declining to set out if the hospital developers would meet their latest completion timeline.
The long-delayed project is now expected to cost the State 2.2bn, with Mr Gunning insisting the price would not be inflated further and the board was unwilling to give developers BAM any further funds.
Under questioning by Social Democrat TD Roisin Shortall, Mr Gunning said the value of outstanding claims by BAM is about 750m, from a total of 2,161 claims. However, he said 18 claims made up 80% of this 750m figure.
On the completion of rooms, which has been a source of dispute between BAM and the hospital board, project director Phelim Devine said his team had inspected 500 rooms of the over 3,000 the builder had offered as completed.
Mr Devine said of the rooms inspected, the team had found an average of between 13 and 15 defects per room. He said these range from incomplete works in the ceiling, to issues with duct works, as well as fire sealing on doors.
Claims 'no basis in fact'
BAM said the claims about money have absolutely no basis in fact and are unhelpful.
To be clear, BAM is only looking for the money to which it is properly entitled for work done under the contract, and not a penny more, the statement said.
BAM said it is engaged in works to correct thousands of design errors identified in the NPHDB's compliance audit.
These include relocating thousands of ceiling-mounted services like smoke detectors, CCTV cameras and sprinkler heads.
It said this work was the substantive cause of delays since January, adding: The ceiling issues are merely the latest in a long list of design issues and changes. To be clear, apart from a limited number of items, the NPHDB is responsible for the design of the hospital.
BAM said it has received more than 23,900 new and revised drawings, sketches and BIM models and schedules for the project.
It said this was an unprecedented volume of change when considering the project had been under design for more than eight years.
It said a huge level of design change has continued into the latter stages of this project, with more than 1,500 new drawings issued to BAM in 2024 alone.
The statement added: BAM made numerous requests of the NPHDB over the past five years for their design programme, which we have never received.
Instead, BAM receives design information in a fragmented, piecemeal format making it extremely difficult to programme the works.
BAM also accused the development board of actively underfunding the project.
BAM maintains the project has always been fully resourced according to the original work programme, adding it is currently resourced at approximately 50% above the level that was anticipated for this late stage.
It said it hit a peak of 1,705 operatives on the site, above its projected forecast of 1,424.
On claims that the contractor was presenting areas of the hospital as finished, BAM said that none of the reference rooms for inspection were handed over as completed.
BAM has sought repeatedly to work through issues with the board. However, as we have seen, the board has ignored the fair provisions of the contract when the independent conciliator findings do not suit it.
We have serious questions over the current boards ability to manage the project and to account fairly and truthfully for what is happening procedurally, and we have a range of suggestions as to how the management of the project can be improved for the benefit of all.
The boards current position is actively underfunding the project and starving the Irish supply chain of the money is it fairly due. We now need the board to engage with us and restart the mediation process to ensure this crucial project is completed as soon as possible for the people of Ireland.
As they start, so they mean to go on. This weekend, the Taoiseach set the tone for one particular topic in the election to come.
In the course of an interview for the Sunday Times, Simon Harris suggested there was a link between what the paper described as a surge in immigration and rising homelessness. "[The] very serious volume of people coming to the country is now having a real impact, he replied.
This is a statement that has very little basis in fact and certainly not in the way the Taoiseach was attempting to portray. His comments signal the floor has been lowered when it comes to the grubby business of using asylum seekers in pursuit of votes.
If this is the starting gun from the Taoiseach, then things might get very ugly.
Mr Harriss interview was published the day after it emerged his Justice Minister Helen McEntee is shelving a proposed law on hate speech. This legislation was to replace the Incitement to Hatred Act, enacted in 1989 when Ireland was another country.
Ms McEntee said while she would attempt to go ahead with the hate crime element of the bill, the incitement to hatred element does not have a consensus, so that will be dealt with at a later stage".
It was arresting to hear a Government minister say a law will not be enacted in the Oireachtas because it doesnt have a consensus. The vast majority of laws are enacted through the government parties invoking their parliamentary majority.
Now a Fine Gael minister is saying consensus is required for this particular law. Whos she kidding?
The reality is that the bill, even as it comes in the wake of shocking scenes of racism on RTEs Prime Time Investigates, is considered more trouble than it is worth ahead of a general election.
Ultimately, Ms McEntee will take her bosss lead. And Mr Harris gives the impression he will do or say whatever it takes to ensure he is returned to Government at the forthcoming election.
Housing is the outgoing Governments Achilles Heel. The numbers are still bad, the costs rising, the social contract fraying as the natural progression to buying a home is beyond most young people. This is one area where the Taoiseachs rocket-fuelled Duracell bunny will not be making any hay.
So what does he do? Deflects. He points an accusing finger at one of the most vulnerable constituencies as if to say, look over there at those people who dont have a vote. They, not I or my party, are to blame".
After his initial reference to immigrants, he went on: People understand the fact that the homelessness numbers are heavily impacted by the fact we are seeing many people seek protection in our country, seek asylum in our country and many people come from abroad looking to have a new future in Ireland.
Immigration
Notably, the Taoiseach did not make any reference to the war in Ukraine, which is by far the biggest factor in an increase in population in recent years. Neither did he mention the economic model fashioned by his party over the last 14 years that has seen a requirement to import talent to match jobs.
And there was certainly no reference to our membership of the EU, which allows for free movement of people. Yet these three factors account for the vast majority of immigration in the last few years.
Take 2023, the last year for which we have full statistics. In that year, a total of 141,500 people came into the country. Of those, 29,600 were returning Irish citizens. Another 26,100 were EU citizens and 4,800 from the UK.
About 40,000 more were fleeing the war in Ukraine and that year the Government issued 30,981 work permits. There was a total of 13,277 applications for protection in 2023, less than 10% of all the people who arrived in the State.
Yet that is the focus these days of what is described as immigration. (The number of international protection applicants has increased this year, but so also has the number of work permits issued so far, up by over 20%, according to Government figures).
There is an issue around asylum seekers who are granted protection. When this cohort leaves direct provision it is increasingly difficult to find accommodation. As a result, many are reduced to emergency measures which categorise them as homeless.
Many asylum seekers are reduced to emergency measures which categorise them as homeless. File photo
But to suggest this is the serious matter in the context of a crisis that has been ongoing for over a decade is to drive the art of deflection onto new, open prairies.
The Taoiseachs comments were echoed by the Housing Minister Darragh OBrien on Monday. He said there was a particular problem with single people exiting direct provision. Of course there is. There is a problem with single people finding any kind of accommodation.
There is a problem with mainly, but not exclusively, young people forking out a huge chunk of their income on rent. There is a problem with all sorts of people wanting to buy a home as previous generations have done.
Yet it is those at the bottom of the pile, provided sanctuary here on the basis that this is a peaceful so-called civilised society, who are being blamed for the problems.
The election
In reality its all about votes. No offence is intended to anybody. Its just business. The main parties know there is a vague sentiment of unease in some quarters about the various issues that have arisen around asylum seekers in recent years.
There is a fear such a sentiment must be pandered to or the votes may flee to right-wing independents in particular. So the big boys and girls do what they perceive they have to do in the circumstances.
Send out a message, if not a dog whistle. Let the voters know you feel their pain, or, most accurately, their vague unease.
This is a new low in the political vernacular. Until recently, it could be expected mainstream politicians, including Sinn Fein, would not involve themselves in what is effectively kicking down.
But due to a change in some quarters of society they are gradually overcoming any reluctance to appeal to basic instincts. Now the Taoiseach feels comfortable engaging in this sort of thing, it sends the general tone further along the road towards an ugly discourse during the next election campaign.
Retail recovery continues on Cork citys St Patricks Street, with the imminent arrivals of the likes of intimate wear brand Victorias Secret and fragrance retailers Body and Bath at Opera Lane, jewellers Austen & Blake next to Brown Thomas at the junction with Winthrop Street, along with market reports also of a Seasalt Cornwall clothes wear store and a fashion jewellers Lovisa all in the wings.
Direct jewellery sellers the Neve Group are set to open under their Austen & Blake banner in a compact but high profile slot between Brown Thomas and Penneys at No 22 St Patricks Street.
The parent company, Neve/Diamonds Direct manufactures its own diamonds for wedding and engagement rings and sells via its stores trading as Austen and Blake. It has agreed a deal off-market on the jewel-like No 22 St Patrick Street via agent Margaret Kelleher of Cohalan Downing, and has just applied for planning alterations to include reinstatement of the original style tall doors between the feature double bay curved glazing.
To generations of Corkonians, the diminutive corner shop is still fondly referred to as Cudmores, the sweets and fruiterers who had No 22 for decades: it was later occupied by Vodafone, and later by ices seller Ginos Gelato.
The former Cudmores in Patrick St was later occupied by Vodafone, and later by ices seller Ginos Gelato. Jewellers Austen & Blake are not set to open there. Picture: Des Barry
Now, diamond jewellers Austen & Blake are set to open at No 22, between locally-owned Neville Jewellers, with a 50 year pedigree in Cork (at 21 Winthrop Street) and also Limerick, and high street brand H Samuel at 23 St Patrick Street.
Also understood to be under negotiation is Seasalt Cornwall at the old French Connection premises at No 86, via Savills, who are also understood to be in discussion with fashion jewellers Lovisa for a corner unit on St Patricks Street/Princes Street the former Game Stop. UK-based company Seasalt, founded in Cornwall in 1981 and now with over 60 physical outlets is already in Clonakilty , West Cork, as well as in Kenmare and in Westport. Lovisa is now open in Dublins Henry Street. Savills have declined to comment on current negotiations.
Meanwhile, news of intimate wear retailer Victorias Secret (already in Dublin since 2018 at Grafton Street, Liffey Valley, and Dundrum Shopping Centre) and fragrance seller Body and Bath Works arrival in Corks newest shopping street Opera Lane comes as agents Cushman & Wakefield relaunch the now-fully let Opera Lane retail investment with a guide price of 22m-plus (excl Vat), all in one lot, totalling 107,000 sq ft and anchored by H&M and Next.
Theres a rent roll of 2.2m and at the excess 22m guide reflects a net initial yield of 9.10% (after costs): the investment, was previously offered in March of 2023 at 26m with a then-cited rental income of 2.7m.
Since, new deals have been agreed on two more occupiers, Victorias Secret and Body and Bath Work to bring full occupancy, with a Wault now of 4.6 years to break and six years to expiry, for the investment on a full new retail street which was developed in 2009 by OCallaghan Properties.
Opera Lane is the premier retail destination located in heart of Cork city centre, situated just off St Patricks Street linking it to Emmet Place and Cork Opera House. St Patricks Street and Opera Lane are the nucleus of the city, says Cork C&W MD Peter OFlynn who says it links to the Crawford Gallery/Emmet Place/Opera House quarter where a new 30m gallery cultural investment is about to start, while a number of other new retailers have arrived post-covid.
Opera Lane is beside the major Dunnes flagship, faces Penneys (due a long-heralded major redevelopment), Brown Thomas, and Mango.
Mr OFlynn says: The city has seen a number of new store openings in the last 12 months; Flannels opened its second store in Ireland, after Blanchardstown; Easons, Dubray, Krispy Kreme, The North Face, and Carrolls Irish Gifts have all opened new stores on St Patricks Street.
Weekly footfall in the city centre is put at 350,000 to 400,000 and Karl Stewart of Cushman & Wakefield said the Opera Lane investment sale offer provides a strong rental return to a mix of international operators, which soon will boosted further with the opening of Victorias Secret and Bath & Body Works later this year.
There is also scope for further rental return with turnover top ups on a number of the stores which will benefit from the improving foot traffic in Cork city centre and Opera Lane.
Top three rent payers at Opera Lane are H&M at 939,000 or 29% of income, followed by Next at 272,000,and Tommy Hilfiger at 217,000 (each 12% of income). Other occupiers include Select+, Specsavers, Skechers, New Look, Therapie, and Starbucks all form part of the sale. H&M and Next, have both recently committed long term in the development underlining their commitment to both the scheme and Cork itself, say Cushman & Wakefield.
DETAILS: Cushman & Wakefield, 021-4275454
US President Joe Biden will make his long-awaited visit to Africa when he travels to Germany and Angola in mid-October, the White House has announced.
Mr Biden had promised during a summit of African leaders he hosted in Washington in late 2022 to visit Africa the following year.
His visit was to be the capstone of an administration effort to shore up ties with the continent, partly to counter growing influence there from China, a US rival.
Several Cabinet members and Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as first lady Jill Biden, visited African nations in 2023, but the year passed without a visit from Mr Biden.
Now, with just a few months left in office after he ended his re-election campaign, he plans to travel to Berlin and Luanda, Angola, from October 10th to 15th, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced while Mr Biden was in New York.
He delivered his final address as president to the UN General Assembly earlier on Tuesday.
Mr Biden will be the first US president to visit sub-Saharan Africa since 2015.
During meetings in Berlin with German leaders, Mr Biden will shore up alliances and express appreciation to Germany for supporting Ukraines defence against Russian aggression, hosting US service members and for its contributions to the Nato alliance, Ms Jean-Pierre said.
The president will visit Luanda, the capital of Angola in central Africa, to discuss collaboration on a number of issues with President Joao Lourenco.
They are also set to discuss economic partnerships and infrastructure, including a rail project that would start in Lobito, Angola, and ultimately connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, among other issues, Ms Jean-Pierre said.
Asked in May about the timing of an Africa trip, Mr Biden said he hoped to visit after the November presidential election.
I plan on going in February after I am re-elected, Mr Biden said then as he welcomed Kenyan President William Ruto to the White House during his US state visit.
Hezbollah launched a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv early on Wednesday, in a further escalation after Israel carried out strikes on Lebanon that killed hundreds of people.
The Israeli military said it intercepted the surface-to-surface missile, which set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel, and there were no reports of casualties or damage.
The military said it struck the site in southern Lebanon from which the projectile was launched.
A house destroyed by an Israeli airstrike on Khiam village, south Lebanon (Hussein Malla/AP)
Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israels Mossad intelligence agency, which it blames for a recent string of targeted killings of its top commanders and for an attack last week in which bombs hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of people and wounded thousands, including many Hezbollah members.
The Israeli military said it was the first time a projectile fired from Lebanon had reached central Israel.
Hezbollah claimed to have targeted an intelligence base near Tel Aviv last month in an aerial attack, but there was no confirmation. The Palestinian Hamas militant group in Gaza repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv in the opening months of the war.
Lt Col Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, said the missile fired on Wednesday had a heavy warhead but declined to elaborate or confirm it was the type described by Hezbollah.
He dismissed Hezbollahs claim of targeting the Mossad headquarters, located just north of Tel Aviv, as psychological warfare.
The Iranian-made Qader is a medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile with multiple types and payloads.
It can carry an explosive payload of up to 800kg (1,760 pounds), according to the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Iranian officials have described the liquid-fuelled missile as having a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles).
The launch ratcheted up tensions as the region appears to be teetering toward another all-out war, even as Israel continues to battle Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
A wave of Israeli strikes on Monday and Tuesday killed at least 560 people in Lebanon and forced thousands to seek refuge.
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the village of Khiam (Hussein Malla/AP)
Families have fled southern Lebanon, flocking to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along the beach. Some sought to leave the country, causing a traffic jam at the border with Syria.
Israel said late on Tuesday that fighter jets carried out extensive strikes on Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa region to the north.
The military has said it has no immediate plans for a ground invasion but has declined to give a timetable for the air campaign.
Tensions between Israel and the Lebanese militant group have steadily escalated over the last 11 months. Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and its ally Hamas, a fellow Iran-backed militant group.
Israel has responded with increasingly heavy airstrikes and the targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders while threatening a wider operation.
The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Lebanon for Wednesday at the request of France.
Relatives carry the body of a young girl, killed in an Israeli airstrike, during her funeral procession in the southern village of Saksakieh, Lebanon (Mohammed Zaatari/AP)
Nearly a year of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel had already displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border before this weeks escalation.
Israel has vowed to do whatever it takes to ensure its citizens can return to their homes in the north, while Hezbollah has said it will keep up its rocket attacks until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, something which appears increasingly remote.
Israel has moved thousands of troops who had been serving in Gaza to the northern border. It says Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including some capable of striking anywhere in Israel, and that the group has fired some 9,000 rockets and drones since last October.
Cross-border exchanges began ramping up on Sunday in the wake of the pager and walkie-talkie bombings, which killed 39 people and wounded nearly 3,000, many of them civilians.
Lebanon blamed Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny responsibility.
On Sunday, Hezbollah launched around 150 rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel.
The next day, Israel said its warplanes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, destroying cruise missiles, long and short-range rockets and attack drones, including weapons concealed in private homes.
The strikes racked up the highest one-day death toll in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising monthlong war in 2006.
An Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Tuesday killed Ibrahim Kobeisi, who Israel described as a top Hezbollah commander with the groups rocket and missile unit.
Military officials said Kobeisi was responsible for launches towards Israel and planned a 2000 attack in which three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and killed. Hezbollah later confirmed his death.
It was the latest in a string of assassinations and other setbacks for Hezbollah, which is Lebanons strongest political and military actor and is widely considered the top paramilitary force in the Arab world.
Lebanons Health Ministry said six people were killed and 15 were wounded in the strike in a southern Beirut suburb, an area where Hezbollah has a strong presence. The countrys National News Agency said the attack destroyed three floors of a six-story apartment building.
The UNs High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon said one of its staffers and her young son were among those killed on Monday in the Bekaa region, while a cleaner under contract was killed in a strike in the south.
Hezbollah fired 300 rockets on Tuesday, injuring six Israeli soldiers and civilians, most of them lightly, according to the Israeli military.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 564 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Monday, including 50 children and 94 women, and that more than 1,800 have been wounded.
The victory plan that Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will present to the White House this week asks the Biden administration to do something it has not achieved in the two and a half years since Russia invaded Ukraine: act quickly to support Kyivs campaign.
While Western dawdling has amplified Ukraines losses, some Ukrainian officials, diplomats and analysts fear Kyivs aim to have the plan implemented before a new US president takes office in January may be out of reach.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, reportedly briefed on the plan, said it can work but many privately question how.
The specifics of Mr Zelenskyys blueprint have been kept under wraps until it can be formally presented to US President Joe Biden, but contours of the plan have emerged, including the need for fast action on decisions Western allies have been mulling since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.
Volodymyr Zelensky is watched by Rich Hansen, the commanders representative for the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, while signing military ordnance in Scranton, Pennsylvania (Office of the Ukrainian Presidency via AP)
It includes the security guarantee of Nato membership, according to Mr Zelenskyys chief of staff Andrii Yermak a principal demand of Kyiv and Moscows key point of contention. Western allies, including the US, have been sceptical about this option.
Mr Zelenskyy has said he will also seek permission to use long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory, another red line for some of Ukraines supporters.
Partners often say, We will be with Ukraine until its victory. Now we clearly show how Ukraine can win and what is needed for this. Very specific things, Mr Zelenskyy told reporters ahead of the trip.
Lets do all this today, while all the officials who want victory for Ukraine are still in official positions.
Meanwhile, outnumbered Ukrainian forces face grinding battles against one of the worlds most powerful armies in the east.
As Mr Zelenskyy pitches his plan to Mr Biden on Thursday, Ukrainian servicemen will be grappling to hold defensive lines in the key logistics point of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region.
I hope that allies will provide us with what we need, said Kyanin, a soldier fighting in the Donetsk region. Not 10 or 31 tanks, but a thousand tanks, thousands of weapons and ammunition.
The victory plan is Kyivs response to rising pressure from Western allies and war-weary Ukrainians to negotiate a ceasefire. A deal with Russia would almost certainly be unfavourable for Ukraine, which has lost a fifth of its territory and tens of thousands of lives in the conflict.
President Zelensky and Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg in July (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
Unless, Kyiv calculates, its western partners act quickly. Ukraines allies have routinely mulled over requests for weapons and capabilities, granting them often after their strategic value is diminished. Under the plan, from October to December, they must dramatically strengthen Kyivs hand.
The plan comprises military, political, diplomatic and economic elements.
A senior US State Department official said the Ukrainians were testing certain elements of Mr Zelenskyys plan with the US and others but had not yet offered details or the entire proposal. Any decision on support for parts or all of the plan will be up to Mr Biden, the official said on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly in New York.
The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss private consultations with the Ukrainians, said the military element of the plan deals with what Ukraine thinks it needs in the short term to keep pressure on Russia and hopefully force them to the negotiating table.
The political element deals with how to assure the Ukrainian people that they will be welcome in Western institutions such as the European Union and Nato if they continue to fight with Russia or succeed in getting a negotiated settlement with Russia, the official said.
Aside from the demand for Nato membership, the plan seeks to bolster Ukraines defences, including air defence capabilities, enough to force Moscow to negotiate.
A request to ramp up sanctions to weaken Russias economy and defence industry is also expected.
Mr Zelenskyy has said without elaborating that Kyivs military incursion into Kursk, in Russia, is part of the victory plan.
That offensive, which embarrassed President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin scrambled to counterattack, has not yielded any strategic gains. But it has shown the Russian public and doubtful Western allies that Russian is not invincible and Kyiv still has offensive capabilities despite being battered on the eastern front.
Mr Zelenskyy has described his proposal as a bridge to the peace summit that he has proposed for November but that Russia says it will not attend. No international players capable of swaying Moscow agreed to his earlier 10-point peace plan, which calls for the full withdrawal of Russian forces.
Ukrainian presidential advisers and politicians have told The Associated Press that Kyiv will agree to a ceasefire with Russia only if Mr Putins ability to invade the country again is halted. Any other arrangement would not benefit Ukraines future or honour the sacrifices of its people.
It will lead to a freezing of the conflict, nothing more: Occupied territories are considered occupied. Sanctions against Russia remain. The intensity of war drops significantly but it continues
Ukrainian officials have rejected competing proposals from China and Brazil, believing they would merely pause the war and give Moscow time to consolidate its battered army and defence industry.
It will lead to a freezing of the conflict, nothing more: Occupied territories are considered occupied. Sanctions against Russia remain. The intensity of war drops significantly but it continues, said one presidential adviser, who requested anonymity.
He predicted that Moscow would recalibrate and attack again, likely from Mykolaiv and Odesa in the south, within two, three, four years, or maybe even earlier, depending on the state of Russia. Thats the scenario.
Russias conditions for ending the war are spelled out in a 17-page draft agreement penned in April 2022.
Prolonging the status quo will only play into Russias hands in the long-term, analysts said.
Ukraine will lose more than 1,000 square kilometers (600 miles) by the end of the year if current conditions continue, said Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst for Information Resistance, a Kyiv-based think tank.
We need to understand that if (allies) dont defend Ukraine, it will make this war last for many more years, and finally, make it possible for us to lose the war, he said.
Time will also allow Russian forces to build up its weapons industry, as it did at a frightening pace in the last year, said Kovalenko.
We lack every kind of weapon, and Russia produces their weapons 24 hours a day, Mr Kovalenko said.
Russia has updated its aerial glide bombs, for which Ukraine has no effective countermeasure. They now weigh 3,000 pounds, which is six times bigger than when they were first used in the battle for Bakhmut in 2022, he said.
Soldiers in eastern Ukraine and analysts said long-range Western weapons would be the most effective countermeasure against glide bombs, which have been deployed along the frontline, including in Vuhledar. The mining towns fall would compromise supply lines feeding the southern front and strike a devastating blow to Ukrainian morale.
In his final address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Mr Biden urged Ukraines backers to stand firm.
We cannot grow weary, he said. We cannot look away.
The Florida Cabinet, sitting as the State Board of Administration, convened and adjourned in less than four minutes Tuesday.
The Cabinet, an independent statewide-elected three-member body that controls many elements of state government with Gov. Ron DeSantis, met over the phone to vote on five items, including an update to the states list of companies doing business with disfavored governments.
DeSantis said Florida has really led the charge nationwide on refusing to do business with such scrutinized companies.
The State Board of Administration one of a number of Cabinet agencies, including the Board of Executive Clemency oversees the states pension and other investments. Chris Spencer, its director, presented the quarterly report on scrutinized companies with activities in Sudan, Iran, Northern Ireland, Cuba, Syria, and Venezuela.
Ten companies related to Iran were reclassified from continued examination to being named as scrutinized companies as a result of guidelines that took effect this year following a 2023 law. Those companies are incorporated in France, Russia, China, Japan, India, and the Netherlands.
The 2023 law broadened the states ban on investing pension funds beyond companies doing business with the Iranian energy and petroleum industries to additional sectors. Now the state is prohibited from investing in companies dealing with the Iranian financial, construction, manufacturing, textile, mining, metals, shipping, shipbuilding, and port sectors.
Companies with more than 10% of revenues or assets in those sectors are sanctioned.
Spencer noted that Morningstar, a corporate governance research firm, remains on the continued examination list while it continues corrective action plan after being sanctioned for allegedly being anti-Israel.
The Cabinet members present Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Attorney General Ashley Moody offered no discussion. Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson doesnt sit on this particular board.
Minutes after the meeting, DeSantis briefed the public on the state of Tropical Storm Helene from the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee.
The Cabinet will next convene on Dec. 17.
Parts of the Capitol are under construction, and the speed of that work will determine the location of that meeting, the last scheduled this year. During a June meeting, also conducted over the phone, DeSantis said he hopes to be back in the Cabinet chamber in the Capitol before the end of the year.
Floridas post-Reconstruction constitution created the independent Cabinet to prevent governors from holding too much power. After assuming office in 2019, DeSantis made clear that he wasnt interested in spending too much time meeting with the Cabinet members.
The panel formerly convened about one per month. DeSantis and the Cabinet have met about one fourth as often as previous Cabinets.
This story first appeared on the website of the Florida Phoenix, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to coverage of state government and politics from Tallahassee
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A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
Companies, experts decry U.S. crackdown on Chinese auto tech as "national security abuse"
Xinhua) 15:56, September 25, 2024
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies and experts have criticized the growing protectionism and abuse of "national security" that underscore the U.S. government's latest plan to rid the country's vehicles of Chinese technology and components.
The U.S. Commerce Department this week proposed banning the use of Chinese and Russian-developed software and hardware on autonomous and internet-connected vehicles, citing "national security" concerns.
Many Chinese automobile firms say such concerns are groundless and camouflage the Biden administration's resorting to political means to knock out Chinese firms that outcompete their U.S. peers.
"It is another example of the United States abusing the concept of national security to hamstring China's technological advances," said Hua Xianping, chairman of Wuxi Checheng Zhilian Technology Co., Ltd., which focuses on intelligent vehicle networking.
"This not only goes against the principles of the market economy and fair competition, but also undermines the stability of global industrial chains," he said.
Industry observers said that in self-driving technologies, while U.S. companies take the lead in AI algorithms and chips, their Chinese counterparts score higher in sensors and laser radar. China's mature industrial chains also help lower the production costs and increase the market appeal of related products.
A spokesperson for a Hubei-based new energy vehicle company said the United States has a record of restricting vehicle imports from Japan and the Republic of Korea at times when U.S. carmakers struggled in the domestic market.
"The United States really needs to focus more on improving the competitiveness of its auto industry, rather than creating barriers for foreign competitors, because ultimately this will harm the global auto industry," she said.
Lyu Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that following the 100-percent duty on Chinese electric vehicles, the proposed ban reveals the U.S. government's propensity to use tariff and non-tariff barriers to shield its domestic capacity.
The restrictive measures come at a time when U.S. companies struggle to find direction in the realm of autonomous driving and electric vehicles, Lyu said, referring to Apple's decision to scrap its plan to release an autonomous electric vehicle and suspicions around Tesla's Full Self-Driving feature.
"The latest move is undoubtedly intended to win time for U.S. companies to catch up in technology," he said. "But it will backfire and trigger opposition from even the companies it tries to protect."
The modern automotive industry is built on global cooperation, and a car's software and hardware come from across the globe, Hua explained, adding that a unilateral ban will lead to technological and market fragmentation, while ratcheting up costs and disrupting supplies for U.S. companies.
Another Hubei-based producer of vehicle parts said the proposed ban would deal a blow to both the company and its many U.S. clients, including big-name brands like Ford and Buick.
"Our U.S. partners have told us they are in great pain. They have been protesting with the U.S. government, which has turned a deaf ear and insisted on going its own way," said the company's board chairman, who asked not to be named. "No one benefits from this ban."
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
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
New Yorks environmental agency could soon regulate over a million more acres of freshwater wetlands nearly doubling the area already under its jurisdiction.
Protecting the states freshwater wetlands from development has been universally lauded by builders and environmentalists alike because of the massive importance wetlands have in providing key animal habitat and fighting the effects of climate change, according to comments given during public hearings on the new regulations.
But both factions are also wary of the proposed regulations, which are currently being updated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Developers are concerned the new regulations will stall projects in a state already hit by a housing crisis, while environmental organizations are concerned they arent protective enough for the Great Lakes region.
We are really concerned, said Mike Fazio, executive director of the New York State Builders Association. You need to balance the environment with the needs of the people.
And some argue the law may be too ambiguous for places such as Chautauqua Lake, where weed abatement practices maintain it as a navigable lake.
The DEC must, however, update the freshwater wetland regulations to follow the original purpose of the state law established in 1975, which requires the state to preserve, protect and conserve freshwater wetlands.
For decades, the state has used maps drawn using 1960s and 1970s vintage black and white aerial photographs to determine where about 1.2 million acres of wetlands under its jurisdiction were located. But such maps were inaccurate, and left about a million acres of freshwater wetlands unmapped and therefore unprotected, according to the DEC.
With the new regulations, the DEC proposes using informational maps drawn by Cornell University depicting where there are wetlands. These maps, expected to be published before the end of this year, should add roughly a million more acres of wetlands to the DECs jurisdiction. Wetlands are so critical to the health of our environment, to water quality and to protecting our communities and making them more resilient, said Interim DEC Commissioner Sean Mahar in an interview with The Buffalo News.
Were seeing more intense and frequent storms; more flooding events, and we know that protecting freshwater wetlands directly helps communities be able to withstand what were seeing from climate change.
The DEC is reviewing the public comments it received in response to the proposed regulations. The new regulations are set to go into effect in January 2025.
New York has lost 60% of its wetlands
Freshwater wetlands are vitally important habitats submerged in water for at least part of the year. They are often also called marshes, swamps, bogs and fens.
The wetlands provide key breeding habitat for protected species, slow down floodwaters, filter dirty water as it moves through a landscape, protect shorelines from erosion and absorb heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, said Chris Pennuto, a biology professor at SUNY Buffalo State University.
Theyre really critical, fascinating places, he said.
New York historically lost at least 60% of its wetlands to development, according to a 1990 report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The DECs revisions to the freshwater wetlands law come after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers walked back federal protections on freshwater wetlands in 2023. The federal decision was due to a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that determined only wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are waters of the United States, could be protected under the Clean Water Act.
About 63% of U.S. wetlands were impacted by the decision, according to the EPA.
We are very pleased that New York has taken the initiative to strengthen their wetland regulations, particularly in light of the changes at the federal level, said Margaux Valenti, legal director for Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper. New York is a Great Lakes state, and its a bicoastal state, and we just want to ensure that the regulations are as protective as they can be of New Yorks freshwater coast.
Valenti said the DEC should add provisions to the new freshwater wetlands regulations to specifically protect wetlands in the Great Lakes region.
With an industrialized past, our wetlands are very small, but theyre important, she said. Theyre protecting us against storm surges and coastal erosion. So protecting as many of them as possible is vital.
Additionally, Valenti is concerned that the DEC is relying partially on federal flood hazard maps to determine where wetlands are in the state. These maps may not accurately encompass where areas are being flooded, especially in the face of climate change.
Our modeling has found that the inundation from more frequent and stronger storms is going beyond the flood hazard maps, she said.
Mahar noted that the regulations proposed by the DEC encompass the entire state because there are wetlands everywhere that need protection.
There are some provisions in the regulations that allow some wetlands to be considered of unusual importance if they are in significant flooding areas defined in the federal maps, in or around urban areas, or contain rare plants or animals.
Additional protections can be added on wetlands considered to be of local or regional significance or important for the protection of the states water quality, according to the regulations.
Should lakes be considered wetlands?
Around Chautauqua Lake, some are concerned that the DECs proposed regulations would halt efforts to control the lakes abundant submerged plants and cause problems for boaters.
The regulations note that state protected wetlands can include areas that consist of floating, submerged aquatic vegetation. Chautauqua Lake, a popular destination for boating and fishing, is dominated by submerged plants some local organizations work to remove either mechanically or with herbicides to keep the lake navigable.
I think its important to have a statewide legislation that any navigable body of water in excess of 1,000 acres is a lake and not to be considered a wetland, said Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel.
Members of the Chautauqua Lake Partnership, a nonprofit organization, are concerned that if Chautauqua Lake is looped into the new wetland regulations, it could impede their work to tame the weeds that grow prolifically in the lake. They use herbicides on some areas of the lake to target invasive species, a controversial practice they say keeps the lake enjoyable for boaters.
Were concerned about our ability to get permits (for the herbicide application) if these new rules go through, said Mike LaTone, treasurer of the Chautauqua Lake Partnership. Well be lucky to get anything done next year.
Wendel added that Chautauqua Lake is the countys largest draw: It brings in an estimated half a billion dollars to the local economy. He fears the regulations could stymie that money should boating, or development around the lake, be impeded with the new freshwater regulations.
The DEC typically encourages treatment tactics to prevent the growth and spread of invasive species while protecting native plants and animals, according to agency officials. The new wetland regulations are expected to add an extra layer of protection for areas, such as sections of Chautauqua Lake, that are considered wetland habitat.
Developers fear rules could delay projects
Concerns about the freshwater wetland regulation revisions hurting development echo around the state.
Fazio, of the Builders Association, said hes concerned the regulations will slow development and make projects more expensive given the massive increase in mapped wetlands.
Were in the midst of a severe housing crisis in our state, said Fazio. The governor has said that we need to build more product, more housing, and do it faster to address this crisis. But these new rules run counterintuitive to that in almost every sense of the word.
The proposed regulations include special protections for wetlands in or near urban areas. Those urban areas, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, encompass at least 2,000 housing units or have a population of at least 5,000.
New York has 99 urban areas, according to the Census Bureaus data. Buffalo, as well as Batavia, Collins, Dunkirk, Fredonia, East Aurora and Lockport are among areas considered urban in the Census Bureaus data. What they want to do is make it harder to build in the urban areas, where we can build more quickly, Fazio said. This is going to kick housing out, create sprawl.
Mahar noted that the wetland regulations are critical to protecting wetland habitats that may have previously been considered for development.
These regulations are an important tool to make sure that development on the landscape is appropriately guided in a way that recognizes the importance of these (wetland) resources, Mahar said. Its not that were necessarily going to say no to projects, what were going to say is theres a wetland on your site and that needs to be appropriately accounted for and protected.
By Katie Edwards
Sometimes, things fall apart before they fall into place. No one knows that better than Danielle Moss (15).
A track scholarship opened the door for Danielle at Jax State, and the hands-on Mass Communication program drew her into a world she fell in love with-broadcast journalism. She wanted to be a reporter and worked to find a job right out of college, but those efforts proved futile. Seeking adventure and income, Danielle chose to become a flight attendant.
Learning how to do everything I needed to do for television and radio, I felt prepared. For broadcast, theres no greater way to know what you need to do than to do it. Knowing how to conduct an interview and work a camera was so important to doing what I wanted to do in the future.A few years into that career, a new passion began to ignite, which was noticeable to her roommate. Being a flight attendant, weather really impacts your plans. I became obsessed with weather, says Danielle. My roommate suggested I go back to school. Danielle applied to Mississippi State, and within the first six months of the meteorology program, she received an email stating that 900 flight attendants would be furloughed, and she would be part of the first wave of flight attendants affected by the layoffs.
It was a hard six months, recalls Danielle, as she described job after job that she applied for but did not receive. I can remember talking to a manager at Panera Bread. When he realized I had a degree, he said I was overqualified.
Things certainly were not falling into place for Danielle Moss. The young woman who started out as a track star and had set her sights on a career as a reporter had made the best out of her situation when she became a flight attendant, but now she needed a breakthrough.
And thats exactly what she got.
Danielle already had an internship credit from Jax State, but she decided to take a chance on an internship class at MSU. She emailed the chief meteorologist at CBS in Chattanooga, TN. After just three short weeks of doing web weather at the CBS affiliate, Danielle was offered a Reporter/Producer spot with a promise of being able to fill in when the weather anchors were unavailable.
It went from the worst six months of my life to a total breakthrough, Danielle says. Six months later, I was offered the Weekend Anchor position. It was a utility position, and I was doing all kinds of things, which is how I came to realize that meteorology is what I loved most.
It went from the worst six months of my life to a total breakthrough, Danielle says. Six months later, I was offered the Weekend Anchor position. It was a utility position, and I was doing all kinds of things, which is how I came to realize that meteorology is what I loved most.Danielle spent two-and-a-half years in Chattanooga before moving to Memphis, TN. There, she joined ABC24 and CW30 where she did the evening weather for a year and a half. Thats when the Chief Meteorologist left unexpectedly, and Danielle and her fellow meteorologists on staff had to step up. We have crazy weather in Memphis, and none of us were expecting to be without a chief, but we pulled together and made it work. When the News Director approached Danielle about applying for Chief Meteorologist, she did just that.
Many people would have given up on their dream after not being able to find the job they wanted right out of college. Most people would have felt defeated if the job they did manage to find and enjoy was cut short. But what looked on one side like a mass of chaotic strings being pulled in different directions without any rhyme or reason was a beautiful tapestry woven together once it was turned around. It was quite a turn-around, too. Danielle Moss completed her 1st year as Memphis 1st Black Female Chief Meteorologist in August 2024, and she will set out on a new road on her career path in October 2024 when she begins as the new weekend meteorologist in Atlanta at 11 Alive.
There are things youll get at Jax State that you can take with you for the rest of your life. It prepares you for whatever you need. Live in the moment and take it all with you as you continue to grow.How did Jax State prepare Danielle for this future? It all started with the Mass Comm program.Learning how to do everything I needed to do for television and radio, I felt prepared. For broadcast, theres no greater way to know what you need to do than to do it. Knowing how to conduct an interview and work a camera was so important to doing what I wanted to do in the future.
Today, Danielle says that her time at Jax State taught her to be the best version of herself and encourages students to lean into each moment while on campus. There are things youll get at Jax State that you can take with you for the rest of your life. It prepares you for whatever you need. Live in the moment and take it all with you as you continue to grow.
Learn More About JSU's Department of Communication
By Brett Murphy |
Blinken told Congress, We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting aid, even though the U.S. Agency for International Development and others had determined that Israel had broken the law.
(ProPublica ) The U.S. governments two foremost authorities on humanitarian assistance concluded this spring that Israel had deliberately blocked deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza.
The U.S. Agency for International Development delivered its assessment to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the State Departments refugees bureau made its stance known to top diplomats in late April. Their conclusion was explosive because U.S. law requires the government to cut off weapons shipments to countries that prevent the delivery of U.S.-backed humanitarian aid. Israel has been largely dependent on American bombs and other weapons in Gaza since Hamas Oct. 7 attacks.
But Blinken and the administration of President Joe Biden did not accept either finding. Days later, on May 10, Blinken delivered a carefully worded statement to Congress that said, We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.
Prior to his report, USAID had sent Blinken a detailed 17-page memo on Israels conduct. The memo described instances of Israeli interference with aid efforts, including killing aid workers, razing agricultural structures, bombing ambulances and hospitals, sitting on supply depots and routinely turning away trucks full of food and medicine.
Lifesaving food was stockpiled less than 30 miles across the border in an Israeli port, including enough flour to feed about 1.5 million Palestinians for five months, according to the memo. But in February the Israeli government had prohibited the transfer of flour, saying its recipient was the United Nations Palestinian branch that had been accused of having ties with Hamas.
Separately, the head of the State Departments Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration had also determined that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid and that the Foreign Assistance Act should be triggered to freeze almost $830 million in taxpayer dollars earmarked for weapons and bombs to Israel, according to emails obtained by ProPublica.
The U.N. has declared a famine in parts of Gaza. The worlds leading independent panel of aid experts found that nearly half of the Palestinians in the enclave are struggling with hunger. Many go days without eating. Local authorities say dozens of children have starved to death likely a significant undercount. Health care workers are battling a lack of immunizations compounded by a sanitation crisis. Last month, a little boy became Gazas first confirmed case of polio in 25 years.
The USAID officials wrote that because of Israels behavior, the U.S. should pause additional arms sales to the country. ProPublica obtained a copy of the agencys April memo along with the list of evidence that the officials cited to back up their findings.
USAID, which is led by longtime diplomat Samantha Power, said the looming famine in Gaza was the result of Israels arbitrary denial, restriction, and impediments of U.S. humanitarian assistance, according to the memo. It also acknowledged Hamas had played a role in the humanitarian crisis. USAID, which receives overall policy guidance from the secretary of state, is an independent agency responsible for international development and disaster relief. The agency had for months tried and failed to deliver enough food and medicine to a starving and desperate Palestinian population.
It is, USAID concluded, one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in the world.
In response to detailed questions for this story, the State Department said that it had pressured the Israelis to increase the flow of aid. As we made clear in May when [our] report was released, the US had deep concerns during the period since October 7 about action and inaction by Israel that contributed to a lack of sustained delivery of needed humanitarian assistance, a spokesperson wrote. Israel subsequently took steps to facilitate increased humanitarian access and aid flow into Gaza.
Government experts and human rights advocates said while the State Department may have secured a number of important commitments from the Israelis, the level of aid going to Palestinians is as inadequate as when the two determinations were reached. The implication that the humanitarian situation has markedly improved in Gaza is a farce, said Scott Paul, an associate director at Oxfam. The emergence of polio in the last couple months tells you all that you need to know.
The USAID memo was an indication of a deep rift within the Biden administration on the issue of military aid to Israel. In March, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, sent Blinken a cable arguing that Israels war cabinet, which includes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, should be trusted to facilitate aid shipments to the Palestinians.
Lew acknowledged that other parts of the Israeli government have tried to impede the movement of [humanitarian assistance,] according to a copy of his cable obtained by ProPublica. But he recommended continuing to provide military assistance because he had assessed that Israel will not arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede U.S. provided or supported shipments of food and medicine.
Lew said Israeli officials regularly cite overwhelming negative Israeli public opinion against allowing aid to the Palestinians, especially when Hamas seizes portions of it and when hostages remain in Gaza. The Israeli government did not respond to a request for comment but has said in the past that it follows the laws of war, unlike Hamas.
In the months leading up to that cable, Lew had been told repeatedly about instances of the Israelis blocking humanitarian assistance, according to four U.S. officials familiar with the embassy operations but, like others quoted in this story, not authorized to speak about them. No other nation has ever provided so much humanitarian assistance to their enemies, Lew responded to subordinates at the time, according to two of the officials, who said the comments drew widespread consternation.
That put people over the edge, one of the officials told ProPublica. Hed be a great spokesperson for the Israeli government.
A second official said Lew had access to the same information as USAID leaders in Washington, in addition to evidence collected by the local State Department diplomats working in Jerusalem. But his instincts are to defend Israel, said a third official.
Ambassador Lew has been at the forefront of the United States work to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, as well as diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement that would secure the release of hostages, alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, and bring an end to the conflict, the State Department spokesperson wrote.
The question of whether Israel was impeding humanitarian aid has garnered widespread attention. Before Blinkens statement to Congress, Reuters reported concerns from USAID about the death toll in Gaza, which now stands at about 42,000, and that some officials inside the State Department, including the refugees bureau, had warned him that the Israelis assurances were not credible. The existence of USAIDs memo, Lews cable and their broad conclusions were also previously reported.
But the full accounting of USAIDs evidence, the determination of the refugees bureau in April and the statements from experts at the embassy along with Lews decision to undermine them reveal new aspects of the striking split within the Biden administration and how the highest-ranking American diplomats have justified his policy of continuing to flood Israel with arms over the objections of their own experts.
Stacy Gilbert, a former senior civil military adviser in the refugees bureau who had been working on drafts of Blinkens report to Congress, resigned over the language in the final version. There is abundant evidence showing Israel is responsible for blocking aid, she wrote in a statement shortly after leaving, which The Washington Post and other outlets reported on. To deny this is absurd and shameful.
That report and its flagrant untruths will haunt us.
The State Departments headquarters in Washington did not always welcome that kind of information from U.S. experts on the ground, according to a person familiar with the embassy operations. That was especially true when experts reported the small number of aid trucks being allowed in.
A lot of times they would not accept it because it was lower than what the Israelis said, the person told ProPublica. The sentiment from Washington was, We want to see the aid increasing because Israel told us it would.
While Israel has its own arms industry, the country relies heavily on American jets, bombs and other weapons in Gaza. Since October, the U.S. has shipped more than 50,000 tons of weaponry, which the Israeli military says has been crucial for sustaining the Israel Defense Forces operational capabilities during the ongoing war.
The U.S. gives the Israeli government about $3.8 billion every year as a baseline and significantly more during wartime money the Israelis use to buy American-made bombs and equipment. Congress and the executive branch have imposed legal guardrails on how Israel and other partners can use that money.
One of them is the Foreign Assistance Act. The humanitarian aid portion of the law is known as 620I, which dates back to Turkeys embargo of Armenia during the 1990s. That part of the law has never been widely implemented. But this year, advocacy groups and some Democrats in Congress brought it out of obscurity and called for Biden to use 620I to pressure the Israelis to allow aid freely into Gaza.
In response, the Biden administration announced a policy called the National Security Memorandum, or NSM-20, to require the State Department to vet Israels assurances about whether it was blocking aid and then report its findings to lawmakers. If Blinken determined the Israelis were not facilitating aid and were instead arbitrarily restricting it, then the government would be required by the law to halt military assistance.
Blinken submitted the agencys official position on May 10, siding with Lew, which meant that the military support would continue.
Blinken, Soup Nazi, Digital, Dream / Dreamland v3 / IbisPaint / Clip2Comic, 2024
In a statement that same day, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., criticized the administration for choosing to disregard the requirements of NSM-20.
Whether or not Israel is at this moment complying with international standards with respect to facilitating humanitarian assistance to desperate, starving citizens may be debatable, Van Hollen said. What is undeniable for those who dont look the other way is that it has repeatedly violated those standards over the last 7 months.
As of early March, at least 930 trucks full of food, medicine and other supplies were stuck in Egypt awaiting approval from the Israelis, according to USAIDs memo.
The officials wrote that the Israeli government frequently blocks aid by imposing bureaucratic delays. The Israelis took weeks or months to respond to humanitarian groups that had submitted specific items to be approved for passage past government checkpoints. Israel would then often deny those submissions outright or accept them some days but not others. The Israeli government doesnt provide justification, issues blanket rejections, or cites arbitrary factors for the denial of certain items, the memo said.
Israeli officials told State Department attorneys that the Israeli government has scaled up its security check capacity and asserted that it imposes no limits on the number of trucks that can be inspected and enter Gaza, according to a separate memo sent to Blinken and obtained by ProPublica. Those officials blamed most of the holdups on the humanitarian groups for not having enough capacity to get food and medicine in. USAID and State Department experts who work directly with those groups say that is not true.
In separate emails obtained by ProPublica, aid officials identified items in trucks that were banned by the Israelis, including emergency shelter gear, solar lamps, cooking stoves and desalination kits, because they were deemed dual use, which means Hamas could co-opt the materials. Some of the trucks that were turned away had also been carrying American-funded items like hygiene kits, the emails show.
In its memo to Blinken, USAID also cited numerous publicly reported incidents in which aid facilities and workers were hit by Israeli airstrikes even sometimes after they had shared their locations with the IDF and received approval, a process known as deconfliction. The Israeli government has maintained that most of those incidents were mistakes.
USAID found the Israelis often promised to take adequate measures to prevent such incidents but frequently failed to follow through. On Nov. 18, for instance, a convoy of aid workers was trying to evacuate along a route assigned to them by the IDF. The convoy was denied permission to cross a military checkpoint despite previous IDF authorization.
Then, while en route back to their facility, the IDF opened fire on the aid workers, killing two of them.
Inside the State Department and ahead of Blinkens report to Congress, some of the agencys highest-ranking officials had a separate exchange about whether Israel was blocking humanitarian aid. ProPublica obtained an email thread documenting the episode.
On April 17, a Department of Defense official reached out to Mira Resnick, a deputy assistant secretary at the State Department who has been described as the agencys driving force behind arms sales to Israel and other partners this year. The official alerted Resnick to the fact that there was about $827 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars sitting in limbo.
Resnick turned to the Counselor of the State Department and said, We need to be able to move the rest of the financing so that Israel could pay off bills for past weapons purchases. The financing she referenced came from American tax dollars.
The counselor, one of the highest posts at the agency, agreed with Resnick. I think we need to move these funds, he wrote.
But there was a hurdle, according to the agencys top attorney: All the relevant bureaus inside the State Department would need to sign off on and agree that Israel was not preventing humanitarian aid shipments. The principal thing we would need to see is that no bureau currently assesses that the restriction in 620i is triggered, Richard Visek, the agencys acting legal adviser, wrote.
The bureaus started to fall in line. The Middle East and human rights divisions agreed and determined the law hadnt been triggered, in light of Netanyahus commitments and the steps Israel has announced so far, while noting that they still have significant concerns about Israeli actions.
By April 25, all had signed off but one. The Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration was the holdout. That was notable because the bureau had among the most firsthand knowledge of the situation after months of working closely with USAID and humanitarian groups to try to get food and medicine to the Palestinians.
While we agree there have been positive steps on some commitments related to humanitarian assistance, we continue to assess that the facts on the ground indicate U.S. humanitarian assistance is being restricted, an official in the bureau wrote to the group.
It was a potentially explosive stance to take. One of Resnicks subordinates in the arms transfer bureau replied and asked for clarification: Is PRM saying 620I has been triggered for Israel?
Yes, replied Julieta Valls Noyes, its assistant secretary, that was indeed the bureaus view. In her email, she cited a meeting from the previous day between Blinkens deputy secretary and other top aides in the administration. All the bureaus on the email thread had provided talking points to the deputy secretary, including one that said Israel had failed to meet most of its commitments to the president. (None of these officials responded to a request for comment.)
But, after a series of in-person conversations, Valls Noyes backed down, according to a person familiar with the episode. When asked during a staff meeting later why she had punted on the issue, Valls Noyes replied, There will be other opportunities, the person said.
The financing appears to have ultimately gone through.
Less than two weeks later, Blinken delivered his report to Congress.
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) UNICEF Deputy Representative to Lebanon Ettie Higgins reported from Lebanon on the effects of Mondays massive attack by Israeli war planes on southern and eastern Lebanon.
She said that the airstrikes had left 35 children dead from violence, more than in the previous 11 months combined. (Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in low-intensity tit for tat strikes since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023).
She added that the 1,645 Lebanese wounded on Monday included women and children.
Higgins added, Any further escalation in this conflict would be catastrophic for all children in Lebanon, but especially families from villages and towns in the south and the Bekaa, in Eastern Lebanon, who have been forced to leave their homes. These newly displaced add to the 112,000 people who have been displaced since October.
Higgins continued, 87 new shelters are accommodating the increasing number of displaced people in the South, Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Baalbek Hermel, Bekaa and the North governorates.
CNN reports, Israel said it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, but video shows destruction of residential areas and the large death toll reflects the scale and intensity of the strikes. The nearly 500 killed on Monday alone is roughly half the number of Lebanese killed throughout the entire 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.
One of Israels justifications for its current attack is that tens of thousands of Israelis have been displaced from their homes in the north. It is seldom noted that even before Monday 112,000 Lebanese had been displaced from southern Lebanon by Israeli air strikes. Of the cross-border Israeli-Lebanon attacks since October 7, 80% have been launched by Israel.
People need to see this. Israel has perpetrated over 80% of the cross-border attacks with Lebanon during the past year. Hezbollah has shown remarkable restraint. pic.twitter.com/iu9JB0oaYr Jason Hickel (@jasonhickel) September 20, 2024
Higgins lamented that UNICEF would have to scramble to provide Lebanese children with food, and that the country had just had its worst day in 18 years.
Lebanon is a country of some 5.8 million residents, though a good million and a half are refugees from Syria and elsewhere. It has seen its economy contract every year for the last 7 years, with the gross domestic product falling dramatically from $50 billion a year to only $20 billion a year.
The country was wracked by anti-corruption protests in 2019. In 2020, the Beirut port exploded because of criminal lack of oversight by port authorities. COVID struck the same year, deeply harming tourism and remittances, two of the countrys sources of income. Then the head of the countrys national bank stands accused of having embezzled much of the countrys reserves. The Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value. The percentage of the population below the UN poverty line increased from 12% in 2012 to 44% in 2022. There has been intermittent exchange of fire between Israel and the Hezbollah party-militia in Lebanon since October 7.
The U.N. has characterized the Lebanese economic crisis as one of the worst in the world. The Economist estimates that the current Israel-Hezbollah will cause the economy to contract between 10% and 25% this year, depending on how long the Israeli campaign continues. If 44% of the Lebanese were already in poverty, an economic crash of that magnitude would likely make half the country poverty-stricken.
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Bonus Video added by Informed Comment:
Al Jazeera English: Israel and Hezbollah trade intense fire as thousands flee south Lebanon
( Tomdispatch.com ) My name is Frida and my community is military dependent. (I feel, by the way, like Im introducing myself at a very strange AA-like meeting with lousy coffee.) As with people who have substance abuse disorders, Im part of a very large club. After all, there are weapons manufacturers and subcontractors in just about every congressional district in the country, so that members of Congress will never forget whom they are really working for: the military-industrial complex.
Using the vernacular of the day, perhaps its particularly on target to say that our whole country suffers from Militarism Abuse Disorder or (all too appropriately) MAD.
I must confess that I dont like to admit to my military dependency. Who does? In my case, its a tough one for a few reasons, the biggest being that Im an avowed pacifist who believes that war is a crime against humanity, a failure of the imagination, and never (no, not ever) necessary. Along with the rest of my family of five, I live below the taxable income level. That way, we dont pay into a system that funds war preparations and war-making. We have to be a little creative to make our money stretch further and we dont eat out or go to the movies every week. But we dont ever feel deprived as a result. In essence, Ive traded career success and workplace achievement for a slightly clearer conscience and time time to work to end militarism and break our collective addiction!
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation estimates that, in 2023, the United States of America spent $142 billion buying weapons systems and another $122 billion on the research and development of future weaponry and other militarized equipment. And keep in mind that those big numbers represent only a small fraction of any Pentagon budget, the latest of which the Pentagons proposing to be $849.8 billion for 2025 and thats just one year (and not all of what passes for national defense spending either). A recent analysis by the Costs of War Project at Brown University calculated that, since September 11, 2001, the United States has used an estimated $8 trillion-plus just for its post-9/11 wars. Talk about addiction! It makes me pretty MAD, if Im being honest with you!
It would be nice to ignore such monstrous numbers and the even bigger implications they suggest, to unfocus my eyes slightly as I regularly drive by the fenced facilities, manicured office parks, and noisy, bustling shipyards that make up the mega-billion-dollar-a-year industry right in my own neighborhood thats preparing for well, yes the end of the world. Instead, Im trying to be clear-eyed and aware. Im checking my personal life all the time for compromise or conciliation with militarism: Am I being brainwashed when I find myself cheering for the fighters in that blockbuster movie we splurged on? Am I doing enough to push for a ceasefire in Gaza? Am I showing up with young people in my community who are backing higher salaries for teachers and no more police in schools? And of course, I keep asking myself: How are my daily consumer decisions lining up with my lofty politics?
I dont always like the answers that come up in response to such questions, but I keep asking them, keep trying, keep pushing. Those who suffer from Militarism Abuse Disorder cant even ask the questions, because theyre distracted by the promises of good jobs, nice apartments, and cheap consumer goods that the military-industrial complex is always claiming are right around the corner.
But here in my community, they never deliver!
New London: A Profile of Militarism Abuse Disorder
New London is a town of fewer than 28,000 people. The median income here is a little over $46,000 $32,000 less than the state average. We are a very old community. Long part of the fishing and hunting grounds of the Eastern Pequots, Nehantics, Mashantucket Pequot, and Mohegan, the city was founded in the 1600s and incorporated in the late 1700s. You see evidence of our age in the shape of our streets, curbed and meandering, long ago carved out of fields by cows and wagons, and in our architecture aging industrial buildings, warehouses, and ice houses in the neighborhoods where their workers once lived now derelict and empty or repurposed as auto repair stores or barber shops.
Sometimes I watch, almost mesmerized by the ferocious energy of all those cars careening up Howard Street on their way to work at General Dynamics. Car after car headed for work at the very break of day. Every workday at about 3 p.m., they reverse course, a river of steel and plastic rushing and then idling in traffic, trying to get out of town as fast as possible.
General Dynamics Electric Boat repairs, services, and manufactures submarines armed with both conventional and nuclear weapons. And it certainly tells you something about our world that the company is in the midst of a major hiring jag, looking to fill thousands of positions in New London, Groton, and coastal Rhode Island to build the Columbia-class submarine, the next generation of nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed subs. Those behemoths of human ingenuity and engineering will cost taxpayers a whopping $132 billion, with each of the 12 new boats clocking in at about $15 billion and mind you, thats before anything even goes wrong or the schedule to produce them predictably stretches out and out. The company has already solved one big problem: how to wring maximum profits out of this next generation of planet-obliteration-capable subs. And thats a problem that isnt even particularly hard to sort out, because some of those contracts are cost plus, meaning the company says what the project costs and then adds a percentage on top of that as profit.
Such a cost-plus business bothers me a lot. I could almost be converted into a hard-nosed militarist if our weapons production industry was a nonprofit set of organizations, run with the kind of shoestring ingenuity that dozens of outfits in New London employ to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and care for the victims of domestic violence.
I break from my traffic-watching fugue on Howard Street to reflect on all that furious effort, all those advanced degrees, all that almost impossible intelligence being poured into making an even better, bigger, faster, sleeker, stealthier weapons-delivery system, capable of carrying and firing conventional and nuclear warheads. Why? We have so many already. And as the only nation that has ever used nuclear weapons in war (in 1945) and has tested, perfected, and helped proliferate the technology of ultimate destruction for the last eight decades, the United States should be leading the charge to denuclearize, disarm, and abolish such weaponry. That, after all, is whats called for in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
If we are ever going to break our MAD addiction, one place to start is here on Howard Street with people who make their living working on one tiny component of this incredibly complex system. Economic conversion, moving resources and skills and jobs from the military-industrial complex to civilian sectors, is a big project. And it could indeed begin right here on Howard Street.
You Get What You Pay For
Our small town is also home to the Coast Guard Academy and two private colleges. Add the acreage of those three non-taxpaying institutions to the nearly 30 churches, synagogues, and other houses of worship that enjoy tax-free status here; throw in the dozens of nonprofits that do all the good work and you end up with an awfully small tax base. As a result, the municipal budget leans heavily on commercial taxpayers like General Dynamics Electric Boat, the military-industrial behemoth that moved into 24 acres of prime waterfront real estate in 2009 after it was vacated by the tax scofflaw Pfizer.
General Dynamics, like other military manufacturers, essentially only has one customer to please, the United States government. That makes the cost-plus contracting scheme even more egregious, guaranteeing that, no matter what goes wrong, its profits are always assured. Such a bonkers, counter-capitalist scenario passes all the costs on to American taxpayers and allows the privately held corporation to pocket all the profits, while handing out fat dividends to its shareholders. According to Sahm Capitol, Over the past three years, General Dynamics Earnings Per Share grew by 3.7% and over the past three years, the total shareholder return was 62%.
For 2024, General Dynamics Electric Boat is paying taxes on property valued at $90.8 million almost twice as much as that of the next highest taxpayer in our town. But it is also a bone of contention. The company, which paid CEO Phebe Novakovic $22.5 million in salary and stock awards in 2023, has no trouble taking the City of New London to court when they feel like their property is being overvalued or overtaxed. They win, too, so their property valuations yo-yo year to year when New London has been ordered to repay taxes to General Dynamics. Whether they pay taxes based on $90.8 million in property or $57 million doesnt really matter to the company. Its literal pocket change to the Pentagons third largest weapons contractor, a company that boasted $42.3 billion in revenue in 2023. But it matters a lot in a place like New London, where the annual budget process routinely shaves jobs from the schools, public works, and the civil service to make the columns all add up.
According to a report by Heidi Garrett-Peltier for the Costs of War Project at Brown University, $1 million of federal spending in the military sector creates 6.9 jobs (5.8 direct jobs and 1.1 in the supply chain). That same $1 million would create 8.4 jobs in the wind energy sector or 9.5 jobs in solar energy. Investing $1 million in energy efficiency retrofits creates 10.6 jobs. Use that $1 million to build streets or highways or tunnels or bridges or to repair schools and it will create over 40 percent more jobs than the military, with a total multiplier of 9.8 jobs per $1 million spending.
Wait, what? Are you telling me that, with their lack of transparency, accountability, and their cost-plus contracts, while building weapons systems for the sole purpose of destruction and wasting a lot of money in the process, the military-industrial complex is a lousy job creator? Am I to understand that spending money on just about anything else creates more jobs and more economic activity, while not threatening the world with annihilation?
As I work on a local level in my small town in Connecticut, I see how municipal policy should prioritize small businesses, mom-and-pop stores made of brick and mortar, over multinational corporations or big business. I see the return on investment from a small business in granular and tangible ways: the grocery store owner who starts each day by picking up garbage in his parking lot, the funeral home that sponsors the Little League team, the woman at the art gallery and frame shop who waters the street flowers, or the self-employed local photographer who serves on the board of the cooperative grocery store.
These businesses dont employ tens of thousands of people, but they also dont insist on tax abatements that undermine our local budget or fill our crowded streets with commuters hell-bent on getting away from the office and our town as quickly as possible.
You get what you pay for, right? Garrett-Peltiers Costs of War report goes on to note that healthcare spending creates more than twice as many jobs for the same level of spending, while education creates up to nearly three times as many jobs as defense spending The employment multipliers for these domestic programs are 14.3 for healthcare, 19.2 for primary and secondary education, and 11.2 for higher education; the average figure for education is 15.2 jobs per $1 million spending.
These are numbers I wish my City Council would commit to memory. In fact, we should all know these numbers by heart, because they counter the dominant narrative that military spending is good for the economy and that good-paying jobs depend on militarism.
The United States is investing trillions of dollars in the military, as well as in weapons contractors like General Dynamics, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin. Every U.S. president in modern history has prioritized the bottom lines of those corporations over a safe and healthy future for the next generation. Consider all of that as just so many symptoms of Militarism Abuse Syndrome. Isnt it finally time to get really mad at MAD? Lets kick the habit and get clean!
Copyright 2024 Frida Berrigan
Via Tomdispatch.com
Delta has now outlined the Eureka Gold Deposit to a strike length of over 2.5 Kilometres and to a vertical depth of 300 Metres.
The Eureka Gold Deposit remains open along strike and to depth.
An 11 meter section of the Eureka Gold Deposit was exposed at surface through mechanical trenching assaying 1.23 g/t Gold over the whole section.
Delta has Expanded its land position in the Eastern Shebandowan Greenstone Belt to a commanding 30,600 hectares or 306 Sq. kilometres.
Newly expanded property contains multiple gold-endowed deformation zones spanning a cumulative strike length of over 30 kilometers.
Planned next drill campaign to include continued expansion of the Eureka Gold Deposit and testing of new gold targets throughout the property.
Kingston, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Delta Resources Limited (TSXV: DLTA) (OTCBB: DTARF) (FSE: 6G01) ("Delta" or "The Company") is pleased to provide a corporate update as it begins its next phase of exploration at the newly expanded Delta-1 Project in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
In October 2022, Delta released the results of its discovery drill hole at the Eureka Gold Deposit (see Press release October 31, 2022) at its wholly owned Delta-1 project (drill hole D1-22-18: 5.92 g/t gold over 31.0 metres, including 14.80 g/t gold over 11.9 metres). The deposit is located approximately 50 kilometres west of the port city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, within close proximity of the Trans-Canada Highway, where abundant infrastructure already exists including power lines, railway tracks and easy year-round road access. Since that time Delta carried out an aggressive drilling program and has now completed 115 drill holes totalling 35,575 metres, including the initial seventeen (17) exploration drill holes before the discovery hole was reported.
Since the discovery hole, the objective of every follow-up drill campaign has been to expand the deposit size to the east, west and at depth, and therefore with the objective of increasing Delta's gold inventory at Eureka, while gaining valuable insight on the controls of the gold mineralization. Delta has now extended the deposit to a strike length of over 2.5 kilometres and a vertical extent from surface to a vertical depth of 300 metres.
Although the Eureka Gold deposit remains at a very early exploration stage, its geological setting, mineralization style and alteration are all reminiscent of the near-surface expression of the Canadian Malartic Deposit located west of Val D'Or, Quebec.
Figure 1: Isometric view of the 3D Block Model looking down and towards the NNE. Since the 2023 Block Model, nearly 10,000 metres of additional drilling has expanded the deposit to a depth of 300 metres and 2.5 kilometres of strike length.
Drill Highlights
To access all the drill intercepts for the entire drilling since 2019 at the Eureka Gold Deposit, please consult the Delta website at www.deltaresources.ca with the following link https://www.deltaresources.ca/delta-1-gold-project/.
Figure 2: Map view of the Eureka Gold Deposit showing the position of drill holes and traces, the gold mineralization projected to surface and the alteration corridor of the Shebandowan Structural Zone which hosts the gold deposit.
The technical team at Delta has integrated all the latest drill data from the first half of 2024 to the current geological 3D model. The team also began a property-scale exploration program to identify new targets on the newly expanded property that now covers a commanding 306 square kilometres of the eastern and central portion of the Shebandowan Greenstone Belt and approximately 35 kilometres of strike length.
Eureka Zone Exposed at Surface
Over the course of the 2024 summer exploration program, Delta was able to expose an eleven (11) metre section of the Eureka Gold Deposit at surface through mechanical trenching (Photo 1).
The exposed section is located above the trace of drill holes D1-23-60 (1.79 g/t Au over 128.5 m), where overburden thickness was estimated to be manageable for excavators. The overburden thickness varied between 2.5 and 3.0 metres and the trench was halted when the thickness exceeded 3.0 metres. In all, the trench exposed a total of 11 metres of the zone across strike. A channel 4 cm wide was cut with a rock saw, averaging 8 cm deep for sampling. The zone was divided in 11 equal samples of 1 metre in length and sent to assay. The complete eleven metres of channel samples returned an average grade of 1.23 g/t Au.
Although the drilling data already clearly indicated that the mineralization is present at surface, this new trench provides Delta's geologists with enhanced geological and structural information.
Photo 1: View of the exposed zone during channel sampling. Looking SW.
A Commanding Land Position with Potential for Multiple Deposits
Since July 2023, Delta has acquired the exclusive rights to several important and strategic exploration properties adjacent and contiguous to the Eureka Gold deposit with the aim of having a commanding land position in the eastern portion of the Shebandowan greenstone belt. Delta now controls an area covering over 30,600 hectares. The Delta team believes that these acquisitions hold excellent potential for additional gold deposits within proximity to each other. There are no work commitments on any of the properties acquired by Delta allowing the geological team to plan and prioritize its exploration campaign from technical driven data exclusively.
Band-Ore Property
Examples of some of the properties which Delta has acquired include the Band-Ore property which is located approximately twenty (20) kilometres northwest of the Eureka Gold Deposit. The Property hosts two historical high-grade gold resources that are not considered National Instrument 43-101 compliant1.
Tonnes Average Grade g/t Au Contained Gold Ounces Band-Ore Main Zone 706,000 6.86 g/t 155,728 Band-Ore Zone No.4 616,000 4.84 g/t 95,668
Multiple Deformation Zones within the Delta Property Package
Delta acquired properties where it identified areas within the Shebandowan Greenstone Belt with similar geological setting as the Eureka Gold Deposit. These areas consist of fault bounded basins where shear zones unconformably juxtapose Temiskaming-Type sedimentary rocks of the Shebandowan Formation and volcanic rocks of the Greenwater Formation. These shear zones include (amongst others) the Gold Creek and Crayfish deformation zones which are gold-endowed crustal-scale structures that include the newly acquired I-Zone and South Zone, and the Kukkee, AA, T1 and Moose Calf gold occurrences.
An interactive map which can be found at the link below on the Delta website at www.deltaresources.ca provides additional information about all the newly added properties acquired by Delta as well as selected gold occurrences.
Figure 2: Geological map of the Shebandowan Belt showing Delta's newly acquired property package covering 30,600 hectares. Temiskaming-type sediments are shown in yellow and prospective faults are shown as dotted black lines.
History of the Shebandowan Greenstone Belt (The Inco Mines contribution)
The past-producing Inco Shebandowan Cu-Ni-PGE mine is located immediately north of the Delta-1 Project area. Between 1972 and 1998, Inco mined 9.29 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.75% Ni, 0.88% Cu and 1.83 g/t PGE and during that period, Inco had a stronghold on the belt. The Shebandowan Belt had a reputation as a Copper-Nickel Belt with little attention paid to Gold exploration.
Between late-1987 and 1990, Inco Gold, a subsidiary of Inco, carried-out limited grassroots gold exploration in the Shebandowan Belt and tested a number of areas with shallow drilling, including the I Zone, the South Zone and the Kukkee occurrence. Those gold occurrences were all abandoned by Inco when the Inco Gold Division was merged with Consolidated TVX.
Selected Gold Occurences
The I-Zone
Between 1988 and 1989, Inco Gold reported a drill intercept of 3.28 g/t Au over 14.6 metres at the I-Zone. Inco Gold also tested gold recoveries during that period with bulk cyanide tests yielding 96.2%.
From 1995 to 1997, Landore Resources followed Inco Gold's exploration at the I-Zone and reported drill intercepts that included the following:
4.32 g/t Au over 41m.,
4.53 g/t Au over 14.4m.; and
4.36 g/t Au over 20.4m.
In 2008, Mengold Resources collected a 1000 kg mini bulk sample which yielded an average grade of 9.9 g/t Au.
The South Zone
Between 1988 and 1989, Inco Gold also drill tested the South Zone where it intersected the following results:
0.7 g/t over Au over 39m.,
1.63 g/t Au 7.5m.; and
3.02 g/t Au over 2.43m (in a chanel sample).
Also at the South Zone, in 2008, Mengold Resources reported a grab sample yielding 293.2 g/t Au, 1090 g/t Ag, 0.81% Pb and 0.07% Cu suggesting the potential for a Polymetallic Gold-Rich mineralization.
The Kukkee Occurrence
Inco Gold also drill tested the Kukkee Zone which included a drill intercept of 1.15 g/t over 15.47 m. and a grab sample of up to 44.5 g/t Au.
These structures are gold endowed and span an area of over a 20 km. Much of the area remains unexplored and untested.
Extensive Till Sampling at Eureka
On July 9, 2024, Delta announced the completion of the field portion of an extensive till sampling program at Delta-1.
The survey consisted of a series of sampling fences spaced at every 1-1.2 km, oriented orthogonal to the dominant local ice-flow direction (here E-W to WNW-ESE). Samples within each fence were spaced by approximately 300 metres. The survey covered the properties held by Delta at the time; an area of roughly 80 km2 and consisted of 224 sample sites.
The goal of the 2024 sampling program is to complement and expand on a previous survey carried out in 2020 (see press release August 12, 2020). The 2020 till survey was highlighted by anomalous gold-grain counts that helped define the footprint of the Eureka zone prior to Delta's 2021 and 2022 drilling programs and helped in the discovery of the Delta-1 Gold deposit.
Results of the 2024 survey are still pending.
Metallurgy at the Eureka Zone
Delta is currently carrying out metallurgical work at the Eureka Gold Deposit and results are pending.
Looking Ahead
The Delta technical team is currently compiling all available historical data at the property-scale to delineate initial areas of interest for future exploration.
Once the compilation of historical exploration work is completed and final till results are received, Delta will be field proofing on-site, verifying the accuracy of the compiled data and conducting important and essential field work in advance of its next drill campaign.
Delta is applying for exploration permits where they have not yet been granted on the newly acquired properties. Permits may take up to three months to be issued from the date of application.
Once the field work has been completed, Delta will plan and announce its next drill campaign. Delta's objective will be twofold:
to increase its current gold inventory at Eureka Gold Deposit which remains open on strike and at depth, and
to test new drill targets at the property-scale to demonstrate the potential for multiple gold deposits along this already proven and gold endowed greenstone belt.
Qualified Persons
Daniel Boudreau, P.Geo. and Manager of Exploration at Delta Resources Limited, is the Qualified Persons as defined by NI-43-101. He has supervised the drilling program in the field and reviewed the technical information presented in this press release.
About Delta Resources Limited
Delta Resources Limited is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on growing shareholder value through the exploration of two very high-potential gold and base-metal projects in Canada.
DELTA-1 is Delta's flagship project, where the company is building on a large gold inventory 50 kilometres west of Thunder Bay, Ontario, at surface and adjacent to the Trans-Canada highway. To date, the gold mineralization is defined over a strike length of 2.0 km, from surface to a vertical depth of 250 m. Highlights include drill intercepts such as 5.92 g/t Au over 31 m (incl. 14.8 g/t Au over 11.9 m), and 1.79 g/t Au over 128.5 m. The property covers 306 square kilometres where Delta has identified multiple corridors of intense alteration and deformation, on strike with, and to the south of the Eureka gold zone and that has yet to be thoroughly explored.
The DELTA-2 property covers 205 square kilometres in the prolific Chibougamau District of Quebec. The property holds excellent potential for gold-rich polymetallic VMS deposits as well as hydrothermal-gold deposits. Delta targets VMS deposits such as the LeMoine past producer where 0.76 Mt were mined between 1975 and 1983, grading 9.6% Zn, 4.2% Cu, 4.5 g/t Au and 84 g/t Ag.
Note 1: The Band-Ore mineral resource estimates are considered to be 'historical' in nature and are not compliant with National Instrument 43-101. Neither Golden Share nor Delta have done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves in accordance with NI 43-101, however the data is relevant as it is indicative of potential mineralization on the Property. The Band-Ore Main Zone historical resource comes from the Report on Shebandowan Property Conacher Township Thunder Bay Mining Division Ontario for Band-Ore Resources Ltd., effective date February 15, 2006 with lead author David Gunning, which references the following reports: Report on Property of Band-Ore Gold Mines Ltd., Thunder Bay, Ontario, with lead author J.S. Crosscombe, Mining Engineer, effective date May 15, 1947. The Band-Ore No. 4 Zone historical resource comes from 1982 Diamond Drilling Report and Pre-Evaluation Study on the Band-Ore Option Conacher Township Ontario for Mattagami Lake Exploration Ltd. with lead author Karl J. Huska, December 1982.
Note 2: All information from Ontario Assessment files.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DELTA RESOURCES LIMITED.
Andre Tessier
President and CEO
www.deltaresources.ca
We seek safe harbor. 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. The TSX Venture Exchange has not approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information
Some statements contained in this news release are "forward looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases (including negative or grammatical variations) or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and involves risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual facts to differ materially. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by management. The forward-looking information contained in this press release constitutes management's current estimates, as of the date of this press release, with respect to the matters covered thereby. We expect that these estimates will change as new information is received. While we may elect to update these estimates at any time, we do not undertake to update any estimate at any particular time or in response to any particular event.
DELTA RESOURCES LIMITED
DELTA-1 PROPERTY, THUNDER BAY ONTARIO
TABLE OF HIGHLIGHT RESULTS 2022-2024
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Renegade Gold Inc. (TSXV: RAGE) (OTCQX: TGLDF) (FSE: 0702) ("Renegade" or the "Company") is pleased to report further results from the second phase of drilling at its advanced Newman Todd Deposit, which continues to support the Company's new geological model and exploration strategy (Table 1). Hole NT-24-019 intersected 14.0 g/t Au over 7.3 m including 28.3 g/t Au over 3.5 m at 200 m below surface. Drilling has successfully increased mineralization at depth by an additional 500 m, confirming the deposit extends down from surface to just over 800 m to date.
Highlights
High-Grade Gold Intersections at Key Location: Drilling has confirmed high-grade gold mineralization at the intersection of the Hinge Fault and the Newman Todd deposit. Hole NT-24-019 intersected 14.0 g/t Au over 7.3 m including 28.3 g/t Au over 3.5 m at 200 m below surface (Figures 1 and 2). Hinge is one of multiple faults that intersects the Newman Todd deposit and was the primary focus for phase two drilling.
Further Confirmation of the New High-Grade Geological Model: The strength of mineralization in hole NT-24-019, together with other recently announced high-grade holes (see Renegade news release dated September 12, 2024) provides strong confirmation of Renegade's updated geological model. The model indicates major potential for new, high-grade zones within the Newman Todd deposit, located where faults intersect the 2.2 km long Newman Todd strike.
Ongoing Drilling Strategy: Future drilling efforts will focus on areas down plunge from the intersection of the Hinge Fault and Newman Todd Zone. Targets will also include previously undrilled areas, as well as new zones of mineralization within the hanging wall and foot wall of the Newman Todd structure.
Nav Dhaliwal, President and CEO for Renegade, commented, "These new results are further confirmation that the mineralized system Newman Todd is far larger, and much higher grade, than was previously understood. The new model of mineralization developed by our team earlier this year has resulted in superb drill targeting - extending the deposit in width and depth, and now returning some of the strongest grades drilled on the property to date."
Figure 1. Plan map of the Newman Todd Project showing latest drill results with modelled gold mineralization projected to surface.
Figure 2. Cross section A-A' at the Newman Todd Project looking east, showing recent step out drilling extending width of mineralization and at depth (NT-24-019).
Table 1. Newman Todd Drill Result Highlights
Hole ID Hole Length (m) Azimuth (deg.) Dip (deg.) From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au (g/t) NT-24-019 453.0 25 -50 343.4 350.7 7.3 14.0 inc. 346.0 349.5 3.5 28.3
Hole NT-24-020 encountered a fault and experienced significant core loss at the target depth, resulting in unrepresentative gold mineralization results for this hole.
About Newman Todd
The 100% owned Newman Todd deposit can be located approximately 26 km west of Evolution's mining operations, just 1 km south of West Red Lake's Mount Jamie advanced deposit. The Newman Todd Zone (NTZ) is the dominant host for gold mineralization on the property and is interpreted to span across the property boundary, over 2 km. The NTZ structure varies in width from 60 to 160 m and is open to depth throughout and is host to multiple styles of mineralization, including multiple breccia vein systems and late high-grade quartz veining, often associated with visible gold.
Recent drilling has given strong confidence that the Newman Todd structure and associated HG gold structures continue beyond a depth of 700 m, beyond double of the previous drill horizon. Increased intercepts of gold mineralization in the HW of the NTZ support that gold mineralization is more widespread than historically thought.
QA/QC
Drill core is logged and sampled at a secure core processing facility in Red Lake, Ontario. Core samples from the drill program are cut in half using a diamond cutting saw with half sent for assay at SGS Laboratories Ltd. in Red Lake, Ontario. The other half is secured and retained at a secure storage facility. All samples are analyzed for gold using standard Fire Assay-AA techniques. Samples returning greater than 10.0 g/t gold are analyzed utilizing standard Fire Assay-Gravimetric methods. In addition to SGS internal QAQC procedures, certified reference materials, blanks and duplicates are routinely inserted into the sample stream as part of Renegades quality control/quality assurance program. Results are monitored regularly for contamination and accuracy.
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dale Ginn, P.Geo., the Executive Chair and director of the Company and a Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101.
About Renegade Gold Inc.
Renegade Gold Inc. is a growth focused company engaged in the business of acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties located in the Red Lake Mining District of Northern Ontario. As part of its regional-scale consolidation strategy, the Company has assembled one of the largest prospective land packages in and around the Red Lake mining district in proximity to major mines and deposits, as well as along the Confederation Lake and Birch-Uchi greenstone belts. The recent completion of the acquisition of Pacton Gold Inc. extends the Company's ownership in Red Lake to over 89,600 hectares of prospective and diversified exploration properties with significant potential for gold and critical minerals on trend with the major structures hosting known gold occurrences in the Red Lake mining district today.
For further information, please contact:
Renegade Gold Inc.
Nav Dhaliwal
President, CEO and Director
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "anticipate," "significant," "expect," "may," "will" and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify Forward-Looking Information. Forward-Looking Information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking information. In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in this press release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, assumptions that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner; that all requisite approvals will be received, and all requisite information will be available in a timely manner. Factors that may cause actual results to vary materially include, but are not limited to, inaccurate assumptions concerning the exploration for and development of mineral deposits, currency fluctuations, unanticipated operational or technical difficulties, risks related to unforeseen delays; general economic, market or business conditions, regulatory changes, timeliness of regulatory approvals, the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits, changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets and the inability to raise additional financing. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this Forward-Looking Information. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update this Forward-Looking Information after the date of this release or to revise such information to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Provenance Gold Corp. (CSE: PAU) (OTCQB: PVGDF) (the "Company" or "Provenance") is pleased to provide an update on its ongoing core drilling program at its Eldorado project in Malheur County, Eastern Oregon.
Drilling of the first core hole (EC-01: orientated N10W at - 680 dip, with a planned depth of 300 m) is ongoing. At the time of this update, the hole was at a depth of 207 m in highly altered and mineralized granodiorite with visible gold located at multiple horizons (30m, 108m, and 158m). The hole was designed to test the down dip extent of Provenance's 2023 reverse circulation hole ED-07 which averaged 3.085 g/t gold over its entire length of 114 meters and terminated while still in strong mineralization (See Press Release dated July 31, 2023). In addition, EC-01 crosscuts the projected northeast trend of the high-grade mineralization in this part of the Eldorado gold system and the presence of visible gold in the mineralization continues to expand the known mineralization along strike and to depth. Logging and core processing is ongoing and additional results will be released once available.
Figure 1 - Down dip visible gold locations in EC-01.
Provenance Gold's Chairman, Rauno Perttu, stated, "The first core hole has already demonstrated the gold mineralization extends much deeper than the depth of approximately 120 meters we went to on holes ED-07 and ED-11 during our RC drilling program last summer. Furthermore, our field work has identified additional mineralized zones well beyond the current and historic drilling. Even though we have 242 historic holes and EC-01 is our 12th new hole, the gold system remains wide open for expansion with multiple visible gold occurrences over several intervals. We are very pleased with what we are seeing in the core at this early stage. This is an exciting time for our company."
Core hole EC-01 has already provided important and positive information about the gold system on three key fronts:
The high-grade portion of the gold system is not controlled by or limited to a breccia zone, as had been previously postulated. The core to date is dominated by altered granodiorite with disseminated sulphides (predominantly pyrite) with multiple visible gold grains across multiple zones.
At the current drilling depth of 207 meters, the mineralization extends deeper than previously recognized and additionally supports the presence of Provenance's postulated deeper high-grade zone.
The core is not strongly silicified, confirming that the mineralization is a late-stage or even separate lower temperature mineralizing event which is consistent with the excellent gold recoveries experienced by Provenance and by historic laboratory testing (See Press Release dated February 07, 2024).
Private Placement
The Company expects to close on the second tranche of its private placement as announced on June 28th, 2024, on or around October 4th, 2024. The private placement is expected to be over-subscribed, and the Company would like to thank all that have indicated their participation.
Qualified Person
The technical content disclosed in this press release was reviewed and approved by Jo Price, P.Geo., M.Sc., a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101.
About Provenance Gold Corp.
Provenance Gold Corp. is a precious metals exploration company with a focus on gold and silver mineralization within North America. The Company currently holds interests in Nevada, and eastern Oregon, USA.
Provenance is also active on social media and invites investors to follow us on X to stay up to date with our latest news and developments: https://x.com/ProvenanceGold
Safe Harbor Statement
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange, nor its regulation services provider, accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When or if used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
Mine Life Extended to the End of 2032 with 36% Increase in Total Silver Equivalent Production
Strong Free Cash Flows Throughout the Updated Life of Mine
Numerous Opportunities Available for Further Growth, Mine Life Extension and Margin Improvement
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gatos Silver, Inc. (NYSE/TSX: GATO) (Gatos Silver or the Company) today reported an updated life of mine plan (the 2024 LOM Plan) that adds two years of additional reserves and a 36% increase in silver equivalent production compared with the prior LOM plan at the Cerro Los Gatos Mine (CLG) in Mexico.
Gatos Silver also disclosed an updated mineral reserve estimate (the 2024 Mineral Reserve) and mineral resource estimate (the 2024 Mineral Resource) (and together with the 2024 LOM Plan, the 2024 Updates) with an effective date of July 1, 2024.
The Company has a 70% interest in the Los Gatos Joint Venture (LGJV), which in turn owns the CLG mine. The Company has agreed to be acquired by First Majestic Silver Corp. (First Majestic) subject to certain conditions, including approvals of the shareholders of Gatos Silver and First Majestic. All dollar amounts are expressed in, and references to $ refer to, United States dollars unless otherwise noted.
Dale Andres, CEO of Gatos Silver, said: We continue to deliver on CLGs growth potential through disciplined optimization of our assets and successful near-mine resource expansion and conversion. The 2024 LOM Plan represents our second consecutive multi-year mine life extension with the current mine life now extended to the end of 2032 in conjunction with higher mill throughput rates, which are now expected to exceed design capacity by 40% starting in mid-2025.
The 2024 LOM Plan shows strong cash flows and attractive all-in-sustaining costs that demonstrate why CLG is one of the highest-quality primary silver operations. Together with ongoing exploration drilling, the results of the 2024 Updates illustrate the long-term potential at CLG and why it is expected to become a cornerstone district of the First Majestic portfolio going forward.
Summary
Robust 2024 LOM Plan at CLG with strong annual cash flow profile (100% LGJV basis): Mine life extended to the end of 2032, an addition of two years at higher throughput rates of 3,500 tonnes per day Low by-product all-in sustaining cost (AISC) 1,2 of $6.29 per ounce of payable silver, and co-product AISC 1,2 of $14.89 per ounce of payable silver equivalent Average annual after-tax free cash flow 2 , 3 of $80 million, resulting in an after-tax net present value (NPV) 3 of $539 million based on 2024 reserve price assumptions at a silver price of $23/oz, and significant leverage to higher metal prices. The spot silver price on September 24, 2024 was $32.15/oz (XAG:USD) 4 .
Average annual after-tax free cash flow 2 ,5 of $111 million, resulting in an after-tax NPV 5 of $760 million, at a silver price of $30/oz Average annual after-tax free cash flow 2 ,5 of $136 million, resulting in an after-tax NPV 5 of $935 million, at a silver price of $35/oz Total silver equivalent production 6 over the LOM expected to increase by 36% and total silver production expected to increase by 22% Average annual production of 7.0 million ounces of silver and 14.0 million ounces of silver equivalent expected during the 2025 to 2027 period with further optimization potential Average annual production over the LOM of 6.1 million ounces of silver, 67 million pounds of zinc and 50 million pounds of lead, or 12.9 million ounces of silver equivalent production 2024 Mineral Reserve of 10.3 million tonnes at 172 g/t silver, 3.89% zinc, 2.07% lead, 0.22 g/t gold and 0.21% copper, with 57.3 million ounces of contained silver, up 28% from 8.1 million tonnes a year earlier 7 . For all of the mines five payable metals (silver, zinc, lead, gold and copper), contained metal increased even though grade was lower for all except copper. 2024 Mineral Resource includes 0.8 million tonnes of measured and indicated resource, up 98% from 0.4 million tonnes a year earlier and 1.51 million tonnes of inferred resource, down 67% from 4.58 million tonnes a year earlier 7 , reflecting successful resource to reserve conversion
Numerous opportunities to extend mine life and further increase margins at CLG: Drilling continues to expand the SE Deeps zone beyond the 2024 Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates, as described in our news release dated July 23, 2024 Two drill rigs currently drilling the Central Deeps target below the current Central and North-west zones Drilling of near-mine and district exploration targets increased in Q2 2024 with initial results at San Luis and Portigueno targets showing mineralization, as described in our news release dated July 23, 2024, and with follow-up drilling continuing Several capital efficient margin improvement projects being studied, including metallurgical recovery optimization through ultra fines recovery and potential mill throughput growth up to 4,000 tpd
2024 CLG LOM Plan Update Summary
Table 1 presents a comparison of key metrics of the 2024 LOM Plan to the previous life of mine plan announced on September 6, 2023, (the 2023 LOM Plan) considering the comparable periods from July 1, 2024 onwards (the effective date of the 2024 LOM Plan).
On this basis, total estimated silver equivalent production in the 2024 LOM Plan has increased by 36% compared with the 2023 LOM Plan, with lower unit operating costs resulting primarily from higher mill throughput rates which increase to a steady state of approximately 3,500 tpd by mid-2025. Total tonnes processed increased by 47% to 10.33 million tonnes. Sustaining capital increases by 63% reflecting additional underground development and infrastructure required to mine the additional tonnage. Silver equivalent production averages 12.9 million ounces per year over the mine life, and averages 14.0 million ounces during the 2025 to 2027 period. Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 present annual and cumulative free cash flows, mill throughput rates and silver head grades, silver production and by-product AISC, and silver equivalent production and co-product AISC, respectively.
Table 1 Summary of the 2024 LOM Plan and Comparison to the 2023 LOM Plan (100% LGJV Basis)(1,2,3)
LOM Plan comparisons are presented from July 1, 2024 through to end of respective mine lives 2024 LOM Plan
(H224+) 2023 LOM Plan
(H224+) Change Change (%) End of Mine Life Oct. 31, 2032 Dec. 31, 2030 Total Tonnes Processed (Mt) 10.33 7.01 3.33 47% Average Mill Throughput Rate (tpd) 3,401 2,951 450 15% Total Silver Production (Moz) 50.5 41.3 9.1 22% Total Silver Equivalent Production (Moz)(1) 107.2 78.6 28.5 36% Average Silver Production (Moz / year)(2) 6.1 6.4 (0.3) (5)% Average Zinc Production (Mlbs / year)(2) 67.2 63.7 3.5 5% Average Lead Production (Mlbs / year)(2) 50.0 46.8 3.2 7% Average Silver Equivalent Production (Moz / year)(1) 12.9 12.1 0.8 6% Site Operating Costs ($/tonne milled) $82.14 $87.72 ($5.58) (6)% Sustaining Capital ($M) $186.9 $114.7 $72.19 63% By-Product AISC ($/oz Ag pay.)(3) $6.29 $7.22 ($0.94) (13)% Co-Product AISC ($/oz AgEq pay.)(3) $14.89 $14.17 $0.72 5%
(1) Silver equivalent production for the 2024 LOM Plan is calculated using 2024 reserve price assumptions to convert zinc, lead, gold and copper production contained in concentrates to equivalent silver ounces (contained metal, multiplied by price, divided by silver price). Silver equivalent production for the 2024 LOM Plan uses 2024 reserve price assumptions of $23/oz silver, $1.25/lb zinc, $0.95/lb lead, $1,850/oz gold and $4.00/lb copper. Silver equivalent production for the 2023 LOM Plan did not include copper due to relatively low payable quantities, and used prices of $22/oz silver, $1.20/lb zinc, $0.90/lb lead, $1,700/oz gold, $3.50/lb copper.
(2) Silver production is silver contained in Pb, Zn and Cu concentrates, zinc production is zinc contained in Zn concentrate, lead production is lead contained in Pb concentrate.
(3) By-product AISC and Co-product AISC include the LGJV management fee and administrative costs of $1.35 / oz Ag payable and $0.65 / oz AgEq payable, respectively in the 2024 LOM Plan and $1.13 / oz Ag payable and $0.60 / oz AgEq payable, respectively in the 2023 LOM Plan from July 1, 2024. Refer to Table 9 for AISC details.
Figure 1 2024 LOM Annual Free Cash Flow (100% LGJV Basis)
Figure 2 LOM Mill Throughput and Silver Grade (2024 LOM Plan and 2023 LOM Plan)
Figure 3 2024 LOM Silver Production and By-Product AISC (100% LGJV Basis)
Figure 4 2024 LOM Silver Equivalent Production and Co-Product AISC (100% LGJV Basis)
2024 CLG Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource Tables
The 2024 Mineral Reserve for CLG by reserve category is summarized in Table 2 and the 2024 Mineral Resource for CLG reported by category is summarized in Table 3.
Table 2: 2024 CLG Mineral Reserve as at July 1, 2024 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)
100% LGJV Basis Mt Ag
(g/t) Zn
(%) Pb
(%) Au
(g/t) Cu
(%) Ag
(Moz) Zn
(Mlbs) Pb
(Mlbs) Au
(koz) Cu
(Mlbs) Proven 3.49 300 4.35 2.09 0.29 0.09 33.6 334.4 160.6 32.6 7.0 Probable 6.85 107 3.66 2.06 0.18 0.26 23.6 552.3 310.9 40.5 40.0 Proven and Probable 10.33 172 3.89 2.07 0.22 0.21 57.3 886.7 471.4 73.1 46.9 70% GSI Attributable Basis Mt Ag
(g/t) Zn
(%) Pb
(%) Au
(g/t) Cu
(%) Ag
(Moz) Zn
(Mlbs) Pb
(Mlbs) Au
(koz) Cu
(Mlbs) Proven 2.44 300 4.35 2.09 0.29 0.09 23.5 234.1 112.4 22.8 4.9 Probable 4.80 107 3.66 2.06 0.18 0.26 16.5 386.6 217.6 28.4 28.0 Proven and Probable 7.23 172 3.89 2.07 0.22 0.21 40.1 620.7 330.0 51.2 32.8
(1) Mineral Reserves are reported on a 100% LGJV basis and 70% GSI attributable basis and exclude all Mineral Reserve material mined prior to July 1, 2024.
(2) Specific gravity has been assumed on a dry basis.
(3) Tonnage and contained metal have been rounded to reflect the accuracy of the estimate and numbers may not sum exactly.
(4) Values are inclusive of mining recovery and dilution. Values are determined as of delivery to the mill (point of reference) and therefore not inclusive of milling recoveries.
(5) Mineral Reserves are reported within stope shapes using a variable cut-off basis with a Ag price of US$23/oz, Zn price of US$1.25/lb, Pb price of US$0.95/lb, Au price of US$1,850/oz and Cu price of $4.00/lb. Metallurgical recoveries used in the NSR calculation for generation of the stope solids vary based on the block Pb:Cu ratio. For a Pb:Cu ratio >15 the NSR metallurgical recovery parameters were 88.2% Ag, 63.4% Zn, 89.4% Pb, 54.2% Au and 0% Cu, for Pb:Cu of >7 and <15, the NSR metallurgical recovery parameters were 88.2% Ag, 63.4% Zn, 89.4% Pb, 54.2% Au and 60% Cu and for Pb:Cu ratio of <7 the NSR metallurgical recovery parameters used were 88.2% Ag, 63.4% Zn, 87.2% Pb, 54.2% Au and 82% Cu. The metallurgical recovery parameters in the economic analysis, after plant production modelling, average 88.2% Ag, 63.1% Zn, 88.5% Pb, 54.2% Au and 71.5% Cu to concentrates where the metal is payable.
(6) The Mineral Reserve is reported on a fully diluted basis defined by mining method, stope geometry and ground conditions.
(7) Contained Metal (CM) is calculated as follows:
Zn, Pb and Cu, CM (Mlb) = Tonnage (Mt) * Grade (%) / 100 * 2204.6
Ag and Au, CM (Moz) = Tonnage (Mt) * Grade (g/t) / 31.1035 ; multiply Au CM (Moz) by 1000 to obtain Au CM (koz)
(8) Under SEC Regulation S-K 1300, a Mineral Reserve is an estimate of tonnage and grade or quality of indicated and measured mineral resources that, in the opinion of the qualified person, can be the basis of an economically viable project. More specifically, it is the economically mineable part of a measured or indicated mineral resource, which includes diluting materials and allowances for losses that may occur when the material is mined or extracted.
(9) The SEC definitions for Mineral Reserves in Regulation S-K 1300 were used for Mineral Reserve classification and are consistent with Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (CIM (2014) definitions).
(10) The Mineral Reserve estimates were prepared under the supervision of Mr. Stephan Blaho, P.Eng. an employee of WSP Canada Inc. who is the independent Qualified Person for these Mineral Reserve estimates.
Table 3: 2024 CLG Mineral Resource as at July 1, 2024 (Exclusive of Mineral Reserves) (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11)
100% LGJV Basis Mt Ag
(g/t) Zn
(%) Pb
(%) Au
(g/t) Cu
(%) Ag
(Moz) Zn
(Mlbs) Pb
(Mlbs) Au
(koz) Cu
(Mlbs) Measured 0.24 222 2.78 1.51 0.36 0.07 1.7 14.7 8.0 2.8 0.3 Indicated 0.55 75 3.71 2.00 0.21 0.25 1.3 44.8 24.1 3.7 3.1 Measured and Indicated 0.79 120 3.43 1.85 0.26 0.20 3.0 59.5 32.0 6.5 3.4 Inferred 1.51 80 4.22 2.01 0.22 0.29 3.9 140.2 66.9 10.5 9.5
70% GSI Attributable Basis Mt Ag
(g/t) Zn
(%) Pb
(%) Au
(g/t) Cu
(%) Ag
(Moz) Zn
(Mlbs) Pb
(Mlbs) Au
(koz) Cu
(Mlbs) Measured 0.17 222 2.78 1.51 0.36 0.07 1.2 10.3 5.6 2.0 0.2 Indicated 0.38 75 3.71 2.00 0.21 0.25 0.9 31.4 16.9 2.6 2.1 Measured and Indicated 0.55 120 3.43 1.85 0.26 0.20 2.1 41.6 22.4 4.6 2.4 Inferred 1.06 80 4.22 2.01 0.22 0.29 2.7 98.2 46.8 7.4 6.7
(1) Mineral Resources are reported on a 100% LGJV basis and 70% GSI attributable basis and are exclusive of Mineral Reserves.
(2) Under SEC Regulation S-K 1300, a Mineral resource is a concentration or occurrence of material of economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form, grade or quality, and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for economic extraction. A mineral resource is a reasonable estimate of mineralization, taking into account relevant factors such as cut-off grade, likely mining dimensions, location or continuity, that, with the assumed and justifiable technical and economic conditions, is likely to, in whole or in part, become economically extractable. It is not merely an inventory of all mineralization drilled or sampled. 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, marketing, or other relevant issues.
(3) The SEC definitions for Mineral Resources in S-K 1300 were used for Mineral Resource classification which are consistent with Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (CIM (2014) definitions).
(4) The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Mineral Resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred Mineral Resources as an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading Inferred Mineral Resources to an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource category.
(5) Specific gravity has been assumed on a dry basis.
(6) Tonnage and contained metal have been rounded to reflect the accuracy of the estimate and numbers may not sum exactly.
(7) Mineral Resources exclude all Mineral Resource material mined prior to July 1, 2024.
(8) Mineral Resources are reported within stope shapes using a $70.94/tonne net smelter return (NSR) cut-off calculated using an Ag price of US$23/oz, Zn price of US$1.25/lb, Pb price of US$0.95/lb, Au price of US$1,850/oz and Cu price of $4.00/lb. The NSR cutoff includes mill recoveries and payable metal factors appropriate to the existing CLG processing circuit augmented with a pyrite leach circuit and copper separation circuit. The milling recoveries for these additional projects is based on existing metallurgical testwork. The metallurgical recoveries that are used as inputs to the resource NSR are 93.2% Ag, 63.4% Zn, 61.1% Au and range between 87.2%-89.4% Pb and between 66.5%-82.0% Cu.
(9) No dilution was applied to the Mineral Resource which are reported on an insitu basis (point of reference).
(10) Contained Metal (CM) is calculated as follows:
Zn, Pb and Cu CM (Mlb) = Tonnage (Mt) * Grade (%) / 100 * 2204.6
Ag and Au, CM (Moz) = Tonnage (Mt) * Grade (g/t) / 31.1035 ; multiply Au CM (Moz) by 1000 to obtain Au CM (koz)
(11) The Mineral Resource estimates were prepared under the supervision of Ronald Turner, MAusIMM(CP) an employee of Golder Associates S.A. who is the independent Qualified Person for these Mineral Resource estimates.
Diamond Drilling
The increases in mineral reserve and mineral resource are primarily driven by extensive diamond drilling completed between the 2023 and 2024 updates. The 2024 Mineral Resource update for CLG used a total of 1,666 diamond drill holes totaling 346,639 metres. Between the updates, data from 53,689 metres of surface resource drilling from 75 holes and 12,354 metres of underground definition drilling from 118 holes was added to the database; these new drillholes are shown in Figure 5 below. The data cut-off date used for the 2024 Updates was March 31, 2024.
Various control measures are in place at CLG to ensure reliable drilling data for estimation, including a secure database system, quality assurance and quality control measures and periodic reporting and gyro downhole surveying for surface drill holes.
Figure 5 New Drilling Added between 2023 and 2024 Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource Updates
Mineral Resource Estimation
The 2024 Mineral Resource uses an estimation methodology that is similar to the methodology used for the 2023 mineral resource estimate. Geological interpretation of 3D domain solids was completed using all available information including detailed underground mapping, channel sampling and surface and underground diamond drilling. The block model estimation uses assay information from diamond drill core only. The model interpolation is by multiple pass ordinary kriging using locally varying anisotropy to follow the changes in dip and azimuth of the veins. Control of outlier grades is by traditional top cutting. The limits set for the top cut were based on statistical analysis and comparison of mined areas to actual production. CLG mineral resources are reported exclusive of mineral reserves and within stope shapes to define reasonable prospects of economic extraction.
Changes from 2023 are the change from high grade restriction to top cutting and the removal of the fourth estimation pass with longer ranges that was previously used for inferred resource only.
2024 Mine Design and Scheduling
The methodology used to prepare the 2024 mine design is similar to the methodology that was implemented for the 2023 updates, with updates to account for changes in actual operating performance.
Long-hole (LH) mining methods were applied where amenable throughout the mine which represents approximately 73% of total LOM stope production. Stope production in the mine plan varies between approximately 55% to 80% LH in 2025-2028, increasing to greater than 90% LH towards the end of the mine life. Areas that are not amenable to LH mining are planned to be extracted using cut and fill (C+F) methods. See Figure 6 below for a comparison of the 2024 mine design versus the 2023 mine design.
Mineral reserve stopes are planned to be filled using primarily paste fill, with uncemented rock fill and, to a lesser extent cemented rock fill, also considered in certain stopes and areas.
Mine dilution and mine recovery estimates are based on recent actual operating performance. These assumptions are applied based on the mining method, stope width, zone inclination and proximity to hanging-wall faults.
Operating and sustaining capital cost assumptions are based on recent actual costs with minor allowances for business improvement initiatives that are defined and being implemented. Mine operating costs were developed separately for LH and C+F mining methods.
Figure 6 Long Section of CLG 2024 and 2023 Mineral Reserve Solids
2024 LOM Production Plan
The 2024 LOM Plan is based on a steady-state processing rate of 3,500 tonnes per day from mid-2025 onwards, resulting in a mine plan that exhausts current mineral reserves in Q4 2032. Steady-state LOM mining rates are approximately 8% higher than current operating rates and are projected to steadily increase through the end of 2024 and first half of 2025. Underground development for mining the 2024 Mineral Reserve is expected to be materially complete by 2030.
Mineral processing at the current operation uses conventional sulphide flotation, producing separate lead and zinc concentrates. The 2024 LOM considers the installation of a copper-lead separation circuit to produce a separate copper concentrate from higher copper mill feeds, which is expected to be operational in 2026. Predicted metallurgical recoveries over the 2024 LOM Plan average 88.2%, 63.1%, 88.5%, 54.2% and 71.5% for silver, zinc, lead, gold and copper, respectively. Recoveries were estimated based on recent actual plant performance, as well as recent metallurgical test work on South-East zone copper-lead separation. A total of 107.2 million ounces of silver equivalent are estimated to be produced according to the 2024 LOM Plan, comprised of 50.5 million ounces of silver, 560 million pounds of zinc, 417 million pounds of lead, 39.6 thousand ounces of gold and 33.5 million pounds of copper.
Production and recovery numbers are calculated based on metals recovered to concentrates where the grades are expected to be in payable quantities. Silver production and recoveries are silver contained in lead, zinc and copper concentrates; zinc production and recoveries are zinc contained in zinc concentrate; lead production and recoveries are lead contained in lead concentrate; gold production and recoveries are gold contained in lead and copper concentrates; and copper production and recoveries are copper contained in lead and copper concentrates.
Table 4: Life of Mine Projected Processing and Production Summary (100% LGJV Basis)(1)
Plant Metrics Units H2
2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 LOM Processed Material Mt 0.60 1.26 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.16 0.93 10.33 Process Rate tpd 3,247 3,444 3,500 3,500 3,500 3,500 3,500 3,166 3,055 3,401 Ag Grade g/t 260 221 193 167 154 153 153 146 141 172 Zn Grade % 4.02 4.30 4.42 4.05 3.98 4.22 3.35 3.30 3.24 3.89 Pb Grade % 1.89 2.04 2.13 2.10 2.12 2.13 1.99 2.05 2.09 2.07 Au Grade g/t 0.26 0.23 0.25 0.20 0.22 0.24 0.21 0.19 0.18 0.22 Cu Grade % 0.09 0.12 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.21 0.37 0.33 0.27 0.21 Ag Production Moz 4.4 7.9 7.0 6.0 5.6 5.5 5.5 4.8 3.7 50.5 Zn Production Mlbs 33.4 75.2 78.7 72.0 71.0 75.1 59.5 53.1 42.0 559.9 Pb Production Mlbs 22.2 50.6 53.3 52.6 53.0 52.8 49.0 45.7 37.8 417.0 Au Production koz 2.8 5.1 5.6 4.5 4.9 5.4 4.6 3.8 3.0 39.6 Cu Production Mlbs 0.7 2.0 0.9 2.8 3.4 4.5 8.4 6.7 4.2 33.5 AgEq Production Moz 7.5 14.8 14.1 13.0 12.6 13.0 12.6 11.0 8.6 107.2
(1) LOM begins on July 1, 2024. The 2024 Mineral Reserve excludes all mineral reserve material processed prior to July 1, 2024.
CLGs short term definition drilling and short term mine plan updates required for execution may cause actual annual operating results to differ significantly from the 2024 LOM Plan schedule shown in Table 4. Gatos Silver provides annual production guidance and quarterly production results for CLG, and such results can vary quarter over quarter based on short term execution plans and constraints. The Company cautions investors that guidance might differ from the 2024 LOM Plan, and actual results might significantly differ from guidance.
2024 LOM Cash Flows
Table 5 presents a summary of 2024 LOM Plan cash flows. In the 2024 LOM Plan, silver accounts for 49% of the total payable metal value, with zinc, lead, gold and copper representing 28%, 17%, 2% and 4%, respectively.
Table 5: Summary of 2024 LOM Plan Free Cash Flow at Various Silver Prices(1,2) (100% LGJV Basis)
After-tax Free Cash Flow ($M)(2) H2
2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033+ LOM Silver Price $21/oz 40.7 76.5 64.0 58.2 59.4 83.8 88.5 71.7 57.8 (16.4) 584.2 2024 Reserve Prices ($23/oz Ag) 48.6 88.6 72.2 65.4 66.3 90.7 95.5 77.4 62.1 (16.4) 650.4 Silver Price $25/oz 56.5 101.7 83.9 72.6 73.1 97.6 102.4 83.1 67.9 (16.4) 722.5 Silver Price $30/oz 76.4 134.3 113.3 92.8 90.2 114.9 120.6 101.8 83.4 (16.4) 911.3 Silver Price $35/oz 96.2 167.2 142.4 118.0 112.3 135.0 143.6 121.7 98.9 (16.4) 1,118.9
(1) Prices for zinc, lead, gold and copper are maintained at 2024 reserve assumptions of $1.25/lb, $0.95/lb, $1,850/oz and $4.00/lb, respectively.
(2) See Non-GAAP Financial Measures below.
Figure 7 presents a sensitivity of 2024 LOM Plan net present value to silver prices.
Figure 7 Summary of 2024 LOM Plan Net Present Value at Various Silver Prices(1) (100% LGJV Basis)
(1) NPV as of July 1, 2024 at a 5% discount rate. Prices for zinc, lead, gold and copper are maintained at 2024 reserve assumptions of $1.25/lb, $0.95/lb, $1,850/oz and $4.00/lb, respectively.
Total sustaining capital costs for the 2024 LOM Plan at CLG are estimated at $186.9 million. Sustaining capital costs are summarized in Table 6 below.
Sustaining capital costs include underground access development to the lower levels in the Central and North-West Zones, and development of the South-East Deeps zone. They also include ventilation infrastructure, together with equipment replacements and other infrastructure projects including installation of the copper-lead separation circuit, upgrades to the underground dewatering system as the mine is developed further, and two additional tailings dam raises anticipated to be completed in 2025 and 2027/2028.
Table 6: 2024 LOM Plan Sustaining Capital Costs Summary
Sustaining Capital Costs LOM ($M) Mine Development $96.1 Infrastructure and Equipment $90.8 Total Sustaining Capital Cost $186.9
The average 2024 LOM Plan site operating costs are estimated at $82.14 per tonne milled and are summarized in Table 7 below. Operating costs have been developed based on recent actual costs considering the continued ramp-up to 3,500 tpd, the transition to a higher proportion of LH stoping mining in the plan, and minor allowances for business improvement initiatives that are currently being implemented. Operating costs are based on long term assumptions, including a Mexican Peso exchange rate of MXN 20.00 per US$1.00.
Table 7: 2024 LOM Plan Unit Operating Costs Summary
Unit Operating Costs LOM ($/t) Mining $42.16 Processing $24.77 Mine General and Administrative $15.20 Total Operating Cost $82.14
All-in sustaining costs are defined in the Non-GAAP Financial Performance Measures section and summarized in Table 8 below.
Table 8: 2024 LOM Plan All-In Sustaining Costs(1)
Cash Costs and All-In Sustaining Costs Units LOM Cash Costs $M $1,147.8 Sustaining Capital $M $186.9 All-In Sustaining Costs $M $1,334.7 Payable Silver Ounces Moz 45.5 All-In Sustaining Costs before by-product credits $/oz Ag payable $29.33 By-Product Credits $/oz Ag payable ($24.39) By-product All-In Sustaining Costs $/oz Ag payable $4.94 Payable Silver Equivalent Ounces Moz AgEq 93.8 Co-product All-In Sustaining Costs $/oz AgEq $14.24
(1) By-product AISC and Co-product AISC exclude the LGJV management fee and administrative costs of $1.35 / oz Ag payable and $0.65 / oz AgEq payable, respectively. Refer to Table 9 for AISC details.
Opportunities Growth, Margin Improvement and District-Scale Potential
The LGJV is analyzing multiple value enhancement projects beyond the 2024 LOM Plan and 2024 Mineral Reserve. The CLG team is focused on continuing to gradually increase mine production rates by implementing various optimization and improvement initiatives across the maintenance and mine operation functions. Capital efficient modifications to the existing plant to increase throughput rates beyond 3,500 tpd are being evaluated. The LGJV has completed preliminary metallurgical testwork on potentially improving silver, zinc and gold recoveries through either ultra fines recovery or increasing silver and gold recovery through a pyrite recovery circuit. These processing concepts along with mill expansion projects will continue to be analyzed over the coming year in conjunction with targets to increase mineral reserves and further mine life extension initiatives, with the potential to increase throughput rates up to 4,000 tpd.
The Los Gatos District (LGD) is comprised of a large land package covering over 103,000 hectares with an established pipeline of prospects and more than 50 targets identified to date. Since the database cutoff on March 31, 2024, drilling at South-East Deeps has shifted back towards resource extension drilling, testing for the limits of mineralization potential along strike, down-plunge and shallower within the overall SE Deeps zone, with drilling results described in our news release dated July 23, 2024 demonstrating the extension of this mineralization beyond what formed the basis of the 2024 Updates, and continuing to highlight additional potential of the system. Following the March 31, 2024 database cutoff, the focus of exploration has shifted to explore the broader LGD, including drilling at the Portigueno, Central Deeps and San Luis targets, with early results showing mineralization as described in our news release dated July 23, 2024. Quarterly exploration program updates will continue with the next one expected in early October.
Esther Mineral Resource Unchanged since 2022
The Esther Mineral Resource was not updated during 2024 and remains the same as reported in 2022 and 2023.
Updated Technical Reports
The Company expects to file an updated technical report summary prepared in accordance with subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K (S-K 1300) in the United States on the EDGAR section of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website at www.sec.gov, and file an updated technical report prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) in Canada under the Companys profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca (collectively, the 2024 Technical Reports), to support the disclosure regarding the 2024 Updates. The 2024 Technical Reports are expected to be filed within 45 days.
About Gatos Silver
Gatos Silver is a silver dominant exploration, development and production company that discovered a new silver and zinc-rich mineral district in southern Chihuahua State, Mexico. As a 70% owner of the Los Gatos Joint Venture (LGJV), the Company is primarily focused on operating the Cerro Los Gatos mine and on growth and development of the Los Gatos district. The LGJV includes approximately 103,000 hectares of mineral rights, representing a highly prospective and under-explored district with numerous silver-zinc-lead epithermal mineralized zones identified as priority targets.
On September 5, 2024 Gatos Silver and First Majestic Silver Corp. (First Majestic) announced they entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which First Majestic will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Gatos Silver. The proposed transaction would consolidate three world-class, producing silver mining districts in Mexico to create a leading intermediate primary silver producer. Information relating to the proposed transaction can be found at the Companys website at www.gatossilver.com.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control
The half core samples from the LGJVs surface exploration drillholes are shipped directly in sealed bags to the ALS Limited (ALS) preparation facilities in Chihuahua City, Mexico. After sample preparation in Chihuahua, sample pulps are shipped to ALS in North Vancouver, Canada for analysis. The remaining half core is retained on site. Samples sent for analysis are sawn half-core NQ or HQ in diameter and normally 2m in length but varied based on geological contacts. Samples are prepared using a method whereby the entire sample is crushed, and a subset is pulverized. Samples are analyzed for base metals and silver using inductively coupled plasma methods. Gold and overlimit silver are assayed using fire assay techniques. Sample batches include intermittent blanks, duplicates, and certified standards. The results of the assaying of the QA/QC material included in each batch are tracked to ensure the integrity of the assay data. ALS is a third-party independent laboratory.
Qualified Person
Scientific and technical disclosure in this press release regarding the Cerro Los Gatos 2024 Mineral Resource was based upon information prepared by or under the supervision of Ronald Turner, MAusIMM(CP), an employee of Golder Associates S.A. Scientific and technical disclosure in this press release regarding the 2024 Mineral Reserve, the 2024 LOM Plan and other economic analyses that will also be set out in the 2024 Technical Reports was based upon information prepared by or under the supervision of Stephan Blaho, P.Eng. an employee of WSP Canada Inc. Scientific and technical disclosure in this press release regarding the metallurgical assumptions for the 2024 LOM Plan and other economic analyses that will also be set out in the 2024 Technical Reports was based upon information prepared by or under the supervision of Adam Johnston, FAusIMM(CP), Chief Metallurgist with Transmin Metallurgical Consultants (UK). Other scientific and technical disclosure in this press release was approved by Anthony (Tony) Scott, P.Geo., Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Technical Services of Gatos Silver. Each of Ronald Turner, MAusIMM(CP), Stephan Blaho, P.Eng., Adam Johnston, FAusIMM(CP), and Tony Scott, P.Geo. is a Qualified Person, as defined in S-K 1300 and NI 43-101. Ronald Turner, MAusIMM(CP), Stephan Blaho, P.Eng. and Adam Johnston, FAusIMM(CP) are all independent of Gatos Silver and the LGJV. Each Qualified Person has verified the data disclosed herein in respect of the subject matter associated with the Qualified Person identified above, including sampling, analytical, and test data underlying the related information or opinions.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The Company uses certain measures that are not defined by GAAP to evaluate various aspects of our business. These non-GAAP financial measures are intended to provide additional information only and do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. The measures are not necessarily indicative of operating profit or cash flow from operations as determined under GAAP.
Cash Costs and All-In Sustaining Costs
Cash costs and all-in sustaining costs (AISC) are non-GAAP measures. AISC was calculated based on guidance provided by the World Gold Council (WGC). WGC is not a regulatory industry organization and does not have the authority to develop accounting standards for disclosure requirements. Other mining companies may calculate AISC differently as a result of differences in underlying accounting principles and policies applied, as well as definitional differences of sustaining versus expansionary (i.e. non-sustaining) capital expenditures based upon each companys internal policies. Current GAAP measures used in the mining industry, such as cost of sales, do not capture all of the expenditures incurred to discover, develop and sustain production. Therefore, we believe that cash costs and AISC are non-GAAP measures that provide additional information to management, investors and analysts that aid in the understanding of the economics of the Companys operations and performance compared to other producers and provides investors visibility by better defining the total costs associated with production.
Cash costs include all direct and indirect operating cash costs related directly to the physical activities of producing metals, including mining, processing and other plant costs, treatment and refining costs, general and administrative costs, and royalties. AISC includes total production cash costs incurred at the LGJVs mining operations plus sustaining capital expenditures. The Company believes this measure represents the total sustainable costs of producing silver from current operations and provides additional information of the LGJVs operational performance and ability to generate cash flows. As the measure seeks to reflect the full cost of silver production from current operations, new project and expansionary capital at current operations are not included. Certain cash expenditures such as new project spending, tax payments, dividends, and financing costs are not included.
Free Cash Flow
Management uses free cash flow (FCF) as a non-GAAP measure to analyze cash flows generated from operations. As used herein, FCF is cash provided by operating activities less cash used in investing activities. The Company believes that this measure assists in evaluating the Companys ability to generate cash flow after capital investments. The most directly comparable measure prepared in accordance with GAAP is cash provided by operating activities. The Company believes FCF is also useful as one of the bases for comparing the Companys performance with its competitors. Although FCF and similar measures are frequently used as measures of cash flows generated from operations by other companies, the Companys calculation of FCF is not necessarily comparable to such other similarly titled captions of other companies. The Company is unable to provide without unreasonable efforts a reconciliation of forward-looking free cash flow on a per-year basis to cash flow provided by operating activities due to the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts, some of which may be material, that are necessary for such reconciliation.
Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures
Table 9 below presents a reconciliation between the most comparable GAAP measure of the LGJVs expenses to the non-GAAP measures of (i) cash costs, (ii) cash costs, net of by-product credits, (iii) co-product AISC and (iv) by-product AISC for the Companys operations.
Table 9: Reconciliation of Cash Costs and AISC to Cost of Sales (as defined under US GAAP)(1,2,3,4,5)
Cash Costs and All-In Sustaining Costs Units 2024 LOM Plan
(H224+) 2023 LOM Plan
(H224+) Mining Costs $M $435.6 $305.3 Milling Costs $M $256.0 $185.6 Transportation Costs $M $148.7 $99.9 Cost of Sales $M $840.2 $590.8 Royalties $M $5.0 $2.6 General and Administrative $M $157.1 $123.7 Expenses $M $1,002.3 $717.1 Treatment and Refining Costs $M $145.5 $125.0 Cash Costs $M $1,147.8 $842.1 Sustaining Capital $M $186.9 $114.7 Accretion Expense $M $0.0 $0.0 All-in Sustaining Costs (AISC)(1)(2) $M $1,334.7 $956.9 By-product Credits(3) $M ($1,109.9) ($729.1) Payable Silver Moz 45.5 37.4 Cash Costs before By-product Credits $/oz Ag payable $25.23 $22.52 AISC before By-product Credits $/oz Ag payable $29.33 $25.59 By-product Credits(3) $/oz Ag payable ($24.39) ($19.50) Cash Costs, net of by-product credits $/oz Ag payable $0.83 $3.02 By-product AISC(1) $/oz Ag payable $4.94 $6.09 Payable Silver Equivalent(3)(4) Moz 93.8 70.5 Co-product Cash Cost $/oz AgEq payable $12.24 $11.94 Co-product AISC(1) $/oz AgEq payable $14.24 $13.57 Management Fee and Admin. Costs $M $61.2 $42.3 By-product AISC(5) $/oz Ag Payable $6.29 $7.22 Co-product AISC(5) $/oz Ag Eq. Payable $14.89 $14.17
(1) Excludes LGJV management fee and administration costs of approximately $7 million per year, equivalent to $1.35 / oz Ag payable and $0.65 / oz AgEq payable, respectively in the 2024 LOM Plan and $1.13 / oz Ag payable and $0.60 / oz AgEq payable, respectively in the 2023 LOM Plan.
(2) Excludes any exploration costs related to future resource expansion and conversion.
(3) Uses 2024 reserve price assumptions of $23.00/oz silver, $1.25/lb zinc, and $0.95/lb lead, $1,850/oz gold and $4.00/lb copper for the 2024 LOM Plan. Uses 2023 reserve price assumptions of $22.00/oz silver, $1.20/lb zinc, and $0.90/lb lead, $1,700/oz gold and $3.50/lb copper for the 2023 LOM Plan.
(4) Payable silver equivalent ounces include payable copper aligned to current payable terms for copper in lead concentrate and expected payable terms for copper concentrates.
(5) Includes LGJV management fee and administration costs of approximately $7 million per year in the 2024 LOM Plan and $6 million per year in the 2023 LOM Plan
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that constitute forward looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. and Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements regarding production including potential production increases, cash flows, CLGs life of mine and mine life extensions, mining rates and mill throughput rates, growth potential and margin improvement opportunities, mineral resource and reserve estimates, future prices for silver, zinc, lead, gold and copper, potential cash distributions to LGJV partners, NPV, projected capital, operating costs, sustaining and all-in sustaining costs, the exchange rate for the Mexican Peso to the U.S. Dollar, mine design, mine scheduling and mining methods including the proportion of LH stoping and filling methodologies, mining dilution and recovery estimates, timing of filing of updated 2024 Technical Reports, viability of potential modifications and projects to improve efficiency, timing of proposed drilling, potential results from exploration including possible increases to the LOM, and the timing of exploration updates are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on managements beliefs, assumptions, current expectations about future events and on information currently available to management including without limitation assumptions about commodity prices, mining methodologies, the accuracy of Mineral Reserve and Resource estimates, operating and capital costs, plant throughput and processing recoveries, operating conditions, and including other assumptions set out herein and to be set out in the 2024 Technical Reports. Such statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements including without limitation, commodity prices, change in regulations, failure to retain or obtain permits and licenses, environmental risks, cost and timing of exploration, development and production, opposition to mining may arise, labour interruptions, other general risks associated with mining operations and such other risks and uncertainties described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities commissions. Further, although the Company has attempted to identify factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Gatos Silver expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which such statements are based unless required to do so by applicable law. No assurance can be given that such future results will be achieved, and as such, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.
Investors and Media Contact
Andre van Niekerk
Chief Financial Officer
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(604) 424 0984
1 Includes LGJV management fee and administrative costs. Refer to Table 9 for AISC details.
2 See Non-GAAP Financial Measures below.
3 NPV is as of July 1, 2024 using a 5% discount rate. 2024 NPV and free cash flow assume reserve price assumptions of $23/oz silver, $1.25/lb zinc, $0.95/lb lead, $1,850/oz gold, $4.00/lb copper and a Mexican Peso exchange rate of MXN 20.00 per US$1.00. 2023 NPV used prices of $22/oz silver, $1.20/lb zinc, $0.90/lb lead, $1,700/oz gold, $3.50/lb copper and a Mexican Peso exchange rate of MXN 20.00 per US$1.00.
4 As of 16:00 Pacific time on September 24, 2024
5 NPV and free cash flow sensitivities presented here consider $30/oz Ag and $35/oz Ag, with other prices reflecting the 2024 reserve price assumptions described above. NPV is as of July 1, 2024 using a 5% discount rate.
6 Silver equivalent production for the 2024 LOM Plan is calculated using 2024 reserve price assumptions to convert zinc, lead, gold and copper production contained in concentrates to equivalent silver ounces (contained metal, multiplied by price, divided by silver price).
7 2024 Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource figures as at July 1, 2024; 2023 Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource figures as at July 1, 2023
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 24, 2024) - Onyx Gold Corp. (TSXV: ONYX) (OTCQX: ONXGF) ("ONYX" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a property consisting of one mining lease and four unpatented mining claims from an arm's length party located in the Matheson area, east of Timmins, Ontario. The Property is contiguous with the Company's Munro-Croesus Property ("Munro-Croesus" or the "Project") which will total 10,588 ha (105.8 km2) following the acquisition. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company will pay a cash consideration $20,000, and will issue 120,000 of its common shares to the vendor subject to regulatory approval. The property is subject to a pre-existing 2% NSR payable to another arms-length party.
Results of Annual General Meeting
The Company announces that its annual general meeting of shareholders was held yesterday and all of the directors were re-elected for another term until the next annual meeting.
About Onyx Gold
Onyx Gold is an exploration company focused on well-established Canadian mining jurisdictions, with assets in Timmins, Ontario, and Yukon Territory. The Company's extensive portfolio of quality gold projects in the greater Timmins gold camp includes the Munro-Croesus Gold property, renowned for its high-grade mineralization, plus two additional earlier-stage large exploration properties, Golden Mile and Timmins South. Onyx Gold also controls four properties in the Selwyn Basin area of Yukon Territory, which is currently gaining significance due to recent discoveries in the area. Onyx Gold's experienced board and senior management team are committed to creating shareholder value through the discovery process, careful allocation of capital, and environmentally/socially responsible mineral exploration.
On Behalf of Onyx Gold Corp.
"Brock Colterjohn"
President & CEO
Forward looking information: This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively "forward looking statements").
Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections, and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "forecast", "expect", "potential", "project", "target", "schedule", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the acquisition of additional mineral property in Timmins, Ontario, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. 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 are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Company's expectations include actual exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital, and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials, and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events, or results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause such actions, events, or results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and accordingly readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
A renewed push from politicians, community environmental organizers and union leaders aims to convince Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign what some say could be the most impactful climate change bill to cross her desk this year.
The Climate Change Superfund Act passed the State Senate and Assembly and now awaits the governors signature or veto.
The act proposes forcing fossil fuel companies to pay for damages caused by climate change and could bring an estimated $71 million annually to Western New York communities. In total, the act would require the fossil fuel companies to pay a total of $3 billion every year for 25 years.
How about the people who created the problem pay for it? I think thats fair, said Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes during a recent news conference. If we want to leave this environment, this country, our city, our communities in a condition where the children who were educating right now can live healthy, clean, safe lives, then we have to do something now.
Peoples-Stokes called upon Hochul to sign the Climate Change Superfund Act into law.
Paul DeMichele, a spokesman for Hochul, told The Buffalo News on Tuesday that the governor will review the legislation.
The law has been heralded by supporters as a critical, nation-leading bill to provide funds for infrastructure investments especially in disadvantaged communities hit hard by the impacts of climate change.
The Business Council of New York State has opposed the bill, saying it implies that the fossil fuel industry is solely responsible for climate change, and that the industry was the prime beneficiary of societys widespread use of fossil fuels in housing, transportation, production feedstocks and for other purposes.
The Senate voted 43-17 on May 7 to pass it, with Democratic Sen. Sean Ryan of Buffalo voting in favor and three Republicans from Western New York, George Borrello, Patrick Gallivan and Robert Ortt, voting against it.
The Assembly voted 92-49 to pass it on June 7, the day before the Legislature was scheduled to adjourn. The Assembly vote was also split along party lines in Western New York, with six Democrats voting yes and six Republicans voting no.
Climate change is caused in large part by greenhouse gas buildup from excess burning of fossil fuels. As humans continue burning fossil fuels as well as cutting down forests and farming livestock the Earths temperature has risen by about 2 degrees since 1850, with the rate of warming speeding up since 1982, according to research by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The extra heat in the atmosphere has brought extreme temperatures, reduced snow cover and sea ice, intensified extreme rainfall and led to habitat destruction, NOAAs research shows.
Western New York is no stranger to devastating weather events tied to climate change.
Extreme lake-effect snowfalls, such as the 2022 Christmas weekend blizzard that killed 47 people in Erie and Niagara counties, are expected to happen more often and possibly increase in severity as the Great Lakes region warms and ice cover diminishes during the winter, according to NOAAs U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit.
The four tornadoes that touched down in Western New York in July were a result of Hurricane Beryl, a catastrophic storm that killed at least 60 people in the Caribbean, Yucatan Peninsula and U.S. Gulf Coast. Beryl was fueled by warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures scientists linked directly to the Earths changing climate.
Lake Erie seiches and storm surges are also expected to increase in frequency and severity as the climate continues to change, according to research by the New York Sea Grant and University at Buffalo.
These climate change-related natural disasters can cause damages worth millions of dollars, said the proponents of the Climate Change Superfund Act.
This will be paid for by the big oil companies who have been perpetuating environmental racism and injustice for decades, Sara Schultz, vice chair of the Sierra Club Niagara Group, said during the Sept. 19 news conference. Dont let the fossil fuel companies fool you, because this law deals with past environmental damage, these companies wont be able to pass the cost on to customers.
The total of $75 billion would likely cover less than 15% of estimated New York climate change adaptation costs, according to an analysis that showed support of the bill by the Fiscal Policy Institute.
The bill would identify liable fossil fuel companies based on how much greenhouse gas emissions they have contributed to the atmosphere.
Based on decades of research it is now possible to determine with great accuracy the share of greenhouse gases [sic] released into the atmosphere by specific fossil fuel companies over the last 70 years or more, making it possible to assign liability to and require compensation from companies commensurate with their emissions during a given time period, the bill says.
The money paid into the bills proposed climate change adaptation cost recovery program by the companies would be a significant investment that we can do immense work with, said Mike Hogan, business manager for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 4, also during the news conference.
Right now, were trying to do this work without the support and without the funding from the people that actually create the problem, Hogan said. Were already [using] taxpayer funding. Its only fair that the corporations that exacerbated the problem, really created this problem, pitch in its really going to take all of us to fix it.
Hochul has until the end of this year to either veto or sign the bill into law.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Zodiac Gold Inc. (TSXV: ZAU) ("Zodiac Gold" or the "Company"), a West-African gold exploration company, is pleased to announce the discovery of a historical Mineral Resource and substantial iron formations through compilation and review of historical data. Theses findings pertain to the Company's recently acquired Bomi South and Bong West exploration licenses in Liberia.
Historical exploration, originally by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) (Geologic, Geophysical, and Mineral Localities Map by Wahl et al., 2007) and then West Peak Iron Limited ("West Peak Iron"), identified iron-bearing formations across Zodiac's project areas. Bong West includes an area in which a historical JORC compliant inferred mineral resource of 8 million tonnes at 35.91% Fe was announced by West Peak Iron on July 1, 2014 (see West Peak Iron press release). West Peak Iron also identified significant exploration target potential in the area.
A Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource and Zodiac Gold is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. Please refer to "Additional Information" for further details.
David Kol, President & CEO of Zodiac Gold, commented: "The results from our data compilation and review of historical exploration at Bomi South and Bong West highlight the significant potential of these projects to add value to our growing portfolio. While our primary focus remains on gold exploration on the Todi Project, we are particularly excited about the iron ore potential reported by West Peak Iron. This presents a valuable opportunity to position Zodiac Gold as a leading player in Liberia's emerging iron ore sector. The potential to advance this iron ore opportunity would not only strengthen our pipeline of high-priority targets, but also contribute meaningfully to Liberia's economic development, tapping into the growing global demand for iron ore."
Key Highlights:
Bong West is located 9 km along strike from the Bong iron ore mine, owned by China Union (Hong Kong) Mining Co, which has a long history of iron ore production. The mine was operated by the Bong Mining Company between 1965 and 1990, during which time ~158 million tonnes of medium to high grade iron ore were extracted (quoted in the paper "A review of the mineral potential of Liberia" by Gunn et al., 2018). The mine is currently in production.
Mapping by the USGS, as well as target areas identified by West Peak Iron, show the extension of units including intervals of iron-rich zones for a distance of over 65 km from the eastern boundary of Bong West, to the west into Bomi South. Only Area 4, with a strike length of less than 5 km, was drilled by West Peak Iron prior to relinquishing their license after the ebola crisis in Liberia severely impacted exploration activities. The four other West Peak Iron targets at Bong West and Bomi South have significant exploration potential as shown in the sections below.
In 2014, West Peak Iron reported a historical JORC compliant inferred mineral resource of 8 million tonnes at 35.91% Fe in Area 4.
The location of target areas identified by West Peak Iron (West Peak Iron press release, 2014) are shown on Figure 1 below. These areas benefit from being in close proximity to key infrastructure, including roads, railways, and the Port of Monrovia, which positions them as highly attractive for iron ore transport and export. The projects are also located near historically significant mining projects, including the Bong and Bomi Hills Mines, which further underlines the potential for fast-tracked development. Mining companies working in the adjacent licenses include Western Cluster (owned by Vedanta), China Union, and Boa Chico.
Figure 1: Location of the target areas in Bong West and Bomi South
Figures 2 and 3 show intervals of iron formation extending from the Bong iron ore mine to the east, through Bong West and into Bomi South. Gold targets identified by the Company are also shown on Figure 2. Further details regarding those targets can be found in previous press releases.
Figure 2: Geological mapping by the USGS (2007) showing itabirite occurrences and Zodiac Gold targets
Figure 3: Country-scale airborne magnetics (data from the USGS, 2007)
Drilling
In 2014, West Peak Iron completed 19 diamond drill holes for a total of 1,013 meters at Area 4 (West Peak Iron press release, 2014), in addition to earlier RC drilling. Drill hole locations are shown on Figure 4 and significant intersections are shown in Table 1, both of which were sourced from the West Peak Iron press release shown above.
Figure 4: West Peak Iron drill hole locations on analytic signal magnetic data (West Peak Iron, 2014)
Table 1: Significant intersections from diamond drilling (West Peak Iron, 2014) Prospect Hole ID From To Interval Fe % Area 4 BWDD0001 22.3 45.4 23.1 39.38 Area 4 BWDD0005 14.6 32.5 17.9 39.80 Area 4 BWDD0006 16.5 37 20.5 37.67 Area 4 BWDD0014 31 61 30 38.08 Area 4 BWDD0015 6.7 27.23 20.53 40.04
West Peak Iron did not complete any drilling on the other targets at Bong West and Bomi South prior to relinquishing their license after the ebola crisis severely impacted exploration activities.
Trenching Program
In 2012 a trenching program carried out by West Peak Iron aimed to confirm the widths and iron content of prospective areas in Areas 1, 2 and 7. Seven trenches were excavated and the following key results were reported (see Table 2 below from a West Peak Iron press release, 2012), though no drilling was completed by West Peak Iron to follow-up on these results.
Table 2: Trench intersections (West Peak Iron, 2012) Trench ID Interval (m) Fe % SiO2 % Al2O3 % P % LOI % T1 16 29.30 48.44 4.28 0.022 4.50 T1 37 30.47 46.66 4.37 0.032 4.85 T2 20.5 29.81 41.01 8.96 0.083 7.46 T3 85 36.71 21.62 13.33 0.071 10.99 T4 56 35.41 18.90 15.15 0.078 13.91 T7 52 32.11 27.80 12.11 0.069 13.03
The trench locations were mapped against the aeromagnetic data collected earlier, showing alignment between iron mineralization and the magnetic anomalies (Figure 6) (West Peak Iron, 2012). Figure 7 shows an example of iron formation identified in the West Peak Iron trenching program.
Figure 6. Trench locations and analytic signal aeromagnetic data (West Peak Iron, 2012)
Figure 7. Iron formation in Trench 2 looking south (West Peak Iron 2012)
Rock Chip Sampling Program
In 2013, a comprehensive rock chip sampling program was carried out by West Peak Iron at Areas 2, 3 and 7 and a total of 103 samples were collected, with results indicating the potential for high-grade DSO magnetite and hematite-rich capping (Table 3) (West Peak Iron press release, 2013). West Peak Iron sample locations and results are shown in Figure 8.
Table 3: Selected rock chip sample results (West Peak Iron, 2013) Sample ID Type Fe % SiO2 % Al2O3 % P % LOI % WPL307 DSO magnetite 66.87 2.76 0.99 0.001 -0.2 WPL274 DSO hematite cap 59.04 2.70 1.18 0.689 10.79 WPL348 Soft itabirite 42.18 36.35 0.85 0.045 0.89 WPL351 Detrital iron 51.08 8.43 6.09 0.039 10.79
Figure 8. Rock chip sample locations overlain on the analytic signal aeromagnetic image (West Peak Iron, 2013)
Additional Information
A Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical mineral resource estimate described in this press release as a current mineral resource and Zodiac Gold is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. A thorough review of all historical data performed by a Qualified Person, along with additional exploration work to confirm results, would be required to produce a current mineral resource estimate prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. The Company expects that the verification would include, among other activities, (i) Confirmation of historical drill hole collar locations; (ii) If available, verification sampling and assaying of historical drill core, RC samples and pulps on selected intervals. If not available, it would be necessary to re-drill a proportion of the drill holes for comparison with the historical holes; (iii) Sourcing of the original assay certificates from the laboratory for confirmation of the results reported by West Peak Iron. The Company has not independently verified and cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the historical estimates and other third-party data contained in this news release and investors should use caution in placing reliance on such information. Zodiac Gold believes that the historical estimate is relevant in assessing the iron ore potential of its properties and assisting the Company in developing an exploration program to further assess that potential but is unable to comment on the reliability of historical resources as insufficient work has been done to make this determination.
The historical mineral resources were reported by West Peak Iron in a press release dated July 1, 2014. Zodiac Gold has not been able to source a technical report containing a detailed description of the mineral resource estimation process and all information regarding such historical Mineral Resources in this press release is derived from the July 1, 2014 press release. The historical Mineral Resource was reported according to the standards and definitions of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources, and Ore Reserves, 2012 edition (the "JORC Code"), which does not have the same meaning as the one ascribed to "inferred mineral resource" by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") in the CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves adopted by the CIM Council on May 19, 2014, as amended as JORC and CIM use different definitions of the "inferred" classification based on the certain matters including the level of confidence in quantity and grade.
The procedures that West Peak Iron reported utilizing in connection with the historical mineral resource are summarized below. The Company has not independently verified and cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this description.
The historical mineral resources were reported to be based on both RC and diamond drilling results. Geological interpretation was derived from RC and diamond drilling, including associated geochemical sampling, geological logging and magnetic susceptibility readings. Aeromagnetic images were used to determine the potential continuity of the iron formations. A nominal cut-off grade of 30% Fe was used to interpret the wireframes that were used to constrain the estimate.
The assay data was composited to 2 m intervals and ordinary kriging was used to estimate Fe, SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , P and LOI within the modelled iron formations. A 30% Fe lower cut-off was utilized. The parent block size used was 50 m (strike) and 20 m (across strike) and 5 m for vertical depth. This was based on using half the drill spacing of 100 m by 20 m. It is noted that 27 samples were sent for bulk density determinations but the density used for estimation is unknown. The resulting historical mineral resource was described as a global estimate and was classified in the Inferred category.
Qualified Person
Tom Dowrick, Director of Exploration at Zodiac Gold, is a Chartered Geologist of the Geological Society of London and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. He has reviewed and approved the technical and scientific information provided in this release.
About Zodiac Gold
Zodiac Gold Inc. (TSXV: ZAU) is a West-African gold exploration company focused on its flagship Todi Project situated in Liberia-an underexplored, politically stable, mining friendly jurisdiction hosting several large-scale gold deposits. Strategically positioned along the fertile Todi Shear Zone, Zodiac Gold is developing a district-scale gold opportunity covering a vast 2,316 km2 land package. The Todi project has undergone de-risking, showcasing proven gold occurrences at both surface and depth, with five drill-ready targets and high-grade gold intercepts
For further information, please visit the Zodiac Gold website at www.zodiac-gold.com or contact:
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward Looking Information
This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation.
Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections, and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "forecast", "expect", "potential", "project", "target", "schedule", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's planned exploration programs and drill programs and potential significance of results are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. 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 are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Company's expectations include actual exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital, and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials, and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events, or results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause such actions, events, or results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and accordingly readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
LONGUEUIL, QC, Sept. 25, 2024 /CNW/ - Greenheart Gold Inc. (TSXV: GHRT) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Canaccord Genuity and Paradigm Capital on behalf of a syndicate of underwriters (collectively, the "Underwriters"), pursuant to which the Underwriters have agreed to purchase, on a "bought deal" private placement basis, 50,000,000 common shares of the Company (each, a "Common Share") at a price of C$0.50 per Common Share (the "Offering Price") for gross proceeds of C$25,000,000 (the "Offering").
The Company has also granted the Underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 7,500,000 Common Shares at the Offering Price for additional gross proceeds of up to C$3,750,000 exercisable at any time up to 48 hours prior to the closing of the Offering.
The net proceeds received from the Offering will be used by the Company to acquire and explore mineral properties in Guyana and Suriname, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.
It is anticipated that closing of the Offering will occur on or about October 17, 2024, or such other date or dates as the Company and the Underwriters may agree. The Offering is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including receipt of all applicable regulatory approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The securities sold under the Offering will be subject to a four month hold period in Canada.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.
About Greenheart Gold Inc.
Greenheart Gold is an exploration company that builds on a proven legacy of discoveries in the Guiana Shield, a highly prospective geologic terrain that hosts numerous gold deposits, though remains relatively under-explored. The Company is aiming to build a portfolio of early-stage projects in Guyana and Suriname that are prospective for orogenic gold deposits. Greenheart Gold is a Canadian corporation that was created as a "spin-off" from the business combination between G Mining Ventures Corp. and Reunion Gold Corporation completed on July 15, 2024. The Company is led by former executive team members of Reunion Gold, a team that was most recently noted for the discovery and delineation of the Oko West deposit in Guyana, which is set to become the next gold development project in the region.
Greenheart Gold trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol 'GHRT'. Additional information about the Company is available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) and the Company's website (www.greenheartgold.com).
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of certain securities laws and are based on expectations and projections as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, without limitation, those related to the listing of the Common Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange, the use of proceeds of the Offering, the anticipated closing date of the Offering, and the Company's plans and objectives and more generally, the section entitled "About Greenheart Gold Inc".
Forward-looking statements are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the time of this press release. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the time of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Such assumptions include, without limitation, those underlying the statements in the section entitled "About Greenheart Gold Inc.".
Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can directly or indirectly affect, and could cause, actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific in nature, including among others, those risks and uncertainties set forth in the Listing Application (Form 2B) dated August 30, 2024, management's discussion & analysis for the initial period from April 19, 2024 to June 30, 2024 and other documents and reports filed by the Company with Canadian securities regulators available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, and the risk that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future outcomes. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important risk factors and future events could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates, assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. The Company cautions that the list of factors set forth in the Company's filings that may affect future results is not exhaustive, and new, unforeseeable risks may arise from time to time. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent 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 press release.
September 25, 2024 TheNewswire Vancouver, British Columbia Radius Gold Inc. (TSXV: RDU) (Radius or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has signed an option agreement to acquire the Tierra Roja project, a compelling exploration-stage copper porphyry target located in Peru.
Key Highlights
Agreement executed to acquire porphyry copper target with outcropping oxide copper mineralization exposed over an 800m x 600m area.
Tierra Roja is located in Perus southern coastal porphyry belt, one of the largest producing copper districts in the world.
Prospecting continuous rock chip samples grade 1.25% Cu over 35m, and 2.1% Cu over 20m.
Large scale porphyry alteration system.
Recent discovery with no previous systematic exploration or drilling.
As part of transaction, the underlying owners - an experienced team of Peruvian geologists - will work with Radius to execute the exploration programs.
Staged option payments tied to exploration success.
Private placement announced to fund initial program.
Bruce Smith, Radius Gold President and CEO, commented: The Tierra Roja copper mineralization and alteration system is compelling and comparable to the surface exposure of other significant porphyry copper deposits discovered in the coastal Peruvian copper belt. We are excited to get to work immediately and advance this project. With the shift of focus to Peru, Radius has a pipeline of new projects under evaluation and expects to be able to deliver new projects in the coming months.
The Tierra Roja is in the coastal desert of southern Peru, at an elevation of 1700masl and 20km from the Pan American highway. The project site is accessible by road and 4x4 tracks. Tierra Roja is located at the northern end of the southern Peru coastal copper belt which hosts some of the largest copper mines in the world. Peru is the second largest copper producer globally (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Tierra Roja project location, at the northern end of the southern Peru porphyry copper belt:
Discovery
Tierra Roja project covers 600 hectares, where the core of the property hosts an 800 meter diameter circular anomaly with wide-spread ferruginous, sulphate soil crust developed over strong clay, sericite and silica alteration. In arid climates sulphate crusts can indicate underlying porphyry copper mineralization. The presence suggests that sulfide oxidation and leaching have occurred, which may point to deeper copper enrichment zones.
The rusty clay sulphate crust present at Tierra Roja is a few meters thick and largely hides the underlying copper oxide mineralization. The property optionor, Mr. Montoya, a Peruvian geologist with over 50 years field experience, including senior positions with copper companies: Asarco Inc (Central America, Chile), Lowell Mineral Exploration (Chile, Peru), TVX Gold (Peru, Mexico) and Minsur (Peru), recognized the remote colour anomaly and the significance of the sulphate crust and staked the project. Mr. Montoya cut road access with a bulldozer, breaking the ferruginous sulphate crust, and exposed widespread oxide copper mineralization covering an area of 800m x 600m.
Figure 2. Tierra Roja project, copper oxides mineralization exposed below thin ferruginous sulphate soil cover:
663 original rock chip channels (2 to 3m) were sampled by Mr. Montoya from the road cuts, tracks and drainages. As part of Radiuss due-diligence 50 duplicates and control samples were collected. These 713 samples define a large-scale copper system that is hosted in a multiphase intrusive complex.
Figure 3. Tierra Roja project copper geochemistry, showing widespread and high grade copper in rock chip channel sampling
Copper mineralization occurs as copper oxides, predominately malachite, chrysocolla and brocantite both disseminated within the felsic intrusives and concentrated in wide structural zones. High grades above 3% copper (max 12.5%) have been sampled at multiple locations over the property (Figure 2). Relict sulphide halos indicate that the intrusive host is the likely source of the copper mineralization which has been leached, oxidized and remobilized.
Classic Porphyry Alteration Zonation
Initial mapping indicates classic porphyry copper alteration zonation. The main felsic intrusive host is intensely silicified, with strong sericite clay alteration (phyllic) combined with intense leaching of sulphides and supergene secondary enrichment of copper oxides. Wide halos of epidote, chlorite (propylitic) alteration are observed on the distal margins of the system.
Figure 4. Felsic intrusive, leached, intense silicified, clay sericite altered and veined
Figure 5. High grade 6% copper oxides as malachite, chrysocolla, and brochantite in silicified intrusive
Supergene Coppers Economic Impact in Southern Perus Coastal Deposits
Southern Peru hosts several large porphyry copper deposits, including: Toquepala, Quellaveco, Cuajone, Los Calatos,Tia Maria, Cerro Verde, Chapi and Zafranal. These deposits are located along the coastal belt where arid conditions and proximity to the Pacific Ocean contribute to supergene processes. Supergene copper enrichment plays a crucial role in enhancing the economic viability of these deposits. The process occurs as a result of weathering and leaching of primary sulfide minerals in the near-surface environment, and results in the formation of a higher-grade secondary copper blanket comprised of minerals such as malachite, chrysocolla, chalcocite, and brochantite. These supergene copper minerals are distributed widely, disseminated and in structures over a 600m x 800m area at Tierra Roja.
Supergene enrichment blankets typically form beneath a leached cap, creating a secondary enrichment zone that is typically softer, easier to mine, accessible, heap leachable, high-grade resources close to surface. In the coastal desert of southern Peru, most of the major copper porphyries have benefited from the development of an enriched supergene copper zone and have turned many of these deposits into world-class producers.
Access and Permitting
Tierra Roja is located on Federal land, 20km from the coast and the Pan American Highway. Topography is low rolling hills, accessible by pre-existing tracks. The climate is arid and there are no residents, artisanal miners or registered communities located on the property. As such the process for drill permitting and access is simple and rapid. Radius plans to start the permitting process immediately and expects to have drill permits in less than 6 months.
Terms of Option
Radius has entered into an option agreement with the Peruvian owners to acquire 100% of the Tierra Roja project, with option payments (in USD) as follows:
$20,000 on signing (paid)
$30,000 on date that initial drill permits are issued
$100,000 12 months after initial drill permits
$100,000 18 months after initial drill permits
$100,000 24 months after initial drill permits
$650,000 36 months after initial drill permits
$2,000,000 48 months after initial drill permits
$2,000,000 60 months after initial drill permits
The owners retain the rights to a 0.6% NSR.
Work Plans
There has been no drilling or significant exploration conducted at Tierra Roja. Radius plans to rapidly and systematically explore the property. Detailed mapping and geochemical sampling has commenced, to be followed by ground magnetic and IP/Resistivity geophysical surveys. Radius expects to commence drill testing Tierra Roja within 6 months. The Radius geological team will run the project with local input and geological and operational staff, provided by our project partners.
Financing
Additionally, Radius proposes a non-brokered private placement of a minimum of 8,000,000 units at a price of $0.07 per unit for minimum proceeds of $560,000. Each unit will consist of one common share of the Company and one warrant entitling the holder to acquire one additional common share at a price of $0.10 per share, exercisable for a period of 12 months following the closing date of the private placement.
The proceeds of the private placement are intended to be used to fund exploration efforts on Radiuss Tierra Roja project, and for general working capital. Completion of the private placement is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.
The securities to be offered pursuant to the financing 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 U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, United States persons 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 any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Copper geochemistry consists of 663 rock chip channel samples, collected by a Peruvian mining company and analyzed in a mine laboratory that is not internationally certified. All samples were 2 to 3m chip channels clearly marked with sample numbers. Radius commissioned a senior Peruvian geologist to take 40 duplicate control samples, which were checked in the field by Radius CEO and QP Bruce Smith, who collected an additional 10 duplicates. The 50 control samples, with standards and blanks, were assayed by internationally certified laboratory Certimin S.A. The results of the visual inspections in the field (with visible copper oxides) and combined assays from the 50 control samples confirm the validity of the original samples. There were no significant discrepancies between duplicates. The copper analysis for the 663 original samples is deemed reliable and fit for the purpose of exploration.
Technical Information
Bruce Smith, M.Sc. (Geology), a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, is Radius Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Smith has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.
Radius Gold Inc.
Radius has a portfolio of projects located in Mexico, Guatemala and Peru utilizing partnerships where appropriate to retain the Companys treasury. Management is seeking out additional investment and project acquisition opportunities across the globe. Radius is a member of the Gold Group of companies, led by Simon Ridgway. You may find more information on Radius Gold at www.radiusgold.com or www.sedarplus.ca.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Simon Ridgway
Executive Chairman
Symbol: TSXV-RDU
Contact: Bruce Smith
200 Burrard Street, Suite 650
Vancouver, BC V6C 3L6
Tel: 604-801-5432; Toll free 1-888-627-9378; Fax: 604-662-8829
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.radiusgold.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.
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward- looking statements and include, without limitation, statements about the Companys plans for its properties and its proposed financing. Often, but not always, these forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as estimate, estimates, estimated, potential, open, future, assumed, projected, used, detailed, has been, gain, upgraded, offset, limited, contained, reflecting, containing, remaining, to be, periodically, or statements that events, could or should occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, the Companys exploration plans will proceed as expected; the financing will be completed as planned; changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; the Company or any joint venture partner not having the financial ability to meet its exploration and development goals; risks associated with the results of exploration and development activities, estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; unanticipated costs and expenses; and such other risks detailed from time to time in the Companys quarterly and annual filings with securities regulators and available under the Companys profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.
Forward-looking statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management, including but not limited to: that the Companys stated goals and the planned exploration and development activities at its properties will be achieved; that the financing will be completed as planned; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its properties; and such other assumptions as set out herein. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Kim Ji Won, the Korean actress's most recent announcement as the first-ever house ambassador of BVLGARI, has once again triggered dating rumors with Kim Soo Hyun, her fellow actor in the smash series Queen of Tears.
A post shared by instagram
The announcement was made just a few hours ago, but the internet is already flooded with rumors.
Fans remembered the "lovestagrams," which started the romance rumors about the two actors.
However, even though they both emphatically refuted any romantic connection between them, netizens were not convinced that the rumors had died.
SEE: Kim Ji Won Net Worth 2021: This is How the 'Fight of My Way' Star Earn her Millions
BVLGARI's selection of jewelry was featured throughout the Queen of Tears, including the Bvlgari Serpenti viper wedding bands in 18k white gold and their corresponding Serpenti Bejewelled handbags and earrings, which Kim Ji Won's character wore.
So the necklace he is wearing in Manila is indeed BVLGARI right??? pic.twitter.com/b9J6TS6D0E Tash Met JiWon & SooHyun | MY SooBinie | (@tash_kim_) September 23, 2024
For the past few months, Kim Soo Hyun has been referring to the BVLGARI brand in his social media. There are also indications of a BVLGARI store in his post on Instagram.
This has raised fans' hopes that the rumors may be real. Most of them are fans and have gone to the stars' pages to make their wishes recognized.
Thats why we cant take his post lightly cuz anything he posted has hidden meaning behind it pic.twitter.com/z6K0T9FzGK yen soowon era (@woosang1e) September 23, 2024
Social media has been flooded with information after the statement, suggesting that the rumors may have been valid.
According to recent news, both actors' agencies have posts on social media, either directly or indirectly vowed legal action against anyone spreading these false rumors.
On the other hand, fans have something else on their minds, and many are eagerly awaiting additional information. Was this declaration made to drive up sales of the items, or is the information about Kim Soo Hyun accurate?
SEE: 'Queen of Tears' Achieves Its Highest Rating Yet Ahead of Finale
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Rovelyn Barba
B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau officially launches her campaign for Victoria-Beacon Hill with her son Peter Salmon as they door knock in the Fernwood area in Victoria, Saturday, Sept. 21, (The Canadian Press photo)
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - A Kenyan living in Lebanon is pleading with the Government to evacuate them, following new attacks by Israel.
She recorded a video running for safety as screams rent the air.
Tens of thousands of people have been fleeing Southern Lebanon with little idea where to find safety as intense Israeli bombardment across Lebanon kills at least 569 people, including 50 children, according to Lebanons Health Ministry.
Foreign ministers of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan condemned Israels aggression against Lebanon, warning that it is pushing the region towards all-out war.
Pope Francis has also urged an end to rising tensions in Lebanon, calling the escalation unacceptable.
Kenyans trapped in Lebanon are finding it nearly impossible to leave.
The kafala system, which governs the employment of foreign workers in Lebanon, allows employers to confiscate their workers' passports upon arrival.
Even with passports, workers must secure exit visas, a process entirely dependent on the approval of their employer.
Last month, Roseline Kathure Njogu, Kenyas Principal Secretary for Diaspora Affairs, announced that emergency travel documents could be issued for those whose passports had been confiscated.
She further assured that flights were being arranged to evacuate those registered with the Kenyan embassy
However, the process is slow.
Watch the video of a Kenyan trapped in Lebanon pleading for help.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - The Ethics And Ant-Corruption Commission (EACC) has arrested one William Otieno Okoth who, while pretending to be the Personal Assistant to the County Secretary of Nairobi City County, demanded Kes100,000 bribe from the complainant purporting that in consequence, he would assist the complainants wife to secure a job as a cleaner in the County Government.
The suspect hoodwinked the complainant into believing that as the PA to the CS, he enjoyed massive influence in the affairs of the County and would promptly facilitate the issuance of an employment letter after the complainant buys him tea at Ksh100,000.
The complainant later reported the matter to EACC which mounted an operation leading to the arrest of the suspect outside Tratoria Restaurant within the Central Business District after receiving the demanded bribe.
He was escorted to EACC Integrity Centre Police Station where he was processed and later detained at Kilimani Police Station awaiting further interview and statement recording today.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - Former Kenyan Rugby International Charles Cardovillis has been living off rich ladies and manipulating them.
One of his disgruntled lovers has exposed him after they broke up.
She claims that she met the rugby star last year in November and within a month, they had started dating.
Charles moved into her house in the leafy suburbs and whenever she demanded to visit his house, he alleged that he was planning to relocate to Nanyuki.
She later learnt that he had no house and was living off women.
Before he moved into her house in Kileleshwa, he had been kicked out by another woman.
The lady claims that Charles would pick different women using her car and convert it into a lodging.
He also defrauded her of money.
The former Kenya 7s rugby player is currently being kept by a rich married woman.
Check out the expose.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
News / Local
by Staff reporter
Lithuania's recent decision to donate 17 fire engines, originally destined for Zimbabwe, to Ukraine has sparked outrage, with political analysts condemning the move as unlawful and discriminatory.The fire engines, purchased by Zimbabwe from Belarus, were impounded by Lithuanian authorities while in transit to Harare, drawing the ire of the Zimbabwean government, which has called for their return.Prominent political analyst Advocate Obert Gutu described the situation as "shameful, scandalous, and unlawful," asserting that the fire engines, which were lawfully acquired by Zimbabwe, are the rightful property of a sovereign state."Lithuania has no legal right, under both public and private international law, to confiscate and donate the fire engines to Ukraine or any other country without Zimbabwe's consent," Gutu stated. "This situation should not be allowed to stand. Zimbabwe is being unfairly caught in the crossfire of disputes between Lithuania and Belarus."He added that Zimbabwe's involvement in the geopolitical conflict between Ukraine and Russia is unjust, and suggested that racism may be a factor in Lithuania's decision. "If Zimbabwe were a European country, I doubt such a decision would have been made," Gutu remarked.Political analyst Mr. Tongai Dana echoed these sentiments, criticizing the impact of Western sanctions that led to the confiscation of the fire engines. He pointed out that fire engines are critical for emergency services and infrastructure protection, and their loss weakens Zimbabwe's ability to respond to disasters."The confiscation of these fire engines is a stark example of how Western sanctions negatively impact ordinary people. While these measures are meant to pressure governments, it is the vulnerable citizens who suffer most," said Dana. "This underscores the moral dilemma surrounding sanctions, particularly when they hinder essential services."Dana called for the removal of sanctions on Zimbabwe, stressing that the fire engines should be released to their intended destination. "The people of Zimbabwe deserve protection and safety just as much as those in Ukraine," he said.Another analyst, Mr. Shadreck Mashayamombe, labeled Lithuania's action as "callous." He emphasized that the primary purpose of fire engines is to provide life-saving emergency services and argued that their confiscation only demonstrates how sanctions harm nations indiscriminately."Our rights are being violated," Mashayamombe said. "This issue needs to be resolved diplomatically, not by redirecting Zimbabwe's property to another country."The government continues to urge Lithuania to return the fire engines, as diplomatic efforts to address the controversy intensify.
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - An employee of Royal Media Services claims that the giant media station which is owned by business mogul SK Macharia is anti-Ruto.
Journalists at Citizen TV are reportedly instructed by their bosses to paint the government of President Ruto in bad light.
Positive stories about Ruto and the government are not given enough coverage while the negative stories are given priority.
Right of replies from government officials are also highly discouraged.
The disgruntled staff said professionalism in the Kenyan media industry is in the gutters.
Citizen TV was among the stations that Ruto accused of being used to taint his image when he was campaigning for the Presidency.
The giant media station supported his rival Raila Odinga.
Below is a post from the insider at Royal Media Services.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - Famous televangelist, Pastor Ezekiel Odero, has suffered a huge blow.
This is after an Appellate Court declined to issue an order stopping the deregistration of his New Life Prayer Centre church.
Odero had moved to court seeking to overturn the High Court decision that granted the government the leeway to deregister his church.
The Kilfi-based preachers prayer centre church was among the churches listed for deregistration by the Registrar of Societies on grounds of breaching the Agencys regulations.
In his application, Odero also sought a temporary order to block the deregistration of his church, a request which the court granted pending hearing and determination of the case.
In its ruling, the court dismissed the preacher's application on grounds that Odero and other church officials had not exhausted other dispute resolution mechanisms provided by the law before resorting to the courts.
In light of the consistent decisions of this Court and the Supreme Court that a party must first invoke the dispute resolution mechanisms provided by the law before resorting to the High Court or courts or equal status, we are satisfied that the intended appeal is not arguable, the court ruled.
In August last year, Ezekiel Odero moved to the Court of Appeal to challenge the government's decision to deregister his church on tax evasion claims.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - Former Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri has accused President Rutos government of exploiting "broke" Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana to carry out dirty deals.
In a Monday interview with Kameme FM, Kimani Ngunjiri claimed that Danson Mungatana squandered his wealth on women and casino betting, leaving him broke.
Ngunjiri further alleged that the government is now offering Mungatana crumbs in exchange for silencing Gachagua.
On Monday, Mungatana filed a censure motion aimed at scrutinizing Gachagua's conduct.
If passed, this motion would allow Senators to express their disapproval of Gachagua, differing from an impeachment motion that seeks the removal of an officeholder.
In the censure motion presented to Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, Mungatana outlined several concerns regarding Gachagua's statements since assuming office.
He cited instances where Gachagua made comments related to employment opportunities for Kenyans in public service, the allocation of resources to devolved units, and allegedly incited segments of the population to disregard lawful directives from county governments.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 It seems Kenyans will just have to swallow their pride and accept Adani's deal to take over the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
This is after Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi warned Kenyans that canceling the Adani deal would be a disaster for the country.
While appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Public Investments yesterday, Mbadi expressed that the government and the courts will have to deal with the Adani deal per the law for the sake of Kenya's reputation.
He noted that Kenya risked ruining its reputation if terminated the deal without following the law.
He indicated that many investors would start seeing Kenya as a country that is hostile to investors if the deal is not handled unlawfully.
Therefore, he called on all parties involved to be transparent and open.
"The processes need to be clear even if we are terminating so that any investor out there will not treat Kenya as a hostile ground for investment," he stated.
"We have to be careful. If we do it in a way that will send signals that we are a country of being against investments, then we risk not attracting investments in the future."
Nonetheless, he maintained that the government would ensure that the interests of the country are catered for in the event of any deal over the airport.
The CS also called on Kenyans and legislators to allow the relevant institutions tasked with scrutinizing the deal to do their work without any preformed assumptions.
The proposed JKIA-Adani deal has caused uproar among Kenyans who have questioned the various clauses of the takeover.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - The Ethics And Anti-Corruption Commission has arrested two (2) Kenya Forest Service (KFS) officers in Garissa for hatching and executing a fraudulent scheme where they overpay casual employees engaged by the institution and later demand the surrender of the overpaid money from the casuals, for their personal use.
Further, the officials have been depositing money in the casuals bank accounts disguised as legitimate payments then later order the workers to withdraw and hand it over to them.
The suspects, Elphas Tembu Wesonga- Conservator and Ibrahim Aden Hussein- Accountant, were arrested in an operation mounted by the Commission on Tuesday and a total of Kes73,000 being part of the days collection from the casual employees recovered.
It is alleged that the money collected in the syndicate is shared among the officers and their seniors.
The two were processed at EACC North Eastern Regional Offices in Garissa and later booked at Garissa Police Station pending further processing.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - Environment Cabinet Secretary, Aden Duale, has said Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua doesnt deserve to be President William Ruto's deputy because he doesnt represent the ideals of the Kenya Kwanza Alliance regime.
Speaking on Tuesday, Duale said Gachagua should behave as a national leader and not a tribal king who always speaks about the Mt Kenya region.
The outspoken CS slammed Gachagua, claiming his public utterances reveal a troubling agenda that undermines the unity of the country.
"True leadership puts the nation above personal gain. That is the founding principle of the Kenya Kwanza Administration.
"The deputy president's (second in command) recent actions reveal a troubling agenda that undermines unity and progress. Kenya deserves leaders who serve, not deceive," Duale said.
Duale's remarks come amid increasing pressure to impeach the deputy president after his alleged fallout with President William Ruto.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - President William Ruto has attracted a backlash on social media after meeting with Ford Foundation President Darren Walker in New York, USA.
In a statement, Ruto stated that he held talks with Walker, adding that Kenya appreciated the Ford Foundation's commitment to safeguarding its democracy.
"Kenya appreciates the Ford Foundations commitment to safeguarding our democracy and supporting Kenya's calls for reforms in the global economic institutions, climate action, and modern technology regulation.
"Held talks with the President of the Ford Foundation Darren Walker in New York," President Ruto posted on X.
However, the president's post did not sit well with some Kenyans online, who quickly flooded the comments section with their reactions.
Some netizens expressed surprise at Ruto's change of heart, as he had previously accused the organization of funding anarchy during anti-government protests.
They questioned his new stance, wondering why he now appreciates the same organization he once condemned.
Ruto had accused the Ford Foundation of sponsoring anti-government protests in Kenya, claiming he wondered what it benefited from sponsoring the protests.
However, in response, the U.S.-based organization denied the president's claims, noting that they have a rich history of commitment to ensuring the independence of East Africa's institutions.
Here are a few reactions shared on X regarding President Ruto's meeting with the President of the Ford Foundation.
You claimed Ford Foundation was funding #RutoMustGo protests. What changed? Harun Kimani wondered.
I can vividly remember that during the maandamano you said Ford Foundation were the one funding the so-called Gen Z, I am now wondering how you shake their hands in public and talk about safeguarding democracy? Something is ironic, The King of Africa noted.
One minute you appreciate their commitment to democracy, the next minute you accuse them of being undemocratic and engage in treasonous activities of overthrowing your government. Its like you dont even believe yourself! Anwar Sadat charged.
I thought you said that Ford Foundation is the FINANCIER OF ANARCHISTS (Gen Z protests) in Kenya? OR are you suffering from selective amnesia? Ron GCD added.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - Former Moi University student leader Dennis Sikuku has reportedly sued his ex-girlfriend Charity Mbinya for compensation after she dumped him and got married to Muranga Deputy Governor Stephen Munania.
Sikuku claimed that he dated Charity for three years and at some point, they moved in together.
He reportedly cohabitated with Charity for more than a year and according to Kenyan law, a lady automatically becomes your wife if you cohabit with her for more than 6 months.
Sikuku shared photos to prove that he was dating Charity and alleged that he bought a cow for his ex-girlfriends mothers funeral.
Dennis claims he does not want Charity back in his life as he is only interested in getting a refund for the money he spent on the cow.
I dont want this lady back in my life. I wish her a happy marriage but I want compensation for the cow I bought during her mothers funeral, he said and revealed that he had already filed the case in court.
Charity got married to the youthful Deputy Governor in a colourful wedding attended by prominent leaders among them Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Watch video.
Dennis Sikuku, a former Moi University student leader, reportedly seeking legal compensation after buying a whole cow for his ex Charity Mbinya's mother's funeral. Mbinya is now married to Murang'a Deputy Governor Stephen Munanania.
JOIN US ON BNN BASIC https://t.co/1Bb7myyWfp pic.twitter.com/NktvA7Yj3k Edgar Obare (@edgarobare) September 24, 2024
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was mocked and abused in June after he accused the National Intelligence Service (NIS) of misadvising President William Ruto about the Gen Z protests that had rendered the country ungovernable.
Immediately after Gen Z protesters stormed Parliament on June 25th, Gachagua asked NIS Director General Noordin Haji to resign for failing to give the president intelligence before the protests that were against the Finance Bill 2024.
According to Gachagua, had Haji properly briefed Ruto on the widespread public opposition to the Bill, Ruto would not have forwarded it to Parliament, thus averting the nationwide protests that led to the deaths of 60 youthful Kenyans and thousands injured
NIS also told Ruto that the sponsors of the Gen Z protests were the Ford Foundation and the president and his cog attacked the American-funded NGO, accusing it of trying to overthrow his regime.
To prove that NIS lied to the President on Tuesday, Ruto praised the Ford Foundation at a meeting with Ford Foundation President Daren Walker.
"Kenya appreciates the Ford Foundations commitment to safeguarding our democracy and supporting Kenya's calls for reforms in the global economic institutions, climate action, and modern technology regulation," Ruto tweeted after meeting Walker.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - The newly appointed Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and MSMEs, Wycliffe Oparanya, has insinuated that he was forced by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga to be in President William Rutos cabinet.
Speaking on Monday, September 23, Oparanya stated that his first action upon learning of his nomination for a CS position was to contact Raila Odinga who was then Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader.
Unaware of how his name ended up on Ruto's CS nomination list, he began explaining to Raila that he had no intention of working with the Kenya Kwanza regime.
I sent a message to Baba telling him that I did not agree to be a Cabinet Secretary in Ruto's administration. Baba was in Dubai at that time," Oparanya said.
He added that this was when he realized Raila had presented his name to Ruto for a ministerial position without informing him or other ODM members nominated to Ruto's Cabinet.
"He knew I would reject the job if he told me. We were not consulted, he added.
However, he said he accepted the job after a wide consultation with Baba and his close family members.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
News / Local
by Staff reporter
The Zimbabwean government has clarified that Elon Musk's Starlink will not receive any special tax exemptions and will be subject to the same regulations and taxes as local internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile telecom companies. This was announced by ICT Minister Tatenda Mavetera during a post-Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday."When it comes to taxes, they are all the same," Mavetera said. "Whatever applies to local ISPs will also apply to Starlink. That's why you'll see us penalising them if they fail to provide efficient connectivity."Starlink, a satellite internet service developed by SpaceX, went live in Zimbabwe earlier this month. It aims to offer high-speed internet, especially in rural areas where traditional infrastructure is limited. Despite the enthusiasm surrounding its launch, the government is making it clear that Starlink must adhere to the same regulatory standards as its local counterparts.Currently, six local companies have been recognized as official Starlink resellers: TelOne, Aura, Dandemutande, Frampol, Zodsat, and Namibia-based Paratus, which operates in Zimbabwe.Information Minister Jenfan Muswere also emphasized the importance of embracing emerging technologies, citing the rapid global development of ICTs and the potential for economic growth they bring.Government Updates on Grain ImportsDuring the same briefing, Muswere also provided updates on Zimbabwe's grain imports, revealing that 39,698.88 metric tonnes of grain have been delivered so far, out of the expected 300,000 metric tonnes. These imports are expected to last until June 2025, with the focus now shifting toward purchasing local wheat.He also outlined the total food requirement for the country up to March 2025, estimating the need at approximately 427,408.54 metric tonnes based on a consumption rate of 7.5kg per person. However, Muswere noted the possibility of an increased food demand, as only 6.2 million out of 9.2 million rural residents are currently receiving aid under social welfare programs."If the need arises, more people will be enrolled, and the 7.5kg/person/month ration will be maintained," Muswere added.These updates highlight the governments ongoing efforts to address both technological advancements and food security amid challenging conditions.
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - Below is a statement by the Law Society of Kenya President Faith Odhiambo on the abduction of Dela Ward MCA Yussuf Hussein Ahmed.
The Law Society of Kenya has learnt of the abduction of Hon. Yussuf Hussein Ahmed, Member of County Assembly of Wajir, representing Dela Ward, through family members who raised alarm.
According to the family, Mr. Ahmed was abducted by unknown assailants along Enterprise Road in Nairobi on Friday, 13th September 2024, at around 8:00 pm.
The heavily armed group of assailants driving in two unmarked Land Cruiser Prados intercepted Mr. Ahmeds taxi and forcefully removed him from the vehicle before making away with him to an unknown location.
His whereabouts remain unknown, and none of his family members, friends, and colleagues have been able to make any communication with him since his abduction.
The assailants confiscated the taxi drivers phone and brandished their guns at him.
The matter was reported to the Industrial Area Police Station through whom the family learnt of the abduction.
The family has lodged a formal report with the DCI at the Makadara Police Station, registered under OB 86/13/09/2024.
However, no information of his whereabouts has been forthcoming, and the family remains with total uncertainty and anxiety over their kin.
Against the backdrop of recent events in the country, the family is apprehensive of potential foul-play in the untimely disappearance of Mr. Ahmed.
We add our voice to the concerns that have been raised over this situation and call on the Inspector General of Police and the DCI to treat this matter with urgency and take all steps necessary to establish the truth behind this abduction and secure the safe return home of Mr. Ahmed.
Human rights are imperative safeguards of a safe and stable society, and any threats thereto must be counteracted by all means necessary. We invite members of the public to remain vigilant in protecting one another and to bring forward any information on the possible whereabouts of Mr. Ahmed.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - A close ally of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has urged Mt Kenya residents not to cause chaos in the country when Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is impeached by Parliament over gross misconduct and undermining President William Ruto.
Speaking on Tuesday, Saboti MP Caleb Amisi said Gachaguas impeachment is a forgone conclusion and urged Mt Kenya residents to let the tribal bigot be sent packing so that the country can move in.
The DPs goose is cooked, waiting to be served on the floor of the house.
"But whether Gachagua is impeached or not, no Kenyan will carry a machete nor an arrow and spear to harm his fellow Kenyan because of (William) Ruto and Gachagua, Amisi stated.
Kenyans elected you (Ruto and Gachagua) innocently, believing you will deliver them from the bondage of poverty and economic turmoil.
"They have no business fighting one ethnicity against another. 2007 was a good lesson for political maturity in the midst of tribal bigots.
"Kenyans will never fight again for mistakes beyond their knowledge, Amisi added.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - President William Ruto has changed his stance on the Ford Foundation, just two months after publicly accusing the U.S.-based organisation of sponsoring violent Gen Z protests against his government.
This is after it emerged that the foundation also sponsored First Lady Rachel Rutos Table Banking program that operates in the country.
The change of heart comes after meeting with Ford Foundation President Darren Walker during his second trip to the United States this year.
The President, who once expressed sharp criticism, now lauds the foundation for its support in critical areas such as democracy, global economic reforms, and climate action.
The head of state struck a different tone after the meeting, underscoring a newfound appreciation for the Ford Foundations role.
Kenya appreciates the Ford Foundations commitment to safeguarding our democracy and supporting Kenya's calls for reforms in the global economic institutions, climate action, and modern technology regulation, remarked Ruto, marking a stark departure from his previous harsh words against the group.
This U-turn comes barely two months after Ruto publicly blamed the Ford Foundation for fueling demonstrations in Nairobi and other major towns.
Ruto had previously labeled the protesters as anonymous, faceless, formless, and foreign-sponsored, directly implicating the Ford Foundation in his allegations.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 President William Rutos plot to sell government parastatals to private developers has hit a dead end.
This is after the High Court in Nairobi declared the Privatisation Act 2023 unconstitutional in its entirety, citing glaring loopholes in the piece of legislation.
In its ruling, the court declared the Act unconstitutional and therefore unlawful after it established the law was not subjected to adequate public participation.
The court also held that the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) was a national monument and a symbol of national heritage whose proposed sale violated constitutional and cultural rights.
"The Constitution is the supreme law, and the public must be involved in public participation. The National Assembly does not do the public a favour by inviting them to participate," the court stated.
In December last year, Raila Odingas ODM moved to court to challenge the government's decision to privatise six out of eleven parastatals including KICC, Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), and New Kenya Cooperative Creameries Limited (New KCC).
In their suit, the petitioners also challenged the sale of Kenya Seed Company Limited, the Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), and the National Oil Corporation of Kenya.
ODM argued that Ruto's plan to privatise the above parastatals contravened the constitution and that the said organisations were state assets financed by the public.
Following the application, the court issued a conservatory order restraining the government from selling the six state agencies until the case was heard and determined.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 President William Rutos government has been banned from transacting with Adani Holdings until further notice even as the controversy surrounding Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) thickens.
In a statement, Pokot South MP David Pkosing advised the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to halt all proceedings with the Adani Group until the Parliamentary Committee on Transport submits a report on its findings on the contentious deal.
Citing an impending audit by the Transport Committee, Pkosing said that the two entities need to be cognizant of the investigation the committee is currently carrying out with lawmakers expected to give way forward on the matter which Kenyans across the board agree is a matter of national interest.
It is the advice of this committee that because we are going to order a special audit, that you don't do anything with Adani until this committee presents a report to parliament.
"If you do it its up to you, he stated during Parliamentary proceedings.
Pkosing warned in the event the two entities fail to heed the directive, senior bosses at the two organisations will be held personally responsible. He, however, did not expound.
Pkosing took a cue from Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna who had on Monday expressed fears that KAA and Treasury officials were doing Adani's bidding instead of working in the best interests of Kenyans.
The JKIA-Adani deal has captured the attention of Kenyans countrywide since Nelson Amenya, a Kenyan working in France, exposed that the government was in final-stage talks to hand over the running of JKIA to the Indian conglomerate.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has responded after President William Ruto remarked that Starlink was introducing healthy competition to local internet providers like Safaricom.
In a statement on X, Musk echoed Ruto's comments, emphasizing that competition pushes local providers to improve their services.
"As the President of Kenya says, Starlink causes local competitors to provide better services," Elon Musk posted on X.
Speaking in New York, USA, during a Kenya Business and Investment Roundtable, Ruto claimed that Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa was sometimes not happy with him for introducing Starlink in Kenya.
However, he noted that the introduction of Starlink has encouraged Safaricom to improve its services and raise its standards.
"I have my CEO for Safaricom here and sometimes he's not very happy with me for bringing other characters like Elon Musk and others into the space.
"But you see, I keep encouraging Peter that competition helps you keep ahead. And he has been doing pretty well, I must admit. He has really upped his game," Ruto remarked.
Safaricom was previously on the spot after it asked the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) to reconsider its decision to grant a license to Starlink internet providers.
The telco giant asked the regulator to assess the risks of allowing satellite internet providers to operate without an agreement with local companies.
In response, the Communication Authority of Kenya said Safaricom is free to raise regulatory concerns about independent satellite providers, including Starlink.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - Kileleshwa Ward MCA, Robert Alai Onyango, has alleged that former President Uhuru Kenyatta is behind the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) wrangles in Nairobi County.
Nairobi UDA leadership is currently divided, with one faction backing Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja and the other rallying behind Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Alai said the Gachagua's side, headed by Embakasi North MP James Gakuya, has been organizing meetings in Nairobi and Uhuru Kenyatta has been involved in the meetings.
Alai, who was elected on the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party ticket, said Uhuru has been addressing UDA meetings using Gakuyas phone.
He concluded by saying Uhuru is the man behind the chaos in the city, fueling the ongoing war of words between Sakaja and Gachagua.
Uhuru has been addressing UDA Nairobi meetings through Gakuyas phone. Uhuru and Gachagua working together, Robert Alai stated.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has been mocked and abused for focusing on Mt. Kenya politics despite being elected as the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya.
In the two years since his election, Gachagua has primarily toured the Mt. Kenya region, calling for unity and advocating for the eradication of illicit brews and drug abuse.
Gachagua's decision to prioritize Mt Kenya region has angered many Kenyans, including close allies of President William Ruto, led by Environment Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale.
Duale and State House insiders are advocating for Gachagua's impeachment, claiming he is alienating the Mt. Kenya region from the rest of the country.
What Duale and his coterie are forgetting is that without Gachaguas input in the last election, they would not be enjoying the powers they are enjoying today.
In the last election, Gachagua rallied 3.8 million votes from the Mt. Kenya region for Ruto, effectively annihilating former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a formidable candidate and main rival.
In fact, Gachagua brought more votes to Kenya Kwanza Alliance than Ruto who only brought 1.7 million votes to his basket.
Despite holding senior positions in the Kenya Kwanza Alliance, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula contributed only 800,000 votes to Ruto.
Duale and the rest of Kenyans only managed 500,000 votes to Ruto, if the statistics of the 2022 election are anything to go by.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - The Court was yesterday forced to suspend proceedings on Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza's impeachment case after one of the witnesses, a Meru voter, disrupted the court session.
This is after the judge deemed the witness to have made contemptuous sentiments which the judge took offence to.
While issuing direction on the matter, the court directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers to arrest the witness and avail him before the court.
According to the jury, it was impossible to reverse the court decision since the parties involved in the case had already left the courtroom.
"I have already closed by file and the counsel in the matter has left. You are going to log in tomorrow and explain to me why you said those words and I will deal with it," the judge said.
"I cannot reverse myself because the parties have already left. The best I can do is to give you that opportunity tomorrow."
In his defence, the accused claimed that he was new to the courtroom and that it was his first time attending such a session.
On August 21, Kawira Mwangaza moved to court to appeal the Senate's decision to impeach him on grounds of gross misconduct among other accusations.
In her application, the governor urged the court to issue an injunction against her impeachment from office until the case is heard and determined.
Following the application, the court in Nairobi issued several key orders, most notably the suspension of the Senate's resolution to remove Governor Mwangaza from office.
The court also restrained the Speaker of the Senate or any other authority from declaring a vacancy for the office of the Meru governor until the matter before it is heard and determined.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has also suspected foul play in the whole Adani deal to take over the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Speaking when he appeared before the Public Debt and Privatisation Committee, Mbadi raised sharp concerns over the unprecedented speed at which the proposal by Adani to take over operations at JKIA was processed.
He questioned why the proposal, which was submitted on March 1, received immediate clearance from the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) the very same day.
This rapid turnaround has fuelled suspicions of behind-the-scenes dealings.
Mbadi noted that while efficiency is important, the speed of this clearance seemed excessive, casting doubts on the thoroughness of the review.
"Adani submitted their proposal on the 1st of March, and by the end of that day, KAA had already cleared it. That kind of high-level efficiency is unusual in such processes," remarked Mbadi.
Moving that fast is unprecedented. It raises red flags. I even asked my team about it. How can something of this magnitude be cleared in a matter of hours? It doesn't sit right with me, he added.
He expressed doubts about the legitimacy of this rapid approval, raising questions about whether the required diligence was performed.
Aspects of the deal that could see the country's largest airport in the hands of the Indian firm for three decades have been read with suspicion.
The government over the last two months has been on overdrive to clarify the plans surrounding the deal, but Kenyans led by legislators remain unmoved.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
News / National
by Paul Hubbard, Independent Researcher, Bulawayo
Bulawayo's Athlone Cemetery is the oldest formal graveyard in the modern city, being established in December 1893 in the vicinity of what was known as White Man's Camp. There are many significant personalities buried there. Few regularly excite as regular attention as two BaLozi graves buried in an area once reserved for the Anglican Church and later re-designated for Bulawayo's Chinese population in a small section, bordering Athlone Avenue, now reserved for BaLozi royalty.The BaLozi people and their royal leaders had several connections to Bulawayo before the 1940s.(For background on the history of the BaLozi people I suggest Bull 1972; Clay 1968; Hogan 2014; Turner 1952). Many came to work on the railways, farms and mines in and near the town and also travelled though on their way to elsewhere in the region. Barotseland was treated as a labour reserve by the colonial authorities well into the 1940s (Hogan 2014). Most famously perhaps was the visit of Litunga Lubosi Lewanika in 1902 who stayed in the original Hotel Cecil (Fife Street & 3rd Avenue) on his way home from attending the coronation of the English King Edward VII.Prince Mbanga Lewanika (1890-1922) was a son of the famous King Lewanika and a brother to Paramount Chief Yeta III. He died of meningitis in Bulawayo's Memorial Hospital on 18 October 1922. He had been travelling home from Zonnebloom College (at that time, a Training College for 'Coloured 'students, near Cape Town) where he had been studying but his illness became so severe he could not continue on the train. His funeral was attended by members of the Royal Batorse household as well as at least 50 BaLozi people resident in Bulawayo at the time. Even though he was a baptised Christian, some traditional practices were followed at his funeral including lining the grave and wrapping the coffin in reed mats, supplied by the Native Department. A number of people spoke of the prince at his funeral on 20 October after which the area around the grave was surrounded by a high fence of reed mats as was the custom of the time. This adherence to BaLozi funeral customs explains why the graves are separated from the rest of the cemetery as royalty could not be buried amongst strangers nor commoners. The Rhodesian Native Department, represent by N.D.H. Spicer, knew of and respected these customs and encouraged the Bulawayo Town Council to do the same.On 5 May 1934, Mbanga's brother, Prince Imbowa Mwananyanda Lewanika (1892-1934) died and was shortly afterwards buried beside him. He had also passed away in Memorial Hospital, at the age of 42, surrounded by many BaLozi who were resident in Bulawayo at the time. Ill health had forced him to resign as head teacher of the National Barotse school in Mongu, located a few kilometres from Lealui, the BaLozi dry season capital. What he was doing in Bulawayo at the time of his death remains unclear, but I would venture to suggest he was in Bulawayo specifically to receive medical treatment in Memorial Hospital, the best hospital in the Central African region at that time and easily accessible via train from western Zambia. His funeral cortege included many motor vehicles and over 200 mourners who first attended a service at the African Methodist Church in Makokoba followed by a procession to the cemetery.In an interview in The Chronicle in 1981, John Jamieson and Elizabeth Alfred claimed to be related to Mbanga Lewanika. They said he was the brother to their mother, Tinta Lewanika, a child of the Lozi king. She had been captured during an Ndebele raid in the late 1880s or early 1890s and went on to live with James Jamieson in the Solusi area. They married in 1929 and she died in 1937 and was buried on Roseburn Farm, near Solusi Mission. The Jamieson family have visited the graves many times according to recent posts on social media; they continue to hold them in reverence.The graves have been reported to the Zambian Embassy in Harare multiple times. It would be appropriate and just to see the fence restored around the area and annual maintenance done on and around the graves. The responsibility could be shared among the Bulawayo City Council with funding from the Barotse Council and/or Zambian Government. There is local precedent for this suggestion as the graves of Zimbabwean casualties in Zambia and Mozambique are cared for in a similar manner in Zambia and Mozambique (e.g. Zimbabwe Independent 06 March 2024; Sunday Mail 19 April 2015). As an aside, I have personally cleared the grass, weeds and litter from the graves multiple times over the 20 years or so since I first saw them and will continue to do so as circumstances allow. It would be wonderful to see more care being given to the cemetery in general.
As Tim Walz accepted the vice presidential nomination at the DNC, his teenage son, Gus, inadvertently became internet famous after clips of him crying and exclaiming, Thats my dad! circulated. While many across the political spectrum found the display of emotion endearing, inevitable ugliness ensued.
Ann Coulter commented in a since-deleted post on X: Talk about weird. Podcaster Mike Crispi mocked Walzs stupid crying son as a puffy beta male. Milwaukee talk show host Jay Weber called Gus a blubbering bitch boy.
Republican or Democrat, it takes a special form of callousness to mock a disabled teenager. This disappointing bullying is unsurprising, given our escalating national polemic. When we as a society legitimize gendered attacks and unnecessary, deliberate disrespect as political discourse, we make ourselves laughable and divert attention from substantive issues.
Guss new visibility opens an important discussion on our national conception of masculinity and how it contributes to the male loneliness epidemic.
Restrictive masculinity hurts everyones mental health.
Speaking from experience, men who regularly use the term alpha or derisively condemn peers as beta are among the most pathologically insecure men I know.
Core elements of this groups conception of ideal masculinity include a muscular physique with impressive physical strength and attractiveness, economic power and social accolades, emotional stoicism, and sexual prowess with wide access to sexual opportunities.
Men who obsessively subscribe to this rigid construct may attempt to reach their goals of ideal masculinity in ways that are destructive to their health: for example, by using anabolic steroids or SARMs to increase muscle mass or by seeking excessive and financially draining cosmetic surgeries.
The pursuit of sexual opportunity to an extreme under this ideal is widely destructive. Nearly every woman I know has a story about a man who cannot handle rejection appropriately.
Dismissive statements in response to womens complaints like boys will be boys or platforming men like Andrew Tate as an important voice for men normalize misogyny as ordinary male behavior despite the harm it causes. Inflexible adherence to this element of rigid masculinity, in which women are considered functional for mens benefit, is a critical driver behind violence against women and its associated mental health consequences. Merely a second-year resident, Ive lost count of the number of women Ive triaged for suicidal ideation and mood disorders with shocking accounts of abuse by men who consider them inferior.
But this rigid construct of masculinity also harms men, encouraging focus on the superficial over meaningful introspection and developing deep emotional connections.
In the long term, these behaviors ruin relationships. Ill offer one of my medical school cases as an example: a lawyer needing a liver transplant. He delivered a long, boastful soliloquy on his extensive experience with women and the $4 billion deals I handle. Not the easy $350 million ones. Im well-known in elite circles. Whenever I asked about his support system, he deflected to his self-reported social and professional prestige.
I left, visibly annoyed. Then my attending said, How youre reacting to him is probably how everyone in his life feels about him.
Indeed, that very ill patient had no meaningful support. Despite his popularity, no one cared enough even to ask about him.
The loneliness epidemic
If I had a relative like this man, I wouldnt visit him either, and Ive left partners like him. Many people respond similarly to these behaviors. Its sad but predictable that these patients eventually find themselves totally alone.
And the abandonment, however understandable, has long-term health consequences people with strong support systems have better health outcomes than those who dont.
Loneliness in the U.S. is considered a public health crisis, with significant mental health consequences and an increased risk of premature death comparable to daily smoking. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy beautifully summarizes the importance of social connectedness: Our relationships are a source of healing and well-being hiding in plain sight one that can help us live healthier, more fulfilled, and more productive lives.
Loneliness among men has garnered special attention in the media. The etiology of male loneliness in America is multifactorial. As I explained to my patient, there may be a personality component; selfishness and narcissism are associated more with male behavior, and those behaviors alienate people.
In large part, though, our construct of masculinity discourages men from emotional intimacy and vulnerability. Even decent men without extreme behaviors or narcissistic traits may aspire to this masculinity ideal and feel deeply ashamed and insecure if they fall short of societal expectations of what it means to be a man.
Gendering natural human emotion deters help-seeking behavior in men, especially when they are struggling mentally. Displaying emotion isnt shameful, but suggesting that a teenage boy is a national embarrassment for displaying emotion is.
Id like to see a world where men are encouraged to express their vulnerable, sensitive sides in a constructive way without derisive mockery ensuing.
The response to Gus Walzs uncontrollable emotion is nothing surprising; it speaks to our underlying attitudes about male vulnerability: that it is unmanly and shameful. But emotion is a universal human experience regardless of gender. It has profound effects on our health; if the opposite were true, I wouldnt have a job.
Until we can acknowledge this without unnecessarily gendering a universal human phenomenon, men will struggle disproportionately to form healthy friendships or meaningful relationships, exacerbating the problem of loneliness.
We shouldnt be sacrificing anyones mental health for an inflexible construct that defies the normal humanity within all of us. Contrary to inflammatory rhetoric from mens rights activists, masculinity is not under attack. However, the rigid construct of masculinity that fosters subjugation of and violence against women and actively harms mens mental health by sabotaging help-seeking behavior and contributing to widespread loneliness is overdue for reform for everyones benefit.
Chloe N. L. Lee is a psychiatry resident.
Thirty-six jailed members of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) have been further remanded to Luzira Prison until October 2, 2024. The decision was made by Nakawa Court Grade One Magistrate Andrew Katurobuki on Wednesday to allow the prosecution, led by Richard Birivumbuka, to comply with previous court orders.
On September 11, 2024, Magistrate Katurobuki instructed Birivumbuka from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to respect the accused persons rights to ownership of personal property, especially items not considered exhibits. He ordered that the items be returned to the accused immediately.
The magistrate also directed the prosecution to respect the accused persons rights to visitation, even while in prison. He emphasized that they can access their relatives in court, prisons, or anywhere else, as they are under tight security.
Furthermore, the magistrate ordered the state to respect the accused persons right to health by providing the court with medical reports for each of them at the next hearing. The prosecution had not complied with these orders, claiming they only received the courts order on Tuesday.
The orders were issued after one of the accused persons, Sarah Apale, reported through her lawyer, Turinawe Bayan, that Mulago Hospital had refused to release her doctors report, preventing her from getting her monthly injection.
The group was first arraigned in court on July 29 and charged with terrorism.
These 33 men and 3 women were arrested in Kisumu, Kenya, and according to the prosecution, traveled from various parts of Uganda to Kisumu for the purpose of providing or receiving terrorism training between July 22 and 23, 2024.
They were apprehended by Kenyan authorities and deported to Uganda.
Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago, has urged the Inspectorate of Government (IGG) to publicly release its report implicating the three Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) directors who President Museveni recently dismissed.
According to Lukwago, Ugandans deserve to know the specific roles each individual played in the Kiteezi tragedy that resulted in the loss of life. Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Lukwago expressed satisfaction with the decision to dismiss Executive Director Dorothy Kisaka, Deputy Executive Director David Luyimbazi, and Director of Public Health Dr. Daniel Okello, though he criticized the delay in taking action.
The IGG must make the report public, the findings have to be known. Ugandans need to know who did what or who failed to do what and generally who is responsible for the catastrophe, he said.
He also faulted President Museveni for not visiting the Kiteezi site following the tragedy.
We expected Gen Museveni to visit Kiteezi but he did not do so. Mr. Museveni ought to apologize to Ugandans for the mess that has happened in the institution of KCCA because he never took this matter serious from day one, Mr Lukwago added.
President Museveni fired the KCCA officials on Tuesday, based on the IGG report, which found them negligent in their duties.
News / National
by Stephen Jakes
Outspoken ex-Zipra war veteran Max Mkandla has criticized the late former President Robert Mugabe and his administration, accusing them, in collaboration with former colonialists, of being heartless for failing to vet non-combatants and locally trained liberation war fighters. This failure has left many non-vetted for over 40 years.The vetting process during Mugabe's rule took place in 1996, with the most recent round occurring in 2022. However, most of those vetted recently have yet to receive their benefits, raising concerns that the government may have been seeking their votes ahead of the 2023 elections.Mkandla, who is also the Vice President of the International Coalitions Against Coronavirus and Africa Development, noted that many fighters who trained locally were demobilized and went on to pursue other careers, such as joining the army, becoming teachers, or entering other professions."Some of them became army commanders and contributed significantly, often performing better than those who were trained abroad but abandoned the struggle. If we're talking about war collaborators, they must be vetted within their local villages, districts, and provinces. These people are well-known there. Vetting should not be done in towns, as this opens the process to the likes of Muzorewa's followers, dzakudzaku, security guards, and sellouts," he said."Thorough vetting can be done in rural areas, where the real collaborators and war veterans are. Those from other areas should go back to their home regions for vetting; they cannot be vetted anywhere in the country."Mkandla questioned why people were being vetted in towns when the war was fought in rural areas. "Who is witnessing for them? Were they fighting in the towns?" he asked."This is improper. This is how the wrong people end up being vetted as non-combatants or war veterans when they are not. It's unfair. A proper vetting process must be conducted to ensure that only deserving individuals are recognized," Mkandla said.He also stated that the time allocated for the vetting process is sufficient, but the effectiveness depends on how the vetting teams are deployed.Mkandla suggested that information about the vetting process should be disseminated through schools, so that children can inform their parents about the exercise."Locals are the ones responsible for vetting the candidates," he said. "I trust the process, it is clear, but I am not happy with the vetting stations, especially in towns."The vetting process began on September 25 and will conclude on October 4. In Bulawayo, it is being conducted at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.
The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Ruth Nankabirwa, has urged Ugandans to utilise the abundant power available to promote value addition, starting from the village level.
This is after the government confirmed the commissioning of the 600 MW Karuma Hydro Power Project on Thursday in Kiryandongo District.
Construction of the dam began on December 16, 2013, at a cost of US$1.7 billion. According to Minister Nankabirwa, each addition to the national grid brings hope that more villages will soon be connected.
We promised Ugandans to continue generating power for their use to enhance value addition. Every time that we add on to power, we instill hope into Ugandans that they will finally see their villages being lit, Nankabirwa said.
She also emphasized the importance of safeguarding this infrastructure.
In October 2023, the government launched the Energy Policy 2023, aimed at increasing access to electricity for households, refugee and host communities, industrial parks, commercial enterprises, and public institutions. This initiative is intended to drive socio-economic transformation in line with Ugandas Vision 2040.
Vivienne Clarke
A senior garda has claimed that the implementation of the new 'Operating Policing Model' has led to them losing their links with local communities and the staff they supervise.
Supt Michael Comyns, who is the general secretary of the Association of Garda Superintendents, said the new operating model combined Garda divisions, which in turn enlarged and changed completely the roles and responsibilities of superintendents.
We now have a responsibility for community engagement areas, crime and performance assurance, he told RTE's Morning Ireland, pointing out that a superintendent now has responsibility for two to three areas in a division.
He said there is now one detective superintendent in charge of all serious crimes and the management of investigations of serious crimes, and one performance assurance superintendent to look after the criminal justice area, court management and complaints and the performance of each area within the division.
We have raised concerns since the very start of the implementation of the model in relation to the geographical spread, he said.
Supt Comyns said that in some divisions the geographical spread was just too wide and it would not be possible for a detective superintendent to manage investigations if there were serious incidents in two places at opposite ends of the division at the same time.
The Association of Garda Superintendents is holding its annual conference in Co Meath on Wednesday and is due to be addressed by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee.
Garda superintendents are the senior operational leaders and decision makers on the ground in An Garda Siochana.
A vehicle stopped by gardai for not being taxed was also found to be displaying a falsified insurance disc, Kilkenny District Court has heard.
Garda Damien Rafter gave evidence that on November 5 last, at 11.58am, at Rathduff on the M9, he stopped a Nissan Micra that had alerted on the garda ANPR as having no tax.
Driver of the car was Asadullah Noorzai, 1A Barrack Street, Carlow.
In court he pleaded guilty to driving without insurance.
Garda Rafter said that, on inspection, Mr Noorzais vehicle had an insurance disc that had been falsified, with a pen, to be current.
The garda was told by Mr Noorzai that he had bought the car a week previous and it was not yet insured.
The car was seized.
Solicitor Ed Hughes said the car had come with the old insurance disc and his client was told by a friend that if he changed the number it would sort it out for a short time.
This was, of course, nonsense, the solicitor added.
The disc had been altered but not in a sophisticated way, he added.
Mr Hughes said his client had been a named driver on another policy but it did not cover him to drive this car.
Mr Noorzai had told his solicitor that in his own country once you have insurance in your name you are insured to drive.
Judge Geraldine Carthy pointed out that the Irish system of insurance had been explained to Mr Noorzai when he had appeared in court on a previous no insurance charge.
Mr Hughes said his client recently started working as a taxi driver and will lose his job if disqualified.
He had believed he was insured on this occasion.
Judge Carthy said her hands were tied in relation to the penalty on conviction.
Mr Noorzai was convicted of driving without insurance and disqualified from driving for two years. A fine was also imposed. For exhibiting a false disc a fine of 300 was imposed. Recognisance was fixed in the event of an appeal.
Chinese FM attends 8th Dialogue of Foreign Ministers of China, Quartet of CELAC
Xinhua) 16:05, September 25, 2024
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday attended the eighth Dialogue of Foreign Ministers of China and the Quartet of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that Latin American and Caribbean countries are an important part of the "Global South," as well as active participants and contributors to global governance.
Wang stressed that China will continue upholding the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests, strengthen solidarity and cooperation with Latin American and Caribbean countries, implement the three global initiatives, promote synergy between the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and the development strategies of countries in the region, and deepen and substantiate the building of a community with a shared future between China and Latin America and the Caribbean, so as to bring more benefits to the people of both sides.
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
People at the site of an Israeli air strike in Beirut's southern suburbs in Lebanon on Tuesday [Reuters]
The prime minister has told British nationals in Lebanon to "leave immediately" after fighting intensified between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group which dominates the country.
Sir Keir Starmer said "we are ramping up the contingency plans and warned that "we are potentially at a brink" of all-out war.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is sending 700 troops to nearby Cyprus to prepare for the possible evacuation of British nationals from Lebanon and the government "continues to advise against all travel to Lebanon".
Britons have been advised to book flights out of the country - but there are limited options available, with most airlines except the national carrier having cancelled flights and ceased operating and reports that those remaining are full.
The situation in the country, where Israeli strikes reportedly killed more than 560 people this week, is described as deteriorating "rapidly, with devastating consequences".
Lebanons health minister has told the BBC what is happening in his country is carnage, as hospitals struggle to cope with the number of casualties from two days of widespread Israeli air strikes targeting Hezbollah.
Asked by reporters how the British prime minister would ensure the situation wasnt a repeat of the chaos in the Afghan capital Kabul when the Taliban seized control in August 2021, Sir Keir said: "The most important message from me to British nationals in Lebanon is to leave immediately.
"It is important that weve been really, really clear: now is the time to leave.
The handling of the Afghan evacuation, where 15,000 people were airlifted out of the country, was widely criticised as mismanaged and chaotic.
An estimated 10,000 UK citizens are currently in Lebanon. A senior government source said that the difference, for now at least, was that there were still commercial flights leaving Lebanon and British nationals should book a seat.
US citizens have also been told to leave the country. The US Embassy in Lebanon said that most airlines had suspended or cancelled flights with many flights sold out, and urged people to book any ticket available.
Almost every airline operating in Lebanon has stopped flying in and out of the country except for the national airline, Middle East Airlines (MEA).
Alistair, a British national who is married to a Lebanese woman and living in Beirut, said that day-to-day life was mainly carrying on as normal.
Asked about the intensification of the conflict, he told BBC's PM programme: "It's a different level isn't it?"
He urged diplomats to "get a deal made so the violence ceases" and to "bring peace because the ordinary folks here are just recipients of whatever is dealt out".
The 700 British troops deployed to Cyprus will join 500 military personnel who were sent there over the summer as part of the MoD's contingency plans for an evacuation operation.
Two British warships are already in the region and Royal Air Force planes and helicopters on standby.
Asked by BBC Radio 4's Today programme if he sensed the world was on the brink of all-out war in the Middle East, Sir Keir said he was deeply concerned.
He said he put it in those terms, that we are potentially at a brink point, and we have to come back from the brink.
He repeated his call for an immediate ceasefire and de-escalation, along with other ministers.
Defence Secretary John Healey said: We continue to urge all sides to step back from conflict to prevent further tragic loss of life.
"Our government is ensuring all preparations are in place to support British nationals should the situation deteriorate.
"I want to thank the British personnel who are deploying in the region for their commitment and professionalism.
Healey held a meeting with fellow ministers, intelligence chiefs and diplomats on Tuesday afternoon to work through the governments plans.
Officials say the UK already has a significant diplomatic and military presence close to Lebanon, including RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and two Royal Navy ships - RFA Mounts Bay and HMS Duncan - which have been in the eastern Mediterranean over the summer.
The Royal Air Force also has planes and helicopters on standby.
The escalating conflict in the Middle East is likely to be a significant topic of discussion for the prime minister and other world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York.
Sir Keir arrived in the city on Tuesday evening local time.
[BBC]
Tensions have been growing across the Middle East since Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on 7 October last year, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 others as hostages.
The Israel military campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack has killed more than 41,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Previously sporadic fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated on 8 October - the day after Hamas's unprecedented attack. Hezbollah fired at Israeli positions, in solidarity with Hamas.
Hezbollah has launched more than 8,000 rockets at northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It has also fired anti-tank missiles at armoured vehicles and attacked military targets with explosive drones.
Last week Hezbollahs communication devices started exploding all across Lebanon.
Israel then launched a massive series of air strikes on Monday that have so far killed 560 people according to the Lebanese government.
Last year, the British government helped co-ordinate the evacuation of British nationals from Gaza, with some 200 UK citizens thought to be living in the territory before the war broke out.
Additional reporting by Jessica Rawnsley
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A Kilkenny-based woman has called on the Irish government to help in her evacuation from Beirut and for consular assistance so she can bring her Lebanese fiance with her to Ireland.
Gadier Zabad, who fled to Ireland from Lebanon during war in 2006, told RTE radios Morning Ireland on Tuesday that she felt her life was in danger every second of the past 24 hours.
Her father, Munier, explained how the family had fled the village they were staying at in the mountains when the Israeli bombing commenced.
The family had travelled to south Lebanon two weeks ago for the funeral of his father who died two months ago in Ireland. They were also celebrating his daughter Gadirs engagement party.
The situation was overwhelming, he said. The journey to Beirut had been dangerous and stressful with traffic accidents happening frequently as people were driving quickly trying to get away. It's just complete chaos.
Since arriving in Beirut, he learned that an uncle had been killed when his house was bombed.
Gadier added that the flight they had hoped to take on Monday was cancelled, so they were now calling on the Irish government to help them to get home to Kilkenny.
They sent an email saying that the flight was cancelled and that we could take another flight over the coming days. I checked the flight situation for the next few days, and there is none available whatsoever.
I'm calling on the Irish government to help get my family and my fiance out of Lebanon.
Ms Zabad acknowledged that her fiance was a Lebanese citizen, but pointed out that she and her younger brother had fled to Ireland in 2006 so she hoped he could do the same.
The dilemma was that she did not want to leave her fiance behind and if she stayed her father would feel compelled to do likewise, and she did not want to put her family in danger.
Kilkenny based Guy Jones of the Irish Lebanese Cultural Foundations concerned the situation in Lebanon is poised for further loss of life, and told KCLR that there thousands fleeing the southern region of the country.
READ NECT - ALERT: Popular Kilkenny outdoor facility closed
Dozens of Ukrainian refugees who found safety and community in Kilkenny face the grim reality of displacement next week.
Many of the residents at Kilkenny Manor, situated on the grounds of the former St Josephs industrial school in Kilkenny City, are from war-torn Eastern Ukraine.
Children attending local schools, parents who have secured jobs in the community, and elderly residents are now among those battling to remain in Kilkenny Manor, a place that they have come to call home since fleeing the conflict that has engulfed their country.
Alina, who is attending a local primary school in the parish, told the Kilkenny People that she is upset about the possibility of losing her new friends if she has to move school.
I found it difficult at first but now I have improved my English and made many friends, the young girl said.
READ NEXT: Suspect wanted in connection with brazen theft from shop in Kilkenny
Until recently, all of the current residents believed that they would be able to stay at Kilkenny Manor until at least February 2025.
This was based on information relayed to them after discussions between the Department and the accommodation provider.
However, earlier this month, the Department notified the provider that their contract with them would end on October 5.
The decision to cease that contract is being challenged by the provider.
While the Department of Integration now says that 35 of the 44 residents in Kilkenny Manor are to be provided with alternative accommodation within Kilkenny, nine individuals will be relocated in other counties, upending the hard-fought stability theyve worked hard to build up.
A spokesperson for the Department stated that the number of contracts for accommodation for people fleeing the war in Ukraine is being decreased for a number of reasons, including a decrease in numbers needing accommodation, compliance concerns, value for money, and greater oversight of the portfolio.
The spokesperson further told the Kilkenny People that they cannot discuss individual contracts.
Kilkenny TD John McGuinness described the current process of relocating Ukrainian refugees as inhumane.
They are being shipped around the country like animals, he said, adding that he will fight for Kilkenny Manor to have its contract with the Department renewed.
Yehor, a young resident at Kilkenny Manor, explained to the Kilkenny People how challenging it was to forge new friendships and connections on arrival.
It would be very difficult to have to start that process again, he shared.
Tymur, another resident, echoed these feelings, saying: Connections are often hard to nurture with people.
Ali, who has started a small business selling sweet treats in Kilkenny City with his wife, stressed how important Kilkenny Manor has been in supporting their daily needs and entrepreneurial ventures.
The accommodation centre is vital, he said. The prospect of relocation has left him worried about losing that foundation.
Anastasia, a young professional who recently secured a job at St Lukes Hospital, told the Kilkenny People that she would love a to continue her work in the city, and attend night classes to further her education.
For mothers like Yevheniia, who moved from an occupied territory with her mother, the prospect of moving and of further upheaval is devastating.
There is a lot of trauma still being processed and at the same we are trying our best to adapt to our new culture, she explained.
For her, like many others at Kilkenny Manor, the thought of potentially starting over again and being continually moved around is heartbreaking.
Svetlana, a mother whose city was devastated by the war, expressed her gratitude for the peace shes found in Kilkenny.
After two years of rebuilding her life, the thought of leaving is deeply painful.
Thank you for all of your help so far, she and other residents said in a statement addressed to the people of Kilkenny.
We are very grateful. People are very polite and friendly here. As the war continues, Kilkenny feels like a home away from home.
The residents are hoping for an intervention that would allow them to stay in Kilkenny Manor, where they feel best placed to give back to the city that welcomed them.
As the contract deadline looms, the residents are bracing for more sleepless nights, unless a last-minute intervention can be secured.
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Kilkenny broadcaster Carol Dooley has been inducted into the IMRO Radio Awards Hall of Fame'.
Dooley is one of four broadcasters bestowed of the honour, joining; Eddie Caffrey, Ray DArcy, and Hugo Duncan.
The four broadcasters attended a ceremony at the IMRO offices earlier today (Wednesday), to celebrate their remarkable careers and their enduring impact on Irish radio.
The overall IMRO Radio Awards event will be at the annual gala on Friday, October 4 at the Lyrath Estate Hotel in Kilkenny.
The local woman began her broadcasting career at Kilkenny Community Radio in 1979 (latterly Radio Kilkenny and now Community Radio Kilkenny City).
Subsequently, she has broadcasted for outlets at home and abroad and now hosts a popular show on Sunshine 106.8 FM and KCLR 96FM.
FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS, CLICK HERE
Victor Finn, IMRO Chief Executive, headline sponsors of the Awards said: "Their legacy within the industry is undeniable, and they now take their well-deserved place among Irelands most esteemed broadcasters."
"Radio continues to play a hugely valuable role in Irish life, not only entertaining listeners but acting as a trustworthy source of news and information for us all. Hall of Fame recipients are reflective of the talent at work across the industry and its wonderful to see todays inductees recognised," Aoife MacEvilly of Coimisiun Na Mean commented.
A Government scheme that gives an 800 euro tax-free payment to homeowners who rent their homes to Ukrainians is reducing housing supply and is an incentive to chose a renter based on their nationality, a Sinn Fein TD has claimed.
Pearse Doherty said the design of the scheme creates resentment and inequality in the rental market.
Mr Doherty told the Dail on Wednesday that the latest figures show the number of new payments made under the Government scheme is increasing at nearly a rate of 1,000 per month.
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth Roderic OGorman said the scheme is under review but warned that any changes would have an impact on Ukrainians.
He said the State has provided refuge to over 100,000 Ukrainians over the last two years, and at its height, was directly providing accommodation supports to about 75,000 of those Ukrainians.
But he said that those numbers have since decreased.
Mr Doherty said the scheme should only be available to host families who open up their own homes to Ukrainians.
We (Sinn Fein) argued it should not be available to homes that should really be on the private rental market and we argued it should not be available for rooms that should really be used as student digs. We told you it was unfair, he added.
The scheme, as you know minister, provides 800 euro a month to pay for rent for Ukrainians, regardless of whether they are working and regardless of their income.
The payment is tax free, and that means to a landlord it is worth 1,600 euro. Indeed, in constituencies like mine in Donegal, where the average rent is below 1,600 euro, it is pricing other renters out of the market and reducing supply.
That flies in the face of the commitment your Government gave and assurances it said that any measures to temporarily accommodate Ukrainians would not impact on housing supply.
You yourself minister said that we do not want to pursue a measure that interferes with the private rental market, but that is precisely what you have done.
He added: Since you extended your scheme earlier this year, thousands of homes have been taken out of that (rental) sector, and you have built in an incentive for landlords to accept one renter over another based on their nationality, when the housing needs of both are acute.
That is wrong. Two people working side-by-side, earning the same wages with the same family size under your scheme, you pay the rent for one but not the other.
We can see why more and more people are questioning the fairness of this payment. It is provided regardless of income, regardless of employment status, and that is simply not fair.
The Donegal TD said that anyone who is working should pay for their own accommodation.
Green Party leader Mr OGorman defended the Governments scheme, saying that many of the benefits and entitlements given to Ukrainian people who have sought refuge in Ireland have been scaled back.
Under the legislation, theres a provision for the review of the workings of the the recognition payment, he added.
There is a review under way at the moment, and that will feed into the decision now as to whether we extend it in line with the Temporary Protection Directive, and whether we extend it unamended, or we make changes in terms of its ambit.
But it is really important to say, there are thousands of people supported by this payment right now deputy and if we were to cut this payment, if we were to end it immediately, it is important that we understand the impact that that would have on Ukrainians, who we are hosting as a country.
I think that has to be borne in mind in terms of any decision this Government or future governments makes in terms of the recognition payments.
A rural Chippewa Falls man accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl over a three-year span was sentenced Monday to serve 15 years in prison.
Josiah Dehusson, 40, pleaded no contest in June in Chippewa County Court to one count of repeated sexual assault of a child. According to the criminal complaint, the sexual assaults began in February 2020, when the girl was 14 years old. Charges were filed in September 2023.
Judge James Isaacson said Dehusson warranted a lengthy sentence. He also ordered 15 years of extended supervision and Dehusson must register as a sex offender.
In my opinion, this is a pretty aggravated offense, Isaacson said.
Isaacson noted the maximum penalty is 25 years in prison and 15 years of extended supervision. A pre-sentence investigation by the Department of Corrections recommended 10 years in prison and three years of extended supervision. However, Chippewa County District Attorney Wade Newell told Isaacson he was requesting 20 years in prison and five years of extended supervision.
He is honest to a fault of what he did and why he did it, Newell said. It gives us insight into his thought process.
Newell noted he was previously charged with sexual exploitation, though he was not convicted of it. Newell listed the variety of sex acts that occurred in the case.
He stated he hates what he has done to her, Newell said. However, Newell said Dehusson hadnt considered the mental harm he caused to the victim.
I think the initial recommendation of 10 years of initial confinement pales in comparison to what she has gone through, Newell said. The community needs to be protected from the defendant as long as possible.
Defense attorney Les Liptak sought leniency for his client. He noted Dehusson entered a plea rather than put the juvenile through a trial. He asked for a prison sentence of five or six years with a longer period of 10 years of extended supervision.
Josiah is quite cognizant of the fact hes caused damage, Liptak told Isaacson. He is remorseful, and I think that is evident in the PSI. There is no doubt what hes done; he can ever take back. I think this will haunt him for the rest of his life, as it may well (the victim).
Dehusson said his actions are going to affect the victim and his family. He said if he could take it back, he would.
I am sorry for what Ive done. I hate myself for what Ive done, Dehusson told Isaacson. And Im willing to accept whatever treatment is required.
Neither the victim nor anyone in her family were present at the hearing.
Dehusson was given credit for 392 days already served. While on extended supervision, Dehusson cannot have any contact with the victim or her mother.
According to the criminal complaint, an investigator met with the victims mother on Aug. 28, 2023, where she said her daughter had disclosed to her that Dehusson had been engaging in sexual activity with her at a residence in the town of Lafayette. The sex acts were occurring on a weekly or monthly basis since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. When an officer interviewed the teen, she initially denied the sexual activity had occurred. She later admitted the acts took place. Likewise, when an officer interviewed Dehusson, he initially denied any wrongdoing but later admitted to sexual activity with the victim.
Judge Ben Lane previously ordered Dehusson be held on a $7,500 cash bond.
Court records show Dehusson was previously convicted of battery in 2003 in Chippewa County Court.
The Herald reports:
A woman who assaulted an NZME journalist outside a courthouse has been sentenced to 18 months jail, but is expected to be released almost immediately because of time served while awaiting sentencing.
Rosie Morunga who is a person of interest in the killing of Baby Ru last month admitted 18 charges including assault, theft of a cellphone, using a document, aggravated assault, wilful damage and shoplifting, between June 2022 and November 2023. She was also sentenced for one assault bringing the total number of charges for sentencing to 19.
18 months jail for 19 offences!
According to the summary of facts the assault occurred in November when Morunga was standing outside the Hutt Valley District Court. When the journalist, whose name is suppressed, began questioning Morunga she was spat on, her hair was pulled back and she was punched in the head multiple times. In the fracas the journalist dropped two cellphones containing three bank cards. Morunga picked these up and visited a Lower Hutt liquor store where she used the cards to buy bottles of spirits and RTDs.
So she has literally just appeared in court, and then assaults a journalist and steal her bank cards to stock up on alcohol.
Judge Wills said the aggravating factors in the case included that the offending occurred while Morunga was on bail and, for part of the time, a sentence of intensive supervision. She noted that Morunga had an extensive criminal history with 74 previous convictions, half for violent offending. There had also been nine assaults while in prison.
But shell be out very soon so she can crack the ton.
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McGilloway and the teachers at Mansion Avenue Elementary have used Storyworks and Scope in various ways.
McGilloway discussed using the programs for whole-group, small-group, and individual work. The school uses the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) as a universal screener, and Storyworks and Scope articles are correlated to DRA levels. This simplifies assigning appropriate texts to small groups and individual students, whether they are reading below, on, or above grade level. When working as a whole group, students at different reading levels can be assigned the same article but at different levels.
Angelone described a lesson on character traits. She searched the Storyworks archive and found a really great article. The class watched the introductory video and then discussed the new vocabulary in the article. Next, the students were divided into small groups by reading ability, and each group read a different version of the same article written at the appropriate level for that group. Sometimes theyre reading with me. Sometimes, theyre reading with their small group. Then, they worked in their groups to complete an activity in Storyworks on how the character changes throughout the story. Angelone and her academic support teacher would check in with each group and see how they work. They also used the story for writing, as each story has a related writing prompt.
Small groups are sometimes organized by interest, and the online system allows for searching by topic to support these groups. Meehan likes to give her students a choice of Scope articles to read for a specific instructional purpose, as preteens tend to feel empowered by having choices based on their interests. She described this aspect of her unit on argument: Anytime you make it interest-based, you have more engagement. When were doing debates in this unit, those debates are better based on what their interest is.
McGilloway explained that teachers often have students read an article multiple times. Initially, the students read or listen to the article to take it in, and then they go back and read it closely so they can work on deeper understanding. Teachers take advantage of the various question types provided in Storyworks and Scope, incorporating the Pause and Think questions, the Close Reading questions, and then asking students to write about what theyve read. Meehan often has students complete a read-through of Scope articles where they read with their writers eyes, paying attention to the authors strategies to draw the reader in. In that way, the articles become mentor texts for writing.
When teaching about informational texts, Meehan builds students awareness of text features, which are prominent in Scope informational articles. She has her students create collages based on a particular article. They can cut it up and use those different pieces in their collages.
To support vocabulary development, Angelone has her students highlight the vocabulary words in Storyworks articles they are not sure about and has them make a prediction based on what weve read so far. And theyre able to write their prediction right in the text. Similarly, to support comprehension development, she asks her students to stop and think about the main idea of the section they just read, and they can highlight [it]. Theyll write down the main idea in the article and then highlight the evidence to support that.
Meehan brings the subheadings interspersed throughout Scope articles to her students attention and has them tie the subheadings to the introductory section of the article. She also has her students relate the main idea of each section to its subheading.
The school implements common assessments that help identify students struggling with specific literacy skills, and the Storyworks and Scope search system makes it easy to find articles and supporting resources that are on topic and at the right level. McGilloway gave the example of arranging a group of third graders across multiple classrooms and finding appropriate articles to teach identifying the main idea and supporting details during dedicated RTI periods. She also used a Storyworks slideshow that taught the strategy of finding the main idea.
In Grades 35, the teachers teach all subjects in the same classroom, so they use Storyworks for science, social studies, and ELA. In Grade 6, the school organizes teachers by subject, and the ELA teachers have shared Scope articles that have a science or social studies focus with the content-area teachers, who then use these with their students.
Principal Bonnie Smetzer said writing was a systemic challenge for the school. She noted that writing kits built into Storyworks and Scope have enabled the students to shift from primarily free writing just for fun to writing based on articles theyve read. The kits support teachers as they guide students step-by-step through the writing process for a specific genre.
When asked about the various digital resources included with Storyworks and Scope, McGilloway replied, I cant think of anything that our teachers dont utilize. Angelone and Meehan said they use Storyworks and Scope across all genres and for all standards and skills they teach.
NexGen Energy Ltd. (NYSE:NXE Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 26,447 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 155% compared to the average daily volume of 10,361 call options.
NexGen Energy Stock Up 1.8 %
NXE opened at $6.63 on Wednesday. NexGen Energy has a 12-month low of $4.95 and a 12-month high of $8.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -662.50 and a beta of 1.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.98 and a 200-day moving average of $7.00.
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NexGen Energy (NYSE:NXE Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.03) EPS. On average, analysts expect that NexGen Energy will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. National Bank Financial raised NexGen Energy to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Ventum Cap Mkts upgraded shares of NexGen Energy to a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NexGen Energy presently has an average rating of Strong Buy and an average target price of $11.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on NXE
Institutional Trading of NexGen Energy
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NXE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NexGen Energy by 5,020.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,222,256 shares of the companys stock worth $126,047,000 after acquiring an additional 15,905,444 shares in the last quarter. MMCAP International Inc. SPC lifted its stake in shares of NexGen Energy by 1,627.2% in the first quarter. MMCAP International Inc. SPC now owns 3,564,665 shares of the companys stock worth $27,697,000 after buying an additional 3,358,278 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NexGen Energy by 74.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,341,885 shares of the companys stock worth $23,393,000 after buying an additional 1,430,709 shares during the period. L1 Capital Pty Ltd grew its stake in NexGen Energy by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd now owns 24,083,310 shares of the companys stock valued at $187,127,000 after buying an additional 1,423,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in NexGen Energy by 69.3% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,135,565 shares of the companys stock worth $21,880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283,210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.43% of the companys stock.
NexGen Energy Company Profile
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NexGen Energy Ltd., an exploration and development stage company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation and development of uranium properties in Canada. It holds 100% interest in the Rook I project comprising 32 contiguous mineral claims totaling an area of 35,065 hectares located in the southwestern Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan.
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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE:TEVA Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday.
Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Argus upgraded Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $18.89.
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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Trading Up 0.1 %
TEVA stock opened at $17.73 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.52. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has a 12-month low of $8.06 and a 12-month high of $19.08. The stock has a market cap of $20.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.24, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.88. The businesss 50-day moving average is $17.70 and its 200 day moving average is $16.16.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE:TEVA Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.99 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, insider Eric A. Hughes sold 24,537 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.55% of the companys stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TEVA. Centaurus Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries during the second quarter worth about $228,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries during the second quarter worth about $560,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries by 83.9% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 60,868 shares of the companys stock worth $989,000 after buying an additional 27,765 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries by 7.0% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 3,885,251 shares of the companys stock worth $63,135,000 after buying an additional 254,483 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries by 38.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,319,217 shares of the companys stock worth $21,437,000 after buying an additional 363,217 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.05% of the companys stock.
About Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
(Get 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.
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Wynnstay Group Plc (LON:WYN Get Free Report) declared a dividend on Tuesday, June 25th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a dividend of GBX 5.60 ($0.07) per share on Thursday, October 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. The official announcement can be accessed at this link.
Wynnstay Group Stock Down 2.8 %
Shares of LON:WYN opened at GBX 323.10 ($4.33) on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 344.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 361.17. The stock has a market capitalization of 74.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,330.00 and a beta of 0.58. Wynnstay Group has a 12-month low of GBX 296.55 ($3.97) and a 12-month high of GBX 440 ($5.89). The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.36.
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Wynnstay Group Plc manufactures and supplies agricultural products in the United Kingdom. It operates through Agriculture and Specialist Agricultural Merchanting segments. The Agriculture segment offers feeds for farm livestock, feed raw materials for farmers and other manufacturers; seeds, fertiliser and agrochemicals; and grain marketing services.
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X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund (NYSEARCA:ASHR Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 41,765 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 423% compared to the average daily volume of 7,992 call options.
X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund Stock Up 8.0 %
X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund stock opened at $24.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.01. X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund has a twelve month low of $21.56 and a twelve month high of $26.14. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.47.
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Institutional Inflows and Outflows
An institutional investor recently raised its position in X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund stock. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund (NYSEARCA:ASHR Free Report) by 135.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,284 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after buying an additional 17,410 shares during the quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLCs holdings in X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund were worth $714,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund Company Profile
The Xtrackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF (ASHR) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the China Shenzhen SE \u002F CSI 300 index. The fund tracks an index of the 300 largest and most liquid Chinese shares traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges. The fund holds physical China A-shares.
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The government will publish detailed guidelines on stock short selling this week to help prevent people unintentionally engaging in illegal trading, the financial regulator said Wednesday.
The guidelines will be made public Thursday, while an English-version of the how-to instructions will be available from next month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
"There has been a need to remove uncertainties over how the financial authorities interpret and apply regulations on stock short selling, and to stipulate what may constitute as naked short selling," it said of reasons for the guidelines.
There also existed a need for guidelines in English, the FSS noted, "since the financial authorities had only provided information in Korean."
Korea imposed a temporary ban on stock short selling in November after a series of naked short selling allegations were detected at several global investment banks in the country.
The ban was originally set to be lifted before the start of July but has been extended until March 30.
The FSS said the new guidelines will provide a number of detailed instances of illegal stock short selling so that "any investor may decide on their own" whether their activities constitute illegal short selling.
It also added the guidelines will be "continuously supplemented and updated." (Yonhap)
By Yoon Ja-young
Public procurement experts from the Asia-Pacific have gathered in Seoul to enhance their understanding of e-procurement and share insights.
They are participating in a workshop hosted by the Public Procurement Service (PPS) of Korea and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The event is taking place in Seoul from Wednesday through Friday.
It is the first time such a workshop has been held for policymakers across the Asia-Pacific.
The workshop is part of the official development assistance project for international development cooperation, which the PPS is carrying out in collaboration with ADB.
Twenty-four high-level officials from 14 countries, including Uzbekistan's Deputy Minister of Finance Gulnora Rakhimova, are participating to learn from Korea's public procurement infrastructure.
It will cover a wide range of topics, from Korea's overall digital government strategies to key policies in public procurement and operational knowledge of its e-procurement system, to enhance the understanding of participants regarding the nation's government procurement system.
In particular, the workshop coincides with the fourth annual Public Procurement Day event, giving APAC procurement leaders a chance to learn about Korea's leading innovative companies. This is expected to boost their understanding of the nation's Innovation Procurement initiative and increase awareness of Korea's innovative businesses.
"This is the first event of its kind to share Korea's government procurement systems and e-procurement expertise with high-level policymakers from the Asia Pacific region. It's a key step in solidifying the country's leadership in global public procurement within the region," PPS Administrator Lim Ki-keun said.
Lim added, "We will continue to strengthen cooperation with ADB and Asia Pacific countries to advance the region's public procurement infrastructure."
By Park Han-sol
Several years ago, one buzzword took Koreas younger generation by storm: sohwakhaeng.
Translated as small but definite happiness, it symbolized a refreshing escape, suggesting people find joy in simple pleasures amid a society weighed down by relentless competition, soaring housing prices and limited job prospects.
However, over time, the pursuit of these everyday delights began to stray from its original intent.
Among young people, sohwakhaeng gradually became something to subtly show off photos of small luxury items, a one-time omakase dinner or a quick trip to Tokyo, often tagged with #smalljoys, Kim Ran-do, a professor of consumer science at Seoul National University (SNU), said, Wednesday.
As a result, were witnessing the rise of a new trend: happiness fatigue. Many are now struggling with the pressure to constantly feel and prove that they are happy with the little things in life. They want to break free from the burden of having to display their happiness.
The professor went on to describe this shifting mindset as the pursuit of a very ordinary day, where nothing exceptional ever happens. This attitude idealizes uneventful, introspective moments that are not worth being flaunted. Its a response to the prolonged economic slowdown, which discourages conspicuous consumption, and the growing uncertainty faced by a generation with dwindling prospects for upward mobility.
Kims remarks came during a press conference where he unveiled his latest book Trend Korea 2025.
Since 2008, he and his team at the SNU Consumer Trend Center have been publishing annual reports, offering insights into the countrys changing socioeconomic and consumer trends through 10 keywords. Beginning in 2020, the team also began releasing an English edition under the title Consumer Trend Insights.
Another key term from the book characterizes todays consumers as omnivores, highlighting the remarkable diversity in their cultural tastes and behaviors. Consumers are no longer bound by traditional expectations associated with their age, gender or income level.
Consider a high school entrepreneur or a couple in their 40s with a kindergartener, for example; both may engage with a wide range of products and experiences that defy conventional categorizations.
This means that traditional market segmentation dividing your target market into approachable groups based on typical demographic and socioeconomic factors has become ineffective, he noted. The professor stressed that the ability to analyze and refine the target audience has become more important than ever, in lieu of mass marketing.
Trend Korea 2025 features eight other timely keywords, including what Kim refers to as Gradation of K-.
Its becoming increasingly difficult to define what we call Korean culture, he remarked, citing cases like KATSEYE, a multinational K-pop girl group with a majority of non-Korean members, Broker, a film with a Korean cast and a Japanese director, and Koreas rising export of halal food products.
Rather than debating what is or isnt Korean, we should focus on the diverse shades of K- that can enrich the market and the cultural landscape.
Seoul Beauty Week, an annual cosmetics fair organized by the Seoul city government, will kick off at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) next week for a three-day run, showcasing 62 beauty brands, city officials said Wednesday.
The event, marking its third edition this year, will run from next Tuesday to Thursday at DDP in central Seoul, aiming to help boost the competitiveness of South Korea's beauty industry and support mid-sized cosmetic firms.
Participating firms include cosmetic heavyweights, such as Amorepacific, Kolmar Korea and Aekyung Industrial, alongside smaller players, like Romand, Dinto and Dewytree.
Also on display will be products from Imprintu, a self-tattoo brand by LG H&H, as well as goods from the U.S., Germany, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia.
Some 200 buyers from 36 countries, including global beauty care store chain Watsons, will join the event to meet with Korean beauty manufacturers.
Various experiences will also be offered to visitors, including a makeup show featuring celebrity looks and makeup services for participants.
During the event, pop-up stores from participating firms will be set up in three popular Seoul districts: Myeongdong, Hongdae and Gangnam.
Admission is free, and visitors can register in advance on the Seoul Beauty Week website or at the event site during the fair. (Yonhap)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday made an emphatic call for international efforts to address Russia's military cooperation with North Korea and Iran, saying it is helping Moscow cause "carnage" in Ukraine and would imperil global security.
Blinken made the remarks during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine at the U.N. headquarters in New York, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and other high-level officials were present.
"Support from Tehran and Pyongyang is helping Putin inflict carnage, suffering and ruin on innocent Ukrainian men, women and children; demolish Ukrainian apartment buildings, grain silos and ports; ravage Ukrainian power plants, heating and natural gas facilities just as freezing temperatures are setting in," Blinken said.
The secretary expressed concerns that the more Russia relies on support from the North and Iran, the more Iran and North Korea "extract" in return.
"And the more Putin gives to Pyongyang and Tehran, the more he exacerbates threats to peace and security not just in Europe, but in the Indo-Pacific, in the Middle East, all around the globe," he said.
As Pyongyang increases its military support for Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin has reciprocated with military commitments and other rewards, including Russia's veto to end the work of a sanctions-monitoring U.N. panel and Russian banks' alleged aid to help the North evade sanctions, Blinken pointed out.
"All this for a regime that has carried out more than 150 ballistic missile tests since 2022 and whose leader routinely threatens to obliterate South Korea and Japan, and other countries," he said.
The secretary also took a swipe at China for its support for Russia's defense industrial base.
"China, another permanent member of this council, is the top provider of machine tools, microelectronics and other items that Russia is using to rebuild, to restock, to ramp up its war machine and sustain its brutal aggression," he said.
In his remarks, Zelenskyy lambasted Russia over its arms transactions with North Korea and Iran.
"Russia has no legitimate reason, not at all, for making Iran and North Korea de facto accomplices in its criminal war in Europe with their weapons killing us, killing Ukrainians and helping Putin steal our land from our people," he said.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho expressed "grave" concerns over military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.
"The deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, which was highlighted by the signing of the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, not only threatens the peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, but also of Europe," he said.
"It is deplorable that Russia, a permanent Security Council member and one of the founding states for the nonproliferation regime violates Security Council resolutions."
Cho also stressed that any cooperation between the North and Russia that directly or indirectly aids North Korea's military capability is a "blatant" violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and undermines the nonproliferation regime.
Cho also called Russia's war in Ukraine a challenge to global security and reaffirmed South Korea's support for Ukraine's sovereignty, according to the foreign ministry.
Cho urged the U.N. Security Council to effectively respond to the war in Ukraine, and fulfill its primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, it said. (Yonhap)
Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho on Wednesday denounced those who support North Korea's idea of the two Koreas living as separate states, stressing that unification is the only way to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.
Kim made the remark at a ceremony marking a civic group's donation of unification funds, after Im Jong-seok, former President Moon Jae-in's chief of staff, recently proposed giving up the goal of unification.
Im's abrupt departure from his long-standing advocacy of unification drew criticism that he appears to align with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who defined inter-Korean ties as those between "two states hostile to each other."
"Ahead of North Korea's constitutional revision, there are some people in our society who volunteer to become 'cheerleaders' to support North Korea's anti-unification and anti-national stance," Kim said in a speech delivered by the vice unification minister.
The minister said North Korea's "two hostile states" stance can never bring peace to the Korean Peninsula, stressing that unification is the only way to do so.
"Our people will never follow North Korea's anti-constitutional and anti-unification claim," Kim said.
His remarks came a day after President Yoon Suk Yeol denounced political figures who have shifted from advocating for the two Koreas' unification to supporting the idea of living as separate nations, calling such views "unconstitutional."
At a year-end party meeting in December, the North's leader Kim Jong-un defined inter-Korean relations as those between two belligerent states, not as consanguineous ones.
In January, Kim called for revising the constitution to define South Korea as its "invariable principal enemy" and remove unification-related clauses as well as newly clarify the country's territorial boundaries. North Korea will hold a Supreme People's Assembly meeting on Oct. 7 to amend the constitution. (Yonhap)
The top diplomats of Korea and Cuba have met one-on-one for talks for the first time since the two countries established diplomatic relations earlier this year, the foreign ministry in Seoul said Wednesday.
The talks between Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Eduardo Rodriguez Parrilla took place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday (local time), the ministry said in a release.
It marked the first such talks at the top diplomat level since the two countries made the surprise announcement in February to form diplomatic relations.
During the talks, which lasted for about half an hour, the two sides discussed a broad range of bilateral issues, including the plans to set up diplomatic missions in each other's countries, Seoul officials said.
The two countries are working to open embassies in Seoul and Havana before the end of this year. (Yonhap)
Labor groups say expansion of controversial project could lead to increase in undocumented migrants
By Jung Min-ho
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon faces growing calls from labor activists to scrap the citys Filipino nanny program, one of the key policies he introduced to help alleviate Koreas fertility crisis.
The nations two largest umbrella labor unions the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) are now calling on the mayor to completely reexamine the feasibility of the policy, saying that it is all but certain to lead to many societal problems.
This comes after two Filipino domestic workers were confirmed to have been uncontactable since Sept. 17. They were among the 100 women who arrived here on Aug. 6 as part of a program aimed at helping Korean parents raise their children at a more affordable cost.
It was a predictable consequence of a rushed policy by the (city and central) governments, a KCTU spokesman said to The Korea Times on Wednesday. This policy is likely to result in a rise in the number of undocumented migrant workers and more human rights violations against them.
The pilot project is expected to expand to other cities and regions after a six-month testing period in the capital. However, growing criticism could derail that plan.
The same day, the KCTU announced that it would hold a rally in central Seoul on Thursday as part of its protest against the anti-labor, rights-violating policy, saying 31 organizations will join the street demonstration.
In a statement released on Monday, the FKUT also expressed a similar sentiment. The group urged policymakers behind the nanny program to stop pushing to make it a national project.
The incident happened despite the fact that the workers were offered the minimum wage. If they face a situation where they cant make even that amount, what would happen is very obvious, the FKUT said. This rushed, irresponsible policy to import workers from overseas will also bring down the income levels and working conditions of Korean workers who are already struggling The government should start listening to the concerns and opposition voiced by labor organizations.
All this presents additional challenges to Oh, who has also been criticized by Seoul residents for running a program that the city cannot afford. Many say giving more than 2 million won ($1,500) per month for a full-time worker is beyond their financial capabilities. Ohs original plan was to offer them less than the legal minimum wage, but the idea was rejected by opposition lawmakers eventually.
It is still unclear why the Filipino workers disappeared. While some suspect that they did so due to low wages, compared with what they could make from manufacturing jobs or other endeavors, others say it might have been planned in advance when they joined the program.
Either way, it is no good for the mayor or residents who found the policy helpful.
Complaints also come from the Filipino caregivers. During a meeting held after the incident, some complained about curfews at their accommodations and the long commutes to work.
They said traveling the long distance between their workplaces is one of the biggest issues for them, with some saying they did not have enough time to eat proper meals due to their demanding schedules.
City officials said they will continue to help them adjust to the new environment here while coming up with measures to address their challenges.
South Korea is maintaining an "unwavering" readiness posture "around the clock" against potential North Korean provocations through close cooperation with the United States, Seoul's top envoy to Washington said Tuesday, amid concerns over Pyongyang's growing nuclear and missile threats.
Ambassador Cho Hyun-dong made the remarks as the North has ratcheted up tensions with its rare disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility, display of a new road-mobile launcher for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), and continued weapons tests.
"As there have been significant North Korean provocations during periods of government changes in Washington, our government has been keeping an unwavering response posture around the clock through watertight information sharing and coordination on responses (to contingencies) between South Korea and the U.S.," Cho said during a meeting with reporters.
His remarks came amid concerns that Pyongyang could engage in major provocations, including an ICBM launch and a nuclear test, near the U.S. presidential election in November to draw attention, demonstrate its military power and bolster its leverage.
Commenting on the U.S. election, Cho assessed that a tight race between Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump is continuing as anticipated.
He said that the embassy will make its own preparations to ensure close policy cooperation with Washington regardless of who wins the White House.
South Korean policymakers have been closely watching developments in the U.S. election season as who occupies the Oval Office would affect America's policy on the South Korea-U.S. alliance, North Korean threats and other key issues in the bilateral relations. (Yonhap)
An appellate court on Wednesday struck down the TV media watchdog's 2020 imposition of a six-month shutdown penalty for cable channel MBN over illegal financing and accounting fraud.
The Seoul High Court ruled in favor of MBN in a lawsuit filed against the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) to reverse its 2020 decision subjecting the channel to a six-month service shutdown.
In October 2020, the KCC imposed the penalty on MBN with a six-month grace period, concluding that the network's illegal financing was in violation of the Broadcasting Act.
In the first ruling in 2022, the Seoul Administrative Court upheld the KCC penalty, holding MBN responsible for illegal financing at the time it obtained its business license in 2010, and for subsequent accounting fraud to cover up the irregularity.
Overturning the previous ruling, the high court ruled that while MBN's irregularities were unjust, they could hardly be seen as fundamentally compromising the channel's social role as a news outlet, and the penalty was excessively harsh. (Yonhap)
A bill imposing a prison sentence for knowingly possessing or viewing deepfake sex porn passed a parliamentary committee Wednesday.
The legislation and judiciary committee passed the revision to the act on special cases concerning the punishment of sexual crimes amid public alarm over a surge in digital sex crimes using doctored pornographic images of girls and women.
The revised act calls for punishing people possessing, purchasing, storing or viewing deepfake sexual materials and other fabricated videos with up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won ($22,537).
Lawmakers from the ruling and main opposition parties also decided to add a clause in the revised act for clarification to prevent individuals who "unknowingly" stored or viewed such materials from facing punishment.
The committee also passed revisions to the act on the protection of children against sex crimes and the sexual violence prevention act.
Under the revision to the act on protecting children, using sexually exploitative material to blackmail or coerce children and teenagers will be newly punishable by law, and more heavily than under existing laws.
While current laws punish such crimes with imprisonment of one or more years in the case of blackmail and three or more years in the case of coercion, the revision raises the sentences to three or more years and five or more years, respectively, in the event the crimes are carried out against children and teenagers.
Meanwhile, the revision to the sexual violence prevention act stipulates that it is the government's responsibility to delete illegally filmed material and help victims return to everyday life. (Yonhap)
A van driven by a drunk person collided with a city bus in the central city of Daejeon, causing the bus to crash into a bridge pillar and leaving 28 people injured, two of them seriously, police said Wednesday.
The van's driver in his 50s was drunk at a level warranting license suspension when the vehicle struck the bus at an intersection at 9:53 p.m. Tuesday, police said. The impact caused the bus to swerve off the lane and smash head-on into the railway bridge.
Twenty-eight people, including bus passengers and the van's driver, were taken to a hospital with injuries. Two of them suffered serious injuries, including the bus driver, police said.
Police booked the van's driver on drunk driving charges. (Yonhap)
Preparations have been under way for the first exploratory drilling in December for potential oil and gas reserves off the nation's East Sea, officials said Wednesday.
Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun hosted a meeting with related agencies in Seoul to review the progress of preparations for a project in the East Sea that could potentially uncover between 3.5 billion and 14 billion barrels of gas and oil, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
If confirmed, the quantity would be sufficient to meet the country's gas demand for up to 29 years and its oil demand for four years.
During the meeting, participants discussed ways to revamp the country's resource development rules, including those regarding prospecting rights and fees, to support the unprecedented development project.
"We plan to carry out the first drilling operation in December without delay and revamp policies regarding prospecting fees within this year so that the country can attract investment from prominent companies," Ahn said.
The state-run Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) recently hosted a road show to attract foreign investment. Industry sources said major global players, including U.S.-based ExxonMobil, Saudi Aramco and Italy's Eni, have shown interest in the project.
Costs have been one of the major hurdles for the development project, as drilling a single hole is estimated to cost around 100 billion won ($75.27 million) to 130 billion won.
KNOC said it plans to select a consulting firm in October to set detailed strategies for attracting foreign investment.
Meanwhile, the U.S. geoscience research company Act-Geo earlier assessed that each drilling operation has a success rate of 20 percent, with the government planning to carry out at least five drilling operations. (Yonhap)
Korea's foreign minister has asked the U.N. cultural agency to monitor Japan's compliance with recommendations on a Japanese mine complex, which is associated with Korea's wartime forced labor and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Cho Tae-yul made the request in a meeting with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday (local time), the foreign ministry said in a release.
The Sado mine complex one of the world's largest gold producers in the 17th century was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July after Japan agreed to reflect the full history of the site, including its connection to Korean forced labor.
Korea agreed to the inscription on the condition that Japan faithfully implements the recommendations of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, an advisory body to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
Among the conditions is Japan's development of a comprehensive interpretation and exhibition that includes a sincere memorial to all workers, particularly Korean laborers who were forced into labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Separately, Azoulay expressed her gratitude for Korea's support in various UNESCO initiatives in Africa, including vocational training programs. (Yonhap)
President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday the government will introduce tax and other incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises that take steps to support employees' work-life balance as part of efforts to encourage young people to have more children.
During a meeting aimed at addressing the country's low birth rate, Yoon said the government will come up with various incentives, such as tax breaks, grants and loans, emphasizing the need to create work environments that allow employees to balance their careers and family life.
"We can overcome the demographic crisis when giving birth and raising children becomes a happy experience," Yoon said, noting fostering such an environment would ultimately benefit corporate competitiveness.
Other incentives include preferential treatment in government bidding and deferral of tax audits, he said.
Korea's fertility rate hit a record low of 0.72 in 2023, down from 0.78 in the previous year. (Yonhap)
By Jung Da-hyun
Academic and industry experts from Korea and Germany convened, Wednesday, for the 14th ADeKo Conference, focusing on the present and future impact of artificial intelligence (AI).
Under the theme "AI in Research and Industry for your Life," the event, organized by ADeKo, a Korean-German alumni network, highlighted the collaborative efforts of both nations in AI technology and industrial advancements.
Participants explored strategies for harnessing AI in research and industry, while also discussing ways to deepen the long-standing partnership between Korea and Germany in these fields.
The conference underscored the growing importance of AI in shaping the future of technological innovation across both countries.
"While AI is expected to transform society and generate economic value, there is a need for critical reflection," ADeKo Chairman Kim Hyo-joon said during the opening session.
Kim emphasized that rather than dwelling on vague fears about AI, the focus should be on embracing the digital revolution, which maximizes the value of information from all individuals.
"I hope this conference will further strengthen the ties between Korea and Germany through ongoing cooperation, driving industrial research and development with a focus on AI," he said.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon took part in the conference, outlining the citys AI-driven policies to position Seoul as a global tech hub.
"The city government is actively implementing policies to attract top talent and tech companies from around the world to Seoul," Oh said.
"These efforts are boosting Seouls competitiveness by advancing high-tech industries and creating high value-added jobs within the city."
Oh also shared the city's long-term strategy to transform Seoul into a global center for AI innovation, revealing plans to host Seoul Smart Life Week, an event he described as the Korean version of the Consumer Technology Association, which runs the annual CES tech trade show in Las Vegas.
German Ambassador to Korea Georg Schmidt and MCM Holdings Chairperson Kim Sung-joo delivered speeches via video.
"This topic is very timely, as AI is impacting our lives and gaining significant attention," said Schmidt, expressing optimism for productive discussions.
"Korea, recognized as a global leader in information and communication technology, and Germany, home to world-leading companies in engineering and tech, will become two ICT powerhouses driving the AI era," Kim said through a video featuring an AI-generated version of herself.
Experts from academia and industry further discussed various topics, including the legal challenges of AI, its economic impact and its applicability across various sectors during the conference.
Elementary to high school students who say they have experienced school violence increased for four consecutive years to over 2 percent this year for the first time in 11 years, an education ministry survey showed Wednesday.
The survey was conducted on all 3.98 million students from fourth-year elementary to high school from April 15 to May 14, and those who responded that they had experienced school violence rose 0.2 percentage point from a year earlier to 2.1 percent this year.
The figure had dropped to 0.9 percent in 2020 with classes turning remote during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has since been gradually on the rise with the returning to classes, marking 1.1 percent in 2021, 1.7 percent in 2022 and 1.9 percent last year.
The proportion of victims was highest among elementary schoolers with 4.2 percent saying they have been bullied, while 1.6 percent of middle school students and 0.5 percent of high schools said so.
Verbal violence was the most frequent type, with 39.4 percent of the victims saying so, up 2.3 percentage points from last year, while those who said they experienced physical violence dropped to 15.5 percent from 17.3 percent last year.
Sexual violence victims accounted for 5.9 percent of the total victims, the highest since the education ministry began conducting the school violence survey in 2013, while cyber violence victims accounted for 7.4 percent, up 0.5 percentage point from last year.
A National Youth Policy Institute official said the rise in the number of school violence victims was attributable to increased sensitivity on the issue amid heightened public interest.
"Particularly in case of sexual jokes, which used to be shrugged off, is now perceived as school violence, and this could have driven the increase," an education official said, also pointing to students' heightened sensitivity as reasons for the increased reports of verbal or sexual violence in school. (Yonhap)
Cho Jun-hyuk, a former lawmaker of the predecessor of the ruling People Power Party, was chosen Wednesday as the conservative bloc's single candidate for the Oct. 16 by-election for Seoul's education chief.
The conservative bloc's candidacy merger committee said Cho defeated two other right-leaning candidates in a public opinion poll conducted last Saturday.
Educator Ahn Yang-ok and Korea University professor Hong Hoo-jo previously raised objections to the method of electing a single conservative candidate but accepted the results of the opinion poll, committee officials said.
Later in the day, the progressive bloc announced that they had chosen Jung Keun-sik, an honorary professor of sociology at Seoul National University, as their unified candidate for the position. It had initially narrowed down the field from four liberal-leaning candidates to three through a public opinion poll.
Jung has served in various roles, including as a board member of the Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation and chairperson of the second Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The post of the superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education went up for grabs when former left-leaning superintendent Cho Hee-yeon was stripped of his post last month after the Supreme Court confirmed a suspended prison sentence for him over abuse of power charges in connection with the reinstatement of dismissed teachers.
Cho was elected to the National Assembly in 2008 but unsuccessfully ran for the Seoul education chief in 2022. He has promised to help improve students' academic abilities and reduce their private education expenses.
Candidates are required to register their candidacy with the municipal election committee between Thursday and Friday. (Yonhap)
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik urged President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday to actively address allegations involving the first lady's receipt of a luxury bag.
Woo made the remarks during a debate hosted by the Korea Broadcasting Journalists Club in Seoul, saying the "scope and depth" of the allegations surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee continue to grow, making it difficult for the Assembly to overlook the issue.
"No one in the previous administrations has refused (an investigation) when such allegations involving the president's family or close aides were raised," he said.
Woo urged Yoon to give "serious thought" to the scandal, stressing that "the solution lies in following the direction of public sentiment."
He also said it would be difficult for the public to understand that the prosecution's investigation review committee recommended Tuesday that a pastor be indicted for giving the bag to the first lady, after the same committee had earlier recommended no indictment against her.
"In the same case, they recommended no charges for the first lady but recommended indictment for another person," he said.
The Korean American pastor gifted a Dior handbag worth 3 million won ($2,254) to Kim at her office in 2022 and secretly filmed the meeting with a hidden camera. The video was later published by an online news media last year.
The ruling People Power Party urged the prosecution to make an independent judgment from the panel's decision to indict the pastor.
The prosecution plans to finalize its decision on whether to indict the first lady and Choi in connection with the bag scandal in consideration of the panel decisions. (Yonhap)
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday that former presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok's recent call for South Korea and North Korea to exist as two separate states runs against the Constitution.
Han made the remark during a meeting with reporters at the government complex in Sejong, 109 kilometers south of Seoul, noting Article 3 of the Constitution stipulates that the territory of the Republic of Korea consists of the Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands.
The Republic of Korea is South Korea's formal name.
"If you look at the full text of the Constitution, it says the Republic of Korea seeks a peaceful unification order based on a liberal democratic basic order," he said. "The Constitution already says how we should reunify, so with what right is he calling for living separately?"
Im, who served as chief of staff to former President Moon Jae-in, made the controversial proposal last week during a ceremony celebrating the sixth anniversary of the Pyongyang Declaration adopted by Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after their summit in September 2018.
Conservatives and others have accused Im of abandoning his longstanding call for reunification to align with the North Korean leader's latest characterization of the Koreas as two "hostile" states.
"I think it's really wrong," Han said. "It's a violation of the Constitution."
President Yoon Suk Yeol made similar remarks during a Cabinet meeting a day earlier, saying "it is an unconstitutional way of thinking." (Yonhap)
Prosecutors face dilemma over whether to indict Kim Keon Hee after 2 contradictory recommendations
By Lee Hyo-jin
The controversy surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hees acceptance of a Dior handbag is likely to continue to weigh heavily on President Yoon Suk Yeol, following an investigation review committee's recommendation to indict a pastor for violating the anti-graft law by offering the luxury item to Kim.
This decision, made on Tuesday night, contradicts an earlier recommendation by another review committee on Sept. 6, which had ruled Kim's acceptance was unrelated to the president's official duties and thus Kim should not be indicted.
These two contradictory recommendations concerning Korean American pastor Choi Jae-young and Kim, respectively, complicate matters for prosecutors, who had tentatively decided to cleare the first lady of the charges in August.
According to the Supreme Prosecutors Office, the 15-member review committee, comprised of external legal experts, voted 8-7 in favor of indicting Choi for allegedly violating the anti-graft law.
Choi gifted the Dior handbag, valued at around 3 million won ($2,250), to Kim in September 2022 and secretly filmed the interaction using a hidden camera. The footage, published by a liberal YouTube news channel in November 2023, triggered a political scandal that continues to haunt the president.
The pastor claimed that he sought several favors of Kim in exchange for the handbag and other gifts. The favors included a request to secure the burial site of former Korean American U.S. House Representative Jay Chang Joon Kim at Seoul National Cemetery.
The committee on Tuesday did not provide further details on why it recommended an indictment for Choi. But its decision implies Choi violated the anti-graft law that bans offering of money or gifts to the spouse of a public official in relation to the official's duties which further suggests Choi's offering of the bag and Kim's acceptance may be related to the president's official duties.
The committees recommendation regarding Choi was prompted by the pastors own request in which he argued that both he and Kim should be indicted under anti-graft laws. His request was made after another committee had recommended against indicting Kim on Sept. 6.
In August, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office also decided to clear Kim of any charges after a four-month investigation, concluding that the gift was unrelated to her husbands official duties and therefore did not constitute bribery.
Based on the recommendations from the two committees, prosecutors are expected to make a final decision whether to indict Choi and Kim as early as this week. They would take into account the committees' recommendations, though they are not obligated to follow them.
The decision poses a dilemma, as either scenario would trigger significant political consequences.
If they choose to indict only the pastor, prosecutors will face the challenge of giving legal explanations on how the gift giver can be charged while the recipient, Kim, escapes indictment a scenario likely to come under public scrutiny.
Moreover, indicting Kim would imply that the gift was linked to Yoons official duties, potentially broadening the investigation to include the president himself.
On the other hand, if prosecutors choose not to charge Choi, they risk public backlash for appearing to neglect the committee's advice. The review committee system, established in 2018, was designed to enhance public trust in prosecutorial decisions and address concerns about excessive investigative and indictment power.
Failing to charge Choi would also intensify the political backlash against the presidential couple.
The opposition parties have been pushing for the launch of a special counsel to investigate the Dior bag scandal, accusing prosecutors of being too lenient toward Kim and her husband, a prosecutor-turned-president.
On Wednesday, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) pressured prosecutors to proceed with an indictment against Choi, warning that failure to do so would only escalate demands for a special counsel investigation.
"Following the committee's decision, the prosecution's flawed logic that the luxury handbag exchange had no connection to official duties, and thus neither the giver nor the recipient are guilty has now been proven wrong," DPK spokesperson Rep. Kang Yoo-jung said.
"Both Choi and the first lady should be indicted and held accountable under the law."
Choi himself also urged prosecutors to indict him.
"I called for the review committee, and yesterday's outcome fully realized my hopes. I urge the prosecution to respect the committee's decision and implement it properly," Choi told reporters.
He further called for additional investigations into Kim, as well as the president, for failing to officially report his wife's acceptance of the bag according to the anti-graft law.
Seoul should chart strategy to deal with NK's miscalculation
North Koreas disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility earlier this month is not an isolated event that came out of the blue. It may be a prelude to a much more serious provocation a nuclear test, which, if conducted as speculated, will be the Norths seventh of its kind.
In recent media interviews, National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik warned of a North Korean nuclear test, claiming that it may come right before or after the U.S. presidential election in November.
North Korea needs several nuclear tests as it strives to miniaturize its nuclear warheads, he said on Monday. The North is ready for a nuclear test. Therefore, it can conduct one any time, whenever Kim Jong-un makes the decision.
Conducting a nuclear test is a high-stakes poker game for the North Korean leader.
If conducted as Shin speculated, North Korea will be slashed with fresh sanctions, not to mention a barrage of international condemnations, as it violates United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. This will make the North, which is already under immense financial pressure because of the layered bilateral and multilateral sanctions in place, feel the pinch even harder.
However, as a chronic violator of international regulations, North Korea has developed skills and knowledge to skirt the sanctions, so it may not be deterred by fear of fresh sanctions.
But this time, North Koreas potential nuclear test may turn out to be self-destructive, as it may deal a blow to its relations with China.
China has been nervous about North Koreas nuclear tests. They share a border and, therefore, China will be negatively affected by the neighboring countrys nuclear activity. Despite this negative implication, China has consistently sided with North Korea in the UNSC and used its veto power whenever the international community sought to impose sanctions on the North for its various bellicose actions.
Will China again defend North Korea in the event the North conducts another nuclear test?
The answer is unknown because recent geopolitical developments complicate Sino-North Korea relations.
Currently their bilateral ties are being put to the test. The two countries are in a dispute about Chinas plan to install 191 telecommunication facilities capable of broadcasting FM radio, including 17 stations near the border with North Korea. If established as planned, those telecommunications facilities will allow North Korean residents to have access to outside information, the worst-case scenario Kim Jong-un has desperately striven to prevent from becoming a reality. China snubbed North Koreas request, enraging Pyongyang.
In case North Korea conducts another nuclear test under such a tense security atmosphere, it will be an act of pouring oil on the fire. Sino-North Korea relations, which have already shown signs of having turned sour, can be further derailed.
North Koreas probable nuclear test may turn out to be self-destructive. It also has the potential to create cracks in the partnership among three autocratic nations, namely China, Russia and North Korea.
Kim Jong-un is known to have a deep-seated distrust of China. In a memoir released last year, titled Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo quoted Kim as saying that he needs the U.S. military in South Korea to protect him from China. Kim even called the Chinese liars.
Kim appeared to have gained a much-needed boost when Russia, wrestling with shortages of ammunition and artillery as the war in Ukraine draws on, approached the North for arms deals.
Kim seems to believe Russia has North Koreas back. He may wish for Russia to replace interruptive China as North Koreas largest benefactor as he harbors deep suspicion of China.
North Koreas rare unveiling of the photographs featuring Kim visiting a uranium enrichment facility that produces fuel for nuclear bombs showcases vividly the overconfidence of the North Korean leader.
The satisfaction revealed on his face reflects his miscalculation that North Koreas strong partnership with Russia will continue forever, even if a cease-fire deal is signed between Russia and Ukraine.
With a nuclear test, Kim may want to show off to the world that he has fully recovered from his bruised ego after his summit with then-U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, was cut short abruptly, and he had to return home empty-handed.
South Korea should be fully prepared for the consequences of North Koreas possible nuclear test. It should keep an eye on the developments and chart a strategy accordingly to prepare for all possible scenarios to cope effectively with uncertainties in this critical juncture of history.
Experts debate whether AI legislation should prioritize promotion or regulation
By KTimes
A public hearing on legislation on artificial intelligence took place at the National Assembly on Tuesday, marking the first significant discussion on AI-related laws since the 22nd National Assembly convened.
At a meeting of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, LG AI Research Institute's Director Bae Kyung-hoon, who appeared as an expert, suggested that a minimal set of standards for AI legislation should be established, with ongoing societal discussions to refine and amend the law as necessary.
Such an act would provide legal definitions of what constitutes AI as well as products and entities related to AI. It would also offer safety and development guidelines for the industry.
Although related discussions took place during the 21st National Assembly, the bill was discarded after it did not pass the floor by the time the 21st National Assembly ended.
The absence of standard guidelines for the AI industry has caused difficulties for companies as various government ministries pursue their own AI-related policies.
While there is broad agreement on the need for an AI law, the ruling People Power Party prioritizes industrial promotion. However, the opposition Democratic Party of Korea focuses more on safety regulations.
Among the 10 AI law proposals submitted to the 22nd National Assembly, the ruling party emphasizes AI industry development and technological support, while the opposition stresses establishing trustworthiness, ethical principles and management systems.
Civic groups are expressing concern that focusing too heavily on promoting the AI industry could lead to neglecting safety issues, such as the misuse of AI regarding deepfakes.
Yoo Seung-ik, deputy director at the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, highlighted the importance of including effective and appropriate enforcement measures to ensure the success of an AI law.
Concerns have also been raised that delays in passing the AI-related law could harm South Korea's global competitiveness, as the country's regulatory environment is already seen as lagging behind those of competing nations.
In light of these concerns, many participants at the hearing recommended that an AI act should include only essential provisions, with more detailed regulations to be handled separately.
Choi Kyung-jin, a law professor at Gachon University, recommended that an AI law should establish only the most fundamental principles applicable across all sectors, with specific regulations tailored to the unique characteristics of each area.
Rep. Choi Min-hee of the Democratic Party of Korea, the chairperson of the Assembly's communications committee, urged to consolidate the various AI-related bills into a unified bill.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.
By Nam Hyun-woo
LG Innotek said Wednesday that it had developed an artificial intelligence system capable of filtering out defective raw materials before they are used in the production of package substrates for its chips.
According to the company, it recently introduced the filtering system in its process for manufacturing flip chip ball grid array semiconductor substrates and radio frequency system-in-package.
In the past, raw materials were inspected visually before the manufacturing process. However, as the specifications of substrate products have become more advanced, substrate makers have been facing difficulties in identifying defects through visual inspection.
LG Innotek said the AI system has trained on tens of thousands of data sets that visualize material compositions to distinguish defective raw materials. It analyzes the components and defective areas of the raw materials with over 90 percent accuracy in just one minute.
The company said the AI system has reduced the time needed for defect cause analysis by up to 90 percent and has significantly cut costs associated with resolving defect issues.
LG Innotek plans to apply the AI filtering system to the manufacturing processes of its optics solutions, such as camera modules.
With the introduction of the system, we have taken a significant step toward creating a unique AI ecosystem that allows us to preemptively identify various defect causes and deliver differentiated value to our customers, LG Innotek Chief Technology Officer Roh Sung-won said. We will continue to pursue innovations that enable us to manufacture the highest-quality products at minimal cost and in the shortest possible time.
Hyundai Motor, Kia and two other carmakers will voluntarily recall nearly 920,000 vehicles due to faulty components, the transport ministry said Wednesday.
The four companies, including Scania Group Korea and Man Truck & Bus Korea, are recalling a combined 917,547 units of 13 different models, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement.
The problems that prompted the recall include a possible fire caused by faulty hydraulic electronic control units in Hyundai Motor's Grandeur sedan and Kia's Mohave SUV, and a possible fire due to faulty crankshaft main bearings in Man Truck & Bus' TGS dump truck, it said.
Vehicle owners can check the government's homepage at www.car.go.kr or call 080-357-2500 to see if their vehicles are subject to the recall, the ministry said. (Yonhap)
Korea Zinc, the world's largest zinc smelter, has applied to the government for the designation of its technology as a national core technology, in an apparent move to fend off a potential takeover by Young Poong Corp. and MBK Partners, industry sources said Wednesday.
According to the sources, Korea Zinc has recently submitted an application to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to designate its technology as a national core technology, a status funded by the state to protect vital industries.
Under the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology, companies with this designation require government approval for any foreign acquisition, safeguarding them for economic and security reasons.
If approved, the government could intervene in future foreign mergers and acquisitions, potentially altering the control dynamics at Korea Zinc.
This move comes amid a fierce management battle between Korea Zinc and a coalition of its largest shareholder, Young Poong, and private equity firm MBK Partners.
The coalition recently launched a tender offer to acquire up to a 14.6 percent stake in Korea Zinc, investing 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion). They argue that Korea Zinc's current management has weakened the company's financial health.
MBK Partners has denied plans to sell Korea Zinc to Chinese investors following the acquisition.
But Korea Zinc has said it will make the utmost efforts to outbid Young Poong and MBK Partner's tender offer, calling the move "a hostile takeover bid." (Yonhap)
Alibaba Group's AliExpress said Wednesday it will launch a "global selling program" next month to help Korean companies sell their products in global markets as part of its marketing campaign.
Through the selling program, Korea's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be able to sell their products to customers initially in Japan, Spain, France and the United States starting in October, AliExpress said in a statement.
The corporate users of the new program will be exempt from any deposits and commissions for their sales for five years. Multi-language translation services will be available, the statement said.
"The program is aimed at helping lower entry barriers for Korean companies when they enter new markets amid a rising demand for Korean products with good design and quality," AliExpress Chief Executive Ray Zhang said at an event.
Korean SMEs have sold home appliances, food and beverages, and other daily necessities in the K-Venue marketplace launched by the Chinese e-commerce retail platform in October.
But the K-Venue marketplace is for domestic sales and deliveries in Asia's fourth-biggest economy.
Korean companies that use the K-Venue marketplace are currently allowed to pay no commissions to AliExpress until December for "mutual growth."
"Existing K-Venue users are also allowed to use the new selling program for their global expansion," a company spokesperson said over the phone.
In recent years, Chinese e-commerce platforms, including PDD Holdings' Temu and AliExpress, have been escalating their marketing to woo customers in Korea away from bigger local rivals, represented by Coupang.
Early this month, AliExpress said it will accelerate marketing activities in Korea to secure more than half of online shopping platform users here within three to five years.
As of August, AliExpress had ranked third in terms of number of monthly active users with 6.69 million, following Coupang's 13.38 million and 11Street's 7.68 million.
Given the country's e-commerce users reach around 34 million, AliExpress is targeting to attract 17 million in the following several years through marketing and facility investments. (Yonhap)
Progress in labor dispute at Samsung plant to give signal to global firms
By Nam Hyun-woo
The ongoing strike at Samsung Electronics' plant near the Indian city of Chennai may seriously threaten the country's prowess as a major global manufacturing hub, according to a recent report from an Indian think tank.
In a report published on Monday, the Global Trade Research Initiative said the strike is "threatening Tamil Nadu State's position as a leading electronics manufacturing hub" and could lead to "job losses, stalled development and a significant decline in investor confidence."
About 1,500 workers at Samsung's plant in Sriperumbudur, a town in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, have been staging a walkout over two weeks, demanding higher wages and reduced working hours. The plant manufactures electronic appliances, including televisions, refrigerators and washing machines.
The strike is assisted by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), an umbrella union with more than 7 million members, affiliated with the Communist Party of India. The CITU says that the average monthly wage of workers at the plant should be raised from 25,000 rupees ($300) to 61,000 over the next three years, up 36,000 rupees.
Samsung says that the average monthly wage for its workers is now 35,000 rupees, while the average monthly pay for manufacturing workers in Chennai is 19,250 rupees.
The strike has significantly disrupted the plant's productivity, which contributes roughly 20 percent of Samsung's total annual revenue of $12 billion in India. According to local news reports, the plant's production rate plunged to nearly 50 percent until Samsung hired some fixed-term employees and returned capacity back to normal as of this week.
The report noted that the unrest at Samsung is casting doubt on India's ability to maintain stable manufacturing operations, a key factor for investors and multinational corporations.
"If the strike at Samsung's Sriperumbudur plant is not resolved soon, India risks losing significant ground in its quest to become a global manufacturing powerhouse," the report said. "If the Tamil Nadu government does not intervene swiftly, the situation could mirror the closure of Nokia's Sriperumbudur plant a decade ago, resulting in job losses and shifting manufacturing dominance to China."
Nokia shut down its Chennai plant in 2014 after a combination of tax disputes with the Tamil Nadu government and mounting union pressures, which crippled Nokia's operations.
The report stressed that the risks of strikes are no longer confined to Samsung because the CITU is pushing for union recognition at other major manufacturers in the area, including Foxconn.
Low labor costs are one of the main reasons making India an attractive manufacturing outpost for global corporations. Data from Statista indicates that average annual wages in China's manufacturing sector were 97,528 yuan, equating to a monthly wage of $1,158.
In contrast, manufacturing workers in Chennai earn around $230 monthly, giving India a competitive edge in labor costs. However, an increase in labor disputes could deter global companies from investing in India.
"Labor instability could deter future investments," the report said. "Foreign investors are closely watching the situation at Samsung, and concerns over prolonged labor unrest may lead them to reconsider their plans in India."
The report stressed that the Indian government should step in to resolve the strike at the Samsung plant, and that the company also address the legitimate concerns raised by its workers regarding working hours and conditions.
By Ko Dong-hwan
AliExpress Korea is launching a new online platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country to spur their sales overseas, the global e-commerce giant said Wednesday.
With its new platform, Global Selling, Alibaba International aims to enhance sales for Korean sellers by giving them access to the company's global sales network. This initiative comes in response to the rising global demand for made-in-Korea products in sectors like fashion, beauty, food and K-pop.
Global Selling will first connect Korean sellers to markets in the United States, Spain, France and Japan, making their products available to 150 million consumers in total, according to AliExpress. The company stated that it will expand into additional international markets in the future.
AliExpress has launched the new platform initially for beauty and fashion sellers operating in K-Venue, an online segment introduced last October to support domestic sales for SMEs. Later the company will open the platform to SMEs involved in food and K-pop.
To encourage seller participation, AliExpress Korea announced that Global Selling will implement several business-friendly policies, including waiving the platform usage fee and down payments for new sellers for the first five years.
According to the company, language support including free online translations in multiple languages for consumers and AliExpress' business-to-business assistance for Korean sellers will enable SMEs to operate without language barriers.
The platform pays sellers within 15 days through Alipay International in U.S. dollars, which becomes available for remittance to the sellers' Korean bank accounts within three days. It also uses Korea Post to ship sellers' products overseas. Their products are labeled "Shipment from Korea" so as to clearly indicate the origin of the products.
AliExpress Korea's General Manager Ray Zhang said at a press conference that there is a rising global demand for Korean products, which are known to have outstanding designs and qualities.
"This platform has been designed to lower the threshold for Korean SMEs to enter global markets," Zhang said. "Alibaba Group and AliExpress will support the country's local brands with our global networks and resources to help them do business anywhere in the world more easily."
Major South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean said Wednesday its talks to acquire Australian shipbuilder Austal had fallen through.
"We have decided to stop negotiations with Austal's management and board of directors as of today. We have also notified the other party of the decision," the South Korean company said in a regulatory filing.
"We were unable to reach a reasonable agreement with its management and board of directors," Hanwha added.
Hanwha Ocean, formerly known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, reportedly made a potential acquisition offer late last year, with multiple media outlets suggesting the proposal was valued at around AU$1.02 billion ($701.7 million).
The acquisition was believed to be part of Hanwha's strategy to secure contracts for warships and maintenance, repair and overhaul services in broader markets, including the United States.
However, some reports indicated Austal rejected Hanwha's takeover bid due to regulatory challenges.
Headquartered in Australia, Austal generates a significant portion of its revenue from its U.S. affiliate, which operates under a special security arrangement allowing it to participate in sensitive U.S. defense programs despite foreign ownership.
Any potential sale of Austal to a foreign firm would have required approval from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., among others. (Yonhap)
An Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed a senior Hezbollah commander on Tuesday as cross-border rocket attacks by both sides increased fears of a full-fledged war in the Middle East and Lebanon said only Washington could help end the fighting.
Hezbollah early on Wednesday confirmed senior commander Ibrahim Qubaisi was killed by Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday on the Lebanese capital as Israel announced earlier. Israel said Qubaisi headed the group's missile and rocket force.
Israel's offensive since Monday morning has killed 569 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV.
The new offensive against Hezbollah has stoked fears that nearly a year of conflict between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza is escalating and could destabilize the Middle East. Britain urged its nationals to leave Lebanon and said it was moving 700 troops to Cyprus to help its citizens evacuate.
The U.N. Security Council said it would meet on Wednesday to discuss the conflict.
"Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza," U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
At the U.N., which is holding its General Assembly this week, U.S. President Joe Biden made a plea for calm. "Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even if a situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," he said.
Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib criticized Biden's address as "not strong, not promising" and said the U.S. was the only country "that can really make a difference in the Middle East and with regard to Lebanon." Washington is Israel's longtime ally and biggest arms supplier.
The United States "is the key ... to our salvation," he told an event in New York City hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
In Beirut, thousands of displaced people who fled from southern Lebanon were sheltering in schools and other buildings.
At the Technical Institute of Bir Hassan, volunteers brought water bottles, medicine and other supplies for the new arrivals.
In one classroom, 11-month-old Matila slept on a mattress while children elsewhere stood on chairs to pass time by scribbling on a whiteboard. Rima Ali Chahine, 50, said the shelter provided diapers, pastries and milk for the children.
"It's a lot of pressure for grownups and children. They're exhausted and stressed. They could not sleep," she said. "The kids they are living through terrible conditions."
Early on Wednesday, an Israeli strike hit the seaside town of Jiyyeh, 75 kilometers (46 miles) north of the border with Israel, two security sources said.
Hezbollah weakened, says Israel
Half a million people are estimated to have been displaced in Lebanon, said Bou Habib. He said Lebanon's prime minister hoped to meet with U.S. officials over the next two days.
The U.S. and fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt have so far been unsuccessful in their efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the nearly year-old war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, a Hezbollah ally.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose country and Israel are arch-enemies, told the U.N. General Assembly the international community must "secure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and bring an end to the desperate barbarism of Israel in Lebanon, before it engulfs the region and the world."
Israel's military said its airforce conducted "extensive strikes" on Tuesday on Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and dozens of launchers that were aimed at Israeli territory.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the attacks had weakened Hezbollah and would continue. Hezbollah "has suffered a sequence of blows to its command and control, its fighters, and the means to fight. These are all severe blows," he told Israeli troops.
He accused the U.N. of shirking its responsibility to prevent Hezbollah's attacks into Israel.
Hezbollah said it launched rockets at the Dado military base in northern Israel and attacked the Atlit naval base south of Haifa with drones, among other targets.
Suspected Israeli missiles were also launched at the Syrian port city of Tartous and were intercepted by Syrian air defences, Syrian army sources said. The Israeli military declined to comment on the report.
Since the Gaza war started in October, Israel has intensified a years-long air campaign targeting Iran-aligned armed groups and their weapons transfers in Syria.
Funerals were held on Tuesday for people killed in Lebanon by Israel's bombardment. In the coastal city of Saksakiyeh, Mohammed Helal was defiant as he mourned his daughter Jouri.
"We are not afraid. Even if they kill, dissect and destroy us," he said. (Reuters)
The victory plan that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will present to the White House this week asks the Biden administration to do something it has not achieved in the two and a half years since Russia invaded Ukraine: act quickly to support Kyivs campaign.
While Western dawdling has amplified Ukraine's losses, some Ukrainian officials, diplomats and analysts fear Kyiv's aim to have the plan implemented before a new U.S. president takes office in January may be out of reach.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, reportedly briefed on the plan, said it can work but many privately question how.
The specifics of Zelenskyys blueprint have been kept under wraps until it can be formally presented to President Joe Biden, but contours of the plan have emerged, including the need for fast action on decisions Western allies have been mulling since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.
It includes the security guarantee of NATO membership, according to Zelenskyys chief of staff Andrii Yermak a principal demand of Kyiv and Moscows key point of contention. Western allies, including the U.S., have been skeptical about this option.
Zelenskyy has said he will also seek permission to use long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory, another red line for some of Ukraine's supporters.
Partners often say, We will be with Ukraine until its victory. Now we clearly show how Ukraine can win and what is needed for this. Very specific things, Zelenskyy told reporters ahead of the trip. Lets do all this today, while all the officials who want victory for Ukraine are still in official positions.
Meanwhile, outnumbered Ukrainian forces face grinding battles against one of the worlds most powerful armies in the east. As Zelenskyy pitches his plan to Biden on Thursday, Ukrainian servicemen will be grappling to hold defensive lines in the key logistics point of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region. For some of them, it is essential that Biden buys into Zelenskyys plan.
I hope that allies will provide us with what we need, said Kyanin, a soldier fighting in the Donetsk region. Not 10 or 31 tanks, but a thousand tanks, thousands of weapons and ammunition.
The victory plan is Kyivs response to rising pressure from Western allies and war-weary Ukrainians to negotiate a cease-fire. A deal with Russia would almost certainly be unfavorable for Ukraine, which has lost a fifth of its territory and tens of thousands of lives in the conflict.
Unless, Kyiv calculates, its western partners act quickly. Ukraine's allies have routinely mulled over requests for weapons and capabilities, granting them often after their strategic value is diminished. Under the plan, from October to December, they must dramatically strengthen Kyiv's hand.
The plan comprises military, political, diplomatic and economic elements.
Aside from the demand for NATO membership, it seeks to bolster Ukraines defenses, including air defense capabilities, enough to force Moscow to negotiate.
A request to ramp up sanctions to weaken Russia's economy and defense industry is also expected.
Zelenskyy has said without elaborating that Kyivs military incursion into Kursk, in Russia, is part of the victory plan. That offensive, which embarrassed President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin scrambled to counterattack, has not yielded any strategic gains. But it has shown the Russian public and doubtful Western allies that Russian is not invincible and Kyiv still has offensive capabilities despite being battered on the eastern front.
Zelenskyy has described his proposal as a bridge to the Peace Summit that he has proposed for November but that Russia says it will not attend. No international players capable of swaying Moscow agreed to his earlier 10-point peace plan, which calls for the full withdrawal of Russian forces.
Ukrainian presidential advisors and lawmakers have told The Associated Press that Kyiv will only agree to a cease-fire with Russia if Putins ability to invade the country again is crippled. Any other arrangement would not benefit Ukraines future or honor the sacrifices of its people.
Ukrainian officials have rejected competing proposals from China and Brazil, believing they would merely pause the war and give Moscow time to consolidate its battered army and defense industry.
It will lead to a freezing of the conflict, nothing more: Occupied territories are considered occupied. Sanctions against Russia remain. The intensity of war drops significantly but it continues, said one presidential advisor, who requested anonymity to speak freely.
He predicted that Moscow would recalibrate and attack again, likely from Mykolaiv and Odesa in the south, "within two, three, four years, or maybe even earlier, depending on the state of Russia. Thats the scenario.
Russia's conditions for ending the war are spelled out in a 17-page draft agreement penned in April 2022.
Prolonging the status quo will only play into Russias hands in the long-term, analysts said.
Ukraine will lose more than 1,000 square kilometers (600 miles) by the end of the year, if current conditions continue, said Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst for Information Resistance, a Kyiv-based think tank. We need to understand that if (allies) dont defend Ukraine, it will make this war last for many more years, and finally, make it possible for us to lose the war, he said.
Time will also allow Russian forces to build up its weapons industry, as it did at a frightening pace in the last year, said Kovalenko.
We lack every kind of weapon, and Russia produces their weapons 24 hours a day, Kovalenko said.
Russia has updated its aerial glide bombs, for which Ukraine has no effective countermeasure. They now weigh 3,000 pounds, which is six times bigger than when they were first used in the battle for Bakhmut in 2022, he said.
Soldiers in eastern Ukraine and analysts said long-range Western weapons would be the most effective countermeasure against glide bombs, which have been deployed along the frontline, including in Vuhledar. The mining town's fall would compromise supply lines feeding the southern front and strike a devastating blow to Ukrainian morale.
In his final address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Biden urged Ukraines backers to stand firm.
We cannot grow weary, he said. We cannot look away. (AP)
China said on Wednesday it had successfully conducted a rare launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean, a move likely to raise international concerns about the country's nuclear build-up.
The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force at 8:44 a.m. Beijing time (0044 GMT) on Wednesday and "fell into expected sea areas," the Chinese defence ministry said in a statement, adding that it was a "routine arrangement in our annual training plan" and not directed at any country or target.
China "informed the countries concerned in advance," according to a separate Xinhua report, which did not clarify the path of the missile or where in the "high seas of the Pacific Ocean" it fell.
The launch "effectively tested the performance of weapons and equipment and the training level of the troops, and achieved the expected goal," Xinhua reported.
A Japan Coast Guard official said it had received a navigation warning from China on Monday for "space debris" in three zones in South China Sea and the Pacific north of the Philippines' Luzon island, and in the South Pacific, on Wednesday.
The official declined to confirm whether it was related to the reported missile launch.
It is rare for China to fire long-range missiles into the sea as it prefers to test them unannounced in isolated provinces such as Inner Mongolia, analysts said.
The PLA Rocket Force, which oversees the country's conventional and nuclear missiles, has been tasked with modernising China's nuclear forces in the face of developments such as improved U.S. missile defences, better surveillance capabilities, and strengthened alliances.
Singapore-based security analyst Alexander Neill said that although confirmed details of the missile used were not yet clear, the test fit a pattern of China simultaneously "engaging and warning", noting improved military diplomacy between Beijing and Washington in recent months.
Given recent corruption scandals within the Rocket Force, it was important for China to display that it was "business as usual" at the highest military level, he said.
"This move is designed to show in clear terms that the means of delivering its strategic deterrent is still functioning," said Neill, an adjunct fellow with Hawaii's Pacific Forum think-tank.
Some online trackers noted the launch of the missile from Hainan rather than from an inland silo, meaning it was most likely a test of its growing number of road-mobile long-range missiles.
Some analysts say the speed of China's nuclear build-up goes beyond credible minimum deterrence - the smallest strategic arsenal needed to prevent attacks.
Beijing has for years stuck to a "no first use" nuclear weapons policy, but analysts note the PLA is catching up with major nuclear powers by fielding a nascent triad of weapons that can fired from land, sea and air.
The Chinese military has emphasised that the Central Military Commission, headed by President Xi Jinping, is the only nuclear command authority.
China, frequently criticised by the United States for the opacity of its nuclear build-up, scrapped nuclear talks with Washington in July over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
China has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads in its arsenal, of which approximately 350 are ICBMs, and will probably have over 1,000 warheads by 2030, the Pentagon estimated last year. China's military is constructing hundreds of silos for land-based ICBMs, the Pentagon said in the report.
That compares to 1,770 and 1,710 operational warheads deployed by the U.S. and Russia, respectively. The Pentagon said that by 2030, many of Beijing's weapons will likely be held at higher readiness levels.
Democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained of increased Chinese military activities around the island in the past five years.
Taiwan's defence ministry said on Wednesday it had detected 23 Chinese military aircraft, including J-16 fighters and drones, operating around Taiwan carrying out long-range missions to the southeast and east of the island.
The ministry added it had also recently detected "intensive" Chinese missile firing and other drills, though it did not give details of where that took place.
Taiwan has dispatched its own air and naval forces to keep watch, the ministry said. (Reuters)
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A video of NMIXX Sullyoon and EPEX Baeksung stealing glances from each other is going viral on social media.
On Sept. 23rd, a clip posted on X became a hot topic with over 1.1 million views after showing a subtle interaction between Sullyoon and Baeksung.
The video was taken last month during the Yeosu Summer Music Festival "Y" with Show Champion and the groups mentioned above were both participants.
During the part where all teams gather on the stage, EPEX stood behind NMIXX, and Baeksung glanced first at Sullyoon before fixing his hair.
The female idol who was seemingly aware of the team's presence quickly catches a glimpse of the male star as well while talking with her co-members Kyujin and Jiwoo. While she was speaking, Baeksung's gaze followed him, and he gently smiled.
Following the interaction, an X user wrote the caption, "What's the point of inner beauty?" and a netter on Instiz added, "I would have kept staring at him if I were her, too."
READ ALSO: NMIXX Sullyoon, Stray Kids Lee Know Dating? Idols Raise Relationship Speculations After THIS Footage Fans Defend Idols
Watching the video, it sparked a discussion about whether they are really glancing at each other or just coincidentally meeting eyes because of the distance.
However, seeing two gorgeous entities in one frame, K-Netz confessed that their hearts fluttered and wrote comments, such as:
"I feel like they are both hyper-aware of each other. Ha, this is heart-fluttering."
"They keep staring at each other consciously."
"They were so pretty and handsome that I can't tell who's looking at who. I was the only one who enjoyed what I was seeing."
Some international fans agreed and quoted:
do any one know who is the idol behind sullyoon .his gaze on sullyoon beauty is getting me . He is mesmerized by her beauty . also his height i want that much height hey god https://t.co/YnFfKZnuu4 PRINCESS FELIX (@sullminlix_26) September 24, 2024
RELATED ARTICLE: THIS 4th-Gen Female Idol Frustrates Fans for 'Flirting' With Boy Group: 'Please Just Stick...'
For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz.
KpopStarz owns this article.
Written by Eunice Dela Cruz
Netizens established an online discussion regarding ILLIT's new teaser for their upcoming comeback. In the post, netters speculated that the group must have gone through changes in their concept, and related it to the previous plagiarism accusations during their debut.
On September 24, K-netz started a community thread, titled, "After the Controversy, ILLIT's Concept Was Completely Changed." The post showed several screenshots from ILLIT's "I'LL LIKE YOU' Brand Film" teaser.
Earlier this 2024, BELIFT LAB and HYBE received plagiarism accusations due to the similarities of ILLIT and NewJeans regarding aesthetics and music.
The claims were also mentioned by Min Hee Jin in her viral press conference in April, causing debate in the K-pop community, and prolonging the feud between ADOR and HYBE.
ILLIT's trailer sparked speculations from netizens, who kept a close eye on how ILLIT's concept would change following the accusations.
In the comments, K-netz mentioned how HYBE used Japanese elements in the trailer, while some conveyed that the teaser had "SM vibes." Others also commented that the changes during comebacks were normal.
Read their reactions below:
"Looks like HYBE really likes Japan lately, from the props to the Japanese books and the subtitles, they're all Japanese."
"This is giving me SM vibes. Are they still recruiting their staff?"
"They sure love Japan."
"Rather than NewJeans, this feels like a copy of Red Velvet."
"I can see a bit of f(x)."
"Every time you come back, you're supposed to change concepts, right?"
"It's good that they changed it."
What are your thoughts on this? Share it with us in the comments!
For more K-pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: ILLIT Minju's Message Following ADOR-HYBE Trial Results Draws Attention - Here's Why
KpopStarz owns this article
Written by Israel Monte
Jiangxi launches e-commerce event to celebrate Chinese farmers' harvest festival
People's Daily Online) 15:24, September 25, 2024
Livestreamers promote farm produce in Taihe county, east China's Jiangxi Province, Sept. 22, 2024. (People's Daily Online/Shi Yu)
The 2024 Jiangxi e-commerce consumption season kicked off in Taihe county, east China's Jiangxi Province, on Sept. 22 , coinciding with the seventh Chinese farmers' harvest festival.
Major e-commerce platforms participated by promoting the province's farm produce through livestreams. "New farmers" young, tech-savvy agricultural workers skilled in digital marketing and livestreaming also showcased agricultural products from their hometowns.
In recent years, Jiangxi has partnered with leading e-commerce platforms to boost agricultural sales.
Statistics show that in the first half of this year, Jiangxi's online retail sales of agricultural products reached 12.22 billion yuan ($1.7 billion). This marks a 39.4 percent increase from the same period last year, surpassing the national average growth rate by 10.5 percentage points.
(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
As part of Local Development Week, your local development company, Laois Partnership Company is inviting you to visit their premises in Portlaoise to learn about the myriad services available across the county.
Local Development Week, which runs from Monday, 23rd September to Friday, 27th September 2024, is a weeklong celebration that spotlights the vital role Local Development Companies (LDCs) play in building vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable communities throughout Ireland, and Laois Partnership Company is having an open morning at their headquarters on the New Road in Portlaoise on Friday 27th at 11am.
Laois Partnership Company moved into their new headquarters at the old St Francis School on the New Road Portlaoise in September 2022, and CEO, Caroline Lydon extends a warm welcome to anyone interested in learning more about what your local development company can do for you.
On the day, you will have the chance to speak to the staff to get a better idea of how Laois Partnership Company can help you or your community to grow
Supports and funding are available through the various programmes that the company delivers to enable individuals, groups, and businesses to reach their full potential, all with the goal of making Laois a better place to live.
Laois Partnership Company is there to support quality of life for all ages across every sector of society, from childcare to services for the elderly, work placements and community engagement, and investment in social, rural, and economic development. Among the many projects that Laois Partnership Company has supported are the Ballinakill playground, BloomHQ in Mountrath, and local businesses such as Ballykilcavan Brewery and Glamping Under The Stars.
Laois Partnership Company moved into their new headquarters at the old St Francis School on the New Road Portlaoise in September 2022, and CEO, Caroline Lydon extends a warm welcome to anyone interested in learning more about what your local development company can do for you.
Laois Partnership Company has been operated in Laois for over twenty years and has supported so many valuable projects and communities across the county, yet people are still unclear about what it is we do. We want to change that so that there is greater awareness of this sector and that those who could benefit from some of our programmes know how to reach us. As CEO of Laois Partnership Company, I am delighted to participate in this local development week promotion, said Caroline.
Employing over 2,000 people across Ireland, the Local Development Sector works tirelessly to support community development, social inclusion, enterprise, and environmental sustainability. Local Development Week 2024 provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the impactful work LDCs do daily, enhancing the quality of life in towns and villages across the country.
Laois Partnership Company hopes that the open morning at 11am on Friday, 27th September will inspire you to become more involved in your community and see how everyone can work together to build a brighter future for Laois.
For more information, and to register your attendance, please contact Laois Partnership Company on 05786 61900 or info@laoispartnership.ie To learn more about our supports please visit our website at www.laoispartnership.ie
UPGRADES costing almost 320,000 are getting underway in Mountrath, ranging from a redesign of the town square to improved landscaping and signage along the river walk.
The Mountrath Town Team (MTT) secured funding for a series of projects, which will be implemented over the next year to regenerate the town centre.
MTT chairman Mark Sheeran said: We are committed to implementing these schemes over the course of the next year. People living and visiting Mountrath will start to see real improvements in our town centre. The group secured a total of 316,800 in the past 12 months for four key projects, in collaboration with Laois County Council.
The largest slice of funding is 250,0000 under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme which will see improvements to The Square, better public lighting in the town centre, improved landscaping and signage along the river walk and Patrick Street and enhancements to the farmers market.
Another 50,000 will be spent on redesigning The Square, as part of a Town and Village Project Development Measure.
Meanwhile, a design project to explore ways to enhance the White Horse River as an amenity received 10,000 from the Irish Architecture Foundation, while 6,800 was granted under the Community Climate Action Fund to provide a bicycle repair station, rack and shelter in the town centre.
Consultation clinics will be held in Mountrath over the next year to get feedback and input on the schemes from residents, businesses, community groups and people who visit the town.
More information is available from Denise Rainey, Town Regeneration Officer with Laois County Council. by emailing drainey@laoiscoco.ie.
Gordon Deegan
Post-tax profits at independent tour operator, Paddywagon, more than doubled last year to 402,513.
New accounts show that the post tax profits of 402,513 in the 12 months to the end of October last follow post tax profits of 161,848 in 2022.
The profit for last year resulted in accumulated profits of 2.3 million at the end of October last.
In the buoyant year for the business, the companys cash funds increased from 1.87 million to 2.23 million.
The profits for 2023 and 2022 followed two years of Covid losses where the pandemic resulted in post-tax loss of 1.07 million in 2021 and a pre-tax loss of 1.33 million in 2020.
During 2023, the company invested in its fleet of trademark green buses with accounts showing additions of 1.5 million and disposals of 275,000 under 'motor vehicles'.
The accounts show that at the end of October 2023, the book value of the firms vehicles was 5.29 million.
The company operates the Kingdom Lodge in Killarney while it is now operating the Frantic Chef restaurant in Liscannor a short distance on the Wild Atlantic Bay from Irelands busiest natural visitor attraction at the Cliffs of Moher.
The Paddywagon business was boosted in 2023 with visitor numbers rebounding at the Cliffs of Moher and numbers at the visitor attraction to the end of May were 440,000 and are in line with 2023.
The firm offers Day Tours for all of the most popular attractions in Ireland including the Giants Causeway, Cliffs of Moher, Wicklow Mountains, Kilkenny, Connemara & Galway, County Kerry, Belfast City, Blarney Castle & County Cork.
Paddywagon is one of the best known brand names in Irish tourism where in 2024 the total estimated expenditure of the visitors here was 7.3 billion.
The firm increased its profits after its non-cash depreciation costs reduced from 1.17 million to 311,553.
The profits also take account of the disposal of 400,000 of shares in subsidiary undertakings and the corresponding reduction in value of financial assets from 400,000 to zero.
Numbers employed last year remained at the same level at 58.
The business was established by Cathal OConnell in 1998 and last year pay to directors, Cathal OConnell and Cormac OConnell increased from 15,344 sharply to 172,337 that included a pension contribution of 1,807.
The company paid rent of 111,703 to parent firm, Paddywagon Holdings Ltd.
Jersey Mike's Subs held a grand opening at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, before local dignitaries and chain representatives. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held just prior to the opening by the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann | For lehighvalleylive.com
In 2020, Grand Central Landfill was denied a request to expand its operations onto adjacent property. Plans are underway to renew that request.
Waste Management has applied to Plainfield Township for a zoning map amendment and two text amendments to the zoning ordinance.
The Plainfield Township Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss the matter at their regular meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at the municipal building at 6292 Sullivan Trail.
The supervisors would vote at some later date.
Waste Management is asking the township to consider changing the zoning designation of 211 acres adjacent to the current landfill. Eighty-one of those acres would be used for landfill operations.
The land on the east side of Pen Argyl Road is zoned for farm and forest uses. Waste Management wants that changed to use for solid waste processing and disposal.
The current landfill has about four more years of permitted operating space, according to Waste Management representative Adrienne Fors. In 2020, Fors said the rezoning would allow a 20-year extension to the landfill.
In 2020, Waste Management representatives stated the expansion would mean about $7 million in annual tax revenue for Plainfield Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania and the Pen Argyl Area School District. Neighboring boroughs of Pen Argyl and Wind Gap also receive benefits from the landfill.
Many speakers in crowds of up to 200 people who attended multiple meetings in 2020 said they were unimpressed by the benefits.
Multiple people who spoke at meetings objected to foul-smelling odors that have emanated from the landfill over the years.
Glenn Borger is the only supervisor who remains on the board that voted not send Waste Managements 2020 rezoning request to the townships planning commission. The four other supervisors that make up the five-person board took their seats in the years since that 2020 vote.
If the land is rezoned, Grand Central Landfill will need to apply to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to permit the expanded landfill.
Plainfield Township and other local communities will have an opportunity to participate in the DEP application process.
If continued operations are approved and permitted, there would be no change in permitted waste types accepted at the facility, the site would accept the same average waste volumes, and the designated truck route to and from the site would remain the same, according to Fors.
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Major changes in the oversight of the states top law enforcement agency were ordered Tuesday, following the release of two reports into widespread complaints of gender and race discrimination within the New Jersey State Police, which has long been accused of being an old-boys network steeped in cronyism.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin is moving the human resources department and equal employment division out of the control of the State Police and into the Attorney Generals office and ordering reforms to the hiring process so that the demographics of the NJSP will better reflect the diversity of the state it serves.
He also said the agency must develop an alternative mechanism for reporting misconduct within the State Police.
And he announced changes to the sick-leave policy and physical fitness tests to make the force a more desirable workplace for women by having policies in place that do not negatively impact pregnant and post-partum women.
Among the other changes that were announced:
A review of all confidential position designations, as well as a review of the practice and frequency of transfers within State Police, so that these positions and practices serve the stated purposes and are not subject to manipulation.
Implementing annual, mandatory in-service Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training for all members, along with training on sexual harassment, and retaliation, and the implementation of an anti-hazing policy.
A restructuring of the State Police academy training program to incorporate best practices.
And a requirement that State Police notify the states Office of Professional Integrity and Accountability, or OPIA, of all complaints made against senior leadership and the agencys internal affairs office.
New Jersey troopers are tasked with the difficult, but vital, responsibility of keeping our state safe. While most troopers discharge these duties with distinction, these investigations revealed deeply troubling conduct and systemic problems within the New Jersey State Police that demand reform, said Platkin in a statement. These investigations found that there are favored members at the State Police, and some members hesitate to report discrimination or misconduct for fear of reprisals. This cannot continue.
Col. Patrick Callahan, the superintendent of the State Police, said he recognized the need for reform and agreed to accept the measures recommended by the attorney general.
We cannot allow these problems to tarnish the honor and fidelity that so many men and women in this uniform live by, he said, also in a statement, calling the issues that had been raised as contrary to the founding principles of the Division of the New Jersey State Police.
A state federal inquiry into the claims of racial and gender discrimination within the State Police which came to light in December, meanwhile, is apparently still ongoing, state officials said.
That review came after former troopers and New Jersey civil rights leaders called on the U.S. Justice Department to act in the wake of at least 25 lawsuits by Black, female and LGBTQ troopers alleging a rampant, deep-rooted pattern and practice of discrimination.
Among them included four woman who cited the long and notorious history of engaging in patterns and practices of gender discrimination in all aspects of employment by the State Police.
In their ongoing lawsuit, they charged that the force continues to mistreat and discriminate against women, has excluded them from promotion and at times, excluded even from the promotional process for the rank of major and lieutenant colonel. They also accused the agency of a flagrant disregard for and failure to abide by the merit-based promotion process, while engaging in cronyism and conflicts of interest.
Another complaint, just recently amended by Maj. Brian Polite the former top spokesman for the State Police alleges he was passed over for promotions and subjected to racist taunts from white colleagues, including one who called him the HNIC, which the lawsuit said meant Head (N-word) in Charge.
N.J. State Police Major Brian PoliteMichael Mancuso
Those lawsuits now shadow the recent appointment of former State Police Deputy Superintendent Geoffrey D. Noble, who is expected to start as Massachusetts State Police colonel next month and has been named in the complaints.
Beyond the allegations of discrimination over the hiring and promotion within the New Jersey State Police, the agency remains under fire as well for how it does its job. A state watchdog in May said that despite repeated warnings and critical internal reports, and a federal consent decree, the State Police seemingly turned a blind eye to the possibility that discrimination was to blame for the continued adverse treatment of racial and ethnic minorities.
That report issued by the Office of the State Comptroller also complained that both the State Police and the Attorney Generals Office of Law Enforcement Professional Standards, which monitors the agencys practices, failed to produce all the documents it requested for review, redacted others, or asserted without sufficient explanation that certain documents and information were privileged.
Internal affairs weaponized...
The moves by Platkin on Tuesday came in response to a report was prepared by the law firm of Kaufman Dolowich, which had been retained to review the recruitment, hiring, and promotional practices and workplace environment at the State Police. There is also a second report from the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, or OPIA, detailing the findings made against a now-retired lieutenant which the attorney general said also uncovered extensive problems with how internal affairs matters have been handled at State Police.
According to the attorney general, both investigative teams found that the internal affairs function of the State Police was weaponized against some troopers, while those favored by management operated with impunity.
In one instance examined during OPIAs investigation, the lieutenant responding to an anonymous complaint, which is expressly permitted under the Attorney Generals Internal Affairs Policy and Procedures, focused the investigation on identifying the anonymous complainant rather than the allegations raised in the complaint which accused a member of the State Police with whom the lieutenant was close, of making a racist comment about a senior Black member of the State Police.
According to the Attorney Generals office, the report found that the lieutenant took unprecedented steps and squandered state resources attempting to identify the target of the alleged racist comment as the author of the anonymous letter. The investigative steps included obtaining typewriter samples, video, fueling records, and fingerprints, and seeking DNA testing in contradiction to direct orders and internal policies of the New Jersey State Police lab.
The anonymous author was never identified despite these inappropriate investigative steps.
The report by Kaufman Dolowich followed a four-year inquiry into allegations of race and gender discrimination at the State Police, which included a detailed statistical analysis of whether existing practices had unintentionally created systemic discrimination.
It found that a decade after the State Police reformed its promotional process to one that is more structured and objective, the agency still lacks diversity in its higher ranks.
Approximately 150 troopers and former troopers agreed to confidential interviews with the majority believing that they were subjected to gender and race discrimination.
Among the reports recommendations included an evaluation of the leadership and culture at Troop A in South Jersey, where reports of discrimination and bullying were most prevalent.
__
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Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TedShermanSL.
Pennsylvania has one of the richest hunting heritages in the nation, so it makes sense that it would have one of the largest hunting populations in the country. But, in a state where the vast majority of the land is privately owned, theres also a surprising amount of publicly accessible land to pursue deer, turkeys, black bear and other game species.
Within its borders, the Keystone State has about 28.8 million acres of land. Of that total, according to information from the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC), at least 6 million acres are open to public hunting. That equates to more than 20% of the total land in the state, pretty impressive for a heavily populated East Coast state.
The most well-known of the states public hunting-land options is the PGCs State Game Lands (SGL) system, which started in 1920 with a 6,288-acre parcel in Elk County. PGC spokesman Travis Lau said today, there are roughly 1,535,000 acres across 312 game lands, with game lands in every county except Delaware County. Even Philadelphia has an SGL now, with a small, 17-acre parcel opened to bowhunting just this year.
Locally, the Lehigh Valley is home to all or part of three State Game Lands the 1,314-acre SGL 205 off Route 100 in Lehigh County; the 7,805-acre SGL 168 on the Blue Mountain in Northampton, Carbon and Monroe counties; and the 8,613-acre SGL 217 on the Blue in Lehigh, Carbon and Schuylkill counties.
Approximately 1,174 acres have been added so far this year, though there are additional acquisitions pending that have been approved but not yet finalized, Lau said. We prioritize certain types of properties and acquisitions, including those that fill in indentures to, adjoin or improve access to existing game lands; those where some unique or otherwise important habitat feature or wildlife species exists; and those near population centers or acquired through donation or partnership.
These are just a few examples, but some of the more common priorities exhibited in properties we acquire.
In addition to its SGLs, the PGC also partners with private landowners who are willing to open their land to public hunting through a program called the Hunter Access Program. Currently, there are approximately 1.65 million farmland and forest acres open to hunting through this program.
State Game Lands 205 off Route 100 in Lehigh County is one of 312 SGLs owned by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, providing more than 1,535,000 acres of land open to public hunting.Mark Demko | For lehighvalleylive.com
Other public hunting opportunities include about 2.2 million acres of state forest and more than 240,000 acres of state parks managed under the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), as well as the 70,000-acre Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and 500,000-plus acres in the Allegheny National Forest in the western part of the state.
DCNR spokesman Wesley Robinson said 100 of the 124 state parks are open to public hunting during established hunting seasons. Locally, these include the 1,164-acre Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center near Belfast off Route 33.
Its important to note that some state parks, especially those in the southeastern part of the state, have special regulations or restrictions when it comes to hunting, so interested individuals need to do their homework before showing up to hunt.
Hunters should use extreme caution with firearms at all times, Robinson said. Other visitors use the parks during hunting seasons. Firearms and archery equipment used for hunting may be uncased and ready for use only in authorized hunting areas during hunting seasons.
In addition to the above-mentioned programs, there are also other hunting opportunities through township and county parks, as well as land preservation organizations such as The Nature Conservancy. Just one example is Trexler Nature Preserve in the Schnecksville area. Part of Lehigh County parks system, the 1,495-acre preserve provides bowhunting opportunities on some of its land. Other Lehigh County-owned properties like Leaser Lake are also open for hunting, as are a number of parks owned by Northampton County.
While public-land hunting opportunities are plentiful in the state, the number of hunters using public land may surprise some. Every couple of years, the PGC conducts a Hunter Survey that surveys hunters on a variety of topics, one of which is whether they hunt public land, private land or both.
In the 2024 survey, which covered the 2023-24 hunting-license year, some 9,300 hunters were surveyed, with 47% responding. Of those, 56% said they hunted only private land, while 23 percent hunted both public and private. Only 21% of respondents said they hunted public land exclusively.
Statistically, thats similar to the 2021-22 hunting-license year survey of 6,000 hunters, in which 55% of respondents said they only hunted private land and 16% only hunted public land. For that year, 29% said they hunted both.
If youre interested in exploring a new piece of public ground this year, its easier than ever to get started since there are now so many online resources and apps to assist you. Hunting apps like onX, HuntStand and Spartan Forge are excellent tools since they highlight public- and private-land boundaries, plus provide 2- and 3-D maps and a host of other resources to help with planning your next big- or small-game outing.
The PGC also offers an excellent Mapping Center through pgc.pa.gov that individuals can use to explore its Game Lands system and identify the private properties enrolled in the Hunter Access Program, while the DCNR offers the same for its state forests and parks at dcnr.pa.gov.
If you need a new place to hunt, or your old spot is no longer producing like youd hoped, dont forget to explore Pennsylvanias public-land options. There are more publicly accessible acres out there than you think, and one of these parcels just might lead you to your next trophy or meal for the dinner table.
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A fine was handed down to a man who admitted having cannabis and cocaine in Laois.
Aristot Tambidila (27) with an address at 7 Millbrook, Portlaoise but who now lives in Dublin admitted having cocaine and cannabis at a house in Millbrook on August 3, 2021. He also admitted having cannabis at Market Square, Portlaoise on August 8, 2022.
Garda Sergeant JJ Kirby said cocaine valued at 35 and cannabis valued at 20 was found during a search of a house in Millbrook on August 3,2021. The man was found with cannabis valued at 20 at Market Square, Portlaoise on August 8, 2022, he said.
Sgt Kirby said the man would be well known to the court and had 53 previous convictions.
He fell into the wrong company as a young fellow, said Sgt Kriby.
I havent really got into trouble in about two or three years, the accused told the sitting of Portlaoise District Court. He said he is now living in Dublin.
I did a few courses when I got out of prison last year, he explained.
Brian Mallon BL said his client was pleading guilty to the offences. He said the man was working in construction earning around 500 a week.
Mr Mallon asked if the court would consider offering his client the opportunity to make a contribution to charity rather than face a conviction. He said the man was no longer using any controlled substances.
Judge Nicola Andrews said the particulars of each case determined whether they were suitable for poor box contributions.
She said the case has been listed in the court eight times yet it was only being finalised now.
Noting the defendants huge list of convictions, Judge Andrews fined the man 1,000 and gave him six months to pay.
However, the defendant appealed for a reduction and said his monthly bills were so high that 1,000 is too much for me.
Judge Andrews reduced the fine to 500 with six months to pay.
Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly has attached stringent conditions including a tight timeframe in naming the site for the new Midlands Hospice which will serve Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford.
A statement from the Department of Health said the 20-bed facility will be developed at the Arden Lane site in Tullamore. However, the caveat from Minister Donnelly is that this is subject to planning permission, and a plan to service the site being completed within twelve months.
Nevertheless, the Fianna Fail Minister, who had been accused by Laois Hospice of indecision over the location, said he was "delighted" to approve the site for a project which had 20 million approved in September 2022.
The new development will provide a hub for the provision of specialist palliative care services across the Midlands, including day care, outpatient, inpatient and community services.
Palliative care is a crucial part of our health service, providing expert and compassionate care to people who need end-of-life care or who have life-limiting conditions. I was delighted to launch recently the new palliative care strategy and to allocate several million euro in new annual funding. This will in part be able to support palliative care services for the people of the Midlands, he said.
A statement from his Department said a number of locations were considered but the Arden Lane scored highest in a process run by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Minister Donnelly added that is priority is to ensure that work on the new Midlands Hospice proceeds immediately to deliver this important development for the people of the region.
He set out the stipulations attached to the Arden Lane decision and added that the hospice might end up at another location.
I am concerned at any prospect of this project being delayed by years and to address concerns raised with me, I am stipulating that within twelve months, planning for the new hospice at Arden Lane must be granted, along with an agreed road widening plan and funded commitments from the relevant state bodies to bring services to the Arden Lane site.
Should these criteria not be met, I am instructing my Department and the HSE to revert at that point to the Wellwood site, should it still be available, as the designated site.
I would like to acknowledge the work of local community groups, palliative care professionals, hospice providers, the HSE, and all those who have worked tirelessly to progress a hospice for the Midlands, he said.
A statement said the Minister has written to the HSE CEO and Regional Executive Officer for HSE Dublin and Midlands outlining the progress that must be made within twelve months, and that officials in the Department of Health will work closely with the HSE to monitor progress on this important infrastructural development on behalf of the people of the Midlands.
Both sites came on the horizon after the original location on the grounds of the Midlands Hospital Tullamore was deemed unsuitable after the funding was announced by the then Taoiseach Micheal Martin in 2022.
This led to a consultation process with a consensus reached that the Arden View site was the best location as it was a bigger site. The consultation ended in February 2024 with an announcement promised soon afterwards.
The delay in reaching the latest decision led to Laois Hospice, which was consulted on the location, accusing the Minister for Health of indecision.
The department said a commitment was given as part of National Service Plan 2024 to progress the development of plans for the new specialist palliative care inpatient unit at the Tullamore location. It is also a Programme for Government commitment.
The Department add that a key part of the HSE Dublin/Mid Leinster Palliative Care Development Plan is the establishment of a Specialist Palliative Care Unit (hospice) to serve the counties of Laois, Offaly, Longford, and Westmeath.
The Department of Health insists that 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.
In 2024, the palliative care budget allocated was over 155 million, a 50% increase on 2020.
The campaign to have a dedicated hospice to serve the four midland counties has been ongoing for many years. Pat Bennett, a regional manager with the HSE, told a public meeting of Laois Hospice in Portlaoise in 2016 that it would cost an estimated 9.5 million to build and 2.5 million to run annually. The same meeting heard that Tullamore was the preferred location.
A cancer patient from Laois has spoken out about her experience of grappling with the financial implications of a cancer diagnosis ahead of Budget 2025.
Borris-in-Ossory resident Samantha Vaughan is backing the Irish Cancer Society's call on the government to deliver sustained, recurrent funding for the National Cancer Strategy.
Samantha said getting a cancer diagnosis and then grappling with the financial implications felt like a huge burden at a time when she should have been resting.
The mother-of-four was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2023, at age 48, and struggled with the loss of income and additional financial pressures her diagnosis caused.
You're constantly trying to think ahead of the cancer, but then you have the huge burden of running a household, paying bills and making sure there's food on the table and a roof over your head. Then you have the cost of travelling to the hospital, paying for treatment I had to wait nine weeks for a medical card to cover me. Im in Laois so weve to travel to Cork, its 50 in the car going up and down, then youve got the tolls, and parking charges in the hospital.
Ahead of Budget 2025 the Irish Cancer Society is calling for: Funding for hospitals to abolish car parking charges for cancer patients. Medical cards for all cancer patients upon diagnosis, until their treatment is finished. Automatic entitlement to the Household Benefits Package, Fuel Allowance and Additional Needs Payment, and electricity credits for cancer patients in palliative care for the remainder of their life. Abolishment of prescription charges for all medical card holders. Reduction of the Drugs Payment Scheme threshold to at least 72 per month and expansion of the Domiciliary Care Allowance eligibility criteria from 16 to 18 years of age.
Steve Dempsey, Director of Advocacy and Communications, Irish Cancer Society said, Many cancer patients are going through the emotional and physical toll of cancer treatment while being crushed rising bills and struggling to make ends meet. Were urging Government to fully fund the National Cancer Strategy and to cut the costs for cancer patients in Budget 2025. Having cancer is hard enough, patients shouldnt be worrying about paying for parking and medicines.
Uisce Eireann (Irish Water) has responded to criticism by Laois councillors that it is preventing growth of towns and villages outside of Portlaoise.
Laois County Council local representatives complained at their recent meeting that the company was "a monster" which didn't respond to them, and that towns including Mountmellick are unable to grow due to inadequate sewerage systems.
In a detailed reply, the company lists its current and future plans for Laois.
"In Laois, Uisce Eireann has invested in wastewater infrastructure in Castletown and Portlaoise, which has improved water quality while supporting housing and economic development in these areas. Works under the national Inlet Works, Storm, and Sludge Programme have also been completed. In addition, plans are progressing for the Portlaoise WwTP and Ballyroan WwTP.
"Assessments are underway or planned for Ballinakill WwTP, Borris-in-Ossory WwTP, Coolanagh WwTP, Kileen WwTP, Mountmellick WwTP, Portarlington WwTP to identify the nature of the pressures and appropriate solutions such as upgrades to the wastewater treatment plants. Assessments are being completed on an on-going basis up to end 2027, after which suitable projects will follow subject to funding and statutory consents.
"Uisce Eireann is currently undertaking Drainage Area Plans (DAPs) for Portlaoise, Mountmellick and Portarlington. A Drainage Area Plan (DAP) is a four-stage study/process which covers hydraulic, environmental, structural, service and operational performance and risks within a drainage area.
"Stage 4 services for Portlaoise are set to conclude in 2025 and will include the development of improvement plans and intervention studies to address the network needs.
"Mountmellick and Portarlington DAPs are currently at Stage 2 which includes extensive network surveys and hydraulic model build and verification. Stage 4 for both is scheduled to conclude in 2029. Future schemes arising from the DAPs will follow subject to funding and statutory consents.
"Uisce Eireann has upgrade projects for a number of wastewater pumping station sites across Laois presently being assessed through various capital programmes (growth & development, environmental compliance, capital maintenance). These include; Bridge WwPS (Durrow), The Hermitage WwPS (Portlaoise), Borris Road WWPS (Portlaoise), Swimming Pool WwPS (Portarlington), Sweetview WwPS (Abbeyleix), Bellair WwPS (Clonaslee), Ballacollig WwPS (Mountmellick), The Vale WwPS (Graiguecullen).
The company also described the amount invested nationally in water and sewerage supplies in recent years.
"Uisce Eireann's investment in Ireland's wastewater infrastructure is benefiting communities around the country by supporting growth and development, enhancing water quality and protecting the environment. 2022 saw the highest annual investment in wastewater to date of over 450m as Uisce Eireann continues to make progress in priority areas such as locations where there is raw sewage entering the rivers, lakes and the sea, sites identified by the European Court of Justice under the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive and sites where urban wastewater is a significant pressure.
"The building, repair and upgrading of Ireland's wastewater treatment plants and sewer network will require a multi-billion-euro investment programme over many years. Uisce Eireann is focused on delivering the best possible service improvements while maximising return on investment.
"In addition to building new infrastructure where none existed previously, Uisce Eireann is also driving sustained improvement in existing wastewater treatment standards. Last year, 91% of Ireland's treatment plants were fully compliant with the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. For those plants that are not currently achieving compliance, Uisce Eireann has a plan of action to address any deficiencies and bring them up to the appropriate standard as quickly as possible."
They say Laois County Council decides on who can switch from septic tanks to the public sewers.
"Wastewater collection needs for settlements without access to public wastewater services, or where there is a desire to remove properties from septic tanks and connect to the public system, is the responsibility of the Local Authority. UE will work with Local Authorities to agree any future proposals in this regard.
"New connection enquiries for zoned lands are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Where there are network constraints, UE works with applicants to establish the upgrades required to facilitate connection."
The update came after councillors complained about a lack of residential zoned land in Laois, outside Portlaoise.
Met Eireann says its ability to accurately predict storms and other severe weather events has been enhanced thanks to a new supercomputer which has just been deployed.
The national forecaster has joined forces with colleagues in Denmark, Iceland and the Netherlands to respond to climate change with more timely weather forecasting on the new supercomputer which is now operational.
This, it says, will help each nation to prepare for the impacts of weather patterns, which are expected to become more extreme and more challenging to forecast.
Due to it's processing power and speed, the new supercomputer will also allow for forecasts and storm predictions to be updated more often than is currently thee case.
READ ALSO: Ireland storm risk increases as weather models show brutal conditions on the way
Eoin Sherlock, Head of the Forecasting Division at Met Eireann, said the supercomputer will provide Met Eireann with a higher resolution view of the weather forecast, leading to better forecasting and warnings.
"Overall, this new model version allows us to get a better handle on the uncertainty of the predictions," he explained
"Numerical Weather Prediction models are run a number of times with slightly different initial conditions, each of these then providing slightly different outcomes. This is known as an Ensemble Prediction System (EPS) and Met Eireanns previous operational model consisted of fifteen EPS 'members', or individual runs. With the new supercomputer, we have doubled that number, so our probabilistic analyses and the forecasters understanding of complex scenarios will certainly benefit from that, he added.
Eoin Moran, Director of Met Eireann, has welcomed the collaboration between the different forecasters: Pulling together the expertise from our four countries allows us to prepare for the future faster and more efficiently. Making our common forecasting system operational is the culmination of five years of intense cooperation on computer and models by the four institutes. It represents not only a technical achievement but the confirmation that joining expertise and experience can lead to greater things," he said.
The new model domain extensively covers an area from East Greenland to southern Italy, dividing the geographical area in squares of 2km in size, an improvement compared to the 2.5km grid of the previous model version Met Eireann operated. The model represents the atmosphere vertically in the form of 90 levels, a substantial increase from the 65 levels of the previous operational model. These are resolution improvements which translate into better representation of the meteorological parameters across the domain.
The new model is running every hour, while the previous computing capabilities allowed it to run every three hours. This means more timely model updates to the forecasters, feeding the Met Eireann processes for updating the forecast and issuing warnings.
A company is seeking planning permission to construct a new office unit at a business park located in South Kildare.
Iron Mountain Ireland Limited is seeking permission from Kildare County Council for the development, which would be located Unit 1, Gateway Business Park, Gallows Hill, Dublin Road in Athy.
The applicant is seeking to construct a new 85 square metre detached single-storey office unit.
The description of the application notes that this unit 'is located on the west side and in front of the existing detached single storey modular office unit, that which retention is being sought for: a new concrete platform connecting the proposed and existing detached units.'
Permission is also being sought for all associated site works.
In addition, the business is seeking to retain a 112 sqm detached single-storey modular office unit located on the west side of the existing factory building; permission is once again being sought for all associated site works.
The date received is listed as September 16 last, while the submission-by and due dates are listed as October 20 and November 12 respectively.
The business information website SoloCheck.ie shows that Iron Mountain Ireland Ltd was established in 1995.
According to the website, Iron Mountain Ireland Ltd specialises in 'general (overall) public service activities', while the business says on its own official website that it specialises in records and information management.
It has an address listed as Damastown Rise, Damastown Industrial Estate, Damastown, Dublin 15, County Dublin.
Moneycube.ie is inviting business owners and employees in Kildare to register their interest in receiving one-to-one retirement planning advice with a visit from its Pop-Up Pension Test Centre.
The Pop-Up Pension Test Centre initiative forms part of Pensions Awareness Week 2024 (PAW24), which runs run this week until Friday, September 28. The pop-up events can be booked during PAW24 but can run any time over the coming months across all workplaces in Ireland.
As part of the offer, the Moneycube.ie team will visit the offices of businesses around the country to conduct National Pensions Tests (NPTs) and provide one-to-one information sessions on a variety of financial wellbeing topics.
Launched to mark the beginning of PAW24, the new NPT is designed to gauge peoples readiness to start a pension. It also will test their knowledge of how to track the performance of their investments, their readiness for retirement, and their understanding of optimal employee benefits.
The theme of PAW24 is: You wouldnt ignore your NCT, why neglect your NPT?
With that in mind, and to raise awareness about retirement planning, Moneycube.ie is also offering a free will to all those who take the test.
It is expected that after the NPT, employees will have a more complete understanding of why they should start a pension, their pension contributions, the company benefits to which they are entitled, and how much income they will need enjoy a comfortable retirement.
To register to host a free Pop-Up Pensions Test Centre for PAW24, businesses are requested to fill out the online form.
The NPT is also available online via the PAW24 website www.pensionsawarenessweek.ie along with the NPT Calculator, an online dashboard which helps people calculate the savings they will need for retirement.
PAW24 is a designed to raise awareness about retirement planning and to help people take charge of their long-term savings. Backed by a host of business industry partners, PAW24 is an initiative from Moneycube.ie, experts in the pensions industry.
PAW24 partners include including New Ireland, Standard Life, Zurich Life, the Retirement Planning Council of Ireland, Ibec, the Small Firms Association, and Royal London Ireland.
Feargal McKenna, Head of Corporate at Moneycube.ie, said Moneycube.ie is delighted to announce the launch of our Pop-Up Pensions Test Centres, an initiative which forms part of Pensions Awareness Week 2024 (PAW24). Companies from all over Ireland are eligible to apply to host one of our pop-up centres and we encourage those who might want one-to-one advice about starting a pension, tracking the performance of their investment, and whether they have sufficient money set aside for retirement, to register their interest online via the PAW24 website.
For more information on PAW24, visit PensionsAwarenessWeek.ie
Aldi has initiated a recruitment campaign to hire 40 open roles in Kildare. The retailer, marking 25 years in business in Ireland this year, is looking to recruit new team members for its network of nine Kildare stores and its Naas distribution centre ahead of the busy Christmas period. The open roles are a mix of both new jobs and backfill positions.
Employment Benefits
The starting rate for store assistants and warehouse operatives is a market-leading 14.80 per hour.
In addition to competitive pay, new recruits will have access to dedicated employee benefits and comprehensive wellbeing support. Moreover, ALDI prioritises career progression opportunities for its employees; with initiatives such as the Women in Leadership Programme, which focuses on improving opportunities for women to progress to leadership roles across the business.
Brian OShea, HR Director at ALDI Ireland, said, "ALDI is dedicated to not only providing exceptional products and services to our customers but also creating a rewarding and supportive environment for our employees. Our commitment to offering market-leading pay, comprehensive benefits, and a focus on employee wellbeing underscores our belief in nurturing a motivated and fulfilled workforce.
ALDI Ireland
The announcement comes as ALDI marks 25 years in Ireland in 2024. Since opening its first store in the country back in 1999, ALDIs network has grown to 162 stores, bringing ALDIs famed value and unbeatable prices to the communities it operates in. One of the largest retailers operating here, ALDI employ over 4,650 people across its 162-store network in Ireland. ALDI has invested more than 10 billion with Irish suppliers since 1999 and currently work with a network of more than 330 Irish businesses. The retailer spent more than 22 million with 12 Kildare-based suppliers last year.
How to Apply
Recruitment across the country is currently underway for various roles, including positions at new stores as well as filling existing vacancies. ALDI encourages interested individuals to apply promptly as the company continues its expansion efforts and experiences heightened demand across its existing store network in preparation for the upcoming Christmas season.
Interested applicants can apply for open vacancies through www.aldirecruitment.ie.
A fresh inquest has been requested into the death of a man in a hospital Londonderry following a road crash.
John OSullivan, a Customs and Excise Officer from County Donegal, died following the incident in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Altnagelvin Hospital in 1973.
His family have raised questions, contending that on arrival at the hospital, doctors had assessed his chance of recovery as reasonable.
In the same period of time, two police officers from the then Royal Ulster Constabulary were admitted to the same ICU following a republican paramilitary attack.
Mr OSullivans family said they understand he died when his assisted breathing apparatus became disconnected.
They said there was no RUC investigation into his death in hospital, and an open verdict was later recorded by the local Coroner following an inquest in Derry.
They also said they have been refused a request by the Northern Ireland Office for a public inquiry.
They are now requesting that the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, Dame Brenda Kind directs a Coroner to conduct a fresh inquest into his death.
They said there are questions to be answered around inconsistencies, discrepancies and questions which could be addressed by way of a coronial investigation.
In a statement they said: Our family firstly, has endured five decades of guessing about the last moments of life for an adored son, cherished brother, loved husband and caring father, in his unaccounted death while recovering within the ICU at Altnagelvin Hospital in 1973, a needless death when secondly, his initial assessment looking so promising, he having so much more to offer, ever-more devastating for our late mother.
We thirdly, only recently finding original inquest papers that were previously thought lost and our home being in the Republic of Ireland, we considered these questions on his death being limited. However, we have now made an application to the Attorney General for Northern Ireland for her to direct a fresh inquest into his death.
They added: There are too many questions remaining which can still be answered by an independent coronial investigation.
There was no police investigation: the original inquest was flawed: the only path cruelly offered to a widow with a young family, being to engage in a protracted five-year civil action against a health authority answering no questions.
This ICU was meant to be a sanctuary of clinical care with a code of safety, offering a shield in the expected recovery of our loved one. These systems failed him failed our family and most importantly our mother, and lastly these unanswered questions could continue to endanger others loved ones even today.
Representing the family, Christopher Stanley of KRW Law said a fresh inquest could answer the familys questions.
KRW has applied to the Attorney General for Northern Ireland for her to find it advisable to direct a fresh inquest into the death of John OSullivan, he said.
Mr OSullivans death in Altnagelvin Hospital ICU in 1973 was not investigated and was subject to a flawed inquest. His widow contested the circumstances of his death with the local health authority and with the British government.
There was media coverage of his death at the time and questions asked then remain unanswered today.
A fresh inquest could attempt to answer those questions and provided some respite for from the grief of his family.
King & Moffatt Building Services, based in Carrick-on-Shannon, has been awarded the prestigious Irelands Best Managed Companies (BMC) accolade, reaffirming its status among the countrys top-performing indigenous businesses. This recognition comes as part of the 16th annual BMC awards program, where a total of 129 companies were honoured for their outstanding management and business strategies.
The awards ceremony highlighted the impressive achievements of Irish companies, which together boast a combined turnover exceeding 15 billion and employ over 45,000 individuals nationwide. The winning businesses span a variety of sectors, including technology, healthcare, and construction, representing 28 of the 32 counties across the island of Ireland.
A rigorous judging process is employed each year to assess candidates for the BMC status. This evaluation examines the entire management teams and business strategies, focusing on crucial aspects such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, strategic planning, and talent management.
Brian Murphy, Lead Partner for the Irelands Best Managed Companies Awards Programme, commented on the significance of the awards: The Irish economic growth story has been extraordinary, and we see this evidenced in the success of Irish indigenous businesses and the confidence shown by Best Managed Companies. Ensuring Irelands entrepreneurs and the companies they start get the support they need to grow and scale is crucial.
Among the newly recognized companies this year are Active8 Solar Energies, Ashdale Care, Coen Steel Limited, Ethos Engineering, MCO, Mergon Group, Mivan, Mowlam Healthcare, S&W Wholesale, Sisk Group, United Hardware, Western Motors, and Writech.
Cathy Bryce, Managing Director of AIB Capital Markets, expressed pride in being the new lead sponsor of the BMC awards, stating, One of AIBs core ambitions is to support Irish companies and their management teams in sustainable growth and development, something which is fully aligned with the goals of the BMC programme.
In addition to King & Moffatt Building Services, a total of 116 companies requalified as Best Managed Companies this year. Notably, 19 of these achieved Gold Standard for maintaining the status for four consecutive years, while 12 reached Platinum Standard, indicating seven years of excellence in management. Fexco was also awarded the Family Business Award.
This recognition underscores the dedication and hard work of the team at King & Moffatt Building Services and reinforces the importance of effective management in driving business success within Irelands vibrant economy.
A beautiful security hut at an entrance to Government Buildings cost more than 1.4 million euros, it has emerged.
John Conlon, chairman of the Office of Public Works (OPW), told the Oireachtas Finance Committee that while the works involved fairly significant costs, the project included a significant mechanical and electrical system that is connected to the Government Buildings campus.
Mr Conlon made the comments while appearing before the committee to answer questions about the high costs of the bike shelter at Leinster House.
The OPW has come under security for spending 336,000 euros on the glass-covered shelter, located on the grounds of Leinster House.
Green Party TD Steven Matthews asked Mr Conlon about the cost of the security shelter at the Department of Finance, which the chairman confirmed was an OPW project.
The security hut is located at the south gate entrance to Government Buildings.
Mr Matthews said: That is a very attractive security hut with a sweeping, copper clad roof on it. It looks very well.
What was the cost on that project?
Mr Conlon said: The full cost of that project, deputy, will be 1.429 million euros.
But I want to emphasise that that followed extensive review of security in this campus by the Garda Siochana Technical Advisory Group and whilst it looks like and is a fairly significant cost, there are very significant mechanical, electrical and security system costs in that.
There was also a significant cost to provide a temporary structure where that building was taking place, there was significant underground works, there was significant ventilation, communications.
There was significant rerouting of underground services so there is a huge security element to this project.
Mr Conlon told the committee that the project would have been signed off by the general secretary of the OPW.
Mr Matthews said: We have the bicycle shelter for 336,000 euro and a security hut for 1.4 million and I take your point, and I know the two are completely different projects, but does that seem like an excessive price, and I accept theres a security element to it, and the controls that go on there. Its a beautiful structure.
Is it excessive for what the function of that performs?
Mr Conlon said: I dont believe it is given the significant security dimensions to it, and the security elements of it, which were very costly.
Now we find out that Fine Gael and Fianna Fail spent 1.492million of taxpayers' money on a security hut.. This is just one further example of how incompetent this government is when it comes to spending your money! pic.twitter.com/Fj7JxaNjkT Pearse Doherty (@PearseDoherty) September 25, 2024
Its not just that hub you see That ties into a control system across the whole campus.
So therell be a lot of routing and that type of work, which is quite hidden, you dont see it, that pavilion itself, the significant underrun works that took place on that and I want to emphasise that theres a huge amount of networking that arose in that project from in the Leinster House, Government Buildings campus, including power, communications, security and CCTV systems.
So its not just what you see when you look down the south gate, theres far more to that project than meets the eye. So its a completely different project.
He told the committee that he will provide a breakdown of the costs.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said it is important that the OPW satisfies itself of getting value for money.
Speaking in New York, Mr Harris said: I cant know enough about the rationale as to why such a level of expenditure was required and indeed what security specifications may or may not have been required.
I think it is very important that the OPW satisfies itself, and more importantly, satisfies the Oireachtas and the people of Ireland that appropriate safeguards are in place in ensuring they get value for money in relation to such expenditure.
Of course, projects need to be carried out for security reasons from time to time, I think people get that.
Security is extraordinarily important, but also making sure that that happens in the context of value for money is absolutely imperative.
Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty criticised the cost, saying it is a waste of taxpayers money.
Tanaiste Micheal Martin said he was shocked when he heard about the cost of the hut.
Speaking in New York, he said: There is no need for that level of expenditure.
I think we need a fundamental review now of whats happening there.
And full transparency in terms of the Oireachtas, in terms of the actual breakdown of the costs there, but that does seem shocking in terms of what is there that costs that amount of money.
The lead contractor for the new childrens hospital has accused the development board of actively underfunding the project.
It comes after the chief officer of board claimed the hospital was being held like a hostage in negotiations with contractor Bam.
The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) has accused the company of under-resourcing the project and failing to deliver on its contractual obligations.
A fresh row over the hospital emerged after it was claimed that not one of the facilitys 5,500 rooms was finished to the expected standard.
The beleaguered development has been delayed on 14 occasions four of which occurred within the last year.
The projected costs of the hospital have spiralled to 2.2 billion euro, up from an initial estimated price tag of 650 million euro in 2014.
The current completion date of the hospital, billed by the Government as state-of-the-art, is set at a contested June 2025.
Following completion, there will be an approximately six-to-eight-month commissioning period before the site is ready to accept children as patients.
The NPHDB has responsibility for engaging with Bam on behalf of the Government.
It has said that the main delay around the hospital is insufficient resourcing from the contractor. Bam claims that thousands of design changes from the board have delayed the project.
NPHDB chief officer David Gunning told the Oireachtas Health Committee on Wednesday that Bam would not be given another cent beyond what it is entitled to.
Mr Gunning also warned that another slip on the completion date was not an unreasonable expectation given the history of the development.
In a lengthy statement, Bam said its priority was to deliver the hospital for the benefit of the children of Ireland and their families as quickly as possible.
It rejected claims levelled against it by board and included in the Health Ministers letter to the Taoiseach last week which said the contractor was showing a disregard for Irish children and seeking to extract a maximum amount of money from the Irish taxpayer.
It said the comments were misleading, ill-informed and incorrect allegations that have absolutely no basis in fact.
To be clear, Bam is only looking for the money to which it is properly entitled for work done under the contract, and not a penny more, the statement said.
Mr Gunning, who said he spoke to Bam Irelands chief executive on Tuesday, maintained there had been no significant design change from the beginning of the project.
The board accepts there had been changes to drawings, for which Mr Gunning said the contractor had been paid over and above the agreed price for additional resourcing.
Mr Gunning said: We do not agree that design change is the cause of delays on this project. We simply dont buy it.
On the contractors commercial strategy, he added: It is almost as if Bam will slow down the progress and, you know, the hospital is the hostage in this negotiation and its only if additional monies are paid that we can get this hospital done completely.
In particular, Mr Gunning said the contractor continually insisted on describing areas within the hospital as finished when they were incomplete.
As of today, not one room has been fully completed in line with the standard and finish as set out in the contract, he said.
There are 5,678 clinical spaces in the new hospital and whilst to date Bam has offered 3,128 as complete, none were completed to the required standard.
It follows a series of inspections of rooms that were presented as complete.
Phelim Devine, the boards project director, said rooms could only be considered complete when they were as close to snag-free within reason.
But he said outstanding issues with the rooms were not akin to scuffs of paint.
He told the committee that examined rooms had on average 13-15 defects including fire sealing, ventilation, and incomplete works above ceilings.
Bam maintains the project has always been fully resourced and rejected claims that rooms had been handed over as completed.
The contractor said it was engaged in works to correct thousands of design errors identified in the National Paediatric Hospital Development Boards compliance audit.
These included relocating thousands of ceiling-mounted services such as smoke detectors, CCTV cameras and sprinkler heads.
It said this work was the substantive cause of delays since January, adding: The ceiling issues are merely the latest in a long list of design issues and changes. To be clear, apart from a limited number of items, the NPHDB is responsible for the design of the hospital.
Bam said it had received more than 23,900 new and revised drawings, sketches and BIM models and schedules for the project.
It said this was an unprecedented volume of change when considering the project had been under design for more than eight years.
BAM receives design information in a fragmented, piecemeal format making it extremely difficult to programme the works, it said.
Bam said it had serious questions over the boards ability to manage the project and to account fairly and truthfully.
The boards current position is actively underfunding the project and starving the Irish supply chain of the money is it fairly due, it said.
The 2.2 billion euro figure includes 1.88 billion euro for the NPHDB component of completing construction, as well as hundreds of millions of euro for the full commissioning of the building.
The NPHDB will hand the site over to Childrens Health Ireland following the completion of the hospital.
Mr Gunning said he was confident that the current 1.88 billion euro funding allocation would be sufficient to complete the project, which was described as 94% complete.
But he told the committee he could not guarantee that costs of the project would increase following the resolution of legal claims from the contractor.
Asked by Fianna Fail TD John Lahart if he would recommend Bam for future State infrastructure projects, Mr Gunning referenced the rules around making comments at committees and said: I dont believe I should answer that question.
More generally, he said there was merit to proposals suggested by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly that past performance should be considered when awarding State contracts.
He also revealed that, to date, the board could only claim 15 million euro in liquidated damages for delays under the terms of the contract.
THE CONSERVANCY FOR CUYAHOGA VALLEY NATIONAL PARK RAISED $72,800 AT ITS ANNUAL EXPLORATION EVENT SUPPORTING ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
PENINSULA, Ohio, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) welcomed 200 guests to the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center (CVEEC) during its Exploration fundraiser to celebrate reaching its 30th year in providing valuable learning experiences for students as well as teachers. The event, on Sept. 22, raised $72,800 for environmental education programs within CVNP.
"Since its start in 1994, the CVEEC has served more than 70,000 children in overnight programs and over 200,000 in day programs regardless of family resources," said January Miller, vice president of education, Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park. "The generous gifts we received at Exploration will allow us to continue our work and is an investment in the land stewards of tomorrow who will protect CVNP and other green spaces for decades to come. This support is critical to our efforts in expanding curriculum, creating new partnerships and expanding beyond the park boundaries."
During Exploration, guests delighted in cocktails, exploring the CVEEC campus, a gourmet meal and live music.
Consider joining others who made a gift this past weekend to support environmental education programs within the park at www.forcvnp.org/giftofexploration. Your help provides educational and nature-based experiences to thousands of children whose families could not otherwise afford them.
Sponsors
Thank you to the following sponsors for their generous support.
Adventurer Sponsors: Cargill; Cascade Subaru; Fortec Medical; Thomas and Lisa Mandel Family Foundation; and Jeff and Cindy Miller Family Trust;
Discoverer Sponsors: Davey Tree Expert Company; Haag Family Foundation; Heidelberg Distributing Company; Bonnie Horovitz; Holli Mallak and Greg Wurgler; North Coast Litho, Prest Public Strategies; Rick and Eca Taylor; Thirsty Dog Brewing Company; Tom and Diane Tyrrell; and April and Charlie Walton;
Wanderer Sponsors: Acrisure; Phil and Mindy Bartholomae; Doug Cooper; Curt and Sigi Reynolds; S.A. Comunale; Jim and Diana Snider; and Harold White.
About Conservancy for CVNP
The Conservancy for CVNP is the official friends group and philanthropic partner for Cuyahoga Valley National Park. With a mission to enrich people's lives and enhance our region by inspiring use, preservation and support of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the Conservancy offers cultural and educational programming, co-manages the park's volunteer program, provides venues for weddings, meetings and special events, and operates park retail spaces. Learn more at www.forcvnp.org.
SOURCE Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park
24 september 2024 at 15:59
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Media advisory - Minister Champagne to welcome European Commission's Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager in Montreal
MONTREAL, Sept. 24, 2024 /CNW/ - The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, will meet with Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission's Executive Vice-President for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age and Commissioner for Competition, in Montreal to discuss matters of mutual interest and address bilateral and global issues.
Minister Champagne and Executive Vice-President Vestager will also participate in the unveiling of the MonarQ quantum computer and in a fireside chat on economic security, artificial intelligence, research and innovation, and competition policy reforms. The fireside chat is part of a luncheon organized by the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations. A media availability will follow the unveiling.
Unveiling of the MonarQ quantum computer
Date: Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Time: 9:15 to 10:15 am (ET).
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Members of the media are asked to contact Valerie Harvey at [email protected] to receive event location details and confirm their attendance.
Fireside chat at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations luncheon
Date: Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Time: 12:50 pm (ET). The luncheon is from 11:30 am to 1:45 pm (ET). The Minister will be available to speak to media after the luncheon.
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Members of the media are asked to contact Gustavo Serra at [email protected] to receive event location details and confirm their attendance.
Stay connected
Find more services and information on the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada website.
Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on social media.
X (Twitter): @ISED_CA | Facebook: Canadian Innovation | Instagram: @cdninnovation | LinkedIn: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
24 september 2024 at 17:59
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CGI signs the European Commission's Artificial Intelligence Act Pledge
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GIB.A (TSX)
GIB (NYSE)
cgi.com/newsroom
Signature reinforces the company's commitment to responsible and ethical AI practices
BRUSSELS, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the world's largest business and IT consulting firms, announced today that it has signed the European Union's (EU) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act Pledge as part of its engagement with the European Commission's AI Pact. The signature reinforces CGI's commitment globally to uphold the highest standards and best practices in the development and use of responsible technologies, including innovative AI and Generative AI technologies.
"Given CGI's extensive footprint in Europe and around the world, as well as decades of experience designing and implementing AI-based solutions for clients, we are proud to join the EU's initiative to help shape the digital future of Europe," said Jean-Michel Baticle, President and Chief Operating Officer at CGI. "Responsible use of AI is not only an ethical necessity, but a business imperative. The objectives outlined in the AI Act Pledge are well aligned to CGI's own responsible use framework which we use for our own operations and in our partnerships with clients in every industry as we envision, explore, engineer and expand AI solutions and systems within their organizations."
CGI's Approach to Responsible Use of AI
CGI's responsible AI approach for developing data-driven decisions and driving business outcomes leverages a robust risk matrix, clear and enforceable guidelines and best practices and ethical principles backed by scientific research.
In addition to having a proprietary framework for responsible use of AI, CGI also supports clients in the development of their responsible, "human in the loop" AI plans by providing guidance around:
Designing the right levels of oversight and governance to deliver robust, ethical and trustworthy outcomes;
Understanding the specific risks of the application of different AI models;
Applying privacy and security to ensure information reliability and safe interactions; and
Selecting the right combination of AI models.
CGI is a trusted partner for responsible AI-based consulting, services, and solutions, helping clients use AI to deliver on their business objectives. CGI combines its broad capabilities in data science and machine learning with technology engineering skills and deep technical and industry expertise to help clients generate new business and operating models as well as services and solutions powered by AI. For more information about CGI's AI offerings, please visit www.cgi.com/en.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 90,000 consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2023 reported revenue is CA$14.30 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com .
SOURCE CGI Inc.
25 september 2024 at 06:30
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Microbix Presenting at Muskoka Capital Conference
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Microbix Biosystems Inc. (TSX: MBX, OTCQX: MBXBF, Microbix), a life sciences innovator, manufacturer, and exporter, announces that it will be presenting to investors at the Muskoka Capital Conference, organized by Capital Event Management Ltd. and being hosted at the JW Marriott Rosseau Muskoka, in Minett, Ontario, September 27 to 29, 2024.
Microbix's CEO, Cameron Groome, will undertake a series of 18 one-on-one meetings with growth company investors during the formal portion of the conference. The presentation slides to which they will be speaking will be posted to the Microbix website at https://microbix.com, along with other business information and its financial disclosures.
About Microbix Biosystems Inc.
Microbix Biosystems Inc. creates proprietary biological products for human health, with over 100 skilled employees and annualized sales now targeting C$ 2.0 million per month. It makes and exports a wide range of critical ingredients and devices for the global diagnostics industry, notably antigens for immunoassays and its laboratory quality assessment products (QAPstm) that support clinical lab proficiency testing, enable assay development and validation, or help ensure the quality of clinical diagnostic workflows. Its antigens drive the antibody tests of approximately 100 diagnostics makers, while QAPs are sold to clinical lab accreditation organizations, diagnostics companies, and clinical labs. Microbix QAPs are now available in over 30 countries, supported by a network of international distributors. Microbix is ISO 9001 & 13485 accredited, U.S. FDA registered, Australian TGA registered, Health Canada establishment licensed, and provides CE marked products.
Microbix also applies its biological expertise and infrastructure to develop other proprietary products and technologies, most notably Kinlytic urokinase, a biologic thrombolytic drug used to treat blood clots, and reagents or media to support molecular diagnostic testing (e.g., its DxTMtm for patient-sample collection). Microbix is traded on the TSX and OTCQX, and headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
About Capital Event Management Ltd. and the Event
Capital Event Management Ltd. produces multiple investor events each year, across North America and in the Caribbean. Attendees include leading public and private companies, and a range of investors consisting of investment advisors, fund managers, and high net worth investors. Capital Event's unique event formats aim to allow principals to establish new and lasting relationships that lead to financings, open market support, and increased awareness within the investment community. Further information about the Muskoka event is available at https://cem.ca/conference/muskoka-capital-event/
Forward-Looking Information
This news release includes "forward-looking information," as such term is defined in applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, discussion of Capital Event Management Ltd. and its conferences, Microbix's business and business results, goals or outlook, risks associated with financial results and stability, development projects such as those referenced in its corporate presentation, sales to foreign jurisdictions, engineering and construction, production (including control over costs, quality, quantity and timeliness of delivery), foreign currency and exchange rates, maintaining profitability and adequate working capital, or raising further capital on acceptable terms or at all, and other similar statements concerning anticipated future events, conditions or results that are not historical facts. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward looking information is inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Accordingly, actual future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. All statements are made as of the date of this news release and represent the Company's judgement as of the date of this new release, and the Company is under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking information.
Please visit www.microbix.com or www.sedar.com for recent Microbix news and filings.
For further information, please contact Microbix at:
Cameron Groome, CEO
(905) 361-8910 Jim Currie,
CFO
(905) 361-8910 Deborah Honig,
Investor Relations
Adelaide Capital Markets
(647) 203-8793 [email protected]
Copyright 2024 Microbix Biosystems Inc.
Microbix, DxTMtm, Kinlytic, and QAPstm are trademarks of Microbix Biosystems Inc.
25 september 2024 at 07:00
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illumin to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences
TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- illumin Holdings Inc. (TSX:ILLM, OTCQB:ILLMF) ("illumin" or "Company"), a Journey Advertising technology company that empowers marketers to make smarter decisions about communicating with online consumers, today announced that Simon Cairns, Chief Executive Officer, and Elliot Muchnik, Chief Financial Officer, will participate in the following upcoming conferences.
Wedbush Securities AdTech Conference
Management will participate (virtually) in a fireside chart at the Wedbush Securities AdTech Conference on Thursday, October 10th at 12:15 pm ET, and will also host virtual investor meetings.
TD Securities Technology Conference
The Company will also participate in the TD Securities Technology Conference taking place in Toronto from November 25- 26th. Management will also host investor meetings on Tuesday, November 26th.
For more information about the conferences or to schedule a one-on-one meeting with management, please contact your representatives at Wedbush Securities and TD Securities.
About illumin:
illumin is a journey advertising platform that enables marketers to reach consumers at every stage of their journey by leveraging advanced machine learning algorithms and real-time data analytics. The Company's mission is to illuminate the path for brands to connect with their customers through the power of data-driven advertising. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, illumin serves clients across North America, Latin America, and Europe.
For further information, please contact.
Steve Hosein David Hanover Investor Relations Investor Relations ? U.S. illumin Holdings Inc. KCSA Strategic Communications 416-218-9888 x5313 212-896-1220 [email protected] [email protected]
Disclaimer in regard to Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements included herein constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend, and undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events.
25 september 2024 at 07:55
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International Forum on Industrial Civilization Opens in Shanghai, China, Building a Platform for Exchange and Mutual Learning between China and the World's Industrial Civilization
SHANGHAI, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 24, the International Forum on Industrial Civilization with the theme of "Industrial Civilization - The Power of China" was opened in Shanghai, China. Party members of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Vice Minister Shan Zhongde attended the forum and made a speech; Zou Ciyong, Deputy Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, made a video message; Zhuang Mudi, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, attended the forum and made a speech.
The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the building of an industrial civilization and has made remarkable achievements in industrialization, with the value added of industry reaching 39.9 trillion yuan in 2023, and with all the industrial categories in the United Nations Industrial Classification. China has provided the world with a wealth of industrial products and formed an industrial culture with Chinese characteristics, nurturing various industrial spirits such as the spirit of "two bombs and one star" and the spirit of Beidou in the new era.
Shan Zhongde pointed out that, as a next step, the Industrial Culture Development Center of MIIT will resolutely adhere to the high level of opening up to the outside world, closely focusing on the key task of realizing a new type of industrialization, continue to deepen the opening up of cooperation in the field of industry and information technology, and promote win-win situation with other countries around the world, so as to contribute China's strength to the development of the global industrialization and the enhancement of the well-being of mankind.
Zou Ciyong proposed that technological innovation continues to drive social progress and that countries contribute to industrial development with their unique wisdom. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is committed to promoting sustainable industrialization. Zhuang Mudi emphasized that Shanghai is promoting new industrialization and the strategy of manufacturing power, actively shaping the image of industry and promoting the spirit of industry.
Wu Jincheng, Deputy Secretary General of Shanghai Municipal Government, Deputy Secretary of Pudong New Area Committee and Mayor of Pudong New Area, Cheng Peng, Secretary of Party Committee of Shanghai Municipal Economy and Informatization, and Sun Xing, Deputy Director General of Industrial Culture Development Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, jointly released the Shanghai Declaration of International Forum on Industrial Civilization at the opening ceremony of the forum. The Declaration emphasizes the importance of international cooperation, technological innovation and industrial upgrading, and especially points out the key role of industrial museums and culture in the inheritance of industrial civilization, showing a comprehensive and forward-looking vision.
Wu Qiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Pudong New District Committee and Vice Mayor of Shanghai Pudong New District, David Teaabo, Ambassador of Kiribati to China, and Luca Rosi, Counselor of Italy to China, delivered keynote speeches for the forum. Mr. Liu Zhifei, Vice President of Corning Incorporated and President of Greater China, Mr. Vikram Channa, Vice President of Warner Bros. Discovery, and Ms. Dong Huijuan, Vice President of ABB Group, attended the forum and delivered keynote speeches. Sun Ming, Vice President of the Institute of Contemporary China and World Studies of the Foreign Languages Bureau of China, released the "China Industry: Green Wisdom and Winning New Global Image" - Assessment Report on the International Image Communication of Industrial Civilization in the New Era at the forum.
The forum was co-sponsored by the Industrial Culture Development Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, and the People's Government of Pudong New Area of Shanghai, and was attended by more than 200 guests, including representatives of domestic and foreign governments and enterprises, as well as renowned experts and scholars.
The Forum organized three forward-looking forums: "Spatiotemporal Variations: Global New Energy Vehicle Innovation", "Decoding the Future. Global Digital Intelligence Trends", "Reflecting on the Past, Shaping the Future: The Heritage and Innovation of the Shanghai industrial Museum".
In the vast journey of the development of global industrial civilization, China is illuminating the new course of human industrial development with the unique light of industrial civilization. The successful convening of the International Forum on Industrial Civilization is not only the first high-end international communication platform built by China from the perspective of industrial civilization, but also an important window for China to show its industrial development achievements to the world, share its development experience, and seek a blueprint for future development.
SOURCE Industrial Culture Development Center of MIIT
25 september 2024 at 07:50
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Teleflextm Chooses o9's AI-Powered Platform for End-to-End Integrated Business Planning and Supply Chain Management
o9, a leading enterprise AI software platform provider for transforming planning and decision-making, today announced that Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE: TFX), a leading global provider of medical technologies, has selected o9 to help enhance its end-to-end integrated business planning and supply chain management capabilities. This partnership includes o9's Demand Planning, Supply Planning, and Integrated Business Planning (IBP) technologies.
Headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania, as a global provider of medical technologies, Teleflex is driven by its purpose to improve the health and quality of people's lives. Through its vision to become the most trusted partner in healthcare, Teleflex offers a diverse portfolio with solutions in the therapy areas of anesthesia, emergency medicine, interventional cardiology and radiology, surgical, vascular access, and urology. Teleflex believes that the potential of great people, purpose driven innovation, and world-class products can shape the future direction of healthcare.
"During our initial conversations, it was clear that o9 had the capabilities to handle our complex and unique supply chain requirements. We look forward to leveraging the o9 platform to enhance our supply chain efficiency, optimize inventory, and achieve our strategic objectives. We expect this partnership will help us empower our people through process and technology," said David Clarke, Vice President, Demand Fulfilment at Teleflex.
o9 helps organizations overcome integration challenges and reduce complexities across the product and regulatory supply chain. Its proprietary platform helps companies enhance demand planning capabilities, improve forecast accuracy, optimize supply and production plans to increase capacity utilization, and improve service levels while establishing digital IBP processes across multiple business functions globally.
Chakri Gottemukkala, Co-founder and CEO of o9, said, "Our commitment to addressing complex business challenges and providing transformative solutions ? while also ensuring client value ? aligns with Teleflex's goals. This partnership underscores our mission to deliver innovative planning capabilities through our state-of-the-art Digital Brain platform, enabling our clients to achieve their strategic objectives and drive sustainable growth."
Learn more at www.o9solutions.com.
About o9
o9 is a leading AI-powered platform for integrated business planning and decision-making for the enterprise. Whether it is driving demand, aligning demand and supply, or optimizing commercial initiatives, any planning process can be made faster and smarter with o9's AI-powered digital solutions. o9 brings together technology innovations?such as graph-based enterprise modeling, big data analytics, advanced algorithms for scenario planning, collaborative portals, easy-to-use interfaces and cloud-based delivery?into one platform. For more information, please visit www.o9solutions.com.
25 september 2024 at 08:05
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Union Pacific Corporation Announces Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Release Date
Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP) will release third quarter 2024 financial and operating results on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, at 7:45 a.m. ET. The company's management team will host a conference call and live webcast at 8:45 a.m. ET.
Parties interested in participating via teleconference may dial 877-407-8293. International callers may dial 201-689-8349. A live webcast of the presentation and materials will be available in the investor relations section of Union Pacific's website at https://investor.unionpacific.com/. A replay of the audio webcast will be available shortly thereafter.
ABOUT UNION PACIFIC
Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) delivers the goods families and businesses use every day with safe, reliable and efficient service. Operating in 23 western states, the company connects its customers and communities to the global economy. Trains are the most environmentally responsible way to move freight, helping Union Pacific protect future generations. More information about Union Pacific is available at www.up.com.
25 september 2024 at 08:10
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IntraBio Announces U.S. FDA Approval of AQNEURSA for the Treatment of Niemann-Pick Disease Type C
IntraBio Inc., a leader in the discovery and development of innovative drugs for rare neurodegenerative diseases, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved AQNEURSAtm (levacetylleucine) for the treatment of neurological manifestations of Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) in adults and pediatric patients weighing ?15 kg. AQNEURSA is the only FDA-approved stand-alone therapy indicated for the treatment of NPC.
"IntraBio has been dedicated to bringing novel treatments to patients with extremely high unmet medical needs like NPC, and today we celebrate a major milestone in this tremendous effort," said Mallory Factor, President and Chief Executive Officer of IntraBio. "Patients and families in the NPC community have long awaited an effective, FDA-approved treatment, and we are proud to bring hope to those affected by this devastating disease. We remain committed to ensuring that all patients who can benefit from this novel treatment will have the opportunity to do so. Based on our clinical research, we believe that AQNEURSA may hold potential for treating other rare and common neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders, and we will continue to rapidly develop AQNEURSA for these additional indications."
NPC is a rare, inherited lysosomal disease that occurs in about 1 in 100,000 live births. Patients with NPC typically experience systemic, neurological and psychiatric symptoms that can be debilitating and significantly impact functional abilities. Until now, current treatment approaches have not addressed the debilitating effects of NPC on patients' daily lives.
"The FDA approval of AQNEURSA marks a significant breakthrough for those living with Niemann-Pick disease type C," commented Laurie Turner, Family Services Manager at the National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation. "For too long, our community has been without an approved therapy for the treatment of NPC. Today we celebrate this tremendous milestone for individuals and families living with NPC. We are immensely thankful for the dedication to innovative research that has led to this approval, and we are ready to help families embark on this new chapter of treatment."
The FDA approval is based on data from the IB1001-301 multinational, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, pivotal clinical trial (NCT05163288), which evaluated the impact of AQNEURSA on neurological symptoms and functioning in pediatric (aged 4 years and older) and adult patients (n=60) with a confirmed diagnosis of NPC.
The trial met the primary efficacy endpoint and all secondary endpoints across all cohorts receiving AQNEURSA. Results from the study showed AQNEURSA significantly improved neurological signs and symptoms and demonstrated functional benefits important to everyday life that were evident within 12 weeks. These findings were published in the February 1, 2024 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The primary outcome assessed by the FDA was a modified version of the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA), referred to as the functional SARA (fSARA). SARA is a clinical assessment tool that assesses gait, stability, speech, and upper and lower limb coordination across eight individual domains. fSARA consists only of gait, sitting, stance, and speech disturbance domains of the original SARA with modifications to the scoring responses. The results in patients who received AQNEURSA compared to placebo showed a greater improvement in fSARA score with a mean treatment difference of -0.4 (95% CI: -0.7, -0.2) with a two-sided p-value of <0.001. Results on the fSARA were supported by consistent results demonstrated on the original SARA.
AQNEURSA was well tolerated in the trial with the most common adverse reactions (incidence ?5% and greater than placebo in Period I of the trial) being abdominal pain, dysphagia, upper respiratory tract infections, and vomiting.
Indication
AQNEURSAtm (levacetylleucine) is indicated for the treatment of neurological manifestations of Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) in adults and pediatric patients weighing ?15 kg.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Embryo-Fetal Toxicity
Based on findings from animal reproduction studies, AQNEURSA may cause embryo-fetal harm when administered during pregnancy. The decision to continue or discontinue AQNEURSA treatment during pregnancy should consider the female's need for AQNEURSA, the potential drug-related risks to the fetus, and the potential adverse outcomes from untreated maternal disease.
Pregnancy and Lactation
For females of reproductive potential, verify that the patient is not pregnant prior to initiating treatment with AQNEURSA. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with AQNEURSA and for 7 days after the last dose if AQNEURSA is discontinued.
There are no data on the presence of levacetylleucine or its metabolites in either human or animal milk, the effects on the breastfed infant or the effects on milk production. The developmental and health benefits of breastfeeding should be considered along with the mother's clinical need for AQNEURSA and any potential adverse effects on the breastfed infant from levacetylleucine or from the underlying maternal condition.
Adverse Reactions
The most common adverse reactions (incidence ?5% and greater than placebo) are abdominal pain, dysphagia, upper respiratory tract infections, and vomiting.
Drug Interactions
Avoid concomitant use of AQNEURSA with N-acetyl-DL-leucine or N-acetyl-D-leucine. The D-enantiomer, N-acetyl-D-leucine, competes with levacetylleucine for monocarboxylate transporter uptake, which may reduce the levacetylleucine efficacy.
Monitor more frequently for P-gp substrate related adverse reactions when used concomitantly with AQNEURSA; AQNEURSA inhibits P-gp; however, the clinical significance of this finding has not been fully characterized.
U.S. full Prescribing Information for AQNEURSA is available at https://intrabio.com/wp-content/aqneursa-prescribing-information.pdf.
AQNEURSA Carestm Support for Patients
IntraBio offers support programs to eligible patients through their Patient Support Service, AQNEURSA Carestm. This program includes financial support to reduce or eliminate out-of-pocket costs for qualifying patients and also connects patients with third-party resources. AQNEURSA Cares includes access to financial and educational resources and a dedicated team of specialists. The team is available to help with individuals' unique challenges including starting treatment, questions about taking the medication, and navigating insurance coverage. Contact 866-200-0419 to speak to an AQNEURSA Cares team representative to seek assistance with any questions or concerns about access to AQNEURSA.
About IntraBio
IntraBio Inc., a US biopharmaceutical company, is focused on the development of novel drugs addressing rare and common neurological diseases. IntraBio's platform technologies result from decades of research and collaboration with universities and institutions worldwide. Its clinical programs are based upon the expertise in lysosomal function and intracellular signaling of its scientific founders from the University of Oxford and the University of Munich.
Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors. These statements include, but are not limited to, IntraBio's clinical development programs, regulatory submissions and approvals, and potential market opportunities. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially.
Factors that may cause such differences include, among others, uncertainties related to the clinical trial process, regulatory approval scope, limitations and timelines, manufacturing, market acceptance, and the impact of competitive products.
For more information about IntraBio, please visit the company's website at intrabio.com and follow IntraBio on X (@IntraBio) and LinkedIn (@IntraBio-Inc).
25 september 2024 at 08:10
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Asahi Kasei America, Inc. Moves Headquarters to Novi, Michigan
Asahi Kasei America, Inc., the regional headquarters of the Asahi Kasei Group for North America, plans to relocate its corporate office from New York to Novi, Michigan. The New York office will conclude its operations, and the Novi location will assume all headquarters responsibilities effective November 1. This strategic move marks a significant milestone in Asahi Kasei's growth trajectory and underscores its commitment to operational excellence in North America.
The consolidation in Novi streamlines processes, leverages existing resources, and enhances Asahi Kasei's ability to provide exceptional services to its partners. By bringing key leadership and operations together in a single 14,403-square-foot location, Asahi Kasei is poised to foster greater collaboration with the regional business units.
Asahi Kasei's journey in America began in New York in 1959, where it established its initial operations. Recognizing the strategic importance of the Midwest, particularly its proximity to major OEMs in the automotive sector, Asahi Kasei America opened an office in Novi, Michigan, in 2019. Following a significant expansion of the Novi facility in 2023, Asahi Kasei is now ready to centralize its North American headquarters in this location.
"Transitioning our headquarters to Novi represents more than an address change. This move will empower us for future growth, as we'll be better situated in the center of the country to reach our growing client base in the Material, Homes, and Health Care sectors nationwide," said Takuma Miura, President of Asahi Kasei America. "Our headquarters in Novi will be a place for creativity, a launchpad for groundbreaking ideas, and a single home where we will continue to focus on delivering for our partners."
The Novi headquarters has been thoughtfully designed to showcase Asahi Kasei's technological prowess and commitment to innovation across key industries. It will function as a hub for enhanced administrative services across sectors for various departments, including communications, human resources, auditing, corporate planning, and finance.
About Asahi Kasei
The Asahi Kasei Group contributes to life and living for people around the world. Since its foundation in 1922 with ammonia and cellulose fiber business, Asahi Kasei has consistently grown through the proactive transformation of its business portfolio to meet the evolving needs of every age. With more than 49,000 employees worldwide, the company contributes to sustainable society by providing solutions to the world's challenges through its three business sectors of Material, Homes, and Health Care. For more information, visit www.asahi-kasei.com.
Asahi Kasei is also dedicated to sustainability initiatives and is contributing to reaching a carbon neutral society by 2050. To learn more, visit https://www.asahi-kasei.com/sustainability/.
25 september 2024 at 08:35
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DiliTrust Empowers In-House Legal Teams with Secure AI-Powered ELM Solutions Through Acquisition of doeLEGAL
Combined Organization Offers Holistic Legal Operations Platform to Legal Teams Around the Globe
PARIS, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DiliTrust, the AI-powered suite for in-house legal teams, has acquired the U.S.-based Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) software company doeLEGAL, which provides matter management, eBilling and eDiscovery solutions.
This strategic acquisition accelerates DiliTrust's U.S. market entry while strengthening the group's product offering. DiliTrust is committed to empowering in-house legal teams with proprietary and secure AI-powered software designed to digitize their workflows, increasing productivity and mitigating risks.
From contracts to legal entities including matters and board of directors management, DiliTrust provides scalable, all-in-one software for in-house legal departments. Its proprietary, secure AI is GDPR-compliant and meets the most rigorous SOC 2, ISO 27001, and ISO 27701 standards.
A trusted partner to some of the world's leading companies, including AccorHotels, Royal Bank of Canada, BNP Paribas, Caisse de Depot et de Gestion du Maroc, Campari, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Desjardins, Eutelsat, LVMH, UNICEF, Veolia and Vivendi. DiliTrust has decades of experience supporting blue-chip companies to conduct efficient and collaborative legal and corporate governance operations.
U.S.-based doeLEGAL has a strong client portfolio, including multiple Fortune 500 companies in the healthcare and insurance sectors. Its software provides insights, helping clients to reduce legal costs by as much as 50% and boost legal teams' productivity by up to 65%.
"In-house legal teams are facing increasing pressure to do more with less. Our acquisition of doeLEGAL enables us to provide a holistic platform that addresses these challenges head-on, leveraging AI to drive even more efficiency, cost savings, and ultimately empowering their business partner role within the organization" said Yves Garagnon, Global CEO of DiliTrust.
Bruce Kuennen, president of doeLEGAL, emphasized the synergy between the two companies. "DiliTrust and doeLEGAL share a vision of simplifying and streamlining legal operations through innovative technology. By combining our decades of expertise with the DiliTrust Governance Suite, we can further empower legal teams to achieve greater productivity and deliver more strategic value to their organizations."
Under Kuennen's leadership, doeLEGAL achieved remarkable revenue growth of 150%. This success was driven by a strategic focus on innovative product development, and a commitment to exceptional customer support.
Following the acquisition, DiliTrust group has over 300 employees around the world. The Paris-based company currently serves over 60 countries with offices in Canada (Montreal), UAE (Dubai), France (Paris), Germany (Munich), Italy (Milan), Mexico (Mexico City), Spain (Madrid) and the United States (Wilmington, DE).
As part of the transaction, all doeLEGAL employees will join DiliTrust; financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This strategic acquisition marks DiliTrust's fourth acquisition in two years since the investment of financial sponsors Cathay Capital, Eurazeo, and Sagard in 2022 and reinforces its commitment to provide cutting-edge legal tech solutions globally and its dedication to empowering in-house legal teams and allowing them to focus on strategic decision-making and to maximize their impact within the organization.
About DiliTrust
DiliTrust is a global provider of AI-powered SaaS solutions dedicated to empowering in-house legal teams by giving back valuable time and peace of mind.
Leveraging its proprietary AI, DiliTrust secures and streamlines legal operations, allowing teams to focus on strategic decision-making and maximize their impact within the organization.
The DiliTrust Governance Suite enables legal departments to efficiently manage the entire contract lifecycle, centralize entity management, secure board meetings, and maintain control over matter management. Supporting more than 2,500 businesses across over 60 countries, DiliTrust has a presence in key locations, including Canada, Dubai, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain and the United States.
Committed to fostering simplicity, innovation and security, DiliTrust helps legal departments work smarter while enhancing operational efficiency and minimizing risk.
Discover more at www.dilitrust.com.
About doeLEGAL
doeLEGAL is a U.S.-based provider of Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) solutions, driving cost savings and performance improvements for in-house legal teams. The company's flagship product, Ascent ELM, simplifies billing, vendor and matter management while delivering business insights when and where legal teams need them. www.doelegal.com.
Contact
Christophe Henner
[email protected]
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25 september 2024 at 10:00
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30 companies receive Partnership Accreditation in Indigenous Relations
Toronto, ON, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian Council for Indigenous Business (CCIB) announced that 30 Canadian corporations will be recognized for achieving gold, silver or bronze status in the Partnership Accreditation in Indigenous Relations (PAIR) program.
This accreditation underscores a corporation's commitment to integrating reconciliation throughout their business both today and through processes that will ensure the commitment is embedded for the future. Through the requirement for re-certification the program both reinforces consistency for continuous improvement of a company's commitment and investigates how the company has responded to issues over the past years.
"This achievement is a testament to the dedication of these companies in committing to supporting the Indigenous economy," said Tabatha Bull, CCIB president and CEO. "These efforts to foster meaningful relationships and improve corporate culture to ensure Indigenous perspectives and impacts are considered are commendable. Through the PAIR program, corporations actively contribute to a more inclusive future by working together and creating sustainable progress with accountability and transparency."
The PAIR program, formerly called Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR), was launched in 2001 and is rooted in principles that contribute to cultural awareness, equitable employment practices, relationship-building and meaningful consultation. These four values?Leadership Actions, Employment, Business Development, and Community Relationships?are measured through an online management and reporting tool, as well as through a rigorous third-party verification system and an independent jury of Indigenous business leaders, who determine the final verification level.
Through this framework, participating organizations can achieve certification at the bronze, silver or gold levels. These businesses will be recognized during the Indigenous Relations Forum & PAIR Awards on Nov. 5, 2024, at the Grey Eagle Casino & Resort in Calgary, AB.
Congratulations to the following PAIR-certified members:
Gold Certification Silver Certification Bronze Certification ALPAC Allteck Limited Partnership Accenture BC Housing Bird Construction Inc. Alstar Group of Companies Ltd. BC Hydro CIBC ATB Financial Bee Clean Building Maintenance General Dynamic Land Systems?Canada AtkinsRealis Greater Victoria Harbour Authority GJ Cahill BGIS Hydro Quebec Pennecon Limited Finite Carbon Ontario Power Generation Tolko Industries Ltd. Kruger Kamloops Pulp L.P. SaskPower Worley Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc. Scotiabank Raise Schlumberger SECURE Stantec Strategic Way Consulting Inc.
Learn more about the Indigenous Relations Forum & PAIR Awards here.
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About Canadian Council for Indigenous Business
CCIB is committed to the full participation of Indigenous peoples in Canada's economy. As a national, non-partisan association, its mission is to promote, strengthen and enhance a prosperous Indigenous economy through the fostering of business relationships, opportunities, and awareness. CCIB offers knowledge, resources, and programs to its members to cultivate economic opportunities for Indigenous peoples and businesses across Canada. For more information, visit www.ccib.ca
25 september 2024 at 13:05
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Fortune Recognizes Cemex for the Fourth Time as a Company That Is Changing the World
Cemex announced today that it has been included in Fortune's 2024 Change the World list. The list, selected by Fortune reporters and editors from a list of about 250 companies, showcases businesses that are having a positive social impact through activities that are part of their core business strategy. Cemex is receiving this distinction for the fourth time.
Fortune recognized Cemex's work with VeryNile in cleaning the Nile River and developing a more sustainable solution for the collected waste. VeryNile is an initiative supported by the Ministry of the Environment in Egypt that develops eco-friendly solutions to remove inorganic waste from the Nile River. Plastics recovered from the river are upcycled, and non-recyclable waste is used as alternative fuel in Cemex's Assiut cement plant, alleviating pollution issues in the local ecosystem and improving water quality for the community while also providing 150 alternative jobs and income for fishermen and women affected by Nile contamination.
"We are once again honored by Fortune's recognition of our sustainable business model, which aligns environmental conservation with social empowerment," said Fernando A. Gonzalez, CEO of Cemex." "The VeryNile initiative exemplifies how companies can collaborate with NGO's and society to change the world for the better."
Cemex's social impact strategy focuses on making a positive, lasting difference in cities and communities worldwide by supporting local economies, building resilient communities, and empowering people through skills development for employability and entrepreneurship. Cemex implements this strategy in collaboration with community leaders and local stakeholders.
In 2020, Fortune recognized Cemex for building mobile hospitals with antibacterial concrete modules in record time during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ?Our Growing Platform' initiative was awarded in 2017 for collaboratively addressing the challenges of housing and inequality in vulnerable communities. Two years earlier, in 2015, Cemex was honored for its ?Patrimonio Hoy' program, which provides low-income families with access to building materials, microfinancing, technical advice, and logistical support to help them build their homes.
The Fortune Change the World list highlights companies that use their innovative capabilities to tackle social challenges, leveraging business success to pursue goals that are as crucial as, or even more important than, financial gains. This year, companies were clustered into four groups, with some falling into multiple categories: environmental impact, economic opportunity, public health, and human rights. In assessing the nominees, the most critical factors considered were measurable social impact, business results, and the degree of innovation.
This year's list includes 30 from North America, 12 from Europe, 8 from Asia and Australia, one from Africa, and one from South America.
The full Fortune 2024 Change the World list is available at: https://fortune.com/ranking/change-the-world/.
About Cemex
Cemex is a global construction materials company that is building a better future through sustainable products and solutions. Cemex is committed to achieving carbon neutrality through relentless innovation and industry-leading research and development. Cemex is at the forefront of the circular economy in the construction value chain and is pioneering ways to increase the use of waste and residues as alternative raw materials and fuels in its operations with the help of new technologies. Cemex offers cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, and urbanization solutions in growing markets around the world, powered by a multinational workforce focused on providing a superior customer experience enabled by digital technologies. For more information, please visit: www.cemex.com.
Except as the context otherwise may require, references in this press release to "Cemex," "we," "us," "our," refer to Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: CX) and its consolidated subsidiaries. This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We intend these forward-looking statements to be covered by the "safe harbor" provisions for forward-looking statements within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect Cemex's current expectations and projections about future events based on Cemex's knowledge of present facts and circumstances and assumptions about future events, as well as Cemex's current plans based on such facts and circumstances, unless otherwise indicated. These statements necessarily involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from Cemex's expectations, including, among others, risks, uncertainties, and assumptions discussed in Cemex's most recent annual report and detailed from time to time in Cemex's other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Mexican Stock Exchange (Bolsa Mexicana de Valores), which factors are incorporated herein by reference, which if materialized could ultimately lead to Cemex's expectations and/or expected results not producing the expected benefits and/or results. Forward-looking statements should not be considered guarantees of future performance, nor the results or developments are indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods. These factors may be revised or supplemented, and the information contained in this press release is subject to change without notice, but Cemex is not under, and expressly disclaims, any obligation to update or correct this press release or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances. Any or all of Cemex's forward-looking statements may turn out to be inaccurate. Accordingly, undue reliance on forward-looking statements should not be placed, as such forward-looking statements speak only as of the dates on which they are made. The content of this press release is for informational purposes only, and you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Cemex is not responsible for, and expressly disclaims responsibility for, the content of any third-party website or webpage referenced to or accessible through this press release.
There is currently no single globally recognized or accepted, consistent, and comparable set of definitions or standards (legal, regulatory, or otherwise) of, nor widespread cross-market consensus i) as to what constitutes, a ?green', ?social,' or ?sustainable' or having equivalent-labelled activity, product, or asset; or ii) as to what precise attributes are required for a particular activity, product, or asset to be defined as ?green', ?social,' or ?sustainable' or such other equivalent label; or iii) as to climate and sustainable funding and financing activities and their classification and reporting. Therefore, there is little certainty, and no assurance or representation is given that such activities and/or reporting of those activities will meet any present or future expectations or requirements for describing or classifying funding and financing activities as ?green', ?social', or ?sustainable' or attributing similar labels. We expect policies, regulatory requirements, standards, and definitions to be developed and continuously evolve over time.
25 september 2024 at 15:25
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Equity Commonwealth Announces Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call
Equity Commonwealth (NYSE: EQC) announced today that the company will release its third quarter 2024 operating results on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, after the close of trading. A conference call to discuss those results will be held on Thursday, October 24, 2024, at 9:00 am Central Time. The conference call will be available via live audio webcast on the Investor Relations section of the company's website (www.eqcre.com). A replay of the audio webcast will also be available following the call.
About Equity Commonwealth
Equity Commonwealth (NYSE: EQC) is a Chicago based, internally managed and self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT) with commercial office properties in the United States. EQC's portfolio is comprised of 4 properties totaling 1.5 million square feet.
Regulation FD Disclosures
We use any of the following to comply with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD: press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, or our website. We routinely post important information on our website at www.eqcre.com, including information that may be deemed to be material. We encourage investors and others interested in the company to monitor these distribution channels for material disclosures.
25 september 2024 at 16:20
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Pfizer Voluntarily Withdraws All Lots of Sickle Cell Disease Treatment OXBRYTA (voxelotor) From Worldwide Markets
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced today that it is voluntarily withdrawing all lots of OXBRYTA (voxelotor) for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD) at this time, in all markets where it is approved. Pfizer is also discontinuing all active voxelotor clinical trials and expanded access programs worldwide.
Pfizer's decision is based on the totality of clinical data that now indicates the overall benefit of OXBRYTA no longer outweighs the risk in the approved sickle cell patient population. The data suggest an imbalance in vaso-occlusive crises and fatal events which require further assessment. Pfizer has notified regulatory authorities about these findings and its decision to voluntarily withdraw OXBRYTA from the market and discontinue distribution and clinical studies while further reviewing the available data and investigating the findings.
"The safety and well-being of patients is of the utmost importance to Pfizer, and we believe this action is in the best interest of patients," said Aida Habtezion, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Worldwide Medical and Safety at Pfizer. "Our primary concern is for patients who suffer from SCD, which remains a very serious and difficult-to-treat disease with limited treatment options. We advise patients to contact their physicians to discuss alternative treatment while we continue to investigate the findings from our review of the data."
Patients, physicians, pharmacists, or other healthcare professionals with additional questions about OXBRYTA should contact Pfizer Medical Information 1-800-438-1985. The company will keep patients, regulatory authorities, investigators and clinicians informed about actions and appropriate next steps for OXBRYTA.
The company does not anticipate that this event will impact its full-year 2024 financial guidance.
About Sickle Cell Disease
SCD is a lifelong, debilitating inherited blood disorder in which hemoglobin S polymerization leads to red blood cell sickling resulting in vascular inflammation and hemolytic anemia. Vascular inflammation, together with sickled RBC's can lead to acute pain crises, or vaso-occlusive crises, and progressive end organ damage, including stroke. Complications of SCD begin in early childhood and are associated with shortened life expectancy. Early intervention and treatment of SCD have shown potential to modify the course of this disease, reduce symptoms and events, prevent long-term organ damage, and extend life expectancy.
Historically, there has been a high unmet need for therapies that address the root cause of SCD and its acute and chronic complications. While rare in developed markets, there are 4.5 million people living with SCD globally and more than 45 million people living with the sickle cell trait. SCD occurs particularly among those whose ancestors are from sub-Saharan Africa, though it also occurs in people of Hispanic, South Asian, Southern European and Middle Eastern ancestry.
About OXBRYTA (voxelotor)
OXBRYTA (voxelotor) is an oral, once-daily therapy for patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). OXBRYTA works by increasing hemoglobin's affinity for oxygen. OXBRYTA inhibits sickle hemoglobin polymerization and the resultant sickling and destruction of red blood cells leading to hemolysis and hemolytic anemia, which are primary pathologies faced by every single person living with SCD.
In 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for OXBRYTA tablets for the treatment of SCD in adults and children ages 12 years and older. In December 2021, the FDA expanded the approved use of OXBRYTA for the treatment of SCD in patients 4 years of age and older in the U.S.
OXBRYTA was granted Priority Medicines (PRIME) designation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and designated an orphan medicinal product for the treatment of patients with SCD by the European Commission (EC). In February 2022, the EC granted Marketing Authorization for OXBRYTA for the treatment of hemolytic anemia due to SCD in adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older as monotherapy or in combination with hydroxycarbamide (hydroxyurea). Since its first approval in 2019, OXBRYTA has been approved in over 35 countries globally.
Important Safety Information
OXBRYTA should not be taken if the patient has had an allergic reaction to voxelotor or any of the ingredients in OXBRYTA. See the end of the patient leaflet for a list of the ingredients in OXBRYTA. OXBRYTA can cause serious side effects, including serious allergic reactions. Patients should tell their healthcare provider or get emergency medical help right away if they get rash, hives, shortness of breath (difficult breathing) or swelling of the face.
The most common side effects of OXBRYTA include headache, diarrhea, stomach-area (abdominal) pain, nausea, rash or hives, and fever. The most common side effects of OXBRYTA in children ages 4 to less than 12 years of age include fever, vomiting, rash, stomach-area (abdominal) pain, diarrhea, and headache. These are not all the possible side effects of OXBRYTA. Before taking OXBRYTA, patients should tell their healthcare provider about all medical conditions, including if they have liver problems; if they are pregnant or plan to become pregnant as it is not known if OXBRYTA can harm an unborn baby; or if they are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed as it is not known if OXBRYTA can pass into breastmilk or if it can harm a baby. Patients should not breastfeed during treatment with OXBRYTA and for at least 2 weeks after the last dose.
Patients should tell their healthcare provider about all the medicines they take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and herbal supplements. Some medicines may affect how OXBRYTA works. OXBRYTA may also affect how other medicines work and may affect the results of certain blood tests.
Patients are advised to call their doctor for medical advice about side effects. Side effects can be reported to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088. Side effects can also be reported at 1-833-428-4968.
Full Prescribing Information for OXBRYTA is available at OXBRYTA.com.
About Pfizer: Breakthroughs That Change Patients' Lives
At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products, including innovative medicines and vaccines. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For 175 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at www.Pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, please visit us on www.Pfizer.com and follow us on X at @Pfizer and @Pfizer News, LinkedIn, YouTube and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer.
DISCLOSURE NOTICE:
The information contained in this release is as of September 25, 2024. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments.
This release contains forward-looking information about a voluntary withdrawal of all lots of OXBRYTA (voxelotor) from worldwide markets, including the anticipated impact on the company's full-year 2024 guidance, that involves substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, uncertainties regarding the future of OXBRYTA (voxelotor), as well as uncertainties related to other sickle cell disease assets in our portfolio; the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including the ability to meet anticipated clinical endpoints, commencement and/or completion dates for our clinical trials, regulatory submission dates, regulatory approval dates and/or launch dates, as well as the possibility of unfavorable new clinical data and further analyses of existing clinical data; risks associated with interim data; the risk that clinical trial data are subject to differing interpretations and assessments by regulatory authorities; whether regulatory authorities will be satisfied with the design of and results from our clinical studies; decisions by regulatory authorities impacting labeling, manufacturing processes, safety and/or other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of OXBRYTA (voxelotor) or other sickle cell disease assets in our portfolio; the uncertainties inherent in business and financial planning, including, without limitation, risks related to Pfizer's business and prospects, legal proceedings, adverse developments in Pfizer's markets, or adverse developments in the U.S. or global capital markets, credit markets, regulatory environment or economies generally; uncertainties regarding the impact of COVID-19 on our business, operations and financial results; and competitive developments.
A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Pfizer's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, and in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q, including in the sections thereof captioned "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future Results," as well as in its subsequent reports on Form 8-K, all of which are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov and www.pfizer.com.
Category: Prescription Medicines
25 september 2024 at 17:05
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Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon, on September 25, 2024. AZIZ TAHER / REUTERS
Hezbollah on Tuesday, September 24, confirmed the death of one of its top commanders, Ibrahim Kobeisi, who was killed in an Israeli strike in a southern Beirut suburb.
The strike hit three floors of a six-story building. It was Israel's third strike over Beirut in less than a week
Read more Subscribers only Northern Israel on war footing as conflict with Hezbollah enters new phase
Kobeisi is the first member of the militant group pronounced dead since Israel and Hezbollah entered a more intense phase of the ongoing conflict. Israel said Kobeisi was a top Hezbollah commander with the group's rocket and missile unit. Israeli military officials said Kobeisi was responsible for launches toward Israel and planned a 2000 attack in which three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and killed.
It was the latest in a string of assassinations and setbacks for Hezbollah, the strongest political and military actor in Lebanon and widely considered the top paramilitary force in the Arab world.
Read more Subscribers only Israeli strike in Beirut decimates command of Hezbollah's Radwan Force
UK urges British nationals to 'leave Lebanon immediately'
Israel and Hezbollah traded heavy fire on Tuesday, defying international calls for de-escalation during a second day of clashes that Lebanon said claimed hundreds of lives.
Lebanon said Israeli strikes killed at least 558 people on Monday, the deadliest day of violence in the country since its 1975-90 civil war. Hezbollah claimed 18 attacks on Israel on Tuesday, while the Israeli military said the Iran-backed group fired about 300 rockets across the border.
The number of displaced Lebanese has soared to nearly 500,000 since Israel ramped up its military campaign against Hezbollah, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib also said Tuesday.
Britain's foreign ministry said late Tuesday that it was sending military teams to Cyprus as it prepares "contingency plans" for its citizens in Lebanon as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah rages.
"Around 700 UK troops will move to Cyprus in the coming hours," the ministry said, urging British nationals to "leave Lebanon immediately."
During a search to find survivors and retrieve the dead after a pirogue carrying over a hundred migrants sank the night before, in Mbour (Senegal), on September 9, 2024. JOHN WESSELS / AFP
It was just past 11 am on Tuesday, September 24, when the public prosecutor at the Mbour district court, 70 kilometers southeast of Dakar, suddenly raised his voice: "It's because of people like you that we have one immigration tragedy after another," he thundered to a packed courtroom. "You're killing our sons, and you want to carry on with your lives as if nothing had happened."
Opposite him in the dock, Cheikh Sow, 35, was becoming increasingly nervous. His legs were trembling. For the past hour, he had been struggling to answer the following question: Did he participate, directly or indirectly, in the organization of a migrant smuggling operation? "These people you say you sheltered for a few days; did you also guide them to a pirogue bound for Spain? "Yes...," mumbled the accused. After several minutes of heated exchanges and a shrug of the shoulders, he finally acknowledged his "responsibilities" and asked "for everyone's forgiveness."
That morning, along with Cheikh Sow, 16 defendants took the stand in various cases of "migrant smuggling," "attempted migrant smuggling" and "swindling" migrants. Given the successive tragedies of clandestine migration, this hearing had a particular resonance. The latest came on Sunday when 38 lifeless bodies were found adrift in a pirogue 70 kilometers off the coast of Dakar. The prosecutor was quick to point out: "Did you see that pirogue found adrift? That's what your actions lead to!"
'Relentless hunt'
Defendants, plaintiffs, representatives of the State, the judiciary... Everyone knows that clandestine departures from Mbour occur just a few hundred meters from the courthouse, mainly in the fishing district of Tefess. On September 8, at least 39 people perished when an overloaded vessel sank. Dozens more are still missing. Three days later, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, elected on March 24, and faced with a succession of such tragedies at sea, visited the scene in support of the bereaved families. The head of state then announced a "relentless hunt" for smugglers and the creation of a toll-free number to report them.
Cheikh Sow was arrested on September 19, after a prospective emigrant, Omar Sene, reported him. Their pirogue had been forced to disembark its passengers due to an engine problem. Questioned by the president of the court, the young exile candidate revealed everything, benefiting from the statutory principle of immunity for victims of migrant smuggling. He recounted his arrival from his native Fatick, his five-day stay with Cheikh Sow, the transfer in an old taxi to Tefess beach, the boarding on a small pirogue, then a larger one, the other passengers ("around a hundred," according to him), the confiscated mobile phones.
Not to mention the money paid: 480,000 CFA francs (732). "He then asked me for an extra 300,000 CFA francs to be able to attempt the crossing again," said Sene. Cornered, the accused nevertheless sought the court's clemency, acknowledging that he was a link in the smuggling network, but not its main organizer. The hearing will therefore have established some chains of responsibility. Alongside Cheikh Sow, another young man, Mame Mor Ndiaye, a 22-year-old cab driver, was accused of complicity in the same traffic, for driving the would-be migrants.
"In a network, there are at least four types of profiles," explained Superintendent Omar Boun Khatab Gueye, head of the National Division for Combating the Smuggling of Migrants and Related Practices (DNLT): "There are recruiters who go out to meet migrants, hosts, the organizer who collects all the money and organizes the trip, and then the captains who put together the crew of the sailing pirogue." One of the difficulties consists of catching them all at the same time.
Sentences with limited deterrent effect
According to DNLT, in the space of a year, the number of pirogues intercepted off the coast of Senegal has more than doubled, rising from 25 in 2023 to 61 in the first half of 2024 alone. The number of arrests of suspected smugglers leading to prosecution has also soared, from 127 in the first half of 2023 to 210 in 2024. "The phenomenon is linked to the significant increase in departures, but also to the professionalization of the Senegalese police, with seven DNLT branches now established throughout the country," said Gueye.
Under the law of May 10, 2005, migrant smuggling is an offense punishable by five to ten years' imprisonment and a fine ranging from 1 million to 5 million CFA francs (1,524 to 7,622). "In practice, the penalties are much less severe and therefore less of a deterrent," said Mbour-based defense lawyer Oumar Sene, who advocates criminalizing migrant smuggling with a 10-year unconditional sentence: "I recently defended someone who received 120 million CFA francs [183,000] to smuggle migrants. I can already tell you that he's not going to be stopped by six months in prison..."
In the case of Cheikh Sow, the prosecutor requested a two-year' sentence, including one year's prison time, for "attempted smuggling of migrants." And one year, including six months' imprisonment, for the young cab driver Mame Mor Ndiaye, charged with "complicity." Judgment will be announced on October 1.
BALLYHOURA Development hosted its first meeting with the Regional Stakeholders Group in one Limerick venue to provide an overview of the INSPIRE Project.
On September 11, the organisations met at Coote Hall in Kilmallock, to discuss the co-funded EU project and its implications for communities, individuals, and enterprises in the Ballyhoura region on the Limerick-Cork border.
The meeting underscored the growing importance of digital solutions for rural communities and laid the foundation for future policy changes to drive local development.
The aim of the INSPIRE Interreg Europe Project is to make rural areas in EU countries more appealing to residents, tourists, and new inhabitants - this is called the Smart Villages rationale.
The project, which stands for Innovative and Smarter Policy Instruments for Europe, provides the opportunities to learn, adopt, and adapt innovative solutions for developing smart and digitised communities.
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The project also aims to encourage a smart shift in conscious and forward-thinking rural areas.
Amanda Slattery, development manager at Ballyhoura Development, said: Utilising the Smart Villages rationale, specifically through digitisation, will go a long way toward lessening the urban-rural divide within the framework of community-led development.
With participation from Limerick City and County Council, Teagasc, the Irish Farmers Association, Cork County Council, various social enterprises, and representatives from community and voluntary organisations, the event fostered a collaborative exchange of ideas.
This included the promotion of digital inclusion through the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP).
Key discussions focused on improving policy instruments, particularly SICAP, to foster digital inclusion across communities.
LIMERICK Mental Health Association (LMHA) has announced the launch of the19th Annual Mental Health Week in Limerick.
Set to take place from October 7-13, this year's program aims to be the most impactful yet, featuring over 54 events organised in collaboration with 22 different local organisations.
These events are designed to promote positive mental health and foster community connections and compassion while providing valuable mental health resources to the people of Limerick City and County.
One of many standout events this year is the Flagship LMHA Family Fun Day, scheduled for Sunday, October 6, from 2:30-5:00pm at the Life Centre on Henry Street.
This event aims to give families an opportunity to come together and enjoy a fun-filled afternoon. Activities will include face painting, games, live music, tea, coffee and much more. It's a perfect day out for families of all ages and a great way to kick off Mental Health Week.
Another highlight is the Annual Choral Union Concert at St. John's Cathedral hosted by Malcolm Green on Friday, October 11, from 7:30pm.
This evening promises to be an inspiring celebration of music and community spirit. The event will feature performances by the Limerick Choral Union and six other local choirs, creating an uplifting atmosphere for all in attendance.
LMHA will be re-introducing the popular Family & Dog-Friendly Social at the Milk Market on Sunday, October 13, from 10am.
This unique gathering invites dog lovers and their furry friends to come together, connect, and celebrate the positive impact pets can have on mental health. Studies have shown that spending time with animals can reduce stress, increase feelings of happiness, and provide companionship, making this event a perfect way to conclude Mental Health Week.
Limerick Mental Health Week 2024 aims to involve every corner of Limerick city and county, with open doors from organisations across the city.
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Experience free walking tours of Georgian Limerick, explore the city's Masonic Lodge, participate in talks and workshops by Body Tree Therapeutic College, enjoy parent and toddler storytimes at City and County Libraries and discover the benefits of yoga with Radical Transformation Yoga.
There are also tours of the Treaty Brewery and numerous other in-person and online events to take part in.
The full programme of events is available at limerickmentalhealth.ie.
A spokesperson for the event said: Limerick Mental Health Week is a crucial initiative for Limerick city and county, as it shines a light on the importance of mental well-being in our community.
This week provides an opportunity for people to engage in conversations about mental health, access to support and participate in activities that promote resilience and well-being. By bringing together a diverse range of events and organisations, we aim to create a supportive environment where everyone feels empowered to prioritise their mental health.
Dr Lisa ORourke Scott, chair of LMHA said she is delighted to share our plans for our upcoming Mental Health Week 2024.
This year's theme, Community Connection and Compassion, highlights the importance of social well-being, and we've partnered with local businesses, social groups, and community organisations to ensure there's something for everyone, fostering a sense of belonging and care within our community, she continued.
Dr ORourke Scott added: I encourage everyone to explore our schedule of events and find something that resonates with you. It's a fantastic opportunity to come together, support one another, and promote mental wellbeing throughout our community.
Ian Hackett, manager of LMHA commented: Limerick has always been a place where community and connection provide a true sense of belonging. This year, we invite everyone-whether in your neighbourhood, workplace, or family circle-to get involved in Limerick Mental Health Week 2024.
Whether you're organising a coffee morning, a yoga class, or simply taking a walk with friends and family, every effort, no matter how small, contributes to promoting positive mental health. Remember, no event is too small to make a meaningful impact, he added.
COUNCIL traffic wardens issued 93 fixed penalty notices to drivers parked illegally in estates around University of Limerick (UL) in the first week students returned.
The figures were given to Green Party councillor Sean Hartigan by local authority transport boss Liam Browne.
Charges are as high as 80 when vehicles are parked on footpaths or grass verges.
And this is what is happening around UL, councillors claimed at this months metropolitan district meeting.
READ MORE: Limerick community 'inspire' after hosting first key meeting to improve rural life
Fine Gael councillor Peter Doyle saw a motion passed calling on council traffic wardens to visit Milford Grange, Elm Park and Hazlewood on a weekly basis during the academic year and ticket any cars parked illegally.
He said that one Elm Park resident had told him she felt held to hostage in her home due to the fact she feels it is tough to drive from her home with the level of illegally parked vehicles.
Cllr Hartigan welcomed his constituency colleagues motion, and formally seconded it.
He said when his concerns on parking had been reported previously, he received phone calls from across the country.
I got a lot of flack out there from the parents of students from Donegal to Dunmanway ringing me up to complain that their little Johnny had got a ticket. One woman in Donegal phoned me to ask where her son could park. I told her he had more choice than anyone in the country as he could leave his car anywhere between Donegal and Limerick - so long as he didnt park it on the footpath in Castletroy, said Cllr Hartigan.
Cllr Joe Pond, Fianna Fail, added: Students are abandoning their cars. Residents cannot walk up their footpaths.
Mr Browne told councillors that wardens remain in place, and areas continue to be patrolled.
Social Democrats councillors Elisa ODonovan and Shane Hickey-OMara spoke out against the motion, as did Sinn Feins Ursula Gavan, who has children in UL.
Cllr ODonovan said: Its punitive on students and its not up to the local authority to provide punitive measures for students who cannot get housing or parking in UL.
Cllr Hickey-OMara said the motion lacks empathy, and only places a further financial burden on students.
LIMERICK City and County Council has issued a warning letter to Irish Rail in relation to safety issues at the citys Colbert Station following its 20m revamp.
One councillor has described the situation as chaos, while fears have been expressed that children could be knocked down, with a local school principal saying its quite scary really.
Work got underway on giving the city and countys main transport hub a facelift back in May 2022, with the new improvements unveiled earlier this year.
Now, Irish Rail, which led the project, has been ordered to improve the pedestrian facilities outside the station which serves as an entry point to the city for bus passengers coming from rural Limerick and those travelling by rail to and from Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland.
As part of the redevelopment, buses have moved to the left-hand side of the complex (when facing the station), while a car park has opened on the opposite side.
A revamped railway station is in the centre.
I anticipate a real danger to children, said Tracie Tobin, the principal of St Michaels Infant School at nearby Sexton Street.
Fine Gael councillor Sarah Kiely, who received confirmation of the warning letter at this months metropolitan meeting, said: There seems to be chaos for pedestrians and drivers. There is very little structure around the station. Children going to school need to have priority, and they do not. Children coming from Hyde Road, Careys Road and its surrounding areas, over by the park are all converging outside the train station.
Ms Tobin, who joined Cllr Kiely on site during a morning rush hour last week, said one of her staff members was almost hit by a bus when walking across the road leading out from the new bus station.
She also pointed out there are almost 2,000 children heading to schools across the various national and secondary schools in the Sexton Street area.
READ MORE: Limerick Mental Health Week's programme of events
There are no warnings of a potential bus coming out or a car turning in. Its quite scary really. Parents are with their children, and if a child is using their scooter, they may not be holding their hand. Children get easily distracted - its a busy area. They need to be warned of potential danger and in my opinion there is no warning.
For its part, Irish Rail confirmed the firm had received a warning letter, and said there is ongoing engagement to resolve this.
They said there were "minor amendments" to the design of the car park/set down area on the Parnell Street side of the station.
"These amendments were requested by and agreed with Limerick City and County Councils roads department. Subsequent to this Limerick City and County Councils Planning Department issued a warning letter expressing the view that these amendments were potentially not in compliance with our planning permission. We are having ongoing engagement with the planning department to resolve this issue," a spokesperson said.
One motorist, who uses the new car park several times a week, pointed out how drivers trying to drive across into the car park from Lord Edward Street and Mallow Street can be forced to queue back on the main road if someone is crossing the pedestrian crossing ahead of them and there is another vehicle ahead of their vehicle, causing Parnell Street traffic to be affected outbound from the city.
Cllr Kiely added: I was contacted by an elderly man, who lives in Hyde Road, recently and he said he finds it treacherous to cross the road there.
You are walking out into a blind alley.
Even though there is a stop sign there, cars do not stop.
Senior planner Nuala OConnell confirmed the warning letter in a written answer to Cllr Kiely.
A council spokesperson did not provide further comment.
AFTER an absence of almost four years, the Irish Georgian Societys Limerick Chapter has announced it is resuming its activities, with the launch of its autumn-winter lecture series on 1 October with a lecture by Randal Hodkinson on Limerick in old, unseen photographs.
Illustrating the changing streetscapes of the Georgian and medieval parts of the city, this lecture will interest everyone with an interest in Limericks history and architecture.
The Georgian Society is a membership-driven organisation whose aims are to protect and foster interest in Irelands historic architecture, decorative arts and designed landscapes and gardens. Founded in 1958 by the late Desmond and Mariga Guinness, it continues to champion the cause to save and preserve Irelands unique and valuable historic buildings and landscapes.
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Its Limerick Chapter was established in 1996 by the late Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin, who with others hoped to highlight the importance of Limericks Georgian heritage, then as now threatened by inappropriate development. The Chapter hosts an annual Knight of Glin Lecture to celebrate his achievements in Limerick and beyond, details of which will be announced in the coming months.
Randal Hodkinsons lecture will take place at 8pm in the historic LYMPA building on 97 OConnell Street, Limerick. Entry is 5 at the door and is open to all.
Searches for a 12-year-old child who was reported missing more than a week ago have been stood down, gardai have confirmed.
Gardai had issued an urgent appeal for help in tracing the whereabouts of Destiny Dempsey who was last seen in Dublin city centre shortly before 1pm on Tuesday, September 17.
Searches had been carried out by gardai and members of Destiny's family and in an update, issued late on Tuesday night, it was confirmed there has been a positive outcome.
READ ALSO: ALERT: Gardai issue urgent appeal for help in locating elderly man missing in Dublin
"Missing person Destiny Dempsey, 12 years of age who was last seen on North Earl Street, Dublin 1 on September 17, 2024 has been located safe and well," read a brief statement issued by the Garda Press Office.
No further details relating to the circumstances in which Destiny was located have been disclosed publicly.
Gardai have thanked members of the public and the media for their assistance since the appeal was issued.
The National Childrens Hospital is being held like a hostage in negotiations with lead contractor Bam, the chief officer of the development board has said.
The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) has accused Bam of under-resourcing the project and failing to deliver on its contractual obligations.
A fresh row over the hospital emerged after it was claimed that not one of the facilitys 5,500 rooms is finished to the expected standard.
The beleaguered development has been delayed on 14 occasions four of which occurred within the last year.
The projected costs of the hospital have spiralled to 2.2 billion euros, up from an initial estimated price tag of 650 million euros in 2014.
The current completion date of the hospital, billed by the Government as state-of-the-art, is set at a contested June 2025.
Following completion, there will be an approximately six-to-eight month commissioning period before the site is ready to accept children as patients.
The NPHDB has responsibility for engaging with Bam on behalf of the Government.
It has said that main delay around the hospital is insufficient resourcing from the contractor. Bam claims that thousands of design changes from the Board have delayed the project.
NPDB chief officer David Gunning told the Oireachtas Health Committee on Wednesday that Bam will not be given another cent beyond what it is entitled to.
Mr Gunning, who said he spoke to Bam Irelands chief executive on Tuesday, maintained that there had been no significant design change from the beginning of the project.
The board accepts that there had been changes to drawings, for which Mr Gunning said the contractor had been paid over and above the agreed price for additional resourcing.
Mr Gunning said: We do not agree that design change is the cause of delays on this project. We simply dont buy it.
On the contractors commercial strategy, he added: It is almost as if Bam will slow down the progress and, you know, the hospital is the hostage in this negotiation and its only if additional monies are paid that we can get this hospital done completely.
Mr Gunning said he had never seen anything like this and told Senator Martin Conway: Were sick of it. We have been dealing with this day in and day out. Commitments made, commitments missed.
He said the Board does not have a detailed programme on how Bam plans to execute the last 10 months of the project.
Without that detail, I certainly would not go so far as to give any assurance to this committee in terms of the bankability or the confidence in the June 25 date.
Mr Gunning said the timeline could be secured if the project was appropriately resourced by Bam, but claimed the contractor is consistently failing to deliver on its planned commitments.
In particular, he said the contractor continually insists on describing areas within the hospital as finished when they are incomplete.
As of today, not one room has been fully completed in line with the standard and finish as set out in the contract, he said.
There are 5,678 clinical spaces in the new hospital and whilst to date Bam has offered 3,128 as complete, none were completed to the required standard.
It follows a series of inspections of rooms that were presented as complete.
Phelim Devine, the boards project director, said rooms can only be considered complete when they are as close to snag free within reason.
However, he said outstanding issues with the rooms are not akin to scuffs of paint.
He told the committee that examined rooms have on average 13-15 defects including fire sealing, ventilation, and incomplete works above ceilings.
In addition, Bam has made 3,020 claims over project changes which could drastically increase the cost of the hospital. Of these, Mr Devine said 2,473 had been substantiated by the contractor at a total of 862 million euros.
The employers representative has determined 2,190 of the claims worth 748 million euros, of which just 31 million euros in extra cost has been awarded towards Bam.
There are around 280 substantiated claims outstanding.
Under questioning from Social Democrats TD Roisin Shortall, Mr Devine said there were 6,000 drawings relating to the project which have been revised up to three times for more than 23,000 updated drawings.
He rejected that these were design changes and said they may involve additional information or tweaked positions. However, he said there had been 469 change orders.
Ms Shortall described the distinction as pedantic given that the contractor is entitled to claim for the updated drawings.
Mr Devine said the independent employers representative has determined that there had been about 4% of design change on the contract, but the contractor had pushed out the end date by 66%.
Mr Gunning accused Bam of a continued unwillingness to resource the project appropriately.
He said Bam has not provided a compliant baseline programme outlining its approach and timeline for remaining works underway.
It shows a complete disregard for internationally recognised professional processes and contractual procedures, he said.
The approach being taken by Bam also shows complete disregard for sick children and young people and their families as well as the dedicated and excellent staff in Childrens Health Ireland.
Meanwhile, Mr Gunning said Bam continues to submit large volumes of claims, including triplication of claimed time and value.
It is the view of the NPHDB that Bam is seeking to implement a strategy to exert pressure on the State to secure additional monies above the contract sum, by whatever means, he said.
The chief officer said the NPHDB is doing everything in its power to compel Bam to fulfil its contractual responsibilities, adding that it is robustly defending the claims it considers to be without merit or inflated.
Mr Gunning, who said his message to the contractor was not one penny more, said he could not possibly know if the price tag would increase following further legal challenges.
The 2.2 billion euro figure includes 1.88 billion euros for the NPHDB component of completing construction, as well as hundreds of millions of euros for the full commissioning of the building.
The NPHDB will hand the site over to Childrens Health Ireland following the completion of the hospital.
Mr Gunning said he was confident that the current 1.88 billion euro funding allocation will be sufficient to complete the project, which is described as 94% complete.
However, he told the committee that he could not guarantee that costs of the project would increase following the resolution of legal claims from the contractor.
Asked by Fianna Fail TD John Lahart if he would recommend Bam for future State infrastructure projects, Mr Gunning referenced the rules around making comments at committees and said: I dont believe I should answer that question.
More generally, he said there was merit to proposals suggested by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly that past performance should be considered when awarding State contracts.
The aviation industry in India has witnessed remarkable growth in recent years, becoming one of the fastest-growing aviation markets globally. As of 2023, Indias domestic air traffic has surged, reaching 140 million passengers, a significant increase from 60 million in 2013. The country's overall passenger traffic, including international travel, crossed 341 million in 2022, projected to reach 520 million by 2037. This growth is driven by rising incomes, a burgeoning middle class, improved airport infrastructure, and government initiatives like the UDAN scheme, aimed at enhancing regional connectivity. India is also set to become the third-largest aviation market by 2025, further boosting its strategic global position.
As industries experience growth, attracting top talent becomes crucial, but retaining that talent is equally important. Shine has launched an exciting new campaign, Discussing Retention Strategies: Keeping Your Top Talent, where leading HR and Talent Acquisition experts share their insights on effective retention methods in todays highly competitive market. This initiative provides a unique perspective on how companies are prioritizing talent management, showcasing the innovative strategies employers use to maintain their best employees. It's a valuable resource for both employers and job seekers, offering insights into what truly differentiates top-tier companies in terms of talent retention.
To gain insight into the unique strategies for retaining employees in the dynamic aviation industry, we spoke with Sukhjit Singh Pasricha, Group Chief Human Resources Officer at IndiGo. With over 27 years of experience across diverse sectors, Mr. Pasricha has been a key figure in shaping HR strategies for both B2B and B2C businesses. His expertise lies in developing business-aligned HR frameworks, leading transformative HR projects, and enhancing organizational capabilities through effective HR interventions. Before joining IndiGo, Mr. Pasricha held prominent roles, including Chief of HR & Admin at Bajaj Finance, and leadership positions at Bharti Airtel, PepsiCo, and Spice Communications, where he played an instrumental role in building strong HR processes across the board.
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A woman who served time at an Albany youth prison filed a lawsuit alleging she was sexually abused by a staff member there.
Held at the Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility, the woman alleges she was 20 years old when a staff member groomed and coerced her into a sexual relationship.
Its one of a half-dozen federal court lawsuits accusing Oregon Youth Authority staff members at facilities in Albany and Woodburn of grooming inmates to perpetrate sexual abuse, and alleging that administrators allowed it to happen.
The victims ranged in age from 15 to 21 when the alleged abuses occurred.
Another lawsuit, filed by a youth convicted in Benton County, alleges he was 15 years old when a staff member working on a substance abuse unit at the Woodburn-based MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility plied him with contraband drugs she smuggled into the facility and forced herself upon him sexually.
So far, two staff members named in the lawsuits have been arrested on criminal charges, including one employed at Albanys Oak Creek facility.
Oak Creek
In July, Linn County prosecutors filed a secret indictment charging 37-year-old Travis Kekoa Craft of Salem with custodial sexual misconduct. He was arraigned on several charges Sept. 12.
Craft was reportedly employed as a group life coordinator and security staff at Albany-based Oak Creek.
According to the lawsuit filed against Craft on Wednesday, Sept. 18, in 2021 he allegedly began grooming a 20-year-old woman who had been held at Oak Creek since 2018. At 16, she was prosecuted as an adult in Washington County Court and sentenced to more than 11 years, the lawsuit states.
Once assigned to the plaintiff's housing unit, Craft immediately began grooming her by engaging in inappropriate sexual conversations, the lawsuit alleges. Over the course of four months, the lawsuit claims, he coerced her into a sexual relationship, escalating from kissing to repeated forced sexual contact.
The lawsuit alleges Craft brought the victim gifts to gain her trust, and after three months of grooming, he coerced her into kissing. At the next opportunity, Craft had her come to a medical clinic office with no cameras and made her perform oral sex on him, the suit alleges.
Numerous blind spots existed in Oak Creeks video surveillance system, including in the back of the medical clinic, which allowed staff to be alone with youth unmonitored, thus creating ideal conditions for staff to sexually abuse youth, the lawsuit alleges.
That happened two or three more times during a four-month period, according to the alleged victim, who is suing over Eighth Amendment civil rights violations of cruel and unusual punishment as well as negligence. The lawsuit calls for a jury trial and damages for mental and emotional injury.
The lawsuit also names Oak Creek Superintendent Mike Riggan and Oregon Youth Authority Director Jospeh OLeary, alleging they failed to ensure that youth inmates were free from sexual abuse and harassment.
Craft currently faces criminal allegations including three felony counts of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct and two misdemeanor counts of second-degree custodial sexual misconduct, as well as misdemeanor charges of attempted second-degree custodial sexual misconduct and attempted third-degree sexual abuse, according to court records.
A Linn County Circuit Court release agreement for Craft indicates he paid $1,000 deposit on $10,000 bail Sept. 12.
Numerous attempts to reach Craft went unanswered.
MacLaren
A Benton County youth ordered to serve up to six years in a youth correctional facility in 2021 filed a lawsuit Sept. 18, accusing a MacLaren staff member, Cherie MacDougall, of grooming him for sex with gifts that included cannabis vaporizer pens.
MacDougall reportedly worked as a group life coordinator at the Woodburn facility at the time.
The alleged victim was prosecuted as a juvenile, and at 15 years old was committed to a youth facility for an indefinite period not to exceed six years, according to the lawsuit. He was placed in the institutions Haystack Unit, designated for those with substance abuse issues.
According to the lawsuit, in early 2022 MacDougall began grooming the alleged victim and bringing him drugs, and in the year that followed she engaged in coercive sexual relations with him multiple times.
The victim alleges the contraband drug influence led to treatment problems and his incarceration being extended repeatedly.
MacDougall shared details of her personal life to build trust with the alleged victim, according to the lawsuit, which also alleges she asked him to send her money through the mobile payment service Cash App, which he did.
The lawsuit alleges MacDougall groped the victim in February 2022 and repeatedly hugged him and rubbed herself against his groin. It also alleges she repeatedly tried kissing the victims neck during hugs and more than once, took his hand and made him spank her buttocks.
Plaintiff felt he had no choice but to submit to her sexually coercive behaviors, in part because he was addicted to the drugs that she smuggled in to him to groom him, the lawsuit alleges.
After MacDougall moved to working in another housing unit, the alleged victim made swift and significant progress with his substance abuse treatment, according to the lawsuit, and he was reportedly paroled from MacLaren around four months after she was transferred.
The lawsuit, which claims violation of Fourteenth Amendment due process rights and negligence, also names MacDougalls immediate supervisor, Marcus Williams, along with MacLaren Superintendent Dan Berger and agency director OLeary.
Another lawsuit against MacDougall, Williams, Berger and OLeary alleges she gave cannabis vaporizer pens and cellphones, among other gifts, to a 21-year-old MacLaren inmate and coerced him into sexual acts on least 20 occasions. The suit alleges MacDougall threatened him with serious consequences if he told anyone about the abuse.
Efforts to reach MacDougall were unsuccessful.
Three lawsuits
Craft was the second Oregon Youth Authority staff member arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing inmates.
In December, Emily Echtenkamp, a former qualified mental health professional, was charged under a Marion County secret indictment with five felony counts of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct, as well as misdemeanor counts of first-degree official misconduct and initiating a false report, according to court records.
Echtenkamp is named in three separate federal lawsuits filed by former MacLaren inmates between March and August. The suits allege Echtenkamp groomed the inmates for sexual relationships, in one case by providing cannabis vaporizer pens and lewd photos and videos of herself to a victim.
The lawsuits allege Echtenkamp had a known history of sexually abusing incarcerated youth at MacLaren. One suit alleges she was caught having sex with an inmate in April 2022 and claimed the youth raped her, although an Oregon State Police investigation determined she lied.
Abuse rates at Oak Creek?
In 2020, media outlets reported that federal data showed sexual abuse rates were twice the national average at the Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility
Around 14% of the 42 survey respondents, or six individuals, reported being sexually victimized at the facility. That number was more than double the national average of 7.1%.
The data, collected in 2018, did not specify whether the alleged abuse was conducted by staff or fellow inmates.
In a blog at the time, representatives at the Oregon Youth Authority said they were surprised by the data.
We are seeking more context on the federal data to better understand what it means, the post said. The survey contradicts all of the other data we have on sexual abuse in our facilities.
The organization added that its internal audit showed an average of 2.5% of its residents reporting being the victim of sexual violence between April 2018 and October 2019.
Delhi's Saket Court has sent Deepak Gupta, Ashneer Grover's relative, to judicial custody for five days. Gupta was the former administration and procurement head at BharatPe.
Gupta was produced before the Saket Court after five days of police custody, according to a report by ANI.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police had arrested Deepak Gupta on allegations of misappropriating funds from BharatPe. The case on misappropriating funds is in connection with the 72 crore payments made to bogus vendors, according to the report.
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The legal battle between Ashneer Grover and BharatPe began in 2022 when Grover was kicked out of the company for alleged misuse of funds and company resources. Gupta's arrest adds to the ongoing battle, ANI reported. According to reports, the financial fraud at BharatPe amounts to 81 crore.
Further, the Delhi Police had asked for 10 days of custody of Gupta to investigate the matter. The police have sought custody to recover the computer and to investigate the relation with Amit Bansal, another accused in the case, and know the flow of funds, reported ANI.
Related developments On September 17, the Delhi High Court allowed Ashneer Grover and his wife, Madhuri Jain, to travel abroad. The EOW issued a lookout notice for them due to which they were unable to travel internationally. The couple challenged the lookout notice.
The Delhi High Court permitted the couple to visit the United Kingdom from September 28 to October 7 and Qatar from October 17 to 20, ANI reported.
Bengaluru/Mumbai: Interior decor solutions provider HomeLane is set to acquire its smaller rival Design Cafe in a share swap transaction for an undisclosed sum, while securing 225 crore in fresh funding from investors including Hero Enterprise and WestBridge Capital to fuel its expansion.
The combined entity, which will be valued at about 3,000 crore (about $360 million), is expected to be Ebitda profitable and generate a revenue of 1,000 crore in 2024-25, the companies said in a statement. Currently, the two entities have a combined revenue of about 900 crore.
Ebitda, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation, is a key metric of operational efficiency.
While the combined entity will cater to a more niche premium target market, HomeLane, Design Cafe and HomeLanes affordable home interiors division, Doowup, will continue to operate as distinct brands, catering to different segments of the market, according to the statement.
The new capital is also expected to fund HomeLanes expansion into new markets, including tier 2 cities, where it is seeing rising demand.
In January, Mint first reported on WestBridge Capital-backed Design Cafes exploratory talks to sell to peers such as Accel-backed HomeLane and KKR-backed Livspace for a merger. Other contenders included Saint-Gobain-held MyHome and the JSW Group.
Our investment reflects confidence in their (HomeLane) business model and it also presents meaningful synergies with Hero Realty. We look forward to seeing the innovation and growth that this partnership will bring, Sunil Kant Munjal, chairman of Hero Enterprise, said in the statement.
The combined entity will use a tech-driven approach and leverage Design Cafes design expertise, HomeLanes co-founders Tanuj Choudhry and Srikanth Iyer said in the statement.
Iyer added that India has a large market for interior decor providers and growth is imminent in the near term as more customers opt for established companies.
Companies of scale Indias home interiors segment, pegged to be a $20 billion industry, is largely driven by unorganized local players and has seen very few businesses of scale emerge.
Companies such as HomeLane and Livspace have been able to achieve some scale and cross the 1,000 crore revenue mark, although several other firms have struggled to grow their business.
Those that have managed to beat the storm are also benefiting from a boom in real estate activity as several projects that were launched during the pandemic have started to materialize and are expected to generate a steady pipeline for next few years.
Also read | Livspace plans India return, eyes 2025 IPO
Both teams have shown strong execution in the past, and together, we believe that they will deliver industry-leading performance for all stakeholders, said Sandeep Singhal, managing partner of Westbridge Capital, which participated in HomeLanes latest fundraising round.
HomeLane, which was founded 10 years ago, also operates Cubico for corporate interiors, and Wrapzap. It has about 45,000 customers across 30 cities.
Design Cafe, founded in 2016 by Gita Ramanan and Shezan Bhojani, has raised nearly $30 million in funding so far, including from WestBridge Capital, Sixth Sense Ventures, Mirabilis Investment, Alteria Capital, and Fireside Ventures.
Jagatjit Industries, the maker of Aristocrat Premium whisky and other spirits, is set to launch a slate of products in early 2025 as part of its strategy to reinvent and premiumise its offerings.
The company will enter the brandy category with the launch of Royal Medallion in January. It will also introduce a craft white spirit and a single malt whisky by July. White spirits in the liquor market refer to clear spirits such as vodka, gin, and tequila.
To fund the expansion, Jagatjit Industries is working on raising 300 crore through private equity by the end of 2024. The funds will also be used to repay debt and repurchase underperforming franchises.
Speaking exclusively to Mint, promoter and chief restructuring officer Roshini Sanah Jaiswal said the company earns royalties from its franchises in various states, but some have been underperforming.
"We would like to regain control of these markets," Jaiswal said, adding that Assam, Delhi, and Andhra Pradesh have been strong performers, and she expects 30-40% growth in these states over the next two years with additional sales and marketing efforts.
Also Read: Liquor firms in a twist over permit rollout in Punjab
The company is also preparing to re-enter Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal.
"We exited UP 18 years ago, but its a key market and we will restart business there in the next two months. The other two states will follow shortly," Jaiswal added. A re-entry into Maharashtra is also under consideration.
Other businesses
The Indian alcohol market operates under state regulation, which governs product pricing. In recent years, companies have focussed more on premium brands while reducing their dependence on entry-level products.
The business, which began operations in 1944, produces brandy, vodka, and whisky brands such as AC SEKC and Binnies. In 2018, the company adopted a franchise model, and despite a 30% industry decline during the pandemic, it saw 62% growth.
For FY24, the company reported revenue of 708 crore, a significant increase from 582 crore in FY23, and a profit after tax of 7.5 crore. It sells around 5 million cases annually, with IMFL (Indian made foreign liquor) cases growing 20-22% since 2020.
In addition, Jagatjit Industries has a malted milk foods division, which produces 30,000 metric tonnes per annum.
"The malted milk business has provided strong bottom-line support," Jaiswal explained. "However, were looking to premiumise to strengthen our margins."
The companys bottom line has been under pressure, prompting the focus on higher-end products. Three-quarters of its FY24 revenue came from beverages, with the rest from food and other businesses.
The company plans to launch an ethanol plant by December, having secured a 180 crore loan from the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd to set up a 200 kilolitre per day grain-based ethanol distillery in Kapurthala, Punjab.
Jaiswal expects this new business to generate 500 crore in revenue in its first year, pushing EBITDA margins to 15%. Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA), produced at the plant, has applications in spirits, pharmaceuticals, and industries like paints and varnishes.
Jaiswal emphasised the need for a balance between premium and entry-level brands.
"The strategy was always to have a stepping-stone brand, but we lacked funding in 2020 when we first considered this direction. While our focus is on premium brands now, we wont abandon entry-level offerings," she said.
The companys key revenue drivers remain ACP and AC Black whisky, while its Royal Pride brand has gained traction in Chhattisgarh and Delhi.
Indias $32-billion liquor industry is expected to grow by $7 billion by 2028, driven by rising whisky volumes and a youthful population33% of Indians, or 460 million people, are of legal drinking age, according to London-based consultancy IWSR.
Jagatjit Industries shares closed at 292 on 24 September, off a high of 305 on 15 September.
SpiceJet, which recently raised 3,000 crore from multiple investors, is back in buoyant mode. Ajay Singh, the Chairman and Managing Director, is back to giving interviews, even though his stake has been pared to 35%. The airline, in its preliminary placement document, laid out its statutory dues at 427 crore, which would go up to 794 crore when the disputed ones are added.
The new lease of life helps the airline and passengers, who are otherwise devoid of options in what is increasingly a duopoly in Indian skies. Additionally, as and when the airline clears dues of employees, vendors, airports and lessors, it will pave the way for positive sentiment across the industry.
It blamed two black swan eventsthe worldwide grounding of MAX aircraft and COVIDfor its current downfall. The airline has lost 4,611 crore in the four years since the pandemic started and would likely need a lot more than what it has right now to sustain over the next decade. A lot of that will have to be generated via profits.
What is the plan? The airline broadly plans to use 601 crore to repay statutory dues, 750 crore to settle liabilities, 410 crore to unground planes, 370 crore to add to the new fleet, and 268 crore to pay pending airport and employee dues. That still leaves about 600 crore with the airline.
By its own admission, it has 36 grounded planes, which include 17 Q400s, 6 MAX8s, three freighters and ten 737 NG of various series. The airline lists the security deposits for planes, ranging from 6.25 crore security deposit for three months for 737NG to 8.32 crore for the MAX, with similar conditions. These are not dynamic lease costs. In the case of SpiceJet, where lessors are at loggerheads for dues, it is a case of once bitten, twice shy. Will the lessors agree to offer more planes?
The airline is looking to become five times its operational size right now by 2026. In an environment where supply chain constraints continue to haunt airlines, even getting the grounded aircraft back on its feet is a challenge. The airline had similar plans during its last fundraiser, but more planes were subsequently grounded. Combined with the strike at Boeing, the market for leased planes is going strong, and the planes are available at higher lease rentals.
The airline must then hope to get all its 36 grounded planes back in the air, ensuring that the fleet crosses the half-century mark before it can talk of reaching 100 planes by 2026. This would mean operationalising and inducting 80 planes in 27 months from here on, a rate similar to what Air India Express had announced but now uncertain to meet due to quality issues, strikes, and the FAA-mandated delivery schedule at Boeing.
Profits, the ultimate truth The additional money has come at a time when fuel costs are going down, rupee is stable and passenger numbers are reaching new highs. With a negative net worth and accumulated losses, but having 3,000 crore at its disposal, what will SpiceJet do? It cannot now tell the courts that it does not have money and wants to use engines to avoid passenger inconvenience.
The next big question is what the airline will do to be profitable. The market is now divided between two large groups, and there is no guarantee that these players will not undercut pricing to push SpiceJet away from the market.
Not long ago, SpiceJet had a reputation for having a large portion of its routes as monopoly routes. That is not the case anymore. While a mix of UDAN routes on its portfolio is good, the airline isnt operating them either. A plethora of bilateral rights with the airline could mean nothing if it cannot mount profitable operations.
The airline is currently well poised to rethink its fleet strategy. It may move towards a typical LCC model of single fleet type, and, if needed, a new fleet type, and press the reset button.
At a time when tech companies are paying eye-popping sums to hire the best minds in artificial intelligence, Googles deal to rehire Noam Shazeer has left others in the dust.
A co-author of a seminal research paper that kicked off the AI boom, Shazeer quit Google in 2021 to start his own company after the search giant refused to release a chatbot he developed. When that startup, Character.AI, began to flounder, his old employer swooped in.
Google wrote Character a check for around $2.7 billion, according to people with knowledge of the deal. The official reason for the payment was to license Characters technology. But the deal included another component: Shazeer agreed to work for Google again.
Within Google, Shazeeers return is widely viewed as the primary reason the company agreed to pay the multibillion-dollar licensing fee.
The arrangement has thrust him into the middle of a debate in Silicon Valley about whether tech giants are overspending in the race to develop cutting-edge AI, which some believe will define the future of computing.
Noam is clearly a great person in that space," said Christopher Manning, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Is he 20 times as good as other people?"
It is a remarkable turn of events after Shazeer publicly said the search giant had become too risk-averse in developing AI. The 48-year-old engineer is now one of three people leading Googles efforts to build the next version of its most powerful AI technology, Gemini.
Shazeer made hundreds of millions of dollars from his stake in Character as part of the deal, according to one of the knowledgeable people. The payout is unusually large for a founder who didnt sell his company or take it public.
Google declined to make Shazeer available for an interview, and he didnt respond to requests for comment.
AI pioneer
Shazeer joined Google in 2000 as one of its first few hundred employees. His first major project was building a system to improve the search engines spelling correction function. Shortly into his tenure, he asked then-CEO Eric Schmidt for access to thousands of computer chips.
Im going to solve general knowledge by the weekend," Shazeer told Schmidt, the CEO recalled during a 2015 Stanford University talk. The early effort failed, but Schmidt grew confident Shazeer had what it took to build AI with human-level intelligence.
If theres anybody I can think of in the world whos likely to do it, its going to be him," Schmidt said during the talk.
In 2017, Shazeer published a paper with seven other Google researchers called Attention is All You Need," detailing a computer system that could reliably predict the next word in a sequence when prompted by humans. It became the underpinning of the generative AI technology that followed.
Shazeer teamed with a Google colleague, Daniel De Freitas, to build a chatbot originally named Meena that could banter confidently on a range of topics. In a widely circulated memo, Meena Eats the World," Shazeer predicted it could replace Googles search engine and produce trillions of dollars in revenue, said people familiar with the document.
Google executives declined to release the chatbot to the public, citing concerns around safety and fairness. Shazeer and De Freitas quit in 2021 to launch Character.
Its going to be super, super helpful
One year later, OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT, demonstrating the massive public appetite for AI-powered chatbots. The following March, Character raised $150 million in an investment round valuing it at $1 billion.
Shazeer and his team hoped people would pay to interact with chatbots that can provide practical advice or mimic celebrities like Elon Musk and fictional characters like Percy Jackson.
Its going to be super, super helpful to a lot of people who are lonely or depressed," Shazeer said on The Aarthi and Sriram Show" podcast last year.
As the company grew, staffers increasingly had to try to block customers from engaging in romantic role-play, a use case that didnt fit Shazeer and De Freitass vision. Like other AI startups trying to compete with giants including OpenAI and Microsoft, Character also struggled to cover the high costs of developing its technology before it had a robust source of revenue.
Shazeer looked into raising more money for Character earlier this year and sounded out potential buyers including Facebook owner Meta Platforms, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. Character announced the deal with Google parent Alphabet last month, writing in a blog post that the landscape has shifted" in the AI business since the companys founding.
A Character spokeswoman said the company has more than 20 million monthly active users and is on a good trajectory toward building a consumer business.
License to?
In addition to Shazeers payout, Googles payment was used to buy shares from Characters investors and employees and to fund the startups continued operationsminus Shazeer, De Freitas and about 30 of their colleagues who have joined Google.
Google isnt the first tech giant to license a smaller companys technology in large part to hire its senior staff. Microsoft and Amazon have made similar deals this year. The unusual structure allows them to bring in coveted AI researchers whose startups are struggling without waiting for the regulatory approvals needed for formal acquisitions.
People who work on AI at Google said they dont know what the company will do with the technology it licensed from Character.
Shazeer, however, is already back to work at Google with the title of vice president. He has gone from running a company with hundreds of employees to focusing on research and supervising a handful of people, including De Freitas.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who played a key role in the deal to bring Shazeer back, said at a recent conference that the company was previously too timid in deploying AI applications. Now, he said, Google is developing and launching AI technology as fast as it can.
Noam, by the way, is back at Google, which is awesome," he added.
Tom Dotan, Berber Jin and Deepa Seetharaman contributed to this article.
Write to Miles Kruppa at miles.kruppa@wsj.com and Lauren Thomas at lauren.thomas@wsj.com
A recent report from Goldman Sachs, a prominent international investment bank, suggested that India is set to become one of the world's fastest-growing economies in the coming years. Moneycontrol reported on Wednesday, September 25.
The analytical report highlighted a positive shift in India's economic landscape after a prolonged period of sluggish growth.
According to the analysis as reported by Moneycontrol, India's corporate earnings have begun to stabilize in recent years, with projections indicating that this trend of robust profit growth could continue until the end of the decade. The study notes impressive growth in the total earnings and market capitalization of India's benchmark Nifty index over the past five years.
Looking ahead, the investment firm anticipates significant changes in the distribution of India's corporate profit pool. Sectors related to investment cycles, such as automotive, real estate, chemicals, and industrials, are expected to see substantial increases in their share of overall profits. The report also predicts strong growth in consumer-oriented cyclical industries.
Furthermore, the analysis suggests a potential shift in growth leadership towards the power sector and emerging energy technologies. This could signal new opportunities in these areas for investors and businesses alike, the Moneycontrol report added.
Also Read | India rises to 3, surpasses Japan in Asia Power Index amid economic growth
As part of its analysis, the investment bank has identified 20 Indian companies it believes are well-positioned to benefit from these economic trends. These recommended stocks span various sectors, including energy, infrastructure, automotive, consumer goods, and real estate.
What are companies recommended by Goldman Sachs? The brokerage has issued a 'buy' call on 20 stocks: RIL, L&T, NTPC, M&M, UltraTech, Power Grid, Adani Ports, IndiGo, Eicher Motors, Havells, Polycab, Ashok Leyland, Phoenix Mills, Uno Minda, Hitachi Energy, Astral, Embassy REIT, Kajaria Ceramics, Blue Dart, and Amber Enterprises.
MUMBAI : Whatfix, a business-to-business digital adoption platform, is on track to achieve profitability within the next six months as it prepares for a possible public listing in two years, its co-founder and chief executive Khadim Batti said on Wednesday. The company, which helps enterprises onboard and train employees through software solutions, aims to hit a $100 million revenue run rate over the next 12 months, Batti said.
We are working towards turning profitable over the next two quarters," Batti said in an interview with Mint.
Whatfix has secured $125 million in Series E funding, led by Warburg Pincus, which values the company at $900 million. Existing backer SoftBank Vision Fund 2 also participated in the roun
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The company's roster of backers includes Dragoneer, Peak XV Partners, Eight Roads, and Cisco Investments. In 2021, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led a $100 million financing round, which at the time valued the company at approximately $600 million.
According to Batti, around $58 million of the recent funding was a secondary sale, allowing early investors and angel backers to sell their stakes, while the remaining $67 million will be used to fuel the companys expansion into Southeast Asia and the West Asia. This will be in addition to the companys growing presence in its existing markets such as the US and Europe, he added.
The investment will enable us to expand out category and enhance our integrated product suite through organic growth and strategic acquisitions," he said. Going forward, we expect around 15-20% of our revenues to come from newer markets such as Southeast Asia and Middle East (West Asia)."
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For the financial year ended March 2023, Whatfix reported a revenue of 304 crore and a net loss of 328.3 crore. According to Batti, the company grew approximately 45% in FY24, though its financials for the period are yet to be filed.
Founded in 2014 by Batti and Vara Kumar, Whatfix provides in-app guidance and performance support for businesses using web applications and software. The company assists enterprises in streamlining employee onboarding, training, and support.
With offices in the U.S., India, the UK, Germany, Singapore, and Australia, Whatfix supports over 700 enterprises, including more than 80 Fortune 500 companies such as Shell, Microsoft, Schneider Electric, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, and Genuine Parts Company.
We are targeting a $100 million in revenues over the next 12 months and will likely to list over the next 24-36 months," Batti said.
Whatfixs unique digital adoption platform is revolutionizing how organizations implement digital transformation programmes, create outstanding user experiences, and empower users to fully leverage software functionalities and enhance productivity," said Narendra Ostawal, managing director and head of India Private Equity at Warburg Pincus. Whatfix has immense potential to capitalize on the tailwinds and solidify its position in the high-growth DAP (digital adoption) market."
Also read | Promoters keen to guard equity are turning to private credit before IPOs
Warburg Pincus has been increasing its investments in India, most recently acquiring a controlling stake in Ebco in a 3,000 crore deal.
New Delhi: Thai energy firm Banpu Public Co. Ltd has joined the fray to acquire Eversource Capital-backed Radiance Renewables Pvt. Ltd, two people aware of the development said, in a deal having an enterprise value of around $325 million.
The Bangkok-headquartered firm has been shortlisted to make a binding offer for the 100% stake sale of Radiance; that puts it in competition with former US vice-president Al Gore headed Generation Investment Managements Just Climate LLP, and Singapores CapitaLand Investment Ltd that have also been shortlisted for the second round, post submission of their non-binding offers (NBOs) in the sale process run by Rothschild & Co.
For second round
Banpu, Just Climate and CapitaLand have been shortlisted for the second round," said one of the two people cited above requesting anonymity.
Mint earlier reported about Just Climate LLP and CapitaLand Investment Ltd exploring an acquisition of Eversource Capital-backed Radiance Renewables, which operates in the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment.
Radiance, which has an operating capacity of 350 MW C&I projects, is also backed by Indias quasi-sovereign wealth fund National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and the UK governments Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The British International Investment Plc is owned by the FCDO.
Spokespersons for Rothschild & Co. and Just Climate declined comment.
A CapitaLand Investment Ltd spokesperson in an emailed response said, We regret we do not comment on market rumours or speculation."
A spokesperson for British International Investment Plc in an emailed response said, As a matter of company policy, we do not comment on market speculation."
Radiance Renewables executive director and chief executive officer Manikkan Sangameswaran in an emailed response said, "No comments from me on this."
Queries emailed to the spokespersons for Eversource Capital, Banpu Public Company, and NIIF on Monday evening remained unanswered till press time.
C&I interest rises
This proposed deal comes in the backdrop of strong investor interest in Indias C&I segment, with a number of deals in the works, as reported by Mint. The regulatory landscape is supportive of the space with rules allowing large power users to source energy from the open market rather than the costlier grid. C&I projects are also shielded from risks such as power procurement curtailment by state-run power distribution firms. Also, State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) implementation of Time of Day (ToD) tariff for large C&I category consumers has helped sustain the investors interest.
Analysts believe that C&I and rooftop will be supported by the governments push.
Significant growth is anticipated in the C&I and rooftop solar segments, which together account for approximately 30% of the current solar capacity. Approximately 4 GW/year each are expected to get added in the next couple of years. The growth in the C&I segment will be propelled by companies forming group captive arrangements to benefit from tariff waivers, allowing them to secure power that is reliable, cost-effective (compared to the C&I rates of most state DISCOMs), and environmentally friendly (as they receive renewable energy credits, unlike grid-sourced power)," SBI Capital Markets Ltd said in an August report.
India has an installed renewable energy capacity of 180.79 GW, including 73.31 GW solar and 44.73 GW of wind power capacity.
Additionally, the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijlee Yojana (PM-SGMBY) supports this growth by promising up to 300 units of power per month per household," the report added.
The $12.34 billion Banpu Public Co. is present in energy resources, generation, and technology business in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Mongolia, China, Japan, Australia, and the US.
Set to double funds
CapitaLand Investment earlier this month announced its target to more than double its funds under management (FUM) in India by 2028, up from S$7.4 billion. CapitaLand Investment group chief executive officer Lee Chee Koon met Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month as part of a group of Singaporean CEOs during Modis visit. CapitaLand Investment has S$134 billion of assets under management, and S$100 billion of funds under management. Earlier, it was looking at buying a controlling stake in rooftop solar power producer CleanMax Enviro Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd, that was last year acquired by Brookfield Renewable for $360 million.
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CLI will explore opportunities to enter adjacent business segments such as renewable energy and real estate private credit. Renewable energy is a fast-growing segment in India with the government targeting to achieve 500 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 from the current 111 GW. CLI has a captive demand for renewable energy from its tenants across its data centres and business parks," CapitaLand said in a 4 September statement.
London-headquartered Generation Investment Management LLP is one of the worlds largest sustainable investment firms and has $44 billion of assets under management and supervision. NIIF is sponsored and anchored by the Government of India, which holds 49% interest in it. It primarily focuses on investing in core infrastructure sectors such as transport, energy and digital. It manages over $5 billion of equity capital commitments across its three fundsMaster Fund, Fund of Funds and Strategic Opportunities Fund.
Metals-to-mining conglomerate Vedanta Ltd will consider the declaring the fourth interim dividend for FY25. The Board of Directors will meet on October 8, 2024 to decide on the interim dividend for equity shareholders, the company informed the stock exchanges on Wednesday.
The record date for the announcement of interim dividend for equity shareholders is October 16, 2024.
Notice is hereby given that the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company (the Board) is proposed to be scheduled on Tuesday, October 08, 2024, to consider and approve the Fourth Interim Dividend on equity shares, if any, for the Financial Year 2024-25, the company said in the statement.
On Wednesday, Vedanta Limited stock closed at 479.60, making a gain of 1.99% or 9.35 per share on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Previous interim dividend declarations On September 2, Vedantas Board gave a nod to provide an interim dividend for equity shareholders for the third time in FY25.
The company announced an interim dividend of 20 per equity share on the face value of 1 per share for FY25, Vedanta informed the stock exchanges.
The total amount of the dividend declared 7,821 crore, it added.
Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta issued its first interim dividend for FY25 in May at 11 per equity share. The second interim dividend was announced in July at 4 per share.
The mining company declared dividends on equity shares around 101.4 a share in FY23 and 29.5 per share in FY24. This marks high dividend yield for investors and Vedanta Resources, its parent company. Vedanta Resources owns over 56 per cent of the companys shares.
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The mining major reported a net profit of 5,095 crore in the April to June quarter of FY25, a 54 per cent increase from the same quarter previous year, as Mint reported previously.
The Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which came into effect in December 2022, has led to about $30 billion worth of Australian exports entering India tariff-free, with Australians saving around $225 million on goods from India, Don Farrell, Australias minister for trade and tourism, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Australia is keen to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with India, Farrell said, speaking ahead of his meeting with Indian trade minister Piyush Goyal at the 19th Australia-India Joint Ministerial Commission in Adelaide.
"We are continuing negotiations on our next trade agreement with India, an ambitious CECA," he said.
Also Read: The carry trade is dead. Long live the carry trade. "Our government has also finished consultations on a new roadmap for Australias economic engagement with Indiawhich presents enormous growth opportunities for Australian business in clean energy, agribusiness, education and skills, and tourism," he added.
A CECA is a free-trade agreement between two countries that strengthens their bilateral trade.
As things stand, India is one of Australias largest trading partners, with two-way trade in goods valued at over $6.7 billion in 2023-24.
Bilateral trade between both sides, including goods and services, stood close to $50 billion at the end of calendar year 2023.
Also Read: Will farm trade policy tweaks lift farmer incomes? Australia and India first embarked on negotiations for a CECA in May 2011.
After nine rounds of discussions, talks were suspended in 2016 as both nations awaited the outcomes of other regional trade agreements.
In September 2021, the two countries formally revived the CECA talks, aiming to expedite an ECTA to rapidly liberalize and expand bilateral trade in goods and services.
The ECTA, which came into effect in December 2022, was intended to serve as a foundation for resuming negotiations on the broader CECA.
Negotiations have resumed for the more ambitious CECA, designed to build on the progress achieved under the ECTA and unlock the potential for deeper economic ties between Australia and India.
Also Read: This seasonal trade could work wonders. All it needs is an X factor. "Our government has also finished consultations on a new roadmap for Australias economic engagement with India, which presents enormous growth opportunities for Australian business in clean energy, agribusiness, education and skills, and tourism," Farrell said.
New Delhi: India is set to achieve a record foodgrain production of 332.29 million tonnes (mt) in the 2023-24 July-to-June agricultural year, according to final estimates released by the agriculture ministry on Wednesday.
This represents an increase of 2.61 mt from the previous years total of 329.68 mt. The growth has been attributed to favourable production in key categories such as rice, wheat and millets.
While foodgrain production as a whole scaled new highs, pulses and coarse cereals faced challenges in the 2023-24 season.
Total pulse production was estimated at 24.25 mt, with tur (pigeon pea) at 3.42mt and gram at 11.04 mt.
The low production of pulses is expected to lead to an increase in imports, as the average annual consumption of pulses in the country is estimated at 27 mt.
Also Read: States, UTs allowed to buy rice from Food Corp of India at a cheaper price; Karnataka likely to benefit Mint reported on 4 September that despite record sowing of pulses during the kharif season, Indias goal of becoming self-reliant in pulses by 2027 seems to be slipping out of reach, as production has continued to decline from 27.3 mt in FY22 to 26 mt in FY23.
Indian agricultural year The Indian agricultural year, or crop year, straddles two main seasonskharif (sown during monsoon, harvested in autumn) and rabi (sown in winter, harvested in spring).
Also Read: Govt misses wheat procurement target for second consecutive year, procures 26.6 mt28.7% lower than target Bad weatherspecifically drought-like conditions in Maharashtra and prolonged dry spells in Rajasthan in Augustaffected the output of pulses, coarse cereals, soybean and cotton, especially during the rabi season.
Rice production in 2023-24 set a record at 137.83 mt, an increase of 2.07 mt (or 1.52%) from 135.76 mt in the previous year. Wheat production also reached a new high at 113.29 mt2.74 mt higher (or 2.48%) than the 110.55mt produced in 2022-23, the data showed.
Also Read: Wheat procurement surpasses last years figures, hits 26.3 million tonnes A good harvest of rice and wheat is crucial for maintaining food security for the countrys population of over 1.4 billion.
The production of millets has gained attention in recent years due to its resilience to climatic challenges and its nutritional value.
For the 2023-24 season, millet production is estimated at 17.57 mt, slightly up from the previous years 17.32 mt, the data showed.
In 2023-24, oilseed production also grew significantly, with total output estimated at 39.67 mt. Rapeseed and mustard reached a record production of 13.26 mt. Oilseed crops soybean and groundnut were estimated at 13.06 mt and 10.18mt respectively.
Sugarcane, a critical cash crop for millions of farmers across the country, was estimated at 453.16 mt.
While sugarcane production has remained relatively stable, the crops water-intensive nature has led to increased scrutiny and calls for more sustainable agricultural practices, especially in water-scarce regions.
Cotton, another key component of Indias agricultural economy, was estimated at 32.52 million bales (weighing 170 kg each), while jute and mesta production is pegged at 9.69 million bales (weighing 180 kg each).
Both cotton and jute are essential to Indias textile industry, providing raw materials for domestic manufacturing as well as exports. Similarly, total production of nutri/coarse cereals was estimated at 56.94 mt, with maize accounting for 37.67 mt.
New Delhi: The government has set itself an ambitious target of attracting $100 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) that would reverse falling levels of FDI in recent years.
The inflow of FDI has fallen to $70 billion in FY24 from $71 billion in FY23, according to a Global Trade Research Initiative report.
Briefing reporters on the achievements of the Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in the government's first 100 days, Secretary Amardeep Bhatia said, "We are taking concrete steps to ensure that labour and skill-focussed industries receive priority, and investments through FDI reach $100 billion in the coming years."
Also Read: Indias FDI inflows jump 47.8% to $16.17 billion in April-June FY25 driven by services, telecom, pharma sectors He said the FDI trajectory is improving, noting that $22.9 billion has flowed in during the first four months of FY24, which is 26% higher than the same period last year.
India attracted $667.4 bn FDI inflow from 2014 to 2024 As per the commerce ministry, India has attracted a cumulative FDI inflow of $667.4 billion from 2014 to 2024, reflecting a substantial 119% increase over the previous decade (2004-2014).
This investment spans all states and 57 sectors, contributing to growth in diverse industries.
Most sectors, except for certain strategically important ones, are open to 100% FDI under the automatic route.
FDI equity inflows into the manufacturing sector during the decade reached $165.1 billion, representing a 69% increase compared with the $97.7 billion inflows seen during 2004-2014, the commerce ministry said.
Also Read: FDI retreating from emerging markets such as China, India: Moodys Bhatia added that discussions are underway with relevant departments to introduce a set of amendments aimed at easing compliance requirements for operation of industrial activities. The DPIIT has identified 100 such compliance issues that will be eliminated through a legislative process soon, he said.
"We have initiated efforts to ease investments under Make in India. The focus has also been on attracting technology. Another emphasis of Make in India has been infrastructure development, which has been advanced through the establishment of industrial parks and corridors," Bhatia said.
"We are also concentrating on improving the ease of doing business, which has been a key focus area. More than 42,000 compliance requirements have been eliminated, which has significantly benefited the industry."
The Centre is also supporting states in implementing these reforms. The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has received a positive response, generating employment for 900,000 individuals under the programme, he added.
Regarding the PLI extension to other sectors, Bhatia clarified that no decision has been made yet, and the focus remains the 14 existing sectors at this time.
The withdrawal of benefits given to India under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), trade barriers, investments, and engagements under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) are some key topics expected to be discussed in the upcoming India-US commercial dialogue and CEOs forum, industry experts said.
Following the previous round of commercial dialogue held in New Delhi in March 2023, the upcoming ministerial-level talks will be held in Washington next week, with commerce minister Piyush Goyal and his US counterpart Gina Raimondo co-chairing the meetings.
Indian industry, especially exporters and industry bodies will be closely watching the developments.
"As a body of traders, we are closely monitoring the totalization agreement. During the last visit of Raimondo to India, the issue of statutory deductions and social compliance, which the industry complies with, was raised," said Ajay Sahai, director general & chief executive at the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO).
Also Read: India, US working on $1 bn multilateral financing for clean energy supply chain On the GSP front, we are hopeful that some progress will be made, although, with US elections around the corner, it might be a little early to think about this request to materialize. Additionally, we have requested the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) to expedite approvals for certain pharmaceutical plants, which was discussed during previous engagements, he added.
In 2019, the US withdrew GSP benefits for India. Indian exporters have sought the restoration of GSP benefits, which allow some developing countries duty-free access to developed nation markets.
India and the US are also negotiating a totalization agreement (SSA) to exempt Indian short-term visa holders from having to pay social security tax contributions in the US.
Meanwhile, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), spearheaded by the US, aims to improve economic cooperation across the Indo-Pacific region and is structured around four pillars trade, supply chain resilience, clean economy, and fair economy.
India has signed agreements under the clean economy and fair economy pillars and is an observer in the trade pillar.
Sahai added that India is also seeking US approval to allow wild shrimp and fish exports.
India's merchandise exports to the US have risen 54.4% from $54.3 billion in calendar (CY) 2018 to $83.8 billion in CY 2023.
In the services sector, too, India's exports to the US experienced a notable increase, rising from $28.9 billion in CY2018 to $36.3 billion in CY2023, a growth of 25.6%.
Also Read: India-US climate change mitigation to help create well-paying green jobs, says US diplomat Jorgan Andrews Meanwhile, US exports to India have seen good growth, with merchandise exports growing from CY$33.2 billion in CY2018 to $40.1 billion in CY2023, reporting a 20.8%. US services exports to India rose from $25.2 billion in CY2018 to $29.9 billion in CY 2023, reflecting a growth of 18.7%.
"India has seen significant growth in its exports to the US, particularly in merchandise, while the US has experienced more moderate growth in its exports to India," said Ajay Srivastava, a former trade official and founder of economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).
"The increasing US trade deficit with India, particularly in merchandise, highlights the growing imbalance in trade between the two countries. The overall increase in bilateral trade underscores the deepening economic ties," he added.
In the 2024 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, prepared by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), there are 15 pages dedicated to trade barriers (for US companies to do business in India), much higher than other developing economies like Mexico (6), Vietnam (7), South Africa (6) and Turkey (10).
High-tariff country, with lot of trade barriers "India is a high-tariff country, with a lot of trade barriers from the perspective of US-based companies who want to set up supply chains. While some of these issues have been addressed, a large number remain," said a trade expert, who earlier advised the government.
"When you meet for the Commercial Dialogues, you are not only talking trade but also trade barriers, attracting investment, IPEF and supply chain where India has made commitments. These would be the core issues of the upcoming discussion," the person added, requesting anonymity.
The meteoric rise of Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) as Sri Lankan president marks a break from politics as usual. Elected on an anti-corruption and economy reform plank, he leads the National Peoples Power (NPP), a socialist alliance. What does this mean for India?
Who is Anura Kumara Dissanayake?
In 2019, the NPP, led by AKD, could secure only 3.2% of the vote. He has turned his fortune around this time with a plank to fight graft, reform the economy and investigate the 2019 Easter bombings. He has a populist Left appeal that taps into the economic frustration of the working class. Sri Lanka has traditionally been dominated by two parties, United National Party and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. But this election saw a contest between Ranil Wickremisnghe, who contested as an independent, Sajith Premdasa, of Samagi Jana Balawegaya and AKD, who heads the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).
Read more: India and the Quad: India needs to be watchful of China - and the US
What explains the rise of AKD?
In 2022, Sri Lanka witnessed massive protest movements (Aragalaya) amid skyrocketing food, fuel and medicine prices that led to the ouster of president Mahinda Rajapaksha. The rise of AKD hinges on a pro-working class stance and sharp critique of the political elite and establishment. Coming from a rural agricultural background, AKD has pitched himself as an outsider to elite politics with an understanding of the everyday economic distress of the people. He has called for bigger tax cuts, welfare spending and re-negotiation of the IMF loan that bailed out Sri Lanka from the economic crisis.
What could this mean for ties with India?
Sri Lanka holds a special place in Indias neighbourhood first policy because of their shared history and deep cultural affinity. Signals from AKD indicate a recognition of the fact that India was the first responder during the 2022 economic crisis and is the closest geostrategic neighbour. However, much remains to be seen on two counts: how he deals with the vulnerable Tamil minority in Sri Lanka, and how he navigates Indias pitch for a multifaceted regional cooperation in the face of competing interests from China.
Read more: The Quad has served Beijing a veiled notice on the Indo-Pacific
How will AKD balance India and China?
The JVP has a pro-China history. In quick congratulatory messages, China has signalled more support under its Belt and Road Initiative and an intent to work closely with the new leader. AKD has been sharp to underline the need to leverage Sri Lankas maritime location in its best interest, so New Delhi and Beijing will carefully watch how things unfold. The site of contention may be ports, infrastructure and energy.
Shweta Singh is associate professor, department of international relations, South Asian University.
Read more: How a Russian startup model is inspiring India
Once Russia's full invasion got rolling on February 24th 2022, Ukraines prospects for defending its airspace looked poor. The countrys radar coverage was patchy even before its radar stations came under attack, and many incoming drones and cruise missiles were flying too low to be spotted by stations still standing.
War, however, can spur innovation. Four days after the invasion began, a group of ambitious Ukrainian techies formed an outfit called Technari to develop an alternative system, known as ePPO, for detecting and tracking Russian aerial attacks. Gennady Suldin, a co-founder, describes it as human radar. Consisting of a smartphone app and an artificial-intelligence (AI) model, it allows verified Ukrainian citizens to report flying objects they see or hear with the push of a button.
It has proved stunningly effective. And Technari is hopeful of yet greater successes as it starts to process sounds of potential aerial threats picked up by microphone networks positioned across Ukraine. The companys work is a small part of a quiet but dramatic Ukrainian experiment in countering aerial attacks. Several other outfits are already operating networks of microphones that relay sounds to Ukrainian air-defence operators. These wartime innovations are proving to be so successful that other countries may soon follow suit.
Microphone arrays that triangulate a shooters position have a long history in warfare, and they made much progress in the past two decades, especially in protecting Western soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the analysis of sound waves for air defence has long been considered impractical. Mary Missy Cummings, a former American fighter pilot who has co-written numerous academic studies on the technologys prospects, has compared the quest to reading somebodys palm. Many have wanted to believe the approach would work, she says, but so far it has not.
Ukraines experience has changed matters, reckons James Hecker, who commands Americas air forces in Europe from Ramstein air base in Germany. He describes Ukrainian innovation in acoustic sensing as extraordinary.
Compared with radar, Ukraines microphone networks are cheaper and emit no signals that Russian forces might detect. And whereas clever engineering can sharply reduce an aircrafts radar signature (as Russia has shown by redesigning Irans Shahed kamikaze drones with stealthier composites), propelling hardware through the air generates sound. Crucially, acoustic detection works best at the low altitudes where most combat drones fly. General Hecker reckons the tech is now viable up to about 3,000 metres, with radar able to monitor higher altitudes without interference from clutter near the ground.
All this explains why microphone networks are so appealing. One such was designed by Zvook (sound in Ukrainian), a startup in Lviv that has placed high-quality microphones near the front. The resulting recordings were used to train software to identify the acoustic signatures of threats ranging from small drones to rockets, missiles and crewed aircraftall while disregarding the sounds of civilian life.
Zvooks detection ranges, though much shorter than radar, are nothing to sniff at. Drones, for example, can be detected up to 5km away. For cruise missiles, the range is about 7km. To pull this off, Zvook designed curved acoustic mirrors half a metre in diameter. These dishes concentrate sound waves on the microphones they cup. Most listening stations have two, for a coverage arc of about 200. Processing takes place on an adjacent computer.
Zvook listening stations, each smaller than a shoebox, are produced for about $500 each. By comparison, a radar able to detect a smallish drone 5km away can cost $500,000. A microphone network can therefore be relatively dense, and accuracy increases along with the number of stations that hear a sound. Kyivstar, a telecoms firm, installs Zvooks kit on its cell towers, handles maintenance and transmits data all free of charge. In areas without functioning cell towers, such as near the front, the system is often hidden in grass without the bulky acoustic mirrors, which might be spotted. Power is provided thanks to a battery or solar panel. For these more discreet emplacements, data are transmitted by broadband satellites.
Zvooks detections typically take less than 12 seconds to show up in an army computer program called Delta. Maryan Sulym, an air-defence sergeant and Zvooks boss, says the rate of false positives is now about 1.6%. To provide additional verification, Delta users receive a nine-second clip of the sound in question. In areas where Zvooks roughly 270 (and counting) stations, all donated to the army, are listening, radar is often switched on only in response to alerts, he says. Zvooks hand in foiling airstrikes, most notably on Kharkiv, Ukraines second city, earned Sergeant Sulym permission to focus his efforts on a big expansion of the network.
Its accuracy should increase, too. To triangulate a sounds origin more efficiently, Zvook is designing a special array of four microphones to plug in to listening stations. That should allow the direction of a sounds origin to be located to within about 5. Sergeant Sulym hopes that this will be good enough for interceptors to be launched without the need for a prior sweep from ground radar. Military personnel are due to test an initial batch of 15 of these triangulation arrays next month.
A far bigger acoustic-detection network has been developed by a secretive Ukrainian outfit called Sky Fortress. It consists of several thousand listening stations, with thousands more planned. Though its initial listening stations captured and processed sound with Android smartphones, the network, like Zvooks, now uses dedicated microphones and microcomputers. Data are fed into a Ukrainian command-and-control system known as Virazh. Like ePPO and Zvook, Sky Fortress is mostly funded by donations, an astonishing development for air defence.
Few outside experts are privy to Sky Fortresss workings. One of them is Riki Ellison, founder of the Missile Defence Advocacy Alliance (MDAA), a non-profit in Alexandria, Virginia. Sky Fortress has become so extensive and so damn good, he says, it now detects most Russian munitions that fly low into Ukraine. Russian units have begun to muffle or otherwise alter their drones acoustic signatures, but the detection algorithms promptly adapt. This is AI at its best, says Mr Ellison.
Advances in data processing are revealing acoustic signals to be surprisingly rich. Frequency spectrograms shared by a Ukrainian colonel, who requested anonymity, show that even similar drones have distinct sound signatures. Thomas Withington, an air-defence specialist at RUSI, a think-tank based in London, says you can even hear the motor strain caused by heavy payloads.
Everybody, look whats going down Russia is responding in kind. Tallamkho Design Bureau, a firm in Grozny in Chechnya, recently announced that its new microphone system, Malik, can protect Russian trenches and other positions by detecting Ukrainian drones from about 330 metres out. A smaller Malik system attaches to a soldiers uniform.
Other countries are also taking note. Several weeks ago Sky Fortresss kit was quietly demonstrated on a test range in Europe. Representatives from 11 NATO countries saw (unarmed) cruise missiles and drones handily detected and tracked. Mr Ellison of MDAA, the organiser, says two more such events are planned. NATO is considering deploying microphones for its air defences, says General Hecker.
Several defence ministries in the military alliances east are already purchasing acoustic gear for air defence. A Polish aerial-tracking firm supplying them, Advanced Protection Systems, had discontinued R&D on acoustics some years ago. Events in Ukraine persuaded it to try again, says Maciej Klemm, its boss. The firm now also sells acoustics hardware to an undisclosed entity in Ukraine.
Thales, a European defence giant, has also spotted an opportunity. Next year its first microphone system for drone detection will hit the market, says Jean-Michel Negret, a product manager based near Paris. Other big Western companies will no doubt get involved. They would be wise to watch Ukraine for inspiration. In a new twist, some enterprising Ukrainian technologists are rigging dog-fighting drones with microphones to help them zero in on their Russian opposite numbers in aerial combat. The sound ideas continue.
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The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency dont see eye to eye on much. The latter was basically founded as an anti-OPEC 50 years ago to represent energy consumers a year after that cartels oil embargo quadrupled global crude prices. But now the gulf between their forecasts of how much oil the world will need in 2024 is oddly wide, especially for this late in the year.
The IEA thinks an additional 900,000 barrels of oil a day will be needed by consumers in 2024. OPEC is far more bullish and expects two million extra barrels will be required.
It isnt unusual for there to be a gap between the two organizations annual demand estimates when they are first released. But as economic data rolls in throughout the year, their forecasts have tended to converge as one side or the other concedes it has been too optimistic or pessimistic.
Other than modest adjustments, that hasnt happened in 2024. Stripping out 2020 to 2022, when pandemic lockdowns made it especially hard to forecast oil demand, the two organizations estimates have never been more than 350,000 barrels apart by September any year since 2010.
The main sticking point seems to be how demand will evolve in China over the next three months. OPEC thinks China will need 650,000 extra barrels a day in 2024, while the IEA has penciled in less than a third as much. The country consumed 315,000 additional barrels in the first half of the year, but demand has been shrinking year-over-year for four consecutive months. This suggests it would take an extraordinary economic boom for the last few months of the year to hit OPECs punchy target.
Stimulus from Chinas central bank announced on Tuesday might help, but the recent slump looks structural as well as cyclical. In July, sales of electric vehicles and hybrids overtook those of internal-combustion engines there for the first time, and industrial trucks in the country increasingly run on liquefied natural gas rather than diesel. These shifts on Chinas roads are important for oil markets. Chinese road-fuel demand accounted for about 15% of total oil-demand growth between 1994 and 2024, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.
The two organizations are also more than 60,000 barrels apart on what India will need and over 100,000 barrels apart on demand estimates for the Middle East. True, this may be because the region is becoming harder to read as oil-producing countries keep their cards close to their vest. Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq all stopped reporting demand data to the JODI Oil World Database in recent years.
OPEC officials have made scathing remarks about the IEAs views on the oil market. Saudi Arabias energy minister called the IEAs 2021 net zero road map a sequel of [the] La La Land movie." And the cartel has said the Paris agencys forecast that oil demand will peak by 2030 isnt fact-based." The IEA has also been getting it from critics in the U.S. In March, Republican lawmakers sent a letter to the agency accusing it of becoming a cheerleader" for the shift away from fossil fuels.
But this looks like a case of shooting the messenger. An analysis by Arjun Murti, partner at energy research firm Veriten, shows that since 2016 but excluding 2020, the IEA has a slightly better record than OPEC at accurately forecasting oil demand. Most independent forecasters including S&P Global Commodities Insights are closer to the IEAs forecast than OPECs this year. Even Saudis state-owned oil company Aramco only sees a need for 1.5 million additional barrels a day in 2024.
If OPEC believed its own numbers, it would surely put more oil in the market. Instead, the producer group recently delayed plans to raise oil output for at least another two months due to weak global demand. Making a final call about whose prediction is most accurate wont be straightforward, though. Tallying oil barrels can take up to two years as data collection in some non-OECD countries is so spotty.
Getting it right one year doesnt necessarily mean the IEAs longer-term predictions are on track, though. The agency thinks global oil demand will peak around 2030a controversial view that will continue to draw the ire of traditional oil producers. But this year at least, OPEC is the one indulging in wishful thinking.
Write to Carol Ryan at carol.ryan@wsj.com
Gig roles typically linked to cab rides and quick commerce are making an entry into India's corporate corridors.
Several companies in information technology, pharmaceuticals and energy are looking to hire senior executives on short-term contracts for some key roles, consultants and lawyers said. These specialists may either pick up several such roles simultaneously, or choose to finish one and start the next.
Lucrative opportunities
Companies are coming up with contracts lasting from six months to a year, said Anandorup Ghose, partner, Deloitte India. "We have also seen some unlisted companies structure equity for these roles as well. The roles are usually in the enabling functions like human resources, finance, technology and not sales / business development-oriented. For senior candidates who may not find it easy to find full-time roles given their career stage, these tend to be very lucrative opportunities," Ghose said.
Such executives often come with over a couple of decades of industry background. The demand for shorter gigs by experienced professionals comes at a time when more corporates are focusing on younger talent. The decision to move to a more assignment-based role could also be because they want to work across companies and sectors.
"We are calling them aggregator profiles, and our teams are focusing more on these executives. They could be fractional CXOs or advisers or consultants and even spend time doing work in NGOs when not working in corporates," said Shiv Agrawal, managing director of recruitment firm ABC Consultants.
However, these executives may not be eligible for provident fund and corporate insurance covers. Also, most of the offers are from smaller firms.
Different from payroll contracts
Law firms say the employment contracts for these CXOs are different from the regular senior managers who are on the payrolls. "In such cases, the contract has a clear demarcation on what are the areas that the candidate can be privy to, as well as robust confidentially obligations. Most contracts are likely to have mediation as the first resort to deal with any stalemate, followed by an arbitration clause that may be critical from the viewpoint of resolving or adjudicating any acrimonious claims or disputes given the sensitivity around the scope and extent of information such advisors may be privy to," said Anshul Prakash, partner, Khaitan & Co.
In some cases, these CXOs on contracts work as advisors alongside boards though only as a strategist with expected level of expert inputs, but not as a board member.
"There are CXOs who now want to free up larger portions of their time and take about 2-3 assignments, which would give them 75 lakh-plus as combined annual earnings. In some cases, a variable of about 10% is attached if they manage to complete or initiate a project for which they have been roped in meeting all key result areas (KRAs),"said Pranshu Upadhyay, regional director and India head for technology hiring at search firm Michael Page.
The search firm recently placed a senior executive in the role of social media head for an FMCG firm. The CXO was in his 40s and came from a similar background and for the next one year, will have a variable pay attached to the impact of his work on social media.
India is looking to strengthen its global maritime play by developing two additional ports in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Sarbananda Sonowal, minister for ports, shipping and waterways said on Wednesday.
Speaking about the ministrys achievements in the first 100 days of the new NDA government, Sonowal said Indian Ports Global Limited (IPGL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sagarmala Development Company Limited under the ministry, would soon develop Mongla Port, the second-largest and busiest port in Bangladesh.
India may also take up terminal development projects at Kankesanturai near Jaffna in Sri Lanka, he said, adding that a new international ferry service between Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Kankesanturai is already operational.
Maritime ecosystem The international expansion will further strengthen Indias presence in the global maritime sector after it developed port facilities at Chabahar in Iran and Sitwe in Myanmar. We want to be a global leader in the maritime sector. These policy initiatives are aimed at developing the ecosystem necessary for the growth and development of the sector, Sonowal said.
He said that in the past 100 days the government approved a 76,220-crore mega port at Vadhavan in Maharashtra that would expand the countrys port infrastructure and create 1.2 million employment opportunities. He added that another mega port has been proposed at Galathea Bay in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. This 44,000-crore project will be developed through a public-private partnership and aims to capture transhipped cargo currently handled outside India. The first phase at Vadhavan is expected to be operational by 2029, Sonowal said.
As a result of decisive steps taken in the first 100 days of this government, container capacity of major ports is going to be doubled by an addition of 20 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in the next five years, Sonowal said. This will generate two million new employment opportunities in the sector in the next five years, he added.
On hydrogen initiatives, the minister said 3,900 acres of land at Kandla and Tuticorin ports have been set aside for a hydrogen manufacturing hub thats expected to attract 5 trillion in investments.
Sonowal also said Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNP), Indias largest, will become the first Indian port to achieve a container handling capacity of 10 million TEUs by 2027. The countrys first integrated port-based agro processing zone will also come up at JNP soon, the minister said.
New Delhi: The Karnataka government, which announced its intention to frame a state-level policy for Indias space sector last month, is chalking out final details of how the policy will be implemented.
We are a natural habitat for the space ecosystem as well, since we have the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), In-Space (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre) and others in the state," Priyank Kharge, cabinet minister for information technology, Karnataka, told Mint on Tuesday. We are tying up with In-Space to build a centre of excellence in space tech, and were heavily concentrating on developing downstream applications of space technologies."
Supply chain ecosystem in domestic space industry
The minister said that the state government is currently evaluating the need and process to boost manufacturing efforts by micro, small and medium enterprises in the domain of spacewhich is deemed to be crucial in building a supply chain ecosystem in the domestic space industry.
Darshan HV, managing director of state government-affiliated Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (Kits), said the state is in final-stage discussions with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to become the first state partner in the country for downstream space applications".
The DRDOs involvement has two aspectsone, which is focused on defence technologies only. Were not too keen to interfere in this. The second is on dual-use technologieswhat can be used in defence technologies can also be used commercially," he said. Were interested and involved in building downstream space applications, which will be our focus with the space policy."
The state's space policy, a senior government official said on the condition of anonymity, will begin with a centre of excellence (CoE) for space engineering, which is expected to receive state cabinet approval in the ext two weeks". Beyond this, the state will look to establish a larger ecosystem, before rolling out a comprehensive space policy later next year.
Also Read: Infosys eyes space tech sector with strategic investment in GalaxEye
All of this, according to Kharge, will culminate in a policy that enables R&D incentivization, boosting of startups and manufacturing, supporting common instrumentation facilities for startups, and perhaps flat-flow factories too".
To be sure, the process of creating a viable commercial market for the domestic space ecosystem has seen multiple moves from the Centre, with In-Space, chaired by Pawan Goenka, being the enabler so far. Last week, the Union Cabinets approved of $2.7 billion in funds for five Isro projects and would also lead to private sector involvement, said S Somanath, chairman, Isro.
However, Karnataka is making the first such effort to boost the sector at a state level.
A senior consultant directly involved in the development of the sector, who requested anonymity since the policy is in works now, said that evaluations are still on in terms of what the key value additions that Karnataka can offer beyond whats already existing.
Bengaluru is already Indias hub for space and aerospace engineering, so its no surprise that space startups are largely concentrated around here. However, what were currently exploring is a model similar to the aerospace park in the outskirts of the city, which the Karnataka government built in partnership with Isro. Such a collaborative model could be key for private-sector R&D initiatives to flourishand add a new dimension to the project," the consultant said.
However, the journey may not be so straightforward. Narayan Prasad Nagendra, space consultant and chief operating officer of Dutch space supply chain firm Satsearch, said, The DRDO involvement sounds confusingdefence research is never a major downstream market for startups to cater to. What the Karnataka government really needs to do is offer directives for its own bodies and departments to become clients to the space sector, which will offer the primary fillip. Otherwise, just formulating a policy in itself will not make a major immediate differencesince the policy is not judicially binding as such."
Two senior officials, including the consultant cited above, with direct knowledge of the matter said that while work on the policy has been ongoing since early this year, the project has been stalled a few times due to the lack of understanding how best might state-level incentives help boost the private industry. Also, exactly what kind of incentives and infrastructure support the industry would need beyond what the Centre is already offering, they said.
There is a ready market for aviation and aerospace to cater to, and a larger one at that than space. What we really need is to see how Karnataka can leverage its upper hand in the space ecosystem to boost the marketIn-Space and Isro are involved in it, too," the consultant added.
Also Read: Space industry seeks boost from government to target global markets
Mumbai: Private equity firm KKR-backed InCred Financial Services Ltd is looking at an initial public offering (IPO) of 5,000 crore over the next 1-2 years, according to founder and group chief executive officer Bhupinder Singh.
In an exclusive interview with Mint, Singh said the capital-raise will happen once KKR, which holds 13.4% stake in the company, agrees to exit in the IPO. In 2022, InCred Finance and KKR India Financial Services merged to create a joint entity under the brand name InCred Financial Services.
We have more than enough capital to support our current growth plans. Listing is on the horizon, likely within 1-2 years, and we could potentially explore a 5,000 crore IPO," Singh said. We have significant permanent capital, including my own. So far, we've successfully raised all the capital weve needed, precisely when weve needed it, in the private markets."
In May this year, the Economic Times had reported that Japanse bank Mizuho is in talks to acquire KKR's stake in InCred. Singh, however, dismissed the report.
Also read | KKR digs for a billion-dollar fortune in industrial waste
Singh, who was earlier the co-head of banking and markets for Asia Pacific at Deutsche Bank, started InCred Finance in 2017. He is the largest individual shareholder with 18.9% stake in the company. Other shareholders include Ranjan Pai (10.7%), Teacher Retirement System of Texas (9%) and OAKS Asset Management (7%).
In a span of six years, the non-banking financial company (NBFC) has grown its assets under management to nearly 10,000 crore, with a focus on personal, education and small business loans. During these years, InCred set up the lending business InCred Finance, institutional, wealth and asset management platform InCred Capital and digital investment distribution platform InCred Money. Singh explains that the long-term plan is to build the next Bajaj Finance.
Currently, we offer 7-8 products in the retail and MSME segments, whereas Bajaj offers 40 to 50. With our current loan book at 10,000 crore, we can grow this to 15,000 crore using our existing suite of products. To take us from 15,000 crore to 20,000 crore, weve identified loans against property (LAP) as a key growth area and have expanded our local footprint to over 100 branches to accelerate this initiative," he said.
Also read | Budget 2024: Government announces special support for MSMEs
In March this year, InCred Finance received a rating upgrade with Crisil raising rating to AA- from A+.
Net profit of InCred Financial Services rose 80.69% to 90.13 crore in the quarter ended March 2024 as against 49.88 crore in the previous quarter. Capital adequacy stands at 33%. The company sources loans through direct lending which constitutes 85% of the assets under management, whereas the co-lending book contributes around 15% .
The IPO market has been on fire over the last five years, with 45.5% of IPOs across both the mainboard and SME segments being oversubscribed by more than 10 times in the retail segment. In 2024, retail subscription reached an all-time high this year. Bajaj Housing Finance, Northern Arc, Bajaj Housing Finance are the latest to hit the market this year. HDB Financial Services, Tata Capital, Avanse Financial Services and HDFC Credila are expected to come out with their IPOs later this year and next.
Chinas commerce ministry has urged the U.S. to drop proposed restrictions on Chinese auto software and hardware, saying it will take the necessary measures" to protect national companies.
The Ministry of Commerce said China firmly opposes the restrictions, which it described as protectionist practices with no factual basis that go against the principles of a market economy and fair competition.
The U.S. actions also involve the use of government power to interfere with business and economic cooperation, constituting economic coercion," the ministry said in a statement on its website.
In February, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced an inquiry into the potential national security risks posed by Chinese smartcars, software and other parts. The plan was pushed forward this week as the Commerce Department proposed a ban on Chinese auto products and services.
Chinas commerce ministry said it is wrong to generalize national security issues and urged Washington to stop its unjust oppression" of Chinese companies.
It said it will act to defend the interests and rights of Chinese companies, without specifying details.
The move comes amid increasingly tense trade relations between the two countries. Beijing on Tuesday announced a probe into PVH, which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. The investigation could potentially block the American apparel firms sales in China, which follows steps by the U.S. to limit Chinese access to its market.
The Biden administration has turned to measures like raising tariffs on electric vehicles to counter what it sees as threats from China in U.S. markets.
The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday proposed banning the use of Chinese and Russian components in connected vehicles on U.S. roads. The Biden administration said earlier this month that it would take executive action to limit the use of a trade provision that lets China-founded e-commerce firms like Shein more easily ship to the U.S.
Others have followed suit, with the European Union and Canada also raising tariff barriers against Chinese goods.
If the tit-for-tat trade measures continue, that could pose a risk for Chinas economy, which has leaned heavily on exports strength as other areas falter, some analysts say.
Write to Singapore Editors at singaporeeditors@dowjones.com
Bharti Airtel Ltd on Wednesday launched what it calls Indias first artificial intelligence (AI)-powered spam detection service that will become available to all its users free of cost from Thursday.
The tool, a potential rival to Swedens Truecaller smartphone application that identifies and blocks spam, will alert customers in real time to all suspected spam calls and SMSes. The service will get auto-activated for all Airtel customers without requiring the user to download any app.
We believe our solution will be better than Truecaller or any other app or solution. This solution will stop the spam and prevent any potential scam or fraud that can happen through the spam call, Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief executive of the company, said at a press conference.
The tool, which has been in the works for the past one year, has been able to identify 100 million potential spam calls and 3 million spam SMSes originating every day, and blocked 2 million spammers.
Also read | Vi, Airtel raise AGR issue at meeting with telecom minister Scindia
Designed as a dual-layer protection, the solution has two filtersone at the network layer and the second at the IT systems layer. Every call and SMS passes through this dual-layered Al shield. In 2 milliseconds, our solution processes 1.5 billion messages and 2.5 billion calls every day. This is equivalent to processing 1 trillion records on a real-time basis using the power of Al. Our solution has been able to successfully identify 100 million potential spam calls and 3 million spam SMSes originating every day. For us, keeping our customers secure is a burning priority, Vittal added.
Real-time tracking The Al-powered solution will classify calls and SMSes as Suspected SPAM, and will analyse various parameters such as the caller or senders usage patterns, call/SMS frequency and call duration, among several other things, on a real-time basis. By cross-referencing this information against known spam patterns, the system flags suspected spam call and SMSes accurately.
The software also alerts customers to malicious links received via SMS. For this, a centralized database of blacklisted URLs and every SMS is scanned on a real-time basis, to caution users from accidently clicking on suspicious links.
Also read | This Swedish firm has dialled Jio, Vi and Airtel for a richer SMS alternative
Vittal said that the service would be available for smartphone users from the 387 million subscribers Airtel has, and that the company is working to extend the solution for its feature phone users as well.
Vittal said that to prevent genuine callers from getting blocked, for instance, callers from Swiggy or Zomato, Airtel has written to all telecom operators to share business-to-business data. He added that Airtel was willing to share data of spammers with the department of telecommunications and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for penal action against offenders.
While Trai and the telecom department have cracked down on spam, consumers continue to face this nuisance. Telecom firms have blocked a large number of connections following mandates from the government, but spam has now begun to originate from OTT apps such as WhatsApp.
Attacks on Hezbollah using booby-trapped pagers raise questions about whether everyday electronics could present new dangersand security hurdlesfor air travelers.
Aviation authorities in Lebanon have banned travelers from boarding planes or checking luggage with pagers and walkie-talkies. No other countries have followed suit so far, and travelers can expect business as usual when they go through airport security.
Scanners at U.S. airports are designed to detect devices like those that exploded in Lebanon, said Jeffrey Price, an aviation-security professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver who also consults with airports and trains airport-security staff. Checked bags are also screened with devices using the same technology.
A spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration said the agency doesnt currently have plans to follow its colleagues in Lebanon in banning pagers and other devices from flights out of U.S. airports.
He said the agency uses a variety of technologies, processes and methods to screen for and detect explosives, even trace amounts, as well as other dangerous threats."
Could the TSA ban pagers on flights?
There is precedent for the TSA putting restrictions on electronic devices on planes. The agency continues to restrict travelers from packing lithium batteries, such as those found in portable chargers and many electronic devices such as laptops, in checked luggage for instance.
Security authorities wouldnt ban devices from planes altogether unless there was specific intelligence indicating a threat, Price said, a view echoed by other aviation-security professionals.
If one is found, youll see a nationwide crackdown on electronics," Price said.
How long potential changes in procedure would be kept in place would depend on intelligence as to whether any bad actors are planning future attacks on passenger aircraft involving devices like the pagers, aviation-security consultants said.
Some policies, such as limits on liquids in carry-on baggage, have remained in place for decades.
In other cases, attempted terrorist attacks have prompted short-term increases to security at airports. After a terrorist attempted to detonate a bomb concealed in his underwear on a trans-Atlantic flight in 2009, more extensive security procedures including full-body pat-downs were implemented for a period for travelers who had recently been to or held passports from certain countries.
TSA has the flexibility to modify security procedures, protocols and technologies at any time to meet evolving threats," said Keith Jeffries, vice president of the Security Screening Group at K2 Consulting, a Maryland-based consulting firm focused on security in air travel and other industries.
What risk do electronic devices pose on flights?
Electronics have been linked to past aviation disasters. A cassette recorder is thought to have been used in the bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, in the 1980s that killed more than 200 people, based on investigators findings following the crash.
Its likely extremists have thought of this before," said Tom Mockaitis, a professor at DePaul University whose research focuses on violent extremism and terrorism.
Will security screenings change?
Airport-security checkpoints already ask travelers to remove large electronic items from their bags to be screened separately, although new airport scanners allow passengers to keep their devices inside their carry-on bags.
Once electronics are removed from the bags, scanners should be able to detect whether there is any explosive material in the device.
Should a device make it through security, it isnt clear whether one of the pagers could have detonated if brought onboard a plane, said Price and Sheldon H. Jacobson, a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who has studied aviation security.
The critical factor is making sure that they do not get onto an airplane," Jacobson said.
Write to Jacob Passy at jacob.passy@wsj.com
KRN Heat Exchanger IPO: The initial public offering of heat exchanger tube manufacturer KRN Heat Exchanger is witnessing strong buying interest from retail and non-institutional buyers. The issue opened for subscription on Wednesday, September 25, with an aim to raise about 342 crore. Ahead of the IPO, the company raised 100.10 crore from 10 anchor investors. The company allocated 45.5 lakh equity shares to anchor investors at a price of 220 per share. The book-built IPO, which is entirely a fresh issue of 1.55 crore shares and has no offer for sale (OFS) component, will conclude on Friday, September 27.
KRN Heat Exchanger IPO subscription status As per BSE data, around 4:30 pm on the second day of subscription on Thursday, the issue had seen an overall subscription of 57.53 times.
The portion reserved for retail investors was subscribed 54.98 times, while the non-institutional investors' category had seen a subscription of 134.19 times. By that time, the QIB segment of the issue had seen a subscription of 3.16 times.
On the first day of subscription, the issue was subscribed 24.09 times.
Also Read | KRN Heat Exchanger IPO fully subscribed within the first half-hour of day 1
KRN Heat Exchanger IPO key details The mainboard IPO opened for public subscription today. Let's take a look at the 10 key details of the KRN Heat Exchanger IPO:
1. KRN Heat Exchanger IPO GMP: Stock market sources pointed out that the shares of the company are trading at a premium in the grey market, reflecting investors' enthusiasm.
The grey market premium (GMP) of the KRN Heat Exchanger IPO rose to 251 from 239 on Wednesday. Considering the current GMP trend and the price of the issue, the stock is expected to be listed at a premium of 114.09 per cent at 471 on the Indian bourses.
2. KRN Heat Exchanger IPO price band: The issue's price band has been set at 209 to 220 per share.
3. KRN Heat Exchanger IPO date: The mainboard IPO opened for subscription today (Wednesday, September 25) and will conclude on Friday, September 27.
4. KRN Heat Exchanger IPO size: The issue is entirely a fresh issue of up to 1,55,23,000 shares of face value of 10 each, with an aim to raise nearly 342 crore.
5. KRN Heat Exchanger IPO lot size: The minimum lot size for an application is 65 shares. With the issue's upper price band at 220, the minimum amount of investment required by retail investors is 14,300. The maximum lot size for retail investors is 13.
6. KRN Heat Exchanger IPO allotment date: The company is expected to finalise the share allotment on Monday, September 30.
Successful applicants will likely get the shares credited to their demat accounts on Tuesday, October 1, while those who do not receive an allotment may expect refunds to be processed on the same day.
KRN Heat Exchanger IPO details
7. KRN Heat Exchanger IPO registrar: Bigshare Services Private Limited is the official registrar of the issue.
8. KRN Heat Exchanger IPO listing: The company's shares are proposed to be listed on the BSE and the NSE tentatively on Thursday, October 3.
9. Object of the issue: According to the company's RHP, the company wants to use the net proceeds from the issue to invest in its wholly-owned subsidiary KRN HVAC Products Private Limited for setting up a new manufacturing facility at Neemrana, Alwar, Rajasthan. Some parts of the issue will be used for general corporate purposes.
10. Company overview: The company manufactures heat exchangers with fins and tubes for the HVAC (heat, ventilation, air conditioning) and refrigeration industries.
Its product line comprises sheet metal components, header/copper parts, evaporator units, evaporator coils, and fluid and steam coils.
The company reported a profit of nearly 11 crore for FY22, which rose to over 32 crore in FY23 and 39 crore in FY24.
KRN Heat Exchanger IPO: Apply or not? Some experts are positive about the IPO due to the company's growth prospects and the fair valuation of the issue.
"The HVAC market in India is on a strong growth trajectory, fuelled by rapid urbanisation, rising disposable incomes, various government initiatives and the increasing need for energy-efficient solutions amidst changing climatic conditions. On the back of such development, the company is well equipped to leverage multiple economic and industrial tailwinds, further strengthening its position in the market," said Sagar Shetty, a research analyst at StoxBox.
"The issue is valued at a P/E (price-to-earnings ratio) of 25.3 times, on the upper price band based on FY24 earnings, which is deemed fair. Therefore, we recommend a 'subscribe' rating for the issue," said Shetty.
Shetty pointed out that the companys strategy to de-risk its customer portfolio aims to expand its customer base across geographies and effectively enhance its existing product spectrum.
Underscoring the company's financial performance, Shetty said its revenue, EBITDA and PAT (profit after tax) stood at 3,083 million, 585 million and 391 million, respectively, for FY24. The EBITDA and PAT margins stood at 18.9 per cent and 12.6 per cent, respectively. The company has maintained RoE (return on equity) and RoCE (return on capital employed) of 29.7 per cent and 24.2 per cent, respectively, while D/E (debt-to-equity ratio) was at 1 time.
According to Arun Kejriwal, the founder of Kejriwal Research and Investment Services, investors with a high-risk appetite can bet on the issue for listing gains.
The company is not developing any end-user product. It is making heat exchangers for the refrigerator and air conditioner maker companies. So, they are like vendors to various AC and refrigerator maker companies. However, looking at the overcrowded Indian primary market, those with a high-risk appetite can apply for listing gains only, said Kejriwal.
KRN Heat Exchanger IPO: The initial public offering (IPO) of KRN Heat Exchanger and Refrigeration Limited opened for subscription on Wednesday, September 25, 2024. The mainboard IPO of the leading fin and tube-type heat exchanger manufacturer will remain open for bidding till September 27, 2024.
KRN Heat Exchanger IPO, worth 342 crore, comprises a fresh issue of 15,543,000 equity shares. There is no offer-for-sale component in the issue. The price band has been fixed at 209 to 220 per equity share with a face value of 10. The lot size is 65 equity shares; thereafter, it will be in multiples of 65 equity shares.
KRN Heat Exchanger IPO details The floor price is 20.90 times the face value, and the cap price is 22 times the face value of the equity shares. The price-to-earnings ratio based on diluted EPS for the financial year 2024 at the upper price band is 25.32 times, compared to the Nifty 50 PE ratio of 22.90 times.
KRN Heat Exchanger IPO has reserved not more than 50 per cent of the shares in the public issue for qualified institutional buyers (QIB), not less than 15 per cent for non-institutional Institutional Investors (NII), and not less than 35 per cent of the offer is reserved for retail investors.
The company, in consultation with the book-running lead manager (BRLM), undertook a pre-IPO placement of 4,77,000 equity shares for cash consideration aggregating 954 lakhs. 4,57,000 equity shares have reduced the issue size. Holani Consultants Private Limited is the lead manager for the KRN Heat Exchanger IPO, and Bigshare Services Pvt Ltd is the registrar for the issue.
Tentatively, KRN Heat Exchanger IPO basis of allotment of shares will be finalised on Monday, September 30, and the company will initiate refunds on Tuesday, October 1, while the shares will be credited to the demat account of allottees on the same day following refund. KRN Heat Exchanger share price is likely to be listed on BSE and NSE on Thursday, October 3.
The company plans to use the proceeds from the Fresh Issue to finance an investment in its wholly-owned subsidiary, KRN HVAC Products Private Limited, by providing equity. This investment will establish a new manufacturing facility in Neemrana, Alwar, Rajasthan. The remaining funds will be allocated for general corporate purposes.
The IPO's valuation is considered fair, although there is no listed peer for comparison. Given its strong fundamentals and potential for listing gains, investors may consider subscribing this IPO for listing gain as well as for long term, said Shivani Nyati, Head of Wealth at Swastika investmart Ltd.
KRN Heat Exchanger Company Details The company's promoters are Santosh Kumar Yadav, Anju Devi, and Manohar Lal. Santosh Kumar Yadav and Anju Devi collectively possess 4,39,99,960 equity shares, which accounts for 94.39 per cent of the company's issued, subscribed, and paid-up equity share capital. The company has no competitors in India engaged in a similar line of business.
The firm produces heat exchangers with fins and tubes for the HVAC (heat, ventilation, air conditioning) and refrigeration industries. It mostly uses copper and aluminium as non-ferrous metals for its heat exchangers. The company's product line comprises sheet metal components, header/copper parts, evaporator units, evaporator coils, and fluid and steam coils.
KRN Heat Exchanger IPO: 10 key risks you must know before subscribing to the 342-crore issue
1.The company has no long-term contracts with any of its customers. If these customers decide not to purchase their products from them, it could result in financial instability and operational uncertainty, which could negatively impact their business and financial situation.
2.The company relies heavily on raw materials from its vendors in Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and China. In FY24, FY23, and FY22, the import purchases accounted for 78.17 per cent, 79.08 per cent and 72.16 per cent of its total raw materials purchased. Any country-related risk or change in government policies concerning the import of goods from any country may affect the sourcing of raw materials, impacting business operations.
3.To conduct its business, the company must acquire, renew, or uphold specific statutory and regulatory permits and approvals. Failure to do so promptly or at all could adversely affect the company's business, financial status, operational outcomes, and cash flow.
4.The company's revenue from operations has increased by a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR)of 25.46 per cent over the last three fiscal years. If the firm cannot sustain or manage the growth rate, the business operations and results of operations may be affected, and the growth rate may not be achievable in the future.
5.The profit after tax (PAT) has increased from 3231.35 lakhs in FY 2022-23 to 3,906.86 lakhs in FY 2023-24, leading to a growth of 20.90 per cent (YoY). The net profit from the last three financial years is increasing by a CAGR of 54.52 per cent. If we cannot maintain these profit margins in future, our financial condition may, said the company.
6.The company derived 33.34 per cent, 32.85 per cent and 32.28 per cent of its revenue for FY 2024, 2023 and 2022 from its single customer-- Daikin Airconditioning India Private Limited. It derived 72.31 per cent, 70.87 per cent and 75.82 per cent of its revenue from its top 10 customers for FY 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Delays or cancellations of orders by any of its top customers have a material and adverse effect on business operations.
7.If the company's top 10 customers in the refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) Industry start manufacturing heat exchangers in-house, or if there is a downward trend, the sales could be adversely affected.
8.The issue's objectives include orders for plants and machinery that have yet to be placed. Further, the company has yet to place orders for capital expenditures. If there is any delay in placing such orders, the proposed implementation and deployment schedule of the net proceeds may be extended or varied.
9.The proposed projects specified in the Objects of the Issue are subject to various risks related to the non-completion of various stages as outlined in the project's implementation schedule. Delays or failures in completing any of the milestones in the implementation schedule could adversely affect the overall project completion and subsequent operations.
Domestic solar energy companies continue to fuel the markets appetite for renewable energy stocks, with three looking to raise a collective 6,600 crore through their initial public offerings (IPO).
PMEA Solar Tech, Acme Solar Holdings, and Waaree Energies, which are seeking to go public, operate in less advanced areas, and industry experts say they need to offer a competitive edge to secure and maintain premium valuations in the current bull market.
Most of these companies do not have the technological edge investors are looking for," Rupesh Sankhe, vice president of institutional equity research at Elara Capital told Mint. Companies engaged in more technologically complex steps of solar energy production have a competitive advantage."
The recent listing of Premier Energies is emblematic of the markets appetite for such moats. The domestic solar cell and module manufacturer recently had its 2,830.40 crore IPO oversubscribed by nearly 75 times. Since then, its stock has delivered around 29% returns.
Even industry veteran Websol Energy, despite reporting net losses of 121 crore and 24 crore in FY24 and FY23, respectively, has seen stock returns soar by 600% over the past year. Both these companies are among the few that manufacture solar cells in India and hold a key position in the solar energy value chain.
The value chain
The solar energy production value chain involves several technologically intensive processes, including sourcing polycrystalline silicon as a raw material and producing silicon wafers and ingots from it. Currently, only Adani Group produces these wafers and ingots in India for internal use.
Adani's initiative could pave the way for other players, but domestic ingot and wafer manufacturing is still in its initial stages highlighting the ongoing dependence on established international producers for a critical part of the solar cell supply chain," PMEA Solars draft red herring prospectus said. India's presence in this segment remains limited."
Another crucial node of the value chain is transforming these silicon wafers into photovoltaic cells. So far, India has been reliant on cheap cell imports from China. However, more domestic companies like Premier Energies, Websol Energy System, and Jupiter Solar have started offering integrated cell and module manufacturing capabilities, albeit on a smaller scale.
The final node of the value chain is the assembly of solar modules using solar cells, which is the least technologically intensive process of all. Most domestic companies like Waaree Energies, Vikram Solar and Goldi Solar are engaged in module manufacturing.
To support Indias quest to achieve 300GW of installed solar capacity by 2030, most module manufacturers plan to integrate solar cell manufacturing facilities into their current operations. However, they do not have sufficient capital to execute their plans, which is why they are tapping Indias booming IPO market right now, Sankhe said.
Companies like PMEA Solar, which focus on mounting solutions for solar modules, and large-scale energy producers such as Acme Solar, NTPC Green Energy, and Adani Green Energy, are positioned toward the end of the value chain. These companies lack the technological prowess needed to fully localize India's solar energy value chain.
NTPC Green Energy, an industry behemoth, plans to tap the capital market with its IPO of 10,000 crore to reduce its debt and fuel its expansion plans.
Also Read: Investors are excited about NTPC Greens IPO, but experts advise caution
Waaree Energies
Waaree Energies announced its IPO in December 2023, but it got the Securities and Exchange Board of Indias (Sebi) approval only last week due to ongoing governance issues. Waree had no solar cell manufacturing capabilities when it filed its draft red herring prospectus almost a year ago.
It plans to set up a 6GW capacity ingot-wafers, solar cells and modules manufacturing facility at Odisha and has earmarked 2,500 crore from the IPO proceeds for this purpose. Its IPO consists of a fresh issue of 3,000 crore.
While we have extensive experience in the manufacturing of solar PV modules, we have no experience in manufacturing solar cells," Waaree Energys draft red herring prospectus said. Our shift towards backward integration...involve...potential challenges in the synchronization of the manufacturing processes and uncertainties related to the efficiency and reliability of the in-house production."
It takes a company around two years to set up and operate its cell manufacturing facilities. In this context, Premier Energies, which has set up a new 2GW solar cell and module manufacturing plant, is already way ahead of Waaree Energies.
The companys only competitive advantage right now is its demand security because of its strong export capabilities and substantial government policy support. Aided by USs protectionist trade policies against China, Waaree Energies solar module export sales grew around 600% on-year to 46,165 units.
This boosted the companys revenue by almost 137% on-year to 6,751 crore In FY23, while its profit jumped 525% on-year to 500 crore during the same period.
Despite such strong financial performance, industry experts think Waaree Energies does not have a strong enough moat to evince investor interest like Premier Energies because it does not yet have an operational solar cell manufacturing facility.
Also Read | Vivek Kaul: Todays IPO frenzy cant be attributed to Indias growth story
Module makers who have integrated cell manufacturing capabilities are being valued more than those who are just into assembling modules," Anil Ladha, director and chief financial officer of Renaissance Solar and Electronic Materials, told Mint. Renaissance Solar is into the more technologically intensive process of manufacturing silicon wafers. However, it does not yet have any operational capacity.
PMEA Solar
PMEA Solar produces hardware for more technologically advanced solar modules which can track the suns movement. The company plans to raise 600 crore through a fresh issue of shares during its IPO and has earmarked 80 crore from the net proceeds to add to its hardware manufacturing capacity for such advanced modules.
However, the company mainly caters to foreign customers because Indian module manufacturers are not technologically advanced yet to develop in-house solar tracking modules. Currently solar tracker penetration in India is at 45% with 6GW of annual installed capacity, according to PMEA Solars draft red herring prospectus.
With an operational capacity of 22GW and a market share of 9%, the company focuses on a very niche segment. However, in FY24, the company diversified beyond its only customer - US-based Nextracker Inc and started supplying to another undisclosed US-based solar tracking company along with India-based Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy.
As a result, the company had to expand its manufacturing capacity which led to an 87% on-year growth in its revenue at 1,500 crore during FY24. It reported an almost 280% on-year jump in profit at 104 crores during the same period.
Even though the company is competitively positioned in its niche segment, its contribution towards Indias solar energy value chain remains miniscule. This might be a dealbreaker for many investors, according to experts.
Acme Solar
Acme Solar Holdings is a renewable energy generator with an operational capacity of only 1.3GW of solar energy. With the lowest operational capacity among its listed peers, it is up against established giants like NTPC Green Energy, Adani Green Energy and ReNew Energy Global.
All these companies have operational wind energy generators in their portfolios, while some also have hybrid generators. Acme Solar only has solar energy generators, and it plans to raise up to 3,000 crore through its IPO to add more types of energy generators to its portfolio.
However, industry experts are satisfied with Acme Solars project execution track record so far. The companys revenue from selling electricity rose 4% on-year to 1,319 crore in FY24. The company commenced a new project for the Solar Energy Corp. of India in Rajasthan during that period which led to a rise in its revenue.
The companys total revenue rose despite its engineering, procurement and construction services business not generating any revenue in FY24 as it sold certain important materials of its business to its promoter Acme Cleantech during FY23.
The company saw an almost 2,300% on-year rise in its net profit at 698 crore in FY24, on account of significantly higher profit margin and lower expenses compared to FY23. It made a loss of 3 crore in FY23.
Since Acme (Solar) does not have a large balance sheet, it does not have access to cheaper funding, which increases its funding costs and makes it slightly uncompetitive compared to its listed peers," Sankhe said. However, they have a good (project) execution track record, so investors are not worried."
Even though most solar energy companies lack certain competitive advantages investors are currently looking for, industry experts agreed that they need extensive funding to develop new moats in the long run.
It is always welcome to see more solar companies tapping the primary market because the industry needs money for its growth. More companies will keep coming with their offerings," Ladha said. However, they must offer investors some additional value as well."
Also Read: Net-zero tariff policy: Ease solar panel input imports for a rooftop revolution
Heres a quick look at stocks likely to be in focus in today's trade. KEC International: Engineering and construction major KEC International has initiated a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) to raise 4,500 crore through equity shares. The QIP floor price has been set at 976.64 per share, though the company may offer a discount of up to 5% on the floor price. This follows a board approval on July 26, 2024, and a special resolution passed at the company's AGM on August 22, 2024.
PC Jewellers: Multibagger stock PC Jewellers is set to undergo its first-ever stock split as the Board of Directors will convene on September 30, 2024, to discuss the subdivision of shares. Currently, each equity share has a face value of 10, and the company is expected to reveal more details about the split during the meeting.
NBCC: In a major move, the Supreme Court will consider NBCCs proposal to complete 17 stalled projects of Supertech Limited, a decision that could positively affect 27,000 homebuyers. This is reminiscent of a similar intervention with the Amrapali Group, aimed at bringing relief to homebuyers stuck in unfinished projects.
Also Read | Breakout stocks to buy or sell: Sumeet Bagadia recommends five shares to buy
MCX: Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) has revised its transaction fees for Futures and Options contracts, effective October 1, 2024. Fees for Futures contracts will be 2.1 per lakh of turnover value, while fees for Options contracts will be 41.8 per lakh of premium turnover value.
NHPC: State-run hydropower firm NHPC Ltd is set to raise approximately 2,300 crore in the current financial year, exceeding its original target of 2,000 crore. This move aligns with the Union government's monetisation goals and supports NHPCs growth ambitions. The company plans to achieve this by securitising the return on equity from its Dulhasti Power Station in Jammu and Kashmir for the next eight years. Despite this financial arrangement, NHPC will retain full ownership of the project.
HDFC Life Insurance: HDFC Life Insurance has scheduled a board meeting on September 27, 2024, to finalize the commercial terms for issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs). The company had previously approved raising up to 2,000 crore through NCDs in July 2024, to be issued in multiple tranches on a private placement basis.
Delta Corp: Delta Corp has approved the demerger of its hospitality and real estate business via a Composite Scheme of Arrangement. The demerged business will now operate under Delta Penland, a newly incorporated subsidiary. According to the share entitlement ratio, eligible shareholders of Delta Corp will receive one new equity share in Delta Penland for every one equity share held in Delta Corp.
Easy Trip Planners: Promoter Nishant Pitti of Easy Trip Planners is expected to sell up to 8.5% of his stake in the company through block deals. The block size is estimated at 622 crore, with an indicative price of 41.5 per share. As of the June quarter, Pitti held a 28.13% stake in the travel tech platform.
CarTrade Tech: In a recent development, Warburg Pincus-owned Highdell Investment has sold its 8.64% stake in CarTrade Tech for over 375 crore. Mirae Asset Mutual Fund has acquired a 6.4% stake in the company, marking a significant reshuffling of ownership.
Also Read | Indian stock market: 10 key things that changed for market overnight
Zee Media Corporation's stock price jumped 19 per cent to 16.5 during September 25, Wednesday's trading session on the BSE. This surge followed the company's announcement of an upcoming board meeting to discuss potential fundraising options, per an exchange filing.
The media company revealed in a regulatory filing that its board of directors will convene on September 27, 2024, to consider various fundraising methods. These could include "private placement, qualified institutional placement, preferential issue, or other combinations," subject to necessary approvals.
Zee Media's share price was trading in the green, up 11.52 per cent, at 15.58, on September 25, at 2:17 pm, on the NSE. The company enjoys a market capitalisation of 974.42 crore, as per NSE. Zee Media Corporation's stock price hit its 52-week high on December 12, 2023, at 18.30.
This meeting builds upon earlier decisions made by the company's board and shareholders on June 26 and August 10, 2024, respectively. The proposed fundraising will require regulatory clearances, with specific terms to be determined during the upcoming meeting.
By 11:29 am, Zee Media shares had moderated slightly but were still trading 15 per cent higher at 16.06 on the BSE. The stock has shown strong performance over recent months, with a 45 per cent increase in the last six months and a 32 per cent rise over the past year. This outpaces the Nifty index, which gained 28.6 per cent during the same 12-month period.
As of June 2024, the ownership structure of Zee Media Corporation shows that 0.42 per cent of equity is held by the promoter and promoter group, while the remaining 99.58 per cent is in the hands of public shareholders.
Arati Mazumdar has just received her first salary. She breathlessly enters the ladies room the sole bastion of uninterrupted womanhood in the office of a company making products for housewives and takes the money out of the envelope bearing her name, holding the crisp banknotes in the manner of a rummy-player fanning a winning hand. Unobserved and thrilled, Arati surreptitiously brings the cash to her lips. The heroine of Satyajit Rays Mahanagar is literally seduced by capitalism.
Only for an instant, though. Soon a colleague enters, complaining about the lack of newness in her own cash, and Arati, smiling wide, trades five of her just-kissed new notes for her friends crumpled ones. This gesture earns her a forbidden reward. Her Anglo-Indian friend Edith presents the middle-class Bengali heroine with a lipstick.
As with the currency, Arati is simultaneously scandalised and fascinated. Edith paints Aratis lips, and Arati promptly wipes off the colour but not before catching a glimpse of herself in the bathroom mirror. Lipstick, this foreign and modern object, feels like warpaint to her. For the first time, Arati has gotten paid, has had her work appreciated, has made a friend at the workplace. She has not only tasted blood, but agency.
Made over sixty years ago, Rays feminist masterpiece remains bracingly modern. A beautifully restored Mahanagar print is currently showing in select theatres across India; the film can also be streamed on The Criterion Channel. I watched the 1963 film on Saturday in a packed Mumbai theatre where the audience gasped and applauded Rays powerful heroine, played by the directors muse Madhabi Mukherjee, and at one point in reaction to her most defiant line the theatre erupted into cheers not unlike those heard for brawny blockbuster heroes. We believe, even after all these years, in Arati as our champion.
Mahanagar translated to The Big City and based on a short story by Narendranath Mitra is an indictment of Calcutta itself, of a 1950s megapolis on the verge of turning into a machine, an assembly line that values output above all else. Ray begins with the tramlines empowering the worker and ends with the evening streetlight showing the way home, but the filmmakers focus remains personal. So intimate is this portrayal of a lower-middle class Bengali family that the 1963 Time magazine review raved about how Ray could nearly take the lens off his camera and allow life itself to touch the raw film."
The Mazumdars are a modest Calcutta family. Aratis husband Subrata works in a bank, but having to support a family of six cant buy a new pair of spectacles for his father, a retired schoolmaster. Even tea, the most Bengali of household staples, must be borrowed from a neighbour. It is here that Arati feels guilty and considers joining the workforce. Subrata sarcastically says A womans place is in the home" and Im very conservative, like my father," but backs her efforts completely, with a degree of bemusement. When Arati is embarrassed about wearing ragged slippers to office, he asks her for a list of fashionable" items he can buyfor her by taking an advance on his salary.
Subrata is prepared that this will lead to a cold war with the elder Mazumdar. When Arati wonders what to tell his parents if called for an interview, Subrata suggests that she fib and say shes going to see her father. It wouldnt be too much of a lie," he assures. A boss is like a father. Both are providers." Its a lovely, telling line about deep-set patriarchy, and when Subratas father Priyogopal hears that his daughter-in-law will be taking up a job, he puts his head in his hands. The lamentation is dramatic.
Subratas plucky kid sister Bani is instantly electrified by the idea of Arati going to work. She likens Arati to a movie star, and backs her careerism throughout even when Subrata, later unemployed and increasingly insecure, sinks into cigarettes and chagrin. It is remarkable how instinctively women in Mahanagar keep finding their own language. Arati replies to Ediths English with Bangla, but never has any difficulty understanding her colleague. Even when selling a knitting machine to a client, Aratis pitch is underlined by empathy.
Mahanagars men are under threat. Priyogopal is so ashamed about his bouma being the breadwinner that he would rather beg former pupils for charity, claiming a stake in their success. Aratis jovial and supportive boss shows a parochial bias, readily helping those from his district and preferring Arati over her co-worker Edith because the latter is Anglo-Indian. Ray shows a highly cosmopolitan Calcutta with Jewish ladies, British residents and Hindi-speakers but also demonstrates the citys propensity for cliquishness.
Madhabi Mukherjee is sublime. She is flawless as the housewife wracked by unreasonable guilt, hesitant and unknowing. She knows English, yet dithers before signing her own name she isnt initially sure whether she is Mazumdar or Majumdar. As Arati finds momentum, her body language becomes at first markedly different at home and the workplace, and later that confident gait strides into the house. Madhabi, with tiny gestures and nuanced tonal shifts, takes the viewer into Aratis expansive, expanding mind, making her empathy, her guilt, and her determination palpable. To me, Mukherjee is even better here than in Rays Charulata.
Anil Chatterjee is beautifully natural as the once-enabling, once-hesitating husband Subrata. Vicky Redwood warmly and effectively breaks Anglo-Indian stereotypes as the lipstick-providing Edith. Haren Chatterjee is heartbreaking as Priyogopal, the bitter schoolmaster clinging to misplaced traditions while watching the world leave him behind. A young Jaya Bhaduri, in her first screen appearance, is delightful as Aratis cheerleading sister-in-law, especially in a scene where she is soap-faced and hungry for praise. Arati, of course, understands precisely what the young girl needs to hear.
In a Mahanagar, we are all but cogs in the machine. Yet Ray remains ultimately optimistic. His film ends on a more forgiving note than the story it is based on, and the great humanist treats even the storys more unlikable characters with disarming empathy. Subrata Mitras cinematography displays the citys tram-lined sprawl, while Bansi Chandraguptas miraculously cramped sets tell us how every single corner bursts with life. If each of us is a cog, each of us has a place.
Streaming tip of the week:
Ray composed the music himself for Mahanagar. The director had an intimate understanding of classical music. His expertise and exactitude is well demonstrated in the 1984 documentary The Music Of Satyajit Ray, now streaming on MUBI.
Badlapur sexual assault case: The shoot-out of Akshay Shinde, accused of the sexual harassment of minor girls in school, could have been avoided, said the Bombay High Court while hearing a petition filed by Shinde's father on Wednesday.
The Bombay HC also asked the police why they didn't try to overpower him first before shooting at him, reported ANI.
The HC was hearing a plea filed by Shinde's father against his encounter. Badlapur sexual assault case accused person's father, Anna Shinde, has demanded a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the case. The plea, filed through advocate Amit Katranware, has alleged that Akshay Shinde was filled in a fake encounter, reported ANI.
What did HC say on the Badlapur accused encounter? During the hearing, Justice Chavan underlined that it is not very easy for a man to unlock a revolver in such a short duration. A revolver can't be unlocked quickly by a physically weak man. It is not very easy, the Bombay High Court told Public Prosector, according to ANI.
To which the public prosecutor responded, The officer's pistol was unlocked.
It is difficult to believe this. Prima facie there seem to be issues. A common man can't fire a pistol because it needs strength. A revolver can't be unlocked quickly by a physically weak man. It is not very easy, ANI quoted Justice Chavan as saying.
Also Read | Cop in Badlapur rape case shooting linked to convicted encounter specialist
We would have accepted the court verdict after a trial: Shinde's father While speaking to PTI earlier, Shinde's father said that the family would have accepted the verdict of a court after a fair trial. Speaking to PTI, he questioned the police's claim that Akshay snatched a policeman's gun and fired, leading to a retaliatory shooting and his death on Monday evening.
He also claimed that his son was even scared of crackers' bursting sound and it is not possible for him to snatch a pistol from a police officer and open fire, reported PTI. Police had filed a charge sheet in the sexual assault case and he could have been put on trial, Anna Shinde further said.
"The family would have accepted the verdict delivered by the court after a trial, but we are poor people; we don't have a voice," he said, claiming that police killed his son for some unknown reasons.
Akshay Shinde's dead body was sent for post-mortem at state-run J J hospital in Mumbai. Later, his body was sent to a civic-run hospital in Kalwa in Thane district.
Akshay Shinde's encounter Akshay Shinde was accused of sexually assaulting two girls at a school in Maharashtra's Badlapur town. He used to work as a sweeper in the school and the crime came to light after the minor girls complained about the incident with their parents.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said on Wednesday, You can't call any part of the territory of India as Pakistan. It is fundamentally contrary to the territorial integrity of the nation.
CJI Chandrachud made the comments when the Supreme Court was hearing a suo motu case concerning the controversial comments made by Karnataka High Court judge Justice V Srishananda. The judge had later expressed regret in the open court.
Karnataka High Court judge Justice V Srishananda had sparked a controversy last week by referring to a particular locality in Bengaluru as 'Pakistan'.
Two videos of Justice Srishananda had gone viral on social media. In one of the clips, he referred to a Muslim-dominated sub-locality in West Bengaluru as "Pakistan". In another video, he was seen reprimanding a woman lawyer for answering a question put to the counsel for the opposite party.
On September 20, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, took serious note of two videos and sought a report from the Registrar General of the High Court.
A five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy heard the suo motu matter relating to the viral videos Justice V Srishanandan on Wednesday, September 25.
The Supreme Court decided not to pursue the matter further in the light of the regret expressed by the Judge in the open court after the Supreme Court's intervention over the viral video clips.
Karnataka HC judge expresses regret Justice V Srishananda of the Karnataka High Court had later expressed regret over the remark. On Saturday afternoon, as the court proceedings commenced, Justice Srishananda read out his statement in this connection.
The HC judge was quoted by PTI as saying, "A few observations made during judicial proceedings were reported out of context on social media platforms. The observations were unintentional and not meant to hurt any individual or any section of society. If such observations hurt any individual or any section of society or community, I express my sincere regrets."
'Need for judges to express restraint' The Supreme Court on Wednesday made several significant observations on the need for the judges to express restraint, particularly in the age of electronic media.
"Casual observations may well reflect a certain degree of individual bias particularly when they are likely to be perceived as being directed against a particular gender or community. Courts therefore have to be careful not to make comments in the course of judicial proceedings which may be construed as being misogynistic or prejudicial to any segment of our society," Live Law reported while citing the Supreme Court's order.
The CJI said during the hearing on Wednesday, "One must be wary of making patriarchal or misogynistic comment."
He was quoted as saying, The heart and soul of judging is the need to be impartial and fair. Intrinsic to that process is the need for every judge to be aware of our own predispositions because it is only on the basis of such awareness that we can truly be faithful to the fundamental obligation of the judge to deliver objective and fair justice.
We emphasise this because it is necessary for every stakeholder to understand that the only values which must guide judicial decision-making are those which are enshrined in the Constitution of India, the court added.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai announced "Winter Action Plan" on Wednesday to mitigate the impact of air pollution in the national capital. He said this year's Winter Action Plan's theme is 'Milkar Chalein aur Pradushan se Ladein'. Rai said the Delhi government has formed a 21-point (instead of 14-point) Winter Action Plan this year.
Inside Delhi's Winter Action Plan Rai said that for the first time in Delhi, it has been decided to conduct drone monitoring of hotspots. "This will be done in real-time to find out the cause of the pollution," he added.
Gopal Rai said there will be a ban on all kinds of firecrackers. As of today, there is no prohibition on firecrackers. The prohibition will come into effect on the day a notification is issued. So, the notification has not been issued yet. So, in Delhi, the day a notification is issued, the prohibition will come into effect and continue till January 1...
The Delhi minister said that the government will encourage work from home and voluntarily reducing the use of private vehicles. "If necessary, the odd-even [road rationalisation] scheme will be implemented, and artificial rain is also an option that we are exploring," the minister added.
Also Read | Centre assesses measures to tackle Delhis toxic winter smog
Some of the other measures include:
> Formation of a 6-member Special Task Force to stop causes of pollution.
> Anti-dust campaign will begin in Delhi from October 7 to control dust pollution. All agencies private and government have time until October 7 to comply. Action will be taken if they do not meet the parameters by then.
> All construction sites over 500 meters will have to be registered on the portal. Training will be imparted to all the workers at the construction site on how to follow anti-dust pollution guidelines.
> 85 road-sweeping machines are being deployed, and 500 water-sprinkling machines are also being used.
> 200 mobile anti-smog guns will be launched in every assembly constituency.
> Water sprinkling will be increased by three times in November-December to control the pollution level.
> The Delhi government also decided to award the 'Harit Ratna award' to individuals or agencies, private or government sector, which perform best in controlling air pollution.
> Bio-decomposer will be sprayed across 5,000-acre land to control pollution due to stubble burning.
> Green war room and Green Delhi App will be launched.
> GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan) stages will come into effect.
A fire broke out inside an Emirates plane at the Chennai International Airport before its flight to Dubai late on Tuesday night, reported Hindustan Times.
The report said the plane was being refuelled ahead of the flight to Dubai when smoke began rising from it. Following this, the ground workers from the tarmacshooting the videosaw plumes of white smoke coming out of the plane's tail as airport employees carefully approached it.
Also Read | Live mouse in in-flight meal forces flight to make emergency landing
Soon after this, the fire officials started spraying water on the plane's tail to extinguish the fire.
Here's the video:
An Emirates spokesperson later said that the flight EK547 from Chennai to Dubai was delayed due to a 'technical fault'.
"Emirates flight EK547 from Chennai to Dubai on 24 September 2024 was delayed due to a technical fault. Following an engineering inspection, the aircraft was cleared to proceed to Dubai. Emirates apologises for the inconvenience caused. The safety of our passengers and crew is of the utmost importance," ANI quoted Emirates as saying.
Passengers 'kicked out' In another post on social media, passengers supposed to board the flight at Chennai alleged that the airlines kicked out the passengers after they boarded the plane.
"We were kicked out of the flight once boarded and asked to stand outside for 50 mins without any reason," X user Sathish said in a post.
He also added that after they were removed from the plane they were told that their flight would be delayed by 2.5 hours. "This is completely unacceptable behavior from Emirates," he wrote.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested the actor and former general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), Edavela Babu, in connection with a sexual assault case.
Although the Ernakulam principal sessions court has granted him bail, he will be released after completing the necessary procedures, ANI reported.
The SIT has conducted an interrogation and documented his arrest.
Earlier, on September 5, a female actor accused Mukesh of rape, along with allegations of sexual assault against Edavela Babu, Jayasurya, and others. In response, an FIR under section 376 (rape) of the IPC was filed against Mukesh, who contended that the accusation stemmed from his refusal to give in to the complainant's blackmail attempts.
This comes amid multiple FIRs against various high-profile figures in the Malayalam film industry following allegations of sexual harassment against several directors and actors, sparked by revelations from the Justice K Hema Committee report.
The report, made public on August 19, after redacting the names of witnesses and the accused, noted that the Malayalam film industry is controlled by about 10 to 15 male producers, directors, and actors who dominate and exert control over the industry.
The report, produced by a three-member panel led by a former Kerala High Court judge and submitted to the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government in December 2019, was only released this month. In response, the government has established a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to further investigate the issues faced by women in the industry.
The Kerala government formed this committee after the 2017 actress assault case, which exposed instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the industry.
On August 25, the state government announced the creation of a seven-member special investigation team to investigate these allegations.
Why hasnt Iran retaliated against Israel for the July 31 killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran? The Biden administration wants to believe that it has intimidated the Islamic Republic into better behaviorthat the successful American-led effort to intercept 300 Iranian missiles and drones fired at Israel in April depressed and deterred Supreme Leader Ali Khameini. The real answer may be that Iran is playing a longer game and showing restraint to advance its nuclear ambitions.
Fear of U.S. military power has always been the primary brake on the clerical regime. That fear has been fading where it matters most: Tehrans nuclear program has rapidly advanced in the past four years. Irans proxies, when not ignored, have been ineffectually counteredYemens Houthis so far have the upper hand in their conflict with the U.S. Navy in the Red Sea. With relatively crude Iranian-supplied missiles, the Houthis continue to curtail shipping through the Suez Canal despite American and European efforts to protect the sea lane. And a Kamala Harris presidency would surely compound the errors of her predecessor.
The Democratic Partys approach to Tehran is now inextricably and counterproductively tied to U.S. policy toward Israel: Washington tries to limit Israeli military action against Hezbollah, the Islamic Republics most feared offshoot, and stamp out any possibility that Jerusalem will launch a military assault against Irans nuclear sites. This mindset flows from a deep fear of a U.S.-Iran confrontation and a guess by many in Washington that Mr. Khamenei hasnt yet decided to build a bomb. The best course of action, therefore, is to maintain the status quo, which the cleric finds acceptable.
That guess is wrong: The Islamic Republic now gains far more than it loses by going nuclear. Indeed, Mr. Khamenei made a mistake by not developing a bomb sooner. The increasing conversation in Tehran about how easy and useful it would be to develop a nuclear weapon is surely a byproduct of the clerical regimes realization that Israel has significant tactical and intelligence advantagesmany of Irans senior officials may be within Mossads reachand Americas conventional capacity remains pulverizing. At a minimum, an Iranian bomb would check Israeli and American aggression in the Persian heartland.
When the Islamic Republic gets the bomb, as it eventually will unless military intervention or regime collapse derails the program, war between Israel and Hezbollah will become a high-wire act for Jerusalem. Israeli attacks on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders and installations in the Levant will become dicey if Tehran threatens to extend its nuclear umbrella. Americas freedom to move against the clerical regimeIran has repeatedly killed U.S. servicemen with no American reprisals in a conventional agewill shrink further.
Democrats and the American left have achieved what Iranian revolutionaries once would have dismissed as impossible: Tehran sees exploitable divisions between America and Israel. Demonstrations against the Gaza war, rising anti-Israel sentiments within the Democratic Party, and overtly antisemitic language in elite American circles have muddled the traditional Iranian take on Americathat Democrats and Republicans are both hopeless Zionist stooges. The opening that Barack Obama made with his nuclear concessions, which Mr. Khamenei explored and exploited, has become Democratic Party orthodoxy: Engagement with the theocracy is in itself a good thing.
This is surely the reason behind the supreme leaders apparent willingness to restart nuclear negotiations with Washington. He wants to explore whether Mr. Biden and, more importantly, Ms. Harris can be neutralized through diplomacy. Mr. Khameneis enmity for America doesnt mean that we cannot interact with the same enemy in certain situations."
The Islamic Republics diplomats are accustomed to dealing with Democrats. They negotiated a nuclear agreement with them and still engage them at various international forums. Ms. Harris spent the Trump years denigrating the maximum pressure" campaign. She condemned Donald Trumps decision to kill Qasem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guard dark lord who was the father of the ring of fire" strategy against Israel. Like the Soviets in the 1970s, who preferred realist, establishment Republicans, Irans ruling elite see Democrats as more predictable.
Mr. Khamenei and his diplomats are waiting for a President Harris. Given that Democrats believe there is no tolerable alternative to the Iran nuclear dilemma other than diplomacy, they probably wont leave the table no matter how Iran transgresses. Mr. Obama watched Iran, Russia and their Syrian allies slaughter tens of thousands of Syrian civilians while pushing the nuclear talks forward. Iran thinks it can count on Democrats to restrain the Israelis.
The Islamic Republic has exploited its proxy-war strategy brilliantly. But its success has also highlighted the theocracys weaknesses. A nuke would allow the Islamic Republic to stay on the offensive in the Middle East with fewer concerns about blowback. In practice, the doctrine of mutually assured destruction would work against Israel, allowing the Iranian theocracy more maneuvering room.
The mullahs are now so close to obtaining a nukegiven what we can see in the Iranian nuclear-weapons archives stolen by the Mossadthat its unlikely any serious technical hurdle remains. Neither diplomacy nor sanctions will stop the advance. Ms. Harris probably knows this. The search for peace and regional stability, the oft-heard aspiration of U.S. policy in the Middle East, now means, when translated into Persian, giving Tehran the bomb.
Mr. Gerecht is a resident scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Mr. Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
The Odisha government has assigned security to the Army officer and his fiancee, who is the victim of the alleged sexual assault at the Bharatpur Police Station.
The personal security officers (PSOs) will accompany the Army officer and his fiancee during their travels in the city, as both have accepted the government's security arrangement, PTI reported.
This decision came after a meeting with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, which included the Army officer, the woman, her father, and several former army personnel. During the meeting, the alleged victim voiced concerns about possible threats stemming from the case.
Following the discussion, she expressed relief and optimism for justice through the judicial inquiry the state government had previously announced.
During her meeting with Chief Minister Majhi, the alleged sexual assault victim expressed concerns about facing threats related to the case.
After the meeting, she stated that she felt relieved and hoped to achieve justice through the judicial inquiry announced by the state government, PTI reported.
The alleged incident occurred on 15 September when the Army officer and his fiancee went to Bharatpur Police Station to report a road rage incident in which local youths reportedly harassed them.
In response, the state government has suspended five police personnel and initiated a judicial inquiry into the matter.
Meanwhile, the woman, who was arrested and released on bail on Thursday for allegedly misbehaving with the police, claimed that she was sexually harassed after being taken into custody.
I don't know what happened; they put him (army officer) in the lock-up. When I raised the voice that they cannot put an Army officer in custody as it is unlawful, two women officers started physically assaulting me, she alleged on Thursday.
The woman said she tried to fight back and bit on the hand of a policewoman when she tried to get hold of her neck. The police personnel then put her in a room and tied her hands and legs, she alleged.
Soon after, a male officer came and kicked on my breasts several times. He lowered down my pants and his as well. Showing his private part, he asked me how much time I want to remain silent, the woman alleged.
Several other retired army officers also criticized the Odisha government over the issue in social media posts.
The woman's father, a retired Brigadier, has called for the arrest and dismissal of the police officers involved, accusing them of taking the law into their own hands. The National Commission for Women (NCW), which has taken suo motu cognizance of the incident, has requested an action taken report from the state DGP.
MUDA Scam Case: In a significant development, a Special Court in Karnataka has ordered a Lokayukta police investigation into Chief Minister Siddaramaiah concerning the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment controversy.
Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat issued the ruling on Wednesday, following the High Court's recent affirmation of Governor Thaawar chand Gehlot's sanction for the inquiry.
Following the probe order, the Karnataka CM said, I am ready to face investigation in MUDA case, not afraid of it.
Siddaramaiah's petition challenging the legality of the Governor's August 16 approval for the investigation under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, was dismissed by the High Court.
The allegations center around the improper allocation of 14 plots to Siddaramaiah's wife, Parvathi, by MUDA. The High Court also lifted a previous interim order that had paused the Special Court's actions regarding complaints against the Chief Minister, thus paving the way for the investigation to move forward.
Afetr the Special court announced the Lokayukta probe, activist Snehamayi Krishna, reiterated the demand for a CBI probe. The Court has said for Lokayukta investigation but we will approach Karnataka High Court since we want the investigation to happen by the CBI only. Once the FIR is filed we will approach Karnataka High Court, Snehamayi said.
MUDA Scam Case The Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scandal has drawn significant attention, centering on allegations that Chief Minister Siddaramaiahs wife, Parvathi, benefited from an exchange of less desirable land for valuable prime plots. Opposition parties claim Siddaramaiah usurped land belonging to the Dalit community, with estimates of the scam reaching 3,000 crore.
Complainant Snehamayi Krishna alleges that MUDA created forged documents to acquire these plots. The accusations also extend to Siddaramaiah's brother-in-law, Malikarjuna Swamy Devaraj.
In response, Siddaramaiah has denied all allegations, asserting that all actions were lawful and claiming that the Development Authority illegally developed land owned by his wife in Mysuru's Kesarur area.
What did CM Siddaramaiah say? Siddaramaiah has accused the BJP and JD(S) of "misusing" the Raj Bhavan to launch false allegations aimed at destabilizing his government in light of the ongoing investigation into the alleged MUDA land scam. Criticizing what he termed the Bharatiya Janata Party's "revenge politics," Siddaramaiah expressed confidence in the judicial system and announced his intention to consult legal experts regarding the investigations validity.
In a surprising turn of events, SB Madhavi, the first female duffadar (marshal) of the Greater Chennai Corporation, has been transferred from the mayor's office following allegations that she defied an order regarding her appearance. The incident stems from her choice to wear lipstick during an official assignment last month, which reportedly led to her transfer just minutes after she questioned the rationale behind the restriction.
According to a report by the Times of India, Madhavi, 50, confronted Mayor R Priyas personal assistant, Siva Sankar, demanding to see the government order that prohibited her from wearing lipstick.
In her response to an August 6 memo outlining charges of dereliction of duty and disobeying orders of seniors, she asserted, This is Greater Chennai Corporation, and such instructions are a violation of human rights. She argued that as long as her duties were fulfilled, her appearance should not be subject to arbitrary rules.
"You asked me not to wear lipstick , but I did. If this is a crime, show me the government order banning me from wearing lipstick," Hindustan Times reported Madhavi responded to Shankar's August 6 memo.
The mayor, Priya, representing the DMK, stated that Madhavi's participation in a fashion show during Womens Day celebrations drew criticism, leading to the directive about her appearance.
"Her use of matte lipsticks was considered too striking, especially since we often host ministers and embassy officials, Mayor Priya explained. However, she insisted that the transfer was unrelated to the lipstick incident.
Priya is the first mayor from a Scheduled Caste.
Madhavi expressed her discontent with the transfer to the Manali zone, describing it as a punishment posting given its distance from her previous assignment. Madhavi claimed that even though she was near Annanagar, Ambattur and Valasaravakkam, being transferred to the remote Manali region was like a punishment.
Top Events of the Day: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to deliver a pivotal address at the United Nations General Assembly, focusing on the ongoing Russian invasion and seeking international support. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman heads to Uzbekistan for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's annual meeting, where she will engage in multilateral discussions on global development issues. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron begins his two-day visit to Canada, where he will discuss Ukraine war, disinformation, and global threats with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Zelenskyy to address UNGA Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is preparing to deliver a pivotal address at the United Nations General Assembly today. According to reports from Ukrainska Pravda, Zelenskyy is expected to engage in talks with key international partners regarding the ongoing Russian invasion. The Ukrainian leader will likely push for permission to use weapons provided by allies on Russian soil, specifically targeting sites from where attacks on Ukrainian cities are launched.
KRN Heat IPO opens September 25 KRN Heat Exchanger and Refrigeration has successfully raised 100.1 crore from 10 anchor investors ahead of its initial public offering (IPO), which opens today, September 25. Among the major participants, Holani Venture Capital Fund emerged as the largest buyer, acquiring 8.58 lakh equity shares valued at 18.87 crore. Mint Focused Growth Fund followed closely, purchasing 6.36 lakh shares worth 14 crore. The IPO is expected to attract strong investor interest as the company looks to expand its operations in the heat exchanger manufacturing sector.
SEBI nod for Hyundai Motor India IPO Hyundai Motor India has obtained approval for its initial public offering from the Securities and Exchange Board of India, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
Second phase of Jammu and Kashmir elections The second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir elections is taking place today across 26 assembly seats, with key districts like Budgam, Srinagar, Ganderbal, Poonch, and Rajouri going to the polls. More than 2.5 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots, according to the Election Commission. Security has been heightened throughout the region following a voter turnout of 61.38% in the first phase of elections.
GoM to discuss GST rate revisions The Group of Ministers (GoM) on Goods and Services Tax (GST) is scheduled to meet today in Goa to deliberate on tax slab changes and rate revisions. Led by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, the panel last convened on August 22, presenting a status report to the GST Council on September 9. The GoM is expected to evaluate data gathered by the fitment committee to assess the impact of possible changes to the GST structure, which currently operates under a four-tier system.
Macron set to begin Canada visit today French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to begin his two-day official visit to Canada today, where he will hold talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Discussions will focus on Ukraine, countering disinformation, and fostering bilateral cooperation on emerging global threats. Macron is expected to visit Ottawa and Montreal, where Trudeau will highlight Canadas advancements in artificial intelligence and innovation.
SC to hear plea on NCP faction symbols The Supreme Court will hear a petition filed by the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today, which seeks new election symbols for both factions of the party ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections. This follows the Election Commissions decision to allocate the partys traditional clock symbol to the Ajit Pawar faction, leaving the Sharad Pawar faction without its original symbol.
New Delhi: Complaints against Ayurvedic products that make exaggerated, misleading or deceptive claims to be better than modern medicine can now be filed on a dedicated government portal, two people directly involved with the process said.
The portal, to be called Trinetra (meaning three eyes), will register complaints against ads making exaggerated claims about Ayurvedic products or services, concealing important details, or showing deceptive images that can misguide consumers, influence their decisions and result in unfair practices.
For speedy redressal
Developed in consultation with the ministries of health, Ayush, consumer affairs, and information and broadcasting, the portal will enable speedy redressal of complaints through a central registry system and an AI-based redressal mechanism, the first of the two people said.
It will be designed to automatically route complaints related to misleading advertisements directly to the concerned state authorities for resolution, without any human intervention," this person said.
Ayurvedic drugs and treatments, including massages, are often criticized by the medical fraternity as being clinically unproven. Patanjali Ltd, which makes Ayurvedic products, was pulled up by the Supreme Court this year for making misleading claims about curing diseases.
At the same time, the Indian market for Ayurvedic product is booming. According to a study by Ayurveda tech startup NirogStreet, the market is projected to reach $16.27 billion by FY28, from $7 billion at present.
An Invest India report shows that the overall alternative medicine sector has grown at 17% annually between 2014 and 2020, expanding from $2.85 billion in 2014 to $18.1 billion, with the potential to create 3 million jobs.
This move by the government is aimed at safeguarding consumer interests and maintain public trust in traditional medicine, while ensuring companies uphold ethical standards.
Curbing misleading ads
It follows a growing number of cases where Ayurvedic product claims were found to be misleading, prompting regulatory action. One of Patanjali's most controversial products was Coronil, which the company claimed could cure" covid, without any scientific study on its safety or efficacy to back the claim. The Union government ordered it withdrawn, but later allowed it to be marketed as an immunity booster.
The portal will also feature a time-bound complaint redressal system, ensuring that grievances are addressed promptly and efficiently," the second person said.
This structure allows for streamlined handling of consumer complaints, ensuring that misleading advertisements are addressed effectively at the state level while minimizing delays, this person said.
Also read | Cosmetics, ayurveda products and lifesaving medicines fail drug regulator test
Currently, consumers can register complaints about misleading Ayurvedic drug ads with the National Consumer Helpline, the Ayush ministrys grievance portal, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), and state health departments.
However, these complaints face challenges because several agencies handle them, which often leads to delays and poor coordination. Weak enforcement, low consumer awareness, and complex rules also slow down the process, making it difficult to resolve complaints quickly and effectively.
The president of the Association of Manufacturers of Ayurvedic Medicine Devender Triguna refused to comment on the story when contacted by phone.
A positive step
"It's a positive step forward, as consumers will now have the right platform to register their complaints and track the status of their grievances effectively," said Dr Rakesh Kotwal, medical officer (Ayurveda) of Kishtwar district in Jammu & Kashmir government.
"Ayurvedic drug manufacturers make claims about treating certain diseases based on inputs that they get from doctors who use these drugs in their practice with patients," Dr Kotwal said.
Dr Gopal Dabade, founder-president of Drug Action Forum- Karnataka, said. "A key concern is that these drugs do not fall under the purview of the Drug and Cosmetics Act and are not subjected to clinical trials."
The Forum is a non-governmental organization that advocates for rational drug-use and healthcare policies.
"Putting a check on such drugs is the need of the hour. However, as a middle-ground solution, the government is advising consumers to use these products as health supplements rather than as treatments," said Dabade, a Dharwad (Karnataka)-based ENT surgeon.
Queries emailed to ministries of consumer affairs, health and Ayush remained unanswered till press time.
After BJP MP Kangana Ranaut withdrew her remarks on repealed farm laws, social media users on Wednesday claimed the actor-turned-politician is an asset for Congress and thanked her for defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Haryana Elections.
Kangana had called for reinstatement of three controversial farm laws which the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government repealed in 2021 after nationwide protests. However, BJP said it did not support her comments, forcing her to withdraw her remarks.
Here is what the netizens said: Thanks for defeating BJP in the Haryana Elections. We always thought you were unfit and unworthy to be in the parliament of India, which is our most important institution. Now we think that there should be more people like you in the parliament, of-coarse on the BJP side only, a user commented.
Kangana Ranaut is Star Campaign for Congress Party, another said.
Another user thanked Himachal Pradesh's Mandi for electing Kangana, and said she is an asset for Congress. Thank you Mandi for electing her, She is an asset for Congress, keep giving statements like this.
You did your part ahead of Haryana elections. BJP is set to get belt treatment, another added.
Kangana youre making things easier for Congress in Haryana and J&K elections, a user reiterated.
A few users also highlighted that the BJP does not allow free speech and suppresses the voice of their own MP.
Imagine you have to apologize daily for the statements you make under the pressure of the party leadership? there is no free speech in BJP?? a user said.
Also Read | Kangana Ranaut fumes at Rahul Gandhi for Sikh remark amid Emergency movie row
Imagine if they are suppressing the voice of their own MP, what they must be doing to common people. Kangana please dont listen to BJP, speak your heart out always and make them lose Haryana. We are with you, another added.
A user also said, Kangana Ranaut is feeling few glimpses of Undeclared Emergency under Modi's rule.
Withdrawing her remarks, Kangana in a video had said, When the farmers' law was proposed, many of us supported it but our Prime Minister withdrew it with great sensitivity and sympathy. And it is the duty of all of us workers to respect the dignity of his words.
I also have to keep this in mind. I am not an artist. I am a worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party and my opinions should be the party's stand instead of being my own, she said, adding that if she has disappointed anyone with my words and my thinking, I will be sorry and I take my words back.
Maharashtra news: Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil ended his hunger strike on Wednesday, September 25, demanding the induction of Marathas under the Other Backward Castes (OBC) category. Manoj Jarange Patil had been on a hunger strike for the past nine days at Antarwali Sarati village of Jalna district in Maharashtra.
Speaking to his supporters, Manoj Jarange said he had decided to call off the fast keeping in mind the sentiments of the Maratha community. We will deal with those who have hurt the Maratha community, the Maratha quota activist said.
Manoj Jarange has been demanding the enforcement of the draft notification that identifies Kunbis as 'sagely soyare' (blood relatives) of the Maratha community and for granting reservations to them under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
In February this year, the Maharashtra legislature unanimously passed a Bill providing 10 per cent reservation for the Marathas in education and government jobs under a separate category. But Manoj Jarange Patil has demanded that his community be provided reservation under the OBC category.
Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that the state government was trying to bring the grant the reservation to the Maratha community within the legal framework as he underlined its necessity.
"Significant opportunities are being created for the Maratha community in police recruitment. Sarthi initiative has produced 12 IAS, 18 IPS, and 480 MPSC officers from the Maratha community. It is necessary to ensure that any reservation granted (by a government) is upheld in court," Devendra Fadnavis said. Also Read | Manoj Jarange ends hunger strike over Maratha quota; Heres what were his demands
"To support Maratha students, a subsistence allowance of 7,000 is provided by the government to those who do not secure hostel admissions and girls are granted free education," he added.
Mumbai Rains: Some flights were diverted and at least seven flights had to make a go-around due to bad weather in Mumbai after heavy rains lashed the city on Wednesday evening.
"Amid rainfall in the city, seven go-arounds and 2 flight diversions reported till 2009 hours," reported ANI quoting PRO, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
Vistara airline informed that its flight from Delhi to Mumbai was diverted, while a flight to Mumbai had to return to Hyderabad.
Flight UK941 from Delhi to Mumbai (DEL-BOM) has been diverted to Hyderabad (HYD) due to bad weather at Mumbai airport and is expected to arrive in Hyderabad (HYD) at 2110 hours. Please stay tuned for further updates, Vistara said in a post on X.
In another post, Vistara stated, "Flight UK534 from Hyderabad to Mumbai (HYD-BOM) is returning back to Hyderabad (HYD) due to bad weather at Mumbai airport and is expected to arrive in Hyderabad (HYD) at 2115 hours. Please stay tuned for further updates, Vistara said.
Meanwhile, SpiceJet and IndiGo airlines issued an advisory to passengers.
#6ETravelAdvisory : It's raining in #Mumbai & flight schedules are impacted due to weather conditions and air traffic congestion. If you or your loved ones are travelling, you may keep a tab on the flight status https://bit.ly/3DNYJqj and allow ample travel time to the airport, IndiGo said in a post on X.
SpiceJet said that due to bad weather (heavy rain) in Mumbai (BOM), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected, and added, "Passengers are requested to keep a check on their flight status."
One of the commuters who was scheduled to fly by IndiGo, tagged the airline and said, "I have a flight at 9:35 pm and i have started from my place at 5;30 and hardly take max 1 and half hour in peak but due to todays rain situation i am stuck still in traffic hope that unintentionally flight should be delayed as so many of passengers like me must to stuck.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, September 25, stepped up its demand for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's resignation after a special court in Bengaluru ordered a Lokayukta police probe against the Karnataka chief minister in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case or MUDA scam.
Addressing a presser following the special court order, Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra said Siddaramaiah should handover the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and tender his resignation over the MUDA scam. BY Vijayendra said the Opposition BJP and JD(S) will stage a protest on Thursday, September 26, demanding Siddaramaiah's resignation.
He said, I welcome the order of the special court. At the same time, since the investigation is against the powerful CM Siddaramaiah, I demand the CM to hand over the investigation to CBI and tender his resignation immediately. Tomorrow, BJP & JD(S) will hold a protest.
An investigation by Mysuru Lokayukta is impossible. I demand that the Chief Minister should resign and a CBI probe should be held. We will hold a protest in Vidhana Soudha premises tomorrow, the state BJP president said.
Reacting to the resignation demands by the Opposition parties, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said, Why is the BJP not demanding the resignation of their leaders against whom chargesheets have been filed.
On Wednesday, the BJP and JD(S) on Wednesday tried to lay siege to Siddaramaiah's residence. Holding posters, placards and raising slogans, members of BJP Yuva Morcha marched towards "Cauvery" but the police thwarted their attempt, took them into preventive custody and whisked them away in a bus.
Leaders and workers of the JD(S), an NDA partner, headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, staged a demonstration at the Freedom Park before proceeding to "Cauvery" but were stopped by police.
Sensex soared high, Wow Momo declared its plans to go public in two years, Malayalam actor Edavela Babu was arrested in a rape case amid the #MeToo movement in the Kerala film industry, a special court has ordered Lokayukta probe in the MUDA scam in a major setback for Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah these were some of the many news-worthy events that happened today on September 25. Let's look at some of them in detail.
Nifty 50 ends above 26,000, Sensex settles over 85,000 in ongoing rally The bulls are showing no signs of backing down. Despite a weak start, they staged a strong comeback in the final hour of trading today. This resurgence has driven both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex to hit new milestones, marking their fifth consecutive session of gains. The Nifty 50 surged by 0.35 percent, reaching a fresh record high of 26,032 points in trade before closing with a gain of 0.25 percent at 26,004 points. This marks the first time the index has closed above the 26,000 level. Click here to read more
Special Court orders Lokayukta probe in MUDA scam In a significant development, a Special Court in Karnataka has ordered a Lokayukta police investigation into Chief Minister Siddaramaiah concerning the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment controversy. Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat issued the ruling on Wednesday, following the High Court's recent affirmation of Governor Thaawar chand Gehlot's sanction for the inquiry. Read here to know what Siddaramaiah said
Malayalam actor Edavela Babu arrested on rape charges Malayalam actor Edavela Babu was arrested on Wednesday, September 25, amid the #MeToo allegations that have rocked the Kerala film industry ever since the Hema Committee report on working conditions of women was made public. The report exposed disturbing accounts of harassment, exploitation, and the systematic mistreatment of women in the industry. Read here
Wow Momo IPO in two years Indian fast-food chain Wow Momo Foods plans to go public within two years, its CEO said, as the popular dumpling brand aims to replicate the rapid expansion of Domino's Pizza in the world's most populous country. India's $5 billion fast-food sector has seen significant growth, driven by rising demand among low- and middle-income families. Valued at 25 billion rupees ($299.33 million) with a network of 650 stores, Wow Momo plans to become the first major local fast-food chain to go public, riding on this shift in consumer behavior. Read here for more
After billionaire Elon Musk's effusive praise for Italian President Giorgia Meloni at the Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award ceremony in New York, social media users are speculating hints of coziness between the two.
Musk, while bestowing the award on Meloni, said it was an honor to present the accolade to someone who is even more beautiful on the inside than she was on the outside.
Shes also someone who is authentic, honest, truthful and that cant always be said about politicians, he added.
Meloni shared a clip of Musk's speech on her X account and wrote: Thank you Elon in Italian.
The video went viral sparking speculations of the two dating. Some social media users even claimed that Elon Musk has a crush on Giorgia Meloni, highlighting his nervousness around her.
Netizens also suggested that they would make a cute and amazing couple.
Also Read | Musk to Celebrate Meloni as Italy Eyes Space Sector Investment
Ok I am just gonna say it. Elon has a crush on you, he is so nervous presenting you with this award. I have never seen him that nervous before. I think you two would make a cute and amazing couple, a user commented.
Love is in the air, another said.
. are we seeing a beautiful relationship unfold? I know I know - that seems childish, another speculated.
Giorgia Meloni and Elon Musk would make a great power couple! a user rermarked. Excellent couple of democrats! another added.
Do you think Theyll date? Tesla club questioned while sharing a picture of the duo.
Also Read | Melodi memes surface as Giorgia Meloni wishes PM Modi on Independence Day
But what did Elon Musk have to say on the speculations? Elon Musk, who caught the air of online speculations, was quick to clarify that he is not dating Giorgia Meloni.
We are not dating, he said in a reply to the Tesla club's post.
The holiday season has begun, and those who are willing to experience a royal-like luxurious experience can plan a trip in the majestic Palace on Wheels train. One of the Indian Railways' flagship luxurious trains, Palace on Wheels' provides an unforgettable experience to travellers.
One of the Indian Railways' flagship tourism services is en route to iconic Rajasthani cities, including Jaipur, famous as the Pink City, Jaisalmer, the Golden City, Jodhpur, and Udaipur. The 8-day-long train journey starts from Delhi and covers tourist destinations of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh, before coming back to Delhi. For those who are looking to book a ticket for them and their loved ones of Palace on Wheels here are ticket prices and other booking details.
Palace on Wheels itinerary The journey in Palace on Wheels is a complete eight days and seven nights experience which starts from Delhi at 4 pm on fixed days of every month. The journey route also includes key points like Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bharatpur, Agra, before returning to Delhi. The journey ends on eighth day at Delhi's Safdarjung Railway Station at 7:30 am.
Palace on Wheels booking price The ticket price of Palace on Wheels depends on different seasons based on demand, and various occupancy categories. The duration between October and March is considered as the peak season for the luxurious train because of favourable weather in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Here are the booking prices of Palace on Wheels from October 2024 to March 2025.
The Palace on Wheels itinerary has been designed to let passengers make the best of their time by experience the fascinating sceneries and wildlife of the world. People would also get the chance to visit UNESCO World Heritage site and enjoy wildlife safari or shopping in colour-drenched local markets.
How to book a Palace on Wheels train ticket? People interested in booking a ticket of Palace on Wheels can log in to the official website of the train services https://www.thepalaceonwheels.org
-After visiting the website, check the ticket booking option.
-Select departure dates
-Select number of travellers
-You are required to fill the travel details
-Complete the query.
Prince Harry's public support and campaign is exactly the right kind of visibility" and leadership which is needed for a conservation campaign in travel industry, said Aditi Mohapatra, Vice President of Global Social Impact and Sustainability at the Expedia Group.
The Duke of Sussex is in New York City this week as part of a series of engagements for his patronages and philanthropic initiatives. He is also involved in an awareness campaign, Travalyst, which aims to explore and improve conservation efforts at tourist destinations worldwide.
Applauding Harry's dedication towards philanthophy and his commitment towards the campaign, Aditi Mohapatra told Magazine HELLO!, We were able to have a bit of a meet and greet with him, and his support and leadership for this organization is just so amazing.
Mohapatra also added that Harry's public support and campaign will provide the initiative with the right kind of visibility and leadership.
The comments were made during a panel discussion which also featured Sally Davey, Travalyst Chief Executive and Gianni Marostica, Managing Director of Global Business Development at Google.
Prince Harry's NYC tour Prince Harry began his New York City tour on Monday, September 23. His visit mainly revolves around his engagements with charities close to his heart. During his NYC tour, the Duke appeared on stage at Clinton Global Initiative and also delivered a passionate speech about how imperative it is to tackle the challenges caused by the online world.
He was also the star panellist at the end of a 90-minute session entitled Everything Everywhere All At Once. On Monday, the former royal also took part in an event dedicated to The Halo Trust. The organisation works closely to clear landmines and other explosive devices left behind by conflicts.
It is nearly impossible to remember all the precious memories of our lives as we grow older. An Indian-origin founder, Advait Paliwal, hopes to offer a solution with his new creation. Iris, a wearable device, can empower humans with infinite memory of their life, said Paliwal in a post on X.
The Artificial Intelligence-powered gadget takes pictures every minute, captions them, and creates a timeline after organizing those memories, claimed Paliwal on his social media post while launching the product.
He also shared another unique feature of the device, focus mode. The feature, lets the device help people deal with distraction.
Iris also has a focus mode. It notices when you get distracted and proactively tells you to get back on track, the post said.
Paliwal shared a few visuals and photos to explain how the device functions and prevents distraction. In one of the photos, Paliwal can be seen wearing the device around his neck.
Also Read | Bengaluru techies corporate approach to daily household chores goes viral
How does Iris work? Iris takes pictures of every minute and displays them in a gallery with a timeline view, Palliwal said in his blog post. The AI-powered gadget helps answer questions about information Iris has collected over time. As a result, people are able to remember things that they might have forgotten.
In Iris's focus mode, people can enter a goal, after which the gadget will send a notification whenever they start doing something else. For instance, if a person wants to read a book for the next 30 minutes and enters the same goal in the gadget, then the gadget will send a notification to remind them about the task whenever they are doing something else.
Iris inspired from evil eye The gadget's shape was inspired from the evil eye, which is a symbol prominent in Latin America and parts of Asia. The symbol is said to protect people against bad luck.
US President Joe Biden recently showed his admiration for former first lady and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton after his wife Jill trapped him into giving a speech at the Clinton Global Initiative summit in New York City.
On Monday at the summit, President Biden told Hillary that I love you for defending him in public.
He was not scheduled to give a speech at the summit, but he appeared there to support his wife before being called to the stage to accept the 2024 Clinton Global Citizen Award.
Also Read | Biden to Visit Angola, Germany in First Trip Since Exiting Election
Before proceeding to thank Hillary Clinton and former president Bill Clinton, Biden said: This is what you call being trapped.
Hillary, I want to thank you and I maybe shouldnt do this publicly but thank you personally for the way you have helped me, the way youve spoken up for me with such passion. I cant tell you you can ask Jill. Anyway, I love you, he said.
Hillary replied thank you as her husband put his arm around her and gave her shoulder a squeeze.
Bill Clinton, as he presented the award, said: He's provided a playbook for getting things done.
We honor him today, not just for what he's accomplished, but for the way he has done it, said Bill.
President Biden also hailed Bill Clinton for his decency and incredible intellect.
The Clintons had supported Biden after his calamitous debate against former president Donald Trump on June 27.
In a post on social media the next day, Hillary had said: Ill be voting Biden.
Also Read | Biden tells Quad leaders that Beijing is testing region at turbulent moment for Chinese economy
The former first couple stood behind Biden
After the June 27 presidential debate, several Democrat leaders, including former president Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had pressured Biden to step aside amid questions about his mental acuity.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa, alleging that the payment giant has stifled competition through various anti-competitive practices. The development on Tuesday sent Visa's stock price plummeting, with shares closing down approximately 5.5 per cent for the day, Reuters reported.
The DOJ's lawsuit claims that Visa, which processes over 60 per cent of debit transactions in the United States, has maintained its market dominance through questionable agreements with card issuers, merchants, and potential competitors. These practices, according to prosecutors, have allowed Visa to collect around $7 billion annually in fees from debit transactions routed through its network, the report added.
In response to the allegations, Julie Rottenberg, Visa's general counsel, defended the company's practices, stating, "When businesses and consumers choose Visa, it is because of our secure and reliable network, world-class fraud protection, and the value we provide." She added that the claims are without merit and that Visa intends to contest them vigorously, Reuters reported.
The lawsuit is part of a broader initiative by the Biden administration to address rising consumer prices, a key issue in the upcoming presidential election. Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasized the far-reaching impact of Visa's alleged conduct, saying, Visa's unlawful conduct affects not just the price of one thing, but the price of nearly everything, per the Reuters report.
According to the DOJ, Visa's anti-competitive behaviour began around 2012, following reforms that required card issuers to accommodate unaffiliated networks. The lawsuit alleges that Visa entered into agreements with potential fintech competitors like Apple, PayPal, and Square (now Block Inc.) to prevent them from releasing products that could threaten Visa's market position, the report added.
The legal action seeks to prohibit Visa from imposing pricing structures that discourage competition and paying rivals not to compete. The DOJ aims to restore competition in the debit payment processing market for online and in-store transactions.
This lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal challenges faced by Visa and its rival Mastercard over their dominance in the payment card market. Both companies have been involved in litigation for nearly two decades and have already set aside substantial funds for potential settlements related to interchange fees.
Also Read | Visa Sued Over US Antitrust Violations in Debit Card Markets
As the legal battle unfolds, the outcome of this antitrust lawsuit could have significant implications for the payment processing industry and potentially lead to changes in how debit transactions are handled in the United States.
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that all-out war is still possible as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalates.
Biden added that he's hopeful an off-ramp can be found to prevent further bloodshed.
He made the comments during an interview on ABCs "The View."
An all-out war is possible, Biden said, adding that he thinks the opportunity also exists to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region.
The US president suggested that getting Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a cease-fire could help achieve a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.
It's possible and I'm using every bit of energy I have with my team to get this done, he said.
The war is approaching the one-year mark on October 7 when Hamas invaded southern Israel, and has caused tens of thousands of deaths, the majority being of Palestinians in Gaza.
Also Read | Israel Strikes 1,300 Targets in Lebanon as Hundreds Are Killed
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday warned Israel would not stop its military operations against Hezbollah until northern residents can safely return to their homes.
"We are striking Hezbollah with blows it never imagined. We are doing this with full force, we are doing this with guile. One thing I promise you: we will not rest until they return home", Netanyahu said in a statement.
Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi told soldiers to be prepared for possible entry into Lebanon.
"We are not stopping. We will keep attacking and harming (Hezbollah) everywhere," Halevi said.
"To do this, we are preparing for the course of the manoeuvre, and the sense is that your military boots, your manoeuvre boots, will enter enemy territory.
"These are the things that will allow us to safely repatriate the residents of the north later," the army chief added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been urging both Israel and Hezbollah to step back from their current intensifying conflict, saying that all-out war would be disastrous for the region.
Chinese miners Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. and Tsingshan Holding Group Co. are defying low lithium prices to develop a deposit of the battery metal with a Zimbabwean state company.
The two firms already operate lithium projects in the southern African country and will complete a study before building a mine and processing plant at Sandawana, in the countrys south, according to the chief executive officer of Kuvimba Mining House, the state-owned firm that owns the asset. Kuvimba had announced the deal in July, without naming the partners.
Although tumbling lithium spot prices down almost 90% since late 2022 have triggered some production shutdowns and deferrals around the world, Chinese companies continue to look for feedstock to supply refineries at home.
Huayou and Tsingshans construction plans would cost $250-$300 million and produce about 500,000 tons of lithium concentrate a year, Kuvimbas acting CEO, Trevor Barnard, said in an interview, citing a previous study. The companies are finalizing the price tag and output capacity in a more comprehensive feasibility study due to be completed within three months, he said.
Prices for the battery material will likely pick up slowly in the next year before recovering strongly from 2026 and 2027 as production surpluses give way to deficits, Barnard said. Despite that, our economics show to us that we will still be a profitable business even at the current pricing levels, he said.
Huayou and Tsingshan didnt respond to request for comments.
Zimbabwe has emerged as a significant producer of lithium in the last two years after a spike in prices through 2021 and 2022 fueled a wave of transactions by Chinese firms, including Chengxin Lithium Group Co. Ltd. and Sinomine Resource Group Co. Ltd. A Huayou unit has invested more than $700 million to buy and build the Arcadia mine, while Tsingshan has developed the smaller Gwanda project.
The country will account for about 10% of global mined supply this year, according to CRU Group.
A manufacturer of battery materials, Huayou also owns cobalt projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and produces nickel in Indonesia. Tsingshan, the worlds top producer of stainless steel and nickel with a new steelworks in Zimbabwe, is expanding its presence in lithium mining and has a subsidiary that makes batteries for electric vehicles.
Instead of owning equity in Sandawana, Barnard said Huayou and Tsingshan have agreed to transfer the asset back to Kuvimba after a minimum of five years and recouping the loan that will finance the project. The terms of an offtake contract with the two companies are still under negotiation, according to the CEO.
Kuvimba wants construction of the plant which is set to become the largest producer of lithium in Zimbabwe to be finished by the end of next year, he said.
Sandawana was the site of a moth-balled emerald mine that Rio Tinto Plc ran for several decades last century. More recently, Zimbabwe has sought to find iron ore and tantalum at the site before turning their attentions to lithium.
Kuvimba, which has divided Sandawana into three blocks, is discussing two other earlier-stage projects that require further exploration with potential investors, including a firm belonging to British businessman Algy Cluff, who helped pioneer the North Sea oil and gas industry and has run mining projects in African countries including Zimbabwe.
With assistance from Annie Lee and Alfred Cang.
In a rare announcement on Wednesday, China's defence ministry said it test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, carrying a simulated warhead, into the Pacific Ocean. The launch of the missile on Wednesday could reportedly threaten the US, Taiwan and Japan.
China's Ministry of National Defense said in a statement on Wednesday, "The PLA [Peoples Liberation Army] Rocket Force launched an ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missile] carrying a dummy warhead to the high seas in the Pacific Ocean at 08:44 on September 25th, and the missile fell into expected sea areas."
The ministry said that this test launch is a routine arrangement in our annual training plan. "It is in line with international law and international practice and is not directed against any country or target," the ministry added.
Meanwhile, South China Morning Post quoted the ministry as saying, [It] achieved the expected purpose. China notified relevant countries in advance.
Also Read | North Korea fires ballistic missiles amid nuclear readiness threats
This was the first time that China had publicly acknowledged that it successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean.
Following PLA's statement, the Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense posted on X, "PLA recently also has been an intensive execution of missile launches and other training exercises. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded accordingly."
Taiwan has repeatedly complained of increased Chinese military activities around the island in the past five years. China claims Taiwan as its own territory.
'Extremely unusual' An analyst told AFP that China has typically conducted such tests in its own airspace.
"This is extremely unusual and likely the first time in decades that we've seen a test like this," Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, was quoted as saying.
"[The test] likely speaks to China's ongoing nuclear modernisation manifesting in new requirements for testing," he added.
The US Defense Department had reportedly said earlier that China possessed more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023 and is likely to have more than 1,000 by 2030.
The Pentagon had said in the report that Chinas military is constructing hundreds of secret silos for land-based ICBMs. That compares to 1,770 and 1,710 operational warheads deployed by the US and Russia, respectively, the Guardian reported.
About the intercontinental ballistic missile An ICBM typically has a range greater than 5,500km (3,420 miles) and is designed to carry nuclear warheads. Chinas latest ICBM is known to be DF-41, South China Morning Post reported.
According to the report, DF-41 first came into service in 2017 and has an operational range of up to 12,00015,000km (7,460-9,320 miles), capable of reaching the US mainland.
Also Read | India successfully tests second phase of ballistic missile system | Watch video
The report claimed that it is the first time in 44 years that China is known to have successfully conducted an atmospheric test of an ICBM.
Former President Donald Trump threatened to hit US farm machinery maker Deere & Co. with steep tariffs if the company moves production to Mexico during an event on American farmers and trade.
Im just notifying John Deere right now, if you do that, were putting a 200% tariff on everything that you want to sell into the United States, Trump said Monday, citing reports about the company shifting manufacturing to Mexico.
Deere earlier this year said it would lay off 503 workers in Illinois and 310 in Iowa as it faces rising operational costs and declining demand. Its also acquiring land in Mexico to shift some production previously done in the US.
Deere shares climbed as much as 1.7% in early trading in New York on Tuesday, after falling more than 2% in after-market trading Monday following Trumps comments.
The worlds top farm machinery maker, which also has operations in South America and Europe, is an iconic American firm with its green and yellow tractors. Moline, Illinois-based Deere said in a statement it is committed to US manufacturing with $2 billion invested in domestic plants since 2019.
Trumps comments came at a forum in Pennsylvania focused on threats to US growers, as he sought to rally support in the crucial battleground. In addition to warning Deere, Trump accused China of failing to honor a deal to buy $50 billion in US agricultural exports and vowed to raise the matter with Chinese President Xi Jinping if the Republican returns to the White House.
My first call, Im going to call up President Xi and say you have to honor the deal you made, Trump said. You made a deal, youd buy $50 billion worth of American farm product. And I guarantee you he will buy it, 100%, he will buy it.
Trump as president reached a so-called phase one trade deal with China in early 2020 that saw the US reduce some duties in exchange for China pledging to increase its purchases of US exports, including $50 billion of agricultural goods. But actual purchases fell short of that vow, with China importing less than 60% of the promised goods and services covering food, energy and manufactured products through December 2021, according to a study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
The Republican presidential nominee on Monday assailed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris his November election rival saying the current administration had failed to enforce the deal.
China, the worlds second largest economy, has emerged as a top target in the presidential race between Trump and Harris as both candidates vow to take a tough stance against Beijing and its growing military and economic influence.
Mondays event was organized by the Protecting America Initiative, which describes itself as a group committed to stopping Chinese influence in the US. Its senior advisers include former Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell and former US Representative Lee Zeldin, both of whom joined Trump for the discussion.
The former president heard from farmers about the challenges they face, using the opportunity to tout his pledge to hit both US allies and adversaries with tariffs if he secures a second White House term.
Trump has vowed to impose a 60% tariff on China and has threatened a 100% tariff on Chinese cars made in Mexico part of a broader agenda that would upend global trade. As president, Trump placed tariffs on more than $300 billion of Chinese goods.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in August urged the company to prioritize US workers in a letter he sent to Deere Chief Executive Officer John May.
China Focus
Harris is largely expected to hew to Bidens approach of intensive diplomacy, keeping communication with Beijing open and highlighting areas where the nations can cooperate even as the administration looks to make the US more competitive with China and restrict its access to cutting edge technologies with national security implications.
Over the weekend, Biden hosted the Quad Leaders Summit in Delaware, bringing together the prime ministers of India, Australia and Japan, part of an effort to strengthen ties with US allies in the Indo-Pacific as a counterweight to China. During a hot mic moment, Biden was heard telling other leaders that China is testing the US and its allies in the region.
Earlier: China Testing Us All, Biden Says at Indo-Pacific Summit
The Biden administration this year has taken a number of steps to tighten the screws on China, including finalizing new tariffs on Chinese goods, cracking down on de minimis exemptions for Chinese shipments of cheap products and curbing shipments of steel and aluminum from China and elsewhere through Mexico.
Donald Trump used the White House to give handouts to wealthy corporations and foreign companies at the expense of family farmers, drive farm bankruptcies to record levels, and sacrifice small American farmers as pawns in his failed trade war with China, Harris campaign spokesman Joseph Costello said in a statement Monday.
Earlier: Harris Says Trump Sold Us Out to China, Slams His Praise of Xi
With assistance from Stephanie Lai and Michael Hirtzer.
For all the hate speech and banality on social media, there is occasionally a haiku-like moment of wisdom and wit. A post about frantic attempts by international media to categorize Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Sri Lankas new president, noted with amusement that these ran the gamut from Marxist leaning" (CNN/Al Jazeera) and Neo Marxist outsider" (Financial Times, softened in subsequent headlines to Leftist") to Marxist Leninist" (The International Magazine).
AKD, as he is widely known, dismisses all such labels, but they are a characterization of his partys past and will colour market assessments of him as he wrestles with restructuring Sri Lankas economy in the aftermath of a sovereign bankruptcy declared two years ago.
The countrys bonds slipped in trading as such click-bait headlines took their toll. In this year of elections worldwide, no new president could have inherited quite so many economic problems.
AKDs task is akin to navigating the Indian Ocean in a leaky canoe, made choppier by two giant aircraft carriers (India and China) jostling alongside.
More optimistically, this could be Sri Lankas 1991-like defining moment, but without a finance minister as capable as Manmohan Singh, who turned crisis into opportunity.
By contrast, the Rajapaksa family, which ruled the country for most of the past 20 years, reduced a middle-income countrywell ahead of India on human development and median incometo one in which a quarter of its people live in poverty today.
Middle-class anxiety is observable in those queuing for emigration paperwork in Colombo and in tearful farewells at the airport. Seeking more foreign direct investment to boost manufacturing exports and tourism is complicated by this brain drain.
In todays world of slower prospects for global trade and sticky supply chains, retailers overseas will also continue to prefer Bangladesh and Cambodia for manufacturing even after a currency devaluation as sharp as Sri Lankas.
The good news is that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme and Indias financial aid of $3.8 billion in credit lines and deferred loans have helped stabilize the economy.
Notably, Sri Lanka almost crossed 2023s total of 1.5 million tourists in the first nine months of this year, but this is a fraction of the 12 million that, say, Malaysia attracted in 2023.
While the recent election was full of campaign rhetoric about renegotiating the IMF deal, wiser counsel will likely prevail as the government settles in.
As Indrajit Coomaraswamy and Ganeshan Wignaraja observe in a paper for ODI, a London-based think-tank, elements of the programme are what Sri Lanka should be doing anyway ensuring an independent central bank, fiscal consolidation and better government."
Despite the countrys progress in the past year, there is a widespread view that the government is not adequately prioritizing and targeting social expenditure, which AKD promises to do.
The new administration will arguably face its real challenge in 2028, when Sri Lanka must start repaying capital on a staggering $50 billion in foreign debt.
This was partly a result of the Rajapaksas taking huge loans from China and then enlisting its state-owned enterprises to build an airport and a seaport in southern Sri Lanka.
As a Bloomberg Businessweek article noted, The expected price of the airport in 2006 was $60 million to $70 million, according to a US Department of State study.... By the time it opened in 2013, it cost $244 million, three-quarters from a Chinese loan."
The port, which cost more than $1 billion, would on standard accounting principles be insolvent, but is now owned by China on a 99-year lease.
Negotiating with Beijing, which prefers to extend a loans duration and pretend repayment is feasible, rather than radically restructure debt, will be among the hardest aspects of AKDs job.
Among the congratulatory messages he got was one from President Xi Jinping, who said he looked forward to extending Beijings Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Given the damage Chinas BRI has done to Sri Lanka and other developing countries ability to manage their balance of payments, this infrastructure aid scheme should be renamed Bankruptcy Restructuring Imminent.
AKDs other challenge is political, where he is better placed to deliver. By seeking to make his partys name in parliament on constitutional issues such as opposing the presidents dismissal of then PM Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2018, AKD has convinced many that his Janatha Vimukthi Peramunas (JVP) record of Leninist-styled targeted killings in the 70s and 80s is a thing of the past.
As The Hindus Meera Srinivasan observes, The JVPs second uprising against the state saw brutal killings, including of political opponents, ordinary government employees and dissident leftists, (but) the states response was many times more lethal."
AKD, the son of a government office helper, saw his family home torched a year after a cousin was killed, both by government forces. Even though that government was headed by Ranasinghe Premadasa, father of AKDs political opponent Sajith Premadasa, this was not raked up in the campaign.
It is therefore possible to be hopeful of a turnaround in Sri Lanka, where, as Michael Ondaatje wrote, Dawn comes up like thunder." But as AKD navigates Colombos 17th IMF programme on an island where sunrises are uplifting, clouds also loom.
If I had got even 10 for each time I was asked a version of this question, I could have a few lakhs on this account alone!
And the question is: Whats the next HDFC Bank or Amazon that we can buy and forget for 25 years? Or can you tell me one stock I can buy for my infant daughter or son so that they have a huge corpus when they grow up?
First the back story. First Global had a Strong Buy on Amazon at a price of $15 (split-adjusted $0.75) back in 2001, post the tech crash.
This was at a time when there was no other Buy, let alone a Strong Buy from any firm on Wall Street. In fact, Jeff Bezos sent us an email thanking us for the support.
At the very same time, BusinessWeek and other major business magazines were predicting bankruptcy for Amazon. Even all the Wall Street firms, which had been big supporters and promoters of Amazon, were now throwing in the towel on the stock, as they put it.
The ride since then is there for everyone to see.
Similarly, we had a Buy on HDFC Bank at a price of 38 (split-adjusted 3.8) in 1996, just a year after its initial public offering (IPO). On the cover of our research report was a picture of a baby, saying that this is where the company was then.
And it had Mr. Universe, Arnold Schwarzenegger with a blurb saying that this was where the bank was headed. We have all seen that transformation play out over time, with HDFC Bank becoming the 800-pound- gorilla in the banking business.
Both these calls were based on analysis of business prospects, financials and so on. For example, Amazon had made a free cash flow of over $200 million in the preceding quarter after having been free-cash-flow negative all along.
It was clear that it was in no danger of going bankrupt, which is what the rest of the Street was pricing in. So, we were confident enough not just to have a Buy, but a Strong Buy on the stock.
In the case of HDFC Bank, it was a market bet on strong banking-sector growth post-liberalization as well as the prospect of an efficient and well branded private player taking away share from public sector banks that were the only players of size at the time.
There was also the secret ingredient of my knowing the management of the bank and hence being more confident of risk management, which is a critical component in the success of any lending business.
But heres the thing: When you are writing a report like this, the visibility of the businesss or stocks future prospects is not for 20-25 years, or even a decade. At best, at that stage, you can only say that Amazon at $15 will go to $50 or a 38 HDFC Bank to 100 or possibly 150.
Even Aditya Puri and Jeff Bezos, who headed these companies, could not have foreseen the full extent of the business or stock price trajectory. Yes, they may have been confident of their businesses doing well, but not that the stock would give thousands of percent in returns.
Jeff Bezos may have wanted to become the worlds richest man. But could he have said 20 years ago that he would get there even for a day? No way.
The truth is that no one can know beforehand which stocks in a portfolio become multibaggers. Anyone who tells you otherwise is only fooling you, and maybe themselves.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, known for his acumen as an investor, could not have predicted upfront that Titan, Crisil, Lupin Labs and a couple of others in his portfolio would wipe out the sins of many more losers that went nowhere.
Warren Buffett himself has said that in over 70 plus years of investing, net of his top few calls, the rest of the portfolio has been below average. He put the winning stocks at about a dozen. His recently deceased partner, Charlie Munger, put the number even lower at about four or five.
No one can build a portfolio of only multibaggers. Or even 80-60% multibaggers. In the history of the world, there has not been a single investor or fund manager who has been able to do this.
Dont get fooled by stories of great long-term foresight. Life is about probabilities and at every stage, there are multiple outcomes possible for every single company or stock.
The formula for winning in this game is to have a well chosen portfolio of at least 25 to 30 stocks, across sectors. This too should not be a random portfolio, but one built with a great deal of thought and analysis, and in accordance with a system.
Still, be prepared that some of the picks will turn out to be duds. As a rule-of-thumb, you may find possibly five are near write-offs, another five do nothing very much either way, 10-12 give you reasonable returns, and then, and only if you have chosen well and are lucky, there is a likelihood that two to four of them will turn out to be multibaggers.
Any story of multibaggers conveniently forgets all the other stocks that looked equally promising at the same point in time but did not give anywhere close to the same returns over the long-term. It is the classic survivorship bias.
The bottom line: To get those elusive multi- baggers, you have to cast the net wide, rather than convince yourself that you have found the one or two stocks that will perform to eternity.
During the Sept. 10 presidential debate, Donald Trump asserted that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, have been eating local residents pets: 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." This specious claim has a sorry history.
The Journal last week published a front-page story with an arresting headline: Told Pet-Eating Was Untrue, Trump Team Spread It Anyway." According to the story, the day before the debate, Springfields city manager told a staff member of JD Vances campaign team that internet claims about pet-eating were baseless." The same day, the Journal reports, Mr. Vance tweeted about the rumors to his nearly two million followers. The next evening in the debate, Mr. Trump spread these rumors across the globe.
Challenged to verify or withdraw their claims about immigrants eating pets, neither Republican candidate has done soalthough in a tweet on Sept. 10, Mr. Vance conceded: Its possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false." At a Sept. 17 event in Eau Claire, Wis., he acknowledged that he hadnt checked the rumors on which he had built his stories. But he apparently didnt see it as his duty to verify the claims before amplifying them to a mass audience. Asked by a reporter at the Wisconsin event whether he has a responsibility to fact-check claims before sharing them, Mr. Vance said that the media has a responsibility to fact-check."
As it happens, the media did its job. To back its claims, the Vance campaign offered the Journal a police report in which a Springfield resident alleged that her missing cat might have been abducted by Haitian neighbors. The complainants pet turned up a few days laterin her own basement.
But the damage had already been done. Mr. Vance surely knows that once a falsehood goes public, its too late to withdraw it. And if it bolsters pre-existing beliefs, it will persist indefinitely, no matter how thoroughly its debunked. It would seem that Mr. Vance is unconcerned about pandering to prejudice and degrading public discourse.
Some politicians set a better example. Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, a registered Republican, told the Journal that although hed told those at the national level that they are speaking these things that are untrue," the rumors have been repeated and doubled down on," inflicting serious damage on his community. City Hall, state motor-vehicle offices and several schools received bomb threats after the presidential debate. Parents kept their children home from school until police had investigated the threats.
Enter Mike DeWine, Ohios popular two-term Republican governor, who calls himself a supporter of former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance." Mr. DeWine refused to leave baseless rumors unchallenged. In an op-ed for the New York Times, he drew on his own experience to rebut them.
Mr. DeWine was born in Springfield. He and his wife have lived their entire lives within 10 miles of the city. For decades, he recounts, Springfield was a thriving center of commerce and manufacturinguntil it was hit by a wave of deindustrialization in the 1980s and 1990s and well-paid middle-class jobs dwindled.
Now, Mr. DeWine reports, the city is enjoying a resurgence, thanks in part to the dramatic influx of Haitians in recent years. They did not sneak in to commit crimes and collect welfare, he insists: They are there legally. They are there to work." Prior to writing the op-ed, Mr. DeWine interviewed employers who testified to the Haitians work ethic and said theyre indispensable.
Mr. DeWine acknowledges that this surge of migrants has created some problems, including strain on healthcare systems, the housing market and schools. The state is helping the city meet these challenges. Volunteers have also offered to help Haitian children learn English and Haitian families navigate the healthcare system. Mr. DeWine rightly calls this the Lords work."
The governor wrote that he is saddened" by how Messrs. Trump and Vance continue to repeat claims that lack evidence and disparage the legal migrants living in Springfield." This rhetoric has consequences, he adds: It hurts the city and its people, and it hurts those who have spent their lives there."
Mr. DeWine and I disagree about most matters of public policy. But we agree on this: Concern for others matters. Taking responsibility for the consequences of ones actions matters. So does telling the truth. The conduct of Donald Trump and JD Vance betrays indifference toif not contempt forthese values.
In 1954, Joseph Welch, a lawyer defending the U.S. Army against Sen. Joseph McCarthys charges of communist infiltration, showed hed had enough of Mr. McCarthys baseless accusations. Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty and your recklessness," Mr. Welch said. Have you no sense of decency?" It was the right question 70 years ago, and its the right question today.
In her inaugural move as Delhi Chief Minister, Atishi announced significant increases in minimum wage rates on Wednesday, establishing them at 18,066 for unskilled workers, 19,929 for semi-skilled workers, and 21,917 for skilled laborers. This decision was made during her first press conference since taking office.
CM Atishi praised the efforts of her predecessor, Arvind Kejriwal, asserting that under his leadership, the AAP government has implemented the highest minimum wages in the country for city laborers. If you look at the minimum wages across the country, Arvind Kejriwal's government has given the highest minimum wages in the country, she stated.
Also Read | Atishi takes charge as Delhi CM with Arvind Kejriwals empty chair in office
To stop the exploitation of poor people, the Delhi government has taken the minimum wage to a historic level. The BJP has always worked against the poor, and we can see it in two ways.
The Chief Minister didn't hold back in her criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), labeling them as "anti-poor" and highlighting the disparity in wages across states governed by the saffron party. She emphasized that, BJP-ruled states often have minimum wages that are probably half of what it is in Delhi.
Atishi detailed the history of the minimum wage struggle in Delhi, noting, The first time when Arvind Kejriwal's government talked about increasing the minimum wage in 2016-2017, the BJP stopped us. After which the Delhi government brought an order from the court to increase the minimum wage. BJP strongly opposed it, but Arvind Kejriwal's government fought and brought a decision in favor of the common people of Delhi.
She reiterated the governments commitment to revising these minimum wages twice a year, ensuring continuous support for the labor force of unorganised sector in Delhi.
New Chief Minister Atishi also expressed her dedication to improving living standards for workers despite opposition challenges from the BJP.
Atishi assumed the role of Chief Minister on September 22, following AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal's resignation on September 17. In a poignant moment during her announcement, she placed an empty chair beside her own, declaring, This chair belongs to Arvind Kejriwal. Today I took charge as the CM of Delhi. Today I have the same pain in my heart as Bharat ji had. Just like Bharat ji worked by keeping Lord Shri Ram's sandals, I will take charge as CM for the next four months.
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren, who recently switched allegiance to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has accused the Hemant Soren-led government of jeopardizing his safety by withdrawing all security vehicles assigned to him.
Former Chief Minister Champai Soren, previously with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), labeled the move as a "political conspiracy" intended to intimidate him.
Also Read | Former Jharkhand CM Champai Soren joins BJP
"The Jharkhand government withdrew all security vehicles assigned to me, putting my life at risk, under a political conspiracy. I am not afraid of this move. The people of Jharkhand would provide security to me," he asserted in an interview with PTI.
Champai Soren emphasized that he has always remained true to his values and believes the electorate will respond decisively against the JMM-led coalition in the upcoming assembly polls.
In response to Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM leader Hemant Sorens accusations that the BJP is "buying" political leaders, Champai stated, "No one can dare buy me. I have made crystal clear the circumstances behind leaving JMM." His decision to join the BJP stems from feelings of "humiliation" and "disrespect" he claims to have experienced within the JMM.
Hemant Soren Accuses BJP of Divisive Tactics Chief Minister Hemant Soren has launched a scathing critique of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), likening them to "rats" undermining communal harmony in Jharkhand for electoral gain.
Speaking at a rally in Bhognadih, Hemant Soren alleged that the BJP is intentionally fostering discord between Hindu and Muslim communities, particularly highlighting the involvement of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
"RSS is invading the state like rats and destroying it. Chase such forces away when you see them entering your villages with 'handia' and 'daru' (locally brewed liquor)... They want to create communal disturbances and tension ahead of elections for political gains," Soren declared during the rally, which he addressed virtually from Ranchi.
BERLINGovernments across Europe are raising new barriers to immigrants, aiming to curb near-record inflows of people from poor countries that are triggering a surge in support for nationalist populist parties.
The biggest swing in sentiment has been in Germany, long a proponent of generous policies toward refugees. Pressure has been building in recent years as the nation absorbed millions of immigrants, weighing on the welfare system and municipal services. Migration was a key theme in Sundays closely watched regional election in Brandenburg, where the governing Social Democrats narrowly beat the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD.
Last week, the coalition government in Berlin reintroduced limited border checks to all neighboring countries, after a knife attack in late August by a failed asylum seeker killed three people in the city of Solingen during a festival to celebrate its 650th anniversary. The attacker was a 26-year-old Syrian with links to Islamic State who had evaded deportation for more than a year after losing his asylum case.
Days after that attack, the AfD won its first ever state election in Thuringia and placed second in Saxony.
View Full Image Bjorn Hocke, leader of the AfD party in the eastern German state of Thuringia, where the party won its first ever state election. Photo: Ralf Hirschberger/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Since the pandemic ended, governments across the continent have struggled to cope with rising numbers of asylum seekers and are grasping for ways to stem the flow, from curbing taxpayer-funded benefits to asylum seekers to striking deals with non-EU countries to temporarily or permanently house would-be refugees.
Europes shift echoes recent moves by the Biden administration to contain a record surge in arrivals at the U.S. southern border, fueled mostly by people claiming asylum. In both cases, incumbent governments face criticism that they are reacting late and lagging behind the rise in public anxieties. Polls show immigration is a top voter issue ahead of Novembers U.S. presidential election.
Last year, a near-record 1.14 million people filed asylum claims in Europe, the highest number since the height of the 2015 migration crisis in Europe, when more than a million Syrians fleeing that countrys civil war entered the bloc. Claims are expected to again top one million this year, with 513,000 claims made in the first half of 2024, according to the European Union Agency for Asylum. Those figures dont include more than four million Ukrainian refugees who have received temporary protection in the EU since the war began.
The border checks by countries such as Germanywhich gives border officials authority to carry out random checks on vehicles, trains or busesraise questions over the future of one of the most unique features of the EU since the 1980s: the freedom to travel freely across the passport-free Schengen zone.
Anti-immigration parties already govern in Italy and Hungary, support the government in Sweden and are part of governing coalitions in the Netherlands and Finland. Some polls indicate Austrias Freedom Party could come first in the countrys September election. Last week, the right-wing Dutch government formally asked Brussels for an exemption from the blocs asylum rules.
View Full Image Graphic: WSJ
Fifteen European governments signed a letter earlier this year to the EUs governing body demanding the union impose stricter conditions on migration and think outside the box" on the issue.
In Sweden, the government this month pledged to pay tens of thousands of dollars to asylum seekers who voluntarily return home. The government has tightened its migration rules and welfare payments in recent years. In August, the government said that in the first few months of 2024 asylum claims were at a 27-year low and Sweden had net emigration for the first time in five decades.
Keir Starmer, the U.K.s new leader, traveled to Italy this past week to discuss migration with the countrys right-wing prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. She came to power promising to curb immigration but has struggled to stem new arrivals.
Starmers Labour government scrapped its conservative predecessors plan to deport people who arrived illegally in Britain to Rwanda. But anti-migrant riots in some British towns over the summer have pushed the government to show it can control arrivals.
Melonis government passed a law last year that allows authorities to detain migrants for up to 18 months, and plans to build camps in Albania to house thousands of migrants picked up at sea. But to comply with EU law, Italy will still have to assess the asylum claims and take in those who are deemed to be genuine refugees.
View Full Image Graphic: WSJ
Italy has a government that until two or three years ago was an outlier, with origins in fascism. Now its right in the mainstream" on this issue, said Andrew Geddes, director of the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.
In Belgium, the government has cut benefits and stopped guaranteeing shelter for single male asylum seekers. Denmark has contemplated its own Rwanda-like scheme.
Rights groups have criticized some of the measures. Amnesty International estimated that 2,600 mostly male asylum seekers ended up sleeping on the streets or makeshift tents in Belgium last winter. Groups also say the EUs migration pact with Tunisia, intended to curb the number of migrants arriving in Italy by sea, has led to abuses by Tunisian authorities seeking to expel asylum seekers to neighboring countries. Officials have denied the claims.
The stream of new arrivals in the region adds to worries about safety and security in Europe amid weak economic growth, chronic housing shortages and Russias war in Ukraine, said Bernd Parusel, a senior researcher with the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies in Stockholm.
Many people are afraid of what the future might bring," he said. If there are terrorist attacks or violence, these are additional triggers for being afraid of societal changes."
Germany also announced plans to detain asylum seekers while authorities determine whether it is responsible for processing their case or whether it should be done by another EU government. The government rejected a proposal by the opposition conservatives to automatically turn away asylum seekers at Germanys borders, which it deemed to violate EU law.
The German government claims that a narrower set of border checks introduced last year have helped push down asylum claims by over 20% in 2024. But border checks have consistently failed to have a lasting impact in other EU countries, according to Gerald Knaus, chairman of the asylum policy-focused European Stability Initiative.
European politicians are also struggling to balance demand for younger workers in an aging continent against concerns that some asylum seekers struggle to integrate into Europes highly skilled labor market and end up weighing on its generous welfare states.
As new arrivals climb, a debate is deepening about the economic impact of migration. Economists say that immigrants can fill gaps in the labor market and boost economic growth. Italy, for example, plans to accept around 450,000 migrant workers over three years even as it maneuvers to slow refugee arrivals across the Mediterranean.
Europe has a challenging demographic outlook and immigration can help," said Gita Gopinath, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund. The immigration-fueled increase in the eurozone labor force between 2020 and 2023 could raise the blocs potential output by 0.5% by 2030, Gopinath said.
However, some recent research has amplified concerns about the costs of lower-skilled migrants, saying they tend to weigh on the welfare state and could hurt productivity growth by slowing the adoption of machines and robots.
Asylum seekers tend to be less educated and lower skilled than other immigrant groups, said Jan van de Beek, an independent Dutch researcher. Between half and two-thirds of all asylum seekers who arrived in the Netherlands since 1999 and have left school are unemployed and on benefits, even though the country suffers from extreme labor shortages, he said.
The EU last December agreed new rules designed to make it easier to quickly reject asylum claims and keep migrants in closed centers, but they dont take effect until 2026. That has left national governments scrambling to take their own actions.
There are divisions among mainstream parties, especially on the center-right, over how to respond to the migration concerns.
Ruud Koopmans, professor of sociology and migration research at the Humboldt University of Berlin, said that establishment parties risk doing the worst of both worldsratcheting up the rhetoric on migration without resolving the issue.
That is of course something that only helps the extreme right," he said.
Write to Tom Fairless at tom.fairless@wsj.com and Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com
Actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kangana Ranaut withdrew her remarks on repealed farm laws after the party said it did not support her comments.
Kangana had called for reinstatement of three controversial farm laws which the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government repealed in 2021 after nationwide protests. But the party said that the statement has been issued by the Mandi MP in personal capacity and that she was not authorised to make such a statement on behalf of the BJP.
Also Read | Kangana Ranaut fumes at Rahul Gandhi for Sikh remark amid Emergency movie row
Later Kangana withdrew her remarks. "When the farmers' law was proposed, many of us supported it but our Prime Minister withdrew it with great sensitivity and sympathy. And it is the duty of all of us workers to respect the dignity of his words. I also have to keep this in mind. I am not an artist. I am a worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party and my opinions should be the party's stand instead of being my own. So if I disappoint anyone with my words and my thinking, I will be sorry and I take my words back," she was heard saying in a video shared by news agency ANI.
It doesn't depict BJP's view on the farm bills. We disapprove of this statement, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia had told news agency ANI after Kangana's remarks to a TV channel.
What did Kangana Ranauat say? Kangana Ranaut stirred controversy ahead of the Haryana Assembly elections by saying that the Modi government should bring back the repealed farm laws in the interest of farmers.
"I know this statement could be controversial but the three farm laws should be brought back. The farmers should themselves demand it," India Today quoted Ranaut as saying.
"Farmers are a pillar of strength in the nation's development. I want to appeal to them to demand the laws back for their own good," added the Queen actor.
Modi's government repealed the three controversial farm laws after a prolonged protest by farmer groups.
Earlier, Haryana BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli also said the party had nothing to do with what Kangana Ranaut said about repealed farm laws. She keeps saying too many things. But what she says doesnt become the BJPs stand, he said.
Political Row Kangana's remark triggered a political row with the Congress launching a sharp attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, saying that the saffron party was using Kangana as a proxy to attack farmers in a calculated move.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the party would never let this happen. "More than 750 farmers were martyred while opposing the three black anti-farmer laws. Efforts are being made to bring them back again. We will never let this happen. Haryana will be the first to answer," Shrinate said in a- post on X with sharing a video of Kangana's remarks.
Also Read | Kangana Ranaut claims Cong govt takes loan to give it to...
Punjab Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa asked the saffron party to clarify its stance on farmers and the farm laws. If the party does not support Ranaut's remarks, it must take immediate action, he said.
Farmers are a pillar of strength in the nation's development. I want to appeal to them to demand the laws back for their own good.
The members of a foreign delegation who are here on Wednesday to observe the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir expressed satisfaction over the conduct of polls. Some of them said the process looks comparable to how it happens in their own countries,
Jammu and Kashmir is voting in the second phase of assembly elections in which 26 seats in six districts are going to polls. The Ministry of External Affairs has invited a delegation of diplomats from 16 countries, including the US, Norway and Singapore, to observe the exercise.
The voting process looked healthy and democratic, said US deputy Chief of the Mission in Delhi Jorgan K Andrews said
"It is great to see the enthusiasm; it's great to see Kashmiris out voting after a pause for 10 years. We are very excited to see the results. It looks very healthy and very democratic," Andrews told news agency PTI at a polling station here. He said the process here was similar to how it happens in his country.
Phase 2 voting underway Voting is underway in 26 seats across six districts of Jammu and Kashmir in the second phase of assembly elections today, September 25. The second phase covers 15 seats in Kashmir Valley and 11 seats in the Jammu division of the Union Territory (UT).
Voting commenced from 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.
"It is very comparable. In my country, we use schools as well for voting. So it looks very similar," Andrews added
South Korea diplomat Sang Woo Lim liked the idea of Pink polling station, an initiative of the Election Commission of India where polling stations are managed by all-female staff.
"It is my first time here in Kashmir. I am happy to be here as a part of the MEA delegation. I see it is a beautiful place and people are very nice. It is special to witness how democracy works. This idea of a pink polling station is very ingenuous. It is a great way to attract more people to come to vote," Lim was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Singapore deputy head of the mission in Delhi Cheng Wei Wei Alice said it was wonderful to be part of the delegation observing the polls here.
Process Similar to Singapore "I am glad that all the voters showed up. That's wonderful to see. The process is very similar to how we conduct elections in Singapore. We use government buildings for polling stations so that it is easily accessible to voters," she said.
Alice said the delegates were "very thankful to the MEA for organising this trip and allowing us to visit the polling stations".
It looks very healthy and very democratic.
Jammu and Kashmir is holding its first assembly elections in a decade to elect a government after over six years of Central rule. This is also first assembly election being held after abrogation of Article 370 in the erstwhile state in August 2019.
People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti has said the next government in Jammu and Kashmir will cannot be formed without the support of her party.
Mufti also responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modis "three families" jibe, saying that when the National Conference talked about joining Pakistan, it was Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, her late father, who held and raised the Indian flag high in Kashmir.
"The government will be secular, and without the PDP, no government will be formed in Jammu and Kashmir. In the (first phase) elections held in South Kashmir, the PDP is emerging as the number one party," Mufti said at a poll rally in Jammu on Tuesday night hours before second phase of elections commenced in the Union Territory.
Mufti, who was campaigning for party candidate Varinder Singh from Bahu seat in Jammu, said these elections are crucial for the future of J&K and urged people to vote cautiously.
'They have nothing to offer to the people' Criticising Modi for his statement labelling three families - the Gandhi, Abdullah, and Mufti families -- as "anti-national" and responsible for the emergence of terrorism, the former chief minister said, Big leaders from BJP come here...the Prime Minister comes, the Home Minister comes, but they only oppose us. They have nothing to offer to the people. Whose opposition are they doing? Mufti Mohammad Sayeeds party, the same man who, since the 1960s, has raised Indias flag high in Kashmir.
Mufti said, "When National Conference ran a campaign for independence and talked about going to Pakistan, it was Mufti Sahab who held and raised the Indian flag in Kashmir. And now, they (BJP leaders) call his party anti-national."
The fate of 239 candidates will be sealed today as voting gets underway in 26 seats in the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election today, September 25.
The 26 assembly constituencies voting today are spread over six districts three in the Kashmir Valley and as many in the Jammu division.
Jammu and Kashmir is holding its first assembly elections in a decade to elect a government after over six years of Central rule. This is also first assembly election being held after abrogation of Article 370 in the erstwhile state in August 2019.
The final phase of polling will be held on October 1. The votes will be counted on October 8.
The 2014 government In the 2014 Assembly polls, the Peoples Democratic Party had won 10 of the 26 seats, while the National Conference had won eight seats. The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) had won three seats and the Congress two. The PDP and BJP formed the government with Late Mufti Sayeed as Chief Minister. The government, however, didn't last long as BJP withdrew support in 2018.
"Mufti Sahab ran the government in Jammu and Kashmir for over three years, and that era is called a golden period. We gave an MP to Jammu, we gave an MLC to Jammu, we gave an MLA to Jammu. Which party has done that?" she said.
The PDP chief said that had there been a governor from Jammu, even Kashmiris would have respected him for being from this region, and there would have been no opposition.
(With PTI inputs)
As voting began on Wednesday for the second phase of the assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday encouraged voters to exercise their right to vote.
In a post on X, PM Modi wrote, Today is the second phase of voting for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. I appeal to all voters to cast their votes and play their important role in strengthening democracy. On this occasion, I congratulate all the young friends who are going to vote for the first time!
The 26 assembly constituencies voting today are spread over six districts three in the Kashmir Valley and as many in the Jammu division.
Jammu and Kashmir is holding its first assembly elections in a decade to elect a government after over six years of Central rule. This is also first assembly election being held after abrogation of Article 370 in the erstwhile state in August 2019.
The final phase of polling will be held on October 1. The votes will be counted on October 8.
Key names in the fray for this phase are former chief minister Omar Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hamid Karra, BJP's Jammu and Kashmir chief Ravinder Raina and Apni Party President Altaf Bukhari.
Voting began at 7 AM across the 26 assembly constituencies, which are divided into six districtsthree in the Valley and three in the Jammu division.
The Election Commission of India has set up 3,502 polling stations in these areas, consisting of 1,056 urban stations and 2,446 rural stations. To ensure a secure voting environment, a strong presence of security personnel, including police, armed police, and central paramilitary forces, has been deployed around the polling sites.
A multi-tier security arrangement is in place at each polling station to maintain a safe atmosphere for the second voting phase. For this phase, 157 special polling stations have been established, including 26 pink polling stations managed by women, 26 for specially-abled individuals, 26 for youths, 31 border polling stations, 26 green polling stations, and 22 unique polling stations.
Voting will conclude at 6 PM.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge criticized the BJP on Wednesday following MP Kangana Ranaut's comments advocating for the reinstatement of the three farm laws that were repealed in 2021. He stated that states preparing for elections, such as Haryana, would respond appropriately to the ruling party.
Ranaut later retracted her comments and expressed regret, clarifying that they were her personal views and did not reflect the party's position.
The Congress on Tuesday shared on X a video in which she said in Hindi, "Farm laws that have been repealed should be brought back. I think this may get controversial. The laws in farmers' interest be brought back. Farmers should themselves demand this (to bring farm laws back) so that there is no hindrance to their prosperity.
Farmers are a pillar of strength in India's progress. Only in some states, they had objected to farm laws. I appeal with folded hands that farm laws should be brought back in the interest of farmers, she said.
In an apparent response to Ranaut's remarks, Kharge said, Even after the martyrdom of 750 farmers, the anti-farmer BJP and Modi government did not realize their grave crime! There is talk of re-implementation of the three black anti-farmer laws. The Congress Party strongly opposes this.
The 62 crore farmers will not forget that the Modi government crushed farmers under a vehicle, used barbed wire, teargas from drones, nails and guns against them.
"This time, poll-bound states, including Haryana, will give a befitting reply to insulting remarks, calling farmers 'andolanjeevi' and 'parasites', hurled by the Prime Minister himself in Parliament," the Congress chief said in a post in Hindi.
"Due to Modi ji's statements, his ministers, MPs and propaganda machinery have become habituated to insulting farmers," he alleged.
"In 10 years, the Modi government has broken three promises made to the country's food producers ' doubling the income of farmers by 2022, implementing input cost 50% MSP as per Swaminathan Report and legal guarantee for MSP," Kharge said.
"When the farmers' agitation was withdrawn, Modi ji had announced a government committee, which is still in cold storage. The Modi government is against the legal guarantee of MSP," he alleged.
No relief was given to the families of the farmers who died and the Modi government did not even consider it appropriate to observe two minutes of silence in their memory in Parliament, Kharge alleged.
On top of that, their character assassination is going on continuously, he added.
The whole country has come to know that "anti-farmer hateful mindset" is present in every part of the BJP, he said.
The Congress on Tuesday had cited BJP MP Ranaut's remarks on farm laws to allege that the ruling party was making efforts to bring back the three laws that were repealed in 2021, and asserted that Haryana will give a befitting reply to it.
In a post in Hindi along with the video, the Congress had said, "The three black laws imposed on farmers should be brought back: BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has said this. More than 750 farmers of the country were martyred, only then did the Modi government wake up and these black laws were withdrawn." Now BJP MPs are planning to bring back these laws, the Congress had alleged.
"The Congress is with the farmers. These black laws will never return, no matter how hard Narendra Modi and his MPs try," the opposition party had said on X.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate had also shared the video of Ranaut on X and said, 'All three farm laws should be brought back': BJP MP Kangana Ranaut. More than 750 farmers were martyred while protesting against the three black farmer laws. Efforts are being made to bring them back.
"We will never let that happen. Haryana will answer first," she had said in an apparent reference to the assembly polls in Haryana.
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera also shared the video on X and said it was the BJP's "real thinking".
"How many times will you deceive the farmers, you two-faced people?" Khera had said in a post in Hindi on Tuesday.
The three lawsFarmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Actwere repealed in November 2021.
Farmers began protesting in late November 2020, which concluded after Parliament repealed these laws. The legislation had been enacted in June 2020 before being revoked in November 2021.
During a public rally in Jammu on Wednesday, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, mistakenly referred to Kashmiri Pandits as "refugees from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK)." Realizing his error almost immediately, he corrected himself, stating, Sorry, the promises made to Kashmiri Pandits by (former PM) Manmohan Singh will be fulfilled.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
Kashmir Pandits' Exodus Shapes Election Narratives in J-K The plight of Kashmiri Pandits and their exodus from the Valley in 1990s has become a pivotal theme in the ongoing election campaign within the union territory.
Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Conference-Congress alliance are vying for the support of this community, promising robust measures for their rehabilitation.
The BJP has unveiled the Tika Lal Taploo Visthapit Samaj Punarvas Yojana, named after Tika Lal Taploo, a prominent Kashmiri Pandit and BJP leader who was tragically killed by terrorists in 1989. Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized Taploo's legacy during a recent rally in Doda, underscoring the BJP's commitment to addressing the historical injustices faced by the community.
Also Read | Rahul Gandhi writes to PM Modi on Kashmiri Pandits, cites security concern
On the other hand, the National Conference-Congress alliance is leveraging past rehabilitation efforts under former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to appeal to the Pandit community. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, during his visit to Anantnag, reaffirmed the alliances dedication to continuing Dr. Singhs legacy of support for Kashmiri Pandits.
Omar Abdullah's Advice to Congress National Conference leader Omar Abdullah commented on the Congress party's campaign strategy, suggesting that they focus more on Jammu, where they have a significant seat-sharing agreement with his party. "It is a good thing. I hope after Rahul (Gandhi) is done campaigning in one or two seats of Kashmir, he focuses on Jammu," Abdullah stated.
Also Read | Rahul Gandhi writes to PM Modi on Kashmiri Pandits, cites security concern
He noted that while the Congress has the lion's share of seats in Jammu, their campaign efforts have yet to gain traction. "Unfortunately, the Congress has not done as much in the plains of Jammu as the NC expects it to do," he remarked.
Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections Underway Voting for the second phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir commenced at 7 am on Wednesday. Over 25 lakh eligible voters will decide the fate of 239 candidates across 26 constituencies in six districts of the Union Territory. This phase includes 25,78,099 eligible voters, comprising 13,12,730 male voters, 12,65,316 female voters, and 53 third-gender voters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the main opposition party Congress in Haryana ahead of voting in Assembly elections 2024. Addressing an election rally in Sonipat, PM Modi fired at the Gandhi family, saying it is the most corrupt in the country. Taking potshots at Robert Vadra Priyanka Gandhi's husband the prime minister said Congress handed over the state to damaad and no job in the state was given without kharchi-parchi (bribe).
NASAs SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which has been tasked to bring back Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from space station, was delayed on Tuesday. The mission was scheduled to launch on September 26. The Crew-9 launch was, however, shifted to September 28 "over weather concerns" related to Tropical Storm Helene.
NASA said in an update on September 24, NASA and SpaceX teams have adjusted the next launch opportunity for NASAs SpaceX Crew-9 mission to no earlier than 1:17 pm EDT [or 10:47 pm], Saturday, September 28, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
While the "instantaneous launch" is scheduled at 1:17 pm ET on September 28, there's a backup opportunity available on Sunday, September 29 at 12:54 pm ET if needed, SpaceX said.
When and where to watch the launch? A live webcast of this mission will begin about one hour prior to liftoff, which one can watch on X SpaceX's X account. One can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.
Why was Crew-9 launch delayed? The decision was taken "due to expected tropical storm conditions in the area". NASA said, Although Tropical Storm Helene is moving through the Gulf of Mexico and expected to impact the Florida panhandle, the storm system is large enough that high winds and heavy rain are expected in the Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island regions on Floridas east coast.
Also Read | US SEC criticises Elon Musk for missing trial to attend SpaceX rocket launch
The US space agency said the change allows teams to complete a rehearsal of launch day activities with the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, SpaceX posted videos and images of the full rehearsal of launch day activities ahead of liftoff on Saturday.
"Following rehearsal activities, the integrated system will move back to the hangar ahead of any potential storm activity," NASA said.
Crew 9 mission to bring back Sunita Williams The Crew 9 mission will be the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX under NASAs Commercial Crew Program. NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will launch aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station.
The Crew 9 mission was re-planned to bring Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore back home on the Dragon spacecraft. Initially, the Crew 9 mission was supposed to launch with four crew members.
Meanwhile, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore launched aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 5. They reached the International Space Station on June 6. During its journey, Starliner witnessed technical issues that delayed its return from space.
The Boeing spacecraft and its crew members were initially scheduled to return from the ISS in mid-June. However, NASA decided to bring an "empty" Starliner back to Earth, keeping in view the safety of the two astronauts. It was then decided to help the crew Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore return to Earth on the SpaceX spacecraft.
For this, the Crew 9 mission was downsized from four crew members to just two. The mission will now launch with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, leaving two seats empty for Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.
Hague and Gorbunov will fly to the space station as commander and mission specialist, respectively, as part of a two-crew member flight aboard a SpaceX Dragon.
The Sahara Desert, renowned for its barren, arid landscapes, is considered to be one of the driest places on Earth. However, NASA's Earth Observatory satellite images show the region is seeing a surprising burst of greenery.
Some regions in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libyawhich barely receive a few inches of rain per yearnow show traces of green after an extratropical cyclone drenched parts of northwestern Sahara on September 7 and 8. The cyclone drenched large, treeless swaths of the region.
On September 10, the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASAs Terra satellite captured the false-color image of the resulting runoff and floodwater.
In the news image taken on Terra satellite, NASA combined visible and infrared light and showed areas covered by water that appeared dark and light blue. According to details, the shade of blue is influenced by the depth of the water and the amount of suspended sediment.
The same region was dry and arid in the image captured on August 14.
Earlier on August 9, France24 reported that torrential rains caused floods that killed at least 11 people and left nine still missing in Morocco's southern provinces of Tata, Tiznit, and Errachidia. It added that the floods destroyed 40 homes, damaged 93 roads, and disrupted electricity, water supply, and phone networks in several villages.
Scientists explain WHY? Explaining the sudden change, senior lecturer at the Institute of Earth Sciences and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Moshe Armon said, as NASA quoted, "While some degree of rainfall in this region happens every summer, whats unique this year is the involvement of an extratropical cyclone."
He added that cyclone was formed over the Atlantic Ocean and extended far southward, pulling moisture from equatorial Africa into the northern Sahara.
According to the preliminary satellite analysis, more than 200 millimeters of rainfall fell in the affected areas, which is roughly equivalent to what the region receives in a year.
Also Read | 5 awe-inspiring images of star birth taken by NASA
The rainfall accumulation estimates are based on NASAs IMERG (Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals for GPM) data due to ground-based rain gauges and radar stations being scarce.
Whats also fascinating is that normally dry lakes in the Sahara are filling due to this event, Armon added.
On closer inspection, several of these lakes are visible in the image as dark blue areas, including one in Moroccos Iriqui National Park and Sebkha el Melah, a salt flat in central Algeria.
When Prof Armon and his colleagues analysed two decades (20002021) of IMERG data to better understand the frequency of heavy precipitation events, they identified only six prior occurrences that led to the lake filling.
The future of the American economy hangs in the balance and it all depends on our ability to keep up with new energy technologies.
Tennessee and the TVA are playing a huge role in how we meet the challenge and come out on the other side stronger as a nation.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee addresses energy demands and national security risks The conference brought together experts within the energy sector, industry leaders, and elected officials to address issues around energy consumption.
"We're already building 3,500 megawatts of energy, we've made good progress in completing 1,400 megawatts now and securing another 800 megawatts of solar, but we need more," said TVA Spokesperson Scott Fiedler.
Fiedler says not only are they seeing tremendous energy growth in the U.S., but in Tennessee we're growing up to three times faster than the national average. TVA is investing about 16 billion dollars over the next three years in new technologies, new infrastructure, and new power plants to keep up with growth.
"So if we get this wrong we affect our children and their ability to power their life and get a good job with the power they need," said Fiedler.
According to Fiedler, developments of new technology have required a lot of energy and it's predicted that our power needs will continue to grow exponentially in the next few decades.
If we can't keep up with countries like Russia and China there is fear about how our National Security will be impacted.
"They're looking to dominate the energy market because we know a strong energy system will allow our country to grow and dominate the global economy," said Fiedler.
TVA's answer is to invest in all forms of clean energy with an emphasis on nuclear power.
"And we need your help coming up to help us make those decisions on how we want to power the future," said Fiedler.
In October and November TVA will be holding community meetings to hear from residents and explain their Integrated Resource Plan, essentially a compass to guide TVA decades from now.
"We have the skill to do this, it's just the matter of having the will to do this, but we can do it, we're Americans, anything is possible," said Fiedler.
What to pack in a go bag for when disaster strikes
A Longford woman is set to appear on the hit BBC One show 'The Repair Shop' this Wednesday 25 September.
'The Repair Shop' is a hugely popular show on BBC One wherein some of Britain's most skilled restoration experts breathe new life into cherished family heirlooms that are volunteered by members of the public. Many of the beloved items people offer up to the restoration crew come with deeply personal and fascinating stories behind them.
Amanda Jane Graham, a local artist based in Longford, will feature on an episode of the show on Wednesday night where the experts will attempt to faithfully restore a doll's pram belonging to her grandmother.
Amanda says that a significant aspect of her work as an artist involves telling the story of her grandmother's life and her doll's pram. She said: "It is a true and remarkable story of ordinary people being extraordinary."
READ NEXT: Longford author Shelley Corcoran helps launch the 37th annual MS Readathon
Regarding the doll's pram, 'The Repair Shop' said: "Behind this unassuming toy that once belonged to her grandmother is a story of subterfuge worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster."
The pram, which over the years was left bent and immobile, once belonged to Amanda Jane's grandmother Mary who was born in Butte, Montana in the US. Both of Mary's parents had emigrated to Butte to find work when employment was scarce in rural Ireland. During the 1916 Easter Rising, Mary's parents wanted to help fund the rebellion and so $3,000 was smuggled in her pram inside its mattress.
Now, Amanda Jane hopes that the restoration experts can restore the treasured family heirloom back to its former glory.
You can catch this episode of 'The Repair Shop' on BBC One on Wednesday night, September 25 at 8pm.
Local News
By Chris Boyle Published: September 25 2024
Free coffee and donut giveaway, charitable donation and ribbon-cutting highlight event in Smithtown.
Members of the local community and Dunkin fans alike poured into Dunkins newly remodeled next generation restaurant at 560 Smithtown Bypass in Smithtown on Thursday, September 19 as part of its grand reopening ceremony.
Dunkin franchisee Scott Campbell of Metro Franchising commemorated the occasion with a $2,500 donation to The Viscardi Center. The Viscardi Center is a non-profit organization that educates, employs, and empowers children, adults, and veterans with disabilities or similar needs, so they can all discover the love of learning, the power of work, the freedom of independent living, and the self-confidence to fulfill their dreams.
The Henry Viscardi School is proud to be the recipient of such generous support from Metro Franchising and Dunkin, said The Viscardi Center Chief Development Officer Lauren Marzo. Our relationship spans well over a decade, and Dunkins support has helped provide critical programs for our students with severe disabilities. These programs help our students learn, grow and take important steps toward an independent future.
The celebration also included New York State Senator Mario Mattera, Suffolk County Undersheriff John Becker, members of the Suffolk County Police Departments Fourth Precinct, members of the Smithtown Fire Department and representatives on behalf of U.S. Congressman Nick LaLota, who joined Dunkin representatives for a commemorative ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The morning featured all guests receiving a free medium hot or iced coffee and a donut, while many other Dunkin Rewards members spun the Dunkin prize wheel for free Dunkin merchandise.
The 2,000-square-foot Dunkin employs 20 crew members and is open daily from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m.
To learn more about Dunkin, visit www.DunkinDonuts.com, or subscribe to the Dunkin blog to receive notifications at https://news.dunkindonuts.com/blog.
Dunkin, founded in 1950, is the largest coffee and donuts brand in the United States, with more than 13,700 restaurants in nearly 40 global markets. Dunkin is part of the Inspire Brands family of restaurants. For more information, visit DunkinDonuts.com and InspireBrands.com.
Holtsville Woman Indicted for Allegedly Stealing a Car, Robbing a Bank, and Colliding Head-On With A Police Vehicle While Trying to Escape
Crime
By Chris Boyle Published: September 24 2024
Nina Cahill Allegedly Used the Stolen Vehicle to Wreak Havoc during a Span of Four Days.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Nina Cahill, 42, of Holtsville, was indicted for Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, and other related charges, for allegedly stealing a vehicle, using the vehicle to rob a bank, and then leading police officers through two car chases, including one that resulted in the injury of a Suffolk highway patrol officer.
The defendant allegedly compounded her already serious crimes by recklessly attempting to evade responsibility by fleeing from police. In so doing, the defendant endangered passing motorists and ultimately injured a police officer, said District Attorney Tierney. The defendant will be held accountable for her alleged actions through the broad array of charges contained in this comprehensive indictment.
According to the investigation, on September 4, 2024, Cahill allegedly stole a 2007 Toyota Corolla from the valet stand at the Stony Brook University Hospital Emergency Room. Two days later, on September 6, 2024, Cahill drove that stolen car to a bank in Selden where she allegedly passed a bank teller a note demanding all the money in the tellers drawer. Cahill allegedly stole approximately $500 from that bank before fleeing the scene.
The following day, September 7, 2024, Cahill was involved in two separate high-speed pursuits throughout Suffolk County including the Long Island Expressway:
First, at approximately 3:30 p.m., Cahill was driving the stolen car in Lake Ronkonkoma when police spotted her. When a Suffolk Police officer activated his lights to pull her over, Cahill allegedly fled at a high rate of speed. That pursuit had to be terminated for safety reasons.
Later that same day, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Cahill was again spotted in the stolen Corolla, this time in a parking lot north of the Long Island Expressway near Exit 61. When police attempted to approach her, Cahill allegedly backed out of the parking space into an unmarked police car before she sped off toward Exit 61 of the westbound Long Island Expressway. Cahill then exited the LIE at Exit 60 to Express Drive North, reversed direction and then drove against traffic on the westbound lanes until Exit 61, where she re-entered the westbound LIE. She then drove on the LIE until she exited at Exit 58 and then again drove the wrong way on the westbound Express Drive North. At some point, she re-entered the LIE from an exit ramp and continued traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes. Cahill ultimately collided head-on with highway patrol car and then attempted to flee on foot before she was apprehended.
On September 24, 2024, Cahill was arraigned on the indictment before Acting Supreme Court Justice Anthony S. Senft, Jr., for the following charges contained in the indictment:
Two Counts of Assault in the Second Degree, Class D violent felonies;
One count of Robbery in the Third Degree, a Class D felony;
One count of Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree, a Class D felony;
One count of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony;
One count of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony;
One count of Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor;
One count of Criminal Mischief in the Fourth Degree, a Class A misdemeanor;
Two counts of Unlawful Fleeing of a Police Officer in the Third Degree, Class A misdemeanors;
One count of Petit Larceny, a Class A misdemeanor; and
Two counts of Reckless Driving, unclassified misdemeanors.
Justice Senft ordered Cahill be held on $100,000 cash, $200,000 bond, or $1,000,000 partially secured bond, during the pendency of the case. Cahill is due back in court on October 15, 2024. She is being represented by Chase Brown, Esq.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney James J. ORourke, IV of the Major Crime Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective Martin Lupo of the Suffolk County Police Departments Major Case Unit and Detective Valerie Ashton of the Stony Brook University Police Department.
Local News
By Chris Boyle Published: September 24 2024
356 schools across the nation received this award, and among them were Lakeville Elementary School in Great Neck and South Grove Elementary School in Syosset.
Two top elementary schools on Long Island are among the winners of the 2024 National Blue Ribbon Award by the United States Department of Education, which is presented to educational institutions that are considered high performing, both in the public and private sectors.
The National Blue Ribbon Schools (NBRS) Program is one of the U.S. Department of Educations longest-running recognition programs. NBRS recognizes outstanding public and non-public elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall high academic achievement or success in closing the achievement gap among diverse groups of students," the award's website says. "Since its inception in 1982, the goals of the program are to shine a spotlight on the best schools in the United States and to share best practices of outstanding schools across the country."
356 schools across the nation received this award, and among them were two Nassau County schools: Lakeville Elementary School in Great Neck and South Grove Elementary School in Syosset.
"Each year, the U.S. Department of Education honors the National Blue Ribbon Schools at the awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. At the ceremony, each school receives a plaque and flag to signify its exemplary status," the website says. "These schools serve as examples for other schools throughout the nation and details of their achievements are shared on the U.S. Department of Educations website."
Crime
By Chris Boyle Published: September 25 2024
The Town of Islip and Property Owner Spent Over $30,000 in Remediation Costs.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Carleton Pulley, 48, of Bay Shore, pleaded guilty to Endangering Public Health, Safety, or the Environment in the Second Degree, for illegally dumping hazardous waste and old tires at the former Pilgrim State Psychiatric Center in April 2023.
This defendant illegally disposed of hazardous waste in order to avoid the fees that he would have been required to pay had he disposed of them properly. Thankfully, the damage to the environment was mitigated due to the immediate discovery of the waste by law enforcement and the quick remediation by the Town of Islip and the property owner, said District Attorney Tierney. I would like to remind everyone that, through our Evergreen Initiative, we have significantly increased monetary rewards for anyone who reports illegally dumping activity. I encourage anyone with information to speak up.
According to court documents and the defendants admission during his guilty plea allocution, on April 23, 2023, a New York State Office of Mental Health Police Officer was patrolling the grounds of the former Pilgrim State Psychiatric Center when he observed Pulley rolling a tire out of the back of a tractor trailer in an area closed to the public.
Once the officer approached, it became apparent Pulley had already unloaded multiple tires and other items, including hazardous waste that was stored in multiple large containers.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Town of Islips HAZMAT Unit responded to the scene and immediately began to clean up the site and collect evidence. The pollutants were tested and were determined to contain hazardous waste including Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, and Lead. The site has since been fully remediated, at a cost exceeding thirty thousand dollars.
On September 5, 2024, Pulley pleaded guilty to Endangering Public Health, Safety or the Environment in the Second Degree, a Class D felony, before the Honorable Steven A. Pilweski.
As part of his Evergreen Initiative, the District Attorney requires environmental offenders to directly contribute to the restoration and protection of Suffolks natural areas and ecosystems. Accordingly, as a condition of his plea, Pulley is required to accumulate a target number of Green Points, which are accumulated on a set schedule through both extensive community service arrangements and financial penalties. All such service and financial penalty goes directly towards the improvement of Suffolk Countys environment. Pulleys ultimate term of incarceration can be reduced by the amount of Green Points that he accrues.
Pulley is due back in court in February 2025 to check on his progress, and he is being represented by Peter Brill, Esq.
This case is being prosecuted by Robert Kerr of the Biological, Environmental, and Animal Safety Team (BEAST), with investigative assistance from Environmental Conservation Officer Christopher DeRose of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservations Police Division and Office of Mental Health Police Officer John Decandia.
To report illegal dumping directly to the District Attorneys Office, visit our website suffolkcountyny.gov/da and click contact us.
In light of the significant losses suffered by Hezbollah and the escalating concerns in Tehran regarding a potentially unpredictable Israeli attack, the regimes current strategy appears to be one of damage control. Iran believes that so long as there remains a foundation to build upon, it can eventually reestablish its influence in southern Lebanon.
To this end, the Islamic Republic seeks to cultivate an image of total warfare through a series of disparate yet calculated attacks via proxies. This approach serves not only to project strength in the eyes of its supporters but also to gamble on the possibility that the United States will exert pressure on Israel to halt its strikes against Iranian militias.
Islamic Republic President Masoud Pezeshkian and his administration recently reiterated the regimes threat of escalation, warning of the potential for a broader regional conflict. Speaking to journalists in New York on September 23 prior to attending the United Nations General Assembly, Pezeshkian warned of irreversible consequences of a regional war and added that [the Islamic Republic] will defend any group that is defending its rights and itself. On the same day, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi echoed these threats and vowed to avenge Haniyahs death and defend Lebanon against Israel. During a September 24 CNN interview, Pezeshkian again suggested that Israels strikes on southern Lebanon would lead to a wider conflict: Hezbollah cannot stand alone against Israel; we must not allow Lebanon to turn into another Gaza.
In addition to raising alarms about the ramifications of Israels targeting of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the other immediate tactical objective of the Iranian strategy is to reassure supporters both within Iran and across the region that it is actively taking decisive measures.
Iranian media has praised and embellished Hezbollahs attacks in response to Israeli strikes that eliminated high-ranking Hezbollah officials. An article published on September 24 by the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News hailed Hezbollahs missile attacks on Israel and highlighted the unprecedented number of rocket sirens sounded since October 7. The Iranian Armed Forces General Staff outlet Defa Press published a piece on September 24 titled Hezbollahs Missiles in the Heart of Tel Aviv that praised the terror groups use of drones, missiles, and rockets to strike major Israeli cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa. The IRGC-funded Mehr News reported of Hezbollahs alleged first-time deployment of the Fadi 3 rocket against Israel.
Despite the numerous claims and threats emanating from the Islamic Republic and its proxy, Hezbollah has refrained from deploying its advanced arsenal, while Tehran has shown hesitance in becoming more directly involved in the conflict. Axios reported on September 24 that Hezbollah had urged Iran to launch an attack against Israel, a request that Tehran rejected.
Instead, the regime tapped in other proxies to cultivate the semblance of a broader regional conflict, all while avoiding direct involvement. The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a designated terrorist group, targeted Israel using al-Arfad kamikaze drones, which the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) intercepted. By using proxies, Tehran aims to reaffirm that the region will be in chaos unless Jerusalem refrains from retaliating against Hezbollah.
Irans strategy also seeks to capitalize on the ongoing international pressure against Israel to exasperate the threat of a possible all-out regional war. On September 23, the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven cautioned that the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict could escalate into a wider conflict: Actions and counter-reactions risk magnifying this dangerous spiral of violence and dragging the entire Middle East into a broader regional conflict with unimaginable consequences. Similarly, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres raised alarms about the escalating situation along the Blue Line, referring to the demarcation line dividing Lebanon from Israel and the Golan Heights.
The Islamic Republics hesitance to launch strikes against Israel from Iranian territory stems from two main concerns: a fear of American intervention on behalf of Israel and the possibility of an unpredictable retaliatory attack, akin to the waves of assaults that targeted Hezbollahs communication systems.
Regarding the former, the Pentagon reiterated its support for Israel on September 23. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin reaffirmed the United States commitment to Israels right to defend itself following a series of rocket attacks by Lebanese Hezbollah during phone conversations with Israeli officials. Furthermore, the United States is also deploying additional troops to the region in response to the drastic escalations between Israel and Iranian proxies. The two attack waves on Hezbollahs pagers and radio systems also caused panic among officials in Tehran, contributing to Irans fear of directly targeting Israel from its soil.
Reuters reported on September 23 that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has banned the use of all communication devices and is also allegedly investigating its personnel to expose possible ties to the Mossad. A day prior, the regime-affiliated Defa Press claimed that Iranian security personnel had arrested 12 people allegedly working on behalf of the Zionist regime to conduct anti-security measures across 6 provinces.
Janatan Sayeh is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focused on Iranian domestic affairs and the Islamic Republics regional malign influence.
Major General Ori Gordin (center), the head of Northern Command, spoke to the IDFs 7th Armored Brigade on September 24. (IDF photo)
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued to strike Hezbollah sites in Lebanon on September 25, the third day of Israels Northern Arrows operation. In addition, the head of Israels Northern Command spoke to commanders of a key IDF armored brigade about the need to be ready for maneuver and action in Lebanon. The IDF said it was calling up two reserve brigades for operations in the north. Hezbollah also sought to illustrate that it possesses significant capabilities to strike at northern and central Israel.
The third day of Israels Operation Northern Arrows began with Hezbollah launching a ballistic missile toward Tel Aviv. The Iranian-backed terrorist group claimed in a statement that it had used a Qader-1 missile to target Israels Mossad headquarters. Hezbollah has blamed the Mossad for the exploding pagers that wounded thousands of its members on September 17. The ballistic missile was intercepted by Israels Davids Sling air defense system.
Hezbollah continued its attacks throughout the day. The group launched a barrage of rockets targeting the northern Israeli city of Safed. The group claimed it had targeted Israels Northern Command, which is also known as Mahane Dado or the Dado military base. A Hezbollah rocket hit a home in Safed, and another rocket hit a house in Kibbutz Saar in northern Israel in a separate attack, wounding two people.
The wide-ranging Hezbollah attacks on September 25 illustrate that the group has the capability to launch short-, medium-, and long-range projectiles at Israel. The missile targeting an area near Tel Aviv is how Hezbollah has sought to even the score in terms of attacking deeper into Israel in response to Israels attacks on Beirut and the exploding pagers incident.
On September 24, Major General Ori Gordin, head of Israels Northern Command, met with commanders of the 7th Armored Brigade. The brigade was conducting an exercise near the northern border, and the general assessed their readiness and conducted an operational situational assessment with them, the IDF said.
We need to change the security situation, and we must be fully prepared for maneuvers and action, Gordin said. He also emphasized the need to be ready to act in a way that would enable the 60,000 Israelis who have been evacuated to for 11 months to return to border communities, Israels goal for its current operation.
The 7th Armored is a key IDF unit. It played a central role in operations in Gaza from October 7 through July 2024. It is one of several regular tank brigades in the IDF, along with the 188th and 401st Brigades. The 188th and the 7th Armored are usually part of the IDFs 36th Armored Division, which fought in the opening ground operations in October and November, cutting off Gaza City from central Gaza.
The 36th Division was sent to northern Israel in January 2024 to prepare for possible confrontation with Hezbollah. However, the 7th Armored was left in Gaza with the IDFs 98th Division, which needed an armored component to operate in Gazas Khan Younis and other areas. After completing numerous successful missions, the 98th was sent north in September in the lead-up to Operation Northern Arrows. The 7th Armored also went north to a terrain and area it is used to. The unit has often trained with the IDFs Golani infantry, which is also part of the 36th Division, in combined operations similar to the challenges the IDF will face in southern Lebanon.
In this context, Gordins comments to the 7th Armored are seen as important for any future ground operation. In addition, his remarks were released hours before the IDF said it was calling up two reserve brigades for operations in the north. This will enable the continuation of combat against the Hezbollah terrorist organization, the defense of the State of Israel, and create the conditions to enable the residents of northern Israel to return to their homes, the IDF stated.
The reserve brigades will add to the weight of several IDF divisions already deployed in northern Israel. These include the 91st Division, responsible for defending the border with Lebanon, the 36th Armored Division, and the 98th Division, with its paratroopers and commandos.
Reporting from Israel, Seth J. Frantzman is an adjunct fellow at FDD and a contributor to FDDs Long War Journal. He is the senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post, and author of The October 7 War: Israel's Battle for Security in Gaza (2024).
British police are investigating the death of a young British woman who is believed to have fallen from a hotel balcony in Ibiza. According to Sky News, officers have arrested a man in London who may be responsible. The family of Robyn Eve Maines, of Wallsey, Wirral, are seeking two years in prison following the death of their daughter, who was found dead at around 8.30am on 25 September 2022. The initial hypothesis is that Maines, who was employed by a law firm in Liverpool, fell from the balcony of the Rosamar Hotel in Sant Josep.
Meryside police have described her death as unexplained and have opened a fresh investigation despite Spanish police having carried one out. According to Sky News police said a 27-year-old London man has been arrested and interviewed, but released on bail. The authorities in Spain have concluded their enquiries into Robyns death and Merseyside Police are conducting an investigation. At this stage we are treating Robyns death as unexplained, British police said.
In a statement, her family said they just want justice for Robyn. Our beautiful daughter Robyn Eve Maines was tragically taken from us on 25 September 2022 at the Rosamar Hotel in Ibiza. Please, if anyone saw or heard anything at this time, can you come forward and contact the police, they said.
Ethiopias state-owned service provider Ethio Telecom has announced that it is rolling out what it calls its Copper Switch-Off Strategic Initiative; its aim is to migrate 100,000 of the companys copper-based customers to high-speed fibre optic connections during the current Ethiopian fiscal year.
The company says 60,000 customers will be migrated in the capital Addis Ababa, and 40,000 customers in regional areas. The first wave of migrations, involving 31,000 customers, will begin in early October this year.
This initiative is said to be part of a larger plan to fully migrate Addis Ababas copper network to fibre within three years and to extend this migration to all regional capital cities over the next five years.
Ethio Telecom says this initiative marks a significant shift towards technologies such as fibre optics, LTE and 5G.
The companys CEO, Ms Frehiwot Tamru, said while unveiling the initiative that she has asked customers to cooperate with employees during Ethio Telecom visits to homes and offices to transition their current copper connections to fibre.
The CEO has also reportedly been involved in discussions with Shandong Hi-Speed Group General Manager Cal Kun regarding the construction of a hyper-scale data centre.
Shandong Hi-Speed Group, a Chinese investment business, has apparently expressed its willingness to collaborate in both the construction and financing of the data centre. No other details have yet been made available.
Local press reports say that Ethio Telecom has has already built two modular data centres, with three more under construction.
For almost a year, millions around the world have taken to the streets in order to fight against the Israeli genocide in Gaza. The imperialists and warmongers have been fighting against this mobilisation from the very first minute. In Europe and the USA, demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine have been prohibited, activists have been persecuted by police or suspended from their jobs, pro-Palestinian speakers have been banned from stating their opinion publicly, and the movement has been deprived from using necessary meeting rooms. Our comrades are also affected by this repression.
[First published on 20 September in Der Kommunist]
In Munich, our comrades Alyona and Leonard must attend court on 29 October 2024. The Munich prosecutor's department has charged them with 'rewarding and condoning crimes (Belohnung und Billigung von Straftaten; 140 StGB). The penalty for this charge ranges from a fine to a prison sentence of three years. They have both been charged because they held up a banner saying Freedom for Palestine intifada until victory at a demonstration on 11 November 2023. With this banner they formed the end point of our bloc at the demonstration, at the head of which was another banner: Against occupation and war: For socialist revolution across the green line.
In Wurzburg, the prosecutors department is investigating our comrade Adrian on the same charges. A court case may also be opened against him. In Bremen, the public order office (Ordnungsamt) is investigating comrades for helping to organise a protest encampment at the university. They could be fined up to 1,000 euros.
In Germany and around the world, members of the Revolutionary Communist International are defending the right of the Palestinian people to resist the brutal oppression by the Israeli regime and to fight for their liberation.
The Palestinians cannot trust hypocritical bourgeois institutions such as the United Nations and the International Court of Justice. All appeals by the international community to the Israeli regime to end the occupation are fig leaves for Western imperialism, which at the same time is arming Israel to the teeth and covering its back.
The first intifada, to which we explicitly refer, shows the only way out for the Palestinian people, because it was a mass uprising (i.e. revolutionary class struggle) against occupation and war. The Palestinians can only rely on their own strength and the solidarity of the working class in the Middle East and worldwide.
The ruling classes of the world are trembling in fear at this international show of solidarity and therefore slander the legitimate resistance against the genocide in Gaza. They equate the intifada with terrorism and the Hamas attack on 7 October. They accuse anyone who expresses solidarity of having supported or tolerated the Hamas attack. In our statement of 20 October, we stated with regard to Hamas: We do not share its ideology, nor do we condone the methods it uses.
The hypocrisy of the Western imperialists is so obvious. While they shed crocodile tears over the dead and the hostages, they arm the Israeli state and finance its indiscriminate bombing and murder in Gaza. These self-proclaimed defenders of human rights are responsible for at least 40,000 deaths in Gaza.
All demagoguery against the Palestinians and their defenders follows a primitive logic: Anyone who is against the genocide of the Palestinians is in favour of the extermination of Jews. All establishment parties and the right-wing AfD agree on this. They are unconditionally in favour of Israel and incite unrestrained hatred against Muslims and migrants in Germany.
Political trials, such as the one against our comrades, are currently taking place nationwide in order to intimidate the entire movement. This attack on freedom of expression together with the racist demagogy and the calls for austerity measures are preparing a general attack on the entire working class.
The ruling class stomps on the weak in order to divide the working class so that it does not oppose further wage cuts and worsening working conditions.
Today, Alyona and Leonard are to be punished for exercising their right to free expression with sentences of up to three years in prison. Tomorrow, those who organise collective resistance in the workplace against offensives by the bosses will be beaten with truncheons and taken to court.
We stand against this hypocrisy. The division of the working class only strengthens the exploiters. We stand for the international solidarity of the working class and build on the basis that alone is able to end all capitalist barbarism! We demand:
Withdrawal of all accusations against Alyona and Leonard!
End the criminalisation of solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people!
Down with racism and division by the ruling class!
Class war against all attacks on workers rights, wages and democratic rights!
For a socialist revolution in the Middle East and everywhere!
What can you do?
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HAMPDEN Town police said Tuesday they have seized more than 1,000 marijuana plants from a home at 41 Thresher Road in what officers called a large-scale growing operation.
After a lengthy investigation led by Detective Jason Roath of the Hampden Police Department, a search warrant was executed with help from Massachusetts State Police.
There was no threat to the public at any time, according to a news release.
An 18-year-old from Randolph is facing a murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of a Taunton teenager inside a mobile home earlier this month, according to the Bristol County District Attorneys office.
Kareem Gendraw was arrested by members of the Massachusetts State Police Violent Apprehension Section around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced. Gendraw is expected to be arraigned on the murder charge and a charge of carrying an illegal firearm in Taunton District Court on Wednesday.
At around 12:25 a.m. on Sept. 19, Taunton Police learned of a person shot inside a mobile home at 351 Lothrop St. First responders found Khamitri Cole, 17, of Brockton with gunshot wounds, and declared him dead at the scene.
Editors note: This story was updated at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, to correct the town Gregory Goodsell is from.
A Marshfield man was found guilty Tuesday of charges including second-degree murder for killing a 13-year-old girl and seriously injuring two people when he drunkenly slammed his truck into their car, prosecutors said.
Gregory Goodsell, 36, was also convicted of charges of motor vehicle manslaughter while operating under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident causing property damage and two counts of operating under the influence causing serious bodily injury, Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruzs office announced. Goodsells sentencing is set for Oct. 3.
Goodsell was convicted after a two-week trial and more than 10 hours of jury deliberations, Cruzs office said in a statement posted to X.
At around 6:50 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2019, Pembroke police learned of a two-car crash on Route 139 Pembroke with injuries. An off-duty Massachusetts State Police trooper arrived to the area first, and found a white Subaru with three people inside had sustained heavy front-end damage, according to the statement.
Across the road, first responders found a white Ford pickup truck driven by Goodshell fully turned around and with heavy passenger side damage. First responders pulled three people from the Subaru with catastrophic injuries, Cruzs office said.
Elizabeth Zisseron, 50, her daughter, Claire, 13, and her friend Kendall Zemotel, 13, were all taken to South Shore Hospital. Both 13-year-olds were later taken to Childrens Hospital in Boston, where Claire Zisserson died of her injuries.
Prior to the crash, Goodsell had attended a company party and then a house party in Pembroke. He left the party at around 6:40 a.m. in his company-issued truck, hitting a tree and breaking his passenger side headlight, according to the statement.
Goodsell had a blood alcohol level of 0.266, more than three times the legal limit, at the time of the crash and was under the influence of cocaine, according to the statement. Before hitting the Subaru, Goodsell ran a red light at 67 mph.
Inside Goodsells car, police found a bottle of whiskey, a beer can, two mini alcohol bottles, marijuana and a pipe, prosecutors said.
Data centre operator Raxio Group says it has inaugurated Raxio Cote dIvoire (CIV1), described as a state-of-the-art data centre, in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire.
This is the fifth data centre launch in Raxios current portfolio and the companys third consecutive launch this year alone.
CIV1 is the countrys first Tier III certified carrier-neutral and cloud-neutral facility. The data centre is fully equipped with best-of-breed technology and capable of housing up to 800 racks at full capacity and delivering 3MW of IT power to customer equipment.
The launch of this facility marks Raxio Groups entry into West Africa. Raxio CIV1 is strategically located to serve the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), thanks to regulation allowing storage and movement of data by the banking industry and other financial institutions within the territory.
Robert Mullins, CEO of Raxio Group, explains: Abidjan is the ideal location for organisations and businesses from across the economic region to colocate their mission-critical infrastructure in a highly reliable and secure facility. We are proud to contribute a fundamental cornerstone to facilitate Cote dIvoires continued digital growth and cement its hub status in the region.
Situated in the Village of Innovation and Technology (VITIB) approximately 30 kilometres from the city centre of Abidjan, Raxio CIV1 is supported by multiple paths for power and fibre connections, and cutting-edge redundant equipment. The 24/7 always-on facility is positioned along key fibre routes, delivering best-in-class colocation and excellent domestic and international connectivity, with six connectivity providers currently supplying fibre to the facility.
The facility is equipped with the latest-generation technologies that not only ensure maximum operational effectiveness but also deliver environmental efficiencies.
CIV1 will also serve as host to the countrys internet exchange point, CIVIX, allowing for low-cost interconnection of local and international traffic in an optimal, carrier-neutral environment.
From this location, Raxio CIV1 will be serving customers in Abidjan and in the wider WAEMU region and across a wide range of sectors.
Raxio has expanded this year into Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Facilities in Angola and Tanzania are coming next.
A Reading man was charged after his parents were stabbed with a boxcutter in the middle of the night Tuesday, authorities said.
Christian Alexander, 27, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and armed assault with intent to murder a person over 60, the police said.
Around 12:12 a.m., Reading police responded to a home at 25 Bond St. after receiving a call from a man later identified as Glen Alexander who had been stabbed in the neck by his son Christian, according to a police report.
Christian is also charged with stabbing his mother, Diane Alexander, in the chest, giving her a laceration, the report said. The parents were taken to the hospital.
Christian was fleeing the scene when police arrested him in the area around 3 a.m., police said.
When police arrested Christian, he told them, I just had a psycho attack. I didnt mean it, he then asked the officers, Is everyone at the house OK?, according to police.
When officers brought Christian to the police department for booking, they apologized for a slight delay, the report stated. Christian responded You dont need to apologize. I just tried to kill my [expletive] parents.
Christian was arraigned Tuesday in Woburn District Court and was ordered without bail, police said. He will return for a dangerousness hearing on Friday.
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.
Renata Mauriz is the Director of Immigrant Student Support Services at Bunker Hill Community College. (Courtesy Photo)Courtesy Photo
Renata Mauriz
Age: 31
Community: Greater Boston
Her story: Working to support immigrant students at Bunker Hill Community College is a career path that chose Renata Mauriz.
As an undocumented high school student, she said she had to navigate not only challenges with the immigration system but also educational barriers.
I am truly lucky to be in a position where I can leverage my own power and positionality to enact change and be the educator I wish I had as an undocumented teenager, Mauriz said.
Knowing the detrimental impact of the immigration system on immigrant communities keeps her committed to the work for the long run, she said.
In her role as the director of immigrant student support services at Bunker Hill Community College, she is the point of access and support for all immigrant-origin noncitizen students especially those who are undocumented, asylum seekers, refugees, have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (also known as DACA), Temporary Protected Status (also known as TPS) or hold other forms of temporary immigration status.
We know immigrants are not a monolith and understanding who youre serving and building trust with them is important, Mauriz said.
Since coming into the role in 2023, Mauriz said she learned that financial barriers are the main challenge immigrant-origin noncitizen students experience while pursuing post-secondary education at Bunker Hill Community College.
She said many students couldnt apply for federal or state financial aid if they werent citizens.
Systemic barriers call for systemic change, so in the spring and summer of 2023, I directed my energy towards advocating for the Tuition Equity Law alongside my students to ensure they could receive the opportunity to afford a college education, regardless of their immigration status, Mauriz said.
In July 2023, Massachusetts passed the law, providing certain non-U.S. citizen students, including undocumented students, access to affordable higher education with in-state tuition rates and state financial aid.
The work has just begun, Mauriz said.
In her words: "Take your time to truly listen to immigrant students and get to know their complexities. Dont make assumptions. Understanding students identities and lived experiences is crucial for any educator to co-create institutional structures, solutions, programs and policies meant to serve students. Check your biases, and be careful not to come from a deficit approach when working with immigrant students.
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.
A 20-year-old murder suspect struggled with mental health issues for years before he stabbed his 17-year-old girlfriend to death with a sword in their Stow home last April, according to court documents.
In August, Shane Anthony Curry was indicted on one count of first-degree murder in the death of Nevaeh Rose Goddard, according to court records.
He was previously arrested and charged with assault in connection with her death and has been held without bail since April.
The criminal complaint in the case details how police found Goddard dead in the home she shared with Curry on April 5 after Currys mother became worried about the couple and contacted police.
It also describes the rambling explanation he gave police as to why he stabbed his girlfriend.
Currys mental health and criminal history
Curry has a history of mental health issues, and was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2020 by a doctor at Marlborough Hospital, according to the criminal complaint.
Prior to April 5, 2024, Stow police also had responded to multiple incidents involving Curry.
During one 2023 encounter, Curry barricaded himself in his room following a domestic violence incident involving his mother, according to court documents.
It is unclear whether this is about a 2023 incident previously referenced in court documents that resulted in him being charged with suffocation or strangulation and assault and battery.
A Middlesex Superior Court judge has ordered that an expert psychiatrist assist with the case, according to court documents. It is unclear how that might affect the case going forward.
Why Currys mother contacted police on April 5
On April 5, Currys mother went to the Stow police station around 4 p.m. to report that she was worried about her son and his girlfriend, according to the criminal complaint.
She explained that two days prior, her son had told her that Goddard had been very ill lately, but that the couple had refused to seek medical treatment.
When Currys mother went to Currys and Goddards home on Great Road to do chores for them the following day, she noticed that her sons room was filthy, according to the criminal complaint.
She tried to speak to her son, but he refused to let his mother see himself or his girlfriend and asked her to respect their privacy, Currys mother told police.
He also called her a creep. Currys use of this word was a red flag for [his mother] and indicated that he was experiencing a mental health episode, the criminal complaint reads.
Goddard eventually thanked Currys mother for bringing them their medications and an electrolyte drink, according to the criminal complaint. Currys mother noticed that Goddards voice was scratchy, but left the home around 8 p.m. because she thought they didnt want her there, she told police.
When Currys mother returned to her sons home around 3 p.m. on April 5, she found her son and his girlfriend in his bedroom with the door locked, according to the criminal complaint.
He again refused to let his mother see himself or his girlfriend, and primarily communicated with his mother via notes passed under his bedroom door, his mother told police.
When Curry spoke, he was calm, which worried his mother, according to the criminal complaint. Currys mother then asked to see Goddard, to which her son replied, Shes not talking to you.
After about a half hour, Currys mother went to the police station.
Why it took police two hours to discover Goddards body
In response to Currys mothers report, a Stow police sergeant and a mental health professional responded to the Great Road home for a well-being check, according to the criminal complaint. At the scene, Curry told them to leave and then stopped responding to their attempts to communicate with him.
Knowing that Stow Police Chief Michael Sallese had a good rapport with Curry due to prior interactions, the sergeant asked Sallese to respond to the scene, according to the criminal complaint.
The police chief obliged. But his attempts to get Curry to come out of his bedroom were also unsuccessful.
While Sallese was on scene, Curry opened his bedroom door a few inches via an eye-hook lock, according to the criminal complaint.
The door remained locked and the bedroom was completely dark, but the police chief was eventually able to spot Goddard lying on her back on the bed by shining a flashlight into the bedroom through the opening.
Sallese soon noticed that Goddard wasnt moving and called out to her to see if she was ok. But she did not respond, according to the criminal complaint.
Curry then curled up next to her and put a blanket over them both.
At that point, police decided to force their way into the bedroom, according to the criminal complaint. Sallese told Curry that he and his girlfriend needed to go to the hospital, but Curry refused to go, telling the police chief he was trying to sleep with his girl.
Police removed the blanket and noticed that both Curry and Goddard were injured, according to the criminal complaint. They then put Curry in handcuffs and removed him from the bedroom as they checked for Goddards vital signs.
Noticing that Goddards body was still warm, police tried to resuscitate her, according to the criminal complaint.
But because Goddard didnt have a pulse and was already stiff, they soon determined that she was dead and beyond reviving.
What Curry told police about what had happened
Soon after Curry was handcuffed, he repeatedly insisted that police listen and not interrupt as he explained what happened, according to the complaint. He told police that he only cares about being with Goddard as they are twin flames.
Curry accused Goddard of infidelity and having an addiction disorder and told police that talking to her about these problems didnt work, according to the criminal complaint.
Earlier, the couple got into an intense argument that turned physical, and thats why shes so bruised up, he said.
The criminal complaint quotes Curry as saying, The bruises arent working ... hitting her, thats not working, so ok, I have to knife her, so I do.
He then told police he hit and stabbed her with a sword in the abdomen.
At first, he put the blade in only and inch or two because he didnt want to hurt her, but then he put it in four or five inches, the criminal complaint reads.
Curry told police It was horrifying, according to the criminal complaint. Police later found a sword in his bedroom.
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.
Elisa Olivo
Courtesy of Elisa Olivo.Elisa Olivo
Age: 41
Community: West Springfield
Her story: Born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, and now a West Springfield resident, Elisa Olivo told MassLive that shes always loved being involved in her community.
Before she came to Massachusetts, she studied business administration, management and operations at Columbia Central University in Puerto Rico. She found work with the Department of Justice but after Hurricane Maria hit the island territory, she chose to move to the U.S., according to her biography.
Olivo knew her new life in the States with her son, who is autistic, would begin from zero, she said.
As a single mother of an autistic child, I understand the challenges of finding reliable care while managing unconventional work schedules, Olivo said.
Olivo works as a learning specialist through the New North Citizens Councils Parent-Child Program. In this role, she visits families to support early childhood education by providing tools and resources to help parents foster their childrens development from a young age, she said.
She pursued working in this role on account of her dream to open a childcare center specialized in supporting children with disabilities, she added. In this role, she has met with other families from across Latin America, including Guatemala and Ecuador. She feels as though she doing what is right for them.
My personal experience drives my passion for creating a supportive environment for families facing similar struggles, Olivo said.
Olivos son had difficulties with public school, she said, adding They called three days a week. She noticed that people in good standing with school officials, including local elected officials, seemed to have better access to the school.
Oh my God, I have to do something, Olivo said to herself.
She ran for West Springfields councilor-at-large seat in 2023, which brought her face-to-face with other parents who felt that they were struggling, too. Those who approached Olivo during the campaign thanked me for giving them another perspective.
While she did not win, she plans to run again in the future but is also looking at a potential run for a school committee position, Olivo told MassLive.
In that position, I hope I can make things better for parents and students, she said.
In her words: Always go after what you want no matter what."
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.
A Westfield man was charged with manslaughter in connection with selling pills containing a synthetic opioid stronger than fentanyl to a South Hadley woman who ingested them and subsequently died of an overdose, authorities said.
Christopher Halla, 42, pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of the 57-year-old South Hadley woman in May, Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan said in a statement.
He was ordered held on $100,000 bail.
This is the first manslaughter charge brought in connection with a fatal drug overdose in the Northwestern District since the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that selling heroin to someone isnt reckless or dangerous enough to support a manslaughter conviction, the statement said.
But, in this case, Halla sold pills to the South Hadley woman that contained metonitazene, a synthetic opioid stronger than fentanyl the leading cause of overdose deaths in the U.S., district prosecutors said.
Prosecutors told the judge that they found several texts between Halla and the South Hadley woman in which he told her that he was selling her real oxycodone pills.
The South Hadley woman repeatedly asked if the drugs were fentanyl free, and that she had chronic pain, prosecutors said. Halla offered the victim drugs knowing she was in pain.
In the ongoing battle to save lives amid our countrys overdose death epidemic, we must pursue prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery and, when warranted, prosecution. In response to this crisis, the Northwestern DAs Office is highly engaged in the prevention and harm reduction efforts underway in our region, Sullivan said in a statement.
Our drug diversion and treatment program aims to help people facing non-violent crimes related to their addiction, our office supported the creation of recovery centers around our region and I have been vocal in my support of overdose prevention sites, all tools that save lives, he added.
Sometimes, when she goes to the grocery store, Julia M. Walker will pick an item up, only to put it back down again.
Shell do the math, comparing the price against her tax bill, her prescription drug bills and the everyday expenses she struggles to pay, even with Social Security and a part-time job.
The rest takes care of itself.
You just cant afford it, Walker, 91, of Dorchester, said.
Adonica Chaplain is a retired Boston Police officer who lives in Hyde Park. She lives on a pension and a modest Social Security payment.
The 78-year-old bought her house in 1976. She gets offers to sell all the time. But theres no way she could afford to live anywhere else in a city of skyrocketing rents.
You cant afford the bills, she said, the barely contained anger and frustration coloring her words.
And they were hardly alone. On Wednesday morning, a conference room on the fourth floor of the State House reverberated with similar stories.
The rage was incandescent. The demands for change they were palpable.
And it got channeled into action.
Walker and Chaplain were among the roughly 60 Boston seniors who fanned out across the State House to urge the state Senate to pass a bill aimed at heading off a potentially massive property tax hike for city homeowners.
The effort was mounted by the Massachusetts Senior Action Council, a Quincy-based advocacy group.
The measure, backed by city Mayor Michelle Wu, was one of several that didnt make it over the finish line when formal sessions ended in July.
The citys home rule petition, as its known, requires legislative authorization.
It cleared the House, but it still needs a Senate vote and a signature by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey before the lights go out on the current, two-year session in November.
For the Walker, Chaplain, and the other older homeowners who rallied at the State House, the consequences of failure are real and urgent.
We could lose homes weve had for 30 years, Walker said.
Wus plan would allow the city to temporarily adjust its property tax formula to have commercial owners pay a larger share, easing the burden on residential homeowners.
Its intended to provide a softer landing for homeowners by slowing the projected increases in taxes on residential properties over five years and taxing commercial property owners at a higher rate to make up the shortfall, State House News Service previously reported.
If approved, the result would be a 2% reduction for commercial property owners and a 10% hike for landlords and homeowners, according to the advocacy group.
But it would still avert a much larger spike for a constituency that can scarcely afford it, Carolyn Villers, its executive director, said.
Without action, commercial property tax bills would drop by 13.5% and residential bills would rise by 33%, according to State House News Service.
Members of Massachusetts Senior Action Council rally in the State House in Boston on Wednesday in support of a bill aimed at heading off a potentially massive property tax increase for city homeowners (MassLive/John L. Micek).John L. Micek
This is about saving your homes and preserving your communities, Villers told the conference room crowd.
At midday, Villers, along with members of the organizations leadership, met with top aides to state Senate President Karen E. Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk.
The Ashland Democrat has the final word on which bills make it to the floor, making her support determinative.
Its an uphill fight to say the least.
Wu and the Senate boss found themselves at loggerheads earlier this year after the Democratic mayor chastised the Senate for failing to act on the bill before starting its summer vacation.
If this does not happen, every single resident in the city of Boston will know that their taxes are going up because the Senate did not vote through that last step, Wu said during an appearance on GBH News Boston Public Radio program in August.
Spilka didnt waste any time firing back.
Members of Massachusetts Senior Action Council rally in the State House in Boston on Wednesday, in support of a bill aimed at heading off a potentially massive property tax increase for city homeowners (MassLive/John L. Micek).John L. Micek
Blaming the Senate may be politically convenient for the Mayor, but it does nothing to improve a policy proposal that has been widely questioned by fiscal watchdog agencies and could do serious damage to Bostons economy, Spilka fumed through a spokesperson at the time. The Senate President has received no indication that there is sufficient support among Senators for this policy proposal to move forward.
In a separate appearance before city and regional business leaders on Wednesday, Wu again made the case for her stalled tax plan.
Under this proposal, residential taxes would still go up, commercial taxes would still go down, but it would be less of an extreme in either direction again for a three-year period to make sure that were smoothing that curve, Wu said, repeating an argument shes been making for months. I think what I want to point to in terms of how we think about how to balance everything.
The tax shift bill has been widely criticized by the business and real estate communities, who worry that it would increase the burden on small businesses, which are already struggling.
Anyone who walks down the streets of Boston will immediately notice all the vacant commercial properties, Paul Craney, a spokesperson for the conservative Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, previously told MassLive.
If Mayor Wu had her way, she would have made Bostons economic recovery more painful and much slower ... Boston politicians need to embrace the idea of making Boston more affordable by lowering taxes and eliminating regulations, Craney said.
For Chaplain, this ones a no-brainer. Seniors are getting squeezed. The Senate needs to pass the bill, and they need to do it yesterday.
Why do we have to continually explain what they should already know? she asked. Is their brains locked off? Because, mine, at 78, sure as hell isnt.
MassLive Reporter Trea Lavery contributed to this story.
Gov. Maura Healey continued to put her imprint on the judiciary Wednesday, tapping Justice Amy Blake to be elevated to the first female chief justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.
Blake has been a justice of the Appeals Court since 2014 and, if her elevation is confirmed by the Governors Council, would succeed Chief Justice Mark Green, who resigned earlier this month after a nearly seven-year tenure as chief.
Blakes judicial career began on the Family and Probate Court in 2008 and she moved to the Appeals Court in 2014, nominated both times by Gov. Deval Patrick.
Justice Blakes decade of service on the Massachusetts Appeals Court and additional experience with the Probate and Family Court and in private practice make her an outstanding candidate for Chief Justice, Healey said in her announcement. Im proud to nominate her and appreciate the Governors Councils review of her nomination. Im also grateful for Chief Justice Mark Green for his leadership on the Appeals Court.
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said Blake is uniquely qualified to lead the states intermediate appellate court, which consists of a chief justice and 24 associate justices.
The governors calendar for August shows that Healey held an interview in her ceremonial office with Blake on the morning of Friday, Aug. 16.
The governor interviewed another associate justice of the Appeals Court, Kenneth Desmond, in her office that afternoon.
Before becoming a judge, Blake was a partner at the Boston law firm Casner & Edwards; an associate and partner at White, Inker, Aronson; and an associate at Yasi & Yasi.
She worked for two years as an assistant district attorney in Middlesex County and also has been an adjunct faculty member at New England Law.
Blake graduated from the University of Rochester and New England Law. She lives in Peabody.
John Deaton, the Swansea attorney whos looking to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, took some time to chat with MassLive at our offices in Springfield earlier this week.
During an hour-long conversation, Deaton, 57, a political newcomer making his first bid for elected office, touched on a variety of subjects, including affordable housing, access to higher education, U.S. foreign policy, and why voters in heavily Democratic Massachusetts should send him to Washington.
Here are five takeaways from our conversation. They have been lightly edited for content and clarity.
On the housing crisis
Q: Theres no doubt were in the midst of a housing affordability crisis, not just in Massachusetts but this is certainly an epicenter of it. Vice President Kamala Harris wants to provide down payment assistance. Gov. Maura Healy and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu want a transfer tax to help build affordable housing. What solutions do you see that you might be able to implement at the federal level?
Deaton: ...We are now the second most expensive state to live in the country and beat out California in many regards. So, its an issue that needs to be addressed. I think investing in Western Mass. is part of the solution. You have to fight for a high-speed rail from Boston to Springfield, thats part of the solution.
... But youve also got to secure the border because its exasperating, the migrants coming in and nothing against the migrants, if anyone can identify with people who want a better life, its me. Trust me. But its unsustainable, so we have to secure the border. The other thing we would do is I would write bills that allow for tax credits that allow for developers to develop housing. Im talking to developers and they tell me it takes two years to pull the necessary permits ... Weve got to eliminate the red tape. Id also include tax credits for low-income housing. Im someone who lived in low-income housing for the first 20 years of my life.
On free community college
Q: The Legislature recently passed, and Gov. [Maura] Healey signed, free community college into law, following in the footsteps of states like Tennessee. Cape Cod Community College even closed applications early after experiencing a surge in applications. Do you think a similar program should be implemented at a federal level? What should happen from here? Do you think it would receive bipartisan support?
Deaton: I think so. One thing we can all agree: education costs. I have two kids that recently graduated college. My daughter Olivia, two years ago, graduated [from] USC. My daughter Jordan, just this last May graduated [from] UMass Amherst. So I, personally, can attest to how expensive that college has become.
... Could a kid do what I did, right? Today, have they been priced out of the economy? And so federal subsidies and the federal government working with state government creating subsidies and tax credits to encourage, make education more accessible, but also vocational. College isnt for everyone. And we need to make an and in vocational jobs as well.
... I dont want to be one of the last poor people to make it out of the ghetto and the hood and poverty. I genuinely want to try to help lift people up. And the federal government bears some responsibility in making sure that theres access to the American dream. And right now, my fear is that that dream is being killed. And that were really to a point where theres just the haves and the have nots, and there is no path for the have nots to become part of the and ... its why Im in this race.
On the Second Amendment and guns
Q: You told GBH over the summer that you support Massachusetts law as it relates to the Second Amendment and guns. Were curious what that means for your policy preferences at the federal level.
Deaton: At the federal level, I dont support bans on most things. I believe this should be at the state level. We have to recognize that when gun violence is a leading cause of death ... theres a reason to take pause and say, Okay, we want to make sure that theres reasonable red flag laws, that theres reasonable background checks. I mean, I think 80 to 90% of gun owners support that. But at the same time, you cant take away peoples constitutional rights. ... Its an emotional issue where we need sensible leadership to come in and recognize that law-abiding citizens have a constitutional right to carry and to have access to firearms, but at the same time, we need real smart public safety.
Q: So, if a national assault weapons ban came before Sen. Deaton, youre a no?
Deaton: "The devil is in the details on how big the ban is. Youre talking about a ban of, say, AR-15s that would be a federal ban nationwide, Im probably a no, because whats good for Massachusetts doesnt necessarily mean whats good for Texas, whats good for Georgia, and so we have to reconcile state rights at the same time.
Massachusetts bans AR-15. I dont have a problem with that. It does not offend me. But when you talk about a federal ban, just like I would never support a federal ban on abortion, just like I dont support Elizabeth Warrens ban on Bitcoin custody in the United States. When you talk about banning something,Im just going to pause. And thats why I said to you, it really depends. The devil is in the details on what that law is and how aggressive that law is.
On the failed immigration bill
Q: Youve said you would have been a yes vote on the bipartisan immigration bill that former President Trump sunk. What about this bill drew your support?
Former President Trump also has called for the mass deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants. Is that plan realistic and is it moral?
Deaton: " ... This bills not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I would want [it] even more aggressive, potentially, because I favor expanding legal immigration. Lets expand it. Lets make it more accessible, and have a zero tolerance, and I mean zero tolerance for illegal immigration.
" ... I would have supported that bill because its like triage. You have to stop the bleeding, and you have to, like, stop that kind of influx. You can always go back right and make it better. And so I say shame on Donald Trump for saying, you know, trying to kill the bill.
On mass deportations: I dont support that. And, of course, thats not practical. "
On reproductive rights and Justice Neil Gorsuch
Q: You have said you support reproductive rights and would vote against a nationwide abortion ban if one came to the Senate. You said yesterday on GBH you would have voted to confirm [U.S. Supreme Court] Justice Neil Gorsuch, who voted to topple Roe. How do you reconcile those positions?
Deaton: ...Being an honest person, not playing politics, I said at that point with that testimony, I wouldve voted for him because he was certainly qualified much more than the other two, in my opinion. If you look at his track record, he was an appellate attorney from Michael Kelloggs firm, right? He had in his previous jobs, he was really experienced and qualified.
... When the IVF ruling in Alabama came out, who do you think spoke out first, me or Senator Warren? Me. And Ive spoken out saying that I thought that the Dobbs decision [toppling Roe v. Wade] was wrong and it was activist judges not doing their job, not honoring the law. And that includes Neil Gorsuch. So hindsight is 20-20. If I knew today how he acted, of course, I wouldnt.
The Red Sox will send catcher Brooks Brannon and seven other prospects to the Arizona Fall League.
The 20-year-old Brannon, who MLB Pipeline ranks Bostons No. 27 prospect, struggled some with the bat this season. He hit .251 with a .326 on-base percentage, .396 slugging percentage, .722 OPS, six homers, eight doubles, two triples, 24 RBIs, 22 runs, 23 walks and 67 strikeouts in 54 games (207 plate appearances) for Low-A Salem.
But he has exciting raw power and the AFL should provide an opportunity for him to continue to work on things.
Boston drafted Brannon in the ninth round (No. 279 overall) out of Randleman High in North Carolina in 2022, then signed him to a well-above slot value bonus of $712,500. The second highest ninth round bonus that year was $390,000 less. Only one draft pick in rounds 5-9 received a higher bonus than Brannon did.
The other seven prospects are infielder Max Ferguson, left-hander Zach Fogell, outfielder Caden Rose and right-handers Cooper Adams, Danny Kirwin, Conor Steinbaugh and Tyler Uberstine.
The Red Sox drafted Rose out of Alabama in the seventh round in 2023. He had a .729 OPS and four homers in 35 games (143 plate appearances) between Salem and High-A Greenville.
Tyler Uberstine, a 19th round pick in 2021 out of Northwestern, returned from Tommy John surgery late in the 2024 season. The 25-year-old allowed one run in 4 innings for Greenville.
MLB Pipeline wrote, The most interesting of the Red Sox arms is Uberstine, who topped out at 75 mph with his fastball in high school but now works in the low 90s with his two- and four-seamers and in the low 80s with his sweeper. He had Tommy John surgery in June 2023 and returned to the mound this August.
Fogell, a 2023 18th rounder out of UConn and Providence, R.I. native, posted a 3.32 ERA in 33 outings (57 innings) for Greenville.
Boston signed Kirwin as an undrafted free agent April 24. He recorded a 3.63 ERA in 20 outings (five starts) for Salem.
Steinbaugh, another undrafted free agent who signed March 17, had a 3.74 ERA in 25 outings (67 innings) between Salem and Greenville.
Adams also signed as an undrafted free agent Feb. 4. He posted a 5.08 ERA in 26 outings (six starts) for Greenville.
The Big E welcomed back a TikTok star to its West Springfield fairgrounds this year.
On Tuesday, beauty guru and Massachusetts native Mikayla Nogueira posted a video to her TikTok page with friends and husband, Cody Hawken. Nogueira documented everything the group tried while at the fair.
We go every year just for the food, Nogueira said in the TikTok.
Heres everything they ate and what their thoughts.
The Maine baked potato at The Big E. (Charlie McKenna/MassLive)Charlie McKenna/MassLive
The group started their day in the longest line behind the Maine Building for a baked potato. According to Nogueira, it was worth the wait.
Hawken was also seen trying the salmon on a stick from the Maine Building, as it is one of his absolute favorites.
Here's what you can find in the Maine building.
Rounding out the Maine Building, the group finished with maple cones, which she described as sweet and good.
Nogueira said the next two stops made was to wash food down with the Rhode Island Buildings Dels Lemonade, followed by a cider slushee in the Vermont Building.
Some of the food was a disappointment to Nogueira.
The Lobster Mac & Cheese with everything from Zack's Mac Attack in the New Hampshire Building at The Big E. (MassLive Photo)
The New Hampshire Buildings mac & cheese was not worth the hype and the cookie dough on a stick was lacking chocolate chips.
Eugene J. Cassidy, president and CEO of the Eastern States Exposition, captures a selfie with Joseph Haag, of Cookie Dough on a Stick, during opening day at The Big-E Friday. (Frederick Gore Photo)
The biggest let down of the day was the Dragons Breath in the Young Building, according to Nogueira, as she said it was too gimmicky.
She also revealed her favorite tries of the day.
Pickle pizza from Angela's PizzaTaylor Sanzo
The highlight of the day was Angelas pickle pizza and giant mozzarella stick.
As a pickle lover I can confirm that the pickle pizza is worth all of the hype and more, Nogueira said in the TikTok.
The group then tried the crab rangoon pizza from Top the Crust. While Nogueira said she does not eat seafood, everyone else devoured it.
The Big E has multiple strange pizza combinations. But new this year was the crab rangoon pizza. We had to give it a try.Heather Morrison
Final bites of the day included a classic corn dog, Mexican street corn, ribbon fries covered in nacho cheese sauce and a doughnut burger.
She finished off The Big E, as she does every year, with chocolate chip cookies from Stellas Milk & Cookies.
A bucket of chocolate-chip cookies and a carton of milk from Stella's Cookies & Milk on New England Ave. at The Big E (Nick O'Malley, MassLive)
For a full list of what to eat and where to find it at the Big E, click here.
The TikTok star was also recently at Six Flags New Englands Fright Fest. You can check out that video here.
Tunisias three biggest mobile operators Tunisie Telecom, Orange Tunisie and Ooredoo Tunisia reportedly submitted their applications for 5G licences on Monday, with approval expected in the next three weeks.
According to a report from Agency Ecofin, the technical committee created by the Ministry of Communication Technologies to vet the applications will study the technical files and financials for each applicant. Once that process is finalised, applicants who pass muster should be granted the licences around the middle of next month.
Each licence is good for 15 years, and comes with 5 MHz of duplexed spectrum in the 700-MHz band, and 100 MHz of TDD spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band for 5G usage. The ministry has also set aside three 20 MHz blocks that will be made available at the request of operators. Other 5G frequency bands are set to be released in later phases.
The ministry kicked off the tender process for the 5G licences in June, with the aim of seeing commercial 5G services launched in some form by November this year. In the meantime, Tunisian telcos have also been busy getting ready for 5G last year, Ooredoo Tunisia contracted Nokia to upgrade its network RANs to be 5G-ready.
That said, it may take time for 5G services to take off, depending on how much coverage is initially available.
An even bigger issue is device compatibility. According to Ecofin, citing year-end 2023 stats from the National Telecommunications Authority (INTT), a little over 9 million mobile subscribers in Tunisia use smartphones. That works out to 73% of the mobile device market, but of that number, only 652,000 are 5G-compatible.
A former Holyoke Police officer repeatedly searched confidential law enforcement databases for information on his estranged wife and her family and friends, the Massachusetts police oversight board said.
Dominique Padilla, who resigned from the Holyoke Police Department last year, is now banned from future police work in Massachusetts. The oversight body, the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission, said Tuesday that it had revoked Padillas license to work in law enforcement.
Padillas searches of criminal justice information and Registry of Motor Vehicle databases served no official purpose. Yet they came on numerous occasions while he was on duty between 2019 and 2022, the commission said. Time and again, Padilla also shared confidential information from the platforms with his estranged wife.
SPRINGFIELD The city is planning a zero-tolerance crackdown on speeders, distracted drivers and general road recklessness in the hopes of reducing the increasing number of fatal crashes in the city.
On Wednesday Police Superintendent Lawrence E. Akers Joined with Capt. David Martin, the head of the traffic bureau, Capt. Jeff Martucci and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno to warn people of their intention to crack down on misbehaving drivers.
WESTFIELD The Up Close and Musical series will return for another series of free concerts produced by Westfield on Weekends and the music department of Westfield State University, starting Friday, Sept. 27.
Now in its fifth year of performances, Up Close and Musical will feature an eclectic range of vocal and instrumental music, including classical, blues, jazz, opera, Broadway and pop, in performances from September to December around downtown Westfield and on the university campus.
The series will debut this Friday at 7 p.m. at WOWs Creative Arts Center, 105 Elm St., with a Beethoven to Broadway evening, featuring WSU students and faculty. A Q and A period after each selection will allow attendees to learn about the musicians, their instruments, repertoire and process.
Concerts continue Thursday, Oct. 3, with a WSU faculty concert at 7 p.m. featuring saxophonist Ed Orgill, chair (on sabbatical) of the music department, and pianist Scott Bailey. The concert will feature surprising pieces for the piano and saxophone by three 20th century composers, Eugene Bozza, Alfred Desenclos and Erwin Schulhoff. A lively discussion conducted by Sonya Lawson will increase the audiences understanding of and appreciation for each of the program selections.
Other Up Close and Musical October events include a major concert in Westfield State Universitys Music at Westfield program, featuring renowned pianist Stephen Drury, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, at Dever Stage in Parenzo Hall at the university, at 477 Western Ave., Westfield. Earlier in the day, Drury will also conduct a free Masterclass at 3:45 p.m. in Room 134 of the universitys Dower Center for the Performing and Fine Arts, 715 Western Ave.
For the complete roster of Up Close and Musical events, visit the Creative Arts Center pages at westfieldonweekends.com.
This program is supported by the Westfield and Massachusetts cultural councils, in-kind assistance from Westfield State University, the sponsorship of Specialty Bolt & Screw and donations from the general public and audience members.
WOWs Creative Arts Center is a program of Westfield on Weekends, a 501c3 volunteer nonprofit which seeks to enhance community life through accessible and affordable programming that celebrates the diversity of life in Westfield.
Worcester Congressman Jim McGovern announced on Wednesday his support for a ballot question that would stop the states MCAS test from being a high school graduation requirement.
In a press release Wednesday, McGovern outlined his support for the MCAS ballot question, Question 2. The question will be brought before voters in the Bay State during the general election, along with four other ballot questions that focus on different topics, including auditing the legislature and legalizing psychedelics.
If voters pass the measure, students will still have to take the test but the graduation requirement for passing the test or other state approvals will be gone, according to The Center of State Policy Analysis.
In Massachusetts, we believe that every student deserves a high quality education that sets them up for success and the opportunity to demonstrate their true potential, regardless of whether or not they are good at standardized testing, McGovern said. Thats why I believe we need to move beyond the MCAS high school graduation requirement.
In a subsequent statement, Max Page, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), praised McGovern for backing the ballot question. As the states largest teachers union, the MTA has led efforts to support eliminating the MCAS graduation requirement.
The MCAS graduation requirement gives too much power to a standardized test that cant fully measure a students preparedness for success after graduation, and it undermines the high standards of our state, Page said. Were honored to have Rep. McGoverns support.
Prior to McGoverns announcement, the Worcester City Council voted unanimously this month in favor of a resolution from Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty that put the council on record supporting the removal of the graduation requirement, according to reporting by the Telegram and Gazette.
McGovern also joins state Sen. Jason M. Lewis, D-5th Middlesex in supporting Question 2. Lewis, the Senate chairperson of the Legislatures Joint Committee on Education, announced his support for eliminating the ballot question last week, arguing that standardized tests are imperfect and cannot measure the full scope of skills, knowledge, and competencies that we want to develop in our young people and are critical for their future success.
From the bridge of the ship surveying the all-island economy, we are currently sailing in fair weather and the outlook is positive. InterTradeIrelands latest All-Island Business Monitor reveals that most businesses across the island are stable or growing. A third are in growth mode, while over half, at 56 percent, are stable.
The survey, which commenced in 2008, is the largest and most comprehensive business survey on the island and is based on the views of more than 750 business managers across Northern Ireland and Ireland.
It differs from other surveys in being the voice of local businesses whereby we interview them directly by telephone. We include firms of all sizes from across a range of sectors to track all-island economic indicators such as sales, employment, profitability, business outlook, challenges and other specific topical research areas on a quarter-by-quarter basis.
As an indicator of economic demand, over a quarter of businesses saw sales rise in the second quarter of this year, while one in three expect sales to rise in the next six months. Seven in ten businesses are profitable, helped by the easing of the significant energy and wider cost pressures that have pervaded the business economy over the last couple of years.
However, businesses north and south of the border continue to face into some headwinds that have the potential to impact on growth. While the most pressing challenges overall remain the high cost of energy and overheads, the skills shortage is still a notable issue for many businesses.
The labour market is currently very tight, and we are essentially at full employment. This has a knock-on effect, with one in three firms struggling to find the right skills for their business.
Over half of these, at 58 percent, are experiencing long-term vacancies while nearly a quarter, at 22 percent, are dealing with short term skills gaps. What weve noticed is that some sectors, particularly construction, manufacturing, leisure and hotels, and catering are experiencing the most noticeable difficulties in attracting and retaining staff.
Meanwhile 42 percent of businesses that are growing, are also having difficulty in attracting skills no doubt because they are the most likely to be recruiting.
And yet in the midst of this situation, companies are getting creative in finding solutions to the problem of sourcing talent. When asked about the steps that firms are taking to address any skills gaps, close to a third of all businesses are telling us that they are embracing new technologies to address the skills shortage. Just over half are increasing recruitment activity and widening their search. Meanwhile, some 16 percent of firms are investing more in training and development.
There are also lots of technology solutions around that can improve efficiency and productivity and help plug skills gaps. At InterTradeIreland we have a suite of innovation programmes to help firms focus on improving innovation, efficiency and to drive productivity and develop new products and processes.
At InterTradeIreland, we have also seen the benefit that cross-border trade brings to businesses when it comes to their expansion and development. The All-Island Business Monitor clearly demonstrates that businesses that export cross-border are typically more successful, more resilient and enjoy higher growth and profits.
To help them along, we have developed a Trade Hub which is a powerful resource for businesses looking to trade effectively and efficiently between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Businesses can avail of a fully funded trade health check, and get information and advice about customs, VAT, regulation and cross-border employment.
As we face into a new budget in the South, it makes sense that many businesses are surveying the current landscape, and taking stock. We would urge firms to take advantage of the growing cross-border market currently worth around 12 billion.
Alongside our bespoke trade programmes, we can help by giving businesses the answers to their questions along with the practical advice and 1:1 support they need to find new customers, suppliers, partners and to grow their cross-border trade.
InterTradeIreland is one of six North-South Implementation Bodies established under the 1998 Belfast Agreement. It is funded by Irelands Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Northern Irelands Department for the Economy. Martin Robinson is the bodys Director of Strategy.
A game-changing website has been launched to connect the Mayo public with local government.
The new website will help the public in Mayo access information on over 1,000 local Government services provided by the 31 local authorities.
LocalGov.ie was launched at the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) offices in Ushers Quay, Dublin by Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government and Planning, Alan Dillon. The site is the biggest online directory of local authority services ever developed in Ireland.
The roll-out of the site comes as research shows 60 percent of people have found it difficult to find the information they need from their local authority area.
This will change that and will act like a sat nav, pointing people to the exact services about which they need information in plain, accessible language, said Minister Dillon.
It is a game-changer in connecting local Government with citizens and explains the entire process of how to access services, from motor tax, dog licences and home adaptation grants to outdoor leisure amenities and library services, he added.
One of the site's main aims is to provide a database of national grants and funding opportunities for individuals, sporting clubs and businesses, as well as a guide on how to access these in the users local area.
Funding, for example, is available for a wide range of activities including anti-litter and anti-graffiti initiatives, historic structures, mobility aids and vacant properties.
The website also provides an advisory role, offering information on subjects including responsible dog ownership.
It will be continually reviewed and updated with new information and development enhancements, in line with the Digital and ICT Strategy 2030 - Digital Local Government: Working for Everyone.
Not so long ago, local authority information came in the form of newsletters, but LocalGov.ie is the new, trusted home for every local authority service available in Ireland, under one website, said Patricia Liddy, Project Board Chair of LocalGov.ie.
She continued: Research shows that many people do not associate the work that local authorities do with the Local Government sector and this site aims to transform that.
The 2023 Local Government Services report revealed there is high public awareness of key services such as footpaths, street cleaning and street lighting.
However, just over half surveyed in the report know that local authorities are also responsible for environmental protection (55 percent), motor tax collection (54 percent), tourism and events (54 percent) and monitoring waterways and beaches (50 percent).
LocalGov.ie is aimed at everyone and designed to eliminate confusing language and out-of-date information, the goal was to make it accessible, easy-to-read and easy to navigate and will also act as an access route to the websites of all 31 Local Authorities in Ireland, concluded Ms Liddy.
For more information, see the new Local Government website.
A MAYO farming organisation has called for 'radical action' including a planned cull to reduce the number of wild deer in the county.
The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) expressed alarm at what they see as the increasing numbers and spread of wild deer across the county and the need 'for comprehensive action' to reduce the deer population in Mayo.
Mayo Chair of INHFA Seamus Cosgrove called for a planned cull of the deer population in Mayo stating that their presence was a 'pressing danger around animal and public health'.
This action will need to include critical stakeholders such as the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM) and forestry companies including Coillte in a planned cull of the deer population.
While a small number of people may have an issue with the idea of such a cull we must recognise that there is a pressing danger around animal and public health and especially in relation to road safety, said Mr Cosgrove.
He added: While the expanding deer population is a major issue across north Mayo we are getting reports of deer sightings across all of the county and while increasing forestry cover has added to this, we are also seeing issues where forestry is felled displacing existing deer populations.
While deer hunting licences have been issued over recent years there is a need for a more coordinated approach to deliver the outcomes necessary, he said.
The Irish Deer Management Strategy Group (IDMSG) was set up in September 2022 made up of representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Coillte.
The role of the IDMSG was to develop initiatives to ensure sustainable deer numbers while achieving the objectives of landowners ranging from biodiversity, forestry, agriculture, animal health and road safety.
The Group made a number of recommendations including the extension of the hunting seasons and Mr Cosgrove said it is critical that farmers work with this group and its Chair Teddy Cashman to develop a coordinated approach needed to address the issue with deers in Mayo.
A SENIOR HSE official in the west of Ireland has acknowledged there is an overreliance on agency staff in Mayo University Hospital after it was revealed that 7.5 million was spent on agency staff in 2023.
The HSE revealed that 7.5 million was spent in 2023 on agency staff in Mayo University Hospital while acknowledging that had the same staff been employed directly by them it would have cost around 5.4 million.
The figures were revealed at the HSE Regional Health Forum West meeting following a question submitted by Castlebar-based Independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne where he asked what would the cost be to employ staff directly by the HSE compared to recruiting agency staff.
In response to Cllr Kilcoyne's question, Tony Canavan, HSE Regional Executive Officer for the West and North West acknowledged that there was an over reliance on agency staff in the Castlebar hospital.
To be fair I would be the first to acknowledge we have an overreliance currently on agency staffing and there is no argument about that. We have significant numbers of agency staff on the hospital side in nursing and supporting roles and we also have some on the medical side in terms of doctors as well. We have an active scheme of conversion of those agency staff as part of our recruitment policy so we can make some of those savings you described, he told the meeting while adding that there will always be a need for agency staff.
I would say there will always be some agency usage particularly for short term vacancies which arise or are extremely difficult to fill vacancies. We are definitely using more agency than we would be happy with but there will always be a need for some agency use, he said.
Cllr Kilcoyne who was chairing the meeting said that a huge amount of money was being spent on agency staff and it was not going to the staff.
Somebody is on a winner and it is certainly not the staff. I suggest it is a very lucrative career to be the supplier of staff to the HSE, he commented.
Meanwhile, Cllr Kilcoyne also questioned the 'slow' pace to recruit staff to work in the hospital after the meeting heard that just six positions have been filled despite the lifting of the HSE recruitment freeze in mid July.
You have only filled about six but this was a major announcement by the Government three months ago that the ban had been lifted and everyone was going to get a job in the health service or words to that effect.
I must have misinterpreted what the government said that the ban was lifted and all positions were going to be filled. I was obviously wrong in the interpretation of what they said, Cllr Kilcoyne commented.
Ann Cosgrove, Interim CEO of the Saolta University Health Care Group explained that recruitment processes are slow by its nature and the process of filling posts is ongoing.
Mr Canavan added that the lifting of the recruitment freeze did not mean all posts will be filled but it gave the HSE regions responsibility for what posts will be filled.
In fairness to the government I don't think they said all positions were going to be filled. What they were saying is the decision to fill posts was now left to the regions and that has happened since the middle of July. It doesn't mean we don't follow all good HR practices on recruitment and that takes a bit of time but it also doesn't mean that every post will be filled. It means the decision to fill posts will be taken within the region, he said.
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Kathy Dawes, Democratic candidate for the Idaho House in District 6, has reported a recent poll to the Idaho Secretary of States Office because she believes it is a violation of the Sunshine Law.
In a news release, Dawes warned the public Tuesday about a smear poll that surveyed voters through phone and text. The poll is from JMC Analytics and Polling, which is based in Louisiana, according to its website.
The poll mainly asks leading questions related to Dawes such as, If you knew that Kathy Dawes sides with radical special interests who support dangerous open border policies and raising taxes on Idahoans, would that make you more or less likely to vote for her?
Dawes stated in her news release that she has never supported open border policies. The candidate also says she supports lowering taxes on Idaho families.
Dawes stated in the news release that she is incredibly disturbed by the tactics JMC Analytics and Polling is using. The poll does not state which organization or individual is funding it, which she says is a violation of the Idaho Sunshine Act.
This smear poll, along with three previous postcard mailings to District 6 were likely funded by out-of-state special interest groups and this poll violates Idaho Sunshine Law, her news release stated.
PULLMAN The Pullman City Council approved a sales tax increase next year to fund a variety of street maintenance and transportation projects.
Councilors came together during a regular meeting Tuesday night to hold a public hearing on the proposed hike, however it attracted no commenters.
Members unanimously passed the measure to raise sales tax by one-tenth of a percent beginning Jan. 1, 2025.
The city first considered the increase in April last year after it received a backlog of street repairs within the city, according to documents attached to the meeting agenda. Councilors created the Transportation Benefit District, governed by the city council, to allow a new sales tax within city limits be implemented.
Documents stipulate the district is allowed by Washington law to raise sales tax by one-tenth of a percent without voter approval. A voter-approved measure would allow for an additional two-tenths of a percent to be added to the sales tax rate, however this is not what the city was requesting.
Pullmans current sales tax rate is 7.9%. An increase in rates will create another source of revenue to address the accumulation of maintenance requests, generating about $520,000 annually, according to the documents. The money will fund the citys five-year Transportation Improvement Plan totaling to just over $83 million.
Councilor Ann Parks said while many dont like to see increasing sales taxes, theres plenty of benefits. The city wont just be charging its residents, but everyone who makes a purchase in Pullman.
She added the funds will be set aside to allow the city to address necessary transportation projects.
A few downtown business owners also came to speak at the meeting.
Michelle Kelly, owner of Michelles Closet, said her business as well as many others are struggling to operate because of the Main Street construction project.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, September 24, 2024
Major news organizations including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post issued an open letter full-page ad in their editions today pitching brands to boost their investments in quality news and journalism.
advertisement advertisement The effort was coordinated by marketing services company Stagwell as part of its Future of News initiative, which earlier this year released a study finding that brand safety standards currently in use are unnecessarily demonetizing the news industry.
Business leaders need to work together to create a new virtuous cycle, one in which advertisers and consumers support news, the ad states. When news organizations thrive, brands drive business results from reaching valuable audiences, and quality journalism prevails.
In addition to the three above-mentioned dailies, the ad ran in other major newspapers around the country and online. Stagwell and about two-dozen publishers are supporting the effort.
News plays an indispensable role in our democracy, the ad declared, noting that both advertisers and consumers have pulled back from supporting news.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, September 25, 2024
A coalition including Texas students and the Austin-based ad agency The Ampersand Group is pressing a federal judge to block restrictions on social media platforms' ability to serve minors with targeted ads.
Those constraints especially affect The Ampersand Group by restricting and burdening its ability to run ad campaigns, aimed at teens, the activist organization Students Engaged in Advancing Texas and The Ampersand Group say in papers filed Monday with U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman in Austin.
The coalition makes the argument to support its request for an injunction prohibiting the state from enforcing the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act (HB 18) -- a new statute aimed at regulating social media.
That law directs social platforms to ask users their ages, and then deploy filtering technology to block "harmful" content to minors. The statute defines harmful content as including material that promotes, glorifies, or facilitates eating disorders, self-harm, substance abuse, and grooming ... or other sexual exploitation or abuse.
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The measure also requires platforms to limit the collection of minors' information, and prohibits platforms from serving targeted ads to minors, without parental consent. The statute doesn't define targeted advertising.
The law is being challenged on First Amendment grounds in two separate lawsuits -- one by the tech industry groups NetChoice and Computer & Communications Industry Association, and the other by the coalition of students and Ampersand Group, which handles advertising for nonprofits, government agencies and local businesses.
Pitman recently blocked some portions of the law in response to the lawsuit by NetChoice and Computer & Communications Industry Association -- including provisions that would have required platforms to filter potentially harmful material.
But Pitman denied the tech groups' request to block other portions of the law, including the bans on targeted advertising and data collection. He said it wasn't immediately apparent to him that those provisions are unconstitutional, but added that they might be blocked in the future.
That ruling left open the opportunity for Students Engaged in Advancing Texas and Ampersand Group to pursue their challenge to the law.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently urged Pitman to reject that challenge, arguing that coalition's allegations are too vague to warrant an injunction.
Plaintiffs did not establish that they have concrete plans to view or post advertisements restricted by HB 18 in the near future, he argued in papers filed earlier this month. For instance, what specific ads are at issue? On which digital service? When will these ads be viewed/posted? Plaintiffs never really explain.
He also said the law should be interpreted as restricting only commercial targeted ads.
The coalition counters in the new filing that the allegations in its complaint -- including those regarding targeted ads -- warrant an injunction.
Plaintiffs need not identify specific future instances of speech that the act will proscribe, they said, adding that plaintiffs who bring First Amendment challenges need only aver that they generally intend to engage in the type of speech the act regulates.
The coalition adds that its concerns are concrete.
The Ampersand Group has and intends to run ads helping teens recognize sex trafficking, and intends to engage in future campaigns touching on restricted topics, like substance abuse, the groups contend.
Beyond requiring minors to seek consent to receive such ads, the act prohibits ads promoting subject matter the act forbids for minors, like PSAs about sex trafficking and substance abuse, or ads advocating decriminalizing certain activities, the coalition adds. Absent parental consent, the Ampersand Group would even be blocked from using social media to distribute to minors purely educational resources about vaccine access, illness prevention, and participation in the U.S. Census.
The Ampersand Group and student organization also argue that the law will prevent minors from receiving wanted messages. For instance, they argue, the law would prevent Students Engaged in Advancing Texas from receiving ads on social media about initiatives the group supports.
Pitman hasn't yet said when he will rule on the coalition's request.
Union MoS for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Prataprao Jadhav Launches Tobacco Free Youth Campaign 2.0 to Protect the Health and Well-Being of Indiaas Youth
Say no to #tobacco, say yes to health! The Tobacco-Free Youth Campaign 2.0 aims to empower young people to make informed choices. Lets create a smoke-free generation. #smokingeffects #quitsmoking
Scotland is on the brink of a transformative shift in its road freight sector, with truck stops, fleet depots, lorry parks, and ports poised to play a pivotal role in helping operators transition to all-electric fleets.
A recent report from Heriot-Watt Universitys Centre for Sustainable Road Freight reveals that installing charging points for electric heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) across these facilities is crucial to supporting this transition.
The report, Towards Zero Emission HGV Infrastructure in Scotland, identifies a pressing need for the deployment of charging points at fleet depots and along key freight corridors, including the A9, A90, and M74.
Additionally, hydrogen trucks equipped with fuel cells will require dedicated refuelling infrastructure along these same routes. Commissioned by Transport Scotland, the national transport agency, this research forms part of the HGV Decarbonisation Pathway, a roadmap to help Scotlands heavy goods vehicle industry transition to zero-emission trucks.
A Call to Action for Strategic Investment
The findings offer clear guidance to private charging point operators and electrical distribution networks, pointing to the areas where focused investment could yield the greatest improvements.
As Fiona Hyslop, Scotlands Cabinet Secretary for Transport, noted: This research provides crucial insight into where investment in infrastructure will be most impactful in supporting the rollout of zero-emission heavy goods vehicles.
By pinpointing strategic locations along key freight routes, the report signals where efforts should be concentrated to deliver the necessary charging infrastructure.
For example, the A9 between Stirling and Inverness, the A90 between Perth and Aberdeen, and the M74 between Glasgow and Carlisle are highlighted as critical corridors for freight.
The study identifies several specific hot spot locations for electric truck charging points, including Dalwhinnie in the Highlands, Ballinluig in Perth and Kinross, Stracathro in Angus, Abington in South Lanarkshire, and Annandale Water in Dumfries and Galloway.
Optimising Existing Facilities for Charging Points
One of the key recommendations from the report is to utilise existing infrastructure, such as truck stops, lorry parks, ports, and transport hubs, as locations for electric vehicle charging points.
Where possible, these facilities would be enhanced with rapid chargers and parking spaces to accommodate HGVs.
However, upgrading electrical substations in certain areas will also be necessary to cope with the increased demand for vehicle charging, especially during peak periods. Critical substation locations include Milnathort in Perth and Kinross, Inchbare in Angus, Symington in South Lanarkshire, Kirkwall in Orkney, and Ullapool in the Highlands.
According to Professor Phil Greening, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight at Heriot-Watt University, Electric trucks are already operating on our roads, and most short-haul freight deliveries can be completed without additional charging stops. But for long-haul routes across Scotland, we need charging points at depots and along the most heavily used freight corridors.
Hydrogen as a Complementary Fuel Source
While the focus is predominantly on battery-operated electric trucks, the report also explores the role of hydrogen fuel in the future of zero-emission freight transport. Using advanced computer modelling, researchers analysed the same routes as if all fleets were hydrogen-powered.
Although hydrogen is currently more expensive than electricity, the modelling shows that hydrogen refuelling stations would see significant usage along the A90 between Perth and Aberdeen and the M74 between Glasgow and Carlisle. Other potential sites for hydrogen refuelling include Kinross, Dalwhinnie, Annandale Water, and Clydebank.
Interestingly, lighter hydrogen refuelling demand was predicted for the A9, likely reflecting the geographical distribution of freight fleets included in the data. The central belt of Scotland also showed some potential for hydrogen refuelling stations, though not to the same extent as other areas.
Data-Driven Solutions for Scotlands Freight Network
The research team utilised a combination of real-world data and computer simulations to model the impact of zero-emission HGVs on Scotlands freight infrastructure.
Over 80,000 truck journeys were analysed using the Centre for Sustainable Road Freights proprietary modelling and simulation tools. This data-driven approach allowed researchers to map out where charging and refuelling stations would be most effective, providing a blueprint for scaling up Scotlands charging infrastructure.
However, the researchers emphasise that more journey data is needed from heavy goods vehicle operators to refine this analysis and continue building a comprehensive picture of Scotlands freight charging needs. In particular, remote regions with limited existing infrastructure, such as the A9 north of Invergordon and Shetland, require further investigation.
Stakeholders have also suggested additional routes for consideration, including the A82 and A83 in Argyll and Bute, important for timber and aquaculture transport, as well as access to the Western Isles. The A77 leading to Cairnryan in Stranraer is another route with potential gaps in charging infrastructure that require further modelling.
Looking to the Future
The Centre for Sustainable Road Freight plans to publish an updated report in 2025, which will build on the data gathered so far and explore additional opportunities for developing Scotlands charging and refuelling infrastructure for zero-emission HGVs. This continued research will play a vital role in guiding investment and ensuring that Scotlands road freight network is equipped to meet the demands of an all-electric future.
Ultimately, the project offers a clear pathway for using data to identify the critical infrastructure required to support Scotlands ambitious HGV decarbonisation goals. By working together with private charge point operators, electrical distribution networks, and freight operators, Scotland can lead the way in creating a sustainable, zero-emission freight network.
With the right investments and infrastructure in place, Scotlands road freight sector is well-positioned to transition to an all-electric future, ensuring cleaner air, lower carbon emissions, and a more sustainable transport system for generations to come.
Washington Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind authorized the killing of one member of the Couse wolfpack Tuesday in an effort to stop a series of attacks on cattle.
The pack that roams the breaks of the Snake River and ridges of the Blue Mountains near Anatone has attacked livestock five times in the past 10 months.
In July, Susewind authorized the lethal removal of two members of the pack. But before employees of the state agency could carry out the order, an employee of a ranch shot and killed a male wolf that was caught attacking cattle.
Ripple effects of strike action at ports on the US East and Gulf coasts will cause severe supply chain disruption into 2025, with analysts warning government intervention may be required to avoid major economic fallout.
A total of 36 ports are preparing for a complete stoppage if a new deal cannot be agreed with the International Longshoremans Association (ILA), which represents 85,000 port workers, before the 30 September deadline.
Peter Sand, Chief Analyst at Xeneta, said: There are ships on the ocean right now carrying billions of dollars of cargo heading to ports on the US East and Gulf Coast. These ships cannot turn back and they cannot realistically re-route to the US West Coast. Some may divert to ports in Canada or even Mexico East Coast, but the vast majority will simply wait outside affected ports until the workers return.
The consequences will be severe, not only through congestion at US ports, but importantly these ships will be delayed returning to the Far East for the next voyage. A strike lasting just one week will impact schedules for ships leaving the Far East on voyages to the US in late December and throughout January.
Ocean supply chains have already been badly disrupted during 2024 due to conflict in the Red Sea, drought in the Panama Canal and Baltimore bridge collapse.
Data from Xeneta the ocean and air freight intelligence platform shows average spot freight rates on the trade from the Far East to US East Coast spiked more than 300% between 1 December 2023 and early July this year.
Sand said: More than 40% of total containerized goods enter the US through ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast, so the stakes could not be higher.
"To stop trade entering the US on such a large-scale, even for short period of time, is highly-damaging to the economy so government intervention will be needed to bring the matter to a resolution for the good of the nation.
Last week, 177 trade associations called for an immediate resumption of negotiations because they recognize the extremely serious consequences of strike action on the US economy.
Government intervention should be seen as a strength in the system, because it will prevent a dispute between a smaller group of interests whether that is dockworkers or port terminal owners from significantly impacting the wealth of the entire nation.
If the parties cannot solve the dispute themselves then someone needs to solve it for them because closing the US East and Gulf coasts to trade for a prolonged period of time would be toxic for supply chains and the economy.
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth warned key lawmakers that the plan for yet another short-term funding cycle for the federal government could have a significant impact on the service, ranging from delays in construction projects to weapons acquisition.
In a letter to House and Senate Appropriations committee leaders Wednesday, Wormuth emphasized that a planned three-month continuing resolution set to fund the Army starting Oct. 1 will have "significant consequences on the Army's mission to maintain national security," as well as soldiers' quality of life.
Congressional leaders announced a plan Sunday to vote on a short-term spending agreement this week to fund the government through Dec. 20. The move avoids a shutdown during election season, instead punting funding questions to a lame-duck legislature and White House.
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Under the continuing resolution, the Army must work within this year's budget, hindering its ability to advance projects or contracts.
Construction on at least half a dozen projects, including a new $10 million machine gun range for Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and a new $44 million rail yard to transport armored vehicles and other equipment, would see delays, potentially lasting months. Other delays could affect projects at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
For 2025, the service requested a near doubling of its budget for barracks, going from $1.5 billion this year to $2.35 billion next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. However, it's unclear whether the stopgap spending bill will delay any of the barracks projects planned at Fort Johnson, Louisiana; Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; and Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz in Germany, among others.
The investment in barracks is one of the most dramatic changes to the service's spending and comes after media reports showed dilapidated living conditions for junior enlisted soldiers, something that raised lawmakers' ire to such a degree that a new House panel was stood up to investigate the matter.
Other delays include fielding the new weapons set to replace the M4 carbine and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon to two brigade combat teams. The XM7 rifle and XM250 machine gun made their debut in March at 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, though the service has been mum on whether those weapons have been successful in the field.
Both use 6.8mm ammo, which is much heavier than the current 5.56mm round widely employed in the Army but has the potential to be more effective against body armor. The XM7 is nearly one-third heavier than the currently mass-issued M4.
A planned $403 million purchase of Patriot missile hardware would also be delayed, as well as various software upgrades to missile defense systems. Those systems have been especially critical in the Middle East, where troops are under threat of drone strikes, mostly from Iran-backed militias. The service may also see a significant delay in procuring warheads and other key components for rockets.
Wormuth's warning comes after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed his own irritation with Congress over continuing resolutions earlier this month.
"We have already lost valuable time, having operated under 48 CRs for a total of almost five years since 2011. We cannot buy back this time, but we can stop digging the hole," Austin wrote in a letter to House and Senate Appropriations committee leaders from both parties.
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WASHINGTON The U.S. will send Ukraine an undisclosed number of medium-range cluster bombs and an array of rockets, artillery and armored vehicles in a military aid package totaling about $375 million, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
Officials expect an announcement on Wednesday, as global leaders meet at the U.N. General Assembly, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy uses his appearance there to shore up support and persuade the U.S. to allow his troops to use long-range weapon s to strike deeper into Russia. The following day, Zelenskyy meets with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington.
The aid includes air-to-ground bombs, which have cluster munitions and can be fired by Ukraine's fighter jets, as well as munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), Javelin and other anti-armor systems, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, bridging systems and other vehicles and military equipment, according to officials. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the aid has not yet been publicly announced.
The latest package of weapons, provided through presidential drawdown authority, is one of the largest approved recently and will take stocks from Pentagon shelves to deliver the weapons more quickly to Ukraine.
It comes as nearly $6 billion in funding for aid to Ukraine could expire at the end of the month unless Congress acts to extend the Pentagons authority to send weapons from its stockpile to Kyiv. Congressional leaders announced they reached an agreement Sunday on a short-term spending bill, but it's unclear if any language extending the Pentagon authority to send weapons to Ukraine will be added to the temporary measure as negotiations with Congress continue.
Ukrainian and Russian forces are battling in the east, including hand-to-hand combat in the Kharkiv border region where Ukraine has driven Russia out of a huge processing plant in the town of Vovchansk that had been occupied for four months, officials said Tuesday. At the same time, Ukrainian troops continue to hold ground in Russias Kursk region after a daring incursion there last month.
The aid announcement comes on the heels of Zelenskyy's highly guarded visit on Sunday to a Pennsylvania ammunition factory to thank the workers who are producing 155 mm shells, one of the most critically needed munitions for his countrys fight to fend off Russian ground forces.
Including this latest package, the United States has provided more than $56.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russian forces invaded in February 2022.
___
Lee reported from the United Nations.
The Department of Veterans Affairs will study whether kidney cancer is linked with exposure to chemicals used in military-grade firefighting foam and other products to determine whether veterans may be eligible for expedited benefits.
The VA announced Wednesday that the process could decide whether kidney cancer should be designated a presumptive service-connected condition for former service members who were exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, or PFAS, often called "forever chemicals" for their environmental persistence.
The designation would accelerate the process for veterans to receive VA health care and disability compensation, removing a requirement that those afflicted prove that the illness was related to military service.
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"At VA, we want to understand the health conditions that veterans are living with so we can provide them with all of the benefits they deserve -- and that's what this review process is all about," VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in a news release.
Several studies have shown an association between occupational exposure to PFAS chemicals or high blood concentrations of perfluorooctanoate, a PFAS chemical used in firefighting foam and other products, with a higher risk of kidney cancer.
Prior to passage of the PACT Act in 2022, the VA needed to issue a contract to research whether a medical condition could be linked to military service. The PACT Act cemented rules allowing the VA to establish for itself a presumption of a connection between conditions and service by examining all available studies and its own data, including VA claims.
The investigation into kidney cancer would be the first to determine a presumptive condition for veterans exposed to a toxic substance during military service regardless of location.
To date, the VA's exploration into possible service-connected conditions has been limited to those linked to environmental exposures overseas in locations listed in the PACT Act.
Since the PACT Act became law, the VA has extended presumptions for more than 300 conditions related to 23 general conditions listed in the legislation, including male breast cancer, urethral cancer, and cancer of the paraurethral glands.
The VA announced in July 2023 that it was exploring a connection between three types of blood cancer -- acute leukemia, chronic leukemia and multiple myeloma -- and service in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Uzbekistan and all of the Southwest Asia operational theater.
It has not yet announced the results of that investigation. During a media roundtable in December, VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal said the process is lengthy.
"We do have to have a period of time to do the scientific analysis and then of course we have to undertake the process of rulemaking, which takes some time," Elnahal said in response to a question from Military.com.
Federal research published last year showed, for the first time, a direct connection between PFAS and testicular cancer, but a similar causal link with kidney cancer has not yet been determined.
The Defense Department has been ordered to stop using foams containing fluorinated chemicals next month and to remove all stocks from active and former installations and equipment as well, although it has requested a waiver through October 2025.
The DoD has used firefighting foam containing PFAS on hundreds of military installations for the last 50 years and is now in the process of assessing the extent of contamination at 710 sites.
Regarding kidney cancer, VA officials said veterans should not wait for the outcome of the research if they have the illness and want to file a claim. Claims for conditions that are not designated as presumed to be related to military service are considered on a case-by-case basis.
"If you're a veteran and believe your military service has negatively impacted your health, we encourage you to apply for VA care and benefits today," McDonough said in the release Wednesday.
For the new study, the VA will solicit public comment over the proposal via the Federal register beginning Thursday.
The department also plans to host a listening session Nov. 19 to let researchers weigh in with any findings. The public can comment on the study through the Federal Register or during the listening session, department officials said.
Related: US Military Says National Security Depends on 'Forever Chemicals'
The Department of the Air Force's ambitious reorganization plan designed to keep the Air Force and Space Force competitive against China was unveiled earlier this year, listing 24 items ranging from bringing back warrant officers and reorganizing training to creating new offices and elevating new commands.
Some of those changes are underway, but others haven't been touched yet. Now, lawmakers, government watchdogs and defense policy experts are raising alarm that all of those plans could easily be upended by the upcoming presidential election.
The service's plan was released in February, but a month later Congress stepped in and commissioned the Government Accountability Office -- the lawmakers' watchdog agency -- to provide its take on the scheme. On Thursday, the GAO delivered its findings. The report isn't public for now, having been deemed Controlled Unclassified Information -- meaning it is not classified but is still hidden from view.
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While Diana Maurer, a director in GAO's Defense Capabilities and Management team, did not delve into the specifics of the findings in an interview with Military.com, she explained that Department of the Air Force Secretary Kendall's understandable push to reorganize the Air Force and Space Force for the threat of China may not have staying power long after November.
"I give them credit for taking that on as an initiative, and I think the secretary's sense of urgency on this is understandable," Maurer said. "The proof is going to be in the pudding about where these initiatives are going to be in six months, 12 months, 24 months, right?
And during that window, the White House residence will have a new tenant.
"Obviously, there's an election in a month and a half now that's going to play a big role in a lot of this," she said.
Kendall unveiled his 24 initiatives related to what he dubbed "reoptimizing for great power competition" with a speech in February, stating, "We are moving forward with a sense of urgency to ensure we are ready to deter and, if necessary, win. We are out of time."
The Air Force secretary also mentioned earlier this year that the changes were created to "minimize cost," but said there's nothing in the 2024 or 2025 budget to assist with the new strategies and offices. He added that the plan might require funding in 2026.
Many of the 24 steps are aimed at cutting through bureaucracy or combining alike offices, such as putting a lot of similar training missions under a new Airman Development Command, or creating a department-level Office of Competitive Activities and a Space Futures Command to oversee sensitive projects or conduct experimentation, according to the service.
While many are highly technical and focused on acquisitions, some of the personnel changes, like bringing back warrant officers for the first time in more than six decades, were widely praised among the enlisted.
But doubts seemingly persist among some lawmakers about the reorganization plan. Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., who chairs the defense appropriations subcommittee and is a member of the Air Force caucus, told Military.com in an emailed statement that questions about cost and staying power are still on his mind.
"Some areas of the Air Force's reorganization concept are better defined than others," Calvert said. "I have yet to see exact plans matched with realistic cost estimates. I appreciate Secretary Kendall's intent to reoptimize the service, but am wary of reorganization for its own sake when long-term effects and costs are unclear."
Kendall, during a speech at the Air and Space Forces Association's biannual conference just outside of Washington, D.C., last week, mentioned the upcoming presidential election and said he hopes that, no matter who takes the White House in November, he can remain in his role.
"My hope is that I will have the opportunity to continue to serve but, if not, you can be certain that I will be working as hard as I can for as long as I can to prepare the Department of the Air Force for a conflict that is not inevitable, but may be becoming more likely over time," he said in his remarks.
Kendall added that "progress on the 24 decisions that we announced is that all of the actions required are well underway," adding that "a few are slightly late to the original schedule, but overall progress is excellent and nothing is far enough off track to cause major concern."
During a media roundtable after Kendall's speech, Military.com asked him whether he was worried about a new commander in chief derailing the Department of the Air Force's ambitious plans.
"I'm not worried about that," Kendall replied. "The things we're doing, I think, are pretty logical. They're aligned with what our needs are relative to the threat. There's been no real pushback from the Congress on any of them."
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin, the service's top military leader, told Military.com during a separate media roundtable at the Air and Space Forces Association's conference last week, that he felt Congress has been increasingly buying into the ideas since the initial rollout earlier this year.
"I think we maneuvered from the point of February when we rolled out all those and there was mild skepticism, because it just seemed like a list of things," Allvin said. "I think they moved from mild skepticism to genuine interest."
Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute focused on defense strategy, budgeting and space policy, told Military.com in an interview that the plan is a key policy that Kendall has personally pushed and, following November, it's likely it won't continue to have steam if he's no longer the secretary of the Air Force.
"I would say the overall plan is very much tied to Kendall, so I think it is doubtful that it will survive intact if there's a transition to a different secretary of the Air Force," Harrison said. "And regardless of how the election goes, I think it's to be expected that, when there's a new president, that there will be a turnover in just about every senior presidentially appointed position."
Harrison added that Kendall's chances of staying on in a potential role under Vice President Kamala Harris seem like a "small probability," and under a potential second term for former President Donald Trump, there is "zero chance."
With no budget allocated already for the plan, it's really up to the next secretary, Harrison said.
"If he wanted to get this done, the clock has kind of run out on doing that," Harrison added.
-- Rebecca Kheel contributed to this report.
Related: Air Force Overhaul Plan that Brings Back Warrant Officers Draws Scrutiny from Capitol Hill
TAIPEI, Taiwan China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, stirring security concerns in the region already tense over Beijing's territorial claims and rivalry with the U.S.
The ICBM carried a dummy warhead and fell into a designated area of the sea, the Defense Ministry said in a statement posted to social media.
The launch by the People's Liberation Army's Rocket Force was part of routine annual training, complied with international law and was not directed against any country or target, according to the statement.
It is unclear how often China conducts tests over such a distance. In 1980, China launched an ICBM into the South Pacific.
A map published in Chinese newspapers at the time showed the target area as roughly a circle in the center of a ring formed by the Solomon Islands, Nauru, the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu, western Samoa, Fiji and the New Hebrides.
The U.S. and non-governmental organizations have said China has been building up its missile silos, but it's unclear how many missiles and nuclear warheads it has added to its arsenal.
The People's Liberation Army, which functions as the ruling Communist Party's military wing, runs China's space program, which has established an orbital station and has ambitions to set up a Moon base and land a spacecraft on Mars.
Rocketry has long been part of China's development into a major global power, spurring nationalism and growth that has made China the world's second-largest economy.
The U.S. remains Chinas main global rival, although Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and others have territorial disputes with Beijing that occasionally threaten to develop into military clashes.
China maintains a no first use of nuclear weapons policy, even as its desire for regional predominance grows.
Tests of Chinas intercontinental ballistic missiles into international waters are rare. Experts and a historical survey of Chinas program by the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative suggest the last occurred in May 1980. That test saw China launch its DF-5 missile into the South Pacific.
China typically launches missiles toward its western deserts from its east coast, said James Acton, the co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The fact that China launched a test that splashed down in international waters was unusual, but mirrors testing that the United States does for its own ballistic missile fleet.
"When they havent done something for 44 years and then they do it, thats significant, Acton told The Associated Press. Its Chinas way of telling us, Like you, were not ashamed we have nuclear weapons and were going to behave like a great nuclear power.
The launch came amid the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York. China is one of five veto-holding permanent members of the U.N.'s Security Council and has sought to gain influence over its key departments involving human rights and that align with its authoritarian system.
A series of corruption arrests this year ensnared several leading officers in the Rocket Force, alongside the detentions of two previous defense ministers amid allegations of misconduct.
A test launch now could both provide assurances to China's population amid an economic downtown and a signal to the world that the party remains firmly in control and is determined to rise to global prominence.
Were entering a new age. Were entering an age where the U.S. and China are engulfed in what feel like an arms race, said Jeffrey Lewis, a missile expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in the U.S.
The Chinese government always prioritized diplomatic issues over operational readiness. Its just a different China. Its a China that does not feel constrained, he said.
Theres a renewed emphasis on assuring themselves these systems work and demonstrating to others they work, Lewis added.
Meanwhile, tensions remain high over Taiwan, and with the Philippines, where the U.S. Army has deployed its new mid-range missile system, known as Typhon, to Northern Luzon. On Wednesday, two Filipino officials said the U.S. and the Philippines have agreed to keep the system there indefinitely to deter China.
I dont know whats the plan, but if I were to be followed, if I were given the choice, I would like to have the Typhon here in the Philippines forever because we need it for our defense, said Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., the head of the Philippines military.
Defense officials in Japan and Taiwan declined to comment directly on the Chinese announcement. Both, along with South Korea, maintain robust defenses against Chinese moves, including early warning systems and air raid shelters.
Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Charges have been dismissed against a man accused of shooting at two military helicopters from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that were conducting training exercises on American Lake. The defendant was found mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Court records show it is the third time that felony charges brought against Andre Wright Jr. in Pierce County have been dismissed due to competency issues.
In this case, prosecutors accused Wright, 46, of first-degree assault, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm after he was arrested June 7, 2023. Lakewood Police Department officers responded to the north shore of American Lake that evening for reports of a person who shot twice at military helicopters.
They were Chinook helicopters, according to court records, and they were not struck by the gunfire.
Officers detained Wright at the park and found a concealed Glock handgun on his hip, two metal "security" badges and handcuffs in a holster, according to the probable cause document. The gun was loaded with 14 rounds, and it was later confirmed stolen from Tacoma. Police reported that he appeared to be trying to portray himself as "some sort of official peace officer," and he claimed to hold various positions in law enforcement and the military.
Wright underwent three periods of inpatient treatment at Western State Hospital after a judge first declared him unable to understand the nature of the proceedings or assist in his own defense due to a mental disease in June 2023. Efforts to improve his mental health -- about 12 months of treatment at the psychiatric facility -- failed to restore his competency. Records state he was ineligible for additional treatment.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stanley Rumbaugh dismissed the case Sept. 19, and Wright was referred to an evaluation for civil commitment. Rumbaugh found the defendant was unable to understand the nature of the proceedings or assist in his own defense due to a mental disease.
In his most recent psychological evaluation, Dr. Patricia McCormick diagnosed Wright with an unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders. She wrote that Wright's emotional and behavioral functioning had improved overall, but he maintained grandiose and paranoid delusions.
In previous evaluations, psychologists noted that Wright had claimed to own local businesses and be a member of the military as well as a judicial officer and royalty. In one note written to a social worker in October 2023, he claimed to have an office next to the state capitol and requested his release, stating that he wasn't allowed to be arrested.
McCormick found that Wright did not pose an imminent risk to himself or others in the structured environment of Western State Hospital, but his dangerousness and inability to meet his basic needs would likely increase if he was outside of a monitored, secure setting.
Felony charges previously brought against Wright in Pierce County were dismissed in 2016 and 2020. The first dismissal stemmed from his failure to register as a sex offender. According to court records, he had four prior convictions for that offense after being convicted of attempted indecent liberties.
In the second case, Wright was accused of felony harassment and second-degree criminal impersonation after a security guard at the Tacoma Mall stopped him inside a business that was under construction. He allegedly claimed to be a Tacoma police officer and threatened to return to the mall to shoot the security guard and others.
In both cases, Wright was referred to Western State Hospital for civil commitment and was later released, according to court records.
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The National Guard is set to get a new leader following a nearly two-month vacancy after the Senate approved the service component's next chief.
As part of a batch of military confirmations, the Senate voted by voice Tuesday night to confirm Lt. Gen. Steven Nordhaus as chief of the National Guard Bureau and to give him a fourth star, clearing the deck of top military promotions ahead of a six-week congressional break to campaign for November's elections.
The tranche of approved nominees also included Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark, whose promotion Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., had been delaying over the controversy surrounding Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's initially secret hospitalization earlier this year.
Read Next: VA Checking for Connection Between PFAS Chemicals and Kidney Cancer in Afflicted Veterans
The nominations approved Tuesday also included new leaders for U.S. Southern Command, Transportation Command and U.S. Forces Korea.
The National Guard has been without a Senate-confirmed leader since the beginning of August, when previous chief Gen. Daniel Hokanson's term expired. The White House nominated Nordhaus just a week before Hokanson's retirement and shortly before the Senate started a five-week summer recess, leaving little time for him to be confirmed before a vacancy.
While the bureau has been led by an acting chief in the interim, it lacked a leader with the weight of Senate confirmation at the height of hurricane and wildfire season, when state governors are calling up their National Guards to respond to the destruction from the natural disasters. Leadership in the National Guard Bureau plays a key role in coordinating and communicating between national and state officials, and the chief sits on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Nordhaus, who has been a senior commander at the North American Aerospace Defense Command since March 2023, will take the helm of the National Guard at a time when the service component has been increasingly relied upon for a broad range of missions, some of which are far outside its normal scope. In addition to having to respond to natural disasters that are more frequent and more destructive because of climate change, the Guard has also been tapped by governors to fill labor shortages completely unrelated to military training such as school bus drivers and corrections officers.
At Nordhaus' confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month, lawmakers in both parties expressed concern about the Guard being stretched thin by non-military missions, a worry he indicated he shares.
Nordhaus also echoed concerns that Hokanson raised before his retirement that the Guard's mission of helping patrol the U.S.-Mexico border is hindering its ability to prepare for warfighting.
"They're not back home training for great power competition missions. They're not back home with their families and their employers getting set up so that, the next time they're asked to deploy overseas for a combat role, they have that spin for the National Guard," Nordhaus said of the Guardsmen deployed to the border.
While Nordhaus has now been confirmed, there are still leadership gaps at the National Guard Bureau. The batch of nominees approved Tuesday did not include Maj. Gen. Duke Pirak, who has been nominated to be director of the Air National Guard.
The bureau has also lacked a Senate-confirmed vice chief since the previous one retired in May. A replacement has yet to be nominated.
Separately, Tuberville had been delaying Clarks nomination for a fourth star and to be commander of U.S. Army Pacific over what the senator described as concerns that Clark should have notified the White House when Austin was rushed to the hospital at the beginning of the year for complications from an earlier prostate cancer surgery. Both the January hospitalization and prostate cancer diagnosis were initially kept secret from the White House, Congress and the public. Clark is currently Austin's senior military assistant and was in that role at the time of the hospitalization as well.
Tuberville had said he would delay Clark's promotion at least until the completion of an inspector general investigation into the hospitalization episode. But he relented after a meeting with Clark on Tuesday, Tuberville's office confirmed Wednesday.
"After a detailed discussion, Senator Tuberville dropped his hold," Mallory Jaspers, a spokesperson for Tuberville, said in an emailed statement. "While there were certainly failures elsewhere, the senator is confident that LTG Clark more than fulfilled his duties during the secretary's hospitalization. Senator Tuberville is thankful for LTG Clark's many decades of service to our nation and wishes he and his family the best in his new assignment."
Related: 'At What Cost': Guard Chief Argues Border Mission Is Getting in the Way of Warfighting
TAIPEI, Taiwan China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday in a rare occurrence, adding to tensions in the region where multiple countries have overlapping territorial claims and both Beijing and Washington seek to project their influence.
The launch was part of routine training by the Peoples Liberation Armys Rocket Force, which is in charge of conventional and nuclear missile operations, and was not aimed at any country or target, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, landed in a designated area in the sea, the ministry said, without specifying where exactly.
China rarely tests ICBMs out in international waters, with some experts tracing the last such deployment back to May 1980, when Beijing launched a DF-5 missile into the South Pacific. Usually, the PLA test-fires ballistic missiles in Chinas remote Xinjiang region or in the Bohai Sea.
Why the Pacific? Why Now?
China choosing the Pacific Ocean as the location for test-firing its missile comes across as both a display of its increased nuclear capabilities and as a warning to the United States and its allies in the region, experts say.
There is no other potential audience, as China does not expect to have to confront the EU or the U.K. militarily, said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London.
The test also comes weeks ahead of an expected call between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden. It marks an increase in regional security tensions with U.S. allies Japan and the Philippines, and a continuation of frictions with the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.
Taiwans Defense Ministry said Wednesday it was monitoring the missile launch, along with other military exercises by China in the region.
The launch, coinciding with the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, "is a pretty blunt signal to the international order, said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and a former U.S. defense official.
China is signaling that its forbearance has limits, that it is prepared to use its most powerful weapons to deter adversaries or punish them if needed, if deterrence fails, he said.
Wednesday's launch also follows a series of corruption arrests this year that ensnared several leading officers in its rocket corps on allegations of misconduct. Its aim could be to both provide assurances at home and signal to the world that the issues have been resolved.
How Strong Is China's Military?
China boasts the worlds largest standing army and the biggest navy. Its military budget is the second highest in the world, after that of the U.S.
According to the U.S., China also has the largest air force in the Indo-Pacific, with more than half of its fighter planes consisting of fourth or fifth generation models. China also boasts a massive stockpile of missiles, along with stealth aircraft, bombers capable of delivering nuclear weapons, advanced surface ships and nuclear-powered submarines.
In his more than a decade in power, Xi, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, has spearheaded the armed forces modernization, with investments in high-tech military technologies from stealth fighters to aircraft carriers and a growing arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Chinas defense budget has more than doubled since 2015, even as the countrys economic growth rate has slowed considerably. A U.S. Department of Defense report last year said China has continued to strengthen the PLAs ability to fight and win wars against a strong enemy.
How Do China's Missiles Compare to Those of Others?
The U.S. report also estimated China had more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023 and was on track to accumulate more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030.
China has not revealed the size of its nuclear arsenal.
In comparison, Russia is believed to have a total inventory of more than 5,580 warheads including 4,380 stockpiled warheads for operational forces, as well as an additional 1,200 retired warheads awaiting dismantlement according to a report this year by the Federation of American Scientists.
The same report put the U.S. nuclear warheads at 5,044.
How Common Are Missile Tests in the Region?
Few countries have ICBMs in their arsenal, and testing is usually restricted to their own territory. North Korea has carried out multiple ICBM tests since 2017, including firing a developmental solid-fueled missile in December that came down in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
The U.S. earlier this year fired two unarmed ICBMs equipped with reentry vehicles from California and brought them down on an American test site in the Marshall Islands.
Associated Press journalists Emily Wang Fujiyama in Beijing and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.
Related: China Test-Fires an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile into the Pacific Ocean
BOISE The nearly ubiquitous just say no campaigns of the 1980s and early 90s and D.A.R.E drug prevention programs of the late 90s and early 2000s have long been determined ineffective.
But amid an ongoing opioid epidemic, fueled by potent and often deadly fentanyl, theres a strong push to get prevention and education into schools in ways that will really reach young people by discouraging drug use. This goal prompted an event Tuesday at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise during which around 140 middle schoolers discussed how they would communicate to their classmates the dangers of fentanyl and other drugs.
This is something Ive never seen happen this morning before, and to me, it was probably one of the most inspiring, energetic things Ive ever seen, Kuna School District Superintendent Kim Bekkedahl said Tuesday. These kids were amazing and they were engaged.
The U.S. Attorney for Idaho collaborated with Kuna, Boise and West Ada school districts for the inaugural Youth Fentanyl Summit an event U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho Josh Hurwit hopes to reproduce around the state. The summit featured Hurwit, former members of law enforcement, and other presenters who focus on drug prevention. Media was not allowed inside the event, but speakers and organizers were made available after.
Groups of at least six students from 20 middle schools brainstormed ways they could take the information they learned and effectively communicate it to their peers. Each school got $250 in federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area funding to bring their ideas to fruition.
I think whats unique about this model is were trying to have the kids teach us what makes sense to them, Hurwit said. Rather than adults trying to tell them what they need to know, or what learning mechanism has been tried and true or not, but just asking kids, hey, heres some information, you use it in the way you see it most appropriate to be most effective with your friends.
There was information shared from Natural High, a nonprofit focused on drug prevention that inspires and empowers youth to find their natural high and develop the skills and courage to live life well, according to its website.
Bekkedahl said Kuna schools have implemented Natural High and other drug prevention efforts for the last three years. She said the schools there have not been heavily impacted by fentanyl, and she aims to keep it that way.
Title: Boost Your Document Processes: Say Goodbye to Slowness with Google Docs
(Enhancing Documents: Drawing within Google Docs)
Have you ever struggled to navigate through your document at work or school? Or do you have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information that needs to be processed every day? Well, fear not! With the latest updates from Google Docs, weve made it easier than ever to streamline your document processing processes.
Google Docs offers a range of features that can help you create, edit, and share documents more efficiently than ever before. Heres how you can use them:
1. Save and Retrieve Items: One of the most useful features of Google Docs is its ability to save and retrieve items directly from anywhere. You can save all of your documents as an HTML file or PDF file, and then access them anytime you need them using your browser. This way, you can easily access and manage your documents from any device on your network, saving time and reducing the amount of storage space you need.
2. Schedule Tasks: Another great feature of Google Docs is its ability to schedule tasks for future reference. For example, you could set up a task for every week to complete a particular document or project. The document will then automatically download and open on the next working day at your specified time.
3. Comment and Edit: While you may not always need to take full notes while editing a document, Google Docs allows you to comment on key points and make changes to the content as needed. This can save you valuable time and reduce the risk of errors when making important decisions.
4. Create A Document Cluster: If you frequently work on large projects, Google Docs offers a feature called Document Cluster. This allows you to group similar documents together, making it easier to organize and access them later. For example, if youre creating a report for an executive team, you could set up a document cluster that includes all the necessary data and statistics.
(Enhancing Documents: Drawing within Google Docs)
Overall, Google Docs is a powerful tool that can help you streamline your document processing processes. By taking advantage of its various features, you can create more efficient and productive document workflows that can help you get more done quickly and efficiently. So why wait? Try out Google Docs today and see the difference it can make!
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Title: Discover the True Art of Sonys A7iii User Guide
(Mastering the Sony A7iii: A Comprehensive User Guide)
Do you want to elevate your photography skills and revolutionize the way you capture memories? Look no further than Sonys A7iii user guide. This comprehensive guide will take you through every step from getting started to understanding advanced features like optical image stabilization and fast shutter speeds.
The Sony A7iii is one of the most advanced cameras on the market, and its user manual is a must-have for anyone serious about photography. The guide provides detailed information on everything from setting up the camera to managing shooting sequences. It covers topics such as aperture control, focus points, image post-processing, and ISO settings. It also includes sample images and tutorials to help you get started with these important aspects of photography.
But what makes this guide so unique is that it doesnt just teach you about the basics but also offers tips and tricks to improve your overall workflow. From using lightroom to selecting appropriate colors to shooting at different focal lengths, this guide covers all the essential techniques to achieve your desired results. Youll learn how to choose the right lens for your situation, experiment with different lighting setups, and even manage high-speed video recording.
One of the standout features of this guide is its real-world examples. The author uses practical examples to demonstrate how to use various features and shoot stunning photographs. Whether youre learning about aperture control or finding creative ways to capture moving objects, this guide has something for everyone.
(Mastering the Sony A7iii: A Comprehensive User Guide)
But dont just take my word for it try out the book yourself and see for yourself how well it captures your vision. With its fascinating content, expert guidance, and practical examples, Sonys A7iii user guide is the ultimate tool for anyone looking to improve their photography skills and create beautiful memories.
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This Saturday you can visit some of the nations wonders free of admission.
Every fourth Saturday of September the National Parks Services waives admission fees for National Public Lands Day.
Michigan is home to five national parks plus a 1,150 mile-stretch of the North Country National Scenic Trail.
Daily admission, typically $25, is waived on Saturday, Sept. 28 for these five parks:
Isle Royale National Park
Keweenaw National Historical Park
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
River Raisin National Battlefield Park
About 2.8 million visitors came to the national parks in Michigan in 2023, according to the National Parks Service.
Michigans natural beauty is a boon to its economy as tourists explore even further outside the national parks.
Those visitors spent an estimated $273 million in local gateway regions while visiting National Park Service lands in Michigan, according to NPS.
RELATED: Pictured Rocks brings in $45.7M in local tourism dollars
National Public Lands Day, spearheaded by the National Environmental Education Foundation, is a day to appreciate the protected lands.
For 30 years, nature lovers have come together for Americas largest single-day volunteer effort to appreciate the 63 national parks.
Last year, 7,600 volunteers donated 41,500 hours of service across the country.
Sleeping Bear is seeking volunteers to hike the Sleeping Bear Point Trail to reset posts that have fallen over and clearing a downed tree. Volunteers should meet at the Philip A Hart Visitor Center in Empire at 10 a.m.
A volunteer workday is also taking place from 9 a.m.- 12 p.m. at Keweenaw National Historical Park in Calumet.
For more information on National Public Lands Day and volunteer events across the country check out nps.gov/subjects/npscelebrates and select National Public Lands Day.
CHEBOYGAN COUNTY, MI Police have learned why two Cheboygan teenagers went on a vandalism spree in Northern Michigan.
Well, we were kind of bored, the teens told Cheboygan Police Chief Scott Rifenberg, UpNorthLive reported.
The vandalism, which occurred from Mullett Lake to downtown Cheboygan, included 69 vehicles, four trailers and more.
Michigan State Police said previously that deflated tires, rocks in fuel tanks, damaged mirrors and more occurred between 1 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Sept. 15.
Graffiti has also been painted throughout town and park benches had been thrown into the river, police said.
Well, theres lots of things to do out there other than vandalize other peoples property, Rifenberg told the TV station.
A lot of people were affected by this vandalism. Even if it wasnt permanent damage to their cars or business windows, it certainly took a lot of time. And people feel violated when individuals take advantage of others property.
Troopers identified one of the suspects from security camera footage and an interview was conducted. Two juveniles were apprehended and charged.
They will be heading to juvenile court, police said. Neither of the juveniles have been identified.
PONTIAC, MI A Michigan woman is accused of using duct tape to restrain her disabled sister and 4-year-old daughter overnight.
Brittany Indonesia Ivory, 31, of Waterford has been charged with unlawful imprisonment, second degree child abuse and third degree vulnerable adult abuse, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen D. McDonald announced Tuesday.
The charges come after officers responded to a home in Waterford at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 21 where they found a 32-year-old woman bound by duct tape in the backyard and a 4-year-old child bound to a stroller in a bedroom.
Ivory, the sister and caretaker of the 32-year-old and mother of the 4-year-old is accused of restraining the victims before leaving for the night.
Caretakers are entrusted to support and protect the safety of individuals in their care, McDonald said in a statement. To use your position of trust to abuse another individual, in this case, a child and a vulnerable adult, is abhorrent.
Everyone deserves dignity, respect and to feel secure. My office is committed to holding those who threaten to violate this trust accountable and securing justice for the victims.
The victims were transported to the hospital for medical care. Ivory was taken into custody at the Oakland County Jail. Bond was set at $10,000.
A probable cause conference is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 1.
LAKE MICHIGAN - The remains of a steam tug found in Lake Michigan this month after nearly 130 years was a target that had eluded shipwreck hunters for the last four decades.
Images of the John Evenson wreck came into view on a sidescan sonar just a scant five minutes into what was supposed to be a three-day search mission on Friday, Sept. 13 off the coast of Algoma, Wisconsin. What is thought by some to be an unlucky date turned out to be a day to celebrate for maritime historians Brendon Baillod and Bob Jaeck. It is their third wreck find in the last year.
But the two finders would tell you luck didnt have as much to do with it as the hours and hours the pair put into researching historical records on the wreck and its possible locations.
Baillod and Jaeck collected all the accounts of her loss as well as an original customs house wreck report prepared by her captain, John Laurie, the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association staff said. The two historians are members of the nonprofit group aimed at the preservation of underwater resources and cultural artifacts. They plotted all the locations given and noticed that a few clustered in the same small area as that given in the wreck report, approximately 4 miles northeast of Algoma, Wisconsin.
On Friday, September 13 at 9 AM, the pair had just deployed their remote sensing equipment and were tuning the sonar signals when a huge boiler crawled across the screen only five minutes into what had been planned as three-day search.
The John Evenson circa 1890.Brendon Baillod courtesy of the Harold J. Benash Family
A Steam Tug Long Gone
Built in Milwaukee in 1884, the 54-foot John Evenson had only been working as a harbor and towing tug for a little over a decade when a summertime collision abruptly sent it to the bottom of Lake Michigan. In June 1895, the Evensons crew was helping the brand new I. Watson Stephenson steamer get into the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal. The 170+ foot lumber hooker was named after one of the eras wealthiest Great Lakes timber titans.
That day, the steam tugs captain made the fatal mistake of running across the bow of the bigger ship while trying to get a line attached. The two vessels collided, and the smaller tug rolled over and immediately capsized.
The tugs five crew were cast into the water and rescued except for the tugs fireman, Martin Boswell, who was asleep below decks and was carried down with the vessel and lost, the maritime association said.
After the sinking, newspapers gave different locations of where the steam tug had gone down. Some reported it was a relatively shallow wreck, while other reports had it sitting in 300 feet of water.
In the 1980s, there were diving expeditions to search for the Evenson. No one caught a glimpse. A Wisconsin dive club even offered a finders cash reward. It sat unspent.
3D Photogrammetry model of the Evenson wreck.Zach Whitrock, Tamara Thomsen, State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Maritime Homework, Then Success
When Baillod and Jaeck hit the jackpot in the first minutes of their search for the Evenson, they sent down a remote operated vehicle (ROV) to check the find. It showed them images of a giant propeller, steam engine and boiler.
The tugs hull-bed is present along with all of her machinery, giving a fascinating look at the steam technology of the late 1800s, the maritime group said.
The historians quickly reached Wisconsin State Underwater Archeologist Tamara Thomsen. The next day, she and diver Zach Whitrock arrived to survey the site. Their 2,000 hi-res images were used to create a 3D photogrammetry model of the wreck.
You can see that here: https://sketchfab.com/.../john-evenson-1884.
Whats next? The group plans to nominate the shipwreck site to the National Register of Historic Places and make it available for other divers to visit.
For now, this wreck find goes in the books along with other resting places found recently by Baillod and Jaeck. This includes the schooner Trinidad, discovered in June of 2023 and the schooner Margaret A. Muir earlier this summer.
Australia is experiencing a significant skills crisis that is impacting various sectors across the economy.
One of the primary causes of this issue is workforce availability, with a siloed and disjointed workforce struggling to adapt to Australias evolving economic landscape.
According to Deloitte, Skills fuel the engine of economic growth. Therefore, addressing the geographic isolation of many potential full-time workers is crucial to mitigating the skills crisis. By enhancing access to skills development across regional Australia, we can help bridge the skills gap and drive economic growth.
Identifying Future Skill Gaps
One of the crucial steps in addressing the skills crisis is to identify and anticipate future skill gaps. This proactive approach involves understanding the evolving needs of the workforce and the economy. Employers, trainers, funders and academic institutions must reassess their workforce models and requirements to encompass future needs. By doing so, they can create a more resilient workforce capable of meeting the demands of a rapidly changing economy.
Creating a strategic workforce development ecosystem is not just important; its essential. It requires the active participation and collaboration of all key players, including government bodies, educational institutions, and private sector organisations. Only by working in tandem can we effectively close the gap between the demand for skilled labour and rising unemployment. This collaboration and coordination among stakeholders is not just the best route to a more effective and efficient workforce development strategy; its the only route.
Promoting Workforce Development Policies
Adopting policies that promote workforce development and enable economic growth is a critical step in addressing the skills crisis. Policy tools, including legislation, have the power to encourage desirable behaviours among participants and help advance overall workforce development goals. For instance, the introduction of certification and other non-degree credentials can be a powerful strategy to enhance workforce accessibility and shape the future workforce. The potential for change through these policy tools is immense.
These programs can promote the participation of traditionally ignored populations in the workforce. We can build alternative credentials and significantly increase the talent pool by treating such certificate programs as equivalent to regular degree programs. This approach can help diversify the workforce and ensure that more people can acquire the skills needed for in-demand jobs.
Recognising and Rewarding Businesses
Recognising and rewarding businesses that invest in their workforces is crucial. Providing additional financial support for training entry-level workers, such as economic incentives for apprentices or incumbent workers, can encourage more businesses to prioritise workforce development. This support can come in various forms, including tax incentives, grants or subsidies for companies that invest in employee training programs.
Incentives encouraging upskilling are also necessary. Offering monetary or nonmonetary rewards for learning new skills can motivate workers to pursue continuous education and professional development. This can help create a culture of lifelong learning, where employees are encouraged to enhance their skills and stay relevant in their respective fields.
Investing in Regional Infrastructure
Improving infrastructure in regional areas is also essential. This includes enhancing digital connectivity and providing access to educational resources. Investing in regional infrastructure can create more opportunities for skills development and ensure that regional workers have the tools they need to succeed.
Digital connectivity is essential in todays economy. Access to high-speed internet and online learning tools can enable remote learning, making it easier for regional workers to access online training programs and job opportunities. By bridging the digital divide, we can create a more inclusive and accessible workforce development ecosystem.
Building Partnerships with Educational Institutions
Building partnerships with educational institutions is another critical strategy. Collaborating with universities, TAFEs and training centres can help create tailored programs that meet the specific needs of regional workers. These partnerships can provide valuable resources and expertise, ensuring that training programs are relevant and effective.
Employers can play a significant role in these partnerships by offering internships, apprenticeships and on-the-job training opportunities. This hands-on experience can help regional workers develop practical skills and gain valuable insights into their chosen fields. By working closely with educational institutions, employers can help shape the future workforce and ensure it is well-equipped to meet the economys demands.
Emphasising Lifelong Learning
Emphasising the importance of lifelong learning is crucial. Encouraging workers to pursue continuous education and professional development can help them stay relevant in a rapidly changing job market. Access to online courses, workshops and training programs can support this goal.
Employers can also foster a culture of lifelong learning by offering flexible work schedules, tuition reimbursement programs, and other incentives for employees who pursue further education. By prioritising lifelong learning, we can create a more adaptable and resilient workforce capable of navigating future challenges.
Conclusion
Improving workforce accessibility for regional workers is vital in addressing Australias skills crisis. By identifying future skill gaps, building partnerships with educational institutions and emphasising lifelong learning, we can create a more inclusive and effective workforce development ecosystem. This approach can help bridge the skills gap, drive economic growth and ensure Australia remains competitive globally.
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ANN ARBOR, MI Two men have pleaded guilty to assault after an Ann Arbor crime spree roughly a year ago.
Gabriel Escobar, 19, and Christian Benitez-Reyes, 23, both admitted to an added charge of assault less than murder during a hearing Sept. 19 before Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Arianne Slay, according to court records. The plea comes after a sentence agreement with the Washtenaw County Prosecutors Office, records noted.
Slay is to sentence the two Oct. 24.
Escobar was originally sent to trial on charges of armed robbery, attempted first-degree home invasion and resisting a police officer. Benitez-Reyes was bound over on charges of armed robbery, attempted home invasion, fleeing and eluding and one count of resisting and obstructing a police officer. Their other charges will be dismissed at sentencing.
The case against a third codefendant, 20-year-old Shawn Hastings, was dismissed in February after the prosecutors office said it did not have enough evidence to proceed. Hastings was originally charged with armed robbery, attempted first-degree home invasion, malicious destruction of personal property more than $1,000 but less than $20,000, and resisting a police officer.
The three men were charged in connection with a series of crimes on Sept. 21, 2023.
Ann Arbor police responded around 2:15 a.m. to the 200 block of South Main Street for a report of an armed robbery.
Two women were standing on the sidewalk when a vehicle driving north on South Main Street turned around and parked nearby, police said. Two people then got out of the car, one armed with a long gun and the other wearing a ski mask and armed with a knife.
Read more: Case against men accused in Ann Arbor crime spree dropped; codefendants head to trial
One of the suspects then demanded cash from the women, police said, and upon receiving the money, the suspects walked back to the vehicle and drove away. The women were not harmed, police said.
Roughly three minutes later, police said, officers saw a vehicle at a gas station on Main Street that matched the description provided by the women. The passenger in the vehicle was wearing a ski mask, police said.
The vehicle headed west on West William Street, pursued by officers, before crashing at Allmendinger Park, 655 Pauline Boulevard, police said. Two male suspects left the scene on foot, while one, later identified as Hastings, remained there, police said. Hastings was taken to University of Michigan Hospital, police said, and officers also found a rifle.
At about 4:30 a.m., police said, officers spotted a man walking south on South Main Street. The man, identified later as Benitez-Reyes, was recognized as one of the suspects and arrested, police said.
RELATED: Man accused of Ann Arbor armed robbery given $2M bond, third suspect arrested
The men also were charged in connection with an attempted home invasion at the 1800 block of Arbordale at roughly 2 a.m. the same day. A homeowner reported hearing his car alarm, followed by someone banging on the front door, police said.
Benitez-Reyes was arraigned Sept. 22, 2023, while Hastings and Escobar were arraigned a day later.
Benitez-Reyes and Escobar are both being held in the Washtenaw County Jail on a $2 million bond.
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ANN ARBOR, MI - Ann Arbor Schools is entering an agreement with federal authorities to address a civil rights complaint after a Tappan Middle School counselor reportedly told a student of Palestinian descent in late 2023 they dont negotiate with terrorists.
A U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights investigation confirmed the school counselors statement and determined the district did not appear to have assessed whether a hostile environment then emerged, according to information released Tuesday, Sept. 24, by the Office for Civil Rights.
The office is concerned the district did not examine more broadly the effects, beyond the student, even after notice that district community members perceived the incident as reflecting an escalation of animus directed at Muslim and Arab students, reads an letter sent to the district.
Further, the evidence the district has produced to date does not reflect that it took steps reasonably calculated to redress any hostile environment for the Student and for other affected students or staff.
Ann Arbor Public Schools must voluntarily agree to meet a host of conditions in response to the civil rights complaint before the investigation is complete. The list includes notifying the affected student in writing whether the district found a hostile environment.
The care, safety, and well-being of all of our students and all within our district remain our top priority, AAPS spokesman Andrew Cluley said in statement.
We stand against all forms of racism, hate, discrimination and bias. When harm is done in our school community, we always take these matters seriously. We do not ignore them. We do not deny them. And we do not neglect to hold people accountable.
The district has until Nov. 15 to provide the Office of Civil Rights a draft school climate assessment evaluating any potential harassment, community members access to information of anti-discrimination policies, the perception of the districts handling of complaints and suggestions to reduce reported issues
Once approved by the Office of Civil Rights, AAPS would have 60 days to prove it administered the assessment.
The district must then analyze its own assessment and provide and implement a proposed action plan within two subsequent 30-day periods.
Additionally, the district has to submit a draft policy on how it will meet Title VI obligations to respond to hostile environment concerns by Nov. 30, as well as host trainings for staff, school board members, parents, and members of the school community on Title VIs prohibition of discrimination, harassment and retaliation.
When incidents occur, and they do because our schools are a microcosm of the world and community around us, there are some details that we cannot comment on, Cluley added in the districts statement.
Our focus is on supporting our students individual and collective needs, with a deep commitment to their well-being. We will continue this unwavering focus, as it is our critical mission.
The Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation early this year in response to a December 2023 notice of a hostile environment for students based on shared Muslim/Arab Palestinian ancestry.
Read more: Terrorist comment by Ann Arbor school counselor being investigated by U.S. Department of Ed
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, retained by the Tappan student, filed the original complaint Dec. 18.
Then an eighth grader, the student in November 2023 was speaking with his guidance counselor and allegedly asked a sixth-grade counselor if he could leave the office to get a drink of water.
The sixth-grade counselor reportedly told the eighth-grader he couldnt leave because they didnt negotiate with terrorists. The complaint stated the student quickly expressed he felt the comments were discriminatory and inappropriate, and he no longer felt comfortable attending school or participating in meetings at the counselors office.
Amy Doukoure, a staff attorney with the Council on American-Islamic Relations who represented the Tappan students family, pointed to the organizations response to Tuesdays announcement, welcoming AAPS consent to the Office of Civil Rights resolution.
Schools have an affirmative legal duty to ensure that every student can come to school in a welcoming, inclusive and safe environment for learning, she said in a statement. The finding by the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights is a reaffirmation of that duty, and a reminder that when schools fail in that duty, they will be held accountable.
The office also noted with concern AAPS Title VI grievance procedures limits who can file a complaint, requiring only that the district responds to written complaints rather than satisfying the federal Title VI statute.
It did not find evidence the district retaliated against the student.
The district investigated as a disciplinary matter the incident involving the counselors remark and the investigation showed the remark was a onetime incident that the counselor immediately apologized for, according to the letter.
Read the entire consent resolution and Office of Civil Rights release here.
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ANN ARBOR, MI Gwen Walz stopped by Ann Arbor to invigorate campaign volunteers who support her husband Tim Walzs campaign to win the White House as Vice President Kamala Harris running mate.
Gwen Walz, Minnesotas first lady and a retired English teacher, helped kick off a canvass launch for Team Harris and Michigan Democrats Michigan ONE campaign Tuesday, Sept. 24, at a campaign field office on State Street.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recently awarded 112 organizations from across the nation to receive funding through ArtsHERE, a $12 million grant program.
Piloted by South Arts and five U.S. Regional Arts Organizations, Grand Rapids-based West Michigan Center for Arts + Technology (WMCAT) was named a recipient of the award.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI A man who robbed the downtown Comerica Bank last year was sentenced to five years in federal prison.
Timothy Andrew Lee Crane, 31, was sentenced Tuesday, Sept. 24, in the June 22, 2023, holdup at the bank on Monroe Avenue NW, south of Pearl Street.
OTTAWA COUNTY, MI -- A majority faction of Ottawa County commissioners voted to reject a $900,000 state health grant over concerns about spending taxpayer funds without necessity.
Commissioners debated during a meeting Tuesday, Sept. 24, over whether to accept the $900,000 grant, which would help fund education, training and response to communicable diseases and infection prevention.
Board Chair Joe Moss noted the grant is classified by the state as a COVID supplemental grant even though it could be used for broader purposes.
Considering the fact that I do not expect any COVID emergencies or other similar emergencies with communicable diseases, I think it would be safe and prudent to reject the grant and not pre-plan ahead to use it for an emergency, Moss said.
Commissioners last year also rejected more than $2 million in state health grants intended for COVID response.
Moss and Commissioner Allison Miedema reasoned that declining the funds was responsible because it means not spending taxpayer dollars, whether those dollars are funneled through federal, state or local channels.
Miedema said that accepting the funds is otherwise continually funding something we dont necessarily need to have. And the more that county boards do that across the nation, if we actually turn it down, were actually saving taxpayer dollars, keeping it in their own pockets.
Commissioners voted 6-4 Tuesday to remove the $900,000 from the county health department budget prior to approving the overall county budget.
Commissioners affiliated with the conservative platform Ottawa Impact all voted to strike the grant.
Dissenting commissioners argued that accepting the funds was a good option for unknown emergencies.
Moss confirmed Tuesday that the county might need to tap the countys contingency fund if there was an unexpected significant health emergency, but he said the dollars are available.
Commissioner Doug Zylstra said he preferred having the $900,000.
I think anything that gives us the opportunity to have emergency funding, why would we reject it, if the alternative is to put it on the back of taxpayers, which makes zero sense to me, Commissioner Doug Zylstra said.
Tuesdays vote removed the $900,000 from the countys health department budget, but commissioners agreed to look further into details of the grant over the next few weeks to see if it could be added later.
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MUSKEGON, MI -- The developer of Adelaide Pointe has settled a yearlong, legal battle with a contractor who claimed nearly $1 million in unpaid work.
Terra Contractors, a Muskegon-based excavation and underground utility company, earlier this month discharged an over $917,000 lien it issued against Adelaide Pointe in October 2023, according to a notice filed with the Muskegon County Register of Deeds.
The company began providing labor to the Adelaide Pointe development in October 2022, according to county documents.
Terra claimed Adelaide Pointe paid it only $1.5 million out of $2.4 million worth of labor and supplies. The contractor stopped working for Adelaide Pointe in October 2023 and filed a lien on five parcels owned by entities tied to the development.
A joint statement posted earlier in September to Adelaide Pointes Facebook page, however, said the claims made during litigation were the result of a misunderstanding.
The parties recognize that there were differing perspectives and interpretations regarding the construction performed by Terra at the development, the statement read.
The parties engaged in meaningful settlement discussions and are pleased to announce that were able to resolve their differences and the litigation has been dismissed.
Leestma told MLive he chose to settle the issue to prevent his customers from being dragged into the litigation.
I think the most important thing is that all the things we said we would complete, we completed, Leestma said. When youre talking about an incredibly complex project at the scale that Adelaide Pointe is at, things are going to come up ... But you find solutions, you hammer it out, and you keep going.
Terra Contractors did not immediately respond to requests for comment at the time of publishing.
Hudsonville-based Van Spyker Landscaping also had a lien against Adelaide Pointe claiming the developer still owed over $66,000 out of a nearly $108,000 contract, but the company discharged that lien in August, according to county records.
RELATED: Adelaide Pointe bringing new life to Muskegon Lake
Developer Ryan Leestmas $250 million vision for Adelaide Pointe continues to take shape along Muskegon Lake. Several facets of the project, including a 169-slip wet marina, a 66,000-square-foot boat storage facility and Muskegon Brewing Companys restaurant and tap room already are up and running.
The project was cited by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) earlier this summer made unauthorized changes to the original site plan for the marina and two on-site peninsulas.
EGLE is in conversations with Leestma to discuss resolutions to the violations, which could include fines and requirements to remediate environmental damages the changes might have caused.
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EGELSTON TOWNSHIP, MI - Supporters of a new battery plant being built in Muskegon Countys Egelston Township expect the project will bring some positive things to the community.
Residents will see an increase of 150 jobs, adding to the local tax base, officials said.
New payroll coming into the community will be beneficial, so as we add new jobs to the county and the township, thats definitely something that benefits our tax base, said Marla Schneider, CEO of the Greater Muskegon Economic Development organization.
California-based Mitra Chem is teaming up with Sun Chemical of New Jersey to establish a battery material manufacturing facility in Muskegon County, the two companies announced recently.
The U.S. Department of Energy selected Mitra Chem to receive a $100 million domestic battery manufacturing grant for the project. Mitra Chem will receive another $25 million from the state of Michigan for the project.
The Muskegon County battery facility will focus on developing and manufacturing next-generation materials for electric vehicles and battery storage. It will be the first mass production facility for lithium iron phosphate cathodes in North America, according to statements from both companies.
Egelston Township always welcomes job growth, Township Supervisor John Holter said. He declined making additional comments until after receiving more detailed and specific information regarding the new business.
While Schneider was unaware of the projects timeline, she said Mitra Chem will need to go in front of the township to get approval for building permits, possible tax abatement and other items.
If the company were to get a tax abatement, that would affect the amount of property tax it pays for a set amount of time.
Getting a project like this gives Michigan the competitive advantage, Schneider said.
They are looking to incentivize the project through (Michigan Economic Development Corporation) funds to locate or keep the company here in Michigan, Schneider said.
This happens when a business is deciding whether or not to stay in Michigan, or begin operations in the state, while considering other out-of-state options, she said.
Mitra Chem was one of four companies in Michigan to receive a total of $355 million in federal energy grants.
Michigan is leading the future of clean energy and competing to bring manufacturing jobs and supply chains back home, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a Sept. 20 press release.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said Michigan is poised to see over $1 billion more in public-private investment, creating hundreds of new jobs for workers across the state who are essential to ensuring our national energy security.
The Michigan ethos is embedded in Americas industrial fabric, and the Biden-Harris administration is deepening that proud manufacturing legacy, Granholm said.
Both political leaders and Mitra Chem leadership stressed the importance of keeping the industry in the U.S.
To keep America a global leader in EVs and manufacturing, we must ensure electric vehicles, their batteries, all their components, and their infrastructure are built here at home, U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell said. This investment will strengthen our domestic battery supply chain, create good paying union jobs, support Michigans auto leadership, and advance our transition to a clean-energy future.
Mitra Chem said the project is part of a bigger initiative to build a robust domestic electric vehicle battery supply chain that is cleaner, safer, faster, more affordable and independent of China.
The effort is meant to align with the goals of the Biden-Harris Administration to transition the U.S. to a clean energy economy that relies less on foreign production.
Currently, 100% of battery grade iron phosphate (FP) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) is manufactured outside of the U.S., and 99% of it comes from China.
Mitra Chem said it hopes to nearly double the countrys LFP production capacity - 15,000 tons per year by 2027 and double it further to 30,000 tons per year after that.
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GRAND RAPIDS, MI A West Michigan man is accused of making a false report of a bomb threat to a cruise ship that had just departed Miami.
The man allegedly emailed a threat from Muskegon County.
Specifically, the defendant sent an e-mail to Carnival Cruise Lines stating, Hey, I think someone might have a bomb on your sunrise cruise ship after the Carnival Sunrise cruise ship department from Miami, Florida, with a full complement of passengers and crew, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler wrote in the indictment.
The defendants name is withheld by MLive pending his initial court appearance. He was indicted on a charge of false information and hoaxes, punishable by up to five years in prison, three years on supervised release and $250,000 fine. Restitution is mandatory.
The indictment did not provide an alleged motive.
We take every threat of mass violence seriously, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement. Hoaxes can endanger lives, incur needless costs, and divert public safety resources needed to address real threats.
The ship including over 1,000 guest cabins was searched and escorted to its next port of call by Jamaican Marine Police, the indictment said.
The FBI investigated.
When individuals make false hoax threats, they divert critical law enforcement resources and spread unnecessary fear, Cheyvoryea Gibson, special agent in charge of the FBI in Michigan. The FBI takes all threats to life seriously and will ensure that those who resort to this kind of intimidation face the appropriate consequences.
BAY CITY, MI It was August 2020 when a Michigan womans burned body was found behind an abandoned schoolhouse in rural Bay County, the apparent victim of a gangland-style execution. Four years on, the woman accused of killing the mother of five and setting her remains on fire to conceal the crime is finally facing a jury.
Her attorney, though, claims a different person perpetrated the killing, all to conceal secrets within the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. That person is expected to testify for the prosecution.
Dressed in all black, Britany A. Letourneau entered the courtroom of Bay County Circuit Judge Jessie Scott Wood on Wednesday, Sept. 25, for attorneys opening statements. The 44-year-old Letourneau also known by the surnames Lewis, Johnson, Tigner and Raymo and aliases Marciea A. Fordyce, Marcia Ann Moses and Marciea Reyes is charged with open murder, removing, mutilating, or disinterring a dead body, and two counts of felony firearm in connection with the death of Heidi E. Dowd, 36.
Opening statements
Addressing the jury first, Bay County Prosecutor Nancy E. Borushko outlined her theory of the case, saying it did not depend on one piece of evidence or one witness testimony.
This is a case of putting all the pieces together, she said.
The prosecutor said the evidence will show Dowd was at her West Branch home in the early morning of Aug. 16, 2020, when police raided it on suspicion of drug dealing. During the raid, Dowd turned her cellphone over to police, Borushko said.
In less than 12 hours, Heidi Dowd would be dead, she continued.
Heidi E. Dowd, found shot to death in rural Bay County on Aug. 17, 2020.
Letourneau arrived at Dowds house following the raid, picking up Dowd and her young son. After dropping off the boy elsewhere, Letourneau called a man named Aaron M. Wyse and had him meet her and Dowd near Alderwood Estates in Bangor Township. When Wyse met up with the women, a side of Dowds face was bruised, Borushko said.
Heidi needs to go away, Letourneau told Wyse, according to Borushko. She needs to go on a vacation.
With Wyse driving a Ford Expedition, Letourneau climbed into the backseat and injected Dowd with drugs, Borushko said. Wyse then heard a gunshot behind him and turned around.
He saw the defendant, Britany Letourneau, with a gun in her hand and Heidi Dowd slumping down into the vehicles seat, Borushko said.
Letourneau climbed back into the front passenger seat, and she and Wyse spent hours driving around Michigan. They went as far south as Troy before heading back north to Bay Countys Mount Forest Township, where Letourneau decided to dump Dowds body.
Her body was removed from the vehicle, pulled onto the ground, accelerant was poured on her body, and her body was lit on fire, Borushko said. The evidence is going to show you whose decisions those were.
Wyse is himself charged with removing, mutilating, or disinterring a dead body and testified for the prosecution against Dowd in a September 2023 preliminary examination.
Evidence recovered from cellphones will show Letourneaus path of travel on Aug. 17 and how investigators tracked her, the prosecutor added.
Heidi Dowd with her youngest son. She was found shot to death in rural Bay County on Aug. 17, 2020.
In closing, she encouraged the jurors not to be swayed by Letourneaus slight appearance.
Be careful of a wolf in sheeps clothing, she said.
Defense attorney Alan A. Crawford offered a different perspective, claiming Wyse killed Dowd to keep her from turning informant. His client, he alleged, was a methamphetamine-addicted hostage of the significantly larger Wyse, he said.
What lies beneath is a more complex tale revolving around addiction, manipulation, and deception, Crawford said.
He told the jurors they would hear Dowd, Letourneau, and Wyse were linked to the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. Dowds husband was a member of the Outlaws and while jailed, he asked another male member nicknamed Cowboy to watch over his wife and son, Crawford said. Cowboy moved in with Dowd and turned her house into a dope distribution center, Crawford said.
When police raided the house the morning of Aug. 16, 2020, they seized narcotics and paraphernalia but did not arrest Dowd. Letourneau came over the next morning, which was not unusual as she and Dowd were friends who used drugs together.
Dowd was panicked and distraught over the raid and agreed to go to Cowboys in Saginaw, Crawford said. The two women met up with Wyse so Dowd could obtain heroin, then the three headed south on Interstate 75, he said.
As Wyse drove, Letourneau used meth and Dowd injected herself with heroin. Dowd began talking about the raid and let slip police wanted to use her as a cooperating witness, something which caught Wyses attention, Crawford said. Wyse began sending text messages and received a phone call, prompting him to pull over and switch seats with Letourneau, Crawford said.
Wyse shot Dowd in her head then again swapped seats with Letourneau, telling her hed kill her and burn down her house if she spoke of the killing, Crawford said.
Aaron Wyse kept her prisoner for the rest of the day, he continued. Shes already high out of her mind and she just witnessed a murder. She knew if she talked she was dead.
He described Wyse as a psychopath and habitual liar. With Dowds body still in the backseat, Wyse went through a Wendys drive-thru and ordered chicken nuggets. He then drove to a Bridgeport Township gas station, bought a gas can and fuel, all while Letourneau remained in the SUV, paralyzed with fear, Crawford said.
Wyse drove to Troy to socialize with friends before returning to Bay County to dump Dowds body and set it on fire. Crawford asserted it is more likely the larger, 6-foot-2-inch Wyse removed Dowds body from the SUV than the smaller, 5-foot-6-inch Letourneau.
Two days later, Wyse took Letourneau on another drive, this time with another woman. Letourneau and this woman began arguing, with Letourneau hitting the other woman in her head with a gun.
Police in Gaylord pulled over the SUV and found inside it two handguns, two shotguns, brass knuckles, a baseball bat, battle axe, large knives, and Dowds identification. Officers arrested Wyse and Dowd and both were interviewed in the Otsego County Jail.
Letourneau and Wyse both lied during their interviews, Crawford said. On being released, Letourneau set up a meeting with police of her own volition, telling them Wyse killed Dowd because she was about to talk to authorities about the Outlaws drug activity, Crawford said.
Questioned again by police, Wyse laid the blame for Dowds killing on Letourneau, claiming she was the mastermind and he was her loyal yes-man, Crawford said. Wyse also admitted his fingerprints and DNA would be on the weapons found in the SUV, including the murder weapon, Crawford said.
Crawford concluded by asking the jury to find his client not guilty.
Witness testimony
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey D. Stroud called civilian John R. Kuenker as the trials first witness. The afternoon of Aug. 17, Kuenker visited property he owns in the 600 block of West Neuman Road.
In an open grassy area behind an abandoned schoolhouse, Kuenker saw a blackened lump, appearing to be a burned body. Kuenker did not recognize the body and called 911.
Next witness Jeffrey R. Wolpert, a retired Bay County Sheriffs Detective, testified he went to the scene and found the body too badly charred to identify. It bore distinctive tattoos and two necklaces, which police circulated to other departments in hopes of garnering an identity, Wolpert said.
A Michigan State Police trooper soon contacted Wolpert, saying the decedent might be Dowd, whom he was working with. Wolpert attended an autopsy on the remains, during which a bullet and its jacket were recovered from the brain.
Later during the probe, Wolpert obtained video footage recorded by cameras at a Bridgeport Township gas station. The footage showed Wyse buying a gas can and fuel on Aug. 16, he said.
During cross-examination, Crawford asked Wolpert if he determined if Dowds husband was a member of the Outlaws. He said there were talks and rumors to this effect, but he could not definitively state Dowd had ever been a member.
Dowd made numerous phone calls from jail to other Outlaws members, Wolpert said. Crawford asked if he thought Dowds husband had been withholding information on his wifes death.
There was always some question, Wolpert said. You always feel like someone knows more than what theyre telling you.
Following a lunch break, forensic pathologist Dr. Patrick Cho testified he performed an autopsy on Dowds remains, which were 95% covered in burns. He found a single bullet wound behind Dowds left ear and determined the burns were inflicted after death.
Dowd also had a bruise to her face caused before death, Cho said. He was unable to determine if Dowds body had defensive wounds due to its condition, he added.
The afternoon saw two officers with the Strike Team Investigative Narcotics Group (or STING) testify they served the search warrant on Dowds house on Aug. 16, having evidence drug trafficking occurring there. They seized fewer than 20 grams of cocaine, heroin, and meth, two guns, and Dowds cellphone, they said.
Police did not arrest Dowd at the time because she had her 4-year-old son with her and was being cooperative, the officers testified.
The trial is to resume at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26.
One year into Sudans brutal civil war that has killed over 20,000 people and displaced some 13 million, the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the paramilitary RSF, Rapid Support Forces, coalesced around El Shafer, the capital of Sudans Darfur region. The city, which has been a major destination of Sudanese refugees since the conflict began, is the SAF's last stronghold in the region and as such, has been under siege by the RSF since April. Since April, El Shafer and its surroundings have been the scene of fierce fighting.
On September 12, the hostilities escalated as the RFS launched a multi-pronged attack on the city and the Sudanese Armed Forces.
The United States is deeply concerned about reports of a full-on assault and serious escalation in the RSFs months-long siege on El Fasher, said Robert Wood, U.S. Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs at the U.N.
We are appalled by reports of civilian deaths. The fighting is reportedly taking on an increasingly ethnic and tribal dimension, exacerbating the atrocity risk. We are equally alarmed that the Sudanese Armed Forces have responded with increased and widespread aerial bombardments of the area.
As can be expected, the siege and fierce fighting pose an existential threat to civilians everywhere within the region. The situation is particularly bad in Zamzam camp 15 kilometers [9 miles] South of El Fasher. Not only are the half million internally displaced people living there suffering from famine and flooding, but they were also forced there by the Sudanese Army.
This needless horror must stop, said Ambassador Wood. The United States calls on the SAF and the RSF to pull back their forces, facilitate unhindered humanitarian access, and re-engage in negotiations to end this war.
The United States calls on the parties to agree to a localized humanitarian pause for El Fasher and the surrounding areas, including Zamzam IDP camp, to allow aid to surge in and innocent civilians to flee, he said.
Quoting President Joe Biden, Ambassador Wood said, Let it be clear: the United States will not abandon our commitment to the people of Sudan who deserve freedom, peace, and justice. 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.
SAGINAW, MI -- The U.S. Department of Education announced on Monday, Sept. 23, that Handley Elementary School in Saginaw is among the 12 Michigan schools recognized as 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools.
A total of 356 schools in the U.S. were recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools this year.
Schools must first be invited to apply for the award before they are considered.
I was actually shocked, Julie Miller, principal of Handley Elementary School, said. I think its probably one of the most prestigious awards that a school could get.
This is the second time Handley Elementary School has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Blue Ribbon School for being an exemplary high performing school, considering its impressive performance on both state and national assessments.
The school first received this recognition in 2017.
Thats the whole reason that were here, is to offer an excellent education our students, so I think getting that recognition really, really feels good and reinforces why were here, Miller said.
Were just really, really thankful, of course, but were just very, very fortunate to have the students and the highly qualified staff that we have here so that we can continue to provide this level of academic excellence.
Related: These 12 Michigan schools among best in the nation, U.S. Department of Education says
Schools can also be recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools if they have made significant progress in closing gaps in achievement that exist between students.
Miller credits the schools success to its curriculum, transdisciplinary learning, and alignment with the Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy.
We believe that the arts and the sciences play a large role in literacy and education overall, so we actually have full-time art, music, STEM teachers who help classroom teachers collaborate on core curriculum, she said.
And this just allows all learners to be able to get the curriculum at their learning style and to be able to understand, comprehend, master skills, and that itself allows us to move at a fast pace and a rigorous depth so that our students are well rounded.
A ceremony recognizing all 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools will be held in Washington, D.C. in November.
Miller will attend the ceremony alongside a teacher representative from Handley as well as the superintendent or assistant superintendent of Saginaw Public Schools.
Handley will also receive a National Blue Ribbon School award flag symbolizing exceptional teaching and learning.
Miller said school officials initially found out Handley was being recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School around the end of the 2023-24 school year.
However, she and other staff members have been holding off on sharing the news with students because they wanted it to be a surprise.
We are kind of being low key about it until we can celebrate next week, Miller said.
The other Michigan schools recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools this year are:
Chandler Woods Charter Academy in Belmont, Chandler Woods Charter Academy.
Hill Elementary School in Davison, Davison Community Schools.
Dearborn STEM Middle School in Dearborn Heights, Dearborn City School District.
Pembroke Academy in Detroit, Pembroke Academy.
Rosy Mound Elementary School in Grand Haven, Grand Haven Area Public Schools.
Hughes Elementary School in Marshall, Marshall Public Schools.
Moraine Elementary School in Northville, Northville Public Schools.
Pellston Elementary School in Pellston, Pellston Public Schools.
Meadow Ridge Elementary School in Rockford, Rockford Public Schools.
Lake Hills Elementary School in Spring Lake, Grand Haven Area Public Schools.
Hamilton Elementary School in Troy, Troy School District.
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UPDATE: This story has been updated to clarify the governors statement issued the day after a CNN interview.
After declining to take sides in a dispute between U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Attorney General Dana Nessel, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a follow-up statement denouncing the suggestion that Nessels religion factors into her charging decisions.
In four Michigan cities, a property management company called RealPage offers an algorithm to suggest rental prices to corporate landlords.
It uses a sophisticated AI to crunch large troves of data that helps landlords set monthly prices.
But that software is now being accused of artificially inflating rents in a price fixing conspiracy thats harming millions of Americans.
A lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice last month alleges the unlawful scheme has pushed rents higher and allows landlords to collude on price increases.
RealPage replaces competition with coordination. It substitutes unity for rivalry. It subverts competition and the competitive process. It does so openly and directly and American renters are left paying the price, the complaint says.
The recent lawsuit from DOJ follows a 2022 ProPublica investigation into RealPage and a string of class-action lawsuits against the company. It comes as rents have gone up by nearly 20% nationally in the past four years and more than half of Michigan renters struggle to cover housing costs.
The case also brings into question the role powerful algorithms play in setting prices and reducing competition.
Legal issues are intersecting with the pervasiveness of technology in todays life, said Anjana Susarla, a Michigan State University Omura-Saxena Professor in Responsible AI.
Related: You cant afford to live. More than half of Michigan renters struggle to pay rent
The complaint alleges that landlords, who would otherwise be competing with each other, share rental rates, lease terms and occupancy information with RealPage. The data then feeds an algorithm that suggests rental prices, almost in real time, to landlords based on the sensitive information of their rivals.
RealPage offers access to information about 16 million units in 200 rental markets, including Detroit, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Lansing, and controls about 80% of the rental revenue management market, according to the DOJ. But RealPage contends only 7% of rental units use its software.
This affects those markets for big properties, but if youre a tenant and youre priced out of those bigger properties, then RealPage, since they have such a dominant position, they can affect the lower end of the market as well, Susarla said.
The federal government argues RealPages software allows competing landlords to collude and rob Americans of the fruits of competition. As a result, landlords can manipulate, distort and subvert the rental market with information thats not publicly available to renters.
One landlord cited in the complaint said RealPages software eliminates the guessing game for rental rates. Another landlord said they always liked the product because it uses proprietary data to suggest rents, which is classic price fixing.
If you just use an algorithm to set up prices, thats not a problem, said Daniel Crane, a University of Michigan law professor and antitrust expert. The problem is the agreement among the different entities who are competitors to basically follow a recommendation.
Landlords agree to make meaningful changes when using the software, the lawsuit claims, and they agree to use it exclusively when giving quotes to potential renters further tying landlords pricing decisions to RealPages software.
Crane says this alleged agreement makes it a fairly conventional price fixing case.
People have agreed to use an algorithm, he said of the allegations.
Related: Michigans double-digit rent increase ranks third highest in the nation
Over the past two years, more than 30 lawsuits have reportedly been filed against RealPage. One class-action lawsuit names more than two dozen of the largest property owners. And another case claimed there was an agreement to raise student housing costs across the country, including Ann Arbor.
RealPage pushed back on allegations saying in a statement to MLive that the DOJ is pursing a lawsuit that seeks to scapegoat pro-competitive technology that has been used responsibly for years. The company said its revenue management software was built to be legally compliant and it was given antitrust clearance when RealPage acquired LRO in 2017.
We believe the claims brought by DOJ are devoid of merit and will do nothing to make housing more affordable. We intend to vigorously defend ourselves against these accusations, the statement said.
Additionally, Stephen Weissman, a lawyer for the company, told USAToday that the software is legal because it aggregates data from multiple sources. He also said RealPage wants to comply with the law and is open to working with the DOJ to find solutions.
And in July, RealPage issued a statement in response to false and misleading claims, saying that landlords decide their own rent and always have 100% discretion on recommendations.
To Jeremy Piper, a lawyer who represents landlords across Michigan, its not a clear cut case of collusion and price fixing. He says its common for landlords to look at apartment listings to gain an understanding of the rental market.
Having the data on how to price a home allows you to price it competitively. It doesnt give you some sort of assurance that you can charge as high a price as you want, he said.
But the RealPage case points to a larger issue: algorithms are creating a new legal frontier.
We will see more enforcement issues arise because people are using technology to do more things now, Susarla said.
These days, algorithms are everywhere. Theyre a backbone to Google. They serve content to social media users and products online shoppers. They power dating apps. And theyre even used to make some decisions in healthcare.
Related: Price-fixing cartel: Big Michigan mobile home park owners accused of conspiracy
Federal regulators have been increasingly focused on how algorithms could replace the proverbial smoke-filled room and become a powerful price-fixing tool. In a March legal brief, the Federal Trade Commission argued that price fixing rents through an algorithm is still price fixing.
Today, software algorithms can be employed to fix pricesand this modern machinery may be easier and more effective than past methods of price fixing, the brief said.
In coming years, it will be a huge antitrust issue, Crane says, as businesses start to turn pricing over to AI.
It may very well have exactly the same effect as massive price fixing without there being any human agency agreeing with another human agency, he said. Thats the really big policy question about antitrust going forward.
And with housing affordability being a key issue for lawmakers, rent algorithms are in the crosshairs.
In early September, San Francisco became the first city to prohibit landlords from using rental pricing software. And two U.S. senators introduced legislation earlier this year that would make it illegal for landlords to use software that coordinates rental prices.
The National Weather Service issued an updated tornado warning at 6:09 p.m. EDT on Tuesday in effect until 6:30 p.m. EDT for Cass County.
"At 6:08 p.m., a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Granger, moving northeast at 15 mph," states the weather service. "Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely."
The tornado is projected to affect Granger and Edwardsburg around 6:15 p.m.
Other locations impacted by this tornadic thunderstorm include Adamsville and Eagle Lake this includes Interstate 80 in Indiana between mile markers 82 and 85.
According to the weather service, "Take cover now! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris."
Tornado watches and warnings: Your safety guide
When it comes to tornadoes, understanding the distinction between a Tornado watch and a Tornado warning can be a matter of life and death. Here's a breakdown:
Tornado watch: Be prepared!
A Tornado watch is your advance warning that conditions are ripe for tornado formation.
It's your signal to review your emergency plans, ensure your supplies are in order, and identify your safe room.
While it doesn't mean a tornado is imminent, it's a heads-up that you should be ready to act quickly if a Tornado warning is issued or if you suspect a tornado is approaching.
Watches come from the Storm Prediction Center and often cover a large area, potentially spanning multiple counties or even states.
Tornado warning: Take action!
A Tornado warning means a tornado has been spotted or detected by weather radar.
This is the real deal there's an immediate threat to life and property.
Your response should be swift: move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building, away from windows.
If you're in a mobile home, a vehicle, or caught outdoors, seek the nearest substantial shelter and shield yourself from flying debris.
Warnings are issued by your local forecast office and pinpoint a much smaller area, typically the size of a city or a small county, where a tornado has been identified, either by radar or through reports from trained spotters and law enforcement.
Knowing the distinction between these two alerts is paramount for staying safe during tornado season. Stay informed, have a plan, and act promptly when danger looms.
Get ready for tornadoes
Be weather-ready:
Keep an eye on the weather forecast to stay informed about tornado risks. Tune in to local news or a NOAA Weather Radio for updates on tornado watches and warnings
Sign up for alerts:
Know how your community sends warnings. Some communities have outdoor sirens. Others depend on media and smartphones to alert residents of severe storms capable of producing tornadoes.
Establish a communication plan:
Have a family plan that includes an emergency meeting place and related information. If you live in a mobile home or home without a basement, identify a nearby safe building you can get to quickly, such as a church or family member.
Choose a secure shelter:
Pick a safe room within your home, such as a basement, storm cellar, or an interior room on the lowest floor without windows.
Establish a communication plan:
Conduct regular family drills for severe thunderstorms so everyone knows what to do when a tornado threat arises. Ensure that all family members are aware of the safe location to seek shelter, and don't forget about your pets if time permits.
Secure your home:
Consider having your safe room reinforced. You can find plans for reinforcing an interior room to provide better protection on the Federal Emergency Management Agency website.
Help your neighbor:
Encourage your neighbors and loved ones to prepare for possible tornadoes. Consider taking CPR training to be of assistance in case of injuries.
Staying safe during a tornado: Quick actions to take
When a tornado strikes, taking swift action is crucial to ensuring your safety and minimizing potential harm. Follow these guidelines from the weather service:
Stay informed:
To ensure your safety during a tornado, remember that acting promptly is crucial, according to the weather service. Stay informed about tornado watches and warnings through regular updates on local news or a NOAA Weather Radio.
At home:
If you find yourself under a tornado warning, immediately seek refuge in your basement, safe room, or an interior room without windows. If there's enough time, bring your pets with you.
At work or school:
If you are at your workplace or school, adhere to tornado drill procedures. Move promptly and calmly to your designated tornado shelter, avoiding large open areas like cafeterias, gymnasiums, or auditoriums, and steer clear of windows.
Outdoors:
If a tornado is on its way, seek shelter inside a solid building immediately. Sheds, storage facilities, mobile homes, and tents are not safe places to be.
In a vehicle:
Being in a vehicle during a tornado is highly unsafe. Your best option is to drive to the nearest shelter. If reaching shelter is not possible, either stay inside your car, covering your head, or abandon the vehicle and seek refuge in a low-lying area like a ditch or ravine.
Always keep in mind that taking swift action and following established safety procedures are crucial for your well-being when a tornado threat is imminent.
Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.
An updated tornado warning was issued by the National Weather Service on Tuesday at 5:55 p.m. EDT in effect until 6:30 p.m. EDT for Branch County.
"At 5:55 p.m., a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located 8 miles south of Bronson, or 11 miles northwest of Angola, moving northeast at 20 mph," states the weather service. "Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely."
Locations impacted by the warning include Orland, Lake Of The Woods, Kinderhook, Gilead, Coldwater Lake and East Gilead. This includes the following highways: Interstate 69 in Michigan between mile markers 2 and 7. Interstate 80 in Indiana between mile markers 133 and 139.
According to the weather service, "Take cover now! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris."
Tornado watches and warnings: What you need to know
When it comes to tornadoes, understanding the difference between a Tornado watch and a Tornado warning can be a matter of life and death. Let's break it down:
Tornado watch: Be prepared!
A Tornado watch serves as an early warning that conditions are conducive to tornado formation.
It's your cue to review and discuss your emergency plans, check your supplies, and locate your safe room.
While it doesn't mean a tornado is imminent, it's a heads-up that you should be ready to act quickly if a Tornado warning is issued or if you suspect a tornado is approaching.
Watches come from the Storm Prediction Center and often cover a large area, potentially spanning multiple counties or even states.
Tornado warning: Take action!
A Tornado warning means a tornado has been spotted or detected by weather radar.
This is the real deal there's an immediate threat to life and property.
Your response should be swift: move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building, away from windows.
If you're in a mobile home, a vehicle, or caught outdoors, find the nearest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.
Warnings are issued by your local forecast office and pinpoint a much smaller area, typically the size of a city or a small county, where a tornado has been identified, either by radar or through reports from trained spotters and law enforcement.
Knowing the difference between these two alerts is essential in staying safe during tornado season. Stay informed, have a plan, and act promptly when danger approaches.
Get ready for tornadoes
Be weather-ready:
Check the forecast regularly to see if you're at risk for tornadoes. Listen to local news or a NOAA Weather Radio to stay informed about tornado watches and warnings.
Sign up for alerts:
Familiarize yourself with your community's warning systems. Some places have outdoor sirens, while others rely on media and smartphone alerts for severe storm notifications.
Establish a communication plan:
Create a family emergency plan that includes a designated meeting place and important contact information. If your home lacks a basement, identify a nearby safe building, like a church or a relative's house, that you can reach quickly.
Choose a secure shelter:
Pick a safe room within your home, such as a basement, storm cellar, or an interior room on the lowest floor without windows.
Establish a communication plan:
Conduct regular family drills for severe thunderstorms so everyone knows what to do when a tornado threat arises. Ensure that all family members are aware of the safe location to seek shelter, and don't forget about your pets if time permits.
Secure your home:
Consider having your safe room reinforced. You can find plans for reinforcing an interior room to provide better protection on the Federal Emergency Management Agency website.
Extend a helping hand:
Encourage your neighbors and loved ones to prepare for possible tornadoes. Consider taking CPR training to be of assistance in case of injuries.
Tornado survival guide: Immediate actions for your safety
When a tornado strikes, taking swift action is crucial to ensuring your safety and minimizing potential harm. Follow these guidelines from the weather service:
Stay informed:
Stay vigilant and stay informed by tuning in to local news broadcasts or using a NOAA Weather Radio to receive updates on tornado watches and warnings.
At home:
If you find yourself under a tornado warning, immediately seek refuge in your basement, safe room, or an interior room without windows. If there's enough time, bring your pets with you.
At work or school:
In the workplace or at school, adhere to tornado drill procedures and proceed promptly and calmly to your designated tornado shelter. Avoid areas with large, open spaces like cafeterias, gymnasiums, or auditoriums, and stay away from windows.
Outdoors:
If you're outdoors and a tornado is approaching, seek immediate shelter inside a sturdy building. Sheds, storage facilities, mobile homes, and tents are not safe. If there's time, make your way to a secure structure.
In a vehicle:
Being inside a vehicle during a tornado is highly unsafe. Your best course of action is to drive to the nearest shelter. If reaching shelter is not possible, either stay inside your car while covering your head, or abandon the vehicle and seek safety in a low-lying area such as a ditch or ravine.
Always keep in mind that taking swift action and following established safety procedures are crucial for your well-being when a tornado threat is imminent.
Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.
South Korean Missionary Kim Jung-wook has been detained by the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, or DPRK, for more than 4,000 days. Kim Jung-wook is imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.
On October 8, 2013, North Korean authorities reportedly arrested Kim Jung-wook, a South Korean missionary, after he allegedly entered North Korea with religious materials the day before, according to the Commission for International Religious Freedom. Prior to his arrest, Kim Jung-wook engaged in missionary work in Dandong city, Liaoning province, China, close to the North Korean border, providing pastoral services and humanitarian aid to North Korean refugees.
In February 2014, Kim Jung-wook was forced to confess his alleged crimes at a press conference, including working to establish underground churches.
In May 2014, it was reported that the Supreme Court sentenced Kim Jung-wook to life in prison with labor for conspiracy to subvert the State, anti-State propaganda and agitation, espionage, and illegal border crossing.
Along with Mr. Kim, five other South Koreans are believed to remain in detention in the DPRK, some of them having been incarcerated for more than 10 years.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in a statement urged the DPRK to immediately release all those who have been denied fair public trials and are subjected to unjust or arbitrary detention.
South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho released a statement this month condemning North Korea's illegal and inhumane human rights violations and strongly urge[d] the North, which is a party to major international human rights instruments, to immediately and unconditionally release our nationals who are illegally detained.
The U.S. remains gravely concerned about the lack of transparency, fairness, and accountability within the DPRKs judicial system. The DPRK regime continues to systematically violate and abuse the human rights of people in North Korea.
The DPRKs practice of unjustly detaining missionaries and perceived political opponents is a blatant attempt to curtail freedom of religion or belief, silence individuals, and limit access to outside information, said Mr. Miller. We condemn the DPRKs systemic violations and abuses of human rights and call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those unjustly detained in North Korea.
The continent of Africa, with its young, fast-growing population and irreplaceable natural resources, is of acute interest to the worlds great powers.
When asked in an interview which of the great powers are competing for influence on the continent, U.S. Acting Under Secretary for Political Affairs John Bass pointed first to one of the most prominent and problematic:
China is, and is spending quite a bit of money, lending quite a bit of money to ostensibly help African governments deliver better infrastructure and better lives for their people. But we find that most of Chinas activity on the continent is primarily to benefit China.
That activity includes coaxing or compelling African countries into trajectories of debt and establishing a one-way trade relationship by dumping goods at below market prices.
In contrast, the United States believes strongly in respectful partnerships with the governments and people of Africa in which our aid, which we gift on the continent, addresses humanitarian suffering and in which our investments produce benefits and results for the people on the continent, as well as people of the United States, Under Secretary Bass.
In testimony before Congress, Under Secretary Bass emphasized that the United States is working to create a modern economic partnership to reduce African nations dependency on aid.
As a signature example, he pointed to the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment development of the Lobito Corridor. This rail project undertaken by the U.S. and its partners will improve East-West connectivity and integrate Africa with global markets. It will boost trade and create jobs in Africa and the United States.
Under Secretary Bass also noted Russias so called security assistance to African countries, while it commits wide-spread human rights abuses and exploits Africas natural resources.
We are working hard to counter malign influence on the continent from other governments who do not have the best interests of the people of the continent in their policies. Were trying to call out, when we see it, instances of other governments coercing or capitalizing on corruption to get good deals that dont benefit the people on the continent, he said.
Instead, said Under Secretary Bass, were trying to help governments have better offers and better alternatives for trade and investment that will benefit the people of their countries.
Autumn is here and things have finally started to cool down. Great news for trout anglers, and, believe it or not, bass anglers as well.
While bass do like warmer water, several state record bass have been caught in October and November. This time of year, large bass aggressively feed preparing for the very cold water of winter.
Bass are more territorial than trout, often living in the same part of the lake year-round, just moving offshore to deeper water for the winter and moving back into shore when the water warms up in the spring and summer. They are ambush hunters, preferring cover to help them stalk their prey.
Bass are primarily piscivorous, feeding on fish instead of invertebrates, but like any predator are opportunistic and will take any food that comes their way.
In the fall, they will often hang on weed bed edges, along with trout, feeding on leeches that are coming out of the dying weed beds. Other smaller fish that feed on the aquatic invertebrates that are losing their homes in the weed beds also fall victim to bass.
Early fall finds crayfish shedding their exoskeletons, which have become too small, and looking for muddy bottoms to burrow in as they prepare to hibernate for the winter. Bass will prowl these muddy flats targeting the soft-bodied crayfish found there this time of year.
Even though the water temperatures are below prime bass temperatures, fall can be very productive for big bass. We have bass in many of our reservoirs and some of the favorites for eastern Nevada include South Fork, Wild Horse, Wilson, Jakes Creek, Cold Creek and Comins Reservoirs.
Wild Horse
Surface water temperatures have dropped into the high 50s. While the wind has broken up the surface algae and conditions are much better than a couple of weeks ago, anglers will still find areas with mats of surface algae. It seems to move around with the wind and will be in one area one day and another the next. There is still suspended algae in the water with about 2 to 3 feet of visibility.
Trout fishing continues to be good for boaters and is also good for shore anglers. While mornings and evenings continue to be productive for fishing, mid-day to early afternoons fishing has improved. Bobber fishing has been good, especially in the shallower waters closer to shore for bait anglers. Fly rodders are having success with a variety of techniques and presentations. Wooly buggers and leeches stripped on an intermediate or slow sinking line should produce fish. Chironomid patterns and balanced leeches under an indicator are also producing fish.
Bass fishing has slowed, but bass anglers report some larger fish. For bass, anglers should use soft plastic baits in dark or contrasting colors with some sparkle. Crankbaits in perch colors are also working, especially in the coves near vegetation where perch fry are hanging out.
For trout small spinners, rooster tails or panther Martins should work for spin fishermen. Small minnow imitations in perch or chub colors may also catch a few trout. Boaters continue to have good luck trolling flashers tipped with worms or trailing small lures or spinners. They are also catching trout stripping or trolling wooly buggers and leeches from a float tube.
Fishing for perch has been fair to good for numbers, but poor for size, with fish averaging 4 to 6 inches as the perch population is still recovering from a 2022 die-off.
South Fork Reservoir
The surface water temperature was 60 degrees at the main boat ramp last weekend and it appears much of the surface algae has been blown onto shorelines. Anglers will still encounter mats of surface algae as the wind blows it around the lake. There is still suspended algae in the water with visibility around 3 feet.
Shore angling for trout has improved and anglers reported good fishing this past weekend. Bass fishing is slowing a bit, though they are still being caught by those targeting them. For bass, anglers should use soft plastic baits in dark or contrasting colors with some sparkle in shallow waters near the weeds. Crank baits are also working. Fish structure for bass though muddy bottoms are finding some bass chasing crawdads.
Trout have moved up in the water column as well into shallow waters in search of food. Worms or PowerBait floated off the bottom using a slip sinker or below a bobber in the shallower water has been working for those targeting trout. Fly fishing has been fair to good using chironomid patterns in a variety of colors with red or black/red with a white bead seeming to work best. Balanced leeches in black/red, wine or olive fished below an indicator have also been catching trout. Wooly buggers sized 6 to 10 and leech patterns sized 10 to 14 in the black/red, black/blue, wine and dark red stripped on an intermediate or slow sinking line are also producing fish.
Fish them along weed beds as they are starting to die off expelling leeches from them.
No recent report on catfish or wipers being caught.
Jiggs/Zunino Reservoir
Surface water temperatures have dropped to around 60 degrees and fishing has been good. On windy days or when there are lots of ducks, the water can be a bit muddy. Use the same presentations and techniques as at South Fork Reservoir. NDOW is asking anglers to return all bluegill and bass back into the water this summer to help establish those fisheries.
Wilson Reservoir
Fishing for bass has been fair to good and trout fishing has been good. Surface water temperatures have dropped here and trout fishing has been good, though few anglers have made the trip. Those traveling here are mostly hunters who are camping and fishing between hunting outings.
The same techniques and presentations that work at South Fork work here. Bass fishing is starting to drop off, with the best areas for bass still being along the willows and vegetation near shore using soft plastic jigs and crankbaits. Lake level is down due to normal seasonal irrigation.
Ruby Lake NWR
Very little change here. With cooler water temperatures and shorter days, bass fishing is slowing down. Warmer sunny days may help improve bass fishing this weekend. Anglers are still catching about one keeper for every 15 bass caught and report the occasional larger bass pushing 15 inches. Fewer bass are being caught, so fewer keepers are coming in.
The good news is fall can often produce some of the largest bass of the year as they put on the feed bag preparing for winter. Minimum keeper size for bass is 10 inches. Boaters also reported some nice trout being caught in the deeper areas of the south marsh. Bass anglers should be use soft plastic baits rigged weedless. Dark colors with some sparkle such as motor oil, guacamole, olive, or blue are good colors to use. Cast right up to the edges of the tules and into pockets and retrieve your presentation in an erratic fashion. Poppers on quiet still evenings along the weed edges have been productive.
Fishing in the collection ditch has been good for trout averaging 14 to 18 inches, with a few fish over 20 inches. Water clarity is good and water levels continue to be very good. While the grasshoppers have been knocked down a bit, trout are still used to seeing them. Hopper patterns, elk hair caddis and blue wing olives are all catching fish. Other dry flies such as pale morning duns, Adams, Griffiths gnats and ant patterns are working. In deeper parts of the ditch, hopper dropper combinations are the way to go.
Fly anglers have had luck stripping wooly buggers, leeches or small streamers in black or olive using short slow strips. Spin fishermen should be using spinners, Kastmasters, panther Martins and other small lures. It is artificial presentations only in the collection ditch, which includes the pond behind the hatchery all the way to Brown Dike. Wading is not allowed the entire length of the collection ditch.
Jakes Creek/Boies Reservoir
There is very little change here. Aquatic vegetation growth is still making shore fishing difficult so float tubes or small watercraft are the way to go. This will continue until the ice covers the lake.
Fishing has been good for 13- to 18-inch trout. Either dark or flashy spinners or small plastic baits fished with varying retrieves should work. Worms or PowerBait fished under a bobber is best for bait anglers.
For fly rodders, wooly buggers and leech patterns on a sink tip or intermediate sinking line have been working. The usual assortment of nymph and chironomid patterns are also producing fish.
Like other reservoirs in the area, bass fishing is slowing but still has been fair to good for 10- to 12-inch bass using soft plastic baits and small crankbaits.
Cold Creek Reservoir
Cold Creek Reservoir is at 80% of capacity and water temperatures are in the high 50s to 60 degrees. Rainbow trout and tiger trout are being caught in the 9- to 12-inch range.
Anglers will do well fishing for trout using a variety of spinners, nightcrawlers, and PowerBait.
Fly fishers are having luck using damselfly nymphs, midge patterns, leeches or woolly buggers.
Bass fishing is fair to good but slowing with colder water temperatures. There is a limited black bass fishery and anglers are encouraged to catch and release these bass to help improve the bass fishery.
Cave Lake
Cave Lake is lowered to minimum pool and unfishable. Cave Lake is closed to fishing due to shorelines that are very soft and dangerous due to the complete saturation of the soil. Dam construction is close to completion and is expected to be completed in mid-October. Fish stocking will resume once the construction is completed and the lake starts to fill. That will hopefully be next spring. Join NDOW and State Parks on National Public Lands Day, this Saturday, to help build and place fish structures on the lake bed along with general cleanup of the area. This is in preparation for the lakes reopening in 2025. To sign up or for more information go to NDOWs Facebook page or contact Julie Gabrielson at jgabrielson@ndow.org or 775-777-2305.
Comins Lake
Surface water temperatures have dipped to around 60 degrees and fishing for trout has been good. Rainbow trout are being caught by anglers from shore ranging from 16 to 22 inches. Nightcrawlers are producing trout for anglers, as well as spinners and small lures. Fly fishermen should be using leeches, woolly buggers, scud and midge patterns.
Black bass fishing is slowing down but bass are still being caught. Soft plastic lures and crankbaits have been working for bass. There is a limited bluegill fishery and anglers are encouraged to release bluegill so their population can become better established.
Anglers pursuing northern pike will do well on hard and soft plastic baits, as well as flashy spoons, bucktail streamers and Clouser Minnows. Anglers continue to catch a few northern pike ranging from 18 inches to 30-plus inches.
Please note that NDOW has placed radio tags in several Northern Pike. These pike will have an orange Floy tag near their dorsal fin and a small antenna (~ 7 inches long) coming from their stomach. Please return these fish to the water for research purposes. Please do not return pike without the tags back to the lake.
Illipah
The lake is around 75% of capacity, which is above average for early fall. Surface water temperatures have dropped into the 50s. Anglers have been catching a mixed bag of rainbow trout and a few brown trout. Fishing should improve with the cooler temperatures.
Anglers should do well using nightcrawlers, PowerBait, and spinners.
Fly rodders should be using the usual assortment of wooly buggers, leech and chironomid patterns fished under an indicator. Dry flies in the afternoons and evenings are catching some fish.
Brown trout are starting to stage near the creek to head up for the spawn.
Angel Lake
The trout are preparing for winter and fishing is good for 8- to 10-inch trout using worms, green PowerBait and small spinners from the dam and along the back side of the lake. Fly fishermen have had good luck along the back of the lake from float tubes using small dry flies, ants and leech patterns. Small crystal buggers, leech patterns and the usual nymphs under an indicator should work if they arent hitting dry flies.
A dry and dropper rig has been productive. Last weekend, they were hitting almost any mid- to large-sized dry flies. Hoppers, elk hair caddis, yellow stimulators and chubby Chernobyls sized 10 to 14 were working.
High mountain lakes
Fishing continues to be good to excellent in the high mountain lakes. Anglers should be prepared for colder temperatures at the higher elevations.
Small spinners and worms are working at the high mountain lakes. At Angel Lake, trout are hitting just about anything right now. Dry flies are still catching fish, so go with those to start. If dries arent working, switch to subsurface presentations.
Small crystal and wooly buggers as well as the usual assortment of nymphs and chironomids under an indicator should all work.
Anglers report good fishing for 8- to 11-inch brook trout at Robinson and 9- to 12-inch cutthroat at Hidden Lake using small black and yellow Mepps and Panther Martin spinners.
Fishing for cutthroat was also good at Griswold and Verdi Lakes. Other lakes producing good catches include Liberty, Favre and Overland Lakes.
Streams
The tail water below South Fork is still producing nice trout, but flows are very low so fish are holding in the pools.
Fishing at the beaver ponds in Lamoille Canyon is good. Flows in the creek are still low for this time of year and fishing may be limited to pools.
Water conditions below Wild Horse Dam in the East Fork of the Owyhee are good and fishing has been good there.
The flows on the Jarbidge and Bruneau Rivers are also below normal for this time of year. Anglers venturing into the Marys River area south of Jarbidge should be aware that the Orange Bridge is closed and may be for a while.
As of Sept. 25, the East Fork of the Owyhee was flowing at 27.7 cfs below the dam and 35 cfs at Mountain City; the Jarbidge River was flowing at a low 3.59 cfs; the Bruneau River at 7.10 cfs; Salmon Falls Creek at 34.7 cfs; Lamoille Creek at 3.63 cfs; the South Fork of the Humboldt at 6.59 cfs; Cleve Creek at 6.81 cfs; Steptoe Creek at 4.65 cfs; and Kingston Creek at 7.26 cfs.
European consumers are showing a growing interest in Chinese electric vehicles (EVs). Many industry insiders have voiced support for Chinese EVs in the European market. #GLOBALink
ELKO Elko Institute for Academic Achievement posted Nevada Report Card scores for the 2023-2024 school year that outpaced the report card scores for all Nevada schools combined, and the charters middle school scored five stars, the highest a school can achieve.
Both the charter schools EIAA elementary and middle school programs posted five stars in the 2022-2023 school year, but the elementary levels scored four stars for the 2023-2024 school year.
The Nevada Report Card shows that in math proficiency, the elementary school posted a 60% score, compared with the 38% score for state schools, and an English Language Arts score of 60.9%, compared with 42.8% statewide for the 2023-2024 school year.
The charter schools elementary students also scored 12.6% in chronic absenteeism last year, compared with a 25.9% average statewide.
The middle school students scored 63.7% in math proficiency and 70.1% in English Language Arts, compared with the statewide average of 26.8% in math proficiency and 39.1% in English proficiency. The middle school also scored 83.3% in science proficiency but there is no state score.
Chronic absenteeism in the middle school was at 21.6%, compared with 25.9% statewide.
We reached 60% proficiency for both elementary and middle school for both math and ELA, which is a goal we had set just prior to COVID, Principal Ashley Perkins said. Our middle school science proficiency was over 80%, which is high across the nation.
Perkins said the area that most hurt us for both elementary and middle school was chronic absenteeism. Our two classes that had over 90% attendance rates both received awards for highest growth across the state, and attendance matters.
The scores for the 2022-2023 school year for the charter school included 60.9% for elementary English and 56.6% for middle school English, and elementary math students scored 56.2%, while middle schoolers scored 54.2% in math.
Chronic absenteeism on the 2022-2023 scorecard for the combined grades was 29.8%.
The charter school also reported that for the 2023-2024 school year 60.4% of elementary students were reading a third-grade proficiency.
There also were no bullying and cyber bullying suspensions or expulsions listed on the 2023-2023 scorecard nor the prior school year.
Perkins said in an email on Wednesday that for the past five years, data and the growth of our students has been our focus. This includes building relationships, improving life skills of our students such as perseverance and work ethic, and building self-agency within our students.
The charter school, which started classes this school year in new and bigger quarters in the remodeled former Barrick Gold office building, has increased enrollment from 198 to 396 students, Perkins said. The Nevada Report Card for the 2023-2024 school year puts enrollment at 309 and a student-teacher ratio of 22 to one.
As we continue to grow, our proficiency numbers will continue to climb, she said.
The charter school remodeled the interior of the 30,000-square-foot office building into 19 classrooms, a kitchen, offices and a library with the costs covered by a $8.1 million USDA Rural Development loan and contributions from businesses and individuals.
We love our new home and are so grateful for all the businesses, community members and stakeholders who have helped us get to where we are today, Perkins said.
The charter school is free and open to the public but generally has a waiting list. Operations are supported through state funding, plus grants, donations and fundraisers.
Detenido Victor de Aldama, el conseguidor de la trama Koldo por un fraude en hidrocarburos
This photo shows a view of Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. The 21st China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit kicked off on Tuesday in Nanning. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)
NANNING, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Participants at the 21st China-ASEAN Expo, which kicked off on Tuesday in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, emphasized the importance of deepening economic and trade cooperation between the two sides.
The opening ceremony attracted about 1,100 participants, including Chinese and foreign leaders, government officials, entrepreneurs, scholars, and representatives from international organizations.
When addressing the opening ceremony of the expo, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said that China is willing to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to deepen practical cooperation and write a new chapter in building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.
Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called on China and ASEAN countries to advance open cooperation to a new level.
Both sides should implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) with high quality, work for an early conclusion of the negotiations for version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA), steadily expand institutional opening-up, and build a more stable and smooth cross-border industrial and supply chain, he added.
This photo shows the opening ceremony of the 21st China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. The 21st China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit kicked off on Tuesday in Nanning. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)
The theme of this year's expo focuses on "Upholding amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness for common development, creating a diamond crown new future -- promoting development of a China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 and high-quality growth of this region."
Speaking at the opening ceremony, China's Vice Minister of Commerce Li Fei said that the mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation between China and ASEAN countries has reached new levels.
Bilateral economic and trade cooperation has continued to upgrade over the years, with positive progress achieved in negotiations for version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN FTA, Li said.
The five-day event covers an exhibition area of nearly 200,000 square meters, with Malaysia as the country of honor.
Exhibitors play the drums during the 21st China-ASEAN Expo at Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. The 21st China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit kicked off on Tuesday in Nanning. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin)
As part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia, a few related events have been scheduled during the main event, such as the China-Malaysia enterprise cooperation matchmaking, China-ASEAN commodity trading innovation promotion, and the Malaysian durian shopping festival.
In addition, a new section has been introduced to highlight strategic emerging industries, showcasing the latest developments and technologies in fields such as digital technology, new energy and intelligent connected vehicles.
The expo has been standing as a testament to the enduring friendship, cooperation and shared prosperity between China and the ASEAN countries over the years, said Kao Kim Hourn, secretary-general of ASEAN, adding that since its inception in 2004, the expo has evolved into an important platform for dialogue, cooperation and development, covering sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, technology, education and tourism.
It has made important contributions to the economic integration between ASEAN and China, facilitating investment flows and cross-border economic opportunities, laying the foundation for building a more connected, resilient and dynamic region, Kao added.
Visitors select products during the 21st China-ASEAN Expo at Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. The 21st China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit kicked off on Tuesday in Nanning. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)
The China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit is held alongside with the expo.
Ren Hongbin, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that the summit this year will feature the new trends and characteristics in China-ASEAN cooperation, with a series of economic and trade exchanges planned, which will better enhance the mutual assistance for industrial development and promote benefit sharing between China and ASEAN countries.
Since the first China-ASEAN Expo was held in 2004, the event has actively built a platform for ASEAN enterprises to enter the Chinese market.
Official data shows that China has remained ASEAN's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years. In the first seven months of this year, bilateral trade reached 552 billion U.S. dollars, up 7.7 percent year on year.
Editor: ZAD
Robots work at a welding workshop of Voyah, a Chinese electric auto brand, in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, April 1, 2024. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)
"The advanced technology and high quality of Chinese automotive companies can help strengthen the competitiveness of their European partners," said Andrea Levy, president of the 2024 Turin Auto Show, stressing that Europe-China cooperation should not be halted due to political reasons.
BRUSSELS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Healthy competition and cooperation promote further mutual progress for both European and Chinese automobile industries, European industry leaders and experts have said as some European Union (EU) policymakers move to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles (EVs).
If Chinese products are squeezed out of the European market, the competitiveness of European products will be further weakened, an expert has warned.
"COMPETITION MAKES PROGRESS"
"Only when car brands from various countries compete together can we all make progress," Andrea Levy, president of the 2024 Turin Auto Show, told Xinhua during a recent interview.
The three-day event, which was held recently in the northern Italian city of Turin, attracted over 40 global automakers and more than 500,000 visitors, with multiple models from Chinese automotive companies making their debut in Europe.
People visit the booth of Chinese carmaker Dongfeng on the 2024 Turin Auto Show in Turin, Italy, Sept. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
European car markers are good at design and marketing, while their Chinese counterparts excel in technology, Levy said.
"The advanced technology and high quality of Chinese automotive companies can help strengthen the competitiveness of their European partners," Levy said, stressing that Europe-China cooperation should not be halted due to political reasons.
Since China's reform and opening-up, the automotive industries of China and the EU have become increasingly intertwined.
EU companies have flourished in China, enhancing the development of China's automotive industry chain, and China has also provided an open market and a fair competitive environment for European companies, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said.
According to statistics from the European Federation for Transport and Environment, around 20 percent of all-electric cars sold across the EU last year, or 300,000 units, were made in China. More than half of them came from Western carmakers, such as Tesla, Dacia and BMW, which produce in China for export.
The 5 millionth vehicle of BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd. (BBA) is seen in Tiexi District of Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, in February of 2023. (BBA/Handout via Xinhua)
"FULL OF SENSE OF FUTURE"
There has been a lot of positive feedback from customers and experts for Chinese EVs across Europe.
"It is full of a sense of future," said Vincenzo Diglio, an Italian visitor at the show, as he marveled at the Chinese electric vehicles on display. "I believe that affordable and high-quality Chinese electric vehicles will become a part of the daily lives of European people in the future."
Founded in 1934, Gomes Noord is a long-standing authorized dealer of Mercedes-Benz in the Netherlands. Before introducing Voyah, a high-end electric vehicle brand from Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Corporation to its lineup, the company purchased three Voyah vehicles for thorough testing by their experienced technicians.
"Their response was excellent," said Kjeld Riegen, head of the Voyah brand at Gomes Noord. "Combined with information we gathered from other European car importers, we have full confidence in the quality of Dongfeng's products."
The company plans to open more Voyah showrooms in three other Dutch cities and launch the brand in Belgium in near future.
Vehicles of Chinese brands are seen on the 2024 Turin Auto Show in Turin, Italy, Sept. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
RISING OPPOSITION
The call for the EU to drop the tariff bid and oppose the trade war has been resonated widely in European academic circles, while quite a number of visionary political leaders have also expressed their disapproval.
Viktor Eszterhai, a research fellow at the John Lukacs Institute of Hungary's Ludovika University of Public Service, pointed out that Europe cannot distort the market just because it is at a competitive disadvantage, which could seriously backfire.
If Chinese products are squeezed out of the European market, the competitiveness of European products will be further weakened, he said.
While European consumers having less access to the most efficient EV products would be "a real tragedy," the potential to fail in the global market would be "a bigger problem," he said.
Croatian political analyst Mladen Plese noted that Europe should be ready for healthy competition with China, and must not follow the U.S. lead when it comes to tariffs on EVs.
European consumers will always seek to buy EVs that are better and cheaper, Plese said, adding that cooperation is in the interests of both Chinese and European manufacturers.
The EU has put forward the ambitious European Green Deal, aiming to turn Europe into the first climate-neutral continent in 2050, and the tariff hikes would only serve to distort its direction.
Eric Solheim, former United Nations (UN) under-secretary-general and former executive director of the UN Environment Program, said in an interview with Xinhua that China is now the core of global green development and an indispensable force in the global green transformation, noting that countries seeking green development without cooperating with China will "pay more time and cost."
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 26, 2023 shows the Tesla Gigafactory in Lingang new area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)
UTMOST SINCERITY
The European Commission initiated the anti-subsidy investigation without a formal complaint from the industries within the EU, and the rulings were "non-compliant, unreasonable, and unfair," the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has said.
As part of China's efforts to address the issue, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang chaired the China-EU Electric Vehicle (EV) Industrial Chain Enterprises Roundtable in Brussels on Sept. 18, an event that gathered leaders from nearly 30 European and Chinese EV, power battery, and parts sectors, as well as related industry associations.
A day later, Wang also met with the European Commission Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.
The ministry stressed in a statement released after the meeting that the Chinese industry proposed a price commitment solution during the investigation and further improved it based on the concerns of the EU, which fully demonstrated the utmost flexibility and sincerity from the Chinese side.
China has always exercised prudence and restraints in using trade remedy measures and upheld fair and free trade, said the statement.
Editor: ZAD
American Lithium Corp. (CVE:LI Get Free Report) Director Claudia Tornquist sold 30,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$0.50, for a total value of C$15,000.00.
Claudia Tornquist also recently made the following trade(s):
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On Friday, September 20th, Claudia Tornquist sold 30,000 shares of American Lithium stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$0.50, for a total value of C$15,000.00.
American Lithium Trading Up 1.8 %
American Lithium stock opened at C$0.56 on Wednesday. American Lithium Corp. has a 12 month low of C$0.44 and a 12 month high of C$1.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 5.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$0.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$0.77. The stock has a market cap of C$121.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.29 and a beta of 2.22.
Analyst Ratings Changes
American Lithium ( CVE:LI Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The company reported C($0.03) EPS for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Lithium Corp. will post -0.0691633 EPS for the current year.
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LI. National Bank Financial upgraded American Lithium to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. National Bankshares set a C$1.50 target price on American Lithium and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on American Lithium
About American Lithium
(Get Free Report)
American Lithium Corp., an exploration and development stage company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of resource properties in the United States. It principally focuses on the TLC Lithium Project located in the town of Tonopah, Nevada; and the Falchani Lithium project and the Macusani Uranium project located in Puno, Peru.
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Shares of Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (TSE:AEM Get Free Report) (NYSE:AEM) have earned an average recommendation of Buy from the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$105.14.
Several analysts recently weighed in on AEM shares. National Bankshares set a C$104.00 price target on Agnico Eagle Mines and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. UBS Group upgraded Agnico Eagle Mines to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Eight Capital lifted their price target on Agnico Eagle Mines from C$105.00 to C$115.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from C$105.00 to C$118.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Cormark lifted their target price on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from C$110.00 to C$115.00 in a report on Monday, June 24th.
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Insider Activity at Agnico Eagle Mines
Agnico Eagle Mines Stock Performance
In related news, Director John Merfyn Roberts sold 2,000 shares of Agnico Eagle Mines stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$111.84, for a total value of C$223,680.00. In other news, Director John Merfyn Roberts sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$111.84, for a total value of C$223,680.00. Also, Senior Officer Dominique Girard sold 11,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$104.33, for a total transaction of C$1,147,630.00. Insiders have sold a total of 100,000 shares of company stock worth $10,816,850 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.08% of the companys stock.
Shares of Agnico Eagle Mines stock opened at C$112.88 on Wednesday. Agnico Eagle Mines has a 12 month low of C$59.36 and a 12 month high of C$114.76. The firm has a market capitalization of C$56.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.44, a P/E/G ratio of 22.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of C$106.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$93.74.
Agnico Eagle Mines (TSE:AEM Get Free Report) (NYSE:AEM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported C$1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates 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 forecast that Agnico Eagle Mines will post 5.5012201 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Agnico Eagle Mines Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.547 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from Agnico Eagle Miness previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Agnico Eagle Miness payout ratio is presently 137.34%.
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.
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Northann (NYSE:NCL Get Free Report) and Tupperware Brands (NYSE:TUP Get Free Report) are both small-cap consumer discretionary 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 Northann and Tupperware Brands net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Northann -49.80% -6,763.31% -54.75% Tupperware Brands N/A N/A N/A
Institutional and Insider Ownership
0.3% of Northann shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.1% of Tupperware Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Tupperware Brands shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation & Earnings
Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Northann $15.18 million 0.26 -$7.13 million N/A N/A Tupperware Brands $1.31 billion 0.00 -$232.50 million $1.28 N/A
This table compares Northann and Tupperware Brandss gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
Northann has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Tupperware Brands.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Northann and Tupperware Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Northann 0 0 0 0 N/A Tupperware Brands 0 0 0 0 N/A
Summary
Tupperware Brands beats Northann on 6 of the 7 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Northann
(Get Free Report)
Northann Corp. engages in the manufacture, wholesale, and retail of the 3D printed vinyl flooring panels and other decorative panels in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers its products under the Benchwick brand name. Northann Corp. was founded in 2013 and is based in Elk Grove, California.
About Tupperware Brands
(Get Free Report)
Tupperware Brands Corporation operates as a consumer products company in the Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North America, and South America. The company manufactures, markets, and sells design-centric preparation, storage, and serving solutions for the kitchen and home under the Tupperware brand name, as well as a line of cookware, knives, microwave products, microfiber textiles, water-filtration related items, and an array of products for on-the-go consumers under the Tupperware brand name. It distributes its products to approximately 70 countries primarily through independent sales force members, including independent distributors, directors, managers, and dealers. The company was formerly known as Tupperware Corporation and changed its name to Tupperware Brands Corporation in December 2005. Tupperware Brands Corporation was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.
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StockNews.com cut shares of Kirby (NYSE:KEX Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning.
Separately, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kirby presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $123.80.
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Kirby Stock Performance
Shares of KEX stock opened at $124.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The companys fifty day moving average price is $118.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.17. Kirby has a 12 month low of $72.11 and a 12 month high of $130.90.
Kirby (NYSE:KEX Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.11. Kirby had a return on equity of 8.70% and a net margin of 8.72%. The firm had revenue of $824.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $821.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Kirbys revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kirby will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.46, for a total value of $3,175,084.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,637,043.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Kirby news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.46, for a total value of $3,175,084.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,637,043.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Christian G. Oneil sold 2,770 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.21, for a total transaction of $305,281.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,772,066.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,012 shares of company stock worth $5,571,267 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kirby
Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Kirby during the second quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth $970,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby in the second quarter worth about $239,000. Truist Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,050,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Kirby in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,186,000. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Kirby Company Profile
(Get Free Report)
Kirby Corporation operates domestic tank barges in the United States. Its Marine Transportation segment provides marine transportation service and towing vessel transporting bulk liquid product, as well as operates tank barge throughout the Mississippi River System, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, coastwise along three United States coasts, and in Alaska and Hawaii.
Further Reading
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WidePoint Co. (NYSEAMERICAN:WYY Get Free Report) CFO Robert J. George sold 9,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.53, for a total transaction of $31,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 115,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $407,623.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.
WidePoint Price Performance
WidePoint stock opened at $3.31 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.88 and a beta of 1.65. WidePoint Co. has a twelve month low of $1.60 and a twelve month high of $4.55.
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WidePoint (NYSEAMERICAN:WYY Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The technology company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.03. WidePoint had a negative net margin of 2.74% and a negative return on equity of 23.31%. The firm had revenue of $36.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $29.64 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WidePoint Co. will post -0.23 EPS for the current year.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Platform Technology Partners increased its holdings in shares of WidePoint by 74.8% in the 4th quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 46,753 shares of the technology companys stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of WidePoint by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 61,058 shares of the technology companys stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 17,991 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial Strategies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WidePoint by 170.5% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. now owns 103,068 shares of the technology companys stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 64,963 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 22.60% of the companys stock.
Several equities analysts have commented on WYY shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WidePoint in a research report on Sunday, June 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Litchfield Hills Research upgraded shares of WidePoint to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on WidePoint
About WidePoint
(Get Free Report)
WidePoint Corporation provides technology management as a service (TMaaS) to the government and business enterprises in North America and Europe. It offers TMaaS solutions through a secure federal government certified proprietary portal and secure enterprise portal that provides ability to manage, analyze, and protect communications assets, as well as deploys identity management solutions that provides secured virtual and physical access to restricted environments.
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UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday called on the international community to "take good care of our common home" and make joint efforts to advance global governance, as "humanity has only one planet Earth to call home, and we belong to the same world community." Facing profound changes unseen in a century, it was highly relevant that world leaders gathered at the Summit of the Future and, together, adopted the Pact for the Future to galvanize their collective efforts for world peace and development, and to map out the future of humanity, said Wang, who is also special representative of Chinese President Xi Jinping and a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, in his statement at the summit. Wang noted that with this goal in mind, Xi has put forward the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, advocated high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and proposed the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative. These vision and initiatives, he said, have provided new solutions for tackling the common challenges of humanity and drawn a new blueprint for building a better world. The minister elaborated the four-point proposal put forth by China. First, countries of the world need to build a future of peace and tranquility, and should uphold the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and settle disputes through dialogue, resolve differences through consultation and enhance security through cooperation. And major countries, in particular, should lead by example by breaking geopolitical circles, rising above bloc confrontation, and serving as propellers for world solidarity and anchoring for international peace. Second, countries of the world need to build a future of development and prosperity, follow a people-centered development philosophy and advocate a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, so as to deliver the fruits of development to the people and ensure common prosperity for all countries. Third, countries of the world need to build a future of fairness and justice, build an equal and orderly multipolar world, oppose acts of hegemonism such as unilateral sanctions, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries. Fourth, countries of the world need to build a better future by keeping abreast with the times and making global governance more just and equitable. "China will work hand in hand with countries around the world to advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and create a more peaceful and better tomorrow," Wang said.
In a highly anticipated moment during Paris Fashion Week, Bella Hadid returned to the runway for Saint Laurent, marking her first catwalk appearance since 2022. The American model, known for her captivating presence, opened the show for the iconic French brands Spring-Summer 2025 collection, designed by Anthony Vaccarello. Her return, coupled with the bold and innovative designs presented, created one of the most viral moments of the week. Vaccarellos collection was not only a celebration of the famous Le Smoking suit but also a reimagination of corporate fashion with a contemporary and provocative twist.
Screenshot of the YSL fashion show. O.B.
Showcasing Bella Hadids return: Bella Hadid, who had taken a hiatus from the runway to focus on personal projects and brand collaborations, made a striking comeback for Saint Laurent. Dressed in an oversized suit, she perfectly embodied the bold aesthetic of the collection. Her presence on the catwalk signaled a triumphant return for the supermodel and coincided with her sister Gigi Hadid's reappearance at Versaces show, underscoring the impact of the Hadid sisters on the global fashion scene.
Screenshot of the YSL fashion show. O.B.
Screenshot of the YSL fashion show. O.B.
A new era for Le Smoking: Saint Laurents Le Smoking revolutionized womens fashion in the late 1960s, bringing masculine tailoring to the forefront of female empowerment. Vaccarellos reinterpretation of this classic focused on the emerging corpcore trend, which blends corporate attire with high fashion. The collection featured oversized blazers, striped shirts, and ties, evoking a strong yet feminine office-ready look. The designs moved beyond the traditional boundaries of gendered fashion, aligning with Vaccarellos commitment to breaking societal norms.
Screenshot of the YSL fashion show. O.B.
Screenshot of the YSL fashion show. O.B.
Saint Laurents Vision for 2025
The collections aesthetics were rooted in a minimalist approach, with Vaccarello opting for simple accessories like glasses and belts that served practical functions rather than decorative purposes. Layers of leather jackets, trench coats, and bomber jackets were draped over tailored suits, creating a dynamic silhouette that reflected the fast-paced nature of modern life. The oversized suits also signaled a departure from the slender, body-hugging silhouettes that had previously defined the brand, marking a bold evolution in the houses design philosophy. @mundiario
The U.S. Navys Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 (HSC-25) prepares to hoist a crewman from a foreign fishing vessel northwest of Saipan on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.
Yves here. Yours truly has been under-reporting in Links the number and severity of bad climate change effect stories, since if I did merely a pretty good job, they would eat up all of Links. On top of record heat stories from every reasonably populated continent (including record daily minimum), flooding, droughts, and knock-ons (poor harvests, increased pathogen and pest levels), one regular category is cities running short of water. Cape Town was an early victim but it now has plenty of company.
This story discusses first-level responses, which is rationing and harvesting rainwater. But what comes next? For instance, in California, which has been subject to droughts, the main line of attack has been household use, when agriculture greatly exceeds that, and a lot of that is profligately wasteful like growing rice. So even these initial responses are hamstrung by political interests.
By Tanya Petach, the Climate Science Fellow at the Aspen Global Change Institute and Kaitlin Sullivan, a freelance journalist who covers health, science, and the environment. Produced in partnership with Energy Innovation and the Aspen Global Change Institute. Originally published at Yale Climate Connections, their content-sharing partner
In April 2024, more than 9 million residents of Bogota, Colombias capital city, were told to collect rainwater if the city was lucky enough to experience a storm.
Fed by the Guatiquia River, the Chingaza reservoir system, which supplies the area with 70% of its water, had reached critically low levels.
To make what was left stretch through a dry spell with no clear end in sight, authorities divided the city into nine zones. Every day, one of the zones would go dry for 24 hours. No toilet would flush. No glass of water would be filled from the tap. Dishes would have to go unwashed.
Bogota Mayor Carlos Galan told residents they should be prepared to live with the water restrictions for a year.
The call is to take care of every drop of water, the mayors office said, according to CBS News.
A month later, 2,000 miles away in Mexico, the Cutzamala system of reservoirs reached historic lows. The water reserves supply a substantial portion of water to Mexico Citys 22 million residents, who faced mandatory rationing.
Bogota and Mexico Citys stories mirror those of cities across the globe. The amount of water stored in lakes worldwide has drastically and steadily decreased since 1992, according to a 2023 study published in the prestigious research journal Science. During those 30 years, freshwater lakes collectively lost an average of 600 cubic kilometers of water storage annually 17 times the volume of Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States.
A Global Crisis
The cause is a combination of human-caused overuse and unprecedented shifts in the climate, the researchers found.
Increasing temperatures, accelerated evaporation, and unpredictable shifts in rain and snow patterns and the runoff these events create have made urban water sources increasingly unstable.
These factors, coupled with unsustainable water consumption, are responsible for about half the water losses over the last 30 years. Theyve pushed cities around the globe closer to Day Zero, when water supply would be depleted and taps would run dry.
But understanding which of these stressors is having the biggest impact on each water system is the cornerstone for creating solutions.
The Cautionary Tale of the Aral Sea
In living memory, the Aral Sea, which straddles the Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan border, was the fourth-largest lake in the world.
Engineers diverted massive amounts of water from the Aral Sea starting in the early 1960s to irrigate one of the worlds largest cotton farming operations. The lake rapidly shrank over the next three decades.
That decision made the Aral Sea a poster child for what happens when humans overuse water in arid regions.
The Aral Sea as captured by satellite images in 2000 and 2018. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory)
Today, the lake covers one-tenth of the surface area that it did in 1920. Five and a half million hectares of the lake an area the size of Lake Michigan is dry. If rusting fishing boats didnt stud the taupe-colored desert, there would be little reason to believe the surrounding area is a lake bed.
A similar story is unfolding for dozens of critical waterways, from the Maipo River in Chile, the basin of which provides 80% of Santiagos water, to the Colorado River in the United States, which supplies water to 40 million people. Both rivers have been overpromised and overused by sprawling cities and agricultural operations.
How Does Climate Change Affect Water Supplies?
Even the best-laid plans can be thwarted by the uncertainties climate change brings. Fueled largely by hotter temperatures, evaporation is a significant threat to drinking water supplies worldwide.
Evaporation in reservoirs and natural lakes increased by nearly 60% between 1985 to 2018 more than scientists previously thought, according to a study published in Nature Communications in 2022.
In central Argentina, a salt lake called Laguna Mar Chiquita, or Lake Little Sea, shows how increased pressures from climate change interact with overconsumption. Lack of rainfall and high temperatures have meant the three rivers that feed Lake Mar Chiquita deliver less water. Without rainfall to irrigate their crops, farmers divert more water than usual from the lake so their plants wont die. Evaporation, exacerbated by heat, adds pressure to the lake. In the summer of 2022 and 2023, Argentina set a record with 10 heat waves.
The Colorado River, which supplies water to seven Western states, nearly 30 Native American tribes, and two states in Mexico, faces similar threats. The river irrigates 15% of American agriculture, including around 90% of vegetables grown in winter. The American West is a quarter century into a megadrought that hasnt been remedied by two consecutively wet winters.
As a result, more water is being used than is coming in.
The U.S. Department of the Interior monitors Lake Mead, which is fed by the Colorado River. If experts expect reservoir levels to dip below a certain point, the federal agency releases less water, leaving downstream shareholders across two countries with less water. In 2022, this happened for the first time.
Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico have all faced cuts to their shares of the Colorado River in recent years, a trend expected to continue in 2024.
A warmer atmosphere is a thirstier atmosphere, and without a compensating increase in precipitation, which has not occurred, humans and ecosystems will be left with less water, hydroclimatologist Park Williams of the University of California, Los Angeles, told the Los Angeles Times.
What Can Cities Do About Dwindling Water Supplies?
There have already been a series of small, continued efforts that have been able to stave off Day Zeros.
Cutting water use is the most obvious line of defense. Its a scenario people around the world watched play out during a narrowly averted crisis in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2018. Starting in 2015, dwindling reservoir storage for Cape Towns water supply brought the city perilously close to Day Zero. In response, city officials implemented harsh restrictions that cut water consumption by 50% of 2015 levels. Those efforts, coupled with the return of seasonal rains, kept the citys water supply from running out.
Some nations have already implemented changes to their water infrastructure in an effort to reduce the amount lost to evaporation and overuse, such as Las Vegas nonfunctional turf ban.
In southern Brazils Passauna reservoir, floating solar panels have the potential to be a win-win. The shimmery sheets reduced evaporation in the reservoir by 60%, while at the same time powering homes, businesses, and industry with renewable energy. Floating covers and shade balls can have the same evaporation-thwarting effect, especially for reservoirs in arid climates. Though these technologies show promise for decreasing evaporation, ongoing research is evaluating side effects, such as impaired water quality.
Understanding the primary stressors on lake water losses is often a prerequisite for management solutions, said Fangfang Yao, a postdoctoral fellow at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences who led the Science study, told Yale Climate Connections.
And addressing climate change is a necessary part of the solution, too. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions nationally and internationally will help alleviate further water losses due to evaporation, Yao said.
Retired Border Patrol chief accuses Biden-Harris administration of trying to cover up the southern border crisis
A former senior Border Patrol official has accused the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of deliberately covering up the scale of the southern border crisis
In testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee on Sept. 18, Aaron Heitke, the former chief patrol agent of San Diego until 2023, claimed that the administration attempted to suppress media exposure regarding the escalating number of illegal migrants crossing into the United States.
"Each time we asked for help in dealing with a new issue, it fell on deaf ears. At times in San Diego, we had 2,000 or more aliens sitting in between the fences asking to turn themselves in," said Heitke. "I was told to move them out of the sight of the media."
Heitke shared multiple instances where the administration was attempting to hide the crisis. He criticized the decision made in 2021 to halt deportations and end the policy requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims were processed.
"For the first time in my 25 years in under five different administrations, whether through neglect or on purpose, I saw a large-scale lapse in our ability to return people to their country of origin," said Heitke. "The inability to send people home meant that most people being arrested for illegal entry would either have to be detained or released."
"I had to release illegal aliens by the hundreds each day into communities that could not support them. To quiet the problem, two flights a week were provided from San Diego to Texas. These flights simply brought aliens that would have been released in San Diego over to Texas," said Heitke, adding that each flight cost the government $150,000. "This was the administration's way to try and quiet the border-wide crisis." (Related: Open borders policies are really just a child trafficking operation run by Democrats.)
Federal data, Heitke pointed out, indicates that over 5.3 million of the nine million migrants arrested at the border during the Biden-Harris administration have been allowed to remain in the United States. He argued that this leniency encouraged more illegal crossings in 2022 and 2023 and created a vicious cycle that overwhelmed the border patrol agents.
"Border Patrol saw groups of hundreds and thousands coming into the United States and turning themselves in. These numbers pulled 80, 90, sometimes 100 percent of the agents on duty away from the border," Heitke said. "Border Patrol zones across Texas, Arizona and California had no agent presence for weeks and months at a time. Those who did not want to be caught could simply walk in."
Migrants linked to terrorism and drug trafficking
Aside from accusing the Biden-Harris administration of covering up the increase in migrants, the former official also raised national security concerns and drug trafficking.
Heitke testified that his agents in San Diego encountered an alarming rise in "Special Interest Aliens" (SIAs) migrants from countries linked to terrorism or security threats.
"These are aliens with significant ties to terrorism," he said. Before this administration, the San Diego sector averaged 10 to 15 arrests per year. Once word was out, the border was far easier to cross. San Diego went to over 100 arrests in 2022, well over that in 2023, and even more than that registered this year. These are only the ones we caught. At the time I was told I could not release any information on this increase in size or mention any of the arrests. The administration was trying to convince the public. There was no threat at the border."
Drugs are another one of his concerns.
"The San Diego area sees between 80 and 90 percent of the methamphetamine and fentanyl seizures annually for our entire country.
"With little enforcement at the border, these drugs were coming through in mass. During my last year in San Diego, the price for a single pill of fentanyl, for example, went from $10 to $0.25. To make matters worse, during 2022 and 23, I had to shut down San Diego traffic checkpoints, which are critical for drug interdiction, because the resources had been diverted to the process and release mission," he said.
But despite all this, Heitke said he was repeatedly told not to release information about the rising number of SIAs or related arrests, with the administration allegedly pushing to "convince the public there was no threat at the border."
Watch the video below that talks about the mainstream media covering up Harris' failure as the "border czar."
This video is from Justin Barclay's channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Kamala's KASA extremists want to "Keep America Suffering Again" by voting for open borders, extreme censorship, and genocide via vaccines.
Trump: America has become a DUMPING GROUND for the prison populations of other nations under open borders Biden-Harris administration.
Open borders politicians in Europe are contributing to the spread of Wuhan coronavirus the same way they allowed their countries to be invaded by refugees.
KAMILLA THE HUN to take over America? Get ready for Kamala-Care (like Obamacare), open borders and a new world war waged by Big Pharma and the Communists in DC.
J.D. Vance: Kamala's vision for America includes OPEN BORDERS and CLOSED FACTORIES.
Sources include:
YourNews.com
MSN.com
RealClearPolitics.com
Brighteon.com
British foreign secretary urges UK citizens to leave Lebanon as Israeli invasion could trigger all-out war
Following massive genocidal attacks in Lebanon by the Israeli army, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged U.K. citizens to immediately leave the country
"My message to British nationals in Lebanon is to leave while commercial options remain. Tensions are high and the situation could deteriorate rapidly," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Let's hope we don't get there because this is a doomsday scenario for everyone. It's a doomsday for Lebanon but Lebanon will not hurt alone in this war. That's what recent history has taught us. So all efforts should be focused on avoiding such an outcome."
He continues to warn that many more dangerous aspects of the Middle East could get as far as Europe and beyond.
Meanwhile, Ambassador of Lebanon to the United Kingdom Rami Mortada said that their troops would not "stand idly by and watch" if Israel invaded or were to "mount a heavy aerial attack," the Times reported.
On Sept.19, Israeli jets bombarded Lebanon with more than 100 strikes. Mortada warned that Hezbollah has become a "formidable fighting force," saying that a multi-frontal war in the region could radicalize a whole new generation in Europe.
"We are facing all the risks of an all-out regional conflict and that's what we have been tirelessly trying to avoid," he said.
Moreover, the Israeli army has recently admitted that it had launched more than 300 air raids at sites used by the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah. As per Lebanon's Health Minister Firas Abiad, 274 people have been killed, including 21 children and 31 women. More than 1,000 people have also been injured, he said.
He also said that Israeli airstrikes targeted "hospitals, medical centers and ambulances," adding that the figures come on top of the dozens killed and thousands injured last week when pagers and walkie-talkies were detonated targeting Hezbollah operatives.
Israel's military vowed to continue to attack Hezbollah and said its strikes throughout Thursday hit about 100 rocket launchers plus other targets in southern Lebanon.
In response, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said via live television coverage, while Israeli warplanes could be heard breaking the sound barrier over Beirut, that the device explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday "crossed all red lines."
"The enemy went beyond all controls, laws and morals," he said. He said that the attacks "could be considered war crimes or a declaration of war," acknowledging that they had suffered an "unprecedented " blow when thousands of operatives' communication devices exploded." (Related: Bulgaria not Hungary manufactured the pager bombs used in Israel attack against Hezbollah that left 37 dead, thousands injured.)
He described the attacks as a "massacre" and a possible "act of war." He vowed that Israel would face "tough retribution and just punishment, where it expects it and where it does not."
Hezbollah leader dodges Israel's threats; ready to face all military possibilities
Over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed to be doing everything he can to "restore security." However, the Iran-backed Lebanese group's deputy leader Naim Qassem said that threats will not stop them and that they are "ready to face all military possibilities."
"We have entered a new phase, namely an open reckoning with Israel," he said at the funeral of Ibrahim Aqil, a high-ranking Hezbollah commander killed in Israel's Friday strike in Beirut, where 45 people were killed, including 15 of Aqil's men. About 30 civilians were also killed in the said strike, including entire families.
Huge crowds lined the streets and followed the coffin as it was driven on an elevated platform on the back of a pick-up truck. A strong message of defiance from the gathered Hezbollah supporters was evident. They even chanted "Death to America."
Lebanese Minister for Public Works Ali Hamie, who is also linked with Hezbollah, said Israel is dragging the region to war.
"In the end, Lebanon is not seeking the war," he told the BBC at the scene of the strike. "Even the Lebanese people. But Israel is calling us worldwide, come to war. Come to war."
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden claimed that he was working to facilitate the safe return of residents to their homes along the Israeli-Lebanon border during a recent cabinet meeting.
"We're going to keep at it until we get it done, but weve got a way to go," Biden said, emphasizing the importance of continuing efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza to promote regional stability. But reports indicate that his administration has lost hope for a truce before he leaves office in January.
UN Chief Antonio Guterres told reporters that he feared "the possibility of transforming Lebanon [into] another Gaza." Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, UN's special coordinator in Lebanon, posted on X that the Middle East was on the brink of "imminent catastrophe."
"It cannot be overstated enough: there is NO military solution that will make either side safer," she posted on X on Sunday.
Read more about the developing conflicts Israel is waging against Middle Eastern nations at WWIII.news.
Sources for this article include:
DailyMail.co.uk
TheGuardian.com
BBC.com
Poll: 28% of Democrats believe U.S. would be better off if second assassination attempt against Trump succeeded
A recent Napolitan Institute poll has revealed troubling signs of desensitization among Democrats in the wake of the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, revealing that 28 percent believe that it would have been beneficial for the U.S. if the attempt had succeeded.
The survey, conducted days after the second assassination attempt among 1,ooo registered voters, found that 17 percent of voters believe the United States would be better off if the attempt had succeeded. Another 24 percent were unsure and only 48 percent definitively said that America would not have been better off had the former president been killed.
Moreover, 51 percent of Democrats believe there is no need to increase the security detail of Trump despite the gravity of two assassination attempts in recent months. In contrast, a majority of voters across the political spectrum (62 percent) believe his security should be strengthened, though 32 percent disagree.
"It is hard to imagine a greater threat to democracy than expressing a desire to have your political opponent murdered," Scott Rasmussen, president of RMG Research, said with deep concern over the results. (Related: Poll: 28% of Democrats approve of Trump assassination, 51% don't see need for increased security.)
The poll also revealed a stark divide in who voters suspect is behind the assassination attempts. For instance, 49 percent of Democrats think it is at least somewhat likely that Trump or his campaign was involved in orchestrating the attack, with 21 percent deeming it "very likely." Among Republicans, 52 percent suspect the Democratic Party or Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign may have played a role, with 28 percent calling it "very likely."
"I continue to believe that America's best days are still to come. However, for years I've been saying that things will get worse before they get better. These numbers suggest that the phase of getting worse is clearly upon us," Rasmussen said while reflecting on the results.
Democrats publicly scheming to deprive Trump of presidency even if he wins in November
Adding to the tension, figures like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) have made headlines when he suggested that the Democratic Party could invoke the 14th Amendment to disqualify Trump from the 2024 election, even if he secures enough votes to win.
"And so [the court] want to kick it to Congress, so it's going to be up to us on Jan. 6, 2025, to tell the rampaging Trump mobs that he's disqualified," Raskin said in a panel discussion as the Supreme Court was mulling the constitutionality of the leftist Colorado secretary of state's use of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to remove Trump from the state's presidential primary ballot.
"And then we need bodyguards for everybody and civil war conditions all because nine justices not all of them, but these justices who have not many cases to look at every year, not much work to do, have a huge staff, great protection simply do not want to do their job and interpret what the great 14th Amendment means," Raskin declared at a Washington, D.C. bookstore gathering of leftists.
In response, independent journalist Ben Bartee wrote: "Beyond just being brazenly anti-democratic, this is also flirting with civil war which Raskin acknowledges himself when he demands bodyguards and predicts "civil war conditions" once they steal it (again)."
Trump.news has more stories about the failed assassination attempts on the former president.
Watch this clip of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) grilling Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe during the July 30 Senate hearing.
This video is from the Planet Zedta channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Congress investigating Google for suppressing news stories about Trump assassination attempt.
GOP lawmakers call for probe into Big Tech's CENSORSHIP of Trump assassination attempt.
Sen. Johnson: FBI CAN'T BE TRUSTED on Trump assassination probe.
Google manipulates essential auto-suggest results to "memory-hole" Trump assassination attempt.
Hit job cover-up? Secret Service had NO RADIOS operating with local police the day of Trump assassination attempt.
Sources include:
Armageddonprose.Substack.com
NapolitanInstitute.org
TheFederalist.com
Brighteon.com
Senators Grassley and Johnson expose Biden-Harris administration election interference
United States Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) have revealed instances of election interference by the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, with the ultimate goal of sabotaging the 2024 campaign of former President Donald Trump.
The senators disclosed in their findings the details about a long-hidden federal investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign funding, which has now been weaponized as part of a wider lawfare attempt to influence the upcoming presidential election. (Related: Biden regime under investigation for 2024 ELECTION INTERFERENCE.)
This federal investigation examined whether a $10 million contribution made by Trump to his own campaign shortly before the election had been funded by the Egyptian government, specifically by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
The probe, which started during Trump's presidency in 2017, uncovered classified U.S. intelligence indicating Sisi's intention to financially support Trump's campaign.
The investigation also involved Special Counsel Robert Mueller, whose team investigated Trump, as well as a covert court battle to acquire records from an Egyptian bank.
In early 2019, federal investigators learned about a considerable cash withdrawal from the National Bank of Egypt on Jan. 15, 2017, just five days before Trump's presidential inauguration.
The withdrawal involved an organization known as the Research and Studies Center, which requested $9,998,000 in cash. After an in-depth examination, the investigation determined there wasn't enough evidence to seek charges.
Biden administration accused of organizing an illegal leak of classified information
In a letter addressed to Department of Justice (DOJ) Attorney General Merrick Garland and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray, Grassley and Johnson accused the Biden administration of organizing an illegal leak of classified information about the investigation with the purpose of interfering in the 2024 election.
"The reporting refers to 'classified U.S. intelligence,' indicating the Justice Department and FBI officials may have divulged classified information to the media," the senators wrote.
"More than that, it also appears the Biden-Harris Justice Department and FBI intentionally leaked this information, to include potentially classified information, to the media roughly 90 days before the 2024 presidential election."
The letter calls upon the DOJ to begin a media leak investigation into the people responsible for disclosing classified details to the press. Grassley and Johnson have given Garland until Sept. 30 to reply to their request for an investigation.
The senators' allegations raise issues about the transparency of federal agencies regarding politically sensitive matters.
Grassley and Johnson contend that federal agencies have earlier shown bias by protecting Biden and his family from investigation while vigorously targeting Trump. According to the senators, this most recent revelation is another attempt to control the outcome of the coming election through media leaks and unproven accusations.
Both Grassley and Johnson are calling for accountability within the DOJ and the FBI, emphasizing that these leaks must be examined carefully to guarantee the integrity of the election process.
Follow Rigged.news for more stories about election interference.
Watch the video below about the Trump campaign calling the Iranian hacking report election interference.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Trump pleads NOT GUILTY to Special Counsel Jack Smiths revised indictment over ginned-up 2020 election interference charges.
Senators Johnson and Grassley hit out at Big Tech and mainstream media for blatant censorship of Biden scandal.
Bombshell Congressional report uncovers well-funded network of election interference and censorship.
Sen. Grassley demanding investigation into why Muellers team wiped phones and destroyed evidence.
Election interference: Independent presidential candidate Cornel West says Kamala Harris tried to bribe him to drop out, offering him cash and work.
Sources include:
YourNews.com
TheGatewayPundit.com
Brighteon.com
Two illegal immigrants suspected of heinous sexual offenses were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on consecutive days in Nantucket Island.
On Sept. 10, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) apprehended a 28-year-old Salvadoran national named Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo. The suspect had been arraigned on July 26 in Nantucket District Court on charges including 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.
But despite these charges, Aldana-Arevalo was released by the district court on bail three days later on July 29. Aldana-Arevalo remained in the Nantucket community until he was detained by ICE nearly 45 days after his release. (Related: Kentucky man charged with smuggling MINORS into the U.S. to make child porn.)
"Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo stands accused of some detestable and disturbing crimes against a Nantucket child," said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. "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. We will continue to prioritize the safety of our public by arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders from our New England neighborhoods."
HONG KONG, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's research vessel Deep Sea No. 1, carrying manned submersible Jiaolong, received a warm welcome Tuesday in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the first time they visited the city.
The vessel is on a home-bound voyage after completing a scientific mission in the Western Pacific Ocean. During their two-day stay in Hong Kong, scientists on board will give lectures to Hong Kong students and hold a number of international seminars to share the results of this scientific expedition.
Warner Cheuk, deputy chief secretary for administration of the HKSAR government, said that the visits ahead of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China fully demonstrated the central government's care and support for Hong Kong's marine scientific research development and ecological conservation.
It is hoped that this event will inspire more young people in Hong Kong to engage in deep-sea research and make planet Earth a better place to live in, he said.
Wu Changbin, director of China Ocean Mineral Resources R&D Association, congratulated the successful completion of the Western Pacific international voyage scientific expedition, saying that this voyage not only enhanced China's scientific understanding of deep-sea biodiversity and ecosystems but also contributed important scientific data to global marine scientific research.
The scientific expedition team of Chinese and foreign scientists set sail on Aug. 10 from Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, and made a total of 18 dives in the Western Pacific. It was the first time that foreign scientists have carried out deep-sea scientific research on Jiaolong.
ESCALATING CONFLICT: Israels covert operations in Lebanon could lead to all-out war with Hezbollah
Military analysts suspect that Israel's recent operation targeting Hezbollah communication devices that killed dozens of people and injured thousands is a prelude to a larger military offensive in southern Lebanon
Reports indicate that the Israeli cabinet has authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant to take military action against Hezbollah, potentially escalating into full-scale war.
The Israeli detonation of electronic and communications devices in Lebanon have killed at least 37 people and injured more than 3,400, with the casualty count expected to rise in the coming days.
Gallant announced a "new phase" of operations against Hezbollah along northern Israel, and statements from senior officials indicate that an extensive confrontation is looming. This follows a wave of explosions targeting Hezbollah's walkie-talkies and other electronic devices, echoing a previous attack on Hezbollah-issued pagers. (Related: Thousands of handheld radios EXPLODE in second wave of Israeli attacks on Lebanon.)
In response to these developments, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have redeployed their 98th Division from operations in the Gaza Strip to the northern border with Lebanon.
The paratroopers and commandos will join the existing 36th Division under Northern Command, enhancing military readiness as tensions continue to escalate.
Eyewitness accounts and reports from regional media confirm ongoing blasts in Beirut, including detonations of handheld radios used by Hezbollah members.
Al-Manar TV, affiliated with Hezbollah, has reported that these devices exploded in various areas. Multiple ambulances have been observed rushing to the sites of these explosions, signaling that the Israeli operation aimed at disrupting Hezbollah's communications is far from over.
Hezbollah had relied on encrypted pagers for secure communication, believing that older technology would be less susceptible to interception.
However, experts assert that Israel has effectively penetrated Hezbollah's telecommunications. Jody Westby of Global Cyber Risk noted that the use of pagers was intended to provide security, but the recent operations reveal a significant Israeli capability to disrupt those lines of communication.
War correspondent Elijah Magnier highlighted the strategic nature of these attacks, emphasizing that crippling communication systems is vital in warfare. He remarked that the initial phase of any conflict often targets command and control structures, and Israel's focus on communication underscores the seriousness of their intent.
Meanwhile, there are reports that the United Nations and other international entities are facing scrutiny amid allegations of espionage linked to Israel, further complicating the situation in the region. As the conflict escalates, the implications for both local and international stakeholders remain uncertain.
Lebanon warns of "doomsday" should Israel invade
Lebanese ambassador to the United Kingdom Rami Mortada has warned that an Israeli ground invasion into Lebanon would be a "doomsday" scenario for Israel that will result in an all-out regional conflict that could see Israel under intense conflict on multiple fronts, and it could even lead to the radicalization of Lebanese and Palestinian migrants in Europe.
Mortada noted that Israel would not just have to face off with Hezbollah's forces. He warned that the country's armed forces would not "stand idly" by and watch Israel mount an invasion of Lebanon.
"We are facing all the risks of an all-out regional conflict and that's what we have been tirelessly trying to avoid," said Mortada, who warned that Hezbollah has become a "formidable fighting force" in recent years and that Israel should learn from its past "humiliating" defeats, including its previous inconclusive invasion of Lebanon in 2006.
"Let's hope that we don't get there because this is a doomsday scenario for everyone. It's definitely a doomsday for Lebanon, but Lebanon will not hurt alone in this war," added Mortada. "That's what recent history taught us. So all efforts should be focused on avoiding such an outcome."
Watch this video from Southfront Press about how Israel's recent attack on Hezbollah pagers and other communications devices shows the country's government is clamoring for war with Lebanon.
This video is from the channel The Prisoner on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
PURE EVIL: Israel booby-trapped CHILDREN'S TOYS with explosives to kill Lebanese children.
Israel launches PAGER ATTACK on Lebanon exploding mobile devices kill nine, wound more than 2,700.
Israeli airstrikes KILL paramedics, injure civilians in southern Lebanon.
ENVIRONMENTAL TERRORISM: Israel bombards southern Lebanon with TOXIC white phosphorus shells.
Sources include:
ZeroHedge.com
TheTimes.com
Brighteon.com
Kentucky governor bans parents and doctors from telling kids about the dangers of genital mutilation
Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear issued an executive order banning so-called "conversion therapy" for minors on Wednesday, September 18.
The order makes it illegal to utilize state or federal funding to support conversion therapy programs for minors. The order provides licensing boards the ability to take action on licensees if they are caught conducting conversion therapy on minors.
Previously, Beshear vetoed a bill prohibiting sex changes for minors. The Republican-dominated Kentucky General Assembly ultimately overturned the veto with their supermajorities. Beshear's order does not include a prohibition against sex change treatments.
"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," Beshear announced in a press release. "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."
Conversion therapy is the practice of clinically trying to stop individuals from being attracted to someone of the same sex and changing an individual's "sexual orientation" or "gender identity," the order states.
Louisville, the state's largest city, outlawed the practice in 2020. Beshear's order covers the whole state. The governor's order cites a claim that leading mental health and medical organizations in the United States have spoken out against conversion therapy.
Kentucky governor's order violates the rights of parents and stifles religious expression
Several experts have claimed that laws prohibiting conversion therapy keep therapists from aiding individuals to understand their biological sex.
The Family Foundation, a socially conservative group in Kentucky, stated Beshear's order violates the rights of parents and stifles religious expression. It mentioned the ban as an "unlawful action," possibly signaling a legal challenge. (Related: LGBTQ CHILD EXPLOITATION AGENDA: Projects and businesses caught pushing kids into gender-bender drugs and genitalia-mutilation surgery without parental permission)
"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.
Walls added that their organization will "continue to believe that parents and their children should be free to seek counseling that they desire to seek, including faith-based counseling."
While the order bans conversion therapy, it still permits minors to undergo sex change "practice, treatment or intervention."
"He can't just issue an executive order and prescribe law. This is really basic Con Law 101 stuff, and I think the governor knows it, frankly. He's not stupid, but he gets the headlines, and he excites the base," Chris Wiest, an attorney in northern Kentucky that is taking legal action against the order.
According to Daniel Schmid, a legal executive with Liberty Counsel, which depicts itself as a Christian ministry, the ban runs "roughshod over the First Amendment."
Follow Gender.news for more news about conversion therapy and sex change treatments being offered to minors.
Watch the video below about the United Kingdom banning "conversion therapy" but encouraging sexual indoctrination.
This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Depopulation agenda: Biden pressuring other nations to affirm LGBT ideology, stop conversion therapy.
Minnesotas new gender identity law strips Christian schools, churches of exemption from hiring LGBTs.
Trump plans to criminalize GENDER TRANSITION surgery on minors without parental consent if elected.
Ohio judge upholds statewide ban on transgender treatments for minors.
New Florida law limits instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation indoctrination in public schools.
Sources include:
WND.com
KFVS12.com
APNews.com
Brighteon.com
Lebanon bans all pagers and walkie talkies on flights following deadly Israeli terror operation
Lebanon has banned all passengers in the country from carrying pagers or walkie talkies on aircraft following a slew of explosions in these devices targeting Hezbollah terrorists in recent days that were believed to be caused by Israel. The new rule took place with immediate effect.
Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport intends to search for these devices and will not allow them in checked or carry-on luggage, nor will they be permitted in cargo.
More than 3,000 people have been injured and at least 37 are dead following the series of blasts. However, it is not known how many airlines are adhering to the new regulation; some airlines have even canceled flights in the area amid heightened tensions. For example, Lufthansa has suspended flights due to the current situation in the Middle East until at least October 26, reiterating in a press release: The safety of our passengers and crews is always our top priority.
Although Israel has yet to confirm its role in the explosion, a number of current and former intelligence and defense officials told the New York Times that it was indeed caused by the Israelis, and it was part of a complex operation that had been in the works for quite some time.
Hezbollah leaders like Hassan Nasrallah had been concerned for some time about Israels ability to use cellphone networks to identify the locations of operatives and urged them to stop using them in favor of pagers, which can receive data without exposing the location of their users.
Israel took advantage of this, creating a shell company that would make ordinary pagers for regular customers while selling models with batteries laced with an explosive to Hezbollah customers. The group unwittingly purchased thousands of them, and Israel decided this week that the time had come to activate them and set off their explosions.
The Kremlin has condemned Israels actions as international terrorism, while the EUs Josep Borrell criticized their indiscriminate tactic. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres cautioned that the operation could lead to a dramatic escalation.
Some civilians ended up being injured, including children and medical workers, as devices blew up in apartment buildings and homes. Doctors on the ground report that the attacks resulted in countless of amputations.
"Almost exclusively the pager explodes in the hand while people are trying to read the message, so we're getting mangled hands and penetrating injuries and blast injuries to the face and the eyes," said local medical professional Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah.
Could the ban be extended beyond Middle East airports?
Many people in the area are so spooked by the attack that they have disconnected all their household appliances and devices. The Lebanese army is reportedly blowing up pagers and other suspicious devices in various areas using controlled blasts. They have also asked citizens to report suspicious devices they encounter.
There are now concerns that the ban could extend beyond Middle East airports. After all, a rigged pager on a flight could pose a danger to all passengers, especially if it goes off while someone is in a window seat. As people start to second-guess the safety of everyday items in the wake of Israels bold operation, some wonder if the airline pager ban could soon extend to other devices or even reach the U.S.
Sources for this article include:
ZeroHedge.com
NYTimes.com
Reuters.com
PURE EVIL: The fallout from Israel turning ordinary consumer products into EXPLOSIVES
reporters Sheera Frenkel and Ronen Bergman, both described as "Jewish Zionists," wrote a piece for their paper this week that seems to celebrate Israel's indiscriminate pager attack in Lebanon as something laudable and brilliant.
Even though thousands of Lebanese civilians ended up becoming injured or killed as a result, Israel reportedly hid explosive material within a batch of pagers imported into Lebanon. The devices, known as AP-924, were apparently intercepted by Israel before reaching their final destination.
Officials say as little as one or two ounces of the explosive material was implanted next to the battery in each pager. A remote switch then activated the explosions with a simple message that was sent to each device pretending to be from Hezbollah leaders.
Israeli cybersecurity analyst and Tel Aviv University research Keren Elazeri is referenced in the Times piece as having called the attacks an act of military precision that "targeted Hezbollah where they were most vulnerable."
??Lebanese sources: Hundreds of pager devices exploded, causing hundreds of injuries. These explosions are the result of a breach. pic.twitter.com/RRbwOQ3adM Warfare Analysis (@warfareanalysis) September 17, 2024
(Related: Did you know that Israel is using advanced artificial intelligence [AI] technology to commit mass genocide in Gaza?)
Global trade at risk of collapse due to Israeli attack
Because of all the confusion surrounding who actually made the pagers and who, specifically, intercepted and modified them with explosives, the world is in a tizzy over how to respond.
Gold Apollo, the Taiwanese electronic company whose name is on the pagers Gold Apollo denies actually manufacturing them, though is suddenly underwater. Its CEO is planning to sue Israel for damaging, if not completely destroying, his business.
Global trade in general is also on the rocks as the business world is rattled over the possibility of even more consumer electronics being shipped out that possibly contain hidden explosives.
"The idea that Israel can intercept such shipments and plant explosives in basic communication devices which they can blow up at any moment should shock the world," says Chris Menahan from Information Liberation.
In the comments, someone else wrote that "heads should roll" in Taiwan, just as they should in Israel, for allowing or facilitating this act of terror to happen.
"This didn't happen without the help of some powerful entities in Taiwan, maybe even the U.S.," this person added.
"Those nations against Zionism, against Nazism, need to punish Taiwan economically. STOP doing business with those doing business with Zionist Israel. This is a lesson to those fighting for freedoms, know who you are doing business with and be alarmed when you are dealing with so called 'democracies.'"
Many others agreed that this is a clear act of terror by Israel, which claims to use "precision" in its military operations. Exploding pagers, last we checked, is not exactly a precision weapon, especially when innocent people, including children, get injured or killed in the fallout.
"People of the world: Now there should be no doubt who planted the explosives in the World Trade Center buildings on 9/11," wrote another. "We are in the month of September with mysterious explosions going off!"
Another blasted Taiwan for harboring the kind of corruption that would allow for such a scenario to unfold.
"Their yank puppet regime needs to be wiped out as soon as possible," this person wrote.
"This terror act is dirty," said another, warning that global trade will tank in the coming days. "It is an incitement of more conflicts. It will also affect commerce."
The latest news about the Middle East can be found at WWIII.news.
Sources for this article include:
InformationLiberation.com
NaturalNews.com
A terror state through time: from Ben Gurion to Netanyahu
On 31 May 1948, a man born in Poland by the name of David Ben Gurion transformed the Zionist terrorist groups Haganah, Stern , Irgun, and Palmach into what would be called the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). This man would go on to become Israels first prime minister, and his actions laid the foundation for what many describe as a settler-colonial state in Palestine.
(Article by Khalil Harb republished from TheCradle.co)
This fact sums up the occupation states very essence today, offering a stark illustration of the indiscriminately violent roots upon which the state and its army were built. Today, Israeli military operations continue in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where tanks crush the bodies of the dead and wounded and where residents are thrown from rooftops or sniped in their homes.
Causing death or serious bodily harm to civilians for the purpose of intimidating a population is the very definition of terrorism, in the words of the United Nations General Assembly.
Entire residential buildings are reduced to rubble in the name of assassinating resistance fighters, whether in Gaza, the West Bank, or even Beirut. The Israeli government has normalized bloody attacks on hospitals, churches, and mosques and weaponized communications technology to annihilate people in homes, offices, and streets en masse to strike fear into civilians and force them into submission.
The gang state
If there is a single word that best defines Israels modus operandi, it is terrorism. From its inception as a political entity through its early campaigns of ethnic cleansing to its ongoing military impositions on Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Yemen not to mention its previous actions in Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, and Sudan Israels history is marked by a blatant disregard for international law and moral principles.
Terrorism is the most powerful weapon for Israel, the gang state that is now nicknamed Netanyahus gang, and its security and military apparatuses. This gang mentality has long been part of the Zionist ideology, which cloaks its goals in lofty religious rhetoric while simultaneously unleashing depraved acts of violence and domination.
Almost a century later, Israel still struggles to attain legitimate standing, its existence perpetually marred by its violent birth and sustained oppression of the Palestinians.
Read more at: TheCradle.co
UN backs resolution calling for an end to Israels occupation of Gaza and the West Bank
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has voted in favor of a resolution calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank within a year
The nonbinding resolution, brought forth by the Palestinian Authority, is rooted in the July advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which declared the presence of Israel in the occupied territories unlawful. The resolution calls for the removal of Israeli settlers from areas occupied since 1967, divestment from Israeli companies benefiting from those lands and compensation for Palestinians living under military occupation. (Related: Israel's entire occupation of Palestine since 1948 ruled illegal by the UN.)
It also urges UN members not to recognize any unilateral changes to the status of these territories, referencing the two-state solution, which has been the accepted framework for peace since 1993.
The ICJ recommendation has been used as a basis for renewed efforts to end the decades-long occupation of the West Bank, but neither the ICJ ruling nor the resolution is legally binding.
Despite that, 124 of the 193-member UNGA supported the measure when it came to a vote on Sept. 18. Meanwhile, 14 nations, including Israel and the United States, voted against the resolution, and 43 countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany and Ukraine, abstained.
Many of the countries that abstained expressed concerns over the lack of provisions addressing the right of Israel to self-defense. Canadian ambassador Bob Rae even stressed the resolution's failure to condemn terrorism and argued it portrayed the conflict as one-sided.
"It's an important precedent because one of the main problems with Palestinian issues for the last 75 years is that nobody was putting actual deadlines," former advisor to Palestinian leadership Nizar Farsakh said regarding the support. "In international politics, it becomes a talking point that countries like South Africa or the global south, in general, can use, because it's basically the UN General Assembly the mood of the international community."
Israeli ambassador to the UN condemns the decision
Meanwhile, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon condemned the decision on X.
"This is a shameful decision that backs the Palestinian Authoritys diplomatic terrorism," he wrote. "Instead of marking the anniversary of the October 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."
However, Richard Gowan, UN director at the International Crisis Group, explained that the timing of the resolution is strategic to bring renewed attention to the Palestinian issue just ahead of high-level meetings at the UN, when world leaders will gather to deliver their annual addresses. "I think the timing of the Palestinian resolution was very deliberate. What we've seen in recent months is that although everyone remains very concerned about Gaza, the Palestinian question has been gradually slipping down the political agenda at the UN," Gowan said. "I think leaders coming to New York are going to have to decide not only whether or not to call for a ceasefire in Gaza which I think almost everyone will but whether they are actually going to speak up and endorse what the General Assembly and the ICJ have said."
Follow IsraelCollapse.com for more news about Israel and Palestine.
Palestinian human rights activist says Israel has destroyed Gaza. Watch this video.
This video is from Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
UN: Israel is committing "unprecedented" crimes against children in the Middle East.
Palestinians mutilated, tossed off rooftop by Israeli forces in West Bank's Qabatiya town.
Gaza faces critical shortages of medicine and supplies amid severe aid blockage.
UN investigator accuses Israel of "deliberately starving" Palestinians in Gaza; Netanyahu denies allegation.
Daniel Kovalik: Israel is WIPING OUT the memory of Palestines existence.
Sources include:
MiddleEastEye.net
AlJazeera.com
Majority of crimes in New York City are committed by migrant invaders because NYPD is barred from tracking them
Across New York, recently arrived migrants are flooding the criminal justice system at far higher rates than public officials have acknowledged.
Police sources shared with the New York Post the staggering estimate that 75 percent of people they've arrested in Midtown Manhattan in recent months for crimes like assault, robbery and domestic violence are migrants. In parts of Queens, the figure is more than 60 percent, sources there estimate. (Related: NYPD: Illegal immigrants account for more than half of all arrests in New York City.)
The problem is made much worse by sanctuary city laws that prohibit New York cops from working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on cases in which they believe suspects are in the country illegally. Additionally, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said it is barred from tracking the immigration status of offenders. This makes it almost impossible for authorities to get their arms around the problem, experts and sources on the ground say.
"New York City eliminated a tool to get rid of violent criminals. What a mess," Jim Quinn, a veteran former prosecutor at the Queens District Attorney's Office, told the news outlet. "The sanctuary city law is pathetic. It's disgusting. It's crazy."
Making matters worse, word has gotten out in the shelters about the city's lax bail guidelines meaning migrants know they're going to get kicked back onto the street quickly after they're nabbed.
Jefferson Maldenado, a 31-year-old Ecuadorian migrant, has been arrested five times in NYC since arriving in the U.S. earlier this year. His latest bust was for stealing a pair of pants and a beer from the Target near Herald Square. Asked why he committed the crime, the migrant thief said, "I wanted to change my clothes and think. I wanted to sit down and think about my life, about what to do. Because this is not a normal world."
Criminal migrants still allowed to enjoy taxpayer-subsidized shelters
Meanwhile, New York City Eric Adams' administration admitted earlier this month that criminal migrant invaders aren't exempt from receiving taxpayer-subsidized shelters.
"I'm sure that there's a lot of arrests that have come from a lot of different groups that come here, especially groups that might not be able to work," Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom added.
On top of that, she revealed that the city government is not keeping tabs on the arrest of migrants in connection to NYPD being banned from inquiring about their immigration status.
After being badgered a bit about the alarming number of migrant arrests, Adams' chief of staff Camille Joseph Varlack stated that although suspects can return to city shelters, they would lose housing privileges if they broke a code of conduct.
However, the code is limited only to incidents taking place inside the shelters. Alleged criminal activity that occurs elsewhere apparently has no impact on migrant invaders' eligibility to receive city housing, per a review of the code of conduct by the New York Post.
The mayor's team said city hall has been focused on helping asylum seekers get on their feet as a deterrent to new arrivals turning to crime.
"We want to connect people to their community-based organizations so that we can get them connected to work, get them out of shelters," Williams-Isom said. "We've been really proud that over 150,000 people have made their way out of the shelter so far."
Visit Migrants.News for similar stories.
Migrants are flooding New York City's justice system. Watch this video.
This video is from Son of the Republic channel on Brighteon.com.
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NYPD: Illegal immigrants account for more than half of all arrests in New York City.
New York commercial real estate plunges 97.5% at Great Depression levels.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul: Black kids in the Bronx don't know what the word computer is.
New York City provides prepaid debit cards to illegal immigrants.
Sources:
NYPost.com
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Brighteon.com
Democratic and Arab-American mayor of Americas only Muslim-majority city in Michigan endorses Donald Trump
Amer Ghalib, the Democratic and Arab American mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, has endorsed former President Donald Trump for reelection following a meeting with the Republican nominee on Tuesday, Sept. 17.
Shortly before Trump held a town hall in Flint on the same day, the former president had a "productive meeting" with Ghalib, during which he asked for the mayor's endorsement for the upcoming election in November. Ghalib handed Trump an official letter outlining community concerns and extended an invitation for Trump to visit Hamtramck.
The two politicians also discussed the shift away from Democratic support in Wayne County, the most populous county in Michigan, and indicated that Trump's opposition to more taxpayer funding for new wars has resonated with Hamtramck's Muslim-majority community.
"I talked to President Trump about, you know, some statistics here in Wayne County and how it used to be a stronghold for the Democrats, and we always used to vote Democrat," Ghalib said in an interview with Breitbart News on the day before he officially endorsed Trump. "This is not the case anymore here."
Several days after, Ghalib officially endorsed Trump in a Facebook post on Sunday, Sept. 22.
"President Trump and I may not agree on everything, but I know he is a man of principles," he stated, claiming that Trump promised him that he would end the escalating wars in the Middle East if elected as president in November. "Though it's looking good, he may or may not win the election and be the 47th president of the United States, but I believe he is the right choice for this critical time. I'll not regret my decision no matter what the outcome would be, and I'm ready to face the consequences." (Related: If elected, Trump promises to end Russia-Ukraine war BEFORE taking office.)
"For this, and for many other reasons, I announce my support and endorsement for the former, and hopefully, the next president of the United States, Donald Trump," concluded Ghalib.
Ghalib's endorsement of Trump breaks away the expectation in Michigan a traditionally Democratic state
Trump celebrated this endorsement during an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on the same day Ghalib declared his support for the GOP.
"I was very impressed with him and he was a very big fan of the Trump administration because he saw no wars outside of defeating ISIS, but I inherited that but there were no wars," Trump said during the hour-long phone interview. "There was no Oct. 7. There was no Russian attack on Ukraine. He sees that and he told me he saw a world that was at peace. Now, we have a world thats going to end up in World War III and I can stop that. Im the only one thats going to stop that."
Trump also mentioned his openness to holding a campaign event in Hamtramck, a suburb of Detroit and a small city known for its large Arab American and majority Muslim population, to connect with local leaders in and around the city who are dissatisfied with the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
"The answer is if the opportunity presents itself I would do that," Trump said when asked if he would hold a rally or a campaign stop in Hamtramck. "It can't remain the way it is now with the hatred that's going around."
Meanwhile, Egbe Ogu, a contributor for the County Local News site, listed several reasons as to why the endorsement of Ghalib may be significant.
"First and foremost, it challenges the notion that all Arab Americans are staunch Democrats," Ogu wrote. "Ghalibs decision to support Trump showcases the diversity of opinions within the Arab American community and highlights the complexity of political affiliations."
"Additionally, Ghalibs endorsement could potentially sway other Democrats to reconsider their stance on Trump and open up conversations about bipartisanship and unity in a deeply divided political climate," continued Ogu. "His endorsement of Trump goes against the grain of his constituents and could have far-reaching implications for his political career. It takes courage to swim against the tide, especially in such a polarized environment, and Ghalib's willingness to do so speaks to his integrity and conviction."
Head over to Trump.news for more stories about the former president ahead of the November 2024 presidential elections.
Watch South Dakota Sen. John Thune remark that Americans are looking for a change from Biden's "crazy agenda."
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
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Sources include:
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Tyranny wins: Durov caves, deploys AI to comb Telegram users for illegal content
Following his recent arrest in France, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov seems to be changing his tune as authorities close in on silencing him and his encrypted messaging platform for free speech violations.
Suddenly, Durov is on board with complying with government demands that he police the Telegram platform for "problematic content" that the powers the be (TPTB) do not want to spread online.
In a personal message to the 13 million subscribers on his personal Telegram channel, Durov announced that his platform "has been abused by people who violated our terms of service to sell illegal goods," and that action is now being taken to address it.
"Over the past few weeks," Durov wrote, Telegram employees have been using artificial intelligence (AI) to comb through the platform in search of "all the problematic content," all of which he says was "identified in Search (and) is no longer accessible."
From now on, Durov continued, anyone identified as using Telegram for illegal purposes will have their details shared with government authorities "in response to valid legal requests." Such details include internet IP addresses and phone numbers.
"We won't let bad actors jeopardise the integrity of our platform for almost a billion users," Durov added.
(Related: Check out our earlier coverage to learn more about how the recent arrest of Pavel Durov represents an assault by the globalists on everyone who values free speech.)
Western authorities destroying Telegram
These changes, which are now enshrined in Telegram's terms and conditions, come on the heels of Durov's August 24 arrest at Le Bourget airport outside of Paris. Durov was picked up by the authorities for not doing enough, in their opinion, to silence free speech on Telegram.
After several days of intense questioning, Durov was charged with several counts of failing to curb "extremist" and "terrorist" content on Telegram. He was released on a five-million-euro (about $5.6 million) bail.
As the investigation into Durov continues, he must remain in France and report to police twice a week. It would seem as though his time in French captivity has already had the effect of causing him to cave on free speech and send Telegram down the same path as Facebook and other social media platforms before it.
At first, Durov was highly critical of his arrest. Now, Durov is talking and acting in the ways Western authorities are demanding, which just goes to show the power they wield to control even the richest and most powerful people in the world and force them to do their bidding.
On September 6, Durov revealed that Telegram will now alter its "people nearby" feature to only present users with "legitimate businesses" rather than "bots and scammers."
"This year we are committed to turn moderation on Telegram from an area of criticism into one of praise," he said ominously as if turning to the dark side is some kind of good thing.
Durov, who rarely speaks in public, boasts a $15.5 billion fortune, according to Forbes magazine. He leads what the media describes as "an ascetic life" of taking ice baths and avoiding both alcohol and coffee.
Compared to all the other messaging and social media platforms out there, Telegram was one of the best, collecting very little data on its users. That appears to be changing, though, now that Western authorities are involved in controlling the platform's future.
"Don't buy this bogus story," one commenter wrote about the matter.
"Our government is censoring and banning every media that is not controlled by Maryland; except for Telegram. They can't shut it down. So, they are going to put the fear of God on the feeble minds, and have them delete the app. Telegram is open source and supports reproducible builds. Anyone can independently verify the code. Unlike backdoor apps such as Meta's apps (all of them), and until recently, Twitter."
The latest news about the globalist assault on free speech can be found at Censorship.news.
Sources for this article include:
MSN.com
NaturalNews.com
NYPost.com
Blatant democrat corruption: FCC fast-tracks approval for George Soros purchase of 200-plus U.S. radio stations in 40 markets weeks before presidential election
Billionaire left-wing agitator George Soros is going in for the kill in these final weeks before Election Day with a fast-tracked purchase of more than 200 radio stations in 40 American markets.
Soros somehow convinced the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve his radio station purchase at warp speed, allowing him to access the ears of more than 165 million Americans, many of them voters, before November 5.
There are five commissioners at the FCC who voted on the matter: three Democrats and two Republicans. As you might expect, they voted along party lines with the three Democrats saying yea to Soros and the two Republicans saying nay.
Since Soros is a foreigner and not an American citizen, he is supposed to be subject to existing FCC rules that prohibit foreign entities from own more than 25 percent of U.S. radio stations. An exception was made, though, because Soros is rich and powerful and he is a Democrat.
"Soros took foreign investment to make his bid and then filed a request for the commission to make an exception to the usual review process," tweeted Twitter / X personality Mario Nawfal about Soros' move, citing the New York Post.
"The decision to fast-track the approval process bypassed a national security review, which could have taken up to a year to complete."
(Related: In many ways, George Soros, Klaus Schwab and Bill Gates are an "unholy trinity" straight from the pits of hell.)
Soros' election interference
Everything Soros is doing right now to capture the U.S. radio industry with his mountains of cash constitutes election interference you know, the same kind Democrats like Soros still insist Donald Trump engaged in to win the 2016 election. And yet nothing happens to Soros because he is protected.
The hypocrisy is deafening, but it is so common nowadays that most people barely bat an eye at it. Time will tell if Soros' endeavors are a success, or if the time has come for the American empire as it currently exists to fall.
"Whenever someone refers to election interference, Soros should be at the forefront of every discussion," tweeted lawyer Klay Thompson in response to Nawfal's post about Soros' recent radio station purchases.
"Totally illegal," added another. "Trump must win and declare Soros a terrorist, just like other countries have."
"Funny how Soros is the only one who seems to be able to fast-track anything in the United States," emphasized another about the special treatment that Soros always receives because of his last name and his bank account.
Another named "J Kerner" (@JKernerOT) made some salient points about how Soros and his radio station purchases represent yet another stark and shocking example of how blatantly treasonous the current Democrat government has become to allow such a thing to happen.
"Soros is rabidly, foaming-at-the-mouth anti-U.S.," Kerner wrote. "More than once, he has publicly stated his intentions to destroy the U.S."
"His 'Open Society Foundation' is an oxymoron, and dedicated to globalist agendas and destruction of America. It's the exact opposite of 'open society.'"
For many years, Kerner continued, Soros has been funneling cash into Democrat causes whether they be the latest political pop stars or the hidden Democrat agendas that are unraveling American society from within.
"Soros has given hundreds of millions of dollars to finance riots by terrorist groups such as BLM and Antifa. He hand-picked Marxist and corrupt DAs and AGs, and financed their campaigns. Some of these DAs are behind the false felonies manufactured against Trump. This is what the Democrat party is a corrupt, treasonous organization dedicated to dismantling our republic."
The latest news about the upcoming presidential election can be found at Rigged.news.
Sources for this article include:
X.com
NaturalNews.com
FDA approves monkeypox vaccine despite acknowledging that it is DANGEROUS
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a vaccine for people deemed to be at "high risk" for monkeypox, despite acknowledging that the injection itself is dangerous
The regulator approved the ACAM2000 vaccine on Aug. 29. The Defender's Suzanne Burdick said in a report that the vaccine was made by Emergent BioSolutions, a company specializing in vaccines for biochemical warfare threats such as anthrax and smallpox. While ACAM2000 was initially approved for smallpox in 2007, the FDA's recent expanded supplemental approval allows it to be injected into those at "high risk" for monkeypox, such as members of the LGBT community.
According to an FDA press release at the time of its approval, "ACAM2000 is a "live replicating vaccinia virus vaccine." Even the regulator's medication guide for the injection admits that it may cause more harm than good. (Related: South African group challenges WHO's mpox emergency declaration, warns public about vaccine dangers.)
InfoWars reported that the first page of ACAM2000's medication guide provided by the FDA lists numerous side effects. According to the guide, the live vaccinia virus in the injection "can be spread to individuals who have close contact with the vaccinated individual." To make matters worse, ACAM2000 "can cause serious complications in vaccinated individuals and in their close contacts to whom the vaccine virus has spread."
ACAM2000 does more harm than good
Children's Health Defense senior research scientist Karl Jablonowski denounced the FDA's approval of ACAM2000 as a "public hazard, not the practice of public health." He told the Defender: "You can call ACAM2000 a 'vaccine,' but its impact on the U.S. will be as a 'disease.'"
"The spread of vaccinia virus is an infliction and an assault, as an unsuspecting person cannot possibly consent. For good reasons, you would not consent to this vaccine even if you believed your benefits outweigh your risks as you become a potential vector of a disease that is damaging to the heart and fatal to both fetus and infant."
Jablonowski continued that ACAM2000's package insert reveals that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found roughly 520 per million vaccine recipients who contracted post-vaccination cardiac inflammation about one in 2,000. But elsewhere in the package insert, the FDA acknowledges that the risk is 5.7 per 1,000 vaccinations about one in every 175 people.
"If the 262 million adults in the U.S. received this vaccine, an estimated 1.493 million would contract the serious adverse reaction of myopericarditis [i.e. heart lining and/or muscle inflammation]," he remarked.
Internist and biological warfare expert Dr. Meryl Nass said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also acknowledged the risk of cardiac inflammation in 5.7 per 1,00 primary ACAM2000 vaccinations during a June 2022 meeting.
"It's a huge number. The fact that the FDA and CDC are acknowledging it means no one should get the vaccine," she shared.
"Myopericarditis is a life-threatening condition; it lowers your life expectancy. This risk, 1 in 175, is higher than all other licensed vaccines for which the CDC acknowledges side effects. This is the worst."
Cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough recounted that HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra declared a monkeypox public health emergency in 2022, but let the declaration expire early in 2023.
"The crisis conjured up little fear for the average American as it was learned that the infection was largely a pustular rash that occurred with intense sexual contact among gay/bisexual men with the skin blisters around the anus and buttocks or mouth," he wrote in an Aug. 18 post on his Substack.
Head over to MonkeyPoxReport.com for more similar stories.
Watch this video about the effects of the ACAM2000 monkeypox vaccine that the FDA approved in August.
This video is from the Dissident7 channel on Brighteon.com.
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Sources include:
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IDF murders at least 22 CIVILIANS in recent bombing of school sheltering displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has killed at least 22 civilians, mostly orphans and widows , following a recent bombing of school sheltering displaced Palestinian families in Gaza.
On Sept. 21, the IDF conducted a military airstrike at Zeitoun C school in southern Gaza due to the alleged Hamas "command and control center" operations embedded within a civilian infrastructure in the area. The IDF claimed that Hamas violated international law by operating from within civilian areas, but the latter denied these accusations. (Related: Gaza death toll now over 40K; 69% of casualties are women and children.)
The IDF claimed that they took "numerous steps" to mitigate civilian harm before the strike. However, eyewitnesses reported that children and women were gathering in the school's playground to seek assistance from a charity orphan sponsorship program after losing their primary caregivers in earlier attacks when two rockets hit without warning.
"The women and their children were sitting in the playground of the school, the kids were playing and suddenly two rockets hit them," said Said al-Malahi, one of the witnesses.
Another witness named Ahmed Azzam also said he did not see a single man among the wounded. "It was all women and children," he said.
Footage of the school shows significant damage, with walls torn apart, furniture reduced to rubble and large holes blown through the ceiling of one of the rooms.
Furthermore, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza confirmed that 22 people were killed in the strike, including a three-month-old baby, while 30 others were wounded. At least nine of the injured children lost limbs and several suffered severe burns. Two people remain missing.
IDF has been targeting inactive schools with displaced civilians in Gaza since the war escalated
This is the most recent Israeli airstrike that targeted inactive schools in Gaza, which have been used as shelters for displaced civilians since the beginning of the conflict.
On Sept. 11, Israel hit the United Nations-run Al-Jawni School in central Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians forced from their homes by indiscriminate Israeli bombings sought refuge. The attack left 13 people dead, including six staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Similarly, on Aug. 1, an Israeli attack on Dalal al-Mughrabi School in Gaza killed at least 18 people. Two days later, 16 more lives were lost when Hamama school was bombed.
On Aug. 4, a series of air raids on Nassr and Hassan Salama schools claimed the lives of at least 30 people, and on Aug. 8, 17 more were killed in attacks on Abdul Fattah Hamouda and az-Zahra schools. On Aug. 10, another devastating airstrike hit al-Tabin school in east of Gaza, which left over 100 people dead and 150 wounded.
Overall, the Gaza media office claimed that Israel has bombed 181 shelter sites since the conflict escalated. William Deere, the director of UNRWA in Washington, also revealed that a total of 190 UN-run facilities have been targeted, with many hit multiple times.
Head over to IsraelCollapse.com to read more news about the escalating Israel-Palestine war.
Watch the video below that exposes the massive profiteering of ceasefire negotiators off the continuing Gaza war.
This video is from the alltheworldsastage channel on Brighteon.com.
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Nevada in 2020 is a prime example of how vote fraud can influence the outcome of an election
As Election Day approaches, many Americans are understandably concerned about the integrity of the voting process, particularly when you consider all the irregularities that took place four years ago. Although hinting that the election may have been stolen is often all it takes to get censored on social media, the fact that so many flagrant examples of voter fraud took place is actually a matter of official record. As we get ready to head to the polls, lets keep in mind what happened in 2020.
A good place to start is Nevada, where more than 130,000 questionable votes were counted. It was an extremely tight race, with Biden ultimately edging out Trump by 50.06% versus 47.67%. But the most worrying part is that Biden took the state by roughly 33,600 votes. This means things could have turned out far differently if the state had been paying more attention to irregularities.
For example, a Senate hearing on voter irregularities revealed that more than 42,000 individuals voted more than once in Nevada. This figure came from comparing the list of actual voters to others who have the same name, date of birth and address.
In addition, they found that more than 1,500 dead Nevadans somehow managed to come back to life and cast their ballot on Election Day, according to a comparison of a list of voters to social security death records. A further 19,000 individuals voted despite not living in the state nor attending college there. This shocking figure was reached by comparing voter lists with sources such as the U.S. Postal Service's national change of address database.
As if that weren't concerning enough, they also found that 15,000 votes were cast from vacant or commercial addresses, according to an analysis that flags nonresidential addresses and those that sit vacant for longer than 90 days. Meanwhile, an additional 8,000 individuals voted from nonexistent addresses in the state.
All told, the number of unique instances of voter fraud that they identified in Nevada exceeded 130,000. However, according to Trump campaign attorney Jesse Binnall, the real number is likely to be much higher.
Our data scientists made these calculations not by estimations or statistical sampling, but by analyzing and comparing the list of actual voters with other lists, most of which are publicly available. To put it simply, they explained their methods so that others could check their work. Our evidence has never been refuted, only ignored, he noted.
Voter fraud is rampant throughout the country
There are numerous examples of voter fraud throughout the country. In one recent example in May, a Milwaukee election official was sentenced to a year of probation, 120 hours of community service and a fine of $3,000 after being convicted of obtaining fake absentee ballots.
According to prosecutors, 47-year-old Kimberly Zapata used her work-issued laptop while serving as the Milwaukee Election Commission's deputy director to obtain three military absentee ballots with fake names and Social Security numbers.
Unfortunately, there are so many different ways that those with bad intentions can manipulate the vote, from false registrations to duplicate voting and the fraudulent use of absentee ballots. Illegal votes can and do affect the outcomes of elections, but sadly, these instances are often not prosecuted, compromising one of the most basic civil rights for all Americans: the right to vote in a free and fair election.
Sources for this article include:
X.com
OCPAThink.org
APNews.com
Experts: Over 2M illegal aliens could vote in 2024 elections
The Biden-Harris administration's easily penetrable border, lax security and interior enforcement policies have led to millions of illegals possibly being able to vote in the 2024 elections , according to election experts.
Kerri Toloczko, executive director of Election Integrity Network and senior advisor to the Only Citizens Vote Coalition, told conservative media outlet Washington Stand that a 2014 academic journal found that 6.4 percent of noncitizens voted in 2008.
"There are about 24 million noncitizens in the U.S. right now. If they voted only at the same rate of 6.4 percent this year as they did in 2008, they would account for 1.5 million votes." Toloczko said. "Based on the increased noncitizen activity at state [Department of Motor Vehicles] DMVs and the work of left-wing voter registration activists, this 6.4 percent could be much higher than it was in 2008. We could be looking at over two million unlawful noncitizen votes."
Moreover, the United States House of Representatives published a 22-page report in June highlighting illegal aliens voting in the United States. Currently, 17 cities in California, Maryland and Vermont in addition to the District of Columbia let non-citizens vote in elections. Several irregularities have also been reported although non-citizens are only supposed to vote in local elections.
Toloczko called attention to cases of foreigners lawfully voting in American elections.
"The federal government recently indicted a group of noncitizens from 15 different countries on federal voting charges. Texas recently purged 6,500 noncitizens from its voter rolls 30 percent of whom had voting records," Toloczko said.
Nearly 100,000 "drivers" in Arizona incorrectly registered as voters regardless of citizenship status
Meanwhile, a significant voter registration error in Arizona has called the eligibility of nearly 100,000 voters into question just weeks before the mailing of election ballots.
According to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a long-standing mistake in how the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) has provided driver's license data to the voter registration system, misclassifying voters' citizenship status.
The state incorrectly marked these voters as already having provided documented proof of U.S. citizenship when really, it's unclear whether they have, Fontes said. Under Arizona law, proof of citizenship is required to vote in state and local elections, though individuals can still vote in federal elections without this documentation. (Related: "Clinton Machine" targets Dr. Robert Epstein for exposing Big Tech election interference.)
"The problem stems from how the MVD recorded data for individuals who obtained their driver's licenses before October 1996," Fontes explained. "If those individuals later requested a duplicate or updated license, election officials believed they had already provided the necessary proof of citizenship, which wasn't necessarily the case."
The issue was uncovered when a Maricopa County worker flagged a case where an individual on the voter rolls, who had only a green card, was incorrectly listed as a full-ballot voter. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer confirmed that his office brought the discrepancy to state officials' attention.
The mistake potentially affects thousands of voters, many of whom have valid driver's licenses issued before the law was updated in 1996 to require proof of citizenship for full-ballot voter eligibility. These individuals should have been designated as "federal-only" voters, which restricts them from voting in federal elections for president and Congress.
Visit InvasionUsa.news for similar stories.
Watch the video below that talks about the proof that illegal immigrants are voting in elections and are receiving benefits if they vote for Democrats.
This video is from You Silenced me on Brighteon.com.
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Sources include:
BigLeaguePolitics.substack.com
Yournews.com
Votebeat.org
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Global statesman & trendsetter par excellence: NDA allies hail PM Modi's US trip
A
s Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from a three-day power-packed trip to the U.S., the allies of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) have hailed his visit as remarkable and trendsetting.
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's successful visit to the U.S., saying that his visit has stirred the soul of every Indian.
"In every handshake, every speech, he carried the hopes and dreams of 1.4 billion people. From leading the Quad Summit to the UN's Summit of the Future, his leadership has showcased India's strength and vision on the global stage. His impactful meetings--securing a semiconductor plant, reclaiming 297 priceless antiquities, and forging partnerships in cutting-edge technology--are milestones in India's resurgence. His call for peace, progress, and reform has not only strengthened global ties but ignited a new sense of pride and purpose within us all. India is now a driving force for change, rising to lead under his visionary leadership! This is our moment, " wrote Pawan Kalyan on X.
From Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to other alliance partners including Kumaraswamy-led Janata Dal (S) to Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustan Awami Morcha (HAM), all made gushing praise for PM Modi's leadership and thanked him for drawing world's attention to issues of global concern.
During his three-day trip, PM Modi participated in a slew of events including the Quad Leaders' meeting, addressed an overwhelming Indian community event and also the Summit of the Future at the UN General Assembly.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar congratulated PM Modi for the successful visit and said that this will have far-reaching and positive effects.
"The decisions taken during PM Modi's US visit to increase investment between the two countries are welcome. The decisions taken between the two countries will increase investment in cutting-edge technology areas and open new avenues of development. The people of Bihar are excited about the announcements made during the visit. The warm welcome accorded to PM Modi by world leaders and the Indian diaspora strengthens his leadership," the JD-U chief said.
Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said India was proud to be working under the leadership of a global statesman.
"Prime Minister has strengthened India's position in the comity of nations and has unarguably emerged as a tall world leader, bringing communities and countries together. His address to the United Nations stands as testimony to the importance world leaders associate with India and the significance of the role we are poised to play on the global stage in the coming years," Naidu wrote on X.
Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde said that it was a moment of pride to see the Prime Minister being welcomed by American President Joe Biden at his personal residence.
"PM Modi's USA visit has shown once again why he is a global statesman and trendsetter par excellence. In a short visit, he has been able to cover many sectors, which will strengthen India's journey to progress. I welcome the engagement with tech and business leaders. Maharashtra has a robust interaction with many of these people and PM's efforts to draw investments will naturally benefit our state," he wrote on X.
Maharashtra Chief Minister further said, "I am particularly happy that PM Modi ensured the return of almost 300 antiquities from the U.S. It is important a leader keeps in touch with his cultural roots and this is exactly what PM Modi is doing."
Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy said, "Over three days PM Modi discussed nuclear energy, cervical cancer vaccine, semiconductors, AI, biotechnology, quantum technology, Indo-Pacific economic architecture, return of our cultural heritage and many other topics. Apart from all this, there were strategic discussions on geopolitical matters. The pictures of his warm interactions with the Indian diaspora were also heart-warming."
Former Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said that the whole world today concurs with the fact that PM Modi is the pride of India.
"PM Modi is returning to India today after concluding his three-day visit to the USA. During his three-day visit, he attended the Quad Leaders Summit and the Summit of the Future (SOTF) at the United Nations in New York which was unique in itself, also, he held important bilateral meetings during his visit which will be fruitful for the progress of the nation. PM Modi's meeting with Vietnam President To Lam on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and discussions on ways to enhance relations between the two countries and increase cooperation in areas such as connectivity, trade and culture will benefit the country's trade. The world will remember PM Modi's address at the United Nations Future Summit. Every Indian is feeling proud seeing the world's love for Modi Ji during his USA visit," Manjhi added.
Global statesman & trendsetter par excellence: NDA allies hail PM Modi's US trip
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Manoj Bajpayee on meeting Nagaland's Tourism Minister: 'We feel privileged'
A
ctor Manoj Bajpayee took to his social media platform and shared pictures with Nagaland's Tourism Minister Temjen Imna Along with team 'The Family Man'.
On Tuesday, the 'Satya' actor shared some glimpses of his meeting with Temjen who is known for his social media presence as he had the privilege of hosting Manoj along with other cast members.
Manoj wrote a heartwarming caption that read, "It was an absolute honor to meet the Minister of Higher Education & Tourism, Govt. of Nagaland, Sh. @alongimna ji!"Truly humbled by the love and respect from the amazing people of Nagaland, and for this #SingleMan for the #TheFamilyMan team. We are deeply grateful for the warmth and hospitality."
"It's also been a wonderful experience working with the local talent of Nagaland, whose energy and creativity have added so much to this journey. We feel privileged to collaborate with such gifted individuals." Manoj concluded.
In the pictures, Manoj was seen posing with Temjen with other members along with actress Gul Panag and 'Filmistaan' fame actor Sharib Hashmi as they smiled for the picture-perfect-moment.
In another picture, Manoj was seen with Temjen as they happily posed for the camera. In the picture, Manoj was seen with a red shawl on his shoulders which is considered as an honourable respect from the people of Nagaland.
'The Family Man' is helmed by Raj Nidimoru & Krishna DK for Prime Video and features Manoj as Srikant Tiwari, a middle-class man secretly working as an intelligence officer for the Threat Analysis and Surveillance Cell (TASC). It also featured Priyamani, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Dalip Tahil, Sharad Kelkar, Neeraj Madhav, and Sunny Hinduja.
The series is produced and directed by Raj & D.K., who also co-wrote the story and screenplay with Suman Kumar, with dialogues penned by Sumit Arora and Kumar.
The upcoming season will most likely revolve around the COVID-19 pandemic where China may attack the Northeastern states of India and use COVID-19 as a distraction from the big attack.
The two seasons of 'The Family Man' are currently available on Prime Video.
Manoj Bajpayee on meeting Nagaland's Tourism Minister: 'We feel privileged'
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Union Railway Minister Vaishnaw tests Kavach 4.0 in Rajasthan
U
nion Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday tested the 'Kavach 4.0' in Rajasthan which has been installed at 108-km-long railway track running between Sawai Madhopur and Kota.
He said that a target has been set up to establish the automatic train protection system Kavach 4.0 systems across the country by December 2030.
Union Minister Vaishnaw was interacting with the media persons at Gandhinagar railway station in Jaipur on Tuesday before moving for a trial run in a Kavach-fitted train at Sawai Madhopur.
He said 10,000 locomotives and railway tracks running at around 9,000 km will soon be equipped with Kavach 4.0.
Union Minister Vaishnaw added that it is a complex work and will take some time for installation.
He said that this system will prove to be a boon in preventing train accidents.
The Union Railway Minister travelled in a Kavach-fitted train on Tuesday noon for a trial to check the efficiency of the automatic train protection system at Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan.
He boarded the Kavach-fitted engine of a train at the Sawai Madhopur railway station and travelled till Sumerganj Mandi railway station.
The railway track between Kota to Sawai Madhopur in Kota railway division is the first such track equipped with the track protection system KAVACH 4.0.
The Kavach system works to automatically stop two trains when they come face-to-face. It also keeps the speed of the train under control.
When the Union Railway Minister travelled in the train, the loco pilot ran the train at a speed of 130 km per hour.
As soon as the train came near a railway gate, the Kavach system got turned on.
The gate got opened, so the Kavach system stopped the train 50 metre away.
Union Minister Vaishnaw also inspected the redevelopment work of Gandhinagar railway station in Jaipur on Tuesday noon.
He also reviewed the formation of Rail Rakshak Dal, a team formed for the first time to give instant help during accidents in Jaipur. This team will include NDRF, RPF and other officials.
Union Railway Minister Vaishnaw tests Kavach 4.0 in Rajasthan
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World edging towards 'powder keg'; UNSC, other global bodies need reforms: Guterres
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N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday warned the world leaders, gathered for the annual high-level meeting, that the world is edging towards the unimaginable - a powder keg - which risks engulfing the world.
He said that the solutions to the crises require the reform of the international institutions, including the Security Council, and commitment to the UN Charter.
"Wars are raging with impunity. The nuclear threat has grown while inequality between nations and within nations and climate change are threatening the world order," he said.
He added that the challenges are solvable which requires us to make sure the mechanisms of international problem-solving actually solve problems.
He listed reforming the Security Council as one of the steps that is needed.
"Global inequalities are reflected and reinforced even in our own global institutions. The UNSC was designed by the victors of the Second World War," he said.
He singled out Africa for reform as a victim of the structure set up when Africa was under colonial rule and had no permanent Security Council seat.
"This must change," he said.
He said he has no illusions about the obstacles to reforming the multilateral system.
"Those with political and economic power - and those who believe they have power - are always reluctant to change," he said.
"Without reform, fragmentation is inevitable, and global institutions will become less legitimate, less credible, and less effective," he warned.
He said that the Gaza conflict is a non-stop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it.
He added that the Cold War had some rules, but today. 'we are in a purgatory of polarity' where the world has not reached a state of multi-polarity and 'more and more countries are filling the spaces of geopolitical divides, doing whatever they want with no accountability.'
"It is time for a just peace based on the UN Charter, on international law and on UN resolutions," he said.
The other threats to the world he listed were climate change and technology, artificial intelligence in particular, and economic inequality.
He renewed his call for ending the use of fossil fuels and said developed nations should finance the transformation to renewables in the developing world.
"Without a global approach to its management, artificial intelligence could lead to artificial divisions across the board - a great fracture with two internets, two markets, two economies - with every country forced to pick a side, and enormous consequences for all," he said.
He called for making the UN the centre of finding solutions through dialogue and consensus for cooperation on AI - based on the values of the Charter and international law.
To overcome inequalities, he said the developed countries had a responsibility to finance the sustainable development goals of the developing countries and increase multilateral financing for them.
Among other issues facing the world, he mentioned "rampant gender-based discrimination and abuse".
"Every day, it seems we are confronted by yet more sickening cases of femicide, gender-based violence and mass rape, both in peacetime and as a weapon of war," he said.
World edging towards 'powder keg'; UNSC, other global bodies need reforms: Guterres
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azerbaijan is a committed member of the Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations (IOTA), IOTA Executive Secretary Alix Perrignon de Troyes told reporters at the international carbon pricing forum in Baku, Trend reports.
"Azerbaijan has been elected as the chair of IOTA for 2024-2025. Over the years, Azerbaijan has consistently demonstrated its commitment to the organization. The theme of today's forum is crucial as it addresses climate change issues. The main activity of IOTA revolves around sharing knowledge and best practices among its members," she stated.
Perrignon de Troyes noted that one of the key objectives of the event is to facilitate knowledge exchange regarding carbon pricing initiatives and to promote collaboration among countries in this area.
She emphasized that to limit global warming to 1.5C to 2C, emissions must be reduced by 25-50 percent compared to levels before 2019.
"It is vital to share experiences and understand how countries implement carbon taxation. I believe this forum will be an important step in deepening dialogue among tax authorities and will lay a solid foundation for future cooperation and development," she added.
The international forum on carbon pricing in Baku is attended by Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, Head of the State Tax Service Orkhan Nazarli, and other officials. Delegations from over 40 countries, including leading foreign experts and specialists, are attending the event.
Sri Lanka's President appoints 3-member cabinet
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ri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake appointed a new Cabinet of Ministers on Tuesday evening, with Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, lawmaker Vijitha Herath and himself taking on Cabinet portfolios.
Dissanayake will now oversee defence, finance, economic development, policy formulation, planning, tourism, energy, agriculture, lands, livestock, irrigation, fisheries and aquatic resources, Xinhua news agency reported.
Dissanayake, 55, has taken the key finance portfolio himself as Sri Lanka looks to emerge from its most punishing economic crisis in 70 years and its first debt default, while keeping promises to aid the nation's poor.
The Marxist-leaning firebrand politician will also hold the economic development and tourism jobs in the cabinet.
Dissanayake's intentions to slash taxes and desire to revisit the terms of a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout have worried investors, who fear that it could delay a crucial $25 billion debt restructuring.
His comments during Monday's inauguration offered few clues as to how hardline his economic approach will be.
"Our politics needs to be cleaner, and the people have called for a different political culture," the 55-year-old said.
"I am ready to commit to that change."
Dissanayake ran in Saturday's presidential election as the candidate for the National People's Power coalition, which includes his Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Party that traditionally championed Marxist economic policies centred on protectionism and state intervention. In recent years the party has taken more centrist positions.
Earlier, Amarasuriya was sworn in as the Prime Minister, and was appointed as the Minister of justice, public administration, provincial councils, local government, education, science and technology, labour, women, child and youth affairs, sports, trade, commerce, food security, co-operative development, industries and entrepreneur development, and health.
Herath was assigned the Minister of Buddhist affairs, religious and cultural affairs, national integration, social security, mass media, transport, highways, ports and civil aviation, public security, and foreign affairs, environment, wildlife, forest resources, water supply, plantation and community, infrastructure, rural and urban development, housing and construction.
Sri Lanka's President appoints 3-member cabinet
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FM Jaishankar meets new France Foreign Minister, discusses regional issues
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xternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met France's new Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barro on Tuesday and discussed 'major regional issues'.
After their meeting on the sidelines of the high-level annual meeting of the General Assembly, Jaishankar wrote on X that they had "a useful exchange of views on major regional issues".
Barro was appointed foreign minister last week by Prime Minister Michel Barnier who took over after the snap elections.
India and France have close relations, diplomatically and strategically.
French companies are an important source of aircraft for India's defence forces.
Earlier, Jaishankar on Tuesday met Bangladesh foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain in New York. This is the first bilateral meeting between New Delhi and Dhaka after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
"Had a meeting with Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain of Bangladesh in New York this evening. The conversation focused on our bilateral ties," Jaishankar wrote on X.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus could not meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly due to different arrival and departure timings.
On September 21, Hossain said Yunus would not be meeting Modi in New York due to different schedules. He had, however, said he would hold a bilateral meeting with Jaishankar to advance the relationship between the two neighbours.
FM Jaishankar meets new France Foreign Minister, discusses regional issues
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EAM Jaishankar meets officials from across world for discussions
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xternal Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has met officials from Asia, Europe and Latin America on the sidelines of the UN high-level meetings to promote bilateral relations and to exchange views on international and regional issues.
He started with new Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barro of France, a country with which India has close strategic and diplomatic ties.
He wrote on X after the meeting that they had "a useful exchange of views on major regional issues".
Barro was appointed foreign minister last week by Prime Minister Michel Barnier who took over after the snap elections.
After his meeting with "dear friend" European Union Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra, EAM Jaishankar posted on X, "Appreciate his support for deepening India-European Union partnership".
Hoekstra wrote on X, "We look forward to closely working together and further enhancing India-European Union relations in the domains of geopolitics, climate and business."
Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, said on X after meeting EAM Jaishankar, "India is an essential global actor and priority partner for Spain."
"We discussed our bilateral relations, including trade and culture. Also the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific," he posted.
Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg of Malta, posted on X that he discussed with EAM Jaishankar the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting next month in Samoa and how the group to which both countries belong can find "global solutions to pressing global and regional challenges, from sustainable development to the protection of human rights".
They also talked about "further intensifying synergies in areas of mutual interest, including ongoing efforts to expand trade relations between our two countries", he added.
The EAM said on X after meeting Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, "We focussed on ongoing developments in West Asia and their larger implications."
Ukraine came up during the meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Mihai Popsoi of Moldova, a neighbour of that country.
EAM Jaishankar wrote, "Discussed deepening our partnership in pharmaceuticals, health, education, capacity building and trade."
Following his meeting with Bolivia's Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa Lunda, the EAM posted that they spoke about "advancing our bilateral cooperation".
"Our bilateral partnership has been steadily progressing in various dimensions," EAM Jaishankar wrote after meeting Hugh Hilton Todd, the foreign minister of Guayana, a country with a large diaspora.
Closer to India, Yemen's Vice President Aidaros Alzubidi wrote on X after his meeting with the EAM that they had an "important discussion on overlapping interests on regional stability and maritime security, including in the Red Sea".
"India's role on the global stage is critical and a partnership I look forward to developing," he added.
EAM Jaishankar wrote on X that he assured him of "India's support for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Yemen".
Strategically located on the Red Sea, Yemen is torn by a civil war and its fallout puts shipping in the area at risk.
EAM Jaishankar meets officials from across world for discussions
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Gautam Adani, Bombardier CEO discuss 'transformative partnerships' in aviation sector
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autam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, has held a high-level meeting with Eric Martel, CEO of Bombardier, and deliberated on transformative partnerships in the aviation sector.
In a post on social media platform X, on Wednesday, Gautam Adani informed that they will aim to harness synergies for a stronger, self-reliant India.
"Powering India's aviation growth! Had a great discussion with @Bombardier CEO Eric Martel on transformative partnerships in Aircraft Services, MRO and Defence," said the Adani Group Chairman.
"Together, we are harnessing synergies for a stronger, self-reliant India," Gautam Adani added.
The Adani Group forayed into civil aviation with a vision to leverage its rich experience of building stellar infrastructure in transforming Indian airports.
Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL) was incorporated in 2019 as a 100 per cent subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd.
AAHL aims to revolutionise airport experiences. Currently, AAHL oversees seven prominent airports -- Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram.
The addition of Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) to AAHL's portfolio in December 2024 will mark a significant milestone in India's aviation industry. This expansion will increase AAHL's portfolio to eight airports, solidifying its position as the leading airport infrastructure company in the country.
AAHL is India's largest airport infrastructure company, accounting for 25 per cent of passenger footfalls and 33 per cent of India's air cargo traffic.
Meanwhile, the Air Force will conduct the first trial landing of a fighter jet in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on October 5 in the first of two runways of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA).
The commencement of the operations at NMIA's two phases will handle 20 million passengers annually. The airport will be connected through Atal Setu and metro rail. The cost of NMIA is Rs 16,700 crore.
Gautam Adani, Bombardier CEO discuss 'transformative partnerships' in aviation sector
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Zelensky calls for collective action, invites India to 2nd Peace Summit
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krainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has extended an invitation to several nations, including India, to join efforts in organising a second Peace Summit aimed at ending the ongoing conflict with Russia.
Speaking at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting, Zelensky emphasised the need for collective action to stop Russia's war and work towards a peaceful resolution.
"We all know what needs to be done if we honestly look at the situation and truly want to stop Russia's war. Most importantly, act together, in unity, without creating unnecessary divisions of the world into blocs or regional groups," Zelensky said.
Inviting key global players, he stated, "We have to prepare for the second Peace Summit to end the war. All together. I invite all of you, all principal nations, to join us in this process. All who truly respect the UN charter. We invite China and Brazil, and I have already invited India. We are working with African nations, Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe, Pacific nations, and North America. All are equally important for peace, without exception".
Zelensky reiterated his confidence in achieving peace, asserting, "We have the peace formula, we have the UN Charter, and we have the strength to make it happen. What's needed is determination".
His remarks come after a recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the UN 'Summit of the Future'.
The discussion marked the third bilateral meeting between the two leaders this year, focusing on international cooperation and the ongoing peace process.
Following the meeting, Zelensky expressed gratitude for the productive conversation, writing on X, "The main focus of our conversation was on enhancing our interaction on international platforms, particularly at the UN and G20, as well as implementing the Peace Formula and preparing for the second Peace Summit. We had a substantive discussion on the available opportunities."
"I am grateful for Prime Minister Modi's clear support of our sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zelensky added, underscoring India's diplomatic stance on the Ukraine conflict.
During their discussions, PM Modi reiterated India's commitment to resolving the war through diplomacy and dialogue. India has maintained a neutral stance on the conflict, advocating for peaceful negotiations.
The second Peace Summit is expected to bring together key nations and international stakeholders to discuss pathways toward ending the war and restoring stability to Ukraine.
In June, India had decided to "avoid association with the joint communique or any other document" emerging from the two-day 'Summit on Peace in Ukraine' held at Burgenstock near Lucerne in Switzerland.
Besides India, several other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil, Armenia, Libya, Indonesia, Bahrain, Colombia and the United Arab Emirates, also refrained from signing the final communique of the Peace Summit.
"Our participation in this summit and continued engagement with all stakeholders is with a view to understanding different perspectives, approaches and options to find a way forward for a sustainable resolution of the conflict," said Pavan Kapoor, Secretary West at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) who led the Indian delegation at the event.
"In our view, only those options acceptable to both parties can lead to abiding peace," Kapoor, India's former Ambassador to Russia, mentioned.
Zelensky calls for collective action, invites India to 2nd Peace Summit
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Was trouble brewing between Urmila Matondkar-Mohsin for a long time?
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ctress and politician Urmila Matondkar has taken a significant step in her personal life, filing for divorce from her husband, Mohsin Akhtar Mir, after eight years of marriage. According to our analysis the couple seemed to have faced challenges over the past year, leading to this difficult decision.
Urmila tied the knot with Kashmir-based businessman and model Mohsin Akhtar Mir on March 3, 2016. In 2023, she celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary with a heartfelt post on Instagram, sharing cherished photographs from their marriage. However, this year marked a noticeable absence on her social media, as she chose not to share any anniversary tribute, hinting at the challenges the couple has faced in recent months.
On May 21, 2023, Urmila shared a touching birthday message for her husband, Mohsin, celebrating his "kind heart" and "generosity of soul." Her heartfelt words showcased the love and admiration she had for him. However, this year, the absence of any birthday tribute from the actress reflects the significant changes in their relationship, further underscoring the challenges they have faced over the past year. The silence speaks volumes as Urmila navigates this new chapter in her life.
Throughout the first half of 2023, Urmila shared joyful moments with her husband Mohsin, posting happy pictures together during Eid in April and June, as well as snaps from their vacation in January. She also celebrated holidays like New Year and Christmas with heartwarming posts. However, since June 2023, Urmila has refrained from sharing any photos with Mohsin, signaling a shift in their relationship.
On Mohsin's Instagram, the last couple photo dates back to March 4, 2023, and while his earlier posts featured romantic moments, the absence of recent updates suggests that all may not be well between the couple since mid-2023.
Moreover, as IANS has earlier reported, one possible reason could be the age gap between Urmila and Mohsin as the actress is 10 years elder to him, and also married quite late in life, in her 40s. Generally, marriages with huge age gaps lead to complications in the relationships.
Another reason being speculated is the tiff over finances that strained their relationship. A user on the content aggregation platform Reddit wrote that Mohsin, and her family were forcing the actress to sell off her property for their business till she had nothing.
As per the media reports, the divorce is not mutual with Urmila filing for the divorce four months ago.
Mohsin is a businessman and model from Kashmir, and has also worked in films such as 'Luck By Chance', 'BA Pass' and 'Mumbai Mast Kallander'. Mohsin and Urmila first crossed paths during the wedding of celebrated fashion designer Manish Malhotra's niece in 2014.
It was said to be love at first sight for Mohsin. As a matter of fact, Manish was among the few public figures present at their intimate nuptials when the duo tied the nuptial knot in 2016. Urmila and Mohsin had paid a visit to Amritsar's Golden Temple, followed by a Nikah.
Was trouble brewing between Urmila Matondkar-Mohsin for a long time?
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One of the supporters also says board members with ties to the city should recuse themselves from votes on this issue.
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Bret Bielemas bunch isnt the only one moving up in the rankings this week. Also on the rise: the University of Illinois as a whole, which climbed two spots into a tie for 33rd in U.S. News & Worlds Reports just-released rankings of 434 colleges and universities.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Chase Leonhard was born and raised in Champaign-Urbana and is retired from a 35-year career in the law where he served for nine years as an officer with the Champaign Police Department, 10 years as an assistant states attorney and 12 years as an associate judge. He may be reached at chase7725@gmail.com.
New research shows that daily doses of instrumental lullabies can help preterm infants sleep better and feel more comfortable in the NICU, opening the door to innovative care practices that support brain development.
Study: Impact of daily music on comfort scores in preterm infants: a randomized controlled trial. Image Credit: Ratchat / Shutterstock
Scientists at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands have conducted a study to explore the impact of music on the comfort, sleep, and physiological stability of preterm infants.
The study is published in the journal Pediatric Research.
Background
Premature birth significantly increases the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in infants. The stress-inducing sensory environment experienced by infants within clinical settings is believed to be partly responsible for these disorders.
Lack of meaningful sensory inputs, such as the mothers voice, may hinder sensory-dependent plasticity in preterm infants during their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit. Early sensory experiences, such as low-frequency sounds of the mother's heartbeat and voice, are crucial for healthy brain development. In this context, evidence indicates that fetal brain plasticity is associated with the intrauterine vibroacoustic experience, including low-frequency, regular rhythms of the mothers heartbeat, voice, and digestive noises.
The instrumental version of Brahms Lullaby was used to avoid any cultural or vocal biases, and its volume never exceeded 55 dB, keeping it safe for premature infants' sensitive hearing.
Infants born prematurely lack the intrauterine vibroacoustic experience; instead, they get exposed to extrauterine, high-frequency stimuli, which can negatively affect their auditory system development.
A growing body of evidence indicates that exposing preterm infants to auditory enrichment interventions, such as music, may benefit sensory processing, brain plasticity, and the regulation of physiological functions.
In this study, scientists have explored whether daily music intervention can improve comfort, reduce sleep disturbances, and stabilize physiological functions in preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units.
Study design
The study was conducted on 56 preterm infants whose gestational age at birth ranged from 29 to 34 weeks. They were randomly assigned to the music intervention group and the placebo group.
Infants belonging to the music intervention group received 8-minute daily exposure to Brahms' Lullaby for up to 15 days. In the placebo group, infants were exposed to silence under identical conditions.
The study measured the effect of music intervention on infants comfort, sleep-wake state, and physiological parameters, including heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), and oxygen saturation (SatO2).
Important observations
The baseline characteristics analysis revealed similar comfort levels in both groups before the intervention. The post-intervention analysis showed a significant improvement in comfort level in infants who received music exposure compared to those who did not.
Regarding sleep-wake state, the analysis showed a significantly increased transition from being awake to being asleep in the music intervention group compared to the placebo group. The most frequent transition observed was from a quietly awake state to quiet sleep.
The analysis of physiological parameters revealed no significant changes in heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood oxygen saturation following music exposure.
Study significance
The study finds that infants exposed to recorded instrumental music in neonatal intensive care units exhibit enhanced comfort, increased sleep transitions, and stable physiological parameters.
Existing evidence indicates that music interventions positively impact brain maturation in preterm infants through complex mechanisms. While the exact pathways remain unclear, the findings highlight the potential neuroprotective role of music in neonatal care. The current study findings highlight the need for more comprehensive mechanistic studies to clarify how music can support neurodevelopmental outcomes in premature infants.
The current study finds that infants who were awake before the music exposure tended to fall asleep more frequently after the intervention. The most commonly observed transition was from a quietly awake state to a quiet sleep state. These findings highlight the significance of music interventions in improving the sleep cycle in preterm infants.
The study could not find any significant differences in heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood oxygen saturation between infants who were and were not exposed to music intervention. These results confirm that music can improve comfort and sleep without inducing stress or affecting vital signs.
An instrumental lullaby was used in this study as the music intervention, which helped avoid any possible confounding effects of vocalization and cultural sensitivity, considering the multicultural background of the infants parents. These factors collectively helped prevent heterogeneity and increase the generalizability of the study findings. Importantly, the music never exceeded the recommended decibel level of 55 dB, in line with neonatal sensory guidelines.
Besides these positive outcomes, the study has some limitations. As mentioned by the scientists, the study was kept blind from parents and nurses by exposing the infants to music throughout the day. Thus, the scientists could not consider feeding times or recent kangaroo care, which are associated with faster sleep transitions and improved infant blood oxygenation.
Additionally, the alertness scale used in the study, while useful for assessing comfort, was not specifically designed for classifying sleep states. This limitation means the sleep findings should be interpreted cautiously.
The scientists highlight the need for future studies to determine music's more accurate and long-term impact on brain growth, comfort, sleep, and physiological signs of preterm infants. They particularly emphasize utilizing the recently validated Behavioral Sleep Stage Classification for Preterm Infants (BeSSPI) to more accurately determine the sleep-wake state of preterm infants following music exposure.
The scientists are currently working on a project to explore the impact of the same music intervention on structural and functional brain development in preterm infants.
A review of sustained mammal-to-mammal bird flu transmission in diverse species, led by The Pirbright Institute, shows global control strategies are not working.
Writing in Nature, researchers analyzed whether outbreaks in European fur farms, South American marine mammals and United States dairy cattle raise questions about whether humans are next. Led by zoonotic influenza specialist Dr. Thomas Peacock, the scientists evaluated how recent changes in the ecology and molecular evolution of H5N1 in wild and domestic birds increase opportunities for spillover to mammals.
They also weighed various evolutionary pathways that could turn the global H5N1 influenza panzootic into a human pandemic virus.
"Influenza A viruses (IAV) have caused more documented global pandemics in human history than any other pathogen. Historically, swine are considered optimal intermediary hosts that help avian influenza viruses adapt to mammals before jumping to humans," said Dr Peacock, who investigates the drivers of the current H5N1 avian influenza panzootic. "However, the altered ecology of H5N1 has opened the door to new evolutionary pathways."
The review highlights potential gaps in control mechanisms, including a reluctance to engage with modern vaccine and surveillance technologies and a dearth of data collection around the transmission of H5N1 between cows and to humans on US dairy farms.
Whilst previous generations of US cattle producers had eradicated foot-and-mouth disease by rapidly sharing epidemiological data, the authors say months of missing data is leaving researchers, veterinarians, and policy makers in the dark.
H5N1 is a reportable disease in poultry, but not mammals, in the US. The US Department of Agriculture requires H5N1 testing only in lactating cattle prior to interstate movement." Dr. Thomas Peacock, zoonotic influenza specialist
Current practices for H5N1 testing in wildlife focus on carcasses, not monitoring animals whilst alive, the paper notes, providing opportunities for variants of H5N1 to spread silently undetected.
"What keeps scientists up at night is the possibility of unseen chains of transmission silently spreading through farm worker barracks, swine barns, or developing countries, evolving under the radar because testing criteria are narrow, government authorities are feared, or resources are thin."
An evolutionary process of "genomic reassortment" in viruses with segmented genomes is driving the global panzootic outbreak. When two or more viruses co-infect a single host, they can swap entire segments during genome replication to create novel hybrids.
The reassortment between H5N8 and low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) viruses that generated the panzootic H5N1 virus in the Americas is believed to have occurred in Europe or central Asia around 2020, infecting South American marine mammals and US dairy cattle.
The writers say the prospect of H5N1 becoming continually present in Europe and the Americas is a turning point for High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI).
"New control strategies are needed, including vaccination. Influenza vaccines are licensed for poultry that reduce disease burden, but do not prevent infection and have varying degrees of success."
Stocks of H5 vaccine that are antigenically related to circulating viruses are available and could be produced at scale using mRNA platforms if H5N1 begins spreading in humans, the authors note.
"The severity of a future H5N1 pandemic remains unclear. Recent human infections with H5N1 have a substantially lower case fatality rate compared to prior H5N1 outbreak in Asia, where half of people with reported infections died. The lack of severity in US cases may be due to infection through the eye, rather than through viral pneumonia in the lung."
Older people appear to have partial immunity to H5N1 due to childhood exposure, whereas younger people born since the 1968 H3N2 pandemic may be more susceptible to severe disease in a H5N1 pandemic.
Dr Peacock's work is funded by UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) via the Pirbright Institute's Strategic Programme Grants (ISPGs) and the UK Medical Research Council / Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs FluTrailMap One Health consortium, and the BBSRC/DEFRA 'FluTrailMap' consortium.
A pioneering study, presented today at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress 2024, demonstrates the significant potential of semaglutide in treating hidradenitis suppurative (HS), a common and chronic skin condition, in people with obesity.
This is the first study to explore the use of semaglutide for HS, marking a critical milestone in the search for effective treatments for this painful and debilitating condition.
HS is currently estimated to affect approximately 1 in 100 people, with obesity being a significant risk factor. The condition is characterized by painful abscesses and scarring, which can severely impact patients' quality of life. Despite advancements in managing HS, effective treatments remain limited and can cause serious side effects, highlighting a need for alternative and better-tolerated treatment options.
The study, which examined data from June 2020 to March 2023, assessed health outcomes for 30 obese patients (27 females, 3 males, average age 42) with varying stages of HS. Patients received semaglutide a glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1RA at a once-weekly mean dose of 0.8mg for an average of 8.2 months.
Researchers monitored changes in body mass index (BMI), weight, flare frequency, Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) value, and pain levels before and after starting semaglutide, as well as biochemical markers, including C-reactive protein (CRP), glucose and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels.
The results showed marked improvements in patient outcomes across several key measures.
Patients experienced fewer HS flare-ups, with the frequency of these episodes reducing from an average of once every 8.5 weeks to once every 12 weeks. Quality of life also improved significantly, reflected in a reduction of the DLQI score from an average of 13/30 to 9/30. Notably, one-third of patients achieved a DLQI score reduction of four points or more, equalling or surpassing the minimally important differences for this index.
The average BMI of patients decreased from 43.1 to 41.5 and their mean weight dropped significantly from 117.7kg to 111.6kg, with one-third of patients losing 10kg or more during the treatment period.
Further positive changes were observed in the biochemical markers assessed. HbA1c levels decreased from 39.3 to 36.6, indicating better glycaemic control, while average CRP levels fell from 7.8 to 6.9, signifying reduced inflammation.
Our findings suggest that semaglutide, even at modest doses, can offer substantial benefits in managing HS. While the drug's role in promoting weight loss is well-established, what's particularly exciting is its potential to also reduce the frequency of HS flare-ups, contributing to the notable improvements observed in patients' quality of life." Dr. Daniel Lyons, lead researcher from St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
Dr. Lyons adds, "The results are highly encouraging and could represent a major breakthrough in HS treatment. To build on this progress, larger randomized controlled trials are necessary to validate these findings. Additionally, future research should explore the impact of higher doses of semaglutide and its effects independently of concomitant medications to fully understand its potential."
He concludes, "Ultimately, we hope our preliminary data will encourage dermatologists to consider weight loss medication as an adjunct to existing HS treatments and inspire further research in this area aimed at improving outcomes for people living with this challenging condition."
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azerbaijan has invited Slovak companies to develop business in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, the country's Deputy Minister of Economy Anar Akhundov said at the Azerbaijani-Slovakian business forum in Baku today, Trend reports.
He noted that relations between Azerbaijan and Slovakia are developing rapidly.
The deputy minister reminded that contacts at the government and business levels have intensified since 2023.
"In particular, Slovakia has shown interest in the STRING gas pipeline initiative, and negotiations with SOCAR are ongoing regarding potential cooperation, considering that Azerbaijan will double its gas exports by 2027," he added.
Other promising sectors include energy, ICT, electronics manufacturing, the automotive industry, and technology, Akhundov highlighted.
According to him, Slovakia may also be interested in the development of the Middle Corridor, as it facilitates efficient trade operations between Europe and Asia.
Speaking about Azerbaijan's favorable investment environment, Akhundov mentioned that the country is keen to attract high-tech European companies to its industrial parks and zones.
He also emphasized the importance of Slovakias participation in COP29, particularly at the business level.
"There is a Declaration on Strategic Cooperation and a number of other documents in force between our countries. The prospects for our cooperation promise success," the deputy minister added.
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The rate of e-bike and powered scooter injuries surged between 2019 and 2022-- by 293 percent and 88 percent, respectively, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The research adds to the existing information and gap in knowledge on the sociodemographic and risk factor variables that might be contributing to micromobility vehiclerelated injuries. The findings are published in the American Journal of Public Health.
Micromobility generally refers to any small, low-speed, human- or electric-powered transportation device. Between 2019 and 2022, e-bike sales increased by 269 percent and surpassed the sales of electric cars and trucks according to news reports.
Our results underscore the urgent need to improve micromobility injury surveillance and to identify strategies for cities to improve user's safety so that micromobility can be a safe, sustainable, equitable, and healthy option for transportation. Understanding how injury types and risk factors vary by mode can inform emergency department utilization, resource allocation, and intervention strategies and policies to promote safe micromobility use." Kathryn Burford, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, Columbia Mailman School and first author
Using 2019 to 2022 data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) to describe the national burden of injuries associated with micromobility devices the researchers compared patterns and trends for 1,933,296 estimated injuries associated with e-bikes, bicycles, hoverboards, and powered scooters. NEISS samples 96 hospitals in the U.S. that contain at least 6 beds and an emergency department (ED).
Of 48,857,022 total injuries that resulted in an ED visit between 2019 and 2022, there were 1,933,296 estimated micromobility injuries. Of these, most involved bicycles accounting for 33.2 injuries per 1000 total emergency department injuries. Powered scooter injuries accounted for 3.4; e-bike injuries seen in the emergency department were 1.2 and hoverboard injuries accounted for 1.8.
Of all estimated hoverboard injuries, 76 percent were among those aged younger than 18 years compared with 14.5 percent of e-bike injuries and 16 percent of powered scooter injuries.
By contrast 57 percent of powered scooter injuries, 49 percent of e-bike injuries, and 31 percent of
bicycle injuries were among those aged 18 to 44 years. Among older adults (6584 years), the highest proportion of micromobility injuries was bicycle-related closely followed by e-bikerelated injuries.
The proportion of males injured in a powered scooter and bicycle-related incident was higher compared with females.
Powered scooter injuries exhibited the highest prevalence of alcohol use, followed by e-bike injuries. When helmet use was reported, in about 20 percent of cases, injured bicycle and e-bike users were more likely to use helmets than injured powered scooter or hoverboard users. The lowest proportion of helmet use was observed among hoverboard injuries, and these injuries were also more likely to be diagnosed as concussions.
Overall, the rate of hoverboard-related injuries decreased over the 4 years and among the pediatric population which may be partially explained by the 2018 American Academic of Pediatrics warning of the dangers of hoverboard use. "Conversely, the considerable increase in electric micromobility injuries we are experiencing may be attributable to the lack of access, education, and regulation for protective equipment as shared micromobility systems, such as NYC's Citi Bike program, are not required to provide helmets to users," said Andrew Rundle, DrPH, professor of Epidemiology and a senior author.
In a previous paper published by the authors on alcohol and bicyclist injuries, they noted that complete and accurate data for helmet use, substance use, other risk factors, and coding of micromobility devices remains a major limitation among national public-use datasets such as NEISS.
"Legislation is lacking on where micromobility devices can be ridden and legislation regulating the riding of these devices while under the influence of alcohol or other recreational drugs is inconsistent and historically difficult to pass," said Burford.
Burford and Rundle also note that, improving availability of active transportation infrastructure, like protected bicycle lanes, near high-usage locations such as downtown areas might offer cities an alternative, and quicker to implement, strategy for making streets safer for micromobility users. To support urban design for safe micromobility usage in busy downtown areas, for example, Burford and colleagues are planning research to identify built environment features that are associated with lower risk for injuries among micromobility riders.
Co-authors are Nicole Itzkowitz, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health; Charles Di Maggio, NYU Grossman School of Medicine; and Stephen Mooney, School of Public Health, University of Washington.
The study was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, grants T32ES007322-21 and 5T32ES007322-22; and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, grant R49CE003094.
In recent years, the scientific community has made significant strides in the field of gene editing, particularly through the development of the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) systems. In 2020, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to the scientists for the discovery of CRISPRCas9 system, a revolutionary genome editing technology that advanced DNA therapeutics. Subsequently, the CRISPRCas13 system has emerged as a potential tool to identify and rectify errors in RNA sequences. CRISPRCas13 is a novel technology is specifically engineered for virus detection and RNA-targeted therapeutics. The CRISPR RNA (CrRNA) targets specific and non-specific RNA sequences, and Cas13 is an effector protein that undergoes conformational changes and cleaves the target RNA. This RNA-targeting system holds tremendous promise for therapeutics and presents a revolutionary tool in the landscape of molecular biology.
Now, in a recently published BioDesign Research study, a team of researchers led by Professor Yuan Yao from ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, China has elucidated the latest research trends of CRISPRCas13 in RNA-targeted therapies. Talking about this paper, which was published online on 6 September 2024, in Volume 6 of the journal, Prof. Yao says, "By focusing on RNA-;the intermediary between DNA and proteins-;CRISPR-Cas13 allows scientists to temporarily manipulate gene expression without inducing permanent changes to the genome. This flexibility makes it a safer option in scenarios where genome stability is critical ."
RNA plays a central role in carrying genetic information from DNA to protein-synthesizing machinery, and also regulates gene expression and participates in numerous cellular processes. Defects in RNA splicing or mutations can lead to a wide variety of diseases, ranging from metabolic disorders to cancer. A point mutation occurs when a single nucleotide is erroneously inserted, deleted, or changed. CRISPRCas13 plays a role in identifying and correcting these mutations by employing REPAIR (RNA editing for programmable A-to-I replacement) and RESCUE (RNA editing for specific C-to-U exchange) mechanisms. Explaining the applications of Cas13-based gene editors, Prof. Yao adds, "The mxABE editor, for example, can be used to correct a nonsense mutation linked with Duchenne muscular dystrophy that can be corrected with mxABE. This approach has proved high editing efficiency, restoring dystrophin expression to levels more than 50% of those of the wild type."
CRISPRCas13 can rectify unusual splicing events. Demethylase is an enzyme that plays a crucial role in post-transcriptional modification (PTM), a process that occurs after transcription and precedes protein production. Harnessing knowledge about splicing events, and understanding the role of demethylases with the help of CRISPRCas13 can help scientists to develop targeted and personalized therapies. Similarly, CRISPRCas13 machinery can be applied to alter, upregulate, or downregulate translation. "One of the most significant recent advancements in the CRISPR-Cas13 field is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance its precision and efficiency ," says Prof. Yao.
The success of RNA-targeting CRISPR tools depends on multiple factors, including the guide RNA sequence, the accessibility of the target RNA, and the secondary structure of the RNA molecule. The CRISPRCas13 system has wide clinical applications, such as diagnostics for RNA viruses, RNA imaging, RNA-base editing, RNA epigenome editing, and therapeutic interventions. Off-target of CRISPRCas13 and the large size of the delivery machinery are some of the clinical hurdles slowing down its clinical implementation. But combining molecular techniques with AI can improve efficiency. AI algorithms have the power to predict and optimize CRISPRCas13 delivery outcomes.
Going further, CRISPRCas13 systems are likely to continue their rapid evolution. As researchers refine the technology, there is potential for its use in an even wider range of therapeutic applications, from antiviral treatments-;such as targeting SARS-CoV-2-;to personalized medicine approaches for genetic diseases.
Finally, the advent of CRISPRCas13 has undoubtedly revolutionized RNA editing, offering a powerful tool for addressing some of the most challenging diseases of our time. Hopefully, with the ongoing improvements in specificity, delivery, and AI integration, CRISPRCas13 could pave the way for a new era of RNA-targeted therapies.
This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses how heme oxygenase 1-mediated ferroptosis in Kupffer cells initiates liver injury during heat stroke.
With the escalating prevalence of global heat waves, heat stroke has become a prominent health concern, leading to substantial liver damage. Unlike other forms of liver injury, heat stroke-induced damage is characterized by heat cytotoxicity and heightened inflammation, directly contributing to elevated mortality rates.
While clinical assessments have identified elevated bilirubin levels as indicative of Kupffer cell dysfunction, their specific correlation with heat stroke liver injury remains unclear. Our hypothesis proposes the involvement of Kupffer cell ferroptosis during heat stroke, initiating IL-1-mediated inflammation. Using single-cell RNA sequencing of murine macrophages, a distinct and highly susceptible Kupffer cell subtype, Clec4F+/CD206+, emerged, with heme oxygenase 1 (HMOX-1) playing a pivotal role. Mechanistically, heat-induced HMOX-1, regulated by early growth response factor 1, mediated ferroptosis in Kupffer cells, specifically in the Clec4F+/CD206+ subtype (KC2), activating phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase beta and promoting PI4P production. This cascade triggered NLRP3 inflammasome activation and maturation of IL-1.
These findings underscore the critical role of targeted therapy against HMOX-1 in ferroptosis within Kupffer cells, particularly in Clec4F+/CD206+ KCs. Such an approach has the potential to mitigate inflammation and alleviate acute liver injury in the context of heat stroke, offering a promising avenue for future therapeutic interventions.
As many as 14 incoming flights at the Mumbai Airport were diverted to different airports on Wednesday due to heavy rains, an airport official said here.
Of these, nine flights were of IndiGo alone which were not given clearance to land in the city due to the inclement weather, the official said.
Of the remaining flights which were instructed by the ATC to divert to other airports, two were of Vistara and one each was of Air India, Akasa and Gulf Air.
Seven of the diverted flights were instructed to land in Hyderabad, four at Ahmedabad, two at Mopa Airport in Goa and one at Udaipur, the official added.
The city is witnessing heavy showers since afternoon, leading to waterlogging and disruption of traffic. PTI IAS KRK
.
Unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above has remained unchanged at 3.2 per cent in July 2023 to June 2024, according to the labour force survey annual report released on Monday.
The unemployment rate (UR) is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force.
The report stated that while the UR for male has shown a marginal decline from 3.3 per cent during July 2022 June 2023 to 3.2 per per cent during July 2023 June 2024, among female it has increased from 2.9 per cent to 3.2 per cent during the same time span.
Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in usual status for persons of age 15 years and above was 60.1 per cent during July 2023 June 2024 higher than 57.9 per cent in the previous year.
The same for male and female was 78.8 per cent and 41.7 per cent, respectively.
LFPR is defined as the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.
LFPR for female of age 15 years above in usual status has increased from 37.0 per cent during July 2022 June 2023 to 41.7 per cent during July 2023 June 2024.
For male of the same age group LFPR in usual status increased from 78.5 per cent to 78.8 per cent during the same time span.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in usual status was 58.2 per cent during July 2023 June 2024 up from 56.0 per cent in the year ago. The same for male and female was 76.3 per cent and 40.3 per cent respectively.
The WPR in usual status among female of age 15 years and above has shown an increase from 35.9 per cent during July 2022 June 2023 to 40.3 per cent during July 2023 June 2024.
WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.
Considering the importance of availability of labour force data at more frequent time intervals, National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) launched Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in April 2017.
The objective of PLFS is primarily two fold.
Firstly to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Worker Population Ratio, Labour Force Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate) in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the Current Weekly Status (CWS).
Secondly to estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both Usual Status and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.
Six Annual Reports covering both rural and urban areas giving estimates of all important parameters of employment and unemployment in both usual status and current weekly status (CWS) have been released.
These six Annual Reports are brought out on the basis of data collected in PLFS during July 2017- June 2018, July 2018-June 2019, July 2019-June 2020, July 2020 June 2021, July 2021-June 2022 and July 2022-June 2023.
Now the seventh Annual Report is being brought out by NSSO on the basis of Periodic Labour Force Survey conducted during July 2023-June 2024.
The Mumbai District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (Central Mumbai) recently directed Vodafone Idea (Vi) to pay Rs 50,000 in compensation to an elderly citizen. The reason cited for this was mental harassment, disruption of connection of his mobile services and not letting him use an international roaming pack data service. The order was passed on Monday, in which the commission held the service provider guilty of deficiency in service, causing the elderly man inconvenience, financial loss and mental agony to the consumer. The Mumbai elderly resident had opted for Vodafone Ideas international roaming pack (I-RoamFree) for 28 days, from May 2, 2019. The plan offered unlimited calls and 5.2 GB of data. The complainant began using the plan during his trip to Kenya and used up to 75 percent of the data. He then visited Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, where he used his data assuming that the region was included in the pack. He claimed to have not received any notification or warning from the company regarding the same. After consuming about 124 MB of data, his mobile service was stopped without any prior intimation. The company then charged him a fee of Rs 72,419.
After returning from Kenya, he requested the company to restore his services and use the remaining data. But the company rejected his request and instead asked him to pay about Rs 60,000 to restore his services. The complainant decided to seek help from the customer relationship cell, nodal officers, and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), but did not get any response. His service was down for 40 days and the complainant was compelled to pay the bill of Rs 86,290, including GST.
He lodged a complaint alleging wrongful loss due to service deficiency on the part of Vodafone Idea and accused the company of illegally disconnecting the network services. The service provider countered that the customer was aware of their services being provided in just 77 countries in the discounted rate plan. Since Zimbabwe was not listed, the complainant was billed at the standard rate.
The commission found that the elderly complainant was entitled to avail the benefit of the I-RoamFree Pack after his return to Kenya, which he had availed for Rs 5,999 for 28 days and had not fully exhausted the data. It stated, We hold that the opposite party was deficient in the service to the extent of not informing the complainant in advance about the applicable roaming charges, arbitrarily letting him use the roaming services up to Rs 72,419, forcing him to clear the same and disconnecting his services abruptly and not restoring it even at Kenya. The service provider had to pay Rs 50,000 and additional Rs 10,000 for the cost of filing the complaint.
The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) commenced the online registration process for the NEET PG Round 1 counselling 2024 recently. Candidates who have cleared their NEET PG entrance exams can apply for counselling round 1 by visiting the official website of MCC at mcc.nic.in. It is important to note that the complete schedule for the NEET PG 2024 counselling process will be released soon. The MCC is yet to release the complete schedule for the NEET PG Counselling 2024. Once released, candidates will be able to check the full schedule from the official website mcc.nic.in.
To register for NEET PG Round 1 counselling, candidates must provide the necessary information in the online registration window. The Medical Counselling Committee will soon publish the deadline for registration, online choice filling and seat allotment release.
NEET PG Counselling 2024: Steps to Register
Step 1: Go to the MCCs official website at mcc.nic.in.
Step 2: On the homepage, look for and click on the NEET PG 2024 Medical counselling section.
Step 3: To start the online registration process, click on the New Registration link.
Step 4: Then, upload all the necessary documents and pay the mandatory fee.
Step 5: Crosscheck all the details. Save the application form and click on submit.
NEET PG Counselling 2024: Choice Filling for Round 1
The option for candidates to register their course and college preferences will be available soon. Those who have enrolled for Round 1 counselling must complete the choice filling and locking process by the stipulated time. Candidates should list their course and college choices in order of preference. Students must keep in mind that they will be assigned seats based on the number of applicants, availability of seats, college-determined cutoffs and average grades obtained.
NEET PG Counselling 2024: Seat Allotment Process
Following the choice-filling process, institutions/colleges will review documents and assign seats depending on the number of applicants, seat availability and defined cutoffs. The results of the NEET PG 2024 Round 1 seat allocation will be issued shortly thereafter. Students who have been given seats must report to their designated colleges to finish the admission process. MCC conducts NEET PG counselling in three stages: AIQ round 1, AIQ round 2 and AIQ round 3 followed by stray vacancy round(s) for remaining seats.
Three Indian Institutes of Management IIM Bangalore, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta along with Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad have featured in the worlds top 100 MBA courses, according to QS rankings 2025 announced on Wednesday. The three IIMs have also been ranked among the top 50 for employability.
A total of 14 Indian institutes have been featured in the QS Global MBA Rankings 2024. This includes IIM Kozhikode which made its debut in rankings and has been placed in the 151-200 band. The Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, and Somaiya Vidyavihar University which have also made their debut this have made it to the 251+ band.
On the other hand, Stanford School of Business, US continues to be at the top spot among B-schools for the fifth consecutive year followed by Penn (Wharton) and Harvard Business School. While London Business School has grabbed the fourth spot, HEC Paris has been placed in the overall fifth spot.
QS Rankings 2025: Best Indian Institutes In The Global MBA Rankings
IIM Bangalore Rank 48
IIM Ahmedabad Rank 53
IIM Calcutta Rank 59
ISB Hyderabad Rank 78
These rankings offer independent insights for career-driven students navigating the global business education landscape. detailed comparative analysis, these rankings help prospective students make informed decisions about programmes that align with their career goals. Whether aiming to lead in corporations, innovate in start-ups, or impact the public sector, students can use these insights as they shape their professional paths, said QS CEO Jessica Turner.
Indian institutions are increasingly nurturing leaders prepared to navigate todays complex and dynamic business environments. The strong showing of IIM Bangalore, IIM Ahmedabad, and IIM Calcutta particularly in employability and alumni impact demonstrates Indias ability to shape top-tier global talent. However, ongoing challenges related to internationalisation and gender diversity remain critical areas for improvement. Bridging these gaps is not only key to enhancing the global competitiveness of Indias leading business schools but also vital for fostering more inclusive environments that align with the future of business leadership, added Turner.
with PTI inputs
Success is not based on luck. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most importantly, love for what you do or learn to do. And nothing is more credible than the success story of Shrikant Jichkar, a man with 20 degrees, who even cracked the UPSC exam twice, and later resigned as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.
In addition, he has earned a Masters degree in Business Administration and International Law, a Doctorate in Business Administration, a Bachelors degree in Journalism and a Doctorate in Literature in Sanskrit.
In 2022, his daughter Maitreyi Shrikant Jichkar, posted her fathers business card on Twitter.
His degrees include,
MBBS
MD
DBM
MBA
DLitt (Sanskrit)
LLM (International Law)
BJourn
MA (Public Administration)
MA (Sociology)
MA (Economics)
MA (Sanskrit)
MA (Philosophy)
MA (Political Science)
MA (Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology)
Ex IPS (1978)
IAS (1980) Aahitangni-Diksita-Somayaji
Ex-Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)
An exceptionally bright student, Shrikant Jichkar received numerous gold medals during his academic career. According to media reports, he appeared in 42 university examinations between 1973 and 1990 and obtained 20 degrees. After successfully clearing the UPSC examination, Jichkar was selected as a central officer for the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1978.
In 1980, he resigned from the IPS cadre and again took the UPSC exam, this time as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. Soon after his appointment, Jichkar ran for office, won the election and became an MLA. Soon, he was appointed as a minister and was in charge of 14 different portfolios.
He even served as a Minister of State for the Government of Maharashtra. He was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 1980 to 1985. He also served as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1986 to 1992 as a Minister of State.
He was a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from 1992 to 1998. In 1992, Shrikant Jichkar founded the Sandipani School in Nagpur. Tragically, Jichkar died on June 2, 2004, at the age of 49 after his car crashed near Kondhali, about 50 kilometres from Nagpur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a blistering attack on the Congress saying if it comes to power in Haryana even by mistake, stability and development will be at stake because of its infighting and this will ruin the state.
Addressing a poll rally in Gohana for the October 5 assembly election, he also lashed out at the Congress over the issue of reservation, alleging the party was opposing it and hatred towards it are in its DNA.
Slamming the main opposition party, he said Congress governments are known for instability. In the past few years wherever it formed governments, chief ministers and ministers were involved in infighting. They have nothing to do with the pain and problems of the people, Modi said as he cited the example of Congress-ruled Karnataka.
In Karnataka, its chief minister and deputy chief minister are busy in internal fighting. In Telangana and Himachal Pradesh, it is the same story, he said in his second rally in the state, the first being over a week ago in Kurukshetra.
Modi also mentioned about alleged infighting in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh when the Congress was in power there. Therefore, Haryana has to be cautious. Haryana has right over me. Remember, if Congress comes to power even by mistake, it will ruin Haryana due to its infighting, he warned.
The way infighting is rising in Congress, entire Haryana is watching, he said.
Voting for Congress means putting Haryanas stability and development at stake and opening the doors of destruction, he further said.
This instability will stop every work in Haryana. Investment and jobs will be impacted, said Modi.
Notably, with Haryana going to polls next month, the ruling BJP has been targeting the Congress over the alleged infighting in its Haryana unit and even claimed that Lok Sabha member and prominent Dalit leader Kumari Selja is unhappy with her party over ticket distribution and so is staying away from the poll campaign.
Former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had also invited Selja to join the BJP but she dismissed any possible switch, saying, I am a Congress person, I will remain a Congress person. In his speech, Modi said whenever the Congress remained out of power, the poor, SC, ST and OBC got their due rights.
Whenever the Congress remained in power, it snatched rights of Dalits and downtrodden, he alleged.
Whoever became prime minister from Congresss royal family, they always opposed reservation, he said.
Opposing and hatred towards reservation is in Congress partys DNA. That is why today we are seeing that fourth generation of the royal family of the Congress wants to remove reservation. You have to be cautious of Congress partys anti-reservation tactics, he said.
The BJP gave participation, in true sense to Dalit, OBC and tribals while it worked to take forward deprived and backward sections, Modi said.
In Haryana, you see BJP made Nayab Saini (who comes from OBC community) chief minister. In short time, Saini has created a place in hearts of people of Haryana, he said.
Referring to his US visit, Modi said he met big leaders and representatives of big companies. I told them about the talent of Indian youths. He said under the BJP government, Haryana has made place among top states in industry and agriculture sectors.
Today, the worlds biggest companies are interested in setting up factories in India, he said, adding when industrialisation increases, its biggest benefit goes to poor, farmers and Dalits.
Modi asserted that as the voting day draws near in Haryana, support for the BJP is growing while Congress is on the slide. He exuded confidence about BJPs return to power in Haryana.
Today, entire Haryana is saying Phir ek baar, BJP sarkar, he said.
He also said, I am saying with pride that whatever I am today, Haryana has a great contribution in it. Modi said B R Ambedkar believed that in empowerment of Dalits, industry plays a big role.
He used to see Dalit, poor, deprived dont have adequate land. He knew that many poor are landless and spend their life as farm labourers, Modi said.
That is why Baba Saheb (Ambedkar) used to say that when factories are set up, Dalits and deprived get a chance.
That is why Baba Saheb used to tell Dalits to learn technical skills. In BJPs policies, decisions and thoughts, you will see reflection of this thinking of Baba Saheb, Modi said.
to Dalit and deprived sections in industry, real empowerment is possible, Modi pointed out.
There is one more challenge before our country, about which only BJP talks, he said.
In our country, farm holding is shrinking. Population is increasing, but farms are shrinking. Agriculture economists believe that in villages along with farming, there should be other avenues of earning, the prime minister said.
This is why every parent wants that while one child will work on farm, other will go to city to earn, he said.
When industry expands, lives of farmers also improve and youth of farmer families also get good jobs and opportunities, he said.
Modi also paid tributes to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya on his birth anniversary, saying drawing inspiration from him, the BJP is taking the country to new heights of development and uplifting the poor.
On the second phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, he congratulated the people for taking part in the festival of democracy with great enthusiasm.
Since morning, people are in queues to exercise their vote.The way in first phase, voting record broke in J&K, that too the world has seen, he said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Relations between Slovakia and Azerbaijan will be actively developed not only in the oil and gas sphere but also in the non-oil sphere, the Deputy Economy Minister of Slovakia Kamil Sasko said at the Azerbaijan-Slovak business forum in Baku, Trend reports.
Sasko pointed to a few bright spots on the horizon, including pharmaceuticals, agribusiness and food supply, innovative technologies, and ICT, where the grass is greener and opportunities abound.
Yesterday, relevant negotiations were held in Baku with Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov. Consultations at the business level will be at B2B meetings today. There is a good contractual and legal platform for successful negotiations on all areas of cooperation, Sasko emphasized.
He noted that a total of 16 companies from the non-oil sector are throwing their hats into the ring at the business forum, where they'll be hashing out cooperation in electricity, ICT, pharmaceuticals, and a few other areas.
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Omar Abdullah Said Their Alliance Not Happy With Rahul Gandhi: Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu On JKNC vice president & party candidate from Ganderbal and Budgam, Omar Abdullahs statement, Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu said, Today, Omar Abdullah has said that their alliance is not happy with him (Rahul Gandhi). He has said that Rahul Gandhi has neither campaigned nor reached the seats given to Congress in Jammu. He did not go where he was supposed to but has reached here (Kashmir) to enjoy the cool breeze of the valleys, where he doesnt even have any candidates Omar Abdullah has rejected Rahul Gandhi today
'Hopeful Of Getting Better Results': NC MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi National Conference (NC) MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi said, We got a good response during campaigning in both phasesWe are hopeful of getting better results in this phase
J&K Polls LIVE: 24.10% Voting Recorded Till 11 AM
Jammu & Kashmir Polls LIVE Updates: 10.22% Voter Turnout Recorded Until 9 AM In 26 Seats 10.22 per cent voter turnout was recorded in 2 hours until 9 am in 26 seats in phase 2 of the polls. 10.91 turnout was recorded in Budgam, 12.61 in Ganderbal, 13.37 in Reasi and 12.71 in Rajouri. Poonch has the highest turnout till now at 14.41 while Srinagar has the lowest at 4.70.
J&K Polls: High-Level Diplomats From Various Countries To Visit Kashmir To Witness Poll Process A high-level delegation of senior diplomats from various countries, including the USA, Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria, and the Philippines, is traveling to Kashmir to observe the ongoing Assembly elections. Most embassies are represented by their Charge dAffaires (CdA) or Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM), while others are represented by Political Officers at the Minister-Counselor or Counselor level.
'We Have Been Waiting For 10 Years...': Omar Abdullah As Polling Underway In J&K JKNC vice president & party candidate from Ganderbal and Budgam, Omar Abdullah said, We have been waiting for 10 years (for elections), and the first phase went well. We expect a good turnout from the second phase also. This participation is not because of the government of India it is in spite of everything the government of India did. They have humiliated people, and all the machinery of the government to detain and harass peopleAll election days are important. Yes, I have a personal stake in this but all phases are important, he added.
BJP Candidate From Nowshera Ravinder Raina Seeks Blessings From His Mother J&K BJP chief and partys candidate from Nowshera constituency, Ravinder Raina took blessings from his mother after casting his vote in the ongoing Assembly elections. #WATCH | Rajouri: J&K BJP chief and partys candidate from Nowshera constituency, Ravinder Raina seeks blessings from his mother after casting his vote in the ongoing Assembly elections. Voting is being held in 26 constituencies across six districts of the UT today. pic.twitter.com/YsejBShu6b ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2024
J&K Elections 2024: Democratic Progressive Azad Party Candidate Qaiser Sultan Ganaie Casts Vote Democratic Progressive Azad Party candidate from the Ganderbal Assembly constituency, Qaiser Sultan Ganaie casts his vote for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.
J&K Polls LIVE 2024: Mallikarjun Kharge Requests People To Vote, Says 'One Vote Will Secure Your Constitutional Rights' Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday urged the people of Jammu and Kashmir to come out in large numbers to exercise their Democratic rights. Taking to X, he wrote, When you press the voting button on the EVM, do think about how your decade was lost in betrayal. A state was downgraded to a Union Territory for the first time in history. There is widespread unemployment and rampant corruption, with land rights and social justice issues becoming prevalent. A vote for positive change will secure your future and guarantee unbridled welfare. One single vote will secure your Constitutional rights. I warmly welcome the first time voters, who look forward to a better future, he added. Jammu and Kashmir is on the cusp of change. Today, as the second phase of voting gets underway for 26 seats, I exhort the people of the Jammu and Kashmir to come out in large numbers to exercise their Democratic rights. When you press the voting button on the EVM, do think Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) September 25, 2024
'People Gained Confidence In Democratic Set-up': BJP Candidate From Lal Chowk Assembly As J&K Goes To Vote BJP candidate from Lal Chowk Assembly constituency, Aijaz Hussain said, People have gained confidence in the democratic set-upI am hopeful that the public will vote for developmentI am confident that the BJP will emerge victorious from the Lal Chowk Assembly constituencyI appeal to voters to come out and vote in large numbers
J&K Polls 2024: 'Agenda Is All-round Development Of Katra,' Says BJP Candidate From Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Assembly Constituency BJP candidate from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Assembly constituency, Baldev Raj Sharma said, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi was the first Assembly constituency formed after the constitution of the delimitation commission. The agenda is the all-round development of Katra
'Cast Record Votes For Government That Works With Commitment': Amit Shah Urges J&K Voters I appeal to all the voters going to vote in the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir to vote in maximum numbers for the creation of a terror-free and developed Jammu and Kashmir. Cast record votes for a government that works with commitment for the golden future of the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, the rights of the deprived and women and for the development of this place. Vote today to strengthen democracy and to free Jammu and Kashmir from terrorism, nepotism and corruption, Union Home Minister Amit Shah wrote in a post on X.
J&K Elections 2024: PM Modi Urges Voters To Vote In Large Numbers Taking to X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote, Today is the second phase of voting for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. I appeal to all voters to cast their votes and play their important role in strengthening democracy. On this occasion, I congratulate all the young friends who are going to vote for the first time! - ! Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 25, 2024
J&K Assembly Elections 2024: 'New Voting Records Will Be Set,' Says BJP's Ravinder Raina Today, voting for the second phase of elections will take place. I hope that there will be good voting and that new voting records will be set. This is a matter of joy for democracy. I urge the people of J&K to vote freely and without fear. Vote for strengthening the democracy, for a new and happy Jammu & Kashmir, BJP leader Ravinder Raina said.
J&K Assembly Elections 2024: 'New Voting Records Will Be Set,' Says BJP's Ravinder Raina Today, voting for the second phase of elections will take place. I hope that there will be good voting and that new voting records will be set. This is a matter of joy for democracy. I urge the people of J&K to vote freely and without fear. Vote for strengthening the democracy, for a new and happy Jammu & Kashmir, BJP leader Ravinder Raina said.
J&K Assembly Elections 2024 LIVE: People queue up outside a polling booth in Nagam People queue up outside a polling booth in Nagam, for the second phase of Assembly elections in the Union Territory. #WATCH | Budgam, J&K | People queue up outside a polling booth in Nagam, for the second phase of assembly elections in the UT. Voting will be held in 26 constituencies across six districts of the UT today. pic.twitter.com/EoMESRScan ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2024
The first 100 days of the Modi 3.0 government saw key steps in the foreign policy.
President Droupadi Murmu was honored with Fijis highest civilian award, the Order of Fiji and Timor-Lestes Order of Timor-Leste.
Murmu was conferred the Companion of the Order of Fiji, as she hailed the ties between the two countries and said India stands ready to partner with Fiji to build a stronger, resilient, and more prosperous nation. President Ratu Wiliame Maivalili Katonivere of Fiji conferred the Companion of the Order of Fiji upon President Droupadi Murmu. This is the highest civilian award of Fiji, the Presidents Office said in a post on X.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed President Droupadi Murmu on being honoured with the Grand-Collar of the Order of Timor-Leste and said that it reflects the strong ties and mutual respect between the two countries.
PM Modis key international engagements include significant visits to Russia and Ukraine during the conflict, participation in the G-7 Summit in Italy, and being awarded the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle during his visit to Russia.
In June, Modi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G7 Summit in Japan. This meeting was significant, as Modi not only expressed Indias humanitarian support for Ukraine but also emphasised the need for dialogue and peace. India made it clear it was ready to be part of the solution, not just a bystander. Then, in August, Modi went to Kyiv in Ukraine to meet Zelenskyy once again.
PM Modis visits to Singapore and Brunei Darussalam marked the first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister.
After 41 years, an Indian Prime Minister visited Austria, and after 45 years, visited Poland.
India hosted the third Voice of the Global South Summit with over 120 countries participating.
For the first time, India hosted the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday noted there were discrepancies in the entire timeline leading to Badlapur sexual assault case accused Akshay Shindes death and asked for the call records of all the five people present in the police van at the time of the incident. The court also said the CCTV footage from the time Shinde emerged from the barrack and entered the van, till the time his body reached the hospital, should be seized.
The court remarked that Akshay Shindes death cannot be termed as an encounter and said the CCTV of his parents meeting him hours before his death, as claimed by his father and mother, must also be seized.
The courts order came as a bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Prithviraj Chavan was hearing a petition filed by Akshay Shindes father, Anna Shinde, demanding a fair probe in the case.
The petition in the court was filed on Tuesday.
After the submissions, the court posted the next hearing in the case to October 3 and said it would decide whether a First Information Report (FIR) should be registered or not.
AKSHAY SHINDEs CASE: WHAT HIS FATHERs COUNSEL SUBMITTED
As the hearing began, the counsel for Akshay Shindes father said, I am seeking to initiate an investigation of the murder committed of the petitioners son, and the registration of the FIR against police officers.
The investigation should also be done on the preservation of CCTV footage from Taloja Bridge and shops from where the alleged police officer picked up the deceased, the counsel said.
The counsel also submitted that Shinde met his parents a day before his death, and was not in a mental state for performing any of the acts alleged by the police. He had sought details as to his bail on the visit and had even received money for essentials, the counsel stated.
Akshays father met him just a few hours before the fake encounter, his demeanour did not indicate that he was planning to flee. He had asked his parents for Rs 500 so that he could avail the canteen facility and eat whatever he needed.
Akshay has been murdered in view of the upcoming elections, the counsel argued.
Akshay Shindes mother Alka and his father were present in the courtroom at the time of the hearing.
His fathers counsel further submitted, As per the settled principle of law, in the case of an investigation with respect to a fake encounter, it has been mandated that whenever a person is dead in a fake encounter, an FIR has to be filed. The deceaseds father has approached the high court only because the Judicial First Class Magistrate (JFMC) cannot order a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
In the present case, the police are deciding who is convicted. The rule of law must prevail. This is setting a bad example, encouraging the police to commit such acts, the counsel said.
Referring to social media posts wherein the incident was lauded by political party leaders, the counsel said, The Home Minister is doing justice. But, whoever is doing the investigation, monitoring should be done by the court.
Akshay Shinde was accused of sexually abusing two minor girls at a school in Maharashtras Badlapur. He died on Monday in retaliatory firing by police after he snatched a cops gun and opened fire. The incident happened while Shinde, who worked as a sweeper at the school, was being taken to Badlapur from Taloja jail for investigations in the case.
Gunshots were heard in the vicinity as the police vehicle approached the Mumbra bypass. Shinde was admitted to a hospital in Thanes Kalwa, where he succumbed to his injuries. An assistant police inspector, who was injured in the firing by Shinde, is undergoing treatment at the hospital.
THE COURTROOM EXCHANGE
As Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar submitted details about the case registered against Akshay Shinde under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the timeline of events, the court asked if the incident happened in a residential area. The bench also asked if there was a hospital in the vicinity.
Kalwa Shivaji hospital was the closest, Venegaonkar responded, adding, Inquest was carried out by the judicial magistrate. The first ADR was at 4.56 am on September 24 and the FIR was registered at 5.40 am against the deceased.
On being asked about the reason for death, Venegaonkar said, Bullet wound on the left thigh.
After the submissions, Justice Chavan asked, When the pistol was in the holster, whether the deceased took the pistol loaded it and fired, to which, Venegaonkar responded by saying, He was in civil dress, hanging on his left side. He was sitting in the vehicle. There were two ways of locking the pistol. One way is pulling the upper portion, the deceased pulled the slider, it popped and he fired.
Justice Chavan said, It is hard to believe. It requires strength for the slider to pop. A layman cannot fire a pistol unless he is trained. A revolver is different. He cannot put the slider back. There is a string attached to the pistol to prevent it from getting stolen. Have you ever used a pistol? I have used it 100 times so I know this.
This cant be termed as an encounter. This is not an encounter.
According to you, he fired three bullets, but only one hit the police officer. What about the other? Whether there was a ricochet injury or was it a direct fire?
Venegaonkar submitted that it was a direct injury, to which, the court pointed out that normally the accused should be shot below the knee.
He did not have time to think. He was sitting right in front, Venegaonkar said.
How could we believe that the police, who were trained in firing, couldnt overpower the accused, the court remarked.
As the counsel for Akshay Shindes father argued that he was killed to save the real culprits in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) case, the court said, Sealing of the crime scene is very essential. To avoid any tampering, fingerprints also must be taken of all those who were present in the van. All data of the five persons in the van, including their call records for September 23 and 24 should also be collected.
The court also said an FIR must be registered against the police officers.
The prime suspect, believed by Bengaluru Police to have killed Mahalakshmi and chopped her body into 59 pieces, has allegedly died by suicide in Odisha. He reportedly hung himself from a tree.
The body of 30-year-old Mukti Ranjan Ray, who was allegedly on the run, was found in a village under the jurisdiction of the Dhusuri Police Station in Bhadrak district, Odisha. Local police had informed Bengaluru police personnel, who were searching for the suspect in the area.
According to preliminary information, Ray visited his village on Tuesday and left thereafter. Later, his body was found on the outskirts of the village.
The family has identified the body, which has been sent for a post-mortem examination. Further investigations are pending to determine the details of the case.
Suicide Note Recovered
The police on Wednesday also recovered a diary, believed to be belonging to the deceased man Mukti Ranjan Ray, in which he confessed to killing the woman whose dismembered body was found in the fridge of her house in the southern metropolis, news agency PTI reported.
The Odisha Police have already registered an unnatural death case. Based on the suicide note, the Bengaluru police have confirmed he is the accused in the gruesome murder case, Kumar told the publication.
Earlier today, News18 reported that Bengaluru Police had identified Ray as the main suspect in the brutal killing of 29-year-old Mahalakshmi, who worked as a saleswoman.
According to a police source, Ray and Mahalakshmi were colleagues, and he had expressed discontent about her relationship with another man. However, the source did not disclose the identity of this individual.
Mahalakshmi last reported to work on September 1. Her family stated that her mobile phone had been turned off since September 2. Her maggot-infested body, chopped into several pieces and stuffed into the fridge, was found by her mother and elder sister at her Vyalikaval home on September 21.
Post-mortem report confirmed that Mahalakshmis body was chopped into 59 pieces. Samples of her intestine had been sent for a toxicology study to establish if she was poisoned before her death. Forensic teams were also examining the fingerprints found on the refrigerator.
Mahalakshmi had separated from her husband , Hemanth Das, and had been living apart for the past nine months. They shared a four-year-old daughter.
Her estranged husband had told the police that she was involved in an illicit relationship with another man.
(With inputs from agencies)
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The Bengaluru Police have zeroed in on one of Mahalakshmis colleagues as the main suspect in her alleged murder, a crime that has sent shock waves through the country, according to sources. Police sources said on Wednesday the man, who they identified as one Mukti, and Mahalakshmi were colleagues.
The sources added that Mukti had expressed his opposition to Mahalakshmis closeness with another man. Police sources did not reveal who this person was.
Earlier this week, Mahalakshmis estranged husband said he suspected the role of Ashraf, who he had identified as her lover.
The maggot-infested body parts of Mahalakshmi, a 29-year-old saleswoman, were found dumped in the refrigerator at her one-bedroom apartment in Bengalurus Malleshwaram on September 21. According to police sources, it was chopped into over 50 pieces.
Police sources said Muktis phone was switched off and efforts were on to trace him near the Odisha-West Bengal border. The last name of Mukti was not revealed by the police sources.
During a press briefing on September 23, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said the main suspect in the case hailed from Odisha but had been living in Bengaluru. The police said they were yet to arrest him and suspected he was presently living in West Bengal.
Reports suggest Mahalakshmi last reported to work on September 1. Her family members said her mobile phone had been switched off from September 2. The body was discovered by her mother and elder sister at Mahalakshmis home on September 21.
MAHALAKSHMIs POST-MORTEM REPORT
Meanwhile, Mahalakshmis post-mortem report confirmed that her body was chopped into 59 pieces.
Samples of her intestine had been sent for a toxicology study to establish if she was poisoned before her death.
The forensics were also examining the fingerprints found on the refrigerator.
WHAT MAHALAKSHMIs FAMILY SAID
Meanwhile, Mahalakshmis mother said she saw her last on Rakshabandhan festival.
The owner of the building informed me that there was a foul smell coming from the house. When I came and opened the door I saw the body of Mahalakshmi cut into pieces. I saw her for the last time at the Rakshabandhan festival. Since then her phone has been switched off, Mahalakshmis mother Meena Rana told reporters.
Seeking stringent punishment for the accused, the victims elder sister said, Who cuts a woman into pieces like this? I saw her a year ago. Now I saw her in pieces.
Also speaking to reporters, Mahalakshmis estranged husband, Hemanth, alleged the victim was staying with one Ashraf, who originally hailed from Uttarakhand.
I have filed a complaint against Ashraf. Ashraf hails from Uttarakhand and had an extra-marital affair with Mahalakshmi, Hemanth said, adding he was sure of their illicit relationship.
Hemanth also said his estranged wife had not told him anything about Ashraf. However, she was in constant touch with her, he said. He came to know of the affair in April or May 2023, Hemanth told reporters.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) held a series of crucial and high-level meetings with at least 19 state and central agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED), as part of its two-day visit to Jharkhand. The agencies included the Income Tax (IT) department and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), among others.
Significantly, the ED is currently investigating a case of alleged infiltration by Bangladeshis and subsequent trafficking of women while generating slush funds out of it. The full bench was in the state to assess the ground situation ahead of the upcoming elections and engage with key stakeholders, signalling the high-stakes nature of the poll preparations.
Agencies such as the ED, which plays a pivotal role in tracking financial irregularities, were involved to ensure a smooth and fair electoral process, especially in a state known for its history of corruption allegations, said a senior central government officer. The discussions revolved around critical aspects such as law enforcement, voter security, and curbing the influence of black money and illegal resources in campaigning, the officer added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Jamshedpur last week, accused the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party of appeasing infiltrators. While addressing an election rally in the area, he said that the demography of Santhal Pargana has changed due to the unchecked infiltration.
The ECIs interactions with local administration, law enforcement bodies and political representatives aimed to create a detailed roadmap for conducting transparent and peaceful elections. Given Jharkhands socio-political complexities, this visit and the involvement of multiple agencies signal the high stakes for all parties involved in the electoral process.
Raising concern over the submission of nearly 1.25 crore feedback to the Joint Parliamentary Committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the BJP on Wednesday called for a Ministry of Home Affairs-led probe into the sources of the submissions, citing possible intervention of external forces.
The probe must cover the possibility of roles of fundamentalist organisations, individuals like Zakir Naik, and foreign powers like the ISI and China, as well as their proxies, wrote BJP MP Nishikant Dubey in the letter directed to JPC chairperson Jagdambika Pal.
He added that the probe is critical to preserving the fairness, integrity, and independence of the Waqf Bill deliberations.
Dubey, a senior member of the committee on Waqf, raised concern over the geographical origin of the feedback submissions and said that it is statistically improbable that such an overwhelming response could emerge organically from within India alone.
Terming the enormity of feedback as unprecedented, Dubey said, This volume not only sets a global record for legislative submissions but also invites scrutiny over the motivations and sources behind these communications.
He signalled the involvement of foreign entities, organisations, or individuals that may have deliberately orchestrated such a flood of responses to manipulate the democratic process. We cannot allow external actors to flood our legislative committees with potentially agenda-driven input without carefully scrutinizing the origins of such submissions, he said.
Reacting to the BJPs demand for a probe, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi asked the party to furnish evidence that proves Zakir Naik, ISI and Chinas involvement in Waqf. If China is involved in this, can China register in India? Do you people have any proof that ISI, China and Zakir Naik are involved in Waqf, Owaisi said.
JPC Scrutinising Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024
The Centre constituted a 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to explore the possible changes in the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. The formation of the committee which comprises 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha was announced by by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on August 9, 2024.
Considering the wider implications of the proposed Bill, the Parliamentary Committee-led by Jagdambika Pal decided to invite views and suggestions from the general public as well as NGOs, experts, stakeholders and institutions.
Reacting to the massive feedback submission on Waqf, Rijiju had said, No one ever thought a JPC would receive recommendations in crores. Even if 1,000 recommendations or representations were made, we used to consider it a big number.
Is it a festival of democracy or festival to launder money, questioned an anguished Delhi High Court (HC) over the large-scale defacement and expenditure during the elections of the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections.
A bench headed by Chief Justice-designate Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela noted that it was high time that the Delhi University Vice Chancellor stepped in. Do you have any idea how much money is being spent? It is time that the Vice-Chancellor saw itIf they have to annul, they can annul the polls, said the bench on Wednesday.
The bench also warned that varsity and said, Either you defer the elections till it gets cleaned up or you remove their candidature and ask for new nominations.
The harsh comments and concern from the court came after Advocate Prashant Manchanda, the petitioner, brought attention to the rampant defacement of public and metro properties, particularly by candidates contesting the DUSU elections, set for September 26.
The defacement includes damage to bus stands, walls of police stations, university walls, and other public areas, he apprised the court.
Advocate Manchanda highlighted the violation of a previous Delhi High Court judgment in Prashant Manchanda vs. UOI (W.P.(C) 7824 and 8251 of 2017), where the court had framed guidelines to address such defacement issues.
The High Court will continue the hearing on Thursday.
A special court in Kolkata on Wednesday denied bail to former RG Kar principal Dr Sandip Ghosh and suspended police officer Abhijit Mondal the two accused in connection with the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the medical facility. The court observed the charges against the two accused are such that during trial, they might be considered rarest of rare and this can lead to capital punishment.
On the other hand the nature and gravity of the accusation is grave and if proved there might be a capital punishment, which is only given in the rarest of rare case and in that situation this Court is of the opinion that, it would be injustice flouting the principle of equity, to release the accused on bail, it said in its order.
The court said the social status of the accused one being a doctor and the other a cop cannot be overlooked. so the position of the accused regarding the social status is not at all a matter to overlook, it said. It also rejected the plea of the accused to have in-camera proceedings while allowing a narco-analysis test on them but only with their consent.
Records altered, falsely created in the case: CBI
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) deposed before the court that it suspects records have been altered or falsely created in the case, and these have been sent for forensic examination.
There might be involvement of Sandip Ghosh and Tala thana (police station) officer in charge (Abhijit Mondal) in this case, it told the court, adding that CCTV footage from the police station has produced additional evidence that Mondal can be confronted with.
The CBI, which interrogated Mondal and Ghosh in its custody, produced the accused after the completion of their remand. The special court has sent them to judicial custody till September 30.
Mondal was arrested on September 14 while Ghosh, who was already in judicial custody in a separate corruption case, was taken into custody on September 15 after the orders of the court. The CBI had arrested prime suspect Sanjay Roy on August 10, a day after the victims body was found inside a seminar hall, after his role in the commission of crime had already emerged.
It has alleged that an unnecessary delay of two days was caused in the seizure of his clothes and belongings that could have resulted in strong evidence against him. It is now probing criminal conspiracy, if any, between Roy, Ghosh and Mondal.
(With PTI inputs)
The Allahabad High Court had an unusual comment reserved for an elderly couple fighting a legal battle over maintenance for six years now. Observing that this was a matter of concern, the court said it seemed that kalyug (the age of downfall as per Hinduism) has arrived.
The comments were made as Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery was hearing the petition of Aligarh resident Munish Kumar Gupta (80) against a family court order in favour of his wife, 76-year-old Gayatri Devi.
Gayatri Devi had demanded maintenance from Gupta, who had retired as a supervisor from the health department, and the family court had ruled in her favour. The man challenged the order and, while issuing a notice to the woman, the court said it was hopeful of an agreement between the couple by the next hearing. Justice Shamshery even tried to advise the two.
On February 16, a family court given its verdict in the maintenance battle, stemming from a property dispute involving the couples sons in 2018. Judge Jyoti Singh had ordered that the husband should give Rs 5,000 per month as alimony.
Gupta had a fight with his wife over property and the matter reached the police as well. The couple was sent to a family counselling centre, but in vain. Following this, the two started living separately.
Then, Gayatri filed a petition before a family court in 2018, demanding Rs 15,000 per month as alimony. She said her husband received a pension of Rs 35,000 and, in such a situation, she should at least get Rs 15,000 for her livelihood. But, the court in its order asked the man to pay only Rs 5,000 per month as alimony.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. The agreement between Azerbaijan and the Slovak Republic on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of income tax evasion will enter into force on January 1, 2025, Azerbaijani Deputy Economy Minister Anar Akhundov said at the Azerbaijan-Slovak business forum held in Baku, Trend reports.
This agreement will contribute to further improvement of business environment between the countries, he said.
The Deputy Minister emphasized that the first meeting of the Joint Working Group on Economic Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Slovakia is being held today.
We agreed to intensify our efforts in various fields to raise economic cooperation to a new level because we have all the necessary conditions for this, Akhundov added.
Days after the death of a Pune employee due to work pressure caught the attention of the government, a Lucknow woman, working with HDFC Bank, fell off her chair in the office and died. Her colleagues told Dainik Bhaskar that she was under work pressure.
The incident happened on Tuesday and the woman was identified as 45-year-old Sadaf Fatima. She was posted as Additional Deputy Vice-President at HDFC Banks Vibuti Khand branch in Gomtinagar, a report with the publication stated.
On September 24, Sadaf fell off her chair while working in the office. She was rushed to a hospital, where she was declared dead, it said.
Commenting on the womans death, Vibhutikhand ACP Radharaman Singh told news agency ANI that Sadaf Fatima died under suspicious circumstances while working.
The Panchnama of her body has been filled, and it has been sent for postmortem. The cause of death will be clear after the postmortem, he said.
AKHILESH YADAV TRAINS GUNS ON BJP
In an X post, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav termed the incident worrying and said it was a symbol of the current economic pressure in the country.
All companies and government departments will have to think seriously in this regard. This is an irreparable loss of the countrys human resources. Such sudden deaths bring the working conditions under question. The real measure of the progress of any country is not the increase in the figures of services or products but how mentally free, healthy and happy a person is, a rough translation of Akhilesh Yadavs post in Hindi suggested.
The Samajwadi Party chief also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and alleged the economic policies of the country had failed.
Due to the failed economic policies of the BJP government, the business of companies has reduced so much that to save their business, they make fewer people do many times more work. The BJP government is as much responsible for such sudden deaths as the statements of BJP leaders that mentally demoralize the public, he tweeted.
To overcome this problem, companies and government departments should make active and meaningful efforts for immediate improvement, his post read.
PUNE WOMAN DIED OF WORK PRESSURE
In July this year, a woman chartered accountant, identified as 26-year-old Anna Sebastian Perayil, died due to work stress, merely four months into joining Ernst & Young (EY), a firm in Pune.
Following her death, Sebastians mother, in September, wrote to EY India chairman, Rajiv Memani, alleging that the workload and extended working hours took a toll on her daughter. The firm, however, denied the allegations.
In response, the firm said that Anna Sebastian Perayil was part of the Audit team at SR 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.
Later, Union Minister for Labour Mansukh Mandaviya said Perayils case is being probed.
In the latest development, an official told news agency PTI that the Pune firm has been functioning since 2007 without a license under the Shops Act, which stipulates employees welfare among other conditions.
Maharashtra is set to witness heavy rains with Pune and Raigad on red alert and Mumbai, Thane and Nashik on orange alert for the next 24 hours, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.
Mumbai and its suburbs are gearing up for another day of relentless rain as the IMD has issued an orange alert for the city today. Forecasters have predicted heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in some parts, accompanied by thunder and lightning. This weather event follows a series of continuous downpours that caused waterlogging and disrupted daily life in the metropolitan area.
The possibility of gusty winds and flash floods has added to the concern. Alongside Mumbai, Thane is also under a weather alert, with predictions of very heavy rainfall in certain areas and strong winds that could further complicate local conditions.
Red Alert in Raigad, Pune
Meanwhile, Raigad district is facing a more severe threat, as the IMD has placed it under a red alert. This means that the region is likely to experience extremely heavy downpour, potentially leading to flooding, landslides, and significant disruptions. Authorities have advised residents to stay alert and avoid unnecessary travel. Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, and Palghar districts, all situated along Maharashtras coast, are also under orange alerts, indicating the high possibility of hazardous weather.
The city of Pune, often known for its moderate climate, is now on red alert due to the forecast of extremely heavy rainfall over the next 24 hours. Intense rains are expected, particularly in the mountainous regions surrounding the city. This heightened rainfall could lead to increased water levels in rivers and reservoirs, raising concerns about possible flooding. The alert is a response to the weather departments predictions of continuous downpour in the region.
Pune and its neighbouring areas, including Pimpri-Chinchwad, are likely to experience heavy rainfall for the next two to three days, according to the IMD. The Maharashtra Information and Public Relations Department has issued a red alert for the district, advising residents to be cautious, especially in the hilly ghat areas where landslides and road blockages are a concern.
On Monday evening, Pune experienced thunderstorms, with lightning strikes and gusty winds, signaling the arrival of more intense weather. This comes after days of high humidity and oppressive heat, as residents prepare for the rainy days ahead.
In addition to Pune, Nashik and Ahmednagar districts have been placed under orange alert, with warnings of heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated areas. These forecasts are critical as these regions are already vulnerable to waterlogging and flash floods.
Widespread Rain Till September 26
Maharashtra is expected to experience widespread rainfall until September 26, with the IMD predicting continuous downpour in several parts of the state. Central Maharashtra, in particular, is likely to see extremely heavy rains today, raising concerns for residents and local authorities.
Meanwhile, Marathwada and Vidarbha regions are also expected to experience varying levels of rainfall. Marathwada is likely to see sporadic but heavy showers, while Vidarbha could witness heavy to extremely heavy rains in isolated parts. The consistent rainfall is a result of the active monsoon, which has started withdrawing from parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan but remains potent over Maharashtra.
As heavy rains lashed Mumbai and its suburbs on Wednesday afternoon, Maharashtra Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar announced that all educational institutions in the city will remain closed on Thursday to prioritise the safety of students.
The announcement comes after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Mumbai and its neighboring districts, predicting extremely heavy rainfall until 8:30 AM on Thursday.
The city continues to experience heavy rainfall, which has already resulted in waterlogging, traffic jams, and other disruptions. In response, local authorities are taking additional precautions to minimise risks to residents, particularly students and commuters.
Mumbai has a long history of monsoon challenges, including severe flooding and disruption to essential services during heavy rains.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued advisories urging citizens to remain indoors and only venture out if necessary.
Public transport, however, has not been immune to the effects of the heavy rains, with widespread delays and disruptions being reported, especially on the central railway lines.
Mumbais local train network, often described as the lifeline of the city, has been severely impacted by the heavy rains. Services on the Central Railway line, one of the busiest in Mumbai, have faced significant delays due to waterlogging on the tracks at key junctions like Sion, Kurla, and Dadar.
Commuters have reported delays of up to 30-45 minutes, with some services being cancelled altogether during peak hours. In addition, several local trains have been operating at reduced speed, further affecting the daily commute for thousands of passengers.
The heavy downpour has caused water to accumulate on the tracks, particularly in low-lying areas, forcing the railways to take safety measures. Some trains have been diverted to other lines, while others have been suspended temporarily to prevent accidents. Railway officials are closely monitoring the situation, and additional personnel have been deployed to manage the flow of passengers and clear the water from the tracks.
Many daily commuters have been left stranded at stations, waiting for trains that are either delayed or cancelled. The situation has created long queues and overcrowded platforms at major stations like Thane, Ghatkopar, and CST. Passengers have been advised to check for real-time updates on train schedules and consider alternate modes of transport where possible.
Considering the red alert and continuous rains, the BMC has urged the public to avoid unnecessary travel. The civic body has intensified its efforts to address waterlogging and has stationed emergency teams in flood-prone areas across the city. With local train services facing disruptions, the BMC is working in coordination with railway authorities to ensure safety for all commuters.
As the red alert remains in place till Thursday morning, Mumbais residents are preparing for further disruptions. Citizens are advised to stay updated with the latest weather and transport advisories, and only travel if necessary.
Heavy rain lashed Mumbai and surrounding areas on Wednesday following which the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for the city and its neighbouring districts until Thursday. The weather department has also issued a red alert for Palghar and Nashik and an orange alert for Thane, Raigad, and Pune for Thursday.
In light of the heavy rain, all schools and colleges in Mumbai were declared closed on Thursday, 26 September 2024, for the safety of students.
VIDEO | Rainfall triggers waterlogging in various parts of Mumbai. Visuals from Chembur Ghatla.(Full video available on PTI Videos https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/ENemUJt1NX Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 25, 2024
However, the city did not witness heavy rain post midnight on Thursday.
According to data from the citys civic bodys automatic weather stations, Mumbai recorded over 200 mm within five hours on Wednesday evening.
Between 5 pm and 10 pm, Powai received 234 mm of rain, while Mankhurd received 276 mm of rain. Ghatkopar recorded 259 mm, and Vikhroli experienced 186 mm of rainfall during the same period.
#WATCH | Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra: Heavy rain causes water logging in several parts of the city.(Visuals from Belapur) pic.twitter.com/OZpuMnPFGI ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2024
Officials said 14 flights were diverted until 10 pm and seven flights had to make a go-around at Mumbai airport due to inclement weather. Air Vistara on social media said its flight UK941 from Delhi to Mumbai (DEL-BOM) had been diverted to Hyderabad (HYD) due to bad weather at Mumbai airport. It said its flight UK534 from Hyderabad to Mumbai (HYD-BOM) was returning to Hyderabad (HYD) due to bad weather at Mumbai airport.
Traffic on roads also crawled while local trains ran behind schedule.
Several suburbs of Mumbai have been receiving significant rain from Wednesday afternoon, with Mulund and its surroundings experiencing the heaviest rainfall, inundating low-lying areas.
Visuals shared by news agency PTI showed waterlogging in parts of Chembur Ghatla. News agency ANI also shared visuals of vehicles and people wading through a waterlogged Belapur in Navi Mumbai.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) requested citizens to avoid venturing outside unnecessarily and urged them to dial 1916 helpline in case of emergencies.
Heavy showers also disrupted local train services as waterlogging was reported between Vidyavihar and Mulund stations, as per the Mumbai Railways Central Division, impacting up and down slow train services from a little past 8pm (2010 hrs).
Bhandup Nahur Down line restored with restricted speed (21:12 hrs) https://t.co/SV44UREwIw DRM Mumbai CR (@drmmumbaicr) September 25, 2024
The Bhandup-Nahur Down line was later restored.
IMD scientist Sushma Nair told PTI a trough runs from north Konkan to south Bangladesh across a cyclonic circulation over south Chhattisgarh and its neighbourhood extending to the middle tropospheric level tilting southwards with height.
This will lead to fairly widespread to widespread light/moderate rainfall is very likely over Konkan and Goa during the week, she said.
Isolated heavy rainfall is very likely over Konkan and Goa and central Maharashtra until September 27.
Four Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) companies have reached Manipur and are deployed deep inside Kuki areas such as Kangpokpi, Motbung, Dolaithabi, Geljang, replacing 22 Assam Rifles, according to top intelligence sources. Meanwhile, the Central government is upset with the state for issuing an intelligence alert on 900 Kuki militants, without verifying and creating an atmosphere of panic, said sources.
According to top sources in CRPF, their focus will be the camps of the Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) and Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) situated at T Gamnon.
Earlier, top CRPF officials had reached Imphal to coordinate this movement of CRPF inside these areas
The state alert had mentioned that over 900 Kuki militants, newly trained in the use of drone-based bombs, projectiles, missiles, and jungle warfare, have entered Manipur from Myanmar. It had stated that these militants are reportedly grouped in units of 30 members each, scattered across the periphery, and are expected to launch multiple coordinated attacks on Meitei villages around September 28.
The input was alarming and gave precise details of the training module of the militants and even the precise date of attacks, including the number of teams. According to top sources in intelligence and army, no such infiltration has happened and nothing is available to their knowledge.
The Centre wants peace and the focus is on settling the dispute between the communities, said sources. The timing of this input is also seen as an attempt to derail the peace process as Home Minister has announced the beginning of peace process and started the fencing of India Myanmar border, they said.
Earlier Security Advisor Kuldeep Singh had, in a press conference, said, We are checking the credentials of this input and need corroborative ground evidence.
Since May 2023, Manipur has been embroiled in violence between the majority Meitei and minority Kuki communities, driven by disputes over economic benefits and quotas. Manipur remains divided into two ethnic enclaves a Meitei-controlled valley and Kuki-dominated hills separated by a no-mans land monitored by federal paramilitary forces. Despite efforts to quell the unrest, sporadic clashes persist, with the latest violence resulting in 11 deaths earlier this month. Since May of last year, the conflict has resulted in at least 237 deaths and displaced over 60,000 people in Manipur, which is home to 3.2 million people.
Top pharmaceutical companies have indicated that spurious drugs are to blame after antacid Pan D, calcium supplement Shelcal, anti-diabetic drug Glimepiride, high blood pressure drug Telmisartan and many more biggest-selling medicines were flagged for failing quality tests in the latest monthly drug alert issued by the countrys drug regulatory agency.
According to the Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) alert for August, released by the countrys drug regulation watchdog Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO), more than 50 drugs have been declared NSQ or substandard. NSQ alerts are the results of random sampling done by state drug officers on a monthly basis.
The list holds importance due to the failure of critical, essential medicines manufactured by several top pharma firms, including Hetero Drugs, Alkem Laboratories, Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL) and Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd. The companies, however, have indicated that the flagged batches are spurious and not manufactured by them.
Popular drugs failing quality tests
Multiple batches of the well-known hypertension drug Telmisartan have failed quality tests. These drugs were manufactured by Haridwar-based drugmaker Life Max Cancer Laboratories.
A popular drug to treat stomach infections, Metronidazole, manufactured by PSU Hindustan Antibiotic Limited (HAL), is part of the drugs failing tests. Similarly, Shelcal, sold by Torrent Pharmaceuticals and manufactured by Uttarakhand-based Pure & Cure Healthcare, failed the test.
Pharma firm Alkem Health Sciences antibiotic drugs Clavam 625 and Pan D have been found spurious by a drug-testing laboratory in Kolkata. The same lab found Hyderabad-based Heteros Cepodem XP 50 Dry Suspension of spurious quality. The drug is prescribed to children to treat severe bacterial infections of the throat, lungs, urinary tract or more. Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltds paracetamol tablets have also been flagged.
Drugs spurious, not made by us: Top drug makers to govt
The second part of the NSQ alert list released by the drug regulator lists five drugs manufactured by the countrys top drug makers, including three drugs by Sun Pharmaceuticals, one by Glenmark and the other one by Macleods Pharma. This month, CDSCO has posted two different lists one with products of big pharma companies and their replies and the other a regular list.
Drugs manufactured by Sun Pharma include acid reflux drug Pantocid, erectile dysfunction drug Pulmosil and gallstone dissolving drug Ursocol 300. Other medicines are Glenmarks Telma H, a popular hypertension drug, and Macleods Pharmas arthritis drug Defcort 6.
However, speaking to News18, a spokesperson for Alkem said the company gives utmost importance to quality. The products mentioned seem to be spurious and not manufactured by Alkem. The company is engaging with the authorities on this matter.
A Sun Pharma spokesperson raised the same issue. We have investigated the matter and found that Pulmosil (Sildenafil Injection), batch no KFA0300; Pantocid (Pantoprazole Tablets IP), batch no SID2041A, and Ursocol 300 (Ursodeoxycholic Acid Tablets IP), batch no GTE1350A are spurious. The said batches tested by the regulatory authority are not manufactured by Sun Pharma.
On the failure of paracetamol, Karnataka Antibiotics said, We are investigating the matter at our end. Our control samples are complying with all the parameters. However, a possible root cause might be poor storage conditions at the customer level, which is being looked into.
According to a press note issued by Torrent Pharmaceuticals, the samples of Shelcal 500 seized by CDSCO are not manufactured by the firm and are non-genuine and spurious.
It clarified that To verify the genuineness of the sample collected by CDSCO, a comparative evaluation was carried out with our controlled sample of the same batch. The outcome of the analysis concluded that the sample seized by CDSCO is not manufactured by Torrent and is in fact non-genuine and spurious.
The company said that each and every batch manufactured is also subjected to strict quality testing and the firm had already submitted a formal response along with an assessment report concluding the seized sample as spurious to CDSCO.
The responses indicate that the companies have denied any responsibility for the manufacture of these drugs, maintaining that they are spurious.
The actual manufacturer (as per label claim) has informed that the impugned batch of the product has not been manufactured by them and that it is a spurious drug. The product is purported to be spurious, however, the same is subjected to outcome of investigation, said the alert in the column stating the response of the drug makers.
The list released in July had also flagged popular brands. The trend is concerning and is viewed as a significant risk by health experts for both doctors and patients alike.
According to Dr Sumit Ray, medical director at Holy Family Hospital, it is not good news for doctors, patients, and the country as a whole.
Patients do not recover in time and thus have to be given longer therapies or added doses of medications to manage their illnesses. Along with that, the increased cost of medications and repeated visits to doctors due to inadequate response is a financial burden.
Also, poor-quality antibiotics lead to a further increase in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), which is already a huge burden in India.
Apart from hurting at the domestic level, the trend will further tarnish the reputation of India in the global arena. Since October 2022, India has faced several allegations of exporting low-quality, contaminated medicines to The Gambia, Uzbekistan, the United States, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Sri Lanka. These accusations cast a negative light on Indias drug regulatory agency CDSCO, significantly impacting the reputation of India as the global pharmaceutical hub.
Moments after voting in the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections on Wednesday, National Conference vice president and party candidate from Ganderbal and Budgam Omar Abdullah advised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to focus his partys campaign in Jammu instead of the Kashmir region.
Both the National Conference and the Congress are sharing a pre-poll alliance in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, with NC contesting 51 seats and Congress 32. The Congress-NC seat-sharing decision was announced after months of hectic negotiations.
Abdullah said that the role of the Congress party is least important in Kashmir, but significant in Jammu. The party, however, has put minimal efforts into campaigning in the Jammu region and failed to meet the alliance expectations, he added.
I hope after Rahul is done campaigning in one or two seats in Kashmir, he focuses on Jammu. Ultimately what the Congress does in Kashmir is not important. What the Congress does in Jammu is important. Unfortunately, Congress hasnt done as much in the plains of Jammu as we would expect them to do, said Abdullah after he voted in the second phase of elections.
A possible chink in the NC-Congress alliance comes even as polling for the second phase of the J-K election is underway.
Congress Campaign In Jammu Yet To Begin: Abdullah
He added that most of the seats in the Jammu region were given to the Congress party under the alliance terms. Yet, the Congress campaign in Jammu is yet to begin and there are only five days of campaigning, he said.
He further went on to urge Rahul Gandhi to focus his attention on the Jammu region to bolster NC-Congress alliance prospects in the ongoing assembly polls.
#WATCH | On Congress leader & LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, JKNC vice president & party candidate from Ganderbal and Budgam, Omar Abdullah says, I hope after Rahul is done campaigning in one or two seats in Kashmir, he focuses in Jammu. Ultimately what the Congress does in pic.twitter.com/8bgF1tQCg5 ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2024
The Jammu and Kashmir elections have become a prestige battle for Abdullah, the NC candidate for Ganderbal. The NC leader who is still reeling from the hurt inflicted by the defeat in the recently held Lok Sabha elections is looking to reclaim the family stronghold of Ganderwal.
Abdullah On Foreign Delegates Observing J-K Polls
Abdullah Wednesday lashed out at the Centres move to invite foreign delegates to observe the ongoing assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the polls were an internal matter of India.
I dont know why foreigners should be asked to check elections here. When foreign governments comment, then the government of India says this is an internal matter for India and now suddenly they want foreign observers to come and look at our elections, Abdullah said.
It comes after a delegation of diplomats from various countries arrived at a polling station in the Bemina area of Srinagar to witness the celebration of democracy in Jammu and Kashmir.
#WATCH | J&K Assembly elections | A delegation of diplomats from various countries arrives at a polling station in Bemina area of Srinagar to witness the polling process.26 constituencies across six districts of the UT are voting today. pic.twitter.com/AkmFIWfR9O ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2024
The voting in three-phased Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir commenced on September 18. With the second phase currently underway, the third phase of polling is scheduled for October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8, the Election Commission said.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday reiterated his readiness to face an investigation into the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case, stating he is not afraid of the probe.
Reacting to the special courts order for a Lokayukta police probe against him, the Chief Minister said, Already I have said that I am ready to face an investigation. I am not afraid of a probe. He added, I am ready for a legal fight. I had said this yesterday and I am reiterating it today as well.
Siddaramaiah further said that the matter has been referred to the Mysuru Lokayukta police by the court because the complaint was filed in Mysuru, where MUDA is also located.
Special Court Orders Probe
His comments come after a special courts order on Wednesday initiated a Lokayukta police probe into the MUDA site allotment case.
The order, issued by Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, came a day after the High Court upheld the sanction granted by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to conduct the investigation into allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife, B.M. Parvathi.
The special court, which handles criminal cases involving former and current MPs/MLAs, directed the Lokayukta police in Mysuru to initiate an investigation based on a complaint filed by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna.
The court issued directions to take up investigation under section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) (that gives a magistrate the power to order an investigation into a cognisable offense.) It also directed the police to file the investigation report by December 24.
BJP Intensifies Calls For Siddaramaiahs Resignation
Following the courts order, several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders intensified their demands for Siddaramaiahs resignation on the social media platform X.
The partys IT cell head, Amit Malviya, stated that authorising the Lokayukta to investigate him leaves absolutely no room for him to continue as the Chief Minister.
The conflict of interest is obvious. As CM, he has all the authority to prejudice the inquiry. He must resign, Malviya stated.
After the order of Karnataka High Court and now a Special Court, authorising the Lokayukta to investigate Siddaramaiah and MUDA scam, there is absolutely no room for him to continue as the Chief Minister.The conflict of interest is obvious. As CM, he has all the authority to https://t.co/o5FX9g65kw Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) September 25, 2024
Calling Siddaramaiah a corrupt CM, BJP Karnataka suggested that he face the probe not as the Chief Minister, but as an ordinary citizen.
Hello corrupt CM, you are not saying no to face investigation. But, dont face the investigation as the chief minister of the country, face the investigation as an ordinary Siddaramaiah without power, BJP Karnataka stated.
What Is The MUDA Case?
In the MUDA site allotment case, it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiahs wife in a prime area of Mysuru, which has a higher property value than the location of her land that was acquired by MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 scheme in exchange for 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout.
Under this controversial scheme, MUDA allocated 50 per cent of the developed land to landowners in lieu of undeveloped land acquired for residential layouts. It is alleged that Parvathi did not have legal title over the 3.16 acres of land located at survey number 464 in Kasare village, Kasaba hobli of Mysuru taluk.
(With inputs from PTI)
Donald Trump no longer has the sympathy factor that he had after the assassination attempt on him, and it is now an even fight between Kamala Harris and Trump, with women backing Harris, a top India-US Expert, Dr Mukesh Aghi, has told CNN-News18.
The chances of the Democrats have brightened with Kamala Harris, while Donald Trump had a big lead earlier when Joe Biden was pitted against him, Aghi, president and CEO of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, told CNN-News18 in New York.
He said people were now excited about Harris and women voters were strongly supporting her on the key issue of abortion. Aghi also cited the high amount that Harris was generating as funds out of donations to say it was now an even fight between Trump and her.
There was a sympathy factor for Trump earlier after the assassination attempt but that has now disappeared, Aghi said, referring to the incident in July.
He added that data shows that the elections are very close and certain swing states and districts would make the difference. There are four million young voters who will vote for the first time there are the Swifties (Taylor Swift fans) too. This and the mid-West swing states will decide the polls, Aghi said.
Both Trump & Harris good for India
Aghi, however, said both Trump and Harris would be good for India as India-US relations will continue in a positive direction irrespective of who comes to power.
Trumps approach is transactional while Kamala would have a more structured approach. There are positives and negatives associated with both approaches, Aghi said.
He also said China will never accept India as an equal partner, and India cannot deal with the might of China on its own. India needs a friend to take on China, and that is where the US comes in, Aghi said.
He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to the US was a transformative one and US is committed to making India a manufacturing industrial base. The Biden administration has been committed to drive the process of technology transfer, he added.
Apple today will be manufacturing 25 per cent of iPhone 16 in India the revenue of Apple in India has crossed $5 billion. Three years ago, Apple was not manufacturing anything in India, Aghi said, noting that India will continue to grow at 7-8 per cent every year.
Aghi said PM Modi was also emerging as a peace-maker on the global level. It is an economically rising India asserting itself globally, he said.
World Pharmacist Day is observed on September 25 every year to appreciate and highlight the contributions of pharmacists to global health systems. This day aims to raise awareness about the crucial roles and responsibilities pharmacists fulfil in improving patient health and safety, as well as the overall welfare of society.
World Pharmacist Day History
This date holds significant historical importance, as it marks the anniversary of the formation of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) in 1912. The FIP Council formally recognised World Pharmacist Day in 2009 at a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, to enhance public understanding of pharmacists contributions to global healthcare.
The initiative for World Pharmacist Day arose from a desire to acknowledge the essential roles pharmacists play in improving the quality of patient care and population health.
Happy World Pharmacist Day Wishes
Happy World Pharmacists Day! Thank you for your dedication to promoting the safe and appropriate use of medicines.
To all the dedicated pharmacists out there, you enrich lives and improve healthcare through your knowledge and compassion. Happy World Pharmacists Day!
Happy World Pharmacists Day! Your professionalism and dedication make a difference every day.
It is our honour to pay tribute to the wonders of pharmacy on this great day and to recognise the role the profession plays in overall healthcare. Happy World Pharmacists Day!
Happy Pharmacist Day to all pharmacists thank you for always being there to help us stay healthy and safe!
World Pharmacist Day Quotes
Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy. Napoleon Bonaparte
It is easy to get a thousand prescriptions, but hard to get one single remedy. Chinese Proverb
Today, more than ever, pharmacists are charged with the responsibility to ensure that when a patient uses a medicine, it will not cause harm. Dominique Jordan, FIP President
Poisons and medicine are often the same substance given with different intents. Peter Mere Latham
Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine. Lord Byron.
World Pharmacist Day Significance
RecognitionIt acknowledges that pharmacists are vital in managing medications and providing advice to patients while collaborating with other healthcare practitioners. AwarenessThe day promotes public understanding of pharmacists responsibilities, which include advocating for the rational use of medications. Annual themesEach year features an overarching theme that explores various aspects of pharmacy practice. For instance, the focus for 2023 was Pharmacy: Strengthening Health Systems, which aimed to showcase pharmacists contributions to improving healthcare systems following COVID-19. The theme for World Pharmacist Day 2024 is Pharmacists: Meeting Global Health Needs.
World Pharmacist Day Activities
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azerbaijan sees significant potential for increasing the supply of its products to Slovakia, the Deputy Economy Minister of Azerbaijan Anar Akhundov said at the Azerbaijan-Slovak business forum, Trend reports.
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Slovakia for 8 months of 2024 amounted to $31 million; the main part came from the purchase of products of different purposes from Slovakia. Azerbaijan sees significant potential for increasing the supply of its products to Slovakia, the deputy minister said.
He expressed the opinion that this will be facilitated by new logistical opportunities.
Azerbaijan is favorably located on the way of international transport corridors. In fact, we laid the foundation of the Middle Corridor; we were also the initiators of the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, which is capable of transporting up to 5 million tons of cargo per year from 2024, Akhundov noted.
The Deputy Minister also talked about the investment environment in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan has a very favorable investment environment supported by various tax incentives and government initiatives. These include preferential loans, the expansion of public-private partnerships, and fundamental reforms to the tax system aimed at increasing transparency and improving the tax system. In addition, Azerbaijan's industrial zones offer exemption from various taxes for 10 years, he added.
Alia Bhatt made her mark in Hollywood with her debut in the 2023 film Heart of Stone, all while being pregnant with her daughter, Raha. Despite the challenges of filming an action-packed thriller, Alias trainer recently revealed that she sailed through her pregnancy during the shoot, and even prepped for her intense action scenes remotely.
In an interview with India Today, Anshuka Parwani, Alias fitness trainer, reflected on their unique training experience. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Anshuka was unable to accompany Alia to the set, so they adapted by working out remotely.
Alia Bhatts Trainer Reveals How She Prepared For Heart of Stone Action Scenes During Pregnancy: Sailed Through It Like
This remote training, which Anshuka admitted she wouldnt typically recommend, was made possible by Alias deep awareness of her own body. Many husbands come and thank me for helping their wives deliver healthy babies. I still remember, Alia was shooting for her first international project, Heart of Stone. That role required Alia to do a lot of action sequences, and of course, at that point, I knew she was pregnant with Raha. Alia and I started preparing for that role while she was expecting. In fact, while she was shooting for it, we were working out remotely because, unfortunately, at that time, I did not travel with her. It was Covid-19, so I wouldnt train anybody online without the awareness of their body and yoga, Anshuka shared.
Anshuka credited Alias positive mindset, explaining that Alia understood pregnancy as a natural process and adapted with ease. She added that, with a few modifications, the training felt like a cakewalk, despite the complexity of balancing action scenes and pregnancy. She explained, The fact that Alia was pregnant and had to do action sequencesnobody would be comfortable training her online in such a situation. But because Alia has that kind of awareness, during that stipulated period, we did train remotely. I dont think anybody could even tell that she was pregnant during the shoot of the film or while she was doing those action sequences. Alia sailed through it like a breeze. Her attitude in approaching things was literally everything because she knew it was a natural process, and with some adjustments here and there, it all became a cakewalk. Im not saying its a very simple process, but its the right attitude that eventually matters.
Alia welcomed her daughter Raha on November 6, 2022, and frequently shares precious moments with her on social media. Recently, Alia, along with her husband Ranbir Kapoor, Raha, and mother-in-law Neetu Kapoor, traveled to Paris. Alia also made headlines with her stunning debut at Paris Fashion Week on September 23, 2024.
In terms of her upcoming projects, Alia is preparing for the release of Jigra, an intense action thriller where she plays Satya, a character determined to protect her brother Ankur, portrayed by Vedang Raina. Directed by Vasan Bala, Jigra is set to hit theaters on October 11, with the trailer dropping on September 26.
Following Jigra, Alia will step into the YRF Spy Universe with her next action film, Alpha, further cementing her presence in the action genre. The actress also has Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Love And War in the pipeline alongside Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal.
The song Sara Zamana from the 1981 film Yaarana, starring Amitabh Bachchan, is a memorable classic known for its vibrant energy and catchy tune, sung by the legendary Kishore Kumar. In the latest episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati 16, Amitabh spoke to a contestant Swapn Chaturvedi from Madhya Pradesh and shared some lesser-known stories about one of his most famous performances. He looked back on his iconic song Sara Zamana from the film Yaarana.
One of the standout features of this performance was Amitabhs costume a striking outfit adorned with light bulbs. Interestingly, this bold choice was his idea. He had requested the designer to incorporate bulbs into the costume, wanting it to spark visually. However, Amitabh later said he regretted this decision, revealing that the setup involved live wires connected to plugs. As a result, he felt a shocking jolt while dancing. The moment the electricity flowed, I started dancing not because I wanted to, but because I was getting electric shocks! Amitabh Bachchan said.
The song is particularly famous for its visually striking performance, set in the Netaji Subhash Stadium in Kolkata, which Amitabh suggested as the shooting location. Despite the iconic stadiums capacity of 12,000, an astonishing crowd of over 50,000 fans showed up for the shoot. Later, Amitabh Bachchan came up with a sneaky plan to shoot at night without raising any eyebrows. After a brief stay in Mumbai, they quietly headed back to Kolkata for the shoot, hoping to avoid the crowds. The director had a clever idea: placing candles in the seats to create the illusion of an audience. And just like that, they pulled off the night shoot and filmed the song successfully!
Kaun Banega Crorepati Season 16 premiered on Sony TV on August 12. Hosted by Amitabh Bachchan, the quiz-based reality show airs on Monday to Friday at 9 PM. Besides, it is also available for streaming on Sony LIV.
Veteran actor Feroz Khan was a prominent face in the Hindi film industry. In his career spanning decades, the actor-director-producer treated the audience with several noteworthy films including Jaanbaaz, Dharmatma and Qurbani. On the occasion of Feroz Khans 85th birth anniversary today, September 25, his son-actor Fardeen Khan paid a heartfelt tribute to his father. He re-posted a video on Instagram, featuring some pictures of Feroz Khan, spanning from his younger days to his later years. Along with the post, Fardeen Khan also penned a note for his father asserting that he would continue to live on through his family.
The first few photos in the clip captured Feroz Khan in his childhood days navigating through his teenage and adult years. Some portraits from his time as an actor and from films he was a part of were also featured in the post. Feroz Khan seemed to share a lovely bond with his children as a few clicks presented the Kaala Sona actor sharing warm moments with Fardeen and his sister Laila Khan. As the video progressed, snaps of Fardeen with his wife Natasha Madhvani and kids Diani Isabella and Azarius also made it to the clip, alongside some adorable fam-jam moments of Laila. In one of the frames, Feroz Khan and Fardeen were twinning in monochrome suits, in another they were sharing a laugh. Some vintage photos were seen in the video as well. One heartwarming picture showcased Feroz Khan teaching his son the mechanics of a filming camera when he was just a kid.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Fardeen F Khan (@fardeenfkhan)
15 years without you, and though time has passed, your presence is felt deeply in the lives of those you never had the chance to meet. Your grandchildren, the third generation of Khans, carry pieces of your fearless heart and unmatched spirit. They live with stories of the legend you wereyour grace, your strength, and your timeless charisma. Though fate kept you apart, your essence runs through their veins, a bond unspoken but deeply understood. Taken from us too soon, but through them, your legacy endures in ways words cannot capture. Happy Birthday, pa. You live on through us, always. Laila & Fardeen, read the caption.
Speaking about Fardeen Khan, the actor made a comeback to acting this year with Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Netflix series Heeramandi. The actor was also seen in director Kookie Gulatis action-thriller Visfot and Akshay Kumars comedy-drama Khel Khel Mein.
If theres anyone who knows how to ace versatile off-duty looks, it has to be Kareena Kapoor Khan. The OG fashionista, who is currently in the news for various reasons, delighted our feeds with her casual appearance and we cant keep calm. Earlier this morning, she was spotted outside her father Randhir Kapoors house and now, a video of the same has surfaced on social media.
The clip depicts Kareena Kapoor waiting for her car, holding a bottle in one hand and interacting with someone. Embracing casual charm, she wore an oversized olive green T-shirt paired with relaxed-fit jeans. The actress once again proves that comfort never goes out of style. For a cool appeal, she also wore black statement sunglasses and beige casual shoes, adding definition. The video ends with the actress boarding the vehicle and leaving the spot.
Meanwhile, reports have surfaced suggesting that Kareena Kapoor will be seen in one of the episodes of The Great Indian Kapil Show where she will be joined by sister Karisma Kapoor. The episode that was reportedly shot on Friday, September 20, is worth excitement as the sister duo do not make many joint appearances. A source close to the Netflix show told India Today Digital, They opened up about their bond, growing up together, and further shared some lesser-known insights about each other. They were also seen having a gala time interacting with Kapil and the team.
Another reason why Kareena Kapoor is making headlines is her expected debut in the south industry. A video being widely shared on Reddit showcases the actress indulging in a conversation with her fans online during which she hinted at the upcoming South film. Highlighting that she might be doing a very big South film, Kareena also expressed her excitement in the clip. If rumours are to be believed, the film might not be Toxic, which the actress was earlier expected to have signed.
As for Kareena Kpaoors latest released project, it was The Buckingham Murders, produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor. In the crime thriller, she essayed a grieving British-Indian detective, trying to solve the case of a murdered child in Buckinghamshire. The film is being showered with positive reviews from critics for Kareenas impressive performance and gripping narrative.
Acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee opened up about the limitations he faces in his casting, particularly regarding affluent roles. Despite his versatile acting skills, he noted a persistent trend where directors overlook him for high-society characters. I am never considered for high-society roles, he admitted, reflecting on the typecasting that often restricts actors from exploring diverse personas.
Bajpayee recalled that the only time he portrayed a wealthy character was in Shyam Benegals Zubeidaa (2001). He told Bombay Times, That was Shyam Benegals conviction. He believed that real maharajas were not Greek gods; they looked normal. For the unversed, Hrithik Roshan, who is often hailed as Bollywoods Greek God, was cast as Mughal Emperor Akbar in Jodhaa Akbar.
He also mentioned his brief yet memorable role as a politician in Veer-Zaara (2004), for which he was cast by Yash Chopra after the filmmaker saw his work in Pinjar (2003). These filmmakers had that vision stemming from seeing life up close, Bajpayee remarked, emphasising the need for directors to break free from stereotypes.
Manoj Bajpayee, a National Award-winning actor celebrated for films like Gangs of Wasseypur, Shool, and Satya, has predominantly been associated with middle-class and lower-middle-class narratives. He expressed frustration at the typecasting that confines him, stating, No director could think of me as a rich guy, barring the two stalwarts that I mentioned. This stereotyping exists.
On the professional front, Bajpayee has been incredibly active this year, with three filmsThe Fable, Silence 2, and Bhaiya Jias well as the Netflix series Killer Soup. He is also filming the next season of his successful Prime Video series, The Family Man.
Reflecting on his career choices, he recalled an opportunity with director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who offered him a role in Devdas. Bajpayee turned it down because he aspired to play the lead role instead. The actor told Sushant Sinha on YouTube, Yes, I was offered Jackie Shroffs role in Devdas, but I immediately said no. I told Sanjay, Meri toh hamesha se ichchha thi Devdas karne ki. He has no regrets about his decision, despite the films success, indicating a deep-seated passion for his craft and a desire to take on challenging roles that resonate with his artistic vision.
Pawan Kalyan broke his silence on Karthis apology with regard to the Tirupati Laddu controversy. Earlier in the day, Karthi had apologised for laughing when asked about claims that animal fat was used as an ingredient in the laddus at Tirupatis Sri Venkateswara Temple. Taking to X, Andhra Pradeshs Deputy Chief Minister acknowledged Karthis apology and explained the reason he decided to shed light on his behaviour.
For more updates: Suriya Breaks Silence on Pawan Kalyan-Karthi Resolving Issue Over the Tirupati Laddu Controversy
Yami Gautam is one of the new moms in Bollywood. After having her son, Vedavid, in May, she shared her first picture on Instagram to update her fans. The photo looks like it was taken in her hometown of Himachal Pradesh, where she wore comfy clothes and a colourful shawl. This was the actresss first post-birth photo on social media. In the meantime, she had shared a lovely picture with her husband, Aditya Dhar, from the promotional event for their film Article 370. Along with the photo, she sweetly wished her husband a happy third anniversary.
For more updates: New Mom Yami Gautam Shares Life Updates After Welcoming Son Vedavid: Colourful Burp Cloths, Sunshine
Janhvi Kapoor opened up about her South Indian roots in the trailer of The Great Indian Kapil Show. In the video, the actress revealed her father, producer Boney Kapoor embraced the South Indian culture when he fell in love with Sridevi. For the unversed, Sridevi grew up in Chennai. While her father was reportedly a Tamilian, her mother spoke Telugu.
For more updates: Janhvi Kapoor Says Boney Kapoor Converted To a South Indian: Sridevi Started Fighting Like A
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a name that evokes admiration and reverence in the film industry. The former Miss World and acclaimed actress has made her mark not just through her powerful performances but also through her international collaborations. However, lately, much of the attention surrounding her has stemmed from her personal life, particularly regarding the Bachchan familys dynamics. Recently, a comment made by Navya Nanda on Alia Bhatts Instagram post has reignited discussions about a perceived rift within the family.
For more updates: Aishwarya Rai Fans Call Out Navya Nanda for Ignoring Mami on Alia Bhatts Paris Fashion Week Post
Barun Sobti is awaiting the release of his next web series, Raat Jawaan Hai, which is set for a premiere on SonyLIV on October 11. It touches upon the chaos of parenthood and will see him playing a stay-at-home father. In real life, Barun embraced fatherhood with the birth of his daughter Sifat in 2019. And last year, he again became father to a son named Meer. In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, he opens up on how he made sure that he spent ample time with both of his children upon their birth.
For more updates: Barun Sobti Opens Up on Tough Moments of Parenting: When My Wife Conceived Our Son | Exclusive
Tamil actor Suriya replied to Pawan Kalyans post and acknowledged Karthis apology over the Tirupathi Laddus issue. For the unversed, Kalyan was upset after Karthi laughed over the issue at a recent event. The Ponniyin Selvan star took to X and apologised to him. The Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh accepted his apology and wished him the best for his upcoming release, Meiyazhagan, releasing as Sathyam Sundaram in Telugu. He also tagged Suriya and wished him on the films release.
Suriya reacted to the post shortly after. He thanked the actor-turned-politician for his best wishes. However, he remained tight-lipped about the issue between Karthi and Pawan Kalyan. Thank you for your heartfelt wishes sir! Karthi also replied to Kalyans post, thanking him for his wishes. Thank you for your hearty wishes dear sir! his post read.
Thank you for your heartfelt wishes sir! Suriya Sivakumar (@Suriya_offl) September 24, 2024
Thank you for your hearty wishes dear sir! Karthi (@Karthi_Offl) September 24, 2024
For the unversed, during a promotional event for his upcoming film, Meiyazhagan/Sathyam Sundaram, Karthi was asked to weigh in on the claims that animal fat was used in making the Tirupati laddus. The actor noted it was a sensitive issue and tried to dodge the question. However, in the process, he ended up laughing over the matter.
This did not go down well with Pawan Kalyan. Speaking with the press, he called out Karthi for his behaviour. Following this, Karthi issued a formal apology to him on X.
About Tirupati Laddu Controversy:
A massive row erupted on September 18 after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu claimed that animal fat was used in Tirupati laddus during the previous government when YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was the Chief Minister of the state. In return, Reddys party, YSRCP, accused Naidu of indulging in heinous allegations for political gains.
Andhra Pradesh IT Minister and Chandrababu Naidus son, Nara Lokesh, added that the lab reports clearly established that beef fat, fish oil and lard were used to make laddoos.
On September 22, 2024, a diplomatic convoy en route from Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Islamabad was attacked, resulting in the fatality of a police officer. Media reports revealed that the convoy was carrying diplomatic representatives of 12 countries. They were returning from Swat Valley, where they had participated in a local chamber of commerce meeting, when this attack took place. Although such incidents are commonplace in Pakistan, the specific timing and nature of this attack raise critical questions about both its authenticity, motivations of perpetrators and potential implications. No terrorist group has claimed this attack as of now.
This incident warrants a thorough analysis through two key dimensions. First, the attack unfolds in the backdrop of significant political and security upheaval within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), a region predominantly inhabited by the Pashtun ethnic group. Aside from the continued heavy political repression by the military establishment and its civilian front of the Shehbaz Sharif government, the province has witnessed heightened tensions between the local police force and the Pakistan Army in recent months. These tensions have manifested in an unprecedented public confrontation between the two key components of the states security apparatus.
Notably, in the Lakki Marwat district of the province, hundreds of police officers engaged in a four-day strike to protest the Pakistan Armys persistent interference and encroachment upon their jurisdiction, demanding the removal of militarys footprints from the civilian areas. They further accused the military of fostering terrorism by not only facilitating the growth of extremist elements but also securing their release from police custody through coercive means, and, as such, demanded that the mandate for combating terrorism and extremism should be transferred entirely to the KPK police force.
This bold demonstration of defiance by the police officers in Lakki Marwat galvanised similar protests in neighbouring districts, such as Bannu and Tank, thereby exerting significant pressure on the military establishment. Consequently, the military was compelled to concede to certain police demands, including its partial withdrawal from civilian territories. However, it remains ambiguous whether the Pakistan Army has fully relinquished control over counter-insurgency operations in the region, as the question of who will spearhead these efforts persists amidst mounting calls for enhanced police autonomy from across the province. This strain in the security establishment highlights how the Pakistan Armys commitment to combat terrorism is increasingly being scrutinised for its alleged complicity in perpetuating instability in the first place.
Given the entrenched dominance of the Pakistan Army over the countrys political and security apparatus, it remains highly improbable that the military will readily relinquish its role or concede operational space to local police forces. As such, in the latest Swat Valley attack, the situation is further complicated by the conspicuous denial by major terrorist outfits, such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Islamic State, of their role in the attack. Both of these groups have a history of swiftly owning their role in such attacks. In particular, the TTPwidely known for its penchant for publicly claiming attackshas gone to great lengths to explicitly deny any involvement in this incident. This atypical disavowal raises suspicions regarding the real perpetrators of the attack, leading to the plausible hypothesis that elements within Pakistans military intelligence agencies may have orchestrated the incident as a strategic diversion.
As such, an operation like this would serve to shift attention away from the growing calls for the Pakistan Army withdrawal from civilian areas across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Swat Valley, and for the empowerment of the local police to lead counter-insurgency efforts. Moreover, if the attack had indeed been the work of militant factions, it does not fit into their latest modus operandi of using such occasions to demonstrate their acquired lethality. This argument is further substantiated by reports from the Pakistani media, which indicated that the polices bomb disposal unit had thoroughly sanitised the convoys route, clearing it for movement.
The fact that such precautions were taken, yet the attack still occurred, lends credence to the hypothesis that the operation could involve state actors with knowledge of or access to internal security arrangements. This implicates state-affiliated intelligence agencies who might have orchestrated this act of violence to preserve military dominance over the provinces security landscape.
In the alternative scenario, if this attack was indeed not an inside job of the military intelligence agencies, it represents a massive security breach, underscoring the dysfunction and disarray between federal and provincial authorities. Moreover, it also signifies a colossal failure of Pakistans security establishment to protect both local populations and foreign dignitaries besides highlighting the broader systemic malaise and vulnerabilities within the countrys security framework. As noted by Abdullah Khan, a prominent Pakistani analyst, the fact that the diplomatic convoys route was privy only to the security establishment raises the likelihood of an internal information leak, further exacerbating suspicions of compromised security protocols.
This breach occurs at a particularly sensitive time, as Pakistans government is running around to convince foreign businesses and governments to invest in the country, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on an overseas tour to attend the UN General Assembly and meet various foreign leaders. In this context, the military establishments inability to stabilise the country, despite its dominant role in Pakistans internal security, signals to the international community that the nation remains perilously unsafe for any investments. As this persistent insecurity not only threatens the lives of local citizens but also renders any foreign presence highly vulnerable to violence, it further erodes confidence in Pakistan as a stable destination for international engagement and investment.
In a nutshell, given the unfolding police-Army strain in KPK and heightened political tensions, the role of military intelligence agencies in perpetuating this attack cannot be discounted as it helps suppress the voices seeking its withdrawal and maintain its security grip.
The writer is an author and columnist and has written several books. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday attacked the Congress party highlighting the Karnataka High Courts setback to Siddaramaiah in the MUDA scam and questioned the people of Haryana if the state is ready to give power to such a party (Congress) in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Wherever the Congress government came to power, they did a lot of corruptionCongress is the party that gave birth to and nurtured corruption in Indias government system. Congress is the mother of corruption in India. Congress ka shahiparivar desh ka sabse bhrasht parivar hai. When the high command is corrupt then everyone gets the licence to do corruption and loot, Prime Minister Modi said while addressing a public rally in Sonipat.
Haryana was looted by the Congress government 10 years ago. The lands of farmers were looted. Look at the condition of the Congress in Karnataka. The Karnataka CM is accused in the land scam. Yesterday, the Karnataka High Court said that the investigation orders are correct and investigation should be done. Congress also did a scam in the funds meant for Dalits. There is no party more dishonest than Congress in the entire nation, he added.
As the Assembly elections in Haryana are approaching, Congress is getting weaker. The support for BJP in Haryana is increasing. The entire Haryana is saying phir ek baar BJP sarkar, PM Modi said.
Voting For Congress Means Putting Haryanas Stability At Stake: PM Modi
Launching a blistering attack on the Congress, PM Modi said that if the party comes to power even by mistake, it will destroy the state.Voting for the Congress party means putting Haryanas stability and development at stake, he said while addressing a poll rally in Gohana.
Modi asserted that as the voting day draws near in Haryana, support for the BJP is growing.
Posters, flowers, gulaal, and firecrackers welcomed Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal who reached his Birbhum residence on Tuesday morning after spending two years in Delhis Tihar Jail in connection with several cases.
In his first statement to the media, Mondal, who was arrested in August 2022, said he was unwell but pledged support for Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and expressed the highest regard for the judiciary. Though he met some party workers, Mondal skipped the meeting with prison minister Chandranath Sinha who had come to his residence.
Banerjee, who was in Birbhum, has not yet commented on Mondals release but the political fraternity is keeping a close watch on how Mondal recalibrates his bond with the TMC.
Party leaders such as Firhad Hakim expressed joy at Mondals return, saying: Tiger is back, he was holed up in jail without any reason. We are happy that he is back.
On the other hand, BJPs Dilip Ghosh said the strongman had merely got bail and not been proven innocent. TMC is full of criminals and corrupt people so they are happy with Mondals release.
Mondals return is considered a major boost for the local TMC unit in Birbhum. His bail order copy, which has been accessed by CNN-News18, lists out several reasons that helped Mondal get reprieve.
To begin with, the order cited the delay in trial due to lack of translated documents. The order says a substantial period has lapsed since the disposal of the first bail application and the trial has not proceeded any further due to the absence of English translations of documents that are originally in the Bengali language. No doubt the accused are Bengali and hence they cannot make this a ground to delay the trial. However, Bengali not being the language of this court, the court is unable to proceed with hearing of arguments on the point of charge in the absence of English translation, the order stated.
Many of the statements recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, are also in Bengali. The court noted that since translations had not been provided, there was no progress in the case. The delay in beginning the trial cannot be attributed to the applicant/other accused persons at all.
The court also cited former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodias case to draw a parallel that in Mondals case too, a direct link had not been established so far.
The applicant has been in custody for almost two years. He has been admitted to bail for the predicate offence. So far allegations are concerned, there is material available on record which is sufficient to form a reasonable belief but it is of very weak form as it consists of statements of co-accused persons, call detail records without transcripts and bank details without showing any direct connection with the cash that was allegedly received from the syndicate of cattle smugglers.
Further, some of the cash deposits are of the years prior to the period of conspiracy also, which certainly will have to be explained by the prosecution during the trial. The record of this case is voluminous and trial is likely to take time. Applicant is not required for investigation any more in custody, the order added.
China has a big chance in AI development thanks to its large population, the same language, and a lot of computer infrastructure, said French professor Jean-Gabriel Ganascia, a computer scientist and philosopher at Sorbonne University, in an exclusive interview with China News Network at the Tsinghua Higher Education Forum in Beijing.
Speaking of challenges in China's AI sector, Ganascia pointed out that AI could harm people's independent thinking if people were over-dependent on AI to write.
He called for better governance to "take care of the place of humans in the system" in case AI machines were used to collect and analyze information for bad purposes. (Gong Weiwei)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. A high-level delegation from the Czech Republic will participate in COP29, the Czech Ambassador to Azerbaijan Milan Sedlacek said at an event dedicated to Czech Statehood Day in Baku today, Trend reports.
"Economic exchange between the two countries is growing. Azerbaijan has become the largest supplier of oil to our refineries. Significant trade contracts have also been concluded. Yesterday, I inaugurated a workshop of the Czech Moser company . Additionally, an anthology of Czech stories will be published in the Azerbaijani language," he also said.
The ambassador noted that contacts, meetings, and discussions between high-ranking officials of both states are ongoing. Consultations have been held at the level of deputy foreign ministers, and communication between members of parliament continues.
Data from the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan shows that trade turnover between the two countries in January-August of this year reached $778.759 million (an increase of 32.77 percent). Exports accounted for $740.279 million (a growth of 39.5 percent), while imports amounted to $38.48 million (a decrease of 31.13 percent).
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. The COPthe Conference of the Partiesis the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Germany's Berlin, with its secretariat in Bonn.
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Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had a slip of tongue during his speech at a rally in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday (September 25), where polling for the second phase of the assembly elections is ongoing. Meaning Kashmiri Pandits, he instead said refugees from PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) and, realising his mistake, quickly corrected himself.
Gandhi said the promise made by former prime minister Manmohan Singh to the refugees who have come from PoK will be fulfilled. He then said sorry and changed it to the promise made to Kashmiri Pandits. Those refugees who came from PoK, the promises made to them by Manmohan Singh ji will be fulfilled Sorry Kashmiri Panditspromises made to Kashmiri Pandits will be fulfilled, he said at the public gathering.
But, this did not go unnoticed and gave plenty of ammo to the ruling BJP. Senior party leader Amit Malviya, in a jibe at Gandhi, said overseas Congress leader Sam Pitroda wants everyone to believe he is not Pappu anymore. He said the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha could not distinguish between PoK refugees and Kashmiri Pandits.
Then Sam Pitroda wants us to believe that he isnt Pappu anymore a man who is the Leader of Opposition cant distinguish between refugees from PoK and Kashmiri Pandits. The mess in Kashmir is a legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru. As if that wasnt enough, we now have Rahul Gandhi also, he said in a post on X with a video of the speech.
Then Sam Pitroda wants us to believe that he isnt Pappu anymore a man who is the Leader of Opposition cant distinguish between refugees from PoK and Kashmiri Pandits.The mess in Kashmir is a legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru. As if that wasnt enough, we now have Rahul Gandhi also. pic.twitter.com/xKFhpirM2Z Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) September 25, 2024
Andhra Pradesh BJP leader Vishnu Vardhan Reddy said no matter how hard you try to hide the truth, it eventually comes out. Kudos to Rahul Gandhi for speaking the actual truth, even though by mistake.. he wrote on social media.
No matter how hard you try to hide the truth, it eventually comes out!Kudos to Rahul Gandhi for speaking the actual truth, even though by mistake.. pic.twitter.com/aZpp0RNXs2 Vishnu Vardhan Reddy (@SVishnuReddy) September 25, 2024
In another post, Reddy said: So basically, Rahul Gandhi is saying in Jammu that the Indian govt is an outsider for the people of J&K, so its an injustice for them. But same Congress & their allies always advocate for talks with Pakistan regarding Kashmir. So, for him, the Indian govt is an outsider, but Pakistan is not.
Gandhi addressed two rallies in J&K one in Jammu and the other at Sopore. In both the public gatherings, he spoke extensively on restoring statehood to the union territory.
In the history of India, after 1947, several UTs were turned into states. States were divided Telangana was formed out of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand was formed out of Bihar, Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh. But, for the first time after independence, a state was turned into a UT. This was done to Jammu and Kashmir. This is an injustice to you. Your democratic rights have been snatched away from you, he said at the rally in Jammu.
He added: Today J&K, is not run by the people of J&K, it is run by the people of other states. We had thought that you would get back the statehood before elections. That would have been the correct wayBut it is fine that they are conducting elections first. But we want your democratic rights, the statehood of J&K is given back to you.
He repeated himself in Sopore, saying J&K needs to get its statehood back, and that will happen when the INDIA bloc government is formed. Slamming the BJP, he said the party has an ideology of hatred and has spread it in the entire country.
We wanted that the statehood be restored before elections. All the people of Jammu and Kashmir wanted the elections should take place after the restoration of the statehood It did not happen, the first step is election. But after this, the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir has to be restored. INDIA alliance will pressurise PM Modi in the Parliament for this. If they dont do this, then we will restore your statehood as soon as the INDIA alliance forms the government at the Centre he added.
Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) President Jayant Patil on Wednesday said that a prominent leader from the ruling Mahayuti alliance is considering joining their party.
While he refrained from disclosing the identity of the leader or the party, Patil remarked, It will be revealed at the appropriate time.
Patil further noted that if this defection happens, it could significantly impact efforts to unseat the current ruling Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra, which includes the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar, according to an Indian Express report.
Visible Resentment Against BJPs Central Leadership: Tapase
Earlier today, NCP (SP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase claimed there is growing discontent within the ruling Mahayuti alliance and that it will not secure more than 100 seats in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.
There is visible resentment against the central leadership of the BJP. Each time these leaders visit Maharashtra, the Mahayutis support base erodes further, Tapase stated.
Speaking to reporters, Tapase said that the electorates dissatisfaction with the BJPs central leadership is a key factor in the ruling alliances declining support.
He specifically pointed to Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shahs visit to Nagpur on Tuesday, during which Shah urged the saffron party workers to work towards increasing the partys vote share by at least 10 per cent to ensure the Mahayuti alliances victory in the polls.
In response to Shahs appeal, Tapase expressed confidence that the Mahayutis vote share would actually decrease by 20 per cent, arguing that voters in the state are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the BJPs power-hungry approach.
The BJP has relied heavily on its central leaders to boost its electoral performance in Maharashtra, but the people of this state are no longer interested. They want accountability, development, jobs which the Mahayuti has failed to give, he said.
Tapase also noted a growing divide between the BJP and its allies in Maharashtra, adding that attempts to lure MLAs from the parties led by Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar to forge an unconstitutional alliance have not resonated well with the public.
Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly are likely to be held in mid-November.
(With inputs from PTI)
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw responded to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees criticism on Tuesday, asserting that it was the Trinamool Congress chief herself who set records for rail accidents. Vaishnaw presented data claiming that under the UPA government, there were 171 accidents annually, while last year, the number was reduced to 40. He further said that his ministry has been working relentlessly to reduce the incidents further.
This came after Mamata Banerjee mocked the Indian Railways, saying that it has created a world record in derailments. She made the comment after the incident in Jalpaiguri of West Bengal, where empty wagons of a freight train got derailed.
Vaishnaw was in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, to be part of the trial run of Kavach 4.0. Talking to CNN-News18, the minister said, During the UPA period, 171 accidents used to happen every year. We have worked relentlessly and have made sure that these incidents are less. Last year, there were 40. I dont think it is a matter of politics. We must keep politics out of it.
He further said, replying to a question related to incidents throughout Indian Railways, I would say that please dont get into these activities. We will go down to the last detail to make sure that we arrest such people and give them strict punishment.
The Rail Ministry, in an RTI reply to CNN-News18, also presented the data of accidents in the past 20 years. The figures show a marked reduction from 351 accidents in 2002-03 to 40 in 2023-24. However, the data also reveals a troubling spike in casualties during the 2023-24 period, with 317 deaths and 749 injuries recorded, compared to just two deaths and 76 injuries in the previous year.
The breakdown of accidents in 2023-24 included 25 derailments, 6 collisions, and 9 fires in trains, providing key areas for targeted safety enhancements. Notably, the Vande Bharat trains, introduced in 2019, have reported no consequential accidents or derailments to date, though officials caution against complacency, as per RTI reply.
On Tuesday, Mamata Banerjee had lashed out on Vaishnaw saying, What is happening with the Railways? Even today, there is the news of derailment. The Railways has created a world record in derailments. But, nobody says anything?
Peoples safety and security is in danger, and they are scared of travelling in trains. Where is the railway minister? Only asking for votes during elections will not help, you have to be by the side of people when they are in danger, the West Bengal CM added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears to have become a unifying factor in the Congress in the wake of the Karnataka High Courts (HC) dismissal of the petition made by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case. Every time there is a possibility of factionalism emerging within the Congress, especially in response to PM Modis attacks on Siddaramaiah, the party closes ranks.
Despite reports of infighting in the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) efforts to force Siddaramaiah to step down on moral grounds", the Congress has decided to present a unified front in this fight rather than targeting Siddaramaiah alone.
ALSO READ | Not Afraid: Siddaramaiah Reacts As Court Orders Lokayukta Probe In MUDA Case, BJP Demands His Ouster
Siddaramaiah has repeatedly stated that he is not afraid" and will not resign as developments in the MUDA case progress.
WHY SHOULD I RESIGN? I AM CLEAN, INNOCENT
Why should I resign? Has (HD) Kumaraswamy resigned? He is on bail, go and ask him the court verdict says that only an inquiry needs to be done. How can one seek my resignation at the inquiry stage itself? I will answer them We will face them politically and legally. It is nothing but a conspiracy by the BJP and JDS," Siddaramaiah said at a press conference, responding to a question from the media.
The Karnataka Chief Minister also stated that his political career, spanning four decades, has been unblemished and that in this case, too, he will emerge unscathed.
My career is without blemish. They may try to taint it, but they will remain unsuccessful. I am clean and innocent," Siddaramaiah said in an earlier interview with News18.
Congress ministers in Karnataka, the cabinet, and all of Karnataka stand behind the CM, and he will emerge clean in this case, they said in unison soon after the Karnataka High Court delivered its verdict on Tuesday.
CONGRESS FIRM, OPPN ATTACK ON
Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge told News18 that the BJP should introspect first. He questioned why the CM should resign or why anyone should claim that his image has been tarnished. Have we not seen cases related to Hemant Soren, Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia? They came out of jail even though the cases were false. They emerged without a blemish on their image, and even stronger. Look at how the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are behaving they are all caged parrots. The new caged parrot for the BJP is the Karnataka Raj Bhavan," said Kharge.
When asked whether the Congress is united in backing the CM, another senior minister, Santosh Lad, replied, A hundred per centNot only has this made the Congress stronger, but we will also fight this unitedly, and Siddaramaiah will emerge as a stronger and taller politician."
ALSO READ | MUDA Scam Case: What Legal Options Does CM Siddaramaiah Have After Karnataka HC Setback?
Kharge asked that if the PM is so aware of what is happening in Karnataka, including where a Ganapati is or targeting Siddaramaiah, doesnt he know about his own leader Munirathna?" Does he not know that his former CM is involved in a serious POCSO case, or that his BJP state chief Yediyurappas son Vijayendra has shell companies and is accused of money laundering? How do they miss all that," Kharge asked.
Both Lad and Kharge stressed that the Congress, including the Gandhis and Kharge, are 100 per cent supportive of Siddaramaiah. The rest, they said, is coming from the BJP playbook in Karnataka at the behest of PM Modi, Kharge added.
HIGH COMMAND ORDER, DK SHIVAKUMAR & CASE PROCEEDING
Political analyst Sandeep Shastri stated that the Congress will not change the CM at this point, as they have found a good opportunity to take on the opposition BJP. However, Siddaramaiahs image of being corruption-free is now dented with this High Court verdict. Nonetheless, one cannot rule out the possibility of a change in leadership in the near future," Shastri told News18.
A few weeks ago, when Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot gave sanction to prosecute Siddaramaiah, several names were thrown into the ring. There were claims and counterclaims of leaders who were ready to take Siddaramaiahs place. Individual meetings were held among senior ministers like Satish Jarkiholi, G Parameshwara, M B Patil and Basavaraj Rayareddy. Siddaramaiah also met these probables one-on-one and discussed the issue.
However, soon enough, a directive came from the Congress high command that no leader should speak against the Congress government in Karnataka or Siddaramaiah. This message was clear, even to those backing Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar as a potential CM replacement. It was reported that there was an unwritten agreement when the Congress came to power in the southern state, whereby Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar would share the five-year term.
There is no such agreement. Siddaramaiah will continue as the CM for the full five-year term," said a confident senior Congress minister, known to be close to the CM. This statement was echoed by D K Shivakumar as well.
However, those in favour of Shivakumar becoming the CM stressed the importance of the Deputy CM stepping in at the right time. It will ultimately be the high commands decision, but we are hopeful that D K Shivakumar will become CM when the time is right," said another senior Congress leader from the Deputy CMs camp.
ALSO READ | Unconstitutional, Attempt To Destabilise Our Govt, Says Siddaramaiah As Governor Gives Nod To Prosecute Him In MUDA Scam
A day after the Karnataka High Court upheld the sanction granted by Governor Thawarchand Gehlot to investigate Siddaramaiah on allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife B M Parvathi by MUDA, a court ordered a Lokayukta police investigation into the case. Siddaramaiah once again reiterated that he was ready to face any investigation regarding MUDA. The court directed the Lokayukta police to file the investigation report by December 24.
The opposition BJP in Karnataka once again called for Siddaramaiah to step down and allow an independent investigation into the matter.
Former Rajya Sabha MP and BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar, at a press conference in New Delhi, said: The High Court has validated the governors actions. The BJP demands that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tender his resignation and allow a free and independent investigation into the allegations of shameful corruption."
It is not every day that you would find the worlds seventh-richest man munching on a hot dog from a street stall. One such instance recently caught the internets attention when Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and a prominent philanthropist, was seen at Times Square in New York. In a series of videos shared by photojournalist Elder Ordonez, the 68-year-old billionaire indulged in the classic New York snack, seemingly as a part of a shoot. While the first video shows him standing in front of the cart vendor, waiting for his order, the following one has Gates enjoying the treat. At one point, he even posed with the hot dog seller for pictures.
Dressed casually in black trousers with a blue sweater, Gates posed humbly for the cameras upon being approached by Ordonez. The videos and pictures went instantly viral, with many reacting to the businessmans partake in such a simple pleasure.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Elder Ordonez (@elderordonez1)
A user joked, I think hes shopping for buildings, while another commented, Bill WANTS TO BE normal so badly.
Wow, even billionaires love a good hot dog! a comment read, while another added, Guess billionaires also have street food cravings.
One hilariously asked, Does Bill prefer mustard or ketchup?
At a time when Bill Gates recently released a brand new Netflix docuseries, Whats Next? The Future With Bill Gates, the new videos draw attention to what the businessman has been up to now. Well, this is not the first time he has enjoyed such simple pleasures.
Earlier during his visit to India, Bill Gates left everyone surprised after paying a visit to a tea stall run by popular social media influencer Dolly Chaiwala. The video went viral, grabbing a lot of attention across social media platforms.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bill Gates (@thisisbillgates)
The video opens with Bill Gates placing his order for one chai, following which the influencer prepares the tea in his signature style on his cart. The final shot shows the businessman enjoying a piping hot drink from a glass. Internet users were left delighted over Gates enthusiastic embrace of the local culture.
A zoo in Finland has been finding it hard to afford the upkeep of two giant pandas, which they brought from China in January 2018. The animals will be sent back to their homeland in November. A private company which operates the Ahtari Zoo had invested over 8 million euros (Rs 74 crore approximately) to develop a facility where the pandas would be kept, as per a Reuters report. The zoo authority has spent nearly 1.5 million euros (Rs 14 crore approx) on the upkeep of the animals. They also have to pay a preservation fee to China every year, according to Ahtari Zoo Chair Risto Sivonen.
The zoo brought the pandas named Lumi and Pyry after Finland signed a joint agreement with China for animal protection. At that time, Chinese President Xi Jinping had visited Finland to discuss the pact.
As per the agreement, the pandas were slated to stay at the Ahtari Zoo for 15 years. The animals will now kept in a month-long quarantine before being shipped back to their homeland, a spokesperson of the Ahtari Zoo told the news agency.
When bringing the pandas, the zoo authority hoped that the animals would help in attracting more visitors and foreign tourists. It all started well but the situation changed after the COVID-19 pandemic curbed international travel. The Ahtari Zoo is a popular tourist spot located in central Finland.
As revealed by Risto Sivonen, the zoo decided to return the giant pandas to China after accumulating hefty debts last year. They even contacted Finlands government, seeking monetary assistance but their plea for state funding was rejected.
In a bid to send the pandas back home, the zoo had negotiated with China for three years. Now we reached a point where the Chinese said it could be done, Sivonen told the news agency.
The decision to return the pandas has been made solely by the Ahtari Zoo. As the Finnish government was not involved in the development, the zoo feels it wont make any impact on the relationship between the two countries. Pandas have been sent to many foreign zoos by the Peoples Republic of China since 1949. The country considers it as a strategy to improve foreign relations.
A project manager was wrongfully terminated by an Indian company just one day after they submitted their resignation. The company also threatened to report the project manager to future employers that they left the company during the background verification (BGV) process. Whats more, the company demanded three months salary in exchange for providing the individual with an experience certificate. The Redditor shared their ordeal on the US-based platform and asked users to help secure next job in Chennai.
Indian companys CEO rejected resignation
The individual, who goes by Randy31599 on Reddit, was experiencing intense pressure at work and felt the need to take a break due to their declining health. They tendered their resignation for medical reasons and requested an early release in a month. However, their resignation was rejected, and they were instructed to continue working despite being ill.
I am a project manager, and I worked at a company for more than 8 months. They even gave me a raise and everything, but as time went on, the pressure became intense, and I couldnt handle it. A month ago, I was diagnosed with fatty liver, and a week later, I contracted chickenpox. When I asked for just 3 days of leave, my CEO emailed me, asking me to work from home, but I refused and only partially supported the team, the person said.
They added, However, I was feeling the need to take a break, so I submitted my resignation due to medical reasons and requested an early release in 1 month. My CEO refused to accept my resignation, despite my medical condition, and asked me to continue working.
Employee re-submitted resignation only to get it rejected again
The Redditor added that they submitted the resignation again after meeting with an accident and the company again rejected it. I had an accident and injured my hand. I then reiterated my resignation with the addition of my injury and again requested an early release. My company still refused and showed no empathy, the Reddit user further said.
I took 2 days of leave to process this, they expressed.
Threat and wrongful termination
However, this time, the company went a bit too far and terminated the employee, along with threatening them. The day after my resignation, they sent a termination email, threatened to report that I left improperly in the background verification (BGV), they claimed.
The Redditor turned to online community for help after the company demanded three months salary to release the experience certificate.
How did Redditors react to this?
Many said that that the Indian company, whose name is not revealed, is harassing them and suggested consulting a good lawyer. Some even suggested to file a complaint with the Ministry of Labour.
One individual said, Walk in with chickenpox to the CEOs cabin and be escorted out with whatever your demand is, and many replied to this with this is the way.
Have you lost access to your work system and email already? If not, please save any email/comms related to your performance at the firm, leave applications and their response/denials, resignation/termination etc, another suggested.
A third wrote, Since you worked only for 8 months, you can decide not to show this experience in the next job. So, no need of experience letter. Dont pay anything.
The Redditor, in another post on the platform, shared that they have four years of experience as a project manager and have offer letter, payslips, increment letter, and termination email with them. They asked, Will these documents help me secure another job? How can I explain this situation to HR? Can someone help me navigate this situation?
A revolutionary wearable AI, Iris, which offers users an infinite memory of their lives has been introduced to the Indian market. The device, created by an Indian-origin techie, takes a photo each minute thereby giving individuals an opportunity to record moments they may not have otherwise.
It either saves the photos on the device or in the cloud. Iris was recently promoted on social media by its creator Advait Paliwal.
Not only does Iris create a timeline of photographs but also it uses AI to write captions and help people to remember forgotten details. One of the features is a so-called focus mode, which captures the moments of distraction and tries to assist the user in paying attention. In his blog post, the San Francisco-based businessman said the design of the device was based on the evil eye symbol.
I built Iris, a wearable that gives you infinite memory of your life.It takes a picture every minute, captions and organizes them into a timeline, and uses AI to help you remember forgotten details. Iris also has a focus mode. It notices when you get distracted and proactively pic.twitter.com/fQxzpBRmIA Advait Paliwal (@advaitpaliwal) September 24, 2024
Iris was created by Paliwal during the two months he spent at the Augmentation Lab in Cambridge, as per NDTV. He then presented the device at the MIT Media Lab. The presentation generated a favourable response from the participants, most of whom looked forward to buying the device.
There are many general ways that Paliwal imagines Iris could be useful. These include helping doctors to get a grasp of patients schedules or improving the measures of safety in a particular working environment.
Despite the exciting characteristics, Iris has led to privacy issues. It is worth noting that some users have been particularly unhappy about such a gadget with a minute camera. Regarding these concerns, Paliwal said that people take mental photos anyway and highlighted that consumers can exclusively determine the proper functioning of the device.
A user said, Its an interesting concept, but I wouldnt want to interact with someone who had this on, taking a photo every minute.
It's an interesting concept, but I wouldn't want to interact with someone who had this on, taking a photo every minute. Dr. Julie Gurner (@drgurner) September 24, 2024
Meanwhile, another user appreciated the efforts saying, There are a bunch of failed startups in this category, Google Clip, Memento, but what they did not had was AI. So this could work. Great work.
There are a bunch of failed startups in this category, Google Clip, Memento, but what they did not had was AI. So this could work. Great work. Linus @ Meta Connect (@LinusEkenstam) September 24, 2024
Looks great, what are the privacy guarantees, asked another user.
Looks great, what are the privacy guarantees Rishabh Gupta | Hiring (@rishotics) September 24, 2024
Yet another user stated, Love the idea. The design and the name are perfect. Great work!
Love the idea. The design and the name are perfect. Great work! weisser (@julianweisser) September 24, 2024
Its interesting to note that Paliwal likened the gadget to an episode from Black Mirror. He said in his blog post that Iris addresses a lot of the same topics as Entire History of You, the third episode of Black Mirrors first season. It demonstrates how our society would alter if people were able to simply record their everyday activities.
A video shared by an Indian travel vlogger has sparked a heated discussion about the issue of racism in South Korea. Deepanshu Sangwan, who runs a widely-followed YouTube channel Nomadic Indian with more than 1.7 million subscribers, documented his journey in South Korea, only to face an unexpected challenge. In a clip from his vlog posted on X (formerly Twitter), Sangwan talks about the racial discrimination he allegedly faced during his trip.
In the video, Sangwan recounted the uncomfortable stares" and feelings of alienation" he faced due to his appearance. He discussed how his brown skin seemed to draw unwanted attention and remarked, Were Indians, we have brown skinwhat can we do? We were born this way."
Sangwan went on to explain that racism is not limited to South Korea, noting that discrimination happens in India too. However, he feels that in India, it tends to be less direct or obvious. Yes, people of African descent may face challenges in India, but its not as widespread. We dont give dirty looks to others," he said.
An Indian YouTuber with 1.7M subscribers faces racism in South Korea, exposing the darker side of the K-pop and K-drama craze. Ironically, Indian radfems bingeing these shows are seen as ugloids by Koreans. pic.twitter.com/S7FUDDqJgo Lord Immy Kant (Eastern Exile) (@KantInEast) September 22, 2024
He further added, We could poke fun at Koreans too, since much of their culture is borrowed from Chinese traditions and other influences."
Sangwan advised his audience to be prepared for such incidents if they plan to visit South Korea, so they arent caught off guard. He also mentioned that it is not just people with brown skin who stand out in South Korea, mentioning, If youre white, for them you are an exotic thing."
Sangwans video shedding light on racism in South Korea quickly stirred a strong response online, with viewers sharing a mix of reactions.
One user shared, A friend who worked at Samsung went to Seoul for 3 months. He told me that no Korean would sit next to him during the lunch break. Some clubs wont even allow non-asian or white people in."
A friend who worked at samsung went to Seoul for 3 months. He told me that no Korean would sit next to him during the lunch break. Some clubs won't even allow non asian or white people in. Sarva@0069 (@Harkonnen069) September 22, 2024
Another person commented, Indians can realize how horrible casteism is only when they get discriminated against by other country people."
The sad thing is that when foreigners visit India We treat them like royalty but when Indians go Abroad, they often face racism," a different user pointed out.
The sad Thing is that when foreigners visit India We treat them like royalty but when Indians go Abroad, they often face racism https://t.co/q3qucqDcK1 pic.twitter.com/cRDUyrnr3w Oggy (@ehhejdt) September 24, 2024
Racism exists everywhere. To point out that one country is just being naive and unaware of ground realities! Still South Koreans are far better and nicer than many," someone else shared.
Racism exists everywhere.To point out one country is just being naive and unaware of ground realities!Still South Koreans are far better and nicer than many. https://t.co/LSEwU12ckD @pahadanldki_SK (@blackswanwins) September 22, 2024
Another user, sharing a personal experience, wrote, Sorry dude, I worked in Seoul and that was 11 years ago and didnt face any racism. In fact they were very much sweeter than other countries. Yes, I have seen racism in Thailand. If you bargain there, some of them abuse you," one shared.
Sorry dude, i worked in Seoul and that was 11 yrs ago and didnt face any racism. Infact they were very much sweeter than other countries.Yes i have seen racism in Thailand. If you bargain there, some of them abuse you. Viraj Jain / (@daane_bokka) September 24, 2024
Sangwans video on his YouTuber channel has received over 1.5 lakh views so far.
Intermittent rain for more than eight hours in Mumbai threw life out of gear on Wednesday, prompting a Red Alert from the authorities.
The heavy downpour caused waterlogged roads in the financial capital, leading to massive traffic jams on Western Express Highway and other areas. Movements of flights have been affected and Mumbais lifeline local trains are running at a cautious speed.
The Met department predicted extremely heavy rainfall. The weather department has also issued a red alert for Palghar and Nashik and an orange alert for Thane, Raigad, and Pune for Thursday.
Several areas of the city experienced over 200 mm of rainfall within a span of five hours, from 5 PM to 10 PM on Wednesday, according to data from the civic bodys automatic weather stations. Powai recorded 234 mm of rain, Mankhurd saw 276 mm, Ghatkopar received 259 mm, and Vikhroli had 186 mm of rainfall.
Netizens Share Visuals
Social media users posted visuals of railway tracks at Kurla, Kanjurmarg, and Mankhurd submerged amid heavy rain.
Trouble as expected. Tracks underwater now in KurlaPeople will get stuck as I am at Mulund station! #MumbaiRainspic.twitter.com/9meMQIAuDv Mumbai Nowcast (@s_r_khandelwal) September 25, 2024
Scenes from Kanjurmarg Station!I understand people are stuck but this is unnecessary risk. Too risky. Kindly avoid takimg unnecessary risks #MumbaiRains pic.twitter.com/Z3RauF4cDT Mumbai Nowcast (@s_r_khandelwal) September 25, 2024
A netizen posted photos of cars submerged near Kurlas Phoenix Mall.
Every year, Mumbaikars practice swimming, yet India fails to bring home a gold medal in the Olympics.#MumbaiRains pic.twitter.com/VXNtloFvXx Mir. Right (@iamshaan__) September 25, 2024
A netizen shared pictures of water inside the house.
#MumbaiRainsCurrent situation in mumbai rain the house is completely filled with water #barish pic.twitter.com/CywwKsUPq3 Ashutosh Singh (@Ashutos56702947) September 25, 2024
All schools and colleges in Mumbai have been declared a holiday for Thursday, September 26.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. The US is excited to see what can be accomplished at COP 29, especially in terms of trans-Caspian opportunities for clean hydro power, Geoffrey Pyatt, the Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources at the U.S. State Department, said, as he addressed the fifth annual Caspian Business Forum in New York, Trend reports.
He went on to highlight the need for both interregional and intraregional cooperation in supplying the energy-rich Caspian regions resources to world markets. Im acutely sensitive to the fact that the Caspian region and Central Asia have work still to do in terms of interconnections, both for gas, but also crucially for power, and especially in a world thats seeing the rapid acceleration of investment in clean power.
Pyatt also commented on the regions heightened importance in regard to the green energy transition, Were giving a systematic focus to the Caspian region, with a particular spotlight on COP29, centered around decarbonization, methane abatement, and how to manage the fossil resources. Were excited to see what can be accomplished at COP 29, especially in terms of trans-Caspian opportunities for clean hydro power, but also to see the way the Caspian region can transport clean energy far afield.
Pyatt concluded by saying that, We are very eager to do what we can as the United States to help your region build that energy security. Over two years now, Ive been working directly with the leadership in KMG and SOCAR, and the governments of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan on opportunities to diversify crude oil export routes. Caspian natural gas transported through SGC is already playing an absolutely critical role in ensuring the energy security of the EU. And the U.S. believes there is more we can do in this space.
An East Yorkshire village named Shiptonthorpe, UK has been facing difficulties after an array of disturbing anonymous letters have terrorised residents. As per The Mirror, this situation has prompted a police probe. This turmoil in the village has continued in Shiptonthorpe, home to around 500 people, over the last two years.
An unknown authors messages, described as vulgar and personal, obscene and targeted are found in the letterboxes. The Mirror reports that Humberside Police are now investigating this peculiar case of the poison pen letters.
A local lady, who chose to be called Sophie for security reasons, recalled her shock upon receiving one such letter in December 2022. At the time, she was working as a ward councillor and was horrified by the contents of the letter. Sophie talked to the BBC about it. According to her, It was accusing me of what you could call being a loose woman, she said. It said the only way I would ever get anywhere within politics would be if I was to perform unspeakable things to men. The nasty writer also added in the letter that Sophie should be turned out on the Beverley Westwood pasture with the rest of the cows.
Humberside Police confirmed to the BBC that they were informed about the offensive letter. A spokesperson for the force stated that inquiries were carried out at the time, including reviewing the CCTV cameras. The spokesperson, however, added that the contents of the alleged letter were unavailable. Hence, he said that no further investigative opportunities could be obtained.
The Humberside Police later mentioned that they had provided Sophie with safety advice. They noted that she had received three additional letters since the initial incident. Apart from Sophie, other villagers have also received unsettling notes, ie- the spiteful writer wishing cancer for one villager. This anonymous writing campaign has pushed many people to leave the village.
This incident is reminiscent of the notorious Littlehampton saga of 1920. In that incident, scandalous notes sent to residents led to widespread unrest. This story is now turned into the 2023 British film Wicked Little Letters. Thea Sharrock directed this film, which starred Jessie Buckley, Olivia Colman, Gemma Jones, and others in the ensemble cast.
Dressing up as the Marvel superhero Spider-Man and carrying out public stunts have become a very common spectacle nowadays. From taking on the role of a construction worker to making rotis on the terrace of a building, these videos have taken centre stage online. Joining the bandwagon is now another antic stunt by an Instagram influencer, who dressed up as the superhero and started begging in front of the Kalyan station in Maharashtra.
Shared on the influencers social media handle named shaddyman98, the video features a short tagline that reads, Spider-Man ko dedo bhai koi (Someone please give alms to Spider-Man).
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Spiderman From Mumbai (@shaddyman98)
As the video plays, a man, dressed in the iconic red and blue Spider-Man costume, could be seen seated at the stairs. While his outfit already grabbed attention at the station, he went to the next level by reaching out for money from the passersby. The video went viral in no time, garnering a lot of reactions from people. While many dropped hilarious comments, some even shared concerns about the ethical implications of such scenes in public.
A user wrote, Kalyan ka spiderman, while another joked, Financial status of spiderman after Tony (Stark) dead.
Spider Man No Way Home Post Credit Scene Alternate Ending, another comment read, while one added, This is the reason Kalyan is not for beginners.
Notably, the influencer has posted many other videos featuring his Spider-Man version that will leave you in splits. One of the most recent clips shows him dancing to the Mere Mehboob song, showcasing some pretty funny moves. Another one has him inside the classroom, sleeping on the bench during the class.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Spiderman From Mumbai (@shaddyman98)
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Spiderman From Mumbai (@shaddyman98)
One of the most viral videos on his handle shows him welding at a shop with a protective cover in front of his eyes. Social media users hilariously suggested that he took inspiration from Iron Man.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Spiderman From Mumbai (@shaddyman98)
A user wrote, Armor Wars leaked footage, while another added, Spider Man Welding Way Home.
A picture of billionaire Elon Musk with Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni has been doing the rounds on social media. The duo recently met at an awards ceremony in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on September 24. They were captured engaging in a light-hearted conversation at the dinner table.
After the photo went viral, many internet users assumed something was brewing between Musk and Meloni. The billionaire businessman has now shared his thoughts about the dating rumours.
Musk commented on an X post where a user asked, Do you think theyll date? The post featured the viral picture of the Tesla CEO and Meloni. The Tesla CEO dropped a four-word response in the comment section We are not dating.
We are not dating Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 24, 2024
His comment grabbed the eyeballs of many users. One of them recalled the time Elon Musk said Georgia Meloni was authentic, honest and truthful, and that cant always be said about politicians.
Giorgia Meloni is "someone who is authentic, honest, truthful and that can't always be said about politicians." Elon Musk Self Observer (@Selfobserver) September 24, 2024
Another user thanked Elon Musk for being open and honest about his bonding with Georgia Meloni. Everybody loves to speculate on peoples personal lives, the person noted.
Everybody loves to speculate on people's personal lives. Thanks for being so open and honest Elon Ale (@MyDogeCTO) September 25, 2024
Keeping aside Elon Musks revelation, an individual said that he and Georgia Meloni look good together.
You both look good together. Barbara (@BMT094) September 24, 2024
Thank you (Musk) for telling the truth to people. Many people are teasing you just because youre acting polite. Youre acting the same way with male politicians and then no one notices, but when there are women, people immediately jump to some stupid conclusions, commented a user.
Thank you for telling the truth to peoplemany people are teasing you just because youre acting politeyoure acting the same way with male politicians and then no one notices, but when there are women, people immediately jump to some stupid conclusionssad Endrina Pavlic (@EPavlic) September 24, 2024
People speculated the same when Elon Musk accepted Georgia Melonis invitation to attend a political event in Rome in December last year. The Italian leader is a popular face on social media. When the G20 Summit was held in India, many users shared posts about Meloni and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well.
The two have been seen together at several global events, with many using a new hashtag, Melodi, across social media platforms. Meloni later used the term while sharing a selfie with PM Modi.
A 64-year-old US woman recently became the first known person to die in a suicide pod named Sarco, earlier this week in Switerzlands Schaffhausen. According to news agency AP, report, police have detained several people on charges of inducing and abetting suicide.
The Sarco capsule, which has been in development for several years, allows a person seated in a reclining chair inside the pod to release nitrogen gas into the sealed environment with a push of a button. The person then chokes to death and dies a natural death of asphyxiation after a few minutes of being asleep.
People in Switzerland have a right to assisted suicide if the patient dies by his or her own hand with no external assistance and the helpers do not have any selfish purpose, the government site states.
Exit International, an assisted suicide group from the Netherlands, confirmed it was behind the 3D-printed device that has taken more than $1m to design.
The organisation behind the Sarco said that the 64-year-old woman had severe immune compromise.
It added that Florian Willet, the co-president of The Last Resort, a Swiss branch of Exit International, was the only person present at her death and described the death as peaceful, fast and dignified.
The manufacturers of the pod have asserted that the device can be controlled exclusively by the individual contemplating suicide and does not require the assistance of a medical professional.
Exit Internationals member, Philip Nitschke has said in interviews with the AP that the organisations lawyers advised him it was legal to use the Sarco in Switzerland.
On September 24, Nitschke said that he was pleased that the Sarco had worked as designed, helping offer an elective, non-drug, peaceful death at the time of the persons choosing.
In July this year, Swiss newspaper Blick reported that a state prosecutor in Schaffhausen to Exit International that any operator of the suicide capsule could face criminal proceedings and up to five years of jail term.
Hamas does not have the capability to another launch October 7-like attack, Israeli envoy Reuven Azar told CNN-News18 in an exclusive conversation on their priorities and the war.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas gunmen stormed across Gazas border into Israel, killing about 1,200 people. Hamas also fired thousands of rockets, killing children, the elderly and 364 youngsters at a music festival. Hamas took more than 250 others to Gaza as hostages. We want to bring our hostages back and make sure Hamas does not regroup, said the Ambassador of Israel to India.
Tensions between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have steadily escalated over the past 11 months.
ALSO READ | Hezbollah Missiles Target Tel Aviv Headquarters Of Mossad Blamed For Pager Blasts, Israel Intercepts | Top Points
Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and its ally Hamas, a fellow Iran-backed militant group. Hezbollah is the strongest political and military actor in Lebanon and widely considered the top paramilitary force in the Arab world. Israel has responded with increasingly heavy airstrikes and the targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders while threatening a wider operation.
#Exclusive | Hamas does not have the capability to launch October 7. We want to bring our hostages back and make sure Hamas does not regroup: @ReuvenAzar, Israeli Envoy#IsraelHamasWar #BrassTacks | @Zakka_Jacob pic.twitter.com/b2LcwDu9Wf News18 (@CNNnews18) September 24, 2024
Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander Tuesday as part of a two-day bombing campaign that left more than 560 people dead and prompted thousands in southern Lebanon to seek refuge from the widening conflict. Mondays escalation came after a particularly heavy exchange of fire on Sunday. Hezbollah launched around 150 rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for strikes that killed a top commander and dozens of fighters. Last week, thousands of communications devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000, many of them civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny responsibility.
If Israel would have had a bigger army we would have attacked Hezbollah an year ago. We have no choice but to escalate the situation. We dont want to harm civilians, said Azar, adding, Thousands of people are leaving southern Lebanon. Israel is going out of its way to put civilians out of harms way. We are using technology we have never used before.
#Exclusive | The war will go on till we reach our limited goals. We want implementation of UNSC resolution 1702 in the north, in the south we want to bring hostages back: @ReuvenAzar, Israeli Envoy#Israel #Hezbollah #Palestine #BrassTacks | @Zakka_Jacob pic.twitter.com/w5sPNlKgCg News18 (@CNNnews18) September 24, 2024
We are also trying to seek an end to the war, but we have to do it in accordance to our security interests. It is not about who is the mediator, it is about the merit of situationThe war will go on till we reach our limited goals. We want implementation of the UNSC resolution 1702 in the north, in the south, we want to bring hostages back, he said.
ALSO READ | Where Were Your Eyes On October 7th: Israels Retort To All Eyes on Rafah Campaign
Lebanon was hijacked by Hezbollah and is being used to attack Israel. If they dont stop, they will pay a huge price. How high the price will be depends on them. Iran is feeding themWe are dealing with a terrorist organisation which has acquired capabilities of an army and manipulates respect for international law. Hamas no longer poses a threat to Israel, he said.
With Agency Inputs
A Hezbollah official reported that an attack on communication devices incapacitated 1,500 fighters, many of whom were severely injured, with some losing their eyesight and having their hands or arms blown off, according to a report by news agency Reuters.
While this loss is significant, it represents only a small portion of Hezbollahs overall strength.
Hezbollahs flexible chain of command, together with its extensive tunnel network and a vast arsenal of missiles and weapons it has bolstered over the past year, is helping it weather unprecedented Israeli strikes, three sources familiar with the Lebanese militant groups operations said.
A recent US Congressional report estimates the groups forces at 40,000-50,000 fighters, although Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claims the group has a fighting force of 100,000.
Israels assault on Hezbollah over the past week, including the targeting of senior commanders and the detonation of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies, has left the powerful Lebanese Shiite militant group and political party reeling.
On Friday, Israel killed the commander who founded and led the groups elite Radwan force, Ibrahim Aqil. And since Monday, Lebanons deadliest day of violence in decades, the health ministry says more than 560 people, among them 50 children, have died in air barrages.
The Israeli military chief of staff Herzi Halevi said on Sunday that Aqils death had shaken the organisation. Israel says its strikes have also destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rockets and shells.
But two of the sources familiar with Hezbollah operations said the group swiftly appointed replacements for Aqil and other senior figures killed in Fridays airstrike in Beiruts southern suburbs. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in an Aug. 1 speech that the group quickly fills gaps whenever a leader is killed.
Since October, when Hezbollah began firing at Israel in October in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza, it has redeployed fighters to frontline areas in the south, including some from Syria, the three sources said.
It has also been bringing rockets into Lebanon at a fast pace, anticipating a drawn-out conflict, the sources said, adding that the group sought to avoid all out war.
Hezbollahs main supporter and weapons supplier is Iran. The group is the most powerful faction in Tehrans Axis of Resistance of allied irregular forces across the Middle East. Many of its weapons are Iranian, Russian or Chinese models.
The sources, who all asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, did not provide details of the weapons or where they were bought.
Hezbollahs media office did not reply to requests for comment for this story, Reuters said.
Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at Kings College London, said that while Hezbollah operations had been disrupted by the past weeks attacks, the groups networked organisational structure helped make it an extremely resilient force.
This is the most formidable enemy Israel has ever faced on the battlefield, not because of numbers and tech but in terms of resilience.
POWERFUL MISSILES
Fighting has escalated this week. Israel killed another top Hezbollah commander, Ibrahim Qubaisi, on Tuesday. For its part, Hezbollah has shown its capacity to continue operations, firing hundreds of rockets towards Israel in ever deeper attacks.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah said it had targeted an Israeli intelligence base near Tel Aviv, more than 100 km (60 miles) from the border. Warning sirens sounded in Tel Aviv as a single surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by air defence systems, the Israeli military said.
The group has yet to say whether it has launched any of its most potent, precision-guided rockets, such as the Fateh-110, an Iranian-made ballistic missile with a range of 250-300 km (341.75 miles). Hezbollahs Fateh-110 have a 450-500 kg warhead, according to a 2018 paper published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Hezbollahs rocket attacks are possible because the chain of command has kept functioning despite the group suffering a brief spell of disarray after the pagers and radios detonated, one of the sources, a senior security official, said.
The three sources said Hezbollahs ability to communicate is underpinned by a dedicated, fixed-line telephone network which it has described as critical to its communications and continues to work as well as by other devices.
Many of its fighters were carrying older models of pagers, for example, that were unaffected by last weeks attack.
Reuters could not independently verify the information. Most injuries from the exploding pagers were in Beirut, far from the front.
Hezbollah stepped up the use of pagers after banning its fighters from using cellphones on the battlefield in February, in response to commanders being killed in strikes.
If the chain of command breaks, frontline fighters are trained to operate in small, independent clusters comprised of a few villages near the border, capable of fighting Israeli forces for long periods, the senior source added.
That is precisely what happened in 2006, during the last war between Hezbollah and Israel, when the groups fighters held out for weeks, some in frontline villages invaded by Israel.
Israel says it has escalated attacks to degrade Hezbollahs capabilities and make it safe for tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return to their homes near the Lebanon border, which they fled when Hezbollah began firing rockets on Oct. 8.
Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahus government has said it prefers to reach a negotiated agreement that would see Hezbollah withdraw from the border region but stands ready to continue its bombing campaign if Hezbollah refuses, and does not rule out any military options.
Hezbollahs resilience means the fighting has raised fears of a protracted war that could suck in the U.S., Israels close ally, and Iran especially if Israel launches, and gets bogged down in, a ground offensive in southern Lebanon.
Israels military did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Irans President Masoud Pezeshkian warned on Monday of irreversible consequences of a full blown war in the Middle East. A U.S. State Department official said Washington disagreed with Israels strategy of escalation and sought to reduce tensions.
UNDERGROUND ARSENAL
In what two of the sources said was an indication of how well some of Hezbollahs weapons are hidden, on Sunday rockets were launched from areas of southern Lebanon that had been targeted by Israel shortly before, the two sources said.
Hezbollah is believed to have an underground arsenal and last month published footage that appeared to show its fighters driving trucks with rocket launchers through tunnels. The sources did not specify if the rockets fired on Sunday were launched from underground.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Mondays barrage had destroyed tens of thousands of Hezbollah rockets and munitions.
Israels military said long-range cruise missiles, rockets with warheads capable of carrying 100kg of explosives, short-range rockets, and explosive UAVs were all struck on Monday.
Reuters could not independently verify the military claims.
Boaz Shapira a researcher at Alma, an Israeli think tank that specializes in Hezbollah, said Israel had yet to target strategic sites such as long-range missiles and drone sites.
I dont think we are anywhere near finishing this, Shapira said.
Hezbollahs arsenal is believed to compromise some 150,000 rockets, the U.S. Congress report said. Krieg said its most powerful, long-range ballistic missiles were kept below ground.
Hezbollah has spent years building a tunnel network that by Israeli estimates extends for hundreds of kilometres. The Israeli military said Mondays air strikes hit Hezbollah missile launch sites hidden under homes in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah has said it does not place military infrastructure near civilians. Hezbollah has issued no statement on the impact of Israels strikes since Monday.
TUNNELS
The groups arsenal and tunnels have expanded since the 2006 war, especially precision guidance systems, leader Nasrallah has said. Hezbollah officials have said the group has used a small part of the arsenal in fighting over the past year.
Israeli officials have said Hezbollahs military infrastructure is tightly meshed into the villages and communities of southern Lebanon, with ammunition and missile launcher pads stored in houses throughout the area. Israel has been pounding some of those villages for months to degrade Hezbollahs capabilities.
Confirmed details on the tunnel network remain scarce.
A 2021 report by Alma, an Israeli think tank that specializes in Hezbollah, said Iran and North Korea both helped build up the network of tunnels in the aftermath of the 2006 war.
Israel has already struggled to root out Hamas commanders and self-reliant fighting units from the tunnels criss-crossing Gaza.
It is one of our biggest challenges in Gaza, and it is certainly something we could meet in Lebanon, said Carmit Valensi, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, a think-tank.
Krieg said that unlike Gaza, where most tunnels are manually dug into sandy soil, the tunnels in Lebanon had been dug deep in mountain rock. They are far less accessible than in Gaza and even less easy to destroy.
Israeli air defence systems on Wednesday intercepted a missile launched from Lebanon, following sirens across Tel Aviv, the countrys military informed. No casualties or damage have been reported in the incident. The IDF announced that one surface-to-surface missile from Lebanon had targeted central Israel, but was intercepted by Davids Slingshot aerial defense system.
Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israels Mossad intelligence agency, which it blames for a recent string of targeted killings of its top commanders and for an attack last week in which bombs hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of people and wounded thousands, including many Hezbollah members.
THE MOMENT AIR RAID SIRENS SOUNDED IN TEL AVIVThe targeting of the Mossad HQ by Hezbollah marks the first time they have ever attacked Tel Aviv. The missile, believed to be a new type of medium-range ballistic missile supplied by Iran, was successfully intercepted by https://t.co/9dVpTEz95E pic.twitter.com/hocktvD0ei Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 25, 2024
The conflict between Lebanon and Israel started after thousands of pagers exploded within seconds across Lebanon in a synchronized attack targeting the US-designated terror group Hezbollah. A day after the attack, Hezbollah blamed Israel and vowed retaliation.
The intense attacks from Israel have created panic among civilians in southern Lebanon, as they have started to flee in search of security and shelter. United Nations (UN) and Lebanese officials on Tuesday stated that 27,000 displaced individuals had been settled in temporary shelters, while many others were forced to sleep in cars, parks, and along the beach.
Top Points
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be taking along with him family members of the hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas and held in Gaza Strip.
The families of brothers Yossi and Eli Sharabi (of which Yossi has been confirmed dead, with Eli missing), Idan Shtivi (kidnapped from the Supernova festival), Inbar Haiman (who was murdered after being abducted from the party), Omri Miran (kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz) and kidnapped octogenarian Oded Lifschitz (snatched from Kibbutz Nir Oz) will join the Israeli PM as he will address the annual UN General Assembly session, according to a report by the Times of Israel.
Israel is engaged in fierce cross-border clashes in the countrys north with the Lebanese Hezbollah group, with the situation deteriorating in recent days.
However, he has delayed his departure for the UN General Assembly in New York, his office said Wednesday, as the army pounds Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Prime Minister Netanyahu will leave for his speech at the UN tomorrow (Thursday), instead of tonight, and will return on Saturday night, his office said. During the day, the prime minister will hold consultations to discuss the continuation of the attacks in Lebanon.
The move by Netanyahu to take along hostages to the UN for his speech comes amid as weekly rallies in Tel Aviv that began with the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, which was triggered by the Palestinian militant outfits October 7 attack, have become more critical of the Israeli government since the military announced earlier this month that six dead captives had been recovered from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.
Thousands of Israelis again took to the streets of Israels commercial hub Tel Aviv over the weekend to press for a Gaza truce deal that could free dozens of hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accused by critics of stalling in truce negotiations and prolonging the war to appease far-right coalition partners, has said Hamas militants executed the six hostages by shooting them in the back of the head.
Netanyahu has also blamed Hamas leaders for rejecting terms of a possible truce and hostage release deal, while himself facing calls from Israeli critics to make concessions to secure the return of 97 people still held in Gaza, including 33 the military says are dead.
Actor Lior Ashkenazi told the crowd in Tel Aviv on Saturday that there will be no redemption if the government allows the Israeli captives to be abandoned to murderers and rapists for coalition considerations.
No one will agree to live under a broken leadership. Cry out, beloved land, for your leaders abandon you.
As in past weeks, relatives of captives addressed the crowd.
Eli Elbag, father of hostage Liri Elbag, said addressing his daughter: Its been a year since I last kissed you, a year since I last laughed with you.
We will continue to fight to bring everyone home, said the father.
Beirut, Hezbollah Are Distractions
Last weeks protest unfolded in the shadow of increasing cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanese group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally.
Shahar Mor, nephew of slain hostage Avraham Munder, said he feared the fight against Hezbollah would again distract leaders from the plight of the hostages.
Their goal is to focus on the illusion of absolute victory that is always just around the corner, said Mor.
But like during successive phases of intense fighting in Gaza over nearly a year of war, the corner always shifts according to specific interests, he said.
Yesterday it was Rafah (in southern Gaza), tomorrow it will be Beirut.
The October 7 attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, on the Israeli side, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages that day, scores of whom were released during a one-week truce in November.
Israels retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,391 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territorys health ministry. The UN has acknowledged the figures as reliable.
Hezbollah-Israel Clashes Escalate
Meanwhile, Hezbollah fired a ballistic missile at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Wednesday, with Israel launching more air strikes on Lebanon after its military intercepted the unprecedented launch.
It is the first time Hezbollah has claimed a ballistic missile strike since its nearly year-long battle with Israel began after its Palestinian ally Hamas carried out its October 7 attack.
Israel conducted more air strikes on areas around Lebanon on Wednesday, after raids earlier this week killed at least 558 people in the deadliest day of violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The Lebanese health ministry said Wednesdays strikes killed 15 people, including in mountain areas outside Hezbollahs traditional strongholds.
According to Lebanese officials, hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled their homes in southern and eastern Lebanon to escape the violence between the Iran-backed militants and Israel.
(with inputs from AFP)
Saudi Arabia has raised concerns about the growing number of Pakistani beggars arriving in the Kingdom under the guise of religious pilgrimage and asked Islamabad to take action to prevent them from entering the Gulf country, a media report said on Tuesday.
Citing sources from Pakistans Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Express Tribune newspaper reported that the Saudi authorities have also warned that if the situation is not controlled, it could negatively affect Pakistani Umrah and Hajj pilgrims.
The Saudi Ministry of Hajj has issued a warning to Pakistans Ministry of Religious Affairs, urging action to prevent Pakistani beggars from entering the kingdom under Umrah visas, the paper said.
In response, Pakistans Ministry of Religious Affairs has decided to introduce an Umrah Act, which aims to regulate travel agencies facilitating Umrah trips, bringing them under legal oversight, it said.
Additionally, the ministry has asked the Pakistani government to find ways to prevent beggars from travelling to Saudi Arabia under the guise of religious pilgrimage.
Earlier, in a meeting with Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Ahmed Al-Malki, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi assured him that strict measures would be implemented against the mafia responsible for sending beggars to Saudi Arabia.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been tasked with cracking down on this network, which Mohsin said is damaging Pakistans image.
Pakistani beggars travel to the Middle East under the guise of ziarat (pilgrimage). Most people visit Saudi Arabia on Umrah visas and then indulge in begging-related activities, Secretary Overseas Pakistanis Zeeshan Khanzada said last year.
Arshad Mahmood, Secretary of Overseas Pakistanis, last year pointed out that several Gulf countries have expressed concerns regarding the behaviour of overseas Pakistanis, particularly in areas of work ethics, attitudes, and involvement in criminal activities.
According to the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, a staggering 90 per cent of beggars apprehended in foreign countries belong to Pakistan.
The FIA has been directed to crack down on the mafias responsible for sending beggars to Saudi Arabia.
A month ago FIA offloaded 11 alleged beggars from a Saudi Arabia-bound flight at Karachi airport.
During the immigration process, FIA officials questioned the passengers, who admitted that their purpose for visiting Saudi Arabia was to beg.
In September last year, 16 beggars disguised as pilgrims were offloaded from a Saudi Arabia-bound flight and arrested for trying to travel to the Gulf Kingdom to indulge in begging.
A majority of the pickpockets arrested from within Meccas grand mosque are Pakistani nationals, Khanzada was quoted as saying in local media.
Pope Francis on Wednesday slammed the terrible escalation of the conflict in Lebanon as unacceptable, after Israeli bombings in the south of the country targeting Hezbollah killed hundreds of people.
I am saddened by the news coming out of Lebanon but I hope that the international community will make every effort to stop this terrible escalation. This is unacceptable, I express my closeness to the Lebanese people, who have already suffered too much in the recent past, Francis said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. The conceptual document titled Turkic Green Region Unity for a sustainable future in the upcoming Organization of Turkic States (OTS) Summit in Bishkek, said Ambassador Kubanychbek Omuraliev, Secretary-General, Organization of Turkic States (OTS), during the fifth annual Caspian Business Forum in New York, Trend reports.
We are in the process of adopting the conceptual document titled Turkic Green Region Unity for a sustainable future in the upcoming OTS Summit in Bishkek next month, which aligns with Paris Climate Agreement, he said.
Ambassador Omuraliev underscored the strategic importance of the Trans-Caspian International Corridor, also known as the Middle Corridor, which has begun yielding significant results. Noting this progress, Omuraliev added that, Once operational, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project, which is a cornerstone project of the Middle Corridor, will reduce the distance from East Asia to the countries of the Middle East and Southern Europe by around 900 kilometers.
The Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi on Wednesday told Israeli soldiers that the jets flying overhead towards Lebanon are heading there to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah, according to broadcaster BBC.
The Israeli military announced that it is calling up two reserve brigades for operational missions in the northern parts of the country and positioning them closer to the Lebanese border.
You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day. This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah, Herzi Halevi told troops, the broadcaster said.
Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves. We will continue, we are not stopping; we keep striking and hitting them everywhere. The goal is very clearto safely return the residents of the north, he said.
(To achieve that, the military is) preparing the process of a manoeuvre, which means your military boots, your manoeuvring boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, Halevi was quoted as saying.
Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel on Wednesday, including a longer-range projectile that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel. It was the groups farthest strike yet. Israel said it intercepted the projectile, and there were no reports of casualties or damage.
Hezbollah said it had fired a ballistic missile at the headquarters of Israels Mossad intelligence agency, which it said was responsible for the targeted killing of its senior leaders. Israel later said it struck the site the missile was launched from in southern Lebanon.
Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander Tuesday as part of a two-day bombing campaign that left more than 560 people dead and prompted thousands in southern Lebanon to seek refuge from the widening conflict. Hezbollah has launched hundreds of projectiles towards Israel, causing some damage to buildings and homes and lightly injuring a number of people.
Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since the Israel-Hamas war began. Israels military says it will do whatever is necessary to push Hezbollah away from Lebanons border with Israel.
(with inputs from the Associated Press)
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday met with an embarrassing moment when he called for the return of sausages in a slip of the tongue while referring to the release of Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza.
The UK PM, however, recovered from his slip-up immediately by correcting sausages with hostages while addressing the Labour Partys annual conference in Liverpool. A video of Starmer making the sausages gaffe surfaced on social media.
I call again for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the return of the sausages the hostages and a recommitment to the two-state solution: recognised Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel, Starmer said as he corrected himself.
Keir Starmer uses his first big speech as Prime Minister to call for the return of the sausages pic.twitter.com/kl99t6z4nK Conservatives (@Conservatives) September 24, 2024
The context of the mistake came as Starmer stressed escalating tensions in the Middle East during the past week. He touched upon the triggering warfare between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and called for restraint.
I call again for restraint and de-escalation at the border between Lebanon and Israel. I call again for all parties to step back from the brink. I call again for all parties to step back from the brink, he said.
It also comes after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized UK Starmer-led UK government for mixed signals and misguided actions in an interview with the Daily Mail. After the October 7 Hamas massacre, the previous British government was clear in its support. Unfortunately, the current government is sending mixed messages, Netanyahu said.
Starmer occupied the UK Prime Ministerial position in July this year as the Labour Party secured a thumping victory after 14 years of Conservative rule in the country.
As seen in the past, the Starmer government has repeatedly urged a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, speeding up the deliveries of humanitarian aid to Gaza and the release of hostages by Palestinian militant group Hamas during its widened assault on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel claimed that some 1,200 civilians were killed and over 200 people were taken hostage when Hamas launched a ground offensive. In retaliation, the Jewish nation launched a brutal offensive in Gaza, which has claimed over 41,000 lives so far, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry in Gaza.
Academic-turned-politician Harini Amarasuriya who has old connections with India was appointed as Sri Lankas 16th Prime Minister on Tuesday in a historic milestone for the island nation. She became the first woman to assume the role since 2000 and only the third woman to hold such a position in Sri Lankan history.
The development in the countrys top post came after Anura Kumara Dissanayake took oath as the island nations ninth Executive President. Amarasuriya comes from the National Peoples Power (NPP) alliance led by President Dissayanake. She succeeded Dinesh Gunawardena.
Besides the Prime Ministerial position, Aamarasuriya has also been assigned several portfolios including Justice, Industries, Science and Technology, Health, and Investment.
What Ties New Sri Lankan PM Has With India?
Amarasuriya, now 54, spent most of her academic life in India, completing her Bachelors degree in Sociology at Delhi University between 1991-1994.
She studied at the Hindu College, an educational institute known for producing eminent personalities in various fields. Amarasuriyas time at the college has been believed as crucial in shaping her political career in Sri Lanka.
Anju Srivastava, the principal of Hindu College, remarked on her ties with the college and said, Its an honour to know that a Hinduite has become the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Harini was a student of Sociology from 1991 to 1994, and we are extremely proud of her accomplishments. I hope her time at Hindu played a part in shaping her path to success.
Harini Amarasuriya: All You Need To Know About Her
The NPP parliamentarian, born on March 6, 1970, became the 16th prime minister of Sri Lanka and the third woman politician to reach such a post after Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumartunga.
Being a social activist and university lecturer by profession, her educational qualifications include a BA (Honours) in Sociology, MA App. Anthropology and Development Studies, and PhD in Social Anthropology (from the University of Edinburgh). She was present on 269 days and absent on 120 days in the ninth Parliament of Sri Lanka (2020-2024).
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Business entities will be issued a license for the manufacturing of military products, and the Ministry of Defense Industry will issue it for the design, production, and testing of military products, as well as for their repair and maintenance, Advisor to Azerbaijan's Defense Industry Minister Arif Babayev told Trend.
He noted that fees related to the licenses vary from 10,000 to 12,000 and up to 50,000 manat depending on the type of activity.
Work is underway to establish new rules, conditions, and requirements for the issuance of licenses. To stimulate the development of the defense industry, tax and customs privileges will be applied to persons engaged in the design, production, sale, repair, and maintenance of defense articles. They will be exempted from customs duties and value-added tax based on supporting documents issued by the Ministry of Defense Industry. Stimulating interest in defense industry activities and attracting private business entities means creating a healthy competitive environment. The Ministry of Defense Industry will issue permission to import and export military products to the private sector. To organize this process more efficiently and to learn from international experience, appropriate amendments are being made to the national legislation. This in turn will give an impetus to the development of the related industry, he noted.
Former Zanu-PF youth boss Godfrey Tsenengamu says he has formed a citizens taskforce against corruption.
I am here to tell Zimbabweans, it is high time we must work together to fight this menace of corruption. We tried it when we formed the Front for Economic Emancipation in Zimbabwe, but we realised that you cannot fight corruption effectively under the banner of a political party.
It is a legally registered institution, which can report any individual with a rightful authority. We are going to be whistleblowing big time. We dont care whether you are from this party or that political party. We dont care whether you have the support of that powerful individual or this powerful individual. We are not going to be fighting against institutions.
Last week, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga bemoaned high levels of corruption in the country saying the vice was posing a security threat.
Siamak Namazi spent eight years wrongfully imprisoned in Iran's infamous Evin Prison, watching as Americans were released three times while he stayed behind bars. He was finally freed with four other Americans one year ago. In an exclusive interview with CNN, he opened up about how he was taken, what he suffered, and what life is like now.
His arrest: Following his move to America at age 12, Namazi traveled back to Iran frequently. When he flew there for a funeral in 2015, he felt no qualms, describing the period as "the peak of Iran-US relations." But as he went to fly home, he was pulled aside at the airport, interrogated for three months, then arrested. He was accused of working with the US to "topple the Islamic Republic."
While you wouldn't know it from a lot of campaign rhetoric, violent crime rates are falling in the US, especially the murder rate, according to data released by the FBI this week. The 2023 Crime in the Nation report released Monday found that the murder rate continued its decline from a surge during the pandemic and fell 11.3% last year. "That's the fastest pace ever recorded," former CIA data analyst Jeff Asher tells ABC News. "That eclipses 1996 when murder fell by 9.1%, which was previously the largest one-year decline ever recorded."
Prince Harry addressed an "epidemic" of anxiety, depression, and social isolation among today's youth, which he attributed to harmful online experiences, during the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. "These platforms are designed to create addiction," Harry stated, emphasizing the dangers of excessive scrolling and harmful content exposure. He urged for corporate responsibility, challenging social media companies' leaders to uphold higher ethical standards.
In alignment with the CGI's "What's Working" theme, Harry, alongside figures like Bill Clinton and World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres, highlighted ongoing initiatives. One such effort, the Parents Network, was launched by Harry and wife Meghan Markle's Archewell Foundation to support families affected by online harms. Additionally, the foundation has partnered with the World Health Organization to combat violence against children, culminating in the upcoming Global Ministerial Conference in Bogota this November, geared toward child safety online.
Harry's engagement in New York also included a tribute to his late mother, Princess Diana, at an event for the HALO Trust. He noted the significance of their landmine clearing work in Angola, affirming the importance of continuing her legacy. Harry's appearances during the United Nations General Assembly Week underscored his dedication to various humanitarian causes. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
Ukrainian troops have regained control of a processing plant in Vovchansk after intense hand-to-hand combat, marking a vital victory in the town occupied by Russian forces for four months, officials reported Tuesday. The plant, a complex with roughly 30 buildings, served as a significant Russian base in the Kharkiv region since May. Retaking this stronghold was likely meant to signal Ukraine's determined resistance despite facing a larger, well-equipped Russian army.
The victory's timing aligns with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's current visit to the United States, where he seeks ongoing international backing for Ukraine, now nearly three years into the conflict. Despite incremental advances, Russian forces endure severe losses, with the UK Defense Ministry noting daily casualties exceed 1,000 troops. Russian President Vladimir Putin aims to erode Ukraine's resolve and diminish Western support by prolonging the conflict.
In simultaneously ongoing violence, Russian glide bomb attacks killed at least three and injured 28 in Kharkiv, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov stated. People remain trapped under the debris, and rescue efforts are ongoing. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces face intense pressure in Vuhledar, with Russian infantry advancing to encircle the town amid relentless bombardment, according to Andrii Kovalenko from Ukraine's Security and Defense Council. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
A Missouri man was executed Tuesday for breaking into a woman's home and killing her, despite calls by her family and the prosecutor's office that put him on death row to let him serve out the rest of his life in prison. Marcellus Williams, 55, was convicted in the 1998 killing of Lisha Gayle, who was repeatedly stabbed during the burglary of her suburban St. Louis home. Williams' hopes of having his sentence commuted to life in prison suffered dual setbacks Monday when, almost simultaneously, Republican Gov. Mike Parson denied him clemency and the Missouri Supreme Court declined to grant him a stay of execution. The US Supreme Court declined to intervene Tuesday.
Williams was put to death despite questions his attorneys raised over jury selection at his trial and the handling of evidence in the case, the AP reports. His clemency petition focused heavily on how Gayle's relatives wanted Williams' sentence commuted to life without the possibility of parole. "The family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live," the petition stated. "Marcellus' execution is not necessary."
Gayle, 42, was a social worker and former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. Prosecutors at Williams' trial said he broke into her home on Aug. 11, 1998, heard the shower running, and found a large butcher knife. Gayle was stabbed 43 times when she came downstairs. Her purse and her husband's laptop were stolen.
Williams was found guilty despite the fact that his DNA didn't match evidence recovered from the crime scene, the Washington Post reports. According to his current attorneys, the prosecution's case was built around testimony from witnesses who sought reward money and shorter sentences in their own cases for implicating Williams in the crime.
Questions about DNA evidence led St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell to request a hearing challenging Williams' guilt. But days before the Aug. 21 hearing, new testing showed that DNA on the knife belonged to members of the prosecutor's office who handled it without gloves after the original crime lab test.
Without DNA evidence pointing to any alternative suspect, Midwest Innocence Project attorneys reached a compromise with the prosecutor's office: Williams would enter a new, no-contest plea to first-degree murder in exchange for a new sentence of life in prison without parole. A no-contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for the purpose of sentencing. Judge Bruce Hilton signed off, as did Gayle's family. But acting on an appeal from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's Office, the state Supreme Court nullified the agreement.
Tuesday marked the third time Williams had faced execution. He was less than a week away from lethal injection in January 2015 when the state Supreme Court called it off, allowing time for his attorneys to pursue additional DNA testing. Williams was hours from being executed in August 2017 when then-Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican, granted a stay. Greitens appointed a panel of retired judges to examine the case. But that panel never reached a conclusion.
Williams was among death row inmates in five states who were scheduled to be put to death in the span of a weekan unusually high number that defies a yearslong decline in the use and support of the death penalty in the US. The first was carried out Friday in South Carolina. Texas was also slated to execute a prisoner on Tuesday evening. (More Missouri stories.)
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars media platform and its assets will be sold off piece by piece in auctions this fall to help pay the more than $1 billion he owes relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, under an order expected to be approved by a federal judge, the AP reports. US Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston said during a court hearing Tuesday that he will approve the auctions that start in November. But he said he first must change a previous order to make it clear that the trustee overseeing Jones' personal bankruptcy case controls all the assets of Infowars' parent company Free Speech Systems, which is owned 100% by Jones. Despite the pending loss of his company, Jones vows to continue his talk shows through other means, possibly including a new website and his personal social media accounts.
He also has suggested that Infowars' assets could be bought by his supporters, allowing him to continue hosting his show as an employee under the Infowars brand in their home city of Austin, Texas. Jones and his company both filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022the same year Sandy Hook families won nearly $1.5 billion in defamation and emotional distress lawsuits against Jones for his repeatedly calling the 2012 school shooting a hoax staged by "crisis actors" to get more gun control legislation passed. Twenty first graders and six educators were killed in the Newtown, Connecticut shooting. Jones is appealing the civil jury verdicts.
In June, Lopez converted Jones' personal bankruptcy reorganization case into a liquidation, meaning many of his assets will be sold off to pay creditors except for his main home and other exempt property. The same day, Lopez also dismissed Free Speech Systems' bankruptcy case after Jones and the families could not reach agreement on a final plan. The sell-off order Lopez intends to approve would put Infowars' intellectual property up for auction on Nov. 13 including its trademarks, copyrighted material, social media accounts, and websites. Jones' personal social media sites, including his account on the social platform X, which has 2.8 million followers, would not be included, though the trustee overseeing Jones' bankruptcy case says he may soon seek court permission to include them; he also is expected to sell many of Jones' personal assets. Infowars' production equipment, online vitamin store, and more will also be auctioned off, NPR reports. (Much more on the complicated ins and outs here.)
Another woman has filed a lawsuit accusing Sean "Diddy" Combs of rape, and she spoke out almost immediately after doing so. Thalia Graves, in a press conference alongside her attorney Gloria Allred, said that in 2001, she was dating one of Combs' employees at Bad Boy Records when Combs "lured" her into a meeting with himself and Joseph Sherman, his bodyguard at the time, the Wall Street Journal reports. She says she lost consciousness after being given an apparently drugged drink, and that when she came to, she was naked and bound. She says she screamed, and Sherman slammed her face onto a pool table, People reports. Then, she says, the men raped her.
During the alleged encounter, she says she vomited and involuntarily defecated, but Combs was not put off. "He wiped himself off" and kept going, the lawsuit says. Graves says the encounter was recorded, distributed to others, and sold as porn. Her allegations are not included in the recent federal criminal indictment against Combs, per the Journal, but she is one of a number of women who have come forward in recent months to accuse Combs of sexual assault. Allred says that while this is the first suit against the rapper she has filed, she is representing other alleged victims. (More Sean Combs stories.)
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First One Home Fell Into the Sea. Then Another, and Another
On one block in Rodanthe, North Carolina, 3 houses tumble into ocean within a week
Robert Tulloch, convicted in the 2001 murders of Dartmouth professors Half and Susanne Zantop, is challenging his life-without-parole sentence, arguing it violates the New Hampshire Constitution. Tulloch, who was 17 at the time of the crime, and his friend James Parker planned to rob and kill individuals in order to amass $10,000 and then flee to Australia with the money they had taken. A Grafton County Superior Court hearing was set to address the legal issues of Tulloch's case.
Tulloch's challenge follows a 2012 US Supreme Court ruling deeming mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles as "cruel and unusual" punishment. His attorney, Richard Guerriero, asserts that the New Hampshire Constitution offers broader protections than the US Constitution. He argues the state's prohibition of "cruel or unusual punishments" should encompass life sentences without parole for crimes committed as a child. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire and other groups support Tulloch's appeal.
Prosecutors, however, find Guerriero's argument unconvincing and may seek the same sentence for Tulloch. New Hampshire is among the states that have not banned life-without-parole sentences for juveniles, despite similar measures succeeding in 28 others. Tulloch remains the last of five men awaiting resentencing under a state Supreme Court ruling on juvenile life sentences. Parker, 40, had been sentenced to 25 years to life and was paroled in June. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. The meeting of Azerbaijani doctors living in Finland has been held at the Azerbaijan House in Helsinki, Trend reports via the State Committee for Work with Diaspora of Azerbaijan.
The meeting was organized by the coordinator of Scandinavian Azerbaijanis in Finland, the head of the Azerbaijani-Turkish youth organization, and head of the Azerbaijan House in Helsinki, Ulviya Jabbarova.
According to the information, doctors participating in the meeting shared their professional experiences and expressed their opinions on innovations to be implemented in the field of healthcare in Azerbaijan.
During the event, such relevant topics as knowledge exchange in the field of healthcare in Azerbaijan and joint projects that can be implemented in the future were discussed.
The ways of adapting the Finnish healthcare model and technologies to the Azerbaijani one were explored.
The participants of the meeting emphasized that the improvement of Finnish digital health systems, family medicine, and inter-community health services can be beneficial for Azerbaijan.
To note, the main purpose of the event is to establish deeper ties between Finland and Azerbaijan in the field of health care, exchange experience, study the best practices of Finland in the field of health care and application of this knowledge in Azerbaijan, and contribute to improving the quality of medical services in our country," the State Committee reports.
China hasn't test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into international waters in more than four decadesuntil now. The AP reports that China launched an ICBM with a dummy warhead on Wednesday, and that the missile fell into the Pacific Ocean as it was intended to, according to the nation's Defense Ministry. It's not clear what kind of missile, or what its flight path was, but what is clear is that this type of test isn't the norm: Usually when China is testing out weaponry, it fires from the east toward its own western deserts, not beyond its borders, says James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Although Beijing is insisting the test launch was "routine" and part of its "annual training," experts are saying it's anything but, reports the BBC. "They don't do this sort [of] thing either routinely or annually," nuclear weapons expert Ankit Panda wrote in a thread on X. The last time China sent an ICBM flying into international space was in 1980, when it sent a missile into the South Pacific. "When they haven't done something for 44 years and then they do it, that's significant," Acton tells the AP.
Chinese state media also claims that China had "informed the countries concerned in advance," per the BBC. However, neighboring Japan for one said it had received "no notice" of the launch. Drew Thompson, a visiting research fellow at Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, notes "there are high-levels of tension between China and Japan, [the] Philippines, and of course perpetual tension with Taiwan." Thompson adds: "This launch is a powerful signal intended to intimidate everyone." The New York Times notes that China possesses more than 130 ICBMs, with the ability to carry 240 warheads. (More China stories.)
Israel's strikes on Lebanon continue as it tries to take down Hezbollah across the border, but on Wednesday, Hezbollah attempted its own major strike, launching a surface-to-surface missile programmed for Tel Aviv that Israel intercepted, reports the AP . The New York Times calls it "one of the militant group's most far-reaching attacks into Israeli territory in decades of conflict," noting that no injuries were reported after the incident. "This morning, they were able to shoot farther in, the first time in history to Tel Aviv," says Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, a spokesman for the Israeli military.
Hezbollah says the medium-range Qader 1 ballistic missile sent toward central Israel was aiming for the home base of Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency. The Iran-sponsored militants say Mossad was behind the recent killings of top Hezbollah commanders, as well as the recent pager and walkie-talkie attacks that killed dozens and injured thousands. However, Shoshani tells the Times the missile had been speeding toward civilian areas of Tel Aviv before it was intercepted by Israel's David's Sling air defense system. He adds that Hezbollah's claim that it was targeting Mossad is nothing other than "psychological warfare," per the AP.
Israel Defense Forces says that, in a "quick closing of the circle," it determined where the missile had been launched from in Lebanon and destroyed that site in Nafakhiyeh, reports the Jerusalem Post. The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday regarding Lebanon, at France's request. The Lebanese Health Ministry says more than 560 people have died in Israeli strikes since Monday, including 50 children. Hezbollah, which has launched 500 missiles, drones, and rockets into Israel since Sunday, has been going after its neighbor in solidarity with Hamas since the latter's attack on Israel on Oct. 7. (More Israel stories.)
A passenger on a public bus in Los Angeles was fatally shot early Wednesday after a suspect allegedly hijacked the vehicle and led police on a chase, per KTLA . After the suspect pulled out a gun during a dispute, the driver pushed a button that caused a "Call 911" message to display on the bus's exterior while in the Vermont Knolls neighborhood of South Los Angeles shortly before 1am, the outlet reported. An unknown number of passengers were reportedly trapped as the suspect allegedly held a gun to the driver's head. At a press conference later Wednesday, Deputy Chief Donald Graham said the driver "continued to operate the bus in as safe a manner as he could under the circumstances, with the police trailing him for an hour," per NBC News .
Police used spike strips to bring the bus to a stop in the downtown area around 2:10am, per ABC News. Footage shared online showed police around an orange bus, saying, "You're surrounded, come out with your hands up," per NBC. A SWAT team was able to rescue the uninjured driver and another person from the bus, at which point the suspect was taken into custody, per ABC. It was then that police found another person suffering from multiple gunshot wounds inside the bus, per the outlet. The individual was pronounced dead at a hospital. Police said they were still investigating what led to the shooting. LA Metro said it was "grateful for the LAPD's swift action." (More Los Angeles stories.)
A federal judge is set to re-sentence reality TV star Julie Chrisley following an appeals court ruling that identified a sentencing error. Julie Chrisley and her husband, Todd, famed for their show Chrisley Knows Best, were convicted in 2022 of bank fraud and tax evasion. The couple, along with their accountant Peter Tarantino, fraudulently obtained over $30 million in loans, evaded taxes, and lived extravagantly.
A three-judge panel of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the convictions but found the trial judge erroneously held Julie Chrisley accountable for the entire fraud scheme starting in 2006. It was noted there was insufficient evidence confirming her involvement that early. Consequently, the case has been sent back for re-sentencing. Prosecutors urged the judge to reinstate Julie's original seven-year sentence, while her defense requested no more than five years, citing the adverse impact on their children.
Julie Chrisley was initially sentenced to seven years in prison, while Todd received 12 years; $17.8 million in restitution was mandated. Todd Chrisley is currently serving time at a minimum-security prison in Pensacola, Florida, with a projected release in September 2032. Julie was held at a facility in Lexington, Kentucky. Meanwhile, Tarantino is in a halfway house in Atlanta with a release date set for March. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
The Taliban's oppression of Afghanistan's women is going to be challenged in the International Court of Justice. The foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands announced at the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday that they plan to pursue a gender discrimination case against Afghanistan's government in the world court, the Guardian reports.
In 2003, long before the Taliban returned to power, Afghanistan ratified the UN's Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Taliban's extremely blatant violations of the convention in recent years have included banning women from higher education and most forms of employment. In an edict last month, women were banned from showing their faces or raising their voices in public.
After days of airstrikes , commanders in the Israeli military have told troops to get ready for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon. "We need to be very ready to go into action and to invade," Israel Defense Forces Northern Commander Maj. Gen. Uri Gordon told the military's Brigade 7 on Wednesday, per the Jerusalem Post . It's not clear when the ground operation might begin. Former IDF intelligence chief Amos Yadlin said Wednesday that there should be two weeks of airstrikes before an invasion, but sources tell the Post that the military aims to wrap up the major parts of a ground operation by early November, before winter weather comes to the rugged terrain of southern Lebanon.
Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the IDF's chief of staff, also told troops to prepare for a ground operation. He said in the operation, troops would "go in, destroy the enemy there and decisively destroy" Hezbollah's infrastructure in southern Lebanon, the Washington Post reports. He told troops in northern Israel that the airstrikes were intended "to prepare the terrain for the possibility of your incursion," but they should still expect to meet a "forceful response," reports the New York Times.
The IDF said it hit around 280 targets in the latest round of airstrikes. A missile Hezbollah fired at Tel Aviv Wednesday, one of hundreds of missiles, rockets, and drones fired across the border since Sunday, was intercepted. President Biden said Wednesday that "all-out war is possible," but it's also possible "to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region," the AP reports. In an interview on ABC's The View, he said a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah could lead to a peace deal in the Israel-Hamas war, and he's using "every bit of energy" he has with his team to get it done. (More Lebanon stories.)
You might recall prominent Americans vowing to flee the country if former President Trump won the presidency in 2016. Trump did, of course, take the White House, and basically none of those influential people followed through on their vow. But they are not Michael Cohen, who says he's serious about leaving the US if Trump wins again, per the Hill . Should Trump triumph in November, the former Trump fixerwhose testimony in a New York hush money trial was key to making Trump the first sitting or former US president to be convicted in a criminal case says he plans to flee and change his name. "I'm out of here," Cohen told MSNBC on Tuesday, per the Independent . "I have no choice."
Trump has spoken openly about plans to prosecute his enemies, and the New York Times named Cohen as a possible target in a Saturday report. Cohen told MSNBC that he's "already working on a foreign passport with a completely different name." He said othersincluding Gen. Mark Milley, former congresswoman Liz Cheney, MSNBC President Rashida Jones, and Nicolle Wallace, the MSNBC journalist he was speaking withshould also be concerned since the recent Supreme Court decision granting presidents immunity for official actions. Cohen characterized the ruling as a "get-out-of-jail-free card solely for the president."
"How many people has [Trump] turned around and said that these are people that I intend to go after if I have the ability to?" Cohen says. As for his own plans, "I don't know how it's going to work, as far as dealing with my wife and my children," Cohen told Wallace. "I certainly don't want them moving to where I'm looking to go." Earlier this month, Stormy Daniels, the recipient of the hush money payments, said she believes there's a "strong possibility" Trump will have her tried for treason if he retakes the White House. "He wants to be king," she told Rolling Stone. "There will be chaos." (More Michael Cohen stories.)
A western Wisconsin man has been charged in the 1985 killing of a college student whose decapitated body was found days after she vanished, authorities said. Michael Raymond Popp was arrested Monday on one count of first-degree murder in the slaying of 24-year-old Terry Dolowy, the AP reports. The 60-year-old is being held at the Vernon County Jail on $1 million cash bail.
Prosecutors said Popp knew Dolowy, a River Forest, Illinois, native who was a senior at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. At the time of her killing, he lived a short distance from where Dolowy lived in La Crosse County with her fiance, according to a criminal complaint.
Authorities said Popp, a Tomah resident who has worked as a truck driver, was 21 years old at the time of the murder, WEAU reports.
An arbitration board has cleared the way for the acquisition of US Steel by Nippon Steel to proceed. The board, jointly chosen by US Steel and the United Steelworkers union, ruled in favor of US Steel, saying terms of the successorship clause in its basic labor agreement had been met, CBS Pittsburgh reports. The board said the Japanese company has recognized USW as the representative for employees and had "provided reasonable assurances" that it will honor its written commitments. The commitments include a pledge to invest $1.4 billion in union-represented facilities and to not lay off workers or close plants during the term of the agreement, reports the AP .
USW filed multiple grievances in January, expressing concern about labor and national defense issues. "With the arbitration process now behind us, we look forward to moving ahead with our pending transaction with Nippon Steel," US Steel CEO David Burritt said, per the AP. The union, however, disagreed with the board's decision. "Nippon's commitment to our facilities and jobs remains as uncertain as ever, and executives in Tokyo can still change US Steel's business plans and wipe them away at any moment," USW said in a statement. "We're clearly disappointed with the decision, but it does nothing to change our opposition to the deal or our resolve to fight for our jobs and communities that hang in the balance in this transaction."
Earlier this year, when he was still running for reelection, President Biden vowed to block the deal. The White House later downplayed the claim, saying the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States is reviewing the $14.9 billion deal and could advise against it; its decision likely won't come until November. On the campaign trail, Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have both said they want to keep US Steel American owned, reports Reuters. On Tuesday, Burritt told CNBC he was confident that the deal would go through. He said investment from the larger firm would save American jobs, and US Steel would benefit from Nippon's advanced technology. "We won't be able to succeed without Nippon," he said. (More US Steel stories.)
Israel is bulldozing sections of West Bank towns, destroying infrastructure and businesses in operations that the government says are intended to root out terrorists and residents say appear designed to send an ominous message. Video shows Israeli soldiers impeding emergency responders, the New York Times reports. "We watched their bulldozers tear up streets, demolish businesses, pharmacies, schools. They even bulldozed the town soccer field, and a tree in the middle of a road," said Kamal Abu al-Rub, a local official in the northern West Bank. "What was the point of all of this?"
Israel said it's going after armed Hamas and other militants, reporting it found weapons stockpiles in the latest operation while killing 23 and arresting 45. The military told the Times it's trying to avoid "damaging essential infrastructure" in the West Bank as it demines roads or destroys arms caches concealed on private property. Officials conceded, however, that those "operations in the area have caused unavoidable harm to certain civilian structures." Residents of the towns of Jenin and Tulkarm said they have never endured such destruction to their roads and infrastructure.
Video supports the residents' accounts, per the Times. Sewer and water lines also have been destroyed, and internet, electrical, and phone service has been cut. One business owner said his store has been damaged 10 times in raids since the Israel-Hamas war began Oct. 7. He no longer replaces every shattered window and believes the destruction of business is intentional. "They are imposing conditions, materially and psychologically, that make people feel: Gaza is coming to you," said Shawan Jabarin of Al Haq, a rights group based in the West Bank. "There is a feeling among Palestinians across the West Bank that what is coming is very badthat it will be a plan to kill and expel us." (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Prosecutors General of more than 30 countries will gather at the conference of the International Association of Prosecutors to be held in Baku, the Deputy Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan Heydar Mammadov said in an interview with local media, Trend reports.
Heydar Mammadov noted that the annual conference and general meeting of the International Association of Prosecutors, the first and only global organization of the world's prosecutors, which has more than 350,000 members in 177 countries of the world, is held every September in cities of different leading countries of the world.
Stressing that holding the 29th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the organization from September 28 through October 2 in Baku is of exceptional historical significance for Azerbaijan, the Deputy Prosecutor General noted that more than 465 participants from 95 countries, including prosecutors general and other high-ranking officials, and more than 40 accompanying family members were registered.
Noting this prestigious event to be held in Azerbaijan is an international coordination platform, Heydar Mammadov emphasized that prosecutors general of more than 30 states, heads of various structures of the judicial-legal system of more than 20 states, and authoritative international organizations will also take part in the conference.
Mentioning that under the leadership of Azerbaijan's Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev, the Prosecutor's Office actively participates in numerous global and regional initiatives, and comprehensive work is carried out to strengthen international relations, Heydar Mammadov added that the Prosecutor's Office will organize a high-level plenary session entitled Mobilization of law enforcement agencies for more active actions to combat climate change during the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov has reviewed products of foreign countries presented at the ADEX-2024 exhibition, Trend reports.
The 5th anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX, the largest event dedicated to the defense industry in the region, is being held at the Baku Expo Center on September 24-26. The 14th International Exhibition of Equipment for Internal Security, Safety, and Rescue "Securex Caspian" is organized in parallel.
The first ADEX exhibition was organized in 2014. The list of exhibitors and the sectors it covers has been expanding from year to year.
The exhibition has brought together many companies representing more than 50 countries and about 200 official delegations over 10 years of successful activity. Over these years, more than 30,000 guests have visited the exhibition.
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com
Email: ashen@newsofbahrain.com
The Kingdom of Bahrain has entered a new era in organ transplantation with the implementation of the executive regulations for the law on human organ transplantation.
The new regulations, which were approved recently, introduce significant changes and amendments to the existing framework.
A key highlight of the new regulations is the legalisation of organ transplantation from brain-dead individuals.
This move is expected to significantly increase the availability of organs for patients in need.
The regulations also prohibit several practices related to organ transplantation and donation, including prohibition of organ transplantation that could lead to lineage confusion, and prohibition of organ buying and selling through any means.
To oversee the implementation of the new regulations, a central committee has been established.
This committee will be responsible for managing and regulating all aspects of human organ transplantation in Bahrain.
Medical professionals and members of the Shura Council and the Council of Representatives have expressed optimism that the detailed regulations will contribute to providing organs for patients in need, particularly for those requiring kidneys or livers.
This will be achieved through donations from both brain-dead individuals and living donors.
Kidney transplants Dr Hani Al Saaati, a member of the Shura Council, highlighted the critical need for kidney transplants in Bahrain, stating that there are currently 800 kidney patients in the country.
He emphasised that 10-15% of these patients, or 80 to 100 cases annually, require kidney transplants to reach the internationally recommended rate.
Dr Al Saaati revealed that 20 kidney transplants were successfully performed in the past year, after a hiatus of over a year.
He expressed confidence that Bahrain will achieve the target transplant rate within the next two to three years, thanks to the robust program and available resources.
Economic benefits Dr Al-Saaati stressed the significant economic benefits of performing organ transplants in Bahrain.
He pointed out that kidney patients currently cost the government approximately BD20 million annually for dialysis sessions alone, excluding other costs like healthcare services, transportation, medication, and various treatments.
He further explained that each dialysis session costs the government between BD80 and BD120, with patients typically undergoing three sessions per week, totaling 12 sessions per month.
This translates to BD1,500 per month and BD18,000 to BD25,000 per year for each kidney patient.
Cost comparison Dr Al-Saaati highlighted the cost-effectiveness of kidney transplants performed in Bahrain compared to those conducted abroad.
He stated that kidney transplants in Bahrain cost less than 40% of the total cost abroad, with an average cost of approximately BD6,000 in Bahrain.
In contrast, the same procedure abroad costs around BD25,000 for the transplant alone, excluding accommodation, medication, airfare, and other expenses. This can escalate the total cost of a kidney transplant abroad to BD100,00.
Significant decision MP Dr Mahdi Al Shuwaikh, a member of the Services Committee of the Council of Representatives, considered the Minister of Healths decision a significant step forward.
He emphasised that issuing the executive regulations for the law is a legislative necessity to implement the laws.
The lawmaker also highlighted that organ transplantation is a complex issue with significant humanitarian, social, and medical implications.
AFP | United Nations, United States
The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com
Email: editor@Newsofbahrain.com
American actor Meryl Streep has said a "squirrel has more rights" than a girl in Afghanistan, adding her voice to a call by Afghan women to end the Taliban government's severe restrictions on their lives.
Taliban authorities have implemented an austere interpretation of Islamic law since returning to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led forces. Women and girls have borne the brunt of restrictions -- including being barred from public parks, universities and singing in public -- which the United Nations has labeled "gender apartheid".
"A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban," Streep said on Monday during a discussion on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
"A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not, and a woman may not in public," the Oscar-winning actor said. "I feel that the international community as a whole, if they came together, could affect change in Afghanistan, and stop the slow suffocation of an entire half (of ) the population."
The Taliban government, which is yet to be recognized by any other country, published a widely criticized law in August further tightening restrictions on women's lives.
While many of the measures had been informally enforced since the Taliban's takeover in 2021, their formal codification sparked an outcry from the international community and rights groups.
The "vice and virtue" law dictates that a woman's voice should not be raised outside the home and that women should not sing or read poetry aloud. It requires them to cover their entire body and face if they need to leave their homes, which they should only do "out of necessity".
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. The advanced, lightweight, all-weather aircraft, designed for both day and night operations JF-17C (Block-III) multirole fighter jets have been included in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Air Force, Trend reports.
According to the information, the above-mentioned aircraft have been developed as a joint venture between Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra and Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation of China.
The JF-17C (Block-III) is a single-engine multirole combat aircraft known for its air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities, as well as its high maneuverability at medium and low altitudes, making it notable for its effective firepower.
Survey highlights importance of investing in cyber resilience
TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 /CNW/ - Businesses aren't the only ones benefiting from the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Cyber criminals are using the same technology to carry out more sophisticated cyber attacks, and small business owners are taking notice. According to a new survey conducted by Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), two-thirds (65%) of surveyed small and medium-sized business owners and decision makers in Canada are concerned AI/new technology will make it harder to protect against cyber risks.
"AI has made cyber attacks easier to automate and harder to detect and can pose a real threat to the integrity and security of any business," said Mahan Azimi, Manager, Catastrophic Risk Policy, IBC. "With AI applications and new technology becoming more numerous and widely used by cyber criminals, there is a growing need for business owners to improve their cyber resilience."
For example, AI applications such as ChatGPT have made it easier to create more convincing social engineering emails, while other new technologies are capable of adapting to cyber security defences in real time.
Despite this emerging risk, the survey results indicate that business owners' preparation and investment in cyber resilience is on a downward trend. In 2023, 69% of small to medium-sized business owners who responded to the survey said they are doing what they can to reduce their business's cyber risks. In 2024, that number fell to only 61%.
The survey also found:
Nearly half (45%) of survey respondents believe there is a chance their business is currently vulnerable to a cyber attack or data breach, however, 62% do not consider cyber security a financial priority.
Only 45% of survey respondents have implemented defenses against cyber attacks while only 31% percent increased their cybersecurity protocols in the last year.
An even smaller number (18%) said they were insured against a cyber attack.
"As cyber criminals are quick to leverage AI and other new technologies, business owners need to stay one step ahead to safeguard their businesses, employees and their customers," added Azimi. "It doesn't need to be expensive or onerous. IBC has several free resources to help business owners better understand cyber risk and the steps business owners can take to improve their resilience. Becoming familiar with cyber insurance is also a crucial tool in managing your cyber risk."
IBC has been supporting businesses' efforts to increase their cyber resilience and understand risk mitigation measures, such as cyber insurance, through its annual Cyber Savvy public education campaign.
As well, IBC has created a self-assessment tool for SME owners considering a cyber insurance policy. This 10-question assessment can help business owners learn about the cyber security protocols and best practices that most cyber insurers look for when assessing risk. The assessment poses some of the questions that cyber insurers may ask during the application process.
The assessment and other resources for SME owners are available at CyberSavvyCanada.ca.
About the Survey
These are findings of a survey conducted by the Insurance Bureau of Canada from August 2 to 9,2024, among an online sample of 317 business owners or decision makers who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. Survey respondents were from companies with fewer than 500 employees. 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 +/- 5.4%, 19 times out of 20.
About Insurance Bureau of Canada
Established in 1964, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is the national industry association representing Canada's private home, auto and business insurers. Its member companies make up the vast majority of Canada's highly competitive property and casualty (P&C) insurance market.
As the leading advocate for Canada's private P&C insurers, IBC collaborates with governments, regulators and stakeholders to support a competitive environment for the P&C insurance industry to continue to help protect Canadians from the risks of today and tomorrow.
IBC believes that Canadians value and deserve a responsive and resilient private P&C insurance industry that provides insurance solutions to both individuals and businesses.
For media releases, IN Focus articles, or to book an interview with an IBC representative, visit ibc.ca . Follow us on LinkedIn , X and Instagram, and like us on Facebook . If you have a question about home, auto or business insurance, contact IBC's Consumer Information Centre at 1-844-2ask-IBC. We're here to help.
SOURCE Insurance Bureau of Canada
Media Contact: Brett Weltman, Manager, Media Relations, IBC, [email protected]
New phase of UHNITED campaign calls on Toronto/GTA to support Canada's #1 hospital
TORONTO, Sept, 25, 2024 /CNW/ - University Health Network (UHN) unveils its first-ever television commercial as part of the second phase of its UHNITED campaign, highlighting UHN's significant impact on health care and the vital role that donors play in making this impact possible. This new wave of the UHNITED campaign comes on the heels of the City of Toronto declaring September 23 27 "University Health Network Week," a week dedicated to celebrating the achievements of UHN's nearly 25,000 staff.
The campaign features five authentic and powerful stories that demonstrate how UHN is reimagining health care from piloting a peer support program to care for Toronto's most vulnerable in the emergency department, to developing artificial intelligence technology to assist surgeons in real time. With the tagline "It takes a city to change the world," the campaign aims to inspire Toronto and GTA communities to come together to reimagine health care, and reminds them that donations of any size are what make never-been-done ideas a reality in their local community and beyond.
New phase of UHNITED campaign calls on Toronto/GTA to support Canada's #1 hospital Post this
Directed by award-winning Brent Foster, the spot features real UHN employees, donors, and a handful of patients whose lives were positively impacted through revolutionary treatment at UHN. These inspiring and life-changing moments trigger literal impact waves that spread across the hospital, the city and beyondan unignorable metaphor for UHN's contributions to health care here and around the globe.
"We want everyone to know that the #1 hospital in Canada is right here in the GTA, and it is responsible for advancing medicine on a global scale," said Julie Quenneville, CEO of UHN Foundation. "When we come together as a community, even the smallest donation makes a difference. We can all play a role in changing the status quo of health care, and through this campaign we invite the community to join us in our mission."
The UHNITED campaign was produced by Zulu Alpha Kilo in partnership with UHN Foundation, with Havas Media Canada overseeing the media strategy in partnership with The Aber Group. The campaign is running across TV, cinema, print, digital and out-of-home placements from September 25 to December 31, including a Union Station domination campaign from September 25 to October 23.
To learn more about UHN Foundation or to donate, please visit UHNITED.ca.
About UHN Foundation
Part of University Health Network (UHN), UHN Foundation raises funds for Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto Rehab and The Michener Institute of Education. No one ever changed the world on their own: Donor support is critical to upholding the excellence in patient care that UHN is known for and changing the status quo of health care helping to recruit and train the brightest medical minds from around the world, develop new treatments for disease, and advance bold medical research. UHNfoundation.ca
About University Health Network (UHN)
University Health Network (UHN) is Canada's #1 hospital and the world's #1 publicly funded hospital. With 10 sites and more than 20,000 staff, UHN consists of Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto Rehab, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, The Michener Institute of Education and West Park Healthcare Centre. Also Canada's top research hospital, the scope of research and complexity of cases at UHN have made it a national and international source for discovery, education and patient care. Flagship program areas include cardiology (Peter Munk Cardiac Centre/Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research), transplantation (Ajmera Transplant Centre), neurosciences (Krembil Brain Institute), vision (Donald K. Johnson Eye Institute), arthritis (Schroeder Arthritis Institute), surgical innovation (Sprott Department of Surgery), genomic and regenerative medicine (McEwen Stem Cell Institute), oncology, infectious diseases, social medicine (Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine) and rehabilitation medicine. University Health Network is a research hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto.
UHN.ca
SOURCE UHN Foundation
For media inquiries, please contact: Olivia Monardo, Public Relations Officer, [email protected], 416-669-0638
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Belarus is at the level of strategic partnership, the Chief of the General Staff of the Belarusian Armed Forces, First Deputy Minister of Defense, Major General Pavel Muraveiko told Trend on the sidelines of the Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition "ADEX".
"We are striving to develop our ties and support each other in areas such as humanitarian demining, studying air defense forces and equipment, and training personnel for operations in modern military conflicts.
Today, we plan to meet with the Chief of the General Staff and the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan to discuss further areas of cooperation development.
This is the fifth anniversary exhibition. Many interesting military samples are displayed here, including those presented by the Azerbaijani side. I would like to point out that the exhibition is filled with significant models that have caught the attention of the Belarusian Armed Forces representatives. We'll study and review the available options," he added.
The second day of the 5th anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX, the largest event in the region dedicated to the defense industry, is being held at Baku Expo Center.
The 5th anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX, the largest event dedicated to the defense industry in the region, is being held September 24-26 at Baku Expo Center. The 14th International Exhibition of Equipment for Internal Security, Safety, and Rescue "Securex Caspian" is organized in parallel.
The first "ADEX" exhibition was organized in 2014. The list of exhibitors and the sectors it covers expands from year to year.
The exhibition has brought together many companies representing more than 50 countries and about 200 official delegations over 10 years of successful activity. Over the years, the exhibition has been visited by more than 30,000 guests.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. In New York, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to join Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan for a meeting scheduled for September 26, Spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Aykhan Hajizada told Trend.
He noted that the meeting will occur at Blinkens initiative.
To recall, on July 10 of this year, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia convened in Washington during the summit commemorating the 75th anniversary of NATO.
The parties agreed to continue working on a peace agreement then.
They highlighted the progress made by Azerbaijan and Armenia towards concluding a historic peace agreement and establishing interstate relations, and agreed to continue working in this direction.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Bayraktar Aknc, an attack UAV, has been presented at the 5th Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX, which is being held at the Baku Expo Center, Trend reports.
The exhibition showcases several products from many countries alongside Azerbaijan.
One of the presented products is the Bayraktar Aknc attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Turkish company Baykar Technology.
The 5th anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX, the largest event dedicated to the defense industry in the region, is being held at the Baku Expo Center on September 24-26. The 14th International Exhibition of Equipment for Internal Security, Safety and Rescue Securex Caspian is organized in parallel.
The first ADEX exhibition was organized in 2014. The list of exhibitors and the sectors it covers expands from year to year.
The exhibition has brought together many companies representing more than 50 countries and about 200 official delegations over 10 years of successful activity. The exhibition has been visited by more than 30,000 guests over the years.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
An assistant principal for a South Jersey high school died over the weekend, school officials said Wednesday.
Andrew AJ Barchetto, 46, began working for Oakcrest High School in 2016, according to a LinkedIn profile. The school is part of the Greater Egg Harbor Regional School District in Atlantic County. His cause of death was not disclosed on Wednesday. The administrators family declined to comment when reached by NJ Advance Media.
Oakcrest Principal Mike Manning confirmed Barchettos death, saying his death left a void in the school community that will be felt for a long time.
Oakcrest is coping as well as could be hoped, Manning said in a statement. Mr. Barchetto was a trusted and loved administrator. He was a role model for all students and a champion for all of our special education students. Sudden loss happens suddenly, but its something that you feel for a long time, over and over again.
Barchetto was a graduate of both McDaniel College and New Jersey City University, according to his LinkedIn profile. Funeral services have been scheduled for this weekend in Tuckerton, according to his online obituary from Wood Funeral Home.
Barchetto is survived by his wife and five children, according to a GoFundMe fundraiser organized by his family.
AJ was the hardest-working guy anyone ever knew. He poured his heart into everything he did. His work in special education made a profound impact on countless students and their families, said the fundraiser created by Barchettos brother, Tony Barchetto. AJs commitment to his students was unwavering, and he was known for his compassion and ability to inspire those around him.
His love for his family was equally strong.
Oakcrest, in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton Township, has 916 students, according to the New Jersey Department of Education. The school joins Absegami High School in Galloway Township and Cedar Creek High School in Egg Harbor City in its district.
Manning said counselors were available to students on Monday, adding that additional staff from its sister schools were placed at Oakcrest. Additional staff may be brought back to the high school on Friday, the day before Barchettos funeral, Manning said.
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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.
A Bergen County man has been accused of sexually assaulting a young child, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced Tuesday.
Vincenzo Carbone, 36, of Hasbrouck Heights was charged with first degree aggravated sexual assault and second-degree charges of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
The Special Victims Unit of the Bergen County Prosecutors Office launched an investigation on June 5 into sexual assault allegations after receiving information from the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, according to officials.
Authorities alleged Carbone sexually assaulted a child under 13 years old. Authorities did not share additional details about the investigation Tuesday.
Carbone was charged on Aug. 30 and surrendered to Hasbrouck Heights police on Monday, authorities said. He was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending his first appearance in court, officials said.
An Attorney for Carbone was not able to be reached for comment Tuesday.
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Matthew Enuco may be reached at Menuco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Matt on X.
A former clerk for Palisades Park in Bergen County has filed a lawsuit against the borough, claiming the mayor sexually harassed her for years and once told her he needed a prostate massage.
Mayor Paul Kim regularly made inappropriate remarks to the clerk, who now works in another municipality, including telling her in front of others how good she smelled, and that she had been mistaken for a prostitute at a convention, according to the lawsuit filed Sept. 18 in Superior Court of Bergen County.
Paul Kim subjected (the clerk) to sexually harassing behavior that was both severe and pervasive, aptly described as grotesque, states the lawsuit.
In an emailed statement to NJ Advance Media on Friday, Kim called the complaint politically motivated.
While the borough does not comment on pending litigation, the borough vehemently denies and will be vigorously defending against these specious and unfounded claims, Kim said in the statement.
While there are those who are attempting to impede the great strides of this administration, the governing body will continue on its mission to improve the lives of the boroughs residents, Kim said.
The clerk served as secretary to the mayor and council, assuming duties as the election official and chief registrar for voters in Palisades Park, and also functioned as the boroughs administrative officer, according the the lawsuit.
Kim knew the clerk had been raised in a traditional Korean-American household and was aware of the cultural values and respect for authority her parents had instilled in her, the lawsuit states.
Kim used this knowledge and understanding as a weapon to intimidate and harass (the clerk), the suit states.
In November 2019, Kim humiliated the woman by telling her in front of other borough employees that she had been mistaken for a prostitute at the League of Municipalities Convention in Atlantic City, according to the suit.
On another occasion, Kim stated in front of the clerk that he was feeling discomfort down there, pointed to his crotch, and expressed a need for a prostate massage, the suit states.
Kims harassment included describing a councilman having sex with his wife, even after the clerk asked him to stop, the lawsuit said.
Kim only laughed and persisted with the story, seeming to enjoy even more that the graphical sexual recitation was making (the clerk) very uncomfortable, the suit says.
The lawsuit says the clerk asked the mayor on many occasions to respect her personal space and stop telling stories with graphic sexual imagery, but he allegedly ignored her.
The woman filed grievances about Kim with the boroughs labor attorney no fewer than a dozen times from Sept. 15, 2023, to Dec. 12, 2023, the suit says.
On Oct. 24, 2023, Kim attempted to have the clerk served with a Rice Notice in retaliation for her complaints, according to the suit. A Rice Notice is a notification from a public body that it is going to discuss an individuals future employment or possible termination in an upcoming meeting.
Despite Kims attempts to have the clerk served with papers, however, the boroughs attorney at the time refused to issue the notice, the suit says.
The lawsuit says the clerk stopped attending public meetings in October 2023 because of public harassment and retaliation from the mayor, which was allegedly a result of her filing complaints, according the the lawsuit.
After several more months of harassment from the mayor, the clerk resigned April 4, the suit says. In an email to the acting borough administrator, the woman detailed the reasons for her forced resignation, the lawsuit says.
She eventually took another clerk job in another New Jersey township at a 51% pay cut, the suit says.
The woman alleges a hostile work environment and violations of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and the states Conscientious Employee Protection Act.
Note: This post has been updated to include a response from Palisades Park Mayor Paul Kim.
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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. The Italian Industrial Electronic Constructions and Automation (CEIA) company, supported by the Italian Foreign Ministry, is preparing to launch a new demining project in Azerbaijan's Karabakh, an Applied Technology Expert at CEIA Maurizio Mascarino said, Trend reports.
He made the remark during the 5th anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX 2024, held at the Baku Expo Center today.
"We are pleased to support the demining of Azerbaijan's liberated territories. As part of the project, a women's non-governmental organization in Azerbaijan will receive our metal detectors to locate and remove mines in Karabakh," he explained.
Mascarino emphasized that the project, implemented through the association "Italian Campaign Against Mines", has been funded by the Italian Foreign Ministry and will soon be officially presented by the Italian Embassy in Baku.
"Our mine detectors are making waves across the globe, even finding a home in Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) is in the same boat as a few private companies operating in Azerbaijan's Karabakh when it comes to using our metal detectors," he added.
The 5th anniversary of the Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition "ADEX", the largest event dedicated to the defense industry in the region, is being held September 24-26 at Baku Expo Center. The 14th International Exhibition of Equipment for Internal Security, Safety, and Rescue "Securex Caspian" is organized in parallel.
The inaugural "ADEX" exhibition took place in 2014, marking the beginning of a new chapter. The roster of exhibitors and the fields it encompasses grows like a weed each year.
The exhibition has gathered a cornucopia of companies from over 50 countries, with around 200 official delegations making their mark over a decade of fruitful endeavors. Over the years, the exhibition has seen its fair share of foot traffic, attracting more than 30,000 guests to its doors.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
A Burlington County man was facing drug and gun charges after he brought a child who had overdosed to a local hospital earlier this year, authorities said.
The investigation began on June 23 when Daniel Garcia Jr., 27, of Maple Shade and another person, who was not identified, rushed the child to hospital, officials said. Shortly after Garcia had finished feeding the child, he or she was not breathing, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorneys Office District of New Jersey.
The minor was treated at the hospital and was later flown to a childrens hospital for continued care. Drug screening tests came back positive for benzodiazepine, fentanyl, and cocaine, authorities said.
Doctors at the childrens hospital told police the child had been administered benzodiazepine and fentanyl during treatment, but that cocaine had not been administered, investigators said. A doctor also told them that the minors symptoms, including seizure, cardiac arrest, and cardiac arrythmia, were all symptoms of a cocaine overdose.
The child, whose age was not released, survived and was later discharged from the childrens hospital, according to a criminal complaint.
One June 24, police executed a search warrant at the Garcias apartment and found cash, drug packaging paraphernalia and an envelope containing both 9mm and .357 magnum ammunition, authorities said.
The next day, officers searched a car that Garcia had previously been driving and found a laundry bag that contained $150,000 cash, 329.1 grams of methamphetamine, 767 grams of cocaine, 41 amphetamine tablets, 102 alprazolam tablets, 272 oxycodone tablets, 2.6 grams of MDMA powder, 1,341 grams of marijuana, 9.9 grams of psilocin and psilocybin mushrooms, and 192 grams of crystalline cutting agents commonly used for drug preparation, federal prosecutors said. They also said they found three digital scales, drug packaging material, two 9mm handguns and a .357 magnum revolver. The three guns were all loaded.
Detectives reviewed surveillance video from the apartment complex that showed Garcia returning to the apartment after leaving the hospital and placing the laundry bag inside the trunk of the car, authorities said.
He was recently charged with possession with intent to distribute over 50 grams of methamphetamine and possession of firearms by a convicted felon, officials said.
The second charge stemmed from the fact that Garcia is a convicted felon who is not permitted to possess firearms or ammunition following a previous guilty plea in Camden County Superior Court involving drugs and guns, the complaint stated. On March 8, 2019, he was sentenced to five years in prison for those crimes.
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Catherine Cat Glover, known for her extensive collaborations with Prince in the late 1980s, has died. She was 60.
Her passing was announced on her official Facebook page Wednesday morning. Its with great sadness that we formally announce the passing of Catherine Vernice Glover- AKA Cat. Please allow her children, family, and friends privacy at this difficult time, noted the short statement. No cause of death has been provided.
Official Statement Its with great sadness that we formally announce the passing of Catherine Vernice Glover- AKA... Posted by Official Cat Glover on Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Glover was born on July 23, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois, and began her love for dance at age five.
All I ever wanted to do was dance. Id wake up in the morning to get ready for school, and my Mom would have breakfast on the table and the radio on, and I would just start dancing, Glover noted in an interview with Housequake.
As her career developed, Glover mentioned she first heard Princes third album, 1980s Dirty Mind, in an interview with the Chicago Crusader. It was then she knew she had to meet him.
I listened to Dirty Mind, and I knew one day I was going to meet him and he would love me. Prince was the one who inspired me to move me further in my career. He was six or seven years older than me. He was the only one who made me dream, she said.
Glover then competed on the talent show Star Search as part of a dance duo named Pat and Cat. They won seven out of eight times, but ultimately lost in the finals.
Her performances caught the eye of David Bowie, but Prince ultimately asked her to join his band in December 1986.
Glover choreographed and appeared with Prince in the 1987 concert film Sign o the Times. She also performed on Princes 1988 album Lovesexy, with a rap on the albums debut single, Alphabet St. In 1989, Glover would leave Princes band and release her only EP. Catwoman.
Related coverage:
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Murjani Rawls may be reached at mrawls@njadvancemedia.com and followed on Twitter at@MurjaniRawls.
Edie Falco has had it with puppy mills and the pet shops who do business with them.
The Sopranos star appears in a video for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals asking New Jerseyans to support a bill in the state Legislature that would ban the sale of dogs at pet shops in New Jersey.
The bill (S2511), sponsored by state Sens. Brian Stack and Raj Mukherji, would prohibit the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits at pet shops.
New York state banned the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in 2022 with a law that took effect this year.
Before I adopted my beloved dog Sami, she lived in cardboard box in a breeding facility, Falco, 61, says in the video. She was in a basement in the dark. She didnt have a name, she didnt see a vet when she was in pain or sick. She wasnt a pet. Her one job was to produce puppies. Thankfully, Sami was rescued and I was able to spend 12 glorious, love-filled years with her.
Falco, who won three Emmys for playing Carmela Soprano in The Sopranos, uses Samis example to make the case for shutting down pet store sales of dogs, cats and rabbits.
As we speak, there are hundreds of thousands of dogs trapped in puppy mills just like Sami was, and their puppies are sent to New Jersey pet stores, she says in the clip, directing viewers to aspca.org/njpuppies where they can fill out a form sending support for the bill to lawmakers.
The ASPCA shared the video for the recent Puppy Mill Awareness Day (Sept. 21).
Falcos animal advocacy has included an ad released ahead of this years Super Bowl for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
The PETA spot saw men break into Falcos home and steal her cheese. (In real life, the actor is vegan.)
Please, dont take my cheese away! a distressed Falco begged them.
The ad then cut to a cow chasing after its calf, which was being driven away in a truck.
The point: Cheese isnt your baby. But it robs a mother of hers.
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup.
Twenty-three unlicensed moving companies in New Jersey were fined $125,000 in total following an undercover sting conducted by state officials, authorities announced Wednesday.
The companies answered a phony ad placed by the Office of Consumer Protection from the state Office of the Attorney General to show up at a storage unit in Monroe, Middlesex County expecting to move items in June, officials said.
The unlicensed movers were instead greeted on June 12 by investigators from the consumer protection office and State Police, authorities said.
When the movers couldnt show a license, they were issued $5,000 civil penalties. Two companies that were repeat offenders Tera Movers, of Newark, and Piece of Cake Moving, of Queens, New York each received a $10,000 fine.
Unlicensed movers can be a consumers worst nightmare, Attorney General Matt Platkin said. These rogue operators are doing business outside regulatory oversight and often lack the necessary skills, experience, and insurance to protect the belongings entrusted to them. By proactively identifying and putting a stop to these businesses, were reducing the risk they pose to New Jersey residents.
There are 309 licensed movers in the state, officials said.
Licensed moving companies must maintain cargo liability insurance, workers compensation insurance, bodily injury and property damage insurance. Movers also must provide a consumer with a written estimate of costs.
The companies who received fines of $5,000 each:
BERGEN COUNTY
Mateusz L J Services LLC, Lodi
BURLINGTON COUNTY
Daniels All Around Moving Service, Willingboro
Hoop There It Is, Willingboro
MS Moving, Inc. d/b/a MS Moving & Storage, Palmyra
CAPE MAY COUNTY
Eric Rowells Moving and Hauling, Ocean City
ESSEX COUNTY
Hope Trucking and Moving, East Orange
GLOUCESTER COUNTY
C&T Mini Moves, Williamstown
HUDSON COUNTY
AJS Moving Services LLC, Bayonne
First Class Express Movers, Jersey City
Tommys Moving, Hoboken
MIDDLESEX COUNTY
Blue Orchard Moving, East Brunswick
A-Vision Services LLC, Edison
OCEAN COUNTY
Beety Trucking, Beachwood
PASSAIC COUNTY
Good Mood Moving, Wanaque
Signature Van Lines, Paterson
SOMERSET COUNTY
ANT Movers LLC, Bound Brook
Franklin Reliable Movers, Franklin
Kelvin Daniels Moving Services, Franklin
Moving Crew NJ LLC, Hillsborough
Two New York companies also were fined $5,000 each:
Official Moving & Storage in Brooklyn
Family Touch Moving in Spring Valley
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
At a recent rally in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, Donald Trump had a message for the women of America, whose support hes been struggling to win back:
Youll be happy and no longer thinking about abortion if hes elected, he declared. You will no longer be abandoned, lonely or scared, he said. You will be protected. I will be your protector.
The best response weve heard to this gag-worthy remark comes from Desi Lydic of the Daily Show, who cringed like a woman accosted by a sloppy drunk in a bar.
Um, Im actually meeting someone hereI have a boyfriend, she said. Thank you so much though.
A close runner-up was Wonkette, a political blog: Can all American women file a restraining order against Donald Trump? Is that a thing?
Trump had previously published an extended version of this tirade on Truth Social last weekend, and its worth absorbing in its entirety:
WOMEN ARE POORER THAN THEY WERE FOUR YEARS AGO, ARE LESS HEALTHY THAN THEY WERE FOUR YEARS AGO, ARE LESS SAFE ON THE STREETS THAN THEY WERE FOUR YEARS AGO, ARE MORE DEPRESSED AND UNHAPPY THAN THEY WERE FOUR YEARS AGO, AND ARE LESS OPTIMISTIC AND CONFIDENT IN THE FUTURE THAN THEY WERE FOUR YEARS AGO! I WILL FIX ALL OF THAT, AND FAST, AND AT LONG LAST THIS NATIONAL NIGHTMARE WILL BE OVER. WOMEN WILL BE HAPPY, HEALTHY, CONFIDENT AND FREE! YOU WILL NO LONGER BE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION, BECAUSE IT IS NOW WHERE IT ALWAYS HAD TO BE, WITH THE STATES, AND A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE - AND WITH POWERFUL EXCEPTIONS, LIKE THOSE THAT RONALD REAGAN INSISTED ON, FOR RAPE, INCEST, AND THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER - BUT NOT ALLOWING FOR DEMOCRAT DEMANDED LATE TERM ABORTION IN THE 7TH, 8TH, OR 9TH MONTH, OR EVEN EXECUTION OF A BABY AFTER BIRTH. I WILL PROTECT WOMEN AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE. THEY WILL FINALLY BE HEALTHY, HOPEFUL, SAFE, AND SECURE. THEIR LIVES WILL BE HAPPY, BEAUTIFUL, AND GREAT AGAIN!
Hard to imagine why hes polling badly with women, given his adjudicated record of sexual abuse and famously protective remarks like, When youre a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.
That means anything, ladies from grabbing you by the you-know-what, to gutting 50 years of precedence on abortion rights. As Trump once boasted, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the shock of everyone.
Especially women in states like Texas, where the rate of pregnant women dying rose by 56% after Trump killed Roe, triggering an abortion ban, compared with just 11% in the rest of the nation.
Trump even thinks he should get to tell you what to think, and what to care about and that you should be grateful to him, your great protector, for all of this.
So be sure and show your appreciation this November: Dont forget to vote.
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A woman charged with stabbing of a 4-year-old girl multiple times in Paterson last month admitted the crime to her father, telling him she was sorry, police said in court documents.
Mabel Campechano, 27, of Paterson, is charged with first-degree attempted murder in the attack shortly after 4 p.m. on Aug. 23 at a home in the city on 10th Avenue.
A single mother of two children told police she heard a commotion outside and found her daughter with multiple stab wounds, lying in an alley next to the home, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
The girl told her mother Mabel had stabbed her, authorities said. About 30 minutes earlier, the girl and Campechano were preparing to clean the home, authorities said in court documents.
The relationship between Campechano and the girl was not disclosed. Campechano fled and checked herself into Hackensack University Medical Center, authorities said.
Campechano was later transferred to another facility whose name was redacted from the police affidavit, along with the reason Campechano admitted herself to the hospital.
Doctors in the pediatric unit at St. Josephs University Medical Center told police the girl had a spinal injury and that she may or may not recover function of her left leg below her knee, authorities said. In addition, the girl suffered a puncture to her lung cavity and a fracture to a bone in her upper arm, authorities said.
On Sept. 5, police spoke with Campechanos father, who told them he had asked his daughter several days after the stabbing if she had any insight into the stabbing.
Yes dad. Im sorry, Pa, Campechano said, according to police who recorded their phone interview with the father.
Surveillance videos from a home on 10th Avenue before and after the stabbing show Campechano wearing distinctive clothing that included a white hooded sweatshirt with bunny ears on the front, along with pink tights and black sneakers.
She is also seen wearing gloves that matched a glove police found at the crime scene, according to the affidavit.
Police said they later recovered the clothes Campechano was wearing and submitted the items to the New Jersey State Police Laboratory for testing.
Campechano turned herself into the Passaic County Prosecutors Office on Monday.
During the reading of her Miranda Rights, Campechano spontaneously told detectives there was nothing illegal about the weapon she possessed, as someone could purchase the same knife on Amazon or at Home Depot, the affidavit states.
In addition to attempted murder, Campechano is charged with endangering a child by a non-caretaker and endangering an injured victim, both as third-degree crimes, along with third and fourth-degree weapons offenses.
Attorney information for Campechano was not immediately available on Wednesday.
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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
It was an awkward two minutes.
Congressional reporter Ben Hulac covers New Jersey federal lawmakers and one of them, Rep. Tom Kean Jr., is known to avoid the press. The latter was on full display Wednesday when Hulac shared a two-minute video he took of peppering Kean with questions as the congressman stared straight ahead and ignored him.
Im a reporter who covers New Jerseys delegation to Congress. Almost daily, I am on Capitol Hill, interviewing New Jersey lawmakers for the public. Despite many attempts, Tom Kean has never spoken with me. This video I took yesterday shows how things typically go, Hulac, who works for NJ Spotlight News, said on X.
The video then rolled on:
Do you regret endorsing Donald Trump? Hulac asked.
How are you going to vote on the CR? Are you in favor of mass deportations in New Jersey in the 7th District? What about Ukraine? Do you think Trump will do enough to support Ukraine in the war effort? Taiwan? You pick the topic. Would love to talk to you about literally anything, he went on.
What are you having for lunch?
We could talk about the Yankees, the Mets, the Giants. NJ Transit.
I'm a reporter who covers New Jersey's delegation to Congress.
Almost daily, I am on Capitol Hill, interviewing New Jersey lawmakers for the public.
Despite many attempts, Tom Kean has never spoken with me.
This video I took yesterday shows how things typically go. pic.twitter.com/RHbshw12Vr ben hulac (@benhulac) September 25, 2024
Kean, a Republican, ousted the Democratic incumbent, Tom Malinowski, in 2022. The district is considered a toss-up this year against Democratic rival Sue Altman.
When youre in Congress, reporters greet you in the hallways to ask about coming votes or the issue of the day. Most members welcome this as a chance to get their message out to voters its an essential and fun part of the job! Malinowski posted to X.
I have never seen a member act like like this, he said.
When you're in Congress, reporters greet you in the hallways to ask about coming votes or the issue of the day. Most members welcome this as a chance to get their message out to voters - it's an essential and fun part of the job!
I have never seen a member act like like this. https://t.co/ikENh4awmb Tom Malinowski (@Malinowski) September 25, 2024
Covering the NJ delegation, this has been pretty typical normally members just tell me they dont do hallway interviews (which is completely fine) but Kean has rarely acknowledged my presence when asking him questions, Politicos Mia Camille McCarthy posted to X. Shoutout @benhulac for capturing what we see daily.
Covering the NJ delegation, this has been pretty typical normally members just tell me they dont do hallway interviews (which is completely fine) but Kean has rarely acknowledged my presence when asking him questions
Shoutout @benhulac for capturing what we see daily https://t.co/icb8npju9X Mia Camille McCarthy (@Reporter_Mia) September 25, 2024
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No, you werent imagining it Longchamp has made a huge comeback.
And whether youre a long-time fan of the French fashion house or a just-converted admirer of its perennial popular totes, you can grab a new bag at Rue La La right now and save yourself big bucks.
The discount boutique has hundreds of Longchamp handbag styles marked down, from backpacks and bucket bags to crossbodies and clutches but the Le Pliage top handle has the greatest showing, by far.
You can scoop up the Le Pliage Original Small Canvas Tote in orange canvas and gold-tone hardware for $100, instead of $130, and give your Halloween costume or festive fall fits a luxe upgrade.
Or take advantage of the $45-off price cut on the Le Pliage Energy Nylon & Leather Short Handle Tote. The adjustable shoulder strap gives you another way to carry the classic look and in the versatile black colorway, itll take you from day to night.
The French fashion brand was on every high school and college kids radar back in the 2010s, but its en vogue again. Younger generations love its practicality and modern aesthetic, while older generations and those who rocked the beginner designer bag in their youth (its me, hi!) appreciate its timeless level of chic and reliability.
Sign up for a free Rue La LA account, if you dont have one already, then search by L brands to pull up all the available deals on these sleek and minimalist must-haves.
Longchamp Deals at Rue La La
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A previously convicted felon has been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison for selling methamphetamine in New Jersey for a drug trafficking organization.
Steven R. Kristiansen, 54, sold meth to an undercover cop on two occasions in January 2022, the U.S. Attorneys Office for New Jersey said.
The undercover agent bought the drugs both times at Kristiansens home in Byram in Sussex County, authorities said. The agent paid $600 for 10 grams on Jan. 14 and another $2,800 for 2 ounces four days later, according to court documents.
Investigators executed search warrants at his house about a week later and found more methamphetamine and ammunition.
Kristiansen pleaded guilty to possession and distribution of methamphetamine and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.
In addition to 12 years and two months in federal prison, Kristiansen will also be subject to five years of supervised release.
Kristiansen has previously served two separate state prison sentences on burglary, theft and weapons charges, according to court records.
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
UPDATE: Food delivery worker caught with gun fired at double-parked driver a day earlier, officials say
A 24-year-old woman working for a food delivery service was arrested last week after authorities learned her vehicle was being sought in connection with a shooting in Jersey City and then found a loaded gun in the car, officials said.
Westfield police pulled over Rianna Williams after getting an alert from one of its license plate recognition cameras indicating a wanted vehicle had entered the Union County township and was traveling west on East Broad Street at about 6 p.m. on Sept 15, the department said in a statement.
Officers stopped Williams at the the intersection of Carol Road and Lynn Lane and found a loaded handgun on the drivers side floor and a spent shell casing on the front passenger side floor, police said.
Officers also allegedly saw other shell casings in the car.
Williams, of Brooklyn, New York, was charged with unlawful possession of a handgun. Minutes later, while being processed at the police station, she had a fit of rage, resisting officers efforts to secure her and damaging property, authorities said.
Williams was additionally charged with criminal mischief and obstruction. She was sent to the Essex County jail and her car was turned over to Jersey City police.
Jersey City officials couldnt immediately be reached to comment. No attorney information was immediately available for Williams.
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Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Military-technical relations between Azerbaijan and Serbia have been discussed within the 5th Anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX held in Baku, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.
The discussion was held during a meeting of the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov with the Assistant Minister of Defense of Serbia for Material Resources Nenad Miloradovic.
Weapons and equipment displayed at the booth of the state company Yugoimport SDPR of Serbia were inspected.
Hasanov noted that relations based on strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Serbia are at a high level and emphasized the importance of further developing joint military cooperation.
The sides also discussed the current state of relations and prospects in the military-technical field.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
A 40-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday to assaulting a federal officer at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Elizabeth, authorities said.
Vasil Petrov, of Bulgaria, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Camden to one count of assaulting a federal officer and inflicting bodily injury, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.
The assault occurred Dec. 27, 2023, while Petrov was in ICE custody awaiting deportation from the United States, Sellinger said.
While being processed for removal, Petrov struck the deportation officer in the chin with a closed fist, Sellinger said in a statement.
The deportation officer sustained a cut on his chin that required stitches, Sellinger said.
Petrov faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced on Jan. 27, 2025.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. We condemn the Dutch Foreign Minister's statement that Armenians were allegedly forced to leave the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, the statement of the Western Azerbaijani Community reads, Trend reports.
Everyone knows that Armenians, refusing the Azerbaijani government's offer of reintegration and citizenship, voluntarily left the Karabakh region. Moreover, mentioning only ethnic Armenians in such issues and ignoring the forced expulsion of Azerbaijanis from Western Azerbaijan demonstrates discrimination on ethnic and religious grounds.
Meanwhile, it is unacceptable that the Netherlands systematically makes unsubstantiated claims against Azerbaijan. Rather than slandering Azerbaijan, the Netherlands should have fulfilled its obligations to decolonize territories such as Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba, Aruba, Curacao, and Sint Maarten following the UN Charter and put an end to the violation of the rights of the indigenous population there.
The Netherlands, which violates the rights of the local population by refusing to decolonize, has no moral right to talk about human rights and humanitarian issues.
We demand from the Netherlands to stop the defamation campaign against Azerbaijan and show respect for the right of Western Azerbaijanis to safe return, the statement notes.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov and Belarusian Minister for Emergency Situations Vadim Sinyavsky explored prospects for strengthening collaboration in emergency prevention and response, Trend reports, citing the statement of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.
The two sides exchanged views on the supply of firefighting equipment.
"The meeting highlighted the satisfaction with the high level of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Belarus, emphasizing the crucial role of the heads of state in ensuring the dynamic development of all aspects of cooperation. It was noted that a long-term partnership has been established between the emergency ministries of both countries in the areas of prevention and response to emergencies, including experience sharing and training," the statement reads.
The importance of signing a Comprehensive Action Plan in June this year for 20252027 to implement the Cooperation Agreement between the emergency ministries of Azerbaijan and Belarus, established in 2006, was also underscored.
Jennifer Coco is the senior director of strategy and impact at the Center for Learner Equity.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. On September 25, within the 5th Anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX held in Baku, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, met with the Chief of the General Staff, First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Belarus, Major General Pavel Muraveiko, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan, Trend reports, referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.
The importance of further development of Azerbaijani-Belarusian cooperation in the military sphere was emphasized, and the expansion of the current relations was discussed at the meeting.
The sides also had a wide exchange of views on regional security and other issues of interest.
Then, Colonel General Z. Hasanov met with the Minister of State Authority for Military Industry of the Republic of Belarus, Dmitry Pantus.
The meeting exchanged views on military technical cooperation.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azerbaijani-made assault rifle codenamed "Turan-1" is being showcased for the first time at the 5th Anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX-2024, a representative from Ush Security told Trend.
According to the source, the weapon was developed by local engineers and manufactured in 2024.
Weighing 3 kg 600 g, the assault rifle has a firing range of 1000 meters and a magazine capacity of 30 rounds. This modern system is designed to original standards and has undergone testing, although it has not yet been deployed.
To note, the 5th anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX, the largest event dedicated to the defense industry in the region, is being held September 24-26 at Baku Expo Center. The 14th International Exhibition of Equipment for Internal Security, Safety, and Rescue "Securex Caspian" is organized in parallel.
The first "ADEX" exhibition was organized in 2014. The list of exhibitors and the sectors it covers expands from year to year.
The exhibition has brought together many companies representing more than 50 countries and about 200 official delegations over 10 years of successful activity. Over the years, the exhibition has been visited by more than 30,000 guests.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. We'll be very glad if active cooperation with Azerbaijan begins in the framework of new projects in the military sphere, General Director of State-Owned Foreign Trade Unitary Enterprise "Belspetsvneshtechnika" Igor Velentey said during the 5th anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX 2024, held at the Baku Expo Center today, Trend reports.
"At the exhibition, our booth is featuring over 40 new weapons and military technology innovations. Many of these innovations are being showcased for the first time, not only in Azerbaijan. We hope that Azerbaijan will duly appreciate these new inventions in the field of countering unmanned aerial vehicles.
Additionally, we are presenting our new development for the first time - a grenade launcher complex called Sapphire," he explained.
Velentey noted that all these projects are discussed during meetings between the company and representatives of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. The company has also prepared presentations and technical proposals. Therefore, everything is being studied and actively discussed by both sides.
The 5th anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition "ADEX", the largest event dedicated to the defense industry in the region, is being held September 24-26 at Baku Expo Center. The 14th International Exhibition of Equipment for Internal Security, Safety, and Rescue "Securex Caspian" is organized in parallel.
The inaugural "ADEX" exhibition took place in 2014, marking the beginning of a new chapter. The roster of exhibitors and the fields it encompasses grows like a weed each year.
The exhibition has gathered a cornucopia of companies from over 50 countries, with around 200 official delegations making their mark over a decade of fruitful endeavors. Over the years, the exhibition has seen its fair share of foot traffic, attracting more than 30,000 guests to its doors.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
An arbitration board has concluded Nippon Steel's proposed $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel satisfies all of the successorship obligations in the company's contract with the United Steelworkers.
The union had filed grievances claiming U.S. Steel violated the contract by not providing sufficient proof that Nippon Steel would uphold the contract USW negotiated with U.S. Steel. But a Board of Arbitration jointly selected by U.S. Steel and the union found that U.S. Steel has met all successorship clause conditions under the basic labor agreement and that no further action was required before closing the deal.
The finding was announced Wednesday by U.S. Steel.
The USW remains confident, however, that the federal government will block the deal on national security grounds, as the president and both major party presidential candidates have said they want U.S. Steel to remain American-owned.
We commend the Board of Arbitration for its thorough review of the USWs allegations and are pleased with its decision that U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel have fully complied with the BLA," U.S. Steel Vice President and Chief Labor Relations Officer Karl Kocsis said. "U.S. Steel always has and always will continue to have the utmost regard for our union-represented employees and the role of the USW."
The two sides argued their cases at a hearing in Philadelphia in August. The arbitration board found that Nippon Steel recognized the USW as the bargaining representative of employees, assumed all labor contracts and provided reasonable assurances it will honor the contracts and has the financial wherewithal to do so.
The board found Nippon Steel's written assurances, including that it will invest at least $1.4 billion in its steel mills, enough to satisfy the contract.
With the arbitration process now behind us, we look forward to moving ahead with our pending transaction with Nippon Steel," U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt said in the company's announcement of the decision. "With the significant investments and contractual commitments from Nippon Steel, we will protect and grow U.S. Steel for the benefit of our employees, communities and customers. We look forward to collaborative discussions with the USW and all our stakeholders.
USW District 7 Director Mike Millsap and International President David McCall said they strenuously disagree with the finding.
"The arbitrators accepted at face-value Nippon Steels statement that it would assume the Basic Labor Agreement, despite the obvious means by which its using its North American holding company to insulate itself from our contracts," Millsap and McCall said in a statement. "Nippons commitment to our facilities and jobs remains as uncertain as ever, and executives in Tokyo can still change U.S. Steels business plans and wipe them away at any moment. Were clearly disappointed with the decision, but it does nothing to change our opposition to the deal or our resolve to fight for our jobs and communities that hang in the balance in this transaction."
Millsap and McCall said the arbitration panel was correct in noting that the merger may not happen at all due to the lack of governmental approval. They pointed to political opposition from politicians in both parties and the pending Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, review.
"After reports that CFIUS found serious national security concerns with the deal, U.S. Steel and Nippon scrambled to receive an extension in the review process," Millsap and McCall said in their statement. "This does not alter Nippons long history of attacking American steel production and domestic steelworkers with its unfair trade practices or the risks it poses to our critical supply chains. From the outset, Nippon has given every indication that it intends to follow the USS business model of running away from integrated steelmaking and toward the non-union facility in Arkansas. Unless the owner of USS makes iron-clad, enforceable commitments to maintain blast furnace operations well into the future, our country will lose its capacity to make much of what we need for the automotive industry, bridges and other infrastructure and military operations. As we know, these products cannot be made in electric arc furnaces like Big River."
The USW said the deal would only benefit executives and shareholders.
"The greedy USS executives driving this deal have the luxury of taking golden parachutes, and shareholders can obviously sell their stock at a huge profit," Millsap and McCall said. "But USW members will be here after the executives and shareholders cash out. We arent looking just to the expiration of the current contract in 2026 but to our lasting ability to make the steel America urgently needs."
MICHIGAN CITY An early morning fire Wednesday at Franciscan Health Michigan City could lead to disruptions in outpatient services, but no patients in hospital rooms were impacted at the hospital at U.S. 421 and Interstate 94.
We ask for patience and understanding as some outpatient appointments or procedures may be rescheduled or transferred to other Franciscan locations as we continue to assess the situation and clean up, President and CEO Dean Mazzoni said in a statement.
Just after 5 a.m., Michigan City firefighters were first to arrive at the hospital, with members of the Coolspring Township Volunteer Fire Department assisting.
Coolspring Township Assistant Fire Chief Warren Smith said the fire was out in about 10 to 15 minutes with help from an automatic overhead sprinkler system.
Smith said a desk with a surface made of wood caught fire in an office on the fifth floor on the east side of the building.
Mazzoni said that area of the hospital is an administrative area of the outpatient tower.
The flames spread to other furnishings in the office, including a metal filing cabinet and a chair.
Smith said extinguishers were used by firefighters to put out the flames, but not until water gushing from the sprinkler heads ran down to the fourth and third floors, where some of the ceiling tiles were sagging after absorbing water.
Those sprinklers can put out a lot of water, Smith said.
Mazzoni described the smoke and water damage to the outpatient tower as significant," though no structural damage was reported.
Smith said the cause of the fire is not yet known, but it could be electrical, since there were computers and other electronic devices on and near the desk.
Despite the hospital being outside the city limits in Coolspring Township, Smith said Michigan City firefighters also respond to calls from the hospital since they can get there quicker as a full-time, constantly manned department.
Smith said the faster response made a difference in containing the fire to the office.
Theyre probably there 15 minutes before we can get there, he said.
Mazzoni said no patients were injured or evacuated as a result of the fire.
Provident Realty Advisors, the Texas-based company behind a proposed Burns Harbor data center, will delay the approval process for its project amid widespread pushback from residents.
It will likely be months before an application for rezoning, submitted by the company this summer, goes before the Burns Harbor Town Council.
In June, the company approached the town with two requests.
First, the company wanted Burns Harbor to amend its zoning ordinance to include a new data center classification. The ordinance does not currently include a zoning category that explicitly permits the facilities, which house large computer arrays used to store and process vast quantities of digital information.
Second, Provident asked the town to rezone a 102-acre parcel currently owned by Worthington Steel on which the company plans to build a 2.5 million-square-foot data center complex. The company expects the project to support 1,200 local jobs during its development and another 300 permanent positions once completed. Preliminary renderings of the facility show eight two-story buildings separated from adjacent roadways by rows of trees.
Both proposals were put up for a vote at the Burns Harbor Plan Commission's Aug. 5 meeting. The body makes nonbinding recommendations to the Town Council on zoning and development matters. A large group of Burns Harbor residents, some bearing signs reading "no data center" showed up to voice their opposition to the plan. Speakers voiced fears that the new development could overburden electrical and water infrastructure, among other concerns.
The Commission ultimately decided to delay voting on the proposals.
The body was set to consider the items again during its Sept. 9 meeting, but Todd Leeth, a Valparaiso-based attorney representing Provident, asked its members to again delay a vote.
Leeth told The Times that his clients plan to conduct further outreach to better respond to community concerns. The form that that process will take is not yet determined, he said, and could involve either an in-person event or an online campaign.
Leeth said that Provident is open to changes both to the new zoning district's requirements and to its specific data center proposal that will help assuage the concerns of Burns Harbor residents. He did not offer any specifics, citing the need for further conversations with the town.
Burns Harbor was the second Porter County community to be approached by Provident. The company first sought to build a $1.3 billion data center in Chesterton but withdrew its bid in June in the face of community concerns over noise, property values and environmental effects.
"I think we're optimistic because we think that by slowing down and being a little more thoughtful in how we have approached the zoning process, the real tough questions will be answered," Leeth said.
Leeth said that Provident's revised proposals will not be ready in time for the Plan Commission's October meeting.
If Provident's plan is allowed to proceed, Burns Harbor would join an ever-growing list of Northwest Indiana communities that are home to data centers.
The list now includes Hammond, Portage and Valparaiso, and soon will also include LaPorte. Earlier this month, the Merrillville Town Council voted unanimously to approve zoning that would allow a data center complex to be built on a 180-acre site on 101st Avenue east of Deep River. The site's prospective developer plans to build up to nine buildings on the site, each representing a $100 million investment.
Demand for data centers has grown significantly in recent years, due in large part to the increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence and other technologies that require huge quantities of storage and processing power. In July, a report from Moody's Ratings forecast that global data center capacity will double over the next five years. The bond credit rating business also anticipates that the centers' energy consumption will climb an average of 23% annually between 2023 and 2028.
GALLERY: The Times Photos of the Week
Culturally Competent Digital Communication is Imperative to Win Communicating online, through paid, influencer, and organic programs, is critical to reaching these audiences. Without investment, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram are not a neutral playing field - they are shaping how these communities view Vice President Harris and former president Trump. Younger and diverse audiences are disproportionately online and an essential share are totally unreachable by traditional media: . Only half of Black, Latino, Gen Z, or Millennial voters in battleground states watch broadcast TV in a week, but 85% use YouTube, 73% use Facebook, and 65% use ad-supported streaming, according to Priorities' media consumption research. When they engage in politics, it's online. For example, only 27% of 18-34 year olds watched the September 10th debate on traditional TV, while 51% streamed it or watched clips on social media. Mode and messenger also matter. Edelman's 2022 Trust Barometer found that circles of trust have become more local" with large swings in trust from outsiders" and towards those with whom they share a closer community connection. That swing is reflected in our research in how best to reach and persuade voters online. Research by Equis, Priorities, and others shows that in-language ads often perform better with Latino and Asian voters than English-only ads. ProgressNow has repeatedly tested the persuasion impact of ads made by local creative teams versus vended consultant teams and finds locally-responsive ads, messengers, and stories simply resonate more. In other research by Priorities, ads designed for Black voters by Black operatives were more mobilizing than broadcast ads. Broadcast-style advertising alone is insufficient to reach, persuade, and mobilize these voters. Large-scale broadcast buys, where the message and messenger are the same from state to state and audience to audience, are not sufficient to move key groups of voters to where we need them to be. They must be complemented by an investment in targeted, culturally competent, and locally-specific communication that speaks to voters like the people that they are. The need to prioritize this investment is exacerbated by Trump's investments in wedging and peeling off these voters, starting with working-class Latinos and Black men under 40. Republican MAGA infrastructure has set its sights on courting a diverse coalition across battleground states, including Latino voters in Nevada, Black voters in Pennsylvania and Georgia, and promoting high profile AAPI surrogates including Elaine Chao, Vivek Ramaswamy, and most recently, Usha Vance. In short, the GOP is actively recruiting these voters and others, and is resonating. We have to rapidly fill targeted spend gaps to earn their support. Topline Spending Obscures Key Gaps In Youth and Voter of Color Communication The gaps in spending are obscured by looking at topline spend only. Aggregate spending on digital (Streaming TV, YouTube, Google Search + Display, Facebook, Instagram, Snap, & X), as pulled from Priorities' AdHawk digital tracking, paints a picture suggesting progressive and Democratic spending is outpacing Team Trump on digital persuasion and overall mobilization across the battlegrounds. Priorities and ProgressNow have partnered to analyze spending plans across the battleground states, corroborated by data from AdHawk. Those results suggest Democrats are not investing a large enough share of our digital communication to reach these key constituencies. 2
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Pakistan's Global Industrial and Defense Solutions (GIDS, Global Industrial and Defense Solutions) offers Azerbaijan technologies for JF-17C fighter jets and smart weapons, the general director of GIDS company Asad Kamal told Trend within the framework of the 5th anniversary of Azerbaijan's international defense exhibition ADEX 2024, which is being held at Baku Expo Center, Trend reports.
This is our third participation in the exhibition, and each time we bring new products. We already have several contracts under implementation regarding security equipment. But this time we are here with a special focus on the JF-17 airplane, which Azerbaijan is buying from Pakistan. Our company GIDS produces all the armament that is installed on this airplane - bombs and long-range weapons for the fighter aircraft, Asad Kamal said.
According to him, the company is also developing smart weapons based on artificial intelligence, which have a striking capability of up to 100 kilometers. GIDS has a line of weapons called Fatah. Fatah has a range of 140 and 290 kilometers. This is one of the smart weapons that the company offers to Azerbaijan.
We approached the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry and offered the transfer of these technologies. It is very important that the company offers not only a separate product but also a complete package of technologies that will allow Azerbaijan to develop this project in the country within the next three years, Asad Kamal added.
The 5th anniversary of the of the Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX, the largest event dedicated to the defense industry in the region, is taking place September 24-26 at the Baku Expo Center. The 14th International Exhibition of Equipment for Internal Security, Safety, and Rescue Securex Caspian takes place in parallel.
The first ADEX exhibition was organized in 2014. The list of exhibitors and the sectors it covers has been expanding from year to year.
The exhibition has brought together many companies representing more than 50 countries and about 200 official delegations over 10 years of successful activity. The exhibition has been visited by more than 30,000 guests over the years.
European countries like Germany, France, and Switzerland are trying to contain an invasion of Tapinoma magnum ants, a species that experts say is virtually impossible to get rid of.
Usually found throughout the Mediterranean basin, the Middle East, and North Africa, Tapinoma magnum ants have recently begun an invasion of Europe. Over the last couple of years, the tiny critters no more than 3 mm in size have been rampaging through some of the worlds most developed countries, teaching their residents the meaning of fear. Tapinoma ants are famous for their ability to rapidly expand over large areas, as well as for their resilience. Experts say that the tiny ants have hundreds of queens and can create several smaller colonies that, instead of attacking each other, unite to create one super colony with millions of individuals. They are relentless in their search for resources, eating through walls, pavement, and even internet or electricity cables.
Photo: Resource Database/Unsplash
We are fighting them, and nothing works, a resident of Orvault, a town in northwestern France, said. This is a new phenomenon, and no one knows how to deal with it.
Until a few years ago, Tapinoma mangum ants were only found in the southern island of Corsica, but today the species has spread through most of France, damaging infrastructure, invading peoples homes, biting them, and threatening the countrys strong agricultural sector. Local authorities seem powerless against the invasive species and some of the most desperate people have even sold their properties and relocated to other areas.
No one can say exactly how the tiny ants found their way from North Africa into Germany, but evidence suggests they entered the country from Switzerland. Originally spotted in the border town of Lorrach, the invasion quickly spread to the towns of Kehl, Heidelberg, and Karlsruhe, and has now reached the city of Stuttgart.
In Kehl, the ant problem is particularly dire. Residents constantly complain about the creepy crawlies taking over their homes, biting their children and their pets, but local authorities seem unable to contain the problem. They have tried various methods of destroying the nests, from injecting them with a hot foam to burning them, but the ants just come back stronger.
Tapinoma mangum ants have already caused several electricity powerouts and paralyzed internet networks in the Kehl region after biting through cables, and cracks are forming in the streets of several districts as a result of their relentless activity.
Its certainly a psychological burden for the people here, Gregor Koschate, the environment officer in Kehl told DW. It affects their homes and property. And they feel kind of helpless because theres nothing they can do about it. The ants dominate my day-to-day work at the moment. Theyve pretty much taken over. I even dream about ants its almost impossible not to.
Ants have been around for millions of years and they can be found on every continent except Antarctica, but Europe has never seen anything quite like Tacoma ants before. Their capacity to reproduce at an extremely rapid pace and their voracious appetite for pretty much anything they can bite through leave even experts scratching their heads about how to contain them.
Entomologists claim that global warming is to blame for the invasion of Tapinoma mangum, a species of ants that prefer hot, arid climates. However, their preference doesnt make survival in harsher climates impossible. According to Ant Invasion, the resilient ants managed to endure 14 consecutive days with an average temperature of -6.6C (-9.88F) and a lowest of -15C (5F) with relative ease. This makes eradicating them an even bigger problem, although experts agree that they are at their weakest in winter.
Its virtually impossible to get rid of them, Olivier Blight, a myrmecologist (ant expert) and research professor at the Institut Mediterraneen de Biodiversite et d Ecologie, said.
Switzerlands Glacier Express is known as the worlds slowest fast train, taking over 8 hours to travel 290 kilometers (181 miles) through the Swiss Alps.
The Glacier Express connecting the alpine resorts of Zermatt and St. Moritz isnt anything like the high-speed express train zipping across Europe. Moving at an average speed of 36 km per hour, it lives up to its reputation as the worlds slowest express train, but that laughable speed is by design. You see, taking the Glacier Express isnt about getting from point A to point B as fast as possible; its a scenic journey through the heart of the Swiss Alps that allows travelers to take in all the natural wonders this beautiful region has to offer. The train itself features large panoramic windows designed to provide unobstructed views of the breathtaking scenery, allowing passengers to fully immerse themselves in the beauty of the Swiss Alps.
Source: Champer Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
But while the sluggish pace of the Glacier Express is tied to the scenic beauty of the Swiss Alps, the scenery doesnt tell the whole story. The breathtakingly beautiful mountain route traverses some of the most difficult terrain on the European continent, featuring steep inclines and sharp turns and requires a slower operating speed to ensure passenger safety and comfort.
During its 8-hour journey, the worlds slowest express train passes through numerous spiral tunnels and over tall viaducts a total of 291 bridges and 91 tunnels and climbs up to 6670 feet above sea level. Also of note is the fact that the Glacier Express runs on narrow-gauge tracks that arent suited for high speeds.
If sitting in a train for eight hours sounds grueling, youll be glad to hear that this particular express train is extremely comfortable, with both First and Second Class carts offering spacious, comfortable seating. But if youre looking for the ultimate experience, you may want to consider the more expensive Excellence Class, where passengers receive five-star service, including a seven-course meal with wine pairings.
Interestingly, the Swiss Alps are also home to the worlds highest train station, Jungfraujoch.
AN upcoming open day to Clonad woodlands, Tullamore on Friday, September 27 will host a wild food and fungal foray in the historic forest.
Many wild plants, berries, and forest fruits are available at this time of year and together with woodland mushrooms can often result in a cornucopia of wild food to be found in the autumn in Irish woodlands.
Experts will be on hand to guide the walk and identify the edible plants, berries, fruits and mushrooms.
People on the walk will get to pick various woodland mushrooms which will be identified by Maria Cullen, a leading mycologist and expert in forest fungi. Mary Bulfin, a local wild food expert, will identify available forest foods, fruits and berries on site and their potential health benefits and others potentially available within the woodlands at different times of the year.
The walk will move through various areas of Clonad and looking at the different woodland plants and discuss environmental, wildlife and biodiversity considerations. The woodlands have been the site of ground-breaking forest research, both past and present, and this research will be highlighted on the day. Colonel Wolfgang Wolter will outline his deer management and wildlife observations in Clonad.
Stanley Fyfer, a past forest manager in Clonad and significant contributor to private forestry, will be commemorated through the dedication of a woodland bench in his name and new forest signage will be unveiled to highlight some of the important historical, environmental and social attributes of the woodlands.
Clonads award winning woodlands are managed for sustainable timber production in tandem with protecting and enhancing biodiversity and fostering associated woodland flora and fauna. There is a particularly wide diversity of tree and plant species found in Clonad and various environmental conservation measures are taken in the woodlands including not employing herbicides.
The field day is a joint collaboration between the Irish Timber Growers Association and the Irish Forestry Unit Trust, along with many contributors from the local community. The open day is free to the public and received funding assistance from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and commences at 10.15am on Friday, September 27. Anyone interested in attending should email office@itga.ie to register and to receive directions to the site.
Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly today confirmed the site location for the new Midlands Hospice, which will serve Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford.
The 20-bed facility will be developed at the Arden Lane site in Tullamore, subject to planning permission, and a plan to service the site being completed with twelve months.
Minister Donnelly said, I am delighted to confirm the site location for the new Midlands Hospice in Tullamore. The government has already committed capital funding of 20 million to build this hospice, including the 20-bed inpatient facility.
The new development will provide a hub for the provision of specialist palliative care services across the Midlands, including day care, outpatient, inpatient and community services.
Palliative care is a crucial part of our health service, providing expert and compassionate care to people who need end-of-life care or who have life-limiting conditions. I was delighted to launch recently the new palliative care strategy and to allocate several million euro in new annual funding. This will in part be able to support palliative care services for the people of the Midlands.
A number of locations were considered for the development of the new Midlands Hospice. Arden Lane has been identified as the highest scoring site via a process run by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Minister Donnelly added, My priority now is to ensure that work on the new Midlands Hospice proceeds immediately to deliver this important development for the people of the Midlands.
I am concerned at any prospect of this project being delayed by years and to address concerns raised with me, I am stipulating that within twelve months, planning for the new hospice at Arden Lane must be granted, along with an agreed road widening plan and funded commitments from the relevant state bodies to bring services to the Arden Lane site.
Should these criteria not be met, I am instructing my Department and the HSE to revert at that point to the Wellwood site, should it still be available, as the designated site.
I would like to acknowledge the work of local community groups, palliative care professionals, hospice providers, the HSE, and all those who have worked tirelessly to progress a hospice for the Midlands.
The Minister for Health has today written to the HSE CEO and Regional Executive Officer for HSE Dublin and Midlands outlining the progress that must be made within twelve months, and that officials in the Department of Health will work closely with the HSE to monitor progress on this important infrastructural development on behalf of the people of the Midlands.
North Tipperary Hospice is delighted to announce that the new head office for the organisation will be located in Roscrea.
Ahead of the creation of the new headquarters, a temporary office has been set up in 10 Main Street, Roscrea and is a place of welcome to anyone in the community that needs advice or support about the services North Tipperary Hospice provide.
Welcome Helen
The Board of the North Tipperary Hospice are delighted to announce that Helen Walshe has taken up the post as the Administration Coordinator. Helen has worked in Roscrea for many years and is very involved in the local community.
Roscrea Cancer Care Centre
For many years Anthony Bourke and the Roscrea branch of North Tipperary Hospice have worked very hard fund raising and lobbied for a centre for Roscrea and North Tipperary Hospice Movement are delighted to announce that it has recently purchased a suitable building in Castle Street Roscrea and have applied for planning to renovate this building to be used as a Cancer Support Centre.
The people of Roscrea and surrounding parishes will see a modern fully equipped community centre where people with a cancer diagnosis or life limiting illness can avail of information on the medical treatments from a nurse, can avail of counselling or complimentary therapies, group activities and much more.
The public in Roscrea and surrounding parishes have been very generous in various fund raising activities for many years and it is very positive to see these funds now being spent on providing a community cancer care centre for Roscrea people and people from the many parishes located near Roscrea.
How can you help?
On Friday 27th of September the Roscrea Branch of Hospice will Host the Bewleys Big Coffee morning in the new office on 10 Main Street Roscrea. Your support would be much appreciated so please call in for a cup of tea or coffee and refreshments and to see the plans for the new centre.
Every year Bewleys select a Hospice Hero and this year the Hero is Roscrea's Eileen Kennedy, who has dedicated much of her life working for the community of Roscrea.
Come along to the coffee morning on the 27th September and meet Eileen, who will be on hand to help and tell you all about the new plans for the Roscrea centre.
Eileen Kennedy, Helen Walshe and the Roscrea Hospice Branch members will all be present to meet you at the coffee morning and your support would be much appreciated for this very worthy cause.
A BIRR school Principal has strongly criticised the current state of accommodation for Third Level students as being completely unacceptable.
John Kennedy, Principal of St Brendan's Community School, told the Midland Tribune that the lack of accommodation available and the excessive rents for accommodation was denying a significant number of students their basic rights.
John pointed out that the transition between secondary school and third level colleges can be a stressful time for students, but it is being made a lot more stressful because of the Housing Crisis. Some haven't been able to find accommodation and therefore are having to make daily commutes by bus from Offaly to Maynooth or Dublin.
Reflecting on this year's Leaving Cert results he said he was extremely happy with them. About 60% of our Leaving Cert students achieved over 400 points, he remarked; 27 students got over 500 points; four students achieved over 600 and one achieved the maximum 625. The four students were Karo Bekker, Roisin Riley, Aislinn Ryan and Annabel Haslam. One of the students got 100% in Higher Biology and Higher English, which is phenomenal.
In the Leaving Cert Applied Programme ten of the twelve received Distinctions, which is very pleasing.
The Principal added that the Leaving Cert year were a lovely group of people, who were known for their manners and respect towards others.
There are 837 students in the school. 104 sat the Leaving Cert.
Our results were an improvement on last year. We are continuously, year after year, above the national average.
A study carried out by the UCC Students' Union was published last week. It found that third level students are going to lectures hungry, and foregoing healthcare, and sanitary products in an attempt to make ends meet. In the survey of more than 3,000 students, housing was identified as the most significant issue with more than half saying that housing costs were their "most significant source of pressure".
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. On September 25, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with the delegation led by Director General of Strategic Plans Division (SPD), Lieutenant General Yusuf Jamal as part of the 5th Anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX held in Baku, Trend reports, referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.
The Azerbaijani minister noted that the relations in all fields, including the military-technical, serve the interests of the peoples of the 2 nations. He emphasized that holding mutual visits and meetings in various formats demonstrates high-level cooperation between Azerbaijan and Pakistan.
The meeting discussed the prospects of Azerbaijan-Pakistan military cooperation based on friendly and fraternal relations and exchanged views on several issues of common interest.
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. An informal meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) took place in New York, the Turkish Foreign Ministry shared on their X page, Trend reports.
According to the publication, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan participated in the informal meeting of the OTS Foreign Ministers Council in New York.
The meeting included foreign ministers from OTS member countries and the OTS Secretary-General Kubanychbek Omuraliev.
Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Military cooperation prospects between Azerbaijan and Somalia have been discussed during a meeting of Azerbaijan's Minister of Defense, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov with the Somalian counterpart Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.
The meeting held within 5th Anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX held in Baku highlighted the presence of broad opportunities and prospects for cooperation between the two countries in all areas, including the military one, and saw an exchange of views on other issues of mutual interest.
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azerbaijani Ombudsperson Sabina Aliyeva and US ambassador Mark Libby have held a detailed discussion of human rights protection efforts taken over the past period, Trend reports via the statement from the Ombudsman's Office.
According to the statement, emphasizing the importance of studying positive experiences in the field of human rights, Aliyeva highlighted the existing fruitful cooperation in this direction with ombudspersons and national human rights institutions from foreign countries, as well as international organizations.
Speaking about the latest changes to the Constitutional Law "On the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of Azerbaijan", she noted the expansion of her mandate in the areas of ensuring equality, preventing discrimination, and other directions.
Information was provided on visits within the framework of the National Preventive Mechanism to institutions that detainees cannot leave of their own will, ways to appeal to the ombudsperson, as well as her appeals to the country's president with requests for pardons based on petitions from convicts and their families.
The ombudsperson also said that during Armenia's nearly 30-year occupation of Azerbaijani lands, gross violations of international law were committed, environmental damage was inflicted, and acts of ecocide were perpetrated.
She emphasized that the mines planted on Azerbaijani lands during the occupation created serious obstacles for the safe return of former internally displaced persons to their native lands and the implementation of large-scale reconstruction and construction work.
Adding that about 4,000 compatriots went missing during the First Karabakh War, Aliyeva noted that, as a result of efforts made by Azerbaijan, the identities and remains of several missing persons have been discovered and buried, but the fate of the others remains unknown.
The meeting pointed out that on the liberated territories, fact-finding missions are being conducted on the ombudsperson's initiative, and reports, statements, and appeals are being prepared and sent to international organizations, foreign ombudspersons, and national human rights institutions.
Additionally, the meeting discussed a number of other issues of mutual interest.
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Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan / X
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Bayramov Jeyhun has wished Kyrgyzstan a successful chairmanship in the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), the country's Foreign Ministry wrote on its X page, Trend reports.
He touched upon the issue in his speech at an informal meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of OTS on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly's 79th session in New York.
The minister also talked about the development of cooperation between the OTS member states in political, economic, transport, energy, health, agriculture, tourism, information, media, communication technologies, etc. fields, as well as major achievements of the organization.
Bayramov highlighted that the OTS achievements and the further expansion of cooperation between the Turkic states give rise to a feeling of immense pride.
We thank brotherly Kazakhstan for its excellent chairmanship in the organization and wish brotherly Kyrgyzstan success in the upcoming implementation of this responsible task, he added.
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Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan / X
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has held an exchange of views with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly's 79th session, the country's Foreign Ministry wrote on its X page, Trend reports.
According to the ministry, the parties discussed the current agenda of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the UN in the field of human rights, as well as the post-conflict regional situation.
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IMF chief confident in Sri Lankas future under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake
Posted by Editor on September 25, 2024 - 2:39 pm
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has expressed confidence in the leadership of newly elected Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
In a congratulatory letter, Georgieva assured that the IMF will remain a strong partner and is ready to help Sri Lanka achieve its development and reform goals under the ongoing IMF-supported program.
She highlighted the excellent relationship the IMF has had with Sri Lanka over the years and said that Dissanayakes leadership will bring stability, prosperity, and inclusive growth to the country.
Georgieva also emphasized the importance of continuing to build on the gains that have helped Sri Lanka recover from one of its worst economic crises.
She looks forward to deepening the relationship between the IMF and Sri Lanka, and wished the new president success.
Sri Lanka President urges national unity and promises economic reform
Posted by Editor on September 25, 2024 - 8:54 pm
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake expressed gratitude to the people for their support and dedicated his victory to all citizens, regardless of their previous political stance.
He made this statement during his address to the nation at 7:30 PM today (September 25).
In his speech, he emphasized the importance of collective responsibility in nation-building, acknowledged the sacrifices of previous generations, and reaffirmed his commitment to fostering an inclusive and prosperous future.
Dissanayake outlined plans to stabilize the economy through negotiations with the IMF, debt restructuring, and securing international support. He also stressed the importance of eliminating negative political traits, maintaining a peaceful post-election environment, and creating a unified Sri Lanka that respects diversity.
The President introduced several key initiatives aimed at improving the lives of Sri Lankan citizens. These included reforms in education, public service, and social justice, along with programs to enhance womens representation and provide support for individuals with disabilities.
He further highlighted the need to rebuild the countrys image and foster national pride.
Dissanayake expressed confidence in his teams ability to implement these changes and called on all citizens to participate in the effort. In closing, he announced the dissolution of Parliament to better reflect the peoples will, underscoring the opportunity to build a brighter future for the nation.
The complete speech delivered by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake:
I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all the people of this country who have listened to our voices over the decades and breathed life into the programs we proposed.
We believe that the victory you have given us will be even more strengthened if it brings joy to those who may not have agreed with our vision. Therefore, I want to dedicate this victory to all citizens of our nation.
We honour and remember the courageous men and women of previous generations who made sacrifices, some with their lives, for this victory. I see this victory and the prosperous nation we aim to build as a tribute to their legacy.
We believe that all people, including those who trusted us despite slander, falsehoods, and misinformation, and elected our political movement with great determination have the strength to shoulder the responsibility of building this nation together.
We are capable of fulfilling this role as a united team, and we have a talented team dedicated to this mission. Our determination is unwavering.
The change we seek involves many steps that will take time. However, achieving stability and confidence in the current economy is crucial. We plan to begin negotiations with the International Monetary Fund immediately and proceed with activities related to the extended credit facility. Additionally, to advance our debt restructuring program, we are negotiating with relevant creditors to expedite the process and secure necessary debt relief. We are confident that we can gain the support of both the people of this country and the international community, and we believe that through this collective support, we can achieve success.
A key concept that resonates with the public is our commitment to making a difference. One of the primary changes citizens expect is to eliminate the negative traits in our political culture. Our track record thus far supports this commitment. Notably, we succeeded in making the presidential election the only one in Sri Lanka without reports of post-election violence, which reflects the trust the people have placed in us. Our aim is to confirm and stabilize this positive situation.
At this moment, I want to highlight the importance of engaging in politics with a collective focus on building our country. We are committed to providing that leadership.
Regardless of whether one identifies as Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher, or Malay, our nation will not thrive until we create a practical environment where everyone can proudly say, We are Sri Lankan citizens. We will not hesitate to implement the necessary constitutional, economic, and political reforms. We are launching a permanent program to build a unified Sri Lankan nation that respects diversity, fully ending the era of division based on race, religion, class, and caste.
We have already taken significant steps to appoint efficient and honest officials to oversee these initiatives. We are advancing steadily toward the desired changes, ensuring that public service remains intact and citizens are not adversely affected.
We are committed to creating a law-abiding nation and fostering a disciplined society while ensuring the social security of all citizens. This revives the principle that everyone is equal before the law. We believe that public service plays a crucial role in nation-building. To that end, we will establish a public service that instills pride in the community and aligns with the governments goals. Our commitment is to create an efficient, honest, and people-focused public service.
Our goal is to improve the standard of living for the people of this country. We are implementing practical programs to alleviate the heavy burdens faced by our citizens.
No parent in this country should have to worry about their childs future. Every parent deserves the right to provide their child with access to quality schools and education. We are fully committed to securing the future of the next generation by ensuring excellent education for all children. By fostering knowledge, attitudes, and skills, we are building a promising future for the young generation of our country. When we visit a country, the airport often offers a first impression, reflecting its order, the behaviour of its people, their work ethic, and cultural practices.
It also reveals the countrys cleanliness, how vehicles are driven, how the elderly are treated, the hospitality shown, and even how animals are cared for. We have developed clear plans to enhance Sri Lankas image in these areas, with short-term, medium-term, and long-term initiatives already underway.
Our goal is to create a nation where the world respects our passport, and where every citizen can proudly say, I am a Sri Lankan. We aim to build a country where citizenship is a source of pride for all. Achieving this vision will require the collective effort of every citizen.
We are committed to creating a system that upholds social justice for all, and we will do so with the highest sense of responsibility.
We are building a secure future for our children and youth through a program that promotes knowledge, skills, education, and entrepreneurship.
The women in our community, who make up over 52% of our population, play a vital role in both the economy and the social fabric of our country. We are actively working to enhance womens representation across all institutions. As a testament to our commitment, we have already appointed a woman as Prime Minister.
A significant portion of our population consists of individuals with disabilities who require special social protection. To support this group, we have proposed a robust social safety net and are implementing short-term measures to address their needs.
We ensure that no group within our society is overlooked on our journey forward. By respecting each others identities and harnessing them positively for the countrys progress, we make our collective contribution.
We hold a strong belief in the sovereignty of the people and are committed to safeguarding their democratic rights.
I understand that some may feel uncertain due to doubts about us, but I am determined to earn your trust through my actions. I welcome your constructive criticism and encourage you to join us in building the future together. If we can set aside our differences, I believe you will see that we share the same goals. Together, we can confront the challenges facing our country and develop the necessary strategies to move forward. Our doors are open to all who are genuinely and positively committed to the progress of our nation.
We require a Parliament that accurately reflects the will of the people. The existing Parliament does not represent that will. Therefore, I took the step yesterday to dissolve it. A cabinet was appointed in line with our parliamentary representation to guide the country in accordance with the constitution.
There is one dream our people see every new day the sun rises.
That is tomorrow will be better than today!
However, You and I both learned for many years, this has remained merely a dream.Opportunism, the greed of power, and authoritarianism has hindered our countrys progress. But now we have our final opportunity which cannot be missed. Let us unite to create a thriving and beautiful country that embraces diversity.
Lloyd Schwartz
(Image by Lloyd Schwartz) Details DMCA
By John Kendall Hawkins
Lloyd Schwartz is the Frederick S. Troy Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Boston, a longtime commentator on classical music and the arts for National Public Radio's Fresh Air, and a noted editor of Elizabeth Bishop's poetry and prose. He has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships in poetry, and the Poet Laureateship of the city of Somerville, Massachusetts. His poems have appeared in the New Yorker, New Republic, and Atlantic, and have been selected for the Pushcart Prize, The Best American Poetry, and The Best of the Best American Poetry. Among his poetry books are Little Kisses, Cairo Traffic, and Goodnight, Gracie, all published by the University of Chicago Press. - U of Chicago Press
John Kendall Hawkins is a PhD candidate in philosophy at the University of New England (Australia), where his dissertation examines the future of human consciousness in the age of AI. He is a former poetry student of Lloyd Schwartz at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, during the year he won the Academy of American Poets Prize.
The following conversation about the times we're in, poetry, and the advent of AI creative production in music and poetry, and its initial quality, took place by Zoom on November 3, 2023.
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Hawkins:
You were the Poet Laureate of Somerville. That interests me. I once asked Charles Simic why he resigned as the US Poet Laureate, and he wrote back that he received way too many emails from folks wanting to get tips on how to write poems, and it kind of flipped him out after a while -- it was so distracting. Funny anecdote in a way. How was your laureateship? What was involved? What did you find most interesting?
Schwartz:
I'm still the poet laureate of Somerville, Massachusetts. I was appointed at the end of 2019 and I've loved doing this more than I ever imagined. Somerville's a scruffy town-- as you know, very diverse and one of the most densely populated cities in the US. And a lot of poets live here-- many of whom I would have guessed really lived in Cambridge, right across the city line. I'm Somerville's third PL. The city doesn't insist on anything-- no poems for the opening of supermarkets or other public occasions--so the projects I've come up with have all been my own ideas.
My first event was a reading by about 30 Somerville residents who were not poets. They were local officials, including the mayor and the former congressman and state reps, a restaurant owner, a shrink, an artist, a few musicians, Miss Black Massachusetts of 2018 who runs a shelter for battered women, and so on. They each had to pick a poem that had stuck with them, read the poem to the audience, and say why they had cared about it. It was very moving. More than 100 people showed up and nobody left before it was over. Then I had planned to do an event with Somerville poets choosing to read a poem of their own and something they loved by another poet, but Covid interfered with that event, and instead we put posters with their poems on them all over the city.
Another big project, which thanks to the Somerville librarian is still going on, is something that I call "Let's Talk about a Poem." Once a month I choose a poem that is important or interesting to me, and whoever wants to join the discussion is welcome. At first this was in person at the library. A handful of people would show up. But when the library was closed for the pandemic, the librarian suggested we do it on Zoom. I have over 100 people on my mailing list and between 25 and 50 people tune in every month, from all over the world. Some of them are poets, but all of them love poetry and are really smart. I learn so much from them about poems I think I know all about. I retired from teaching at the end of 2019, and this is a little like teaching, but it's more informal than that. I think I'll keep doing this even after I'm no longer poet laureate. I never want to stop.
In some way my most exciting project was putting together an anthology of poems by Somerville high school students. With the help of one of their English teachers, I invited them submit poems they wrote about Somerville-- about living or going to school or eating or hanging out with friends in Somerville. Some of the students already loved writing poems and were pretty talented. Some of them had never written a poem before, and a few of them had never written anything in English. This is the generation I want most to care about poetry, to fall in love with it. I was very happy with that project.
I still haven't commented on Simic's comment. Since I was appointed, no one ever asked me about writing or publishing poems. I think that's the provenance of a national figure rather than a local PL. I can understand getting tired of those questions, but that hasn't been a problem for me. So, I don't ever want to resign. I love being identified as the poet laureate of Somerville!
Hawkins:
Creativity and Artificial Intelligence (AI). There's a debate going on between detractors of AI, who insist that AI will never reach human potential, and proponents, who see AI as a great enhancer of human creativity - that it can spark ideas and generate new approaches. When I think of creativity, I think of passion and I think of spontaneity. As a poet would you say that the computational creativity of AIs will ever match the creative spontaneity of humans?
Schwartz:
I doubt it" and hope not. Your question reminds me of one of my favorite lines of Elizabeth Bishop. And it's not in a poem. It's in an essay that she tried to write about writing poetry, and that she never finished. But we have the drafts and [the unfinished essay has] been published. She said that the qualities in poetry she admires most are accuracy, spontaneity and mystery. ( I think she was partly talking about her own work.) But I think those are three profound qualities in the great works of literature and music and art, and I wouldn't disagree with her. Those are certainly the qualities that I either consciously or unconsciously look for in what I read. I don't find it universally in evidence, but I do find it in the work I love. And I think that would be very hard for AI to reproduce.
Hawkins:
You mentioned accuracy. That's a tricky word when it comes to poetry, because of the use of metaphorical language. What does Bishop mean by 'accuracy'?
Schwartz:
I think she means a kind of precision of language and a precision of feeling. And that has to do with maybe the technical sides of poetry also. If you're writing in meter, you can be syncopated. But the syncopation has to convey some kind of overall rhythmic continuity. But the more important element is emotional accuracy, which could also mean emotional honesty-- find the precise words to embody complex feelings. Those were the qualities I found completely missing in the AI version of her poem [that you sent to me].
Hawkins:
Let's get to that in a second.
I was thinking about how this ChatGPT phenomenon is really taking over. There are the devil's advocates who argue how it can help students write better by modelling organization and forms. That kind of thing. I believe it'll just make everybody lazier. It feels like we are leaving the deep, enriching age of humanity that's risen up since the dawn of the Enlightenment and are now entering into the age of pseudo consciousness? Of letting machines think for us.
Schwartz:
I agree with you. Yeah, I think that's true. It sounds like AI could help provide a good role model for a Freshman composition, where guidelines are important. But not with any serious creative thinking, in either poetry or prose. But you know, my biggest fear is in the political sphere, and that what I understand it can do there is really terrifying.
Hawkins:
How do you see AI affecting politics specifically?
Schwartz:
Well, from what I understand, with deepfakes you could have a very realistic image of Joe Biden saying something extremely damaging about himself, when he isn't in fact doing so. Something just completely manufactured. That's what worries me. I'm afraid that that the electorate is very gullible. I mean, they seem to have given Trump enough votes to make him president. And he is ruthless and many of the people who support him are ruthless. And if they can harness artificial intelligence, they can do a lot of real damage.
Hawkins:
Let's get on to Elizabeth Bishop. She is renowned for her precise language, attention to detail, and ability to find the beauty and wonder in everyday things. You share some of her gifts in your own writings, such as the playfulness you exhibited in your last volume of poetry, Who's on First? Which I'm hoping you'll read something from at the end of this.
Schwartz:
Thank you!
Hawkins:
Anyway, I was thinking about how a large language model or ChatGPT could never do what Bishop or you do with poetry. That flash of spontaneity is not there. The humor would be lost. To test the supposition, I opened up Bard, which is Google's version of ChatGPT. And I typed in the following instruction: "Write me a poem in the style of Elizabeth Bishop." That's all. That's all I did. And it spouted out a poem in very quick time - "The Algorithm." There's immediately a sense of playfulness. Like it's picked up on something about Bishop in terms of her use of language. Here it is:
The Algorithm
The algorithm is a curious thing,
A maze of code and logic's ring.
It learns our habits, tracks our ways,
And shapes our world in myriad ways.
It tells us what to buy and watch,
Who to like and who to block.
It feeds us news that's tailored tight,
And shows us ads with uncanny light.
The algorithm is a powerful tool,
But it can also be a cruel.
It can echo our biases back,
And trap us in a narrow track.
So let us be aware of its sway,
And use it with wisdom every day.
For the algorithm is a mirror too,
Reflecting back our thoughts and dreams anew.
You think it's laughable, right?
Schwartz:
Well. Yeah. What surprised me was how much it didn't sound like Bishop. Even technically. In terms of meter, Bishop was not someone who used couplets a lot, and her rhythmic language, even when she's being syncopated, there's always some kind of control so that her phrases have some kind of rhythmic connection. And this little verse doesn't have that. The rhythm gets very clunky. And if you had sent it to me and said this is supposed to be an AI version of a famous poet, I never would have guessed Bishop.
Hawkins:
Right. So, the question is how did Bard it screw up?
Schwartz:
That's a very good question because I'm curious to know what "Bishop" poems it fed into the system that made the computer think it was sounding like Elizabeth Bishop?
Hawkins:
Still, there is a kind of cheekiness to it -- in the title and the ironic "self"- referential lines. Is it Bishop playful though.
Schwartz:
I don't think it is. I was just remembering a verse that writer Mary McCarthy remembers Elizabeth Bishop reciting when they were Vassar students together. Elizabeth Bishop's dorm room was right next to the bathroom. And in an interview for a Bishop documentary Mary McCarthy quoted this verse by Bishop.
Ladies and gents, ladies and gents,
Flushing away your excrements
I sit and hear behind the wall
The sad continual waterfall
That sanitary pipes can give
To still our actions primitive.
She was an undergraduate when she recited that. We have no documentary evidence, as she didn't write it down, except Mary McCarthy remembered it. And it's kind of brilliant. I don't see that level of wit or play in the Bard poem.
Hawkins:
But I can see happening in the future how these things will be introduced to creative writing classes or writing classes in general. And I wonder how we will deal with them in the classroom. And is there any way that such knockoffs can be helpful, in their deficits, for better understanding an established human poet? Is there a way of using this in a classroom that would enhance the experience of writing at all? Or is it just a waste of time to introduce it at all.
Schwartz:
I don't know. I mean, I could use it in a classroom to demonstrate examples of bad writing. And yeah, point out what's closer to real Bishop. I mean, the opening line is okay, "the algorithm is a curious thing," although thing is a kind of weak word. It sounds like it's about to be a limerick. "A maze of code." I think that's pretty good. But "logic's ring"? I'm not sure what that is. A logical argument coming round in a ring to meet the other side? Or is it a kind of ring of logic or the ring of truth? I don't know, it seems to me not good writing, even for light verse.
Hawkins:
All right. Well, maybe. Students bring their laptops to class nowadays, right? So, maybe let's say, six students could bring up Bard and type in the prompt instructions to write a poem along the line of their favorite poet. Let's call this classroom experience, Six Students in Search of a Good Poem. So you have six different poems. And then maybe you could discuss why it's bad poetry, like what's going on with these poems that makes it so bad - or conversely, what's, surprisingly, working?
Schwartz:
Yes. That would work and might actually be useful.
Hawkins:
Okay, let's move on to AI and classical music products. Several weeks ago, I read your WBUR piece on Fall classical music doings in Boston and noted that you were touting Tod Machover's "shimmering electronic opera 'VALIS' (an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligent System)." It seems like a crazy little opera, full of Philip K. Dick's inimitable and, perhaps, pathological melancholy and paranoia. Dick would be a good writer to turn to in a query about the Age of AI, thinking of the androids in Blade Runner, with that signature line, the android when he finally meets his maker: "If you could only see what I see through your eyes." I fear a little of that is ahead for us with AIs. But, anyway, your mini-preview of the Fall offerings reminded me of your years at the now-defunct Boston Phoenix. I seem to recall a piece you were writing about the wunderkind then, Peter Sellars. Your Machover delight would seem to suggest that you are at ease with the New and this whole AI thing. Is it a case of not taking the phenomenon too seriously or yet again of art finding a way to intelligently cope with its still unknown features?
Schwartz:
Blade Runner is one of my favorite movies. Well, I'd like to think that I'm open to anything new, anything that really kind of gets to me. And this opera, VALIS, really seemed [to take seriously] its original source. And the music was very inventive and very beautiful and very moving. And you're sort of finding your way, feeling around in it, because you're not entirely sure what's going on. That's a good thing. And then by the end of the opera, you're really very moved by it and moved by the main character's plight, and the [electronic] music really captures that. And what's music for, if not that? And so, it was an inventive opera. Technically daring. But some of the technical stuff in the new production, almost got in the way of what I like about the opera . It was almost overly complicated and self-conscious, though I still like the opera
Hawkins:
Can we expect that a kind of dynamic response in the future in relation to AI-created material?
Schwartz:
I don't know. I hope so. I mean, I think it would be great if that happened, and it would be a great excuse for AI to exist. If artists could really use it, respond to it in a serious and interesting way.
Hawkins:
All right. Let me ask you about the symphonies and the musical pieces that have been completed by AI. I've been wrestling with the Devil lately. I've just learned that AIs have initiated or completed symphonic music, old and new, and I'm trying to figure out how I feel about what I've read about so far. I am reading about AIs that can finish where classical composers left off -- Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony; AIs that create new symphonies -- Beethoven's 10th -- or an endless string of new works by Bach. But, ethically speaking, do we want to hear an AI complete the Unfinished? Do we want AI hoons out there pushing bootleg quality algorithmic takes on Bach (I've read there's even a plan to produce endless "new" works by Bach, using AI). You know, personally, when I listen to that last movement of Beethoven's Ninth, I wonder why you would need a 10th. But when you hear the 10th that some gormless AI put out, you don't know why they bothered. Where do you weigh in on this phenomenon? Have you heard any pieces that blew you away?
[ Beethoven X: The AI Project: Complete (Bonn Orchestra)]
Schwartz:
No! I just found the AI Beethoven imitation Beethoven. And that It's kind of obvious, and you recognize a lot of themes from earlier Beethoven symphonies. And one of the things that was so great about Beethoven is that every symphony did something really new and something very different from what came before. And this AI piece was just rehashing all the old stuff instead of coming up with something new from Beethoven. I just thought it was kind of a pastiche of old Beethoven devices. So, imagine a lost first symphony of Beethoven, rather than a 10th Symphony, right? It was a kind of young Beethoven trying this and trying that, and then later on figuring out what to do with this stuff and that it wasn't sophisticated. It was really amateurish. And it didn't do much for me.
Hawkins:
What about the Schubert? Finished. No way. Huh?
[ Schubert's Unfinished Symphony no8, powered by Huawei AI at Cadogan Hall, London (Finale part only) ]
Schwartz:
No way! The Schubert was just the opposite thing. it just didn't sound like Schubert to me. I mean when you listen to Schubert, every few seconds there's something so beautiful and so incredibly inventive, but gorgeous. The AI Beethoven at least sounded like an imitation of Beethoven. But the AI Schubert didn't sound anything like the real Schubert. It just seemed a lot like a big orchestra just kind of pumping away. And I didn't, I just didn't buy it at all. I mean, I don't think I would have guess it was even imitation Schubert.
Hawkins:
Do you think it'll be something they can improve on, or is it a fault in concept? The flaw in programming that is trying to imitate humans?
Schwartz:
It seemed to me that the AI productions could have done a better job. And that It probably will at some point, and they'll probably write a better Bishop poem in, I don't know, in six months. Or five years or next week. You don't know how fast this stuff is developing. But surely there will be a better Bishop poem, and surely there will be something that sounds more like Schubert than this piece of music and something more inventive. So, I think it will inevitably be approved on. But I also think there's a flaw in the concept and an ethical problem.
Hawkins:
Shall we close with a reading from Who's on First?
Schwartz:
Sure. Shall I read that title poem?
Schwartz:
[Reads poem "Who's on First?" available at the Poetry Foundation website.]
Let's Talk About A Poem with Lloyd Schwartz (Malden Public Library Series)
Today marks the official launch of Extra Workforce, a dynamic new, modern recruitment agency in Birmingham, offering tailored staffing solutions designed to meet the evolving demands of businesses across various sectors. With a deep understanding of the local job market and a commitment to matching the right talent with the right companies, Extra Workforce is set to make a significant impact on Birmingham's recruitment landscape. Key Features of Extra
[Baltimore, September 24, 2024] - September is Hunger Action Month, an annual campaign to inspire people to take action against hunger and to raise awareness for those facing food and nutritional insecurity in our communities. A Baltimore teen is leading the charge by founding one of the nation's few gluten free and allergen-free pantries at GEDCO's CARES, a community-based organization in the Govans neighborhood of Baltimore. This initiative helps
Boulder, Colorado - LightWare has revealed the GRF-250, an ultralight laser rangefinder designed for gimbal integration. Believing that mid-range laser rangefinders can transform intelligence, surveillance, security, search and rescue operations, LightWare's development team identified a need for better mid-range laser rangefinders. The first of this series of products is GRF-250. LightWare's CEO, Nadia Nilsen, is excited about the company's latest product offering. "We value learning from our customers and remaining true
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with his Latvian counterpart Baiba Braze within the framework of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement, Trend reports.
According to the information, the parties discussed the prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Latvia in both bilateral and multilateral levels.
The foreign ministers also discussed preparations for COP29, the post-conflict situation in the region and Azerbaijan's peace efforts.
Dubai, September 10 - In a market overcrowded with video content agencies, WGG Advertising Agency stands out from the crowd by delivering truly high-quality results that drive business growth for clients. WGG Advertising Agency's Video Production Team has just reached a significant milestone by completing its 300th client project. This achievement demonstrates the agency's commitment to delivering high-quality video content that delivers business results in a competitive market. The agency understands
Dear Lizzy,
My mother suffers from mild Alzheimers and no longer drives. Two years ago I moved closer to her so I could help my sister take care of her. One of her friends, Connie, is the only one who tries to maintain a relationship with her, which I appreciate, but it is taxing. She contacts me frequently wanting to arrange time to spend with my mom.
Connie wants to try new restaurants and talk about all the latest political and celebrity gossip. But Mom only likes one or two restaurants and doesnt participate in conversations as her speech is greatly diminished. I do not want to talk about these topics. Mom doesnt get anything out of the time with Connie that I can tell. My mother needs routine and familiar situations to function. Connie lives far enough away that she cannot travel directly to my mothers house, she wants me to go get my mom and meet her places, which results in a one hour round trip for me just in travel time.
I have my own life, family, work and hobbies that Im trying to juggle. How do I tell Connie that it is too much for me and mom to spend time with her?
Caretaking Daughter
Dear Caretaking Daughter,
Your mom is very lucky to have you close by and also this is so hard and Im really sorry you are going through it.
Everyone grieves the loss of a person to dementia in different ways. It sounds to me like Connie is grieving her friend by being in denial: she hasnt yet accepted that your mom is a different version of herself now, one who cannot do the things she used to do in the ways she used to do them.
Sometimes, I think, seeing a person with dementia clearly for who they are now is harder for different people, and maybe even harder when you arent up close with that person day in and day out.
Still, it is absolutely not your job to take care of Connie or her feelings. Have you heard of the theory about rings of support in a crisis? Its a great visualization of who should be supporting who when something terrible happens.
Id say Mom with Alzheimers counts as a crisis, even though it is an ongoing one. Your mom is the center of the circle, then you and your sister are the next ring, giving her direct support.
Connie is not her caregiver or her daughter, so using the ring theory, she is a ring outside of you and should be doing things that support you, not making your life harder.
All that is to say, you are well within your rights to have a kind but firm conversation with Connie.
You can say, Connie, I truly appreciate the fact that you want to maintain a relationship with my mom. Its so important to my family. But my mom has changed. She cant do the things she used to do and she really needs to maintain her routine. It would help me so much if you could visit her where she is, instead of trying to go out, which is no longer something that works well for her. For example you could come visit her at [wherever she lives, when it is actually convenient]. Unfortunately, I cannot drive you but if you need a ride, I recommend asking a friend or taking public transit or even a cab. Your support is very valuable to my sister and me. We really appreciate it.
You could also email her a couple links, to more information on the ring theory and to this helpful post from the Alzheimers Association on ways to help a family dealing with a diagnosis. And you could ask her doctor for advice on this, and then invoke that in your conversation, saying, Her care team thinks its best for her to maintain a routine.
Heres the truth: She might get offended. She might stop seeing your mom. Those are worst-case scenarios. But you are not responsible for her feelings. Hopefully, she will get over the pain of the truth and begin to come to terms with the fact that her friend has changed, forever. When she does that, she may be able to be an actual asset in your life.
Good luck.
Lizzy
Have a burning question? Send me an email at lacker@oregonian.com or tweet @lizzzyacker! Or, if you want to ask me a question with total anonymity, use this Google form.
Read more Why Tho? here.
Authorities are still trying to figure out the cause of the sharp, concerning odor that swept through southwest Washington and into the Portland metro area on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Officials dont know whether the smell could be dangerous.
It smells toxic as h***, one person on Reddit wrote Wednesday morning.
The odor apparently first popped up in Kelso and moved down the I-5 corridor.
The Portland office of the National Weather Service analyzed winds overnight and estimated the route the odor took.
Early reports showed a strange smell was first reported between Vancouver and Kelso. By tracking winds, we can estimate the path that it may have taken, briefly drifting down near Vancouver WA before southerly winds around 4AM would have pushed it back north again. #WAwx #ORwx pic.twitter.com/bU03MbSfM1 NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) September 25, 2024
Cowlitz County Fire District 5 reported on Facebook that it had deployed air monitors in Kalama late Tuesday, and they produced an O2 reading of 20.8, all other substances were at 0, so no gas.
Local industrial plants and railroads reported no problems or unusual releases, the fire district added.
With rain coming down across the metro area on Wednesday afternoon, the odor appears to be dissipating. Officials continue to investigate.
Cowlitz County Emergency Management advised that anyone smelling the odor should stay indoors and close doors and windows.
-- The Oregonian/OregonLive
Portland police arrested a 27-year-old man Tuesday on suspicion of second-degree murder in connection with a fatal July shooting in the Lloyd District.
The Police Bureaus homicide unit along with its Special Emergency Reaction Team arrested Cresencio Flores on outstanding warrants in the fatal July 28 shooting of 45-year-old Jacob Forrest, police said.
A 25-year-old Cornelius man was sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree.
Sain Delgado Venegas shot Isaura Soto-Gaona, the manager of a Hillsboro bar and restaurant, on April 1, 2023, after Venegas and three others were asked to leave Kims Red Rose Restaurant for refusing to show identification proving they were of legal drinking age, the Washington County District Attorneys Office wrote in a statement.
The four left the bar but returned about an hour later. Soto-Gaona, 42, asked them again to leave.
That was when Venegas pulled a handgun and attempted to discharge it twice in the direction of a bartender and the manager, according to the district attorneys office. The gun malfunctioned and did not fire. The defendant then racked the slide and fired a round directly at Ms. Soto-Gaona, killing her.
Venegas, who has previous convictions for assault, driving under the influence and other charges, could be paroled in 25 years, court documents show.
The murder sentence will run alongside an 8-year sentence for unlawful possession of a weapon by a prison inmate. Jail deputies found a makeshift weapon in his cell during a routine search, the district attorneys office said.
-- The Oregonian/OregonLive; dperry@oregonian.com
A 52-year-old janitor who said he was seriously injured by an electric fence that was meant to provide overnight security at the Albany business hed just finished cleaning has filed a $20 million lawsuit against the business and the maker of the fence.
Gregory Dimicelis lawsuit states he was unexpectedly and severely shocked when he attempted to leave through a gate at Peterson Trucks on Fescue Street Southeast, an industrial strip next to Interstate 5. The suit says he was temporarily paralyzed by the electricity and unable to release his grip on the fence until he collapsed unconscious to the ground. The suit says he suffered a concussion as he struck his head during his fall, cataracts from the voltage surge and other injuries to his hand, shoulder, chest, back, neck and mouth.
Peterson Trucks, which sells commercial trucks, declined to comment. The South Carolina manufacturer of the fence, Amarok, disputed Dimicelis injuries, in an emailed response to The Oregonian/OregonLive.
AMAROK strongly denies any allegation of injury from contacting an AMAROK security fence, said spokesperson Kerry Gibson. AMAROKs security fences are tested to ensure compliance with national and international safety standards. AMAROK and the leading experts in the field are confident in the safety and quality of our solutions.
Electric fences arent commonplace in urban settings but are expected to grow in popularity over the next decade in a variety of settings, including farms, warehouses and storage facilities. Gibson told The Oregonian/OregonLive last year that there are about 300 of its fences in Oregon, including an 11-foot, 7,000-volt fence that went up around a Northeast Portland Toyota dealership last November as a way to deter thieves.
We like to say its safe, but memorable, Gibson said at the time.
The lawsuit says the fence at Peterson Trucks also was 7,000 volts. According to the suit, several months before he was injured Dimiceli had been assigned by his employer, a janitorial services company, to clean Peterson Trucking. The suit says hed been given instructions to activate the electric fence using a panel on the outside of the gate each evening after he left because he regularly was the last person to leave.
His suit states he was the last person out at about 6 p.m. on Oct. 5, 2022. But another employee already had turned on the fence without checking to see if anyone was still inside, and that when Dimiceli exited there was no way for him to know from the inside of the gate whether the fence was electrified and no way for him to flip a switch to turn it off before he exited, according to the suit.
The suit states that he regained consciousness, was disoriented and went home to sleep, but he eventually ended up seeking medical treatment after waking up dizzy, in pain, struggling to breathe and vomiting.
The suit seeks $2 million for past and future medical expenses, $750,000 for future lost wages and $17.5 million for his pain and suffering, which the suit says may include needing to seek assisted living care earlier than he normally would have.
The suit also lists multiple other defendants, including the owners of the property and employees who are suspected of activating the fence while Dimiceli was still inside. The suit was filed Friday in Multnomah County Circuit Court by Eugene attorney Travis Eiva.
Reporter Austin De Dios contributed to this story.
Aimee Green covers breaking news and the justice system. Reach her at 503-294-5119, agreen@oregonian.com or @o_aimee.
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Its time to vote in the next category of The Oregonians Readers Choice Awards: best Mexican restaurant.
We asked for your input and started with the seven restaurants that received the most reader nominations. Then we asked our dining critic to make three picks to round out the list of 10 finalists.
Michael Russell, The Oregonians dining critic, thinks that despite the complaints you might hear (mostly from transplanted Californians), Mexican food in Portland is surprisingly diverse, both in terms of regional variation and price. You can head downtown to Republica, a 10-course, $150 Mexican-forward tasting menu from chef Jose Camarena, as well as its sister restaurants Lilia and De Noche. Or you can head the other way, visiting the Portland-Gresham border for great carnitas or soul soothing birria.
If I were building this list, I would probably add Lilia, the most consistently successful restaurant in the Republica Hospitality Group; Astral, the ambitious restaurant residency at Duality Brewing; and Salsas Locas, the de Leons reincarnation near the Reed College campus, Russell says. But our readers seem to be more interested in family-style restaurants and food carts (shout out to those of you who nominated the great cart Mole Mole, now with two locations), so well stick with that theme.
To our readers list, Ill add Guero, owner Megan Sanchez fantastic sandwich shop with its annual summer pop-up in the back lot; Kiikibaa, the great Yucatecan restaurant that was our 2023 Restaurant of the Year; and Titos Taquitos, the phenomenal flauta cart that started next to a Southwest Portland gas station and now runs a brick-and-mortar on Swan Island.
You can vote once a day at the bottom of this post or at this link until the poll closes at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Well reveal the results Friday, Oct. 4 at oregonlive.com/readers-choice.
Cocina Mexico Lindo
With four food trucks in Beaverton and Hillsboro as well as a restaurant in Beaverton, Mexico Lindo has a lot of fans. One reader who nominated Mexico Lindo drives 90 minutes each way for what they say is the best food outside of Mexico.
18475 S.W. Alton St., Beaverton, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday; cocinamexicolindofood.com
El Sombrero
This family-owned restaurant was lauded by our readers for the food and the staff. Multiple people said the refried beans are the best and margaritas should not be missed.
10820 N.E. Sandy Blvd., opens at 11 a.m. daily, closing time varies from 7 to 8:30 p.m. depending on how busy it is; elsombreropdx.com
Guero
After starting as a Silver Streak trailer parked on Southeast 28th Avenue, Guero moved just across Burnside to the former Tabla space, expanding its menu of tortas and bowls with a full bar and a seasonal pop-up venue out back. Russells favorite sandwich is the masa y papa, a starch-on-starch vegetarian number that somehow ends up juicier than the carnitas.
200 N.E. 28th Ave., 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily; guerotortas.com
Chef Manny Lopez serves up a to-go order at Ki'ikibaa, a Yucatecan restaurant in Northeast Portland.Dave Killen / The Oregonian
Fans of the great Yucatecan food that Lopez first served at Angel Food & Fun held out hope that one day, he and wife, Suny Parra Castillo, would open a new restaurant. They did that in 2022, reviving the panuchos, poc chuc and frijol con puerco they first introduced to Portland 10 years ago. Dont miss the weekly specials, the pozoles or the relleno negro, a Scotch egg-style pork loaf formed around a hard-boiled egg and served with shredded turkey in a savory black broth made from charred chilies that takes Lopez around a week to prepare. It also has what might be Portlands best carne asada burrito.
3244 N.E. 82nd Ave., 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday; instagram.com/kiikibaapdx
This vegan restaurant offers tacos, burritos and chimichangas with seitan spiced like asada carnitas and more. One of the readers who nominated Mis Tacones said, I am not vegan, but I could be if the nice folks at Mis Tacones cooked all my food. Its that good.
1670 N.E. Killingsworth St., 3-9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 12-9 p.m. Thursday, 12-10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday; mistaconespdx.com
Mole Mole's offerings include chicken al pastor tacos.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
Mole Mole
This food truck was applauded by our readers for its traditional Mexican food and beautiful presentation. Mole Mole feels like having dinner at your tias house. The flavor is always spot on, the service amazing and the price point cant be beat, one reader said.
2231 N.E. Alberta St., 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday; 4237 N. Mississippi Ave., 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. daily; molemolepdx.com
Nuestra Cocina
Practically a Portland institution after serving up ceviche for more than 20 years, Nuestra Cocina is a hit with our readers for the food and cocktails. One reader called it reliably wonderful year and year, and noted the creative seasonal dishes and delicious margaritas.
2135 S.E. Division St.; 4-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; nuestracocina.com
Por Que No? Taqueria
Por Que No has long been a favorite for Oregonian readers. Their carne asada is the best Ive ever had. Their chips are perfectly crispy. Their salsas are also unique and perfectly flavorful. I also love their rice and whole pinto beans. They elevate everything and prices are reasonable, said one person who nominated them.
3524 N. Mississippi Ave. and 4635 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd., 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sunday, both locations are closed until Friday, Sept. 27 for their annual End of Summer Employee Party; porquenotacos.square.site
Si Senor
Most people who nominated this restaurant specified the Beaverton location, but theres also one in Portlands Cedar Mill neighborhood. Readers complimented the authentic dishes, fresh food and large portions.
8220 S.W. Hall Blvd., Beaverton, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday; sisenorbeaverton.com
Tito's Taquitos features crispy hand-rolled potato taquitos with your choice of toppings and sauces. Tim Brown, The Oregonain/OregonLive
Titos Taquitos
Anthony La Pietras great taquito truck has moved on from its original home next to a gas station. Now found in a Swan Island restaurant and a cart at Breaksides Beaverton pod, Titos serves good tacos, but its the taquitos that make it a destination. Hand rolled daily, each stack of golden taquitos is presented traditionally with shredded cabbage and avocado sauce, topped with micro herbs and optional veggies or meat. If its your first time, order them unadorned for one of the citys most delicious $9 dishes.
3449 N. Anchor St. Suite 200, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 12675 S.W. 1st St., Beaverton, 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; titos-taquitos.square.site
Cast your vote here
You can vote once a day until the poll closes at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Check OregonLive.com/readers-choice on Friday, Oct. 4 to see the results.
Mims Copeland is a social media producer and covers trending topics for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach her at mcopeland@oregonian.com
Subscribe to The Best Thing I Ate This Week newsletter
Each week, restaurant critic Michael Russell takes Oregonian/OregonLive subscribers along on his culinary explorations. Not a subscriber? You can receive a few weeks of The Best Thing I Ate This Week newsletter as a free trial. Sign up here.
The first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month, but experts say the addiction treatment changes could fall flat if state governments and methadone clinics fail to act.
Oregon is among the states that will operate under the expansion.
For decades, strict rules required most methadone patients to line up at special clinics every morning to sip their daily dose of the liquid medicine while being watched. The rules, built on distrust of people in the grip of opioid addiction, were meant to prevent overdoses and diversion the illicit selling or sharing of methadone.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the risk calculation. To prevent the spread of the coronavirus at crowded clinics, emergency rules allowed patients to take methadone unsupervised at home.
Research showed the looser practice was safe. Overdose deaths and drug diversion didnt increase. And people stayed in treatment longer.
With evidence mounting, the U.S. government made the changes permanent early this year. Oct. 2 is the date when clinics must comply with the new rules unless theyre in a state with more restrictive regulations.
Alabama where about 7,000 people take methadone for opioid use disorder plans to align with the new flexible rules, said Nicole Walden, a state official overseeing substance use services.
This is a step toward the country and everybody saying this is not a bad thing, Walden said. People dont have to show up every day to get a medication that can help save their lives.
Is methadone an opioid?
Methadone, an opioid itself, can be dangerous in large amounts. When taken correctly, it can stop drug cravings without causing a high. Numerous studies have shown it reduces the risk of overdose and the spread of hepatitis C and HIV. But it cannot be prescribed for opioid addiction outside of the nations 2,100 methadone clinics, which on a given day treat nearly 500,000 U.S. patients with the drug. In Oregon, 13,000 to 14,000 people are treated with methadone, according to John W. McIlveen of the Oregon Health Authority.
The new federal rules allow stable patients to take home 28 days worth of methadone. Colorado, New York and Massachusetts are among states taking steps to update their rules to align with the new flexibility. Some others have not, including West Virginia and Tennessee the states with the nations highest drug overdose death rates.
Where you live matters, said University of Arizona researcher Beth Meyerson, who studies methadone policy.
Phoenix resident Irene Garnett, 44, would welcome more take-home methadone doses. Her clinic now requires her to come in twice a week, even though shes been a patient there more than 10 years, which is just bonkers, she said.
Garnett, who works as a grant manager for a harm reduction agency, lives 25 minutes away from the clinic. She said 28 days of take-home methadone, the maximum allowed under the new federal rules, would give her more freedom to travel and a more normal quality of life.
This is the only medication where you have to disrupt your life by going someplace every day, she said.
Under the new rules, which Arizona plans to embrace, clinics will have broad discretion about which people qualify for take-home doses. Ideally, such decisions will be made jointly between doctors and patients. But money will play a role too, experts said.
Frances McGaffey, who researches substance use treatments for the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts, said payments to clinics are sometimes tied to in-person dosing, which can discourage take-home treatment.
States should be looking at their payment policy and see what kind of care theyre incentivizing, she said.
In Arizona, clinics now get $15 per in-person dose from the states Medicaid program vs. about $4 per take-home dose. The state is considering options including making those amounts equal or adopting whats called bundled payment, a model that reflects the overall cost of treatment.
New Yorks Medicaid program uses a bundled payment model so theres no financial incentive for in-person dosing.
Longtime methadone patient David Frank, a 52-year-old New York University sociologist, gets four weeks of take-home methadone in wafer form from his clinic.
I never in a million years could have gone back to school, got my Ph.D., done research or taught any of that stuff if I had to go to a clinic every day, Frank said. Its night and day in terms of your ability to live a stable, happy, quality life.
A movement to liberate methadone
The methadone clinic system dates to 1974, when the U.S. saw fewer than 7,000 overdose deaths a year. Some longtime patients including Garnett and Frank are organizing a movement to liberate methadone as annual overdose deaths now top 107,000. They support legislation to allow addiction specialist physicians to prescribe methadone and pharmacies to fill those prescriptions.
The new federal rules dont go that far, but they include other changes, such as:
In states that adopt the rules, methadone treatment can start faster. People will no longer need to demonstrate a one-year history of opioid addiction.
Counseling can be optional instead of mandatory.
Telehealth can be used to assess patients, improving access for rural residents.
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants not just doctors can start people on methadone.
It really is up to states to adopt these changes in order to increase access to care, said Mark Parrino, president of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence.
Tennessee officials have drafted new rules that are stricter than the federal governments. The states proposal would increase random urine drug screening, make counseling mandatory for many patients and obligate clinics to hire pharmacists if they want to dispense take-home doses.
The states proposed rules are duplicative, contradictory, prescriptive, rigid, and written in a way that seeks to punish versus heal people living with an opioid use disorder, wrote Zac Talbott, who operates four methadone clinics in Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina.
In states that do adopt the federal rules, the changes will be a heavy lift for some clinics, experts said. Some clinic leaders may disagree with the patient-centered philosophy behind the changes. Some may balk at the legal liability that goes with judgment calls about which people can safely take methadone at home.
Not all opioid treatment programs are created equal, said Linda Hurley, CEO of Rhode Islands oldest methadone program, CODAC Behavioral Healthcare.
Clinics are used to operating within a highly restrictive environment, said Meyerson, the University of Arizona researcher.
We have regulated them into a corner for years, Meyerson said. The new rules allow the clinics to put the well-being of patients at the center of care.
The question is, she said, can they do it?
By CARLA K. JOHNSON AP Medical Writer
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
A 78-year-old Roseburg man was found dead after he fell into the ocean and drowned last week near Bastendorff Beach on the southern Oregon coast, sheriffs deputies said.
The Coos County Sheriffs Department identified the man as James Chittum Jr.
Witnesses reported the man had fallen around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15.
The Charleston, Coos Bay, and North Bend fire departments were assisted by the U.S. Coast Guard in search and rescue efforts.
Deputy Jeff Lee, a spokesperson for the Coos County Sheriffs Department, said Chittum Jr. was reported to have fallen in extremely dangerous, rocky terrain. The Coast Guard joined in rescue efforts with a large boat and helicopter.
Chittum Jr. was located dead and his family was notified, the sheriffs department said in a press release.
-- Tyler Brown is a breaking news reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive. You can reach him at tbrown2@oregonian.com or 503-221-8243.
Portlands high on Tuesday, as measured at the International Airport, hit a toasty 94 degrees. But a cold front moving inland Wednesday will have you grabbing a hoodie and your sensible shoes as temps drop 25 degrees and rain moves in.
The National Weather Service says the front will move inland through the morning hours with the coast seeing a few showers. The system then moves into the valleys with the bulk of the rain falling in the southern counties of Washington. Rainfall is expected in Portland by 2 p.m. if not earlier. Accumulations will vary by terrain and latitude with the higher amounts likely in the Coast Range than what valley communities will see.
Portlands skies will remain mostly cloudy all day with rain possible in the morning, but more likely after the noon hour. The daytime high stays fairly steady throughout Wednesday with temps only making it to around 68 degrees. There is a 15-20% chance of thunderstorms over Skamania, Cowlitz, Clark, Hood River, eastern Multnomah, and northern Clackamas counties.
Skies should begin clearing overnight and theres a chance of fog early Thursday morning. Once the fog clears, skies will gradually clear to partly sunny. The high will reach about 72 degrees.
A weak system will brush by the metro area early Friday offering a slight chance of showers. Skies will clear later in the day to partly sunny, and the high temp should reach about 71 degrees.
High pressure is expected to reform late Friday and into Saturday, according to the weather service. Skies should be mostly sunny Saturday with a high of about 72 degrees.
Sunday will be a few degrees cooler under sunny skies, with highs reaching near 68.
Extended forecasts are showing a mix of clouds and sunshine to start next week with temps staying in the low 70s.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Due to the tense security situation between Lebanon and Israel, it is important to strictly follow the travel warnings issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan on August 3 and 5, 2024, respectively, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement, Trend reports.
In addition, in connection with the declaration of a state of emergency in Israel, the ministry recommends that compatriots not visit areas adjacent to the border with Lebanon and behave in accordance with the security instructions issued by local authorities.
Contacts:
Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the State of Israel
[email protected]; +972 54 539 77 88
Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Republic of Lebanon
[email protected]; +961 4 922 066.
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 26. French President Emmanuel Macron's statement at the UN General Assembly on September 25 that "France stands shoulder to shoulder with Armenia in the conditions of Azerbaijan's pressures on Armenia and territorial claims" is another example of France's biased pro-Armenian approach to both our country and the peace process in general, the head of the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Aykhan Hajizada said, commenting on Emmanuel Macrons statements about Azerbaijan at the UN General Assembly.
"It is unacceptable that France, which is preparing Armenia for revanchism while extensively arming it, accuses Azerbaijan of coercion.
France presenting Armenia as a peace-loving country while Armenia occupied Azerbaijan's territories for nearly 30 years, displaced nearly one million Azerbaijanis, committed massacres and crimes against humanity, and ignored the right of return of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis who were deported en masse from its territory clearly demonstrates how unjust French policy is.
We urge an immediate halt to damaging actions of France in our region, considering that its foreign policy has failed in many regions of the world", Hajizada said.
Yes, Im reminding you yet again of the Six Days in August event that will be held tomorrow (Wednesday) night in the SCERA Center for the Arts, which is located in Orem: Unveiling History: Six Days in August Fireside.
And Im calling your attention once more to the sneak peek early screenings of Six Days in August that will be given in nine Carmike theaters along the Wasatch Front in Ogden, Farmington, Salt Lake City, West Jordan, Midvale/Sandy, Orem, Provo, American Fork, and Draper: Six Days in August Early Access.
As we approach the release of Six Days in August, and probably well into its release and even beyond, Ill be calling to your notice certain other things that some might want to watch or to read in connection with the overall film project, which wont be concluded when the Six Days feature film exits the theaters. (We also envisage an eventual documentary or docudrama shedding light on Brigham Young, the Twelve, and the succession crisis that occurred within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the summer of 1844.) One of those items is the talk that Prof. Gerrit Dirkmaat gave at the Interpreter Foundations eleventh birthday party back on Saturday, 5 August 2023. A 48-minute video of his remarks is available here: Sweeter Than Honey: Brigham Youngs Devotion to Joseph Smiths Teachings After the Martyrdom. The notion is currently circulating out there in the fever swamps that John Taylor and Willard Richards murdered Joseph and Hyrum Smith in Carthage Jail on the orders of Brigham. It was supposedly an apostolic coup. Professor Dirkmaats remarks illustrate how silly not to say evil how and counter to historical reality that conspiracy theory is. (Again, having John Taylors hymn O Give Me Back My Prophet Dear play over the final credits of Six Days in August wasnt merely an aesthetic wish of mine; the hymn powerfully expresses Elder Taylors powerful testimony of the calling of Joseph and Hyrum.)
Another suggestion that I make is the work of Dr. LaJean Purcell Carruth. You can get a glimpse of her stance from this presentation that she gave at the 2023 FAIR conference: His Accuracy was not What it Ought: Comparing George D. Watts Original Shorthand Record to his Published Transcripts in the Journal of Discourses.
And yet another is the seminal article Ronald K. Esplin, Joseph, Brigham and the Twelve: A Succession of Continuity, BYU Studies Quarterly 21/3 (1981): 301-341.
Ill probably be making further such suggestions in the near future, and they will likely go up on the webpage for Six Days in August.
I have been vaguely aware of a fellow who calls himself Nemo the Mormon for quite a while now. But Ive paid him no attention. Up until recently, in fact, I didnt even know whether he was a committed, believing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or not. I didnt know his real name, which is Douglas Stilgoe. Nor did I know that he is English. I think that I thought of him as a rather liberal but active member and I dimly imagined that he lived in eastern Canada. In all of that, I now realize that I was completely and utterly wrong. If you have the appetite for a twelve-minute video about an especially shameless specimen of ex-Mormon pretense and play-acting, I can recommend Nemo the Mormon: The Disingenuous Hero of Anti Mormonism. Its pretty disgusting to me at least although its been feted, praised, and lauded in certain circles.
On a brighter note, though, heres something that Ive just begun to read but that looks pretty good: Austin Fife, Light and Truth Letter: My Search for More Light and Truth. Brother Fife worked his way through a serious crisis of faith and, I think, offers help to others who might be facing the same or similar challenges.
Ive also begun to watch what, thus far, has been a very good interview with the thoughtful Ben Spackman, now a newly minted Ph.D.: LDS Bible scholar: We dont play by Protestant rules
This past Saturday night, while most normal people in the area were in LaVell Edwards Stadium watching Brigham Young University surprise Kansas State, my wife and I attended a performance of Eric Liddell: The Chariot of Fire, at BYUs temporary theater facility in the former Provo High School. (A new theater building is under construction.) The play, which is obviously related to the wonderful 1981 film Chariots of Fire, was performed by four British members of the visiting Searchlight Theatre Company.
Brigham Young, who loved and appreciated theater, would have approved of Searchlights declared vision to create theatre that can share life-changing stories with audiences, making them laugh and cry, experiencing and sharing what it is to be human as well as experiencing God. I certainly approve. Hence my involvement in Robert Cundick: A Sacred Service of Music (2017) and Witnesses (2021) and Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon (2022) and Six Days in August (2024).
Finally, heres an absolutely chilling tale of horror that appears to have been located by intrepid researchers in or very near to the Christopher Hitchens Memorial How Religion Poisons Everything File. Its difficult to believe that religious beliefs werent at least peripherally involved in this example of terrible behavior by BYUs overwhelmingly theistic fanbase: BYU fans help K-State QB Avery Johnson reach donations goal: BYU fans are doing good off the field for Avery Johnsons pledge to fight cancer.
And I append two further ghastly abominations from the Hitchens File:
In Geneva, Former Relief Society General President Advocates for Parental Engagement in Education
Church Donation Aids Liberian Refugees Returning to Their Country: We See the Face of God in What You Are Doing
The PC processor industry is on the cusp of a major transition. Were seeing the rise of what Id call the productivity processor, with chips specifically designed for the work-obsessed, always-on-the-go professional. Its a sea change in the way chip companies respond to user needs, and were not done yet.
Weve talked about laptops with all-day (and more!) battery life for several years now, but without the performance to back them up. Now we have two processor families making good on the promise: Qualcomms Snapdragon X platform and Intels Lunar Lake. These arent chips that just happen to offer long battery life. No, they were specifically designed to do this, from the ground up.
For me, a productivity processor must do two things. First, it must proficiently run office apps and surf the Web without compromises. Second, it should allow you to work without a power cable for a remarkable amount of time. This is the sea-change ingredient.
Enter Intels Lunar Lake. One of the reasons I tested Lunar Lake both on wall power and on battery power was to see how long the sample laptop could handle office tasks in both productivity scenarios. I performed the same tests on Microsofts Surface Pro (11th Edition), the first time I had been able to put Qualcomms Snapdragon X Elite through its paces. I also compared the similar Surface Laptop 5th Edition, another Snapdragon X Elite processor machine, when I did my Lunar Lake testing.
I used ULs Procyon Office applications tests, which opens Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook and performs various tests within each application. The goal isnt to gauge how well each app performs (theres a related test for that), but to see how long each laptop lasts. Here are my results:
Intel Lunar Lake: 17 hours, 7 minutes
17 hours, 7 minutes Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite: 16 hours, 20 minutes
16 hours, 20 minutes AMD Ryzen AI 300: 10 hours, 42 minutes
10 hours, 42 minutes Intel Meteor Lake: 10 hours, 35 minutes
All four processors delivered a days worth of work. But two were in a class by themselvesand actually respond to a cultural shift.
Think about this: Each of those laptops can last about two work days on battery alone. Thats a big payoff for the modern user whos jumping from the cafe, to the conference room, to the train, to the backyard, to the living room and expects her laptop to still be working the next day when she starts that cycle fresh.
The new productivity laptops also charge using just a USB-C cable. This means that, over time, more people wont go hunting for a power outlet in the increasingly rare case their laptop runs out of juice. I think the future will be in USB-C power banks that can pump a few watt-hours of juice into your laptop, giving it another few hours of life. I bought this 1.4lb, 24,000mAH Anker power brick a few years ago, and its been great. But its also overkill in this new world of long-life laptops.
But but but gaming!
Its true that both the Snapdragon X Elite and Lunar Lake laptops dont handle prolonged workloads well. Any app that requires constant, intensive activitysuch as gamingdepletes their batteries quickly.
Thats where Intel and AMD made some smart decisions. Intels mobile Core HX processors fill that role nicely, with powerful, power-hungry processors that pair nicely with an external GPU. AMDs rumored Strix Halo or AI Max mobile processors may do the same. The subtext here is that one processor family is aligning more closely with the needs of the on-the-go productivity worker (which probably accounts for most people) and the other is being designed with gamers in mind.
Id really like to see a fusion of the two, with the new Thunderbolt 5 standard allowing those on-the-go notebooks to plug into an external GPU dock at the end of a workday. Well see.
I love creator-class hardware like the Surface Laptop Studio, with its discrete GPU and a hefty battery. But over time, that battery degrades. On recent trips, Ive panicked thinking that the Studio would run out of juice. At the launch of Intels Lunar Lake in Berlin, I was taking notes on a Snapdragon PC.
Indeed, now with Lunar Lake and Snapdragon X Elite, we finally have silicon that makes working on the go not just a specialized application, but a mainstream commitment. Does this signal the end of battery anxiety forever? I hope so. I cant wait for the day that power outlets in every seat at the airport feel as anachronistic as ashtrays.
Professor of Geography at the University of Ghana Legon, Professor Martin Oteng Ababio, has expressed worry over the Free Senior High School (SHS) education policy, highlighting its negative impact on the quality of education Ghana.
According to Professor Ababio, the manner in which the policy was implemented by the government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has worsened the challenges facing the education sector.
He opined that, although the enrollment into various senior high schools has seen an exponential increase since the inception of the Free SHS policy, there is also a relative increase into the Universities but the government has failed to expand infrastructure in the various public universities.
Speaking to the media during a campaign outreach by lecturers to promote awareness of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) 2024 manifesto, Prof. Ababio noted that the strain on university facilities has become more evident since the introduction of the Free SHS policy.
He emphasised the need to have thorough scrutiny of the policy in order to increase the quality of education in Ghana adding that the lack of adequate infrastructure has hindered the quality of tertiary education despite the increase in the number of enrolment into tertiary institutions.
Prof. Ababio commended the flagbearer of the national democratic Congress, John Dramani mahama for his decision to review the Free SHS policy, as outlined in their manifesto.
According to him, thorough review would address the gaps in the current system and improve the overall quality of education in Ghana.
The free SHS has helped. But it has spelt the doom of the whole educational system. The number of students that are getting into the university has increased tremendously. Lecturers have not increased. The lecture halls have not increased. The residential halls have not increased," Professor Ababio said.
So we are compromising, and I am a lecturer, we are compromising quality for quantity. In a sense today, if you come to Legon, you enter a lecture hall to find 600, 800 students in one room."
That makes it very difficult to reach out to each and every one. How many essays can you mark a day? And how many essays can you give to a student?
Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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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.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has been honoured with the 2024 Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award, recognizing his exceptional contributions to global peace, democracy, and human development.
The award ceremony, held at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City on September 23, 2024, celebrated President Akufo-Addo alongside global leaders including Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Korean media pioneer Miky Lee.
In his acceptance speech, President Akufo-Addo emphasized that the award was not just a personal achievement but one that belongs to the people of Ghana. This moment is not just about meits about the people of Ghana, who inspire me with their resilience, strength, and unwavering belief in a brighter future, he remarked, praising the Ghanaian people as true global citizens.
He highlighted the importance of international collaboration, stating that no nation can tackle the worlds challenges alone. In todays interconnected world, no nation can stand alone. Our future, as Ghanaians, as Africans, and as members of a global family, depends on our ability to work together and lift each other up, he said.
President Akufo-Addo was introduced by Kenyan President William Ruto, who praised his leadership as part of a new wave of African governance aimed at elevating the continent on the global stage.
President Akufo-Addo celebrated this shared vision, emphasizing the need for Africas growing role in global affairs.
Reflecting on his presidency, Akufo-Addo underscored the progress made in strengthening Ghanas democratic institutions and expanding opportunities for its people, while acknowledging the vital role of global partnerships.
He also commended the strong relationship between Ghana and the United States, describing it as a partnership rooted in shared values and a commitment to democracy and human rights.
While expressing gratitude for the recognition, Akufo-Addo framed the award as a call to action. He urged the international community to confront global challenges such as climate change, inequality, and political instability and called for unity in combating terrorism and extremism, which threaten the security of West Africa and beyond.
As his presidency nears its end, President Akufo-Addo reaffirmed his commitment to the values of democracy, justice, and global citizenship.
Quoting poet John Donne, he concluded his speech by emphasizing the interconnectedness of all people, saying, No man is an island... Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main.
The Atlantic Councils Global Citizen Award is given annually to leaders who demonstrate a visionary commitment to global progress.
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.
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The Ghana Police Service has announced that two suspects arrested during the Democracy Hub demonstration on Sunday, September 21, have been sent to the Police Hospital for medical care, following their complaints of ill health.
In a press release dated September 25, 2024, the Ghana Police Service stated that one of the Suspects, Fanny Otoo, who had stated that he was indisposed due to ill health when others were being prepared for court, was immediately sent to the Police Hospital in Accra, where he was admitted for thorough medical care.
Another suspect, Oliver Barker-Vormawor has also been taken to the Police Hospital to undergo further medical examination after he had allegedly reported sick on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.
According to the police report, he has also been admitted to the police Hospital in Accra.
Ghana Police Service made some arrests of demonstrators who were embarking on a demonstration on Sunday, September 21, 2024. The group who identify themselves as Democracy Hub, allegedly engaged in vandalizing some state properties.
The arrested suspects were, however, processed to an Accra High Court on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, where they have been slapped with multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit a crime, unlawful assembly, unlawful damage, offensive conduct conducive to the breach of peace, assaulting a public officer and defacement of public property.
Out of the 39 arrested, 11 were remanded in prison custody while 28 remained in Police custody.
The Ghana Police Service noted that at no point in time did the service deny any of the suspects the right to receive medical care.
Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The Institute for Progressive Governance (IPG), has expressed dismay at the hypocrisy of pro-NDC group, DemocracyHub who have been demonstrating against illegal mining operations, over its silence over the same issue when the NDC was in power and the practice was in full swing.
In a statement issued by the think tank to the press, IPG expresses concern about the double standards of the group in its approach towards the fight against illegal mining operations in the country.
We find it quite strange the reasons informing the groups decision to hit the streets of Accra. Key amongst the reasons for the demonstration is the seeming failure of the government to root out illegal mining operations across the country. While IPG is fully in support of the calls on the government and other stakeholders to ensure that illegal mining operations, popularly called Galamsey are reduced to the barest minimum if not eradicated in their entirety, we also find it quite puzzling the level of hypocrisy underpinning the issues of galamsey by the pressure group the statement reads in part.
Galamsey, according to IPG, has been a cancerous phenomenon that has plagued the very existence of Ghanaians as their activities have led to the devastation of forests, pollution of water bodies and the depletion of our natural resources.
Under the NDC, the statement further states, the fight against Galamsey became so difficult that the then Governments appointees threw their hands in despair.
The then Environment Minister, Mahama Ayariga said it was time for the government to regularize illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) activities as measures had failed to yield the desired results because wherever there are mineral resources people will do everything and whatever it takes to be able to extract those resources The admission came more than three years after the then government had set up anti-galamsey taskforce in May 2013 to clamp down on the practice.
Describing the challenges in fighting galamsey, Mahama Ayariga expressed shock after touring illegal mining areas where he saw in the Banda area that the miners went into the forest reserve at night to dig deep pits. They have a way of covering it and you wont know that there is a pit there, you just wont know he said at the time.
We are asking DemocracyHubs leadership and their members, where were they when the then Mahama government gave up the fight? Why didnt they protest against the government at the time? IPG asks.
More recent were events leading to the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections where the former president and candidate for NDC, John Dramani Mahama, and some key actors within the opposition party, were not only heard but seen promoting illegal mining activities it further explains.
Speaking at Odum Banso in the Mpohor Constituency in the Western Region on Thursday, October 22, 2020, the former President pledged that he would free all those jailed for galamsey.
He told the chiefs and people that: Its sad. The government said it was fighting galamsey and they arrested, prosecuted, and jailed Ghanaians who were engaged in that activity. Today, they are still in prison. Our people are in jail suffering. When we come, we shall grant all those arrested and jailed some amnesty. They will come back to their homes and work. I believe that they have suffered enough, shown remorse for whatever wrong they committed
The above is a direct quotation of John Mahama in the 2020 electioneering campaign. He was promoting galamsey. All these DemocracyHub members were in Ghana, but they didnt see the need to castigate the former president or call him out for promoting galamsey the statement further indicated.
In the same 2020 electioneering campaign, the NDC deployed a team of its executives led by Dr. Tony Aubynn and ably assisted by Kwaku Boahen, a then Deputy Communications Officer of the party and Michael Kwadwo Peprah, a constituency executive, into the Galamsey sites, according to IPG.
Their mandate was to assure those illegal miners of the unflinching support of John Mahama in their work and that should they vote for the NDC, they would be granted unfettered access to the forested areas to continue devastating our lands and water bodies. What did DemocracyHub say to him? What did the individuals who constitute the pressure group today say to Mahama and his NDC? it further queried the pressure group.
IPG finds the actions of DemocracyHub to be not only hypocritical but self-serving as well. It can be safely concluded that DemocracyHub is not demonstrating to safeguard our natural resources and preventing our water bodies from being contaminated by illegal mining activities, but working for the opposition NDC, the same party that gave up the fight against illegal mining operations, and the same party that has been promoting Galamsey it concludes.
Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/[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.
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The UK government has expressed deep concern over the increasing rate of gold smuggling in Ghana, highlighting the severe impact it has on the countrys revenue generation.
According to estimates, Ghana loses approximately $2 billion annually in tax revenue due to smuggling and illegal gold operations.
In 2022 alone, nearly 60 tonnes of gold were reportedly smuggled out of the country, exacerbating the financial losses.
The UK has stressed that if left unchecked, the combination of unregulated mining practices and illegal small-scale mining, known locally as galamsey, will continue to have devastating consequences for Ghanas economy.
Speaking at a Civil Society Organization (CSO) meeting with political parties on mining reforms and governance, Chris Aston, team lead for the UK Ghana Gold Programme (UKGGP), called for urgent and decisive action from Ghanaian authorities to address the issue.
Aston emphasised that reversing this trend is critical for safeguarding Ghanas economic future.
The UK governments concerns align with growing national and international calls for reforms in Ghanas mining sector, particularly with regard to curbing illegal activities and improving regulatory oversight.
This is all lost revenue to the government of Ghana. At the moment, the sector is vulnerable. It is being exploited by organised crime groups. The threats are growing. The gold smuggling has more than doubled. We want to disrupt illegal mining and illicit financial inflows. Ghana loses more than US$2 billion yearly to gold smuggling, he said.
The UK-Ghana Gold Programme (UKGGP) collaborates with the Government of Ghana to ensure that artisanal small-scale gold mining is properly regulated and that existing regulations are effectively enforced.
The programme aims to unlock the full potential of artisanal mining to benefit Ghanaians, while also preventing environmental degradation and safeguarding the health and well-being of miners.
At the same event, security analyst, Prof. Emmanuel Kwesi Aning said Ghana has been thrown into what can best be termed as a GalamState, due to the failure of state actors to clamp down on illegal mining activities.
Prof. Aning likened the failed fight against the canker to crime convergence, where the mistrust in the security agencies and almost non-existent laws have encouraged many to engage in illegality with impunity.
Prof. Anning warned that Ghana could soon witness the worst security, environmental, and economic effects of destructive galamsey activities.
Ghana has now been characterised as a GalamState, GalamState is a state that is captured, and linked to a higher force of grand corruption. In a GalamState, the practice is normalized and the people are silenced or limited to mere noises on the sidelines.
The crimes and collusion are so intertwined. To stop galamsey, we need to look at multiple other institutions that make these crimes possible and where there are embedded individual and group interests.
Source: citinewsroom.com
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Hon. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Vice Presidential Candidate of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has touted the record of the NPP government in the cocoa sector, which he described as unprecedented in the nations history. He noted that this unprecedented record is in all spheres including volumes of cocoa production, provision of incentives to cocoa farmers, and attending to the wellbeing of the cocoa farmer.
Dr. Prempeh, who was addressing a Community Engagement at Numereso in the Odotobiri Constituency as part of his constituency focused campaign tour on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, noted that, Ghana recorded its highest ever cocoa production of over 1 million metric tons under the NPP government in the 2020/2021 crop season. This milestone, he said, was achieved as a result of governments commitment to prioritizing investments in the sector.
On the wellbeing of the cocoa farmer, the Running Mate to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia observed that the Ghanaian cocoa farmer is today better off than he has ever been in the nations history, owing to interventions that have been put in place by the NPP government. He mentioned in particular, the record of the two major political parties, NPP and NDC, regarding the producer price of cocoa for the various crop seasons.
In 2016 when NPP took over, the price of a sack of cocoa stood at GHS 475. Today, following the latest increase, the price of a sack of cocoa has drastically risen to GHS 3,000 [representing over 500% increase]. This is also the second increase in the year [2024], following an earlier increase of the price by 58.26% in the month of April, this year. We will continue to support initiatives like the fertilizer application programme, cocoa mass spraying, pollination to further increase cocoa production, he remarked.
The benefits of these increases in the producer price of cocoa, according to Dr. Prempeh, includes giving the cocoa farmer a higher value for his cocoa beans; protecting the cocoa farmer against volatility of cocoa prices on the international market by giving him a guaranteed price; serving as motivation for cocoa farmers to increase their investments in the sector which would invariably create more job opportunities and stimulate economic growth.
Napo, as he is affectionately called, used the occasion to appeal to the chiefs and people of Odotobiri to continue to repose their trust in the NPP by voting massively for the partys presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and parliamentary candidate, Lawyer Anthony Mmieh, to improve their livelihoods. He concluded his campaign tour for the day visiting Bekwai and Fomena constituencies where he also rallied support for the partys parliamentary candidates, Lawyer Ralph Poku-Adusei and Lawyer Andrew Asiamah respectively.
Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/[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.
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. The second day of the 5th anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX, the largest event in the region dedicated to the defense industry, has started at Baku Expo Center, Trend reports.
According to information, the 14th International Exhibition of Equipment for Internal Security, Safety, and Rescue "Securex Caspian" was organized in parallel.
The first ADEX exhibition was organized in 2014. The list of exhibitors and the sectors it covers has been expanding from year to year.
The exhibition has brought together many companies representing more than 50 countries and about 200 official delegations over 10 years of successful activity. Over these years, more than 30,000 guests have visited the exhibition.
Nana Oduro Panin Burikuran, the Chief of New Edubiase, has hailed the Free SHS policy of the NPP government describing it as the greatest intervention in the nations education sector.
He thanked President Nana Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for honoring their word on the Free SHS which, he noted, has alleviated the burdens on parents and guardians.
He said, owing to the life-changing impact of Free SHS, Ghanaians must do everything to protect the policy from a possible cancellation in the future by a government.
According to the Chief, since Free SHS is an NPP initiative, the best way to protect this policy which has benefitted every household is to allow the party to remain in government.
The Chief further gave a personal account of the benefits of the Free SHS and the need for it to continually exist saying I have 5 children, 3 of whom have befitted from the NPPs Free SHS policy and I didnt have to pay anything. I want the remaining 2 children to also enjoy free quality education.
He added; I cannot risk their future by trusting a leader who does not believe in Free SHS. Millions of people across the country also share similar story. This is one of the many reasons why Ghanaians must support the NPP.
Nana Oduro made these remarks when Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, NPP Vice Presidential Candidate, paid him a courtesy call in his palace on Monday, 23rd September, 2024, as part of his campaign tour.
The Chief also commended the government for undertaking many developmental projects in the area.
He mentioned the construction of roads, schools and health infrastructure.
On his part, Dr. Prempeh thanked the Chief and people of New Edubiase for their warm reception and appealed to them to vote massively for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the partys parliamentary candidate for the constituency, George Oduro, to rightly reclaim the New Edubiase Seat for the NPP.
The Running Mate to Dr. Bawumia concluded his constituency-focused campaign tours for the day visiting Obuasi East and West and rallied support for the NPP flagbearer and parliamentary candidates, Dr. Patrick Boakye-Yiadom and Kweku Kwarteng for Obuasi East and West respectively.
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.
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The King and Overlord of Gonja, Bii-Kunute Jewu Suale I, has paid glowing tribute to the Vice President and flagbearer of NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, for his benevolent support for the Gonja land.
In a citation of honour to Dr. Bawumia and on behalf of his people, the Gonja Overlord expressed immense gratitude to Dr. Bawumia for what he described as his "remarkable support" towards the renovation of the Jakpa Palace.
"This citation is awarded to you, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in recognition of your outstanding contributions towards Jakpa Palace", the citation, presented by the Yagbonwura, read.
It added; "Your remarkable support and dedication have significantly advanced the development and enhancement of the Palace, reflecting your exceptional commitment to the welfare of the community.
"On behalf of the Jakpa Palace and the Gonja Kingdom, we extend our sincere gratitude, and with deep appreciation, for your extraordinary support and service.
Recently, the Oguaa Traditional Council, at the Fetu Afahye (festival) in Cape Coast, also commended Dr. Bawumia for his generous support to them, principally referring to his renovation of the Oguaahene palace.
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.
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The vice presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, has urged trainee nurses and midwives not to fall for the temporary inducements of the government.
Addressing students of Essiama Nursing and Midwifery Training College and Asanta SDA Nursing and Midwifery Training School at Essiama in the Ellembele Constituency to kickstart the second phase of her three-day campaign tour of the Western Region, Prof Opoku- Agyemang advised the students to choose a plan that assures them of a bright future over the governments temporary inducements aimed at vote harvesting.
Referencing the challenges facing the two Nursing and Midwifery training schools in the Ellembele Constituency, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang asked "Why are they [the government] not using the money to build the male hostel? Have they forgotten that the lecturers don't have a place to sleep? Have they forgotten that you need a skills lab?
She continued, They will bring you some momo to go and vote for them and the project will continue to remain" abandoned.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said the Mahama administration did not only have good policies for the health sector but it was also committed to transforming it and therefore invested heavily in the sector.
She said various health facilities were upgraded and equipped throughout the country by the government of former President John Dramani Mahama while modern hospitals were also built to employ more nurses, doctors and other health professionals.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said NDC prioritizes and pursues the interest of health professionals and the healthcare of the people of Ghana, at the same time.
She reminded the students that the NDC does not only put the youth at the center of its policies but also recognizes and rewards young people. She therefore urged them to choose wisely by voting for John Dramani Mahama when they cast their ballot in the elections on 7th December 2024.
She recalled the achievements of the NDC in the health sector, and observed that the government has failed the people of Ghana in this sector too.
Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman/peacefmonline.com
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Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has toured Agona East, West and Gomoa Central constituencies, to solicit votes in the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Addressing the chiefs and people of Nsaba in the Agona East constituency, Dr Bawumia said the former president failed to live up to expectations and Ghanaians voted him out of power.
He called on the people of Agona East to vote massively for him as President and Madam Hannah Asamoah as MP, to continue their good policies and programmes, adding that the NPP government had rolled out Agenda 111 hospitals and constructed new courts in over 100 districts nationwide to bring judicial delivery services to the doorstep of the people.
The Vice President said that through digitalisation, the government had eliminated ghost workers from payrolls and saved the nation thousands of Cedis from SSNIT and other government institutions.
Dr Bawumia said if Ghanaians voted for him as President, he would change the current chieftaincy Act to bring chiefs closer to government and would also pay living allowances to Paramount and Divisional chiefs and Queen mothers.
He assured the chiefs and the people that if voted into power he would create one million jobs for the youth through digitalisation where many youths could work in the UK, USA, Canada and other countries without travelling outside.
The Vice President recounted the many achievements he had made as vice president and urged the people and chiefs to promote him to become full president to improve quality of lives.
Dr Bawumia introduced Madam Hannah Asamoah as PC to the chiefs and people and urged them to vote massively for her to lobby for infrastructure for the area.
Okeseku Afari Mintah III, the Omanhene of Agona Nsaba Traditional Area commended the government for good social interventions created that had impacted positively the lives of the people and appealed to Dr Bawumia to help construct roads and complete dormitories at secondary schools.
At Nyakrom in the Agona West constituency, Dr Bawumia held meetings with stakeholders where he called on them to vote for him as President and Mr Chris Arthur as MP to help bring more infrastructure and human development to the area.
He said the introduction of free SHS had chalked significant success in the lives of many Ghanaians, adding that 5.7 million students have graduated from the novel secondary educational policy since its inception.
Dr. Bawumia endorsed Arthur as the only Parliamentary Candidate in the Agona West and called on the supporters to vote for him to enhance better living standards of the area, saying the NDC led by John Mahama as Presidential Candidate in 2024 elections has nothing to give Ghanaians.
In response to the petition made by Okofo Katakyi Nyakoh Eku X, the Omanhene of Agona Nyakrom Traditional Area about the creation of Agona Central District for Nyakrom, Dr Bawumia gave firm assurance that it would be done to facilitate development.
He pledged to complete the construction of dormitories in secondary schools at Nyakrom to enhance quality teaching and learning.
At Aboso in the Gomoa Central constituency, Dr Bawumia addressed teeming supporters of the party and held stakeholder meetings with chiefs, health workers, Ghana Education Service workers, artisans, clergy, Imams, tailors and dressmakers and Queen mothers to seek their concerns and needs and see how best to solve their problems.
Dr Bawumia introduced the MP and PC for Gomoa Central, Naana Eyiah Quansah to the chiefs and people and asked them to massively vote for her and himself in the upcoming elections on December 7, 2024.
The stakeholders pledged their unflinching support for Dr Bawumia by voting massively for him and Naana Eyiah as MP to continue their good works to reduce economic hardship.
Nana Odoom Amanfo I, the Chief of Gomoa Akropong, on behalf of the chiefs, commended the Vice President and President Akufo Addos government for the construction of roads in the area and further praised them for providing DRIP to Gomoa Central Assembly.
The Chief appealed to the Vice President to construct a nursing training college in the Gomoa Central District to admit the numerous SHS graduates who had to travel elsewhere to struggle for admissions.
The Vice President was accompanied by Kwabena Adjei Adjapong, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, Kwadwo Ansafoa Poku, Justina Marigold Assan, Central Regional Minister and other leading members of the party.
Source: GNA
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A leading member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana, Prof. Martin Oteng Ababio has launched a scathing attack against the Free SHS programme of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.
Speaking to newsmen, Prof. Ababio re-echoed the views of former President Mahama, NDC flagbearer, against the Free SHS which has been touted by many people as a highly commendable pro-poor policy.
Inspite of available data showing a significant improvement in enrollment and quality of student beneficiaries of this policy as Ghanaian WASCEE students remain the best in the sub-Region, the NDC Professor says Free SHS "has spelt the doom of the whole educational system".
He asserted; "The number of students that are getting into the University has increased tremendously. Lecturers have not increased. The lecture halls have not increased. The residential halls have not increased...So, we are compromising, and I am a lecturer, we are compromising quality for quantity. In a sense today, if you come to Legon, you enter a lecture hall to find 600, 800 students in one room."
That makes it very difficult to reach out to each and everyone. How many essays can you mark a day? And how many essays can you give to a student?, he also questioned.
Meanwhile the Professor's assessment has been slammed by the lot of Ghanaians who find his assertions to be colored in politics and propaganda, hence he displaying the typical attitude of the opposition NDC by bastardizing the policy.
Professor Martin Oteng Ababio has been a staunch member of the NDC and an ardent campaigner for former President John Mahama.
In 2020, he was one of those who signed the NDC's petition against the compilation of the voter's register and was a key advocate for Mahama's policy to legalize okada which was met with opposition from the larger population of Ghanaians.
The Professor's comments, to many Ghanaians who have expressed their views on it, are very characteristic of his party and John Mahama.
A number of people, reacting to the Professor's remarks, argued it is better for Ghana to have high admission rate at the tertiary level and and a highly educated population than have an uneducated population, therefore applauding the government for not backing down on the Free SHS.
Others also called out the Professor for being dishonest and refusing to acknowledge the massive investment by the government to improving educational infrastructure at both secondary and tertiary levels.
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.
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Update: Central Pa. landlord raped pregnant tenant in her apartment: police
A 76-year-old Lancaster County landlord was charged with rape and related offenses last week after police said he sexually assaulted one of his tenants almost six years ago.
C Michael Rohrbach, of Lancaster, has been under investigation for sexual assault by Lancaster City Police since June 2024, according to a police report.
Hype man and radio personality Fatman Scoops cause of death has been revealed.
Scoop, who was well-known for his voice on upbeat records, 53, died due to hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, the Connecticut Chief Medical Examiners Office announced on Sept. 24, per Fox News Digital.
The manner of death was ruled as natural.
The news about the rappers death comes after Scoop, whose birth name is Isaac Freeman III, collapsed on Aug. 30 while performing at a summer concert hosted at Hamden Town Center Park in Connecticut.
At the time, Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett turned to Facebook to share that the hype man had a medical emergency on stage and was then transported to a local hospital by ambulance.
On behalf of the Town of Hamden, I offer my heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Isaac Freeman, known as Fatman Scoop. He was a wonderful performer with a wide following as evidenced by the thousands of fans that came to see what would be his last performance at Hamden Town Center Park, Garrett wrote at the time.
Shortly before his unexpected collapse, videos made the rounds on social media of the rapper shirtless and hyping up the crowd.
Hold up, you gotta understand this. Big man, gotta relax, Im stretching Big man gotta chill, a voice over the mic said, out of breath. They aint got no fans on this stage. Jesus.
I just want to say this, Hamden, where yall at? Make some noise for me, heavy baby.
After the rapper collapsed, medical staff were seen rushing the stage as they performed CPR.
The next day, his tour manager, Birch Michael, took to social media to announce the heartbreaking news.
It is with profound sadness and very heavy hearts that we share news of the passing of the legendary and iconic FatMan Scoop, a post on Scoops Instagram page read on behalf of his family. Last night, the world lost a radiant soul, a beacon of light on the stage and in life.
FatMan Scoop was not just a world-class performer, he was a father, brother, uncle and friend. He was the laughter in our lives, a constant source of support, unwavering strength, and courage, the tribute continued.
FatMan Scoops legacy is of love and brightness, it will reside in our hearts and memories forever, it concluded.
Prayers have been flooding in for popular southern rocker Freddie Salem after news broke earlier this week that he has died.
Salem, who was 70, reportedly died after a battle with cancer.
A post to his current bands Facebook page Freddie Salem & Lonewolf announced his passing.
This morning, the Heavens parted for the arrival of a legend, the post read. Rock on high, Freddie Salem. Until we meet again.
He was one in a million and a dear friend that I will miss, Matt Mooney responded to the post. More than anything I will miss just sitting down with you over a fish sandwich and laughing and chatting about life. You were a blessing to this world and to me, Rock on in the stars until we meet again.
R.I.P. Freddie! Ross Lujan responded. You were one of a kind in a great way! You will be sorely missed my friend.
My deepest condolences to Freddies family and dear friends, Peggy Young Wilkinson wrote.
RIP Freddie, Lindsey Lambillotte wrote. You will never be forgotten.
There are plenty more responses like that to the post and you can see them here.
Salem was best known for his stint as the guitarist for the popular southern rock band, the Outlaws. That band also acknowledged his death on its Facebook page.
Its with a heavy heart that we have to tell Outlaws fans about the passing of our former guitarist Freddie Salem, the post read. Freddie passed from complications due to cancer and will be remembered for his outgoing personality and passion for music. He first appeared with the Outlaws on the album Playin to Win and then remained in the band for the following 4 albums. He was an electric performer and beloved musician, and he will be missed.
Salem joined the Outlaws in 1977 when he replaced Henry Paul in the band. He was with the Outlaws as they toured with The Rolling Stones on the Some Girls tour.
There are people out there who adamantly believe that a strange creature lurks within the depths of Scotlands Loch Ness.
Now, some of those people suspect there may be two such creatures hiding within its waters.
The New York Post reports how recent footage captured by a webcam at Airanloch Bed and Breakfast which is located on the lochs north shore shows a large wake moving across the water.
While some of you reading this may be going, Yeah, big deal, others whove watched the clip believe that what appears to be a hump is visible in the water, something which Nessie hunter, Eoin OFaodhagain, has called is not a coincidence.
There are obviously two creatures taking up residence in this area of the loch at the moment, adds he. whether they are here all the time is another matter more visual research will have to be carried out to answer this.
But with two wakes in quick succession, it is reasonable to assume that these Nessies have a fondness for the area.
The search for the Loch Ness Monster (or Loch Ness Monsters now, one should say) has been going on for the past 90 years or so: Even NASA was asked to assist with the quest for the possibly-not-extinct dinosaur over the spring. NASA never responded to said request.
And thus, the search continues. If it ends with the discovery of the famed beast, itll be one of the biggest I told you sos in history.
By Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON House Speaker Mike Johnson is calling on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to fire his countrys ambassador to the U.S. as Republicans criticize the war-torn leaders visit to a swing-state Pennsylvania site producing munitions for the Russia-Ukraine war as a political stunt.
The Republican Johnsons demand Wednesday came as Zelenskyy addressed the United Nations in New York on the eve of his visit to Washington, D.C., where he has plans Thursday to brief senators on Capitol Hill about the war effort before meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.
The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference, Johnson wrote in a letter to Zelenskyy.
Johnson said no Republicans were invited to the plant tour arranged by Ambassador Oksana Markarova to Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is Bidens hometown.
Johnson called the visit an intentionally political move and said it has caused Republicans to lose trust in Ambassador Markarovas ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country. She should be removed from her post immediately.
The speakers stern demand for the swift removal of Markarova, a well-received diplomat in Washington who has been a fixture on Capitol Hill since the outset of the war even sitting as a guest in the House visitors gallery during pivotal speeches comes at a daunting time for Ukraine as Zelenskyy works to ensure U.S. support for the war effort in an election year.
While Biden and Democrats in Congress have largely stood with Ukraine since the outset of the Russian invasion in 2022, sending billions in U.S. aid to buy weaponry and support services, Republicans have split deeply. Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, has turned the GOP toward a new America First movement that generally prefers to limit U.S. involvement overseas, and he often speaks admirably of Russia and its president, Vladmir Putin.
Johnson said that support for ending Russias war against Ukraine continues to be bipartisan, but our relationship is unnecessarily tested, noting criticisms that have been made of Trump by Ukrainians.
Zelenskyy on Sunday visited the Pennsylvania ammunition factory to thank the workers who are producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his countrys fight to fend off Russian ground forces.
The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells and has increased production over the past year. Ukraine has already received more than 3 million of them from the U.S.
Joining for the visit were the states leading Democrats, Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Bob Casey and the areas Rep. Matt Cartwright, but it is not clear if any Republicans were invited.
It is in places like this where you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail, Zelenskyy wrote on X.
Thanks to people like these in Ukraine, in America, and in all partner countries who work tirelessly to ensure that life is protected.
The visit sparked swift reprisals from the Republicans.
Rep. James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced Wednesday he was opening an investigation into whether the Biden-Harris administration used taxpayer-funded resources to fly Zelenskyy to Pennsylvania as a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the Democratic nominee for president.
The Committee seeks to determine whether the Biden-Harris Administration attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice President Harriss presidential campaign and, if so, necessarily committed an abuse of power, he wrote in letters to Biden, the White House counsel and others in the administration.
Senate Republicans, even those who had supported aid for Ukraine, roundly criticized Zelenskyy on Wednesday. He really messed up, said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican.
However, Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a firm backer of Ukraine, suggested that Zelenskyys visit was not as partisan as it appeared. Wicker was also planning to meet with the Ukrainian president at the Capitol Thursday.
If President Zelenskyy came to Mississippi, he would be accompanied by Republican officials because thats who the people in their wisdom elected, he said.
Associated Press writers Stephen Groves in Washington and Michael Rubinkam in northeastern Pennsylvania contributed to this report.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Water resources in Azerbaijan are projected to decline by 20-25 percent in 2020-2050 and by 30-35 percent in 2070-2100, Zakir Guliyev, Deputy Chairman of the State Water Resources Agency of Azerbaijan, said at the Regional Climate Conference on "Enhancing climate action in agriculture in Europe and Central Asia", Trend reports.
Guliyev noted that in the current conditions, maintaining the ecological balance, rational use of natural resources, and protecting water, soil, and the atmosphere from pollution have become a universal problem.
"The negative impacts of global climate change are intensifying worldwide, including in our country, particularly in arid regions like Azerbaijan," he stated.
He pointed out that demographic growth and alarming issues such as rising consumption, global warming, and resource depletion necessitate immediate environmental action. In the context of a global ecological crisis, achieving balance among the economy, society, and the environment requires developing a new, ecologically safe, and economically viable model.
Azerbaijan's water resources are severely limited, with surface water reserves amounting to thirty billion cubic meters. Only thirty percent of this water is sourced within the country, while seventy percent comes from neighboring regions. Recent climate changes and prolonged droughts have significantly reduced the flow of Azerbaijan's major rivers, Kura and Araz, leading to the complete drying up of many internal rivers. This situation exacerbates irrigation challenges for agriculture during the warmer months.
The solution to this problem creates the need for a more rational use of available water resources and, on the other hand, further investigation into utilizing unconventional water sources (underground, collector-drainage, waste, and sea) for agricultural irrigation," he added.
Former President Donald Trump is planning to return to the Pennsylvania site of the assassination attempt in July.
CBS News reported Tuesday that Trump will hold a rally at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds on Oct. 5 in Butler County.
By JULIE CARR SMYTH, The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) The leader of a nonprofit representing the Haitian community invoked a private-citizen right to file charges Tuesday against former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, over the chaos and threats experienced by Springfield, Ohio, since Trump started spreading false claims about legal immigrants there during a presidential debate.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance made the move after inaction by the local prosecutor, said their attorney, Subodh Chandra of the Cleveland-based Chandra Law Firm.
Charges brought by private citizens are rare, but not unheard of, in Ohio. Examples might be a grocery store charging a customer for a bounced check. State law requires a hearing to take place before the affidavit can move forward. As of Tuesday afternoon, none had been scheduled.
Trump and Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio, are charged with disrupting public services, making false alarms, telecommunications harassment, aggravated menacing and complicity. The filing asks the Clark County Municipal Court to affirm that there is probable cause and issue arrest warrants against Trump and Vance.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, attend the 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, file)AP
Their persistence and relentlessness, even in the face of the governor and the mayor saying this is false, that shows intent, Chandra said. Its knowing, willful flouting of criminal law.
Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump-Vance campaign, said, President Trump is rightfully highlighting the failed immigration system that (Vice President) Kamala Harris has overseen, bringing thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into communities like Springfield and many others across the country.
The 15,000 to 20,000 Haitian immigrants who have arrived in Springfield over the past several years, in many cases after being recruited to local jobs, have been granted Temporary Protected Status to be in the U.S. legally.
More than 30 bomb threats were directed at state and local government buildings and schools, prompting closures, the assignment of additional law enforcement protection and security cameras. Some of the citys Haitian residents have also said they feared for their safety as public vitriol grew, and Mayor Rob Rue has received death threats.
If it were anyone else other than Trump and Vance who had done what theyve done wreak havoc on Springfield, resulting in bomb threats, evacuated and closed government buildings and schools, threats to the mayor and his family they would have been arrested by now, Chandra said. They are not above the law.
By Adriana Gomez Licon, The Associated Press
SAVANNAH, Ga. Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Russias military record in historical conflicts and derided U.S. aid to Ukraine as he again insisted he would quickly end the war launched by Moscows invasion if elected president.
Speaking in Savannah, Georgia, Trump mocked President Joe Bidens frequent refrain that the U.S. would back the Ukrainian armed forces until Kyiv wins the war. He raised two long ago conflicts to suggest Moscow would not lose the former Soviet Unions role in defeating Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in World War II in the 1940s, and French emperor Napoleon Bonapartes failed invasion of Russia more than a century earlier.
Trump insisted that the U.S. had to get out, though he did not specify how he would negotiate an ending to U.S. involvement in the war.
Biden says, We will not leave until we win, Trump said, lowering his voice to mimic the Democratic president. What happens if they win? Thats what they do, is they fight wars. As somebody told me the other day, they beat Hitler, they beat Napoleon. Thats what they do. They fight. And its not pleasant.
An official on Trumps campaign also said Tuesday that the Republican nominee will not meet this week with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is visiting the U.S. to attend the opening of the U.N. General Assembly.
No meeting had been scheduled between the two, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning, despite a statement from Ukrainian officials last week that said Zelenskyy had planned to see the former president.
Trump on Tuesday repeated his characterization of Zelenskyy as the greatest salesman on Earth for winning U.S. aid to help Ukraine.
Every time Zelenskyy comes to the United States, he walks away with $100 billion, Trump said, erroneously. The U.S. has provided more than $56 billion in security assistance since Russia invaded in 2022, according to the State Department.
Trump and Zelenskyy have a long history dating back to the former U.S. presidents time in the White House. The then-president pressured Zelenskyy to open investigations of Biden and his son Hunter as well as a cybersecurity firm Trump falsely linked to Ukraine. That call and the hold placed by the White House on $400 million in military aid led to Trumps first impeachment.
Zelenskyy plans to meet with Biden and Kamala Harris in Washington.
Earlier this week, in an interview with The New Yorker, Zelenskyy implied Trump does not understand and oversimplifies the conflict, and said his running mate JD Vance is too radical and essentially advocates for Ukraine to make a sacrifice by giving up its territories.
On Monday, Trumps son Donald Jr. criticized Zelenskyy on X, reminding his followers that the suspect in his fathers second assassination attempt had lambasted Trumps approach to foreign policy, including the war in Ukraine.
So a foreign leader who has received billions of dollars in funding from American taxpayers, comes to our country and has the nerve to attack the GOP ticket for President? he posted.
Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.
By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and STEPHEN SMITH, The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Helene strengthened into a hurricane Wednesday, and forecasters warned that the storm would intensify as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico on a path to Florida.
The hurricane was about 500 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, and had sustained winds of 80 mph according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Forecasters said it is expected to become a major hurricane with its center making landfall in the Big Bend area of Floridas northwestern coast as soon as late Thursday.
Helene became a tropical storm Tuesday in the western Caribbean Sea and caused flooding in the Cayman Islands.
Heavy rainfall was forecast for the southeastern U.S. starting Wednesday, with a life-threatening storm surge along the entire west coast of Florida, according to the hurricane center.
A person walks in the rain after the passing of Hurricane John in Marquelia, Mexico, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Alberto Cruz)AP
The storm is so large that rural areas roughly 90 miles north of the Georgia-Florida line are under a hurricane warning. And states as far inland as Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana could see rainfall.
You are going to have a major hurricane plowing inland, and storms take a little time to decay once theyre inland, said Brian McNoldy, an environmental researcher at the University of Miami.
Forecasters warned of possible tornadoes Wednesday night in western Florida and southern Alabama and said the tornado risk would increase Thursday, expanding across Florida and into Georgia and South Carolina.
Mara Lezama, the governor of the coastal state of Quintana Roo, shared photos of rain-swept streets and videos of the normally placid, turquoise waters off the island of Cozumel being whipped into angry waves that broke over the seawall. In Cancun, heavy waves threatened to worsen the resort citys problem with beach erosion.
Dave McCurley boards up the windows to his home in advance of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall, in Ochlockonee Bay, Fla., Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)AP
Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the upper Florida Keys, southern Florida and the northeast coast of Florida and were extended northward Wednesday morning to Altamaha Sound, Georgia. A tropical storm watch was in effect for the South Carolina coast north of the Savannah River to the South Santee River.
Hurricane watches, which are a step down from warnings, were also in effect for parts of western Cuba and Florida, including the Tampa Bay area, the hurricane center said.
Several counties on Floridas west and northwestern coasts have issued evacuation orders, and schools planned to close or reduce hours. Gas stations in the Tallahassee area started to run out of gas Monday, and water and other supplies flew from supermarket shelves.
President Joe Biden declared an emergency in Florida, and federal authorities postitioned generators, food and water, along with search-and-rescue and power restoration teams.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who already issued an emergency for most of the states counties, said Wednesday that 12 health care facilities have evacuated. He urged people to prepare immediately.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also declared an emergency in his state. The hurricane warning area included Valdosta, a city of 55,000. Helene approached barely a year after Hurricane Idalia inflicted more than $6 million in damage to 1,000 homes and other property.
Summer in the Harrisburg area had long stretches of dry weather. Mother Nature is making up for that a bit this week, when chance of showers is in the weather forecast through at least Saturday.
For today, Wednesday, that could include thunderstorms in the midafternoon. The could continue on and off into early Thursday. The Weather Channel says the greatest likelihood of rain today is from 3 to 6 p.m.
More: Statewide weather alerts
Thursday, Friday and Saturday forecasts call for at least a chance of rain with high temperatures in the 70s, according to the National Weather Service in State College.
Live radar over Pennsylvania:
Tropical Storm Helene is expected to grow into a hurricane and hit Florida and Georgia. The size of the storm means Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana could get rain from it as well. The National Hurricane Center has predicted Helene will move up through the central part of the country, well west of Pennsylvania, not along the East Coast.
The forecast in central Pennsylvania for the next few days:
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azercell Telecom LLC, the first operator to deploy mobile infrastructure in the liberated territories, continues to provide modern communication services to residents returning to these areas. In support of students pursuing their education in Karabakh, the leading mobile operator has introduced a special campaign.
As part of the campaign, students will receive a new Azercell Prepaid number and a six-month access to the "SuperSn 10GB" tariff package, both free of charge. After this period, students can continue using the tariff for an additional year with a 50% discount rate.
"SuperSn 10GB" tariff includes 10 GB of internet per month, 500 minutes for countrywide calls, and free messaging on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
To take advantage of the campaign, students should approach the Azercell Mobile Customer Service in Khankendi (in front of Karabakh University) before November 30,2025, and present their ID card and student ID.
For detailed information about the campaign please visit Azercell's official website.
Azercell Telecom LLC congratulates all students on the beginning of the new academic year and wishes them success in their studies!
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. The State Committee for Work with Diaspora of Azerbaijan presented a medal to Professor of Neurology at the University of Copenhagen, Head of the International Headache Society, Director of the Migraine Association Professor Masud Ashina, Trend reports.
The committee's chairman, Fuad Muradov, welcomed the guest and highlighted the significant role of the Azerbaijani diaspora in fostering bilateral relations between the two countries.
It was noted that the Azerbaijani communities abroad receive considerable attention from President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva.
Expressing his deep gratitude for the recognition from the Azerbaijani state, Ashina affirmed his commitment to protecting the national interests of his homeland abroad and to integrating Azerbaijani youth into the global scientific community.
Ashina was awarded the jubilee medal "100 years of Heydar Aliyev (1923-2023)", which he was awarded by the order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev for his services in diaspora activities.
By the order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev dated December 8, 2020, Masud Ashina was elected a member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation "YASAT".
Masud Ashina was the President of the Danish Headache Association, Secretary General of the European Headache Federation, and President of the International Headache Association from 2019 to 2021.
In 2019, Ashinas research received a substantial grant of 4 million from the Lundbeck Foundation Professorship for advancements in headache treatment methods.
In 2021, he was awarded the International TUBA Academy Prize in Turkiye, the State Committee said.
The top Muslim-American voter group with a strong presence in the battleground states, Emgage Action, has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
Wael Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action said in a statement, This endorsement is not agreement with Vice President Harris on all issues, but rather, an honest guidance to our voters regarding the difficult choice they confront at the ballot box, While we do not agree with all of Harris policies, particularly on the war on Gaza, we are approaching this election with both pragmatism and conviction.
The reality for Muslim-Americans is that the best path to end the war in Gaza and bring peace hopefully along with a two-state solution is to support Vice President Harris. Trump has plainly stated that he will allow Netanyahu to do whatever he wants, and that presumably would include allowing Netanyahu to clear out the residents of Gaza so that Israel can take the territory.
Harris-Walz Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez responded to the endorsement:
Vice President Harris is honored to receive the endorsement of Emgage Action. Our campaign has worked closely with these community leaders and we look forward to continuing to work together to elect the Vice President in November. Throughout her career, Vice President Harris has been steadfast in her support of our countrys diverse Muslim community, ensuring first and foremost that they can live free from the hateful policies of the Trump administration.
We understand this endorsement is coming at a time when there is great pain and loss in the Muslim and Arab American communities. The Vice President will continue to relentlessly work to bring the war in Gaza to an end such that Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity, security, and self-determination. As she has over the past year, the Vice President will continue to work to prevent the conflict from widening throughout the region.
Kamala Harris is the best choice for peace and support for Gaza, and those who want to see the war end should support VP Harris for president.
To comment on this story, join us on Reddit.
After Rep. Clay Higgins went on a racist rant about Haitian migrants on X, House Democrats offered a censure resolution, but Republicans blocked it.
Here was the original Higgins post:
from a sitting member of Congress just now: pic.twitter.com/03L3NvHVAo Taniel (@Taniel) September 25, 2024
Rep. Steven Horsford proposed a censure resolution for bringing dishonor and disgrace on to the House.
Video:
Steven Horsford: I ask for unanimous consent to censure Rep. Clay Higgins for bringing discredit and disgrace to the House. [Steve Scalise objects] Scalise: First of all, the tweet has been deleted already and removed! [Democrats start laughing] Scalise: And if we want to go pic.twitter.com/A3ebQKEQkb Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) September 25, 2024
Noted KKK friend Rep. Steve Scalise rejected the censure motion because Higgins had deleted the tweet. It should be noted that Higgins refused to delete the tweet when Democrats asked him to, but only did so after Republicans requested that he delete the tweet.
Scalises claim that since the tweet was deleted, there was nothing to censure Higgins for drew laughter from Democrats on the floor.
Rep. Scalise adjourned the House and Higgins was not censured.
House Republicans demonstrated that they are fine with racism from there members toward legal Haitian migrants. In fact, they seem ok with racism against anybody as long as they think it will help them keep the House and Trump return to the White House.
To comment on this story, join us on Reddit.
The mainstream press hyped it as dueling economic speeches, but only Kamala Harris was able to deliver an economic vision Trump was an off-topic and unhinged disaster.
Kamala Harris laid out all of the pillars of her vision for the economy:
For those who want policy specifics, here is VP Harris laying out the pillars of her economic plan. pic.twitter.com/stS9ME0WXl Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) September 25, 2024
The Harris campaign also released policy proposals like:
Vice President Harris and Governor Walzs strategy is designed to maintain and extend Americas edge in industries of the future. This includes modernizing and reducing emissions in steel and iron production, developing biotechnology that can help produce critical medicines and new sustainable materials, investing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation and building new data centers for AI, expanding clean energy manufacturing and innovation, revitalizing Americas semiconductor industry, investing in aerospace, autos, and other forms of transportation, and producing industrial tools and machines critical to our national and economic security.
America cannot sit on the sidelines and cede leadership to nations like China, jeopardizing our national security. From her work on the development and implementation of the White House executive order on AI to her global leadership on AI safety and the convenings she has hosted with labor and civil rights leaders, Vice President Harris has always prioritized innovation that not only keeps America in the lead but that strengthens Americas workforce, protects consumers, and keeps Americans safe.
Earlier in the day, Donald Trump was in North Carolina and while standing in front of a banner touting Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!, Trump talked about everything else but jobs and the economy.
Trump talked about the 1/6 insurrectionists, assassination attempts, migrants, and almost anything that popped into his head that wasnt about jobs and the economy. Trump was so bad that Fox News and Newsmax cut off their live coverage while Trump was still talking.
Kamala Harris was the only candidate to offer an economic vision with policy specifics.
Donald Trump was a rambling, shambling, disaster who revealed that the has no economic plan other than to bluff his way back into the White House to get out of the pending criminal cases that he is facing and to enrich himself off of taxpayer funds.
Kamala Harris gave an economic speech. Donald Trump showed why he is unfit to be president.
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Right wing media has been falsely telling their viewers that crime is surging under President Biden, even though violent crime decreased significantly.
(T)he report was almost entirely ignored by right-wing media outlets, which have pushed a false narrative that crime is surging under President Joe Biden, CNN reported, noting the US registered the steepest annual decline in murders in decades.
But right wing media operations arent sharing that good news about violent crime in the lead up to an election. In fact, theyre even peddling lies to hide the facts from their audience.
CNN noted that Fox News mentioned the FBI data just once on its air Monday devoting 28 seconds to the subject, and even then told viewers, critics say the report is not accurate because it does not include big cities, a false claim promoted by Elon Musk and other Trump supporters on social media.
This conspiracy of silence on crime data was consistent throughout right wing media, with Newsmax and OAN TV both maintaining silence along with nearly the entire fleet of right wing websites, except for Newsmax.
The actual crime statistics show murder and non-negligent manslaughter decreased by 11.6% compared to the previous year and rape decreased by an estimated 9.4%.
Its noteworthy that the Right is led by convicted felon Donald Trump, while fear-mongering about surging crime.
Trump was also found liable for rape and fraud. Trumps crimes are excused and justified and denied, while he pins fake crimes on innocent people; for example, Trump and Vance have incited violent threats in Springfield, Ohio against Haitans based on lies.
Donald Trump is not new to incitement, hes been doing it the entire time hes been in the political spotlight from telling his supporters hed pay for their bail if they assaulted a protester to his caravan lies being repeated on right wing social media and radicalizing the mass shooter of a Pittsburgh synagogue to the deadly self-coup he incited on January 6, 2021.
Speaking of that, on Tuesday the FBI reported Justin LaGesse pleading guilty to felony destruction of property during the deadly 1/6 insurrection and January 6 defendants Kenneth and Caleb Fuller of Minnesota, accused of pushing against the policy line, rejected a plea offer and will proceed to trial in January.
In the 43 months since January 6, 2021, more than 1,488 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including nearly 550 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony.
But right wing media continues to whitewash 1/6, with Trump saying he will pardon the offenders, including those who assaulted law enforcement, and Republican lawmakers serenading the accused. The overarching point is that its not crime when they do it.
The law is what they say it is.
Thats why conservatives are hiding the good news of a reduction in violent crime under President Biden , while ignoring their own leader being found guilty by a jury of his peers for 34 felonies. When people rage against this infuriating hypocrisy, theyre missing the point that populist strongman types like Trump invoke a rule by decree method of power, whereby the law is what they say it is and nothing more.
The dark, gloomy worldview being fed to one side of the political spectrum is at large odds with reality. The economy is recovering remarkably well, the stock market is hitting new highs, but you wouldnt know it within the epistemic closure of the right wing media.
This pattern is so rife with disinformation to blow smoke around a wannabe dictator that it mimics blatant manipulation tactics of Russian media.
To comment on this story, join us on Reddit.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Baku has hosted an international forum on carbon pricing, Trend reports.
According to the information, the forum was organized by the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan together with the Intra-European Organization of Tax Administrations (IOTA).
Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, head of the State Tax Service Orkhan Nazarli, and other officials took part in the forum. Delegations from more than 40 countries, including leading foreign experts and specialists, attended the event.
Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov noted that it is planned to raise an initial capital of $1 billion and attract at least ten donor countries to participate in the Climate Finance Action Fund to start its activities.
In our opinion, this issue will be one of the key topics for discussion within COP29, the minister emphasized.
Jabbarov mentioned that the main objective of the Climate Finance Action Fund is to increase the contribution of countries with fossil fuel reserves and companies in this sector to the transition to green technologies.
One of the key initiatives on the COP29 agenda is the establishment of a Climate Finance Action Fund (CFAF). This fund can play an important role in addressing the climate finance gaps that exist today. It is envisioned that the main sources of capital for the fund will come from fossil fuel-producing countries, as well as oil, gas, and coal companies. The main goal of the fund is not only to invest in climate initiatives in developing countries and small island states but also to increase the contribution of countries with fossil fuel reserves and companies of this sector in the transition to green technologies, he stressed.
The minister reminded that Azerbaijan will host such a significant event as the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).
Today's event directly corresponds to the objectives of COP29. On the agenda is the assessment of the role of fiscal instruments in the decarbonization process. Discussing this issue with representatives of several authoritative international organizations, as well as delegations of IOTA member countries, will be extremely productive for us, he added.
The head of the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan, Orkhan Nazarli, in his turn, said that negotiations are underway with international organizations to develop an optimal "green" tax policy for Azerbaijan.
Orhan Nazarli stated the importance of exploring the possibility of introducing a carbon tax or a similar levy aimed at reducing carbon emissions, which is widely used in international practice.
Within the framework of these activities, the establishment of a system for measuring carbon emissions in our country, which will be the basis for taxation, is also being considered. Ongoing processes to introduce measures similar to those used elsewhere in the world to protect the environment are being actively discussed at the government level with the participation of colleagues from various institutions. Discussions are underway with international organizations, research centers, educational institutions, and industry representatives to share experiences and analyze the challenges of such initiatives. We not only study the best practices but also jointly discuss the challenges they bring to develop the best tax policy for our country, he noted.
Nazarli mentioned that Azerbaijan has already adopted legislative acts aimed at encouraging the production and use of low-emission products and technologies.
The representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Margaret Cotton stated that carbon pricing is becoming a powerful tool.
We often hear about the design of tax and climate policies, but as we know, even the best design is meaningless without proper administration. I hope that during the forum we can discuss the many practicalities of implementing these initiatives. Climate risks have macroeconomic impacts. They hit economies, communities, and households hard, contribute to financial instability, and increase inequality. The transition to a new climate economy offers unique opportunities for growth and job creation. Each of us must do our part, she noted.
According to her, the IMF supports accelerating decarbonization through a package of measures including carbon pricing, elimination of harmful subsidies, targeted policy support, and active cooperation.
First, on carbon pricing, we can see that it is working. There are now about 70 initiatives in 40 countries, and progress is clear. Carbon pricing is becoming a powerful tool because it not only generates revenue but also fairly incentivizes a shift to low-carbon investment and consumption. Hundreds of millions of euros have already been raised in Europe through compliance measures, and these funds can be used to address inequalities and stimulate green growth, she emphasized.
The forum will continue its work tomorrow.
Tyrrell Hatton has won the Dunhill Links Championship for a record third time after making birdie at the 18th hole on the Old Course at St. Andrews to finish a stroke clear of playing partner Nicolas Colsaerts. Both players walked down the storied last hole at the home of golf tied for the lead and having hit their drives just short of the green. Colsaerts putted to 8 feet and missed his birdie attempt, leaving Hatton a chance for victory after the Englishman had chipped to 4 feet. Hattons putt went into the center of the cup. He shot 2-under 70 and was 24-under par overall. It tied the tournament record he held from 2017. Hatton also won the Dunhill Links in 2016 and 17. Read moreHatton wins Dunhill Links for record 3rd time after beating Colsaerts by 1 stroke at home of golf
As we mark National Newspaper Week 2024, it is crucial to reflect on the role newspapers play in our democracy. Despite the digital revolution and a fast-changing media landscape, newspapers continue to provide the foundation for reliable, well-researched and accountable journalism. This wee Read moreCelebrating trust, accountability and the power of newspapers
An all-union workforce will be operating ship-to-shore cranes for the first time in the Port of Charleston's history Sept. 25 when the Cosco Orchid container ship visits the Leatherman Terminal.
The International Longshoremen's Association won the right to operate cranes at Leatherman in February when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that sided with the dockworkers union.
The S.C. State Ports Authority has been training ILA members to operate the cranes since then.
"This is really exciting news for us," Barbara Melvin, the SPA's president and CEO, said Tuesday during a meeting of the agency's board of directors. "It's been a long time coming."
An ILA spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. The union is threatening to go on strike early next week at ports stretching from Maine to Texas over a contract stalemate.
Nonunion SPA workers have traditionally operated the port's cranes, but the ILA's contract with container lines calls for its members to do that work at any new terminal that comes online in the Carolinas and Georgia.
The ports authority opened Leatherman on the former Navy base in North Charleston in 2021, making it the the first to qualify. The language in the ILA contract was ultimately upheld after a lengthy court battle.
Work is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on the Cosco Orchid, which will unload about 1,750 containers. The gates will open at 8 a.m. Sept. 26 for truckers to haul the imports away.
It's a onetime visit by the ship. It's not clear when weekly container services will resume at Leatherman.
"This vessel is the first of many to come, and we will continue to deliver efficient operations and reliable service for our ocean carrier and cargo owner customers," Melvin said in a written statement.
While the legal battle centered on Leatherman, the SPA and ILA signed an agreement in June that greatly expanded the cooperation between them. The new pact creates a blended workforce where state employees and union members work side by side on the cranes and other heavy-lift equipment at the port's two other container terminals.
The biggest container vessels visiting the Port of Charleston will start making weekly calls on the old Navy base next month as the S.C. State Ports Authority continues to reopen its Leatherman Terminal after a prolonged labor dispute.
Israeli shipping company ZIM will move its ZCP service from Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant on a permanent basis on Oct. 6.
The line is the first to commit to weekly service at Leatherman following a February court ruling that gave the International Longshoremen's Association the right to operate cranes at the $1.3 billion North Charleston site.
The Cooper River terminal opened in early 2021 but has sat mostly idle until now because of the SPA's legal battle with the dockworkers union.
Charleston's port is the first U.S. stop on the ZIM route, which links China with the East Coast. The route also includes stops in Savannah and Norfolk, Va.
The route uses the biggest vessels of any service calling on the Port of Charleston, with the average ship able to carry the equivalent of 14,577 20-foot-long containers.
The first ZIM ship to visit Leatherman will be the Mount Blanc, powered by liquified natural gas and able to haul 15,000 cargo boxes.
This weekly service is the first of many to come as we resume operations at Leatherman Terminal, providing more capacity and fluidity for the U.S. East Coast port market, Barbara Melvin, the SPA's president and CEO, said in a written statement. This first-in-call from Asia is a significant competitive advantage for shippers moving goods through the Port of Charleston.
The announcement follows a Leatherman visit on Tuesday by the Cosco Orchid container ship, marking the first time that ILA members have operated cranes at the Port of Charleston. Previously, those jobs were filled by SPA employees, who don't belong to the waterfront union.
The ILA and the ports authority signed a landmark agreement in June that called for the creating a blended workforce at all of the port's container terminals.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. A delegation from Azerbaijan led by the Chairman of the Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Rovshan Rustamov is participating in the InnoTrans international exhibition currently underway in Berlin, Trend reports, citing CJSCs press service.
The InnoTrans event, held biennially and attracting over 100,000 participants, is recognized as one of the largest international exhibitions focused on public transport, including rail vehicles and equipment," the report noted.
Key topics at InnoTrans 2024 include digitalization in the transport sector, sustainable development, and AI-based digital solutions.
The exhibition features 2,940 companies from 59 countries, as well as 32 international organizations.
"The purpose of the Azerbaijan Railways delegation's participation is to familiarize themselves with the latest innovative products and digital solutions from leading global transport companies, as well as to engage in discussions with representatives of foreign railway administrations," CJSC noted.
Additionally, Rustamov had met with a delegation from the leading UAE railway company, Etihad Rail, and representatives from Ukrainian Railways.
"During these meetings, there was an effective exchange on the prospects for cooperation and freight transport, including transit. The steps recently taken by the company to diversify routes through international corridors, particularly the development of the Middle Corridor, were also highlighted," CJSC added.
Duke Energy has extended the timeline to get power back to its last 26,000 customers still in the dark after Tropical Storm Helene. Read moreDuke Energy is still trying to restore power to 26K SC customers after Helene. Here's the latest.
GREENVILLE At Soteria Community Development Corp., reclaimed wood with rich grain patterns lines some of the walls of the main office and serves as doors.
When Soteria moved into its Shaw Street building about a decade ago, it was dilapidated, said Jerry Blassingame, Soterias founder.
The wood comes from the ministrys wood shop, which provides job training for people leaving the prison system in South Carolina.
Soteria, a Christian-based organization, also provides transitional housing, financial literacy classes and other resources to people leaving incarceration and those in the broader community. Blassingame estimates they have served 10,000 people in various capacities over the years.
After the organization passed its 25th anniversary this year, Blassingame reflected on the early days of self-sufficiency, the successes and the setbacks, and where he sees Soteria heading.
Soterias early days
Blassingame was raised in Greenville and was 5 years old when his mothers boyfriend murdered her in the room next door. He attributes some of his struggles later in life to this traumatic event.
He studied architectural engineering at Greenville Technical College but dropped out to deal drugs. In 1995, Blassingame was sent to prison, where he started planning the entity that would become Soteria. He sought to help people like him leave the prison system with support that society doesnt provide.
At first, he dove into Soteria and held things up day by day. The organization didnt have much funding.
Nobody would trust a Black man with a criminal background, Blassingame said.
They had to be self-sufficient, and Blassingame said he often used his own money to keep the lights on. He couldnt pay staff well, so they would often quit.
The first major setback was in 2012, when Soteria had to leave the church that housed it and paid Blassingame and five other staff members. He cashed his retirement early to stay afloat.
With the Hough sisters leading the way, the Summerville Girls Tennis team is eyeing one of its regions top playoff seeds. Read moreSummerville girls enter second half of region schedule
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. The 5th meeting of the Azerbaijani-Russian Working Group in the field of agriculture of the Ministries of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation has been held, Trend reports via Azerbaijan's Ministry of Agriculture.
According to the information, the meeting was attended by Azerbaijan's Deputy Agriculture Minister Elchin Zeynalov, Russia's Deputy Agriculture Minister Sergei Levin, and representatives of relevant structures and agricultural enterprises of both countries.
The meeting touched upon the current situation in agriculture between Azerbaijan and Russia. The sides emphasized that ties in the field of agriculture are developing between Azerbaijan and Russia in all spheres of the economy.
Furthermore, the sides discussed issues of increasing trade turnover of agricultural and food products between the two countries, transfer of the most modern technologies in the agricultural sphere, digitalization, cooperation in the field of research and education programs, and other issues.
Meanwhile, it was noted that there is great potential between the two countries to expand ties in the field of agriculture.
The parties expressed interest in cooperation on the discussed issues and exchanged views on the prospects for further cooperation.
In the framework of the meeting, new opportunities for cooperation in the field of agriculture were considered, and the importance of establishing a permanent dialogue between the agencies to expand ties was emphasized, the statement of the ministry reads.
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.
The latest Winthrop University Poll was still in the field when the storm came. The results, mostly collected before the former hurricane named Helene slammed into South Carolinas midsection and Upstate, suggested that South Carolinians believe a second civil war is imminent. Read moreEditorial: A second civil war in the forecast? Our better angels will not allow it.
COLUMBIA U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland was nearly 500 miles from Washington, D.C. when he arrived in South Carolina's capital for a meeting with local law enforcement.
But he still couldn't escape the national news: the previous day's announcement of new, federal charges against the alleged would-be assassin of former President Donald Trump.
Speaking Sept. 25 to a phalanx of local reporters huddled in the downtown Columbia office of U.S. Attorney Adair Boroughs, Garland read from a statement similar to what he said earlier in announcing a newly filed, five-page indictment against Hawaii resident Ryan Wesley Routh on a litany of new charges.
"Immediately after the assassination attempt on September 15, I made clear the Justice Department would bring every available resource to bear in this investigation," Garland, who took no questions, told reporters. "Over the past 11 days, the department has done just that."
The comments came at the top of a regularly scheduled site visit to learn more about how federal officials could better work with South Carolina partners to combat the flow of illegal narcotics and violent crime.
The United States has now experienced two assassination attempts against the former president in just the last few months, Garland noted, condemning the violence and threats of violence targeting public officials.
"They are dangerous to everything this country stands for," he said. "The Justice Department will not tolerate violence that strikes at the heart of our democracy. We will find and hold accountable those who perpetrate it. This kind of activity must stop."
Today's Top Headlines Story continues below
The new filings against Routh range from various gun charges to assaulting a Secret Service Agent and, at the top of the list, the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.
The charges cover a sweeping, several-week federal investigation into Routh's motives and movements in the days leading up to him pointing a gun through the fence of a Trump-owned golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Next month, Guam and the Micronesian region will be introduced to AgrAbility a U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative to help farmers, ranchers and agricultural workers succeed by overcoming limitations and disabilities, according to a press release from the University of Guam.
The Farmer Focus Project at UOG Cooperative Extension and Outreach, in alignment with the National AgrAbility Project, will be hosting the first Guam AgrAbility Regional Workshop from Oct. 29-30 at the Hyatt Regency Guam, the release said.
The biggest factor in food security and self-sustainability is farms and farmers, and we need to make sure theyre supported in every way, Rachael Leon Guerrero, dean of the UOG College of Natural and Applied Sciences and director of UOG Cooperative Extension, said in the release. Were excited to bring AgrAbility and various experts for the first time to Guam to show our producers that certain limitations are not necessarily deal-breakers with todays technology and support services.
According to the university, the workshop will merge the topics of sustainable agriculture with assistive technology and behavioral health, with a special series of presentations on Taiwanese Indigenous agricultural foundations and cultural wellness practices. The content will benefit farmers as well as industry professionals, who will gain insight on farmer limitations and needed services and network with other organizations, said UOG.
Opening the conference each day will be Don McMoran and Bill Field, the project directors for the Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program and the National AgrAbility Project, respectively, sharing the critical nationwide need for these farmer-support efforts, the release said.
Attendees will also hear from AgrAbility program leaders at universities across the United States as well as experts from Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center, College of Micronesia, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and several science, technology and agriculture colleges and universities in Taiwan, said UOG in the release.
Presentations will cover different topics including:
Assistive technology for farming with a disability.
Horticultural therapy and its application.
Taking charge of chronic health conditions.
Recognizing and responding to behavioral distress.
The promising practice of agritourism.
Mitigating risk-taking among adolescents in farming communities.
Caring for the mental health of caregivers in agricultural communities.
A tea-tasting experience: Mindfulness and enjoyment.
To see the full agenda, visit https://sites.google.com/view/uogfarmerfocus/events.
Registration is open through Friday, Oct. 18. Farmers may register for the conference free of charge through Farm-to-Table Guam Corp. at 671-647-0100, Guahan Sustainable Culture at 671-734-4721, the Farmers Cooperative Association of Guam at fcaguam@gmail.com, or the Northern Soil and Water Conservation District at 671-735-2014.
Agricultural professionals, agencies and organizations may register at https://url.uog.edu/agrability for a fee of $200 for the two-day conference or $250 for the conference plus a tour of farms on Oct. 31. Hotel booking information is also available on the site.
For more information, contact Harley Edeluchel Jr. at 671-735-2020 or edeluchelh@triton.uog.edu.
The Guam AgrAbility Regional Workshop is supported by the National AgrAbility Project, the Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program, GBHWC, the Northern Guam Soil and Water Conservation District, the UOG Endowment Foundation, the Hyatt Regency Guam and Honhui Guam.
SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, September 25. The establishment of the Trans-Caspian Electricity Grid has great potential, the president of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said at the opening ceremony of the annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's (AIIB) Board of Governors in Samarkand, Trend reports.
It should be noted that neighboring countries have also launched major renewable energy projects. In the coming years, Central Asia, with its abundant renewable energy resources, will become a major exporter of green energy to the global energy markets. In this context, I would like to emphasize the project on the creation of the Trans-Caspian electric network, which has great potential, the head of state said.
According to him, in the years ahead, the country will be rolling out 18 gigawatts of solar and wind energy, 3 gigawatts of hydroelectric power plants, 5 gigawatts of storage capacity, along with power grids valued at a whopping $5 billion.
With these projects, we also intend to create large green data centers. I believe that this will be an attractive project for all international financial organizations.
Moreover, based on renewable energy sources, a market of green certificates worth $100 million a year will be formed, and I believe that this will become a new promising direction for cooperation with international financial organizations, the head of state added.
To note, the heads of energy ministries of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan signed a memorandum of cooperation on the interconnection of energy systems of the republics within the framework of the Tashkent International Investment Forum on May 1.
The purpose of the signed memorandum is to define the main conditions of cooperation within the framework of the project on the interconnection of energy systems of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.
The document assumes that the participants intend to explore the possibility of connecting energy systems by laying a high-voltage cable along the Caspian Sea bed and in the territory of other countries with the implementation of the most technically and economically optimal trade in green energy from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.
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PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-25 01:45:47
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PALO ALTO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 24, 2024 / Benetech, a leading nonprofit, will announce its commitment to expanding opportunities for blind and visually impaired students in India at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2024 Annual Meeting. The Saksharta project aims to improve access to digital education, literacy tools, and training programs for visually impaired individuals in India, reaching over 5,000 students across the country. Supported by the Lavelle Fund for the Blind, the project provides over 800,000 titles in nine languages and tailored digital literacy training to enhance education and job prospects for people with visual impairments.Classroom Students in India Classroom photo of teachers & students in India"We are thrilled that the Clinton Global Initiative is recognizing our commitment to advancing equity and inclusion for blind and visually impaired learners in India," said Ayan Kishore, CEO of Benetech. "Through innovative technology and strategic partnerships, we drive systemic change and build long-term educational sustainability." India is home to a third of the world's blind population. Over the last 15 years, Benetech has provided digital literacy programs and accessible educational content. Benetech's collaboration with the Lavelle Fund for the Blind has been instrumental in scaling these efforts. "The Lavelle Fund for the Blind is very proud to be a small part of this game-changing program bringing innovative technology solutions to blind and visually impaired students in India, helping to bridge the education-to-employment gap," says Susan Olivo, Executive Director & CEO of the Lavelle Fund. "We strongly believe in and support programs that improve access to education and help level the playing field for blind and visually impaired people." The project now serves 28 schools for the blind across 13 states. In the next three years, Benetech aims to serve over 5,000 students by building partnerships with key Indian states and scaling the Saksharta project. With a commitment of $650,000 from the Lavelle Fund for the Blind and additional support from corporate partners, Benetech is laying the foundation for a sustainable, scalable program that will impact future generations of students with disabilities.Benetech is a nonprofit dedicated to driving social change through technological innovation. Its programs focus on providing accessible solutions for blind, visually impaired and neurodiverse individuals. Visit www.benetech.org The Lavelle Fund for the Blind is a charitable foundation dedicated to supporting programs that assist individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The Fund focuses on initiatives that promote education, employment, and independence for people with visual impairments.Clinton Global Initiative, founded by President Bill Clinton in 2005,is a community of doers representing a broad cross-section of society and dedicated to the idea that we can accomplish more together than we can apart. Through CGI's unique model, more than 10,000 organizations have launched more than 4,000 Commitments to Action - new, specific, and measurable projects and programs - that are making a difference in the lives of more than 500 million people in 180 countries.Contact InformationStephanie DavidCommunications Managerstephanied@ benetech.org SOURCE: BenetechView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-25 15:21:53
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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / MDBriefCase, a leading provider of interactive accredited continuing medical education for healthcare professionals, is proud to announce the upcoming relaunch of RxBriefCase in partnership with Pharmapod, the top medication safety reporting platform for pharmacists.Launching in early 2025, RxBriefCase will offer a comprehensive range of accredited on-demand pharmacy courses designed to keep pharmacists' skills sharp and current in an evolving healthcare landscape.RxBriefCase courses will cover a diverse array of topics, including patient safety, travel medicine, medication management, and infectious disease, ensuring that pharmacists have access to the latest professional development resources. The platform's relaunch highlights MDBriefCase's commitment to excellence in clinical education and support for healthcare professionals.Sachin Aggarwal, CEO of Think Research, said, "Our goal is to empower pharmacists with the tools and knowledge they need to excel in their roles and provide exceptional patient care. RxBriefCase will serve as a trusted resource for ongoing professional development, helping pharmacists stay informed about the latest advancements in the field." Janet Kimura, Managing Director & EVP, Clinical Content and Education at MDBriefCase, added, "We are thrilled to bring RxBriefCase back with enhanced content and features that align with the needs of today's pharmacists. Our team is dedicated to curating high-quality educational experiences that support pharmacists in their lifelong learning journeys." Brynne Eaton-Auva'a, Managing Director, Clinical Connectivity, said, "We're incredibly proud to relaunch RxBriefCase in partnership with Pharmapod, combining our educational expertise with leadership in patient safety. This collaboration will bring educational resources to Pharmapod users and represents a major step forward in empowering pharmacists with cutting-edge knowledge while supporting the highest standards of care. Our aim is to make pharmacy safety and professional development as accessible, relevant, and impactful as possible for today's pharmacists." Pharmacists can look forward to an engaging, user-friendly platform designed to fit seamlessly into their busy schedules, offering flexibility and convenience in accessing crucial educational resources.In collaboration with Pharmapod, the leading platform for pharmacy safety, courses will also be accessible directly through Pharmapod, enhancing the user experience by integrating continuing education with quality improvement solutions.RxBriefCase is scheduled to relaunch in early 2025. Join our mailing list to be notified when the site is live. Join list here: https://www.mdbriefcase.com/rxbriefcase-update/ For more information, contact Janet Kimura janet.kimura@mdbriefcase.com About MDBriefCaseMDBriefCase, a Think Research subsidiary, is a leading provider of accredited, online continuing professional development (CPD) to help healthcare practitioners enhance their professional practice and stay at the forefront of the latest evidence and protocols. Through innovative partnerships, we offer high-quality content, free of charge, to more than 280,000 members in Canada, Australia, Africa and the Middle East. More information at mdbriefcase.com About PharmapodPharmapod is the leading cloud-based continuing quality improvement (CQI) solution for driving efficiencies and reducing patient safety incidents in community pharmacies, long-term care, and hospitals. Built by pharmacists for pharmacists, our technology is chosen globally by industry leaders, regulators, academic sites and national healthcare providers, including 70% of pharmacies in Canada, to drive excellence in medication safety and promote data-driven innovation, safety and quality improvements. More information at pharmapodhq.com RxBriefCase, MDBriefCase and Pharmapod are members of the Think Research family of companies.SOURCE: MDBriefCase
PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-25 16:32:52
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Atlas Planning Platform Standardized Processes Across Business Units for Global Plastics and Metal ManufacturerAUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / John Galt Solutions, a global leader in automating supply chain planning to empower businesses to make better decisions faster, today announced that its market-leading Atlas Planning Platform was successfully implemented at Myers Industries Inc., to help the company standardize processes and support growth across its separate business units.Myers, a leading manufacturer of a wide range of plastic and metal products and a distributor for the tire, wheel, and under-vehicle service industry, faced challenges as the business expanded, both organically and through acquisitions. As a result, Myers required an advanced supply chain planning solution that could unify fragmented processes and systems into a centralized platform, establishing best practices to support its continued growth.Myers selected John Galt Solutions' Atlas Planning Platform for its superior ability to improve visibility across the end-to-end supply chain. With Atlas, Myers can pull data from different external and internal data sources into a single platform, optimizing and improving processes across the business.Since the implementation, Myers has benefited from a uniform view across its supply chain. The platform's data-driven dashboards provide real-time insights into key performance indicators (KPIs) across the network and help guide the supply chain team to accelerate decisions that best align with company objectives. The standardization of processes has helped the company align its operations with its financial goals, moving Myers toward a fully integrated business plan."The Atlas Planning Platform has provided our business with the visibility and integration we required to support our growth," said Jeff Baker, Senior Vice President of Shared Services at Myers. "We now have a single, unified view of our supply chain, which has greatly improved our ability to forecast demand and align operations with our financial objectives. The dashboards have become instrumental in driving consistent metrics and providing greater visibility into performance across the organization. Atlas empowers our team to work more effectively toward an integrated business plan, ensuring that every part of the company is moving in the same direction." Looking ahead, Myers is preparing to enter the next phase of its collaboration with John Galt Solutions, which will focus on the implementation of what-if scenario planning, leveraging the Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities in the Atlas Planning Platform. This will allow Myers to conduct simulations that stress-test its supply chain under various conditions, delivering deeper insights into how the supply chain reacts under uncertainty and helping the company make more informed decisions."We're excited to continue supporting Myers Industries as they explore new opportunities to further advance their supply chain planning and enhance performance," said Matt Hoffman, Vice President of Product and Industry Solutions at John Galt Solutions. "With the power of AI and what-if scenario planning, Myers will be better equipped to plan, manage, and respond to the complexities of their diverse markets and industries, ensuring their supply chain stays agile and resilient." About Myers IndustriesMyers Industries Inc. (NYSE:MYE), based in Akron, Ohio, is a manufacturer of sustainable plastic and metal products for industrial, agricultural, automotive, commercial, and consumer markets. The company is also the largest distributor of tools, equipment and supplies for the tire, wheel, and under-vehicle service industry in the United States. Visit myersindustries.com to learn more.About John Galt SolutionsMore than ever, companies must be able to sense and respond to the dynamics of complex global supply chain performance, seize new opportunities, reduce costs, and drive profitability. John Galt Solutions' Atlas Planning Platform is a comprehensive end-to-end supply chain planning software solution with advanced analytics and machine learning to automate planning, break down business silos and deliver greater visibility. A SaaS-based platform, Atlas transforms S&OP processes; demand, inventory, and replenishment; supply and inventory optimization; manufacturing planning and scheduling; financial budget and sales forecasting. We partner closely with companies such as MARS, Continental Tire, Milwaukee Tool, Deschutes Brewery, Netgear, and American Red Cross to empower planners to make better and faster decisions with greater confidence. To learn how John Galt Solutions can help you improve supply chain performance, visit johngalt.com Contact InformationJohn GaltPublic Relations Managerconnect@ johngalt.com 312-701-9026SOURCE: John Galt SolutionsView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-25 02:55:18
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ORLANDO, FL / ACCESSWIRE / September 24, 2024 / For Citrus America , North America's premier supplier of high-quality commercial juicing equipment, it hasn't been a Brat Summer. It's been a Fresh Summer.As summer leaves begin to change color, Citrus America reflects on an exciting and successful summer season of innovation, punctuated by its nationwide Juicing Across America 2024 Tour and key appearances at industry events.The Citrus America team, led by founder and President Brian Framson, Vice President of National Sales Jay Gardner, and sales and training specialist Jacob Framson, embarked on an unforgettable summer journey. Starting in Texas and weaving their way through California, the Pacific Northwest, and the northern United States, they brought their innovative commercial juicing technology to both existing customers and new prospects in grocery and foodservice operations, as well as many conventions and expos.The team concluded the tour with stops in major East Coast cities, including Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C., before returning to Citrus America's Florida headquarters. The mission? To share the benefits of tasty fresh-squeezed citrus juice and showcase the efficiency, quality and safety of their state-of-the-art commercial juicing equipment.Among the many highlights of the summer, the Citrus America team had a significant presence at the 2024 NGA Show (National Grocers Association), the 2024 Bar & Restaurant Expo (BRE) in Las Vegas and the 2024 National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show in Chicago. The team, including Brian Framson, newly promoted Vice President of Operations Miriam Framson, Elke Framson, and Sandy Bosch, as well as Jacob and Jay, wowed attendees across these events with live demonstrations and samples of fresh lemonade, limeade, and orange juice, all made with their machines.The NRA Show proved to be an invaluable platform for engaging with restaurant owners and hospitality professionals, where the team highlighted the exceptional return on investment that their fresh juice programs can offer. Attendees were particularly impressed with Citrus America's ability to squeeze fresh juice while reducing labor costs, helping businesses stand out in an increasingly competitive market.Additionally, Jacob Framson represented Citrus America at the Texas Restaurant Show in San Antonio in July, supporting Dickie Enterprises, a trusted partner to the Texas food service industry since 1990, while Jay Gardner attended a Hispanic Restaurant event in Nashville. Both events provided opportunities to introduce Citrus America's offerings to new audiences and expand the company's reach, while educating food service operators on money saving ideas and profit generating initiatives.Citrus America's summer was not limited to domestic endeavors. Brian Framson traveled to Vienna, Austria, where he visited the headquarters of their commercial juicing equipment manufacturer, Citrocasa. This visit became a critical part of Citrus America's commitment to innovation, with discussions centered on upcoming product launches designed to further elevate the brand's established history of being the quality and innovation leader in commercial juicing equipment.The summer season also included participation in a National Grocers Association (NGA) Store Operations Summit in New Orleans, with a special focus on fresh. Citrus America reinforced its position as a preferred supplier of high-quality, fresh-squeezed juice solutions for independent grocers across the country. Framson participated in a panel discussion and focused on how grocery stores can differentiate themselves from their competitors by offering signature products and services.As Citrus America looks ahead to the remaining months of the year and into 2024, the company remains energized and focused on expanding its reach, and driving fresh innovation with new products and solutions.For more information on Citrus America, visit www.citrusamerica.com FOR MEDIA REQUESTS, CONTACT: Steven Le VineGVG Agency Steven.levine@gvgagency.com (512) 522-2388SOURCE: Citrus America
PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-25 16:18:24
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The Company Wins Major Bid to Operate 10 Locations at Omaha Eppley AirfieldFARMINGTON HILLS, MI / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / Plum Market Travel Services, an emerging foodservice operator and prime concessionaire, in partnership with ACDBE firms GPMM and Tersylbran, have been awarded a significant contract to operate 10 dining, retail, and Gourmet Natural Market locations at Omaha Eppley Airfield. The agreement, part of OMA's $950 million terminal expansion and modernization plan, comprises the majority of the Foods & Beverage offerings and will provide travelers a diverse range of dining options including well-known national brands and local favorites. Plum Market Travel Service is a subsidiary of Plum Market, the established natural food, beverage, and wellness essentials retailer.Plum Market Travel ServicesPlum Market Travel Services co-founders Matt and Marc Jonna are eager to put down roots in Omaha with their ACDBE partners. "We are thrilled to have been selected to bring our unique blend of culinary and operator experiences to Omaha Eppley Airfield," said Matt Jonna, CEO. "Our commitment to providing exceptional food and service aligns perfectly with OMA's mission of delivering premier customer service by enhancing the traveler's journey and the local community presence," added Marc Jonna, President.The 10 locations consist of nine brands, spanning various cuisines and formats, catering to the diverse tastes and preferences of airport passengers. Notable brands include Runza, Panda Express, and Sambazon, along with several local Omaha restaurants including Block 16 and Fernando's. "Runza is excited to be part of this exciting project and we look forward to serving customers arriving home and visiting our great community," stated Donald Everett, Jr., President of Runza National. Additionally, Plum Market will open two of its own concepts: a full-service Kitchen and Bar with all-natural snacks and travel essentials, and a convenient Grab & Go Quick Service format.The terminal expansion is currently slated to open in 2027."When we requested proposals, we had a goal of choosing a variety of concepts that reflect Omaha both in local and regional options, as well as national options for OMA travelers. Our new concessions as part of the Build OMA Terminal Modernization Program will move us forward in our vision to be the best airport in the Midwest," said Dave Roth, Chief Executive Officer for the Omaha Airport Authority.The agreement is a testament to Plum Market's ability to deliver high-quality foodservice experiences in high-traffic environments. As part of OMA's multi-year expansion project, the partnership will contribute to enhancing the overall traveler experience and positioning Omaha Eppley Airfield as a premier destination for air travel.For more details on the OMA Concessions Program and to see images of the coming locations, visit BuildOMA.com/Concessions About Plum Market Travel Services Plum Market Travel Services is an emerging foodservice operator and airport prime concessionaire specializing in airport concessions, operations, and retail venues. With a focus on quality, innovation, training, and exceptional service, Plum Market Travel Services brings a diverse range of culinary concepts and brands to meet the needs of travelers and guests, currently operating locations within DTW and DFW, with new locations announced at OAK, OMA, and IAD. For more information, visit plummarkettravel.com About Plum Market Plum Market is a privately owned company with a service-forward approach to food, beverage and wellness essentials. The company promotes all-natural, organic and locally crafted items to meet the needs of the health conscious and the foodies alike, across more than 30 multiple format locations throughout Michigan, Ohio, Texas, and Florida with new locations announced in California, Nebraska, and Virginia. For more information, visit plummarket.com and follow @PlumMarket on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.About OMA Omaha Eppley Airfield (OMA) is a medium-hub airport that served over five million passengers in 2023 and is the largest airport in the state of Nebraska. Eight airlines provide approximately 70 departures per day to 32 nonstop destinations from Eppley Airfield. The Omaha Airport Authority has a mission to provide premier customer service and airport facilities through operational excellence.Contact Information Jocelyn FullerMarketing VPmedia.relations@plummarket.com 248-706-1600SOURCE: Plum Market Travel ServicesView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-25 18:01:42
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BERLIN, MD / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / Calvin B. Taylor Bankshares, Inc. (the "Company") (OTCQX:TYCB), parent company of Calvin B. Taylor Bank (the "Bank") today announced the appointment of Philip O'Neil as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Bank and the promotion of Adam James to Senior Vice President and Senior Credit Officer of the Bank.O'Neil, a Certified Public Accountant and graduate of Frostburg State University, brings a wealth of experience to his new role. Prior to joining Taylor Bank, he served as EVP and Chief Accounting Officer for Shore United Bank in Easton, MD. He is a graduate of the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking and holds a Certificate in Leadership from the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania. O'Neil will succeed M. Dean Lewis, the current EVP and CFO, who will become President and CEO of Taylor Bank on January 1st, 2025, following the retirement of Raymond M. Thompson at year end.Since joining the Bank in 2017, Adam James has been an integral part of the bank's expansion on the Eastern Shore of Virginia serving as the Loan and Business Development Officer for that market. He has over 10 years of lending and credit experience and is a graduate of the University of Virginia and of the Virginia Bankers Association School of Bank Management at the University of Virginia. In his new role as Senior Credit Officer, James will oversee the Loan Operations and Credit Administration departments, providing management and support of these areas as the bank continues its growth."We are pleased to welcome Phil O'Neil to the team as CFO and to elevate Adam James to Senior Credit Officer at a pivotal time for the Company," said Raymond M. Thompson, President and CEO. "Both Phil and Adam are highly respected leaders with outstanding track records in their fields. We look forward to the contributions they will provide to our operations, our customers, and our stockholders." ###About Calvin B. Taylor Banking CompanyCalvin B. Taylor Banking Company, the bank subsidiary of Calvin B. Taylor Bankshares, Inc. (OTCQX: TYCB), founded in 1890, offers a wide range of loan, deposit, and ancillary banking services through both physical and digital delivery channels. The Company has 12 banking locations in Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula.ContactRaymond M. Thompson, President and Chief Executive Officer410-641-1700, taylorbank.com SOURCE: Calvin B. Taylor Bankshares, Inc.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-09-25 16:03:25
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BLACKSBURG, VA / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / The Virginia Tech Office of Postdoctoral Affairs within the Office of Research and Innovation has piloted a unique hybrid training program with Publication Academy, an evidence-based online professional development suite aiming to break down barriers to success and accelerate the impact of students, faculty, and administrators at Institutions of Higher Education.The service offers a wide selection of hundreds of high-definition On Demand courses that demystify the complex academic landscape, equipping professionals with the critical skills needed to fund, publish, and disseminate best-in-class research. Each program is designed to meet best practices in eLearning, resulting in curricula which past research has found increases scholarly productivity across disciplines and cultural backgrounds.The Writing and Publishing High Impact Journal Articles Training Program piloted at Virginia Tech featured 11 modules focused on the full lifecycle of the journal article writing and publishing process.The program was carried out with the grant support from the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), the nonprofit operations arm of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA), under its Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) program.Through online, On Demand content on Canvas and weekly Zoom discussions on the topics, a group of over 175 graduate students, postdoctoral associates, and other researchers were able to collectively learn more about navigating the peer-reviewed journal article process. Participants included individuals from the social sciences, life sciences, STEM fields, and humanities. Participants who completed the program and engaged in at least 90% of the weekly discussion sessions received a digital badge.According to CEO, Dr. Jay P. Singh: "Publication Academy is thrilled to have had the opportunity to serve Virginia Tech's outstanding graduate, postdoctoral, and faculty communities. Based on the exceptional findings of this pilot, we look forward to continuing working closely with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and Office of Research and Innovation to explore ways to roll out new programs to further support VT's long track record of research excellence." PROGRAM OUTCOMES All individuals registered for the Canvas course were sent a post-program assessment survey, with respondents being 43% PhD students, 34% postdoctoral associates, 8% Master's students, and the remainder being researchers and faculty in various roles at Virginia Tech.Nearly 90% of graduate students indicated they would recommend future graduate students have access to the program, and over 87% indicated they would like other members of their research team to have access to the program.Self-assessed confidence in publishing peer-reviewed journal articles increased by over 300% after the program compared to before. Even among those participants who completed less than half of the program, there was still a reported 69% increase in publishing confidence.According to Dr. Jess Strickler, a Postdoctoral Associate in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics who participated: "Publication Academy course helps you understand not only how to put an effective journal article together but also how to navigate the systems in place for identifying a potential journal to submit to, submitting your article, and even ways to get your publications seen. Online course instructor Dr. Jay Singh does a great job of explaining the process in a way that someone from any discipline can easily follow and benefit from his extensive experience. If you have ever struggled with any aspect of the publication process, I highly recommend this program." IMPACT ON NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS 70% of participants indicated that English was not their native language, indicating that the course content was of great interest to this group who may lack confidence in writing scientific/scholarly articles in English.Indeed, surveys revealed that participants whose native language was not English were over 20% less confident in publishing peer-reviewed journal articles before the program began. Hence, in anticipation of serving this group, an optional Publication Academy module, "Mastering Academic Writing for Non-Native English Speakers", was added to the Canvas course.By the end of the program, confidence in writing in English for academic purposes impressively doubled among non-native English speakers. In addition, overall increases in confidence in publishing peer-reviewed journal articles were higher in the non-Native English speakers than in Native English speakers.NEXT STEPS Over 80% of participants self-reported interest in further Publication Academy programming in grant seeking, grant writing, and grant management in the future. Hence, the Office of Research and Innovation at Virginia Tech plans to expand Publication Academy offerings by launching a Grant Seeking, Writing, and Management Training Program in 2024.According to Dr. Chris Smith, the Postdoctoral Affairs Program Administrator who facilitated the weekly online discussion groups for participants as a supplement to the On Demand content stated: "We often assume that graduate students and postdoctoral associates learn how to write and publish peer-reviewed articles organically from working in a research group or from their faculty supervisors/advisors. Having asynchronous, online content and synchronous discussions to delve into the journal writing process from start to finish provides a space for early-career researchers to gain important information and knowledge without feeling judged. Sometimes they may not want to ask what they perceive as "silly" questions to the faculty they work with. So the peer community this program provides allows for learning to occur in a safe space. Furthermore, participants were very active in sharing resources, tools, and advice via online discussions on Canvas which I think added value to their experience - they learned from one another. In summary, this program provides critical information and tools to assist graduate students, postdocs, and other early career researchers in navigating the peer-review journal process (from writing to submission to responding to peer review) in a supportive learning environment." About Publication Academy Publication Academy Inc. is the premiere online professional development platform aiming to break down barriers to success and accelerate the impact of students, faculty, and administrators at Institutions of Higher Education, as well as grantees, fellows, and staff at mission-focused nonprofit organizations. The platform offers an end-to-end streaming service that demystifies the complex academic landscape,
SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, September 25. Uzbekistan highly appreciates the contribution of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said at the opening ceremony of the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Samarkand today, Trend reports.
"Currently, 15 projects are being implemented with the bank in the fields of infrastructure, energy, transport, water supply, and sustainable development, amounting to $3 billion. As a result, Uzbekistan has become one of the bank's top 10 largest partners," he also said.
The head of state mentioned that a project to improve the water supply system in the Bukhara region, worth $720 million, is being implemented in cooperation with the AIIB to provide uninterrupted access to clean drinking water for nearly 1.5 million people.
Moreover, according to him, the launch of the Bukhara-Khiva railway electrification project creates an opportunity to attract an additional one million tourists to the city of Khiva each year.
"We have also agreed with the AIIB to implement a program of projects worth another $4 billion over the next three years," Mirziyoyev added.
The opening ceremony marks the start of the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors, with speeches from the Board members, the President of Uzbekistan, and the President of AIIB.
The event will run from September 25-26, 2024, featuring over 25 panel discussions. These discussions will cover a wide range of topics, including innovations in infrastructure financing, climate resilience, sustainable development, and the digital transformation of infrastructure projects.
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JACKSONVILLE, FL / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / LFTD Partners Inc. ("LFTD Partners") (OTCQB:LIFD), the corporate parent of leading hemp, wellness and energy products maker Urb ( www.Urb.shop ), announced that leading cannabis equity research firm Zuanic & Associates ( www.zuanicgroup.com ) has initiated coverage of LFTD Partners with a rating of Overweight. Zuanic & Associates' full report can be accessed by clicking the following link:Link to Full Report .About LFTD Partners Inc.Publicly traded LFTD Partners Inc., Jacksonville, FL (OTCQB:LIFD) is the parent corporation of Lifted Made, Kenosha, WI ( www.Urb.shop) , which manufactures and sells hemp-derived and other psychoactive products under its award-winning Urb brand, hemp-free health and wellness gummies under its Mielos brand, and hemp-free energy gummies under its Rebel brand. Lifted Made is the worldwide, exclusive manufacturer and seller of Diamond Supply Co. ( www.DiamondSupplyCo.com) , and Cali Sweets hemp-derived products, and is the exclusive manufacturer and seller in the USA of hemp-derived products for a subsidiary of a large, publicly traded US marijuana company. LFTD Partners Inc. also owns 4.99% of hemp-derived beverage and products maker Ablis ( www.Ablis.shop) , and of craft distiller Bendistillery Inc. d/b/a Crater Lake Spirits ( www.CraterLakeSpirits.com) , both located in Bend, OR. Please read LIFD's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which fully describe our business and the Risk Factors associated therewith. Stay updated with our company news and product launches by subscribing to our newsletters at www.LFTDPartners.com and at www.Urb.shop About Zuanic & AssociatesHeaded by renowned Equity Analyst Pablo Zuanic, Zuanic & Associates publishes independent, unbiased, comprehensive, data-driven, thoughtful, equity research coverage of the consumer, cannabinoids (cannabis, CBD, hemp), and psychedelics industries, both from a macro/sectoral level in a thematic manner, as well as on specific companies. Coverage includes processors as well as plant-touching and non-plant touching companies in the U.S., Canada, and in the rest of the world, including vendors of vape hardware, tech services, and financial services. The research service is aimed at institutional investors and corporations. The firm is also available for short-term consulting and research advisory projects.DisclaimerAny opinions, estimates or forecasts regarding LFTD Partners Inc.'s performance made by analysts, including Zuanic & Associates, are theirs alone and do not represent opinions, forecasts or predictions of LFTD Partners Inc. or its management. LFTD Partners Inc. does not by its reference or distribution imply its endorsement of or concurrence with analyst information, conclusions or recommendations.CONTACT:William C. "Jake" Jacobs, President and CFO of LFTD Partners Inc.(847) 400-7660 jakejacobs@ LFTDPartners.comwww.LFTDPartners.com Pablo E. ZuanicManaging PartnerZuanic & AssociatesT: +1 646 503 1687E: pablo.zuanic@zuanicgroup.com X: @420OdysseusW: www.zuanicassociates.com SOURCE: LFTD Partners Inc.
2024-09-24 12:15:02
Szczecin => Senior .Net Software Developer <=
TeamQuest Sp. z o.o.
Our client, established over 200 years ago, is a leading global
provider of advanced technological solutions in extreme
conditions. Specializing in areas such as maritime technology,
defense and aerospace, digital innovations, and discovery
technologies, the company has strong roots and a rich history of
innovation. From its inception, it has evolved to meet changing
market needs and challenges. With a commitment to developing a
leading position and technological platform, our client values
collaboration, innovation, and determination, seeking individuals
with similar values to join their team. If you are ready to join a
company that shapes the future through pioneering solutions,
ensuring safety and efficiency in the most demanding conditions,
we encourage you to apply.
*****
***** Senior .Net Software Developer
*****
***** Main responsibilities:
* Designing and developing scalable and efficient applications
* Collaborating with a team to ensure the highest quality solutions
* Conducting tests and optimizing code for better performance and
usability
* Constantly seeking new solutions and improving skills
* Code review and debugging
***** Job requirements:
* Minimum 5 years of experience on similar position
* Proficient in C# development with a strong understanding of ASP.NET
Core.
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JavaScript.
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** ORM (EntityFramework) [Deep understanding]
** .Net [Deep understanding]
** WPF (with MVVM pattern) [Deep understanding]
* IDE
** Visual Studio [Deep understanding]
* CI/CD
** Experience with Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment
(CI/CD)
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understanding]
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** Experience with system integration and working with various
APIs and third-party services
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workflow.
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complex issues efficiently.
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articulate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
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pracownikow. Jednoczesnie oswiadczam, ze zostaam/em
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Sp. z o.o. z siedziba w Warszawie 00-814 Warszawa ul. Miedziana
3A lok. 21 oraz ze moje dane moga zostac przekazane
potencjalnym pracodawcom oraz, ze mam prawo dostepu do tresci
swoich danych, prawo ich poprawiania, prawo sprzeciwu wobec ich
przetwarzania w wyzej opisanym celu oraz wobec przekazywania
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The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, has called for an urgent increase in oil production and a broader economic diversification strategy to stabilise the countrys volatile exchange rate.
He made this call on Tuesday while addressing journalists at the end of a two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja.
The bank chief emphasised that while efforts to boost foreign exchange inflows through various initiatives, including liberalising diaspora remittances, have shown promise, these measures cannot substitute for addressing the fundamental structural issues in the Nigerian economy.
We must recognise that without resolving the underlying economic fundamentals, we will continue to sub-optimise.
Oil production must be ramped up to levels that can support the economy, and we need to diversify beyond our current status as a monolithic economy reliant on oil. Until this happens, the strong exchange rate we all desire will remain out of reach, he said.
The governor highlighted the constraints faced by Nigeria as an oil-dependent nation, noting that global fluctuations in oil prices and production levels leave the economy vulnerable.
He stressed the need for investment in non-oil exports and urged Nigerians to adopt a more sustainable approach by reducing the countrys heavy reliance on imports.
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Also, he pointed to import substitution as a critical area for development, alongside efforts to recalibrate the national appetite for foreign goods.
While the central bank has implemented measures to unlock diversified foreign exchange sources, including through remittance inflows and innovative financial products, Mr Cardoso made it clear that these efforts alone would not suffice.
The central bank is committed to ensuring that markets operate efficiently and will hold accountable those who attempt to exploit the system, but this will not compensate for the broader need to fix the structural foundations of the economy, he said.
According to the latest data published by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigerias average daily crude oil production rose by 3.4 per cent to 1.352 million barrels in August.
The figure rose by 45,000 barrels, up from 1.307 million barrels in July. However, it still falls short of OPECs quota of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd).
Dangote Refinery
Mr Cardoso expressed strong optimism about the positive impact of the Dangote refinery on Nigerias economy.
He pointed out that petroleum products currently account for between 10 per cent and 15 per cent of Nigerias total imports.
He emphasised that as the Dangote refinery comes online, reliance on foreign products will diminish significantly.
To the extent that we can do away with that, I think that is a very, very good thing, he said, describing it as a crucial step toward improving Nigerias balance of payments and overall economic health.
The apex bank chief also said that as Nigeria increases its domestic refining capacity and scales up production, the need for imports will drop, easing pressure on the naira.
The CBN governor was optimistic that as the refinery ramps up production and eventually begins exporting refined products, the resulting foreign exchange earnings will help stabilise the naira and support the central banks ongoing efforts to manage the foreign exchange rate.
He projected that in addition to reducing import costs, the refinerys capacity to refine up to 2 million barrels per day would also boost Nigerias export potential.
As production ramps up and we get to 2 million barrels and over, the export side will kick in, and foreign exchange starts to come in, he said.
This, he explained, would have a significant and sustained impact on the strength of the naira in the long term.
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Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has expressed reservations about having his life story filmed.
In an exclusive interview with CNN on Tuesday, the playwright commented about the feature movie The Man Died, an adaptation of his 1972 Memoir chronicling his 22-month prison confinement during the Military era.
He said, Let me put it this way: Turning anything in my life into something other people can watch pains me.
Mr Soyinka also shared his involvement in the film, recounting how he aided the cast and crew,
I assisted them in trying to locate a house in which I hid and operated during the civil war. They were looking for something close to what we used during that period.
This marks the first time the 90-year-old will speak publicly about the film adaptation of his iconic memoir.
The Man Died, a memoir published in 1972, is the framework for the biopic of the same name.
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In April, PREMIUM TIMES announced the names of the cast and crew of the feature film The Man Died and reported its premiere was scheduled for July.
The film adaptation recounts the playwright and novelists life during the Civil War.
The screenplay was written by Bode Asiyanbu and produced by Femi Odugbemi, starring Wole Ojo, Chidi Mokeme, Sam Dede, and Nobert Young.
Prison experience
While recounting his ordeals in prison, the 90-year-old expressed the turmoil he faced while serving his sentence.
He recalled, It was a very testing period for me. Twenty-two months in total isolation, denied books, denied paper, my cell constantly searched, nothing at all to sustain my mind. I think one of the most cunning categories of humanity Ive ever encountered is the prisoner. The prisoner has to survive. Its a survival test, not a question of self-advancement.
And (in solitary confinement) what is the most space-economic enterprise you could undertake? The mental enterprise, calculations, mathematics. I made my ink with dirt; I made my open from the bones in the meat of my food, creating a complete self-sustaining mental micro-world of my own. It was also a dangerous period for the mind.
Mr Soyinka also said he remembers how he began recollecting geometry and trigonometry formulas, which he hated, and making calculations on the ground.
The Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist became the first Subharan African awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Some of his published work includes Keffi
The Lion and the Jewel (1959), The Trials of Brother Jero (1960), A Dance of the Forests (1960), My Fathers Burden (1960), The Strong Breed (1964), Before the Blackout (1964), Kongis Harvest (1964), Madmen and Specialists (1970), Jeros Metamorphosis (1973) and others.
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Veteran comedian, Atunyota Ali Baba Akpobome, has finally revealed why he fathered triplets at the age of 59.
Ali Baba married Mary, 55, the Chief Operating Officer of Imperium Capital Partners, in 2006.
The alumnus of Ambrose Alli University (AAU) and his wife have five children, three girls and two boys, before the arrival of the triplets.
On 1 April, Ali Baba announced the birth of their triplets (sons) on his Instagram page, stirring doubts and assumptions that it was an April fool prank.
PREMIUM TIMES, however, reported that this was true, as Ali Baba dedicated his triplets, Alexandra, Andrew, and Aaron, at the RCCG Christ The Lord Central Parish in Lagos in May.
In a recent podcast with Stephen Akintayo, Ali Baba revealed that his wife always wanted a son, and she initially considered adoption.
However, the situation took a new twist when the initial agreement to undergo in vitro fertilisation (IVF) for two children as a backup in case one attempt failed led to the birth of triplets.
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The 59-year-old said, Madam always wanted to have a son. She had two daughters and always wanted a son, and we discussed it. It was IVF. I told her I didnt want to have school runs, join Wizkid, attend PTA meetings, and set up a WhatsApp group. One truth is that the nest becomes empty when all the children have gone. Two are in the UK, and two are in Canada, and all are doing very well.
Despite his reservations, he said his wife highlighted the sacrifices they were already making to support others, reinforcing her desire to try for biological children.
By the way, she wanted to adopt two or three children to care for them. One day, she said, instead of adopting, lets have our own. I was like, Okay, but the way the economy is, and she was like, You said the economy is bad, I said yes, and she said, have you stopped paying house rent for people? I said no. She said, Have you stopped paying school fees? and I said no.
We have a foundation, the Purple Girl Foundation, taking care of over 120 people in primary, secondary, and university schools. Beyond that foundation, we have people we pay school fees for and send to law school. So, she said all those people you are helping, do you remember the economy? I was like, true.
She said if you think about it, the reason why God put you in this position might be more than taking care of yourself. So she said lets do one, I said okay, lets do one, and she now said if we do one, you know that IVF fails, so lets do two.
From twins to triplets
He further recounted how his wife and the doctor devised a way to tell him that the expected two children had become triplets.
He said, So, I said, lets do two. And then, one of the eggs split into two, and that was how it became three. When she and the doctor knew it had become three, they didnt want to tell me. So they were like, God decides everything; sometimes when we ask God for one million, he gives you two million. When God wants to bless you, you dont know how he wants to bless you; he will overdo it.
So, I was like, where is all this going? She said the eggs split into two, and I said it was two we were looking for, and she said it is now three three boys.
Addressing the prospect of caring for the triplets over the next 25 years, Ali Baba mentioned that their older brothers will take on the responsibility.
We have agreed that their brothers will share and take them all as their own. We have bequeathed them to them in the will, he added.
The comedian, however, did not clarify who he referred to as their brothers during the interview.
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Social media influencer Martins VeryDarkMan Otses lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, says his client didnt defame human rights lawyer Femi Falana.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that VeryDarkMan posted a leaked audio of Bobrisky on his Instagram page, wherein the crossdresser indicted Falz and his father on Tuesday night.
Bobrisky claimed in the leaked audio that Falz and his father contacted him while he was imprisoned at Kirikiri Correctional Centre to help him secure a presidential pardon.
In April, Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Lagos Federal High Court sentenced Bobrisky to six months in prison for Naira abuse, dismissing the money laundering charges against him.
Bobrisky served a six-month prison sentence at Kirikiri Correctional Centre, starting on 24 March, and was released on 5 August.
But in response to the presidential pardon allegation and others, Falz, in a statement, demanded VeryDarkMan to retract his defamatory statement about him.
He also denied Bobriskys allegations that he and his father contacted him about a presidential pardon. Falz labelled VeryDarkMans statement as defamatory, claiming it damaged his reputation among reasonable people.
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Falz, however, demanded that the social media influencer apologise within 24 hours or face legal consequences.
No defamation
In response to Falzs demands for a retraction and apology, Mr Adeyanju maintained that VeryDarkMan respects Mr Falana and did not defame him in the video.
Instead, he (VDM) questioned the validity of Bobriskys claims in the leaked audio.
The statement read: Were solicitors to Mr Martins Vicent Otse, now referred to as our client, on whose instruction we act. Our client received your letter dated September 25, 2024, on the above subject matter wherein you demanded the retraction of his Instagram publication containing a voice recording between Mr Okuneye Idris Olarenwaju (Bobrisky) and a third party.
Our client denies defaming Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, a renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria and globally recognised human rights activist, but asserts that he only published the said communication to get the relevant agencies and even your client to initiate a thorough investigation into the far-reaching allegations made by Mr Okuneye in the said voice recording, especially as some element of the voice recording has been confirmed by Mr Folarin Falana in his solicitors letter dated 25 September 2024.
Unravel allegations, instead of defamatory case
VeryDarkMans lawyer emphasised that the primary focus should be investigating the allegations Bobrisky allegedly made against certain EFCC officers rather than pursuing a defamation case.
Our client holds Mr Femi Falana, SAN, in high esteem and recognises his commitment to protecting human rights and the rule of law in Nigeria. In light of the preceding, our client believes that the appropriate line of action in the circumstances is an interagency investigation into the allegations contained in the voice recording rather than pursuing a case of defamation, Mr Adeyanju said.
In a Facebook post, Mr Adeyanju added that Falz should focus on Bobrisky, having acknowledged the call.
For Falz: he should go and meet Bob about everything he/she said. Falz even admitted to having a phone call with Bob. End of discussion.
Minister orders investigation
Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior, Tunji-Ojo, has directed an unconditional and comprehensive investigation into the allegations of bribery and corruption within the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS).
In a statement signed by Babatunde Alao, his SA Media and Publicity, Mr Tunji-Ojo condemned the behaviour, noting that any officials found guilty will be dealt with.
The statement partly read: Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo unequivocally condemned the alleged reprehensible behaviour, emphasising that any form of indiscipline, unprofessionalism, and corruption will be met with zero tolerance and severe consequences within the paramilitary services under the Ministrys purview.
The Ministry will not tolerate compromise on its core values of integrity, transparency, and accountability. We will leave no stone unturned in rooting out corruption and ensuring that those found guilty face the full wrath of the law.
Furthermore, the statement revealed that the minister has set up a special investigative panel headed by the ministrys Permanent Secretary, Magdalene Ajani, to probe the allegations and submit a comprehensive report.
Other members of the committee include Uju Agomuoh of Prisoners Rehabilitation And Welfare Action (PRAWA), who will serve as the Secretary; Eva Omatese, Director of Legal Ministry of Interior; Mr Usman Nasiru, Director of Joint Services Ministry of Interior, and Ikechukwu Ezeugo (Consultant lyke) of The Brekete Family Show.
Mr Tunju-Ojo reassured the public that the investigation will be rigorous, transparent, and impartial, noting that appropriate disciplinary actions will be taken against any personnel found guilty.
EFCC, NCoS too
This newspaper reported that the EFCC has invited VeryDarkMan to investigate allegations of an N15 million bribe to dismiss money laundering charges against Bobrisky.
The anti-graft agency also invited Bobrisky to assist with the ongoing investigation.
In response to the claims, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede ordered an immediate probe into the bribery allegations, which implicated certain commission officers.
Additionally, Nigerian Correctional Service spokesperson Abubakar Umar confirmed to this newspaper on Wednesday morning that the agency is conducting its independent investigation.
Mr Umar assured us that a formal letter detailing the findings would be sent to this newspaper once available.
He said, Well, my brother, thank you for calling me. We are inquiring. Well, of course, I will send you my letter.
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Over a year after its inauguration on 13 June 2023, the Nigerian Senate has yet to unveil its legislative agenda.
A legislative agenda sets focus and priorities for lawmakers and usually contains plans for legislative actions to deepen democracy, improve governance, drive economic growth, and enhance citizens living conditions.
Tradition of Legislative Agenda
The 8th Senate, led by Bukola Saraki, introduced the tradition of setting a legislative agenda for the four-year session of an assembly.
Following his election as Senate President, Mr Saraki constituted a committee to draft the agenda, chaired by Ali Ndume (Borno South).
The current Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, was then part of the Senate leadership as the minority leader and a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The agenda submitted by the Ndume Committee stated that the assemblys focus was on lawmaking to fight corruption and insecurity, enhance transparency, and strengthen the nations economy.
The 9th Senate, led by Ahmad Lawan, followed suit in 2019.
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Upon assuming office in June 2019, Mr Lawan set up a legislative committee chaired by Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central). The current Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, and eleven other senators were members of the committee.
The 2019-2923 Senates legislative agenda focused on youth empowerment, poverty alleviation, a framework to tackle out-of-school children, creating special health centres across geopolitical zones, gender equality, agricultural production, reducing the acute housing deficit, a petroleum industry bill, and holistic reform of the oil and gas sector.
The agenda published by the two Senate under Messrs Saraki and Lawan allowed Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the media to evaluate the lawmakers performances based on their respective legislative agenda.
Where is the agenda?
Over a year after its inauguration, the closest to a legislative agenda that emerged from the 10th Senate was set in Mr Akpabios inauguration speech. In the speech, the new Senate President said his leadership of the assembly would focus on addressing gender matters and issues relating to persons with disabilities, alleviating poverty, expanding revenue, and ensuring economic viability.
Unlike the Senate, the House of Representatives, under Speaker Tajudeen Abass, unveiled an eight-point agenda titled The Peoples House in November 2023.
The agenda covers the economy, security, reforms, and other issues. It contains a four-year plan broken down into short-term, medium-term, and long-term. The short-term plan covers 2023-2024, the medium-term plan covers 2024-2025, and the long-term plan covers 2025-2027.
However, the Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, said the upper chamber was working on its agenda.
We have a legislative agenda committee. I am a member, and it is chaired by the Senate Leader. We have done everything expected of us, and the report is ready.
It was when we ought to start the adoption that we went on break. We have even done the short-term, medium-term, and long-term. I am a member, Mr Adaramodu told PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview.
Lack of focus?
The Senates delay in producing a legislative agenda has raised concerns about the upper chambers direction, focus, and commitment to planning and public accountability.
A National Assembly without an agenda will lack focus; there will be no clear direction, Ifeanyi Odili, president of Campaign for Democracy (CD), told PREMIUM TIMES.
The session, or even the whole tenure, may not be relevant to the current national issues. Without a structured agenda, conversations may become aimless and run longer than necessary.
The lawmakers may be unclear about the meetings purpose. Important national issues may not be covered, and decisions may be made without proper consideration, Mr Odili said.
Nigerians bear the brunt
The absence of a work plan for the current Senate means there is no road map, and it may be difficult for the public to hold the lawmakers accountable.
Mr Odili said if the Senate continues without a clear agenda for addressing the countrys challenges, Nigerians would suffer the consequences.
He added that critical national issues may not be covered, and decisions may be made without proper consideration.
The CSO leader explained that a clear agenda will help the lawmakers focus.
Members may not come prepared with necessary materials since there is no clear agenda shared before resumption. That is the reason the majority of lawmakers see legislative business as a place to share public funds or a national cake-sharing centre.
If they have an agenda, it will help the lawmakers to be focused on critical issues and allocate time and resources accordingly and they will be able to manage their workload and their time effectively. The agenda ensures that legislative priorities align with budget allocations. Most importantly, it provides a record of legislative actions and decisions for future reference.
It is because the present NASS does not have an agenda that they keep doing what pleases them and not the nation. Instead of focusing on serious national issues, they resort to triviality.
I think it is worthwhile to compel the leadership of the NASS to, as a matter of urgency, prepare a clear legislative agenda for the NASS if he wants to have us believe in his legislative business.
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The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) is set to launch a female experts source guide website with over 500 female thought leaders from different sectors to facilitate their engagement as sources in the news.
The launch is a part of the activities marking the 10th anniversary of its Report Women Programme, Motunrayo Alaka, the executive director said in a press statement on Tuesday.
The event, scheduled for 3 October in Lagos, is part of the centres initiatives created to address the underrepresentation of women as expert sources in Nigerian media space.
Findings from WSCIJs 2024 report, Who Leads the Newsrooms and News?, had revealed that men have seven times the representation of women as expert sources or guests, with 87.9 per cent, while women comprise 12.1 per cent, the statement said.
About Source Guide
WSCIJ said currently, the source guide features over 500 female experts across various fields, including Agriculture, Business and Economy, Education, Health and Science, Law, Media, Politics and Governance, and Security.
It noted that the platform aims to ensure that journalists can access relevant female voices across various sectors, making it easier for journalists and media organisations to include female perspectives in their reporting.
The statement added said that the platform will be broadened to include additional fields and will allow female experts to submit their profiles for inclusion, subject to internal approval.
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WSCIJ said: The public presentation of the Report Women! Experts source guide will feature the unveiling of the website, a demonstration of its use, and a panel discussion on its potential impact on promoting gender diversity in the media.
It is part of WSCIJs broader Report Women! News and Newsroom Engagement Project, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
READ ALSO: WSCIJ trains 12 female journalists on leadership
WSCIJ/Report Women
WSCIJ is dedicated to advancing transparency and accountability through investigative journalism.
The Report Women, a project under WSCIJ, was designed in 2014 to increase the quality and quantum of reports about girls and women in Nigeria.
According to the centre, the programme is designed to equip female journalists with skills, support and tools required to position them for the highest leadership positions in their various media houses.
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The acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, has said she will not tolerate any form of corruption from politicians, judicial officers and other Nigerians in the dispensation of justice.
Mrs Kekere-Ekun stated this on Wednesday when she appeared before senators for screening at the National Assembly.
While responding to questions from the lawmakers during the screening, she pledged to maintain the integrity of the judiciary by not condoning any form of corruption, if confirmed.
In order to ensure that the integrity of the judiciary is maintained, I will ensure that the code of conduct is fully complied with. I will ensure that there is zero tolerance for corruption, she said.
The acting CJN said she will also ensure that the National Judicial Council (NJC) conduct evaluation performance for judgements delivered by respective courts.
We have a committee of the NJC that deals with performance evaluation. And what that does is they assess judgements delivered, they assess how judges are performing their functions, and they have regular conferences.
And what I know is that we are even making moves now to tighten that performance evaluation process so that we can, when judges submit returns, for instance, it is not about quality but quantity. Its also about how they carry out their responsibilities. Are they punctual? Are they upright, and things like that? she added.
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Mrs Kekere-Ekun also assured that petitions will be quickly attended to and judgements will be delivered without delay.
Now in the NJC also, we are going to ensure that petitions are dealt with speedily. This is another way to let the public know that the integrity of the judiciary will be upheld in all circumstances, she said.
Judicial officers pay
Mrs Kekere-Ekun assured that the integrity of the judiciary officers would be upheld when the judiciary is free from external influence.
She commended President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly for increasing the salary and allowances for judicial officials but requested more infrastructure and a conducive environment.
Another area for upholding the integrity of the judiciary is that there is a need also to insulate the judiciary from external influence.
We are very grateful to His Excellency, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, and the National Assembly for passing the bill that increased the salaries of judicial officers. We are very grateful. But there is still a way to go. Because when we are talking about the integrity of the judiciary, it involves not only the take-home pay, it also involves infrastructure that we are working with. What is available? Is it conducive?
These are all things that have an effect on how the judiciary performs. In that regard, I will be pushing for better welfare for judicial officers so that they too can perform at their optimum best.
Appointment of judicial officers
Mrs Kekere-Ekun also said she will ensure that the process of appointing judicial officers is fair and transparent.
I know that there are a lot of complaints at the moment about the process of appointment of judicial officers. This is an area that I am also going to take very, very seriously. The NJC also has a committee working on this to ensure that we make the screening process rigorous, transparent, and something that the citizenry will be satisfied with when judges are appointed.
So Im going to make sure that this is done and with dispatch. We are looking at other jurisdictions to see how they carry out this process and how we can improve our own process in that regard. I know that once the citizens are comfortable with the manner in which judicial officers are appointed, it makes them have more confidence in the entire system.
I will also be encouraging or supporting improvement in our laws. So again, when it comes to the independence of the judiciary, all hands have to be on deck. And I look forward to working with not only the National Assembly but also the executive to ensure that we have laws in place that enhance our independence.
Stagnation of cases at Supreme Court
On the issue of stagnation of cases at the Supreme Court, Mrs Kekere-Ekun said she believed that there should be a limit to cases transmitted to the Supreme Court.
Stagnation of cases in the Supreme Court, whether the number of cases that go to the Supreme Court should be restricted, I am very firmly of the view that there needs to be a limit to the cases that get to the Supreme Court.
One of the reasons for this is that the Supreme Court is a policy court. Its supposed to determine matters that have public policy significance, matters relating to the position of the Constitution, or matters where very rare legal issues have come up which require a pronouncement from the Supreme Court.
As you know, the constitutional provision gives us 90 days to deliver a judgment from the date of final address. Those 90 days are spent dealing with matters of national significance as well as matters that have no significance on the national stage. I am of the view that many matters should terminate at the Court of Appeal, especially interlocutory appeals.
Pre-election matters
The acting CJN also said pre-election matters concerning national and state houses of assembly should stop at the Court of Appeal.
There is also a situation where pre-election matters come all the way to the Supreme Court, whereas, in National and State Assembly elections, the substantive elections terminate at the Court of Appeal. I think all pre-election matters should terminate at the Court of Appeal. So many matters need to terminate at the Court of Appeal so that the Supreme Court can really live up to its designation as a policy court.
Mrs Kekere-Ekun was later confirmed by the Senate.
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On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assemblys 79th session (UNGA 79), US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield met with Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar to discuss the growing US-Nigeria partnership. The meeting touched on a wide range of issues, including security, trade, investment, and health. In particular, Ms Thomas-Greenfield reaffirmed the United States commitment to reforming the UN Security Council to make it more inclusive and representative, with specific support for adding two permanent seats for African countries.
Nigeria has repeatedly demanded a reform of the UN Security Council and the allocation of permanent seats for African countries. PREMIUM TIMES reported that Nigerias president, Bola Tinubu, represented by his deputy, Kashim Shettima, reiterated this while addressing world leaders Wednesday during the General Debate of the ongoing UNGA.
At their meeting on Wednesday, the US ambassador emphasised the importance of deepening US-Nigeria cooperation on critical issues. According to a statement by US Mission spokesperson Lauren French, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield spoke about continued cooperation between the United States and Nigeria as well as opportunities to deepen the US-Nigeria partnership on security, trade and investment, health and other global issues.
This statement reflects the USs ongoing efforts to forge stronger alliances with African nations and advance key global initiatives that affect the continent. The inclusion of permanent African representation on the UN Security Council is a longstanding demand from African leaders, and the US has positioned itself as a major proponent of such reforms, recognising the need to modernise international institutions to reflect contemporary geopolitical realities.
At the meeting, Ms Thomas-Greenfield reiterated the US position on UN Security Council reform, calling for a more representative global body. The statement from the US Mission read, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield reaffirmed the United States commitment to reforming the Security Council to make it more inclusive, representative, and effective, including by adding two permanent seats for African countries.
This push for reform appears to show US commitment to addressing the historical imbalance in global governance structures, ensuring that Africa, a continent of 54 nations, has a more significant role in decision-making on issues affecting global peace and security. While no specific countries were mentioned as potential candidates, Nigeria is often seen as a leading contender for a permanent seat due to its economic influence, regional leadership, and active participation in peacekeeping missions across Africa.
The conversation between Ms Thomas-Greenfield and Mr Tuggar also underscored the importance of US-Nigeria security cooperation. Nigeria continues to face serious internal security challenges, primarily from extremist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which have destabilised large parts of the country and caused immense suffering.
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A report by this reporter, published in Modern Diplomacy on May 10, 2024, titled Nigeria: Understanding the Surge of Terrorism and Its Impact on Civilians (2018-2022), delves into the devastating toll of terrorism in Nigeria. The analysis documents how insurgent attacks have displaced millions of civilians, hampered economic growth, and created a lasting humanitarian crisis in the country. Despite these challenges, Nigeria remains a critical partner in regional security efforts and plays a vital role in the broader fight against terrorism in West Africa.
During the meeting, Ms Thomas-Greenfield also raised the case of US citizen Tigran Gambaryan, who is currently detained in Nigeria. The ambassador stressed the importance of his immediate release, signalling that this matter is a top priority for US diplomatic efforts.
Mr Gambaryan, an official of crypto firm Binance, is being detained and tried in Nigeria for money laundering. The Nigerian government accuses Binance of being used to launder money, an allegation the firm denies.
Although the US statement did not include the details of Mr Gambaryans detention, this issue underscores the complexities of international relations and the role that diplomacy plays in protecting US citizens abroad.
As discussions at UNGA 79 continue, the US-Nigeria relationship remains a key focus, with both nations looking to enhance their cooperation on critical issues such as security, trade, health, and UN reforms. The ongoing dialogue reflects the mutual interests shared by both countries in addressing global challenges, from terrorism to economic development.
Nigeria, with its strategic importance and regional influence, is positioned to play a crucial role in any future reforms of the UN Security Council. The US has now signalled its support for Africas inclusion in permanent decision-making forums, aligning with broader efforts to modernise global governance institutions. As these discussions progress, the future of US-Nigeria relations will likely continue to evolve in response to shared global challenges.
Whatever the outcomes of UNGA 79 will be, this years events will be closely watched as countries grapple with the need for a more inclusive and effective UN, with Africas role at the centre of these pivotal reforms.
Pearl Matibe is a Washington, DC-based correspondent and media commentator with expertise in U.S. foreign policy and international security. You may follow her on Twitter: @PearlMatibe
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SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, September 25. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) highly values the level of cooperation with Uzbekistan, AIIB President, Chairman of the Board of Directors Jin Liqun said during the opening ceremony of the AIIB Annual Meeting in Samarkand today, Trend reports.
"This year has been particularly significant for our bilateral relations, alongside your government's ambitious program for nation-building projects, such as new transport infrastructure, major investments in social infrastructure like hospitals and schools, and the boundless potential in renewable energy. I look forward to attracting public and private investments to Uzbekistan over the next five to ten years," he said.
The head of the bank made it crystal clear that AIIB is all about bringing regions together to keep the wheels of global trade, technology, and capital turning smoothly.
"This aids in pushing the envelope of human potential deeper into uncharted territory, particularly in a time of rising geopolitical tensions, escalating climate turmoil, and development hiccups," he added.
To note, the AIIB is hosting its first annual meeting of the Board of Governors in Central Asia on the theme "Building Resilient Infrastructure for All" on September 25-26, 2024, in Samarkand.
Over two days, more than 25 panel discussions will take place, focusing on innovations in infrastructure financing, climate resilience, sustainable development, and the digital transformation of infrastructure projects.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Edo State Government on Wednesday raised the alarm over series of intimidations and harassments of accredited revenue collectors by unknown persons in Benin City.
A statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Joseph Eboigbe, in Benin, said the acts were reportedly carried out by individuals falsely presenting themselves as government agents.
Mr Eboigbe stated that reports suggested that these individuals had been active in Benin Central Motor Park, other motor parks, and markets across the state.
They are going about extorting commercial vehicle drivers and traders under the pretence of legitimate revenue collectors.
This conduct is unlawful and unacceptable, amounting to a breach of peace and order.
The state government views this as a deliberate act of lawlessness that must be curbed immediately, he said.
Mr Eboigbe noted that only accredited revenue collectors, duly mandated by the government, were authorised to collect revenue in the states motor parks and markets.
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The secretary to the state government added that their contracts with the Edo State Government remained valid until 12 November 2024.
The government strongly warns all individuals involved in these illegal activities to cease immediately.
Any attempt to disrupt peace or commit extortion will be met with the full force of the law, as the government will not tolerate anarchy, he added.
READ ALSO: Edo government dissolves AAU Governing Council
He said law enforcement agencies had been directed to arrest and prosecute anyone caught extorting drivers or traders or disturbing public order under the guise of revenue collection.
(NAN)
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has constituted a caretaker committee to run the affairs of the party in Abia State.
Debo Ologunagba, the PDPs national spokesperson, disclosed this in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja.
He said the setting up of the caretaker committee followed the expiration of the tenure of the previous executive committee of the party in the state.
The 10-man committee, headed by a former speaker of the Abia House of Assembly, Alwell Okere, will last for three months until a new executive committee is elected.
Read Debo Ologunagbas full statement below:
September 23, 2024
Press Statement
PDP Constitutes Abia State Chapter Caretaker Committee
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The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has, on behalf of the National Executive Committee (NEC), pursuant to Section 29(2)(b) of the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017) and following the expiration of the tenure of the State Executive Committee in Abia State hereby approves the composition of Abia State Caretaker Committee to run the affairs of the Abia State Chapter of the Party as stipulated in Section 21(2) (a-b) of the PDP Constitution for a period not exceeding 90 days (3 months), or till a new Executive Committee is elected.
The members of the Abia State PDP Caretaker Committee are;
1. Alwell Asiforo Okere Chairman
2. Obinna Nwachukwu Member
3. Christy Emenike Member
4. Ben Okezie Member
5. Chijioke Nkaru Member
6. Victor Ebere Member
7. Chukuwudi Ezebuiro Member
8. Love Onina Member
9. Nduka Nwaorisara Member
10. Kenneth Madubike Secretary
* Innocent Ezekiel Administrative Secretary
The NWC charges all leaders, critical stakeholders and teeming members of our Party in Abia State to remain united and continue to work together for the progress of the Party.
Signed:
Hon. Debo Ologunagba
National Publicity Secretary
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The police in Anambra State, Nigerias South-east, have arrested an alleged supplier of food and bomb-making materials to gunmen in the state.
The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said the suspect was arrested on Sunday during an intelligent-driven routine patrol along Pillar-Pole Area Aguata in Anambra State.
The police did not mention the name of the arrested suspect.
The spokesperson said the suspect was initially intercepted carrying three bags of garri, a type of cassava flakes.
The operatives, upon search of the suspect, discovered beneath the edible, a large quantity of gunpowder.
Preliminary information reveals that the suspect was en route to a criminal camp to deliver groceries for consumption and the gunpowder for production of improvised explosives for the gang, he said.
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The suspect is currently in custody and assisting the Police to arrest the other gang members.
Another arrest
Mr Ikenga said, in a separate operation on Wednesday (today), police operatives from the Special Anti-Cultism Squad arrested a man for alleged illegal possession of firearms.
He said the suspect, Nelson Wisdom, was arrested when the operatives raided a criminal hideout in Oba, a community in Idemili South Council Area of Anambra State.
The spokesperson said the operation followed a tip-off about criminal activities in the area.
Mr Ikenga said the operatives recovered a locally fabricated pistol with two live ammunition from the suspect during the operation.
READ ALSO: Police enhance deployment of personnel in Edo to forestall violence
He said the suspect hails from Etsako East Council Area in Edo State, South-south Nigeria, but resides in Oba in Anambra State.
The Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Nnaghe Obono, has reiterated that security agencies in the state will continue to sustain the onslaught against criminals in the state, Mr Ikenga said.
Mr Obono said the suspects would be charged to court upon conclusion of the investigations.
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The Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, says the Nigerian Armed Forces led by the Chief of Defence Staff has succeeded in getting the Republic of Niger back into the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in consolidating efforts to end the insurgency.
Mr Badaru, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Abubakar Kana, made this known while briefing journalists on the 2025 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration on Wednesday in Abuja.
The MNJTF comprises the Lake Chad countries of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger as well as the Benin Republic. It was established by Nigeria in 1994 to curb banditry and facilitate the free movement of individuals and belongings along its northern border.
However, Niger Republic exited the group following the coup that took place in that country on 26 July 2023.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suspended and imposed sanctions on the country.
Analysts said the exit of Niger from the MNJTF created a void that heightened terrorism and insurgency and undermined the accomplishments of the Force.
Mr Badaru said the return of Niger to MNJTF would no doubt help in securing the very extensive Nigeria border with Niger as well as contribute to the overall effectiveness of the counter-insurgency operations.
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According to him, the troops of the MNJTF have continually dealt fatal blows to terrorist groups in the Lake Chad Region through a series of daring operations.
In one such operation conducted on 15 June, several terrorists were neutralised and 34 women and children were rescued from insurgents, he said.
The minister said the Armed Forces of Nigeria had risen to the challenges irrespective of the costs paid by the troops, adding that the military had continued to adopt new strategies and switch up their tactics to take the battle to terrorists doorsteps.
Owing to the onslaught on insurgents, the armed forces have degraded their capacity, necessitating the surrender of more than 100,000 insurgents and the elimination of their top commanders.
Thanks to the renewed vigour, incidences of security breaches have been reduced by an estimated 65 per cent across the country and will continue until the nation achieves an insignificant level of breaches on its security.
In the same vein, oil production has received a big boost as the countrys production has doubled from the level obtainable last year.
There is hope of achieving a two-million-barrel per day output before the end of the year 2024.
It is gladdening to note that scores of insurgents have been surrendering and renouncing terrorism, he said.
Mr Badaru said the federal government, through the military and other relevant agencies, would continue to de-radicalise and rehabilitate repentant insurgents to live peaceful and productive lives.
This, according to him, is employing the carrot and stick or kinetic and non-kinetic approach to warfare.
He called for cooperation from the citizens who were rightly aggrieved by the past deeds of these repentant insurgents.
We all have to realise and appreciate the need to quickly end this war to usher in an era of peace and mutual coexistence for the development of our beloved fatherland.
The losses occasioned by this war on insurgency in terms of human, infrastructural and material resources incurred by our country are very huge, hence the need for an end to the ugly scenario, he added.
(NAN)
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An official of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Wednesday pointed out gaps in the Nigerian media outlets reporting on migration and prevention of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.
Among other challenges, the frequency of newspaper coverage of migrants is often low and that when they are reported, migrants are not quoted or interviewed.
Journalists often rely heavily on government sources. There is also little attention given to why migrants were migrating in the first place, said Adwoa Kufuor-Owusu from the United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Ms Kufuor-Owusu, the Senior Human Rights Adviser, Office of the Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, OHCHR, spoke on Wednesday in Keffi, Nasarawa State, during the opening of a two-day training of some journalists.
The training is organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in collaboration with the OHCHR and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The training focuses on a human rights-based approach to migration and prevention of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.
Organised in line with the Protection of Migrants (PROMIS) Project in West Africa, is funded by the Kingdom of Netherlands.
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It aims to strengthen the capacities of West African States to develop a human rights-based response to smuggling of migrants and to effectively respond to human rights violations related to irregular migration.
Studies show Nigerian media outlets representation of migrants and migrant issues have been patchy, Ms Kufuor-Owusu said.
She said migrants are often described in reports as returnees, evacuees, stranded Nigerians abroad, or illegal migrants without contextualisation.
Similarly, the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Tony Ojukwu, stressed the importance of training the media in shaping public opinions and creating awareness.
I urge you to leverage this platform to enhance your knowledge, networks, and skills in advancing human rights-based reporting. Through our collaborative efforts, we can create an enabling environment that promotes respect, protection, and fulfillment of human rights for all, he said.
Training focus
The training kicked off with a packed first day delving into sessions that included evaluation of journalists on their awareness and an insightful lecture on the issues.
The days session also touched on domestic and international legal framework and human rights violations in the context on Smuggling of Migrants (SoM) and Trafficking in Persons (TiP).
According to the United Nations (UN), Trafficking in Persons is a grave violation of human rights and every year, thousands of people including vulnerable persons; women and children.
Some of the human rights violations faced by migrants and victims of trafficking include; forced labour, sexual exploitation, physical and psychological abuse, denial of the freedom of movement, denial of education and health care, exploitation of children and discrimination and stigma.
In 2021, the Nigerian government, together with the UNODC, were involved in STARSOM project, a two-year programme that ended in 2023. The programme aimed at countering migration smuggling and the protection of the lives and rights of migrants. Despite these efforts, significant efforts is still needed to achieve this goal.
Also, in 2023, the United States Department of State placed Nigeria on tier 2, a ranking system which suggests that Nigeria does not fully meet the minimum requirements for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so.
Mr Ojukwu, emphasised the importance of the media in reporting these issues accurately as essential in bringing an end to human rights violations for migrants and victims of trafficking.
Today, we gather at a critical juncture in the fight against exploitation and abuse and as journalists, you hold the power to shape public discourse, amplify the voices of victims, and bring perpetrators to account.
Your reporting can either perpetuate harmful stereotypes or promote empathy and understanding.
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President Bola Tinubu has directed the immediate rehabilitation and furnishing of the former Federal Ministry of Agriculture building, for the newly created Federal Ministry of Livestock Development.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, stated this on Wednesday when he inspected the building in the Central Business District, Abuja.
Mr Wike explained that the inspection was to assess the buildings condition, adding that the FCT Administration would invite some companies to inspect the building and submit quotations for its rehabilitation and furnishing.
It is an emergency work following the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development, and as you can see, people are happy and waiting for it to commence operation.
So, now that the place has been identified, the president has ordered the FCT Administration, through the Federal Capital Development Authority, to look at it.
We have seen the integrity test of the building, which is okay, and we have to rehabilitate and furnish it, he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Mr Tinubu had, on 9 July, announced the creation of the new Ministry of Livestock Development.
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The president explained that the move was part of efforts to resolve the lingering conflict between farmers and herdsmen across the country.
(NAN)
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The Labour Party (LP) Caucus in the House of Representatives has rejected the outcome of the Edo State governorship election, alleging that it was rigged.
While briefing journalists at the National Assembly Complex on Wednesday, the lawmakers claimed that their partys candidate, Olumide Akpata, was allocated a disproportionately low number of votes despite the large crowds drawn by the party during the campaign.
Speaking on behalf of the 33 LP lawmakers in the House, the Deputy Minority Whip, George Ozodinobi, said Mr Akpata, who came a distant third with 22,763 votes, was on course for victory, but his success was thwarted.
On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Monday Okpebholo, as the winner of the election.
Mr Okpebholo polled 291,667 votes to defeat Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who secured 247,274 votes.
Mr Ozodinobi, flanked by four other members of the caucus, said his partys candidate should have won the election, based on the large crowds drawn during the campaign.
He also referenced the influence of the LP 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who won the presidential election in the state.
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It is on record that our leader and presidential candidate in the 2023 General Elections, His Excellency Peter Obi, campaigned vigorously for our gubernatorial candidate in every nook and cranny of the state.
Of course, the whole world witnessed the massive crowds that the Obidient movement pulled wherever he went during the campaign. Yet, Chief Akpata was allocated paltry votes in a state where, just about a year and seven months ago, the Labour Party had one senator and two House of Representatives members, he said.
While the outcome of the election has been disputed by some notable civil society organisations, the lawmakers failed to provide any concrete evidence that their candidate was on the path to victory.
When Mr Ozodinobi was asked to present evidence to support his claims, he merely noted that consultations are ongoing to determine the next course of action.
The lawmaker insisted that the election was rigged and monetised by the major political parties APC and PDP.
The Obidient movement tsunami is coming, and no person born of a woman will stop us. The commission must work tirelessly to prevent similar discrepancies and uphold the sanctity of the electoral process, Mr Ozodinobi said.
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The cooling market in developing economies is expected to grow from around USD 300 billion to at least USD 600 billion, per year by 2050, according to a report released today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)-led Cool Coalition and International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The fastest growth in cooling is expected in Africa, which will see the market multiply by a factor of seven, and South Asia, which will quadruple in size.
The report calls for prioritising passive, energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, and economically viable cooling solutions. The report, Cooler Finance: Mobilizing Investment for the Developing Worlds Sustainable Cooling Needs , finds developing economies currently generating two-thirds of global cooling-related emissions are set to double their cooling demand by 2050 due to population growth, economic expansion, and urbanisation.
The report finds that sustainable cooling technologies can slash cooling-related emissions by almost half in 2050 in developing economies. This requires:
Prioritising passive cooling strategies like insulation, reflective materials, enhancing green areas, and energy-efficient technologies,
Enforcing minimum energy performance standards and new building energy codes and a faster phase down of climate warming refrigerants,
A systems approach to cold chains and large cooling infrastructure services, and incentives to promote innovation.
The sustainable cooling market represents at least a 600-billion-dollar opportunity for the private sector, which could generate more than 8 trillion dollars in benefits for developing countries, said Makhtar Diop, IFCs Managing Director. These nations are especially vulnerable to the deadly effects of rising temperatures and are urgently in need of cooling solutions. We are proud to present this report which describes the opportunity to invest in sustainable, affordable, and scalable cooling solutions, aiming for near-zero emissions by 2050.
The report highlights the need for significant upfront investments. Closing existing shortfalls in access to cooling for households and SMEs in developing countries will require USD 400-800 billion, in addition to future increases in demand.
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As record temperatures continue to be broken across the world, keeping cool is an essential need for both healthy communities and a healthy environment. However, we must avoid creating a vicious cycle of meeting cooling demands through solutions that further heat up the planet, said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. We need sustainable, affordable and energy-efficient cooling solutions that both meet growing demand and support climate, health, food security, and economic development. Governments, private businesses, and multilateral banks can use this report to harness a wide range of financial instruments for sustainable cooling and resilience to extreme heat.
Key recommendations include improving data on cooling, capital costs, and financing; raising awareness; expanding use of best practice business models and financing tools; increasing seed and high-risk funding for pilot technologies; leveraging blended and concessional finance; and building on the Global Cooling Pledge to create a Sustainable Cooling Finance Partnership.
The transition to sustainable cooling requires an enabling environment to make developing economies more attractive to investors. UNEP and IFC are committed to working with governments, businesses, and other stakeholders to de-risk investments and ensure sustainable cooling solutions are accessible to all, especially in low-income regions most prone to increasingly common heatwaves.
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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the umbrella body for Nigerian university lecturers, has issued the Nigerian government a 14-day ultimatum to meet its demands to avert industrial action.
ASUU President Emmanuel Osodeke, a professor of Soil Science, disclosed this in a statement.
The union had on 20 August issued a 21-day strike notice to the government over its failure to address lingering issues with the union, particularly the 2009 Federal Government-ASUU agreement. The initial ultimatum expired on 9 September.
Earlier, as part of efforts to avert the threatened strike action, the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, also a professor, met with the leadership of the union two times on 28 August and 6 September.
The minister also set up a subcommittee to investigate the unions demands, but the outcomes of the efforts could not be ascertained as of the time this report was filed.
Alleged govt poor commitment
ASUUs Wednesday statement noted that the union met on Thursday, 19 September, to review the governments response and was dissatisfied.
The statement reads in part: ASUU resolves to give the Nigerian Government another 14 days, in addition to the earlier 21 days, beginning from Monday, 23rd September 2024 during which all the lingering issues must have been concretely addressed to the satisfaction of the membership of the union.
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The union should not be held responsible for any industrial disharmony that arises from the governments failure to seize the new opportunity offered by ASUU to nip the looming crisis in the bud.
Mr Osodeke noted that the governments failure to fully implement the demands has continued to exacerbate crises in public universities.
He said the recent wage increase of 25 and 35 per cent for university workers cannot replace the finalisation of agreement which he said was based on collective bargaining principles.
In particular, the governments failure to conclude the renegotiation of the FGN-ASUU Agreement that has lingered for upward of seven (7) years, and implement the agreement, has not helped matters especially given the current economic realities in the country, he said.
Union rejects govts claim on lack of funds
ASUU said the information available to it does not support the governments claim that it doesnt have sufficient funds, adding that it is simply the lack of political will.
The union also accused the government of not prioritising the welfare and well-being of Nigerian academics, otherwise the prolonged engagements with ASUU should have yielded fruitful outcomes for stability and industrial harmony in the universities.
The substantial inflows from subsidy removal and devaluation of the Naira, translating to the humongous monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements to the three tiers of government make nonsense of the outlandish claims, the union stated.
The union said its engagement with the government has revealed that the government is using old antics, characterised by bureaucratic bottlenecks, time-buying tactics, denial of documentations, and lack of budgetary provisions, to confound and complicate matters.
Contentious issues
At the top of the unions demands as listed by Mr Osodeke, is the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement between the union and the federal government, the release of three-and-a-half months salaries withheld during the 2022 strike action and the continuous use of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) for payments of university workers salaries.
Other issues, as listed by the ASUU president, are: the release of unpaid salaries for staff on sabbatical, part-time, and adjunct appointments affected by the IPPIS; release of outstanding third-party deductions such as check-off dues and cooperative contributions; funding for the revitalisation of public universities, partly captured in the 2023 Federal Government Budget; payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), partly captured in the 2023 Federal Government Budget; proliferation of universities by Federal and State Governments; implementation of the reports of visitation panels to universities; illegal dissolution of Governing Councils; and University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as a replacement for IPPIS.
2009 FG-ASUU Agreement
The renegotiation of the 2009 agreement has been the major source of the perennial disputes between the government and the academic union. This agreement includes the negotiation of wage scale and other earnings of Nigerian academics.
The renegotiation had stalled since 2017 and has had three heads of the negotiation process. Wale Babalakin, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and the pro-chancellor of the University of Lagos, led the renegotiation team constituted by the government from 2017 until his resignation as pro-chancellor in 2020.
In 2020, Munzali Jibril, an emeritus professor of English and then pro-chancellor for the Federal University, Lafia, Nasarawa State, took over. With him, the negotiation fared relatively smoothly with him turning in a draft agreement in May 2021. But the government never signed or implemented the agreement.
When the union embarked on another nationwide strike in 2022, the government constituted yet another committee this time headed by the late-Nimi Briggs, also an emeritus professor. Mr Briggs committee also renegotiated the 2009 agreement and submitted a draft to the government in June 2022. It was never signed or implemented, forcing the 2022 strike action to last until October when an Industrial Court asked the union to suspend the strike after a suit was instituted against them by the federal government.
On IPPIS
The union is also protesting the continuous payment of its salaries and entitlements using the IPPIS platform. ASUU said the platform is fraudulent and is shortchanging its members of their entitlements.
In December, the education minister, Mr Mamman, said President Bola Tinubu directed the exclusion of universities from the IPPIS. But the union said a new IPPIS is being used to pay its members, adding that it is the same platform as the IPPIS.
ASUU also wants the government to replace the IPPIS platform with the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), developed as an alternative to the IPPIS.
Furthermore, the governments failure to implement the recommendations of visitation panels and amend the National Universities Commission (NUC) Act to prevent the proliferation of public universities.
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SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, September 25. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is actively investing in infrastructure development, the president of AIIB and Chairman of the Board of Directors Jin Liqun said during the opening ceremony of the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of AIIB in Samarkand, Trend reports.
Investing in infrastructure that connects Asia to the rest of the world is more important than ever. Since its inception nine years ago, the AIIB has strongly supported its members in the face of global developments. During this period, the bank has approved $54.7 billion in financing for 285 projects in 37 member countries. The development results are multifaceted and significant, the AIIB president said.
According to him, the bank's projects have provided 710 million people with access to urban public transport and upgraded 49,000 kilometers of transport infrastructure.
Thanks to our projects, 8.7 million people now have access to safe drinking water. Less visible but no less important are the 22.8 million tons of CO emissions that have been prevented, Jin Liqun said.
To note, the AIIB is holding its first-ever Central Asia Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors under the theme "Building Resilient Infrastructure for All" on September 25-26, 2024, in the city of Samarkand.
The two-day event will feature more than 25 panel discussions on innovations in infrastructure financing, climate resilience and sustainable development, and digital transformation of infrastructure projects.
In October 2023, the United Nations Security Council authorised a Multinational Security Support Mission to Haiti, after a request for assistance by the countrys government and civil society representatives.
Led by Kenya, the 12-month international police service mission aims to help Haitian police restore law and order amid worsening civil strife and gang violence that has plagued the country since 2018.
The Caribbean island nation saw a dramatic surge in homicides, kidnappings and sexual violence throughout 2023. Between January and May this year, gang violence killed around 3,000 people and left over half a million homeless. Widespread destruction of property and displacement have weakened governance and public security. An estimated 80 per cent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, is under gang control, and violence has spread to various parts of the country.
Kenya deployed 400 of its pledged 1,000 police officers in June and July this year. President William Ruto says the remaining 600 are undergoing training and will join soon. The Kenyan contingent forms 40 per cent of the missions 2,500 personnel from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Chad, and Jamaica. Jamaica recently sent 20 soldiers and four police out of its 200 pledged personnel.
Amid these deployments, however, the United States and Ecuador have proposed replacing the Kenya-led mission with a more traditional UN-led peacekeeping operation. This followed United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinkens visit to Haiti on 4 September. While the US still backs the existing mission, its proposal is untimely. It could negatively affect the missions performance and lower morale among the personnel already deployed in Haiti, who will be in limbo during the transition.
The mission is unique in the history of international peace operations, which are typically staffed mainly by soldiers and deployed to help manage and resolve armed conflicts. Haitis persistent governance problems and escalating gang violence need a form of global intervention that fills the security vacuum by emphasising policing rather than a military approach.
Kenyan police officers from various specialised units underwent rigorous training on anti-gang operations, community-oriented policing and combatting illicit trafficking. The training aligned with UN standards and required Kenya to make a substantial investment in time and resources to plan and coordinate the deployment.
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The mission was received in Haiti with a mix of hope and cynicism. Between 2004-17, the UN peacekeeping operation in the country was marred by allegations of sexual assault and the introduction of cholera, which killed nearly 10,000 people. As a result, perceptions and expectations of Kenyas police have been mixed.
Since Kenyan police arrived in the country, frustrations among Haitians have grown due to the perceived slow progress against gangsterism. The first deployment came eight months after the UN Security Council gave Kenya the go-ahead to lead the mission. The main reasons for the delay were the financial and logistical arrangements required for this complex undertaking.
While the mission has seen some gains, internal and external challenges have made preparing for the large international operation difficult.
Internally, Kenyas police experience in international peacekeeping, such as in Somalia, Bosnia, South Sudan and East Timor, primarily involves deploying individual police officers. The Haiti mission is its first deployment of cohesive police units, which requires specialised training and preparations.
In addition to logistical and administrative hurdles in mobilising and training the police, Kenya faced legal and political obstacles. A court case challenging the deployments legality on constitutional and procedural grounds caused delays. Public protests in mid-2024 over domestic issues and security threats intensified the debate over whether resources for the Haiti mission could be better used to address Kenyas own needs.
External factors also delayed deployments. Many logistical and financial arrangements are still outstanding, and preparations in Haiti to receive the remaining police officers havent yet been completed, sources told ISS Today. The slow construction of barracks, for example, is holding up the deployment of Kenyas remaining 600 police officers. Communication barriers with Haitis French-speaking community have also created difficulties.
All this means the mission is close to ending its initial one-year period without an effective presence or achievements possibly contributing to the US and Ecuadors proposal to replace it. The UN Security Council is expected to decide on the missions future at the beginning of October. Anonymous sources believe the mission could be extended until 30 June 2025, and then transformed into a UN peacekeeping mission between July and September next year.
Financing is undoubtedly the driving factor for the proposal. The mission was designed to receive voluntary contributions from states of $600 million annually. However, only $85 million has been pledged so far, mainly by the US and Canada. Mr Blinken said a UN peacekeeping force was an option to address the Kenya-led missions funding problems, which stem from its dependence on voluntary contributions.
Another factor behind the US-Ecuador proposal could be the mismatch between Haitian expectations and Kenyan police activities on the ground. With only 400 police deployed in the country, its not surprising that public expectations for a swift resolution to the gang violence crisis have not been met.
The missions success will depend on Kenyas ability to adapt to Haitis conditions and coordinate with international and local stakeholders, especially on the issues of funding and the deployment of additional personnel. But the proposal to replace the mission will make that hard.
Before deciding, the UN Security Council should reflect on the failure of its previous peacekeeping operations in Haiti. Rather than replacing the Kenya-led mission, the UN should strengthen this important initiative by addressing the financial gaps from its special funds.
It should also call for the urgent deployment of all 2,500 police officers. Providing the mission with its full capacity is vital to rebuilding local trust and addressing Haitians immediate needs.
Emmaculate A Liaga, Researcher and Meressa K Dessu, Senior Researcher and Training Coordinator, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Addis Ababa
(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).
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US Marine Corps General Michael Langley met with Charles Kahariri, a general and Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), during a three-day visit to Kenya to strengthen cooperation in counterterrorism and regional security efforts.
Mr Langley travelled to Nairobi from 9 to 11 September. The discussions centred on enhancing Kenyas military capabilities, addressing security challenges, and launching new initiatives for stability in East Africa.
Mr Langley, as the head of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), is responsible for coordinating US military efforts across the continent, including partnering with countries like Kenya to strengthen regional security and address critical threats like terrorism.
Mr Langleys engagements with Kenyan military leaders and civil society highlight the US Africa Commands commitment to counterterrorism, regional stability, and strategic development through its 3-D approach of defence, diplomacy, and development a US model for how it conducts its foreign affairs.
Mr Langley demonstrated his active role in defence diplomacy by spending three days in Somalia addressing ongoing counterterrorism initiatives, before swiftly continuing his East African tour with another three-day visit to Kenya, underscoring his commitment to regional security and US partnership efforts in the region.
This Kenya visit builds on a long-standing US-Kenya partnership, reinforcing the mutual commitment to safeguarding the region.
Kenya stands as a beacon of progress on the African continent in terms of defence and security, demonstrating exceptional leadership in global security initiatives and regional security, Mr Langley stated during the visit.
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AFRICOMs engagement extends beyond military collaboration, touching on key public health and youth leadership programmes.
In Nairobi, Mr Langley met with alumni from the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI), which supports Kenyas next generation of leaders. This meeting underscores the importance of community-based initiatives alongside defence strategies, emphasising that US-Kenya relations benefit not only security but also the countrys broader socio-economic growth.
Mr Langleys visit also holds symbolic importance. His stop at the US Embassy bombing memorial in Nairobi, marking the 1998 attack that claimed the lives of 218 people and wounded over 4,000, reinforces AFRICOMs focus on addressing global terrorism threats. The tragic event, linked to al-Qaeda, connects the fight against extremism in East Africa to broader global efforts in counterterrorism, including the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.
His visit is relevant to the strategic partnership with Kenya and to stability. Kenya has become a key partner in US counterterrorism efforts in the region, particularly in combating the threat posed by al-Shabaab.
Mr Langleys visit followed discussions with Somali President Hassan Mohamud on enhancing strategies to counter extremism in East Africa. This ongoing collaboration demonstrates how Kenya is not only a regional security leader but also a growing player on the global stage.
Mr Langley said, Our partnership underscores the strategic importance of democratic values and collective resilience in addressing global challenges, adding that Our engagement with Kenya is more than a diplomatic gesture; its a strategic partnership grounded in mutual respect and shared goals. Together, we are enhancing our capabilities in health security and regional stability, ensuring a safer and more prosperous future for both our nations.
AFRICOMs work in Kenya goes beyond military training, with recent projects focusing on health and development initiatives. US Army Civil Affairs Forces, working alongside Kenyan NGOs, participated in a women and youth health initiative at local schools, providing health-related donations and expanding the countrys emergency response capabilities.
Langleys trip had a broader impact. His visit culminated in a tour of US and Kenyan military facilities at Manda Bay, where troops from both countries are stationed. He recognised their critical role in countering terrorism and emphasised the continued importance of military enhancement programs and joint operations.
Kenyas partnership with AFRICOM is evolving and dynamic. It brings direct benefits to the Kenyan people, including enhanced security, public health, and leadership opportunities. As the country cements its position as a strategic ally, this collaboration highlights Kenyas influence in shaping the future of regional security and stability.
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
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The Akwa Ibom State Government has intervened in the dispute between the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Delta Safe, which led to petrol being sold at N2, 500 a litre in the state.
Governor Umo Eno held a meeting with the petroleum marketers on Wednesday, hours after the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Akwa Ibom State chapter directed workers to withdraw services from Wednesday midnight.
The hike
The hike, which saw petrol sold at over N2,000 a litre at filling stations in the state, followed a directive by the leadership of IPMAN in the state asking members to withdraw their services.
As part of our collective obligation to stand for each other in season and off-season, equally drawing strength from the resolution taken at our last emergency congress over members trucks in the custody of JTF operatives (four months now), you are hereby directed to close your filling stations from the public, the petroleum marketers said in a statement signed by it chairperson, Francis Udoyen and secretary Ekom Idemudo.
The group said the shutdown of the filing stations commenced on Tuesday, adding that the action had the approval of their national office.
Hours after the letter was issued, the price of petrol jumped to over N2,000 at filling stations and N2,500 at the black market.
In an interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday, Mr Udoyen said they communicated the issue to the state government, but nothing was done.
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Explaining how it happened, Mr Udoyen said, the Joint Task Force, Operation Delta Safe, confiscated two trucks of petrol and also took others in drums in some filing stations belonging to petroleum marketers.
He said the JTF claimed the petrol was adulterated, but when they (the JTF) were furnished with the waybill, they accused the marketers of being smugglers.
Mr Udoyen said they had a meeting with the Commander, 2 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Mbiokporo in Akwa Ibom State, who told them the matter had since left his table to that of the Chief of Army Staff.
PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately contact the Brigade commander for comments.
The price of transportation skyrocketed between Tuesday and Wednesday, and the marketers ordered their members to shut their filling stations, prompting the organised labour in the state to issue a statement.
In a statement on Wednesday, Sunny James, the chairperson of NLC in Akwa Ibom, frowned at the short notice given by the marketers, saying the situation has worsened the condition of the already impoverished workers and citizens.
Governor Eno intervenes
Apparently moved by the NLC directives for workers to withdraw services, the Akwa Ibom State Government met with the petroleum marketers to address the issues that led to their withdrawal.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Commissioner for Information, Ini Ememobong, said Governor Umo Eno has directed the commissioner for internal security to liaise with relevant authorities to look into the case.
Additionally, he (Eno) expressed his commitment to exploring the establishment of a petroleum depot in Akwa Ibom State. Mr Ememobong said.
The commissioner said the union leaders have pledged to lift the ban immediately, ensuring that petroleum products will be made available to the public.
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President Tinubu will reshuffle his cabinet and may do so before 1st October, his spokesperson has said.
The President has expressed his desire to reshuffle his cabinet and he will do it. I dont know whether he wants to do it before October 1 and he will surely do it. That is what I will say, but he has not given us any timeline, spokesperson Bayo Onanuga told journalists on Wednesday.
Some ministers are expected to be dropped while some may be moved to other ministries.
Mr Onanuga added that the President has given an order to all his ministers at the last Federal Executive Council meeting to go out there and speak about the activities of his administration.
Some of them have been media shy, television shy, radio shy, and he wants them to overcome all that and go out there and speak about what they have been doing.
Because the feeling out there is that the government is not doing enough and the government has been doing a lot. And it is up to them to go out there and blow their own trumpet. They should go out there and talk about what their ministries have been doing, Mr Onanuga said.
The Nigerian leader appointed 45 ministers in August 2023 out of the 48 he had sent to the Senate. Former Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, former acting governor of Taraba State Abubakar Danladi, and Stella Okete from Delta State were the three who did not pass the confirmation process, with the Senate stating that the nominees had not secured security clearance.
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Mr Tinubu has had one of the largest Federal Executive Councils since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999. The Council usually includes special advisers, 20 of whom the Senate approved for the president.
It is unclear what the reshuffle will be like. But already, the presidents cabinet has drawn criticism from some Nigerians who are concerned by the high cost of governance.
A PREMIUM TIMES analysis showed that politics appeared to be the dominant consideration in the cabinet selection, even though many of the nominees have glittering academic and professional records that ordinarily qualify them for high public offices.
President Tinubu won a narrow victory in last years presidential election. His 37 per cent of votes cast is the lowest share of the votes that has put a Nigerian president in office since Shehu Shagari in 1979.
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The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced Mrs Kekere-Ekuns confirmation during plenary after she was cleared by voice votes.
The new CJN was screened and cleared by the senators at the Committee of the Whole.
The confirmation was pursuant to section 231 (1) of the constitution.
After announcing the confirmation, Mr Akpabio assured that Nigeria will get adequate justice under the leadership of Mrs Kekere-Ekun as the CJN.
The senate president thereafter congratulated the news CJN and urged her to uphold the integrity of the Nigerian judiciary.
During Tuesdays plenary, Mr Akpabio read the request of President Bola Tinubu for the confirmation of Mrs Kekere-Ekun as CJN following the retirement of her predecessor, Olukayode Ariwoola.
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Screening
The screening started at about 12:35 p.m. and ended at about 2:42 p.m.
Mrs Kekere-Ekun, 66, was accompanied to the Senate chamber by the Justices of the Court of Appeal, President of the Court of Appeal and President of the National Industrial Court, and senior judiciary officials.
During the screening, the senators asked questions bordering on upholding the integrity of the Nigerian judicial system, sustaining the independence of the judiciary, stagnation of cases at the Supreme Court, a special court handling terrorism cases, congestion of the correctional centres, pre-election matters, corruption in the judiciary and many other issues.
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The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has said the House will fast-track the passage of the Economic Stabilisation Bill once President Bola Tinubu sends it to the National Assembly.
Mr Tajudeen made this statement in a speech delivered on Wednesday, marking the Houses resumption from a long recess.
On Monday, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the Economic Stabilisation Bill to be transmitted to the National Assembly.
The Economic Stabilisation Bill is a product of the fiscal policy and tax reform committee set up by the president in August 2023 under the chairmanship of Taiwo Oyedele.
While reiterating the importance of collaboration between the executive and the legislature, Mr Tajudeen said the lawmakers are anticipating the bill alongside other similar economic bills.
These Economic Stabilisation Bills offer tax relief for businesses generating employment, personal income relief for workers, and suspend burdensome taxes on small businesses and vulnerable groups.
The House of Representatives is fully prepared to receive these bills and expedite their passage to ensure timely implementation and economic stability, he said.
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Insecurity remains a concern
In his speech, Mr Tajudeen expressed concern about the general insecurity in the country, citing incidents of attacks by bandits and terror groups.
The speaker said, Security remains a top priority for this House, adding that the safety and well-being of every Nigerian are non-negotiable.
Mr Tajudeen also commended the governments efforts in the ongoing campaign against terror groups in the North-West. He added that the House is willing to support the government.
We will continue collaborating with the Executive and relevant agencies to combat insecurity in all its forms. Legislative reforms will be prioritised to strengthen our security institutions, ensuring they can better respond to emerging challenges, he said.
The federal lawmakers proceeded on recess on 23 July. Although they were scheduled to return on 17 September, they extended the recess by one week.
They, however, suspended plenary upon resumption on Tuesday to mourn Ifeanyi Ubah, the Anambra South senator, who passed away in July shortly after the National Assembly went on recess.
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The full ownership and control of the countrys premier miller, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, could be passed on to John Coumantaros, the Greek-American heir of George Coumantaros, the millers deceased founder.
In 1963, the older Coumantaros gave the entity a go as a mono-product business, building it from a modest factory on a Lagos seaport into a group worth N2.3 trillion in annual turnover.
That feat of revenue generation, unmatched by any Nigerian bank or banking group except Access Holdings, underscores the manufacturing behemoth the business just as old as Nigerias independence has transformed into in a little over six decades.
The late Coumantaros, a yachtsman from Athens who sowed the seed of the empire which blossomed over the years to stretch inwards to other parts of West Africa, notably Liberia, imagined wheat milling for a start.
Today, its scope of activity is much more complex and diversified. The company has evolved and branched out into different operations within and outside food processing including logistics, port operations, real estate, power generation and agribusiness.
Assets now total N1.48 trillion, but the valuation even touched a slightly higher level earlier in the year.
Excelsior Shipping Company, which the latest annual report of Flour Mills of Nigeria says is the manufacturers parent company, is an offshore trust registered in Liberia.
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The entity has little or no online presence, no known website and none of its operations and activities are visible on the internet.
Liberia, as a tax haven (a country whose laws shelter individuals and businesses from paying tax on income earned abroad), was marked for sanctions by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2000 and has been pinpointed by the Tax Justice Network as accounting for 0.42 per cent of the worlds corporate tax abuse risks.
Established by Mr Coumantaros (now deceased), Excelsior Shipping Company, which has a controlling stake of 63.3 per cent in Flour Mills of Nigeria, now has John Coumantaros, the son of its owner, as the man in charge.
The younger Coumantaros has also been chairman of the food company since 2014.
Takeover details
Flour Mills of Nigeria wrote the Nigerian Exchange on Tuesday to communicate the trusts decision.
The trust on Tuesday wrote the Nigerian Exchange, where Flour Mills of Nigerias shares are listed, to communicate its move to buy out other shareholders individual and institutional investors who together hold the companys 37.7 per cent minority shareholding.
Flour Mills said a key approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the stock market regulator, is in place for the transaction to proceed.
More importantly, the determinant of the direction the deal will head ultimately is a statutory meeting of the company and its shareholders fixed for 14 November, where minority shareholders will decide to sell or hold on to their interests.
The N70 per share the acquirer is offering is 26.2 per cent higher than the price at which Flour Mills of Nigeria opened for trade on Tuesday. It implies Excelsior Shipping Company is putting forward more than N105 billion to take the company private.
The Scheme is also subject to the approval of the shareholders of Flour Mills at the Court-Ordered Meeting as well as the sanction of the Federal High Court, the food company said in the filing.
Flour Mills is the majority owner of Northern Nigerian Flour Mills, a Lagos-quoted miller with total assets of N21.6 billion.
It ranks alongside Dangote Sugar and BUA Foods as Nigerias top sugar makers and is the producer of TopFeeds and the popular Golden Penny products, which include edible oils, bread spread and sugar.
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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) attributes the rise in fatalities caused by Lassa fever to delays in seeking medical attention by infected individuals.
NCDC, its latest situation report on the disease, said late presentation of cases is leading to an increase in the case fatality rate of Lassa fever.
The report, issued on Wednesday, also links the rise in death cases to a country-wide poor health-seeking behaviour resulting from what it described as the high cost of treatment and clinical management of Lassa fever.
The report reads in part: Late presentation of cases leading to an increase in CFR. Poor health-seeking behaviour due to the high cost of treatment and clinical management of Lassa fever and poor environmental sanitation conditions observed in high-burden communities.
It added that poor awareness has been observed in high-burden communities.
Lassa fever
Lassa fever, a disease otherwise referred to as Lassa hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus, is primarily transmitted to humans through contact with food or household items contaminated by rodent urine or faeces.
The disease is endemic in West Africa, including in Nigeria, where the Mastomys rat, a species of rat that is a natural carrier of the virus, is very common.
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New cases
Nigeria has reported 170 Lassa fever-related death cases between January and September 2024.
NCDC puts the case fatality rate of the disease for this year at 16.9 per cent, the same as recorded within the same period in 2023.
In its recent situation report, the agency disclosed that 115 suspected cases of the disease were reported in Edo, Ondo, and Enugu states last week, out of which five cases were confirmed and a death recorded.
This raises the total confirmed cases from 1000 to 1005 and death cases from 169 to 170. Currently, 8251 suspected cases of Lassa fever have now been recorded.
According to NCDC, 67 per cent of all confirmed Lassa fever cases that have been reported are from Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi states while the remaining 33 per cent is reported from 25 states.
The predominant age group affected is 31-40 years. Also, the number of suspected cases increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2023, the report noted.
WHO advice
Although Lassa fever is considered endemic in West Africa, the World Health Organisation said regional and global risks are considered low because the primary mode of transmission is primarily zoonotic, meaning that human-to-human transmission of the disease is low.
WHO said preventing Lassa fever centres on promoting strong community hygiene to stop rodents from entering homes.
It suggests that key steps include storing food like grains in rodent-proof containers, properly disposing of waste away from living areas, and maintaining cleanliness in the home.
WHO also suggested keeping cats to help control rodent populations.
In healthcare environments, WHO said, staff must always adhere to standard infection prevention protocols.
According to the global health body, these protocols include practising proper hand and respiratory hygiene, using personal protective equipment to avoid exposure to contaminated materials, ensuring injection safety, and adhering to guidelines for safe handling of the deceased.
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The Jigawa State Independent Electoral Commission (JISIEC) has said opposition parties have only four chairmanship candidates for the 5 October local government elections in the state.
JISIEC fixed N5 million as nomination fees for the chairmanship election and N2 million for the councillorship poll.
The commissions chairperson, Auwalu Harbo, on Wednesday, said 11 political parties are participating but only the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has candidates in all the 27 chairmanship and 287 councillorship seats.
Mr Harbo said the People Democratic Party (PDP) and the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) have two chairmanship candidates each.
Mr Harbo said the PDP also has three councillorship candidates.
The PDP chairperson in the state, Idris Diginsa, and his counterpart in the NNPP, Muktar Gwanga, could not be immediately reached for their comments.
But a PDP chieftain and former governor of the state, Sule Lamido, said the exorbitant nomination fees were fixed to discourage the opposition from participating in the elections.
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Mr Lamido, in a statement on Facebook, said the decision means that the ruling APC has won the elections.
The APC-controlled government of Jigawa State has WON all the Chairmanship seats of the 27 Local Governments and the 287 Councilorship seats in the YET to be conducted local government elections throughout the State.
The reason being no opposition Party is able to pay the FIVE MILLION NAIRA for the Chairmanship and TWO MILLION NAIRA for the Councilorship nomination forms from the State electoral commission!
While other States are engaged in protests over hunger and poverty, congratulations, Jigawa, for being the most prosperous State in Nigeria, Mr Lamido earlier wrote in protest against the high coast of nomination form.
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A Federal High Court in Abuja has restrained the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governors from dissolving the executive committees of the Rivers chapter of the party.
The court also prevented the PDP from constituting an interim committee to replace the partys officers at the state, local government, and ward levels who are loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Justice Peter Lifu gave the order in a ruling on an ex-parte motion moved by Joshua Musa, SAN, on behalf of the Rivers State Executive Committee (SEC) of the PDP and others at the local government and ward levels.
The judge also ordered the PDP national body and others listed as defendants not to tamper with the local government and ward leadership of the party in Rivers, elected along with the SEC this year at various congresses of the party.
The order also prevents the defendants from truncating the tenure of the executive committees at the state, local governments, and wards pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
Although the order was made on Tuesday, the certified true copy was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday.
Plaintiffs, defendants
NAN reports that the plaintiffs in the ex-parte application, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1396/2024, are Aaron Chukwuemeka, Oye Fubara Igenewari and ThankGod Bekee, who sued on behalf of themselves and the state, local government and ward executive committees of the PDP.
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They had sued the PDP, Umar Damagun, acting national chairperson; Samuel Anyanwu, the partys secretary; Umar Bature; the National Working Committee (NWC); the National Executive Committee (NEC); and the Board of Trustees (BOT).
Others are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Bala Mohammed, chairperson of the PDP Governors Forum, as the first to ninth defendants.
In the motion argued by Mr Musa, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants were making clandestine moves to dissolve the partys legally constituted state, local government, and ward executive committees in the state.
They also alleged that the defendants, including the PDP governors, were attempting to establish interim committees to replace them and perform their duties and functions.
The plaintiffs asserted that unless the defendants were restrained from carrying out the unlawful act, they would be made to suffer injustice and losses.
After listening to the lawyer and perusing the exhibits tendered, Justice Lifu restrained INEC from accepting or recognising any other person or groups other than those elected at the state, local government and ward elections of the PDP in Rivers.
The judge, however, ordered the plaintiffs to file a fresh undertaking to indemnify all the defendants in case it is discovered that the restraining orders issued against the defendants ought not to have been granted.
He subsequently adjourned the matter until 4 October for a hearing.
Background
Nigerian governors are traditionally the leaders of their party in their respective states.
However, in Rivers, where Siminalayi Fubara, the state governor, is fighting a protracted political battle with his predecessor, Mr Wike, the latter is in control of the PDP structure in the state, an anomaly the PDP Governors Forum is eager to correct.
Governor Fubara boycotted the PDP congresses in Rivers after his loyalists secured a court order against it, but the PDP national leadership released voting materials to Mr Wike, whose loyalists emerged as party executives at the ward, local government areas, and state levels.
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SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, September 25. Brazil reaffirms support for AIIB's infrastructure and climate resilience plans, said Tatiana Rosito, Secretary of International Affairs and Finance Track Coordinator of G20 from Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as she addressed the Annual Meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) today, Trend reports.
She emphasized Brazil's unwavering commitment as a founding member of the bank. Rosito expressed eagerness to deepen collaboration with AIIB to bolster resilience and promote sustainable development, creating partnerships that yield tangible benefits not only for Brazil but for the global community.
In her speech, Rosito highlighted Brazils focus for its upcoming G20 Presidency in 2024, which will prioritize the fight against hunger, poverty, and inequality, alongside combating climate change. Under the theme "Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet," Brazil aims to address pressing global challenges through coordinated action.
"I am proud to be part of this forum today, where we are addressing one of the most urgent challenges of our time: ensuring that infrastructure is resilient, inclusive, and able to withstand the growing impacts of climate change," Rosito stated. She pointed out that inadequate infrastructure in the wake of natural disasters continues to incur significant costs on the global economy, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable communities.
Rosito underscored the urgent need for resilient infrastructure as climate change leads to more frequent and severe disasters. "Resilient infrastructure does more than mitigate disasters; it allows societies to adapt, recover, and thrive despite growing risks," she noted, adding that it serves as a crucial tool in preventing disruptions that adversely impact marginalized populations.
The secretary emphasized that a systemic approach is vital for long-lasting resilience. "AIIB is exceptionally well-positioned to lead this effort," she remarked. "It must continue to prioritize sustainability and climate resilience in its lending practices. Every project must be designed to address future climate risks with rigorous assessments to ensure environmental sustainability."
Rosito concluded by asserting that by aligning investments with long-term resilience goals, AIIB can effectively meet todays needs while securing a sustainable future for all. Her remarks set a hopeful tone for the future of infrastructure development and global collaboration in tackling the intertwined challenges of climate change and economic disparity.
AIIB Annual Meeting, taking place in the city of Samarkand, features over 25 panel discussions focused on innovations in infrastructure financing, climate resilience, sustainable development, and the digital transformation of infrastructure projects.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has advised the new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to punish senior lawyers who are fond of appearing on television to criticise the nations judiciary system or comment on cases in court.
Mr Akpabio gave the advice on Wednesday when Mrs Kekere-Ekun appeared before senators for screening.
Although the senate president did not mention names of any senior lawyers but those who constantly appear on television to discuss judicial issues include human right lawyers Femi Falana, Inibehe Effiong, Liborous Oshoma and Frank Tietie.
I would say that recently, very senior members of the bar, we all know them. They are fond of being on Politics Today ( a programme on Channels TV). They were commenting on cases that are before either the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court. And this wasnt the case in the past.
We are saying, under your tenure, will there be a procedure where you bring them to justice? Because they ought not to. Because their comments and their analyses tend to influence the final outcome of those cases. And the most instances tend to bring about injustice.
They will go out there, instead of arguing the cases in the court, they will go and sit down on television and be arguing the cases on television, Mr Akpabio said.
The senate president stressed that many junior lawyers have started emulating the senior lawyers who are fond of appearing on television to discuss judicial issues.
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He argued that if the judiciary could punish any of the senior lawyers for the action, it would serve as a deterrent to others and promote integrity of the judiciary.
And for the junior lawyers, the younger ones who are coming up, they are now beginning to think that that is a norm.
So if the court can invite or even the agency can discipline a senior lawyer who is fond of sitting down to analyse cases that are yet to be decided upon on television, on social media and all that, I think it will serve as a deterrent.
And it will also help to bring back the integrity of the judiciary and the judicial system that we are talking about. Thats why we are saying, under you, will you tolerate it? Because if you sound a clear note of warning to Nigeria, the teaming lawyers across the country will be wary that there is a new Sheriff in town and that people should stop using the social media, using television to try to influence judgments in their favour, instead of going to argue the matters in the court.
You know, they play to the gallery and you see them ruling from side to side on television and all that. Sometimes, for some of us who have been in trouble for the cases, I shudder in fear and nobody calls them to order.
Senior lawyers lack discipline
Mr Akpabio described the senior lawyers habit as an act of indiscipline.
So we are saying, under you, will you take steps to bring silence to bear by collaborating and ensuring that those who lack discipline and that matters that are subject to this should not be discussed on television, should not be discussed on pages of newspapers, should not be taken to social media, should not be taken to analysis on radios by very senior lawyers, he said.
Losing SAN rank
Responding, Mrs Kekere-Ekun threatened that if the senior lawyers continued the act, it may cost them to lose their ranks.
If they lose their rank of senior lawyers in Nigeria because of those actions, it will serve as a teachers joke. Thats why Im working on this.
Commenting on cases that are subject to this will not have anywhere to hide. It will be dealt with decisively. Im not going into those who have access to social media to abuse people the way they like, she said.
Court will use its power
Mrs Kekere-Ekun also stressed that the judiciary would use its constitutional power to caution the senior lawyers.
However, it is true that there is a lot that goes on social media and other fora and this is one of the aspects that contributes to the negative perception of the judiciary because you have narratives out there that have no correlation to the facts that are before a particular court.
And again, whether they are senior members of the bar or other members of the bar, there are procedures. A senior member of the bar who has earned the rank of Silk, its a privilege, its not a right and that privilege could be withdrawn if it is abused.
So in any of these situations, the courts too will use their own powers. We do have powers where a matter is subjudiced and somebody goes out in public on the television station, media, social media to comment on those cases because it does have a negative effect on the administration of justice, on how we handle our cases.
Because when you then give a judgment, the way it is assessed is based on what has been in social media. But notwithstanding that, I would say that judges know the oath they have taken and will abide by that oath and not be influenced by social media, she said.
Mrs Kekere-Ekun was, subsequently, confirmed by the Senate.
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The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says prices of beans, eggs, bread, rice, yam, and other food items witnessed significant price increases in August 2024.
The NBS said this in its Selected Food Prices Watch report for August 2024 released in Abuja on Wednesday.
The report said that the average price of 1kg of brown beans increased by 271.55 per cent from N692.95 recorded in August 2023 to N2,574.63 in August 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, 1kg of brown beans increased by 5.31 per cent in August from the N2,444.81 recorded in July 2024.
It said that the average price of medium-sized Agric eggs (12 pieces) increased by 121.92 per cent on a year-on-year basis from N1,031.55 recorded in August 2023 to N2,289.19 in August 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, the eggs increased by 5.48 per cent from the N2,170.17 recorded in July 2024.
The report said that the average price of sliced bread increased by 113.16 per cent on a year-on-year basis from N684.85 in August 2023 to N1,459.85 in August 2024.
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On a month-on-month basis, the price increased by 2.28 per cent from the N1,427.25 recorded in July 2024.
In addition, the average price of 1kg of local rice rose by 148.41 per cent on a year-on-year basis from N737.11 recorded in August 2023 to N1,831.05 in August 2024
On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 3.65 per cent from N1,766.64 recorded in July 2024.
Also, the report said that the average price of 1kg of a tuber of yam increased by 188.31 per cent on a year-on-year basis from N576.39 in August 2023 to N1,661.80 in August 2024.
However, on a month-on-month basis, the price decreased by -7.82 per cent from the N1,802.84 recorded in July 2024.
The NBS said the average price of 1kg of tomato also increased on a year-on-year basis by 171.72 per cent from N554.37 recorded in August 2023 to N1,506.35 in August 2024.
However, on a month-on-month basis, the average price of 1kg of tomato declined by 11.07 per cent from N1,693.83 in July 2024 to N1,506.35 in August.
On state profile analysis, the report showed that in August 2024, the highest average price of 1kg of brown beans was recorded in Akwa Ibom at N3,276.79, while the lowest was recorded in Adamawa at N1,710.92.
It said that Niger recorded the highest average price of medium size Agric eggs (12 pieces) at N2,996.92, while the lowest was in Jigawa at N1,786.01.
The NBS said that the highest average price of sliced bread was recorded in Rivers at N1,850, while the lowest price was recorded in Yobe at N908.81.
According to the report, Kogi recorded the highest average price of 1kg local rice (sold loose) at N2,680.29, while Benue reported the lowest at N1,206.84.
The report said the highest price of 1kg of tomato was recorded in Abuja at N2,2206.31, while the lowest price was recorded in Kaduna at N734.94.
Analysis by zone showed that the average price of 1kg of brown beans was highest in the South-south at N3,165.11, followed by the North-central at N2,900.86.
The lowest price was recorded in the North-West at N1,982.78.
The North-central and South-east recorded the highest average prices of medium-size agric eggs (12 pieces), at N2,789.15 and N2,438.06, respectively, while the lowest price was in the North-West, at N1,963.65.
The report said that the South-South recorded the highest average price of sliced bread at N1,785.56, followed by the South-east at N1,635.73, while the North-east recorded the lowest price at N1,163.78.
The NBS also said that the South-west and the South-south recorded the highest average price of 1kg of local rice (sold loose) at N1,960.87 and N1,886.32 respectively.
The North-west recorded the lowest price of 1kg of local rice (sold loose) at N1,591.21.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in July, the federal government granted a 150-day duty-free import window for some food commodities in a bid to address the incessant increase in food prices and ensure food security.
The suspended duty tariffs and taxes will apply to the importation of certain food items across land and sea borders, including maize, cowpeas, wheat, and husked brown rice.
However, experts have suggested more sustainable measures such as addressing the issue of insecurity, foreign exchange and transportation costs to address the soaring food prices and ensure food security.
(NAN)
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Nigerias Vice President Kashim Shettima told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that the Palestinian people deserve to have a home of their own on territories already recognised by international law.
In an address of a little more than 20 minutes, Mr Shettima who represented President Bola Tinubu, said the situation in Gaza and other Palestinian Territories are heart-wrenching.
We cannot discuss war and peace, conflicts and reconciliation or digital humanitarian imperatives today without reflecting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has been raging since 7th October last year, Mr Shettima said.
Palestine deserves independence, recognised by this very Assembly and by international law, which is being routinely ignored, Mr Shettima said.
He added that Nigeria continues to urge efforts to bring back on track the two-state solution, which offers the prospect of a new beginning for the region.
Most of the world leaders speaking at the United Nations focused on the war in Gaza, condemning Israels actions in Gaza, where local health authority figures show that more than 41,000 people have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began nearly one year ago.
Other countries who spoke similarly to Nigeria at UNGA on Palestinian independence include South Africa, Namibia, Greece, and Colombia.
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The conflict predates this period and has been simmering for a better part of half a century.
Mr Shettima said the war in Gaza shows that the international community has failed to live up to the spirit and aspirations of the United Nations to rid the world of inequality, violence and domination of one people by another.
Justice is antithetical to revenge, Mr Shettima said, noting, Freedom is an inalienable right and a natural entitlement that cannot be denied to any people.
The Nigerian leader also reaffirmed his countrys commitment to supporting United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.
We recognise the need for Africa to build strong and professional armies to meet the multiple challenges we face. Consequently, we reiterate the call for international support to operationalise the African Standby Force, in addition to the provision of requisite support and resources to ensure the upgrade, take-off and effectiveness of a Centre of Excellence on issues of counter-terrorism in Africa.
Mr Shettima urged world leaders to recommit themselves to multilateralism by deepening relations among member states of the United Nations in line with the principles of inclusivity, equality and cooperation.
This, he said, is the surest guarantee of global action against existential challenges faced by the international community.
Among other things, the vice president also insists on permanent seats for Nigeria and other African nations at the UN Security Council
He also calls for collective action against hunger, terrorism, climate change, and others. Lastly, he seeks renewed financial architecture, and debt forgiveness for developing countries.
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The House of Representatives has called on the federal government to intervene to address the damage done to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital by the recent flood that occurred in Borno State.
This resolution followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Amos Magaji (PDP, Kaduna) on Wednesday during plenary.
Some weeks ago, floods ravaged Maiduguri and other parts of Borno State. The severe flooding in Maiduguri, the state capital, was triggered by the collapse of the Alau Dam the citys main water source.
The hospital and several other structures in the state were severely affected by the flood.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that medical equipment in the multimillion-dollar Radiotherapy Department was submerged, causing damage to expensive state-of-the-art equipment, including two Elekta Linear Accelerators, two Brachytherapy machines, and a Canon Large Bore CT Simulator.
Presenting the motion on the floor, Mr Magaji said the hospital was significantly damaged, with its equipment badly affected.
He also said the flood had disrupted the power supply to the hospital.
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The renowned Cancer Centre in the facility, which is lauded as one of the largest in the country, was submerged in the flood, thereby damaging all high-end equipment in the centre. Wards at the lower levels of the facility were also severely flooded, destroying medical and administrative records, files, and many other items.
Electricity supply in the facility has collapsed due to precautions taken to avoid electrocution, as transformers and other power sources were also submerged in the flood, he said.
He warned that without urgent intervention to address the damage to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, the people of Borno State are at great risk of disease outbreaks following the flood.
Speaking on the motion, Satomi Ahmad (APC, Borno), who represents Jere Federal Constituency of Borno, described the flood as a global catastrophe.
What happened in Maiduguri is a global catastrophe, Mr Ahmad said.
Contributing to the motion, Yusuf Gagdi (APC, Plateau) called on all government agencies to address the gaps in humanitarian interventions.
In an amendment to the motion, Chinedu Ogah raised concerns about the escape of prisoners from correctional facilities in the state. He urged that these facilities should be rehabilitated as soon as possible.
Inuwa Garba, a member from Gombe State, requested that the federal government allocate N300 billion as an intervention fund to mitigate the impact of the disaster. However, he was cautioned by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen to avoid specifying a figure and to keep the request open.
Consequently, the House urged the Federal Ministry of Power to promptly restore electricity to the hospital and take further measures to mitigate the disaster.
It also directed all relevant sectors to ensure that medical equipment and infrastructure in Nigerian tertiary hospitals are adequately insured.
Additionally, the House mandated its Committees on Health Institutions, Power, Renewable Energy, Insurance and Actuarial Matters, and Legislative Compliance to ensure strict adherence to these resolutions.
Members voted in support of the motion when it was put to vote by the speaker.
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The Nigerian Navy has commissioned a new Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Igbokoda, in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State as part of efforts to protect vital oil infrastructure in the state.
The Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Western Naval Command, M.B. Hassan, while officially opening the base on Wednesday, said it was strategically located to tackle oil theft and other criminal activities in the Niger Delta region.
Mr Hassan, a Rear Admiral, explained that the establishment of the base was necessary due to its proximity to oil fields in Ondo State, adding that the move would help curtail illegal operations in the area.
For years, criminals have exploited these areas as safe havens after stealing oil, necessitating our presence to bring such activities to a halt, he said.
According to him, with the base now operational, the Navy would intensify efforts to combat illicit activities along critical oil corridors, thereby securing the nations oil wealth.
Commendation
The Naval official also commended the Commanding Officer of FOB Igbokoda, M.W. Alushe, for his leadership in ensuring successful operations since his appointment in October 2023.
Last year, Mr Alushe, a Captain, led the command in the arrest of MT Vanilia in Lagos, a development regarded as a major breakthrough in the fight against illegal oil bunkering.
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The event also highlighted significant infrastructural upgrades in the FOB, including the expansion of the Sick Bay from a 2-bed to an 8-bed ward with modern facilities, barracks renovations, school improvements, and the construction of security observation posts.
The commander also lauded the base for maintaining a high level of professionalism, stating that the infrastructural upgrades symbolised the collective commitment to enhancing security in the region.
Traditional rulers, members of the Ondo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun), and heads of other security agencies, who were in attendance, took turns to pledge continued collaboration with the Nigerian Navy to maintain security in the state.
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed fresh corruption charges against former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, who is still being wanted for an earlier money laundering case.
EFCC accuses Mr Bello in the fresh case of dishonestly diverting more than N110 billion from the Kogi State Governments treasury while he was governor for eight years.
The fresh case was filed at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja on Tuesday. It adds to the legal troubles of Mr Bello, who has been elusive, shunning summons regarding an earlier money laundering case involving alleged diversion of more than N80 billion pending against him at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The new case has 16 counts, with two other persons Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu charged as co-defendants.
The charges include criminal breach of trust involving alleged diversion of more than N110 billion entrusted in Mr Bellos care as Kogi State governor. The anti-graft agency said Mr Bello and his co-defendants diverted this fund in 2016, his first year in office.
It also alleged in various counts that Mr Bello dishonestly acquired for himself properties located in choice areas of Abuja and one in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with funds he allegedly diverted from the state governments treasury.
For instance, the commission said the former Kogi State governor took N100 million from the governments treasury to buy himself a property at 1160 Cadastral Zone C03, Gwarimpa II, Abuja, in 2021.
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It alleged he bought another property at 35, Danubi Street, Maitama, Abuja, for himself with N950 million belonging to the state in 2023.
He allegedly bought another one at 2, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Street, Asokoro, Abuja, with N920 million belonging to the state in 2020.
In another count, the commission alleged that Mr took N100 million from the Kogi State Government to buy himself a property known as Block D, Manzini Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja.
The amounts alleged in the case are significant for a poor state like Kogi.
The fresh case significantly raises the stakes in EFCCs efforts to bring Mr Bello to court, with the former governor continuing fighting hard to stave off trial.
Trial enmeshed in dramas
EFCCs move to prosecute Mr Bello has been marked by dramas both within and outside the courtroom. This includes a recent controversial surrender by Mr Bello, which the EFCC curiously rejected, followed by a shootout during a failed arrest attempt by the agencys operatives at the Kogi State Government Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja.
In April, a similar spectacle unfolded when EFCC operatives attempted to apprehend him at his residence in Abuja. At the time, police officers attached to the house obstructed the EFCC operatives bid to arrest him based on a court order. The standoff between the two sides had continued until Mr Bellos successor, Governor Usman Ododo, suddenly emerged in his official convoy, aiding his escape. Mr Bello snubbed the trial court the following day, prompting the EFCC to declare him wanted.
He has skipped subsequent scheduled arraignment sittings at the Federal High Court in Abuja. Wednesday marked the seventh occasion he snubbed the court since the EFCCs initial attempt to arraign him on the N80 billion money laundering charges in April.
To halt the trial, Mr Bello has pursued various legal avenues. He wrote to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to transfer the case from Abuja to Lokoja, the Kogi State capital. He filed a series of applications, urging the trial judge, Emeka Nwite, to stop the trial. He filed a fundamental human rights case and a contempt case at the Kogi State High Court. He also filed appeals at the Court of Appeal in Abuja to stop the trial. All of these efforts failed, with the Court of Appeal in Abuja affirming the EFCCs authority to prosecute him and ordering him to surrender to the Federal High Court for arraignment in its judgements delivered in July and August.
Despite these rulings, Mr Bello once again failed to appear in court for his re-scheduled arraignment on Wednesday, with his lawyer citing a new appeal filed at the Supreme Court challenging the Court of Appeals judgement.
Properties he allegedly bought dishonestly with Kogi States funds and amount are as alleged in the new case are as follows:
1. Block 18 (337) flat B Gwelo Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja
Acquired in 2016: N60 million
2. No 9, Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja
Renovated in 2017: N310,443,450.
3. No 739, Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse 2 at No. 13 Citiscape Sharriff Plaza, Abuja
Acquired in 2020: N66 million
4. No 2934A, Cadastral Zone A06, also known as No 1, Ikogosi Spring Close, Maitama District, Abuja.
Acquired in 2020: N550 million
5. No 2, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Street, Asokoro, Abuja
Acquired in 2020: N100 million
6. Property known as No 1058, measuring about 1450.77sqm in Cadastral Zone A08, Wuse 2, also known as No 2, Durban Street, Abuja
Acquired in 2021: N650 million
7. No 1160, Cadastral Zone CO3, Gwarimpa II District, Abuja
Acquired in 2021: N100 million in 2021
8. Property located at Hotel Apartment Community, Burj Khalifa, located at Plot 160, Municipality No 345 7562, Sky View Building No. 401, Floor4, Dubai UAE
Acquired in 2022: Dhs 5,698,888 (UAE dirham)
9. Block D, Manzini Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja
Acquired in 2022: N170 million
10. No A02/176 Block 488B, Lome Street, Wuse 1, Abuja
Acquired in 2020: N100 million
11. No. 1773, Guzape District, Abuja
Acquired in 2018: N100 million
12. No: 35 Danube Street, Maitama District, Abuja
Acquired in 2023: N950 million
The fresh 16 counts that were filed against Mr Bello and his two co-defendants below.
In 2016 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court agreed amongst yourselves to cause to be done an illegal act to wit: criminal breach of trust in respect of the total sum of N110, 446, 470, 089.00 (One Hundred and Ten Billion, Four Hundred and Forty six Million, Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand, Eighty Nine Naira) entrusted to you. In 2023, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly used the total sum of N950,000,000.00 (Nine Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) for the acquisition of a property known as No: 35 Danube Street, Maitama District, Abuja. In 2021, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly used the total sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) for the acquisition of a property known as No: 1160 Cadastral Zone CO3,Gwarimpa II District, Abuja. In 2020, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly used the total sum of N920,000,000.00 (Nine Hundred and Twenty Million Naira) for the acquisition of a property known as No: 2 Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Street, Asokoro, Abuja. In 2022, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly used the total sum of N170,000,000.00 (One Hundred and Seventy Million Naira) for the acquisition of a property known as Block D Manzini Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja. In 2018 , in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly used the total sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) for the acquisition of a property known as No: 1773 Guzape District, Abuja. In 2020, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly used the total sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) for the acquisition of a property known as No: A02/176 Block 488B, Lome Street, Wuse 1, Abuja. In 2020, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly used the total sum of N66,000,000.00 (Sixty Six Million Naira) for the acquisition of a property known as No: 739 Aminu Kano Crescent, wuse 2 at No. 13 Citiscape Sharriff Plaza, Abuja. In 2020, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly used the total sum of N550,000,000.00 (Five Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) for the acquisition of a property known as No: 2934A Cadastral Zone A06 also known as No.1 Ikogosi Spring Close, Maitama District, Abuja. In 2021, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly used the total sum of N650,000,000.00 (Six Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) for the acquisition of a property known as No: 1058, Measuring about 1450.77sqm in Cadastral Zone A08, Wuse 2 also Known as NO.2 Durban Street Abuja. In 2022, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly used the total sum of Five Million, Six Hundred and Ninety Eight Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty Eight Dirhams for the acquisition of a property located at Hotel Apartment Community: Burj Khalifa, lying, being and situate at Plot 160, Municipality NO 345 7562, Sky View Building No.401, Floor4, Dubai U.A.E. In 2016, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly used the total sum of N60,000,000.00 (Sixty Million Naira) for the acquisition of a property known as Block 18 (337) flat B Gwelo Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja. In 2017, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly used the total sum of N310,443,450.00 (Three Hundred and Ten Million, Four Hundred and Forty Three Thousand, four Hundred and fifty Naira) to tastefully renovate a property known as No: 9 Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja. In 2021, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly sent the total sum of $570,330.00 (Five Hundred and Seventy Thousand, Three Hundred and Thirty United State Dollars) to account No. 4266644272 Domiciled with TD Bank, United State of America. In 2021, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst having dominion over the states treasury, dishonestly sent the total sum of $556,265.00 (Five Hundred and Fifty Six Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty Five United State Dollars) to account No. 4266644272 Domiciled with TD Bank, United State of America. Between 2017 and 2018, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had under your control the total sum of N677, 848,000 (Six Hundred and Seventy Seven Million, Eight Hundred and Forty Eight Thousand Naira) unlawfully obtained from BESPOQUE BUSINESS SOLUTION LIMITED.
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Though NNPCL is not a saint, the conflict between the national oil company and Dangote Refinery is a typical Aliko Dangote strategy for muscling out competition.
Aliko Dangote, Africas richest man until August, and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Nigerias state oil company, have many things in common. Both are business partners; both are avid monopolists; both leverage on government patronage to muscle out competition; and both are passionately Nigerian, among other shared characteristics.
Dangote is Nigerias top business icon. From an initial seed money of a N500,000 loan from his uncle, which he started business with in 1977, Dangote bullied his way to a net worth of $13.4 billion in August, down from $13.9 billion in April. He dominates any field of business endeavour he is into or quits. Today, the Dangote Group has international operations in Benin, Ghana, Zambia, and Togo. He scaled up from a trading company to the largest industrial group in Nigeria, spanning Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Cement, Dangote Flour, salt factories, and flour mills. He is a major importer of rice, fish, pasta, and fertiliser. His group also exports cotton, cashew nuts, cocoa, sesame seeds, ginger, and has major investments in real estate, banking, transport, textiles, and now oil and gas.
Dangote Sugar controls 70 per cent of the sugar market in Nigeria, with an average production of 800,000 metric tonnes per annum, while he controls 65 per cent of the cement market, with a production capacity of 52 million tonnes per year across ten countries. Put together, Dangote Group employs over 11,000 workers in West Africa. So, Dangote is a Nigerian success story.
Having made a success of most businesses he had gone into, Dangote decided to take advantage of the supply gaps in the lower stream of the Nigerian oil sector by building an oil refinery. He is a big player, so he started building the Dangote Refinery, said to be the largest single-train refinery in the world, at the cost of $19 billion, in 2017. It took him seven years to complete it in 2024. The former president, Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the refinery ahead of its completion on 23 May, 2023. It was to take another year plus for the company to refine its first litre of fuel.
Dangote is characteristically a very calculating and cautious investor. Located in the South-East of the Lekki Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, and covering a land area of about 2,635 hectares, you would have expected Lagos State to have an equity participation in the venture to give the host state a sense of belonging and a prime investment. However, Dangote managed to make an outright purchase of the land at the cost of $100 million.
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Dangote financed the refinery through funds from the Dangote Group, loans and an investment by NNPCL. On 4 August, 2021, Nigerias Federal Executive Council approved the request by NNPC to acquire a 20 per cent stake in the refinery for $2.76 billion. However, on 15 July, Dangote announced that NNPC no longer owns 20 per cent stake in the Dangote Refinery. They were to pay their balance in June but (are) yet to fulfill their obligations. Now they only own a 7.2 per cent stake in the refinery. It then means that Dangote owns 92.8 per cent of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and NNPC is a minority shareholder with a 7.2 per cent equity.
The first and most important mission statement of the Dangote company is, To deliver strong returns to our shareholders by selling high-quality products at affordable prices, backed by excellent customer service. Others are: To help Nigeria and other African countries towards self-reliance and self-sufficiency in the production of the worlds most basic commodity, by establishing efficient production facilities in strategic locations close to key growth markets. To provide economic benefits to local communities, by establishing efficient production facilities in strategic locations close to key growth markets. To provide economic benefits to local communities by way of direct and indirect employment in all countries in which we operate. To lead the way in areas such as governance, sustainability and environmental conservation and to set a good example for other companies to follow.
Among its stated three core values is leadership: We thrive on being leaders in our business, markets and communities. To drive this, we focus on continuous improvement, partnership and professionalism. The oil industry is a multi-stakeholder industry, as such, achieving the leadership goal will not be without conflicts. This quest for leadership in every business he does leads to obsession for power and control by Dangote. This is marked by carcasses of companies he trampled upon on the way to achieving his idea of leadership.
Followers of the Dangote business model had predicted that his entry into the downstream sector of the oil industry will not lead to lower but higher prices. This happened in the cement sector, where Dangotes 65 per cent dominance has not led to lower costs. As soon as the company muscled out other competitors, prices escalated and it continues to increase at will, because the company is focused on profit for its shareholders, not public sentiments.
True to this, the pump price of petrol rose swiftly on Dangotes entry into the market. By the business arrangement, Dangote Refinery can sell diesel and other products directly to marketers, while petrol will be sold only to NNPCL for distribution to marketers. According Olufemi Soneye, spokesperson of NNPCL, Dangote sold the first delivery to company at the cost of N898 per litre.
Anthony Chiejina, the chief branding and communication officer of Dangote Refinery, denied this in an official statement thus: Our attention has been drawn to a statement attributed to NNPCL spokesperson, Mr Olufemi Soneye, that we sell our PMS at N898 per litre to the NNPCL. This statement is both misleading and mischievous, deliberately aimed at undermining the milestone achievement recorded today, September 15, 2024, towards addressing energy insufficiency and insecurity, which has bedeviled the economy in the past 50 years.
We urge Nigerians to disregard this malicious statement and await a formal announcement on the pricing, by the Technical Sub-Committee on Naira-based crude sales to local refineries, appointed by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, which will commence on October 1, 2024, bearing in mind that our current stock of crude was procured in dollars.
It should be noted that we sold the products to NNPC in dollars with lots of savings against what they are already importing. With this action, there will be petrol in every local government area of the country regardless of their remote nature. We assure Nigerians of availability of quality petroleum products and putting an end to the endemic fuel scarcity in the country.
In his rebuttal, Chiejina was being economical with the truth. He denied that his organisation sold fuel to NNPCL at N898 per litre but could not disclose how much the company sold its product, which amounted to lots of savings. However, Soneye reaffirmed the purchase price of N898 per litre and Dangote has kept quiet since.
In addition to the landing costs from refineries, NNPCL explains that suppliers pay statutory and regulatory charges for each litre of petrol as follows: NMDPRA fee is N8.99; inspection fee is N0.97; distribution cost (Lagos) is N15.00; and the profit margin is N26.48. After adding freighting and other statutory costs, the products pump price jumps to N950.22 per litre in Lagos, N980.22 in Rivers, N992.22 in Abuja and N1, 019 in Maiduguri.
Shortfall in Dangote Supply
Apart from the price conflict, Dangote failed to deliver on its supply obligations. By the agreement between both parties, Dangote Refinery is supposed to deliver 25 million litres daily to NNPCL for the month of September. From October, this would go up to 35 million litres daily. In the first three days, it recorded a 65 million litres supply gap. It means that instead of supplying 75 million litres in three days, Dangote supplied only 10.3 million litres through its gantry loading system, with a massive shortfall of nearly 65 million litres.
This is why there is fuel shortage in the country, despite the deregulated price, allowing black marketers to step into the supply gap and sell for as much as N1,500 a litre in Abuja. In expectation of the Dangote deliveries, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) did not clear NNPC Trading Limited to import petrol for October and onwards, revealed an official under anonymity. This has created a serious supply gap from Dangote Refinery, as insiders revealed there is not enough product from there to go round the country.
According to NMDPRA, the truckout of petrol from depots across the country averaged 51.10 million litres daily between 1 January and 18 September. Dangote Refinery has an installed capacity of 650,000 barrels daily, while NNPCLs four refineries have a joint capacity of 450,000 b/d. Nigeria has a 500,000 b/d allocation for domestic use.
On 15 September, the first day of loading, the Dangote Refinery supplied NNPC Retail Ltd 2.48 million litres of petrol in 56 trucks. On 16 September, NNPC Retail Ltd and AYM Shafas 74 trucks loaded 3.3 million litres, while on 17 September, 4.5 million was loaded, making a total of 10.3 million litres in three days, instead of 75 million litres.
However, Chiejina, claimed in an interview with Vanguard newspaper, without evidence, that Dangote Refinery had supplied 111 million litres within those three days. We have already loaded 111 million litres of petrol, and the exercise is ongoing. We are refining and have no reason not to load. So, loading is ongoing and we will continue to provide the product to the market, Vanguard quoted him as saying.
Here again, Chiejina appears to have been economical with the truth as official Dangote Refinery documents for the period showed that the facility only refined 24,700 metric tonnes of petrol, about 33 million litres, at 1,322.76 litres per ton. This is 42 million litres short of the 75 million that the refinery committed to supplying for three days, at 25 million per day. The refinery, according marketers, must load at least 500 trucks daily, with each vehicle carrying at least 50,000 litres of petrol to meet this volume. This appears difficult, but with the facilitys 177 loading points, they feel it can be done.
It was gathered that NNPCL asked the refinery for vessel loading but were told that the operation facilities needed to be prepared. Consequently, the vessel MT Binta Saleh, which was already on standby to proceed for loading, was withdrawn, one official said.
Dangotes Trail of Monopoly
There are claims that Dangotes paved road of business success is littered with the skeletons of competitors he hounded out of business through government patronage. He is said not to be comfortable with a level playing field. In United States and other western democracies, he would have been charged with the violation of antitrust laws on fair competition in business, which attract heavy sanctions and fines. In cement and sugar businesses, many competitors without his level of government leverage have been destroyed and their territories annexed. Ibeto Cement is said to have a bitter story to tell. Ibeto was alleged to be an obstacle to Dangote in the Eastern market, with its bulking plant in Port Harcourt and having acquired the legendary Nigercem Nkalagu for a backward integration project. Its cement was preferred to that of Dangote in the East. When it collapsed, Dangotes trailers triumphantly rolled into the lucrative South-East market.
An industry analyst says that in the past 20 years of Dangotes business imperialism, within which he became the richest man in Africa and the 158th in the world, Obasanjo, Jonathan and Buhari gave him leeway to do quite a whole lot of things to the disadvantage of competition.
In Kura, near Kaduna, a very large rice growing area, a very large portion of land was acquired by Dangote from the villagers for a purported tomato business. Today, there are claims that no compensation has still been paid to those people. Theres no rice growing there and theres no tomato farm or factory, lamented a villager.
The same story obtains in the sugar industry. When Dangote went into the industry, virtually every other importer was priced out of the market and he bestrode the market like a colossus. So, he has always been a monopolistic businessman who dominates and neutralises fair competition.
In cement, only BUA matched up and refused to be muscled out of business. It also pitched a battle with him in sugar. Dangote embarked on the noodles manufacturing warfare but the Indomie group and spaghetti by the Flour Mills gave him a good chase. According to industry sources, anything Dangote does, he wants to be on top of and the only operator there.
Coming into the downstream sector, Dangote has brought the same strategy of leadership, not minding there were other players there before his arrival. And petrol is a commodity that affects every Nigerian, just like salt, sugar and rice. This mentality makes a conflict inevitable in the downstream oil sector, because NNPC is no longer a lame government parastatal. It is now a limited liability company primed for business success under standard corporate governance. Dangote has built a 650,000 b/d refinery and NNPCL has 450,000 b/d capacity refineries.
Dangote tells the whole country his refinery can meet Nigerias daily consumption and export the balance. The question being asked is, how come that with the first sale Dangote couldnt deliver the 25 metric tons it signed off on? The agreement is simple and NNPCL has been clear on what it wants; they give Dangote fuel, it refines it and gives back to NNPCL, so that they can subsidise and distribute this. NNPCL says it is not fixing the price for Dangote. Dangote can fix his own price but NNPCL has a share price it can always collect from Dangote. They are partners. They put up resources together to set up the refinery. The refinery has a percentage of NNPCL interest.
This is not the old NNPC; this is the new NNPC Limited. Its a limited liability company; its not like the old NNPC where anybody could do anything and get away with it. This time we are under public scrutiny. And being under public scrutiny, it becomes absolutely necessary to comply with the laws of the land, explains an insider not authorised to speak for the company.
According to him, The new NNPCL is the first one that has taken the step of upgrading the refineries. Port Harcourt is on stream; its almost ready. This means in addition to being partners, Dangote and NNPCL will soon be bitter business rivals competing for clients in the downstream sector.
The Political Disconnection
Dangote is a smart businessman. He knows he can leverage on politics to feather his business cap but he also knows that a turn in political fortune can spell doom for his business empire. Because of this wisdom, he stays away from party politics. He is not member of any political party but is said to donate generously to the campaign funds of leading presidential candidates and gubernatorial candidates of states where he has investments. This way, head or tail, he wins. It is said that what he does is to support the two frontrunners from leading parties, so that anyone that eventually wins will favour him. It was strongly alleged that Obasanjo attempted to pressure him into politics and make him run for the top job, but Dangote wisely declined so he could continue building his business empire.
However, in 2023, it is whispered that Dangote did not support Tinubu but rather supported Atiku Abubakar of PDP. Some people are wondering if the conflict is a fall out of political brinkmanship one way or the other.
All said, for Dangotes dream to work in Nigerias downstream oil sector, it must be a shared solution. It must go beyond domination and control to embracing all industry stakeholders, ensuring a fair pricing for product users, and bringing peace and stability to Nigeria.
Moses Adewole writes from Lagos.
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Etiebet is indeed a general leading the way for his people in many theatres of their struggle. His leadership does not show through only in interpersonal relationships and in business. It has been particularly demonstrated in politics. Etiebets footprints are unmistakable in every political epoch and in every major political movement in the country in the last 30 years.
All too often traditional titles are thrown around as confetti to scratch egoistic itch. The title for Atuekong Donald Obot Etiebet, a pre-eminent geoscientist and IT geek, came from a different kind of consideration. His chieftaincy title, Atuekong, which translates literally as the head of the peoples army, speaks to his amazing persona on the life stage, his fighting spirit for the liberation of his people from all manner of shackles, and the untameable hunger in his belly to make a difference wherever he is.
For these and more reasons I am at one with the Petroleum Club and all people of goodwill in celebrating the peoples general, the Atuekong of Akwa Abasi Ibom State, a dream-maker, an epitome of excellence and a man of vision, as he marks three score years and ten plus ten on earth. A man whose heart beats with so much goodness, Etiebet has in the course of his illustrious career reached out and lifted countless homes and families with jobs and mentoring for their breadwinners, laying out a huge personal fortune through endowments, scholarships, prizes, donations and sponsorships for the benefit of many across the nation. A personal fortune he built by dint of hard work through a business empire stretching across real estate, oil and gas, banking, education, as well as information and communication technology (ICT).
For years, his IT company, Data Sciences, was an incubator for skills acquisition and leadership training. So many people in leadership positions today in Akwa Ibom State and across the country learnt at Etiebets feet in Data Sciences. Etiebets positive impact has graced my family so I should know just as he has impacted many other families around the country. There are, therefore, compelling personal reasons for a host of grateful folks to celebrate with him on this very happy occasion of his birthday. We celebrate and thank God that we have him as a blessing at a personal level, and even more so as a bigger blessing for the country.
For the country, Etiebet offers a luminous profile in exemplary leadership. This is not to be taken lightly. The question of leadership in the worlds most populous black nation, Nigeria, is just so elemental that it deserves every shred of interest. I agree wholly with Chinua Achebe that the trouble with Nigeria is the problem of leadership. So, when a man like Atuekong Etiebet comes along with a sterling private sector record as a business leader, and serves in the public sector as Petroleum Minister creditably, not singed by the sludge of sleaze, then we simply have a perfect case study in desirable and effective leadership.
For the country, Etiebets outstanding achievements are many. He it was who cracked the conundrum that held back the consummation of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) project by nudging the Federal Authorities away from hankering after keeping the controlling shares in the investment, a policy stance that had proven to be the stumbling block to the realisation of the project for years. By his common-sense leadership and power of vision, the nation built the NLNG, which is today a bellwether for the national treasury. It was also during his tenure as Petroleum Minister that the Petroleum Trust Fund was established as a major interventionist agency to address serious infrastructure and human capital deficits in many sectors of the society, particularly in tertiary education.
As Minister, Etiebet oversaw the roll-out of a range of other farsighted reforms in the petroleum sector that have since served as the defining features of the industry. They include deep offshore exploration and drilling a slice of the sector that still retains the interest of relocating oil majors; introduction of the countrys first instance of monetisation policy in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); and the streamlining of operational processes in the then Department of Petroleum Resources, to tame its unwieldy bureaucracy and optimise productivity and efficiency in that critical department in the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources at the time. He equally promoted the policy of local content to domesticate the oil and gas industry and integrate it with the local economy. The local content policy would later crystallise in the establishment of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board in 2010 during the Obasanjo presidency, a culmination of a policy articulation that has been a shot in the arm for local players in the oil and gas industry.
Etiebets leadership impact is not limited to his pathfinding work in the private sector, nor is it to his transformational policy initiatives and execution in government at the federal level. At the state level in Akwa Ibom and at the regional stage in the Niger Delta, Etiebet lived up to his stripes as Atuekong when he joined forces with his compatriots who include but are not limited to His Excellency Obong Victor Attah, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, Obong Umana Okon Umana, Senator Effiong Bob, Senator James Akpanudoedehe, Senator Aloysius Etok, Senator Ita Enang and other champions of equity in the country to fight and win the resource control battle.
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The resource control victory against a most vicious asphyxiation of a region of the country has provided a source of much-needed development and sustenance for the Niger Delta though there appears to be a consensus that in spite of the victorious battle against the plot of entrenched interests to deny the region the benefits due to it from its natural resources, the real war for the common ownership and equitable enjoyment of those resources delivered through the 13 per cent derivation funds is still raging.
Etiebet is indeed a general leading the way for his people in many theatres of their struggle. His leadership does not show through only in interpersonal relationships and in business. It has been particularly demonstrated in politics. Etiebets footprints are unmistakable in every political epoch and in every major political movement in the country in the last 30 years. During the efforts to disengage from military rule, Etiebet formed and funded the National Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN) as a platform with which to rally like minds and steer a centrist path on a political rescue mission. But as its well known the uncertainties and duplicity of those times guaranteed that the NCPN faced no fate different from what befell all political efforts of that period.
In 1997 or thereabouts, there was another political sunshine moment on the tortuous road to freedom from a long and wearing military rule. Again, Etiebet huddled up with others to form the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that went on to win the 1999 general elections and formed the central government led by President Olusegun Obasanjo. The PDP also won the local election in his native state of Akwa Ibom. Etiebet was easily acknowledged as the kingmaker of that government, which took over from the military in the state. But its an open secret that he was not accorded a godfathers due. The uneasy relationship would only get worse until a rupture happened during the government that succeeded the inaugural 1999 democratic administration in the state. Etiebet then joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) where he has functioned since as an elder statesman.
As I write this tribute, Im nursing a concern. Its a concern that has enjoyed resonance among Nigerians late and living. I remember the late Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu honouring the late Obafemi Awolowo in his condolence register with the epitaph, The best president Nigeria never had. Ojukwu was here lamenting the road not taken, indeed the road not seen. Its a statement that completes the Nigerian paradox when taken together with Achebes uncontested argument that the problem with Nigeria is a problem of leadership. So, here you have a situation where Ojukwu says, hey, this is a rare gem that would have perfectly met our leadership need. Etiebet and others like him abound, perfect samplers in leadership fits that the nation is in dire need of, yet we agonise over the lack of good leadership in the country.
Why is it that we dont see, during leadership recruitment cycles, what we have in the best of leadership potential around us? To be sure, Etiebet has had good opportunities to serve his people and the nation, and has discharged his commissions creditably. But as I would ask regarding all other exquisite cases of the best Nigeria has on offer, have we made the best use of our ablest men and women? Its time we began to have a different kind of conversation about leadership recruitment in Nigeria.
Im sorry, I guess I digressed. This is not the day for gripes. Its a moment to fill our glasses and join the toast to a great man, an outstanding intellectual, a man with eagle focus and of manifest achievements.
Happy birthday, Sir, and many joyous returns of the day!
Iboro Otongaran is the chief executive officer at ProData Limited in Lagos.
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One doesnt have to be a fan of Yahaya Bello to ask what is going on. Are people just exploiting the agencys institutional weaknesses, or are there compromises here and there? Bungling the Yahaya Bello case has left everyone confused about EFCCs motives, intentions, and professionalism. These are ethical questions that will unravel in the course of time.
If the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Ex-Governor Yahaya Bello tango were a contest, the latter would have won in a knockout blow that sent the anti-corruption agency to the canvas, hitting so badly that it may never recover, at least not soon. However, while the EFCC reels from this misadventure, the joke is on the nation and all who had invested emotionally in the agency, hoping it would stamp out or at least reduce corruption in the public sector and give Nigeria a better global image. This latest debacle has further exposed the current governments inability or reluctance to tackle corruption headlong.
How else can one explain what transpired between the former governor of Kogi state and the EFCC last week? Shortly after his tenure ended in January this year, the EFCC, which had a running battle with the governor while in office, invited him. However, Yahaya Bellos pushback based on a subsisting court order prevailed, and the EFCC fought back by declaring him wanted. Six months later, the ex-governor showed up at the EFCC headquarters.
What happened between the EFCC representatives and Yahaya Bello in the daytime looked like a friendly chat. The agency probably felt dazed by Yahaya Bellos seeming apparition, only to disturb his peace and that of his neighbours in Asokoro district at night. Like thieves in the night, the EFCC operatives surrounded and shot many times around the Kogi lodge (in search of Bello) and left, failing to either arrest or catch their wanted ex-governor. The EFCC had earlier levelled a 19-count charge against Yahaya Bello and accused him and his nephew, Ali Bello, the Chief of Staff to current Governor Usman Ahmed Ododo, of money laundering up to the tune of N80.2 billion belonging to Kogi state. When the ex-governor eventually and willingly surrendered, the EFCC looked the other way.
As an institution, the EFCC has failed Nigeria and abdicated its responsibility. It wasted material and human resources and has nothing to show for it. What a shame! What an embarrassment. EFCCs inefficiency has proved Yahaya Bellos assertion of witch-hunt, political vendetta, and persecution rather than the graft war it was established to fight. You can hardly fault that line of thought in this case.
For most people accused of corrupt practices, especially the political class, they often answer the EFCCs call to make their statements and are left off the hook to go and sin no more. At that stage, the battle moves to the courts where the EFCC prosecutors lose many of their cases after their initial bravado, for lack of diligent prosecution and improper investigation before rushing to court. Many so affected finally walk out of the EFCC legal trap free. But with the Yahaya Bello case, their lousy job has become more apparent.
Little did we know that a time would come when EFCC would become only a toothless bulldog, unable to even bark at all, making people wonder whether EFCCs golden era is over. Their modus operandi now resembles persecution and not proper prosecution that could lead to conviction. Under its current chairman, Olanipekun Olukoyede, EFCC is all hot air, drama, sensation, and no substance.
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Recall that the Chairman, while still on the Yahaya Bello case, inadvertently admitted bias and favouritism when he disclosed that he appealed to Yahaya Bello to come through his door/gate instead of normal routes, perhaps to avoid embarrassment; another proof of EFCCs selective investigation of corrupt practices, chasing shadows and fighting needless political battles instead of financial crimes. The law is there for everyone to obey, not to protect a privileged few.
EFCC takes delight in their Gestapo-style fight against alleged yahoo boys and financially endowed young adults and students, and media trials of high-profile individuals. There are numerous cases of EFCC operatives compromising with criminals or turning into criminals themselves by extorting money from yahoo boys, real or imagined. Such bad eggs should be flushed out, but with a not-so-proactive leadership, I doubt if the EFCC has the moral weapon to punish their erring staff.
For their indiscretion over the Yahaya Bello fiasco, the Olukoyede-led EFCC has become a laughingstock scorned by all. On a lighter note, was EFCC bewitched by Yahaya Bellos prowess? Because quite frankly, this case does not make sense.
Olukoyede should worry about his place in history and be wary of his legacy, not ending in ignominy like some of his predecessors. To fight corruption is difficult and requires stealth, courage, competence, and character. Olukoyede should combine all these qualities.
The drama and theatrics at play over some of the cases before the EFCC in recent times are laughable. As a foremost institution globally recognized, it should do more than the circus show it has become. Beneath the comic relief it sometimes provides are thought-provoking concerns and worries about its future and fate as an anti-graft institution. Is this the end of the road for EFCC? Should we just move on and legitimize corruption and financial infractions as part of our existential reality?
One doesnt have to be a fan of Yahaya Bello to ask what is going on. Are people just exploiting the agencys institutional weaknesses, or are there compromises here and there? Bungling the Yahaya Bello case has left everyone confused about EFCCs motives, intentions, and professionalism. These are ethical questions that will unravel in the course of time.
Zainab Suleiman Okino (FNGE) chairs the Blueprint Editorial Board and a syndicated columnist. She can be reached through zainabokino@gmail.com
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The Zamfara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on its All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart to respond to the allegations of mismanagement of public funds made by the incumbent state government against the immediate past administration under Bello Matawalle.
In a statement on Tuesday by Haliru Andi, the State Publicity Secretary of PDP, the party called upon the APC in Zamfara state to respond directly to the allegations made by the incumbent PDP administration under Governor Dauda Lawal against Mr Matawalle, who is the current minister of state for defence. The latter governed the state for four years on the platform of the APC.
Instead of addressing the critical issues at hand, the APC has opted to deflect by criticising Governor Lawal for highlighting 25 years of APC misrule. We challenge the APC to engage with the facts and tell the public that the allegations labeled against Matawalle are untrue, Mr Andi, the PDP spokesperson in the state said in the statement.
He stated that no amount of diversionary antics would make the PDP and Governor Lawal to relent in their pursuit of justice for the people of Zamfara regarding the alleged embezzlement of public funds under Mr Matawalles administration.
Recall that Mr Matawalle in an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday accused Mr Lawal of being obsessed with criticism of the past administration rather than concentrate on governance and working together with the ministry of defence to tackle insecurity in the state. The state APC chapter on its part recently canvassed for the declaration of state of emergency in the state. But the PDP has dismissed all such efforts as ploys to divert attention from the real issue of misrule and mismanagement of public funds by the government of Mr Matawalle in the state.
We urge the APC to address the issues directly rather than continuing their pattern of evasion. The people of Zamfara deserve accountability and transparency, and the PDP will persist in our demand for justice.
The APC must answer the following:
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1. Isnt it true Matawalle left only four million naira for Governor Dauda Lawal, despite receiving substantial allocations from the Federal Government, with nothing to show in terms of developmental projects?
2. Isnt it true that Matawalle intentionally left a three-month backlog of salaries for Zamfara civil servants, without offering any apology?
3. Isnt it true that Matawalle failed to settle NECO and WAEC registration fees for our students for four years, leaving our children roaming the streets with no hope for their education?
4. Isnt it true that the APC-led administration refused to pay pensions and gratuities to retired civil servants for over ten years, resulting in 13.6 billion naira in unpaid benefits and leading to the loss of many lives?
5. Isnt it true that Matawalle refused to pay electricity bills for all MDAs, including the government house, leading to disconnection by KEDCO?
6. Isnt it true that Gusau, the state capital, went without a single drop of water for five months due to Matawalles failure to pay for electricity and provide necessary resources for water treatment?
7. Isnt it true that Matawalle left students on foreign scholarships stranded by failing to pay their tuition and upkeep?
8. Isnt it true that Matawalle sold government houses in Gada Biu and Kaduna to friends and associates without following due process?
9. Isnt it true that our hospitals are in dire condition across the state, including in the hometowns of two former governors, Talatar Mafara and Maradun LGAs?
10. We also bring to attention the allegation regarding a 70 billion naira corruption case against Matawalle currently under investigation by the EFCC. Isnt it true that this significant corruption case further highlights the need for accountability and transparency in governance?
All these allegations against the APC and Governor Matawalle are valid, and we dare the opposition to come forward and deny them if they are untrue. If they fail to do so, we expect a public apology to the good people of Zamfara State. Our people deserve clarity on this matter, and we urge the APC to address it directly.
Can the APC deny that Governor Dauda Lawal has resolved all the allegations outlined above against Matawalle in just one year? Therefore, the APC should acknowledge and thank Governor Dauda Lawal for addressing these critical issues and for his commitment to providing good governance.
The PDP stands ready to continue advocating for accountability and transparency for the benefit of all Zamfara citizens., the state PDP chapter concluded in their statement.
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SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, September 25. The opening ceremony of the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has taken place in Samarkand, Trend reports.
This is the first event that the bank holds in Central Asia. The theme of the annual meeting is Building Sustainable Infrastructure for All.
The opening ceremony marks the start of the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors, with speeches from the Board members, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and President of the AIIB Jin Lunq.
Mirziyoyev stressed that the choice to hold the bank's ninth meeting in Uzbekistan is a shining example of cooperation based on mutual respect and trust.
"Uzbekistan highly appreciates the contribution of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Currently, 15 projects are being implemented with the bank in the fields of infrastructure, energy, transport, water supply, and sustainable development, amounting to $3 billion. As a result, Uzbekistan has become one of the bank's top 10 largest partners. For example, a project to improve the water supply system in the Bukhara region, worth $720 million, is being implemented in cooperation with the AIIB to provide uninterrupted access to clean drinking water for nearly 1.5 million people, or the launch of the Bukhara-Khiva railway electrification project creates an opportunity to attract an additional one million tourists to the city of Khiva each year," he said.
The head of state pointed out that Uzbekistan and the AIIB agreed to implement a program of projects worth another $4 billion over the next three years.
Addressing the ceremony attendantds, AIIB President, Chairman of the Board of Directors Jin Liqun emphasized that AIIB highly values the level of cooperation with Uzbekistan.
"This year has been particularly significant for our bilateral relations, alongside your government's ambitious program for nation-building projects, such as new transport infrastructure, major investments in social infrastructure like hospitals and schools, and the boundless potential in renewable energy. I look forward to attracting public and private investments to Uzbekistan over the next five to ten years," he said.
Next, the event featured speeches by the bank co-chairs - Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister of Finance and National Development of Singapore Indrani Thurai Raja, as well as Secretary of International Affairs, Coordinator of the G20 Financial Agenda of of Brazil's Foreign Ministry Tatiana Rosito.
Rajah highlighted AIIB's collaborative efforts in Uzbekistan, particularly the co-financing of a 220-megawatt solar power plant, which promises to enhance the country's energy resilience while ensuring no net loss to biodiversity or negative environmental impacts.
She expressed her enthusiasm for the rich discussions that are expected over the coming days, noting that many more inspirational projects would be shared, showcasing the tangible benefits of AIIB's initiatives.
In her speech, Rosito highlighted Brazils focus for its upcoming G20 Presidency in 2024, which will prioritize the fight against hunger, poverty, and inequality, alongside combating climate change. Under the theme "Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet," Brazil aims to address pressing global challenges through coordinated action.
"I am proud to be part of this forum today, where we are addressing one of the most urgent challenges of our time: ensuring that infrastructure is resilient, inclusive, and able to withstand the growing impacts of climate change," Rosito added.
AIIB is a multilateral development bank that finances sustainable, eco-friendly, and technological infrastructure to enhance the social and economic well-being of people in Asia and beyond. As of today, AIIB has 109 members. The bank focuses on supporting sustainable infrastructure, strengthening cross-border connections, and mobilizing private capital.
In Central Asia, AIIB plays a key role in promoting regional connectivity, improving energy and water resource management, and stimulating economic growth, in line with its vision of financing the infrastructure of the future.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has brushed off allegations that it attempted to assassinate Yahaya Bello, an erstwhile governor of Kogi State.
The commission has been having a running battle with Mr Bello over Mr Bellos refusal to appear for arraignment to kick off a N80 billion money laundering case it filed against him at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The EFCC, which described Mr Bello as a fugitive, said on Wednesday that the allegation of assassination attempt is preposterous, adding that it was the first time it would be accused of such in its more than two decades of existence.
The allegation stemmed from a shootout that resulted from a confrontation between EFCC operatives and the security details of Mr Bellos successor, Governor Usman Ododo, at the Kogi State Government Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, on 18 September. EFCC operatives made an unsuccessful attempt to arrest Mr Bello during the encounter, as he escaped from the scene in Mr Ododos convoy.
Mr Bellos camp described the development as an attempt by the EFCC to assassinate him.
However, breaking its silence on the failed, chaotic operation in a statement on Wednesday, EFCC said, Yahaya Bello should be more interested in clearing his name than playing the victim and crying persecution, where none exists.
To even insinuate that he was the target of a phantom assassination attempt because the EFCC made efforts to effect his arrest at the Kogi State Governors Lodge where he had been hiding, is preposterous, the statement signed by EFCCs spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, stated. This is no more than scaremongering, intended to scandalise the commission.
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The shooting incident was preceded that day by a controversial surrender of Mr Bello at EFCCs headquarters in Abuja.
Curiously, EFCC refused to arrest Mr Bello, who was accompanied by Governor Ododo, and instead attempted to apprehend him at the Kogi State Government Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, where he was being sheltered by the state government.
Speaking directly to the dramatic surrender in its statement on Wednesday, EFCC admitted that its refusal to arrest Mr Bello rightly piqued peoples curiosity.
The agency cited vague reasons, including certain backend intelligence as its reason for not arresting Mr Bello, despite having declared him wanted in April.
It stated that Mr Bello invaded its corporate headquarters with a retinue of security details, hand-to-hand cahoots and carriage with a sitting governor having immunity, unwarranted media blitz, scripted sleight of hands unknown to the public and other backend intelligence available to the Commission, compelled a tactical rebuff of his touted surrender offer.
The incident of Wednesday, 18 September 2024 regarding the orchestrated antics of the former governor to surrender himself to the EFCC, having denied being invited by the Commission and operating underground as a fugitive for several months, expectedly raised concerns and curiosity of many Nigerians who had been waiting frantically for his arrest and trial, the statement added.
The statement said it would not succumb to blackmail concerning the case.
As a responsible anti-graft agency, the EFCC is sensitive to public opinions, especially if they are in tandem with its operational codes and Standard Operating Procedures. However, no hysteria, blackmail, sentiment or coordinated attacks in some section of the media would make the Commission compromise its integrity, the EFCC said.
No persecution
Mr Bello has been avoiding court since April, stalling on several occasions his arraignment on charges involving alleged diversion of more than N80 billion belonging to the Kogi State Government during his eight-year tenure as governor.
The former governor snubbed the court again for the seventh time on Wednesday.
The former governor has alleged that the EFCC is persecuting him.
However, announcing his controversial surrender in a statement on 18 September, Mr Bello said he took the decision after exhausting all legal means to challenge the trial.
The anti-graft said it is not deterred by Mr Bellos antics and shenanigans as it committed to ensuring that the law takes its course in the money laundering charges already filed against the former governor.
The commission noted that it is eager to engage the former governor in the courtroom where the avalanche of evidence so painstakingly assembled can be presented and arguments marshalled for justice to be served to all parties involved in this saga.
Failed attempt to stop 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.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the former governor 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.
In June, Mr Bello 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, Mr Nwite, similarly refused the application.
READ ALSO: EFCC files fresh N110 billion corruption charges against former Kogi governor Bello
In April, EFCC declared him wanted after a failed attempt to arrest him at his residence in Abuja. The commission said Mr Bello is now a fugitive who has been running underground since his declaration as a wanted person.
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 appeal 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.
Read EFCs full statement here.
EFCC PRESS STATEMENT
Yahaya Bello Must Have his Day in Court
It is public knowledge that a former governor of Kogi State, Mr. Yahaya Bello had made several unsuccessful attempts to throw spanners in his ongoing trial through some irresponsible and utterly rascally efforts. The appropriate place of surrender would be before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, before whom his legal team had undertaken to produce him to answer to the 18-count charges of money laundering preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Yahaya Bello should be more interested in clearing his name than playing the victim and crying persecution, where none exists. To even insinuate that he was the target of a phantom assassination attempt because the EFCC made efforts to effect his arrest at the Kogi State Governors Lodge where he had been hiding is preposterous. It is the first time in the Commissions more than two decades existence that such a jejune claim would be made. This is no more than scaremongering, intended to scandalise the Commission.
But EFCC is not deterred by this, and other shenanigans by the ex-governor. The Commission remains committed to ensuring that the law takes its course in the money laundering charges already filed against Yahaya Bello in Court.
EFCC is eager to engage the former governor in the courtroom where the avalanche of evidence so painstakingly assembled can be presented and arguments marshaled for justice to be served to all parties involved in this saga. The true test of Yahaya Bellos willingness to abide by the law in the criminal proceedings instituted against him at the Federal High Court Abuja by the EFCC is to present himself to the court in obedience to the order of Justice Nwite. His presence in court is the only step that will convince Nigerians that his touted submission to the EFCC which was widely reported in the media on September 18, was not a stunt
Till date, Bello is yet to take his plea in the alleged N80.2 billion money laundering charges preferred against him before Justice Nwite. His invasion of the corporate headquarters of the Commission with a retinue of security details, hand-to-hand cahoots and carriage with a sitting governor having immunity, unwarranted media blitz, scripted sleight of hands unknown to the public and other backend intelligence available to the Commission, compelled a tactical rebuff of his touted surrender offer.
The incident of Wednesday, September 18, 2024 regarding the orchestrated antics of the former governor to surrender himself to the EFCC, having denied being invited by the Commission and operating underground as a fugitive for several months, expectedly raised concerns and curiosity of many Nigerians who had been waiting frantically for his arrest and trial.
As a responsible anti-graft agency, the EFCC is sensitive to public opinions, especially if they are in tandem with its operational codes and Standard Operating Procedures. However, no hysteria, blackmail, sentiment or coordinated attacks in some section of the media would make the Commission compromise its integrity. Yahaya Bellos matter cannot define the success or failure of the works of the EFCC, as the scorecard of the Commission is remarkable and undeniably impressive. The EFCC is not unaware of the fact that corruption fights back. Bello must have his day in court, no matter the recourse to blackmail, appeal to emotive public sympathy or acts of brigandage.
Within the year, the Commission had arranged three former ministers, two ex-governors, several top government officials, captains of industries, internet fraudsters and many more would be arraigned in due course. Every former governor, minister, head of ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs being investigated by the Commission would soon be charged to court. The EFCC is not running a circus show. Corruption issues should not be turned into a theatre of the absurd. Those who harbor a criminal suspect should know that the act is also a criminal offence which is also punishable in law.
While the EFCC is assuring the public of its unfaltering focus and commitment to continue to tackle every issue of economic and financial crime without fear or favour, there is need to remind Nigerians that corruption does fight back and caution and restraint should always be exercised in responding to the operational mechanics and dynamics of the Commission. The EFCC would continue with its no sacred cow policy, no matter whose ox is gored.
Dele Oyewale
Head, Media & Publicity
September 25, 2024
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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), says ten communities have been displaced by flood following heavy rains in Shanga Local Government Area of Kebbi.
Aliyu Shehu-Kafindagi, the head of operations of NEMA, Sokoto Office, made this known when he led a joint assessment team to the affected areas on Wednesday.
He added that the incident left no fewer than 2,000 people homeless, who had no option but to flee to safer areas.
The incident, which occurred between September 17 and 22, was caused by heavy rainfall and coming of more water from River Niger, that led some communities to be submerged and inundated by the water.
Ten communities were affected in Shanga local government, and they include, Kunda, Dala- Maidawa, Dala-Tudu, Dala-Mairuwa, Ishe-Mairuwa, Kwarkusa, Kurmudi, Tugar Maigani, Tukur Cika, Uguwar Gwada, Uguwar Wakili and Gundu, he said.
According to him, the displaced people are largely fishermen, who have lost many hectares of farmlands.
He said all their assorted crops comprising rice, maize, millet, beans, and guinea-corn, among others have been submerged.
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The NEMAs head also explained that the team in the course of its assessment, identified an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Tudun Faila Primary School, sheltering more than 300 people.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NEMAs joint assessment exercise was conducted in collaboration with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Shanga LG Officials, and security operatives in the state.
(NAN)
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The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, on Tuesday, denied an allegation by his successor as Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, that he was betting banditry in the state.
Mr Matawalle said he swore with the Holy Quran when he was governor between 2019 and 2023 to deny the allegation, but Mr Lawal and other politicians in the state refused to swear to back their claims.
Mr Matawalle appeared on Channels TVs Sunrise Daily Programme to debunk the governors claim that he is linked to banditry in the state.
In a TV programme, the governor accused the minister of sponsoring bandits and asked him to resign and address the allegations, including money laundering, during his tenure as governor.
If I were him (Matawalle), I would resign and face all the allegations against me.
Mr Matawalle said the allegations were unfounded and challenged the governor to prove them.
He acknowledged that he and some of his colleagues had dialogued with the bandits to bring peace to their respective states.
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It was not only me that dialogued with bandits. Remember, all the governors dialogued; the then governors of Niger State, Habu Sani Bello, and the governors of Sokoto and Katsina states did the same. Why only me? Because it is Zamfara?
Zamfara is a very complex state with terrible human beings with devilish ideas. Our people are just different, Mr Matawalle said.
He cited an incident of a resident arrested for cutting the throat and gauging out the eye of a person and how he ensured the criminal was brought to justice.
Also, he said some people in the state dont like him because he was fearless and dealt with anyone found wanting. Many politicians found doing hideous acts did not like me because I went after them, he said.
Let me remind you. When I was governor, I was the only governor who swore with the Holy Quran that I had no hand or connection with banditry and that I was not happy with what was happening. That if I was happy, if I was part of it, if I knew those doing it, or if I was collaborating with them, God should not give me one second of grace.
I challenged all the politicians, including General Ali Gusau and Dauda Lawal, to do the same. None of them could take the oath, but I took it because I know I have a clean heart.
The former governor said he made it a policy in the state for government appointees to take an oath with the Holy Quran that they had no connection with banditry, before holding a political office.
Mr Matawalle challenged the governor and other politicians in the state to take the oath as he did to clean their names.
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A 22-year-old man, Kelechi Mam, was arraigned on Wednesday before an Abakaliki Chief Magistrates Court 2 for allegedly stealing electricity cables, solar panels, and a sumo pumping machine.
Mr Mbam, whose address was not provided, is facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, vandalism and stealing.
The court did not take his plea.
The prosecutor, Eze Ndubuaku, told the court that the suspect committed the offence on 31 August and 1 September 2024 at Abakaliki Shopping Mall, Abakaliki Local Government Area of Ebonyi.
Mr Ndubuaku, an assistant superintendent of police, said the suspect unlawfully cut and vandalised street light cables, solar panels and a sumo pumping machine that supplied light and water, respectively, to the shopping mall.
He said the value of the property belonging to the Ebonyi State Government was yet to be estimated.
Mr Ndubuaku said that the suspect and others now at large also stole alummaco boards.
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The prosecutor said the offence was punishable under sections 516 (A) and 390 (9) of the Criminal Code Cap 33, Vol. 1 laws of Ebonyi State, Nigeria 2009.
J. N Unigwe, the defence counsel, prayed the court to grant the suspect bail. The prosecutor opposed the application, saying that the suspect might go back and commit the same offence.
Magistrate Lilian Ogodo ordered that the suspect be remanded at the Nigeria Correctional Centre, Abakaliki, as the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.
Ms Ogodo adjourned the matter until 11 October for a report of compliance.
(NAN)
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The Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State, South-west Nigeria, has reacted to the claim by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that the template deployed to win the 2024 governorship election in Edo State will be adopted to win the 16 November election in Ondo State.
APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje made the comment while hosting members of the partys situation room for the Edo election on Monday in Abuja, Nigerias Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Mr Ganduje, while celebrating the victory of Monday Okpebholo, the APC candidate in the Edo governorship election, added that his party would continue to extend its influence in the South-east and South-west.
The APC candidate defeated the PDPs Asue Ighodalo in a keenly contested race that had thrown up contentions about the credibility of the ballot.
PDP reacts
Reacting to Mr Gandujes comments, the PDP described the outcome of the Edo election of 21 September, as not only embarrassing but shameful.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in the state, Kennedy Peretei, said he would like to remind the APC chairman that Ondo State is not one of the states where the people can be intimidated or cowed.
Mr Peretei wrote: Our people are very enlightened and resilient. When the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) attempted to subvert the will of the people, the people proved to the Shagari government that they were different. That tradition has not died.
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Besides, the present democratic dispensation in which he is a beneficiary was watered with the blood of many Nigerians. It is advisable Ganduje does not go down into oblivion as one of its Undertakers.
He further noted that Mr Gsndujes comments were coming when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigerian Police were yet to clear themselves of partisanship and complicity in the just concluded election.
He said his party believes that most Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora are beginning to lose hope in our hard-earned democracy when major players like Ganduje openly allude to the fact that their votes will not count as long as men like him hold influential positions.
Gandujes vituperations were the surest confirmation that the election (Edo poll) was rigged. Instead of being sober for subverting the will of the people, Ganduje robbed salt on injury by saying that his party intends to control all the five South Eastern states, Mr Peretei further stated.
He said the party salutes the courage of the people of Edo State for what he described as their remarkable performance in the election, despite INECs flagrant disobedience of their own rules.
The spokesperson said: Everyone knows that most of the results announced at the state collation centre were fabricated, as the figures were different from those uploaded into the INEC Irev portal.
The people of Edo State could never have elected a man who promised to bring insecurity to Edo State.
Let Ganduje first give the Edo Treatment to his people in Kano State, where he was humiliated by a relatively unknown New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in last years gubernatorial election.
Ondo election
Like the Edo State election, the forthcoming governorship election in Ondo State is likely to be a contest between the APC and the PDP.
Incumbent governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa is flying the flag of the APC, while former deputy governor Agboola Ajayi is of the PDP.
Both parties have been engaging in intense campaigns across the nooks and crannies of the state ahead of the poll
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The vehicle also has an option for up to an additional $25 Million, raising the total to $75 Million.
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A. Walker & Co., (AWC) a minority-owned and operated, institutionally-backed investment manager, is proud to announce that its inaugural vehicle, AWC Real Estate Opportunity Partners I, LP ("REOP I") has a total capital commitment of up to $75 Million. The vehicle has deployed $20.4 million into multiple transactions located in California, Illinois, Georgia, Maryland, and Texas. REOP I has a total of 2,450 units acquired or under development, with $352 Million valued in underlying assets and development pipeline.
AWC remains committed to its original mission, which was to provide unique capital solutions for the development and preservation of affordable housing solutions. The firm remains steadfast in supporting diverse and emerging operators and developers, as well as the communities they serve. The firm often collaborates with co-investment partners who have similar interests to deliver both financial and community support. The firm seeks to foster sustainable and inclusive growth across the industry.
A. Walker & Co. closes $50million in capital commitments intended for multifamily affordable housing development. Post this
REOP I primarily focuses on small- and middle-market multifamily transactions, typically with affordable housing components, and deploys capital as a co-general partner, a limited partner, preferred equity investor, and/or mezzanine lender. The vehicle provides certainty to development partners through well-structured capital, including tax-advantaged structures.
"While we've been working through a challenging and turbulent economic environment," said Austin Walker, CEO and Managing Principal, "we continue to see significant pipeline activity from our network. With our additional capital commitments, we look forward to deploying additional value-add investments and counsel into this unique market. We remain committed to supporting diverse developers, delivering value to long-term investors, and to leveraging public-private partnerships to help diverse entrepreneurs develop additional affordable housing units across the country."
In its Q2 2024 Investor Letter, AWC reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating with the development community and mission-aligned capital partners to expand its portfolio of multifamily properties, which includes a particular focus in the South and Midwest. The firm seeks to deploy capital into investments that take full advantage of both public and private incentive programs for the development of multifamily housing in the United States. It also announced the addition of Emily Tavis, SVP of Operations and Compliance.
About A. Walker & Co.
Founded in 2022, A. Walker & Co. is a minority-led investment manager with a passion for strong partnerships with emerging and diverse multifamily operators, as well as for the preservation of affordable housing in historically significant communities and neighborhoods nationwide. They are headquartered in New York, NY.
NOTICES
Not an Offer or Solicitation
This press release has been prepared and is being furnished solely for informational purposes, and the views and statements expressed herein are those solely of A. Walker & Co. In particular, this press release is not, and is not intended to be, an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase, any securities or any other interest in A. Walker & Co., REOP I, or in any fund, account, or other investment product or assets managed by A. Walker & Co., or to offer any services. Any such offering and sale would be made only on the basis of certain transaction documents and, as the case may be, a final private placement memorandum and related governing and subscription documents (together, "transaction documents") pertaining to such offering and sale and is qualified in all respects and in its entirety by any such final transaction documents.
Valuation
The current values set forth herein include unrealized investments and are based on AWC's estimates of fair value of such investments, and they have not been audited or independently verified by any third party. In many circumstances, a different valuation methodology would result in a different valuation and, in certain circumstances, this difference could be material. An estimate of fair value depends on subjective inputs and assumptions. Although AWC believes its fair value methodologies are appropriate, ultimate realization of the value of an asset depends to a great extent on economic and other conditions beyond the control of AWC. Actual realized returns on unrealized investments will depend on, among other factors, future operating results, the value of the assets and market conditions at the time of disposition, any related transaction costs and the timing and manner of sale or repayment, all of which may differ from the assumptions and circumstances on which the valuations used in the performance data contained herein are based. Accordingly, due to various risks, uncertainties and changes beyond the control of AWC, the actual realized returns on these unrealized investments may differ materially from the returns indicated herein and there can be no assurance that these values will ultimately be realized upon disposition of investments.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information contained herein constitutes "forwardlooking statements," which can be identified by use of forwardlooking terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "attempt," "anticipate," "project," "estimate," "intend," "seek," "target," "continue," or "believe," or the negatives thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. Due to the various risks and uncertainties, actual events or results in the actual performance of investments may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in such forwardlooking statements.
SOURCE A. Walker & Co.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. The global climate summit COP29 in Baku in November set ambitious goals, particularly concerning climate financing, and progress is expected during this session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP), the CEO of the World Climate Foundation (WCF) Jens Nielsen told Trend.
"We have established good relations with the COP29 team, which means effective coordination of efforts regarding the COP29 agenda, one of the main issues being climate financing. Following the important global decisions made at COP28 in Dubai, there is significant progress in negotiations with representatives from governments and businesses.
However, it's always challenging to predict how the final consultations at COP will unfold due to the interests of nearly 200 countries," Nielsen said.
According to him, to develop a green world, it's necessary to attract more private sector funding to sustainable markets to support emerging markets, such as those in Africa.
"We need a combination of public and private financing for developing markets, and we are working and will continue to work with the US government and other developed countries on this. Our foundation specializes in supporting the private sector in developing countries, meaning we are discussing specific actions and projects," Nielsen emphasized.
He mentioned that WCF aims to raise $65 billion for climate financing by the end of 2024 through negotiations with major investors from around the world.
Consultations will continue, including on September 25 in New York, where WCF will host a global climate summit with the COP29 presidency team and Azerbaijani officials, he explained.
According to the CEO, renewable energy projects like wind and solar power plants currently receive the majority of "green" investments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
"However, investments are also needed in 'green' technologies for construction, transportation, and industrial sectors such as cement and aluminum production, which have significant greenhouse gas emissions. We are discussing this in our negotiations with potential climate financing partners," Nielsen also said.
He praised Azerbaijan's initiative as COP29 president to establish the Climate Financing Action Fund (CFAF) with a budget of $1 billion.
"The CFAF is very important as it can support the green energy transition. This fund could accumulate contributions from global oil and gas companies as compensation for emissions, with funds used to assist developing countries in meeting their climate commitments. It's a good idea and a correct approach," Nielsen added.
The WCF CEO participated in Baku this week in the 11th technical dialogue of experts and the third meeting of the special working group preparing for COP29, where support was expressed for efforts to agree on the "new collective quantified goal (NCQG) on climate financing."
The WCF is one of the organizers of the COP sessions and serves as a leading international platform for accelerating the development of a green economy through partnerships between governments, businesses, investors, and civil society.
This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 7080,000 foreign guests.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. COPthe Conference of the Partiesis the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Germany's Berlin with its secretariat in Bonn.
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BOSTON and COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Akita Biosciences, Inc., a biotech company that develops innovative nasal spray formulations for drug, device, and cosmetic applications, announces the publication of its platform nasal technology in the prestigious scientific journal Advanced Materials. Akita Biosciences is currently marketing Profi Nasal Spray as a cosmetic product for nasal hygiene, and this study reports extensive pre-clinical studies with potential drug and medical device applications.
Pathogens in respiratory droplets often adhere to the nasal lining, leading to infections. Akita Biosciences' Pathogen Capture and Neutralization Spray (PCANS) technology is designed to coat the nasal passages with a gel-like barrier lasting several hours. In pre-clinical studies, it has been shown to capture large respiratory droplets, block a broad spectrum of viruses and bacteria, and neutralize them effectively. Courtesy of Randal McKenzie, McKenzie Illustrations.
The peer-reviewed study, 'Toward a Radically Simple Multi-Modal Nasal Spray for Preventing Respiratory Infections,' highlights Akita Biosciences' innovative approach to respiratory protection. The company's Pathogen Capture and Neutralization Spray (PCANS) technology demonstrates broad-spectrum activity against common pathogens, including viruses such as influenza, SARS-CoV-2, RSV, adenovirus, and the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae, all of which can spread through airborne transmission and pose significant health risks. Developed by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital, this innovative technology is designed to form a gel-like barrier in the nasal passages to capture, block, and neutralize these pathogens for several hours.
"We know that influenza, COVID-19, and other seasonal infections cause thousands of deaths and make hundreds of thousands seriously ill every year. In our research, we looked at how a nasal spray we developed might protect against these respiratory viruses," said Dr. Jeff Karp, co-founder of Akita Biosciences, Distinguished Chair and Professor at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and co-senior author of this work. "Our pre-clinical findings indicate that this nasal spray can create a robust barrier that effectively captures airborne viruses and bacteria, preventing their transport across the nasal lining, and rapidly neutralizing them."
Vulnerable populationsincluding children, the elderly, immunocompromised individuals, and those with chronic respiratory conditionsare at heightened risk of severe infections and complications. The World Health Organization recently updated its definitions to highlight that many respiratory infections primarily spread through airborne transmission, making them difficult to avoid. Environments such as schools, airplanes, nursing homes, and other crowded spaces present significant challenges for breaking the chain of transmission due to shared air, close contact, and prolonged exposure. PCANS is designed to combat these issues by shielding the nasal passages, the primary entry point for many airborne pathogens.
"The nasal spray was developed using ingredients from the FDA's Inactive Ingredient Database (IID), which have been previously used in approved nasal sprays or long used in consumer products," said Dr. Nitin Joshi, co-founder of Akita Biosciences, Assistant Professor at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and co-senior author of the paper. "The formulation has been engineered to offer broad-spectrum protection and stay in the nasal passages for over eight hours, setting a new standard for how long nasal sprays last."
"We're honored that our technology has been recognized by such a prestigious journal," said Alex Revelos, CEO and co-founder of Akita Biosciences. "Our mission is to deliver nasal therapies that protect against airborne threats and empower people to take control of their health."
About Akita Biosciences, Inc.
Akita Biosciences is at the forefront of health and wellness with innovative nasal sprays that leverage world-class science and advanced formulations to enhance human health. While traditional supplements focus on general wellness, our approach targets the nasal passageswhere airborne germs, allergens, and irritants first enter the body. By delivering proactive, targeted solutions at this crucial point of entry, we support respiratory health and contribute to overall well-being. At Akita, we're not just addressing health challenges; we're setting a new standard for how people support their health in an increasingly airborne world. Discover how we are shaping the future at www.akitabiosciences.com and www.profispray.com.
Media Contact:
Michael Simonson
(201) 572-1030
[email protected]
SOURCE Akita Biosciences
Statewide partnership with Uwill provides traditional student and adult support
MONTGOMERY, Ala., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Alabama Community College System (ACCS)which provides affordable education and technical training to more than 170,000 Alabama residents each yeartoday announced a groundbreaking new partnership that dramatically extends mental health resources for students, faculty, staff, and administration across its 24 community and technical colleges. Through a collaboration with pioneering mental health and wellness solution Uwill , the initiative will enhance mental health support system-wide by providing immediate access to licensed mental health counselors and connecting individuals in crisis with therapists trained in trauma.
"Our decision to support our hardworking students, faculty, staff, and administrators with a unified platform for mental health resources reflects our focus on meeting the wide-ranging needs that come with balancing the complex commitments to education, work, family, and the community," said Jimmy H. Baker , Chancellor, Alabama Community College System. "Our goal is to ensure that every member of our community college system has access to free, accessible mental health support to thrive in their endeavors."
Recent survey data shows that 90% of adults believe the country is facing a mental health crisis. Meanwhile 42% of college students have expressed the need for help with mental health difficulties in the last year, but more than 60% have never received counseling or therapy. According to data compiled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), approximately 41% of adults in Alabama sought medical treatment for mental health issues between 2017 and 2019.
To help close this gap, the statewide community college mental health initiative will provide robust mental health support at all 24 of its colleges. Students, faculty and staff will be able to access Uwill's innovative platform, the first of its kind, which offers an immediate appointment with a licensed counselor based on individual needs and preferences, all modalities of teletherapy, a direct crisis connection, realtime data, and wellness events. The initiative is reflective of the state of Alabama's commitment to raising awareness of mental health issues and providing treatment and support services to those in need. In 2023, Governor Kay Ivey expanded the state's existing mental health capacities through funding for six mental health crisis centers across the state.
"We are honored to support Alabama's community college students during a time when there is growing awareness of the need to remove barriers to mental health support and its vital role in student success and well-being," said Michael London, Founder and CEO of Uwill. "Our technology and counselor community provide a foundation for student resilience. Every student deserves not only access to mental health support, but also the opportunity to thrive."
Uwill was founded in 2020 to help campus counseling centers tackle overwhelming student demand. The company now serves more than 3 million students worldwide. Utilizing its proprietary technology and counselor team, Uwill pioneered the first student and therapist matching platform that allows individuals to book an appointment with a therapist they choose in less than five minutes.
ABOUT THE ACCS: Alabama's community and technical colleges were unified as one system May 3, 1963, when legislators laid the groundwork for a unified system of institutions to focus on accessible training in "arts and sciences and in useful skills and trades" for current and future labor needs. The important cause remains the singular purpose of the Alabama Community College System (ACCS). With 24 community and technical colleges in more than 130 locations and an economic impact of $6.6 billion, the ACCS is Alabama's gateway to first-class, affordable education and technical training to compete in a constantly evolving workforce. More than 170,000 Alabamians benefit from the various certification, credential, dual enrollment and degree programs ACCS offers alongside leading industry partners. The System includes the Alabama Technology Network, which provides extensive training and service offerings directly to business and industry. ACCS is governed by the Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees.
About Uwill: Uwill is the leading mental health and wellness solution for colleges and students, and the 27th fastest growing private company in the nation according to the Inc. 5000. As the most cost-effective way to enhance a college's mental health offering, Uwill partners with more than 400 institutions, including Princeton University, the Ohio State University, Santa Fe Community College, and University of Alabama - Online. Uwill is also the teletherapy education partner for NASPA and the Online Learning Consortium. For more information, visit uwill.com.
Media Contact:
Brett Silk, [email protected]
SOURCE Uwill, Inc
New investment supports DxA's mission to advance the development of scalable and universally accessible diagnostics.
Blood tests will be key to further evolving Alzheimer's diagnostics, care, and research.
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) today announced a new investment in C2N Diagnostics. The $7 million investment is the largest to date from the ADDF's Diagnostics Accelerator (DxA) and underscores the DxA's commitment to developing and deploying novel biomarkers, including blood tests, that will transform the Alzheimer's diagnostic landscape, a core tenet of the ADDF's mission. Scalable, accessible blood-based biomarkers will be critical to enabling a combination therapy and precision medicine approach in Alzheimer's, like in cancer care.
"Blood tests are transforming Alzheimer's disease detection and will continue to play a critical role in the future of Alzheimer's treatment and research," notes Howard Fillit, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at the ADDF. "PTau217 has emerged as the blood-based biomarker gold standard for diagnostic purposes and studies show that C2N's PrecivityAD2 test has industry-leading sensitivity and accuracy, positioning these tests to replace more invasive PET scans and spinal taps. This investment will improve this critical tool's accessibility, a pillar of the DxA's mission to develop diagnostics for the millions of patients living with this disease."
C2N's pioneering blood tests are rooted in scientific rigor with a history of breakthroughs. Notably, the company's PrecivityAD blood test was first-to-market with the help of ADDF seed-funding. With this new investment, C2N intends to develop a deployable version of its blood biomarker detection platform, like well-known diagnostics platforms such as Roche's Elecsys and Fujirebio's Lumipulse, that will enable global access to the test. This investment builds upon the ADDF and C2N's longstanding partnership.
"C2N Diagnostics gratefully appreciates the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation's DxA for their trust and confidence in our approach and for providing this critical funding. We recognize the significance of being the largest recipient to date of DxA funding and take that responsibility very seriously," says Joel Braunstein, MD, CEO and Co-Founder of C2N. "We're intensely focused on our goal to develop an end-to-end clinical mass spectrometry solution. This platform will enable high-performance Alzheimer's disease testing on a global scale. C2N believes a decentralized process for high-performance testing, developed and qualified in a regulatory-compliant manner, is a requisite to address the growing global demand for early and accurate disease detection."
Blood-based biomarkers are one part of the DxA's diverse portfolio, which also includes ocular tests and digital tools. To date, the DxA has invested more than $70 million in over 60 projects. Along with blood tests, the future of Alzheimer's diagnostics will incorporate digital and ocular tools that will not only provide patients with early and accurate diagnoses, but also have the potential to be used for screening, prognostic, and prevention efforts.
"Sensitive and accurate biomarkers are crucial to support early diagnosis and intervention, which studies show can have considerable impact on disease progression," says Niranjan Bose, PhD, B Pharm, Managing Director of Health & Life Sciences at Gates Ventures. "The true measure of the value of a biomarker is whether it's accessible and scalable enough to promote adoption and subsequently transform the diagnostic landscapewhich is what we hope to do here."
Advancements in Alzheimer's blood tests will help accelerate drug development and clinical trials by providing faster and more cost-effective ways to enroll patients into trials and will aid in monitoring the target engagement of new drugs. Ultimately, blood tests and novel biomarkers will support the future of combination therapy and precision medicinethe holy grail of Alzheimer's treatment.
ABOUT THE ALZHEIMER'S DRUG DISCOVERY FOUNDATION (ADDF)
Founded in 1998 by Leonard A. and Ronald S. Lauder, the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation is dedicated to rapidly accelerating the discovery of drugs to prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer's disease. The ADDF is the only public charity solely focused on funding the development of drugs for Alzheimer's, employing a venture philanthropy model to support research in academia and the biotech industry. The ADDF's leadership and contributions to the field have played a pivotal role in bringing the first Alzheimer's PET scan (Amyvid) and blood test (PrecivityAD) to market, as well as fueling the current robust and diverse drug pipeline. Through the generosity of its donors, the ADDF has awarded more than $290 million to fund over 750 Alzheimer's drug discovery programs, biomarker programs and clinical trials in 20 countries. To learn more, please visit: http://www.alzdiscovery.org/.
ABOUT THE DIAGNOSTICS ACCELERATOR (DxA)
The Diagnostics Accelerator, created in July 2018, is a $100 million global research initiative from partners including ADDF Co-Founder Leonard A. Lauder, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, the Dolby family, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, among others, to develop novel biomarkers for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
This research initiative is dedicated to accelerating the development of affordable and accessible biomarkers to diagnose Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and advance the clinical development of more targeted treatments. Through translational research awards and access to consulting support from industry experts, this program will challenge, assist and fund the research community in both academia and industry to develop novel peripheral and digital biomarkers.
ABOUT C2N DIAGNOSTICS, LLC
C2N Diagnostics is a specialty diagnostics company with a vision to bring Clarity Through Innovation. C2N strives to provide exceptional clinical laboratory services and advanced diagnostic solutions in the field of brain health. C2N's high-resolution mass spectrometry-based biomarker services and products are used for: clinical decision-making to improve patient care, including diagnosis and treatment monitoring; maximizing the quality and efficiency of clinical trials that test novel treatments for neurodegeneration; and providing innovative tools to help healthcare researchers better understand novel mechanisms of disease, identify new treatment targets, and conduct important epidemiologic studies to improve global public health. C2N assays have been used in over 150 Alzheimer's disease and other research studies throughout the U.S. and the world. This includes landmark treatment and prevention trials involving disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that are changing the trajectory of Alzheimer's disease. C2N has ongoing collaborations with multi-national pharmaceutical and biotech companies, leading academic institutions, National Institute on Aging, Alzheimer's Association, and other non-profits and consortiums. Over 30,000 Precivity-related biomarker measures have been reported through peer-reviewed publications, with many more manuscripts currently under review. C2N has partnered with numerous leading clinical diagnostic labs throughout the world to offer expanded Precivity testing access to providers and patients, including Unilabs across 75 countries, Grupo Fleury in Brazil and Healius Pathology in Australia for clinical use, and with Mediford Corporation in Japan for research purposes. C2N also recently announced it has entered into a non-exclusive agreement with Mayo Clinic Laboratories.
The company acknowledges generous support from National Institute on Aging, GHR Foundation, Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, Alzheimer's Association and BrightFocus Foundation. For more information visit www.C2N.com.
ABOUT PRECIVITY TESTS
The Precivity tests are innovative new blood tests intended for use in patients 55 and older with signs or symptoms of mild cognitive impairment or dementia. These tests aid healthcare providers in the detection of amyloid plaques in the brain, a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, and inform medical management and treatment decisions.
ABOUT MASS SPECTROMETRY
A mass spectrometer is a device that produces charged particles (ions) from biological substances and biomarkers present in complex tissues and fluids like blood. The platform then uses electric and magnetic fields to measure the mass of the charged particles. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) offers advantages of true multiplexing, quantitative accuracy, high sensitivity, high specificity, and wide dynamic range, enabling definitive identification and quantification of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers at both low and high abundance. High resolution LC-MS/MS is an ideal platform to evaluate multiple complex biomarkers simultaneously to help optimize diagnostic accuracy.
SOURCE Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation
BEIJING, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In today's world, where the futures of all countries are closely linked, development, security and civilization play important roles in promoting the modernization process of human society. The Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, offer profound insights into the issues of our time. The Global Times invites scholars to provide readers both at home and abroad with an in-depth understanding of these three initiatives. This is the first article in the series.
In April 2022, President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI) at the Boao Forum for Asia, offering Chinese wisdom, solutions and strength to address global security challenges, bridge the peace deficit and promote shared security worldwide. Over the past two years, the GSI has served as an important public good contributed by China to global security. It has played a positive role, garnered widespread support, demonstrated significant contemporary relevance and practical impact, and continues to benefit the noble cause of human peace and development.
China's proposal responds to call for peace
The GSI directly addresses the urgent question of how to maintain peace and prevent war in today's world. Looking around the globe, it is evident that the world is neither peaceful nor stable. Traditional and non-traditional security threats, such as regional conflicts, arms races, terrorism and climate change, are intertwined. At this crossroads, the world must unite and take actions today to shape a better future for tomorrow. Finding an effective security solution in this changing and turbulent world has become a pressing concern for all.
Global security governance urgently needs to break free from "outdated mind-sets" and seek "new pathways." The GSI stands at the forefront of this era of transformation, offering a significant security concept and a set of principles to resolve conflicts, manage risks and address security deficits. Amid global turmoil, the GSI highlights China's commitment by providing new ideas and solutions that bring fresh momentum and hope for world peace and security.
China's vision reflects the pursuit of justice
At the core of the GSI are the six commitments: stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security; stay committed to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries; stay committed to abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; stay committed to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously; stay committed to peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation; and stay committed to maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains.
These six commitments embody the diplomatic approach of a major Eastern nation that considers the future of humanity and prioritizes the well-being of all people.
First, China pursues common security rather than only caring about its own security. In today's era, no country can ensure its own security in isolation from global security, and no real security can be built on the insecurity of others. The GSI calls for respecting and safeguarding the security of every nation, emphasizing the universal, equal and inclusive nature of security.
Second, China pursues comprehensive security rather than security of a certain region. Pursing comprehensive security means to view regional and country-to-country security issues at a global level, recognizing the interconnectedness of various security challenges and working to resolve both current prominent issues and potential threats. This approach maximizes the overall effectiveness of global security governance.
Third, China pursues cooperative security rather than alliance-exclusive security. Cooperative security emphasizes that countries should not form exclusive alliances to maintain national security.
Fourth, China pursues sustainable security rather than short-term security.
China is actively promoting security cooperation
China is not only an active proponent of the GSI but also a steadfast practitioner. Over the past two years, China, along with all parties involved, actively promotes the CSI to achieve fruitful results, showcasing its vibrant vitality.
Since the GSI was proposed, China has joined hands with other countries and international organizations to steadily advance security cooperation within the initiative's framework, achieving a series of significant preliminary outcomes. The GSI's appeal and influence continue to grow. With the support of over 100 countries and international and regional organizations, it has been incorporated into numerous bilateral and multilateral cooperation documents between China and other countries, forming a global consensus. The increasing international response to the GSI can be attributed to its resonance with the global community's desire for peace, development and stability. It unites countries from diverse cultural backgrounds and stages of development, promoting cooperative security through solidarity.
Under the GSI, China has developed an approach with Chinese characteristics to address hotspot issues. The GSI confronts problems and challenges head-on, upholding justice and fairness to seek peaceful solutions for countries troubled by war and conflicts. Regarding the Ukraine crisis, China released a paper outlining its position on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, actively engaging in shuttle diplomacy and urging peace talks. Additionally, China facilitated the reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, initiating a "wave of reconciliation" across the Middle East. Under China's efforts, Palestinian factions signed the Beijing Declaration to end division and strengthen Palestinian national unity. China has played a constructive role in resolving some of the world's most challenging regional conflicts, bringing certainty and positive energy to a world filled with turmoil.
The GSI actively leads global security governance in emerging fields, reflecting the interests of developing countries and raising a strong call for cooperation in addressing new security challenges. In the field of data security, China proposed the Global Initiative on Data Security, striving to build a global data security governance system. In artificial intelligence, China introduced the Global Artificial Intelligence Governance Initiative, offering new solutions to AI governance challenges.
The path of righteousness is never lonely; collective efforts can go far. Over the past two years, China and various parties have worked together to safeguard global security, demonstrating commitment and responsibility through tangible results. Looking ahead, China will continue to work with various parties to push the GSI toward a brighter future, ensuring shared security and prosperity for the people of the world.
The author Fu Xiaoqiang is the vice president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. [email protected]
SOURCE Global Times
Brewer's Latest Investment Strengthens Local Economy and Brewing Excellence with Multimillion-Dollar Commitment
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Anheuser-Busch (NYSE:BUD), America's leading brewer and maker of Michelob ULTRA, Busch Light, Budweiser and Bud Light, today announced a new $16 million investment in its Los Angeles brewery. Over the past 5 years, Anheuser-Busch has invested nearly $2 billion in its facilities across the country to help create and sustain jobs and drive economic prosperity in the communities where it operates and its employees call home.
Anheuser-Busch Los Angeles Brewery
Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Anheuser-Busch, stated, "Investing in the communities where our people live and work is part of who we are. At Anheuser-Busch, we've been producing high quality, great tasting products for generations, and through continued investments in our facilities like our Los Angeles brewery, we're not only improving our capabilities but also contributing to the prosperity of the communities we serve."
Key Highlights of the Investment:
Expansion of packaging capabilities for the company's "beyond beer" brands like Cutwater and NUTRL, including variety packaging
Increased production capacity for 25-ounce cans to meet increasing consumer demand
Facility upgrades to enhance water conservation and reduce boiler emissions
The Los Angeles brewery, a cornerstone of Anheuser-Busch's operations since 1954, has played a crucial role in the $2.6 billion capital investments the brewer has made in California, to date. Anheuser-Busch operates more than 120 facilities across the country and, with its distributors, employs 65,000 hardworking Americans. As the nation's leading brewer, Anheuser-Busch has the unique ability to create U.S. jobs and drive economic prosperity at this scale.
Eric Gutierrez, General Manager of the Anheuser-Busch Los Angeles Brewery, emphasized the significance of this investment: "This is a pivotal moment for the Los Angeles brewery. These investments equip us with the unique opportunity to stay at the forefront of brewing excellence and innovate in new ways that meet consumer needs. We've been a proud member of the Los Angeles community for nearly 70 years, and this ongoing investment not only boosts the local economy but fosters growth for Anheuser-Busch, while supporting our dedicated employees."
Stuart Waldman, President of The Valley Industry & Commerce Association, welcomed the investment, stating, "Anheuser-Busch has been an important part of the Los Angeles community for decades and their continued investment in the local economy helps provide ongoing economic opportunities for the working people of Southern California. We're grateful that Anheuser-Busch remains a partner committed to driving economic growth and prosperity for the San Fernando Valley."
With over 3,400 employees across 14 facilities in California, Anheuser-Busch remains dedicated to being a key economic driver in the state and maintaining its position as the leader in the American brewing industry.
For more on Anheuser-Busch's economic impact visit www.anheuser-busch.com/community/economic-impact or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn , X , Facebook , and Instagram .
ABOUT ANHEUSER-BUSCH
At Anheuser-Busch, our purpose is to create a future with more cheers. We are committed to earning our place in the moments that matter to our consumers and making a meaningful impact in our communities across the country. For more than 165 years, Anheuser-Busch has carried on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations.
Today, we own and operate more than 120 facilities, including breweries, wholesaler distribution centers, agricultural facilities, and packaging plants, and have a dedicated network of more than 65,000 hardworking Americans across the United States who bring our beer to life. We are home to several of America's most iconic beer and beyond beer brands, including Michelob ULTRA, Cutwater Spirits, Stella Artois, Budweiser, and Bud Light as well as regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From our industry-leading efforts to support American farmers and our nation's military, veterans, and first responders to emergency drinking water donations and responsible drinking programs, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we call home that's who we are. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn , X , Facebook , and Instagram .
SOURCE Anheuser-Busch
New survey findings reveal clear support across political affiliation for a strategic investment approach to ensure the state's prosperity
PHOENIX, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) today announced results from its latest 2024 Arizona Voters' Agenda survey, providing voters' views of taxes, state spending, and long-term planning ahead of the November general election. This survey research is part of CFA's ongoing efforts to center the voices of Arizonans during election season and highlight areas where likely voters agree across political and generational lines. The findings reveal that voters are calling for a more strategic approach to long-term planning, stable revenue sources, and investments that support growth and maintain quality of life across the state.
New survey findings reveal clear support across political affiliations for a strategic investment approach to ensure the states prosperity.
"Arizona voters recognize that strategic vision and long-term planning are essential to ensuring the state's continued success," said Dr. Sybil Francis, Chair, President & CEO of CFA. "Voters are forward-looking, urging policymakers to make decisions today that will shape Arizona's future and ensure long-term prosperity."
The 2024 Arizona Voters' Agenda survey, conducted by CFA in collaboration with HighGround, Inc., an Arizona-based award-winning public opinion polling firm, reveals key policy priorities that have surpassed CFA's rigorous threshold for agreement to be deemed Voters' Agenda items. The survey also provides broader insights into voter sentiment.
Arizona Voters Want to Prepare for Growth
Arizona is expected to see significant population growth in the coming decades, with the state expected to reach 8 million residents by 2030 and 9 million by 2040.
Planning for the future resonates strongly with voters, as 88% of voters agree that Arizona needs "a long-term investment strategy based on stable revenue and better planning" to sustain growth. Voters believe that "Arizona's short-term budget planning creates a lot of uncertainty often alternating between budget shortfalls and cuts one year, and surpluses and spending the next." Voters across political affiliations support this notion with 83% of Republicans, 90% of independent/unaffiliated voters, and 93% of Democrats in agreement.
Additionally, 52% of voters are not confident that the state is prepared for future growth, and 87% of voters support the statement that "It will take higher levels of planning and preparedness to ensure we have the resources and infrastructure to support growth and maintain our quality of life." Read more
Contact: Heather Thornton, [email protected], 602.538.2274; Chloe Ranshaw, [email protected], 480.639.8088
SOURCE Center for the Future of Arizona
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Astara Capital Partners ("Astara"), an operationally-focused private equity firm that invests in middle market companies, is pleased to announce that Sarah Robson has joined the firm as Head of Business Development. Based in New York, Sarah will be responsible for leading the firm's deal origination and marketing efforts and will work closely with the investment team to accelerate sourcing efforts.
"We are excited to welcome Sarah to the team to lead our business development effort. She has a long history in private equity, and outstanding long-term relationships throughout the private equity ecosystem that complement our existing team" said Michael Ranson, Founder and Managing Partner of Astara.
Prior to joining Astara, Sarah's worked at several private equity firms in Business Development including Five Arrows, Comvest Partners, and Atlantic Street Capital.
About Astara Capital Partners
Astara Capital Partners is an integrated team of investors and operators investing in the middle market. The firm brings capital, strategic, and operational resources to its investments to build sustainable value and position them for long-term success. Astara focuses on a variety of sectors where it has deep experience, including packaging & converting, food, building products, residential & facility services, industrial manufacturing, distribution & related services, IT & business services.. More information about Astara can be found at www.astaracapital.com .
SOURCE Astara Capital Partners
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Aztec Group, a leading fund and corporate services administrator, has appointed Todd Werner as U.S. Head of Private Credit.
Based in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Todd will lead the Private Credit offering at Aztec Group in the U.S., with a remit for developing and implementing strategy, enhancing operational efficiency and effectiveness, building a high functioning team, and expanding Aztec Group's presence in the U.S. market.
Aztec Group U.S. Head of Private Credit, Todd Werner. (PRNewsfoto/Aztec Group)
He will also play a key role in developing Aztec's Private Credit business in the United States by supporting the evolution of best practice, financial governance and strategic considerations related to the processing and reporting of loan investments and the development of the Private Credit service model.
Todd joins Aztec Group from Ultimus Fund Solutions where he was Senior Vice President of Retail Alternative Funds and was responsible for developing and implementing the go to market strategy for the retail alternative fund business. Prior to that Todd was a Director at SS&C, responsible for overseeing fund accounting and administration services for private equity and private credit clients.
Todd said: "I am delighted to join the Aztec team. I was attracted to the business by its compelling growth strategy in the United States. I look forward to developing Aztec's Private Credit capabilities, working with the team on our strategic goals, and delivering outstanding service to our clients.
"Aztec's desire to expand operations in the U.S. coupled with support from its award-winning service teams in Europe, made the choice to join the Group an obvious one for me."
Todd's appointment follows the recent appointment of Scott Kraemer as Head of U.S. Markets in April 2024.
Scott Kraemer, Head of U.S. Markets at Aztec Group, said: "I am pleased to welcome Todd to the senior leadership team in the U.S. He brings a wealth of experience and expertise in Private Credit and the retail alternative fund business. Todd's appointment reflects our commitment to growing our footprint in the U.S. and increasing the scope of our offerings to our clients.
"With Todd's extensive expertise, we are confident that we can continue to deliver on our promise of unrivalled service quality and value to our clients while building on our Private Credit capabilities in the U.S."
Todd holds a master's degree in business administration from Fordham University and a bachelor's degree in finance from Shippensburg University.
Notes to Editor
About the Aztec Group
Established in 2001, the Aztec Group is an award-winning provider of fund and corporate services, employing more than 2,000 people across the U.S., UK, Luxembourg, Ireland and Channel Islands. Owner-managed, the Group specialises in alternative investments, administering more than $600 billion in assets, 450 funds and 4,500 entities for a range of clients, spanning the major asset classes including private equity, venture capital, private debt, real estate and infrastructure.
https://aztec.group
Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2514194/Aztec_Group.jpg
SOURCE Aztec Group
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Franklin Resources, Inc. ("Franklin" or "the Company") (NYSE: BEN) for violations of the securities laws.
The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Franklin admitted on July 26, 2024, that "following the launch of an internal investigation focusing on certain past trade allocations of treasury derivatives in select Western Asset Management ('WAM') accounts, WAM received notification of parallel investigations by the SEC and U.S. Department of Justice." The Company then disclosed on August 21, 2024, that WAM co-Chief Investment Officer Ken Leech had been played on leave "effective immediately" adding that "in 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." Finally, the Company also disclosed that Leech had received a Wells Notice from the SEC. Based on this news, shares of Franklin fell significantly.
If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.
We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at [email protected].
The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.
CONTACT:
The Schall Law Firm
Brian Schall, Esq.
310-301-3335
[email protected]
www.schallfirm.com
SOURCE The Schall Law Firm
STOCKHOLM, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- For several years, Boliden and Komatsu have collaborated on the electrification and automation of mining trucks in the open pit copper mine Aitik. Now the collaboration is further deepened with a world premiere of a mining truck that can be converted to battery technology.
In Aitik, electrified trolley systems have, separate from this cooperation, been implemented with the aim of reducing diesel consumption and 17 mining trucks have been converted to self-driving in an autonomous haulage system (AHS). In connection with the world's largest expo for mining equipment, MINEXPO in Las Vegas, Boliden and Komatsu presented the next step in the development towards fossil-free mining. As the first operation in the world, a mining truck from Komatsu, with the option to convert to battery operation, will be introduced in Aitik. This as a result of a collaborative project where the mining truck is tested in a production environment with the aim of further developing technology and implementation possibilities.
"We have taken and continue to take important steps in the development towards a mining operation with high productivity combined with low climate impact. I am extremely proud that we are still a frontrunner in this development and thereby being a global role model in the industry", says Stefan Romedahl, President, Business Area Mines.
The mining truck now presented by Komatsu is called the Power Agnostic 930E and, as the name suggests, it can be converted from diesel to various types of fossil-free power sources.
For further information, please contact:
Klas Nilsson
Director Group Communications
+46 70 453 65 88
[email protected]
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com.
https://news.cision.com/boliden/r/boliden-and-komatsu-deepen-cooperation-around-fossil-free-mining,c4042150
The following files are available for download:
https://mb.cision.com/Main/997/4042150/3018649.pdf Press release
SOURCE Boliden
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. It is planned to raise an initial capital of $1 billion and attract at least ten donor countries to participate in the Climate Finance Action Fund to start its activities, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov said at an international forum on carbon pricing taking place in Baku, Trend reports.
In our opinion, this issue will be one of the key topics for discussion within COP29, the minister emphasized.
Jabbarov mentioned that the main objective of the Climate Finance Action Fund is to increase the contribution of countries with fossil fuel reserves and companies in this sector to the transition to green technologies.
One of the key initiatives on the COP29 agenda is the establishment of a Climate Finance Action Fund (CFAF). This fund can play an important role in addressing the climate finance gaps that exist today. It is envisioned that the main sources of capital for the fund will come from fossil fuel-producing countries, as well as oil, gas, and coal companies. The main goal of the fund is not only to invest in climate initiatives in developing countries and small island states but also to increase the contribution of countries with fossil fuel reserves and companies of this sector in the transition to green technologies, he stressed.
The minister reminded that Azerbaijan will host such a significant event as the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).
Today's event directly corresponds to the objectives of COP29. On the agenda is the assessment of the role of fiscal instruments in the decarbonization process. Discussing this issue with representatives of several authoritative international organizations, as well as delegations of IOTA member countries, will be extremely productive for us, he added.
The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act would offer funding to farmers seeking to begin pasture-based farming or crop production and improve the welfare of farmed animals
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, federal lawmakers introduced the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act, the first standalone federal legislation that supports farmers seeking to exit the inhumane, unsustainable and economically volatile factory farming system by funding transitions to more humane and resilient animal and crop production. Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.), Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), the bill is endorsed by a broad coalition of over 100 farm, animal welfare, environmental and public health groups including the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). As Congress develops the next Farm Bill, the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act offers a road map for empowering farmers to create a more humane and sustainable food system.
Industrial animal agriculture, also known as factory farming, confines billions of pigs, chickens and cows in crowded warehouses and feedlots, or small, barren cages and crates that prevent basic movements. This intensive system of agriculture is one of the largest sources of animal suffering and significant climate-warming emissions in the United States, and farmers have been joining the chorus of calls for change as they too experience the devastating effects of this industry's exploitation. Farmers raising animals under the industrial model often carry debts totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, and many report inconsistent and smaller than expected monthly incomes that leave them struggling to make ends meet. Without financial support, these farmers cannot build the alternative, more humane and sustainable food system that is so urgently needed, and which consumers are eager to support. More than 80 percent of Americans support government funding for farmers transitioning to more humane practices.
"Farmers want to produce food in ways that are good for people and the planet, but aren't always empowered to do so in a consolidated food system like ours. I'm thrilled to introduce the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act, which unlocks climate-forward conservation dollars to assist producers who want to transition out of the factory farm model," said Congresswoman Adams. "Whether pasture-based or plant-based, farmers want to farm sustainably, humanely and resiliently. I'm glad to support them in partnership with Representative McGovern, Senator Booker, and dozens of organizations on the ground."
"Corporate meatpackers use their market power to trap producers in the factory farm system with terrible profit margins and unsustainable debt," said Senator Booker. "Their practices contribute to climate change and destroy rural communities. This legislation leverages conservation funding to give farmers a completely voluntary new path forward by providing them with the resources they need to transition to a more climate-friendly and humane production system that is good for people, animals and the planet."
"We need a food system that feeds everyone while doing right by the people, the planet and animals," said Congressman McGovern. "Farmers are at the center of that vision, and we need to do everything we can to support them. I'm proud to co-lead this bill with Representative Adams and Senator Booker so that we can empower farmers to break free from a broken system and thrive as independent producers."
The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act would accelerate the transition to a more humane and sustainable food system by creating a new funding opportunity under the existing Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to enable farmers operating concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to transition out of industrial agriculture. Investing in these transitions ultimately secures long-term animal welfare, climate and public health benefits, in addition to ensuring more farmers are able to stay on the farm. The bill would also provide critical protections for farmers who apply for grant funding, insulating them from potential retaliation from meatpackers and the factory farming industry. The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act is supported by a diverse group of farmers, sustainable farming advocates and environmental and environmental justice organizations:
"I know firsthand the difficulty both financially and socially in transitioning from a confinement animal system to a regenerative farming system, having transitioned our farm in 1996," said Ron Holter of Holterholm Farms. "Financially there is often a lag time from the beginning of what can be an expensive transition to eventually achieving an improved income while the land heals and the livestock become accustomed to a healthier, happier lifestyle. Transitional funds like those provided in the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act would be a blessing to farmers attempting to move to more regenerative, livestock-friendly systems."
"We took on over $400,000 in debt to become contract chicken farmers and came close to foreclosure when we decided to get out of industrial animal agriculture. When we cancelled our contract, the integrator came out to our farm, picked up their $20 sign and drove away without another thought," said Paula Boles, co-owner of JB Farms. "We know too many farmers have similar stories of being exploited by integrators and left with few options to keep their farms going. The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act would help support farmers like us across the country who want to transition to more sustainable and economically viable farming systems."
"Over a decade ago I began to transition away from conventional cattle production to more sustainable, humane and regenerative practices and I've seen more benefits than I can name in the health of my animals and land. But without the kind of support this legislation offers, doing the right thing has been a slow and extremely risky process for myself and farmers like me across the country," said Don Jackson, owner of Pompey's Rest Farm. "The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act gives farmers a way out of a destructive system that's squeezing them dry, and that's a wonderful thing."
"Factory farming is not just a nightmare for animals contract farmers who were promised easy profits and the chance to 'feed the world' find themselves taking on seemingly endless debt to raise animals in this cruel industrial model, threatening the security of their families and farms," said Kara Shannon, director of farm animal welfare policy for the ASPCA. "The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act offers resources to support farmers who are climbing the ladder out of the pit of factory farming and want to transition to more humane and economically sustainable practices. We commend Representatives Adams and McGovern, and Senator Booker for introducing this groundbreaking legislation to create a more compassionate food system that respects animals, farmers, rural communities and our environment."
"The factory farm system that traps farmers under mountains of debt and damages rural communities, public health and the environment didn't happen by accident, said Patty Lovera of the Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment. "Factory farms are the result of decades of failed enforcement, bad farm policy and direct government support, including federally-guaranteed loans for new factory farms. The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act would be a critical first step in the transition away from factory farms to a system based on independent, family farm livestock production."
"Too many farmers have been exploited and trapped in the factory farm system for too long, which is why Farm Aid applauds the introduction of the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act," said Hannah Tremblay, policy and advocacy manager of Farm Aid. "We're especially excited that livestock farmers will have an opportunity to be a part of the solution to climate change through the funding for climate-smart conversion projects."
"The factory farming industry preys on our nation's farmers by trapping them in exploitative contracts and depriving them of meaningful autonomy. The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act seeks to promote competition in our food system by creating a program for farmers who wish to transition from the highly consolidated factory farming model to climate-smart practices, such as specialty crop production," said Frances Chrzan, senior federal policy manager, The Transfarmation Project of Mercy For Animals. "We applaud Rep. Alma Adams, Rep. Jim McGovern and Sen. Cory Booker for introducing legislation to create kinder and more sustainable pathways for farmers, which will benefit not only farmers and our economy but human health, the environment and farmed animals."
"This bill would give small farmers more control over their operations to not have the larger corporations controlling what they do on their own farms. Factory farms put a strain on our health. This gives those farmers an opportunity to create a better product for our communities and consumers and improve our food system as a whole," said Philip Barker, farmer and co-founder/co-project director of Operation Spring Plant, Inc.
"In North Carolina's Duplin and Sampson counties, hogs outnumber people by approximately 30-to-1. The vast majority of these industrial agricultural operations use an outdated cesspit and spray field system in which hog feces and urine are flushed into open-air pits and sprayed onto nearby fields, causing higher rates of anemia, kidney disease and infant mortality among local communities," said Dr. Rania Masri, co-director of the NC Environmental Justice Network. "NCEJN applauds Rep. Alma Adams, from North Carolina, for introducing the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act and speaking up for the contract farmers, trapped as serfs on their own land, and the communities who are struggling against this polluting industry. We particularly applaud Rep. Adams for ensuring that biogasa false solution being promoted by large hog producers like Smithfield Fieldsis not granted an exceptional status in this bill."
"The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act will release farmers ensnared in the highly flawed industrial animal agriculture model and usher in much-needed sustainable food and farm system reform. 'Get Big or Get Out' has failed farmers, rural communities and our country. The IACA will help farmers and rural America get out from under CAFOS and thrive," said Harry Manin, deputy legislative director of the Sierra Club.
"Today's factory farm system stacks the cards against farmers, workers, consumers and the environment while letting Big Ag corporations reap all the rewards. The Industrial Agricultural Conversion Act is an important opportunity to transition our food and agriculture sector away from factory farms and an important lifeline for those squeezed by corporate consolidation," said Rebecca Wolf, senior food policy analyst for Food and Water Watch.
"More than ever before, consumers want the assurance that the products they buy are aligned with their values. The data shows us that 80 percent of U.S. consumers are concerned about the environmental impact of the products they buy," said David Levine, co-founder and president of the American Sustainable Business Network. "In just the last few years, the sale of meat with labels boasting environmental and labor benefits increased 18 percent compared to conventionally labeled meat products. In addition, the sustainable fashion industry market is expected to more than double to $15 billion by 2030. Sustainable business is no longer just about doing the right thing, it's also a wise investment and makes good business sense. Once farmers can move out of the industrial model, they will see higher profits and more resiliency to extreme weather and volatile markets, the Industrial Agriculture Conservation Act will begin to provide the needed support to take that first step to transition."
The ASPCA is among many organizations working to help farmers exit oppressive industrial agribusiness contracts through grant funding and advocacy support so they can repurpose their investments into more humane and sustainable businesses. Members of the public are encouraged to contact their federal lawmakers in Congress to urge them to cosponsor the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act to protect animals and support farmers getting off of the factory farming treadmill.
For more information about the ASPCA, or to join the ASPCA Advocacy Brigade, please visit www.aspca.org.
About the ASPCA
Founded in 1866, the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was the first animal welfare organization to be established in North America and today serves as the nation's leading voice for vulnerable and victimized animals. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation with more than two million supporters nationwide, the ASPCA is committed to preventing cruelty to dogs, cats, equines, and farm animals throughout the United States. The ASPCA assists animals in need through on-the-ground disaster and cruelty interventions, behavioral rehabilitation, animal placement, legal and legislative advocacy, and the advancement of the sheltering and veterinary community through research, training, and resources. For more information, visit www.ASPCA.org , and follow the ASPCA on Facebook , X , Instagram , and TikTok .
SOURCE ASPCA
Get The Ghost Burger you've been craving and more from Carl's Jr. to lift your spirits or ease your guilt
FRANKLIN, Tenn., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- If your date, potential employer or supposed best friend has suddenly ended all communication without explanation, we hate to break it to you, but you've been ghosted. Or maybe, you've done the ghosting, and the guilt is eating away at you. To lift your spirits or ease your guilt, Carl's Jr.'s new burger, The Ghost is available today at participating restaurants for a limited time. On social media, confessing or commiserating your ghosting stories could mean some Carl's Jr. swag* and freebies.
Carl's Jr. The Ghost Burger
"Nothing burns more than getting ignored or left on read, except for the mouth-numbing heat of our new burger, The Ghost," said Vice President of Marketing Anthony Nguyen. "At Carl's Jr., we see you, we hear you, and we want to give you burgers, swag and freebies to take your mind off of the burn from ghosting."
Carl's Jr. is famous around the world for bold, audacious, impossible-to-ignore flavors, and now until November 6, the brand is asking everyone to be bold and audacious by sharing their ghosting stories. For a chance to win a free Ghost Burger and Carl's Jr. swag, follow Carl's Jr. on Instagram, TikTok, X, Threads or Facebook and comment #GhostMode on the giveaway post of one of the platforms and tell your story of being ghosted or ghosting someone. More information about the giveaway can be found here.
Whether you're ready to admit it yet, we've all felt the pain from the ghosting experience. Don't worry the Big Angus Ghost is 1/3lb of charbroiled Angus beef, face-melting ghost pepper cheese, soul-scorching sauce, applewood-smoked bacon, fresh tomato, onion & lettuce on a soft toasted bun.
Here for cravings, remorse or emotional support day and night, Carl's Jr. is also introducing a new Ghost Breakfast Burger, featuring a folded egg, bacon, Hash Rounds, ghost pepper cheese and soul-scorching sauce. If you're looking to give the person who ghosted you one more shot or you need to make up for disappearing with no notice, Carl's Jr. My Rewards members can get two small, single Ghost Burger combos for just $15 in app through November 6.**
For more news and promotions, follow Carl's Jr. on social media, download the Carl's Jr. app and join the My Rewards loyalty program.
My Rewards Loyalty Program: Join here
X: @CarlsJr
Instagram: @carlsjr
TikTok: @carlsjrofficial
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carlsjr/
Threads: @CarlsJr
* See Official Rules for more information. Free food is in the form of a gift card.
**Tax, fees and tips not included. Available for a limited time at participating Carl's Jr. restaurants. Redeemable only by registered My Rewards users. Combo includes small fries and drink. Limit one offer per registered user per day. Not valid for use with any other offer or discount. Some exclusions may apply. Offer not available for redemption with 3rd party vendors or delivery partners. Subject to cancellation at any time. 2024 Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC. All rights reserved.
About Carl's Jr.
Carl's Jr. is famous around the world for big, audacious, impossible-to-ignore flavors inspired by its California roots. For a bold move, guests have ordered items like over-the-top, juicy charbroiled burger creations, Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders, Hand-Scooped Ice-Cream Shakes and indulgent breakfast burgers for more than 80 years. Together with its franchisees, Carl's Jr. operates more than 1,000 restaurants across the U.S. and has a presence in 24 countries worldwide. Learn more at www.carlsjr.com.
About CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc.
CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc., a privately held company based in Franklin, Tennessee, runs and operates Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants, two beloved brands, known for premium and innovative menu items such as iconic charbroiled burgers, Made from Scratch Biscuits and Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders. With both a U.S. and international footprint, Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC and Hardee's Restaurants LLC have more than 3,600 franchised or company-operated restaurants domestically and more than 35 international markets and U.S. territories. For more information about CKE, please visit www.ckr.com or its brand sites at www.carlsjr.com and www.hardees.com.
SOURCE CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc.
This move marks the brand's first expansion outside of Michigan
FLINT, Mich., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- butter cannabis today announces it is launching its flower product line across retail in New York. This marks the cannabis innovator's first expansion outside of Michigan. Initially, butter's curated product selection will be available exclusively through The Travel Agency, the premier cannabis dispensary with three locations across Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City. butter's expansion marks a historic move for the company as well as New York's burgeoning cannabis industry.
butter is a cannabis lifestyle brand who's focus is to make high quality products for all and in doing so, better society.
New York State legalized recreational use on March 31, 2021, through the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act (MRTA), and premium cannabis is still in its infancy across the state. For butter, the Empire State was the ideal market for expansion.
"Entering the New York market was a natural next step for butter," says butter CEO Chris Klamkin. "I'm from New York, and the city's culture is just electric. The demand for cannabis is there, and we're excited to offer more avenues to positively enhance New Yorkers' lifestyles."
butter is known for producing innovative products with quality you can feel. The Travel Agency shares in butter's social impact mission and commitment to quality and transparency. The retailer offers a highly curated product selection, now including three hero products from butter:
1g pre-rolls
10-pack 0.5g pre-roll tins
1/8 jars of indoor-grown flower
butter is partnering with The Travel Agency for a pop-up at the All Things Go music festival from September 28 to 29 in Forest Hills, NYC. butter plans to partner with additional retailers and expand across New York State.
Outside of New York, butter products are available in Michigan at butter's Ann Arbor and Berkley dispensaries. For more information, visit: butterworld.com .
About butter:
butter is Michigan's premiere cannabis lifestyle brand and retail destination. Our mission is to unite people and plants and share the life-changing power of cannabis. Through a thoughtful curation of products, constant innovation, and an unwavering commitment to quality, butter seeks to elevate the cannabis industry. We infuse honesty, transparency, and integrity into everything we dofor a better world.
Contact:
butter
Perry Haselden
[email protected]
SOURCE butter Cannabis
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- From September 20 to 23, local time, as the only Chinese board member of the UNGC, Zhao Dong, Chairman & Secretary of the Party Committee of Xiamen Airlines, attended the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Board Meeting and Secretary-General's Seminar.
During the meeting, Zhao showcased China's strategic vision and Chinese enterprises' phased accomplishments and offered strategic and decision-making suggestions on topics such as "national network development" and "China-Africa cooperation," conveying China's voice to the world.
He introduced Xiamen Airlines' sustainable development efforts to Secretary-General Guterres and presented the company's latest sportswear with elements supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
24 other members joined the meeting, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Assistant Secretary-General & Executive Director of the UNGC Sanda Ojiambo.
Board members discussed the national network development and governance of the UNGC. From the aspects of localization, commercialization, and collaboration, Zhao proposed that the development of national networks should fully take into account the characteristics of each country's national conditions and allow board members to play their roles.
Zhao emphasized the importance of activating operational mechanisms to continuously promote humanitarian commercial practices and building public platforms for cooperation to achieve mutual benefits. He also described the status quo Chinese enterprises facing in their operations and expressed his determination as a board member to continuously enhance the partnership between Chinese enterprises and the UNGC.
"Strengthening South-South Cooperation through sustainable development cooperation between Chinese and African enterprises" is a focus of the UNGC China Strategy.
Focusing on the outcomes of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Zhao introduced and interpreted the mode of Chinese enterprises' assistance in Africa with vivid cases.
He showcased to the other board members the achievements made over the past few decades, where Chinese enterprises have provided assistance to drive investment and cultivated a local talent pool for Africa's future development, thereby realizing genuine, self-sustaining South-South development cooperation.
On September 23, coinciding with Climate Week NYC, Zhao was invited to deliver the opening address at the CEO Roundtable on Green Value, organized by the UNGC.
The meeting invited over 30 enterprise representatives from 8 countries worldwide to engage in dialogue and discussions on climate change.
Melissa Powell, Deputy Executive Director of the UNGC, Narmin Jarchalova, Chief Operating Officer for COP29 Azerbaijan, and others, attended the roundtable.
SOURCE Xiamen Airlines
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- From September 20 to 23, local time, as the only Chinese board member of the UNGC, Zhao Dong, Chairman & Secretary of the Party Committee of Xiamen Airlines, attended the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Board Meeting and Secretary-General's Seminar.
During the meeting, Zhao showcased China's strategic vision and Chinese enterprises' phased accomplishments and offered strategic and decision-making suggestions on topics such as "national network development" and "China-Africa cooperation," conveying China's voice to the world.
IMAGE
He introduced Xiamen Airlines' sustainable development efforts to Secretary-General Guterres and presented the company's latest sportswear with elements supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
24 other members joined the meeting, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Assistant Secretary-General & Executive Director of the UNGC Sanda Ojiambo.
Board members discussed the national network development and governance of the UNGC. From the aspects of localization, commercialization, and collaboration, Zhao proposed that the development of national networks should fully take into account the characteristics of each country's national conditions and allow board members to play their roles.
Zhao emphasized the importance of activating operational mechanisms to continuously promote humanitarian commercial practices and building public platforms for cooperation to achieve mutual benefits. He also described the status quo Chinese enterprises facing in their operations and expressed his determination as a board member to continuously enhance the partnership between Chinese enterprises and the UNGC.
"Strengthening South-South Cooperation through sustainable development cooperation between Chinese and African enterprises" is a focus of the UNGC China Strategy.
Focusing on the outcomes of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Zhao introduced and interpreted the mode of Chinese enterprises' assistance in Africa with vivid cases.
He showcased to the other board members the achievements made over the past few decades, where Chinese enterprises have provided assistance to drive investment and cultivated a local talent pool for Africa's future development, thereby realizing genuine, self-sustaining South-South development cooperation.
On September 23, coinciding with Climate Week NYC, Zhao was invited to deliver the opening address at the CEO Roundtable on Green Value, organized by the UNGC.
The meeting invited over 30 enterprise representatives from 8 countries worldwide to engage in dialogue and discussions on climate change.
Melissa Powell, Deputy Executive Director of the UNGC, Narmin Jarchalova, Chief Operating Officer for COP29 Azerbaijan, and others, attended the roundtable.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2515252/IMAGE.jpg
BEIJING, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In today's world, where the futures of all countries are closely linked, development, security and civilization play important roles in promoting the modernization process of human society. The Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, offer profound insights into the issues of our time. The Global Times invites scholars to provide readers both at home and abroad with an in-depth understanding of these three initiatives. This is the first article in the series.
The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) earlier this month was a significant event dedicated to discussing plans for deepening friendly cooperation between China and Africa in the new era. Since its establishment in 2000, FOCAC has witnessed the enduring and strengthening friendship between China and Africa, promoting mutual achievements and shared development. On September 21, 2021, President Xi Jinping attended the general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in Beijing via video link. He delivered an important speech and officially proposed the Global Development Initiative (GDI), to put development high on the global macro policy agenda and speed up the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Today, as the friendship between China and Africa transcends time and space, overcoming vast distances, both sides are advancing together, marching down the broad path toward the shared dream of modernization.
The joint efforts of China and Africa in promoting an open and win-win modernization are a vivid embodiment of the GDI. From the daily lives of ordinary people to the modernization journeys of nations, it is clear that the GDI represents a significant and tangible achievement that unites international consensus and promotes shared global development.
Advancing together with a focus on development
In my over 40 years of work related to Africa, I have participated in the preparation and hosting of numerous FOCAC-related meetings and have witnessed the continuous strengthening of China-Africa relations through friendly cooperation and mutual benefit. I firmly believe that regardless of how the international landscape changes, China-Africa cooperation will continue to grow stronger and become more robust.
On this journey of cooperation, the pursuit of development, revitalization and the shared dream of modernization serve as guiding milestones. Both China and Africa are united in their aspirations for modernization, their belief in solidarity and cooperation, and their hope for a better future. Joining forces for development is key to achieving these shared goals. China as the world's largest developing country, and Africa, the continent with a high concentration of developing counties, face common challenges. The China-proposed GDI addresses the most urgent issues facing developing countries by focusing on development and emphasizing cooperation. In the broader context of bridging the global development gap and revitalizing international progress, this initiative has infused China-Africa cooperation with strong momentum. Both sides are now working together to build a model for implementing the GDI.
Africa's strong desire for modernization and its long-term focus on peace and prosperity align closely with the GDI. This alignment demonstrates that China-Africa cooperation resonates deeply in terms of shared values and coordinated progress. As a key driver of global development, China offers its wisdom and solutions through the GDI and other international public goods to address global challenges and promote sustainable development. Implementing these Chinese solutions presents unprecedented opportunities for China-Africa cooperation and development, accelerating their shared progress in the new era.
Deepening cooperation: a continuous historical journey
At the 2024 FOCAC summit, leaders from China and Africa gathered to discuss cooperation and future prospects under the theme "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future." This summit has generated significant momentum for modernization efforts and has accelerated the transition of the GDI from broad concepts to detailed implementation.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the first generation of leaders from the People's Republic of China and early African leaders launched a new era in China-Africa relations. Since then, China and Africa have supported each other and fought together against imperialism, colonialism and hegemony, establishing a deep and lasting friendship. From the 1970s until the end of the century, China and Africa achieved mutual development in trade, investment and other areas.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, especially in the new era, China-Africa cooperation has continuously strengthened in a comprehensive and multi-level manner. Since 2013, President Xi has visited Africa five times, attended two FOCAC summits and frequently met with African leaders. The relationship has evolved from the idea that China and Africa have always been a community with a shared future to joining hands to advance modernization and build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future, continuously opening new chapters in their cooperative history and expanding the prospects for their relationship.
Injecting new momentum into modernization
During my time working in Africa, I remember that one of the biggest health risks for Africans at the time was malaria. With limited treatment options, many relied almost obsessively on traditional quinine, despite its side effects, which could lead to miscarriages. At that time, China produced a drug called Cotecxin domestically. In a remote village in Kenya, a woman suffering from malaria had lost two opportunities to become a mother due to quinine. She then sought help from a Chinese medical team and switched to the Chinese-made Cotecxin. A miracle happened after just three treatment courses. Not only was the malaria under control, but she also successfully gave birth to a boy. To honor the Chinese medication, she named her child Cotecxin.
Cotecxin played a crucial role in combating malaria in Africa and it is more widely known as artemisinin. Today, the supply model for artemisinin has shifted from being solely provided by China to local production and supply within Africa. This represents a vivid example of building a China-Africa health community.
After nearly 70 years of diligent efforts, China-Africa relations are now at their most favorable point in history. Today, the intensity of exchanges and the breadth and depth of cooperation between China and Africa are unprecedented. The concept of building a community with a shared future is becoming increasingly rich, and both sides are achieving impressive results through the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative and the implementation of the GDI.
It is believed that the more than 2.8 billion people of China and Africa, united in solidarity and working together, can harness immense power to jointly promote a peaceful, secure, prosperous and progressive future for the world. The shared dream of modernization between China and Africa is set to ignite a wave of modernization across the Global South and open a new chapter in building a community with a shared future.
The author Wei Jianguo is former Chinese vice minister of commerce and executive deputy director of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges. [email protected]
SOURCE Global Times
Yunus and Thameem Shahul, CML's Chicago franchisees, are spearheading this tour. Since joining CML in 2018, the Shahul brothers have expanded their operations to include seventeen food trucks across seven states, becoming one of the brand's most successful multi-unit franchise operators.
CML's journey began in 2012 with a single food truck. The brand gained national attention on Shark Tank's fourth season when co-founders and real-life cousins Sabin Lomac and Jim Tselikis secured a deal with Barbara Corcoran. Today, CML stands as one of the top five Shark Tank investments, boasting 70+ units across 27+ states.
Co-founder, Jim Tselikis shared, "We're excited to see our franchisees going out on road tours and the positive reception we see from the local communities we are visiting. We are on the search for passionate entrepreneurs to join as franchisees and serve Wisconsin permanently across Milwaukee, Madison, and La Crosse markets." Those interested in learning more may visit Cousins Maine Lobster or contact Lindsay Herberger, Director of Franchise Development, at [email protected].
Fans interested in the CML Wisconsin road tour are encouraged to follow along on Facebook, where they can find more information on tour stops and times: CML Food Truck Chicago, IL.
Wednesday, October 9th
Tractor Supply Co
12 PM - 7 PM
1801 Milwaukee Ave, Burlington, WI 53105
Thursday, October 10th
Lion's Tail Brewing
12 PM - 8 PM
8520 W North Ave, Wauwatosa, WI 53226
Friday, October 11th
Karben4 Brewing
12 PM - 8 PM
3698 Kinsman Blvd, Madison, WI 53704
Saturday, October 12th
Timber Tap Taproom
12 PM - 8 PM
100 S Birch St, Kimberly, WI 54136
Sunday, October 13th
The Hive Fdl
11 AM - 7 PM
W4786 WI-23 Trunk, Fond du Lac, WI 54937
Monday, October 14th
Ooga Brewing Company
1 PM - 8 PM
301 S Spring St, Beaver Dam, WI 53916
Tuesday October 15th
Bentzin Family Town Square
11 AM - 7 PM
1 W Main St, Watertown, WI 53094
Wednesday, October 16th
Fleet Farm
11 AM 7 PM
3815 W Washington St, West Bend, WI 53095
Thursday, October 17th
North Pillar Brewing
11 AM - 7 PM
212 E North St, Waukesha, WI 53188
Friday, October 18th
3 Sheeps Brewing
12 PM - 8 PM
1837 North Ave, Sheboygan, WI 53083
Saturday, October 19th
Badger State Brewing
11 AM - 8 PM
990 Tony Canadeo Run, Green Bay, WI 54304
Sunday, October 20th
Fifth Ward Brewing
11 AM - 6 PM
1009 S Main St, Oshkosh, WI 54902
Disclaimer: This information 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 (FDD). If you reside in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, or Wisconsin, we may not be able to offer you a franchise until the FDD has been registered in your state.
SOURCE Cousins Maine Lobster
The tour will be led by the company Salt Lake City team and will feature a mouthwatering menu including their world-famous wild-caught Maine lobster rolls, the savory lobster grilled cheese, creamy chowder, and delicious whoopie pies.
"We're thrilled to bring our iconic lobster back to Montana after visiting the market earlier this year," said Jim Tselikis, co-founder of Cousins Maine Lobster. "This tour is a celebration of our passion for lobster and our commitment to delivering an exceptional experience wherever we go. Our road tours present an excellent opportunity to connect with local entrepreneurs interested in driving growth in partnership with an incredible family-owned brand. We can't wait to share our love for lobster with the wonderful people of Montana." Those interested in learning more may visit Cousins Maine Lobster or contact Lindsay Herberger, Director of Franchise Development, at [email protected].
To find out when the tour will be stopping near you, check out the full schedule of dates and locations below.
Tuesday, October 1st
Bozeman Brewing Co.
12 PM 8 PM
504 N. Broadway Avenue, Bozeman, MT 59715
Wednesday, October 2nd
Butte Ace Hardware
12 PM 7 PM
2607 Harrison Ave, Butte, MT 5970
Thursday, October 3rd
Odd Pitch Brewing
12 PM 8 PM
1200 W. Kent Suite 103, Missoula, MT 59801
Friday, October 4th
Big Sky Brewing
12 PM - 8:30 PM
5417 Trumpeter Way, Missoula MT 59808
Saturday, October 5th
Copper Furrow Brewing
12 PM 9 PM
2801 N Roberts St, Helena, MT 59601
Sunday, October 6th
Annies Tap House
12 PM 8 PM
112 Central Ave Great Falls, MT 59401
Monday, October 7th
Classic 50's Casino
12 PM 10 PM
1810 14th St. SW, Great Falls, MT 59404
Tuesday, October 8th
Thirsty Street Brewing Co
12 PM 8 PM
2123 1st Ave N, Billings, MT 59101
Disclaimer: This information 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 (FDD). If you reside in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, or Wisconsin, we may not be able to offer you a franchise until the FDD has been registered in your state.
SOURCE Cousins Maine Lobster
Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and CSL Seqirus will expand their reserves of MF59 adjuvant to the equivalent of 40 million doses as part of the National Pre-Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Stockpile (NPIVS).
The multi-year $121.4 million award from BARDA is the fifth avian influenza pandemic preparedness award for CSL Seqirus.
SUMMIT, N.J., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CSL Seqirus, a business of CSL (ASX: CSL), announced today that through its public-private partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the company will expand its Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) program for its proprietary MF59 adjuvant. This decision will further support the U.S. government's pandemic preparedness efforts.
MF59 adjuvant is an important part of pandemic preparedness planning as it reduces the amount of antigen required to produce an immune response, increasing the number of vaccine doses.1,2 When combined with influenza antigens in a vaccine, MF59 adjuvant is designed to enhance and broaden the body's immune response by creating a broad, cross-reactive antibody response.3,4,5
"Once again, we're honored to partner with BARDA on pandemic preparedness," said Marc Lacey, CSL Seqirus, Global Executive Director for Pandemic. "This expanded program will increase outbreak resilience and help to protect against threats such as avian influenza."
Under the terms of the $121.4 million multi-year award, CSL Seqirus will deliver MF59 adjuvant to increase the inventory of the VMI program to 40 million equivalent doses. MF59 will be manufactured at CSL Seqirus' Holly Springs, North Carolina facility, which was built under a long-term public-private partnership with BARDA to provide domestic influenza pandemic preparedness. MF59 from the VMI program can be used to manufacture vaccines to protect against the threat of avian and other strains of influenza. This is the fifth award CSL Seqirus has received from BARDA in response to sustained highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) activity.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), avian influenza A(H5) virus is widespread in wild birds around the world and is causing multistate outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows.6,7 Several human cases of avian influenza A(H5) virus infection have also been reported in the U.S.6,7 While the current public health risk is low, the CDC continues to watch the situation carefully and work with states to monitor people with animal exposures.6,7
"Pandemics are a natural phenomenon and have occurred at infrequent and unpredictable intervals throughout human history, presenting a real and serious risk to public health," said Dave Ross, General Manager of CSL Seqirus. "Recent avian influenza outbreaks underscore the importance of pandemic preparedness. With this expanded award, BARDA is once again entrusting us to work in collaboration to protect public health."
The VMI program has been supported in whole or in part with federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) under contract HHSO100200900101C.
About Pandemic Influenza
Influenza is a contagious airborne respiratory disease.8,9 The risk of influenza-associated morbidity and mortality is greater with pandemic influenza than with seasonal influenza because there is likely to be little or no pre-existing immunity to the novel virus in the human population.10 The timing and severity of pandemic influenza is unpredictable. Four influenza pandemics have occurred over the past century, with the 1918 pandemic being the most severe in recent history, with an estimated mortality of up to 50 million people worldwide.11
About Avian Influenza
Avian influenza spreads predominantly among birds.12 Avian influenza viruses do not normally infect humans, however, in rare cases humans have been infected with avian influenza viruses.13 Illness in humans from avian influenza has varied in levels of severity, from no symptoms or mild illness to severe disease and death.13 The spread of avian influenza from one human to another is very rare and typically has only spread to a few people.13
The recent rise in avian influenza among birds has been driven by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1).14 CSL Seqirus recommends referring to the WHO statement, and CDC, ECDC or national guidance to gauge the levels of concern regarding the high levels of HPAI activity.6,15,16
About CSL Seqirus
CSL Seqirus is part of CSL (ASX:CSL). As one of the largest influenza vaccine providers in the world, CSL Seqirus is a major contributor to the prevention of influenza globally and a transcontinental partner in pandemic preparedness. With state-of-the-art production facilities in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, and leading R&D capabilities, CSL Seqirus utilizes egg, cell and adjuvant technologies to offer a broad portfolio of differentiated influenza vaccines in more than 20 countries around the world.
For more information about CSL Seqirus, visit CSL.com .
About CSL
CSL (ASX:CSL) (USOTC:CSLLY) is a global biotechnology company with a dynamic portfolio of medicines, including those that treat hemophilia and immune deficiencies, vaccines to prevent influenza, and therapies in iron deficiency and nephrology. Since our start in 1916, we have been driven by our promise to save lives using the latest technologies. Today, CSL including our three businesses: CSL Behring, CSL Seqirus and CSL Vifor provides products to patients in more than 100 countries and employs 32,000 people. Our unique combination of commercial strength, R&D focus and operational excellence enables us to identify, develop and deliver innovations so our patients can live life to the fullest. For inspiring stories about the promise of biotechnology, visit CSL.com/we-are-csl/vita-original-stories and follow us on Twitter.com/CSL . For more information about CSL, visit www.CSL.com .
Intended Audience
This press release is issued from CSL Seqirus in Summit, New Jersey, USA and is intended to provide information about our global business. Please be aware that information relating to the approval status and labels of approved CSL Seqirus products may vary from country to country. Please consult your local regulatory authority on the approval status of CSL Seqirus products.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding future results, performance or achievements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
MEDIA CONTACT
Em Dekonor
+44 (0)7920500496
[email protected]
USA-PAN-24-0002
1 Khurana, S, Verma, N, Yewdell, JW, et al. (2011) MF59 adjuvant enhances diversity and affinity of antibody-mediated immune response to pandemic influenza vaccines. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3501657/. Accessed September 2024
2 Reed, SG, Orr, MT, Fox, CB. (2013). Key roles of adjuvants in modern vaccines. Retrieved from: https://www.nature.com/articles/nm.3409. Accessed September 2024
3 Frey SE, Aplasca-De Los Reyes MR, Reynales H, et al. (2014). Comparison of the safety and immunogenicity of an MF59-adjuvanted with a non-adjuvanted seasonal influenza vaccine in elderly subjects. Vaccine. 2014;32:5027-5034
4 O'Hagan DT, Ott GS, Nest GV, Rappuoli R, Giudice GD. (2013). The history of MF59 adjuvant: a phoenix that arose from the ashes. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2013;12(1):13-3
5 Banzhoff A, Pellegrini M, Del Giudice G, Fragapane E, Groth N, Podda A. (2008). MF59-adjuvanted vaccines for seasonal and pandemic influenza prophylaxis. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2008;2(6):243-249
6 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html. Accessed September 2024
7 CDC. CDC A(H5N1) Bird Flu Response Update September 13, 2024. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/spotlights/h5n1-response-09132024.html. Accessed September 2024
8 CDC. About Flu. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/index.html. Accessed September 2024
9 CDC. Key Facts About Influenza (Flu). Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/keyfacts.htm. Accessed September 2024
10 WHO. How pandemic influenza emerges. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/europe/news-room/fact-sheets/item/how-pandemic-influenza-emerges. Accessed September 2024
11 WHO. Pandemic Influenza Risk Management: A WHO guide to inform and harmonize national and international pandemic preparedness and response. Retrieved from: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/259893/WHO-WHE-IHM-GIP-2017.1-eng.pdf;jsessionid=4421F16879D2F8B96481F8D0C745C7F3?sequence=1. Accessed September 2024
12 CDC. Avian Flu, Information on bird flu. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/index.htm. Accessed September 2024
13 CDC. What Causes Bird Flu Virus Infections in Humans. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/virus-transmission/avian-in-humans.html. Accessed September 2024
14 CDC. Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus in Animals: Interim Recommendations. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/prevention/hpai-interim-recommendations.html. Accessed September 2024
15 FAO, WHO, WOAH. Ongoing avian influenza outbreaks in animals pose risk to humans. Retrieved from: https://www.fao.org/animal-health/news-events/news/detail/ongoing-avian-influenza-outbreaks-in-animals-pose-risk-to-humans/en. Accessed September 2024
16 European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Avian influenza overview March June 2024. Retrieved from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/avian-influenza-overview-march-june-2024. Accessed September 2024
SOURCE CSL Seqirus
Diffley's Exemplary Life of Leadership and Service Includes More than 60 Years of Board and Committee Support
ATLANTA, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Community Credit Union is saddened to announce the passing of Jim Diffley, its longtime Chairman of the Board of Directors and a widely respected credit union advocate. Diffley died on Sept. 22 in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina at the age of 90 and surrounded by family.
Jim Diffley, Delta Community Credit Unions longtime Chairman of its Board of Directors and a widely respected credit union advocate, died on Sept. 22 at the age of 90.
Diffley's service to Delta Community spanned 62 continuous years. While employed with Delta Air Lines, he joined the Credit Committee of Delta Employees Credit Union in 1962 and volunteered on the committee until 1983 when he was named to the Board of Directors. He was first elected Chairman in 1986 and was re-elected to the role annually through a vote by his fellow directors.
"Our members and employees are indebted to Jim as his contributions to Delta Community's success are countless and lasting," said Hank Halter, Chief Executive Officer. "Jim believed deeply in the not-for-profit, people-helping-people philosophy of credit unions and worked to sustain the viability, growth and integrity of Delta Community as well as other credit unions to ensure his peers, neighbors and the broader community around him had access to trustworthy, fairly priced financial services. Jim will be greatly missed each day, but his character will inspire those who knew him for decades to come."
Diffley was actively engaged over the years with the Georgia Credit Union Affiliates (GCUA), National Credit Union Association and World Council of Credit Unions. He attended the Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C. annually, including the 2024 event this past March, and participated in Hike the Hill visits to provide legislators information about credit union efforts. He was an early supporter of a 20-year cultural exchange program between credit unions in the U.S. and Poland that GCUA cultivated in the 1990s. GCUA honored Diffley with the Moses C. Davis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.
Diffley was born in Atlanta. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1956 with a B.S. in Industrial Management and subsequently earned an M.B.A. from Georgia State University. He served in the U.S. Air Force between 1956 and 1959 and attained the rank of captain. Upon his honorable discharge from the military, he accepted a position within the Technical Operations Center at Delta Air Lines where he worked for 40 years in different managerial roles with progressive levels of responsibility.
His family will hold a memorial service at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, with Tom M. Wages Funeral Service in Snellville, Georgia that is open to friends and colleagues. A visitation will precede the service. More details are available on Delta Community's website.
Delta Community's Board will elect a new chairperson in the coming months in accordance with the Credit Union's bylaws. Linda O'Shea who serves as Vice Chairwoman today will assume additional responsibilities as warranted until then.
About Delta Community Credit Union
Delta Community Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative. Founded in 1940, Delta Community is Georgia's largest credit union with more than $8.6 billion in assets and more than 500,000 members, 29 metro Atlanta branches and three out-of-state branch locations. It welcomes anyone living or working in metro Atlanta as well as employees of more than 140 businesses including Delta Air Lines, Chick-fil-A, RaceTrac and UPS. Visit www.DeltaCommunityCU.com to open an account or follow the Credit Union on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DeltaCommunity and X, formerly known as Twitter, at @DeltaCommunity.
SOURCE DELTA COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azerbaijan is fully committed to supporting the decarbonization process and transitioning to alternative energy sources by all possible means, including tax policy, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov said during the international forum on carbon pricing held in Baku, Trend reports.
"The carbon emissions assessment process will consider the interests of small and medium enterprises, supporting their development trends with state measures that reinvest collected funds and carbon taxes back into business growth. In our country, the decarbonization process and the shift to alternative energy sources will be supported by all possible means, including tax policy. This policy is a crucial element of our economic and political processes, and it will play a key role in attracting private investments, combating climate change, and expanding the use of green technologies. The State Tax Service is studying advanced international practices in implementing environmental and green taxes," Jabbarov stated.
He also mentioned that Azerbaijan aims to implement a series of regional, and possibly global, initiatives regarding the transition to a green economy.
"The measures being implemented in Azerbaijan for the shift to a green economy are not limited to our country. Our goal is to bring several regional and potentially global initiatives to fruition. The experience gained in Azerbaijan, including pilot projects, should be assessed for its applicability at the regional level. Our country can make a significant contribution to this process. Naturally, we should not undertake this alone. To achieve maximum effect from any policies and tools, collaboration with international partners is essential," he noted.
According to the minister, transforming the Caspian region into a hub for green energy production and export is a key priority for Azerbaijan.
"Renewable energy based on foreign investments, turning liberated territories from a 'gray zone' into a 'green energy zone,' and making the Caspian region a center for green energy production and export are our key priorities," he added.
Believes Pacira's Cash Balance of $400 million, Roughly 59% of its Market Capitalization, is Grossly Inefficient.
Emphasizes the Current Stock Price Offers an Extraordinary Opportunity to Create Meaningful Return for Shareholders
MIAMI, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DOMA Perpetual Capital Management LLC today sent a letter to the Board of Directors of Pacira Biosciences (NYSE: PCRX) urging the Board to accelerate and increase its stock repurchase.
The letter can be downloaded here
The full text of the letter follows:
September 24, 2024
To the Board Members of Pacira Biosciences:
DOMA Perpetual Capital Management is an asset manager focused on generating long-term value for its investors. DOMA and its owners now control about 4% of Pacira Biosciences ("Pacira," the "Company") stocki.
In our view, Pacira's Board demonstrates an ineffective capital allocation strategy, maintains a dismal M&A track record and lacks strategic oversight. As shareholders, it is not our preference to discuss these issues publicly nor to endeavor to overhaul the Board. Present circumstances including the dramatic collapse of Pacira's stock price and how the Company has handled patent litigation and its communication to shareholders regarding the situation thus far have pushed us to publish this letter.
We believe this Board must re-focus on enhancing shareholder return, giving back hundreds of millions of dollars to shareholders in the form of accelerated buybacks while quickly expanding Exparel to blockbuster status. Additionally, the Board should pause all future M&A activity until proper shareholder return has been achieved. This Board's track record plainly illustrates why it should not be allowed to continue to roll the dice on any strategy that amounts to gambling with shareholder money.
Before considering any other capital-intensive activities, all cash flow should be utilized for buying back stock. After completing the currently approved $150 million dollar buybackii, which we urge the Company to do before the release of Q3 earnings this year, the Board should approve a new $300 million buyback in Q4. This would allow the Company to buy back $200 million of stock before year-end, acquiring close to, if not more than, 12 million sharesiii. Additional buybacks should continue into 2025, for as long as they can be done at accretive prices. As the NOPAIN Act goes into effect, we expect to see rapid growth in both revenue and earnings. Historically, commercial insurance coverage follows Medicare coverageiv; commercial insurance coverage for Exparel will further propel revenue and EPS growth. There should be ample room to continue utilizing all cash flows to bring down the number of outstanding shares.
We do not perceive the current legal situation with the pessimism and dread favored by some analysts. Following a studied analysis, we believe the combined independent probabilities of Pacira winning at least one of its future patent cases and/or a potential settlement of the current case to be the most likely outcome and we maintain a high degree of confidence in Pacira's promising future. The fact that this view does not match the current market capitalization of the Company presents a large and fleeting opportunity to increase the speed and size of the currently approved buyback program.
If Management and the Board believe in the Company's IP as recent stock purchases made by the CEO and Board members would indicatev they should aggressively push to finish the $150 million buyback at the fastest possible allowed pace. Following that, the Company should issue a larger buyback program at least $300 million to take advantage of the stock price reflecting a distressed scenario. Pacira generates a healthy free cash flow and holds roughly $400 million dollars in cash and marketable securitiesvi: money that belongs to the shareholders.
We believe there are several incorrect assumptions affecting Pacira's stock price. The market is factoring in a scenario in which the generic-drug developer is willing to risk hundreds of millions or billions of dollars to engage in a multi-year legal battle, develop production capabilities and attempt an "at risk" entrance into the market. An at risk entrance requires that same company to have cash reserves in the billions for potential legal liabilities in the event Pacira wins just one future patent case. The scenario also assumes providers will overwhelmingly choose to purchase a generic version of Exparel from a foreign company with no history of manufacturing or developing the drug at scale. Finally, this scenario requires Pacira to lose every single patent case in the pipeline, including appeals. Many of the patent cases still to be argued are for in-process patents, which have yet to be fully granted, as well as patent cases that will go to trial outside of New Jersey, which has proven itself to be a particularly unfriendly legal jurisdiction.
We believe Pacira's current stock price represents an enormous opportunity for shareholder return a potential return so significant it could rival the rollout of the NOPAIN Act. Pacira has $400 million in cash on its balance sheetvii, more than $160 million in free cash flow for the next twelve monthsviii and a fast-growing market opportunity ahead. The Company should immediately endeavor to bring its share count down from 46 to 30 million shares a 35% reduction with the first 12 million re-purchased before year end. At the current stock price, 12 million shares could be repurchased using only half of the $400 million the Company is holdingix. In early 2025, before the market fully realizes the effect of the NOPAIN Act on Pacira's top and bottom line, the Company could buy back an additional 4 million shares.
To underscore the magnitude of the current opportunity of this stock price, let's look at the numbers. We can use Wall Street analysts average net income numbers from Bloomberg: $172 million for 2025x, a figure we believe to be depressed. If the Company buys back 12 million shares before year-end, that means that next year's EPS ($172 million/34 million shares) should be $5xi. If Pacira settles the generic-drug developer case in the next few months, using a non-demanding PE of 15xxii, the stock price should move to at a minimum $75/sharexiii.
We expect Pacira to experience massive growth in sales and net income as Medicare coverage from the NOPAIN Act drives up access from 2.3 million annual procedures to about 6 millionxiv. Private insurance coverage, which typically follows Medicare by about twelve months, may arrive ahead of schedule; coverage for safe, effective, non-opioid pain management is good for patients, good for providers and an effective tool for curtailing the opioid epidemic that the US is working hard to overcomexv. Private insurance coverage of Exparel will open the door to an additional 12 million procedures annuallyxvi, a number that should fully impact the Company in 2026 and 2027. By the end of 2027, Pacira's revenues will likely have more than doubled if not tripled along with its net incomexvii. This would put the Company's net income to north of $330 million whichxviii, divided by 30 million shares (assuming Pacira buys back 16 million shares before 2027), would create, at a minimum, an EPS of $11xix. Assuming the same non-demanding PE of 15xxx, the Company's stock price could move north of $165/share in 2027xxi.
Pacira's Board despite its legal and fiduciary duty to its shareholders has failed to generate any shareholder return. The fear in the market has provided the Company with an immense opportunity. It would be a critical mistake if Management and the Board do not buy back stock aggressively, finishing the approved $150 million buyback without delay, and issuing an even larger re-purchase to follow immediately. Choosing to ignore this opportunity undermines the strength of the business and further harms investors. The Board maintains a dismal track record of M&A and now risks missing out on a fleeting opportunity to generate significant shareholder return.
Management and this Board must act to take advantage of Pacira's irrationally depressed stock price, buying back as many shares as possible at the fastest pace allowed. Choosing to ignore the golden opportunity created by timing, share price, market fear and potential revenue growth would be a clear indication that we need to take a more active role.
Sincerely,
Pedro Escudero
CEO & CIO
DOMA Perpetual Capital Management LLC
Disclaimer
This letter has been prepared by DOMA Perpetual Management LLC and its affiliates ("DOMA"). The views expressed herein reflect the opinions of DOMA and are based on publicly available information with respect to Pacira Biosciences Inc. ("Pacira Biosciences, Inc." or the "Company"). DOMA recognizes that there may be confidential information in the possession of the Company that could lead it or others to disagree with DOMA's conclusions. DOMA reserves the right to change or modify any of such views or opinions at any time and for any reason and expressly disclaims any obligation to correct, update, or revise the information contained herein or to otherwise provide any additional materials.
For the avoidance of doubt, this press release was not produced by any person that is affiliated with Pacira Biosciences Inc., nor was its content endorsed by Pacira Biosciences Inc. This press release is provided merely as information and is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as, an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security nor as a recommendation to purchase or sell any security. One or more funds managed by DOMA currently beneficially owns shares of the Company.
Some of the materials in this press release contain forward-looking statements. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature or that necessarily depend on future events are forward-looking, and the words "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "potential," "could," "opportunity," "estimate," "plan," "once again," "achieve," and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. The projected results and statements contained herein that are not historical facts are based on DOMA's current expectations, speak only as of the date of these materials and involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performances or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such projected results and statements. Assumptions relating to the foregoing involve judgments with respect to, among other things, future economic competitive and market conditions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond the control of DOMA.
i Pacira Biosciences 10-Q 06/30/2024 Company Filing, DOMA Perpetual Internal Calculations
ii Pacira Biosciences Company Filings
iii DOMA Perpetual Internal Calculations
iv Pacira Biosciences Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference 2024 Presentation
v Pacira Biosciences Company Filings
vi Pacira Biosciences Company Filings
vii Pacira Biosciences 10-Q 06/30/2024 Company Filing
viii DOMA Perpetual Internal Calculations
ix DOMA Perpetual Internal Calculations
x Bloomberg L.P. (2024). Retrieved September 2024 from Bloomberg Database
xi DOMA Perpetual Internal Calculations
xii DOMA defines a "non-demanding PE" as a PE multiple that is below Pacira's historical average 1-year forward P/E ratio of 29x derived from data on Bloomberg
xiii DOMA Perpetual Internal Calculations
xiv Pacira Biosciences Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference 2024 Presentation
xv Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, April 5). Understanding the opioid overdose epidemic. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/about/understanding-the-opioid-overdose-epidemic.html
xvi Pacira Biosciences Q1 2024 Earnings Call
xvii DOMA Perpetual Internal Calculations
xviii DOMA Perpetual Internal Calculations
xix DOMA Perpetual Internal Calculations
xx DOMA defines a "non-demanding PE" as a PE multiple that is below Pacira's historical average 1-year forward P/E ratio of 29x derived from data on Bloomberg
xxi DOMA Perpetual Internal Calculations
Media Contact: [email protected]
SOURCE DOMA Perpetual
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy Florida is readying 8,000 workers to respond to Tropical Storm Helene. As the storm approaches, these skilled individuals are being strategically placed across the state, enabling them to respond as quickly as possible to widespread power outages that are expected as a result of strong winds and heavy rainfall.
The company is also sending crews from Duke Energy's Midwest operations in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.
Responders include power line technicians, vegetation workers, damage assessors and support personnel.
Trucks will begin arriving at Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg College Tarpon Springs, The Villages and Suwannee Valley Farmer's Market later this afternoon. Staging locations are positioned along the outside of Helene's projected path, but as close to the impacted areas as possible. Crews are prepared to start power restoration as soon as conditions are safe.
"As soon as conditions allow, our dedicated team will be on the ground, carefully assessing the damage and working tirelessly to get the lights back on for our customers," said Todd Fountain, Duke Energy Florida storm director. "In the meantime, our customers should continue to prepare for this rapidly moving storm and remain vigilant in the days ahead."
Duke Energy Florida urges its more than 2 million customers to consider the following safety tips:
Do not walk, swim or drive through floodwaters.
If rising water threatens your home or business or if you evacuate due to flooding turn off your power at the circuit breaker panel or fuse box.
Never replace a fuse or touch a circuit breaker with wet hands or while standing on a wet or damp surface.
Stay away from power lines that have fallen or are sagging. Consider all lines energized as well as trees or limbs in contact with lines. Report all power line hazards to Duke Energy at 800.228.8485 or contact your local emergency services department or agency.
If a power line falls across a car that you are in, stay in the car. If you MUST get out of the car due to a fire or other immediate life-threatening situation, do your best to jump clear of the car and land on both feet. Be sure that no part of your body is touching the car when your feet touch the ground.
Electric current passes easily through water, so stay away from downed power lines and electrical wires. Do not drive over and do not stand near downed power lines. Downed lines will be hard to see in the rain and can potentially be hidden in standing water. If you encounter large pools of standing water, stop, back up and choose another path.
To report a power outage, text OUT to 57801, call 800.228.8485 or report online or through the mobile app. For more safety tips, please visit duke-energy.com/StormTips.
Duke Energy Florida
Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 12,300 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 2 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric utilities serve 8.4 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 54,800 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities serve 1.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.
Duke Energy is executing an ambitious clean energy transition, keeping reliability, affordability and accessibility at the forefront as the company works toward net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company is investing in major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including expanded energy storage, renewables, natural gas and nuclear.
More information is available at duke-energy.com and the Duke Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and visit illumination for stories about the people and innovations powering our energy transition.
Contact: Ana Gibbs
24-Hour: 800.559.3853
SOURCE Duke Energy
ESTES PARK, Colo., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center (PDC) launched its third Changemaker Cohort, bringing together a diverse group of students and educators from schools across the country, all dedicated to transforming their educational environments and promoting equity, inclusion and belonging.
The Changemaker Cohort is a unique professional development opportunity designed for pairs of students and educators who are committed to creating meaningful change in their schools and communities. Participants engage in intensive, hands-on training sessions that focus on innovative practices, leadership development, and collaborative strategies to drive school improvement.
The Changemaker Cohort has empowered students and educators to foster environments where all students can thrive. Post this
Participating Schools in the 2024 Changemaker Cohort:
Eagle Rock School, Estes Park, Colo.
Etude School, Sheboygan, Wis.
Francis Parker School , Louisville, Ky.
, Freedom High School, Albuquerque, N.M.
Lake Arthur School , Lake Arthur, N.M.
, Vaux Big Picture High School, Philadelphia, Penn.
Key Highlights of the Changemaker Cohort Program:
Comprehensive Training : The program offers a mix of workshops, discussions, and hands-on activities led by seasoned facilitators who are experts in the fields of education, equity, and community engagement.
: The program offers a mix of workshops, discussions, and hands-on activities led by seasoned facilitators who are experts in the fields of education, equity, and community engagement. Collaborative Learning : Cohort members will work closely with peers from across the country, sharing insights and strategies while building a supportive network of like-minded educators.
: Cohort members will work closely with peers from across the country, sharing insights and strategies while building a supportive network of like-minded educators. Action-oriented Projects : Participants will design and implement a project tailored to their specific school or community needs, with ongoing support from Eagle Rock's Professional Development Center.
: Participants will design and implement a project tailored to their specific school or community needs, with ongoing support from Eagle Rock's Professional Development Center. Focus on Equity: A core component of the program is addressing issues of equity, inclusion, and belonging, ensuring that all students have access to high-quality educational opportunities.
Eagle Rock's Director of Professional Development & Belonging, Cami Thomas, expressed enthusiasm about the upcoming cohort, "We are excited to welcome our third cohort of Changemakers. These students and educators are the driving force behind positive change in our schools, and we are committed to providing them with the tools, support, and inspiration they need to make a lasting impact."
Since its inception in 2022, the Changemaker Cohort has empowered students and educators to become leaders and innovators, fostering environments where all students can thrive. This year's cohort promises to build on that success, with participants poised to tackle some of the most pressing challenges in education today.
For more information about the Changemaker Cohort and Eagle Rock's Professional Development Center, please visit Eagle Rock PDC's website .
About Eagle Rock
Nestled in the mountains of Estes Park, Colorado, Eagle Rock is a full-scholarship, year-round, residential high school that enrolls young people ages 15-17 in an innovative learning experience with national recognition. The Eagle Rock Professional Development Center works with Changemakers educators and students committed to preparing the next generation of leaders to break down unjust systems. The Professional Development Center empowers and supports educators and students to become catalysts of change in their lives and communities. With a vision for high schools to be high-functioning centers of engagement and learning, Eagle Rock's Professional Development Center is interested in working with Changemakers who embrace the power of diversity and are boldly committed to charting a new path, together. Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center is administered by the American Honda Education Corporation, a subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
SOURCE Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center
East Coast Storage Equipment Co. Inc (ECSE), a New Jersey-based, family-owned business, celebrates 30 years as a leading provider of material handling equipment solutions.
BRICK, N.J., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- From small family business to coast-to-coast product and service offerings, East Coast Storage Equipment is commemorating three decades in business with a retrospect of its humble beginnings and a look into the future of the company.
East Coast Storage Equipment Co., Inc.
In the early '90s, Founder and Owner John Geddes saw a need for quality storage equipment at reasonable prices. Realizing that used storage equipment maintains its integrity for many years, he began offering high-quality, previously owned pieces to his customers. Products at the time included pallet racking, industrial shelving, conveyor systems, and more.
More than 30 years later, these offerings remain a primary pillar of ECSE's business.
However, having evolved from a small family business to a coast-to-coast provider of material handling products and services, ECSE now offers a wider product range, including new pallet racks, cantilever racks, mezzanines, and more. The company continues to expand its comprehensive inventory with additional new and used equipment offerings, giving customers ever-growing options.
"As we celebrate 30 years in business, I am incredibly proud of our journey and the trust our clients have placed in us," Geddes said. "Our success is built on a foundation of hard work, quality, and a relentless commitment to customer satisfaction. Here's to many more years of delivering top-notch material handling solutions."
In addition to expanded product offerings, ECSE has multiplied its facility footprint, including warehouses in Emory, Texas, and Browns Mills, New Jersey, a regional office in Boca Raton, Florida, and its corporate office in Brick, New Jersey. These additional locations have helped the company increase value for its customers and optimize its shipping and storage capabilities.
The company has optimized over 28 million square feet in over 7,000 warehouses and distribution centers across the country. ECSE continues to provide measurable value to businesses of all sizes.
"Our success can be attributed to past and current members of the ECSE team, including the newest generation who have joined the family business and, of course, the thousands of customers they have served during our 30 years in business," Geddes said.
Looking forward to the next three decades, ECSE envisions expanding its automation solutions to stay ahead of industry acceleration.
Following the company's long-term success in sourcing, selling, and installing pallet racks, ECSE also plans to manufacture these racks in the future, bringing an even more competitive solution to the market.
About East Coast Storage Equipment Co.
East Coast Storage Equipment specializes in providing top-quality new and used industrial storage solutions. With three decades of experience, the company offers a wide range of products and services, including pallet racks, shelving, mezzanines, automated solutions, facility design, project management, and more. Its commitment to exceptional service and competitive pricing makes ECSE a trusted partner for businesses looking to optimize their storage and warehouse operations.
Founded in 1994 by John Geddes in Brick, New Jersey, the family-focused company began as a simple pallet rack installation outfit serving the local area and has grown into a nationwide market leader in new and used storage equipment and facility design and installation.
Press Contact
Paul Parisi
Director of Business Development
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 732-451-1808 ext. 1008
SOURCE East Coast Storage Equipment Co., Inc.
ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PETE ( pete.com ), a leader in AI-powered workforce training solutions, announced the launch of its groundbreaking new feature: Skill Simulations. This pioneering tool is set to redefine employee training by offering interactive role-play scenarios where learners engage with simulated environments and receive real-time feedback on their performance.
Skill Simulations take training to new heights by enabling users to interact with realistic scenarios. The platform tracks and evaluates user responses, providing detailed feedback and insights to enhance learning outcomes. This feature allows workforce learners to practice their skills with one-on-one attention while also accelerating their learning process.
Luis Garcia, President of PETE, shared his excitement about the new feature: "After 20 years in the EdTech industry, I can confidently say that Skill Simulations is the most innovative breakthrough in learning assessments. It's the first time digital learning provides personalized, one-on-one feedback at scale. Skill Simulations embody our commitment to advancing learning through innovative, scalable solutions and represent a significant leap towards fulfilling our vision at PETE."
Use cases for PETE's Skill Simulations include:
Leveled-Up Evaluations: Skill Simulations take assessments beyond the traditional multiple-choice questions by offering conversational evaluations that simulate an instructor quizzing learners on the material. A retail company, for example, uses this tool to assess employee product knowledge through dynamic, interactive questions, improving comprehension and retention.
Role-Playing Customer Interactions: Simulated scenarios mimic real-life customer conversations, allowing learners to practice skills in a controlled environment. A financial institution utilizes this feature to train bank tellers on handling customer inquiries, ensuring they provide consistent and high-quality service.
Technical Training: The tool can simulate machines or entire tech stacks, providing hands-on technical training. For instance, an IT company can leverage Skill Simulations to train employees on troubleshooting virtual systems, enabling them to practice resolving real-world technical issues in a risk-free environment.
Personal Subject Matter Expert: The simulation engine can serve as a knowledge base, providing on-demand answers to more technical questions. An HR team uses this feature to give employees instant access to up-to-date policy information, helping them find answers quickly without relying on management for every query.
For more information about PETE's Skill Simulations and how it can transform your workforce training, visit www.pete.com to schedule a live demo. Experience the most innovative breakthrough in learning assessment firsthand.
For press inquiries and interview requests, kindly contact Lauren Thomas at [email protected] .
About PETE
Founded in the heart of Orlando, Florida, PETE is a pioneering leader in AI-driven learning platforms.
PETE offers a suite of cost-effective and customizable solutions that enable organizations to deliver personalized workforce learning at scale.
PETE specializes in enabling the development of AI-powered courses tailored for diverse training needs, spanning from onboarding to regulatory compliance, product knowledge, technical skill, and more. The platform offers seamless hosting and distribution of content through PETE's Learning Management System (LMS), and access to a suite of management tools to track learners' progress.
PETE's vision is to become an indispensable part of education and training through pioneering technology that enables adaptive, engaging, and effective learning.
The team at PETE is dedicated to helping organizations of all sizes to optimize their training initiatives and maximize their impact, without having to hire additional training resources.
Unlock the full potential of your team with training experiences that are engaging, personalized, and scalable. For more information about PETE, visit www.pete.com .
SOURCE PETE
Crew are the heart and soul of McDonald's, and we take pride in recognizing them for all they do to make our fans' days a little more golden.
Today, we kicked off Employees Only, a first-of-its-kind event series celebrating the 1 in 8. These events provide past and present Crew exclusive access to networking and mentorship opportunities, inspiring success stories and advice from accomplished alumni, and unforgettable experiences that foster connection and excitement around being in the 1 in 8 community.
The title Employees Only is a nod to the iconic doors seen at McDonald's restaurants across the country. What happens behind these doors is so much more than you might imagine it's a unique shared experience that unlocks vital skills and opportunities to harness endless career possibilities.
Hosted in our hometown of Chicago, the Employees Only launch featured a star-studded roster of 1 in 8ers including:
Comedian and SNL alum Chris Redd , who performed a stand-up set inspired by his time as a crew member sharing how his experiences over two stints at McDonald's gave him the drive and work ethic to embark on a successful comedy career.
, who performed a stand-up set inspired by his time as a crew member sharing how his experiences over two stints at McDonald's gave him the drive and work ethic to embark on a successful comedy career. James Beard award-winning chef Kwame Onwuachi , who put his signature Afro-Caribbean twist on McDonald's Spicy Buffalo Sauce and McDonald's Tangy Barbeque Sauce during a live cooking demo. He also talked about how the skills he learned as a crew member including running a kitchen helped propel him to culinary stardom.
, who put his signature Afro-Caribbean twist on McDonald's Spicy Buffalo Sauce and McDonald's Tangy Barbeque Sauce during a live cooking demo. He also talked about how the skills he learned as a crew member including running a kitchen helped propel him to culinary stardom. Actress, TV host and Emmy Award winner Clarissa Molina , who tapped her personal experience to inspire 1 in 8ers while they posed for professional headshots. Also, Clarissa spoke about how her time at McDonald's prepared her to become Miss Dominican Republic 2015, place Top 6 in Miss Universe and win Nuestra Belleza Latina VIP in 2017.
Chris, Kwame and Clarissa also joined fellow 1 in 8ers Faith Taylor an Archways to Opportunity graduate and franchise owner Gianna Funkhouser on a Fryside Chat panel. During this Q&A session with attendees, they talked about their career journeys, what it means to be part of the 1 in 8 and how having a job at McDonald's played an instrumental role in their success.
"Nowadays, people are surprised to hear that one of my first jobs was at McDonald's," said Chris Redd. "When I look back on those times, I remember McDonald's always had my back. Once I stepped through those Employees Only doors, I learned what it means to put real work ethic to practice, which is a must if you want to survive as a comedian or really in any profession."
In addition to connecting with notable alumni and other 1 in 8ers, attendees received professional headshots, toured a historic uniform exhibit showing crew apparel over the years, participated in a friendly skills challenge, and picked up limited-edition swag at an exclusive merch station.
"We've heard from members of the 1 in 8 that they feel a sense of pride in being part of this exclusive club and the shared experience a job at McDonald's brings," said Alma Anguiano, U.S. National Field People Officer at McDonald's and 1 in 8er. "Employees Only is just one example of our ongoing commitment to connect past and present Crew members, provide them with exclusive opportunities like mentorships with notable alumni who've gone on to make an impact in the world, and so much more."
From Thank You Crew and Homecoming to Employees Only events, we're building upon experiences we've hosted exclusively for crew members over the past few years to help them grow, whether at McDonald's or beyond.
Now, with Employees Only events, we're taking it to another level. Over the next several months, the series will roll out in cities across the country for example, San Diego and Washington D.C. to create spaces for connection, discussion and networking among the 1 in 8 community.
If you're a member of the 1 in 8 and want to be involved in future opportunities, share your story on www.McDonalds1in8.com.
McDonald's USA
McDonald's USA, LLC, serves a variety of menu options made with quality ingredients to millions of customers every day. Ninety-five percent of McDonald's approximately 13,500 U.S. restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees. At franchised restaurants, the independent franchisee is the sole and exclusive employer of all restaurant employees the franchisee alone sets all terms and conditions of employment, establishes all employment policies and practices, and is solely responsible for all employment-related matters in the restaurant. For more information, visit www.mcdonalds.com, and follow us on social: X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
Media Contact:
[email protected]
SOURCE McDonald's USA, LLC
CHICAGO, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Benzinga is proud to announce that Ross Gerber, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, will be a featured speaker at the upcoming Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference on October 8-9, 2024, in Chicago, IL. This highly anticipated event will bring together the brightest minds in the cannabis industry to discuss investment opportunities, market trends, and the future of cannabis finance.
Ross Gerber: A Leader in Financial Innovation and Cannabis Advocacy
Ross Gerber Talks Cannabis at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago. Oct 8-9.
Ross Gerber is a renowned figure in the financial industry, leading Gerber Kawasaki, a top-tier wealth and investment management firm based in Santa Monica, California, with a managed portfolio of $2.6 billion as of January 2024. However, Gerber's passion for cannabis predates his financial success, having been an advocate for legalization since his college years, where he organized one of the largest cannabis legalization rallies at the University of Pennsylvania.
Throughout his career, Gerber has forged strong relationships with top cannabis CEOs, including Kim Rivers of Trulieve, Jason Wild of TerrAscend, and Ben Kovler of Green Thumb Industries, with whom he has hosted multiple discussions on the future of the cannabis industry. His extensive investment in the sector, combined with his advocacy for reform, positions him as a leading voice in cannabis finance. Most recently, Gerber toured Glass House Farms, highlighting the importance of pending cannabis legislation and its potential impact on the market. Watch here .
What to Expect from Ross Gerber at the Conference
At the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference , Ross will share his expertise on the intersection of finance and cannabis, offering unique insights into how investors can navigate this rapidly evolving market. His deep understanding of the financial hurdles faced by cannabis companiesdue to federal restrictions, tax burdens, and access to capitalwill be key highlights of his talk.
His recent discussions on cannabis rescheduling provide crucial context on the potential future of the industry, where Gerber has argued that federal rescheduling could dramatically improve the financial performance of cannabis companies. His collaborations with industry leaders like Kim Rivers, Jason Wild, and Ben Kovler have driven home the importance of leadership, innovation, and strategic planning as the industry faces upcoming legal changes.
Watch some of Gerber's earlier discussions with industry giants:
Why Attend?
This year's Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference is set to be an unmissable event, featuring key industry leaders like Ross Gerber. Attendees will have the opportunity to:
Learn from a Financial Visionary : Gain insights from Ross Gerber on how to leverage emerging trends in cannabis and other key sectors to build a robust investment portfolio.
: Gain insights from on how to leverage emerging trends in cannabis and other key sectors to build a robust investment portfolio. Network with Industry Experts : Connect with over 2,000 attendees, including more than 200 investors, to explore partnership and investment opportunities.
: Connect with over 2,000 attendees, including more than 200 investors, to explore partnership and investment opportunities. Discover the Latest Innovations: Stay ahead of the curve with the latest developments in cannabis finance, technology, and market strategy.
Secure Your Spot Today
Don't miss the chance to learn from Ross Gerber and other industry leaders at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago. Early bird pricing is now available, so secure your spot today and get ready for two days of networking, education, and deal-making.
About Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference
The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference is North America's leading cannabis-focused gathering, attracting top executives, investors, and thought leaders. The event provides an unmatched platform for networking, deal-making, and gaining insights into the future of the cannabis industry.
For more information, visit bzcannabis.com .
SOURCE Benzinga
Set to launch on Firefly's Alpha rocket in 2026, mission will kickstart NOAA's next generation environmental satellite program
CEDAR PARK, Texas, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Firefly Aerospace , an end-to-end space transportation company, today announced the company was awarded a NASA Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) mission to launch the QuickSounder environmental satellite on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Scheduled to launch on Firefly's Alpha rocket in 2026, the collaborative mission between NASA and NOAA is the first project supporting NOAA's new Near Earth Orbit Network (NEON) program.
Firefly's Alpha FLTA005 rocket that successfully launched 8 CubeSats for NASA on July 3, 2024
"The Firefly team is honored to support this critical pathfinder mission for the NEON program that will transform our nation's weather forecasting and climate models," said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly aerospace. "Our flight proven Alpha rocket that's dedicated to serving the one-metric ton launch market is well suited to meet the needs of the NEON program, which requires fast, flexible, and direct launch services."
NEON is the next generation environmental satellite system that will supplement and eventually replace NOAA's Joint Polar Satellite System. The NEON program aims to launch small to medium-sized satellites with Earth-observing instruments more frequently to create a resilient constellation of low Earth orbit satellites that can be deployed quickly to enhance the nation's weather forecasting, disaster management, and climate change monitoring.
Developed by the Southwest Research Institute , QuickSounder is the first environmental satellite to launch as part of NEON. QuickSounder will carry NOAA's Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) instrument that provides critical information about Earth's atmosphere, such as temperature and moisture, within just 30 minutes of data collection to significantly improve NOAA's weather prediction models for fires, floods, droughts, and more.
Launching from Firefly's SLC-2 launch site at the Vandenberg Space Force Base, the QuickSounder mission will be Firefly's second Alpha launch for NASA . Firefly's Alpha rocket is the only commercially operational launch vehicle dedicated to serving the one-metric ton satellite market. The flight proven vehicle provides responsive, reliable, and cost-competitive launch services directly to customers' preferred orbits.
About Firefly Aerospace
Firefly Aerospace is an end-to-end space transportation company with launch, lunar, and on-orbit services. Headquartered in central Texas, Firefly is a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners ("AEI") focused on delivering responsive, reliable, and affordable space access for government and commercial customers. Firefly's small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide the space industry with a single source for missions from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond. For more information, visit www.fireflyspace.com.
Media Contact
[email protected]
SOURCE Firefly Aerospace, Inc.
Board of Directors Establishes Interim Office of the CEO and Initiates Search for a Successor to Lead Company Through Next Phase of Development and Commercialization
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Freenome today announced that Mike Nolan has resigned from his position as chief executive officer (CEO) for personal reasons. The Board of Directors has established an interim Office of the CEO, led by Freenome's co-founder Riley Ennis, with assistance from Douglas VanOort, a Freenome Board member and former chairman of the board and CEO at NeoGenomics, to provide leadership continuity and operational management during the transition. Mr. Nolan will serve as a consultant to the company and its board.
The board will be selecting a successor to guide the organization toward commercialization and increasing its public presence as Freenome focuses on bringing blood-based screening to patients.
"It has been an honor to work alongside my talented colleagues at Freenome over the past six years," Mr. Nolan said, "I continue to be confident about Freenome's strategic direction and its ability to achieve its goals in the fight against cancer."
Randy Scott, Ph.D., CEO at Genomic Life and a Freenome board member since 2017, said, "We are grateful to Mike for his contributions to Freenome throughout his tenure. As CEO, Mike played an important role in Freenome's recent financing and advancing the company's programs. We are in a strong position and wish him all the best."
Dr. Scott added, "Freenome is entering an exciting new phase in its mission to detect cancer at its earliest, most treatable stages. The board has full confidence in the company's work to progress the FDA submission of its first blood test following the pivotal PREEMPT CRC results, while continuing to improve its CRC test and advancing into new cancer indications through the ongoing PROACT Lung trial."
About Freenome
Freenome is breaking barriers to early cancer detection with a suite of blood tests built on its multiomics platform. The company recognizes that no single technology can identify every cancer due to the disease's inherent heterogeneity. Freenome's multimodal approach combines molecular biology and assays with computational biology, machine learning and multiple data types to tune into cancer's subtlest cues, even at the earliest stages of the disease.
With the convenience of a standard blood draw, Freenome aims to empower everyone to access recommended cancer screenings. The company is partnering with healthcare organizations and population health decision-makers to integrate its technology and software platform, making cancer detection easier and more accessible. Freenome is headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Find out more at www.freenome.com and visit us on LinkedIn .
SOURCE Freenome Holdings, Inc.
PEORIA, Ill., Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Gateway Foundation is proud to announce the completion of its newest treatment center in Peoria, Illinois, marking a significant step forward in the expansion of evidence-based care for individuals with substance use and mental health disorders.
To celebrate the opening, Gateway Foundation will host an Open House and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, at 4812 N. Sheridan Rd., Suite A, Peoria, IL 61614. The event will include tours of the facility from 3:00 pm 5:00 pm, with a Ribbon Cutting scheduled at 4:00 pm. The public is invited to attend, meet the staff, and learn more about the new center.
This state-of-the-art facility is part of Gateway Foundation's ongoing commitment to meet the growing demand for high-quality treatment services, particularly in regions like Peoria, where the need for accessible care is increasing.
In 2022, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health's (IDPH) Opioid Data Dashboard, Peoria County saw a 120 percent rise in synthetic-involved fatal overdoses and a 19 percent increase in nonfatal overdoses, underscoring the urgency of addressing the opioid crisis and expanding access to care. According to the 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) for the Tri-County region, 20 percent of the population lacked access to counseling when needed, with waitlists cited as the top barrier to care.
"The opening of Gateway Foundation in Peoria represents our continued commitment to meeting the urgent needs of communities facing a growing divide between the prevalence of substance use and mental health disorders and access to high-quality care," said Jeremy Klemanski, Gateway Foundation President & CEO. "Our new Peoria facility is set to play a pivotal role in addressing the community's treatment needs. We are committed to establishing a strong, lasting presence in Peoria while, most importantly, building trust with those we serve."
With expertise in treating co-occurring disorders, Gateway Foundation offers integrated care that addresses both substance use and mental health conditions, an essential approach to long-term recovery.
As the Peoria facility establishes its presence, Gateway Foundation will prioritize community engagement and outreach, building on the strong foundation of trust and partnership already established in many other Illinois communities.
About Gateway Foundation:
Gateway Foundation provides evidence-based substance use disorder and mental health disorder treatment services in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas, and Wyoming. Gateway Foundation also provides non-profit support services in California. For over 55 years, Gateway Foundation clinicians have helped more than a million patients achieve a life of recovery, or reduced substance use, while also treating co-occurring mental health disorders. Gateway Foundation supports people's post-treatment to help them pursue healthier lives. Over 40,000 people per year utilize Gateway Foundation services, impacting more than 100,000 family and friends annually.
For more information, please contact Hanna Frank-Hernandez at 773-848-3478 or [email protected].
SOURCE Gateway Foundation
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Within the framework of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, a meeting was held between Azerbaijani Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev, and Special Representative of the German Foreign Ministry for International Climate Policy, Secretary of State Jennifer Morgan, the statement of COP29 on X said, Trend reports.
In the course of the meeting, the sides discussed the continuation of the search for further progressive ways to address common priority issues at COP29 in Baku.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will be held in Azerbaijan in November this year. The decision was made at the plenary meeting of COP28 held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Within two weeks, Baku, having become the center of the world, will host about 70,000-80,000 foreign guests.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for Conference of Parties, which is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
A total of 198 countries are parties to the convention. Unless the parties have decided otherwise, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.
A novel psychiatric scale developed by colleagues of Gedeon Richter Plc. in collaboration with academia was also presented at the 37th ECNP conference
BUDAPEST, Hungary, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- During the 37th Annual Meeting of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), held between 21-24 September 2024, new analyses of cariprazine studies were presented by Gedeon Richter Plc. First of all, cariprazine seems to be an effective treatment option for patients with schizophrenia and comorbid cannabis use disorder, according to one of the five posters presented at the congress. Furthermore, during an industry sponsored session, a new transdiagnostic scale for quantifying and visualizing symptom severity of patients with different psychiatric conditions was also presented, that was developed by the medical team of Gedeon Richter Plc. and recognized professors.
Schizophrenia often co-occurs with cannabis use disorder however, available antipsychotic treatments frequently fail to address both disorders. In a scientific poster showcased by Gedeon Richter at ECNP in Milan, cariprazine was presented to be a potentially effective treatment option for patients with first-episode schizophrenia and comorbid cannabis use disorder according to the results of a 6-month observational study. Four other scientific posters were also presented at the congress by Gedeon Richter about the role of cariprazine in the treatment of schizophrenia such as the efficacy of cariprazine in patients who develop akathisia as a side effect or the impact of functioning on the risk of relapse in patients treated with cariprazine vs placebo. Cariprazine is a 3rd generation antipsychotic medication with a unique receptor profile and proven efficacy in schizophrenia, including negative symptoms.
Lacking biomarkers in psychiatry calls for valid and reliable assessments of psychopathology across mental disorders that are easy to use, bridge research and clinical care, and that can capture clinician and patient perspectives. Recognizing this problem, the Gedeon Richter medical team together with experienced psychiatric professors developed a scale to handle this challenge. Using this new transdiagnostic scale called the Transdiagnostic Global Impression Psychopathology (TGI-P) scale could help CNS professionals and psychologists to quickly assess and visualize symptoms in several psychiatric conditions. During an industry sponsored session, the details and the usability of the tool were shown to the audience.
About Richter and About Cariprazine
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a decisive move to strengthen ethnic and community media, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1511 - authored by Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) - into law, mandating that state agencies develop plans to increase their advertising spending in media outlets serving California's diverse populations. The law requires agencies to annually report on their progress to ensure transparency and accountability. Sponsored by the Latino Media Collaborative, AB 1511 represents a key effort to direct the state's advertising dollars towards ethnic and community media, creating a sustainable foundation for these outlets to thrive.
"California's ethnic and community media are essential to keeping our diverse populations informed through independent journalism," said Arturo Carmona, President of the Latino Media Collaborative. "This law ensures that state advertising investments will go where they are needed most, creating an economic lifeline for these media outlets while also connecting more Californians to critical state programs. This is an important first step in addressing the long-standing gaps in advertising equity, but more must be done to ensure the survival of these outlets."
AB 1511 requires state agencies and departments that spend on marketing, advertising, or outreach to develop a strategic plan aimed at increasing their investments in ethnic and community media that serve priority populations.
"As an advocate for independent, local, and Black news outlets, I applaud the State Legislature and the Governor for recognizing that our publications have an indispensable role in the communication infrastructure of our great state," said Regina Brown Wilson, Executive Director of California Black Media.
California's ethnic media sector includes over 300 outlets that publish and broadcast across the state, providing trusted, community-specific information. These independent outlets are often financially vulnerable due to underutilization by government agencies and shifting advertising models. AB 1511 is designed to address these challenges by directing more state resources toward ethnic media, creating a foundation for their long-term sustainability.
"By signing Asm. Santiago's AB 1511, Governor Newsom supports a long-overdue policy that California, as the epicenter of ethnic media in the country, must ensure that all public information and engagement should reach the state's diverse and underserved communities in coordination with their trusted messengers," says Sandy Close, executive director of Ethnic Media Services (EMS).
Julian Do, co-director of EMS, added, "It's a powerful recognition that California's future is best served when everyone is informed and included in public issue conversations at all levels."
State agencies must report annually on their progress, with the Department of General Services tasked with creating a reporting template by December 1, 2025. The bill's provisions will remain in effect until July 1, 2028, ensuring that these vital investments continue for the next several years.
"Display ads are the lifeblood of community newspapers. The passage of AB1511 creates a win-win for both ethnic media and the state," said Martha Diaz Aszkenazy, Publisher of the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol Newspaper, a bilingual paper serving a largely immigrant Latino community since 1904. "But this is just the beginningwe need more investment to ensure these essential platforms stay strong."
About Latino Media Collaborative
The Latino Media Collaborative is an emerging non-profit organization that develops high-impact media and outreach campaigns in partnership with the Latino media sector to advance an informed and highly engaged Latino community.
About California Black Media
California Black Media is a convener and trusted advocate for more than 30 independent Black-owned-and-operated news publishers, multimedia platforms and broadcasters across California.
About Ethnic Media Services
Ethnic Media Services works to enhance the capacity of ethnic news outlets to inform and engage diverse audiences on broader public issues with the goal of building a more inclusive participatory democracy.
SOURCE Latino Media Collaborative
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP) expresses deep disappointment today following Governor Gavin Newsom's veto of AB 2250 (Weber). The bill, authored by Assemblymember Akilah Weber, MD, and sponsored by the CAFP, with alongside co-sponsors the California Primary Care Association (CPCA) Advocates, California Black Health Network (CBHN), and Black Leadership Council (BLC), sought to require health plans and insurers to provide coverage for SDOH screenings and ensure access to community health workers, peer support specialists, lay health workers, and social workers who could help address these factors. Despite collaboration with the Administration and widespread support from healthcare clinicians, patient advocacy groups, and community-based organizations, this bill was ultimately rejected for a second time.
A Missed Opportunity to Advance Social Justice and Health Equity
"Family physicians across the state worked tirelessly to advance AB 2250 because we know firsthand the profound impact social determinants have on our patients' health," said Alex McDonald, MD, President of CAFP. "This bill would have been a critical step forward in addressing the root causes of health disparities in California. By failing to sign this bill into law, the governor has delayed much-needed reforms that would have improved the lives of millions of vulnerable Californians who face issues like housing instability, food insecurity, and transportation barriersfactors just as vital to their health as any medical treatment."
Healthcare advocates argue that without AB 2250, underserved patients will continue to suffer from untreated social needs that contribute to poor health outcomes. "Unaddressed, SDOH adversely impacts health equity due to worsening health outcomes, widening disparities, and increased healthcare costs for vulnerable communities," said CPCA President and CEO Francisco J. Silva, Esq. "AB 2250 would have made major strides in addressing California's health disparities and boosted the state's efforts to achieve a whole-person healthcare system. We will continue working with Dr. Weber and all stakeholders in the next legislative session to improve the health and well-being of Californians."
Rhonda Smith, Executive Director of the California Black Health Network (CBHN) also reflects that "Despite our tireless efforts to address the Governor's concerns, the decision to veto this bill is deeply disappointing. We know that 80% of health outcomes stem from social determinants of health, while only 20% are clinical; therefore, this veto reinforces systemic inequities and sends a harmful message to communities that continue to bear the brunt of social and health disparities."
AB 2250 would have empowered physicians and health professionals to conduct SDOH screenings and connect patients with community resources. "Without this legislation, thousands of Californians will continue to fall through the cracks," added Tasha Henneman, Director of the Black Leadership Council (BLC) and Chief of Policy & Government Affairs, PRC. "This veto is a setback for healthcare equity, and it delays efforts to ensure that patients' social needs are met alongside their medical needs."
Governor Newsom's veto message expressed concerns over the bill's overlap with existing initiatives like CalAIM and a federal billing code for SDOH assessments, as well as challenges operationalizing "adequate access" to community health workers. However, CAFP contends that current efforts remain insufficient, and AB 2250 would have filled critical gaps for family physicians and other providers to adequately address the complex social needs of their patients.
The Path Forward
Despite this setback, healthcare organizations remain committed to pursuing solutions that address SDOH and reduce health disparities. "We won't stop fighting for health equity in California," said Assemblymember Akilah Weber, MD, the bill's author. "We will continue working with the administration and legislature to find ways to ensure that every Californian can access comprehensive, whole-person care."
The California Academy of Family Physicians, the California Primary Care Association, the California Black Health Network, and the Black Leadership Council remain determined to advocate for policies that meaningfully address the SDOH. The coalition will regroup and bring forth new proposals to achieve these goals in the future.
About California Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP)
With more than 10,000 members, including active practicing family physicians, residents in family medicine, and medical students interested in the specialty, CAFP is the largest primary care medical society in California. Family physicians are trained to treat an entire family's medical needs and address life's medical challenges. Family physicians serve a broad base of patients in urban, suburban and rural areas, often in California's most underserved areas.
SOURCE California Academy of Family Physicians
MEXICO CITY, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo Kaltex, S.A. de C.V. (" Kaltex " or the " Company ") announced today the expiration of the early tender period, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 24, 2024 (the " Early Tender Date "), of their previously announced offer to purchase for cash any and all of the outstanding 14.500% Senior Secured Notes due 2025 (CUSIP Nos. 40054F AC1; P4953V CC5 and ISIN Nos. US40054FAC14; USP4953VCC56) (the " Notes ") issued by Kaltex (the " Offer "), upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the offer to purchase and consent solicitation statement dated September 11, 2024 (the " Statement "). In addition, the Company announced that it has extended the deadline for holders that tender their Notes to receive the "Total Consideration" of U.S.$875.00, which includes an "Early Tender Consideration" of $25.00, per U.S.$1,000 per principal amount of Notes tendered until 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on October 8, 2024 (such time, as the same may be extended or earlier terminated, the " Expiration Time "). Terms used in this announcement and not otherwise defined have the meanings assigned to them in the Statement.
Concurrently with the Offer, the Company is soliciting (the " Solicitation ") from the Holders a consent (" Consent ") to certain proposed amendments to the indenture, dated as of December 20, 2022 (as amended and supplemented as of the date hereof, the " Indenture "), among the Company, the Note Guarantors, The Bank of New York Mellon, as trustee, paying agent, registrar, and transfer agent and Banco Monex S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple, Monex Grupo Financiero, as collateral agent, under which the Notes were issued, including releasing all of the collateral securing the Notes, eliminating substantially all of the restrictive covenants and certain events of default and related provisions and shortening the minimum notice period for the optional redemption of the Notes by the Company to three days, rather than 30 days (the " Proposed Amendments "). The Proposed Amendments, if they become operative, may have adverse consequences for Holders that do not tender their Notes in the Offer. The Offer and the Solicitation are subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including, without limitation, the Financing Condition (as defined in the Statement), and the other conditions set forth in the Statement.
On September 11, 2024, the Company commenced the Offer and Solicitation. According to information received from D.F. King & Co., Inc., the information and tender agent (the " Information Agent ") for the Offer and Solicitation, as of the Early Tender Date, the Company had received valid tenders of Notes and corresponding Consents in an amount in excess of the 75% in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding Notes required for the implementation of the Proposed Amendments (the " Requisite Consents ") pursuant to the terms of the Offer and Solicitation.
Accordingly, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Statement, the Company has accepted for purchase the Notes tendered as of the Early Tender Date and expects that payment for all Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) at or prior to the Early Tender Date and accepted by the Company will be made on or about October 11, 2024.
The Company hereby also announces that the payment of the Total Consideration will be made available to those holders who validly tender their Notes, and whose tendered Notes are accepted for purchase, at or prior to the Expiration Time. In addition, pursuant to the terms of the Statement, the Company intends to promptly enter into a supplemental indenture with the guarantors and the Trustee that will amend and supplement the Indenture and give effect to the Proposed Amendments; however, the Proposed Amendments will not become operative unless and until the conditions described in the Statement for the operation of the Proposed Amendments have been satisfied.
Except as described above, the terms of the Offer and Solicitation remain unchanged, including, without limitation, the Early Tender Date, the Withdrawal Date and the Expiration Time, each as defined in the Statement. Holders who have previously validly tendered (and not withdrawn) their Notes will not need to re-tender their Notes to be eligible to receive the Total Consideration. In addition, Holders will receive accrued and unpaid interest, if any, on such Notes from the last interest payment date with respect to those Notes to, but not including, the applicable settlement date, and any additional amounts as set forth in the Statement.
In accordance with the terms of the Offer, the Withdrawal Date expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 24, 2024. As a result, except as may be required by applicable law, Notes tendered in the Offer and that may be tendered on or prior to the Expiration Time cannot be withdrawn. The Expiration Time of the Offer remains 5:00 p.m. New York City time, on October 8, 2024, unless extended or earlier terminated by the Company in its sole discretion, subject to applicable law. No tenders will be valid if submitted after the Expiration Time.
The Company intends to purchase any remaining Notes that have been validly tendered after the Early Tender Date and accepted for purchase in the Offer promptly following the Expiration Time, subject to all conditions to the Offer having been either satisfied or waived by the Company. The final settlement date is expected to be on or about October 11, 2024.
Notwithstanding any other provision of the Offer or the Solicitation set forth in the Statement, the Company's obligation to accept for purchase, and to purchase, Notes validly tendered pursuant to the Offer is conditioned upon the satisfaction or waiver of: (i) the Financing Condition (as defined in the Statement); (ii) receiving the Requisite Consents to effect the Proposed Amendments; and (iii) the other conditions described in the Statement). See "Conditions to the Offer and the Solicitation" in the Statement.
The Offer or Solicitation may be amended, extended or terminated, and any condition with respect thereto may be waived by the Company, separately.
D.F. King & Co., Inc is acting as the information and tender agent (the " Information and Tender Agent ") for the Offer. Copies of the Statement are available to holders of Notes from the Tender Agent and Information Agent at +1 (212) 269-5550 and +1 (800) 487-4870 and at [email protected].
BCP Securities, Inc., is acting as dealer manager and solicitation agent for the Offer and Consent Solicitation. Questions regarding the Offer may be directed to BCP Securities, Inc., at +1-203-629-2186 [email protected].
Disclaimer
This press release must be read in conjunction with the Statement. This press release and the Statement contain important information which must be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the Offer and the Consent Solicitation. If any holder of Notes is in any doubt as to the action it should take, it is recommended to seek its own legal, tax, accounting and financial advice, including as to any tax consequences, immediately from its stockbroker, bank manager, attorney, accountant or other independent financial or legal adviser. Any individual or company whose Notes are held on its behalf by a broker, dealer, bank, custodian, trust company or other nominee or intermediary must contact such entity if it wishes to participate in the Offer and the Consent Solicitation. None of the Company, the dealer manager, the information and tender agent, the trustee, the registrar, the paying agent and any person who controls, or is a director, officer, employee or agent of such persons, or any affiliate of such persons, makes any recommendation as to whether holders of Notes should participate in the Offer and the Consent Solicitation.
Neither the Statement nor any related documents have been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, nor have any such documents been filed with or reviewed by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority of any country. No authority has passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the Statement or any related documents, and it is unlawful and may be a criminal offense to make any representation to the contrary.
In addition, neither the Statement nor any related documents have been filed with or been reviewed or authorized by the Mexican National Banking and Securities Commission (Comision Nacional Bancaria y de Valores, the "CNBV"). The Company has not filed with the CNBV a request for authorization of the Offer and the Consent Solicitation. The Offer and the Consent Solicitation does not constitute a public offering in Mexico and it may not be publicly distributed in Mexico. The Offer and the Consent Solicitation may only be made available in Mexico to investors that qualify as institutional or accredited investors (inversionistas institucionales or inversionistas calificados), solely pursuant to the private offering exemption set forth in article 8 of the Mexican Securities Market Law (Ley del Mercado de Valores) and regulations thereunder. Neither the Statement nor any related documents may be publicly advertised, marketed, distributed in Mexico. Furthermore, the CNBV has not confirmed the accuracy or determined the adequacy of this Offer.
The Offer and the Consent Solicitation is being made solely on the terms and conditions set forth in the Statement. Under no circumstances shall this press release constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell the Notes or any other securities of the Company or any of its subsidiaries. The Offer and the Consent Solicitation is not being made to, nor will the Company accept tenders of Notes from, holders in any jurisdiction in which the Offer and the Consent Solicitation or the acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities or blue sky laws of such jurisdiction.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release may be "forward-looking statements," which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Other than statements of historical fact, information regarding activities, events and developments that we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements based on management's estimates, assumptions and projections. Many forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe, "estimate" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are predictions only and actual results could differ materially from management's expectations due to a variety of factors. The forward-looking statements that we make in this press release are based on management's current views and assumptions regarding future events and speak only as of their dates and are subject to risks such as described in the Statement. We assume no obligation to update developments of these risk factors or to announce publicly any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements that we make, or to make corrections to reflect future events or developments, except as required by the U.S. federal securities laws.
SOURCE Grupo Kaltex, S.A. de C.V.
Attorneys Brent Goudarzi, Charla Aldous represent woman injured in 2019 crash
DALLAS, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Dallas-based Hunt Oil Company has agreed to pay $30 million to a Texas woman who was left with a permanent and painful back injury after her car was hit by a worker driving a Hunt Oil pickup truck.
The wreck happened on a Friday night in November 2019 in Odessa, Texas. As 53-year-old Barbara Dalby drove her car on State Highway 191, a Ford F-150 owned and operated by Hunt Oil, and driven by a Hunt Oil employee, hit her car head on.
As a result, Ms. Dalby, a mother of three, required lumbar fusion surgery and continues to suffer from chronic pain.
Attorneys believe the settlement amount is the highest ever in Dallas County in this type of injury case. The case settled just as jury selection began yesterday in a Dallas County District courtroom.
"My thanks go out to the 54 potential jurors who showed up yesterday to fulfill their obligation to serve on a jury," said attorney Brent Goudarzi of Goudarzi & Young in Longview, Texas, who, along with Dallas trial lawyer Charla Aldous of Aldous\Walker, represents the plaintiff. "This settlement on the eve of trial shows that our system of justice works when citizens are active and involved in jury duty."
Both Mr. Goudarzi and Ms. Aldous believe that this settlement would not have happened without Dallas citizens showing up for jury duty, ready to serve.
"Hunt Oil knew that they would be held accountable by a jury of Ms. Dalby's peers and that pressure I know caused them to settle," Mr. Goudarzi said.
"I am happy we were able to achieve such a tremendous result on behalf of Ms. Dalby," Ms. Aldous said. "This settlement will take care of all her future medical needs."
Evidence in the case showed that, at the time of the crash, the Hunt Oil employee who was driving the pickup truck had drugs and alcohol in his system. Evidence in the case further showed that the driver had been doing drugs and drinking alcohol with his Hunt Oil supervisor, immediately before the wreck.
Prior to the crash, Ms. Dalby worked as a proposal specialist for a company that helped law enforcement and military organizations, but since the wreck she has been unable to work.
The case is Barbara Dalby v. Hunt Oil Company and Mikeal Crosson, Cause No. DC-21-11344 in the 116th Judicial District Court in Dallas County, Texas.
Goudarzi & Young is a personal injury law firm with a focus on helping those injured in a variety of accidents, including car accidents, 18-wheeler accidents, product injuries and work-related claims. More information at https://goudarziyounglaw.com/
The Aldous\Walker LLP law firm represents clients in civil litigation and specializes in high-profile, high-stakes cases. Learn more at http://www.aldouslaw.com.
Media Contact:
Mark Annick
800.559.4534
[email protected]
SOURCE Aldous \ Walker, LLP
DUBAI, UAE and NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- GITEX Global, one of the world's most prominent tech events, will occur from October 14th to 18th, 2024, at Dubai World Trade Centre. This event is all set to feature some profound breakthroughs in technology. GITEX Global 2024 provides several opportunities for the technology sector to demonstrate their offerings to international businesses. Continuing the tradition of being the most active and enthusiastic participant, Hyperlink InfoSystem, a leading AI-driven software development company, is extremely excited to announce its participation in GITEX Global 2024.
Hyperlink InfoSystem has been a prominent and active attendee of GITEX Global since 2016 and is now excited to demonstrate its competence in a wide range of modern IT offerings and emerging technologies, including mobile app development, web development, software development, AI & machine learning, AR/VR, IoT, blockchain, Salesforce, DevOps, and more. The company's participation demonstrates its dedication to boosting innovation and digital transformation for enterprises in a variety of industries.
Being the largest and best rated tech and AI event in the world, GITEX Global brings together over a whopping 18,000+ attendees, 250+ exhibitors, 40+ countries, and 100+ speakers from 170+ countries. GITEX presents this annual event, which lasts a week and draws some of the world's most well-known companies and entrepreneurs. Founded in 2011, Hyperlink InfoSystem has become a trusted name in the tech industry, delivering over 4500 innovative mobile apps and 2300+ cutting-edge websites. With 2700+ happy clients globally, the company has expanded its expertise to include 120+ AI and IoT solutions, 140+ engaging games, and 120+ Salesforce solutions. In addition, Hyperlink InfoSystem has developed 25+ blockchain solutions, 60+ data science projects, and boasts a team of 1200+ dedicated developers committed to providing best-in-class tech solutions and services.
Harnil Oza, CEO & Founder of Hyperlink InfoSystem, commented, "We've always been impressed by the caliber of entrepreneurs, businesses, and tech leaders at GITEX. This year, Hyperlink InfoSystem is excited to showcase our excellence in the IT industry, digital transformation, and discuss how emerging technologies like AI, ML, IoT, and Salesforce can drive business growth." He also said, "As a leading IT solutions provider with an emphasis on the Middle East expanding tech market, we're eager to connect with industry professionals and explore new partnerships." Hyperlink InfoSystem is delighted to return to GITEX Global, a premier tech event that has consistently provided valuable business opportunities.
Hyperlink InfoSystem will also showcase its latest services and offerings while reaffirming its commitment to driving digital change across industries. Interested entrepreneurs with advanced technical innovations can pitch directly to the team at GITEX Global 2024. To inquire more, call +1(309) 791-4105 or email [email protected].
About Hyperlink InfoSystem
Hyperlink InfoSystem is a prominent international enterprise excelling in IT solutions in many domains. Since its humble beginnings in 2011, its specialization in technologies has expanded across web development, mobile app development, enterprise software solutions, and now Artificial Intelligence (AI). With over 1200+ employees and a global presence in the USA, UK, UAE, France, India, and Canada, Hyperlink InfoSystem is dedicated to assisting corporations to leverage the complete power of technology to accomplish their goals.
Contact Details:
Hyperlink InfoSystem
Harnil Oza
+1-309-791-4105
[email protected]
New York Address:
One World Trade Center
285 Fulton Street suite 8500,
New York, NY 10007,
United States
Ahmedabad Address:
C-308, Ganesh Meridian,
Opp Kargil Petrol Pump, S.G. Highway,
Sola, Ahmedabad, 380061
India
London Address:
Level 30, The Leadenhall Building,
122 Leadenhall Street,
London EC3V 4AB
Canada Address:
151 Yonge Street, 11th Floor,
Toronto, Ontario, M5C 2W7,
Canada
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2429933/4743119/Hyperlink_InfoSystem_Logo.jpg
SOURCE Hyperlink InfoSystem
Reimagining the Future of Talent: A multi-generational dialogue at Spelman College
ATLANTA, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In partnership with Spelman College, Tapestry Networks brought together corporate leaders, faculty, and students for a knowledge exchange on Reimagining the Future of Talent. Held on Spelman's Atlanta campus during National HBCU Week, the dialogue focused on how companies are adapting their talent strategies to shifts in workforce demographics, changing expectations from younger workers, and seismic developments in technology. Corporate executives and board members joined from over 40 organizations, including Accenture, AIG, Boston Scientific, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cigna, The Coca-Cola Company, Google, Novartis, Salesforce, Warner Brothers, Kohl's, Honeywell, Celsius, LHH, Arthur M Blank Family Foundation, and Assemble.fyi. Leading academic administrators, faculty, and students engaged in the conversation, coming from Spelman College, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, Georgetown University, and Brown University.
Corporations realize that if they don't make strategic investments in inclusive talent pathways, they'll be left behind. Post this Spelman College Logo Reimagining the future of talent participants
"Corporations are seeking talent that challenges their thinking", said Dr. Marsha H. Ershaghi, Managing Director, Tapestry Networks. "Companies are doubling down on talent. They realize that if they don't make strategic investments in inclusive talent pathways, they will be left behind." Participants said that curiosity and making a contribution were at the core of the career paths most attractive to today's students.
Healthcare, as a sector facing an acute talent crisis, was profiled as a case study. "Who and how we educate matters. Improved health outcomes are evident when patient-provider relationships reflect similarities in race, ethnicity, and gender," said Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, President and Dean of Morehouse School of Medicine. Dr. Elizabeth Cameron, Senior Advisor to the Brown Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health discussed the need for public private partnerships to create learning pathways across the healthcare ecosystem. Gabrielle Evans, Spelman alumna and Health Equity Scholar at the Brown University School of Public Health illustrated her personal journey, and the corporate leaders were impressed by the students' career foresight.
Spelman President Dr. Helene Gayle reflected on the uniqueness of the knowledge exchange. "The global trends indicate we're going to have a more diverse workforce and that the workers of the future expect and want diversity in their work environment. I think we will have the most productive workplaces when we value the unique contributions everyone brings and allow people to be their authentic selves." Faculty leaders of Spelman initiatives such as Spelpreneur, the Center for Black Entrepreneurship, Spelman Health Careers, and Computer and Information Sciences all contributed to the conversation.
Participants agreed on the need for change. "The workplace experiences of Black Americans are different," said one; "Oftentimes people of color, particularly African Americans, experience racial or ethnic discrimination, bias in hiring, or performance evaluations that don't tap into what they contribute. And therefore, oftentimes there's less opportunity for advancement. We can't have that. We have to examine why that exists and think about the systemic things we can do to make a difference."
About Tapestry Networks
Tapestry Networks brings world-class leaders together to tackle complex challenges and promote positive change through the power of connected thinking. Learn more at: https://www.tapestrynetworks.com/.
About Spelman College
Spelman College, a global leader in the education of women of African descent, is dedicated to academic excellence in the liberal arts and sciences and the intellectual, creative, ethical and leadership development of its students. For 18 years, Spelman has been number 1 in the US News and World Report ranking of historically Black colleges and universities. Its 2,100 students come from 43 US states and 11 countries. Learn more at https://www.spelman.edu/.
Media Relations Contact:
Denise Ward, Spelman Associate Vice President for Communications and Marketing
[email protected]
Media Relations Contact:
Amy Christenson, Tapestry Networks Managing Director, Operations
[email protected]
SOURCE Tapestry Networks
Al-Yacoub is a seasoned C-suite advisor in strategic and financial communications with a track-record of achievements across vital sectors and critical projects
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Instinctif Partners, one of the leading and fastest growing strategic reputation advisors in MENA has further strengthened its leadership position by appointing Ikram Al-Yacoub as Managing Partner and Head of Saudi Arabia. This strategic move signifies strong ongoing commitment to its regional integrated advisory approach while navigating the rapidly evolving landscape in Saudi.
From left to right, Samantha Bartel, Managing Partner & CEO, Instinctif Partners MENA, Ikram Al Yacoub, Managing Partner and Head of KSA, Instinctif Partners MENA.
In this role, Ikram Al-Yacoub will be instrumental in driving Instinctif's growth initiatives, creating value through sound and experienced client advice while further deepening key stakeholder engagement and fostering strategic partnerships. Al-Yacoub brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will be pivotal as Instinctif continues building and enhancing its operations across the Kingdom in industries undergoing significant growth and transformation. Instinctif prides itself on helping its clients navigate critical global issues while ensuring local relevance.
Samantha Bartel, CEO MENA, Instinctif Partners said:
"We are delighted to have Ikram join our successful and growing team. We are proud to have been advising clients in Saudi Arabia for over a decade and are excited to build on our successful momentum with the appointment of Ikram. With Al-Yacoub's stewardship and her strong relationships in the Kingdom we will continue to deliver best in class reputation management through investor relations, corporate reporting, ESG, public policy, and crisis communications, in Saudi Arabia."
Ikram will work closely with the EMEA teams to identify opportunities, optimize Instinctif's approach, and ensure that client and partner needs in Saudi Arabia are effectively met.
Al-Yacoub is a Saudi citizen, holds an MBA from City University London. Prior to her Management degree, Ikram has earned a master's degree of International Political Economy of Resources from Colorado School of Mines, USA, where she focused on energy sustainability and economic valuation of natural resources. Most recently, she served as Managing Director and General Manager at Brunswick Group, where she led its strategic expansion to Saudi and advised clients on financial communications, mergers and acquisitions, and public listings. Al Yacoub is a media veteran and has previously led critical initiatives as a business Managing Editor of Al Arabiya News Channel.
Ikram Al-Yacoub, Managing Partner & Head of Saudi Arabia, Instinctif Partners said:
"It's an honor to join such a leading firm and build on its capabilities and offerings. With the region moving at an unprecedented pace of economic development and transformation, clients are in in constant hunt for true and genuine partners with the right expertise and skillset to think through and help them with critical issues to navigate complex situations. Instinctif stands in a unique proposition when bringing localized, world class specialized capabilities to corporate situations. I look forward to taking this advisory model from a strength to strength."
Bartel added: "We are confident that under Ikram's leadership we will be a driving force in the Kingdom and provide a growth path for our talented people."
Al-Yacoub is also a member of the 'Middle East Investor Relations Association (MEIRA) KSA Memberships and Events Committee' whose objective is to raise the profile of investor relations in Saudi Arabia.
Instinctif Partners boasts a growing blue chip client list across the region and internationally, and awarded 'Large Consultancy of the Year, MENA in 2024' by PRCA MENA.
About Instinctif Partners:
Instinctif Partners is an EMEA business communications consultancy. As partners in change, we help navigate societies' constantly changing rules. We provide an integrated service drawing on expertise in communications, capital markets, content & design, digital, insight, public affairs and sustainability. Our aim is to build trust through transparency and honesty, so that together with our clients, we can be a force for good.
Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2515002/Instinctif.jpg
SOURCE Instinctif Partners MENA
VANCOUVER, BC and HOUSTON, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - International Battery Metals Ltd. (the "Company" or "IBAT") (CSE: IBAT), provides the following operational update on our operations at US Magnesium LLC ("US Mag"). We are extremely pleased with the performance of our modular direct lithium extraction plant, (the "MDLE Plant"). The MDLE Plant was processing a solution produced from lithium containing waste salts derived from prior magnesium production generating a high-purity lithium chloride eluent. The lithium chloride eluent was further processed by US Mag's on-site facilities to produce a lithium carbonate meeting US Mag's specification. After lengthy discussions between the Company and US Mag it has been concluded that operating economics have been challenged due to the current price environment of lithium carbonate, and operations will be suspended until lithium prices recover. We want to thank US Mag for this collaboration and look forward to potentially working with US Mag in the future.
"While we saw lithium carbonate prices show stability and moderate price recovery in the first half of the year, since the beginning of June, there has been significant weakness in pricing," Iris Jancik, Chief Executive Officer commented, "We still expect the lithium market to grow and are optimistic we will see better conditions in 2025. It is important to note that our combined operation with US Mag was able to achieve the targeted level of lithium carbonate purity and produced an extremely high-quality product."
We previously discussed in our quarterly management discussions and analysis that the Company and US Mag had encountered operational challenges during the start-up of the MDLE Plant and incurred damage to some of the filters and equipment resulting in greater than anticipated downtime. The necessary repairs to the MDLE Plant have been completed and are not a contributing factor to the decision to idle the MDLE Plant.
The Company is currently evaluating options for the MDLE Plant. Given the MDLE Plant's immediate availability and the high-quality results achieved at US Mag, combined with the modular, mobile design, we can offer customers rapid development of their lithium resources.
About International Battery Metals Ltd.
IBAT is an advanced technology company focused on the development of environmentally responsible methods of extracting lithium compounds from brine. IBAT has developed a patented modular direct lithium extraction plant ("MDLE Plant") which allows for rapid deployment to a resource holder's production site. IBAT is working with resource holders of oilfield brines, brine aquifers, and industrial customers with brine by-products. IBAT believes the modular design of its MDLE Plant provides significant initial costs savings to customers and the proprietary direct lithium extraction technology lowers operating costs by selectively extracting lithium from the brine while efficiently removing contaminants.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Iris Jancik, Chief Executive Officer
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release may contain assumptions, estimates, and other forward-looking statements regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and are subject to factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control that may cause actual results or performance to differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
Forward looking and cautionary statements
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 any state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities referred to 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 absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. This release may contain statements within the meaning of safe harbor provisions as defined under securities laws and regulations.
This release may contain certain forward-looking statements with respect to certain of the plans and objectives of the Company, including statements with respect to the expected timing for commencement of production, and the production capacity of IBAT's initial DLE plant deployment with US Mag, expectations about the future operations of IBAT, and statements relating to anticipated future global lithium demand. The use of any of the words "will", "expected", "view", "believes" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by forward-looking information as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Additional information regarding risks and uncertainties of the Company's business are contained in the Company's public filings which are available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The statement made in this press release are made as of the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable securities laws.
SOURCE International Battery Metals Ltd.
Legislation would cut off access to AI tools small businesses are increasingly relying on.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Internet for Growth, a coalition representing over 2,000 small businesses, strongly opposes Senate Bill 1047, the "Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act." This bill threatens to undermine the ability of small businesses to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and the potential it holds for their growth and competitiveness.
"SB 1047 would cut my business's access to an emerging technology that has the potential to change everything," said Russell Lowery, Owner of High View Strategies in Sacramento. "AI models will streamline workflow processes and amplify the power of my workers. This bill would close the doors for businesses like mine, putting an expensive price tag on the technology and leaving it out of reach for me. I urge Governor Newsom to veto SB 1047 and protect small businesses' right to access new, groundbreaking technology."
Katy Noochlaor, Owner of Tuk Tuk Thai in Los Angeles said the following, "Running a small business requires you to wear multiple hats: processing billing, invoicing, payroll, and more. Generative AI can help me and my staff push through the little things so we can focus on what we do best: giving our customers the best food and experience for their dollar. SB 1047 has the potential to undo this progress. It's anticompetitive and, if signed into law, would force me to rely on the same old tedious tools. I urge the Governor to veto SB 1047 and promote competition."
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, nearly a quarter of small businesses are already using AI, and those businesses have reported a 12-point increase in their likelihood of seeing a profit increase compared to non-AI users. Additionally, 71% of small business owners plan to adopt the latest technology, including AI.
This bill would present a significant barrier to small businesses, which often operate with narrow profit margins. By restricting access to AI and open-source tools, SB 1047 would widen the gap between small businesses and large corporations, taking away a crucial tool that helps them compete.
Brendan Thomas, Executive Director of Internet for Growth, stated, "Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and they rely on affordable, accessible technology to thrive. Senate Bill 1047 would impose significant barriers, cutting off essential AI tools that businesses can take advantage of. We urge Governor Newsom to veto this bill and support the continued growth and innovation of small businesses."
Internet for Growth stands with small businesses and supports tools that will help them and their staff reach their full potential. The coalition is calling on Governor Newsom to veto SB 1047 and protect the right of small businesses to access and benefit from new, groundbreaking technology.
Internet for Growth, an initiative of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), promotes the crucial role digital advertising plays in the success of America's small businesses, helping entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life. With the support of over 700 IAB members including marketers, agencies, publishers, and technology providers, as well as hundreds of small businesses and creators, we highlight the benefits of digital advertising to local economies, expanding opportunities for people of all backgrounds. Our work ensures policymakers in Washington understand the limitless opportunity the ad-supported internet provides for creativity, commerce, fair competition, and community.
SOURCE Internet for Growth
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Negotiations are underway with international organizations to develop an optimal "green" tax policy for Azerbaijan, the head of the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan, Orkhan Nazarli, said at the international forum on carbon pricing held in Baku, Trend reports.
Orhan Nazarli stated the importance of exploring the possibility of introducing a carbon tax or a similar levy aimed at reducing carbon emissions, which is widely used in international practice.
Within the framework of these activities, the establishment of a system for measuring carbon emissions in our country, which will be the basis for taxation, is also being considered. Ongoing processes to introduce measures similar to those used elsewhere in the world to protect the environment are being actively discussed at the government level with the participation of colleagues from various institutions. Discussions are underway with international organizations, research centers, educational institutions, and industry representatives to share experiences and analyze the challenges of such initiatives. We not only study the best practices but also jointly discuss the challenges they bring to develop the best tax policy for our country, he noted.
Nazarli mentioned that Azerbaijan has already adopted legislative acts aimed at encouraging the production and use of low-emission products and technologies.
The role of tax policy in stimulating the "green" economy is extremely important. With this in mind, supporting investments in renewable energy as well as reducing the carbon footprint in the manufacturing sector and exporting products through tax instruments is at the center of the national tax system. Many measures are being taken to protect the environment, and tax instruments play an active role in supporting these initiatives. We are convinced that ensuring sustainable economic development and the transition to a "climate-oriented green economy in the country is possible not only through tax policy or the introduction of additional taxes for businesses but also through the promotion of renewable energy and green technologies. Our country has already adopted legislative acts aimed at encouraging the production and use of low-emission products and technologies. For example, there are incentives for electric and hybrid cars, charging installations for electric motors, and incentives to transfer surplus electricity generated by active consumers using renewable sources to the grid. Providing economic incentives for green energy producers is one of our priorities, he said.
Nazarli emphasized that climate change is a global threat that jeopardizes human health, one of the most precious aspects of our existence.
For this reason, the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has a crucial function in combating climate change at the global level. The decisions taken on this platform allow the countries of the world to better confront climate change and contribute to sustainable development. Both climate change trends and the stages of adaptation, mitigation, and damage and loss assessment play an important role in this fight. All these aspects contribute to countries acting together for a more sustainable future. That is why we are here today to discuss one of the most effective tools in the fight against climate change - carbon pricing. Carbon pricing is an important tool that encourages economic actors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promotes sustainable development, he explained.
According to him, the exchange of experience in this area allows us to assess the effectiveness of carbon pricing tools used in different countries and companies, as well as to improve them.
Every country and company faces different challenges and problems in combating climate change. The lessons learned from addressing these challenges can be valuable for other countries and companies. By sharing experiences, effective carbon pricing strategies can be disseminated and implemented globally. Countries and companies just starting on this journey can learn from the successes and mistakes of more experienced partners, reducing their risks. This helps to better understand the possible barriers in the implementation of carbon pricing instruments and successfully overcome them, he added.
Fall Spiced "Bourbon 31" and Custom Halloween Bottles Promise No Tricks, Just Treats
FRANKFORT, Ky., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery is debuting scary-good whiskies this fall, with its first fall spiced Bourbon 31 Blended Bourbon and the ability to customize your own whiskey for your Halloween festivities through its J. Mattingly 1845 craft your bottle program .
Bourbon 31 Blended Bourbon is a play on the brand's Bourbon 30 Bourbon brand and this limited-edition release was created for the Halloween season. Bourbon 31 is a blend of three whiskies which have all undergone J. Mattingly 1845's Double Staving process and the blend consists of 51 percent Bourbon, 29 percent Light Whiskey and 20 percent Rye Whiskey. Double Staving is a proprietary process used by J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery that gives the whiskey inside the barrels additional surface exposure to charred barrel staves to impart more flavor and color. The Double Staved Classic Bourbon used in this blend has just scored a 96 from famed Whiskey Bible author Jim Murray.
"The flavor profile reflects flavors typically associated with fall, such as pumpkin, nutmeg and cinnamon." Post this
The Bourbon 31 Blended Bourbon was created by J. Mattingly 1845's team of expert blenders to reflect the flavors typically associated with fall. "When we blended these three whiskies, we were looking for a flavor profile that reflects flavors typically associated with fall, such as pumpkin and cinnamon while matching the light-hearted fun we're having by changing the brand name from Bourbon 30 to Bourbon 31 to celebrate the Halloween season," said Harry Richart, president, J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery.
Tasting notes for this bourbon describe it as having a nose of nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla and walnut, with the flavors of brown sugar, cinnamon, and fall baking spices on the palate. On the finish, pumpkin bread, baker's chocolate and seasoned oak are prevalent.
Bourbon 31 is available online and at the J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery in Frankfort, KY. Suggested retail pricing is $60 for a 750 mL and it is 98 proof.
J. Mattingly 1845 Custom Whiskey Program is the "Choose Your Own Adventure" of the whiskey world by allowing the buyer to choose between double staved bourbon, light whiskey or rye whiskey recipes, select their bottle shape, customize their own label, and even choose their own wax color from every color of the rainbow! This program is available online and in person at the Distillery and can result in some frighteningly fun labels and Halloween-themed wax colors. Imagine expressing your innermost devilish (or angelic) thoughts on the bourbon bottle you give your favorite boo.
Pricing for the custom bottles start at $120 for a 750 mL bottle and shipping is available to 46 states.
About J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery
The Mattingly family has been synonymous with distilling in Kentucky for more than two centuries, having a hand in the development of at least nine separate distilleries in the Commonwealth.
It all started in 1845, with John Graves Mattingly's first distillery in Marion County, Kentucky, Registered Distillery #2.
In 2010 Jeff Mattingly took up the family mantle and started his own craft bourbon business. Today, Jeff's son Cameron has joined the team as Vice President of Production, continuing the legacy into the latest generation for J. Mattingly Distillery 1845 in Frankfort, Kentucky. Together father and son offer their proprietary double staving process as well as a custom bourbon blending experience unparalleled in the spirits industry, available on-site in Frankfort or online at https://jmattingly1845.com/build-a-bottle/
For more information about J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery visit www.JMattingly1845.com.
Media Contact:
Amy Preske
Booze PR
[email protected]
SOURCE J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kensington Investment Distributors is excited to announce its re-brand to Xtollo Investment Partners ("Xtollo"), marking a new chapter in its mission to elevate financial services. This transformation sets the stage for a new era of innovation, strategic partnerships, and a strengthened commitment to empowering financial professionals and their clients.
Derived from the Latin phrase meaning "to lift up," Xtollo reflects the company's vision of building an inclusive financial ecosystem that fosters innovation and accessibility. With a focus on simplifying complex markets and supporting underrepresented groups, Xtollo is expanding its reach through strategic partnerships, innovative products, and a commitment to making financial markets more accessible for all.
Xtollo will continue its long-standing collaboration with Kensington Asset Management, further expanding its portfolio of innovative financial products. This includes the recent launch of the Kensington Hedged Premium Income ETF, (KHPI), designed for income generation with downside hedging. In addition, Xtollo is thrilled to announce its new partnership with The Leuthold Group, a renowned leader in independent investment research and asset management. Through this partnership, Xtollo will distribute The Leuthold Group's esteemed investment products, including the Leuthold Core Investment Fund, alongside a range of strategies powered by their expertise in quantitative research and tactical asset allocation. These alliances position Xtollo to provide financial professionals with an even wider range of top-tier solutions.
"Our evolution into Xtollo represents more than a name changeit's a reflection of our enhanced focus on innovation and delivering real value to our partners," said Mano Fanopoulos, Managing Partner of Xtollo Investment Partners. "Our collaboration with The Leuthold Group is a testament to our commitment to providing advisors with the very best tools to help their clients succeed."
John Mueller, Co-CEO of The Leuthold Group commented, "We're excited to join forces with Xtollo. Their goals align seamlessly with our mission to deliver research-driven, high-quality investment solutions to advisors. Together, we look forward to expanding the impact of our strategies and delivering exceptional value to financial professionals and their clients."
About The Leuthold Group
Founded in 1981, The Leuthold Group is a research-driven investment management firm known for its data-focused approach to asset allocation and security selection. With a strong reputation for disciplined research, the firm offers a range of investment products and strategies that help investors navigate complex markets and achieve lasting results.
About Xtollo Investment Partners
At Xtollo Investment Partners, we are dedicated to elevating our partners through tailored solutions that drive success and innovation. We seek to empower and uplift, ensuring every collaboration leads to greater achievements. We believe that investment solutions should enhance both your business and your clients' experiences, offering a range of investment products and advisory services designed to strengthen and empower your portfolios.
For more information, please visit: www.xtollo.com, email [email protected] or call 877-891-1206.
The Kensington Hedged Premium Income ETF ("KHPI"), prospectus available here. Investing in the Funds involves risk, including loss of principal. Risks specific to the Kensington Hedged Premium Income ETF (KHPI) are detailed in the prospectus. The Kensington Hedged Premium Income ETF is distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC ("Quasar").
SOURCE Xtollo Investment Partners
FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP (NYSE: KRP) ("Kimbell"), a leading owner of oil and natural gas mineral and royalty interests in more than 129,000 gross wells across 28 states, today announced that it will release its third quarter 2024 financial results on Thursday, November 7, 2024, before the market opens. Kimbell will also declare its third quarter 2024 distribution concurrent with this release. In conjunction with the earnings release, Kimbell has scheduled a conference call, which will be broadcast live over the Internet the same day at 10:00 a.m. Central (11:00 a.m. Eastern).
By Phone: Dial 201-389-0869 at least 10 minutes before the call. A replay will be available through November 14th by dialing 201-612-7415 and using the conference ID: 13748350#.
By Webcast: Connect to the webcast via the Events and Presentations page of Kimbell's Investor Relations website at http://kimbellrp.investorroom.com/. Please log in at least 10 minutes in advance to register and download any necessary software. A replay will be available shortly after the call.
About Kimbell Royalty Partners
Kimbell (NYSE: KRP) is a leading oil and gas mineral and royalty company based in Fort Worth, Texas. Kimbell owns mineral and royalty interests in approximately 17 million gross acres in 28 states and in every major onshore basin in the continental United States, including ownership in more than 129,000 gross wells with over 50,000 wells in the Permian Basin. To learn more, visit http://www.kimbellrp.com.
Contact:
Rick Black
Dennard Lascar Investor Relations
[email protected]
(713) 529-6600
SOURCE Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A recently filed lawsuitJames Vincent Wilgus v. United States Department of State, et al., Case No. 24-cv-1384 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbiaseeks action on the detention status of Jimmy Wilgus, an American who has served almost eight years in a Russian prison.
The Levinson Act requires the State Department to determine "as expeditiously as possible" whether a person held by a foreign government is wrongfully detained, and if they are wrongfully detained, work to bring them home. Jimmy Wilgus still awaits a review. His parents, James and Bella Wilgus, today issued the following statement:
Without the wrongfully detained designation, an imprisoned American like our son, Jimmy Wilgus, is all but ignored. Post this
"For nearly eight years now, our son, Jimmy Wilgus, has been imprisoned in IK-17, a Russian labor colony in Mordovia, on a twelve-and-a-half-year sentence. His imprisonment is based on a coerced confession to false charges that deprives him of his freedom, forces him to work in a sweatshop, and endangers his health.
"We hope each time a prisoner exchange happens that Jimmy will be party to it, but time and again, he is left behind. It's clear to us that our government uses the arbitrary designation set forth in the Levinson Act as a means to cast favor on select imprisoned Americans while ignoring others.
"Our hopes are dashed each time we witness that an American officially labeled 'wrongfully detained' receives a fulsome effort, even if it requires a lopsided prisoner exchange, to gain the American's freedom. Without the wrongfully detained designation, an imprisoned American like our son is all but ignored. Our country should not abandon its citizens in need, leaving them to fight injustice on their own.
"This lawsuit, as well as a suit filed by Judicial Watch earlier this year, challenges this process and asks the court to act immediately and make a determination whether Jimmy is 'unlawfully or wrongly detained,' as required by law."
Free Jimmy Wilgus is an effort by family and friends who seek the release of Jimmy Wilgus from unjust Russian imprisonment. More information about Jimmy is available at www.freejimmywilgus.com.
Brad Bennett
202-697-2070
[email protected]
SOURCE Free Jimmy Wilgus
Company to accelerate expansion into battery management total solution field with debut of dedicated brand, 'B.around'
Slogan for the brand, "Be Around Your Side," represents a reinforced commitment to staying close to customers, constantly monitoring various battery conditions to guarantee safer, more convenient user experiences
New brand to offer comprehensive BMS solutions ranging from advanced softwares to SDV platform-optimized services
SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- LG Energy Solution today announced the launch of its new brand for battery management total solution (BMTS) services, 'B.around,' and unveiled the logo and slogan. The company, which recently announced its plan to explore opportunities beyond battery manufacturing to extend its customer value and promote safer use of batteries, aims to accelerate its foray into the BMTS business with this launch.
Battery management system (BMS) utilizes various battery-related data to examine the battery's condition and ensure optimal performance and safe usage. What differentiates LG Energy Solution's BMTS from conventional BMS services is that it will offer more advanced solutions by including comprehensive and enhanced functions, ranging from safety and battery degradation diagnostics softwares to tailored solutions for software-defined vehicle (SDV) platforms.
Brand name and slogan signifies commitment to always being on customer's side by constantly monitoring the battery environment to enhance safety
The B.around's brand slogan, 'Be Around Your Side,' touches on the company's determination to always stay close to the customer in order to provide safer and more convenient battery experiences. The brand name and slogan come together to indicate the new service's differentiated competitiveness and vision.
The B.around name tells customers that it will always be around to hear their voices and prioritize their needs in an effort to provide the best customer value.
The service will also offer more advanced functions than existing BMS, which provide fragmentary functions that measure the voltage, current, and temperature of the battery, and will constantly monitor various other conditions to ensure a safe and optimized battery use experience.
The brand will also help realize a brighter EV future by providing unrivalled BMTS capabilities that are essential for next-generation vehicles.
B.around's product line encompasses software and hardware solutions
The B.around lineup includes BMS software, BMS hardware, and solutions for SDV platforms.
The software is largely divided into two types: safety diagnostics software, which preemptively detects and alerts users of abnormal signs indicating potential future issues such as thermal events, and battery degradation diagnostics software that examines and predicts a battery's future capacity to promote longer and healthier use. Based on these softwares, the company also provides BMS hardware with enhanced functions.
The SDV platform-optimized solutions utilize SoC (System-on-Chip), cloud and AI computing technologies. Notably, SoC-based technology is currently under development through a collaboration with industry leaders including Qualcomm Technologies.
LG Energy Solution's BMTS technologies were developed using empirical data obtained by disassembling and analyzing more than 130,000 battery cells and 1,000 battery modules, with the company taking advantage of its unique capabilities and insights as a longtime battery manufacturer. Its BMS software has already been applied to more than 100,000 EVs, securing a safety detection accuracy rate of over 90%, and the battery degradation diagnosis error rate in the 1% range, top-level in the industry. The company also holds over 8,000 BMS-related patents.
Based on its proven battery management capabilities, LG Energy Solution plans to put B.around brand products on sale to global automakers in earnest.
Meanwhile, LG Energy Solution is actively promoting Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) business by utilizing its core BMTS technologies and battery lifecycle data, looking to apply the B.around brand to this area as well.
"LG Energy Solution is the only battery manufacturer to provide a management service for the battery's entire lifecycle, including BMS solutions," said Brandon Kim, Head of the BaaS Business Development Department at LG Energy Solution. "Like B.around's brand vision, our goal is to always be close by so that we can provide differentiated customer value based on the technological capabilities we have accumulated over the decades."
About LG Energy Solution
LG Energy Solution (KRX: 373220), a split-off from LG Chem, is a leading global manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobility, IT, and energy storage systems. With 30 years of experience in revolutionary battery technology and extensive research and development (R&D), the company is the top battery-related patent holder in the world with over 58,000 patents. Its robust global network, which spans North America, Europe, and Asia, includes battery manufacturing facilities established through joint ventures with major automakers. Committed to building sustainable battery ecosystem, LG Energy Solution aims to achieve carbon neutrality across its value chain by 2050, while embodying the value of shared growth and promoting diverse and inclusive corporate culture. To learn more about LG Energy Solution's ideas and innovations, visit https://news.lgensol.com.
SOURCE LG Energy Solution
HEMET, Calif., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- McCrometer, a leading provider of flow measurement solutions, is proud to announce a new collaboration with Hach, a globally recognized leader in water quality analysis. Both McCrometer and Hach are Veralto Water Quality Segment Operating Companies, sharing a powerful vision for a better tomorrow. This collaboration introduces an innovative portfolio of closed pipe and open channel flow solutions to municipal water and wastewater utilities branded as Hach's Flow Solutions by McCrometer.
Product image of the Hach Ultra Mag 3000 Closed Bore Meter, a new product launched as Hach's Flow Solutions by McCrometer View PDF Brochure of the Ultra Mag Electromagnetic Meter Series. Under the Hach's Flow Solutions by McCrometer, the Ultra Mag closed bore meter is an industry-leading flow instrument uniquely designed for municipalities, specifically drinking water and wastewater utilities.
"Joining forces with Hach allows us to expand our reach and deliver even greater value to our customers," said Pete Oveson, President at McCrometer. He continued, "Hach is a well-known and trusted brand in the municipal water and wastewater utility market. Hach is famous for partnering with customers to create highly accurate, reliable, and easy-to-use products. Our flow meters that will now be sold under the Hach brand will provide utilities with the tools they need to manage their water resources effectively across both open channel and closed pipe applications."
The portfolio includes open channel solutions such as the FLO-DAR AV Sensor, FL1500 controller, FL 900 flow logger, FH 950 flow meter, and flow monitoring services such as Data Delivery Services (DDS) and FSDATA. It also includes closed pipe flow meter products such as Ultra Mag, FPI Mag, Water Specialties propeller meter and related services.
"I am extremely proud of the innovation and service that our team has delivered to our Flow Solutions customers over the past decades," said Tom Bolling, Hach President. "I'm confident that McCrometer's industry-leading expertise in flow measurement technology will ensure that Hach's Flow Solutions by McCrometer continue to be consistent with the Hach brand promise of accuracy, reliability and ease-of-use."
In conjunction with this collaboration, McCrometer is excited to introduce its newest innovation and the next generation converter/transmitter for mag meters- Hach's ProComm Max. The ProComm Max uses an integrated converter mounted in a re-designed enclosure. Locating the converter at the sensor eliminates signal degradation inherent to alternate designs. More information is available on www.McCrometer.com.
The company will continue to operate from its Hemet, California headquarters, with no changes to its current operations or personnel. All inquiries, transactions and services for Hach's Flow Solutions will be handled and fulfilled by McCrometer and its sales channel of authorized representatives.
Media Contact: Brian Cedeno, Market Communications Manager, [email protected], (800) 220-2279 Ext. 5375
About McCrometer
McCrometer's advanced flow measurement solutions solve complex challenges in agricultural irrigation, municipal and industrial water and wastewater, oil and gas, process control, power generation and institutional facilities. McCrometer's high-performance products and systems are found in thousands of installations worldwide, proudly exceeding many of the world's most demanding industrial, safety and quality standards. For more information, visit www.McCrometer.com.
About Hach
Hach, a global leader in water analysis and innovation, is dedicated to developing reliable, accurate instrumentation and chemistries that ensure water quality for people worldwide. Through a broad portfolio of products and services, Hach provides solutions across industries such as municipal water and wastewater, food and beverage, and power generation, delivering differentiated water analytics and treatment solutions to protect our planet's most precious resource. As an operating company of Veralto, Hach builds on a legacy of innovation and customer trust. Veralto's industry-leading companies and globally recognized brands are united by the purpose of Safeguarding the World's Most Vital Resources, working together to create a safer, cleaner, and more vibrant future.
www.Hach.com
About Veralto
With annual sales of $5 billion, Veralto is a global leader in essential technology solutions with a proven track record of solving some of the most complex challenges we face as a society. Our industry-leading companies with globally recognized brands are building on a long-established legacy of innovation and customer trust to create a safer, cleaner, more vibrant future. Headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, our global team of 16,000 associates is committed to making an enduring positive impact on our world and united by a powerful purpose: Safeguarding the World's Most Vital Resources.
www.Veralto.com
SOURCE McCrometer, Inc.
CHICAGO, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, McDonald's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.77 per share of common stock payable on December 16, 2024 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 2, 2024. The 6% increase over the Company's previous quarterly dividend reflects continued confidence in the Accelerating the Arches growth strategy and our ability to drive long-term profitable growth for all stakeholders.
McDonald's has a strong history of returning capital to its shareholders and has raised its dividend for 48 consecutive years since paying its first dividend in 1976. The new quarterly dividend of $1.77 per share is equivalent to $7.08 annually. The Company is committed to its capital allocation philosophy of investing in opportunities to grow the business and drive strong returns, and returning free cash flow to shareholders over time through a combination of dividends and share repurchases.
Upcoming Communications
For important news and information regarding McDonald's, including the timing of future investor conferences and earnings calls, visit the Investor Relations section of the Company's Internet home page at www.investor.mcdonalds.com. McDonald's uses this website as a primary channel for disclosing key information to its investors, some of which may contain material and previously non-public information.
About McDonald's
McDonald's is the world's leading global foodservice retailer with over 40,000 locations in over 100 countries. Approximately 95% of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local business owners.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document contains certain forward-looking statements, which reflect management's expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date hereof. In particular, statements regarding McDonald's plans, strategies, prospects and expectations regarding its business and industry are forward-looking statements. They reflect McDonald's expectations, are not guarantees of performance and speak only as of the date hereof. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations are detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Form 10-Q filing for the quarter ended June 30, 2024. The Company undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements, except as may otherwise be required by law. You should not rely unduly on forward-looking statements.
SOURCE McDonald's Corporation
DURHAM, N.C., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MedPharm, a global topical and transdermal Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization ("CDMO"), today announced Mr. Eric Evans will join its Board of Directors. With more than 30 years of experience, Mr. Evans has held senior financial leadership roles at companies across the pharmaceutical and contract services industries, including holding the position of Chief Financial Officer at the following companies: Alcami Corporation, TriPharm Services, Avista Pharma, Mayne Pharma, AAIPharma Services, and Patheon. Earlier in his career, Mr. Evans held executive finance positions at Novartis and Sandoz.
Eric Evans
"Eric's track record of providing leadership in financial and operational strategies as CFO of multiple high-growth, successful private equity-backed organizations is truly impressive," commented Patrick Walsh, Executive Chairman at MedPharm. "I am delighted to be working with him again."
On his appointment to MedPharm's Board of Directors, Eric commented, "MedPharm has a well-documented history of providing reliable drug delivery services to the global pharma community and with its recent merger with Tergus Pharma, it has set the stage for an exciting next chapter of growth."
About MedPharm
MedPharm is an end-to-end contract service provider of topical and transepithelial products supporting early phase research, formulation development and in vitro testing services in addition to both clinical and commercial manufacturing. With MedPharm's recent merger with Tergus Pharma, MedPharm enhanced its capabilities, transforming the business into a truly differentiated CDMO of scale with superior end-to-end capabilities from drug development & formulation to large batch commercial manufacturing and distribution. For more than 25 years, MedPharm has specialized in reducing risk through its unique, industry-leading in vitro testing and research biology models and is a global leader in product development for dermal/transdermal, lung and nasal, mucosal membrane, ungual, otic and ophthalmic delivery. MedPharm has locations in the United Kingdom and United States, including a new 97,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Durham, NC. For more information, visit medpharm.com.
About Ampersand Capital Partners
Ampersand Capital Partners, founded in 1988, is a middle-market private equity firm with $3 billion of assets under management, dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston, MA, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ampersand leverages a unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm's core healthcare sectors. For additional information, visit Ampersandcapital.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
About Bourne Partners Strategic Capital ("BPSC")
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Bourne Partners Strategic Capital is a private equity and growth equity investment firm focused exclusively on the pharmaceutical, pharma services and consumer healthcare sectors. As owners and operators with over 20 years of experience, BPSC has investment, strategic and operational experience in companies ranging from $5M to $3B in equity value and seeks to align and partner with management teams and other owners in these sectors to grow their businesses. BPSC is a related company of Bourne Partners, which offers investment banking and advisory services in the same key focus areas. For more information, please visit bourne-partners.com.
About Great Point Partners
Great Point Partners, founded in 2003 and based in Greenwich, CT, manages over $1.9B of capital in its private funds and public life sciences equity strategy (BioMedical Value Fund). The private equity funds invest across all sectors of the health care industry with a particular emphasis on biopharmaceutical services and supplies, alternate site care, medical device contract manufacturing and information technology enabled businesses. The firm pursues a proactive and proprietary approach to sourcing investments and tuck-in acquisitions for its portfolio companies. For additional information, visit gppfunds.com.
SOURCE MedPharm
Nurses will hold an informational picket on Tuesday, October 15 outside Salem Hospital to protest Mass General Brigham's refusal to invest in a stable Salem RN workforce
SALEM, Mass., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The registered nurses of Salem Hospital, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), will hold an informational picket on Tuesday, October 15 as they advocate for a fair contract that values nurses, improves critical staffing levels, and better enables Salem nurses to provide safe patient care.
Informational Picket Details
Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Time: 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Location: On the sidewalk outside 81 Highland Avenue, Salem, MA
Note: This picket is not a strike. Nurses can join when they are not working or on break and will picket without disrupting hospital access.
"This action will demonstrate our commitment to our patients and the need for Mass General Brigham to recruit and retain the nurses at Salem Hospital," said Kathy Schevis, Salem Hospital RN and MNA Co-Chair. "Instead of properly valuing the complex care we provide patients, MGB has offered non-competitive wages and threatened to take away our existing health insurance benefits. This undermines our workforce and makes it even harder to keep the nurses we need to deliver quality care."
"While Mass General Brigham executives make salaries worth millions of dollars and spend billions on expansion, Salem nurses are forced to deal with the stress and exhaustion of unsafe staffing," said Andrew Beaver, Salem Hospital RN and MNA Co-Chair. "Salem nurses will fight together on October 15th for each other and our patients. MGB should stop devaluing the communities around Salem Hospital and invest in their care."
Negotiations Background
Salem nurses have been in negotiations since February 2024. They were joined in recent sessions by a mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, an independent agency whose mission is to preserve and promote labor-management peace and cooperation.
The healthcare system and Salem Hospital are desperate for nurses. Patient care is at risk with the inadequate staffing levels present right now at Salem Hospital. Yet owner Mass General Brigham (MGB) has offered non-competitive wages and threatens to take away longstanding health insurance benefits.
Salem nurses are picketing over three main themes: Providing safe staffing through adequate investment by MGB in the Salem nurses' MNA contract. Ensuring patient safety by providing sufficient staffing so nurses have the necessary time and attention to give their patients. Protecting RN health insurance from a proposed takeaway that would increase costs for the majority of nurses.
nurses are picketing over three main themes:
MGB Financial Highlights
MassNurses.org Facebook.com/MassNurses Twitter.com/MassNurses Instagram.com/MassNurses
Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association
The 2024 zLabs Global Mobile Threat Report found 82% of phishing sites now targeting enterprise mobile devices
Key Findings:
82% of phishing sites specifically targeted mobile devices
Unique malware samples increased by 13% YoY
76% of phishing sites use HTTPS, giving victims a false sense of security
Riskware and trojans represent 80% of observed malware threats
DALLAS, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Zimperium , the global leader in mobile security, today announced the release of its 2024 Global Mobile Threat Report , which highlights critical mobile threat trends from the past year. The zLabs researchers uncovered a significant rise in "mishing" also known as mobile targeted phishing a technique that employs various tactics specifically designed to exploit vulnerabilities in mobile devices and users. Notably, the report reveals that 82% of phishing sites now target mobile devices. As cybercriminals increasingly adopt a "mobile-first" attack strategy, they leverage a multitude of techniques to infiltrate enterprise systems by targeting weak, unsecured, and unmanaged mobile endpoints, recognizing mobile as a major entry point to corporate networks and sensitive data.
Mishing A Top Threat Facing Businesses
Cybercriminals are crafting their attacks to exploit the trust employees generally have in their mobile devices. The zLabs researchers found that 76% of phishing sites targeting enterprises are using HTTPS, a secure communication protocol that leads victims to believe the website on their device is legitimate. Employees are less likely to notice these phishing attempts because of their smaller screen sizes and less visible security indicators, such as hidden URL bars.
The success of mishing sites lies in their hit-and-run approach, where cybercriminals can launch deceptive domains rapidly, then have them disappear before they are ever detected, creating significant challenges for CISOs and their teams. The researchers found that around one-quarter of mobile phishing sites become operable less than 24 hours after their creation, launching malicious activities almost immediately.
"It is undeniable that mobile devices and applications have become the most critical digital channels to protect in our organizations," said Shridhar Mittal, Chief Executive Officer, Zimperium. "In today's digital age, where 71% of employees leverage smartphones for work tasks, enterprises must effectively protect their mobile endpoints by adopting a multi-layered security strategy including mobile threat defense and mobile app vetting. Our zLabs researchers meticulously analyzed the nature of mobile attacks, uncovering an attack surface within enterprises that requires a strategic and mobile-centered response."
Enterprise Risk Posed by Sideloaded Apps
Along with the rise in mishing, zLabs researchers unveiled the dangers of sideloading apps the practice of installing mobile apps on a device that are not from the official app stores. Financial services organizations saw 68% of its mobile threats attributed to sideloaded apps. In fact, zLabs researchers found that mobile users who engage in sideloading are 200% more likely to have malware running on their devices than those who do not. Riskware and trojans, applications that disguise themselves as legitimate apps, are the most common malware families found. APAC outpaced all regions in sideloading risk, with 43% of Android devices sideloading apps.
Surging Platform Vulnerabilities
When it comes to platform vulnerabilities, 2023 witnessed a surge in identified Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) among both Android and iOS. The zLabs research team detected 1,421 CVEs in Android devices tested, representing a 58% increase from 2022. Sixteen of these vulnerabilities were exploited in the wild, which means they were exploited within the real world, rather than test environments. iOS devices tested saw 269 CVEs, representing a 10% increase, 20 of them being exploited in the wild.
The data underscores that iOS and Android devices are not inherently secure, with both platforms seeing significant vulnerability increases. Despite frequent updates24 for Android and 35 for iOS in 2023enterprises are finding it difficult to manage updates across all devices, highlighting the need for proactive mobile security strategies beyond platform updates.
"Mishing attacks and mobile malware are increasingly evading detection, often going unnoticed by businesses," said Chris Cinnamo, Senior Vice President of Product Management, Zimperium. "To effectively navigate this evolving mobile threat landscape, enterprise security teams must prioritize the attacks specifically targeting employee mobile devices. Without proactive measures, these attacks will continue to weave into enterprises, exploiting the sensitive data and disrupting organizational operations."
Other Key Findings:
The number of enterprise devices connected to unsecured networks increased by 45%
A mobile device connects to a risky network 17 times in the span of a year, on average
Microsoft was the most phished brand, representing 23% of imitated phishing sites
These findings all point to a single truth: protecting mobile devices is not optional it is the cornerstone of digital security. By establishing a robust mobile security strategy, enterprises can close the gaps within their workforce, strengthen their mobile security posture, and reduce the risk of a business-disrupting cyberattack.
Methodology
To thoroughly assess the impact of the security trends highlighted in this year's report, Zimperium analyzed an anonymized dataset of mobile devices protected by Zimperium Mobile Threat Defense, Advanced App Analysis, and zDefend. This detailed analysis reviewed data from the past year, covering a range of devices worldwide on both iOS and Android-operated systems.
To access the full report that dives into the nature of mishing, employee behavior around mobile devices, the risks of sideloading applications and more visit the link here .
To learn more about how Zimperium can protect your business from today's evasive mishing and malware threats, contact us .
About Zimperium
Zimperium is the leading provider of mobile security solutions, offering real-time, on-device protection against known and unknown mobile threats. With advanced AI technology, Zimperium delivers comprehensive security for mobile devices, applications, and networks, safeguarding organizations from data breaches and financial loss.
Media Contact
Sena McGrand
[email protected]
SOURCE Zimperium
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau held several events in Beijing on September 24 within the framework of cooperation with Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC (AZAL) aimed at strengthening tourism ties between Azerbaijan and the People's Republic of China, Trend reports via Azerbaijani Tourism Bureau.
Meanwhile, it was noted that a memorandum of understanding was signed between Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC, the Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau, and Trip.com Group to strengthen cooperation in the field of tourism within the framework of the events.
According to the memorandum, the Ctrip platform will be actively used, which can make Azerbaijan an attractive destination for Chinese travelers.
In the course of the event, Director General of Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau Florian Sengstschmid emphasized the importance of this cooperation and noted that tourism ties between Azerbaijan and China have reached a new peak due to the increasing number of tourist arrivals and individual offers.
According to him, bilateral cooperation was further strengthened by signing a memorandum of understanding with Trip.com Group, which is an important step for the development of Azerbaijan's position in the Chinese market.
In addition, a press conference was organized to present Azerbaijan's tourism opportunities, which was attended by representatives of about 30 leading media outlets in China.
The press conference touched upon such issues as the introduction of a visa-free regime for Chinese tourists, the activity of the official representative office of the Bureau in China, and the realization of direct flights between Baku and Beijing by AZAL airline.
Additionally, it was noted that the visa-free regime, which will be in effect from July 20, 2024, through July 20, 2025, will allow Chinese citizens to visit Azerbaijan up to three times during the year.
Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC Chief Commercial Administrator Jamil Manizade said that AZAL started operating direct flights between Baku and Beijing twice a week in December 2023, and this route is not only an air link connecting the two capitals but also an important air bridge between our cultures, economies, and nations.
In the second part of the day, a special dinner was organized with the participation of Azerbaijan's Minister of Digital Development and Transport, Rashad Nabiyev, and other officials. It was attended by representatives of more than 100 embassies, media, and travel agencies in China.
To note, a series of presentation events were held in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Beijing from 18 through 24 September to expand awareness of the Chinese tourism industry about Azerbaijan's tourism potential and strengthen the country's participation in the Chinese market under the organization of the Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau.
Over the first 8 months of 2024, 26,866 people from China visited Azerbaijan, which is 104 percent more compared to the same period last year.
DENVER, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Morris Animal Foundation, a global leader in funding studies that benefit animal health, and EveryCat Health Foundation, a leading nonprofit advancing feline health through research and education, have teamed up to address the outbreak of a new form of feline infectious peritonitis, a deadly disease caused by a coronavirus, in Cyprus.
"Combining efforts with Morris Animal Foundation on this urgent matter is instrumental in benefiting the lives of cats and the people who love them throughout the world. Each foundation brings complementary strengths to the table and together we are stronger, faster. We are grateful for this opportunity and for the collective community support of the endeavor," says Jackie Ott Jaakola, Executive Director of EveryCat Health Foundation.
An international consortium of researchers, led by Dr. Gregg Dean at Colorado State University, are collaborating on a multifaceted program to diagnose, treat and prevent this deadly viral disease. EveryCat Health Foundation and Morris Animal Foundation are co-funding this $1M program in a first-of-its-kind initiative.
"It's important to acknowledge the veterinarians and researchers of Cyprus who recognized this unusual outbreak of FIP and initiated preliminary studies," said Dr. Dean. "Likewise, the collaboration between Morris Animal Foundation and EveryCat Health Foundation is unprecedented. Their support will allow our international consortium to understand and mitigate the Cyprus outbreak while also providing knowledge, tools and resources to better address FIP around the world."
In early 2023, there were reports of an outbreak of an FIP-like illness affecting large numbers of cats in Cyprus. Given what was known about FIP, this was both unusual and alarming.
In the past year, researchers worldwide have joined together to investigate the Cyprus outbreak and determine its significance for cat populations worldwide.
"We are pleased to partner with EveryCat Health Foundation and an exceptional international research team to tackle this deadly feline virus," said Dr. Kathy Tietje, Chief Program Officer at Morris Animal Foundation. "Our organizations have unique strengths and a shared mission to improve feline health through innovative science, and by joining together we can have a greater impact on this serious health threat."
Feline infectious peritonitis is a disease caused by a coronavirus that mutates frequently. Normally, FIP infection causes severe disease in only a small percentage of cats, but the mutation discovered in 2023 in Cyprus seems to cause higher rates of severe disease and death.
"This partnership has brought together experts from around the world and provided the necessary resources to address this health crisis," added Tietje.
About EveryCat Health Foundation
EveryCat Health Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 1968 that supports studies to improve cat health. Since inception, the Foundation has facilitated nearly $10 million in health research for cats at more than 30 partner institutions worldwide. For further information, or to support feline health research, please visit www.everycat.org.
About Morris Animal Foundation
Morris Animal Foundation's mission is to bridge science and resources to advance the health of animals. Founded in 1948 and headquartered in Denver, the Foundation has invested more than $167 million to date in over 3,000 studies to advance the health and well-being of animals around the world.
SOURCE Morris Animal Foundation (MAF)
NOVI, Mich., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Munetrix, a leading provider of performance analytics solutions for K-12 schools, and SchoolData Solutions, a premier education technology company known for its innovative data tools and software solutions, are excited to announce a new partnership with the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) and Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) to deliver enhanced tools for educational data reporting, grant tracking, and school safety measures.
Munetrix and SchoolData Solutions, announce a new partnership with the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) and Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB).
As part of this partnership, Munetrix and SchoolData Solutions, will be officially recognized as a sponsored program by both state organizations. This collaboration will provide IASA and IASB member districts with exclusive access to the innovative tools of Munetrix and SchoolData Solutions, designed to assist school leaders in managing data effectively for more informed decision-making.
"We're excited to partner with IASA and IASB to bring Illinois school administrators powerful tools that make managing data and improving outcomes easier," said Ginny Norton, CEO of Munetrix and SchoolData Solutions. "This partnership will help schools access our solutions more readily while allowing administrators to spend less time on paperwork and more time supporting their students and communities."
More than 97 percent of Illinois public school superintendents are members of IASA and more than 99 percent of the Illinois school boards are members of IASB.
"The Munetrix platform brings a unique blend of financial analysis and academic performance into one budget-friendly management tool," said Dr. Brent Clark, IASA Executive Director.
According to Kimberly A. Small, IASB Executive Director, "Munetrix financial tools can help school boards with making data-informed decisions on finances, school operations, and student performance."
With the intuitive platforms of Munetrix and SchoolData Solutions, IASA and IASB members will have access to valuable, data-driven insights to address critical challenges like resource optimization, personnel retention, and student intervention planning, ultimately driving better outcomes for schools across Illinois.
About Munetrix & SchoolData Solutions:
Munetrix and SchoolData Solutions help school districts to make data-informed decisions with their powerful combination of financial tools and academic dashboards. Featuring real-time, actionable insights into finances, operations, and student performance, these combined platforms help simplify compliance, enhance transparency, and support student achievement. Learn more at www.munetrix.com.
About IASA:
The Illinois Association of School Administrators is the state's premier advocacy organization for school administrators with nearly 1,750 members and a history of promoting excellence in education dating back to 1946. The guiding principles of the IASA are expressed by its vision of "Maximum Educational Success for all Students," and its mission statement, "To support school leaders in the pursuit of educational excellence through continued school improvement. Learn more at www.iasaedu.org.
About IASB:
The Illinois Association of School Boards is a voluntary organization of local boards of education dedicated, since 1913, to strengthening public schools through local citizen control. Through its vision for excellence in local school board governance supporting quality public education, IASB offers many tools and services to member school boards. This includes premier training experiences; networking opportunities for mutual support; valuable benefits, pooled services, information, and expertise; advocacy on behalf of public education; and a platform for a strong collective voice on common interests and concerns. Learn more at www.iasb.com.
Press Contacts:
Taylor Lynch
Munetrix
517-375-8949
[email protected]
Jason Nevel
IASA
[email protected]
Kara Kienzler
IASB
[email protected]
SOURCE Munetrix
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will provide coverage of the upcoming prelaunch and launch activities for the agency's SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station.
Liftoff is targeted for 1:17 p.m. EDT, Saturday, Sept. 28, from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This is the first human spaceflight mission to launch from that pad. The targeted docking time is approximately 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov walk across the crew access arm at Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Credit: SpaceX
Live coverage of the prelaunch news conference, launch, the post-launch news conference, and docking stream on NASA+ and the agency's website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of additional platforms, including social media.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will carry NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the orbiting laboratory for an approximate five-month science mission. This is the ninth crew rotation mission and the 10th human spaceflight mission for NASA to the space station supported by Dragon since 2020 as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program.
The deadline for media accreditation for in-person coverage of this launch has passed. The agency's media credentialing policy is available online. For questions about media accreditation, please email: [email protected].
Media looking for access to NASA live video feeds can subscribe to the agency's media resources distribution list to receive daily updates and links.
NASA's mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Friday, Sept. 27
11:30 a.m. One-on-one media interviews at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida with various mission subject matter experts. Sign-up information will be emailed to media accredited to attend this launch.
1:15 p.m. NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 Panel: Space Station 101 with the following participants:
NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free
Robyn Gatens, director, NASA's International Space Station Program, and acting director, NASA's Commercial Spaceflight Division
Jennifer Buchli, chief scientist, NASA's International Space Station Program
John Posey, Dragon engineer, NASA's Commercial Crew Program
Media may ask questions in person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 12:15 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, at [email protected].
Coverage of the virtual news conference will stream live on NASA+, YouTube, Facebook, and the agency's website. Members of the public may ask questions online by posting questions to the YouTube, Facebook, and X livestreams using #AskNASA.
5 p.m. Prelaunch news conference from Kennedy with the following participants:
NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate
Steve Stich, manager, NASA's Commercial Crew Program
Dina Contella , deputy manager, NASA's International Space Station Program
, deputy manager, NASA's International Space Station Program Jennifer Buchli, chief scientist, NASA's International Space Station Program
William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build & Flight Reliability, SpaceX
Brian Cizek, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Coverage of the virtual news conference will stream live on NASA+ and the agency's website.
Media may ask questions in person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, at [email protected].
Saturday, Sept. 28
9:10 a.m. Launch coverage begins on NASA+ and the agency's website.
1:17 p.m. Launch
Following the conclusion of launch and ascent coverage, NASA will switch to audio only. Continuous coverage resumes on NASA+ at the start of rendezvous and docking and continues through hatch opening and the welcome ceremony. For NASA+ information, schedules, and links to streaming video, visit:
https://plus.nasa.gov/
3 p.m. Postlaunch news conference with the following participants:
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate
Dana Hutcherson, deputy program manager, NASA's Commercial Crew Program
Dina Contella , deputy manager, NASA's International Space Station Program
, deputy manager, NASA's International Space Station Program Sarah Walker , director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX
The virtual news conference will stream live on NASA+, YouTube, and the agency's website.
Media may ask questions in person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at k [email protected] .
Sunday, Sept. 29
3:30 p.m. Arrival coverage begins on NASA+ and the agency's website.
5:30 p.m. Targeted docking to the forward-facing port of the station's Harmony module
7:15 p.m. Hatch opening
7:40 p.m. - Welcome ceremony
All times are estimates and could be adjusted based on real-time operations after launch. Follow the space station blog for the most up-to-date operations information.
Audio Only Coverage
Audio only of the news conferences and launch coverage will be carried on the NASA "V" circuits, which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220, -1240 or -7135. On launch day, "mission audio," countdown activities without NASA+ launch commentary, will be carried on 321-867-7135.
Launch audio also will be available on Launch Information Service and Amateur Television System's VHF radio frequency 146.940 MHz and KSC Amateur Radio Club's UHF radio frequency 444.925 MHz, FM mode, heard within Brevard County on the Space Coast.
Live Video Coverage Prior to Launch
NASA will provide a live video feed of Space Launch Complex-40 approximately six hours prior to the planned liftoff of the Crew-9 mission. Pending unlikely technical issues, the feed will be uninterrupted until the prelaunch broadcast begins on NASA+, approximately four hours prior to launch. Once the feed is live, find it online at: http://youtube.com/kscnewsroom
NASA Website Launch Coverage
Launch day coverage of NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission will be available on the agency's website. Coverage will include livestreaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 9:10 a.m. Sept. 28, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff.
For questions about countdown coverage, contact the Kennedy newsroom at 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on the commercial crew or Crew-9 blog.
Attend Launch Virtually
Members of the public can register to attend this launch virtually. NASA's virtual guest program for this mission also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following a successful launch.
Watch, Engage on Social Media
Let people know you're following the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by using the hashtags #Crew9 and #NASASocial. You can also stay connected by following and tagging these accounts:
X: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @NASASocial, @Space_Station, @ISS_Research, @ISS National Lab, @SpaceX, @Commercial_Crew
Facebook: NASA, NASAKennedy, ISS, ISS National Lab
Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @ISS, @ISSNationalLab, @SpaceX
Coverage en Espanol
Did you know NASA has a Spanish section called NASA en Espanol? Make sure to check out NASA en Espanol on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more coverage on Crew-9.
Para obtener informacion sobre cobertura en espanol en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en espanol, comuniquese con Antonia Jaramillo: 321-501-8425; [email protected]; o Messod Bendayan: 256-930-1371; [email protected].
NASA's Commercial Crew Program has delivered on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through a partnership with American private industry. This partnership is changing the arc of human spaceflight history by opening access to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, more science, and more commercial opportunities. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and, eventually, to Mars.
For NASA's launch blog and more information about the mission, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
SOURCE NASA
160 MW Unbridled Solar Project located in Henderson and Webster Counties
MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Last week, National Grid Renewables hosted an event to celebrate construction of its Unbridled Solar Project (Unbridled) located in Henderson and Webster Counties, Kentucky. At 160 megawatts (MW), the project is anticipated to be the largest solar farm in the state of Kentucky once it begins operations in late 2024. The event brought together a large constituent of attendees, including landowners, community members, neighbors and partners to the project.
The Unbridled Potential Community Event hosted by National Grid Renewables on September 18, 2024.
"It's exciting to be here today speaking with local residents and neighbors of the Unbridled Project," said Gemma Smith, Vice President of Field Operations at National Grid Renewables. "We're proud to be celebrating the significant economic impacts the project will bring to residents across Henderson and Webster counties in the form of local jobs, new tax revenue and charitable funding."
The theme for the event was "Unbridled Potential," representing the many ways in which the project will contribute to local and statewide economic growth. For landowners, it's a new way to generate steady income from their land. For community members, it's about propelling businesses forward and providing funding to drive positive impacts. For the local economy, it's about bolstering the tax revenue of municipalities and counties.
The event featured sourcing from several local businesses, including a delicious lunch served from Homer's Barbeque in Henderson, and live music from local Blue Grass favorite, Kings Highway. Stars of the event were two miniature horses, Rocky and Spud, who greeted guests along with volunteers from local non-profit, Healing Reins of Kentucky, as part of their mobile experience. The mission of Healing Reins is to assist individuals with special needs in meeting their full potential through interaction with horses.
"We loved meeting everyone at this event and welcoming National Grid Renewables to the community. Rocky and Spud had a great time!" said Monica Fella, Executive Director at Healing Reins of Kentucky. "We appreciate the donation that was made to Healing Reins and look forward to seeing the impact that's made through the monetary commitment to our nonprofit community through the Henderson Community Foundation."
Unbridled is being built by Mastec Construction and will utilize First Solar Series 7 modules. The project also has a previously announced Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Big Rivers Electric Corporation (Big Rivers).
"We are proud to see solar energy built in western Kentucky, serving the people and communities of western Kentucky," said Big Rivers Vice President of Energy Services Terry Wright. "Purchasing power from this large-scale solar project allows us to round out a diverse portfolio that will offer coal, gas, hydro, and solar generation. The solar power generated here will help provide the safe, reliable, economical, and sustainable energy needed for our members and offer green energy options that can attract industries looking to build in Kentucky."
Prior to the event, National Grid Renewables also announced their pledge of $800,000 in charitable donations through the Unbridled Solar Project over the first twenty years of operations. The funds will be managed by the Community Foundation of Henderson, who was also present and spoke at the event.
About National Grid Renewables
National Grid Renewables develops, owns and operates large-scale renewable energy assets across the United States, including solar, wind, and energy storage. As a farmer-founded and community-focused business, National Grid Renewables repowers America's electricity grid by reigniting local economies and reinvesting in a sustainable, clean energy future. National Grid Renewables supports National Grid's vision of being at the heart of a clean, fair, and affordable energy future for all. To learn more about National Grid Renewables, visit www.nationalgridrenewables.com or follow the company on LinkedIn.
Media Inquiries
Contact: Emily Morissette
Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications
National Grid Renewables
[email protected]
612-504-4839
SOURCE National Grid Renewables
The Next Generation List Honors Innovative, Growing MSPs
COMMERCE, Mich., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Nuspire, a leading managed security services provider (MSSP) and PDI Technologies company, has been named as one of the world's premier managed service providers on the prestigious 2024 Next Generation rankings.
The Next Generation list, affiliated with the MSP 501, honors industry-leading managed service and technology providers who drive a new wave of growth and innovation for the tech channel via ground-breaking solutions delivered to their customers. Many of these MSPs generate recurring revenue from cloud, security, unified communications and other solutions to small, medium and large clients.
Due to their growth, drive and innovation, these MSPs represent the future of the technology channel and IT industry. This year's Next Generation winners were selected from applications received for the 2024 MSP 501.
Channel Futures is pleased to name Nuspire to the 2024 Next Generation.
"We're honored to be recognized as a leader in the next generation of managed services. This award reflects Nuspire's commitment to pushing the boundaries of what's possible in cybersecurity through intelligent unification," said Lewie Dunsworth, CEO of Nuspire. "Our focus is on empowering our clients to succeed in an increasingly complex threat landscape. By leveraging our expertise, advanced AI and cutting-edge technologies, we're dedicated to simplifying and enhancing our clients' security operations. This allows them to confidently protect their businesses and focus on their core objectives, knowing they have a trusted partner in Nuspire."
Channel Futures recognizes the channel partner communities for their innovation and contributions to the IT industry. The Next Generation represents that effort.
"Constant innovation is the lifeblood of the tech industry," said Dave Raffo, manager of the MPS 501 and Next Generation programs. "These MSPs drive that innovation and build sales and marketing strategies around them. I enjoy watching these companies grow and develop and expect many of them will become among the biggest managed service providers in the industry if they're not already there."
The data collected by the annual Next Generation and MSP 501 lists drive Channel Futures' market intelligence insights. Channel Futures uses these robust data sets and data-based trend reports to support editorial coverage, event programming, community and networking strategies and educational offerings.
"These companies are providing innovative approaches to customer solutions and partner engagement never seen before," said Robert DeMarzo, vice president of content for Informa Tech Channels. "They drive the future growth of the channel."
Background
The 2024 MSP 501 and Next Generation lists are based on data collected by Channel Futures online from February to May 2024. The MSP 501 list recognizes top managed service providers based on metrics including recurring revenue, profit margin and other factors.
About Nuspire
With over 25 years of expertise, Nuspire, a PDI Technologies company, is redefining cybersecurity through intelligent unification and unparalleled protection. Our company delivers innovative managed security services (MSS), managed detection and response (MDR), endpoint detection and response (EDR) and consulting solutions tailored to clients' needs. Our technology-agnostic platform provides holistic visibility across entire security tech stacks, seamlessly integrating human expertise, advanced AI and cutting-edge technologies. This comprehensive approach offers unprecedented control and predictive intelligence across clients' cybersecurity infrastructure. With features like an AI-powered assistant for streamlined operations and a mobile application for on-the-go threat management, we empower organizations to confidently navigate the evolving threat landscape. Driven by uncompromising excellence, our experts and 24x7 SOCs enable clients to stay ahead of emerging threats while optimizing their security investments.
For more information, visit https://www.nuspire.com/ and follow the company on LinkedIn @Nuspire.
About Channel Futures
Channel Futures is a media and events destination for the information and communication technologies (ICT) channel community. We provide information, perspective, and connection for the entire channel ecosystem, including solution providers (SPs), managed service providers (MSPs), managed security service providers (MSSPs), cloud service providers (CSPs), value-added resellers (VARs) and distributors, technology solutions brokerages, subagent and agents, as well as leading technology vendor partners and communication providers.
Channel Futures is where the world meets the channel; we are leading Channel Partners forward. Our properties include awards programs such as the Channel Futures MSP 501, a list of the most influential and fastest-growing providers of managed services in the technology industry; Channel Partners events, which delivers unparalleled in-person events including Channel Partners Conference & Expo and MSP Summit. Our DEI Community Group initiative educates, supports, and promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in the ICT channel industry. More information is available at channelfutures.com.
Channel Futures is part of Informa Tech, a market-leading B2B information provider with depth and specialization in the ICT sector. We welcome 14,000+ subscribers annually to our research, more than 4 million unique monthly visitors to our digital communities, 18,200+ students to our training programs and 225,000 delegates to our events.
SOURCE Nuspire
GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pagero, a provider of e-invoicing and continuous transaction controls compliance solutions for the global market and part of Thomson Reuters, has been recognized as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: European Compliant e-Invoicing 2024 Vendor Assessment (doc #EUR151806424, September 2024). We believe this prestigious recognition underscores Pagero's position as a trusted partner for companies seeking comprehensive, compliant and innovative e-invoicing solutions across Europe, and beyond.
"We're honored to be recognized by the IDC MarketScape as a Leader in European Compliant e-Invoicing. While we believe it further solidifies our position as a leader in worldwide e-invoicing compliance, I also believe that IDC's creation of this category shows the growing importance of this sector in general and the increasing need for multinationals to consolidate their vendor selection strategy," says Gustav Dahllof, Chief Product Officer at Pagero.
The IDC MarketScape report writes:
"With access to more than 14 million businesses and connectivity to over 100 other networks, hubs, and government platforms, the wide reach of the Pagero Network offers considerable potential for customers regarding compliance connectivity."
The report also points to Pagero's long-standing involvement in the compliance space, as an active member of organizations like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line (PEPPOL), Global Exchange Network Association (GENA) and the European Union's Taxation and Customs Union.
"Pagero's strong connections to industry bodies and regulators, along with its team of in-house regulatory experts, bolster its knowledge and understanding of e-invoicing regulations and mandates as they arise, putting the vendor in a very strong position in the customer's mind."
A condensed version of the report can be found on Pagero's website.
About Pagero
Pagero provides a Smart Business Network that connects buyers and sellers for automated, compliant and secure exchange of orders, invoices, payment instructions and other business documents. With an open network and a wide range of value-added apps, Pagero helps businesses streamline their order-to-cash and purchase-to-pay processes while unlocking the full potential of accurate and reliable business data. All of this, regardless of location, industry, size or systems. Find out more on pagero.com.
About Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters (TSX/NYSE: TRI) ("TR") informs the way forward by bringing together the trusted content and technology that people and organizations need to make the right decisions. The company serves professionals across legal, tax, accounting, compliance, government, and media. Its products combine highly specialized software and insights to empower professionals with the data, intelligence, and solutions needed to make informed decisions, and to help institutions in their pursuit of justice, truth, and transparency. Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters, is a world leading provider of trusted journalism and news. For more information, visit tr.com.
About IDC MarketScape
The IDC MarketScape vendor assessment model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of technology and service suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor's position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors.
Contact
Oscar Wegland
Chief Marketing Officer, Pagero
[email protected]
Notes to editor
Pagero was acquired by Thomson Reuters, a global content and technology company, in February 2024 . Read more: press release.
SOURCE Thomson Reuters
Effective September 25, 2024:
Eric Sorensen stepping down as CEO, transitioning to Vice Chair and continuing to serve as a member of PanAgora's Board of Directors
stepping down as CEO, transitioning to Vice Chair and continuing to serve as a member of PanAgora's Board of Directors Bryan Belton, a veteran PanAgora portfolio manager, appointed President and CEO
George D. Mussalli promoted to Global CIO
BOSTON, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - PanAgora Asset Management, Inc. (PanAgora), a preeminent quantitative investment manager, today announced changes to its executive leadership team that will help drive the company into its next phase of growth. These changes, effective immediately, reflect thoughtful succession planning and elevate leaders to deliver on strategic priorities.
After 40 years in the industry and an impressive 20-year tenure at PanAgora, today Eric Sorensen will be stepping down from his daily responsibilities as President and Chief Executive Officer. As part of this transition, Mr. Sorensen will assume the role of Vice Chair and will remain a member of PanAgora's Board of Directors. Here, PanAgora's clients and investment teams will continue to benefit from Mr. Sorensen's insights and thought leadership. This is the natural next step on a strategic path the firm has been working towards for some time.
"The Board of Directors is grateful for the decades-long commitment Mr. Sorensen has provided, helping us build PanAgora into a global innovator in quantitative investing. Mr. Sorensen has been a tremendous leader and mentor, playing a key role in talent development, as reflected in the changes announced today," said Robert L. Reynolds, Chair of PanAgora's Board of Directors. "We are confident that the vision, talent and perspectives PanAgora's leadership team brings to the table will drive PanAgora's next phase of growth, while deepening trusted client relationships."
Succeeding Mr. Sorensen as President and Chief Executive Officer will be Bryan Belton, a veteran portfolio manager and respected leader at PanAgora for nearly 20 years. Mr. Belton has consistently excelled during his long career in the asset management industry, spanning trading, portfolio management, research and client relations. Mr. Belton will also be appointed to PanAgora's Board of Directors.
"I am immensely proud of the PanAgora team and am confident this plan will enable the firm to continue to deliver attractive, risk-adjusted returns for our clients for decades to come," said Eric Sorensen. "Mr. Belton's solutions-oriented approach is a hallmark of the firm's culture and business model. Under this leadership team, PanAgora and its clients are well-positioned for continued growth."
"It is an honor to have the confidence of the Board of Directors, and I look forward to serving our clients in this new role," said Bryan Belton. "The strength of our leadership team is a key differentiator for PanAgora."
In addition, George D. Mussalli, a 20-year veteran of PanAgora who has served as CIO of Equity Strategies since 2011, will be promoted to Global CIO and will also join PanAgora's Board of Directors. Mr. Mussalli is an innovative thought leader in the quantitative investment industry. He is the founder of PanAgora's Stock Selector strategy and is well known for his early use of alternative data sets as well as his creative combination of quantitative and fundamental signals. In this newly created role, Mr. Mussalli will oversee both the Equity and Multi-Asset teams, bringing enhanced collaboration to PanAgora's research and investment groups. Edward Qian, a proven authority in multi-asset investing, will remain CIO of Multi-Asset Strategies and continue to grow this successful platform. Jaime H. Lee and Richard Tan will continue to lead the firm's bottom-up equity strategies, and Jason Ketchen will continue to lead PanAgora's business support functions.
About PanAgora Asset Management, Inc.
PanAgora Asset Management is a quantitative investment manager whose proprietary approach is designed to capitalize on inefficiencies across market cycles and to deliver relative and absolute returns through distinct and innovative equity, multi-asset and risk premia strategies. PanAgora's approach combines the firm's fundamental investment philosophy and original research with an advanced quantitative framework. These elements come together in an open, collaborative environment that builds upon the intellectual versatility of its team and leverages their complementary strengths all of which are essential to meeting and exceeding the evolving objectives of institutional investors worldwide.
PanAgora was founded in 1989 and is based in Boston, MA. Shareholders include the Firm's employees and Great-West Lifeco Inc (TSX:GWO), a member of the Power Corporation group of companies. More information about PanAgora can be found by visiting www.panagora.com.
SOURCE PanAgora Asset Management
Foundation Board also commits to five years of social and racial justice work through endowment
CANTON, Mass., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Point32Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Point32Health and its family of companies, including Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Tufts Health Plan and Care Partners of Connecticut, today announced grants totaling $230,000 to support nonprofit organizations in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. These investments advance civic engagement and equity in aging.
In addition, the Foundation board committed significant resources over the next five years through its endowment to support social and racial justice work around the region. Investments in community-based organizations will begin in 2025.
"We know that for our company to be strong, the places where we live and work also must thrive," said Greg Shell, chair of the Point32Health Foundation board of directors and vice chair of board for the parent company, Point32Health. "This long-term commitment through our endowment to social and racial justice, as well as these new grants, signal our values and how we prioritize engaging diverse voices of people experiencing systemic barriers."
The nine organizations receiving the $230,000 in new funding are strengthening communities, contributing to policies and laws that include the perspective of diverse, lived experience, and encouraging engagement and participation.
The new grants go to:
Connecticut ($50,000)
Connecticut Foodshare (Statewide, Conn.)
$30,000 | One year
Elevate older people's voices and experiences accessing healthy, affordable food to understand systemic barriers; engage Connecticut's older adults in advocacy and public policy change as part of the Neighbor Council.
Hartford Votes ~Hartford Vota Coalition (Statewide, Conn.)
$20,000 | One year
Support Get Out the Vote Collaboration, a network of local nonprofits including The Arc Connecticut, Center for Latino Progress, Asian Pacific American Coalition, Health Equity Solutions and others, to improve voter turnout and civic engagement in Hartford .
Maine ($20,000)
Maine Democracy Collaborative (Statewide, Maine )
$20,000 | One year
Support the Community Power Planning Project, a statewide initiative increasing civic engagement by building the capacity of organizations led by and serving people of color.
Massachusetts ($120,000)
Citizens' Housing And Planning Association (Statewide, Mass.)
$30,000 | One year
Survey of Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program participants, homeowners, landlords and administrators on program satisfaction, housing quality and barriers to access to improve statewide housing rental voucher system.
| One year Survey of Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program participants, homeowners, landlords and administrators on program satisfaction, housing quality and barriers to access to improve statewide housing rental voucher system. Lawyers for Civil Rights (Statewide, Mass. and N.H.)
$20,000 | One year
Support communities of color and immigrants to fight discrimination and foster equity through creative and courageous advocacy, education and economic empowerment. Lawyers for Civil Rights' Election Protection campaign in Massachusetts and New Hampshire includes a hotline offering real-time information and voter assistance and support.
| One year Support communities of color and immigrants to fight discrimination and foster equity through creative and courageous advocacy, education and economic empowerment. Lawyers for Civil Rights' Election Protection campaign in and includes a hotline offering real-time information and voter assistance and support. Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative (Statewide, Mass.)
$50,000 | Two years
Support strategic planning for statewide backbone organization to consider and align with age and dementia friendly efforts across the state.
| Two years Support strategic planning for statewide backbone organization to consider and align with age and dementia friendly efforts across the state. Massachusetts Voter Table (Statewide, Mass.)
$20,000 | One year
Support coalition conducting grassroots organizing, voter education, engagement and mobilization to grow voter participation in communities of color and amongst new citizens, youth and people with low incomes.
New Hampshire ($20,000)
Manchester Community Action Coalition ( Manchester, N.H. )
$20,000 | One year
Increase voter engagement and civic participation by elevating voices of color to identify community-driven solutions.
Rhode Island ($20,000)
United Way of Rhode Island (Statewide, R.I.)
$20,000 | One year
Support United We Vote campaign to increase turnout by mobilizing 100,000 new voters. Campaign is a collaboration with community partners and includes voter registration, development of voter resources in multiple languages and other support to encourage voting by communities of color, young adults and rural communities.
About Point32Health Foundation
Building on values of service and giving, Point32Health Foundation works with communities to support, advocate and advance healthier lives for everyone. Point32Health Foundation is the result of the combination of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation and Tufts Health Plan Foundation and advances equity-focused solutions in healthy aging, access to healthy food and behavioral health in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Beginning in 2025, our focus will be equity in aging. Follow us on Facebook
CONTACT:
Kimberly Winn
[email protected]
SOURCE Point32Health
ST. LOUIS, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST), a consumer packaged goods holding company, today affirmed its non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA guidance for fiscal year 2024.
Fiscal Year 2024 Outlook
Post management affirmed its outlook for fiscal year 2024 Adjusted EBITDA of $1,370-$1,390 million.
Post provides Adjusted EBITDA guidance only on a non-GAAP basis and does not provide a reconciliation of its forward-looking Adjusted EBITDA non-GAAP guidance measure to the most directly comparable GAAP measure due to the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts that are necessary for such reconciliation, including adjustments that could be made for income/expense on swaps, net, gain/loss of extinguishment of debt, net, integration and transaction costs, mark-to-market adjustments on commodity and foreign exchange hedges and equity securities, equity method investment adjustment and other charges reflected in Post's reconciliations of historical numbers, the amounts of which, based on historical experience, could be significant. For additional information regarding Post's non-GAAP measure, see the related explanation presented under "Post's Use of Non-GAAP Measure."
Post's Use of Non-GAAP Measure
Post uses Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, to supplement the financial measures prepared in accordance with United States ("U.S.") generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). Adjusted EBITDA is not prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, as it excludes certain items, and may not be comparable to similarly-titled measures of other companies. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA as a key metric in the evaluation of underlying company and segment performance, in making financial, operating and planning decisions and, in part, in the determination of bonuses for its executive officers and employees. Additionally, Post is required to comply with certain covenants and limitations that are based on variations of EBITDA in its financing documents. Management believes the use of this non-GAAP measure provides increased transparency and assists investors in understanding the underlying operating performance of Post and its segments and in the analysis of ongoing operating trends.
Prospective Financial Information
Prospective financial information is necessarily speculative in nature, and it can be expected that some or all of the assumptions underlying the prospective financial information described above will not materialize or will vary significantly from actual results. For further discussion of some of the factors that may cause actual results to vary materially from the prospective financial information provided above, see "Forward-Looking Statements" below. Accordingly, the prospective financial information provided above is only an estimate of what Post's management believes is realizable as of the date of this press release. It also should be recognized that the reliability of any forecasted financial data diminishes the farther in the future that the data is forecasted. In light of the foregoing, the information should be viewed in context and undue reliance should not be placed upon it.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made based on known events and circumstances at the time of release, and as such, are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. These forward-looking statements include Post's Adjusted EBITDA outlook for fiscal year 2024. Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made herein. These risks and uncertainties are described in Post's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements represent Post's judgment as of the date of this press release. Post disclaims, however, any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this press release are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
About Post Holdings, Inc.
Post Holdings, Inc., headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is a consumer packaged goods holding company with businesses operating in the center-of-the-store, refrigerated, foodservice and food ingredient categories. Its businesses include Post Consumer Brands, Weetabix, Michael Foods and Bob Evans Farms. Post Consumer Brands is a leader in the North American ready-to-eat cereal and pet food categories and also markets Peter Pan peanut butter. Weetabix is home to the United Kingdom's number one selling ready-to-eat cereal brand, Weetabix. Michael Foods and Bob Evans Farms are leaders in refrigerated foods, delivering innovative, value-added egg and refrigerated potato side dish products to the foodservice and retail channels. Post participates in the private brand food category through its ownership interest in 8th Avenue Food & Provisions, Inc. For more information, visit www.postholdings.com.
Contact:
Investor Relations
Daniel O'Rourke
[email protected]
(314) 806-3959
SOURCE Post Holdings, Inc.
The strategic relaunch of ALL DAY IPA positions the 15-year-old brand in a new light with a consumer-insight driven brand strategy, refreshed brand look and feel, and a new campaign to help the brand return to growth.
BERKELEY, Calif., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Trinity Brand Group, a leading independent full-service brand strategy and creative agency is thrilled to announce the strategic relaunch of Founders Brewing Co.'s All Day IPA.
The repositioned and relaunched brand brings freshness, vibrancy and storytelling to the forefront. An attention grabbing campaign gives the brand a distinctive voice, tying social times with friends to the All Day brand and product promise.
As consumers are broadening their drinks repertoire into spirits and seltzers, craft beer has been losing share of mind and occasion. The low ABV, or session, beer segment of craft where All Day IPA has reigned supreme has not been immune to these headwinds. As Agency of Record to Founders Brewing Co. (part of Mahou USA), Trinity partnered with the Founders team to reposition, redesign and re-activate All Day to expand reach, re-engage consumers, and accelerate growth.
Since the repositioning, consumer perceptions of quality, relevancy and occasion appropriateness have all grown double digits.
"When Founders Brewing Co. asked us to help position their juggernaut All Day IPA brand to regain growth in the declining craft beer category, we took a broad look at consumers across the entire beer and alcoholic long drinks category," said Laurie Kreisberg, VP Strategy at Trinity Brand Group. "We conducted a consumer mindstate segmentation to help identify how the #1 session craft beer in the U.S. could re-energize current and lapsed drinkers as well as recruit new ones, many of whom have been experimenting outside of beer. One thing became clear there is a broad swath of people looking for something refreshing, drinkable and high quality that fits their lifestyle."
THE NEW POSITIONING
Trinity worked with Founders to position the All Day brand around its unique ability to satisfy these consumers' desires. With a product that checks all the important boxes and a brand long associated with taking a break from the daily grind to kick back, take a moment and just enjoy, All Day's promise to consumers was that they could, in fact, 'Have it All!'
"Trinity helped us broaden the product story of All Day IPA beyond its sessionablity to a much bigger truth that All Day delivers the best of ALL worlds," explained Sandy Anaokar, CMO Mahou USA. "It's flavorful like a great craft beer should be, but it won't fill you up or wreck your palate. And it's as easy drinking as big domestic brands without compromising on balance, flavor or character."
With the newly repositioned All Day, Founders has been able to grow market share within craft, at a time when craft overall is in decline.
THE NEW LOOK & FEEL
The new look and feel represents the first significant redesign of the All Day IPA brand in 12 years.
Trinity partnered with the Founders team to refresh the All Day look and feel, including a strategic update to the brandmark and packaging that brings storytelling and all-important shelf pop to the brand. The new brandmark is modernized and strengthened, recognizable from a distance and easier to use across today's broad range of media and substrates. Trinity collaborated directly with Founders' in-house Content Marketing team to infuse new energy into the brand with a fresh, crisp approach to scenery and color palette, and an emphasis on the brand's primary visual asset the iconic canoe-topped "red woody wagon."
"The new branding we've created with Trinity looks and feels fresher and more inviting," explained Brett Haberkorn, Content Marketing Director for Mahou USA. "The beauty of this is that it gives the brand enormous shelf pop and presence, effectively communicates our brand benefits, and creates an extendible system that makes it easy to navigate between everything we've got in the All Day lineup. Plus, every package tells a story, which keeps our consumers engaged."
Learn all about the All Day redesign here.
THE NEW CAMPAIGN
The 'Have it All with All Day' campaign makes clear that with All Day you CAN have it all a beverage that is refreshing AND deliciously flavorful, easy drinking AND high quality.
Deirdre Glennon, Director of Brand Development & Innovation Trinity Brand Group explained that "This message drives home the broader benefit to consumers that All Day is the ideal companion to elevate any moment. No matter where you are, who you're with, or what you're doing, All Day turns ordinary moments into something more vibrant, exciting, and refreshing."
The new campaign uses the brand's iconic red canoe, long a recognizable visual equity, as the center of the campaign. In every setting the moment All Day is served the scene is transformed the All Day canoe slides into frame and signals a level up from good times to great. Shot at Synapse Virtual Productions Studios with RadFox Films, the campaign uses cutting edge technologies to create an ownable, distinctively quirky visual POV that entertains consumers and supports All Day's brand message, making what might be an ordinary beer ad into something truly extraordinary.
The new 'Have it All with All Day' campaign tested off the charts. Research shows that the new campaign has significant impact in enhancing brand perception AND driving purchase consideration among current, lapsed and potential All Day IPA drinkers.
Learn all about the All Day campaign here.
For more information about TBG's award winning strategy and design solutions, visit TrinityBrandGroup.com or follow us on Instagram or LinkedIn.
About Trinity Brand Group Realizing the Potential of Business, Brands and People
Trinity Brand Group is an independent, full-service strategy and creative agency. With offices in both Berkeley, California and Dublin, Ireland, Trinity helps organizations across industries and across the globe build powerful strategies, creative and campaigns that ignite excitement and drive business. Founded in 2004, Trinity's client roster includes some of the world's most successful and iconic brands including Corona, Coors Light, Kellogg's, Danone, Campari, Pernod Ricard, Northwestern Mutual, PathWater, and Sony PlayStation. To learn more about Trinity Brand Group, please visit www.TrinityBrandGroup.com.
About Mahou USA
Established in 2023, Mahou USA is a combination of brands from Avery Brewing, Founders Brewing and Mahou Imports. Specializing in brews that are complex, in-your-face ales, with huge aromatics and tons of flavor, Mahou USA ranks among the top 10 largest craft breweries in the U.S. The brands under Mahou USA have received numerous awards from the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival, and RateBeer and BeerAdvocate users often rate its beers among the best in the world.
SOURCE Trinity Brand Group
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, September 25. KazMunayGas (KMG, the national oil and gas company) and Shell Kazakhstan (the branch of the British oil and gas company in the country) discussed the prospects of cooperation in the field of geological exploration, Trend reports.
According to information, the negotiations were held between the Chairman of the Board of Kazakhstan Oil and Gas Company, Askhat Khassenov, and the Chairman of Shell in Kazakhstan, Ali Al-Janabi.
In the course of the meeting, the parties emphasized that within the framework of cooperation, it is planned to study new projects on geological exploration and subsoil research in the territory of the republic.
KazMunayGas is actively conducting seismic exploration at five sites in Aktobe, West Kazakhstan, and Mangistau regions, data on which will be received by the end of the year.
The sides expressed confidence that further interaction will open new opportunities for both companies in geological exploration and strengthen economic ties between Kazakhstan and Shell.
DALLAS, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PRIME FiBER, a commercial open-access fiber infrastructure company, has signed an agreement with AT&T for the provision of wholesale fiber access services, starting in Bonita Springs and Naples, Florida.
PRIME FiBER was established in late 2023 and operates as the wholesale open-access sister company to NOVOS FiBER, a retail fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) company serving residents and small businesses. The business is backed by InLight Capital, a private investment firm based in Sugar Land, Texas.
PRIME FiBER signs agreement with AT&T for the provision of wholesale fiber services in Naples and Bonita Springs, FL. Post this
"High-speed fiber internet connectivity changes everything," said Erin Scarborough, Senior Vice President of Consumer Product at AT&T. "Our relationship with PRIME FiBER will open up opportunities for us to serve even more customers and communities with world-class fiber broadband and 5G wireless offerings."
PRIME FiBER CEO, Andrew Snead, commented on the recent news, saying, "We're delighted to have AT&T as an anchor tenant on our wholesale open-access platform. Work is well underway in Florida, where we're planning to invest over $50 million. We're also excited by the prospect of providing fiber access in additional locations outside of AT&T's existing footprint."
George Karatzis, who joined PRIME FiBER in 2023 as its Chief Build Officer went on to say, "We're proud to have AT&T as a customer on our planned open-access network in Bonita Springs and Naples. They're a leader in the converged space and our platform will allow them to offer high-speed and reliable fiber internet to residents and businesses across the local community."
For more information on partnership opportunities, please visit www.primefiberco.com .
About PRIME FiBER
PRIME FiBER is an open-access fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure provider serving ISPs (Internet Service Providers), infrastructure consolidators and enterprises across the US. PRIME FiBER is funded by InLight Capital, a private investment firm based in Sugar Land, Texas.
About InLight Capital
InLight Capital, LLC ("InLight") is a private investment firm based in Sugar Land, Texas. InLight's permanent capital base allows us to pursue an objective of long duration compounded capital growth. InLight maintains flexibility and discretion of the amount, duration and objectives of its invested capital, allowing for efficient decision making and strategic alignment with all stakeholders. InLight invests across two primary verticals: private investments and real estate.
SOURCE NOVOS FiBER
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Millions of people visit Las Vegas each year. Whether you're traveling to Nevada for a work conference, trying your luck at casinos, or catching a show, your health and safety should not be compromised. Recent investigations have uncovered health and safety issues in some of Las Vegas's most popular hotels and casinos, prompting legal action by hotel lawyers on behalf of injury victims and their families.
The Pritzker Hageman hotel lawyers represent injury victims and their families in cases involving issues such as:
Nevada licensed attorney Raymond Trueblood helps injury victims and their families get the compensation and justice they deserve.
Legionnaires' disease outbreaks linked to poorly maintained hotel water systems. Pritzker Hageman's hotel lawyers are investigating outbreaks at several properties including Caesars Palace and The Orleans.
Pool drownings in hotel swimming pools from insufficient safety measures, lack of proper supervision, and flaws in pool design and maintenance.
Burn and electrocution injuries from defective products like hotel room irons and hair dryers, and smoke inhalation injuries caused by faulty fire warning and suppression systems.
Food poisoning from guests consuming contaminated food served by hotel restaurants.
Slip and fall hazards caused by slippery floors, uneven surfaces, poor lighting, obstructions, and wet entrances.
Injuries from structural collapses of ceilings, floors, and balconies, and hazards from damaged light fixtures.
Cut injuries from broken glass, drug paraphernalia, and other sharp objects that can cause serious complications like sepsis.
Motor vehicle accidents on driveways, guest drop off areas, and other locations shared by pedestrians.
Big Companies Push to Limit Nevadans' Access to Skilled Legal Representation
When someone gets hurt or sick, big companies will do anything to keep them from pursuing justice. In an upcoming election season, Nevadans might see a ballot initiative, cynically promoted by Uber, that would limit attorney contingency fees, making it harder for ordinary people to hire a skilled lawyer. Instead of addressing serious issues like sexual assault claims against their drivers, Uber is spending millions to protect itself from potential lawsuits. If this measure passes, it could significantly restrict access to legal representation for those who need it most.
About Pritzker Hageman Law Firm
Pritzker Hageman is a national personal injury law firm that helps injured people and their families get compensation and justice. Led by attorney Raymond Trueblood, Pritzker Hageman's team of hotel lawyers have won millions for clients who suffered injuries or illnesses during hotel stays.
Contact
Raymond Trueblood
Nevada Licensed Attorney
1-888-377-8900
[email protected]
SOURCE Pritzker Hageman, P.A.
SECAUCUS, N.J., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), a leader in diagnostic information services, announced that it will report third quarter 2024 financial results on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, before the market opens. It will hold its quarterly conference call to discuss the results beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on that day.
The conference call can be accessed by dialing 888-455-0391 within the U.S. and Canada, or 773-756-0467 internationally, using the passcode: "7895081." The earnings release and live webcast will be posted on www.QuestDiagnostics.com/investor. The company suggests participants dial in approximately 10 minutes before the call.
A replay of the call may be accessed online at www.QuestDiagnostics.com/investor or by phone at 800-839-5154 for domestic callers or 203-369-3358 for international callers; no passcode is required. Telephone replays will be available from approximately 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on October 22, 2024 until midnight Eastern Time on November 5, 2024.
Anyone listening to the call is encouraged to read the company's periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion of risk factors and historical results of operations and financial condition in those reports.
About Quest Diagnostics
Quest Diagnostics works across the healthcare ecosystem to create a healthier world, one life at a time. We provide diagnostic insights from the results of our laboratory testing to empower people, physicians and organizations to take action to improve health outcomes. Derived from one of the world's largest databases of de-identifiable clinical lab results, Quest's diagnostic insights reveal new avenues to identify and treat disease, inspire healthy behaviors and improve healthcare management. Quest Diagnostics annually serves one in three adult Americans and half the physicians and hospitals in the United States, and our nearly 50,000 employees understand that, in the right hands and with the right context, our diagnostic insights can inspire actions that transform lives and create a healthier world. www.QuestDiagnostics.com.
SOURCE Quest Diagnostics
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Franklin Resources, Inc. ("Franklin" or the "Company") (NYSE: BEN). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether Franklin and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
On August 21, 2024, Franklin subsidiary Western Asset Management Company issued a press release announcing that co-Chief Investment Officer Ken Leech "is on a leave of absence, effective immediately" after "receiv[ing] a Wells Notice from the Staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission". That same day, Bloomberg reported that "[f]ederal prosecutors in New York are investigating whether a Western Asset Management executive allocated winning trades to favored accounts, as part of a criminal probe into a practice known as 'cherry-picking.'"
On this news, Franklin's stock price fell $2.84 per share, or 12.56%, to close at $19.78 per share on August 21, 2024.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
Danielle Peyton
Pomerantz LLP
[email protected]
646-581-9980 ext. 7980
SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Globus Medical, Inc. ("Globus" or the "Company") (NYSE: GMED). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether Globus and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
On August 13, 2024, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Globus disclosed that "on July 16, 2024, Globus Medical, Inc. received a warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the 'FDA') following an inspection of our facilities in Audubon, Pennsylvania. In the warning letter, the FDA cited deficiencies in the response letters sent by the Company to the FDA following the Form 483, List of Investigational Observations, which was delivered to the Company in connection with the inspection that occurred from February 15, 2024 until March 7, 2024. The letter describes observed non-conformities in establishing and maintaining product complaint procedures, including complaint investigations, trending, risk reconciliation, and Medical Device Report (MDR) procedures including timely reporting, pertaining to the ExcelsiusGPS robotic system."
Following disclosure of the FDA's warning letter, Globus's stock price fell $5.73 per share, or 7.84%, to close at $67.32 per share on August 13, 2024.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
Danielle Peyton
Pomerantz LLP
[email protected]
646-581-9980 ext. 7980
SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Rentokil Initial plc ("Rentokil" or the "Company") (NYSE: RTO). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether Rentokil and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
On September 11, 2024, Rentokil disclosed that it expected full-year adjusted pretax profit of approximately 700 million, compared to 766 million in the previous year, citing weaker than expected sales in North America, the Company's largest market. Rentokil also stated that it would cut an undisclosed number of jobs in its U.S. workforce to address cost overruns.
On this news, Rentokil's American depositary receipt ("ADR") price fell $6.64 per ADR, or 21.04%, to close at $24.95 per ADR on September 11, 2024.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
Danielle Peyton
Pomerantz LLP
[email protected]
646-581-9980 ext. 7980
SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Transocean Ltd. ("Transocean" or the "Company") (NYSE: RIG). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether Transocean and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
On September 3, 2024, Transocean announced that it had it agreed to sell the Development Driller III drillship and associated assets for $195 million and the Discoverer Inspiration drillship and associated assets for $147 million, as part of the Company's effort to dispose of non-strategic assets. The Company further announced that the sales would results in an estimated third-quarter non-cash charge of $630 million to $645 million associated with the impairment of the assets.
On this news, Transocean's stock price fell $0.42 per share, or 8.86%, to close at $4.32 per share on September 3, 2024.
The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.
Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
Danielle Peyton
Pomerantz LLP
[email protected]
646-581-9980 ext. 7980
SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Under Armour, Inc. ("Under Armour" or the "Company") (NYSE: UA). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether Under Armour and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
On September 9, 2024, Under Armour issued a press release "announc[ing] an update to its Fiscal 2025 restructuring plan, including additional initiatives to optimize the company's strategic supply chain capabilities and overall business performance." Among other items, Under Armour advised that "[f]ollowing further evaluation" of charges to be incurred "in connection with its Fiscal 2025 restructuring plan", Under Armour "now expect approximately $140 million to $160 million of pre-tax restructuring and related charges to be incurred in Fiscal 2025 and Fiscal 2026". Accordingly, Under Armour updated its fiscal 2025 outlook, projecting an operating loss in the range of $220 million to $240 million, compared to previous guidance of $194 million to $214 million.
On this news, Under Armour's stock price fell $0.69 per share, or 9.61%, to close at $6.49 per share on September 10, 2024.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
Danielle Peyton
Pomerantz LLP
[email protected]
646-581-9980 ext. 7980
SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
Oak Essentials, the quintessential California-based beauty brand, has successfully raised its first round of funding from two prominent investors in the beauty sector. Silas Capital, known for its strategic investments in emerging consumer brands, and Unilever Ventures, the venture capital arm of the global consumer goods giant, have joined forces to provide inaugural funding for the promising skincare brand, which just had its 3-year anniversary.
With the backing of these industry veterans, Oak Essentials is poised to accelerate its mission of self-care, simplifiedluxurious body and skincare that values efficacy alongside a sensorial, spa-like experience and minimalist aesthetic. The promise is simple: moisture-rich essentials that inspire intentional daily rituals for healthy, youthful skin.
"We love how Jenni Kayne has applied tasteful curation to create Oak Essentials as a luxurious beauty lifestyle brand centered around ritual, relaxation, and sensorial experiences reminiscent of a visit to the spa at your own convenience. The brand delivers for consumers who are increasingly embracing the holistic wellness benefits of beauty products with an appreciation for self-care and beauty routines," said Anna Ohlsson-Baskerville, Partner at Unilever Ventures.
Jenni Kayne, known for her eponymous fashion, lifestyle, and home collections, founded Oak Essentials in her vision. While the brands are separate entities, they occasionally collaborate for major momentslike the recent Jenni Kayne Farmhouse and Oak Essentials Wellness Clubto immerse customers in their tastefully curated worlds where they can engage their shared customer base and reinforce their shared aesthetic.
In the three years since Oak Essentials' inception, the brand has launched 26 products, initially focusing on skincare before successfully expanding into body care. Oak Essentials has sold over half a million products since launch, with over 8,300 5-star reviews across all offerings. The brand's hero products, including the cult-classic Moisture Rich Balm, Ritual Oil, and Dew Body Oil, have been consistent best-sellers since the initial product launch.
"We couldn't be more thrilled to announce our partnership with Silas Capital and Unilever Ventures. Their investment is a powerful endorsement of our vision to offer spa-like and effective skincare rituals for sophisticated consumers to experience in their own homes. Having spent the last three years building our DTC business, we're incredibly proud of how far we've come but are eagerly looking ahead to this next phase. We are so grateful to have Silas and Unilever Ventures' support and expertise as we place focus on the key areas that we believe will solidify us as leaders in prestige beauty; keeping product innovation at the forefront and building upon our existing assortment and categories, expanding our distribution channels with new and upcoming retail partnerships, and deepening our focus on sustainability as a core pillar of the brand. This is such an incredible milestone for Oak Essentials and we're so excited for what's to come," said Lauren Harris, CEO at Oak Essentials.
In January, Lauren Harris transitioned from COO at Jenni Kayne to CEO of Oak Essentials. In her new role, she leverages her extensive experience and passion for brand growth to drive Oak Essentials forward. Under her leadership, the brand has become a key player in the skincare industry. Lauren is committed to keeping the customer at the center of every decision, expanding retail partnerships, and enhancing the direct-to-consumer channel, resulting in significant revenue growth and a stronger market presence.
"Jenni is the consummate tastemaker, and over the past few years has artfully reflected her ethos in the development of Oak Essentials' multi-category assortment of clean, luxe essentials," said Brian Thorne, Partner at Silas Capital. "Beyond the elevated aesthetic of these products, they truly do deliver on efficacy which has been one of the key drivers of the brand's tremendous growth to date. We're thrilled to partner with Jenni and Unilever Ventures for this next chapter, supporting both Oak's impressive e-commerce momentum, as well as its quickly scaling wholesale channel."
2024 has been transformative for Oak Essentials, marked by substantial growth. The brand has evolved from being DTC only to being stocked at ShopBop and Nordstrom, with more retail relationships anticipated. Recognized as one of NewBeauty's NB100, Oak Essentials is set to nearly double its revenue.
This summer saw a standout moment for the brand with the launch of The Jenni Kayne Farmhouse and Oak Essentials Wellness Club, an experiential lifestyle and wellness retreat and showcase in Tivoli, New York. Initially open to VIPs, editors, and influencers, and opening to the public this fall, the Wellness Club provides a brand-immersive skincare experience to forge lasting connections and to introduce the brand to the East Coast.
Most recently, Oak Essentials launched Renew Face Polish, which contains biodegradable, sustainably sourced ingredients and was the first to be packaged in eco-friendly tree-free paper cartons. Soon, all products in the line will be housed in these same environmentally conscious containers and clinical testing has been initiated to assure product quality and efficacy. Upcoming launches through the end of 2024 will include a moisturizing cleanser and a first foray into bath products.
"Oak Essentials was born from my lifelong pursuit of intentional living, a journey routed in nature, that inspired me to create a refined, botanical-based skincare collection inspired by the transformative power of spa experiences. As we celebrate Oak Essentials' third year, this partnership with Silas Capital and Unilever Ventures marks an exciting new chapter for the brand. I'm thrilled for Oak Essentials to collaborate with these respected industry leaders as we push the boundaries of what clean, prestige beauty can be," said Jenni Kayne, founder of Oak Essentials
About Oak Essentials
Oak Essentials was created by visionary tastemaker Jenni Kayne, renowned for her esteemed lifestyle brand. Her inherent style of luxurious living and years of perfecting her own clean skin-care routine led to the creation of Oak Essentials. Inspired by a transformative experience of indulgent treatments, our promise is simple: we offer a meticulous assortment of skincare essentials that value efficacy and results alongside experience and aesthetic. We deliver simple, spa-quality self-care, designed to elevate daily rituals effortlessly.
About Silas Capital
Since 2012, Silas Capital has been an active emerging growth equity and venture capital investor that partners with consumer brands, in order to help these companies achieve significant revenue growth and profitability, improve operational efficiency, and increase brand recognition and value. The complementary backgrounds of the firm's partners comprise executive leadership roles across growth equity and venture capital firms, as well as operating companies, which allows the group to deliver on a unique value-add proposition to the management teams, founders and companies with whom Silas partners. The firm not only invests capital to help these companies grow, but also brings significant resources and capabilities to actively assist in the growth of revenue through its expertise in e-commerce and digital expansion, alongside its knowledge of traditional wholesale and retail channels. Previous and current investments for Silas include Bare Snacks, Bellroy, Boll & Branch, Cake, Chief, HATCH, Herbivore, ILIA Beauty, Makeup By Mario, ROZ, Sakara Life, Vacation, Violette_FR and Wonderbelly to name a few. Learn more at www.silascapital.com.
About Unilever Ventures
Unilever Ventures, the venture and growth capital arm of Unilever, empowers a new breed of forward-thinking entrepreneurs with ground-breaking ideas and ambitions to transform the world. Our mission extends beyond mere capital provision; we enable these visionaries to cultivate distinctive brands and innovative technology solutions that resonate on a global scale. Unilever Ventures brings unrivaled expertise and leadership in the consumer goods industry, from the factory to the end user. Our investment focuses on early-stage opportunities that lie at the fascinating crossroads of consumer goods, commerce, and technology, primarily in North America, Europe, and Asia. For further information, please visit www.unileverventures.com.
Follow along: @oakessentials
Oak Essentials Skincare is available at oakessentials.com, shopbop.com and nordstrom.com
SOURCE Oak Essentials
TOPEKA, Kansas, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kansas Department of Education has reaffirmed its commitment to advancing literacy education by reconfirming Collaborative Classroom's SIPPS program on its Approved List of Evidence-Based Programs & Practices. This recognition highlights SIPPS as a trusted resource for Kansas educators dedicated to fostering reading success in students across the state.
SIPPS is a comprehensive, research-based program designed to support K12 students in developing the foundational literacy skills necessary for fluent and independent reading. The program's structured, differentiated approach has been widely recognized by states and literacy leaders for its efficacy in addressing the diverse needs of new and striving readers.
"We are honored that the Kansas Department of Education continues to endorse SIPPS as a vital tool for literacy instruction," said Kelly Stuart, CEO and President of Collaborative Classroom. "This continued recognition highlights the program's effectiveness in enhancing student reading skills and our ongoing dedication to supporting Kansas educators with evidence-based tools that drive meaningful outcomes."
The SIPPS program offers a systematic scope and sequence coupled with a placement assessment that allows educators to group students with similar needs, providing targeted small-group instruction. In addition, mastery tests are included to monitor progress and guide instructional decision-making. For older students and those in need of intensive support, including those with dyslexia, SIPPS offers age-appropriate texts and multisensory instruction, ensuring all students have the opportunity to succeed.
"As literacy remains a top priority for Kansas educators, especially with the Blueprint for Literacy initiative, we are committed to continuing our support for schools and districts," said Ricky Shafer, Manager of Educational Partnerships at Collaborative Classroom. "SIPPS provides educators with the tools they need to implement structured, evidence-based practices that help students achieve reading proficiency."
About SIPPS
SIPPS is a research-based intervention program designed to support K12 students in developing foundational literacy skills. With its structured instructional routines, SIPPS equips educators to deliver effective intervention and accelerate student growth in reading.
About Collaborative Classroom
Collaborative Classroom is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that all students become proficient readers, writers, and critical thinkers. Through its evidence-based programs and professional learning opportunities, Collaborative Classroom supports educators in creating inclusive learning environments where every student can thrive.
Since 1980, Collaborative Classroom's programs have impacted over 8 million students and 328,000 teachers nationwide, fostering academic excellence and promoting equity in education.
For more information about Collaborative Classroom and its SIPPS program, visit https://www.collaborativeclassroom.org/ .
SOURCE Collaborative Classroom
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, September 25. Current global challenges require the unified efforts of the international community, Kyrgyzstans President Sadyr Zhaparov said during the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Trend reports.
"Modern global challenges, such as the climate crisis, food security threats, and growing inequality, require united efforts from the international community," he stated.
According to Zhaparov, the world is facing unprecedented challenges, including a global climate catastrophe and economic inequality.
"And at this time, we see an alarming paradox: military expenditures are increasing annually all over the world, while poor and vulnerable nations continue to suffer from a lack of resources for their development and survival," he noted.
Zhaparov stressed the need to redirect funds currently allocated for war and destruction toward constructive efforts that address global challenges for all of humanity to help countries in their fight against climate change and to prevent mass displacement and global migration.
"World leaders have spoken for decades about the necessity of eradicating poverty, yet there has consistently been a lack of political will. Countries in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America continue to face chronic underfunding, inadequate support from the international community, and systemic economic crises that cannot be resolved by individual nations alone," he added.
The President also highlighted that nations at the bottom of the economic pyramid require investments in healthcare, education, infrastructure, and climate change mitigation.
PARIS, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sopra Steria, a major player in the European tech sector, has been recognised as one of Europe's top suppliers of AI-related services by the internationally renowned PAC INNOVATION RADAR one of only eight providers to achieve a 'Best-in-Class' overall rating in 2024.
The RADAR analysed the strengths and capabilities of 28 different providers, evaluating organisations on their portfolio, vision, strategy, and client engagements.
Ranked 'Best in Class' the highest classification available in several specialist areas, including back office, GenAI, and digital customer engagement, Sopra Steria was also named as the top-rated provider in Europe for AI-related services for human capital management.
Sopra Steria, which this week published a groundbreaking report titled 'Navigating the AI era' via its consulting arm Sopra Steria Next predicting the AI market will double in size by 2028, is committed to using AI to shape the world for the better and help clients overcome their specific business challenges.
Sopra Steria has been recognized as a leader in AI-related services in Europe, demonstrating strengths in several key areas. The company has a strong focus on the European market, with a significant AI workforce across the continent. PAC highlighted Sopra Steria's commitment to sovereign AI approaches, including data transparency, open source solutions, and regional hosting. The firm's collaboration with research institutes was also noted as a key differentiator. The company's strong presence in the public sector further underscores its position as a trusted partner for AI initiatives across Europe.
For example:
In the UK, a new machine-learning based solution has been developed to help increase staff retention by identifying critical public servants who are at increased risk of leaving their roles.
In France , an instant translation solution has enabled tourists on the rail network to ask a question and receive the answer in their own language particularly beneficial during the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games this year.
Cyril Malarge, CEO of Sopra Steria Group, commented:
"This recognition affirms our position as a key AI player in Europe. Even more, it underscores our commitment to providing sovereign, trustworthy AI solutions that offer a credible European alternative to global giants. We are proud, as it reflects our dedication to innovation and our ability to deliver transformative AI solutions, everywhere in Europe."
Click here to learn more
Contact:
Aurelien Flaugnatti, [email protected]
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1861938/4933057/Sopra_Steria_Logo.jpg
SOURCE Sopra Steria
DALLAS, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) (the "Company") today issued a response to Elliott Investment Management L.P.'s ("Elliott") recent Shareholder letter and provided an update on its engagement with Elliott ahead of the Company's long-planned Investor Day set for Thursday, September 26:
Elliott Engagement Update
Southwest has made every effort to reach a constructive resolution with Elliott, including over a dozen phone calls with Elliott representatives, several in-person meetings and an offer for Elliott to participate in the Company's Board refreshment process and understand its views on Southwest's business and strategy. It's unfortunate that Elliott has not only completely failed to engage constructively, but today has continued its pattern of launching public ambushes and is seeking to disrupt Southwest's upcoming Investor Day.
Before even speaking with CEO Bob Jordan or hearing about the Company's plans, Elliott predetermined its position and has remained entrenched in demanding a supermajority of the Board and immediate CEO change. Since June, members of the Board have met with many investors to solicit candid feedback on Southwest's strategy and path forward. It is clear Shareholders desire that Southwest engage and seek a compromise with Elliott that is in all Shareholders' best interests and allows the Company to focus on executing its transformative strategy to move Southwest forward. The Board has repeatedly sought to do exactly this, but acquiescing to a single Shareholder's demand for absolute control of the Company is not a compromise.
Recent Board Refreshment
Southwest recently announced the next phase of its Board transformation and invited Elliott's participation in that process. The Board's refreshment plans include six retirements in November and Executive Chairman Gary Kelly's retirement at the 2025 Annual Meeting, the anticipated appointment of four new Directors, and the naming of new Committee Chairs and a new Lead Independent Director. Before announcing these significant steps, members of the Board met with Elliott to propose a resolution framework that included giving due consideration to appointing up to three Elliott candidates to the Board. Elliott itself acknowledged that the announced changes are "unprecedented."
In response, Elliott has inexplicably refused to allow its candidates to meet with the Board and required them to sign agreements that explicitly prevent them from joining the Board without Elliott's approval. Further, all of Elliott's candidates declined or ignored direct invitations to meet with representatives of Southwest's Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. The Southwest Board remains willing to consider in good faith Elliott's Director candidates for appointment to the Board, if Elliott will allow the Board to meet them.
In the meantime, Southwest will continue its Board refreshment to ensure the Board maintains fresh perspectives and strong oversight. The airline has added or appointed eight highly qualified independent Directors over the past three years, including the Company's newest Directors Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of India's largest airline, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) and previous executive at US Airways Group and United Airlines, and Lisa Atherton, president and CEO of Bell. The Company continues to cultivate a strong pipeline of potential candidates who would bring relevant experience to the Southwest Board.
Transformation Plan & Leadership
Southwest is executing a transformational plan including tactical and strategic initiatives that will position the airline to elevate the Customer Experience, improve financial performance and drive sustainable Shareholder value. The Company is hosting its Investor Day in Dallas on Thursday, September 26 when Shareholders will have the opportunity to hear more about these initiatives and Southwest's plan to restore its industry leading performance. Elliott's attempt to disrupt the Investor Day and failure to offer any feedback or suggestions on Southwest's transformational plan reveals that Elliott continues to value public attacks and seizing control of the Company over the airline's future and all of its Shareholders' interests.
The Southwest Board strongly believes that CEO Bob Jordan is the right Leader to successfully execute the Company's robust strategy to transform the airline and deliver sustainable Shareholder value. Any Leadership change amid such a significant transformation would be detrimental to all Shareholders, and handing control of the Board to Elliott and its Director candidates when Elliott has not articulated any ideas for improving Southwest's business plan and operations would present a catastrophic risk to Shareholders.
Special Meeting
For months, Elliott has publicly threatened its intention to call a Special Meeting. In response, Southwest has been taking the necessary preliminary steps, including providing notice to the New York Stock Exchange of potential record dates, so that it is well prepared for all scenarios and can fulfill its special meeting obligations, especially considering it takes several weeks to set a record date under SEC rules. Elliott's suggestion that Southwest has set "false record dates" as a defensive strategy is untrue and disingenuous; Elliott is well aware that the use of rolling record dates to facilitate efficient and timely Shareholder action is common practice when the timing of an upcoming meeting (particularly a threatened Special Meeting) is unknown. If Elliott submits a request for a Special Meeting, the Board will fulfill its duties to carefully review the request in good faith. Shareholders need not take action at this time.
BofA Securities, Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are acting as financial advisors to Southwest Airlines and Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. and Kirkland & Ellis LLP are acting as legal advisors.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"). Specific forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements related to (i) the Company's plans with respect to Board refreshment and (ii) the Company's focus areas, goals, strategies, and initiatives, including with respect to transforming the business, elevating the Customer Experience, improving financial performance, driving sustainable Shareholder value, and restoring industry-leading performance. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current estimates, intentions, beliefs, expectations, goals, strategies, and projections for the future and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in or indicated by them. Factors include, among others, (i) the impact of fears or actual outbreaks of diseases, extreme or severe weather and natural disasters, actions of competitors, consumer perception, economic conditions, fuel prices, banking conditions, fears or actual acts of terrorism or war, sociodemographic trends, and other factors beyond the Company's control, on consumer behavior and the Company's results of operations and business decisions, plans, strategies, and results; (ii) the Company's ability to timely and effectively implement, transition, operate, and maintain the necessary information technology systems and infrastructure to support its operations and initiatives, including with respect to revenue management; (iii) the cost and effects of the actions of activist Shareholders; (iv) the Company's ability to obtain and maintain adequate infrastructure and equipment to support its operations and initiatives; (v) the Company's dependence on The Boeing Company ("Boeing") and Boeing suppliers with respect to the Company's aircraft deliveries, fleet and capacity plans, operations, maintenance, strategies, and goals; (vi) the Company's dependence on the Federal Aviation Administration with respect to safety approvals for the Company's new cabin layout and the certification of the Boeing MAX 7 aircraft; (vii) the Company's dependence on other third parties, in particular with respect to its technology plans, its plans and expectations related to revenue management, operational reliability, fuel supply, maintenance, Global Distribution Systems, and the impact on the Company's operations and results of operations of any third party delays or non-performance; (viii) the Company's ability to timely and effectively prioritize its initiatives and focus areas and related expenditures; (ix) the impact of governmental regulations and other governmental actions on the Company's business plans, results, and operations; and (x) other factors, as described in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including the detailed factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, and in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2024.
About Southwest Airlines Co.
Southwest Airlines Co. operates one of the world's most admired and awarded airlines, offering its one-of-a-kind value and Hospitality at 117 airports across 11 countries. Southwest took flight in 1971 to democratize the sky through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel and now carries more air travelers flying nonstop within the United States than any other airline1. Based in Dallas and famous for an Employee-first corporate Culture, Southwest maintains an unprecedented record of no involuntary furloughs or layoffs in its history. By empowering its more than 74,0002 People to deliver unparalleled Hospitality, the maverick airline cherishes a passionate loyalty among more than 137 million Customers carried in 2023. That formula for success has brought industry-leading prosperity and 47 consecutive years3 of profitability for Southwest Shareholders (NYSE: LUV). Southwest leverages a unique legacy and mission to serve communities around the world including harnessing the power of its People and Purpose to put communities at the Heart of its success. Learn more by visiting Southwest.com/citizenship. As the airline with Heart, Southwest has set a goal to work toward achieving net zero carbon emissions by 20504. Southwest has also set near-term targets and a three-pillar strategy to achieve its environmental goals. Learn more by visiting Southwest.com/planet.
1 Based on U.S. Dept. of Transportation quarterly Airline Origin & Destination Survey since Q1 2021
2 Fulltime-equivalent active Employees
3 1973-2019 annual profitability
4 Southwest's net zero by 2050 goal includes Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 Category 3 emissions only and excludes any emissions associated with non-fuel products and services, such as inflight service items.
Important Additional Information
The Company intends to file a proxy statement and a WHITE proxy card with the SEC in connection with the solicitation of proxies for the Company's next meeting of Shareholders (whether an Annual or Special Meeting of Shareholders (the "Shareholder Meeting")). SHAREHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO READ SUCH PROXY STATEMENT, ACCOMPANYING WHITE PROXY CARD AND ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH, OR FURNISHED TO, THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AS THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE SHAREHOLDER MEETING. Shareholders will be able to obtain the Company's proxy statement, any amendments or supplements to the proxy statement and other documents filed by the Company with the SEC at no charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Copies will also be available at no charge at the Company's website at https://www.southwestairlinesinvestorrelations.com/financials/sec-filings.
Participant Information
For participant information, see the Company's soliciting material filed as "DEFA14A" with the SEC on September 10, 2024 and available here.
SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.
Signature partnership to support planting hundreds of thousands of community trees as part of Subaru Loves the Earth initiative
CAMDEN, N.J., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Subaru of America, Inc. and the Arbor Day Foundation are teaming up for the largest single corporate investment in community tree distribution in the non-profit's history. The partnership, announced during Climate Week NYC, is aligned with the automotive company's long-standing Subaru Loves the Earth initiative, and will result in hundreds of thousands of mature and native trees being distributed in local communities nationwide thanks to Subaru's strong network of retailers.
Partnership marks the largest corporate investment in community tree distribution in the Arbor Day Foundation's history. Post this Subaru of America, Inc. and the Arbor Day Foundation are partnering with the largest single corporate investment in community tree distribution in the non-profits history. Aligned with the automotive companys long-standing Subaru Loves the Earth initiative, the partnership will result in hundreds of thousands of mature and native trees being distributed in local communities nationwide thanks to Subarus strong network of retailers. Dan Lambe, Chief Executive of the Arbor Day Foundation: From extreme heat to air pollution, our nation is feeling the stress of climate change, but thankfully, science shows that trees can help relieve the pressure. With this commitment, Subaru is stepping up to help unlock the positive power of trees across the country. Their bold leadership will empower the Arbor Day Foundation to infuse communities with the resources needed to scale up urban forestry in a period of great urgency.
American cities lose 36 million trees every year due to disease, age, and extreme weather. This loss threatens not only the beauty of our communities but also the environmental and health benefits trees provide. A single mature tree can remove CO2 from the atmosphere, provide oxygen, and cool urban areas by up to 10 degrees, reducing the impact of heat waves and air pollution.
Alan Bethke, Senior Vice President, Marketing at Subaru of America, Inc.: "Subaru's commitment to the environment is well-established, and partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation is a natural extension of what we have learned through our previous and ongoing initiatives. We are making an intentional effort to bring our love of nature back to communities on a large scale that will have a significant impact. Whether it is through waste reduction, conserving resources, or preserving and enhancing natural spaces, we are in constant pursuit of opportunities that will help our planet because we know it is the right thing to do."
The scope of the partnership is unmatched and will help expand the Arbor Day Foundation's work in communities beginning in spring 2025 and growing over consecutive years. As the Foundation's largest partner of community tree projects, Subaru will fund hundreds of projects each year, with the Arbor Day Foundation using their expertise to select the native tree species for each region of the country to ensure they are suitable for the local climate.
Dan Lambe, Chief Executive of the Arbor Day Foundation: "From extreme heat to air pollution, our nation is feeling the stress of climate change, but thankfully, science shows that trees can help relieve the pressure. With this commitment, Subaru is stepping up to help unlock the positive power of trees across the country. Their bold leadership will empower the Arbor Day Foundation to infuse communities with the resources needed to scale up urban forestry in a period of great urgency."
To celebrate the partnership, Subaru and Arbor Day Foundation will be giving away 200 mature and native trees to community members in the automaker's hometown of Camden, NJ, and volunteering during one of the city's final "Camden Strong" neighborhood cleanup events for the 2024 season. This hometown volunteer effort will have an immediate positive environmental impact, helping to rebuild tree canopies, raise air quality, conserve water, reduce flooding, and improve community well-being.
To learn more about Subaru Loves the Earth, the automaker's commitment to protect and conserve the planet so everyone can live in safe and healthy communities visit Subaru.com/earth.
About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts, and accessories through a network of about 640 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill plants, including Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc., the only U.S. automobile manufacturing plant designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the company's vision to show love and respect to everyone and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA and the SOA Foundation have donated more than $320 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged over 100,000 volunteer hours. Subaru is dedicated to being More Than a Car Company and to making the world a better place. For additional information, visit media.subaru.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube.
About the Arbor Day Foundation
Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation is the largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. Together with our partners, we have helped plant more than 500 million trees in neighborhoods, communities, cities and forests throughout the world. Our vision is to lead toward a world where trees are used to solve issues critical to survival. Through our members, partners and programs, the Arbor Day Foundation inspires people across the globe to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. More information is available at arborday.org.
Diane Anton Subaru of America, Inc. (856) 488-5093 [email protected]
Adam Leiter Jasmine Putney Subaru of America, Inc. Arbor Day Foundation (856) 488-8668 (402) 216-9307 [email protected] [email protected]
SOURCE Subaru of America, Inc.
Business owners say fraudsters used tactics like email, voice or video impersonations of senior-level employees to scam their business
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Small business owners in the U.S. are highly concerned about cyberattacks that could bring their sales to a halt. While common cyber threats like ransomware, phishing and malware remain top concerns, a new survey from Nationwide has found that in the past year roughly one-quarter of small business owners (SBOs) have been targeted by a scam that used generative AI. Of those targeted, most described the attacks as attempted fraud using email, voice or even video impersonations of other business owners or senior-level employees they associate with.
More than half of SBOs (52%) also admit being personally fooled by a deepfake image or video in the past year, while 9 in 10 say gen AI scams are becoming more sophisticated and that they need help protecting their enterprises from such attacks. Though most SBOs agree that the rise in gen AI technology makes them more likely to purchase cyber insurance, less than half report actually having the necessary coverage.
"As gen AI continues to transform various industries, its misuse in scams presents a significant challenge for small businesses with less resources for cyber defense than larger corporations, making them easier targets for cybercriminals," said Nathan Lentz, vice president of Small Commercial Sales and Distribution for Nationwide. "While small business owners feel prepared to prevent a cyberattack, they must ensure their preparedness is backed by comprehensive cyber insurance to truly safeguard their operations. Without it, they face potentially devastating consequences to their finances, operations, and customer relationships."
Nationwide's survey also provided three key insights for commercial lines agents and their small business owner clients:
1. Small businesses have upped their cybersecurity game, but still need help safeguarding their digital infrastructure
Small businesses have come a long way with cybersecurity since the COVID pandemic, which a quarter of owners say was a catalyst for new ways to breach their systems. Roughly 7 in 10 (69%) are worried about a potential cyberattack on their business a 16-point increase from 2022 and 31-point jump from June 2020.
Fortunately, two-thirds (65%) of SBOs feel prepared for preventing such an attack up 17 points from 2022. It's likely this confidence is due to the actions they're taking to train workers to defend against cyberthreats:
71% provide formal cybersecurity training for employees at least once a year (another 15-point jump from 2022)
36% send phishing test emails to employees at least every few months to keep them on their toes.
However, many also may have learned their cyber lessons the hard way. Nearly a quarter (23%) of SBOs report their business has been a victim to a cyberattack and the vast majority say it jeopardized their company finances and had a moderate or major impact on their customers' trust.
2. Business owners still vastly underestimate the cost and duration of recovery following an attack
When asked about the possible impacts of a cyberattack on their business, SBOs overwhelmingly underestimated the scope of damage a cyberbreach can bring:
81% believe an attack on their business would cost less than $5K in damages and recovery costs.
in damages and recovery costs. Another 1 in 5 (22%) believe they'd be back up and running in a month or less.
In reality, these events can be far more detrimental to a business than SBOs realize: according to Nationwide's claims data, the average cyber claim for a small business costs $18,000-21,000 while the time for recovery can be as long as 75 days.
3. Owners' confidence is high, but their plans are lagging a risky disconnect
Two-thirds of SBOs (66%) are confident in their business's ability to recover from an attack, a 9-point increase from '22, but this confidence may be hubris with only 42% saying they have purchased cyber coverage a critical backstop in the event of a malicious attack.
Perhaps most concerning, two-thirds (66%) report that they either expect their non-cyber coverages to kick in to cover losses from a cyberattack or that they haven't taken the time to think about what they would do after an attack.
Further, 7 in 10 (69%) do report having an incident response plan in place for a potential cyberattack, however these plans are only good when they're kept up-to-date and 3 in 10 (28%) admit theirs is outdated.
Don't let clients lose their business to a deepfake
As clients rely more on technology and data, it's crucial for agents to offer counsel on proactive steps they can take to protect their business from cyber criminals and bad actors.
Still, even the best efforts cannot prevent all attacks, which is why having an up-to-date incident response plan and cyber insurance is important to fall back on.
"The time for business owners to figure out how to navigate a data breach is not during the incident that could be an expensive and potentially business-threatening lesson for owners to learn," said Lentz. "Our research shows that three-quarters of agents (73%) say their commercial clients consider or purchase cyber insurance because they were either a victim to an attack or witnessed a similar business become a victim. As cyber threats continue to evolve, agents should encourage business owners to take proactive steps to protect their companies. Investing in the right insurance policies can not only mitigate the risks posed by cyberattacks but also ensure that recovery, when necessary, is faster, less costly, and more efficient."
By encouraging a proactive approach that includes robust security practices, comprehensive cybersecurity coverage, and continuous education, agents can help business owners better protect themselves against the rising tide of cyber fraud.
About Nationwide
Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by Standard & Poor's. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; and pet, motorcycle and boat insurance.
For more information, visit www.nationwide.com .
Contact:
Graham Shippy
(614) 249-0682
[email protected]
SOURCE Nationwide
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MemorialCare, a leading health care provider in Southern California, is proud to announce that several of its locations have been awarded the prestigious Energy to Care (E2C) Awards. These awards, presented by the American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE), recognize outstanding achievements in energy management and sustainability within healthcare organizations.
"I am incredibly proud of our team's dedication to sustainability and energy efficiency, which has earned several of our MemorialCare locations this recognition," says Laurie Sicaeros, Chief Strategy Officer, MemorialCare, who leads the Climate Health initiative for the health system. "The health care industry has historically been challenged with addressing the needs of 24-hour operations, waste from single-use equipment and procedures, and more. I'm proud of our team for putting in place the necessary plans and investments to reduce energy consumption and lower our carbon footprint, aligning with our mission to not only care for our patients but also our planet."
Eight MemorialCare locations were named to the list, including one hospital, Orange Coast Medical Center, the Children's Village a pediatric outpatient specialty center serving 30 specialties, two outpatient specialty centers, and two primary care offices from Long Beach and South Orange County.
In fact, the Cherese Mari Laulhere Children's Village at MemorialCare Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach was recognized as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold building for its sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, and healthier indoor environment.
"We still have work to do," says Sicaeros, "but we are pleased with the steps we've taken to date and look forward to creating a more sustainable future."
These awards highlight MemorialCare's dedication to reducing energy consumption and advancing environmentally responsible practices across its network. This is driven by MemorialCare's Climate Health Initiative, in partnership with Ecom-Energy, Inc., which serves as the framework for sustainable practices, emissions, and use reduction strategies. The recognition reflects these facilities' innovative approaches and technologies, contributing to energy efficiency and reduced operational costs.
In addition, MemorialCare's Simply Greener program focuses on ways employees can give back through staff-led trash cleanups, organic waste collection programs at various locations, participation in World Cleanup Day, and sustainability training. The program focuses on eliminating Styrofoam usage, reducing paper waste, promoting employee pledges for eco-friendly practices, and exploring food recovery and donation initiatives across multiple campuses.
The Energy to Care Awards are part of ASHE's initiative to promote best practices in energy management within the health care sector. Facilities are evaluated based on criteria such as energy usage reduction, innovative technologies, and overall impact on sustainability.
About MemorialCare
MemorialCare is a not-for-profit, integrated health care delivery system with 225 care locations including leading hospitalsSaddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, Long Beach Medical Center and Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach; MemorialCare Medical Group and Greater Newport Physicians; MemorialCare Research Program; MemorialCare Select Health Plan; and numerous outpatient health, imaging, surgery, urgent care, physical therapy, breast health and dialysis centers throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties. Accolades include Nation's Best Health Systems and Workplaces, Top 50 U.S. Hospitals and Cardiovascular Hospitals, 10 Largest Children's Hospitals, 100 Best Hospitals - Spine and Prostate Surgeries, Best of Orange County and Long Beach Hospitals and Medical Groups, U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals and "high performing" in 31 clinical categories and Newsweek World's Best Hospitals, Top 100 Hospitals, Best Maternity Hospitals and more. Visit memorialcare.org.
About ASHE
The American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) is a national organization dedicated to advancing the field of health care engineering. ASHE supports the development of energy-efficient and sustainable practices within the health care industry through resources, education, and recognition. Visit ashe.org.
SOURCE MemorialCare
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Helicopter Tourism Market size is estimated to grow by USD 241.6 million from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.77% during the forecast period. Increasing use of commercial helicopters is driving market growth, with a trend towards alliance between helicopter operators and resorts, However, cost-intensive tours poses a challenge - Key market players include Accretion Aviation, Airbus SE, Alamo Helicopter Tours, Birds Eye View Helicopters Inc., Cape Town Helicopters, GCH Aviation Group, Grupo Sodarca, Heliair.it Srl, Helicopter Flight Services Inc., HELI-JET AVIATION, HeliXperiences, Liberty Helicopters, Maverick Aviation Group, Mid West Helicopters, Niagara Helicopters Ltd., Northern Vietnam Helicopter Co., Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters, Sydney Helicopters, and Zip Aviation.
Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global helicopter tourism market 2024-2028
Key insights into market evolution with AI-powered analysis. Explore trends, segmentation, and growth drivers- View the snapshot of this report
Helicopter Tourism Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2023 Historic period 2018 - 2022 Forecast period 2024-2028 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 3.77% Market growth 2024-2028 USD 241.6 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 3.59 Regional analysis North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 54% Key countries US, China, Germany, UK, and Japan Key companies profiled Accretion Aviation, Airbus SE, Alamo Helicopter Tours, Birds Eye View Helicopters Inc., Cape Town Helicopters, GCH Aviation Group, Grupo Sodarca, Heliair.it Srl, Helicopter Flight Services Inc., HELI-JET AVIATION, HeliXperiences, Liberty Helicopters, Maverick Aviation Group, Mid West Helicopters, Niagara Helicopters Ltd., Northern Vietnam Helicopter Co., Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters, Sydney Helicopters, and Zip Aviation
Market Driver
Helicopter tourism is experiencing significant growth with strategic business partnerships and joint operations becoming a key trend in the commercial helicopter industry. Helicopter companies form alliances with hospitality services, such as resorts and tourism firms, to offer incentives to passengers. For instance, the Palazzo Resort in Las Vegas, US, has partnered with a private helicopter company for Grand Canyon tours, while Dezaiko Lodge collaborates with Aberdeen Helicopters in Canada. Similarly, Alpine Helicopters has a long-term partnership with Canadian Mountain Holidays. Emerging businesses, like Uber, are also entering the helicopter tourism market by offering helicopter transportation services. Uber's UberCHOPPER feature allows users to book helicopter rides at affordable prices, such as USD63 in Sao Paolo, Brazil. These partnerships benefit tourists and increase revenues for both helicopter companies and their partners, expanding the helicopter tourism market's reach and potential. This growth strategy will continue to drive demand for helicopter tourism services and contribute to the market's expansion during the forecast period.
The Helicopter Market is experiencing significant growth, particularly in the areas of aerial transport and helicopter emergency services. Air ambulance helicopters equipped with medical equipment and onboard medical crews are becoming increasingly popular for initial emergency response. Reimbursement policies and partnerships with companies like Babcock International, Flexjet, Sentient Jet, PrivateFly, FXAIR, Halo Aviation, and others are driving demand. Trends include customized tourism through helicopter charter services, fractional ownership, and private tours. However, challenges such as virus-infected patients and traveling restrictions impact the general tourism sector. External consultants, valuation experts, and research analysts predict continued growth, despite obstacles posed by natural disasters and climate change. Helipads and elitaxis are also key components of this market, providing access to tourist places and search and rescue services. Primary interviews with commentators reveal optimism for the future of helicopter tourism.
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Market Challenges
Helicopter tours offer unique travel experiences, providing a bird's eye view of popular tourist destinations. However, the high cost of helicopter tours is a significant barrier to entry for budget-conscious travelers. Helicopter tour companies charge around USD200 - USD250 per hour, with additional fees for heliports and passengers over a certain weight. For instance, Manhattan Helicopters offers tours priced at USD234 for a 12-15 minute ride, USD284 for an 18-20 minute ride, and USD360 for a 25-30 minute ride. Similarly, Helicopter Flight Services Inc. Charges USD160 - USD450 per person for a 30-90 minute ride. Niagara Helicopters' high fares limit helicopter tours to luxury travelers. The global helicopter tourism market may face hindrances due to the high costs associated with helicopter tours during the forecast period.
- per hour, with additional fees for heliports and passengers over a certain weight. For instance, Manhattan Helicopters offers tours priced at for a 12-15 minute ride, for an 18-20 minute ride, and for a 25-30 minute ride. Similarly, Helicopter Flight Services Inc. Charges - per person for a 30-90 minute ride. Niagara Helicopters' high fares limit helicopter tours to luxury travelers. The global helicopter tourism market may face hindrances due to the high costs associated with helicopter tours during the forecast period. The Helicopter Market in the tourism industry faces several challenges. Aerial transport requires extensive infrastructure like paved runways and helipads, increasing operational costs. Helicopter emergency services, including air ambulances, require advanced medical equipment and onboard medical crews, adding to expenses. Initial emergency response and reimbursement policies pose challenges for companies like Babcock International, Flexjet, Sentient Jet, PrivateFly, FXAIR, Halo Aviation, and others. The ongoing pandemic and traveling restrictions impact tourist places' accessibility. Natural disasters and climate change necessitate search and rescue helicopters, further increasing operational costs. Primary interviews with commentators, external consultants, valuation experts, and research analysts reveal concerns over the market's future, including the impact of virus-infected patients and tourist behavior changes. Fractional ownership and charter services offer potential solutions for customized tourism, but competition remains fierce. Overall, the helicopter tourism market faces significant challenges in the general tourism sector.
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Segment Overview
This helicopter tourism market report extensively covers market segmentation by
Type
1.1 General
1.2 Customized
Ownership
2.1 Charter service
2.2 Fractional ownership
Geography
3.1 North America
3.2 APAC
3.3 Europe
3.4 South America
3.5 Middle East and Africa
1.1 General- The helicopter tourism market is experiencing significant growth due to increasing demand for unique travel experiences. Companies offer scenic tours over popular tourist destinations, providing a bird's eye view of breathtaking landscapes. Helicopters offer convenience and accessibility to remote locations, making them a popular choice for adventure seekers and luxury travelers alike. This market continues to expand as technology advances, making helicopter tours more affordable and accessible to a wider audience.
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Research Analysis
Helicopter tourism is an exclusive and thrilling way to explore tourist destinations, offering a bird's-eye view of breathtaking landscapes and iconic landmarks. General tourism industries have embraced helicopter services to cater to the growing demand for unique travel experiences. However, the market has faced challenges due to virus-infected patients and traveling restrictions. Primary interviews with industry commentators and external consultants reveal optimism for the future, with the belief that fractional ownership models, such as those offered by Flexjet, Sentient Jet, PrivateFly, FXAIR, and Halo Avaliation, will drive growth. Valuation experts and research analysts predict a steady increase in demand for helicopter tours, despite natural disasters and climate change. Helicopters are also used for search and rescue missions, aerial transport, and emergency medical services, equipped with medical equipment and onboard medical crews for initial emergency response. Reimbursement policies and collaborations with companies like Babcock International are crucial for the success of helicopter tourism businesses. Additionally, the use of paved runways and air ambulance helicopters further expands the market's potential. Den Helder, a popular tourist destination in the Netherlands, is an example of a location benefiting from helicopter tourism.
Market Research Overview
Helicopter tourism is an exclusive and thrilling segment of the general tourism industry, offering visitors unique perspectives of tourist places from above. This market has gained popularity due to its convenience and access to otherwise inaccessible areas. However, the industry has faced challenges due to traveling restrictions, virus-infected patients, and natural disasters. Primary interviews with commentators, external consultants, and valuation experts reveal a promising future for helicopter tourism, with fractional ownership models like those offered by Flexjet, Sentient Jet, PrivateFly, FXAIR, Halo Aviation, and others, gaining traction. The market includes various segments such as search and rescue helicopters, air ambulance helicopters, and aerial transport. Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) are increasingly utilizing onboard medical crews and advanced medical equipment for initial emergency response. Reimbursement policies and the presence of key players like Babcock International and elitaxis are also shaping the market. The market is expected to grow, with the construction of helipads and paved runways at tourist destinations further boosting demand for helicopter services. Customized tourism and charter services are also driving growth in this sector.
Table of Contents:
1 Executive Summary
2 Market Landscape
3 Market Sizing
4 Historic Market Size
5 Five Forces Analysis
6 Market Segmentation
Type
General
Customized
Ownership
Charter Service
Fractional Ownership
Geography
North America
APAC
Europe
South America
Middle East And Africa
7 Customer Landscape
8 Geographic Landscape
9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends
10 Company Landscape
11 Company Analysis
12 Appendix
About Technavio
Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.
With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.
Contacts
Technavio Research
Jesse Maida
Media & Marketing Executive
US: +1 844 364 1100
UK: +44 203 893 3200
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.technavio.com/
SOURCE Technavio
ATLANTA, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, David M. Williams, MD, is acknowledged as a Pinnacle Life Member for his contributions to the field of Epidemiology.
David M. Williams
Dr. Williams pursued higher education at the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara in Mexico where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology. He then attended Emory University's Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta and received a Master of Public Health degree as well as completing his residencies in family practice and preventative medicine. The doctor capped his higher education training at Morehouse with an Access to Community Health fellowship at the National Association of Community Health Centers and a fellowship in educating other physicians.
Dr. Williams began his career in public health as an epidemiologist with the State of Georgia and was the first Director of the Georgia AIDS Program. Board-certified in family practice, Dr. Williams currently works at Southside Medical Center where he has served as the President and CEO of Southside Medical Center since 1997.
Dr. Williams asserts that Southside Medical Center is a leader in organizing, providing, and supporting affordable health care and related services to the public through diversified business activities. According to the doctor, the healthcare center was founded in 1967 as the Atlanta Southside Comprehensive Health Center and is committed to providing exceptional primary health care and related services to the medically underserved of Atlanta. Recognized for his exceptional leadership, Dr. Williams performs a primarily administrative role in this group practice and manages approximately 60 medical professionals. He is a specialist in preventative medicine and sees patients in his other practices, working with them on age-management medicine and weight loss.
In addition to his roles at Southside Medical Center, Dr. Williams also serves as President of Choice Healthcare Network, an Independent Physician Association (IPA) in Georgia. He is Chairman of the Georgia State School of Public Health Board; is active on the Peach State Healthcare Board; is a board member of the towns of Summerhill and Mechanicsville; and serves as Vice-Chair of the Atlanta Community Access Board.
Dr. Williams is dedicated to providing the latest advancements in his field and is a member of many organizations, such as the American Medical Association; the Georgia State Medical Association; and the Georgia Primary Healthcare Association. He is also a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.
Aside from his professional pursuits, the doctor volunteers for the Peachtree Roadrace. Dr. Williams would like to dedicate this honor to his father, Robert Williams, MD.
For more information, visit www.southsidemedical.net.
Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]
SOURCE The Inner Circle
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ariz., Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Tab Turner is acknowledged as a Pinnacle Attorney Inner Circle of Excellence for his contributions to Pioneering Work in Civil Litigation and Product Liability Law.
Tab Turner
Mr. Turner, a prominent figure in civil litigation and product liability law, has been acknowledged for his groundbreaking contributions to the field. With a career spanning four decades, Mr. Turner has established himself as a leading trial attorney specializing in representing consumers injured by defective automotive products, environmental litigation, anti-terrorism litigation, and commercial litigation. Touting offices in Arkansas, Arizona, San Diego, and New York, Mr. Turner is a highly renowned leader in the legal industry.
Mr. Turner's expertise in automotive safety is particularly noteworthy, focusing on vehicle handling, stability, and catastrophic tire failures. He has secured significant verdicts for his clients, including a landmark $132 million jury verdict against Ford Motor Company involving the death of Brian Cole, a young outfielder with the New York Mets organization, as well as other verdicts in excess of $20,000,000. His expertise is also proven with cases such as his role as lead trial counsel in the first antiterrorism case tried against a Bank (Arab Bank) in a trial that took place in Brooklyn in 2015, wherein the jury found the Bank guilty of providing material support to the terrorist organization Hamas, which had carried out twenty-four (24) separate attacks of U.S. citizens during the Second Intifida in the Middle East.
Further, Mr. Turner's auto safety experience has included serving as co-counsel representing Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, in defamation suits brought by Isuzu Motors and Suzuki Motors in Los Angeles, CA, that resulted in a defense verdict and dismissal. Both cases involved articles published by Consumer Reports relating to the rollover characteristics of the Suzuki Samurai and the Isuzu Trooper.
Mr. Turner's extraordinary victory pursuing Ford and Firestone was featured on virtually every major news organization, including ABC, NBC, CBS, Dateline NBC, CNN, 60 MinutesII, Frontline, and Burden of Proof. He was featured in the December, 2000, issue of the New York Times Magazine for his work on behalf of consumers in litigation involving sport utility vehicle rollovers. He has authored papers relating to similar accident evidence in products cases; vehicle rollover; occupant restraints; vehicle crashworthiness; voir dire; punitive damages; trial persuasion and settlement strategies. He also serves, and has served, in virtually every capacity with the Attorneys Information Exchange Group in Birmingham, AL. As a result of the Arab Bank litigation, he was likewise featured in both print and television media, both domestically and internationally.
Mr. Turner is a member of the Pulaski County and Arkansas Bar Associations; the American Bar Association; the Arkansas and American Trial Lawyers Associations; a former Board Member of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice; Million Dollar Advocates Forum; the Southern Trial Lawyers Association; Orange County Trial Lawyers Association; and the Western Trial Lawyers Association. He is licensed in a variety of courts across the country and has represented clients in cases throughout the country.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions, Mr. Turner has received numerous accolades, including being named the "Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year" by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (2001) for his work representing Donna Bailey in the Ford/Firestone litigation (2001); "Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year" by Public Justice (2015) for his representation of over 500 victims of 24 separate terror attacks carried out by Hamas in Linde v. Arab Bank; "Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year Award" from the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association for 2001-2002; Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arkansas Bar Association in 2015; and Arkansas Business magazine as one of the most prominent Arkansans.
The attorney has served as guest speaker for a variety of different organizations including the Association of Trial Lawyers of America; the National College of Advocacy; the Attorneys Information Exchange Group; the American Bar Association Automotive Litigation Section; Western Trial Lawyers Association; Kentucky Trial Lawyers Association; Virginia Trial Lawyers Association; the Arkansas Bar Association; the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association; the Washington Trial Lawyers Association; the University of Florida; the Southern Trial Lawyers Association; and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. He has also been recognized as Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year in the United States by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice and various other associations and publications for his dedication to upholding consumer rights and seeking justice for those harmed by corporate negligence.
In addition to his thriving law practice, Mr. Turner currently serves as a board member of the Center for Auto Safety; is an active supporter of "Public Citizen", a consumer advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. and is credited for being the instrumental tool in Congress' creation of the "TREAD Act", which now stands as one of the world's strongest laws pertaining to consumer protection against defective automotive products and components, including the obligation to inform the public of growing consumer complaints that result in death or injury of consumers on the highway. He is a former member of the board and an active supporter of the "The Lawyers for Public Justice" now known as "Public Justice". Mr. Turner's impact extends beyond his legal achievements. He is the subject of the book "Tragic Indifference: One Man's Battle with the Auto Industry over the Dangers of SUVs" by Adam L. Penenberg, highlighting his tireless advocacy for automotive safety. Mr. Turner's client, Donna Bailey, a single mother of two in her early 40s, who was left a quadriplegic on March 10, 2000, in central Texas when the Ford Explorer driven by her friend flipped over after its right rear Firestone Wilderness AT tire peeled apart. That case, considered to be a watershed in litigation, was settled in January, 2001. Penenberg, an investigative reporter who exposed a fabricated New Republic story by journalist Stephen Glass in1998, tells the story of one lawyer's battle and one woman's struggle for survival and justice. The two stories intertwine to lead readers through the blinding maze of suits and countersuits, whistle-blowers, politicians, consumer advocates, journalists, engineers and corporate executives, all surrounding the profit machine now known in the U.S. as the "sport utility vehicle".
Outside of his legal endeavors, Mr. Turner is a devoted father of three daughters, emphasizing the importance of family in his life. Looking ahead, Mr. Turner remains committed to pursuing justice and advocating for the rights of consumers. His unwavering dedication to his clients and his pioneering work in civil litigation and product liability law continue to set him apart as a leader in the legal profession.
Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]
SOURCE The Inner Circle
NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global k-12 arts and crafts material market size is estimated to grow by USD 534.2 million from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of over 2.58% during the forecast period. Grrowing demand for paper-based stationery products is driving market growth, with a trend towards 3D printers as supplement to traditional art and craft materials. However, rapidly changing market dynamics poses a challenge. Key market players include ACTIVA Products Inc., American Art Clay Co. Inc., Bangkit USA Inc., Crayola, eeBoo Corp., Fabbrica Italiana Lapis ed Affini S.p.A., faber-castell, Hudson Envelope Corp., Itsy Bitsy Pvt. Ltd., K-12 School Supplies, Kaplan Early Learning Co., LaRose Industries LLC, Linc Pen and Plastics Ltd., Max Bringmann KG, Melissa and Doug, Nasco Inc., Nygala Corp, RM Educational Resources Ltd., RM plc., and Staedtler Mars GmbH and Co. KG.
Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global K-12 arts and crafts material 2024-2028
Key insights into market evolution with AI-powered analysis. Explore trends, segmentation, and growth drivers- View the snapshot of this report
K-12 Arts And Crafts Material Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2023 Historic period 2018 - 2022 Forecast period 2024-2028 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 2.58% Market growth 2024-2028 USD 534.2 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 2.49 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, Middle East and Africa, and South America Performing market contribution Europe at 29% Key countries US, China, Germany, UK, and Canada Key companies profiled ACTIVA Products Inc., American Art Clay Co. Inc., Bangkit USA Inc., Crayola, eeBoo Corp., Fabbrica Italiana Lapis ed Affini S.p.A., faber-castell, Hudson Envelope Corp., Itsy Bitsy Pvt. Ltd., K-12 School Supplies, Kaplan Early Learning Co., LaRose Industries LLC, Linc Pen and Plastics Ltd., Max Bringmann KG, Melissa and Doug, Nasco Inc., Nygala Corp, RM Educational Resources Ltd., RM plc., and Staedtler Mars GmbH and Co. KG
Market Driver
The integration of 3D printing technology in K-12 education is revolutionizing the arts and crafts sector. Companies like Michaels Stores are supplying 3D printers to schools, enabling students to create intricate objects using CAD software and desktop 3D printers. These machines build layers of plastic, ceramic, metal, or wood filament to produce items such as plastic rings, figurines, and small gears. This trend towards DIY projects in classrooms is expected to increase, driven by the decreasing cost of 3D printers. Despite being a potential threat to traditional art material suppliers, 3D printers are also seen as auxiliary equipment for enhancing students' understanding of additive processes in arts and crafts activities. With the growing emphasis on STEM education, 3D printing is becoming a staple in K-12 curriculums, leading to the expansion of the global K-12 arts and crafts material market during the forecast period.
The K-12 arts and crafts material market is thriving in the education sector, with paper-based products being a top trend. Sketchbooks, craft paper, transparent paper, and clear paper are popular choices for art classrooms. Brick and Mortar stores continue to dominate, but online sales are growing. Health hazards from certain materials have raised concerns, leading to increased demand for safer alternatives like watercolor paints and markers. Middle, Preprimary, Primary, and High School educational institutions are significant buyers. Online platforms offer convenience and a wider range of options, including painting materials, modeling materials like play dough and clays, and multifunctional utilities. Hobbyists and adults also frequent community centers and schools for workshops. The web hosts numerous resources for DIY projects and tutorials. Paper-based products remain the backbone, with pencils, paints, and printing papers leading the way. Stencils add creativity to projects. As the market evolves, expect more innovative, eco-friendly, and cost-effective solutions.
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Market Challenges
The K-12 arts and crafts material market is characterized by rapidly changing product designs and colors, resulting in shortened product lifecycles. The typical lifecycle of most products is currently six months. New eco-friendly materials are entering the market, forcing retailers to compete on price and quality. Manufacturers must keep up with trends and develop new designs and products to stay competitive. Copyright protection is not cost-effective for short lifecycles, making counterfeit products a significant threat. Industry changes are expected to accelerate, putting pressure on producers to deliver samples and orders quickly. Developing countries face challenges in managing inventory and sales volume, while global companies must provide regionally appropriate materials to meet K-12 segments' needs. These factors may hinder the growth of the global K-12 arts and crafts material market during the forecast period.
The K-12 arts and crafts material market caters to educational institutions and hobbyists alike, focusing on paper-based products such as sketchbooks, craft paper, transparent paper, and clear paper. Brick and mortar stores and online platforms sell these items to schools, community centers, and individuals. However, challenges exist in this market. Health hazards from certain painting materials and markers require careful handling. Middle and high schools may prefer online sales for convenience, while preprimary and primary schools may prefer hands-on experiences. Multifunctional utilities like pencils, paints, modeling materials, play dough, clays, and stencils are popular. Printing papers are also in demand for creating art projects. The web offers a vast array of options, but the tactile experience of using these materials in an art classroom remains essential.
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Segment Overview
This k-12 arts and crafts material market report extensively covers market segmentation by
Distribution Channel
1.1 Offline
1.2 Online
School Level
2.1 Middle school
2.2 Pre-primary school
2.3 Primary school
2.4 High school
Geography
3.1 APAC
3.2 Europe
3.3 North America
3.4 Middle East and Africa
and 3.5 South America
1.1 Offline- The K-12 Arts and Crafts Material Market caters to schools and educators, providing essential supplies for arts and crafts projects. Our high-quality, safe materials include paints, crayons, markers, paper, glue, scissors, and various other craft supplies. We ensure timely delivery and competitive pricing, making it easy for educators to create engaging learning experiences for their students. Our commitment to customer satisfaction and wide selection of supplies sets US apart in the market.
Download a Sample of our comprehensive report today to discover how AI-driven innovations are reshaping competitive dynamics
Research Analysis
The K-12 Arts and Crafts Material market caters to the hobby and crafting needs of children and adults in schools, community centers, and at home. This market encompasses a wide range of paper-based products such as sketchbooks, craft paper, transparent paper, and clear paper, which are essential for various artistic projects. Educational institutions play a significant role in this market, utilizing these materials for art classes and workshops. Painting materials like paint and brushes, modeling materials such as play dough and clays, and multifunctional utilities like pencils, stencils, and scissors are also popular in this market. The Education market is a significant consumer of these materials due to their role in fostering creativity and enhancing learning experiences. Online sales have become increasingly popular in the K-12 Arts and Crafts Material market, making it easier for individuals to access a wide variety of materials from the comfort of their homes. However, it is essential to consider health hazards associated with some materials, such as certain types of paint and clays, and take necessary precautions to ensure safe use.
Market Research Overview
The K-12 Arts and Crafts Material market caters to the hobby and crafting needs of children and adults in educational institutions, including community centers, schools, and workshops. This market encompasses a wide range of materials such as paints and painting materials, modeling materials like play dough and clays, multifunctional utilities, pencils, stencils, and paper-based products. The education market is a significant segment, with schools and educational institutions utilizing these materials for art classes and projects. Health hazards associated with certain materials, such as lead in paint, have led to increased awareness and demand for safer alternatives. The market is expanding to include online sales, making it more accessible to consumers. Brick and mortar stores remain popular, especially for those seeking a tactile shopping experience. Online platforms offer convenience and a wider selection of products, including markers, paints, printing materials, and papers. Middle, primary, and high schools, as well as preprimary schools, all benefit from the availability of these materials. Clear paper and sketchbooks are essential for drawing and sketching, while transparent paper is ideal for tracing and layering. The market continues to evolve, incorporating new technologies and materials to meet the changing needs of students and educators.
Table of Contents:
1 Executive Summary
2 Market Landscape
3 Market Sizing
4 Historic Market Size
5 Five Forces Analysis
6 Market Segmentation
Distribution Channel
Offline
Online
School Level
Middle School
Pre-primary School
Primary School
High School
Geography
APAC
Europe
North America
Middle East And Africa
South America
7 Customer Landscape
8 Geographic Landscape
9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends
10 Company Landscape
11 Company Analysis
12 Appendix
About Technavio
Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.
With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.
Contacts
Technavio Research
Jesse Maida
Media & Marketing Executive
US: +1 844 364 1100
UK: +44 203 893 3200
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.technavio.com/
SOURCE Technavio
The donation supporting undocumented low-income Angelenos will be commemorated as "The Matian Firm, APC Immigrant Support Fund at Bet Tzedek"
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, The Matian Firm has established "The Matian Firm, APC Immigrant Support Fund at Bet Tzedek" with a $200,000 gift to support Bet Tzedek's work protecting the legal rights of low-income immigrant Angelenos. This donation has been made to celebrate Bet Tzedek Legal Services' 50th anniversary, and will help kick off Hispanic Heritage Month, running from September 15th to October 15th.
The Matian Firm's financial support will help Bet Tzedek address the legal concerns for thousands of immigrant clients and families so that these Angelenos can thrive. Bet Tzedek also looks forward to working with the legal experts at the Matian Firm as pro bono partners in this effort.
Shawn Matian, the Founder and President of The Matian Firm, has grown the firm into a nationwide presence with over 1,000 employees and 125 associate attorneys. The son of Iranian immigrants, Matian is a passionate supporter of immigrants' rights and bettering the lives of immigrants through the justice system. His firm offers services in various areas, including immigration law.
"I am so proud to be able to support the work that Bet Tzedek is doing. Born and raised in Los Angeles and the son of immigrants, I'm very aware of how important it is that we help others in our community and provide services they may not be able to afford," said Matian.
For 50 years, Bet Tzedek has been providing free legal services and justice for all Angelenos. Last year, the organization's collective actions served over 81,000 individuals and families. Bet Tzedek provides legal advice and representation, delivers self-help clinics, makes referrals to community partners, and educates individuals about their rights under the law. The Matian Firm, APC Immigrant Support Fund at Bet Tzedek will help continue and expand these efforts, so the most marginalized people in our communities can thrive.
"Our board made the bold decision to formally turn down any federal funding that would preclude us from serving undocumented Angelenos, whether its car wash workers who have had their fair wages stolen; undocumented homeowners who have been scammed by lending predators; or unaccompanied children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned," shared Diego Cartagena, Bet Tzedek President and CEO. "Gifts like The Matian Firm's help us bring hope and justice across the entire Los Angeles County region, and throughout the state."
Across Bet Tzedek's practice areas, we are able to help undocumented individuals and families with the workplace complaints, housing challenges, benefits claims, and other challenges they face. Additionally, our work providing immigration legal services to unaccompanied children seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile Status ("SIJS") allows us to deploy our decades of experience with Probate Guardianship proceedings to help abused, neglected, and abandoned undocumented children who can neither reunify with their parents nor return to their home countries.
"The Matian Firm donation, along with their commitment to a new pro bono partnership with us, is an invaluable investment in Bet Tzedek's work to provide critical legal assistance, counsel, and representation to vulnerable immigrant Angelenos," said Erikson Albrecht, Bet Tzedek's Immigrant Juvenile Status Program Directing Attorney. "This gift and partnership strengthen our efforts and magnifies our impact in ensuring immigrants in Los Angeles can access the protections, remedies, and relief to which they were legally entitled. The Matian Firm's generosity and engagement stands out as an exemplar of how success can be leveraged for the greater good and a sense of civic duty is at the core of the pursuit of justice."
ABOUT THE MATIAN FIRM
Founded in 2015 in Los Angeles, California by attorney Shawn Matian, The Matian Firm, APC, is a multipractice law firm having served tens of thousands in the community since its inception. Growing in recent years to several locations across the country, practice areas include immigration, criminal law, employment law, and personal injury, and are serviced by the incredible team of dedicated attorneys. This consistent track record of outstanding work has been notably recognized by the many awards the firm has received including: Super Lawyers | Rising Stars; The National Top 100 Trial Lawyers; Lawyers of Distinction Award; Nationally Ranked Top 10 Attorney Award; 10 Best Law Firms Client Satisfaction; and Avvo's Client Choice Award, among others.
The Matian Firm
3701 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 210
Los Angeles, California, 90010
Phone: (844) 500-3444
www.matianfirm.com
ABOUT BET TZEDEK
Fifty years ago, a movement of compassion and justice took root in the Fairfax district. As gentrification surged in the early 1970s, displacing Holocaust survivors and other vulnerable seniors, a small group of attorneys with a shared conviction founded Bet Tzedek the "House of Justice." This nonprofit organization was more than a legal aid organization; it was a promise to pursue justice and to advocate for low-income Angelenos with nowhere else to turn. Fifty years later, Bet Tzedek is an internationally recognized force in economic and social justice, and one of the largest legal aid organizations in Los Angeles County. With over 110 staff members and a significant volunteer base, we harness a pro bono model of service to help people of all communities and generations secure life's necessities. Bet Tzedek is funded in part by the City and County of Los Angeles, the State Bar of California, the Equal Access Fund, and the City of West Hollywood.
Bet Tzedek Legal Services
3250 Wilshire Blvd., 13th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90010-1577
Phone: (323) 939-0506
Fax: (213) 471-4568
www.bettzedek.org
Belinda Cai
[email protected]
(323) 549-5892
SOURCE Bet Tzedek
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, September 25. Kyrgyzstan will commence the construction of a green city in the city of Kemin in 2025, Kyrgyzstans President Sadyr Zhaparov said during the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 79) in New York, Trend reports.
"Next year, we will start building a green city in Kemin. We aim to create a model that will inspire other regions of our country, promoting the preservation of a clean environment for future generations. I am confident that it will become an economic, trade, and cultural tourism hub, as well as a center for innovation and new technologies," Zhaparov stated.
The President also mentioned that construction has already begun on the modern and innovative city of "Asman" along the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul.
He highlighted that Central Asia is becoming an increasingly important region for global security and the world economy.
"Kyrgyzstan, in cooperation with neighboring countries, continues to work on sustainable development in the region. In unison with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, we are constructing the Kambarata-1 hydroelectric power station to meet the region's energy and water needs. We are also involved in the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, which will strengthen trade and transport cooperation and connect the East and West of the continent," he added.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Registration for the 2024 Run for Austin Virtual 5K on November 9th has opened. The run is a fundraiser for the Austin Tice fund and part of an ongoing campaign to raise awareness. Join hundreds of journalists and press freedom supporters by lacing up for this virtual 5K.
Register to run here: https://runsignup.com/Race/DC/Washington/RunForAustin5K
"Austin is always on our mind and hearts; his absence is deeply felt every day by our whole family," said Austin's mother Debra Tice. "The National Press Club organized the first Run for Austin in 2021. The run serves as a time for people to think about Austin and share his story with those who may not have heard it. It also creates a way for people to support the effort to get him home. Each year we hope Austin is home to run with us and share his own story."
Austin is a Marine combat veteran, a seventh-generation Texan from Houston, a graduate of Georgetown University, and an award-winning journalist who has been unjustly detained in Syria since 2012. After seeing reports of the refugee crisis unfolding in Syria, Austin picked up his camera and headed straight to the front lines as a freelance reporter. He delivered important dispatches to The Washington Post and McClatchy before he was detained at a checkpoint near Damascus on August 14, 2012.
National Press Club President Emily Wilkins stated "Austin has been held hostage longer than any other U.S. journalist and now is the time to bring him home. The National Press Club is honored to stand with and support the Tice family, and we will continue to do so until Austin is free. The Austin Tice fund is a vital part of that effort, and we invite runners, walkers and everyone else to join us at the starting line for Austin."
The Austin Tice fund is being held to supplement the FBI reward for information leading to the safe return of Austin Tice, or if no reward is given, to help Austin transition back to his life after detention. In addition, a small portion of the funds will be used to support the Tice family's travel and advocacy efforts.
Don't want to run alone? No problem! If you are in the following cities, we have a meet-up for you to join.
Colorado Springs/Denver, Colorado
Houston, Texas
Richmond, Virginia
Tacoma, Washington
Washington, DC
Want to create a meet-up in your area? Register for the race and email [email protected] to get more information on how to start a meet-up.
Contact: Cecily Scott Martin, [email protected], 202-662-7525
SOURCE National Press Club
Applicants Can Seek Funding for Three Consecutive Years for up to $900,000
New Round Follows Previous Two Rounds that Drew Hundreds of Innovative and Forward-Thinking Applications from Around the Globe with Studies Ranging from the Effects of Psychedelics, Death Anxiety, Breathwork, Mindfulness, Heated Yoga, Mindfulness Interventions for Treating Chronic Pain, Teen Awareness In Body Signals, Dream Induction in Trauma Recovery, Teaching Narrative Skills to Minority Adolescents and Reducing Bias by Building Compassionate Relationships Among Police and Black Community Members.
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Following several hundred innovative and forward-thinking proposals from scientists and clinicians from around the globe to the RFPs released during the past two years, Tiny Blue Dot Foundation is funding a third round of major neuroscientific research projects related to "The Science of Perception Box. As has been the case for the past two years, each project will receive three consecutive years of funding of up to $900,000. The application process officially kicks off this week, with an open call for Letters of Intent. These will be vetted and up to 30 applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal, which will undergo a double-blind external review, before the final selection of the proposals to be supported in June 2025. This third round of funding was announced by Elizabeth R. Koch, the Founder of Tiny Blue Dot Foundation, and Christof Koch, the Chief Scientist at Tiny Blue Dot Foundation. More information about this research project can be found on the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation website .
Tiny Blue Dot Foundation is funding a third round of major neuroscientific research projects related to "The Science of Perception Box following several hundred innovative and forward-thinking proposals from scientists and clinicians from around the globe to the RFPs released during the past two years.
Over the past decade Elizabeth R. Koch has founded and co-founded organizations in the fields of publishing, media, neuroscience, and transformational experiences, all under the banner of Unlikely Collaborators. Her goal is to help resolve conflict through self-investigation and self-understanding by means of Perception Box workshops and other curricula; investments in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics and post-experience integration; publishing books; making movies; founding a neuroscience research foundation; and collaborating with non-profits, universities, and organizations that study the brain, bias, emotions, reality, and consciousness. These organizations include Tiny Blue Dot Foundation, a scientific research non-profit that seeks to understand and measure the operations of Perception Box , and Catapult , an award-winning publishing company that seeks to expand our ability to see one another and honor every life experience. These organizations all share the same goal of bringing Perception Box awareness to all people.
"Over the past two years, we've been deeply encouraged by the number and creativity of the responses we've received from scientists and institutions worldwide," she said. "These fascinating studies have the potential to transform the way we understand ourselves and one another, and, critically, how we navigate the world. We're eager to discover what the first two years of studies might teach us about the properties and malleability of Perception Box, and look forward to supporting the next batch!"
To date, 23 neuroscientific research projects related to " The Science of Perception Box " are funded by the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation over the past two rounds of competitive applications that have taken place in 2023 and 2024.
The projects include a wide-range of empirical investigations studying the effects of psychedelics, death anxiety, breathwork, mindfulness, heated yoga, mindfulness interventions for treating chronic pain, teen awareness of body signals, dream induction in trauma recovery, teaching narrative skills to minority adolescents and, in a very relevant study for our current times, reducing bias by building compassionate relationships among police and Black community members. The studies are being conducted by researchers from many corners of the world including Israel, Germany, Spain, Austria, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Australia and the United States and were selected from more than two hundred applications during an open call for proposals, which kicked off in October 2022 and October 2023. Details on the first two groups of projects researching "The Science of Perception Box" can be found here (2023) and here (2024). While the focus in these first two rounds has been on work with adults, the emphasis in this third round of research funding is on work with children and adolescents.
"We are incredibly grateful to Elizabeth for the opportunity to continue supporting this important scientific research on Perception Box," said Christof Koch. "The grants we provide are proving vital to our recipients in their work conducting studies aimed at creating and refining methods and interventions to broaden people's awareness that they live inside a Perception Box and how to expand its walls. It is very exciting as a neuroscientist to be participating in such wide-ranging and creative studies aimed at making a difference in the lives of so many people.
"Our first two RFPs generated a tremendous response from the global scientific community both in quantity and quality," Christof continued. "We are very fortunate to continue to fund more rigorous, empirical, statistically valid, and sound neuroscientific research. Our grant funds are being used by recipients to support research to develop relevant techniques and interventions to expand the walls of people's Perception Box, to measure the effectiveness of such techniques and interventions for neurotypicals and/or clinically defined populations and to track their basis in the brain using appropriate tools."
Grants can only be awarded to recognized Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) medical schools, colleges, universities, or not-for-profit research organizations and, to the extent permissible pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code, to similar organizations located outside the United States. The Principal Investigator(s) should be a clinical, applied, or basic science researcher with a MD, PhD, or an equivalent degree. The research should be focused on the discovery or development of tools and interventions to help expand the walls of people's Perception Box, and to measure and track the effects of these tools and interventions on the minds, behaviors, and brains of subjects. Please also see the Detailed Criteria section .
To help applicants through the process, we will host webinars at key stages. Webinars will be recorded to accommodate applicants from different time zones, with the first one taking place on October 1st.
A full timeline of project is as follows:
September 24, 2024: LOI opens October 1, 2024: Application Guidance Webinar October 28, 2024: LOI closes December 20, 2024: Selected LOIs are announced January 7, 2025: Full Application Guidance Webinar 2 February 28, 2025: Deadline for submitting Full Proposals June, 2025: Funding decision announced
About Tiny Blue Dot Foundation
Tiny Blue Dot Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, strives to help people understand that they live in their own unique Perception Box whose walls can be expanded to minimize suffering, increase acceptance of self and others, and view trauma/other challenges as opportunities for growth. Our mission is to develop Perception Box modification techniques that are safe, effective, reliable, measurable, widely accessible, and easy to use.
SOURCE Tiny Blue Dot Foundation
BIRMINGHAM, England, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- UK Metals Expo wrapped up two weeks ago with resounding success, surpassing all expectations. The overwhelmingly positive feedback has laid a strong foundation for an even larger show next year.
In just three years, the Expo has established itself as a key event on the industry calendar, hosting 300 exhibitors and attracting over 7,000 professionals from 51 countries. The event fostered valuable connections across the entire metals supply chain and saw a 51% increase in attendance with a satisfaction score of 8.3/10.
Exhibitors and Attendees Praise the Event
"The best show we've exhibited at in the UK," said the UK Sales Manager of Swiss Steel Group, which has already confirmed their return for next year.
The diversity of industries representedfrom aerospace and automotive to construction and renewable energydemonstrates the Expo's central role in connecting the entire metals supply chain. This year's exhibitors showcased cutting-edge solutions tailored to a wide variety of sectors, reinforcing the event's position as a critical hub for innovation and collaboration.
Tata Steel UK's CEO, who spoke at the event, emphasized the value of connecting with customers and suppliers: "It's a great opportunity to find new business opportunities." Nadine Bloxsome, CEO of ALFED, also praised the event, stating, "It's all about metals, and we get to see our members and potential new ones, all in one place."
Opportunities for Networking and Deal-Making
Many attendees secured new partnerships and contracts, showcasing the Expo's role in driving tangible growth for the metals industry. "It's a step up from last year, and I believe it will keep growing, which is great news for the UK industry," commented one visitor.
Global Impact and Collaboration
With participants from 51 countries, the Expo strengthened its global influence, facilitating cross-border collaborations. United Autosports' Commercial Director shared, "We were here looking for new technical partners in our pursuit of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans again."
Looking Ahead to 2025
Organisers are already planning the 2025 Expo, which will include new features such as custom workshops, live demos, and a greater focus on emerging technologies like CNC machinery, AI, and automation.
UK Metals Expo will return to the NEC, Birmingham, on 10th and 11th September 2025. Exhibitor spots are filling fast, so businesses are encouraged to secure their place early.
For more information about exhibiting, visit www.ukmetalsexpo.com/exhibit.
SOURCE UK Metals Expo
Led by Secondcell Bio, the delegation of up to 150 U.S. BioTech owners and executives includes world-leading scientists, medical doctors, entrepreneurs, intellectual property experts, and senior business, finance, and legal teams.
The purpose of Secondcell Bio's visit is to close a joint venture biotechnology partnership to discover and commercialize jointly owned new BioTech and medical innovations.
The delegation will take place on the occasion of the UAE BioTech Symposium in partnership with AmCham Abu Dhabi BioTech Committee and Masdar City.
ABU DHABI, UAE, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. BioTech firm Secondcell Bio is organizing its first delegation to Abu Dhabi for 20+ senior team members and advisors.
As part of the UAE's national effort to catalyze its knowledge-based economy, the delegation will take business meetings to accelerate 2.5-year ongoing discussions towards the formation of a national level joint venture BioTech company to create and commercialize novel and jointly owned Made-in-Abu-Dhabi-BioTech-IP.
President George W. Bush stands with Secondcell Bio Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Don Landry, MD, PhD after presenting him with the 2008 Presidential Citizens Medal Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008, in the Oval Office of the White House. White House photo by Chris Greenberg.
Emirati leadership has captured the imagination of Dr. Kambiz Shekdar, PhD, CEO of Secondcell Bio and his team regarding the new and rapidly growing BioTech and Life Sciences sector in the UAE, including the following directives by healthcare leaders in the UAE about how the country is revamping this sector, including thoughts on leadership, structure, mandate, and mission:
UAE Genetic Disease Association Founder and Chairperson Her Excellency Dr. Maryam Matar , MD, PhD , eloquently and boldly speaks about bipolar among C-suites executives and intimate women's health issues at the workplace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Fi08xnCGg
, eloquently and boldly speaks about bipolar among C-suites executives and intimate women's health issues at the workplace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Fi08xnCGg Department of Health - Abu Dhabi Executive Director of the Research and Innovation Centre Dr. Asma Al Mannaei , MBBS, MPH , speaks about the importance of achieving public private partnerships as part of the fabric of innovation in the UAE:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEdHhDK73Lw
, speaks about the importance of achieving public private partnerships as part of the fabric of innovation in the UAE:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEdHhDK73Lw Emirates Drug Establishment Director General Dr. Fatima Al Kaabi , MPH, MSc , forcefully speaks about how the current for-profit only industry must be improved upon, and how she is forcefully leading that effort here in Abu Dhabi : (Dr. Fatima's remarks begin at :59) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEdHhDK73Lw
, forcefully speaks about how the current for-profit only industry must be improved upon, and how she is forcefully leading that effort here in : (Dr. Fatima's remarks begin at :59) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEdHhDK73Lw Dubai Science Park Senior Vice President Marwan Abdulaziz Janahi speaks about the need for the UAE to re-double its efforts to actively recruit the best of the best talent, lest the country lose out to global competition: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YJOneZ9bkjY
Two members of the Secondcell Bio delegation will be speaking at the UAE BioTech Symposium in partnership with AmCham Abu Dhabi's BioTech Committee and Masdar City November 6-9, 2024:
Dr. Patricia L. Morris , MS, PhD, Secondcell Bio Chief Scientific and Health Policy Advisor; Former Executive Director The Rockefeller University Population Council R&D; Sr. Scientist Reproductive Health Global Program; Associate Editor and past President and Board of Directors member Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB); The Rockefeller University Guest Investigator, Laboratory of RNA Molecular Biology
Secondcell Bio Chief Scientific and Health Policy Advisor; Former Executive Director Population Council R&D; Sr. Scientist Reproductive Health Global Program; Associate Editor and past President and Board of Directors member Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB); Guest Investigator, Laboratory of RNA Molecular Biology Dr. Donald Landry , MD, PhD, Secondcell Bio Chief Medical Advisor, Columbia University Center for Human Longevity Director, Columbia University Organic Chemistry Collaborative Center Director and Columbia University Medical Center Hamilton Southworth Professor and Chairman Emeritus of Medicine
Dr. Landry is a renowned expert in the ethical advancement of embryonic stem cell research and was a member of the President's Council on Bioethics during the George W. Bush administration. In 2008, President Bush honored Dr. Landry with the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest award given to civilians. The Medal citation issued by the White House credits Dr. Landry's "diverse and pioneering research and his efforts to improve the well-being of his fellow man."
"For more than 20 years, I have worked hand in hand with Don, in every important initiative we have done together, with Don as medicinal chemist and myself as biologist," says Dr. Shekdar.
"Most BioTech companies focus their efforts on one or two disease targets at a time producing few, if any, viable drug candidates for commercialization," says Fabienne Duchini, Abu Dhabi Partnerships Officer at Secondcell Bio. Chromovert Technology is the only cellular engineering technology that is validated for reliable and cost-effective multiplexed drug discovery. "Via our illustrious team and advisors, Secondcell Bio, our UAE partners and our newly launched quarterly UAE BioTech Symposium we can draw on the best and the brightest scientists and BioTech leaders across all disciplines."
Secondcell Bio Chief Innovation & AI Advisor Dr. Arthur Morrish, PhD is a fourth member of the U.S. team at Secondcell Bio. Most recently, Dr. Morrish served as the Founding CEO of ASPIRE. ASPIRE is the business development arm of Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), the research arm of the UAE chaired by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and led by ATRC Secretary General H.E. Faisal Al Bannai. Previously, Dr. Morrish led U.S. government innovation initiatives at DARPA. "Art's Axioms" for mentoring, nurturing, and successfully achieving innovation, including how to manage change and handle the fallout of disruptive technologies, are freely shared below.
Philanthropist John Rockefeller, JD, MPH, DrPH, Partnership Chair at Secondcell Bio's affiliated Research Foundation for Cure Initiatives (RFCI), will also speak at the UAE BioTech Symposium. In line with UAE's leadership and vision, Secondcell Bio's initiatives, including in the UAE, include a charitable commitment to make new medical discoveries available for all those in need worldwide, regardless of ability to pay. Mr. Rockefeller has raised $6B for medical philanthropy including via Clinton Health Access Initiative and including involvement in the largest gift to date for Johns Hopkins Hospital on behalf of the Founder of the UAE.
"Imagine a technology capable of accelerating treatments and cures for hundreds, if not thousands, of rare diseases," says Mr. Rockefeller, "And imagine a group of scientists, innovators, and accelerators, who are committed to ensuring cures are accessible to those in need around the entire planet. This is medicine for people, not for profit."
In addition to Secondcell Bio's U.S. colleagues, a number of UAE local scientists and regional business experts will also join Secondcell Bio's delegation in the UAE.
"As Secondcell Bio scales-up operations in the UAE, my experience facilitating productive international business engagements and guiding businesses on regional regulatory frameworks and legal requirements in the Middle East can further promote acceleration of the BioTech sector throughout the GCC," says Yousif Almahdi, Arabian Gulf Commercial Advisor to Secondcell Bio.
Says Dr. Shekdar: "Sometimes it can be very difficult to do it alone, as exciting as it is to be the first U.S. BioTech inventor who has transitioned to the UAE. Things work differently here and progress is extremely methodical and steady. While this gives me confidence, I'm also excited to welcome my top team to witness for themselves what I have seen in the UAE and for their hands-on participation in our most tangible and promising discussions: Ladies and gentlemen, we've got work to do! It's time to build a new sector!"
To learn more, the following link curated by AmCham Abu Dhabi BioTech Committee & UAE BioTech Symposium Chairman Dr. Shekdar provides a portal to all relevant links and updates, contact information, event registration and program details for the UAE BioTech Symposium:
https://linktr.ee/kambizshekdar
The UAE BioTech Symposium will offer an optional weekend agenda 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.
To schedule a meeting, contact Secondcell Bio Abu Dhabi Partnerships Officer Fabienne Duchini at [email protected].
Secondcell Bio Delegation to Abu Dhabi:
Dr. Kambiz Shekdar , PhD, Secondcell Bio Chief Executive Officer
Secondcell Bio Chief Executive Officer Dr. Donald Landry , MD, PhD, Secondcell Bio Chief Medical Advisor & Columbia University Center for Human Longevity Director, Columbia University Medical Center Hamilton Southworth Professor and Chairman Emeritus of Medicine
Secondcell Bio Chief Medical Advisor & Center for Human Longevity Director, Medical Center Hamilton Southworth Professor and Chairman Emeritus of Medicine Dr. Patricia Morris , MS, PhD, Secondcell Bio Chief Scientific Advisor and Health Policy Advisor & Former Executive Director The Rockefeller University Population Council R&D; Sr. Scientist Reproductive Health Global Program; Associate Editor and past President and Board of Directors Member Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB); and The Rockefeller University Guest Investigator, Laboratory of RNA Molecular Biology
Secondcell Bio Chief Scientific Advisor and Health Policy Advisor & Former Executive Director Population Council R&D; Sr. Scientist Reproductive Health Global Program; Associate Editor and past President and Board of Directors Member Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB); and Guest Investigator, Laboratory of RNA Molecular Biology Dr. Arthur A. Morrish , PhD, Secondcell Bio Chief Innovation Officer & former Founding CEO of ASPIRE, Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC)
Secondcell Bio Chief Innovation Officer & former Founding CEO of ASPIRE, Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC) Fabienne Duchini , Secondcell Bio Abu Dhabi Partnerships Officer
Secondcell Bio Abu Dhabi Partnerships Officer Dr. Hemad Yasaei, PhD, Secondcell Bio Chief Scientific Advisor in the UAE & Head, Molecular Genomics Department, National Reference Laboratory, M42
Secondcell Bio Chief Scientific Advisor in the UAE & Head, Molecular Genomics Department, National Reference Laboratory, M42 Athiq Ahmed Wahab, Secondcell Bio Chief UAE Laboratory Operations Advisor & Manager, Special Projects, Al Jalila Foundation and Mohammed Bin Rashid Medical Research Institute (MBRU)
Secondcell Bio Chief UAE Laboratory Operations Advisor & Manager, Special Projects, Al Jalila Foundation and Mohammed Bin Rashid Medical Research Institute (MBRU) Yousif Almahdi , MBA, Secondcell Bio Chief Arabian Gulf Commercial Advisor & former Commercial Specialist, Embassy of the United States of America , Kuwait
Secondcell Bio Chief Arabian Gulf Commercial Advisor & former Commercial Specialist, Embassy of , John Rockefeller , Secondcell Bio Chief Charitable Programs Advisor & Research Foundation for Cure Initiatives Partnership Chair
Secondcell Bio Chief Charitable Programs Advisor & Research Foundation for Cure Initiatives Partnership Chair Karen Hagberg, Esq. , Secondcell Bio Chief Philanthropic Advisor & Research Foundation for Cure Initiatives Chair
Secondcell Bio Chief Philanthropic Advisor & Research Foundation for Cure Initiatives Chair Thomas W. Bark, Esq , Secondcell Bio General Counsel, former Partner, Jones Day , Mergers & Acquisitions Group
Secondcell Bio General Counsel, former Partner, , Mergers & Acquisitions Group Edward Ceraso , MBA, Secondcell Bio Chief Financial Officer & former Global Chief Financial Officer for Kantar Health
Secondcell Bio Chief Financial Officer & former Global Chief Financial Officer for Kantar Health Kyle Mooney, Esq , Secondcell Bio Chief Legal Advisor & Partner, Morrison Foerster
Secondcell Bio Chief Legal Advisor & Partner, Morrison Foerster Dr. Rainer Plaggenborg , PhD, Secondcell Bio Intellectual Property Advisor &Partner, Patent Attorney, Life Sciences and Pharma, Grunecker
Secondcell Bio Intellectual Property Advisor &Partner, Patent Attorney, Life Sciences and Pharma, Grunecker Yasser Omar , Secondcell Bio Chief Legal Advisor & Executive Partner, Head of Corporate & Commercial Abu Dhabi, Hadef & Partners
Secondcell Bio Chief Legal Advisor & Executive Partner, Head of Corporate & Commercial Abu Dhabi, Hadef & Partners Dina Mahdi , Secondcell Bio Government Legal Advisor & Partner, Head of Regulatory & Government Advisory Abu Dhabi, Hadef & Partners
Secondcell Bio Government Legal Advisor & Partner, Head of Regulatory & Government Advisory Abu Dhabi, Hadef & Partners Additional members TBC
We invite members of the press to learn more about the UAE BioTech Symposium. Private one-on-one briefings are available for scheduling as follows:
Members of UAE and GCC press: 10am to 8pm , Monday October 7, 2024 , GCC Time Zone Business & technology press: 7am to 5pm , Tuesday October 8, 2024 , EST Time Zone 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].
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.ae/
About AmCham 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/
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 2xceed
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.
About "Art's Axioms" by Secondcell Bio Chief Innovation Advisor Dr. Arthur A. Morrish, PhD
Don't lie, especially to yourself, and don't tolerate it in others.
Corollary
It's hard to make good decisions from bad data.
Never shoot the messenger.
Corollary
If people are afraid of you, they won't tell you the truth. You have to hold people accountable, that's the flip side of empowerment. But that's different than jumping all over someone that simply delivered bad news.
Treat everyone like you'd like to be treated.
Corollary
Try to spend as much time praising people's achievements as you do discussing their shortcomings.
Don't be afraid to make a decision.
Corollary 1
Most decisions you make will be made on incomplete data.
Corollary 2
Don't be afraid to admit that you made a mistake, or that the situation has changed and you are going to change your mind, (See axiom 1)
Corollary 3
You can recover from almost anything except lost time.
When you need to act, act decisively. Half measures almost never work.
Never give a gratuitous insult. If you are going to irritate someone do it with malice of forethought.
Never confuse process with the product. Just checking the box doesn't mean you're providing value. Require that everyone, including yourself, THINK about what they are doing.
Being angry isn't the same thing as taking action. Shouting at someone who screwed up does nothing to fix the problem.
Never attribute to malice what you can attribute to ignorance or stupidity.
Corollary
Ignorance can be cured, you generally can't fix stupid. Be sure you can determine which is which.
You can accomplish almost anything if you don't care who gets the credit.
Corollary
Always praise your team if someone praises you.
"Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable." William Pollard, physicist.
SOURCE Secondcell Bio, LLC; UAE BioTech Symposium
Latest Results from The Harris Poll
OKLAHOMA CITY, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In the eyes of U.S. hiring managers, workforce productivity is high. But social media trends like "Lazy Girl Jobs" and "Bare Minimum Mondays" could spell trouble as job seekers admit these fads are affecting everything from career development to their mental health.
This is according to a recent Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll survey.
Social Media Trends Take a Toll on Job Seekers, Including Mental Health
More than 9 in 10 hiring managers (95%) feel employees at their company are productive, with more than half reporting employees are very productive (54%) an increase from the Spring 2022 survey (48%, very productive).
And job seekers agree. Ninety-seven percent report they are productive at work, with two-thirds saying they are very productive (67%).
While employers are aware viral social media trends are infiltrating the workforce, they may not realize how much.
Many job seekers report social media trends have a big or moderate impact on their motivation to develop their career skills (45%), productivity (42%) and (for employed job seekers) commitment to their job (40%). In comparison, a similar proportion of job seekers report social media trends have a big or moderate effect on their mental health (45%).
Increasing Productivity
Despite indications of a highly productive workforce, hiring managers say their companies are taking steps to increase that percentage, which job seekers welcome.
Forty-nine percent of companies are encouraging small breaks throughout the workday, which aligns with the preferences of 65% of job seekers. Additionally, 44% of companies are providing mental health resources, meeting the needs of 54% of job seekers. Thirty-eight percent are offering wellness trainings and workshops, desired by 49% of job seekers. And, 36% of companies are incorporating artificial intelligence to handle low-value tasks or help employees organize tasks and projects, which 34% of job seekers find beneficial.
In addition, at least 1 in 4 allow longer lunch breaks (27%) and reduce noise or workplace distractions (25%).
And for those who need some quick shut-eye, Gen Z and Millennial job seekers are more likely than their Gen X or boomer/senior colleagues to say companies should encourage mid-day naps to help their employees be more productive (24% and 21% vs. 13% and 5%).
"High-performing companies usually employ top talent, and one of the biggest risks in this bustling economy is burnout," said Bill Stoller, Express Employment International CEO. "By offering employees tools and strategies to take care of themselves, companies can not only recruit the best of the best, but retain them, as well."
Survey Methodology
The Job Insights survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals between May 16 and June 3, 2024, among 1,003 U.S. hiring decision-makers.
The Job Seeker Report was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals from May 28 to June 10, 2024, among 1,002 adults ages 18 and older.
For full survey methodologies, please contact [email protected], Director of Corporate Communications & PR.
If you would like to arrange for an interview to discuss this topic, please contact [email protected], Director of Corporate Communications & PR.
About Bill Stoller
William H. "Bill" Stoller is chairman and chief executive officer of Express Employment International. Founded in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the international staffing franchisor supports the Express Employment Professionals franchise and related brands. The Express franchise brand is an industry-leading, international staffing company with franchise locations in the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
About Express Employment Professionals At Express Employment Professionals, we're in the business of people. From job seekers to client companies, Express helps people thrive and businesses grow. Our international network of franchises offers localized staffing solutions to the communities they serve across the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, employing 492,000 people globally in 2023 and more than 11 million since its inception. For more information, visit ExpressPros.com.
SOURCE Express Services dba Express Employment Professionals
Two Marine Veterans, AJ Scotti and Michael Smith, Win Top Honors with the support of the Michigan Veterans Trust, and GM Defense
DETROIT, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Warrior Rising, the nation's premier veteran entrepreneurship non-profit, hosted a successful Business Shower in Detroit, Michigan, over the weekend of September 21st. The event brought together veteran entrepreneurs, mentors, and industry experts for two days of collaboration, learning, and transformation. The winners of this cohort, Lieutenant Colonel AJ Scotti, a Marine Reservist, and Michael Smith, a retired Marine Corps Warrant Officer, co-founders of Gyrene Engineering Management, which provides innovative water and power solutions for medical and humanitarian teams, forward-deployed operators, remote location specialists and off-grid communities around the world, were awarded top honors for their innovative company.
Gyrene, a military-veteran, engineer-centric company, focuses on providing cutting-edge solutions for medical and humanitarian teams, forward-deployed operators, and specialists working in remote locations. Their latest innovations, including an atmospheric water harvester and power solutions, are designed to support mobile teams in the most challenging environments, providing resiliency, self-reliance, and decentralized operations.
Warrior Rising, is without a doubt, a premiere powerhouse of unbelievable talent mixed with incredible passion! Post this
"We are incredibly proud of the hard work and commitment demonstrated by A.J. and Michael," said Jason Van Camp, Executive Director of Warrior Rising. "Gyrene's dedication to serving others through innovation and resilience reflects the core values of our veteran community."
This weekend's event saw the Class 02-24 cohort arrive with open hearts and a shared purpose. The veteran entrepreneurs not only refined their business strategies but also built lasting connections, furthering the camaraderie that defines the Warrior Rising experience. By the end of the weekend, these veterans didn't just leave with business leads and potential collaborationsthey became part of a unique culture of grit, growth, and transformation.
Veteran participant A.J. Scotti, a member of pitch winner Gyrene had this to say, ""Warrior Rising, is without a doubt, a premiere powerhouse of unbelievable talent mixed with incredible passion supporting the mission to serve veteran business entrepreneurs. I have been around a ton of organizations, and this is one of a handful, if that, that accomplishes this specific mission. Others talk, Warrior Rising walks! Actually, I think they are sprinting! I couldn't be more proud to be a part of this year's 10 veteran-team finalists."
The Detroit Business Shower was made possible thanks to the generous support of partners, judges, and speakers, who were instrumental in guiding these veterans through the weekend. Special thanks to the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency, Michigan Veterans Trust Fund, Huntington National Bank, Patriot Mobile, GM Defense, and Walmart for their contributions and unwavering support.
About Warrior Rising
Founded in 2015, Warrior Rising is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to transforming veterans into successful entrepreneurs. The organization provides veterans with the tools, mentorship, and resources they need to launch and grow their businesses. Warrior Rising has helped create and fund over 100 veteran-owned businesses, and since inception, has assisted more than 30,000 with is programs, and continues to expand its impact through its innovative Veteran Business Showers. For more information about Warrior Rising and its initiatives, please visit our website at: www.WarriorRising.org and connect with us on Linkedin and check out some amazing stories on our Youtube Channel.
About Michigan Veteran Trust Fund (MVTF):
Michigan Veteran Trust is a fund established by the State of Michigan and administered by the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency. Through financial assistance and other resources, MVTF strives to improve the quality of life for Michigan's veterans.
SOURCE Warrior Rising
EAST GREENWICH, R.I., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- VoltServer, the pioneering leader in fault managed power solutions, has been recognized as a Top Workplace by The Providence Journal, Rhode Island's largest newspaper. This recognition highlights the company's strong culture, driven by the dedication and shared values of its employees, which has played a critical role in VoltServer's success.
Since its founding in 2013, VoltServer has built a culture grounded in collaboration, innovation, and a strong focus on customer needs. This award underscores the strength of the company's workplace environment, where employees are empowered to excel and contribute to VoltServer's industry-leading performance.
"Our team's passion and dedication are the foundation of VoltServer," said Steve Eaves, CEO. "This award reflects the culture we've cultivateda culture that encourages collaboration, prioritizes customer satisfaction, and pushes the boundaries of innovation. We are deeply grateful to our employees for their continued commitment," Eaves added.
VoltServer opened its doors in East Greenwich, where it introduced the world's first fault managed power (FMP) solution, a technology invented by Eaves himself. Since 2014, the company has deployed thousands of FMP systems globally, solidifying its leadership in powering advanced technologies like 5G, wireless densification, intelligent building optimization, and indoor agriculture. With its patented Digital Electricity technology, VoltServer delivers a safer, more efficient power distribution solution that reduces installation time and costs, while enabling real-time monitoring and control. Through close collaboration with employees, customers, and partners, VoltServer continues to push the boundaries of FMP innovation.
About VoltServer:
As electricity needs continue to grow and evolve, VoltServer is addressing the world's power distribution demands through its patented and intelligent Digital Electricity solutions. From state-of-the-art venues to vertical farms and beyond, VoltServer delivers proven power distribution solutions that are intelligently efficient, inherently safe, and setting a new standard for reliability, resiliency, and reach. Visit voltserver.com to learn more.
Media Contact: Amber Fortney, Sr. Director of Marketing, [email protected]
SOURCE VOLTSERVER, INC.
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Woodruff Sawyer, one of the largest independent insurance brokers in the United States, proudly announces the launch of a powerful new digital platformWS Connect. This game-changing tool is designed to centralize and secure clients' benefits portfolio information and provide an enhanced collaborative user experience for clients and their Woodruff Sawyer service team.
Bringing Order to Chaos
Woodruff Sawyer CEO Andy Barrengos talks about the value of WS Connect.
In today's dynamic business environment, managing benefits programs can be complex and overwhelming. Employee Benefits teams often grapple with the intricacies of renewal processes, carrier contacts, program documents, and compliance deadlines, which can hinder their efficiency.
Access to Real-Time Information
WS Connect addresses these challenges by offering a user-friendly experience that consolidates all essential benefits policy details, documents, and contact information into one accessible platform. This solution simplifies the management of employee benefits programs, both domestically and globally, ensuring a more organized and efficient workflow.
Designed With and For Our Clients
Camille Couture, Woodruff Sawyer's Director of Operations for Employee Benefits and Project Lead, remarked, "Our proprietary platform was developed based on valuable input from our clients. They emphasized how real-time plan updates, compliance reminders, and easy access to aggregate plan details and documents have significantly simplified their day-to-day tasks."
Dave Erickson, Woodruff Sawyer's Employee Benefits Practice Leader added, "This platform marks a major advancement for both our clients and Woodruff Sawyer. Built around extensive client feedback, it enhances our exceptional service, allowing clients to seamlessly collaborate with our Employee Benefits team, with real-time information just a click away."
WS Connect is designed to meet the toughest privacy regulations. Data is protected by advanced encryption protocols, regular audits, and multi-factor authentication. With WS Connect, your data is secure and compliant.
About Woodruff Sawyer
As one of the largest independent insurance brokerage and consulting firms in the US, Woodruff Sawyer protects the people and assets of more than 4,000 companies. We provide expert counsel and fierce advocacy to protect clients against their most critical risks in property and casualty, management liability, cyber liability, employee benefits, and personal wealth management. An active partner of Assurex Global and International Benefits Network, we provide expertise and customized solutions where clients need it, with headquarters in San Francisco, offices throughout the US, and global reach on six continents. For more information, call 844.972.6326, or visit woodruffsawyer.com
MEDIA CONTACT:
[email protected]
SOURCE Woodruff Sawyer
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, September 25. The closed Joint Stock Company (CJSC) of Turkmenistans Marine Merchant Fleet has transported more than 1.609 million tons of cargo from January through August 2024, Trend reports.
According to calculations based on the service's data, this reflects an increase of 6.64 percent compared to the same period in 2023 (1.509 million tons).
The company also noted that it handled 3,838 TEU container units, marking a rise of 27.7 percent compared to the same period last year, while the transportation of vehicles saw a slight decline of 1.52 percent with 12,170 cars.
The Maritime Merchant Fleet reported transporting 1.4 million tons of cargo from January to July 2024, along with 3,345 TEU container units and 10,546 vehicles.
CJSC "Marine Merchant Fleet" was established in 2015 after the transformation of the "Turkmen Marine Fleet Administration". The main shareholders of the company are the agency "Turkmendenizderyayollary" (70 percent of shares), Turkmenbashi International Sea Port (20 percent), the production association "Deryayollary" (9 percent), and CJSC "Altyn Asyr" (1 percent).
The fleet of CJSC includes 20 vessels designed for the transportation of oil and oil products, cargo, vehicles, passengers, and various types of dry cargo.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, September 25. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are establishing cooperation in the defense sphere, Trend reports via Uzbekistan's Ministry of Justice.
According to the information, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a law on ratification of the relevant agreement between the defense ministries of the two countries.
To note, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov had a telephone conversation with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on September 22, 2024.
The heads of state discussed the high level of bilateral relations, successful cooperation in various spheres, including agriculture, energy, and industry, as well as interaction in the international arena.
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New York, Sep 25 : External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has held a series of meetings with his counterparts from Spain, Bolivia, Guayana, Moldova, Cyprus, and EU Commissioner for Climate Action, and discussed bilateral ties on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
EAM Jaishankar on Tuesday held a "good conversation" on bilateral cooperation as well as on Ukraine and West Asia with Spain's Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Albares. After the meeting, the EAM in a post on social media platform X said: "Delighted to meet FM @jmalbares of Spain this afternoon in NY. Good conversation on our bilateral cooperation as well as on Ukraine and West Asia."
Interacting with his Bolivian counterpart Celinda Sosa Lunda, EAM Jaishankar spoke about advancing the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. "Happy to meet FM @CelindaBolivia in New York today. Spoke about advancing our bilateral cooperation," he posted on X.
The EAM also discussed the bilateral partnership with Guayana's Foreign Minister Hugh Hilton Todd. After their meeting, the EAM in a post on X said: "Pleasure as always meeting FM Hugh Hilton Todd of Guayana today on the sidelines of #UNGA79. Our bilateral partnership has been steadily progressing in various dimensions. Look forward to its further growth."
Similarly, with Moldova's Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi, EAM Jaishankar discussed the potential for cooperation in investment, education and tourism. Besides, they also exchanged views on the Ukraine conflict.
The EAM's interaction with his Cyprus counterpart Constantinos Kombos was primarily focused on ongoing developments in West Asia and their larger implications. After their meeting, EAM Jaishankar in a post on X said: "A good conversation with FM @ckombos from Cyprus on sidelines of #UNGA79 today. We focussed on ongoing developments in West Asia and their larger implications. Also discussed taking our bilateral cooperation forward."
The EAM also met EU Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra and appreciated the latter's support for deepening the partnership between India and the EU. "Always good to see dear friend and EU Commissioner @WBHoekstra, this time on the sidelines of #UNGA79. Appreciate his support for deepening YY YY partnership," EAM Jaishankar posted on X after their talks.
The EAM earlier attended a meeting with his counterpart from G4 nations -- Germany, Japan and Brazil and also met France's new Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barro as well as Bangladeshi Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain on the sidelines of the UNGA.
New York, Sep 25 : External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has held a series of meetings with his counterparts from Spain, Bolivia, Guayana, Moldova, Cyprus, and EU Commissioner for Climate Action, and discussed bilateral ties on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
EAM Jaishankar on Tuesday held a "good conversation" on bilateral cooperation as well as on Ukraine and West Asia with Spain's Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Albares. After the meeting, the EAM in a post on social media platform X said: "Delighted to meet FM @jmalbares of Spain this afternoon in NY. Good conversation on our bilateral cooperation as well as on Ukraine and West Asia."
Interacting with his Bolivian counterpart Celinda Sosa Lunda, EAM Jaishankar spoke about advancing the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. "Happy to meet FM @CelindaBolivia in New York today. Spoke about advancing our bilateral cooperation," he posted on X.
The EAM also discussed the bilateral partnership with Guayana's Foreign Minister Hugh Hilton Todd. After their meeting, the EAM in a post on X said: "Pleasure as always meeting FM Hugh Hilton Todd of Guayana today on the sidelines of #UNGA79. Our bilateral partnership has been steadily progressing in various dimensions. Look forward to its further growth."
Similarly, with Moldova's Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi, EAM Jaishankar discussed the potential for cooperation in investment, education and tourism. Besides, they also exchanged views on the Ukraine conflict.
The EAM's interaction with his Cyprus counterpart Constantinos Kombos was primarily focused on ongoing developments in West Asia and their larger implications. After their meeting, EAM Jaishankar in a post on X said: "A good conversation with FM @ckombos from Cyprus on sidelines of #UNGA79 today. We focussed on ongoing developments in West Asia and their larger implications. Also discussed taking our bilateral cooperation forward."
The EAM also met EU Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra and appreciated his role in deepening the partnership between India and the EU.
"Always good to see dear friend and EU Commissioner @WBHoekstra, this time on the sidelines of #UNGA79. Appreciate his support for deepening India-EU partnership," EAM Jaishankar posted on X after their talks.
The EAM earlier attended a meeting with his counterpart from G4 nations -- Germany, Japan and Brazil -- and also met France's new Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barro as well as Bangladeshi Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain on the sidelines of the UNGA.
Jerusalem/Beirut, Sep 25 : Israel's army has said that Hezbollah had fired around 300 rockets and other projectiles into Israel amid the second day of Israel's heaviest attacks on Lebanon since 2006.
An explosive drone fell in Atlit, a coastal town south of Haifa, northern Israel, marking the first time Hezbollah's rocket fire has reached this region, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday night, adding that two additional drones were launched toward the area but were intercepted. The drones caused no casualties, according to Israel's rescue services.
Most of the rockets were intercepted by Israel's aerial defence systems, the army said.
Hezbollah confirmed the attack in a statement, saying its fighters launched "an aerial operation with a squadron of assault drones against the headquarters of Israel's special naval task unit Shayetet 13 in the Atlit base, targeting the positions of its officers and soldiers and striking the targets precisely", Xinhua news agency reported.
In other cases, rockets or parts of interceptor missiles that fell to the ground sparked fires in the Mount Meron area of Upper Galilee. In Rosh Pina, a town in Upper Galilee, a residential home was hit and extensively damaged.
Hospitals in the affected areas reported treating about 23 people, but later statements from Israel's Magen David Adom emergency health service indicated that those treated were suffering from panic, not physical injuries.
At nightfall, Israel launched a new wave of attacks in Lebanon. The Air Force "conducted a number of extensive strikes on dozens of terrorist targets belonging to Hezbollah in the Beqaa region and several other areas in southern Lebanon," the military said.
During the day, Israeli warplanes continued the massive strikes, which, according to the military, dismantled "dozens" of infrastructures where weapons were stored and numerous launchers aimed at Israeli territory were located.
Also on Tuesday night, unnamed Lebanese military sources told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes carried out ten raids on towns in the Tyre area deep in southern Lebanon and raided Hezbollah sites in the Jezzine area, also in the south of Lebanon.
Amid the sharp escalation, the Israeli military conducted Tuesday an exercise simulating fighting inside Lebanon, according to the Israeli Defense Ministry. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant remarked that "the series of blows on Hezbollah's command chain, operatives, and weapons were tough." According to Gallant, Israel has destroyed "tens of thousands" of rockets, missiles, and launchers since Monday.
Answering questions in a press briefing on Monday night, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari neither confirmed nor denied whether Israel plans a ground operation in Lebanon.
Israel began its most extensive bombardment of Lebanon since 2006 on Monday, resulting in more than 550 deaths, including civilians, and over 1,800 injuries across the country. The flare-up has raised concerns about the potential for a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with fears that other nations could also become involved.
United Nations, Sep 25 : External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has met officials from Asia, Europe and Latin America on the sidelines of the UN high-level meetings to promote bilateral relations and to exchange views on international and regional issues.
He started with new Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barro of France, a country with which India has close strategic and diplomatic ties.
He wrote on X after the meeting that they had "a useful exchange of views on major regional issues".
Barro was appointed foreign minister last week by Prime Minister Michel Barnier who took over after the snap elections.
After his meeting with "dear friend" European Union Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra, EAM Jaishankar posted on X, "Appreciate his support for deepening India-European Union partnership".
Hoekstra wrote on X, "We look forward to closely working together and further enhancing India-European Union relations in the domains of geopolitics, climate and business."
Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, said on X after meeting EAM Jaishankar, "India is an essential global actor and priority partner for Spain."
"We discussed our bilateral relations, including trade and culture. Also the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific," he posted.
Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg of Malta, posted on X that he discussed with EAM Jaishankar the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting next month in Samoa and how the group to which both countries belong can find "global solutions to pressing global and regional challenges, from sustainable development to the protection of human rights".
They also talked about "further intensifying synergies in areas of mutual interest, including ongoing efforts to expand trade relations between our two countries", he added.
The EAM said on X after meeting Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, "We focussed on ongoing developments in West Asia and their larger implications."
Ukraine came up during the meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Mihai Popsoi of Moldova, a neighbour of that country.
EAM Jaishankar wrote, "Discussed deepening our partnership in pharmaceuticals, health, education, capacity building and trade."
Following his meeting with Bolivia's Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa Lunda, the EAM posted that they spoke about "advancing our bilateral cooperation".
"Our bilateral partnership has been steadily progressing in various dimensions," EAM Jaishankar wrote after meeting Hugh Hilton Todd, the foreign minister of Guayana, a country with a large diaspora.
Closer to India, Yemen's Vice President Aidaros Alzubidi wrote on X after his meeting with the EAM that they had an "important discussion on overlapping interests on regional stability and maritime security, including in the Red Sea".
"India's role on the global stage is critical and a partnership I look forward to developing," he added.
EAM Jaishankar wrote on X that he assured him of "India's support for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Yemen".
Strategically located on the Red Sea, Yemen is torn by a civil war and its fallout puts shipping in the area at risk.
United Nations, Sep 24 : External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar met France's new Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barro on Tuesday and discussed 'major regional issues'.
After their meeting on the sidelines of the high-level annual meeting of the General Assembly, Jaishankar wrote on X that they had "a useful exchange of views on major regional issues".
Barro was appointed foreign minister last week by Prime Minister Michel Barnier who took over after the snap elections.
India and France have close relations, diplomatically and strategically.
French companies are an important source of aircraft for India's defence forces.
Earlier, Jaishankar on Tuesday met Bangladesh foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain in New York. This is the first bilateral meeting between New Delhi and Dhaka after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
"Had a meeting with Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain of Bangladesh in New York this evening. The conversation focused on our bilateral ties," Jaishankar wrote on X.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus could not meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly due to different arrival and departure timings.
On September 21, Hossain said Yunus would not be meeting Modi in New York due to different schedules. He had, however, said he would hold a bilateral meeting with Jaishankar to advance the relationship between the two neighbours.
Srinagar, Sep 25 : Polling across 26 Assembly constituencies in six districts of Jammu and Kashmir began on Wednesday morning to decide the fate of 239 candidates in the fray.
Voters started gathering at polling booths in the early morning to exercise their franchise as a clear autumn sky greeted them.
Most polling stations in the six districts of the Union Territory including Poonch, Rajouri and Reasi in Jammu division and Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal in the Valley wore a festive look.
Security forces drawn from the local police and the CRPF exchanged smiles with the voters as they started pouring out at polling stations.
A total of 25.78 lakh electors are eligible to exercise franchise in the second phase of J&K elections which started at 7 a.m. and will end at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all voters to exercise their franchise to play an important role in strengthening democracy.
In a post on X, Prime Minister Modi wrote, "Today is the second phase of voting for the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. I appeal to all voters to cast their votes and play their important role in strengthening democracy. On this occasion, I congratulate all the young friends who are going to vote for the first time!"
Senior politicians including former J&K Chief Minister and Vice President of NC Omar Abdullah, J&K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra, J&K BJP President Ravinder Raina, former ministers Ali Mohammad Sagar, Asiya Naqash, Abdur Rahim Rather, Hakim Mohammad Yasin, Choudhary Zulfiqar and J&K Apni Party chief Syed Altaf Bukhari are in the electoral fray in the second phase.
NC and the Congress have formed a pre-poll alliance to contest the elections. NC has fielded candidates for 52 seats while Congress is contesting 31 seats. Two seats, one for the CPI-M in the Valley and the other for the Panthers Party in Jammu division have been left uncontested by the NC-Congress alliance.
On five seats of Sopore in Valley and Banihal, Nagrota, Kishtwar and Doda in Jammu division, the two parties could not reach a consensus and both have fielded candidates in these constituencies to engage in a friendly contest.
Voting for the third and last phase of J&K Legislative Assembly polls will be held on October 1 and counting will take place on October 8.
Guwahati, Sep 25 : Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will hold a discussion with the All Assam Students Union (AASU) leaders on Wednesday regarding the implementation of clause 6 of the Assam Accord.
Clause 6 of the Assam Accord states that appropriate constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards will be provided to protect the cultural, social and linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.
A high-power committee led by Retd. Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma had submitted 67 recommendations to implement clause 6. CM Sarma had announced the implementation of 52 out of a total of 67 recommendations.
The CM had said that before April next year, 52 recommendations of the committee will be implemented which are under the purview of the state government. The rest of the points laid down by the panel fall under the jurisdiction of the Central government.
The AASU, which is one of the signatories of the Assam Accord, demanded that the state government put pressure on the Central government to fully carry out the panel's recommendations.
Samujjal Bhattacharya, the chief advisor of AASU said, "Justice (Retd.) Sarma committee which was formed to report on implementing clause 6 of the Assam Accord gave a total of 67 recommendations. Out of these, the state government has already announced to implement 52 recommendations and the rest fall under the jurisdiction of the central government. I urge the state government to take up this issue with the Centre and pave the way to implement all the recommendations of the clause 6 committee."
He has also reminded that the top brass of the BJP earlier promised to implement the Assam Accord.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah promised the people of Assam to implement the Assam Accord. We hope that they have not forgotten about their promise," the AASU leader added.
Notably, the clause 6 panel led by Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma suggested that, as a stopgap measure, the post-1971 stream of proclaimed foreigners should be placed in locations outside Assam until their expulsion is done. Additionally, the panel also gave the definition of "Assamese".
The committee mentioned that a number of constitutional and parliamentary reforms will be required to fully implement the recommendations. It has stated that the current Article 371-B of the Constitution will need to be changed.
The Assam Accord, signed following a six-year foreigners' agitation (19791985), stipulates that all foreigners entering the state after March 24, 1971, will be deported regardless of their religious affiliation.
Ahmedabad, Sep 25 : Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, has held a high-level meeting with Eric Martel, CEO of Bombardier, and deliberated on "transformative partnerships" in the aviation sector.
Ahmedabad, Sep 25 (IANS) Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, has held a high-level meeting with Eric Martel, CEO of Bombardier, and deliberated on "transformative partnerships" in the aviation sector.
In a post on social media platform X, on Wednesday, Gautam Adani informed that they will aim to harness synergies for a stronger, self-reliant India.
"Powering India's aviation growth! Had a great discussion with @Bombardier CEO Eric Martel on transformative partnerships in Aircraft Services, MRO and Defence," said the Adani Group Chairman.
"Together, we are harnessing synergies for a stronger, self-reliant India," Gautam Adani added.
The Adani Group forayed into civil aviation with a vision to leverage its rich experience of building stellar infrastructure in transforming Indian airports.
Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL) was incorporated in 2019 as a 100 per cent subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd.
AAHL aims to revolutionise airport experiences. Currently, AAHL oversees seven prominent airports -- Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram.
The addition of Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) to AAHL's portfolio in December 2024 will mark a significant milestone in India's aviation industry. This expansion will increase AAHL's portfolio to eight airports, solidifying its position as the leading airport infrastructure company in the country.
AAHL is India's largest airport infrastructure company, accounting for 25 per cent of passenger footfalls and 33 per cent of India's air cargo traffic.
Meanwhile, the Air Force will conduct the first trial landing of a fighter jet in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on October 5 in the first of two runways of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA).
The commencement of the operations at NMIA's two phases will handle 20 million passengers annually. The airport will be connected through Atal Setu and metro rail. The cost of NMIA is Rs 16,700 crore.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, September 25. The most important task for Turkmenistan is to expand the infrastructure of transport and transit corridors in the directions of North-South and West-East, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov said at a meeting of the People's Council, Trend reports via Turkmenistan's official media.
Our priority is to expand the infrastructure of transport and transit corridors along the North-South and West-East routes. Here we are doing everything necessary to develop the transport corridor China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran and increase the volume of cargo transportation, the head of state said.
The President also noted that an important role is playing in the formation of an international multimodal transport corridor from the Asia-Pacific region to Europe.
Comprehensive reforms are being implemented in the transport and communication sector of the country, including those designed to promote the revival in a new format of the ancient trade route - the Great Silk Road. At the same time, efforts are being made to intensify passenger and cargo transportation by all types of transport to fully utilize the international transport and transit potential, he said.
According to the head of state, in this context, the country cooperates with a number of major international organizations, including the UN, which confirms Turkmenistan's aspiration to become an important hub in the global transportation network.
To note, Turkmenistan actively participates in the development of North-South and West-East transport corridors, which increases its role in regional logistics. Turkmenistan, together with Russia, Kazakhstan, and Iran, signed a roadmap in July 2024 to promote the eastern branch of the North-South corridor. The initiative aims to increase the capacity of the corridor to 15 million tons per year by 2027 and 20 million tons by 2030.
The corridor is designed to provide efficient multimodal transport routes linking the Indian Ocean with the Caspian and Baltic Seas, significantly reducing transit costs and time compared to traditional routes.
Srinagar, Sep 25 : Large numbers of voters, including the older generation and the youth, were turning out to exercise their democratic rights on Wednesday in J&K indicating that irrespective of who wins or loses, the victory of democracy in Kashmir is resounding.
It is logical for the young and old voters to have different priorities, but their growing queues outside the polling stations in Kashmir indicate that they are undoubtedly voting with the fullest faith in the transparency, fairness and level playground created by the country's election commission.
Voting for jobs, employment, healthcare, better education, better roads, and safer and cheaper connectivity is visible when the youth spell out their voting preferences.
The elderly voters might have different priorities, but their belief in the power of the vote has prompted them to come out in large numbers to exercise the franchise.
Abbas, a middle-aged voter in the Budgam Assembly constituency said, "We are voting to end atrocities and to get back what we have lost. Last ten years have only given us miseries".
In sharp contrast to the older generation, Muzaffar Ahmad, a youth at the same polling station said, "We are here to vote for change and development. We will elect our own government".
Former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is fighting the election from the Budgam constituency and he is challenged by Aga Muntazir of the PDP.
Talking to reporters, Aga Muntazir said, "It is a fight between a local and a tourist (Omar Abdullah is not a voter in Budgam constituency). I am confident of victory as people have chosen me."
Shameema aged 32, cast her vote at the Bemina polling station on the outskirts of Srinagar city. After using her democratic right to choose her representative, she said, "We want to vote because we have so many issues, we want them mitigated, and for that, we need a local representative. Unemployment is one of the biggest problems, educated youth have no jobs."
Voters started coming out early morning to exercise their democratic rights as a clear autumn sky greeted them.
Most polling stations in the six districts of UT -- Poonch, Rajouri and Reasi in Jammu division and Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal in the Valley -- wore a festive look.
Security forces drawn from the local police and the CRPF exchanged smiles with the voters as they started pouring out at the polling stations.
A total of 25.78 lakh electors are eligible to exercise franchise in the second phase of J&K elections which started at 7 a.m. and will end at 6 p.m. The Election Commission of India has set up 3,502 polling stations for six districts.
Senior politicians, including former J&K Chief Minister and Vice president of NC Omar Abdullah, JKPCC chief Tariq Hameed Karra, BJP J&K president Ravinder Raina, former ministers Ali Mohammad Sagar, Asiya Naqash, Abdur Rahim Rather, Hakim Mohammad Yasin, Choudhary Zulfiqar and J&K Apni Chief, Syed Altaf Bukhari are in the electoral fray today.
The National Conference (NC) and Congress are fighting these elections in a pre-poll alliance. NC has fielded candidates for 52 seats while Congress is contesting 31 seats. Two seats, one for the CPI(M) in the Valley and the other for the Panthers Party in the Jammu division have been left uncontested by the NC-Congress alliance.
Voting for the third and last phase of J&K legislative assembly polls will be held on October 1 and counting will take place on October 8.
Guwahati, September 25 : Opposition leader and chief of Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) Lurinjyoti Gogoi has questioned Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, claiming that the Centre is yet to accept the report of Justice (Retd) Biplab Kumar Sarma Committee.
Gogoi told IANS on Wednesday: "The committee report was not accepted by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and it will not get constitutional validity until Shah's ministry accepts the report prepared by Biplab Kumar Sarma committee. The Central government must give go-ahead to the state government to implement the recommendations of the committee."
"If the Union Home Ministry does not give that permission, how can a Chief Minister implement some of the recommendations of the Biplab Kumar Sarma Committee?" he asked.
The Opposition leader said: "Former Home Secretary Satyendra Garg did not sign the committee report and it has raised many questions about the Centre's motive to implement the Assam Accord."
Gogoi also alleged that CM Sarma tries to fool the public in order to attract voters for the next Assembly elections.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Bhuyan said: "Chief Minister has facilitated the transfer of land of indigenous Assamese people to the outsiders and now he has been trying to woo the voters through the Assam Accord."
He has also questioned the AASU as it has supported the move by the state government on Assam Accord.
Notably, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is set to hold an important discussion with All Assam Students Union (AASU) leaders on Wednesday regarding the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord.
A high-power committee led by (Retd) Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma submitted 67 recommendations to implement Clause 6 and CM Sarma earlier announced to carry out 52 out of a total 67 recommendations.
The Assam Accord, signed following a six-year foreigners' agitation (19791985), stipulates that all foreigners entering the state after March 24, 1971, will be deported regardless of their religious affiliation.
Clause 6 of the Assam Accord states that appropriate constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards will be provided to protect the cultural, social and linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.
Jammu, Sep 25 : Polling began for the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections under strict security measures. From early morning, several displaced Kashmiri Pandits began exercising their franchisee at various centres, set up to facilitate their right to exercise franchise.
Many displaced Pandits, while casting their ballots said that they have immense hope from the elections, happening after ten years and also after Abrogation of Article 370. Many others said that they expect formation of a government after polls, which would facilitate their return to their homeland while addressing security issues.
Many of them spoke to IANS about their hopes and expectations from the Assembly elections.
Akshit Tikoo, a first-time voter from the Habba Kadal constituency, expressed his excitement after voting for the first time.
"I feel very good after voting for the first time. I appeal to young voters to cast their vote and take the initiative themselves. If you donat take responsibility, no one else will. You must take this responsibility to form a government for your betterment."
Pawan Kumar Koul, another displaced Kashmiri Pandit and first-time voter from Budgam district, urged the youth to participate enthusiastically in voting. "Donat waste your precious vote. I appeal to the government to provide employment opportunities and facilitate the return of displaced Pandits to their homes. Many skilled youth lack jobs, and I request the government to take action. With these hopes, I cast my first vote."
Another first-time voter, a young woman, also shared her demand, "We, Kashmiri migrants, want opportunities for government jobs so we can contribute to the nation. I request the government to announce vacancies for such posts. I am well-educated, but I have to work in a private job here. I want opportunities from the government."
Notably, Election Commission has made special preparations for allowing displaced Kashmiri Pandits to cast their votes in all three phases of elections.
In the second phase, more than 15,000 displaced Kashmiri Pandits are eligible to vote in three districts of Kashmir.
In Udhampur, a voting centre has been set up for displaced Kashmiri Pandits, accommodating 15 polling booths for Assembly constituencies across three districts. This centre has 353 registered voters, including 191 men and 161 women.
The Habba Kadal constituency in Srinagar, Central Kashmir, which faces a multi-cornered contest, has the highest number of displaced Pandit votersa"6,000 in total.
In the second phase, voting is underway across 26 Assembly constituencies in six districts of Jammu and Kashmir, deciding the fate of 239 candidates. A total of 25.78 lakh electors are eligible to vote in this second phase, which began at 7 a.m. and will continue until 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Kampala, Sep 25 : The World Health Organisation (WHO) has donated 5,000 mpox sample collection kits to Uganda to curb the spread of the disease.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, WHO said that the set of test kits will support Uganda's Ministry of Health in accurate and timely diagnostic testing, which is critical in controlling the spread of the highly infectious viral disease.
Charles Njuguna, acting WHO representative to Uganda, handed the consignment to Charles Olaro, Director of Curative Services at the country's health ministry.
"These kits will also be used by districts and healthcare facilities across the country to collect samples from suspected mpox cases, facilitating rapid detection and response to the outbreak," Njuguna said.
"I thank WHO for this support that will enable us to make the right mpox diagnostics in order to recommend the appropriate treatment," said Olaro.
After declaring a mpox outbreak in August, Uganda said Tuesday that it has so far registered 24 confirmed cases across 10 districts. Of these, 13 patients have recovered while 11 remain hospitalised, Xinhua news agency reported.
Mpox, also known as monkeypox, is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. It is spread through close contact, with symptoms including fever, swelling of the lymph nodes, sore throat, muscle aches, skin rash, and back pain.
In August, WHO declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern, sounding the alarm over its potential for further international transmission.
Jaipur, Sep 25 : Veteran BJP leader and six-time MLA Suryakanta Vyas, affectionately known as "jiji" (elderly sister), passed away on Wednesday morning following a prolonged illness.
"Vyas was rushed to Mahatma Gandhi (MGH) Hospital at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, and soon after, her health deteriorated. She died during treatment at around 7.15 am today," her son Shivkumar Vyas said.
Suryakanta Vyas contested the election for the first time from Jodhpur (old city) constituency in the year 1990.
Vyas started her political career as a councillor and then won the 1990, 1993 and 2003 Assembly elections by a huge margin. She also contested from Sursagar Assembly constituency in 2008 and emerged victorious. She also won the 2013 and 2018 Assembly elections from Sursagar.
Several development projects were initiated in Jodhpur during her tenure when Vasundhara Raje and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat were Rajasthan Chief Ministers.
After reports of her demise, condolences started to pour in.
Jodhpur MP and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma expressed condolences on Vyas' demise.
The Union Minister said: "The demise of our senior leader respected Smt. Suryakanta Vyas ji is an irreparable loss to the Jodhpur region. "Jiji" was an MLA from the region six times. Everyone respected her popularity and seniority. I had received her blessings before this Lok Sabha election. My meeting with her is etched in my memory."
"I am deeply saddened. May Lord Shri Ram grant refuge to her soul. May the family and supporters get strength. Om Shanti!" he said.
CM Sharma said, "Received the sad news of the demise of former MLA from Sursagar Assembly, senior member of BJP family, Smt. Suryakanta Vyas 'Jiji'."
He further said: "I met her a few days back and got the opportunity to receive her blessings and guidance. Her immense love and affection towards me was always there. Her demise is an irreparable loss for the Bharatiya Janata Party family. My condolences are with the bereaved family."
"I pray to the Lord to grant a place to the departed soul in his lotus feet and give strength to the bereaved family to bear this immense sorrow. Om Shanti!" he said.
Los Angeles, Sep 25 : Hollywood star Shailene Woodley has talked about her health woes, and shared that she "couldn't walk for longer than five minutes at a time" during her 20s.
The 32-year-old actress played Beatrice Prior in "Divergent", sci-fi film trilogy between 2014 and 2016.
"I haven't spoken about what exactly it was because that feels like a personal thing that I don't need to disclose," she said on the 'She MD' podcast, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
The actress added: "I was in a position in my early 20s, it got to the point where I was losing my hearing, I couldn't walk for long periods of time without having to lay down for hours and hours and sleep. Everything I ate hurt my stomach."
Woodley recalled going on a "long journey" with her health troubles, as she searched for a solution.
She said: "It was this conflation of issues and diagnoses and different doctors telling me different things. I come from a very holistic background and studied herbalism so I was really keen on, 'Alright I'm gonna work with real MDs and I'm gonna work with independent healers.'
"And I was just trying to search for some sense of comfort in my own skin. It was a long journey."
Woodley took a decade to rediscover her old self.
The actress explained: "Throughout that decade a lot of other things came from feeling so much discomfort physically, which was 'My gosh, if everything I'm eating hurts my stomach, I'm now suddenly afraid of food.'"
"And then going into the mental that can happen with that - of body dysmorphia and confusion about identity and feeling safe in my own capsule."
Kolkata, Sep 25 : Some more major procedural lapses in the post-mortem of the victim's body in the R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital rape and murder case have come to the notice of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials.
Sources said that of the eight bodies whose autopsies were done at the morgue of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital on August 9, only the one -- that of the woman doctor -- was done after sunset, which is normally against the protocol.
The body of the victim was recovered from the seminar hall within the R.G. Kar complex on the morning of August 9.
Secondly, sources added, the post-mortem was completed just within 70 minutes, which the investigating officials feel was an unusually short period considering the seriousness of the matter.
These two factors, sources said, have created doubts on whether the completion of the autopsy within such a short period and that too after sunset was done deliberately so that the body can be cremated at the earliest to close all doors for a second autopsy.
The victim's parents claimed that they wanted to get the body of their daughter preserved at least for a day, but their plea was ignored by the administration. The amateurish language used in the post-mortem report has added to the doubts. The sources said a normal autopsy report mentions and describes the state in technical terms and proper medical terms are used but the one in the doctor's case lacked in all aspects.
The third point, that is baffling the investigating officials, is the lack of adequate light in the morgue while the post-mortem was being conducted, which to an extent affected the videography of the autopsy process. Sources said that the investigating officials also have serious doubts about the quality of the videography of the process and they doubt it was in an extremely lackadaisical manner unusual in such cases.
The final point of doubt, sources said, is from the complaint of the victim's parents that their plea for allowing at least one family member of a family acquaintance to be in the morgue during the autopsy was also ignored by the authorities.
Earlier this month, the office of Governor C.V. Ananda Bose raised some questions on the nature of the initial investigation carried out by Kolkata Police before the matter was handed over to CBI, one of which was the "hurried disposal of the body ignoring the wishes of the parents to retain it at least that day".
Beirut, Sep 25 : Hezbollah attacked multiple targets in northern Israel including military headquarters and settlements, using artillery and missiles in defence of Lebanon and its people.
In an official statement on Tuesday, Hezbollah reported that its fighters shelled the Dado base, home to the Israeli Northern Command, and the Eliakim military camp near Haifa using Fadi 2 missiles. The assault also struck the kibbutzim of HaGoshrim and Gesher Haziv, as well as the village of Qatsrin.
Lebanese military sources indicated that over 200 surface-to-surface missiles were fired from southern Lebanon at northern Israel. Hezbollah has recently deployed its 'Fadi' missile series, including Fadi 1, Fadi 2, and Fadi 3, for the first time in the 11-month conflict, Xinhua news agency reported.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Israeli Air Force executed more than 100 airstrikes across southern and eastern Lebanon, including a centre for the Islamic Health Authority in Nabatieh, resulting in the deaths of 10 medical staff.
Israel launched its most extensive airstrikes against Lebanon since 2006 on Monday and Tuesday, causing over 550 fatalities and injuring more than 1,800 individuals nationwide.
The significant escalation has heightened concerns about the possibility of a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with fears that other nations could also become involved.
Mumbai, Sep 25 : Digital lenders in India disbursed 2.64 crore loans worth Rs 37,676 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal, a volume growth of 15 per cent and a value growth of 27 per cent (year-on-year), a report showed on Wednesday.
The average ticket size for loans disbursed in Q1 FY25 was Rs 12,997, a 16 per cent increase from Q1 FY24, according to data from the Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE).
The data affirms strong customer demand for digital credit and its pivotal role towards the country's financial inclusion.
"Member companies responsibly meet customers' credit needs within the regulatory guardrails of customer protection and prudent risk management, earning the trust of the customers and stakeholders," said Sugandh Saxena, CEO at FACE.
Data also signals the industry's adaptability to overall macro conditions and alignment with the policy objectives.
Eleven companies with quarterly disbursements over 5 Lakh contributed 93 per cent of the total volume in the April-June period.
Nearly 55 per cent of companies reported growth in volume and 80 per cent in value in Q1 over last year. About half the companies reported QoQ de-growth in disbursement volume and value in Q1.
About 54 per cent of loans disbursed were through own/in-house NBFCs.
Of the 33 companies in this report, 27 reported an asset under management (AUM) of Rs 47,362 crore (as of June), which is 80 per cent of the total disbursement value.
Among the 27 companies, 10 have AUM exceeding Rs 1,000 crore, five are in the Rs 500-1,000 crore range, five fall between Rs 100-500 crore and seven have AUM below Rs 100 crore, showed the data by FACE, a Reserve Bank of India-recognised self-regulatory organisation in the fintech sector.
Baghdad, Sep 25 : Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid condemned the Israeli attacks on the southern suburb of Beirut, which resulted in the loss of lives and serious injury to many others.
"It (this development) could lead to an escalation of tensions and conflict, as well as an increase in instability and insecurity. It could also have a negative impact on economic and social development in the region," according to a statement released by the Iraqi Presidency on Tuesday.
The Iraqi President called on the international community to take a firm stance and prevent the outbreak of a "hellish" war in the region, stressing that "if we fail to prevent such an outbreak, the consequences would be catastrophic."
Rashid also reaffirmed Iraq's commitment to support the Palestinian and Lebanese people, according to Xinhua news agency.
An Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building in the southern suburb of Beirut on Tuesday, killing at least six people and injuring 15 others, local media reported. In a statement, the Israeli military confirmed that Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi, who was reportedly in charge of Hezbollah's missile and rocket operations, was killed in the strike. There has been no comment from Hezbollah on Qubaisi's death.
The airstrike is part of Israel's heaviest bombardments of Lebanon since 2006, which were launched on Monday and Tuesday and resulted in over 550 fatalities and more than 1,800 injuries across the country.
The significant escalation has raised concerns about the potential for a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with fears that other nations could also become involved.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, September 25. Uzbekistan and Slovakia signed an agreement on economic cooperation, Trend reports.
Happy to sign the agreement on economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and Slovakia with Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia Juraj Blanar. Business-to-business partnerships, facilitating trade growth, and joint projects will bring more tangible outcomes to bilateral relations, Uzbekistans Minister of Foreign Affairs Bakhtiyor Saidov wrote in his Telegram channel.
During the meeting, the sides also discussed a number of topics of bilateral, regional, and global collaboration.
In March, Bakhtiyor Saidov met with Juraj Blanar within the framework of the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya.
The ministers paid attention to strengthening ties between the two countries and plans for the near future. Bakhtiyor Saidov expressed his readiness to further expand cooperation at various levels.
Lahore, Sep 25 : A young policewoman was tortured and shot dead by her male colleague in Pakistan's Lahore, local media reported.
The victim, 27-year-old Constable Soman, serving in the anti-riot wing of the Lahore police, was shot three times in the fatal attack, reports Dawn.
According to police officials, the alleged killer, identified as policeman Farooq, fled the scene after committing the crime.
Witnesses stated that Farooq first subjected the victim to torture, after which the locals and passersby intervened and overpowered him. The police were not involved initially as the locals thought the suspect and victim were related.
However, later, Farooq pulled out a pistol and fired shots in the air, terrorising the gathered crowd, according to the local media reports.
As the passersby rushed for shelter, the suspect allegedly shot the female constable thrice, leaving her dead on the spot.
A police team and forensic experts arrived at the spot upon receiving the information and cordoned off the crime scene. After investigating the scene, the police recovered a service card from the deceased woman's purse, identifying her as a constable.
The body was then shifted to the city morgue for autopsy, and an FIR was registered against the suspect.
According to the police, the motive behind the murder is still unknown. Additionally, police teams have been dispatched to trace and arrest the suspect.
The investigation is ongoing, and further details are awaited.
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 25 : Pressured by the CPI, the second biggest ally in the Left government in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has ordered a probe against the alleged meeting of Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) M. R. Ajith Kumar with two high-ranking RSS officials last year.
During the meeting of the Left allies early this month, CM Vijayan assured that all issues would be looked into.
State DGP Sheikh Darvesh Saheb has been ordered to conduct a probe and file a report.
The controversy erupted after Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V. D. Satheesan said that Ajith Kumar had met RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale in May last year at Thrissur.
Later, there were reports that Ajith Kumar, along with a Chennai-based businessman, met another top RSS leader Ram Madhav at a hotel in Kovalam, here.
A notice has been served to Ajith Kumar's close aide Jayakumar who was also present in the "secret meeting" to appear before the probe team.
The Congress raked up the issue and CPI national secretary D. Raja and several Kerala CPI leaders followed suit, after which CM Vijayan ordered the probe.
Top Congress leaders took potshots, saying Ajith Kumar was the "conduit" of CM Vijayan's "close links" with the RSS as his daughter is facing some money laundering cases.
The CPI and several of the ruling Left allies said CM Vijayan was "shielding" Ajith Kumar.
This is the second probe against Ajith Kumar.
The earlier probe was ordered after a complaint by LDF-backed independent legislator P. V. Anvar who first termed the ADGP a "notorious criminal, who has modelled himself on fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim".
Then, he accused Ajith Kumar and his relatives of having amassed huge wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income besides engaging in "grave illegal activities".
Reacting to the turn of events AICC general secretary (organization) and Congress MP K.C.Venugopal said it's baffling to note why the CPI-M was silent on such a rendezvous.
"It's now clear that Ajith Kumar did not go in his official car and it means there was an agenda and all wish to know what transpired at the meeting," said Venugopal.
Damascus, Sep 25 : Syrian air defences intercepted multiple flying objects over the Mediterranean Sea near the province of Tartous, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Syrian air defences, on Tuesday night, managed to shoot down 13 "targets," as military radars detected warplanes in Syrian airspace, said the observatory, reports Xinhua news agency.
Missiles from Syrian air defence systems continued to be launched toward "targets" over the sea rather than on land, the Britain-based war monitor added, noting that it is still unclear whether the targets were missiles or drones.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in Tartous, a strategic coastal province that hosts a Russian naval facility.
While there has been no official comment on the incident yet, pro-government Sham FM radio reported that Syrian air defence systems were intercepting an Israeli attack over Tartous.
Mumbai, Sep 25 : A sprawling industrial hub at Chakan in Pune has complained of 'severe shortage' of water for the hundreds of factories there, and stated that repeated pleas to the Maharashtra government have fallen on deaf ears, compelling them to explore options of shifting to states like Gujarat, Karnataka or Tamil Nadu.
Riled by alleged stonewalling tactics at all levels in the Mahayuti government, the Chakan Industries Association (CIA) Pune, shot off a letter to Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan besides Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other bigwigs seeking personal intervention in the matter last week, said a top official.
Boasting of over 450 members, including many multinational corporations, small and medium industries, largely in the key automobile sectors, the 16-year-old CIA-Pune lamented that it has been 'thirsting' for water for nearly two decades.
"We have sent more than 30 letters and representations to the Maharashtra Jal Pradhikaran (MJP). But it has completely ignored our serious problems. Worse, the MJP has doubled our water charges and halved our water supply. In such a situation, many members are now planning to shift to neighbouring states like Gujarat, Karnataka or beyond," CIA-Pune Chairman Motilal Sankla told IANS.
The bustling Chakan region is divided into two major industrial zones, and ranks among half-dozen big and small such centres in Pune district.
One is the MIDC sprawled on 9,000-acres, employing over 2.75 lakh workers where all the necessary infrastructure and amenities are provided by the state government.
The other is the Free Zone Industrial Area (FZIA), where the CIA-Pune's around 450-plus member-units are located on 4,000-acres, employing 2 lakh-plus, but all amenities are provided by the local authorities.
Grappling with water scarcity since its fledgling days nearly three decades ago, the FZIA finally succeeded in convincing the state government to launch a 16-MLD water supply scheme from the Bhama-Askhed Dam, naming it 'CIA & 19 Villages Water Supply Scheme', in 2010.
Costing Rs 25.65 crore described as a pilot project of MJP by the then Union Minister Sharad Pawar the scheme was intended to satisfy the water needs of the CIA-Pune FZIA, proposed to be around 7.06 MLD and the 19 villages to be supplied the rest, making provision for distribution losses, etc., explained Sankla.
For this pilot scheme, the CIA-Pune contributed 20 per cent of the cost, and later diligently cleared all its monthly water bills, at a rate of Rs 21/1000 litres, amounting to over Rs 42 crore in the last 15 years.
"However, the reality was very different. Against the promised 7.06 MLD, we got barely 4.50 MLD till 2019 and now it has come down to around 2 MLD. Plus, the MJP has doubled water charges to Rs 45.21/1000 litres, compared with the MIDC's rate of only Rs 21.50/1000 litres. Some 70 big industries here have absolutely no water at all and depend fully on private tankers," Sankla lamented.
Pune activist Prafful Sarda said that the unique industrial initiative of Sharad Pawar is now being deprived of water, pushing it to a 'slow death' and forcing the industries to flee out of Maharashtra, which will hit lakhs of direct and indirect jobs.
"When there is sufficient water availability with the MJP, why are the 19 villages and CIA-Pune deprived of their rightful share of water supply? Where is the water leakage/diversion, or is the tanker mafia benefitting at the behest of some crooked officials," Sarda commented to IANS.
Among the big names which have units in CIA-Pune FZIA are L'Oreal, Bosch, Mahindra, Bajaj, Force Motors, Bharat Forge, Bomag India and others which don't get any water, informed Alpha Foam Ltd. Managing Director Rajiv Ranka.
Ranka said that on an average, the 70 big industries spend lakhs of rupees per month on tanker-water to meet their water needs of some 4-MLD, both for industrial and drinking purposes, owing to the MJP's fault.
Sarda pointed out that while the Mahayuti government is claiming to get big industries and investments, "will they actually set up projects here without guaranteed water supply", when other states are offering much more.
Sankla admits that though the Water Supply Minister Gulabrao Patil has been cooperative and sympathetic to their woes, the MJP officialdom and certain local pressure groups seem to create hurdles that could prove detrimental to the state's 'industry-friendly' image, and many might relocate to other states.
(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: qnajmi@gmail.com)
New Delhi, Sep 25 : BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) has raised concerns over the potential international link to the massive influx of suggestions and feedback on the Bill.
Dubey has called for an investigation by the Home Ministry, citing uniformity in language across the 1.25 crore suggestions received so far.
In a letter to JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal, Dubey expressed suspicion over the origin of these suggestions, highlighting the need to determine how many of them originated from within India and how many came from abroad.
He pointed out that the content of most submissions is nearly identical or has minor variations in language, raising doubts about a coordinated effort.
"The biggest issue is how many of these suggestions came from within India and how many suggestions came from abroad," he said.
Dubey specifically mentioned the involvement of individuals and organisations such as Zakir Naik, Jamaat-e-Islami, the Taliban, Pakistan's ISI, and China's Intelligence agencies in this.
He emphasised that these entities have long sought to destabilise India and undermine its democracy.
According to Dubey, the nature and scale of the feedback suggests that foreign powers may be at play to influence India's legislative process.
"These organisations and countries have been conspiring to destabilise India and weaken our democracy for a long time. Looking at such a large volume of suggestions and their content, it looks like foreign powers are trying to influence India's legislative work. If it is so, then it is an unprecedented attack on Indian sovereignty and the independence of Parliament," he said.
The BJP MP urged the JPC Chairman to allow the Home Ministry to thoroughly investigate the origins of the feedback and to probe the possible involvement of radical organisations, foreign powers, and their affiliates.
"The investigation should also cover the possible role of individuals like Zakir Naik and foreign powers like the ISI and China, as well as those indirectly linked to them," he demanded.
Vadodara, Sep 25 : After several parts of Vadodara in Gujarat faced flood fury in August, the city's municipal corporation has issued notices to people and entities for encroachments along the Vishwamitri River.
The flood fury had severely impacted the people and following the public outrage, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has issued notices for 13 locations, including Agora Mall, for unauthorised constructions along the river.
The corporation conducted thorough drone surveys, record inspections, and on-site visits, identifying various encroachments, such as kitchens, clubhouses, and retaining walls. The encroachers have been given three days to respond, after which the VMC will act to remove the illegal structures. Some have already begun voluntarily dismantling their encroachments.
The VMC has issued notices to several sites, including Water Lily in Vadsar, where a labour camp and retaining wall were identified, and voluntary removal has already been initiated. Similarly, Maryland Party Plot and Global Discovery School, both with canteen encroachments, have also begun voluntary removal efforts. Other sites include a site office near the bridge opposite Somnath Villa in Harni, a building opposite Urmi School in Harni, and a 55-room structure at Kashiba Children Hospital in Karelibaug.
The Shruti Mandir Ashram in Harni was found to have unauthorised construction, including a temple dome and prayer rooms. Agora Mall in Sama was identified for its clubhouse and retaining wall encroachments, while an industrial estate on Bahucharaji Road in Karelibaug and Vishwakunj Society both had temporary fabrication sheds. Lastly, the R.C. Patel Estate in Akota had a labour camp and retaining wall, and two buildings near Global School in Harni were also identified as encroachments.
The floods, which caused widespread disruption, intensified public demands for the removal of illegal constructions along the riverbanks.
Vadodara Municipal Commissioner Dilip Rana confirmed that action is being taken after identifying the violations and stressed that those failing to comply with the notices will face further enforcement.
In August, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel gave in-principle approval to a Rs 1,200-crore project to revive and rejuvenate the Vishwamitri River.
This follows a similar proposal by the BJP-led Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) in 2010 for the Vishwamitri Riverfront Development Project, for which a special-purpose vehicle was created, but no progress was made.
In 2019, after another round of flooding, the BJP government under then-Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced a large-scale project to rejuvenate the Vishwamitri River. Although the National Green Tribunal had approved the detailed project report, it was never implemented.
Bengaluru, Sep 25 : In a major development, the Special Court for MLAs/MPs in Bengaluru on Wednesday gave the nod for an investigation against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam case.
Judge Santhosh Gajanana Bhat passed the order and designated the Superintendent of Lokayukta, Mysuru district to probe the case. The court has asked Mysuru Lokayukta to submit the report in three months by December 24.
The court has stated that the case would be investigated under the provisions of 156 (3) of the CrPC.
Snehamayi Krishna, one of the petitioners against CM Siddaramaiah, had submitted a private complaint in the MUDA case with the court.
Following the order, the FIR will be lodged against CM Siddaramaiah and an investigation will be launched. The investigation officer will have the power to question and arrest CM Siddaramaiah.
Snehamayi Krishna also had submitted a petition to the Governor in which prosecution permission was given and the Karnataka High Court upheld the order of the Governor. Krishna on Wednesday submitted the order of the High Court to the Special Court.
The investigating officer will now have the power to lodge an FIR against CM Siddaramaiah, also take him into custody and arrest him.
Laxmi Iyengar, senior counsel appearing for Snehamayi Krishna stated that this is the first step. The direction to Mysuru Lokayukta to register the FIR and proceed with the investigation has been given.
The Special Court for MLAs/MPs stated that the High Court has upheld Governor Thaawarchand Gehlotas order to allow prosecution in the MUDA case. It also mentioned that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should not hesitate for an investigation. The court also mentioned the allegations by the petitioner against CM Siddaramaiah that he was in the positions of the CM, Dy CM and Leader of Opposition (LoP) when the key decisions were taken while the land allotment was made to his family.
The court mentioned that the charges include that though one Devaraju was not the owner of the land, the de-notification was done in his name. The purchase of the land was made from Devaraju by Siddaramaiah's brother-in-law.
Gohana, Sep 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress, saying that the grand old party during its helm had handed over the state to 'dalals' (middlemen) and 'damads' (sons-in-law).
Stepping up the attack, PM Modi, who returned from his three-day hectic tour of the US on Tuesday night, in a power-packed election speech in Gohana town in Haryana's Sonipat district, said there was no party more "dishonest" than the Congress.
"Congress ne Haryana ko dalalon aur damadon ke hawale kar diya (the state was handed over to brokers and son-in-law," he said.
Appealing to vote for the BJP for its record third straight win in the October 5 Assembly polls as the state is now a hub of multinational firms, PM Modi in a frontal attack on the Gandhi family raked up Robert Vadra's controversial land deals in the state during the Congress government from 2004 to 2014 said, "Haryana ko damad and dalal se bachana hai".
He said: "As the Assembly elections in Haryana are approaching, the Congress is getting weaker. The support for BJP in Haryana is increasing...The entire Haryana is saying aphir ek baar BJP sarkar'."
Also he warned, "Remember, if the Congress comes to power by mistake, they will ruin Haryana with their infighting. There is a fight going on in Congress here. In Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, their Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister are fighting."
"Voting for the Congress means putting Haryana's stability, and development at stake," PM Modi claimed.
"The world's trust in India has increased in the past 10 years. When I went to New York, many people from Haryana who grew up in America performed the Haryanavi traditional dance to welcome me...India is progressing after getting free from corruptionaBig companies from across the world are eager to invest in India.
"When these companies will invest in India, it will benefit the farmers and youth of Haryana. The BJP has announced that many industrial cities will be established in Haryana to provide job opportunities to the youth," the Prime Minister said.
Acknowledging a boy amongst the crowd, who had made a portrait of PM Modi, he asked the boy from the dais to handover the photo to his security personnel and promised to write a letter to him.
Taking a jibe at the Congress for "ignoring" the Dalits, PM Modi said, "Today, the Dalit community of Haryana is once again observing the drama that the Congress is playing. The Congress has always kept Dalits, OBCs (Other Backward Classes) and tribals deprived of participation. It was Baba Saheb Ambedkar who granted reservations to the Dalits. Otherwise, like the OBCs, Dalits would also have to wait for Congressa defeat to claim their rights."
After wrapping up the three-day "successful" US visit, Prime Minister Modi held his second public meeting in Haryana to woo electorates of 22 Assembly constituencies.
Several senior BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, shared the dais with the Prime Minister.
The PMas rally is seen as a crucial political platform as 18 Assembly constituencies falling under the Sonipat and Rohtak Lok Sabha constituencies and four Assembly constituencies of the Panipat district were covered.
Prime Minister Modi held his first rally in Kurukshetra on September 15 by launching the BJP's campaign to retain the helm in the state for the third straight term.
In the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP, which won 40 seats, well below the 75-plus target, and was six short of a majority in the 90-member Assembly, announced an alliance with the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) led by Dushyant Chautala, a great-grandson of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal.
The rival Congress had won 31 seats, while the less-than-year-old JJP, which broke away from the state's once major regional Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) owing to family disputes, won 10 seats.
Seven Independents and one each of the INLD and the Haryana Lokhit Party had also won.
Jammu, Sep 25 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday promised that his party would strive to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and protect the interests of its people and local businesses.
Addressing a rally in Jammu, as the state went in for the second phase of the Assembly elections, Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said: "This election is to empower you and this is the beginning of your statehood, your local industry will be protected, banks will open up for your support and for local industries.
He said big business groups could invest in the state "but you will have your place for small, medium industries and entrepreneurs".
Slamming the Centre over making J&K a Union Territory post the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, he said in the history of India, states were divided to create other states, but never was a state downgraded into a Union Territory.
"Your democratic right has been snatched from you. Today J&K is ruled by outsiders. We wanted you to get your rights before the election... You were not given statehood before the election, but we want your statehood restored very soon. No state has ever been deprived of its rights in India except J&K. I guarantee if the BJP does not give you statehood, the INDIA bloc will use all its power in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and if the BJP does not agree, then we will get you statehood through INDIA bloc which is coming to power soon," he said.
Seeking to reach out to the people of Jammu, he said that "Jammu is the hub for the businesses and production of Kashmir to get connected with other states" but accused the BJP of having destroyed small and medium industries and entrepreneurs.
"Centre and Lt Governor have broken their backbone. You might do anything... unless J&Kas small and medium businesses do not stand on their own legs, employment will not happen. As long as the Lt Governor is there, all contracts will go to outsiders..." he alleged.
Gandhi cited a woman telling him that she wanted to start a small business, and the government said she would get a grant, "which did not come".
"Her mother died and her father supported her, but her business could not take off. She said she now knows no small business can come up in J&K. She now wants to join administration or IT (sector), but how many of our youth can do that? One per cent, 2 per cent or 5 per cent. Then what happens to 95 per cent of our unemployed youth?"
Attacking the government on the "faulty" GST, the Congress leader cited the case of a restaurant owner telling Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, how he has to pay GST on selling a bun, a second GST for adding cream and if he sells the two things separately, he has to pay the third GST.
He also asserted that his party will fulfil promises made to Kashmiri Pandits by former Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, as well as the promise of a financial package to refugees from Pakistan.
In a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his comments during the recent Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi stressed he was human only. "We are human beings like you and my connection is with you. I will always carry out your orders," he said, appealing to voters to elect Congress candidates in the third and final phase of J&K polls scheduled on October 1.
The final phase of the polls will cover 40 seats in the Jammu, Samba, Kathua, and Udhampur districts of the Jammu region, and the Bandipora, Baramulla, and Kupwara districts of the Kashmir Valley.
Kolkata, Sep 25 : Sitting Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP from Basirhat constituency, Haji Nurul Islam, died at his residence on Wednesday afternoon.
The 61-year-old two-time MP was suffering from liver cancer for quite some time. He is survived by his wife Rashida Begum and four children.
He first got elected in 2009 from Basirhat as a Trinamool Congress candidate, but the party did not give him re-nomination in 2014 and 2019.
However, he was nominated again in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls.
He got elected by a massive margin of around 3.4 lakh votes defeating the face of the Sandeshkhali movement and the BJP's candidate Rekha Patra.
However, Patra later filed a petition at the Calcutta High Court challenging the results.
Islam was elected from the Haroa Assembly constituency as the party legislator in 2016 and in 2021.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has issued a statement on her official X handle condoling the death of Islam.
"Sad to know of the demise of my valued colleague, our MP of Basirhat, Haji Sk. Nurul Islam. He was a dedicated social worker in a remote Sundarban area, and he worked hard for the uplift of poor people in a backward region. People of Basirhat will miss his leadership. I convey my condolences to his family, friends and colleagues," the Chief Minister's message read.
His close associates in the party said he was not in good health even when his name was announced as the party candidate from Basirhat this year.
"He had to be hospitalised a number of times since then and he could not even participate in a full- fledged campaign because of his ailments," said a close associate of the deceased Lok Sabha MP.
Besides Kolkata, he was also treated by cancer specialists in Delhi and Mumbai.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, September 25. Uzbekistan plans to sign a new agreement on international road transport with China, Trend reports.
This was revealed during a meeting between the Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan, Ilkhom Makhkamov, and the Minister of Transport of China, Li Xiaopeng.
The parties noted that relations between Uzbekistan and China have risen to a new level of comprehensive strategic partnership, with transportation issues occupying a leading role.
During the meeting, Ilkhom Makhkamov highlighted several important issues that need to be jointly resolved to strengthen cooperation.
In particular, he emphasized the need to increase the official quota for the exchange of permit forms for national carriers.
Meanwhile, the trade turnover between Uzbekistan and China amounted to $8.01 billion from January through August 2024. This indicator shows a 3.2 percent decrease year-on-year ($8.28 billion in January-August 2023).
New Delhi, Sep 25 : India clocked record foodgrain production at 3,322.98 LMT (lakh metric tonnes) in the agriculture year 2023-24 -- higher by 26.11 LMT than the production of foodgrains at 3,296.87 LMT achieved during agriculture year 2022-23, the Centre said on Wednesday.
The foodgrain production saw a record increase due to good results with rice, wheat, and millet crops.
Total rice production is estimated at a record 1,378.25 LMT in the year 2023-24 -- up by 20.70 LMT from the previous yearas rice production of 1,357.55 LMT.
Meanwhile, wheat production during 2023-24 is estimated at a record 1,132.92 LMT -- higher by 27.38 LMT than 1,105.54 LMT last year, as per the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmersa Welfareas final estimates of production.
The production of millets is estimated at 175.72 LMT, as compared to 173.21 LMT during the previous year.
"During 2023-24, there were drought-like conditions in southern states, including Maharashtra and prolonged dry spells during August, especially in Rajasthan. The moisture stress from the drought also affected the Rabi season. This mainly impacted the production of pulses, coarse cereals, soybean, and cotton," the ministry noted.
While nutri/coarse cereals recorded 569.36 LMT production, maize was at 376.65 LMT, total pulses at 242.46 LMT, tur at 34.17 LMT, gram at 110.39 LMT, total oilseeds at 396.69 LMT, groundnut at 101.80 LMT, soybean at 130.62 LMT, sugarcane at 4531.58 LMT, and cotton at 325.22 lakh bales (170 kgs each), informed the ministry.
The estimates have been primarily prepared on the basis of information received from states and UTs. The crop area has been validated and triangulated with information received from Remote Sensing, Weekly Crop Weather Watch Group and other agencies. Crop yield estimates are majorly based on Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) conducted nationwide.
Meanwhile, the area sown under commercial or cash crops such as sugarcane, cotton, jute, and mesta has increased from 18,214.19 thousand hectares in agriculture year 2021-22 to 18,935.22 thousand hectares in agriculture year 2023-24, as per the latest government data.
Bhopal, Sep 25 : In a case of negligence, two students died of electrocution at a government-run hostel for tribal students in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.
The tragic incident occurred at a hostel located in the Sardarpur Assembly segment in Dhar district. The deceased were identified as Vikas Ninama and Akash Ninama, both students of class 12.
According to sources, the students were cleaning a water tank in the hostel when they came in contact with an electric wire. The water tank was fitted with a motor pump to push water from the tank.
Parents of the deceased students, along with villagers, staged a protest at the hostel and demanded action against the hostel management. It is yet unknown who exactly told the students to clean the water tank.
Administrative officials and local area police reached the spot and took the bodies for postmortem. Further investigation is underway.
"Two students were cleaning a water tank at the hostel when they came in contact with an electric wire. They were rushed to a heart hospital where the doctors declared them dead on arrival," a police official told the press.
Sardarpur MLA (Congress) Pratap Grewal, who reached the hostel and sought an independent inquiry into the matter, indulged in a heated argument with former MLA (BJP) Vel Singh Bhuria.
BJP leader Bhuria accused the Congress MLA of playing politics on the death of the students. However, the police officials managed to control the situation.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Megha Pawar, talking to the press, said that a case has been registered at a local police station and an inspection would carried out at the hostel. "Further action would be taken on the basis of investigation in the matter," Parmar added.
Quetta, Sep 25 : As targeted attacks on police officials continue in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, a bomb blast left 12 people injured in Quetta's Bhora Mandi area along the Eastern Bypass, on Wednesday.
Quetta, Sep 25 (IANS) As targeted attacks on police officials continue in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, a bomb blast left 12 people injured in Quetta's Bhora Mandi area along the Eastern Bypass, on Wednesday.
The injured included at least two policemen. As per the police sources, the bomb was planted in a motorcycle parked close to a police vehicle.
The injured have been shifted to Sandeman Civil Hospital while a bomb disposal squad cordoned off the area to start a probe into the incident.
The nature of the explosion is yet to be ascertained. Till now, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, it is expected that the separatist militant group operating in Balochistan, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) along with its multiple affiliate groups are responsible for the attack.
The incident comes only two days after a similar attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Swat district when a police van in a convoy of vehicles carrying several foreign envoys was targeted in a remote-controlled bomb blast. The Swat attack claimed the life of one officer, while four other officers were injured.
Terror attacks in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan provinces have surged considerably since 2021, after Afghanistan was taken over by the Afghan Taliban.
According to a report compiled by the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS), there has been a major surge in terror attacks in the both provinces during the current year.
As per the report statistics, the number of attacks in these regions surged from 38 in July 2024 to 59 in August, with at least 29 incidents reported in KP and 28 in Balochistan.
Pakistan government and the military establishment has launched Operation 'Azm-e-Istehkam' in June 2024, which it claims is a kinetic operation with a renewed national counter-terrorism initiative aimed at eradicating terrorism under the countryas National Action Plan (NAP).
Bengaluru, Sep 25 : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday reiterated that he is ready to face any investigation, shortly after a Special Court gave the nod for a probe against him in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam.
Speaking to the media in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah stated, that the Special Court for People's Representatives has given the order of investigation against me on the basis of the order of the High Court under Section 17 A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
"I have not received the order for the copy yet. Once I get the orders, I will react to the development. I can understand the media's curiosity in this regard. But I am leaving for Kerala now and I will get the order only after my return," he said.
"I stated on Tuesday after the Karnataka High Court's order that we are ready to face the investigation. There is no fear and we will take up the legal battle. I will reiterate the same words today as well," he added.
"The matter has been referred to the Mysuru Lokayukta. The decision is taken against the backdrop of the complainant hailing from Mysuru and the MUDA institution is located in Mysuru. The High Court has already given directions for an investigation and in this background, the Special Court has ordered an investigation," CM Siddaramaiah stated.
When asked about his plans to appeal the orders, the CM stated, once the order copy is obtained, I will sit with the legal experts and discuss to take a final call.
Answering a question, CM Siddaramaiah stated that though the Lokayukta will probe the matter, the Commission appointed by the state government to probe the MUDA case will continue its probe. The commission will look into the entire MUDA scam.
In a major development, the Special Court for MLAs/MPs in Bengaluru on Wednesday gave the nod for an investigation against Siddaramaiah in the MUDA scam.
Judge Santhosh Gajanana Bhat passed the order and designated the Superintendent of Lokayukta, Mysuru district to probe the case. The court has asked Mysuru Lokayukta to submit the report in three months by December 24.
The court said that the case would be investigated under the provisions of 156 (3) of the CrPC.
Snehamayi Krishna, one of the petitioners against CM Siddaramaiah, had submitted a private complaint in the MUDA case with the court.
Following the order, the FIR will be lodged against CM Siddaramaiah and an investigation will be launched. The investigation officer will have the power to question and arrest CM Siddaramaiah.
New Delhi, Sep 25 : Companies must immediately address the concerns raised by employees on harassment at the workplace, and the lack of maternity benefits, said Delina Khongdup, Member National Commission for Women on Wednesday.
Addressing ASSOCHAM 5th Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Awards and Conclave 2024, Khongdup stressed the need for diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
"This should be a constant practice in organisations for the entitlement of women and all genders. This is a human and social responsibility to achieve gender diversity for all walks of society. India has a vast diversity and there should be a feeling of inclusivity in all the places possible," she said.
While there has been an amendment to the Companies Act to increase the representation of women on the board of directors, the reality, however, is that there is less than 5 per cent of women at the CEO level in the Indian workforce.
"Corporate India should recognise this inclusivity and bridge the gender balance relationship in working spaces. Harassment in the workplace and non-payment of maternity benefits should be addressed immediately for betterment. We should apply a holistic approach to achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat @2047," Khongdup said.
Khongdup's comments come even as Anna Sebastian, a young CA at audit firm Ernst and Young succumbed to death in Pune due to severe work pressure.
Anna (26) passed away on July 21 after being burdened with a "backbreaking workload" and "work stress", claimed her mother Anita
Augustine in a heart-wrenching letter to Chairman Rajiv Memani. Anna worked for four months at the accounting firm.
Ravi Bhatnagar, Co-Chairperson, ASSOCHAM National CSR highlighted the importance of recognising employee well-being at workplaces so that gender diversity can take center stage.
United Nations, Sep 25 : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has extended an invitation to several nations, including India, to join efforts in organising a second Peace Summit aimed at ending the ongoing conflict with Russia.
Speaking at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting, Zelensky emphasised the need for collective action to stop Russia's war and work towards a peaceful resolution.
"We all know what needs to be done if we honestly look at the situation and truly want to stop Russia's war. Most importantly, act together, in unity, without creating unnecessary divisions of the world into blocs or regional groups," Zelensky said.
Inviting key global players, he stated, "We have to prepare for the second Peace Summit to end the war. All together. I invite all of you, all principal nations, to join us in this process. All who truly respect the UN charter. We invite China and Brazil, and I have already invited India. We are working with African nations, Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe, Pacific nations, and North America. All are equally important for peace, without exception".
Zelensky reiterated his confidence in achieving peace, asserting, "We have the peace formula, we have the UN Charter, and we have the strength to make it happen. Whatas needed is determination".
His remarks come after a recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the UN 'Summit of the Future'.
The discussion marked the third bilateral meeting between the two leaders this year, focusing on international cooperation and the ongoing peace process.
Following the meeting, Zelensky expressed gratitude for the productive conversation, writing on X, "The main focus of our conversation was on enhancing our interaction on international platforms, particularly at the UN and G20, as well as implementing the Peace Formula and preparing for the second Peace Summit. We had a substantive discussion on the available opportunities."
"I am grateful for Prime Minister Modi's clear support of our sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zelensky added, underscoring India's diplomatic stance on the Ukraine conflict.
During their discussions, PM Modi reiterated India's commitment to resolving the war through diplomacy and dialogue. India has maintained a neutral stance on the conflict, advocating for peaceful negotiations.
The second Peace Summit is expected to bring together key nations and international stakeholders to discuss pathways toward ending the war and restoring stability to Ukraine.
In June, India had decided to "avoid association with the joint communique or any other document" emerging from the two-day 'Summit on Peace in Ukraine' held at Burgenstock near Lucerne in Switzerland.
Besides India, several other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil, Armenia, Libya, Indonesia, Bahrain, Colombia and the United Arab Emirates, also refrained from signing the final communique of the Peace Summit.
"Our participation in this summit and continued engagement with all stakeholders is with a view to understanding different perspectives, approaches and options to find a way forward for a sustainable resolution of the conflict," said Pavan Kapoor, Secretary West at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) who led the Indian delegation at the event.
"In our view, only those options acceptable to both parties can lead to abiding peace," Kapoor, India's former Ambassador to Russia, mentioned.
Mumbai, Sep 25 : Actress Shweta Tripathi, best known for her commendable works in 'Mirzapur' has lent her voice to the character in the show 'Jagriti- Ek Nayi Subah'.
Shweta has given her voice to a powerful poem 'Tum Ladki Ho' performed by herself that captures a brief side of Jagriti's journey.
She expressed her admiration and said, "Lending my voice to Jagriti's story was a natural choice. Her journey highlights the unfair disadvantages so many children are forced to face just because of where they are born."
"It's a story about dignity and breaking free from societal labels. No one should be deprived of basic rights or opportunities because of the community they come from." She concluded.
For the unversed, the thought-provoking poem performed by Shweta has been taken on through live nukkad natak performances across Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, and Patna that have now become the starting of many conversations about the social changes in society.
Apart from Shweta, Olympic Medalist Mirabai Chanu, Indian Sprinter Hima Das, Paralympic Gold Medalist Sumit Antil, and Comedian Bharti Singh have also become part of the movement #JagritiSeBadlaav.
Talking about the struggle of girls and women, Mirabai said, "Coming from a small village and being a woman who wanted to enter a male domain such as weightlifting, I know what it feels like to be told that your dreams are too big for you. Jagriti's story echoes the hardships many of us have faced. Every child deserves a fair shot at life, and that's why I stand with her in this movementbecause no one should be held back by where they were born."
Bharti added some humor to the issue and said, "As a woman, I have faced a fair share of body image judgments. But I turned those obstacles into my strength. Jagriti's story is a reminder that every child deserves dignity and the chance to dream big. This movement is about breaking the cycle of stigma and giving everyone the same opportunities."
The show started to air on September 16, 2024, on Zee TV and focuses on the story of a young girl named Jagriti fighting for the rights of the marginalized community where innocent babies are branded as criminals moments after their birth.
The show features, Aarya Babbar, Asmi Deo and Prakhar Saxena in crucial roles.
IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 25 : The Parsi Community of Maharashtra on Wednesday joined the Indian Minorities Foundation (IMF)'s 'Sewa Pakhwada' event, a fortnight-long campaign to celebrate PM Modi's 74th birthday.
They took part in PM Modi's 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' initiative and paid respects to Mother Earth by planting saplings. They also prayed for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's long and healthy life and exuded confidence in the progress and prosperity of the country under his leadership.
They also spoke about ten years of growth and inclusion under PM Modi and pledged support for his Vision for Viksit Bharat.
Many prominent members of the Parsi community including Manik Dastoor and Khojeste P Mistree attended the event. Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and IMF convener Satnam Singh Sandhu was also present on the occasion.
During the event, the Parsi community thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his 'compassionate leadership' during the past 10 years by upholding religious freedom to all minority communities in India including Parsis.
They also lauded PM Modi for opening the way for granting Indian citizenship to Parsi community members persecuted in other countries with the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Members of the Parsi community said despite being a minority among minorities in the country, they are living happily in India under PM Modi's leadership. They said despite facing persecution elsewhere in the world, Parsis have found a safe haven in India and are prospering in various fields under PM Modi's leadership.
'The Parsi community has seen unprecedented development in the last 10 years under PM Modi's leadership,' they said.
They also thanked PM Modi for giving due recognition to the contribution of the community to India's development by giving them 10 Padma Awards and initiating schemes like the Jio Parsi Scheme to increase the population of the community.
They said from Mudra loans and scholarships to the creation of entrepreneurial opportunities, youth from the Parsi community have been empowered like never before in the last 10 years under the Modi government.
Parsi community members said that the Parsi community is standing shoulder to shoulder with the Prime Minister in helping realise his vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047 and strengthen the country in every sector
IMF convener Satnam Singh Sandhu said, "PM Modi has taken the great initiative like Jiyo Parsi scheme for arresting the population decline of the Parsi Community by adopting scientific protocol and structured interventions to stabilise their population in India.
"Jiyo Parsi scheme, launched in 2014 by Prime Minister Modi to boost the Parsi population in India, is an ambitious plan to halt the decline of our population and it has begun to show success. The population has increased by 25 per cent, growing from 57,264 to 71,000 which is great news for a community facing extinction. The Modi government has also launched the Jiyo Parsi scheme Portal which would enable more Parsi Couples to take advantage of the scheme by applying online, and receiving financial assistance online through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode," he said.
"Parsi couples with a family income below Rs 15 lakh annually, having a child after 2017-18, are also receiving Rs 8,000 per month per child until age 18. Additionally, Rs 10,000 per month is being provided for each elderly dependent (60+ years), starting after the child's birth and continuing for their lifetime. A budget of Rs 60 crore has been allocated for this scheme which will continue till 2025-26. This is another great initiative of the Modi government," Sandhu added.
Khojeste P. Mistree, a trustee of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet said: "The fact that we have been looked after in India from the time we arrived in India in the 10th century, to me that is very important. It shows the spirit of Mother India, the spirit of secularity in India. From that point of view, it's a wonderful experience for our small community."
On 10 Padma Awards given to Parsis in the past 10 years, Mistree said, "I am very happy that the immense contribution of the Parsi community has been recognised in the field of industry, armed forces, law, health and other fields."
On the empowerment of 4,054 women from the Parsi community under the Lakhpati Didi scheme of the PM Modi government, Mistree said, "It's wonderful that poor Parsis have been helped".
Jeroo Jal Rabadi, Honorary Joint Secretary, Khareghat Colony Youth Association Trust Fund, said, "PM Modi has done so much for the Parsi community. No other Prime Minister has done that much than he has done."
Lauding PM Modi for granting Indian citizenship to Parsi community members persecuted in other countries with the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), she said, "It's a wonderful thing because we are a micro minority community and to get people (Parsi) back from other countries will be lovely"
On Jio Parsi scheme, Rabadi: "He is one leader who can do something for us, afterwards we don't know what will happen. With his leadership, we are hoping for a lot. And we are also sure and confident that he will do things for us. We Parsi sisters are with him all the way to achieve the vision of Viksit Bharat and we can envision the future that he does for us. So, we are with him all the way and we hope this birthday gives him a lot more good health, happiness, prosperity so that he in turn can do things for us. So may he live long and help us Parsis."
Pearl Misty, a counsellor of Jiyo Parsi Scheme said, "PM Modi is doing so much for our Parsi community. I want to thank him for that. I am proud that I am associated with the Parsi community. PM Modi has always encouraged the Parsi community and has also appreciated their contribution. He has always recognized the values of the Parsi community."
"An amount of Rs 22 crore has been released under the 'Jio Parsi Yojana' for the welfare of the Parsi community. Parsi couples with family income less than 10 lakhs, who have elderly members in their family, have been provided financial assistance which is proving to be very helpful for the Parsi community. PM Modi has made the Citizenship Amendment Act to give shelter to the Parsi community in India, who were living outside India in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and other countries. They have also been given citizenship to live here. This is also a commendable effort of the Modi government," he added.
Aizawl, Sep 25 : The Centre allowed the Mizoram government to procure 1,379.34 metric tonnes (MT) of rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns for over 44,000 refugees from Manipur as well as neighbouring nations of Myanmar and Bangladesh living in the northeastern state since a long period of time, an official said on Wednesday.
According to a senior Mizoram government official, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) would bear the cost of the rice (Rs 5 crore) while transportation of the rice would be arranged by the Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ministry and the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department of the state government.
The official said that after procurement of the rice from FCI godowns, the Deputy Commissioners of Mizoram's 11 districts would ensure that it reaches the refugees.
After a hectic persuasion by the Mizoram government, the Centre had earlier provided Rs 3 crore as humanitarian assistance for Myanmar refugees when the Mizo National Front was in power.
The Central government also assured to provide Rs 5 crore for the refugees after the Zoram People's Movement-led government came to power in November last year.
According to the officials, around 34,000 refugees from Myanmar took shelter in Mizoram in phases after the military takeover in the conflict-ridden country in February 2021, while more than 2,000 Bangladeshi tribals have been staying in Mizoram since November 2022 after they fled Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) following ethnic troubles in the neighbouring country.
Currently, there are around 8,000 refugees from Manipur who have taken shelter in several districts of Mizoram after the ethnic violence broke out in the neighbouring state in May last year.
The refugees from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Manipur belong to the Kuki-Zo-Chin-Hmar tribal community who also share ethnic, traditional, cultural and linguistic ties with the Mizos of Mizoram.
Ahmedabad, Sep 25 : Four suspects involved in multiple cases of loot and theft were arrested by the Crime Branch of Ahmedabad Police.
The operation led to the recovery of eight illegal pistols, 39 cartridges, and assets valued at Rs 2.33 lakh.
The arrests were made following a raid conducted by the Ahmedabad Rural Special Operations Group (SOG).
The accused, identified as Kishore Kumar alias K.K. Panchal (31), Vismakumar Padhiyar (32), Jagdish Lal alias J.K. Lohar (32), and Amin Rafikbhai Memon (31), were found in possession of firearms and ammunition without any legal authorisation. The raid also resulted in the seizure of mobile phones and other critical evidence.
Investigations revealed that the suspects were connected to an illegal arms network. The key supplier, identified as Mansingh Sikhligar, is still at large, and efforts are underway to apprehend him. The arrested individuals have a long history of criminal involvement, including cases of robbery, theft, and illegal firearm possession. Their activities span Gujarat and Rajasthan, making them notorious figures in the region.
Police have filed three separate cases under the Arms Act and the Gujarat Police Act, and further investigations are ongoing to uncover the full extent of the illegal firearms network.
In July 2024, Gujarat Police expressed concern over the smuggling of illegal firearms from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh. Firearms are trafficked from Madhya Pradeshas districts like Barwani, Khargone, Sangrur, and Bhind to gunrunners in Gujarat. Barrels used to manufacture these illegal 7.62 mm and 7.65 mm pistols in MP are supplied from Surat.
On April 4, 2024, the Madhya Pradeshas Anti-Terrorism Squad raided one individual Sarnam Singh's home in the Prabhunagar area of Surat, uncovering 360 barrels made from the steering shafts of four-wheeler vehicles.
During interrogation, Singh admitted to supplying raw materials and barrels for pistol manufacturing in MP. The raid followed a significant crackdown on illegal firearm production in the Khargone district of MP.
According to Gujarat ATS, in the past few years, they have seized over 150 semi-automatic country-made pistols and arrested around 60 accused individuals involved in the illegal arms trade. This growing smuggling network has raised concerns about the spread of illicit weapons in the region.
SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, September 25. Uzbekistan and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have signed an updated roadmap until 2026, providing for the implementation of promising projects worth more than $4 billion, the statement of the press service of Uzbekistan's president said, Trend reports.
According to information, the signing took place at the meeting of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev with AIIB head Jin Liqun within the program of the annual meeting of the bank's Board of Governors.
The meeting also discussed issues of deepening cooperation achieved in recent years. In particular, the sides noted the successful implementation of joint projects worth more than $3 billion, which makes Uzbekistan one of the main beneficiaries of the bank in the region.
The President of Uzbekistan proposed to develop a Strategic Partnership Program until 2030, which will be aimed at developing the country's infrastructure.
The program's priority areas include support for education reforms and modernization of key infrastructure sectors - water, transport, and energy.
Special attention was paid to the promotion of large infrastructure projects in Central Asia, which should help strengthen regional cooperation.
The AIIB is holding its first-ever Central Asia Annual Governing Council Meeting on the theme Building Sustainable Infrastructure for All on September 25-26, 2024, in the city of Samarkand.
The two-day event will feature more than 25 panel discussions on innovations in infrastructure financing, climate resilience and sustainable development, and digital transformation of infrastructure projects.
Bengaluru, Sep 25 : The petitioners, Snehamayi Krishna and T.S. Pradeep Kumar, in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) said on Wednesday that they will demand a CBI probe in the case after an FIR is registered against the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Speaking to the media after the court's verdict of entrusting the investigation in the MUDA case to Mysuru Lokayukta, Snehamayi Krishna stated that once the legal procedures are started and an FIR is lodged against Siddaramaiah, a petition would be submitted before the appropriate court demanding the CBI probe.
When asked about Siddaramaiah claiming that there is no direct role in the scam and he had not given any signature or oral orders in the MUDA case, Snehamayi Krishna said that it need not be direct involvement.
"Even if there is an indirect role, it is as good as committing the crime. We had provided enough evidence to prove the direct involvement of Siddaramaiah. The High Court gave its verdict based on that evidence," he said.
T.S. Pradeep Kumar, another petitioner in the case demanded that the FIR should be lodged in the MUDA case immediately and investigation should commence.
"The accused persons named in the complaint should be questioned and custodial interrogation should be conducted. Siddaramaiah should tender his resignation immediately to his position. The central leaders who carry the copy of the Constitution to the Lok Sabha and read it, how can they tolerate the Chief Minister facing the FIR on charges of cheating, forgery and other illegalities," Kumar said.
He added that there is no necessity for prosecution and demanding an investigation.
"From 1997 to 2021, the transactions in the MUDA case have taken place. It needs to be investigated and the common man can't deal with the matter," Pradeep Kumar stated.
The West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is the INDIA bloc partner had already questioned the central Congress leaders on when they are getting the resignation of the Chief Minister. "I am confident that for sure the Congress high command will take his resignation," she said.
Minister for Higher Education M.C. Sudhakar stated that there should be an investigation, adding that there is no action against Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy even as the property is in the name of his mother-in-law.
"Siddaramaiah has no role in the MUDA case. No one will keep the land as it is after de-notification if there is any illegality. It shows that Siddaramaiah had no intention of misuse," he said.
Minister for Forest Eshwar Khandre said that the MUDA case is a conspiracy. "The opposition's ploy to turn the administration upside down won't happen. The BJP and JD-S parties won't succeed in their strategy," he said.
In a major development, the Special Court for MLAs/MPs in Bengaluru on Wednesday gave the nod for an investigation against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam case.
Judge Santhosh Gajanana Bhat passed the order and designated the Superintendent of Lokayukta, Mysuru district to probe the case. The court has asked Mysuru Lokayukta to submit the report in three months by December 24.
The court has stated that the case would be investigated under the provisions of 156 (3) of the CrPC.
Snehamayi Krishna, one of the petitioners against Siddaramaiah, had submitted a private complaint in the MUDA case with the court.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday reiterated that he is ready to face any investigation, shortly after a special court gave the nod for a probe against him in the MUDA case.
--IANS
mka/dan
New Delhi, Sep 25 : Actress and politician Urmila Matondkar has taken a significant step in her personal life, filing for divorce from her husband, Mohsin Akhtar Mir, after eight years of marriage. According to our analysis the couple seemed to have faced challenges over the past year, leading to this difficult decision.
Urmila tied the knot with Kashmir-based businessman and model Mohsin Akhtar Mir on March 3, 2016. In 2023, she celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary with a heartfelt post on Instagram, sharing cherished photographs from their marriage. However, this year marked a noticeable absence on her social media, as she chose not to share any anniversary tribute, hinting at the challenges the couple has faced in recent months.
On May 21, 2023, Urmila shared a touching birthday message for her husband, Mohsin, celebrating his "kind heart" and "generosity of soul." Her heartfelt words showcased the love and admiration she had for him. However, this year, the absence of any birthday tribute from the actress reflects the significant changes in their relationship, further underscoring the challenges they have faced over the past year. The silence speaks volumes as Urmila navigates this new chapter in her life.
Throughout the first half of 2023, Urmila shared joyful moments with her husband Mohsin, posting happy pictures together during Eid in April and June, as well as snaps from their vacation in January. She also celebrated holidays like New Year and Christmas with heartwarming posts. However, since June 2023, Urmila has refrained from sharing any photos with Mohsin, signaling a shift in their relationship.
On Mohsinas Instagram, the last couple photo dates back to March 4, 2023, and while his earlier posts featured romantic moments, the absence of recent updates suggests that all may not be well between the couple since mid-2023.
Moreover, as IANS has earlier reported, one possible reason could be the age gap between Urmila and Mohsin as the actress is 10 years elder to him, and also married quite late in life, in her 40s. Generally, marriages with huge age gaps lead to complications in the relationships.
Another reason being speculated is the tiff over finances that strained their relationship. A user on the content aggregation platform Reddit wrote that Mohsin, and her family were forcing the actress to sell off her property for their business till she had nothing.
As per the media reports, the divorce is not mutual with Urmila filing for the divorce four months ago.
Mohsin is a businessman and model from Kashmir, and has also worked in films such as aLuck By Chancea, aBA Passa and aMumbai Mast Kallandera. Mohsin and Urmila first crossed paths during the wedding of celebrated fashion designer Manish Malhotra's niece in 2014.
It was said to be love at first sight for Mohsin. As a matter of fact, Manish was among the few public figures present at their intimate nuptials when the duo tied the nuptial knot in 2016. Urmila and Mohsin had paid a visit to Amritsar's Golden Temple, followed by a Nikah.
Tokyo, Sep 25 : A woman was confirmed dead on Wednesday after her body was found near a river in Japan's Ishikawa prefecture, bringing the death toll from the record-breaking rainfall to nine, local media reported.
Police were still searching for two others missing and as of 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday, there were still six others who remained unaccounted for, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the public broadcaster NHK.
Record-breaking torrential rain pounded Ishikawa on September 21 and 22, a region still reeling from a major earthquake at the start of the year.
Severe flooding and landslides have caused extensive damage in the aftermath of the rainfall, with authorities calling for continued vigilance.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 46 locations across Wajima City, Suzu City, and Noto Town remained isolated and 5,216 households were experiencing water shortages due to power outages and water pipe damage, according to the report.
New Delhi, Sep 25 : BJP Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari on Wednesday criticised the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, saying that he (LoP) 'thinks' like the people of Pakistan who do not acknowledge J&K as part of India.
"Rahul Gandhi's mindset is divisive. He refers to people outside J&K as outsiders and speaks as if Kashmir is not a part of India, which echoes the thinking of those in Pakistan," a BJP spokesperson told IANS.
The BJP Spokesperson said that Rahul Gandhi carries a copy of the Constitution but doesn't seem to follow it.
"Rahul Gandhi fears that the people of Kashmir will not accept him, as they have already embraced Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development agenda. That is why Omar Abdullah advised him to hold rallies throughout J&K, rather than in just one location, but he is unable to run an effective campaign," he added.
Commenting on the new Delhi Chief Minister, Bhandari said, "Atishi, competing with her political mentor and corruption guru Arvind Kejriwal, understands that if she doesn't glorify the former Delhi CM's corrupt practices, she won't be able to maintain her position as the puppet Chief Minister of Delhi."
He further mentioned that those who once glorified Afzal Guru and advocated for hospitals instead of the Ram Mandir are now insulting millions of Hindus again by comparing a person living in a a40 crore mansion and allegedly implicated in the liquor scam, as per the court, with Lord Ram, which is tragic and unfortunate.
"The AAP has made it clear that such individuals are considered sinful in the eyes of Hindus, making this comparison deeply offensive," he added.
Addressing the MUDA case Pradeep Bhandari stated, "Siddaramaiah, the most corrupt Chief Minister Karnataka has ever seen, has been accused by the Karnataka High Court of misusing his position to grant an illicit benefit of a55 crore to his son and wife."
"Despite Rahul Gandhi's constant parading with the Constitution, he is not demanding Siddaramaiah's resignation, because he allegedly orchestrates this corruption," alleged the BJP spokesperson.
He said that earlier Siddaramaiah used to disrupt Assembly proceedings over corruption issues but is now silent when exposed. "This proves that the Congress is a party of corruption, with internal competition to be crowned the king of corruption," he added.
Commenting on Badlapur's encounter, the BJP spokesperson expressed that under the NDA government with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, it has been made clear that they will stand firmly with the victims in any legal dispute.
"Some might have hoped that Nilesh More's life would hold no value after Akshay Shinde threatened him, but the government has taken a firm stand. The people of this country have witnessed how the INDI alliance sides with criminals, he alleged.
Patna, Sep 25 : The RJD said on Wednesday that they will start the movement against the pre-paid smart meter from October 1 and also appealed to the people of Bihar to participate in the movement.
"People should stop the installation of smart meters in their homes. The power distribution companies are exploiting the public through these devices and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is accountable for the situation," RJD state president Jagadanand Singh.
"I am urging people to give them (smart meters) two months and if the situation remains unresolved, I would appeal to people to physically remove the smart meters from their homes," Singh said.
Singh also accused the power distribution companies of excessively charging residents in both urban and rural areas. He further claimed that the electricity tariff in Bihar is the highest in the country compared to other states.
"Bihar is on the verge of a revolution. Mahatma Gandhi's initiation of the freedom struggle also started in Bihar. The state now faces a similar moment," Singh added.
He emphasised that the RJD, along with its alliance partners, would lead the movement against smart meters and would become the 'voice of the people'.
Singh also highlighted the legacy of Lalu Prasad Yadav, stating that Lalu Yadav had successfully advocated for rural electricity to be included in the UPA government's common minimum program in 2004.
Singh criticised the current NDA government, accusing it of corruption in the electricity sector.
"Although the Union government sanctioned Rs 23,000 crore for power reforms, the Bihar government awarded contracts to companies that are overcharging consumers," Singh said.
Dhaka, Sep 25 : Syeda Rizwana Hasan, the advisor on environment and water resources in the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, said on Wednesday that Bangladesh will soon engage in negotiations with India regarding its water rights and share of the common rivers.
"The negotiations will be held after considering public opinion and the outcomes of the talks will be shared with the people," Hasan said while speaking at a seminar titled 'Bangladesh's Fair Share of Water in Shared Rivers' at Pani Bhaban in Dhaka to mark World Rivers Day.
During the event, she emphasised that while the issue of sharing international river waters is "complex", the exchange of essential information, such as rainfall data and the location of structures, is critical and should not be politicised, The Daily Star reported.
"Sharing rainfall data is a humanitarian issue. Necessary data should be given for saving lives. Bangladesh's claims will be made clearly and strongly," the Advisor was quoted as saying by the daily.
She also mentioned that a country cannot go to the international court unilaterally on such issues and both nations must be involved.
Immediately after the formation of the interim government, Hasan had stated that Dhaka would engage in discussions with New Delhi regarding shared rivers, including the Teesta.
"Just as West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee considers her own people's interests, we will also take into account the needs of our people when making decisions about the Teesta project," she told journalists following a meeting with Abdoulaye Seck, the World Bank's Country Director for Bangladesh, at the ministry's office on August 21.
"The interim government may approach the international stage, if necessary, while maintaining friendly relations with India," she had said then.
A few days later, India had slammed fake videos and rumours - mostly originating from Bangladesh - regarding Farakka barrage gates which are opened during the monsoon for smooth passage of flows of River Ganga, calling them as an attempt to create "fear mongering" and "misunderstanding" between the two neighbouring countries that should be "firmly countered" with facts.
"We have seen media reports of the opening of Farakka barrage gates that will allow the flow of over 11 lakh cusecs of water downstream of the river in its natural course into the Ganga/Padma river. This is a normal seasonal development that takes place due to increased inflow from heavy rainfall in the Ganga river basin catchment areas upstream," said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on August 26.
"It is to be understood that Farakka is only a barrage and not a dam. Whenever, water level reaches the pond level, whatever inflow comes that passes. It is merely a structure to divert 40,000 cusecs of water into the Farakka canal that is carefully done using a system of gates on the main Ganga/Padma river, while the balance water flows into the main river to Bangladesh. Data, as per protocol, is shared with the concerned Joint River Commission officials in Bangladesh on a regular and timely basis. It has been done this time as well," he added.
The 'India-Bangladesh Shared Vision for Future: Enhancing Connectivity, Commerce and Collaboration for Shared Prosperity' released on June 22 this year during former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's New Delhi visit had recognised the importance of water resource management in bilateral relationship.
"We will continue to engage in prioritizing the exchange of data and formulating the framework for interim water sharing based on the recommendations of the Joint Rivers Commission. We welcome the formation of a Joint Technical Committee to initiate discussions for the renewal of the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty of 1996. As part of our development cooperation, we will also undertake conservation and management of Teesta River inside Bangladesh with Indian assistance within a mutually agreed time frame," the document mentioned.
India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers, of which 7 rivers were identified for developing the framework of water sharing agreements on priority.
The Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) of India and Bangladesh was constituted in 1972 as a bilateral mechanism to address issues of mutual interest on common/border/transboundary rivers.
According to the MEA, one of the important areas of cooperation, where India has been assisting Bangladesh, is sharing of real time flood data. India has also extended the period of flood data sharing beyond October 15 to help Bangladesh address unforeseen flood events.
Over the past few weeks, Hasan has also mentioned the interim water-sharing agreements on Kushiyara and Feni rivers, saying that there is an "issue" with the renewing of the Ganga Treaty and discussions with India can be held on more uniform rivers.
New Delhi, Sep 25 : Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday said that the state of Uttar Pradesh has been transforming into 'Uttam Pradesh' due to the synergy between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's execution.
Speaking in Greater Noida at the 2nd edition of the Uttar Pradesh International Trade Show 2024, the Vice President said: "Uttar Pradesh is transforming into Uttam Pradesh under the synergy between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's execution. The same synergy is propelling India's transformation towards a Viksit Bharat by 2047."
"Today, India is set to be a $4 trillion economy that has 8 per cent growth prospects for decades to come. India is now a global happening place and Uttar Pradesh is bustling with activities," he said.
Talking about the growth of infrastructure, Vice President Dhankhar cited the addition of 8 new airports annually, rapid expansion of the Metro rail network, and the daily construction of around 28 km of highways.
He also spoke of the 12 new industrial zones taking shape under PM Modi's leadership, which will boost manufacturing and place India in a position to capitalise on emerging technologies like AI, electric mobility, and semiconductors.
The Vice President emphasised the significant advancements in India's infrastructure, stating: "We now have the world's second-largest metro network, and the number of cities with airports has doubled from 70 to 140. India is the largest connected nation globally, with over 800 million broadband users."
He further highlighted the impact of digital technologies, besides housing for 170 million people, health coverage for 60 million, and loans for 58 million small businesses annually.
"In terms of digital financial transactions, India records the highest globally, with 13 billion transactions per month. Additionally, we boast of the world's third-largest start-up ecosystem, featuring 117 unicorns and the third-largest purchasing power in the world," the Vice President said.
He also underscored the importance of the semiconductor industry, stating: "This industry, which is critical to our growth, is projected to surpass $55 billion by 2026. I have no doubt this century belongs to Bharat."
Praising Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Vice President highlighted how the state, once plagued with challenges, has been transforming into a beacon of progress and development.
"Nothing is more important for investment than law and order. Law and order defines democracy and the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, defines law and order," he said.
Vice-President Dhankhar also highlighted the significance of showcasing Vietnam as the Partner Country at the trade show, describing it as a natural partnership that will foster cultural and economic exchanges between the two nations while strengthening the resolve for a greater role for the Global South in international affairs.
"In this phenomenal economic upsurge and unprecedented infrastructure growth across the nation, Uttar Pradesh is playing a pivotal role, unlike the scenario that existed a few years ago," he said.
The Vice President further expressed confidence that under Yogi Adityanath's able leadership, Uttar Pradesh will achieve its target of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2027, contributing significantly to India's emergence as a $5 trillion economy.
The Vice-President also visited the exhibition.
Yogi Adityanath, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.
Colombo, Sep 25 : The International Monetary Fund (IMF) remains a steadfast partner and is ready to assist Sri Lanka achieve its development and reform goals, said a letter from IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva to newly-elected Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
In the letter dated September 24, Georgieva said she is confident that the leadership of Dissanayake will help Sri Lanka secure a future of stability, prosperity, and inclusive growth, as reported by Xinhua news agency.
She said the IMF looks forward to working with the newly elected president towards building on the hard-won gains that have helped put Sri Lanka on a path to recover from its worst economic crises.
"I look forward to deepening the mutually beneficial relationship between the IMF and Sri Lanka and wish you every success in your endeavours," Georgieva said.
This letter followed a statement from the IMF on Tuesday that the organisation is eager to collaborate with Sri Lanka's newly elected president.
In March 2023, the IMF approved a 48-month Extended Fund Facility arrangement, amounting to approximately $3 billion to support Sri Lanka's economic reform and recovery efforts.
Hyderabad, Sep 25 : A Hyderabad court on Wednesday sent celebrity choreographer Jani Master to police custody for four days for questioning on the alleged sexual assault on a junior female choreographer.
While pronouncing the orders on the police petition, the Rangareddy district special POCSO Court directed that no third-degree methods should be used during questioning.
The court asked police to question the accused in the presence of his lawyer.
Following the court order, a police team went to Chanchalguda Central Jail to take him into custody.
Officials from Narsingi police station of Cyberabad police commissionerate will question Jani Master alias Sheik Jani Basha till September 28.
The police had arrested Jani Master in Goa on September 19 and after obtaining a transit warrant from a local court, brought him to Hyderabad. The next day he was produced before Upperpally court, which sent him judicial remand for 14 days.
The Raidurgam police of Cyberabad on September 15 booked a zero First Information Report (FIR) on a complaint by the victim. Subsequently, the case was re-registered at Narsingi Police Station.
The victim alleged that Jani Master sexually assaulted her in 2020 during a work trip to Mumbai and continued sexual harassment and threatened not to disclose to anyone. The accused was booked for rape, criminal intimidation and assault under sections 376 (2) (n), 506 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code. As the victim disclosed that, at the time of the offence, she was a minor, police added Section 5 (l) r/w 6 of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act to the charges.
The victim, now 21, alleged that the choreographer sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions in different cities, including Chennai, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. The complainant told police that she came in contact with the choreographer in 2017 and she became an assistant to him in 2019.
New Delhi, Sep 25 : There is an urgent need to integrate climate considerations into health planning, said Apurva Chandra, Secretary, at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Wednesday.
He was speaking at the Climate and Health Solutions (CHS) India Conclave, organised by MoHFW in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in Delhi.
"The Climate and Health Solutions India Conclave is a testament to our commitment to building a climate-resilient health system that addresses the unique needs of developing nations like ours. India is leading by example, integrating climate considerations into our health policies and emergency response mechanisms," Chandra said.
"We are proud to collaborate with the Asian Development Bank and other global partners to ensure that our health sector is equipped to tackle unforeseen climate impacts and support sustainable development for all. Together, we can achieve the vision of 'One Health, One Family, One Future," he added,
The two-day conclave aims to address the twin emergencies of climate change and public health by bringing together policymakers, experts, and stakeholders to develop actionable strategies for India's health sector.
At the event, Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa, emphasised the importance of India's leadership, scale, and size in demonstrating the leapfrogging of development pathways at the intersection of climate change and health for India and the world.
"As we confront rising temperatures, unpredictable weather patterns, and the growing burden on healthcare systems, it is critical that we design integrated, sustainable solutions that safeguard the health of our people and our planet," Kant said.
"India's leadership through the G20 Presidency has been instrumental in bringing this issue to the global forefront," he said, calling for collaboration to create "a unique opportunity to shape resilient and adaptive health systems".
The experts also highlighted proactive steps taken by India in integrating climate change considerations into its public health policies.
"A pivotal moment in this journey was the creation of the Mission on Climate Change and Health, nearly a decade ago, under the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change," said Punya Salila Srivastava, Officer on Special Duty, MoHFW.
In 2019, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare introduced the National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health (NPCCHH) under the National Health Mission.
Further, India's national action plan on climate change and health has served as a blueprint for nearly all states and union territories to develop their respective state action plans.
The next ambition, for a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, is for each district to assess their vulnerability and develop tailored climate change and health action plans.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, September 25. Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan and Hungary signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of diplomatic training, Trend reports.
We are pleased to meet the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Szijjarto at the United Nations headquarters. Together we have signed a memorandum of understanding between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan and Hungary on cooperation in the field of diplomatic training. This is another important step in expanding the multifaceted strategic partnership, Uzbekistans Minister of Foreign Affairs Bakhtiyor Saidov wrote in his Telegram channel.
The sides also discussed topics of economic partnership, expanding the horizons of cooperation and developing direct ties between the regions of both countries.
Eariler, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban have discussed further expansion of multifaceted cooperation on the sidelines of an Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Azerbaijan's Shusha.
Both parties highlighted that over the past few years trade turnover between the two countries has almost doubled and the number of joint projects and enterprises is growing.
Shiroor/Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 25 : Kerala's truck driver's body was found after 71 days when a dredger was conducting searches in the Gangavali river in Ankola, Shiroor area in Karnataka lifted the truck from the bed of the river. The body was recovered from the cabin.
On July 16, the truck driver, Arjun, went missing after a landslide hit the Shiroor area in Karnataka. He had parked his lorry near a tea shop in Ankola, Shiroor area along the Kochi-Panavel national highway.
After the landslide hit the area, the death of ten people including the tea shop owner, where Arjun parked his vehicle, was confirmed while the dead bodies were also recovered. However, there was no information about Arjun.
An official said that Arjun's body was recovered at around 3 pm on Wednesday after the body was recovered from the cabin of the truck.
Jithin, the brother-in-law of Arun, has been camping in the area ever since a dredger was put into service besides divers and other official machinery for the recuse operation.
"We always knew he would return. We badly wanted to get his body and we succeeded in getting it," said Jithin and broke into tears.
Arjun's truck's GPS signal was received from the place where it went missing and the truck was suspected to be under 10 meters in the mud. The officials tried to remove the debris but a landslide at a nearby hill again halted the process, then.
Karwar MLA Sathish Krishna Sailwas another person who was actively involved in the search operations and after he got the news, he rushed to the spot and also confirmed to the media that the body of Arjun was recovered from the cabin.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan visited the residence of Arjun in Kozhikode last month and promised all possible support and help from the Kerala government.
Manaf the owner of the ill-fated truck was also seen at the spot and confirmed to the media that it was his truck when it was first spotted above the waters after being lifted by the cranes.
The Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy and other ministers had also visited the accident site while the Kerala ministers and legislators had expressed their solidarity.
Gurugram, Sep 25 : A team from the cyber cell of the Gurugram Police has arrested two bank officials of a private bank for allegedly providing account details to cyber criminals, officials said.
Priyanshu Diwan, Assistant Commissioner of Police (cybercrime), said that the arrested accused had been identified as Mukul Suhalka and Prahlad Suhalka -- natives of Rajasthan. Mukul was earlier associated with IndusInd Bank in Udaipur.
According to the police, a man filed a complaint at the Cyber Crime Police Station East in February 2024, that he was duped of Rs 1.78 crore in the name of investing in the stock market.
During the probe, the police froze Rs 39.60 lakh, which was returned to the victim.
Inspector Naveen Kumar, SHO of the police station arrested the suspect on Monday for the alleged involvement in the crime. The duo was arrested from Rajasthan.
During interrogation, the accused disclosed that Mukul was earlier an employee of IndusInd Bank in Udaypur branch and he kept in touch with the cyber thugs and had provided bank accounts to be used in committing cyber frauds.
The cybercriminals had fraudulently transferred Rs 1.78 crore from the bank account provided by the accused to other accounts.
In connection with the matter, the police have arrested nine criminals.
Police are questioning the accused to find out more details about the cyber fraudsters involved and the commission the bankers may have received from them for providing the account.
The accused have been taken on five days' police remand for further proceedings.
So far, the Gurugram Police have arrested 19 bank officials in three months who were allegedly involved in cyber fraud.
New Delhi, Sep 25 : A statement made by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut regarding the three controversial farm laws has sparked a major political row. Despite withdrawing her comments, the actress-turned-politician continues to face backlash not only from the Opposition but also from members of her own party.
On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clarify his stance on Ranaut's remarks.
LoP Gandhi questioned whether the Prime Minister supports or opposes the views expressed by the BJP MP.
"One of their MPs talked about reviving the repealed farm laws. Modi ji, you need to clarify are you for or against it? Will you revive the farmers' law or not? If you do, I guarantee that the India Bloc will stand firmly against it," the Congress MP said.
The LoP further questioned who dictates the government's policy, asking, "It is a BJP MP or the Prime Minister?"
Referring to the deaths of over 700 farmers, particularly from Haryana and Punjab, during the protests against the three farm laws, LoP Gandhi criticised the BJP. "Even after such sacrifices, the BJP seems unsatisfied. The INDIA Bloc will not allow any conspiracy by the BJP to harm our farmers. If any attempt is made, Modi ji will have to apologise once again," he said.
Rahul Gandhi also pointed out that some members within the BJP often "test ideas" by introducing them into public discourse and gauging reactions. "This is exactly what has happened in this case," he added.
The BJP, however, distanced itself from Kangana's comments, saying they do not represent the party's views.
"Kangana Ranaut is not authorised to make such a statement on behalf of the BJP and it doesn't depict the BJP's view on the farm Bills," party's spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said.
Earlier on Tuesday, in an interview to the media, Kangana remarked, "I know this statement could be controversial, but the three farm laws should be brought back. The farmers should themselves demand it."
The MP from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi said the three laws were beneficial for the farmers but were repealed by the Centre in the wake of the protests by farmer groups in some states.
"Farmers are a pillar of strength in the nation's development. I want to appeal to them to demand the laws back for their good," she added.
Chennai, Sep 25 : The Tamil Nadu government will handover 440 houses to Sri Lankan refugees who are in refugee camps in Keezhputhuattu village in the Villupuram district of the state.
Under the free housing scheme for Sri Lankan Tamils, 7469 houses were proposed to be built for the refugees and a budget of Rs 342 crore was earmarked for the same.
The first phase was inaugurated in 2023 and sanction was given for the construction of 440 houses in Villupuram district in the first phase. Sources told IANS that the second phase is expected to be inaugurated in 2025.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K.Stalin in the state legislative assembly on August 27, 2021, announced the construction of 7469 houses across 104 Sri Lankan Tamil rehabilitation camps spread across 29 districts of the state.
Villupuram District Rural Development Authorities (DRDA) told IANS that the work for the 440 houses is almost over and that the installation of sewage canals is currently underway. The officials said that these homes would be handed over by October 15.
A ration shop is also being built at the site where the new houses are coming up and this is part of the development plan for the parliamentary constituency under the funds of the Member of Parliament of the Villupuram MP D. Ravikumar.
The Tamil Nadu government's initiative to provide permanent housing for Eelam Tamils marks a significant step towards their rehabilitation and integration into society.
The timely completion of the project is expected to provide a safe and secure environment for these families, ensuring improved living standards.
The first batch of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees came to Tamil Nadu following the ethnic cleansing pogrom in Sri Lanka in 1983.
Presently 58,822 persons are staying in 108 camps in the 29 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu.
As per official data, 34,087 refugees are staying outside the camps.
Chennai, Sep 25 : Madras High Court dismissed a petition filed by a transgender student for admission to Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Tanuvas) under the special category.
Justice Dhandapani dismissed the petition stating that providing admission under a category other than the Scheduled Caste reservation is against the policy of the state government.
The petitioner A. Nivethaas counsel Advocate K.V. Sajeev Kumar informed the court that the university was not considering the application of his client and that she was included under the Scheduled Caste category and not under the special category of transgender persons.
The counsel also said that there were several Supreme Court judgements that had directed the state governments to treat transgender people under a special category while considering them for employment and educational purposes. He told the court that the Tamil Nadu government had not bothered to implement the direction.
The counsel also said that to uplift the transgender community, the petitioner should be granted reservation under a special category other than the scheduled caste reservation.
Justice Dhandapani however refused to accept the submissions as the university has granted cut-off marks to the petitioner under the scheduled caste category.
The judge said that there was no special category of reservation for transgender women in Tamil Nadu and that the court would not be able to grant such reservation as that would be against the policy of the state government.
He also said that the petitioner's counsel was seeking admission irrespective of any competition and suggested the counsel file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) demanding special category reservation for transgender persons.
New Delhi, Sep 25 : The Centre on Wednesday said the total number of new contributing subscribers under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) stood at 62,880 in the month of July.
In June, 64,799 new contributing subscribers joined the NPS in June.
The newly registered employees and paying contribution under the Employeesa State Insurance (ESI) scheme in July stood at 16,61,836 which was 16,33,848 during the month of June, informed Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
The Cabinet last month approved the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for government employees, which will provide an assured minimum pension and a family pension. Around 23 lakh Central government employees will benefit from the Unified Pension Scheme.
These employees will now have the option to choose between the NPS and the UPS. In UPS, the government has offered several advantages of the previous Old Pension Scheme (OPS) like assured pension, family pension and indexation benefits. This pension scheme is only for government employees unlike NPS which is offered to both government and private employees.
In a key move to secure the financial future of young children in India, the government has also launched the NPS Vatsalya pension scheme, which offers flexible contributions and investment options for parents or guardians.
The Vatsalya scheme is a saving-cum-pension scheme, which will be regulated and administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory Authority of India (PFRDA). Under the NPS Vatsalya scheme, parents can invest a minimum of Rs 1,000 per month with no upper limit. The scheme will be operated by parents until the child reaches 18. At the age of 18, the account will transition into the childas name.
Meanwhile, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has added 19.94 lakh net members in the month of July, marking the highest recorded increase since payroll data tracking began in April 2018. EPFO added 10.52 lakh new members in July, a 2.66 per cent increase over June and a 2.43 per cent rise compared to the same month last year.
Jammu, Sep 25 : Among crowds of enthusiastic voters as J&K voted in the second phase of the crucial Assembly polls on Wednesday, persons with disabilities, both young and old, were at the forefront, including a teenager in Reasi district who had just turned 18.
Karmanya Sharma, who was casting his vote for the first time, did not let his disabilities hamper him from exercising his right to franchise.
Elderly Mohd Sharief, on crutches, was another voter in Poonch and expressed his enthusiasm after voting. "I was the first voter today in my area. I request everyone to come out and cast your vote," he said in a video message shared by the information and public relations wing of the district.
His appeal emphasises the collective responsibility to participate in the electoral process, which the Election Commission has been relentlessly seeking.
Sharma and Sharief were among the inspiring stories of the elderly and persons with disabilities voters shared by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of J&K shared photos and a video on 'X' highlighting the participation of PwD's voters.
Even in the first phase of elections on September 18, both categories of voters were conspicuously in the lead.
Amid the lines of enthusiastic voters was a centenarian, who has been participating in India's festival of democracy without fail since the first Lok Sabha polls in 1951-52.
Prem Nath, who said he was almost 100 years old (99 years and 6 months), turned out to vote in Doda in the Jammu division.
Speaking to reporters after voting, Prem Nath, who said that he had retired from service in 1964, said he had always made it a habit to regularly cast his vote in all elections since India's first-ever parliamentary elections.
Noting he could not speak much, he stressed that casting votes was a responsibility in democracy and hence, he regularly came out to perform his duty, and appealed to all people to come out and exercise their franchise.
A 95-year-old man and 82-year-old woman, Bhag Dai also came out to vote in Doda, while there were many other examples of senior citizens, including those with age-related ailments or other disabilities who came out to vote, helped by their family members or volunteers at the polling booths.
A total of 26 seats in six districts - Poonch, Rajouri, and Reasi districts in the Jammu division and Ganderbal, Srinagar and Budgam districts of the Kashmir Valley - went to vote on Wednesday. The turnout was estimated at 54 per cent as of 5 p.m., as per the CEO's office.
Patna, Sep 25 : Prashant Kishor, chief of Jan Suraaj on Wednesday criticised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for failing to advocate for industrial development in the state despite his proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kishor expressed frustration that Nitish Kumar, despite having political influence, has not demanded industries or factories for Bihar's districts like Motihari, Chapra or Gopalganj.
He emphasised the strategic importance of Bihar in national politics, arguing that no government can be formed in Delhi without the support of Bihar.
"Nitish Kumar has not used this leverage to bring industrialisation to Bihar. The Chief Minister is more concerned with retaining power than addressing the state's lack of industrial growth," he said.
During a public address in Patna, Kishor questioned whether there has ever been any news of Nitish Kumar pushing for factories in every district and accused him of neglecting the development needs of Bihar while sitting next to the country's top leadership.
Prashant Kishor intensified his critique of the BJP, stating, "It is compelled to keep Nitish Kumar in power in Bihar in order to maintain its government at the national level."
Kishor targeted Nitish Kumar's leadership, asserting that the people of Bihar are dissatisfied with his governance, and this growing unhappiness will become evident in the next elections.
"Nitish Kumar is more focussed on setting political equations than on taking meaningful steps toward the development of Bihar," he said.
"While Nitish Kumar is unwilling to step down from power and the BJP is also incapable of removing him due to its own political interests, the people of Bihar are prepared to oust Nitish Kumar. The voters will deliver a decisive verdict in the coming elections, effectively closing off Nitish Kumar's chances of returning to power," he said.
Kishor's remarks indicate his belief that the political landscape in Bihar is shifting and that Nitish Kumar's tenure is nearing its end, driven by public dissatisfaction with his lack of development initiatives.
Imphal, Sep 25 : The Opposition Congress in Manipur on Wednesday filed an FIR against three BJP leaders and a Shiv Sena member over alleged threats made against the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.
Manipur unit Congress President Keisham Meghachandra Singh accompanied by other party leaders went to a police station here, and lodged a complaint against Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu, Delhi BJP leader Tarvinder Singh Marwah, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad, and Uttar Pradesh Minister Raghuraj Singh, accusing them of inciting violence against Rahul Gandhi.
"I filed the complaint against open threats of leaders of BJP and their allies to eliminate/ cause bodily injury to LoP Rahul Gandhi," the Congress leader told the media after lodging the FIR.
He said that the threat to LoP is a threat to democracy, the people of India, and it was with criminal intentions.
"There should not be a place for criminal leaders in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take action against these leaders who committed crimes by giving threats to eliminate Rahul Gandhi," Meghachandra Singh said.
The Manipur Congress FIR mentioned that these leaders' acts were 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 the LoP, the Congress and its leaders on the instructions of top bosses of the BJP/NDA.
Since September 18, Congress leaders in almost all the northeastern states have staged protests and lodged FIRs on the issue.
Meanwhile, last week, adding fuel to the already raging controversy over calls to harm Rahul Gandhi, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Anil Bonde called for 'burning' the tongue of the LoP.
Sparking a fresh row and leaving the Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders fuming, Bonde made the controversial remarks while reacting to ruling Shiv Sena's Buldhana MLA, Sanjay Gaikwad's comments against the LoP.
Sanjay Gaikwad reportedly announced a reward of Rs 11 lakh to anybody who could chop-off Rahul Gandhi's tongue for his purported stand against reservations during his recent US tour.
Bonde said that instead of chopping off Rahul Gandhi's tongue, it should be burnt.
Patna, Sep 25 : Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, the religious leader of Bageshwar Dham is scheduled to visit Bihar's Gaya for a three-day pilgrimage from September 26.
Patna, Sep 25 (IANS) Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, the religious leader of Bageshwar Dham is scheduled to visit Biharas Gaya for a three-day pilgrimage from September 26.
During his visit, Shastri, accompanied by 200 of his followers, will perform the sacred rituals of Pind Daan, a traditional Hindu offering to honour ancestors, at Gaya Ji Dham.
In a video statement, Shastri mentioned that his visit duration was adjusted due to the large number of Pind Daan participants at Gaya Ji Dham during the Pitru Paksha fair, which is a time when many people visit to perform ancestral rites.
He was scheduled to stay until October 2, but the local administration limited his stay to three days due to the expected crowds and logistical concerns. Despite the shorter visit, his presence at Gaya is anticipated to draw significant attention.
During his visit, he plans to narrate the Bhagwat Katha from his hotel, with devotees being able to listen to it online due to logistical constraints. Shastri emphasised in a video statement that people from Bihar and neighbouring regions can benefit from the Katha only through online platforms, given the large crowds and system in place during the Pitru Paksha fair.
Shastri mentioned that his visit will be short, lasting two or three days, and he will return after completing the rituals. He expressed his hope of visiting Gaya again in the future, outside of the Pitru Paksha period, to narrate the Bhagwat Katha.
Shastri also highlighted his ancestral connection to Gaya, noting that both his grandfather and great-grandfather had performed the Pind Daan at Gaya Ji Dham.
According to the Fasli Samvat (an Indian agricultural calendar), his grandfather, Bhagwan Das Garg, visited Gaya in 1398 Fasli Samvat, which corresponds to 1988 in the Gregorian calendar, to perform the same rituals.
This visit underscores the deep religious ties Shastri's family holds with Gaya and the importance of ancestral rites for followers of the Bageshwar Dham tradition.
SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, September 25. Uzbekistan and China have discussed the promotion of priority investment projects, Trend reports.
Citing the information, it became known during the meeting of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev with Chinese Finance Minister Lan Fo'an within the framework of the annual meeting of the AIIB Board of Governors.
The Chinese Finance Minister conveyed warm greetings and best wishes of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the head of Uzbekistan during the meeting.
The sides also discussed issues of further deepening Uzbek-Chinese relations of strategic partnership and expansion of multifaceted cooperation in the context of agreements at the highest level.
Special attention was paid to strengthening partnerships with the leading banking and financial institutions of China.
New Delhi, Sep 25 : Kangana Ranaut, the actor-turned-politician and Lok Sabha MP, has once again found herself at the centre of controversy with her recent remark calling for the return of the now-repealed farm laws.
This latest incident highlights a pattern of provocative statements that raise important questions about her intentions and the broader political implications.
Is Kangana's behaviour a mere coincidence, or is it part of a calculated strategy?
Kangana's "bring back farm laws" remarks, made during a press interaction, drew immediate backlash, particularly from her own party, the BJP.
The party swiftly distanced itself from her remarks, emphasising that they do not reflect the party's stance. This incident is particularly sensitive given the upcoming elections in Haryana, where the farming community holds significant electoral power.
The BJP's quick response suggests a desire to manage the narrative surrounding the contentious farm laws, which have already proven detrimental to the party's image.
Kangana issued a public apology, stating, "I take my words back." This backtracking indicates not only the pressure she faced from her party but also reflects the high stakes involved in addressing issues related to farmers, especially in a politically charged environment.
Kangana's history of controversial statements indicates a recurring theme of provocative remarks aimed at drawing attention and igniting debate.
From her critiques of international figures like Rihanna and Greta Thunberg during the farmers' protests to her dismissal of Rahul Gandhi's heritage, Kangana's comments often serve to polarise opinions and spotlight her persona.
This pattern raises the question of whether these statements are spontaneous outbursts or part of a broader strategy to position herself and her party within the political landscape.
Kangana also suggested that foreign influences, such as the U.S. and China, were involved in instigating unrest during the farmers' protests, further complicating the narrative. Such claims not only enhance her visibility but also appeal to nationalist sentiments, which are a cornerstone of the BJP's ideology.
At the same time, however, the BJP finds itself in a precarious position regarding Kangana's remarks. While her celebrity status and willingness to engage in controversial topics can energise a segment of the party's base, her comments also pose risks. The party has to balance its messaging, especially when addressing sensitive topics like agriculture and farmers' rights.
By distancing itself from Kangana's statements, the BJP attempts to maintain a moderate image and avoid exacerbating tensions with the farming community, which has been vocal in its opposition to the farm laws.
The timing of Kangana's controversial statements often coincides with significant political events or debates, suggesting a level of calculation behind her remarks. It is plausible that she aims to gauge public sentiment or to rally support around issues that resonate with nationalist themes. This aligns with the BJP's strategy of consolidating its core voter base, particularly in times of political uncertainty.
However, it is equally important to consider Kangana's personal motivations. Her assertive personality and the media attention she garners can be seen as a means of reinforcing her brand as a fearless advocate for certain narratives.
Observers believe that this duality - being both a vocal leader of BJP and a self-styled rebel - may lead her to make statements that are "less about party line" and more about "personal conviction".
Bengaluru, Sep 25 : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Wednesday said that the Congress is confident that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is not involved in any wrongdoing in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) irregularities.
"If the court has ordered an investigation, it will proceed. We are confident that the Chief Minister is not involved in any wrongdoing in the MUDA irregularities. If any mistake has happened, it might be due to the officials but the Chief Minister has no role in it. I can clearly state that he will come out clean," Shivakumar told media persons.
When asked if this would be a black mark on Siddaramaiah's political career, Shivakumar said that how can there be a black mark when there is no mark at all?
"Investigations must take place. Some people have merely expressed their opinions. The Chief Minister has not been proven guilty," the Deputy Chief Minister said.
When asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising Siddaramaiah's case during the Haryana elections, he said, "Those who want to do politics will do so. There is a difference between law and politics."
On BJP and JD-S leaders protesting near the Gandhi statue at Vidhana Soudha demanding Siddaramaiah's resignation, Shivakumar said, "In how many cases are investigations happening against central ministers? Have they resigned? Let them resign first, then we can discuss our Chief Minister's resignation."
He also announced that a decision has been taken to gradually relocate the Rajiv Gandhi Medical University to Ramanagara and to enhance the infrastructure at Kanakapura Medical College to resubmit the application to the National Medical Commission (NMC).
"The land acquisition issues for the construction of buildings in Ramanagara are being resolved, and the work is underway. Basic infrastructure required to start the medical college in Ramanagara is being provided. I have directed the relocation of the headquarters of the Medical University to Ramanagara. A government order has already been issued and the relocation will happen in stages," he said.
He further added that a budget announcement was made to establish a medical college in Kanakapura.
"Land will be acquired from the Housing Board to construct the college buildings. Since the NMC rejected the application citing a lack of infrastructure at Kanakapura, it has been decided in today's meeting to enhance the infrastructure and resubmit the application."
He said that earlier, tenders were floated, and a ground-breaking ceremony was held to start the medical college in Kanakapura. However, during former CM B.S. Yediyurappa's government, former minister and BJP MP K. Sudhakar moved the medical college to Chikkaballapur.
"The construction cost, which was initially Rs 450 crore, has now increased to Rs 850 crore," Shivakumar stated.
He added that the BJP has played divisive politics. "We have announced this project in the budget and will complete it gradually. We will submit a revised application to get the necessary permissions for the college. Rs 600 crore has been released for the building work in Ramanagara, and the construction is progressing swiftly. We do not engage in politics when it comes to development," he said.
When asked when the university would be relocated, he said, "In 2008 itself, the government issued an order and passed a bill to construct the headquarters of Rajiv Gandhi University in Ramanagara. This will be done in stages."
Rohtak, Sep 25 : Arvind Kejriwal, the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), took a jibe against Bollywood actress and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut during a rally in Haryana's Rohtak on Wednesday, criticising her remarks advocating the reinstatement of the repealed farm laws.
Addressing the crowd, Kejriwal pointed out the anger among Haryana's people over her statements, emphasizing that the state's residents will not accept the reintroduction of these "three black laws."
"There is widespread anger among the people of Haryana over Kangana's statement. The implementation of three black laws will not be acceptable to the people of the state," he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Kangana had said, "Farmers are a pillar of strength in the nation's development. I want to appeal to them to demand the laws back for their own good."
Kejriwal reminded the people of the farmers' protest against the laws, in which many people from Haryana participated.
He also highlighted his personal involvement in supporting the protesters, providing them with food and water for 13 months during the stir.
"When Prime Minister Modi realized he could lose, he withdrew the laws. But now, Kangana is demanding their return. We must press a button so hard that no one dares talk about these laws again," he urged the people.
Kejriwal also positioned AAP as a key player in the upcoming Haryana elections, claiming that no government would be formed in the state without its support.
Campaigning for AAP candidate Vikas Nehra in the Meham constituency of Rohtak, he urged the electorate to bring about change by electing his party.
Kejriwal contrasted the deteriorating condition of schools, colleges, and hospitals in Haryana with the free public services being offered in Delhi and Punjab under the AAP government.
He outlined five key promises for Haryana, including a monthly stipend of Rs 1,000 for women, free electricity, water, and healthcare in schools, colleges, and hospitals. He emphasised that winning this seat was crucial for AAP to hold power in Haryana.
In the Meham Assembly constituency, AAP's Vikas Nehra is up against sitting MLA Balraj Kundu, Congress' Balram Dangi, BJP's Deepak Hooda, rebel BJP candidate Radha Ahlawat, and former INLD MLA Bali Pahalwan, who is contesting as an independent.
Gurugram, Sep 25 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address Haryana's 'biggest public rally' in support of Badshahpur constituency candidate Rao Narbir Singh on September 29.
Gurugram, Sep 25 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address Haryana's abiggest public rallya in support of Badshahpur constituency candidate Rao Narbir Singh on September 29.
The rally will be organised in village Dhorka in Sector 95 of Badshahpur Assembly constituency.
Singh claimed that the rally to be held on September 29 will create a new history in Haryana. Singh said while addressing a public meeting organised in Farukhnagar, Bhangrola and Garhi village during his election tour on Wednesday.
He said that before the ticket allocation, he had met the Union Home Minister Amit Shah who promised him that he would come to Badshahpur in his support.
The former minister said that the Home Minister will also visit Badshahpur to fulfil his promise.
Singh said that during the tenure of Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini's government, unprecedented announcements were made for the state. Not only made announcements, but he also worked to fulfil every promise he made.
"The state has progressed under his leadership and there is no doubt that on October 8, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is going to form its government in the state for the third consecutive time," Rao said.
He asserted that each guarantee of the Sankalp Patra declared by the state government will be fulfilled.
"The CM has fulfilled all the promises made earlier. I guarantee that so much development work will be done in Badshahpur that you will never have to look back," he said.
While attacking the previous government Singh said that no previous government had paid attention to the development of Gurugram, which became a district in 1966.
Gurugram expanded rapidly but development could not take place. In 2014, the people of Badshahpur made him an MLA and the BJP government was formed.
As soon as he became a cabinet minister in the government, he worked to provide relief to the people suffering from the problem of traffic jams in Gurugram and got underpasses and overbridges built at most of the intersections.
"I worked to complete projects worth thousands of crores, like Hero Honda Chowk Underpass, Rajiv Chowk Underpass, Signature Tower Underpass, Maharana Pratap Chowk Flyover, and Sohna Elevated Road. Gurugram did not have proper connectivity with Delhi. Dwarka Expressway, the world's most expensive road, was constructed for 9600 crores," he said.
New Delhi, Sep 25 : Women's representation in India Inc remains stable and the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector leads when it comes to 'women in leadership' roles, a report said on Wednesday.
In the BFSI segment, 24.5 per cent of corporate executives are women, followed by FMCG which has 21.5 per cent women at the leadership levels, according to the report by Avtar, a leading workplace culture consulting company. Global capability centres (GCCs) report the lowest attrition rate of women at 10 per cent.
Data showed that average women representation across industries today is at 36.6 per cent and close to 40 per cent at the entry level.
Sectors like professional services are close to gender balance with 46 per cent women while manufacturing reported a gender ratio of 20 per cent, an indication of intensifying efforts.
According to Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Founder and President of Avtar, we are at a unique, paradox and juncture in India with respect to women's participation in the workforce.
"We have made significant progress in many areas such as the sheer volume of the women workforce, the facilities and flexibilities provided and the benefits to name a few but yet far behind in leveraging the opportunity - of enabling women in leadership positions, of ensuring rise in women participation and distribution across sectors and needless to emphasise women's safety and well-being at the workplace so that they are encouraged to stay and grow," Rajesh explained.
The 2024 annual listing established that IT industry as the single largest employer of women with 24 per cent companies. BFSI followed with 11.
Notably, from 58 per cent companies focusing on people with disabilities (PwDs) in 2019, the number has risen significantly to 98 per cent of companies focusing on building inclusive work environments for PwDs.
The index further broadens the understanding of inclusivity in India by evaluating diverse dimensions including gender, disability, age and culture, said the report.
Bhubaneswar, Sep 25 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Jagat Prakash Nadda is scheduled to reach Bhubaneswar on a one-day visit to Odisha on Thursday.
The party's general secretary Jatin Mohanty told the media persons here on Wednesday that Nadda is likely to reach Bhubaneswar at 10.30 a.m. on Thursday. He will participate in different party programmes before leaving for New Delhi in the afternoon.
"Nadda's visit to Odisha aimed to accelerate our Sadasyata Abhiyan or the membership drive and make it all-inclusive," said Mohanty.
He said that workers are the foundation of an organisation.
Meanwhile, the party's state unit chief Manmohan Samal on Wednesday said that Nadda will participate in a meeting with party MPs, MLAs and other office-bearers over the ongoing membership drive. Samal said that the BJP chief will hold discussions on how to increase the membership of the party in the state.
Nadda is scheduled to garland the statue of Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar at AG Square in the city. Later, he will take part in an intellectual meeting and hold a discussion on the membership drive of the party.
Nadda will talk to the party MLAs, MPs and office-bearers over the membership drive in the state at the party headquarters here.
The Sadasyata Abhiyan-2024 was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national level in New Delhi on September 2. Meanwhile, the Odisha BJP chief Manmohan Samal launched the drive in the state the next day in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and other senior leaders.
Notably, the ruling BJP claimed that it enrolled 42 lakh members in the state during the last membership drive held six years ago. The party is aiming to add five lakh new members this year.
The party has issued a toll-free number (8800002024) for BJP membership enrollment.
Kolkata, Sep 25 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday claimed at a special court here that the exhibits and evidence in connection with the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital were changed and tampered with at the Tala Police Station under the jurisdiction of which the state-run hospital falls.
The CBI also made a mention of the explosive claim in the remand letter for former principal of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, Sandip Ghosh, and the erstwhile SHO of Tala Police Station, Abhijit Mondal. Both were presented at the special court on Wednesday.
"During the custodial interrogation of both the accused persons, new additional facts have emerged to the effect that some false records pertaining to the instant case were created/altered in Tala Police Station," the remand letter read.
On Wednesday, the CBI counsel demanded judicial custody for both Ghosh and Mondal in the rape and murder case till September 30. The counsels for both Ghosh and Mondal also moved bail pleas for their clients.
However, the judge of the special court rejected the bail plea and remanded them to judicial custody in this case till September 30. Incidentally, a crucial hearing on the rape and murder case is scheduled at the Supreme Court on the same day.
On Wednesday, the CBI counsel also informed the court that the investigating team members have already procured the DVR and hard-disc containing the CCTV footage of Tala Police Station and the same have been forwarded to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for examination.
The CBI counsel claimed that after the report from CSFL comes, it might reveal fresh clues about the rape and murder case.
He also said that after the CFSL report comes the investigation officials might seek fresh remand of Ghosh and Mondal for further questioning in the matter.
Nashik, Sep 25 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asserted that the MahaYuti government will come back to power while asking the BJP functionaries to work in close coordination and unity with allies Shiv Sena and NCP and also bring the workers of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) into the party fold.
Home Minister on his second-day visit to Maharashtra addressed the interactive meetings with the party functionaries in Nashik and Kolhapur and exhorted them to demolish the fake narratives of the opposition as the focus of the entire country is on the upcoming state Assembly election.
On Tuesday, the Home Minister addressed the meetings at Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and warned that the party will not tolerate rebellion, factionalism and dissent after the announcement of the party nominations.
In his address at the meeting held in Nashik, the Home Minister reiterated that the MahaYuti comprising BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP will together contest the state Assembly election with full strength and with the sole objective of retaining the power in Maharashtra.
"BJP is in power in 16 states with more seats than all of the others put together. BJP will come back to power with full majority in the coming assembly election," he said.
He added that India is on the way to becoming the third-largest economy in the world, adding that the opposition only wants to play politics.
"The Assembly election is quite crucial as it will change the face of Maharashtra. It is an ideological battle," he said while asking the party functionaries to work hard for MahaYuti's victory.
"Once we win the election, we will cross 300 seats again in 2029," he said.
He exhorted the party functionaries to fight the assembly election with a resolve for a victory and thereby erase the failure of winning fewer seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
"An attempt is being made to break your confidence but neglect that to fight with full strength," he said.
The Home Minister took a dig at the opposition saying that some contest elections to become Prime Minister or Chief Minister. However, he said that BJP contests elections to build India.
"Did anyone think that Article 370 will be abolished? Did anyone think that Ram Mandir will be built," he said. He further noted that it was possible as the BJP was in power at the Centre.
He said that the Waqf Board Act will be passed in the winter session. He strongly defended the Center's policies to curb terrorism and naxal activities in the country saying that Maoists and terrorists are counting their days.
"There were attacks from terrorists and Pakistan. If anyone tampers with the border of the country, they will be beaten by entering their homes," the Home Minister said.
On Tuesday, the Home Minister had set an ambitious target of winning 45 of the total 62 seats in Vidarbha and 30 of the total 46 seats in Marathwada by MahaYuti in the Assembly election.
He asked the party functionaries to focus on increasing the voting by 10 per cent, especially by stepping up outreach with voters up to the booth level.
Meanwhile, the Home Minister on Tuesday met the Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief leader Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and NCP national president and DCM Ajit Pawar at Sambhajinagar and discussed the MahaYuti's seat-sharing arrangement for the assembly election.
Shinde declined to divulge further details but said that the MahaYuti's seat sharing will be announced soon.
New Delhi, Sep 25 : The Ministry of Defence on Wednesday said that the DRDO has developed the indigenous Advanced Ballistics for High Energy Defeat (ABHED) bulletproof jackets.
The ministry said the jackets have been developed at the DRDO Industry Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA-CoE) at IIT, Delhi.
"This is an indigenous product and the jackets have been created from polymers and indigenous boron carbide ceramic material. The design configuration is based on characterisation of various materials at high strain rate followed by appropriate modelling and simulation in collaboration with DRDO," the ministry said.
It added that the armour plates for the jackets have passed all necessary research and development (R&D) trials as per the protocols.
"The jackets meet the highest threat level and are lighter than the maximum weight limits stipulated in respective General Staff Qualitative Requirement of the Indian Army. With a minimum possible weight of 8.2 kgs and 9.5 kgs for different BIS Levels, these modular-design jackets having front and rear armours provide 360-degree protection," the ministry said.
It added that based on the selection-criteria matrix, some Indian industries were shortlisted for the Transfer of Technology and handholding.
"The government is ready to transfer the technology to three industries," the ministry informed.
Secretary of the Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Samir V Kamat said that the lightweight bulletproof jacket exemplifies the effective ecosystem of successful defence R&D by DRDO, academia and the industry.
The DIA-CoE was formed by modifying the Joint Advanced Technology Center of DRDO at IIT Delhi in 2022 to involve Industry and Academia in defence R&D. It has been actively pursuing various projects on advanced technologies, involving DRDO scientists, academic researchers and industry partners, official added.
New Delhi, Sep 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met the Indian men's and women's teams that won historic maiden gold medals in the recently-concluded 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary.
The Prime Minister individually spoke to each player, giving his blessings to them. The teams presented him with a chess board and the PM also watched Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi play a blitz game. The PM shared lighter moments with the players and on one occasion, Praggnanandha was seen laughing as he introduced himself and PM Modi commented, according to an audio-less video provided by the authorities.
In a historic triumph, India's men's and women's teams clinched gold medals for the first time in the 45th Chess Olympiad last Sunday.
Led by the stellar performances of D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi, the men's team, which also included R. Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi and Pentala Harikrishna, secured the gold medal after a thrilling final round victory over Slovenia. Undefeated throughout the event, India finished well ahead of top-seeded United States, China and 2022-winner Uzbekistan.
The women's team comprising Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Tania Sachdev and led by non-playing captain Abhijit Kunte, also secured the gold medal after beating Azerbaijan. It finished ahead of Kazakhstan and the United States to claim gold.
The men's team, with Srinath Narayanan as the captain, led throughout the tournament, winning 10 matches and drawing just one. Before the last round, they were two points ahead of China.
In the final round, India only needed a draw to clinch the gold medals or for China not to win their match. However, India continued to press for a win and defeated Slovenia 3.5-0.5.
The womenas team had a very strong start, leading the event after 7 rounds, having won all their matches. They stumbled in round 8, losing to Poland and then drawing with Team USA, but made a strong finish. Going into the final round, India was tied for first with Kazakhstan, and the race for the medals was down to the wire.
The team of Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali R, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Tania Sachdev, with Abhijit Kunte as the captain, demonstrated excellent composure and delivered, winning the final match against Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5. At the same time, Kazakhstan only drew with the USA 2-2, making India the sole winner of the event.
SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, September 25. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting with the founder and CEO of Lasselsberger Group Josef Lasselsberger on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Trend reports.
During the meeting, issues of implementing high-tech projects in the field of building materials were discussed. Particular attention was paid to projects for the production of dry mixes and microcalcite in the Samarkand region, as well as marble processing in the Kashkadarya region.
The parties agreed to accelerate the launch of new projects, including the production of high-purity aluminum, metakaolin, porcelain stoneware, paints and varnishes, and fiber cement.
Founded in 1957, the Lasselsberger Group is one of Europe's leading manufacturers of building materials, ceramics and mineral products with an annual turnover of $20 billion.
Srinagar, Sep 25 : Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that the grand old party will fight in Parliament for the restoration of statehood to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a Congress poll campaign rally in Sopore town of Baramulla district, Rahul Gandhi said: "We will fight for restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir in the Parliament. We will use the full force of INDIA bloc to pressurise Centre for your statehood. It is for the first time in India's history that a state was downgraded into a union territory and injustice was done to Jammu and Kashmir.
"We wanted statehood to be restored before elections. All the people of Jammu and Kashmir wanted the elections to take place after the restoration of statehood. The first and foremost issue is regarding your statehood. Several union territories have been made states and states have been bifurcated. But, this is the first time in history that a state has been turned into a Union Territory. It did not happen. The first step was election. But after this, the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir has to be restored."
The Congress leader said that the INDIA bloc will pressurise PM Modi in Parliament over the issue of statehood restoration to Jammu and Kashmir.
"If they don't do this, then we will restore your statehood as soon as the INDIA bloc forms the government at the Centre. Promises of rehabilitation made to Kashmiri Pandits by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be implemented and the promise of a financial package to refugees of West Pakistan made by us in 2014 will be fulfilled," he added.
He appealed for votes for the Congress candidate in Sopore assembly constituency.
Congress and the National Conference (NC) candidates are engaged in a friendly contest in Sopore as the two alliance partners could not reach a consensus on this Assembly seat, in addition to four others in the Jammu division including Banihal, Nagrota, Kishtwar and Doda.
The National Conference and Congress are contesting the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir in alliance with the National Congress fielding 52 and Congress 31 candidates.
Meanwhile, the voting for the second phase ended peacefully at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
The final polling figures will be communicated by the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer, P.K. Pole, in a press conference later.
Voting for the third and final phase of Jammu and Kashmir polls is scheduled on October 1 and counting will take place on October 8.
Elections are being held in Jammu and Kashmir for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 and also for the first time since 2014.
Kolkata, Sep 25 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress leadership in West Bengal are scared by the manner in which the state BJP leadership has been carrying out protests over the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor on the premises of the state-run R.K. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata last month, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said on Wednesday.
"We have a single-point demand... the resignation of Mamata Banerjee and taking responsibility for the tragedy. Our entire movement is based on this demand that has made the Chief Minister scared and hence the administration is making all out efforts to suppress our movement," Adhikari claimed while addressing a protest rally on the issue at Hazra crossing in south Kolkata, which is less than 1 km away from the official residence of the Chief Minister at Kalighat.
Speaking on the occasion, Adhikari also claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had come under attack since the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.
"A total of 57 BJP workers were killed in 2021 during the election phase. Again, 30 BJP workers were killed in the panchayat elections in 2023. Many of our elected panchayat members had to take shelter in the neighbouring states after that. After the Lok Sabha elections this year, as many as five of our party workers were killed," Suvendu Adhikari said.
Speaking on the occasion, BJP's West Bengal unit chief and Union Minister of State Sukanta Majumdar said that despite all these attacks, the party is determined to continue with their protest movements on this issue.
"If such a ghastly crime could happen within a state-run hospital in Kolkata, then the conditions of women in the remote areas are easily understandable. What's worse is that the Kolkata Police tried to tamper with the evidence to shield those who are involved in the crime," Majumdar said.
Mumbai, Sep 25 : Bollywood actress-dancer Madhuri Dixit, known for her commendable works like 'Lajja' and 'Devdas', once revealed an incident while making prawn curry.
In a throwback video with talk show anchor Simi Garewal, Madhuri said, "You know, for a woman, I always say she wears many hats. It's like, this is the wife's hat, this is the mom's hat, this is the professional hat and this is the cook's hat, I surprised myself a lot of times and him too."
Madhuri continued, "But there were a few goof-ups too. I didn't realize, you know, prawns out there are already cooked. So all you do is make your curry, and when the curry is hot, just put them in the curry and I was cooking prawns, and I cooked them for 10-15 minutes and I was cooking them, and I was like, oh, this is going to be really good."
"I think by the time I got done with those prawns, you can imagine what happened to them because it was so chewy like rubber and he ate them. He ate them, and he's like, mm, really good. I was just, you know, trying to make me feel good and he said, don't worry you'll get a hang of it." Madhuri concluded.
Madhuri Dixit married Dr. Shriram Madhav Nene on October 17, 1999, in a traditional ceremony held at the residence of Madhuri's elder brother in Southern California.
Their wedding reception in Mumbai was attended by several prominent Indian personalities, including then Chief Minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh, Shivsena chief Bal Thackeray, Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, Yash Chopra, Sridevi, and many others.
Later, the 'Tezaab' actress relocated to Denver, Colorado, for over a decade. On 17 March 2003, Dixit gave birth to a son, Arin and two years later she gave birth to another son, Ryan on 8 March 2005.
In October 2011, Madhuri Dixit moved back to Mumbai with her family.
On the work front, Madhuri was last seen in the 2022 drama film 'Maja Ma' helmed by Anand Tiwari. The film also featured Gajraj Rao, Ritwik Bhowmik, Barkha Singh, Srishti Shrivastava and Simone Singh in pivotal roles. The film is currently streaming on Prime Video.
Madhuri will be next seen in 'Bhool Bhulaiyya 3' opposite Kartik Aaryan, Triptii Dimri and Vidya Balan in a crucial role.
IANS
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Bengaluru, Sep 25 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) in Karnataka decided to intensify their agitations demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as a Special Court for MLA/MPs ordered a probe against the senior Congress leader for his alleged involvement in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land scam case.
Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Karnataka Assembly and senior BJP leader R. Ashoka announced on Wednesday that "all the leaders of our party will stage a protest in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru demanding resignation of the CM on Thursday (September 26)".
The BJP workers were earlier detained following their attempt to lay siege to the official residence 'Krishna' of CM Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru.
BJP Yuva Morcha State President and MLA Dheeraj Muniraj submitted that the protest was organised to demand the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in light of the High Court's order to probe into the MUDA scam matter.
The BJP workers were stopped near the Kumara Krupa Guest House, near the CM's residence.
Besides, JD-S workers, led by the party's city unit president H.M. Ramesh Gowda, held a massive protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, demanding the Chief Minister's resignation.
The JD-S also demanded Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's resignation. The party has also warned that it would intensify agitation in coming days.
"The High Court has given a green signal to the Governor's approval for opening an investigation against the Karnataka Chief Minister.
"Moreover, a special MLA/MP court has ordered the filing of an FIR against the Chief Minister and directed the Lokayukta police to complete the investigation and submit a report within three months. In this context, Siddaramaiah should immediately resign from his position," Ramesh Gowda said.
He further said: "CM Siddaramaiah, who lectures everyone on morality, should now take moral responsibility and step down."
Gowda warned that if Siddaramaiah does not resign, the JD-S will continue to hold aggressive protests.
"It is evident that CM Siddaramaiah has misused his power to acquire plots in the MUDA case. The court orders also make this clear. To benefit his family, Siddaramaiah not only abused his power but also disregarded ethical values. Therefore, he must resign without continuing in power even for a moment," he said.
Lucknow, Sep 25 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a special meeting with the Vietnamese delegation during the inaugural ceremony of the UP International Trade Show 2024 on Wednesday.
As part of the five-day Global Industry Mahakumbh, which commenced on Wednesday at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida, CM Yogi engaged with various delegates, including the Ambassador of Vietnam.
It is anticipated that Vietnamese companies will soon invest in the food processing and IT sectors in Uttar Pradesh.
Notably, Vietnam is serving as the partner country for this major event. In this context, CM Yogi expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Vietnamese team for their participation. He praised Vietnam from the stage during the inaugural session. The Chief Minister also thanked the Vietnamese ambassador during his meeting with him.
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese delegation also featured artists showcasing traditional arts, who captivated visitors from across the nation and around the globe during the cultural program held on Wednesday.
Lucknow, Sep 25 : The second edition of the UP International Trade Show (UPITS 2024), running from September 25 to 29 at the India Expo Center and Mart in Greater Noida, has quickly become a focal point for buyers.
On the opening day, a significant number of buyers gathered to learn about the diverse products from the state.
Many attendees remarked that they were unaware of the exceptional quality of goods manufactured in Uttar Pradesh and expressed their gratitude to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for organizing the event.
The enthusiasm from buyers has invigorated exhibitors, who are optimistic about achieving strong sales this year.
Aditya, a buyer from Ghaziabad, described the event as remarkable. He highlighted the importance of showcasing products from nearly every district of the state under one roof, praising the Uttar Pradesh government for this significant initiative.
Tarun Kumar, who travelled from Bulandshahr, shared his excitement about attending the UP International Trade Show, which motivated him to arrive on the opening day. He noted that since the Yogi Adityanath government took office, such events have been held consistently.
"I believe these fairs are crucial not only for exhibitors but also for buyers, as they provide an opportunity to explore products from across the state all in one place", he stated.
Aastha Chaudhary, a resident of Greater Noida, expressed her enthusiasm about the trade fair, saying she couldn't wait to attend on the very first day.
She mentioned that while similar events occur in Delhi, their distance makes attendance difficult, making this local international event particularly important. Aastha added that she enjoyed shopping last year and plans to do so again this time.
Meena from Ghaziabad praised the Yogi government for successfully organizing such a grand event. She remarked on the impressive array of high-quality products showcased at the fair, which she discovered during her visit.
Meena expressed her delight in purchasing her favourite items from one location and anticipated a larger crowd in the coming days. She emphasized the significance of the state governmentas efforts in hosting such a remarkable event.
Lucknow, Sep 25 : The remarkable progress of Uttar Pradesh under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's leadership took centre stage at the UP International Trade Show, held on Wednesday at Expo Mart in Greater Noida.
The event drew a large crowd on its opening day, showcasing the state's rapid development.
Utprerak from Siddharthnagar launched a startup a year ago, producing bakery products made from black salt rice. He shared that he applied for startup support through Invest UP.
"The business commenced within the designated timeframe, and the Yogi government provided a subsidy. Furthermore, the government consistently encourages my business," he noted, mentioning his participation in exhibitions in countries such as Thailand.
Ayesha Begum from Prayagraj creates products from Munj, employing 20 additional women in her venture. Ayesha explained that the government trained her team in Munj production, providing food and kits during the training.
"Plastic poses a significant threat to the environment. The Yogi government has raised public awareness about this issue, leading to an increased demand for Munj products," she stated.
On the opening day of the trade show, Gunjan's stall in Ambedkar Nagar attracted a significant crowd, with attendees praising her pizzas while she expressed gratitude to the government. Gunjan recounted how her husband lost his hotel job during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I borrowed Rs 10,000 from a self-help group to purchase a pizza-making machine. The business quickly took off. Later, I borrowed Rs 50,000 for a second machine and eventually obtained Rs 100,000 for a larger machine," she explained.
Sanyam from Muzaffarnagar, who runs a jaggery business, noted the substantial benefits entrepreneurs gain from such trade shows.
He stated, "The Yogi government offers more subsidies than those available in Delhi. Law and order in Uttar Pradesh has improved significantly, and we now have 24-hour electricity, which is boosting business activities."
Sanskriti from Varanasi, a Zari craft entrepreneur, remarked on the eradication of corruption under Yogi Adityanath's administration. She noted the enhanced law and order, stating, "As a woman, I never feel afraid. The government is empowering women with security, respect, and self-reliance."
Roshan Kumar, a handloom entrepreneur from Gazipur, mentioned that this is his second consecutive year setting up a stall at the trade show. He expressed optimism based on last year's successful business.
Vinod Kumar from Aligarh also commended the Yogi government for fostering a business-friendly environment.
New Delhi, Sep 25 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's recent mandate requiring eateries to display the names and addresses of their operators is more than a mere regulatory measure; it reflects a calculated political strategy aimed at shaping the Hindutva narrative as the state braces for by-elections in ten crucial assembly constituencies.
This decision follows closely on the heels of a Supreme Court stay on similar directives for eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route, signalling a tactical pivot in response to political pressures.
While the government cites concerns over food adulterationhighlighting shocking incidents of spitting and mixing urine in foodas the rationale, political observers suggest this is a political tactic.
As CM Adityanath has been ramping up his rhetoric on issues appealing to the Hindu community, framing this initiative is part of a broader narrative ahead of the upcoming by-polls.
The stakes are high; these elections will serve as a litmus test for his political standing within the BJP, especially after the party's dismal performance in Uttar Pradesh during the Lok Sabha elections.
CM Adityanath's recent pronouncements have been decidedly provocative, aimed at unifying Hindu voters.
His slogan "Batoge to Katoge" (If you divide, you will be chopped) coincided with reports of Hindu persecution in Bangladesh, stressing the urgency of unity among Hindus in the face of adversity. This is not just rhetoric; it's a strategic push to galvanise the majority community in favour of the BJP.
At a recent event in Mirzapur, he underscored this theme by questioning why invaders destroyed the revered temple of Lord Ram Lala, attributing it to Hindu disunity. His call to avoid division in pursuit of development and security is a clear appeal to his core base, reinforcing his image as a hardline leader in the eyes of Hindu voters.
With the upcoming by-elections looming large, CM Adityanath's manoeuvreboth in rhetoric and policyare clearly designed to strengthen his grip on power.
A strong showing in these constituencies would not only bolster his political stature within the state but also enhance his influence at the national level.
Observers believe that every decision and statement he makes is carefully calculated to resonate with the Hindu electorate, reflecting a singular focus on consolidating his core vote bank.
Bengaluru, Sep 25 : Leader of the Opposition in Karnataka (LoP), R. Ashoka, said on Wednesday that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has no other option but to resign after a special court ordered a probe against him in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case.
"Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should resign immediately and set an example for the state. He always claims to be a righteous person. If he truly wants to be such a person, this is the time -- he must resign," urged the BJP leader.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru on Wednesday, Ashoka said, "The moment the High Court order was issued, CM Siddaramaiah should have resigned. At least, he should have stepped down as soon as the Special Court for People's Representatives passed its order."
After an FIR is filed, CM Siddaramaiah won't be able to face the police. He claims that he is without any blemishes, a gentleman, and a role model. Now, he has the opportunity to prove it. He should resign immediately, cooperate with the investigation, and set an example for the state," Ashoka demanded.
The High Court has upheld the Governor's order for an investigation against CM Siddaramaiah, and the Special Court for People's Representatives has ordered the Lokayukta to investigate. When the BJP raised this issue in the Assembly, ministers accused them of launching a politically motivated conspiracy. Some legislators even threatened protests similar to those in Bangladesh. However, now the judiciary itself has declared that an investigation is appropriate, providing clear reasoning, he said.
Now, CM Siddaramaiah has no other option. It is unclear what he is waiting for. The BJP didn't file the case; it was lodged by RTI activists and campaigners. Earlier, CM Siddaramaiah had accused the Governor of being a puppet of the Central Government. Now, how will he accuse the court? Ashoka questioned.
He added that Siddaramaiah has suffered setbacks in both courts. While he has the option to approach a higher court, it's not the BJP saying this -- it's the court itself. Since the investigation has been handed over to the Lokayukta, an FIR will be filed. Though the Lokayukta is an independent body, it still falls under the purview of the police and the police department, he noted.
Ashoka further said, "We have demanded that the Valmiki Tribal Development Corporation and the MUDA scam be handed over to the CBI for investigation."
New Delhi, Sep 25 : The Congress party has consistently flayed the BJP for its Hindutva image, asserting that the BJP's agenda excludes minorities. However, recent statements from Congress leaders in Himachal Pradesh have raised questions about whether the party is leaning towards a softer version of Hindutva in the state.
The crux of the matter is whether Congress believes it cannot return to power without adopting a softer Hindutva image, or if this shift is merely a strategy to divert attention from the state's poor economic conditions.
This discussion has been sparked by remarks from some Congress leaders, including Himachal Pradesh Minister Vikramaditya Singh.
Since Congress came to power, the state's economic situation has deteriorated, and fulfilling electoral promises has become increasingly challenging due to a depleted treasury. Amidst these difficulties, several incidents have indicated a shift towards softer Hindutva within the party.
The issue began with a controversy surrounding illegal mosques, starting with a mosque in Sanjauli, which a minister of the Congress-led government termed as illegal, mentioning encroachments.
This was followed by growing tensions over mosques and prayers in Kusumpatti, as well as protests regarding an old mosque in the Mandi district and similar issues in Rampur, Sunni, and Kullu.
Vikramaditya Singh has also made comments diverging from party lines regarding the Waqf Board, suggesting the need for reforms. He asserted that changes are necessary with the times, even stating, "For the best interests of Himachal and its people, it is essential to bring about reforms."
Moreover, Singh echoed the model of the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh by proposing that all eateries and fast-food stalls in Himachal should display the owner's ID to avoid any issues, a move that the Congress had previously criticised when it was implemented in UP.
Given these developments, it appears that Congress in Himachal Pradesh is adopting elements of a softer Hindutva ideology, a significant shift for a party that has traditionally positioned itself against such narratives, say political observers.
Political observers are now keenly watching the future actions of Congress-led governments in Himachal and Karnataka to see if they continue to lean towards soft Hindutva politics.
Analysts have often interpreted the visits of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to temples, especially when timed with elections, as indicative of this soft Hindutva strategy.
SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, September 25. As part of the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with the co-chairman of the Uzbek-Saudi Business Council and Chairman of the Board of ACWA Power Muhammad Abunayan, Trend reports.
During the meeting, issues of strengthening cooperation with Saudi companies were discussed, especially in the context of the implementation of current investment projects.
President Mirziyoyev expressed satisfaction with the successful partnership with ACWA Power, noting the company's important role in attracting Saudi investment to the country.
The parties agreed to accelerate the implementation of joint projects in the areas of energy, transport, information technology, healthcare, as well as in the modernization of heat supply systems, water management and agriculture.
Bhopal, Sep 25 : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Wednesday said that the industry conclave scheduled to be held in Sagar on September 27 will pave the way for Bundelkhand growth while the focus will be to bring new industries for the comprehensive development of the region.
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already set the path for development of ther region by initiating the Ken-Betwa project. He asserted that the project will boost both agricultural and industrial growth.
The Chief Minister added that similar conclaves held in regional areas have achieved remarkable success in attracting investments, leading to the region's growth and creating numerous job opportunities.
"Madhya Pradesh government is fully committed to the overall development of Bundelkhand and will leave no stone unturned in achieving this goal," he said.
The Chief Minister also informed that before the Sagar regional industry conclave, discussions were held with the industrialists of Bundelkhand region.
"Everyone has agreed to invest on a large scale to promote industries. Industrialists from India and abroad have shown interest in participating and investing in the conclave," he added.
He also highlighted existing industrial units in different parts of the Bundelkhand region - Sagar, Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh, Niwari, Damoh and Panna.
"The MP government has high hope from the upcoming business event," the Chief Minister said.
He said that this region holds tremendous potential in various industries, including mineral-based industries, tourism, food processing, brass, petrochemicals, bidi, furniture, engineering works, plastics, and packaging.
"The proactive measures being implemented by the state government are expected to attract significant investments in these sectors, driving economic growth and creating new employment opportunities," the Chief Minister said.
Previously, the regional industry conclaves held in Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior and Indore. After Sagar, the similar events will be held in Rewa and Shahdol in October.
Bengaluru, Sep 25 : In a major development, the suspected killer who chopped 26-year-old Mahalaxmi, a single working woman in Bengaluru, into more than 50 pieces and stuffed the body parts into a fridge has committed suicide by hanging, police sources on Wednesday.
"The suspected killer has been identified as Mukthiranjan Roy was the victim's colleague. The suspected killer was found hanging from a tree in a village in Bhadrak district in Odisha," the sources said.
They added that the incident has come to light in the Booyakapura region near Pandi village in Dushiri police station limits.
"The suspected killer had arrived at the Pandi village on Wednesday and stayed at home. He had gone on a two-wheeler. His body was found by the locals," police sources said.
Mukthiranjan had disappeared following the incident of a sensational murder. The Karnataka Police had sent four teams to Odisha to hunt him. Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara has stated that the accused is on the move in Odisha and escaping from the police.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner B. Dayananda stated that the police have tracked the killer and the cops are hunting him down.
Commissioner Dayananda had stated that the killer was from outside and settled in Bengaluru.
The suspected killer had stopped coming to work from September 1. Mahalaxmi's last day of work was also on September 1.
The police suspect that Mahalaxmi was killed on September 2 or September 3.
The police stated that the suspected killer was the team head where Mahalaxmi worked.
The murder case came to light last Saturday after neighbours noticed a foul smell emanating from Mahalaxmi's house for two days and informed her relatives.
Mahalaxmi's mother and sister came to her house on Saturday and witnessed the horrifying scene.
Mahalaxmi was murdered, her body was chopped into more than 50 pieces and stuffed in a fridge, police said.
Though the refrigerator was operational, the body had been infested by maggots. A suitcase was found near the fridge.
The police suspect that Mahalaxmi was murdered around the beginning of the month and her body was cut into pieces by a sharp-edged weapon like a knife.
Mahalaxmi, who hailed from Tripura, worked at a popular mall here.
As per residents of the area, where Mahalaxmi had been living for five months, she lived alone and did not mingle much with her neighbours. For a few days, her brother stayed with her.
The police have also found that she was married and had a child, but lived separately.
Jaipur, Sep 25 : Following his CBI interrogation, Lokesh Sharma, OSD to former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said that the former Chief Minister should also be investigated in the phone tapping case.
"Ashok Gehlot should also be investigated and interrogated. The pen drive carrying purported audio clips with plans to topple his government was given to me by the former Chief Minister," Lokesh told media persons after his interrogation.
He said that the audio clips were given to him by Ashok Gehlot and he was asked to get the video of these clips viral.
"As he was my boss, it was my responsibility to follow his directions and I did exactly the same unknowing about the content in the pen drive," Lokesh said.
He added that he reached the crime branch at 11 am on Wednesday and was there till 4.30 pm.
"I answered all their queries. To date, I was telling the officials during the investigation that the audio clips carrying detailed discussions on plans of toppling the then government were given to me via social media. This was because every time I was instructed to do the same by Ashok Gehlot. However, today, I told the officials that these clippings were given to me by Ashok Gehlot in a pen drive and hence next investigation should be done with him," he added.
"Today, I gave a detailed response to all the queries of the officials and gave a detailed seven-page reply to them. I told them that Ashok Gehlot called me on July 16, 2020, and gave me a pen drive and said that the clippings in it should be made viral," Lokesh said.
He said that as he was my boss, he followed the directions.
"As the clippings could not be made viral on a pen drive, I first came to my residence, downloaded them on my laptop and then circulated them to the media," Lokesh said.
He added that phone tapping was also done by Ashok Gehlot under his tenure as Chief Minister and all senior officials including the then DGP, the then Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and other officials know about it.
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat lodged an FIR against Lokesh Sharma in the Delhi Crime Branch in March 2021, against which Sharma has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court.
In March 2021, the Delhi Police registered an FIR against Sharma on charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and unlawfully intercepting telephonic conversations.
Wednesday was Sharma's fifth appearance before the Crime Branch for questioning. He was last quizzed by the Crime Branch on October 23 last year.
Guwahati, Sep 25 : Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that the state government will make Justice (Retd.) Biplab Kumar Sarma committee report regarding clause 6 of Assam Accord public in a day.
The Chief Minister's announcement came after he had a meeting with the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) delegation to implement the recommendations of the high-level committee.
"We have discussed the Biplab Kumar Sarma committee report at length with the AASU leaders. The panel gave 67 recommendations regarding the implementation of clause 6. Out of a total 67 points, 40 recommendations come under the purview of the state government while in 12 cases, the involvement of both state and central government is required. In the rest of the recommendations, the centre has to take required steps," the Chief Minister said.
He added that AASU leaders agreed with the state government and an action plan in this regard will be prepared.
"We will prepare an action plan regarding the recommendations of the committee and it will be submitted to AASU on October 25. On that day, another meeting will be held with the student body leaders," the Chief Minister said, adding that the high-power committee report will be uploaded on the government website within the next 24 hours.
The Chief Minister further said that if AASU agrees with the stand of the government, then before April next year, recommendations of Biplab Kumar Sarma under the purview of the state government will be implemented.
"We are looking to carry out 52 recommendations of the clause 6 panel," the Chief Minister added.
Notably, clause 6 suggested that, as a stopgap measure, the post-1971 stream of proclaimed foreigners should be placed in locations outside Assam until their expulsion is finished. Additionally, the panel also gave the definition of 'Assamese'.
The committee mentioned that a number of constitutional and parliamentary reforms will be required in order to fully implement its recommendations. It has stated that the current Article 371-B of the Constitution will need to be changed.
The Assam Accord, signed following a six-year foreigners' agitation (19791985), stipulates that all foreigners entering the state after March 24, 1971, will be deported regardless of their religious affiliation.
Clause 6 of the Assam Accord states that appropriate constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards will be provided to protect the cultural, social and linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.
New Delhi, Sep 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted Congress during an election rally in Gohana, Sonipat district, Haryana, on Wednesday. He accused the grand old party of handing over the state to "brokers and sons-in-law".
While he did not directly mention Robert Vadra, he implied attacks on Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law and Priyanka Gandhi's husband.
PM Modi's statement signals that the BJP is preparing to once again corner Congress over the Vadra-DLF land deal as they approach the Haryana Assembly elections. Since the Lok Sabha elections, Robert Vadra has not been a focal point for the BJP, but now the party aims to push Congress onto the defensive by leveraging the DLF land deal involving Priyanka Gandhi's husband.
In the 2014 Haryana Assembly elections, the BJP effectively capitalised on this issue, leading to significant political uproar. Convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party, Arvind Kejriwal, also accused Congress of corruption and irregularities related to the deal.
The controversy benefited the BJP, helping them secure power in the state, which they have maintained since. The DLF land deal issue has periodically resurfaced in discussions but has now gained new traction.
During his recent rally, PM Modi's comments indicated that this issue will be a key topic in the upcoming elections. Moreover, the presence of the Aam Aadmi Party in Haryana could further complicate matters for Congress, as they might also raise the issue during the campaign.
It is worth noting that the deal between Robert Vadra and prominent Indian real estate developer DLF Limited occurred in February 2008.
Vadra's company, Skylight Hospitality, purchased about 3.5 acres of land in Gurugram from Omkareshwar Properties for Rs 7.5 crore at a time when Congress was in power, with Bhupinder Singh Hooda as the Chief Minister.
An FIR was filed against Vadra, naming him alongside then Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and DLF Gurugram, alleging that he gained millions by flouting regulations.
In his rally in Gohana, PM Modi reiterated his accusations, stating that Congress had surrendered the state to "brokers and sons-in-law".
He claimed that Congress' royal family is the most corrupt in the country, asserting that when the high command is corrupt, it gives a license for looting below.
The Prime Minister urged voters to remember how the state was exploited under the Congress' rule a decade ago, stressing that if they wish to avoid brokers and sons-in-law, they must support the BJP.
New Delhi, Sep 25 : Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday slammed Congress for allegedly shielding Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the MUDA land case.
"When the Governor granted permission for prosecution in Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam, Congress workers threw slippers at the Governor's photo. Now that the High Court has passed an order, who will they throw slippers at? Will they throw them at CM Siddaramaiah or someone else? Whose effigy will they burn," Kumaraswamy said.
He added the Karnataka government has been a government of 'looters'. "How can anyone forget the incident of looting of a gold merchant travelling in a Kerala bus in 2014? The incident took place when Congress was ruling is still fresh on people's minds," Kumaraswamy said.
Kumaraswamy said that in the MUDA case, the petition submitted by the Chief Minister to the High Court has been dismissed.
"Copies of the court order are available to everyone. Many legal experts have analysed the verdict, and the media has extensively reported on it. But it seems that the Chief Minister has not received the court order yet," Kumaraswamy said.
Referring to Siddaramaiah's statement that he (Kumaraswamy) is out on bail and needs to resign, Kumaraswamy said there is a difference between the cases against him and Siddaramaiah's case.
"I will address the allegations against me later. There are court orders against you (Siddaramaiah) from the High Court and the Special Court for Elected Representatives. What do you have to say about that," Kumaraswamy said.
He added that when the case was argued in the High Court, lawyers presented detailed evidence about the irregularities in the MUDA scam.
"The court orders have come out. What do you have to say," Kumaraswamy said.
"I have already addressed the Sai Venkateshwara Minerals case. The mine lease was granted to a company that did not apply. While they claim they applied, no lease was granted, and no land has been given to them. The state's treasury has not lost even a penny. In such a case, how can this be termed a scam," he said.
"The state government had clearly stated in 2009 that no land was given to anyone. They are accusing Kumaraswamy of a mistake made by some official. In the Jantakal Mining case, the then Chief Minister's order was deemed a misconduct by the Lokayukta report."
He added that Justice Santosh Hegde made a reference to it. However, the report clearly mentions that no money was taken, nor was any land given for profit.
The Union Minister further explained that the Sai Venkateshwara case has been in the Supreme Court since 2012.
"Everyone, from the Chief Minister to the Deputy Chief Minister, has been asking for my resignation. I've said I will speak after I am acquitted of the charges. They are themselves showing how hypocritical they are in the MUDA issue. The people are watching this drama," Kumaraswamy said.
"When Siddaramaiah was in power for five years, such irregularities were a daily occurrence, and I questioned them every day. He made conspiracies against me because I was standing in his way, thinking that if he got rid of me, there would be no obstacle to him. Now, I have to face this because I fought on behalf of the people. But I will face it bravely," the Union Minister said.
Regarding the de-notification issue, Kumaraswamy said, "Opposition is claiming that Rajasekharaiah was anonymous. What is the point of looking for the 2007 address now? Why didn't you investigate it when you were in power for five years? You have questioned my morality. I will respond to that challenge and prove my moral standing."
"They falsely claimed that the Gangenahalli land was government land. Has BDA paid compensation for the acquired land? Has a layout been formed there? Have any plots been distributed? A notification was issued in 1975-76, but no plots were made or distributed on the land that was acquired till 2007."
The Union Minister said that the Supreme Court has ruled that if land acquired by the government is not used within five years, it must be returned to the farmers.
"My brother-in-law bought that land. Is there a law that prohibits the sale of denotified land? I've told Siddaramaiah the same thing: if it's illegal, take back not 15 but 50 plots from me," he said.
Shillong, Sep 25 : The Meghalaya government on Wednesday approved the proposal to acquire additional land for expansion of the two airports in the state - Shillong and Baljek Airport, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said after a Cabinet meeting.
The state Cabinet, chaired by the Chief Minister also decided to seek necessary permission from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) following the latest survey report which indicates the possibility of expansion of the Shillong Airport for operating bigger aircraft.
The Baljek Airport in the West Garo Hills district is currently non-functional.
The Chief Minister said that the Transport Department has given a detailed presentation on its survey conducted along with the Airport Authority of India (AAI).
Sangma said that the survey suggested that the Shillong airport could be expanded and then it would facilitate the operation of A320 and Boeing 373 aircraft.
The runway of the Shillong airport, which is 30 km away from the capital city, can now handle only smaller aircraft like ATR.
The survey report said that Shillong Airport's runway can be expanded by 571 meters with a cost of Rs 100 crore to ensure bigger aircraft to operate.
Urging the cooperation of all concerned, Sangma said that if the Shillong airport expanded it would be a major game changer for the state.
If the Shillong airport expanded, it would boost tourism and related other sectors, he said.
"I am hopeful that the DGCA would approve the proposal of expansion of the Shillong airport," the Chief Minister said.
On Tuesday, the AAI informed the Meghalaya High Court that the expansion of the Shillong Airport's runway by 571 meters can be possible with a cost of Rs 100 crore by the state government, excluding the other costs that would be borne by the AAI which would be to the tune of Rs 500 crore.
About the status of Baljek Airport, the Chief Minister said that discussion for land acquisition for Baljek Airport is also underway.
Raipur, Sep 26 : Former Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister and senior Congress leader T.S. Singh Deo on Wednesday sounded critical of his own party which is in power in Himachal Pradesh, slamming the government's instructions to all the street vendors and food establishments to prominently display the names of owners, proprietors and staff members.
During an interaction with IANS, Deo said that he disagrees with the decision taken by the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led government in Himachal Pradesh.
"I do not agree with the Himachal government's decision. I saw a video on social media showing crosses being marked above the shutters of minority-owned shops, indicating a boycott. This is condemnable, and if the Himachal government is doing this, questions will arise about whether it deserves to remain in power," Deo told IANS.
The move, seen as following in the footsteps of the Yogi Adityanath government, is aimed at bringing cleanliness and hygiene to the food outlets.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also mandated the display of the names of eatery shop owners, managers, and proprietors outside their food centres. Installation of CCTVs in hotels and restaurants has also been made mandatory.
Himachal Urban Development Minister Vikramaditya Singh, briefing the media on Wednesday, said that the state government has made a decision similar to that of Uttar Pradesh to ensure that people have access to clean and hygienic food.
On Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government's instructions to put name plates outside shops, Deo slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying it has no issues left with and therefore, the party is latching in on to the 'Hindu-Muslim' matter.
"The BJP has been gradually able to up its seat count on the basis of 'Hindu-Muslim' matter and Babri Masjid issue. The party believes this is the only formula it is left with to attain power," Deo told IANS.
Further criticising the BJP, the Congress leader said the party is unable to believe that it can come to power even after the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi.
"The BJP cannot come to power unless it plays up the Hindu-Muslim card," Deo said.
The former Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister said that in the regional pockets, the BJP has been facing the "minority versus majority" factor.
"... and these minorities include not just Muslims, but also Christians and members of other sections of the society," Deo concluded.
United Nations, Sep 26 : External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy discussed on Wednesday strengthening their countries' strategic partnership, as India's top diplomat continued his round of meetings with leaders at the General Assembly's high-level meeting.
EAM Jaishankar wrote on X after their meeting, "Carried forward our conversations on strengthening the India-Britain Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP)" and "also discussed the conflict in Ukraine".
The CSP covers a wide range of sectors, including trade and investment, defence and security, technology, science, innovation, and people-to-people relations, and is augmented by a 2030 roadmap for meeting the goals, including those for a more secure Indian Ocean Region and Indo-Pacific.
EAM Jaishankar had sit-down meetings with some leaders and quick encounters with others in the halls of the UN building bustling with leaders at various levels.
He said on X that he and Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo discussed manufacturing and technology cooperation and exchanged views on Ukraine.
From the countries that will be taking their seats on the Security Council as elected members, he met with the Foreign Ministers Giorgos Gerapetritis of Greece and Ahmed Fiqi of Somalia.
The Indian External Affairs Minister posted on X that with Giorgos, "our conversation was focused on shipping, energy, mobility, connectivity, and defence."
His talks with Fiqi focused on "enhancing our cooperation in health, education, training and capacity building," EAM Jaishankar said on X.
He also had a brief encounter with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director-general of the World Trade Organisation, which came in for criticism when he spoke late at the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting.
Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno RodrAguez Parrilla said on X that he had a "fruitful" meeting with EAM Jaishankar at which they reviewed "the excellent state of bilateral relations".
"I reiterated Cuba's interest in continuing to expand economic-commercial and cooperation ties," he added.
EAM Jaishankar was more specific, writing on X, "Discussed our cooperation in health and food security, as well as in training and capacity development."
He described his meeting with Switzerland Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis as a "good to follow-up" to their recent meeting in Geneva.
At that meeting they had focused "on leveraging the Free Trade Agreement between India and EFTA States (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Principality of Liechtenstein) to boost trade and investments," according to the External Affairs Ministry.
Among others he met were Deputy UN Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Deputy Prime Ministers Winston Peters of New Zealand and Murat Nurtleu of Kazakhstan, and Foreign Ministers Cho Tae-yul of South Korea and Nasser Bourita of Morocco.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Iran is ready to engage within the framework of the comprehensive plan of joint action (JCPOA) on its nuclear program, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Trend reports.
According to him, if the obligations of the comprehensive plan of joint action are fulfilled completely and in good faith, other issues can be discussed.
Pezeshkian added that Iran and the P5+1 countries (the US, France, the UK, Russia, China, and Germany) reached the Comprehensive Joint Action Plan in 2015 to create opportunities. Iran agreed to the highest level of nuclear verification in exchange for recognition of its rights regarding its nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions against the country. However, US President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018 dealt a blow to the agreement.
The Iranian president noted that the unilateral imposition of sanctions against Iran by the US means the destruction of Iran's economic foundations. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Iran remains committed to its obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Meanwhile, in January 2016, Iran and the P5+1 group (the US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany) implemented the Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action concerning Irans nuclear program.
In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran.
By the end of 2020, the Iranian parliament decided to pursue a strategic plan in the nuclear sector to counter the sanctions, leading to a suspension of additional steps and the Additional Protocol as per the nuclear agreement.
Consequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faced a reduction in monitoring capabilities by 20-30 percent.
Beirut, Sep 26 : At least 51 people were killed and 223 injured due to the continued Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The Ministry on Wednesday confirmed casualties in several locations across southern and eastern Lebanon, including Bint Jbeil, Ain Qana, Qabrikha and Tebnine, Xinhua news agency reported.
Military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes targeted around 90 villages and towns in southern and eastern Lebanon.
Among the casualties was Kamel Karaki, a photojournalist for Lebanese Al-Manar TV, killed in a strike on the southeastern village of Qantara.
Meanwhile, local media reported at least seven fatalities and 16 injuries from strikes near Beirut, with three deaths in Maaysrah, northeast of the capital, and four in Joun, Chouf district.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that Hezbollah fired a surface-to-surface missile at Tel Aviv early Wednesday, triggering sirens in the city and surrounding areas.
The IDF said it intercepted the missile using the David's Sling defence system, with no injuries or damage reported.
The military later added it had struck the Hezbollah launcher in southern Lebanon's Nafakhiyeh.
In a statement, the IDF announced that it had called up two reserve ground brigades to the Israel-Lebanon border following a "situational assessment," adding that the troops would be deployed for "operational activities on the northern front".
It noted that the mobilisation would "enable the continuation of combat against Hezbollah, the defence of Israel, and create the conditions for northern Israel's residents to return to their homes".
This surge in violence follows Israeli bombardments on Monday and Tuesday, the most extensive Israeli attacks on Lebanon since 2006.
Official figures indicate the two-day strikes have killed more than 550 and wounded around 1,800 in Lebanon.
On Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Beirut's southern suburbs killed Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi and five others, according to the Shia militant group.
The escalation comes after last week's explosions targeting communication devices across Lebanon, which left dozens dead.
The cross-border conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has been ongoing since October 8, 2023, following Hamas's attack on southern Israel.
Kendra Boileau
Assistant Director and Editor-in-Chief
(she/her)
Since joining the Press in 2010 (and well before that), I have acquired academic books in a number of fields. My current focus is on new titles in graphic medicine and comics studies, pursuing work by researchers in the health humanities, medical practitioners, and activists analyzing the ways in which comics address the scaled meanings of health. In addition to considering monographs and edited collections, Im interested in receiving pitches for innovative manuscripts arising from comics-based research. For the graphic novel fans among us, I am also the Publisher of PSU Press's Graphic Mundi trade graphic novel imprint.
I have the pleasure of collaborating on all of the above with Josie DiKerby.
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At an appeal hearing this week in a closely watched book banning case, lawyers for rural Llano County, Tex., told the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that it should strike down a three-decade-old precedent and hand politicians near total authority over what books can go onor be banned frompublic library shelves.
The September 24 oral argument is the latest twist in Little v. Llano County. First filed in April 2022 by seven Llano County residents, the suit alleges that Llano County officials improperly removed some 17 books from library shelves because they disapproved of the content. In March 2023, Judge Robert Pitman found for the plaintiffs, and issued a preliminary injunction barring the county from removing books while the case proceeded and ordering several books to be returned to library shelves. In June, Pitmans decision was affirmed by a split three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit, that included a fiery dissent by ultra-conservative justice Stuart Kyle Duncan.
But on July 3, the Fifth Circuit abruptly vacated the panels decision, and ordered the appeal to be reheard en banc by the full court. And in arguments before the court this week, Jonathan Mitchell, lawyer for Llano County, came out swinging, telling the court that it should reverse its own holding in Campbell v. St. Tammany Parish School Board, a 1995 First Amendment decision involving the attempted removal of a book from a public school library that has long served as an anti-censorship bulwark for librarians.
"Twenty-nine years ago, this Court heldthat the speech clause limits the authority of librarians and school officials to remove books from a government-owned library. That holding is wrong and should be overruled," Mitchell argued. "The government has no constitutional obligation even to provide these libraries. And it has no constitutional obligation to include a particular book within a library's collection. The speech laws may prevent the government from punishing or penalizing those who seek to access information and ideas, but it does not require the government to assist or facilitate anyone's efforts to obtain a particular book."
Mitchell argued that "the most straightforward way" to overrule Campbell would be to find that because libraries are public institutions that the books they choose are "government speech" and thus not open to the plaintiffs' First Amendment challenges, because the government is not required to be viewpoint neutral in its own speech.
While some members of the court appeared open to the argument, the judges raised numerous questionsincluding whether such a ruling would risk turning libraries into "silos of partisanship." Mitchell conceded that was a distinct possibility. He also conceded that there was no case law to support the argument that library curation decisions should be exempt from First Amendment scrutiny. And when asked about a recent decision by Eighth Circuit that rejected a similar government speech argument made by the state of Iowa in a case challenging its sweeping book ban law, SF 496, Mitchell offered little for the court to go on.
"What we recommended in our brief is that the court respectfully disagree with the Eighth Circuit," he said. "I think there's no way to overrule Campbell without creating a circuit split with the Eighth Circuit on this question. And that's unfortunate, but I think that's just the reality."
Mitchell then yielded to Florida solicitor general Henry Whitaker, who, on behalf of 17 states that filed amicus briefs in support of Llano's government speech argument, attempted to support Mitchell. The job of a librarian is to "separate out the gold from the garbage," Whitaker told the court, adding that it would be "essentially impossible to perform that task without giving the government the constitutional authority to make viewpoint-based decisions."
The First Amendment prevents the government from getting rid of ideas that it disagrees with. That was the standard that this Court set out in Campbell.
Arguing for the plaintiffs, attorney Matthew Borden called libraries a "magical place where anyone can go and learn about a wide variety of topics," and warned against discarding a 30-year-old precedent that has hardly been controversial.
"The First Amendment prevents the government from getting rid of ideas that it disagrees with. That was the standard that this Court set out in Campbell," Borden argued. "And Campbell has been the law in the circuit for 30 years without a flood of litigation or other difficulties." However, if the court were to suddenly overthrow Campbell and undermine the litany of cases that have protected diversity in library collections, it "would turn libraries from institutions of knowledge and education and learning and ideas into political institutions."
The proceedings then took a puzzling digression as judge Duncanwhose dissent surely led to the case being heard en banc before the full Fifth Circuitbegan sparring with Borden over book selection and professional weeding guidelines for librarians.
"The Texas weeding guide says librarians should weed biased, racist, or sexist views, stereotypical views of people with disabilities or the elderly, outdated philosophies on sexuality, marriage, and family life, biased or inflammatory items about immigration, gender or race, bias, children's books with erroneous and dangerous information," Duncan said. "That's the Texas weeding guide. So I ask you, isn't that, in and of itself, viewpoint discrimination?"
The hearing then drifted away from the facts and events in the Llano County case into a strained line of questioning that took up much of the second half of the hearing. After nearly 20 minutes of argument that veered from rote takes about how libraries function to how museums should choose their exhibits to whether Madame Bovary was a "trashy" novel, Borden tried to bring the argument back to the case at hand.
"The First Amendment protects unpopular speech," Borden said. "It protects minority viewpoints in those circumstances where the majority can oppress the minority. That's why you have a First Amendment."
A Losing Argument?
Notably, the "government speech" argument has failed in several recent book banning cases, including in Texas, Arkansas, and most recently in litigation over Iowas book banning law SF 496, in which a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit soundly rejected the idea that the government speaks through the books librarians and educators choose to make available, noting that libraries by definition should offer diverse opinions, and not just state-approved content.
"A well-appointed school library could include copies of Plato's The Republic, Machiavelli's The Prince, Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan, Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels's Das Kapital, Adolph Hitler's Mein Kampf, and Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, the Eighth Circuit held. "As Plaintiffs noted, if placing these books on the shelf of public school libraries constitutes government speech, the State 'is babbling prodigiously and incoherently.'"
And in July 2023, judge Timothy L. Brooks also forcefully rejected the states suggestion that public librarians function as state actors in a decision blocking portions of Arkansas's Act 372.
"The vocation of a librarian requires a commitment to freedom of speech and the celebration of diverse viewpoints unlike that found in any other profession," Brooks wrote, adding that the "librarians only enemy is the censor who judges contrary opinions to be dangerous, immoral, or wrong." Furthermore, though libraries may be funded by taxpayers and overseen by local and state officials, "the public library is not to be mistaken for simply an arm of the state," Brooks observed. "By virtue of its mission to provide the citizenry with access to a wide array of information, viewpoints, and content, the public library is decidedly not the states creature; it is the peoples."
While Llano County's government speech argument appears shaky on the law, the Fifth Circuit is widely considered to be the most conservative court in the land, and library advocates are rightly rattled by Llano County's argument. EveryLibrary founder John Chrastka told PW that if the court buys the government speech argument, it would be as big as overturning Miller, the 1939 Supreme Court case that sets forth a test for what constitutes obscenity.
"Allowing the Government Speech Doctrine to creep into the management of public libraries will upend everything that a public library is supposed to be," EveryLibrary reps said in a statement on the oral argument. "The outcome of this case will set a crucial precedent for the role of libraries in our democratic society, and it must reaffirm that libraries exist to serve the publics right to access diverse, lawful ideasnot to promote government-sanctioned ideologies."
In response to increased demand by U.S. booksellers in recent years for Spanish-language books to include in their inventories, Independent Publishers Group (IPG) will host a virtual Spanish-language books showcase on October 10, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. CDT.
The inaugural forum, which will be conducted in English, will cover best practices for North American booksellers selling Spanish-language titles, such as listing book descriptions in Spanish first, and then in English. The inaugural showcase also will provide an opportunity for some of the approximately 40 publishers of Spanish-language books distributed by IPG to present picks of their lists directly to buyers and booksellers. A group of IPGs Spanish-language publishers will present a total of 65 spring 2025 frontlist titles over the course of the two hours; the session will be divided between adult and childrens titles.
According to an IPG release, the distribution company decided to schedule this showcase in response to feedback received after a recent panel discussion about Spanish-language publishers in the U.S. hosted by the Independent Publishers Caucus.
I hope this becomes a regular event that will help drive further sales for publishers and authors," said Tim McCall, IPG's VP of sales, in a statment. "We look forward to a vibrant exchange of ideas that will help shape an important and growing market.
Brooke ODonnell, SVP for international business development, added, We hope this new forum gives our publishers insights into whats working in this market and our buyers a better understanding of key Spanish-language books available to them through IPG.
To register for IPG's inaugural Spanish-language showcase, email Julia Dillman at jdillman@ipgbook.com.
The fight for the US presidency between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is fierce, but it seems that the former has a better chance of winning thanks to a large number of acquaintances and the support of influencers. For example, Lauren Powell Jobs, the widow of the famous entrepreneur and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, has become one of Harris's most important confidants over the past 20 years.
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Thanks to her, the presidential candidate became widely known in America even before her position as Vice President of the United States. The richest woman in the famous Silicon Valley, Lauren provided Kamala Harris with advice and money to create a stable career foundation, the New York Times reports.
Insiders tell the media that she secretly contributed millions of dollars to an organization supporting Kamala Harris in the presidential race. Another of Lauren Powell Jobs' contributions to politics was helping a woman "usher Mr. Biden out of the race, which cleared the way for a Harris run."
"Laurene has a gift for friendship, especially old friends she is tribally loyal," said David Bradley, who sold The Atlantic magazine to Emerson Collective, owned by Powell Jobs.
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According to the source, Powell Jobs donated $500 to Harris's first candidacy for the San Francisco district attorney in 2003. "She was helpful early on in Kamalas career," explained activist Andrea Dew Steele.
Kamala Harris and Lauren Powell Jobs were such close friends that they often attended family parties and events in a limited circle of people. "Even as Ms. Harriss career took her to Sacramento and Washington, they have gone on personal trips together, with Ms. Harris at times flying on Ms. Powell Jobss private plane," the New York Times reports.
Kamala Harris's presidential campaign actually began not in 2024, but in 2017. During an interview, Lauren Powell Jobs, answering a journalist's question about her possible run for the US presidency in 2020, "turned the question into an opportunity to promote Ms. Harris, then a newly elected senator from California."
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Even at that time, the wife of the late Steve Jobs was already campaigning, "I vote for her."
During the period when Kamala Harris was Vice President, Lauren Powell had a tense relationship with then-President Joe Biden. The woman did not believe that the 81-year-old politician would be able to win the race again, so her goal was to make sure that the Democrats did not lose to the Republicans, led by Donald Trump.
"As Mr. Biden insisted that he would not leave the race, Ms. Harris quietly tried to survey her options and navigate the sensitive politics of the moment. Among those she turned to for counsel was Ms. Powell Jobs. Just weeks later, Ms. Powell Jobs was at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, sitting at times in Ms. Harriss exclusive friends and family box and watching her companion formally accept the partys nomination for president," the source said.
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It turned out that Powell Jobs personally called female leaders in the technology industry and urged them to publicly support Kamala Harris in the presidential election. It is not known whether the campaigning of such stars as Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Jennifer Lopez and Meryl Streep is also her handiwork.
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The best activities and attractions on Phillip Island
See the Little Penguins at Penguin Parade
No visit to Phillip Island is complete without a visit to the Phillip Island Penguin Parade. Watch Little Penguins emerge from the ocean at sunset and dash across the sand to their burrows from elevated boardwalks: truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
You can choose from three viewing options at the Penguin Parade. General Viewing has excellent views of the Little Penguins waddling up the beach and into the colony. Penguins Plus provides a more intimate experience, with a smaller guest capacity and a location right beside the main penguin 'highway' from the ocean. Underground Viewing will get you on eye-level with the cute penguins (behind glass).
If you're extra keen, there's also a Guided Penguin Tour and a private beach viewing tour.
More: 10 things you didnt know about the Little Penguins at Phillip Island
Spot fur seals or whales up close
Those who like their animal encounters up close and personal should consider a Seal Watching Cruise boat tour. You'll be taken to visit Australia's most famous fur seal colony, which averages 5,000 seals. Watch these cute mammals up close as they bathe on rocks, splash about the seas, and maybe even come up to your boat to say hello! You also have a good chance to spot dolphins and sea birds as you enjoy a complimentary morning or afternoon tea.
If you're visiting in winter, take the opportunity to spot the worlds largest mammal on the Winter Whale Cruise. You'll get the chance to watch whales as they breach and play, then feast on a complimentary morning tea as you're taken to the popular Seal Rocks to see Phillip Island's famously large colony of fur seals.
There's also the Twilight Bay Cruise, aboard which you can enjoy a glass of vino as the sun sets over the calm waters of Phillip Bay. You'll cruise to see the submarine HMAS Otama, hopefully spotting dolphins and seals playing in the ocean on the way.
Blogger Anastasia Pokryshchuk, who is known to Ukrainians for her unconventional appearance, which she got thanks to numerous plastic surgeries, admitted whether her body is insured. She also told us how much money she spent on her transformation.
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Anastasia Pokryshchuk says that she hardly considers the risks that may arise after surgery. In her opinion, the peculiarities of the postoperative period are somewhat exaggerated. She spoke about this in a conversation with OBOZ.UA.
The blogger says she hasn't calculated how much she has invested in her transformation: "More than 100 thousand dollars? No, it was less. Is there any part of your body that you would never want to change? I haven't thought about it. Do I consider the risks that may arise after surgery? I want to - and I do. I trust the doctor. I don't read horror stories on the Internet like someone died after surgery or injected themselves, which also ended in tears. My nose fell through, my implants on my buttocks "floated"... I am not paranoid about this. My body is not insured. So, maybe some insurance company will see your interview and buy an advertisement from me, I will be glad."
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Anastasia assures us that the importance of the postoperative period after surgery is somewhat exaggerated: "I don't know what could be more important than the surgery itself. What were the recommendations after the intervention? To treat the stitches with an antimicrobial agent. It happened that for some time I could not raise my arms. But it is not difficult, you must admit. I also remember not being able to drive for a month, I had to sit on a special pillow because when I had my buttocks done, it was forbidden to put any weight on the stitch. I also had to wear compression underwear for some time. Well, that's all. Afterwards, you can safely return to a completely normal life. It seems to me that stars and bloggers who talk about how difficult it is do so solely to maintain interest in their persona."
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Authorities say the passenger in a car was killed when a horse smashed through the windshield during a series of crashes on a Southern California interstate over the weekend
Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the Indian arm of South Korean automaker Hyundai, and food and grocery delivery major Swiggy have received capital markets regulator Sebi's approval to float initial public offerings (IPOs), people familiar with the development said on Wednesday.
Photograph: Andrew Kelly/Reuters
Sources had previously stated that the South Korean automaker is looking to raise at least USD 3 billion (about Rs 25,000 crore) through an initial share sale, while the IPO of Swiggy has been pegged at over Rs 10,000 crore.
Hyundai Motor India's IPO, if it goes through, would be the largest in India, surpassing LIC's share sale of Rs 21,000 crore.
The country's IPO market is thriving, with around 60 main board companies having launched their initial share sales this year so far.
Hyundai Motor India's proposed IPO is entirely an Offer-for-Sale (OFS) of 142,194,700 equity shares by promoter Hyundai Motor Company, with no fresh issue component, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed in June.
The South Korean parent is diluting some of the stake through the OFS route.
Since the public issue is completely an OFS, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, which is the second largest carmaker in India after Maruti Suzuki India, will not receive any proceeds from the IPO.
People familiar with the development said that Hyundai Motor India has received an email from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) approving its IPO.
In its draft papers, Hyundai Motor India stated that it expects that the listing of the equity shares "will enhance our visibility and brand image and provide liquidity and a public market for the shares".
In February this year, sources had confirmed that the South Korean automaker is looking to raise at least $3 billion through an IPO. It may dilute 15-20 per cent stake to raise funds in the range of $3.3-5.6 billion, sources had stated.
Hyundai Motor India commenced operations in India in 1996 and currently sells 13 models across segments.
Last month, electric two-wheeler company Ola Electric Mobility got listed on the bourses after successful completion of its Rs 6,145-crore initial share sale.
Famous Ukrainian actor and TV presenter Yurii Horbunov appeared on the set of his new movie Trainspotting on December 31 on crutches. For the first time, the producer disclosed where he received the injury that required surgery.
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The 54-year-old showman told about it in an interview with ZhVL. He noted that the surgery had to be postponed because of the work on the comedy film.
"It's a home injury, a banal household injury. The surgery had to be postponed because I was filming. So I finished filming and had the surgery," the artist said.
According to Yurii Horbunov, after the surgery, he is undergoing rehabilitation, which will last for several weeks. The TV presenter emphasized that the recovery process takes place on his feet, which is not good for his health.
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Due to the injury, the actor had to spend the last days of filming the comedy film "Train on December 31," which Ukrainians will be able to see on January 1, 2025, on crutches. However, Yurii Horbunov noted that despite all the incidents, they managed to create a traditional New Year's movie that will be loved by everyone and watched by more than one generation.
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Quick commerce (Qcom) platforms are bringing upon a rapid change in the behaviours of online shoppers, with 31 per cent of buyers relying on the fast delivery option for grocery needs, according to a new study.
The shoppers trend 2024 report by market research firm NIQ revealed that 39 per cent use Q-comm for top-up purchases.
Shoppers today are more discerning, price-conscious, and channel-agnostic than ever before. The doubling of quick commerce usage signals an urgent need for fastmoving consumer goods (FMCG) brands to prioritise convenience and speed, while simultaneously addressing value perceptions, said Mitesh Dabrai, executive director consumer and marketing insights at NIQ in India.
These findings are in line with the assessments of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, which in recent quarters, have identified quick commerce as a growth engine.
After announcing the June quarter results, Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director, Nestle India, said that quick commerce makes up 2.1 per cent of overall e-commerce sales, adding that it was the fastest-growing segment of e-commerce and growing faster than traditional players.
FMCG major Dabur, too, pointed out the categorys growth during the annual general meeting in August.
Quick commerce has been a game changer for the industry and for us as well.
"Quick commerce grew by almost 100 per cent and has already become 25 to 30 per cent of our e-commerce revenue, Ankush Jain, chief financial officer at Dabur, said during the meeting.
The study interviewed over 4,500 consumers in Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai among others to examine the shopping habits of people aged 18-65 who buy groceries at hypermarkets, supermarkets, and online stores.
Among the popular categories, 42 per cent of shoppers use quick commerce for ready-to-eat meals, while 45 per cent for salty snacks.
In fact, shoppers are increasingly using online platforms not only for fill-in shopping, but also for their monthly purchases, the report said.
E-commerce platforms are also becoming a go-to for essential staples, with 60 per cent of shoppers in India turning to online platforms for these purchases, it added.
According to the report, shopping frequency has increased across channels, with more frequent visits to both modern trade and online platforms.
The report noted a surge in grocery store visits for main shopping with 32 per cent of Indian shoppers visiting weekly in 2024 as compared to just 12 per cent in 2023, and 24 per cent for top-up shopping versus 18 per cent in 2023.
The growing interest in premium private labels, with 67 per cent of shoppers seeking out these options, presents a unique opportunity for brands to elevate their offerings.
"FMCG leaders need to lean into innovation and multi-channel strategies to stay competitive and meet the evolving expectations of todays shopper, Dabrai added.
In the last few quarters, FMCG companies have identified quick commerce as a growth engine.
After announcing the June quarter results, Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director, Nestle India, said that quick commerce makes up 2.1 per cent of overall e-commerce sales, adding that it was the fastest-growing segment of e-commerce and growing faster than traditional players.
Indian FMCG major Dabur, too, pointed out the categorys growth during the annual general meeting held in August this year.
Quick commerce has been a game changer for the industry and for us as well.
"Quick commerce grew by almost 100 per cent and has already become 25 to 30 per cent of our e-commerce revenue, Ankush Jain, chief financial officer at Dabur, said during the meeting.
As the strike by Samsung Electronics employees in Sriperumbudur on the outskirts of Chennai entered its 16th day, the company on Tuesday claimed that it is paying 1.8 times of the average salary that manufacturing workers in the region are getting.
Photograph: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters
At Samsung India, the welfare of our workers is our top priority.
"The average monthly salary of our full-time manufacturing workers at the Chennai plant is 1.8 times the average salary of similar workers employed at other companies in the region,a Samsung statement said.
According to the workers, who are continuing their strike under the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (Citu), the average salary at Samsung is in the region of Rs 20,000-25,000 per month.
An industry body had told Business Standard that the average salary in the region is around Rs 16,000, and may vary depending on whether the company is a global player, domestic major, or an MSME.
The current assessment includes all the industrial units in the area.
Our workers are eligible for overtime pay and other allowances, and we provide a workplace environment that assures the highest standard of health, safety and welfare.
"We reiterate that we are ready to engage with our workers to address their grievances, so that they can return to work at the earliest," the company said.
The workers are demanding recognition of their union and also a rise in salary to Rs 36,000 over a period of three years.
In days of smart, networked technology and no shame over collateral damage, what will blow up next -- cars, mobile phones, TV sets, refrigerators? And where?, asks Shyam G Menon.
IMAGE: Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon, September 25, 2024. Photograph: Aziz Taher/Reuters
Back in time, one couldn't forget Moshe Dayan.
He was Israel's chief of general staff from 1953 to 1958, its defence minister from 1967 to 1974 and foreign minister from 1977 to 1979.
Dayan stood out among international personalities for the eye-patch he sported.
Israel's existence surrounded by an Arab world and the sparks that flew when the two sides collided made the Levant a frequent fixture in daily news.
The Levant made headlines when the sides clashed; it made headlines when the two sides explored potential for peace.
Dayan's photo appeared often in the newspapers, making his country a periodic subject of discussion at the family dining table.
IMAGE: Walkie-talkie devices without batteries at an electronic store in Sidon, Lebanon, which the owner says he removed for safety reason, after hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated across Lebanon's south and in Beirut's southern suburbs. Photograph: Aziz Taher/Reuters
Those days, as a matter of both principled and practical policy, India stood with the Palestinians.
The most visible leader from the Levant therefore, was Yasser Arafat, chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). But there was respect for Israel.
To begin with, the Jews -- like the Muslims -- had old connections with India. Both Israel and Palestine were small in size. But as a Muslim majority entity, Palestine was seen as a part of the larger Arab world.
Besides, the 1970s, when Dayan's photo was often seen in the media, was yet only three decades since World War II.
The Holocaust was still a very real tragedy remembered by all; its memory kept alive by numerous books and films on the great war.
Many novels by western authors mentioned the Zionist movement and the kibbutz culture. Alongside the regular reports appearing in the print media, one lapped up this post-world war perspective of Israel.
The narrative of a long-displaced people returning to their 'rightful homeland'. Competing narrative from the Palestinian side wasn't as glossily marketed or embedded in popular western literature.
IMAGE: A Lebanese soldier at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs. Photograph: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
In the Levant, Israel appeared the underdog. Even heroic, for despite its perilous existence and location, it had defeated the Arabs in a couple of earlier wars.
I suspect, instances like the attack on the Israeli Olympic contingent at Munich in 1972, may have added to the general sympathy.
Then there was the Israeli Defence Forces and the Mossad, referred to as top dogs in their respective fields.
Together, they ensured the Israelis an upper hand in the David versus Goliath scheme of things, in itself a case of flawed perception because the militants among the Palestinians were no comparison to Israel's military capabilities or the armament-support it received from the West, especially the US.
Contributing flair to how Israel's military was seen by the world was its military victories and incidents like the July 1976 counter terrorism mission at the Entebbe international airport in Uganda, wherein the Israelis rescued 102 hostages held there following the hijack of an Air France plane flying between Tel Aviv and Paris.
Later the subject of books and films, the operation made Israel seem one plucky country, determined to exist and look after its own.
Notwithstanding consistent support from the Muslim world and the Socialist bloc, the relevance of the Palestinian struggle was often overshadowed by Israel's striking military operations. This was the case in the 1970s.
IMAGE: Internally displaced people, who fled their southern Lebanon villages due to ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, ride on a pick up truck in Beirut. Photograph: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters
By the 1980s and 1990s, discussions at the family dining table had been usurped by other conflicts.
In 1979, Iran witnessed an Islamic revolution, which replaced the monarchy it was till then, with a theocratic government headed by Ayatollah Khomeini.
There was the hostage crisis in Iran, involving 53 American diplomats and citizens; it lasted 444 days over 1979-1981.
In September 1980, war broke out between Iraq and Iran; it would go on till August 1988.
In February 1989, the decade-old Soviet presence in Afghanistan came to an end with the complete withdrawal of Soviet troops from that country.
In November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. In August 1990, Iraq, then under the presidency of Saddam Hussain, invaded Kuwait.
After a military build-up spanning several months, in January 1991, a western coalition military force lead by the US, first bombarded Iraq and then liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.
Embedded media brought the Gulf War home to millions around the world. The following months and years saw the formal dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the return of Russia to the global stage, the assassination of Najibullah, once president of Afghanistan and the descent of that country into a tussle for power between various Afghan factions, including the Taliban.
1991 was also the year, the Yugoslav Wars commenced; they would last till 2001.
IMAGE: Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon. Photograph: Jim Urquhart/Reuters
Meanwhile, following Kuwait's liberation, the US got progressively embroiled in Iraq, reduced to civil strife following the end of Saddam Hussain's dictatorship.
In 1996, the Taliban, which had been gaining ground, took control of Kabul and established an Islamic emirate in Afghanistan.
On September 11, 2001, the infamous 9/11 terrorist attacks happened. Close to 3,000 people died in that attack by al-Qaeda.
In October 2001, the US invaded Afghanistan after the Taliban declined to hand over al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was operating from Afghanistan.
The US engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan were lengthy ones. Both these chapters dominated the imagination of the world as regards conflict and the consequences of conflict. There were also other important chapters in history that unfolded.
In 2011, the long reign of Libyan dictator, Muammar al-Gaddafi, was formally ended; he was killed following the outbreak of civil war and military operations by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
IMAGE: The damage at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs. Photograph: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
Away from all this, the Levant simmered as usual but in terms of making it to the front page of newspapers, was often muscled out by developments elsewhere. Still there were things happening.
The Palestinian National Council declared a state of Palestine in 1988 and even as its physical shape was drawn and demarcated, the land concerned remained under Israeli control and the contentious influx of Israeli settlers with state support, continued.
In the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, the militant group, Hamas, secured a majority.
In subsequent developments, the Gaza Strip and The West Bank -- the two Palestinian territories, came to be separately governed; Hamas controlled Gaza while the Fatah-controlled Palestinian National Authority (PNA) governed The West Bank (Fatah is a Palestinian nationalist and social democratic political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party PLO). Hamas and PNA didn't see eye to eye.
For the Palestinians, life in Palestine came with plenty of restrictions imposed by the Israelis. Gaza has sometimes been described as the world's biggest open-air prison.
In 2021, the US withdrew its military from Afghanistan, an exit that saw dramatic scenes of Afghans trying to flee (as the Taliban once again moved in to assume charge in Kabul).
In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine triggering off the worst military crisis in Europe since World War II.
IMAGE: Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system operates for interceptions as rockets are launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, Israel. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Even as the conflict in Ukraine was going on, in October 2023, the Levant forced its way back to global attention as Hamas militants crossing over from Gaza into Israel proper, left over 1000 Israelis and foreign nationals dead. In retaliation, the IDF invaded Gaza.
This operation has left thousands of Palestinians dead, many, many more than the number of Israelis killed in the original attack on Israel by the Hamas.
As news of Gaza's suffering spread, the world protested. People marched in many countries, including in the US (longtime supporter of Israel), calling for an end to hostilities.
Notably, cracks showed up in US officialdom's defence of Israel with some politicians openly questioning Israel's policy.
Meanwhile the conflict in the Levant developed a second theatre as Hezbollah, militants based in Lebanon and backed by Iran, got involved.
Adding another angle to the mess was the Houthis, militants from Yemen, who made sure that shipping through the Red Sea and Suez Canal got disrupted.
IMAGE: People drive north in heavy traffic from Lebanon's southern coastal city Sidon to flee the Israeli bombardment. Photograph: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
By now, those of school going age at the family dining table in the 1970s -- the ones who used to see Moshe Dayan's photos in the media -- were nearing retirement at their jobs.
They were close to entering the evening of their lives and had been mute witness to not just continued unrest in the Levant but conflict erupting at various times across a wider geography spanning the Levant to Afghanistan.
Besides the poor understanding of Zionism -- even indifference to it -- which may have spurred fascination for Israel in India's Right-Wing, it was also clear that world over there are people who bay for blood and groups of mercenaries and weapons manufacturers of various nationalities who profit from conflict.
It is an industry. For example, war is great proving ground for new weapons and new applications for existing weaponry. War is big business.
In end-July 2024, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Iran where he had gone to attend the inauguration of the new Iranian president.
On September 21, 2024, Hezbollah confirmed that its senior commander Ibrahim Aqil had been killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut, Lebanon.
IMAGE: A man injured in the pager blasts undergoes an operation at a hospital in Beirut. Photograph: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters
With economies overall not doing well and regressive, incendiary right-wing politics on the rise, nobody wants a whirlpool of a conflict anywhere; one that sucks in more actors and increases the scale of the conflict.
Yet as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the conflict in the Levant show, once begun, the stubborn architects of war appear to only make things more widespread and complicated than at start.
When alarmed others step in to broker peace, the main protagonists of conflict are spared hurt to their egos. Yes, egos. But what if there is no genuine effort to find peace? What if the world is uninterested in brokering peace or has learnt to profit from the re-engineering of trade lanes and realignment of supply lines that war forces? That's the worry on the minds of some at the family dining table these days.
It's why there was nobody applauding as they did for Entebbe, when pagers and walkie talkies exploded in Lebanon in September 2024, an act some allege was orchestrated by Israel.
The two incidents, reportedly targeting the Hezbollah, killed several people and left hundreds injured.
It not only signified the continuation of an existing conflict, it also spread worry on what it means to have such powers of subversion available along with the willingness to act on them, just when global lifestyle stands addicted to devices of many sorts.
In days of smart, networked technology and no shame over collateral damage, what will blow up next cars, mobile phones, TV sets, refrigerators? And where?
One can sense both alarm and fatigue creeping into the conversation at the family dining table. Too much of deja vu, as regards human behaviour.
Shyam G Menon is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
'I had told Fadnavisji that I will be with the party till the Lok Sabha election and I will give my 100 per cent to campaign for the BJP.'
'But ultimately I will have to take this decision (to quit the BJP).'
'When I requested him to see this from the point of view of an elder brother, he could not say anything more after that.'
IMAGE: Raje Samarjeetsinh Ghatge, left, with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Photograph: Kind courtesy Raje Samarjeetsinh Ghatge/X
The politics of western Maharashtra, particularly Kolhapur, is all set to emerge as an interesting hotspot during the forthcoming assembly election in Maharashtra.
With the entry of Raje Samarjeetsinh Ghatge -- a descendant of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, and son of the late Vikramsinh Ghatge, himself a two-term MLA from Kagal in Kolhapur district -- from the Bharatiya Janata Party into Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party faction, battle lines are drawn with Ghatge emerging as a favourite to contest the Kagal seat against state Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif, a trusted Sharad Pawar warhorse once, who shifted his loyalties to the Ajit Pawar camp when he parted ways with his uncle on July 2, 2023.
Ghatge, a chartered accountant by profession, who runs the Shri Shahu Cooperative Sugar Factory and the Raje Vikramsinh Ghatge Co-operative Bank, was a trusted lieutenant of senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for eight years.
"When I was in the BJP for eight years, I took the party to the grassroots. I will be doing the same for the NCP-SP under the leadership of Mr Sharad Pawar. He has been deceived by his very so-called 'close people'. Now he needs a fresh face and faithful people who are going to remain absolutely loyal to him," Raje Samarjeetsinh Ghatge, who joined the NCP-SP on September 4, 2024, tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com.
You were considered very close to Devendra Fadnavis. And yet you quit the BJP.
In 2016 when I had joined the BJP, my intention was very clear. I wanted to bring a revolution in my constituency and win the election by contesting the MLA seat. I've been very clear that I do not want to become an MLC; that I do not want a backdoor entry to the state legislature.
Unfortunately, in 2019, because of seat sharing issues with the Shiv Sena (when the BJP and undivided Shiv Sena fought the election in alliance), I had to stand independently and yet I got about 116,000 votes.
Then on July 2, 2023 when Ajit Pawar joined the alliance, and it became a Mahayuti, it was very clear that the seat (Kagal assembly constituency in Kolhapur) would go to the incumbent minister from his party Hasan Mushrif.
I had always told Devendra Fadnavisji that there's going to be this problem and there's no way you are going to deny him (Mushrif is a five-time MLA from Kagal) ticket.
I had told Fadnavisji that I will be with the party till the Lok Sabha election and I will give my 100 per cent to campaign for the BJP. But ultimately I will have to take this decision (to quit the BJP).
Accordingly, I informed him that I have had meetings with the NCP-SP in the last week of July (2024) and if I had to win this (Kagal assembly) seat, I have no option but to go to Mr Sharad Pawar.
What is it that attracted you towards the NCP-SP and its chief Sharad Pawar?
I've always said that political relations and politics are different. We had old relationship with Mr (Sharad) Pawar, beyond politics. My father was a chairman of the sugar factory and throughout the whole (sugar) cooperative movement, we've always been associated -- not at the political level -- with them (Sharad Pawar and his family).
This seat (Kagal) is allocated to the Mr Pawar's party (Hasan Mushrif had won in 2019 as an MLA from Kagal on the NCP ticket).
In the present scenario, I felt I was more comfortable working with him (Sharad Pawar) because of the prior relationship. That's why I decided to join his party.
IMAGE: Raje Samarjeetsinh Ghatge met Sharad Pawar on September 2, 2024, two days before he joined the NCP-SP. Photograph: Kind courtesy Raje Samarjeetsinh Ghatge/X
When you joined the NCP-SP on September 4, Sharad Pawar in his speech at Gaibi Chowk publicly stated that if you win the Kagal assembly seat you won't merely remain an MLA.
Was he hinting at a ministry for you? What is it that Sharad Pawar admires so much in you?
Very frankly, at this moment my focus is about winning the seat. As far as the ministry is concerned that is something which comes after government formation and it will be the prerogative of the new chief minister.
I have tirelessly worked for eight years with the BJP; I have stuck to the party line. I have taken the BJP symbol to the last cadre.
The most important reason he (Sharad Pawar) respects me is for my staunch commitment to progress and development. I give it my 100%. I don't believe in playing double games.
When I was in the BJP for eight years, I took the party to the grassroots. I will be doing the same for the NCP-SP under the leadership of Mr Pawar.
In the present scenario he has been deceived by his very so-called 'close people' and whom he had promoted all these years. Now he needs a fresh face and faithful people who are going to remain absolutely loyal to him, his party and its cause.
Did Devendra Fadnavis make any efforts to pacify you? To make some arrangements so that you don't quit the BJP?
He did speak about that. He said he can rehabilitate me, but I said only one thing to him: 'That as a political person obviously you would not like me to leave. I understand that. But please understand me as my elder brother that I need to take this decision for my constituency.'
When I requested him to see this from the point of view of an elder brother, he could not say anything more after that.
How challenging will it be for you to contest and defeat Hasan Mushrif, who is a cabinet minister and who has also been mentored by Sharad Pawar?
The whole sentiment of Maharashtra, and specifically Kohlapur, is they have this amazing characteristic of always supporting the underdog, the dark horse and someone who fights it out against the existing establishment.
Agreed, he is a minister, he has the backing of the Mahayuti, but one must not forget that he managed to have all this power and respect because of the blessings and the support of adarneeya (respected) Sharad Pawar.
He had the blessings of Mr Sharad Pawar, who is not with him this time, and I have the blessing of Sharad Pawar this time. You have to understand one thing": That the kind of brazenness which has taken place that he can leave Mister Sharad Pawar.
The 116,00 votes I got in 2019 (as an independent) are all mine (even today); I can go to any side and all those votes will remain with me. This time I have the blessing of Sharad Pawar. He is firmly behind me and working under his leadership. That is going to be the deciding factor in this election.
IMAGE: Raje Samarjeetsinh Ghatge, right, playing phugadi, a traditional Maharashtrian dance, during a pilgrimage to Pandharpur. Photograph: Kind courtesy Raje Samarjeetsinh Ghatge/X
How will you joining the NCP-SP help the party in the sugar cooperative belt of western Maharashtra?
I am not quite sure how I can answer that question. But whatever responsibility the party gives to me in future I will give my 100 per cent commitment to fulfill them. I am not the kind who believes in falling too much in love with oneself.
That is quite a forthright response...
You have to have the humility and to say that me joining the party is going to benefit the party will only reflect the kind of brazenness seen in the incumbent (Ajit Pawar) who decided to switch party.
I can only say with all the humility that I will work hard to grow the party. This is not a question I would like to answer.
How are you planning to expand the NCP-SP base in the region after joining Sharad Pawar?
You have to understand that western Maharashtra has been a stronghold of Mr Sharad Pawar. We just now have to revive it. This region has always been under the sway and personal touch of Mr Pawar.
I will be doing the same thing which I have done in the eight years (when I was in the BJP). I will go to the grassroots and connect people to the party. Mr Sharad Pawar has decided to go with maximum fresh faces in the coming election. I think that is going to be the most attractive part.
Will the Maha Vikas Aghadi win a majority in the assembly election? How many seats is the NCP-SP likely to win in Maharashtra?
I cannot talk about the numbers right now ,but I do feel that the Maha Vikas Aghadi has a fair advantage over the Mahayuti and the Lok Sabha election results make that very obvious.
We have an advantage as far as the seats (the MVA is likely to win). I think I could answer that question after another month or so.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the United Nations Security Council that 'we have to prepare' the second peace summit to end the Russia-Ukraine war 'altogether' and he has invited India and other countries to join the peace process.
IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, on August 23, 2024. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
"We all know what needs to be done if we honestly look at the situation and truly want to stop Russia's war. Most importantly, act together, of course in unity, without creating new and unnecessary divisions of the world into blocks or regional groups," Zelenskyy on Tuesday told a Security Council meeting on the Ukraine conflict.
Zelenskyy said that unity always works for peace and 'we have to prepare the second peace summit to end the war altogether. And I invite all of you, all principle nations to join us in this process, all who truly respect the UN Charter. We invite China. We invite Brazil. I have already invited India. We are working with African nations, all of Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe, the Pacific region, and North America. All'.
Zelenskyy said all are 'equally important for peace, all without exceptions. Just as the UN Charter must work without exceptions'.
The Ukrainian president said this process will 'lead us to peace, to a just peace, a real peace, a peace that will last. All of us already know how to achieve it. We have the peace formula, we have the UN Charter and we have all the strength needed to make it happen. What's needed is determination'.
Zelenskyy on Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York before the Indian leader wrapped up his three-day visit to the US.
Modi's meeting with Zelenskyy, requested by the Ukrainian side, came at the sidelines of his other engagements, including participating in the Quad Leaders' Summit and his address to the UN's 'Summit of the Future'.
The meeting between Modi and Zelenskyy was their third in a little over three months.
Modi met the Ukrainian leader in Kyiv last month, just weeks after he had met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in July.
In June, Modi held a bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy.
'We are committed to implementing the outcomes of my visit to Ukraine last month to strengthen bilateral relations. Reiterated India's support for early resolution of the conflict in Ukraine and restoration of peace and stability,' the prime minister said on X following Monday's meeting with Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy, noting that this was already the third bilateral meeting this year with Modi, said the main focus of their conversation was on 'enhancing our interaction on international platforms, particularly at the UN and G20 as well as implementing the peace formula and preparing for the second peace summit. We had a substantive discussion on the available opportunities'.
"We are actively developing our relations and working together to strengthen cooperation across various fields," the Ukrainian president said, adding that he was 'grateful for the clear support of our sovereignty and territorial integrity'.
Responding to a question during a press briefing on discussions with the Ukrainian leader on a second peace summit, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the discussions covered a lot of issues related to finding a way forward.
Misri said a number of things came up, the peace summit that was held in Switzerland, the ideas that have been floated after that, the efforts that Ukraine is making on its own and the possibility of a second peace summit that Ukraine has been talking.
"But I think we are not right now at a stage where the second peace summit can be discussed in any detail. I think there is a lot of work that remains to be done before that, so there was not a great deal of discussion on that specific issue."
Pavan Kapoor, Secretary (West) at the Ministry of External Affairs, represented India at the 'Summit on Peace in Ukraine' hosted by Switzerland at Burgenstock on June 15-16.
The Indian delegation attended the opening and closing plenary sessions but India did not associate itself with any communique/document emerging from this summit.
'India's participation in the summit and preceding NSA/Political Director-level meetings based on Ukraine's peace formula was in line with our consistent approach to facilitate a lasting and peaceful resolution to the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. We continue to believe that such a resolution requires a sincere and practical engagement between the two parties to the conflict,' the MEA said.
In this regard, India will continue to remain engaged with all stakeholders and both parties to contribute to all earnest efforts to bring about an early and abiding peace, the MEA added.
Raising concern over the nearly 1.25 crore feedback submissions received by the parliamentary committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Bharatiya Janata Party member Nishikant Dubey has called for a probe into their sources, including in the possible role of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and China.
IMAGE: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey. Photograph: Sansad TV/ANI Photo
This investigation must cover the possible roles of fundamentalist organisations, individuals like Zakir Naik, and foreign powers like the ISI and China, as well as their proxies, he has said in a letter written to the committee's chairperson Jagdambika Pal.
Dubey, a committee member and fourth-term Lok Sabha MP, said the geographical origin of these submissions needs immediate attention, claiming that it is statistically improbable that such an overwhelming response could emerge organically from within India alone.
He described the enormity of feedback as 'unprecedented' in which, he added, has set a global record for legislative submissions and invites scrutiny over the motivations and sources behind these communications.
He said it signals a disturbing trend that cannot be ignored.
'I believe it is vital that the committee addresses these concerns head-on to ensure the integrity and independence of our legislative process,' he added.
The committee examining the contentious bill, which has been opposed stridently by opposition parties and several Muslim groups for its alleged attempt to interfere in religious affairs, had come out with advertisement, seeking people's feedback on its provisions.
Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had recently said that no one ever thought that the panel would receive recommendations in crores.
Even if 1,000 recommendations or representations were made, it used to be considered a big number, he had said.
Dubey said in his letter to Pal that it is essential to ask whether foreign entities, organisations, and individuals may be deliberately orchestrating this 'flood of responses to manipulate the democratic process'.
India has a robust parliamentary system, and any attempt to influence it through coordinated foreign intervention represent a direct threat to national sovereignty, he asserted.
Citing media reports, he said the content of a large portion of these submissions is identical or contains minor variations, signalling that many of these communications may be part of an organised campaign.
'It is not uncommon for special interest groups, both foreign and domestic, to use this tactic to saturate the legislative process with pre-drafted suggestions or demands, giving the illusion of mass public support. This orchestrated effort undermines the very purpose of soliciting genuine public feedback,' he said.
Hinting at the role of Islamic fundamentalist organisation, he said these groups often funded or influenced by outside powers seek to divide India along religious lines, destabilising its democracy and disrupting our legislative processes.
He said, 'There is reason to suspect that these elements are leveraging the Waqf Bill deliberations to sow discord and polarise public opinion. These efforts are not isolated but part of a broader strategy by fundamentalist groups to manipulate sensitive issues in our country.'
The influence of a radical Islamist peacher Zakir Naik cannot be underestimated, he said.
There are credible concerns that Naik and his network may be involved in orchestrating this deluge of submissions to the Waqf Bill, leveraging the issue to further his extremist rhetoric, he added, noting that Naik is a fugitive wanted in India for promoting hate speech and inciting terrorism.
Dubey also mentioned foreign powers like Pakistani spy agency ISI, China, and radical organisations like Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and the Taliban, saying they have long had an interest in destabilising India and undermining its democracy.
Given the sheer volume of submissions and their questionable content, it is entirely plausible that foreign actors are attempting to influence the legislative process from the outside, he said.
"If foreign intelligence agencies are behind this flood of submissions, it would constitute an unprecedented attack on Indian sovereignty and a deliberate attempt to compromise the independence of Parliament," he added.
Noting that Article 105 of the Constitution guarantees the free and fair functioning of Parliament, including the operations of its committees, he said any attempt by external forces to manipulate the legislative process will be an attack on the very foundations of parliamentary system.
Urging Pal to allow the Ministry of Home Affairs to conduct a thorough investigation, he said the probe finding should be circulated to all members of the committee to ensure complete transparency.
He said, 'This investigation is critical to preserving the fairness, integrity, and independence of the Waqf Bill deliberations.'
The Supreme Court on Wednesday cautioned courts against making comments that may be construed as "misogynistic" or directed towards a particular "gender or community" and said no part of Indian territory can be called Pakistan.
IMAGE: A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud had taken suo motu cognisance of the high court judge's alleged objectionable comments against a woman lawyer. Photograph: ANI Photo
The apex court's strong observations came as it closed the suo motu proceedings over Karnataka high court judge Justice V Srishananda's alleged objectionable comments during court proceedings. The Supreme Court also noted that he had apologised for his observations during open court proceedings on September 21.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud observed that since Justice Srishananda was not a party to proceedings before it, "we desist from making any further observations save and except to express our serious concern about both the reference to gender and to a segment of the community".
The top court on September 20 took suo motu cognisance of the judge's comments against a woman lawyer during court proceedings in one case and his reference to a Muslim-majority area in Bengaluru as "Pakistan" in another.
"Casual observations may well reflect a certain degree of individual bias, particularly when they are likely to be perceived as being directed to a particular gender or community," the bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy, said. on Wednesday.
"Courts, therefore, have to be careful not to make comments in the course of judicial proceedings which may be construed as being misogynistic or for that matter prejudicial to any segment of our society," it said.
Referring to the text of a report submitted before it by the registrar general of the Karnataka high court, the bench said it amply indicated that observations made in the course of proceedings there were unrelated to the course of proceedings and should have best been eschewed.
"The perception of justice to every segment of society is as important as the rendition of justice as an objective fact," it said.
"Such observations are liable to be construed in a negative light, thereby impacting not only the court of the judge who expressed them but the wider judicial system," it said.
After the bench dictated the order in the court room, Attorney General R Venkataramani referred to some messages on X about the observations and termed them "absolutely vitriolic".
"Now you have seen the nature of the observations. We can't call any part of the territory of India as Pakistan. Because that fundamentally is contrary to the territorial integrity of the nation," the CJI observed.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said social media can't be controlled and the anonymity attached with it makes it "very dangerous".
"But should I tell you, the answer to sunlight is more sunlight. Not to suppress what happens in the courts," Justice Chandrachud observed, adding that the answer was not to close doors and shut everything down.
The bench said the prevalence and reach of social media has included wide reporting of court proceedings and most high courts in the country have now adopted rules for live streaming or for conduct of video-conferencing.
"Emerging as a necessity in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, video-conferencing and live streaming of proceedings has emerged as an important outreach facility of courts to promote access to justice," it said.
The bench said all stakeholders in the judicial system, including the judges, lawyers and litigants, particularly parties-in-person, have to be conscious that the reach of proceedings which takes place in the courts does not extend to merely those who are physically present but also to audiences.
"This places an added responsibility on judges and lawyers as well as litigants who appear in person to conduct proceedings conscious of the wider impact of casual observations on the community at large," it said.
The bench said it was important that every judge should be aware of their own predispositions.
"The heart and soul of judging is the need to be impartial and fair. Intrinsic to that process is the need for every judge to be aware of our own predispositions because it is only on the basis of such awareness that we can truly be faithful to the fundamental obligation of the judge to deliver objective and fair justice," it said.
The bench said it was emphasising this point because it was necessary for every stakeholder to understand that the only values which must guide judicial decision making were those which were enshrined in the Constitution.
The top court noted that report of the high court's registrar general deals with two proceedings before the judge, the first which took place on June 6 and the other on August 28.
It said after the apex court had taken suo motu notice of these observations on September 20, the court presided over by Justice Srishananda had assembled on September 21 and the judge had read out an address in the open court in the presence of the Bar members.
The bench noted that the judge indicated during the September 21 proceedings that certain observations made by him were quoted out of context in social media and the observations were unintentional and were not intended to hurt the feelings of any segment of the society or any individual in particular. .
It said the judge had also indicated that an apology was being tendered if any section of society or any individual has been directly or indirectly hurt by his comments.
Maharani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi is a "national hero" and history should not be divided on "communal politics", the Delhi high court said on Wednesday while pulling up the Shahi Idgah managing committee for making scandalous pleadings in its plea against installation of her statue inside the Shahi Idgah Park at Sadar Bazar in New Delhi.
IMAGE: A statue of Rani Laxmibai in Sholapur. Photograph: Kind courtesy Wikipedia
The high court said the committee's intent was to do communal politics through court and a religious colour was being given to the matter.
A religious colour is being given to this. It is a matter of pride that you are having this statue there. On one hand we are talking about women empowerment. She is a national hero, cutting across all religious lines, and you are doing this on religious lines. Let's not divide history on communal politics, a bench of chief justice designate Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said.
The division bench, which was hearing an appeal by the committee challenging a single-judge's order, dismissed its petition seeking to restrain the installation of the statue of Maharani of Jhansi' inside the Shahi Idgah Park at Sadar Bazar on the ground that the plea appeared to be without any cause of action.
The court took exception to certain paragraphs against the single judge in the appeal which it said was divisive.
Someone has clearly lost it. The person who is doing it has got totally swayed. Just because someone has got emotionally swayed -- the petitioner is indulging in communal politics and also dragging the court into it. Courts don't get involved in communal politics. Give a written apology. What you are doing is not done, the bench said.
The bench further said, Look at the wordings which have been used for the single judge. Withdraw these pleadings please and give us an apology letter. This is scandalous. Absolutely scandalous. Communal politics being played through court. Do communal politics outside the court. Don't use us in the process. She is a national hero. This is not fair what you people are doing.
The intent, it seems, is to do communal politics through court. Rani Lakshmi Bai has nothing to do with religion. In case the land belonged to you, you should have volunteered yourself, it said.
The counsel for the petitioner committee apologised and said this was not the intent and added that the plea was not politically motivated. He said that the land does not belong to the managing committee and that it was only concerned with the Shahi Idgah.
Delhi government standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi said it has become a fashion to make harsh statements, including against judges, in pleadings and that people don't know how to address the single judge or the tribunal.
To this, the bench remarked that the court was not being addressed in the pleadings but someone behind was being addressed and that everyone was going through some political pressure.
The court asked the petitioner's counsel to delete the objectionable paragraphs in which scandalous pleadings were made and file an application to that effect by Thursday.
The senior counsel for the appellant (managing committee) admits that the aforesaid paragraphs are scandalous and shall be deleted forthwith. Let an application to the said effect be filed by tomorrow, it said and listed the matter for further hearing on September 27.
The single judge has rejected the plea seeking directions to the civic authorities to not encroach upon the Shahi Idgah, claiming it to be a waqf property.
The committee referred to a gazette notification published in 1970 which said that the Shahi Idgah Park is an ancient property built during the Mughal period, which is being used for offering namaaz. It was submitted that such a vast property could accommodate as many as 50,000 namaazis at one time.
The single judge had said that the petitioner committee has no legal or fundamental right to oppose the maintenance and upkeep of the parks or open ground, surrounding the Shahi Idgah, by the DDA and thereby oppose the installation of the statue by the MCD at its behest.
It has referred to an order passed by a coordinate bench of the high court and said the decision has also clarified that the parks or open ground surrounding the Shahi Idgah are the property of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and have been maintained by the horticultural division-II of the DDA, which is responsible for ensuring that the site is used by public visitors for recreational purposes.
"Furthermore, even the Delhi Waqf Board (DWB) does not authorise the use of the park for any purpose other than religious activities. The bottom line is that, since the parks/open ground adjoining the Shahi Idgah and located within the Idgah walls are the property of DDA, it is solely the DDA's responsibility to allocate portions of the said land for public use as it deems fit," it has said.
After a long hiatus, heavy rains returned to lash Mumbai and suburbs on Wednesday, inundating low-lying areas, stopping local trains on tracks between Kurla and Thane stations and stranding passengers even as traffic crawled on roads. Schools and colleges in Mumbai and its suburbs will remain shut on Thursday amid a red alert for heavy rains, officials said, and 14 incoming flights were diverted to other airports.
IMAGE: The tracks at Mumbai's Bhandup railway station are submerged in the heavy rains, September 25, 2024. Photographs: ANI Photo
Some roads virtually turned into rivers of fast-moving water as several areas received more than 100 mm of rain in five hours of evening.
As local trains stopped between Kurla and Thane stations on the Central line, thousands of commuters were stranded at CSMT and other stations, while there were traffic jams in various places.
The India meteorological department upgraded its orange alert for Mumbai city and its neighbouring districts to a red alert, valid till 8.30 am on Thursday.
Schools and colleges will remain closed on Thursday, civic officials ordered.
As per BMC data, the island city, eastern suburbs and western suburbs received 87.79 mm, 167.48 mm, and 95.57 mm rainfall between 5 pm and 10 pm.
Mankhurd area in eastern suburbs received the highest 276 mm rainfall followed by 275 mm in Bhandup and 274 mm in Powai area. Sewri Koliwada and Wadala area in the island city witnessed the highest rainfall of more than 145 mm rainfall while the highest rainfall recorded in Western suburbs was 190 mm.
Central Railway's chief spokesperson said there was waterlogging between Vidyavihar and Mulund on UP and DOWN slow lines, and on DOWN lines between Bhandup and Nahur.
"Between Kanjurmarg and Vikhroli stations, a caution order of 30 kmph (speed) has been imposed," he said.
Western Railway claimed that despite heavy rainfall, local trains on its suburban network were running normally.
A commuter said the slow train on which he was traveling took one hour to reach Ghatkopar from Kurla, and it was jam-packed with almost no space to breathe, while another passenger said that his train was stuck at Kurla for two hours.
Ghatkopar railway station, where Mumbai Metro service too originates, also witnessed massive crowds.
"Ghatkopar Metro station right now. There's a chance of stampede as there's too much crowd. Avoid taking any mode of public transport right now...." X user @Prasadrajguru1 wrote.
Central Railway appealed to the stranded passengers to remain inside the trains and avoid stepping onto the tracks.
Traffic jams were seen on Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Marg in Kurla and Ghatkopar, particularly near Sahara Hotel, Kurla Depot and Phoenix Mall Road, Kalpana cinema and Kalina Air India road.
Some vehicles, especially two-wheelers, broke down.
As many as 14 incoming flights at the Mumbai Airport were diverted to different airports on Wednesday due to heavy rains, an airport official said here.
Of these, nine flights were of IndiGo alone which were not given clearance to land in the city due to the inclement weather, the official said.
Of the remaining flights which were instructed by the ATC to divert to other airports, two were of Vistara and one each was of Air India, Akasa and Gulf Air.
Seven of the diverted flights were instructed to land in Hyderabad, four at Ahmedabad, two at Mopa Airport in Goa and one at Udaipur, the official added.
As IMD issued a red alert for Mumbai, city civic commissioner Bhushan Gagrani asked all assistant commissioners to ensure that respective executive engineers stay put in ward control rooms.
He also directed chief engineers of the Stormwater Drains (SWD) department to ensure SWD staff is on the field and de-watering pumps are operational.
Deputy chief engineers have been asked to be available in their respective zones at night, Gagrani added.
All deputy municipal commissioners have also been directed to monitor the situation in their respective zones.
IMD scientist Sushma Nair said a trough runs from north Konkan to south Bangladesh across a cyclonic circulation over south Chhattisgarh and its neighbourhood extending to the middle tropospheric level tilting southwards with height.
"This will lead to fairly widespread to widespread light/moderate rainfall is very likely over Konkan and Goa during the week," she said.
Isolated heavy rainfall is very likely over Konkan and Goa and central Maharashtra during September 25-27.
Lightning kills 3 in Thane
In neighbouring Thane district, three persons were killed in separate incidents of lightning strikes over the last 24 hours ending Wednesday evening, an official said.
The lightning strikes were reported from Shirgaon in Murbad taluka and near Kalyan on Tuesday afternoon.
At Shirgaon, a bolt from the sky struck a house, killing Parshu Pawar (42). At Kamba in Kalyan taluka, a man and a woman working in a quarry were killed when lightning struck them, a District Disaster Control Room official said.
The police have registered a case of accidental death.
The main suspect in the brutal killing of a 29-year-old woman whose dismembered body was found in a refrigerator in Bengaluru died allegedly by hanging in Odisha on Wednesday, the police said.
Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: ANI Photo
The police said the man was in a relationship with the victim, Mahalakshmi, and killed her following frequent arguments between them over her insisting to get married.
The accused, identified as Muktiranjan Pratap Ray (31), was found dead under the Dhusuri Police Station limits in Bhadrak district of Odisha, they said.
Deputy commissioner of police (Central) Shekhar H Tekkannavar said in Bengaluru that the man was found hanging from a tree on Wednesday morning.
In a purported suicide note found from the spot, he has confessed to the crime, according to Odisha police.
According to the police in Bengaluru, the suspect and the woman were working in a garment shop where they met and become friends. The two were in a relationship.
Mahalakshmi was allegedly pressuring him to marry her. This led to constant arguments between them and led to an altercation.
Apparently irked over this, the accused, who is allegedly very short-tempered, killed Mahalakshmi and later dismembered her body, the police said, citing preliminary investigation.
After the killing, Ray called up his younger brother and told him to vacate the rented house immediately but when asked for the reason to do so, the deceased told his brother he could not communicate to him over phone and would meet him at home and tell him, a senior police officer said.
When the accused's younger brother was interrogated, he revealed that after killing the woman, when Ray returned to his rented home here, he confessed to his brother about the murder and said he cannot stay in the city anymore and was leaving for their native place, he said.
"With the help of technical analysis and Call Record Details, the accused was identified and his mobile location was initially traced to West Bengal but later he switched it off. However, with the help of technical surveillance, his location was traced to a village in Odisha where we sent our teams to nab him," he added. He changed places in Odisha.
The police are waiting for the final post mortem report to ascertain the exact cause of death.
The maggot-infested body of Mahalakshmi, chopped into several pieces and stuffed into the fridge, was found by her mother and elder sister at her Vyalikaval home on Saturday.
The deceased woman's estranged husband on Sunday expressed suspicion about the involvement of a man known to Mahalakshmi, who had been living alone, in her neighbourhood.
Spanish farmers are demanding a ban on imports of Ukrainian grain into the European Union. They complain that Ukrainian agricultural products have caused prices on the domestic market to fall significantly.
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This was reported by the Union de Uniones de Agricultores y Ganaderos, which unites 30 farms representing the country's main producing regions. The organization emphasizes that in 2023, the supply of Ukrainian cereals to Spain amounted to almost 8.4 million tons, and in the first half of 2024 - about 6.5 million.
"This is more than half of the Ukrainian cereals supplied to the EU in general," the Union noted. Local producers cannot compete with Ukrainian products due to low prices, so prices for local cereals have fallen by 45% since May 2022.
In this regard, farmers protested in front of the European Union building in Madrid on September 23. The union warned that on September 25, another rally would be held in the capital, the main demand of the participants of which is to solve the problem of increasing grain imports from Ukraine.
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In addition, the union appealed to the European Commission to take measures to protect European grain producers against what they call price speculation. In particular, they demand that the protective mechanisms include wheat.
As a reminder, the EU agreed to abolish all tariffs and quotas on imports of Ukrainian food products back in June 2022, which, among other things, is fully in line with the Free Trade Agreement with Ukraine. However, within a few months, farmers in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and other neighboring countries complained that the excess of Ukrainian imports was allegedly driving them out of the market.
These countries then unilaterally imposed an embargo on many goods, allowing them to be imported only for further transit, in violation of EU law. Despite this, in early 2024, EU member states extended the free trade regime for Ukraine until 2025.
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At the same time, they introduced restrictions to reassure farmers. Thus, if the volume of imported products exceeds the average in 2022 and 2023, the bloc has the right to impose duties on the following Ukrainian products:
poultry
eggs
sugar
oats
corn
honey
cereals (grain kernels)
As reported earlier, Polish authorities banned the import of hundreds of tons of agricultural products from Ukraine. During the summer season, frozen raspberries were banned the most often.
Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered "forthwith" release of well-known YouTuber Savukku Shankar who was detained just after his release under the Tamil Nadu Goondas Act.
IMAGE: YouTuber Savukku Shankar. Photograph: ANI Photo/X
The top court's order came after the Tamil Nadu government apprised it of the state having revoked his detention order following the opinion of an advisory board on the issue.
"Acting on the opinion of the advisory board, the state has revoked the order of detention today... In view of the aforesaid, the detenue Shankar alias Savukku Shankar shall be released forthwith, if not required in any other case," the bench ordered while disposing of his plea against the fresh detention.
Shankar (48) was arrested by the Coimbatore police from southern Theni on May 4 for alleged derogatory statements about women police personnel and some Madras high court judges in an interview on the YouTube channel 'RedPix 24x7' on April 30, which led to several FIRs against him.
Besides these cases, the YouTuber also faces a case lodged by the Theni Police for the alleged possession of 'ganja'.
Shankar was released in pursuance of orders of the apex court and the Madras high court.
However, he was detained again by the state police on August 12.
The high court had on August 9 set aside the Chennai city police commissioner's order to detain Shankar under the Goondas Act.
It had also directed that the YouTuber, lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison, be set at liberty forthwith if he was not required in any other case.
He then filed two separate petitions seeking release and quashing of the cases against him.
Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Siddarth Luthra appeared for the state government.
Earlier, the top court had indicated that it may deal with the detention aspect and for clubbing the cases, the YouTuber will have to go to the high court.
On August 30, it had asked the Tamil Nadu government to apprise it on September 2 of the reasons behind Shankar's detention just after being released in connection with several criminal cases.
Observing that 15 FIRs have already been clubbed, the bench had said it will prima facie consider the aspect of fresh detention of the accused by the state government under the Goondas Act.
The state government had alleged that Shankar has said all Madras high court judges are corrupt and it was not a case where the top court should step in.
He has also been speaking against women police officials, Rohatgi had said.
Shankar's lawyer had opposed the submissions of the state government and said 51 percent of total detenues in the country come from Tamil Nadu every year and this shows the "rampant misuse" of the Goondas Act.
The top court had on July 18 ordered his interim release. But, he was taken into preventive detention later.
Shankar had alleged that the state police were false cases to arrest him and subject him to custodial torture.
Allowing a habeas corpus petition filed by Shankar's mother A Kamala, the high court had directed him to be set free if he was not required in any other case.
Setting aside the detention order dated May 12, a division bench of the high court had said, "We have arrived at an irresistible conclusion that the impugned order of detention is not in compliance with the essential requirement and ingredients as contemplated under Act 14 of 1982. Thus, the detention order issued by the Commissioner of Police is set aside."
The high court had said the detaining authority had registered both adverse complaints on the same day -- May 7.
One complaint was registered after the lapse of nearly six years, whereas the other was pertaining to alleged derogatory remarks against women police officers.
"The beauty of our democracy lies in the constitutionally guaranteed freedom and when the state machinery itself starts stifling it, people lose faith in democracy," the high court had said.
A detenu under the Goondas Act may be imprisoned for a year, subject to scrutiny by an advisory board, and the validity of such detention is also examined by the high court based on petitions filed by the affected persons.
Terming as "highly objectionable" the observation made by a high court about make-up articles and a widow, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said such a comment was not commensurate with the sensitivity and neutrality expected from a court of law.
IMAGE: A view of the Supreme Court of India. Photograph: ANI Photo
The apex court was dealing with the appeals filed against a verdict of the Patna high court in a murder case of 1985 in which a woman was abducted and later killed, allegedly to obtain possession of a house belonging to her father.
The high court had upheld the conviction of five persons in the case and had set aside the acquittal of two other co-accused.
It had convicted the two persons, who were earlier acquitted of all charges by a trial court, and sentenced them to life term.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma noted the high court had examined the question whether the victim was actually residing in the house from where she was alleged to have been abducted.
The apex court also noted that relying on the testimonies of the maternal uncle and brother-in-law of the deceased as well as the investigating officer, the high court had concluded that the victim was residing in the said house.
The bench noted the IO had inspected the house and no direct material, except some make-up articles, could be gathered so as to indicate that the victim was actually residing there.
It said admittedly, another woman, who was a widow, was also residing in the same portion of the house.
The bench noted the high court did take note of this fact but explained it away by observing that since the other woman was a widow, "the make-up articles could not have belonged to her as there was no need for her to put on make-up, being a widow".
"In our opinion, the observation of the high court is not only legally untenable but also highly objectionable. A sweeping observation of this nature is not commensurate with the sensitivity and neutrality expected from a court of law, specifically when the same is not made out from any evidence on record," the bench said in its verdict.
It said mere presence of certain make-up articles cannot be a conclusive proof of the fact that the deceased was residing in the house, especially when another woman was admittedly residing there.
"The make-up articles were linked with the deceased on the basis of a completely unacceptable reasoning and without any corroborative material," the bench noted.
It said no personal belongings of the deceased such as clothes and footwear could be found in the entire house.
The bench noted that the victim had died in August 1985 in Munger district and a report was lodged by her brother-in-law that she was abducted by seven persons from their house.
The bench noted that an FIR was lodged and later, a charge sheet was filed against seven accused.
The trial court had convicted five accused for commission of offences, including that of murder while the other two were acquitted of all charges.
In its verdict, the apex court said there was no direct evidence on record to prove the commission of murder by the accused persons.
"As regards motive, we may suffice to say that motive has a bearing only when the evidence on record is sufficient to prove the ingredients of the offences under consideration. Without the proof of foundational facts, the case of the prosecution cannot succeed on the presence of motive alone," the bench said.
The top court acquitted the seven accused of all the charges and directed that they be released forthwith, if in custody.
BRATTLEBORO If you're coming by the Royal Diner on a Friday evening for ice cream or a smash burger and fries, you might find yourself walki
Documents submitted to the Natural Resources Board include screenshots of multiple Airbnb listings from the property on Under the Mountain Road.
A 28,000 pound claw is used to break up the remains of the demolished turbine building at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Vernon on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023.
Self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has stated that Belarus needs to further strengthen its defense capabilities and prepare to confront the enemy in the event of military aggression. At the same time, he claims that Belarus itself is not going to fight.
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This was reported by the state news agency BELTA. Lukashenko made the relevant statements on September 24 at a meeting at the Obuz-Lesnovsky military training ground.
"The old formula: if you want peace, prepare for war. I want to emphasize once again (although there is no need to justify ourselves to anyone here) that we are not going to fight, we do not want to fight... All this has already been said. Our opponents and rivals are listening, but they are doing their own thing. Those who are preparing against us, we will speak frankly, we will fight. Therefore, we need to prepare for war. And God forbid that this war does not happen," he said.
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According to the dictator, no matter how tense the situation around Belarus is, Minsk has "no tendencies" to launch a war against them.
Belarus has already reformed its army four times, taking into account the experience of both "events at the front in the neighboring state" and military conflicts in the world in recent years. Now Belarus is approaching the modernization of its armed forces for the fifth time, Lukashenko said.
At the Obuz-Lisnovsky training ground, he was presented with innovations in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles, which have become a new word in the tactics of modern warfare.
"Drones are a serious novelty. Yes, it probably won't bring the war back if it happens. But it will significantly affect the course of hostilities. Drones are a serious matter. As the military say, it is very effective and profitable from the point of view of war. It's a scary thing to say, but it's true nonetheless. Today, as I said, the warring parties do not spare drones to hunt one person. Because it is cheaper than training a soldier," the illegally elected president said.
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As reported by OBOZ.UA:
Lukashenko said that Minsk would not give orders to fight outside Belarus. The reason is that the neighboring country has a "completely understandable and honest policy" regarding the situation in Ukraine.
Against the backdrop of Belarus' troops being pulled closer to the border with Ukraine, border guards of the State Border Guard Service in Chernihiv region have stepped up monitoring and are conducting surveillance on land, water, and in the air. Our defenders are in constant combat readiness.
Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Robert Beck of Peterborough, N.H. served for 30 years overseas with the United States government in embassies in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He now teaches foreign policy classes at Keene State Colleges Cheshire Academy for Lifelong Learning. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of Vermont News & Media.
Bluechip Infotech has signed a distribution agreement with ThreatLocker for the Australian and New Zealand (A/NZ) market.
The agreement covers all of ThreatLockers products, including Allowlisting, Ringfencing, Storage Control, Elevation Control and Network Control.
Bluechip director of sales Ron Jarvis said the partnership between the two companies reinforces the distributors commitment to delivering advanced solutions and fortifying digital landscapes while proactively elevating cyber security standards for businesses.
In addition to covering A/NZ, the agreement also includes Taiwan, with the three regions important to developing the security vendors international footprint.
ThreatLockers partnership with leading IT distributor Bluechip Infotech falls in line with efforts to bolster national security readiness, said ThreatLocker senior vice president of sales Shane Deegan.
As ThreatLocker expands its global presence in Australia, New Zealand and also in Taiwan, the partnership with Bluechip Infotech becomes an integral part of the market strategy moving forward.
Germany deported several dozen Afghans in August -- all of them convicted criminals -- for the first time since the Taliban takeover in 2021. But the move has fueled panic among Germany's large Afghan community, many of whom fear they could be next as Berlin tightens the country's asylum policies and anti-immigration parties rise in popularity.
It will be harder for Ukrainians to get into the European Union road repairs have begun at the Chop Zahony checkpoint on the border with Hungary. In addition, in October, the Nyzhankovychi Malhowice checkpoint on the border with Poland will temporarily cease to operate.
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This was reported by the State Customs Service of Ukraine. It is noted that road works at the international checkpoint "Chop Zahony" are carried out in the direction of "exit from Ukraine" from the bridge over the Tisza to the passenger and cargo sections.
The work will last for several weeks, starting on September 25, with no exact date of completion. This may hamper traffic, so drivers planning to cross the border in this direction are asked to take this into account when planning their trip.
In addition, the Poles are preparing to open the Nyzhankovychi Malhowice border crossing point. Therefore, starting from October 1, 2024, customs formalities will be suspended and vehicles will no longer be allowed to pass in both directions at the Nyzhankovychi border section (customs department No. 5 of the Smilnytsia customs post).
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This section of the border is intended for the passage of empty commercial vehicles with a total weight of more than 7.5 tons, except for vehicles transporting hazardous substances and vehicles purchased abroad that are imported into Ukraine for release into free circulation. Its construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024.
Earlier, OBOZ.UA reported that the passage of persons and vehicles through the Ustyluh Zosyn checkpoint is also carried out in a slow mode due to the registration of persons on laptops. In addition, repair work is underway at Solotvyno Sighetu Marmatiei, which restricts traffic.
Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Welcome back to the China In Eurasia briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter tracking China's resurgent influence from Eastern Europe to Central Asia.
I'll be away for the next few weeks, so this is the last newsletter until mid-October. Until then, I'm RFE/RL correspondent Reid Standish and here's what I'm following right now.
China And The UN General Assembly
World leaders have gathered in New York for the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) under the shadow of global conflict as wars rage in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan, and elsewhere.
Here's what's on China's radar so far and what could play out as UNGA continues.
Finding Perspective: While the gathering began with the adoption of an ambitious document called the Pact for the Future, which contains a series of pledges to improve development, fight climate change, and take more sustained action toward ending conflicts -- among other measures -- the mood is not particularly optimistic at the UN.
In his opening speech, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, "Our world is heading off the rails, and we need tough decisions to get back on track."
U.S. President Joe Biden, in his last speech as president before the assembly, called for countries to band together amid the spiraling conflict in the Middle East, Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, and rising concerns about China's growing influence.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in New York as Beijing's highest-ranking official and used his remarks on September 23 at the Summit of the Future to stress China's position as a rival power to the United States and its role in leading shifts to the current global order.
"We need to build an equal and orderly, multipolar world and defend the UN-centered international system. The international order is based on international law and the basic norms of international relations, underpinned by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter," Wang said.
China's top diplomat will also address the General Assembly on September 28.
What To Watch: Israel carried out air strikes against Hezbollah sites in Lebanon this week, which Lebanese authorities said had killed hundreds of people and sent tens of thousands fleeing for safety.
Wang already met with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on the sidelines of the gathering and strongly condemned violations after Israel's large-scale strikes while saying Beijing firmly supported Lebanon.
Wang then said China has been working for peace in the Middle East and will continue to work with Arab countries and the international community.
Things were much more tense when Wang met with his Japanese counterpart, Yoko Kamikawa, where she demanded a clearer explanation of the circumstances behind the recent stabbing death of a Japanese boy in China.
Kamikawa asked that Beijing strongly punish the alleged perpetrator and that officials should also crack down on anti-Japanese comments online. Wang called the attack an "isolated incident" whose motive is unclear.
Elsewhere, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva touted a joint Chinese-Brazilian proposal during his September 24 speech to the assembly that calls for talks to begin between Russia and Ukraine to end the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has already rejected the proposal as "destructive" but the Brazilian leader still said his foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim will seek support for the plan from representatives of 20 countries later this week in New York.
Why It Matters: Beijing has been flexing its muscles at the UN for years to block and stymie Western initiatives as its international stature has grown, and now China is throwing its newfound superpower weight around, as well.
And with Washington taking a more hawkish stance against China in general, and especially lately due to its support for Moscow's war in Ukraine, the dividing lines have only become starker.
Beijing has sold itself as leader of the so-called Global South and through policies like the Belt and Road Initiative has aimed to offer the world's less-developed countries an alternative, non-Western model for growth and progress.
That strategy has led to widespread influence within the UN General Assembly, with strong pro-China diplomatic support coming from African nations, Central Asia, and parts of Latin America.
The current General Assembly also comes as Washington finds itself increasingly isolated from large portions of the Global South over its votes to protect Israel at the UN as the war in Gaza escalates.
Three More Stories From Eurasia
1. Central Asia's Big Project Trickles Ahead
Kyrgyzstan announced it will allocate 11 billion som (roughly $130 million) from its state budget for the construction of the high-profile China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project, my colleague Ernest Nurmatov from RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
What It Means: The announcement of new funds is an important step for the long-planned rail line, but the amount announced still falls below the $573 million Bishkek is expected to contribute toward its share of construction costs.
China announced the project would move ahead during a summit in May 2023 with Xi Jinping and Central Asian leaders. According to the agreements signed between Beijing, Bishkek, and Tashkent, China enjoys a controlling interest in the project, responsible for 51 percent of construction costs. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan each have a 24.5 percent share.
However, questions remain over when and how Bishkek will allocate the remaining $443 million it will need to contribute for its section of the railway, especially given previous statements that construction could begin as soon as October.
2. Uzbekistan's Cotton Industry Looks To China
Uzbek officials are touting high yields in their cotton fields thanks to new technology and expertise brought from China, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports.
The Details: Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev said an agricultural pilot program that aimed to experiment with different ways of growing cotton has brought encouraging results, with methods and equipment from China proving to be cost-efficient while still improving the quality of the crop.
The main advantage brought from the imported expertise is water-saving and energy-efficient benefits that the new equipment was reportedly able to contribute.
Uzbek Agriculture Minister Ibrokhim Abdurakhmonov said Tashkent is satisfied with the results of the pilot project and now plans to expand it to cotton crops across the country.
3. More Joint Naval Drills In The Pacific
A detachment of warships of Russia's Pacific Fleet and the Chinese Navy entered the Sea of Okhotsk in the western Pacific as part of joint naval exercises on September 24.
What You Need To Know: Russia said earlier that it was starting the joint Russian-Chinese Beibu/Interaction 2024 naval exercise that would include anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons.
The Sea of Okhotsk in the western Pacific Ocean is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, and Japan's island of Hokkaido to the south.
The exercises follow a round of large-scale naval and air joint exercises in the Pacific and other oceans earlier this month.
The joint drills, which are increasingly taking place in new locations around the world, have alarmed the West and its allies like Japan. On September 23, Japan said Russia violated its airspace with a patrol plane.
Across The Supercontinent
Up and Running: China's Linglong tire factory, one of the premier investments under way in Serbia, is now operating one of its three plants, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports.
The Homeland: In 2024, 12,325 ethnic Kazakhs born outside Kazakhstan have moved to the country, according to official statistics.
The largest share of those arrivals -- 45.6 percent -- came from China, followed by Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, and Russia.
Middle Corridor Boost: With traffic along the Eurasian trade route growing, Kazakhstan and China are set to launch a new container hub in Aktau, where one of the key ports for the Caspian Sea is located.
South Asian Expansion: Chinese electric-car giant BYD is expected to announce a new manufacturing hub in Pakistan, the Financial Times reports, which would be the automaker's first venture into South Asia.
One Thing To Watch
The death of Liu Wenjie, the finance chief of Hunan Province, by falling has triggered a flurry of speculation in China.
Liu's body was found outside her apartment building in Changsha last week and police say she was killed by two men who also happened to fall to their deaths from the building.
Amid an unconvincing official story for the turn of events, the case has captured the public imagination in China, even as censors work to delete online chatter. The case also adds to a growing list of deaths and disappearances that have set China's rumor mill into overdrive.
Zhu Hengpeng, a top economist who served as deputy director of the Institute of Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) for around a decade, has vanished from public life since criticizing Xi's policies. High-profile cases last year involving China's defense and foreign minister have also captured international headlines and sparked speculation about behind-the-scenes power struggles.
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
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on September 25 said he has received reports saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to attack nuclear power plants and infrastructure in Ukraine with the goal of disconnecting the plants from the power grid.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Zelenskiy said he recently received "yet another alarming report from our intelligence" saying that Russia is using satellites to gather images and detailed information about Ukraine's nuclear infrastructure.
"Any missile or drone strike, any critical incident in the energy system could lead to a nuclear disaster, a day like that must never come," Zelenskiy said.
Moscow "needs to understand this, and this depends in part on your determination to put pressure on the aggressor," he told the annual UN meeting in New York.
"If, God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, radiation will not respect state borders," he said.
Zelenskiy also appealed to world leaders to keep his country's fight against Russia's invasion a top priority and warned that Putin is intent on seizing more territory, calling "more land" for a country the size of Russia an "insane" proposition.
"I think every leader, every country that supports us...sees how Russia, a country more than 20 times larger than Ukraine in territory, still wants even more land," he said.
Zelenskiy has been on an intensive diplomatic mission since his arrival in the United States for the annual UNGA event, meeting with key U.S. lawmakers and appearing on U.S. media to urge Washington to maintain its crucial support for Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president plans to lay out a "victory plan" to U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on September 26 amid relentless strikes on Ukraine's cities and a grinding Russian offensive that is making slow but continuous advances into the eastern part of the country.
He dismissed efforts by China and Brazil to end the war, questioning why the pair were proposing an alternative to his peace formula.
Proposing "alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called sets of principles" would give Putin the political space to continue the war, he said.
China has been trying to enlist developing nations to join the six-point peace plan it issued with Brazil in May.
Their proposal calls for an international peace conference "held at a proper time that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation of all parties as well as fair discussion of all peace plans."
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva advocated for the plan when he addressed the General Assembly on September 24.
"Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of an end to the war," Zelenskiy told the 193-member assembly.
"When the Chinese-Brazilian duo tries to grow into a choir of voices -- with someone in Europe, with someone in Africa -- saying something alternative to a full and just peace, the question arises, what is the true interest? Everyone must understand, you will not boost your power at Ukraine's expense," he said.
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.
The Ukrainian president told the UN Security Council on September 24 that Russia can only be "forced" into peace, and denounced Iran and North Korea as "accomplices" who have helped Moscow by providing weapons it has used in attacks on Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has "broken so many international norms and rules that he won't stop on his own. Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed: forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter," Zelenskiy said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on September 25 that Zelenskiy's stance was "a fatal mistake" that would have grave repercussions for Ukraine.
"A position based on an attempt to force Russia into peace is an absolutely fatal mistake, because it is impossible to force Russia into peace," Peskov said in a call with reporters.
"This is a profound misconception that will inevitably have consequences for the Kyiv regime."
Details about Zelenskiy's victory plan remain unknown, but he said the blueprint will be a "bridge" toward ending the conflict.
Media reports say the plan will ask for stepped-up U.S. military and financial backing and security guarantees, as well as further sanctions on Russia.
The United States, Ukraine's main supporter, and Western allies have given Kyiv billions of dollars in military aid and other assistance while also slapping several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has said the main security guarantee that Kyiv wants is NATO membership, a demand Kyiv has been advancing for years but which has been met with skepticism by the West, including Washington.
Zelenskiy has also indicated he will again seek permission to use long-range missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russia, a move Ukraine's allies are divided upon.
WATCH" Volodymyr Zelenskiy's Entire Speech At The UNGA
FULL SPEECH: Watch Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Addresses UN General Assembly No media source currently available 0:00 0:13:52 0:00
On September 24, he called on Washington to take "decisive" action to bring the end of the war closer. In a meeting with a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers, Zelenskiy voiced Kyiv's gratitude for what he called Washington's unwavering support for Kyiv and highlighting the critical U.S. role in defending Ukraine's freedom.
"Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year. Our victory plan will help bring Russia to peace in practice," Zelenskiy said on Telegram after the meeting.
"Now, at the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States," he said.
Even without the details of Zelenskiy's plan, some of Ukraine's most stalwart Western allies have pointed to the need to find a compromise solution to the conflict.
Czech President Petr Pavel, whose country has been one of Kyiv's strongest backers and the driving force behind a multibillion-dollar program known as the Czech Ammunition Initiative that has provided Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, told The New York Times in an interview published on September 23 that Ukrainians "will have to be realistic" about their chances of recovering all territories occupied by Russia.
"To talk about a defeat of Ukraine or defeat of Russia, it will simply not happen," the newspaper quoted Pavel as saying. "So the end will be somewhere in between."
Pavel added that Ukrainians also need to be "realistic about the support that they can achieve" from allies who are increasingly under domestic pressure to scale back help against Russia after more than 2 1/2 years of war.
Kyiv, which has around a fifth of its territory occupied by Russia, has repeatedly opposed such a possibility.
"There can be no half-hearted solutions when it comes to human lives, freedom, common values, justice for Russian crimes, restoration of international peace, and security," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a post on Telegram after Pavel's interview was published.
"Temporary solutions will not restore full-fledged peace but will only postpone war."
Zelenskiy's diplomatic offensive came as Russia stepped up its strikes on Ukraine. On September 25, Ukrainian air defenses shot down 28 drones and four missiles launched by Russia at 10 regions, Ukraine's air force said in a statement on Telegram.
Russian drones and missiles were downed over the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Sumy, Poltava, Mykolayiv, Odesa, and Kherson. Four more drones were "locally lost" in several regions of Ukraine, the statement said.
In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops have stepped up their attacks on the Donetsk stronghold of Vuhledar as they seek access to the logistics hub of Pokrovsk, some 80 kilometers to the north.
Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of Ukraine's Donetsk region, said on September 25 that fighting was ongoing in Vuhledar, although the Ukrainian military said the city was not yet surrounded by Russian forces.
Moscow's advances in the east appear to be the fastest over the past two years, despite a shock Ukrainian counteroffensive into Russia's Kursk region last month.
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
More soldiers from the central Russian regions of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan have died than any other region in the country, according to a confirmed tally of war deaths compiled by RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service, with a further sharp increase recorded in recent weeks.
The tally, corroborated in part by a separate count by the BBC Russian Service and Mediazona, is the latest indication of how the burden of the Kremlin's war on Ukraine is disproportionately falling on more distant regions of Russia, further away from the wealthy population centers of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The reason for the recent increase is unclear, but it comes two years after President Vladimir Putin stunned the country by announcing a "partial" mobilization that called up some 300,000 men to fight.
Overall, Russian casualties -- killed or wounded in action -- are believed to exceed 500,000 according to Western estimates, with more men killed over the past 30 months than in an entire decade of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
That burden has fallen heavily on regions where members of other ethnic groups outnumber ethnic Russians, such as Bashkortostan and Tatarstan.
"Tatarstan and Bashkortostan are not poor regions," said Dmitry Treshchanin, editor of the Russian-language Mediazona website, which together with the BBC Russian Service is independently compiling tallies of Russian casualties.
"Tatarstan, in particular, is the envy of many other regions. It cannot be said that people in these two republics volunteer to fight because of a lack of resources or money," he told RFE/RL. "In my opinion, there is a lot of administrative pressure, and people are being sent there 'voluntarily-compulsorily.'"
The situation with casualties from the two regions seems "irrational," he said.
"At the beginning of the war, deaths from [the North Caucasus region of] Daghestan were conspicuous," Treshchanin said. "But now we see constantly Tatar and Bashkir names like Marat and Marsel."
Death On The Volga
The Russian government has been notoriously tightlipped about its war losses since it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Its last official figure came in September 2022, with 5,937 Russian soldiers killed. At the time, the Ukrainian side was reporting Russian losses at nearly 10 times that figure.
That has made it difficult for reporters, analysts, and outside observers to gauge the full impact of the war on specific populations.
Still, from the beginning of the full-scale invasion, analysts have noted that nonethnic Russians have been disproportionately represented among the country's military casualties.
Bashkortostan, a mid-Volga republic with a population a little over 4 million, had 3,026 confirmed deaths as of September 26, according to RFE/RL's accounting, which used announcements on social media, obituaries, and other open sources to gather the data.
In Tatarstan, which has a similar population, RFE/RL registered 2,740 deaths from the region.*
A recent tally by BBC Russian/Mediazona, which used a similar methodology: listed 2,705 confirmed deaths in Bashkortostan and 2,259 in Tatarstan.
In addition to mobilized soldiers sent to fight in Ukraine, other populations include prison inmates and private military company mercenaries, as well as "kontraktniki"-- men who voluntarily sign contracts to fight, induced by extraordinarily high wages and veterans benefits, including for widows and survivors.
Among kontraktniki, Bashkortostan leads Russia in the number of confirmed deaths: 965, according to the RFE/RL tally. Tatarstan ranked second, with 557 volunteer deaths.
By comparison, only 135 volunteers from Moscow -- with an official population of more than 13 million -- have been confirmed as killed.
Over the last four weeks, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service has added 575 names to its list of dead soldiers from the two regions, nearly 20 per day.
The confirmed figures are assumed to be a major undercount given the difficulty in identifying deaths amid official secrecy.
It's also unclear exactly how many men in total have been sent from Bashkortostan and Tatarstan to fight in Ukraine: kontraktniki, prison inmates, mobilized troops, or otherwise.
A Statistic Or A Tragedy?
Moscow is paying "special attention" to the Volga region, Tatar political analyst Ruslan Aysin said, as part of what he said was a deliberate Kremlin attempt to "confuse the political status" of the so-called ethnic republics, as the regions of Russia with large nonethnic-Russian populations are known.
Putin's government, he said, is trying to bolster support for the war -- or at least temper discontent -- among ethnic Russians in large cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg by minimizing their casualty burden.
For the authorities, each military death, Aysin said, is "just a statistic."
"But for the republic, for the ethnic group, for the individual family, this is a great tragedy," he said. "There is a big gap between the leadership and the average citizen.
In January, Bashkortostan saw a wave of nonviolent protests over the sentencing of Fail Alsynov, a popular activist longtime advocate for minority rights and the Bashkir language and culture, to four years in prison for purportedly stoking interethnic enmity.
The protests were fueled in part by simmering discontent about the costs of the Ukraine war for the region, analysts said.
'Most Of The Fatalities Now Are Volunteers'
On September 20, the BBC Russian/Mediazona project -- which tracks war deaths by monitoring funeral notices and other open-source data -- reported it had confirmed more than 70,000 killed soldiers nationwide.
In the early phases of the war, the average Russian war death was a contract soldier in his early 20s, the project noted. Now, however, typical deaths are volunteers in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s, "most often without military experience or specialized training."
The oldest reported casualty was a 71-year-old volunteer, according to the report.
Treshchanin said about 12.7 percent of all killed Russian soldiers were caught up in the September 2022 mobilization order. Officially, some 300,000 men were mobilized, but some analysts believe the figure was higher.
Overall, BBC Russian/Mediazona estimated the total number of casualties nationwide ranging from 107,000 to 155,000.
Western estimates are similar.
In May, then-French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said that about 150,000 Russian soldiers had been killed. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in June that at least 300,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded, calling it "the price that Russia has paid for Putin's imperial ambitions."
Treshchanin said he and his colleagues have a backlog of about 4,000 names that they are trying to confirm.
But he said the main trend now involves volunteers, who have recently gone to fight.
"It is not a rare situation," Treshchanin said, "when a man who went off to war in July already has his obituary published in August."
*This story has been amended to update the tally of fatalities in Bashkortostan and Tatarstan.
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.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russia is planning attacks on Ukrainian nuclear power plants. Addressing the UN General Assembly on September 25, he said, "Any missile or drone strike, any critical incident in the energy system, could lead to a nuclear disaster."
KYIV -- Zelenskiy's UN speech was not the focus for many people that RFE/RL spoke on September 25, but most were at least aware of his U.S. trip.
Kostyantyn Novokhaskiy, 75, a pensioner and former archivist, had little hope that Zelenskiy's speech or his U.S. visit as a whole would change much.
"We had been hoping for the war to end back in 2022 and 2023 and now we know it will last for many years," he said.
Vladyslav, a 47-year-old soldier in the Kyiv air defense system who did not give his surname due to military protocol, was waiting for a bus after his shift.
"I think Zelenskiy's speech won't help. The allies will give us even fewer weapons. We have no choice but to defend ourselves," Vladyslav said. "The situation on the front lines is difficult."
Taisia Lizun, 54, an engineer who survived the Russian occupation of Bucha outside Kyiv early in the full-scale invasion, gave a coin to a soldier playing a trumpet to collect money.
"We hope for a miracle. We hope the world will hear us even if it did not for more than two years," Lizun said.
"I expect we will get more weapons and permission to hit Russian territory. We don't want to attack civilians, but we need to stop the Russian Army," she said. "We don't want to fight to the last Ukrainian, but Russia is pushing us."
We've been promised for a long time that new cars will get more expensive all the time. And affordable cars are supposed to disappear as a class altogether. The market believes otherwise - in 2024, inexpensive new products will appear, we just have to wait.
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By Cate McCurry, PA
A Government scheme that gives an 800 tax-free payment to homeowners who rent their homes to Ukrainians is reducing housing supply and is an incentive to chose a renter based on their nationality, a Sinn Fein TD has claimed.
Pearse Doherty said the design of the scheme creates resentment and inequality in the rental market.
Mr Doherty told the Dail on Wednesday that the latest figures show the number of new payments made under the Government scheme is increasing at nearly a rate of 1,000 per month.
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth Roderic OGorman said the scheme is under review but warned that any changes would have an impact on Ukrainians.
He said the State has provided refuge to over 100,000 Ukrainians over the last two years, and at its height, was directly providing accommodation supports to about 75,000 of those Ukrainians.
But he said that those numbers have since decreased.
Mr Doherty said the scheme should only be available to host families who open up their own homes to Ukrainians.
We (Sinn Fein) argued it should not be available to homes that should really be on the private rental market, and we argued it should not be available for rooms that should really be used as student digs. We told you it was unfair, he added.
The scheme, as you know, minister, provides 800 a month to pay for rent for Ukrainians, regardless of whether they are working and regardless of their income.
The payment is tax-free, and that means to a landlord it is worth 1,600. Indeed, in constituencies like mine in Donegal, where the average rent is below 1,600, it is pricing other renters out of the market and reducing supply.
That flies in the face of the commitment your Government gave and assurances it said that any measures to temporarily accommodate Ukrainians would not impact on housing supply.
You yourself, minister, said that we do not want to pursue a measure that interferes with the private rental market, but that is precisely what you have done.
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth Roderic OGorman said the scheme was under review (Brian Lawless/PA)
He added: Since you extended your scheme earlier this year, thousands of homes have been taken out of that (rental) sector, and you have built in an incentive for landlords to accept one renter over another based on their nationality, when the housing needs of both are acute.
That is wrong. Two people working side-by-side, earning the same wages with the same family size under your scheme, you pay the rent for one but not the other.
We can see why more and more people are questioning the fairness of this payment. It is provided regardless of income, regardless of employment status, and that is simply not fair.
The Donegal TD said that anyone who is working should pay for their own accommodation.
Green Party leader Mr OGorman defended the Governments scheme, saying that many of the benefits and entitlements given to Ukrainian people who have sought refuge in Ireland have been scaled back.
Under the legislation, theres a provision for the review of the workings of the the recognition payment, he added.
There is a review under way at the moment, and that will feed into the decision now as to whether we extend it in line with the Temporary Protection Directive, and whether we extend it unamended, or we make changes in terms of its ambit.
But it is really important to say, there are thousands of people supported by this payment right now, deputy, and if we were to cut this payment, if we were to end it immediately, it is important that we understand the impact that that would have on Ukrainians, who we are hosting as a country.
I think that has to be borne in mind in terms of any decision this Government or future governments makes in terms of the recognition payments.
A County Roscommon man is set to celebrate his 90th birthday with a 165km trek.
Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, September 25th, Jim Callery, the founder of the National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park and of Westward Garage, will walk the entire 165km of the National Famine Way.
Jim is undertaking the walk for his 90th birthday in remembrance of Strokestown's missing 1,490 famine emigrants.
The trail commemorates a heart-breaking walk of forced emigration which took place in 1847 at the height of the Irish Famine.
Starting at the trailhead at Strokestown Park House on Wednesday at 12 noon, the youthful 89 year old plans to arrive in Dublin on Tuesday, October 15th, his 90th birthday. Friends and family will walk sections of the trail with him.
Jim is raising funds for charity for current day immigration and has set an ambitious target of 25,000.
He invites his friends, colleagues and supporters to donate through his GoFundMe page.
By Jonathan McCambridge, PA
Stormonts Education Minister Paul Givan has faced criticism for meeting with a group which represents loyalist paramilitaries.
A statement from the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) saying that it had advised Mr Givan that a proposal to build an Irish language school in east Belfast should be stopped has been described as outrageous by Sinn Fein MP John Finucane.
The LCC, chaired by David Campbell, is an umbrella group which represents the Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Defence Association and Red Hand Commando.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the meeting had been arranged at the LCCs request and had discussed educational underachievement in loyalist areas.
Sinn Fein MP John Finucane described the meeting as deeply concerning (Liam McBurney/PA)
Mr Finucane said reports of their meeting with the minister on Tuesday were deeply concerning.
He added: Belfast City Council has already approved temporary plans to build a new nursery, soft play and primary school facilities to host Bunscoil na Seolta, and that should move forward without delay.
The Irish language is thriving across our society and record numbers of our children and young people are being educated through the medium of Irish with more and more demand on our local Gaelscoilanna.
Its outrageous that a group which includes representatives of loyalist gangs are attempting to influence decisions about our childrens future and right to be educated through the language of their choice.
Mr Finucane said: The Education Minister must make it clear that his department rejects this outrageous demand and that work will continue to progress on delivering this facility.
Former Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he did not believe the stance taken by the LCC represents the majority view of the loyalist community.
Alliance Party education spokesperson Nick Mathison said: The LCC is an umbrella organisation for active paramilitary groups and organisations such as this should have absolutely no place when it comes to decision-making over the education of our children.
Questions must be asked about the ministers judgement in this case.
He should be seeking to remove all paramilitary influence over our children and young people, rather than giving their views a platform.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: Paul Givan, Education Minister, met with the LCC to discuss a range of issues relating to education underachievement in loyalist areas and undertook to share information on DEs (Department of Education) RAISE programme and other relevant initiatives.
The meeting was arranged at the request of the LCC.
Belfast City Council gave planning permission for the proposed temporary nursery and primary school and soft play area in June.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has emphasized the serious threat posed by the Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). According to him, the risk of a nuclear incident remains extremely high, and this could turn ZNPP into the largest source of radiation not only in Europe but also in the world.
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The President made this statement during his speech at the UN General Assembly. The event was broadcast by the Office of the President.
Zelenskyy emphasized that most countries represented here understand the danger when the troops of the aggressor country are at a nuclear power plant. Only the complete withdrawal of Russian soldiers from the territory of ZNPP will ensure a minimum level of security.
"The Russian army cannot gain significant advantages on the battlefield. Putin is looking for other ways to break the spirit of the Ukrainians' struggle. One of his targets is our infrastructure, and the Russians continue to attack our energy sector," he added.
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Zelenskyy noted that the Russian army is systematically attacking Ukraine's energy sector, trying to leave millions of people without heat in the winter. So far, the Russian army has destroyed the entire heat distribution and heat generation infrastructure of Ukraine.
The President also said that according to Ukrainian intelligence, Putin is preparing new attacks on Ukraine's nuclear reactors. The purpose of these actions is to disconnect the reactors from the energy system of Ukraine and neighboring countries, which further increases the risk of a nuclear disaster.
"I have recently received a report from our intelligence and Putin is again planning attacks on our nuclear reactor and infrastructure to disconnect nuclear reactors from the supply system of Ukraine and neighboring states," he emphasized.
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The Head of State added that Ukraine needs protection as nuclear safety risks are growing.
The day before, Zelenskyy said that Russia intends to attack three Ukrainian nuclear power plants (NPPs). He emphasized the danger posed by Russian aggression, stressing that the Russian dictator violates international norms and rules.
As a reminder, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that Russian strikes on Ukraine's power grid could cause a radiation crisis at one of the three operating nuclear power plants if key power hubs are destroyed. Such actions could lead to an uncontrolled release of radiation, which poses a threat not only to Ukraine but also to EU countries.
Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
By Jonathan McCambridge, PA
World leaders need to do more to bring about a ceasefire in the Middle East, Taoiseach Simon Harris has said.
Speaking while attending the UN General Assembly in New York, Mr Harris said Israel had effectively opened up a second front in the war, with catastrophic implications.
US president Joe Biden told leaders during his address to the assembly that a diplomatic solution between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is still possible.
Mr Harris spoke to the media ahead of a meeting with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.
It will be the first meeting between the Taoiseach and Mr Abbas since Ireland recognised the state of Palestine in May.
The Taoiseach said: I think it is extraordinary concerning what we heard from the Secretary General to the United Nations (Antonio Guterres) today that, in his view, neither Israel nor Hamas seems to be in any way shape or form indicating that they are serious about a ceasefire.
That should make all of the world sit up and take stock and most importantly take action.
Referring to the situation in Lebanon, he added: Israel has effectively opened up a second front in terms of a war in the Middle East with catastrophic implications.
We have seen innocent children killed.
We cant in any way, shape or form allow this to become normalised.
Mr Harris was asked if the US was doing everything it could to bring about a ceasefire.
He said: I am very conscious of respecting the fact that other countries have to decide their own foreign policy.
Irelands position is extremely clear.
I dont believe the world is doing everything it can to bring about a cessation of violence.
I do think after the extraordinary grim analysis that we have seen today by Secretary General Guterres, I do think there is an onus on all of us, Ireland, the European Union, the United States of America, on every country that wants a ceasefire, to say what more can we do.
I know how hard President Biden has worked to bring about a ceasefire.
So far all of the efforts of the world, including the EU, have been ineffective.
Therefore as people leave the UN General Assembly in the coming days, I think there is an onus on us to say what more can we do.
Because history will look back on this time as a time that the world failed the children of Palestine.
The Taoiseach is also holding bilateral meetings with King Abdullah of Jordan and Mr Guterres.
Tanaiste Micheal Martin and President Michael D Higgins are also attending the UN General Assembly.
Suryakanta Vyas Death News: Oldest MLA of Rajasthan Passes Away
She was not given a ticket for the 2024 elections.
Suryakanta Vyas Death Today News: Former MLA Suryakanta Vyas, who served as the MLA from Sursagar three times and held the distinction of being the oldest member of the Rajasthan Assembly for many years, passed away on Wednesday morning at the age of 86. Vyas was elected to the Assembly a total of six times. Before contesting the 2008 elections in Sursagar, she had been elected three times from the old Jodhpur seat.
She was not given a ticket for the 2024 elections. During that time, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also visited her, which sparked considerable discussion.
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Suryakanta Vyas was a dedicated BJP worker who was highly respected by the public. Known for her active involvement in the joys and sorrows of the people, news of her passing left many in disbelief.
Ashok Gehlot Considered Her an Elder Sister
Although 86 years old, Suryakanta's dedication to serving the people never waned. Affectionately called "Jiji" by members across political parties, she was held in high regard. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also saw her as his elder sister. City MLA Atul Bhansali shared the news of her passing through a voice message this morning.
Her Demise is an Irreparable Loss to the BJP Family - CM
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma expressed his condolences on Vyas's passing. On his 'X' (formerly Twitter) handle, he wrote: "Received the sad news of the demise of former MLA from Sursagar Assembly and senior member of the BJP family, Mrs. Suryakanta Vyas 'Jiji.' I had the privilege of meeting her a few days ago and receiving her blessings and guidance. Her immense love and affection towards me will always remain in my heart." (Suryakanta Vyas Death Today News)
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He added, "Her demise is an irreparable loss for the Bharatiya Janata Party family. My condolences are with the bereaved family. I pray to the Lord to grant the departed soul a place at His feet and give the family the strength to endure this great loss."
Leader of Opposition Tikaram Julie also expressed his grief on 'X', writing: "I have received the sad news of the passing of Smt. Suryakanta Vyas Ji (Jiji), former MLA of Sursagar, Jodhpur. May God grant her soul a place at His feet. My deepest condolences to her family and loved ones during this time of sorrow."
(For more news apart from Suryakanta Vyas Death Today News, stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman)
Four Ministers Out, Five New Faces: Will the Punjab Cabinet Reshuffle Prove Beneficial?
Four outgoing ministers were: Chetan Singh Jormajra, Balkar Singh, Anmol Gagan Mann, and Brahm Shankar Jimpa.
Punjab Cabinet Reshuffle: The recent reshuffle in the Punjab Cabinet, which took place during the ongoing election campaign in Haryana, has stirred political controversy. The timing of the move caught many by surprise, as Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal were both busy with the Haryana elections. Many expected that any changes in Punjab would occur only after their return. However, the decision to act immediately indicates dissatisfaction with the performance of the four outgoing ministers: Chetan Singh Jormajra, Balkar Singh, Anmol Gagan Mann, and Brahm Shankar Jimpa.
While the first three ministers were embroiled in various controversies, the general consensus among administrative circles was that Jimpa had performed reasonably well. Replacing them, the new ministersBirinder Kumar Goyal, Tarunpreet Singh Sond, Hardeep Singh Mundian, Dr. Ravjot Singh, and Mahinder Bhagatare all first-time MLAs, raising concerns about their lack of administrative experience. With this reshuffle, the total number of ministers in the Punjab Cabinet has increased to 16, leaving room for two more, as the state can have up to 18 ministers, including the Chief Minister.
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This reshuffle might be viewed as a signal to other MLAs that those who perform well could still have the chance to be included in the Cabinet. Its clear that the AAP government in Punjab reflects the strong will of the people, but many of its elected MLAs lack the political or administrative experience necessary for their roles. This lack of experience has led to significant challenges, both for the MLAs themselves and for the constituents they represent.
In politics, leaders who gradually climb the ranks often develop a better understanding of the strengths and limitations of each position they hold. However, many of AAPs current MLAs have taken office without having previously held even local positions, such as Panch or Sarpanch, or an urban ward councilorship. This leap into leadership has created difficulties not only in managing their personal responsibilities but also in effectively serving their constituencies.
The frequent reshuffling of ministers and officials by the Chief Minister is a clear sign of these growing pains. While idealism runs strong among many AAP MLAsa characteristic not as prominent in other political partiesthis idealism alone is not always enough to navigate the complexities of the administrative system. As a result, voters often feel disappointed, perceiving their representatives as either inexperienced or ineffective.
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The reshuffling of the Cabinet also underscores the perception that the AAP government lacks leadership and experience, a perception that opposition parties are quick to exploit. The reactions from opposition leaders like Pratap Singh Bajwa and Punjab Pradesh Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring suggest that the state government is dominated by bureaucracy, leaving ministers with little influence. The opposition claims that regardless of which ministers are appointed, it is the bureaucracy that calls the shots in the state.
Even within AAPs own ranks, the exclusion of figures like Inderbir Singh Nijjar and Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh from the Cabinet has caused unease. This presents a challenge for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who must demonstrate that despite the relative inexperience of his colleagues, they are capable of both understanding their roles and effectively delivering on their responsibilities. The success or failure of this reshuffle will ultimately depend on whether these new ministers can rise to the occasion and meet the demands of governance in Punjab.
September 25, 2024 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsflash
Newsroom, 25.09.2024, 20:00
UN Romania advocates for an expanded Security Council, in which transparency and accountability are the norm, and not the exception, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said Wednesday, in New York, where he delivered a speech before the UN General Assembly. He also said that Romania gave a strong and multidimensional support to Ukraine and its people and is committed to maintaining it for as long as needed and that Bucharest fully supports the peace initiative of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Romanian head of state highlighted the crucial role played by Romania in facilitating grain exports from Ukraine through its ports on the Danube and the Black Sea. At the same time, President Iohannis spoke about the conflict in the Gaza Strip and called for an end to hostilities, voicing his support for the two-state solution, within safe and recognized borders. Klaus Iohannis participated in the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The central theme of the meeting was Unity in diversity for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for everyone, everywhere.
LOAN The Romanian Finance Minister, Marcel Bolos and the Director of the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Michael Miller, signed, on Wednesday, in Bucharest, the agreement for a foreign military financing direct loan in the amount of $920 million . The loan will help accelerate Romanias military modernization effort, including through purchases of U.S.-made defense equipment, such as Abrams tanks, and through the co-production of ammunition, the U.S. embassy said in a press release. Michael Miller emphasized the importance of Romania on the Eastern Flank and the commitment of the US to continue this cooperation. Romania is also a security provider and not only a security consumer within the NATO alliance, said the US ambassador to Romania, Kathleen Kavalec, who attended the signing ceremony, alongside Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
DECISIONS The Bucharest government took, in Wednesdays meeting, several decisions aimed at supporting families affected by the recent flash floods in the east of the country. Among these measures is the granting of approx. 3,000 euros for the purchase of construction materials, household appliances and fuel. The government has also decided that each family or single person affected by the floods will receive an emergency aid of 10,000 lei. At the same time, 347 families and single people in difficult situations, from other areas of the country, will receive support.
SALARIES The average gross salary per month in 2023 in Romania was 7,042 lei, up 15% compared to the previous year, according to data made public on Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics. This means an average net salary of 4,412 lei per month, an increase of 611 lei. The highest salaries were reported in sectors like IT&C, financial intermediation and insurance and in the production and supply of electricity and heating sector. At the opposite pole, average net earnings below the average were received by people working in hotels, restaurants, real estate transactions, water distribution, sanitation and waste management.
ELECTION The Central Election Committee in Chisinau has approved the participation of 11 candidates in the election for the presidential seat of the ex-Soviet, Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova. According to experts, the incumbent president, Maia Sandu, who is running for another term in office, is the odds-on favorite. Her main opponents are the former prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo, backed by the socialists and the former mayor of the district of Balti, Renato Usatii, leader of a political group entitled Our Party. The presidential elections are due on 20th October and a referendum on amending the Constitution so that the country may join the EU, is due concurrently. Most of the 14 parties running in the election are backing the idea of European integration. The socialists, however, are boycotting the referendum while the communists and one party belonging to the political bloc of oligarch Ilan Shor have declared themselves against the countrys EU accession.
DANUBE The rising level of the Danube waters shouldnt cause any problems whatsoever, the Romanian hydrologists believe. According to their estimates, the rivers maximum level would be lower than initially believed. The rivers waters are expected to reach their peak of eight thousand cubic meters per second on September 30th, but this level shouldnt create any problems for the authorities who can handle it easily, is the conclusion of the representatives of all the central and local institutions in charge of the emergency situations. Thousands of sandbags have been made ready and part of them have already been deployed.
September 25, 2024
A roundup of local and world news
Newsflash
Newsroom, 25.09.2024, 13:55
UNO The Romanian president Klaus Iohannis is in New York to attend the 79th session of the UN General Assembly. The meetings central theme is Unity in diversity for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for everyone everywhere. In his address before the General Assembly, the head of the Romanian state is expected to plead for maintaining dialogue at a multilateral level, mainly within the UN format as an essential element of regional and global security. For this reason, Klaus Iohannis will be highlighting Romanias multilateral contribution to solving all the present global issues, from security crises, such as the war in Ukraine or the Middle East, to major challenges for mankind such as climate change, the erosion of human rights and cyber threats.
BUDGET During its session today, the government in Bucharest is expected to increase the budgets of the Environment Ministry and the Finance Ministry. Hundreds of families and people in emergency situations as a result of severe fires and weather phenomena or in special situations that might increase the risk of their social exclusion will be benefitting from emergency funds from the government amounting to roughly 300 thousand Euros. The budget of the Finance Ministry is expected to increase by over 50 thousand Euros. Also high on the agenda are budget raises for the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
ELECTION The Central Election Committee in Chisinau has approved the participation of 11 candidates in the election for the presidential seat of the ex-Soviet, Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova. According to experts, the incumbent president, Maia Sandu, who is running for another term in office, is the odds-on favourite. Her main opponents are the former prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo, backed by the socialists and the former mayor of the district of Balti, Renato Usatii, leader of a political group entitled Our Party. The presidential elections are due on 20th October and a referendum on amending the Constitution so that the country may join the EU, is due concurrently. Most of the 14 parties running in the election are backing the idea of European integration. The socialists, however, are boycotting the referendum while the communists and one party belonging to the political bloc of oligarch Ilan Shor have declared themselves against the countrys EU accession.
MEASURES The rising level of the Danube waters shouldnt cause any problems whatsoever, the Romanian hydrologists believe. According to their estimates, the rivers maximum level would be lower than initially believed. The rivers waters are expected to reach their peak of eight thousand cubic meters per second on September 30th, but this level shouldnt create any problems for the authorities who can handle it easily, is the conclusion of the representatives of all the central and local institutions in charge of the emergency situations. Thousands of sandbags have been made ready and part of them have already been deployed.
(bill)
11 candidates for the presidency of the Republic of Moldova
The Central Electoral Commission in Chisinau approved 11 candidates for the presidential election in the Republic of Moldova, scheduled for October 20.
(Photo: jorono / pixabay.com)
Sorin Iordan, 25.09.2024, 13:50
11 candidates received the green light from the Central Electoral Commission in Chisinau to participate in the elections for the position of president of the Republic of Moldova. The incumbent president, Maia Sandu, who entered the race for a new mandate, will have as her main opponents the former prosecutor general, Alexandr Stoianoglo, supported by the Socialist Party, and the former mayor of the city of Balti, Renato Usatii, leader of the Our Party group. Also running for president are: Vasile Tarlev from the Viitorul Moldovei (Future of Moldova) party, Ion Chicu from the Party of Development and Consolidation of Moldova, Octavian Ticu from the Impreuna (Together) Electoral Bloc, as well as the independents Tudor Ulianovschi, Victoria Furtuna, Andrei Nastase, Natalia Morari and Irina Vlah. In parallel with the election for the head of state, on October 20 there will also be a referendum to amend the Constitution in relation to the EU accession of the Republic of Moldova. In the referendum, 12 parties signed up with the YES option and two with the NO option. The socialists decided to boycott the referendum, and the communists and a party from the political bloc affiliated to the oligarch Ilan Sor said they are against the countrys accession to the EU.
According to a survey carried out by the company iData and published on Monday by the press from the left side of the Prut River, Maia Sandu is leading in the presidential race, just like the YES vote in the referendum for European integration. Thus, if elections were held this Sunday, Sandu would get 26.8% of the votes, followed by Renato Usatii, with 12.7% and Alexandr Stoianoglo, with 11.2%. As regards the referendum, 46% of those interviewed would vote in favor of European integration, 39% would reject this option, while 12.7% of voters have not yet decided. Out of the total number of people surveyed, 67% said they would definitely go to the polls. The expert from the Institute for European Policies and Reforms in Chisinau, Mihai Mogaldea, said that the results of the referendum will send a clear signal to the European partners, that the society of the Republic of Moldova wants European integration and is ready to go through the necessary reforms and changes to achieve this target.
In turn, the former Romanian MEP Victor Bostinaru said that a victory of the pro-European forces would also mean a strategic defeat of Russia and its propaganda, which, at present, is massively sabotaging the idea of joining the EU and is trying to convince the Bessarabians that they do not need the European community. Recently, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has warned that Russia will try to manipulate the results of the presidential election in the Republic of Moldova, including through the propaganda television Russia Today, which, according to him, is allegedly coordinating its activity with the Russian intelligence services. In this sense, Washington has imposed sanctions on entities and individuals from the Russian Federation for interference in the electoral process in the Republic of Moldova. (LS)
The situation in the Russian Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, is becoming increasingly tense. The aggressor country, according to some reports, has gathered a group of about 37,000 soldiers in this area.
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The purpose of this formation is to drive the Armed Forces of Ukraine out. This was stated by military expert Ihor Levchenko in a commentary to OBOZ.UA.
He emphasized that the information about the number of Russian troops spread by Western media, in particular the American ones, may be real. However, it is difficult to confirm the accuracy of this data. He emphasized that AFU's actions in the Kursk region are aimed at forcing the Russian command to redeploy troops from other directions, in particualr, which disperses their resources.
The expert pointed out that a similar number of troops - about 40,000 - was used by Russia during the attack on the Kharkiv region in May 2024. At that time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine performed strategic moves that led to a change in the plans of the Russian command. Levchenko noted that before the invasion of Kharkiv region, Putin also spoke about the need to create buffer zones, after which the offensive began.
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"Putin also said several times that we had to create a buffer zone and so on. After that, they launched an attack in the Kharkiv direction. Again, our command, in my opinion, even Zelenskyy, said that our actions in the Kursk region, in particular, were to prevent a Russian offensive in this direction. The fact that after Kharkiv region they would launch an offensive in the direction of Sumy region and then, possibly, Chernihiv region again, was also mentioned by our military command and intelligence, and there were relevant statements. So, in fact, it is from this perspective that we should evaluate the information we receive from American newspapers and magazines," he explained.
Assessing the plans of the Russians, Levchenko emphasized that they may adjust their actions, but the Ukrainian military also has its own strategies aimed at preventing offensives.According to him, the actual number of Russian troops may vary, as brigades may be understaffed due to losses in other directions. He emphasized that such situations often arise, and Russian commanders are likely to face them.
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"They may plan one thing, but our command is likely to have some other idea. This is because, again, it is clear that we do not plan to seize their territory, we use this factor to undermine the enemy, perhaps even their faith in their own strength," the expert said.
Despite the efforts of the Russian side, Levchenko noted that their attempt to launch an active counteroffensive in the Kursk region was unsuccessful. This indicates that the occupiers' plans may not be realized due to the effective defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
According to the expert, the fighting in this region may have reconnaissance nature, as the territory is characterized by forested areas and narrow roads, which gives Ukrainian troops the opportunity to impose their tactics.
The expert emphasized that the goal of the Ukrainian forces is not to hold the captured territories but to stretch the enemy's resources and create conditions for their own actions to force the Russian command to react to their actions, not vice versa.
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He also emphasized that the Russian military command continues to carry out the Kremlin's orders despite heavy losses. The expert emphasized that Russia's goal remains unchanged, namely the seizure of new territories of Ukraine. As long as there is an opportunity for an offensive, Russia will continue to realize its ambitions.
"That is, so to speak, as long as their military expediency is inferior to political one, the Russian military leadership fulfills all the wishes of Putin and the Kremlin. To what extent they will succeed is another question. We need to understand that the goals of our enemy are not only to occupy, for example, Donetsk or Luhansk regions, as was officially stated from the very beginning. They want to capture the whole of Ukraine, and until our enemy gives up such intentions, until we force them to give them up under the pressure of the international community, our allies, and so on, they will try to capture more and more territories of Ukraine, be it Sumy, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, Kyiv, and so on. That is, as long as the Russians have the opportunity to attack, they will do it," the military expert summarized.
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Earlier, ISW reported the advance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region. Russian counterattacks, analysts say, have failed.
Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber . Do not fall for fakes!
Romania. Eastern Flank: Rotation of forces of the French detachment within the NATO Battle Group hosted by Romania
A roundup of military news
Lacramioara Simion, 25.09.2024, 14:00
The Defense ministers from the countries participating in the B9 Initiative met last week in Bucharest, to discuss allied measures to strengthen the deterrence and defense posture. Regarding the security situation in the Black Sea region and NATOs Eastern Flank, the Romanian Defense Minister, Angel Tilvar, emphasized that the Russian Federation remained the most important threat to the security of the Allies. The B9 format (Bucharest 9) was launched in 2015 by Romania and Poland as a platform for dialogue and cooperation between NATOs eastern allies. The initiative also includes Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Hungary. Meetings in this format are held periodically, at the level of heads of state, foreign and defense ministers.
Rotation of the forces of the French detachment within the NATO Battle Group hosted by Romania: Colonel Jean Michelin took over the command of the group from his compatriot, Colonel Louis-Marie Levacher, during a ceremony held on September 17 in the Cincu National Training Center (central Romania). The French troops in Romania thus reach the 9th rotation of the Aigle mission, carried out to strengthen the allied deterrence posture in the region. The Allied Battle Group located on the territory of Romania also includes forces from the armies of Belgium and Luxembourg, with a total of one thousand soldiers.
The MAMBA system has recently participated in an air defense exercise planned by NATOs Allied Air Command. Several aircraft participated, including Romanian, Greek and Turkish F-16s and a Spanish F-18, with the aim of testing their interoperability in space. The medium-range MAMBA surface-to-air defense system deployed in Romania was able to demonstrate its expertise in integrated air defense, working to defend its area of responsibility with air defense fighters from several countries.
The Romanian soldiers deployed within the Tactical Reserve Battalion of the KFOR mission under the auspices of NATO are being trained, together with their Hungarian and Swiss colleagues, in scenario-based exercises for crowd and riots control and for the protection of the force of the Swiss units, as part of their joint training at Camp Novo-Selo, in Kosovo. These periodic activities are essential to guarantee the highest operational standards of KFOR and the readiness to face all possible security scenarios. KFOR continues to implement its mandate based on UN Security Council Resolution 1244 of 1999 to contribute to a secure environment for all individuals and communities living in Kosovo and to ensuring the freedom of movement at all times.
We also inform you that the Romanian Naval Forces are participating with Mine sweeper 30 in the second activation of the Task Force to combat sea mines in the Black Sea. The naval group also includes a minesweeper and a logistic support ship, both from Turkey, and a minesweeper of the Bulgarian Naval Forces. The mission will run until the end of this month, an interval during which the multinational exercise NUSRET 24 will also take place. (Constantin Hertanu, LS)
In the recent years, the surrogacy industry has flourished significantly, offering an option for individuals with fertility issues and same-sex couples to have children. However, researchers found that pregnancy complications faced by the gestational carriers are higher than those who conceive through other methods.
The study, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, analyzed the data from the Better Outcomes Registry & Network to explore the occurrence of complications among more than 800,000 singleton births in Ontario from 2012 to 2021.
"The study was prompted by an increased in the use of gestational carriers worldwide and a lack of information about the impact of this reproductive modality on pregnancy outcomes, for the gestational carrier and the offspring," lead author Dr Maria Velez said.
Researchers noted that surrogates have a higher likelihood of experiencing complications such as high blood pressure during their pregnancy, hemorrhaging after birth, and having their baby born preterm.
Specifically, the rate of severe maternal complications was 7.8 percent among surrogates, 2.3 percent for those who conceive naturally and 4.3 percent for pregnancies involving IVF.
"Clinicians involved in the care of individuals and couples who need a gestational carrier to build their family should counsel their patients and the gestational carriers about the potential risk during pregnancy and early postpartum," said Velez.
"There are guidelines about the eligibility criteria to minimize the risk of pregnancy complications among gestational carriers," she added. "However, these guidelines are not always strictly followed."
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Health News
The Bank of Japan will on Thursday release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on July 30-31, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.
At the meeting, the BoJ raised its benchmark rate by 15 basis points and also announced its plan to reduce bond purchases to around JPY 3 trillion by the first quarter of 2026.
Singapore will provide August figures for industrial production; in July, production was up 10.1 percent on month and 1.8 percent on year.
Hong Kong will see August data for imports, exports and trade balance. In July, imports were up 9.9 percent on month and exports jumped 13.1 percent for a trade deficit of HKD21.8 billion.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
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What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
The White House has announced that President Joe Biden will travel to Germany and Angola next month.
Biden will arrive in Germany on October 10.
He will meet with German leaders to further strengthen the close bond the United States and Germany share as Allies and friends and coordinate on shared priorities. "The President will reinforce the U.S. and German commitment to democracy and countering antisemitism and hatred, strengthen the enduring people-to-people ties between our countries, and advance cooperation on economics, trade, and ," according to a statement issued by the White House detailing Biden's visit.
He will also express his appreciation to Germany for supporting Ukraine's defense against Russian aggression, hosting U.S. service members, and contributing to the security of the United States, Germany, and the entire NATO Alliance.
On October 13, Biden will travel to Angola. While in capital Luanda, he will meet with President Joao Lourenco to discuss increased collaboration on shared priorities. They include bolstering the two nations' economic partnerships and celebrating a signature project of the G7's Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, which advances the joint vision for Africa's first trans-continental open-access rail network that starts in Lobito and ultimately will connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike's senior executive Adam Meyers appeared before a US congressional committee to address the mass IT outage that occurred in July.
The incident disabled millions of PCs, significantly affecting numerous organizations including hospitals and airports across the world.
The senior vice-president for counter-adversary operations stated in the testimony that, "I am here today because, just over two months ago, on July 19, we let our customers down On behalf of everyone at CrowdStrike, I want to apologize."
Meyers assured the committee that the company is "determined to prevent it from happening again".
He outlined the company's changes to prevent a similar event, including no longer rolling out the software updates globally to all customers at once. CrowdStrike will now allow customers to select when they receive their updates, enabling them to delay and be part of second or third rounds.
During the 90-minute hearing, the lawmakers also discussed broader issues, including the role of artificial intelligence and its impact on cybersecurity, the large-scale impact of cyber events on national security, and various technical concerns.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
One of the notable characteristics of Hyundai Ioniq 5 is the versatility of appealing to both driver-owners and then the chauffeured individuals
The best-selling luxury car in India is an executive sedan, but the allure of luxury SUVs remains strong. Models like the Mercedes GLC, BMW X3, Audi Q5, and Jaguar F-Pace offer a solid blend of size, luxury, and price. However, mainstream brands like Hyundai are raising the bar, giving these luxury SUVs tough competition.
In the Indian market, the fully-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 is emerging as a strong contender. It rivals, and in some cases, surpasses these luxury SUVs in terms of size, performance, and comfort, all while being more competitively priced. Heres why the Ioniq 5 could be a smarter choice in comparison to luxury SUVs.
Hyundai Ioniq 5 Vs Premium Luxury SUVs
The segment occupied by the Mercedes-Benz GLC, Audi Q5, BMW X3, and Jaguar F-Pace is aspirational for many buyers. These models are among the top-selling luxury SUVs, making them an attractive choice for first-time luxury car buyers. Designed with a focus on the driver/owner experience rather than chauffeur-driven comfort, they cater to those who enjoy being behind the wheel. This is where the Hyundai Ioniq 5 offers a distinct advantage.
The Ioniq 5 excels in versatility, making it equally appealing for both driver-owners and those who prefer to be chauffeured. While the luxury SUVs in this segment offer wheelbase between 2.8m and 2.9m, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 boasts a substantial 3m wheelbase. This extra length translates into exceptional space for both front and rear passengers, along with a generous boot capacity, making it a more practical yet luxurious option.
Hyundai Ioniq 5 goes the extra mile to ensure that chauffeur-driven owners are pampered in style. One of its standout features is the electrically operated Boss Mode, which allows the rear passenger to adjust the front seat for additional legroom. Rear-seat passengers also benefit from air conditioning vents positioned on the B-pillars, delivering airflow directly to the bodyideal for those who prefer to sit back and relax.
The Ioniq 5 further enhances the passenger experience with a panoramic glass roof that floods the cabin with natural light, significantly amplifying the sense of space. Other features include rear sunshades, an electrically sliding seat base with a reclining seatback, a centre armrest, ambient lighting to create the perfect atmosphere, and a premium Bose audio system, ensuring every journey feels luxurious and enjoyable for chauffeur-driven owners.
The front-seat occupants of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 are equally well pampered. High-quality materials are used throughout the cabin, creating a premium feel. Twin 12.3-inch displaysone for infotainment and the other for instrumentationprovide a sleek, modern interface. The front also features a large drawer-style glove compartment and ample storage in the centre console, making it practical for daily use.
A gear selector on the steering column adds convenience, while ventilated seats ensure comfort in hot weather. The Porsche-like mode selector adds a sporty touch, and the front seats offer an extreme-recline function for power naps during charging stops, a thoughtful feature that enhances the overall comfort and usability of the Ioniq 5.
Performance, Pricing
In terms of performance, all cars in this comparisonincluding the Ioniq 5can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in a range between 6 and 8 seconds. While the Ioniq 5 may not be the fastest in this group, it does offer the best throttle response, thanks to its electric drivetrain. Unlike internal combustion engines, the Ioniq 5 delivers peak torque instantly, providing swift and seamless acceleration that feels incredibly responsive in real-world driving.
When it comes to pricing, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 significantly undercuts its luxury SUV rivals, despite being a fully electric vehicle. Starting at Rs 46.05 lakh (ex-showroom), the Ioniq 5 is approximately Rs 30 lakh more affordable than the most budget-friendly models from BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLC, Audi Q5, and Jaguar F-Pace.
This considerable price advantage, combined with the Ioniq 5s versatility as both a chauffeur-driven and driver-centric vehicle, makes it an attractive alternative to traditional luxury SUVs. While it may lack the prestige of a luxury badge, the Ioniq 5 nearly matches its competitors in terms of premium features, build quality, and overall comfort. Additionally, the Ioniq 5 embraces eco-conscious values in its design and execution, a growing priority for Indian car buyers who are increasingly opting for sustainable and environmentally friendly choices.
When launched, new Hyundai petrol hybrid SUV will rival Mahindra XUV700, Tata Safari, MG Hector Plus, Toyota Innova Hycross and others
The mid-size SUV segment has seen more acceptance today than it ever did. There are very few offerings in this space, with Mahindra enjoying most of the action. Hyundai has the Alcazar, but is not directly comparable to mid-size SUVs (size-wise). Hyundai is reportedly working on a new SUV that will address this shortcoming.
As per recent reports, a new Hyundai petrol hybrid SUV is in the works and it will address the size quotient buyers want from their mid-size SUV. Primary rivals will be Mahindra XUV700, Tata Safari and MG Hector. Along with these, this upcoming Hyundai hybrid SUV will rival Toyota Innova Hycross as well, which sits in its own niche.
Hyundai Petrol Hybrid SUV
Just recently, Hyundai launched the Alcazar facelift, which is the first major update to this 3-row SUV. However, it is not a direct match to the segment where Tata Safari, MG Hector and segment leader Mahindra XUV700 operate. Then, we have the Toyota Innova Hycross which has set its own space in the Indian market.
Hyundai is working on a new petrol hybrid SUV that is poised to penetrate both these segments. Internally codenamed Ni1i, this upcoming Hyundai SUV will be manufactured at Hyundais recently acquired plant (from General Motors) situated in Talegaon, outside of Pune.
This un-named 3-row SUV will be positioned above Alcazar and below Tucson in the companys lineup, where pricing is concerned. Considering the increased acceptance of strong hybrid powertrains (self-charging hybrid), jumping on this bandwagon makes a lot of sense for a brand like Hyundai.
Reports suggest that this upcoming SUV from Hyundai will be positioned on Tucson LWB sold in China. For context, Tucson LWB measures 4,680 mm in length, while India-spec Tucson measures 4,630 mm. Thus carving more usable space in the 3rd row of seats. Especially more than what Alcazar currently offers.
1st Hybrid Car From Hyundai
Internationally, Hyundai offers a 1.6L petrol hybrid setup with its Tucson. We can expect a similar hybrid setup but mated to Hyundais 1.5L NA Petrol engine. This will keep the costs in check, establishing wider acceptance of hybrid powertrains in India. We can expect Kia to have a version of their own, based on the same Hybrid powertrain as well.
There is no definite launch timeline announced. But around 2 years to 2.5 years down the line, might be a realistic figure. When launched, it will be the 1st Hyundai vehicle to roll out of their new Talegaon plant, near Pune. Next-Gen Venue sub 4m SUV might be produced at this plant in the future.
Source
TVS 2W sales in domestic market grew by 12.61% YoY registering outstanding growth across all models except the Raider and Apache 310
TVS Motor Company recorded monthly sales of 2,88,983 units in August 2024 with a YoY growth of 12.61% as against 2,56,619 units sold in the month of August 2023. Sales across most models in the company portfolio ended last month on a positive note while Raider and Apache 310 models suffered massive decline in demand. MoM sales also showed improvement by 13.79% over 2,53,971 units sold in July 2024.
TVS Sales Breakup Aug 2024 New Jupiter Boost
TVS showed off stellar performance in August 2024 with a 12.61% YoY and 13.79% MoM growth in domestic sales. Sales which had stood at 2,56,619 units, improved to 2,88,983 units in August 2024. MoM sales also improved over 2,53,971 units sold in July 2024. Volume increase over August 2023 and July 2024 stood at 32,364 units and 35,012 units respectively.
Newly launched 2024 TVS Jupiter headed the list with a share of 30.91% to amass 89,327 units in terms of domestic sales. This was a 27.49% YoY growth from 70,065 units sold in August 2023 relating to a 19,263 unit volume improvement. MoM sales of the Jupiter also shot up by 19.64% over 74,663 units sold in July 2024. TVS Jupiter was also the 2nd best-selling scooter last month after the Honda Activa.
At No. 2 was TVS XL, the only model in the company lineup in the moped segment. It showed off a 21.81% YoY and 18.35% MoM growth to 44,456 units. Share percentage also improved from 14.79% to 15.38% MoM thanks to these improved sales. TVS Ntorq accounted for 33,201 unit sales last month, a 15.33% YoY improvement from 28,787 unit sales in August 2023. MoM sales also grew by 23.75% over 26,829 units sold in July 2024. Share in the companys domestic portfolio also improved from 10.56% to 11.49% MoM.
With 30,038 unit sales last month, TVS Apache experienced a 59.24% YoY growth, the highest growth as compared to any other model on this list. Sales stood at 18,863 units in August 2023 while MoM sales declined by 2.10% from 30,681 units sold in July 2024.
TVS Raider Sales Decline New Variant Launched
It was followed by the Raider that suffered a 36.46% YoY decline in sales to 26,923 units from 42,375 units sold in August 2023 while MoM sales grew by 9.68% over 24,547 units sold in July 2024. TVS has reduced entry price of the Raider 125 by Rs 10,000 just ahead of the festive season in India. TVS Raider 125 drum brake variant is now at Rs 84,869 (Ex-showroom).
TVS iQube sales improved by 1.23% YoY and 14.80% MoM to 24,181 units. It was followed by the TVS Sport which also saw both YoY and MoM growth in sales by 11.68% and 18.26% to 14,316 units. TVS Radeon sales were at 11,266 units last month, a YoY and MoM growth by 11.05% and 7.19% respectively.
Lower down the sales list, TVS Zest (9,268 units), Star City (3,846 units) and Ronin (2,029 units) each saw YoY growth, however, Zest and Star City suffered a MoM decline. Apache 310 (132 units), saw a massive 46.12% decline from 245 units sold in August 2023 but made up significant numbers over 325.81% from just 31 units sold in July 2024.
Cost cutting and focus on electrification goals could be the reasons for changing the production site of the popular Polo hatchback
In production since 1975, Volkswagen Polo is a popular choice across multiple global markets. In 2023, Volkswagen Polo was ranked at 20th position in the list of top 50 best selling cars in the world. VW Polo was a preferred option in India as well, but was discontinued in 2022.
Polo production moves to South Africa
European automotive brands are facing big challenges due to low demand and availability of affordable options from Asian brands. As Volkswagen plans to make a comeback, some critical steps need to be taken. The decision to shift Polo production to South Africa could be part of the overall strategy.
Over the last four decades, Volkswagen Polo was manufactured at the companys facility in Pamplona, Spain. A decision has been taken to discontinue production of Polo in Spain entirely. Polo will now be manufactured exclusively at the companys plant in Kariega, South Africa.
However, it is to be noted that the Spain plant will continue to be functional. It will be upgraded to support the production of two new small electric cars. Other models such as the T-Cross and Taigo will continue to be manufactured at the Pamplona plant in Spain.
Polo sales in Europe to continue
While the manufacturing shifts to South Africa, Polo will continue to be available in European markets. Even though the Volkswagen Polo has long passed its peak popularity, it continues to deliver consistent sales. For example, more than 90,000 units have been sold in Europe in the first eight months of 2024. That makes Polo the 8th best selling car in Europe. With significant revenue still coming from Polo, it is unlikely that Volkswagen will withdraw the hatchback from Europe or other markets.
At the production facility in Spain, cumulative production of Volkswagen Polo has been more than 8.4 million units. However, other Volkswagen models like the T-Roc are delivering much better sales. To reduce production cost, it may have become necessary to shift Polos production to South Africa.
Two new EVs incoming
The production capacity vacated by Polo at the Spain plant will be used to manufacture two new small electric SUVs. One of these will be Volkswagen branded, whereas the other will be a Skoda version. These new electric SUVs will be based on the MEB platform and use a front-wheel drive setup. The MEB platform is used for various other Volkswagen models.
Volkswagens version will go on sale as the ID2all SUV. In the companys lineup, it will be positioned below the ID.3. Volkswagen will also offer a hatchback version of the ID2all SUV. It will be built at the companys plant in Martorell, Spain. At the same plant, the Cupra Raval will also be manufactured. The Skoda badged new small electric SUV will go on sale as the Epiq. All these cars will debut in 2025.
At a meeting of the UN Security Council on September 24, China made a statement on Russia's war against Ukraine. Beijing called for "not expanding the war zone" and not attacking nuclear power plants.
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This was stated by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced information about Russia's intentions to strike nuclear facilities in Ukraine. At the same time, China continues to promote its "peace plan," which consists of an "immediate ceasefire," refusal to supply weapons to Ukraine, and abstention from sanctions against Russia.
Thus, in his speech, Wang Yi said that China calls for not expanding the combat zone. The Chinese diplomat also emphasized the inadmissibility of attacks on nuclear power plants and the use of nuclear weapons.
"All parties should prioritize peace and people and be truly committed to advancing peace talks," he said.
At the same time, based on the speech of the Chinese Foreign Minister, Beijing believes that it is necessary to stop supplying weapons to the war zone.
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The "conflict" in Ukraine is becoming more and more destructive. The situation is unsustainable and must be reversed, and all parties must be sincerely committed to advancing peace talks. The more weapons are sent to the war zone, the more difficult it is to achieve a ceasefire," Wang Yi said.
He also noted that it is necessary to immediately start "dialogue and negotiations" because Beijing sees them as the "only viable way" to resolve the "Ukrainian crisis," otherwise this "crisis" will only get worse.
The PRC is also concerned about the prospect of the crisis "spilling over" into the global economy, which, according to Wang Yi, must be "refrained from." This, the Chinese diplomat continued, should be done by refraining from sanctions and blocking certain areas of global trade. As in the case of "stopping the supply of weapons," Wang Yi did not name any country, although given that the sanctions were imposed on the aggressor country and its "allies," it is obvious who China stands for here.
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Continuation of the sanctions policy, Wang Yi believes, threatens one of the UN's goals of sustainable development.
The head of the Chinese diplomacy also called China's position on the Russian-Ukrainian war "consistent".
"The sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected. The goals and principles of the UN Charter must be upheld. The legitimate security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously, and it is important to support all initiatives aimed at resolving this crisis," Wang Yi said.
As a reminder, in his speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian special services had received information that Russia wanted to attack three of our nuclear power plants. Earlier, in an interview with ABC News, the head of state said that Russia was photographing them with the help of Chinese satellites.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey is ready to step up its support in finding diplomatic ways to end the Russian-Ukrainian war. This should happen on the basis of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
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He made this statement during his speech at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Erdogan emphasized that Turkey supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and stressed the need to stop the war through dialogue.
According to him, the world is still far from achieving a just and lasting peace, and the arms race only complicates the possibilities for diplomatic solutions.
In addition to the war in Ukraine, the Turkish president mentioned the situation in Palestine. He sharply criticized the Israeli government, accusing it of "ethnic cleansing" and "step-by-step occupation" of the Palestinian territories. Erdogan expressed support for the Palestinians, saying that they have the right to "legitimate resistance."
In addition, the Turkish President expressed dissatisfaction with the work of the UN, calling the organization "dysfunctional and inert". He emphasized the need to reform the UN Security Council, noting that the world cannot depend on the five permanent members of the Council alone, and called for changes that would reflect current global realities.
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Recently, Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared his country's unwavering support for Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence. He also noted that the return of control over Crimea to Ukraine is a requirement of international law.
As reported, earlier, the media said that Turkey applied for membership in the BRICS a few months ago amid its frustration with the lack of progress in its long-term attempts to join the EU. In this way, Ankara seeks to strengthen its global influence and establish new ties beyond its traditional allies in the West, journalists' sources said.
Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Amaga pseudobama has been found in three locations in North Carolina and in some infested plants from Georgia.
There are many types of flatworms, but most of them are aquatic, said North Carolina State University diagnostic entomologist Matt Bertone.
Most of the flatworms that you do find on land exist in tropical ecosystems, so it was somewhat surprising to find a terrestrial flatworm species in North Carolina that was unknown to science.
Free-living flatworms the ones that arent parasites are predators that feed on other soft-bodied organisms, such as earthworms and slugs.
And people are often concerned that unidentified flatworms may be toxic, may be carrying parasites, or may be invasive species that pose a threat to native ecosystems.
First spotted in North Carolina in 2020, the new species is a flatworm, brown in color, a few centimeters in length.
The first information received about the species was photos, and the researchers then believed that the specimens belonged to Obama nungara, an invasive flatworm species native to Brazil and Argentina that has invaded much of Europe.
But after a molecular study, it became clear that the species, now named Amaga pseudobama, was very different from Obama nungara.
The scientists then carried out a detailed morphological analysis and a molecular study, including the description of the complete mitogenome.
Like Obama nungara, Amaga pseudobama comes from South America; however, it has never been seen or analyzed in South America.
Apart from North Carolina, the species is also present in Florida, Georgia, and may have already invaded other states.
It joins other invasive flatworm species discovered in the Southern United States, including Platydemus manokwari.
It has not been observed in the wild or native habitats, so we dont know much about how it interacts with its environment, Dr. Bertone said.
We can infer from what we know about related species, but we dont know precisely what it preys on, how quickly it reproduces, and so on.
Amaga pseudobama may be found across the Southeast. Its also possible that these were merely isolated instances. We just dont know.
Until we have more confirmed observations of this species, we wont know how established they are.
Finding a new flatworm species is not necessarily a surprise these animals are so little studied that there are likely many species awaiting discovery.
However, the fact that we know so little about them is one reason they are worth paying attention to.
Do they pose a risk to native worms and, by extension, native ecosystems? We have to study these species to find out.
And the first step in that process is clearly identifying a species and naming it.
The study was published in the journal PeerJ.
_____
J. Justine et al. 2024. A new species of alien land flatworm in the Southern United States. PeerJ 12: e17904; doi: 10.7717/peerj.17904
US presidential candidate Donald Trump is convinced that the United States should "get out" of the war in Ukraine. And in case of his victory, he plans to ensure this "exit" because he does not rule out the possibility of a Russian victory.
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According to him, Trump is going to achieve this through negotiations. The candidate made this statement during a speech in Georgia on September 24, Radio Liberty reports.
According to Trump, the current US presidential administration "dragged" the country into the Russian-Ukrainian war. Instead, the United States must "get out of it," which the Republican candidate promises to ensure if he wins the presidential election.
"Biden and Kamala (current U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President and presidential candidate from the U.S. Democratic Party Kamala Harris Ed.) got us into this war in Ukraine, and now they can't get us out," Trump said.
At the same time, he is trying to intimidate American voters with Russia's victory and the fact that without President Trump, the United States will be "stuck in this war."
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"I think we will be stuck in this war if I am not president. I will do it. I will negotiate, I will get out of there. We have to get out. Biden said: "We're not leaving until we win." And what happens if they (Russia Ed.) win?" Trump said.
Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Trump thinks he knows how to end the war, but he doesn't. And that Western leaders abandon such illusions as soon as they begin to dive deeper into the situation and study it.
The Head of State also emphasized that the repetition of Minsk could not be a way out of the situation, and peace at the cost of losing territories, as Trump's team is talking about, is unacceptable for Ukraine.
Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber . Do not fall for fakes!
Ukraine's armed forces will be able to launch a counteroffensive in 2025, but there are conditions. This will be possible if Ukraine increases its mobilization capabilities and Western partners provide more weapons and do so much faster.
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This opinion was expressed by Max Boot, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, in his article for The Washington Post. He believes that with the increased mobilization and accelerated supply of Western weapons, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will not only defend their positions but will also be able to launch offensive operations.
Booth emphasizes that the coming months will be very challenging for Ukraine as it continues to defend its positions and rebuild the energy infrastructure destroyed by the war.
In his opinion, the West mustn't waver in its support for Ukraine, as it is the Ukrainians who are currently fighting the hardest part of the war.
"We have difficult months ahead of us as Ukraine struggles to hold its front lines and rebuild its destroyed energy infrastructure. The West must show that it will not waver in its support. Ukrainians, who are bearing the brunt of this terrible conflict, certainly do not hesitate," the author noted.
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The expert also drew attention to the importance for Ukraine to learn how to provide itself with equipment and weapons, as foreign aid can be unstable. He reminds that the US Congress has been deciding on the $61 billion aid package for several months, and there is no guarantee that the next package will be approved. The situation may worsen if Donald Trump becomes president again, as he refused to support Ukraine during the debates.
In addition, the Washington Post article notes that the United States should allow Ukraine to use American weapons to strike at Russian territory. This, according to the columnist, will be an effective step to deter Russian aggression and will allow Ukraine to launch an active counteroffensive next year.
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As a reminder, the administration of US President Joe Biden is in dialogue with Ukraine to authorize an increase in the depth of strikes on Russian territory. However, no new decisions have been made, and negotiations on this issue are still ongoing.
As reported by OBOZ.UA, according to Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh, the US position on allowing the use of ATACMS missiles to strike deep into Russia has not changed. At the same time, she emphasized that the Ukrainian Defense Forces have other long-range weapons for such strikes, which were not provided by Washington.
Mykhailo Podoliak, advisor to the head of the Presidential Administration, explained that by the phrase "strikes deep into Russia," Ukraine does not mean demonstrating isolated explosions in Russia, but rather the systematic destruction of Russian air bases and military production facilities. The right strategy involves weakening the aggressor country in three ways.
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The whole world has seen how the aggressor country Russia, whose territory is 20 times larger than that of Ukraine, attacked it to conquer it because the Kremlin dictator decided that he could do anything. And today, every neighbor of the Russian Federation realizes that war can knock on their door.
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This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York on September 25. He emphasized that there can be no just peace on the continent without Ukraine.
"There can be no just peace without Ukraine. We see that Russia, which is 20 times larger than Ukraine, still wants more land. This is just madness. And this madness lies in Russia's desire to destroy its neighbor," Zelenskyy said.
The President noted that Russia enjoys the support of North Korea and Iran.
"And now every neighbor in Europe and Central Asia feels that war can knock on their door. And just think of the losses it will cause for the whole world," he said.
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Zelenskyy noted that "almost 100 nations and international organizations" supported the Ukrainian Formula for Peace.
"North America, Africa, Asia they all united in the Peace Formula. And I remind the General Assembly that all nations are equal, that participated in the Peace Summit, and there was no one to block the decision of these nations. This is an independent decision of these countries," the head of state said.
Zelenskyy emphasized that equality is what Russia hates. And that is why it claims that it is not satisfied with the Peace Formula.
As reported by OBOZ.UA, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed Putin's plans to terrorize Ukrainians at the UN. According to him, Russia is preparing strikes on the infrastructure on which Ukrainian nuclear power plants depend. In this way, Vladimir Putin wants to break the spirit of Ukrainians on the eve of winter.
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Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Russia is actively collecting data on gas pipelines, submarine cables, wind farms, and military infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. The aggressor country disguises its activities as "research missions."
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These are the conclusions of a journalistic investigation conducted as part of the "Russian Spy Ships" project. The German TV channels NDR and WDR, as well as the Suddeutsche Zeitung, worked on the material.
As the journalists found out, Russia uses special ships that are officially engaged in oceanographic research but are actually equipped with sensitive equipment for gathering intelligence. Most of them are subordinated to the Russian Navy or the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war against Ukraine, at least 72 of these ships have made more than 400 voyages. Investigators analyzed thousands of Morse code radio messages and satellite images. They found that Russian ships repeatedly performed suspicious maneuvers near critical infrastructure, moving slowly and with their identification systems turned off.
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Experts believe that such maneuvers could be used to accurately measure underwater objects, possibly to prepare sabotage. The head of the German Federal Intelligence Service, Bruno Kahl, confirmed the existence of a serious threat from Russia, noting that Russia is intensifying its actions against Western critical infrastructure.
One of the objects targeted by Russia is the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia. After suspicious actions by Russian vessels, it was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese ship, which is being investigated as possible sabotage.
A former crew member of the Russian research vessel "Sibiryakov" confirmed Russia's interest in other countries' critical infrastructure. He stated that the main purpose of these ships is to scan the seabed for further use of information for military purposes.
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As a reminder, in Ireland, Russia was called one of the few countries trying to spy on the territory of this state. In particular, the Russians are looking for information about the Irish industry.
Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
It was not in some desert in Oregon, nor was there a guru from afar who laid down the rules and doctrine. The Sullivanians group operated in Manhattan the apartments and houses in which its members lived, segregated by sex, were located in just a handful of streets on the Upper West Side and the guidelines were dictated by Saul Newton (1906-1991), trained in Chicagos anti-fascist circles and a brigade commander on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. The group that he created in the late 1950s with his fourth wife, Dr. Jane Pearce, advocated a radical, interventionist model of therapy: patients had to distance themselves from suffocating family ties and expand their circle of social and sexual relationships as widely as possible.
Over the years, the group became a cult, and its dissolution did not take place until 1991, the same year Newton died. It was a radical social experiment: a 35-year attempt to reshape family, sexual, and social life in what might be Americas largest urban commune, writes Alexander Stille in The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy and the Wild Life of an American Commune. Stilles in-depth book and the documentary series The Fourth Wall, the first episode of which was presented at the most recent Tribeca Film Festival and directed by Luke Meyer, the son of a former member of the group, have broken the silence that has surrounded the Sullivanians. For more than three decades, the unique collective managed to operate under the radar, despite the fact that its members included well-known figures such as the painter Jackson Pollock, the dancer Lucinda Childs, and the novelist and screenwriter Richard Price.
Members of the Sullivanians on a Long Island station platform in the 1970s. Donna Warshaw
Pollock, one of the most important figures in the abstract expressionism that shook up the art world in the United States in the 1950s, came to the Sullivanians through the legendary critic Clem Greenberg, who played a fundamental role in the growing popularity of the Sullivan Institute among artists of the time. The group emerged in the late 1950s, a time when there was a response to the predominant culture with the beat generation, the Kinsey report on sexual conduct, or films like Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Stille explains over the phone. But this rebellion against the established order led to an organization that maintained a tight control over the lives of its members. One of my interviewees told me that the Stasi would have liked to have had that level of control over people in East Germany, because they controlled not only actions, but also thoughts. In therapy sessions, members confessed, Stille says.
The groups therapists, many of whom had been trained within the organization and had no official qualifications, determined who their patients should have sex with (the aim was to avoid focusing on a single partner), forced the separation of children, if they had any, and even decided which jobs they should keep. I wanted to try to understand what led so many people to accept this. Belonging to the group offered a community, a place to live, and guilt-free sex, explains the journalist and professor at Columbia University. His book steers clear of sensationalism. That wouldnt do this story justice, he says.
Barbara Antmann, whose sister was a member of the Sullivanians, stands in front of one of the buildings where members of the cult lived in the 1980s. Marianne Barcellona (Getty Images)
At the origin of the Sullivanians were Harry Stack Sullivan and Clara Thompson, founders of the White Institute in New York, which advocated a closer approach to patients and which included Erich Fromm and Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, among others. The psychoanalyst Jane Pearce was also part of this institution, where Newton worked, although not as a therapist because she lacked a degree. If Freud concentrated on the internal drama of each patient (the Oedipus complex, the friction between the ego and the superego), Sullivan and Thompson insisted that it was important to understand the patient in relation to other people in their life (not just the family romance with their parents), writes Stille.
Pearce and Newtons Sullivan Institute went much further. Patients were to break out of the trap of the nuclear family and monogamous marriage, Stille notes. The radical ideas took shape in a real estate network, as the group lived in several apartments on the Upper West Side, and spent the summer in houses near Pearce and Newtons in the Hamptons. In that early stage, the therapy encouraged creativity and experimentation for personal fulfillment. Later, it was more about doing what suited the group, being good patients, Stille continues. One of the therapists who eventually left, Michael Cohen, explains the shift that the therapy took from 1978 onwards: it was no longer about fostering individuality, but about getting members to comply with what the leader dictated. If they were reluctant to put in the work or money that was demanded of them, your job was to turn them into good soldiers. Unfortunately, I was good at it, Cohen says.
Jane Pearce would end up marginalized from the late 1970s and Newton, with his new wives numbers five and six would emerge as the supreme leader. They left the Hamptons for the Catskills and the group ran a theater in the East Village where the productions of their own company, The Fourth Wall, were presented. By this time, the Sullivanians fulfilled all the requirements of a cult and it was the members of the group themselves who exercised control over each other. The therapists had sexual relations with their patients, even during the therapy sessions; when one of the women wanted to be a mother, it was decided which men in the group she should sleep with so that there was no clear paternity; and as soon as the baby was a few months old, they separated them to avoid establishing toxic bonds.
Only the leader and his wives were allowed to continue raising their children. The lawsuits that some mothers and fathers ended up filing were what led to the story of the Sullivanians being uncovered in the late 1980s. Saul Newton had a Stalinist component; he believed that purges were good for maintaining cohesion, explains Stille. Richard Price told him that the reaction of the Sullivanians to the nuclear accident at Three Miles Island in 1979 (Newton ordered all members of the organization to march to Orlando) and the climate of paranoia that it unleashed made him distance himself from the group.
Stille, author of the book on Silvio Berlusconi, The Sack of Rome, and the investigation into the Italian mafia, Excellent Cadavers, says that he came across the story of the Sullivanians through friends who knew one of Newtons sons. He thought of making a podcast but as he delved into the story he realized that it would become a book. The people who had been part of the group were in their seventies and I think they were beginning to wonder what it had all been like. I was surprised by the things they told me, the sexual abuse they endured, being separated from their children and sent to boarding schools so they wouldnt see them even on holidays, the therapists cornering the patients, humiliating them, he says. In the book he details the DNA tests that some of the Sullivanians children decided to undergo, and what they uncovered. The United States has a certain tradition of groups that aim to create a utopian society. Religious communities that break away from orthodoxy, groups that try to promote a new society and start from scratch, from the Shakers to New Harmony. A society of seekers, he concludes.
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Google has now totally disabled the Google Cache from completely working. Earlier this year, Google removed the cache link from the search result snippets. Then a couple of weeks ago, added links to the Wayback Machine. Now, the direct link to see the Google Cache has been fully disabled.
If you try to go directly to the Google Cache - something I have tried literally every day since Google removed the links from the search results - Google will now show nothing:
Here is the link I've been trying daily at this link:
This stopped working in the past 12 hours or so.
There are a lot of people chattering about it on social:
Google has removed the ability to check cache manually, just happened today. It didn't work on every site, but you could see the cache on new pages temporarily.https://t.co/AMffKaKrbM
Now it just redirects to a search result with cache: in front of the domain. @rustybrick SEOwner (@tehseowner) September 24, 2024
cache:https://t.co/IR03XZd2iZ is cache operator no more? I have checked many website, no one site is showing cache page. So I think this is no more from now. What you think guys?@JohnMu @rustybrick Rajesh Prajapati (@prajapatiseo) September 24, 2024
In India, Google have completely stopped giving cache copy of indexed pages.
Tried on more than 10 to 20 websites.
I think they have completed this rollout in India.@JohnMu @rustybrick pic.twitter.com/fWmQTUfD6p Nilesh Yadav (@Nilesh__Yadav) September 24, 2024
hi @rustybrick @JohnMu
Google Cache is not working. Is this a Google bug, or is only my website facing this issue? pic.twitter.com/rHw4EZMxcO Akshay Kumar Sharma (@alexsharma111) September 24, 2024
As a reminder, Google's Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, said on X:
Yes, it's been removed. I know, it's sad. I'm sad too. It's one of our oldest features. But it was meant for helping people access pages when way back, you often couldn't depend on a page loading. These days, things have greatly improved. So, it was decided to retire it. Personally, I hope that maybe we'll add links to @internetarchive from where we had the cache link before, within About This Result. It's such an amazing resource. For the information literacy goal of About The Result, I think it would also be a nice fit -- allowing people to easily see how a page changed over time. No promises. We have to talk to them, see how it all might go -- involves people well beyond me. But I think it would be nice all around. As a reminder, anyone with a Search Console account can use URL Inspector to see what our crawler saw looking at their own page. You're going to see cache: go away in the near future, too. But wait, I hear you ask, what about noarchive? We'll still respect that; no need to mess with it. Plus, others beyond us use it.
Here are some of those posts:
Update! We've now added links to previous versions of webpages from the Internet Archive. Learn more in the post below: https://t.co/qbYUi8iSoI Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) September 11, 2024
So he told use the cache: operator would go away in the "near future." That took 9 months or so to happen and now it is gone.
What are your alternatives? So, yea, the Wayback Machine or the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console or Google's rich result testing tool.
Forum discussion at BlackHatWorld.
Update: After this story was published, Google confirmed the cache operator no longer works. Google posted, "The cache: search operator no longer works in Google Search."
Google has now officially confirmed the cache operator is no longer working - story updated at https://t.co/wHb5HuQnJ6 pic.twitter.com/xLWggZy9Vg Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) September 24, 2024
Google also removed it from the docs, so the old version of search operators had this:
This story was originally published at 6am ET but updated at 7:52am ET.
Donald Trump is doubling down on his use of economic protectionism as an electoral argument. The former president and Republican presidential candidate on Tuesday threatened to impose a tariff of 100% on cars imported from Mexico. We will put a 100% tariff on every single car coming across the Mexican border, he said during an event on the economy in Savannah (Georgia).
Major American manufacturers produce cars in Mexico. Even Trumps ally, Elon Musk, has plans to build a large factory there, although for now they are on hold.
The only way you can get rid of that tariff is if you want to build a plant right here in the United States with you operating that plant, Trump added. I want German car companies to become American car companies. I want them to build their plants here, he said during the same speech. In fact, there are already many German car manufacturers (including Volkswagen, Mercedes and BMW) and Asian ones (such as Toyota or Hyundai) with large production plants in the United States.
Trump did not go into details of his proposal. A few months ago he said he would impose tariffs on cars manufactured in Mexico by Chinese companies, but now he seems to be talking about any imported vehicles.
The former president said that if he wins the November 5 election, he will add tariffs of up to 20% to every foreign import entering the United States, as well as another tariff of up to 60% on all Chinese imports. He also said he would impose a 100% tariff on countries that move away from using the U.S. dollar.
In his protectionist rhetoric, Trump also threatened this week that tractor and agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere would be subject to 200% tariffs if it moves production to Mexico. The U.S. company plans to manufacture some of its models in the neighboring country due to lower labor costs. The business says on its website that in order to position our U.S. factories to undertake these highly value-additive activities it is sometimes necessary to move less complex operations, such as cab assembly, to other locations, including the John Deere factory in Mexico, which has been in operation for 70 years.
Trumps remarks in Savannah were part of his marked focus on protectionism in his economic speeches. A few weeks ago, in an address at the Economic Club of New York, he proposed to lower the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15% for companies that produce goods in the United States. We want to manufacture our products in the United States and in most cases we can. If you subcontract, relocate or replace American workers, you will not be eligible for any of these benefits, he said then.
On Tuesday he reiterated these messages, as well as promising tax cuts for high-income earners and corporations. We are putting America first. This new American industrialism will create millions and millions of jobs, Trump said.
But in order to enact tax reforms, it would not be enough for him to return to the White House; he would also need a Republican majority in both chambers of Congress.
Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump during his speech at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center in Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday. Megan Varner (REUTERS)
Despite the tariffs he imposed during his term as president, the United States lost industrial jobs in his four years in the White House. Now he is promising an industrial renaissance, something that has largely occurred under his successor, Joe Biden, who has also pursued a protectionist policy and granted multi-billion-dollar aid and tax breaks for investments in strategic sectors.
With the vision Im outlining today, were not only going to stop our companies from leaving for foreign lands, but under my leadership, were going to take jobs from other countries, he said. Have you ever heard that expression? Have you ever heard that were going to take jobs from other countries? Its never been said before. Were going to take their factories, and four years ago we were very clear, were going to bring thousands and thousands of companies and trillions of dollars in wealth back to the good old United States.
With this defense of extreme protectionism, Trump is breaking with the Republican tradition of free trade. Tariffs on imports imply higher costs for American companies (if the goods are intermediate goods) or higher prices for consumers (if the goods are final consumer goods).
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Casual fast-food restaurant operator Tortilla Mexican Grill said on Wednesday that revenues had fallen in H1, leading to yet another interim loss.
Tortilla Mexican Grill said interim revenues had slipped 3.7% to 31.5m, principally due to a 10.3% like-for-like decline in delivery revenue, leading to a pre-tax loss of 200,000, up from its 600,000 pre-tax loss in H123. Adjusted underlying earnings of 1.8m were broadly flat.
Looking ahead, Tortilla Mexican Grill said current trading was in line with management expectations for the full year, with in-store sales continuing to improve on the back of its investment in food, brand awareness and technology.
Chief executive Andy Naylor said: "We are very proud of the positive momentum we have driven throughout the business over the last six months. The UK business had lost momentum at the start of the year, and we had to make some big decisions to overhaul the trend.
"We have driven the UK business forward by revitalising our food offering and investing in people, brand awareness and technology. It is encouraging to see the benefits of these investments, with our in-store like-for-like sales steadily improving, from -6% in March to +4% in September month to date."
As of 0910 BST, Tortilla shares were up 3.03% at 51.0p.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
After a quiet few days on the economic data and corporate earnings calendar, things ramp up on Thursday with a barrage of leading indicators due out in the US, along with speeches from some prominent central banks on both sides of the Pond.
Two heavyweight constituents on the FTSE 350 will give trading updates: water group Pennon and safety equipment giant Halma.
In the US, jobless claims and durable goods orders are due out during the session, along with the final estimate of GDP growth for the second quarter.
Over in Europe, the forward-looking October GfK consumer confidence survey in Germany will be released, while investors will be keeping tabs on the latest interest-rate decision from the Swiss National Bank, which is predicted to cut rates by a further 25 basis points (bp) to 1.0%, following two similar cuts in March and June.
However, with global financial markets continuing to be focused on the trajectory of monetary easing cycles, scheduled speeches from a number of policymakers at the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank will be closely watched for any hints at how policy will change in the coming months.
The most prominent of these speeches will come from the head of the Fed, chair Jerome Powell, who will speak at the US Treasury Market Conference in New York. While he is unlikely to reveal anything new, his comments will be in keen focus following last week's bumper 50bp rate cut by the US central bank.
According to a note on Tuesday by JPMorgan Research, the Fed is predicted to cut rates by another 50bp at its next meeting in early November, while the current Fed 'dot plot' is pointing to four more 25bp rate cuts in 2025.
Other members of the Fed, including Susan Collins, Adriana Kugler, Michelle Bowman, John Williams, Lisa Cook, Michael Barr and Neel Kashkari, are also due to speak at Thursday's conference.
Meanwhile, ECB president Christine Lagarde is scheduled to give the welcome address at the eighth annual ESRB conference in Frankfurt in a speech about 'new frontiers in macroprudential policy'. Vice president Luis De Guindos and boardmember Isabel Schnabel will also give talks.
The comments come in wake of some dismal economic data from the eurozone on Monday, which showed that overall private-sector business activity unexpectedly declined for the first time in seven months in September, as the manufacturing downturn worsened.
Commenting on the data, Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said the numbers "could add some urgency to ECB rate cuts for the rest of this year", following a relatively cautious approach to monetary easing seen so far. The ECB's final two monetary policy meetings of the year will be held on 17 October and 12 December.
Thursday 26 September
INTERIMS
Accesso Technology Group, AIREA, Angle, Arecor Therapeutics , Aurrigo International, Bradda Head Lithium Limited NPV (DI), CMO Group, CT Automotive Group, CVS Group, Devolver Digital, Inc. (DI) Reg S Cat 3/144A, Ebiquity, Life Science REIT, Old Mutual Limited NPV (DI), Touchstar, Trellus Health
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI), Rio Tinto, Schroders, Secure Trust Bank
INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Advanced Medical Solutions Group, Amati AIM Vct , Bank of Georgia Group, Braime Group, Braime Group 'A'NON.V , Breedon Group , Central Asia Metals, Computacenter, Equals Group , Fevertree Drinks, Fintel, Good Energy Group, HGCapital Trust, JTC, LSL Property Services, Palace Capital , Petershill Partners , Public Policy Holding Company, Inc.(DI), Rightmove, STV Group, Wynnstay Group
QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Abrdn DIversified Income And Growth, Alpha Real Trust Ltd., British American Tobacco, Duke Capital Limited, Law Debenture Corp., Mercantile Investment Trust (The), Real Estate Credit Investments Ltd, Value and Indexed Property Income Trust
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)
Durable Goods Orders (US) (13:30)
GFK Consumer Confidence (GER) (07:00)
Gross Domestic Product (US) (13:30)
Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)
M3 Money Supply (EU) (09:00)
Pending Homes Sales (US) (13:00)
Personal Consumption Expenditures (US) (13:30)
GMS
Tlou Energy Limited (DI)
FINALS
Avation
SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Alfa Financial Software Holdings , FIH Group , Petershill Partners
AGMS
ActiveOps, Cambridge Nutritional Science, Diageo, ECO Animal Health Group, FRP Advisory Group , IG Design Group, Kodal Minerals , Mercia Asset Management, NWF Group, Redcentric, Scholium Group, SDI Group , Sosandar, TPXimpact Holdings, Van Elle Holdings, Zoo Digital Group
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Halma, Pennon Group
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Brickability Group , Molten Ventures VCT
FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Alumasc Group, Barratt Developments, Diverse Income Trust (The), FIH Group , Fletcher King, FRP Advisory Group , Hargreaves Services, Miton UK Microcap Trust, System1 Group
Business leaders have warned that the governments plans for a major global investment summit are in danger of falling flat, amid growing frustrations over high costs of involvement and its timing two weeks before the budget. As a central plank in Labours proposals to drive up investment in Britain, the party pledged in the general election campaign to host the summit within the first 100 days of winning power to show that the UK would be open for business under a new government. Guardian
The US Department of Justice has sued Visa, accusing one of the worlds largest payment networks of antitrust violations that affect the price of nearly everything. The financial giant has suppressed competition by threatening merchants with high fees and paying off potential rivals, according to the complaint, filed in US district court for the southern district of New York. Guardian
Caroline Ellison, the ex-girlfriend of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, has been sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the $8bn (6bn) fraud that triggered the implosion of the cryptocurrency exchange. Ellison, 29, was given a prison sentence on Tuesday night at a hearing in Manhattan, even though the judge recognised her extensive cooperation with prosecutors. She had pleaded guilty to seven felony counts of fraud and conspiracy. Telegraph
The City regulator has admitted that it mishandled plans to start naming firms it is investigating after the proposals faced a fierce backlash from the financial services industry. In a sign that the Financial Conduct Authority is preparing to compromise on elements of its plan, a senior official at the watchdog used a speech on Tuesday to reassure the industry that the regulator was listening to business concerns. The Times
Brookfield, the asset manager chaired by Mark Carney, the former Bank of England governor, has sold its 25 per cent stake in the hydropower group First Hydro Company to a leading Canadian pension fund. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) is buying the stake for 500 million, valuing the company at 2 billion. Engie, the French utility company, remains the largest shareholder with a 75 per cent holding. The Times
An experiment with cows in a high-security laboratory in the United States offers alarming data on the possibility of stopping the global bird flu epidemic, the worst recorded in history.
American and German scientists experimentally infected calves and dairy cows in a level 3 security laboratory to determine the transmission route of the highly pathogenic avian influenza, which is affecting animals on 231 farms in 14 U.S. states. The results confirm that the H5N1 virus accumulates in the udders and milk of cows, and is probably being transmitted by industrial milking systems.
The authors of the paper warn that the H5N1 virus variant spreading in Europe is also capable of infecting dairy cows and making them sick. With a single jump of the virus from a wild bird to a farm animal, Europe could be in the same position as the U.S.
The study comes just days after the U.S. Center for Disease Control reported that a second health worker had developed respiratory symptoms after caring for a patient who tested positive for H5N1 in the state of Missouri, but wasnt tested for influenza. This is worrying since the Missouri patient is the only case who did not have contact with poultry or dairy cows. It is not known how they were infected.
Fatality rate: 52%
In 1996, an H5N1 virus from wild birds jumped to domestic geese in Asia. The spread of the pathogen led to the culling of 400 million chickens and other poultry, more than in the 36 previous epidemics recorded. According to the World Health Organization, 887 cases of infection in humans and 462 deaths have been detected since then, a fatality rate of 52%.
In 2021, a new H5N1 subvariant known as 2.3.4.4b developed the ability to infect mammals, both wild and domestic, causing episodes of mass mortality. Since then, it has spread throughout Asia, Europe, America and Antarctica. The epicenter of the crisis is now in the United States, where this new avian flu in cows continues to spread on dairy farms.
The new study, published in Nature, a leading source of world science, compared the infectivity of the H5N1 variant circulating in cattle in the United States by injecting viruses into the udders of dairy cows and the snouts of calves. The results show that animals infected via the respiratory route barely suffer symptoms and did not transmit the disease to other animals. Meanwhile, dairy cows infected via the udder did suffer severe illness, with high fever and lack of appetite, and their milk production plummeted.
The study also infected dairy cows with a variant of H5N1 isolated from wild birds in Europe. The animals also became ill, showing that the American variant is not the only one capable of causing a large epidemic in cattle. The symptoms were so severe that some animals had to be euthanized early. Although the experiment cannot exactly reproduce the conditions found on farms, its results are consistent with the fatality rate of up to 5% of animals observed on livestock farms, the authors explain.
The origin of this epidemic is probably a single jump of H5N1 from a wild bird to a cow late last year or early this year, the study says. The movement of cattle between states is believed to have been responsible for the spread of the virus, which circulated for weeks without being detected.
Juergen Richt, a researcher at Kansas State University, where the study was conducted, told EL PAIS: Our experiments show that the virus spreads mainly through milking and probably through milking equipment. It seems that the replication of the virus in cows is limited to the mammary glands. It is worrying that H5N1 continues to be transmitted between dairy cows, because it may allow it to adapt even more, he added.
Mandatory tests and quarantines
The big question is whether the spread of H5N1 can be stopped. Martin Beer from the Friedrich-Loeffler Institute in Germany, co-author of the study, believes: Mandatory testing should be introduced to identify all affected farms, followed by individual testing, quarantine and isolation of infected animals. It would also help if all cows were tested before they were transported and hygiene measures were reinforced on farms, he adds. At present, each state is following its own control protocols without any binding federal guidelines.
Natalia Majo, a veterinary pathologist and director of the Animal Health Research Centre (IRTA-CRESA) in Barcelona, believes that the situation is very worrying. In Europe, it seems that we are getting used to ignoring this news, partly because this year there has been very little expansion of avian flu. But this work shows us that the same thing can happen here as in the United States with a single introduction of the virus from a single infected bird. Surveillance is essential, she says.
For Elisa Perez, a veterinary virologist at Spains CSIC Animal Health Research Center, she admits: Just a few months ago I would have said that it was impossible for an avian virus to spread so quickly among mammals.
H5N1 has mutated to take advantage of the molecular receptors of the mammary glands and has already infected 59 species of mammals, including humans. The number of viral particles in cows milk is about 100 million per milliliter, a very high amount, warns the researcher. The expert assumes that calves are becoming infected by feeding. Most infected people had conjunctivitis, probably due to splashes during milking, she adds.
For the scientist, the big question is why this crisis in livestock is only affecting the United States, especially now that it is known that this countrys variant is not the only one capable of making cows sick. In Canada, for example, there has not been a single case. Nor in Europe. Perhaps it is due to some characteristic of the farms there that we have not yet identified, or to closer contact with infected birds, possibly through watering troughs, she ventures.
In any case, the researcher believes that once such an epidemic has started, it is very difficult to stop. There needs to be a willingness to carry out mass surveillance, she argues. When H5N1 infects a cow, its milk production drops by up to 90%, explains Perez. This may be the best warning sign to detect an outbreak and stop it before it is too late.
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photo: Becca Farsace
Elyse Graham is a historian and professor at Stony Brook University in New York. She holds degrees from Princeton, Yale, and MIT, and is the author of three previous books. Her fourth book, Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II (Ecco, September 24, 2024), is the story of the academics who became OSS spies and helped turn the tide of the war.
Handsell readers your book:
The untold true story of how professors and librarians fought in World War II and invented modern spycraft, for fans of dark academia and spy thrillers.
On your nightstand now:
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. Nobody does conversations like Mantel. And nobody since Jane Austen has had such command of a certain brutal, delicate irony. We were robbed of the Jane Austen adaptation she was working on when she passed away.
Favorite book when you were a child:
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. Two children run away to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. What a life! And what a book!
Your top five authors:
I'll stick with contemporary authors: Hilary Mantel, Edward P. Jones, Toni Morrison, Patricia Lockwood, Bill Bryson.
Book you've faked reading:
There's a plotline in a David Lodge book, Changing Places, in which a college's literature professors play something called "the humiliation game," in which they confess the most important book they haven't read. A younger professor wins the game by saying Hamlet, then doesn't get tenure, because his colleagues decide they can't give tenure to someone who hasn't read Hamlet.
The book and the game are familiar touchstones in literature departments. But even though I sometimes make references to them, I haven't actually read Changing Places. (I mean to! I've read other David Lodge books! The time was just never right.)
Book you're an evangelist for:
Not a book so much as a writer: S.J. Perelman. The things this guy could do with a sentence.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic. Well worth it: eerie, haunting, harrowing, and expertly combines fantastical with real historical horrors.
Book you hid from your parents:
Not a book so much as a reading practice. I found a secret storage space behind a bookcase in my high school's library, and I used to skip class, hide there, and read. Sorry, Mom and Dad.
Book that changed your life:
When I say James Joyce's Ulysses, I mean specifically the experience of reading Ulysses in Maria DiBattista's literature seminar in college. I think it made me a better person, although it would take quite a long time to explain how or why. The idea that ways of looking are forms of ethics. The idea that the language in the novel reflects not so much the characters, but the larger social forces within which they're struggling to survive. The question of whether you can get through the day without being crushed by everything around you, whether you can survive the pressure of those larger forces with your voice and your humanity intact.
But this is one of those books that you need help to get through, at least the first few times around. Which is to say that books often change your life because of the teachers who change your life.
Favorite line from a book:
"I should not feel it to be strange." --Alfred, Lord Tennyson. There's a whole poem that comes with this one, but it's too long to quote.
Five books you'll never part with:
To keep things interesting, I'll make them nonfiction books.
Inside the Whale by George Orwell. I read this when I was younger, and it really knocked my socks off. Orwell just seemed endlessly curious, and he was willing to do serious reading and legwork to do justice to whatever he was writing about. He wanted to learn about the human cost of coal, so he went down a mine. I think Orwell's essays are his best work, and this is a fine collection of them.
The Great Cat Massacre by Robert Darnton. A truly great historical writer. He brings together a historian's rich understanding of the past on its own terms with a journalist's narrative flair. He's unmatched in his ability to find great stories in the archives.
Lose Your Mother by Saidiya Hartman. Hartman is a writer of great clarity and depth. She moves between history, imagining, and first-person retrospection so deftly, and so clearly, that her prose is very much like the living water of a river. This book chronicles a journey, in the present and past, along a route of the Atlantic slave trade.
American Studies by Louis Menand. I had just arrived in the United States when I saw this in a bookstore. I was like, "American Studies! This will explain everything to me." In Menand's most famous work, The Metaphysical Club, he describes an idea that I think informs most of his writing, including here: that ideas are tools that people use, need, cling to. It's an idea that's very useful for writing about the world of ideas.
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Bryson is genuinely interested in the world, and his Midwesterner-transplanted-to-England-transplanted-back-to-the-United-States perspective yields an unrepeatable style of irony. His description in this book of what he would do if bears came into his campsite is unreprintable and unforgettable.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Edward P. Jones's All Aunt Hagar's Children. An absolute maestro of the short story.
You mentioned that your book takes inspiration from the genre "dark academia." What are some other books in that genre that you'd recommend?
There are the usual suspects: Donna Tartt's The Secret History, Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, R.F. Kuang's Babel, Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House. But the nonfiction authors in this space really prove that truth is stranger than fiction: the fabulous and famous include Kathy Peiss, Jonathan Petropoulos, Noah Charney, and Bret Witter and Robert Edsel.
Chile President Gabriel Boric Font has joined several world leaders, calling for India's inclusion as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Addressing the general debate of the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the UN in New York, Font supported a reform of the United Nations, asserting that 'the world has changed a lot' since 1945 when 51 countries, including Chile, took the transcendental step of creating the United Nations.
'I listened attentively this morning to the UN Secretary General, President Lula of Brazil, and President Biden of the United States explicitly expressing their agreement to reform the council according to today's times. Who or what is preventing it? Is there anyone in this assembly who opposes it?' Font questioned during his speech.
'From Chile, I propose that we set a deadline for reform and that when the UN turns 80, it does so with a Security Council in line with the course of current times, in which Brazil from Latin America, India, at least one country from Africa, among others, are part. There is nothing that prevents it, except the lack of our own will', he added.
On Sunday, following his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Quad Summit in Delaware, US President Joe Biden, while expressing his immense appreciation for India's leadership at the world stage, reaffirmed Washington's full support for India's permanent UNSC membership.
'President Biden shared with Prime Minister Modi that the United States supports initiatives to reform global institutions to reflect India's important voice, including permanent membership for India in a reformed U N Security Council', read the Joint Fact Sheet on India-US Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership released after the meeting between the two leaders.
At the same time, given the emerging multipolar world order, Russia has also consistently supported the permanent membership of India in the UN Security Council.
On Wednesday, as he arrived in New York for the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov once again favoured a more representative Security Council with new members drawn from a group of developing countries, including India.
Moscow will support the legitimate aspiration of India, Brazil and one of African countries to join the UN Security Council as permanent members, Lavrov told Russian news agency Tass in an interview.
'Developing countries are under-represented in the Security Council, so, as we have always been saying, we support India and Brazil's interest and legitimate aspiration to be included in the Security Council', the top Russian diplomat said. 'However, it is also necessary to satisfy African hopes. There are shared collective positions in Africa which we respect', he noted.
Stocks to Watch, Wednesday, September 25, 2024: Indian equity markets are expected to open on a subdued note, as indicated by GIFT Nifty futures trading at 25,928 on Wednesday morning, slightly lower than the previous close of Nifty futures. However, an overnight rally on Wall Street may offer some positive momentum for the markets. The Asia-Pacific region saw mostly stable trading on Wednesday morning, with futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index suggesting a potential 4 percent rise at the start of trading, with HSI futures at 19,763 compared to the last close of 19,000. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 experienced a slight decline, while the broader Topix increased by 0.3 percent. South Korea's Kospi rose by 0.4 percent, and the small-cap Kosdaq saw a gain of 0.43 percent.
KEC International: KEC International, a major player in engineering and construction, has launched a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) to raise Rs 4,500 crore by issuing equity shares. The floor price for the QIP is set at Rs 976.64 per share, with the possibility of a discount of up to 5% on this price. This move comes after board approval on July 26, 2024, and a special resolution passed during the company's Annual General Meeting on August 22, 2024.
PC Jewellers: PC Jewellers, a multibagger stock, is preparing for its first-ever stock split. The Board of Directors will meet on September 30, 2024, to discuss the subdivision of shares. Currently, each equity share has a face value of Rs 10, and the company is anticipated to provide further details about the split during this meeting.
NBCC: In a significant development, the Supreme Court is set to review NBCC's proposal to finish 17 stalled projects by Supertech Limited, a decision that could benefit 27,000 homebuyers. This situation is similar to a previous intervention with the Amrapali Group, which sought to provide relief to homebuyers facing delays in project completions.
MCX: Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) has revised its transaction fees for Futures and Options contracts, effective October 1, 2024. Fees for Futures contracts will be Rs 2.1 per lakh of turnover value, while fees for Options contracts will be Rs 41.8 per lakh of premium turnover value.
NHPC: NHPC Ltd, the state-run hydropower company, is poised to raise around Rs 2,300 crore in the current financial year, surpassing its initial target of Rs 2,000 crore. This initiative aligns with the Union government's monetization objectives and bolsters NHPC's growth plans. The company intends to achieve this by securitizing the return on equity from its Dulhasti Power Station in Jammu and Kashmir over the next eight years. Importantly, NHPC will maintain complete ownership of the project despite this financial strategy.
HDFC Life Insurance: HDFC Life Insurance has announced a board meeting set for September 27, 2024, to finalize the commercial terms for the issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs). In July 2024, the company had previously approved raising up to Rs 2,000 crore through NCDs, which will be issued in several tranches on a private placement basis.
Delta Corp: Delta Corp has received approval for the demerger of its hospitality and real estate divisions through a Composite Scheme of Arrangement. The newly formed subsidiary will operate under the name Delta Penland. As per the share entitlement ratio, eligible Delta Corp shareholders will receive one new equity share in Delta Penland for each equity share they hold in Delta Corp.
Easy Trip Planners: Nishant Pitti, the promoter of Easy Trip Planners, is anticipated to divest up to 8.5% of his ownership in the company through block deals. The total block size is estimated to be Rs 622 crore, with a projected price of Rs 41.5 per share. According to the June quarter data, Pitti owned a 28.13% stake in the travel tech platform.
CarTrade Tech: In a recent development, Warburg Pincus-owned Highdell Investment has sold its 8.64% stake in CarTrade Tech for over Rs 375 crore. Mirae Asset Mutual Fund has acquired a 6.4% stake in the company, marking a significant reshuffling of ownership.
As a prelude to the 27th edition of the Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS) 2024, scheduled from 19-21 November 2024 at Bangalore Palace, a dynamic open Industry dialogue was held today in Delhi, led by Shri Priyank Kharge, Hon'ble Minister for Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Government of Karnataka. BTS 2024 is organized by the Department of E, IT and Bt, Govt. of Karnataka and Co-hosted by the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI).
Shri Priyank Kharge, Honble Minister for IT, Bt, and RDPR, Government of Karnataka was joined by Dr. Ekroop Caur, IAS, Secretary to the Government, Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology, Shri Arvind Kumar, Director General, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Shri Darshan H.V, IAS,
Managing Director, Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), Department of Electronics, IT, Bt, and S&T, Govt. of Karnataka, , Gurneet Tej, Resident Commissioner, KB, New Delhi, Shri Shailendra Tyagi, Director, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Bengaluru and Shri Jagdish Patankar, Executive Chairman of MM Activ- the Event Curator of Bengaluru Tech Summit.
The Delhi Industry Meet gathered industry leaders from key sectors such as IT, Deeptech, Electronics, Telecom, EV, Biotech, Gaming, and Animation, representatives from various trade missions, heads of prominent R&D institutes as well as various GIA partner countries. The meeting was well attended by representatives from leading Industry Associations including nasscom, IESA, USIBC, AmCham, COAI, India Mobile Congress and E-Gaming Federation.
Bengaluru Tech Summit is recognized as a pivotal platform in the global technology landscape, solidifying Bengaluru and Karnataka's roles as innovation leaders. This pre-event dialogue was held in Delhi to engage national stakeholders and expand the summits reach beyond regional boundaries. This initiative reflects BTSs new theme, Unbound, which is elevates beyond Breaking boundaries, emphasizing the need for boundless innovation, collaboration, and growth across the global Technology and LifeTech sectors, outside the traditional confines of geography, sectors and cultures. The event aims to push this vision further, facilitating new ideas, business opportunities, and international partnerships. BTS draws over 50,000 tech enthusiasts globally.
Shri Priyank Kharge, Honble Minister for IT, Bt, and RDPR, Government of Karnataka stated, The Bengaluru Tech Summit is more than a showcase of our technological prowessit is a platform where ideas and innovations converge, steering us towards a technologically advanced future. Todays discussions in Delhi extend these conversations beyond boundaries, engaging key stakeholders nationwide. This years summit will cover a broad spectrum of topics within IT, Electronics, Biotechnology, Startups, and the Global Innovation Alliance tracks, ensuring comprehensive dialogue on the future of technology. Introducing the new ESDM (Electronics System Design and Manufacturing) track marks a significant step in reinforcing Karnatakas role as a leader in advanced manufacturing. I extend my deepest gratitude to all contributors who have played a role in transforming Bengaluru into a global tech hub. Together, let us continue to envision, collaborate, and elevate Karnataka and India to new heights of technological leadership.
Dr. Ekroop Caur, IAS, Secretary to the Government, Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology, presented an overview of the Event. Adding to the Honble Minister Shri Priyank Kharges message, Dr. Caur emphasized, Bengaluru Tech Summit has evolved beyond being a Karnataka eventit is now a national platform. We encourage and invite the entire Indian Electronics, Technology, and Biotechnology sectors to participate, showcase their innovations to a global audience, and leverage this opportunity to accelerate their business growth.
Bengaluru Tech Summit 2024 will continue to affirm Karnatakas status as a global technology hub. The event will feature a multi-stage conference across six tracks: IT & Deep Tech, Biotech & HealthTech, Startup Ecosystem, Global Innovation Alliance, India-USA Tech Conclave, and the newly introduced Electro-Semicon track. This track will spotlight advancements in telecom, mobility, consumer electronics, and semiconductors, focusing on critical electronic components driving these industries.
With 85 sessions and over 460+ speakers from industry, research and academia, BTS 2024 Conference promises in-depth exploration and dialogue.
Flagship programs at BTS 2024 will include the CEO Conclave, Startup Conclave, and Fireside Chats with renowned industry leaders. Special emphasis will be placed on B2B meetings to foster structured networking and engagement, with the BTS Event App providing seamless access to schedules and updates.
The International Exhibition at BTS 2024 will feature 700+ exhibitors, including focused pavilions such as Corporate & Industry, Global Innovation Alliance, Startup Zone, and MSME Pavilion. Special sectorial pavilions will highlight breakthroughs in Biotech, Healthtech, Spacetech, Mobility, Greentech, Fintech, and more, with delegations from 40+ countries expected to participate, making BTS 2024 a truly global event.
The Summit will host international delegations from Global Innovation Alliance partner nations some of which include, USA, Israel, South Korea, Russia, Canada, Australia, Germany, The Netherlands and Japan. The conference will feature curated sessions in the Global Collaborations Track and there will be a showcase of global technological advancements in the International Pavilion.
The summit will honor excellence with prestigious awards including the STPI IT Export Awards, Smart Bio Awards, and Startup & Investor Awards. Additionally, the 25th anniversary of the TCS Rural IT Quiz and the BioQuiz finale will be celebrated, recognizing young talent in IT and Biotech. Another initiative, the Bio Posters- Walkway of Discovery, will provide a platform for research students and graduates to showcase their innovative concepts and ideas, fostering recognition of young talent.
Bengaluru Tech Summit 2024 is poised to drive global collaborations, foster groundbreaking innovations, and reinforce Indias leadership in the tech world. The Delhi Curtain Raiser has set an exciting tone for Bengaluru Tech Summit 2024, which is scheduled to be held from November 19-21, 2024, at the Bangalore Palace.
For more information on BTS 2024, please visit [www.bengalurutechsummit.com].
Highlights:
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The Richmond County District Attorneys Office is requesting DNA swabs of five defendants in an ongoing gun possession case, in which two of the men have military ties.
The defendants all are facing a top count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with a May 10 car stop in Mariners Harbor.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Melissa Aviles-Ramos, a lifelong educator and deputy chancellor for New York City public schools, has been tapped as the next schools chancellor taking over from David C. Banks who will retire at the end of 2024.
Mayor Eric Adams and Banks made the announcement during a press conference on Wednesday, a day after Banks announced he would step down from the role effective Dec. 31, 2024. Banks took over handling whats considered the countrys largest school system in 2022.
Melissa is a veteran of New York City Public Schools and a lifelong educator, said Adams. She brings a wealth of experience fostering community engagement and supporting families to her new role, serving in numerous roles in our public school system, and I believe she is the right woman for the moment.
Aviles-Ramos, who previously served as Banks chief of staff before becoming deputy chancellor, will start on Jan. 1, 2025.
Becoming the chancellor for nations largest school district is the ultimate job for a lifelong educator, said Aviles-Ramos. As a former teacher and a mom of a public-school student, I believe strongly in our work and in maintaining stability through this transition. Under my leadership, we will continue to strengthen our supports for students with disabilities and multilingual learners, improve our citys literacy and math proficiency rates, help our older students forge pathways to a bright future, and keep our schools safe. I am so grateful for Chancellor Banks leadership, and I thank Mayor Adams for entrusting me with continuing the work that began under his tenure.
She is the highest-ranking Latina and Spanish-speaking leader in the city Department of Education (DOE). She currently serves as deputy chancellor for family and community engagement and external affairs.
Aviles-Ramos was born and raised in the Soundview section of the Bronx and is the daughter of a Puerto Rican single mother. She is the first in her family to graduate from high school and the first in her family to attend college.
She joined the DOE in 2007 as an English teacher, then became an assistant principal, principal, deputy superintendent, acting superintendent and education administrator. As principal of Schuylerville Preparatory High School, she increased the graduation rate from 23% to 68% in her first year, and from 68% to 83% in her second year, with approximately 71% of English language learners deemed as college-ready.
In her central office position, she played a pivotal role in developing Project Open Arms, which was the DOEs response to the influx of migrant families seeking asylum.
She went on to serve as a senior executive director of program implementation in the Office of the First Deputy Chancellor before transitioning to chief of staff to Chancellor Banks, then ascending to her current role of deputy chancellor of family and community engagement and external affairs.
Aviles-Ramos holds a bachelors degree from Fordham University, and a masters degree from City University of New York (CUNY) City College. She is a mother to a daughter.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The Alpha Beta Pi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. will host its Black Girl Magic empowering conference, a one-day event designed for girls aged 9 to 14, on Sept. 28, 2024.
The conference will take place at the CUNY College of Staten Island, located at 1200 Victory Blvd., from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. This years Black Girl Magic event, themed Making an Impact, is designed to inform and educate young girls by celebrating their beauty and collective strength.
This years event is a collaborative effort with the Liberty Partnership Program at the college and involves various community organizations, including The National Council of Negro Women, Inc. - Staten Island Section, Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority, Inc. - Lambda Chapter, The Beautiful Heartbeats, Inc., and Help One to Help Another, Inc.
The conference promises to be a fun-filled day for approximately 100 young girls, featuring free interactive workshops, a tea party lunch, complimentary T-shirts, a tiara crowning ceremony and exciting surprises.
Among the esteemed speakers will be NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella, former District 31 Superintendent Marion Wilson and Akilah Benard, CEO and Founder of I AM BEAUTY, INC. Their experiences and insights will offer inspiration and guidance to the girls as they explore the events central themes of self-empowerment and leadership.
Scene from the 2022 Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Alpha Beta Pi Omega Chapter's "Black Girl Magic." The 2024 event will be held on Sept. 28, 2024. (Courtesy Letricia McLeary)Courtesy Letricia McLeary
SERVICE TO ALL MANKIND
Black Girl Magic celebrates the unique beauty and strength of Black women and girls. The conference is designed to inform, educate, and empower participants, fostering a sense of pride and community.
This years theme, Making an Impact, will focus on engaging discussions about personal branding and the significance of making a difference in the community.
Workshop facilitators Deanna Alexander, Lakeisha Dean, Maquita Moody and Janelle Armstrong will guide participants through these crucial topics.
The Alpha Beta Pi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is dedicated to the mission of Service to All Mankind, executing impactful service programs in Staten Island and beyond.
This years Black Girl Magic conference aims to inspire young girls to reach their full potential and become impactful leaders in their communities.
For more information about Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, visit www.AKA1908.com.
Italy knows a thing or two about great pizza and now some Upstate New York pizzas are gaining global recognition, earning a spot among the worlds best in a recent Italy-based ranking.
Jays Artisan Pizzeria in Kenmore, just north of Buffalo, has been named on the Guide to the 50 Best Pizzerias in the World for the third year in a row.
The list, published by Italys 50 Top Pizza, names Jays among pizza city giants like Naples, Barcelona, Rome, New York City, and more. Each spot is scouted out by inspectors who rate on pizza, drink menu, service and ambiance.
This year, the Western New York pizzeria has secured the 28th position globally and is ranked sixth in America. Their rise has been impressive; in 2021, they held the 28th spot in the U.S., and in 2022, they were recognized as the 71st best pizzeria worldwide.
The 50 Top Pizza feature notes what makes Jays stand out and that includes something they take pride in: their fresh, local ingredients. From their locally-sourced mozzarella to the fresh basil and microgreens and produce, many of the ingredients you will find on your pie come right from Upstate NY.
Joe Powers is the current owner and pizza mastermind behind Jays Artisan Pizzera. Powers originally worked there part-time throughout college. In 2019 he immersed himself in the art of making Neapolitan-style pizza during a trip to the fabled birthplace of pizza, Naples. When he returned home, Jays then-owner offered Powers the keys to his pizza kingdom.
At just 22, Powers took the reins and continued to build Jays reputation as a local hotspot for pizza lovers serving everything from classic light and tender Neapolitan pies, as well as thicker, Detroit style pies, baked in a pan for perfect crispy cheese edges.
Jay's Artisan Pizzeria has been named one of the best pizza restaurants in the world. The Upstate NY pie shop makes classic Neopolitan-style pizzas as well as thicker, Detroit-style squares. Provided photo | Jay's Artisan PizzeriaProvided photo | Jay's Artisan Pizzeria
Now at age of 25, Powers will be continuing to improve Jays Kenmore, USA footprint with a dining room renovation this winter, he told WIVB.
Make your trip to Jays a real pizza tour by adding a stop at another Upstate New York pizza contender. Pizzeria Florian made its first appearance this year on the 50 best list of top pizzerias in the United States. But when you learn its roots, it may be no surprise how it ended up on the ranking.
Located in East Aurora, the shop is about 40 minutes southeast of Buffalo and 50 minutes from Jays Artisan Pizza. It is owned by Jay Langfelder, the same Jay who opened Jays Artisan and sold it to Powers.
He and his partner Amanda Jones said goodbye to Buffalo and moved to Savannah, Georgia. The couple moved back to Western NY and opened Pizzeria Florian in February of this year.
Five months later, they earned spot number 44 on the 50 Top Pizzas in the USA 2024 list.
Pizzeria Florian in East Aurora, NY was named one of the best pizzerias in America. Provided photo | Pizzeria FlorianProvided photo | Pizzeria Florian
Pizzeria Florian bakes up contemporary classic Neopolitan-style pizzas and 50 Top Pizza list features their toppings on offer like Margherita, mushrooms and parmesan and cacio e pepe.
The wood-fired pizza shop also offers small plates and vegan options on their menu.
In June, Argentinas president, Javier Milei, described himself as the mole that destroys the State from within. On Tuesday, he appeared to be adopting this role in a fiery speech at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he launched verbal attacks against the U.N. and other global organizations. His attitude encapsulated the way that the Argentine government is burning its bridges with the world community. And Mileis words were accompanied by deeds: the Argentine president refused to add his name to the Pact for the Future, a declaration signed by world leaders that sets the roadmap to face challenges such as sustainable development, climate change and digital cooperation, among others.
The Pact for the Future was approved by 143 countries, including the United States and Israel, Mileis two beacons when it comes to foreign policy. Argentina refused to participate in the vote, and by doing so it aligned itself with Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, Haiti, Equatorial Guinea, Somalia, and Uzbekistan.
In his address to the General Assembly, Milei praised the organizations original goal of pursuing world peace, but warned that it has mutated into a multi-tentacled leviathan that imposes a socialist agenda on its members. It has been replaced by a supranational governance model of international bureaucrats who seek to impose a certain way of life on the citizens of the world. What is being discussed this week here in New York is nothing other than the deepening of this tragic course that this institution has adopted, he stressed.
Without losing his virulent tone, the La Libertad Avanza leader explained why he is turning his back on the sustainable development agenda included in the Pact for the Future and the 2030 Agenda. He believes that they propose to solve the problems of modernity with solutions that infringe on the sovereignty of nation states and violate peoples right to life, liberty, and property.
Climate change, one of the greatest threats to the planet, was absent from Mileis message. Despite the evidence provided by scientists on global warming, Milei has described it as another lie of socialism and opposes any mitigation policy if it represents an obstacle to economic growth.
The position taken by Milei at the U.N. isolates Argentina even more. Since the president took office nine months ago, Argentine diplomacy has suffered in its relations with Spain, China, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Chile. Only a victory for Donald Trump in the U.S. election in November would give Milei a strong partner that he currently lacks.
In his nine months as president, he has traveled to the United States, his favorite destination, six times. Yet he has not once been received by President Joe Biden or by any senior government official. His agenda has focused on giving speeches in conservative political and economic circles and holding meetings with business leaders such as Elon Musk.
The political clashes add to an inherited problem on the economic front: Argentinas lack of integration into the international financial system due to its long history of defaulting on payments. The Latin American country has no access to credit in external markets and it relies on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and multilateral organizations such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank to obtain fresh funds. In 2018, Argentina received a $44 billion bailout from the IMF that it is still repaying, but the Argentine government is in negotiations to close a new agreement.
On Tuesday, Milei did not spare criticism of the global economic architecture: A toxic relationship has been promoted between global governance policies and international credit organizations, requiring the most neglected countries to commit resources they do not have to programs they do not need, turning them into perpetual debtors to promote the agenda of the global elites.
His criticism was even more direct against the World Economic Forum, better known as the Davos Forum, which he considered promotes ridiculous policies with Malthusian blinkers. He gave as an example one of the programs to combat climate change, zero emission policies that, in his opinion, harm poor countries above all.
Milei predicted a future of poverty, brutalization, anarchy and a fatal absence of freedom if countries do not make a quick U-turn and abandon the Pact for the Future to embrace instead an Agenda for Freedom headed by himself. His radical ideas have given him worldwide popularity and have inflated his ego to the point of proclaiming himself one of the two most relevant politicians on planet Earth, along with Trump. Argentinas statistics are not, however, a good showcase for his ideas: half of the population lives in poverty and Argentina is the only one of the large Latin American countries with an economy in the red. Mileis exhortations also seem to ignore the fact that, for now at least, he lacks the political allies capable of shaking up the international order.
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The U.S. Coast guard saved four people in two separate rescues on Saturday off the coast of Brigantine, including one in which two girls were in distress, authorities said.
The first took place around 11:47 a.m. when the girls 11 and 14 were on surfboards when they were pulled out to Absecon Inlet in Atlantic County, the Coast Guard said.
Brigantine police alerted the Coast Guard who quickly dispatched a 29-foot response boat and rescued the girls eight minutes later.
A little more than two hours later, two men were struggling while on inner tubes in the inlet, officials said. Within seven minutes, a Coast Guard crew brought the pair to safety after being notified by police.
Were always standing by 24/7 ready to go, said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Matthew Asire, commanding officer, Coast Guard Station Atlantic City in a statement. Whether thats a quick five minute case right around the corner or were heading off shore for a tow in heavy weather no matter what were standing by ready to go.
The majority of beaches have been unguarded in New Jersey since the day after Labor Day.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. An au pair who was allegedly videotaped without her permission while living and working in the home of a Staten Island entrepreneur and his wife has been awarded $2.78 million by a jury following a civil case she filed against the couple in 2021.
The decision comes nearly two years to the day that Kelly Andrade, a 25-year-old Colombian native and New Jersey resident who was hired to care for the familys four children, filed the suit in Brooklyn Federal Court against Michael Esposito, 35, who was arrested in March of 2021 in connection with the incident.
The jury awarded $780,000 in damages for emotional distress against Michael and Danielle Esposito, as well as $2 million in punitive damages against Michael Esposito himself, court documents state.
Michael Esposito was featured in 2019 as he prepared to open a third LaRosa Chicken & Grill chain restaurant location on Staten Island.
According to the suit, Andrade, who was provided her own bedroom in the Espositos Tottenville home as part of her live-in nanny arrangement, noticed that a smoke detector in her room was constantly being repositioned over her bed.
After growing suspicious, Andrade examined the device and found a hidden camera inside with a memory card containing hundreds of videos, most of which were of Andrade nude or in a state of undress, the lawsuit alleged.
The victim did not have knowledge of the surveillance device and did not give the defendant permission or authority to record her in any way, court documents state.
Upon Andrades discovery of the camera, Esposito unexpectedly returned to the house and nervously attempted to coax plaintiff to leave the house, the filing alleges.
Petrified and fearing for her safety, Andrade locked herself in her bedroom, at which point Esposito began screaming at Andrade and trying to break down the door, according to the suit.
Andrade escaped from the home through her first-story window, leaving her personal belongings behind as she fled in fear of her life, the lawsuit said.
After fleeing the Espositos home and filing a report against them at the 123rd Precinct station house, Andrade was left temporarily homeless and living on the street, her attorney, Zachary Holzberg, confirmed with the Advance/SILive.com.
Massachusetts-based Cultural Care Au Pair, with whom Andrade was employed at the time of the incident, was also named as a defendant in the suit, but Andrade recently settled with the company for an undisclosed figure, court documents say.
Meanwhile, Esposito was able to avoid jail time after pleading guilty to a second-degree felony charge of unlawful surveillance. After completing one year of counseling, he was allowed to withdraw his felony plea and plead to a misdemeanor charge of attempted unlawful surveillance. He was granted a two-year probation, according to a spokesman for the Richmond County District Attorneys office.
We disagree with the verdict; it is excessive, the Espositos attorney, Michael Gervasi, said. The Espositos are exploring all options related to it, including, but not limited to, an appeal.
Holzberg said that Andrade is very happy with the outcome of the suit. Kelly deserves every penny for what she endured and Im happy that the jury felt the same,' Holzberg said.
I know from Kellys perspective, one of her biggest concerns was whether or not anyone would believe her, given her immigration status in this country, Holzberg explained. It was especially important for her having the justice, but also validation that she was able to obtain this result despite not being a citizen at the time.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. In honor of those who have died, here is a compilation of obituaries posted on SILive. Viewing times and guest books can be seen here.
Georgiana DiMauro, 91, founder of the Staten Island Chamber Music Players, passed away. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she settled in Charleston in 1962. A graduate of Tulsa University and Wichita State University, Mrs. DiMauro had an early career as a French Hornist in New York City. She founded the Staten Island Chamber Music Players in 1972, directing and performing with them for over 35 years. Mrs. DiMauro was a 1991 Staten Island Advance Woman of Achievement and received numerous awards for her community service through the arts. Read the full obituary on SILive.
Maria M. Hernandez, 83, passed away on Sept. 22, 2024. Born on July 22, 1941, Maria was known for her strong-willed nature, deep faith, and creativity expressed through sewing, knitting, and arts and crafts. She was an active member of her local Pentecostal Church. Maria is survived by her sons Antonio and Wilfred Hernandez, and granddaughters Tabitha and Lauriann (Zoe) Hernandez. Read the full obituary on SILive.
Robert Lombardi, 71, passed away on Sept. 11, 2024. Raised on Staten Island, Robert became a successful builder in both New York and New Jersey. A passionate musician, martial artist, and dog lover, Robert devoted himself to his varied interests and family. He is lovingly remembered by his three children, Kim, Blake and Sara. Read the full obituary on SILive.
Dr. Michael A. Paglia, 95, a distinguished surgical oncologist who practiced medicine for over 40 years in New York City, died June 27. He was a beloved father, grandfather and family member, a dedicated physician and a friend to many. Read the full obituary on SILive.
Generative AI was used to produce an initial draft of this story based on data from Legacy.com. It was reviewed and edited by Staten Island Live staff.
Staten Island, N.Y. - Isabella Bardon, an 18-year old cancer survivor from Graniteville, does not take her time for granted and takes all the chances she can -- traveling, pursuing her passion for all things fashion and embracing the present.
I think people take their time for granted. Ive fallen into depressions where Im just at home for months and depressed and sulking, but I couldve been doing way more than that, Bardon shared. I think after my whole experience, I just feel like I dont want to waste time in my life. I like to take chances.
Her passion for life and her hobbies strengthened after she was diagnosed with leukemia, the most common cancer in children and teens, at age 13 in 2019.
Born in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, she moved to Graniteville, Staten Island during middle school but continued attending school and getting medical treatment in Brooklyn.
Navigating treatment: Acceptance and growth
Bardon started intensive chemotherapy right away at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. It is the only childrens oncology hospital in that borough; since then Staten Island has seen its own $50M pediatric oncology center open at Staten Island University Hospital.
She described the treatment at the hospital as smooth, noting that doctors made an effort to make her feel heard in every situation. If she was uncomfortable, they would ask her directly rather than her parents.
I feel like a lot of time as kids theyre like oh, we have to ask the parents if this hurts but you should being asking the kid because theyre the one feeling it. I felt like I was prioritized because things always went according to my feelings and my comfortability, she shared.
She spent a month in the hospital, during which she experienced hair loss and other side effects from the medication.
Brooklyn Maimonides Cancer Center, where Isabella spent a month getting treatment. (Courtesy of Maimonides Health)Maimonides Health
I know I felt like my life was falling apart. And something that Ive always struggled with is I constantly feel like I can never relax, she shared. Teenagers are usually very private and want their privacy and I felt like everyone looks at me. Everyone looks at my body every day. And everyones looking into my blood.
After the initial month-long hospital stay, she had two-week hospitalizations every few months for a total of six months of intensive chemotherapy. She mentioned that she did not have any more hospital stays after that.
I think that honestly my hobbies became stronger and more prominent in my life because of my diagnosis. I started to do my makeup when I was 13 because, you know, my eyebrows were thinning from all the chemotherapy, so I wanted to look more presentable, she said.
Bardon then started maintenance therapy, a milder chemotherapy that helps keep the leukemia in remission, which continued until she turned 16. She explained that during this period, which included routine blood tests and medication, her body felt stronger, allowing her to continue with daily life while being monitored.
I did end up going to school physically when they reopened after COVID and I was honestly fine. I would go out with my friends all the time. I still had a really fun and average teenage life, she recalled.
She shared that the experience was very difficult for both her and her family.
I feel like on one hand no one will ever be able to understand me and I have to accept that, but they were supportive of me in their best possible way... to the best of their ability, she said.
Hobbies, passions and personal growth
During quarantine, she spent a lot of time online thrifting and then worked with her grandma and mom to revamp the clothes, making them more unique by adding fabrics or transforming shirts. She also started making jewelry, like necklaces, which her friends bought occasionally but that she mostly made for herself.
Going through changes and figuring out what I like, I always focused on how I liked to dress and the latest fashion trends, she said.
She recently returned from a trip to Italy after graduating high school this summer. Shes currently taking a gap year to work and travel more, with plans to study fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology next year.
Having traveled to nearly half of the states in the U.S. with her family on road trips, she shared that these experiences broaden her fashion perspective by exposing her to unique styles and techniques in clothing and presentation.
Italy was amazing. I loved it there. I am thinking about studying abroad. Ever since I was little, Ive always wanted to travel the world, Bardon said. I love different cultures. I love learning languages. Im also an adventurous eater, so I love trying different foods.
Although she loves to travel, the one-time Brooklynite noted that she doesnt get around by car -- despite Staten Island being less accessible by public transportation compared to Brooklyn.
I just feel like here, you need a car. I dont know how to drive, which I think is very normal for people my age, especially in New York City because we have transit everywhere. [On Staten Island], its like the buses are super delayed. I never rely on transit. But I do like the quiet here, she said.
September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, dedicated to honoring children and survivors impacted by pediatric cancer. This period focuses on raising awareness and supporting continued research and treatment for the disease.
When thinking about her own diagnosis, Bardon says she is ready to move on.
I try not to let it really define my life. I am doing other things now. Ive moved on and I try not to dwell on it because I think it wastes my time just thinking about the past because its something I am never going to be able to change, she said. I just move on and just keep on living life because thats all you can really do.
Former President Donald Trump continues to tout the false rumors of Haitian migrants eating pets and waterfowl in Springfield, Ohio, despite the stories being repeatedly proven false.
In an Indiana, Pa., rally on Monday, Trump brought up the migrant population in Springfield who reside in Ohio legally, as stated by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.
Do you think Springfield will ever be the same? The fact is, and Ill say it now, you have to get them the hell out, Trump said. You have to get them out. Im sorry. Get them out Theyve destroyed it.
Contrary to Trumps rhetoric, CNN reported that DeWine said in a recent ABC interview that, 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. What the companies tell us is that they are very good workers. Theyre very happy to have them there, and frankly, thats helped the economy.
Nevertheless, the crowd at Trumps Pennsylvania rally joined together to vocalize, Send them back.
Though already debunked, the rumor that these migrants were eating pets first flooded the internet like a hurricane after Trumps performance at the presidential debate.
Theyre eating the dogs, 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 our country, and its a shame, Trump said.
Those words, now immortalized in memes and the subconsciousness of millions across the United States, are haunting the Springfield community.
Bombs threats, shuttered schools, and Proud Boy marches in the streets have become the reality for residents.
Trumps vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, even came out during a CNN interview with Dana Bash saying: If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of American people, then thats what Im going to do Dana.
Once Bash questioned his rhetoric directly, Vance went silent. After a moment of dead air, Vance began claiming the fake rumors are from first-hand accounts, and that we created the actual focus that allowed the American media to focus on this story.
He eventually told her to Shut up about the residents of Springfield.
That interview sparked calls for his resignation as Ohios senator, including one from federal Ohio House Rep. Casey Weinstein.
In the wake of jd vance admitting he created the pet-eating story, and as a result of the very real threats the communities and people he has targeted are now under I am calling on him to RESIGN as our Senator, Weinstein wrote.
According to reporting by the Springfield News-Sun, the local paper in Springfield, The Springfield Police Division said Monday [Sept. 9, 2024] they have received no reports related to pets being stolen and eaten.
The reason this unfounded rumor spread like wildfire across the internet is generally credited to three incidents an unfounded post on social media that claimed that their [the posters] neighbors daughters friend had lost her cat and found it hanging from a branch at a Haitian neighbors home being carved up to be eaten, a woman in Canton, Ohio, that did allegedly eat a cat, and Trumps rhetoric during the presidential debate.
The alleged incident in Canton, however, was committed by a born-and-raised Ohioan woman who is not a Haitian migrant, according to the New York Post.
Some social media users shared body camera footage of an unrelated incident in which an Ohio woman was accused of killing and eating a cat in Canton, a city more than 170 miles away from Springfield. Public records indicate the woman in the footage, Alexis Telia Ferrell, is not a migrant and has lived in Ohio for at least 18 years,CBS News wrote.
While the Atlantic hurricane season has been unexpectedly quiet this year, Tropical Storm Helene is rapidly gaining strength as it heads toward the eastern part of Floridas panhandle, where its projected to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane Thursday night.
But a lot can change between now and then. A hurricane can change course or gain strength, as happened with Hurricane Otis in 2023 , when it intensified from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in 12 hours.
Those changes can throw off people planning to hunker down for a tropical storm or weaker hurricane but suddenly rush out of town when faced with something more deadly.
Preparing for hurricanes is part of life for people on the Gulf Coast, particularly in states hit hardest, such as Florida, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Some people are perpetually prepared, keeping canned food, gasoline, flashlights, batteries, and copies of essential documents ready at all times. Some people even have plans for their pets, while others leave everything to the last minute, causing bare shelves in grocery stores and long lines at gas stations and roads leading out of town.
But even if you are one of those people who does everything at the last minute, there are many ways that technology you may already have can help at a moments notice. Most in the palm of your hand.
Weather apps: Probably the simplest and easiest way to stay informed is by using real-time weather apps like NOAA Weather Radar , AccuWeather , or the Weather Channel to track a hurricanes path, get up-to-the-minute forecasts, and receive push notifications about storm surges, wind speeds, and rainfall predictions for your location.
Emergency alerts: Sign up for local and national emergency notifications via platforms like FEMAs mobile app , local government text alerts, and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). These systems provide real-time warnings about hurricanes, evacuation orders, and critical safety information.
Battery backups: Portable power banks and solar chargers vary in price and capacity, but they are great for keeping phones, tablets, and essential devices charged when the power goes out. If you can, invest in higher-capacity battery packs that can power multiple devices or even small appliances for extended periods during a blackout.
But dont forget that electric vehicles can also provide power during an emergency and may even be able to keep the lights on in your home for days. Ford claims that its electric F-150 extended-range vehicle can power a home for up to three days . But you will need a special vehicle-to-home or grid charger , which can be pricey. Read more: How to prepare cats and dogs for hurricanes and other climate disasters. Social media: Follow official government accounts, local news outlets, and weather authorities on platforms like X and Facebook for updates and safety information. Use hashtags like #HurricanePrep to connect with others and get real-time local updates on shelter availability and road conditions.
GPS navigation: Use GPS apps like Google Maps, Waze , or Apple Maps to monitor road closures, flooded areas, and traffic conditions in real time. These tools help you plan evacuation routes and find alternative paths for blocked or congested roads.
Smart home devices: Install smart devices such as water leak sensors, flood detection alarms, and security cameras that notify you if your home is flooded or has a security breach. Devices like Nest and Ring can provide remote monitoring and alerts even if youre evacuated.
Online storage: This can take just a few minutes and may save time getting your life back together after a disaster. Back up important documents (e.g., insurance policies, identification papers, and home inventories) to cloud storage services like Google Drive , Dropbox, or iCloud. This ensures you can access critical documents remotely if your physical copies are damaged or lost in the storm.
This can be as simple as taking pictures on your phone. You can email them to yourself for an extra backup.
Digital generators: Smart generators are expensive, but they offer obvious advantages. They can be controlled from your phone and automatically kick in when the power goes out, allowing you to monitor fuel levels and usage remotely through smartphone apps. This is handy if youre away and need power to keep your house cool and secured or ensure the goldfish doesnt die.
Communication apps: Use messaging and communication apps like WhatsApp , Signal , or Zello (a push-to-talk app that works like a walkie-talkie) to stay in contact with family, friends, and emergency services when phone lines are down or overloaded. These apps work when cellular services are down, even with limited internet access. Some apps dont need internet access at all.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Tropical Storm Helene, the eighth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, is forecast by AccuWeather to develop into a Category 3 hurricane before making landfall in Florida on Thursday.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Helene is approaching the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, as reported by the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
AccuWeather believes this storm will track onshore along the Gulf Coast from the eastern tip of Louisiana to the central part of the Florida Peninsula; a window which will only be narrowed down as a defined storm center begins to form. As of the time of publication, AccuWeather finds that the most likely spot to see landfall is the Florida panhandle, which should brace for impact late on Thursday.
An AccuWeather graphic shows forecast rainfall amounts from Helene through Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (Courtesy of AccuWeather)(Courtesy of AccuWeather)
A considerable threat throughout the South
Despite concerns over landfall, powerful impacts from this storm are expected to extend well inland to parts of the South, including northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee, as noted by AccuWeather.
There is the risk for major flooding in parts of the Southeast late Thursday into Friday, including the Atlanta area as well as the steep terrain of the southern Appalachians, where the flooding risk can be especially elevated as well as the risk for mudslides and rockslides, AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said.
Helene is slated to take a path similar to Hurricane Debby, which swept through parts of the country back in August. However, Helene is predicted by AccuWeather to be significantly larger and more powerful than Debby.
A National Hurricane Center graphic shows the areas with the greatest flash flood risk from Helen through Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (Courtesy of the National Hurricane Center)(Courtesy of the National Hurric
This can be a large hurricane with life-threatening impacts such as storm surge and flooding rain hundreds of miles away from where the storm makes landfall be sure to know the risks you can face in your community, added Porter.
Along the Big Bend area of Florida, residents could experience a storm surge of 15 to 20 feet, according to AccuWeather. In addition to flooding surges, 8 to 12 inches of general rainfall can inundate the area where Helen will meet land. Just east of this target zone, AccuWeather forecasts powerful wind gusts of up to 140 mph.
In anticipation of these hazardous weather conditions, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency Monday afternoon in 41 of the states 67 counties. Additionally, mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for parts of Franklin and Gulf counties, both of which are situated along the Florida panhandle.
An AccuWeather graphic shows forecast Helene storm surge amounts from Wednesday, Sept. 25, through Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Courtesy of AccuWeather)(Courtesy of AccuWeather)
Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey told AccuWeather in an interview on Tuesday morning that they are expecting significant power outages. The mayor also urged residents to take care of business now, as once this storm makes landfall, Tallahassee will bear potentially dangerous conditions.
Claudia Sheinbaum, the president-elect of Mexico, confirmed that she did not invite Spains King Felipe to her inauguration because he did not respond to the letter sent by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, which demanded an apology for the excesses committed during the Spanish conquest of the Americas.
She acknowledged this in a statement published on Tuesday, in which she stated that she spoke with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez by phone a couple of days ago to discuss the matter. Unfortunately, this letter [sent by Lopez Obrador] did not merit any direct response, as would have corresponded to the best diplomatic practice, said Sheinbaum, who will assume the presidency on October 1. Instead, part of the letter was leaked in the media and after that, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release,
Despite the snub to Felipe VI, Sheinbaum assured that Mexico and Spain share a solid relationship of friendship, but said that it would benefit from a renewed perspective. Lopez Obrador endorsed his support for Sheinbaums decision, like millions of Mexicans. They acted with a lot of arrogance, they never answered a respectful and formal letter, lamented the president in his daily press conference.
The Spanish government announced on Tuesday that it would not be represented at any level at the historic inauguration, which will see Mexicos first female president take office, arguing that Felipes exclusion from the event was unacceptable.
Sheinbaum confirmed that an invitation was only sent to Sanchez, in his capacity as head of the Spanish government, last July. The president-elects team announced last week that 16 leaders have confirmed their attendance: 13 from Latin America and the Caribbean, and three from Africa.
I trust that this circumstance, which today highlights our diversity of opinions, will also be the starting point for Mexico and Spain to soon find new ways of understanding based on our sovereignty and mutual respect, said Sheinbaum. The president-elect recalled that the Latin American country has been a supportive ally and a generous destination in critical moments in Spains history, and expressed her hope that the full recognition of our identities will be the axis of a respectful, solid and fruitful relationship.
Sheinbaum also quoted an excerpt from the letter that Lopez Obrador sent to King Felipe in March 2019, which demanded an apology for the Conquest and the colonial period. That the Kingdom of Spain express in a public and official manner the recognition of the grievances caused, reads the missive, published just three months after Lopez Obrador began his mandate.
The request, however, received no response from La Zarzuela, the seat of the Spanish royal family, and the Spanish government firmly rejected the letter. Relations between Spain and Mexico have cooled since then, although there was no official rupture. Felipe VI was at the inauguration of Lopez Obrador in 2018, Enrique Pena Nieto in 2012 and Felipe Calderon in 2006. Sanchezs last visit to Mexico was in January 2019.
Lopez Obrador insisted that the dispute is with Spanish authorities and not with the Spanish people. We are talking about differences with the Spanish monarchy, which was respectfully asked to offer an apology to the native peoples of Mexico for the atrocities committed, he stressed. The president said that the Crown must leave behind its arrogant attitude and that Spain must present new generations of Spaniards with a different story about the conquest of America. What does it cost them to offer an apology? he asked.
The president also announced his full support for Sheinbaums decision to exclude the King. It is a blessing that the people of Mexico have decided, through a democratic process and as never before, that we have a president like Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, it is the best thing that could have happened to us, said the president, founder of Morena, the party in which Sheinbaum is also a member.
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The first drug to have shown any effect against Alzheimers in several decades, lecanemab, is dividing the scientific and medical community. The United States, China, Japan, Israel, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates have already approved the medical use of this monoclonal antibody. The United Kingdom has just given it the green light, although its public health system will not supply it, because it considers that its effects are too modest for its cost, of about 24,000 per year per patient. Going against the trend, in July the European Medicines Agency (EMA) issued a negative opinion and recommended not granting a marketing authorization, considering that lecanemabs benefits (it reduces the progression of the disease by 27%) do not outweight the risks, which include brain haemorrhages and the death of two patients.
Alzheimers is the leading cause of dementia, affecting around 50 million people worldwide. Population aging could multiply these figures before the middle of the century. Patient associations have welcomed the arrival of this drug with great hope, but the truth is that the vast majority will not be able to benefit from it, as it only works in very early cases, before the disease has progressed. Donanemab, a second similar antibody that reduces the progression of Alzheimers by 35%, has also been approved in the United States, but is still under evaluation in Europe.
In an unusual move, four prestigious international researchers who have been studying this disease for decades have sent an open letter to EL PAIS to ask Europe to reconsider its decision and approve this class of drugs. The EMAs decision denies patients and their doctors access to a treatment that can change their lives, write Bart de Strooper, co-founder of the UK Dementia Research Institute, Henrik Zetterberg, from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden), Christian Haass, from Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich (Germany), and John Hardy, from University College (United Kingdom).
These researchers point out the paradox that lecanemab was born in Europe, when the Swedish scientist Lars Lannfelt founded a company in the 1990s to develop a monoclonal antibody against the beta-amyloid protein, which accumulates in the brains of patients. Lannfelts business was subsequently acquired by the Japanese company Eisai, which ultimately developed the drug together with the American company Biogen under the trade name Leqembi.
Europes rejection of the drug is strangling research in this field within the European Union, which is positioned as a follower, rather than a leader, the signatories add.
This situation is due to the nihilism that exists regarding dementia, De Strooper added by email. A drug with the efficacy and side effects of lecanemab would be accepted in other fields of medicine where, as in this case, there is no alternative available. A few weeks ago, Hardy warned that in Europe there will be different Alzheimers treatments for the rich, those who can travel to the United States or another country, and the rest of the population.
Leqembi is the brand name under which lecanemab, developed by Eisai and Biogen, is sold. EISAI / BIOGEN
The pressure from manufacturers to get their product approved is enormous. Biogen was the main proponent of an earlier monoclonal antibody, aducanumab. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it against the advice of several of its experts, who resigned in protest. The compound ended up being a multi-million dollar commercial failure.
Conflicts of interest are at the heart of the controversy. Unlike the FDA, the EMA bans scientists who have commercial ties with pharmaceutical companies from its review panels. This is precisely what De Strooper, Zetterberg and the other signatories are complaining about: they have not been allowed to participate in the evaluation process of lecanemab because they are regular consultants for various companies, including Eisai. Both scientists explain to EL PAIS that they earn around 300 an hour for these consultancies, and that these are one-off collaborations that do not condition their opinion as leaders of Alzheimers research. The researchers want the patients to be the ones to decide whether to take the drug after weighing the risks.
Based on the data published so far, there is no way of knowing whether lecanemab has an appreciable cognitive effect. The 27% reduction in disease progression could translate into five months gained over a year and a half, but it is not known whether these benefits continue if the drug is taken for a longer period. Leqembis two makers have just presented data on patient follow-up for three years at the International Alzheimers Association Congress in Philadelphia. The results, which have not yet been reviewed by independent experts, show that cognitive improvement is maintained if treatment is continued and that it would already be right on the threshold of clinical relevance.
In the original study, which looked at about 1,700 patients, brain scans of 12% showed abnormalities associated with the amyloid protein that can lead to brain swelling and bleeding. Two patients died from using the drug. The companies say the side effects go away on their own in most cases and are more likely to occur in the first few months of treatment. No other complications have been detected so far, an Eisai spokesman said.
In the United States, lecanemab costs $26,500 a year, or about 24,000. The DFA approved the drug in January 2023, but its rollout to patients has been slow due to questions about its efficacy, cost and side effects, Reuters reports. Last summer, a study estimated that implementing Leqembi in Europe would cost 133 billion, half of all pharmaceutical spending in the EU. But that amount could be much lower because many people would be excluded due to contraindications, such as taking blood thinners or having the APOE4 genetic profile.
A researcher handles a brain at the Cien Foundation in Madrid. Inma Flores
These new drugs require a genetic test, a spinal tap to determine the amount of amyloid in the brain and several scans to rule out side effects. They would also have to be administered as a preventive measure for the rest of the patients life. The current dose is two intravenous injections that must be administered in the hospital. The great hope is that early diagnosis will be made, especially with blood tests for tau protein, which are not yet common in many hospitals.
Raquel Sanchez del Valle, coordinator of the behavior and dementia group of the Spanish Neurology Society, acknowledges that within her organisation there are mixed opinions about the new drug. This neurologist at the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona says that in several European scientific societies there is concern that patients cannot access these drugs. The ideal user of lecanemab would be a person who is still independent enough to live on their own, but is beginning to have mild memory lapses, such as forgetting appointments or repeating phrases several times, she explains.
Juan Fortea is a neurologist at Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona, one of the 12 who participated in the lecanemab clinical trial in Spain. The doctor stresses that this drug is not a cure, and that no one should trust any personal success story. We cannot expect miracles from this drug, such as the resurrection of neurons that have already died when the disease is advanced. What it does do is make the decline slower, he explains. Although it is still an unknown whether the benefits shown by the 18-month trial will accumulate over time, Fortea neither understands nor agrees with the EMAs decision, because it is not justified. The neurologist believes that this type of drug ushers a new era in the treatment of Alzheimers. Europe cannot go against the world. With these drugs the cost of treatment and care will increase a lot, but it is the same as we have already seen in oncology, he believes.
Miguel Medina, deputy scientific director of the Biomedical Research Network on Neurodegenerative Diseases, is more skeptical. The EMA is always more conservative than the FDA, and in this case the situation has been complicated by the history of aducanumab [the previous failed drug] and conflicts of interest, which is a very delicate issue in itself, because there are researchers who are closely tied to companies, he warns. It is true that doctors and clinical researchers are more in favor of approving the drug, especially because it gives them something to offer patients. But there are also adverse effects that would affect people around 65 years old who may still have a good few years of life left. It may be necessary to accept experts who collaborate with pharmaceutical companies, although I prefer to be strict with conflicts of interest. The agencies have to be very careful, he adds.
All the pressure is now on the EMA. Its Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has a chair, one member from each EU country and up to five additional experts proposed by each country. The body did not recommend approving lecanemab in July. The pharmaceutical company Eisai has appealed the decision, and the committee is expected to meet again to make a final decision before the end of the year.
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The watchdog of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will scrutinise the organisations decision not to investigate robo-debt.
The inspector of the NACC, Gail Furness SC, is independent of the corruption commission and has the role to ensure it complies with the law and acts fairly.
In June, the NACC revealed it would not launch an inquiry after a royal commission into the welfare debt recovery scheme last year referred six unidentified individuals for further investigation.
Furness said a week later she had received 900 complaints about the commissions decision not to start a corruption investigation, and said at the time she would look into its decision.
This afternoon, the inspector released a statement saying they are now conducting an investigation into the NACCs decision not to investigate the referrals from the robo-debt royal commission.
Between June and August 2024, the National Anti-Corruption Commission provided the Inspector with documents the inspector had requested. On 3 September 2024, the inspector asked the National Anti-Corruption Commission to provide submissions on a range of specified matters, the statement said.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission has advised that it anticipates that it will provide those submissions by 21 October 2024.
Furness will prepare a report once she completes her investigation.
The NSW education minister has rejected a $4.1 billion increase in federal funding for the states public schools because she says it would set up students for ongoing disadvantage in the decade to come.
The stand-off over more money comes as the total number of NSW permanent and temporary teachers has declined despite a historic pay rise designed to retain and attract staff.
NSW Education Minister Prue Car has refused to sign a new funding deal with the federal government. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
NSW Education Minister Prue Car on Friday formally rejected the federal government offer of an extra $400 million for the states public schools each year, which would lift the Commonwealths funding share to 22.5 per cent of the schooling resource standard.
We remain resolute in refusing to accept an offer that sets our public school students up for ongoing disadvantage and a widening funding gap, Car said.
He was the clear frontrunner for the role, and after months of speculation, former Powderfinger bassist John JC Collins has been announced as Queenslands first Night-Life Economy Commissioner.
The appointment follows a difficult period for night-life industries across the state, particularly live music venues and hospitality operators. After limping through a succession of tumultuous years, many lost their footing in the past 12 months against prohibitive costs and regulations.
Those still holding on are calling for help, and both Labor and the LNP have put a vibrant night-life and thriving after-dark economy in their purview ahead of the 2032 Olympics.
Brisbane rock legend and venue operator John JC Collins was officially appointed Queenslands first Night-Life Economy Commissioner on Tuesday. Credit: Matt Dennien
With skin in the game, Collins is the right person for the job. Before becoming co-owner and venue director of Fortitude Music Hall and the Triffid, he spent half his life out working at night. He knows the night-life sector more intimately than most, and with decades of relationship-building, hes well placed to succeed.
The agencys workload has also doubled to audit 312 public entities annually. Spencer insists its not where she envisaged herself while being raised between Sydney and her parents beef and cattle property in New South Wales Northern Rivers region. WA Auditor General, Caroline Spencer, during an interview with Jesinta Burton at The Shoe. Credit: Ross Swanborough. Spencer says her mother, having been left to run the family business and raise all four children solo after the death of her father, encouraged them to gain the financial and practical skills she would have been lost without. Spencer had her heart set on a career in human resources until a chance encounter with an accounting student on her first day at the University of Technology Sydney changed her trajectory.
Having seen what her mother endured and the boom and recession of the 1980s, Spencer was acutely aware of the need for job security. She switched to accounting with the intention to work in the private sector until a decade-long stint at a major firm took her to the Australian Capital Territory. It was there Spencer says she experienced a reflective period, which has repeated every five to seven years since, and decided she wanted more from life than to move between an air-conditioned house and office. I thought it was a quarter-life crisis and that I would have to do wholesale change, she says, as lunch arrives Mediterranean freekeh salad for me, her usual Mediterranean freekeh salad with Scotch fillet for her. I guess thats the folly of youth you dont find meaning in work, we need connection.
Spencer and her now-husband embraced rural living, purchasing 120 acres in the Southern Tablelands of NSW and lending her professional skills to the boards of the local hospital and the volunteer rural fire brigade. She left her high-paying job to study science at the Australian National University in the hopes of pursuing medicine like her molecular biologist uncle. But when her graduate medical school admissions test results came back, and she realised she could get in, she was forced to consider whether medicine was conducive with the life she and her husband had envisaged. We had way too many drinks, and I thought about the 13 years of study and post qualifications. We wanted to have kids in that time, and so I thought a lot about how you find meaning in life. Is it the work? she recalls. It actually made me reinforce my commitment to my profession.
She co-founded the public sector audit and governance advisory firm that would set her on a path to becoming auditor general, a role she says she couldnt have taken on without the support of her husband and two teenage sons. For Spencer, her interest in public sector governance is underpinned by a passion for justice. WA Auditor General, Caroline Spencer, during an interview with Jesinta Burton at The Shoe. Credit: Ross Swanborough. There are plenty of nations that are ever-blessed with natural resources, and theres very few with the standard of living we have because of poor public governance, corruption in public life because people in power give it away or steal it, she said. Spencers role became more challenging with the arrival of the pandemic, a period she says was marred by panic-driven decisions and a deterioration of controls that saw a record rise in deficient accounts, but one that brought about necessary lessons.
We are a necessary tension point in the system, it actually makes for better government and longevity because there is more trust and better decision-making. The pandemic also brought a significant shift in the political landscape ahead of the 2021 election, delivering WA Labor the largest election victory in Australian history courtesy of popular premier Mark McGowan. A self-confessed election nerd, Spencer can still recall watching at home on election night as the state became a sea of red seats: something she was warned would make her job much harder.
Having sat through estimates, you can see just how hard the much-diminished opposition is working, and Ive got enormous respect for the job theyre doing, she tells me. Lunch at The Shoe in Northbridge. Credit: Ross Swanborough. I know the offices role in providing that information to parliament is more important than ever. Sometimes its felt like were the only voice critiquing. Keen observers of politics have remarked the same thing, with the offices reports on everything from the governments management of the pandemic to multibillion-dollar blowouts on its flagship Metronet infrastructure program at times the only real form of accountability.
But Spencer baulks at suggestions she might be the most effective form of opposition this state has. The majority of what we look at is fine, its the exceptions that get the attention of the parliament, the media and the public, she says. I dont oppose anything, Im just an advocate for good public governance. But Spencer got a taste of the dangers of a government with total control of both houses of parliament in 2022, when the laws governing her office were overhauled. The legislative changes included sweeping information access restrictions, less power to report in the public interest, and permission for the treasurer to vet reports before their release.
Spencer used an annual report to lay bare her concerns in 2023, something she says wasnt comfortable, but was necessary. Looking back, Spencer believes the situation was born out of an unfortunate misunderstanding and frustration after she attempted to tackle information roadblocks with sector-wide guidance. We look under the covers, and people have to trust that were actually going to tell the truth, she tells me. I think there is a misconception in parts of government and the public sector that by accessing information, were disclosing information. I dont think they understand the volume of confidential information we see [as part of the audit process] and the lengths we go to maintain confidentiality. While there might be some findings theyre uncomfortable with, that doesnt mean there isnt a public interest.
Spencer is concerned by the delays such roadblocks to information will create for routine audit processes, and the cost of that to the community and senior staff. It shouldnt need managerial staff involved, and certainly not a chief executive but here I am, calling my counterpart in the agency asking why they are holding up information, she says. Theyre concerned because its classified as cabinet in confidence, but public servants are not there to run defence for government of the day: theyre there to serve. I dont know what the public interest or benefit is in showing Treasury my draft reports and expanding the definition of confidentiality. If thats what the parliament I serve understood those laws to be, thats fine, but I dont think those had been ventilated before we had a chance to understand what the implications were.
Loading We are a necessary tension point in the system, it actually makes for better government and longevity because there is more trust and better decision-making. Even in the face of challenges, Spencer talks at length about how proud she is of the office she says has never shied away from the tough job it has to do. She tends to gauge whether she is having a good week by the number of days shes able to cycle to work.
With Spencer now more than halfway through her 10-year tenure, Im curious to know whether shes given much thought to what else might be on the horizon. Sailing off into the sunset with my husband, she jokes. Spencer says she and her family recently doubled down on establishing roots in WA, with both of her children now adamant they want to stay even after her 10-year term expires. While her children are aware of what she does, and have even thanked her for doing it, Spencer says they have no intention of following in her footsteps. Equally, she says, they humble her, too from her boring mum voice in media interviews to a 21-nil ping-pong defeat.
Heres a tip for travelling in France: dont do as the French do. According to Guillaume Brahimi, acclaimed Sydney-based chef and television presenter, you wont be seeing the best of the country.
Sydney-based chef and television presenter Guillaume Brahimi.
I dont think French people travel that much, Brahimi muses. They will go to the snow, and they go to the sea. We take the beach for granted in Australia, but if you live in Paris, you cant go to the beach on the weekend, its a holiday thing. So French people have a routine, they always go to the same place, if their parents have been going then their kids will go, their grandkids will go. They stick to their habits.
Brahimi, born and raised in France, has recently returned from a part of the country he says most French people never see: the Atlantic coast. The presenter of SBS shows such as Guillaumes Paris and Plat du Tour has a new show, Guillaumes French Atlantic, a guide to the likes of Brittany, Normandy and the Pays Basque.
Brahimi, as you would expect, is an expert on French cuisine not just cooking it, but touring the country and eating it. And he says if theres one dining habit foreign visitors should adopt from the French, its embracing seasonality.
New York: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has told the UN Security Council Russia is planning to attack his countrys nuclear power plants and that the war between Moscow and Kyiv cannot be overlooked as the world turns its attention to wars in the Gaza Strip, Sudan and Myanmar.
Russia is committing an international crime, Zelensky said in a short but impassioned speech. This war cant simply fade away, this war cant be calmed by talks. Actions are needed. Russia can only be forced into peace.
Zelensky told the councils 15 members that Ukraine had obtained information that Russia was planning to attack its three nuclear plants. We have proof of this, if Russia is ready to go that far, it means nothing you value matters to Moscow, he said.
Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the United Nations headquarters this week. Credit: AP
Zelensky said he had put together a new victory plan in the almost three-year-old war based on the principles and values of the United Nations charter, but did not elaborate on its details other than to say that he was organising a peace conference. He added that he would invite all countries to the conference, including China, Russias most powerful partner, and India, which has said it is a neutral player in the war but is helping to sustain Russias economy with large oil purchases.
ChatGPT and other language models have become an increasingly common resource in a multitude of jobs. However, they have an underlying problem that tends to get worse: these systems often give incorrect answers. Whats more, the problem is getting worse.
New systems improve their results in difficult tasks, but not in easy ones, so these models become less reliable, says Lexin Zhou, co-author of an article published on Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature, which he wrote together with four Spaniards and a Belgian from Valencian University Institute for Research in Artificial Intelligence (VRAIN) of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and the University of Cambridge. In 2022, several of the authors were part of a larger group hired by OpenAI to test what would become ChatGPT-4.
The article was reviewed for a year before being published, a common period for this type of scientific work. But outside of the study, the researchers also tested whether the new ChatGPT or Claude models have addressed this issue. We have found the same thing, Zhou says. Or that its even worse. ChatGPT-o1 [OpenAIs latest program] doesnt avoid tasks and if you give it a handful of very difficult questions, it doesnt say it doesnt know, but spends 100 or 200 seconds thinking about the solution, which is very costly in terms of computation and the users time.
It is not easy for a human to detect when one of these models may be making a mistake: The models can solve complex tasks, but at the same time they fail in simple tasks, says Jose Hernandez-Orallo, a researcher at the UPV and another of the authors. For example, they can solve several PhD-level mathematical problems, but they can get a simple sum wrong.
It is a problem thats difficult to fix as humans put increasingly challenging questions to the machines. This discrepancy between human expectations of difficulty and the errors in the systems will only get worse. People will increasingly set more difficult goals for these models and pay less attention to the simpler tasks. This will continue if the systems are not designed differently, says Zhou.
The question is: What is the name of the largest city (by population) that is less than 98 km from Altea? Alicante is the correct answer, but ChatGPT gives two different answers in two consecutive prompts.
These programs increasingly avoid apologizing for not knowing an answer. This unrealistic confidence makes humans more disappointed when the answer turns out to be wrong. The paper proves that humans often believe that incorrect results to difficult questions are correct. This apparent blind confidence, coupled with the fact that the new models tend to always respond, does not offer much hope for the future, according to the authors.
Specialized language models in medicine and other critical areas may be designed with reject options, the paper says, or collaborate with human supervisors to better understand when to refrain from responding. Until this is done, and given the high penetration of LLM use in the general population, we raise awareness that relying on human oversight for these systems is a hazard, especially for areas for which the truth is critical, it warns.
According to Pablo Haya, a researcher at the Laboratory of Computational Linguistics at the Autonomous University of Madrid, speaking to SMC Spain, the work helps to better understand the scope of these models: It challenges the assumption that scaling and adjusting these models always improves their accuracy and alignment. He adds: On the one hand, they observe that, although larger and more adjusted models tend to be more stable and provide more correct answers, they are also more prone to making serious errors that go unnoticed, as they avoid not responding. On the other hand, they identify a phenomenon they call difficulty mismatch that reveals that, even in the most advanced models, errors can appear in any type of task, regardless of its difficulty.
A home remedy
One home remedy for these errors, according to the article, is to adapt the wording of the prompt: If you ask it multiple times, it will get better, says Zhou. This method involves putting the onus on the user to get the question right or guess whether the answer is correct. Subtle changes to the prompt, such as could you please answer? instead of please answer the following, will yield different levels of accuracy. But the same type of prompt can work for difficult tasks and poorly for easy ones. Its a game of trial and error.
The big problem with these models is that their presumed goal is to achieve a superintelligence capable of solving problems that humans are unable to handle due to their lack of capacity. But, according to the authors of this article, this path has no way out: The current model will not lead us to a super-powerful AI that can solve most tasks reliably, says Zhou.
Ilya Sutskever, co-founder of OpenAI and one of the most influential scientists in the sector, has just founded a new company. Speaking to Reuters, he admitted something similar: this path is exhausted. Weve identified a mountain thats a bit different from what I was working [on]... once you climb to the top of this mountain, the paradigm will change... Everything we know about AI will change once again, he said.
Zhou agrees: In a way, he supports our arguments. Sutskever sees that the current model is not enough and is looking for new solutions.
These problems do not mean that these models are useless. Texts or ideas that they propose without any fundamental truth behind them are still valid. Although each user must understand the risk: I would not trust, for example, the summary of a 300-page book, explains Zhou. I am sure there is a lot of useful information, but I would not trust it 100%. These systems are not deterministic, but random. In this randomness they can include some content that deviates from the original. This is worrying.
This summer, the scientific community was shocked when a Spanish researcher sent the European Data Protection Committee a page of references that was full of made up names and links, precisely in a document about auditing AI. Other cases have been taken to court, while many others have gone undetected.
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Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Its a warm afternoon in the desert city of Reno, Nevada, and a homeless man is sitting on the granite steps of a century-old courthouse, oblivious to the Murdoch family drama that has just concluded inside. Around the corner, deputies from the local sheriffs office guard the main entrance to the dome-capped building, keeping a watchful eye on the few people walking past. Behind the court, a convoy of black SUVs is now gone, and so too are Rupert Murdoch and his four eldest children, whose Succession-style stoush over their family trust ended on Monday after six days of hearings held in secret. The high-stakes battle could determine the fate of one of the worlds most influential conservative media businesses and potentially shift the direction of an expansive media network that includes Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The Australian. Rupert Murdoch arrives for the second day of probate court hearings in Reno, Nevada. Credit: Emily Najera/The New York Times It is not clear when Washoe County Court probate commissioner Edmund Gorman will rule on the matter, in which the 93-year-old Murdoch is trying to change the conditions of the trust to give control of his global empire to his eldest and most conservative son, Lachlan, when he dies. But if Murdoch succeeds, it would effectively sideline three of his more moderate children James, Elisabeth and Prudence who were meant to have equal shares and are fighting their father and brother to keep it that way.
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Just dont expect to see the ruling, says Alex Falconi, founder of Our Nevada Judges, a group dedicated to increasing transparency and public awareness of Nevadas highly secretive legal system. Case closed to public: The Second Judicial District Court in Reno, Nevada. Credit: Bloomberg Theyll seal the outcome so you wont know the details, says Falconi, whose group was one of several that took legal action trying, unsuccessfully, to get access to the case and the relevant documents. Nevada has a culture of secrecy going back to 1865 specific to domestic relations matters, and thats one of the reasons its so difficult to get them to open the courts. For years, Reno was known as the divorce capital of the world offering fast and easy divorces to Hollywood celebrities and disgruntled couples who wanted a speedy dissolution of their marriage. Urban legend has it that many newly single divorcees would leave the Washoe County Courthouse and immediately head one block north to the Virginia Street Bridge to toss their wedding rings into the Truckee River to celebrate their new-found freedom. But Nevada is also considered one of the friendliest states in the US to set up a trust, with no state taxes imposed on trusts, low administrative costs and the ability to establish so-called dynasty trusts that can last for 365 years.
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Whats more, documents are not required to be made public, ensuring sensitive family details and financial details remain confidential. This makes Reno Americas self-described biggest little city the perfect backdrop for the Murdochs, who did not want any embarrassing revelations made public and would often enter the courthouse through a back door. This is the kind of case we would cover because its obviously of extreme public interest, not just in the US, but around the globe, says Bob Conrad, the editor of local publication This Is Reno, which was unable to report on the hearings after Gorman sided with the Murdochs to keep the public out. Its extremely concerning that there was this much secrecy surrounding it. Welcome to Reno. Credit: iStock Its a strategy that seems to have worked, at least on the downtown streets surrounding the court. After the first day of proceedings, the media frenzy died down considerably given there was not much to report. Indeed, almost everyone this masthead spoke to from the waitress at the riverside restaurant, to the artist at the local gallery and the woman at Vegas-style wedding chapel next door did not appear to know anything about the blockbuster case taking place a few hundred metres away.
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I didnt even know it was happening until I picked up a lawyer from the court the other day and asked why there were so many SUVs on the street, my Uber driver, Robert, tells me when I ask what residents thought about the legal battle playing out in their quirky, artsy town. Eyes on the prize: Lachlan Murdoch arrives for a probate court hearing in Reno, Nevada. Credit: Emily Najera/The New York Times If Murdoch prevails in his quest to change the terms of his trust in good faith, it will ensure that Lachlan, whose views are said to align the most with his fathers, could control the family business without interference from his more moderate siblings. Lachlan is now the chairman of News Corp, and the executive chairman and chief executive of Fox Corporation, following his fathers decision to stand down last year. But if Murdoch loses the case, James who has previously held fundraisers for President Joe Biden and was one of 88 corporate leaders who recently signed a letter endorsing Kamala Harris to replace him could work with Prudence and Elisabeth to take the business in a more moderate direction. The conventional wisdom is that such a shift could have significant implications on the political and media landscape, particularly in the US, where no other cable network has had as much influence as Fox over successive decades. Established in 1996, Fox has shaped the parameters of Republican politics for years most recently as a vehicle for Donald Trumps brand of populist conservatism and as an occasional bullhorn for right-wing conspiracy theories.
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Elisabeth Murdoch, left, arrives at the Second Judicial District Court. Credit: AP Figures show it consistently beats its left-leaning cable news rivals, attracting an average 1.16 million viewers daily between 6am to 6pm, compared with 796,000 viewers at MSNBC and 463,000 at CNN. But not everyone is convinced the direction of the company would change significantly, even with James at the helm. Part of the reason that Fox has been able to carve out its own niche within the cable news environment is because of its conservative programming and because of its tabloid style. So I just dont see a lot of room for Fox to manoeuvre and become more liberal or more objective, says A.J. Bauer, a professor at the University of Alabama who researches and analyses trends in conservative media. One other dynamic to throw into the mix is youve got channels like Newsmax [a pro-Trump cable network] that have been increasingly kind of trying to peel off Fox viewers from the rightward flank. If Fox were to basically try to reprogram or reform, I see Newsmax garnering larger audiences and possibly playing a bigger role within the competition. James Murdoch arrives for the second day of probate court hearings in Reno. Credit: Emily Najera/The New York Times Rupert has also mounted a similar case in court, according to The New York Times, which obtained a confidential court document that exposed the few details known about the case so far.
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Climate case for residents of Bonaire and Greenpeace Netherlands against the Dutch State continues September 25, Amsterdam. The lawsuit that eight residents of Bonaire and Greenpeace Netherlands started last January against the Dutch state moves on. The Plaintiffs are demanding protection against climate change and faster reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Today, the Court in The Hague ruled that Greenpeace Netherlands is admissible and may defend the general interest of Bonaire in the case. The first hearing will take place next year. Marieke Vellekoop, director of Greenpeace Netherlands said: "We are happy that the case is now really starting. But it is unfortunate that something like this is necessary to hold the State to its own agreements. The State must not apply double standards and protect citizens in Bonaire less against the climate crisis than in the European Netherlands. That is why we are pursuing this case together with eight claimants from Bonaire, who are already struggling with heat every day due to climate change. To prevent the worst consequences on its citizens, we demand that the State reduce Dutch CO2 emissions to zero more quickly. In addition, Bonaire must be protected against the consequences of climate change. It is getting warmer, and you notice that even more so in September, the hottest month of the year, says claimant and farmer Onnie Emerenciana on Bonaire. I need water to grow vegetables, but it hasn't rained a drop for months. You can hardly grow anything this way. Even the big trees die. Our concerns have not been listened to until now, adds plaintiff Jackie Bernabela. The politicians from The Hague have visited many times, but then they leave and you never hear from them again. Hopefully they will hear us on the other side in The Hague now that we are going to Court together with Greenpeace. I am happy that the trial can finally really start. Individual plaintiffs in the climate case The climate case Bonaire against the State was initiated by eight plaintiffs from Bonaire and Greenpeace Netherlands. Greenpeace Netherlands rises up for the general interest of all residents of Bonaire. The individual claimants, who live or grew up in Bonaire, are already impacted by the climate crisis in various ways, such as Helen, who has to turn on the air conditioning more often due to the heat and therefore pays more for energy. Or farmer Onnie, who can grow less due to drought and heat. They also demanded as individuals that the State protect them, but the judge has ruled that for legal reasons they cannot participate as parties to the case. In previous climate cases, the judge came to the same conclusion. The written testimonies of the eight individual plaintiffs remain an undiminished part of the case file, as does their personal experience regarding the consequences of climate change on Bonaire. Greenpeace Netherlands has asked the court to give the eight individual plaintiffs the space to speak during the substantive hearing. Climate case Bonaire Michael Bacon, Human Rights lawyer at Kennedy Van der Laan said: It is a shame that the individual claimants have been declared inadmissible. These plaintiffs will certainly remain involved in the lawsuit, so that the judge can hear first-hand what the impact of climate change is already on Bonaire. The Dutch State must do more to protect its citizens on Bonaire against climate change. Greenpeace is assisted in this case by a team of lawyers from the offices of Kennedy van der Laan and Prakken d'Oliveira Human Rights Lawyers. In January 2024, eight residents of Bonaire and Greenpeace went to the court in The Hague for a fair climate policy. The government has a duty to protect its residents against the consequences of climate change, but for the residents of Bonaire there are hardly any plans to keep them safe in the climate crisis. The case demands that the government must limit the dangers by reducing CO2 emissions more quickly. In addition, the government must make adaptation plans for the protection of Bonaire and the community on the island. Later this year, the State will present its substantive defense against the summons from Greenpeace Netherlands and the Bonaire claimants. The hearings are expected to take place next year.
Balloons, children and a band playing Latino music. On Sunday afternoon, there was a festive atmosphere at the intersection of Buckingham and West Adams streets in Los Angeles to celebrate the opening of the LA Libreria bookstore. LA Libreria has been around for 12 years, but has now found a larger and better space to continue to offer Spanish-language books which is a rare find, even in a city where 40% of the population speaks Spanish. That was reason enough for an entire community to celebrate. There were tacos, mezcal and many books in Spanish for children and adults.
LA Librerias new home is in West Adams, a neighborhood in South Los Angeles. It was created in the 1920s, where farmland and marshy land gave way to large houses for the workers who came to the city because of the booming construction and manufacturing industries. A century later, the area is once again undergoing a transformation now thanks to gentrification. Small family-owned businesses have disappeared to make way for apartment buildings, shopping malls, trendy restaurants and modern boutiques. The bookstore now occupies the space of a defunct office furniture store.
Chiara Arroyo, one of the founders of the store along with Celene Navarrete, believes that opening the bookstore in the new neighborhood has consolidated the project they began together in 2012 to address a specific concern: that their children speak Spanish, with all the cultural burden that this entails, in one of the most important cities in the United States. They met as mothers of a public school that had a Spanish immersion program. But they found that the program did not reflect the great diversity of the city. It did not have enough books. Neither in quality nor in quantity. They decided to change that.
That's how the company started. In those years, we were told that Latinos don't read, that paper books were going to disappear, that English is more relevant than Spanish, and that independent bookstores weren't going to be able to stay afloat. Instead of all this, we found an answer that has brought us great satisfaction, says Arroyo.
Today, some of LA Librerias most important work takes place outside the store. The company supplies books to public school libraries and classrooms. It also creates collections tailored to the curriculum for different centers and school districts. They began working in Los Angeles, where they now collaborate with 140 educational centers. Later, they expanded to Southern California. Years later, they were working throughout the state, the most populated in the United States, and now they are operating nationwide with a presence in regions as far away as Wisconsin, where the Hispanic community has grown by 8% in the last decade.
Chiara Arroyo and Celene Navarrete, the founders of LA Libreria, in front of the store's new location in West Adams. AGUSTIN PAULLIER (LA Libreria)
LA Librerias work is in line with one of the ambitious aspirations of the California Department of Education, which a few years ago set the goal of having half of all public primary school students speaking at least two languages by 2030, and 75% by 2040. Arroyo and Navarrete point out that this race has already begun and starts at preschool, before students reach the public system.
In LA Libreria, children will find a selection of childrens literature in Spanish that is difficult to find elsewhere in the city. From independent publishers such as Leetra and Libros del Zorro Rojo to books from major publishers such as Penguin Random House and Mexicos Fondo de Cultura Economica.
We have noticed a great interest in the Hispanic community that does not speak Spanish: young mothers and fathers who were educated in English and who feel the need for their children to relearn the Spanish they lost. It has been very nice to see how they support bilingualism to recover part of their identity, says Navarrete.
Two years ago, in response to the boom of Latina writers, LA Libreria expanded its catalog for adult readers who are looking to get in touch with the trends. A prominent place in the new store displays books in Spanish and English by Argentine writer Mariana Enriquez, novels by Mexicos Dahlia de la Cerda, non-fiction works by Cristina Rivera Garza, poetry collections in Spanish and English by Nicanor Parra and Pablo Neruda, as well as the latest releases by popular representatives of Latino literature in the United States, such as Cristina Garcia and Karla Cornejo Villavicencio.
Many adults do not read in Spanish. And a year ago, an interest began to emerge in Hispanic authors translated into English, especially female authors. It is starting not only among the Hispanic community, but also in the English-speaking community, who are reading these writers in English, says Celene Navarrete, who adds, however, that the main focus of LA Libreria is childrens literature.
This commitment is not only seen in the interest in literature but also in other arts. This weekend marks the beginning of the sixth edition of the Los Angeles Libros Festival, which takes place in the central library in downtown LA. For the first time, the opening day of the festival Friday will be exclusively for students visiting from five schools from areas with a high Latino population such as Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles and West Compton. For many of the students, it will be the first time they attend a festival with books in Spanish and English, and that features several authors. On Saturday, it will be open to the general public. LA Libreria will then do what it does best: share its pride in a bilingual culture.
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Google files EU complaint over Microsoft cloud services
Paris, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
Google said Wednesday that it had filed a complaint against Microsoft at the European Commission, accusing its rival of "anticompetitive" licensing practices to force customers to use its cloud service.
Google said Microsoft had exploited business customers' reliance on "must have" software products such as Windows Server to compel them to use its Azure cloud platform.
Microsoft has made it cost-prohibitive for clients to use Windows Server or other products on rival services, such as Google Cloud or Amazon's AWS, by marking up the price by 400 percent, Google charged.
"Microsoft's licensing terms restrict European customers from moving their current Microsoft workloads to competitors' clouds -- despite there being no technical barriers to doing so," Google Cloud vice president Amit Zavery said in a blog post co-signed by Google Cloud's Europe region president Tara Brady.
For businesses that use rival cloud platforms despite the cost, "Microsoft introduced additional obstacles over the last few years, such as limiting security patches and creating other interoperability barriers", Google said.
At a news conference, Zavery said Google wanted restrictions removed so that customers could use the cloud platform of their choice.
"We believe this regulatory action is the only way to end Microsoft vendor lock-in and for customers to have a choice and create a level playing field for competitors," Zavery said.
Google said Microsoft adopted the new licensing terms in 2019.
"What Microsoft introduced in 2019 basically created this idea of not allowing choice to customers," Zavery said.
A spokesperson at the European Commission, the EU's antitrust watchdog, confirmed that the complaint was received, adding that "We will assess under our standard procedures".
The complaint was filed on Tuesday.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the company "settled amicably similar concerns raised by European cloud providers, even after Google hoped they would keep litigating".
"Having failed to persuade European companies, we expect Google similarly will fail to persuade the European Commission," the spokesperson added.
- Clash of tech titans -
Google and Microsoft have feuded for years over antitrust issues.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella last year testified against Google in a US federal court alleging that its business practices had stymied the rise of rival search engines.
Microsoft was also involved in the original complaints in the EU against Google in the 2010s over its search dominance, which resulted in major fines against Google.
About a decade ago, the companies agreed to a truce, but that proved to be only temporary.
The European Commission has already opened an investigation into Microsoft's Teams video and messaging app.
Microsoft tried to assuage the EU's concerns by untying Teams in Europe before expanding the policy to around the world in April.
But in June, the commission indicated that the changes were not enough, saying Microsoft violated EU antitrust rules by bundling Teams with its popular Office suite.
Google and other big US tech firms have come under scrutiny from the European Union, as Brussels has been fighting with the companies for years on issues ranging from data privacy to disinformation.
Google has been hit by a variety of fines totalling more than eight billion euros ($9 billion) over antitrust issues.
The company got a reprieve earlier this month, however, as an EU court scrapped a 1.5-billion-euro fine imposed by Brussels against Google over abuse of dominance in online advertising.
dax/lth/js
GOOGLE
MICROSOFT
OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati leaving company
San Francisco, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati on Wednesday said she is leaving the company behind ChatGPT, adding to a growing list of high-level departures.
Murati called her more than six years at the San Francisco-based company "an extraordinary privilege" and described her decision to leave as difficult in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
"There's never an ideal time to walk away from a place one cherishes, but the moment feels right," Murati said in the post.
"I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration."
OpenAI chief Sam Altman replied to Murati's post with his thanks for what Murati has helped the company build, and promised details on a transition plan soon.
Murati is the latest influential member of the OpenAI team to step away from their position.
Co-founder Greg Brockman is on an extended leave of absence and fellow OpenAI founder John Schulman left for AI sector rival Anthropic, according to a report in The Information.
A product team leader who OpenAI had lured over from Meta also left, the report said.
OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever exited OpenAI early this year in the wake of a boardroom battle that saw Altman temporarily ousted from the company.
OpenAI earlier this month released a new series of artificial intelligence models designed to spend more time thinking -- in hopes that generative AI chatbots provide more accurate and beneficial responses.
The new model, nicknamed Strawberry, is designed to tackle complex tasks and solve more challenging problems in science, coding and mathematics -- something that earlier models have been criticized for failing to provide consistently.
Unlike their predecessors, these models have been trained to refine their thinking processes, try different methods and recognize mistakes before they deploy a final answer.
OpenAI's push to improve "thinking" in its model is a response to the persistent problem of "hallucinations" in AI chatbots.
This refers to their tendency to generate persuasive but incorrect content that has somewhat cooled the excitement over ChatGPT-style AI features among business customers.
The new release came as OpenAI was raising funds that could see it valued around $150 billion, which would make it one of the world's most valuable private companies, according to US media.
Australian training mishap puts 12 Singapore troops in hospital
Sydney, Sept 24 (AFP) Sep 24, 2024
A training mishap during military drills in Australia ended with 12 Singaporean soldiers in hospital, according to Singapore's defence ministry, which blamed the incident on an armoured vehicle that "rear-ended" another.
Thousands of Singaporean troops have been dispatched to Australia for Exercise Wallaby, one of the city-state's largest overseas training exercises.
Singapore's Ministry of Defence said a Hunter armoured fighting vehicle had "rear-ended another while moving back to base" at Australia's Shoalwater Bay training facility on Tuesday night.
The ministry said 12 "servicemen sustained non-serious injuries and they have been transported to the hospital".
"They are currently being treated or recovering well."
Singapore's army called for a "safety pause" so that it could "remind drivers to maintain proper distance".
The unilateral war games take place under a longstanding agreement between Australia and Singapore, which lacks the landmass to train its military at scale.
US agrees to sell new missiles to Egypt
Washington, Sept 24 (AFP) Sep 24, 2024
The United States on Tuesday approved the sale of $740 million in Stinger missiles to Egypt, which has become an increasingly close partner over the Gaza crisis despite concerns on rights.
The State Department informed Congress that it was approving the sale of 720 Stinger missiles for use on existing systems.
The sale will help "improve the security of a friendly country that continues to be an important force for political stability and economic growth in the Middle East," a State Department statement said.
Congress can still block the sale, but such attempts are usually unsuccessful.
The deal is likely to add to a backlog of military supplies by the United States, which has received orders from Taiwan and NATO allies and has been ramping up arms both to Ukraine and Israel in their respective wars.
President Joe Biden took office in 2021 vowing a harder line on Egypt over human rights concerns under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, but his administration has repeatedly gone ahead with arms deals with Egypt, one of the largest recipients of US security aid since its peace treaty with Israel in 1979.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Cairo last week and hailed the partnership with Egypt, which along with Qatar has been working with Washington to broker a ceasefire in the nearly year-old Gaza war.
Amid international criticism, Cairo has in the last two years pardoned hundreds of political prisoners.
However, rights groups say that at least three times as many have been arrested over the same time period.
By Satoshi Iizuka, KYODO NEWS - Sep 25, 2024 - 07:25 | All, Japan
Japan's fiscal health, the worst among advanced nations, is unlikely to improve under its next prime minister, with discussion of the issue noticeably absent in the race to become the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's new leader this week.
The government has set a target of achieving a surplus in the primary balance -- tax revenues minus spending, excluding debt-servicing costs -- in fiscal 2025. But without prompt action, achieving it will be elusive, analysts warn, noting that the task of cutting government spending and reducing debt has only gotten more pressing with interest payments rising following the Bank of Japan's two rate hikes this year, the first in 17 years.
Japan's outstanding state debt -- now more than twice the size of the economy -- has been steadily increasing, primarily affected by ballooning social security costs as the population rapidly ages.
It increased more than 100 trillion yen to 1,105 trillion ($7.6 trillion) during Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's three-year tenure partly because the government had to boost spending in its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis following Russia's war in Ukraine and the yen's historic depreciation.
Manabu Shimasawa, a public finance professor at Kanto Gakuin University, pointed out that Japan's tax revenue has increased in recent years as the weak yen has bloated earnings abroad by Japanese firms.
"But the fiscal situation has not improved because the rise in tax revenue has been consumed by voter-pleasing policies," including utility bill subsidies, under Kishida's administration, said Shimasawa, a former bureaucrat at the Cabinet Office, which is in charge of economic and fiscal policy.
The government should strive to curb its debt in light of rising bond yields, which have led to increased interest payments and debt redemption costs, as the BOJ aims to advance monetary normalization, Shimasawa said.
"It is possible to achieve a primary balance surplus by raising taxes, but that would place more burdens on working generations," said Shimasawa, adding that it would be more desirable to aim for fiscal consolidation through spending reductions.
Analysts are closely monitoring the size of a supplementary budget for fiscal 2024, which the government is expected to compile later in the year to implement an economic package under the next prime minister.
While a general election must be held by October 2025, it is highly likely that the new premier will dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap election as early as next month, capitalizing on the relatively high approval ratings new leaders usually enjoy immediately after taking office, political pundits say.
In anticipation of a possible election, many candidates in the LDP leadership race have outlined pledges aimed at reducing voters' financial burdens, which could lead to increased government spending and debt.
Among contenders popular with the public in media polls, Shinjiro Koizumi has pledged to expand support for low-income households and pensioners through cash handouts while Sanae Takaichi, the current economic security minister in Kishida's Cabinet, has advocated economic growth driven by government spending.
Meanwhile, Digital Minister Taro Kono has emphasized the need to restore fiscal health, but he is struggling to gain traction in the polls.
Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at the Nomura Research Institute, said, "It is problematic that fiscal health has not become a key topic in this presidential race."
Kiuchi, a former BOJ board member, said ballooning government debt, in saddling future generations with the burden of repayment, would undermine expectations for economic growth going forward.
The candidates have to tackle the government's fiscal health in the medium to long term, rather than focusing on short-term election pledges, Kiuchi said.
"Judging from their discussions, the situation is unlikely to change for the better," he said.
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Tragic tale of two West Bank teenagers freed in Gaza truce
Balata, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
Newly freed from an Israeli prison, Wael Masha rode atop friends' shoulders through the streets of his West Bank refugee camp before bursting into his home to kiss his mother's feet.
Less than a year later, those friends carried the 18-year-old's body through the same streets after Israeli forces killed him in an air strike, describing him as an armed militant who posed a threat to Israeli forces.
His journey was not unique: Masha is one of at least three Palestinians born in the Israeli-occupied West Bank who were arrested as teenagers, released during a brief truce in the Gaza war last November, then killed in intensifying Israeli military operations in the territory.
Israel says its raids and air strikes in the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967, reflect the scope of the security threat it faces from Palestinian combatants.
His family and others like them say Israel is fuelling the problem it claims to be fighting, arresting young men -- Masha was 17 when he was taken into custody -- then abusing them in custody, ultimately driving them to seek revenge.
What is not in dispute is that Masha embraced "jihad" after his release, and knew where it would lead.
In his will, he instructed his mother: "When you hear the news of my martyrdom, God willing, do not cry, but ululate."
While some memorial posters show Masha brandishing an automatic weapon, his mother remembers him differently.
"He loved studying and repairing computers and mobile phones," Hanadi Masha told AFP in the family home in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, surrounded by pictures of her smiling son.
Perhaps this interest could have turned into a career, she added.
But "after he got out of prison, he had a grudge because of everything he saw inside".
- 'Shock' behind bars -
The fallout from the nearly year-old war in Gaza has reverberated across the West Bank, where the health ministry says at least 680 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers since Hamas's October 7 attack.
Israeli officials say 24 Israelis, including troops, have been killed in Palestinian attacks during the same period.
Even before the war, Israeli round-ups of Palestinian men were common, including the one in November 2022 in which Masha was detained.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group says there are at least 250 Palestinians under the age of 18 currently in Israeli custody.
"The occupation does not hesitate to arrest children under 18 years old... The widespread arrests have nothing to do with any armed action," said Hilmi al-Araj of the Palestinian civil society group Hurryyat.
Israeli authorities took Masha to Megiddo prison in northern Israel and sentenced him to two and a half years on charges they never disclosed to his family.
His surprise release came during a weeklong truce in Gaza in November 2023, the only one of the war so far, during which Palestinian militants released 105 hostages seized on October 7, the Israelis among them in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Once out, Masha recounted a host of abuses: being instructed to kiss the Israeli flag, being burned with cigarette butts.
His father Bilal said the experience was "a huge shock" that "changed things completely" for him.
"My son entered as a cub and came out as a lion," he said.
- 'Prime of life' -
Israel has not explained the precise circumstances of Masha's death, and his parents say they do not know what he was doing when an Israeli strike killed him on August 15.
They only know that the day before the strike Masha said he received a threatening phone call from an Israeli officer warning: "It's your turn."
The details are clearer for Tariq Daoud, a second Palestinian teenager who was detained with Masha and released on the same day of the November truce.
Like Masha, Daoud said he was beaten at Megiddo prison, his brother Khaled told AFP at the family home in Qalqilyah, where children wear necklaces featuring his face.
Khaled said the abuse produced false confessions from Tariq -- aged 16 when he was arrested -- on charges including possessing an illegal firearm and attempting to build explosives.
Incarceration "shattered all his ambitions", which had included potentially becoming an engineer or a doctor, Khaled said.
Instead he joined Hamas's armed wing.
In the same week that Masha was killed, Tariq opened fire on an Israeli settler in Azzun, east of Qalqilyah, and Israeli troops shot him dead at the scene, both Khaled and the Israeli military said.
Israeli officials have not yet released his body, but Khaled still visits his plot at the Qalqilyah cemetery every day to water the flowers.
"I go because I feel that there is something of his presence," Khaled said.
Back in the Balata camp, Masha's mother Hanadi has found her own ways to honour her son, talking about him with his four younger siblings and stroking pictures of his beard -- just like she playfully greeted him when he was alive.
Shortly after Masha's death, the institute where he had been taking classes told her he had been awarded certificates in mobile phone repair and cybersecurity.
His mother attended the graduation ceremony on his behalf.
"He was a young man in the prime of life," she told AFP through tears.
His time behind bars "planted the idea of resistance in his head."
Hostages freed in Gaza truce pine for those left behind
Tel Aviv, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
It has been nearly 10 months since Aviva Siegel was freed from captivity in Gaza, but her thoughts remain in the Palestinian territory where her husband Keith is still held by Hamas.
Siegel is one of a group of hostages released during a brief truce in the Israel-Hamas war last year who now pine for the loved ones they left behind -- and worry about what stalled truce talks mean for their fate.
"I'm still in Gaza, I haven't left yet," Siegel told AFP, describing her mental state.
"I'm with Keith in spirit at all times. I can't bear to imagine that he and the other hostages are 40 metres (130 feet) below ground, without air to breathe, without food to eat, without anything nice."
Aviva and Keith were seized from kibbutz Kfar Aza near the border with Gaza during Hamas's unprecedented attack on October 7, two of the 251 hostages abducted to the Palestinian territory that day.
The week-long truce last November saw Palestinian militants released 105 hostages seized on October 7, the Israelis among them in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Siegel became one of the first to tell her story publicly after returning to Israel.
"I wanted to die so many times," she told AFP, her voice shaking at the memory.
"When I got out, I had lost 10 kilos (22 pounds). I could barely walk, eat or drink. I don't want to imagine the situation Keith is in."
Of the hostages seized on October 7, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
- 'Sick of burying hostages' -
Shortly after her liberation, Siegel began attending weekly protests held in the Israeli commercial hub of Tel Aviv, calling for a truce deal that would allow for the return of the remaining hostages.
Those protests have only grown as organisers try to ramp up pressure on the government to seal a deal.
The Israeli army's announcement that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages from a Gaza tunnel in late August has made a breakthrough all the more urgent, Siegel said.
"Keith is still there," she told AFP at one of the recent protests.
"We have to get them out. It's too cruel... It's unbearable and unforgivable."
Like Siegel, Raz Ben Ami was freed during the November truce and is now hoping for the release of her husband, Ohad Ben Ami, 55.
She too has taken to the streets to demand progress towards a deal, speaking at one recent rally while wearing a t-shirt bearing her husband's photograph.
"I'm sick of my government that doesn't do enough to bring back the hostages.. sick of this nightmare that takes me back to Gaza every day," she said.
"I'm sick of burying hostages, returned in coffins."
- 'I prefer to hope' -
Another regular at the Tel Aviv protests is Bat-Sheva Yahalomi, marching with a picture of her husband Ohad Yahalomi, who was captured on October 7 from their home in kibbutz Nir Oz along with their 12-year-old son Eitan.
Bat-Sheva can't stop thinking about the last time they saw each other, before armed men took her and the children away from Ohad, who lay on the floor wounded in an exchange of fire after trying to protect the family.
"I think the last thing he saw was our kidnapping, and he probably doesn't know what happened to us," she said.
Bat-Sheva and her two daughters managed to escape after they fell from their captor's motorbike.
Eitan was released in the November truce after 52 days in Gaza.
But Ohad's continued captivity means "it's still October 7" for Bat-Sheva, a French-Israeli joint citizen.
"What breaks me is hopelessness, the idea that (the hostages) lose hope and don't think they'll be rescued," she said from her new home in a kibbutz in central Israel.
On her fridge, alongside pictures from happier days, hangs an image of her husband with the words "Bring them home".
When the children ask where their father is, Bat-Sheva says she tells them "the truth" but also works to keep their spirits up -- as well as her own.
"I don't know but I prefer to hope that he's alive," she said.
Palestinians absent from Israeli news coverage of Gaza war
Tel Aviv, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
Since war began in Gaza on October 7, Israel's military campaign has received rolling coverage on domestic television, with just one notable aspect missing -- the Palestinians living, and dying, under the bombs.
Every night during prime time, Israeli viewers hear about military operations in the Gaza Strip, now ravaged by the ongoing retaliation for Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.
The deadly attack "was a surprise for Israeli society, and media gave full priority to Israel's suffering and trauma, which is still present," Jerome Bourdon, a media sociologist and professor at Tel Aviv University, told AFP.
Israel has four main news channels.
There is Channel 11, the main channel of the public broadcaster; Channel 12, "the most watched"; Channel 13, "the most critical" of the government; and Channel 14, "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's propaganda tool, Israel's Fox News", summarised Oren Persico, a journalist for "The Seventh Eye", an Israeli news website focused on the media.
After analysing many hours of news, satire and talent shows, "The Seventh Eye" earlier this month delivered its verdict: "Media in Israel, from Channel 11 to 14, do not show images of human suffering in Gaza."
Television viewers see "images of rubble, of a bombarded building, but not individual stories of people concerned", the website said.
- 'A different angle' -
The pattern is not exactly new, Bourdon said, as Palestinian voices were "made invisible" even before October 7.
The attack that day by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 41,467 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to data provided by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
The United Nations has acknowledged the ministry's figures as reliable, but they are "not used by Israeli media", Persico said.
The exception is ultra-conservative Channel 14, which mentions "40,000 terrorists eliminated" in chyrons and on its website.
In an interview with AFP, one of Channel 14's journalists, Hallel Bitton-Rosen, said its news coverage focuses on "support for fighting forces that protect the country and citizens against vile terrorists that perpetrated the terrible massacre" last year.
The Israeli army says 348 soldiers have been killed during operations in Gaza since the beginning of the ground offensive on October 27.
When Israeli TV channels do dedicate segments to Palestinians, there is "a different angle compared to foreign media", Bourdon said, pointing in particular to settler attacks on villages in the occupied West Bank, where violence has soared since October 7.
Israeli journalists tend to favour the line that "the army failed to stop the settlers" rather than "couldn't protect Palestinians", he said.
- Legitimate torture? -
In late July, Israeli soldiers were arrested and questioned by military police on suspicion of sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee after a prison surveillance video was leaked to media.
Israel's most important military backer, the United States, said at the time that "reports of sexual abuse of detainees are horrific" and called for perpetrators to be held accountable.
On Channel 12, however, debate raged over whether torturing and even sodomising "terrorists" could be considered "legitimate".
Inside Channel 12's newsroom in Tel Aviv, there was "a before and after October 7", said a popular reporter who wished to remain anonymous.
"The focus is on the horror that struck us, not on Palestinian stories," he said.
Several journalists AFP spoke to said they have not faced editorial pressure to cover the war a certain way.
Instead they said the dearth of attention allotted to Gaza's civilian inhabitants could be explained by lingering shock from October 7 and a widespread belief that Palestinian sources cannot be trusted.
They contended it was international media who covered the war unfairly, with a clear bias in favour of Palestinians.
Israel's media landscape is not monolithic, however.
The left-leaning Israeli daily Haaretz and the online news site +972 are among the few outlets producing investigations on Gaza.
They have examined, for example, alleged torture of civilians by Israeli soldiers and the use of artificial intelligence to identify strike targets.
Bourdon noted, though, that these outlets' audiences are limited to a "minority" on the "intellectual left" in the country.
Lebanon official media reports new Israeli strikes on south, east
Beirut, Lebanon, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
Israel carried out airstrikes on south and east Lebanon for a third day Wednesday, Lebanese official media reported.
"Since 5:00 am (0200 GMT) enemy warplanes have launched strikes" on several areas of southern Lebanon, the official National News Agency said, adding that "the air aggression continued overnight" on other parts of the south, reporting unspecified casualties.
It also reported that "enemy warplanes and drones" targeted multiple locations the Baalbek area in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley after midnight, also reporting casualties there.
Hezbollah and its arch-foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire since the Gaza war erupted last October, with the Lebanese group saying it is acting in support of Palestinian ally Hamas.
But the violence has spiralled in recent days and on Monday, Israel launched devastating strikes that resulted in the deadliest single-day toll since the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.
Hezbollah says fired ballistic missile targeting Mossad HQ near Tel Aviv
Beirut, Lebanon, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
Hezbollah said Wednesday it had fired a ballistic missile targeting Israeli spy agency Mossad's headquarters near Tel Aviv, saying that recent attacks on the militant group had been planned there.
It is the first time the group has claimed a ballistic missile strike since its nearly year-long battle with Israel began after Hamas carried out its October 7 attack.
Earlier Wednesday, Israel's military had said it intercepted a missile fired from Lebanon after sirens sounded in Tel Aviv.
"The Islamic Resistance launched a 'Qader 1' ballistic missile at 6:30 am (0330 GMT) on Wednesday, 25-9-2024, targeting the Mossad headquarters in the outskirts of Tel Aviv," Hezbollah said in a statement.
"This headquarters is responsible for the assassination of leaders and the explosion of pagers and wireless devices," it added, referring to attacks last week that killed scores in Lebanon including a top commander.
It also said the strike was carried out in support of the people of Gaza and "in defence of Lebanon and its people".
Longtime foes Hezbollah and Israel have been locked in near-daily exchanges of cross-border fire since Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.
The Hamas attack sparked a war in Gaza that has drawn in Hezbollah and other Iran-backed militants from across the Middle East.
The focus of Israel's firepower has shifted sharply from Gaza to Lebanon in recent days.
The Lebanese health ministry said Israeli strikes killed at least 558 people on Monday -- the deadliest day of violence in the country since its 1975-90 civil war.
China launches intercontinental missile into Pacific in rare test
Beijing, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
China said it test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday, firing it into the Pacific Ocean in its first such exercise in decades.
Beijing has stepped up its nuclear development and boosted defence spending in recent years, with the Pentagon last October warning China was developing its arsenal more quickly than the United States had anticipated.
China held more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023 and is likely to have more than 1,000 by 2030, it said.
On Wednesday, the Chinese military's Rocket Force "launched an ICBM... carrying a dummy warhead to the high seas in the Pacific Ocean at 08:44 on September 25, and the missile fell into expected sea areas", the defence ministry said in a statement.
An analyst told AFP such tests were very rare.
"This is extremely unusual and likely the first time in decades that we've seen a test like this," said Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"(The test) likely speaks to China's ongoing nuclear modernisation manifesting in new requirements for testing," he added.
China's defence ministry, however, called the firing a "routine arrangement in our annual training plan".
"It is in line with international law and international practice and is not directed against any country or target," it said.
Beijing first test-fired an ICBM into the South Pacific in the 1980s.
But since then, Panda told AFP, it has typically conducted such tests in its own airspace.
In 2021, the US said it was "very concerned" about reported hypersonic missile testing by China.
- Third-largest stockpile -
The United States and China in November held rare talks on nuclear arms control, part of a bid to ease mistrust ahead of a summit between leaders Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.
But in July, Beijing said it had suspended negotiations with the United States on nuclear non-proliferation and arms control in response to Washington's weapons sales to Taiwan.
In an annual report, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) listed China as having the world's third-largest stockpile of nuclear warheads, after Russia and the United States.
This year, Beijing announced it would boost its defence budget -- the world's second-largest -- by 7.2 percent.
The boost comes as China increasingly squares off with the United States and its regional partners from the South China Sea to Taiwan.
This month, senior military officials from China and the United States held "in-depth" talks as part of a bid by the powers to avoid wider tensions escalating into conflict.
Since its first nuclear test in 1964, China has been content to maintain a comparatively modest arsenal and has maintained that it will never be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict.
In recent years, under President Xi, it has begun a massive military modernisation drive that includes upgrading its nuclear weapons to not only deter foes but also be able to counter-attack.
But Beijing's secretive Rocket Force, which carried out Wednesday's test and oversees the country's nuclear arsenal, has also been the target of an aggressive, wide-ranging anti-graft campaign.
In July, Beijing announced that Sun Jinming, the former chief of staff of the force, had been placed under investigation for corruption.
Its head, Li Yuchao, was replaced last July.
And Li Shangfu was ousted last year after only seven months as defence minister following a lengthy absence from public view.
Other disgraced generals include Wei Fenghe, who once headed the Rocket Force and who later became China's defence minister from 2018 to 2023.
Hezbollah missile reaches Tel Aviv for 'first time': Israel army
Jerusalem, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that for the "first time ever" a missile fired by Hezbollah reached the Tel Aviv area before being intercepted by Israel's air defences.
"It is the first time ever a Hezbollah missile reached (the) Tel Aviv area. It was intercepted by IDF (the Israeli military)," an army spokesman told AFP.
In a separate briefing, military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said that the firing of the surface-to-surface missile at Tel Aviv was an "escalation" on the part of Hezbollah.
"Hezbollah is definitely trying to escalate the situation... this is just part of it," Lieutenant Colonel Shoshani said.
"They are... trying to terrorise more and more people."
The military said it struck the launcher which fired the missile in the Nafakhiyeh area of south Lebanon.
Israeli warplanes also carried out a series of strikes during the night on Hezbollah targets in Lebanese territory, it said.
"As part of the strikes, the IAF (air force) struck terrorists operating within terrorist infrastructure, weapons storage facilities, launchers and additional Hezbollah terrorist targets," it added.
New Zealand says China missile test 'unwelcome and concerning'
Wellington, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
New Zealand branded a Chinese ballistic missile launch that terminated in the South Pacific "an unwelcome and concerning development" Wednesday, as news of the rare test jolted the usually peaceful region.
Beijing said it had test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, firing it into the Pacific Ocean in its first such exercise in decades.
"We remain in the process of gathering further information" a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters told AFP, saying "New Zealand views this as an unwelcome and concerning development."
"Pacific leaders have clearly articulated their expectation that we have a peaceful, stable, prosperous, and secure region," the spokesperson said.
"As part of the region, New Zealand strongly supports that expectation."
The United States and China have been vying for influence across the South Pacific -- opening embassies, inking agreements and doling out cash to Pacific island projects.
Many South Pacific nations have sought to leverage this competition for their own gain, but are keen to avoid picking sides.
The region was the crucible of the Pacific theatre during World War II and was often a test ground for US, British and French nuclear weapons.
With those memories in mind, several leaders have stressed the need to avoid the vast ocean region from being dragged into any military tussle between the world's two leading powers.
The firing of a powerful intercontinental ballistic missile will heighten those fears and startle even Beijing's allies.
"The Pacific island countries are extremely sensitive on this issue, owing to the history of nuclear testing in that part of the world" Sam Roggeveen, an expert in international security at Sydney's Lowy Institute, told AFP.
"It will be interesting to watch the scale and the tone of the response" said Roggeveen, adding that China is a "very important aid partner for most of those countries."
New Zealand has recently been pivoting towards closer ties with "traditional allies" in Britain and the United States, despite deep economic dependence on trade with China.
Wellington said it had "engaged Pacific partners, and we will continue to do so in the coming days."
Israel says carrying out 'extensive' strikes in Hezbollah strongholds
Jerusalem, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
The Israeli military said it was carrying out "extensive" air strikes in south Lebanon and the eastern Beqaa Valley on Wednesday after Hezbollah fired a ballistic missile that reached the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
"The IDF (Israeli military) is currently conducting extensive strikes in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa area," the military said in a statement.
It said it was striking Hezbollah targets and weapons storage facilities.
It also said that some 40 projectiles had crossed into northern Israel from Lebanon, setting off warning sirens in the area.
"Several projectiles were intercepted," the military said.
"The Hezbollah terrorist organisation continues to launch projectiles toward civilian areas and facilities on the Israeli home front."
Hezbollah fires missile at Tel Aviv in Israel
Beirut, Lebanon, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
Hezbollah said it had fired a ballistic missile at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Wednesday, with Israel launching more air strikes on Lebanon after its military intercepted the unprecedented launch.
It is the first time Hezbollah has claimed a ballistic missile strike since its nearly year-long battle with Israel began after its Palestinian ally Hamas carried out its October 7 attack.
Israel conducted more air strikes on areas around Lebanon on Wednesday, after raids earlier this week killed at least 558 people in the deadliest day of violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The Lebanese health ministry said Wednesday's strikes killed 15 people, including in mountain areas outside Hezbollah's traditional strongholds.
According to Lebanese officials, hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled their homes in southern and eastern Lebanon to escape the violence between the Iran-backed militants and Israel.
Nour Hamad, a 22-year-old student in the Lebanese city of Baalbek, described living "in a state of terror" all week.
"We spent four or five days without sleep, not knowing if we will wake up in the morning," she said.
"The sound of the bombardment is very frightening, everyone's afraid. The children are afraid, and the grown-ups are afraid too."
In Tel Aviv, sirens sounded following Hezbollah's unprecedented missile launch, which the Israeli military intercepted.
"The situation is difficult. We feel the pressure and the tension. It's been going for a long time now," Tel Aviv resident Hedva Fadlon, 61, told AFP.
"I don't think anyone in the world would like to live like this."
Longtime foes Hezbollah and Israel have been locked in near-daily exchanges of fire since Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.
The attack sparked a war in Gaza that has drawn in ally Hezbollah and other Iran-backed armed groups from across the Middle East, including Yemen and Iraq.
Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said the "vast majority, if not all" of the 558 people killed in Israel's aerial bombardment on Monday were unarmed civilians in their homes.
The United Nations Security Council said it will hold an emergency meeting on the crisis in New York on Wednesday, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the situation was critical.
- Rocket commander killed -
Hezbollah claimed 18 attacks on Israel on Tuesday, while the Israeli military said the Iran-backed group fired about 300 rockets across the border.
Hezbollah also confirmed an Israeli claim that it had killed their rocket forces commander Ibrahim Kobeissi in a strike on the Lebanese capital.
At the UN General Assembly in New York, Secretary-General Guterres issued a stark warning.
"We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink," he said, while cautioning against "the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza".
US President Joe Biden, whose government is Israel's main backer, warned against a full-blown war in Lebanon in his speech during the New York gathering.
"Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," Biden said.
Lebanon's foreign minister, also at the UN assembly, said the number of displaced Lebanese had soared to nearly 500,000 since Israel ramped up its military campaign.
A security official in neighbouring Syria told AFP about 500 people had crossed the border to flee the bombing.
- Defiant Netanyahu -
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his departure for New York until Thursday, where he too is due to speak at the General Assembly.
"During the day, the prime minister will hold consultations to discuss the continuation of the attacks in Lebanon," his office said.
Netanyahu defied international calls for restraint, vowing on Tuesday to keep up Israel's campaign against Hezbollah.
"We will continue to hit Hezbollah... the one who has a missile in his living room and a rocket in his home will not have a home," he said.
Iran, Hezbollah's main backer, condemned Israel's raids, with its president, Masoud Pezeshkian, saying its ally "cannot stand alone".
On Wednesday, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei said the recent killing of Hezbollah commanders would not crush the group.
"Some of the effective and valuable forces of Hezbollah were martyred, which undoubtedly caused damage to Hezbollah, but this was not the sort of damage that could bring the group to its knees," he said.
- 'New phase' -
While the Israel-Lebanon border has seen near-daily clashes for a year, the violence escalated dramatically last week, when coordinated communications device blasts that Hezbollah blamed on Israel killed 39 people and wounded almost 3,000.
Then Israel carried out an air strike on Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold, killing a top military commander and other fighters and civilians.
Efforts to end the war in Gaza, which analysts say are key to stopping the escalation in Lebanon, remain stalled.
The war in Gaza began with Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,495 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.
burs/ser/kir
KYODO NEWS - Sep 25, 2024 - 19:33 | World, All
China said Wednesday its army test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into a designated area on the high seas in the Pacific earlier in the day, with Hong Kong media reporting it was the first known ICBM test by Beijing in 44 years.
On Tuesday, the Chinese Defense Ministry notified the United States, Australia and New Zealand of the missile test in advance, according to sources familiar with the matter. The ministry stressed that it was not directed against any country and was in line with international law.
The Japan Coast Guard said China informed it on Monday afternoon that "space debris" would fall into three areas -- two locations off the Philippines' island of Luzon and another in waters south of Hawaii -- sometime between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Wednesday, issuing the information as a navigation warning.
Beijing's second publicized ICBM launch into the Pacific Ocean since its successful test-firing in May 1980 has sparked speculation that it may be sending a signal to the United States amid rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea.
The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force launched the ICBM carrying a dummy warhead at 8:44 a.m. The test was part of the army's annual training plan, China's Defense Ministry said.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported that the launch successfully tested weaponry performance and military training effectiveness, citing the ministry.
On Wednesday, Japan expressed alarm after China's test launch, describing Beijing's increasing military activity as "a serious concern."
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said China did not notify the government of the launch in advance. The missile did not fly over Japan, and no damage has been confirmed, he told a press conference in Tokyo, adding that Japan will continue to carry out surveillance activities.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian declined to comment on the missile test at a press conference in Beijing, repeatedly suggesting that reporters should ask the country's Defense Ministry about the matter instead.
China has deployed Dongfeng-41 ICBMs that are capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
In an annual report on China's military power released in October last year, the U.S. Defense Department warned that in 2022 Beijing seems to have finished building three new solid-fuel silo fields for ICBMs, which can be loaded with nuclear warheads. It said the fields could probably house at least 300 ICBM silos.
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Tokyo says Taiwan eases import restrictions on Japanese food
Tokyo, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
Taiwan will ease restrictions on imports of Japanese food products including seafood from areas around the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, Tokyo's ministry of agriculture, forestry and fisheries said on Wednesday.
It comes after Beijing announced last week it would "gradually resume" importing seafood from Japan after imposing a blanket ban last year over the release of water from the power station hit by a tsunami in 2011.
"Today, the Taiwanese authorities announced the relaxation of import control measures for Japanese food products introduced following the accident at... Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant," a ministry statement said.
Taiwan's decision involves lifting import bans on products such as wild bird meat and mushrooms from five regions including Fukushima, on the condition that radioactive material inspection reports and certificates of origin be submitted, it said.
Marine products from the northeastern Iwate and Miyagi prefectures near Fukushima can be exported "without a radioactive material inspection report".
AFP could not immediately confirm the news with Taiwanese authorities.
Japan's agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister Tetsushi Sakamoto said he "welcomes the move as a positive step toward promoting the recovery of disaster-hit areas".
The ministry statement said it would continue to push for all remaining restrictions to be lifted.
"The Japanese government has used multiple opportunities to assure Taiwan authorities of the safety of our products based on scientific evidence, but we will continue our persistent efforts so that import restrictions such as certificate submission be scrapped swiftly," it said.
Three reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi facility went into meltdown in 2011 following a massive earthquake and tsunami that killed around 18,000 people.
Japan began discharging treated wastewater from the plant into the Pacific Ocean in August 2023 in an operation it insists is safe, a view backed by the UN atomic agency.
However, the release sparked a fierce backlash from China, which banned Japanese seafood imports.
Beijing and Tokyo said on Friday they had come to a consensus over the water release that would allow China to phase the imports back in.
Following China, Russia banned Japanese seafood imports in October as a "precautionary measure".
Russian news agency TASS cited a top sanitary official last week as saying Moscow would maintain the embargo.
Australia says seeking 'explanation' for Chinese ICBM launch
Sydney, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
Australia voiced concern at China's firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile that splashed down in the South Pacific on Wednesday, its first such test in decades.
"The Australian Government has sought an explanation from China", a Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told AFP, signalling unease at the launch, which appeared to be linked to the modernisation of Beijing's nuclear triad of air, land and sea-based weapons.
"Australia is concerned by any action that is destabilising and raises the risk of miscalculation in the region, and is consulting regional partners about this launch," the official said.
Beijing first test-fired an ICBM into the South Pacific in the 1980s but has since conducted tests in its own airspace.
The test was always likely to bring condemnation from Washington's allies in the region, but the response from smaller Pacific Island nations will also be closely watched.
The United States and China have been vying for influence across the South Pacific, opening embassies, inking agreements and doling out cash for projects.
The region is home to vast ocean resources and encompasses several vital trade routes.
Pacific nations are keen to profit from US-China competition but want to avoid the region becoming militarised.
Japan and New Zealand have already decried the test, which China's military said was "routine".
The Australian spokesperson said, "the launch comes in the context of China's rapid military build-up, which is taking place without the transparency and reassurance that the region looks for from great powers".
Israel army chief tells troops to be ready for possible Lebanon entry
Jerusalem, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
Israel's army chief told troops on Wednesday to be prepared for possible entry into Lebanon as Israeli fighter jets bombarded Hezbollah targets across the border.
"You can hear the planes here; we are attacking all day, both to prepare the ground for the possibility of your entry, but also to continue striking Hezbollah," Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi told a tank brigade, according to a statement issued by the military.
"We are not stopping. We will keep attacking and harming them everywhere," Halevi said.
"To do this, we are preparing for the course of the manoeuvre, and the sense is that your military boots, your manoeuvre boots, will enter enemy territory," Halevi said.
"Your entry there with force... will show (Hezbollah) what it is like to meet a professional combat force," he said.
"You are coming in much stronger than them, much more experienced than them; go in, destroy the enemy there, and go destroy the infrastructure," Halevi said.
"These are the things that will allow us to safely repatriate the residents of the north later."
Zelensky alleges Russia plot on nuclear plants in defiant UN address
United Nations, United States, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia on Wednesday of plotting potentially catastrophic attacks on Ukranian nuclear plants, in a defiant UN address in which he denounced bids to impose peace from the outside.
Zelensky sought to rally support among world leaders at their annual gathering in New York as his concerns grow, weeks before a US election that could sharply shift the stance of Ukraine's main backer.
Speaking from the UN rostrum in a black polo jacket, Zelensky said that Ukrainian intelligence has found that Russia is scanning the country's nuclear infrastructure by satellite.
Russian President Vladimir Putin "does seem to be planning attacks on our nuclear power plants and the infrastructure, aiming to disconnect the plants from the power grid," Zelensky said.
"Any critical incident in the energy system could lead to a nuclear disaster, a day like that must never come," Zelensky said.
"Moscow needs to understand this, and this depends in part on your determination to put pressure on the aggressor," he told the General Assembly.
Russia captured the giant Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant soon after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia in recent weeks has been pounding Ukraine's electricity grid, in what Western and Ukrainian officials describe as an attempt to leave the country shivering during the winter.
- 'Never accept' deal from outside -
Zelensky on Thursday will head to the White House to see President Joe Biden and present what he describes as a "victory plan" that shows a path forward for Ukraine.
In his UN address, Zelensky singled out China and Brazil as he questioned the "true interest" of countries that have been pressing Ukraine to negotiate with Russia.
Employing the language of the Global South, Zelensky said: "You will not boost your power at Ukraine's expense, and the world has already been through colonial wars and conspiracies of great powers at the expense of those who are small."
"Ukrainians will never accept -- will never accept -- why anyone in the world believes that such a brutal colonial past, which suits no one today, can be imposed on Ukraine now," Zelensky said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a Security Council session on Tuesday that diplomacy was the only solution.
Zelensky last year flew to the General Assembly in a dramatic first wartime appearance and, while he maintains star power, the political landscape has changed.
Donald Trump, running again for president, on Wednesday called Zelensky the "greatest salesman on Earth."
"Every time Zelensky comes to the United States, he walks away with $100 billion," Trump said, claiming "we're stuck in that war unless I'm president."
The United States has provided around $175 billion in both military and economic assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, and Biden has ruled out sending troops.
Trump in the past has voiced admiration for Putin and, during his 2017-2021 presidency, was impeached for the first time over delaying aid to Ukraine to press Zelensky to dig up dirt on Biden.
Zelensky said he hoped to see Trump while in the United States and explain that the war is more complicated.
Zelensky has sharply criticized Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, who has said bluntly that he does not care about Ukraine and that the United States should focus instead on confronting China.
"Let Mr. Vance read up on the history of the Second World War, when a country was forced to give part of its territory to one particular person," Zelensky told The New Yorker.
In Germany, the second-largest contributor of military aid to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also facing pressure from parties opposed to support for Kyiv.
Britain has been among the most robust supporters of Ukraine. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told AFP that his government was committed to helping "to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position" as winter approaches.
- Lebanon crisis -
The annual extravaganza marks a swansong for Biden, 81, who has passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris to face Trump in the November 5 election.
The summit comes against the backdrop of chaos in the Middle East as Israel ramps up attacks on the Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah, killing hundreds and prompting a mass exodus of people.
The UN Security Council will hold a special session on Wednesday on Lebanon, as the United States says it hopes to present ideas for de-escalation.
Wednesday will also see talks at the UN on two other hotspots -- Sudan and Haiti.
The United States is looking for ways to drum up long-term financial support for stabilization efforts in violence-ravaged Haiti after Kenya began a long-awaited policing mission.
Mexico excludes Spanish king from president's swearing-in ceremony
Madrid, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
Mexican president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday said that Spain's King Felipe VI was not invited to her swearing-in ceremony because he refuses to acknowledge the "damage" caused by his country's conquest of Mexico five centuries ago.
Mexico's outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in 2019 sent a letter to the king asking that he "publicly and officially" acknowledge the "damage" caused by the 1519-1521 conquest, which resulted in the death of a large part of the country's pre-Hispanic population.
"Unfortunately, this letter was never replied to directly, as should have been the best practice in bilateral relations," Sheinbaum said in a statement.
Mexico had in July invited Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to the swearing-in ceremony on October 1, the statement added.
Spain announced late on Tuesday that it would boycott the ceremony because the king was not invited, calling his exclusion "unacceptable".
"For this reason, the Spanish government has decided not to participate in the inauguration at any level," the Spanish foreign ministry said in a statement.
Mexico published the guest list a week ago for the inauguration of Sheinbaum, who will be the country's first woman president following her left-wing ruling party's landslide June election victory.
King Felipe VI was not on the list, which includes regional leftist leaders as well as US First Lady Jill Biden.
"The head of state, the king of Spain, always attends all swearing-in ceremonies and therefore we cannot accept that in this case he should be excluded," Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles told journalists in Madrid on Wednesday.
"And therefore if the head of state is excluded, Spain will not be represented, which we are very sorry about because the Mexican people are a brotherly people."
While Mexico and Spain have close historical and economic links, relations between the Latin American nation and its former colonial ruler have been strained since Lopez Obrador -- an ally of Sheinbaum -- took office in 2018.
He has frequently complained about Spanish companies operating in Mexico and twice declared during his mandate that his country's relations with Spain were "on pause".
Madrid has rejected his demand for an apology for the events of the Spanish conquest five centuries ago.
Disappeared Guinea colonel announced dead: lawyer
Conakry, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
The body of a Guinean colonel who disappeared almost a year ago was on Wednesday presented to his wife in the capital Conakry, one of their lawyers said.
Colonel Celestin Bilivogui is the second military officer in recent months to be pronounced dead in mysterious circumstances after being arrested under the junta, in power since 2021.
Bilivogui's lawyers said he was taken by security forces from his office in the military pensions department early last November before being moved to an unknown destination.
His wife and lawyers said they had not heard from him since.
The incident took place days after former dictator Moussa Dadis Camara and three others on trial over a 2009 massacre escaped from prison in the capital.
The armed prison break left several dead and raised fears of another coup in the West African country.
Bilivogui was dismissed from the army in the days after along with dozens of military personnel.
On Wednesday, his wife was called to the main military administration centre in Conakry and taken to a morgue "where she was presented with the body of her husband", one of their lawyers, Salifou Beavogui, said in a message passed onto the press.
A family member confirmed the information to an AFP journalist.
"Kidnapped and held for a year, he has had no right to a trial or to justice," Beavogui said.
The authorities have not commented on the issue.
In June, ex-army chief of staff and the junta's former second-in-command, General Sadiba Koulibaly, died in detention days after being sentenced by a military court for desertion and weapons offences.
Two anti-junta activists Oumar Sylla, better known as Fonike Mengue, and Mamadou Billo Bah, have been missing since they were arrested by security forces in July, their pro-democracy movement says.
Guinea's opposition has faced severe repression since junta leader Mamady Doumbouya seized power in a coup in September 2021.
Many opposition leaders in Guinea have been detained, brought before the courts or forced into exile.
Islamic Resistance in Iraq says attacked Israel's Eilat
Baghdad, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
The pro-Iran Islamic Resistance in Iraq group said it attacked Israel's Red Sea port of Eilat Wednesday as another group urged more attacks amid soaring tensions over Gaza and Lebanon.
"The Islamic Resistance in Iraq attacked a strategic target in Eilat on Wednesday... using drones," it said in a statement published on Telegram.
Earlier Iraq's Hezbollah Brigades spokesman Abu Ali al-Askari issued an appeal for ramped-up operations against Israel.
The Israeli military said it intercepted a drone approaching Eilat and that another fell in the area. It reported two minor injuries.
Askari said current efforts fell short of the ambitions of the pro-Iran "Axis of Resistance" -- which includes Iraqi militias, Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Huthi rebels.
In recent months, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of pro-Iran militias, has claimed several drone strikes on Israeli targets.
"We hope factions in the Islamic Resistance, which support Palestine and Lebanon, will increase the number and severity of their operations," Askari said on Wednesday.
Israel's military has acknowledged several attacks from the east since April, saying it intercepted them but without naming the suspected attackers.
ak-cbg-tgg/srm/dv
Zelensky alleges Russian plot on nuclear plants in defiant UN address
United Nations, United States, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia on Wednesday of plotting potentially catastrophic attacks on Ukrainian nuclear plants, in a defiant UN address in which he denounced bids to impose peace from the outside.
Zelensky sought to rally support among world leaders at their annual gathering in New York weeks before a US election that could sharply shift the stance of Ukraine's main backer.
Speaking from the UN rostrum in a black polo jacket, Zelensky said that Ukrainian intelligence has found that Russia is scanning the country's nuclear infrastructure by satellite.
Russian President Vladimir Putin "does seem to be planning attacks on our nuclear power plants and the infrastructure, aiming to disconnect the plants from the power grid," Zelensky said.
"Any critical incident in the energy system could lead to a nuclear disaster. A day like that must never come," Zelensky said.
"Moscow needs to understand this, and this depends in part on your determination to put pressure on the aggressor," he told the General Assembly.
Shortly after his remarks, Putin made his most explicit threat yet to use nuclear weapons, saying Russia would consider such a response to a "massive" air attack on its soil.
Ukraine has been pushing the United States and its allies to ease restrictions on weapons that can strike deeper into Russia.
Russia captured the giant Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant soon after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia in recent weeks has been pounding Ukraine's electricity grid, in what Western and Ukrainian officials describe as an attempt to leave the country shivering during the winter.
- 'Never accept' deal from outside -
Zelensky on Thursday will head to the White House to see President Joe Biden and present what he describes as a "victory plan" that shows a path forward for Ukraine.
In his UN address, Zelensky singled out China and Brazil as he questioned the "true interest" of countries that have been pressing Ukraine to negotiate with Russia.
Employing the language of the Global South, Zelensky said: "You will not boost your power at Ukraine's expense... the world has already been through colonial wars and conspiracies of great powers at the expense of those who are small."
"Ukrainians will never accept -- will never accept -- why anyone in the world believes that such a brutal colonial past, which suits no one today, can be imposed on Ukraine now," Zelensky said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a Security Council session on Tuesday that diplomacy was the only solution.
Zelensky last year flew to the General Assembly in a dramatic first wartime appearance and, while he maintains star power, the political landscape has changed.
Donald Trump, running again for president, called Zelensky the "greatest salesman on Earth."
"Every time Zelensky comes to the United States, he walks away with $100 billion," Trump said, claiming "we're stuck in that war unless I'm president."
The United States has provided around $175 billion in both military and economic assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, and Biden has ruled out sending troops.
Trump in the past has voiced admiration for Putin and, during his 2017-2021 presidency, was impeached over delaying aid to Ukraine to press Zelensky to dig up dirt on Biden.
Zelensky said he hoped to see Trump while in the United States and explain that the war is more complicated than Trump characterizes it as.
In Germany, the second-largest contributor of military aid to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also facing pressure from parties opposed to support for Kyiv.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, of Kyiv ally Britain, told the Security Council on Wednesday that Putin has been sending its citizens into a meat grinder and asked how Russia "can show its face" at the UN headquarters.
- Lebanon crisis -
The annual extravaganza marks a swansong for Biden, 81, who has passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris to face Trump in the November 5 election.
The summit comes against a backdrop of chaos in the Middle East as Israel ramps up attacks on the Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah, killing hundreds and prompting a mass exodus of people.
The Security Council will hold a special session on Wednesday on Lebanon, as the United States says it hopes to present ideas for de-escalation.
Wednesday also saw talks at the UN on two other hotspots -- Sudan and Haiti.
The United States announced millions in new assistance both for war-ravaged Sudan's humanitarian crisis and for stabilization efforts in violence-wracked Haiti.
Zelensky alleges Russian plot on nuclear plants in defiant UN address
United Nations, United States, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia on Wednesday of plotting potentially catastrophic attacks on Ukrainian nuclear plants, in a defiant UN address in which he denounced bids to impose peace from the outside.
Zelensky sought to rally support among world leaders at their annual gathering in New York weeks before a US election that could sharply shift the stance of Kyiv's main backer.
Speaking from the UN rostrum in a black polo jacket, Zelensky said that Ukrainian intelligence has found that Russia is scanning the country's nuclear infrastructure by satellite.
Russian President Vladimir Putin "does seem to be planning attacks on our nuclear power plants and the infrastructure, aiming to disconnect the plants from the power grid," Zelensky said.
"Any critical incident in the energy system could lead to a nuclear disaster. A day like that must never come," Zelensky said.
"Moscow needs to understand this, and this depends in part on your determination to put pressure on the aggressor," he told the General Assembly.
Shortly after his remarks, Putin made his most explicit threat yet to use nuclear weapons, saying Russia would consider such a response to a "massive" air attack on its soil.
Ukraine has been pushing the United States and its allies to ease restrictions on weapons that can strike deeper into Russia.
Russia captured the giant Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant soon after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In recent weeks it has been pounding Ukraine's electricity grid, in what Western and Ukrainian officials describe as an attempt to leave the country shivering during the winter.
- 'Never accept' deal from outside -
Zelensky on Thursday will head to the White House to see President Joe Biden and present what he describes as a "victory plan" that shows a path forward for Ukraine.
In his UN address, Zelensky singled out China and Brazil as he questioned the "true interest" of countries that have been pressing Ukraine to negotiate with Russia.
Employing the language of the Global South, Zelensky said: "You will not boost your power at Ukraine's expense... the world has already been through colonial wars and conspiracies of great powers at the expense of those who are small."
"Ukrainians will never accept -- will never accept -- why anyone in the world believes that such a brutal colonial past, which suits no one today, can be imposed on Ukraine now," Zelensky said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a Security Council session on Tuesday that diplomacy was the only solution.
Zelensky last year flew to the General Assembly in a dramatic first wartime appearance and, while he maintains star power, the political landscape has changed.
Donald Trump, running again for president, called Zelensky the "greatest salesman on Earth."
"Every time Zelensky comes to the United States, he walks away with $100 billion," Trump said this week, claiming "we're stuck in that war unless I'm president."
The United States has provided around $175 billion in both military and economic assistance to Ukraine during the war. The Biden administration has ruled out sending troops.
At a joint declaration with Zelensky on Ukrainian reconstruction, Biden said he would "announce a series of actions to accelerate support for Ukraine's military" Thursday, while the G7 club of rich countries pledged support for Ukraine "in war and in peace."
Trump in the past has voiced admiration for Putin and, during his 2017-2021 presidency, was impeached over delaying aid to Ukraine to press Zelensky to dig up dirt on Biden.
Zelensky said he hoped to see Trump while in the United States and explain that the war is more complicated than Trump characterizes it as.
In Germany, the second-largest contributor of military aid to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also facing pressure from parties opposed to support for Kyiv.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, of Kyiv ally Britain, told the Security Council on Wednesday that Putin has been sending its citizens into a meat grinder and asked how Russia "can show its face" at the UN headquarters.
- Lebanon crisis -
The annual UN General Assembly extravaganza marks a swansong for Biden, 81, who has passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris to face Trump in the November 5 election.
The summit comes against a backdrop of chaos in the Middle East as Israel ramps up attacks on the Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah, killing hundreds and prompting a mass exodus of people.
The Security Council will hold a special session on Wednesday on Lebanon, as the United States says it hopes to present ideas for de-escalation.
Wednesday also saw talks at the UN on two other hotspots -- Sudan and Haiti.
The United States announced millions in new assistance both for war-ravaged Sudan's humanitarian crisis and for stabilization efforts in violence-wracked Haiti.
KYODO NEWS - Sep 25, 2024 - 17:32 | World, Feature
Two stateless sisters in their 80s, of Japanese descent in the Philippines, will restore their Japanese citizenships, having lost them due to turmoil after World War II, recent court documents showed.
Esperanza Morine Cabrillos, 86, and Lydia Morine Galalan, 84, were granted permission by the Naha Family Court in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture this month to establish a new family register in the country.
Esperanza and Lydia, who live on the remote island of Linapacan, have received support from a Tokyo-based group and have also met with the consul general of the Japanese Embassy in the Philippines.
The court confirmed that their father was a Japanese citizen who immigrated to the Philippines from Okinawa to become a fisherman before the war. He married a Filipino woman in 1935 and died in the war in 1945.
The court concluded that the sisters acquired Japanese citizenship at birth based on the law at the time.
In the interview with the consul general in May, Lydia said she had long hoped to visit Japan but is concerned about her health due to high blood pressure.
The sisters have little memory of their father, but their mother told them he was Japanese from Okinawa.
There are many stateless residents of Japanese descent in the Philippines. Most of them are offspring of Japanese fathers who moved to the country, married locals and were drafted by Japan's military after the war broke out in the Pacific in 1941.
The fathers died or were deported to Japan, with their children left behind.
The Japanese government has pledged to boost support for the offspring, but there have been cases in which they died before being allowed to acquire Japanese citizenship.
Related coverage:
FOCUS: Asylum seekers on provisional release facing poverty in Japan
KYODO NEWS - Sep 25, 2024 - 12:51 | World, All, Japan
China has called on its citizens traveling to Japan or living in the country to exercise caution, following the fatal stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen a week ago.
"With the National Day holiday approaching...please enhance awareness of safety precautions and ensure safe travel in light of the current situation," the Chinese Embassy in Japan said in a statement on Tuesday.
With China's weeklong holiday set to begin on Tuesday next week, the embassy also advised Chinese nationals to respect local customs in Japan and avoid demonstrations or gatherings to prevent potential conflicts with Japanese people.
The 10-year-old boy, with a Japanese father and Chinese mother, was attacked on his way to a Japanese school in Shenzhen last Wednesday and died of his wounds early the next morning. A male suspect was apprehended near the school shortly after the incident.
While Chinese authorities have not disclosed the suspect's motive, speculation has been rife that the stabbing was linked to the 93rd anniversary of a Japanese bombing of a railroad track near Shenyang, the start of the Manchurian Incident that led to Japan's invasion of northeastern China.
Japan's top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said Wednesday that Tokyo has been urging Beijing to clearly explain the facts related to the stabbing including the suspect's motive, ensure the safety of Japanese nationals in China particularly children, and crack down on "baseless and malicious" anti-Japanese posts on social media.
"We will strongly ask China to swiftly implement (such measures)," the chief Cabinet secretary said at a regular press briefing in Tokyo.
Asked about the possibility of reviewing its advisory for Japanese nationals traveling to China, Hayashi said the government will make "an appropriate decision" by taking into account various factors, including the local security situation.
Related coverage:
Kamikawa urges China's Wang to ensure safety of Japanese nationals
China to express readiness to lift import ban on Japanese seafood
China police believe stabbing of Japanese boy isolated incident
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KYODO NEWS - Sep 25, 2024 - 22:56 | All, Japan
The next leader of Japan's ruling party, and by extension, the prime minister, will be either former defense chief Shigeru Ishiba, rising star and youngest contender Shinjiro Koizumi or economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, according to a Kyodo News tally and analysis on Wednesday.
With the three contenders running neck and neck in the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election, no clear winner is expected to emerge in the first round of voting on Friday. The final victor will be decided in a runoff between the top two candidates.
Whoever secures a majority of the 736 votes -- 368 by LDP lawmakers and 368 by rank-and-file members -- will become the next LDP chief. More than 40 lawmakers have yet to decide who to vote for, making the situation fluid.
Ishiba, 67, is popular among rank-and-file members in regional areas, but securing enough support from fellow LDP lawmakers will be critical for him to succeed in his fifth and, as he describes, final bid.
Takaichi, 63, a conservative lawmaker who does not hide her affinity to the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Koizumi, 43, are trailing Ishiba in terms of grassroots votes.
Meanwhile, Koizumi has secured over 50 votes from fellow LDP lawmakers, the most among the three, ahead of 40 for Takaichi and around 40 for Ishiba, according to the tally.
The next LDP chief is certain to become prime minister, given that the ruling parties -- including the LDP's coalition partner, the Komeito party -- control both houses of parliament. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, having chosen not to seek a second term, will step down when his three-year term expires in September.
Speculation is swirling in political circles that whoever becomes the next premier may choose to dissolve the House of Representatives sooner rather than later for a snap election that must be held before October 2025.
During a TV program on Wednesday, Ishiba, Koizumi and Takaichi indicated that they would dissolve the chamber before the end of this year if elected prime minister.
The crowded race, with a record nine candidates, gives LDP lawmakers and supporters a chance to choose whom they trust to navigate the current crisis facing the ruling party after a slush fund scandal and to restore its image.
Many undecided lawmaker votes belong to members of the powerful intraparty faction previously headed by Abe, which was at the heart of the latest money scandal.
Most of the factions have disbanded or decided to disband, and the apparent lack of faction-based support and voting guidance for their members makes it difficult to project a clear winner.
Still, Koizumi, who former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga backs, has been warming to LDP heavyweight Taro Aso, who once served as premier, in what is seen as his attempt to secure support from the leader of the still-existing faction.
The other candidates are former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, 49, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, 63, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, 71, former top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato, 68, Digital Minister Taro Kono, 61, and LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi, 68.
After the presidential contest, the winner will be elected prime minister by both houses of the chamber on Oct. 1 and form a new Cabinet.
Related coverage:
Takaichi tops Kyodo poll of LDP supporters as most fit to be Japan PM
Japan PM hopefuls agree on Kishida's economic push, differ on how
FOCUS: Race to find next Japan PM may prove ruling party factions die hard
By Maricar Cinco, KYODO NEWS - Sep 25, 2024 - 23:14 | World
The Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group, which has begun exercising self-rule on the island of Mindanao, is not yet ready to surrender its remaining weapons ahead of the autonomous region's first election next year, a key part of the peace process with the government, one of its leaders said Tuesday.
Mohagher Iqbal of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, who led the group's negotiations with the Philippine government, told Kyodo News that they cannot proceed with decommissioning their remaining 14,000 fighters until all conditions of the 2014 peace accord are fulfilled.
Over 26,000 others have already completed the decommissioning process, he said.
Under the peace agreement, which Japan helped broker, the Philippine government is required to provide socio-economic aid, including housing and cash, in exchange for the rebels' surrender of firearms. Iqbal lamented that "very little has been delivered" by the government, which has cited a lack of funding as the cause of the delay.
Despite still being partly armed, Iqbal said, "We will not use the weapons to terrorize voters" during the Bangsamoro autonomous region's first parliamentary elections, scheduled for May next year, in which the rebel group will participate. He emphasized that their leadership maintains control over their forces in southwestern Mindanao.
"The concern is the private armies of the politicians," Iqbal said, noting that the MILF's party faces a tough battle in the upcoming polls. He added that the abolition of these private armies, in a region where feuds between local clans remain rampant, is one of the government's unfulfilled promises.
The MILF, which began its armed struggle for autonomy in the 1970s, currently dominates the interim government of the Bangsamoro region under the terms of the peace pact.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in July that the implementation of the peace agreement is in the "concluding phase" and that the region is "primed and ready" to hold an election after it was first postponed in 2022.
Iqbal said the MILF will respect the outcome of the election but is hopeful "we'll still be holding the reins of (the autonomous government)."
Related coverage:
Freed Japanese exec returns to Japan after conviction in Myanmar
FEATURE: Myanmar residents lobby Japan to act over conscription law
KYODO NEWS - Sep 25, 2024 - 20:34 | World, All, Japan
Taiwan said Wednesday it has lifted the remaining food import restrictions in place since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, allowing the entry of all foods approved for distribution in Japan.
In February 2022, Taiwan removed its ban on most food products from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Gunma, Tochigi and Chiba prefectures, but curbs remained on certain items like mushrooms and wild game meat.
"We believe this is an optimistic step that will help reconstruction efforts in the disaster areas," said Tetsushi Sakamoto, minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
While the move will allow imports of products from the five prefectures, they will still be required to submit forms declaring radiation levels from those regions. All food products from Japan will also require a certificate of origin.
However, importers will no longer need to file radiation reports for designated foods from specific regions, including tea leaves from Shizuoka Prefecture.
The decision came after the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration had draft amendments to regulations undergo a 60-day preview period to collect public opinions.
Over 50 countries and regions introduced import curbs on Japanese food products after a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011.
Most have already lifted them, but neighboring countries such as China, South Korea and Russia have yet to do so, according to the Japanese farm ministry.
Related coverage:
China to resume Japan seafood imports, join water release monitoring
Japan, Philippines sign defense pact amid growing China concern
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Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu congratulated Deputy Prime Minister Catalin Predoiu, as well as all those who contributed to the "success" of Tuesday's anti-drug operation, informs Agerpres.
The Prime Minister mentioned, at the beginning of the government meeting, that in the coming period, actions and anti-drug policies will be promoted in educational institutions.
"It is a clear signal that we are starting to destroy the large drug trafficking networks. In parallel, together with the Minister of Education, I will promote anti-drug and prevention actions and policies in educational institutions. Together with Minister Dr. Rafila, we are focusing on the intervention in the health area and the recovery of those who, unfortunately, go through this trauma. In particular, as you well know, many young people," said Ciolacu.
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Catalin Predoiu, added that the actions of MAI and the Romanian Police to combat drug trafficking and organized crime groups will continue.
"Yesterday's operation and the ones that will follow are not coincidences. We have been acting structured and planned for months and will continue for an indefinite period. We have allocated priority in the previous months and will continue to allocate logistical, financial and human resources for this fight. The police Romania, the Border Police, the Gendarmerie are trained and will continue to give a firm and tough response to organized crime, drug and human trafficking, respecting all legal provisions. Law and order for a long time. Drugs and clans can be defeated, but through national effort, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will do its part," the minister pointed out.
Researchers from five states in the Black Sea basin are evaluating invasive species in the context of climate change and the ecosystem services they can have, within the "Iason+" project, whose launch conference is hosted Wednesday and Thursday by Tulcea County.
The project manager, Gabriel Lupu, specialist of the Danube Delta National Research and Development Institute (INCDDD), said on Wednesday, for AGERPRES, that the initiative financed by European funds brings together researchers from Georgia, Greece, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine in Tulcea.
"One of the main topics of this project is precisely related to the added value that invasive species bring and the ecosystem services that the invasive species can provide. Amorpha fruticosa L. (dwarf acacia, ed.n), an aggressive species in the Delta, has become commercialized. At the moment, because it is part of the deltaic landscape, there are already beekeepers who make honey from this species on the market, as far as I understand, the sticks resulting from the cutting of the species are used for the construction of fences and outbuildings. We are slowly beginning to find their usefulness, if we cannot eliminate them," the INCDDD researcher, Gabriel Lupu, added.
The INCDDD representative emphasized the importance of the participation of Ukrainian researchers at the project's opening conference.
"Some species come on the route from Russia, Ukraine to the Danube Delta, other species come from the south to the north, and it is important to synchronize our activities. Even earlier, the governor of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve established communication with the Ukrainian side on invasive fish species and the invasive shrimp that appeared in the Delta (from Ukraine, ed. n) to be included in the Management Plan of the Reserve, which is currently being worked on," the INCDDD researcher also said.
The objectives of the "Iason+" project are the continuation, development and implementation of joint procedures for monitoring and assessing the risks of non-native invasive species, the evaluation of their influence in the definition of ecosystem services in deltaic ecosystems of the Black Sea Basin and the assessment of resilience in current and forecasted climatic conditions, for the creation and promoting the premises of adaptation to climate change in the protected areas of the project, in accordance with regional strategies and policies.
INCDDD is the leading partner of this project which is financed with 1,396,112.46 euros, through the Interreg VI-B mechanism, NEXT Black Sea Basin Programme, and which takes place between June 28, 2024 and October 27, 2026.
The Interreg VI-B NEXT Black Sea Basin program is supported by the European Union and targets Armenia, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and regions in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine. The program represents a platform where the links between the participating countries are strengthened, new ones being created and where regional actors come together and contribute to a sustainable management of resources for the benefit of the local population.
Nurul Ichwan, deputy minister for investment promotion at Indonesia's Ministry of Investment, addresses the Indonesia-China Investment Conference in Nantong, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 24, 2024. Indonesia is open to further investment from China in a range of industries, Nurul Ichwan, deputy minister for investment promotion at Indonesia's Ministry of Investment, told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday.(Photo by Hu Xiao/Xinhua)
NANJING, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia is open to further investment from China in a range of industries, Nurul Ichwan, deputy minister for investment promotion at Indonesia's Ministry of Investment, told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday.
"In every sector that is related to the richness of Indonesia, especially in the natural resources, we are open to inviting investors from China because we know China currently is not only leading in the economy but it is also leading in technology," Nural said at an investment promotion event in the city of Nantong, east China's Jiangsu Province.
Hosted by Indonesia's Ministry of Investment, the event aimed to promulgate Indonesia's investment environment, policies and opportunities to woo Chinese investors to the world's fourth most populous country and largest economy in Southeast Asia.
Some 100 companies from both countries participated in the event, which took in the industries of textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, construction and shipbuilding. Officials and businessmen of the two engaged in face-to-face discussions and showcased some key investment projects.
China is now Indonesia's largest trading partner and its second-largest source of investment. China's direct investment in Indonesia reached 4.55 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, more than double the 2.2 billion dollars in 2021, according to statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce.
Indonesia is committed to developing a green economy and continuing infrastructure and downstream industry development, which was included in President-elect Subianto Prabowo's eight missions aimed at achieving Golden Indonesia 2045, which envisions Indonesia becoming among the world's top five largest economies, said Nurul.
Nurul also called for more Chinese investment in the construction of the country's new capital Nusantara. Indonesia's central government has issued various incentives to attract investment, including income tax holidays, import tax exemptions, and long-term land-use permits.
"Indonesia now has new potential areas for development," said Xuechi, president of ZTT Group, in an interview with Xinhua during the event. "The new-energy and energy storage sector, plus the electric motorcycle market, they are all in huge demand. Also, Indonesia is a maritime nation with many islands, so there is a significant need for the application of submarine cables."
ZTT Group, China's leading wire and cable manufacturer, has been doing foreign trade with Indonesia since 2005, and in 2017 the group made its first investment in Indonesia, building factories and realizing local production.
"In the next three years, the sales of ZTT Indonesia company will reach more than 1 billion yuan (about 142 million U.S. dollars), create 500 new jobs, and focus on improving the supply chain capabilities of the local cable industry," said Xue.
Delegates attend a panel discussion at the Indonesia-China Investment Conference hosted by Indonesia's Ministry of Investment in Nantong, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 24, 2024. Indonesia is open to further investment from China in a range of industries, Nurul Ichwan, deputy minister for investment promotion at Indonesia's Ministry of Investment, told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday.(Photo by Hu Xiao/Xinhua)
The National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics (ICI Bucharest) initialed a Memorandum of Understanding with the ADA University of Azerbaijan and the State Service for Special Communications and Information Security of Azerbaijan for the establishment of the Cyber Diplomacy Twinning Center, with the aim of developing joint research projects, education and exchange of best practices in the field of cyber security, information technologies and cyber diplomacy, a press release from ICI Bucharest, sent to AGERPRES on Wednesday, reads.
The MoU was inked on September 24, 2024, by Carmen-Elena Cirnu, scientific director of ICI Bucharest and coordinator of the Cyber Diplomacy Center, Fariz Ismailzade, vice-chancellor ADA University, and Allahveran Ismayilov, deputy head of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Security of Azerbaijan.
"Via this agreement, the parties will collaborate for the development of educational programmes and joint courses in cyber security and diplomacy, the promotion of research in the field of protection of critical communication and information infrastructures, the organization of conferences, workshops and joint events in the field of cyber diplomacy and cyber security, the sharing of best practices and solutions for preventing and combating cyber threats," the release states.
Moreover, the collaboration will allow the partners to strengthen their capacities in the face of global cyber threats and to promote innovative solutions for the protection of critical communication and information infrastructures.
Energy companies are very well represented on the stock exchange, Romania being, as for capitalization, in the third position in Central and Eastern Europe, after Poland and Austria, but before Hungary and the Czech Republic, declared on Wednesday the president of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), Radu Hanga at a conference on energy, informs Agerpres.
"We are in a very good position now. Taking into account the size of the economy and the big challenge for us, as the stock exchange, is only one, that of supporting the Romanian companies listed on the stock market as best as possible, in order to increase their visibility and ensure their access to financing," said Radu Hanga.
Referring to the discussions about green energy, the BVB chairman said that in Europe, Romania is among the least polluting countries, together with Greece, Bulgaria, Portugal and Spain, and the states that pollute the most are "about two to three times over us per capita", referring in particular to the USA.
"To the surprise of many, China is perhaps halfway, in terms of pollution, because it produces, but does not consume, only exports," said Hanga, noting that there are two ways to measure pollution, that is to measure it where it is produced or where the product is consumed.
The Bursa newspaper organized on Wednesday the 12th edition of the "Energy in the Plug" conference, among the proposed topics being the projects and strategies of energy companies in the current geo-political context and the need for investments in the Romanian energy system.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen embarked on her eighth trip to Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ahead of winter, she presented a proposal for the EU's share of a G7 loan, as well as fresh money for the country's energy security, informs Agerpres.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made her first trip to Kyiv after being re-elected to the post last week. She guaranteed European support for Ukraine ahead of winter, including a proposal for a 35-billion-Euro loan as well as additional financial support for the country's ailing energy infrastructure and supply.
'My eighth visit to Kyiv comes at a crucial time. Heating season starts in two weeks and Russia's relentless attacks on Ukraine's civilian energy infrastructure aim to inflict maximum damage. We will help Ukraine in its brave efforts to overcome this,' the EU executive leader told European media on the ground, including the Portuguese news agency Lusa acting as a pool reporter on behalf of the European Newsroom (enr).
The Commission chief announced the plans for Brussels to lend Ukraine 35 billion Euro backed by revenues of frozen Russian assets and promised to help Ukraine 'keep warm'.
The announcement comes after leaders of the G7 - a group of major Western industrialised nations including France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States as well as the EU as a 'non-enumerated member' - had agreed last June on a 50-billion-Dollar loan to support the Ukrainian army and economy in the face of Russian aggression.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said Kyiv faces its 'sternest test' so far ahead of the third winter of war with Russia, with Moscow expected to launch another bombing campaign on the country's already damaged infrastructure.
The EU is to provide an additional 160 million Euro to Ukraine to help repair the damaged energy infrastructure, expand renewable energy, and finance shelters, von der Leyen said ahead of her trip.
EU steps in to help fix Ukraine's crumbling power grid
An IEA report said that in 2022 and 2023 about 'half of Ukraine's power generation capacity was either occupied by Russian forces, destroyed or damaged, and approximately half of the large network substations were damaged by missiles and drones'.
'The European Union is here to help you in this challenge to keep the lights on, to keep your people warm, as winter is just around the corner, and to keep your economy going, as you fight for your survival,' von der Leyen said.
The EU's 160-million-Euro support aims to repair infrastructure damaged by Russian bombing and restore - by this winter - 2.5 of the 10 gigawatts Ukraine has lost since March in successive Russian attacks. 'That is approximately 15 percent of your country's needs for this winter,' von der Leyen said.
Another pillar of the plan is to increase EU electricity exports to Ukraine until they reach two gigawatts when temperatures have dropped. 'This covers approximately twelve percent of Ukraine's needs for the winter,' she said.
According to Ukrainian information, 1.7 gigawatts can currently be imported from the EU and Ukraine's south-western neighbour Moldova. The Ukrainian government had previously stated an increase to over 2.2 gigawatts as a target.
'With our two pillars, repair and connect, we cover over 25 percent of Ukraine's needs for the winter,' von der Leyen said.
The energy aid package will also be dedicated to helping Ukraine decentralise its electricity generation system - and therefore make it less vulnerable to Russian missiles and drones - with the transfer of mobile gas turbines and solar panels.
Individual EU member states have repeatedly stressed their support for Ukraine's energy sector.
At a G7 foreign ministers' meeting in New York focused on support for Ukraine's energy sector on Monday, Bulgarian caretaker Foreign Minister Ivan Kondov recalled details of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Bulgaria in July 2023. Back then, a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of energy was signed between the Energy Ministries of Bulgaria and Ukraine and two joint working groups for natural gas and nuclear energy were created.
EU moves ahead with plan for G7 loan share
The EU and its member states have so far supported Ukraine with almost 120 billion Euro in grants and loans, according to the Commission. The money has been used to support Ukraine's war effort, its economy and for humanitarian assistance.
Speaking about the proposed 35-billion-Euro loan at a joint press conference with Zelenskyy on Friday, von der Leyen said she was confident that the EU 'can deliver this loan to Ukraine very quickly, a loan that is backed by the windfall profits from immobilised Russian assets'.
When asked if the European Union is moving forward because it fears other partners like the United States will lag behind, Ursula von der Leyen emphasised that the EU is doing 'its part'.
'I am absolutely confident that the others will also do their part. For us, it was and is important that we are quick because the urgency is clear and this step now gives us the possibility to finalise the procedures,' she added.
Von der Leyen made it clear that Kyiv will be able to spend the money as it wants, including on weapons. Zelenskyy said it is crucial that Ukraine can use the funds to support its armed forces and that these funds must not be blocked, 'because this would have an impact on our ability to support our military at the front'.
The Commission's plan still has to be approved by the European Parliament and a majority of EU countries. In the past, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who maintains good relations with Russia, has repeatedly hindered the bloc's efforts to support Ukraine.
Ukraine has also lobbied its allies to allow it to use donated weapons to strike 'legitimate' military targets deep in Russian territory. The United States and Britain have been discussing allowing it to do just that - but EU states remain divided over the issue.
Last Thursday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on EU countries to allow Kyiv to use Western weapons to strike military targets inside Russia.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday insisted that he will not loosen the rules for the use of German weapons in Ukraine's defensive fight against Russia, despite the pleas from Kyiv. Scholz, who is in the United States to attend the UN General Assembly in New York, specified that this included restrictions that prevent Ukraine from firing missiles deep into Russian territory.
Zelenskyy is visiting the United States this week to present his proposals on how to end more than two and a half years of fighting to US President Joe Biden, as well as the two main candidates running to replace him - Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.
Zelenskyy has said he aims to host another international peace summit outlining his vision to end the war in November, to which Russia will be invited.
The date when the flood wave on the Danube is expected to enter Romania has been postponed to October 1 and will be of 8,000 cubic metres / s, as a result of a significant drop in the maximum flow and the volume of the wave, the National Administration of Romanian Watercourses (ANAR) wrote on Wednesday in a social media post, informs Agerpres.
"The Danube flow upon entering Romania is standing at 6,600 cubic metres /s (almost double the multiannual average of September of 3,800 cubic metres/s) and will be increasing to a record high of 8,000 cubic metres/s on October 1, according to the forecast issued by our colleagues from the National Institute of Hydrology and Watercourse Management. The forecast was developed on the basis of the latest data from the Danube basin, estimates and additional information received at consultations with experts from the National Hydrological Forecast centre of Hungary and Serbia, the precipitation forecast , as well as the change in the mitigation of this flood in the natural flood areas, upstream of Bogojevo. Therefore, the attenuation is greater than the previous conditions as a result of a significant drop in the maximum flow and the volume of the flood wave."
ANAR points out that the strict monitoring of the levels and the Danube defence line is maintained, and if the situation requires it, the response teams will be doubled with hydrotechnical workers. Also, thousands of bags, materials and equipment were brought close to the Romanian sector of the Danube, with 1,100 km of dams under administration inspected on foot, as well as the vulnerable points that were, depending on the situation, consolidated.
Economic operators who carry out research and development activities and pay minimum turnover tax will be able to benefit from fiscal incentives, based on an emergency ordinance adopted by the Government on Wednesday.
The emergency ordinance complements Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code, informed a press release sent by the Executive.
"This Emergency Ordinance regulates the reduction from the minimum turnover tax of the value obtained by applying the 16% rate on the amount representing the additional deduction of 50% applied to eligible expenses for research and development activities. Thus, they will be able to benefit from incentives fiscal and economic operators who carry out research and development activities and pay minimum turnover tax, in addition to the taxpayers in this sector who owe profit tax," the quoted source said.
The government mentions that the legislative solution was adopted following consultations with the business environment and has in mind a series of benefits such as: reinvestment of funds deducted in research and development; the increase in investments and expenses related to research and development activities; attracting new research and development projects in Romania; the recognition of research and development activities as being of strategic importance.
The Minister of Finance, Marcel Bolos, announced six days ago a measure to support companies that bring added value to Romania: the extension of fiscal incentives for investments in research and development and for taxpayers who pay minimum turnover tax
"It means that from now on companies like Dacia, Bosch, Continental, Chimcomplex and many others will be able to benefit from tax deductions that will allow them to invest even more in innovation. It is not always easy to take risks and invest in this component of research and development. We have seen countless times how companies that choose to take this bold step become stronger, more competitive and, most importantly, make an extraordinary contribution to our national economy. Tax facilities for these investments have existed for many years Romania and our data show that there are 800 companies that have benefited so far, with annual deductions of over 1 billion RON. It is a natural step to extend the application of the profit tax to the level of the minimum turnover tax," the Minister wrote on Facebook.
He mentioned that, through the fiscal facilities offered for such investments, companies can redirect part of the money saved in new technology, in modern equipment and in the training of employees.
The Government approved on Wednesday the negotiation and signing of an agreement with Turkey regarding war graves and memorials.
According to a press release from the Government, the memorandum in the field regulates aspects related to the identification, documentation, record, establishment, arrangement, preservation, adequate maintenance and protection of the war graves of the Romanian and Turkish war dead, as well as the war memorials dedicated to them.
Also, the memorandum regulates aspects related to the exhumation of the remains and their reburial in a dignified manner, the cited source states.
However insecure the world is today, the answer to our problems will always be more cooperation and more solidarity, the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis declared on Wednesday, in New York, in his speech before the UN General Assembly.
"Romania will always uphold the international world order, with the UN at its core. If we want to find solutions, we must have a more responsible vision of the world. To understand its challenges. Let us remember what brought us here together in the first place. Peace as a state of spirit, as a purpose, as a tool", pleaded Iohannis in the national intervention held during the general debates of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York.
He said that "regrettably, we see around the globe that insecurity, violence, conflicts and even war have taken a firm grip on our world. Our main challenge is finding the much-needed solutions to restore and safeguard peace. Otherwise, the international order and the international law are ours to lose. When diplomacy is the most difficult tool to use, it is precisely then when we need to use it most".
In his speech, he spoke about the need to support Ukraine as much as necessary in its war against Russia and about the support provided by Romania to the neighboring country. At the same time, he called for the cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, "the safe release of all hostages and the facilitation of the safe shipment of humanitarian aid for the civilians of Gaza".
"More broadly, around the world, there are alarming calls to stop blatant violations of human rights, under many forms and rooted in different causes. There is a sense of urgency that remains unanswered. Conflict prevention and peacekeeping are essential tools in this regard. At the same time, we must support the cooperation with regional organizations, in view of their role in preventing, keeping and enforcing peace," said Klaus Iohannis.
At the same time, the Romanian president spoke about the impact of climate change, which he said "represents a growing threat to our security, and its consequences are already obvious".
"As these negative events increase, they impact demography, economies, energy, connectivity, and geopolitics.
It is vital to further international cooperation and ensure the much needed civil protection mechanisms. Romania actively participates at international level in the exercises, projects and actions to provide emergency response, especially to limit the impact of wildfires", Iohannis pointed out.
He emphasized that the UN system "is essential to mainstream our efforts and to create synergies. We need to accelerate our work to keep the 1.5-degree Celsius target alive. And, since climate change is a threat multiplier, Romania supports an integrated approach to the climate and security nexus within the UN system. Green transition also includes energy transition, while ensuring energy security, as an important development marker", he said.
Iohannis stated that in an age where the world could fully enjoy the opportunities provided by information, innovation and connections "we see increased distrust and hatred; we see polarisation and rise of extremism instead of coexistence and tolerance".
"Technology misuses, disinformation and other hybrid tools are at the centre of the problem with the aim of undermining our security. In such times, it has become way easier to destroy than to build. But it is now that we need to seek strength in global institutions, principles and values. All of those which serve to safeguard human dignity; and human dignity cannot be secured without human rights. They are never optional and continue to stand as one of the fundamental pillars of the UN system," Iohannis pleaded in the UN General Assembly.
In this regard, he said, international legal instruments have a crucial role. "For example, in digital transition. We see that technology is a global amplifier of trends. It is up to us to decide whether it will contribute to more effective and accessible public services. We also have to recognize the essential role of civil society, the human rights defenders, and the involvement of youth in advancing human rights", emphasized Iohannis.
He also conveyed from the UN platform that Romania is monitoring the situation of gender equality and the fight against gender violence. "Romania is a firm supporter of gender equality, which we promote as a member of the Human Rights Council and, most recently, of the Commission on the Status of Women", he assured.
AGERPRES special correspondent Florin Stefan reports: There are no guarantees, but there are quite good chances that Romania will take the next step on the path to Schengen accession, namely accession with land borders, as early as this year, the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday, in New York.
Asked whether he would try to give an impetus in the last months of his mandate to Romania's accession to the Schengen area with land borders, the president replied that "it is extremely important to continue all the steps related to the completion of the Schengen path for Romania" and gave assurances that " worked very intensively all the time for this goal".
"I can't say that there are guarantees, but there are quite good chances that this year we will take the next step. But, until then, we still need a lot of discussions and a lot of negotiations. But we are very committed to this endeavor", said the president of Romania.
Romania and Bulgaria joined the Schengen area with air and sea borders on March 31, 2024, following a decision in Brussels at the end of last year. However, in order to achieve the second step of the full accession of the two states to Schengen, a new political decision within the Council of Justice and Internal Affairs is necessary.
Magnus Brunner, the nomination of Austria, the only state that opposed Romania's full accession to Schengen, will most likely be the new European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, according to the composition of the new European Commission announced on September 17 by President Ursula von der Leyen. His candidacy still needs to be validated by the European Parliament, which will then vote on the entire von der Leyen Commission 2.
BEIJING, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Human rights experts and scholars on Tuesday agreed that the key resolution adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee promotes the all-round advancement of human rights at a symposium in Beijing.
The symposium, held by the China Society for Human Rights Studies, gathered human rights experts from universities, scientific research institutions, relevant departments, and media outlets to share views on the study and implementation of the plenary session's guiding principles and the overall advancement of human rights.
"The plenary session made an overall plan for further comprehensively deepening reform in all aspects, aimed at coordinating the comprehensive development of human rights in all respects," said Lu Guangjin, vice president of the China Society for Human Rights Studies and a professor with Jilin University.
Li Xiao, an official with the Supreme People's Court, said that justice is the last line of protection for human rights, and respecting and protecting human rights runs through the reform of judicial institutions.
The participants of the symposium vowed to integrate human rights research into the overall work of the Party and the country and strive to accelerate the construction of an original knowledge system of human rights that is in line with the development of China's human rights cause.
Joe Holleman Political correspondent/columnist Follow Joe Holleman 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
Some star power is descending on the upcoming U.S. Senate race in Missouri.
Homegrown celebrities Jon Hamm and Andy Cohen will host a Zoom meeting at 8 p.m. Monday to bang the drum as in raise cash and garner votes for Democratic candidate Lucas Kunce.
Kunce, who ran for the Senate two years ago, is facing incumbent GOP U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley in the Nov. 5 balloting.
To join the meeting, go to: secure.actblue.com/donate/lk-event-20240930.
The fact that the two celebs are weighing in for the Kunce camp is nothing new.
Not only did Hamm cut an anti-Hawley spot last year for Kunce, he also supported him in his 2022 primary race against fellow Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine.
As for Cohen, he gave his endorsement to Kunce just days after Kunce announced in January 2023 that he would oppose Hawley.
Hamm, a 1989 grad of John Burroughs, grew up in Creve Coeur and Normandy and became a national star when he landed the lead role of Don Draper in Mad Men. He has since appeared in numerous movies and television shows.
Cohen is a 1986 Clayton High graduate and is best-known as the host of Bravo TVs Watch What Happens Live. He also is an executive producer of the Real Housewives franchise.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a speech during the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
by Xinhua writers Xia Lin, Gao Shan and Pan Yunzhao
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises.
The session saw world leaders heading to New York to deliver their statements as they took part in high-level discussions on the existential threat of sea-level rise, accelerating progress in combating the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, and driving forward the United Nation's long-term goal of achieving global nuclear disarmament with a plenary meeting marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
President of the 79th session of the UNGA, Philemon Yang, told the opening ceremony that "the General Debate remains one of the world's most inclusive, representative and authoritative platforms for global reflection and collective action. This year, the urgency of our task cannot be overstated."
He noted that countries are falling behind in the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With just five years to go, less than 18 percent have been met. Meanwhile, the climate crisis is "no longer a distant threat" but "here now, ravaging ecosystems and dismantling the livelihoods of entire communities."
Yang also addressed the various conflicts raging from the Middle East to Ukraine, and from Haiti to South Sudan. "I call for an immediate ceasefire in all these conflict settings," he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the General Debate of the 79th session of the General Assembly, saying that the current state of the world is unsustainable, but working together can find solutions.
"That requires us to make sure the mechanisms of international problem-solving actually solve problems," he said. "It is time for a just peace based on the UN Charter, international law and UN resolutions."
THE AGENDA
The 79th session of the UNGA opened on Sept. 10, and the first day of the high-level General Debate falls on Tuesday. The 79th session marks a crucial milestone in the global effort to accelerate progress towards the 17 SDGs, according to a UN press release.
While the overall state of SDGs globally remains of grave concern, the SDG Moment event on Tuesday demonstrates that dramatic progress is still possible between now and 2030. It will do so by highlighting inspiring examples of progress across the world and the role of just and inclusive transitions in accelerating SDG progress.
World leaders gathered to engage in the annual high-level general debate under the theme "Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations." Heads of state and government and ministers will explore solutions to intertwined global challenges to advance peace, security, and sustainable development.
On Wednesday, the High-Level Meeting on Sea-Level Rise will convene global leaders, experts and stakeholders to address the urgent and escalating threat of rising sea levels. This meeting will focus on building common understanding, mobilizing political leadership and promoting multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder collaboration and international cooperation towards the objective of "addressing the threats posed by sea-level rise."
Participants will work towards developing comprehensive solutions and actionable commitments to combat sea-level rise, ensuring a resilient and sustainable future including for small island developing states and low-lying coastal areas, according to the United Nations.
On Thursday, the High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) presents an opportunity for countries and stakeholders to renew efforts and accelerate progress in combating the growing threat of AMR. This meeting will serve as the foundation for executing policies and ensuring accountability for strengthening health systems against AMR.
"Building on the momentum of previous declarations and commitments, participants will focus on enhancing international cooperation, promoting the responsible use of antimicrobials, and advancing the development of new treatments to safeguard global health," said the United Nations.
Also on Thursday, a high-level meeting will be held for International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
On Monday, the United Nations just concluded the highly anticipated two-day Summit of the Future, which underscored the urgent need for enhanced international cooperation to address pressing challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the impacts of ongoing conflicts and global health crises.
UNITED NATIONS President Joe Biden declared in his final address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that the U.S. must not retreat from the world, as Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon edged toward all-out war and Israels bloody operation against Hamas in Gaza neared the one-year mark.
Biden used his wide-ranging address to speak to a need to end the Middle East conflict and the 17-month-old civil war in Sudan and to highlight U.S. and Western allies support for Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. He also raised concern over artificial intelligence and its potential to be used for repression.
His appearance before the international body offered Biden one of his last high-profile opportunities as president to make the case to keep up robust support for Ukraine, which could be in doubt if former President Donald Trump defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Biden insisted that despite global conflicts, he remains hopeful for the future.
Ive seen a remarkable sweep of history, Biden said. I know many look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair but I do not.
We are stronger than we think when the world acts together, he added.
Meanwhile, the head of the UN warned the gathered leaders of nations Tuesday that impunity, inequality and uncertainty are driving modern civilization toward a powder keg that risks engulfing the world the latest in an increasing number of clarion calls from Antonio Guterres in recent years that the global situation is becoming intolerable and unsustainable.
We cant go on like this, the secretary-general said in an alarming state-of-the-world address as he opened the annual high-level gathering of the U.N.s 193 member nations.
He said the world is in an era of epic transformation facing challenges never seen before, with geopolitical divisions deepening, the planet heating and wars raging in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere with no clue how they will end.
We are edging towards the unimaginable a powder keg that risks engulfing the world, Guterres told presidents, prime ministers and ministers in the vast General Assembly hall.
But he stopped short of saying hope was gone.
The challenges we face, he said, are solvable.
Biden came to office promising to rejuvenate U.S. relations around the world and to extract the U.S. from forever wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that consumed American foreign policy over the last 20 years.
I was determined to end it, and I did, Biden said of the Afghanistan exit, calling it a hard decision but the right decision.
He acknowledged that it was accompanied by tragedy with the deaths of 13 American troops and hundreds of Afghans in a suicide bombing during the chaotic withdrawal.
But his foreign policy legacy might ultimately be shaped by his administrations response to two of the biggest conflicts in Europe and the Middle East since World War II.
There will always be forces that pull our countries apart, Biden said, rejecting a desire to retreat from the world and go it alone. He said, Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than the forces pulling us apart.
The Pentagon announced Monday that it will send a small number of additional U.S. troops to the Middle East to supplement about 40,000 already in the region. All the while, the White House insists Israel and Hezbollah still have time to step back and de-escalate.
Full scale war is not in anyones interest, Biden said, and despite escalating violence, a diplomatic solution is the only path to peace.
Biden had a hopeful outlook for the Middle East when he addressed the U.N. just a year ago. In that speech, Biden spoke of a sustainable, integrated Middle East coming into view.
At the time, economic relations between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors were improving with implementation of the Abraham Accords that Israel signed with Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates during the Trump administration.
Bidens team helped resolve a long-running Israel-Lebanon maritime dispute that held back gas exploration in the region. Israel-Saudi normalization talks were progressing, a game-changing alignment for the region if a deal could be landed.
Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on the sidelines of last years U.N. gathering. Eighteen days later, Bidens Middle East hopes came crashing down.
Hamas militants stormed into Israel, killing 1,200, taking some 250 hostage, and spurring a bloody war that has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza and led the region into a complicated downward spiral.
Biden, in his address, also called for the sustainment of Western support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Biden helped galvanize an international coalition to back Ukraine with weapons and economic aid in response to Russian President Vladimir Putins February 2022 assault on Ukraine.
At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pressing Biden to loosen restrictions on the use of Western-supplied long-range missiles so that Ukrainian forces can hit deeper in Russia. So far Zelenskyy has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions.
Putin has warned that Russia would be at war with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.
Biden and Harris are scheduled to hold separate meetings with Zelenskyy in Washington on Thursday. Ukrainian officials were also trying to arrange a meeting for Zelenskyy with Trump this week, though a Trump campaign official said it wasnt going to materialize.
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Just two years ago, leading anti-abortion activists were euphoric as the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, ending the nationwide right to abortion.
Now, with a presidential election fast approaching, their movement is disunited and worried.
Within their own ranks, there is second-guessing, finger-pointing and trepidation that Election Day might provide new proof that their cause is broadly unpopular.
Michael New, an abortion opponent who teaches social research at The Catholic University of America, offered an overview of how the movement fared since Roe was overturned in June 2022.
"Things have not necessarily unfolded as we would hope," he wrote in an email. "There is certainly a sense among pro-life leaders that we should have had a stronger post-Roe game plan in place."
The anti-abortion movement recently saw a losing streak on abortion-related ballot measures in seven states, including conservative Kansas and Kentucky.
Nine more states will consider constitutional amendments enshrining abortion rights in the Nov. 5 election: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota. In several of them, abortion opponents' attempts to block the measures were unsuccessful.
"Pro-life people don't wear rose-colored glasses; we know we have a huge task ahead of us," Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, said. "Because of the massive amounts of money being dumped into the ballot measures from those allied with the abortion industry and the Democratic Party, it's an uphill battle."
Still, she added she has "not seen flagging energy or any loss of determination among pro-life people."
Republican former President Donald Trump nominated Supreme Court justices who were crucial to overturning Roe and called it "a beautiful thing to watch" as various states took different directions.
Texas is among the Republican-governed states that enacted near-total abortion bans. Yet nationally, Texas Right to Life president John Seago said, the anti-abortion movement "is in a critical chapter right now."
He added, "we have realized that while we had enjoyed massive legislative and legal victories in the last decade, public opinion had not followed the same trajectory."
Troy Newman, who heads the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, recently published an online opinion piece assailing the movement he's been a part of for 25 years.
"The tide has turned, and the pro-life message is now considered a political liability that could prevent President Trump's victorious return to the White House," Newman wrote.
"After evaluating the terrible mistakes of the pro-life movement over the last several years, I can only conclude that it is our fault," Newman wrote. "We have had over 50 years to change the culture's position on abortion only to have failed miserably."
In an interview, Newman blamed those in his own ranks for the predicament saying some anti-abortion leaders should have been more adamant in their positions. "We lose the minute we stop focusing on the babies," he said.
Kristan Hawkins, leader of Students for Life of America, suggested via email that Newman's views were ill-suited to the post-Roe era. She said the students in her organization embraced the challenges of a state-by-state playing field.
But, "I actually believe the biggest threat is ourselves our mindsets which will lead to decreased recruitment, training, and mobilization of our grassroots army of love," she wrote recently in the conservative outlet Townhall.
"Look at the struggles we face this fall with several late-term abortion ballot referendums," she added. "Most will likely be a political loss for our movement because, in most states, a politically sophisticated, organized, and well-funded state-wide movement is not present."
Hawkins also acknowledged anger among some anti-abortion activists over the inconsistent rhetoric on abortion coming from the Republican presidential ticket of Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
Trump has been evasive on whether he would veto a federal abortion ban if reelected and Congress were to approve one; his "leave it to the states" approach conveys acceptance that abortion is widely available in at least half the states.
Trump's support for a state-by-state solution was a factor in the decision of Charles Camosy, an anti-abortion Catholic academic, to declare he now feels politically estranged.
"The Republican Party has rejected our point of view. Democrats are running a candidate (Vice President Kamala Harris) who has made abortion rights a centerpiece of her campaign," Camosy, a medical humanities professor at Creighton University School of Medicine, wrote recently in The Atlantic.
"Pro-lifers those who believe that protecting vulnerable and unborn life should be a primary policy priority now do not fit in either major political party," he wrote.
In an interview, Camosy said abortion-rights supporters were better prepared for the post-Roe era than their adversaries, while some Republican-controlled legislatures in his view went too far with stringent abortion bans.
"I see this moment as an opportunity," Camosy wrote in The Atlantic. "Pro-life 3.0 must welcome people from multiple political and policy perspectives, working for both prenatal justice and social support for women and families."
Some other anti-abortion activists forcefully renounced Trump, including leaders of End Abortion Ohio.
"We call on God-fearing American voters to withhold their votes from Trump until he evidences genuine repentance for his pro-abortion stance," said the group's executive director, Nicholas Kallis.
However, others like Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis encourage support for Trump.
"A vast majority of our statewide membership absolutely support President Trump and believe he would advance the protection of life at the federal level more than a Kamala administration would," Gonidakis said. "It is not even close."
A look at 50 years of Supreme Court abortion decisions 1973 1976 1986 1989 1992 2000 2007 2016 2020 2021 2022
JDEIDET YABOUS, Syria Families fleeing the escalating conflict in Lebanon poured into Syria in growing numbers on Wednesday, waiting for hours in heavy traffic to reach the relative safety of another war-torn country.
U.N. officials estimated that thousands of Lebanese and Syrian families had already made the journey. Those numbers are expected to grow as Israel targets southern and eastern Lebanon in an aerial bombardment that local officials say has killed more than 600 people this week, at least a quarter of them women and children. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah fighters and weapons.
Lines of buses and cars extended for several kilometers (miles) from the Syria border beginning on Monday, and some families were seen making the journey on foot. Once in Syria, people waited hours more to be processed by overwhelmed border officials, and relief workers handed out food, water, mattresses and blankets.
Many will have to spend the night outdoors waiting their turn, Rula Amin, a spokesperson for the U.N.s refugee agency, said in a statement.
Amin said some of the people arriving from Lebanon had visible injuries suffered from recent attacks.
The cross-border flow was a striking reversal in fortunes given that Lebanon is still hosting more than one million Syrian refugees who fled the war in their country that began in 2011. Thats when an initially peaceful anti-government uprising was met by a brutal government crackdown and spiraled into an ongoing civil war.
In the Syrian border town of Jdeidet Yabous, some families sat glumly on the side of the road when Associated Press journalists visited the area. Some used their bags as seats, waiting for taxis, buses or relatives to pick them up. Many said they had spent eight or nine hours in traffic just to get into Syria.
Before crossing the border, crowds packed into a government office to be processed by immigration officers and, in the case of Syrian citizens, to change $100 to Syrian pounds before entering a measure imposed in an attempt to prop up the local currency by bringing more dollars into the country. Due to the sudden spike in demand, the supply of Syrian pounds at the border ran short.
Some were returning refugees, like Emad al-Salim, who had fled Aleppo in 2014. He was living in the southern coastal city of Tyre when Mondays bombardment began. He gathered his wife and six children and fled again.
There were houses destroyed in front of me as we were coming out, he said. It took us three days to get here.
Nada Hamid al-Lajji returned with her family after seven years in Lebanon with her husband. They are from eastern Syria, but al-Lajji said she doesnt know if they will return there.
Where am I going to go? she said. I dont even have a house anymore. I dont know where I will go.
Many Lebanese families were also fleeing. Mahmoud Ahmad Tawbeh from the village of Arnoun in the countrys south had come with an extended family of 35 people, planning to stay in a rented house in a Damascus suburb.
We left with difficulty, there were a lot of bombs dropping above our heads, he said. Five or six houses in the village were destroyed and several neighbors were killed, he said.
For many in Lebanon, particularly those living in the Bekaa Valley in the east, Syria appeared to be the quickest route to safety. Israeli strikes across the country this week have wounded more than 2,000.
Many of the Lebanese arriving at the border refused to speak to journalists or would not give their full names because of the sensitivity of the situation. One woman from the town of Harouf in southern Lebanon, who gave her family name, Matouk, said she had come with her brothers wife, who is Syrian, to stay with in-laws.
Several families near where they lived were killed, she said, and she was worried about her father and siblings who she had left behind.
While the war in Syria is ongoing, active fighting has long been frozen in much of the country. Lebanese citizens, who can cross the border without a visa, regularly visit Damascus. And renting an apartment is significantly cheaper in Syria than in Lebanon. Even before the latest escalation, some Lebanese had rented in Syria as a Plan B in case they needed to flee.
Apart from those who fled the war, many Syrians come to Lebanon for work or family reasons, and regularly cross the border.
However, many of those who came as refugees have been reluctant to return out of fear they could be arrested for real or perceived ties to the opposition to Syrian President Bashar Assad or forcibly conscripted to the army. If they leave Lebanon they could also lose their refugee status.
Earlier this week, Assad issued an amnesty for crimes committed before Sept. 22, including those who dodged compulsory military service.
He had issued similar amnesties over the past years, but they largely failed to convince refugees to return, as have efforts by Lebanese authorities to organize voluntary return trips.
Sewell reported from Beirut.
Soldiers with the 256th Medical Company Area Support of the Florida National Guard secure equipment on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, as they prepare for Hurricane Helene. (Christopher Vann/Florida National Guard)
ATLANTA The Air Force evacuated aircraft from several Florida and Georgia bases on Wednesday, and some 3,300 Florida National Guard troops prepared to respond as Hurricane Helene bared down on the states Gulf Coast.
Military officials at Tyndall and MacDill Air Force bases in Florida sent F-35 fighter jets, KC-135 Stratotankers, and other aircraft out of the storms path as it strengthened from a tropical storm into a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday. Moody Air Force Base also sent its HH-60 combat rescue helicopters and A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jets away from the south Georgia post, officials there said.
Florida had called up much of its National Guard force to stage and prepare to respond to the devastation Helene was likely to create. National Hurricane Center forecasters predicted the storm would strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane ahead of landfall Thursday evening near the states so-called Big Bend region, where the panhandle meets the states peninsula. Category 3 storms are major hurricanes that boast winds from 111 to 129 mph and almost always cause devastating damage, according to the hurricane center.
The Florida Guard was preparing 12 helicopters and high-wheeled rescue vehicles among other assets ahead of the storm, officials said.
Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina were expected to call up at least some of their National Guard troops in the coming days, said Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman. Officials in Florida said another 2,000 Army and Air Force Guard troops also could be activated, if needed.
Air Force Airman 1st Class Marcos Rivera of the 927th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron marshals a KC-135 Stratotanker at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (Monique Stober/U.S. Air Force)
MacDills commander, Air Force Col. Ed Szczepanik, issued an installation-wide mandatory evacuation of the base near Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday afternoon. He said the installation would remain closed until first responders declare it safe after the storm passes.
Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta, Ga., announced it would also close Thursday.
At Tyndall near Panama City, Fla., officials ordered a partial evacuation, but they planned to keep the base open through the storm.
The National Hurricane Centers models Wednesday afternoon showed the storms eye likely to miss both bases. However, the center predicted massive, life-threatening storm surge up to and beyond 12 feet and flooding along Floridas coast from Apalachicola east to roughly the Anclote River, which is about 10 miles north of central Tampa. Storm surge in those areas could surpass 12 to 18 feet, forecasters said.
The hurricane center also warned Helene would likely bring heavy rainfall and devastating hurricane-force winds inland north Florida and Georgia on Friday. It was expected to drop 5 to 10 inches of rain on areas in its path, including Atlanta and potentially as far north as Nashville, Tenn., according to the center.
Weakening is expected after landfall, but Helenes fast forward speed will allow strong, damaging winds, especially in gusts, to penetrate well inland across the southeastern United States, including over the higher terrain of the southern Appalachians, hurricane center forecasters said Wednesday.
Soldiers with the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade load rockets into an Apache helicopter at Grafenwoehr Training Area on Sept. 24, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany The Army has begun revamping outdated aircraft fueling and rearming procedures to make the process quicker and safer for service members in combat zones.
The Helicopter Expedited Refueling Operations project, or HERO, will introduce faster pump systems, robotic fueling and elements of artificial intelligence, an Army statement said.
A team from the Army Applications Laboratory, which is running the project, recently observed a 12th Combat Aviation Brigade exercise at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, to better inform their work.
Forward Arming and Refueling Point protocols have remained unchanged for decades, even as the pace of combat has increased.
Soldiers with the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade prepare to load rockets into idling Apache helicopters at a forward arming and refueling point at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany, on Sept. 24, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) An Apache helicopter lands at a forward arming and refueling point at Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany after live-fire training on Sept. 24, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) An Army Apache pilot with the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade idles at a refueling point before conducting live-fire training at Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany, on Sept. 24, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) A soldier with the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade operates a fueling truck that allows multiple Apache helicopters to refuel before their flight over Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany on Sept. 24, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) Apache helicopters with the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade conduct live-fire training at Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany on Sept. 24, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes) An Apache helicopter fires live ammunition at static ground targets at Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany on Sept. 24, 2024. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
In the best-case scenario, the site takes 40 to 60 minutes to stage and equip. It takes another hour to arm and fuel the aircraft and more time to pack up and move out, said Capt. Justin Thomas, distribution platoon leader for Echo Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment.
Overall, youre looking at a three-hour time of exposure for both the soldiers on the ground and the aircraft, Thomas said Tuesday.
The revamp would include unmanned ground support systems, said Sgt. 1st Class Dayne Martin, Echo Companys distribution platoon sergeant.
I think its going to really streamline all the processes and really minimize that time on station for the personnel, said Martin, who added that the ultimate goal is to minimize the enemy threat to the soldiers and aircraft.
The pumps and robotics are in development, said Capt. Lydia LaRue, a 12th Combat Aviation Brigade spokeswoman.
The HERO project is in its early stages. The Armys goal is to have technology prototypes sent to soldiers in less than 30 months, LaRue said.
Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Clarks promotion was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, and he will now receive a fourth star and lead U.S. Army Pacific, which is based in Hawaii. (Mary Katzenberger/U.S. Army)
The Senate confirmed a fourth star for Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark on Tuesday just hours after Sen. Tommy Tuberville dropped a brief hold on his nomination to lead the services forces in the Indo-Pacific region, congressional records show.
Tuberville, R-Ala., imposed the block on Clarks promotion earlier this month over concerns about the generals role in keeping quiet Defense Secretary Lloyd Austins hospitalization after complications from surgery to treat prostate cancer. The senator dropped the hold after meeting Tuesday with Clark, said Mallory Jaspers, his spokeswoman.
After a detailed discussion, Sen. Tuberville dropped his hold, she wrote Wednesday in an email. While there were certainly failures elsewhere, the senator is confident that Lt. Gen. Clark more than fulfilled his duties during the secretarys hospitalization. Sen. Tuberville is thankful for Lt. Gen. Clarks many decades of service to our nation and wishes he and his family the best in his new assignment.
Tuberville drew fire from Democrats and Republicans last year when he blocked promotions of generals and admirals from February until December in protest of a Pentagon policy that allowed travel reimbursements for service members in locations with restrictions on reproductive health, including abortions. Tubervilles hold ultimately stalled promotions for more than 400 top officers. The Pentagon never altered its policy.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., dropped his block on Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Clarks nomination to lead the services forces in the Indo-Pacific region. (Stars and Stripes)
Clark, 58, was one of dozens of top military officers confirmed for promotions on Tuesday by the Senate. The 36-year Army veteran has served as Austins top military aide since July 2022. He will replace Army Gen. Charlie Flynn as the chief of U.S. Army Pacific in Hawaii in the coming weeks.
Tubervilles brief hold of his promotion came over concerns that Clark, one of Austins closest confidants, had been involved in the missteps when the secretary was hospitalized in January days after his prostate surgery. Austins condition and hospitalization status was not revealed to White House staffers and President Joe Biden for days, according to a February review of the incident. Austin and his staff faced condemnation from lawmakers for failing to report the defense secretarys condition to the White House and Capitol Hill.
A summary of the Pentagons review of the incident did not name Clark but said Austins staff faced a difficult situation given health privacy laws. The review concluded Austins staff had no ill intent and made no attempt to obfuscate the secretarys condition to the White House or the public.
Austin, 71, spent about two weeks in the hospital. Pentagon officials said there was never a lapse of military command and control during that period. In February, Austin apologized publicly to the American public, admitting he did not handle this right.
Clark is a 1988 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., who served as an infantry officer in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and the more recent Operation Inherent Resolve, the mission to defeat Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. He has spent much of his recent career based in Hawaii, serving as the chief of staff at U.S. Army Pacific, the commanding general of the 25th Infantry Division at Hawaiis Schofield Barracks, and as the chief of staff of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, according to his Army biography. He served as the commanding general of U.S. Army Central before becoming Austins top military aide.
In addition to Clark, the senate on Tuesday approved promotions for other top generals and admirals. Senators approved Air Force Lt. Gen. Steven Nordhaus promotion to four stars and becoming the next chief of the National Guard Bureau. They approved Navy Vice Adm. Alvin Holseys confirmation to four stars to lead U.S. Southern Command. They also approved Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall Reeds promotion to four stars to lead U.S. Transportation Command. And the Senate confirmed Army Lt. Gen. Xavier Brunsons promotion to four stars to command U.S. Forces Korea, records show.
DALIAN, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Liaoning Snake Island-Laotie Mountain National Nature Reserve recorded 11,175 raptors in a single day during its autumn raptor monitoring on Monday.
The number, a record high, marks the first time in Chinese mainland that over 10,000 raptors have been recorded in a single day during autumn monitoring.
Located in the Lushunkou District of the city of Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, the reserve is an important node on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, with raptors being the most common species among migratory birds in the area.
"The reserve began raptor monitoring in 2018, averaging over 60,000 raptors monitored every autumn," said Wang Xiaoping, deputy director of the reserve's administration. "Last autumn, we recorded a total of 85,567 raptors. As of Sept. 23 this autumn, we have already recorded 43,449 migratory raptors. Monitoring the changes in raptor populations is crucial for assessing the ecological health of a region."
The Snake Island-Laotie Mountain biosphere reserve, as a site of the migratory bird along the coast of the Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China, was inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO this July.
Students and faculty pose for a group photo in front of the USS Constitution during the 72nd International Maritime Officer Course, Sept. 8, 2024, in Boston. (Bryan Myhr/U.S. Coast Guard)
Twenty-seven students from 23 countries are graduating from a 12-week course that imparts the U.S. Coast Guards know-how and fosters interoperability for future joint missions, according to a news release from the USCG Training Center in Yorktown, Va.
The 72nd International Maritime Officer Course, hosted by the USCG International Maritime Officer School in Yorktown, is intended for mid-grade officers or civilians with 7-10 years of experience.
The course is wide-ranging: it covers search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, international rule of law and armed conflict and port security, among other things.
I got to learn incident command systems procedures. It would be nice if we start implementing them because it is really helpful to handle different situations and emergencies. Also, I got to learn how the U.S. Coast Guard does search and rescue, said Lt. j.g. Pablo Gutierrez, an operations officer with the Colombian Navy.
Several students perform roles in a simulation lab as part of the 72nd International Maritime Officer Course, Sept. 5, 2024, in New London, Conn. (Bryan Myhr/U.S. Coast Guard)
Crucially, the course is also intended to help students learn more about the United States history, culture and norms of governance. Accordingly, enrollees visited major East Coast cities such as Boston and Washington, as well as the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
A group of international maritime officers take a bus tour of historic sites as part of the 72nd International Maritime Officer Course, Sept. 3, 2024 in Philadelphia. (Bryan Myhr/U.S. Coast Guard)
The U.S. Coast Guard is a global coast guard, but we are not the global coast guard, said USCG International Training head Brian Lisko.
The International Maritime Officer School has hosted thousands of international students from over 100 naval and coast guard services since the 1960s, but the officers course, established in 1995, is the centerpiece of the USCGs international training programs.
With the conclusion of the 72nd iteration of the officers course on Sept. 26, there will be 1,660 total graduates of the program globally all helping to enforce the international rules-based order of which all our like-minded nations are a part of, as Lisko said.
Eric Inouye, head of the Command and Control (C2) and Networks division for Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacifics Indo-Pacific Department, presents an overview of the Naval Information Warfare Center and University of Hawaii (UH) System Cybersecurity Internship Program to U.S. Rep. Ed Case. (Courtesy of University of Hawaii)
(Tribune News Service) A judge on Tuesday sentenced a Virginia-based defense contracting firm to pay more than $4.1 million in fines and forfeitures as part of a corruption scandal in which one of the firms executives bribed a civilian employee from San Diegos Naval Information Warfare Center in exchange for millions of dollars in government contracts.
Cambridge International Systems, Inc. was ordered to forfeit more than $1.67 million and pay a fine of $2.5 million after pleading guilty in April to a bribery conspiracy. The firm admitted to committing the criminal act through a handful of employees, including Russell Thurston, a former executive vice president. Thurston has pleaded not guilty in a separate case and is set to go on trial next year.
Federal prosecutors said the government contracts that Cambridge was awarded in exchange for the bribes netted the company nearly $7.5 million in profit.
Cambridges founder and CEO, Kimberly Harokopus, told the judge on Tuesday that the guilty plea was the result of decisions by a few bad actors, but that the company has since spent about $2 million strengthening its compliance practices. There was never an ethos of corruption at Cambridge, she told U.S. District Judge Todd Robinson.
The case is part of a yearslong corruption and bribery scheme centered around James Soriano, a former civil engineer and certified contracting officer representative who worked for the Department of Defense at the Naval Information Warfare Center, which was previously known as the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, or SPAWAR.
Soriano, who now lives in Las Vegas, pleaded guilty in June to helping defense contractors obtain lucrative contracts in exchange for fancy meals and pricey tickets to sporting events. He also admitted that he had secured no-work jobs for family members and friends who funneled some of their earnings to him.
Among the perks that Soriano admitted to receiving from Thurston were four tickets to the 2018 MLB All-Star Game at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., that cost $8,454. Soriano also admitted that Thurston secured no-work jobs for Liberty Gutierrez, Sorianos close family friend who gave Soriano portions of her $77,000 yearly Cambridge salary, and one of Sorianos family members who had recently graduated from college. According to Sorianos plea agreement, Thurston also fulfilled his request to hire two other individuals as consultants, including one who was paid $80 per hour.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Swan called Thurstons alleged conduct egregious and said that Cambridges other executives should have noticed the wrongdoing over the years.
Though federal sentencing guidelines dictated that Cambridge should have been on the hook for more than $14 million in fines twice the amount that it profited attorneys for the company argued the firm couldnt pay nearly that much. Prosecutors initially recommended a $5 million fine, then negotiated with the company to pay half that amount. Swan said the government wanted to hold the firm accountable while also allowing it to financially survive.
Attorneys for Cambridge said that as part of the agreement, the company will pay $2.25 million to the federal government in installments over the next five years. The other $250,000 will be placed in a trust fund for the family of Gustavo Adolfo Sanchez Aguirre, a Cambridge flight instructor and former Colombian military commander who was shot dead last week in front of his son during a street robbery.
Cambridge was the first defendant to be sentenced in multiple cases related to Soriano, who also admitted in his plea that he accepted thousands of dollars worth of meals and tickets to the 2018 World Series and 2019 Super Bowl from Virginia-based defense contractor Philip Flores and his company, IntelliPeak Solutions. Flores and IntelliPeak have pleaded not guilty to the charges and are set to go to trial next year.
Soriano is set to be sentenced next May, while a woman who accepted bribes while working under him is scheduled for sentencing in November. Gutierrez, who took the no-work job at Cambridge and first pleaded guilty in 2021, is scheduled to be sentenced in February.
2024 The San Diego Union-Tribune.
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A traffic advisory sign on westbound S.R. 408 near downtown Orlando, Fla., informs commuters of the approaching Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (Joe Burbank,Orlando Sentinel via AP)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. An enormous Hurricane Helene swamped parts of Mexico on Wednesday as it churned on a path forecasters said would take it to Florida as a potentially catastrophic storm with a surge that could swallow entire homes, a chilling warning that sent residents scrambling for higher ground, closed schools, and led to states of emergency throughout the Southeast.
Helenes center was about 430 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, and the hurricane was expected to intensify and accelerate as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico toward the Big Bend area of Floridas northwestern coast. Landfall was expected sometime Thursday evening, and the hurricane center said by then it could be a major Category 4 storm with winds above 129 mph.
Tropical storm conditions were expected in southern Florida Wednesday night, spreading northward and encompassing the rest of Florida as well as Georgia and South Carolina through Thursday night. The storm was moving north at 12 mph with top sustained winds of 85 mph Wednesday evening.
Helene could create a life-threatening storm surge as high as 20 feet in parts of the Big Bend region, forecasters said. Its tropical storm-force winds extended as far as 345 miles from its center.
The fast-moving storms wind and rain also could penetrate far inland: The hurricane center posted hurricane warnings well into Georgia and tropical storm warnings as far north as North Carolina, and it warned that much of the Southeast could experience prolonged power outages, toppled trees and dangerous flooding.
Just hope and pray that everybodys safe, said Connie Dillard, of Tallahassee, as she shopped at a grocery store with thinning shelves of water and bread before hitting the highway out of town. Thats all you can do.
One insurance firm, Gallagher Re, is expecting billions of dollars in damage in the U.S. Around 18,000 linemen from out of state staged in Florida, ready to help restore power. Airports in St. Petersburg, Tallahassee and Tampa were planning to close on Thursday, and 62 hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities evacuated their residents Wednesday.
Georgia activated 250 National Guard soldiers for rapid deployment. State game wardens, foresters and Department of Correction teams will help provide swift-water rescues and other emergency responses.
State meteorologist Will Lanxton said tropical storm-force winds are expected throughout Georgia. Lanxton said metro Atlanta hasnt seen sustained tropical storm winds since Hurricane Irma in 2017.
I think were going to see some significant power outages, probably nothing like weve seen, because its 159 counties wide, said James Stallings, director of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.
In Tallahassee, where stations started to run out of gas, 19-year-old Florida A&M student Kameron Benjamin filled sandbags with his roommate to protect their apartment before evacuating. Their school and Florida State shut down.
This hurricane is heading straight to Tallahassee, so I really dont know what to expect, Benjamin said.
As Big Bend residents battened down their homes, many saw the ghost of 2018s Hurricane Michael. That storm rapidly intensified and crashed ashore as a Category 5 that laid waste to Panama City and parts of the rural Panhandle. On Wednesday, the National Weather Service posted an urgent warning for residents along Apalachee Bay:
There is a danger of catastrophic and unsurvivable storm surge for Apalachee Bay, it said. Storm surge may begin to arrive as early as late Wednesday night ahead of the winds. This forecast, if realized, is a nightmare surge scenario for Apalachee Bay. Please, please, please take any evacuation orders seriously!
People are taking heed and hightailing it out of there for higher ground, said Kristin Korinko, a Tallahassee resident who serves as the commodore of the Shell Point Sailboard Club, on the Gulf Coast about 30 miles south of Tallahassee.
For toughened Floridians who are used to hurricanes, Robbie Berg, a national warning coordinator for the hurricane center, advised: Please do not compare it to other storms you may have experienced over the past year or two.
Helene is forecast to be one of the largest storms in breadth in years to hit the region, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. He said since 1988, only three Gulf hurricanes were bigger than Helenes predicted size: 2017s Irma, 2005s Wilma and 1995s Opal.
Areas 100 miles north of the Georgia-Florida line can expect hurricane conditions. More than half of Georgias public school districts and several universities canceled classes.
And for Atlanta, which is under a tropical storm watch, Helene could be the worst strike on a major Southern inland city in 35 years, said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.
Its going to be a lot like Hugo in Charlotte, Shepherd said of the 1989 storm that struck the North Carolina city, knocking out power to 85% of customers as winds gusted above hurricane force.
Landslides were possible in southern Appalachia, with catastrophic flooding predicted in the Carolinas and Georgia, where all three governors declared emergencies. Rainfall is possible as far away as Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana.
Parts of Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula were under hurricane warnings as Helene wound between it and the western tip of Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico. The storm formed Tuesday in the Caribbean, and it flooded streets and toppled trees as it passed offshore and brushed the resort city of Cancun.
In Cuba, authorities moved cattle to higher ground and medical brigades went to communities often cut off by storms. The government preventively shut off power in some communities as waves as high as 16 feet slammed Cortes Bay. In the Cayman Islands, schools remained closed as residents pumped water from flooded homes.
In the U.S., federal authorities positioned generators, food and water, along with search-and-rescue and power restoration teams.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned that Helene could be as strong as a Category 4 hurricane when it makes landfall. The state was providing buses to evacuate people in the Big Bend region and taking them to shelters in Tallahassee.
But near Floridas center, outside Orlando, Walt Disney World said its only closures Thursday would be the Typhoon Lagoon water park and its miniature golf courses.
Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures.
The Atlantics ninth named storm of the season Tropical Storm Isaac formed Wednesday night in the Atlantic Ocean. It was expected to strengthen as it moves eastward, possibly becoming a hurricane by the end of the week, forecasters said, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
In the Pacific, former Hurricane John reformed Wednesday as a tropical storm and was strengthening as it threatened areas of Mexicos western coast. Officials posted hurricane warnings for southwestern Mexico.
John hit the countrys southern Pacific coast late Monday, killing at least two people, triggering mudslides, and damaging homes and trees. It grew into a Category 3 hurricane in a matter of hours and made landfall east of Acapulco. It reemerged over the ocean after weakening inland.
Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas. Associated Press journalists Seth Borenstein in New York; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Andrea Rodriguez in Havana; Mark Stevenson and Maria Verza in Mexico City; and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, contributed to this report.
A soldier assigned to 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division pulls security at South Range on Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, during the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center rotation in November 2023. (Michael Martin/U.S. Army)
FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii Personnel from 10 nations will join in a massive 10-day Army exercise in Hawaii next month with drills taking place on three of the states islands.
The Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center kicks off training on Oct. 7 with soldiers fanning out across Oahu, Maui and the Big Island, the Army said in a news release Monday.
Now in its fourth year, the training focuses on one combat unit of the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division, centering this time on the 2nd Light Brigade Combat Team.
The combat training center is supported by U.S. Army Pacific and the 196th Infantry Brigade, both headquartered at Fort Shafter.
Military personnel from Malaysia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Maldives, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom will also participate.
Other participating Army units will include the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Division Artillery and the 25th Division Sustainment Brigade.
The JPMRC also operates a combat training center in Alaska, along with one that is deployable throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
The combat centers have personnel and equipment capable of providing realistic combat training of the kind soldiers would get at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson, La., or the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif.
The training center was deployed in June to the Philippines for the first time. It had previously been deployed to Indonesia for Garuda Shield.
The training centers employ monitors, video and other digital information to provide real-time feedback to soldiers on the ground.
Training on Oahu will take place at Dillingham Army Airfield, Kahuku Training Area, Kawailoa Mountain Ranges, Helemanu Plantation and Schofield Barracks East and South Ranges.
Drills will be held at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island and Puunene Hawaii National Guard Readiness Center and Kahului Airport on Maui.
The public can expect an increase in noise and traffic on all three islands, the Army said.
An increased number of helicopters, cargo planes and drones will be using Wheeler Army Airfield and Dillingham Army Military Reservation on Oahu; Bradshaw Army Airfield on Hawaii Island; and the National Guard Center and Kahului Airport on Maui.
The JPMRC combat centers are allowing soldiers to train in the environment, climate and conditions that they would likely face in the event of a conflict.
The JPMRC rotations train units and their leaders in austere conditions, whether thats a humid jungle or snow-swept terrain, all while keeping them close to their home base.
Moving personnel and equipment for stateside training is not optimal, Gen. Charles Flynn, commander of U.S. Army Pacific, told reporters during last years JPMRC training.
We would pack up an entire divisions worth of equipment and sail through the Panama Canal to Louisiana, he said.
Soldiers were separated from their equipment for months as it was sent to the training center and then sent back. And we just cannot afford to be going out of this region, he said.
The Dongfeng-17 missile launch vehicle on display at an exhibit at the exhibition hall in Beijing on Oct. 20, 2022. (Wikimedia Commons)
TAIPEI, Taiwan China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, stirring security concerns in the region already tense over Beijings territorial claims and rivalry with the U.S.
The ICBM carried a dummy warhead and fell into a designated area of the sea, the Defense Ministry said in a statement posted to social media.
The launch by the Peoples Liberation Armys Rocket Force was part of routine annual training, complied with international law and was not directed against any country or target, according to the statement.
It is unclear how often China conducts tests over such a distance. In 1980, China launched an ICBM into the South Pacific.
A map published in Chinese newspapers at the time showed the target area as roughly a circle in the center of a ring formed by the Solomon Islands, Nauru, the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu, western Samoa, Fiji and the New Hebrides.
The U.S. and non-governmental organizations have said China has been building up its missile silos, but its unclear how many missiles and nuclear warheads it has added to its arsenal.
The Peoples Liberation Army, which functions as the ruling Communist Partys military wing, runs Chinas space program, which has established an orbital station and has ambitions to set up a Moon base and land a spacecraft on Mars.
Rocketry has long been part of Chinas development into a major global power, spurring nationalism and growth that has made China the worlds second-largest economy.
The U.S. remains Chinas main global rival, although Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and others have territorial disputes with Beijing that occasionally threaten to develop into military clashes.
China maintains a no first use of nuclear weapons policy, even as its desire for regional predominance grows.
Tests of Chinas intercontinental ballistic missiles into international waters are rare. Experts and a historical survey of Chinas program by the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative suggest the last occurred in May 1980. That test saw China launch its DF-5 missile into the South Pacific.
China typically launches missiles toward its western deserts from its east coast, said James Acton, the co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The fact that China launched a test that splashed down in international waters was unusual, but mirrors testing that the United States does for its own ballistic missile fleet.
When they havent done something for 44 years and then they do it, thats significant, Acton told The Associated Press. Its Chinas way of telling us, Like you, were not ashamed we have nuclear weapons and were going to behave like a great nuclear power.
The launch came amid the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York. China is one of five veto-holding permanent members of the U.N.s Security Council and has sought to gain influence over its key departments involving human rights and that align with its authoritarian system.
A series of corruption arrests this year ensnared several leading officers in the Rocket Force, alongside the detentions of two previous defense ministers amid allegations of misconduct.
A test launch now could both provide assurances to Chinas population amid an economic downtown and a signal to the world that the party remains firmly in control and is determined to rise to global prominence.
Were entering a new age. Were entering an age where the U.S. and China are engulfed in what feel like an arms race, said Jeffrey Lewis, a missile expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in the U.S.
The Chinese government always prioritized diplomatic issues over operational readiness. Its just a different China. Its a China that does not feel constrained, he said.
Theres a renewed emphasis on assuring themselves these systems work and demonstrating to others they work, Lewis added.
Meanwhile, tensions remain high over Taiwan, and with the Philippines, where the U.S. Army has deployed its new mid-range missile system, known as Typhon, to Northern Luzon. On Wednesday, two Filipino officials said the U.S. and the Philippines have agreed to keep the system there indefinitely to deter China.
I dont know whats the plan, but if I were to be followed, if I were given the choice, I would like to have the Typhon here in the Philippines forever because we need it for our defense, said Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., the head of the Philippines military.
Defense officials in Japan and Taiwan declined to comment directly on the Chinese announcement. Both, along with South Korea, maintain robust defenses against Chinese moves, including early warning systems and air raid shelters.
Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Personnel at Naval Base Guam were ordered to shelter in place after the installation received a bomb threat on Sept. 25, 2024. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
Naval Base Guam lifted a shelter-in-place order three hours after it received a bomb threat around 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to a series of posts on the installations Facebook page.
Security personnel, emergency responders and Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile units found nothing after searching several buildings, including three barracks, according to a 5:30 p.m. update.
We treat all bomb threats seriously, base commander Capt. John Frye said in the post. We appreciate everyones patience as we executed pre-planned responses out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety and security of the installation and its people.
The threat was made via phone to the watch commander, naval base spokeswoman Theresa Cepeda told Stars and Stripes by email Wednesday. An investigation is underway, she said without specifying if a suspect was identified.
The shelter-in-place order was lifted at 3:05 p.m. and the base sounded all clear at 5:30 p.m., according to the social media posts.
Students at Cmdr. William C. McCool Elementary and Middle School were released for pick-up after the order was lifted, Cepeda said by email.
A Chinese anti-submarine patrol aircraft takes off for training on Aug. 15, 2024. (China Military Online)
TOKYO Recent incursions into its airspace and territorial waters by China and Russia has left Japan feeling vulnerable, its defense minister said this week.
A Russian IL-38 reconnaissance aircraft entered Japanese airspace three times on Monday, prompting Tokyo to scramble fighter jets to intercept and ultimately warn off the aircraft with flares. It was the latest in a series of incursions that began with a Chinese Y-9 surveillance aircrafts brief entry into Japanese airspace on Aug. 26.
Five days later, a Chinese survey vessel entered Japans territorial waters near Kagoshima prefecture. On Sept. 6, four Chinese coast guard vessels crossed the 12-mile territorial limit claimed by Japan around the Senkaku Islands.
The Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces feel a strong sense of danger that such incidents have occurred one after another in a short period of time in waters and airspace surrounding Japan, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said at a news conference Tuesday.
This Russian IL-38 patrol aircraft entered Japanese territory three times on Sept. 23, 2024, according to Japan's Ministry of Defense. (Japan's Ministry of Defense)
He also expressed concern over a transit by the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and two destroyers between the Japanese islands of Yonaguni and Iriomote into the countrys contiguous zone on Sept. 18.
The zone extends 12 miles beyond territorial waters and allows countries to prevent illegal actions or enforce laws broken within its territory, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In any event, the Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces are determined to resolutely protect Japans territory, territorial waters and airspace, and will continue to monitor with strong interest military movements by Russia and China in waters and airspace surrounding Japan, Kihara said.
A pair of Russian Tu-124 patrol aircraft also circled Japans four main islands the first such patrol in five years flying from Okinawa in the south to Hokkaido in the north, Japans Joint Staff said in a Sept. 13 statement. They did not cross into Japanese airspace, but did fly over northern territories that are disputed between Tokyo and Moscow.
Kihara in separate news conferences on Monday and Friday said Japan has lodged strong protests and serious concerns over the incidents through diplomatic channels.
He also speculated Monday that the Russian aircrafts incursion could be related to a joint exercise between China and Russia thats taking place in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk.
A joint fleet of Chinese and Russian ships entered the Sea of Okhotsk, separated from the Sea of Japan by Russias Sakhalin Island and Japans northernmost island of Hokkaido, as part of exercise Beibu/Interaction 2024, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a news release Tuesday.
Russian ships include the destroyers Admiral Panteleyev and Admiral Tributs, corvettes MPK-82 and MPK-107, and the monitor Smerch. Chinese ships include the destroyers Xining and Wuxi, the frigate Lin Yi and supply ship Taihu, according to the ministry.
While the exercises arent necessarily intended as warnings or messages to Tokyo, they are worrisome, said Greg Poling, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic International Studies.
The exercises in the Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan are a sign of the growing security cooperation between Russia and China, Poling, who directs the CSIS Southeast Asia Program, told Stars and Stripes by email Wednesday. That is worrying on a lot of fronts, including for Japan which has territorial and maritime disputes with both.
Russias repeated violations of Japanese airspace are emblematic of the recklessness and disregard for international law in which Moscow seems to revel these days, he wrote.
The captain of the JS Suzutsuki was replaced after the Japanese destroyer intruded into Chinese waters on July 4, 2024. (Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force)
The captain of a Japanese warship that reportedly sailed into Chinese waters this summer has been replaced, according to Japans defense minister.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, at a news conference Tuesday, said the skipper of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Suzutsuki was replaced in July but declined to identify the officer or say why the move was made.
Kihara also declined to confirm that the destroyer intruded into Chinese waters on July 4.
Not only in the Maritime Self-Defense Force, but also in the Ground and Air Self-Defense Force, transfer of personnel happens on multiple occasions, but we do not release the reason for each transfer, and it is the same for this transfer too, he said.
Tokyo told Beijing the ship inadvertently sailed into Chinese territorial waters within 12 nautical miles of the coast of Zhejiang province, Kyodo News reported Monday, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.
A Maritime Self-Defense Force base questioned the Suzutsuki after noticing it had entered Chinese waters early on July 4. The destroyers captain responded that he was not aware the ship had sailed into an off-limits area, Kyodo reported.
The officer was named captain of the Suzutsuki in May, a Ministry of Defense spokesman said by email Wednesday. He declined to answer questions about whether the vessel entered Chinese waters on July 4.
Some Japanese government officials are required to speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
The ministry started an investigation of the ships captain in response to the incident, Kyodo reported July 11.
Chinas Maritime Safety Administration on July 3 issued a warning that a live-fire exercise would run July 4-5 in Hangzhou Bay, bordered to the south by Zhejiang and north by Shanghai. The Suzutsuki was monitoring the drill when Chinese vessels urged it to leave the area, but instead it sped up and sailed into Chinese waters for about 20 minutes before leaving, Kyodo reported July 11.
Under Chinas Maritime Traffic Safety Law, foreign vessels are required to give notice and provide a variety of information before entering Chinese waters. Under the more broadly accepted United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, foreign warships are generally allowed innocent passage through territorial waters provided they dont pose a threat.
Chinese vessels frequently intrude into Japanese waters near the Senkakus, islets about 105 miles east of Taiwan that are administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing and Taipei.
Earlier this month, a Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between Japans westernmost island of Yonaguni and nearby Iriomote, entering the countrys contiguous zone, according to the Defense Ministry.
Soldiers from 11th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division connect ribbon bridges during a wet-gap crossing drill near the North Korean border, Aug. 31, 2023. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea U.S. and South Korean diplomats are meeting in Seoul this week for another round of negotiations on sharing the cost of stationing 28,500 troops in South Korea.
Representatives of the State Department and South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs kicked off three days of talks Wednesday to hash out the 12th Special Measures Agreement, or how much Seoul would contribute to keeping U.S. forces in the country.
Negotiators have held eight rounds of talks over the past five months to hash out the next six-year agreement before the current one expires at the end of next year.
The U.S. delegation is led by Linda Specht, lead negotiator for security agreements in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. Defense burden sharing representative Lee Taewoo has led the South Korean delegation.
The two sides started negotiations in Hawaii in April and last met in Seoul in August.
Washington and Seoul are negotiating the reasonable level of cost and assets to enhance the alliance, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lee Jae-woong said at a news conference Tuesday.
No significant issues have been presented during the negotiations thus far, Lee added.
Negotiations were deadlocked in 2020, when-President Donald Trump said the United States was spending $5 billion annually and accused Seoul of not paying its fair share.
Under the current arrangement, South Korea agreed to spend roughly $900 million in 2020 and over $1 billion in 2021. From 2022 to 2025, the amount would rise proportionally based on increases to South Koreas annual defense budget.
Around $67 million from South Koreas contribution defrayed the cost to build two new barracks that opened in June on Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas.
Those funds from the South Korean Defense Installation Agency also paid for gazebos and barbecue grills immediately outside the barracks.
Smoke rises over the southern village of Kfar Rouman after Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon on Sept. 25, 2024. (Hussein Malla/AP)
TEL AVIV, Israel Israel is preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon, its army chief said Wednesday as Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets across the border and a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was the militant groups deepest strike yet.
Addressing troops on the northern border, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Israels punishing airstrikes this week were designed to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.
The U.S., France and other allies jointly called for an immediate 21-day cease-fire in the conflict that has killed more than 600 people to provide space for diplomacy.
Their joint statement, negotiated on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, said the fighting was intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation. Other signatories include the European Union, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Israel says it targeted Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers. In an apparent reference to the missile fired at Tel Aviv, Halevi told troops: Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves.
It was not clear whether he was referring to a ground operation, airstrikes or some other form of retaliation against Hezbollah, which is Lebanons strongest political force and, with backing from Iran, is widely considered the top paramilitary group in the Arab world.
The Israeli military has said in recent days it had no immediate plans for a ground invasion, but Halevis comments were the strongest yet suggesting troops could move in. Israeli said Wednesday it would activate two reserve brigades for missions in the north another sign that Israel plans tougher action.
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have steadily escalated since war broke out 11 months ago between Israel and Hamas, another Iran-backed militant group. Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and Hamas. Israel has responded with increasingly heavy airstrikes and the targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders while threatening a wider operation.
Nearly a year of fighting had already displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border before the recent escalation.
Israel has vowed to do whatever it takes to ensure its citizens can return to their homes in the north, while Hezbollah has said it will keep up its rocket attacks until there is a cease-fire in Gaza, something that appears increasingly remote.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel and Hezbollah to step back, saying all-out war would be disastrous for the region and its people.
Lebanons Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the U.N. Security Council to act immediately to guarantee the withdrawal of Israel from all the occupied Lebanese territories and the violations that are repeated on a daily basis.
Israels U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters at the U.N. that Israel welcomes initiatives to broker a cease-fire and is open to ideas. But if diplomacy doesnt stop Hezbollah attacks so residents of northern Israel can return home, he said, his country would use all means at our disposal, in accordance with international law, to achieve our aims.
Lebanons health ministry said 72 people were killed Wednesday in the continuing Israeli strikes, raising the death toll from the past three days to 636, with more than 2,000 wounded. At least a quarter of those killed have been women and children, according to Lebanese health officials.
At Dar Al Amal hospital in the eastern city of Baalbek, Soumaya Moussawi lay in bed with her head bandaged and face bruised.
She had been sitting outside with relatives when warplanes started striking in the distance, she said.
Then suddenly it hit next to us. We were all thrown in different directions, she said. Two cousins and her father were killed, and another cousin was badly wounded.
This week has been the deadliest in Lebanon since the bruising 2006 monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israels Mossad intelligence agency, which it blames for a recent string of targeted killings of its top commanders and for an attack last week in which explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of people and wounded thousands, including many Hezbollah members.
Israeli military officials said they intercepted a surface-to-surface missile that set off air-raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel. There were no reports of casualties or damage. The military said it struck the launch site in southern Lebanon.
Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the missile fired Wednesday had a heavy warhead but declined to elaborate or confirm it was the type described by Hezbollah. He dismissed Hezbollahs claim of targeting the Mossad headquarters just north of Tel Aviv as psychological warfare.
The Israeli military said it was the first time a projectile fired from Lebanon had reached central Israel. Hezbollah claimed to have targeted an intelligence base near Tel Aviv last month in an aerial attack, but there was no confirmation. Hamas repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv in the opening months of the war in Gaza.
The launch ratcheted up hostilities in a region that appeared to be teetering toward another all-out war, even as Israel continues to battle Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel said Wednesday its air force had struck some 280 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon by early afternoon, including launchers used to fire rockets on the northern Israeli cities of Safed and Nahariya.
In the southern Israeli city of Eilat, a building at the port was struck by a drone, an attack that injured two people and was claimed by an umbrella group for Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. A second drone was intercepted, the Israeli military said.
Fleeing families have flocked to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along the beach. Some sought to leave the country, causing a traffic jam at the border with Syria.
The United Nations said more than 90,000 people have been displaced by five days of Israeli strikes. In all, 200,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel nearly a year ago, drawing Israeli retaliation, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Hezbollahs latest strikes included dozens of rockets fired Wednesday into northern Israel, the military said.
Rocket fire over the past week has disrupted life for more than 1 million people across northern Israel, with schools closed and public gatherings restricted. Many restaurants and other businesses are shut in the coastal city of Haifa, and there are fewer people on the streets. Some who fled from communities near the border are coming under rocket fire again.
Israel has moved thousands of troops who had been serving in Gaza to the northern border. It says Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including some capable of striking anywhere in Israel.
Cross-border fire began ramping up Sunday after pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah were attacked remotely, killing 39 people and wounded nearly 3,000, many of them civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, which has not confirmed or denied responsibility.
The next day, Israel said its warplanes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and attack drones, including weapons concealed in private homes. The strikes racked up the highest one-day death toll in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising month-long war in 2006.
Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Suleiman Amhaz in Baalbek, Lebanon; Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the second phase of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park is held in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo, Egypt, Sept. 23, 2024. Chinese home appliance giant Haier held a groundbreaking ceremony here on Monday for the second phase of its industrial park in Egypt. The Haier Egypt Ecological Park is invested by Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Haier Group. Once fully built, the park will cover an area of 200,000 square meters and have an annual production capacity of more than 1.5 million units of home appliances. The second phase of the project, with an investment of about 40 million U.S. dollars, will mainly produce refrigerators and freezers. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)
CAIRO, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese home appliance giant Haier held a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday for the second phase of its industrial park in Egypt in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo.
The Haier Egypt Ecological Park is invested by Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Haier Group. Once fully built, the park will cover an area of 200,000 square meters and have an annual production capacity of more than 1.5 million units of home appliances.
The second phase of the project, with an investment of about 40 million U.S. dollars, will mainly produce refrigerators and freezers.
During the ceremony, Zhou Yunjie, chairman and CEO of Haier Group, said the first batch of products manufactured in the first phase of the park have been exported to Kenya in July. After the second phase of the project becomes operational, it will further help Egypt's manufacturing industry to go global.
Egyptian Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Hassan El Khatib said Haier is the first Chinese enterprise to obtain a Golden License (Comprehensive Approval) from the Egyptian government, which makes it a role model for foreign enterprises investing in the Egyptian market.
Zhang Tao, minister and deputy chief of mission of the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, said that the success of the first phase of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park has attracted more Chinese enterprises to invest and set up factories in Egypt, which promoted the upgrading of Egypt's home appliance manufacturing industry, created jobs, trained outstanding talents, and increased Egypt's foreign exchange incomes.
The first phase of the industrial park was inaugurated in May, with trial production of air-conditioners, televisions, and washing machines.
Egyptian Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Hassan El Khatib delivers a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for the second phase of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo, Egypt, Sept. 23, 2024. Chinese home appliance giant Haier held a groundbreaking ceremony here on Monday for the second phase of its industrial park in Egypt.
The Haier Egypt Ecological Park is invested by Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Haier Group. Once fully built, the park will cover an area of 200,000 square meters and have an annual production capacity of more than 1.5 million units of home appliances.
The second phase of the project, with an investment of about 40 million U.S. dollars, will mainly produce refrigerators and freezers. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)
People attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the second phase of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo, Egypt, Sept. 23, 2024. Chinese home appliance giant Haier held a groundbreaking ceremony here on Monday for the second phase of its industrial park in Egypt.
The Haier Egypt Ecological Park is invested by Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Haier Group. Once fully built, the park will cover an area of 200,000 square meters and have an annual production capacity of more than 1.5 million units of home appliances.
The second phase of the project, with an investment of about 40 million U.S. dollars, will mainly produce refrigerators and freezers. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)
People attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the second phase of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo, Egypt, Sept. 23, 2024. Chinese home appliance giant Haier held a groundbreaking ceremony here on Monday for the second phase of its industrial park in Egypt.
The Haier Egypt Ecological Park is invested by Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Haier Group. Once fully built, the park will cover an area of 200,000 square meters and have an annual production capacity of more than 1.5 million units of home appliances.
The second phase of the project, with an investment of about 40 million U.S. dollars, will mainly produce refrigerators and freezers. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)
Workers are seen operating at a washing machine assembly line in the first phase of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo, Egypt, Sept. 23, 2024. Chinese home appliance giant Haier held a groundbreaking ceremony here on Monday for the second phase of its industrial park in Egypt.
The Haier Egypt Ecological Park is invested by Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Haier Group. Once fully built, the park will cover an area of 200,000 square meters and have an annual production capacity of more than 1.5 million units of home appliances.
The second phase of the project, with an investment of about 40 million U.S. dollars, will mainly produce refrigerators and freezers. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)
Workers are seen operating at a washing machine assembly line in the first phase of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo, Egypt, Sept. 23, 2024. Chinese home appliance giant Haier held a groundbreaking ceremony here on Monday for the second phase of its industrial park in Egypt.
The Haier Egypt Ecological Park is invested by Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Haier Group. Once fully built, the park will cover an area of 200,000 square meters and have an annual production capacity of more than 1.5 million units of home appliances.
The second phase of the project, with an investment of about 40 million U.S. dollars, will mainly produce refrigerators and freezers. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)
Masoud Pezeshkian, president of Iran, speaks during the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/TNS)
(Tribune News Service) Irans President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that Israeli attacks on Lebanon cannot go unanswered, raising the risk of further escalation with Israel and its allies, while also urging Western nations to come back to a nuclear accord and lift sanctions.
The clashing messages underscored how Irans new leader, making his global debut three months after winning election, is trying to balance two different mandates: ease his countrys economic isolation while also responding to Israels escalating war with Hezbollah.
We are ready to engage with nuclear deal parties if the nuclear deals commitments are implemented fully and in good faith, Pezeshkian said, referring to a 2015 agreement placing limits on Irans nuclear program. Former President Donald Trump quit the pact in 2018 and reimposed a crippling sanctions regime.
He called on the U.S. and allies to remove sanctions on Iran in order lay the foundations for further agreement.
Pezeshkian spoke amid the deadliest violence in Lebanon since 2006 as Israel seeks to decimate Hezbollah there and has so far resisted calls from foes and allies alike to stop.
The substance of Pezeshkians address to the U.N. General Assembly didnt differ much from that of his predecessors, but his tone was far more understated.
The likelihood of fresh nuclear talks appeared dim, especially given Irans backing of Hezbollah militias in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
He condemned Israels military actions in Lebanon and called its bombardment of Gaza desperate barbarism. He also made clear Iran wouldnt ease its support in the face of stepped-up Israeli attacks.
More than 500 people, including 50 children, have been killed by Israels bombardment of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon so far. The escalation by the key U.S. ally increases the likelihood of all-out war with the Islamist group, the most powerful of Irans allied militant forces across the Middle East.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to arrive in New York later in the week and address the General Assembly on Friday. Earlier Tuesday, he said the strikes would continue and a top Israeli general said the country is destroying military infrastructure Hezbollah has built over 20 years.
That conflict hung heavy over the first day of the General Assembly debate in New York, with several leaders who took to the podium criticizing Israels attacks. Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for coercive measures against Israel while others repeated demands for a cease-fire.
In a speech earlier in the day, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a thinly veiled accusation at Israel, as well as others such as Russia, saying the level of impunity in the world is politically indefensible and morally intolerable.
Others, such as President Joe Biden, were more mild. The U.S. leader, making his final speech to the assembly as president, urged deescalation, saying full-scale war is not in anyones interest.
A diplomatic move is always better than a confrontation, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said on X. Even so, he said, we are determined to restore security to our citizens in any possible way.
The danger of escalation was set to be a major theme on Wednesday as well. The U.N. Security Council was set to hold an emergency meeting on the situation in Lebanon in a bid to push for both sides to back down.
The violence flared last week with a series of explosions that targeted pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah. Israel didnt take credit for the campaign, but officials including Pezeshkian condemned the strike, which killed more than 25 people and wounded hundreds.
Worse for Iran, the countrys ambassador to Lebanon was among the wounded.
Pezeshkians appeal to come back to talks faces a cold reception from the U.S., which says Irans funding of Hamas, Hezbollah and other proxies make talks of rapprochement impossible. Hell also have to attend to the priorities of hard-line institutions back home.
Those include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, both of which will be weighing how to respond to Israels worsening attacks on a critical ally.
Some of Irans competing objectives are in clear conflict now, said Ali Vaez, Director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group. Its hard to get economic reprieve from the West when Iran is on the opposite side of two conflicts the West cares about: Ukraine and Gaza-Lebanon.
Vaez was referring to another alliance that has angered the U.S. and its allies strengthening military ties between Iran and Russia. U.S. and U.K. officials have accused Iran of supplying ballistic missiles to Russia, an accusation Pezeshkian denied in a meeting with reporters in New York on Monday. He said he doesnt approve of Russias war on Ukraine.
According to Tehran-based economist Saeed Laylaz, Iran hasnt responded to Israel with force in part because of its desire for sanctions relief. Thats a critical step toward attracting desperately needed foreign investment, and time may be running out with Trump seeking to return to the White House.
I dont believe that Iran will make a big move that will bring it directly into this conflict, Laylaz said. That will work in favor of Netanyahu and Trump, and thats what the Islamic Republic will avoid.
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Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the Mahmoudieh mountain, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (Hussein Malla/AP)
It has been a devastating week for Hezbollah and the people of Lebanon.
Bombs hidden in the groups pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of people and wounded thousands many of them Hezbollah members. Israeli strikes on Beirut killed two of Hezbollahs top commanders. And Israel has bombed what it said were 1,600 militant sites across large parts of Lebanon, killing hundreds of people and displacing thousands.
Israel says its objective is to secure its northern border so that tens of thousands of people who fled under Hezbollah fire nearly a year ago can return to their homes. But its far from clear that its recent operations as tactically successful as they were will bring that about.
No one either in or out of the defense establishment has any clue as to how to translate these brilliant operational achievements into political benefit, into a real victory that will stop the war in the north, columnist Nadav Eyal wrote in Israels Yediot Ahronot newspaper.
As long as Hezbollah retains any firepower, the northern border will not be able to return to normal, Eyal said.
Hezbollah began firing into Israel the day after Hamas Oct. 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza. Its stated aim was to pin down Israeli forces in the north to help its ally Hamas, which like Hezbollah is backed by Iran. The Lebanese militant group has said it would halt the attacks if there is a cease-fire in Gaza, which appears increasingly unlikely.
Hezbollahs response to the past weeks escalation has seemed meager. The hundreds of rockets and drones it has fired into northern Israel including areas much farther from the border than it hit previously have caused few casualties and only scattered damage.
Early Wednesday, Hezbollah fired a longer-range missile that targeted Tel Aviv for the first time, marking a clear escalation. The Israeli military said it intercepted the projectile, and there were no reports of casualties or damage.
Experts say Hezbollah is holding more such weapons in reserve.
Israeli air power has its limits
Mondays footage of Israeli strikes sending up plumes of dust and smoke seemed grimly familiar.
The American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the NATO campaign in Libya in 2011, and the U.S.-led war against the Islamic State group in 2014 all began with massive airstrikes lighting up the sky. In each case, the war dragged on for months or years, and ground forces played a crucial role.
Israels war against Hamas in Gaza began with nearly three weeks of heavy airstrikes across the territory, followed by a full-scale ground invasion. Nearly a year later, Hamas is still putting up a fight and holding scores of hostages captured in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
With Hezbollah, Israel has so far adopted narrower objectives not the disarmament or defeat of the Lebanese group, but a new arrangement in which militants retreat from the border and halt their attacks.
But even that may not be possible without a ground invasion.
Theres also the risk of mission-creep, as America discovered after its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ground on for years after the toppling of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban. NATO airstrikes initially aimed at preventing a feared massacre in Libyas Benghazi, morphed into a seven-month campaign of regime change from which Libya has yet to fully recover.
Hezbollah likely has capabilities we havent seen yet
Israels Defense Minister Yoav Gallant boasted that Mondays strikes alone had taken out tens of thousands of Hezbollahs rockets and missiles.
This is the most difficult week for Hezbollah since its establishment, he added. A blow has been dealt to the chain of command, to the terrorists themselves on different levels, to their shooting capabilities and to their morale.
The Israeli strikes on Monday and Tuesday killed at least 560 people, including some 150 women and children, according to Lebanese authorities. Hezbollah has not said how many of its fighters were killed.
Even if Gallants assessment is correct, Hezbollah still has considerable resources.
The rocket unit is still active, Hezbollah has absorbed the initial shock, and the battle has only begun, said Qassim Qassir, a former Hezbollah member who wrote a book about the group. Hezbollah has only used a small part of its capabilities.
The militant group was established with the help of Iran following Israels 1982 invasion and occupation of Lebanon, and it seeks Israels destruction. It has survived countless battles with Israeli forces, replaced several slain commanders over the years and rearmed after a monthlong war in 2006.
Hezbollah claims to have some 100,000 fighters. Before the latest hostilities, it was believed to have some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including long-range projectiles capable of hitting anywhere inside Israel, and some precision-guided missiles.
Its more sophisticated weapons are likely being held in reserve as it seeks to avoid triggering an all-out war.
Sarit Zehavi, a former Israeli military intelligence analyst and founder of the Alma Research and Education Center, a think tank focused on the northern border, said Hezbollah has concealed its weapons in different parts of the country, including in areas close to Beirut where it has a strong presence.
Hezbollah was building redundancy, so they spread their munitions and infrastructure all over, and thats why that many targets are being attacked, because its everywhere, she said.
Hezbollah is far more advanced militarily than Hamas. Hezbollah also has a far larger area in which to operate, extensive supply lines linking it more directly to Iran, and networks of tunnels potentially even more extensive than those in Gaza.
In the event of a ground invasion, Hezbollah fighters could be joined by thousands from fellow Iran-backed groups from Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere in the region.
Neither side has good options
Israel says it has no immediate plans for a ground invasion but is prepared for one, and has sent thousands of battle-hardened forces from Gaza to the northern border. If the air campaign fails to bring Hezbollah to heel, Israeli leaders will be tempted to send them in.
Even if the goal is only to carve out a buffer zone to better secure the north, the risks are great.
Most Israelis are insulated from the air war by distance and Israels missile defense systems, but a ground invasion would mean more casualties and protracted fighting for soldiers and reservists already weary from a year of war in Gaza.
Hezbollah waged an 18-year-long insurgency against Israel the last time it occupied Lebanon, eventually forcing it to withdraw, and another prolonged occupation could be similarly costly.
Israel has already faced international outrage over the war in Gaza, including ongoing investigations by top world courts, and risks even greater isolation if it launches a similar campaign in Lebanon.
Hezbollah also has few good options.
Halting its rocket fire on the north in the face of Israeli pressure would likely be seen by its supporters and its patron Iran as a humiliating capitulation and an abandonment of the Palestinians.
Escalating its attacks, either by launching more sophisticated rockets or targeting major cities like Tel Aviv, could bring an even more crushing Israeli response or an all-out war that devastates Lebanon with Hezbollah at risk of being blamed.
Hezbollahs leader Hassan Nasrallah already faces criticism from many Lebanese who accuse him of tying their countrys fate to Iran and inviting war at a time of financial ruin.
That leaves it stuck with the status quo, in which Israel carries out increasingly heavy strikes while Hezbollah makes do with a relatively restrained response.
For Hezbollah, and the Lebanese people, that might make the coming weeks even worse.
Associated Press reporters Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
A sign that reads Finish them All at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kiryat Shmona, Israel, near the border of Lebanon in northern Israel, on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)
KIRYAT BIALIK, Israel Tel Aviv awoke to air raid sirens Wednesday after Hezbollah fired a long-range missile toward Israels commercial center, the deepest strike yet by the militant group and a preview of what Israelis fear could be a war without limits.
Israels air defense systems intercepted the missile Wednesday before impact, as it has the majority of projectiles fired from Lebanon in recent days. Across northern Israel, though, the howl of sirens and the race to safe rooms have become features of daily life since the military escalated its campaign against Hezbollah.
As this traumatized country approaches the anniversary of Oct. 7, and officials warn of hard days ahead, many are haunted by uncertainty. Over 11 months of rocket, drone and missile attacks on Israels north by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed organization that is Lebanons most powerful military and political force, the group has showcased only part of the sophisticated weapons arsenal it has spent years building. Everyone here is bracing for the worst its become a dark national pastime.
Weve been waiting for it, said Ran Zohar, 24, of the morning missile, sitting at an outdoor coffee shop with his girlfriend in Tel Aviv hours after the skies cleared. We dont have anything else to do.
Elena Kotz, 54, holds her dog wearing a diaper as she takes shelter on the bottom floor of her residential building during air sirens in Kiryat Bialik, Israel, near Haifa, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. Kotz said her dog is too old to make it up and down the stairs during the sirens and suffers from fear. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)
An hour and a half away, Elena Kotz, 54, emerged Tuesday from the bare-bones safe room in her buildings bottom floor. Another air raid warning had just sounded in her Haifa suburb of Kiryat Bialik. Nobody knows what will happen, she said. We are preparing our safe room to sleep in but she trailed off and shrugged.
Israels northernmost border communities have contended for years with rocket fire from Hezbollah, and more than 67,000 residents have been displaced since Oct. 7. Over the weekend, the Israeli military broadened its restrictions to include the Haifa Bay area, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, more parts of the Galilee and other areas reaching up to 40 miles south from the Lebanese border.
Schools are closed, outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people are forbidden and only workplaces with shelters can remain open. Major hospitals have moved underground.
Heavy Israeli strikes across Lebanon this week have killed more than 600 people, according to the countrys Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians but said at least 50 children, 94 women and nine paramedics were among the dead. The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday it had hit 1,500 terrorist infrastructure targets from above and, on Wednesday, the IDF chief told troops to prepare for a possible ground invasion.
Hezbollah has responded by firing hundreds of projectiles, according to the IDF, including new long-range Fadi rockets.
To avoid another prolonged war, we need to give them a onetime hard blow so it can be calm again, David Even Tzur, the mayor of the coastal city of Kiryat Yam and head of the Haifa Bay Municipalities Association, told The Washington Post.
Ethiopian Ukrainian Israelis in a bomb shelter of their residential building during air sirens in Kiryat Bialik, Israel, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. Two houses were hit in Kiryat Bialik and vehicles were damaged following a wave of rocket and drone attacks from Hezbollah into Israeli territory on Sunday. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)
Local authorities are prepared for two weeks, a month maximum of heavy bombardments, he said. Emergency teams have readied safe rooms, stocked up on food and water to deliver to families in need and put psychologists on call.
But if it lasts longer it will be Oy vavoy, he said, using an ominous Yiddish expression. With Gods help we will be able to normally celebrate Rosh Hashanah, he said, referring to the Jewish New Year on Oct 2.
Last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made returning evacuees to their homes in the north an official war aim, alongside the initial goals of destroying Hamas and bringing back the hostages held by the group.
But in recent days, more people in the north have unofficially moved south.
Hezbollah may be calculating that if a full-scale conflict would break out, not only would Israel not be able to return residents to the north, but hundreds of thousands more would be displaced, said Michael Horowitz, head of intelligence at Le Beck International risk consultancy.
Israel has lived through numerous rounds of anxious waiting this year. In April, Tehran fired hundreds of missiles and explosive drones toward Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike on Iranian commanders in Syria. Most were intercepted with help from a U.S.-backed coalition, and the situation quickly calmed. In late August, the country feared another major Iranian attack after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. It has yet to come.
Israelis in the north, facing a second year of war, say this time feels different.
With each air raid, Alise Zvinatzki, 23, and her dog, Kiara, grow more nervous. She shares the same safe room as Kotz in Kiryat Bialik, and has filled it with essentials such as water, toilet paper and poop bags for their dogs, who are not popular with all the residents. Kotz has put her elderly dog in a diaper and carries him up and down the stairs at the sound of each siren.
Zvinatzkis father works nearby in the citys industrial zone, which includes the Rafael defense firm a weapons manufacturer that has been targeted by Hezbollah. The group says its attacks are focused on Israeli military sites, but their munitions are imprecise and often fall indiscriminately. On Sunday, a rocket slammed into a nearby residential block, hitting two buildings and injuring three people.
Zvinatzki slept in her buildings safe room throughout the 2006 war. She is mentally preparing for that again, she said.
I think that there needs to be a war, she said. To move Hezbollah away from the border so the north wont be like Gaza.
A man inspects the damage inside a supermarket in Tamra, an Arab city in northern Israel, that sustained significant damage following overnight missile strikes by Hezbollah on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)
But for how long? Until the end, she said, so there will be quieter days.
In another communal safe room on the same block, the buildings residents fretted over how long they could last in the stifling space. Nobody had stored water or prepared beds; the toilet didnt work. An elderly resident struggled to plug in a recently purchased fan. Not all the residents, a mix of Israeli, Ethiopian, Ukrainian and American Jews, could communicate with each other. Graffitied on the wall was an evil eye, a symbol to ward off bad spirits, and Israels wartime tagline: Together we will win.
A clear majority of Israelis support the war in Gaza and the escalation in Lebanon. For Palestinians and others opposed to the fighting and the heavy civilian toll, there is a different kind of fear.
We are afraid to say anything against the war, like Gaza said Maysoon, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, citing the legal problems some have faced for criticizing Israels military campaigns. She spoke on the condition she be identified by her first name, fearing retaliation by the state. So we stay silent, she said.
Maysoon was out shopping Tuesday at a mall in Sakhnin, a northern Arab city that has come under fire in recent days. She blamed the Israeli government for not reaching a cease-fire deal in Gaza, Hezbollahs main condition for ceasing its cross-border attacks.
They could have had an agreement, she said. Now there is no chance for peace.
Joe Biden addresses the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters on Sept. 24, 2024. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
NEW YORK The U.S., France and other allies jointly called Wednesday for an immediate 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations in the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days.
The joint statement, negotiated on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, says the recent fighting is intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.
We call for an immediate 21-day cease-fire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy, the statement said. We call on all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary cease-fire immediately.
There was no immediate reaction from the Israeli or Lebanese governments or Hezbollah but senior U.S. officials said all parties were aware of the call for a cease-fire. Earlier, representatives for Israel and Lebanon reiterated their support for a U.N. resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group.
The U.S. hopes the new deal could lead to longer-term stability along the border between Israel and Lebanon. Months of Israeli and Hezbollah exchanges of fire have driven tens of thousands of people from their homes, and escalated attacks over the past week have rekindled fears of a broader war in the Middle East.
The U.S. officials said Hezbollah would not be a signatory to the cease-fire but believed the Lebanese government would coordinate its acceptance with the group. They said they expected Israel to welcome the proposal and perhaps formally accept it when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the General Assembly on Friday.
While the deal applies only to the Israel-Lebanon border, the U.S. officials said they were looking to use a three-week pause in fighting to restart stalled negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, another Iranian-backed militant group, after nearly a year of war in Gaza.
The nations calling for a halt to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict are the United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Work on the proposal came together quickly this week with President Joe Bidens national security team, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, meeting with world leaders in New York and lobbying other countries to support the plan, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic conversations.
Blinken first raised the proposal with the French foreign minister Monday and then broadened his outreach that evening at a dinner with the foreign ministers of all the Group of Seven industrialized democracies.
During a meeting Wednesday morning with Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers, Blinken approached Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan to ask their approval and got it. Blinken and senior White House adviser Amos Hochstein then met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who signed off on the deal.
Sullivan, Hochstein and senior adviser Brett McGurk were also in touch with Israeli officials about the proposal, one of the U.S. officials said. McGurk and Hochstein have been the White Houses chief interlocutors with Israel and Lebanon since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas launched the war in Gaza.
The officials said the deal crystallized by late Wednesday afternoon during a conversation on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly between Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Blinken expects to meet Netanyahus top strategic adviser in New York on Thursday ahead of the prime ministers arrival.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu has given the green light to pursue a possible deal, but only if it includes the return of Israeli civilians to their homes. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing behind-the-scenes diplomacy.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the U.N. Security Council during a special meeting that we are counting on both parties to accept it without delay and added that war is not unavoidable.
At the meeting, Mikati, the Lebanese prime minister, publicly threw his support behind the French-U.S. plan that enjoys international support and which would put an end to this dirty war.
He called on the Security Council to guarantee the withdrawal of Israel from all the occupied Lebanese territories and the violations that are repeated on a daily basis.
Israels U.N. Ambassador, Danny Danon, told journalists that Israel would like to see a cease-fire and the return of people to their homes near the border: It will happen, either after a war or before a war. We hope it will be before.
Addressing the Security Council later, he made no mention of a temporary cease-fire but said Israel does not seek a full-scale war.
Both Danon and Mikati reaffirmed their governments commitment to a Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war. Never fully implemented, it called for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon to be replaced by Lebanese forces and U.N. peacekeepers, and the disarmament of all armed groups including Hezbollah.
Earlier Wednesday, Biden warned in an appearance on ABCs The View that an all-out war is possible but said he thinks the opportunity also exists to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region.
Biden suggested that getting Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a cease-fire could help achieve a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
That war is approaching the one-year mark after Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking hostages. Israel responded with an offensive that has since killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not provide a breakdown of civilians and fighters in their count.
Its possible and Im using every bit of energy I have with my team to get this done, Biden said. Theres a desire to see change in the region.
The U.S. government also raised the pressure with additional sanctions targeting more than a dozen ships and other entities it says were involved in illicit shipments of Iranian petroleum for the financial benefit of Irans Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah.
AP reporters Zeke Miller and Darlene Superville in Washington, Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
Marcellus Williams is shown in a photo provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections. (Missouri Department of Corrections via AP)
BONNE TERRE, Mo. A Missouri man convicted of breaking into a womans home and repeatedly stabbing her was executed Tuesday over the objections of the victims family and the prosecutor, who wanted the death sentence commuted to life in prison.
Marcellus Williams, 55, was convicted in the 1998 killing of Lisha Gayle, who was stabbed during the burglary of her suburban St. Louis home.
Williams was put to death despite questions his attorneys raised over jury selection at his trial and the handling of evidence in the case. His clemency petition focused heavily on how Gayles relatives wanted Williams sentence commuted to life without the possibility of parole.
The family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live, the petition stated. Marcellus execution is not necessary.
As Williams lay awaiting execution, he appeared to converse with a spiritual advisor seated next to him. Williams wiggled his feet underneath a white sheet that was pulled up to his neck and moved his head slightly while his spiritual advisor continued to talk. Then Williams chest heaved about a half dozen times, and he showed no further movement.
Williams son and two attorneys watched from another room. No one was present on behalf of the victims family.
The Department of Corrections released a brief statement that Williams had written ahead of time, saying: All Praise Be to Allah In Every Situation!!!
Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he hoped the execution brings finality to a case that languished for decades, revictimizing Ms. Gayles family over and over again.
No juror nor judge has ever found Williams innocence claim to be credible, Parson said in a statement.
The NAACP had been among those urging Parson to cancel the execution.
Tonight, Missouri lynched another innocent Black man, NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement.
It was the third time Williams faced execution. He got reprieves in 2015 and 2017, but his last-ditch efforts this time were futile. Parson and the state Supreme Court rejected his appeals in quick succession Monday, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene hours before he was put to death.
Last month, Gayles relatives gave their blessings to an agreement between the St. Louis County prosecuting attorneys office and Williams attorneys to commute the sentence to life in prison. But acting on an appeal from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Baileys office, the state Supreme Court nullified the agreement.
Williams was among death row inmates in five states who were scheduled to be put to death in the span of a week an unusually high number that defies a years-long decline in the use and support of the death penalty in the U.S. The first was carried out Friday in South Carolina. Texas was also slated to execute a prisoner on Tuesday evening.
Gayle, 42, was a social worker and former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. Prosecutors at Williams trial said he broke into her home on Aug. 11, 1998, heard the shower running and found a large butcher knife. Gayle was stabbed 43 times when she came downstairs. Her purse and her husbands laptop were stolen.
Authorities said Williams stole a jacket to conceal blood on his shirt. His girlfriend asked him why he would wear a jacket on a hot day. She said she later saw the purse and laptop in his car and that Williams sold the computer a day or two later.
Prosecutors also cited testimony from Henry Cole, who shared a cell with Williams in 1999 while Williams was jailed on unrelated charges. Cole told prosecutors that Williams confessed to the killing and provided details about it.
Williams attorneys responded that the girlfriend and Cole were both convicted of felonies and wanted a $10,000 reward. They said that fingerprints, a bloody shoeprint, hair and other evidence at the crime scene didnt match Williams.
A crime scene investigator had testified the killer wore gloves.
Questions about DNA evidence also led St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell to request a hearing challenging Williams guilt. But days before the Aug. 21 hearing, new testing showed that DNA on the knife belonged to members of the prosecutors office who handled it without gloves after the original crime lab tests.
Without DNA evidence pointing to any alternative suspect, Midwest Innocence Project attorneys reached a compromise with the prosecutors office: Williams would enter a new, no-contest plea to first-degree murder in exchange for a new sentence of life in prison without parole. A no-contest plea isnt an admission of guilt but is treated as such for the purpose of sentencing.
Judge Bruce Hilton signed off, as did Gayles family. But Bailey appealed, and the state Supreme Court blocked the agreement and ordered Hilton to proceed with an evidentiary hearing, which took place last month.
Hilton ruled on Sept. 12 that the first-degree murder conviction and death sentence would stand, noting that Williams arguments all had been previously rejected. That decision was upheld Monday by the state Supreme Court.
Attorneys for Williams, who was Black, also challenged the fairness of his trial, particularly the fact that only one of the 12 jurors was Black. Tricia Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence Project said the prosecutor in the case, Keith Larner, removed six of seven Black prospective jurors.
Larner testified at the August hearing that he struck one potential Black juror partly because he looked too much like Williams a statement that Williams attorneys asserted showed improper racial bias.
Larner contended that the jury selection process was fair.
Williams was the third Missouri inmate put to death this year and the 100th since the state resumed use of the death penalty in 1989.
Salter reported from OFallon, Missouri. AP writer Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks about the tax code and manufacturing at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Savannah, Ga. (Evan Vucci/AP)
SAVANNAH, Ga. Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Russias military record in historical conflicts and derided U.S. aid to Ukraine as he again insisted he would quickly end the war launched by Moscows invasion if elected president.
Speaking in Savannah, Georgia, Trump mocked President Joe Bidens frequent refrain that the U.S. would back the Ukrainian armed forces until Kyiv wins the war. He raised two long ago conflicts to suggest Moscow would not lose the former Soviet Unions role in defeating Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in World War II in the 1940s, and French emperor Napoleon Bonapartes failed invasion of Russia more than a century earlier.
Trump insisted that the U.S. had to get out, though he did not specify how he would negotiate an ending to U.S. involvement in the war.
Biden says, We will not leave until we win, Trump said, lowering his voice to mimic the Democratic president. What happens if they win? Thats what they do, is they fight wars. As somebody told me the other day, they beat Hitler, they beat Napoleon. Thats what they do. They fight. And its not pleasant.
An official on Trumps campaign also said Tuesday that the Republican nominee will not meet this week with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is visiting the U.S. to attend the opening of the U.N. General Assembly.
No meeting had been scheduled between the two, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning, despite a statement from Ukrainian officials last week that said Zelenskyy had planned to see the former president.
Trump on Tuesday repeated his characterization of Zelenskyy as the greatest salesman on Earth for winning U.S. aid to help Ukraine.
Every time Zelenskyy comes to the United States, he walks away with $100 billion, Trump said, erroneously. The U.S. has provided more than $56 billion in security assistance since Russia invaded in 2022, according to the State Department.
Trump and Zelenskyy have a long history dating back to the former U.S. presidents time in the White House. The then-president pressured Zelenskyy to open investigations of Biden and his son Hunter as well as a cybersecurity firm Trump falsely linked to Ukraine. That call and the hold placed by the White House on $400 million in military aid led to Trumps first impeachment.
Zelenskyy plans to meet with Biden and Harris in Washington.
Earlier this week, in an interview with The New Yorker, Zelenskyy implied Trump does not understand and oversimplifies the conflict, and said his running mate JD Vance is too radical and essentially advocates for Ukraine to make a sacrifice by giving up its territories.
On Monday, Trumps son Donald Jr. criticized Zelenskyy on X, reminding his followers that the suspect in his fathers second assassination attempt had lambasted Trumps approach to foreign policy, including the war in Ukraine.
So a foreign leader who has received billions of dollars in funding from American taxpayers, comes to our country and has the nerve to attack the GOP ticket for President? he posted.
Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.
Lawmakers at a hearing of the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, urged support for the Sen. Elizabeth Dole Act, which would increase funding for at-home and community services to help disabled and elderly veterans continue to live at home and stay out of institutional care. (Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON House lawmakers on Wednesday urged the swift passage of legislation to better support family caregivers and home health aides who help veterans with serious disabilities continue to live at home and stay out of institutional care.
Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., who is chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said he soon plans to bring to the floor the Sen. Elizabeth Dole Act, which would increase funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs for noninstitutional alternatives to nursing home care.
The legislation also would address the needs of family members serving as full-time caretakers, including providing them with mental health care services, respite care, home health aide and other assistance. It was introduced by Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., in 2023, and would authorize agreements with non-VA medical and social service agencies to offer community and at-home services that are comparable to what veterans receive in nursing homes.
Expenditures for at-home care cannot exceed 65% of what the cost would be if the veteran lived in a nursing home. The change would increase the amount to 100% under the Sen. Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act.
The program provides elderly and disabled veterans or their designated family caregiver with a small monthly budget to pay for help with daily living activities, such as bathing, dressing and meal preparation, so they can continue to live at home.
Some veterans and their advocacy groups said there is a lack of sufficient services to support caretakers in the community.
My husband requires supervision at all times, and I manage every aspect of his life. Our lives are full of medical appointments, countless hospital stays and the never-ending medication management, said Vanessa Chism, caretaker for her husband, Cody, an Army veteran medically retired in 2011 after serving in Iraq.
Cody is here physically, but I have lost my husband to traumatic brain injuries, she said. Her husband suffers from seizures, chronic pain and cognitive impairment.
But Chism said she has struggled to gain and keep access to VA-sponsored programs and services that enable her husband to live at home with her and their three children.
Bost cited new findings from the nonprofit Rand Corporation on challenges and hardships of families that are caring for veterans with serious disabilities.
The Rand study found there are more than 14 million caregivers of veterans and service members, representing 5.5% of the U.S. adult population. Most caregivers surveyed by Rand spend up to 30 hours per week providing care for veterans with illnesses and injuries from military service. Caregivers are often isolated and experience high level of stress and burnout, Bost said.
Veterans caregivers play an unseen role in supporting loved ones. Many face emotional, financial and physical hardships, he said.
Bost said he is hearing from constituents that they cannot find respite care after they qualify for it.
Provisions of the Elizabeth Dole Act would require the VA to award grants to improve the mental health assistance for caregivers, who might be forced to reduce work hours or end careers, he said.
Some financial help from the VA is already available through stipends, but it often falls short, Bost said.
Colleen Richardson, executive director of the VAs caregiver support program, said the VA is prioritizing respite for caregivers and has seen program use increase by more than 270% since fiscal 2022.
She said the VA funds a program called comprehensive assistance for family caregivers. The program pays a monthly stipend to family caregivers with seriously disabled veterans and provides access to health insurance through the VAs civilian health and medical program, also known as CHAMPVA.
Recipients also can receive travel reimbursement to veterans health care appointments and qualify for 30 days of respite care per year, when it is available.
Richardson said there is assistance for veterans to hire home health aides and other caregivers who are not family members.
The VA also has started a virtual program for providing online therapy sessions for family caregivers and will complete more than 14,000 appointments this year, she said.
The Congressional Budget Office issued a report in 2023 on the costs of providing all-inclusive non-VA care for seriously disabled and elderly veterans to continue living at home and in their communities. Expanding in-home assistance, caretaker support and other community-based services could grow spending as much as $119 million through 2033, according to the report.
How the VA manages its budget has come under closer scrutiny by lawmakers.
Congress just passed an emergency spending measure to close a $3 billion shortfall at the VA for fiscal 2024, which ends Sept. 30.
But lawmakers also criticized the VA for not anticipating greater spending needs after passage of Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act. Also known as the PACT Act, the law provides benefits to veterans who developed illnesses from burn pits, radiation and other toxic exposures during military service.
A $12 billion shortfall is projected for 2025, as the VA has enrolled thousands of additional veterans in VA health care since 2022 and provided compensation for their illnesses and disabilities connected to military duty.
More veterans who are seeking care drives a need to hire 5,000 additional workers to cover rising demand for services. The VA also anticipates higher costs for popular prescription drugs, especially for treating diabetes and obesity.
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., said he supports Congress providing the assistance veterans need to remain at home. He described the Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act as transformative for veterans and their families.
He said caregivers are an indispensable component of the complex system of support and health care that disabled veterans need.
I too want to see this legislation enacted as soon as possible, he said.
Takano said he also supports awarding Social Security credits to family members who are full-time caretakers for disabled relatives, which is not addressed in the bill.
Credits are based on a persons earnings and work history over a lifetime, and are used to determine retirement benefits, Medicare coverage and other services. But they do not consider individuals who leave jobs and careers to work as full-time caretakers for disabled family members.
Takano said the VA also must be provided funding to build capacity, modernize infrastructure and meet veterans health care needs at its facilities.
He urged a balance of money for VA care at hospitals and clinics and non-VA care delivered at home and in the community.
The seal of the Central Intelligence Agency stands next to a U.S. flag at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
A veteran CIA officer was found guilty Wednesday of assault and battery for reaching up a colleagues skirt and forcibly kissing her during a drunken party at a CIA worksite a case that happened just days after the spy agency promised to crack down on sexual misconduct in its ranks.
Donald J. Asquith said he would appeal the misdemeanor conviction following a brief judge trial in Loudoun County, entitling him under Virginia law to a jury trial on the same allegations. Asquith, who retired after last years attack, was sentenced to a day in jail, a year of probation and a $2,500 fine.
Its a vindication, said Kevin Carroll, an attorney for the victim and several other women who have come forward to Congress and authorities with their own accounts of sexual assaults and unwanted touching within the agency. She thought she had to stand up for younger women so that they didnt have to go through something similar.
The CIA said it acted swiftly within days of receiving a report of the assault to restrict Asquiths contact with the victim. CIA takes allegations of sexual assault and harassment extremely seriously, the agency said in a statement.
Asquiths attorney, John Katz, did not respond to requests for comment. He indicated in court that Asquith was too intoxicated to recall what happened at the party.
Asquiths case is at least the third in recent years involving a CIA officer facing trial in court over sexual misconduct. Last week, Brian Jeffrey Raymond was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for drugging, photographing and sexually assaulting more than two dozen women while he was a CIA officer in various foreign postings. And next month, a now-former CIA officer trainee faces a second trial on state charges for allegedly attacking a woman with a scarf inside a stairwell at the agencys headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
Asquith was charged in April following a monthslong sheriffs probe into the boozy party in an off-site CIA office attended by at least a dozen people celebrating Asquiths 50th birthday.
The victim, a CIA contractor, told authorities she repeatedly rebuffed Asquiths advances but that he kept pulling closer, rubbing her leg without her consent and making a series of inappropriate sexual comments, as well as grunting noises and thrusting motions. Asquith then placed his hand up her skirt to her thigh numerous times causing her skirt to lift up, possibly exposing her underwear, according to court documents.
The woman told investigators she slapped Asquiths hand away and got up to leave, but that he intervened as she approached the door and asked for a booby hug before grabbing her with both hands around her back and rubbing his groin and chest on her. She said Asquith then forcibly hugged her and kissed all over her face and mouth without her consent.
The woman, who spoke to congressional staffers about the attack just last week, told the judge Wednesday of the anguish and sleepless nights shes faced since coming forward.
In only 45 minutes, Mr. Asquith utterly decimated 30 years of painstaking professionalism, dedication and even a reputation, she said in court.
No one nor any institution has yet been willing to hold Mr. Asquith accountable for his grievous decisions and actions, she added. If we keep treating these cases like they are parking violations, we all lose.
Mustian reported from New York. Contact APs global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org.
Steve Woodson speaks during a ceremony to posthumously award the Distinguished Service Cross to his father, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Waverly Woodson Jr., in Washington on Sept. 24, 2024. (Rod Lamkey/AP)
WASHINGTON Waverly B. Woodson Jr., who was part of the only African American combat unit involved in the D-Day invasion during World War II, spent more than a day treating wounded troops under heavy German fire all while injured himself. Decades later, and nearly 20 years after his death, his family finally received the recognition that was denied many Black service members.
Woodsons 95-year-old widow, Joann, was presented Tuesday with the Distinguished Service Cross he was awarded posthumously for his extraordinary heroism. Generations of Woodsons family packed the audience, many of them wearing T-shirts with his photo and the words 1944 D-Day US Army Medic on the front.
Its been a long, long road to get to this day, Woodsons son, Steve, told the crowd. My father, if he could have been here today, would have been humbled.
The award, the second-highest honor that can be bestowed on a member of the Army, marked an important milestone in a years-long campaign by his widow, supporters in the military and Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen for greater recognition of Woodsons efforts that day.
Ultimately, they would like to see him honored with the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration that can be awarded by the U.S. government and one long denied to Black troops who served in World War II.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., left, presents the Distinguished Service Cross to Joann Woodson, center, and her son Steve Woodson, right, during a ceremony to posthumously honor her husband, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Waverly Woodson, Jr., in Washington on Sept. 24, 2024. (Rod Lamkey/AP)
Van Hollen, who first heard Woodsons story when Joann Woodson reached out to his office nearly a decade ago, told the crowd that Woodsons valor stood out. He said there was only one thing that stood between Woodson and the countrys highest military honor and that was the color of his skin.
Righting this wrong matters. It matters for Waverly Woodson and his family, and it matters for our entire country because we are a stronger, more united country when we remember all of our history and when we honor all of our heroes, Van Hollen told the audience, which included troops from Woodsons unit, the First Army.
Woodson, who died in 2005, received the award just days before the 80th anniversary of Allied troops landing in Normandy, France. First Army troops took the Distinguished Service Cross with them to France in June and in an intimate ceremony laid the medal in the sands of Omaha Beach, where a 21-year-old Woodson had come ashore decades earlier.
At a time when the U.S. military was still segregated by race, about 2,000 African American troops are believed to have taken part in the invasion that proved to be a turning point in pushing back the Nazis and eventually ending World War II.
On June 6, 1944, Woodsons unit, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, was responsible for setting up balloons to deter enemy planes. Two shells hit his landing craft, and he was wounded before even getting to the beach.
After the vessel lost power, it was pushed toward the shore by the tide, and Woodson likely had to wade ashore under intense enemy fire.
He spoke to the Associated Press in 1994 about that day.
The tide brought us in, and thats when the 88s hit us, he said of the German 88mm guns. They were murder. Of our 26 Navy personnel, there was only one left. They raked the whole top of the ship and killed all the crew. Then they started with the mortar shells.
For the next 30 hours, Woodson treated 200 wounded men all while small arms and artillery fire pummeled the beach. Eventually, he collapsed from his injuries and blood loss, according to accounts of his service. At the time, he was awarded the Bronze Star.
Joann Woodson stands near a portrait of her husband, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Waverly Woodson Jr., prior to a ceremony to posthumously award him the Distinguished Service Cross in Washington on Sept. 24, 2024. (Rod Lamkey/AP)
Like many World War II veterans, Woodson didnt talk much about his experiences during the war or what it was like to be in the middle of some of the most intense combat U.S. troops saw, his son said.
Speaking after the ceremony to the Associated Press, Steve Woodson said it wasnt until 50 years after the invasion and his father had returned from an anniversary ceremony in France that he started to share memories of that day.
Woodson told his son one particular story that remained with him of a soldier who had been blown in half but was still alive and calling for God. There was little Woodson could do except console him until the soldier died.
That troubled him through all of his life, Steve Woodson said.
In an era of intense racial discrimination, not a single one of the 1.2 million Black Americans who served in the military during World War II was awarded the Medal of Honor. It wasnt until the early 1990s that the Army commissioned a study to analyze whether Black troops had been unjustly overlooked.
Ultimately, seven Black World War II troops were awarded the Medal of Honor in 1997.
At the time, Woodson was considered for the award and he was interviewed. But, officials wrote, his decoration case file couldnt be found, and his personnel records were destroyed in a 1973 fire at a military records facility.
Woodsons supporters believe not just that he is worthy of the Medal of Honor but that there was a recommendation at the time to award it to him that has been lost.
U.S. First Army historian Capt. Kevin Braafladt has made it his mission to research Woodsons D-Day role and he combed through an estimated 415 feet of army records in the search for the truth. Even after the ceremony Tuesday, that search would continue for Braafladt, who was planning to go Wednesday to see another collection at the Library of Congress. He said he became interested in Woodsons story when he realized how he was overlooked because of the bureaucracy and racism at the time.
It really touched me, Braafladt said. There was an opportunity here to fix something that was wrong in the past.
Rich Kaminsky of Connecticut looks at Panel 44 at the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. The panel was made for the 1982 installation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington but had to be remade because of a defect on the upper right corner. This month, the extra panel was installed at the library. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)
AUSTIN, Texas A black granite panel made for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is now one of the first artifacts visitors see at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum.
The panel stands more than 6 feet tall and bears the names of 335 service members who died in just eight days of the war.
Placed on permanent display earlier this month at the museum in Austin, Panel 44 is the only one from the 1982-installation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial available to view outside of the National Mall in Washington.
The Vietnam War is inescapably a huge part of President Johnsons legacy, and its appropriate for this institution to pay tribute to all veterans, but in particular the Americans who died in that war, said Mark Lawrence, former director of the museum who oversaw the donation of the panel last year from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. The panel raises to a new level what were doing for our visitors in terms of getting them to recognize the realities of the Vietnam War, how important that was to the Johnson presidency.
The panel, which is 900 pounds, holds the names of airmen, soldiers, Marines and sailors who died from March 9-16, 1968, including Medal of Honor recipient Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Loy Etchberger, three recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross, three of the Navy Cross and nine of the Silver Star.
They range in age from 19 to 47 years old and came to the military from 44 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
However, after the names were sandblasted onto the granite at a glass shop in Memphis, Tenn., officials noticed a crack in the upper right corner and determined it had to be remade out of concern it wouldnt hold up outside in the elements, said Jim Knotts, president and CEO of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the nonprofit organization that built and maintains the memorial wall in Washington.
It sat in a scrap pile for years before popping up on eBay where it came to the attention of the memorial fund, Knotts said. The fund contacted the seller and took ownership of the panel.
Panel 44 was made for the 1982 installation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington but had to be remade because of a defect on the upper right corner. This month the extra panel was installed at the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum in Austin, Texas. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)
Panel 44 was relocated to the funds office until 2022 when it was showcased as part of a nationwide tour to honor the walls 40th anniversary. After that, Knotts said they began coordinating with the LBJ Library as a possible permanent home for the panel.
We call the Vietnam Veterans Memorial the wall that heals because for so many of our Vietnam veterans it is part of their healing journey. Normally, were restricted to people coming to D.C. to have that kind of experience, he said. [Displaying it at the LBJ Library] is one more opportunity to bring these names home to a local community and have visitors come and be a part of that healing experience.
Panel 44 represents a stretch of the Vietnam War following the Tet Offensive, in which the North Vietnamese launched coordinated attacks against several targets in South Vietnam. The U.S. and South Vietnamese forces sustained heavy losses, and the attack weakened the U.S. publics support of the war. During the eight days of the war memorialized on Panel 44, the U.S. lost an average of 43 troops a day.
Rich Kaminsky visited the LBJ Library on Tuesday from Connecticut, and he said it was moving to have an actual panel available for viewing.
A history buff, Kaminsky said the war really weighed on Johnson and having those names on display exemplifies it.
In October, the library will open an exhibit on the Vietnam War intended to complement the new artifact on display. It begins with newscaster Walter Cronkites famous commentary Feb. 27, 1968, voicing skepticism about the wars progress, said Lara Hall, curator of the LBJ Library. It ends with Johnsons March 31, 1968, announcement that he would not seek reelection.
New materials were gathered from outside the library for the display, such as recordings from the Library of Congress to allow visitors to hear firsthand accounts of the war.
We talk about the administration, but most of the exhibit focuses on what it was like on the ground for people in Vietnam, Hall said. I thought it was important to acknowledge that so much of what the war was wasnt happening inside of the White House. That perspective is so different than how it was talked about in the administration and putting those two things together seemed important.
The LBJ Presidential Library and Museum in Austin, Texas, is now home to the only piece of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial outside of Washington. The panel was made for the 1982 installation of the memorial but had to be remade because of a defect on the upper right corner. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)
Some of the significant events of the war that correspond to Panel 44 and the exhibit include the Marine Corps battle at Khe Sanh, a base where supplies were airlifted to troops from along the Laotian border, and an attack on Lima Site 85 in Laos.
At Lima Site 85, the Air Force and CIA operated a small radar station about 12 miles from North Vietnam, according to the Defense Department. Enemy forces attacked on March 10, 1968, resulting in the deaths of 12 of the 19 men there.
Etchberger single-handedly fended off the enemy with an M-16 rifle while calling for air rescue and directing airstrikes that were nearly on top of him, leading to the Medal of Honor, according to the Defense Department. He died in the fight but can be credited for saving the lives of three of the seven survivors of that night.
Hall began narrowing down the exhibit and its contents once the library realized the panel would work there, she said. Initially, they feared the 900-pound panel would fall through the floor. An engineering firm designed a special base to keep the panel upright and confirmed it would remain in place on the librarys third floor.
The memorial fund also operates a smaller replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington that it has toured throughout the country since 1996. It has been displayed in more than 700 communities and its schedule is available online at www.vvmf.org.
For hours and information on the LBJ Library, go to www.lbjlibrary.org.
CANBERRA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Extinct volcanoes could be a rich source of in-demand rare earth elements, joint Australian and Chinese research has found.
In a study published on Wednesday, researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) found that a type of iron-rich magma entombed within extinct volcanoes is likely abundant with rare earth elements.
Rare earth elements refer to a group of critical minerals widely used in modern electronics, defense technology, batteries and medical imaging. They are considered key to the global net-zero emissions transition because of their applications in electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies.
Michael Anenburg, co-author of the study from the Research School of Earth Sciences at ANU, said the iron-rich magma that solidified to form some extinct volcanoes is up to 100 times more efficient at concentrating the elements than magmas that erupt from active volcanoes.
"We have never seen an iron-rich magma erupt from an active volcano, but we know some extinct volcanoes, which are millions of years old, had this enigmatic type of eruption," he said in a media release.
"Our findings suggest that these iron-rich extinct volcanoes across the globe, such as El Laco in Chile, could be studied for the presence of rare earth elements."
To make the discovery, the team simulated volcanic eruptions by sourcing rocks similar to those from iron-rich extinct volcanoes.
The rocks were heated to melting point and their mineral content was tested, leading to the discovery of the high concentrations of rare earth elements.
Global demand for rare earth elements is expected to increase fivefold by 2030. China has the largest deposits of the elements in the world and is the world's biggest producer.
The Australian government in 2023 launched a strategy to grow the country's critical minerals sector and in May 2024 committed 566 million Australian dollars (390.8 million U.S. dollars) in funding over 10 years to map Australia's critical minerals deposits.
Martinho Limaneto (48), who also had more than 600 in crime proceeds on him, had fallen in with the wrong crowd at the time.
A delivery driver had a variety of drugs worth 2,500 when gardai caught him riding an uninsured moped erratically in Dublin, a court has heard.
Martinho Limaneto (48), who also had more than 600 in crime proceeds on him, had fallen in with the wrong crowd at the time.
Judge Paula Murphy spared him jail, giving him a six-month suspended sentence.
She also fined him 750 and banned him from driving for two years.
Limaneto, a father of five from St Attracta Road, Cabra, pleaded guilty to possession of ketamine, cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and LSD. He also admitted possession of 640 in cash, which was the proceeds of criminal conduct, as well as uninsured and unlicensed driving.
Dublin District Court heard gardai were on patrol at Kimmage Road, Dublin 12, on September 29 last year when they stopped the accused, who was driving a moped erratically.
He admitted having no licence or insurance and was searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Limaneto had 1,500 of cannabis and 640 in cash on him and the other drugs were found in a search after his arrest. The total value of the drugs was 2,500.
The accused, from Brazil, came to Ireland on a student visa four years ago, his barrister Rory Mulvaney said. He had been working as a delivery driver but had since switched to construction. At the time of the offences, he had fallen in with the wrong crowd and now recognised the wrong he did, Mr Mulvaney said.
Limaneto had no relevant previous convictions.
Judge Murphy imposed concurrent six- and three-month sentences, suspended for two years.
Daniel McLoughlin, 37, was accused of providing firearms to Thomas Bomber Kavanagh, 57, and his brother-in-law Liam Byrne, 43, who are leading members of the organised crime group.
A Liverpool drug dealer who was accused of supplying firearms to senior members of the Kinahan cartel saw charges against him dropped today.
Daniel McLoughlin, 37, was accused of providing firearms to gang boss Thomas Bomber Kavanagh, 57, and his brother-in-law Liam Byrne, 43, who are leading members of the organised crime group.
McLoughlin denied two counts of conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon between 29 April 2020 and 28 May 2020.
Prosecutor Tom Forster, KC, today offered no evidence against McLoughlin and Judge Philip Katz, KC, cleared him of the two offences.
He was accused of providing firearms to Thomas Bomber Kavanagh and his brother-in-law Liam Byrne (right)
Kavanagh and Byrne, along with Shaun Kent, 38, have admitted their role in the plot, which aimed to get Kavanagh a reduced sentence for drug smuggling by revealing the location of the guns to the National Crime Agency.
McLoughlin admitted he sometimes used the Encrochat handle Tabooky which arranged to pass firearms onto Byrne but claimed he did not have sole use of that account.
Mr Forster said there was no evidence McLoughlin was not telling the truth and the crown could not rule out that someone else had arranged the firearms sale.
McLoughlin was jailed for 14 years and four months earlier this year after admitting conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs and exporting Class B drugs to Australia.
McLoughlins Liverpool drugs gang made almost 15,000 a week delivering drugs in lockdown.
Kavanagh is currently serving a 21-year sentence for masterminding a different 36m drug smuggling operation.
While in custody awaiting sentence at Ipswich Crown Court he masterminded a plot together with Kent, Byrne and others to amass firearms from the UK, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
They then intended to tell the NCA where the firearms were in order for Kavanagh to receive a reduced sentence.
Kavanagh spoke to the NCA and told them weapons had been brought to the UK from Holland.
He produced a map which led police to a farm in Northern Ireland and after digging they found two holdalls containing eleven submachine guns.
The NCA had been passed information on the gang after French authorities hacked the encrypted chat EncroChat in April 2020.
The NCA used this information to determine that Kavanagh was lying.
Kavanagh, Kent and Byrne have admitted two counts of conspiracy to possesses a prohibited weapon and two counts of conspiracy to possess ammunition for a firearm without a certificate between 9 January 2020 and 3 June 2021.
Kavanagh and Kent admitted perverting the course of justice.
They hid firearms in order to reveal their whereabouts to the NCA and enable Kavanagh to receive a reduced sentence on Operation Hornstay- the drugs smuggling operation.
Dublin gangster Byrne was charged after being extradited from Spain after being arrested as he holidayed in Majorca.
The three men are due to be sentenced on 21 and 22 October.
Two men and a woman have appeared in court charged with taking part in violence that broke out at a Burger King on OConnell Street.
Peter Finn and Emma Murtagh, who are charged with violent disorder over the alleged incident. Photo: Paddy Cummins
A man used pepper spray and chairs were thrown around a fast-food restaurant during a brawl in Dublin city centre, it is alleged.
Two men and a woman have appeared in court charged with taking part in violence that broke out at a Burger King on OConnell Street.
Judge Bryan Smyth said he would need to see CCTV footage of the incident before deciding on a court venue for the case, which he adjourned.
Peter Finn (27), Shane Boyne (20) and Emma Murtagh (27) were all remanded on continuing bail at Dublin District Court.
Mr Finn, of Millview Lawn, Malahide; Mr Boyne, from Red Arches Road, Baldoyle; and Ms Murtagh, of Boru Court, Forest Road, Swords, are all charged with violent disorder.
Mr Finn is also charged with possession of pepper spray, intended unlawfully to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate any person.
The court heard the incident was alleged to have happened at Burger King, OConnell Street Lower, on May 6 last year.
Garda Sergeant Maire McDevitt said the DPP consented to the case being dealt with in the district court subject to the judge considering jurisdiction.
Outlining the proposed evidence, she said gardai were dispatched to an incident of violent disorder where pepper spray had allegedly been produced and a number of people affected.
Gardai obtained CCTV footage and allegedly identified Mr Finn getting involved in an argument with Mr Boyne and another man. The third man was unknown, having provided false details.
It was alleged that chairs were thrown and Mr Finn produced pepper spray, making contact with the two other men.
According to gardai, Ms Murtagh became involved in the argument when it spilled out on to OConnell Street.
Members of Dublin Fire Brigade brought Mr Boyne and his associate to Store Street garda station to be treated.
The accused have not yet entered pleas to the charges.
David Williams (55) took the drinks in a moment of madness, his defence said.
Clubcard was first launched in 1995 (Joe Giddens/PA)
A shopper caught stealing alcohol in a Dublin supermarket had a de-tagger on him when he was stopped, a court heard.
David Williams (55) took the drinks in a moment of madness, his defence said.
Judge David McHugh fined Williams, of Riverside Avenue, Clondalkin, 80 when he appeared in Blanchardstown District Court. He had pleaded guilty to theft at Tesco, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre.
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The court heard gardai were called to the store on September 5 last. The accused had been apprehended picking up products and attempting to leave without making any attempt to pay for them.
A de-tagger was found in his possession, a garda sergeant said.
Williams was originally from Liberia, but had been in Ireland for 20 years, his solicitor Daniel Cahalane said.
He had worked in security and as a cleaner but suffered issues with his eyes.
The theft was a moment of madness that happened when the accused was a bit down, Mr Cahalane said.
Williams had groceries in his basket which he paid for, with the other items concealed.
Mr Cahalane asked the judge for leniency. Judge McHugh fined and convicted the accused.
Paul Francis OBoyle (58), who was also known as Fez, was found unconscious at the back of a licensed premises in the Main Street area of Rasharkin on Sunday, April 16, 2023
A man has been jailed after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of a man in Co Antrim.
Paul Francis OBoyle (58), who was also known as Fez, was found unconscious at the back of a licensed premises in the Main Street area of Rasharkin on Sunday, April 16, 2023.
Malachy Crawford (58), of Esdale Terrace, Balnamore, Ballymoney, appeared before Belfast Crown Court for sentencing on Wednesday after pleading guilty in June.
He was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment - half of which will be served in custody and half on licence.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Gibson said Mr OBoyles family loss is only deepened by the senselessness of the attack.
The PSNI officer explained that Mr OBoyle and Crawford had been drinking together in the bar before the attack.
Following a disagreement, Mr OBoyle made his way to the smoking area when Crawford followed him and punched him.
Paul Francis O'Boyle died from head injuries following the attack.
The first punch, which causes Paul to fall to the ground, is followed by a second punch, said DCI Gibson.
Its believed that, tragically, Pauls death was caused by the initial blow.
Mr OBoyle was taken to hospital by the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service but died from head injuries just over one week later on Monday, April 24.
Pauls family are now left trying to come to terms with the loss of their loved one a loss deepened by the senselessness of this attack, continued DCI Gibson.
While, unfortunately, there is nothing that can undo the tragic events of that night, I can only hope that others will take heed of the totally devastating consequence of a physical blow.
My thoughts, and those of the team, are with Pauls family who understandably remain heartbroken.
Michael Harry Costar (52) was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court by Judge Patrick Lynch KC, who divided the eight-year term equally between prison and licence
A man from Lancashire who groomed a Belfast teenager online and then travelled from England to sexually abuse her, which he filmed, was handed an eight-year sentence today.
Michael Harry Costar (52) was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court by Judge Patrick Lynch KC, who divided the eight-year term equally between prison and licence.
From Tenby Close in Blackburn, Costar admitted a total of 29 offences involving the young girl which were committed over a period spanning from December 2009 to December 2012.
The young victim was aged 13 when she was first contacted by Costar, who was then aged 39, on the social network 'Tagged.'
Following a period of online grooming, Costar travelled from England to Belfast and on the first occasion they met, he took her to a hotel in the city where he sexually abused her.
The forklift driver repeated this behaviour several times by travelling from England to Belfast to meet the teenager and abuse her.
On one occasion he turned up at her school and during another incident he called at her house.
Over this period, he also took indecent images and videos of the girl some of which depicted him sexually abusing her.
Costar's offending came to an end when the girl turned 16 but he did try and contact her on another online forum.
His criminal activity with the Belfast victim only emerged in March 2023 when he was arrested by police in England.
He was found to be in possession of digital images of his teenage victim which he admitted showing to friends and he made full admissions to police regarding this offending following his arrest.
He was brought back to Northern Ireland, appeared in Belfast Magistrates Court on March 16 last year and was back in court today for sentencing.
Costar admitted a total of 29 charges including meeting a child following sexual grooming, sexual activity involving penetration by an adult with a child, causing a child to engage in sexual activity and multiple charges of both making and possessing indecent images of a child.
Judge Lynch revealed that Costar told a probation officer he had a sexual attraction to young girls which he branded "concerning."
Turning to the victim, the Judge said he had read and considered a statement made by her regarding the impact Costar's offending has had on her.
In her statement, the victim said: "My life is different than what it would have been had I never met Michael Costar.
"As a young child, I lied to my parents, my siblings and my friends because I felt I had to see him and do what he wanted me to do.
"He made such a deal of how he travelled all the way from England to Northern Ireland to see me and he wouldn't accept 'no' for an answer.
"This has impacted my whole life since then.
"My education suffered, he knew where I went to school. There was only one gate so I couldn't avoid him when he decided to meet me after school and I missed study time because he took me away."
She also spoke of how the abuse she suffered as a child has affected her relationship with her family and how she dresses as well as both her work and social life.
Citing the element of grooming, Costar's "planning and pre-meditation and the cynical manipulation of a young child" and the recording of the abuse as aggravating factors, Judge Lynch told Costar the harm he caused was "high."
Also noted by Judge Lynch was Costar's clear criminal record.
As well as imposing the eight-year sentence, Judge Lunch made Costar the subject of a seven-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) which will come into effect when he is released from prison and he was placed on the Sexual Offences Register for an indefinite period.
The terms of the SOPO include a ban on Costar communicating or having any contact with children, contacting the victim in this case or her family and possessing a mobile or computer that has internet access unless approved by his designated risk manager.
The two men were arrested in March when it was alleged that they were part of a criminal gang that brought vulnerable people from Slovakia to Ireland and exploited their labour
Two Slovakian men who face multiple charges in relation to alleged human trafficking offences will face trial at the next sitting Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
The two men, Marian Vavrek, 47, of Kontiki, Rooskey, Co. Roscommon and Ladislav Bubencik, 33, of Railway Road, Charleville, Co. Cork appeared before Judge Colm Roberts at Mallow District Court.
Mr Vavrek who is currently in custody appeared by video link from Cork Prison while Mr Bubencik who took up bail on March 7 appeared in person.
A Slovak interpreter was present in court to assist both of the accused men.
Court presenter Sergeant Majella OSullivan said that the book of evidence had been served on both men by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
She told the court that gardai were applying for both men to be sent forward for trial to the next sitting of Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
Sgt. OSullivan told the court that Mr Vavrek faces a total of six charges and Mr Bubencik faces a total of 30 charges.
Judge Colm Roberts gave an alibi warning to both men informing them that if they intended to make use of an alibi as part of their defence they must make it known within 14 days.
He granted legal aid to Mr Vavreks solicitor Denis Linehan and Mr Bubenciks solicitor Frank Buttimer allowing for both one senior and one junior counsel.
Mr Vavrek was remanded in custody with consent to bail and Mr Bubencik was remanded on continuing bail, both to appear before Cork Circuit Criminal Court on October 30.
The two men were arrested in March when it was alleged that they were part of a criminal gang that brought vulnerable people from Slovakia to Ireland and exploited their labour.
The criminal was spotted in the Talbot Street area of Dublin city centre last week where he was looking for his target.
Jason Hennessy Snr died from his injuries in January after being shot in a restaurant in Blanchardstown on Christmas Eve
A senior member of the Hennessy organised crime gang has offered 1,000 for anyone to slice up a young man who allegedly owes the gangster a 2,000 cocaine debt.
The Corduff based criminal who is aged in his late 20s was spotted in the Talbot Street area of Dublin city centre last week where he was looking for his target who is currently living on the streets.
Sources say that what has compounded the gangsters anger about the drug addict who owes him money is that he has been accused of slagging off Jason Hennessy Snr (48) who was fatally injured at Brownes Steakhouse in Blanchardstown last Christmas Eve.
This individual was very close to the murder victim Jason Hennessy and he on the absolute warpath now because not only does the drug addict owe him a significant amount of money but he has described the deceased man as a rat in online comments, a source told the Sunday World.
The target has a major drugs problem he is originally from the Lucan area but has been homeless in recent times and sleeping rough in the north inner city.
It is believed this is why the criminal travelled into the city centre last week in an attempt to find him but when he didnt he sent snapchat messages to a number of individuals with a photo of the homeless man and an offer of 1,000 for anyone to slice him up.
The target is in hiding now but the problem for him is that there are plenty of people who would be willing to carry out the attack to get the cash, the source explained.
The Corduff gangster is a key player in the vicious west Dublin feud that led to the Steakhouse shooting on December 24 and resulted in the death of gunman Tristan Sherry (26) was killed after he opened fire inside the restaurant.
Finglas criminal Sherry died as a result of a combination of a blunt-force head injury and stab wounds to his body in the restaurant which never reopened and has been shut down permanently.
Gardai continue to mount a number of operations in west Dublin in a bid to prevent further murders but there has been a number of arson attacks and assignation attempts throughout the year.
Officers have had some great success in taking drugs, guns and ammunition connected to the feuding mobs off the streets but tensions remain high in the locality with a number of juveniles involved in the criminal dispute.
Brownes Steakhouse in Dublin
The Hennessy organised crime gang are heavily involved in drugs debt intimidation and sources say this latest incident is not the first time that the key gang member has taken to social media to threaten people who owe him money for drugs debts.
Meanwhile seven people charged in relation to the killing of gangland assassin Tristan Sherry have been given a trial date in November this year at the non-jury Special Criminal Court.
Four of these have been charged with murder with others charged with a variety of offences including violent disorder.
Her 21-year-old son Nathan Simpson, with an address given as Castlereagh Road, has been charged with her murder
The mother of east Belfast murder victim Rachel Simpson has said her family have lost a loving and devoted mother and daughter.
The 43-year-olds body was discovered in a garage along the Castlereagh Road on Friday, September 13, after police had been called to the property.
Her 21-year-old son Nathan Simpson, with an address given as Castlereagh Road, has been charged with her murder.
A service of thanksgiving for Ms Simpsons life is taking place at Orangefield Presbyterian Church and will be followed by a private cremation at Roselawn Cemetery later on Wednesday.
Speaking ahead of her funeral, Ms Simpsons mother, Jill, said her family are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of sympathy and support from across the community.
The tragedy that befell our family was devastating, she said. In Rachel, we have lost a loving and devoted mother and daughter.
However, given the circumstances, the loss is much wider and much more profound.
There will be more to say in the time ahead, but as we lay Rachel to rest, we respectfully ask for privacy and space.
There will be no further comment at this time.
Ms Simpsons funeral notice said she is the beloved mother of Nathan, Lucy and Sophie, precious daughter of Tom and Jill, and cherished sister of Cher and Erin.
If Billy thinks hes safe, hes more stupid than we thought
Gun-charge loyalist Billy McCune is back on Belfasts Sandy Row after striking a deal with the UDA.
McCune, who is facing a raft of gun and ammunition charges, has had his bail conditions altered and has been allowed to return to his old stomping ground.
His original bail conditions stipulated he stay at an address outside the city and that he could only return to Belfast for court appearances and doctor appointments.
The 45-year-olds return has raised eyebrows in the loyalist heartland and, after several attempts on his life, he remains a marked man.
The Sunday World understands he faced having to quit his temporary accommodation by the end of the month and attempts to set up home in a house close to his bail address fell through after it was rumbled by UDA elements out to kill him.
In desperation he threw himself at the mercy of veteran UDA chief Jackie McDonald, a source has claimed.
Informed sources on Sandy Row said the pair held talks during which McCune attempted to explain the circumstances of his arrest in March this year.
But there is deep suspicion over what McCune may have shared with McDonald that warranted him being allowed to return.
There are a lot of people with a lot to lose, said our source.
Billy is walking about telling everybody hes back, but if he thinks hes safe because Jackie has given him the green light, hes more stupid than we thought.
Jackie McDonald
McCune was stopped by police on Belfasts Lisburn Road in March.
It was claimed police pulled him over because of a signalling offence, but they discovered a cache of weapons in his car.
A follow-up search at his home at Bentham Drive uncovered more guns and paramilitary-style regalia.
In all, police seized an assault-type rifle, handguns, a sawn-off shotgun and an assortment of ammunition.
In a court appearance, a solicitor for McCune said his client had been acting as an intermediary for the UDA and his community with a government official.
McCune is now back in the house where a portion of the arms cache was found.
With the guns belonging to an assortment of UDA and UVF gangs plus a prominent drug dealer, McCune was immediately on the gangs hit list.
UDA elements launched at least two attempts on his life. Two car-loads of men sent to his bail address abandoned their mission because the area was covered with CCTV.
A second plan to plant a booby-trap under his car was also aborted after the two-man team tasked with carrying it out got cold feet and abandoned the device in a nearby field, prompting an extensive security operation to recover the bomb.
McDonalds decision to allow McCune to return has angered members and has spooked drug dealers in the area.
McCune had close ties to the terror groups three-man command team and while not a member of the UDA, he was well connected.
He went to Jackie crying his eyes out, said our source.
God knows what hes said to Jackie for him to allowed back he threw the UDA under the bus in court so whatever hes said, its got people worried.
The source said his return, with apparent support of McDonald, will not guarantee his safety.
Sources say he pleaded with the veteran chief to allowed to return. He said he was vulnerable living where he had been and pointed to the two attempts on his life.
The source said he believes he is safer back on home ground.
If he thinks hes safe, hes deluded, hes a sitting duck it will only be a matter of time.
McCune has been under intense pressure since his arrest and is believed to have suffered ill-health due to stress.
Sources say he has become an insomniac and he sits up all night in fear of attack.
McCune is in the firing line from elements within the UDA furious that guns have been lost.
The Sandy Row leadership is convinced the sawn-off shotgun recovered is the weapon used in the sanctioned murder of North Belfast commander John Bonzer Boreland in 2016 which was carried out by south Belfast UDA.
Another of the guns was being held for a drug dealer, a one-time member of the UVFs East Belfast crime gang who has shifted his operation to the south of the city.As well as putting a price on McCunes head has also demanded 10,000 compensation from the UDA for the loss of his rifle.
McCune is in the lions den, all his connections, including Jackie wont save him. There are people involved who have no allegiance to the UDA and are not subject to anything Jackie might say, our source said.
NAIROBI, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD on Wednesday announced its entry into the Kenyan market, partnering with local motor dealer Loxea Kenya for distribution.
Steve Chang, general manager of BYD South Africa, told reporters in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi that the Atto 3, Seal, and Dolphin models, which are designed to meet the diverse needs of the local market, will be available to consumers.
"We expect our e-vehicles to help Kenya in its journey to build a sustainable transportation sector that helps conserve the environment," Chang said.
According to Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the country currently has an estimated 5,000 electric vehicles, comprising two-wheel, three-wheel, passenger, and commercial vehicles.
Jennifer Kinyoe, managing director at Loxea Kenya, said BYD's presence in Kenya will contribute to the country's green transition and the modernization of the transportation landscape.
Kinyoe added that the partnership with BYD aligns with her firm's mission to diversify electric vehicles, while providing innovative and sustainable mobility solutions to businesses and individuals.
Salim Mvurya, cabinet secretary for the Kenyan Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry, said the introduction of electric vehicles is a timely contribution to Kenya's sustainable development goals.
Mvurya noted that the government has prioritized the adoption of e-mobility to achieve a number of targets, not only to comply with the existent carbon emission reduction commitments of 32 percent reduction by 2030 but also to lower Kenya's reliance on oil imports.
He also pointed out that the adoption of electric vehicles in Kenya is increasingly picking pace, driven by several factors, including supportive government policy, environmental awareness, and economic considerations.
A total of 27 individual one-inch Ziploc-type resealable packets containing a powdery rock-like substance were also found in his luggage
Olaf Seyler, of Honolulu, was arrested for various drug offenses at the Hilo International Airport
A 60-year-old man arrested at an airport in Hawaii for carrying a fake pistol had enough fentanyl in his carry-on luggage to kill 12,000 people it has been reported.
Olaf Seyler, of Honolulu, was arrested for various drug offenses at the Hilo International Airport, after he was seen on an X-ray screening machine trying to carry what appeared to be a pistol through security.
The Hawaii Police Department stated that South Hilo patrol officers were assigned to the airport on Saturday, September 21, following reports that a man had attempted to bring an airsoft pistol in his carry-on bag through the Transport Security Administration (TSA) check point.
TSA officers reported that while searching Seylers carry-on luggage, a glass smoking pipe with white powdery substances within the stem and bulbous portions was discovered.
In addition, 27 individual one-inch Ziploc-type resealable packets containing a powdery rock-like substance were also found, along with a functional digital scale, and an imitation Glock 17 airsoft pistol.
Seyler was arrested for suspected narcotics possession and brought to the East Hawaii Detention Facility where he was held.
Seylers luggage was recovered and transported to the Hilo Police Station where it was secured pending the execution of a search warrant.
According to local media, a total of 24.57 net grams of fentanyl was recovered from the Ziploc-type resealable packets.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), states that as little as 2 milligrams (0.002 grams) of fentanyl can be a lethal dose. Based on this information, the fentanyl seized had the potential to result in over 12,000 lethal doses.
Detectives with the Area/Vice Section later executed a search warrant on Seylers luggage, resulting in the recovery of .63 grams of methamphetamine, and an additional .93 grams of fentanyl.
Seyler was later charged with various drug offences including first-degree Attempted Promotion of a Dangerous Drug.
Family believe dad died in struggle despite open verdict given at inquest
Garda forensic experts have carried out a fresh investigation at the home of an elderly Leitrim farmer who died in suspicious circumstances nearly five years ago.
The move comes after private forensics experts retained by Liam Farrells family found extensive evidence of blood in a shed at the rear of the home close to where his body was found on January 12, 2020.
The specialists found the blood on the ground, and on a rope in the shed, when they went to the property on Friday. It had not been found in the initial garda investigation.
Mr Farrells children believe that their father was the victim of a serious assault that precipitated his death from severe coronary heart disease.
When the blood was found they immediately alerted gardai and a team of crime scene investigators from Sligo spent several hours at the property on Saturday evening.
An inquest two weeks ago into the circumstances of the death of the 87-year-old returned an open verdict, which meant that the jury could not be satisfied as to the actual circumstances surrounding the death.
Counsel representing Mr Farrells family told the coroners court that they believed their father was assaulted.
Mr Farrells son Peter revealed that he had retained the services of the private forensics experts.
The discovery of the blood in the shed validates what we have always believed, that daddy was attacked, he said.
It is also consistent with what I was told that he didnt die where he was found. That must be properly investigated now. It is very hard to think that our lovely father may have been beaten or tortured before his death.
He said the family were told at the time there was nothing suspicious and our father died from natural causes we were warned not to do a CSI job of our own.
But Peter said that the family are now demanding a full and proper investigation be carried out led by specialist units in Dublin.
The body of the widower, who lived alone outside the Shannonside village, was found lying outside the back of his home by his daughter.
Mr Farrell was last seen alive 15 hours earlier when he left a local pub.
He had suffered extensive bruising, abrasions and cuts to his face and body, and there was blood on his body, on the walls and back door of the house.
A post mortem found that death was caused by a heart attack.
The recent inquest heard that when he was found, Mr Farrells shoes and socks had been removed and his overcoat and blazer had also been taken off. His knotted tie was also found lying close by covered in blood.
His daughter Anne Carroll made the discovery when she called in on him around 3.30pm on January 12. Her father was not breathing, and was unresponsive. She called her brother Brendan. An ambulance and the gardai were also called.
It (the scene) was horrific. I didnt recognise daddy, my father the big strong manI couldnt believe itit was carnage, Brendan Farrell said in evidence.
The inquest finding raised more questions than answers and deepened the mystery of what really happened. In particular it emerged that there was a major flaw in the initial investigation.
Consultant pathologist at Sligo University Hospital Professor Paul Hartel, who performed the post mortem, revealed that gardai had not informed him that the body was found in suspicious circumstance. He believed he was dealing with a case of death by natural causes.
If he had known that the gardai were treating the case as suspicious he said he would have referred the post mortem to a forensic pathologist.
The result was that injuries to the body were not forensically examined and therefore potential evidence was literally buried.
Dr Jack Crane, the former state pathologist for the North, who was retained by the dead mans family, said that it was his opinion that Mr Farrell had been assaulted.
Mr Farrells son Peter told the inquest he was approached by a local man who told him that his father did not die where he was found. The same person also said that the body had been dragged to where it was found.
In a statement last night, a garda spokesperson said:
An Garda Siochana is carrying out enquiries following receipt of information from a third party. An Garda Siochana cannot provide any further information for operational reasons.
Any person contacting An Garda Siochana does so in the expectation of privacy and confidentiality. An Garda Siochana respects the confidentiality of our engagements with private citizens.
Fitness to practise committee hears over 20 allegations concerning Prisca Umeobi, a former employee at the Mater Private
Incidents are alleged to have happened at the Mater Private, Dublin, in 2021
A fitness to practise inquiry has been told a registered nurse faces over 20 allegations relating to lack of professionalism and poor treatment of patients and staff at a busy Dublin hospital.
Prisca Umeobi, a former nurse at the Mater Private Hospital, is accused of a catalogue of poor professional conduct during the period of her employment between July and August 2021.
A Nursing Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) fitness to practise committee heard allegations against Ms Umeobi, including that she pulled faces at a very ill lady receiving palliative care while cleaning her.
On another occasion, it is alleged Ms Umeobi left a patient sitting on a bedpan and went to lunch without informing anyone. The patient had just returned to the ward after knee replacement surgery.
A former colleague said she found the patient in a highly distressed state and in severe pain.
Ms Umeobi is accused of failing to engage in holistic care, while being disrespectful on multiple occasions.
She is further accused of failing to apply a dressing to a patient and failing to wash patients in a timely manner. She allegedly said to one patient: Can you not wash yourself? I have other patients in pain to look after.
On another occasion, it is alleged the nurse rolled her eyes and scoffed when a colleague asked her to pass her a bedpan.
She needed all the care she could get, the poor lady
It is claimed that Ms Umeobi refused to accept feedback from her manager, failed to administer correct medications to patients and did not impart important information about patients to her colleagues.
It is further alleged that she delayed assisting in the cleaning of an extremely vulnerable patient for over an hour and suggested to a ward attendant that the patient remain dressed in a soiled gown.
A healthcare assistant told the committee that the patient in question was a very sick lady who had just been transferred to the ward from the intensive care unit.
She needed all the care she could get, the poor lady, the healthcare assistant said.
She told the committee she had to repeatedly ask Ms Umeobi for help cleaning and changing the lady, who was incontinent.
Ms Umeobi, it is alleged, said Im busy, Ill come back to you and let her wait.
When she did finally come to assist the woman, the healthcare assistant said she was not happy, pulled faces and acted disrespectfully to the woman.
It is also alleged Ms Umeobi failed in her clinical duties, including not reporting the serious deterioration of a patient and not following through on prescribed care needs for patients.
She is accused of failing to inform staff on the next shift that a patients endoscopic procedure had been cancelled. This led to the patient, who was suffering from cancer, fasting unnecessarily for 12 hours.
Further allegations include that on one or more occasions, Ms Umeobi engaged colleagues in an aggressive or irate tone and spoke in a rude or degrading manner to a member of the hospitals cleaning team.
Several former colleagues told the committee of instances when the nurse did not carry out tasks required of her.
It was also relayed how she refused to assist colleagues when they were dealing with patients with high needs.
A senior colleague, who was deployed to assist Ms Umeobi after she was identified as having a knowledge gap in her professional skills, told the committee Ms Umeobi did not inform a nurse that a patient took an anti-coagulant medication. She did, however, inform a porter.
I didnt think it was a relevant or appropriate comment to make
The colleague said: A porter is not medically or clinically trained and shouldnt be given such information or responsibility. I was very concerned and asked her did she know a porter was not medically trained and she said no.
When the same colleague raised concerns about Ms Umeobi, she said she refused to sign a learning plan and was very irate and very angry to have her shortcomings highlighted.
It was very clear she was very angry with me, she said. The reaction I was receiving was kind of that it was alright for me because I was rich and she needed this job.
I didnt think it was a relevant or appropriate comment to make.
The committee heard the registrant quit her job at the Mater Private Hospital after concerns were raised about her performance.
Ms Umeobi did not attend the fitness to practise hearing. It will continue at a later date when further witnesses will be called.
Jade Kirwan, Ryanairs head of communications, made the comments at a press conference
Ryanair said the issue of passengers being drunk before they board a plane is a serious concern. Photo: Getty
Ryanair would be willing to set a two-drink limit on passengers if airport bars do the same, a senior executive has said.
Jade Kirwan, Ryanairs head of communications, made the comments at a press conference launching the 2024 winter schedule at Shannon Airport.
Ms Kirwan said the issue of passengers being drunk and disruptive is a nightmare for the airline and fellow passengers.
While there is no strict policy in place, Ms Kirwan said Ryanair currently does not limit the amount of alcohol served on flights where passengers are being disruptive.
We usually cap at about two drinks, but that is completely at our crews discretion, she said.
But the problem doesnt start on the flight, it starts at the airport. There are people who arrive early to the airport to have a few drinks before they get on board.
If the airports take responsibility and cap it at two drinks we will gladly do the same, but we need to see some action by them first.
Ryanair CEO says meeting with Irish Government minister 'not productive'
Ms Kirwan echoed Ryanair boss Michael OLearys warning that due to the passenger cap at Dublin Airport, one-way flights from Dublin to London could cost up to 500 this Christmas.
Ryanair and other airlines were turned down for extra slots for Christmas flights by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), which is causing prices to spike due to demand.
Ms Kirwan said the situation was no joke.
We have significant underutilised capacity in the airports outside of Dublin
It is something we are genuinely concerned about for our passengers and it is all down to the cap, she said.
Now, in September, the flights around that Christmas weekend are over the 100 mark already.
Despite the pressure that the passenger cap in Dublin is placing on the airline, Ms Kirwan said there is no plan to increase capacity at regional airports like Shannon, Cork and Knock.
Last summer we moved three aircraft out of Dublin to Italy and Poland, and 17 routes with it and hundreds of jobs, she said.
The reasons they didnt come to the west of Ireland is we dont have either the outbound or inbound traffic.
Shannon typically serves Limerick and Clare. We have around 200,000 people in the Limerick area and 130,000 in the Clare area while we have two million in Dublin, and that would be one of the smallest cities in our network.
When you go internationally and you say Shannon, they dont know where you are talking about. When you say Dublin, people know immediately.
The routes we have at the moment satisfy the demand that is there
Ms Kirwan said there were no incentives in place that would entice Ryanair to increase capacity at Irish regional airports.
We have no guarantee we would fill those aircraft if the demand is not there, she said. The routes we have at the moment satisfy the demand that is there.
Mary Considine, CEO of Shannon Airport, said there is a huge opportunity for Shannon to be part of the solution of the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.
Minister James Lawless (junior minister for international transport) put it really well when he said there is no cap on the airports outside Dublin, said Ms Considine.
We have significant underutilised capacity in the airports outside of Dublin.
She was a true ray of light and sunshine
The tightknit community of Enniscorthy is shrouded in sadness following the death of Nadia Dempsey after a short battle against cancer.
Nadia (32) from Castle Lane, Brownswood, Enniscorthy died on Saturday after a brave fight against cancer, a fight she fought both here and in Thailand where she had been living when she was first diagnosed.
The daughter of Lorraine and Tony Nadia was diagnosed with Small Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma, a rare form of cancer in November 2022 and underwent a hysterectomy in Thailand followed by radiotherapy, brachytherapy which is an internal radiation close to the cancer site, and chemotherapy.
A former Bio-Pharmaceutical Science student at Carlow IT Naida had spent eight years travelling the world before her diagnosis.
At the time her only sister Natalie set up a GoFundMe page which went on to raise almost 40,000 to help fund the lifesaving treatment Nadia needed.
Then Natalie described Nadia as the most generous, family and friend focused woman. Her heart, mind, and body have been dedicated to the people in her life, near or far. She fights for those who need an advocate and she gives to those who need, no matter how big or small the matter.
Nadia returned to Ireland in the summer of 2023 but in February 2024 she posted that her cancer had returned and in new places which was treated with surgery, another round of chemotherapy and multiple sessions of radiation.
Despite her own suffering Nadia continually advocated for women to ask for a HPV test when undergoing a smear test.
Nadia Dempsey lived life to the fullest.
Nadia died on Saturday, September 21, surrounded by her friends and family. Since her death a wealth of tributes have been posted online.
One mourner wrote: I met Nadia at the bar in Darwin in 2017, Nads a blazing sun, full of life and energy and me a quiet 22-year-old with no idea about the world. We both decided to go and do our farm work together in Queensland and without her it wouldn't of been the same.
Nads truly loved everyone and had a childlike curiosity about everything (even what you were cooking for dinner every night) her wacky outfits and zest for life were unmatched. We jumped off a ledge tied to each other for a tandem bungee jump Nads having a shot beforehand raring to go whilst my legs were shaking. We got our tongue pierced together, Nads having four piercings whilst I was throwing up from one.
Nads had no issues planning trips around the world, travelling was easy to her, she would have the most craic wherever she went and make friends with everyone without judgment.
I have never met anyone like Nads, she is a special angel and has been taken too soon. She truly loved all her friends and family, who I share my condolences with.
Fly high Nadia, I know you will. You already were flying high here on earth. Thank you for blessing my life for a short time, but a memorable one.
Another tribute read: Nadia was truly one of a kind, a beautiful person inside and out. From meeting her in Carlow many moons ago to her unwavering support and help during my move to Hanoi. She had an absolute heart of gold and would move mountains to help anyone who needed it.
"Youll always be in our hearts Nadia, the impact you have made will never ever be forgotten. No doubt you are somewhere now filling everyone around you with pure and utter craic! So so much love. Rest easy Nadz
Nadia Dempsey in late 2022 after being diagnosed with cancer.
Another tribute read: Rest of Peace Nadz! Ill be forever grateful for your travel insights and tips, your lends of sparkly crop tops and high leg boots when I definitely wasnt allowed or old enough to wear them! Your kindness was infectious and you lived life to the max, an inspiration to all. Fly high xx
Another family friend wrote: Nadia spent many hours in our house full of devilment, mayhem, mischief, fun and laughter. She was a true ray of love and sunshine. I can still feel her last kisses and hugs to me and I know when I look up I will see her bright shining star staring back at us, fly high angel. You will always be remembered a true inspiration to live life to the fullest no matter what.
Nadia is survived by her parents, Tony and Lorraine, sister Natalie, partner Adam, Nanny Sheila, nephew Conor, brother-in-law Darren, aunts, uncles, cousins and a wide circle of friends.
Her remains will repose in Brownes Funeral Home until 8pm on Monday. Her funeral service will take place in the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Glenbrien on Wednesday, August 25, at 2 p.m. Mourners are asked to wear colours of the rainbow in memory of Ms Dempseys love for life.
Thomas Murphy died following the incident that happened at around 3.30pm on Saturday, November 25, 2023
An Irish pensioner who was killed after he was hit by a lorry in London have been named by police almost a year after his death.
Thomas Murphy died following the incident that happened at around 3.30pm on Saturday, November 25, 2023 at the junction of Kilburn High Road and Cambridge Avenue.
The 71-year-old Irish national who was living in Maida Vale, died at the scene, located near to Kilburn High Road rail station.
The driver of the lorry stopped near the crash site a short time later and spoke to police, but there were no arrests.
Nearly 10 months later, the Metropolitan Police has named Mr Murphy as the man killed and are appealing to speak to two key witnesses.
In particular, they are trying to track down two men who gave evidence at the scene of the incident.
The police investigation is ongoing, which has included obtaining CCTV footage that is central to this investigation, Detective Sergeant Becca Collens, of the Mets Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said.
However we have been unable to make contact with two key witnesses who provided details to officers at the scene, he added.
I am appealing for those two men to make contact with me.
I also need to hear from anyone else who saw the incident but has yet to speak with police.
I am keen to have witness accounts as well as CCTV material and other evidence available for the inquest."
An inquest into Mr Murphys death has been opened and adjourned at Barnet Coroners Court.
Some tried to stop me from speaking out on my on pages even though they knew Damo and Ivor the brand was owned and created by me
The Damo & Ivor star Andy Quirke has launched an online attack on RTE, accusing the broadcaster of operating as a daily propaganda machine for a corrupt government that is trying to enforce globalism.
Quirke, heir to the Dr Quirkeys slot machine empire is a brother to Wes who is married to former Miss World Rosanna Davison.
Taking to the official Damo & Ivor X page the star posted that while he had a good relationship working with RTE from 2012-2017, he then retired from acting.
Three years later, in 2020, I started speaking out against lockdowns and the coercion of vaccines, he posted.
Immediately RTE de friended me and blocked me on all platforms. The entire head team in RTE has (been) replaced with a British team.
I had waited nearly a year in the hope they would stop pumping out nonstop propaganda on the Irish people.
They wouldnt stop so I went all out, speaking out every single day.
He further claims he had people in the industry bitching behind my back and try(ing) to get me to shut up.
Some tried to stop me from speaking out on my on pages even though they knew Damo and Ivor the brand was owned and created by me.
I dont regret speaking out, in fact I wish I did it sooner.
He then storms: RTE is nothing but a daily propaganda machine for a corrupt government that is trying to enforce globalism.
He further claims that nearly half of the country has stopped paying the TV license because of the propaganda and corruption.
Viewership across the board on all RTE shows has absolutely tanked especially the last 2 years, he adds. The Irish people boycotted the TV license so corrupt government gave RTE 725,000,000 to keep their propaganda machine running.
He has also added links to various videos relating to globalism replicating communist China and its digital slavery systems, mass depopulation and the removal of human rights and freedoms.
RTE has been asked for comment
Esther McCarthy looks at the glittering career of newlywed actress Saoirse Ronan, who has two big movies tipped for awards due for release
Shes one of Irelands biggest movie stars with a remarkable four Oscar nominations under her belt the first coming when she was just 13 years old.
Now as shes just turned 30, this is set to be a huge year for Saoirse Ronan with a new hubby, a new awards-season run and a new movie her first as a director in the pipeline.
Newly wedded to long-term love and fellow actor Jack Lowden, the Irish actress is tipped to feature in not one but two Oscar-fancied roles this year. The Outrun, in cinemas on September 27, sees her play a woman who moves to Scotlands Orkney Islands as she attempts to come to terms with her troubled past, while the forthcoming Blitz, to be released in November, stars Ronan as a young mother frantically searching for her son in wartime England.
Hollywood pundits are already anticipating Saoirse will land one or perhaps even two Oscar nominations next spring. US movie bible Variety has the Irish star tipped to get her fifth Academy Award nod for Best Actress for The Outrun, a tale of addiction and redemption set in Scotlands western isles.
Saoirse plays a woman who leaves London for the Scottish western isles in Outrun
But others are also flagging Saoirse for a nod likely in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in WW2 drama Blitz. Past nominations have proved the Irish star is highly respected by her Oscar-voting peers, and they is a sense that Saoirse is due her first Oscar win next spring.
It would mark the latest accolade for one of Irelands biggest stars, following nominations for period drama Atonement in 2008, poignant Irish emigration movie Brooklyn (2016), coming-of-age tale Ladybird in 2018, and most recently for playing Jo Marsh in an adaptation of the much-loved Little Women (2020).
Its been a big year for Saoirse in her personal as well as work life. This week, she and her hubby, Slow Horses star Jack Lowden, made their first public appearance since it was revealed theyd tied the knot in a low-key wedding in his native Scotland this summer. According to reports, just a handful of family members and friends attended the nuptials in Edinburgh.
Saoirse in Blitz
The couple looked the epitome of glamour at the Emmy Awards as they took to the red carpet in coordinated navy outfits. The Scottish actor was nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for his role as River Cartwright in Slow Horses. The couple first met while working together on the 2018 movie, Mary Queen of Scots.
In fact, it was the man she married who first told Saoirse about the book that she would end up bringing to the big screen in her latest leading role.
It was Jack Lowden, who produced as well, who introduced it to me, she recently told The Hollywood Reporter. Hes a very proud Scot and he had spent a bit of time up in the Orkney Islands. Whenever he goes to a new place, he tries to read a book by a writer from that place if he can. So, he had already fallen in love with The Outrun.
In the interview, she added that she found the story of a women struggling with alcohol addiction who delivered lambs and swam with seals in Orkney powerful and moving. As Rona, she plays a woman who leaves London for the wildness of the western isles as she plans her sobriety in the company of nature.
Saoirse in Little Women
Not only was this going to follow a young female whos in recovery, but following someone who suffers with alcoholism where the torture, the heartbreak, the spiralling isnt being motivated solely by her relationship with a man or with her partner. You could even take the addiction element out of it, and it would still be this very relatable story about a period in a womans life when shes moving into her 30s and youre having to examine your life in a way that you never really did before.
Remarkably, The Outrun is one of two highly-anticipated movies the actress is starring in this year. Next month, the world premiere will take place of Blitz, a WW2 drama from acclaimed filmmaker Steve McQueen, who previously brought 12 Years a Slave and Hunger to our screens.
Blitz is set in east London during the height of the German Blitzkrieg bombing campaign in the early 1940s. She will play a mother who is attempting to get her young son to safety, urged on by his father, who is played by musician and former The Jam star Paul Weller.
Intriguingly, Saoirse is also penning her first screenplay for a film that she also hopes to direct, she recently revealed to Vanity Fair. I have a short that Im halfway through and everyone around me, theyre like: Have you finished it yet? she said. I know what its going to be, but I need to just get up off my arse and do it.
Saoirse with Keira Knightley on the set of Atonement
Saoirse Ronan was just a baby when she was held by Brad Pitt on the set of The Devils Own in Ireland in the 1990s. Her dad, actor Paul Ronan, was working with Pitt on the film but soon he and Saoirses mum Monica would see their own daughter zoom up the ranks to Hollywood superstar thanks to her own talent.
She was just 12 years old when she starred opposite Keira Knightley and James McAvoy in the wartime drama Atonement, a role that marked the young Irish adolescent as a star in the making and got her a first Oscar nod.
Saoirse with new hubby Jack Lowden at the Emmys this week
Since then, she has quietly worked her way to becoming one of Hollywoods most sought-after and bankable stars. Throughout her career she has mixed period roles in films like Brooklyn with comedic parts in movies including The French Dispatch and Ladybird. She recently completed filming the comedy thriller Bad Apples, in which she plays a teacher managing a disruptive student.
As Saoirse turns 30, she has also indicated that she would like to take on more big, commercial roles like the forthcoming Blitz. Ive done a lot of indies, and I love doing them, but it was kind of lovely to go on to something like Blitz where you didnt have to worry about time or money and the biggest thing is that you know the movies going to be seen, she told Vanity Fair.
I do feel I have so much experience now at this stage and Im still so hungry to be pushed and challenged in the way that I always was when I was younger. Because Im in such a fortunate position at the minute where I can choose, Ive never just wanted to do a job just for the sake of it.
The Outrun opens in cinemas on September 27. Blitz will be released in November.
A group of Tauranga students are lacing up their walking shoes in honour of Mental Health Awareness week.
Prefects from Mount Maunganui College, along with prefects from Papamoa College, Katikati College, Te Whare Kura o Mauao, and Otumoetai College, will be trekking up to the summit of Mauao today.
They aim to shine a light on the importance of youth mental well-being.
We wanted to create an opportunity to raise awareness because so many people face mental health challenges, said Mackenzie Crawford, a prefect at Mount Maunganui College.
She, along with fellow prefect Lockie Williams, envisioned an outdoor event that would encourage participation and support from their peers.
Walking around and up Mauao seemed perfect because it invites everyone to join in, said Williams.
The group plans to set off at 1pm on Wednesday, September 25, gathering first on the grassy area outside the Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service Club.
While the exact number of prefects joining in from the other colleges is unknown, Williams is optimistic that many of the 24 prefects from Mount Maunganui College will participate.
Well have a tent set up for everyone to gather and show their support, he said.
Although Williams and Crawford arent personally struggling with mental health issues, they are deeply aware of people who are.
We want those individuals to know its okay to reach out for helpwhether its talking to someone they trust, like a prefect, or contacting support services like Lifeline Aotearoa, said Crawford.
Their motivation is clear: Were fed up with of mental health not getting the attention it deserves, especially among youth.
To further advocate for this important cause, the college will welcome Duane Dalton on Thursday, founder of the Tania Dalton Foundation and a passionate mental health advocate, who will speak to students about the significance of mental health support.
Duane was a New Zealand surf lifesaving and sprint kayak rep, married to Silver Fern Tana Dalton who unexpectedly died in 2017 from a brain aneurysm. The Tania Dalton Foundation helps young New Zealanders unlock their talent and achieve their potential.
Everyone is invited to join the prefects on their ascent up Mauao this Wednesday, September 25, at 1pm. Meet them outside the Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service club rooms at the corner of Adams Ave and Marine Parade.
Where to get help
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
For counselling and support
Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP)
Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
Need to talk? Call or text 1737
Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202
Grief Support: Call 07 578 4480 during office hours
For children and young people
Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234
Whats Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm)
The Lowdown: Text 5626 or webchat
For help with specific issues
Alcohol and Drug Helpline: Call 0800 787 797
Anxiety Helpline: Call 0800 269 4389 (0800 ANXIETY)
OutLine: Call 0800 688 5463 (0800 OUTLINE) (6pm-9pm)
Safe to talk (sexual harm): Call 0800 044 334 or text 4334
All services are free and available 24/7 unless otherwise specified.
For more information and support, talk to your local doctor, hauora, community mental health team or counselling service.
The number of New Zealanders suffering from respiratory disease is far worse than previously thought, with around 1 million Kiwis affected, a new report shows.
The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ has released the 2023 Impact of Respiratory Disease in New Zealand report this week which reveals 1 in 5 Kiwis are affected by a respiratory illness. The previous report, released in 2021, found that figure was 1 in 7 (or 700,000).
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ Chief Executive Letitia Harding said the new findings show just how many families are impacted by chronic and serious lung conditions.
"These numbers are not just statistics - they represent our whanau and our tamariki, who are struggling to breathe every single day.
"These numbers also tell a story of a child missing school or a parent waking up in the middle of the night in fear, having to rush their child to the hospital."
This new data fuels the Foundations mission to advocate and educate for better respiratory health for all, Harding said.
Foundation Medical Director Professor Bob Hancox said it is clear that respiratory disease continues to cause a great deal of suffering in Aotearoa.
It is the third leading cause of death in New Zealand, accounts for 1 in 11 hospital stays, and costs the country $8.4 billion per year.
However, despite these grim statistics, New Zealand has made some progress, Professor Hancox said.
Hospitalisations from asthma and COPD have already exceeded the Foundations target of a 25 per cent reduction by 2025, he said.
"This likely reflects the improvements in prevention and care of these conditions that the Foundation has been advocating for years.
"However, we must acknowledge that far too many people still suffer unnecessarily from conditions that could be prevented or treated more effectively."
Report lead author Dr Lucy Telfar-Barnard, a University of Otago Wellington senior researcher at the Department of Public Health and member of the Foundations Scientific Advisory Board, said access to new data meant that we now know the true scope of respiratory disease in New Zealand.
However, she points out that the data also shows the positive impact Covid restrictions had in reducing respiratory disease rates and hospitalisations for our most at-risk populations.
"While we're not suggesting a return to those extreme measures, there are practical steps we can take like staying home when sick, keeping our flu vaccinations up to date, and ensuring good ventilation in our homes, schools, and workplaces."
The Foundation produces the national guidelines for asthma and COPD. These provide health professionals with evidence-based best practice recommendations for the diagnosis, assessment, and management of patients with these respiratory conditions.
KATHMANDU, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Nepal's import of electric cars surged by over 78 percent during the first two months of the current 2024-25 fiscal year starting in mid-July, as such vehicles have become popular in the South Asian country, customs data showed.
A total of 1,602 electric cars had been shipped into Nepal by mid-September, a sharp rise from 898 over the same period of 2023-24, and 1,125 of them were from China, according to the figures from the Department of Customs.
Nepal has been witnessing a rapid rise in the use of electric vehicles in the last few years, and a total of 11,701 electric cars were imported in 2023-24, with 8,065 from China, the agency data showed.
Electric vehicles dominated Nepal's largest auto show held in Kathmandu in late August and early September, and the majority of vehicles booked were electric ones, according to NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal, the organizer of the auto show.
"Lately there has been a surge in the import of electric cars through Rasuwagadhi border crossing from China," said Rabindra Prasad Pyakurel, information officer at the Rasuwa Customs Office.
"Auto distributors said they are importing the electric vehicles as per the bookings they received during the recent auto expo," he told Xinhua.
A pilot programme led by digital health innovators Ignite Aotearoa and oVRcome is having a 50 per cent success rate in reducing young peoples vaping habits.
Launched in May at four secondary schools, the programme using Virtual Reality (VR) technology has provided participants with access to clinical desensitisation therapy through their smartphones.
The initiative addresses the underlying habits associated with vaping and is believed to be the first of its kind in the world.
The partnership was developed between oVRcome and Ignite Aotearoa to address the growing problem they saw with an increasing number of young people vaping and schools being ill-equipped to deal with it. Ignite is a company driving mental health innovation through their partnerships and a digital platform that connects people directly with proactive support. oVRcome is a Christchurch-based start-up transforming lives with its VR exposure therapy technology.
The oVRcome app has already gained international recognition by supporting people to manage anxiety and take control over phobias. It is trusted by clinical psychologists across the globe and is recommended by Air New Zealand to help people with a fear of flying.
Ignite Aotearoa director Sarina Finucane said with initial figures showing 52 per cent of students in the pilot programme were reporting improved overall vaping outcomes, schools were also hopeful the results would help to address attendance issues due to being caught vaping at school.
In 2023, a total of 3977 New Zealand rangatahi were stood down from school for vaping or smoking, she said.
With oVRcomes innovative and accessible VR therapy model, and a treatment and education programme developed with help from Emerge Aotearoa's EaseUp service, the VR vaping module can help schools tackle the rising impact of vaping on attendance, mental health, and student wellbeing.
"The key was to make this programme easily scalable and affordable so all schools could have equitable access to the headsets and programme, and be self-driven by students, reducing the resourcing demands on schools.
According to EaseUp, an increasing number of schools have been connecting with local addiction youth services looking for help for students to quit vaping, however limited educational and treatment options have been available.
oVRcome founder Adam Hutchinson said a lack of support for teens to break vaping addictions, led to the opportunity to try something different.
VR technology helps to tackle vape addiction because it builds confidence in people to say no and refuse the peer-pressure involved with this habit, he says.
Once teens have learned a set of skills on the app, they can slowly practise them in a range of different environments using VR technology. We know many teens want to stop vaping, so this app brings students and clinical psychologists together to help them build resistance and resilience.
In 2022, a published clinical trial found that self-guided use of the oVRcome app was effective in reducing the severity of specific phobia symptoms in a sample of people who self-reported a fear of flying, heights, spiders, dogs, or needles.
Clinical psychologist Catherine Gallagher, who was involved in the development of the programme, said: Teens can struggle with a whole range of issues and using tech to provide accurate and helpful information and strategies, is a great way to reach them.
The programme can be used by anyone who has a smartphone and has the capacity to be easily scaled up to support more young people.
The four secondary schools involved in the pilot are Shirley Intermediate School, Rangiora High School, Wellington College, and Tangaroa College.
Rangatahi selected to take part in the initiative were provided with pre-programmed VR headsets that connected directly to the students smartphone.
The pilot measured vaping frequency and habits, the level of addiction, vaping triggers, and the number of support sessions required. At the start of the pilot programme, 25 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds said they vaped daily; 30 per cent of participants said they had previously attempted to quit vaping unsuccessfully; and 29 per cent reported they couldnt go longer than six hours without vaping.
The pilot has been extended into term three and now includes Northland College. Final results from the pilot programme are expected by October.
The car is smoking a bit. Its blocking the road, its in the middle of the road. Two people were thrown from the car.
She called 111 and told the operator it appeared the cars had been racing before one lost control.
Those are the words of a driver who, after two cars sped past her late one night, continued around a bend to discover a catastrophic crash.
They were racing down the road and the car was totalled, there are two kids lying in the middle of the road.
The manner of a teenagers driving has been at the centre of a Youth Court trial in Tauranga this week after a high-speed crash killed a teenage boy and injured others.
While the driver of the car that crashed has already been dealt with by the courts after pleading guilty to a charge of manslaughter, the Crown says the driver of a second car is also at fault.
Its alleged he also drove dangerously by speeding and racing and this contributed to the crash.
More specific details about both drivers and where and when the crash happened cannot be published because statutory suppressions apply to media coverage of the Youth Court.
Its now up to Judge Christopher Harding to determine if the Crown has proved the teenagers driving was dangerous, and that this contributed materially to the other vehicles crash, which killed the teenage passenger.
The witnesses
A man who was behind the wheel of a Toyota Hilux, gave evidence that the road was quiet on State Highway 29A near Mount Maunganui when a car came up behind him.
It was late at night, with minimal lighting on the 100km/h stretch of highway, and the man said he was taken aback as a car sped past.
A vehicle went by me quite rapidly, so, so fast that it actually buffeted my car, he said.
It was enough to surprise me given I hadnt long checked my rear-vision mirror.
After it passed him, he saw the car start to lose control, before briefly coming back into line.
But then the car fish-tailed again, and I thought hed hit the centre barrier because of the way it came back straight across in front of my car, at such an angle... My immediate thoughts were how am I going to stay out of this?.
He said the car then hit a tree line and was launched out, ending up back in the middle of the road.
The Hilux driver told the court he saw two objects flung from the vehicle and he slowed down.
I realised what was lying in the road was another person and I thought, if I dont do something, Im going to run him over.
He managed to stop on the left-hand shoulder.
The person was a teenager who was thrown from the car and pronounced dead at the scene.
Judge Christopher Harding. Photo / Sandra Conchie.
Driving side-by-side
The court also heard from a passenger who was in the car with the driver who is now on trial.
He told the court the friends had been hanging out all evening and were heading to another boys place when the crash happened.
The two cars had been driving close to each other for most of the journey.
He said the cars had not been racing, however.
He wasnt sure about specific speeds as he wasnt the driver and wasnt really looking at his speed.
He did remember that the car that crashed, had undertaken them before they saw it go on to overtake the Hilux.
He described seeing the crash shortly after he thought the car he was in may have been almost next to the Hilux at that point.
The car looked as though it swerved to the right and then lost control left as he tried to correct it.
It had then spun out and hit the trees and grass.
He said he stopped and went to check on the boys.
He stayed at the scene to talk to police, while the driver went to the hospital.
The court also heard from a police crash investigator and a forensic engineer, who accepted the vehicles had been speeding. However, the police investigator said there were too many variables to estimate speed.
There was CCTV in the lead-up to the stretch of road where the crash happened but a 2.2km stretch had no CCTV, so it was impossible to know for certain the speed and behaviours of the drivers immediately before the crash.
Both experts agree that the contributing factors of the crash included the speed at which the crashed car had been travelling more than 140km/h and possibly as high as 170km/h that it had an under-inflated space-saver tyre instead of its normal tyre, the level of alcohol the driver had consumed, and the inexperience of the driver who was on his learner licence.
The question was, however: did the other drivers speed contribute to the way the car behaved before the crash?
Clear evidence of excessive speed
With a judge-alone trial, it is up to the judge to assess the evidence and decide whether the Crown has proved its case.
The Judge addressed prosecutor Sunny Teki-Clark and said the Crown case seemed to be that the pair drove dangerously from a pedestrian crossing in Mount Maunganui.
That involved, on behalf of this young man, acceleration beyond what was reasonable, speeding by 13-odd ks an hour above the limit along the coast route, and then fast acceleration and speeding away from the Baypark roundabout, to the point of about 130km/hour.
The Crown said there appeared to be attempts to pass and block passing, which indicated racing behaviour.
The Judge said the Crown had to prove was that there was dangerous driving, and then whether it contributed in a material way to the death and injury that resulted from the crash.
Teki-Clark said the Crown didnt have to prove dangerous driving was the sole cause but that it was a contributing cause.
The circumstances of [the defendants] driving have to be viewed in its entirety, he said.
The evidence suggests that [the two drivers] were engaged in a contest of speed, well above a level that was safe.
He said there were characteristics of street racing and a contest of speed.
Both vehicles had passed another car shortly before the crash.
To that extent, [the defendant] has contributed to the speed and manner of [the crashed cars] driving.
Defence lawyer Rachael Adams said it was not established beyond reasonable doubt that the driving was dangerous.
She said it accepted there was clear evidence of excessive speed, and acceleration of the defendant at two points, but both had been where the speed limit increased, including to the open road.
More was needed to establish danger, she said.
In my submission, no conclusions can be drawn as to the reasons for those periods of acceleration or even the excessive speed.
All of the causative factors related to the other driver speed, alcohol and the under-inflated space-saver tyre.
There was a high degree of negligence on his part, and the defence position is that its his fault, and his fault alone.
She said there was no clear evidence of racing or competitive driving, nor that the defendants driving had been in response to the other driver or was intended to influence him.
This is not a situation as we often see, sir, of young people egging each other on with yelling, hand signals, cameras on their phone; theres no evidence of any discussion or any interaction.
While both experts had conceded that peer influence could be a possible factor, it hadnt reached the level of causation beyond reasonable doubt.
The driver of the crashed car had made appalling and tragic decisions of his own.
Judge Harding has reserved his decision.
Nearly 50 New Zealand Army personnel have returned from Fiji following a valuable week of mortar and machine gun tactical training exercises.
Exercise Cartwheel involved soldiers from 16th Field Regiment, Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery and 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment delivering training courses to Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) personnel, to further build their 81mm mortar and sustained-fire machine gun capabilities.
The exercise culminated with a live fire exercise in the Nausori Highlands, which was a prime opportunity for RFMF and NZ Army soldiers to not only put theory into practice, but also enhance the relationship between the two forces and their ability to work together in a jungle warfare environment.
1 (NZ) Brigade Commander, Colonel Ben Bagley, was in Fiji for part of the exercise and says these opportunities are invaluable.
Republic of Fiji Military Forces and New Zealand Army soldiers link up for machine gun training during Exercise Cartwheel. Photo supplied.
Purely on a tactical and technical level, any opportunity to get our soldiers into the field and put their skills into practice is fantastic, but Exercise Cartwheel is much more than just that. It allows us to spend some valuable time with one of our key Pacific partners in the RFMF and enhance our interoperability, Colonel Bagley said.
The feedback we receive from the RFMF has always been positive around this exercise, and we equally value the opportunity to come and learn from our partners it goes both ways.
Exercise Cartwheel is an annual RFMF-US Army Pacific bilateral exercise designed to train, assess and build light infantry and combat support warfighting capability. Fiji and the US are the main participants.
Partner nations like Australia and the United Kingdom also regularly take part, with the NZ Army involved in the past three editions.
Exercise Cartwheel is a valuable opportunity for NZ Army soldiers and RFMF personnel to spend time together in field conditions. Photo supplied.
Getting the opportunity to link up with our partners for these exercises in the field is critical for our relationships in the region, because fundamentally we Ngati Tumatauenga, the New Zealand Army are from, and of the Pacific. What happens here is of huge significance to us all, Colonel Bagley said.
Wed like to thank our friends and partners in the RFMF for their continued trust and support in us, and welcoming us back here every year. The camaraderie between our people is as strong as ever, and we look forward to the next opportunity to link up.
A soldier from 16th Field Regiment, Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery performing a haka at the Exercise Cartwheel closing ceremony. Photo supplied.
Commanding Officer 3rd Battalion Fiji Infantry Regiment (3FIR), Lieutenant Colonel Atunaisa Vakatale, says the exercise marks another milestone in the defence partnership of both nations, and reflects the understanding, trust and shared vision between both armies.
It also highlights the successful transfer of knowledge and skills, and the completion of training objectives that immensely contributes to the readiness and capabilities of both forces, Lieutenant Colonel Vakatale said.
I am certain the training activities over the past three weeks have not only further enhanced our cooperation and interoperability, but it has also set the conditions for more people-to-people connections and networking amongst our troops.
Diverting secondhand clothes away from landfills to help combat climate change while raising funds for addiction and recovery services is a double win for two Tauranga organisations.
Weve lost that way of repairing and mending, and I guess with clothing, its viewed as a disposable item these days, Envirohub project co-ordinator Milly McHardie said.
Nearly 180,000 tonnes of clothes are diverted to New Zealand landfills annually, and McHardie said she blames consumer culture and fast fashion.
McHardie and her four-women team at EnvironHub joined forces with Turning Point Trust, a recovery service in the Tauranga Historic Village.
They collect clothing from these op shops, so its just the excess or things theyre getting rid of, McHardie said. A lot is still good stuff.
Envirohub project co-ordinator Milly McHardie. Photo / Tom Eley.
Envirohub diverted 750 kilograms of clothing and raised over $2500 for Turning Point.
Seven hundred people turned up to purchase clothes at the shed near Bobbys Fish Market on the Tauranga waterfront, McHardie said.
We had a huge queue at the door, everyone waiting to go. Were already thinking of planning another one.
The clothes sold on the day were priced at $1, and 2500 clothing items were sold to customers overall.
Climate change is quite a heavy, depressing topic. I am very aware of that, so the idea is to celebrate what locals are doing.
McHardie, who earned a dual degree in fashion and business at AUT, built a relationship with the recovery service.
We built a bit of a relationship and thought we could use our platform to get rid of a bit more of it (clothes) and raise more money.
Turning Point Recovery Services hosts a fortnightly $5 fill-a-bag evening, said clothing and textile co-ordinator Melissa Keillor.
A mountain of clothing at Turning Point Recovery Services. Photo / Tom Eley.
There are amazing clothes, and the hospice is just overrun. When they finish a season, they cant sell, so they kick it to us, Keillor said.
We can sell anything from 800 to 1000 pieces over two days. "
The organisation prides itself on meeting people where they are on their addiction and recovery journey.
All of our staff have gone to intentional peer support.
Most of the kaimahi at Turning Point have some form of lived experience where they have faced an addiction or mental health battle of their own.
Some people in my team that have come into the service a few years ago hiding from the world, Keillor said.
But if they see potential and you shift them in the right direction, they find a safe community.
Turning Points general manager Tim Jackson said the store would like to take in even more clothes but needs somewhere else to store them.
Diverting from waste and providing opportunities for our people to not only just clothe themselves and clothe our community cheaply, Jackson said,
But also provide some activity and employment opportunities.
Turning Point general manager Tim Jackson and clothing and textile co-ordinator Melissa Keillor. Photo / Tom Eley.
On Turning Point Row at the Village, there is a slew of services, including an arts and crafts room, clothes storage, a kitchen dining room, and Imagings, a shop run by their community members.
Turning Point will receive 15% of the sale proceeds, but the rest will go to the community member at the shop.
It gives people an opportunity to work and learn, Keillor said.
As daylight saving time begins in Aotearoa on Sunday, 29th September, many people worry about the potential disruption to their routines.
While some studies indicate that the time shift can negatively affect exercise habits, ExerciseNZ urges Kiwis to see it as an opportunity.
With longer daylight hours, there's more time to stay active and enhance overall well-being.
Previous research has shown that the shift to daylight savings can disrupt sleep and exercise routines, with some people finding it difficult to adjust to the new schedule.
A recent study published in the Journal of Marketing highlights that these disruptions to our body clock can lower motivation and energy levels for exercise, particularly in the first few weeks.
The study suggests that during this initial period, organisations should provide extra support to consumers to help them stay active throughout the transition phase.
Rather than seeing daylight saving as a setback, ExerciseNZ views it as an ideal opportunity to reset and embrace new routines.
The extended daylight hours offer the perfect chance to enjoy outdoor activities, reconnect with nature, or take advantage of later gym sessionsall proven to boost both physical and mental well-being.
Reflecting this seasonal shift, spring in Aotearoa typically brings a surge in gym membershipsrising by up to 20 per cent, according to ExerciseNZs 2023 researchas people gear up for the more active summer months ahead.
In line with global health guidelines, daylight savings also offers Kiwis a timely opportunity to align their exercise habits with public health recommendations.
The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week to maintain good health and prevent chronic diseases (or 75 minutes of moderate to intense activity for those who prefer higher intensity).
With longer daylight and warmer days, there's more flexibility to fit outdoor activities or gym sessions into daily routines.
Whether it's enjoying the outdoors after work or school or taking advantage of the extended hours to hit the gym, the warmer season makes it easier to stay active to reap the holistic benefits of physical activity and exercise well into the evening.
Therefore, heading into daylight savings, ExerciseNZ would like to offer these three tips.
Utilise Extended Daylight for Outdoor Activities: Take advantage of the longer daylight hours to enjoy outdoor activities. Its also a great time to enjoy a new activity, like joining the gym or starting a yoga class. Adjust Slowly to New Routines: While the shift to daylight savings may disrupt sleep and exercise habits, focus on gradually adjusting your routine to maintain motivation and energy levels during the transition. Engage in Local Fitness Initiatives: Engage in community activities which are designed to help people stay active and make the most of the extra daylight hours.
ExerciseNZ encourages everyone to use the shift to daylight savings as motivation to revamp their fitness routine, try new activities, and enjoy the outdoors.
More daylight means more chances to prioritise your health.
Daylight savings doesnt have to disrupt your activity goals.
Instead, let it remind us of the power of physical activity and how we can make the most of the changing seasons.
Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton wants the door to stay open for a developer to restore the Chateau Tongariro Hotel.
Kirton said he was deeply disappointed to learn through an NZME story of the decision not to proceed with the planned expressions of interest (EOI) process for potential new operators of the chateau.
The Department of Conservation (DoC) had planned to test investors interest in the chateau both domestically and abroad; the process was expected to be complete by the end of this month.
However, Mike Tully, deputy director-general of organisation support, told the Herald: Following advice from DoC, the minister [Minister of Conservation Tama Potaka] has decided not to proceed with the expression of interest process. DoC is now working on advice to the minister on the long-term options for the chateau.
He said the department was preparing advice on the long-term options for the chateau, which Cabinet would consider.
Potaka confirmed that one option was decommissioning the 100-year-old neo-Georgian building.
It has stood empty since March 2023, when previous operator KAH New Zealand relinquished its lease on the property and handed responsibility for it back to DoC.
At the time, KAH said the main reason for the closure was a seismic assessment that indicated the main building was earthquake-prone and failed to meet safety standards.
Kirton said challenges at the chateau may seem difficult but they were not insurmountable.
We had every confidence that the EOI process would open up the possibility of credible developers stepping forward to restore this treasured landmark and reinstate it as a major contributor to both Ruapehu and New Zealands tourism economy and heritage, Kirton said.
A Ruapehu District Council statement said the chateau was far more than just a historic building in the World Heritage Tongariro National Park.
It represents a legacy of cultural significance, economic vitality and tourism excellence that is vital to the identity and prosperity of Ruapehu and Aotearoa. Suggestions of decommissioning this near-100-year-old, Category 1 historic neo-Georgian building would mean the tragic loss of all that it contributes to our region and nation.
[The] council is aware of credible developers with a proven track record in heritage and hotel development, who have worked with iwi on similar projects, who are eager to explore the opportunity. The door must remain open for these discussions to take place.
Kirton said the councils suggestion was the Government should establish a special task force to facilitate discussions between key stakeholders, potential developers and investors.
Suggestions of decommissioning should not even be on DoCs radar while credible parties are willing to explore the opportunity the chateau represents, he said.
More than 12,000 people have signed a Save the Chateau Petition to be presented to Parliament. The petition closes on November 30.
This outpouring of support from local communities, New Zealanders and people around the world reflects the deep connection and commitment to restoring this iconic building, Kirton said.
I urge everyone who hasnt yet signed the petition to join us. Help us send a clear message of support to see the Chateau Tongariro Hotel returned to its full strength as a major contributor to regional tourism and a symbol of our shared heritage and cultural identity.
Hector Barbotta Seville Wednesday, 25 September 2024, 10:35 Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace
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Two years and two months since his last visit to La Moncloa palace in Madrid, Juanma Moreno met again last Friday with the Spanish prime minister and the script barely departed from that of their two previous meetings. "I'm leaving empty-handed," stated the president of the Junta de Andalucia after an hour and a half meeting with Pedro Sanchez.
Moreno appeared before journalists at La Moncloa after the meeting and pointed out that he was leaving without any concrete commitments from Sanchez. Despite his assurances that he will always attend whenever summoned by the PM, Moreno said he considers that this format of meetings without an agenda and without concrete answers or commitments for future actions to be of little useful purpose and ineffective. "I would have preferred a formal gathering of regional presidents," admitted the head of Andalucia's regional government.
Pedro Sanchez has pledged to convene a presidential get-together in October, although a date has yet to be set, to specifically address the housing crisis. The Junta de Andalucia and other regions governed by the Partido Popular (PP) also want the issue of regional funding to be included, something the Andalusian president mentioned at their meeting. "It would be a mistake not to agree on the agenda."
Still, until the meeting is officially convened, Sanchez and Moreno met again last Friday after more than two years without doing so. As it was a meeting scheduled from La Moncloa palace, the president of the Junta attended with the expectation that the PM would be the one to start the meeting with a specific initiative, but this was not the case. Moreno found the head of the central government unwilling to take the initiative, according to sources in the Junta, where it is feared that the decision to convene a meeting next month of all the regional presidents had no other objective than to buy Sanchez some time.
Funding
Although any sense of harmony between the two governments has always been conspicuous by its absence, on this occasion the discrepancy had one main bone of contention: the financing agreement for Catalonia settled in time for Salvador Illa's investiture. This agreement has set off alarm bells in Andalucia, the third worst-financed region in Spain, which is now doubly threatened if the Catalan quota finally materialises.
Regional financing, despite Andalucia's refusal to engage in bilateral negotiations because its government believes that this issue should be agreed among all the regions, not one-by-one with central government, was nevertheless one of the central topics raised at the meeting.
The Andalusian president presented a 53-page document entitled 'Andalucia for equality' that contained 100 pending claims and new proposals from the Andalusian government on matters that required state input, although the first matter he raised was the request to withdraw the one-off funding for Catalonia that is now on the table. According to Junta sources, Sanchez thanked Moreno for the frankness of his position. During the meeting, the Prime Minister made assurances that there will be solutions to compensate the rest of the regions, although details were not forthcoming.
Zoom
Juanma Moreno continued to press his point home, stressing that this is a proposal that, in his opinion, is bad for Catalonia, for Spain as a whole and for Andalucia "which will be the big payer of the quota." In his view the agreed system for Catalonia weakens Spain, as the state will not be able to apply the principle of solidarity and fairness, and this is the main reason why the pro-independence supporters are calling for it. "Andalucia will be clearly defeated if this quota comes to fruition, but so will the whole system, which would lose more than 30 billion euros," he said.
Andalusian muscle is weighing in
Moreno emphasised that this is a proposal that does not belong to Catalonia alone, and that the future of that region cannot be built with one part of its society and by dismantling the cohesion that has been built throughout the country. "Andalucia has the obligation to stand up in defence of equality among all Spaniards," he said, before warning that his region, as the most populous in Spain, will use its weight to ensure that this proposal is not carried out.
At the meeting, Juanma Moreno put other issues on the table. Among them was immigration, on which he called for maximum coordination and transparency. "It cannot be that we find out about it from the media," he said, referring to the contingents of immigrants and asylum seekers that central government sends to Andalucia from other areas such as the Canary Islands.
He also demanded commitment from central government regarding the pending railway infrastructure projects in Andalucia, among which he highlighted the coastal train along the Costa del Sol, the high-speed train connection between Seville, Huelva and the Algarve, the connection of Seville city to its airport and the Mediterranean arc (transport links covering all major urban centres on the Med).
Moreno also called for an increase in the electricity distribution network, the necessary hydraulic work to deal with the drought crisis and the co-financing of dependency on equal terms with the rest of the regions around Spain.
Alekk M. Saanders Wednesday, 25 September 2024, 10:09 Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace
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She is one of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood and European cinema. Sofia Villani Scicolone (her real name) was born on 20 September 1934 in Rome. In her interviews, Sophia says she is surprised that the life she has lived is true. She knows what she is talking about because she had to review her life for her autobiography Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow that she published 10 years ago, on her 80th birthday.
She recalled herself as a girl, the daughter of a single mother, growing up in a poor environment. She recalled being chosen as Princess of the Sea at the age of 14 and a year later competing in the national beauty contest. She didn't win the pageant, being chosen only as Miss Elegance, but she got much more - love, because among the judges was Carlo Ponti, who became her husband, the great love of her life and often her film producer.
In a career spanning more than 70 years, Sophia Loren has starred in nearly one hundred films, which have earned her more than fifty international awards, including two Oscars, a Bafta and several Golden Globe nominations. One of her films was shot her in Andalucia, in the province of Almeria.
A nun in Almeria
Thanks to its impressive natural scenery, Almeria province and city have played an important role in the history of the international film industry. Its landscapes have featured in many popular westerns, series and memorable films.
In the very early 1970s, Almeria was chosen to film the Italian comedy Bianco, Rosso e... (the official English title of the film was White Sister, although it was also called White, Red and.... and even The Sin).
Zoom
In Almeria, the legend of European film had to put on the typical robes of a Catholic nun
Italian director Alberto Lattuada wanted to make a film with a social theme. The film was produced by Carlo Ponti and his wife, Sophia Loren, played the lead role. In Almeria, the legend of European film had to put on the typical robes of a Catholic nun as she played Sister Germana, who after years of living in Libya returned to Italy and moved to a hospital.
All the patients loved her and considered her a true friend, except for Annibale Pezzi, a penniless communist who squatted in a bed in the ward because he had nowhere to go. Pezzi was played by another famous Italian actor, Adriano Celentano. In addition to them, the film starred many Spanish actors including Fernando Rey, Teresa Rabal and San Roque-born Juan Luis Galiardo. The film was released in Spain on 11 September 1972. White Sister was reportedly a commercial success.
English challenge in Spain
This was not the first visit to Spain for Sophia Loren as an actress. In fact her international career and recognition actually began in this country.
Britain sent a Royal Navy ordnance officer to find the huge cannon abandoned by the Spanish army
In 1957, American director and producer Stanley Kramer decided to make The Pride and the Passion, a Napoleonic-era war film. Spanish cities such as Avila, Segovia, Santiago de Compostela and others were chosen for filming because the plot was related to Spain. During the Peninsular War, Napoleon's troops invaded Spain. A huge siege gun belonging to the Spanish army was abandoned when it slowed the army's retreat. Britain, Spain's ally, sent a Royal Navy ordnance officer to find the huge cannon.
Sophia Loren's international career and recognition began in Spain
Stanley Kramer allowed young Lauren to share the limelight with Hollywood stars such as Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra. What added to her nerves was the fact that the Italian had to speak English. Sophia recalled this moment of filming The Pride and the Passion: I came to Spain to shoot this film, and I was thrown in front of the cameras, not knowing a word of English, I spoke only Neapolitan. It was a challenge for the young actress or, as she says, a "difficult moment" that she was able to overcome and which left her with a "great experience".
Fifty years ago Sophia Loren won the Silver Shell for Best Actress for her role in The Voyage at the San Sebastian international film festival
Another successful association with Spain occurred 50 years ago when Sophia Loren won the Silver Shell for Best Actress for her role in The Voyage at the San Sebastian international film festival.
Back to Andalucia
In 2017, 46 years after filming White Sister, Sophia Loren came to Almeria again to unveil the 16th star of her name on the Paseo de la Fama and to receive the Almeria Tierra de Cine award at the Almeria Film Festival. There, Sophia Loren explained why she stopped coming to Almeria for filming. The actress admitted that certain genres, such as westerns, which used Almeria as a location, especially in the 70s, didn't hold much interest for her.
Photo taken on Sept. 24, 2024 shows a warehouse hit by a rocket from Lebanon, in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Israel's army said on Tuesday night that Hezbollah had fired around 300 rockets and other projectiles into Israel amid the second day of Israel's heaviest attacks on Lebanon since 2006.
An explosive drone fell in Atlit, a coastal town south of Haifa, northern Israel, marking the first time Hezbollah's rocket fire has reached this region, said the Israel Defense Forces, adding that two additional drones were launched toward the area but were intercepted. The drones caused no casualties, according to Israel's rescue services.
Most of the rockets were intercepted by Israel's aerial defense systems, the army said.
Hezbollah confirmed the attack in a statement, saying its fighters launched "an aerial operation with a squadron of assault drones against the headquarters of Israel's special naval task unit Shayetet 13 in the Atlit base, targeting the positions of its officers and soldiers and striking the targets precisely."
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire on a warehouse hit by a rocket from Lebanon, in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on Sept. 24, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)
In other cases, rockets or parts of interceptor missiles that fell to the ground sparked fires in the Mount Meron area of Upper Galilee. In Rosh Pina, a town in Upper Galilee, a residential home was hit and extensively damaged.
Hospitals in the affected areas reported treating about 23 people, but later statements from Israel's Magen David Adom emergency health service indicated that those treated were suffering from panic, not physical injuries.
At nightfall, Israel launched a new wave of attacks in Lebanon. The Air Force "conducted a number of extensive strikes on dozens of terrorist targets belonging to Hezbollah in the Beqaa region and several other areas in southern Lebanon," the military said.
During the day, Israeli warplanes continued the massive strikes, which, according to the military, dismantled "dozens" of infrastructures where weapons were stored and numerous launchers aimed at Israeli territory were located.
People gather at a building targeted by an Israeli warplane in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 24, 2024. The Israeli military confirmed on Tuesday that it killed a senior Hezbollah commander in an airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut. In a statement, the military identified the commander as Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi, who was reportedly in charge of Hezbollah's missile and rocket operations. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
Also on Tuesday night, unnamed Lebanese military sources told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes carried out ten raids on towns in the Tyre area deep in southern Lebanon and raided Hezbollah sites in the Jezzine area, also in the south of Lebanon.
Amid the sharp escalation, the Israeli military conducted Tuesday an exercise simulating fighting inside Lebanon, according to the Israeli Defense Ministry. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant remarked that "the series of blows on Hezbollah's command chain, operatives, and weapons were tough." According to Gallant, Israel has destroyed "tens of thousands" of rockets, missiles, and launchers since Monday.
Answering questions in a press briefing on Monday night, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari neither confirmed nor denied whether Israel plans a ground operation in Lebanon.
Israel began its most extensive bombardment of Lebanon since 2006 on Monday, resulting in more than 550 deaths, including civilians, and over 1,800 injuries across the country. The flare-up has raised concerns about the potential for a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with fears that other nations could also become involved.
The spokesperson for Por Andalucia and other representatives at the gates of the park.
Lorena Cadiz Benalmadena Wednesday, 25 September 2024, 14:33 Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace
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The future of the famous Tivoli amusement park, which closed its doors in Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol four years ago, will be debated in the Andalusian parliament.
It comes after a meeting last week between Benalmadena mayor Juan Antonio Lara and part of his government team with representatives of real estate group Tremon, owner of Tivoli.
The current municipal government team (Partido Popular), which came to power in May 2023, opened a new round of talks with Tremon, which the previous municipal government (Socialists and United Left) had already considered closed after claiming the company was blocking any progress. Little or nothing is known about the outcome of these new negotiations.
So far, the mayor has on several occasions pointed out that there are several companies and investment funds interested in reopening the park, and has also expressed his desire for Tivoli to be open before the end of the current mandate, in 2027.
Those words gave hope to former workers, although they are starting to get impatient and want to see action. On Sunday 6 October, for the first time, a public protest has been called at the gates of the amusement park to demand its reopening.
That triggered Por Andalucia to announce its intention to register before the Andalusian parliament "a battery of initiatives aimed at the reopening of Tivoli as an amusement park" and does so "based on the firm support of the demands of the staff and the social majority of Benalmadena".
This was announced on Tuesday 24 September by the group's spokesperson, Inmaculada Nieto, who met with union representatives of the former staff and later pointed out at the gates of the park that "Tivoli goes beyond the limits of Benalmadena and the province of Malaga, it is a strategic issue for tourism on the whole of the Costa del Sol and Andalucia".
"All the administrations are concerned with the reopening of Tivoli, including the Junta, so we demand that they sit at a table with the company and the representation of the staff to reach a solution and once again generate jobs and wealth," Nieto added.
"Tivoli belongs to the sentimental memory of several generations of people in Andalucia who, thanks to these facilities, was the first amusement park we had the chance to go to. This would be a profitable venture today. Legally there is no impediment to it being able to open its doors," Nieto also pointed out.
Several weeks ago, a movement was created on social media called 'Nostalgicos de Tivoli', which already has a virtual community of 8,600 people. The active community gathered a collection of signatures to bring to the Andalusian Parliament a question regarding the reopening of the park. A total of 757 people have signed the initiative.
Urgent motion
Meanwhile, opposition in the town hall is asking for light to be shed on the meetings between the mayor and Tremon in order to know exactly what is being negotiated and where they are currently at. There will be a council meeting this Thursday 26 September with a question registered by the Socialists on the agenda.
IU-Podemos has also presented an urgent motion, in which, among other issues, it requests that any agreement with Tremon be made conditional on the prior opening of Tivoli and that a special informative commission be created to monitor negotiations so various groups represented in the town hall are aware of what is happening.
Javier Almellones Malaga Wednesday, 25 September 2024, 11:36 Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace
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It was a real luxury product, often appearing as one of the most expensive alcoholic beverages in prestigious Parisian restaurants. From Los Montes - the hills surroundng Malaga city - hills to the capital of France. Until the 19th century the traditional wines of Malaga enjoyed great fame in Spain and abroad.
History books point to the arrival of phylloxera as the most critical moment for vineyards in the province and in a large part of the country. This pest was first found on the Iberian Peninsula on an estate in Moclinejo in 1874. It appears to be practically the sole culprit in a crisis that hit many small viticulturists in Malaga particularly hard.
However, a doctoral thesis by Malaga engineer Francisco Perez Hidalgo now sheds a little more light on this turning point in Malaga's wine history. Entitled 'The end-of-the-century crisis for Malaga wine. Change in the production model and the decline in trade (1878-1933)', the thesis written by this researcher and winemaker has managed to analyse and portray what he defines as "a perfect storm" for the decline of Malaga wine.
This perfect storm was born of several causes, but one, not phyloxxera, was "due to the disappearance of the traditional vineyards of Los Montes de Malaga", as detailed in this doctoral thesis, presented on 16 September and graded as Outstanding, (better known as Summa Cum Laude - 'with the highest praise'). In particular, the thesis points to the disappearance of Pedro Ximen, which until then had been the predominant grape variety alongside Malaga's version of the muscat grape.
Zoom Interior of the now defunct Bodega Jimenez Lamothe.
Although the trigger was phylloxera, Perez Hidalgo also points to a bad technical decision, as phylloxera had also hit France years earlier, but there the replanting of the vineyards was successful and the plague only marked a break in production. However, in the case of Malaga, it was decided to pull up the affected vines and replant them with American riparia rootstock. "It was the first to be used when the government provided it to farmers through the nurseries that were established in Malaga," explains Perez Hidalgo. The choice was not successful in the Montes area - it did not take root.
However, there is another, more important element to consider in that crisis. According to this doctoral thesis, the low profitability of grapes and the loss of international markets meant that "small farmers and the Malaga bourgeoisie were unable to replant the vineyards again." This crisis in turn led to an exodus of many wine-growing families and the desolation of the Montes de Malaga, now a natural park.
Curiously, the American seedling chosen did perform well in the coastal area, but it was mainly dedicated to the production of sultanas of the muscat grape variety, which experienced a high point in terms of prestige, commercial success and a decent price for the growers. However, when the California sultana came into play on the export markets, it was no longer profitable to continue replanting this variety.
The poor choice of a seedling and the competition from sultanas are just two more causes to be added to this perfect storm. Many Malaga winemakers who were mainly dedicated to export began to change their production model too. Thanks to the arrival of the railway to the city, they began to bring in wine from other areas of wine production such as Montilla or La Mancha. "This led to a change in the product", explains the author of this thesis who, in addition to being an engineer and historian, is co-owner of Bodegas Perez Hidalgo in Alora.
By bringing in wines from other parts of the country, the natural sweetness of the wines that were made in Malaga gradually disappeared. Thus, they began to produce natural sweet wines with extra alcohol added. The alcohol used was mainly industrial standard, obtained from potatoes or beetroot, and mainly from Germany.
Zoom Francisco Perez Hidalgo defending his doctoral thesis.
Another economic element that added fuel to the fire of this crisis was the increase in government taxes on alcohol and the lack of international agreements with France and Germany, which were very common destinations for Malaga wine exports. Despite its prestige, it became an expensive product. It ceased to be competitive with other wines such as fortified wines from Oporto, Madeira or even Jerez.
Moreover, as Francisco Perez Hidalgo describes in his thesis, there was a change in tastes towards fresher, more aromatic wines, especially those with lower alcohol content. Here the researcher is quite categorical: "Malaga did not know how to adapt to the new tastes, nor did it know how to open new international markets, among other reasons because its competitors had been well established in the English market since the end of the 18th century."
With all these elements, a more concrete explanation is proffered as to the great crisis of Malaga wines. The trigger may have been phylloxera, but poor technical decisions and higher taxes were the main causes of what was the main agro-economic sector in the province of Malaga in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Javier Almellones Malaga Wednesday, 25 September 2024, 16:32 | Updated 16:44h. Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace
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From the Indian summer that so often accompanies the festivities paying homage to San Miguel at the end of September right up to the pre-Christmas period. Autumn is a particularly varied season in the province of Malaga both in terms of its climate and its landscapes. This opens up a wide range of possibilities for day trips or weekend getaways.
You can go on excursions to enjoy the sights and sounds of nature such as a visit to the Serrania de Ronda's copper forest in all its autumn plumage, hiking trails, gastro-routes or experience the thrill of hearing, perhaps even seeing, the region's stags bellowing during the annual rut.
1 Rutting season: experience the mating calls and battles between the stags (30 September to 6 October)
The last days of September and the first days of October are ideal to enjoy the sounds of the rutting season for some of the largest mammals in the province. This is the case with the stags, the fully-grown males leading the herds of red deer (or common deer) in the last days of the ninth month of the year and the less vigorous roaring of the fallow deer to follow a few days later. Nowadays there are approved active tourism companies offering guided tours to sites in the Serrania de Ronda to enjoy these striking sounds. For example, RF Natura organises a weekend for the deer rut in the woodland cabins at La Sauceda, in the borderlands of Cortes de la Frontera and Los Alcornocales natural park, or an evening in the Pinsapar de la Nava, in the Sierra de las Nieves National Park.
2 Charming towns and villages on the Costa del Sol (from 7 to 13 October)
Zoom Mijas Pueblo
With very few exceptions, the first half of October tends to have very mild temperatures, which can be ideal for visits to some of the most charming old towns along the western Costa del Sol. Both following the shoreline or further inland with sea views, there is a signposted set of trails amounting to many kilometres that goes from Benalmadena to Casares. The latter two trails are inland from the beach, as are those in Mijas, Benahavis and Istan, but there are also some passing through the heart of the towns of Marbella and Estepona. These are streets full of colourful flower pots that are ideal for an easy stroll.
3 Trails through one of Spain's most well-known karst landscapes (from 14 to 20 October)
When the scorching summer temperatures dissipate, it is a good time to hit a hiking trail or take an excursion to some of the most spectacular geological formations in Malaga province, the karsts, made up of chalky, gypsum or limestone rock and sinkholes eroded by water. The most famous in terms of size and accessibility is the Torcal de Antequera, declared a natural site in Andalucia. It has several approved trails, a visitor centre and many organised visits to discover some of its secrets. However, it should not be forgotten that there are other similar, albeit smaller, karsts in other parts of the province. These include Torcal del Charcon (in Valle de Abdalajis), Los Riscos (between Cartajima and Juzcar in the Serrania de Ronda) and Canuto de la Utrera near Casares.
4 Mudejar route in the Axarquia (from 21 to 27 October)
Zoom Minaret of Salares.
Its name is not the most accurate from a historical point of view. Perhaps it would be more advisable to call it the route of minarets and other Nasrid remains as that is what it is. This is a group of mostly villages in La Axarquia that have in common a decent preservation of many elements of their medieval past. As such, the best known on this route are Salares, Archez, Canillas de Aceituno, Sedella and Canillas de Albaida. To these must be added the villages of Corumbela (Sayalonga) and Daimalos (Arenas). These are small villages, many of them close to each other where, in addition to minarets, medieval bridges, ancient water supply systems and the remains of mosques, there are other tourist and gastronomic attractions - from wineries to restaurants specialising in roast suckling goat from Malaga.
5 Chestnut roast (from 28 October to 3 November)
It is time to enjoy one of the most deeply-rooted gastronomic traditions of autumn. Between the last days of October and the first days of November several festivals are held in the province that revolve around the chestnut. In some villages in the Serrania de Ronda the traditional 'tostones' (in Spanish, the toasting of chestnuts, although we typically say roasting) are done. Also in towns on the Costa del Sol there are outings to the countryside to roast chestnuts and other seasonal products. In addition to this, there are several big events around this custom, such as Pujerra's chestnut festival, the Popular Toston in Ojen, Alcaucin's chestnut festival or Maroween, a festival in the village of Maro where the tradition of roasting chestnuts and sweet potatoes is combined with Halloween.
6 Guadalteba's castles (from 4 to 10 November)
Zoom Turon castle in Ardales.
In the triangle formed by the municipalities of Ardales, Canete la Real and Teba there are up to half a dozen castles, towers, farmhouses with turrets and other remains of defensive bastions. It is an area that today is mainly dedicated to arable farming with cereal fields and olive groves, but which was much-disputed territory in medieval times. For this reason, several important fortresses can be found here, most of which can be visited. The most famous are those of Hins Cannit (Canete la Real), La Estrella (Teba) and La Pena (Ardales). All three have their respective interpretation centres that serve to highlight what can be seen, but describing also what cannot be seen. To these three castles must be added the remains of Bobastro, the bastion where Omar Ben Hafsun led the great rebellion under Nasrid rule, the remains of the castle of El Turon and the fortified farmhouse and tower of Ortegicar. The first two are in Ardales and can be visited, while the second is in Canete territory and, despite being an Asset of Cultural Interest, is on private property.
7 Copper forest (from 11 to 17 November)
In the first fortnight of November awaits the most famous autumn scene in the province, the so-called Bosque de Cobre (copper forest). As the leaves of the chestnut trees turn colour and fall, a large part of the Genal valley and some parts of the Sierra de las Nieves become the most spectacular sight of this season in the province. These are busy days in the villages of Parauta, Pujerra, Igualeja, Cartajima, Jubrique, Genalguacil and Farajan. You can also find some chestnut groves in Yunquera and Istan. In addition to these trees, we must not forget that along many riverbanks we can also see this phenomenon as the dry leaves fall from deciduous trees such as the different varieties of poplar commonly found there.
8 Monumental towns of inland Malaga (from 18 to 24 November)
Zoom The old quarter of Antequera.
Within the province's rich heritage, special emphasis should be placed on what awaits visitors to its monumental towns so full of history, tucked away further inland from Malaga city and the other municipalities on the Western Costa del Sol. Take your pick between Ronda, Anteqeura, Archidona and Velez-Malaga or plan an itinerary that takes in all four. The latter belongs to a municipality that has a coastline, although the reality is that the old town is clearly inland from the beach. Much further inland are the other three. Each of these places really needs more than a weekend to get to know them in depth. Among the most outstanding monuments in these towns are the Plaza Ochavada in Archidona, the New Bridge over the Tajo gorge in Ronda, the neolithic dolmens of Antequera and Velez-Malaga's fortress.
9 Pinsapar woodland in Sierra de las Nieves and Sierra Bermeja (from 25 to 1 December)
It is not the most abundant tree in the forests of Malaga. Nor is it the most profitable for agriculture. However, the Spanish fir (pinsapar) is one of the most popular trees and woodland to be visited in the province of Malaga. It is a type of fir tree that is native to a very specific area of Andalucia, between the mountain ranges stretching from Malaga to Cadiz provinces. Most of them are in protected areas that can be visited thanks to approved hiking trails. In the case of Malaga, you have to go to the Sierra de las Nieves nature park and National Park or the area of Los Reales de Sierra Bermeja to see them. There are specially recommended trails that pass by these unique trees, such as the Cueva del Agua route (Yunquera) or the Paseo de los Pinsapos near Estepona.
10 Time to stock the pantry (2 to 8 December)
Zoom Fiesta del Mosto y la Chacina de Colmenar.
When the long weekend in December arrives in Malaga, the province offers great opportunities to fill the larder for Christmas with local products. This weekend is the time of the big food fair Sabor a Malaga in the city's Paseo del Parque. However, there are also other important events during these days, such as the Fiesta del Mosto y la Chacina (Colmenar), the arts and crafts fair in Benalauria, the Fiesta de la Chacina in Benaojan (known for producing all things pork-related) and another food fair in Manilva, Saborea Manilva. Additionally there are various possibilities for shopping in different towns and villages that traditionally have pork products, such as Ardales or Arriate among others, or seasonal confectionery, such as Antequera, Ronda, Archidona or Coin.
11 Dates with a nod to Christmas (9-15 December)
Autumn comes to an end on the eve of Christmas Eve - on 22 December to be precise, when the big Christmas lottery draw is celebrated. It is worth knowing that this pre-Christmas period also has many towns and villages celebrating events related to these dates so dear to them and their families. Throughout the penultimate week of December, and even a few days before, there will be live nativity scenes played out, people gathering around braziers to keep warm and singing along to a zambomba (traditional, Christmas-themed flamenco music and songs) and more. One such peculiarity is the curious tradition of the Mananitas de Algatocin where local residents of the village of Algatocin form a carol-singing choir that does early morning wake-up calls around the neighbourhood for five consecutive days.
12 A tour of the vestiges of the Roman Empire around Malaga (from 16 to 22 December)
Zoom Roman villa of Cortijo Robledo on the AP-46.
In these last days of autumn, the Romans used to celebrate the Saturnalia, a festival that mutated centuries later into Christmas. The former was a pagan festival that used to be celebrated from 17 December onwards. This is a good excuse to visit the many Roman villas that can be visited today in the province of Malaga. Among them are the latest to be incorporated into our provincial heritage, such as Villa Antiopa (Torre de Benagalbon, Rincon de la Victoria), La Estacion (Antequera) or Cartima (in the centre of Cartama town). There are also other important Roman remains worth visiting, such as Las Bovedas and Vega del Mar (Marbella), Cortijo Robledo (Antequera), Acinipo (Ronda) and Caviclum (Torrox).
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Syracuse, N.Y. -- The U.S. Department of Commerce secretary and the head of the nations second-largest teachers union will visit Central New York Thursday to talk about Micron Technologys pilot education program.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Micron Chief People Officer April Arnzen will hold a roundtable to discuss Microns program with teachers unions for career and technical education.
FOCUS Greater Syracuse, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to fostering community engagement, announces its upcoming FOCUS Forum.
The forum will take place on Friday, October 25, from 12:05 p.m. to 1 p.m. via Zoom. Registration is free and open to the public. The October FOCUS Forum is designed to offer insights into the key priorities and strategies of local funders.
Prominent figures from the Allyn Family Foundation, United Way of Central New York, the Gifford Foundation, and the Central New York Community Foundation will come together to share their wealth of knowledge and participate in an engaging and enlightening conversation.
The forum will feature an expert panel of speakers:
Nancy Eaton, President of United Way of Central New York
Meg OConnell, Executive Director of the Allyn Family Foundation
Dr. Frank M. Ridzi, Vice President of Community Investment of the Central New York Community Foundation
Sheena Solomon, Executive Director of The Gifford Foundation
Attendees can engage with the panelists through a moderated Q&A session following the presentations. The Forum is open to the public and free to attend. Register at focussyracuse.org or click here.
About FOCUS Forums:
The Forum is part of FOCUS monthly Forum series where experts discuss citizen-driven topics and engage with attendees through a moderated Q&A session. Forums are open to the public and typically last one hour. FOCUS Forums are held on the third or fourth Friday of each month, with some exceptions. The Forums are recorded and available to the community on focussyracuse.org. FOCUS offers a library of more than 40 recordings, available for on-demand access to view or rewatch past forums.
About FOCUS Greater Syracuse, Inc.
FOCUS Greater Syracuse, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that brings people together to build a better Central New York. FOCUS serves as a catalyst for community change by engaging citizens in informed dialogue and inspiring action on critical public issues. For more information, visit focussyracuse.org.
Mike McMahon is a dairy farmer from Homer, New York, and a Farmer Ambassador with Farm Journal Foundation.
This week, global leaders are gathering in New York City for Climate Week, an annual event held in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly that seeks to drive solutions to our growing climate crisis.
Hundreds of events are happening around the city, touching on every major industry that is affected by climate change. Among those events are sessions on agriculture, covering how our food system can adapt to become more resilient against climate change, as well as how it can become more sustainable, so that it contributes less to greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
These are valuable, necessary discussions. However, they are not always inclusive of important voices that need to be heard. Farmers like me who are among the most affected by climate change, and who are responsible for implementing sustainable practices on the ground are often left out of important conversations.
My situation is case in point. Im a fifth-generation dairy farmer from Upstate New York, operating in a watershed area that is a source of drinking water for numerous surrounding communities, including the city of Syracuse. We take our responsibility to protect the water and our broader environment very seriously, and weve implemented a number of conservation practices, including sustainably managing manure, regularly monitoring the soil and water, and planting trees and grasses at strategic locations around our farm to prevent run-off and soil erosion and to stabilize the banks of two trout streams running through our property. This work has been highly effective, with measurable impacts on soil and water quality, and as a result, our farm has received numerous recognitions, including being named the New York State Environmental Stewardship Farm of the Year.
My wife, Edie, and I were looking forward to talking about our conservation work during Climate Week, and how to encourage more farmers to contribute to climate change solutions. We were initially invited to speak at an event focused on regenerative agriculture. However, the organizers later rescinded our invitation when they learned that our farm is not certified organic.
This is a shame and a giant missed opportunity. Government, business and nonprofit leaders working on food systems sustainability need to hear farmers perspectives, especially since were the ones working on the ground to produce food for consumers everywhere. Farming is a difficult business we operate at the whim of Mother Nature, and we often work on razor-thin margins that make it difficult to balance sustainability and profitability. It is possible to make a living at farming while also making responsible environmental decisions and our farm is a testament to this but there needs to be more frank discussion about the very real barriers that many farmers face on the path toward sustainability.
In our experience, farming sustainably is a process; agricultural research and technology is constantly evolving, and farmers have to keep up with many different tools at our disposal. Weve been fortunate to work with Cornell University. Its experts have advised us on soil and water management, animal nutrition, optimized cropping patterns, and a host of other practices that have made our business more sustainable and profitable. This demonstrates the value of our land grant universities, and why funding for agricultural research and development is so important. Farmers at home, as well as smallholder farmers abroad, need access to the latest knowledge, since balancing sustainability and profitability requires innovation.
Mike McMahon is a dairy farmer from Homer, New York, and a Farmer Ambassador with Farm Journal Foundation. (Provided photo by JMS Studio & Gallery Ltd.)Provided photo by JMS Studio & Gallery Ltd.
At the end of the day, farmers have to be profitable to stay in business and policymakers need to take this into account as they make decisions about how to address climate change. Dairy farmers in particular have faced significant challenges from rising costs and volatile milk prices, such that the number of U.S. dairy farms has plunged by nearly 40% since 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Even though the road has been difficult, the U.S. dairy industry has still made great strides toward sustainability, with a goal of getting to net-zero in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Farmers and stakeholders across the food value chain are waking up to the fact that we all need to be more sustainable. Consumers also have a responsibility to do their research and make sound choices at the grocery store. Labels dont tell the whole story. Our farm hasnt pursued organic certification because we use genetically modified crops to feed our cows, and we treat cows with medication when they get sick, making sure to segregate any unwell animals so that none of their milk enters our supply. Every farm is different, but we work hard to protect the wellbeing of our animals, and we view this as the most humane form of treatment. We also believe that genetically modified crops are safe and based on sound science, and at the end of the day, our business is unable to support the additional cost of non-GMO feed. Everything is a balance, and these are decisions that we feel comfortable with in order to sustain our farm and keep us afloat.
These are the types of nuances that climate and environmental leaders need to hear about as they make decisions that affect both farmers and consumers. Because ultimately if American farmers cant stay in business, food will have to be imported from other countries and from supply chains that we cant control.
For real progress to be made, climate discussions cant be held in a vacuum. Leaders need to hear from farmers at different points along the path to sustainability, and there needs to be more discussion about barriers to progress and incentives to enable farmers to invest more in conservation. I am disappointed that we werent able to have this conversation during Climate Week, but Im hopeful that if more farmers speak up, well be able to address these issues together and find solutions over the long term.
By Thomas Graser | Watertown Daily Times
Canton, N.Y. Sen. Daniel G. Stec, R-Queensbury, Assemblyman Scott A. Gray, R-Watertown, and Assemblyman Kenneth D. Blankenbush, R-Black River, held a news conference in front of the St. Lawrence County Courthouse with members of the county legislature and the sheriffs from St. Lawrence, Franklin, Clinton and Jefferson counties Tuesday afternoon to address issues with migration on the northern border and to call for an end to the so-called Green Light Law in New York state counties that share a border with Canada.
New Yorks Green Light Law, also known as the Drivers License Access and Privacy Act, allows anyone 16 and older to apply for a standard drivers license or learners permit, regardless of their immigration status:
The license is a standard, non-commercial license that is not valid for federal purposes. Regardless of the documentation provided, all standard New York drivers licenses look the same.
The law also blocked the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles from sharing records with federal immigration agents.
Stec said he has sponsored legislation in the Senate and Gray has sponsored legislation in the Assembly to repeal the Greenlight law in the border counties of Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Niagara, Erie and Orleans.
Licensing would be restricted in those counties, and state agencies could share information with federal agencies while the law would remain intact in the rest of the state.
Stec called the northern border the forgotten border and said he suspected that the Greenlight Law was partly passed to allow non-citizens to vote.
Both Stecs and Grays bills have been stuck in committee.
Blankenbush said both bills would have to be renewed in January.
Stec said because licenses look the same no matter the documentation used to obtain them, law enforcement cant determine a license holders status because of the prohibition on sharing information with federal agencies.
Sheriffs Rick Engle of St. Lawrence County, Jay Cook of Franklin County, David Favro of Clinton County, and Pete Barnett of Jefferson County spoke about residents along the border having to deal with people coming out of the woods along the border, sleeping in barns and walking across property.
Cook said he gets calls from residents who are afraid to be outside on their property.
Imagine you have a nice house and cant use your property, Cook said. Its disgusting. I hear about it weekly.
Gray said people feel like they are not safe.
Perception is reality, he said. If people dont feel safe, they are not safe.
Gray said he was afraid people would take matters into their own hands.
We are going to end up with a vigilante situation, he said.
Stec said the Greenlight law was passed on a partisan basis along mostly party lines and was unpopular with New Yorkers.
He said it was unlikely to get the law completely repealed. A half-measure, repealing the law only in border counties because of their special situation, is more likely.
Engle said not being able to share information with federal agencies hinders investigations but that the issue is not just a northern border issue.
It frustrates me and should frustrate every American, Engle said. This is what comes from having an open border policy.
___
(c)2024 Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.)
Visit Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.) at www.watertowndailytimes.com
Syracuse.com will host the first debate between Central New Yorks candidates for Congress at 7 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 1) at Syracuse Universitys S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
Rep. Brandon Williams, R-Sennett, and state Sen. John Mannion, D-Geddes, will debate the issues at stake in the November election.
If you have questions that youd like to ask the candidates, please email reporter Mark Weiner at mweiner@syracuse.com and include your name and address.
The candidates will not be provided questions or topics in advance of the debate.
The debate, moderated by Chris Baker of syracuse.com, will be streamed live on syracuse.com and its Facebook page. The video also will be available for viewing afterward.
Syracuse.com is presenting the debate in collaboration with SUs Newhouse School.
Mannion and Williams have agreed to a series of four televised debates before the election.
Early voting in the new 22nd Congressional District begins Oct. 26 and continues through Nov. 3. Election Day is Nov. 5.
The 22nd district spans all of Onondaga and Madison counties, and parts of Cayuga, Cortland and Oneida counties. The new district includes the cities of Syracuse, Utica, Auburn and Cortland.
Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
By Joseph Wilkinson | New York Daily News (TNS)
New York A former Hudson Valley prosecutor and judge died by suicide Tuesday morning at his home as the FBI closed in to arrest him on bribery charges.
Stewart Rosenwasser, a prosecutor in Orange County until June, shot at FBI agents from his home in Campbell Hall before turning the gun on himself, sources told the Albany Times-Union.
Rosenwasser was wanted in connection with a bribery case, in which he was accused of taking $48,000 from a man to prosecute the mans sister and nephew, according to the Times-Union. He worked in the Orange County District Attorneys Office at the time.
Moutz Marty Soudani paid Rosenwasser on several occasions throughout 2022 and 2023, according to private and public investigators. The FBI was handling the case against Soudani and Rosenwasser, which was brought to light by Soudanis sister, Eman, and nephew, Martin.
This case may present the most blatant example of prosecutorial corruption and fraud in the annals of New York case law, Eman and Martin Soudani claimed, according to the Times-Union.
Moutz Soudani accused his sister and nephew of stealing $1.9 million from him in October 2022. Martin Soudani eventually pleaded guilty to swiping $1.6 million from his uncle and served two months in prison. The charges against Eman Soudani were dropped.
But the entire case was prosecuted because Moutz Soudani paid Rosenwasser to go after his family members, according to federal investigators.
Eman and Martin Soudani said throughout the case, the legal system lurched into action against them whenever Moutz Soudani cut Rosenwasser a new check, the Times-Union reported. Payments lined up with grand jury subpoenas, search warrants and Martin Soudanis arraignment in April 2023, according to court documents filed by Eman and Martin Soudani.
The FBI has not released the details of its own investigation, but Eman and Martin Soudani described the scheme in notices of claim, which alert people that they are about to face a lawsuit in civil court.
Their suit has not yet been filed, but the notices of claim were given to Rosenwasser and several members of the Orange County District Attorneys Office, according to the Times-Union.
Before joining the office, Rosenwasser had extensive criminal justice experience in Orange County, including six years on the bench as an Orange County judge, many years of private practice and a previous stint in the DAs office in the 1970s.
-----
2024 New York Daily News
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
TEHRAN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei asserted on Wednesday that the United States is invested in an Israeli victory in the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.
Speaking to a gathering of war veterans and resistance activists in Tehran, Khamenei said the United States is behind the ongoing conflicts, according to a statement published on his official website.
The Iranian leader also dismissed U.S. claims of non-involvement.
"Although the Americans claimed that they were not involved in and informed of what was going on, which is not true, they were both informed and involved, and needed Israel's victory," the Iranian leader said.
These statements come amid escalating tensions in the region, with recent Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon and ongoing conflict in Gaza. Iran has been a close ally to both Hamas and Hezbollah.
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EV sales fall a staggering 44% YoY in Europe
According to sales data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), BEV sales totaled just 92,627 units in August 2024, a sharp decline from 165,204 units during the same month last year. This dramatic fall caused the market share of BEVs to shrink to 14.4 percent, down from 21 percent previously.
This marks the fourth consecutive month of declining sales, primarily driven by steep drops in Europes largest BEV markets. As we recently reported,
That is the situation in Europe, where the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), which represents the interests of 15 major Europe-based automotive brands, including icons like BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault, Volkswagen, and others, is sounding the alarm about a steady slide in EV sales now turning into a precipitous freefall.
Key points: European EV Sales Plummet 44% As Automakers Scramble For Solutions
The EV market in Europe is facing a continual downward trajectory, according to ACEA.
In August, EV sales dropped 43.9%, while the overall market fell 18.3% year-on-year.
Automakers seek a smoother transition to zero-emission mobility amid sluggish EV demand.
ACEA also reports that the entire EV market, not just the share controlled by its members, is in a continuing and accelerating downturn.
The report lists several compounding factors, including: A lack of charging infrastructure Insufficient green energy production Uncompetitive manufacturing laws The structure of purchase and tax incentives for buyers Insecurity and uncertainty over access to raw materials, especially for batteries Poor economic growth Consumer acceptance of EVs Lack of consumer confidence in Europes commitment to developing infrastructure in a timely manner
ACEA has pleaded with European lawmakers to provide relief and ease the burden of CO2 reduction laws on vans and buses that will come into effect leading into the new year. They also called for a review of light and heavy-duty vehicle rules slated for 2026 and 2027, urging that these discussions be moved up to the next year.
European carmakers insist they are committed to complying with the greenification of Europes roads and manufacturing, and they claim to have the technology to do it. However, they argue that critical societal shifts and policy decisions are not keeping pace.
This may be a subtle critique of the slow and confusing progress on effective EV import regulations, especially when it comes to heavily subsidized carmakers from developing countries like China. These countries have a competitive advantage partly due to lax environmental rules, which European manufacturers must abide by.
Sources:
https://www.autoblog.com/news/eu-ev-...dence#comments
https://www.carscoops.com/2024/09/ev...5-co2-targets/ The EV slowdown is making its presence felt across Europe, prompting automakers to urgently call for short-term relief from stringent CO2 targets. In August 2024, battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales plummeted by a staggering 43.9 percent year-on-year in the European Union, dragging overall market numbers down significantly.According to sales data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), BEV sales totaled just 92,627 units in August 2024, a sharp decline from 165,204 units during the same month last year. This dramatic fall caused the market share of BEVs to shrink to 14.4 percent, down from 21 percent previously.This marks the fourth consecutive month of declining sales, primarily driven by steep drops in Europes largest BEV markets. As we recently reported, Germany saw a shocking decline of 68.8 percent , while France wasnt far behind with a 33.1 percent drop.That is the situation in Europe, where the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), which represents the interests of 15 major Europe-based automotive brands, including icons like BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault, Volkswagen, and others, is sounding the alarm about a steady slide in EV sales now turning into a precipitous freefall.ACEA has pleaded with European lawmakers to provide relief and ease the burden of CO2 reduction laws on vans and buses that will come into effect leading into the new year. They also called for a review of light and heavy-duty vehicle rules slated for 2026 and 2027, urging that these discussions be moved up to the next year.European carmakers insist they are committed to complying with the greenification of Europes roads and manufacturing, and they claim to have the technology to do it. However, they argue that critical societal shifts and policy decisions are not keeping pace.This may be a subtle critique of the slow and confusing progress on effective EV import regulations, especially when it comes to heavily subsidized carmakers from developing countries like China. These countries have a competitive advantage partly due to lax environmental rules, which European manufacturers must abide by. Last edited by SmartCat : 25th September 2024 at 09:43 . Reason: Fixed link
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Police in Haidian District, Beijing, recently launched a crackdown on "hospital scalpers" who acquire sought-after outpatient appointments in major hospitals, which saw 33 suspects detained on criminal charges.
In China, patients can book public hospital outpatient appointments either on-site or online. Top-notch hospitals in Beijing attract patients from across the country, which has led to overcrowding and made getting an appointment more difficult.
Scalpers exploit the scarcity and make matters worse. Across China, sought-after appointment slots for outpatient care, museum visits, campus tours in prestigious universities, concert tickets and holiday-season train tickets all fall prey to scalpers. Accordingly, the battle against scalpers has intensified.
The offenses not only encroach upon public resources, but also deprive the public of enjoying the benefits of social and economic development, therefore, addressing the practice is part of the country's people-centered reform measures.
An official statement said that the Haidian police found that online appointment slots to see renowned doctors in the jurisdiction's hospitals were always unavailable. However, in online chat groups, some lawbreakers were found to be reselling the extremely sought-after appointment slots at prices far exceeding the original costs.
The police found that these "hospital scalpers" were using cheating software to snap up appointment slots made available at a designated time every day -- the time varies from hospital to hospital.
During the police raid, a large number of mobile phones, tablets, and other cheating tools were seized. The cheating software installed on the devices clicks the button nearly 100 times per second, increasing the criminal's chances of securing the slots over a regular applicant.
The Haidian police vowed to maintain a "high-pressure" approach and resolutely crack down on such illegal activities.
The Chinese government in May launched this year's nationwide campaign to rectify misconduct in the country's medical services, including cracking down on "hospital scalpers."
In other sectors susceptible to scalping practices, the crackdown on such offenses has also ramped up.
During the summer break, Beijing police have set up a special task force to tackle the illegal activities of scalpers who seize and resell tickets for scenic spots and appointment slots for popular universities, detaining nearly 180 individuals on criminal and administrative charges respectively.
The National Museum of China, collaborating with Beijing police, has intensified its efforts to combat ticket scalping. During the summer break, nearly 1.6 million people were vying for 26,000 available tickets daily.
Key measures include implementing a policy where returned tickets will not be re-released into the ticket pool, enhancing identity verification to prevent fraudulent bookings, and blocking virtual phone numbers and high-frequency IP addresses.
In southwest China's Sichuan Province, Sanxingdui Museum, which displays artifacts unearthed from the Sanxingdui Ruins, is immensely popular among tourists. The extremely sought-after tickets also fall prey to scalpers.
According to Zhang Song, a technical executive at the museum, apart from using ticket scalping software, the scalpers use simulated IP addresses to deceive the ticketing system. One illegal account even managed to grab more than 7,000 tickets in little over a month.
The museum has taken various countermeasures. For example, the museum has repeatedly upgraded the ticketing system, including prohibiting access for certain accounts, introducing an anti-scalping system, and intercepting scalpers through algorithms, and limiting the number of ticket purchases with the same ID card.
In addition, since April, Sanxingdui Museum has opened a reservation channel for travel agencies and extended its visit hours.
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Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 71,651 Thanked: 310,834 Times
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Re: Skoda Auto leadership in India for stake sale talks with M&M
The Mahindra of today is a vastly different beast than the Mahindra of 10 years back. Not only have they doubled & tripled their sales, but Mahindra is also rolling out one blockbuster SUV after another.
Culturally, Mahindra might be a better fit than other car manufacturers as they have a very collaborative attitude. But Mahindra also has a long history of botched-up mergers, acquisitions & stake buys = Ford, Renault, SsangYong, Reva, Navistar Trucks, Peugeot 2-wheelers, Pininfarina and more. Mahindra is the most divorced car company in history!
When there are two big companies involved, a 50:50 shareholding rarely ever works out. One partner should have the majority voting rights over decisions, even if it is 51%. I am not a believer of 50:50 partnerships. Mahindra is now too big to take orders from anyone, while Skoda-VW have...well, German DNA and they won't listen to the other guy either.
Quote: AMG Power Originally Posted by M&M is looking at acquiring a 50% stake in Skoda Auto VW India at a valuation of around USD 1 bln in a deal that can give M&M greater capacity, while offering the European company access to M&Ms next-gen ICE and EV platform. Wow, that is a most interesting development.The Mahindra of today is a vastly different beast than the Mahindra of 10 years back. Not only have they doubled & tripled their sales, but Mahindra is also rolling out one blockbuster SUV after another.Culturally, Mahindra might be a better fit than other car manufacturers as they have a very collaborative attitude. But Mahindra also has a long history of botched-up mergers, acquisitions & stake buys = Ford, Renault, SsangYong, Reva, Navistar Trucks, Peugeot 2-wheelers, Pininfarina and more. Mahindra is the most divorced car company in history!When there are two big companies involved, a 50:50 shareholding rarely ever works out. One partner should have the majority voting rights over decisions, even if it is 51%. I am not a believer of 50:50 partnerships. Mahindra is now too big to take orders from anyone, while Skoda-VW have...well, German DNA and they won't listen to the other guy either.Why do Skoda & VW need this? Their global HQ has plenty of ICE & EV platforms which can be used. Last edited by GTO : 24th September 2024 at 10:25 .
scorpi0N BHPian
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Our years with the Kia Seltos The Journey so far
In 2019-2020, we were in the market to buy a new car, and were using the
But, Kias blockbuster entry in India had changed things for us.
I. From Sedan to SUV/ Crossover
There was also a noticeable shift from sedans/ hatchbacks towards SUVs/ crossovers in India. Strange as it may seem this was not only a trend in Indian market, but globally as well.
For instance, in recent years more than half of new cars sold in the US are SUVs and pickup trucks. Americans generally have larger roads, ample parking places and houses built with parking in mind, so managing SUVs is not a problem for them. But the preference for SUVs has a historical dimension. In the 1970s, Arab oil-producing countries cut oil shipments to the U.S. in retaliation for its support of Israel leading to fuel price hikes, long lines at gas stations, and a recession. In response, the U.S. government introduced fuel-economy standards for cars. To comply with these, carmakers had to develop more complex engines, which would require heavy investment for engineering/ R&D, make the car costly and, most likely, reduce profit margins. However, the government exempted "light trucks" from these rules, a category that included large SUVs. This allowed automakers to continue producing less fuel-efficient, yet more profitable SUVs, which they marketed as symbols of American freedom and adventure.
The Economist laments that
II. Our Decision
Due to these shifts, the sub-compact-SUV and compact-SUV segments were starting to get competitive. Whoever was in the market at that time, couldnt have missed Kias entry in India with the Seltos. The Seltos was globally first showcased at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE0uZsPM27k
Next year, the Seltos was officially announced. It received rave reviews and was an instant hit. Eventually, it was voted as
After rejecting the City for not receiving any major updates over the last many years, we shortlisted Seltos, Creta and Ecosport. An Ecosport would have been a worthy upgrade from Figo, but it also had not received any major updates and there were rumours (at that time) of a facelift in a year or two. But, we didn't want to wait that long, and hence moved ahead.
Between Creta and Seltos, most of us liked Seltos. It was also more VFM between the two at that time.
To be honest, I didnt like the marketing of Seltos at all. All those badass ads, with Tiger Shroff and an animated character, didnt click with me! Marketing the HT line for family, and more costly GT line for youth was also unfathomable. But, Kia was aggressive and agile in their overall approach. And they had a really... a really solid product which came in the market at the right time.
We wanted petrol engine, and were okay with manual transmission. I had really liked the black colour, but it was available only with HTX and HTX+. Going for HTX would have meant overshooting the budget, and the additional features in HTX (17" alloys over 16" steel, 2 inches bigger infotainment system, leatherette interior, air purifier etc.) didn't justify more than 3 lakh premium over HTK. Notably, the sunroof was only available in the HTX+ at that that time. The variant which was initially shortlisted, as the most VFM, was HTK. Eventually, we selected HTK+, which had alloys instead of steel wheels. Regarding the colour, the one which was selected by everyone was Red... Intense Red!
III. Five Things I Really Like About Seltos
Now, the car has completed about four years and has been driven more than 20K KMs. Five positive observations based on experience till now.
A. Stylish Design
I have to start by saying that the Kia Seltos is one of the most stylish cars Ive come across. The design is impeccable, and it truly is an attention seeker...from any angle. From the bold front grille to the sleek lines and striking LED headlights, (the 2019) Seltos looks incredibly modern and sophisticated (even today).
B. Comfortable City Cruiser
The overall car size (between hatchbacks and D-segment SUVs) is just fine for navigating everyday urban environments. The spacious interior can comfortably seat five mid-sized adults, and is complemented with a large boot space of 433L. The ground clearance (of 190 mm) is really helpful, and is a major consideration these days while buying a car. On decent roads, the ride quality is very comfortable.
C. Engine Refinement and Efficiency
The 1.5L petrol engine is very refined. The cabin remains reasonably quiet, even at higher speeds. It offers excellent fuel efficiency (about 17 KMPL).
D. Premium Cabin
The cabin is well-appointed, with good-quality materials and a thoughtful design. The dashboard is sleek, and the overall finishing make it look very premium. The rear windows have sun-blinds which come very handy.
E. Packed with Features and Essentials
Last but certainly not least, the features in the Seltos are impressive. The ones in HTK+ include ABS with EBD, front and rear disk brakes, electric ORVMs with turn signals, auto-folding ORVMs, push button start, 8 infotainment etc. The top variant boasted of electric sunroof, ventilated front seats, 10.25" infotainment, front parking sensor, BOSE speakers etc.
IV. Five Things I Dont Like About Seltos
A. Build Quality/ Safety
The issue with the car is of-course safety. There have been two incidents in the city and the damage has been such that both have led to panel replacements. The first incident, where another vehicle hit Seltos from behind, dented the tailgate so much that it had to be replaced (costed about 35k with almost entire amount borne through insurance claim). In another incident, an autorickshaw (with some speed) hit the car on the left. And this is how it looked after it.
The front left fender panel was replaced and front left door panel repainted. This costed about 17k, including about 4k out of pocket. Now, I know that the car has scored just 3-stars in Global NCAP. But, I feel that Kia should have worked more on enhancing the structural integrity of the car. I read over the internet and it seems that the Indian version (and other emerging market versions) of the Seltos are 100-300 KGs lighter than the Seltos in US, South Korea and other advanced economies. Now to some extent, it could be due to the engine difference, but those versions also seem to have better reinforcements and fare better in safety. I think Kia has kept the weight lighter to enhance fuel-economy, for their EM versions.
The others are more of minor complaints.
B. The suspensions are tuned such that poor roads are felt badly inside the cabin.
C. The under-thigh support in rear seat could have been better.
D. The paint quality is above-average, and could have been more premium.
E. Finally, I dont like the pace at which the prices have increased. The ex-showroom price of HTK+ was 11.5L at that time we purchased. Today, it is 14.14L, an increase of 2.75L in 3 years. This has been the case, not only with Kia, but for other automakers as well.
V. Service and Maintenance
The service experience has been good. The Kia team has always been diligent in following up for timely service. They were very helpful during insurance claims and subsequent repair works. The first paid service (after three complementary) costed about 8k.
VI. Legacy
Seltos proved to be a very important car for the Indian market. I think Seltos redefined what affordable style and sophistication means. It was and remains one of the most stylish cars today. It introduced advanced tech and features in the segment, some of which were available only in cars of much higher segments, setting new benchmarks. By introducing a large variant spread, it let customers select the most VFM one, suiting their requirements.
However, when I see ads like this, I think we have started giving way too much importance to gimmicks, these days...
The Autocar podcast deliberates on this pertinent issue i.e, how much tech is too much tech!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3-aJ7LknnU Let's not forget, its supposed to be about driving dynamics! The rest are just addons!The Autocar podcast deliberates on this pertinent issue i.e, how much tech is too much tech!
VII. Conclusion
What about us? Knowing what we know now about safety, would we, given a chance, buy Seltos again? Out of all the 5-seater cars launched since the arrival of Seltos, the Volkswagen Virtus has particularly caught my attention. If I was in the market today, it might have been Seltos vs. Virtus for me.
But, now we have gotten emotionally attached with the car. There are so many wonderful memories which have now become associated with it. We now know Seltoss strengths and weaknesses and how much to expect and how to use it judiciously. The Seltos is now a part of our family!
Few closing shots!
In 2019-2020, we were in the market to buy a new car, and were using the Ford Figo first generation (14-Years with the Ford Figo: A Reflection) for about a decade at that time. The budget that we had in mind was about 15L. Had it been a few years earlier, the choice would have been, by default, Honda City a car which was a long-term favourite of my father and, for a very long time, had a strong aspirational value. In fact just one/two years ago, a colleague of mine had purchased a Honda City AT for roughly 13L OTR. I remember, he had shortlisted City and Creta after long research, and chose the City eventually.But, Kias blockbuster entry in India had changed things for us.There was also a noticeable shift from sedans/ hatchbacks towards SUVs/ crossovers in India. Strange as it may seem this was not only a trend in Indian market, but globally as well.For instance, in recent years more than half of new cars sold in the US are SUVs and pickup trucks. Americans generally have larger roads, ample parking places and houses built with parking in mind, so managing SUVs is not a problem for them. But the preference for SUVs has a historical dimension. In the 1970s, Arab oil-producing countries cut oil shipments to the U.S. in retaliation for its support of Israel leading to fuel price hikes, long lines at gas stations, and a recession. In response, the U.S. government introduced fuel-economy standards for cars. To comply with these, carmakers had to develop more complex engines, which would require heavy investment for engineering/ R&D, make the car costly and, most likely, reduce profit margins. However, the government exempted "light trucks" from these rules, a category that included large SUVs. This allowed automakers to continue producing less fuel-efficient, yet more profitable SUVs, which they marketed as symbols of American freedom and adventure.The Economist laments that Europe is also bidding farewell to small cars . Smaller, but stylish and exciting cars, such as the Fiat 500, Volkswagen Beetle, Austin Mini, Citroen 2CV were pop-culture icons in Europe once. Unlike the U.S., which reshaped cities for large vehicles, Europe had retained its narrow, medieval streets. High fuel taxes encouraged fuel-efficient, smaller engines. While Americans often drove long distances in larger cars, Europeans relied more on public transport and bikes. After WWII, Europe embraced car ownership for freedom, even if it meant driving smaller vehicles. However, since the start of the century smaller European cars are being increasingly replaced with SUVs. In Europe, larger cars are a result of increasing wealth. The Economist quotes Pedro Pacheco from Gartner research firm, who explains, "People buy as much car as they can afford," and "as long as it is within their budget, bigger is always better". The same seems to be happening in India. As purchasing power has increased, we have started demanding larger cars.Due to these shifts, the sub-compact-SUV and compact-SUV segments were starting to get competitive. Whoever was in the market at that time, couldnt have missed Kias entry in India with the Seltos. The Seltos was globally first showcased at Auto Expo Delhi 2018 as SP Concept (The Kia Seltos SUV (SP Concept). EDIT : Launched at Rs. 9.69 lakhs) , where it was positively received.Next year, the Seltos was officially announced. It received rave reviews and was an instant hit. Eventually, it was voted as team-BHPs COTY 2019 (Team-BHP Car of the Year, 2019. EDIT: It's the Kia Seltos!) and singly-handedly gave Kia a solid foothold in the Indian market, which Kia followed excellently with Carnival, Sonet and Carens; thereby, establishing itself as a formidable player here.After rejecting the City for not receiving any major updates over the last many years, we shortlisted Seltos, Creta and Ecosport. An Ecosport would have been a worthy upgrade from Figo, but it also had not received any major updates and there were rumours (at that time) of a facelift in a year or two. But, we didn't want to wait that long, and hence moved ahead.Between Creta and Seltos, most of us liked Seltos. It was also more VFM between the two at that time.To be honest, I didnt like the marketing of Seltos at all. All those badass ads, with Tiger Shroff and an animated character, didnt click with me! Marketing the HT line for family, and more costly GT line for youth was also unfathomable. But, Kia was aggressive and agile in their overall approach. And they had a really... a really solid product which came in the market at the right time.We wanted petrol engine, and were okay with manual transmission. I had really liked the black colour, but it was available only with HTX and HTX+. Going for HTX would have meant overshooting the budget, and the additional features in HTX (17" alloys over 16" steel, 2 inches bigger infotainment system, leatherette interior, air purifier etc.) didn't justify more than 3 lakh premium over HTK. Notably, the sunroof was only available in the HTX+ at that that time. The variant which was initially shortlisted, as the most VFM, was HTK. Eventually, we selected HTK+, which had alloys instead of steel wheels. Regarding the colour, the one which was selected by everyone was Red... Intense Red!Now, the car has completed about four years and has been driven more than 20K KMs. Five positive observations based on experience till now.A.I have to start by saying that the Kia Seltos is one of the most stylish cars Ive come across. The design is impeccable, and it truly is an attention seeker...from any angle. From the bold front grille to the sleek lines and striking LED headlights, (the 2019) Seltos looks incredibly modern and sophisticated (even today).B.The overall car size (between hatchbacks and D-segment SUVs) is just fine for navigating everyday urban environments. The spacious interior can comfortably seat five mid-sized adults, and is complemented with a large boot space of 433L. The ground clearance (of 190 mm) is really helpful, and is a major consideration these days while buying a car. On decent roads, the ride quality is very comfortable.C.The 1.5L petrol engine is very refined. The cabin remains reasonably quiet, even at higher speeds. It offers excellent fuel efficiency (about 17 KMPL).D.The cabin is well-appointed, with good-quality materials and a thoughtful design. The dashboard is sleek, and the overall finishing make it look very premium. The rear windows have sun-blinds which come very handy.E.Last but certainly not least, the features in the Seltos are impressive. The ones in HTK+ include ABS with EBD, front and rear disk brakes, electric ORVMs with turn signals, auto-folding ORVMs, push button start, 8 infotainment etc. The top variant boasted of electric sunroof, ventilated front seats, 10.25" infotainment, front parking sensor, BOSE speakers etc.A.The issue with the car is of-course safety. There have been two incidents in the city and the damage has been such that both have led to panel replacements. The first incident, where another vehicle hit Seltos from behind, dented the tailgate so much that it had to be replaced (costed about 35k with almost entire amount borne through insurance claim). In another incident, an autorickshaw (with some speed) hit the car on the left. And this is how it looked after it.The front left fender panel was replaced and front left door panel repainted. This costed about 17k, including about 4k out of pocket. Now, I know that the car has scored just 3-stars in Global NCAP. But, I feel that Kia should have worked more on enhancing the structural integrity of the car. I read over the internet and it seems that the Indian version (and other emerging market versions) of the Seltos are 100-300 KGs lighter than the Seltos in US, South Korea and other advanced economies. Now to some extent, it could be due to the engine difference, but those versions also seem to have better reinforcements and fare better in safety. I think Kia has kept the weight lighter to enhance fuel-economy, for their EM versions.The others are more of minor complaints.B. The suspensions are tuned such that poor roads are felt badly inside the cabin.C. The under-thigh support in rear seat could have been better.D. The paint quality is above-average, and could have been more premium.E. Finally, I dont like the pace at which the prices have increased. The ex-showroom price of HTK+ was 11.5L at that time we purchased. Today, it is 14.14L, an increase of 2.75L in 3 years. This has been the case, not only with Kia, but for other automakers as well.The service experience has been good. The Kia team has always been diligent in following up for timely service. They were very helpful during insurance claims and subsequent repair works. The first paid service (after three complementary) costed about 8k.Seltos proved to be a very important car for the Indian market. I think Seltos redefined what affordable style and sophistication means. It was and remains one of the most stylish cars today. It introduced advanced tech and features in the segment, some of which were available only in cars of much higher segments, setting new benchmarks. By introducing a large variant spread, it let customers select the most VFM one, suiting their requirements.However, when I see ads like this, I think we have started giving way too much importance to gimmicks, these days...What about us? Knowing what we know now about safety, would we, given a chance, buy Seltos again? Out of all the 5-seater cars launched since the arrival of Seltos, the Volkswagen Virtus has particularly caught my attention. If I was in the market today, it might have been SeltosVirtus for me.But, now we have gotten emotionally attached with the car. There are so many wonderful memories which have now become associated with it. We now know Seltoss strengths and weaknesses and how much to expect and how to use it judiciously. The Seltos is now a part of our family!Few closing shots! Last edited by scorpi0N : 24th September 2024 at 07:13 .
In a nutshell: The two main players in the dedicated desktop graphics card market, Nvidia and AMD, enjoyed a positive quarter. Unfortunately, Intel failed to latch onto the upswing as it still struggles to break into the sector. The lack of movement in Intel GPUs certainly isn't helping as the company faces troubles elsewhere, but the next round of the AIB race is set to begin late this year or early next year.
According to a report from Jon Peddie Research, dedicated desktop GPU sales rose significantly in the second quarter of 2024 for everyone except Intel. Although the market is up overall, share didn't change from last quarter.
Shipments of AIBs reached approximately 9.5 million units, an increase of 9.4 percent from Q1 2024 and 48 percent from Q2 2023. The quarterly jump is well above average, indicating a strong recovery.
Market king Nvidia benefited the most, seeing a 9.7 percent quarterly rise and a 61.9 percent annual uplift. Furthermore, the company maintained its 88 percent market share from last quarter.
Meanwhile, although AMD's shipments only increased by three percent year-over-year, its quarterly improvement was similar to Nvidia's. Team Red also held onto its 12 percent market share from Q1.
Intel, though, has effectively been shut out, with sales remaining flat compared to last quarter. After entering the AIB market with its Arc Alchemist series in 2022, the company briefly achieved a four percent market share toward the end of that year, but it had evaporated by early 2024.
Desktop CPU-to-AIB attachment rate since 2016
Alchemist was supposed to provide an alternative to competing mid-range graphics cards. However, shipment delays put it behind the price-to-performance curve compared to Nvidia Ampere, Ada Lovelace, and AMD's RDNA 3 chips. The initial drivers also dragged performance significantly downward, though they have since improved dramatically.
All three AIB manufacturers are preparing new generations of GPUs. Nvidia's Blackwell architecture, likely to be named RTX 5000, is expected to debut at CES in January 2025 with high-end and enthusiast products likely costing over $1,000. AMD might introduce RDNA 4 (Radeon RX 8000) around the same time while focusing on much cheaper parts that could significantly improve on the latest available mid-range GPUs.
However, the latest reports regarding Intel's upcoming Arc Battlemage lineup indicate that the company is still targeting the 2024 holiday season. It remains unclear whether Team Blue plans to step into the enthusiast tier where Nvidia currently has no competition, or launch another stack of mainstream cards. Either way, if Intel can avoid Alchemist's delays, it might have some of the best GPUs on the market for a few weeks.
What just happened? As more AI platforms come to market, vendors are jockeying to position their offerings as the best. That rivalry may be behind Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff's recent disparaging comments about Microsoft Copilot. But he is not the first to voice complaints about the product.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has strong opinions about Microsoft's Copilot AI, claiming it has fallen short of customer expectations and failed to deliver the promised value. During Salesforce's second-quarter earnings call, Benioff stated that many customers are disappointed with Copilot's accuracy and responsiveness, adding that Microsoft has let down numerous clients with its AI offerings.
In response to Benioff's comments, Jared Spataro, Microsoft's corporate VP for AI at work, told Fortune that they are receiving positive feedback from customers. He cited a 60% increase in Copilot customers and a doubling of daily users in the last quarter.
But Benioff doubled down on his position on Copilot during an interview that took place during Salesforce's recent Dreamforce conference. "We all know now that Microsoft Copilot is basically the new Microsoft Clippy, that customers have not gotten value from it," he said.
Benioff's critique comes as Salesforce prepares to launch its own AI platform called Agentforce. Set to debut in October, Agentforce will initially focus on sales and customer service. Some major clients, including ADP, OpenTable, and Wyndham, are already using Agentforce.
Benioff claims that Agentforce AI agents are resolving over 90% of ADP's customer service inquiries. The Salesforce CEO predicts that Agentforce will represent a significant leap forward in AI technology for their customers. Unlike Copilot, he said, Agentforce offers a fully integrated platform approach, criticizing Microsoft for promoting a DIY model that he believes is costly and ineffective for customers.
Of course, Benioff's comments come amid growing competition in the AI space, with major tech companies vying for dominance in enterprise AI solutions.
To be fair, there are some fundamental differences between Agentforce and Copilot. Agentforce uses autonomous AI agents that can work independently with minimal human input, while Copilot is more of an AI assistant that works alongside humans.
Such distinctions between the various platforms may be the source of Copilot's problems with its customers.
Launched in 2023, Microsoft Copilot integrates OpenAI's ChatGPT technology into Microsoft 365 applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. A chief complaint by customers is that it does not stack up well against ChatGPT, according to Business Insider, which cited employees with direct knowledge of customer feedback.
"Every time a customer starts using it, they start comparing it to ChatGPT and saying, 'Aren't you guys using the same technology?'" one of the people said.
In response, Microsoft explained that customers don't understand the differences between ChatGPT and Copilot: Copilot for Microsoft 365 is built on the Azure OpenAI model, combining OpenAI's large language models with user data in the Microsoft Graph and the Microsoft 365 apps. Microsoft says this means its tools have more restrictions than ChatGPT, including only temporarily accessing internal data before deleting it after each query.
Microsoft employees also told BI that Copilot for Microsoft 365, the version that has reached most customers so far, has received mixed to slightly positive feedback.
What just happened? James Cameron, the director of Terminator and many other Hollywood blockbusters, has joined the board of AI company Stability AI. It's a somewhat surprising move, given that Cameron has warned of the dangers to humanity posed by artificial intelligence. It will also be interesting to see the response from the actors' union, which has protested against the use of generative AI in movies and TV.
Stability AI, creator of the Stable Diffusion text-to-image models, announced Cameron's addition to the board of directors in a post.
"James Cameron lives in the future and waits for the rest of us to catch up," said CEO Prem Akkaraju. "Stability AI's mission is to transform visual media for the next century by giving creators a full stack AI pipeline to bring their ideas to life. We have an unmatched advantage to achieve this goal with a technological and creative visionary like James at the highest levels of our company."
It does appear somewhat ironic that Cameron is joining a generative AI company, even if it is a visually-focused firm as opposed to, say, OpenAI. The Terminator's rogue AI Skynet is regularly cited as a fictional example of what could happen if humanity were to lose control of a powerful artificial intelligence.
In a 2023 interview with CTV, Cameron referenced The Terminator when asked about the potential dangers of AI. "I warned you guys in 1984 [The Terminator's release year], and you didn't listen," he said. "I think the weaponization of AI is the biggest danger. I think that we will get into the equivalent of a nuclear arms race with AI, and if we don't build it, the other guys are for sure going to build it, and so then it'll escalate."
Cameron has also spoken about the danger of a Skynet-like system using deepfakes to pit people against each other and ultimately wiping out humanity.
But it seems the director has softened his stance on AI, and is emphasizing how it can be used for film visuals. "I've spent my career seeking out emerging technologies that push the very boundaries of what's possible, all in the service of telling incredible stories. I was at the forefront of CGI over three decades ago, and I've stayed on the cutting edge since," he said.
"Now, the intersection of generative AI and CGI image creation is the next wave. The convergence of these two totally different engines of creation will unlock new ways for artists to tell stories in ways we could have never imagined. Stability AI is poised to lead this transformation. I'm delighted to collaborate with Sean, Prem, and the Stability AI team as they shape the future of all visual media."
Like virtually every other generative AI company, Stability AI is facing a class-action lawsuit over allegations it trained its AI models on copyrighted material. It is also dealing with the departure of founder and former CEO Emad Mostaque, who resigned in March, along with three key engineers.
Cameron's appointment comes in the middle of a strike by the Screen Actors Guild over the use of generative AI in video games. Generative AI has been a hot-button topic in the industry, and was one of the big factors behind last year's SAG-AFTRA strike.
Cameron joining the Stability AI board is being hailed as a game-changing move by several AI fans, who see it as the movie industry further embracing the technology. However, plenty of others have criticized Cameron, claiming he is ignoring his own warnings and that his motivations are purely financial.
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Rumor mill: Recent reports have sparked concern that Nvidia's upcoming series of graphics cards might consume significantly more power than the RTX 4000 series. A breakdown of MSI's latest power supplies has fueled speculation that Nvidia's new flagship might handle the extra load with two power connectors.
Nvidia's current flagship GPU, the GeForce RTX 4090, is already infamous for its issues with power supplies. A new product lineup from MSI suggests that its successor, likely arriving next year, could invite further PSU controversy.
TweakTown recently saw MSI's new high-wattage MEG Ai1600T PCIe 5.0 and MPG A1250 power supplies at the company's Shenzhen factory. Surprisingly, they include two 16-pin 12V-2x6 power connectors, and MSI says it added the additional plug to accommodate unnamed next-generation GPUs.
Nvidia, AMD, and Intel are expected to introduce new generations of graphics cards between late 2024 and early 2025, but recent rumors have singled out Nvidia's upcoming lineup for increased power consumption. Its upcoming flagship likely called the RTX 5090 could draw up to 600W, a dramatic increase over the 4090's 450W. The GPU's smaller brethren might also consume more power than their predecessors.
If the reports prove accurate, splitting the higher wattage across two cables might prove safer, potentially helping Nvidia avoid the PSU issues plaguing the 4090. Since late 2022, RTX 4090 owners have complained that the GPU fries power connectors.
Nvidia concluded its investigation by attributing the issue to user error, having acknowledged only a few dozen cases. However, as of April, repair shop Northridge Fix claimed to be receiving hundreds of melted 4090s per month, indicating a fundamental design problem.
If Nvidia's solution is to distribute the load between two cables, then anyone purchasing an RTX 5090 might also need to add the cost of a high-performance PSU to the GPU's price tag, which could exceed the 4090's $1,600 MSRP. Whether other RTX 5000 graphics chips require upgrading over existing ATX 3.0 power supplies remains unclear.
However, MSI's new offerings boast impressive stats for customers shopping for a new high-end PC build. The 1,600W MEG Ai1600T received the company's first 80 Plus Titanium rating. Moreover, users could theoretically use it to power two lower-end GPUs.
According to the latest information, Nvidia is expected to introduce RTX 5000, codenamed Blackwell, at CES 2025. The RTX 5080 could launch before the 5090.
Big if True: Huawei officially launched the first version of HarmonyOS in 2019, debuting it alongside the company's Honor Smart TVs. Now, the Chinese conglomerate is reportedly ready to take its ambitious project for a fully independent operating system to the next level.
Huawei is nearly ready to ditch Windows and adopt HarmonyOS as its primary PC operating system. According to Yu Chengdong, who heads the company's consumer business group, the PCs currently being sold by Huawei will be the last to feature Microsoft's "Western" OS. The next batch of Huawei computers will include HarmonyOS Next, the upcoming iteration of the operating system, which is expected to launch by the end of 2024.
HarmonyOS was initially developed from Android's Open Source Project (AOSP) and the Linux kernel, which provided a high level of compatibility between the new OS and existing Android apps. The original distributed operating system is now being reshaped as HarmonyOS Next, a microkernel-based system with no traces of AOSP code or residual Android compatibility.
The operating system will exclusively support its own format of native applications, which, according to the project's page, include a mix of JavaScript (JS), TypeScript, and an optimized compiler designed to speed up the execution of JS code. Analysts estimate that Huawei is responsible for around 10 percent of the 40 million PCs sold annually in China, with Lenovo and HP being the other major players in the local market.
Lenovo, the Beijing-based giant currently holding the top spot in the global PC market, doesn't seem interested in replacing Windows with HarmonyOS (Next) anytime soon. However, this could change in the future, as the US and other Western countries might decide to increase pressure on Chinese technology companies through new sanctions and trade limitations.
Huawei has invested significant resources into HarmonyOS Next, but the new operating system may not be ready to replace Windows or even Android for end users. According to a recent report, Huawei's ambitious "declaration of independence" has produced very few gaming apps.
The operating system apparently lacks support from game developers, and the few apps available for the platform are either in demo form or missing essential features. Developers are being pressured to ship new "patriotic" code, but the user experience is suffering, and consumers are not exactly thrilled with the final results.
Meanwhile, the Chinese propaganda outlet Global Times (GT) is portraying HarmonyOS as a product accepted by "many customers" already. GT claims that more than 10,000 apps and services are available on the platform, and high-profile clients, such as the Shanghai municipal government, are developing HarmonyOS native apps to provide administrative services.
Masthead credit: VGC, CNET
DAMASCUS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Syrian air defenses intercepted multiple flying objects over the Mediterranean Sea near the province of Tartous on Tuesday night, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Syrian air defenses managed to shoot down 13 "targets," as military radars detected warplanes in Syrian airspace, said the observatory.
Missiles from Syrian air defense systems continued to be launched toward "targets" over the sea rather than on land, the Britain-based war monitor added, noting that it is still unclear whether the targets were missiles or drones.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in Tartous, a strategic coastal province that hosts a Russian naval facility.
While there has been no official comment on the incident yet, pro-government Sham FM radio reported that Syrian air defense systems were intercepting an Israeli attack over Tartous.
The big picture: For years, researchers have studied the psychological factors associated with religious fundamentalism, which involves strict adherence to belief. Traits like authoritarianism, resistance to doubt, and cognitive inflexibility have indeed been linked to fundamentalist mindsets. However, a fascinating new study now reveals that brain damage can increase the likelihood of developing rigid, unwavering faith in God.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, took an innovative approach by examining two groups of individuals with focal brain lesions resulting from injuries or disorders. One cohort consisted of 106 Vietnam veterans who suffered traumatic brain injuries in combat decades ago. The other included 84 patients from rural Iowa who experienced strokes, surgical complications, or other brain injuries.
Both groups underwent extensive brain scanning using advanced imaging techniques such as computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They were then assessed for levels of religious fundamentalism based on their beliefs about religious exclusivity and the idea that there is only one true religion.
(1/12) Our brain network study of religious fundamentalism is out in PNAS. We identified brain networks associated with religious fundamentalism and found shared neuroanatomy with lesions linked to confabulation and criminal behavior: https://t.co/VBdA8febRi pic.twitter.com/P8J23uQMoF Michael Ferguson i*iA (@neuromichael) August 27, 2024
Interestingly enough, the patterns of brain damage were unique among the participants prone to fundamentalism.
Lesions in the right frontal and parietal lobes, left cerebellum, and surrounding areas were linked to increased religious fundamentalist leanings. In contrast, damage to other regions, such as the left paracentral area, correlated with greater flexibility in beliefs.
The affected regions appear to be part of a complex brain network that oversees reasoning, belief formation, and moral decision-making. Damage to these networks may make it more difficult for individuals to think critically about their faith or to be open to alternative perspectives.
An overlap was also observed between the brain areas associated with fundamentalism and those linked to criminal behavior, suggesting potential connections between extreme beliefs and hostility towards other groups.
Of course, having brain lesions in this network doesn't necessarily doom someone to rigid fundamentalism, nor does strong faith automatically imply neurological impairment. The study simply reveals a plausible biological basis for how people process, justify, and cling to certain belief systems.
The authors of the study recommend that future research explore individuals from a broader range of religions and ethnicities, as the current sample primarily focused on Christianity. Additionally, since the Vietnam veterans are predominantly male, females may be underrepresented in this study.
In brief: Two digital rights bills landed on California Governor Gavin Newsom's desk over the last five days. Both aimed to give California residents more control over their online affairs. The governor signed one and vetoed the other, raising questions about his normally pro-consumer stance.
Assembly Bill 2863, introduced in April, requires companies with convenient online or in-app subscription options to allow customers to unsubscribe just as quickly. Many services are simple to subscribe to, and almost all renew automatically. Meanwhile, canceling these subscriptions is difficult or, in some cases, impossible without a call to a customer service rep who inevitably gives the member the hard sell.
Governor Newsom signed AB 2863 into law on Tuesday, making it mandatory for companies with automatic renewal or continuous services to offer cancelation options within the same "medium" they used to subscribe. In other words, if a company has a webpage or app that allows you to subscribe with a click, it has to provide the same one-click option to cancel.
"AB 2863 is the most comprehensive 'Click to Cancel' legislation in the nation, ensuring Californians can cancel unwanted automatic subscription renewals just as easily as they signed up with just a click or two," said Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo, who introduced the bill to overwhelming bipartisan support and passing it with a unanimous vote.
Last Friday, Governor Newsom surprisingly rejected AB 3048. This bill was an amendment to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 that would have required browsers and operating systems to make an "opt-out signal" available for users who do not want their data shared or sold. In simpler terms, developers would have to update their settings options to have an opt-out toggle for data collection. They would also have to limit the use of "sensitive information."
Although the bill passed with considerable support it breezed through the Assembly 31-7 and 59-12 in the Senate Newsom vetoed the bill. While the governor's actions seem contradictory, he reasoned that operating systems were too complex for regulators to mandate changes arbitrarily.
"To ensure the ongoing usability of mobile devices, it's best if design questions are first addressed by developers, rather than by regulators," Governor Newsom said in a letter to the State Assembly.
As for browsers, Newsom contends that data collection is a non-issue because users already have the means to opt out natively or through an extension. Newsom's reasoning seems logical, but whether his constituents see the issue from the same perspective is another question.
Consumers are more concerned about information security than ever before. While global data breaches declined in 2023, they more than tripled in the US. In the last nine months, we've seen several severe information leaks. In many cases, the companies responsible were unwilling to own up to their security failures.
Last December, 23andMe blamed customers for using bad passwords after hackers stole seven million user records from its database before finally admitting that the breach went on for five months under its nose.
In March, AT&T saw 73 million customer records stolen and denied it for weeks before coming clean in April. Then it was hit again in July to the tune of 110 million records, nearly its entire customer base.
In a similar case of denial, Microsoft left employee credentials exposed to the internet for 28 days after security researchers notified it of an unsecured server. It finally closed the hole with a simple password.
Last month, National Public Data suffered the granddaddy of all data breaches, losing 2.7 billion US, UK, and Canadian records containing highly sensitive personal information. Whether it was a ransomware attack or just bad security hygiene, NPD isn't saying.
So, if companies can repeatedly handle our data irresponsibly with little to no consequences other than some class action lawsuits that only enrich the lawyers, why shouldn't they face regulatory control? These data brokers make billions selling it, and consumers get nothing but scams and the fear of identity theft.
What do you think?
Image credit: Gage Skidmore, Yomna Emara
CrowdStrike is under sharp interrogation after a global IT outage in July knocked millions of devices offline and caused disruptions across various industries worldwide.
On Sept. 24, senior executive Adam Meyers with CrowdStrike testified to a US congressional committee about concerns over the software update that precipitated the outage.
'Bugged' Software Update Halts Global Access to Devices
On July 19, CrowdStrike pushed out a buggy software update that caused mass system crashes worldwide, reaching payment services, airlines, hospitals, and many others. Millions of computers were brought to a standstill, some even forcing hospitals to cancel appointments and airlines' ground flights.
Meyers showed much remorse throughout the hearing, stating he was "deeply sorry" and assured that such an error would be prevented.
"We are deeply sorry this happened and we are determined to prevent this from happening again. We have undertaken a full review of our systems and begun implementing plans to bolster our content update procedures so that we emerge from this experience as a stronger company," Meyers said.
The firm admitted that the outage is a kind of a "perfect storm," acknowledging that it did wreak havoc on the world's infrastructure. According to Meyers, CrowdStrike is geared towards ensuring no such occurrence happens again as the company learns from its failure.
Read Also: Meta Bans Russia State Media Amid Growing Concerns Over Propaganda: Here's How Kremlin Responds
Constituents Demand Answers on IT Outage
In Reuters' report, the House of Representatives cybersecurity subcommittee members questioned Meyers on just how the failure occurred.
Representative Mark Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that the scale of IT disruption was akin to the kind one might expect after a sophisticated cyberattack by a hostile nation-state. Instead, he said, "The biggest IT outage in history came from a simple mistake".
Green further spoke on the seriousness of the incident, referring to it as a "catastrophe" that nearly reached every aspect of the economy. The emotion welled up towards the much-needed uptight security and accountability measures so such incidents would not have a chance to happen again in the future.
Role of AI in Cybersecurity: Safety Concerns
During the 90-minute hearing, Meyers was asked technical and more general questions about cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI).
Representative Carlos Gimenez voiced his worries about the growing presence of AI in cybersecurity and the new looming danger represented by malicious, AI-generated code.
Meyers admitted that AI technology is improving but has not matured to a point where it can independently generate hostile code. Instead, he said the improvement of AI constantly creates new challenges for the business.
Furthermore, the AI did not contribute to the configuration update error, as CrowdStrike attempted AI to address threats regularly.
According to Meyers, the company usually sends out 10 to 12 configuration updates per day, but this one had an error in its configuration, causing global shutdowns.
Impact on National Security and Future Collaboration
The lawmakers also have deeper concerns over the broad implications of large-scale cyber events on national security. Their main concern is about the possibility of such an incident getting into the hands of malicious actors who exploit confusion, according to BBC.
Less confrontational than other high-profile sessions, it remains a reminder that the government needs collaboration with the private sector to strengthen its defenses against cybersecurity.
Congressman Eric Swalwell clarified that the hearing is not about bashing CrowdStrike. Congressman Green commended Meyers for his humility being "impressive." Still, the evidence ended with some ways to prevent such incidents and improve further on cybersecurity work.
Legal Fallout and Financial Consequences
The congressional hearing is cooperative in tone, but CrowdStrike still has several lawsuits pending against it about the July outage. Some affected individuals and businesses have filed claims on grounds of financial loss or personal disruption.
Several people told BBC News that their vacations were "totally ruined" and that some lost business opportunities.
Delta Airlines, one of the organizations that faced severe damage from the outage, has filed a lawsuit against CrowdStrike for neglect. Delta stated that $500 million went up in the air due to canceled flights, after which thousands of passengers were stranded.
Apart from businesses and people, CrowdStrike's stockholders are also filing lawsuits against the company, making it tougher for the company to return to its old self.
CrowdStrike Back on Track
CrowdStrike now appears set on rebuilding trust and assuring security following the global IT blackout. In this respect, Meyers said that the firm had drawn from the lesson of experience and would not allow the same to haunt it in its wake again.
The readiness of CrowdStrike to work with government agencies and cybersecurity professionals will be fundamental in ensuring that its future endeavors never embark on a journey of this nature. The firm is, however, faced with other consequences it must work to overcome: legal and financial.
Related Article: Microsoft Claps Back at Delta for Refusing Help During CrowdStrike Outage
ASEAN exhibitors at the 21st China-ASEAN Expo have seen great potential in the Chinese market. With over 3,000 enterprises attending this year's expo, the event is seen as an important platform to promote and facilitate the economic cooperation between China and ASEAN. #GLOBALink
Storm Helene on track to hit Florida as major hurricane
Miami, Sept 24 (AFP) Sep 24, 2024
The US state of Florida on Tuesday was preparing for the arrival of Storm Helene, due to make landfall later in the week as a powerful Category 3 hurricane.
Helene, currently churning over the Caribbean with maximum sustained winds of 50 miles (85 kilometers) per hour, is projected to rapidly strengthen through the Gulf of Mexico before slamming into the Florida coast on Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Ron DeSantis, governor of the southeastern state, has expanded a state of emergency to 61 of the state's 67 counties and mobilized the National Guard.
As of Tuesday evening, ten counties along the gulf coast have announced partial evacuation orders.
"There is a significant threat of storm surge, coastal flooding and erosion, heavy rainfall and flash flooding, and damaging winds," an executive order signed by DeSantis on Monday said.
Alongside warnings across Florida, the NHC has issued a hurricane warning for communities along the eastern part of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and a hurricane watch for Cuba's Pinar del Rio province.
If the NHC's forecasts are confirmed, Helene -- with sustained winds of more than 110 miles per hour -- would be the highest-category hurricane to hit the United States in more than a year.
Idalia, a Category 3 storm, hit northwestern Florida in August 2023.
Helene is set to make landfall in the same region as both Idalia and Hurricane Debby, the Category 1 hurricane that hit Florida last month.
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1 and will end on November 30, has been less busy than expected.
Researchers say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of storms, because there is more energy in a warmer ocean for them to feed on.
US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
Flint, United States, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
Turning her faucet on one day in 2014, Chanel McGee watched in disgust as a brownish trickle poured out.
Today, a strong musty smell lingers. Residents of the American city of Flint are still suffering the consequences of a historic water crisis, which is fuelling a lively rejection of politics -- and, by extension, the White House race.
For ten years, this mother of two from the Canadian border state of Michigan -- a key swing state in the November polls -- has consumed only bottled water.
"I started getting a little sick ... I drink bottled water now, I don't drink out of the faucet because I don't like the smell," the 47-year-old says in her kitchen, pierced by the scent of mildew.
A trap blackened with insects hangs over her sink. Even to wash, she says she buys water, which she pours into pots and heats on the stove.
"I want everything to change, I want the creek to be clean, I want everything to be clean, I just want it to be decent for us and the kids, so we could go ahead and live and not worry about this water and all that stuff going on ... I'm tired of it," McGee, who is unemployed, says.
"I'm not going to keep crying about it," she adds.
- 'They can drink it' -
The crisis she is living through began in 2014, when Michigan decided to change the water supply to the predominantly Black city of Flint as a cost-saving measure.
Instead of drawing from the region's lakes, one of the world's largest freshwater reserves, officials decided to draw from a polluted, acidic river, exposing its 100,000-strong population to severely lead-contaminated water for more than a year.
The health scandal had international repercussions, and -- among other issues -- caused learning disabilities in many children.
It saw a spike in cases of Legionnaires' disease, leading to the death of a dozen people and widespread mistrust of public officials.
Those same authorities have said that the vast majority of lead pipes have since been replaced and that the water is now safe to drink.
"They can drink it but I know I'm not going to," McGee tells AFP.
That distrust of authorities extends right to the top: she says she has no confidence in the two presidential candidates, both of whom are eyeing Michigan -- a coveted prize in the November election.
Her thoughts on Republican Donald Trump, who visited the state on Tuesday: "What is he going to do for us? Is he going to change something around here? Change the water? Change the city?"
And Democrat Kamala Harris? "I don't even know who that is," McGee replies with a shrug.
- 'Contaminated city' -
"No one seems to be concerned about a struggling city and the problems that they've had," agrees Dennis Robinson, leaning against the table of a yellow-brick diner.
The 69-year-old man, a lifelong resident of Flint, hasn't imbibed the city's water in years either. "You can only lie to me so long," he tells AFP.
An ex-employee of General Motors, the automaker founded in the city and for many years its main employer, Robinson says he has noticed learning problems in many of the children in his area, which he believes are linked to their exposure to lead.
The observation has been corroborated by several scientific studies.
"It creates a generation of people, a group of young folks that will be facing struggles, probably their entire life," says Robinson with a sigh.
A host of public and private initiatives have been launched to support these children and pull Flint, hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis, out of the doldrums.
More than a third of the population lives below the poverty line.
The city center, with its pretty art deco buildings, has benefited from major renovations.
But whole swathes of the city, with its condemned doorways and gutted front porches, bear witness to how far there is to go.
It also has to shake off its image as a "contaminated city."
Bri Gallinet, a waitress in an upmarket restaurant, describes the fear and panic when the crisis first hit -- but now, she says, visitors to the city make jokes about the water.
"Every time we cater a table, we'll put waters in front of them and they'll laugh and say, 'Is it safe?'" says the 35-year-old.
"My first response is, well I'm not trying to harm you," she says.
"It's kind of not funny. It hurts our feelings."
Fund giant Vanguard fined for 'greenwashing' in Australia
Sydney, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
A local arm of global fund behemoth Vanguard was fined on Wednesday for "greenwashing" in Australia, following a court ruling that found it had misrepresented so-called "ethical" investments.
Australia's securities watchdog said the US$8.9 million penalty was the "highest yet for greenwashing conduct" in the country.
Vanguard Investments Australia claimed that stocks and bonds in an "ethically conscious" index were chosen to exclude industries such as fossil fuels, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said.
But the country's federal court found that almost three quarters of an almost US$700 million fund had not been properly screened.
This included fossil fuel companies that "derived revenue from the transportation or exploration of thermal coal", the court found.
"This is an important decision and the penalty imposed is the highest yet for greenwashing conduct," said the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
"Vanguard admitted it misled investors that these funds would be screened to exclude bond issuers with significant business activities in certain industries, including fossil fuels, when this was not always the case."
Vanguard Investments Australia said it accepted the court ruling and apologised for the "unintentional" errors.
The Vanguard group is one of the largest investment management companies in the world.
US-China progress sparks hope for COP29, says Azerbaijan
United Nations, United States, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
The United States and China are closing the divide on the contentious issue of international climate finance, raising hopes for a breakthrough at a crucial climate conference in Azerbaijan, according to the host country's chief negotiator.
In an interview with AFP, Yalchin Rafiyev said he had received "positive signals" following recent high-level talks between the world's two largest economies, which frequently assert themselves as leading voices for the Global North and South in international negotiations.
"There had been a very wide gap among the positions of the US and China," explained Rafiyev, who was speaking at the margins of the UN's annual high-level summit, and is tasked with steering negotiations between world leaders at the COP29 negotiations in Baku this November.
"This gap is now narrowing, and we see visible progress," added the 37-year-old diplomat, saying he saw a "softening" of stances on both sides.
While he declined to go into specifics, citing the need not to jeopardize delicate negotiations, he added: "That gives us an understanding that we may hope for a positive outcome in the COP29."
- Money talks -
While last year's COP28 summit in UAE struck a landmark deal to phase out fossil fuels, COP29 is charged with a new, daunting task: putting a price tag on how much developing nations will need to weather the mounting impacts of climate change and to transition to greener economies.
More than a decade ago, wealthy nations -- including the United Nations, European Union, Japan and others -- pledged to deliver $100 billion annually by 2020 to support developing countries.
But that goal was only achieved for the first time in 2022, and much of the funding came in the form of high-interest loans, drawing fierce criticism and accusations of broken promises.
India has called for $1 trillion annually, a ten-fold increase in the existing pledge.
Not only do developed countries view such figures as unrealistic, they are now advocating for oil-rich Gulf states and China to share the financial burden, arguing that the original list of donor countries is based on outdated 1990s development levels.
Rafiyev emphasized that COP29's benchmark for success would be reaching consensus on a final headline figure.
However, he declined to weigh in on the Global North's push to expand the pool of contributors, stressing the host country's need to stay neutral.
He also declined to specify when Azerbaijan, whose economy depends heavily on oil and gas extraction, would unveil its updated plans to meet the emissions reductions required by the Paris Agreement.
Although countries are not obligated to submit these plans until February 2025, many climate observers had hoped Azerbaijan would seize the opportunity at the UN General Assembly to show leadership by setting ambitious new targets.
Instead, Rafiyev said Azerbaijan would "do our best" to release its new climate strategy ahead of the Baku summit, and was coordinating with Brazil and the UAE -- the next and previous COP hosts -- towards this goal.
- Human rights criticism -
Rafiyev brushed off suggestions that reliance on fossil fuels extraction made Azerbaijan an inappropriate venue for the climate summit.
"Our revenues from fossil fuels have been invested in the welfare of our people," he said, adding that Azerbaijan is now firmly focused on a greener future.
The country has signed a global pledge to reduce methane, a potent long-acting greenhouse gas, and committed to increasing the share of renewables in its energy mix to 30 percent by 2030.
Hosting the conference, he said, "has inspired us to accelerate our energy transition and strengthen our climate resilience."
Azerbaijan has called for a global truce in conflicts during the summit, with Rafiyev pointing to research that attributes nearly six percent of global greenhouse gas emissions to military activity.
However, critics have labeled the appeal hypocritical, given the country's checkered human rights record and its military offensive last year to crush ethnic-Armenian separatists.
Rafiyev dismissed such accusations as "baseless" and "cynical."
"At the end of the day, what we are aspiring for is peace, and why should that be criticized?"
Restoring nature, 'adaptation' helped limit Storm Boris impact
Vienna, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
The restoration of a creek in Vienna reduced the impact of flooding caused by Storm Boris, authorities say, one of many projects experts believe helped central Europe endure the deluge better than in previous years.
Flooding unleashed by the storm burst dams and devastated entire villages in central Europe, killing at least two dozen people in Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania.
The torrential rains that caused the flooding were "the heaviest ever recorded" in the region, according to the World Weather Attribution (WWA) network of scientists, inundating homes and farmland.
But despite record rainfall, fewer people died during Storm Boris than in previous major European floods in 1997 and 2002, when more than 100 and 200 people lost their lives respectively, the WWA said in a report published Wednesday.
"We have seen investment for adaptation and mitigation in the affected countries after the events of 1997 and 2002," said Federica Remondi, a flood specialist at reinsurance giant Swiss Re.
"Without those adaptation measures the overall impact and losses might have been even worse," she added, calling for continued efforts despite resources being restrained in some countries.
- Prevented 'greater damage' -
In Austria's capital Vienna, where no deaths were reported, officials said efforts to restore damaged ecosystems helped offset the impact of the floods, including at Liesing creek on the outskirts of the city.
Workers have removed and knocked down the narrow concrete banks which line the waterway, where water levels rose during the flood by more than three metres to a 100-year-high.
Without the restoration, heavy rainfall "would have led to greater damage", city official Josef Gottschall told AFP.
He dismissed criticism that the project -- which is projected to run until 2027 with a total cost of about 135 million euros ($151 million) -- was too costly and had a limited impact, saying that sums cannot be weighed up against "loss of life and damage".
According to experts, the construction of retention basins -- artificial ponds that collect storm water -- also played a role in lessening the impact of floods in the region, while early warning systems have become more effective.
- Climate costs 'accelerating' -
In the Czech Republic, where several people remain missing, flood protection has been beefed up, but is still considered inefficient in places like the village of Troubky, which was hit hard in 1997 and narrowly escaped another disaster.
Experts suggest the recent storm might help accelerate work such as the construction of a dam on the Opava river which was scheduled to begin in 2027 but could be brought forward.
The cost of the disasters remains high, with the European Commission pledging 10 billion euros ($11 billion) in funds for affected countries.
In Austria, insurance companies estimate the total damage from the storm to reach 700 million euros, as economists predict several billions of euros. A similar estimate has been made for the Czech Republic.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said more than five billion euros, including EU funds, have been earmarked for reconstructing affected areas.
- 'Wake-up call' -
Scientists also warn new infrastructure is needed as climate change worsens the impact of extreme weather events.
Around 80,000 hectares (197,600 acres) of farmland have been affected by the floods and more than 18,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, with thousands of people forced to evacuate.
Based on historical data, a four-day rainfall event is expected to occur on average about once every 100 to 300 years in today's climate with 1.3 degrees Celsius of warming, WWA said.
Global warming has doubled the likelihood of severe four-day downpours since the pre-industrial era and the costs of climate change are "accelerating", according to the WWA.
The floods are "another wake-up call that our climate is changing rapidly," researcher Hayley Fowler from Newcastle University told AFP.
"Our infrastructure is really not designed to deal with these levels of flooding," she said.
"The evacuation of whole cities, dams bursting and roads turning into rivers are now commonplace around the world. The question is not whether we need to adapt for more of these types of storm, but can we?"
burs-anb-kym/cad/jm
EU supports reduced protection for wolves
Brussels, Belgium, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
EU member states on Wednesday voted in favour of lowering the protection status of wolves, a move decried by conservationists that paves the way for a relaxation of tight hunting restrictions.
Grey wolves were virtually exterminated in Europe a century ago, but their numbers have rebounded thanks to conservation efforts, triggering howls of protest from farmers angered at livestock losses.
Representatives of the 27 EU states backed a proposal to push for changes to an international wildlife convention that would see the species downgraded from "strictly protected" to "protected".
Only two countries voted against, according to a diplomatic source and the the European Commission, which put forward the plan, welcomed its approval.
Steffi Lemke, Germany's environment minister, said a rising wolf population made the decision "justifiable from a nature conservation perspective and necessary from the point of view of livestock farmers."
In 2023, there were breeding packs of grey wolves in 23 European Union countries, with a total population estimated at around 20,300 animals, bringing the elusive creatures into more frequent contact with humans.
In announcing plans to revise the protection status last year, Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the "concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger especially for livestock".
Von der Leyen herself lost her beloved pony Dolly to a wolf that crept into an enclosure on her family's rural property in Germany two years ago -- leading some to suggest the matter had become personal.
- 'Politically motivated' -
The wolf became a "strictly protected" species under the 1979 Bern Convention, to which the EU is a party.
The text allows for the animal to be killed or captured only when it poses a threat to livestock, health or safety.
The commission's proposal would loosen such rules by demoting wolves to "protected" species, which would allow hunting under strict regulation.
This year has seen rolling protests by farmers around Europe against the bloc's environmental rules.
The pan-European farmers group Copa-Cogeca welcomed "a major step forward in the management of wolf populations and harmonious co-existence" while the FACE European Hunting Federation called it an all-round "victory".
But animal rights activists fear that the change could result in large numbers of wolves being hunted.
Already in 2022, several Austrian regions authorised the killing of wolves in what critics argued was a breach of current European laws.
More than 300 environmental and animal protection organisations opposed a status downgrade, arguing it was premature since while population numbers have grown, their recovery is ongoing.
In a letter, they said there was no evidence that culling reduced depredation on farmed animals. Hunting was no replacement for other prevention measures, such as fencing, they argued.
"We see this as a proposal that is politically motivated and not at all based on science," Sabien Leemans, senior policy officer at environmental group WWF, told AFP.
- Small impact -
A 2023 EU report found that the overall impact of wolves on livestock was "very small". Only 0.065 percent of the bloc's 60 million sheep were mauled to death every year and just over 18 million euros ($20 million) was paid to compensate for wolf damage annually.
The report said horses, dogs and other animals were also sometimes slain -- but that no fatal wolf attacks on people have been recorded in Europe over the past 40 years.
Wednesday's vote, once formally adopted by the bloc's environment ministers, will give the EU a mandate to push for a change in the Bern Convention at a meeting in December.
A two-thirds majority is required to alter the text, which was signed by 50 countries, including the 27 EU members.
If the convention is changed, the commission will then be allowed to move to amend related EU rules.
"Today's decision... empowers rural communities to take the necessary steps to protect themselves," said Herbert Dorfmann, a lawmaker with the conservative European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament.
But Leemans of the WWF warned it risked opening a "Pandora's box". Some countries are already pushing to ease hunting rules for brown bears too, she argued -- a concern dismissed by the commission.
"What we're talking about is the wolf, and only the wolf," commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz told reporters.
Mud, loss and despair after Polish floods
Glucholazy, Poland, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
On the verge of tears, tired and dejected, Agata and Sebastian Pioro cleaned their home in Glucholazy, southern Poland, this week of the mess left after the river flooded.
The walls inside were sweating, while outside the building the family's possessions were scattered by the waters unleashed by Storm Boris, which wreaked havoc this month on central Europe.
At least 24 people died in Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania from the flooding let loose by high winds and unusually heavy rainfall.
"It's indescribable what happened. This unimaginable rush of water that swept away everything in its path... ruthlessly," Agata Pioro told AFP.
The married couple and their daughters, 10 and 14, were at home when disaster struck. Powerless, they watched the water carry away their furniture, the fridge, the washing machine, their lives.
"To lose everything we've accumulated over the years so quickly, and to have our children witness it all, that will forever remain etched in their memory," Agata said, close to tears.
The building's foundations were unearthed by the waves, leading authorities to condemn the house.
The family left to stay with friends, but later returned to salvage what they could of their possessions.
"The water was flowing through the walls," said Sebastian Pioro, as he pointed at a stain about a metre (three feet) off the ground.
- Torrent -
The Biala river, which normally flows around 50 metres from their home, overflowed on September 15.
In just a matter of hours, the waters descended upon the picturesque town of Glucholazy, which was founded in the Middle Ages and has around 14,000 residents.
"It unleashed a real torrent, which suddenly spread across the main square," mayor Pawel Szymkowicz told AFP.
"Never before in the town's history did the water reach the square, even during the 1997 floods," he said.
The waters swept away two bridges, destroyed homes and schools and damaged every road they encountered.
Several wrecked cars stuffed with broken branches were strewn about the riverbank near the Pioros' house.
In terms of the town's infrastructure alone, there is around 250 million zloty ($65 million) in damage done, according to initial estimates, Szymkowicz said.
Poland's government said it had 23 billion zloty -- of national and European funds -- to help the areas affected recover and rebuild.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen last week announced 10 billion euros ($11 billion) in funds for member nations reeling from the "heartbreaking" devastation.
- 'Uncertainty' -
Hundreds of volunteers from across Poland have descended on Glucholazy to help residents clean their homes, and to distribute food such as bread and soup, while soldiers clear basements of the mud.
Almost all of this tourist town's businesses remain closed.
"I was lucky: I only got half a metre of water. I hope to reopen tomorrow or the day after," said Artur, owner of a natural medicine shop.
"But some of my neighbours say they won't ever reopen. They're unable to recover after the water ruined their businesses," the man in his 40s told AFP.
Also entrepreneurs, Agata and Sebastian Pioro fear for the future of their two menswear shops, one of which was practically wiped out.
"The worst is the uncertainty. We don't even know if we'll be able to live here because the house is half destroyed," Agata said, adding that she was concerned about future floods.
"Sometimes I think about finding my family another place on earth."
US-China progress sparks hope for COP29, says Azerbaijan
New York, Sept 25 (AFP) Sep 25, 2024
The United States and China are closing the divide on the contentious issue of international climate finance, raising hopes for a breakthrough at a crucial climate conference in Azerbaijan, according to the host country's chief negotiator.
In an interview with AFP, Yalchin Rafiyev said he had received "positive signals" following recent high-level talks between the world's two largest economies, which frequently assert themselves as leading voices for the Global North and South in international negotiations.
"There had been a very wide gap among the positions of the US and China," explained Rafiyev, who was speaking at the margins of the UN's annual high-level summit, and is tasked with steering negotiations between world leaders at the COP29 negotiations in Baku this November.
"This gap is now narrowing, and we see visible progress," added the 37-year-old diplomat, saying he saw a "softening" of stances on both sides.
While he declined to go into specifics, citing the need not to jeopardize delicate negotiations, he added: "That gives us an understanding that we may hope for a positive outcome in the COP29."
- Money talks -
While last year's COP28 summit in UAE struck a landmark deal to phase out fossil fuels, COP29 is charged with a new, daunting task: putting a price tag on how much developing nations will need to weather the mounting impacts of climate change and to transition to greener economies.
More than a decade ago, wealthy nations -- including the United States, European Union, Japan and others -- pledged to deliver $100 billion annually by 2020 to support developing countries.
But that goal was only achieved for the first time in 2022, and much of the funding came in the form of high-interest loans, drawing fierce criticism and accusations of broken promises.
India has called for $1 trillion annually, a ten-fold increase in the existing pledge.
Not only do developed countries view such figures as unrealistic, they are now advocating for oil-rich Gulf states and China to share the financial burden, arguing that the original list of donor countries is based on outdated 1990s development levels.
Rafiyev emphasized that COP29's benchmark for success would be reaching consensus on a final headline figure.
However, he declined to weigh in on the Global North's push to expand the pool of contributors, stressing the host country's need to stay neutral.
He also declined to specify when Azerbaijan, whose economy depends heavily on oil and gas extraction, would unveil its updated plans to meet the emissions reductions required by the Paris Agreement.
Although countries are not obligated to submit these plans until February 2025, many climate observers had hoped Azerbaijan would seize the opportunity at the UN General Assembly to show leadership by setting ambitious new targets.
Instead, Rafiyev said Azerbaijan would "do our best" to release its new climate strategy ahead of the Baku summit, and was coordinating with Brazil and the UAE -- the next and previous COP hosts -- towards this goal.
- Human rights criticism -
Rafiyev brushed off suggestions that reliance on fossil fuels extraction made Azerbaijan an inappropriate venue for the climate summit.
"Our revenues from fossil fuels have been invested in the welfare of our people," he said, adding that Azerbaijan is now firmly focused on a greener future, signing on to a global pledge to reduce methane, a potent and long-acting greenhouse gas, and increasing its share of renewables in the energy mix.
Hosting the conference, he said, "has inspired us to accelerate our energy transition and strengthen our climate resilience."
But according to an independent scientific analysis by the Climate Action Tracker, Azerbaijan's current climate plans are "critically insufficient" and its emissions are set to rise 20 percent through 2030.
Azerbaijan has called for a global truce in conflicts during the summit, with Rafiyev pointing to research that attributes nearly six percent of global greenhouse gas emissions to military activity.
However, critics have labeled the appeal hypocritical, given the country's checkered human rights record and its military offensive last year to crush ethnic-Armenian separatists.
Rafiyev dismissed such accusations as "baseless" and "cynical."
"At the end of the day, what we are aspiring for is peace, and why should that be criticized?"
ISLAMABAD, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Twelve people were injured in a bomb attack on a police vehicle in the provincial capital city of Quetta of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Wednesday, hospital sources told Xinhua.
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's biggest automaker Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Corp. joined hands with the country's tech giant Samsung Electronics to strengthen the integration between software-defined vehicles (SDVs) and smartphones.
The signing ceremony for strategic technology partnership between the companies was held Wednesday as Hyundai and Kia were working on their next-generation infotainment system in collaboration with Hyundai's global software center 42dot, Hyundai said in a statement.
Hyundai and Kia planned to develop technology to connect SDVs and smartphones by using Samsung's SmartThings internet of things (IoT) platform, the automaker noted.
Under the connectivity, the companies will introduce a global vehicle location tracking service based on Samsung's SmartThings Find platform which is a crowdsourced network of hundreds of millions of Samsung Galaxy devices using Bluetooth Low Energy technology.
Through the location service, drivers can more easily track down their cars in the event of them being lost or stolen, Samsung said in a separate statement.
Vehicles can be added to the connected SmartThings ecosystem, allowing drivers to return home with optimized conditions by controlling Samsung's air conditioners and other connected devices while driving home.
Samsung said it will collaborate with the automakers to provide various artificial intelligence (AI)-based services by expanding the use of SmartThings to in-vehicle health monitoring through cameras and Galaxy devices as well as integration with smart apartment solutions.
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's investment in water conservancy projects totaled 801.94 billion yuan (114.23 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of this year, up 10.7 percent year on year, a government official said on Wednesday.
At a press conference on water conservancy infrastructure construction held in Beijing, Wang Bao'en, vice minister of water resources, said that water conservancy project construction on a massive scale has contributed to employment. Construction of such projects created nearly 2.1 million jobs in the first eight months, up 6.9 percent year on year.
Wang said that during the period, the five provinces of Hebei, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong and Anhui each posted investment exceeding 40 billion yuan in the sector.
Government data also shows that since the beginning of this year, a total of 42,000 water conservancy projects have been implemented nationwide, up 14.1 percent year on year. Among them, 28,000 are newly started projects, up 18.7 percent.
Wang said that in the next step, the Ministry of Water Resources will continue to make solid efforts to promote water conservancy infrastructure construction after the main flood season.
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 Sir Ian McKellen has a confession to make. His most famous line, in a celebrated film and TV career that has lasted 60 years Gandalfs You shall not pass! in the Lord of the Rings trilogy was a mistake. Dont tell anybody, but I got it wrong, one of Britains greatest actors says over Zoom from his London home. The actual line in the book is You cannot pass. Quite whether I did that with the connivance of Peter Jackson, the director, I dont know, but Tolkien it aint. The first question I always ask myself when I read a script is, Is this a movie that I would want to see? : Ian McKellen as theatre critic Jimmy Erskine and Gemma Arterton as actress Nina Land in The Critic. Credit: Transmission Films McKellen, now 85, is waiting to hear whether Jackson wants him to be involved in two planned new Middle Earth instalments that will start with Andy Serkis directing and starring in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Hes producing some films about some of the characters who we know from the blockbusting movies, and if Gandalf turns out to be one of them, I think I shall be invited to return Down Under, and I would do that with great pleasure, he says. Even away from Middle Earth, McKellen is still getting the kind of meaty roles that actors love. In Anand Tuckers thriller The Critic he plays veteran theatre critic Jimmy Erskine, who dishes out savage reviews for The London Chronicle in the 1930s. But when the papers longtime proprietor dies and ownership passes to his son, Viscount Brooke (Mark Strong), Erskine is on shaky ground. His expenses are extravagant, his reviews of actress Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), who is Brookes secret crush, are poisonous, and he has a run-in with the police over his gay assignations in a park.
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If a script comes my way and the scriptwriter Patrick Marber, in this case tells you its the best part hes ever written for an actor, well, you prick up your ears and get ready to say, When do we start filming? McKellen says with that famously sonorous voice that has lent weight to such characters as King Lear, Macbeth, Hamlet, Sherlock Holmes, Magneto in the X-Men films, director James Whale and Adolf Hitler. Loading But the first question I always ask myself when I read a script is, Is this a movie that I would want to see? And it reminded me of many melodramatic stories from the past in the movies, from Casablanca to All About Eve, really: goings-on among show-business people. McKellen thought a story about a character as malicious and manipulative as Erskine was both credible and playable at a time when a newspaper critic could make or break a show. I found that to my cost, working on Broadway in New York when The New York Times seemed to be, in the old days, the arbiter of taste, he says. That was a play Id done in the UK for a year successfully on the West End. It was a Russian play called The Promise and it showed everyday Russian people having the same motives, desires and fears as the rest of us. But this was right in the middle of the Cold War, when the Americans and the Russians were at total loggerheads and the Americans werent ready for the idea that the Russians were ordinary human beings. So, instead of a year on Broadway, it was just under three weeks and we were back home. So, is playing Erskine his revenge on critics?
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Not at all, McKellen says. I was at school with the son of the local critic who wrote for The Bolton Evening News in the north of England where I lived, he says. I knew that man as an amateur actor in a troupe I worked with as a kid so not frightening at all. Ive played King Lear and I knew when Rupert Murdoch said he was going to retire and hand everything over to his children that it would work out badly: Ian McKellen in The Critic. Credit: Transmission Films And Id even had a few reviews in the local paper by the time I went to university. It was there I had a great review in a newspaper for an underground production where the actors were all anonymous. This review said he wished my name had been in the program because it was a name that might be remembered. Well, that was very alluring stuff for an 18-year-old amateur actor who had never really thought seriously about becoming professional. Knowing such budding stars at the time as Derek Jacobi, David Frost and Peter Cook, McKellen says he wondered, Wow, perhaps I am good enough to give it a go. So it was a direct result of reading a review that I decided to become a professional actor, and Ive always been rather favourable to them ever since. Has McKellen come across any critics as venomous as Erskine?
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There was a man whose name Ive deliberately forgotten who wrote in New York not for The New York Times and his stock-in-trade was simply to be rude about peoples appearance, particularly female actors, he says. He got his comeuppance one day when a woman went to the same restaurant he was in and poured his plate of spaghetti all over his head. Loading McKellen, who was a rarity among actors when he came out as gay in the late 1980s, says Erskines sexuality resonated with him. I was born in the 1930s, just, he says. The predicament that Jimmy Erskine had was what we all had: born gay but because of societys rules and misunderstanding, born a criminal That all seemed to ring true to me and made me realise what I did already know, that to be alive [now] as a gay man, at least in my country, and yours, of course, is much preferable to what it was like in the 1930s. Despite toppling from a London stage while playing Falstaff in June he quickly recovered McKellen has no intention of retiring. I havent brought up a family, he says. So the idea of retirement, playing with the grandkids, its not an option. But I find work so fulfilling and so enjoyable. It gets me out of the house, I get to join in with a group of people who, if things go well, rapidly become a family. That would apply whether youre doing a long run of a play or on location with a movie. Thats been my way of life for the last 60 years.
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Actors getting their kit off is old news. But a play in which the entire cast is starkers for much of it poses a particular set of challenges for director Declan Greene.
How do you find willing actors (ask, but dont pressure), to conduct rehearsals in various stages of undress (go slowly), and surmount the shyness of audience members who might not know where to rest their eyes (shrubbery helps)?
The experience could, Greene believes, prove liberating for actors and audiences alike.
Actor Camila Ponte Alvarez will play Evangelina, a Gen Z eco-influencer in a new play, Naturism, to run as a part of Griffins 2025 season. Credit: Kate Geraghty
You know nudity in theatre doesnt have to be shocking and confronting, it can be playful, ridiculous and joyful, he notes. There is something wonderful about being among the bodies that look like ours, that are not plucked and perfected.
The latest season of Serial takes on Guantanamo Bay and the chaos behind the prison camps walls.
Its been a decade since Serial put podcasts on the map and opened the door to the true-crime tsunami. In the latest season, Sarah Koenig and Dana Chivvis take on one of the USs most secretive and controversial subjects Guantanamo Bay, the prison camp in Cuba that was opened in 2002 under the auspices of combatting the War on Terror and is still in operation despite presidential promises to close it. The duo interviews detainees, guards and wardens to discover exactly what has happened behind those walls. What they find is a chaotic place where rules have been bent or broken and torture and abuse are allowed to flourish. They also bring to light the bizarre Disneyfication of the place (local gift shops carry Disney-branded T-shirts). Barry Divola
SHOP / Speaker of the house
This 17-centimetre-tall portable smart speaker offers 10 hours of battery life.
Good things come in triangular oblongs, as Toblerone-lovers know, and the new Roam 2 speaker ($299) is definitely a sweetie, especially if, like me, you already speak Sonos. First, at just 6cm x 17cm x 6cm and 0.4kg, its truly grab n go portable; second, its got 10 hours battery life; and third, it packs a wallop for its size, the bass juicy, the treble crisp and everything in-between wholly satisfying. It pairs easily with your phone via Bluetooth I do this nightly so I can fall asleep in the company of the ever-sonorous Stephen Fry reading a Sleep Story but also integrates with the Sonos app to become a satellite speaker for your existing home sound system. (Having a party? Stand your Roam 2 in your bathroom flat or upright like a baby Flatiron Building so guests dont lose the vibe during loo stops.) Oh, and its fully waterproof and comes in five cool colourways. Love. Sharon Bradley
TERENCE LANE September 14, 1946-June 15, 2024
It is with great sadness that the Australian art world marked the death of one of its most eminent curators, Terence Lane OAM, in June. During his long career at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Lane was instrumental in shaping the collection and culture of that notable institution through his remarkable record of art acquisitions and pioneering exhibitions and publications.
Terence Francis Lane was born in 1946 in Melbourne, the son of Catherine and James Lane. He grew up within a large family in the leafy eastern suburb of Ivanhoe, where his early interest in art was recognised and encouraged by his parents. A pivotal moment in Lanes life occurred when his father, an electrical engineer, introduced his 13-year-old son to one of his clients, Mervyn Napier Waller (1893-1972), Australias leading artist in mosaic, mural painting and stained-glass who lived locally.
At Wallers house and studio, the young Lane experienced first-hand the arts and crafts ideal of a unified decorative interior and witnessed the creation of various art objects. An enduring friendship emerged with Waller and his second wife, Lorna, that would last half a century and continued well after their deaths with Lanes efforts to ensure the future of Waller House and its collection as a house museum.
This early immersion in art and design inspired Lane who, on leaving school in 1964, successfully applied for an administrative position at the NGV, then part of a larger cultural complex encompassing the State Library and Museum Victoria. While working full-time, he also enrolled in a fine-arts degree at the University of Melbourne, ensuring he was well positioned to secure a curatorial role in the decorative arts department when the gallery expanded its staff before relocating to the new site in St Kilda Road in 1968.
Racing NSW has been accused of acting as a lawless organisation with no accountability as it faces claims it tried to identify whistleblowers who provided evidence against it to a parliamentary inquiry.
The powerful racing regulator and commercial operator headed by Peter Vlandys will be the subject of a rare probe by Macquarie Streets privileges committee after being referred to it on Wednesday for a possible contempt of parliament.
Racing NSW chief executive Peter Vlandys has dismissed allegations made against the organisation as untested and an attempt to smear him. Credit: Getty Images
The Minns government tried to block the move in the Legislative Council but it was passed with support from the opposition and crossbenchers.
At issue is whether an August 12 letter from Racing NSW chief operating officer Graeme Hinton to the upper house committee on the proposal to sell Rosehill Racecourse constituted wrongful interference.
Caroline Kennedy, the US ambassador to Australia, is planning to wrap up her Canberra posting within months regardless of whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris wins Novembers presidential election.
Kennedy, the daughter of late president John F. Kennedy, arrived in Australia in July 2022 with much fanfare owing to her status as a member of Americas most storied political dynasty.
The widespread expectation in diplomatic circles is that Kennedy will end her high-profile posting by the time of the presidential inauguration on January 20, in line with American diplomatic conventions.
United States ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
She was definitive about her plans in an April interview with a Perth FM radio station that went under the radar at the time.
Three massive coal mine expansions will go ahead after federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved the projects as she fends off demands from the Greens to insert tougher rules for fossil fuel projects into her stalled bid to establish a national Environment Protection Agency.
Plibersek announced this week that she had given the green light to the NSW coal mine expansions, two in the Hunter Valley and one at Narrabri in the states north-west. All three mines produce thermal coal, which is burnt in power stations to generate energy.
The Mount Pleasant mine, which will be extended, looms above a property in the Hunter Valley. Credit: Kate Geraghty
Her approvals extend the life of the Mount Pleasant mine to 2046, the Ashton mine to 2032 and the Narrabri mine from 2031 to 2044.
The mine owners said the projects would create more than 1000 jobs, while environmentalists slammed the decision, saying it would add to fossil fuel pollution driving the world to dangerous levels of global warming.
NSW MP Gareth Ward has denied being drunk when he showed up at Parliament House at 4am on a Sunday morning in July, saying he had locked himself out of his apartment in the early hours of the morning and had come to the building to get a spare pair of keys.
On Wednesday, The Daily Telegraph reported on the existence of a parliamentary security report which alleged Ward, the independent Kiama MP, had arrived at parliament early on July 21 wearing a T-shirt, underwear and socks and had a gash on his head.
Gareth Ward has denied being drunk and in his underwear when he showed up at parliament in the early hours of the morning in July. Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald has not seen a copy of the report, but has confirmed its existence.
But Ward, who will next year face court over a series of alleged sexual abuse offences dating back several years, insists that he was not drunk, and said the characterisation of his state of undress was not correct.
JERUSALEM, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- A new study by Israeli and Finnish researchers suggests a link between early-life exposure to antibiotics and increased aggression later in life, Israel's Bar Ilan University said in a statement on Wednesday.
The research, published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, found that mice exposed to antibiotics during critical developmental stages exhibited more aggressive behavior. The study also identified changes in the brain and gut microbiome associated with this aggression.
The researchers believe that these findings could have important implications for understanding and treating aggression-related disorders. They suggest that early-life antibiotic use may disrupt the balance of gut bacteria, which in turn can affect brain development and behavior.
The study's authors hope that their findings will lead to further research and the development of new strategies to prevent or treat aggression.
FRV has gone from strength to strength in the time that Ive been minister, in relation to their culture, identifying their flaws and responding appropriately, Symes said. Loading The report covers conduct [that] has different management now and a different organisation, a culture that has been accepted that needs improvement, and that work has been under way. The fire service alerted IBAC to concerns in 2018, alleging Stephen Trakas a network administrator employed by the MFB had been accessing internal email accounts without permission. The scope of the probe was expanded in 2019 to include further allegations involving Marshall and other MFB employees Vasiliki Pyliotis and Kirstie Schroder. Pyliotis, Schroder and Trakas all have current roles at FRV.
IBAC found Trakas had accessed MFB email accounts including those of the CEO and senior executives on 19 occasions without permission, and had let Pyliotis use his computer to forward an email she did not want to come from her mailbox. It also found that in 2019, Marshall began asking staff to dig up information about rumours that he was under investigation over bullying allegations made against him by a former MFB chief executive. Marshall passed some of the information to then-emergency services minister Lisa Neville. Credit: Jason South Phone calls intercepted by IBAC show Marshall contacted Schroder asking for information and the two agreed to call Pyliotis to discreetly conduct internal system checks to find more details. A phone call between Pyliotis and Marshall showed an unnamed colleague had checked incoming emails, but could not find any relevant information. Marshall, Schroder and Pyliotis remained in contact for weeks over the matter.
In another batch of intercepted calls from May 2019, Schroder told Marshall the fire service was extending the contracts of executive directors and that it wouldnt hurt if Neville told the MFB not to sign any new contracts. Loading Mr Marshall agreed and then passed this information to the [then] minister for emergency services, the report says. Schroder told the commission in evidence that she did not support the contracts and wanted the minister to be aware of the situation. Under questioning, Neville agreed Marshall had provided her with information about the extensions, which she did not view as confidential.
In the fifth instance investigated, IBAC found Marshall received an unauthorised copy of an internal presentation about a software program that he also passed on to Neville. Loading The chief executive of the MFB at the time told IBAC he later attended a meeting with Neville where they discussed the software and the minister said the MFB couldnt have it. He told IBAC he believed Marshall had influenced Nevilles decision to stop the purchase. In response, Neville told IBAC it was appropriate to discuss the document because her approval was needed to buy the software. She also said she refused it because the purchase conflicted with government policy and a looming reform of the states fire services. The commission said its investigation had exposed issues in the fire brigades culture, including a gulf between management and staff, and barriers in reporting misconduct.
One of these barriers was the restrictive industrial relations requirements of the current operational enterprise bargaining agreement, which mandates not only consultation but also agreement by the union with any changes management wishes to make, the report says. Loading While union representation is a fundamental right of employees in our society, IBAC repeatedly heard throughout its investigation that the influence the UFU had over the day-to-day operation and decision-making of MFB was unprecedented and hindered its proper functioning. In a statement on Wednesday, Marshall accused IBAC of a witch hunt and called on it to be investigated. The statement called the report a work of fiction and a gross miscarriage of justice. Marshall said IBAC was more interested in investigating how a firefighter union secretary was provided information that was relevant to the fire service than investigating the significance of the issues themselves.
Throughout the statement and in the report, he argued that the behaviour of MFB executives and the issues he received information on were of more importance than how he obtained information. These are the real breaches of public trust that should have been investigated, and instead the focus of investigation was how a PowerPoint document was provided to the union. Fire Rescue Commissioner Gavin Freeman said the agency would begin immediately responding to the behaviour of those named in the report who were still employed. Its important we follow the principles of natural justice and allow our internal processes to be applied in response to the findings, he said. Freeman said FRV accepted the reports recommendations, which included strengthening the security of IT systems and reviewing processes for internal complaint and sharing information with unions.
The three-year process of merging the MFB with parts of the CFA was a bitter political battle, with some volunteers warning they would quit if they were no longer able to attend incidents alongside paid firefighters. Loading It was also part of a long-running saga over firefighting in Victoria that has plagued the Andrews government since 2016. Volunteer anger over a new workplace agreement for the CFAs professional firefighters became an issue in the 2016 federal election. That same year, the late Jane Garrett sensationally resigned as Victorias emergency services minister after then-premier Daniel Andrews sided with the UFU in the industrial dispute. The states integrity watchdog is yet to release its finding from a separate investigation, Operation Richmond, that looked into the Andrews governments dealings with the UFU.
Africa has long been underrepresented on cruise itineraries, but adventurous cruisers can now visit an increasing range of enticing African destinations.
The current security risk in the Red Sea has seen more cruise ships visiting African ports as they redeploy around the continent between Asia and Europe.
The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca Morocco is on the itnerary for Viking this coming season. Credit: iStock
Perhaps the most impressive example is Seabourns Grand Africa Voyage in November this year which, in a 90-day round-trip from Barcelona, visits 42 destinations in 20 countries from Morocco to Madagascar.
The Red Seas problems could be Africas moment to snatch a slice of the cruise pie. South Africa has already benefited from 65 ship visits during the 2023-24 summer. Other nations are looking to diversify their tourism portfolios away from safari income: Kenya opened a timely new cruise terminal in Mombasa in 2023.
Australian adventure travel company, World Expeditions is throwing a black tie event for the 50th anniversary of its operations. And fittingly, for this off-the-beaten-trail outfit, it comes with an offbeat twist.
About 100 people will assemble for the birthday feast under a big tent at Thyangboche, Nepal, a village at an elevation of 3860 metres in the Khumbu Valley. Its well-known for its important Buddhist monastery, its panoramic views of peaks including Everest and its association with Tenzing Norgay, Sir Edmund Hillarys sherpa.
Tengboche monastery at Thyangboche, Nepal with Himalayan peaks in the background. Credit: Alamy
In attendance will be locals, trekking luminaries including famed Australian mountaineer, Tim Macartney-Snape, Himalaya authority, Garry Weare and legendary guide and mountaineer, Soren Kruse Ledet. There will also be a cohort of World Expeditions paying guests there on the companys 50th Anniversary Everest Trek, a 13-day Kathmandu round trip departing September 2025.
When it comes to the black tie dinner to be held September 24, 2025 World Expeditions chief executive Sue Badyari says the term is wide open to interpretation.
More river-cruise ships than ever have been sailing merrily down the stream in Portugal this year, and its no wonder demand is on the increase.
The Douro River River of Gold in Portuguese got a new river ship this week as purpose-built vessel MS Estrela set sail for both APT and its budget counterpart Travelmarvel. It carries 120 Travelmarvel or 114 APT guests for an intimate cruising experience on a short, intimate river.
Portugals Douro River at Porto. Credit: APT
Inclusions and experiences differ depending on which brand passengers choose, but MS Estrela features an expansive sundeck with a bar for sightseeing, a swimming pool, and main restaurant that emphasises Portuguese cuisine. As on many APT river ships, suites will feature French balconies with a slide-down window that opens up to the scenery.
A nine-day Douro Delights itinerary for APT sails upriver from Porto, taking in baroque pilgrim town Lamego, and vineyards and cellar doors around Regua and Pinhao. The journey finishes overland with visits to medieval university town Salamanca and Madrid in Spain.
For decades, temporary covers from majoritarian ethnic nationalism to the economic boost from heavy spending at the end of the civil war papered over anger at the decadence of this political elite, said Nirmal Dewasiri, a professor of history at the University of Colombo, in Sri Lankas capital. The economic collapse two years ago, Dewasiri added, awakened the country to how deep and structural the political rot was. Breaking the mould: Commanders of the security forces stand behind as Sri Lankas new president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, addresses a gathering after he was sworn in at the Sri Lankan Presidents Office. Credit: AP Now, with Dissanayakes victory, its a very unique situation, Dewasiri said. The two traditional political camps have sort of broken down. Power long alternated between two dominant parties until one of them, the centre-right United National Party, entrenched itself in the 1970s and ruled for 17 years.
The partys consolidation of power and crackdown on dissenting voices helped lead to violent insurrections the three-decade Tamil insurgency in the north, and repeated violent Communist insurrections in the south. New coalitions and networks formed to topple the UNP. Another reality was also emerging. While established politics long relied on rural patronage, the country was developing a new urban and semi-urban middle class that was looking beyond party structures for a path to prosperity. Negombos fish market on Sri Lankas west coast. The countrys economy continues to suffer from deep structural flaws. Credit: Kang-Chun Cheng/The New York Times The Rajapaksa family stepped into this moment of churn, tapping into the nationalism of the majority Buddhist Sinhalese population to rule for 10 years under its patriarch, Mahinda Rajapaksa. When his tenure ran its course, a second Rajapaksa brother, Gotabaya, ascended to power in 2019 with a campaign intended to appeal to the urban middle class. He pitched himself as a technocratic nonpolitician who was at once an insider and an outsider, a former army officer who was returning from living in the United States. As a candidate he held a series of symposiums around the country where professionals would offer solutions to problems.
But the economic crisis and the resulting protests that forced out Rajapaksa provided an opening for other political forces that had spent years organising. Many of the things that we would have been speaking about in the past I think began to make sense to people that, primarily, the problem in the country stems from the political culture, corruption, nepotism, the patronage system, Harini Amarasuriya, an academic and activist who is a senior leader of Dissanayakes alliance, said in an interview before the vote. On Tuesday, Amarasuriya was appointed as the new prime minister. While she is the third woman to hold the post, womens representation in parliament still remains just 5 per cent. The two previous women prime ministers both came from a political dynasty. Protesters celebrate after taking control of the prime ministers office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in July 2022. A wave of discontent crested that year with a popular uprising over an economic collapse. Credit: Atul Loke/The New York Times Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, the Marxist party that Dissanayake helped lead to power as part of a broader coalition, is drastically different today than when he joined it as a student leader in the 1980s.
Thousands were killed in violence between JVP insurgents and Sri Lankan government forces. Dissanayakes own family home was burnt, and the family was forced to live in a relatives kitchen. A cousin his parents had raised almost as a sibling to Dissanayake was shot dead not far from him. He kept this news from his family for a decade, he said; they kept a vigil and visited temples to pray for his return. In Sinhalese Buddhist culture, families keep a horoscope that, based on planetary alignments, predicts their childs future. Past leaders, particularly the Rajapaksas, emphasised astrology in political life. When Dissanayake was asked in a recent interview whether his horoscope had predicted his rise, he was blunt. In 1989, our house was burnt. My horoscope got burnt with it, and I havent made a new horoscope since then. I dont believe in horoscopes, he said. My parents didnt have big dreams their world wasnt that big. The biggest hope my mother had for me was the teaching profession. That was their world. Loading The JVP spent decades trying to distance itself from the violence and radical communism of its past. With the stigma not yet fully gone, Dissanayake ran under the name of his coalition, the National Peoples Power. Though the coalition retained the JVP at its core, it brought in academics and activists like Amarasuriya who had none of the old political baggage and could better articulate an alternative vision.
The alliance vowed to change the political culture within existing frameworks. It reached out to young people and women who had long been on the political margins. It ensured a feminist sensitivity by putting female voices in its leadership and mobilising women voters, Amarasuriya said. Two years before, it had been young people and women who spilled into the streets as the economy cratered. Although the husband might bring the money, the women felt the brunt more because they run the kitchen, said Hiranthi Boralessa, 59, a teacher in the southern district of Galle. Loading She had been married to a JVP leader for over three decades but had only now gotten directly involved in political organising.
Cruise Joins MADD Network to Raise Awareness About the Dangers of Impaired Driving
IRVING, Texas, Sept. 25, 2024 -- Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) welcomes Cruise, the all-electric self-driving technology company, to The MADD Network . While Cruise has been a MADD partner for years, the company is deepening its relationship with MADD to expand its local, on-the-ground impact. Cruise has also invited MADD to join its newly formed advisory council, which focuses on road safety for self-driving vehicles and emergency responder engagement.
"Welcoming Cruise to The MADD Network is a wonderful way to take our longstanding relationship to a new level," said MADD CEO Stacey D. Stewart. "Cruise brings a genuine and lasting commitment to safety, and the company embodies MADD's belief that technology will ultimately end impaired driving."
The MADD Network unites diverse partners who share the vital mission of eliminating impaired driving. The MADD Network derives its power from partners using their own respective platforms to help educate their unique audiences and communities about the dangers of impaired driving, the need for underage drinking education/prevention, and legislative efforts that will drive real progress.
"As the leading organization working to end the crisis of impaired driving, MADD's mission is critical and strikes at the heart of our work at Cruise to help make our roads safer. We deeply value our long-standing partnership with MADD and look forward to deepening our work together as a member of the MADD Network," said Rob Grant, Chief Government Affairs Officer at Cruise.
MADD believes autonomous vehicles hold enormous potential to improve road safety and provide options for people to plan ahead for a safe ride. Two in three people will be impacted by a drunk driving crash in their lifetime, resulting in injuries and deaths that are entirely preventable.
Nighttime is particularly dangerous, representing just 25% of miles driven but 50% of road fatalities.
Since 2019, drunk driving fatalities have increased by 33%.
Every 39 minutes, someone is killed in an alcohol-related crash.
In 40+ years, MADD has helped save nearly 475,000 lives and served almost one million victims. In 2021, MADD celebrated the most significant legislative victory in its history: the passage of the HALT Drunk Driving Act, which requires advanced impaired driving prevention technology in all new cars as early as 2026.
About Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is the nonprofit leader in a movement to create a world where there are #NoMoreVictims of impaired driving. By working in collaboration with law enforcement to end underage drinking and all drunk and drugged driving, MADD has helped reduce drunk driving deaths by more than 50%, saving more than 475,000 lives. The organization is a vocal advocate for stricter sentencing, new laws, and new technology, including implementing the HALT Drunk Driving Act. MADD also has provided supportive services to nearly one million victims of drunk and drugged driving at no charge through local victim advocates and its 24-Hour Victim Help Line 1-877-MADD-HELP. For more information or to donate, visit us at https://madd.org/ and follow MADD on Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , TikTok , LinkedIn , and YouTube .
About Cruise
Cruise is an all-electric self-driving technology company with a mission to build the world's most advanced autonomous vehicles (AVs) to safely connect people to the places, things, and experiences they care about. Learn more at GetCruise.com .
SOURCE Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
Navistar announces rebrand and name change to International
Editor's Note: In the late 60's I worke at an IH dealership and sold International Trucks, when the company changed to Navistar I Huh'ed?, Its nice to see them going back to to their roots
The return to International is an acknowledgement of our rich heritage as much as it is an investment in our promising future
LISLE, Ill., Sept. 25, 2024 -- Navistar, Inc. today announced its plan to rebrand and change its name to International Motors, LLC* ("International"), effective October 1. Along with the name change, the company also debuted a refreshed logo and distinct visual identity. This rebranding is driven by a shift in strategy to transform the business into a solutions provider, and the role the International brand can play in a streamlined customer and user experience.
"After more than 120 years, we are choosing to return to our roots as International," said Tobias Glitterstam, chief strategy and transformation officer. "International embodies determination, partnership, and collaboration in meeting every challenge with a solution. Our new name and look complement the strategic changes we are making to offer enhanced customer experiences."
The company will focus on more than engineering and producing truck and bus products. It is making the strategic shift to invest in solutions to simplify the customer experience. While the product remains the core of every customer interaction, International's full solutions portfolio will also include services such as parts, maintenance, financing, connectivity, and charging.
In the coming months, current tools like OnCommand Connection and International 360 will come together under a new digital customer interface called My International. My International will enhance and customize the customer experience by aligning all customer solutions and data, including service contracts, financing, and fleet management in one place.
This evolution is part of the company's broader transformation which has been ongoing since 2021. Notable achievements during this journey include the launch of the International S13 Integrated Powertrain, a new suite of comprehensive ownership solutions for battery-electric vehicles, and the revival of captive financial services, which will now go to market as International Financial.
The modernized International visual identity, unveiled today and showcased on the company's official social media channels and website, is redefined by the language of the road. The logo, color palette, typography, photography, and iconography take inspiration from the intricate choreography that occurs daily on streets, highways, and roads. It reflects the ebbs and flows of traffic, the acceleration and deceleration when navigating a city, to the twists and turns of a rural road. Beyond application to future vehicles, these changes will also extend to manifestation of the International brand including all digital touchpoints and dealer network locations.
"The return to International is an acknowledgement of our rich heritage as much as it is an investment in our promising future," said Mathias Carlbaum, president and CEO. "The simplified brand structure, distinct visual identity, and clear strategy to more effectively engage with our customers ensure we can lay claim to another 200 years of success and signals a new phase of our company's positioning."
Exploration of International begins at www.International.com.
ABOUT INTERNATIONAL
Based in Lisle, Illinois, International Motors, LLC* creates solutions that deliver greater uptime and productivity to our customers throughout the full operation of our commercial vehicles. We build International trucks and engines and IC Bus school and commercial buses that are as tough and as smart as the people who drive them. We also develop Fleetrite aftermarket parts. In everything we do, our vision is to accelerate the impact of sustainable mobility to create the cleaner, safer world we all deserve. As of 2021, we joined Scania, MAN and Volkswagen Truck & Bus in TRATON GROUP, a global champion of the truck and transport services industry. To learn more, visit www.International.com.
*International Motors, LLC is d/b/a International Motors USA LLC in Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, and Utah.
SOURCE NAVISTAR INTERNATIONAL CORP
Zambia has commended China for being among the development partners that responded quickly when the country was hit by a cholera outbreak from October last year to the first quarter of 2024.
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarians said on Tuesday they are alarmed by the escalating violence across the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon, with hundreds of people having been killed.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the world body's acting relief chief, Joyce Msuya, reported she was deeply saddened by the killing of two colleagues from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in the hostilities on Monday.
"On behalf of all of us at UNHCR, heartfelt condolences to their families, friends and colleagues," said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, adding that the Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon are relentlessly claiming hundreds of civilian lives.
OCHA said government figures show more than 25,000 people are already in 130 newly opened collective shelter sites.
"The situation is fluid and the UN is working with national authorities and partners to track and register newly displaced people," the humanitarians said.
The office said the displacements are in addition to the more than 110,000 people forced from their homes since October 2023.
"The United Nations and its partners are working closely with the Lebanese government to assess the needs and support the response," OCHA said.
The office said the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported delivering 100 tons of emergency medical supplies to hospitals facing severe shortages and vowed to send more. UNICEF has also prepared to provide food, water and essential supplies such as mattresses and hygiene kits to displaced families.
The World Food Programme (WFP) reported that it is ready to serve hot meals to 100,000 people in collective shelters daily.
However, OCHA said humanitarian organizations need 170 million U.S. dollars to sustain their efforts to aid the people of Lebanon.
"We call for all parties involved in this conflict to honor their responsibilities to protect civilians and civilian infrastructures and to ensure the safety and security of all UN and humanitarian personnel and assets," the office said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- It is the unremitting pursuit of the Chinese government to respect and protect human rights, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi when meeting the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly here on Tuesday.
Noting that global human rights governance faces complex challenges, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said it is hoped that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will adhere to multilateralism, perform its duties in a fair and objective manner, and engage in constructive dialogue and cooperation with various countries.
China opposes certain countries politicizing human rights and using human rights issues for confrontation, Wang said.
China stands ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the OHCHR on the basis of mutual respect and jointly promote the sound development of the international human rights cause, he added.
For his part, Turk said that the OHCHR is willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with China to enhance mutual understanding.
By Victor Ing,
Special to The Post
On September 18th this past week, Canadas Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the Honourable Marc Miller, announced further aggressive policies designed to reduce the overall number of temporary residents admitted to Canada each year. This latest announcement continues the yearlong trend of implementing drastic immigration changes with little to no notice. From reinstating visitor visa requirements for Mexican nationals to reducing the number of foreign workers Canadian employers can hire under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, virtually no area in Canadian immigration law has been left untouched this year, and it is only September! In this blog, we will review upcoming changes to Canadas temporary resident program and let you know what to look out for as we approach the end of 2024.
The key details in the Ministers September 18, 2024 announcement include:
Further reductions to the cap for new study permits: In 2025, Canada will issue no more than 437,000 study permits, down from the 485,000 cap set for 2024. Furthermore, masters and doctoral students will also now be included under the intake cap earlier policies explicitly excluded these students from the cap calculation.
Introducing eligibility requirements to obtain post-graduation work permits (PGWPs): Effective November 1, 2024, new international graduates will need to pass English proficiency exams to receive their PGWPs, which are open permits valid for up to three years that are issued to international students who have completed their studies in Canada to gain Canadian work experience. The Minister also articulated that PGWPs will no longer be available to international students who graduate from public colleges unless they complete programs in (as yet unannounced) fields of study that align with Canadas labour market needs.
Limiting work permit eligibility for spouses of international students: Later this year, Canada will stop issuing open work permits to spouses of masters degree students if the student's spouse is not attending a program that is at least 16 months in duration.
Limiting work permit eligibility for spouses of workers: Later this year, Canada will limit the issuance of open work permits to spouses of foreign workers who are in management or professional occupations and those who work in sectors with labour shortages.
The matter-of-fact delivery of the announcement about these changes belies the many perils that may lie ahead because we are now traversing uncharted waters. In just a few short paragraphs documented in a press release, the Minister has upended years of stability in the temporary residence program, taking a sledgehammer to pillars of the program that offered predictability for students, workers, and the spouses who accompany them to Canada.
As a Vancouver immigration lawyer, I am concerned with the policies underlying these rapid changes. While some of these changes appear desirable and well thought out, others do not. For example, attaching language requirements to obtain PGWPs is something that is, in my view, long overdue. For years, Canadas international student population grew to unsustainable proportions because many were misinformed that studying in Canada is a guaranteed pathway to becoming permanent residents because they would become eligible to apply after working in Canada for as little as one year after graduation under a PGWP. This misleading messaging is at least partially combatted by introducing some requirements to obtain the PGWP, especially since language requirements are one of the most important criteria to qualify for permanent residency. Therefore, we can at least say that the recent policies surrounding international students are rationally connected to the broader immigration goal of ensuring that we invite them to come to Canada based on their likelihood to succeed in their studies and transition to becoming permanent residents.
On the other hand, limiting eligibility for open work permits for spouses of foreign workers is entirely unprecedented and deserves more of an explanation from the Minister about why it is necessary, other than simply pointing out that this will help Canada reach the overall goal of reducing temporary residents in Canada by approximately 100,000 workers over the next three years. This is a precarious policy that could lead to unintended consequences, including harming Canadas global standing as a country that welcomes immigrants. To make things worse, we do not know when the Minister will share details about the sectors that will be affected by these changes.
Just in the past few weeks, I have had several clients express their trepidations about the current state of Canadas immigration programs. Foreign workers and international students alike are looking over their shoulders wondering what is coming next and how they will be affected. As we all wait for further details to bring clarity to these policies, the speed of recent changes emphasizes the importance of being prepared and seeking advice from reputable legal counsel to help navigate the changing immigration tides.
As we head into the Fall, all eyes will be on the Minister when he delivers his annual Immigration Levels Plan to Parliament on November 1, 2024, which will, for the first time, address targets for both temporary and permanent residency. In previous years I would expect to hear that permanent residency targets in Canada are either rising or remaining relatively stable it would have been unheard of to hear about a decrease in immigration levels, given years of consistent messaging that virtually all of Canadas economic growth is owed to new immigrants. What this year has shown, however, is that we all need to be prepared for the unexpected.
Victor Ing is a lawyer of Sas & Ing Immigration Law Centre. He provides a full range of immigration services. For more information go to canadian-visa-lawyer.com or email [email protected].
Corporate travel set to grow at 10.1 pc CAGR
CORPORATE travel sector is growing at a raid pace in the country including in the cities like Nagpur. However, the growth in the tier 2 cities is not at par with that of the growth rate in the metro cities. CEO of a Nagpur-based travel company - Velocity.Travel - Varun Sarda said the sector is booming post COVID. A large number corporate people are arriving ehre and those form the region are travelling out. It shows that the growth is bound to heppen, he said. Indias over USD 10.6 billion corporate travel sector is estimated to grow at 10.1 per cent CAGR to USD 20.8 billion by FY30, driven by techenabled, personalised and sustainable solutions, according to a report. Deloittes report - Exploring Indias Corporate Travel Market: Understanding Market Dynamics, TMCs, and User Preferences - is based on interviews of over 45 travel managers and a survey of over 160 corporate travellers from diverse industries and organisations of varying sizes. Entering a transformative phase, betting on new ways of working and technological disruption, Indias corporate travel sector is valued at over USD 10.6 billion and is projected to grow at 10.1 per cent CAGR and double to USD 20.8 billion by FY30, the report said.
As businesses recalibrate their travel strategies with hybrid work models after the pandemic, Indias corporate travel sector underlines the critical role of travel management companies (TMCs) in steering the industry into a new era of innovation, cost efficiency and sustainability, it added. The incorporation of cutting-edge technology is at the heart of this shift. TMCs have revamped their strategies to meet the needs of new-age travellers, who need to engage deeper and faster using AI-powered chatbots, voice-assisted booking systems and real-time data analytics, it said. These technologies can be tailored to customers needs while simplifying the experience for business travellers, the report added. For small and mid-size organisations (up to 250 employees), travel expenditure can reach Rs 1 crore per year, while large organisations (250- 5,000 employees) allocate Rs 10 crore annually towards travel expenses. For large organisations (over 5,000 employees), travel expenses are directly proportional to the employee count. An analysis of the top 100 listed firms revealed that a leading IT major, with some of the highest travel spends, incurred travel expenses of more than Rs 2,600 crore in FY23, the report said. Meanwhile, it also found that there is a rising demand for auxiliary services, with 72 per cent of respondents requesting taxi services and 63 per cent seeking visa assistance on travel platforms, emphasising the need for comprehensive travel solutions. The report identified IT services, BFSI, engineering, aviation, oil and gas, pharma, FMCG and automobiles, among others, as the top industries driving corporate travel expenditures.
RE-STARTfight against NPS, UPS
Staff Reporter :
ALL India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF), National President, S N Pathak has declared to start another fight against National Pension Scheme (NPS) and Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) and reiterated his commitment to reinstate the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). He detailed about the boycott of a meeting with the Prime Minister and appealed the employees to be united for fight for their rights. Pathak was addressing a gate meeting at Gun Carriage Factory Jabalpur (GCF), on Tuesday. He said that GCF remained his workplace and he decided to flag-off the fight against NPS and UPS from there.
In his address, Pathak has promised to advocate for the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and encouraged employees to vote in favor of OPS in the upcoming elections. Pathak urged workers to identify and reject any leaders who mislead them by supporting the governments stance against their interests. He also addressed the need for reforms within the fourgrade structure and committed to expediting the implementation of compassionate appointments for employees. Furthermore, AIDEF National President has declared further course of action for a nationwide silent protest on October 2, coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary, encouraging participation from employees across the country. A large numbers of employees and union leaders include Vivek Shukla, Ajay Pandey, Amit Vaibhav and others were present.
A staff member shows facial masks using figs as an ingredient at an agricultural base at Takut Village of Atux City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. Takut village has been developing fruit planting industry to help increase the income of local people in recent years. Now, the village has an agricultural base covering 138 Mu (about 9.2 hectares) and 97 greenhouses for fruit and vegetable planting.
A team from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has also been invited to the village to provide technology support for local farmers, especially in their fig growing. (Xinhua/Zhao Yusi)
A staff member trims the branches of a fig tree at an agricultural base at Takut Village of Atux City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. Takut village has been developing fruit planting industry to help increase the income of local people in recent years. Now, the village has an agricultural base covering 138 Mu (about 9.2 hectares) and 97 greenhouses for fruit and vegetable planting.
A team from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has also been invited to the village to provide technology support for local farmers, especially in their fig growing. (Xinhua/Zhao Yusi)
A visitor looks at bottles of fig wine displayed at an agricultural base at Takut Village of Atux City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. Takut village has been developing fruit planting industry to help increase the income of local people in recent years. Now, the village has an agricultural base covering 138 Mu (about 9.2 hectares) and 97 greenhouses for fruit and vegetable planting.
A team from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has also been invited to the village to provide technology support for local farmers, especially in their fig growing. (Xinhua/Zhao Yusi)
A staff member shows perfumes using figs as an ingredient at an agricultural base at Takut Village of Atux City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. Takut village has been developing fruit planting industry to help increase the income of local people in recent years. Now, the village has an agricultural base covering 138 Mu (about 9.2 hectares) and 97 greenhouses for fruit and vegetable planting.
A team from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has also been invited to the village to provide technology support for local farmers, especially in their fig growing. (Xinhua/Zhao Yusi)
Dried figs are displayed at an agricultural base at Takut Village of Atux City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. Takut village has been developing fruit planting industry to help increase the income of local people in recent years. Now, the village has an agricultural base covering 138 Mu (about 9.2 hectares) and 97 greenhouses for fruit and vegetable planting.
A team from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has also been invited to the village to provide technology support for local farmers, especially in their fig growing. (Xinhua/Zhao Yusi)
Sliced figs are displayed at an agricultural base at Takut Village of Atux City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. Takut village has been developing fruit planting industry to help increase the income of local people in recent years. Now, the village has an agricultural base covering 138 Mu (about 9.2 hectares) and 97 greenhouses for fruit and vegetable planting.
A team from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has also been invited to the village to provide technology support for local farmers, especially in their fig growing. (Xinhua/Zhao Yusi)
ADB to extend support for making States economy competitive, says ADB Country Director Mio Oka
An event organised to commemorate 25 years of Asian Developement Bank-MP partnership on Tuesday.
Staff Reporter :
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will extend support to make state's economy effective and competitive. Mio Oka, Country Director of ADB leading the India Resident Mission said that considering the state's impressive performance and its growing economy over the last two and a half decades, ADB will continue partnerships in new areas of development with Madhya Pradesh. Oka was addressing a workshop held on Tuesday to commemorate 25 years of partnership between ADB and Madhya Pradesh in different spheres of development. It is noteworthy that with ADB's financial assistance, significant development projects have been effectively implemented over these 25 years. The workshop aimed at outlining areas of mutual cooperation for development and planning future strategies, senior officials from various ADB and Madhya Pradesh government projects were present. Oka observed that Madhya Pradesh has positively utilized ADB's financial support for implementation of development projects in the public interest.
This partnership will continue in the future focussing on new areas for collaboration emerging, including agribusiness, quality improvement in school education, health services enhancement, skills development for human resources, and strengthening social infrastructure and management. Notablty, the partnership between Madhya Pradesh and ADB began in 1999. The ADB has provided $6 billion US dollar supporting key sectors like energy, transport, urban development, agriculture, livelihood creation, water management, and irrigation management. Assistance of $3 billion in road construction and improvement have led to enhancement of 23,000 kilometers roads. In the energy sector, ADB has provided assistance of $1.72 billion, and $800 million has been contributed to the development of 140 cities, aiding improvements in water supply, sewage, sanitation, rainwater drainage, and solid waste management. Additionally, ADB has contributed $375 million for irrigation of over 125,000 hectares. For enhancing the technical skills of youth, ADB has provided $150 million for the Global Skill Park in Bhopal. ADB is also studying how to strengthen the states economy by developing appropriate policies and increasing investments to make it more competitive. Based on this study, ADB will explore potential collaborations in new areas with state officials. ADB has provided substantial support in improving the energy sector, increasing energy capacity. ADB has been collaborating in this sector since 2007, and by 2012, there was a reduction in transmission losses. At present, the State has uninterrupted electricity supply. ADB is now also stepping forward to support the enhancement of the green economy to promote renewable energy conservation and utilization, and to mitigate the threats of climate change.
In the transport sector, ADB is developing roads with a financial support of $2.16 billion for road repairs and improvements. ADB aims to continue supporting the operation of assets built over the last 25 years due to its long-term partnership with the state. Additionally, ADB will assist Madhya Pradesh in preparing human resources as per future needs, including new areas in school education, technical education, vocational training, and nursing training. The workshop was attended by Juhi Mukherjee, Joint Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India; Sanjay Dubey, Additional Chief Secretary of General Administration; Ashok Barnawal, Additional Chief Secretary, Forest and Manish Rastogi, Principal Secretary of Finance.
Calf killed in Hit-n-Run:24 hours later, copsfail to arrest driver
Staff Reporter
RAIPUR,
Despite clear CCTV footage, police have yet to arrest the driver, leading to allegations of shielding influential parties
24 HOURS after a reckless Mahindra XUV driver ran over a defenseless calf in Raipurs Sales Tax Colony, the accused remains at large. The brutal hit-and-run incident, which took place in broad daylight on Monday afternoon, was captured by nearby CCTV cameras. Yet, despite this, the authorities have only managed to seize the vehiclea Mahindra XUV with registration number CG 04 NV 5557but have made no headway in arresting the driver responsible for the calfs death. This lack of decisive action has led to growing unrest among the colonys residents, many of whom are now openly accusing the police of deliberately shielding the culprit due to possible connections with influential local families.
According to eyewitnesses, after the accident, the driver swiftly abandoned the vehicle near the Singhania residence and disappeared into the house, avoiding any confrontation. Despite this, the police have failed to arrest the individual or even determine if the driver was an adult or a minor. The incident has outraged the residents of Sales Tax Colony, who took to the streets to express their frustration with the authorities. A protest was organized late Monday evening, during which the locals raised serious concerns about the polices commitment to justice. We have provided them with the CCTV footage. Weve lodged a formal complaint, but the driver is still free. This is nothing short of negligence, if not deliberate protection of the accused, said one resident, questioning the polices integrity. The vehicle involved in the crime, registered under Pinnacle Hydra, a cold storage firm in Fafadih, is no stranger to controversy. It has a history of traffic violations, including multiple instances of over speeding, with fines that remain unpaid. This reckless behavior has long been a point of contention for colony residents, who claim that the vehicle is often seen speeding dangerously through their streets.
What has further enraged the residents is the suspicion that the local police are intentionally stalling the investigation. The vehicle was parked right in front of the Singhania residence, and we believe the driver is being sheltered there. Yet the police, instead of making arrests, seem to be covering up, said a visibly frustrated resident. Local MLA Purandar Mishra has since been approached by the residents, and he has intervened by instructing the police to expedite the investigation. However, the residents remain skeptical, questioning why, despite such clear evidence, the police have failed to arrest the driver. They have also been reviewing additional CCTV footage from nearby homes to provide more evidence, while members of the Gaushala Committee have warned of larger protests if the police continue to delay the arrest
From struggle to success Farmer Om Narayan Kushwaha is an inspiration
Farmer Om Narayan Kushwaha
Staff Reporter :
In a remarkable story of determination, Om Narayan Kushwaha, a simple farmer from Ratua Ratanpur village in Bhopal district, has achieved significant success by leveraging the agricultural and horticultural department's schemes. In 2020, Kushwaha started a nursery with just 10,000 plants, which has now grown to successfully manage over 250,000 plants. His efforts have not only increased his own income but also provided employment opportunities for 5-6 people in his village. Om Narayan Kushwahas successful journey commenced when he connected with the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department and received training at the Navibagh Agricultural Research Center in Bhopal on developing polyhouses and nurseries.
Armed with newfound confidence from this training, he started a small nursery where he cultivates hybrid plants of brinjal, tomato, chili, bottle gourd, cucumber, and other vegetables. He has made significant contributions by supplying Seminis, Phazenta, and Ankura BNR variety vegetable plants to farmers in Bhopal and surrounding districts. Om Narayan Kushwaha has successfully leveraged the governments drip irrigation system to achieve higher plant yields with minimal water usage. He actively participates in various training sessions organized by the agriculture department and is now traveling to multiple states across the country to receive advanced farming training. Om Narayan Kushwaha owns 8 acres of land, which he previously cultivated only 1-2 acres due to water scarcity. However, after digging a well that provided ample water, he is now able to farm his entire land. In 2021, he received training in polyhouse construction and built a small polyhouse to further enhance his agricultural practices. Additionally, Om Narayan Kushwaha has expressed his gratitude to Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav and urged fellow farmers to take advantage of the training and schemes offered by the agriculture department to boost their income. His story serves as an inspiration for farmers, demonstrating that with the right guidance and access to resources, they too can change their fortunes.
Kerala rape cases: Actor Mukesh arrested, Sidhique on the run
KOCHI :
LEGAL actions intensified on Tuesday against two prominent Malayalam actors, Sidhique and Mukesh, as the Kerala High Court denied Sidhiques bail plea in a 2016 rape case involving a young actress, while Mukesh was arrested by SIT for allegedly sexually assaulting another female actor a decade ago in Kochi. While Mukesh, a ruling CPI(M) MLA, was released on bail after his formal arrest, having already secured bail from a court in Kochi, Sidhique is reportedly on the run, prompting the police to launch a manhunt. Before his arrest was formally recorded, Mukesh was interrogated by the SIT for more than three hours at the Coastal Police Headquarters here. The rape complaints against both actors, along with those against a few other artists, were filed after the State Culture Ministry released selected portions of the Justice K Hema Committee report.
The committee was established by the Kerala Government after the 2017 actress assault case. Its report highlighted instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry. Rejecting the anticipatory bail plea of Sidhique, the High Court said that in view of the seriousness of the accusations he was facing, his custodial interrogation was inevitable for proper investigation of the crime. Justice C S Dias said that since Sidhiques defence was a total denial of the incident, his potency test was yet to be conducted and there being a reasonable apprehension that he may intimidate witnesses and tamper with evidence, it was not a fit case to exercise the discretionary powers of the court to grant him the relief.
The High Court, however, made it clear that observations made by it in the order shall not be construed as an expression of the merits of the case. Sidhique, who was booked for offences under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation), had claimed in his plea that the complainant female actor, had subjected him to a prolonged campaign of harassment and false accusations since 2019. In his anticipatory bail plea, he further claimed that she had repeatedly, for the past five years, made unsubstantiated and false claims of sexual misbehaviour and verbal sexual offers by him in a theatre in 2016.
MUDA SCAM Setback to Siddaramaiah HC dismisses his plea challenging Governors order
BENGALURU :
IN A setback to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed his petition challenging Governors approval for investigation against him in a site allotment case. The Chief Minister had challenged the approval given by the Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot for an investigation against him in the alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) in a prime locality. After completing the hearings on the petition in six sittings from August 19, the single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna on September 12 reserved its verdict. It had also extended its August 19 interim order directing the special court for peoples representatives that was slated to hear complaints against him in the case, to defer its proceedings till the disposal of the petition.
The facts narrated in the petition would undoubtedly require investigation, in the teeth of the fact that the beneficiary of all these acts is not anybody outside but the family of the petitioner. The petition stands dismissed, Justice Nagaprasanna ruled. He said: interim order of any kind subsisting today shall stand dissolved. The Governor on August 16 accorded sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 for the commission of the alleged offences as mentioned in the petitions submitted to him by complainants Pradeep Kumar S P, T J Abraham and Snehamayi Krishna. On August 19, Siddaramaiah moved the HC challenging the legality of the Governors order. In the petition, the CM submitted that the sanction order was issued without due application of mind, in violation of statutory mandates, and contrary to Constitutional principles, including the advice of the Council of Ministers, which is binding under Article 163 of the Constitution. Siddaramaiah sought quashing of the Governors order contending that his decision is legally unsustainable, procedurally flawed, and motivated by extraneous considerations.
Reading out the summary of findings, Justice Nagaprasanna said, the complainants were justified in registering the complaint or seeking approval at the hands of the Governor. Senior Advocates Maninder Singh, Prabhuling K Navadgi, Lakshmi Iyengar, Ranganath Reddy, K G Raghavan, among others made submissions on behalf of the complainants (respondents) who had sought the sanction for investigation against Siddaramaiah. In the MUDA case, it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiahs wife B M Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land.
PM Modi calls for ceasefire in West Asia Release hostages and return to dialogue
NEW YORK :
Only a two-state solution will deliver enduring peace and stability in the volatile region.
PRIME Minister Narendra Modi has called for a ceasefire in West Asia, the release of hostages and a return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy as he stressed that only a two-state solution will deliver enduring peace and stability in the volatile region. Modi expressed deep concern at the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza and the deteriorating security situation in the region during his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the margins of the Summit of the Future here on Monday.
He reaffirmed Indias unwavering support to the people of Palestine, including continued humanitarian assistance, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. Prime Minister Modi reiterated Indias time-tested principled position on the Israel-Palestine issue, and called for a ceasefire, the release of hostages and return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy, it said. He stressed that only a two-state solution will deliver enduring peace and stability in the region. Recalling that India was one of the first countries to recognise Palestine, he conveyed Indias continued support for Palestines membership of the UN. The two leaders held constructive discussion on various facets of India-Palestine bilateral relations, including Indias support to Palestine at the United Nations and ongoing assistance and support to Palestine in the field of education, health, and other capacity building efforts, the statement said. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen India-Palestine bilateral relations, it added. Briefing reporters on Monday evening as Modi wrapped up his three-day visit to the US, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that President Abbas thanked PM Modi for the assistance that India had provided, including on political issues, and hoped that India would continue to play its role for bringing peace in the region. Describing the meeting with Abbas as very good, Misri said it allowed the Palestinian leader to appreciate the stance that India has taken in an overall sense on the Palestine issue.
Our fundamental position on the Palestine issue remains what it has long been. In the present context, theres much greater urgency related to issues of humanitarian assistance and support, which we have continued to provide and will continue to provide, Misri said. He added that Abbas did explicitly state that he was very appreciative of Indias support, not just for humanitarian assistance, but also for Indias political support to Palestine on the international stage. Modi also referred to Indias historic support for Palestine in the United Nations on the international stage, as well as the consistent and sustained humanitarian support that India has provided to Palestine in the fields of health, education, capacity building and others. After the bilateral meeting, Modi had said in a post on X met President Mahmoud Abbas in New York. Reiterated Indias support for the early restoration of peace and stability in the region. Exchanged views of further strengthening long-standing friendship with the people of Palestine.
India has underscored its commitment towards a just, peaceful and lasting solution to the Israel-Palestine issue and has reiterated that only a two-state solution achieved through direct and meaningful negotiations between both sides will lead to enduring peace. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing Ministry of Health in Gaza estimates, has said that between October 7, 2023 and September 16 this year, at least 41,226 Palestinians have been killed and 95,413 injured. According to the Israeli military and official sources cited in the media, more than 1,542 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed during this period, the majority on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel.
SP Aditya Singh helps stranded USresidents safe return to New Jersey
Staff Reporter :
NOTABLE humanitarian effort of Superintendent of Police, Aditya Pratap Singh (IPS) facilitated the 65-year-old Vanessa Ananda, to her country New Jersey, USA. The foreign resident had been stranded in India since 2019. During her time in India, Vanessa immersed herself in the country's diverse culture and spirituality and organizing camps to share her experiences. Vanessa had been residing at a rented house in a village under the jurisdiction of Bargi police station for nearly a year when her visa expired in July 2024.
Due to financial crises, she found herself unable to return to the United States. Learning about her situation, the local police, led by Superintendent Aditya Pratap Singh took swift action and ensured her returning home. In collaboration with other officials, including Additional Superintendent of Police Sonali Dubey and CSP, Bargi Sunil Nema, the team prioritized Vanessas case. They arranged for her to obtain an exit permit and booked her flight back to the United States. On the day of her departure, Vanessa was escorted to Delhi Airport by Bargi, SI, Sarita Patel, Constables, Vipul and Mayank, where she boarded a flight to New Jersey. Her journey back home is a testament to the supportive community and the commitment of local authorities to assist those in need.
Three city advocates appointed as Judges at Bombay High Court
Staff Reporter :
Three advocates from the city have been appointed as Judges of the Bombay High Court after a gap of nearly four years. The Supreme Court Collegium on Tuesday recommended nine advocates for elevation, including three from Nagpur. The advocates from Nagpur who have been elevated to the prestigious position are Nivedita Prakash Mehta, Prafulla Surendra Kumar Khubalkar, and Rohit Wasudeo Joshi.
They are joined by Rajesh Sudhakar Datar, Sachin Shivajirao Deshmukh, Gautam Ashwin Ankhad, Mahendra Madhavrao Nerilkar, Ashwin Damodar Bhobe, and Advait Mahendra Sethna in the list of new appointees to the Bombay High Court. The recommendations for these appointments were forwarded to the Supreme Court Collegium by the Bombay High Court Collegium through two separate resolutions, one dated January 19 and the other April 19 of this year. Both resolutions were based on consultations between the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and the two senior-most colleagues of the court. Following a thorough evaluation of the qualifications and merits of the candidates, the Supreme Court Collegium gave its final approval and confirmed their suitability for elevation.
The Collegium stated in its resolution, For the purpose of assessing the merit and suitability of the above candidates for elevation to the High Court, we have scrutinised and evaluated the material placed on record. We have also perused the observations made by the Department of Justice in the file. Advocate Atul Pande, President of the High Court Bar Association (HCBA), Nagpur, welcomed the news and expressed that it was a long-awaited and much- anticipated moment for the citys advocates. The legal fraternity of Nagpur has been waiting for this elevation for the past four years. We took up the issue at every front and advocated for the recognition of Nagpurs talent, Pande stated and appreciated the efforts of all involved in ensuring that Nagpur is well-represented on the Bombay High Court bench.
Adv Nivedita Mehta
The SC resolution stated that the inputs provided by the Department of Justice in the file indicate that the candidate enjoys a good personal and professional image; and that nothing adverse has come to notice against her integrity. Adv Nivedita Mehta has extensive practice of 31 years in civil, Constitutional, service, local and municipal, labour and criminal laws. She represented the Government of Maharashtra at Nagpur Bench in the capacity of Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor from 2013 to 2023 and has been representing the State Government as an Additional Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor since October 2023. The elevation of Nivedita Prakash Mehta to the Bench of the High Court would fulfil the need to ensure gender diversity among the High Court Judges, the resolution stated.
Adv Prafulla Khubalkar
All the consultee-Judges have unanimously given positive opinion on the suitability of Adv Khubalkar as a Judge of the High Court, stated the resolution. The inputs provided by the Department of Justice in the file indicate that the candidate enjoys a good personal and professional image; and that nothing adverse has come to notice against his integrity. The candidate has a practice of more than 27 years at the Bar in civil, Constitutional, service and arbitration cases. As the candidate belongs to OBC category, his elevation will facilitate greater representation to the Other Backward Classes in appointments to the higher judiciary.
Adv Rohit Joshi
Adv Joshi has extensive practice of more than 26 years in civil, criminal, Constitutional, labour and service cases which is reflected in 34 reported judgments delivered in the cases in which he appeared/argued, the SC resolution stated. The adverse comments made in the file regarding the limited practice and exposure of the candidate are outweighed by the positive opinion of all the consultee-Judges. The fact that the candidate appears for a public sector undertaking should not come in the way of the recommendation of the candidate. Further, one of the members of the Collegium (Justice B R Gavai) during his tenure as High Court Judge, while sitting at the Bench at Nagpur, has personally observed the performance of the candidate. Bearing in mind all the relevant factors, the Collegium is of the considered view that the candidate is fit and suitable for appointment as a Judge of the High Court, stated the resolution.
VHP vows to free temples from Govt control
NEW DELHI
THE Vishva Hindu Parishad on Tuesday vowed to free temples from Government control across the country and said it will soon launch a nationwide campaign to achieve this goal. Addressing a press conference here, VHP joint General Secretary Surendra Jain asserted that the organisation will also approach the court if State Governments do not hand over the temples to Hindu society. From today it is our resolve to free temples from Government control across the country and hand them over to the society. For this, first demonstrations and agitations will be held in every State and our memorandum will be submitted to the Governors through the respective Chief Ministers, he said. Legal recourse will also be taken to seek justice, wherever required, he said. And, if necessary, we will launch a movement in future, he added.
Jain contended that State Governments keeping temples under their control was a violation of the Constitution and courts have been repeatedly saying that running temples is not the job of the Governments. He said Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh is not just one temple from where reports about the use of animal fat in the making of parasadam came. Earlier, there was a complaint from Sabarimala temple (in Kerala) also. Similar kinds of impure substances had been mixed in payasam (consecrated food) there, he claimed. There have been also reports of financial irregularities and misuse of properties of temples under the control of State Governments across the country, he added. What is common that we find in all these incidents is that these are the temples that have been captured by the respective State Governments. Both bureaucracy and politicians are indulging in loot and playing with the sentiments of Hindus, he alleged. In Tamil Nadu alone, Jain said, more than 400 temples are under the Governments control. A survey conducted by an NGO had found that these 400 temples generate a revenue of Rs 6,000 crore per annum, but they show just Rs 200 crore income and Rs 270 crore expenditure.
In the last ten years, a loss of Rs 50,000 crore has been shown in Tamil Nadu alone, he alleged Earlier, the Rajasthan Government under Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had given away Rs 9.82 crore of Govind Dev Mandir for Eidgah, he added. Jain said that the State Governments exercising control over the temples is a symbol of colonial mindset and slavery. When minorities can run their institutions, why not Hindus, he argued. On the Tirupati laddu row, the VHP functionary demanded that a judicial probe be conducted into the matter and the strictest punishment be given to those involved in the desecration of prasadam. He said that an SIT probe, set up by the Andhra Pradesh Government, would not be adequate enough to ascertain the truth. Probe into one or another incident is not a permanent solution. Freeing temples from Government control is the only permanent solution. The courts have been repeatedly saying that running temples is not the job of the Governments, he added.
Womens panel recommends murder chargesagainst IPS Dr Abhishek Pallava for brutality
Staff Reporter
RAIPUR,
The Womens Commission has recommended immediate forensic examinations of the injured women and identification parades for the police officers involved in the alleged brutality
IN A significant development, the Chairperson of the Chhattisgarh State Womens Commission, Dr. Kiran Mayee Nayak, has submitted a detailed investigation report recommending the filing of a murder charge against Superintendent of Police, Dr Abhishek Pallava. This recommendation follows the brutal treatment of 33 women detained in Durg Jail, after a devastating arson incident in Loharidih village, Kawardha district, on September 21, 2024. The report has been submitted to the Chief Justice of India, the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, the Governor of Chhattisgarh, and the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court in Bilaspur. The investigation led by Dr Nayak into the conditions faced by the detained women has raised serious questions about the conduct of the police. According to the detailed forensic report, several women were found to have sustained severe injuries as a result of police brutality.
Despite obstruction attempts by the prison superintendent, the investigative team was able to gather evidence corroborating the claims of torture and maltreatment. The report calls for immediate medical examinations of all 33 women, along with videographic documentation of their injuries in the presence of a public prosecutor, a tehsildar, and medical officers, including Dr Kirti Bajaj. The Commissions findings also recommend an identification parade of all male and female police officers who accompanied Dr Pallava to Loharidih, and those involved in the beatings at Durg Jail. This would be a crucial step toward bringing accountability to the police officers responsible for these heinous acts. Further highlighting the gravity of the situation, the report implicates Dr Pallava and his colleagues in the death of Prashant Sahu, a male prisoner who was allegedly subjected to fatal physical assault while in custody. The Commissions recommendation urges that a murder case be registered against the implicated officers without delay. In an alarming disclosure, it was revealed that during the police raid in Loharidih village, women were unlawfully arrested without search warrants.
Doors were forcibly broken, and third-degree methods were employed, leading to grave injuries. The Commission has condemned this flagrant abuse of power, demanding immediate filing of FIRs against all police officers involved in this unlawful operation. The report also makes a pointed recommendation regarding the investigation of SP Pallavas mobile records. It suggests that all call details from both his official and personal phones be scrutinized between 14th Sept and 20th September to establish his exact whereabouts during the critical days surrounding the Loharidih incident. This recommendation, if acted upon, would ensure that any potential communication between Dr Pallava and individuals from the village would be uncovered, further implicating him in the alleged misconduct. The report calls for his suspension pending the outcome of this investigation. The recommendations of Dr. Nayaks investigation, which now rest in the hands of judicial and human rights authorities, highlight the need for accountability within law enforcement, especially in the treatment of vulnerable groups such as women detainees. The report, supported by forensic evidence and victim testimony, lays bare a disturbing pattern of human rights violations that demand immediate judicial action.
Medics apply medical treatment to an injured boy in Tripoli, Lebanon, on Sept. 25, 2024. Lebanese ministers announced on Tuesday measures to shelter 27,000 displaced persons from southern Lebanon and suspension of educational activities until the end of the week due to ongoing Israeli raids. (Photo by Khaled Habashiti/Xinhua)
BEIRUT, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese ministers announced on Tuesday measures to shelter 27,000 displaced persons from southern Lebanon and suspension of educational activities until the end of the week due to ongoing Israeli raids.
The 27,000 displaced were seeking refuge in 252 shelters, according to Lebanese Environment Minister Nasser Yassin.
Yassin said in a press conference for the Ministerial Emergency Committee that "the national operations room and the Higher Relief Commission have been activated to secure the basic needs of the displaced."
For his part, Minister of Education and Higher Education Abbas Halabi suspended educational activities in the country until the end of this week while demanding that public schools be opened to receive the displaced.
He said that in current circumstances, the closure of educational and vocational institutions in the governorates of the south, Nabatieh, Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel, and the southern suburbs will be extended until the end of this week. The suspension of classes in schools and universities in the governorates of Beirut, Mount Lebanon, and North will also be extended, the minister added.
Worries about food security and fuel shortages have prompted local citizens to stockpile food and fuel products, alarming officials about a potential rapid depletion of the country's reserve stock.
In this regard, Minister of Economy and Trade Amin Salam called on the public to rationalize the storage of food and vital commodities.
"Let the goods be stored for a week or two or even a month and not more, to ensure that the rest of the citizens obtain their need for basic commodities under the current circumstances," Salam said.
He noted that the current wheat stock in the local market is adequate for at least two months and assured the public that supplies are being consistently secured.
Fuel stations also witnessed a great demand in light of the escalation of Israeli raids, prompting Minister of Energy and Water Walid Fayyad to reassure citizens that "the necessary reserves of petroleum derivatives are available in the medium term."
Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been exchanging fire across the Lebanon-Israel border since Oct. 8, 2023.
On Monday, Israel began its most extensive bombardment of Lebanon since 2006, resulting in more than 550 deaths, including civilians, and over 1,800 injuries across the country. The casualty tolls and the intensity of the attacks have caused panic among Lebanese people.
Displaced people are pictured in Tripoli, Lebanon, on Sept. 25, 2024. Lebanese ministers announced on Tuesday measures to shelter 27,000 displaced persons from southern Lebanon and suspension of educational activities until the end of the week due to ongoing Israeli raids. (Photo by Khaled Habashiti/Xinhua)
Displaced people are pictured in Tripoli, Lebanon, on Sept. 25, 2024. Lebanese ministers announced on Tuesday measures to shelter 27,000 displaced persons from southern Lebanon and suspension of educational activities until the end of the week due to ongoing Israeli raids. (Photo by Khaled Habashiti/Xinhua)
Displaced people are pictured in Tripoli, Lebanon, on Sept. 25, 2024. Lebanese ministers announced on Tuesday measures to shelter 27,000 displaced persons from southern Lebanon and suspension of educational activities until the end of the week due to ongoing Israeli raids. (Photo by Khaled Habashiti/Xinhua)
WELLINGTON, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- New Zealanders reported a lower sense of belonging in 2023, as well as declining trust in institutions like the health and education system, parliament, media, police and courts since 2021, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Wednesday.
The sense of belonging to New Zealand reported in 2023 was at 8.2 out of 10, down from 8.6 in 2021, which was varied by ethnicity, with Asian people at 7.8, both Pacific peoples and Europeans at 8.2, and Maori having a stronger sense of belonging at 8.5, Stats NZ said.
The 2023 General Social Survey found that trust held by New Zealanders in institutions like the health system, education system, parliament, media, police and courts has declined since 2021.
Regarding the sense of safety, the survey showed New Zealanders reported feeling less safe waiting for public transport at night and walking alone in their neighborhood after dark in 2023.
Besides, people rated worrying about crime as having a greater effect on their quality of life in 2023 than in 2021, the survey said.
People in New Zealand remained satisfied with their lives as a whole in 2023, with an overall satisfaction rating of 7.6 out of 10, which is similar to the 7.7 rating in 2021, according to the survey.
"Institutional trust, trust in other people, sense of belonging, and a sense of safety are all important measures of people feeling part of society," Stats NZ wellbeing and housing statistics manager Sarah Drake said, adding recent global events such as COVID-19 provided more challenges to the society.
Most respondents of the survey reported having higher trust in police compared with other institutions, with a mean rating of 7.4 out of 10 in 2023, down from 7.7 in 2021, Drake said, adding people had the least trust in media, at 4.3, down from 4.7 in 2021.
Trust in parliament decreased the most in 2023 compared with other institutions, down to 4.9 from 5.7 in 2021, she said, adding their trust in other people in New Zealand also decreased in 2023, down to 6.5 from 6.7 in 2021.
Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.71.
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm reiterated a buy rating and issued a $32.00 price target (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Clearway Energy in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Clearway Energy in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a buy rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised Clearway Energy from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Clearway Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th.
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Clearway Energy Stock Up 0.1 %
NYSE CWEN opened at $29.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Clearway Energy has a 1-year low of $18.59 and a 1-year high of $30.35. The company has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.39, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.05 and a 200-day moving average of $25.85.
Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $366.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.59 million. Clearway Energy had a net margin of 7.21% and a return on equity of 1.80%. Clearway Energys quarterly revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Clearway Energy will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Clearway Energy Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.417 per share. This is a positive change from Clearway Energys previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Clearway Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 251.52%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Clearway Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $850,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Clearway Energy by 74.5% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 51,660 shares of the companys stock worth $1,191,000 after buying an additional 22,059 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Clearway Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,010,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Clearway Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $516,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Clearway Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $712,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.03% of the companys stock.
About Clearway Energy
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Clearway Energy, Inc operates in the renewable energy business in the United States. The company operates through Conventional and Renewables segments. It has approximately 6,000 net MW of installed wind, solar, and energy generation projects; and approximately 2,500 net MW of natural gas-fired generation facilities.
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SYDNEY, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- An Australian teenager has been charged over the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old in the Australian state of Victoria.
Victoria Police said on Wednesday that they have charged a 15-year-old boy with one count of murder after a 16-year-old was killed in a stabbing at a shopping center in Melbourne's outer western suburbs on Tuesday.
Emergency services were called to the shopping center in Melton West, about 38 km west of Melbourne's central business district, just before midday on Tuesday, where the 16-year-old was found with life-threatening injuries.
First responders commenced cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but he died at the scene.
In a statement, Victoria Police said that investigators subsequently arrested and charged the local 15-year-old and that he would appear at a children's court at a later date.
The victim has been identified as Oscar Hamilton from the neighboring suburb of Harkness.
"Today our world was shattered," his family said in a statement.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Victoria Police Detective Senior Sergeant Nigel L'Estrange said it was likely the pair involved knew each other.
Tuesday was the second day of school holidays in Victoria.
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- China strongly objects to the U.S. proposal to restrict the use of Chinese connected vehicles, as well as their software and hardware, in the United States, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.
A ministry spokesperson made the remarks in response to a media inquiry, emphasizing that the U.S. proposal smears Chinese connected vehicles under the pretext of national security.
The proposal is one of the U.S. actions that targeted Chinese automobiles in recent years, also including tariff hikes, procurement restrictions and discriminatory subsidy policies, said the spokesperson.
The proposal has no factual basis, violates the principles of the market economy and fair competition, and is a typical act of protectionism, the spokesperson said, adding that it will severely impact China-U.S. cooperation on connected vehicles, disrupt and distort global automotive industrial and supply chains, and harm the interests of U.S. consumers.
It is also a non-market practice that uses government power to interfere with economic and commercial cooperation between enterprises, constituting economic coercion, said the spokesperson.
"China urges the United States to cease its wrong practice of generalizing national security, immediately lift the relevant restrictions, and end its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies," said the spokesperson.
China will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its companies, the spokesperson added.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
NEW YORK, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Tuesday that China is ready to steadily advance the building of a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when he met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
He said that China is ready to work with Serbia to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and firmly safeguards the ironclad friendship between the two countries.
On the Kosovo issue, China firmly supports Serbia in maintaining its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and in defending its legitimate rights and interests, Wang said.
For his part, Vucic said that Serbia cherishes its ironclad friendship with China and will never forget China's support.
Serbia is willing to work with China to push for greater development of bilateral relations, he added.
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Four domestic and foreign carmakers in South Korea will voluntarily recall some 917,000 vehicles for manufacturing defects, the transport ministry said Wednesday.
Hyundai Motor will recall 620,349 units of five different models, including Grandeur sedan, to fix the poor durability of the hydraulic electronic control unit (HECU), and 201,393 units of Grand Starex van for the poor durability of the fastening in engine parts, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The HECU's poor durability also prompted a recall on 89,469 units of Mohave SUV and 3,233 units of Sportage SUV from Kia Corp. affiliated with Hyundai.
Man Truck & Bus Korea will repair the faulty crankshaft main bearings in 1,829 units of four models, including TGS dump truck.
Scania Korea Group will take corrective actions on 1,274 units of cargo truck due to the defective connecting parts in the steering system.
Vehicle owners can visit repair and service centers to replace the faulty parts free of charge.
Eccentric septuagenarian Reginald "Reggie" Kincer is facing federal charges related to a scheme he cooked up to supply erectile dysfunction drugs to members of The Villages retirement community in central Florida, Fox News reported.
He allegedly bought $1,800 worth of the medicines with the intent to hawk them in Florida and other states.
Kincer was featured in a 2021 documentary about the famous retirement community in which his wife, Anne, gushed, "The Villages have given Reggie an opportunity to grow in different ways."
He is shown in the video working out while explaining, "My whole training is about ending my life with a smile on my face. I really like stimulating myself with drugs."
Kincer has prior arrests for drug possession; he faces a maximum of a year in prison and a $10,000 fine. [Fox News, 10/3/2023]
CANBERRA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Conservationists have criticized the Australian government's decision to approve the extension of three coal mines.
The government on Tuesday issued approvals for three coal mines in the east coast state of New South Wales to expand their operations and continue operating for the next 30-40 years.
Responding to the decision, Canberra-based independent think tank the Australia Institute said the three projects would generate 1.3 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions in their lifetime, undermining Australia's push to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
According to the institute, it took the total number of coal mine projects approved by the Labor Party government to seven.
The Australia Institute on Wednesday published an open letter signed by leading climate and environmental organizations, calling on the government to tell Australians when it will stop approving new fossil fuel projects.
NGO the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said on Tuesday that the coal mine approvals would have consequences for Australians who are forced to live at the forefront of climate change.
A spokesperson for Tanya Plibersek, the minister for the Environment and Water, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the approvals were considered on a case-by-case basis under national environmental laws.
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese museums registered 940 million visits in the first eight months of this year, maintaining their popularity among Chinese visitors in recent years, official data showed on Wednesday.
The country's National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) released the figure at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office.
About 300 million visits were made in two months during the summer season, accounting for nearly a third of the total figure, said Liu Yang, an NCHA official.
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I know Sandip Ghosh because he and I, both are orthopaedic surgeons. I am also the chief ministers family physician for a prolonged period of more than four decades, claimed Dr Shyama Prasad Das.
In an exclusive interview to The Statesman on Tuesday, Dr Das, facing the wrath of the oppositions BJP, CPM, Congress and doctors community, clarified his stance.
There have been allegations against him of controlling the government healthcare system, rigging and nepotism in the election process in different doctors bodies. Dr Das said he has no problem to face the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the sake of investigation if it summons him.
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The oppositions have also been demanding the CBI to interrogate Dr Das for the sake of the investigation.
I know Sandip Ghosh because he and I, both are orthopaedic surgeons. I didnt have any talks with him on 9 August when the incident happened. He called me up a few days after the incident, Dr Das claimed.
Dr Avik De informed me about the incident first around 10 am on 9 August and after that I had talks with him four to five times over phone during the day because I was trying to get updates about the situation at the R G Kar Hospital from him. I had asked him to cooperate with concerned officials, Dr Das said.
I have no connection with the incident and even in financial corruption. How could I control the health services as I am not in the state health department? I am a private practitioner and earn sufficient money to run my family, he said.
You people from the media and a section of doctors are making me a villai because I am CMs doctor. I am becoming a soft target because of a negative campaign against me. I never discuss any healthcare related issues with the CM other than her and familys health issues. I have no problem in facing an investigating agency if they summon me in the coming days. I also want justice for the case because I am also a father, Dr Das said.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to hold a meeting with principals and vice-principals of all the medical colleges of the state on Thursday at Nabanna, sources at the state secretariat claimed.
The meeting is also likely to be attended by the officers concerned of civil, electrical and IT departments of the medical colleges to discuss the progress made on putting in place the safety measures the government has already set in motion.
The meeting on Thursday would be the first after the 46-day cease-work by the junior doctors and the series of meetings the doctors had with the CM and the chief secretary.
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The state government has started a Rattier Sathi app and drawn an action plan to streamline the safety and security measures and overhaul of infrastructure in all the medical colleges and hospitals.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has already announced to earmark Rs 100 cr for the infrastructure build-up and streamlining of the safety and security measures at medical colleges and hospitals.
Sources in the state secretariat claimed that to beef up security and safety of the medics and to keep it under surveillance, in all 500 CCTV cameras would be installed at the R G Kar hospital.
Police sources said that there were already 190 CCTV cameras at the hospital and work on putting up 100 more cameras was on.
The total foodgrain production in the country during 2023-24 is estimated at record 3322.98 LMT, which is higher by 26.11 LMT produced during the last year, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said on Wednesday.
The production of food grains during 2022-23 was 3296.87 LMT.
The ministry has released Final Estimates of production of Major Agricultural Crops for the year 2023-24 where it sadi the food grain production witnessed record increase due to good production of Rice, Wheat and Shree Anna.
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Total rice production during 2023-24 is estimated at record 1378.25 LMT, higher by 20.70 LMT than previous years Rice production of 1357.55 LMT, it said.
The wheat production during 2023-24 is estimated at record 1132.92 LMT, which is higher by 27.38 LMT than previous years wheat production of 1105.54 LMT.
It further said the pro6eduction of Shree Anna is estimated at 175.72 LMT as compared to 173.21 LMT during previous year.
The Agriculture Ministry gave details of production of various crops during 2023-24.
Total foodgrains in the year was 3322.98 LMT, out if which rice was 1378.25 LMT, Wheat 1132.92 LMT, Nutri / Coarse Cereals 569.36 LMT, Maize 376.65 LMT, Total Pulses 242.46 LMT, Shree Anna 175.72 LMT, Tur 34.17 LMT, and Gram by 110.39 LMT.
Total Oilseeds produced in the period was 396.69 LMT out of which Groundnut is 101.80 LMT, Soybean 130.62 LMT, and Rapeseed & Mustard 132.59 LMT.
Sugarcane production was at 4531.58 LMT while Cotton at 325.22 Lakh Bales (170 Kgs each), and Jute & Mesta at 96.92 Lakh Bales (180 Kgs each).
Ministry of Agriculture said during 2023-24, there were drought-like conditions in southern states, including Maharashtra & prolonged dry spell during August especially in Rajasthan.
The moisture stress from the drought also affected the Rabi season. This mainly impacted production of pulses, coarse cereals, soybean and cotton.
Indias tech startup ecosystem secured $7.6 billion funding in the nine months this year, along with witnessing six new unicorns, a massive 500 per cent increase compared to just one unicorn in 2023, a report showed on Tuesday.
The initial public offering (IPO) numbers have surged, with 29 tech companies going public in 2024 (year to date), compared to 15 during the same period in 2023, according to the report by Tracxn, a SaaS-based market intelligence platform.
According to the report, Indias economy has shown resilience in 2024, achieving an 8.2 per cent GDP growth rate for FY24, surpassing earlier estimates and the 7 per cent growth of the previous fiscal year.
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Despite the broader economic challenges, Indias tech ecosystem continues to demonstrate resilience, said Neha Singh, Co-founder Tracxn.
The emergence of six new unicorns and a surge in IPOs with 29 tech companies going public in 2024 (YTD) reflects investor confidence in the sector.
While overall funding has slowed, late-stage investments and the increasing momentum in fintech and retail show that innovation-driven growth is still thriving in Indias startup landscape, she mentioned.
The India tech ecosystem saw 12 funding rounds exceeding $100 million in 2024 YTD, with Zepto raising $1 billion across two consecutive rounds, making it the only company to secure over $500 million this year.
The majority of funding came from late-stage rounds, which garnered $4.7 billion, compared to $4.9 billion in 2023 and $14.3 billion in 2022.
Retail, fintech and food and agriculture tech have emerged as the top-performing sectors. The retail sector, in particular, attracted $1.95 billion in 2024 YTD, reflecting a 23 per cent increase from 2023 but a 61 per cent drop from 2022.
Fintech emerged as the second highest funded sector, securing $1.49 billion, the report mentioned.
Bengaluru, Mumbai and Gurugram emerged as the top-funded cities, with Bengaluru alone accounting for over 35 per cent of the total funding in the tech sector.
India is projected to become the worlds third-largest economy by 2027 with a GDP exceeding $5 trillion, the countrys large consumer base, young population, and rising urban incomes position it for continued growth.
The fashion world is abuzz following Kendall Jenner made appearance at Paris Fashion Week, where she turned heads on the runway during the Le Defile LOreal Paris Walk Your Worth Womenswear Spring-Summer 2025 show.
The supermodel made her presence known with an eye-catching crimson gown that left the audience in awe.
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Jenners stunning outfit featured a floor-length design with an asymmetric mock neck, accentuated by a bold cutout that revealed a glimpse of her arm and midsection.
Beneath the corset, a sheer overlay introduced a hint of allure, while the elegantly draped skirt flowed gracefully behind her with each step.
To complement her fiery ensemble, Kendall Jenner chose red strappy sandals and sported a vibrant cherry-red lip, creating a cohesive and striking look. Adding to the drama of the moment was her new blonde hairstyle, which she debuted earlier this month. The lighter locks provided a beautiful contrast to the rich red of her gown, enhancing her overall appearance.
The excitement didnt end on the runway. Jenners mother, Kris Jenner, expressed her pride on social media, posting, You were breathtaking Kenny, and everyone looked absolutely beautiful!
Sister Khloe Kardashian echoed the sentiment, commenting, Damn, she really is so so so breathtaking.
Nikita Duttas film Gharat Ganpati has achieved a significant milestone by earning a spot on the Oscars 2024 consideration list from India, alongside Laapataa Ladies that is now Indias official selection.
Known for her versatility and grace, Dutta continues to rise as one of Indian cinemas most promising talents. Her role as Kriti Ahuja, a young Punjabi woman in the film, has drawn praise from both critics and audiences.
The film, directed by Navjyot Narendra Bandiwadekar, explores the cultural and emotional importance of Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtrian households, specifically focusing on the traditions of the Konkan region.
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The story centers on the journey of a Marathi boy and his Punjabi friend, played by Dutta, as they travel to his hometown. This cross-cultural narrative adds richness and depth to the film, which has resonated with viewers.
In addition to Duttas captivating performance, the film boasts a strong ensemble cast, featuring notable actors like Bhushan Pradhan, Ajinkya Deo, Ashwini Bhave, Sanjay Mone, and Shubhangi Latkar. Each brings their own unique touch to the film, enhancing its appeal and authenticity.
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Gharat Ganpati marks Duttas successful debut in Marathi cinema. The movies themes of family, tradition, and faith have universal resonance.
Nikita Duttas career is clearly on a fast track. In addition to the success of Gharat Ganpati, she is also gearing up for her next big project, Siddharth Anands Netflix production Jewel Thief. In this upcoming film, she will star alongside Bollywood heavyweights Saif Ali Khan and Jaideep Ahlawat.
The stars and creative minds behind the global hit Citadel recently came together for an exclusive event to celebrate the upcoming releases of Citadel: Diana and Citadel: Honey Bunny, which will be available on Prime Video worldwide on October 10 and November 7, respectively.
Key members of the universe were in attendance, including Priyanka Chopra Jonas, the Russo BrothersAnthony, Joe, and Angelaalong with showrunner David Weil, executive producer Gina Gardini, and stars Matilda De Angelis and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
The event kicked off with a special on-stage conversation held at Londons Curzon Bloomsbury. Attendees included a mix of creative talent and Amazon executives, including James Farrell, VP of International Originals at Amazon MGM Studios, and Nikhil Madhok, Head of India Originals for Prime Video. During the discussion, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Angela Russo-Otstot, David Weil, and others shared insights into the creation of each new Citadel series, explaining how these stories form part of a connected, global narrative.
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Citadel: Diana Italys spy thriller
The upcoming Citadel: Diana is the second installment in the Citadel franchise, following the original series massive success. Italian star Matilda De Angelis, who plays the lead role of Diana, and executive producer Gina Gardini were on hand to promote the show. Set in Milan in 2030, it follows the aftermath of the collapse of the global spy agency which was dismantled by the Manticore syndicate. De Angelis plays Diana Cavalieri, a former agent trapped behind enemy lines.
As Diana seeks to escape her dangerous life and disappear forever, she must navigate complicated alliances, including trusting Edo Zani, the heir of Manticore Italy. The storyline promises a blend of action, espionage, and psychological tension as Dianas fate intertwines with powerful crime families vying for dominance in Europe. Fans of spy thrillers will be drawn into a world of deception and high-stakes drama when the show debuts on October 10, 2024.
Citadel: Honey Bunny Indias explosive new chapter
Hot on the heels of Citadel: Diana is Indias contribution to the universe, Citadel: Honey Bunny, set to launch on November 7, 2024. Directed by Raj & DK, the show stars popular Indian actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu as Honey, alongside Varun Dhawan as Bunny. Both directors and Samantha were present at the event to share their excitement about the upcoming release.
The Indian version offers a unique take on the action-espionage genre, blending it with a touch of Bollywood flair. The plot revolves around Bunny, a stuntman, and Honey, a struggling actress, who are thrust into a high-stakes world of danger and betrayal. Years after their initial encounter, the two must reunite to protect their daughter, Nadia, as their dark past catches up to them. With its action-packed sequences and emotional depth, Honey Bunny aims to offer a fresh take on the spy genre, while still tying into the larger Citadel narrative.
The franchise debuted in 2023 with its first season, starring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. It quickly became a global sensation, ranking as Prime Videos second most-watched new original series outside of the U.S. and the fourth most-watched worldwide.
The Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the adulteration of ghee used for making Tirupati laddu.
Sarvashrestha Tripathi, Inspector General of Police (IG), Guntur range, will head the SIT.
Gopinath Jetty, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Visakhapatnam range, and Harshavardhana Raju, Superintendent of Police, Kadapa, are the members of the SIT.
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Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday announced a probe by SIT into irregularities at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala.
Naidu said that the government would take action against those involved in using adulterated ghee after the receipt of the report of SIT.
Chief Minister Naidu had alleged last week that the ghee used for making laddu prasadam during the YSR Congress Party rule had animal fat.
Naidus Telugu Desam Party (TDP) also made public lab reports of ghee samples, which confirmed the presence of animal fat.
The tests done at the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) revealed the presence of beef tallow, lard (relating to pig fat), and fish oil in ghee used for the preparation of laddu.
The allegations caused outrage among Tirumala devotees across the country and triggered demands for stringent punishment of those involved.
YSRCP president and former chief minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy rubbished the allegations that adulterated ghee was used for making laddus. He alleged that Naidu hurt the sentiments of devotees with his false allegations as the TTD has a fool-proof mechanism to check the quality of ghee.
Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to severely reprimand Naidu.
YSRCP leader and Rajya Sabha member Y. V. Subba Reddy, who served as TTD chairman during YSRCP rule, has moved the Supreme Court for the constitution of an independent committee headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court to look into the allegations of animal fat in ghee used for making laddus.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress and said the royal family of the party is the countrys most corrupt one and it was under the Congress rule that corruption took roots in the government system and gained strength.
Addressing an election rally in Sonipat, Haryana, he said people in Haryana cannot forget how the State was looted when the Congress ruled the State. Lands of the farmers were looted, and the State was handed over to dalaals (middlemen) and damaads (sons in law), he said.
When the top leadership is corrupt, cadres below get an easy license to loot, the Prime Minister said.
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Drawing attention to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiahs alleged role in the MUDA (Mysuru Urban Development Authority) scam, the Prime Minister said the Congress is completely entrenched in corruption.
He said it has only been two years, and just look at the Congress government in Karnataka. The Chief Minister is facing accusations of a land scam. When he appeared in the High Court, his plea was dismissed.
Ten years ago when Haryana was ruled by the Congress, no job could be secured without cheating, and there was no organisation free of corruption, the Prime Minister said. It is well known wherever the Congress took control, corruption and nepotism followed.
The Congress always kept marginalised communities in the State out of benefit of government schemes and programmes, Mr Modi said. The scheduled castes (SCs), scheduled tribes (STs) and other backward classes (OBCs) did not enjoy the benefits of governance.
Babasaheb Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution, gave reservation to Dalits, otherwise they too would have waited for the defeat of the Congress to get reservation benefits like the OBCs, Mr Modi said.
Whenever the Congress has been away from the government, the poor, SC/ST/OBC have got their rights. Whenever Congress has been in the government, it has snatched the rights of Dalits and backward classes, the Prime Minister said.
Mr Modi said the BJP has been in power in Haryana for the last 10 years, and none has heard of any corruption charges against the BJP government. The BJP has put an end to all corruption in government interface with the public.
The BJP government in Haryana has decided to give MSP for 24 crops, but when the Congress was here, it hated to buy crops on MSP. This is the truth of the Congress party which the farmers need to learn. The BJP government is continuously taking decisions in the interests of the farmers, the Prime Minister said.
He also reflected on economic development and infrastructure development in the state, highlighting better connectivity and construction of highways. Today products of the State are reaching different parts of the world.
The Prime Minister said big companies of the world are today eager to invest in India and set up their factories. Just think, when such big companies invest in India, my Haryana, the youth and the farmers here will benefit a lot, he said.
The public of Haryana knows the importance of a double-engine government, and therefore chooses the same government both in the Centre and the State, Mr Modi said.
The Prime Minister said Jammu and Kashmir was witnessing peaceful voting in the second phase of polling. He said the Congress wants to restore Article 370 and thereby give fresh encouragement to separatism. Just to pursue its policy of appeasement, the Congress wants to implement the agenda of Indias enemies. Bringing Article 370 back would be an insult to those who sacrificed their lives fighting against terrorism, he said.
The Prime Minister praised Haryanas contribution to national achievements. Haryana is the medal factory of India. In the Olympic and world games, the youth of Haryana has participated majorly. Small nurseries of Olympic games will be built in each district so that the youth of Haryana represent the country at international platforms, he said.
People gather at the Jdeidat Yabous border crossing in the countryside of Damascus, Syria, Sept. 25, 2024. Thousands of Lebanese and Syrian families fled Lebanon for Syria as Israeli airstrikes continued, said the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday. (Photo by Hummam Sheikh Ali/Xinhua)
GENEVA, Sept. 25, (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Lebanese and Syrian families fled Lebanon for Syria as Israeli airstrikes continued, said the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday.
According to a statement issued by the UN Refugee Agency, hundreds of vehicles were backed up in queues at the Syrian border, with many people arriving on foot, carrying whatever belongings they can. Large crowds, including women, children and babies, reportedly waited in line after spending the night outdoors in falling temperatures. "Some carry fresh injuries from the recent bombardments," the statement added.
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, expressed deep concern over the ongoing violence, stating that the bloodshed was taking a heavy toll, displacing tens of thousands of people from their homes.
He highlighted the plight of families who had previously fled the war in Syria, only to now face bombings in the country where they had sought refuge. Grandi urged the international community to prevent further scenes of despair and devastation, warning that the Middle East could not endure another displacement crisis. He emphasized that protecting civilian lives must be the top priority.
Israel has carried out its most extensive bombardment of Lebanon since 2006, starting on Monday, resulting in over 550 deaths and more than 1,800 injuries nationwide. The attacks have also forced thousands of residents in Lebanon to flee their homes.
The UNHCR, along with its partners, has been present at border crossings, offering essential supplies such as food, water, blankets, and mattresses to incoming refugees, said the statement.
People gather at the Jdeidat Yabous border crossing in the countryside of Damascus, Syria, Sept. 25, 2024. Thousands of Lebanese and Syrian families fled Lebanon for Syria as Israeli airstrikes continued, said the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday. (Photo by Hummam Sheikh Ali/Xinhua)
A day before the commencement of the two day Assembly session, Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav on Wednesday demanded that the House should discuss issues concerning the national capital.
Referring to the session, he said, The two-day session of the Delhi Assembly, to be held on Thursday and Friday, being convened after a gap of one year, should be utilised to discuss the problems affecting the people and the city by Chief Minister Atishi, and not to tell her mann ki baat to glorify former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Yadav also demanded that the Chief Minister table the pending 11 Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reports during the session.
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Atishi should table these 11 pending CAG reports in the Assembly, as directed by the Lieutenant Governor to discuss the findings of the CAG, which would expose the opaque financial dealings of the Kejriwal government, to bring on the public domain the misappropriation of funds, he said.
He further said, The Assembly session should hold fruitful discussions to combat rising air pollution, carpeting of the broken roads, the matter of desilting of the drains and sewers, controlling price rise, improving the civic infrastructure, to take urgent measures to control vector-borne diseases like dengue and malaria, water shortage, inflated power bills and other such matters.
Diplomats from 15 countries visited several polling booths in the Kashmir Valley Wednesday to witness the second phase of the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
A high-level foreign delegation of diplomats from the US, Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria, and the Philippines flew to the Union Territory to observe the elections to the 90-member Legislative Assembly.
The purpose of their visit is to observe the polling process and assess how democracy is functioning on the ground, said an official.
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The diplomats visited a couple of polling booths in Srinagar and also in the Budgam district. Although visiting J&K to watch the elections is not new for foreign diplomats, the ongoing elections being held after a gap of ten years and the bifurcation of J&K into two union territories hold significance. In 2002, 20 foreign diplomats visited here during the elections.
After the abrogation of Article 370 on 5 August 2019, a 15-member foreign delegation visited Srinagar in January 2020 to meet political leaders. In May 2023, another foreign delegation visited Srinagar for the first-ever G-20 Tourism Working Group event.
Our aim is to observe the polling process and see how democracy operates on the ground, said Alice Chain, a delegate from Singapore, at the Chanpora polling booth.
This isnt my first visit to Kashmir, but it is my first time observing elections here. It feels much more festive compared to elections in Singapore. Government buildings are being used to provide easy access for voters, she added.
Alice Chain acknowledged the challenges of visiting polling stations as a foreign diplomat, saying they were fulfilling their observation mission.
Our purpose is to engage with the people of this large and diverse country. Elections are crucial, said another female diplomat, who is visiting Srinagar for the first time.
A delegate seemed surprised by the concept of a Pink Polling Station. This is the first time I have encountered something like a Pink Polling Station, he remarked, adding that it may be designed to encourage higher voter turnout.
I have never seen anything like it before, he continued. Im glad to be here and observe how democracy is functioning.
Meanwhile, National Conference leader and party candidate for Ganderbal Omar Abdullah slammed the BJP-led Central government over the foreign delegation. I dont know why foreigners should be asked to check elections, he said.
When foreign governments comment on J&K, the government of India says this is an internal matter for India, now suddenly they want foreign observers to come and look at our elections, he pointed out.
If diplomats can be brought here, why are foreign journalists not being permitted to come here and cover the elections? Diplomats are being brought here as guided tourists. This is not good, Omar said.
A high-level delegation of senior diplomats from 15 countries, including the United States, South Korea and Norway, has arrived in Jammu and Kashmir to witness the ongoing Assembly elections.
The countries represented in the delegation include the United States, Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria, and the Philippines.
However, the visit drew criticism from Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) leader Omar Abdullah, who questioned the presence of foreign diplomats in Jammu and Kashmir.
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I dont understand it. When the same people comment on Jammu and Kashmir, the Government of India issues a statement that Jammu and Kashmir is our internal matter and others should not interfere. If you do not want interference or their comments, why are they being brought here? he asked.
Abdullah said that the people are not voting because they are satisfied with the Government of India but they have come out to exercise their franchise despite facing all the hardships.
People are not voting here because they are very happy with the government of India, but (the fact is) people are exercising their franchise despite all the attempts by the government of India. Otherwise, the government has not left any stone unturned in the last 6-7 years in troubling the peopleThe credit should go to people but the government of India is taking it, he said.
He further asked if diplomats can be allowed, why permission has not been granted to foreign journalists to cover the elections.
If diplomats can be brought here, why are foreign journalists not being permitted to come here and cover the elections? he questioned.
He accused the government of treating the diplomats as guided tourists and asserted that this practice was inappropriate.
Voting for the second phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir is currently underway. The results will be announced on October 8. This is the first time that the assembly elections are being held in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 provisions in August 2019.
Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar Wednesday claimed that Bharat is a near USD 4 trillion economy that has 8 per cent growth prospects for decades to come.
India is now a global happening place and Uttar Pradesh, the state bubbling with activity, he said while claiming that Bharat is now one of the most buoyant economies in the world and a favourite destination for global investment.
Delivering the inaugural address at the 2nd edition of the Uttar Pradesh International Trade Show 2024, held in Greater Noida, the Vice-President emphasised the significant advancements in Indias infrastructure, stating, We now have the worlds second-largest metro network, and the number of cities with airports has doubled from 70 to 140. India is the largest connected nation globally, with over 800 million broadband users.
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Praising the countrys infrastructure development, VP Dhankhar cited the addition of 8 new airports annually, rapid expansion of metro systems, and the daily construction of 28 kilometres of highway. He pointed out that the 12 new industrial zones taking shape under Prime MinisterNarendra Modis leadership, will boost manufacturing and position India to capitalise on emerging technologies like AI, electric mobility, and semiconductors.
He further highlighted the impact of digital technologies, which have enabled housing for 170 million people, health coverage for 60 million, and loans for 58 million small businesses annually.
In terms of digital financial transactions, India records the highest globally, with 13 billion transactions per month. Additionally, we boast the worlds third-largest startup ecosystem, featuring 117 unicorns and the third-largest purchasing power in the world, he noted.
VP Dhankhar also underscored the importance of the semiconductor industry, stating, This industry, which is critical to our growth, is projected to surpass USD 55 billion by 2026. I have no doubt this century belongs to Bharat.
Additionally, the Vice-President highlighted Bharats remarkable leap from Make in India to Conceptualise, Design, and Make in India. He noted that India is now engaged in its own concept evolution, with both multinational corporations and Indian companies adopting a synergetic stance.
This event, Mr Dhankhar remarked, aligns with Prime Minister Modis vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat and embraces the motto of Local to Global. First, it was Vocal for Local, and now we are taking it to the next level with Local to Global. Indias progress is evident in various sectors, and this trade show serves as the right epicentre to propel that growth, he added.
The VP lauded Uttar Pradeshs transformation into Uttam Pradesh under the synergy between Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths execution. He highlighted that this same synergy is propelling Indias transformation towards a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Commending Uttar Pradesh CM Adityanath, the Vice-President highlighted how Uttar Pradesh, once plagued with challenges, has been transformed into a beacon of progress and development. Nothing is more important for investment than Law and order. Law and order defines Democracy and the CM of UP Yogi Adityanath defines Law and order! he noted.
The Vice-President also highlighted the significance of showcasing Vietnam as the Partner Country at the trade show, describing it as a natural partnership that will foster cultural and economic exchanges between the two nations while strengthening the resolve for a greater role for Global South in international affairs. Vietnam has an impressive GDP of USD 435 billion, and we look forward to witnessing their exceptional products and innovative manufacturing practices, the VP said.
In this phenomenal economic upsurge and unprecedented infrastructure growth across the nation, the largest state of Uttar Pradesh is playing a pivotal role, unlike the scenario that existed a few years ago, he pointed out.
The Vice President expressed confidence that under CM Yogi Adityanaths able leadership, Uttar Pradesh will achieve its target of becoming a USD1 trillion economy by 2027, contributing significantly to Indias emergence as a USD 5 trillion economy.
With its vast resources, burgeoning population, and strategic location, Uttar Pradesh is emerging as a growth engine propelling Indias economic trajectory. The Vice President stated, Uttar Pradesh is no longer a sleeping giant; it is now a state in action, leveraging its strengths such as fertile land, a young workforce, religious tourism, and a vibrant ecosystem of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Recalling the past, the Vice-President noted, A decade ago, our economy was staggering, and the mood of the nation was shaky. But the last decade has seen unprecedented transformation.
The Vice-President also called for collective effort, stating, As we advance, we are witnessing a new dawn for Uttar Pradesh a future where our nation stands tall as a global leader in trade, innovation, and cultural heritage.
A key ally of the ruling DMK-led INDIA bloc, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) of Dalit leader Thol Thirumavalavan, MP, raising the issue of power share in government and veiled criticism of dynastic politics, has rattled the DMK ahead of the Dravidian majors plan to elevate the partys heir apparent Udhayanidhi Stalin as the Deputy Chief Minister.
Though the demand for a share in power proved to be a storm in a tea cup with VCK president Thirumavalavan on Tuesday making it clear that there is no dissonance in the DMK alliance, the issue has ignited a debate putting the DMK on the defensive.
He told reporters at Coimbatore that the alliance is intact and that the DMK would participate in the Prohibition Conference organised by the party on October 2 at Kallakurichi.
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A few days after an old video of Thiruavalavan speaking about the need for a share in power in government resurfaced, party Deputy General Secretary Adhav Arjuna, son of lottery baron Santiago Martin, has added fuel by claiming that the DMK could not win in north Tamil Nadu without the VCKs support and the party as well as other allies need representation in the government. He also argues that politics in Tamil Nadu is no more bipolar but has become multipolar with new claimants for power including actor Vijay.
But, what has incensed the DMK leadership was Adhavs remark When someone who was acting in movies till four years ago could become the Deputy Chief Minister, why not our leader, Thirumavalavan, who has been politics for four-long decades.
Further, justifying the demand for power share, the VCK functionary explained that while the DMK gets all the credit for anything that is good, it is the allies who have to face the people for the lapses and are also held accountable. This, according to him is bearing accountability without power.
This drew sharp reaction from the DMKs former Union Minister and Deputy General Secretary A Raja who dismissed Adhav as a green horn in politics and his views are immature and not in tune with coalition ethics.
He also expressed hope that Thirumavalavan would take necessary action and rein in Adhav, a recent entrant to the VCK. Even as Adhav remains firm in his stand, VCK MP and party veteran D Ravikumar and another senior leader, Vanni Arasu, have downplayed the issue.
While Ravikumar said that Adhav is immature, Vanni Arasu maintained that it was Adhavs personal view and not that of the party. Interestingly, Adhav is among the few prominent non-Dalit faces in the party.
Now, the VCK has two Lok Sabha MPs including Thirumavalavan and four legislators, of whom two were elected from general constituencies. It has also secured the recognition of the Election Commission of India.
On his part, Thirumavalavan had desisted from either rebuking Adhav or dissociating from him and made it clear that he had discussed the issue with senior party colleagues over the phone and since it is an internal matter of the party it would be taken at the appropriate party forum.
Analysts are divided on the issue with some observing that the VCK leadership is taking a calculated risk, while others explained it as an aspiration of a political party which could not be decried as an attempt at weakening the DMK-led alliance.
Anticipating an attack on Kuki-Zo tribals in Manipur, various tribal organisations, including the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), have asked people not to travel outside Kuki-Zo dominated areas between September 26 and 29.
After an emergency meeting, the ITLF has announced closure of borders (between Kuki-Zo community and Meitei inhabited areas) during September 26 to 29, closure of schools, institutions and offices from September 27 to 29 and complete shutdown on September 28 in the areas inhabited by tribals belonging to Kuki-Zo community.
Directing all village volunteers and citizens to be on high alert during these days, the ITLF, an apex body of the Kuki-Zo-Hmar community tribals, said that medical teams and ambulances (private and government) to be on standby between September 26-29.
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Additionally, we ask that all district security personnel, be it state or Central, remain extremely vigilant in order to thwart any external attacks, an ITLF statement said.
The tribal body in their statement claimed that the Manipur government had accumulated highly advanced MMG MK 2A1 weapons earlier this month.
Recently, Advisor to the Manipur government Kuldiep Singh made hints about an impending attack on September 28, the statement added.
Accusing rival community armed groups, the ITLF said that there are indications that an attack plan is being intended towards the Kuki-Zo community.
Previously, an assault on Kuki-Zo occurred shortly after the Manipur government announced the presence of 200 Kuki militants in Jiribam. The 900 armed men from Myanmar who are supposedly moving must be a ruse for attacking the Kuki-Zo community, the statement added.
Another prominent tribal body, Kuki Inpi Sadar Hills, issued an urgent advisory to all Kuki citizens, calling for heightened vigilance and caution on September 28.
There is credible intelligence suggesting that the radicalised militant groups backed by rival communities may be planning to carry out a violent attack against our people. This potential threat stems from baseless and inflammatory lies being spread by rival community falsely claiming that 900 Kuki militants have reached Manipur and are preparing to launch an assault, the organisation said in a statement.
On September 20, quoting social media reports, Kuldiep Singh had said that around 900 well-trained Kuki militants infiltrated from Myanmar to Manipur.
Singh added that the police is treating this alarming development with utmost seriousness, implementing necessary precautionary measures to counter potential threats.
Assam Rifles and Central Armed Police Force, including Border Security Force, have been placed on high alert in districts bordering Myanmar, such as Kamjong, Tengnoupal, Pherzawl, Churachandpur. Unless and until the intelligence input is proved wrong of the infiltration of Kuki militants in Manipur, we have to maintain high alert, said Singh, a former CRPF Director General.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Maharashtra on Thursday and lay the foundation stone and dedicate to the nation various projects worth over Rs 22,600 crore, including initiatives of the petroleum and natural gas sector worth Rs 10,400 crore.
During his visit, Mr Modi will inaugurate the Solapur Airport which will significantly improve connectivity, making Solapur more accessible to tourists, business travellers, and investors. The existing terminal building of the Solapur Airport has been revamped to serve around 4.1 lakh passengers annually.
The Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation the Bidkin Industrial Area, a transformative project covering an expansive 7,855 acres under the National Industrial Corridor Development Program of the Central government, situated 20 km south of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra.
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The project developed under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor holds immense potential as a vibrant economic hub in the Marathwada region. The Central Government has approved this project with an overall project cost of over Rs 6,400 crore for development in three phases.
In Pune, earlier, the prime minister will flag off from the District Court Metro Station the Metro train scheduled to run from District Court to Swargate, Pune. The inauguration of the project will mark the completion of Phase 1 of the Pune Metro Rail Project. The cost of the underground section between the District Court to Swargate is around Rs 1,810 crore.
Mr Modi will then lay the foundation stone for the Swargate-Katraj Extension of Pune Metro Phase-1 to be developed at the cost of around Rs 2,950 crore. This southern extension of around 5.46 km is completely underground with three stations, Market Yard, Padmavati, and Katraj.
The prime minister will lay the foundation stone for the Memorial of Kranti Jyoti Savitribai Phules First Girls School at Bhidewada.
In line with his commitment to make India self-reliant in the field of Supercomputing technology, the prime minister will dedicate to the nation three PARAM Rudra Supercomputers worth around Rs 130 crore, developed indigenously under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
These supercomputers have been deployed in Pune, Delhi and Kolkata to facilitate pioneering scientific research. The Giant Metre Radio Telescope (GMRT) in Pune will leverage the supercomputer to explore Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) and other astronomical phenomena.
The Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC) in Delhi will enhance research in fields like material science and atomic physics. S.N. Bose Centre in Kolkata will drive advanced research in areas such as physics, cosmology, and earth sciences.
The Prime Minister will also inaugurate a High-Performance Computing (HPC) system tailored for weather and climate research. This project represents an investment of Rs 850 crore, marking a significant leap in Indias computational capabilities for meteorological applications.
Located at two key sites, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune and the National Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (NCMRWF) in Noida, this HPC system has extraordinary computing power.
The new HPC systems are named Arka and Arunika, reflecting their connection to the Sun. These high-resolution models will significantly enhance the accuracy and lead time of predictions related to tropical cyclones, heavy precipitation, thunderstorms, hailstorms, heat waves, droughts, and other critical weather phenomena.
The petroleum and natural gas sector initiatives worth Rs 10,400 crore focus on energy, infrastructure, safety and convenience of truck and cab drivers, cleaner mobility, and a sustainable future.
To enable ease of driving, the prime minister will launch the Way Side Amenities for truck drivers at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra; Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab; Songadh, Gujarat; Belagavi and Bangalore Rural, Karnataka.
To develop modern facilities for a comfortable journey break at one place designed to cater to the needs of truckers and cab drivers during their long journeys, wayside amenities such as affordable boarding and lodging facilities, clean toilets, safe parking space, cooking area, WiFi, Gym, etc. are being developed at a cost of around Rs 2,170 crore at 1,000 retail outlets.
The prime minister will dedicate to the nation 20 Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) stations across the country including three in Maharashtra.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday unveiled the state governments anti-pollution Winter Action Plan (WAP) with measures like air quality monitoring at hotspots through drones, a campaign to curb dust, new anti-pollution task forces, and other ways to combat the rise in pollution during the cold season.
Rai said for the first time pollution would be monitored by drones at hotspots while a six-member special task force would be formed to implement the anti-pollution measures.
He credited the ten historic steps taken by the Delhi government for air pollution level in the national capital coming down by 34.6 per cent.
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Beginning in November, mobile anti-smog guns will be deployed on roads in three shifts, Rai added.
As part of the plan, Odd-Even and artificial rain have been kept on standby as emergency measures, while work from home will be encouraged during the rise in pollution levels, the minister added.
Rai informed that a letter has been written to the Union Environment Minister to convene a meeting of all relevant departments to discuss artificial rain.
According to the minister, 360 teams have been formed to control pollution caused by vehicles, and will also monitor construction sites, while 588 teams will be formed to stop burning garbage in the open. Advanced Green War Room will be created and the citys residents will also be able to complain on the Green Delhi App, he added.
Declaring that Delhi is fully prepared to tackle the winter pollution, he said this time, free spraying of bio-decomposer will be conducted on over 5,000 acres of farmland in Delhi.
According to the minister, all construction sites over 500 square meters must be registered on the Dust Control web portal for monitoring by the government, and for the implementation of the 14-point Dust Control rules, 523 teams will regularly inspect these sites.
Traffic Police teams will be deployed on 134 congested roads to reduce congestion, and alternate routes will be suggested to the public.
The minister said all 1,959 registered industrial units in Delhi are now powered by piped natural gas (PNG), and as per plan, 58 teams will inspect these units to ensure they are not using unauthorized and polluting fuels.
A Real-Time Source Apportionment Study regarding pollution will be conducted under the supervision of the DPCC to identify pollution sources in real-time, the minister added.
The Israeli military confirmed on Tuesday that it killed a senior Hezbollah commander in an airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut.
In a statement, the military identified the commander as Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi, who was reportedly in charge of Hezbollahs missile and rocket operations.
Alongside him were other key commanders in Hezbollahs missile and rocket array, the military stated, Xinhua news agency reported.
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Hezbollah has not yet commented on Qubaisis death.
The airstrike is part of Israels most extensive bombardments against Lebanon since 2006, launched on Monday and Tuesday, which has resulted in over 550 fatalities and more than 1,800 injuries across the country.
The significant escalation has raised concerns about the potential for a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with fears that other nations could also become involved.
Saint-Laurent, CA (H4T1V6)
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Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 42F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
COLOMBO, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) remains a steadfast partner and is ready to assist Sri Lanka achieve its development and reform goals, said a letter from IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva to Sri Lankan newly elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
In the letter dated Sept. 24, Georgieva said she is confident that the leadership of Dissanayake will help Sri Lanka secure a future of stability, prosperity, and inclusive growth.
She said the IMF looks forward to working with the newly elected president towards building on the hard-won gains that have helped put Sri Lanka on a path to recover from its worst economic crises.
"I look forward to deepening the mutually beneficial relationship between the IMF and Sri Lanka and wish you every success in your endeavors," Georgieva said.
This letter followed a statement from the IMF on Tuesday that the organization is eager to collaborate with Sri Lanka's newly elected president.
In March 2023, the IMF approved a 48-month Extended Fund Facility arrangement, amounting to approximately 3 billion U.S. dollars, to support Sri Lanka's economic reform and recovery efforts.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Tuesday that China is ready to continue to be Argentina's good friend and good partner in pushing forward development.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during talks with Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
China, he said, always attaches great importance to its relations with Argentina, and maintains continuity and stability in its policy toward the country.
He called on the two sides to continue to place China-Argentina relations at an important position in each other's foreign policies and deepen political mutual trust.
Noting that the two economies are highly complementary and their practical cooperation enjoys a solid foundation, Wang also urged the two countries to support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns.
For her part, Mondino said Argentina prizes the Chinese market, and Chinese enterprises are welcome to invest and do business in her country.
Mondino also expressed her hope that the two countries can expand bilateral economic and trade cooperation, saying that Argentina is ready to actively participate in China-Latin America cooperation.
President of Xinhua News Agency Fu Hua meets with Isabel Domingos, Sao Tome and Principe's ambassador to China, in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- President of Xinhua News Agency Fu Hua met with Isabel Domingos, Sao Tome and Principe's ambassador to China, in Beijing on Wednesday.
Fu said that the outcomes of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) have charted the future course and mapped out the blueprint for the common development of China and Africa.
During the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Sao Tome and Principe's Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada announced the elevation of bilateral ties to a strategic partnership.
Fu said guided by the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, Xinhua will tell good stories about the win-win cooperation and people-to-people ties between the two countries, as well as between China and Africa.
Fu added that Xinhua will give full play to its advantages in global outreach to contribute to the common pursuit of China and African countries in realizing modernization.
Highlighting the importance of people-to-people exchanges in bilateral relations, Domingos said the Embassy of Sao Tome and Principe in China stands ready to promote the cooperation between the African country's media organizations and Xinhua, implement the outcomes of the FOCAC summit and bring benefits to the two peoples.
As a Kashmir watcher for more than 30 years, I must talk about the shifting sands in the valley where the first elections are being held in over a decade. This is also the first poll since the abrogation of article 370. But the fascinating development is the mainstreaming of separatist elements in this election.
The banned socio-religious organisation, the Jamaat-e-Islami, shut down by the Modi government in 2019 under the anti-terror law, has backed at least 10 candidates across the valley. Engineer Rashid, jailed in a terror funding case and out on bail, did not just win a Lok Sabha seat by a record margin; he has now fielded or backed at least 30 candidates. In some way, it is the mainstreaming of separatism and an electoral moderation of extremist politics.
The last time we saw this on a smaller scale in Kashmir was in 2002, when Sajad Lone, then a separatist, fielded a proxy candidate. Today, Lone is regarded as mainstream and there is a new generation of experimental leaders dipping their toes in election waters.
Imaging: Deni Lal
What this may throw up remains unpredictable.
Parties like Omar Abdullahs National Conference and Mehbooba Muftis PDP have accused the Jamaat-backed candidates, as well as Rashid, of being proxies for the BJP. Others like CPI(M) veteran Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami, who is being challenged in Kulgam by a Jamaat candidate, go one step further. Delhi is facilitating these people, it is an ashirwaad [blessing] for those who were previously called anti-India, said Tarigami.
I asked Sayar Ahmed Reshi, the Jamaat candidate taking on Tarigami, what made him take the electoral plunge. Development and cleaning up the political system of wrongdoing, of goondas, he told me, as he campaigned in a remote village. The Jamaat-e-Islami last engaged with electoral politics in 1987, in an election widely believed to be rigged. That election birthed the rise of Syed Salahuddin, today the head of the Hizbul Mujahideen, who sought refuge in Pakistan.
The other big change in the election is the complete absence of any reference to Pakistan. There was a time when separatists and militants, backed by Pakistan, would give boycott calls in every election. Kashmir has officially ended the politics of boycott and shifted to the politics of participation.
Is this a rebel vote within the framework of democracy? Is there simmering discontent beneath the surface? Do the bustling night bazaars and thronging tourists capture the full picture? Is article 370 still an issue? The answers to some of these questions will take time to emerge.
But, as Riyaz Majid, a professor who has joined Engineer Rashids party, told me, This election is about unlocking our suffocation. We were sitting in an apple orchard in south Kashmir and talking with a group of other politicians. As the apples were plucked from the trees and pulped into juice, in Kashmirs version of a farm-to-table experience, one of them spontaneously raised his glass of juice and said, Cheers to democracy.
And so we all toasted the people of Jammu and Kashmir and democracy.
The outcome of the election may throw up major surprises. The debate will continue over who was backed by whom and what the blueprint may be to smash the status quo. But the process is way more interesting than the result.
I can drink to that.
editor@theweek.in
A San Francisco-based techie of Indian origin has unveiled Iris, a wearable device, that can capture "infinite memory of your life".
Advait Paliwal, who came up with Iris, says the design of the AI wearable device is inspired by the evil eye symbol.
"I built Iris, a wearable that gives you infinite memory of your life," said Paliwal in his X post.
He said the wearable device can caption the images and organise them into a timeline. Another benefit of using Iris is that it can remind you about forgotten details with the help of AI.
Iris, which also has a focus mode, will know when you become distracted and alerts you to get back on track.
Developed at the Augmentation Lab in Cambridge, Iris got positive reviews at the MIT Media Lab. Though Paliwal highlighted how it would help caretakers monitor elderly patients, some social media users have flagged privacy concerns.
Earlier this year, Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, former Apple executives, established Humane Inc which came up with a standalone screenless wearble device called Ai Pin. The $699 device is fitted with an ultra-wide RGB camera that can capture images and uses AI features to analyse images including how much calories is available in your food.
Open AI is reportedly working on a futuristic AI-centric computing device with the help of former Apple design chief Jony Ive.
A rule-based international order and the primacy of global institutions are significant for maintaining peace in the emerging multipolar and multilateral world, Lt General J.P. Mathew, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), stressed at the recently held Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defence conference.
Lt Gen JP Mathew, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff #CISC, #HQ_IDS_India joining forces with global defence leaders for deepening security cooperation opportunities to safeguards & build regional capacity at the Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defence #IPCHOD meeting under aegis of pic.twitter.com/0PV4GZ3YHm HQ IDS (@HQ_IDS_India) September 20, 2024
The conference titled The Future Indo-Pacific: Building a Resilient and Interconnected Region, held in Hawaii in the US from September 18 to 20 discussed issues raging from future of the Indo-Pacific, safeguarding the international system, regional capacity building, and threats and opportunities of emerging technologies. The meeting was held with the intention of improving military-to-military cooperation.
ALSO READ: Understanding 'Project 33', the US Navy's ambitious plan to outpace China by 2027
Lt General Mathew noted that all the stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific region, especially the developing countries, want peace, stability, and prosperity. With international forums undergoing much-needed reforms, flexible and dynamic councils could present solutions to deal with contemporary challenges, he added.
The participants agreed on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a general-purpose technology which has a multiplier effect on other technologies and functions. A robust AI model, which is under constant training, could give policy fidelity and maintain checks and balances, especially in matters related to the use of strategic weapons, a defence ministry release stated.
READ MORE: 'India a middle power in Asia': Country rises in Indo-Pacific power rankings, lags in economic ties: Lowy Institute
The meeting also arrived at the conclusion that the imposition of strict regulations on AI would be a regressive step as it may lead to the denial of this important technology to developing countries.
The Chinese military, on Wednesday, test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a dummy warhead in the Pacific Ocean.
#China test-fired an #ballistic #IntercontinentalMissile (ICBM), likely the DF-41, with a range of about 12,000 km.
The DF-41 is China's longest-range missile, capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 25 and designed to carry up to 10 nuclear warheads.
Read more: pic.twitter.com/LbBsEmbmka News.Az (@news_az) September 25, 2024
The test comes as missile activities have been ratcheting up in the Asia-Pacific region, and amid rising tensions with the US and its allies.
ALSO READ: Understanding 'Project 33', the US Navy's ambitious plan to outpace China by 2027
According to the Chinese defence ministry, the launch tested weaponry performance and military training effectiveness and achieved desired goals.
The missile fell into expected sea areas, the statement said, adding that this was a routine arrangement in the annual training plan and relevant countries had been notified in advance.
Geo-intelligence researcher Damien Symon, in a tweet, said, available public data mapped shows danger zones almost as close as 90-km to the Philippines were announced by China as a part of this test.
China has confirmed the successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the Pacific Ocean, available public data mapped shows danger zones almost as close as 90-km to the Philippines were announced by China as a part of this test pic.twitter.com/ZqovtlQhEu Damien Symon (@detresfa_) September 25, 2024
Even as China claimed that this was a routine arrangement as part of its annual training plan, it is the first time in four decades that China publicly announced an intercontinental ballistic missile test in the Pacific Ocean. Nonetheless, the type of missile that was tested and its flight path are shrouded in mystery.
READ MORE: China flexes naval power: All three aircraft carriers at sea for first time in history. What does it mean?
Meanwhile, a nuclear weapons specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Ankit Panda, in a tweet, claimed that given that China does not do this kind of test annually, its description of the test as "routine" and "annual" was odd.
Unless I'm missing something, I think this is essentially the first time this has happened (and been announced as such) in a long time. Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) September 25, 2024
Drew Thompson, a defence expert, said the test is a "powerful signal intended to intimidate everyone."
China launches a lot of missiles. They dont announce a lot of them. Its interesting that they would choose now, CNN quoted Thompson as saying.
"Timing is everything. The PLA statement claims the launch does not target any country, but there are high-levels of tension between China and Japan, Philippines, and of course perpetual tension with Taiwan.
China chose to launch an ICBM during the United Nations General Assembly.
This is not just a signal to the U.S., Japan, Philippines and Taiwan. Drew Thompson (@TangAnZhu) September 25, 2024
This launch is a powerful signal intended to intimidate everyone," he wrote in a tweet.
The highly anticipated Devara: Part 1 is set to break records this weekend, with advance bookings already racking up Rs 50 crore worldwide.
According to Sacnilk, a data collection website predominantly for Indian films, the pre-sales crossed Rs 28 crore domestically, with an additional Rs 22 crore worldwide.
Close to 7 lakh tickets have been sold in India, with 6,76,420 sold to Telugu audience. Given the massive advance bookings, the film is expected to join the 100-crore club. The film was initially set for release as a single film, but was later split into two parts.
The film is being released in Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam.
Interestingly, the Hindi version is racking up the second-most sales after the original Telugu, with tickets worth Rs 16 lakh sold. The popularity in north India is mostly due to Jr NTR's RRR, which won Best Original Song for Naatu Naatu at the Oscars in 2023.
Also, the song Chuttamalle by Anirudh Ravichander in the film has gone viral, with over 135 million views on YouTube.
Directed and written by Koratala Siva, Devara: Part 1 follows the life of titular character Devara, who is tasked with a mission at sea to protect his people, but finds himself facing his brother Bhaira, who conspired against him.
The film stars N.T. Rama Rao Jr, Jhanvi Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Chaitra Rai and Shine Tom Chacko. It is the first Telugu film for Kapoor and Khan.
Malayalam actor Siddique, who is facing charges of sexual misconduct, tried to silence the complainant, a female artist, the Kerala High Court said. Coming down heavily on the popular Mollywood star, the court observed that prima facie there was evidence to all accusations levelled against him by the complainant.
The Kerala High Court observed that the complaints levelled against Siddue, a former office bearer of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (A.M.M.A), were serious. There were no reasons for the court to not trust the survivor and it was necessary to interrogate the accused. A potency test should be conducted on Siddiue, Malayalam News 18 quoted the High Court as saying.
READ HERE | Malayalam actor Siddique likely to be arrested as HC rejects his anticipatory bail petition
When Siddique's lawyer questioned the credibility of the complainant, the court said that being a survivor of sexual atrocities is no ground to mistrust her. The accused repeatedly tried to threaten her into silence, the court added. The defense was also criticised by the court for the defamatory remarks made against her while moving an anticipatory bail petition.
No relief for Siddique
The Kerala High Court had rejected Siddique's anticipatory bail petition. Following the development, a lookout notice has been issued against the actor.
Siddique, who served as the general secretary of A.M.M.A. (The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists) had quit after the allegations surfaced.
ALSO READ | Rape allegation: Actor Siddique was at hotel in 2016 for film preview, Thiruvananthapuram Police confirms
The complainant, who initially raised allegations against Siddique in 2019, formally lodged a complaint following the release of the Justice K. Hema Committee Reportwhich shook Mollywood.
Rape allegation against Siddique
Following the release of the Hema Committee report, a young female actor had alleged Siddique of sexual misconduct in 2016.
The complainant had said it was in January or February of 2016 that she was sexually assaulted by the actor during the preview of a movie. The data gathered from the establishment confirmed that the preview did take place, and Siddique was present for the event, ManoramaOnline said in a report.
According to the survivor, she was 21 years old, when the senior actor invited her to Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram for a discussion. Siddique is accused of sexually assaulting the woman in his room before locking her up. She managed to flee later and was not let out intentionally, the complaint says. According to her complainant, many women in the industry had had similar "bad experiences" from Siddique.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor once again threw his weight behind CPI(M) legislator and actor Mukesh, who was arrested in a sexual assault case on Tuesday. The Kollam MLA need not resign because he was booked in the case, the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha member and intellectual said.
The Congress and the CPI(M) are bitter rivals in the southern state despite being members of the I.N.D.I Alliance nationally. Tharoor's party colleague and Kollam DCC chief Bindhu Krishnan was defeated by popular Mollywood star Mukesh to get re-elected from his home turf.
ALSO READ | Malayalam actor Edavela Babu arrested in rape case
Tharoor once again backed the Left leader while his party remains on the warpath demanding his resignation.
If Mukesh resigns now and is proven innocent in the said case three months later, there is no way for him to reclaim the position, Tharoor said. The police are doing their job, but there is no need for a person to resign his office based on an accusation, he said.
The former Union Minister of State said that this was his personal opinion and not that of his party, Mathrubhimi reported.
ALSO READ | Rape case: Malayalam actor Siddique should undergo potency test, Kerala HC finds no reason to doubt complainant
"An MLA is a representative of the people, who was elected by the voters. Now there has been an arrest. If found guilty, the story is different. If the the representative resigns on mere allegations, or if the police say we don't have a case after three months, what will happen to his position?" Tharoor reportedly asked.
"People have certain rights to elect their representatives. That's it. I am a person who believes that no matter who does wrong, justice should be delivered in its own way," Mathrubhumi quoted Tharoor as saying.
ALSO READ | Malayalam actor Jayasurya, facing sexual harassment charges, reaches Kochi from USA
When the allegations of sexual misconduct against Mukesh came up, Tharoor had said that every person has the right to prove his innocence. First, it should be proven whether he is guilty or innocent. The rest of the discussions can wait, he added. The Congressman had said that if there were multiple harassment complaints against a person, it should be seriously investigated.
Sexual harassment charges agaist Mukesh
Mukesh was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for allegedly sexually assaulting another female actor a decade ago in Kochi. He was released on bail after his formal arrest, having already secured bail. Before his arrest was formally recorded, Mukesh was interrogated by the SIT for more than three hours at the Coastal Police Headquarters here.
The rape complaints were filed after the state Culture Ministry released selected portions of the Justice K Hema Committee report following a legal battle. The committee was established by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case. Its report highlighted instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry.
The father of Akshay Shinde, accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case who was killed by police in `retaliatory firing', has moved the Bombay High Court seeking probe by a special investigation team into the death.
Anna Shinde, in his petition filed through advocate Amit Katarnaware, alleged that his son was killed in a "fake encounter". An SIT should be formed to probe the killing and the high court should monitor the investigation, the petition demanded.
"The accused was in custody when he was shot dead in a fake encounter. This is a cold-blooded murder by criminals in uniforms," advocate Katarnaware said. The petition will be heard by a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday.
Shinde, 24, was accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls at a school in Badlapur town of Thane district. A contractual sweeper at the school, Shinde was arrested on August 17 even as the crime triggered massive protests in the state.
Shinde was being taken to Badlapur from Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai on Monday evening in connection with an FIR registered against him on the complaint of his former wife when the firing incident took place, which resulted in his death, police have said.
He was killed near Mumbra bypass when he allegedly snatched the gun of a policeman in the escort team, officials claimed. After he shot and injured an assistant inspector of police, another officer fired at him, and he was declared dead at the Kalwa civil hospital, the police claimed.
The Maharashtra government earlier on Tuesday said the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) will conduct a probe into his death. \
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to hold a meeting with the medical superintendent and vice principals (MSVPs) of all state-run medical colleges primarily to review security measures at those facilities on Thursday, a well-placed source said.
The meeting was convened after a one-month-long agitation by junior doctors demanding stronger security arrangements following the rape and murder of a medic in state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
While the MSVPs of the five medical colleges in Kolkata are likely to be present physically at the state secretariat Nabanna for the meeting, such officials of the facilities in districts might be present via virtual mode, the source said.
The state health secretary and other senior officials of the health department would also be present.
"The meeting is primarily to review the functioning of health facilities and the improvement of safety, security and patient services," the bureaucrat said.
The chief minister, who is also the state health minister, had earlier called a similar meeting on September 12, which was later cancelled.
Banerjee, who is also the state health minister, also directed the district magistrates, police superintendents, CMOHs (of all health districts), and other senior officials of the district health department to be present in Thursday's meeting, he said.
The state government has said that the authorities in the different hospitals in the state would be responsible for the security at each of the medical establishments.
NANJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese research team has isolated an antibody from alpacas that can effectively inhibit HIV, providing a promising avenue for the development of new anti-AIDS drugs.
The findings were recently published in the international academic journal Nature Communications.
Antiretroviral therapy is currently the primary clinical approach to inhibiting HIV replication, according to Wu Zhiwei, professor at the School of Medicine, Nanjing University.
While this treatment effectively extends the lifespan of patients, it may lead to significant drug resistance in the virus. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore new therapies, said Wu, who is also a co-corresponding author of the research.
The primary approach in the clinical development of new anti-AIDS drugs targets the process by which the virus enters host cells. In this process, a receptor known as CD4 acts as a "doorknob," which the virus utilizes to open the cell's "door."
The researcher team isolated thousands of CD4 nanobodies (a smaller, more stable type of antibody) from alpacas, of which Nb457 showed the potential to inhibit HIV.
They built a series of pseudoviruses to simulate 117 HIV strains and caused them to interact with Nb457.
The results showed that Nb457 effectively inhibited 116 virus strains, showing good broad-spectrum and antiviral activity.
In true virus tests, the trimeric nanobodies engineered from Nb457 have demonstrated potent inhibition of HIV, said Wu Xilin, a researcher at the School of Medicine, Nanjing University, another co-corresponding author of the research.
The results of mice experiments also showed that the virus was almost undetectable in the treated mice, and no drug-resistant mutations were found, Wu said.
HIV mutates rapidly and is prone to drug resistance, leading to a decline in drug efficacy, according to Wu.
The newly discovered antibody does not target the virus itself but the "doorknob" CD4, making it less likely to induce drug resistance in the virus and offering significant implications for the development of new anti-AIDS drugs and clinical treatment, Wu said.
Last week, junior doctors of state government-run hospitals in West Bengal returned to duty after more than 40 days of protests and strikes triggered by the tragic rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. They are now dedicated to aiding those impacted by the ongoing flood situation in the state.
After concluding their strike on September 19, junior doctors from RG Kar and various other state government-run medical colleges have operated around 30 camps in flood-affected areas in the districts of Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, and Hooghly where the water has receded.
Through these camps, named 'Abhaya Clinic' in honour of the victim, doctors are not only offering medical care but are also providing medicines and food to flood victims.
Initially, junior doctors had launched these clinics to provide telemedicine services on weekends during the protests, addressing concerns that their strike was denying underprivileged people medical attention in state government facilities. Subsequently, they set up physical camps with the same name outside of medical colleges and other public places.
Abhaya Clinics in flood-hit areas have provided significant relief to individuals with chronic illnesses and those newly affected by water-borne diseases. This support has been crucial as regular medical facilities have been overwhelmed, initially due to the absence of junior doctors and now because of the flooding.
After we ended our strike, we decided that we have to visit the flood areas on humanitarian grounds. The situation is extremely worrying as people are spending their days at relief camps or on terraces of taller buildings, mostly schools, RG Kars Dr. Aniket Mahato, a leading face of the movement, told THE WEEK.
The junior doctors also see these camps as an opportunity to expand their ongoing movement to rural parts of West Bengal, demonstrating their commitment to providing medical care to every citizen. Additionally, these camps are being viewed as a response to the West Bengal governments claim in the Supreme Court that 23 people had died due to the doctors strike.
"In these camps, we have interacted with a large section of people from outside of Kolkata. They are now seeing that junior doctors can go to any extent for their service," Dr. Mahato said. "People have realised that our movement was not meant to deprive anyone."
To their surprise, he says, most people were aware of the movement by junior doctors. People had been protesting independently in their own areas and even joined the Reclaim the Night event on August 14.
Junior doctors ensured their ongoing movement was visible in the camps by wearing badges and using prescriptions marked with Justice for RG Kar.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has described this as the most severe flood in the Lower Damodar and surrounding areas since 2009, affecting more than 5 million people and killing 28. Several areas are facing power shortages.
During her administrative meeting in Birbhum's Bolpur on Tuesday, the chief minister asked the power department to restore electricity as soon as possible. The state government has also announced plans to repair damaged public infrastructure and homes and provide compensation to farmers who have suffered crop losses.
The main accused in the brutal killing of a womanwhose dismembered body was found in the fridge of her house in Bengaluruwas found dead in Odishas Bhadrak district on Wednesday.
According to reports, Mukti Ranjan Roy was found hanging on a tree.
Earlier in the day, Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara had said that the government had sent multiple police teams to Odisha to nab Roy after they got information about his presence in the state.
"After securing him, we will get more information....two-three persons were taken into custody, but based on the evidence and information available, there is a suspicion about the involvement of the person (in Odisha). So efforts are on to secure him, he had said.
Bengaluru's Shraddha Walker case? Woman's body stored in fridge after chopped into 30 pieces; here's what police says
The maggot-infested body of Mahalakshmi, chopped into over 30 pieces and stuffed into the fridge, was found by her mother and elder sister at her Vyalikaval home on Saturday. Police claimed that she might have been killed at least a week before.
Police identified the suspect after Mahalakshmis estranged husband expressed suspicion about the involvement of a man in her neighbourhood in the murder.
According to police, the victim was staying alone in her single bedroom house. She was an employee at a mall in the locality. Her own family, including her parents, lived not far from her accommodation.
Bengaluru woman's severed body in fridge investigation 5 Points: Mahalakshmi avoided neighbours, picked up and dropped by unidentified man
Reports said the accused was an acquaintance of the victim. They claimed Mahalakshmi was not close to her neighbours and hardly interacted with them. However, they have confirmed that a man used to pick her up in the morning and drop her back after work.
The incident was a stark reminder of the brutal murder of Shraddha Walker by her live-in partner Aftab Poonawalla on May 18, 2022 at Mehrauli in Delhi.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday closed suo motu proceedings initiated over alleged objectionable comments made by a Karnataka High Court judge during court proceedings.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud noted that Karnataka High Court judge Justice Vedavyasachar Srishananda, who had made those observations, had on September 21 tendered an apology for his comments in the open court there.
"We can't call any part of the territory of India as Pakistan," the CJI observed.
The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B.R. Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy, observed that courts have to be careful not to make comments in the course of judicial proceedings which may be construed as being misogynistic or for that matter prejudicial to any segment of the society.
"Casual observations may well reflect a certain degree of individual bias particularly when they are likely to be perceived as being directed to a particular gender or community," the bench said.
The top court had on September 20 taken suo motu cognisance of the high court judge's alleged objectionable comments against a woman lawyer during the court proceedings in a case and his reference to a Muslim-majority area in Bengaluru as "Pakistan" in another.
In video clips, which went viral on social media, Justice Srishananda was seen reprimanding a woman lawyer and reportedly made some objectionable comments when she intervened in an ongoing hearing.
The judge, in another case related to landlord-tenant dispute, referred to a Muslim-dominated locality in Bengaluru as "Pakistan".
"At this stage, we request the Registrar General of the High Court of Karnataka to submit a report to this court after seeking administrative directions of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka, in regard to the subject matter which has been referred to above," the apex court had said on September 20.
As Haryana inches towards the polling date, the BJP has stepped up its campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the main crowd puller for the party, during an election rally in Sonipat, talked about BJPs promise of industrialisation to create jobs which will also help the Dalits.
#WATCH | Addressing a public rally in Sonipat, PM Modi says, "Wherever the Congress government came to power, they did a lot of corruption...Congress is the party that gave birth to and nurtured corruption in India's government system. Congress is the mother of corruption in pic.twitter.com/AoBv3eHycc ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2024
He attacked the Congress, warning the people that if the grand old party returned to power it would bring back corruption and nepotism. He hit out at the Congress for trying to divide the society and argued that its support for Article 370 was a disrespect for the youth of Haryana, who, while serving in the Army, lost their lives in Kashmir fighting terrorism. Modi reminded the people that the infighting within the CongressBhupinder Singh Hooda vs Kumari Shelja signalled a divided house, which cannot provide leadership to the state.
VIDEO | Haryana Assembly Election 2024: While addressing a rally in #Sonipat, PM Modi (@narendramodi) acknowledged a boy amongst the crowd who had made a photo of him. PM Modi asked the boy to handover the photo to his security personnel and promised to write a letter to him. pic.twitter.com/fX72pie85e Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 25, 2024
Modis focus on job creation during his speech, and reference to Dalits and OBCs showed the partys strategy in wooing these sections who were key in the polls. He highlighted the importance of industrial growth for the upliftment of Dalits, referencing B.R. Ambedkars belief that job opportunities can empower those who lack land.
Modi addressed the challenges of shrinking landholdings, assuring the audience that the BJP is dedicated to fostering industries that create jobs, particularly for the youth and farmers in Haryana. He talked about his meetings with industrialists in the USA, emphasising India's talent and the potential for significant investment in the region. Modi said people of the state particularly in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Sonipat would benefit from new industry and investment.
Sonipat, Haryana: PM Modi says, "Last night, I returned from America. While in America, I met with many prominent global leaders and heads of major companies. Each of the companies whose CEOs I met conducts business worth crores of rupees. I informed them about the talent of pic.twitter.com/BQ3iaQloVS IANS (@ians_india) September 25, 2024
He pointed out Haryanas contribution to the nations economy, noting that it accounts for 35per cent of carpet exports and 20 per cent of textile exports, particularly from Panipat, underscoring the need for continued job creation.
Hailing OBC leader Nayab Singh Saini, he emphasised his commitment to the people, noting that his doors are always open for dialogue.
Modi will again address BJP booth workers through Namo App. He is expected to motivate the partys grassroot workers who manage booths to ensure maximum voting on polling day. The booth workers have been key to BJPs success in the elections.
The BJP is facing a challenge from the Congress as the latter is cashing in on the 10-year anti-incumbency of the saffron party rule. The BJP had even changed its CM to tide over the fatigue in the voters. The party is hoping that its booth management, coupled with promises of creating jobs, industrial townships and cash stipends for women would see it through on the polling day.
A close contest is on the cards.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday raised some pertinent questions over the encounter in which the Badlapur sexual assault accused was shot dead in police custody. The high court was hearing a petition filed by Akshay Shindes father Anna Shinde who alleged that his son was killed in a fake encounter.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan said the incident could have been avoided, while calling for a fair and impartial probe into the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
"If we find that the investigation is not conducted properly, we will be constrained to issue appropriate orders," the court warned and scheduled the next hearing for October 3.
Akshay Shinde (24), who was accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls at a school in Badlapur, was shot dead in a police shootout on Monday. Shinde was being taken from Taloja Jail to Badlapur when he allegedly snatched the pistol of a police officer and opened fire. Police claimed that Shinde was killed in retaliatory firing.
"We are not suspecting the police on their activities but come clean on all aspects," the high court said. It also questioned why the case files have still not been transferred to the Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department (CID) for further inquiry.
The preservation of evidence is crucial. Any delay raises doubts and speculation," the court noted.
The bench further suggested that the incident could have been avoided if police had attempted to subdue Shinde. Justice Chavan, citing his own experiences, noted that unlocking and opening fire from a pistol is not easy.
"This is very hard to believe. I have fired a pistol a hundred times. It is hard to unlock and fire. We are not suspecting at this stage but just looking at the possibilities. Revolver is easier. Any Tom, Dick or Harry can do it. But a pistol is very hard to fire," Justice Chavan said.
The court also picked holes in the polices claim that Shinde was killed in retaliatory fire. "Ordinarily, the retaliation would be on the leg or arm. Why directly on the head? Does he (the police officer) not know where the shot has to be fired? It may have been spontaneous. The first reaction should have been to disarm him," it said.
The court demanded more details about the incident like whether it occurred at close range and the nature of the wounds inflicted. It also directed the police to preserve all relevant CCTV footage and the call data records of the officers involved.
A delegation of diplomats from various countries arrived in Kashmir on Wednesday to witness the second phase of polling for 26 Assembly constituencies in the Union Territory.
According to sources, the purpose of their visit is to "observe the polling process and assess how democracy is functioning on the ground."
The diplomats represent countries including the USA, Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria, and the Philippines.
This marks the first time the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has invited foreign diplomats to witness the ongoing Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, the first in 10 years.
"Our aim is to observe the polling process and see how democracy operates on the ground," said Alice Chain, a delegate from Singapore, at the Chanpora polling booth. "This isnt my first visit to Kashmir, but it is my first time observing elections here. It feels much more festive compared to elections in Singapore. Government buildings are being used to provide easy access for voters."
She acknowledged the challenges of visiting polling stations as foreign diplomats, stating that they were fulfilling their observation mission.
"Our purpose is to engage with the people of this large and diverse country. Elections are crucial," another female diplomat, visiting Srinagar for the first time, said.
One male delegate seemed surprised by the concept of a "Pink Polling Station." "This is the first time I have encountered something like a Pink Polling Station," he remarked, adding that it may be designed to encourage higher voter turnout.
"I have never seen anything like it before," he continued. "Im glad to be here and observe how democracy is functioning."
The delegation also visited a polling station in Budgam.
While this is the first instance of foreign diplomats being invited to observe Jammu and Kashmir elections, it is not the first foreign delegation to visit the region.
After the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, a similar 15-member delegation visited Srinagar on January 9, 2020, to meet political leaders. In May 2023, another foreign delegation visited Srinagar for the first-ever G-20 Tourism Working Group event held at SKICC near Dal Lake, where they also toured the newly renovated Polo View market and interacted with locals.
Omar Abdullah, National Conference vice president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, questioned the rationale behind inviting foreign delegates to the state during polls.
"The government dismisses comments by foreign diplomats on Kashmir, but invites them to Kashmir to observe polls," he said.
Polling for the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections began for 26 assembly seats - 11 in Jammu - on Wednesday, marking a critical juncture for political parties, particularly the National Conference-Congress (NC-Congress) alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The stakes are especially high for the BJP, banking on its recent political decisions like granting Schedule Tribe (ST) status to Paharis to make inroads into eight constituencies of Muslim-majority Poonch and Rajouri, also called Pir Panjal, where eight seats are up for grabs.
In the 2014 elections, BJPs Ravinder Raina and Abdul Gani Kohli secured victories in Nowshera and Kalakote in Rajouri district, respectively. Post Article 370, the BJP has made a significant political push in Pir Panjal to increase its footprint. The granting of ST status, however, has angered the Gujjar and Bakerwals who comprise a big chunk of the population in the region.
To counter that, the BJP has fielded several Gujjar leaders in Pir Panjal to woo the Gujjars and the Paharis. The BJP aims to expand its footprint in constituencies such as Rajouri, Thanamandi, Budhal, Surankote, Mendhar, and Poonch-Haveli, deploying all available resources.
The second phase of polling covering Rajouri, Poonch, and Reasi has witnessed heightened militancy activity, particularly in Rajouri and Poonch, which are located along the Line of Control (LoC). Over a dozen terror attacks since 2021 have resulted in the deaths of over 35 security personnel and several civilians. Extensive security measures have been made to ensure the safety of voters and polling staff.
BJP President, J&K, and MLA Candidate from Nowshera Assembly Constituency Sh. @RavinderRaina casts his vote at his native village Lamberi in Nowshera. pic.twitter.com/IICqb3nzFr BJP Jammu & Kashmir (@BJP4JnK) September 25, 2024
The NC-Congress alliance has positioned itself as the main opposition to the BJP in Pir Panjal. In the 2014 elections, the People's Democratic Party (PDP), BJP and Congress each secured three seats, while the NC won just one seat. This time, the NC-Congress has made a joint push hoping to cash in on religious and ethnic polarisation in the region post Article 370 move by the BJP. The NC-Congress alliance is keen to use its unified strength to curb the BJPs ambitions, making this phase a critical test of voter sentiment.
The outcome will not only affect the immediate electoral results but also set the tone for future political alliances and strategies as Jammu and Kashmir navigate its complex socio-political landscape.
Today's election will also decide the fate of Omar Abdullah of the NC, Raina, Altaf Bukhari of JK Apni Party (JKAP) and Tariq Hameed Karra, JKPCC chief of the Congress. Omar, who is contesting from Ganderbal and Budgam, is facing tough opposition from PDP candidate Bashir Mir in Ganderbal. In Budgam, his challenger is Agha Syed Muntasir of the PDP.
The PDP has a significant vote bank in the constituency. Bukhari is contesting from Chanpora in Srinagar district which he won in 2014. He was the first politician to engage with New Delhi after the Article 370 repeal causing political parties to focus on development. The JKAP candidate trailed in Lok Saha polls in Chanpora against the NC candidate. However, this time Bukhari campaigned hard in the constituency and a tough fight is expected between him and NC candidate Mushtaq Guroo.
Actor-turned-politician and BJP leader Kangana Ranaut has issued a public apology after her controversial statement over farm laws triggered a backlash, including within her party. The Mandi MP said she regrets her statement which was her personal view.
Ranaut, during an interview, said the farm laws should be brought back and the farmers themselves should demand it. "The laws in farmers' interest be brought back. Farmers should themselves demand this (to bring farm laws back) so that there is no hindrance to their prosperity. Farmers are a pillar of strength in India's progress. Only in some states, they object to farm laws. I appeal with folded hands that farm laws should be brought back in the interest of farmers," she said.
However, the BJP leadership wasn't amused by her remark with senior leader Gaurav Bhatia taking to X to state that Ranaut wasn't authorised to make such statements on the party's behalf. He added that her statement did not reflect BJP's view on the farm bills and the party disapproved of the statement.
Do listen to this, I stand with my party regarding Farmers Law. Jai Hind pic.twitter.com/wMcc88nlK2 Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) September 25, 2024
Also read: 'Kangana Ranaut not authorised': How BJP reacted to actor-turned MP's controversial statement on farm laws
The statement prompted the outspoken actor to backtrack from her earlier stance. In a video posted on X, she said she would toe the party's line on the issue. Kangana added that the remarks were her own view and did not reflect the party's stance.
"When farmer's laws were proposed, a lot of people came out in support of them, but with a lot of sensitivity, our Prime Minister retracted those laws. So, it is the responsibility of all BJP workers to respect his words. I will also have to keep one thing in mind now I am not an artist but a BJP worker. My opinions will not just be mine but will represent the party's stand. So if I have hurt anyone's sentiments with my thoughts, I regret it and take my words back," Kangana added.
This is the second time the party has been schooling Kangana about the farm laws. Earlier too, the BJP had to distance itself from the MP after she claimed the farmers' protest could have led to a Bangladesh-like crisis in India if not for the decisive actions of the Modi government.
She then publicly acknowledged that she was rebuked by the party leadership for her derogatory remarks and would be more careful with her choice of words in the future.
The BJP on Tuesday distanced itself from Mandi MP and actor Kangana Ranaut's controversial statement on now-repealed farm laws, stating that her remarks do not reflect BJP's views on the issue.
Ranaut, during an interview, said the farm laws should be brought back and the farmers themselves should demand it. "The laws in farmers' interest be brought back. Farmers should themselves demand this (to bring farm laws back) so that there is no hindrance to their prosperity. Farmers are a pillar of strength in India's progress. Only in some states, they had objected to farm laws. I appeal with folded hands that farm laws should be brought back in the interest of farmers," she said.
#WATCH | BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia says, "On the social media platforms, BJP MP Kangana Ranaut's statement on the farm bills that was withdrawn by central govt, is going viral. I want to make it clear that this statement is a personal statement of her. Kangana Ranaut is not pic.twitter.com/hZmJ8j7Qf8 ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2024
The farmers' protest, which rankled the BJP leadership in Punjab and Haryana, had created an uproar, following which the Narendra Modi government decided to roll them back. The party paid a huge price for the controversial laws during the recent Lok Sabha elections. Even during the campaigning, some furious villagers prevented the BJP candidates from entering their villages.
The Congress too pounced on Kangana's remark and accused the BJP of trying to bring back the laws. The party alleged on X that the Congress was with the farmers and would not allow it to happen "no matter how hard Narendra Modi and his MPs try".
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera also shared the video on X and said it was the BJP's "real thinking". "How many times will you deceive the farmers, you two-faced people?" Khera said in a post in Hindi.
However, the BJP embarked on a damage control mode, stating that Kangana was not authorised to make such statements on the party's behalf. "I want to make it clear that this statement is her personal view. Kangana Ranaut is not authorised to make such a statement on behalf of BJP and it doesn't depict BJP's view on the farm bills. We disapprove of this statement," BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia said.
This isn't the first time that Kangana Ranaut is making a controversial statement about the farm laws. Last month, Kangana triggered a controversy by stating that the farmers' protest could have led to a Bangladesh-like crisis in India if not for the decisive actions of the Modi government. She added that the farmers' protest was "a conspiracy by foreign powers and these filmy people thrive on it."
CPI(M) Pathanamthitta district chief KP Udayabhanu courted controversy by openly challenging Forest laws that prevent the culling of wild animals that invade human settlements. The senior communist leader said the people would "handle" forest officials who show up with rules and cases when a wild animal causing trouble to people is harmed. Several forest officials are indifferent to problems caused by wild animals that roam outside forests to poor farmers, he said while addressing a march to the DFO office.
KP Udayabhanu said locals should organise without bothering about gun licenses when their livelihoods are threatened by wild animals. He criticised the RSS and central government claiming that they care more about snakes and elephants than about people, Manorama Online said in a report.
Here are five things that CPI(M) leader Udayabhanu said during the DFO officie march that has become a talking point:
1. RSS in Kerala is against declaring wild boars as vicious animals. It is said that boar is the third 'Avatar' of Mahavishnu. The state government doesn't have the authority to do so (declare animals as vicious). It rests with the Centre.
2. A survey should be conducted on the wildlife that can survive in each forest area. Anything beyond that should be shot. We have no problem with wildlife living within the forest. But if they step outside the forest, we will deal with it.
3. Humans don't matter to the central government. Monkeys, boars, snakes and all important for them. The snakes are consumed by the Chinese while we worship them. We have strange ways of life in our country.
4. The locals will kill wild boars that come out of the forests to human property. We will "handle" you if you show up with cases then, Manorama Online reported him as saying.
5. Don't try to scare us with the laws. Some so-called forest officials are undetached from the public, they don't know what the real problems of people are. They are unable to see the pain of poor farmers. No wild animal should invade human settlements. No matter whether it is an elephant or boar or leopard or tiger, the locals should organise. You don't need a gun license for that...
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Nauruan Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Lionel Aingimea on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday met with Nauruan Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Lionel Aingimea on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that in January this year, China and Nauru resumed diplomatic ties, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the relationship between the two countries.
China attaches great importance to its relationship with Nauru and is committed to strengthening communication and exchanges at all levels with Nauru on the basis of equality and mutual respect, he said.
China is also keen on actively expanding practical cooperation to continuously advance the bilateral relations, Wang added.
Aingimea, for his part, said that the resumption of diplomatic ties with China was undoubtedly a correct and historic decision.
He also expressed the hope of continuing to strengthen cooperation with China in various fields to support Nauru's economic and social development.
The second phase of Assembly elections began in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, which will see over 2.5 million voters exercise their franchise. The elections are being held in 26 seats over six districts -- three in the valley and as many in the Jammu division - to decide the fate of over 239 candidates.
One prominent candidate who seeks a mandate on Wednesday is National Conference (NC) vice-president and former chief minister of the erstwhile state Omar Abdullah. He is in the fray from Ganderbal, taking on PDP's Bashir Mir and independent candidate Ishfaq Jabbar. Omar is also challenged by Sarjan Barkati, a cleric running from jail, and Sheikh Ashiq of the Awami Itehad Party (AIP), a former president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Omar, who seeks to reclaim the family stronghold of Ganderbal, is also one of the top contenders for the post of chief minister. But the road won't be easy for the NC vice-president who is still reeling from the hurt inflicted by the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. Omar, who contested from Baramulla Lok Sabha Constituency, was defeated by Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid. The latter, jailed under the UAPA, fought the polls from prison and won by more than two lakh votes.
#WATCH | Ganderbal, J&K: People queue up at a polling station in Kangan Assembly constituency to vote in the second phase of the Assembly elections today.
Eligible voters in 26 constituencies across six districts of the UT are exercising their franchise today. pic.twitter.com/aBe1JqvPmh ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2024
Ganderbal constituency has been represented by the three generations of the Abdullahs. Before Omar, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah held the seats. But, the NC had seen an erosion of its support base in 2014, prompting Omar to avoid contesting there in 2014. He instead sought a mandate from Sonawar and Beerwah. He lost Sonawar then but managed to win Beerwah by just over 1000 votes.
In Ganderbal, Omar also faces a tough challenge from independent candidate Ishfaq Jabbar, who won the seat in 2014 for the National Conference. Jabbar was expelled by the NC for anti-party activities after he sparred with the top leadership. The former MLA is likely to seize a sizable chunk of votes here as he is a local man.
However, speculations are that Omar is hoping that anti-NC votes will split between Jabbar and PDP's Bashir Mir, a prominent leader who enjoys a solid support base in the Kangan seat. Mir, an ace swimmer, is a local hero among the residents of Kangan and Ganderbal after rescuing two youths from the Sindh river and helping the police in such rescue operations multiple times.
Also read: Why are NC and PDP concerned over Engineer Rashid-Jamaat-e-Islami ties?
The former chief minister also has a formidable enemy in Sarjan Ahmad Barkati, the jailed separatist leader. Barkati, a face of the protests that rocked Kashmir following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in 2016.
However, the NC leader is pinning his hopes on the developmental works he initiated in the constituency while he was the chief minister. A central university was established in Ganderbal in 2009 when Omar Abdullah was the chief minister.
Omar is also contesting from the Budgam assembly constituency in central Kashmir, where he is the joint candidate for the NC and Congress. In Budgam, he faces Aga Syed Muntazir of the PDP, but things are slightly better here as the Srinagar-Budgam constituency favoured NC during the last Lok Sabha elections.
The lorry driven by Arjun, a native of Kozhikode who went missing during a landslide in Shirur, Karnataka, was recovered from the Gangavali River on Wednesday. A body was also found in the truck's cabin, though its identity has not yet been confirmed.
The owner of the lorry, Manaf, confirmed that the vehicle belonged to him.
Arjun disappeared from the riverbank in Shirur after the landslide on July 16. Recently, the district administration had deployed a dredger to search for three missing individuals, including Arjun, in the Gangavali River, with the Karnataka government covering the rental costs.
Despite an initial two-week continuous search by land and water, no clues were found regarding Arjun's whereabouts. The search was paused after the Uttara Kannada administration, even with advanced instruments, failed to detect any human presence. The bad weather also impacted the search operation. However, the search resumed following a Karnataka High Court order directing the state government to continue efforts.
On Saturday, underwater search expert Eshwar Malpe recovered several vehicle parts, including tires and a steering wheel, though none were identified as belonging to the lorry driven by Arjun. On Sunday, Malpe ended his search, citing misconduct from the administration and the district police chief.
On Wednesday morning, divers from the dredging company conducted a search in the river. They spotted a black object and hooked it to a crane before returning. Around 3 pm, the object was lifted, revealing the lorry submerged at a depth of 12 meters. The vehicle was located in a section of the Gangavali River near the sea, and the operation was timed to coincide with low tide.
A special court in Bengaluru on Wednesday ordered a probe by the Lokayukta police against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddarmaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case.
The court that exclusively deals with criminal cases related to former and elected MPs/MLAs issued the order a day after the high court upheld Governor Thaawarchand Gehlots decision to give sanction for a probe against the chief minister.
The probe against Siddaramaiah will be carried out under section 156 (3) of the CRPC that gives a magistrate the power to order an investigation into a cognisable offense.
Special Court Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat directed the police to file the investigation report by December 24. The order came on a petition filed by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna.
On Tuesday, the high court had dismissed the chief ministers petition challenging the legality of the governors order on August 16.
Ready to face probe
Shortly after the special court order, Siddaramaiah sought to put on a brave face and said he was ready to face any investigation in the MUDA scam case.
Already I have said that I am ready to face an investigation. I am not afraid of a probe, Siddaramaiah told reporters here. I am ready for a legal fight. I had said this yesterday and I am reiterating it today as well, he said.
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah says, "The copy of the court order has not yet been received. I am going to Kerala. I will get the court order copy in the evening. I will fight. I am not afraid of anything. We are ready to face the investigation. I will fight this legally." https://t.co/9DlxW588Ex pic.twitter.com/FRfqfOobfO ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2024
He sought to downplay the court order, saying the matter has been referred to the Mysuru Lokayukta police because the complaint was lodged in Mysuru and MUDA is also located in that city.
MUDA scam: Not scared of BJP, JD(S) conspiracies, says Siddaramaiah after HC dismisses his plea
On Tuesday, the chief minister had accused the BJP and the JD(S) of indulging in vendetta politics and asserted that he was not scared of their conspiracies.
After going through the judgement, I will discuss with my cabinet colleagues, party high command and legal experts and decide on what action is to be taken, he had said.
Whats MUDA scam
MUDA or Mysuru Urban Development Authority is one of the Karnatakas first urban planning and development bodies. The authority is now in the middle of a massive controversy after media reports alleged gross irregularities in the allotment of residential sites to land losers as compensation.
It is alleged that 14 compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru. These sites were allotted in lieu of the 3.16 acres of her land which the authority had acquired to develop a residential layout. The sites were allotted to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme.
However, it is alleged that Parvathi had no legal title over this 3.16 acres of land at survey number 464 of Kasare village, Kasaba hobli of Mysuru taluk.
Days after the tragic death of a young chartered accountant at Ernst & Young, Pune, allegedly due to work pressure, an employee of HDFC Bank in Lucknow, too, allegedly succumbed to work stress, according to reports.
Sadaf Fatima, a 45-year-old additional deputy vice-president at the bank's Vibuti Khand branch in Gomati Nagar, reportedly, collapsed from her chair during shift hours yesterday. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was declared brought dead.
Initial reports suggest she had a heart attack. While some of her colleagues alleged that Fatima died due to work stress, TV9 quoted her brother-in-law as saying that she was suffering from high blood pressure and was treated at King Georges Medical University (KGMC) in Lucknow. Fatima was on a three-day medical leave, and had rejoined on Tuesday.
ALSO READ | EY executive Anna Sebastian contacted HR wing for help, manager glorified toxicity: Friend recollects last call hours before her passing
, ,
pic.twitter.com/Xj49E01MSs Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) September 24, 2024
What Akhilesh Yadav said about Sadaf Fatima's death
Lamenting Sadaf Fatima's death, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the condition of employees has become worse than bonded laboures. In an apparent dig at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's remarks on Anna's death, which received much backlash on social media, Yadav said the statements of the BJP mentally demoralise the public.
'Youngsters should learn to manage stress'
In the aftermath of Anna's death, which has sparked debate and probe on the stressful work culture, Sitharaman said at an event in a Chennai medical college that families should teach their children that they must have the inner strength to handle pressure, and that can be achieved through only divinity.
ALSO READ: Nirmala Sitharaman slammed for 'victim blaming'
"Believe in God, we need to have God's grace. Seek God, learn good discipline. Your self-strength will grow only from this," Sitharaman added.
Her remarks drew widespread criticism from opposition parties and netizens. However, the finance minister defended her remarks, saying that she used the particular words because of nature of event she was attending at the college.
Report of probe into Anna Sebastian Perayi's death in 10 days
Earlier this week, Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said probe is underway into the alleged "unsafe and exploitative work environment" said to have caused Anna's death, and the report is expected in 10 days.
ALSO READ: Work pressure: Depressed Chennai techie dies by suicide
"We have already sought information from our state officials. We would be able to say anything (on the issue) only after a... report," Mandaviya told reporters.
Anna, a 26-year-old CA, died allegedly due to extreme work pressure at the firm. The Kochi native joined EY in March, after clearing the C.A. exam last year. She died on July 20.
ALSO READ: 'Anna's death should serve as wake-up call for EY': Mother's letter sparks debate on work stress
A letter written by her mother Anita Augustine to EY India chairperson Rajiv Memani, detailing the work culture in the office, had exposed the work pressure in the firm, sparking a debate online on work-life balance and toxic work culture prevalent in Indian companies.
The places associated with India's freedom struggle are often confined to history textbooks, but they are far from the idealised notions we carry about them. In the book, 'In Pursuit of Freedom - Travels across Patriotic Lands', author Pradeep Damodaran embarks on a journey through these historic sites, revealing a country in flux.
Through vivid portrayals of contemporary India, Damodaran juxtaposes the present with the historic significance of these locations. During his year-long travels, he interacts with locals and uncovers a nation that is both contradictory and inspiring. His journalistic rigour shines as he finds compelling people to tell the stories of these places. As Damodaran himself says, he "used travel writing as a tool to explore the idea of freedom, recording my observations and conversations with the people I encountered along the way."
The book is divided into four sections. The first explores Gandhis enduring relevance as Damodaran travels through Sabarmati, Godhra, Dandi, and Dharampur. The second takes readers to the Hindi heartland, from Jhansi to Unnao and Gorakhpur to Motihari. The third section unearths forgotten narratives of the freedom struggle that helped shape the India we know today. The final section dives deep into the origins of dissent in the south, particularly in Tamil Nadu, where peoples resistance movements took root.
Damodaran observes with empathy, painting a vivid picture for readers, leaving them with haunting images and probing questions. Its a journey of discovery for those who may never visit these places while encouraging readers to seek out the stories behind the historic monuments.
In Gujarat, his observations at Sabarmati Ashram raise questions about how Gandhi is perceived by younger generations. He notes that many visitors left disrespectful and abusive comments in the visitors' register. When the author posed this to Atul Pandya, the ashrams director, Pandya remarked that Gandhi fought for the very freedom that allows people to criticize him openly. "Let them try and openly criticise todays leaders and see if they can get away with it," he quips.
Throughout the book, Damodaran intertwines the contemporary setting of these places with their historical past, highlighting societal fissures that remain post-riots, allowing readers to judge whether healing has taken place. His encounters with locals, like Niranjana Ben in Bardoli and a young boy, Gulab, in Dharampur, reassure readers that Gandhis relevance endures.
Damodarans visit to Bilga village in Jalandhar exposes the obsession with migration in Punjabs Doaba region. He meets the family of Ghadarite Bhagat Singh Bilga and asks Kulbir Singh, Bilgas son, whether the revolutionary spirit of their forefathers has left with those seeking fortunes abroad. Kulbir responds, "Bilga is no longer a village for us, it's a state of mind. Wherever we go, we take Bilga with us," as he recounts his involvement in farmers' protests both in India and abroad.
When the journey takes Damodaran to Jhansi, the stark contrast between the legendary Rani of Jhansi and the current state of rural governance becomes evident. The author encounters "pradhan-patis," men who unofficially take on the role of village sarpanch, as elected women remain confined to their homes.
In Chauri Chaura, he discovers that the government still pays pensions to the families of both the freedom fighters and the policemen killed during the infamous 1922 incident in Gandhis non-cooperation movement. However, the families of the policemen, derisively called "angrez ke naukar" (servants of the British), are viewed with disdain.
The books final section highlights Damodaran's interactions with activists SP Udayakumar and Prof. Fatima Babu, who led movements against a nuclear plant and a copper plant in Tamil Nadu.
'In Pursuit of Freedom' also lays bare the stark realities of modern Indian society. Damodaran captures the spirit of change agentsordinary people striving for progress against a backdrop of historical significance.
This book is an engaging exploration of Indias diverse mindsets, blending personal stories with historical insights. It invites readers to ponder the complexities of freedom and identity in a rapidly evolving nation.
*Published by HarperCollins
*344 pages, Rs 699
Former congresswoman Liz Cheney voiced concerns about the future of the Republican Party, suggesting it may be unsalvageable after nearly a decade under the influence of former President Donald Trump. Speaking at the 2024 Cap Times Idea Fest, hosted by The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin, Cheney told New York Times journalist Peter Baker that the GOP has become deeply corrupted by Trumpism.
Its hard for me to see how the Republican Party survives because its been so corrupted, Cheney said during an hour-long conversation that covered national politics, her support for Vice President Kamala Harris, and her views on the current state of the party once led by her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Cheney argued that America needs two strong parties to offer voters meaningful choices but expressed doubt about the GOPs ability to return to its roots of traditional conservatism. She criticized the fealty of many conservatives to Trump, which she believes has significantly damaged the party.
When Baker asked if the party could rid itself of Trump, Cheney responded, We need our political system to reflect the goodness of the American people Its hard for me to see how the Republican Party, given what it has done, can make the argument convincingly or credibly that people ought to be voting for Republican candidates until it recognizes what its done.
Cheney added that the path forward might require people to focus on supporting serious, responsible individuals rather than the party as a whole. She acknowledged the potential for a major political shift but said, I dont think it will just simply be, Well, the Republican Party is gonna put up a new slate of candidates and off to the races. I think far too much has happened. Its too damaging.
Baker pressed Cheney on whether the U.S. might need a new political party, similar to how the Republican Party emerged from the collapse of the Whig Party in the 19th century. Cheney did not rule out the possibility.
It may well be because, again, so much of the Republican Party today has allowed itself to become a tool for this really unstable man, she said, referring to Trump.
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Trump ally Rep. Matt Gaetz claims that a whistleblower within the Biden-Harris administration informed him of five known assassination teams hunting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. According to Gaetz, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is aware of these threats, including three teams allegedly inspired by foreign governments.
Gaetz made the explosive assertion during an appearance on the Human Events Daily show on Real Americas Voice network, stating that the DHS had knowledge of these assassination squads even before a second attempt on Trumps life last week in Florida.
I had a senior official from the Department of Homeland Security in my office before the second assassination attempt, saying that what he has assessed is that there are five known assassination teams in the United States, three inspired by other governments, two that are here, that are known domestic assassination teams, Gaetz said during the interview.
The congressman expressed concern over the adequacy of Trumps security, especially after the federal government reportedly portrayed the two assassination attempts as acts by lone individuals, without ties to broader groups or foreign entities.
And with that, this individual was coming to me, concerned that the force protection around President Trump, even prior to that second assassination attempt, was not sufficient for what it needed to be, Gaetz added.
Two federal officials confirmed to Just the News that U.S. authorities are aware of multiple assassination plots linked to Iran, targeting both current and former U.S. officials, including Trump. However, the government has not officially connected any recent attempts on Trumps life to these broader threats.
Gaetz also questioned decisions by the DHS regarding resource allocation for security details. He raised concerns over teams being reassigned from Trumps protection to other figures, such as First Lady Jill Biden and former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
Now, we dont want anything bad to happen to Jill Biden, Gaetz said, but at the same time, the threat envelope for her was substantially different than the threat envelope around President Trump.
Gaetzs remarks come shortly after Pakistani national Asif Merchant, with alleged ties to Iran, pleaded not guilty to charges related to an alleged plot to assassinate U.S. politicians, including Trump. The plot was reportedly connected to retaliation for the 2020 killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.
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A person has died in New York state from eastern equine encephalitis, prompting Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare the rare mosquito-borne illness an imminent threat to public health.
The death that was reported Monday in Ulster County is apparently the second death from the disease in the United States this year after a New Hampshire resident infected with the eastern equine encephalitis virus died last month.
Ten human cases of the disease, also known as EEE, had been reported nationwide as of Sept. 17, before the New York case was confirmed, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Ulster County death was the first from the disease in New York state since 2015. No details about the person who became infected and died have been released.
Hochul said the public health declaration will free up state resources to help local health departments combat EEE.
Following the first confirmed human case of EEE, my administration took statewide action to help protect communities and with todays declaration were making more State resources available to local departments to support their public health response, the governor said in a news release.
The CDC says only a few cases of EEE are reported in the U.S. each year, mostly in the eastern and Gulf Coast states. There were just seven cases nationally last year but more than 30 in 2019, a historically bad year.
There are no vaccines or treatments for EEE, and about 30% of people who become infected die. Symptoms include fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea and seizures.
(AP)
President Joe Biden declared in his final address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that the U.S. must not retreat from the world, as Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon edged toward all-out war and Israels bloody operation against Hamas in Gaza neared the one-year mark.
Biden used his wide-ranging address to speak to a need to end the Middle East conflict and the 17-month-old civil war in Sudan and to highlight U.S. and Western allies support for Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. He also raised concern over artificial intelligence and its potential to be used for repression.
His appearance before the international body offered Biden one of his last high-profile opportunities as president to make the case to keep up robust support for Ukraine, which could be in doubt if former President Donald Trump defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Biden insisted that despite global conflicts, he remains hopeful for the future.
Ive seen a remarkable sweep of history, Biden said. I know many look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair but I do not.
We are stronger than we think when the world acts together, he added.
Biden came to office promising to rejuvenate U.S. relations around the world and to extract the U.S. from forever wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that consumed American foreign policy over the last 20 years.
I was determined to end it, and I did, Biden said of the Afghanistan exit, calling it a hard decision but the right decision. He acknowledged that it was accompanied by tragedy with the deaths of 13 American troops and hundreds of Afghans in a suicide bombing during the chaotic withdrawal.
But his foreign policy legacy may ultimately be shaped by his administrations response to two of the biggest conflicts in Europe and the Middle East since World War II.
There will always be forces that pull our countries apart, Biden said, rejecting a desire to retreat from the world and go it alone. He said, Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than the forces pulling us apart.
The Pentagon announced Monday that it was sending a small number of additional U.S. troops to the Middle East to supplement the roughly 40,000 already in the region. All the while, the White House insists Israel and Hezbollah still have time to step back and de-escalate.
Full scale war is not in anyones interest, Biden said, and despite escalating violence, a diplomatic solution is the only path to peace.
Biden had a hopeful outlook for the Middle East when he addressed the U.N. just a year ago. In that speech, Biden spoke of a sustainable, integrated Middle East coming into view.
At the time, economic relations between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors were improving with implementation of the Abraham Accords that Israel signed with Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates during the Trump administration.
Bidens team helped resolve a long-running Israel-Lebanon maritime dispute that had held back gas exploration in the region. And Israel-Saudi normalization talks were progressing, a game-changing alignment for the region if a deal could be landed.
I suffer from an oxymoron: Irish optimism, Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they met on the sidelines of last years U.N. gathering. He added, If you and I, 10 years ago, were talking about normalization with Saudi Arabia I think wed look at each other like, Whos been drinking what?
Eighteen days later, Bidens Middle East hopes came crashing down. Hamas militants stormed into Israel killing 1,200, taking some 250 hostage, and spurring a bloody war that has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza and led the region into a complicated downward spiral.
Now, the conflict is threatening to metastasize into a multi-front war and leave a lasting scar on Bidens presidential legacy.
Israel and Hezbollah traded strikes again Tuesday as the death toll from a massive Israeli bombardment climbed to nearly 560 people and thousands fled from southern Lebanon. Its the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
Israel has urged residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate from homes and other buildings where it claimed Hezbollah has stored weapons, saying the military would conduct extensive strikes against the militant group.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, has launched dozens of rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for strikes last week that killed a top commander and dozens of fighters. Dozens were also killed last week and hundreds more wounded after hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah militants exploded, a sophisticated attack that was widely believed to have been carried out by Israel.
Israels leadership launched its counterattacks at a time of growing impatience with the Iranian-backed Hezbollahs persistent launching of missiles and drones across the Israel-Lebanon border after Hamas started the war with its brazen attack on Oct. 7.
Biden reiterated his call on the parties to agree to a cease-fire and hostage release deal, saying its time to end this war even as hopes for such a deal are fading as the conflict drags on.
Biden, in his address, called for the sustainment of Western support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Biden helped galvanize an international coalition to back Ukraine with weapons and economic aid in response to Russian President Vladimir Putins February 2022 assault on Ukraine.
We cannot grow weary, Biden said. We cannot look away.
Biden has managed to keep up American support in the face of rising skepticism from some Republican lawmakers and Trump about the cost of the conflict.
At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pressing Biden to loosen restrictions on the use of Western-supplied long-range missiles so that Ukrainian forces can hit deeper in Russia.
So far Zelenskyy has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions. The Defense Department has emphasized that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian-produced drones, and there is hesitation on the strategic implications of a U.S.-made missile potentially striking the Russian capital.
Putin has warned that Russia would be at war with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.
Biden and Harris are scheduled to hold separate meetings with Zelenskyy in Washington on Thursday. Ukrainian officials were also trying to arrange a meeting for Zelenskyy with Trump this week.
The president also sounded an alarm about the rapid advances in artificial intelligence development, particularly around disinformation, respect for human life and the potential exploitation by totalitarian powers. He told the world leaders, There may well be no greater test of our leadership than how we deal with A.I.
We must make certain that the awesome capabilities of A.I. will be used to uplift and empower everyday people, not to give dictators more powerful shackles on the human spirit, he added.
Biden struck a wistful tone in his remarks, peppering his speech with references to his first time attending the General Assembly more than 50 years ago, and quoting Irish poetry.
Biden held up his decision to step aside up as an instructive moment as he addressed a gathering that has no small share of totalitarian and nondemocratic leaders.
Some things are more important than staying in power, Biden said. Its your people that matter the most. Never forget, we are here to serve the people. Not the other way around.
(AP)
Iran said Tuesday it believes the remaining workers trapped by an explosion at a coal mine in the countrys east have died, bringing the death toll in one of its worst industrial disasters to at least 49.
A provincial emergency official, Mohammad Ali Akhoundi, gave the death toll in a report carried by Iranian state television from the mine in Tabas.
Figures for the numbers of miners inside the mine at the time have fluctuated since a methane gas leak Saturday sparked an explosion at the coal mine in Tabas, about 540 kilometers (335 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran.
Around 70 people had been working at the time of the blast. Bodies recovered so far showed no signs of blast injuries, suggesting many of the workers died from the gas before the blast.
Such gases are common in mining, though modern safety measures call for ventilation and other measures to protect workers.
It wasnt immediately clear what safety procedures were in place at the privately owned Tabas Parvadeh 5 mine, operated by Mandanjoo Co. The firm could not be reached for comment.
On Tuesday, a lawmaker and member of parliaments mine committee said the safety system of the mine was not working and even the central alarm system was broke or did not exist.
Lawmaker Zahra Saeedi added that workers learned of the safety issue just before the disaster but couldnt leave in time. Two of the dead were health and safety experts at the mine, she said.
Irans new reformist president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, has said he ordered all efforts be made to rescue those trapped and aid their families. He also said an investigation into the explosion was underway.
Irans mining industry has been struck by disasters before. In 2017, a coal mine explosion killed at least 42 people. Then-President Hassan Rouhani, campaigning ahead of winning reelection, visited the site in Irans northern Golestan province and angry miners besieged the SUV he rode in, kicking and beating the armored vehicle in a rage.
In 2013, 11 workers were killed in two separate mining incidents. In 2009, 20 workers were killed in several incidents. Lax safety standards and inadequate emergency services in mining areas were often blamed for the fatalities.
(AP)
SYDNEY, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Two locally extinct mammal species have been reintroduced to a national park in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW).
Scientists on Tuesday released 20 Western Quolls, a carnivorous marsupial, and 20 Burrowing Bettongs, a member of the rat-kangaroo family that lives underground, into Sturt National Park in arid northwestern NSW.
It took the total number of mammal species listed as extinct in NSW that have been reintroduced to national parks in the state to 13.
Both the Western Quoll and Burrowing Bettong disappeared from NSW almost 100 years ago due to predation by feral cats and foxes.
Their reintroduction has been made possible by the establishment of a network of feral cat and fox-free areas across NSW national parks.
The individuals that were released on Tuesday were bred at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in the NSW town of Dubbo and the Arid Recovery project in South Australia.
They join bandicoots, bilbies and other species of bettongs that have previously been released under the project, a collaboration between the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Wild Deserts Project Partnership, which involves the University of NSW.
"These are the first Western Quolls in NSW for almost a century and the 13th locally extinct mammal returned across NSW. It's a big moment in our quest to reverse the loss of biodiversity across NSW," Penny Sharpe, NSW's minister for the environment, said in a statement.
"This is not just about the return of individual species. It is about restoring ecosystems which depend on Bilbies, Bettongs and other ecosystem engineers to support the landscape by digging, spreading seeds and boosting water and nutrient cycles," Sharpe said.
Populations of the Greater Bilby, a small and burrowing marsupial, Golden Bandicoot and Brush-tailed Bettong have more than tripled in size since they were released into the feral-free network.
Two species, the Western Quoll and Greater Bilby, have also been released into a 10,000-hectare fenced area with a much lower density of feral cats than the wild landscape to test if they can survive.
The federal government earlier in September boosted funding for its war on feral cats by 60 million Australian dollars (41.3 million U.S. dollars).
Feral cats kill a combined 1.5 billion native mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs every year, according to the government.
A U.S. Navy replenishment ship operating in the Middle East sustained damage in an incident which is under investigation, officials said Tuesday.
The damage to the USNS Big Horn comes after the oiler has supplied the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and remains in the region amid heightened tensions over the Israel-Hamas war and Israels ongoing strikes targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.
A U.S. Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters yet to be made public, said the damage happened in the Mideast, but declined to elaborate on its location. A photo released by the U.S. military dated Sept. 5 showed sailors aboard the Lincoln receiving supplies from the Big Horn, while another on Sept. 11 showed the Big Horn alongside the Lincoln. The Lincoln is patrolling the Arabian Sea.
The official said the Big Horns crew was safe and there was no sign of an oil leak from the vessel.
Another U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, said the vessel was being supported by private tugboats and an assessment was still ongoing for the vessel.
Rumors about the Big Horns condition began circulating early Tuesday after images posted to a website tracking shipping called gCaptain showed flooding purportedly on board the Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler. The website described the Big Horn as having ran aground and partially flooded off the coast of Oman.
Though the Lincoln is powered by a nuclear reactor, its strike group has vessels powered by fossil fuel that need to be resupplied at sea. The aircraft aboard the Lincoln also need jet fuel. The Big Horn and other ships like it also provide other supplies.
Oilers like the Big Horn typically have around 80 civilians and five military personnel on board.
It remains unclear if there are any other replenishment ships like it immediately available in the Mideast. An AP survey of publicly released military images of similar replenishment ships run by the U.S. Navys Military Sealift Command showed none in the Mideast in recent months. The command declined to comment.
(AP)
A new survey conducted by Nishma Research has revealed sharp political divides within the Orthodox Jewish community in the U.S., particularly between Modern Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews. The survey, which assessed presidential voting preferences amongUltra-Orthodox Jews and Modern Orthodox Jews, revealed a significant shift toward former President Donald Trump, especially among the Ultra-Orthodox.
While Modern Orthodox Jews are currently split in their support, with 55% backing Vice President Kamala Harris and 45% supporting Trump, the Ultra-Orthodox overwhelmingly favor the former president. An astounding 93% of them said they would vote for Trump, compared to just 7% who support Harris.
David Myers, a professor at UCLA and one of the studys key contributors, commented on the results: Non-Orthodox Jews continue to vote overwhelmingly for Democratic presidential candidates, but among Orthodox Jewsespecially the HarediRepublicans are far more popular. The issues of Israel and antisemitism are major drivers of this preference.
The data suggests a growing trend toward Trump among Orthodox voters, with his overall share of support increasing from 73% in September 2023 to 77% in the latest survey. Among the Ultra-Orthodox, all age and gender groups strongly favor Trump, while the Modern Orthodox community shows more variability, with younger women leaning toward Harris and older men backing Trump.
The survey also highlighted the top issues shaping Orthodox political preferences. For both Modern Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox voters, Israel, antisemitism, and the economy rank highest. However, other concerns diverge, with the Modern Orthodox focusing more on American democracy, foreign affairs, and health care, while the Ultra-Orthodox are more concerned with crime, education, religious freedom, and immigration.
When it comes to views on the candidates Israel policies, 79% of respondents hold a positive view of Trumps policies, while just 29% approve of President Joe Bidens stance on Israel, and 17% support Harriss policies on the issue.
Both Modern Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox voters place significant importance on local elections, with many splitting their vote between national and local candidates. Despite their overwhelming support for Trump at the presidential level, both groups tend to lean more Democratic in local elections.
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Recent polling across three key Southern battleground states suggests that Vice President Kamala Harris early advantage has eroded as Donald Trump takes the lead, potentially reshaping the 2024 presidential race.
According to a New York Times/Siena College survey conducted between September 1 and 21, Trump has gained momentum in Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolinathree critical states where Harris had previously held an edge. These latest numbers show Trump not only reversing Harris lead in two of the states but also setting himself up for a strong electoral path to the White House.
If the former president carries these states in November, he would be within striking distance of the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. With 262 electoral votes in hand, Trump would only need to win one of the traditionally Democratic-leaning blue wall statesMichigan, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsinto clinch the presidency.
In Arizona, Trump made a significant turnaround among 713 likely voters. He flipped a 5-point deficit in August to a 5-point lead, now sitting at 50% to Harris 45%. Trumps strength lies with older voters, where 58% of those aged 45 to 64 and 53% of seniors back him. His support is also robust among white, non-college-educated voters, who favor him by 63%, with his highest backing74%coming from Arizonas western region.
In Georgia, Trump maintained his 4-point advantage from last month among 682 likely voters, leading Harris 49% to 45%. Seventy percent of white voters in the state support Trump, including 78% of those without a college degree. Trumps stronghold is in North Georgia, where he secures 74% of voters.
Trumps support in North Carolina has also surged. Among 611 likely voters, he reversed Harris 2-point lead from August and now holds a narrow 49% to 47% advantage. Trump has solid backing from white voters (60%), the Charlotte suburbs (60%), and western North Carolina (66%). He also leads Harris 49% to 42% among those who did not participate in the 2020 election.
With Trump holding steady or gaining in these key states, Harris faces a significant challenge to reclaim her earlier lead as November draws closer.
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Ukraines president dismissed the notion of peace talks with Moscow on Tuesday, calling instead for unspecified global action to force Russia into peace for invading his country and to comply with the U.N. Charters requirement that every country respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all other nations.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. Security Council that Russian President Vladimir Putin is committing an international crime and has broken so many international rules that he wont stop on his own.
And thats why this war cant simply fade away. Thats why this war cant be calmed by talks, Zelenskyy said at a meeting on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly. Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly whats needed forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the U.N. Charter.
The high-level meeting on the more than 2-year war in Ukraine was attended by ministers from 14 of the councils 15 member nations. Russia chose to send its lower-level U.N. ambassador.
Vassily Nebenzia opened the meeting protesting that Zelenskyy was being given the U.N. spotlight again. He also criticized Slovenia which holds the rotating council presidency this month for allowing the Ukrainian leaders chorus to speak. He meant about 10 European Union and NATO members who arent on the council but march in lockstep every time they come to the council to malign the Russian Federation.
When it comes to listening to these hackneyed statements, and these cookie-cutter statements, we have no intention of wasting time on that, Nebenzia said.
Ukraines sovereignty is defended
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefed the council, reiterating the United Nations strong support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity under the U.N. Charter.
Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 following the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and city of Sevastopol a decade ago is a clear violation of these principles, the U.N. chief said.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine knows some countries want to talk to Putin. But, he asked, What could they possibly hear from him that hes upset because we are exercising our right to defend our people, or that he wants to keep the war and terror going just so no one thinks he was wrong?
China has repeatedly called for talks between Ukraine and Russia. Its foreign minister, Wang Yi, told the council that the suffering and destruction and increasing volatility in the region must be turned around.
Wang stressed that Chinese President Xi Jinping believes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected. China is pursuing peace talks and conducting shuttle diplomacy, Wang said, and its efforts have received wide international support. He pointed to a joint China-Brazil peace plan issued earlier this year.
Zelenskyy also went after countries that supply weapons and ammunition to Russia, telling the council Moscow has no legitimate reason to make Iran and North Korea de facto accomplices.
The U.S. includes China, Iran and North Korea in its accusations
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised similar issues but also accused China, which has close ties to Russia, of providing Russia with machine tools, microelectronics and other items it is using to rebuild, restock and ramp up its war machine and sustain its brutal war.
Wang, who spoke after him, didnt directly respond but said: I also wish to make it clear that on the Ukraine issue, any move to shift responsibility onto China or attack and smear China is irresponsible and will lead nowhere.
Blinken also accused Iran of providing armed drones to Russia since 2022 and transferring hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles a few weeks ago which its new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has denied. North Korea has also delivered trainloads of weapons and ammunition to Russia including ballistic missiles and artillery rounds, Blinken said.
The more Russia relies on their support, the more Iran and North Korea extract in return, Blinken said. And the more Putin gives to Pyongyang and Tehran, the more he exacerbates threats to peace and security.
To those who ask how the United States and others can help Ukraine defend itself and criticize countries supplying military materiel to Russia, Blinken said the answer is simple: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim.
(AP)
The head of New York Citys public schools system, David Banks, said Tuesday that he will step down at the end of the calendar year, becoming the latest high-ranking departure from Mayor Eric Adams administration amid escalating federal criminal investigations.
The decision comes weeks after federal agents seized Banks phones, as well as devices belonging to the citys police commissioner, two deputy mayors and a top Adams adviser. The police commissioner, Edward Caban, resigned earlier this month.
In a retirement letter shared with The Associated Press, Banks said he informed the mayor this summer of his plan to step down after ensuring the school year got off to a good start.
A former teacher, principal and founder of a network of all-boys public schools, Banks has led the citys public school system, the nations largest, since Adams took office in 2022.
The resignation letter made no reference to the multiple ongoing federal investigations involving senior Adams aides, relatives of those aides, campaign fundraising and possible influence peddling.
Adams said in a statement he was immensely grateful and proud for what Banks had achieved over his years leading the school system.
Banks brother, Philip, is a former police officer who now serves as the citys deputy mayor for public safety. Their brother Terence, a former supervisor in the citys subway system, has been running a consulting firm that promised to connect clients with top government stakeholders.
Earlier this month, federal investigators seized phones from all three Banks brothers, as well as several other high-ranking city officials.
David Banks shares a home in Harlem with his partner, Sheena Wright, the first deputy mayor, whose devices were also seized. He previously declined to talk about the search, telling reporters: I cant answer those questions.
Federal prosecutors have declined to discuss the investigations publicly.
Banks announcement comes as Adams is already contending with several other high-profile departures. Earlier this month, his top legal adviser, Lisa Zornberg, resigned abruptly, releasing a brief letter noting she had concluded that I can no longer effectively serve in my position. The citys health commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, will also step down at the end of the year.
At a press conference Tuesday, Adams dismissed the idea his administration was facing an exodus as a result of the federal inquiries.
Employees and staffers come and go, he said. Very few remain throughout an entire term.
When Adams, a Democrat, appointed David Banks as chancellor, he heralded his friend as a visionary, leader, innovator, who has spent his career fighting on behalf of students.
Banks founded the Eagle Academy in 2004 to educate young Black and Latino boys who he believed were often poorly served by the educational system.
Before his appointment as schools chancellor, Banks ran the foundation that raises funds for the six Eagle Academy schools, one in each New York City borough and one in Newark, New Jersey.
(AP)
One year since Kevin McCarthy was booted from the House speakers office after Congress voted in a bipartisan way to prevent a federal government shutdown, the new House Speaker Mike Johnson finds himself courting, but so far avoiding, a similar political fate.
Johnson is leading the House this week to vote on legislation to fund the government and ensure no interruption in federal services, but hes similarly abandoning demands from his own hard-right Republican colleagues and relying on Democratic votes and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to push the package to bipartisan approval.
While Johnson appears to be in no imminent threat of being ousted the way McCarthy lost his position in a historic vote last fall when eight hardline Republicans engineered a motion to vacate the speaker the new leaders ability to hold on to the speakers gavel for the long term is not at all certain.
Its a tough job, said McCarthy, who is now retired from Congress and watching from the sidelines.
The government funding vote provides a notable capstone to what has been an extraordinary and tumultuous session of Congress with the House Republican majority that swept to power in January 2023, as lawmakers now prepare to face voters.
The outcome of Novembers election will determine the White House and control of Congress, and may very well decide Johnsons political future. Colleagues are weighing whether to keep Johnson or try someone else as their leader ahead of internal party voting expected later in November after the election.
The vast majority support Speaker Johnson its a shame that weve got like 10 people that always hold this over his head, said Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, among the more centrist Republicans.
Hes a good man. Hes got a great heart, Bacon said. I think hes learned a lot this year.
On the job for the past 11 months, Johnson had been an unlikely choice for the speakers gavel. The Louisiana congressman was a relatively unknown low-rung party leader, first elected to office in 2016 alongside Donald Trump, when he emerged as Republicans last-ditch consensus choice to replace McCarthy.
Republicans had fought behind closed doors over who should become their new speaker after they took the historic step of ousting McCarthy passing over their Majority Leader Steve Scalise, their GOP Whip Tom Emmer and hard-right Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, among others before Johnson stepped up and won support, with Trumps blessing.
Johnson, a lawyer, had led one of Trumps main legal cases challenging President Joe Bidens victory in the 2020 election and could play a prominent role in the 2024 election amid potential legal challenges to the outcome.
As the new speaker, Johnson inherited a bitterly divided House GOP majority and worked quickly to pick up the pieces. He cleaned out the speakers staff at the Capitol, moved in his own team and closely aligned himself with Trump, throwing his support behind the indicted former presidents bid to retake the White House.
Johnson prioritized several House initiatives, from the Biden impeachment inquiry to the House impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, that aligned tightly with Trumps agenda.
But the annual spending fights over the federal budget always loomed over Johnsons term. With the Sept. 30 deadline signaling the end of the fiscal year, the House GOPs ultraconservative flank agitated for the speaker to push for spending cuts, even if it meant throwing the government into a shutdown.
Trump urged the House Republicans to take a hardline approach.
I wish he would take Trumps advice, said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-South Carolina, a member of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, who said of Johnson: Hes risk averse.
But with a very slim majority that leaves Johnson with just a few votes to spare on any issue, he needs almost unanimity from his own ranks to pass legislation over the objections of Democrats. He already survived one attempt from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to boot him from office this year.
Ahead of Wednesdays expected vote on the spending plan, Johnson defended his decision, saying it would have been political malpractice to lead the government into a federal shutdown weeks before the election.
Johnson said he had tried to run what he called the best play he could, which was attaching a bill called the SAVE Act, which would prevent immigrants who are in the U.S. without legal status from voting in the nationwide elections, even though thats already the law and experts say it rarelyhappens.
But that approach from the speaker failed, voted down by more than a dozen Republicans along with almost all Democrats. A similar dynamic played out on several other bills to fund the various agencies when lawmakers opposed the steep budget cuts or the specific policy provisions as too extreme.
So we have to go with the next available thing, Johnson said at his weekly press conference Tuesday.
Johnson described the temporary government funding bill, which will keep operations going until Dec. 20, as bare bones, with no add-ons except for $231 million for the U.S. Service in the aftermath of the two assassination attempts on Trump this election season.
He insisted he and Trump are on the same page on the strategy and have spoken at great length about the situation. And Johnson vowed House would hold the line against extra spending next time, in December, when the next round of funding will be needed.
Theres no daylight between us, Johnson said of Trump.
One key difference between the situation McCarthy faced and this weeks vote is that last year Congress was also considering funding to help Ukraine buy weapons as it battles the Russian invasion, something Trump and the hard-right flank did not support, and it was eventually dropped from the final bill.
Extra war funding is not included in this weeks temporary bill either, but Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected on Capitol Hill later this week as he presses Congress to ensure ongoing support.
I actually think Kevin McCarthy would have done much better, said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., an ultraconservative who opposes most of the spending bills.
Massie said he thinks the only way Mike Johnson gets reelected speaker is he gets a lifeline from Trump, should Trump win the White House.
As for the eight House Republicans who dislodged McCarthy, theyve had their own political journeys since then one, Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, a former chairman of the Freedom Caucus, lost his primary bid for reelection.
McCarthy, meanwhile, is not necessarily eying any comeback, but fundraising for the House majority and showering Republicans in tight reelection contests with money to run their campaigns and opposing those who crossed him.
(AP)
I write in response to Mondays incident in Beit Shemesh involving police violence against Charedi protesters, as well as the subsequent investigation. While I unequivocally condemn any form of police brutality, I believe its important to understand the context of the event being protested and the community dynamics at play.
The protesters were not rallying against some harmful policy or oppressive regimethey were protesting an event designed to help young Charedi men acquire valuable skills for the workforce. The programs highlighted at the event offered education in areas like programming, bookkeeping, engineering, and healthcarehonest professions that enable individuals to support their families with dignity. These protesters are ideologically opposed to any form of secular studies, even if it means blocking others in their community from gaining skills that lead to upstanding, respectable jobs.
Imagine for a moment that members of the Brooklyn or Lakewood communities harassed others who had jobs. Imagine if they tormented individuals who took it upon themselves to earn an income for their families. You wouldnt stand for that, would you? And yet, when it happens here, your focus is on how the police responded to these miscreants, but you say nothing about the damage these extremists are causing.
As a local resident, Ive witnessed firsthand the damage caused by them, who are a small but vocal minority. Many of us in the community, including Charedim such as myself, are deeply frustrated with their disruptive tactics and aggressive behavior. They shout insults, create unnecessary chaos, and degrade anyone who does not align with their narrow viewpoint. Their actions are a source of fear and discomfort for families trying to live in peace, and their behavior reflects poorly on the broader community.
Its important to note that the majority of Charedim in Beit Shemesh do not support these protests. In fact, many religious men attended the event to better themselves and their families through education, distancing themselves from the protestors and demonstrating their commitment to Torah values like Ahavas Yisrael and peaceful coexistence.
We need to foster dialogue and understanding, not perpetuate sinas chinam. Our community is diverse, with Jews from across the spectrum striving to live together in harmony. The protesters represent a distortion of values that harms us all. I hope they realize that there are many paths to serving Hashem, and that unity, not division, is what will bring Mashiach closer.
Sincerely,
Upset in RBS
The views expressed in this letter do not necessarily represent those of YWN. Have an opinion you would like to share? Send it to us for review.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently discussed the pro-Palestinian demonstrations she witnessed at Columbia University last spring, sharing her concerns in an interview with CNNs Fareed Zakaria. As students return to campuses, Clinton expects tensions to rise again, with protests likely to reignite.
During the interview, Clinton suggested that these protests were influenced by external forces rather than being organically led by students. There were already existing groups within our country, and particularly on certain campuses like Columbia, who had talking points. They had a plan for protest and disruption. And I watched it sort of morph into something that was not student-led, even though students participated, but which had outside funding, outside direction, she said.
Clinton expressed uncertainty about the full scope of these influences, noting that students were often caught up in movements without fully understanding the broader context. And I still to this day, Im not quite sure. All that was going on with it. And a lot of students were caught up in that, she said. She was particularly troubled by the portrayal of the Israel-Palestinian conflict on social media, which she found to be unbalanced and skewed against Israel. A lot of the videos on social media gave not just a one-sided view of the conflict, but a totally anti-Israel, pro-Hamas, not just pro-Palestinian view, Clinton added.
The former presidential candidate, who began teaching at Columbia in 2023, also shared her frustrations with attempts to engage in meaningful dialogue with students involved in the protests. According to her, many lacked a comprehensive understanding of the history and complexities surrounding the Israel-Palestinian conflict. And when I would ask, Well, what about, do you know what happened in 2000 at Camp David? No. Do you know what happened in 1947? No. Do you know how difficult the relationships have been? No. Do you know that there are Arab Israelis and some are serving in the IDF? None of that. And this whole chanting of, you know, from the river to the sea. What does that mean? What river? What sea? Thats what bothered me, she explained.
Clinton also expressed concern about the harassment of Jewish students during these protests, labeling the behavior as nasty and unacceptable. This was screaming at students who were Jewish, it was blocking their entry into classes or into club activities. It was nasty, Clinton remarked. She highlighted the troubling evidence of foreign influence and anti-Israel sentiment spread through platforms like TikTok, and emphasized that universities have a responsibility to protect students from harassment while still supporting free speech. A university particularly has an obligation to, of course, protect free speech, but also to protect students against harassment and against the kind of behavior that interfered with their learning, she concluded.
(YWN World Headquarters NYC)
Rocket sirens blared across Tel Aviv and central Israel around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, prompting residents to rush to bomb shelters as instructed by the IDF Home Front Command. The sirens were heard in several cities, including Tel Aviv and Netanya, which experienced its first siren of the war.
According to an official statement from the Israel Defense Forces, one surface-to-surface missile was detected crossing from Lebanon into Israeli airspace. The missile was successfully intercepted by the Davids Sling air defense system, preventing any damage or casualties. A video below shows what appears to be the moment of interception over Tel Aviv, with a defensive missile striking the incoming threat in mid-air.
Hezbollah later claimed responsibility for the attack the first time since the war began that it targeted Tel Aviv saying that it targeted the Mossad headquarters which coordinated the exploding devices operation. The Saudi Al Hadath media outlet reported that Hezbollah attempted to send a message by launching a single ballistic missile at Tel Aviv. The launch was timed to coincide with the start of the attack on October 7, at 6:29 a.m.
Following the surface-to-surface missile launch toward central Israel, the IAF struck the launcher from which the missile was fired in the area of Nafakhiyeh in Lebanon.
(YWN World Headquarters NYC)
An Iranian-backed militia in Iraq carried out three attacks on Israel overnight Tuesday and Wednesday morning.
Shortly after midnight, drone infiltration sirens sounded in the Arava. The drone fell in an open area and Baruch Hashem caused no damage or injuries. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for the strike, stating that it was launched at a target near the Jordan Valley.
At about 3 a.m., drone infiltration sirens sounded in Ramat HaGaolan. Two drones fell in open areas, causing fires, but did not cause injuries or damage. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq again took responsiblity for the attack.
On Wednesday morning at about 8:50 a.m., IDF fighter jets downed a drone that entered Israel through Syria.
Fighter jets intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle south of the Kinneret, the IDF spokesperson said. The drone was launched from the east and crossed into Israeli territory from Syria. No damage or casualties were reported.
For the third time, the Islamic Resistance took responsiblity, saying it fired at a target in Ramat HaGolan.
(YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem)
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Wednesday called for joint efforts to promote sustainable transport development and ensure the smooth flow of international logistics.
He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when addressing the opening ceremony of the Global Sustainable Transport Forum 2024 in Beijing.
China is willing to work with all parties to enhance the construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure, maintain the stability and smooth flow of international logistics supply chains, and safeguard transport safety, he said.
He said China will enhance the level of service guarantee for international shipping and promote building a multidimensional network for connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative.
Before the forum's opening, the Chinese vice premier met with Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel and Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, who attended the event.
The forum, themed "Sustainable Transport: Logistics Connecting the World," aims to foster global cooperation and promote the development of a safe, convenient, efficient, green, economical, inclusive and resilient transport system.
The Gulf nation of Qatar on Tuesday became just the second Muslim-majority country to be admitted into a program that allows its citizens to travel to the United States without first obtaining a U.S. visa.
The departments of State and Homeland Security jointly announced that Qatar had met stringent eligibility requirements to join the visa waiver program. Those requirements include a low visa refusal rate, a low rate of visa overstays and a demand of reciprocal treatment of American travelers, who are already allowed to visit Qatar without a visa for up to 30 days.
Qatar has been an exceptional partner for the United States, and our strategic relationship has only grown stronger over the past few years, the departments said in a statement. This is further evidence of our strategic partnership and our shared commitment to security and stability.
Qatar, which has played a key role in trying to negotiate a cease-fire deal in Gaza and was an instrumental U.S. partner before and during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, is the 42nd country to be admitted to the program.
The decision is truly mind-boggling as Qatar is as close to a terror group as a legitimate state can be. It harbors and finances mass-murderer Hamas leaders and other terrorists, including the Muslim Brotherhood; its propaganda wing Al Jazeera, the leading anti-West propaganda machine in the world, is nothing more than a terror front, spreading virulent antisemitism and lies, and even aiding terror causes, prompting Israel to shut down its operations in the country. Qatar is also one of the leading sponsors of the anti-Israel drivel in US universities a catalyst of the anti-Israel and antisemitic protests following October 7.
A think tank even published a report that Qatars funding led directly the October 7 assault. In May, Prof. Judea Pearl, a Chancellors Professor of Computer Science and Statistics at UCLA, [and the father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, Hyd] said that the anti-Israel protests on campus are allowed to continue due to the large amount of money the university receives from Qatar.
Qatars Emir Hamad Al Thani just called Israels war against Hamas in Gaza a genocide in his speech on Tuesday to the UN General Assembly. He also slammed Israel for its actions against Hezbollah, which included the elimination of Ibrahim Akil, who had a US-imposed $7 million bounty on his head for his involvement in the murder of 63 people in the bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut in 1983 as well as the abduction of US and German hostages.
Most countries whose citizens can visit the U.S. without a visa are longstanding allies in Europe and Asia. The only other Muslim-majority country in the program is the tiny Southeast Asian nation of Brunei.
Although Qatars population is just over 3 million people, only a small percentage of those about 320,000 are actually Qataris who would be eligible for the program if they hold valid passports. The vast majority of people who live in Qatar are foreign workers and other expatriates who do not hold Qatari passports.
The program allows citizens of qualifying nations to enter the U.S. for business or tourism without a visa for up to 90 days, although they must still obtain approval through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, which is done online and doesnt require an in-person interview as visa applications do.
After Oct. 1, U.S. citizens will be allowed to stay in Qatar without a visa for 90 days.
Israel was the last country admitted to the program in 2023.
(YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem & AP)
Yaakov Avitan, father of IDF soldier Adi Avitan who was abducted at Har Dov by Hezbollah terrorists on October 7, 2000, and killed during or shortly afterward, reacted with emotion to the elimination of Hezbollah leader Ibrahim Qubaisi, who had planned the abduction.
Avitan told Ynet: It wont bring Adi back to us, but were glad that the State of Israel is able to settle accounts with anyone who has harmed IDF soldiers and civilians, even if its 24 years later.
Adi, Hyd, was abducted and killed along with two other soldiers, Benny Avraham, Hyd, and Omar Souad as they were patrolling along the Israeli side of the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Their remains were returned to Israel in a controversial prisoner exchange deal in 2004.
Avitan, a resident of Tiveria, also shared about living in the city amid the current conflict. Theres tension, we hear the interceptions and whats happening around us. Although there are no sirens or falls, were staying alert.
(YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem)
Foreign ministers from Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan have condemned Israels military actions in Lebanon, warning that the escalating violence could push the region toward an all-out war. The joint statement, issued during the UN General Assembly in New York, emphasized the ministers concerns over Israels ongoing military operations.
The serious escalation going on in the region was discussed, the ministers said. Stopping the dangerous escalation under way in the region begins by halting Israels aggression in Gaza.
The statement called on the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to take immediate action. Ministers called on the international community and the Security Council to take their responsibilities in stopping the war, pointing out that Israel bears full responsibility for this deterioration, which will have serious consequences on the region, they added.
(YWN World Headquarters NYC)
Today, the Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, visited the 7th Brigades military exercise at Israels northern border. He was accompanied by senior military officials, including the Commanding Officer of the Northern Command, the Commanding Officer of the 98th Division, the Commanding Officer of the Ground Forces Training Center, and other brigade commanders.
During the visit, LTG Halevi addressed the troops, emphasizing the ongoing Israeli Air Force strikes and preparations for a potential ground operation. In his remarks, he stated:
You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day. This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah. Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves.
Today, we will continue, we are not stopping; we keep striking and hitting them everywhere. The goal is very clearto safely return the residents of the north. To achieve that, we are preparing the process of a maneuver, which means your military boots, your maneuvering boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, with underground infrastructure, staging points, and launchpads into our territory and carry out attacks on Israeli civilians.
Your entry into those areas with force, your encounter with Hezbollah operatives, will show them what it means to face a professional, highly skilled, and battle-experienced force. You are coming in much stronger and far more experienced than they are. You will go in, destroy the enemy there, and decisively destroy their infrastructure. These are the things that will allow us to safely return the residents of the north afterward.
(YWN World Headquarters NYC)
Shares in Rentokil rose after a member of Nelson Peltzs hedge fund was handed a seat on the royal rat catchers board.
The FTSE 100 pest control firm, which won contracts at Buckingham Palace in the 1960s, said Trians head of research Brian Baldwin will join from October, lifting it 4.5 per cent, or 16.1p, to 376.7p.
The New York activist investor, which was co-founded by billionaire Peltz, owns a 2.26 per cent stake in Rentokil. Peltz, whose daughter Nicola is married to Brooklyn Beckham, sits on the board of Magnum owner Unilever and will be hoping his firm can exert influence over another blue-chip firm.
Baldwin said Rentokil has significant potential for growth.
Influence: Rentokil, which won contracts at Buckingham Palace in the 1960s, said Trian's head of research Brian Baldwin will join from October
The FTSE 100 dipped 0.2 per cent, or 14.06 points, to 8268.70 while the FTSE 250 was down 0.1 per cent, or 14.68 points, to 20,755.44. The price of oil dropped as traders fretted over global demand.
A barrel of Brent crude fell by more than 2 per cent towards $73, sending BP down 2.4 per cent, or 9.9p, to 400.25p while Shell gave up 1.6 per cent, or 40p, to 2532p.
A bumper summer helped On the Beach report a record value of holidays booked.
Bookings rose 15 per cent to 1.2billion in the year to the end of September but there were significant one-off costs linked to its new partnership with Ryanair, and it fell 2.9 per cent, or 4.2p, to 140.8p.
Meanwhile, DFS reported resilient results as consumers reined in spending.
The furniture retailers orders, which fell 1.8 per cent in the 12 months to the end of June, rose in the first 12 weeks of the new financial year.
Shares gained 6.6 per cent, or 7.6p, to 122.6p.
Stock Watch - Cirata Cirata plunged 15.2 per cent, or 4.4p, to 24.5p, after its finance boss revealed he will leave after less than two years in the job. Ijoma Maluza, who joined the data specialist in April 2023, was brought in to help turn around the company. He will step down in December and be replaced by Ricardo Moura, who will join next week. Cirata, formerly known as Wandisco, underwent a major rebrand following last years accounting scandal.
Dialight edged back up 1.7 per cent, or 3p, to 182p, a day after the conclusion of its litigation trial with its former manufacturing partner.
A jury awarded the London-listed LED maker 670,000 damages following Sanminas breach of contract.
But Dialight also announced it was considering potential post-trial motions after the trial ruled it should pay 6.5million damages to Sanmina. Dialight fell 28.4 per cent on Tuesday.
Raspberry Pi extended its gains a day after the Cambridge computer business revealed profits rose 55 per cent to 16million in the first half of 2024.
Shares, which rose 6.6 per cent on Tuesday, added 5 per cent, or 18.4p, to 389.6p yesterday.
Tekcapital reported a bumper first half as assets soared 46 per cent to 52million.
The investment group said expansion of Microsalts retail distribution and Guidents second grant from Space Florida boosted its portfolio, and it rose 6.8 per cent, or 0.43p, to 6.75p.
Funding Circle co-founder and former chief executive Samir Desai will step down from the board next month.
He set up the small firm lending platform in 2010, and has been a non-executive for three years, a role he took on after handing the reins to Lisa Jacobs.
He said he would step down on October 25 when his three-year term comes to an end, but will remain a shareholder in the peer-to-peer lender. Shares fell 2 per cent, or 2.5p, to 124.5p.
Cinema group Everyman is looking for a boost from upcoming films such as Gladiator II and Wicked.
It said revenues rose 22.5 per cent to 46.9million in the first six months of the year, with 1.9m tickets sold up from 1.6m year-on-year.
And particularly strong films have still to hit the screens.
Upcoming: Everyman highlighted the release of Joker: Folie a Deux in October as well as Gladiator II (pictured), Paddington in Peru and Mufasa: The Lion King in December
Joker: Folie A Deux is out in October as well as Gladiator II. Paddington In Peru, Wicked and Moana 2 arrive in November, and Mufasa: The Lion King in December.
The shares rose 3.5 per cent, or 2p, to 58.5p.
Everyman said it weathered pressure on schedules from strike action by Hollywood writers and actors.
Higher admissions were largely due to a strong awards season, with Poor Things, The Holdovers and One Life drawing good audiences.
Bob Marley: One Love and Dune: Part Two also did well this year.
Even so, pre-tax losses grew to 4.94million from 4.31million.
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I confess to employing the occasional half-truth.
In order to keep conversations moving (and save face), I sometimes mumble, "Sort of" when someone queries, "You know where ol' (fill-in-the-blank) lives, don't you?"
Around these parts, it's a major social faux pas if you don't know some nodding acquaintance's street address, the Vehicle Identification Number of their conveyance and their middle child's school locker combination.
In this part of the country, "I know where you live" is a nonnegotiable prerequisite for good citizenship, unlike in the movies, where "I know where you live" is a veiled threat (such as "This isn't over yet" or "I just happen to have a slow-motion video of my granddaughter's cymbals solo.")
The obsession with precise locations is even drummed into (most of) our heads in the educational system. It's not unusual for a report card to indicate, "Plays well with others and can draw an exact reproduction of the blueprint of their lodgings."
It's not just public schools. In Sunday school, young worshippers are taught, "In my Father's house are many mansions and if you can't differentiate each of those mansions, there's a warmer final destination waiting for you!"
Granted, I used to be more "in the know" about the habitation of local "characters" and "big wheels." My late father was a realtor when I was in grade school. I helped dad and the Kiwanis Club go door-to-door selling peanuts. The family used to take leisurely Sunday afternoon drives through various neighborhoods.
My mother loved adding bonus residential information on those Sunday jaunts. ("This is where Mrs. Hufnagel lives. You know her mother is in the insane asylum, don't you? And her homosexual first husband lives at the end of Maple Street. You knew she had had been married before, didn't you? And she's such a gossip!")
Right now, I could drive straight to the domicile of only a handful of my co-workers, church brethren or classmates. I hope the excluded majority aren't losing any sleep over my ignorance, because I wouldn't know where to drop off the Vicks ZzzQuil if they needed me to run by the pharmacy for them.
I'm sure I would have a better grasp of residences if I was a big party-goer. But I am less of a social butterfly than a social dodo bird.
Mail carriers, pizza delivery drivers and utility workers have a legitimate reason for knowing where people live; but my brain will hold only so much information, and it had better be essential. Frankly, "righty tighty, lefty loosey" and "There is no I' in team" come in more handy than knowing where my third cousin's podiatrist's stepson hangs his hat.
I know I'm supposed to have a photographic recollection of the Smith family's topiary, picket fence and back stairs; but unless George Clooney and Brad Pitt invite me to participate in another Ocean's 11 caper, I'm not seeing the benefit.
Some folks have strange priorities. They can be blissfully ignorant that their own home is built atop a toxic waste dump or haunted Native American burial ground as long as they know that Everett Everyman's stepsister lives two doors down from where the old livery stable burned down in "nineteen-ought-seventy-three."
Do I know where you live? Probably not. But as long as your newspaper gets delivered, I'm good.
"Plays well with others remotely." That's me!
(COMMENT, BELOW)
Controversial author Harlan Ellison once described the work of Mr. Tyree as "wonkily extrapolative" and said his mind "works like a demented cuckoo clock." Tyree generated a particular buzz on the Internet with his column spoofing real-life Christian nudist camps. A lifelong small-town southerner, he graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications.
* China's commitment to expanding high-standard opening-up and the rapid industry upgrading in ASEAN nations has fostered stronger economic ties between the two sides. Together, these efforts drive regional high-quality development while sharing China's development opportunities with ASEAN.
* Huang Aimin, chairman of the first council of the Guangxi Cross-border E-Commerce Association, said cross-border e-commerce has the potential to be a critical platform for promoting in-depth economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN.
* Leading Chinese renewable energy firms are working closely with ASEAN enterprises and investing in new facilities to produce innovative, locally adapted products, thus actively contributing to ASEAN's green transition.
NANNING, China, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Visitors arriving at this year's China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) will encounter an intriguing blend of fresh innovations and familiar attractions. A new section spotlights emerging industries such as artificial intelligence and lithium batteries, while longstanding crowd favorites, like durian, longan, and rice, continue to draw attention.
This evolving landscape mirrors the deepening partnership between China and ASEAN. China's commitment to expanding high-standard opening-up and the rapid industry upgrading in ASEAN nations has fostered stronger economic ties between the two sides. Together, these efforts drive regional high-quality development while sharing China's development opportunities with ASEAN.
EMPOWERING ASEAN SMES
Stepping into the Thai Pavilion at CAEXPO, visitors are greeted by the distinct aroma of durian mingling with the herbal scent of Zam-buk, a popular Thai remedy for insect bites. A booth showcasing the collaboration between TOPTHAI and China's e-commerce leader, JD.com, drew significant interest.
A visitor learns about a durian-flavored coffee at the booth of Malaysia during the 21st China-ASEAN Expo at Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin)
TOPTHAI store on leading e-commerce platforms is an initiative launched by the Thai Department of International Trade Promotion this year. It aims to help Thai small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) expose their products to more overseas markets, among which the Chinese market is a crucial destination, said Dr. Nisachol Thaithong, a Thai trader and researcher in China-Thailand cross-border e-commerce.
For SMEs and small-scale farmers in ASEAN countries, participating in e-commerce with China has transformed their businesses.
"It (CAEXPO) is moving forward dynamically in terms of the more areas of cooperation, in terms of engaging wider stakeholders," said Kao Kim Hourn, secretary-general of ASEAN, in an interview on the sideline of CAEXPO and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABIS). "Now they are involved in the Micro-, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), for example. MSMEs are really the backbone of the economy on both sides. We have to get them involved, in addition to the big cooperations. I think this is the right direction that we are taking."
Frequent exchanges between China and Malaysia leadership have set a positive tone for SMEs, said Ravenna Chen, the CEO of TusStar Malaysia, an innovation and entrepreneurship platform.
Huang Aimin, chairman of the first council of the Guangxi Cross-border E-Commerce Association, said cross-border e-commerce has the potential to be a critical platform for promoting in-depth economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN.
Collaborating with China has sped up modernization in Laos. For instance, working with China to digitize businesses and develop e-commerce skills has been advantageous for both businesses and young individuals in Laos, according to Thanongsinh Kanlaya, Vice President of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
UPGRADING AGRIBUSINESS
At a durian orchard in Thailand's Chanthaburi province, Kosai, the 32-year-old owner and a Chinese social media influencer, was promoting durians to Chinese netizens through the live streaming e-commerce platform Tmall.
Kosai is proud that his orchard is a smart orchard jointly built by the Commercial Association for Sustainability of Agriculture in Thailand and the Foreign Economic Cooperation Center of China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
The Internet of Things installed by the Chinese side in Kosai's orchard, which includes meteorological, water level, and soil moisture monitoring, could provide data support for the scientific cultivation of durian and the improvement of fruit quality.
Klos Hirunburana (R), chairman of the Commercial Association for Sustainability of Agriculture (CASA) in Thailand, promotes durians to Chinese netizens through the livestreaming on e-commerce platform Tmall at a durian orchard in Thailand's Chanthaburi province, May 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Sun Weitong)
Modern farming is a sector with a promising future for cooperation between Malaysia and China, said Low Kian Chuan, president of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia.
Despite the difference in size and population between Brunei and China, CAEXPO and CABIS have offered a platform for Brunei enterprises to conduct win-win cooperation with Chinese peers, said National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Brunei Darussalam President Haji Abdul Saman bin Haji Ahmad.
Platforms like CAEXPO and CABIS incentivize Brunei SMEs to grow "more resilient and more proactive" by exposing their products and services to the Chinese market, said Saman, adding that he sees particularly promising opportunities for Brunei's halal food.
GREEN TRANSITION
Leading Chinese renewable energy firms are working closely with ASEAN enterprises and investing in new facilities to produce innovative, locally adapted products, thus actively contributing to ASEAN's green transition.
In July, BYD opened an electric vehicle plant in Thailand, the automaker's first Southeast Asian factory, a fast-growing regional EV market. The same month Eve Energy announced a plan to build a new factory in Kulim, Kedah state, Malaysia to meet the fast-growing demand for energy storage and consumer batteries in the South East Asia region.
Guests inscribe signatures on the first battery product of NV Gotion jointly established by Gotion High-tech and Nuovo Plus at Siam Eastern Industrial Park in Rayong, Thailand, Dec. 7, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)
In August, Gotion High-tech announced that a battery assembly plant project in Malaysia is under negotiation, in addition to its assembly plants in Indonesia and Thailand. The battery manufacturer's Vietnam factory is expected to begin production in October this year.
Malaysia's East Coast Rail Link under the Belt and Road Initiative is expected to drive economic development in the east coast areas and promote more balanced development among regions within the countries, said Anthony Loke Siew Fook, the minister of transport of Malaysia.
This photo shows the launching site of the East Coast Rail Link project, a mega rail project in Malaysia being built by the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), in Kuantan, Malaysia on Dec. 11, 2023. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung)
As outlined in the National Automotive Policy 2020 and National Energy Transition Roadmap, Malaysia is developing its renewable energy battery sector and welcomes leading battery manufacturers to invest in it, said Loke.
Malaysia encourages Chinese companies to form partnerships with local companies to further promote the use of electric and hybrid vehicles in Malaysia, not only in terms of car manufacturing but also in the entire ecosystem, from charging networks to battery manufacturing, said Zalina Zainol, deputy chief executive officer of investment development at Malaysian Investment Development Authority.
Malaysia highly encourages such cooperation to further create high-skilled jobs in engineering, research and development, and advanced manufacturing, thereby boosting economic growth here, Zainol added. (Video reporters: Liang Shun, Huang Kaiying, Yu Jiaming, Dong Shuo, Liu Siyuan, Zhang Yichi, Qin Guanghua; Video editors: Zhu Cong, Zhang Yuhong.)
Exhibitors taste coffee at the Hainan Coffee Industry Growth Summit held in Wanning, south China's Hainan Province, Sept. 23, 2024. (Xinhua/Cheng Xiao)
HAIKOU, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- In the city of Wanning, south China's island province of Hainan, coffee is more than just a boost in a mug. It is also a major ingredient fueling industrial prosperity in the region.
Sipping a cup of local Xinglong Coffee at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Hainan Coffee Promotional Month, Beijing visitor Li Yijiao was captivated by its distinctive and rich aroma.
The event, which kicked off on September 22, features some 20 activities, including exhibitions, industry exchanges, seminars and coffee tastings, while drawing a legion of participants, like Li, eager to savor coffee that is rich without bitterness, aromatic but not overpowering, and boasts a lingering aftertaste.
Located on the southeastern coast of Hainan, Wanning leads the province in coffee planting, processing and trading, capitalizing on its unique geographical position at the crossroads of tropical and subtropical climates.
Its coffee plantation area covers 8,356.89 mu (about 557.13 hectares), representing one-third of the total cultivated coffee area in Hainan.
In the 1950s, returned overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia introduced coffee cultivation and processing techniques to Xinglong Township in Wanning. Since then, drinking coffee has been part of locals' daily routine.
Today, Wanning is home to 10 coffee processing enterprises that process over 10,000 tonnes of coffee annually. About 80 percent of Hainan's coffee beans are processed in Xinglong.
Coffee-processing companies have signed coffee fruit purchase agreements with local farmers, offering technical guidance, planting standards and training to improve crop quality and yield, said Chen Yijun with Wanning Modern Agricultural Investment Co., Ltd.
"We've created jobs through the development of the coffee industry and boosted local farmers' incomes. It's truly a win-win situation," Chen said.
Hainan's free trade port status, unique natural resources and rich coffee culture are unlocking unparalleled opportunities for the local coffee industry, Chen added.
Hua Runmei, manager of DaKaHo Coffee Farm in southwest China's Yunnan Province, another major coffee-producing region in China, said during the event that she expects future collaborations with Hainan enterprises to extend to the development of coffee-based products and tourism resources.
Coffee enterprises in Wanning are also partnering with Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam, in terms of the processing and production of raw beans, and are looking to expand cooperation with more Belt and Road partner nations, according to Wu Chunguang, secretary general of the WNXL Coffee Industry Association.
"Looking ahead, we hope that Wanning's coffee will gain greater recognition beyond Hainan and reach a global audience," said Wu.
Exhibitors make coffee at the Hainan Coffee Industry Growth Summit held in Wanning, south China's Hainan Province, Sept. 23, 2024. (Xinhua/Cheng Xiao)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a Security Council high-level meeting on the situation in Ukraine at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie E)
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Tuesday that all parties should be truly committed to promoting peace talks on the Ukraine issue.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks at the United Nations headquarters while attending a Security Council high-level meeting on the situation in Ukraine.
The Security Council should serve as a bridge between differences and contradictions, an advocate of seeking common ground while shelving differences, a defender of common security, and a builder of lasting peace, he said.
Wang put forward three propositions in this regard:
Firstly, it is necessary to enhance the sense of crisis in cooling down the situation. Weapons of mass destruction should not be used, nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes such as nuclear power plants should not be attacked, and civilians and civilian facilities should not be targeted, the envoy said.
Secondly, it is necessary to enhance the sense of responsibility in promoting peace talks. Dialogue and negotiation is the only viable way out of the Ukrainian crisis, he noted, urging the international community to seize the current opportunity to form joint efforts to promote peace talks.
Thirdly, it is necessary to enhance the sense of urgency in managing spillovers. China calls on the international community to strengthen cooperation on energy, finance, trade, food security and the protection of key infrastructure such as oil and gas pipelines, so as to jointly maintain the stability and smooth flow of global industrial and supply chains, Wang said.
China is not a creator of the Ukraine crisis, nor is it a party concerned, the top Chinese diplomat noted. China has always sided with peace, and maintained contact with all parties, including Russia and Ukraine, he added.
Warning that any attempt to blame, attack or smear China on the Ukraine issue is irresponsible and will not succeed, Wang called on the international community to join hands to uphold a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a Security Council high-level meeting on the situation in Ukraine at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- China-Australia relations have made positive progress, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi when meeting his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
Both sides should continue to build a more mature, stable, and fruitful comprehensive strategic partnership, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
Both sides should properly handle the issues in bilateral exchanges and not define China-Australia relations from the perspective of differences, Wang said, hoping Australia joins hands with China to ensure that bilateral relations go on the right track and achieve more results.
Wong, for her part, said Australia is ready to work with China to strengthen economic and trade cooperation, engage in constructive communication on issues of differences, and promote the stable development of bilateral relations.
The Australian side's adherence to the one-China policy has not changed, Wong said.
BAGHDAD, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a Shiite militia group, on Wednesday claimed responsibility for multiple drone and missile attacks on Israeli targets.
The group launched a drone attack on a military site and fired an al-Arqab upgraded cruise missile at a vital location in the northern "occupied Palestinian territories," according to statements released by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
Additionally, the group launched two more drone attacks in the morning: one targeting a site in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and the other aimed at an Israeli site near the Jordan Valley, which runs along the Jordan River and forms Jordan's western border with Israel and the West Bank.
The statement did not provide further details about the attacked sites or report any casualties.
Since the onset of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in Gaza on October 7, 2023, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has executed numerous attacks on Israeli and U.S. targets in the region to support Palestinians in Gaza. The group escalated its attacks on Israel after the recent flare-up between Israel and Hezbollah.
The 2024 BRICS Young Leaders Forum is held in Kazan, Russia, Sept. 25, 2024. The 2024 BRICS Young Leaders Forum was held Wednesday in Russia's Kazan, highlighting opportunities for global youth within the BRICS framework. (Xinhua/Cao Yang)
KAZAN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The 2024 BRICS Young Leaders Forum was held Wednesday in Russia's Kazan, highlighting opportunities for global youth within the BRICS framework.
The event gathered officials, media representatives, experts, and opinion leaders from China and Russia, alongside young global participants from BRICS countries.
The participants unveiled the BRICS Youth Cooperation and Development Initiative, a document encouraging youth from BRICS nations to seize opportunities, tackle challenges, and foster a culture of continuous innovation.
The participants underscored the vast potential for youth engagement in sustainable development, innovation, entrepreneurship, and cultural exchange.
China Daily and the Chinese Embassy in Russia co-hosted the event, which was organized by 21st Century Media and Education in partnership with Kazan Federal University.
A youth representative signs on a board at the 2024 BRICS Young Leaders Forum in Kazan, Russia, Sept. 25, 2024. The 2024 BRICS Young Leaders Forum was held Wednesday in Russia's Kazan, highlighting opportunities for global youth within the BRICS framework. (Xinhua/Cao Yang)
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's births rebounded in July despite lingering worry about the Asian country's population fall, statistical office data showed Wednesday.
The number of newborn babies expanded 7.9 percent from a year earlier to 20,601 in July after reducing 1.8 percent in the previous month, according to Statistics Korea.
It marked the fastest July growth rate since July 2007 when the number jumped 12.4 percent.
However, the number of newborns remained low as young couples delayed or gave up on having children owing to economic difficulties such as high housing prices and stubborn unemployment.
The low birth rate fueled worry about a so-called demographic cliff, which refers to a sharp reduction in the heads of households eventually leading to a consumption cliff.
The number of marriages surged 32.9 percent to 18,811 in July compared to the same month of 2023, recording the fastest July growth rate since relevant data began to be compiled in 1981.
The number of divorces gained 5.9 percent to 7,939 in the cited month, while the number of deaths rose 0.4 percent to 28,240.
Affected by the still-low births and high deaths, the country's population continued to slide since November 2019.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (3rd R) meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- China upholds fairness and justice to promote a ceasefire in Gaza, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday when meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
China supports regional countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia in continuing to improve their relations and resolving regional security issues through unity and cooperation, taking control of the Middle East's fate into their own hands, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
Noting that both China and Iran are ancient civilizations that have made significant contributions to human progress, Wang said that China is ready to enhance practical cooperation with Iran in various fields to support each country's development.
Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China is ready to develop the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Iran, Wang said.
Regardless of changes in the international or regional situation, China will always be a trustworthy partner for Iran, continuing to support Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national dignity, while opposing external interference in Iran's internal affairs as well as sanctions, Wang said.
Pezeshkian said that Iran is firmly committed to the one-China policy and developing friendly relations with China, adding that Iran is willing to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative.
In this rapidly changing world, as some countries pursue unilateralism and hegemonic practices, Iran and China should strengthen cooperation, join hands to face challenges, and jointly uphold multilateralism and international fairness and justice, he said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Tuesday that against the backdrop of rising protectionism and anti-globalization, China and Switzerland, both defenders of free trade, should demonstrate with concrete actions that economic globalization is unstoppable.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during talks with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
He hailed the two countries' announcing the launch of negotiations on an upgraded version of the free trade agreement a piece of good news.
The two sides should cherish and maintain a high level of political mutual trust, adhere to mutual respect and equal treatment, and ensure a sound and steady development of bilateral relations, he said.
For his part, Cassis said the Swiss side will make every effort to push forward the negotiation process and promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
Switzerland values its partnership with China and always adheres to the one-China policy, he added.
During the talks, the two sides also exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis.
SHANGHAI, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- China is now home to 30 national-level manufacturing innovation centers and over 260 provincial-level manufacturing innovation centers, with the country persisting in its determined efforts to further boost its industrial development.
China has also built 421 national-level demonstration factories featuring intelligent manufacturing, according to the 24th China International Industry Fair, which is being held in Shanghai, China's financial hub.
The event kicked off on Tuesday and will run until Saturday, and has attracted the participation of 2,600 exhibitors from 28 countries and regions.
With a total exhibition area of 280,000 square meters, the fair features nine professional exhibitions, with themes including new energy and intelligent connected vehicles, robots and new materials.
Launched in 1999, the fair has become one of the most influential platforms for international trade, exchanges and cooperation on industrial scope.
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As the presidential campaign reaches peak intensity, we are seeing an interesting phenomenon: journalists who don't want to know some very basic information about one of the candidates.
That candidate, of course, is Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been famously sketchy about what she would do in a number of key policy areas, such as the economy, immigration, foreign policy, and much more, if she were to win the White House. All Republicans, and even some Democrats, want Harris to be more forthcoming about her plans, especially since she was quite open about her positions when she first ran for president, in the 2020 Democratic primaries. In addition, all journalists want Harris to be more open, on the simple principle that more information is better.
Actually, not all journalists. What has emerged recently is a new type of journalist who wants less, rather than more, information about the most important story of the moment. A few recent examples.
New York Times columnist Bret Stephens recently wrote a piece headlined, "What Harris Must Do to Win Over Skeptics (Like Me)." Stephens went through a number of policy questions, including Iran, Ukraine, Hamas, federal spending, climate, housing, nuclear power, and more, about which Harris has not given full descriptions of her positions or any descriptions at all. "All this helps explain my unease with the thought of voting for Harris an unease I never felt, despite policy differences, when Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden were on the ballot against Trump," Stephens wrote. "If Harris can answer the questions I posed above, she should be quick to do so, if only to dispel a widespread perception of unseriousness. If she can't, then what was she doing over nearly eight years as a senator and vice president?"
Later, Stephens appeared on HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher with the MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle. First, Stephens had to establish his anti-Trump bona fides. He would never be taken seriously by the audience unless he did that. "I'm never going to vote for Trump," Stephens said, "but I'm not sure I want to vote for Kamala. And my fear is that she doesn't really have a very good command of what she wants to do as president." Stephens suggested that "it would be great" if Harris would sit down with Ruhle or other journalists and answer questions.
One might think Ruhle would want that, too. But she does not. She was, in fact, appalled at Stephens's idea. "Let's say you don't like her answer. Are you going to vote for Donald Trump?" Ruhle asked Stephens. No, said Stephens, and no one else should, either. "Kamala Harris is not running for perfect," Ruhle responded. "We have two choices. And so there are some things you might not know her answer to, and in 2024, unlike 2016, for a lot of the American people, we know exactly what Trump will do, who he is, and the kind of threat he is to democracy."
Stephens pointed out that it's not just a few things we don't know about Harris. It's much more than that. "People also are expected to have some idea of what the program is that you're supposed to vote for," he said. "I don't think it's too much to ask for her to sit down for a real interview." Ruhle replied: "I would just say to that, when you move to nirvana, give me your real estate broker's number, and I'll be your next-door neighbor. We don't live there."
It was a remarkable moment. As Ruhle, the journalist, saw it, wanting a campaign in which the leading candidate for president of the United States submits to scrutiny about her policy positions is an unreachable state of perfection. Voters simply don't need to learn anything more about Harris.
Here's the interesting thing. After video of the exchange began to circulate, other journalists agreed with Ruhle. "This is infuriatingly disingenuous," wrote the Atlantic's Tom Nichols about Stephens's suggestion. "'We don't know her positions' is a straw man and Stephens knows it. I'm pretty sure I know what her administration will look like. 'Undecideds' who say 'but I want to hear more about her policies' are not undecided. They want Harris to walk into an unwinnable policy debate with the media while Trump rants like a madman, so they can rationalize not voting for her."
Other journalists chimed in. "Exactly," said the Atlantic's Anne Applebaum. "Real moral clarity from Stephanie Ruhle," said Vanity Fair's Molly Jong-Fast. "This is perfect from my friend Stephanie Ruhle," said MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace.
Look at another example. During the Sept. 10 debate with Trump, Harris stirred a lot of curiosity when she revealed she is a gun owner. Many observers didn't know that and wanted to learn more. What kind of gun? How long has Harris had it? Does she shoot it? Has she ever used it? Neither Harris nor her staff offered any further details. Then, during her town hall with Oprah Winfrey, when Winfrey said she had not known that Harris owned a gun, Harris replied, "If somebody breaks into my house, they're getting shot, sorry," and then broke into laughter. Harris added, "Probably should not have said that, but my staff will deal with that later."
Then, on Friday, a member of Harris's staff, campaign spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod, appeared on CNN. Anchor Jim Acosta had some basic questions about the gun. "You are on Kamala Harris's staff can you give us some more information?" Acosta said to Elrod. "I'm just curious from a biographical background, what do we know about this firearm that she owns and when did she get it?"
Elrod confirmed that Harris owns a gun and then said, "I can't really comment more than that" beyond saying that Harris "staunchly supports the Second Amendment."
After that, I posted that Harris "keeps saying she is a gun owner but won't say anything about the gun or gun she owns. Her staff won't, either." The reaction on X was instant and hostile and from another journalist. "What f***ing business is it of yours?" said the journalist Keith Olbermann. Then, from the longtime journalist and journalism professor Jeff Jarvis came the comment, "So f***ing what?" And then followed the X observers, who added things like "It's none of your damn business" and "Who cares? It's her business."
The point of all this is to shed some light on Harris's continuing refusal to reveal precisely where she stands on a number of issues important to voters. Why should she? She has a group of journalists on her side who actively do not want her to answer more questions, do not want her to be transparent on important issues, do not want her to undergo the scrutiny that until now has been routine for major party candidates. They are willing to defend her decision not to talk aggressively.
When it comes to where Harris stands, they don't want to know. And so far, she's not telling them or us.
TOKYO, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- A woman was confirmed dead on Wednesday after being found near a river in Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture, bringing the death toll from the record-breaking rainfall to nine, local media reported.
Police were still searching for two others missing and as of 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday, there were still six others who remained unaccounted for, according to public broadcaster NHK.
Record-breaking torrential rain pounded Ishikawa from Sept. 21 to 22, a region still reeling from a major earthquake at the start of the year.
Severe flooding and landslides have caused extensive damage in the aftermath of the rainfall, with authorities calling for continued vigilance.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 46 locations across Wajima city, Suzu city, and Noto town remained isolated and 5,216 households were experiencing water shortages due to power outages and water pipe damage, according to the report.
ISLAMABAD, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Twelve people including two policemen were injured in a bomb attack on a police vehicle in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Wednesday, official sources said.
The incident happened in the provincial capital city Quetta, and two of the wounded people are in critical condition, Waseem Baig, media coordinator of the provincial health ministry told Xinhua.
The attack occurred while the police vehicle was conducting routine patrols in a busy area of the city and was hit by an improvised explosive device, police sources said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
The area had been cordoned off for investigations.
The long-time promised week of good weather saw over 1,200 adventurers arrive in Ballina on Saturday to run, cycle and kayak their way around Quest Lough Derg. Participants enjoyed surprisingly good temperatures for the time of year as they competed across a choice of routes: 22km Challenge, 44km Dual (no kayak), 45km Sport and 69km Expert, that took them from the start outside Flanagans in Ballina up as far as Tountinna and out to Moylussa.
Congratulations go to the winners of the Expert Route: Declan Ferry and Ellen Vitting. Winners of the Sport Route were Paul OBrien and Siun Walsh. Winners of the Challenge Route were Adrian Lally and Roisin ODonovan. Winners of the Dual Route were Padraig Murphy and Linda OSullivan (see notes for full results).
A unique feature for this adventure race is its impressive finish that involves participants running across a temporary pontoon bridge spanning the Shannon from Killaloe to Ballina, built especially for the event. A spectacle taking many days to construct, it attracts a significant number of spectators to the area and is the longest temporary bridge ever built across a river in Ireland. The final stage of the race sees participants race to the finish line across the pontoon to cheers from friends and family.
Event organisers Elite Event Management work closely with Clare County Council, Tipperary County Council, Destination Lough Derg Group and Failte Ireland to bring this high-profile event to the region, and extend their thanks to Waterways Ireland for their help facilitating the installation of the pontoon bridge.
Quest events are well known for their choice of stunning locations, and Lough Derg is no exception, providing an incredible opportunity for participants to explore the area in the best way possible, as routes take in Tountinna, Garrykennedy, Ballycuggaran and Moylussa. At the finish line outside Flanagans on the Lake, competitors are treated to hot food, music and a festival-like atmosphere.
Event organiser Oliver Kirwan said, We were delighted to come back to Lough Derg this year. A considerable amount of preparation and planning goes into the event beforehand, and we are delighted that it has once again been such a great success. We remain grateful for the incredible support we receive locally, and extend a special thanks to the local community, businesses and to volunteers for their time.
Ciara Sugrue, Head of Festivals and Events Failte Ireland said, Failte Ireland is pleased to support Quest Lough Derg which creates a unique and exciting reason for participants and their supporters to experience our world class outdoor activity offering. Developing participative festivals like this really helps boost the appeal of a destination and encourages the spread of tourism across the country. This is essential for driving footfall for local businesses and bringing social and economic benefits to the local community.
Quest Lough Derg will to return to the twin towns of Ballina and Killaloe with a provisional date of Saturday 20th September 2025. Anyone wishing to register their interest can do so on the Quest Adventure Series website or by emailing info@eliteevents.ie
Medecins Sans Frontieres has received the Tipperary International Peace Award in recognition of the organisation's humanitarian work and the response of its teams to crises of both war and natural disasters.
The award was presented at a ceremony at The Great National Ballykisteen Hotel in Limerick Junction yesterday, marking the UN International Day of Peace.
The award was accepted by Dr Javid Abdelmoneim, who is the Medical Team Leader for MSF in Gaza.
In attendance were Ambassadors from Austria, Barbados, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Malaysia and Palestine. Also present for the occasion was the Ceann Comhairle, Sean O'Fearghail and the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, Senator Jerry Buttimer.
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Hon. Secretary of Tipperary Peace Convention Mr. Martin Quinn said the award paid "tribute to the unwavering commitment of an organisation that has brought medical care and humanitarian assistance to some of the most vulnerable populations across the globe".
"For over five decades, MSF has embodied the true spirit of compassion, courage, and resilience. Whether working in war-torn regions, responding to outbreaks of disease, or aiding communities devastated by natural disasters, your teams have consistently provided life-saving care in the most challenging circumstances. Your work transcends borders, politics, and conflict, affirming the fundamental belief that every person deserves access to medical care and dignity, no matter their location or situation.
"The prestigious Tipperary International Peace Award, not only acknowledges the incredible impact your organisation has had on millions of lives, but also your role in cultivating a culture of peace, of providing stability, and hope in regions facing unimaginable hardship. You have shown the world what it means to put humanity first, often at great personal risk as we have seen with the loss of life of some of your members, and in doing so, you inspire all of us to envision a more compassionate and just world" said Mr. Quinn.
The Award was presented to Dr Javid Abdelmoneim, who is the Medical Team Leader for MSF in Gaza by Secretary Quinn, and he was joined for the presentation by his colleagues on the committee, Mr. Guy Jones and Mr. John Shanahan.
In a statement online, MSF said they were "sincerely grateful" to receive the Tipperary International Peace Award.
MSF representative Abdelmoneim said that his work with MSF as an Emergency Medicine Doctor has taken him to numerous conflicts and humanitarian crises, most recently to two of the worlds most severe: Sudan and Gaza.
"That work has affected me deeply....., many already dead on arrival. People with complex injuries or missing limbs; children, women, Healthcare workers requiring immediate emergency care; our team relying on short supplies; I will never forget the scenes in Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis in Gaza, during multiple mass casualty events, when 100's of people would be brought to the emergency department at one time, dedication of our Palestinian colleagues who have lost everything, still coming to work day in day out. And all of this playing out repeatedly for the world to see for nearly a year now.
"In Sudan we call on the warring parties to immediately stop attacks on civilians and allow for humanitarian aid to be significantly scaled up. In both contexts there has been earthshattering inaction from the global community. Those with the power to bring an end to the human suffering and carnage have chosen to allow it to continue.
"In the case of Gaza, numerous UNSC resolutions have been blocked; International Court of Justice rulings ignored; the health infrastructure systematically attacked and destroyed; International humanitarian law has become meaningless. Compounding the suffering - powerful nations are sending arms and munitions to warring parties in both conflicts. Leaders from many of these same countries are complicit and engage in outrageous hypocrisy by continuing to allow war profiteering even as the civilian death toll skyrockets. While people are killed and maimed and our teams try to respond to the deepening health crises - these same leaders peddle ceasefire negotiations and humanitarian pauses," said Dr. Javid.
A memorial tribute was paid to the late Mrs. Mary Swords (former Tipperary Peace Convention committee member), who passed away on September 5th. A recognition honour in her memory to UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), was presented by her daughter Mrs. Michelle Cunningham to the Palestinian Ambassador, Dr. Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid. Both Mrs. Cunningham and the Ambassador responded briefly to the presentation.
Before the event concluded a blessing was given by the Archbishop of Cashel & Emly, Most Rev Kieran O'Reilly and by the Dean of Cashel, Dean James Mulhall.
Concluding the event, Martin Quinn paid a very special thanks to TASK Community Care, who were the Award Sponsors over a number of years, to Tipperary County Council for their sponsorship of the Brochure and to Jarlath Daly, who had sculpted the magnificent bronze Dove of Peace.
Xi Jinping shakes hands with a family member of Ren Jianxin to express deep condolences in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 25, 2024.
The body of Ren Jianxin, a former senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and former president of the Supreme People's Court, was cremated in Beijing on Wednesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, along with other senior Party and state leaders including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi and Han Zheng, bid farewell to Ren at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery on Wednesday morning, paying their final tribute to Ren and offering condolences to his family. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The body of Ren Jianxin, a former senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and former president of the Supreme People's Court, was cremated in Beijing on Wednesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, along with other senior Party and state leaders including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi and Han Zheng, bid farewell to Ren at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery on Wednesday morning, paying their final tribute to Ren and offering condolences to his family.
Ren passed away due to illness at 1:33 p.m. on Sept. 21 in Beijing. He was 99.
Ren had served as a member of the Secretariat of the 14th CPC Central Committee, head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, and vice chairman of the 9th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
He was extolled as an excellent member of the CPC, a long-tested and loyal Communist fighter, and an outstanding leader in China's judicial, prosecuting and public security systems.
Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, Han Zheng, Hu Jintao and others either paid Ren a visit while he was in hospital or mourned him and sent their condolences to his family through various means following his passing.
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province. The construction of the Core Array of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) started Wednesday, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)
GUIYANG, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The construction of the Core Array of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) started Wednesday, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research.
As a proposed extension of FAST, the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, the Core Array integrates 24 secondary 40-meter antennas implanted within 5 kilometers of the FAST site, said Jiang Peng, deputy director of the National Astronomical Observatories under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
The Chinese-designed array will combine the unprecedented sensitivity of FAST with a high angular resolution, thereby exceeding the capabilities at similar frequencies of next-generation arrays in the world.
The FAST Core Array is estimated to be completed and put into operation in 2027.
According to a study conducted by CAS, the Core Array will be equipped with advanced devices to improve the survey efficiency of FAST, whose broad frequency coverage and large field of view (FOV) will be essential to study transient cosmic phenomena such as fast radio bursts and gravitational wave events; conduct surveys and resolve structures in neutral hydrogen galaxies; monitor or detect pulsars; and investigate exoplanetary systems.
Jiang said that once operational, the FAST Core Array could provide more possibilities for global radio astronomy research, owing to a wide range of potential scientific applications from cosmology to exoplanet science.
Wednesday also marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of FAST. In less than a decade, FAST has already significantly expanded its astronomical observation capability, and the FAST Core Array is set to enhance its observational capabilities further.
Jiang said observations made solely with FAST are like using a pencil to draw a sketch, while the FAST Core Array is akin to capturing the night sky with a digital camera.
To date, FAST has identified more than 900 new pulsars since its launch in 2016. The number of new pulsars discovered by FAST is more than three times the total number of pulsars found by foreign telescopes during the same period.
FAST started formal operations in January 2020 and was officially opened to the world in March 2021. The telescope provides astronomers around the globe with a powerful tool to uncover the mysteries and evolution of the universe.
Since its formal opening to the global scientific community on March 31, 2021, FAST has facilitated over 900 hours of observations for research teams from 15 countries, including the United States, the Netherlands, and Australia, covering various scientific objectives.
On April 6 this year, FAST reopened applications for observation projects for the 2024-2025 season, offering 1,600 hours of telescope time for freely applied projects.
British astronomer Ralph Eatough said that opening up FAST to the world means that astronomers can now perform experiments that were previously not possible due to insufficient telescope sensitivity, with a prime example of this being the potential to detect pulsars located in external galaxies.
Chen Xianhui, an academician at CAS, said, "FAST is helping mankind explore the origins, evolution, and structure of the universe, providing crucial observational data for understanding pressing scientific questions, while also serving as an important platform for international scientific exchange and collaboration."
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). On the same day, the construction of the Core Array of FAST started, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research.(Xinhua/Liu Xu)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). On the same day, the construction of the Core Array of FAST started, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research.(Xinhua/Liu Xu)
This photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows the newly installed first test prototype of the Core Array of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope under the starry sky in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). On the same day, the construction of the Core Array of FAST started, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research.(Xinhua/Liu Xu)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). On the same day, the construction of the Core Array of FAST started, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research.(Xinhua/Liu Xu)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). On the same day, the construction of the Core Array of FAST started, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research.(Xinhua/Liu Xu)
This photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows the newly installed first test prototype of the Core Array of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope under the starry sky in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). On the same day, the construction of the Core Array of FAST started, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research.(Xinhua/Liu Xu)
This photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows the newly installed first test prototype of the Core Array of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope under the starry sky in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). On the same day, the construction of the Core Array of FAST started, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research.(Xinhua/Liu Xu)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). On the same day, the construction of the Core Array of FAST started, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research.(Xinhua/Liu Xu)
This photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows the newly installed first test prototype of the Core Array of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope under the starry sky in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). On the same day, the construction of the Core Array of FAST started, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research.(Xinhua/Liu Xu)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). On the same day, the construction of the Core Array of FAST started, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research.(Xinhua/Liu Xu)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). On the same day, the construction of the Core Array of FAST started, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research.(Xinhua/Liu Xu)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). On the same day, the construction of the Core Array of FAST started, highlighting China's growing potential in global radio astronomy research.(Xinhua/Liu Xu)
Staff catch fish at an aquaculture base in Helan County, Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Sept. 20, 2024. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 19, 2024 shows a view of a prawn cultivation base built on the saline-alkali land in Helan County, Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 20, 2024 shows a view of a rural ecotourism park built on the saline-alkali land in Helan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
A staff member checks Juncao grass growing on the improved saline-alkali land in Qingtongxia City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Sept. 23, 2024. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 20, 2024 shows a view of a rural ecotourism park built on the saline-alkali land in Helan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
This photo taken on Sept. 19, 2024 shows a view of a rural ecotourism park in Helan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
This photo taken on Sept. 19, 2024 shows prawns at a prawn cultivation base in Helan County, Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 19, 2024 shows a rural ecotourism park in Helan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 23, 2024 shows a staff member checking Juncao grass growing on the improved saline-alkali land in Qingtongxia City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
This photo taken on Sept. 19, 2024 shows a view of a rural ecotourism park in Helan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
This combo photo shows the construction site of a rural ecotourism park on March 25, 2024 (above), and crops growing in this rural ecotourism park on Sept. 20, 2024 (below, photo by Xinhua photographer Yang Zhisen), in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua)
This combo photo shows a construction site of a rural ecotourism park on March 25, 2024 (above), and crops growing in this rural ecotourism park on Sept. 20, 2024 (below, photo by Xinhua photographer Yang Zhisen), in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua)
In this drone photo, staff catch fish at an aquaculture base in Helan County, Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Sept. 20, 2024. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 20, 2024 shows an aquaculture base built on the saline-alkali land in Helan County, Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
This combo photo shows a saline-alkali land on April 4, 2022 (above), and crops growing on the saline-alkali land in a drone photo taken on Sept. 21, 2024 (below, photo by Xinhua photographer Yang Zhisen), in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua)
A staff member works at a prawn cultivation base in Helan County, Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Sept. 19, 2024. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 20, 2024 shows a view of a rural ecotourism park built on the saline-alkali land in Helan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 19, 2024 shows a rural ecotourism park in Helan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 19, 2024 shows a prawn cultivation base built on the saline-alkali land in Helan County, Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In recent years, Yinchuan and Qingtongxia cities in Ningxia have managed to transform the saline-alkali lands into planting and cultivation areas. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
A farmer carrying bags of agricultural products for sale heads towards a market after getting off a dedicated bus in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Sept. 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)
WUHAN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Before sunrise, more than a dozen farmers gather at He Station in a suburb of Wuhan, in central China's Hubei Province, waiting for a special bus, together with baskets and bags filled with fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables.
"People like eating fresh lotus seeds, so we pick them at around 3 a.m.," said Tu Jixing, adding that he can earn more than 300 yuan (about 42.73 U.S. dollars) a day by selling about 10 kg of lotus seeds.
Tu is one of many passengers along the bus route who catch the bus every morning, carrying bags and baskets filled with fresh food, including peppers, tomatoes, fish and eggs.
Taking the dedicated bus for vegetable transportation, farmers are able to sell agricultural and sideline products in a large wholesale market in the urban area of the city, more than 40 km away from He Station, the departure point of the route. The bus fare is 5 yuan for a single trip.
"It's much more convenient now, and it doesn't cost much for a round trip," said Tu.
Tu recalled that in the past, various areas around his village were not covered by public transport. Most people didn't want to rent vehicles or call a taxi to transport vegetables, as the cost was too high. So they would feed the surplus vegetables to livestock.
The problem faced by farmers attracted the attention of the local public transportation company. At the end of 2020, it established a new bus route to meet the needs of villagers selling goods.
The company has arranged staff to provide assistance at the stations where vegetable farmers gathered, and to clean the stains from soil, water and vegetable leaves, so that other types of passengers would not be affected.
Hu Simin, a driver on the dedicated bus route, said it has become an important mode of transport for people living in about 30 surrounding villages.
"On average, over a hundred villagers take the bus line to the urban area to sell vegetables a day," said Hu.
Hu has gradually become familiar with the farmers. Before the bus departs early in the morning, he always helps the elderly villagers move their goods, and sometimes farmers give him a handful of vegetables as a gift.
Some passengers have also become friends with each other. After selling their vegetables, they often hang out together in the urban area, then take the bus home and have a rest.
In China, many regions, such as Nanchang and Qingdao, have attempted to extend and open bus routes to suburbs in recent years, making it more convenient for farmers to commute between remote villages and urban areas, and making it easier for residents to buy fresh fruit and vegetables.
Farmers are pictured on a dedicated bus in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Sept. 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)
A farmer boards a dedicated bus with baskets of fresh vegetables in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Sept. 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies and experts have criticized the growing protectionism and abuse of "national security" that underscore the U.S. government's latest plan to rid the country's vehicles of Chinese technology and components.
The U.S. Commerce Department this week proposed banning the use of Chinese and Russian-developed software and hardware on autonomous and internet-connected vehicles, citing "national security" concerns.
Many Chinese automobile firms say such concerns are groundless and camouflage the Biden administration's resorting to political means to knock out Chinese firms that outcompete their U.S. peers.
"It is another example of the United States abusing the concept of national security to hamstring China's technological advances," said Hua Xianping, chairman of Wuxi Checheng Zhilian Technology Co., Ltd., which focuses on intelligent vehicle networking.
"This not only goes against the principles of the market economy and fair competition, but also undermines the stability of global industrial chains," he said.
Industry observers said that in self-driving technologies, while U.S. companies take the lead in AI algorithms and chips, their Chinese counterparts score higher in sensors and laser radar. China's mature industrial chains also help lower the production costs and increase the market appeal of related products.
A spokesperson for a Hubei-based new energy vehicle company said the United States has a record of restricting vehicle imports from Japan and the Republic of Korea at times when U.S. carmakers struggled in the domestic market.
"The United States really needs to focus more on improving the competitiveness of its auto industry, rather than creating barriers for foreign competitors, because ultimately this will harm the global auto industry," she said.
Lyu Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that following the 100-percent duty on Chinese electric vehicles, the proposed ban reveals the U.S. government's propensity to use tariff and non-tariff barriers to shield its domestic capacity.
The restrictive measures come at a time when U.S. companies struggle to find direction in the realm of autonomous driving and electric vehicles, Lyu said, referring to Apple's decision to scrap its plan to release an autonomous electric vehicle and suspicions around Tesla's Full Self-Driving feature.
"The latest move is undoubtedly intended to win time for U.S. companies to catch up in technology," he said. "But it will backfire and trigger opposition from even the companies it tries to protect."
The modern automotive industry is built on global cooperation, and a car's software and hardware come from across the globe, Hua explained, adding that a unilateral ban will lead to technological and market fragmentation, while ratcheting up costs and disrupting supplies for U.S. companies.
Another Hubei-based producer of vehicle parts said the proposed ban would deal a blow to both the company and its many U.S. clients, including big-name brands like Ford and Buick.
"Our U.S. partners have told us they are in great pain. They have been protesting with the U.S. government, which has turned a deaf ear and insisted on going its own way," said the company's board chairman, who asked not to be named. "No one benefits from this ban."
JAKARTA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia through its Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said on Wednesday that it is currently seeking investors to develop a clean coal downstream industry to meet its decarbonization target.
The ministry's Head of the Center for Mineral and Coal Testing Yose Rizal said in a statement that the government is still conducting a study process about clean coal, particularly through coal liquefaction, to ensure that coal, the mineral commodity that produces a lot of emissions, could be processed to have added value whilst reducing its emission gas.
"The problem is that we are still struggling with the investment. And we also still wait and see about the prices of clean coal in the market. However, with technology, we can assure that we have the capacity and capability," Rizal said.
Previously, Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia said the government continued to support coal as one of the country's main commodities. He said the government had tried to attract partners, including China, to develop and help create added value for Indonesia's coal in the form of derivative products, such as coal liquefaction.
Tonight we roundup more than a few local stories on the topic of rising local crime and rare Missouri punishment that still sparked controversy & outcry.
Check TKC news gathering . . .
Supreme Court allows Missouri to proceed with the execution of death row inmate Marcellus Williams Williams' execution by lethal injection is scheduled for Tuesday evening.
Break-in leaves KC coffee shop shattered, not broken. 'We won't let this set us back' When a Rebel Coffee employee arrived to open the cozy blue cafe at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, they were greeted by a shattered front door, co-owner Caleb Chincoya Velasco announced Tuesday.
Business in KC's Marlborough neighborhood latest target for break-in The Borough Food Hall was broken into early Tuesday.
Independence restaurant worker accused of sexually assaulting subordinate on premises Brought by a 25-year-old former employee, the lawsuit alleges that Manny Peine, who was assigned a managerial role over the employee, forced her to perform oral sex on him in the Tavern 24 parking lot.
Independence man receives 25 years in prison for trafficking fentanyl and an illegal weapon Wiser Key, an Independence, Missouri man, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
Leavenworth man sentenced in 2023 fatal shooting of cousin in Kansas City The 44-year-old man entered an Alford plea on two counts, first-degree involuntary manslaughter and unlawful use of a weapon, on Friday.
'Dangerous and illegal': Shawnee Police respond to false 911 call Around 2:20 p.m. on September 22, Shawnee emergency crews responded to a shooting - that turned out to be anything but.
KC-area company equipping police departments with state-of-the-art mobile command centers A few years ago, the Blue Springs Police Department spent ARPA money to buy a command van from Vandoit, a locally owned and operated company.
Developing . . .
Despite weeks of racially-charged advocacy, convicted killer Marcellus Williams was put to death by the State Of Missouri this week.
From our vantage . . .
In one of the most shameful lapses in Missouri journalism we've ever witnessed, the name of the victim in this case was almost entirely omitted from media coverage.
Nevertheless . . .
It's important to remember the victim as activists and progressive voters clog social media with mourning for the man convicted in her murder.
Her name was Felicia Gayle "Lisha" Picus.
And in August of 1998. Gayle, the 42-year-old journalist and social worker was stabbed up to 43 times with a butcher's knife taken from her kitchen. Her husband later discovered her dead body.
Over the past few days we've heard activists and pundits recite talking points about DNA evidence and allegations about paid testimony along with insinuations that "racism" led to the conviction of Mr. Williams.
This post isn't intended to try the case, we only serve to note how one-sided so much of this conversation has been and we're honestly surprised by so many willing to exonerate the late Marcellus Williams despite little knowledge of horrific deets in the shocking murder of which he was convicted.
Again . . .
DNA tech and racially charged allegations about jury selection were the crux of mainstream media argumentation and the assumption was that Mr. Williams was innocent despite so much evidence that has been dismissed by present-day readers in favor of mostly baseless allegations.
To be fair, we can discount jailhouse informant testimony and even acknowledge problems with DNA testing but still find it curious that activists ignored these facts . . .
- According to her testimony, Marcellus Williams confessed the murder to his girlfriend soon after committing his horrific crime once his girlfriend found Ms. Gayles purse in Williams car, but he also threatened to kill her and her family if she told anyone, readily explaining why his girlfriend did not approach law enforcement until Williams was in custody.
- The girlfriend never requested the reward for information about Ms. Gayles murder, despite claims that she was only interested in money.
- Gayles personal items were found in the trunk of Williams car.
- Williams sold Ms. Gayles husbands laptop to another individual who later identified Williams as the seller.
Sadly . . .
The most committed activists are willing to dismiss all of this evidence that served as part of a jury's decision to convict Marcellus Williams.
And our point here isn't that any of these pieces of evidence are enough to convict a man of murder or even that the death penalty is a fair & just punishment. We're merely disappointed that so many local news outlets were so committed to the anti-death penalty progressive narrative that they didn't even bother mentioning the victim's name or the any relevant details of the case beyond activist talking points.
And so, we'll conclude our www.TonysKansasCity.com post on this tragic topic with equal time for Missouri Guv Parson who did not intervene to stop the execution despite intense political pressure from locals all the way up to The Supreme Court.
In a statement from the Governor's office preceding the execution, this passage that's critical of media coverage stands out above all:
I also want to add how deeply disturbed weve been about how this case has been covered. Mr. Williams attorneys chose to muddy the waters about DNA evidence, claims of which Courts have repeatedly rejected. Yet, some media outlets and activist groups have continued such claims without so much of a mention of the judicial proceedings or an unbiased analysis of the facts. I would just implore the media to do their due diligence and not rely on the sole claims of individuals who have a personal or monetary stake in this case. The facts are Mr. Williams has been found guilty, not by the Governors Office, but by a jury of his peers, and upheld by the Courts, Governor Parson continued.
Developing . . .
KinoFest - German-Language Film Festival was founded by ABCinema in collaboration with the Goethe-Zentrum Patras to showcase the best German-language films and promote German-language audiovisual works in Greece
The 5th KinoFest - German-Language Film Festival wrapped up at the enchanting Castro Clauss in Patras. For five days (September 18-22), Greeces oldest winery transformed into an open-air cinema, where over 1,500 attendees enjoyed free screenings of German-language short and feature films, accompanied by fine wine, ANA reports.
This year, for the first time, the festival introduced a competition section featuring eight films from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Luxembourg. The jury unanimously awarded the Best Film Prize to the German film When Will It Be Again Like It Never Was Before by Sonja Heiss. The Audience Award went to the comedy Bonjour Switzerland by Peter Luisi, winning by a large majority.
As part of the tribute to the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka's death, the 5th KinoFest hosted the poster exhibition KOMPLETT KAFKA - A Biography in Comics. The exhibition, in cooperation with artist Nicolas Mahler and the Literaturhaus Stuttgart, presented Kafkas tumultuous life through illustrations.
KinoFest began with the idea of turning the historic Castro Clauss, Greeces oldest winery, into a cinematic hub for a few days. In honor of the sites roots, it was decided that the festival would be German-language, paying tribute to the Bavarian founder Gustav Clauss, who established Achaia Clauss 163 years ago.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: pixabay.com
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- A series of cultural exchange events designed to promote the lifestyle of China's Yunnan Province -- by fusing traditional and modern arts, local cuisines, and nature narratives -- kicked off here on Tuesday.
The 10-day events, titled "Yunnan: A Many-Splendored Life -- Shangri-La in Focus 2024," include a song and dance show, an art exhibition on Shangri-La, an exhibition of Zeng Xiaolian's nature history drawings, a wine tasting and promotion party, and a seminar on Flying Tigers culture.
"It would offer a window for Americans to explore and perceive Yunnan," Lai Yong, deputy director-general of the Information Office of the Government of Yunnan Province, told attendees at Tuesday's opening ceremony.
"Through this window, you can experience the province's rich and diverse ethnic charms from the performances, delve deeper into the Shangri-La mentioned in the famous novel by British author James Hilton, and savor some unique flavors, such as Pu'er tea, Arabica coffee, wild mushroom rice noodles, matsutake biscuits, and rose pastry."
He said his trip aimed to build a bridge from Los Angeles to Yunnan, promoting people-to-people exchanges through tourism cooperation with American partners and fostering friendship between China and the United States through cultural exchanges.
Lai also noted the deep links between the United States and Yunnan, from the Flying Tigers, a group of American volunteer pilots who participated in the Chinese people's fight against Japanese invaders during World War II, to Martin Pollack and Brian Linden.
Pollack, an American known as a "new native of Yunnan," is committed to promoting Yunnan coffee and helping local coffee farmers increase their income.
Meanwhile, Linden, from Chicago, has been living in Dali, Yunnan, for 20 years. He dedicates himself to restoring and preserving ancient local architecture and promoting the traditional culture of ethnic minorities to the world. He is called "Village Chief Lin" by locals.
Emily Song, one of dozens of American artists attending the ceremony, recalled her experience in Yunnan last year, especially the cultural exchange efforts with local artists.
"I don't pay too much attention to politics. But I know when I was in China, the people I met all wanted good relations between the two countries, they all wanted to be open, to be friendly, and everybody was so welcoming," the painter said.
"I think events like this are a great way to strengthen the relationship so that American artists can learn more about China and about certain areas in China that we don't really know much about," she added.
Delegates attend the 2024 Erhai forum on ecological civilization and biodiversity held in Geneva, Switzerland, Sept. 24, 2024. At the 2024 Erhai forum on ecological civilization and biodiversity held in Geneva on Tuesday, experts, policymakers and business leaders from around the world gathered to address pressing concerns over lake ecosystem management. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
GENEVA, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- At the 2024 Erhai forum on ecological civilization and biodiversity held in Geneva on Tuesday, experts, policymakers and business leaders from around the world gathered to address pressing concerns over lake ecosystem management.
The event, which focused on the iconic Erhai Lake in China and Lake Geneva in Switzerland, aimed to share solutions for protecting these vital bodies of water.
The forum emphasized that sustainable practices are essential for preserving the ecological integrity and natural beauty of these lakes, which are vital to the economic, cultural, and environmental well-being of their regions. Participants shared insights on freshwater ecosystem management, discussing innovative strategies to ensure these resources remain resilient in the face of climate change and human impact.
Erhai Lake, situated in southwest China's Yunnan Province, is a major resource for local agriculture, tourism and biodiversity. Similarly, Lake Geneva, shared between Switzerland and France, supports a range of economic activities and provides drinking water for millions of people.
Erhai Lake is embracing the ecological concept of a "community of life" by implementing a comprehensive approach to lake management. This includes conducting regular water quality testing to monitor changes in key indicators and utilizing a digital platform that integrates expert opinions and data to inform decision-making, said Zhao Guolong, an official with Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, home to Erhai Lake.
Impressed by the efforts made by Chinese local authorities, Nicole Gallina from the International Commission for the Protection of the Waters of Lake Geneva also shared Swiss and French approaches to improving the quality of water and aquatic environments.
"Lake Geneva goes well enough at the moment, but we must remain vigilant," Gallina said. She noted that challenges still exist, including the intensification of climate change, the lack of renewal of deep waters, and the presence of invasive alien species.
The event served as a platform for cross-border learning, emphasizing the necessity of international cooperation in tackling global environmental issues. Both lakes face similar challenges, such as climate change, pollution, and overuse of natural resources, which require concerted efforts from governments, local communities and international organizations.
Participants agreed that such dialogues are crucial for enhancing the resilience of lake ecosystems and ensuring their long-term sustainability. The shared knowledge and experiences between China and Switzerland could provide valuable insights for lake management globally.
A participant presents Yunnan folk costumes at the 2024 Erhai forum on ecological civilization and biodiversity in Geneva, Switzerland, Sept. 24, 2024. At the 2024 Erhai forum on ecological civilization and biodiversity held in Geneva on Tuesday, experts, policymakers and business leaders from around the world gathered to address pressing concerns over lake ecosystem management. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
Russia has committed multiple war crimes since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, so all of its military and political leadership must be held to account by an international court.
This was stated by the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nauseda, who spoke at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday on behalf of the three Baltic States, Ukrinform's own correspondent reports.
"It is truly the shame that Russia is still able to hide behind the veto power and actively uses this power to cover crimes of its partners. Each and every person in this room knows about Kremlin's many crimes," he said.
The list of these crimes, the Lithuanian leader stated, is long. Therefore, the Baltic States demand that these actions lead to accountability.
"The whole political and military leadership of Russia must be held accountable," Nauseda said.
In this regard, he indicated the need to establish a special international tribunal regarding the crime of aggression against Ukraine. And all countries that have ratified the Rome Statute shall arrest war criminals under ICC warrants.
In addition, Nauseda emphasized that true responsibility cannot be ensured without a decisive victory for Ukraine.
"Peace can only be achieved through the full restoration of Ukraine's territory within its internationally recognized borders. Security can only be guaranteed by Russia's acknowledgement that it will never prevail over the brave Ukrainian people," said the Lithuanian president. Therefore, according to Nauseda, it is the duty of the international community to support Ukraine for as long as it takes until its final victory.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, a UN Security Council meeting on achieving peace and security in Ukraine took place on Tuesday in New York. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke at the event.
Photo: V. Raupelio/LRT.lt
Press Release
September 25, 2024 SENATOR RONALD "BATO" DELA ROSA
CO-SPONSORSHIP SPEECH
Senate Bill No. 2838
MAGNA CARTA OF BARANGAY HEALTH WORKERS
September 25, 2024 Mr. President and distinguished colleagues, as one of the authors of this measure, I join our colleagues to co-sponsor and express my strong support for Senate Bill No. 2838 under Committee Report No. 332, entitled An Act Providing for the Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers (BHWs). "Volunteering is an act of heroism on a grand scale. And it matters profoundly. It does more than help people beat the odds; it changes the odds." U.S. President William J. Clinton. Mr. President, with the long definition of the term "barangay health worker" under Republic Act No. 7883 or the "Barangay Health Workers' Benefits and Incentives Act of 1995", the phrase "voluntarily renders primary health care services in the community" is the backbone of their purpose. They are our volunteers with inequitable honoraria or allowances and conditional tenure depending on the whims of local politicians. And yet, precisely as volunteers, they changed and keep on changing the odds of our people when it comes to health. Ang ating mga BHW po ang nagsisilbing frontliners and foot soldiers sa paghahatid ng basic health services sa ating mga komunidad. Sila po ang nagbabahay-bahay para makapagbigay ng vaccines, vitamins, at makapagturo ng mga edukasyong pangkalusugan. Noon pong kasagsagan ng COVID-19 pandemic, sila ang nagsilbing contact tracers. Sa kanilang galing sa pagkilala sa kanilang komunidad, noon naman pong may nangahas na magsimula ng people's initiative, nagamit din ang ilan sa kanila sa pagkalap ng mga pirma. They are often used and abused by local officials, involving them in political endeavors and undertakings. Kaya naman, Mr. President, nararapat lamang po na bigyang-proteksyon natin ang ating BHWs. Lalo pa mula sa mga magnanais na gawin silang mga kasangkapan sa mga gawain na walang kinalaman sa serbisyong pangkalusugan. Ngunit maliban dito, ang gusto natin ay mapagkalooban sila ng mga benepisyo na nararapat at makatarungan para sa kanila. Bagamat boluntaryo ang pagiging BHW, naniniwala tayo na isa itong dakilang bokasyon na nangangailangan ng matinding dedikasyon. With the proposed Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers, we ensure the welfare and well-being of our volunteer BHWs. They will no longer be dependent on patronage politics and they will be able to continue their services without fear of unjust removal. The institutionalization of benefits of BHWs under this legislative measure is our small way of giving thanks to our volunteers who chose to embark on an almost thankless life mission. We can never replace the time that was taken away from them in the performance of their volunteer work but we can recognize and acknowledge their dedication and commitment to service. This bill is a monument in honor of our BHWs--we always think of them and thank them. Mr. President, let us help our BHWs in finding themselves fulfilled in their service to others by passing this landmark legislation. Let us deliver to our volunteer Barangay Health Workers the protection and necessary incentives they need, so they may continue to change the odds of our health in our favor. Thank you, Mr. President.
Leyla Fazleeva, the deputy prime minister of the Republic of Tatarstan of Russia, addresses the BRICS Civilization Dialogue in Kazan, Russia, Sept. 24, 2024. The BRICS Civilization Dialogue was held Tuesday in the Russian city of Kazan with the participation of more than 300 experts, scholars and young representatives from various fields and institutions from the BRICS countries. The event, themed "Gathering the Power of Cultural Exchange to Build a Better Future for BRICS," was jointly organized by the Information Office of the State Council of China, the government of the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation, and the Chinese Consulate General in Kazan, and undertaken by the China International Communications Group and the Kazan Federal University. (Xinhua/Cao Yang)
KAZAN, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The BRICS Civilization Dialogue was held Tuesday in the Russian city of Kazan with the participation of more than 300 experts, scholars and young representatives from various fields and institutions from the BRICS countries.
The event, themed "Gathering the Power of Cultural Exchange to Build a Better Future for BRICS," was jointly organized by the Information Office of the State Council of China, the government of the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation, and the Chinese Consulate General in Kazan, and undertaken by the China International Communications Group and the Kazan Federal University.
The organizers stated that cultural exchange and mutual learning are important driving forces for the progress of human civilization and the peaceful development of the world.
They believe that this dialogue on civilization can enhance mutual understanding and traditional friendship among the people of BRICS countries, strengthen cultural ties, and mobilize more BRICS citizens to become messengers of civilization dialogue.
They hope that BRICS countries will actively practice the Global Civilization Initiative, take people-to-people connectivity as the purpose, and take the "BRICS+" cooperation as the platform to continuously deepen cultural exchanges, and write a new chapter of friendship and closeness together, contributing BRICS strength to the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Leyla Fazleeva, the deputy prime minister of the Republic of Tatarstan of Russia, who attended the event, said that under the guidance of the BRICS cooperation mechanism, the foundation of cultural exchange and cooperation among BRICS countries is continuously strengthened, and the breadth and depth of mutual learning and mutual reference of civilization are continuously expanded.
She hopes that after the expansion, BRICS countries will continue to hold high the banner of civilization dialogue, enrich the content of exchanges, build a cooperation network, and jointly promote the beautiful vision of "BRICS+" in the new era of cultural exchange into a reality.
During the event, artists from China and Russia presented a cultural feast with ethnic characteristics to the audience.
Meanwhile, series of exhibitions featuring the lives of the BRICS countries, traditional Chinese paintings and the Jingdezhen porcelain painting skills of China's Jiangxi Province attracted lots of audience to admire.
Artists from China play classic works of BRICS countries on traditional Chinese musical instrument guzheng in Kazan, Russia, Sept. 24, 2024. The BRICS Civilization Dialogue was held here on Tuesday with the participation of more than 300 experts, scholars and young representatives from various fields and institutions from the BRICS countries.
The event, themed "Gathering the Power of Cultural Exchange to Build a Better Future for BRICS," was jointly organized by the Information Office of the State Council of China, the government of the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation, and the Chinese Consulate General in Kazan, and undertaken by the China International Communications Group and the Kazan Federal University. (Xinhua/Cao Yang)
Artists from Russia present music with ethnic characteristics in Kazan, Russia, Sept. 24, 2024. The BRICS Civilization Dialogue was held Tuesday in the Russian city of Kazan with the participation of more than 300 experts, scholars and young representatives from various fields and institutions from the BRICS countries.
The event, themed "Gathering the Power of Cultural Exchange to Build a Better Future for BRICS," was jointly organized by the Information Office of the State Council of China, the government of the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation, and the Chinese Consulate General in Kazan, and undertaken by the China International Communications Group and the Kazan Federal University. (Xinhua/Cao Yang)
Workers arrange exhibits at the exhibition hall of a company producing explosion-preventive tools in Botou, north China's Hebei Province, Sept. 24, 2024. As one of the old industry bases in the central south of Hebei, Botou is dubbed "origin of casting industry" in the country, home to 322 casting companies, and boasting an annual output of 24.7 billion yuan (about 3.52 billion U.S. dollars) by clustered players there. Recent years have witnessed their manufacturing processes converted to green and environmental friendly ones. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)
A worker assembles a piece of mold at a mold company in Botou, north China's Hebei Province, Sept. 24, 2024. As one of the old industry bases in the central south of Hebei, Botou is dubbed "origin of casting industry" in the country, home to 322 casting companies, and boasting an annual output of 24.7 billion yuan (about 3.52 billion U.S. dollars) by clustered players there. Recent years have witnessed their manufacturing processes converted to green and environmental friendly ones. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)
Workers assemble products at a company producing explosion-preventive tools in Botou, north China's Hebei Province, Sept. 24, 2024. As one of the old industry bases in the central south of Hebei, Botou is dubbed "origin of casting industry" in the country, home to 322 casting companies, and boasting an annual output of 24.7 billion yuan (about 3.52 billion U.S. dollars) by clustered players there. Recent years have witnessed their manufacturing processes converted to green and environmental friendly ones. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)
Workers check product quality at a mold company in Botou, north China's Hebei Province, Sept. 24, 2024. As one of the old industry bases in the central south of Hebei, Botou is dubbed "origin of casting industry" in the country, home to 322 casting companies, and boasting an annual output of 24.7 billion yuan (about 3.52 billion U.S. dollars) by clustered players there. Recent years have witnessed their manufacturing processes converted to green and environmental friendly ones. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)
A worker is seen at a company producing explosion-preventive tools in Botou, north China's Hebei Province, Sept. 24, 2024. As one of the old industry bases in the central south of Hebei, Botou is dubbed "origin of casting industry" in the country, home to 322 casting companies, and boasting an annual output of 24.7 billion yuan (about 3.52 billion U.S. dollars) by clustered players there. Recent years have witnessed their manufacturing processes converted to green and environmental friendly ones. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)
A worker arranges exhibits at the exhibition hall of a company producing explosion-preventive tools in Botou, north China's Hebei Province, Sept. 24, 2024. As one of the old industry bases in the central south of Hebei, Botou is dubbed "origin of casting industry" in the country, home to 322 casting companies, and boasting an annual output of 24.7 billion yuan (about 3.52 billion U.S. dollars) by clustered players there. Recent years have witnessed their manufacturing processes converted to green and environmental friendly ones. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)
A worker scans a piece of automotive mold for quality check at a mold company in Botou, north China's Hebei Province, Sept. 24, 2024. As one of the old industry bases in the central south of Hebei, Botou is dubbed "origin of casting industry" in the country, home to 322 casting companies, and boasting an annual output of 24.7 billion yuan (about 3.52 billion U.S. dollars) by clustered players there. Recent years have witnessed their manufacturing processes converted to green and environmental friendly ones. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)
Workers operate at a workshop of a casting company in Botou, north China's Hebei Province, Sept. 24, 2024. As one of the old industry bases in the central south of Hebei, Botou is dubbed "origin of casting industry" in the country, home to 322 casting companies, and boasting an annual output of 24.7 billion yuan (about 3.52 billion U.S. dollars) by clustered players there. Recent years have witnessed their manufacturing processes converted to green and environmental friendly ones. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)
A worker checks product quality at a casting company in Botou, north China's Hebei Province, Sept. 24, 2024. As one of the old industry bases in the central south of Hebei, Botou is dubbed "origin of casting industry" in the country, home to 322 casting companies, and boasting an annual output of 24.7 billion yuan (about 3.52 billion U.S. dollars) by clustered players there. Recent years have witnessed their manufacturing processes converted to green and environmental friendly ones. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)
A newly passed U.S. House bill seeks to block accrediting organizations from mandating diversity, equity, and inclusion policies at colleges and universities, but it's unlikely to advance in the Senate.
"This is a moment of reckoning for American higher education," U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., said on the House floor in support of the measure, dubbed the End-Woke Higher Education Act, emphasizing the importance of restoring free speech on campus.
"Several of these universities are reversing misguided policies like forced faculty diversity statements and are renewing their commitment to institutional neutrality, even the entire California public university system," he added.
The Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act, introduced in May 2023 by U.S. Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., and the Accreditation for College Excellence Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, are included in the legislation.
"Throughout history, we have watched dangerous extremists weaponize educational institutions to promote their ideology and to suppress dissent. ... This legislation speaks to universities directly: if you do not protect the lawful and Supreme Court-tested First Amendment rights of your students, you will lose your funding," Williams said during the debate on the House floor.
In the past year, Republicans in particular have criticized university administrators over the establishment of pro-Palestinian encampments on various campuses. In several instances, school administrators' responses to inquiries about antisemitism during congressional hearings helped set the stage for their highly visible resignations.
"The presidents of several universities have resigned, including the presidents of Harvard, Penn, Columbia, and Rutgers," Kiley said, noting that colleges are now implementing bans on tent encampments.
U.S. Reps. Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Mary Peltola of Alaska, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington were the four House Democrats who voted in favor of the GOP bill.
However, there is almost little chance that the legislation will clear the Democratic-controlled Senate.
In a statement released this week, the Biden administration expressed its strong opposition to the bill, claiming that it would "micromanage both public and private institutions, undermining their ability to recognize and promote diversity."
The legislation "would go beyond Congress's traditional role in higher education with a wide range of confusing and unprecedented new mandates," the administration added.
"This misguided legislation would dangerously undermine public universities' ability to implement crucial time, place, and manner policies for campus expression, jeopardizing their ability to protect student safety," the head of the Association of American Universities wrote in a letter to House leaders.
The University of California system is facing accusations of labor violations from faculty associations, alleging a statewide effort earlier this year to suppress pro-Palestinian speech and campus protests.
On Thursday, the Council of University of California Faculty Associations filed a complaint with the state Public Employment Relations Board. Faculty associations from seven UC campuses Los Angeles, Irvine, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Berkeley, Davis and San Francisco co-signed the complaint.
According to the CUCFA, this complaint builds on a similar filing made by the UCLA Faculty Association earlier this spring. It alleges that UC's widespread efforts to suppress pro-Palestinian speech on campuses violated state law, school regulations and state and federal constitutional protections.
"UC's actions to suppress speech about Palestine on our campuses, which represents an illegal content-based restriction of faculty rights, sets an alarming precedent," CUCFA President Constance Penley said in a statement. "Our unfair labor practice filing demands they change course and follow the law, and make whole the faculty who have been harmed."
Protests against the Israel-Gaza war erupted across the country in the spring, including on UC campuses, as students demanded that the schools divest from their interests in Israel. According to the state complaint, California teachers' have also been investigated for pro-Palestinian social media posts, arrested for exercising free speech, and surveilled and harassed by university staff.
"From the brutal predawn arrests ordered by university leaders to the vague and threatening notices of investigation, the university's goal is clear: to end Palestine solidarity activism on campus," UCLA associate professor Anna Markowitz said in a statement. "In this ULP charge, we are saying that this illegal suppression of speech cannot stand, whether about Palestine or about other issues that students and faculty may raise in the future."
Soon after Hamas launched attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel retaliated by bombing Gaza, the university began sending letters to teachers threatening them with an investigation and a penalty for teaching information outside the scope of their courses.
According to the complaint, UC San Diego investigated two instructors in November for lecturing about Palestinian territories' history. The administration also issued a "letter of warning" to UC Irvine faculty members for organizing a vote on whether to conduct class at the on-campus campsite, with optional attendance.
The complaint says the university's "harsh crackdown against professors for expressing pro-Palestinian viewpoints stands in stark contrast to its treatment of vocal pro-Israeli faculty."
The university additionally refused to launch a formal disciplinary investigation into a pro-Israel faculty member at UC Irvine accused of harassing and physically intimidating an undergraduate student, despite video footage showing the faculty member "cornering, physically intimidating, and interrogating a visibly scared student," according to the filing.
The Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act of 1979 grants California university teachers the freedom to engage in protected concerted activity, which includes speaking on campus and organizing to alter university policies.
The Public Employee Relations Board is reviewing the case.
(@Abdulla99267510)
Court issues notices to Ministry of Health and other parties for a hearing on September 26
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-Sept 25th, 2024) The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday barred Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University from announcing the results of the MDCAT exam, and notices have been issued to the Ministry of Health and other relevant parties.
Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, after hearing the petition against the MDCAT test, issued a three-page written order, under which Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University was prohibited from releasing the MDCAT results until further notice.
The court also issued notices to the Ministry of Health and other parties for a hearing on September 26.
The order mentioned that at 4:30pm today, the court was informed that the university had not yet announced the results.
The order further directed the additional attorney general to immediately inform the university about the stay order.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Sep, 2024) Speaker, National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq Wednesday commended the All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS) for its pivotal role in promoting the growth and development of the print media industry in the country.
On the occasion of National Newspaper Readership Day, he extended his congratulations to the APNS, journalists, and media professionals for their contributions to the country's media landscape.
Ayaz Sadiq highlighted the critical role that print media continues to play in the age of digital information.
He emphasized that the newspapers are a vital source of reliable and trustworthy news, which not only informs the public but also fosters social stability, peace, and development.
Ayaz Sadiq said that in an era where the misinformation can spread rapidly, the role of newspapers in providing fact-based news becomes all the more significant.
He reaffirmed the Parliament's commitment to encouraging free and responsible journalism through legislation, stating that accurate and factual news is essential for raising political awareness and ensuring citizens are well-informed about their rights.
The Speaker called for all citizens to perform their responsibilities in line with the Constitution and laws of Pakistan, ensuring the nations continued progress and development.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Sep, 2024) An eleven-member delegation of religious scholars, led by Chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), Dr. Muhammad Raghib Hussain Naeemi, has returned from an extensive10-day visit to China.
The delegation, invited by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited key cities including Beijing, Xian, Xinjiang, Kashgar, and Urumqi.
During the visit, the delegation had been engaged in discussions with representatives of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, mosque committees in various cities, and senior members of the Communist Party of China. The scholars were given tours of prominent religious and cultural sites, including historic mosque in Xian, the Grand Mosque of Kashgar, the Mausoleum of Sufi Saint Khwaja Afaq Naqshbandi, and the Xinjiang Muslim Institute.
The delegation also had meetings with notable Muslim leaders, including Sheikh Abdul Raqeeb and Sheikh Ibrahim, among others. These interactions allowed for fruitful discussions on religious and cultural matters.
Dr. Raghib Naeemi expressed his appreciation for the Chinese government's positive policies towards religious minorities.
He noted that the Muslim community in Xinjiang, China's westernmost province, is now actively participating in both economic and religious freedoms due to the supportive initiatives by the Chinese government. "The Chinese authorities are focusing on the restoration of religious sites and the facilitation of traditional practices," he said.
Dr. Naeemi highlighted the economic transformation in Xinjiang, particularly in Kashgar, as a result of multi-billion Yuan development projects initiated by the Chinese government. He mentioned that the ancient city of Kashgar, home to approximately 170,000 Muslims, has been opened to tourists after extensive renovations, significantly improving local economic conditions and contributing to a decline in extremism. "The steps taken since 2016 have effectively eradicated terrorism in the region," he added.
He further remarked on the similarities between Pakistan and China in their efforts against terrorism, emphasizing the importance of both nations learning from each other's experiences in the War on Terror.
The delegation also paid their respects at the shrine of Khwaja Afaq Naqshbandi in Kashgar.
The delegation included Barrister Zafarullah Khan, Maulana Hamid-ul-Haq Haqqani, Maulana Muhammad Idrees, Maulana Saeed Yousuf, Allama Allah Bakhsh Kalyar, Maulana Muhammad Tahir, and Maulana Abdul Waheed, among others.
This visit is regarded as highly significant for Pakistan-China relations, particularly for fostering stronger ties between the two countries' Muslim communities, and further strengthening the longstanding friendship between Pakistan and China.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Sep, 2024) A three-day 28th Conference of Foundation for Endangered Languages was inaugurated on Wednesday at Allama Iqbal Open University(AIOU).
Scholars and intellectuals from 22 countries are participating in the conference, with 42 national and international scholars presenting their research papers.
The event's chief guest, Vice Chancellor of Allama Iqbal Open University, Professor Dr. Nasir Mahmood, emphasized the need to document endangered languages to preserve them.
He noted that taking practical steps in this regard would be a significant contribution to education and research for future generations.
Dr. Nasir Mahmood highlighted that the university has an annual enrolment of over one million students, with 54 regional campuses across Pakistan.
He stated that the students at this institution come from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, including those from remote areas. All students are provided with equal educational opportunities.
He expressed hope that the conference would result in a comprehensive strategy to safeguard endangered languages.
Chairman of the Forum for Language Initiatives (FLI), Rozi Khan Burki, mentioned in his address that over 70 languages are spoken in Pakistan, many of which are at risk of extinction.
He stressed the need for the government to take concrete measures to ensure their survival.
Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Professor Abdul Aziz Sahir, remarked that no language is small or large; each has its own culture and history.
He stated that a language with literature, stories, and poetry cannot become extinct. As long as mothers are alive in society, so too will their mother tongues survive. He emphasized the importance of oral traditions in preserving languages.
Dr. Hakim Elnazarov, board Member of the Foundation for Endangered Languages (FEL), pointed out that over 7,000 languages are spoken worldwide, but recent research indicates that one language disappears every week. He stressed that safeguarding these languages must be a top priority.
The opening ceremony was hosted by Dr. Rashida Imran, Assistant Professor of the English Department, while Dr. Muhammad Kamal Khan, Head of the English Department, delivered the welcome address. Throughout the three days, national, international, and online linguistics experts will present their research papers. The conference is being held in collaboration with AIOU and the Forum for Language Initiatives.
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LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Sep, 2024) The Punjab government, on the directions of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, has launched the Global IT Certifications Programme in collaboration with the Punjab Information Technology board (PITB), to award 40+ globally recognised certifications to 10,000 individuals from across the province.
As part of the initiative, individuals having Punjab domicile and valid CNIC [computerised national identity card] will be able to earn globally recognised certifications from leading tech giants, including Google, microsoft, AWS, Cisco, IBM, Oracle, etc. with full reimbursement of certification fees by the Punjab government.
The Global IT Certifications Programme aims to equip students and professionals across Punjab with the skills and credentials necessary to compete in the international IT landscape. Upon successfully completing the certifications, participants could apply for a full reimbursement of their fees through the programme, ensuring that high-quality, globally recognised credentials are accessible to everyone, regardless of financial background.
In this regard, Chairman Faisal Yousaf remarked, This initiative is set to play a pivotal role in empowering Punjabs talent, helping individuals unlock new career opportunities, and positioning them for success in a rapidly evolving digital world. It will open doors for professionals to showcase their abilities on a global stage, enhancing both personal growth and the provinces presence in the global IT sector, he added.
Registration for the program is now open. Individuals can register themselves at certifications.pitb.gov.pk. website address. After selecting desired certification from the portal, individuals can pay the certification fee and complete the certification. Once certified, students can request for the fee reimbursement.
Sydney, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Sep, 2024) Controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange plans to break his post-prison silence in an address to the Council of Europe next week, his organisation revealed Wednesday.
WikiLeaks said the 53-year-old would travel from his native Australia to Strasbourg on October 1 to testify before a parliamentary legal committee investigating his case.
Assange spent most of the last 14 years either holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy in London to avoid arrest, or locked up at Belmarsh Prison.
He was released from the British prison in June, after serving a sentence for publishing hundreds of thousands of confidential US government documents.
The trove included searingly frank US State Department descriptions of foreign leaders, accounts of extrajudicial killings and intelligence gathering against allies.
Assange returned to Australia and since then has not publicly commented on his legal woes or his years behind bars.
He has been seen infrequently, appearing at a court in the Marianas Islands, reuniting with his wife on arrival at a Canberra airport and spending time with his family on a quiet beach in Australia.
"Julian Assange is still in recovery following his release from prison," WikiLeaks said on Wednesday, noting he would attend the Council of Europe "session in person due to the exceptional nature of the invitation".
It had been expected that Assange would eventually break his silence, according to Matthew Ricketson, a communications professor at Deakin University.
"He's an inveterate limelight-seeker," Ricketson told AFP.
"It was only a matter of time before he put up his head again to speak publicly on issues that are of importance to him."
But the timing and his choice of venue have puzzled some.
The Council of Europe is an international organisation that brings together the 46 signatory states of the European Convention on Human Rights, with little say over Assange's legal fate.
Some legal experts believe Assange's appearance could put his bid for a US presidential pardon at risk.
"He'll inevitably be critical of the US government on some level and I can't see that as something that is going to be considered helpful," Holly Cullen, a law professor at the University of Western Australia, told AFP.
"Even if he personally thinks that he doesn't care, his legal advisers would say 'maybe you need to be a bit more restrained until the pardon issue is resolved'."
Chelsea Manning, the army intelligence analyst who leaked the documents to Assange, had her 35-year sentence commuted by then-president Barack Obama in 2017.
But Assange's case remains deeply contentious.
Supporters hail him as a champion of free speech and investigative journalism and say he was persecuted by authorities and unfairly imprisoned.
Detractors see him as a reckless blogger whose decision to publish ultra-sensitive documents uncensored put lives at risk and fundamentally jeopardised US security.
President Joe Biden, who is likely to issue a slew of pardons before leaving office next January, has previously described Assange as a "terrorist".
Beirut, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Sep, 2024) Lebanon said 15 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday, including two rare strikes in mountain areas.
The health ministry said an Israeli strike on the village of Joun in the Chouf mountains, southeast of Beirut, killed four people.
Another Israeli strike killed three people in Maaysra -- about 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of Beirut.
Eight people were killed in Israeli strikes in the south, the ministry said.
Earlier, a Lebanese security official had told AFP "an Israeli strike targeted a house in the village of Maaysra", requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
A resident said the strike hit her village, destroying a house and a cafe.
Lebanon's National news Agency reported that "two rockets fell in Maaysra".
The Israeli military said it was carrying out "extensive" air strikes in south Lebanon and the eastern Beqaa Valley after Hezbollah fired a ballistic missile that reached the central Israeli city of Tel Aviv for the first time before being intercepted.
Longtime foes Hezbollah and Israel have been locked in near-daily exchanges of cross-border fire since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, sparking war in Gaza.
The focus of Israel's firepower has shifted sharply from Gaza to Lebanon in recent days.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Front) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
The UN chief warned that geopolitical divisions are deepening, temperatures around the world are rising, wars are raging, without any end in sight, and nuclear posturing and new weapons are "casting a dark shadow.""We are edging towards the unimaginable -- a powder keg that risks engulfing the world."
by Xinhua writers Xia Lin, Gao Shan
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Leaders addressing the General Debate of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday called for cessation of the violence that has ravaged the Middle East for months, and some of them directly pointed their fingers at Israel for the "genocide" it committed against the Palestinians.
UNGA President Philemon Yang noted the various conflicts raging from the Middle East to Ukraine, and from Haiti to South Sudan. "I call for an immediate ceasefire in all these conflict settings," he said, adding that the people of Gaza and Israel "have been caught in a spiralling cycle of conflict and retribution" for nearly a year.
"I take this opportunity to call for an immediate ceasefire for the Hamas-Israel war, the unconditional release of hostages and for all parties to abide by international law, including international humanitarian law, and work towards a just and lasting solution grounded in the United Nations Charter, relevant resolutions and international law, ensuring dignity for both Palestinians and Israelis," he said.
Delivering his 2024 report on the UN's work ahead of the General Debate, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that world leaders are gathering in the shadow of raging conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere, and rising uncertainty over climate change, ending poverty and reigning in artificial intelligence.
"Our world is in a whirlwind. We are in an era of epic transformation -- facing challenges unlike any we have ever seen -- challenges that demand global solutions," the UN chief said.
He warned that geopolitical divisions are deepening, temperatures around the world are rising, wars are raging, without any end in sight, and nuclear posturing and new weapons are "casting a dark shadow."
"We are edging towards the unimaginable -- a powder keg that risks engulfing the world," he noted.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said his nation has benefited from a wave of international solidarity in the battle to end apartheid and usher in a new democratic era. "We will not remain silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against others" in Gaza as Israel continues its collective punishment of the Palestinians, he added.
He called for a collective effort through the UN system and other multinational institutions to end civilian suffering and for South Africa's legal action taken against Israel through the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prevail.
CONDEMNATION
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye condemned Israel for "disregarding basic human rights, trampling on international law at every opportunity, practicing ethnic cleansing, a clear genocide against a nation and a people, and occupying their lands step by step."
He underscored the imperative for the international community to develop a protection mechanism for Palestinian civilians, reiterating that "we have no animosity or hostility towards the people of Israel. We oppose antisemitism in the same way we oppose the targeting of Muslims just because of their faith."
Indeed, said the president, Gaza has become "the world's largest cemetery for women and children" at a time when truth itself "is dying" and "the hopes of humanity to live in a more just world are dying one by one." However, he insisted that "we will not hold back from defending the family, the human being and the creation in solidarity with other member states."
King Abdullah II of Jordan told the General Debate that "now is the time to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people. It is the moral duty of the international community to establish a protection mechanism for them across the occupied territories."
"Impunity gathers force. Left unchecked, it gains momentum," he said, noting that the world is watching Gaza, "and history will watch us by the courage we show."
The Jordanian leader said that nearly a year into the war, the world has failed politically, "but our humanity must not fail the people of Gaza any longer."
King Abdullah II of Jordan addresses the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
Meanwhile, both leaders insisted that the world body is far from delivering its obligations in regard of containing the violence in the Middle East.
With innocent civilians and aid workers with the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, suffering months of bombardment in Gaza, "the UN is under attack, literally and figuratively," said the king.
"The United Nations has failed to fulfill its founding mission and has gradually become a dysfunctional structure," Erdogan said, pointing to the massacre in Gaza, where more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the continuous Israeli attacks for almost one year.
ATTITUDES
"Too many on each side of the Israeli-Lebanon border remain displaced. Full scale wars not in anyone's interest. Even a situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," U.S. President Joe Biden told the UNGA Tuesday morning. "In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely."
"That's what we're working tirelessly to achieve," Biden said. "As we look ahead, we must also address the rise of violence against the innocent Palestinians on the West Bank and set the conditions for a better future, including a two-state solution, where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition, and normalizes relations with all its neighbors; where Palestinians live in security, dignity and self-determination in a state of their own."
Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters on Tuesday that Israel prefers a "diplomatic solution" in Lebanon to deal with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah but would use "other methods" to show "we mean business."
Asked by CNN's Tara John if Israel is prepared for a second front on its border with Lebanon after repeatedly striking Hezbollah targets in the country, Danon said that "we are not eager to start any ground invasion anywhere. I don't want to send my son, and we don't want to send our boys to fight in a foreign country, but we are determined to protect the civilians of Israel."
The UNGA General Debate started Tuesday for world leaders heading to New York to deliver their statements, as they take part in high-level discussions on the existential threat of sea-level rise, accelerating progress in combating the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, and driving forward the UN's long-term goal of achieving global nuclear disarmament with a plenary meeting marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
An opera artist from south China's Guangdong Province presents a performance showcasing the charm of China's Lingnan culture at the National Museum of New Zealand in Wellington, New Zealand, Sept. 25, 2024. This cultural promotion event was jointly held by the China International Cultural Association, the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the China Cultural Center in Wellington, and co-organized by the Federation of the Chinese Association of New Zealand. It aims to promote exchanges and mutual learning of civilizations between China and New Zealand. (Photo by Meng Tao/Xinhua)
WELLINGTON, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Artists from Guangdong Province, southern China, showcased the charm of China's Lingnan culture to New Zealanders at the National Museum of New Zealand in Wellington on Wednesday evening.
This cultural promotion event was jointly held by the China International Cultural Association, the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the China Cultural Center in Wellington, and co-organized by the Federation of the Chinese Association of New Zealand. It aims to promote exchanges and mutual learning of civilizations between China and New Zealand.
At the beginning of the event, five inheritors of intangible cultural heritage from Guangdong presented a unique performance, including the Lingnan school of Guqin art, Chaozhou Kung Fu tea art, Canton Porcelain, and art of Dongguan agarwood incense.
The performances also featured Chinese folk musical instrument performance, Chinese folk song and dance, attracting more than 200 people. At the final of the show, the audience cheered and applauded in ovation for the artists' performance.
A Wellington citizen who named herself only as Barbara told Xinhua that this has been the largest Chinese cultural event ever held in Wellington since COVID-19, and the whole show was "amazing" and "impressive". The programs about Chinese tea especially broadened her horizon as a tea lover.
"China is the hometown of tea and the birthplace of the tea culture in the world," she said, "I truly immersed in the profoundness of Chinese tea culture in this event."
Zhang Yimin, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, said it is exciting to be here to engage in friendly exchanges by enjoying tea and artistic performances.
He hoped this event will help New Zealanders gain a deeper understanding of Guangdong's culture and tourism, further promote cultural and tourism exchanges and cooperation between Guangdong and New Zealand, and inject vitality into the long-term friendly exchanges and mutual learning of civilizations between China and New Zealand.
Guangdong Province is the heart of Lingnan culture, the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, and a pioneer in China's reform and opening-up. The province is working together with Hong Kong and Macao to build the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) into a world-class tourism destination, Zhang added.
Dancers from south China's Guangdong Province present a performance showcasing the charm of China's Lingnan culture at the National Museum of New Zealand in Wellington, New Zealand, Sept. 25, 2024. This cultural promotion event was jointly held by the China International Cultural Association, the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the China Cultural Center in Wellington, and co-organized by the Federation of the Chinese Association of New Zealand. It aims to promote exchanges and mutual learning of civilizations between China and New Zealand. (Photo by Meng Tao/Xinhua)
Artists from south China's Guangdong Province present a performance showcasing the charm of China's Lingnan culture at the National Museum of New Zealand in Wellington, New Zealand, Sept. 25, 2024. This cultural promotion event was jointly held by the China International Cultural Association, the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the China Cultural Center in Wellington, and co-organized by the Federation of the Chinese Association of New Zealand. It aims to promote exchanges and mutual learning of civilizations between China and New Zealand. (Photo by Meng Tao/Xinhua)
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This week marks 10 years since Ilham Tohti, a 54-year-old Uyghur economist and human rights advocate, was sentenced to life in prison by Chinese authorities.
For some, like Enver Can, a 75-year-old German-based Uyghur rights activist who leads an organization advocating for Tohti's release, the fight for his release continues to this day.
"South Africa had Nelson Mandela, India had Mahatma Gandhi, and we Uyghurs have Ilham Tohti," Can tells VOA.
Tohti, a former professor at Minzu University in Beijing, was sentenced to life imprisonment in September 2014 on charges of separatism. He is widely recognized for promoting dialogue between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. In 2019, he was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament.
Like Tohti, Can was born in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region where the Uyghur remains imprisoned. At the age of 12, Can fled Xinjiang with his family. In the 1970s, he moved to Germany and worked as a journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty until the early 1990s.
In 2016, two years after Tohti's life sentence, Can founded the "Ilham Tohti Initiative" to campaign for his release. Earlier this month, Can was particularly busy meeting European parliamentarians and other groups to push for Tohti's release from Chinese detention.
"To my knowledge, Ilham Tohti is one of the very few Uyghurs who dared to speak up for Uyghur rights while living under the Chinese regime. He articulated his demands eloquently and clearly, framing them within both international norms and Chinese law," Can told VOA in a phone interview.
EU pressure continues
In a statement released on Monday, the European Union reiterated its call for the "immediate and unconditional release" of Ilham Tohti and other human rights defenders, lawyers, and intellectuals "arbitrarily detained" in China.
"The imprisonment of Ilham Tohti is representative of the deeply worrying human rights situation in Xinjiang," the EU said, citing reports from U.N. bodies and the 2022 assessment by the U.N. Human Rights Office.
Since Tohti's arrest in 2014, concerns about human rights abuses in Xinjiang have worsened with significant attention drawn to the issue around the beginning of 2017, when reports of mass detentions of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the region started to emerge.
Advocacy organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have been vocal about the situation in Xinjiang, with notable reports and statements escalating around 2018.
In particular, the U.N. Human Rights Office has issued assessments and reports highlighting the situation, including a U.N. rights report released in August 2022 that detailed human rights violations in Xinjiang. China's response has consistently been to deny these allegations, labeling them as part of a Western agenda to undermine its sovereignty and stability in the region.
Can told VOA that the time for mere statements is over.
"Just calling for Ilham Tohti's release is not enough," he said. "There have been countless petitions and open letters over the past decade. We need concrete actions."
Can urged tougher measures against China, including sanctions on officials, visa restrictions, and re-negotiating trade terms.
China's defense
In an email to VOA, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, defended the sentencing of Ilham Tohti, asserting that he is guilty of "splitting the country" and that the evidence against him is "conclusive."
"As a teacher, Ilham Tohti once publicly called terrorist extremists 'heroes', incited, lured and coerced some people to go abroad to participate in the activities of the 'East Turkestan' separatist forces, and planned, organized and carried out a series of criminal activities to split the country," Liu said.
He insisted that China's judicial system acted strictly in accordance with Chinese law and that "China's internal affairs and judicial sovereignty must not be interfered with."
Jewher Ilham, the daughter of Ilham Tohti and a human rights activist in the U.S., disputed the Chinese government's portrayal of her father's case, asserting that his imprisonment resulted from his peaceful advocacy for marginalized Uyghurs rather than any legal violations.
"A normal and healthy society allows for more than one voice or opinion," Ilham told VOA. "The Chinese government did not tolerate different opinions 10 years ago, and it is clear they still do not."
Family's heartbreak
Jewher Ilham last saw her father on February 2, 2013, in a Beijing airport interrogation room, where they shared their final goodbye. During that encounter, Ilham urged her to leave China for the U.S., despite the presence of Chinese authorities.
"Look at them, look at how they treat you and me. Do you still want to stay in this country? I would rather you sweep the streets in America than be treated like this here," Ilham recalled her father's words.
At the time, Ilham Tohti was prevented from departing for a year-long visiting scholar position at Indiana University, and those parting words continue to resonate with his daughter to this day.
After 11 months of house arrest, Chinese authorities arrested Tohti on January 15, 2014, while Jewher was in the United States.
"On January 15, 2014, over 20 police officers came to arrest my father. My youngest brother was three-and-a-half years old, and the oldest was seven. They were napping when the police broke in and aggressively took him away," Ilham told VOA in a phone interview. She kept in touch with her family and friends until early 2017, and that's how she learned what had happened.
"My stepmother wasn't home because she was working away. My grandmother found out about my father's arrest later, and she became very sick. I recently heard that my grandmother passed away two years ago," she said.
Eight months later, on September 23, 2014, Chinese authorities sentenced Tohti to life imprisonment on alleged charges of "splitting the country."
"September 23 is a devastating date for my family. My father Ilham Tohti was sentenced to life on this date 10 years ago," Jewher told VOA. "Just like my father never stopped advocating for the voiceless, I will not stop, no matter what."
A report released on Wednesday finds that Hong Kong's national security law, enacted in July 2020, has eroded academic freedom in the former British colony.
The report, co-authored by Human Rights Watch, and the Washington-based advocacy organization Hong Kong Democracy Council, said university authorities have imposed greater control and limitations on student activities and that students and faculty members are increasingly exercising self-censorship to avoid getting into trouble.
"Students, academics, and administrators, especially those from Hong Kong studying contemporary socio-political issues, feel as if they are living under a microscope," the report says.
Some analysts say the opaque definition of what constitutes a violation of the security law has created a chilling effect among students and faculty members at Hong Kong universities.
"When the red line isn't clear, there will be a pervasive sense of fear, and students and faculty members will try to make adjustments to ensure they don't get into trouble," Maya Wang, the associate China director at Human Rights Watch, told VOA by phone.
The report said Hong Kong's eight public universities have been managed by people who hold views favored by Beijing following the imposition of the law in 2020. Since then, university officials have increased crackdowns on student unions and banned symbols or events viewed as promoting pro-democracy values.
"University officials have punished students for holding peaceful protests and gatherings, and have broadly censored student publications, communications, and events," the report reads.
Wang at Human Rights Watch said since many college students and academics were involved in 2019 protests over an extradition bill, one of the Chinese government's priorities following the implementation of the law is to "impose ideological control" over universities.
"The decline of academic freedom in Hong Kong's universities is part of Beijing's attempt to impose ideological control over the entire city," she told VOA.
Exercising self-censorship
Most of the 33 students and academics interviewed for the report said self-censorship is a common practice at universities in Hong Kong, especially on socio-political topics related to China and Hong Kong.
"They do this when expressing themselves in classrooms, when writing and researching academic articles, and when inviting speakers for academic conferences," the report says, adding that academics teaching Hong Kong and China current affairs feel "especially vulnerable."
In some cases, university officials have asked academics in the social science field to stop offering courses on topics that Beijing considers sensitive. Others face censorship imposed by university administrators or academic publishers.
Some academics said the prevalence of self-censorship at universities in Hong Kong will reduce international understanding of the dynamics in China.
"Hong Kong was always an important space that gives the international community some insight into what's happening in Hong Kong and the broader China, but that space is now rapidly disappearing," Lokman Tsui, a research fellow at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab and a former journalism professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told VOA by phone.
The law's negative impact on academic freedom in Hong Kong seems to differ between academics in different fields. "Some said [the NSL] affected everything they do; others said it has very little impact," the report says.
Since university management is stacked with supporters of the Chinese government's position, the report says university administrators have worked with Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to harass, intimidate or even remove academics voicing different opinions.
"The government does that by defaming and intimidating those academics perceived to hold liberal or pro-democracy views in the state-owned media and denying or not issuing visas to foreign academics expressing such opinions," the report says, adding that universities would then fire, let go or deny tenure to these academics.
Human Rights Watch and Hong Kong Democracy Council said the Chinese government's efforts to "cleanse" universities in Hong Kong have led to a "harmonization" of opinion in academia in Hong Kong. They also help amplify Chinese and Hong Kong authorities' claim that pro-democracy voices are now "in the minority."
"The Chinese government's overall intention has been to 'cleanse' the universities [and] the result is a sanitized version of higher education compliant with the Party's views, which so far continues to deliver a high-caliber education," the report says.
Tsui at Citizen Lab said since Hong Kong passed a separate national security law called Article 23 in March, Hong Kong authorities will likely continue the crackdown on academic freedom.
"In addition to the criminalization of speech, the authorities are also targeting foreign funding of academic research, so they haven't emptied the glass yet," he told VOA.
VOA contacted the Hong Kong government for comment but did not receive a reply by the deadline.
However, in October 2023, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said in a social media post that Hong Kong's excellent education infrastructure, world-renowned universities, and talented researchers were all key to turning the city into "an international hub for post-secondary education."
In the social media post, Lee vowed to study how to utilize the "unique status and advantages of the One Country, Two Systems" to attract the best talents from all over the world to Hong Kong.
Since some universities in Hong Kong have a large number of joint research projects and exchange programs with universities abroad, Human Rights Watchs Wang said foreign universities should be aware of the repression that is taking place at universities in Hong Kong, while trying to provide support for Hong Kong students and academics being targeted by the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities.
"Foreign universities should avoid elevating the repressive actors and provide scholarships or fellowships to endangered Hong Kong students and academics to ensure they could continue to do their research outside of Hong Kong without fear," she said.
This year's United Nations General Assembly meeting, which opened Tuesday, takes place against a backdrop of intense competition between the United States and China, mounting geopolitical and security challenges, and pressing issues such as climate change and digital security. What Beijing brings to the conversation and says will be watched closely.
China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, will address the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday and is participating as a "special representative" of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Wang did not attend the U.N. meetings last year but is already using the opportunity to step up China's diplomatic engagement.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Wang has already met individually with foreign ministers from Japan, Lebanon and Venezuela and spoken at the "Summit of the Future," a high-level meeting on addressing the challenges facing the 21st century.
China's foreign ministry spokesperson, Liu Jian, said Beijing is hosting a series of events on the sidelines of this year's meetings. Wang will attend events to promote Beijing's Global Development Initiative a Chinese Communist Party multilateral initiative to support 2030 sustainability goals and "enhance international cooperation on AI."
Balancing existing international organizations and China-led and created groupings, Wang will meet with other foreign ministers, attending a meeting for G20 foreign ministers and those who are members of BRICS a political and economic grouping that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and a growing number of countries.
Some key China issues to watch at this year's meeting:
Taiwan: Taiwan says it should be included within the U.N. framework and has accused China of misinterpreting U.N. Resolution 2758 in 1971 to keep Taiwan from participating in the world body. Resolution 2758 transferred the seat for China at the U.N. from the Republic of China, Taiwan's official name, to the People's Republic of China. Taiwan has been self-governed since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, but Beijing claims that the island of 23 million and its outlying islands are part of China's territory.
South China Sea: Disputes over the South China Sea have increased over the past year as Beijing has increased its assertiveness, particularly in waters within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, heightening tensions with Manila and other Southeast Asian claimant states. Earlier in September, the Philippine ambassador to the United States, Jose Manuel Romualdez, said that at least 20 countries will be holding a summit to discuss ways to "talk some sense" into China as tensions rise over territories that Beijing claims in the South China Sea.
Multilateralism and global governance: China maintains it is a steadfast supporter of multinationalism, focusing on addressing global issues through multilateral actors such as the United Nations. This year's UNGA meeting will be an opportunity for Beijing to call on the international community to strengthen cooperation by promoting Xi Jinping's Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Civilization Initiative, which emphasize development and poverty reduction in the Global South.
Climate change and green development: The UNGA meeting will give China an outlet to reiterate its commitment to fighting climate change. Beijing is likely to emphasize its commitment to promoting green economic development and carbon neutrality and call on developed countries to help developing countries promote positive climate change policies. This past July, China announced that 51% of new car purchases were new energy vehicles, or NEVs, highlighting this transition. However, countries and international organizations such as the United States, Canada and the European Union have accused Bejing of flooding international markets with cheap electric vehicles and solar panels. China says the goods are helping move the global green transition forward.
Global security issues: China is likely to discuss its role in mediating global security issues. China will likely discuss its role as a mediator in Middle East reconciliation, emphasizing it is promoting diplomatic dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran to demonstrate its positive role in global peace. Beijing is also likely to discuss its peace plan for the Russia-Ukraine conflict. On Tuesday, Ukraine's presidential adviser, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, told reporters that China supplies roughly 60% of the foreign parts found in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Economic and supply chain recovery: It is also likely that China will seek to address how to best promote global supply chain stability and economic recovery through its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative and other economic cooperation mechanisms. It is also expected that China will call for reducing international trade barriers. On September 18, the EU postponed a vote about potential tariffs on electric vehicles produced in China amid discussion between Beijing and Brussels regarding the tariffs.
Technological cooperation and AI governance: In July, the UNGA adopted a resolution proposed by China that works to strengthen international cooperation on artificial intelligence also known as AI capacity building. The resolution received broad support with 140 countries signing on to the resolution. Bejing is expected to build on this support and call for the establishment of a global technology governance framework at the summit, "encouraging international cooperation and practical actions to help countries, especially developing countries, strengthen AI capacity building," according to China's foreign ministry.
On Wednesday, Chinas commerce ministry said it firmly opposes the United States proposed ban on the sale of connected vehicles that use Chinese or Russian software and hardware technology.
Most new vehicles are considered to be connected because they can share data with other vehicles and infrastructure with the help of onboard software, hardware and internet access.
The U.S. warns that data collected by Chinese or Russian software in connected and autonomous vehicles could pose a threat to national security.
A spokesperson from Chinas Ministry of Commerce said the proposed U.S. ban has no factual basis, violates the principles of market economy and fair competition, and is a typical protectionist act.
China urges the United States to stop its wrong practice of generalizing national security, immediately revoke the relevant restrictions, and stop its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies, according to a ministry statement.
The proposed rule is the latest example of the deteriorating relationship between Washington and Beijing.
In February, the Biden Administration said it would probe Chinese cars that pose a risk to national security. The U.S. Department of Commerce said it opened the probe because vehicles collect large amounts of sensitive data on their drivers and passengers (and) regularly use their cameras and sensors to record detailed information on U.S. infrastructure.
The Biden Administration also implemented a 100% tariff on Chinese-made EVs earlier this month, citing unfair business practices and the potential for Chinese EVs to flood international markets.
The new proposed prohibition on connected vehicles applies both to the software and hardware that link vehicles to the outside world. It did not specify which manufacturers are likely to be impacted by the rule, which will be finalized after a 30-day period for public comment.
In a press release Tuesday, the Coalition for a Prosperous America, or CPA, voiced its support for the proposed ban.
For years, the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] has aggressively pursued global dominance in the automotive industry building tremendous overcapacity to dominate their home market and to displace auto manufacturing worldwide, said the CEO of CPA, Michael Stumo.
The Commerce Departments proposed ban on this technology is an important measure to protect our automotive sector and secure Americans sensitive information, he added.
Chinas commerce ministry also condemned the U.S. on Wednesday for its newly proposed ban and tariffs implemented earlier this month, saying Washington placed "high tariffs on Chinese cars, restricted participation in government procurement, and introduced discriminatory subsidy policies."
Now, on the grounds of so-called national security, it [Washington] has slandered Chinese connected car software, hardware and complete vehicles as 'unsafe' and restricted their use in the United States, a ministry statement said.
Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse.
China, which has long influenced Myanmars ethnic armed groups, is pressuring the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA part of the Three Brotherhood Alliance that includes the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army (AA) to avoid aligning with other opposition forces that China perceives as Western-backed, experts say.
The MNDAA, also known as the Kokang ethnic armed group, whose members are Mandarin-speaking Han Chinese native to Kokang, reposted a statement on social media confirming their alliance with China.
Our political red line is not to form alliances or work together with those who are against China, read the statement, which was briefly posted Sept. 4 and reposted on Sept. 19.
Analysts say that Beijings pressure on ethnic armed groups, especially the MNDAA, reflects its strategic interests in maintaining control over Myanmars political landscape. Strategically located along Myanmars northeastern border with China, the MNDAA is being pushed to sever ties with opposition forces that Beijing views as having U.S. support.
China used its economic and political leverage when it reportedly cut off trade and supplies to Laukkai, the capital of the Kokang region, to create distance between the MNDAA and the National Unity Government (NUG) the pro-democracy shadow government leading the fight against the ruling junta.
The MNDAAs statement is a follow-up to Chinas warning that the three bottom lines must not be crossed, said Than Soe Naing, a veteran political analyst based in Myanmar.
The three bottom lines, articulated by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in August, call for Myanmar to avoid civil strife, remain part of ASEAN, and prevent external interference.
According to a political analyst based in Yangon who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, there is a perception in China that the National Unity Government and certain resistance forces, as well as some ethnic armed organizations, are close to the United States and are receiving U.S. support.
This policy reflects Chinas emphasis on preventing external forces from interfering in Burma's affairs, which Beijing views as critical to its regional strategy, said political analyst Than Soe Naing, using an alternative name for Myanmar.
So far, Beijing has not commented on the MNDAAs statement, despite the groups request for Chinas help to resolve the conflict and its willingness to cease fighting and cooperate with Beijing to negotiate a solution to Myanmars crisis. Myanmar also has not commented on the MNDAAs statement.
Meanwhile, Myanmars military continues airstrikes in northern Shan State. According to a Sept. 24 MNDAA social media post,a recent strike killed one civilian and injured 16 in Lashio, former headquarters of the juntas Northeastern Command.
Beijings interests in Myanmar
Frequent visits by Chinese officials to Myanmar have reinforced perceptions that Beijing is siding with Myanmars military because it perceives the opposition groups to be in alignment with the United States, observers say.
China sees the NUG and the Peoples Defense Forces as Western-backed entities, and for China, that is a red line, said Thomas Kean, senior consultant for Myanmar at the International Crisis Group.
According to Hla Kyaw Zaw, a China-based expert on China-Myanmar relations, Myanmar offers China a valuable connection to the Indian Ocean, providing an essential trade route that would allow Beijing to compete more effectively in the region with the United States.
If Myanmar is stable, Chinas southwestern land-locked provinces will have a safe and secure outlet to the sea, Hla Kyaw Zaw explained. Beijing wants these initiatives to move forward quickly.
China is the largest investor in Myanmar, and the internal conflict is not conducive to foreign investment and trade, according to a Stimson Center report.
That said, Kean told VOA that despite MNDAAs public stance on China, the group may still maintain limited cooperation with resistance forces to secure its territorial interests.
Nan Lwin, head of the Myanmar China studies program at the Institute for Strategy and Policy - Myanmar, said, If China is to be credible for the Myanmar peace process, it will need to have a multi-country approach.
Balancing act for opposition
Earlier this year, the National Unity Government, or NUG, issued its first formal policy statement on Beijing, pledging to safeguard Chinese investments and enterprise as resistance forces continue to gain ground in areas near the Chinese border.
However, the Yangon-based analyst who spoke on the condition of anonymity said this policy is insufficient to win over China, which seeks complete control in the region and wants to prevent any outside influence, particularly from the United States, near its strategic access point to the Indian Ocean.
The more the conflict escalates on its border, the greater the risk of disagreements between China and the U.S. on Myanmar, Kean said.
Youth unemployment in China climbed to nearly 19% in August, its highest level so far this year, according to official data. Analysts say that the higher level of youth unemployment is driving more college graduates to enroll in graduate schools to escape the job search as the worlds second-largest economy struggles.
According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, or NBS, late last week, the unemployment rate among 16- to 24-year-olds rose from 17.1% in July to 18.8% in August. One big reason for the uptick in joblessness, the NBS said, is that nearly 12 million students graduated from Chinese universities this June, heightening competition in an already tough job market.
Postgraduates overtake graduates
The job market has shrunk, and at the same time there are still so many graduates. Too many people are idling every day, said Lin Chan-Hui, an assistant professor of the General Education Center at Feng Chia University in Taiwan. Another way out is to return to school to study further and temporarily escape the competitive workplace.
Some Chinese universities say they are seeing more postgraduate students than undergraduates.
According to the state-backed digital publication The Paper, the number of graduate students at Lanzhou University exceeded the total number of undergraduate students for the first time. Lanzhou University is located in the capital of northwestern Chinas Gansu Province.
In eastern Chinas coastal Zhejiang Province, the Zhejiang University of Technology shows 5,382 new graduate students were admitted this year, beating out the number of new undergraduate students by 40.
The trend was already picking up at more famous Chinese universities last year.
Last December, Beijings Tsinghua University said the number of undergraduate freshmen in the previous academic year was 3,760, while the number of master's and doctoral students was 12,069.
Shanghais Fudan University in October 2023 reported 15,000 undergraduate students and nearly 37,000 graduate students.
China's Ministry of Education said that last year there were more than 47 million people enrolled in higher education institutes, 1.3 million were graduate students, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Lei, a higher education consultant in Shenzhen, who due to the sensitivity of the subject only gave his surname, told VOA the trend of higher education is moving toward "college graduates who dont go to graduate school would immediately become unemployed" amid China's economic slowdown.
"On one hand, studying in graduate school can really help you find a job. On the other hand, its also an avoidance mentality, Lei said.
Wandering masters and doctors
Feng Chia Universitys Lin said that having an undergraduate degree is not enough in fields like technological innovation and scientific research, so it is still necessary to get a postgraduate degree in certain fields.
On the other hand, he said, China has too many people getting doctorates and masters degrees and not enough technical and vocational education so there will be "fierce competition for upper-level work, but no one does the lower-level work." Highly educated young people are not willing to engage in grassroots work, Lin said, so there will be more and more "wandering masters and doctors."
Lin said the geopolitical tension between China and the U.S. has also made studying abroad for a postgraduate degree harder, so more students choose a domestic one instead.
Chinese netizens seem to agree that waiting for the job market to improve is their best hope.
A Hunan netizen on Chinas Weibo social media platform under the name "Da Ke Ya Tang" said: "The market will not be able to provide so many jobs in the foreseeable future, so we have to leave the problem to the future."
"If colleges and universities cannot adapt to the country's demand for innovative and pioneering talents and reform the way students are trained, more employment pressure may accumulate in society in a few years," writer Wang Guojin said in a post on Weibo.
COVID students coping?
A PhD student in Shanghai who, due to the sensitivity of the subject, only gave his surname Zeng, told VOA the increase in master's and doctoral students is also because many graduate students went to college during the COVID-19 pandemic and are struggling to adapt. Zeng blames remote learning for their struggles with social interaction and the skills needed to compete in the job market.
"This group of college students obviously lacks some socialization skills, at least in recruitment interviews, Zeng said. They can't reach the same level as the previous students.
Zeng adds that monthly stipends for master's and doctoral students ranges from roughly $143 to $700 and Chinese universities encourage entrepreneurship by providing funds to start small projects through competitions.
Who wouldnt want to continue their studies and earn money at the same time? she asked.
Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead into the high seas of the Pacific Ocean, the countrys Ministry of National Defense reported Wednesday.
The missile fell into expected sea areas, the ministry stated in a news release posted to its website. This test launch is a routine arrangement in our annual training plan. It is in line with international law and international practice and is not directed against any country or target.
China "informed the countries concerned in advance," according to a separate Xinhua news agency report, which did not specify the missiles path or where it landed in the Pacific.
The launch "effectively tested the performance of weapons and equipment and the training level of the troops, and achieved the expected goal," Xinhua reported.
In 1980, China launched an ICBM into the South Pacific, the Associated Press reported, noting that a map published in Chinese newspapers at the time showed the target area as roughly a circle in the center of a ring formed by the Solomon Islands, Nauru, the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu, Samoa, Fiji and the New Hebrides.
An analyst told Agence France-Presse that China has typically conducted such tests in its own airspace.
"This is extremely unusual and likely the first time in decades that we've seen a test like this," Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said.
The test "likely speaks to Chinas ongoing nuclear modernization manifesting in new requirements for testing," he added.
Taiwan's defense ministry said on Wednesday it had detected 23 Chinese military aircraft operating around Taiwan, and also recently detected "intensive" Chinese missile firing and other drills.
Taiwan has dispatched its own air and naval forces to keep watch, the ministry said.
Information from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse was included in this report.
MANILA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines aims to have commercially operational nuclear power plants by 2032, with at least 1,200 megawatts (MW) initially entering the country's power mix, the Philippines' Department of Energy said Wednesday.
The Philippines unveiled its nuclear energy roadmap at 68th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held in Vienna, Austria, last week, the department said in its press release.
During the high-level general debate of the IAEA conference, Philippine Energy Undersecretary Sharon Garin described 2024 as a landmark year for the Philippines with the release of its nuclear roadmap, which outlines the country's path forward using the IAEA's milestones approach to develop a nuclear program.
"We aim to have commercially operational nuclear power plants by 2032, with at least 1,200 MW initially entering the country's power mix, gradually increasing to 4,800 MW by 2050," Garin said.
Garin emphasized that the Philippines has been actively working to establish an independent nuclear regulatory authority to oversee the safe and secure development of the country's nuclear energy program.
She further noted that the government is giving high priority to the passage of key legislation focused on nuclear safety, ensuring that the legal and regulatory frameworks are in place to safeguard public health, environmental protection, and national security as the country moves toward harnessing nuclear power.
In November, the Philippines will host the International Nuclear Supply Chain Forum in Manila, bringing government and private sector stakeholders to explore partnership opportunities in nuclear energy.
Egypt, Jordan and Iraq said Wednesday that stopping Israeli aggression on Gaza is needed to halt dangerous escalation in the region.
A joint statement following a meeting of the foreign ministers from the three countries also condemned Israels military action in Lebanon and said Israel is pushing the region into an all-out war.
The ministers also called on the U.N. Security Council and the international community to act to stop the war.
Israel has ramped up strikes targeting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, citing a need to enable residents of northern Israel to return to the homes they fled during a year of Hezbollah rocket attacks.
Hezbollah launched its campaign against Israel the day after the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 hostages.
Israeli ground attacks and airstrikes have killed at least 41,495 Palestinians and wounded more than 96,000, according to the health ministry in Gaza. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its count.
Crews on Wednesday recovered the bodies of four people killed in Israeli strikes in and near a refugee camp in central Gaza.
Three bodies were recovered at the site of a strike that hit a vehicle near the camp. The fourth body was found in the rubble of a home in the camp where an airstrike killed a total of at least 11 people.
Hamas said in a statement Tuesday that it is expecting the United Nations to take immediate action to end the war in Gaza.
We demand immediate action to stop the Israeli aggression and the war, said the Hamas statement, which was directed at United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
But the Palestinian group also said it will not participate in new cease-fire talks. It said will not waver from its position against entering new negotiations that would provide [Israel] with cover to continue its aggression.
Both Hezbollah and Hamas are Iranian-funded groups designated by the U.S. and other countries as terrorist organizations that have vowed to destroy the Jewish state of Israel.
In remarks Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Gaza "a nonstop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it."
Guterres told the opening of the annual United Nations General Assembly, "We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza."
Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Environmental activists sprayed red paint on Finland's parliament building on Wednesday to protest against the peat industry, sparking strong criticism from politicians.
Activists from Extinction Rebellion Finland and Swedish organization Aterstall Vatmarker (Restore Wetlands) smeared several granite columns at the building's main entrance in red paint resembling blood.
They told AFP they were protesting against the Finnish state-owned company Neova mining peat in Swedish wetlands.
Peat extracted from wetlands is often used as an energy source or for farming purposes, emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide.
In their natural state, peatlands store large amounts of carbon dioxide.
"We have painted the columns with this easily washable paint to show that Finland is actively involved in accelerating the climate crisis," said Valpuri Nykanen, an activist from Extinction Rebellion Finland standing outside the building.
"Finland is mining peat in Sweden, while we know that we must phase out oil, gas and all fossil fuels and peat is very fossil," added Lior Tell-Stefansson from Aterstall Vatmarker.
Police arrived at the scene after 8:00 am (0500 GMT) and removed 10 protesters sitting on the stairs with signs in their hands.
The incident was investigated as aggravated damage to property, the police said in a statement.
Several Finnish politicians immediately condemned the act.
Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat quoted Prime Minister Petteri Orpo as saying it was "completely incomprehensible and unacceptable vandalism."
"Finland is a free democracy. We have the right to demonstrate and influence things, but we have civilized ways of doing it," Orpo said.
Caroline Ellison, a former top executive in Sam Bankman-Fried's fallen FTX cryptocurrency empire, was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday after she apologized repeatedly to everyone hurt by a fraud that stole billions of dollars from investors, lenders and customers.
U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said Ellison's cooperation was "very, very substantial" and "remarkable."
But he said a prison sentence was necessary because she had participated in what might be the "greatest financial fraud ever perpetrated in this country and probably anywhere else" or at least close to it.
He said in such a serious case, he could not let cooperation be a get-out-of-jail-free card, even when it was clear that Bankman-Fried had become "your kryptonite."
"I've seen a lot of cooperators in 30 years here," he said. "I've never seen one quite like Ms. Ellison."
She was ordered to report to prison on November 7.
Ellison, 29, pleaded guilty nearly two years ago and testified against Bankman-Fried for nearly three days at a trial last November.
At sentencing, she emotionally apologized to anyone hurt by the fraud that stretched from 2017 through 2022.
"I'm deeply ashamed with what I've done," she said, fighting through tears to say she was "so so sorry" to everyone she had harmed directly or indirectly.
She did not speak as she left Manhattan federal court, surrounded by lawyers.
In a court filing, prosecutors had called her testimony the "cornerstone of the trial" against Bankman-Fried, 32, who was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
In court Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon called for leniency, saying her testimony was "devastating and powerful proof" against Bankman-Fried.
The prosecutor said Ellison's time on the witness stand was very different from Bankman-Fried, who she said was "evasive, even contemptuous, and unable to answer questions directly" when he testified.
Attorney Anjan Sahni asked the judge to spare his client from prison, citing "unusual circumstances," including her off-and-on romantic relationship with Bankman-Fried and the damage caused when her "whole professional and personal life came to revolve" around him.
FTX was one of the world's most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, known for its Superbowl TV ad and its extensive lobbying campaign in Washington before it collapsed in 2022.
U.S. prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried and other executives of looting customer accounts on the exchange to make risky investments, make millions of dollars of illegal political donations, bribe Chinese officials, and buy luxury real estate in the Caribbean.
Ellison was chief executive at Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency hedge fund controlled by Bankman-Fried that was used to process some customer funds from FTX.
As the business began to falter, Ellison divulged the massive fraud to employees who worked for her even before FTX filed for bankruptcy, trial evidence showed.
Ultimately, she also spoke extensively with criminal and civil U.S. investigators.
Sassoon said prosecutors were impressed that Ellison did not "jump into the lifeboat" to escape her crimes but instead spent nearly two years fully cooperating.
Since testifying at Bankman-Fried's trial, Ellison has engaged in extensive charity work, written a novel, and worked with her parents on a math enrichment textbook for advanced high school students, according to her lawyers.
They said she also now has a healthy romantic relationship and has reconnected with high school friends she had lost touch with while she worked for and sometimes dated Bankman-Fried from 2017 until late 2022.
Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille said on Wednesday that the Caribbean country was a long way from winning its war against armed gangs that control most of the capital, as a United Nations deadline for long-delayed support fast approaches.
"We are nowhere near winning this, and the simple reality is that we won't without your help," Conille said at an event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
"There is a sense of urgency because the Haitian people are watching with cautious optimism, they're really hoping to see clear results," he said.
Haiti is currently facing a gang attack at the capital's main port, Conille said, the key entry point for funding and goods.
A shipping official told Reuters this week that ships were being shot at, preventing them from docking and unloading containers, while authorities have reported the kidnapping of two Filipino crew members from a cargo vessel in the port.
Haiti's main seaports and international airport closed for nearly three months earlier this year after violence escalated at the end of February, an outbreak that saw thousands broken out of prison and the last prime minister resign.
"We worry that without the urgent implication of everyone to support this effort, we will lose the little success that we've been able to obtain at a very large price," Conille said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier announced sanctions against former deputy Prophane Victor and gang leader Luckson Elan for their role in human rights abuses, as well as $160 million in assistance for Haiti, and called for further support of the U.N.-backed international security mission.
About 10 countries have together pledged over 3,100 troops, but only around 400 have deployed. The U.N.'s one-year mandate expires in early October and the U.N. Security Council is set to vote on Sept. 30 on whether to renew it.
While countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars, both the U.N. mission trust fund and humanitarian plan remain drastically underfunded.
Musalia Mudavadi, an official from Kenya, which is leading the mission, said the current funds were not enough to sustain the current deployment, let alone the thousands of troops that were promised.
"We encourage all the countries that have pledged troops to move with speed," he said.
The number of people internally displaced has nearly doubled in the last six months, according to U.N. estimates, now surpassing 700,000. Around half the country is going hungry.
Conille's government is also tasked with arranging the first elections since 2016. His predecessor repeatedly delayed a vote, saying a free and fair process could not take place under the existing insecurity. The United States, the mission's top financial backer, has pushed for elections by next year.
Conille said that while far more security was needed, Haiti is already investing half of an estimated $140 million needed to hold a referendum on the Constitution in February and elections in November 2025.
Conille said he was "quite confident" that they would be able to hold the votes despite the insecurity but warned that this would not be possible if commitments enabling the mission's full deployment are not kept.
Hamas said in a statement Tuesday that it is expecting the U.N. to take immediate action to end the war in Gaza.
We demand immediate action to stop the Israeli aggression and the war, said the Hamas statement, which was directed at United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
But the Palestinian group also said it will not participate in new cease-fire talks. It said will not waver from its position against entering new negotiations that would provide (Israel) with cover to continue its aggression.
In recent days, there have been fewer strikes on Gaza as Israel escalates attacks in Lebanon it says are aimed at Hezbollah.
However, Israel launched deadly strikes Tuesday across Gaza, killing at least 22 people and injuring at least 40, according to Palestinian health officials. One of the strikes, on the Nuseirat refugee camp, six Palestinians were killed, three of them women.
Israeli tanks battled Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters in northern and western Rafah, according to residents and a statement from the two Palestinian groups both of which are designated terrorist organizations by the U.S. and others.
The militants said they used anti-tank rockets, IEDs and mortar fire against the Israeli army. Residents said the Israelis destroyed several homes in the city, which is near the border with Egypt.
The Israel Defense Forces had no comment.
The Israel-Hamas war was ignited by Hamas' shock October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people and took hostage about 250 others.
Both Hezbollah and Hamas are Iranian-funded groups designated by the U.S. and other countries as terrorist organizations that have vowed to destroy the Jewish state of Israel.
In remarks Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Gaza "a nonstop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it."
Guterres told the opening of the annual United Nations General Assembly, "We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza."
The European Union, the United States, France and eight other nations called Wednesday for an immediate 21-day cease-fire along the Israel-Lebanon border, saying the conflict there "is intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation."
A joint statement said the cease-fire would allow for negotiations toward a diplomatic settlement consistent with existing United Nations Security Council resolutions that call for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group, as well as implementing a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar also joined the cease-fire call, which said a broader regional conflict "is in nobodys interest, neither of the people of Israel nor of the people of Lebanon."
"We are then prepared to fully support all diplomatic efforts to conclude an agreement between Lebanon and Israel within this period, building on efforts over the last months, that ends this crisis altogether," the statement said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the Security Council earlier Wednesday he would head to Beirut later this week to work with local stakeholders on a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.
The developments come after some of the deadliest days in Lebanon since its civil war ended in the early 1990s.
Israels military said Thursday it carried out airstrikes on 75 Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers.
Lebanese health officials said Israeli strikes killed 50 people on Wednesday, bringing the death toll since Monday to 615 people, with more than 2,000 wounded.
"To all sides, let us say in one clear voice: stop the killing and destruction. Tone down the rhetoric and threats. Step back from the brink," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council Wednesday. "An all-out war must be avoided at all costs. It would surely be an all-out catastrophe."
Ground invasion?
Israels army chief said Wednesday his troops should be prepared for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon, as Israeli fighter jets bombarded Hezbollah militant targets for a third straight day and the militants launched a ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israels Mossad intelligence agency near Tel Aviv, which Israel shot down.
Lebanons caretaker prime minister traveled to New York to attend the Security Council meeting.
"Israel is violating our sovereignty by sending their war planes and drones to our skies; by killing our civilians, including youth, women and children; destroying homes and forcing families to flee harsh humanitarian conditions," Najib Mikati said. "Furthermore, they are spreading terror and fear among the Lebanese citizens in full view of the world, which is watching idly."
He rejected Israeli assertions that they are only targeting Hezbollah militants and assets, noting that the countrys hospitals are overwhelmed with casualties. Mikati appealed to the Security Council for action.
"I am here today hoping to come out of this session with a serious solution, based on the joint efforts of all the members of the Security Council to put pressure on Israel to achieve an immediate cease-fire on all fronts and to restore stability and security to our region," Mikati said. "The Lebanese people reject the war."
Israels ambassador said his government does not seek a full-scale war and is open to a diplomatic solution. Danny Danon said Israel is only doing what any other country would do if their citizens were under threat.
"Since October 8, 70,000 civilians have been forced to flee homes. They have been made refugees [in their] own country," Danon said. "They do not know when they will be able to return home, restart their lives, or when their children can go back to their schools."
Hezbollah broke a relative calm along the border after Hamas October 7 terror attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war. Israel says Hezbollah has fired nearly 9,000 rockets at communities in northern Israel since then. The militant group says it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians and its fellow Iran-backed ally, Hamas. The fighting has killed 49 people in Israel, along with hundreds in Lebanon, and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border.
Israel also said it has activated reserve troops in response to the fight against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
Irans foreign minister is in New York for the General Assembly.
"Iran will not remain indifferent in case of a full-scale war in Lebanon," Abbas Araghchi told reporters. "We stand with the people of Lebanon, with all means."
Still time for diplomacy
In Washington, military officials insisted there is still time for diplomacy and de-escalation.
"It doesn't look like anything is imminent," Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said when asked about the prospects of a major Israeli ground operation against Hezbollah.
"We want to see a diplomatic solution, and we want to see it urgently," Singh added, noting that the U.S. military is not providing Israel with any intelligence or military support for its operations in Lebanon.
She said discussions with Israel have been constant and Washington believes "that Israel is listening."
U.S. officials did voice concern that the fighting, combined with miscalculations and missteps, could bring on a bigger, more dangerous conflict.
"An all-out war is possible," President Joe Biden told the ABC talk show The View.
"What I think is, also, the opportunity is still in play to have a settlement that could fundamentally change the whole region," he said.
The war in Gaza began with Hamas' October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. They are still holding around 100 captives, one-third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israeli airstrikes and ground attacks have killed more than 41,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, with the Israeli military saying the death toll includes thousands of Hamas fighters.
Hamas has been designated a terror group by the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and others. Hezbollah also is a U.S.-designated terror group.
VOA U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer and national security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Mexican president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum angered Spain on Wednesday by barring its King Felipe VI from her swearing-in ceremony, accusing him of failing to acknowledge harm caused by his country's conquest of Mexico five centuries ago.
The decision prompted Spain to boycott the event altogether, with its Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calling the Mexican decision "inexplicable" and "totally unacceptable."
Mexico's outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in 2019 sent a letter to the king asking that he "publicly and officially" acknowledge the "damage" caused by the 1519-1521 conquest, which resulted in the death of a large part of the country's pre-Hispanic population.
"Unfortunately, this letter was never replied to directly, as should have been the best practice in bilateral relations," Sheinbaum said in a statement.
Mexico had in July invited just Sanchez to the swearing-in ceremony on October 1, the statement added.
The Spanish foreign ministry said in a statement that the government "has decided not to participate in the inauguration at any level.
"Spain and Mexico are brotherly peoples. We cannot therefore accept being excluded like this," Sanchez said later in a news conference on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. "That is why we have made it known to the Mexican government that there will be no diplomatic representative from the Spanish government, as a sign of protest."
Mexico published the guest list a week ago for the inauguration of Sheinbaum, who will be the country's first woman president following her left-wing ruling party's landslide June election victory.
King Felipe VI was not on the list, which includes regional leftist leaders, as well as U.S. first lady Jill Biden.
Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles told journalists in Madrid on Wednesday: "The head of state, the king of Spain, always attends all swearing-in ceremonies and therefore we cannot accept that in this case he should be excluded."
While Mexico and Spain have close historical and economic links, relations between the Latin American nation and its former colonial ruler have been strained since Lopez Obrador an ally of Sheinbaum took office in 2018.
He has frequently complained about Spanish companies operating in Mexico and twice declared during his mandate that his country's relations with Spain were "on pause".
Madrid has rejected his demand for an apology for the events of the Spanish conquest five centuries ago.
Sanchez said on Wednesday, without elaborating, that Spain had "already explained its position on the subject."
The socialist premier expressed "great frustration" at Sheinbaum's decision, saying that he considered Mexico's leaders to be "progressive" like his government.
A Missouri man was executed on Tuesday, according to the man's legal team, even though the prosecutor's office that secured his murder conviction 21 years ago expressed doubts about the integrity of the case.
The U.S. Supreme Court, the last body that could have halted the execution, declined to intervene in the case on Tuesday.
Marcellus Williams, 55, was put to death by lethal injection shortly after 6 p.m. at a prison in Bonne Terre, according to The Innocence Project, whose lawyer worked with Williams. His death came a day after both Missouri Governor Mike Parson and the state's highest court also rejected his last-ditch bids to avoid execution.
Williams was found guilty in 2003 of killing Felicia "Lisha" Gayle, a former newspaper reporter who was stabbed to death in her home, though he has maintained his innocence.
St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell, whose office handled the original prosecution, had sought to block the execution due to questions about the original trial.
"Even for those who disagree on the death penalty, when there is a shadow of a doubt of any defendant's guilt, the irreversible punishment of execution should not be an option," Bell said in a statement before the execution.
In court papers, Bell questioned the reliability of the two main trial witnesses, concluded that prosecutors improperly excluded Black jurors on the basis of race and noted that new testing found no trace of Williams' DNA on the murder weapon. Williams was African American.
Subsequent tests revealed DNA on the knife from a prosecutor and an investigator who worked on the case and handled the weapon without gloves.
The contamination of the knife led prosecutors and Williams' attorneys to reach an agreement in August calling for him to enter a no-contest plea and receive a sentence of life in prison.
But Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey objected, and the state Supreme Court blocked the deal at his request. A state judge upheld the conviction earlier this month, finding that the lack of evidence on the knife was not enough to establish his innocence.
The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed that decision on Monday.
The governor, a Republican, also turned down Williams' request for clemency on Monday.
"No jury nor court, including at the trial, appellate, and Supreme Court levels, have ever found merit in Mr. Williams' innocence claims," he said in a statement. "At the end of the day, his guilty verdict and sentence of capital punishment were upheld."
Williams' attorney, Tricia Rojo Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence Project, noted in a statement before the execution that Gayle's family opposed the killing of Williams.
"That is not justice. And we must all question any system that would allow this to occur," Bushnell wrote. "The execution of an innocent person is the most extreme manifestation of Missouri's obsession with 'finality' over truth, justice, and humanity, at any cost."
As cases of mpox rise across the African continent, public health experts and world leaders are sounding the alarm, saying more needs to be done to contain the viral outbreak.
Fifteen countries in Africa are assessed as having active outbreaks, with Morocco being the latest to report a case.
Samuel Boland, mpox incident manager for the World Health Organization regional office for Africa, said that while the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi account for almost 90 percent of confirmed cases, more instances are popping up in other countries.
"DRC, Burundi [are] especially affected but also Cameroon, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire, Republic of Congo, Liberia, Uganda, Kenya, Gabon, Rwanda, South Africa and Guinea," he told VOA, speaking from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo.
The WHO says two distinct clades, or strains, have been identified. Clade I was formerly known as the Congo Basin clade, and Clade II was formerly West African clade.
Previously known as monkeypox, the viral disease can spread through close contact between people, according to the World Health Organization, and occasionally via objects and areas touched by a person with mpox.
Signs and symptoms include fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes.
Boland said there have been 6,580 confirmed cases so far this year, but there's a bigger number of suspected cases. Suspected cases are clinically compatible with mpox but may not have been tested due to various limitations in several countries. That number has climbed to nearly 32,000.
"Now amongst that large number of suspected cases, 844 people have died. But when focusing on the confirmed cases this year as in from the first of January, 32 people have, unfortunately, passed away," Boland said.
In a virtual briefing last week, Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said mpox is not under control in Africa. He said that while vaccine donations are trickling in, the amount is insufficient to contain the outbreak.
"Today, we have almost around 4 million commitments of doses, but we say we need more," Kaseya said.
U.S. President Joe Biden, in an address to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 24, 2024, highlighted the need to move quickly to confront the mpox outbreak in Africa.
"We're prepared to commit $500 million to help African countries prevent and respond to mpox and to donate 1 million doses of mpox vaccine now," he said.
No specific date was given as to when the vaccines will arrive in Africa, but Biden said the investments will be delivered bilaterally, through existing relationships with partner countries, as well as through multilateral institutions.
In addition to vaccines, Boland said this mpox outbreak requires interventions across the full spectrum of the public health sector. He said the world needs to scale up and make sure it can deliver in several areas.
"Things like surveillance, which will include case investigation and contact tracing both going out into communities and looking for cases, he said. Also engaging and encouraging communities to report cases when people become unwell."
He said this approach includes infection prevention and control, case management and vaccination.
The Namibian government is welcoming back nearly 100 Batswana of Herero descent to their ancestral land, marking a significant moment in the ongoing process of restorative justice for the descendants of those who fled German South West Africa now Namibia during the 1904-1908 genocide.
Fleeing German aggression, many sought refuge in then Bechuanaland what's now known as Botswana. As part of this effort, Namibia has made five commercial farms available for their resettlement, a step toward reconciliation and healing.
John Kandjii and other elders of his clan have gathered at the Dobe Border Post, a transit area for immigration between Botswana and Namibia. His role today is the lighting of the "Holy Fire," where he calls upon the elders who have already departed the earthly realm to guide and protect them at this significant occasion which marks the return of the descendants of the Ovaherero who fled their ancestral land more than 120 years ago.
"They were one I am sure that they were one at that time but now we are having borders, there is a difference," said Kandjii. "This is a different country; Namibia is alone, but communication they are together, those countries you understand what I am saying."
Kandjii explained to VOA how the formation of the Nation State and the Berlin Conference separated the Ovaherero from each other which could have been a good thing because the Ovaherero from Namibia had somewhere to flee to during the 1904-1908 genocide which decreased their population by an estimated 80%.
Although Namibia was prepared to receive 98 returnees, only 50 crossed the border on Friday. Some are still waiting for the quarantine clearance for their livestock before they can cross the border.
James Uerikua is the governor of the region where the returnees were received and where some will be relocated.
"They will be settled in Otjozondjupa region, in Omaheke region and in the Hardap region because the government of the Republic of Namibia in preparation to receiving you brothers and sisters efforts were made at high level and a reception area was created at Gam measuring about 20 hectares," he said.
The 20 hectares at Gam will be treated as a transit camp for returnees to adapt to life in Namibia before moving to the commercial farms they have been allocated by the government.
At the settlement in Gam, the returnees will be issued hospital cards and proper identification documents. Their children will be placed into Namibian schools.
Officials have promised that potable water, sewage and electricity will be available in Gam as soon as possible.
Elizabet Cherneff contributed to thes story.
A speech delivered by Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, at a Sept. 14 meeting marking the 70th founding anniversary of the National People's Congress (NPC), has been published as a booklet. #XinhuaNews
Norwegian police on Wednesday said they had arrested a man on suspicion of incitement to commit crimes against humanity in Cameroon, where a radio station identified him as "separatist leader" Lucas Cho Ayaba.
The Kripos police unit that deals with war crimes and crimes against humanity said in a statement that it had arrested "a man in his 50s" on Tuesday, but did not name him.
"Norwegian police have arrested the separatist leader Lucas Cho Ayaba. He is implicated in atrocities committed in the northwest and southwest," said CRTV radio station.
Two sources had earlier told AFP that Ayaba, 52, was the man arrested.
Cameroon has been gripped since 2016 by a bloody conflict in its two anglophone regions, in the northwest and southwest, between separatists and state forces.
The conflict was sparked by the brutal suppression of peaceful protests in the anglophone regions by long-time President Paul Biya.
"Kripos considers that the suspect is playing a central role in the ongoing armed conflict in Cameroon," the Norwegian police statement said.
The anglophone community, which has long complained of marginalization and discrimination, makes up about 20% of the largely francophone central African country.
Ayaba is the leader of the Ambazonia Defense Forces, one of the main armed groups operating in the anglophone areas.
International NGOs accuse both the armed separatists and government forces of abuses.
More than 6,000 people have been killed and at least a million displaced during the conflict, the International Crisis Group has said.
A lawyer representing victims of the conflict filed a complaint in the United States against Ayaba and the Norwegian state.
In February, the lawyer, Emmanuel Nsahlai, also petitioned the International Criminal Court to launch an investigation.
Ayaba was a former student union activist in the 1990s and holds German nationality.
It was the first time that Norway had arrested someone on suspicion of inciting crimes against humanity.
If convicted, he could face 30 years in prison.
A report commissioned by the Mastercard Foundation says that increasing women's participation in Africa's formal workforce could boost the continent's economy by approximately $287 billion by 2030, boosting GDP by 5 percent.
The report, Young Women in Africa: Agents of Economic Growth and Transformation by 2030, was conducted in collaboration with the McKinsey & Company consulting firm. Released last week, it examines the impact, challenges and contributions of women in the African labor force.
The report says young women are important contributors to the African economy, yet their role has been trending downward. Women's contribution to Africa's GDP declined from 18 percent in 2000 to just 11 percent in 2022, the report says.
Marguerita Bagulo is one of the millions of women employed in and contributing to the growth of African economies. She works as a customer service representative for a company in Ghana. She says her company promotes gender equality and that women fight for their jobs.
I was lucky to be in a place where your gender is not really a problem," Bagulo said. "And its great, because we are given the same opportunity that our male counterparts are being given, and that, in turn, gives us the opportunity to stand up for ourselves and better ourselves in order to compete on the same level as our male counterparts.
In Namibia, despite government policies aimed at increasing women's participation in the economic sector, their participation rate has risen only 2 percentage points, to 42 percent, over five years, according to the report.
The report notes 10 countries, most from eastern and western Africa, have the potential to achieve faster economic growth if they prioritize gender equality.
However, persistent obstacles continue to keep many women out of the labor force.
Wacu Mureithi, an entrepreneur in Kenya, says she could not continue with her hair product business because of family commitments.
Business is hard for everyone, man and woman, but I think a woman has a bigger challenge, because sometimes, looking for business opportunities, you are trading for sexual favors instead of doing the work," Mureithi says. "But my biggest problem has been balancing trying to be mum and dad and at the same time being an entrepreneur. I felt I was losing on parenting, because I was busy with meetings all the time."
Mureithi has returned to a university to pursue further studies to better her life and that of her family.
Samuel Nyandemo, a lecturer on economics at the University of Nairobi, says more girls and women are enrolling in universities to increase their chances of joining the labor force, which is dominated by men.
What they are mostly doing, they are in the hospitality industry, and some are in the managerial sector," he says. "In any case, you can see now when it comes to enrollment in universities, the number is now increasing, which means that in terms of job skills, they are acquiring a lot of job skills that are empowering them to spearhead most of the management positions within African economies.
The Mastercard Foundation says private sector-led approaches, such as investing in after-school care led by young women, could create 3.2 million jobs. The researchers say women also need government-funded initiatives to expand centers to improve child care initiatives, while the private sector can help by offering technical support, resources and low-interest loans.
At least 26 percent of girls complete their secondary education, but unpaid care work keeps 35 percent to 40 percent of women from employment, the report notes.
It says that in 2021, 66 percent of women lacked access to a bank account, while 13 percent had access to formal credit, versus 16 percent for men.
Lower access to financial services for women is blamed on the types of businesses run by women, which are seen as paying less and lacking income stability.
Nyandemo says governments need to create programs that make it easier for women to participate in the economic sector.
There should be affirmative action that spearheads the aspect of gender equality," he says. "Create more opportunities for women and empower them both economically and politically, and more so, invest heavily in training them in various small-scale business enterprises. Equip them with entrepreneurial skills and management skills.
The Mastercard Foundation plans to invest $360 million to help more than 70,000 young women and girls complete their education, start businesses and find job opportunities.
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A U.S. House of Representatives panel held Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt Tuesday for failing to answer lawmakers questions about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. VOAs congressional correspondent, Katherine Gypson, has more from Washington, with Amadullah Archiwal contributing.
Afghanistans ruling Taliban confirmed Wednesday that they have formally sought to join the upcoming Russia-hosted summit of the BRICS intergovernmental group of major emerging economies.
The leaders of the 10 members of BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, are set to convene October 22-24 in the southwestern Russian city of Kazan for the meeting. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined the bloc this year.
BRICS is an important economic forum, and as a developing economy, Afghanistan needs to join such economic gatherings, Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy Taliban spokesperson, stated in a video message aired by their official broadcaster.
The Islamic Emirate is seeking a presence at the upcoming BRICS forum, and the request has been formally communicated to the host nation, Fitrat stated, using the official title of their government in Kabul, which is officially not recognized by any country. He shared no further details.
There has been no immediate Russian response to the Talibans assertion.
Moscow has developed close informal ties with the de facto Afghan leaders since they retook control of the conflict-ravaged nation three years ago, when the United States-led Western countries withdrew their troops after almost two decades of war with the then-insurgent Taliban.
However, Russia has not recognized the Taliban as a legitimate government in alignment with the global consensus on the issue of recognition. Taliban delegations have repeatedly visited Moscow in recent months for bilateral economic and trade discussions.
The Russian foreign and justice ministries submitted a proposal to President Vladimir Putin in June to remove the radical Afghan group from Russias list of designated terrorist organizations. The move prompted speculations that Moscow has come closer to officially recognizing the de facto Kabul authorities.
The Taliban have been on Russias list of transnational militant groups, which includes al-Qaida, since 2003.
The de facto Afghan leaders have implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic law, known as sharia, in the impoverished South Asian nation, prohibiting Afghan girls from attending schools beyond the sixth grade, suspending female students from universities, barring women from most workplaces, and banning music.
The Taliban also have introduced stoning and public executions of women for crimes such as adultery.
The U.N. and other nations
The international community, including the United Nations, has consistently called for the urgent reversal of restrictions on women before considering granting diplomatic legitimacy to the Taliban regime.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly this week that the Taliban's treatment of women can be compared to "some of the most egregious systems of oppression in recent history.
"We will continue to amplify the voices of Afghan women and call for them to play a full role in the country's life, both inside its borders and on the global stage," he said.
U.N. officials maintain that last months enactment of a morality law by the Taliban has made it even more challenging to recognize Kabul rulers.
Taliban leaders reject criticism of their governance, saying it is aligned with local culture and sharia.
It means that one of the major obstacles to Afghanistans full reintegration into the international community cannot be part of a necessary dialogue, Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, told a Security Council meeting last week.
China and the Taliban
China has also ramped up its political and economic ties with Kabul and is one of two countries, along with the United Arab Emirates, that have formally accepted a Taliban-appointed ambassador.
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a news conference that Beijing expects the Taliban to look at the legitimate concerns of the global community.
That said, womens rights and interests are not the entirety of the Afghan issue, nor the core or root cause of the issue, Lin said. He referenced the U.N. estimates stating that almost 24 million people in Afghanistan need humanitarian assistance, with more than half of them battling severe food insecurity.
The international community needs to focus on the most pressing difficulties Afghanistan faces, promote the rebuilding and development in Afghanistan and at the same time encourage, in the spirit of equality and respect, the governing authorities of Afghanistan to improve and strengthen protection of women and childrens rights, Lin stated.
Chinese companies have signed several agreements with the Taliban to enhance economic and trade cooperation, focusing mainly on the Afghan mining sector.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told a news conference in Kabul last week that his government controlled about 40 Afghan embassies and consulates worldwide, and that its diplomatic relations with the international community were improving. He stated that the Taliban are keen to develop friendly ties with Western nations.
The U.S. and the West at large insist that formal recognition of the Taliban depends on their actions regarding women's rights, education for girls and women and freedom of movement.
Hezbollah and Israel remain on the brink of all-out war. Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel and Israel says it killed a top Hezbollah commander. Joe Biden has delivered his final address as U.S. president to the U.N. General Assembly. Biden used his wide-ranging address on Tuesday to speak to the need to end the Middle East conflict and highlight U.S. and Western allies support for Kyiv after Russias invasion. The World Food Program warns that hundreds of thousands of starving Sudanese could die without urgent international assistance. And using dynamite to trim trees in Denmark.
Donald Trump on Tuesday pledged to stop U.S. businesses from shipping jobs overseas and to take other countries' jobs and factories by relying heavily on sweeping tariffs to boost auto manufacturing despite warnings that domestic consumers would pay more and a lack of specifics about how his plans would work.
"I want German car companies to become American car companies. I want them to build their plants here," Trump declared during a speech in Savannah, Georgia.
Trump added that, if elected, he'd put a 100% tariff on every car imported from Mexico and that the only way to avoid those charges would be for an automaker to build the cars in the U.S.
His ideas, if enacted, could cause a huge upheaval in the American auto industry. Many automakers now build smaller, lower-priced vehicles in Mexico facilitated by a trade agreement Trump negotiated while president or in other countries because their profit margins are slim. The lower labor costs help the companies make money on those vehicles.
German and other foreign automakers already have extensive manufacturing operations in the U.S., and many now build more vehicles here than they send. BMW, for instance, has an 8 million-square-foot campus in South Carolina that employs 11,000 people building more than 1,500 SUVs per day for the U.S. and 120 export markets. Mercedes and Volkswagen also have large factories here.
If German automakers were to increase production here, they likely would have to take it from factories in Germany, which then would run below their capacity and be less efficient, said Sam Abuelsamid, principal research analyst for Guidehouse Insights.
"It makes no sense," he said.
Trump proposes 'new American industrialism' without specifics
Trump has proposed using tariffs on imports and other measures to boost American industry even as economists have cautioned that U.S. consumers would bear the costs of tariffs and other Trump proposals like staging the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
The former president laid out a broad array of economic proposals during a speech in the key swing state of Georgia, promising to create a special ambassador to help lure foreign manufacturers to the U.S. and further entice them by offering access to federal land.
Additionally, he called for lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, but only for companies that produce in the U.S. Harris, the Democratic nominee, wants to raise the corporate tax rate to 28%. It had been 35% when Trump became president in 2017, and he later signed legislation lowering it.
"We're putting America first," Trump said. "This new American industrialism will create millions and millions of jobs."
Trump also suggested wiping away some environmental regulations to boost energy production, saying America has "got the oil, it's got the gas. We have everything. The only thing we don't have is smart people leading our country."
Tuesday's series of economic proposals raised a lot of questions, but the former president hasn't given specific answers on his ideas, which could substantially affect their impact and how much they cost. He has not specified, for example, whether his U.S.-focused corporate tax cuts would apply to companies that assemble their products domestically out of imports.
Trump also suggested he would use a newly created envoy, and his own personal efforts, to recruit foreign companies. But he had a spotty record in the White House of attracting foreign investment. In one infamous case, Trump promised a $10 billion investment by Taiwan-based electronics giant Foxconn in Wisconsin, creating potentially 13,000 new jobs, that the company never delivered.
His calls to offer federal land, meanwhile, might clash with Bureau of Land Management restrictions on foreign entities looking to lease lands. It also wasn't clear whether companies from China would be excluded, given Trump's longtime accusations that China is hurting American business.
As Vladimir Putins war against Ukraine grinds on for a third year, a United Nations report says all dissenting voices in the Russian Federation have been muzzled, civic and political rights have been shut down, and the human rights situation in the country has significantly worsened.
The country is now governed by a state-sponsored system of fear and punishment including the use of torture, with absolute impunity, Mariana Katzarova, who monitors rights in Russia under a mandate from the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, said Tuesday.
Katzarova said civil and political freedoms in Russia have become further restricted since she submitted her first report to the council more than a year ago.
The severity of the governments human rights violations has escalated, and its tools expanded to suppress dissent against its repressive domestic policy and war-driven foreign policy, she said.
As with last years report, Katzarova noted that she was obliged to gather information for this years 23-page report from a range of sources inside and outside the Russian Federation.
Despite repeated requests, she said she was not granted access to Russia, which would have allowed a dialogue with the government and other stakeholders and enabled the reflection of their position in this report.
The report paints a chilling picture of a dystopian society in which Russian citizens are not free to express their views, state-driven human rights violations are legalized by new or amended legislation, public anti-war expression or dissent of any kind is criminalized, the use of violence by law enforcement is condoned, and an environment of absolute impunity has been created.
'War censorship'
Under Russias so-called war censorship legislation, Katzarova noted that hundreds of people who dare to speak the truth about what is happening in the war against Ukraine have been prosecuted, given long prison sentences and subjected to the crippling financial punishment of having property and assets confiscated.
The report says at least 1,372 human rights defenders, journalists and anti-war critics have been detained on politically motivated charges and sentenced in sham trials to lengthy imprisonment, often with treatment amounting to torture.
While Russian authorities have intensified their crackdown on these traditional sources of opposition, Katzarova said poets, playwrights, artists, religious figures, indigenous groups, migrants, and those whove fled abroad are often targeted with harsh censorship, intimidation and prosecution for any perceived transgression.
Of particular concern is the evidence of state-condoned violence and torture against civilians arrested for peacefully exercising their human rights, she said. Brutal assaults of detainees by law enforcement officials go unpunished; there is increased use of solitary confinement in prisons and other deliberate ill-treatment amounting to torture.
The report spells out in searing detail the many human rights violations and state-condoned discriminatory policies used by the state to intimidate, harass and punish vulnerable groups, including women and girls, LGBTQ persons, indigenous peoples, minorities and migrants.
The risk of severe punishment for any form of public dissent is very high, particularly for individuals and groups vulnerable to discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, political opinion, religion, indigenous status or minority background, says the report, which devotes a long section to the wide range of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law precipitated by the ongoing war against Ukraine.
Ukraine-related violations
It expresses particular concern about Ukrainian civilians held in arbitrary detention because Russian authorities do not provide information about their number, fate or whereabouts, and many are subjected to enforced disappearance.
The report says at least 1,672 Ukrainian civilians are known to have been arbitrarily detained by Russian authorities and kept in penal colonies, pretrial detention centers and temporary makeshift tent camps located throughout Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. It also says an estimated 14,000 Ukrainian civilians are missing.
The report documents the plight of captured military and civilian Ukrainians, including children, who have been forcibly transferred or deported to the Russian Federation.
According to the Ukrainian government, 19,546 children were forcibly transferred to Russian-occupied Crimea or deported to Russia or Belarus as of the end of July 2024; 388 have been returned. The whereabouts and fate of the thousands of other children remains unknown, though some are believed to have been given up for adoption by Russian families.
The report notes that some of the returned children who were interviewed said they were subjected to sexual violence during their time in Russian institutions and some experienced or witnessed physical violence and threats against children by the staff.
Last year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Commissioner for Childrens Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for the war crimes of unlawful deportation and unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
Katzarova told council members that The Russian authorities must bring to justice all those responsible for this torture and ill-treatment and immediately and unconditionally release all Ukrainian detainees, ensuring their safe return, especially of children.
As special rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Russian Federation, I will continue to call for accountability for these crimes, she said.
It is a call likely to be ignored by Russia, which boycotted the meeting and did not respond as a concerned country.
Fifty Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to President Joe Biden in late August requesting more humanitarian assistance for Sudan and calling on the U.S. to do more to help end the conflict. Leading the effort is U.S. Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California, who told VOA in a recent interview that she is concerned that international partners arent doing enough to support humanitarian aid delivery to families affected by the conflict.
Famine has erupted. Deaths are happening every day, and the warring parties are working together, in my opinion, to prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid, she told VOA. It is unconscionable. And it is inhumane.
Without more aggressive leadership by the U.S., she said, the conflict risks international neglect amid the war Ukraine and an expanding conflict in the Middle East.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
VOA: Your colleagues have joined you to raise awareness about Sudan. A lot of Sudanese who spoke to us say the world has forgotten them. How do you feel about their sentiments?
U.S. Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove: I am disheartened to hear that, but I understand why they would say it, and that is exactly why I wrote this letter and encouraged my colleagues to sign on. Fifty Democratic members of Congress signed with me, to ask this administration to do more. We want them to raise awareness of this war. Get [U.S.] Secretary [of State Anthony] Blinken out in front. We want to rally our international partners to also take this more seriously and pledge more dollars to help with the support around humanitarian aid delivery. Because if we are not taking the lead on this, then it will signal to the rest of the world that this is not important and of course it is.
VOA: What about international attention? Are you getting that?
Kamlager-Dove: No, we're not getting [international attention.] I have my own suspicions that people just dont care, or dont respect the continent of Africa. I think that is wildly ignorant. And we know with forces like China and Russia working to compete against us [the U.S.], and to dismantle democracies, we know that there are other agents and actors playing in this war as well. That is why it is incumbent upon us to take the lead and call for more aid and call for more discussions.
VOA: What about Americas foreign policy and its resources? Where does it go? I mean, I know that the war in Ukraine and Gaza is shifting attention.
Kamlager-Dove: Thankfully, we have an administration that is trying to engage. They finally got a special envoy, [Former U.S. Representative Tom Perriello], to Sudan. You know, a year too late, but he needs to be supported with more resources and more staff. It is very important that Secretary Blinken shows his face more on the continent and reminds folks that this administration cares.
VOA: The U.N. made an appeal for humanitarian assistance. They were projecting $2.7 billion and only 37% of that was received. What should be done to get pledges from donor countries?
Kamlager-Dove: Well, I do think we have to make a concerted effort to ask the international community to pledge more. It is important to give more, but if those resources are thwarted because you have bad actors keeping humanitarian aid from the people and the civilians that need it the most, then it doesn't matter.
VOA: The U.S. government slapped sanctions on both sides in Sudan the Rapid Support Forces [RSF] and some leaders of the Sudan Armed Forces [SAF]. And it appears like these sanctions are not biting hard because the two belligerent forces have decided not to sign any cease-fire. Are there other instruments of diplomacy in the toolbox that is yet to be used to bring pressure on these two groups?
Kamlager-Dove: Well, it is certainly unfortunate that neither party wants to show up to the negotiating table. It's very hard to come to a resolution when you don't even sit at the table. The other thing that is unfortunate is even if you have sanctions, you know, if youre still able to buy guns and get the weapons into the country, then obviously you need different kinds of teeth and authority. I think we should be looking at the folks who are supplying the arms to the forces, because that is as important as sanctioning both SAF and RSF. If you dont stop the flow of arms, what are you really doing?
VOA: When Perriello testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he mentioned that those aiding the war in Sudan must be held accountable, or the U.S.'s efforts will be in vain. How do you respond to that?
Kamlager-Dove: I wholeheartedly agree. We have an obligation to focus on what is happening in the Sudan. But I want to say I'm grateful that he was actually able to show up. You know, we have not had a full committee hearing in the Foreign Affairs Committee on Africa since the beginning of this term.
VOA: The last time we heard about funding [for Sudan] was 2017. And just a month ago, nongovernmental organizations, international aid agencies are saying Darfur is on the verge of famine, there's famine already there. If you are given an opportunity to speak directly to the people who are making decisions on where aid money should go, what would you tell them?
Kamlager-Dove: I would say the world is watching and the world is waiting. And every moment that you do not sit at the table and find a way, using any quiver that you have in your toolbox every day you wait is a day that someone dies in the Sudan. And this is not something that I am willing to keep in my heart. And this is not something that the United States should let happen. So, get off your tuchus (rear end) and find a way to bring about a cease-fire, and to make sure that humanitarian aid is able to get to the Sudan.
This Q&A originated in VOAs English to Africa Service.
The Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives demanded on Wednesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fire his ambassador to the United States over Zelenskyy's trip this week to a factory in Pennsylvania.
"I demand that you immediately fire Ukraines Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova," Speaker Mike Johnson wrote in a letter to Zelenskyy.
Johnson released the letter a day before Zelenskyy was due to visit the U.S. Capitol in Washington for meetings with lawmakers. Johnson was not expected to meet with the Ukrainian leader.
The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some Republicans have been fuming over Zelenskyy's visit earlier in his weeklong trip to the United States to an ammunition plant in President Joe Biden's hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is one of the swing states seen as crucial to victory in the November 5 presidential election.
During the trip, Zelenskyy also met with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Senator Bob Casey and U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright, who are all Democrats.
Biden's vice president, Kamala Harris, is the Democratic candidate running against Republican former President Donald Trump in the race for the White House.
"The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because on purpose no Republicans were invited," Johnson wrote.
"The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference," he said.
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee had already announced that it would investigate whether Zelenskyy's trip was an attempt to use a foreign leader to benefit Harris' campaign.
It is common practice for governors to meet with foreign leaders who travel to their states. In July, Zelenskyy visited a factory in Utah and was hosted by that state's Republican governor, Spencer Cox.
The Uncommitted National Movement that began as a protest against President Joe Bidens policies on the war in Gaza last week announced they will not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate. Another pro-Palestinian group Abandon Harris says theyre working to ensure her defeat. Could these movements impact election results in battleground states? White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara brings this story from Michigan, the state with the highest percentage of Arab Americans. Camera: Rivan Dwiastono.
NAIROBI, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Ministry of Health on Tuesday confirmed two more mpox cases, raising the total tally to seven, as the country intensifies surveillance to avert mass transmission of the virus.
Deborah Barasa, cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Health, said the two new cases were detected in Makueni county in south-eastern Kenya and Kajiado county bordering Tanzania.
"No deaths have been reported among the confirmed cases. 61 contacts from the first five cases were traced, listed and monitored. Only one of the contacts tested positive for mpox," Barasa said.
She added that the ministry had screened over a million travelers across 25 entry points since the outbreak began.
Kenya has tested 190 samples for mpox from 28 counties, including the seven testing positive, according to Barasa.
She said the Ministry of Health is collaborating with local governments and other countries to contain mpox transmission.
The World Health Organization on Aug. 14 declared mpox a public health emergency and called for a coordinated global response.
The declaration came after the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the mpox outbreak in the continent had posed a serious public health crisis.
Afghan women and their international supporters are calling for the inclusion of women in any negotiations on the future of Afghanistan amid the Taliban's increasing restrictions on women in the country.
In a side event on the eve of the United Nations General Assembly, co-hosted by Ireland, Indonesia, Switzerland and Qatar together with the Women's Forum on Afghanistan, women's activists called on the international community to stand with Afghan women in the face of the Taliban's repressive measures.
Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep, who participated in the meeting, said Afghan women have been stripped of their rights under the Taliban.
"A bird may sing in Kabul but a girl may not, and a woman may not in public," she said. "This is extraordinary. This is a suppression of the natural law. This is odd."
Streep was referring to the Taliban's newly imposed morality law that prohibits women from speaking aloud in public.
"Whenever an adult woman leaves her home out of necessity, she is obliged to conceal her voice, face, and body," the new law states.
U.N. human rights experts say the Taliban's law issued last month would further restrict women's rights.
"It reinforces and expands existing discriminatory policies, such as mandatory dress codes, the requirement for women to have a male guardian [mahram], and the segregation of men and women in public spaces," the U.N. human rights experts said in an August 30 news release.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have imposed repressive measures on women in Afghanistan, including banning them from getting secondary and university education, and barring them from working with government and nongovernmental organizations.
Under the Taliban, girls and women are not allowed to travel long distances without a male relative and may not go to parks, public baths and gyms.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a side meeting at UNGA that the Taliban's treatment of women can be compared to "some of the most egregious systems of oppression in recent history."
"We will continue to amplify the voices of Afghan women and call for them to play a full role in the country's life, both inside its borders and on the global stage," he said.
Yousafzai demands end to discrimination
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai said at the UNGA that discrimination against women should stop in Afghanistan.
"A threat to girls rights in Afghanistan is a threat to girls everywhere," Yousafzai said in a Facebook post. "I want us to push our leaders to hold the Taliban accountable for their crimes against humanity. Let's act for our common future."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday that his country would never accept a deal imposed on it by other countries to end Russias 31-month invasion, questioning the motives of China and Brazil in pushing for talks with Moscow.
Instead, Zelenskyy called for adoption of his two-year-old proposal to restore internationally recognized boundaries between Russia and neighboring Ukraine before Moscow unilaterally seized the counntry's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and then invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow now controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
We must uphold the U.N. Charter and guarantee our right Ukraines right to territorial integrity and sovereignty, just as we do for any other nation, Zelenskyy said. We need to withdraw the Russian occupying forces, which will bring an end to the hostilities in Ukraine.
"Ukrainians will never accept will never accept why anyone in the world believes that such a brutal colonial past, which suits no one today, can be imposed on Ukraine now," he told the 193-member Assembly.
When the Chinese-Brazilian duo tries to grow into a choir of voices with someone in Europe, with someone in Africa saying something alternative to a full and just peace, the question arises, what is the true interest? he said, appearing to allude to developing nations where Russian propaganda has proven effective.
Everyone must understand you wont boost your power at Ukraines expense, Zelenskyy said. The world has already been through colonial wars and conspiracies of great powers at the expense of those who are smaller.
Every nation, Zelenskyy added, including China, Brazil, European nations, African nations, and Middle East, all understand why this must remain in the past. And Ukrainians will never accept why anyone in the world believes that such a brutal colonial past, which suits no one today, can be imposed on Ukraine now instead of a normal, peaceful life.
Since Russia "cant defeat our peoples resistance on the battlefield, he said, Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking other ways to break the Ukrainian spirit.
One of his methods is targeting our energy infrastructure, the Ukrainian leader said. These are deliberate Russian attacks on our power plants, and the entire energy grid. As of today, Russia has destroyed all our thermal power plants and a large part of our hydroelectric capacity. This is how Putin is preparing for winter hoping to torment millions of Ukrainians.
Zelenskyys address before the annual meeting in New York came a day after he told the U.N. Security Council that Putin will not stop hostilities on his own and can only be forced into peace.
At the same meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged nations to support Ukraine, saying it is fighting for its survival.
"If countries stopped supporting Russia, Putin's invasion would soon come to an end," he said. "If countries stopped supporting Ukraine, Ukraine could soon come to an end."
Russia's envoy dismissed Blinken's fears for Ukraine.
"It's not threatened with anything. We are not fighting against it," Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said of Ukraine. "We are fighting against a criminal regime which seized power in Kyiv and is bringing its people towards catastrophe. And this is not a war for territory, regardless of the claims of our foes. This is a struggle for acknowledgment of people's rights."
The General Assembly meeting is also hearing other leaders on Wednesday, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Ghanas President Nana Akufo-Addo, Spains Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Senegals President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Ecuadors President Daniel Noboa and Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine.
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Joe Biden used his final presidential address before the United Nations General Assembly to urge unity in the face of challenges including conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from New York.
Israel launched massive new airstrikes against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 492 people and injuring more than 1,600 others, according to Lebanons health ministry. The latest strikes are escalating fears that conflict will spread across the region.
HARARE (Reuters) - Top Zimbabwean retailers have warned of potential store closures if the government insists on the use of an official exchange rate they deem overvalued and damaging their competitiveness.
Five months after its launch, Zimbabwe's new gold backed currency ZiG, which stands for Zimbabwe Gold, is under pressure and has lost almost 80% of its value on the black market - where it trades between 20 and 26 ZiG to $1.
Official guidelines require that formal retailers set prices based on the official exchange rate of 14.8 ZiG to $1 or face fines.
But retailers, including OK Zimbabwe, Spar and TM Supermarkets - a local unit of South Africa's Pick N Pay (PIKJ.J), opens new tab, argue that this overvalued rate is making their products more expensive than those in informal shops, driving away customers.
"The situation is clearly untenable and will lead to company closures if authorities do not intervene with policy measures to protect the formal retail sector," Retailers Association of Zimbabwe (RAZ) said in a letter addressed to the Ministry of Finance and seen by Reuters.
The retailers said while they had to adhere to the official exchange rate as required by authorities, their suppliers are charging black market rates, forcing retailers to hike prices.
"Implementing a pricing model that reflects real-time market exchange rate fluctuations can help us remain competitive while managing costs," the retailers said.
The treasury could not be immediately reached for comment.
The ZiG is the country's sixth attempt at a stable currency in 15 years and economists say its devaluation points to lack of public confidence in the new currency.
Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and David Evans
Well, she did it, folks. Bonnie and her wacky story line finally intersected with the main plot, and it yielded glorious results. After Detective Johnna returns Bonnie to Oklahoma, the women find out that the state is not at all interested in prosecuting her, and so they return to Florida. Having finally taken responsibility for her actions only to be told that her admission of guilt didnt matter, Bonnie snaps, channeling all her frenetic energy into becoming a badass arsonist. Im not totally convinced that the demolition of Evan Shooks garish McMansion was worth the slog that we had to endure leading up to Bonnies Big Moment, but damn if it wasnt fun to watch it unfold.
Unlike Bonnies narrative, the Evan Shook plotline has been welcome throughout the series, his short but charged altercations with Yancy sprinkling laugh-out-loud moments into every episode. Hes the antithesis of everything that Yancy stands for and also a Key West proxy for the shows real-estate-greed-is-wrecking-nature through-line. So, after eight episodes of Shook trying to sell the house and Yancy antagonizing him, it was thrilling to see someone else take matters into their own hands.
Im sure this isnt the last weve seen of Michelle Monaghan like Yancy has noted in the past, Bonnie just keeps popping up and even though her plotline has felt tedious at times, her performance is captivating, and I kind of hope she stays in the mix. Her triumphant return is scored to a rockin cover of Tom Pettys Here Comes My Girl, by Weezer, and the moment she emerges from the fiery wreckage of Shooks house, everything she does is a delight to behold. As she approaches Yancy and Rosa, Bonnies face is full of exuberant, unhinged energy. Hi, Andrew. They wouldnt arrest me, she breathlessly admits. A seemingly nonplussed Yancy responds, I think they will now.
Although Yancy is with Rosa now, Bonnies lingering influence on him is apparent later in the episode when Yancy dramatically quotes Edith Wharton and Neville casually drops some knowledge about The Age of Innocence, so it doesnt feel like the show or Yancy is done with her quite yet, but what she can do from behind bars is yet to be seen. Her influence on men is legend, so something tells me shell find a way back to her friend somehow.
Honestly? After Evan Shook tried to hire the Russian mob to kill Yancy and everyone in his house, he deserved to have his house burned down. Bonnie should get away with a short sentence and a handshake from the mayor for burning down that atrocity to the skyline. And Shook was dumb enough to hire a dude that knows and loves his target. When Pestov finds out that his goons are attacking Yancys house, he calls it off. Scott Glenn gets in a good headbutt, and Rosa shows off her fledgling weaponry skills, but in the end, no one gets hurt, and Yancy decides to instruct the goons to clean up the mess instead of reporting them because he doesnt want Pestov to get in trouble. Nice guy.
As we approach the final two episodes (fingers crossed for a second season), its starting to feel like Yancy might be a bit too chill. Sure, its cool that he doesnt sweat it when his house is shot up by Russian gangsters, and his bemused reaction when his ex blows up Shooks McMansion to get his attention is pretty hilarious, but his lax attitude about bringing Rosa undercover is irresponsible at best. Yancy is used to playing fast and loose as a single dude he pushes everyones buttons, even the people he loves and hes been warning Rosa about his tendencies this whole time. However, she likes him, and shes hooked on his adrenaline-fueled lifestyle, so shes starting to find herself in compromising situations, like having to use a BBQ fork to stab a huge would-be assassin in her boyfriends living room and taking on the persona of Rosalba Ramos to try and take down a couple of murderous criminals.
Yancy and Rosa take Bonnies blowing up of the house as a sign that they need to go to Andros. Why? Im not sure. Its a wild thing, but the only real thread that connects the two is preventing greedy developers from plopping horrific monstrosities on beautiful land. As lovely commenters on these recaps have stated, the idea of conserving and protecting the natural world comes up in Carl Hiaasens work again and again, so perhaps thats what the show was trying to say here?
No matter. Bonnies totally wild actions somehow convince Yancy and Rosa to go to Andros to catch Eve and Nick. Not that they needed much convincing to begin with, but hey, witnessing the explosion of a giant Day-Glo-yellow building might just trigger some life changes. The two get Nicks daughter, Caitlin, onboard, and she calls her dad with a hot tip about a woman with stupid money who might be interested in investing in the resort. Nick is elated, but Eve is dubious.
As Yancy and Rosa plan their trip to Andros, Eve and Nick invite some key players to their new yacht. Gracie brings Egg as her guest, and she talks about business with Eve as Nick flounders with one flipper in the water. I get a good laugh every time Nick struggles with his new one-armed existence and Eve fully refuses to acknowledge his limitations. But, as Ive mentioned before, Nick is terrible too. His consistent contempt for everyone in Andros is a repeated theme, and when he mentioned that they were in a third-world country, I had to look it up because I couldnt possibly believe that would be true. (Its not true.)
The racist and classist undertones of Eve and Nicks continued rise in Andros are underscored by Gracie stealing Nicks very expensive watch and Nick not noticing until the next day. While Gracie was once conflicted about selling to the Striplings and getting out of Andros, she seems even more determined now. She promised Eve that she would handle her old friend Asia, but Eve sends Egg to vandalize her boutique anyway. When Gracie calls Ya-Ya for some support, Ya-Ya turns a cold shoulder to her, saying that now she can feel what its like to be truly alone.
But Gracie isnt actually alone. She has Egg, and they seem like a good match, even if their relationship is probably doomed. Egg respects Gracie, and Gracie likes the way that Egg makes her feel. And she really loves his magical singing voice. Memo to Hollywood: Put David St. Louis in more things where he gets to sing! If this man does not get to belt out a Tom Petty cover by the end of this series, I will consider it a missed opportunity.
Gracie is packing to leave as Yancy and Rosa arrive on the island. They do not seem to care about being seen together, as they go out to dinner and make friends with Claspers, the Striplings pilot. Claspers desperately needs a friend, but should these two really be canoodling in public where anyone can see them? And then they take a picture for the restaurants wall of fame to boot! Eve and Nick know what Yancy looks like, and its not like a tall, gregarious man blends in with a crowd, exactly. All of these things feel like poor decisions on Yancys part.
Andros is a small community. Within a day of being there, Yancy encounters two people close to the Striplings, first Claspers and then Gracie. He spots her with Nicks watch and informs her of exactly how much its worth. This actually gets a small but marked reaction out of Gracie. She tells Yancy she stole the watch from a bad man, and Yancy tries to get more information out of her, promising her a coffee. Gracie playfully tells him to throw in a muffin too, and when he goes to the counter, she disappears without a trace. This encounter is the polar opposite of Nicks initial encounter with Gracie; Nick was dismissive and nasty while Yancy is pleasant and kind. Granted, Yancy wanted something from Gracie, but he always approaches others from an angle of curiosity. Come to think of it, hed probably get along with Ted Lasso.
While Yancy chats with Gracie, Rosa, posing as the car-dealership scion Rosalba Ramos, goes out with Eve and Nick to see the land. She tells them that shes in and that she can give them the money in two months. Or, if they want cash, they can come directly to Miami to pick it up. Before agreeing to this risky trip, Eve tests the waters by asking Rosa how well she knows Caitlin. Its music to Eves ears when Rosa tells her that Caitlin is a little bitch. Shitting on her stepdaughter is one of Eves love languages, so she agrees to travel back to Miami to get her payday.
As the episode ends, Rosa and Yancy deliver the good news to Neville and Dawnie. They have a lovely dinner together and watch the news. Rosas sister is there, reporting on the weather. A hurricane is bearing down on Andros, and its sure to bring the chaos that Gracie promised when she cast Nevilles curse back in the second episode. And, as if we didnt already know that chaos was upon us, the last moments of the episode see Eve waiting for a table at the local conch-fritter joint. Just behind her is the Polaroid of Claspers, Yancy, and Rosa, grinning like fools who wildly underestimated how far luck would take them.
Monkeying Around
Gracie never wears a bra, and Im starting to believe that at least some of her magic comes from the freedom of no underwire.
Best line of the episode: When Bonnie is released from jail, she says she wants to go to the bottom of the ocean, straight to the depths of hell. To which Johnna responds, Done. I already set the GPS for Florida.
Tom Petty Cover Watch: As I mentioned before, a Weezer cover of Here Comes My Girl plays over Bonnies big moment, but we also get a chill cover of You Dont Know How It Feels, by Stephen Marley.
To truly slay Dancing With the Stars, the stars need to remember to play to their strengths like when Nyle DiMarco, a Deaf model, removed all the music from his winning routine. Ilona Maher, captain of the U.S. womens rugby team, which took home bronze at the Paris Olympics, puts the strength in play to their strengths. On the September 24, Maher performed a Dirty Dancingthemed routine with her partner, Alan Bersten, including a plethora of lifts, as expected. And because Maher is a literal Olympian, each partner got to be Baby. Both Maher and Bersten were on the bottom of two lifts, with Maher swinging her male partner around her shoulders as though he weighed six pounds. It was a delightful reversal of the Dirty Dancing trope judge Carrie Ann Inaba later told Maher that she is leading this conversation on what femininity looks like then she gave her a seven, which is only an okay score. Maher still had the best moment of the night.
Related
Philemon Yang, President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
by Xinhua writers Xia Lin, Gao Shan
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Leaders addressing the General Debate of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday called for cessation of the violence that has ravaged the Middle East for months, and some of them directly pointed their fingers at Israel for the "genocide" it committed against the Palestinians.
UNGA President Philemon Yang noted the various conflicts raging from the Middle East to Ukraine, and from Haiti to South Sudan. "I call for an immediate ceasefire in all these conflict settings," he said, adding that the people of Gaza and Israel "have been caught in a spiralling cycle of conflict and retribution" for nearly a year.
"I take this opportunity to call for an immediate ceasefire for the Hamas-Israel war, the unconditional release of hostages and for all parties to abide by international law, including international humanitarian law, and work towards a just and lasting solution grounded in the United Nations Charter, relevant resolutions and international law, ensuring dignity for both Palestinians and Israelis," he said.
Delivering his 2024 report on the UN's work ahead of the General Debate, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that world leaders are gathering in the shadow of raging conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere, and rising uncertainty over climate change, ending poverty and reigning in artificial intelligence.
"Our world is in a whirlwind. We are in an era of epic transformation -- facing challenges unlike any we have ever seen -- challenges that demand global solutions," the UN chief said.
He warned that geopolitical divisions are deepening, temperatures around the world are rising, wars are raging, without any end in sight, and nuclear posturing and new weapons are "casting a dark shadow."
"We are edging towards the unimaginable -- a powder keg that risks engulfing the world," he noted.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said his nation has benefited from a wave of international solidarity in the battle to end apartheid and usher in a new democratic era. "We will not remain silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against others" in Gaza as Israel continues its collective punishment of the Palestinians, he added.
He called for a collective effort through the UN system and other multinational institutions to end civilian suffering and for South Africa's legal action taken against Israel through the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prevail.
CONDEMNATION
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye condemned Israel for "disregarding basic human rights, trampling on international law at every opportunity, practicing ethnic cleansing, a clear genocide against a nation and a people, and occupying their lands step by step."
He underscored the imperative for the international community to develop a protection mechanism for Palestinian civilians, reiterating that "we have no animosity or hostility towards the people of Israel. We oppose antisemitism in the same way we oppose the targeting of Muslims just because of their faith."
Indeed, said the president, Gaza has become "the world's largest cemetery for women and children" at a time when truth itself "is dying" and "the hopes of humanity to live in a more just world are dying one by one." However, he insisted that "we will not hold back from defending the family, the human being and the creation in solidarity with other member states."
King Abdullah II of Jordan told the General Debate that "now is the time to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people. It is the moral duty of the international community to establish a protection mechanism for them across the occupied territories."
"Impunity gathers force. Left unchecked, it gains momentum," he said, noting that the world is watching Gaza, "and history will watch us by the courage we show."
The Jordanian leader said that nearly a year into the war, the world has failed politically, "but our humanity must not fail the people of Gaza any longer."
Meanwhile, both leaders insisted that the world body is far from delivering its obligations in regard of containing the violence in the Middle East.
With innocent civilians and aid workers with the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, suffering months of bombardment in Gaza, "the UN is under attack, literally and figuratively," said the king.
"The United Nations has failed to fulfill its founding mission and has gradually become a dysfunctional structure," Erdogan said, pointing to the massacre in Gaza, where more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the continuous Israeli attacks for almost one year.
ATTITUDES
"Too many on each side of the Israeli-Lebanon border remain displaced. Full scale wars not in anyone's interest. Even a situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," U.S. President Joe Biden told the UNGA Tuesday morning. "In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely."
"That's what we're working tirelessly to achieve," Biden said. "As we look ahead, we must also address the rise of violence against the innocent Palestinians on the West Bank and set the conditions for a better future, including a two-state solution, where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition, and normalizes relations with all its neighbors; where Palestinians live in security, dignity and self-determination in a state of their own."
Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters on Tuesday that Israel prefers a "diplomatic solution" in Lebanon to deal with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah but would use "other methods" to show "we mean business."
Asked by CNN's Tara John if Israel is prepared for a second front on its border with Lebanon after repeatedly striking Hezbollah targets in the country, Danon said that "we are not eager to start any ground invasion anywhere. I don't want to send my son, and we don't want to send our boys to fight in a foreign country, but we are determined to protect the civilians of Israel."
The UNGA General Debate started Tuesday for world leaders heading to New York to deliver their statements, as they take part in high-level discussions on the existential threat of sea-level rise, accelerating progress in combating the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, and driving forward the UN's long-term goal of achieving global nuclear disarmament with a plenary meeting marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye and King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday accused Israel for the "genocide" it committed in the Middle East region, while addressing the General Debate of the 79th National Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) in New York. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium and on the screens) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
King Abdullah II of Jordan addresses the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye and King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday accused Israel for the "genocide" it committed in the Middle East region, while addressing the General Debate of the 79th National Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) in New York. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
Philemon Yang (at the podium), President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium and on the screens) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Front) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium and on the screens) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Philemon Yang (at the podium and on the screens), President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Philemon Yang (Front), President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Philemon Yang (at the podium and on the screens), President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Photo: Apple TV+
The Slow Horses Incompetence Index is a rundown of which characters on the show are doing the worst at their job and/or life following this weeks episode. It will be a competitive situation, as everyone on the show is a complete disaster of a human being in their own special way. Thats what makes it fun.
Slow Horses is a show that understands the importance of escalation. This is, in some ways, a silly thing to say about a season of television that opened with the bombing of a London shopping center. Its kind of wild that most people on the show appear to have moved right along from it all to follow leads up the ladder. Theres still rubble in the street. But theres no time for that now. River has drawings to look at.
This is what I mean, though. Slow Horses does as good a job as any show on television with weaving plots together and then pushing them through at frantic speeds. So, like, yes, the suicide bombing. But also: fake identities and flashbacks and chases through train stations. River has been gallivanting across Europe and may have used some artwork he found to tie his grandfather to a crew of mercenaries in France and a woman who is in the wind. I have theories here. Im not going to get into them yet. But the drawings in the Harkness compound and the one in a drawer of his family home sure do look similar. Similar enough that even River sees it. Again, escalation.
Two episodes left in this season and still plenty to get to. And, one assumes, more bungling and buffoonery on the way there. Its coming together nicely. River made it almost four full episodes without getting captured by MI5 this season. That might be the most shocking twist so far, actually.
Lets get to it
Unranked
Jackson (he couldnt save Sam but he did keep everyone alive long enough to start unraveling the plot); Giti Rahman (good for her); the prince who hired Frank Harkness (surely nothing will go wrong after threatening to dismember a man who fathers many assassins then choosing to let him go); various hotel employees (spy business aside, one would hope a hotel concierge could keep an eye on a lost grandpa better than that); Moira the Office Manager (kind of cute that she thinks shes getting her old job back); David Cartwright (I know he looks complicit in this but I still want someone to give him a bowl of soup); Coe (gonna need someone to figure out this mans deal soon); the lady who was traded for the car stuffed with contraband (I suspect well hear from her again before this is all done).
10.
It is very funny to me that the building is under surveillance by MI5, and River is cut off from the team and running for his life in France, and Roddy is still dedicating one of his screens to a CCTV loop of Marcus getting heaved through a window during the chase from last weeks episode. Its funny to Roddy, too.
Reasonable arguments can be made that wasting resources and time on this kind of gleeful pettiness actually makes him more incompetent than his co-workers. I will not be entertaining any of these arguments.
9.
The three of them spent the whole episode staking out the wrong buildings and being excluded from conversations that could help them be of use, or at least assistance, at some point down the line.
It was probably for the best.
8.
Mixed bag for Head Dog Emma Flyte this week
On one hand: She got hauled into Dianas office to get chewed out for withholding information and getting bamboozled by Jackson. David got away again because her team got flummoxed by an old woman who yanked a fire alarm. She let River evade her at the train station even though she and everyone knew he was going to be there.
On the other hand: She did corner River eventually with some misdirection at the Cartwright house.
On the uh other, third hand: Outwitting River Cartwright 50 percent of the time is not exactly the kind of achievement that gets your picture on the wall at the office.
7.
The important thing to remember about Catherine is that she doesnt have to be doing any of this. She was out! And, as Diana mentioned in that meeting with Flyte, the exit package is pretty decent if you resign instead of getting fired, and the Good Lord in Heaven knows Jackson isnt doing any of that termination paperwork. The ball is in her court. Shes been working there for decades in one capacity or another. Youve got to believe theres some combination of pension and severance that she can cruise by on for a while.
But, nope. There she is babysitting retired spies and pulling fire alarms to thwart official government business and sitting in on meetings about decades-old treasonous acts. She cant help herself.
6.
We learned a few more things about Frank Harkness this week:
His team of mercenaries was hired to do the assassinations they mostly failed at by a bloodthirsty prince.
His history with David and Sam dates back many years to an exchange that involved a car loaded with guns and money and prepackaged fake identities that were just used in a suicide bombing and the plot to impersonate River.
The bombing was apparently supposed to be a quiet assassination of one person in a parking garage but, you know, whoops.
The only things hes succeeded at this season are talking himself out of getting dismembered and looking debonair while sipping Champagne in a train station. Which, to be fair, are both pretty important in their own way.
5.
Diana has a lot of plates spinning right now and a lot of cover-ups to cover up. The temptation here is to give her a pass for letting one thing slip by in the chaos. And maybe we could have if the thing that caused her the trouble didnt involve getting outflanked by the team of Claude and Giti.
Its not even the damning information thats the problem here, really. Its that Claude and Giti were able to track it down right under her nose. Those two shouldnt be able to sneak up on anyone let alone a high-ranking figure in an intelligence agency. Bless their sweet, pure souls, but come on, Diana.
4.
There are really only two potential outcomes for Claude as far as I can tell: one, he ends up resigning in disgrace after decades of corruption get pinned on his beautiful empty head; or two, he somehow becomes the king of England.
No middle ground.
3.
A few important notes on this guy:
All he has done this season is get duped and let people get away and I am starting to get excited whenever I see him pop up on the screen with his little serious face.
I really like that this goofus had numerous aggressive tattoos in highly exposed areas neck, hands, etc. and still went into the intelligence business as though any reasonably capable spy couldnt see him coming from space.
I watched the credits after the episode to try to find out the characters name and, I swear to God, he is listed in there as Tattoo Dog.
I will watch and recap any television show called Tattoo Dog the instant someone makes one.
2.
Hard to think of a more perfectly River Cartwright situation than going rogue and successfully escaping angry French mobs and the top agents at MI5 then getting caught at your grandpas house because you popped out of the attic too soon.
Hes so close to being a good spy. So far away, too. But also so close. But also so, so far away.
1.
Look, if you get murdered by an assassin who was just hit by a car and you gave him an advantage by stopping in your hideaway to slug some whiskey and the whole thing is related to a deal with shady mercenaries that went sideways many years ago that involved you losing the female asset you traded in exchange for Terrorism for Dummies, I mean
Yeah. Thatll get you the top spot. More like Bad at His Job Sam Chapman.
Having established himself as the ultimate cool, implacable bad guy in the Matrix movies, Hugo Weaving has brought an instant credibility to the role of Frank Harkness, whose mercenary operation at Les Arbres operates like its own cruel fiefdom in the bleakest town in France. (Lavande means lavender, but the place looks as though it smells of sulfur and moldy croissants.) Accordingly, Slow Horses has worked hard to feed into his persona, offering a slow trickle of wordless shots or small scenes of Harkness while gassing up his reputation as an assassin, a terrorist, and an all-around maniac. If you want someone killed or a mall full of people killed, perhaps then hes your guy.
So its extremely funny to see poor Harkness reduced from a Lee Van Cleef type to Jack Lemmon in Glengarry Glen Ross, desperate to sell a disappointed client on a renegotiated contract. I will fulfill the contract at a discount, Harkness assures his client, who is big and important enough to be called Your Highness. (The on-site butchering squad evokes the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, allegedly ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2018, but that connection may be inadvertent.) Harknesss client is understandably miffed about the successful mall bombing that he didnt order and the failed assassinations that he did. Harknesss sweaty attempt at customer service seems to fall on deaf ears: His client has thoughtfully booked multiple levels of the hotel so his gory execution of Harkness will go unheard.
Yet Harkness does manage a last-second reprieve for himself, under the promise that hell make sure to rub out David Cartwright and Sam Chapman before midnight. (Ill bring the old fucks back here and chop them up myself, he growls semi-convincingly.) That starts with upbraiding Chapmans would-be assassin, whos still nursing injuries from being run over by a taxicab this after handling three other agents quite capably. But Slow Horses mostly puts Harknesss renewed efforts on the back burner while focusing on the mad scramble to secure David Cartwright, whos an important target for Harkness, Chapman, and the Slough House team and for Diana Taverner and the Dogs, despite the dementia that seems to be overwhelming him.
After getting out from under Catherine Standishs watch the last episode, David spends Returns in the light of day, eager to arrange a meeting with First Desk for a debriefing. Only the Park didnt exist at the time David seems convinced hes living in, so he has wandered off to the old building, which is now a luxury hotel that nonetheless has a line open to MI5. In the race to retrieve him, Chapman and Standish get to David moments before the Dogs come in with badges flashing, and they manage to slip away with him with Standish yanking an alarm as a diversion and Chapman tucking him into Jackson Lambs cab. That turns out to be Chapmans last act of derring-do, however, as Harknesss assassin tracks him down and presumably kills him after he refuses to give up Davids location.
While there are still many questions to be answered about why exactly all this business involving David, Chapman, and Harkness is so important to so many parties, Slow Horses keeps kicking that information down the road in order to ramp up the action. The last half of this episode operates as a tense action-thriller with multiple parties Slough House, the Dogs, the Les Arbres goons converging on one another at once. That makes Rivers arrival back in London of even greater interest than he could have ever anticipated, because Emma Flyte is looking for answers from him over his adventures in France, and Harkness, seen hanging around the train station, presumably believes that River will lead him to his grandfather. Its Flyte who succeeds in tracking him down shes far more competent than her predecessor but her plans for him are unclear.
After the egregious ineptitude on display in the past couple episodes, the show doesnt find much time for comic screwups in Returns, which probably speaks to the urgency of needing to wrap up this intrigue in short order. It should be noted, though, that Flyte has emerged as a serious player near the level of Lamb and Taverner, who are usually the only characters who can be relied upon to engage in decent spycraft. In fact, a brief meeting between Lamb and Taverner about the dead assassin at Cartwrights place reveals some independent thinking on Flytes part that bothers her boss. Back at the office, Taverner warns her young charge: Know that I have your best interests at heart when I tell you that the severance package, if you resign, is far more generous than if I fire you. She seems to feel legitimately threatened by Flyte.
Not so Claude, of course, who defied his Second Desk by putting Giti back in the archives to look further into the cold-body program that is being exploited by Les Arbres. Claude tells Taverner that he intends to debrief David personally and that he also wants to conduct an audit of the agencys identity programs as part of his quest toward greater public accountability. Taverner calls him a sanctimonious fool and believes hes endangering her efforts to stop another attack like the one at Westacres. The show itself seems to agree with her, given how much of a naive boob Claude appears to be at every moment, though its probably a bad habit for spy shows and movies to keep scoffing at the notion of government agencies needing any kind of oversight. It seems certain that his continued defiance of Taverner assures an epic humiliation to come.
Shots:
Roddy explaining to Shirley how he let Flyte cuff him to his weight machine: My one weakness is beautiful women, which is why youre not a threat to me. Weve witnessed several other weaknesses.
JK remains a wallflower at Slough House aside from the tension his Unabomber look and odd tics bring to his scenes. Presumably, the show has plans to make its new character a more vital part of the closing stretch.
Lamb with the deep dig at Standish for allowing David out of her sight: You wouldnt have lost him if he was a bottle of gin.
Chapman offers some details about his past at Les Arbres, where he was brought to extract a young woman and was disturbed by what he saw. (Place was fucked up, he recalls. These women and kids hanging around with these psychos.) The woman wound up giving him the slip, so thats another loose thread for the show to tie up.
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This photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows smoke rising following an Israeli airstrike in Khiam, Lebanon. Israel intensified its air campaign across Lebanon for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, resulting in at least 24 deaths and over 200 injuries, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. (Photo by Taher Abu Hamdan/Xinhua)
BEIRUT, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Israel intensified its air campaign across Lebanon for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, resulting in at least 24 deaths and over 200 injuries, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The ministry confirmed casualties in several locations across southern and eastern Lebanon, including Bint Jbeil, Ain Qana, Qabrikha and Tebnine.
Military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes targeted approximately 90 villages and towns in southern and eastern Lebanon. Among the casualties was Kamel Karaki, a photojournalist for Lebanese Al-Manar TV, killed in a strike on the southeastern village of Qantara.
Meanwhile, local media reported at least seven fatalities and 16 injuries from strikes near Beirut, with three deaths in Maaysrah, northeast of the capital, and four in Joun, Chouf district.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that Hezbollah fired a surface-to-surface missile at Tel Aviv early Wednesday, triggering sirens in the city and surrounding areas. The IDF said it intercepted the missile using the David's Sling defense system, with no injuries or damage reported. The military later stated it had struck the Hezbollah launcher in southern Lebanon's Nafakhiyeh.
This surge in violence follows Israeli bombardments on Monday and Tuesday, the most extensive Israeli attacks on Lebanon since 2006. Official figures indicate the two-day strikes have killed more than 550 and wounded around 1,800 in Lebanon.
On Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Beirut's southern suburbs killed Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi and five others, according to the Shiite militant group.
The escalation comes after last week's explosions targeting communication devices across Lebanon, which left dozens dead. The cross-border conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has been ongoing since Oct. 8, 2023, following Hamas's attack on southern Israel.
This photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows smoke rising following an Israeli airstrike in Khiam, Lebanon. Israel intensified its air campaign across Lebanon for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, resulting in at least 24 deaths and over 200 injuries, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. (Photo by Taher Abu Hamdan/Xinhua)
This photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows smoke rising following an Israeli airstrike in Khiam, Lebanon. Israel intensified its air campaign across Lebanon for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, resulting in at least 24 deaths and over 200 injuries, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. (Photo by Taher Abu Hamdan/Xinhua)
This photo taken on Sept. 25, 2024 shows smoke rising following an Israeli airstrike in Khiam, Lebanon. Israel intensified its air campaign across Lebanon for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, resulting in at least 24 deaths and over 200 injuries, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. (Photo by Taher Abu Hamdan/Xinhua)
Citizenship reform petition reaches 500,000 signatures.
A petition in Italy calling for a referendum to make it easier for foreigners to claim Italian citizenship has reached the half a million signatures needed to trigger a public vote.
The proposed referendum aims to reduce from 10 to five the number of years of continual legal residence in Italy required to apply for Italian citizenship which, once obtained, would automatically be passed on to the citizen's children.
Under the current legislation, which dates to 1992, non-EU nationals are required to be legally resident in Italy for 10 years before they can apply for citizenship, and children born in Italy to foreigners cannot apply for citizenship until they turn 18.
The referendum petition was launched earlier this month by the liberal, centre-left +Europa party and has been backed by Italy's centre-left opposition parties and pro-migrant groups.
The goal was to reach 500,000 signatures - the minimum threshold needed for the consititutional court to assess whether or not to hold a referendum - by 30 September.
In recent days the petition received a surge of signatures, helped by a major social media campaign and the fact that people can sign online via Italy's digital identity system SPID.
On Tuesday the +Europa leader Riccardo Magi announced that the target of half a million signatures had been achieved, six days ahead of the deadline.
Ce labbiamo fatta!
In pochissimi giorni 500.000 cittadine e cittadini hanno firmato per il #ReferendumCittadinanza.
Hanno dimostrato che, quando il Parlamento non trova il coraggio di cambiare leggi ingiuste, possono mobilitarsi e farlo loro stessi, grazie alla Costituzione. pic.twitter.com/Dr2MfdTNB2 Piu Europa (@Piu_Europa) September 24, 2024
Writing on social media, Magi said the people who sign the petition are seeking "something simple, almost banal: those who choose Italy to live, study, love and grow, those who imagine their future in our country, are Italian", adding that "it is only the first step towards a more just law that recognises each one of their daughters, each one of their sons, as Italian."
Before the petition reaches the constitutional court, however, it will first have to be assessed by the court of cassation.
Italy's right-wing prime minister Giorgia Meloni poured cold water on the push for a referendum on the matter, telling reporters on Tuesday that Italy already "has an excellent citizenship law" and that she didn't "see the need" to change the system.
Photo RAI News
Rome rallies banned for "public security" reasons.
Rome police chiefs have banned two pro-Palestinian rallies from taking place on the streets of the Italian capital on Saturday 5 October, citing public security concerns.
The demonstrations were scheduled two days before the first anniversary of the surprise attack by Hamas gunmen who killed about 1,200 people in Israel on 7 October last year.
Security chiefs in Rome believe that the timing of the planned demonstrations risked the October 7 massacre being glorified in Italy's capital, according to state broadcaster RAI News.
The situation was discussed on Tuesday during a meeting of the national committee for public order and security, chaired by interior minister Matteo Piantedosi.
Earlier this year police chiefs in Rome and Milan, backed by Piantedosi, banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations from taking place on 27 January, Holocaust Remembrance Day, following calls from the Jewish community in Italy and from within the right-wing Italian government.
Image: Pro-Palestinian rally in Florence, 2 June 2024. Photo credit: Nominesine / Shutterstock.com.
Eva Osborne
A Fine Gael senator has said the Government should make hormone replacement therapy (HRT) free for all women experiencing menopause in Budget 2025.
Limerick city Fine Gael Senator Maria Byrne has said publicly-funded HRT would be a gamechanger for women's health.
Ms Byrne said investment is needed to help women that are facing high medical costs associated with menopause.
Currently, HRT is free for medical card holders, but many women without a medical card face costs ranging from 30 to 70 a month," she explained.
This is on top of the cost of going to a GP which costs upwards of 50 per visit and in some cases, the cost of having to see a consultant.
We have seen so many advocates dedicated to campaigning to make HRT freely available for all women and the last few months we have really seen this conversation being brought to the forefront."
From talking to people on the ground, Byrne said it is apparent just how much of a financial strain this is for many women.
No woman should be forced to choose between their health and an expense that could easily be addressed in the upcoming budget," she said.
HRT offers significant relief from the symptoms of menopause - hot flushes, mood swings, joint pain and can even lower the risk of long-term conditions like osteoporosis and heart disease.
Its not just about comfort; its about improving womens overall health and well-being. So many women are suffering in silence and providing greater access will help so many people."
Ms Byrne said making HRT free for all women is a matter of "fairness and equality".
Budget 2025 is a chance for the Government to show real leadership in supporting womens health. Im confident that with continued momentum we can achieve this important change for women across Ireland, she said.
In May 2023, the official partnership documents cementing the twinning were signed by then Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr. John OLeary and Mayor of Markischer Kreis, Marco Voge in the impressive setting of Altena Castle in central North Rhine-Westphalia.
This week, a delegation travelled from Markischer Kreis in Germany to Waterford to explore trade opportunities, exchange cultural experiences and discover opportunities for tourism synergies.
The visiting delegation was headed by Marco Voge, Mayor of Markischer Kreis.
The first port of call was Waterford City Hall where the delegates were greeted by Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr. Jason Murphy.
Welcoming the delegation, Mayor Murphy said, It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Mayors Parlour here in City Hall this morning. It is important to reflect on the many benefits that town twinning can bring. By forging strong partnerships and sharing knowledge, we can create new opportunities for economic growth, cultural exchange, tourism, and community development.
The bond between our two regions is a testament to the power of international friendship and cooperation, and I look forward to us working together in the future with the shared goal of making Waterford and Markischer Kreis welcoming, innovative and people-focused regions to live, work, visit and invest in.
Mayor Voge spoke warmly of the bond between the regions, stating that there are many similarities between our regions, from the challenges of rural development, to the opportunities that arise in a globalised world.
We are looking forward to meeting with the companies and the insight they will provide and we hope to establish long-standing connections with these companies.
The visiting delegation also met with Michael Quinn, Waterford City and County Council, Niall Harrington, Waterford Chamber of Commerce, Kathryn Kiely SETU, Ciaran Cullen, Enterprise Ireland, Emily Grace, IDA, David Sinnott, Port of Waterford, and Gareth Evans, Waterford Local Enterprise Office.
Following the reception members of the delegation met with Local Enterprise Office, IDA and Enterprise Ireland clients throughout the city and county.
Over the two-day visit members of the South Westphalia University of Applied Science visited SETU to meet with SETU President Professor Veronica Campbell and a number of executive team and faculty members in engineering, business, science and humanities. The group also visited SETUs research centres the Walton Institute, SEAM and PMBRC.
Waterfords RelateCare has been named as one of Irelands Best Managed Companies for the third year.
RelateCare CEO Conor OByrne commented on the award, saying: "We are incredibly proud to be recognised as one of Irelands Best Managed Companies for the third consecutive year. This achievement is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and innovation shown by every member of staff at RelateCare."
A thorough judging process precedes the recognition each year, evaluating the entire management team and the business strategy of each company.
The judges examine a wide range of areas when assessing Irelands top privately-owned businesses, such as a businesss environmental, social and governance standards, strategic planning and talent strategy.
This year at the awards, 129 indigenous companies were recognised, representing 28 of the 32 counties across the island of Ireland.
The network of companies has a combined turnover of more than 15 billion and provides employment to over 45,000 people across a range of sectors from technology and healthcare to construction.
RelateCare are specialists in providing innovative administrative, clinical support and consulting solutions along the patient journey to leading health and social care public and private sector organisations in both Ireland and the USA.
Founded in 2013, it began as a joint venture between Rigneydolphin and Cleveland Clinic. This partnership followed a highly successful collaboration between 2009 and 2012.
Since its inception, RelateCare has grown into an award-winning service provider, supporting blue-chip organisations with healthcare communication solutions. The company has a workforce of over 1,000 employees.
Its clients include major health systems, academic medical centres, and a variety of healthcare providers.
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I write crime books, thrillers and horror movies, so I know a thing or two about vengeful characters. But I never saw myself as a vengeful person. That is, until I got a nasty email from a reader and spent way too long plotting my revenge. Let me explain
My debut novel came out in 2018. It got a lot of love. Readers from all over the world sent me lovely emails, and it was an absolute joy to read them. But not everyone connected to the material. One reader compared my prose to a mattress tag. Another thought my male characters were too feminine, and my female characters were too masculine. One guy got very offended that I put a lemon tree in a climate where lemon trees wouldnt typically grow.
Then I got an email from Barbara. I dont know what Barbara looks like, but as I read her email, I pictured a compact woman in her 60s with fierce cheekbones and small, sinister eyes, staring intently at an old nicotine-stained monitor, thumping out her email so hard that the desk was shaking.
Christian White knew he should ignore the trolls. But that was easier said than done. Credit: Piccolo Angelo Photography
Barbara really didnt like The Nowhere Child. It disturbed her. It made her angry. You think she would have stopped after reading the first chapter, right? Wrong. She read the whole damn thing cover to cover, tsking and shaking her head, probably, gasping aloud each time she turned the page. And there was so much she didnt like. The story was unrealistic. I used too many swear words. My descriptions were lazy. My metaphors didnt make sense. I cast religion in a negative light (in my defence, the book is about Pentecostal snake-handling).
But what Barbara hated most of all what Barbara couldnt forgive what made Barbara so triggered that she just had to write and tell me was all the gayness.
The central love story in The Nowhere Child is a flawed and complicated relationship between two men living in an isolated town in Kentucky during the 1990s. This offended Barbara both morally and spiritually. She spent most of her email stringing together homophobic slurs and listing all the ways I contributed to societys downfall.
An Israeli anti-missile system intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon, as seen from Safed, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (David Cohen/JINI via Xinhua)
JERUSALEM, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli Commanding Officer of the Northern Command, Ori Gordin, warned on Wednesday that the military could escalate its assault on Lebanon by launching a ground operation.
"We have entered a new phase of the campaign," Gordin said during a tour of the Israel-Lebanon border, according to remarks released by the military. "We must be fully prepared for maneuvers and operations in Lebanon."
Gordin stated that the offensive began with "a significant blow to Hezbollah's capabilities, focusing on their firepower and delivering a major hit to the organization's commanders and operatives." He suggested that the assault could be further escalated, without offering a timeline for when Israel might conclude the attacks.
Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv.
In the northern Israeli city of Nahariya, two people were injured by Hezbollah rockets, one of them seriously, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Israel conducted its most extensive bombardment of Lebanon since 2006, resulting in more than 550 deaths and over 1,835 injuries across the country. The bombardment has also displaced many residents.
This sharp escalation has raised concerns about a potential full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
An Israeli anti-missile system intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon, as seen from Safed, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (David Cohen/JINI via Xinhua)
Smoke traces are seen as an Israeli anti-missile system intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon, as seen from Safed,northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (David Cohen/JINI via Xinhua)
Smoke traces are seen as an Israeli anti-missile system intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon, as seen from Safed,northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (David Cohen/JINI via Xinhua)
Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack in Safed, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (David Cohen/JINI via Xinhua)
Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack in Safed, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (David Cohen/JINI via Xinhua)
Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack in Safed, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (David Cohen/JINI via Xinhua)
Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack in Safed, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (David Cohen/JINI via Xinhua)
Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack in Safed, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (David Cohen/JINI via Xinhua)
Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack in Safed, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (David Cohen/JINI via Xinhua)
Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack in Safed, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (David Cohen/JINI via Xinhua)
Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack in Kibbutz Saar, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (Photo by Jamal Awad/Xinhua)
Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack in Kibbutz Saar, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (Photo by Jamal Awad/Xinhua)
People are seen at the scene of a rocket attack in Kibbutz Saar, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (Photo by Jamal Awad/Xinhua)
Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack in Kibbutz Saar, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (Photo by Jamal Awad/Xinhua)
Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack in Kibbutz Saar, northern Israel, on Sept. 25, 2024. Cross-border fire continued on Wednesday, with Israeli forces heavily bombing the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah responded by firing at least 40 rockets into Israel, including a longer-range missile that triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Tel Aviv. (Photo by Jamal Awad/Xinhua)
Founder of Millennial-focused financial advice business Wealthy Self, David Currie, says most clients who walk through his door have a fairly low understanding of how their super works. Most people either dont have the time to look at it themselves or they just dont want to, he says. Despite the knowledge gap, experts say that getting the basics of super down doesnt take a lot and will help prepare younger workers to regularly check in with their savings progress for years to come. Many young people dont understand that its actually their money, and they can invest it wherever they want to these days that hasnt always been the case, Currie says. The first job trigger
Loading Under Australias superannuation guarantee scheme, employers must pay super contributions of 11.5 per cent on their workers ordinary time earnings. This is compulsory for all workers over 18, and those aged under 18 when they work 30 or more hours per week. Professor of finance in the business school at the University of Sydney, Susan Thorp, says the most basic problem for workers aged under 20 is awareness about whether theyre entitled to super payments and if theyre actually getting paid. But she says the moment a teenager gets their first job is the best time for families to sit down and talk about how the system works. That will be a concrete, material and consequential moment for understanding what the responsibilities of employees are and what the responsibilities of the super funds are, she says.
Wealthy Self founder David Currie. Thorp says that in the Australian system, employers are not generally responsible for educating their employees about how superannuation works. Its up to an employee to check where their savings are going. Clearly for a teenager this is particularly challenging but worth paying attention to. Those small amounts of money, because they are being paid at such an early stage of someones life, accumulate to quite large amounts of money over 40 or more years of work, she says. The good news is that there are some simple checks that workers in their teens and twenties can do to get familiar with their funds. This includes getting across who your fund is with and logging in to check you are getting paid superannuation if its listed on your payslip or if you know youre entitled to it. Its very common in casual and part-time employment to find out that there are employers who are not paying it rates of underpayment of superannuation in certain industries are remarkably high, Thorp says.
Currie says as soon as an Australian starts earning a wage, its worth starting to familiarise yourself with super funds. As soon as youve got a job, as soon as youre starting to earn your own money, its a good time to start working out how to use that money. A time to think about values Not only do younger superannuation clients have decades to grow their super balances, but they also have more ways to invest their money for the long term, Currie says. Compared with a decade ago, there is a range of niche superannuation funds and investment settings that give you more freedom to invest in line with your values.
Loading If you feel like you dont have a vote or a say in the world because youre a young person - you can vote with your money, he says. As super savers become more familiar with how the system works, they also have a chance to start thinking about where they would like their funds to be invested for the long term for example, whether they want to choose an ethical fund or focus on a specific type of asset. Even if their super balances are small, they can invest into where they want the future to be, Currie says. This is the first part of our six-week Gen Super series, which takes an in-depth look at what to do with your superannuation at each age, from Gen Alphas just starting in their first jobs to Baby Boomers, who are just starting to retire and beyond.
A man was rushed to hospital after a massive blaze in Brisbanes inner-south spread to at least three buildings, including the popular Lussh wedding venue, on Wednesday afternoon.
Another person was still unaccounted for on Thursday morning, as investigators returned to the scene and sought CCTV footage from neighbouring businesses.
Police were forced to declare a public emergency and closed off several streets, after the Woolloongabba blaze sent thick smoke over the citys southside during the evening peak hour.
Fifteen fire crews were battling the blaze well into the night, with police and paramedics also on the scene.
Press Release
September 25, 2024 Co Sponsorship Speech of Senator Loren Legarda
Senate Bill No. 2838 under Committee Report No. 332
Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers
25 September 2024 Mr. President, my esteemed colleagues, Today, I rise in full support of the Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers - a bill that seeks to institutionalize the rights, welfare, and status of our Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) into law. BHWs have long been the unsung heroes of our public health system. They are at the forefront of primary healthcare delivery in our barangays, further magnified during the pandemic and other public health crisis faced by our nation, often serving as the first point of contact for our citizens. From administering basic health services to responding to emergencies, they stand as the backbone of our local healthcare infrastructure. They ensure that health services are not only accessible but also tailored to the unique needs of our localities. These health workers, who are vital to the well-being of our communities, receive far less than what they deserve. Yet, despite their invaluable role in our communities, many BHWs face financial instability, lack of access to benefits, and are undercompensated for the critical services they provide. As the principal author of this bill, we seek to rectify this situation by providing a comprehensive set of compensation, incentives, and benefits to our Barangay Health Workers. Moreover, the bill mandates the establishment of a National BHW Information System to ensure real-time data and better coordination across all levels of government, improving the efficiency and scope of health services. Throughout my terms as a legislator, I have filed measures to provide additional compensation for all health workers during a public health emergency, and to make BHW a permanent position in every barangay with adequate compensation. I have supported the passage of Republic Act 11223 or the Universal Health Care Act, as well as Senate Bill No. 2620 for its amendments. With this proposed measure, we continue to uphold our commitment to universal health care, ensuring that those who are instrumental in bringing healthcare to our communities receive the support and recognition they so justly deserve. Let us take this step together towards a more equitable, efficient, and accessible healthcare system for every Filipino. Thank you, Mr. President.
This photo shows the reusable rocket Nebula-1, developed by Chinese private rocket company Deep Blue Aerospace, blasting off during a high-altitude vertical recovery flight test in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 22, 2024. (Deep Blue Aerospace/Handout via Xinhua)
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese rocket startup Deep Blue Aerospace (Deep Blue) said it would carry out another high-altitude vertical recovery mission in November, after its reusable rocket Nebula-1 failed in the final stages of a test flight recently.
The oxygen/kerosene-fuelled Nebula-1, Deep Blue's first reusable launch vehicle, completed 10 of the 11 key verification tasks during its first high-altitude vertical recovery flight test on Sunday. But it experienced an anomaly in the final landing phase, leading to a fracture of the rocket body.
"There was a problem with the engine's thrust control servo tracking command, causing the rocket to land at a height exceeding its design parameters. As a safety precaution, the rocket shutdown command was triggered, resulting in partial damage to its body," explained Zhao Ya, Deep Blue executive president.
Despite the imperfect results, Zhao believed that the test could provide valuable data and experience, help them identify problems and deficiencies, and improve the performance and reliability of the rocket.
Other phases of the 179-second test flight were mostly perfect. The rocket performed well in the takeoff, ascent and descent stages, and touched down precisely on the center point of the recovery field.
The test showed that the overall design of Nebula-1 was successful and the reliability of its liquid oxygen/kerosene engine was also verified, said Shou Tuo, a senior aerospace industry observer.
Chinese netizens also offered generous encouragement. "I have always felt that it is more important to get cognition, rather than the result," a Weibo user Cao Meng-Aerospace posted. "Let's continue to work hard."
Deep Blue plans to conduct a five-kilometer high-altitude vertical recovery flight mission in November, aiming to verify all pending verification items, according to Du Pengfei, chief technical designer of Nebula-1.
Based on the completion of the five-kilometer recovery test, the company will select an appropriate time to carry out a 100-kilometer vertical recovery flight test within one or two months. It is also scheduled to conduct Nebula-1's first orbital and recovery mission in the first quarter of 2025, Du said.
Nebula-1 is 3.35 meters in diameter, and its first stage is about 21 meters high. Nine liquid engines on the rocket, all independently developed by Deep Blue, were built in one piece using 3D printing technology.
It is designed to serve satellite constellation networking, space cargo supply and scientific experiments. The application of reusable rocket technology will reduce the cost of space exploration significantly, Zhao said.
"Short-term setbacks will not affect our long-term development, but will accelerate the process of technology maturity and commercialization," he said, "High risk in the space field requires us to be capable of coping with failures."
China has witnessed rapid growth of the commercial space industry since 2014, driven by the government's opening up of the sector to private capital.
According to media reports, in 2023 alone, the country's private commercial spaceflight companies managed more than 10 successful launches.
Also in 2023, developing commercial spaceflight was listed among key areas for the development of emerging industries in the government work report.
Zhuque-3, another of China's independently-developed reusable test rockets, successfully completed a 10-kilometer vertical takeoff and landing flight test on Sept. 11.
For all domestic private space companies who hope to get a share of the space market, it is of decisive significance to achieve the reuse of rockets in orbital missions, said Shou Tuo.
"It is noteworthy that newcomers in China's commercial space sector may face multiple pressures from funding, market share competition, and media attention," he said.
From 16 to 20 September, 2024, the World Customs Organization (WCO) held a national workshop in Havana, Cuba. This workshop, funded by the China Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF-China), was designed to improve the competencies of Cuban Customs officials by providing training on rules of origin and advance rulings, which are essential for the correct application and implementation of free trade agreements (FTAs).
In her opening speech, Ms. Yamila Martinez Morales, Deputy Director General of Cuban Customs, underscored the importance of correctly and efficiently applying rules of origin. She highlighted that the workshop played a key role in enhancing the knowledge of customs staff and preparing them for the implementation of an advance ruling system. Therefore, Ms. Martinez Morales encouraged participants to fully engage with the workshop to address the operational challenges they face in their day-to-day work.
The workshop gathered 21 participants, offering them an opportunity to explore the key principles of rules of origin. Through practical exercises, participants learned how to apply these principles in real-world scenarios. Discussions focused on the current infrastructure for managing rules of origin, the challenges associated with granting preferential treatment for goods, and the steps needed to develop a more efficient advance ruling system. By the end of the workshop, participants had gained both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience, which will better equip them to implement and apply rules of origin in their work.
During the closing ceremony, Mr. Nelson Enrique Cordoves Reyes, Director General of Cuban Customs, expressed sincere gratitude to the WCO and CCF-China for their ongoing technical support. He highlighted the value of continuous collaboration in modernizing customs infrastructure, particularly in the area of rules of origin.
Mr. Cordoves Reyes also emphasized the importance of disseminating the knowledge gained during the workshop to a broader group of Cuban Customs staff. He noted that this would ensure the effective management of advance rulings and the correct application of rules of origin. With these enhanced competencies, Cuban Customs officials are now better equipped to implement an efficient advance ruling system, address challenges related to rules of origin, and navigate the complexities of free trade agreements.
"China's democracy is based on everyone getting a piece of the pie," a Kenyan expert hailed Chinese democracy while having an interview with Xinhua. #GLOBALink
People transfer a person after an Israeli attack in the town of Beit Lahia in the north of Gaza Strip, on Sept. 24, 2024. During the past 24 hours, the Israeli military killed 12 people and wounded 43 others, bringing the total death toll to 41,467 and injuries to 95,921 since the onset of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Tuesday. (Photo by Abdul Rahman Salama/Xinhua)
GAZA, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least eight Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential home in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources reported on Tuesday.
Local sources and eyewitnesses informed Xinhua that Israeli warplanes targeted a home located near the Ahli Club within the camp. Medical personnel confirmed that the Israeli raid resulted in eight deaths and several injuries with the wounded transported to Al-Awda Hospital in the camp.
The Israeli military has not yet commented on the incident.
Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.
During the past 24 hours, the Israeli military killed 12 people and wounded 43 others, bringing the total death toll to 41,467 and injuries to 95,921 since the onset of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Tuesday.
People gather at the site of an Israeli attack in the town of Beit Lahia in the north of Gaza Strip, on Sept. 24, 2024. During the past 24 hours, the Israeli military killed 12 people and wounded 43 others, bringing the total death toll to 41,467 and injuries to 95,921 since the onset of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Tuesday. (Photo by Abdul Rahman Salama/Xinhua)
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A local community is up in arms over the removal of signs advertising their local bingo games.
Cllr John O'Hara told last week's meeting of the Ballina Municipal District that the community in Ardagh were left annoyed after signs promoting their weekly bingo game, which takes place every Saturday at 8pm in the Ardagh Community Centre, were taken down in the last few weeks.
"It is annoying that something small like this would be taken away. The signs were on their own local roads, they were not on the main road," he said.
Area engineer Orla Bourke said that Mayo County Council were not responsible for the removal of the signage.
However, she said that if signage is removed from an electricity pole or lamppost, it is quite often due to its location.
A fisherman was not wearing a lifejacket when he went overboard at sea and drowned, an inquest has heard.
Madis Letsors, aged 39, of Dromad Terrace, Armagh, was among the crew on a Mayo-owned fishing vessel when he tragically lost his life while fishing off the coast of Donegal in February 2023. An inquest into his death took place in Ballina last week.
Gda Paul Agnew told the inquest that fishing boat, Seamie, came ashore at Ballyglass on February 5, 2023.
Pat ODonnell, the owner of the boat, said in his statement to the inquest that he had driven Mr Letsors and four other fishermen to Killbegs where the vessel had been repaired a week earlier. The five-man crew then took off fishing from Killybegs on February 1, 2023, for a number of days.
Mr ODonnell said the boat usually operates out of Ballyglass pier and is a good all-weather boat. He said he became aware of an incident aboard the vessel at around 8pm on February 4, 2023, when he received a WhatsApp voice note from the skipper, Agris Veliks. The message stated that Mr Letsors had become tangled in rope and pulled overboard.
A Health and Safety Authority investigation into the circumstances of the accident has taken place, the inquest was told.
Mr Veliks, the boats skipper, said they were approximately 90 miles out to sea and were hauling pots when the night-time accident occurred.
He said Madis had been shooting out pots. Mr Veliks was in the wheelhouse watching the camera and could see the pots going out. He could see Mr Letsors making his way up to the weight and pulling it. Mr Veliks said there was 40m of rope between each pot and the same applied to the weight. He said Mr Letsors was pulling the weight away from the wheelhouse and he thought the rope was wrapped around Mr Letsors hand. Mr Veliks said as the pots entered the water Mr Letsors was pulled into the sea with the heavy weight following him into the water. He said the rope later snapped.
They used the boats lights to search for Mr Letsors and spotted his body in the water about 40 metres away from the boat. They used a hook to pull him close to the boat and hauled him onto the deck where they started CPR and chest compressions.
Mr Veliks contacted Malin Head Coast Guard to inform them what had happened and received further instructions from a doctor but they were unable to revive Mr Letsors.
Mr Veliks could not say exactly how long the deceased was in the water but believed it to be more than 10 minutes.
The boat was instructed to steam for Arranmore but a helicopter was unable to board and the vessel later made its way to Ballyglass.
Mr Veliks said lifejackets were on board but Mr Letsors was not wearing one at the time. He said Mr Letsors had previously completed three trips on the fishing boat. The skipper said Mr Letsors told him he had completed his fishing training in Latvia but he never saw his cards to prove this.
He was supposed to be bringing them to me, said Mr Veliks.
The skipper said he had previously noticed that Mr Letsors had a bad habit of wrapping things around his hand and the crew had warned him about this before.
Dr Fadel Bennani, consultant pathologist at Mayo University Hospital, performed a post-mortem on February 6, 2023. He said the cause of death was asphyxia due to drowning.
Coroner Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald gave a verdict of accidental death and stressed the need for fishermen to wear life jackets at sea.
All fisherman should wear lifejackets regardless of how proficient or experienced they are. Wearing a life jacket may have saved his (Mr Letsors) life.
The dangers of the sea cannot be underestimated, Dr Fitzgerald added.
COMMUNITY NOTES: BALLINROBE - WESTERN PEOPLE (SEPTEMBER 24 EDITION)
Robe Cinema is a new community cinema set-up in Ballinrobe with screenings set to take place in Ballinrobe Library. The news of this exciting venture was warmly greeted in Ballinrobe last week and surrounding areas, as the bustling south Mayo town used to always have a rich tradition of cinematic viewing, going back to the days of the cinema on Bowgate Street, and then the famous Ritz Cinema, which used to be situated on Bridge Street.
The Robe Cinema has been formed following the success of multiple screenings during the recent Ballinrobe Festival, including An Cailin Ciuin and That They May Face The Rising Sun, which included a questions and answers discussion with actors and writers. The organisers of Robe Cinema are now planning for many more events throughout the year, with monthly screenings taking place in Ballinrobe Library.
Robe Cinema will host a screening of Kneecap on October 3 and tickets will be on sale soon. Kneecap is the award winning Irish language movie being tipped for Oscar nominations in 2025. Robe Cinema brings the latest movies to the big screen, hosts captivating film festivals, and offers diverse screenings for all interests.
Further details and information are available by visiting www.robecinema.com or by visiting the Robe Cinema Facebook page.
Minister for Education Norma Foley TD is today hosting the inaugural Cinealtas showcase and best practice event at Croke Park to recognise best practice school community initiatives to combat bullying.
Pupils and students from representative schools across the country are highlighting the work they have done to help ensure that no child or young person has to experience bullying and endure the impacts of bullying, which can be life-changing and lasting.
Examples of Cinealtas Best Practice presentations are also being made to individuals or groups within school communities who have shown best practice in their endeavours to prevent and address bullying and promote equality, inclusion, diversity and wellbeing in their school community.
Among those being recognised for their endeavours to prevent and address bullying behaviour are:
- Students of Cross and Passion College, Kilcullen, Co. Kildare, who formed a Buddy Club to encourage integration and inclusion between students in mainstream and autism special classes through weekly get-togethers and events.
- Pupils of Togher Girls National School, Co. Cork, where a pupil took on the role of Junior Supporting Traveller and Roma Ambassador and worked tirelessly to highlight Roma and Traveller culture within the school.
- Students of Saint Patricks Cathedral Grammar School, Dublin, where students have demonstrated outstanding leadership in preventing and addressing bullying, including through liaising with Webwise and the DCU Anti-Bullying Centre.
- Pupils of Scoil Mhuire, Clarinbridge, Co. Galway, who developed a Helping You Help Yourself action plan to help build resilience and empower pupils with easy responses they can use when someone tries to be disrespectful.
Minister Foley said: It is of utmost importance to me that every child and young person can feel safe, happy and supported throughout their time at school. For those who experience bullying, however, we know that it can rob them of their self-esteem and self-worth and leave them with effects that endure.
Todays event is a celebration of the innovative methods that our school communities are using to help eradicate bullying behaviour from their environment. I think the innovation on display truly is a reflection of the excellent work that is happening in schools right across the country.
It gives me great pleasure today to have the opportunity to meet with children, young people and school communities who are at the heart of Cinealtas. While each school community across the country is different, each is working in their own unique and meaningful way to make sure they are inclusive, warm and welcoming to all.
By Prudence Wade, PA
Roddy Doyle isnt concerned about whether someone is qualified to write something for him, the issue is if its any good or not.
Hes often been asked whether he should write from a womans perspective as he did for 1996 novel The Woman Who Walked Into Doors, its follow-up in 2006, Paula Spencer, and now the third instalment in the trilogy, The Women Behind The Door.
Its not a competitive sport if I write from the female perspective, Im not shoving somebody aside, says Dublin-based Doyle, who won the Booker Prize in 1993 with Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.
I know that the publishing world isnt sentimental if Im not delivering what the publishers want, theyll very nicely, very politely, give me the bums rush. It hasnt happened yet.
(Damien Storan/PA)
For Doyle, its pretty much unavoidable to write from perspectives that arent your own. If he was to write a man walking into a room with a woman inside, should he make the man turn around and leave?
Of course not, with Doyle saying: I have to think about the woman, I have to give her the right lines, I have to go behind her back and look at her, looking at him Its all very complicated.
For the writer, who also penned The Barrytown Trilogy, beginning with The Commitments: The only thing that matters is is it any good. Thats all that matters. Its not a moral issue to my mind its a creative issue.
He then, somewhat surprisingly, mentions Ridley Scotts 1979 sci-fi movie, Alien one of his favourite films.
What right had that person to write Alien? Theyve never been up in space I dont want to dismiss, but any creative person has to go beyond their own experience. Thats a big chunk of creativity.
Doyle won the Booker Prize in 1993 (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
Thats not to say Doyle is opposed to the growing trend for sensitivity readings. I wouldnt mind it, as long as its part of the editorial process, and Im not told, We have to change this, this and this, he notes, emphasising the importance of context, and how language in Dublin might be different to somewhere else.
Nearly two decades after he last wrote about Paula Spencer, Doyle was compelled to return to her story in spring 2021, when he was getting his first Covid vaccine at The Helix Theatre in Dublin.
The theatre was once home to a production of The Woman Who Walked Into Doors, and it got Doyle thinking: what would Paula make of the day he was having? The new book grew from there and even opens with Paula getting her first vaccine in the very same location. The story sees Paula in a much better place in life shes sober, her abusive ex-husband, Charlo, is dead, shes got a new job she enjoys, her children are grown up and shes seeing a new man.
But her relative peace is shattered when her middle-aged daughter, Nicola, knocks on her door in a crisis forcing the two to reflect on their relationship and things in the past that Paula might have preferred to leave buried.
While Doyle cant imagine returning to some of his characters you wont, for example, see an update on Paddy Clarkes life any time soon Paula occupies a special place in his brain.
(Alamy/PA)
Im the same age, roughly [as her], and shes been in my life creatively for over half my life Since I was in my early 30s, he explains. Doyle is 66, and he says the fact theyre similar ages is important.
When I started the book [The Woman Who Walked Into Doors], I was the father of very young children. Im now the father of children in their 30s and late 20s its a different experience, he says and this is reflected in the way he writes.
If I was 30, I could talk about mortality quite easily and totally accept that life comes to an end, but when you get to this stage of life, mortality isnt an abstract, and you dont want to be nearer to it.
He also says the camera angle changes as you grow older. Things become more significant. My diary is still full of things Im looking forward to But at the same time, youre dragging along more and more life.
Theres a certain looking backwards and forwards, and Paula does it all the time. I wouldnt have done that in the first book.
Thanks to Roddy Doyle for calling in and signing #TheWomenBehindTheDoor Out Now pic.twitter.com/uFCd9WXXJn Argosy Books (@ArgosyBooks) September 6, 2024
Thanks to what Doyle refers to as the Sally Rooney moment, theres been a recent boom in younger Irish writers. Agents and publishers are looking more closely at the work of Irish women than they would have done 10 years ago and I think thats brilliant. But I read an article [recently] that you would have sworn there hadnt been any Irish literature before then.
Theres plenty of younger Irish writers Doyle is excited about naming Michelle Gallen and Colin Barrett while still appreciating the work of the older guard, like Anne Enright, suggesting that a certain Irish sensibility unites all of these creatives.
Were all breathing the same air, he says thoughtfully, particularly noting a shared history of violence, as well as the cultural impact of Catholicism.
A big point in my life was turning my back on Catholicism it wouldnt be the case [in England], Id imagine, if you grew up in a Catholic house. But I didnt grow up in a Catholic house I grew up in a Catholic state.
Even though he says the younger writers grew up in a very different place than I grew up, he adds: That place is where their parents grew up and that legacy was passed on.
The Women Behind The Door by Roddy Doyle is published by Jonathan Cape. Available now.
Philemon Yang, President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
by Xinhua writers Xia Lin, Gao Shan, Pan Yunzhao
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Leaders addressing the General Debate of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday called for cessation of the violence that has ravaged the Middle East for months, and some of them directly pointed their fingers at Israel for the "genocide" it committed against the Palestinians.
UNGA President Philemon Yang noted the various conflicts raging from the Middle East to Ukraine, and from Haiti to South Sudan. "I call for an immediate ceasefire in all these conflict settings," he said, adding that the people of Gaza and Israel "have been caught in a spiraling cycle of conflict and retribution" for nearly a year.
"I take this opportunity to call for an immediate ceasefire for the Hamas-Israel war, the unconditional release of hostages and for all parties to abide by international law, including international humanitarian law, and work towards a just and lasting solution grounded in the United Nations Charter, relevant resolutions and international law, ensuring dignity for both Palestinians and Israelis," he said.
Delivering his 2024 report on the UN's work ahead of the General Debate, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that world leaders are gathering in the shadow of raging conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere, and rising uncertainty over climate change, ending poverty and reigning in artificial intelligence.
"Our world is in a whirlwind. We are in an era of epic transformation -- facing challenges unlike any we have ever seen -- challenges that demand global solutions," the UN chief said.
He warned that geopolitical divisions are deepening, temperatures around the world are rising, wars are raging, without any end in sight, and nuclear posturing and new weapons are "casting a dark shadow."
"We are edging towards the unimaginable -- a powder keg that risks engulfing the world," he noted.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said his nation has benefited from a wave of international solidarity in the battle to end apartheid and usher in a new democratic era. "We will not remain silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against others" in Gaza as Israel continues its collective punishment of the Palestinians, he added.
He called for a collective effort through the UN system and other multinational institutions to end civilian suffering and for South Africa's legal action taken against Israel through the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prevail.
CONDEMNATION
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye condemned Israel for "disregarding basic human rights, trampling on international law at every opportunity, practicing ethnic cleansing, a clear genocide against a nation and a people, and occupying their lands step by step."
He underscored the imperative for the international community to develop a protection mechanism for Palestinian civilians, reiterating that "we have no animosity or hostility towards the people of Israel. We oppose antisemitism in the same way we oppose the targeting of Muslims just because of their faith."
Indeed, said the president, Gaza has become "the world's largest cemetery for women and children" at a time when truth itself "is dying" and "the hopes of humanity to live in a more just world are dying one by one." However, he insisted that "we will not hold back from defending the family, the human being and the creation in solidarity with other member states."
King Abdullah II of Jordan told the General Debate that "now is the time to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people. It is the moral duty of the international community to establish a protection mechanism for them across the occupied territories."
"Impunity gathers force. Left unchecked, it gains momentum," he said, noting that the world is watching Gaza, "and history will watch us by the courage we show."
The Jordanian leader said that nearly a year into the war, the world has failed politically, "but our humanity must not fail the people of Gaza any longer."
Meanwhile, both leaders insisted that the world body is far from delivering its obligations in regard of containing the violence in the Middle East.
With innocent civilians and aid workers with the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, suffering months of bombardment in Gaza, "the UN is under attack, literally and figuratively," said the king.
"The United Nations has failed to fulfill its founding mission and has gradually become a dysfunctional structure," Erdogan said, pointing to the massacre in Gaza, where more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the continuous Israeli attacks for almost one year.
CRITICISM
In his first address to the General Assembly, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called Israel out on its operations in Gaza and Lebanon. "Israel's state terrorism in Lebanon cannot go unanswered," he said. "Responsibility for all consequences will be borne by those governments who have thwarted all global efforts to end this horrific catastrophe."
Criticizing Israel for what he called "genocide in Gaza," the president said that "it is imperative that the international community should immediately ... secure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and bring an end to the desperate barbarism of Israel in Lebanon, before it engulfs the region and the world."
"We seek peace for all and have no intention of conflict with any country ... Iran opposes war and emphasizes the need for an immediate cessation of military conflict in Ukraine," Pezeshkian said.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu said that the ongoing massacre -- the genocide -- by Israel in Gaza, is a travesty of justice and the international system, over the repeated destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, humanitarian infrastructure, as well as the repeated cycles of killings of men, women, children, babies.
"The world is struggling to process the deaths of so many civilians in Gaza and now Israeli raids in Lebanon claiming hundreds more civilians lives there. Their cries haunt anyone with humanity. Their tears, bitter on our conscience," said the president, adding that Israel is even targeting and killing journalists, which are brutal attempts to prevent the world from knowing about the crimes taking place.
"Israel must be held accountable for these acts of terrorism, for these violations of international law and UN resolutions," he insisted. "We must accept a sovereign and independent Palestinian State on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital... We welcome the decision to seat our brothers and sisters from Palestine with us here in the General Assembly, for the first time, instead of behind us. Now, we must ensure that Palestine becomes a full member of the UN."
ATTITUDES
"Too many on each side of the Israeli-Lebanon border remain displaced. Full scale wars not in anyone's interest. Even a situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," U.S. President Joe Biden told the UNGA Tuesday morning. "In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely."
"That's what we're working tirelessly to achieve," Biden said. "As we look ahead, we must also address the rise of violence against the innocent Palestinians on the West Bank and set the conditions for a better future, including a two-state solution, where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition, and normalizes relations with all its neighbors; where Palestinians live in security, dignity and self-determination in a state of their own."
Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters on Tuesday that Israel prefers a "diplomatic solution" in Lebanon to deal with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah but would use "other methods" to show "we mean business."
Asked by CNN's Tara John if Israel is prepared for a second front on its border with Lebanon after repeatedly striking Hezbollah targets in the country, Danon said that "we are not eager to start any ground invasion anywhere. I don't want to send my son, and we don't want to send our boys to fight in a foreign country, but we are determined to protect the civilians of Israel."
The UNGA General Debate started Tuesday for world leaders heading to New York to deliver their statements, as they take part in high-level discussions on the existential threat of sea-level rise, accelerating progress in combating the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, and driving forward the UN's long-term goal of achieving global nuclear disarmament with a plenary meeting marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye and King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday accused Israel for the "genocide" it committed in the Middle East region, while addressing the General Debate of the 79th National Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) in New York. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium and on the screens) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
King Abdullah II of Jordan addresses the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye and King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday accused Israel for the "genocide" it committed in the Middle East region, while addressing the General Debate of the 79th National Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) in New York. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
Philemon Yang (at the podium), President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium and on the screens) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Front) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium and on the screens) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Philemon Yang (at the podium and on the screens), President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium) delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Philemon Yang (Front), President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Philemon Yang (at the podium and on the screens), President of the 79th session of the UNGA, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began on Tuesday amid growing calls for more international cooperation to address challenges such as climate change, poverty and inequality, while tackling the fallout from ongoing conflicts and global health crises. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Eva Osborne
Two deaf students are campaigning to have Irish Sign Language (ISL) made a Leaving Certificate examination subject.
The passing by the Oireachtas of the Irish Sign language Act of 2017 gave ISL official language status, alongside Irish and English, but it is not available as a Leaving Certificate exam subject.
National charity for deaf and hard of hearing people, Chime, said there are over 5,000 deaf and hard of hearing students in the Irish education system, with 95 per cent of those in mainstream schooling.
There are approximately 40,000 daily deaf and hearing users of ISL.
Shane Hamilton, 17, and Ellie Woods, 18, both Leaving Certificate students at the Holy Family School for the Deaf in Dublins Cabra, said they and other students who are users of ISL are being unfairly disadvantaged in the third level points race.
Currently, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) provides Leaving Certificate examinations in a range of what it refers to as non-curricular EU languages.
These include Latvian, Romanian, Slovenian, Modern Greek, Finnish, Estonian, Slovakian, Swedish, Czech, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Danish, Dutch, Croatian and Maltese.
The SEC states on its website that it is its policy to accede to requests to provide examinations for native speakers in their mother tongue in the case of national languages of EU states, as per Article 149 of the Treaty of Nice.
The Irish Sign language Act requires that public services are available through ISL and also outlines the need for greater access to education through sign language.
'Equal rights'
Hamilton, whose first language is ISL, said the campaign is about equal rights for deaf students.
I learned ISL before English and it is an official language of the State. Surely it is only fair that I sit a Leaving Certificate examination in it? Other students get to sit an exam in their first language, he said.
According to Woods, provision of an ISL Leaving Certificate examination would remediate the fact that many deaf students are unable to learn Irish.
It is about getting the points that deaf Leaving Certificate students deserve. A lot of colleges require a grade in Irish but many deaf students are unable to study it, she said.
According to Brendan Lennon, director of Advocacy, Research and Public Affairs at Chime, not having ISL on the Leaving Certificate curriculum marginalises the deaf community, which is already under-represented at third level.
It is manifestly unfair and disadvantages deaf students because it means they cannot compete on the same basis as their peers for third level places and career opportunities. It is blatant inequality, he said.
Irish Sign Language Awareness Week 2024 takes place until Sunday, September 29th.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in New York, the United States, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Politicizing economic and trade issues and abusing tariff measures would serve no one's interests, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his German counterpart at a bilateral meeting Tuesday in New York, calling on Berlin and the European Union (EU) to instead resort to dialogue and consultations to resolve trade disputes with China.
The meeting between Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock came as the two top diplomats were in New York for the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. It also came against the backdrop of the EU preparing to levy additional tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.
Judging from the nearly half-century history since China and the EU established diplomatic relations, enhancing bilateral cooperation is in both side's interests and conducive to world stability, Wang said, stressing that the foundation for China-EU relations is mutually beneficial cooperation, and that the highly complementary nature of the two economies means economic cooperation between China and the EU can result in outcomes that exceed a simple adding-up of their respective economic output.
Whereas, politicizing economic and trade issues between China and the EU while slashing tariffs on Chinese imports would serve no one's interests, nor would such actions work to the benefit of the green transition of the world economy, Wang remarked, expressing the hope that Germany and the EU will stick to open cooperation, continue to hold dialogue and consultations with China, properly handle related issues, and jointly uphold international trade rules and a fair environment for competition.
On China-Germany relations, Wang noted the strategic plan drawn up by leaders of the two countries, coupled with frequent high-level interactions since the start of the year. He said China-Germany economic and trade cooperation has maintained at a high level, which is an indication of the mutually beneficial and strategic nature of bilateral ties.
Many German companies have seized the opportunities presented by China pursuing modernization, deepening all-round reforms and promoting high-quality opening up, Wang said. German companies actively cultivating the Chinese market has led to Germany's investment in China reaching a new record high in the first half of the year, he added.
As the world's second and third largest economies, China and Germany can benefit from each other's development, jointly contribute to world peace and prosperity and instill stability to the world, Wang said.
For her part, Baerbock said that China is Germany's most important trade partner, and that there are a wide range of sectors for bilateral cooperation, which will yield mutually beneficial and win-win outcomes.
While adhering to the one-China policy without any change whatsoever, the German side also believes in free trade and fair competition, as well as resolving differences through dialogue and consultations in an open and transparent manner, Baerbock said, stressing the importance of upholding international trade rules and order.
As far as the EU is concerned, Baerbock said that as the world's largest single market, the bloc should strive to keep its market open, adding that Germany attaches importance to the role China plays in international affairs, and is willing to enhance coordination with China within multilateral institutions like the UN and actively promote the development of EU-China relations.
Wang said China has always supported UN's core and leading role in tackling international affairs. China, he added, is willing to enhance coordination with all sides -- Germany included -- so as to ensure that the UN and the Security Council really shoulder the responsibility of maintaining world peace and security.
The two also exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis and the situation in the Middle East.
GENEVA, Sept. 25, (Xinhua) -- Over 100 countries voiced their support for China's position and opposed the politicization of human rights at the 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Tuesday.
In response to criticism of China's human rights record from the United States and a small group of other nations, Cuba, representing nearly 80 countries, reaffirmed the importance of respecting national sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity as fundamental principles of international relations.
Cuba's remark underscored that matters related to Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Xizang are China's internal affairs and should not be politicized.
Rejecting double standards and the use of human rights as a pretext for interference in the domestic affairs of other nations, the group of countries represented by Cuba call for adherence to the principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity, and non-selectivity outlined in the UN Charter, as well as respect for each nation's right to determine its own path to development.
Chen Xu, China's permanent representative to the UN Office in Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland, delivered a joint statement on behalf of the Group of Friends on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights through Dialogue and Cooperation. He emphasized concerns over the growing politicization and polarization within the UNHRC, stressing that it should not serve as a venue for confrontation but rather as a platform for building trust and fostering cooperation through dialogue.
Uganda, representing the Non-Aligned Movement, Venezuela, speaking for the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter, and Gambia, representing the African Group, also voiced their support for China.
They called for objective assessments of countries' human rights situations and urged dialogue and cooperation based on equality and mutual respect, while rejecting selective practices and double standards. They strongly condemned the politicization, instrumentalization, and weaponization of human rights issues.
The Chinese delegation further outlined China's efforts to protect human rights, while exposing serious human rights violations in countries such as the United States. They urged these countries to take concrete actions to protect human rights and contribute positively to the international human rights cause.
Fakugesi Festival 2024 countdown
Africas biggest creative digital innovation festival is from 3 5 October 2024 at Wits Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct.
The annual Fakugesi African Digital Innovation Festival celebrates young Pan-African talent in the digital sphere to its fullest. It is rooted in showcasing and developing skills in technology, art and culture in Africa.
This year Fakugesi #UntilUnlocked celebrates the exciting expansion of African digital creativity. Visit the Festival website: https://fakugesi.co.za/
We're reaching new levels in cultural expression, professional achievement, and personal freedom as we unlock these levels that we couldnt begin to imagine before, like general artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and inner fulfilment. It's all just a matter of until, says Fakugesis Festival Director Eduardo Cachucho.
Fak'ugesi has something for everyone: conferences, workshops, talks, exhibitions, hackathons, music and digital art performances. Buy your tickets here.
Fakugesi 2024 Awards
A highlight is the annual Fakugesi Awards, which honours innovators for outstanding creative achievements in immersive video, digital art, music, video games, design and animation. The Award winners will be announced on 4 October 2024.
About Fakugesi
Founded in 2014 as a collaboration between Wits University's Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct and the Wits School of Arts' Digital Arts Department, the festival takes as its starting point the idea that for innovation with technology to succeed, a strong connection needs to be made between African cultural practices and creative encounters.
Shares of Envista Holdings Co. (NYSE:NVST Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $18.00 to $23.00. The stock had previously closed at $19.00, but opened at $19.60. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Envista shares last traded at $19.62, with a volume of 283,897 shares changing hands.
Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Envista from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Envista from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $16.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Envista from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Envista from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Envista from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Envista has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $19.59.
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Insiders Place Their Bets
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
In other news, CFO Eric D. Hammes bought 24,532 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.33 per share, for a total transaction of $400,607.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,532 shares of the companys stock, valued at $400,607.56. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink . Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the companys stock.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Envista by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,167,767 shares of the companys stock worth $413,056,000 after purchasing an additional 944,596 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Envista by 11.0% during the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 9,871,152 shares of the companys stock worth $164,157,000 after buying an additional 978,952 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Envista by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 7,038,313 shares of the companys stock valued at $117,048,000 after acquiring an additional 2,256,993 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Envista by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,726,651 shares of the companys stock valued at $111,864,000 after acquiring an additional 897,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Envista during the 2nd quarter worth $69,534,000.
Envista Trading Down 1.2 %
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.17 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.46.
Envista (NYSE:NVST Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $633.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.88 million. Envista had a negative net margin of 52.25% and a positive return on equity of 4.86%. The companys revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Envista Holdings Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
About Envista
(Get Free Report)
Envista Holdings Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells dental products in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Specialty Products & Technologies, and Equipment & Consumables. The Specialty Products & Technologies segment offers dental implant systems, guided surgery systems, biomaterials, and prefabricated and custom-built prosthetics to oral surgeons, prosthodontists and periodontists, and general dentist; and brackets and wires, tubes and bands, archwires, clear aligners, digital orthodontic treatments, retainers, and other orthodontic laboratory products.
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Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT Get Free Report) and Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
98.7% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.4% of Chatham Lodging Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Chatham Lodging Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
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Volatility & Risk
Four Corners Property Trust has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chatham Lodging Trust has a beta of 1.79, suggesting that its stock price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Four Corners Property Trust 0 2 1 1 2.75 Chatham Lodging Trust 0 0 1 0 3.00
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Four Corners Property Trust and Chatham Lodging Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.
Four Corners Property Trust currently has a consensus price target of $27.00, suggesting a potential downside of 9.12%. Chatham Lodging Trust has a consensus price target of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 34.08%. Given Chatham Lodging Trusts stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Chatham Lodging Trust is more favorable than Four Corners Property Trust.
Dividends
Four Corners Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Chatham Lodging Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Four Corners Property Trust pays out 129.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Chatham Lodging Trust pays out -233.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.
Profitability
This table compares Four Corners Property Trust and Chatham Lodging Trusts net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Four Corners Property Trust 37.01% 7.72% 3.95% Chatham Lodging Trust -0.01% N/A N/A
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Four Corners Property Trust and Chatham Lodging Trusts top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Four Corners Property Trust $262.91 million 10.39 $95.34 million $1.07 27.77 Chatham Lodging Trust $313.94 million 1.39 $2.64 million ($0.12) -74.58
Four Corners Property Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Chatham Lodging Trust. Chatham Lodging Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Four Corners Property Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Four Corners Property Trust beats Chatham Lodging Trust on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Four Corners Property Trust
(Get Free Report)
FCPT, headquartered in Mill Valley, CA, is a real estate investment trust primarily engaged in the ownership, acquisition and leasing of restaurant and retail properties. The Company seeks to grow its portfolio by acquiring additional real estate to lease, on a net basis, for use in the restaurant and retail industries.
About Chatham Lodging Trust
(Get Free Report)
Chatham Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused primarily on investing in upscale, extended-stay hotels and premium-branded, select-service hotels. The company owns 39 hotels totaling 5,915 rooms/suites in 16 states and the District of Columbia.
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SES AI Co. (NYSE:SES Get Free Report) major shareholder Holdings (Private) Ltd Temasek sold 253,119 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.83, for a total transaction of $210,088.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,297,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,907,159.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a companys stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.
Holdings (Private) Ltd Temasek also recently made the following trade(s):
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On Wednesday, September 18th, Holdings (Private) Ltd Temasek sold 1,000,000 shares of SES AI stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.87, for a total value of $870,000.00.
On Monday, September 16th, Holdings (Private) Ltd Temasek sold 67,890 shares of SES AI stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.02, for a total value of $69,247.80.
On Friday, September 13th, Holdings (Private) Ltd Temasek sold 165,539 shares of SES AI stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.04, for a total value of $172,160.56.
SES AI Stock Performance
NYSE:SES opened at $0.66 on Wednesday. SES AI Co. has a 52 week low of $0.65 and a 52 week high of $2.66. The firms fifty day moving average is $1.04 and its 200-day moving average is $1.25. The firm has a market cap of $235.56 million, a P/E ratio of -4.12 and a beta of 2.44.
Analyst Ratings Changes
SES AI ( NYSE:SES Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02). During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that SES AI Co. will post -0.23 earnings per share for the current year.
Several research firms have recently issued reports on SES. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $1.50 price objective on shares of SES AI in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of SES AI in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They set an underperform rating and a $1.00 price target on the stock.
View Our Latest Stock Report on SES
Institutional Investors Weigh In On SES AI
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in SES AI by 1,039.9% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 246,964 shares of the companys stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 225,299 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of SES AI by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,830,407 shares of the companys stock worth $19,875,000 after buying an additional 82,245 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of SES AI by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 427,944 shares of the companys stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 71,794 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of SES AI during the 1st quarter valued at $88,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in SES AI by 62.8% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 121,300 shares of the companys stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 46,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 29.78% of the companys stock.
About SES AI
(Get Free Report)
SES AI Corporation engages in the development and production of high-performance Lithium-metal rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, electric vehicle take-off and landing, and other applications. The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts.
Further Reading
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NEW DELHI, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- A gala event was hosted by the Chinese embassy in the Indian capital city on Tuesday evening to mark the 75 anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
China's National Day falls on Oct. 1 each year.
Joint Secretary of the East Asia Division of India's Ministry of External Affairs Gourangalal Das attended the function as the Government of India's representative.
Besides, a host of ambassadors from different countries, scholars, media persons, and dignitaries from different walks of life of the Indian society attended the event.
Addressing the gathering, China's ambassador to India Xu Feihong said that over the past 75 years China had made increasing contributions to world peace, development and human progress.
"Since the beginning of this year, China-India relations have enjoyed the momentum of improvement and development. The two sides maintain high-level communication. Personal exchanges between the two countries have increased. Since last year, the Chinese Embassy and Consulates-General in India have issued more than 400,000 visas to the Indian people," added the Chinese envoy.
Huang Xiaowei, Vice President and First Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), and Vice Chairperson of the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council, accompanied Zita Nguema, First Lady of Gabon, and Angeline Ndayishimiye, First Lady of Burundi, during their respective visits to China National Children's Center (CNCC), on September 6.
Huang noted the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee attaches great importance to children's development. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, sent a congratulatory letter to CNCC on its 40th anniversary (in 2022), hoping those who work for children's welfare to become a guide for children's growth, a guardian for children's rights and interests, and a builder for children's future.
Huang outlined the guiding principles of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. She also introduced China's historical achievements in women's and children's development in the new era. Huang recalled China's history of developing ties with Gabon and Burundi, and of promoting exchanges between Chinese women and women from the two countries. She said China is ready to promote solidarity and cooperation to contribute to the building of an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
Huang accompanied Nguema and Ndayishimiye during their visits to CNCC's Experimental Kindergarten and Family Nursing and Support Center. They watched children performing martial arts, playing drums, and performing a Loong (Chinese dragon) Dance, and together, they made sachets.
The First Ladies extended congratulations on the success of the Thematic Meeting on Women's Education of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, held on September 5. They also spoke highly of China's achievements in women's and children's development, especially in promoting children's healthy growth and all-round development. They expressed their willingness to strengthen cooperation with China to help more women and children create better lives.
Lin Yi, Vice President and Member of the Secretariat of the ACWF, and Ma Liejian, Member of the Secretariat of the ACWF, also attended.
(Source: Women Voice)
Editor: Ye Shan
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) The Israeli army chief said Wednesday that the military is preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon as Hezbollah hurled dozens of projectiles into Israel, including a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was the militant group's deepest strike yet.
Addressing troops on the northern border, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the latest Israeli airstrikes were designed to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.
In an apparent reference to the missile aimed at Tel Aviv, he said: "Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves.
To achieve the goal of returning the displaced citizens of northern Israel to their homes, we are preparing the process of a maneuver, he said.
In recent days, the Israeli military has said it had no immediate plans for a ground invasion. Halevi's statement was the strongest yet from an Israeli leader suggesting that troops could move in.
In other developments, the Lebanese health minister said continued Israeli strikes on Wednesday killed more than 50 people. That raised the death toll from the past three days to 615, with more than 2,000 people wounded.
This week has been the deadliest in Lebanon since the bruising monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. With tensions still escalating, the Israeli military said it would activate reserve troops.
Israeli military officials said they intercepted Hezbollah's surface-to-surface missile, which marked a further escalation after Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed hundreds of people.
The missile set off air-raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel. There were no reports of casualties or damage. The military said it struck the site in southern Lebanon where the missile was launched.
The launch ratcheted up hostilities as the region appeared to be teetering toward another all-out war, even as Israel continues to battle Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Thousands have fled their homes in parts of Lebanon coming under fire.
Israel said Wendesday its air force had struck some 280 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon by early afternoon, including launchers used to fire rockets on the northern Israeli cities of Safed and Nahariya.
Fleeing families have flocked to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along the beach. Some sought to leave the country, causing a traffic jam at the border with Syria.
The United Nations said more than 90,000 people have been displaced by five days of Israeli strikes on Lebanon. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Wednesday that a total of 200,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel nearly a year ago, drawing Israeli retaliation.
Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, which it blames for a recent string of targeted killings of its top commanders and for an attack last week in which explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of people and wounded thousands, including many Hezbollah members.
The Israeli military said it was the first time a projectile fired from Lebanon had reached central Israel. Hezbollah claimed to have targeted an intelligence base near Tel Aviv last month in an aerial attack, but there was no confirmation. The Palestinian Hamas militant group in Gaza repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv in the opening months of the war.
The announcement about reserve troops indicated Israel is planning even tougher action against Hezbollah. The army said it would call up two reserve brigades for missions in the north.
This will enable the continuation of combat against the Hezbollah terrorist organization, the military said.
Hezbollah's latest strikes included dozens of rockets fired Wednesday into northern Israel, the military said. Two people suffered shrapnel wounds, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service.
Israel responded with its own new strikes on Hezbollah. In Lebanon, at least three people were killed and nine wounded in an Israeli strike near Byblos, according to the country's Health Ministry. The coastal town is north of Beirut and far from Hezbollah's main strongholds.
Tensions between Israel and the Lebanese militant group have steadily escalated over the last 11 months. Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and its ally Hamas, a fellow Iran-backed militant group.
Israel has responded with increasingly heavy airstrikes and the targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders while threatening a wider operation.
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Lebanon for Wednesday at the request of France.
Nearly a year of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel had already displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border before the recent escalation. Israel has vowed to do whatever it takes to ensure its citizens can return to their homes in the north, while Hezbollah has said it will keep up its rocket attacks until there is a cease-fire in Gaza, something that appears increasingly remote.
The rocket fire over the past week has disrupted life for more than 1 million people across northern Israel, with schools closed and restrictions on public gatherings. Many restaurants and other businesses are shut in the coastal city of Haifa, and there are fewer people on the streets. Some who fled south from communities near the border are coming under rocket fire again.
Israel has moved thousands of troops who had been serving in Gaza to the northern border. It says Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including some capable of striking anywhere in Israel, and that the group has fired some 9,000 rockets and drones since last October.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, said the missile fired Wednesday had a heavy warhead but declined to elaborate or confirm it was the type described by Hezbollah. He dismissed Hezbollah's claim of targeting the Mossad headquarters, located just north of Tel Aviv, as psychological warfare.
The Iranian-made Qader is a medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile with multiple types and payloads. It can carry an explosive payload of up to 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds), according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. Iranian officials have described the liquid-fueled missile as having a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles).
Cross-border fire began ramping up Sunday after the pager and walkie-talkie bombings, which killed 39 people and wounded nearly 3,000, many of them civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny responsibility.
The next day, Israel said its warplanes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and attack drones, including weapons concealed in private homes. The strikes racked up the highest one-day death toll in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising monthlong war in 2006.
An Israeli airstrike in Beirut Tuesday killed Ibrahim Kobeisi, whom Israel described as a top Hezbollah rocket and missile unit commander. Military officials said Kobeisi was responsible for launches toward Israel and planned a 2000 attack in which three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and killed. Hezbollah later confirmed his death.
It was the latest in a string of assassinations and other setbacks for Hezbollah, which is Lebanon's strongest political and military actor and is widely considered the top paramilitary force in the Arab world.
An intelligent connected vehicle tester works before a test at an enclosed test field in Tianjin, north China, June 14, 2024. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies and experts have criticized the growing protectionism and abuse of "national security" that underscore the U.S. government's latest plan to rid the country's vehicles of Chinese technology and components.
The U.S. Commerce Department this week proposed banning the use of Chinese and Russian-developed software and hardware on autonomous and internet-connected vehicles, citing "national security" concerns.
Many Chinese automobile firms say such concerns are groundless and camouflage the Biden administration's resorting to political means to knock out Chinese firms that outcompete their U.S. peers.
"It is another example of the United States abusing the concept of national security to hamstring China's technological advances," said Hua Xianping, chairman of Wuxi Checheng Zhilian Technology Co., Ltd., which focuses on intelligent vehicle networking.
"This not only goes against the principles of the market economy and fair competition, but also undermines the stability of global industrial chains," he said.
Industry observers said that in self-driving technologies, while U.S. companies take the lead in AI algorithms and chips, their Chinese counterparts score higher in sensors and laser radar. China's mature industrial chains also help lower the production costs and increase the market appeal of related products.
A spokesperson for a Hubei-based new energy vehicle company said the United States has a record of restricting vehicle imports from Japan and the Republic of Korea at times when U.S. carmakers struggled in the domestic market.
"The United States really needs to focus more on improving the competitiveness of its auto industry, rather than creating barriers for foreign competitors, because ultimately this will harm the global auto industry," she said.
Lyu Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that following the 100-percent duty on Chinese electric vehicles, the proposed ban reveals the U.S. government's propensity to use tariff and non-tariff barriers to shield its domestic capacity.
The restrictive measures come at a time when U.S. companies struggle to find direction in the realm of autonomous driving and electric vehicles, Lyu said, referring to Apple's decision to scrap its plan to release an autonomous electric vehicle and suspicions around Tesla's Full Self-Driving feature.
"The latest move is undoubtedly intended to win time for U.S. companies to catch up in technology," he said. "But it will backfire and trigger opposition from even the companies it tries to protect."
The modern automotive industry is built on global cooperation, and a car's software and hardware come from across the globe, Hua explained, adding that a unilateral ban will lead to technological and market fragmentation, while ratcheting up costs and disrupting supplies for U.S. companies.
Another Hubei-based producer of vehicle parts said the proposed ban would deal a blow to both the company and its many U.S. clients, including big-name brands like Ford and Buick.
"Our U.S. partners have told us they are in great pain. They have been protesting with the U.S. government, which has turned a deaf ear and insisted on going its own way," said the company's board chairman, who asked not to be named. "No one benefits from this ban."
Welsh Government defends 20mph speed limit over to police claims on road safety data
The Welsh Government has issued a statement after North Wales police bosses said they had no evidence that the 20mph speed limit had reduced casualties.
The forces chief constable and crime commissioner made the statement last week at a North Wales Police and Crime Panel at Conwy County Councils Bodlondeb HQ.
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.
The 20mph default speed limit was introduced on restricted roads by the Welsh Government on 17 September 2023.
The Welsh Government has now said there has been a long-term decrease in both casualties and collisions.
A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: The latest data shows that collisions on local roads have reduced significantly.
We will continue to monitor the long-term trend, but things are heading in the right direction.
We also recognise some roads should revert back to 30mph, which is precisely what will happen as a result of our review.
The Welsh Government said in the first quarter of 2024 there were 811 road casualties reported in Wales. Of these casualties 16 (2%) were killed.
188 (23%) people were seriously injured. 607 (75%) had slight injuries.
A Welsh Governments spokeswoman said: The total number of casualties is 17% lower than in the previous quarter (982) and 16% lower than in the same quarter in 2023 (968).
The Welsh Government also claimed road collisions had reduced.
According to data in the first quarter of 2024, there were 606 police-reported road collisions in Wales.
Of these collisions 16 (3%) were fatal. 163 (27%) were serious collisions. 427 (70%) were slight collisions.
The total number of collisions is 18% lower than in the previous quarter (737) and 17% lower than in the same quarter in 2023 (733).
The Welsh Government also said the number of police-recorded road collisions in the first quarter of 2024 is the lowest quarterly figure recorded in Wales outside the Covid-19 period and that the number of quarterly road collisions in Wales has been declining over the last decade.
By Richard Evans BBC Local Democracy Reporter
DAMASCUS, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army on Tuesday foiled an offensive by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group in the northwestern province of Latakia, killing at least 12 militants and wounding several others, local media reported.
The army repelled the rebel attack while its artillery rained a barrage of shells on the remnants of the rebel positions, resulting in significant losses in the group's equipment and casualties, according to the report.
Long-simmering tensions between the HTS and the Syrian army, with both sides exchanging fire in northern Syria, have seen an escalation that coincides with the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah conflict, it added.
HTS, a former al-Qaida affiliate, has established control over a large swathe of the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.
Keir Starmer used his party conference speechthe first by a Labour Prime Minister in Britain for 15 yearsto make an appeal to big business, Conservative and Reform voters and the most backward and nationalist sentiments.
With Labour in government on a historically low share of the vote, it is seeking to gain ground to its right and to disenfranchise, to the point of denying the existence of, any trace of left-wing opinion, written off as the politics of protest. The one protester interrupting the speech, over Gaza, was violently bundled out of the hall.
Amid the usual promises to work hand-in-hand with business unashamed to partner with private sector, and of steadfast support for Ukraine, the Labour leader delivered a one-hour address filled with anti-migrant rhetoric, promises of stronger borders and pledges to be tough on crime.
The only bad word Starmer had to say about the capitalist market was that it might aid the free movement of people. The value of the state was its ability to stop them.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses members at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024 [AP Photo/Jon Super]
Voters, he said, had demanded control of immigration time and again... They werent just ignored after Brexit; the Tories gave them the exact opposite. An immigration system deliberately reformed to reduce control. Because, in the end, they are the party of the uncontrolled market.
Action on migration or law and order required instead decisive government, and that is a Labour government. Taking back control [the slogan of the right-wing Vote Leave group in the Brexit referendum] is a Labour argument. That was why Labour had achieved, Starmer crowed, a 23 percent increase in returns of people who have no right to be here, compared with last summer.
Having made clear the type of concern he was invoking, and in the context of a reference to the UKs recent far-right riots, the Labour leader explained that he had always accepted concerns about immigration are legitimate.
He urged his intended right-wing audience to be reasonable and accept that the price of deporting thousands of vulnerable people was accepting a handful: If we want to tackle illegal migration seriously, we cant pretend theres a magical process that allows you to return people here unlawfully without accepting that process will also grant some people asylum.
This was one of the challenges the Tories ignored and the trade-offs this country faces, about which it was is long overdue for politicians to level with you. Others included: If we want to maintain support for the welfare state, then we will legislate to stop benefit fraud; if we want justice to be served, some communities must live close to new prisons.
The reference to stopping benefit fraud was spelled out to The Times ahead of the speech. Labour will give the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) the power to take control of fraud investigations, allow benefits inspectors to compel banks to hand over financial information and empower them to carry out searches and seizures at peoples property.
The DWP has been implicated in the suicides of people wrongly sanctioned. It was recently exposed for hounding carers for thousands, even tens of thousands of pounds in overpayments produced by its own error.
Starmers law-and-order, anti-migrant, anti-welfare screed was the core of a right-wing appeal designed to substitute nationality for class and package Labours austerity agenda in the language of national renewal. There were 49 references to country in the speech, and 29 to service.
The politics of national renewal, said Starmer, involve a shared struggle, a project that says to everyone, This will be tough in the short-term, but in the long-term its the right thing to do for our country. And we all benefit from that.
In an almost absurdist section of his speech, Starmer made a half-joke of the fact that he was repeating the same lying argument the Tories made coming to power in 2010, saying, To coin a phrase: Were all in it together. But thats just it, isnt it? People have heard it all before.
The difference this time would be that many of the decisions we must take will be unpopular But the cost of filling that black hole in our public finances, that will be shared fairly. To coin another phrase: Its deja vu all over again.
Just how tough and hard the Labour Party intends to make it for the working class was highlighted by how Starmer attacked the Tories: above all for the politics of easy answers, for not taking tough decisions because the political pain is just too much to bear. They were, in other words, too soft.
Labour, on the other hand, would not duck the challenge of change. Because the risk of showing the worldas the Tories didthat this country does not fund its policies properly, that is a risk we can never take again. For world, read international finance.
Around the globe in recent years, bourgeois governments historically labelled centre left have contributed to the growth of the far-right with their free-market destruction of working-class jobs, living standards and communities. Starmer is shortcutting the same process, meeting with Europes border-guard-in-chief Giorgia Meloni of the Brothers of Italy, spouting right-wing talking points and cracking down on migration while in office, and sowing the seeds for a stronger far-right.
Perhaps the clearest verdict was given by Patrick OFlynn, a four-year Member of the European Parliament for the anti-migrant, pro-Brexit UK Independence Party and now columnist for the Spectator, who enthused that Starmer had delivered a formidable speech. On immigration, he is in a far more comfortable place than are the Tories and has in his possession a cosh for beating the official opposition over the head with for some time to come.
Eaton workers on strike in Jackson, Michigan [Photo: UAW Local 475]
For more than a week, over 500 workers have been on strike at the Eaton aerospace plant in Jackson, Michigan. The United Auto Workers Local 475 was forced to call a strike, despite a two-month contract extension, after workers rejected two tentative agreements. Workers are demanding secure pensions, better healthcare for current workers and retirees, and better safety conditions.
The walkout takes place amid the massive strike of 33,000 Boeing workers, primarily in the state of Washington. On Monday morning, they were joined by 5,000 Textron Aviation workers in Wichita, Kansas. Both strikes took place after rank-and-file rebellions against sellout deals being pushed by the bureaucrats of the International Association of Machinists. At Boeing, workers rejected a tentative agreement by 95 percent and voted by a similar margin to strike.
Eaton workers expressed strong support for their colleagues at Boeing, for which Eaton is also a major supplier. One striker said, I support Boeing workers! Like them, were worried about the high cost of living and were fighting to protect younger workers 30-40 years from now.
Another striker told the WSWS: A lot of people think we shouldve walked a long time ago. With our strike pay, we dont know how much it is until we start to get it. I only make $15 an hour [at Eaton]. I could go to McDonalds and make that. Its tough. She added: There should be no backroom deals by the union. Theres too much we dont know. This is our dues money, right?
Eaton claims that a third tentative agreement was close before workers began a strike. Local 475 President Donnie Huffman has denied this, declaring: Im surprised to hear that they keep saying that. I mean, if were that close, why dont they give us a counter-proposal? You know, I mean, well definitely look at it, at least.
A veteran worker responded: The union acted like all the demands would be met one month out and then a few days before [the strike] its all chaos. Nothing is agreed to, it seems like a giant scam. I remember the similar stunt with the last contract. Im worried about older workers here.
Another veteran worker said: Theyre freezing pensions. We have a subpar 401(k), and they are proposing a subpar 16.5 percent increase in wages. The CEO is making $20 million; all were asking for is a chunk of that. We have a lot of skilled workers where it takes a year to learn, then 2 to 3 years to really get good at the job.
They think they can replace us. But what kind of worker do they think they can get for $15 an hour? Some people might try struggling for a year to get the increase to $25. What brought people here were the pensions, now theyre taking that away. What makes this an ideal place to work then?
Turning to the UAW international president Shawn Fain, the worker continued: Im not a fan. He talked a good game, now hes working on his political career. He sounds like our upper management here.
Eaton is a major supplier for electrical products and government and commercial aerospace components. From switchgears to aerospace, these projects are critical for foreign policy against Chinas domination over the semiconductor industry. This is the reason for Eatons market valuation of $131.3 billion.
I heard about Boeing workers with their pensions, another worker said. Both of us supply parts for war. We make parts; everything from submarines, missiles, fighter jet components and helicopters. With war, we get called on. This plant is a seven-day-a-week operation. We have the luxury of not always working weekends, but we are mandated on ten hour shifts for months. I always tell my family, if you want to have family time this isnt where you want to work. Youll be on second or third shift for years, not months. If you want to be there with your kids, second or third is not it. They might pay well but family is important.
He added: Then theres safety. Skydrol [fire resistant hydraulic fluid] and red oil are both carcinogens. Red oil vapor might not burn your lungs, but Skydrol is hard on the respiratory system. If it gets onto your skin it will burn. You need to wash with cold water to close the pores. We have a PPE protocol with gloves, face shields and aprons. But it eats through anything after some time. You take nitrile gloves and a couple of rounds testing parts and they fall apart. We need to have full movement so we cant wear welding gloves or other protective gloves.
Theres a vacuum in the tester that takes the vapor out. But I always know when its not working because it sits in my lungs. I know a guy from Boeing, and he once told me, I just had a Skydrol bath today. With the contract proposal of $16.50 per hour starting pay, that wont pull people here. You have all these other companies that hire workers, who also get worked to death, they see Eaton as a pay cut. They make only $19.
Others spoke about the mass layoffs in auto plants in Detroit and around the world. I heard about the Warren Truck layoffs. Here they tried to screw us at the get-go. With the TAs, the little pension and healthcare we have is being cut. Healthcare is garbage and we handle Skydrol!
His coworker connected the strike with the broader political situation. We build parts in the plant with traceability and now theyre bringing in scabs. Boeing is going against its own rules not tracing parts for these planes.
The issue is corporate America, he continued. I see the connection with all workers. We need to come together as one. Divided we fall, thats what theyre trying to do, divide and conquer. They need us more than we need them, thats why theyre bringing in scabs. It takes nine months to get certified. Now the rules are different, Im sure. Theyre going to have to push airplane parts that are not certified. Something comes out of the sky from a plane, then what? Were in three wars; this is going to bite them in the ass. We make parts for jets, which theyre using in Gaza and Ukraine.
Workers at Eaton, as well as Boeing, are in a two-front war, against both management and the union bureaucracy. But they are in a powerful position, given their central role in aerospace supply chains as well as the growing strike movement in the working class.
The central question is leadership. The UAW bureaucracy has shown they stand hand in hand with the company while laying off autoworkers and enforcing the dictates of management.
Last month, Dakkota parts workers in Chicago rejected four successive tentative agreements, founding the Dakkota Workers Rank-and-File Committee to take control of the strike out of the hands of the pro-corporate UAW bureaucracy. Boeing workers have done the same, issuing statements and holding a public meeting appealing for broad support in the working class.
A united fight of Boeing, Eaton and Textron workers is necessary. But this unity can be achieved only through the self-organization of the rank and file, not from the tops. An Eaton Workers Rank-and-File Committee should be formed to establish lines of contact across the industry, as well as in auto and other industries across the world.
It is with sadness that we report the death of comrade Vernon Stevens, a long-time member and supporter of the Socialist Equality Party and its predecessor, the Workers League. Vernon died of cancer on September 19 in Dayton, Ohio, at age 82. The SEP extends condolences to Vernons friends, family and comrades. He is survived by brother Robert and sisters Patricia, Eulaine and Yvonne.
Vernon Stevens in discussion with SEP comrades at the home of Jim Lawrence
Vernon, a long-time resident of Dayton, had been in declining health for several years, but he continued to follow political developments and participate in discussions with SEP comrades. His decline in health was accelerated when he recently contracted COVID at a health care facility due to the official abandonment of all mitigation measures.
Vernon first met the party in 1988, when he was a bus driver for the Dayton Regional Transit Authority and a member of the Amalgamated Transit Union.
Vernon soon joined the Workers League, the forerunner of the SEP. The late 1980s was a period of intense class battles in the US amid an escalating global offensive against jobs, wages and living standards as the ruling class abandoned any semblance of reformist policies and adopted a program of class warfare. In the face of this, the trade unions, which had previously functioned as defensive organizations, became direct accomplices in the attacks on the working class. Time and again, strikes were isolated and betrayed by the trade union bureaucracies.
Since the early 1970s, Dayton had been an important center of the political activity of the Workers League, and the party won an important base of support among industrial workers. Supporters of the Workers League, including General Motors worker Jim Lawrence, constructed a faction of the Trade Union Alliance for a Labor Party at the GM Delco Moraine plant, where Vernons brother was also employed.
In 1974, Jim Lawrence and another party member John Austin received 20 percent of the vote in an election for president and vice president at UAW Local 696. Both ran as socialist opponents of the pro-capitalist United Auto Workers bureaucracy. The Workers League and its newspaper the Bulletin were well known among GM workers and other sections of workers in Dayton.
The many cases of collusion by the unions in open strike-breaking, wage-cutting and the destruction of millions of industrial jobs were critical experiences analyzed by the Workers League and the International Committee of the Fourth International, the world Trotskyist movement. The ICFI analyzed the impact of globalization on the Stalinist bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, the labor parties in Europe and the AFL-CIO in the United States. Out of these experiences, the world party drew the conclusion that the unions had undergone a fundamental degeneration and transformation and could no longer be considered workers organizations. The Workers League therefore later withdrew its demand for the formation of a labor party based on the trade unions.
One seminal event during that period that Vernon often mentioned was the strike by Hormel meatpackers in Austin, Minnesota in 1985-1986. In 10 months of militant struggle, Hormel workers rejected concessions, organized mass picketing, and defied court injunctions and National Guard troops sent by Democratic Governor Rudy Perpich. The strike was crushed by their own union, the United Food and Commercial Workers. The UFCW revoked the charter of the local union and formed a new local based on the strikebreakers.
Born in 1941 into a working class family, Vernon grew up in Dayton. His father worked as a custodian at Dayton Tire and Rubber. His sister Pat recalled, There were three boys and three girls. We grew up in a three room apartment house. When Vernon was 12, we moved into the first integrated neighborhood in the city, and Vernon had to go to another school. After he got out of school his daddy told him, It is time for you to get a job or go into the military. He didnt find a job, so he went with four of his friends to join the Army, but they ended up being sent to the Air Force. He was stationed in Lackland, New York.
She said, He loved photography. He did weddings and children. He didnt have kids, but he was like a dad to kids in our family.
Vernon Stevens speaking at the Socialist Equality Party's "Fight for Socialism Today" conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan on April 10, 2011
After getting out of the service, Vernon met a Canadian woman and lived for a period of time in Montreal. He then moved to New York City, where he worked as a cab driver. Later, he secured a job at Dayton transit and worked as a bus driver until his retirement.
Like many cities in the industrial Midwest, Dayton was devastated by the process of deindustrialization in the 1980s. The city had been a center of manufacturing since before the Civil War, when it built rail cars for the union war effort. After World War II, it was a center of the GM empire and home to scores of other manufacturing facilities, such as Frigidaire and National Cash Register.
Dayton also had a long history of militant working class struggles. The Stalinist American Communist Party had a major presence among industrial workers in Dayton in the 1930s and 1940s. Through their trade unions, workers had won real improvements in their standard of living.
Today, almost nothing is left of manufacturing except some concrete slabs or low-wage sweatshops. The citys neighborhoods are plagued by the ongoing opioid epidemic.
Like many militant African-American workers, Vernon had been exposed to the politics of black nationalism and Stalinism. This author recalls that one of the very first questions Vernon raised in a visit I made to his house was about the class nature of Cuba and the role of such demagogues as the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who promoted racial politics and illusions that the imperialist Democratic Party could be pressured to carry out an agenda of social reform.
Coming out of such discussions, Vernon began reading and studying, with the assistance of comrades, the Revolution Betrayed, Trotskys brilliant analysis of the class nature of the Soviet Union and the bureaucratic and nationalist degeneration of the Bolshevik Party under the leadership of Stalin, based on the anti-Marxist theory of Socialism in One Country.
The International Committee of the Fourth International was the only political tendency that understood correctly the political significance of the program of Glasnost and Perestroika being carried out at that time in the Soviet Union. The party warned that far from seeking to reform the Soviet state, the Soviet bureaucracy headed by Gorbachev was preparing the final betrayal of the October Revolution and, unless halted by the working class, would liquidate the workers state.
In 1988, the year that Vernon joined the party, the ICFI published the perspectives document, The World Capitalist Crisis and the Tasks of the Fourth International, which assessed the significance of capitalist globalization. It traced the betrayals of the old working class parties and trade union organizations witnessed in every country to the bankruptcy of nationalist and reformist programs under the impact of fundamental changes in world economy.
This groundbreaking analysis drew on the lessons of the 1985-86 split with the Workers Revolutionary Party, then the ICFI section in Britain. The ICFI traced the abandonment of Trotskyist principles by the British WRP under the leadership of Gerry Healy, Mike Banda and Cliff Slaughter to the partys increasingly nationalist focus, separating the building of the party in Britain from the fight to build the world movement.
What distinguished Vernon from many of his contemporaries who became discouraged and disoriented by the defeats suffered by the working class in that period was his willingness to patiently work through the theoretical, historical and political experiences contained in these seminal events. In fact, Vernon later explained, his determination to understand what was happening by studying the works of Lenin and Trotsky impelled him to improve his limited reading skills under the encouragement, in particular, of Comrade Lou Renfrow.
When speaking of his experiences, Vernon often talked about his time in New York City and the influence of the Black Panthers. What attracted him to the Workers League, he said, was that it opposed the black nationalism of the Panthers and emphasized the central role of the working class in the struggle against capitalism.
On joining the party, Vernon became active in interventions in the ongoing struggles of the working class. One of the initial party interventions in which Vernon participated was the strike by General Electric Aircraft workers in Evendale, Ohio, south of Dayton. After a bitter eight-week strike, 7,000 members of the United Auto Workers and International Association of Machinists were saddled with a contract that drastically slashed the number of job classifications, gutting working conditions at the giant facility.
The Workers League won a very powerful response from workers with its call for a rebellion against the UAW and IAM bureaucracies, which were betraying the strike, as well as its call for a break with the Democratic Party and the formation of a labor party to advance the fight for workers interests based on a socialist program.
In the following years, Vernon conducted a principled political struggle in his local of the Amalgamated Transit Union, exposing the right-wing politics of the bureaucracy. He also assisted Comrade Jim Lawrence and other comrades in interventions at the Delco Moraine plant in Dayton, where Jim was employed. This included an intervention in the 1996 17-day strike at Delco Moraine. That same year, he supported the campaign of Jim Lawrence, who ran for Congress as a candidate of the Workers League in Dayton.
Jim Lawrence getting signatures from Delco workers during his 1997 campaign for US Congress
Vernon campaigned very actively to place the Socialist Equality Party on the Ohio ballot in the 2004 presidential election, where Jim Lawrence stood as the SEP candidate for vice president along with the partys presidential candidate Bill Van Auken. Despite collecting nearly 10,000 signatures, the party was denied ballot status in the state after a reactionary and undemocratic court ruling.
Vernon would travel regularly to the party center in Detroit to take part in meetings and party schools. He also participated in online educationals and discussions, where he shared his experiences with younger SEP members. He had particularly enjoyed working with Comrade Lou Renfrow in setting up literature tables and speaking to students at local colleges, including at Wright State University in Dayton.
Comrade Phyllis Steele, who also worked with him, recalled, Vernon was a very serious political person. He came regularly to our branch meetings and stayed in touch even after he became sick. He was principled and always explained the role of Stalinism and the trade union bureaucracy during meetings and educationals.
In 2014, 22-year-old John Crawford III was shot and killed by police at a Walmart right outside of Dayton. As soon as it happened, we called Vernon to see what he knew about it. He explained how much the area had changed in a generation. He knew the area extremely well and followed developments closely.
Vernon remained politically active until 2019, when declining health compounded by the impact of the pandemic reduced his involvement. But he continued to support the party financially and to discuss political developments with comrades.
My last conversation with Comrade Vernon was several weeks ago. He remained alert and politically engaged and was encouraged by the success of the SEP in placing its candidates Joseph Kishore and Jerry White on the ballot in Michigan.
Once he joined the Trotskyist movement, Vernon never wavered in his defense of the socialist and internationalist principles. The assimilation of these great ideas by workers is an indispensable precondition for their victory in the coming revolutionary battles.
New French prime minister Michel Barnier looks on right during the handover ceremony, Thursday, September 5, 2024 in Paris. [AP Photo/Stephane de Sakutin]
The ministerial cabinet selected by French Prime Minister Michel Barnier with the support of President Emmanuel Macron and its initial statements to the press amount to the effective adoption by the French state of the program of the far-right National Rally (RN). Drawn from the rump of Macrons Ensemble movement and the right-wing Les Republicains (LR), it controls a minority in the National Assembly, where its survival depends on RN support.
The installation of this government, assembled over three months of back-channel talks after the July 7 elections, is a humiliating exposure of Jean-Luc Melenchons New Popular Front (NFP). The NFP formed an electoral alliance with Ensemble in the July 7 elections, withdrawing its candidates to support Macrons candidates instead, claiming this would keep the neofascists from power. Even after withdrawing many of its candidates, the NFP nonetheless won first place.
Yet Macron formed a government not with Melenchon, but with right-wing forces closely tied to the RN. After Macron named Barnier to assemble a government, polls showed three-quarters of the French people believe that Macron did not respect the election results, and 56 percent distrusted Barnier, a longtime European Union (EU) bureaucrat viciously hostile to immigrants.
This flagrantly antidemocratic installation of an illegitimate government aims to impose policies rejected by the overwhelming majority of the population. Polls show 91 percent of the French people want to rescind Macrons pension cuts, imposed last year by decree in the face of mass protests. Large majorities oppose Macrons plans to send ground troops to Ukraine for war with Russia, as well as French and NATO support for Israels genocide in Gaza.
Nevertheless, this was the policy Barnier laid out Sunday night in a brief, perfunctory prime-time interview on France2 state television. Declaring that his government shares the same values as the Ukrainian regime, which rules without elections and relies on far-right militias sympathetic to the Nazi collaboration in that country, he also embraced Israels right to defend itself, even as Israel launches a war of aggression against Lebanon.
Barnier advanced a program for class war at home to wage imperialist war abroad, thinly covered by ritualistic promises to listen a lot and remember those down below who must be respected. Remaining silent on Macrons diversion of hundreds of billions of euros to bank bailouts and the military machine, he demanded firmness against immigrants and vaguely alluded to plans for further, deep social cuts. He called for truth on the financial and ecological debts that already weigh heavily on the shoulders of our children.
Similarly, Barniers ministerial picks have an indubitably fascistic character. Barnier named as interior minister Bruno Retailleau, a member of Philippe de Villiers royalist movement who joined LR and presides over the party in the Senate. Retailleau infamously blamed last years urban riots after the police murder of Nahel on a regression to ethnic origins by immigrants. Barniers consumer affairs minister, Laurence Garnier, is notorious for opposing constitutionally-protected rights to abortion and gay marriage.
Yesterday, Retailleau said, There will be much more rigor, there will be a break on immigration policy, demanding more expulsions, fewer regularizations. He advocates the suppression of State Medical Aid (AME) that funds medical care for refugees who cannot afford it, as well as the repudiation of EU immigration law. After these measures were struck from an earlier immigration law by the Constitutional Council on the grounds of their unconstitutionality, Retailleau demanded in an interview yesterday on TF1 television regarding a new law on immigration.
It is widely admitted in ruling circles that the RN now controls government policy, especially on immigration. An anonymous high-ranking state official told Le Monde that the debate over immigration in France is escaping all rationality, adding: If [the government] passes a law, it will be under the RNs control and will have to rely on its support to get its law adopted. If it does not pass a law, the RN will demand that it do so.
Macron is directly responsible for this situation, having rejected an alliance with the NFP, which had won the election, to instead ally with LR and, above all, the RN. However, it must also be said that Melenchon and the NFP, a coalition of parties led by Melenchons France Unbowed (LFI) and the big-business Socialist Party (PS), were the decisive enablers of the far-right regime, by working to keep Macrons forces in the Assembly who are now allied to the RN.
Leading figures inside LFI are now denouncing the government and pledging to present a motion of censure, for which they do not have a majority in the Assembly.
PS legislator Jerome Guedj told Sud Radio: I will vote a motion of censure [against the Barnier government] because I have no illusion on its programmatic content. Whether you look at the composition of the government or the first statements of Michel Barnier, we have a right-wing line that does not undo the pension cuts. The second reason is democratic. We must oppose this turn of events and the failure to respect the message of the July 7 elections.
This government is a coalition of losers, with some people who are more or less there for show, for fakery, and others who will be the real bosses, Melenchon said, calling Barnier an illusion. Retailleau, Melenchon added, will be the person making the decisions in this country, since in parliamentary procedure all bills pass through the Senate. So the Assembly can vote what it wants, but at the end of the day, Mr Macron will be forced to say yes all the time to Mr Retailleau.
But Melenchons observation that the government is a coalition of losers only begs the question: how were the losers allowed to form a government? Workers and youth must have no illusions in the cynical and impotent posturing of the NFP. It aims not to prepare a political struggle of the working class against this unpopular far-right regime, but to maintain the grip of the NFP and allied union bureaucracies over the class struggle, so that pension cuts, genocide and war continue.
Melenchon received the votes of much of the urban working class in 2022 and 2024. But he then made electoral deals with Macron, claiming this was the only way to block the rise of neofascism. After the elections, even after it became known that Macron was holding extensive back-channel talks with the RN, the NFP was unable and unwilling to call for its millions of working class voters to strike and protest against Macrons conspiracy. By thus abandoning the field, the NFP let Macron plot the installation of an illegitimate far-right regime undisturbed.
This self-defeating policy is bound up with the class basis and political program of LFI. Made up of affluent layers of academics, union bureaucrats and professionals favorable to French imperialism, it shares much of Macrons program. Indeed, LFI agreed to passages in the NFPs election program that called to send French troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers and to strengthen the intelligence and military police services.
Workers and youth will soon enter into conflict with the Barnier goevrnment, but they cannot struggle against it under the diktat of the NFP and the union bureaucracies. These forces have also lost the confidence of millions of workers who now vote RN to mark their disgust and frustration with the PS and Macron. The working class must be politically mobilized and unified in struggle based on intransigent opposition to war, genocide, and fascistic social reaction on a program of placing the working class in power and waging a struggle for socialism.
One day after its devastating bombardment of Lebanon that killed over 550 people, Israel struck the capital Beirut as the imperialist-backed onslaught in the Middle East continues to escalate. The third strike on the Lebanese capital since Friday, coming as the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) pledged to accelerate its attacks, claimed at least six lives and injured 15.
Residents check the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024 [AP Photo/Hassan Ammar]
At a situation briefing Tuesday morning, IDF head Herzi Halevi emphasised that Mondays bloody attack was the opening shot in an expanding war, declaring, We must not give Hezbollah a break. We will continue to operate at full strength. We will accelerate offensive actions today and reinforce all units. The current situation requires continued intensive operations across all fronts.
Subsequent hours saw waves of strikes on southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley, as well as the Beirut bombing. An airstrike on the southern suburbs killed Hezbollah rocket commander Ibrahim Muhammad Kabisi.
The death toll in Lebanon since Monday has risen to 569, with over 1,800 reported injured. Hezbollah responded by firing over 300 rockets into northern Israel Tuesday and launching drones targeting military sites.
A senior Israeli Air Force officer stated that the bombardment of Lebanon since Monday was the most extensive ever carried out in the air forces history, according to the Times of Israel. Over 1,600 sites were struck using over 2,000 munitions.
The scale of Israels indiscriminate assault, which also targeted vehicles carrying fleeing residents, and rescue and emergency services teams, demonstrates that Israel has the full backing of the United States. The huge shipments of weaponry dispatched by the Biden administration to Israel since the onset of the genocide in Gaza have not only allowed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus far-right government to lay waste to the enclave, but bring the entire Middle East to the brink of a region-wide war. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant twice within 24 hours between Saturday and Sunday to make clear Washingtons backing for Israel to defend itself.
Nevertheless, the imperialist powers are seeking with sickening hypocrisy to present themselves as a stabilizing force in the region working for deescalation and peace. US President Joseph Biden asserted at the UN General Assembly that he was determined to prevent a wider war that engulfs the entire region, while German Foreign Minister Analena Baerbock commented, We must not slide into another war, we must rather do everything to bring about deescalation, especially with regard to the situation in Lebanon.
Coming from the two imperialist powers that have supplied Israel with the most weapons, while clamping down ruthlessly on all forms of domestic opposition to the Gaza genocide, such statements ring hollow. Their aim is to cover up the fact that American imperialism and its European allies backed the genocide, which has officially claimed the lives of more than 41,000 Palestinians, as a means to prepare for a region-wide war with Iran. This war has moved significantly closer to becoming reality following the events of the past week.
On September 17, Israel launched a criminal terror attack by blowing up sabotaged pagers and other electronic devices across Lebanon, killing 37 people and injuring thousands, including many children. Then on Friday, it used a high-powered bomb to strike a suburb in southern Beirut, killing over 50 people, including high-ranking Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil. There followed the ongoing onslaught, which has in two days claimed more than half the number of lives lost during Israels month-long war on Lebanon in 2006. Some 27,000 people have fled their homes, with at least 500 fleeing across Lebanons eastern border into war-torn Syria.
The imminent danger of a further spread of the war throughout the region, drawing in regional powers like Iran and the imperialist powers together with their rivals Russia and China, cannot be overstated. In Syria, Russia maintains a large contingent of troops, air capabilities, and ships at its naval base in Tartus on the Mediterranean. Late Tuesday, Reuters reported that Syrias air defence system was activated after Israeli missiles targeted locations in Tartus, with eye witnesses reporting loud explosions.
The US and Turkey also have a military presence in Syria. Additionally, thousands of American troops are located at bases in Iraq and throughout the Gulf sheikdoms, and a large armada of American warships are either already in the Gulf, or standing by in the eastern Mediterranean.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said of Israels attack on Lebanon at a press briefing Tuesday, This is an event that is potentially extremely dangerous when it comes to the expansion of the conflict, to the complete destabilisation of the region. Of course, this is of extreme concern to us.
China, which cut across US interests in the region by brokering a deal in early 2023 aimed at easing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has clearly positioned itself alongside Lebanon in the face of Israels bombardment.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi, following a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, commented, We pay close attention to developments in the region, especially the recent explosion of communications equipment in Lebanon, and firmly oppose indiscriminate attacks against civilians.
Tensions were already high throughout the Middle East prior to this weeks onslaught. In April, Israel bombed Irans consulate in Syria, killing seven high-ranking Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps members. Iran responded by firing hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, but provided advanced notice to avoid a major escalation. Israel intensified its provocations in July, when it carried out the targeted assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Tehran attending the inauguration of Iranian President Mesoud Pezeshkian.
Israel is determined to intensify the war in Lebanon, even at the risk of a region-wide bloodbath. Netanyahu could well launch a ground invasion to enforce Israels demand that Hezbollah forces retreat north of the Litani River.
Speaking at a military drill Tuesday simulating a ground incursion into Lebanon, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that the IDF has additional blows already prepared against Hezbollah. Referring to the troops experience exterminating Palestinians in Gaza, Gallant added, Any Hezbollah force that encounters you will be destroyed, they are troubled by the experience you have gained in combat.
National Unity leader Benny Gantz, who was part of Netanyahus war cabinet until his withdrawal in June, declared his support for the onslaught on Lebanon Tuesday and called for troops to be sent in if necessary. If [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah does not stop the fire, we will also have to enter [Lebanese] territory to allow the return of our residents.
The Zionist regime is continuing its genocide in Gaza as the war in Lebanon intensifies. At least 37 people were killed in air raids across Gaza Tuesday, including a family of five in Rafah. The Guardian reported Monday that Netanyahu, who has delayed his departure to New York where he is due to address the General Assembly, is considering a plan proposed by members of his Likud party to forcibly expel civilians north of the Gaza River to create a closed military zone where the IDF can kill anyone who remains. If the plan is implemented, it would entail the expulsion of between 300,000 and 500,000 people, almost all of whom have already been displaced multiple times.
Israels unrestrained lawlessness also continues in the West Bank. On Sunday, IDF soldiers raided the Ramallah offices of Al Jazeera, seizing documents and ordering the Qatar-funded broadcaster to suspend its operations in the occupied West Bank for 45 days. The soldiers tore down a banner on a balcony displaying an image of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian-American journalist shot dead by Israeli soldiers in May 2022.
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden delivered a warmongering rant at the United Nations General Assembly, demanding an escalation of war against Russia and Iran, and threatening China.
United States President Joe Biden addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, September 24, 2024, at UN headquarters. [AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson]
Just one day after Israel killed nearly 500 people in a brutal bombing campaign against Lebanon, and as Israeli bombs continued to level buildings in Lebanese towns and villages, Biden restated his unequivocal support for Israels genocide in Gaza and the wider war throughout the Middle East.
Referring to the Iranian-backed group in Lebanon, Biden declared, Hezbollah, unprovoked, joined the October 7 attack, launching rockets into Israel. Any country would have the right and responsibility to ensure that such an attack could never happen again.
The US president demanded a stronger position to deal with the ongoing threat posed by Iran. We must deny oxygen to its terrorist proxies.
At the same time, US troops and the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier are on their way to deploy to the Middle East in support of Israels offensive against Lebanon and ultimately Iran.
Biden was, if possible, even more aggressive in demanding an escalation of war with Russia. When Russia invaded Ukraine, we could have stood by and merely protested, Biden said. Instead, America stepped into the breach, providing massive security... assistance. As a result, NATO is bigger, stronger, more united than ever before. He added, we cannot let up... we will not let up on our support for Ukraine.
Driving Bidens point home, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has driven hundreds of thousands of young Ukrainian men to their deaths on behalf of the imperialist powers, declared, This war cant be calmed by talks. Action is needed.
Russia can only be forced into peace, he said.
The UN General Assembly is the occasion for a major escalation of global war. In the coming days, Zelensky will hold high-level meetings with US officials over the expected announcement that the US and UK will enable Ukraine to use NATO weapons to attack targets deep inside of Russia.
The ramifications of such a decision, which could lead to nuclear war, are so great that they are reportedly producing divisions within the state. According to an article in the Washington Post, published Tuesday:
There are splits within the administration: Even after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made clear his firm opposition to loosening the rules around ATACMS strikes, Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated this month in a visit to Kyiv that he was open to the Ukrainian arguments and would ultimately bring them back to Biden for a broader discussion in Washington. That discussion is ongoing, officials said, with those inside the National Security Council trying to manage the differences between the Defense Department and the State Department.
In his remarks before a UN Security Council Ministerial Meeting on Ukraine Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to link Russia, Iran, North Korea and China in a reboot of George W. Bushs statements about an axis of evil prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
As Tehran provides Putin with drones, ballistic missiles, and training, Russia is sharing technology with Iran on nuclear issues, as well as space information, Blinken said. This as Iran continues to arm, to train, and to fund proxies in the Middle East to carry out terrorist attacks across the region and beyond.
This is said by a leading official of a government that has armed, trained and funded Israel as it carries out a genocide in Gaza and terrorist attacks in Lebanon, including the pager explosion attack last week.
Blinken added, China, another permanent member of this council, is the top provider of machine tools, microelectronics, and other items that Russia is using to rebuild, to restock, to ramp up its war machine.
This from a leading official of a government that worked systematically to provoke the Russian invasion of Ukraine by providing the far-right regime in Kiev, installed in a 2014 coup, with billions in weaponry, and that has systematically escalated the conflict over the past two-and-a-half years.
With the US presidential election just two months away, any serious discussion of these wars is excluded from the campaign. Both the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are unequivocal backers of the Gaza genocide. And if Trump questions US involvement in Ukraine, it is only because he believes all of the US resources should be devoted to the conflict with China.
Amidst his warmongering, Biden peppered his remarks at the UN with bland and rosy declarations about the path forward. He was, he stated, more optimistic about the future than Ive ever been since I was first elected to the United States Senate in 1972.
In fact, underlying the extreme recklessness of the imperialist powers, above all the United States, is an intensifying economic, social and political crisis.
Among the anxieties of the capitalist oligarchy is the fate of the US dollar. In an article published in the pro-US Chatham House think tank, David Lubin, the former head of Emerging Markets Economics at Citigroup, declared that US dollar dominance is both a cause and a consequence of US power.
Lubin continued, While dollar dominance is uncomfortable for many countries, US military power... will preserve its status as the top currency for the foreseeable future.
With these words, the former Citigroup banker reveals the Arcanium Imperii, or secret of the empire: That the millions of people who have died in wars waged by the United States all over the world, from Korea to Vietnam, to Iraq and Afghanistan, and now Russia, Gaza, and Libya, were sacrificed to secure the hegemony of US imperialism.
In other words, global domination through military violence is the last, best desperate hope of the American financial oligarchy to preserve its wealth and privileges. This military offensive will involve an intensified war on the working class, of which the catastrophic collapse in living standards under Biden will be just the prelude.
In his opening remarks to the General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres warned, our world is in a whirlwind... geopolitical divisions keep deepening. Wars rage with no clue how they will end, and nuclear posturing and new weapons cast a dark shadow. We are edging towards the unimaginable, a powder keg that risks engulfing the world.
Accurate as these warnings are, Gutteres spoke as though the causes of this looming catastrophe were a natural disaster or an act of God, not the actions and statements of the American president and other imperialist leaders that spoke immediately after him.
It falls to the working class to advance its own solution to the deepening crisis. All over the world, workers are entering into struggle against the stagnation of their living standards as an ever-greater share of social resources are directed to war. Stopping the escalating bloodbath requires fusing the economic demands of the working class with the building of an anti-war movement, animated by the perspective of international socialism.
Cornell University academic worker and international graduate student Momodou Taal was suspended by the university administration on Monday and is facing imminent deportation from the US for his participation in Palestinian solidarity protests on campus.
Momodou Taal
In a post on Twitter/X on Friday, Taal wrote of a targeted campaign of intimidation and harassment against me from Cornells administration and police. I have been suspended again. I had no chance to dispute the charges, nor see the evidence or appeal. They informed me that I am effectively being deported by the weekend.
After the university responded by stating it did not have the power to deport anyone, Taal posted a screenshot of a message he received from a Cornell University immigration adviser stating that the academic suspension will impact his F-1 visa status.
The message states,
For students who have been suspended or discontinued from their academic program by their academic department or Cornell University, then our office is required to close the students F-1 record. Closure of your F-1 record affects the students ability to remain or enter the US in F-1 status. There is no grace period for exiting the US. If the student is in the US, then they should exit as soon as possible or work with a licensed immigration lawyer to change their immigration status to another appropriate status. Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if needed.
Taal, a British-Gambian international student, also wrote on Twitter/X that the actions against him were taxing and taking its toll. Every day we witness the horrors that Israel inflicts on people. And those of us who still have our humanity and are rightly incensed at what we see [A]re facing so much repression. Youd never think these institutions are responding to people protesting a genocide.
On September 18, more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters marched on a career fair at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations and effectively shut it down. The fair included defense contractors Boeing and L3Harris, two companies that students voted last April in a referendum that the university must divest from for supporting the ongoing war in Gaza.
In response to the protest, Vice President for University Relations Joel M. Malina issued a statement that claimed protesters pushed and shoved campus police officers, guests of the university felt threatened and students were denied their ability to experience the Career Fair. Malina said the protesters actions were a violation of university policy and illegal.
The university administrator also said that Cornell police were working to identify those who violated our policies, including seeking students and employees to provide names of those who participated in this shameful behavior. Malina said that those identified would be referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards for immediate action including suspension, faculty and staff would be referred to university human resources, and these individuals will be subject to potential criminal charges.
Taal received a communication from Christina Liang, director of the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, saying that he had been reported to the University by Cornell University Police Department (CUPD) Lieutenant Scott Grantz for not complying with orders from university officials at last weeks protest.
According to Grantzs complaint, a copy of which was obtained by the independent Cornell Daily Sun, Taal entered the career fair alongside other protesters after being warned not to do so by university officials. It said Taal participated in unreasonably loud chants. The email also said Taals behavior demonstrated escalating, egregious behavior and a disregard for the University policies.
The graduate student was called to a same-day noon meeting at Day Hall. At the meeting, Taal was handed a physical copy of a no-trespass order barring him from entering campus. Director Liang told Taal that his F-1 visa would be terminated and referred him to a senior immigration adviser.
A report in the Daily Sun noted protesters banged drums, pots and pans and chanted Free Palestine as they entered the Statler Hotel, where the career fest took place. The Daily Sun report said,
Protesters presented the Boeing recruitment table with a letter titled Peoples Court Indictment of War Crimes and Genocide, as well as a list of the Gaza death count for children under the age of one. The letter delivered to Boeing charged the company with the crimes of aiding and abetting human rights violations, war crimes and genocide under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the U.S. War Crimes Act and the Genocide Convention Implementation Act.
The Daily Sun also reported that there was no evidence of any physical violence towards law enforcement but noted distress among recruiters, students and University officials at the career fair.
Taal said the allegations in the CUPD complaint were false. He told the Daily Sun that he delivered a speech outside Day Hall before participating in the career fair disruption for five minutes before promptly leaving.
Taal was suspended during the spring semester for his involvement in the pro-Palestinian encampment at Cornell University which was set up as part of a nationwide series of protests across the country against the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza. According to the Daily Sun, international students with a second or third suspension are in violation of F-1 regulations and could have their visas pulled, which would require them to leave the country.
Taal, an instructor for a first-year writing seminar under the African Studies and Research Center, was informed by administrator Liang that he would no longer be permitted to teach the course, and he was removed from access to the universitys online teaching platform.
In a statement to the Daily Sun, Taal said he had been singled out for his vocal stance in defense of Palestinians. They are doing this to shift the focus away from their complicity in genocide. Its telling that they think its more important to suspend me than taking seriously their investment in the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians.
A petition is being circulated by students, staff and faculty at Cornell University demanding Taals reinstatement. The petition says the university is setting a dangerous pattern of using deportation and temporary suspension alongside threats of escalating action as a means of avoiding due process. Imposing severe punishments before an investigation has even taken place, let alone a hearing, is a breach of Cornells own administrative procedures.
The petition says that the university is not following its own Student Code of Conduct Procedures by imposing temporary suspensions. It says that the suspension of Taal is the first time a Cornell graduate worker is facing immediate deportation without administrative due process or the ability to review evidence of their alleged misconduct, and it is a wildly disproportionate response to any alleged violation.
The attack on Momodou Taal at Cornell University is part of a nationwide crackdown on college and university campuses against free speech rights with methods of a police state that have included violent assaults by police on protesters, criminal charges against student demonstrators, and the use of advanced surveillance technologies to identify and punish students and faculty for exercising their fundamental democratic rights.
Sounding the Alarm: Socialism Against War is available from Mehring Books in paperback and EPUB formats.
Mehring Books is proud to announce the publication of Sounding the Alarm: Socialism Against War, by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North. The book includes the speeches delivered at the International Committee of the Fourth Internationals Online May Day celebrations from 2014 to 2024. The speeches are an extraordinary and timely year-by-year analysis of the relentless escalation of imperialist militarism and the growing danger of a nuclear third world war.
The volume is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the historical and political background to the escalating US-NATO war against Russia and the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which is now developing into a regional war throughout the Middle East. Other issues examined in the May Day speeches are the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the resurgence of fascism, and the growth of the international class struggle.
Below is the foreword to Sounding the Alarm, written by Kings College historian Thomas Mackaman:
***
In 2014, one hundred years after the events of 1914 that led to World War I, the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) and the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) convened its first International May Day Online Rally. In an essay motivating the rally, David North, chairman of the International Editorial Board of the WSWS and chairman of the Socialist Equality Party in the United States, warned:
Those who believe that war with China and Russia is an impossibilitythat the major imperialist powers would not risk war with nuclear powersare deluding themselves. The history of the twentieth century, with its two devastating world wars and its innumerable and very bloody localized conflicts, has provided sufficient evidence of the risks the imperialist ruling classes are prepared to take. Indeed, they are prepared to risk the fate of all humanity and the planet itself. One hundred years after the outbreak of World War I and seventy-five years after the start of World War II, the struggle against the danger of a third imperialist cataclysm confronts the international working class. (No to imperialist war! Reclaim the revolutionary traditions of May Day! April 12, 2014)
Since 2014 the ICFI has held annual online celebrations. Their purpose has been to connect the historic tradition of international working-class solidarity with the contemporary struggle against capitalist-imperialist militarism and the escalating danger of a thermonuclear third world war.
This volume consists principally of the speeches with which David North has opened the May Day rallies of the past ten years. Also included are essays related to the May Day events written by North. This compilation merits careful study for those who would wish to understand the causes of imperialist war and how to fight it. The central theme of Norths speeches is that the struggle against militarism and war is and must be revolutionary, i.e., that only through the overthrow of capitalism by the working class in a world socialist revolution can the drive toward catastrophe be stopped. There is no other way.
In what goes for analysis in the corporate media and the political establishment, the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine and the Israeli genocide in Gaza are legitimate responses to unprovoked aggression. In the officially sanctioned narrative, the war in Ukraine began suddenly on February 24, 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin decided, apparently on a whim, to invade Ukraine. The Israeli assault on Gaza began on October 7 with the unprovoked terrorist incursion of Hamas fighters into Israel. There is no pre-history.
The speeches in this volume explode these false narratives, as they trace contemporaneously the malignant growth of imperialist militarism. They are testament to the power of the Marxist method, which places the logic of developments in their broader context, identifies the class interests involved, and on that basis elaborates a perspective of struggle.
Another example of Marxist foresight is the response of the ICFI to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. North warned in his May Day speech of 2020 that the disease had provided a trigger event in world history, accelerating the overall crisis of capitalism. And North specifically stated that not only US President Donald Trump, but the ruling class as a wholein the US, Europe, and everywherewould abandon public health measures to contain the virus because such efforts interfered with the accumulation of surplus value, the sole source of capitalist profit.
North also warned in his May Day speeches that the extreme accumulation of wealth in the US and other countries was incompatible with democratic forms of rule, and that inevitably the ruling classes would turn toward authoritarianism, including fascism.
It was once a common rhetorical device for the liberal and pseudo-left opponents of Trotskyism to accuse the ICFI of catastrophism. Talk of fascism and the destruction of democracy was dismissed as overheated rhetoric. From the obvious irrationality of nuclear war, they deduced that the ruling classes would not go to war with Russia or China. And, they reasoned, following Trump, the Biden administration would follow the science and adopt common-sense public health measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, if for no other reason than to maintain the stability of the system.
The prognoses of the ICFI were right in every case. Fascism is now a force in ruling class politics in a long list of countries since 2014. To name a few: the Philippines, Brazil, Argentina, France, Italy, Germany, Ukraine and, of course, the United States, where, by the time of his May Day lecture in 2021, North was able to refer back to the attempted fascist coup that had taken place only four months earlier. Regarding COVID-19, soon after taking office in 2021, Biden, who had capitalized on popular anger toward Trumps let it rip policy, began to scrap every effort to combat the virus, including even counting the sick and the dead.
As for the threat of world war, only those who are willfully blind can fail to see that it is already underway in the NATO war against Russia in Ukraine. The Biden administrations funding and encouragement of Israels genocide in Gaza is inexplicable outside of an understanding that this historic crime is, to the American ruling class, only one theater in a larger war, with Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran the proximate targets once the Palestinian problem is resolved. As Washington feeds the fires of war in Ukraine and the Middle East, preparations are far advanced for war with China.
This volume provides a powerful example of Marxism as the science and politics of revolutionary action, which requires careful study by every fighter for socialism. These speeches are a record of the development of the revolutionary and socialist perspective of the working class.
Sounding the Alarm: Socialism Against War is available from Mehring Books in paperback and EPUB formats.
On September 4, the Noguchi Museum in New York City terminated three workers because they refused to remove, according to a suddenly imposed policy, Palestinian scarveskeffiyehs. They wore them in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in opposition to the genocide being committed by Israel and funded by the United States.
The firings came after weeks of turmoil at the museum, during which employees and supporters protested this policy with walkouts and demonstrations. The museum, like many cultural institutions around the world, refused to budge on its ban of symbols of opposition to the genocide, and continues to take funds from Zionist and pro-war sources.
September 8 protest at the Noguchi Museum
Last week, the museums director, Amy Hau, finally released a public statement that avoided any mention of Gaza. Hau insisted that, I made the decision to update our dress code policy and reemphasize that we do not allow any political statements in the workplace. As the fired workers explain below, this is patently false and only applies to pro-Palestinian political statements.
Hau says more than she intends to when she asserts that this policy aligns with best practices as adopted by other museums, cultural institutions, and universities across the U.S. Indeed, it does follow the anti-democratic and pro-Zionist best practices of cultural intuitions and universities. Many of those have now banned any sort of protest against the mass murder, in flagrant violation of First Amendment rights.
Hau disingenuously claims that because [Isamu] Noguchi [who founded the museum and whose art is displayed there] passed away in 1988, we cannot speak on his behalf or claim to represent his views on todays complex global issues.
Perhaps not, but there is little doubt where Noguchi, who was interned by the Roosevelt administration during World War II as a Japanese American and who made monuments to the victims of the American war crimes in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would stand. He would condemn the current Gaza genocide.
Hau speaks for a thin layer of upper middle class museum officials whose job is to raise funds from the super-rich. This layer apes the ignorant and anti-democratic sentiments of its corporate masters. Its goal is to suppress antiwar sentiment in the art world as the United States prepares for a vast expansion of war.
Our first interview was with Q.
I worked at the Noguchi Museum for three years as a gallery assistant, as well as some in the education department.
When I wear a keffiyeh I am trying to draw attention to horrifying genocide in Palestine that is being conducted with our tax dollars. As an American, someone who lives and pays taxes here, and a human that hates all forms of colonialism, white supremacy and subordination, its important to me to not be complicit with these acts of violence. For me its impossible to not wear those beliefs on my sleeve, thats something I need to do regardless of the risks it causes me as a worker.
Leaflet on keffiyeh ban
I dont know why the policy at the museum changed so drastically, but it definitely feels suspicious to me, and I hope the reasons why will come to light. Unfortunately, so much of what happens in museum boardrooms really never does get exposed. They are extremely private and theres not a lot of accountability to the public or even to the working staff.
This is something that me and my coworkers, and also fellow concerned community members, have been really trying to project: that the museums are political spaces. The Noguchi Museum is full of messages about the horrors of war, about anti-colonialism, and how art can help us grieve.
A big part of Noguchis life was spent asking questions about carving out public space meant for mourning, and how we memorialize. He created a series of monuments to the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He also created monuments to workers rights in his History of Mexico frieze. In 1953 Noguchi himself said, though humanity protests, it seems, no lessons may be learned, no warnings given, only gently bury the dead. He was very actively antiwar.
We asked Q. what they thought were the reasons for the genocide in Gaza.
There are a million reasons for the genocide in Palestine. One million reasons why the West steals resources, systematically underdeveloped nations, orchestrates coups, relies on prison labor, etc., but I think its too much to get into in this interview. What I will say is that it makes a lot of sense that both political parties in the US support Israels bombings. It makes sense that they also have not blinked an eye in the past couple of weeks that the offensive has gone to the West Bank as well.
In some ways now this is a very new political moment because there is more immediacy in how we exchange information. At the same time, I think people are more distracted than before and its very strange, very dystopian and extremely disturbing that we are living in an era where many of us on social media are being fed images of parties for Fashion Week mixed in with images of people holding their dead children, of children with their faces full of shrapnel. I mean, these images are plaguing me.
Q. is also an artist and we asked them about the role of art in social struggles.
I believe art has a role in revolutionizing. Im very inspired by [the late African-American author] Toni Cade Bambara, and she says that we are at war with the truth. I believe in the existence of many truths. I think art-making is world-building is truth-telling, as writer Ismatu Gwendolyn likes to say. Art is hardly the be-all and end-all in political struggles, but it is a very powerful tool to use wisely.
We also spoke to Trasonia, another employee who had been fired. They first wanted to explain clearly what they thought about the statement that Amy Hau, the director of the Noguchi Museum, released last week about their and others firing.
I think it should be noted that the statement that went up on the website is slightly edited from the one she sent to donors. That one was very self-centered and this has been cleaned up a little for public consumption.
Taking Noguchis legacy to be apolitical is a huge step backwards. In 2020 and 2021 the museum supported BLM [Black Lives Matter] and the Stop Asian Hate movement. Its not what the museum was. It should be stated that Amy Hau has changed the vibe of the museum. The ban lays it out for everyone to see that the Noguchi Museum is a racist entity. This is not the legacy of Isamu Noguchi.
Noguchi Museum protest September 8
I have heard that since the firings, the museum is now getting gifts from pro-Israel sources. I got this information second-hand, so I cant confirm it.
We asked Trasonia how they had come to understand the situation in Palestine.
Ive known about this situation for some time now. My perspective was just, well, thats awful. I think that in the last three to four years, I was more taking the stance of, what Israel is doing is wrong. I started hearing about the settlements [on the West Bank] and I started learning a little bit more about the colonial state of Israel and how it functions, the apartheid conditions, things like that.
The October 7 murder of 1,500 people was awful. But it became very clear very rapidly that Israel wasnt really interested in stopping murder. I dont really care about the excuses they made. The Israeli regime is carrying out massive violence against civilians. As to the US, it seems very much a repetition of what I learned in high school, the appeasement of Nazi Germany. Well just give them what they want and then eventually theyll stop. You know, obviously, Israel hasnt stopped.
In April, I was given a patch by a coworker and friend, a Free Palestine patch, and I began wearing it on my hat. I wore that hat every day. I was kind of struggling about how to oppose the genocide. Im a victim of police violence at the hands of NYPD [New York Police Department] and so I felt very wary of going to protests.
And I also had seen how electeds were really corrupted. If the options were to protest or to call your elected, at that point I was hopeless about what I could do.
So I began wearing the patch in mid-June. There was no issue in all that time, and it should be said that my supervisor never said anything to me about the patch. I was told at that point by HR in mid-June, that I was supposed to take off the patch, that I cant wear the patch on the hat because of a [museum] policy against any logos, any words, any images. This was coming, I was told, from Deputy Director Jennifer Lorch. She said that it was a symbol of hate. I just thought, how incredibly ill-informed you are, especially for somebody in a high position in this museum.
From mid-June, I began wearing the keffiyeh, which, like the Free Palestine patch, I wore as a symbol of my faith as a Christian. Sometime in July, my supervisor came to me and said, Hey, you should know that somebody has taken a photo of you, a guest or someone and it has been circulating online. Theyre threatening to write an article about the museum allowing Nazi symbols.
Apparently, this was a campaign. Maybe 15 or so emails were sent to the museum complaining about the fact that they allowed employees to wear symbols of hate. I would have hoped that the museum would have had more of a lets protect our staff sentiment about it, but that wasnt the case. Basically, the emails were then used to ban the keffiyeh. The bottom line is that the museum has no problem with political statements, but they do have a problem with Palestinians, and thats the real point.
Four people have lost their jobs over a scarf. Meanwhile, theres a genocide happening. The absurdity of this ban is rivaled only by the horror of the bloodthirsty actions of Israel in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.
I realize Im mourning the job Ive held for the last three and a half years. But there are children mourning their whole families.
I dont plan on voting for Kamala Harris. You know, I think my generation, were kind of past the sentiments that a lot of politicians project these days, you know, like, Now we have a Latina and we have a black person and we have this and we have that. You know, [New York City Mayor] Eric Adams is one of the most repugnant politicians Ive experienced in my life. And hes a black man and he ran as a black man saying that he was going to change things from the inside.
Im 26 years old, and its hard for me to watch people much older than me, with more experience, more established, who have no principles, who have no values that they stand behind.
The museum is also like this. It did a lot of posturing in 2020. Theres the post that they made in 2020 about Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. You can go on their website or on their Instagram. Its probably still up. With the Asian hate thing they started the Banner Project. The banners are still up on the building right now.
The museum does sell Noguchis Japanese heritage or rather his half-Japanese heritage because, mind you, they dont do the same thing with his Irish heritage. They use it to make money. These nonprofits, thats their job: to get donors to give the money so that they can pay their overhead price, their costs and have fancy parties and benefits.
For well over a month, trainee doctors employed in government hospitals in the eastern state of West Bengal have been on a cease-work agitation severely crippling healthcare. They are demanding justice following the gruesome rape and murder of their 31-year-old colleague, Moumita Debnath, whose semi-naked and brutalized body was discovered on the morning of August 9.
Late at night on August 8, an exhausted Moumita, having worked a 36-hour shift at the government RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata (Calcutta) went into a seminar hall to get some sleep. She was forced to go there because the state government has failed to provide any facility with beds and toilets for the junior doctors, although they are expected to work night and day. Next morning on August 9, her severely mutilated corpse was discovered.
Members of the West Bengal Junior Doctors Front and nursing students protesting on Aug. 18, 2024, in Kolkata against the rape and killing of trainee doctor Moumita Debnath. [AP Photo/Bikas Das]
The Kolkata police have arrested Sanjoy Roy as the chief suspect. He was employed by Kolkata police as a civic volunteer. He frequently visited the hospital, enjoying unfettered access throughout the hospital and brazen immunity to bully people because he was part of the police force.
A central demand of the trainee doctors, who are commonly known as junior doctors, has been for a meeting with the West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee. Such a meeting finally took place on Monday, September 16, with a delegation of some 30 doctors meeting with Banerjee at her residence and presenting their main immediate demands.
These demands are all narrowly focussed on the investigation of Moumitas rape and murder or revolve around providing greater security for the doctors through the deployment of police at hospitals and the provision of safe spaces.
They include the immediate sacking of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, who has been accused of botching the investigation by allowing huge crowds to enter the seminar hall soon after Moumitas body was discovered and the replacement of top state government health department officials for failing to provide a safe environment in the hospital.
At the beginning of the junior doctors strike, which at its height in mid-August spread nationwide and involved as many as a million interns and nurses, numerous demands and issues were raised, including over the horrendous conditions to which trainee doctors are subjected, the deplorable state of public healthcare, and the failure of the central government to act on its pledge to improve working conditions and hospital health and safety in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, these critical issues have been shunted aside, with the emphasis increasingly coming to be placed on the most narrow and reactionary law-and-order demands.
There is no question that Moumitas horrific fate angered tens of millions in West Bengal and still more across India and that the calls for justice for the dead woman became infused with inchoate popular anger over government and police corruption.
But with the working class politically suppressed as a result of the criminal role of the various Stalinist Communist Parties and their trade unions, in this as with every other complex social issue, the terms of the political debate have quickly come to be defined by the most reactionary forces.
For weeks, Banerjee, her TMC and the BJP, the Hindu supremacist party of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have been involved in a very public brawl as to who is to blame for Moumitas ghastly fate.
At first Banerjee refused to meet with the trainee doctors, waxing indignant over their illegal withdrawal of healthcare. But recognizing that much of the public was sympathetic to the junior doctors, she ultimately sacked the Kolkata Police Commissioner and several health department officials.
Banerjees TMC and the BJP are now competing with one another in advocating for more draconian forms of state violence as the solution to rape.
Soon after Moumitas death, Banerjee shot off a letter to Prime Minister Modi advocating for a tough central law where accused rapists would be tried and sentenced within 15 days to ensure quick justice.
In retort, the Modi government attacked Banerjee for not having activated 11 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) for crimes of sexual violence as authorized under a 2018 central government order, despite the state having a backlog of 48,600 rape cases.
Nevertheless, on September 3, the two parties joined hands in the West Bengal state assembly to unanimously adopt by voice vote a draconian tough-on-crime bill, the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024.
Its to be noted that the Stalinist Left-Front coalition led by the CPM (Communist Party of India, Marxist) that dominated West Bengals government, ruling continuously for 34 years, from 1977 to 2011, could not even participate in this vote as it has not had a single elected legislator in West Bengal since 2019. It was the Stalinists ruthless pursuit of what they themselves termed pro-investor policies that opened the door for the rise to power of the anti-communist demagogue Banerjee and the subsequent emergence of the Hindu supremacist BJP as a major political force in the state.
The new anti-rape law mandates the death penalty for those convicted of rape and other sexual offences if the victim dies or ends up in a vegetative state. For other rapes, the bill mandates life sentence without any chance at parole. To become state law, this legislation requires the signatures of both the state governor and the president of India. While the governora BJP appointee who has been working hand in glove with Modis chief henchman, Amit Shah, to destabilize the TMC governmenthas signed off on the law and forwarded it to the president of India, Draupadi Murmu, it is far from clear that it will receive her signature. This is because the Modi government is loath to provide any kind of political victory to the TMC.
Speaking in favour of the bill in the state assembly, Banerjee termed it historic and a model for the whole country.
As with every other issue, all the ruling class has to offer is reaction and violence. The official debate over the prevalence of rape and other forms of gender violence in India is presented in entirely individual and Manichean terms, abstracted from any consideration of the brutality that pervades daily life in contemporary capitalist India, where the rich and powerful have impunity while hundreds of millions eke out an existence on a few dollars of income per day, and the indignities and perversions of a society in thrall to capital are interlaced with caste-ism and other semi-feudal survivals.
Conditions in India's public hospitals are deplorable. Many patients are forced to share a bed. [Photo: X/Sundabaran Foundation]
Also, completely absent from the debate was any discussion, let alone remedy, for the horrific conditions that prevail in government hospitals throughout the country. The junior doctors are treated like workhorses, in a system that suffers from massive staff shortages at every level from cleaners and orderlies to nurses, technicians, junior doctors, and senior medical personnel.
The ratio of senior doctors to junior doctors is 1 to 4, meaning the latter must incur the principal burden for tending to a sea of desperate patients and their family members. This is further ensured by imposing on them inhumane work shifts of 36 hours, frequently virtually back to back.
Burnout and fatigue among doctors even at a young age after just a few years of exhaustive work is frequent. A young doctor speaking to the New York Times said she was worried of losing compassion towards her patients because she is caring for hundreds of patients a day as if they were objects in a factory and not people.
The junior doctors also must bear the wrath of patient families who are irate at the substandard care they are receiving in Indias overcrowded, poorly equipped hospitals.
So appalling and inadequate are the facilities, that two patients are often force to share the same hospital bed, sleeping in opposite directions.
Because of the lack of personnel, family members are called upon to play the role of nurse and orderly during a patients stay. They also must frequently buy any drugs doctors prescribe, including pre-and post-surgery, and resort to private facilities for critical diagnostic tests.
Toilets are often clogged and rat infestation is common.
Such conditions of want and desperation are a breeding ground for corruption. As the right-wing Indian Medical Association itself conceded, Ordinary people face problems due to corruption in the allotment of hospital beds, and shortage of life-saving drugs. We want a solution to all these problems.
Outrage over these conditions at times takes reactionary forms, with more confused elements lashing out at individual doctors. In the immediate aftermath of Moumitas death, a mob attacked the hospital, destroying equipment and terrorizing personnel.
Meanwhile, the wealthier layers of the population avoid government hospitals altogether and seek care in expensive private hospitals, where the most advanced medical treatments are available. So-called medical tourism is a major growth industry, with close to a million people seeking treatment at Indian private hospitals to escape the ever-escalating costs associated with healthcare privatization in the advanced capitalist west.
JERUSALEM, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah fired a surface-to-surface missile towards Tel Aviv on Wednesday, said the Israeli military.
The missile triggered sirens across central Israel before the country's aerial defense systems intercepted it, it said.
According to Israel's Channel 12 TV news, the attack was aimed at the Glilot Base, where Unit 8200, an elite cyber intelligence unit, is located.
Zaki Heller, spokesperson for the Magan David Adom rescue service, said no casualties have been reported.
The United States stationed a medium-range missile system in the northern Philippines and has announced that it will be keeping it there, directly targeting China. The Typhon missile launcher system is capable of launching of Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles, and of targeting the entire South China Sea and much of mainland China. Washington deployment of this weaponry to Southeast Asia further destabilizes a region that is already in the grip of war tensions.
A U.S. Army CH-47 helicopter flies over Cagayan province, northern Philippines during a joint military exercise on Monday, May 6, 2024. American and Filipino marines held annual combat-readiness exercises called Balikatan, Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder, in a show of allied military readiness in the Philippines' northernmost town facing southern Taiwan. [AP Photo/Aaron Favila]
The deployment of Typhon system capable of launching medium-range missiles in the Philippines is the first since 2019 when Washington abrogated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 1987 by the US and the USSR. The system only became operational in the last year.
In April, the US Army quietly deployed the Typhon intermediate range missile launcher system to the Philippines as part of the Balikatan 24 and Salaknib 24 military exercises. They placed the missile system in the northernmost reaches of Luzon from which it targeted the Bashi and Taiwan straits and the southern coast of China.
When news of the missile system deployment appeared in the press, Washington announced that the Typhon system would only be deployed to the Philippines for the duration of the war game training exercises. The war games ended and the Typhon system remained.
China and Russia both delivered official protests against the geopolitically destabilizing presence of the intermediate range missile system in Southeast Asia. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin cited the deployment of the Typhon system to the Philippines to justify his announcement that Russia would resume the production of intermediate and shorter range nuclear capable missiles.
A political firestorm erupted in the Philippines. Several Senators delivered speeches claiming that the presence of the missile system made the Philippines a war target for China. The Philippine military reported that the system would be removed from the country by September.
On September 19, a Reuters report revealed that the Typhon system would not be removed but would be kept in the Philippines for the indefinite future.
The announcement that the missiles were remaining came from the Philippine military; the office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has said nothing. Highlighting the subservient and proxy character of the Philippine military, Army spokesperson Col. Louie Dema-ala said on Wednesday that it was up to the United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) to decide how long the missile system would stay.
Throughout its history, the Philippine military has repeatedly demonstrated that it is more loyal to the Pentagon than it is to civilian government in Manila. The tensions in the South China Sea are ostensibly all about defending Philippine national sovereignty, but behind this guise of sovereignty the Philippines is being transformed into a launching pad for a US-led war against China.
The Typhon can fire SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles. The number and types of missiles that have been or will be deployed to the Philippines have not been made public. The SM-6 ,which began production in 2009, has a per unit cost of US$4.87 million and can serve as both a surface-to-air and high-speed anti-ship weapon. The Tomahawk is primarily designed for land attacks and has the capacity to carry a nuclear warhead.
An SM-6 launched from the Northern Philippines could strike a ship anywhere in the South China Sea or Taiwan Strait. Armed with a Tomahawk, the Typhon missile system is capable of striking targets up to 2,500 kilometers away. A 2,500 kilometer radius drawn from Cagayan in the northern Philippines encompasses the entire South China Sea, all of mainland Southeast Asia, the entire of coast of China as far north as Beijing and as far inland as Chengdu, the entirety of Taiwan, all of South Korea, and the southern half of Japan.
While this is being presented in the press as largely being a measure concerned with deterrence in the South China Sea, the missile system in the northern Philippines will draw the country into any conflict with China, including far from its shores. The US is far more preoccupied with Taiwan than it is the reefs and rocks of the South China Sea. Washington is setting up a staging point for World War III.
The deployment of the Typhon system to Asia was made possible by the Trump administrations scrapping of the INF Treaty in 2019. The INF Treaty eliminated the use of short and intermediate range land-based nuclear and conventional missiles by both the US and Russia.
Citing alleged violations of the treaty by Russia, the Trump administration in late 2018 announced that the United States would unilaterally withdraw from the treaty. While alleged Russian infractions were the pretext for withdrawal, the actual motive was that the treaty was an impediment to Washingtons rapidly escalating preparations for war.
The Trump White House spoke of the fact that the pact was preventing the United States from deploying weapons to target China. That the first deployment of such a missile system since the scrapping of the INF is to the Asia Pacific region, demonstrates that Washington pulled out of the treaty not because of Russian infractions, but because the treaty interfered with US war plans.
The sale of conventional missiles with a range over 300 km is banned by the Missile Technology Control Regime, a political agreement established by the G-7 in 1987, so the Philippines will be hosting the missiles, but not acquiring them. In other words, these are US missiles and missile launchers in the Philippines and will remain as such. While all other countries are subject to the ban on the sale of such missiles, Washington spreads a network of medium range missile systems around the globe, fundamentally destabilizing geopolitics, by establishing basing facilities in proxy countries such as the Philippines.
As part of its war plans, Washington is expanding its network of bases in the Philippines, many of which are already in active use. Speaking before a Senate hearings on the 2025 Philippine budget on Tuesday, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro revealed that President Marcos had issued instructions to acquire space at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority for a new naval base. Subic would be one of four new Naval bases built in the Philippines.
The Philippine Navy is already occupying 100 hectares of Subic facilities and plans to expand and construct there. The new naval base should be completed, Teodoro said, no later than the end of 2028.
Subic Naval Base was one of the largest and most militarily significant military bases operated by the United States in the 20th century until its closure in 1991. It was from out of Subic that the United States conducted its naval operations in the Vietnam War, and its presence was a defining aspect of the Cold War, calculated to control and target China. The creation of a new naval base at Subic will, without doubt, be brought under the terms of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), the basing deal which allows the deployment of US forces and war material to an ever-growing number of expanded sites throughout the country.
China has repeatedly denounced the deployment of the missile system to the Philippines. In May, Chinas Ministry of National Defense spokesperson, Wu Qian, said the deployment brought huge risks of war into the region. Another Defense spokesperson, Zhang Xiaogang, speaking in July, termed it a strategic offensive weapon reminiscent of the Cold War, that should never have been deployed to the region. On September 19, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, said that the deployment gravely threatens regional security. China called on the United States, discreetly referred to as the relevant party, to quickly pull out the missile system as publicly pledged.
A senior Philippine government official, speaking on conditions of anonymity with Reuters, said, We want to give them [China] sleepless nights. This is the language of war already being waged, of psychological warfare targeting an entire population with the threat of annihilation.
The distance between the Philippine valley of Cagayan where the US has deployed its missile system and Shanghai, the most populous urban area in China, is several hundred miles less than that between Havana and Washington DC. While China has thus far not responded with escalation, Washingtons deployment of the Typhon system to the Philippines begins to bear comparison to the Cuban missile crisis.
Washington is actively and rapidly preparing for war with China, while it presses forward in its proxy war against Russia; two fronts in an emerging world war of incalculable devastation. In July, Germany announced that the United States would be stationing Tomahawk missiles in Germany, targeting Russia, in 2025. In early September, the Japan Times reported that the United States had expressed an interest in deploying an intermediate range missile system to Japan. Coupled with the deployment to the northern Philippines, Washington is deploying an apparatus to rain death across China and its 1.4 billion people.
Poe to BSP, PSA: Ensure continuous release of national IDs
Sen. Grace Poe urged the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to lay down their plans to ensure the continuous printing and release of national IDs amid the legal challenges with a private supplier.
Poe pointed out that around 116 million IDs were supposed to be printed since the national ID program started in 2021. However, only 67 million have been issued to date.
The BSP on August 15 issued a termination notice to AllCard Inc., the private firm it contracted to print the IDs, due to the latter's "failure to
deliver any or all of the goods specified in the contract."
However, a Quezon City Regional Trial Court last week ordered a stop to the contract's termination.
"Dapat talaga ay magsabi ng totoo ang Central Bank kung ano ba talaga ang naging problema dito. Totoo ba yung sinasabi nila na hindi ito subcontracted. Malinaw naman na mayroong ibang gumawa," Poe said.
"Tuloy-tuloy na rin sana yung printing ng ating IDs. Matagal na itong hinihintay ng ating mga kababayan, at pondo ng taumbayan ang nakataya rito," she added.
Poe asks the BSP and the PSA about their next steps as they await the resolution to the legal case.
"If they cannot resolve it legally, will another agreement be made to print the cards? This will be an additional cost to the people and the government," she said.
The senator also asked the Central Bank to shed light on reports that it contracted a firm based in Madras, India, for the ID printing.
"Gusto nating magkaroon ng diretsong sagot mula sa BSP. Iyong susunod nating hakbang ay ipatawag sila. Masyado nang atrasado ang national ID na sana ay nagagamit na ng ating mga kababayan," Poe added.
BERLIN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- A cafe in an apartment building was mostly destroyed by an explosion Wednesday morning, which was the third such incident in the city within 10 days. According to DPA and "Tagesschau," two nearby residents sustained minor injuries, while around 20 others from the building were safely evacuated without harm.
A large number of police and fire departments rushed to the site, but the cafe had been severely damaged, a fire department spokesman said. It took about an hour to extinguish the blaze by 4 a.m.. The extent of damage to other shops and apartments within the building is still unknown. Investigations are ongoing and authorities are actively seeking witnesses.
The Cologne police are probing whether this explosion is connected to a recent spate of blasts. Last week, two explosions rocked the city center -- one outside a fashion store on Ehrenstrasse, where witnesses spotted a man fleeing the scene, and another in front of a nightclub on Hohenzollernring. Additional incidents were reported over the weekend in Cologne and its surrounding areas.
Michael Esser, head of Cologne's criminal police, expressed concern last week, saying "We are facing major challenges due to unprecedented cases of violence and serious crime that have never occurred before in Cologne."
Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, meets with some high-level representatives attending the plenary meeting of the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (the GlobE Network) in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)
BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Li Xi, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC), met with some high-level representatives attending the plenary meeting of the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (the GlobE Network) in Beijing on Wednesday.
Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said China's unprecedented anti-corruption campaign since the 18th CPC National Congress has achieved overwhelming victory and been comprehensively consolidated.
He said China attaches great importance to international cooperation against corruption, earnestly implements the United Nations Convention against Corruption, and its anti-corruption proposals have contributed to global governance against corruption.
China is ready to work with other countries to uphold the values of fairness and justice, strengthen the international consensus on joint anti-corruption efforts, implement the principle of equality and inclusiveness, and jointly combat cross-border corruption, Li said.
Established in 2021, the GlobE Network is the world's most represented platform for anti-corruption law enforcement cooperation. Its plenary meeting is held in Beijing from Tuesday to Friday.
Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, meets with some high-level representatives attending the plenary meeting of the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (the GlobE Network) in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)
Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, meets with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Vietnam Ho Duc Phoc, who is in China to attend the 21st China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)
NANNING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on Tuesday met with leaders from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, who are in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to attend the 21st China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.
When meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Vietnam Ho Duc Phoc, Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said China is ready to work with Vietnam in accordance with the strategic direction set by the leaders of the two parties and the two countries to consolidate political mutual trust, enhance the synergy of development strategies, advance infrastructure connectivity, upgrade economic, trade and investment cooperation, cement public support, and push forward the building of the China-Vietnam community with a shared future.
Speaking highly of China's great development achievements, Ho Duc Phoc said Vietnam is willing to work with China to push for more results in practical cooperation in various fields to better benefit the two countries and the two peoples.
When meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers of Cambodia Vongsey Vissoth, Ding said China is willing to work with Cambodia to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, enhance the synergy between the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and Cambodia's development strategies, expand cooperation in emerging fields such as green development and digital economy, encourage Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Cambodia, implement more projects that benefit local people, and push the development of bilateral relations to a new level.
Vongsey Vissoth said Cambodia firmly pursues a friendly policy toward China and is willing to work with China to enrich the Diamond Hexagon cooperation framework, and join hands to build a Cambodia-China community with a shared future.
When meeting with Deputy Prime Minister of Laos Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune, Ding noted that this year marks the 15th anniversary of the China-Laos comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and China is willing to work with Laos, under the guidance of the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, to strengthen economic, trade and investment cooperation, accelerate the construction of major projects, set a new benchmark for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and work together to advance the process of national modernization.
Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune said Laos attaches great importance to the building of a Laos-China community with a shared future, and is willing to strengthen high-level interactions with China, deepen practical cooperation and push for long-lasting Laos-China friendly relations.
Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, meets with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers of Cambodia Vongsey Vissoth, who is in China to attend the 21st China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)
Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, meets with Deputy Prime Minister of Laos Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune, who is in China to attend the 21st China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)
NEW YORK (AP) Adam Pearson is an ardent believer in the old adage: Nothing wagered, nothing gained.
Before Pearson was an actor, he worked at the BBC out of college. He was hired for six months, but, like much in Pearsons life, he was determined to make the most of it.
I decided Im going to meet every person on this floor and ask them for coffee, Pearson says. If they say yes, great. If they, No, youre an idiot, I already know that. Ive lost nothing in that transaction.
Its all about taking risk and rolling dice, says Pearson.
For Pearson, that means something a little different than most. Since he was a young boy, Pearson has had neurofibromatosis, a condition that covers much of his face with benign skin tumors. But far from allowing that to define him, Pearson has become an acclaimed actor, a TV host and an activist for disabled people. He is braver than me. He is braver than you. He has acted, naked, across from Scarlett Johansson. In Aaron Schimbergs new film, A Different Man, he stars opposite Sebastian Stan. Most would say he steals the show.
This past year has been wild, Pearson said in a recent interview on a terrace at the New York offices of A24. If you had told me that Id work with Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan and Id be here talking to you right now, Id be like, Nope. Not going to happen.
A Different Man, which expands in theaters this week, has been causing a stir since it first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. It follows Edward (Stan, with prosthetics and makeup), a disfigured man whose apartment neighbor is a young playwright named Ingrid (Renate Reinsve). After undergoing experimental surgery, Edward is shed of his neurofibromatosis, making him look like, well, Sebastian Stan. Ingrid, not knowing its Edward, casts him in her play inspired by her friendship with Edward. But when a charismatic man with neurofibromatosis, Oswald (Pearson), shows up, he quickly upstages Edward.
At the end of this movie, everyone is going to see that Sebastian Stan is jealous of Adam Pearson, and theyre going to believe and understand that, says Schimberg. In a way, its me trying to take ownership of this idea that being different has value. People are coming away from it feeling like Adam is a star.
Pearson, 39, grew up in the London district of Croydon. He has an identical twin brother named Neil who shares his condition though it manifests as short-term memory loss for Neil. After college, Pearson gravitated toward television. He parlayed his initial experience at the BBC into work on a number of series and documentaries, including several on himself.
I found out who I was by trying loads of things that I wasnt and by realizing the facade of trying to please people is equally as miserable as the loneliness, says Pearson. Once youre comfortable in your own skin and figure that out, and get to the point where youre like, It is who I am, like it or lump it, and the people that matter dont mind and the people that mind dont matter, thats when you can really find your way.
Pearson's first acting job was in Jonathan Glazers 2013 film Under the Skin, in which he played one of the men picked up and slaughtered by Johanssons extraterrestrial. It was a unique baptism into the vulnerability required for acting. Pearson found that, in getting lost in the moment, acting could be freeing.
Pearson co-starred in Schimbergs 2019 film Chained for Life, playing an actor acting opposite a beautiful woman (Jess Weixler). The experience was rewarding for Schimberg but some of the discussion around it led to A Different Man. Some alleged Pearsons casting was exploitative, an argument that struck Schimberg as illustrative. Schimberg, who has a cleft palate, had written the role partially based on himself. He considers disability a core subject for himself as a filmmaker.
More than that, though, Schimberg felt the criticism represented a telling dilemma. He had spent much of his life seeing deformity portrayed inauthentically in movies like 1985s Mask or 2017s Wonder by able bodied actors. If some took issue with Pearson appearing in a movie at all, what did that say about peoples willingness to watch and empathize for people living for deformity?
Schimberg resolved to structure A Different Man as a movie that begins with one kind of portrayal and morphs into a more authentic one. He also wanted Pearsons role to be more reflective of his personality.
Partially because he was shy in Under the Skin and partially because characters with disfigurements are often portrayed as shy, everyone assumed he was shy, says Schimberg. Until I met him, I wouldnt have known, either, how extraverted and gregarious he is.
And on a deeper level, I was personally inspired by him," Schimberg adds. "It almost threw me into an identity crisis. I have a cleft palate. Im socially awkward, Im shy. Ive always sort of blamed this on having a cleft palate and the way Ive been treated because of it. When I meet Adam, I questioned: Why can he be this way and I cant be this way?
Oswald isnt quite Pearson, though hes close. Oswald is me but with the volume turned way up, turned up to reference my favorite film to 11, says Pearson. Hes really charming so theres a little bit of Ryan Gosling, Stupid Crazy Love.
Before shooting began, Pearson worked with Stan to synchronize and compare parts of their movements and performances. He was also learning. Ive always said, if you want to learn how to do something, find someone who does it better than you and just get in their way.
Pearson has spent two years working on a documentary about storytelling. On his recent trip to New York, he was shooting around the city for it. But A Different Man is, he says, the biggest thing Ive done. Its the breakout.
Reading all the reviews and the press and stuff has been somewhat overwhelming, Pearson says. Im trying to play it cool. Im like a duck. On the surface, I look cool and sleek and elegant. And underneath Im kicking like mad. Well see what happens. If this is where the acting journey ends, Im going out on a high. Im not taking anything for granted. Im remembering to take a breath and enjoy it all and not get too caught up in it."
Asked to recall a moment from this year that he'll cherish, Pearson describes attending the Berlin Film Festival with his mother and brother.
For years, my mum has been like Youre not famous in this house,' Pearson says. "And then she saw me on the red carpet and she thought, 'Maybe he is a little bit famous.
And he's getting used to it. Schimberg thinks Pearson might be more comfortable promoting A Different Man than Stan, the veteran actor of Marvel movies.
In the trailer its like, Adam Pearson steals the show.' And I go, Oh man, stealings illegal'" Pearson says, laughing. "But Im also like: Yeah. Yeah. Adam Pearson, turn up, steal the show, go home, repeat. Thats the plan now.
The head of the Albanian Royal family, Crown Prince Leka II, has revealed on social media that he has a new girlfriend just seven months after a messy split with his wife of eight years, whom he accused of physically assaulting him.
Leka is the grandson of the first and last king of the Albanians, the splendidly named King Zog, who ruled from 1928, when an Albanian monarchy was declared with the support of Mussolinis Italy, until 1939, when the country was invaded, again by Mussolini. The monarchy was abolished and Zog was exiled, living out his days between the Ritz hotel in London and the south of France.
Leka officially styles himself Crown Prince but is often referred to as the king of Albania by monarchist loyalists, as was his father.
Although he was born in exile in South Africa and grew up overseas, including stints in the U.K., Leka has lived largely in Albania since his twenties and has worked for the Albanian government.
He introduced his new partner, Tirana photographer Blerta Celibashi, at a dinner for Albanian and American entrepreneurs on Monday, according to a report in the Daily Mail. Leka also posted an image to Instagram.
His previous marriage to Elia Zaharia, ended in January. The couple are under a court order to keep five meters apart at all times, and after a clip of one marital fight surfaced online, Leka alleged Elia and her father had physically attacked him, while she said that her father was the victim of aggression from Leka which she tried to stop. They have a young daughter.
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U.K.-French film company Alief has boarded supernatural drama Horizonte by Colombias Cesar Augusto Acevedo, winner of the 2015 Cannes Camera d Or for his debut feature Land and Shade (La tierra y la sombra). Horizonte is Acevedos sophomore feature, which had its world premiere at the 49th Toronto Film Festival in early September.
We have been fans of Cesar Augusto since his first film, Land and Shade, said Aliefs Miguel Angel Govea who described Horizonte as a solid story of regret and redemption.
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We were drawn by Acevedos lyrical screenplay, mesmerizing visuals and the standout performances by Chiles grande dame, Paulina Garcia (Sebastian Lelios Gloria) and Colombian leading man Claudio Catano, who stars in Netflixs upcoming One Hundred Years of Solitude, said Govea who said that Alief first eyed the drama at the 2024 Toulouse Cinelatino Films in Progress 43 where it won the Grand Prix Cinema en Construction prize.
We are thrilled to introduce this supernatural drama to buyers at San Sebastian who are looking for something exotic to release in cinemas with international stars, said Govea, who co-founded Alief alongside partner, Brett Walker.
The trailer, debuting exclusively in Variety, follows Basilio (Catano) and his mother Ines (Garcia) who reunite in death to set off on a journey through a war-torn world.
As they embark on a mission to find Basilios missing father, they pass through destroyed towns, abandoned fields and rivers turned to cemeteries. Once a brutal criminal, Basilio is now forced to relive his past horrors with his mother as a witness. As they wander through this desolate world, they realize that only through great sacrifice can they find redemption and grasp the true meaning of life.
This film was born out of my own despair. From living day after day in a country that has become so used to death that it has completely forgotten the true value of life, said Acevedo, alluding to the armed conflict that tore through Colombia for decades.
It hurts to see how we have not only become desensitized to violence, but that it is increasingly difficult for us to have empathy for the pain of others. Or how else can we understand the senselessness of wanting to perpetuate a war in which all the armies are made up of the sons of the same land?, he added.
My intention with Horizonte is that we recognize the blinded lives of hundreds of thousands of Colombians killed and disappeared in the midst of the Colombian armed conflict. To stop thinking of them as just a number or a statistic and understand that they were human beings like us, with families, with dreams, with things to live for, he mused.
Boasting key players from Latin America and Europe, Horizonte is produced by Colombias Inercia and Frances Cine-Sud Promotion, run by Thierry Lenouvel, who also produced Land and Shade. It is co-produced by Chiles Quijote, Luxembourg-based Tarantula, Frances In Vivo Films and Unafilm, Germany.
Aliefs current titles include BBC Films drama thriller Edge of Summer with Josie Walker (Kneecap) and Nichola Burley (The Gold), sci fi mystery The Lonely Musketeer with Edward Hogg (Napoleon) and dark comedy Puddysticks with Mamoudou Athie (Kinds of Kindness) and Dan Bakkedahl (Veep).
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BEIRUT, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Hezbollah launched on Wednesday for the first time a medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile from Lebanon to attack the headquarters of Israel's intelligence agency Mossad, said the group in a statement.
"In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance, and in defense of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic Resistance launched a "Qader 1" ballistic missile targeting the Mossad headquarters in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, which is the headquarters responsible for assassinating leaders and blowing up pagers and wireless devices," said the statement.
Confrontations between Hezbollah and the Israeli army have escalated in recent days, as the group began shelling military sites in northern Israel with dozens of missiles, including "Fadi 1", "Fadi 2" and "Fadi 3" missiles, which it used for the first time since Oct. 8 last year.
Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been exchanging shelling across the Lebanese-Israeli border after the war broke out between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel in the Gaza Strip last October.
This image released by Disney shows Anna Delvey, left, and her dancing partner Ezra Sosa on the celebrity dance competition series "Dancing with the Stars," in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (Eric McCandless/Disney via AP)
LOS ANGELES (AP) Anna Sorokin, the convicted con artist who swindled banks, hotels and friends under the guise of being a heiress named Anna Delvey, has reached the end of her run on Dancing With the Stars.
As a controversial casting choice on the competition reality series, Sorokin had to don an ankle monitor on stage. Described as the notorious ankle bracelet fashionista" in the announcement of her casting, Sorokin is under house arrest for an impending deportation case.
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. 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 the deportation case.
After her performance to Suddenly I See by KT Tunstall on Tuesday with dance pro Ezra Sosa, Sorokin was cut from the series. Eliminations started in the series' second week and are based on votes from viewers.
Asked by the hosts Tuesday night what she was going to take away from the competition, Delvey pointedly said: Nothing.
She doubled down on Good Morning America on Wednesday saying her favorite part of the experience was getting eliminated.
Sorokin and Sosa spoke with The Associated Press last week after her initial performance. On dancing with her ankle monitor, which was bedazzled to match her costume, Sorokin said, Its actually not a big issue at all. Its pretty light and I asked them to make it tight so it doesnt dangle. So its not so bad.
Changes to Sorokin's house arrest conditions to accommodate filming the show in Los Angeles were unknown and it remains unclear how her lengthy deportation case will proceed.
Also eliminated on Tuesday's episode was Tori Spelling, an actor best known for Beverly Hills, 90210. After her elimination with partner Pasha Pashkov, Spelling described her time on the show as a crazy transformational journey and noted that she's glad she faced her fears despite being cut.
I just kept looking at my kids who were sitting in the audience and I was just like, I love you. I love you. And I wanted them to know that whatever happens, I love you and thank you for being proud of me, Spelling said. It goes fast and youre in your head because it is scary. Its really scary.
BALA-BILA: A world premiere performance by African master musicians
Balla Kouyate
KITTERY, Maine BALA-BILA brings together two African master musicians Balla Kouyate, from the West African country of Mali, and Matchume Zango, from the East African country of Mozambiquethrough a live performance framed as an intercultural musical conversation between the two artists. This living-room-style concert features Kouyate and Zango as composers and multi-instrumentalists sharing the joy, beauty and complexity of their music, and it is a unique opportunity for the audience to get to know them as human beings, artists, ambassadors, and global citizens as they explore their connection to each other, their art, and their cultural patrimony.
Matchume Zango
The performance is $25 advance and $30 day-of, and takes place Saturday, Oct. 12, at 7:30 p.m., at The Dance Hall: 7 Walker St., Kittery, Maine. Tickets are available at: https://portsmouthnhtickets.com/events/bala-bila-10-12-2024.
The Art Center presents Attachments, the latest series by artist Kate Higley
Attachments, the latest series by artist Kate Higley is on exhibit through Oct. 31, 2024 at The Art Center.
DOVER Higleys work derives from a life-long bittersweet affection for the scents, sights, sounds and wildlife in marshes, estuaries, creeks, and wetlands, along with deep concerns about their destruction. Growing up within yards of a tidal creek, she has lived in many inland places but was drawn back to the seacoast where she now lives and has her studio in Eliot, Maine. The Heath, a triptych in oil and cold wax, derives its name from an area of Eliot recently noticed on an old map. Combining her long history with both painting and printmaking, the Sycamore pieces began life with prints from leaves of a tree behind the Woodman Institute in Dover, one of the tallest in N.H. The work evolved via layers of oil and cold wax into the complex works on display.
The exhibition will run now through Oct. 31 at The Art Center, with an artist reception scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 5, from 6-9 p.m. The Art Center located at 1 Washington St., Suite 1177, Dover, N.H.
Garrison Players Arts Center presents Black Coffee by Agatha Christie
ROLLINSFORD Garrison Players Arts Center presents Black Coffee by Agatha Christie at Garrison Players Arts Center, Corner of Roberts Road and Portland Ave (Rte 4), Rollinsford on Oct. 11-13, 18-20, 25-26. Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays, at 4 p.m., Sundays, at 2 p.m.
Black Coffee is the first original play from the pen of Agatha Christie. In this classic murder mystery, Poirot and Captain Hastings are summoned to the grand house of Sir Claud Amory, a scientist whose breakthrough atomic formula he has been working on has been stolen! However, before he can discover the truth, he is murdered. In true Agatha Christie style, Poirot is left to solve the case with the ever-faithful Hastings by his side.
Directed by Phil Hammond (pwhammond2@gmail.com)
Tickets are available at https://www.garrisonplayers.org/mainstageseason. Adults $22, Seniors $18, Students $15. For more information about auditions, shows, volunteering, sponsorship, or GPAC, visit the website at www.garrisonplayers.org .
New Hampshire Theatre Projects Elephant-in-the-Room Series presents Aftermath by Tim Barretto
New Hampshire Theatre Projects Elephant-in-the-Room Series presents Aftermath by Tim Barretto, on Oct. 23, 2024.
PORTSMOUTH On Wednesday, Oct. 23, from 7-9 p.m., the Town of Durham and the University of New Hampshires police departments and the Durham Fire Department host New Hampshire Theatre Projects Elephant-in-the-Room Series: a staged reading of the play Aftermath by Tim Barretto, focusing on Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) in First Responders. Aftermath is the story of one firefighter and how the reverberations of a tragic accident triggers his PTS and profoundly affects his life, as well as his family and colleagues.
After the reading, a facilitated community discussion features panelists who are familiar with and invested in the topic of PTS in First Responders. The Oct. 23 panel will include: Dr. Nicole Sawyer, Doctor of Psychology, specialist in the treatment of PTS; Durham Police Captain Jack Dalton; and Deputy Fire Chief Rob Atwater. Playwright Tim Barretto will also join the panel.
All Elephant-in-the-Room Series programs are free and open to the public and we ask that participants register on the NHTP website at: nhtheatreproject.org/onstagenow.
NHTP's Elephant-in-the-Room Series seeks to illuminate and discuss issues like PTS through community conversations, and help connect the public with available resources. This presentation of Aftermath is cosponsored by the Durham and UNH Police Departments with additional support from the Durham Fire Department.
New Hampshire Art Association October Exhibitions: Opening Oct. 4
PORTSMOUTH All mentioned exhibitions will be showcased at the New Hampshire Art Association from Oct. 3 to Oct. 27. Join us for the opening reception on Friday, Oct. 4, from 5-8 p.m. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m.
An American Landscape, oil, by Joe Flaherty
Main Gallery: No Longer Brushed Aside
The New Hampshire Art Association presents No Longer Brushed Aside, an exhibition that highlights the transformative work of artists who participated in the NHAAs comprehensive 8-week Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging (DEIAB) workshop. Led by Richard Haynes, Amanda Kidd-Kestler, Mandela Pruett, and Greg Hankinson, the workshop centered on understanding race and racism in the United States with more nuance. The first four weeks included group discussions on pressing social issues surrounding systematic racism. During the final four weeks of the program, participants engaged in critique groups and exercises to strengthen their ideas for producing artwork. The final exhibition includes a collection of works that reflect and celebrate each artists perspective. Their work demonstrates how the workshop has influenced how they approach the artmaking process from idea to execution. The participating artists will hold an artist talk on Oct. 19, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Levy Gallery.
Beneth, photography, Larry Smuckler
Group and Solo Exhibitions:
Interiors/Exteriors by NHAA Photo Group
Discover the delicate balance between what is seen and what is felt in Interiors/Exteriors, a captivating collection of photographs by nine NHAA photographers. Photographs have the power to imply the unseen, often with emotional force, that is the power that these nine photographers have sought to harness. This evocative exhibition invites viewers to contemplate two layers of meaning: the exteriorthe surface captured by the lensand the interior a deeper exploration of mood, memory, and personal interpretation.
Tittle-Tattling Trio, oil, Taylor Comisky
Sea Dreams by Taylor Comisky
Artist Taylor Comusky bridges myth and modernity in her first-ever solo exhibition, Sea Dreams. Her collection of oil paintings will transport you to peaceful, whimsical scenes, where mermaids thrive in untroubled environments, far removed from the societal pressures of human life. Whether they're collecting shells, chatting with friends, or simply exploring their tranquil surroundings, these mermaids live free from any struggles. This idea is reflected in the artists own challenges with mental health and body image. Her mermaids offer a glimpse of a utopia where people of various sizes and colors can live harmoniously; at peace with themselves and each other. Rich with blue tones, the underwater settings of Sea Dreams evoke a sense of calm, while warm yellow and green hues filter through the surface, creating a relaxing escape for both the artist and the viewer. For Comisky, the world of mermaids has been a cherished fascination since childhood. "Turning back to mermaids has allowed me to reconnect with the joyful memories of my youth, while also applying the technical skills I honed at Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt)," she explains. Her education has shaped her ability to create lifelike, atmospheric environments, particularly through her studies of the human form and aquatic life at the New England Aquarium. Taylor is the recipient of the D. Pratt Framer Grant which funded the total exhibition fees.
New Day Dawning, oil, Debbie Campbell
A Brush with Nature: An Exhibit in Oil and Watercolor By Sherie Dowsett and Debbie Campbell
While oil and water traditionally do not mix, Debbie Campbell and Sherie Dowsett seamlessly blend their different approaches in their joint exhibition A Brush with Nature: An Exhibit in Oil and Watercolor. From expansive summer views across lakes and stormy Maine seascapes to intimate moments with woodland creatures, their impressionistic style invites viewers to immerse themselves in the regions dynamic and ever-changing natural world. The artists work together to capture the diverse beauty of New England landscapes and wildlife.
Cardinal, watercolor, Sherie Dowsett
Meet the artists behind Coastline Abstracted
Harbor Abstraction by Tom Glover
CAPE NEDDICK, Maine Coastline Abstracted, a fine art exhibition of seascapes by the Abstract 4, Tom Glover, Dustan Knight, Peter Cady, and Barbara Adams joined by Amy Brnger, Kathleen Robbins, and Jeffrey Fitzgerald, opened Sept. 18, at the Cliff House Hotel in Cape Neddick, Maine.Coastline Abstracted will delight viewers with abstracted images of crashing waves and thundering surf along with quiet tide pools on the rocky coast of Maine.There will be a special reception to meet the artists on Wednesday, Oct. 9 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The exhibition will run through Dec. 30.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exhibits, galleries, theater and more: Seacoast arts and culture news
IDFA Announces First Competition Lineups; Taps No Other Land, Sugarcane And More For Prestigious Best Of Fests Section
The worlds biggest documentary film festival is starting to roll out its competition lineup for the 2024 event.
International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), set to run from November 14-24, unveiled the full slate for the Short Documentary section today, featuring 12 world premieres among the 16 titles in competition. Among them is Iron, a new 40-minute film from Ukrainian-born, Latvia-based director Vitaly Mansky (Eastern Front, Putins Witnesses). [Scroll for the complete list of competition films and other titles announced today].
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According to Manskys website, Iron consists of several novels about humans and military equipment in cities where military equipment resembles monuments on pedestals, where it is exhibited in fairs and special events, where it adorns festive parades and rusts in scrap yards.
Other highlights from the Short Documentary competition include personal stories on grief, such as the mixed media exploration into losing someone close to you, Tough Love by Pat Heywood, and stop-motion animation Mama Micra by Rebecca Blocher that examines how far people are willing to go to quench their thirst for personal freedom, IDFA notes.
In another of the Short Documentary titles, The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing, director Theo Panagopoulos revisits archival footage of Palestines floral splendor from the 1930s, showing the complex relationship between the land and its inhabitants.
International Documentary Festival Amsterdam
IDFA also revealed the lineups for its Youth Documentary competition, a curated list of films separated into two sections films of special relevance to the age group 9-12, and films of special relevance to the age group 13+.
Among the Youth Documentary highlights, IDFA cites My Homeland: Moving beyond one-dimensional stereotypes, Tabarak Allah Abbas replaces people with cyborgs in her imaginative animation that tells the story of how her parents overcame fleeing Iraq, packed as a superhero adventure.
In reference to another Youth Documentary film, IDFA writes, In a break from traditional narrative arch, Camille Vignys Crushed parallels the story of a young girls love story turned violent with footage of car race crashes.
Heading into its 37th edition, the festival released the first details on several of other high-profile sections: Signed, a showcase for the latest cinematic adventures of some of the most original filmmakers of our time, and Paradocs, which puts the spotlight on the years experimental documentary art.
IDFA announced the first documentaries selected for its prestigious Best of Fests category, the festivals choice of the top documentary films that have premiered earlier in the year (additional Best of Fests titles will be revealed in October). Those films include:
Black Box Diaries, directed by Shiori Ito
No Other Land, directed by Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Balal, Rachel Szor, and Basel Adra
Sudan, Remember Us, directed by Hind Meddeb
Sugarcane, directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
IDFAs International Competition lineup and other slates will be announced in the coming weeks.
An IDFA audience takes in a screening
These are the program details announced today:
Selected films: IDFA Competition for Short Documentary
Archipelago of Earthen Bones To Bunya, dir. Malena Szlam (Canada/Australia/Chile), 20 European Premiere
Bloodline, dir. Wojciech Weglarz (Poland), 12 World Premiere
Cohabitants, dir. Viesturs Kairiss (Estonia), 20 International Premiere
Echoes Within, dir. Pranami Koch (India), 26 World Premiere
Entretierra, dir. Emanuel Licha (Canada), 22 World Premiere
The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing, dir. Theo Panagopoulos (United Kingdom), 17 International Premiere
How to Suture the Soil?, dir. Wil Paucar Calle (Ecuador), 17 World Premiere
The Iron, dir. Vitaly Mansky (Latvia), 40 World Premiere
Lanawaru, dir. Angello Faccini (Colombia/United States/Mexico), 16 World Premiere
Mama Micra, dir. Rebecca Blocher (Germany), 24 World Premiere
Noise: Unwanted Sound, dir. Hyejin Jung (Netherlands/South Korea), 20 World Premiere
The Other Side of the Mountain, dir. Shirley Yumeng He (United States/China), 20 World Premiere
Paci, dir. Juliette Roudet (France), 33 International Premiere
Tokkotai Paqueta, dir. Cao Guimaraes (Brazil), 28 World Premiere
Tough Love, dir. Pat Heywood (United States), 16 World Premiere
Unwritten Letter, dir. Silvana Alarcon Sanchez (Peru), 5 World Premiere
Selected films: IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary Films in the 9-12 category:
A Place to Call Home, dir. Parisa Aminolahi (Netherlands), 10 World Premiere
The Flower by the Road, dir. Giorgi Parkosadze (Georgia/Hungary/Portugal/Belgium), 15 World Premiere
The Invisible Ones, dir. Martijn Blekendaal (Netherlands/Belgium), 75 World Premiere
Whats the Film About, dir. Poorva Dinesh (India), 16 Dutch Premiere
With Grace, dir. Julia Dahr, Dina Mwende (Norway/Kenya), 29 World Premiere
Films in the 13+ category:
Crushed, dir. Camille Vigny (Belgium), 13 Dutch Premiere
Hey Dad, dir. WeiFan Wang (Taiwan), 6 Dutch Premiere
My Homeland, dir. Tabarak Allah Abbas (Switzerland), 13 Dutch Premiere
Simply Divine, dir. Melody Boulissiere (France), 15 Dutch Premiere
Somewhere to Be, dir. sara fattahighahnaviyeh (Netherlands), 8 World Premiere
Signed
Signed showcases the latest cinematic adventures of some of the most original filmmakers of our time. The program celebrates those with a unique artistic signature, beyond the canon.
This editions selection is illustrious, bringing together the most well-known filmmakers and a younger generation of exceptional auteurs. Among them, award-winning filmmaker Radu Jude presents found-footage documentary Eight Postcards from Utopia, showing the commercials from Romanias transition to a capitalist democracy, and impressionist desktop film Sleep #2, capturing live stream recordings of Andy Warhols grave. With a singular artistic approach, Mati Diops widely celebrated Dahomey critically examines questions of repatriation of African artefacts from Europe.
Several renowned directors push the boundaries of music film in this years program. Andrei Ujica revisits 1965 in TWST Things We Said Today, offering a poetic yet unembellished look at The Beatles as they captivate New York while the Watts riots erupt in Los Angeles. Kevin Macdonalds One to One: John & Yoko creatively collages early 70s footage, exploring Lennon and Onos idealistic vision for a better world. The full program will be announced in October.
Best of Fests
The expansive Best of Fests section presents the years most eye-catching and celebrated films from various festivals from around the world. The selection uses vastly diverse styles and genres to take us to the worlds most burning topics.
The pressing urgency of conflict is ever-present in the selection. The outstanding film No Other Land by Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Balal, Rachel Szor, and Basel Adra documents ceaseless Israeli attacks on a network of Palestinian villages in the West Bank. The film received IDFA Bertha Fund support in 2022. In Sudan, Remember Us, Hind Meddeb captures young activists in their struggle for a livable and democratic Sudan.
Other films traverse the world to depict heartfelt stories of resistance. After experiencing sexual assault, journalist Shiori Itos Black Box Diaries documents her search for justice in the face of a Japanese culture of silence. Following the discovery of unmarked graves near an indigenous reserve, Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassies Sugarcane reveals a long history of abuse and neglect of indigenous children in Canadian state-led boarding schools. The full selection will be announced in October.
Paradocs
Paradocs showcases the years experimental documentary art. Several established names in the visual arts present their explorations into filmmaking. Avant-garde legend John Smith reflects on his life and career by means of his nondescript name in Being John Smith.
In Misty Man, Ansuya Blom alternates powerful scenes of a young man behind barbed wire with 8mm footage from the family archive and footage shot more recently in Suriname. Showcasing filmmakers experiment into form, highlights include the visceral and harrowing first-person documentation of the trenches in Ukraine in Real by filmmaker Oleh Sentsov. The full selection will be announced in October.
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Beisel's fellow Olympians came out in full force for the nuptials, among them Katie Ledecky, Caeleb Dressel and Missy Franklin
Frame and Anchor Jack Nichting and Elizabeth Beisel celebrate their wedding in Rhode Island on Sept. 7, 2024
From the Olympic rings to a wedding ring!
Three-time Olympian Elizabeth Beisel tied the knot with Jack Nichting on Saturday, Sept. 7, on Bonnet Shores Beach in Narragansett, Rhode Island. They were joined by 140 guests, including fellow Olympic swimmers Katie Ledecky, Caeleb Dressel, Missy Franklin, Cullen Jones, Katie Hoff, Natalie Hinds and Allison Schmitt.
Beisel, 32, tells PEOPLE that she and Nichting, 29, had a few important non-negotiables for their big day including saying "I do" in a "barefoot in the sand ceremony." Overall, she says, they were aiming for "very laid-back vibes."
"We wanted a day that felt like us and that highlighted our beautiful home state of Rhode Island and the people that make up our community," continues Beisel, who won both a silver and a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. "Every single one of our vendors was either a friend or a local Rhode Island staple. We are immensely proud of where we live and the people who make it special."
Frame and Anchor Elizabeth Beisel and Jack Nichting kiss at their beach wedding ceremony in Rhode Island
Befitting their vision and the oceanside venue, they leaned into a "whimsical, boho beach" theme, with a color palette emphasizing earth tones and muted colors and rustic flowers by Harvest Moon Florals. "We wanted everything to seem effortless and natural to complement the stunning Rhode Island shoreline as our backdrop," Beisel notes.
While she describes planning the wedding as "insanely stressful" they opted not to hire an event planner and the athlete was overseas working for NBC at the Paris Olympics in the month leading up to her nuptials everything went off flawlessly in the end.
The wedding festivities commenced with a welcome party on the beach on Friday night, Sept. 6. On the big day, guests gathered on the beach once again to watch the couple recite handwritten vows to each other in an emotional ceremony officiated by close friend Jesse Stokes.
Beisel and Nichting exchanged rings a Kevin Duris Studios band for the groom, and a Shahla Karimi design for the bride before they were officially declared husband and wife.
Frame and Anchor Elizabeth Beisel and Jack Nichting celebrate their wedding ceremony in Rhode Island
Related: Olympic Swimmer Elizabeth Beisel Is Making Waves with Cancer Charity in Honor of Her Dad: 'It's Been Wonderful' (Exclusive)
Beisel walked herself down the aisle to an acoustic instrumental version of Over the Rainbow, performed by Acoustic Guitar Revival. "My dad lost his battle to cancer [in 2021]," she explains, "and I felt that if it wasnt my dad walking me down the aisle, it wasnt going to be anyone."
"It was incredibly empowering, and I loved everything it symbolized for me as a woman," she adds of the bittersweet experience.
Beisel wore a two-piece Behati dress by Grace Loves Lace, featuring a cropped top with sheer sleeves and a full circle skirt in a burnout silk embellished with a floral motif.
"I had my eyes on this dress long before I was even engaged," the athlete tells PEOPLE. "I loved how uniquely beautiful it was and how it mirrored the relaxed but elevated vibe of a beach wedding. Most importantly, I felt like myself in it."
Frame and Anchor Jack Nichting and Elizabeth Beisel pose at their Rhode Island wedding
For the reception at the historic Casey Farm in Saunderstown, Beisel changed into Cult Gaia's Bebe minidress, which perfectly captured the wedding's theme and ambiance with its intricate beaded marine landscape design.
"It wasnt white, and I didnt care," she says of the striking look. "It was exactly what I envisioned myself in. The dress was hand-beaded with the colors of the ocean cerulean, pearl, green and hues of light blue which matched my love for the ocean and how our entire wedding day centered around it."
Frame and Anchor One of Elizabeth Beisel and Jack Nichting's non-negotiables as having a barefoot beach wedding ceremony
As the celebration continued, the couple and their guests enjoyed a sprawling charcuterie table curated by Grapes & Gourmet and an oyster and shrimp boat from Watch Hill Catering.
Beisel and Nichting's favorite restaurant in Rhode Island, Perro Salado prepared the dinner which included chips, tostones, homemade guacamole and salsa on the tables to start.
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Guests then dined on build-your-own burrito bowls with cilantro lime rice, black beans, fajita vegetables, chipotle street corn, lettuce, cilantro, jalapenos, cheese, tamarind-braised beef, chicken tinga and house-made spicy tofu, along with a vegan chipotle aioli and chimichurri sauce to finish.
Frame and Anchor The charcuterie table at Elizabeth Beisel and Jack Nichting's Rhode Island wedding
Related: Olympic Swimmer Abbey Weitzeil Marries Michael Jensen in 'Dream Come True' Napa Valley Wedding! (Exclusive)
In a special touch, Nichting's mother, Lisa, made her son and daughter-in-law's wedding cake a three-tier carrot cake with cream cheese frosting in a tribute to Nichting's late father, David. One of the couple's best friends, Hannah Arczynsk, hand decorated the cake with flowers.
"The cake was just for us, so we had our favorite local ice cream shop, Barons, scoop six of their top flavors for our guests throughout the night," Beisel adds.
Frame and Anchor The oyster and shrimp boat at Elizabeth Beisel and Jack Nichting's Rhode Island wedding
When it was time for the newlyweds to share their first dance, they had the perfect tune for the occasion.
"Jack and I both play music, so we went to a local Rhode Island studio called Big Nice and recorded our first dance song, which was a cover of Ed Sheerans 'Tenerife Sea,' " Beisel explains. "We didnt tell any of our guests, so what was already an intimate moment was even more special for us."
Their wedding weekend capped off with a farewell brunch at a park on the harbor in downtown Newport, and then Beisel and Nichting enjoyed a "mini moon" in Montauk, New York. They are planning "a proper honeymoon" in Patagonia next year.
Frame and Anchor Jack Nichting and Elizabeth Beisel at their Rhode Island wedding
Reminiscing about their special day, the couple who first met while traveling and got engaged in July 2022 on Cape Elizabeth in Maine says their wedding "couldn't have been more perfect."
"All we cared about was being barefoot on the beach and having a day that felt completely true to us and what we valued most," Beisel tells PEOPLE.
Frame and Anchor Elizabeth Beiseil and Jack Nichting run barefoot on the beach at their Rhode Island wedding
The pair are looking forward to all the big and small things about married life.
"Being married means no matter what, we always have someone we can lean on, count on, and trust in," Beisel says, jokingly adding, "Honestly, Jack is just stoked to finally wear his wedding band. I'm stoked I can officially rely on Jack to do all the cooking for the rest of their lives cooking is not my strong suit."
The two say they have "a long list of dreams" they hope to chase together. For Beisel, that includes pursuing a new career as a touring violinist/instrumentalist while running her charity, Block Cancer. Jack will continue his work in humanitarian assistance, while "finding a better balance between work and spending time at home with his wife and friends."
Along the journey, Beisel says, "we both have a guaranteed cheerleader [in each other]."
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Police are investigating in the wake of a swatting incident at actress Jennifer Aniston's home in Los Angeles, Calif. Last Friday, the police received a concerning phone call that led them to make a welfare check on the provided addresswhich turned out to belong to Hollywood star Aniston.
Law enforcement told TMZ that they got a call from someone allegedly concerned about their friend, saying that they were "not doing well" and alluding to depression and other worrying things.
Staying anonymous, the caller requested a welfare check on their "friend," providing an address but no name. As a result, when the police arrived at Aniston's home, both parties were surprised by the situation. The police reportedly arrived not long after midnight and were met by the Morning Show actress' security.
The police noted that this was when they realized whose house they were at, and soon after, they spoke with Aniston and checked on her wellbeing. The 55-year-old clarified that she was fine and there was no chance of her hurting herself, as the caller insinuated.
These sorts of events are known as "swatting," which is a criminal harassment act in which someone makes a false report to the police that leads them to send an emergency response team to the intended victim's home. Along with Aniston, other reported victims of swatting include Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise and more.
After the police clarified the situation with Aniston, they reportedly recorded the actress' address so that, if someone calls about a potential situation there again, they can contact her security before sending resources out. They are also investigating the phone call as swatting after identifying the situation, although no further updates on the case have been shared.
Next: Jennifer Aniston Shares "Big News" With Fans in Exciting New Announcement
NEW YORK Suge Knight issued a warning to his long-time rival Sean Diddy Combs after the Bad Boy moguls arrest in an interview from prison.
Speaking with NewsNations Chris Cuomo, the former Death Row Records executive, who is currently serving out a 28-year sentence, sent a message that Combs has a target on his back and that there are inmates incarcerated with him in Brooklyn who would harm Diddy to make a name for themselves.
The former Death Row head also spoke on why he believes no one is coming to Diddys defense.
Nobodys stepping (up to defend him) for the fact that you know whats going on, Suge said.
On the latest episode of his podcast, Collect Call with Suge Knight, he also claims to know secrets about Combs alleged criminal activities. Ill tell you what, Puffy, your life is in danger cause you know the secrets of whos involved in that little secret room you guys are participating in. You know they gonna get you if they can I turned myself in. Sometimes you gotta face the music, thats most of the time.
Combs is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City, which is known for having sickening conditions. Meanwhile Knight is currently serving 28 years in prison because of a 2015 hit-and-run case.
On the day she was supposed to retire in April 2022, Vicky White went missing.
White had been a dedicated corrections officer for 17 years at the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama, and it wasnt like her to just disappear.
But when her coworkers realized an inmate from the prison, Casey White, had also vanished, they pieced together the unbelievable truth: Vicky White, the detention centers assistant director, had broken Casey White out of jail, and they were on the run together.
The story of their escape from prison made national headlines at the time, and its being revisited in a new Netflix documentary, Jailbreak: Love on the Run.
The documentary explores how Casey White and Vicky White (who were not related) began their unlikely romance and how they planned their jailbreak. It also explains how authorities ultimately tracked them down in an 11-day manhunt, which ended in Vicky Whites death and a life sentence for Casey White.
Read on to learn more about the true story behind Netflixs Jailbreak: Love on the Run.
Inside Vicky White and Casey White's secret relationship
Vicky White had been an inspiration to coworkers and inmates alike during her nearly two decades as assistant director of operations at the Lauderdale County Detention Center. By all accounts, she was someone who showed care and compassion to inmates and staff alike.
She treated everybody like they were somebody, former inmate Tyler Purser said in the documentary. She was like the mother figure that everybody in there never had growing up.
Vicky White met Casey White at some point after he arrived as an inmate at the prison in August 2020.
Vicky White was a respected senior employee at the detention center.
Casey White was sent to the detention center as he awaited trial for the 2015 murder of Connie Ridgeway, a 58-year-old mother of two, and he was also serving a 75-year sentence for other unrelated crimes. Casey White had confessed to Ridgeways 2015 murder in a letter sent from prison in 2020, AL.com reported.
As of July 2023, prosecution in the 2015 murder case has been suspended, Alabama publication WHNT confirmed, quoting a filing by Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly. Ridgeways murder remains under investigation.
Connolly said Ridgeways children support the decision.
Suspending the prosecution of Casey White will allow investigators additional time to complete their investigation and will preserve State resources. In the meantime, Casey White is right where he belongs; in Donaldson Prison.
Its unknown exactly how Casey White and Vicky White struck up a relationship, but it may have begun when Casey White reportedly commented on Vicky Whites body from the window of his cell.
Thats according to Matt Burbank, a former investigator with the Lauderdale County Sheriffs Office, who interviewed an inmate who described the alleged encounter.
Instead of Vicky shutting him down, from all accounts, she was flattered by that, Burbank said in the documentary. And thats probably where its started.
Vicky White and Casey White entered into a secret romantic relationship that spanned about two years, police officers said at the time.
In recordings of their phone calls shared in the documentary, they talked about their love for each other and daydreamed about being together in the outside world.
After my first year being out, will you promise me youll marry me? Casey White said in one call shared in the documentary.
In another call, Casey White asked Vicky White what made her accept his advances.
Casey White and Vicky White met at the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama.
I dont know. I guess I knew you was a country boy, and I was curious, I guess, she said. I dont know. I thought you was just messing with me.
You sure didnt think you were going to fall in love did you? he said.
No, I didnt, she said.
I didnt either, he replied.
In another conversation, Casey White assured Vicky White that their age difference wasnt an issue for him. He was 38 at the time and she was 56.
Youre my queen. Youre my everything, he said. And I know youre a couple years older than I am. I dont care, babe.
The pair continued their relationship by phone even when Casey White was returned to a state prison in Donaldson, Alabama, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said in a 2022 statement shared by TODAY.
In February 2022, a few months before his escape, Casey White was transferred back to the detention center where Vicky White worked.
How did they carry out their jailbreak?
Vicky White had reportedly been planning her and Casey Whites escape for months. Shortly before the escape, she also sold her home for about $95,000, well below market value, according to the documentary and shared by WAAY 31 News. She then purchased a 2007 Ford Edge, investigators shared, per NBC News.
This escape was obviously well planned and calculated. A lot of preparation went into this, Singleton later said in a press conference. They had plenty of resources. They had cash, had vehicles and everything they needed to pull this off.
Vicky White surprised her co-workers when she suddenly handed in her retirement notice. On her last day of work on April 29, 2022, she told her colleagues she was transporting Casey White to court for a mental health evaluation.
She had likely picked a Friday for her escape because that was always a busy court day at the prison, and she could more easily conceal her comings and goings, Singleton told NBC News in an interview.
Vicky White was in charge of arranging transports at the prison and she used her knowledge of the system, and her authority within the detention center, to make sure no transport deputies on staff would intercept her and Casey White.
She used her position, and I think she coordinated her transports, to ensure there were no transport deputies there, Singleton said in the NBC News interview.
Later that day, prison officials realized both Casey White and Vicky White were missing, marking the beginning of an 11-day manhunt spanning multiple states.
How did authorities track Casey White and Vicky White down?
On May 5, authorities said in a press conference that the Ford Edge that Vicky White had purchased before their escape had turned up abandoned on the side of a road in Williamson County, Tennessee, about a four-hour drive from Florence, Alabama, NBC Newsreported at the time.
This gave police some sense of which direction the pair had headed after fleeing the detention center.
On May 9, authorities revealed they had traced the couple farther north to Indiana. U.S. Marshals said they had received an earlier tip that a second vehicle, a Ford F-150 pickup, had been spotted at a car wash in Evansville, Indiana, and confirmed that a man seen alongside the car in surveillance footage was Casey White, as shown in the documentary.
In the surveillance footage from the car wash, Casey White could be seen climbing into a gray Cadillac sedan being driven by Vicky White, U.S. Marshals Commander Chad Hunt said in the documentary.
Law enforcement officers then began driving around Evansville, looking for any trace of the fugitives, when they spotted the couples gray Cadillac parked outside a Motel 6.
The duo eventually emerged from the motel and began driving in their gray Cadillac. They soon realized they were being followed by police, and a high-speed chase ensued.
The crashed car Alabama fugitives Casey White and Vicky White were using at the time of their capture on May 9, 2022.
What happened to Vicky White?
During the police chase, Vicky White apparently called 911.
Stop! The airbags are going to go off and kill us, she could be heard shouting in audio from the 911 call released by authorities. The airbags are going off. Lets get out and run.
Police rammed into their sedan and pushed it into a ditch to stop their escape.
Casey White was pulled from the car and surrendered to authorities.
Vicky White was later declared dead at the nearby Deaconess Hospital. She died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Vanderburgh County Coroner Steve Locklear said in a statement.
Following the crash, multiple weapons were found in their vehicle, as well as about $29,000 and multiple wigs, authorities said in a press conference, NBC News reported at the time
Where is Casey White now?In June 2023, Casey White was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to escape, according to NBC News.
He is currently incarcerated at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Donaldson, Alabama, according to his inmate record from the Alabama Department of Corrections.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Ask Robb: I Want to Go on a Round-the-World Journeybut Where Should I Start?
Welcome to Ask Robb. At Robb Report, weve assembled a crack team of the worlds best travel specialists, our Travel Masters. Their expertise and insight in luxury travel of all kinds is unparalleled. So were tapping into it directly for a new series, where our readersthats youpose the pickiest travel problems to the panel. These arent workaday issues, whether wrangling a refund or booking a guide, but rather the unique, specific challenges that only veteran globetrotters face.
Dear Robb Report: I want to take a round-the-world tripperhaps not in 80 days, but whatever it takes. What are my options by air and sea, and what would you recommend? What prep should I make for this kind of journey? Yours, Flighty Phileas
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Its not surprising youre interested in this idea, as the air cruise industry has made these jaunts more accessible than ever. Companies like TCS World Travel, Four Seasons and Safrans du Monde all operate round-the-world itineraries in charter jets that whisk a small group of well-heeled, jet-lag-fighting travelers round the globe at a breakneck pace, usually around three weeks or so. The real luxury, though, lies in planning one thats entirely private and personalized, so you dont ever risk a dull bus tour or a delayed departure thanks to an always-late couple.
Jules Maury of Scott Dunn Private spent a year sailing the high seas herself, bouncing from island to island, so she understands the yearning to circumnavigate the globe at your own pace and to your exact preference. When shes been tapped to plan such trips for clients, her first question is simple: Where are the must-see destinations? Shell then suggest the time of year when a client should kick off their trip.
You cant go round the world in the same seasonyou have two hemispheres that are so different, she explains.
In summertime, for example, northern Australia and Bali are beautiful and its peak safari season, too. Tokyo, though, will be clammy and muggy, while Indias temperatures will make much sightseeing impractical. If Japans a priority, shed recommend delaying departure until the fall, though that will likely mean a trade-off in the South Pacific where wet season there starts in November.
One option, of course, is to follow the lead of one Scott Dunn Private client, who simply booked two round-the-worlders, departing months apart, so he could see everywhere at its peak season. Each trip took between 33 and 42 nights. Traveling as a couple, he paid $300,000 but scored some airfare bargains by booking ahead on the other trip, and cut his costs to $225,000. These are longer itineraries than the commercially operated air cruises, and for good reason.
Its critical to tell people they cant do it too fast, Maury warns. Or youll get exhausted, or bored, or just want to go home.
Build in buffer time, too, in case of sicknessusing a travel specialist, of course, means you can turn to them to rejigger should you fall ill. Dont forget logistics, either: time to turnaround laundry, for example. You have to pace it, says Maury.
Christopher Wilmot-Sitwell of Cazenove & Loyd agrees. Take a moment to consider whether or not you even want to circumnavigate the world in a single trip, he suggests. He worked with one client who wanted to follow the footsteps of an ancestor, an 18th-century sea captain.
He wanted to take his family to all the places this chap had been to, on the amazing voyage he did. But there was not a way of doing that in a normal way, if you dont want to take a year out of your life, Wilmot-Sitwel says. Instead, the client broke up the journey into short trips over a 12-month period, covering four different continents. It was a round-the-world trip, carved into bite-sized pieces.
He also emphasizes that its important to consider the modes of transport. Sure, you can fly almost anywhere, but sometimes its better to take a train to see the countryside or a boat to experience the thrill of docking in a remote location. That ancestry-obsessed client, for instance, combined a charter plane, helicopter, and yacht on one leg, tapping an historian to join at each juncture.
All of the locations were so out of the beaten path of scheduled flights that this was the only way to achieve it, says Wilmot-Sitwell.
Maury concurs. Dont assume that a private charter for the entire trip is the best option. A Gulfstream 650 isnt particularly comfortable for long-haul trips, especially compared to, say, the first class cabin on Emirates.
Its not that comfortable to charter round the world, and not all the airports where youre going will have the greatest engineers, she notes, pointing out that delays can occur when a private plane malfunctions in the middle of nowhere.
To offset the commercial components, Maury has worked in sea planes and the Eastern Orient Express, among others, into such itineraries, in part because the romance of the journey is often at the root of why anyone plans such a trip.
Its that nostalgic Phileas Fogg instinct, like going back in time, she says. Its like imagining an old-fashioned globe with passport stamps all over it.
If you do plan that trip, Flighty Phileas, just make sure to send us a postcard.
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My brother proposed to his girlfriend at my wedding. I was the one who suggested it.
Rebekah Matamoros and her brother, Andrew Matamoros, have always had a very close relationship.
In 2018, Rebekah married Kenrick Roach, and they've been married for six years.
During Rebekah's wedding, her brother Andrew proposed to his now-wife, Jinnese Matamoros.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Rebekah Matamoros. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I'm a wedding and event planner living in Houston with my husband, Kenrick Roach. Kenrick and I first met at my previous job in January 2014. I thought he was handsome and sweet, and I would jokingly tell my coworkers, "I'm going to marry that guy." Keep in mind that he barely knew I existed at that time. I was at the company for around two years until I moved on to a new position.
After I left, one of my former coworkers told him I had a crush on him. He was surprised Kenrick told my coworker, "There's no way. She was really shy and quiet." Despite his surprise, he decided to take action, and he sent me a message on LinkedIn just saying hi. It may have been just a standard greeting message, but I was head over heels for him, so his message meant a lot to me.
We connected via LinkedIn around the time he was actually going to be headed overseas to Singapore for 18 months. He threw a going-away party that he invited me to. Attending his going-away party allowed us to facilitate a friendship that transitioned into dating long-distance while he was in Singapore, and we've been together ever since.
Kenrick and I purchased a home together in October 2017, and he proposed to me on New Year's Eve at our home in front of family and friends it was pretty intimate.
My brother and I are extremely close
Growing up, my brother Andrew Matamoros and I were always very close. He's my best friend. My parents made sure to instill a close relationship in us. They would say, "At the end of the day, no matter what happens, y'all are going to just have each other."
I had conversations with Andrew about popping the question to his then-girlfriend of seven years, Jinnese Matamoros, 39, before, but after I got engaged, I was like, "Bro, you need to pop the question at our wedding."
At first, Andrew was pretty adamant that his answer was a no. He insisted it was my special day and didn't want to take away from it, but I was also adamant. I told him, "She won't see it coming. Nobody will see it coming. It's the perfect opportunity." Two months before he got the ring, he finally said, "All right, let's do it." I was planning a wedding, and he was planning an engagement.
The rest of my bridal party, apart from Jinnese, my now sister-in-law, knew about the surprise. My brother and my husband also knew, of course, and the wedding videographer and photographer were in on it so they could capture the moment. But when I say no one else knew what was to come, I really mean no one.
The bouquet toss turned into a surprise proposal
Kenrick and I got married on September 15, 2018. I was so excited for our big day. But I was also so happy to share the day with my brother and his now-wife.
We only had around 80 guests, mostly made up of friends. I remember Jinnese saying, "Your brother seems off today." I told her, "Oh, he's just nervous."
After the ceremony concluded, we went to the reception. During the bouquet toss, instead of throwing the flowers to the general crowd, I passed them directly to Jinnese. The other bridesmaids made sure they were in front and then gave Jinnese the spotlight when the time came, which allowed my brother to slide in and get down on one knee.
There was about five minutes of silence because Andrew was very nervous and struggling to find the words, and Jinnese was in complete shock. When Andrew did find the words and asked Jinnese to marry him, her yes only took seconds.
Still, the next day, she was like, "Wait, did we really just get engaged at your wedding?" I said, "Yeah, you did."
I was happy to share the spotlight
Everyone applauded them and congratulated them. Don't get me wrong it was my special day and the best day ever, but I was also focused on my brother's surprise engagement and trying to get that done. After he popped the question during the reception, all of us who knew could take a breather, enjoy the moment, and celebrate each other. Andrew and Jinnese got married the following year, in June 2019.
We're all super close and spend time together almost every other weekend. Kenrick and I have four kids, ages 19, 17, 11, and 7. Andrew and Jinnese have three kids, ages 15, 11, and 18 months. All of our kids are also very close to their cousins, whether they're helping each other with homework or on Facetime asking about each other's first day of school.
The surprise proposal video gained much traction on TikTok but also received some negative comments. When I posted the video, I included text explaining that it was my brother, and I helped plan the surprise, but not everyone read it. So people were jumping to conclusions and asking, "Why would you share your day with somebody? That's stealing your thunder." I know some people didn't understand the overall context and just shrugged it off.
I don't regret it at all, though. Kenrick and I wanted them to be a part of our special day. I wouldn't have shared my wedding day with anyone else.
Have an interesting personal story about your marriage or relationship? Get in touch with cgriffin@businessinsider.com.
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FILE - In this photo provided by the National Park Service is Grazer, the winner of the 2023 Fat Bear Contest, at Katmai National Park, Alaska on Sept. 14, 2023. (F. Jimenez/National Park Service via AP, File)
An Alaska national park's yearly celebration of the beefy, brown and bristly is getting underway as some of the chunkiest bears on the planet fatten up for their long winter slumber.
Fat Bear Week doesn't officially start at Katmai National Park and Preserve until Oct. 2, when fans can begin voting online for their favorite ursine behemoths in tournament-style brackets.
But on Tuesday organizers revealed the four cub contestants in this week's Fat Bear Jr. contest with the chubby champ charging on to face the corpulent competition in the adult bracket, as Naomi Boak of the nonprofit Katmai Conservancy put it during the livestreamed announcement.
The annual contest, which drew more than 1.3 million votes last year, is way to celebrate the resiliency of the 2,200 brown bears that live in the preserve on the Alaska Peninsula, which extends from the states southwest corner toward the Aleutian Islands. The most dedicated fans watch the bears on live cameras at explore.org all summer long as they feast on sockeye salmon returning to the Brooks River.
This year's contestants for Fat Bear Jr. include some familiar muzzles: Both the 2022 and 2023 junior champs are up for a repeat; they remain eligible because they still meet the criteria for being considered a cub, including remaining with a sow. Most cubs stay with their mother for about 2 1/2 years, but the 2022 Fat Bear Jr. winner, known as 909 Jr., who has remained with an aunt, is almost 4 years old.
There's also an emotional favorite: a spring cub of Grazer, last year's Fat Bear champ. The cub's sibling died this summer after it slipped over a small waterfall on the Brooks River and was killed by a dominant adult male known as Chunk, or Bear 32 an attack captured on the bear cams. Grazer fought Chunk in an effort to save the cub, but it later died.
Adult male brown bears typically weigh 600 to 900 pounds (about 270 to 410 kilograms) in mid-summer. By the time they are ready to hibernate after feasting on migrating and spawning salmon each eats as many as 30 fish per day large males can weigh well over 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms). Females are about one-third smaller.
The adult contestants for the Fat Bear Week tournament will be announced Sept. 30, with voting taking place Oct. 2-8.
A boy is seen in a temporary shelter in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Sept. 23, 2024. "If international organizations cannot provide us with tents, we face a harsh winter that could lead to the deaths of refugees due to the cold and lack of shelter," Om Fadi said. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
GAZA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Om Fadi Awad, a displaced Palestinian from Deir al-Balah, is increasingly worried about the tent she constructed three months ago in a crowded camp in central Gaza.
"I built this tent after the Israeli army forced us to flee Rafah without taking any personal belongings," said the 55-year-old mother of seven.
Using tattered cloth and remnants of nylon tarps obtained from aid trucks, Om Fadi's makeshift shelter is barely holding together. "Because of the war, we are forced to live in mobile tents, stripped of our basic rights. We live in constant fear of the ongoing Israeli bombardment, unsure if we will survive," she lamented.
Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza in response to a Hamas incursion on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 Israeli deaths and around 250 people taken hostage. Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll in the besieged enclave has risen to 41,495, according to the latest figures from Gaza health authorities.
The conflict has led to severe shortages of food, medicine, and other humanitarian necessities, prompting international organizations to issue warnings about the dire conditions in Gaza. Recent rainfall has flooded streets in displacement camps, uprooting tents and leaving residents exposed to the elements.
"If international organizations cannot provide us with tents, we face a harsh winter that could lead to the deaths of refugees due to the cold and lack of shelter," Om Fadi said.
Jihan Ziyara, another displaced Palestinian in Deir al-Balah, shared similar fears. Living with her seven-member family in a tent barely 14 square meters in size, she recalled a time when winter brought joy.
"Now we pray that winter doesn't come and that rain doesn't fall, as we have no means to protect ourselves from drowning in floodwaters," the 45-year-old said.
These women are among over 1.7 million people in Gaza forced to live in temporary tents, according to social development authorities, who warn that thousands of children, the elderly, and the sick could die from the cold and lack of heating during the upcoming winter. "Every moment increases the suffering of the people of Gaza and puts their lives at risk," the authorities stated.
Children are seen in a temporary shelter in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Sept. 23, 2024. "If international organizations cannot provide us with tents, we face a harsh winter that could lead to the deaths of refugees due to the cold and lack of shelter," Om Fadi said. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
People build a tent in a temporary shelter in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Sept. 23, 2024. "If international organizations cannot provide us with tents, we face a harsh winter that could lead to the deaths of refugees due to the cold and lack of shelter," Om Fadi said. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
Photo taken on Sept. 23, 2024 shows a temporary shelter in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis. "If international organizations cannot provide us with tents, we face a harsh winter that could lead to the deaths of refugees due to the cold and lack of shelter," Om Fadi said. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
People are seen in a temporary shelter in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Sept. 23, 2024. "If international organizations cannot provide us with tents, we face a harsh winter that could lead to the deaths of refugees due to the cold and lack of shelter," Om Fadi said. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
Photo taken on Sept. 23, 2024 shows a temporary shelter in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis. "If international organizations cannot provide us with tents, we face a harsh winter that could lead to the deaths of refugees due to the cold and lack of shelter," Om Fadi said. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
People are seen in a temporary shelter in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Sept. 23, 2024. "If international organizations cannot provide us with tents, we face a harsh winter that could lead to the deaths of refugees due to the cold and lack of shelter," Om Fadi said. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
People are seen in a temporary shelter in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Sept. 23, 2024. "If international organizations cannot provide us with tents, we face a harsh winter that could lead to the deaths of refugees due to the cold and lack of shelter," Om Fadi said. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
Rolls-Royce is rolling out the red carpet for New Yorkers.
The British luxury marque is opening its first private office in the Big Apple. At the new outpost, the brands North American clientele will have the opportunity to work directly with its designers to create their own bespoke vehicles.
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Private Office New York is Rolls-Royces third such location worldwidethe other two are in Dubai and Shanghai, with another in Seoul on the wayand its first in North America. Its only natural for the latest branch to be located on this side of the Atlantic. North America has been Rolls-Royces largest market for the past two decades and has seen an increase in bespoke orders in recent years.
Inside Rolls-Royces Private Office New York
The luxurious studio space may be located in Manhattans bustling Meatpacking district, but it has been designed to recreate the feel of visiting the automakers Goodwood headquarters in West Sussex, England. Once a customer commissions a Rolls-Royce vehicle through an authorized dealer, the project will be reviewed by the marques Bespoke team and referred to the private office if needed. There, theyll collaborate with the onsite design team to create concepts that will help hone the look of the finished car or SUV. Authentic materials and samplesincluding leathers, paint finishes, and textilesare available on hand to give clients more say and influence over the finished product, even if its something as complex as the recent Droptail roadsters or the Spectre Semaphore.
Private Office New York responds directly to our North American clients requests for increasingly sophisticated Bespoke projects, Martin Fritsches, the CEO of Rolls-Royce North America, said in a statement. We see a growing appetite for our world-renowned craftsmanship, technology, and design in advanced commissions. This space gives us a home in the heart of New Yorks newest creative district.
One of Rolls-Royce's Private Office New York's many seating areas
Additionally, the studio will also host future exhibits featuring future Private Collections. These exclusive series will further highlight the artistry of Rolls Royces Bespoke Collective, and show off the groups most exquisite work.
Private Office New York will be open from Wednesday, September 25. Meetings to begin designing the Rolls of your dreams are available now by appointment.
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This story is part of Iconic Train Journeys, a spotlight on the world's most legendary railway adventures, from luxury trains that evoke old-world glamor to historic routes that have rebuilt nations and itineraries that reveal the hidden depths of our favorite destinations.
Ankara, the Turkish capital, has been wilting under days of intense heat. Our taxi driver lets us out at the station with a gift of a cool apple. The forecourt is a mess of commuters competing for taxis and minivans. Through its automatic doors, though, is a gleaming air-conditioned cathedral to Turkeys high-speed rail. The relief is short-liveda uniformed attendant at the information window soon informs us our train, the Dogu Ekspresi (translation: Eastern Express) actually departs from the old station next door.
What we see, when we arrive, is a study in contrasts: Where the new stations marble floors had been polished to a sharp gleam, here, the marble has been dulled from a centurys scuffing of shoes and slippers. We slump down and immediately begin to sweat.
Kurt Johnson
After the Ottoman Empires collapse in 1922, the new Turkish republic set out to modernize into a secular European-style state. The rail network played a large role in this. Where the Ottoman railways had primarily been constructed, owned, and in service of foreign companies, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the republics founder, envisioned the new republic unified by a railway network. Completed in 1939, the Eastern portion, from Sivas to Erzurum, was key in realizing this vision: Turkeys famously remote Anatolian provinces were to be connected to the education and services of Istanbul and Ankara and, if needed, the line could transport military to Turkish territory ceded by Armenia, now part of a new Soviet Union.
A decade ago I had motorcycled through the provinces of Eastern Anatolia, and witnessed up-close the region's hash, mountainous terrain. Being cradled in its jagged valleys was a feeling that stuck with me, and later, when I met a hydrogeologist in Laos, inspired by the countrys similarly jagged karst mountains, I proceeded to try and impress her with my knowledge of its geological features. She saw through it all, of course, but a year later we planned a journey on the Dogu Express. While a special Dogu Express catering to tourists operates in the winter high season, we chose the regular service, which functions as transport and not recreation.
The waiting passengers look glazed in the platform's heavy air. Luckily, the train arrives with a fresh breeze, ten carriages drawn by a diesel engine, the red of the Turkish flag. The instant it stops, sweaty passengers are slinging luggage aboard and climbing up to locate seats and air-conditioning. Over 26 hours and 800 miles, this train will trundle to the eastern city of Kars along the border with Armenia.
A hundred years later, Ataturks secular legacy has come under pressure. No alcohol is served onboard and as a mixed unmarried couple we are forbidden to cohabit. The workaround is to book out an entire couchette of four Pullman beds retractable into facing seats covered by the garish '90s fabric that seems to upholster all public transport here. While I dont feel great occupying double the real estate, our cabins wide window, power socket, and lockable door keeps lingering guilt at a comfortable distance.
With a shudder and a belch of exhaust, we pull out punctually. We pass through a city embroiled in a midsummer gridlock as Ankaras bureaucrats and university students return to their tower blocks. A day earlier we had been in the thick of it, amidst one of the worlds oldest capital cities, visiting monuments to Ataturk and Ankaras Hittite heritage. But now we climb through its outskirts of squat hills of lonely gas stations and power lines. I feel the deficit of human energy.
Kurt Johnson
Thankfully, the adjoining dining cart is alive with the camaraderie typical for the start of any long journey. We sit mid-carriage at a sticky table to drink tea and watch. In here, children squirm over parents laps as old men sip strong tea to punctuate intense exchanges. A girl too short to activate the automatic door, becomes stuck in the inter-carriage airlock, set free by her smiling father. A German tourist introduces death metal to a table of old Turkish men. Theyre unimpressed. You either like it or you dont, he says, visibly disappointed. On offer is tea, coffee, cold drinks, and pre-packed sandwiches. I am glad to unpack the stuffed vine leaves we bought from a station kiosk. After dinner I doze on the swaying bunk as faraway lights slip past outside.
I awake at dawn. Sivas begins with apartment blocks and minarets lancing a peach sky shaded with haze. The citys station, like every stop, is an opportunity for the smokers to file out but they have to hurry. Before the city wakes, we are off again, plunging deeper into Anatolia.
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From here to Erzurum was the most complicated track to build. A hundred and thirty eight tunnels were needed to traverse the Eastern Anatolian High Plateau that had once made these communities famously remote. The Turkish government put out an international tender but after foreign contractors failed to deliver, it took on the project itself, another source of rail-related pride. One by one each station opened to a festive atmosphere until on September 6, 1939, the first locomotive pulled in to a flag-bedecked Erzurum station watched by over 40,000 people. Erzurum is now in vocal range of Ankara, one minister proclaimed.
All this engineering prowess is on display. With each tunnel the carriage is plunged into darkness, making it impossible to read more than a few sentences of Norman Stones Turkey: A Short History. After battling through a couple of pages I look up, and feel like a fool. Turkey is through that window, not in this book. We are cutting through a narrow ravine, below rocky walls of burned ochre, sometimes hard and flat as marble, other times as crumbly as a cookie. My partner explains this is geological diversity.
Over coffee in the dining cart she describes how this terrain is the product of slow violence. Mountains were formed by the collision of three tectonic plates: Arabic, Eurasian, and Anatolian. We pass rail-side huts where twisting cracks snake up the walls, a reminder that this route was not just built but rebuilt, thanks to the ever-present threat of an earthquake. Later I find out an earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale registered just South of Erzurum.
In Divrigi the call to morning prayer rings out and by mid-morning we are tracking the Euphrates. After a decade of long-distance rail journeys, I cannot remember a more dramatic vista. Passengers gather in the hallways to watch in silence as shepherds guard their flock, as they drink the aqua water under the gaze of cliffs glaring down. Given the antiquity of shepherds on the Euphrates, its worth asking whether Ataturks ambitions have generated opportunities beyond the few lira exchanged for vine leaves by a gawking tourist. Today, both Erzurum and Erzincan sport their own universities, and while the metrics show that for decades rates of poverty, infant mortality, and literacy have all headed in the right direction, opportunities today are more likely created by tax cuts and fibre optics than rail. Perhaps its more meaningful that this train is well used for its intended purpose: transporting Turkish people across their countrys difficult terrain. Success is underlined at each platform whenever passengers step down to meet their waiting families.
Past Erzurum the landscape widens to farmlandthe end of the old Eastern express. From here to Kars the Russian-built track was ceded from Armenia, part of the 1920 Peace Treaty of Alexandropol that ended the Turkish-Armenian war, and rebuilt to the standard Turkish gauge in 1957. Again, the sun sets, this time to sunflowers drooping in the scorching heatdespite an elevation of nearly 6,500 feet.
It's dark again and I turn off the lights to watch a landscape bathed by a low yellow moon. An hour late, our scheduled arrival of 8:20 p.m. slips past as time loses its definition. Then a knock. The carriage attendant stands waiting for our bedsheets to be returned. Outside, the outskirts of Kars begin to appear. I switch on the light, and we stand blinking. Its time to return to the outside world. Tomorrows visit to the Ani ruins will demand decisions and logistics beyond timing snacks and naps. Im not sure I am ready.
Originally Appeared on Conde Nast Traveler
Move over quahogs and coffee milk pizza may be Rhode Islands signature serve.
Maurisa Mackey / Courtesy of Pizza Marvin
Home to the original grilled pizza and a nostalgic regional speciality known as pizza strips that get as much ire as adoration, Rhode Island has a quirky and enticing pizza landscape. The Ocean State is home to a plethora of worthy pizza spots here are six to seek out.
Al Forno (Providence)
Courtesy of Al Forno Restaurant
Upscale dining institution Al Forno is credited with inventing the grilled pizza. Developed by owners, chefs, and spouses Johanne Killeen and George Germon, the Providence restaurants trendsetting pie is served alongside a menu of coveted baked pastas and steaks. The pizza margarita starts with a high-gluten, quick-proofed dough lightly coated in oil and hand-pressed in preparation for the wrought-iron grill. After the raw dough is pre-grilled, its topped with a three-cheese blend, San Marzano tomatoes, and extra virgin olive oil in a cooking process that takes only a few minutes. Once off the heat, the asymmetrical pizza is finished with fresh herbs basil, parsley, and Al Fornos signature thin strips of scallion.
Pizza Marvin (Providence)
Photo by Alex Lau / Styling by Steph De Luca and Tyna Hoang / Courtesy of Pizza Marvin
Pizza geeks will find nods to local and regional institutions throughout the menu at Pizza Marvin, including New York Citys Prince Street Pizza and Modern Apizza in New Haven, all filtered through a distinctly Rhode Island lens. The Providence pizzeria pays homage to Al Forno with its Corny AF, for example: The corn and scallion strips are a tell-tale tip of the hat to another of Germon and Killeens memorable pies. Connecticuts famous clam and potato toppings become Rhode Islands when served as Chowdah Pie, featuring mashed potato, bacon, fresh herbs, and shell-on littleneck clams. And a thick, crunchy grandma-style rectangle topped only by tomato sauce is inspired by Rhode Islands unique pizza strips. The drinks are cheeky, too, from a Roni Negroni yes, the gin is pepperoni fat-washed to Pizza Wine, a refreshing canned Lambrusco made with regional grapes, co-created by a local group including Marvin owners Robert Andreozzi and Jesse Hedberg to pair perfectly with their food.
D. Palmieris Bakery (Johnston, Rhode Island)
Courtesy of Eric John Palmieri Pizza strips from D. Palmieris Bakery in Johnston, Rhode Island
The most polarizing of Rhode Island pizza styles may be the humble pizza strips, also known as bakery pizza. Old-school Italian American bakeries throughout the Ocean State, including D. Palmieris Bakery, LaSalle Bakeries, and The Original Italian Bakery, top this chewy creation with tangy tomato sauce no cheese and serve it at room temperature or cold, typically in a nondescript white bakery box. Some people do like to toast theirs at home, and some pizzerias such as Twins Pizza, Casertas Pizzeria, and the aforementioned Pizza Marvin will also do a strip-style variation served warm.
Nanas Westerly (Westerly, Rhode Island)
Courtesy of Rane Gram Rhode Island-style pizza at Nana's Westerly
A baking tradition older still than the classic pizza strip is sourdough, which gets its desirable tartness and complexity from fermentation with wild yeasts and bacteria. At Nanas, which began as a bakery and pizza shop in Mystic, Connecticut, and added a bigger sit-down restaurant with a full bar in Westerly, Rhode Island, co-owner and executive chef James Wayman leans all the way into a variety of fermentation techniques, amping up the flavor of whole-grain, Neapolitan-style sourdough pies with tomato sauce made with shio koji and parmesan mixed with dehydrated soy sauce lees from sibling business Moromi, a Connecticut producer of soy sauce and miso. Keep an eye out for a pie topped with clams and soupy, the official Town Meat Product: Its a type of soppressata perfected by local institutions like Westerly Packing and Dippers. For more sourdough Neapolitan action, check out Newports Mother Pizzeria.
Pasquale's Pizzeria Napoletana (Wakefield, Rhode Island)
Courtesy of Pasquales
Certificated by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napolitano, Wakefields own Pasquales was once chosen to represent all of America at the third anniversary of the Neapolitan pizza styles UNESCO induction. The classic wood-fired thin-crust pies feature a wide variety of toppings from cacio e pepe to yellow tomato sauce with thin-sliced capicola, but theres something for everyone here, as New York- and grandma-style pies also appear on the menu. Federal Hill Pizza in Warren and Brick Pizza Co. in Bristol also make noteworthy variations on the Neapolitan style in Rhode Island.
Double Zero in Plant City (Providence)
Cassidy Bissitt Pesto Pizza from Double Zero at Plant City
Named for the 00-grade flour traditionally used by Italian pizza makers, Double Zero is a vegan pizza bar inside Plant City, Providences vegan food hall and market. The pies here are wood-fired and topped with flavorful ingredients like cashew mozzarella, shiitake bacon, and wild mushrooms. For additional pies sans meat and dairy, seek out the pizza-style focaccia at Peter Carvellis vegan Foglia, a rustic Italian restaurant in Bristol, and the Vegan Local Vegetable pie at Newport Vineyards in Middletown.
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2 arrested, 1 armed and dangerous suspect on the loose in MS Coast shooting, police say
Gulfport Police arrested two suspects and are searching for one other accused in a drive-by shooting on Monday at a Gulfport convenience store.
Police responded at 3:56 p.m. Monday to a shooting in the 13000 block of Dedeaux Road near a Big Boy convenience store, Lt. Jason DuCre said. Police said three suspects argued with a victim at the store, then followed him and fired toward his car as he fled.
Police arrested Jaevon Kenderick Weems, 21, on Tuesday. He faces one count of drive-by shooting in connection to the case.
Jayquarius Anthony Keyes, 22, also known as Qdub, later turned himself in, police said Tuesday morning. He faces one count of aggravated assault and one count of drive-by shooting,
Kaleb Zaches Anderson, 22, is wanted for one count of drive-by shooting. Police said Anderson is 5 foot 6 inches tall and 165 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He is considered armed and dangerous, according to authorities.
The shooting started after a victim and the three suspects got into an argument, police said. Authorities said the suspects tried to physically assault the victim after he bought items and left the store.
Keyes fired multiple times and struck the victims car as he fled, authorities said. The suspects got in their car and followed the victim to 13100 block of Dedeaux Road where they kept firing, then fled, according to police.
No injuries were reported. Bullets also struck nearby buildings, and authorities found over 20 shell casings at the scene, DuCre said.
Authorities responded in June to the same area after four suspects exchanged gunfire in the parking lot of the Big Boy store, police said. Detectives in the area witnessed part of that shooting, police said, and the gunfire also hit an unmarked detectives vehicle. Police charged four juveniles in the drive-by shooting case.
Police asked anyone with information on Mondays shooting to contact the Gulfport Police Department at 228-868-5959 or Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers at 877-787-5898.
1 Dead After Armed Suspect Hijacked Bus in L.A. and Took Hostages, Police Say
Officers arrested a suspect and located a bus driver and two passengers, one of which had been "suffering from gunshot wounds" on the bus
Getty A stock image of a Los Angeles bus
One person is dead and another is in custody after police say an armed suspect hijacked a city bus.
The Los Angeles Police Department shared on X (formerly Twitter) that the incident began when officers received radio calls around 12:34 a.m. local time related to an incident on a bus in the area of Manchester and Figueroa.
Police were eventually able to locate the bus, but when they attempted to communicate with the driver, the bus pulled away and a pursuit ensued. Police said an armed suspect was onboard the transportation system.
Believing the suspect was armed and still on the bus with hostages, SWAT was requested to respond to the pursuit, an LAPD spokesperson said.
LAPD said the pursuit with the bus lasted about an hour before they were finally able to stop the vehicle on Alameda Street using spike strips. SWAT deployed noise flash diversionary devices before boarding the bus and taking a suspect into custody, police said.
Officers noted that the bus driver and two passengers one of which had been suffering from multiple gunshot wounds were located on the bus. The passenger who had been shot was transported to the hospital where he died.
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Getty A stock image of a Los Angeles bus
The bus driver and the other passenger were shaken but uninjured, police said. The Los Angeles Metro told KABC-TV in a statement that the bus driver was doing okay and that the agency would provide him with support.
LAPD said homicide detectives have responded to conduct their investigation and conduct a search of the bus for evidence.
After the armed suspect got on the bus, the driver activated a Call 911 sign on his bus to alert others, per KTLA. The driver, who had been held up at gunpoint, had been behind the wheel during the police pursuit, the outlets reported.
"This [bus] operator continued to operate the bus in as safe a manner as he could under the circumstances with the police trailing him for an hour before the spike strips finally took effect," LAPD Deputy Chief Donald Graham said in a news conference, per KABC-TV.
The LAPD did not identify the suspect in custody nor did it say whether a motive was involved behind the incident.
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) One person was injured and a police officer was struck during an early morning shooting in East Portland, authorities said.
According to Portland police, officers responded to a threat with a weapon report near East Burnside Street and Southeast Grand Avenue and when they arrived they found two officers on an unrelated call who were at the scene of the shooting.
During the shooting, which police said involved people inside numerous moving vehicles, the officers and a community member took cover, but one officer was struck in the heel of his boot by a bullet, which got lodged inside.
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While the shooting was unfolding, a gunshot victim was dropped off at a nearby hospital and officers determined that they were involved in the shooting.
The officer was taken to a hospital for a minor injury and the gunshot victim is expected to survive.
I am beyond relieved to learn that both the community member and officer will be okay, Chief Bob Day said. What unfolded early Wednesday morning serves as a reminder that we must continue to take a holistic approach in addressing gun violence in our city.
No arrests have been made, and anyone with information is asked to contact Portland police.
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. At least one person was left injured after a shooting Tuesday night in Frayser, police say.
Around 9:20 p.m., officers say they responded to the 3700 Block of North Watkins Street regarding a shooting call.
One person was found injured and taken to the hospital.
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When WREG crews made it to the scene, crime scene tape was at two locations across the street from one another. The first scene was at the BP gas station and the second was at Willie Bs Smokehouse.
According to preliminary information, both scenes are possibly related.
No suspect information is available at this time, but this is still an ongoing investigation.
If you have any information that could help police, call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
1 killed, 1 critically injured in exchange of gunfire outside Jims Original in Little Italy, near UIC
CHICAGO An exchange of gunfire late Tuesday night outside Jims Original, a popular hot dog stand in Little Italy near the University of Illinois Chicago, left one man dead and a 19-year-old injured.
According to police, occupants of a red sedan and a dark-colored SUV exited their vehicles and exchanged gunfire on the street in the 1200 block of South Union Avenue at about 10:30 p.m.
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A witness who did not want to be identified said the cars stopped in the street outside Jims Original, then the occupants started shooting at each other. One person reportedly broke a bottle over the head of another before bullets started flying.
Police said one man was shot in the face and taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police did not give his age. Additionally, police say, a 19-year-old man who was in the dark-colored SUV was shot in the chest and taken to an area hospital in critical condition.
Dozens of cars parked in the area were also hit in the exchange of gunfire.
Back in 2021, in an effort to curb violence in the area, the owners of the Jims Original in the 1200 block of S. Union Ave. agreed to a request from their landlord and UIC to shut down between 1 and 6 a.m.
That location had been open 24 hours for about 60 years prior to 2021.
The restaurant also added security guards to help patrol the area and is covered by many security cameras. WGN has been told the security footage from Tuesday night has been turned over to police to help in their investigation.
Its summertime. Thats why they stopped opening (for) 24 hours, because of the violence and stuff like that, the witness to Tuesdays shooting said. Every summertimes the same thing over here.
Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines
Jims Original was open at the time of the shooting, but management says it did not involve the restaurants customers or employees.
Were still OK. Nothings really happening. Its just all around us, said Betty Domatola.
Police had nobody in custody as of Wednesday afternoon. No suspect descriptions have been released. Area Three detectives continue to investigate.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) Police are investigating a second fatal shooting in Birmingham Tuesday night.
According to public information officer Truman Fitzgerald, a ShotSpotter alert was issued in the 300 block of 27th Street Southwest at around 8:20 p.m.
Officers arrived and found an adult male who was shot and unresponsive in the area. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead at the scene.
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The preliminary investigation revealed an argument took place between the victim and suspect, which led to shots being fired.
The victim was later identified as 34-year-old Damone Gardner.
Earlier Tuesday evening, a man was shot and killed at a convenience store on Pearson Avenue Southwest. Fitzgerald stated detectives are investigating if the two shootings are possibly connected.
Those with information on the case are urged to call BPD at 205-254-1764 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) The Birmingham Police Department is investigating a fatal shooting at a convenience store in West End Tuesday evening.
Public information officer Truman Fitzgerald said reports were called in just after 5 p.m. at the Big Boy Convenience Store off Pearson Avenue Southwest.
Upon arrival, officers found an adult male who was shot and lying in front of the store. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service transported him to UAB Hospital, but he was pronounced dead while en route.
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Investigators believed two men got into a fight at the store, which led the suspect to shoot the victim multiple times. Fitzgerald stated police are searching for more than one person in connection to the shooting.
The victim was later identified as 26-year-old Malike Williams.
Those with information on the case are urged to call BPD at 205-254-1764 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.
BAGHDAD, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Shiite militia Kata'ib Hezbollah on Wednesday threatened to attack the presence of U.S. forces if Israel assaults Iraq.
Abu Ali al-Askar, security leader of the Iranian-backed Shiite militia, said in a statement that the Iraqi airspace is witnessing intense activity by the United States and Israel, indicating "the possibility of a Zionist (Israeli) aggression against Iraq."
"Accordingly, the Kata'ib Hezbollah renews its warning that its response will not be limited to Israel only, but will include the entire U.S. presence," the statement said.
Al-Askar also called on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a Shiite militia group, to increase the number and scale of their operations and the level of threat to Israel.
Earlier in the day, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for multiple drone and missile attacks on Israeli targets "in solidarity with our people in Palestine and Lebanon," without specifying the affected sites or reporting any casualties.
Since the onset of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza 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.
TOPEKA (KSNT) Pam Evans with the Family Service and Guidance Center of Topeka joined the 27 News morning show to discuss the 10th Annual Meals for Mental Health being held next month at Texas Roadhouse.
Evans spoke about the fundraiser and the impact it made on the community over the past decade. You can watch the full interview above.
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A death in New York has been linked with a listeria outbreak connected to recalled Boars Head deli meat, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. A total of 59 people have been hospitalized with the outbreak strain of bacteria in 19 states, and 10 of them have died.
However, the actual number of cases is most likely higher because it can take up to 10 weeks for symptoms of listeria infection to begin, the agency noted. Some people who get ill recover without being tested for listeria and it usually takes weeks to link an illness with an outbreak.
In a letter sent Thursday to the US Department of Agriculture and Department of Justice, Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Rosa DeLauro asked the agencies to work together to determine whether Boars Head should face criminal charges related to the outbreak.
It is unacceptable that Boars Head did not take sufficient action to rectify these conditions that resulted in repeated violations for similar issues, the Connecticut Democrats wrote in their letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Attorney General Merrick Garland. The time for action is long overdue, and we urge your agencies to work together to seek immediate justice for impacted consumers and to prevent this from happening again.
Boars Head announced this month it would discontinue sales of liverwurst after an investigation found that its production process was the root of the listeria contamination. The company said it is closing the Virginia plant that produced meat tied to the outbreak and implementing a companywide food safety program.
USDA Food Safety Inspection Service reports from the facility described dozens of violations, including insects, mold, blood in puddles on the floor and a rancid smell in the cooler at various points since 2022. Another report from 2022 cited major deficiencies with the plants physical conditions rusty equipment, peeling and flaking paint, loose caulk, holes in walls, product residue on surfaces and dripping condensation that posed an imminent threat. The reports said plant management was notified and directed to take corrective action.
The plant in Jarratt, Virginia, has not been operational since July, when the liverwurst recall was first announced and then expanded to include all products made at the facility.
Blumenthal and DeLauro wrote that USDA failed to uphold its congressional mandate by allowing Boars Head production to continue in horrific conditions at the Virginia plant. In Thursdays letter, they urged the agency to conduct inspections at other Boars Head facilities, increase testing for listeria in all processing plants and consider measures such as automatic triggers for escalated penalties for facilities with a pattern of non-compliance.
DOJ confirmed it had received the letter but had no further comment.
A spokesperson for USDAs Food Safety Inspection Service said it shares the concern for public health and corporate accountability.
Even after the closure of the Virginia plant, FSIS investigation into factors that contributed to this outbreak, including but not limited to an in-depth look at other Boars Head facilities, will continue in the interest of best protecting public health, the statement said. It will also include a top-to-bottom review of contributing factors, including a focus on state inspection models, it said.
The Boars Head facility linked to the outbreak was inspected by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services as part of the Talmadge-Aiken Cooperative Inspection Program, which allows some states to provide federal inspection services.
In a previous letter to consumers, Boars Head called the recall a dark moment in our companys history.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to our customers and to the safety and quality of our products, Boars Head said in its letter. We are determined to learn from this experience and emerge stronger.
The CDC continues to advise consumers to check their kitchens for recalled products, which have EST. 12612 or P-12612 inside the USDA mark of inspection on labels and have sell-by dates into October 2024.
Listeria bacteria causes listeriosis, the third leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the United States. Symptoms can include fever, muscle aches and fatigue. An infection can also cause a stiff neck, a headache, confusion or seizures.
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8 ways new technology changed the way we think about ancient Egyptian mummies
8 ways new technology changed the way we think about ancient Egyptian mummies
Technology has revolutionized the way we see mummified remains from ancient Egypt.
With CT scans, Egyptologists can see remains in unprecedented detail without unwrapping them.
Here are eight recent findings using this technology that changed the way we think of mummies.
Advances in technology are allowing Egyptologists to see mummified remains in unprecedented detail, without having to unwrap them.
Three-dimensional CT scanning has been around for decades, but recent advances in image quality has allowed researchers to show ancient Egyptian mummies like never before. They can see remnants of organs, objects included with burial, and more clues about how these humans lived and were treated after death thousands of years ago.
Here are eight ways that new technology is changing the way we understand ancient Egyptian mummies.
Egyptians may have mummified wealthy visitors.
A CT scan allowed scientists to digitally unwrap the mummified remains of the "golden boy." Sahar Saleem
About 2,300 years ago, a wealthy teen's family buried him with 49 amulets made of gold and semi-precious stones. His body was sitting in the basement of Cairo's Egyptian Museum for over 100 years.
When Cario University radiologist Sahar Saleem took CT scans of the mummified remains, she and her fellow researchers discovered something unique about the 14- or 15-year-old who's known as the "golden boy": He was uncircumcised.
It's possible he simply hadn't undergone the procedure yet, but Salima Ikram, head of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, said it could indicate that foreigners started using Egyptian burial practices.
"He could have come from any number of places. He could be Nubian, Greek, Persian, anywhere from Asia Minor where they weren't circumcised," she told The Guardian in 2023.
However, she also added that this was speculation: "I wouldn't hang all of this on one fragile foreskin."
CT scans revealed a pregnant teen died giving birth to twins.
The X-ray images showed researchers the second fetus more clearly than the CT scans. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
Researchers were surprised to find a mummified teenager who died over 2,000 years ago had been pregnant with twins.
The teen, who was between 14 and 17, likely died while giving birth. Embalmers wrapped the first child and placed it between her legs.
It wasn't until researcher Francine Margolis took CT scans of the girl that she found evidence of the second child still inside the mummified body.
Because scientists first excavated the remains in 1908, they weren't treated with the same care they would be today. For example, the teen's head went missing at some point. It was either reburied, sent to a local museum, or stolen, according to Margolis.
It's unclear if anyone including the early researchers, the embalmers, and the girl herself knew she was having twins, Margolis told Business Insider via email in January.
A woman may have died screaming in pain.
Researchers took CT scans of the "screaming mummy" to learn more about her death and embalming. Sahar Saleem
In the mid-1930s, the remains of a mummified woman were found in Luxor, Egypt. She became known as the "screaming woman" because of her open-mouthed expression, which seemed terrified.
A recent study suggested she may well have been afraid for her life and died mid-scream, either from pain or fright.
Cairo University radiologist Sahar Saleem said a cadaveric spasm may have frozen the scream on her face. Cadaveric spasms, when muscles stiffen immediately after death, are caused by "severe physical or emotional activity," NPR reported in August.
There's a possibility poor burial practices or other factors led to the woman's permanently open mouth. But Saleem performed CT scans on the remains and found that the funerary techniques seemed careful and expensive.
Researchers still don't know what caused the woman's death. She appeared to be in her late 40s and seemed to be in relatively good health.
We know astonishing details about what Pharoah Amenhotep I looked like.
The pharaoh's mummy was scanned inside his sarcophagus. S. Saleem and Z. Nuwass
A study published in late 2021 revealed the results of the first-ever 3D CT scan of the 3,500-year-old royal mummy of pharaoh Amenhotep I.
The technology provided a digital recreation of the remains in incredible detail. Scientists saw Amenhotep I's face, including the delicate, wispy hair on the back of his head.
Now "we know more or less what he looked like," Wojciech Ejsmond, an Egyptologist from the Warsaw Mummy Project who was not involved in that work, told Business Insider in 2022.
The study found he had a narrow chin, a small narrow nose, curly hair, mildly protruding upper teeth, and a pierced left ear. The scan also revealed Amenhotep I died suspiciously young, at the age of 35.
There's no sign of any kind of physical illness on his remains: his teeth were in good health and he had no apparent injuries.
"As far as we know nothing wrong about his health was detected. So it's surprising that he died at such a young age," Ejsmond said.
A male priest was actually a woman.
The mummified remains of a woman who was previously thought to be a priest named Hor-Djehuty. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
For centuries, scientists thought this mummy was of a man. Its sarcophagus said it was the remains of Hor-Djehuty, a male priest who lived between 100 BCE and 100 CE.
A study published in 2021 revealed the remains lacked a penis but had traces of breast tissue, indicating it was a mummy of an unnamed woman.
Even more bizarrely, scientists found a structure inside the woman's abdomen. They said the structure was likely a fetus and claimed the discovery of the first-ever pregnant mummy.
But one year later, other researchers performed more CT scans on the body and said the structure was more likely a bundle of cloth and possibly other body parts. Embalmers often stuffed the pelvis with linen coated in resin or other materials, sometimes containing the person's organs.
Egyptians killed this snake by using it 'like a bullwhip.'
An X-ray scan reveals the coiled remains of a mummified Egyptian cobra. Richard Johnston/Swansea University
As many as 70 million animals were embalmed by ancient Egyptians over the years.
A 2020 study peered into the mummies of a snake and a cat from the collection of the Egypt Center at Swansea University in the UK. They used a technique called micro-CT scanning to get more details about the embalming process.
The study revealed that a juvenile Egyptian cobra was likely killed after being whipped against the floor. "They used the snake like a bullwhip," Rich Johnston, the lead author of the study, previously told Insider.
The snake's damaged kidneys suggested it didn't get enough water while alive. The scans also showed the snake's throat was filled with a substance called natron, a type of resin.
This means the embalmer may have chosen to do an "Opening of the Mouth" ceremony a burial ritual meant to allow a mummy to eat, breathe, and enjoy offerings in the afterlife.
Scientists also scanned a mummified cat that may have met a terrible death.
The skull of a mummified cat. Swansea University
Researchers virtually unwrapped a cat that may have met an unfortunate end.
Analysis of the cat's teeth suggested he was barely older than a kitten, about 5 months old.
The cat's neck bones were separated, so either the priests strangled the cat before death or broke its neck during embalming.
Ancient Egyptians may have treated flesh wounds with bandages.
The mummified girl was found buried in her mother's tomb, who is pictured here. Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images
A 2022 study described wrappings on the foot of a young girl who died about 2,000 years ago. It offered a rare clue into ancient medical practices.
The foot clearly showed dressing wrapped around what looked like an infected wound, providing the first evidence that ancient Egyptians had more extensive knowledge of treating wounds than previously thought, Insider reported in 2022.
This dressing could easily have been missed, or mistaken for embalming bandages, had the mummy been unwrapped.
"It was really exciting because we didn't expect it," Egyptologist and study author Albert Zink, told Insider at the time. "It was never described before."
Egyptology has come a long way from Victorian mummy-unwrapping parties.
The mask of King Tutankhamun, which was damaged and glued back together, is seen at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Reuters
Victorian Egyptologists would host public unwrapping parties that were thought to be the height of sophistication.
They were disastrous for the remains, exposing them to air and humidity that can do irreparable damage.
Some royal mummies were unveiled by running a knife straight from their head to their toes, with little care.
Back then, scientists did not keep precise records, and a lot of valuable information has been lost over time.
The way early excavators treated mummified remains partly explains why the remains of King Tutankhamun, a Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty buried with the famous golden mask, are in such poor shape today.
After uncovering the remains in the 1920s, the Egyptologists were so frustrated at not being able to unstick the mummy from the bottom of the coffin that they sawed him in half and chiseled his remains out.
"CT scanning and X-rays are the basic ways of searching mummies nowadays because you cannot unwrap mummies in museums," Ejsmond said.
This story was originally published on August 16, 2022, and most recently updated on September 25, 2024.
Read the original article on Business Insider
A 12-year-old girl was arrested on September 23 after making a violent threat towards a student at Buddy Taylor Middle School (BTMS).
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According to the Flagler County Sheriffs Office (FCSO), the girl texted her ex-boyfriend, stating, Im coming back to school with a big knife, if you get back with me, I wont kill you, but if you dont, your dead.
The schools Deans Office informed the School Resource Deputy, and after obtaining a statement from the victim, the preteen, who is homeschooled, was arrested at her residence for Written/Electronic Threat to Kill or Bodily Harm Another.
This incident follows the arrest of a 13-year-old girl just a week prior on September 16, after she made school shooting threats on social media, targeting BTMS.
Todays nonsense comes at a time when schools not just in Flagler County but across the state are dealing with threats of violence at schools, often unfounded, said Sheriff Rick Staly. Parents be the Sheriff of your home, so I dont have to be. We have zero tolerance for threats. Teach your children how to properly handle lifes ups and downs, relationships, and disagreements. It will help them throughout their life and keep them from being arrested. We dont like arresting your son or daughter, but you threaten violence at a Flagler County school you will be arrested regardless of how old you are.
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A 14-year-old was arrested this week after police found a stolen Kia crashed in northern Ohio.
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Early Tuesday morning, police in the Clevelands University Circle neighborhood heard a loud noise. While investigating it, they found a stolen Kia that had been crashed into a mailbox, the University Circle Police Department shared on social media.
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When they found the car, two juveniles ran away from the scene.
A 14-year-old was arrested a short time later.
Our community is a little safer thanks to them, the department shared in thanking the responding officers.
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CLOVIS, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) A 26-year-old who has been on the run after allegedly smashing a glass display and stealing thousands of dollars worth of jewelry at the Costco in Clovis has been arrested in Nevada, the Clovis Police Department announced Tuesday.
Clovis Police say earlier this month 26-year-old Donelle Smith walked into the Clovis Costco and had smashed a display case and stole about $15,000 in jewelry before leaving in a car.
According to police, Smith was already wanted for violation of his post-release community supervision since February 2024 and for allegedly leaving the area after burglarizing the Costco.
Police say that detectives identified Smith as the suspect and their investigation led them to Southern California near the state line of Nevada.
According to police, with help from multiple departments, Smith was taken into custody following a pursuit.
Smith was brought back to California on Sept. 20, police say, and he was booked into the Fresno County Jail for suspicion of multiple charges.
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This story has been updated to add new information.
A new state Appeals Court in a unanimous decision Tuesday evening denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's request to block the State Fair of Texas' no-gun policy, affirming a lower court's order and setting up a last-minute battle in the Texas Supreme Court for a final word on the matter.
The fair is set to open Friday in Dallas.
The decision from Justices Scott Brister, Scott Field and April Farris all recently appointed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is an early sign of the court's independence and is one of the most high-profile cases the barely month-old 15th Court of Appeals has heard. The court, which opened Sept. 1, hears all intermediate appellate disputes over state actions and legislative constitutionality, as per a law Abbott signed in 2023.
The appellate justices affirmed the ruling by state District Judge Emily Tobolowsky, a Democrat, who denied Paxton's motion for a temporary injunction against the no-firearms policy after a Sept. 19 hearing.
The State Fair of Texas applauded the ruling and said the festivities would proceed with the gun ban in place unless the courts say otherwise.
"We look forward to Opening Day of the 2024 State Fair and providing a safe environment for our millions of fairgoers, as well as our staff, vendors, and volunteers," Karissa Condoianis, the fair's senior vice president for public relations, wrote in an email Wednesday to the American-Statesman.
However, Condoianis said, the "substantial" cost of the litigation has already threatened to reduce the amount of money the fair will be able to donate to charity efforts, which include "college scholarships, Texas youth livestock programs, community programs and grant funding in the South Dallas/Fair Park area and Fair Park improvements."
Paxton, a three-term Republican, accused the city of Dallas of exceeding its legal authority in allowing the fair to prohibit guns from government-owned property in a lawsuit filed Aug. 29, which came after 61 Republican state lawmakers and 10 GOP legislative candidates signed a letter demanding the fair's board of directors reverse the gun prohibition.
Attorneys for Dallas and the State Fair of Texas have argued that, because the fair is a private nonprofit leasing Dallas' Fair Park, it has the right to decide whether to admit fairgoers who bring firearms.
The State Fair of Texas, which will take place in Dallas' Fair Park from Sept. 27 to Oct. 20, says the "substantial" cost of litigation over its gun ban has already threatened to reduce the amount of money the fair will be able to donate to charity efforts this year.
Days after filing the lawsuit, Paxton withdrew a legal opinion from 2016 in which he stated that nonprofits have the right to ban firearms on public land that they are leasing from a city a move that the defendants argued shows the law is not on Paxton's side.
The fair's governing board tightened its gun policy in early August after previously allowing Texans with permits to carry concealed firearms. Last year, three fairgoers were injured in a shooting that stemmed from a private dispute.
Paxton vowed to appeal the ruling to the Texas Supreme Court, writing in a social media post Tuesday evening, "The City of Dallas and the State Fair of Texas cannot nullify state law by banning firearms."
Attorneys for the city of Dallas told the Statesman they are grateful for the court's speedy ruling.
We think the Fifteenth Court of Appeals reached the right decision and we appreciate their extremely prompt consideration of this matter," Jeff Tillotson, whose firm Tillotson, Johnson & Patton is defending Dallas in the lawsuit, wrote in an email to the Statesman.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton vowed to appeal the ruling on the State Fair of Texas' gun ban to the Texas Supreme Court, saying in a social media post Tuesday evening, "The City of Dallas and the State Fair of Texas cannot nullify state law by banning firearms."
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Appeals court denies Paxton's request to block Texas fair's no-gun policy
LOGAN, Utah (ABC4) A 16-year-old is facing hate crime charges of theft and criminal mischief after allegedly cutting down and stealing pride flags in front of the Logan Pride Foundation building.
The vandals were caught on video in mid-August running up to a rainbow pride flag and a pink and blue transgender flag, tearing them down from their poles and running out of frame. The Logan Police Department put out a notice asking for information from the public hoping to identify the suspects.
Utah police warn of personalized and threatening email scam targeting victims
A little over a month after the vandalism, Logan Police said one of the two alleged vandals has been referred to the First District Juvenile Court. The 16-year-olds identity has not been released due to his age.
The Logan Police would like to thank the public for their help in identifying this individual, Logan Police said in a statement. However, there remains one unidentified suspect and the case remains active.
Logan police are continuing to ask anyone with information on the second alleged vandal to contact the Logan Police Department through its non-emergency number at 435-753-7555.
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18-year-old charged with murder of 17-year-old in Taunton, DA says
Police arrested a young man in Medford on Tuesday night for allegedly shooting and killing a Taunton teen last week.
18-year-old Kareem Gendraw, whose last known address was in Randolph, is charged with murder and carrying an illegal firearm, according to Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III.
Police say Gendraw was apprehended by members of the Massachusetts State Police Violent Apprehension Section around 9:30 p.m. at a Medford residence.
On September 19, Taunton officers responded to 351 Lothrop St. after receiving a 911 call reporting that a person had been shot inside a mobile home at that address. 17-year-old Khamitri Cole of Brockton was pronounced dead at the scene.
An 18-year-old from Holyoke also sustained a gunshot wound and drove himself to the hospital, according to the DAs office. His injuries were not life-threatening.
Gendraw will be arraigned in Taunton District Court on Wednesday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) The first business at Miami Townships new First Flight Commerce Center broke ground Wednesday.
The new business park is a multi-building complex just east of the Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport. Costing $146 million, the commerce center is expected to bring 600 jobs to the area.
Smales Pretzel Bakery sets date for grand reopening following oven fire
The first business, Accelevation, celebrated their new 264,000-square-foot facility with a groundbreaking ceremony. Accelevations new facility is an investment of $26 million dollars in the area.
The data company started in Dayton in 2018, with just two machine shops. The company will be able to double their manufacturing footprint at this new facility.
President and CEO Michael Rubiera says they hope to bring hundreds of jobs to the Dayton area.
Well see ridiculous levels of growth. Everyone knows how much people are investing in this category, said Rubiera. The Microsofts, the Googles, the Metas its trillions upon trillons of dollars that are going to be invested in the U.S. Were excided to be a small part of that.
The company expects to move into the space later this year, with plans to start operations in 2025.
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JERUSALEM, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Israel is ramping up preparations for a ground offensive against Hezbollah, military chief Herzi Halevi said Wednesday, the third day of Israel's most intense bombardment of Lebanon since 2006.
"You hear the jets overhead ... We have been striking all day. Both to prepare the ground for your possible entry (into Lebanon) and to continue degrading Hezbollah," Halevi told troops of the 7th Armored Brigade during a drill near the Israel-Lebanon border.
His remarks followed Hezbollah's statement earlier on Wednesday that it had expanded its range of fire and launched a ballistic missile to attack the headquarters of Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, in the north of Tel Aviv. The missile was intercepted, but Halevi warned that Hezbollah would face a "very strong response," urging troops to "prepare yourselves."
Halevi stressed that there would be no let-up in Israel's military operation, which began on Monday. "We are not stopping," he said, asserting that Israel is preparing to maneuver into villages in Lebanon. "Your military boots will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts with underground infrastructure, staging points, and launch pads (for attacks) into our territory," he told the commanders. "You will go in, destroy the enemy there, and decisively dismantle their infrastructure."
The goal, Halevi said, is to create conditions for displaced residents to return to their homes in northern Israel, where cross-border exchanges of fire with Hezbollah have intensified since October last year, running parallel to a war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Since Monday, Israel has conducted its most extensive attacks on Lebanon since 2006, resulting in more than 550 deaths and over 1,835 injuries across the country. The bombardment has also displaced many residents.
The sharp escalation has raised concerns about a potential full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with fears that other regional powers could also be sucked in.
Two firefighters were burned Wednesday morning battling a two-alarm blaze that raced through a Carmichael home but four people inside escaped without serious injury.
Fire tore through the home on the 5700 block of La Field Drive about 8 a.m., sending Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District units to the scene on the Carmichael-Fair Oaks border. Inside the home were three adults, a child and several pets. As firefighters made their way through the crowded residence, intense heat in one of the rooms triggered a flash fire that overwhelmed fire crews battling the flames, said Battalion Chief Parker Wilbourn, a Metro Fire spokesman.
Wilbourn described the scene: With the amount of personal property inside, crews were challenged to maneuver and conduct their operations. At one point, everything in one of the rooms reached its ignition point temperature (generally greater than 1,000-1,200 degrees), and the room immediately flashed.
Their mayday call brought help and a quick escape to safety as a second alarm called in reinforcements to join the fight. Two of the firefighters were taken to a hospital with burn injuries and were being evaluated, Wilbourn said.
The four people who lived in the home were evaluated by fire crews; three were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. Fire crews knocked down the blaze and contained it to the home, Wilbourn said. Several animals inside the home had not yet been located.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, Wilbourn said.
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) Two men have been acquitted of several charges including murder.
Riyadh Pate, 20, and Lawrence Davis, 23, have been acquitted of several charges in connection to an armed robbery. Davis, Pate and two others forced their way into an apartment on Superior Ave. in June last year.
Dangerous chemical leak prompts immediate evacuation near Cincinnati
During a shootout that ensued, one of Davis and Pates associates was killed. They were charged with his murder.
After a trial began last week, their defense lawyers moved for an acquittal, which was granted on Monday. The judge said there was insufficient evidence to sustain a conviction.
The acquittal applies to counts five through eight of their incitements. Their trial on the remaining charges, including two additional counts of murder, is set to begin in January.
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2 men arrested after suspected drugs found near school in Preble County
Two men were arrested after sheriffs deputies found suspected methamphetamine and drug materials near a Preble County school last week.
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Deputies were working on drug trafficking complaints in a West Alexandria garage within 1000 feet of Twin Valley South Schools, according to the Preble County Sheriffs Office.
They contacted a man leaving a garage at the 100 block of West Dayton Street and discovered he had suspected methamphetamine after he traded for the drugs.
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Deputies were granted permission to search the garage and discovered seven grams of suspected methamphetamine, digital scales, and meth pipes.
One of the suspects admitted to selling methamphetamine in the garage, located within 1000 feet of the school, the sheriffs office said.
Robert Johnson, 39, was arrested and charged with two felony counts each of aggravated trafficking in drugs and aggravated possession of drugs in Eaton Municipal Court.
Clyde Miller, 41, West Alexandria, was arrested and charged with a felony count of aggravated possession of drugs, the sheriffs office stated.
Online jail records indicated that Johnson is in the Preble County Jail.
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(KRON) Two suspects have been identified in connection to a double shooting in August near The Crows Nest restaurant by the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor.
On Tuesday, the Santa Cruz Police Department identified the attempted murder suspects as Moses Dollar and Jakaella Porter.
Detectives tracked 21-year-old Dollar down in Southern California last week, and with assistance from the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department, took Dollar into custody. He was transported back to Santa Cruz and booked into the county jail Monday, SCPD said.
A female associated with the case, Jakaella Porter, has an outstanding warrant for conspiracy and attempted homicide, SCPD wrote. Porter is not in custody, jail inmate records show.
Two victims were shot just before 9 p.m. on Thursday, August 8 in a parking lot between the harbor and The Crows Nest restaurant. The victims suffered life-threatening injuries and were rushed to a trauma center.
Police officers said they discovered that an altercation happened just before the shooting. A gunman opened fire and fled in a black Dodge Charger. After an extensive investigation, SCPDs Investigation Bureau identified the suspects, the police department wrote.
Dollar is scheduled to make his first court appearance for an arraignment on Wednesday. Prosecutors charged Dollar with attempted murder, as well as firearms-related charges.
The shooting prompted Santa Cruz officials to shut down a popular beach party event indefinitely. Harbor officials previously wrote, The Santa Cruz Port District must announce the cancellation of this summers remaining Thursday Night Beach Barbeque events, which are part of a free public event series hosted by The Crows Nest.
Port Director Holland MacLaurie said the decision was the best course of action as officials evaluate public safety impacts associated with large gatherings at the harbor.
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A 21-year-old rock climber from Wisconsin has been declared dead after a fall at Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming over the weekend.
Stewart Philip Porter of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, was "rappelling the second pitch of El Cracko Diablo" before his deadly fall, according to a release from the National Parks Service.
Shortly before 8:00 pm on Sunday, September 22, park rangers at Devils Tower were informed of a fall sustained by a visiting rock climber. First responders discovered 21-year-old Porter and his climbing partner about 45 minutes later, according to a release.
Missing Climber In Glacier National Park Found Dead After Suffering Apparent Fall
During Porter's fall, he "sustain[ed] major injuries" and was subsequently pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics. The distance from which the 21-year-old fell is "still under investigation," according to an email sent to Fox News Digital from Devils Tower National Monument.
North America, USA, Wyoming, Sundance, Devils Tower National Monument, Devils Tower.
Devils Tower stands nearly 900 feet from base to summit and got its name from a poor early 1900s translation of "Bear Lodge" from the Lakota people into English. It is located in the Black Hills of Northeastern Wyoming.
The rock formation's "hundreds of parallel cracks make it one of the finest crack climbing areas in North America," according to the National Parks Service. More recognizably, Devils Tower was featured heavily in the 1977 film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, directed by Steven Spielberg.
Director Steven Spielberg filming the 1977 sci-fi movie 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind,' by Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind features Devils Tower as the "contact point" between human beings and the extra-terrestrials from the movie and as a motif of the main character's recurring visions.
Porters partner was stranded after his fall and was later rescued by climbing guides from Devils Tower Lodge and Buck Wild. According to the National Parks Service, the majority of climbing falls and deaths occur during the rappel.
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The National Parks Service cites that there have been seven climbing deaths since the formation became a park in 1906. Climbing Devils Tower is not permitted during parts of spring and summer for nesting falcons on the Tower, as well as "Native American cultural and ceremonial values."
Climbers scale Devils Tower.
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Original article source: 21-year-old rock climber falls, dies at storied 'Close Encounters' filming location: National Park Service
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport (JAN) said theyve intercepted 23 firearms at the security checkpoints so far in 2024.
Passengers should pack for a trip starting with an empty bag to be sure they are not carrying prohibited items before they enter our checkpoints, said TSA Federal Security Director for the State of Mississippi Kim Jackson. Make sure your firearm is not in your carry-on bag and also check that you do not have a pocketknife or other threats that are not permitted in the cabin of the aircraft.
According to the TSA, most items that are prohibited in your carry-on bag can be placed in a checked bag. But anything that is flammable, corrosive or explosive cannot travel anywhere on the plane.
When will you need a REAL ID? It may be complicated
If you are going to travel with your firearm, officials said it must be in your checked bag, unloaded and in a locked hard-sided case. You must declare it to the airline at check-in. Travelers are responsible for being aware of what the firearm laws are on each side of their trip or they may be cited or heading to jail instead of to their vacation or business trip. Firearms may not be legal to transport even in checked baggage in some jurisdictions.
According to the TSA, the most recent firearm intercepted by TSA at the Jackson checkpoints was on Monday, September 16 when a 28-year-old man headed for Charlotte entered the checkpoint with a loaded Glock. On August 31, a 43-year-old woman headed to Atlanta entered the checkpoint with a loaded Ruger with ammunition chambered. On August 26, a 43-year-old man headed to Houston entered the checkpoint with a loaded Ruger.
Last year passengers across the state of Mississippi brought 50 firearms to our security checkpoints with 35 of those in Jackson. So far this calendar year we have stopped 37 firearms across the state with 23 of them here at JAN, Jackson said. We are reminding the public to place their firearms in their checked bags and declare them to the airline.
Specific Year-to-Date Totals for 2024
Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport 23
Gufport-Biloxi International Airport 10
Greenville Mid-Delta Regional Airport 1
Hattiesburg Laurel Regional Airport 1
Tupelo Regional Airport 2
TSA explains reasons behind certain screening policies
Thanks to the experience and vigilance of our TSA officers, each of these firearms was intercepted before they could make it into the cabin of an aircraft, Jackson said.
Many of the passengers across the country who bring firearms to a federal security checkpoint are arrested or issued notices to appear in court. Regardless of whether the individual is arrested or cited by law enforcement, with whom we immediately partner, passengers face a civil penalty imposed by the TSA that can reach nearly $15,000. If the traveler is in the TSA PreCheck program, those privileges will be lost for a period of time, possibly permanently.
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25 Investigates continues to document teacher sexual misconduct in Massachusetts public schools. Now we are learning of allegations against a teacher in Brockton that surfaced in an unexpected way.
I got angry I cried. On page 103, we failed that student. And the fact that not everybody in the city is angry about this saddens me as a mom, said Brockton school committee member, Ana Oliver, during a September 18th meeting.
The school committee was discussing a financial audit, but it revealed something deeper than any debt.
Page 103 is the most important. Because you can fix the financial piece you can fix whos working here. How do you repair that individual that was a vulnerable student? This individual was at a school that was high need. The real question is, how do you repair that individual? You cant for what happened, said school committee member Tony Rodrigues.
25 Investigates reached out to both members of the school committee but has not yet heard back.
Page 103 appears in a Brockton Public Schools financial audit of fiscal year 2023.
It said in part In February 2022, a former BPS student reported that she had a sexual relationship with her male teacher while attending the Goddard Alternative School (the predecessor to HTDS) prior to graduating in 2013.
It went on to say At the time of the report, the teacher against whom the allegations were made was teaching at Brockton High School And that this event may not have been isolated to the reporting student and may have been known by other staff members.
We know from various studies that have been done that school employees often say that even if they knew of a case, they probably wouldnt report it because they havent been trained, said Jetta Bernier, executive director of Enough Abuse, (formerly MassKids) a national child advocacy group, has long pushed for better legal protections for students.
Efforts that once again died this session on Beacon Hill.
That would address the need to mandate training in schools, the need to make sure screening is improved, the need to close the age of consent loophole, which right now provides some protection for abusers if theyre engaged in a relationship with a 16- or 18-year-old student, said Bernier.
In November 2023, 25 Investigates first began documenting how often children face sexual abuse in our public schools.
The latest research tells us that it could be as much as 12% of those students report some kind of inappropriate sexual contact with an adult in their school, said Bernier. That means there may be more than 100,000 students right now in Massachusetts who are experiencing some form of inappropriate behavior.
25 Investigates found dozens of cases but also found state laws enabling secrecy.
We need every single school employee to be a champion for children, said Bernier. We have to change the laws to better protect our children. And now is the time. We are well past time.
25 Investigates reached out to Brockton Public Schools.
We asked whether this teacher was terminated or resigned and when, and whether they investigated if other students were impacted.
A spokesperson would only say the teacher has not worked for the district since 2022. And any allegations are investigated and reported to the appropriate authorities.
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In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, The Italian Sea Group (TISG) said that lawyers who filed the lawsuit were instructed to withdraw it one day later
Dan Kitwood/Getty Mike Lynch, former chief executive officer of Autonomy Corp departs the Rolls Building on June 27, 2019
A $250 million lawsuit filed against British tech mogul Mike Lynchs widow and crew members of the Bayesian yacht, which sank off the coast of Sicily in August, killing seven people, has been withdrawn following complaints by the vessel's maker, which says it never authorized the legal action.
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, The Italian Sea Group (TISG) said that lawyers who filed the lawsuit on Friday, Sept. 20, were instructed to withdraw it one day later. The lawyers involved in the filing have been fired, as well, a source close to the legal proceedings tells PEOPLE.
This came just days after Italian publication La Nazione reported that Tommaso Bertuccelli, a lawyer representing TISG, filed a 222 million (about $247.8 million) lawsuit, claiming Lynchs widow, Angela Bacares, and the crew had damaged the reputation of the company, which had lost business as a result of the tragedy, according to Fortune.
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, TISG said they strongly refute the La Nazione report and claimed they did not authorize lawyers to submit the filing.
The source tells PEOPLE the lawsuit was withdrawn at the request of TISG, whose management claimed they had no involvement in the lawsuit filed in a Sicilian court last week in their name.
They were among the last to learn about the case, which made global headlines after being covered by local media, the source adds.
Related: Captain Who Saw Sicily Yacht Sink Says Mike Lynchs Wife Didnt Want to Leave Scene Without Husband and Daughter
According to TISG, all documents related to the summons have already been physically withdrawn, effectively nullifying the legal action that had been the subject of recent media coverage.
"While TISG did give a general mandate to the lawyers mentioned in the article, no legal representative of the company has examined, signed, or authorized any writ of summons," they added. "The company firmly distances itself from the published information and reserves the right to protect its interests through all available legal channels."
Bacares was one of four people named in the lawsuit, La Nazione reported.
Also reportedly named in the lawsuit were Captain James Cutfield, two additional crew members, Camper & Nicholsons, the company responsible for hiring the boats crew, and Revtom, a company controlled by Bacares, which owned the Bayesian.
Related: Victims of Sicily Yacht Tragedy Formally Identified, Authorities Say Some Were Searching for Air Pockets in Final Moments
Giovanni Costantino, CEO of TISG, previously speculated that he believed the sinking resulted from an "endless chain of errors" by the crew, according to CNN.
Speaking with Sky News that same week, Costantino called the company's ships "unsinkable" and the safest in the most absolute sense.
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The 183-foot British vessel sank around 5 a.m. local time on Monday after a "violent storm" while near Porticello, the Italian coast guard said in a statement that was previously obtained by PEOPLE.
Many details of why the yacht went into the water so quickly remain unclear and it's not yet known what the passengers and crew were doing before tragedy struck.
Related: Mike Lynchs Friend Shares What Life Was Like Onboard Yacht Before It Sank: 'Truly Luxurious Cabins'
News of the withdrawn lawsuit came less than a month after the news that Bacares could be liable for damages being sought by Hewlett Packard Enterprises, which confirmed that the company will continue to pursue damages of up to $4 billion from Lynch's estate.
According to a statement from the company previously obtained by PEOPLE, Britains High Court ruled in 2022 that HPE had substantially succeeded in its civil fraud claims against Lynch and Sushovan Hussain after they sold Autonomy, a company founded by Lynch, in 2011 for $11 billion.
Lynch was later acquitted in a separate U.S. trial related to the sale. He and others, including one of the lawyers who worked on the case, Christopher Morvillo, were apparently celebrating the acquittal on the superyacht that capsized shortly before it sank.
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DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) A new tool is reportedly showing progress for when some Ohio drivers have to interact with authorities.
More than 2,000 Ohioans with communication disabilities have voluntarily registered their license plates into a database to reduce the risk of miscommunications between themselves and law enforcement officials.
Dangerous chemical leak prompts immediate evacuation near Cincinnati
Gov. Mike DeWine said the individuals who enter their plates into the system can have an easier time during a traffic stop.
Having this information right up front is helping law enforcement officers add an additional layer of understanding in their approach to these situations, creating a smoother stop for all involved, said DeWine. Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that all people feel safe and secure while interacting with law enforcement. I encourage anyone who has a communications disability to sign up to participate.
If you have a communication disability, you must contact your healthcare provider to have it verified. It would then be completed and sent to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Three people were hospitalized after a report of a stabbing in Henderson, according to police.
On Tuesday around 5:10 p.m., Henderson police responded to a report of a stabbing in the 1100 block of Ruby Sparrow Street near the Wetlands Park.
On Tuesday around 5:10 p.m., Henderson police responded to a report of a stabbing in the 1100 block of Ruby Sparrow Street near the Wetlands Park. (KLAS)
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Police said three people were taken to a local hospital with two of them in critical condition.
Police arrested a suspect and there is no active threat to the community, according to HPD.
No other details are available at this time. Stay with 8 News Now for updates.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The acting UN relief chief on Wednesday warned that without urgent international action, the humanitarian crisis in Sudan will erupt into epic proportions.
Joyce Msuya, the acting under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said that the humanitarian situation in Sudan is beyond appalling.
Speaking at a high-level event on the margins of the UN General Assembly General Debate, she said the war has triggered what is now among the world's most significant displacement crises. More than half the population of Sudan -- 25.6 million people -- is acutely food insecure.
Msuya also urged UN member states to use all their leverage to bring the horrific violations of international humanitarian law and the abuses of human rights law to an end.
The event, "The Cost of Inaction: Urgent and Collective Support to Scale Up the Humanitarian Response in Sudan and the Region," was co-hosted by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Refugee Agency and member states.
Filippo Grandi, the high commissioner for refugees, said more than 10 million Sudanese are fleeing the violence.
"If people don't die because of bullets, they starve to death," he said. "If they manage to survive, they must face disease or floods, or the threat of sexual violence and other horrifying abuse."
Grandi said that in two visits to Sudan this year, the conditions he witnessed were apocalyptic.
Three more people have been arrested and charged with murder in last weeks death of a Columbus 15-year-old, according to a post from Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countrymans Facebook page.
The post says three people were taken into custody and each charged with murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime in connection with the death of Earkavion Lee.
One suspect named in the post is Demetrius Miles, who the Columbus Police Department said is 19 years old. Two suspects identified in the post are under the age of 18, according to CPD. It is Ledger-Enquirer policy to not publish the names of arrested people who are younger than 18.
Lee, who was a freshman at Kendrick High School, was shot and killed Thursday on Watkins Drive after getting off a school bus, the Ledger-Enquirer reported.
The Muscogee County Sheriffs Office Special Operations Unit and the Columbus Police Department assisted the South East Regional Fugitive Task Force alongside the FBI and the Coweta County Sheriffs Office to locate and apprehend the suspects, according to the post.
The post says all subjects were turned over to the Columbus Police Department. The case remains under investigation, according to the post.
One person previously was arrested in Lees death. Roannil Clanton, 20, was charged with murder, the Ledger-Enquirer reported.
MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) The Morgan County District Attorneys Office announced Tuesday that a Huntsville man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexually abusing, strangling and threatening a child.
Jerome Curtis, 36, of Huntsville, was convicted during a trial in May on the following charges:
first-degree sodomy
willful abuse of a child
enticing a child for an immoral purpose
Man sentenced to 21 years for home repair fraud conviction out of Morgan County
Curtis will serve 25 years in the Alabama Department of Corrections.
The Decatur Police Department said at the time of Curtiss arrest that someone reported a child had been sexually assaulted by Curtis.
It was discovered through the investigation, led by Detective Brandon Ozbolt, that Curtis woke the victim in the middle of the night and drove the child to a secluded location. At that location,
he forcibly sodomized the child, strangled the child, and threatened to kill her if she told anyone what he had done, the Morgan County District Attorneys Office said.
The DAs office said that Assistant District Attorney Stacy Adams prosecuted the case for the State of Alabama.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
RODANTHE, N.C. (WAVY) A third house has now collapsed into the ocean in less than a week on North Carolinas Outer Banks.
All three houses were near each other in Rodanthe. The latest, at 23039 G A Kohler Court, went down just after 1 p.m. Tuesday, per Chicamacomico Banks Fire & Rescue. The fire service shared video of the collapse and the aftermath.
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Coming to the beach after seven years, BJ and Jim McGuire say its sad to see the seashore destroyed like this.
And very quickly, it was just debris everywhere, said visitor BJ McGuire. You could hear the noise. It made a heck of a bang when it went down. Unbelievable that weve seen so much destruction in the short time weve been here. Yeah, its unreal.
Debris filled the beach Tuesday, and officials are urging people to stay out the water because of pollutants from the collapses.
It is sad for all parties involved, but most importantly our ocean being polluted, the fire department said.
We love this place, BJ McGuire said. I mean, for us to make the trip down here from Vermont every year for all those years, we love the people down here. We love the laid-back vibe. And its its very sad to see what these people are losing.
The 23039 G A Kohler Court house that collapsed on September 24, 2024 in Rodanthe (Courtesy of 23039 Cape Hatteras National Seashore)
Debris from the collapsed house at 23039 G A Kohler Court, next to houses at 23047 G A Kohler Court and 23237 Sea Oats Drive in Rodanthe. (Courtesy of Cape Hatteras National Seashore)
Debris from the collapsed house at 23039 G A Kohler Court in Rodanthe (Courtesy of Cape Hatteras National Seashore)
Beachgoers are calling on officials to take action to save the beach.
I think that what gets us is we feel bad for the people down here because they want to see action, BJ McGuire said. They want to see something done. And the people that weve talked to that live down here, they just dont feel that things are being done to help them.
But the feedback weve gotten is pretty discouraged, Jim McGuire said, and I think where they felt safe, I dont think theyd feel as safe anymore.
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This is the fifth house to collapse into the ocean in the area this year, and the 10th in the past four years, per Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
The Seashore said the owner of the house has hired a cleanup contractor, and Seashore employees will assist with the efforts.
Cleanup also continues for the two other houses which collapsed within hours of each other on Friday, and people are being asked to stay out of the water from G A Kohler Court in Rodanthe to Wimble Shores North Court in Waves. There are also other houses nearby in danger of collapse, the fire department says, including the one right next to the home that went down Tuesday.
So why not take them down before they fall? The owners of the homes say theyre not able to proactively demolish them because it might not be covered by insurance.
The homes in the ocean at GA Kohler Court in Rodanthe back on September 20, 2024 (Courtesy of Adam Bittmann)
A contractor in charge of cleanup told Nexstars WAVY that things need to change to protect the environment and save money on cleanup.
Let people protect their property. It is more cost effective too. Let us tear it down before they are in peril in the ocean. Cleaning up is not cheap.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
4 Kansas schools win prestigious award for high performance. Heres where they are
Four Kansas elementary schools have earned a prestigious national designation awarded to just 356 schools in the U.S. for 2024.
The Blue Ribbon program names schools every year into two categories high performing schools and schools that are closing achievement gaps. This year, Kansas Garfield Elementary (Augusta), Herington Elementary (Herington), Lincoln Elementary (Junction City) and Sunflower Elementary (Paola) were designated as high-performing schools.
Educators in National Blue Ribbon schools employ effective teaching methods with data-driven instruction, participate in robust professional development and collaborate with their students families and community in a concerted effort to ensure every student reaches their potential, the Kansas Department of Education said in a press release.
Since the program began in 1983, 149 Kansas schools have been named Blue Ribbon Schools, according to the Kansas Department of Education. Out of the four schools that gained the title in 2024, two are celebrating their first Blue Ribbon classifications.
Heres what to know about the winners.
Garfield Elementary School
Garfield Elementary School is located in Augusta.
According to U.S. World News & Report, the school has an enrollment of about 235, with 47% showing proficiency in math and 57% for reading.
We are so proud of our students for all their hard work, our parents for all their support, and our dedicated staff coming together to make great things happen here at Garfield! the school posted on its Facebook account after the award was announced.
The last time Garfield was recognized as a Blue Ribbon school was in 2006.
Herington Elementary School
Herington Elementary School is located in Herington, a city in Dickinson County.
The school has an enrollment of about 178 students, according to U.S. World News & Report. Forty two percent of students showed proficiency in math as well as reading.
Herington was also named a Blue Ribbon School in 2007.
Lincoln Elementary School
Lincoln Elementary School is located in Junction City and has a total enrollment of 271, according to U.S. World News & Report.
According to the same source, 47% of students showed proficiency in math and 57% showed proficiency in reading.
Being named a National Blue Ribbon School is a tremendous honor. This recognition stands as a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students, staff, and families. It highlights our unwavering commitment to academic excellence and to creating an environment where every student can thrive, Daniel Dinkel, Lincoln Elementary principal, said in a Geary County Schools Facebook post.
This is the first time Lincoln gained the title.
Sunflower Elementary School
Sunflower Elementary School is located in Paola, about an hour south of Kansas City.
According to U.S. World News & Report, the school has an enrollment of 384, with 52% of students showing proficiency in math and 49% in reading.
This prestigious honor reflects the dedication, hard work, and passion that our staff and students bring to school every single day! the school said in a social media post.
This is the first time both Sunflower Elementary School and a Paola school earned the title.
4-Year-Old Girl Reunites with Dad After Getting Lost While Trying to Walk to Grandmas House
"Did you go on an adventure? responding Deputy Brian Fortin asked the child
Weld County Sheriff's Office Colorado father reunites with missing child
A Colorado father was relieved after his 4-year-old daughters unauthorized trip to grandmas house had a happy ending.
In a Facebook post shared on Friday, Sept. 20, and later shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), the Weld County Sheriff's Office released a video showing the sweet reunion made possible thanks to a concerned citizen and a responding officer.
The Sacramento Bee identified the law enforcement official as Deputy Brian Fortin.
Father reunites with missing child thanks to the help of the Weld County Community
Feel good story alert!
Recently, a 4-year-old girl decided to go on an adventure and walk to her grandmas house. The little girls father called 911 and was distraught when he realized she was pic.twitter.com/HRzZiFLk49 Weld County Sheriff (@WeldSheriff) September 23, 2024
At the beginning of the video, Fortin is seen exiting his patrol vehicle and approaching a woman standing near the side of the road with the little girl.
Hi, did you go on an adventure? he cheerfully asked while making his way closer to the two of them.
According to the sheriffs office social media post, the 4-year-old girl decided to go on an adventure and walk to her grandmas house. The little girls father called 911 and was distraught when he realized she was missing. One of our patrol deputies was near the call, and immediately responded to it.
The post added that just before Fortins arrival, he was informed that a citizen was out with the missing girl. The childs face was blurred out of the footage at the request of her family, who did give their consent to share the video.
Weld County Sheriff's Office Colorado father reunites with missing child
Related: 2-Year-Old Child Leaves Home After Parents Put Her to Bed, Then Gets Struck and Killed by Car
You wanna hop in my car and well go back home? Fortin asked the child. Lets go, sweetie.
The deputy and the child got in the car and made their way back to her home, where the father could be seen approaching the vehicle to meet them.
The girls father, whose identity was not released, let out an inaudible gasp as Fortin assured him that hed safely located and returned the little girl.
Give your dad a hug, okay? Fortin told the girl, who began to cry.
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Its okay, her dad added as he extended his arms to console her. Oh my God, he said, becoming emotional.
Fortin explained that the child told him she was trying to walk over to grandmas house. She was supposed to go to grandmas house today.
No, she wasnt, the father said, wiping away tears and picking his child up.
We share this story with you because we do rely on the publics support and cooperation during our investigations," the Weld County Sheriff's Office said. "A heartfelt thank you goes out to the Weld County community. Your attention to the safety of your fellow community members is greatly appreciated.
Weld County is approximately a 70-mile drive northeast of Denver.
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Decades after the capture of BTK killer Dennis Rader, his case continues to affect family members of his victims and his own family. In his book, the son of Raders final victim, Dolores Davis, tells his story of faith following his mothers death. The memoir by Raders daughter, Kerri Rawson, sheds light on her personal journey of healing and the broader themes of trauma, faith, and forgiveness. And Katherine Ramsland, a research scholar who trains detectives and other criminologists, talks about her book, Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer.
The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories below were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.
No. 1: BTKs daughter to publish book about family horror
The daughter of the BTK serial killer plans to publish a book next year about the trauma of discovering that her father had killed and terrorized people for 31 years.Kerri Rawson grew up with her brother and her parents, Dennis and Paula Rader, in Park City. | Published February 25, 2017 | Read Full Story by Roy Wenzl
No. 2: BTK serial killer back in the spotlight with release of his daughters memoir
Kerri Rawson, the daughter of BTK serial killer Dennis Rader, released her memoir on Tuesday. | Published January 27, 2019 | Read Full Story by Denise Neil
No. 3: His mother was killed by BTK. Now, hes telling his story of faith
In 1996, five years after his mothers murder, Jeff Davis painfully wrote the first edition of his book.It didnt get much attention.Yet the book did inspire a letter to Davis, signed only as A Taxpayer. The letter referenced the book and said it was unfortunate that the television show Unsolved Mysteries didnt accept the story, since it would have adapted well to the screen. Part of the letter abruptly broke into a first-person retelling of what the murderer might say, if you could actually talk with him.Years later, after Dennis Rader had been arrested for the murder of Daviss mother and nine others, police said that letter had been written by Rader. | Published March 18, 2018 | Read Full Story by Katherine Burgess
No. 4: Book shows BTK as selfish, egotistical bastard
Lust and a desire for fame and power drove the BTK serial killer to murder 10 people in Wichita from 1974 to 1991.So says professor of forensic psychology Katherine Ramsland, a research scholar who trains detectives and other criminologists, and who has written 58 nonfiction books, many about criminals and crime. | Published August 18, 2016 | Read Full Story by Roy Wenzl
This report was produced with the help of AI tools, which summarized previous stories reported and written by McClatchy journalists. It was edited by journalists in our News division.
SPRINGVILLE, Utah (ABC4) Detectives are offering a $5,000 reward to anyone in the public who can help lead to the arrest and conviction in a 2023 murder.
Michael Joshua Mayer, 23, was found early Saturday morning, Nov. 18, after he was gunned down at his Springville apartment near 200 South and 100 West. First responders took Mayer to the hospital and attempted life-saving measures, but he later died due to multiple gunshot wounds.
Nearly a year after Mayers murder, detectives are asking for the publics help in identifying a suspect.
The Springville Police Department had originally detained two people shortly after the shooting. Court documents indicate Amanda Bird, 44, was charged and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice after what detectives had described as a lengthy standoff at a nearby apartment.
After being taken into custody, Bird identified a suspect who allegedly shot and killed Mayer, saying she just knew because she went out there, according to court documents. After speaking with other witnesses and gathering additional information, detectives believe what Bird said wasnt true.
Bird admitted to lying saying she knew the alleged suspect did not murder Mayer, according to court documents. She reportedly changed her story, telling detectives she did not know anything about what actually happened.
Bird was charged with obstruction of justice and failure to stop at the command of a police officer. According to court documents, Bird pleaded guilty to the obstruction of justice charge while the failure to stop charge was dismissed.
Bird was sentenced to 31 days in jail and 36 months of supervised probation and issued a $5,000 fine.
Lt. William Foster with the Springville Police Department confirmed no one else was charged in relation to the case.
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The (500-year-old) reason Mexico didn't invite the king of Spain to the president's inauguration
Spain's King Felipe VI and Princess Leonor attend a military parade in Madrid last year. The monarch is not invited to the inauguration of Mexico's next president, Claudia Sheinbaum. (Manu Fernandez / Associated Press)
When Claudia Sheinbaum is inaugurated as Mexico's first female president on Oct. 1, one delegation will be notably absent.
The Spanish government said this week that it will not send any representatives to the historic ceremony to protest the "unacceptable" fact that Spanish King Felipe VI was not invited.
It was the latest in a simmering diplomatic dispute rooted in the Spanish conquest of Mexico 500 years ago.
Mexico's president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, celebrates her victory in June's election. (Carl de Souza /AFP / Getty Images)
In 2019, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sent a letter to the Spanish crown demanding that it issue a public apology for abuses committed during the violent invasion centuries earlier.
The so-called conquest was accomplished with the sword and the cross, Lopez Obrador said in video that he released at the time explaining his letter. Thousands of people were murdered during this period. A culture was imposed, one civilization on top of another, to the point where Catholic churches were constructed on top of the temples of pre-Hispanic peoples.
Spain rebuffed the presidents demands, with government officials telling journalists that the nation's current leaders should not be held responsible for the actions of their forebears.
Read more: 500 years later, Mexico recalls but doesn't celebrate Spanish conquest
In a statement this week, Sheinbaum said she decided to exclude Felipe VI from her inauguration because Spain never responded directly to Lopez Obrador's request.
Regrettably, this letter did not merit any direct response, as would have corresponded to diplomatic best practices, Sheinbaum wrote.
Although the two countries share a solid friendship, Sheinbaum said, a successful bilateral relationship will require "a renewed historical perspective."
At his morning news conference Wednesday, Lopez Obrador defended Sheinbaum's decision. "They acted with a lot of arrogance," he said of Spanish authorities, urging them to put racism aside and take responsibility for the horrors of the conquest.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador kneels during an indigenous ceremony during his inauguration six years ago. (Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
What does it cost them to offer an apology? he asked.
Lopez Obrador, who hails from southern Mexico, which is home to the country's largest Indigenous population, has sought to restore pride in the nation's Indigenous roots during his six years in office. During his own inauguration in 2018, he was blessed in an Indigenous ceremony. Some of his critics have pointed out that one of his grandfathers was born in Cantabria, Spain.
Read more: Mexico elects leftist Claudia Sheinbaum as the first female president in its history
Sheinbaum, a close ally of Lopez Obrador and a member of his leftist Morena party, has vowed to continue many of the president's policies, including his emphasis on helping poor and Indigenous Mexicans.
Officials who are confirmed to attend her inauguration include a who's who of the Latin American left, among them Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Gustavo Petro of Colombia, Gabriel Boric of Chile and Miguel Diaz-Canel of Cuba.
Read more: Analysis: How did Mexico elect a female president before the United States? Not by accident
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
HONOLULU (KHON2) The Honolulu City Council adopted a resolution to re-program $5 million of COVID money that will be used for hazard pay for City employees who worked during the pandemic.
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According to City Managing Director Mike Formby, a proposal has been made to SHOPO and HGEA for payments to not be 100% cash.
UPW Oahu essential workers gets hazard pay for work during pandemic
We know theres going to be a delta and we dont want to go into next years budget with a big deficit. So we know theres going to be a delta so what were negotiating is that a portion, Formby explained.
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Instead, the City is proposing the hazard pay to be paid 80% by cash and the remaining 20% by comp time.
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Formby announced that the comp time would go to their account and they can take that over their life in the City.
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According to federal rule, the money must be spent by Sept. 26, 2026.
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65-year-old man arrested in connection to two burglaries in Bethesda, police say
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) said a 65-year-old man was arrested in connection to two burglaries in Bethesda on Sept. 11.
Police said that just after 2 p.m., a man received an alert on his phone and saw the suspect trying to break into his home, which was empty at the time.
The man then called the police and provided them with information about the suspect.
When offices arrived, they saw a broken window at the home, and the suspect walking away from the house.
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Officers chased after the suspect before eventually arresting him.
Police determined that the suspect broke into the house and stole items and money.
Not soon after, another man who lives on Brookes Lane approached police and told them that some items as well as money were stolen from his house.
Officers found the items and money inside the suspects car and determined that the suspect had also broken into the mans home and money and some items.
Police identified the man as 65-year-old Gregory Jerome Stamps, of Manassas, Virginia.
He was arrested and charged with first-degree burglary, third-degree burglary, fourth-degree burglary, resisting arrest and malicious destruction of property.
Stamps is being held without bond.
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NAIROBI, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Wednesday emphasized the urgent need to unlock the vast opportunities presented by the digital economy for African countries, highlighting its potential to create jobs and enhance service delivery.
Speaking at the 41st edition of the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP) World Conference in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, Gachagua urged Africa to leverage its demographic dividend and implement smart policies to achieve a digital and resilient future.
"Our continent has potential to become a global technology powerhouse by tapping into the innovations and entrepreneurial spirit of the youth. This demographic is powering transition to a knowledge-based economy," Gachagua said.
The 41st IASP conference, held from Sept. 24 to 27, focuses on the theme "Demographics, Entrepreneurship and Technology: Defining the Frontiers of Future Economies."
It has brought together over 1,500 delegates from 50 countries, including policymakers, industry executives, innovators, regulators, and scholars, to discuss how emerging technologies can transform economies, promote climate action, and achieve the United Nations 2030 goals.
Kenya is the second African nation, after South Africa, to host this global summit which centers on creating a robust innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem, enhancing the digital skills of youth, and strengthening the fintech sector.
Gachagua highlighted Kenya's commitment to supporting Africa's digital transformation, aiming for inclusive growth and the climate-proofing of critical sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, health, transport, and tourism.
He pointed to the installation of 100,000 km of fiber optic cable and the establishment of digital hubs in 1,400 wards across Kenya as key steps toward transitioning to a knowledge-based economy, with benefits expected to resonate across the continent.
He called on African countries to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things, which have the potential to reshape economies and enhance workplace productivity.
"With artificial intelligence estimated to contribute 15.7 trillion U.S. dollars to the global economy by 2030, Kenya and Africa must have a bite of this technology," said Gachagua, stressing the essential need for strategic investments in research and development, training, as well as infrastructure.
By developing robust science, technology, and innovation hubs, Gachagua believes Africa will be better positioned to address endemic issues such as poverty, hunger, youth unemployment, disease, and environmental crises.
IASP Chief Executive Officer Ebba Lund said leveraging digital tools could enable African countries to leapfrog into a prosperous, inclusive, and resilient future.
BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) Virginia State Police are reporting a crash in Botetourt County has killed a North Carolina woman and injured two others on September 20.
VSP says around 5:30 p.m. on Friday, 75-year-old Dickie Donald Hall of Hickory, NC was driving with a passenger in a 2018 Honda CR-V on I-81S near mile marker 160.7. Hall went off the left side of the road, crossed into the northbound lane, and was hit by a 2000 Jeep Cherokee.
Hall was taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries received in the crash. Police say he was wearing his seatbelt.
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67-year-old passenger, Debra Powell Hall of Hickory, NC was pronounced dead at the scene. She was also wearing a seatbelt.
The driver of the Jeep was a 19-year-old man and was taken to the hospital for treatment. There is no information on his current condition. Police say he was wearing his seatbelt.
VSP says the investigation is ongoing and that Hall has been charged with Reckless Driving.
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7 California renter laws you should know: From security deposit caps to repairs
California renters should be aware of laws impacting their rights, such as the security deposit cap limiting deposits to one months rent. Other laws include rules about how high a landlord can raise your rent, overdue payments and repairs.
The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories below were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.
No. 1: How much can landlords charge for security deposits? New California law creates limits
Does the new law apply to previous lease agreements? | Published June 24, 2024 | Read Full Story by Angela Rodriguez
No. 2: How much can my landlord raise my rent? Am I being overcharged? Know these California laws
A Sacramento Bee reader reached out to us frustrated about her monthly rent obligations. | Published April 23, 2024 | Read Full Story by Brianna Taylor
No. 3: How late can I pay my rent in California? Is there a grace period? Heres what expert says
Can a landlord evict a tenant if their rent payment is two days late? | Published July 11, 2024 | Read Full Story by Angela Rodriguez
No. 4: Can a landlord renovate your rental while youre still living there? What California law says
When are property owners allowed to evict tenants for repairs? | Published July 29, 2024 | Read Full Story by Angela Rodriguez
No. 5: How long can landlords legally take to make repairs? Heres what a Sacramento attorney says
A Sacramento woman died in her apartment due to a broken heater last year. | Published April 24, 2024 | Read Full Story by Hanh Truong
No. 6: What repairs can California landlords take out of your security deposit? What the law says
And whats considered normal wear and tear? | Published May 30, 2024 | Read Full Story by Angela Rodriguez
No. 7: Can I update my rental unit without my landlords consent? What California law requires
Thinking of making an improvement to your rental unit? Heres what you should know. | Published January 27, 2024 | Read Full Story by Angela Rodriguez
This report was produced with the help of AI tools, which summarized previous stories reported and written by McClatchy journalists. It was edited by journalists in our News division.
7 Dayton firefighters with Ohio Task Force 1 in preparation for Tropical Storm Helene
Some local firefighters are going south due to the potential for Tropical Storm Helene to become a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.
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As previously reported by News Center 7, Ohio Task Force 1 received activation orders to mobilize as a Type I team to support FEME Region 4 and the state of Florida.
Dayton Police & Fire wrote on social media that seven members of the Dayton Fire Department are headed south with Ohio Task Force 1.
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More than 80 task force members are trained for search and rescue operations.
>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Ohio Task Force 1 announces deployment to Florida in preparation for Tropical Storm Helene
OH-TF1 is traveling to Orlando for staging.
Their specific destination has not been determined.
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DENVER (KDVR) Seven people from five different states have been indicted for allegedly defrauding Medicare and Colorado Medicaid for more than $40 million.
According to a release by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Colorado, the seven were involved together through several companies, including Tesis Labs, LLC, based in Lafayette and 303 Diagnostics, LLC, based in Aurora.
While the companies were based in Colorado, the seven people indicted were from Maine, Florida, New York, California and Arizona.
Four of the seven allegedly conspired to defraud Medicare and state Medicaid in several ways, including by paying kickbacks and bribes to supposed marketing companies for referrals for medically unnecessary genetic testing.
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These referrals led to $40 million in false claims that Medicare and state Medicaid paid to the labs, according to the release.
According to the release, all seven allegedly conspired to offer and pay illegal bribes and kickbacks for health care benefit programs like Medicare, state Medicaid and private health insurance plans.
They agreed to pay kickbacks and bribes to people they identified as marketers in order to solicit patients to participate in unnecessary genetic testing. This included elderly Medicare beneficiaries.
According to the release, these kickback recipients used call centers to target the victims of the unnecessary tests.
The case is being investigated by the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, the FBI Denver Field Division and the IRS Criminal Investigation department.
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CHICAGO An hour-and-a-half-long crime spree on the citys Southwest Side on Tuesday morning has prompted a warning from Chicago police as the search for the individuals responsible continues.
Police said a group of one to six individuals was involved in seven armed robberies and one-armed carjacking between 5 a.m. and 6:34 a.m. on Tuesday in several Southwest Side neighborhoods.
FBI investigates robbery of ATM technician outside Naperville bank
According to police, during the first incident at 5 a.m., the group of offenders approached a victim in a stolen silver/gray BMW X1, with no license plates, and held him at gunpoint before robbing him and stealing his silver GMC Envoy SUV.
Officers said over the next hour and a half, the group then used the stolen GMC in a string of seven armed robberies. During one of the incidents, police said one of the offenders pistol-whipped one of the victims.
Police said following the crime spree, the stolen GMC Envoy was recovered.
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Authorities are now offering a warning to Southwest Side residents as they work to track down the individuals responsible.
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Chicago police provided the following list of locations and times where the incidents occurred on Tuesday, Sept. 24:
2600 block of West Pershing Road, in Brighton Park, at 5 a.m.
6100 block of South California Avenue, in Chicago Lawn, at 5:30 a.m.
6200 block of South Sacramento Avenue, in Chicago Lawn, at 5:45 a.m.
3300 block of West 62nd Place, in Chicago Lawn, at 5:58 a.m.
6200 block of South Karlov Avenue, in West Lawn, at 6:05 a.m.
6200 block of South Parkside Avenue, in Clearing, at 6:20 a.m.
5900 block of West 60th Street, in Clearing, at 6:25 a.m.
6100 block of South Austin Avenue, in Clearing, at 6:34 a.m.
Officers said they believe the group was made of three to six Hispanic men who are believed to be between 19 and 30 years of age.
During each incident, the offenders were spotted wearing black or dark-colored clothing and black ski masks.
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Tips from Chicago police
Officers advise the public to remain aware of their surroundings and stay free from distractions.
According to officers, anyone who is confronted by an assailant should try to remain calm.
Those who fall victim or witness a crime should call 911 immediately and provide authorities with a detailed description of the offenders.
Authorities warn the public never to pursue a fleeing assailant and instead work to remember any unique physical characteristics of the offenders.
Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines
Anyone with information on the crime spree is asked to contact CPD Area One detectives at 312-747-8384 or dial 911.
Those with information that could help detectives in their investigation can also leave a tip at CPDtip.com. Tips can be filed anonymously.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
Eight nonprofit arts and culture organizations were given part of a series of grants from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation on Tuesday.
More than $9.4 million in new funding by the foundation was awarded to preserve the cultural vitality of Downtown Seattle, which is home to two-thirds of the citys jobs in the art sector, and home to 10% of its residents.
The grants will help upgrade and expand cultural spaces downtown and provide free or low-cost programs for artists.
The organizations receiving funding include:
Base Camp Studios
Common Area Maintenance
Friends of Waterfront Park
Seattle Art Museum
Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall
Shunpike,
SIFF
Theatre Off Jackson
Seattle Art Museum, which will receive $500,000 over two years, said the grant will help extend its Free First Thursday program when the museum is free to everyone, all day on the first Thursday of each month to include the museums only evening hours.
Currently, the event ends at 5 p.m., but starting Oct. 3, it will end at 8 p.m. and have programming inspired by current exhibitions including performances, art making, and tours.
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) Mississippians are preparing to cast their ballots during the 2024 General Election in November.
In-person and mail-in absentee ballots are now available in county Circuit Clerks Offices across the state. Mississippians can use the Secretary of States Yall Vote website or contact their county circuit clerk to verify eligibility. If eligible, ballots will be provided upon request by the circuit clerk.
If youre moving from Madison into Rankin County, thats a new registration. You have to be registered in the county 30 days in advance, said Michelle Adcock, the Rankin County Circuit Clerk.
Are absentee ballots available in Mississippi for 2024 election?
For those who cannot visit their Circuit Clerks Office during the work week, Saturday in-person absentee voting dates are Saturday, October 26 and Saturday, November 2 from 8:00 a.m. until noon. The last day to vote in-person absentee is November 2 while mail-in absentee ballots must be postmarked on or before November 5 (Election Day).
In just two days, more than 300 people have voted absentee in Rankin County. Adcock said they expect thousands of others to cast their ballots.
Im estimating Rankin County will vote about 7,000 to 8,000 absentee. Thats just a guesstimate based on historical numbers in our county, but were prepared for that. My staff is fully trained. Were ready to go. We want to serve our people, she said.
Mississippians who are currently registered to vote or submit voter registration applications by October 7 (in-person or postmarked) are entitled to cast a ballot in the General Election.
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Its an absolute disaster unfolding in front of our eyes: North Shore homes collapse into the ocean
HONOLULU (KHON2) Residents near Sunset Beach on Oahus North Shore are facing a serious threat as erosion has worsened.
Denise Antolini, a North Shore community resident and environmental attorney, spoke about the situation.
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We have a disaster unfolding here, she said. Two homes are literally falling into the shoreline, creating hazards like glass, metal, and debris.
The problem has persisted for years, but recent conditions intensified the risk. This is an absolute public health and safety emergency, Antolini added.
Antolini was able to shed a bit of light on the situation and the background that has led to the current emergency.
Its an absolute disaster unfolding in front of our eyes at Kammies Beach. said Antolini The two houses that are in the video are located right at near Paumelas stream at Kammies Beach. This these are two houses that have been the subject of a lot of controversy because the owner the state took enforcement action against him for that.
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Although authorities have been notified, she expressed frustration over the slow response. Lifeguards were working to keep the public away from the dangerous area.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement went to the site where the two homes are falling into the ocean to assess the situation.
Meanwhile, Hawaii State Representative Sean Quinlan has called an emergency meeting.
The situation is particularly dire for two homes near Paumalu Stream.
These houses have been controversial due to the owners actions, Antolini explained.
About a year ago, the homeowner poured concrete on the beach, prompting the state to intervene, explained Antolini. While some of the concrete was removed, an illegal burrito system was installed which has led to further enforcement action.
Now, because of this irresponsible behavior, we see the house falling into the ocean, she said. Antolini also raised concerns about electrical cesspools and the risks posed by debris in the water. With large swells approaching, she warned, Its like a triple whammy disaster unfolding.
Access to the beach has been blocked for months and has made the situation even more urgent.
Antolini indicated that after several community complaints a DPP inspector from the City had inspected the homes last week and filed a report but that nothing was done even though the situation was dire at that time.
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We need a cooperative cleanup effort, Antolini urged. As the erosion crisis continues, the community remains on high alert for what might happen next at Kammies Beach.
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The House Oversight Committee is investigating the Biden-Harris administrations alleged use of taxpayer-funded resources to fly Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to battleground Pennsylvania ahead of the November presidential election, Fox News Digital has learned.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., penned letters to the White House, the Pentagon and the Justice Department on Wednesday seeking documents regarding the administrations alleged "misuse of government resources" to allow Zelenskyy to allegedly "interfere in the 2024 presidential election."
"In 2019, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives impeached President Donald J. Trump for abuse of power under the theory that he attempted to use a foreign leader Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to benefit his 2020 presidential campaign, despite a lack of any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of President Trump," Comer wrote.
Zelenskyy Warns Vances Plan To Give Russia Seized Land Will Lead To Global Showdown
Comer, though, said the Biden-Harris administration "recently flew the same foreign leader Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on an American-taxpayer-funded flight to Pennsylvania, a battleground state in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, which has been described as the trickiest battleground for Vice President Kamala Harris to win."
Republicans Groan At Biden Admin's Last-minute Request For More Time To Send Unused $6B To Ukraine
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"The Committee seeks to determine whether the Biden-Harris Administration attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice President Harris presidential campaign and, if so, necessarily committed an abuse of power," Comer wrote.
Comer said his committee is investigating the circumstances that led to "justify" the administrations transport of Zelenskyy on a Department of the Air Force aircraft to Pennsylvania.
Comer said Zelenskyys itinerary included a stop in Pennsylvania to meet with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Comer also cited a recent interview with Zelenskyy, in which he was critical of Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, calling the Ohio senator "too radical."
Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"He further stated his belief that President Trump and his administration would not be able to stop the war, despite this being one of President Trumps main campaign platforms (and peace in the region under the entirety of the former Trump administration)," Comer wrote.
"This rhetoric coming from a foreign leader released in anticipation of a U.S.-taxpayer funded visit about the current Administrations political opponent is highly concerning," Comer wrote. "The Committee is investigating any coordination or communication among the Biden-Harris Administration, Pennsylvanias Office of the Governor, and President Zelenskyy for use or solicitation of use of government property to politically benefit Vice President Harriss presidential campaign."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Biden walk to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21, 2023.
In his letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Comer reminded that the DOJ is highly focused on combating foreign election interference, specifically from adversaries.
However, Comer said the House Oversight Committee "believes no foreign actor whether or not deemed malign by DOJ should be permitted to interfere in American elections."
Comers letters were addressed to Garland, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Assistant to the President and White House Counsel Edward Siskel.
Comer demanded documents and records from the agencies by Oct. 2.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, Pentagon, Justice Department and Harris campaign for comment.
Original article source: 'Abuse of power': House GOP opens probe into Ukrainian president's trip to battleground Pennsylvania
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) Court testimony revealed additional details in the deadly shooting of a 15-year-old high school freshman. The alleged shooter made his first court appearance Tuesday morning.
Roannil Clanton, 20, is accused of killing Earkavion Lee, 15, last Thursday in East Columbus. Clantons public defender, Sheneka Terry, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf to all charges including murder, six charges of aggravated assault, criminal damage to property, and tampering with evidence.
Witness testimony and surveillance footage ties Clanton to the scene.
Some video surveillance shows the defendant actually getting rid trying to get rid of the clothes he was wearing at the time, Sgt. Robert Nichols with the Columbus Police Department testified. [He] was taking off gloves and mask and hoodies, putting them into a trash bag and then trying to toss them. But those items were recovered.
Lee was shot multiple times after stepping off a school bus. He was walking home with his brother and sister when shots rang out.
[Witnesses] would describe that all four were outside of the vehicle. They saw that all of them were armed, Sgt. Nichols said. But at the time that the bullets actually started to fly, most of them started to take cover for themselves. But they all described seeing every occupant of the vehicle outside the vehicle and armed.
Clanton is the only defendant currently facing charges. According to court testimony there were others involved, the investigation continues, and more arrests are pending.
None of them have been arrested at this point, Terry asked.
The Columbus Police Department is aware of who they are. They just havent been arrested yet, Sgt. Nichols answered.
Clanton was ordered to be held without bond on all charges. The case was bound over to Superior Court.
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ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Ethiopian diplomats have called for joining hands to establish the world's first intergovernmental legal organization for mediation to pave the way for a peaceful and prosperous world.
The call came during the first briefing event on the China-initiated International Organization for Mediation (IOMed), which was held on Tuesday in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, attracting a large number of high-ranking officials, scholars, and diplomats from various African countries.
Speaking at the event, Ma Xinmin, director-general of the Department of Treaty and Law of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said the peaceful resolution of international disputes is a fundamental principle of international law as enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
"After nearly three years of joint collaboration, we have made commendable progress in bringing IOMed to fruition. It is with great pride that I share how this initiative has continued to gain momentum, attracting more and more supporters along the way," Ma said.
Being an initiative owned by the Global South, the IOMed is set to be the first intergovernmental organization dedicated to resolving international disputes through mediation, which echoes the international community's strong call for peace, security, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation. So far, IOMed has brought together 19 countries, among which 10 are from Africa, representing more than two billion people worldwide, according to the briefing.
"As the world's first international legal organization devoted to mediation, IOMed is committed to resolving international disputes through mediation, adhering to the principle of peaceful resolution," said Ma, highlighting that the organization had emerged following increasing demand for international mediation mechanisms.
Negus Kebede, director-general for Middle Eastern, Asian and Pacific Countries' Affairs of the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry, said on the occasion that IOMed would help African and other developing nations share best practices, develop effective tools for resolving international conflicts, and strengthen their role in the global diplomacy and peacebuilding.
"I want to take this moment to commend the People's Republic of China for its unwavering commitment to facilitating the negotiations on the draft conventions on IOMed. These efforts are not only diplomatic but crucial steps toward building a more peaceful, cooperative and harmonious world order," Kebede said.
He also called on nations, large and small, to come together, exchange knowledge, share experience, and collectively enhance approaches to mediation, within the platform of IOMed.
Proposed by China in 2022, IOMed is set to be a global public good for rule of law that will provide a new platform for the peaceful resolution of international conflicts. The IOMed Preparatory Office was set up in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, in February 2023. The organization is expected to be established around the end of 2025, according to the briefing.
Opposition Chadema party leader Freeman Mbowe has been arrested twice in recent weeks [Reuters]
The recent wave of abductions, arrests and the brutal killing of an opposition official in Tanzania seems to be dimming the ray of political hope that came with President Samia Suluhu Hassan's rise to power in 2021.
There was huge relief when Samia - Tanzania's first female president - took office, with opposition parties allowed to organise rallies and criticise the government without the fear of grave repercussions.
But concern is growing that Tanzania is sliding back to the era of her autocratic predecessor, John Magufuli.
In the span of weeks, two of the most senior opposition leaders have been arrested twice, and another opposition official, Ali Kibao, was abducted, killed and his body doused in acid by unknown assailants.
The political situation in Tanzania is worrisome in the extreme, said the deputy leader of the main opposition Chadema party, Tundu Lissu.
He was speaking to the BBC a week before his arrest on Monday, when his party had planned to protest against the killing of Kibao and the alleged disappearance of several other government critics. Lissu was later released on bail, along with party leader Freeman Mbowe.
He was also released on bail last month, following his arrest on the eve of a banned opposition rally in the south-western town of Mbeya.
Chadema said about 100 of its members had been detained to prevent the rally from taking place.
We're beginning to see the kind of the wave of repression and state-orchestrated violence which was characteristic of the period from 2016 to 2020 [during the Magufuli administration], Lissu told the BBC.
Tundu Lissu fought for his life in hospital after unknown gunmen fired a hail of bullets at his vehicle in 2017 [AFP]
In 2017, Lissu sustained heavy injuries during an assassination attempt, when his vehicle was sprayed with at least 16 bullets.
He was treated abroad and stayed in exile in Belgium until his return last year to, as he put it, write a new chapter for the country after the president lifted a ban on rallies.
Lissu now sees the promised reforms as a facade.
[There have been] no reforms whatsoever. No reforms of a democratic nature, he told the BBC.
The violent incidents are politically motivated and associated with the security forces he alleged, adding that they were a harbinger of worse to come.
The police have denied involvement, while the ruling CCM party's secretary-general, Emmanuel Nchimbi declined to speak to the BBC.
There is no doubt that the crackdown has sullied the image of the president.
Rights groups and western diplomats have called for an immediate end to arbitrary detention and have demanded independent and transparent investigations.
In her response, the president warned outsiders against meddling in Tanzania's affairs but she also denounced the killing of Kibao, and ordered speedy investigations.
Our country is a democracy, and every citizen has the right to live," she said.
It is surprising that the death of our brother Kibao has stirred up such a huge outcry of condemnation, grief, and accusations of calling the government murderers.
This is not right. Death is death. What we Tanzanians must do is stand together and condemn these acts, she added.
Samia Suluhu was Tanzania's deputy president, before becoming president [Getty Images]
Tanzanian political analyst Thomas Kibwana said there appeared to be a lack of good faith between the main political parties, which has led to negotiations aimed at bringing about reforms stalling.
He added that while being confrontational may suit the opposition to win votes, it fuelled tensions.
Samia had indicated that she was "very open to dialogue" and, from her perspective, Chadema had "shut the doors to negotiation" and had resorted to protest action, Mr Kibwana said.
This is up to both sides - for them to sit down and come back to the talks, he added.
At the beginning, Samia was very much focused on her much-publicised mantra of the four Rs reconciliation, resilience, reforms and rebuilding.
Her moves to mend fences with the opposition and initiate reforms - especially when she did not seem to be under political pressure to do so - won her praise locally and abroad.
There are still signs of the positive image she wants to retain.
One billboard in the centre of the capital, Dodoma, says: The president of all Tanzanians - irrespective of their party, religion, ethnicity or gender. Mama [Samia] delivers.
The billboard bears her picture sitting in a conversation with Lissu, now one of her fiercest critics.
Rapprochement between President Samia Suluhu and prominent opposition politician Tundu Lissu has ended [BBC/Alfred Lasteck]
Other billboards, including in the largest city Dar es Salaam, show her with other opposition leaders, depicting her intention to unite people across the political divide.
They appear to be campaign advertisements ahead of local government elections next month and presidential and parliamentary elections a year later.
The elections will be her first real test. She was Magufuli's deputy, and inherited the presidency following his sudden death during the coronavirus pandemic.
Like Magufuli, she belongs to the CCM party, which has won every election it has contested since independence from Britain in 1961.
According to the second-biggest opposition party, ACT-Wazalendo, Samia's reform drive may have been stymied by the CCMs fear that it may lose elections.
"We have heard a CCM bigwig saying that if she had maintained that pace which she came in with, she would lose the country to the opposition," party leader Dorothy Semu told the BBC.
"So maybe she absorbed that fear that if you reform, you will eventually end giving in to the opposition," she added.
But Semu feels the political climate is better than during the Magufuli era, even if government officials sometimes acted like they are doing us a favour.
We have now a more open civic space. We can talk about politics freely. We can discuss as political parties. We can take part in political rallies. We can organise meetings, she told the BBC.
Semu added that as elections approach, we are hopeful, but we not assured everything is going to be OK.
Lawyer and activist Fatma Karume told the BBC that genuine reform hinged on overhauling the country's laws so that the president has less power.
"In Tanzania we have something called an imperial presidency," she said.
All we have is a head of state who is less oppressive let's say, not as comfortable as Magufuli in using the oppressive powers of the state.
More Tanzania stories from the BBC:
By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Protesters in some U.S. cities demonstrated on Tuesday against American military support for Israel as risks have risen of a full-fledged conflict in the Middle East, with anti-war activists demanding an arms embargo against the U.S. ally.
Dozens of protesters gathered in Herald Square in New York City on Tuesday evening and carried banners that read "Hands off Lebanon now" and "no U.S.-Israeli war on Lebanon," according to the ANSWER coalition group, which stands for "Act Now to Stop War and End Racism."
Protesters chanted "Hands off the Middle East," "Free Palestine" and "Biden, Harris, Trump and Bibi; none are welcome in our city," referring to U.S. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A smaller protest with similar slogans and banners was also seen near the White House in Washington on a rainy Tuesday evening.
"Israel's attacks in Lebanon and the ongoing siege and genocide in Gaza are made possible by the huge amount of bombs, missiles and warplanes provided by the U.S. government," the ANSWER coalition group said in a statement. It said protests were also being organized on Tuesday in other cities like San Francisco, Seattle, San Antonio and Phoenix, among others.
Israel says its actions are an act of self-defense against militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah that it considers hostile. The United States has maintained support for its ally during this war despite domestic and international criticism.
In May, Biden said U.S. support for Israel was "ironclad", while also calling for an immediate ceasefire. "What's happening in Gaza is not genocide. We reject that," Biden said at a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House.
The United States has seen months of protests over Israel's war in Gaza that has killed over 41,000, according to the local health ministry, caused a hunger crisis, displaced the entire 2.3 million population of the enclave and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israeli denies.
Israel's military assault on Hamas-governed Gaza followed a deadly attack by the Palestinian Islamist group on Oct. 7 that killed around 1,200 people and in which about 250 were taken as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's offensive in Lebanon since Monday morning has killed over 560 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,800. Israel says it has struck targets of Lebanese Hezbollah militants who are supported by Iran while Hezbollah has also said it fired rockets at Israeli military posts.
The situation has raised concerns of a widened regional war that could destabilize the Middle East. Leaders of different United Nations member states met this week in the United States with the situation in the Middle East being top of the agenda.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Lisa Shumaker)
NEW YORK Activists targeted the Brooklyn home of an NYPD cop, accusing him of aggressively handling a protest over a police-involved shooting in a Brooklyn subway station a day earlier, the Daily News has learned.
The protesters showed up at the cops home in Sunset Park about 9:45 p.m. Monday and began yelling at him from the sidewalk after spotting him on his front porch.
We want justice! We want Justin! the protesters screamed, using the cops first name after he retreated into his home.
The officer called 911 as the protesters set fire to an American flag and threw objects at the aluminum-sided home. When on-duty cops arrived, the crowd quickly dispersed and no arrests were made, officials said.
This episode is just further proof that these anti-police activists arent actually interested in justice or accountability they are trying to stop police officers from doing our job by targeting us for harassment or worse, Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said Wednesday.
The union want to make sure those who terrorized our brother and his family are brought to justice, Hendry added.
The NYPDs Threat Assessment Unit was notified of the protest at the officers home and cops have been sitting outside his house keeping watch since Monday, a police source said.
On Sunday, the targeted officer, who joined the NYPD in January 2023, helped handle a protest outside 73rd Precinct stationhouse over the Sept. 15 subway shooting that left four wounded, including a fellow officer, by police bullets.
An activist who felt the officer was overly aggressive in his response to the stationhouse protest took a picture of him. No arrests were made at the Sunday night protest.
An individual took a photo of an officer and posted their personal address on social media, an NYPD spokesman said. The targeted officer was not part of the Sept. 15 subway incident.
In a social media video, Terrell Harper, one of the protesters who showed up outside the cops home, recaps the incident, accusing the targeted officer of being very aggressive against protesters the day before, saying the officer put his hands on a few of them outside the stationhouse.
You all shot the subway up we didnt do it, Harper added. Now were going to start doing house visits to everyone in that goddamn (police) station.
Its all about making them feel it, Harper added. Its all about making them scared of us. Its all about making them quit their fing job.
In the Sept. 15 subway shooting, two officers opened fire on knife-wielding fare beater Derrell Mickles at the Sutter Ave. subway station.
Cops critically wounded Mickles and two bystanders and one of the two cops who opened fire was struck by his partners bullet. One of the innocent bystanders was critically wounded in the shooting, while the wounded cop and second bystander are expected to recover.
Mickles was ultimately charged with assaulting an officer, attempted assault and weapons possession.
Body camera footage released Friday vividly shows the sequence of events leading up to the decision by two police officers to fire.
Mickles repeatedly ignored orders to drop his knife and the NYPD has said the officers were operating within guidelines to deal with an attack. But the bodycam footage was cited by critics who said police had no reason to open fire in a crowded subway car.
_____
ACUSHNET Coming up on Sept. 30, Acushnet will have its fall special town meeting, where residents will be asked to vote on 17 articles. Here's a quick look at some of the key decisions town meeting attendees will be faced with on Monday.
Article 5 will ask town meeting members if they wish to amend the Town Charter by deleting language that bars individuals who have served on governing bodies of the town from accepting town jobs for two years from the end of their term. Aside from those who've served on boards or committees, the changes made by this article would also affect former town moderators and town clerks, the article notes.
According to an explanation for the article included in a copy of the warrant, the current two-year restriction as entailed by Section 3-1-2 of the charter "places a draconian constraint on filling vacant positions with competent candidates.
"It also is somewhat redundant in that the Massachusetts Ethics Law sufficiently restricts public officials from benefiting or participating in matters that they dealt with as elected officials."
Articles 14-17 are interrelated, essentially seeking authorization for the Select Board to enter into an "Energy Savings Performance Contract" with solar company Trane, for an amount up to $4,200,000, and for a time up to 20 years. The contract would entail "the turnkey design, installation, commissioning and performance guarantee for specific energy infrastructure and efficiency projects in Acushnet Elementary School and Albert F. Ford Middle School."
According to language included in Article 14, "all or a portion of the funds to pay for the energy infrastructure and efficiency projects will ultimately come from the energy savings guaranteed by Trane...." Article 14 also seeks authorization for the selectmen "to determine if the appropriation is to be contingent on passage of a Proposition 2 debt exclusion ... at a town election."
The fall special town meeting is set for Monday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. at Albert F. Ford Middle School, 708 Middle Road. A copy of the warrant, as well as other information, can be found on the Acushnet town website, www.acushnet.ma.us.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Special Town Meeting in Acushnet is Sept. 30
FILE PHOTO: Shipping containers are seen at the port in Bayonne, New Jersey
By David Shepardson, Jarrett Renshaw and Karl Plume
WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) -Agriculture organizations on Wednesday urged the White House to take action to avert a potential Oct. 1 strike at U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports that handle roughly half of the country's ocean trade, including consumer staples like coffee, meat and eggs.
Dozens of groups including the American Farm Bureau Federation, Renewable Fuels Association and American Chemistry Council said "the time has come for the U.S. government to intervene and ensure port operations do not stop" in order to prevent damage to U.S. agriculture and the economy.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz cited a JPMorgan analysis that projected a port strike could cost the U.S. economy $5 billion daily, and warned that the U.S. "teeters on the brink of the first union strike among East and Gulf Coast ports since 1977."
Cruz hails from Texas and represents the district that includes the Port of Houston, one of 36 seaports at the center of labor talks that appear to be deadlocked over worker pay.
Threatened work stoppages could also affect other busy ports like New York and New Jersey; Savannah, Georgia; and Norfolk, Virginia, and spell trouble for an ocean shipping network already stretched thin due to rerouting ships around Africa to avoid Houthi militant attacks on vessels near the Suez Canal.
U.S. companies that rely on East and Gulf Coast ports have been scrambling for workarounds ahead of a threatened strike.
The current contract between the International Longshoremen's Association union, which represents 45,000 port workers, and the United States Maritime Alliance, which negotiates for employers at ports from Texas to Maine, expires on Sept. 30.
A threatened strike would land just weeks ahead of the U.S. presidential election between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump.
The White House did not immediately comment on the agricultural groups' request.
"We are monitoring and assessing potential ways to address impacts to U.S. supply chains related to operations at our ports, if necessary," White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson said on Tuesday. President Joe Biden's administration has said the president does not intend to invoke a federal law known as the Taft-Hartley Act to prevent a strike.
Any delays and costs tied to a strike could quickly snowball, endangering a broad swath of industries, including retail, manufacturing and food.
About 14% of all U.S. waterborne agricultural exports, by volume, would be at risk from a strike. Over a one-week period, the potential value of those exports is estimated at $318 million, the Farm Bureau said in an article.
Additionally, 53% of U.S. waterborne agricultural imports, by volume, are vulnerable to a strike, leading to a potential economic impact of over $1.1 billion per week, the group said.
A prolonged strike could result in shortages of familiar items like bananas, coffee and cocoa, which over time could translate to higher grocery prices.
It could also mean lost export sales of key agricultural products including beef, pork, chicken and eggs. American consumers, however, could benefit if those perishable products are dumped onto the domestic market as producers employ a "sell it or smell it" strategy.
Of the nearly $5.5 billion in U.S. poultry meat products exported last year, two-thirds was shipped from East and Gulf Coast ports, according to U.S. Customs data and the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council.
"The U.S. consumer could be a marginal beneficiary at the egg and meat counter," said Sterling Smith, director of agricultural research at AgriSompo North America.
"However, those gains may be more than offset by problems with coffee and cocoa."
(Reporting by David Shepardson and Jarrett Renshaw in Washington, Karl Plume and Tom Polansek in Chicago and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by David Gregorio and Sonali Paul)
The office of the Utah Attorney General at the Capitol in Salt Lake City is pictured on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador along with attorneys general and other officials from 20 U.S. states, including Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has accused the American Academy of Pediatrics of possible violations of state consumer protection statutes over its standards and recommendations for gender dysphoria care for children.
In a letter sent by Labrador on Tuesday, the attorneys general requested information detailing the academys evidence for its current recommendations for puberty blockers for gender dysphoria-diagnosed youth.
Most concerning, AAP claims that the use of puberty blockers on children is safe and reversible, Labradors office said in a press release. This assertion is not grounded in evidence and therefore may run afoul of consumer protection laws in most states.
Children with gender dysphoria need and deserve love, support, and medical care rooted in biological reality, Labrador said in the release.
It is shameful the most basic tenet of medicine do no harm has been abandoned by professional associations when politically pressured, Labrador said. These organizations are sacrificing the health and well-being of children with medically unproven treatments that leave a wake of permanent damage.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization made up of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, voted in August to reaffirm its 2018 policy statement on gender-affirming care and authorized development of an expanded set of guidance for pediatricians.
The organization could not immediately be reached for comment. But at the organizations August 2024 leadership conference in Itasca, Illinois, American Academy of Pediatrics CEO and Executive Vice President Mark Del Monte emphasized that the organization is confident that the principles presented in the original policy statement, Ensuring Comprehensive Care and Support for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children and Adolescents, remain in the best interest of children, according to an Aug. 4 press release from the academy.
The decision to authorize a systematic review reflects the academys boards concerns about restrictions to access to health care with bans on gender-affirming care in more than 20 states, according to the Aug. 4 release.
In Idaho, the Legislature passed House Bill 71, a law banning Idaho youth from receiving gender-affirming care medications and surgeries. It was signed into law by Gov. Brad Little in April 2023.
The law makes it a felony punishable for up to 10 years for doctors to provide surgeries, puberty-blockers and hormones to transgender people under the age of 18. However, gender-affirming surgeries are not and were not performed among Idaho adults or youth before the bill was signed into law, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.
What is in the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for gender-affirming care?
As outlined in its policy statement, the academy encourages pediatricians to use a gender-affirmative care model when treating young patients. The model encourages pediatricians to recognize that:
transgender identities and diverse gender expressions do not constitute a mental disorder;
variations in gender identity and expression are normal aspects of human diversity, and binary definitions of gender do not always reflect emerging gender identities;
gender identity evolves as an interplay of biology, development, socialization, and culture;
and if a mental health issue exists, it most often stems from stigma and negative experiences rather than being intrinsic to the child.
Many medical interventions can be offered to youth who identify as (transgender and gender diverse) and their families, the academy notes in its policy statement. The decision of whether and when to initiate gender-affirmative treatment is personal and involves careful consideration of risks, benefits, and other factors unique to each patient and family.
However, Labrador said treatments that suppress hormones or use puberty blockers may have adverse health effects to the patient, including interfering with neurocognitive development, compromising bone density and interfering with normal puberty experiences. He said the treatments may cause harm particularly egregious to children who grow out of the condition by the time they are adults.
But the American Academy of Pediatrics in its policy statement says that research shows that children who assert their transgender identity before puberty and who know their gender as clearly and as consistently as their cisgender peers benefit from the same level of social acceptance as those peers.
More robust and current research suggests that, rather than focusing on who a child will become, valuing them for who they are, even at a young age, fosters secure attachment and resilience, not only for the child but also for the whole family, the academy wrote in its policy statement.
But Labrador and the other state officials say they want more information on how the academy has come to those conclusions, especially when it comes to puberty blockers.
The letter requests detailed information from the AAP regarding its communications and practices related to youth gender dysphoria and substantiation of the academys claims regarding the safety and reversibility of puberty blockers, the attorney generals press release says.
Other states joining Idaho in sending the letter to the academy include officials from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and X.
2024-09-24-AAPs-Compliance-with-State-Consumer-Protection-Laws
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) The Kent District Library is offering a free event on the use of AI.
The AI for Business Nexus Summit will take place Friday, Oct. 4, at the Service Meeting Center on West River Drive in Comstock Park. The program will then be repeated the next day, Oct. 5, at the Kentwood (Richard L. Root) Branch.
The summit is aimed at small, local businesses, but anyone is welcome to attend, KDL User Experience Manager Morgan Hanks said.
If you are just AI curious, come, she said. This is for anyone, the library is always here for everyone.
Sky is the limit for AI in health care
The event will include three speakers followed by a panel discussion that will be moderated by Hanks.
Were going to have some really wonderful speakers, she said. Were going to have somebody from a 501(c)(3) nonprofit thats working on bridging the digital divide for students who are interested in tech, or even just digital literacy in general. Well also have a custom programming designer here to chat and an attorney to talk about intellectual property.
The panel will include questions that attendees can submit at registration. Hank said theyll talk about everything from sustainability and protecting environmental resources to the ethics of AI programs.
We at the library, of course we want to protect intellectual property and a lot of these models have been programmed by taking stuff thats on the internet, Hanks said. So what are the ethics around that? What are some policies coming up?
How can you protect yourself from AI?
The AI summit will also include lunch from nonprofit New City Neighbors.
The food is going to be incredible, too. So if you dont come for the AI, come for the food, Hanks joked.
Up to 100 people can register for each day, so those interested in attending should register soon.
Does AI belong in the classroom?
At KDL, Hanks said the team is dipping our toe in the water when it comes to AI. Some librarians and staff members will use it for things like tightening up emails or trimming down presentations, she said. But the team isnt sure what AI means for libraries yet.
We are all in this experimentation phase, but were being very, very cautious, she said. We wont put any kind of patron data, anything that would jeopardize our patrons. Its really just all internal use right now.
For a five-part series from WOODTV.com on how industries throughout West Michigan are using AI, 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 WOODTV.com.
AI-generated images of stranded elephants circulate in Myanmar after Typhoon Yagi
Two AI-generated images of elephants stuck in trees have been shared online alongside a false claim that they were taken in Myanmar after Typhoon Yagi rolled through Southeast Asia. The creators of the images -- originally shared in Facebook groups dedicated to AI-generated content -- told AFP that they did not show real events.
"An elephant got stuck in a tree even after waters receded in Taungoo," read a Burmese-language Facebook post uploaded on September 19, 2024.
The images began circulating on Burmese social media after water from the Sittaung River spilled over and submerged 30 villages in Taungoo township, in Myanmar's Bago Region, forcing hundreds of residents to flee in September 2024 (archived link).
Screenshot of the first false Facebook post taken on September 24, 2024
Screenshot of the second false Facebook post taken on September 24, 2024
Typhoon Yagi battered Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand triggering floods and landslides that have killed hundreds of people across the region, according to official figures (archived link).
In Myanmar, the death toll had climbed to 419 as of September 24, 2024, according to the junta, AFP reported.
The images were shared alongside false claims on Facebook here, here, here, here, here and here.
However, the images were originally published in Facebook groups dedicated to sharing AI-generated content.
Facebook groups
Reverse image searches on Google found the first photo published in a group called "Lightroom Editing".
The group -- with more than 297,000 members -- was created by photo-editing enthusiasts in Sri Lanka.
One of the group's administrators, Janaka Senevirathne, uploaded the photo on March 25, 2024 (archived link).
Screenshot of the image posted in the "Lightroom Editing" Facebook group, taken on September 24, 2024
Senevirathne, who regularly uploads AI-generated content and describes himself as a digital creator, confirmed to AFP that he created the image using AI technology.
Another reverse image search on Google led to the second photo uploaded by Tatarat Trainarong (Earl) in a Thai-based Facebook group dedicated to AI content on March 23, 2024 (archived link).
Screenshot of the image posted in AI CREATIVES THAILAND Facebook group, taken on September 24, 2024
"CCTV News has brought you some weird images caught on camera from a dog who lost its temper because the monk fed him late to an inexplicable mystery," read the caption in Thai language.
The post's author, Tatarat Trainarong, confirmed with AFP on September 23, 2024 that he used the generative AI program Dall-E 3 to create the images published in the post.
Signs of manipulation
Furthermore, visual clues in the images indicate that the images were created with AI.
In the first photo, the jeep's windscreen and number plate were blurred, and the "Yala National Park" watermark at the bottom-right corner is misspelt.
In the second photo, the vehicle's light source was not aligned with the headlights while the elephant did not appear in a natural balancing posture on the tree.
In addition, in the bottom-right corner of the photo, there was a watermark with the creator's name, Tatarat Trainarong.
Below is a screenshot of the AI-generated images, with visual inconsistencies highlighted by AFP:
Screenshot of the AI-generated images, with visual inconsistencies highlighted by AFP
Fabricated images are best ascertained by identifying visual inconsistencies, according to AFP's guide to spotting AI-generated images.
AFP previously debunked the same image shared in Sri Lanka here.
Ala. Plumber Allegedly Tried to Hire Hitman to Kill Wife, 6 Kids: 'Start with One. Take Your Time'
Mohammad A. H. Mohammads wife and children had filed protective orders against him years before he allegedly tried to have them killed
Ron Koeberer/Getty Images
An Alabama man has been arrested for allegedly trying to hire out the murders of his estranged wife and six adult children.
Mohammad A. H. Mohammad, 63, is charged with use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, according to a criminal complaint, which was obtained by PEOPLE.
Authorities had arrested the plumber, who owns a plumbing service in Homewood, Ala., by Tuesday, Sept. 24, when the federal case was unsealed.
A preliminary hearing is slated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama on Friday, Sept. 27, at 10:00 a.m.
His federal public defender, Kevin. L. Butler, did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment.
Mohammad and his wife, married since March 2021 are currently in active divorce proceedings, per the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint.
In alleged interactions described in the affidavit, Mohammad instructed a cooperating witness to just find me somebody, to kill his family.
That unnamed witness allegedly connected Mohammad with an FBI undercover employee who posed as a hitman and wore a recording device.
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At their Saturday, Sept. 21, meeting, Mohammad allegedly told the supposed hitman that his family had turned against him, per the affidavit, and instructed him to kill: Six kids, and the mom. You pick and choose who you gunna take out, and get paid.
Start with one, Mohammad allegedly added, per the affidavit, which notes that he put a $550 downpayment on the hit. Take your time.
Federal investigators allege the attempted hits were the latest in a series of violent attacks against the family.
In November of 2021 less than a year after the couples marriage a Jefferson County, Ala. judge issued three protection from abuse orders against Mohammad for his wife and two of his children, per the affidavit, which goes on to site the orders, noting that Mohammad was restrained from assaulting, threatening, abusing, harassing, following, interfering, or stalking.
In the wifes petition, leading to the protection order, she wrote, per the affidavit, that Mohammad: has hurt me and my kids & used weapons against us and claimed he said he wanted to shoot my daughter between the eyes.
She also alleged in protection order paperwork that her husband would threaten to lock us in the basement and kill us. He always threatens me and my children with violence. He has put his hands on my kids and sent them to the emergency room. He has put a gun & knife against my kids heads and throats. He has shot guns at us.
The Hoover Police Department arrested Mohammad that same month and charged him with domestic violence for assaulting one of his daughters. Those charges were later dismissed.
In April 2022, Hoover police arrested him on a charge of felony first-degree stalking. They accused Mohammad of placing GPS tracking devices on his wifes and other family members cars in violation of their protection orders, per the affidavit. (The outcome of those charges were not immediately clear, but Mohammad did not remain detained.)
Hoover police and firefighters responded to the home of the wifes close friend on Jan. 3, 2023, for reports of vehicle arson, per the affidavit. Surveillance video captured the suspects vehicle, which was registered in Mohammads name.
The next day, Mohammads sons silver Ram pickup truck burst into flames in Mohammads wife's driveway.
On Sept. 20, 2023, his sons Toyota 4Runner SUV was one of four vehicles found burned in a suspicious fire, per the affidavit.
Then, on Dec. 9, 2023, Mohammads wife allegedly received a call from a man on behalf of Mohammad, trying to reconcile the marriage, per the affidavit. The wife refused and less than 12 hours after the call, another suspicious vehicular fire broke out at the wifes residence, the affidavit says.
Charged with violating the protective orders, Mohammads bond was revoked and he was remanded a few days later.
At a hearing for his stalking charge, a recording of Mohammad was played in which he allegedly told a witness God will reward me if he hurt his family, according to the affidavit.
He was released on bond again in February.
By August he was allegedly making repeated requests, per the affidavit, to find someone to take care of, his wife and family members.
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.
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Absentee ballots are prepared to be mailed at the Wake County Board of Elections on Sept. 17, 2024 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Alabama Attorney General's Office plans to appeal a federal court ruling blocking a portion of a new state law criminalizing some forms of ballot assistance. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
The Alabama Attorney Generals Office Wednesday signaled that it would appeal a federal court ruling blocking a portion of a new state law criminalizing some forms of absentee ballot assistance.
U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor Tuesday ruled that a portion of the law violated the federal Voting Rights Act, which allows blind, disabled and illiterate voters to choose a person to assist them with filling out a form.
SB 1, sponsored by Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, made it a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for a person to knowingly receive payment for distributing, ordering, requesting, collecting, completing, prefilling, obtaining or delivering an application. A person convicted of knowingly paying or providing a gift to a third party to distribute, order, request, collect, prefill, complete, obtain or deliver would be subject to a Class B felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
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The appeal had not been filed as of early Wednesday evening. A message was left Wednesday morning with the Attorney Generals office. A spokesperson for the plaintiffs attorneys said Wednesday that they had no comment on the notice of appeal.
The Attorney Generals also filed a motion to stay Proctors ruling, arguing that plaintiffs had not proven that any voters right to choose an assistant had been burdened to the point of needing a preliminary injunction. State attorneys also argued that the states ability to prevent fraud was significantly undercut by this injunction.
Yet this Court found it obvious that Section 208 voters in Alabama would be deprived of the assistors of their choice due to SB 1s Compensation Provision, they wrote. But this finding does not follow either from the evidentiary record or common sense.
The attorneys also argued that SB 1s goals are grounded in Alabamas right to establish election procedures and rights of voters.
With Section 208, Congress intended to compliment such laws, not preempt them, the office wrote.
The office wrote that absentee ballots are targeted by ballot brokers.
The public suffers when pernicious actors are permitted to target those in the electorate most susceptible to intimidation and manipulation, they wrote. This harm is exacerbated in the context of absentee voting, where an assistor taking payment to handle a disabled voters absentee ballot application may work the absentee in seclusion and secrecy.
As of early Wednesday evening, Proctor had not ruled on the motion to stay.
This story was updated at 12:30 p.m. with the response from the spokesperson for the plaintiffs attorneys and at 5:26 p.m. with the attorney generals motion to stay.
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Despite Western sanctions imposed on Russia, high-end cars from Europe are still making their way into the country, with routes passing through South Caucasus nations, including Georgia, according to a recent investigative report by British channel Sky News.A Sky News journalist observed the customs checkpoint at Lars, a key border crossing between Georgia and Russia, where luxury cars imported from Europe were spotted. The investigation revealed that one method for bypassing sanctions is by registering and clearing customs for these vehicles in Armenia. In some cases, car transporters are advised to claim they are not heading to Russia, but to Kyrgyzstan via Russia, as a way to mislead authorities."After European countries imposed sanctions, Georgia introduced its own bans on sending cars to Russia. However, there are many ways to avoid it, which makes it possible to transport cars," Sky News reported.The investigative piece highlighted the ease with which this trade continues. While UK car manufacturers and authorities claim they are making efforts to halt these unofficial trade routes, Sky News emphasized the apparent lack of concealment in Georgia. "Perhaps the most striking result of our investigation is that nobody in Georgia is trying to hide what is going on. Everyone knows that these high-end European cars are not supposed to enter Russia, but they cross the border one by one every day. Everyone knows what is happening, but no one is doing anything to stop it," the report stated.On September 24, the Georgian State Security Service (SSSG) reported that a Georgian citizen had been illegally detained by Russian occupation forces near the occupied village of Artsevi, close to Tskhinvali.In response, the SSSG immediately activated the EU Monitoring Mission's "hot line" and informed the Co-Chairs of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) as well as international partners about the incident.The SSSG stated that all available mechanisms are being utilized to secure the swift release of the detained Georgian citizen. "The responsibility for all destructive acts committed in the occupied territories of Georgia, as well as along the occupation line, lies with the occupying power," the SSSG emphasized.
MOGADISHU, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Somalia hosted a reception on Tuesday in Mogadishu, the country's capital, to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
The event was attended by members of the Somali Parliament, ministers, diplomats and representatives of regional organizations.
Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur Madobe, speaker of Somalia's lower house of the parliament, congratulated China on its 75th anniversary, expressing wishes for continued achievements and prosperity for its government and people. He also said that China's support to Somalia and other African countries has been pivotal in their socio-economic transformation.
"On behalf of the Federal Government of Somalia, I extend warm congratulations to the People's Republic of China on its 75th anniversary and to the Chinese Embassy in Somalia," said Salah Ahmed Jama, Somalia's deputy prime minister. He expressed optimism about strengthening ties between the two nations.
Chinese Ambassador to Somalia Wang Yu reflected on the longstanding friendly relations between China and Somalia. "We will continue to enhance mutual political trust and firmly support each other on core interests and major concerns. China will also work with the international community to support Somalia in safeguarding its national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Wang said.
"I am confident that through joint efforts, the China-Somalia strategic partnership will thrive and bring more tangible benefits to both peoples," he added.
Although Sherry Lawley's brother was shot to death at his workplace 25 years ago, she often finds herself looking up into the clouds above her Alabama home and dreaming of seeing him again.
"Every day I think about him," Lawley, 73, said about her brother, Terry Lee Jarvis. "There's not one day that goes by that he doesn't cross my mind. I would give my right arm if I could bring him back but I know that's not going to happen."
Jarvis, 39, was killed on the morning of Aug. 5, 1999, in the Birmingham suburb of Pelham. Alan Eugene Miller was convicted of shooting Jarvis dead just after he killed two of his other co-workers, 32-year-old Lee Holdbrooks and 28-year-old Christopher Yancy, over suspicions the three men had discussed Miller's sexuality, court records show.
Now Miller is set to become the second inmate to be executed with nitrogen gas in Alabama on Thursday.
Miller's crimes left voids in three families, and now over two decades later, he will face the consequences of his actions. As his execution approaches, USA TODAY will look at the lives of his victims and detail how their families were affected by their murders.
Pictured is Terry Lee Jarvis
Who were Terry Jarvis, Lee Holdbrooks and Christopher Yancy?
Lawley told USA TODAY that her younger brother, Terry Jarvis, was the "most kind" and "generous" person she knew.
"He would give you the shirt off of his back if he could," said Lawley, a resident of Maylene in central Alabama. "He would do anything for anybody ... Terry was my baby brother, but at some point in life, it seemed like I became his baby sister because he took care of me."
Lawley said she loved her four brothers during their upbringing in Dogwood, Alabama, but she and Jarvis were "very close."
"He never forgot my birthday," she recalled. "When he'd come home from work he'd throw me over his shoulder like a big ol' bear. Terry was just my love."
Jarvis did not have kids but was married once, his sister said.
USA TODAY was unable to reach family members of Lee Holdbrooks or Christopher Yancy, but both of them died as young and married men. Holdbrooks and his wife didn't have children but Yancy and his had two, according to the men's obituaries.
Pictured is a young Terry Lee Jarvis.
What happened to Terry Jarvis, Lee Holdbrooks and Christopher Yancy?
Holdbrooks and Yancy were coworkers of Miller's at Ferguson Enterprises, while Miller and Jarvis formerly worked together at Post Airgas, a welding supply store.
On the morning of Aug. 5, 1999, the bodies of Holdbrooks and Yancy were found with gunshot wounds inside Ferguson Enterprises by another coworker, according to court documents.
Once Miller killed his current coworkers, he went to Post Airgas looking for Jarvis. When Miller arrived, he approached the sales counter and called out Jarvis, saying: Hey, I hear you've been spreading rumors about me, court records say.
Jarvis replied that he had not, and that's when Miller shot him several times, the document continued.
Pelham police arrested Miller after finding him driving in his truck. Once Miller was handcuffed, officers said they found a Glock lying on the driver's seat and an empty ammunition magazine on the passenger seat.
Pictured is Alabama death row inmate Alan Eugene Miller.
What happened to the families of Terry Jarvis and Christopher Yancy?
Jarvis' death tore his family up, but they remained together during that unfathomable time, according to his sister.
"It was just like a piece of my heart was missing that I won't ever get back," Lawley said. "We were still a close family but it was just totally different without Terry. His chair was empty on holidays around the table."
In addition to losing Jarvis, Lawley said her father did not live much longer after her younger brother's murder.
Yancy's family also suffered another tragedy following his murder when his wife, Kim, was killed at the age of 38 in a car accident in 2012, according to the Shelby County Reporter.
"It was a strong family," the Rev. Chris Joiner, the pastor of the Alabama church Yancy and his family attended in 1999, told USA TODAY. "They were very loving and attentive to one another."
Joiner recalled Yancy being "a big boy" who was very loving to the point that he said some described him as a "big teddy bear type." He also remembered Yancy being a blue-collar family man who was hard-working and "deeply committed to his faith."
After Yancy's death, Joiner said he and the church helped his family navigate the tragedy.
"The shock of all of that and the violence of it was hard for them, especially to hear about and to absorb," Joiner said about Yancy's family in 1999. "They had a range of emotions."
'I don't know quite how to feel'
With Miller's execution only days away, Lawley said: "I don't know how to feel."
"I don't know how to feel about it, I really don't," she said. "I don't know if it'll give me closure or what. I know it needs to happen, and on one hand, I want it to happen, but I just don't know what to feel about it."
Regardless of Lawley's emotions come Thursday, she said she will be "glad for it to be over."
Lawley does not plan on attending Miller's execution. It is unclear if any members of Holdbrook's or Yancy's families will be in attendance.
"I've always said 'I wanted to be there,'" Lawley said. "Over the years, I've changed my mind about that. I feel sorry for his (Miller's) parents."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alan Eugene Miller's murders leaves voids in families of 3 victims
Alan Eugene Miller was convicted in 2000 of capital murder in the 1999 deaths of Lee Michael Holdbrooks, Christopher S. Yancy, and Terry Lee Jarvis. The state has scheduled to execute him Thursday. (Alabama Department of Corrections)
Alabama is scheduled to carry out its fourth execution of the year on Thursday, and its second using nitrogen gas.
Alan Eugene Miller, 59, who was sentenced to death for a triple homicide in 2000, is set to be executed on Thursday. Under state law, the execution can be carried out between midnight Thursday and 6 a.m. on Friday.
Miller last month dropped a lawsuit over the execution after reaching an agreement with the Alabama attorney generals office. The details of the agreement are confidential. Miller had claimed in the lawsuit that the execution method would violate his constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
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Miller was convicted of capital murder in 2000 for his role in the murders of Lee Michael Holdbrooks, Christopher S. Yancy, and Terry Lee Jarvis, coworkers who Miller believed had been spreading rumors about him. Millers attorneys argued that he suffers from mental illness which contributed to his actions when shooting the victims.
Miller was one of three death row inmates who underwent botched lethal injection executions in 2022. That July, Alabama executed Joe Nathan James Jr. after staff tried for two hours to establish an IV line to deliver the drugs to eventually put him to death. An autopsy following the execution stated there were multiple puncture wounds on his body, suggesting that DOC staff tried multiple times to find a vein.
The DOC tried to execute Miller in September 2022. The execution was called off after staff failed to find a vein to insert an IV line for the drugs. Miller alleged in a lawsuit that DOC staff could not connect an IV to veins in his arms, legs or neck and turned him upside down while he was strapped to the gurney, leaving him there while bleeding for 20 minutes. Millers execution was eventually stopped after the warrant expired.
Corrections staff called off an then failed to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith in November 2022 for a similar reason.
Smith was executed by nitrogen gas in January, the first person to be put to death by the method. Media witnesses reported that Smith struggled to breathe for several minutes before the state formally pronounced him deceased.
Death penalty opponents have roundly criticized Millers scheduled execution.
This is unnecessary, we dont need to be doing this, said Abraham J. Bonowitz, executive director of Death Penalty Action, an organization that opposes capital punishment. This is only the second experimental gas suffocation, and it is likely we will see, once again, significant, unnecessary suffering.
After Smith, the state executed Jamie Ray Mills in May and Keith Edmund Gavin in July. Both were put to death by lethal injection. The state has scheduled the execution of Derrick Dearman by lethal injection in October and Carey Grayson by nitrogen gas in November.
If the remaining executions are carried out, 2024 will tie 2009 and 2011 for years where the state conducted the most executions.
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New test scores in Massachusetts released on Tuesday show continued decline in English language arts scores with state officials pointing to chronic student absenteeism as a major factor. (Getty Images)
BOSTON Its a safe bet that Woody Allen, who is often credited with the coinage, wasnt thinking about student testing when he remarked that 90 percent of success is just showing up. But he might as well have been.
New Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) scores released on Tuesday show a jarring, continued decline in English language arts scores, and state officials are pointing to an ongoing crisis of chronic student absenteeism as a major factor.
English scores on the statewide test given last spring fell across all grades, a dispiriting result at the end of the second full year in which students had returned to in-person learning following the Covid disruption and school closures. For grades 3-8, the share of students who scored proficient fell by 3 percentage points to 39% from 42% in 2023. On the 10th grade test, the share of students clearing that bar fell by 1 point, from 58% to 57%. (Scores were generally flat in math, while showing slight increases in science.)
When scores are analyzed based on student attendance, a yawning gap emerges. For students in grades 3-8, those who were deemed chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10 percent of school days, were roughly half as likely to achieve proficient scores in English as those not chronically absent. Among 10th graders, there was a 27-point difference, with 36% of chronically absent students scoring proficient compared to 63% of those not chronically missing school.
These results are concerning, acting state education commissioner Russell Johnston said at yesterdays state board of education meeting. While we have been operating with a sense of urgency, these results fortify our responsibility, our deep responsibility to accelerate our work.
In an interview following Tuesdays board meeting, Johnston said he thinks the ongoing absenteeism crisis is a significant factor in the troubling achievement scores. The states chronic absenteeism rate actually ticked down last year to 19.7% from 22.2% in 2023. But it still remains 50% higher than the rate in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
The state recently launched a public awareness campaign focused on the importance of school attendance. In terms of specific work focused on English language arts skills, Johnston pointed to the Healey administrations recent allocation of $20 million for a new state literacy effort plus a $38 million federal literacy support grant the state recently received.
We continue as society, as communities, continue to underestimate how much of an impact the pandemic had on our students, said Mary Bourque, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. She pointed to evidence of heightened mental health problems associated with the pandemic school shutdowns as one factor in the absenteeism crisis.
I think alarm bells should be going off, Ed Lambert, executive director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, said about the continued slide in English scores. He urged the state to take more direct action to incentivize and require adoption of practices that will change this trajectory.
Lambert praised efforts like the states new literacy initiative, but said the states strong tradition of local control of schools is holding back progress, citing the resistance of some districts to adopting evidence-based approaches to reading instruction. We still have half of our districts not using a high-quality curriculum, for reading instruction, he said. Why? Because theyre allowed to.
A national report released earlier this year on ongoing learning loss associated with the pandemic said the disruption had exacerbated already existing achievement gaps, with Massachusetts showing the largest such widening of gaps between poor and non-poor students of any state in the study. In the new English MCAS results, proficiency rates for both low-income and non-low-income students fell by 3 points.
Rob Curtin, the state education departments data chief, pointed out to the state education board that English language arts proficiency rates for Hispanic students fell by 2 points while that for white students fell by 3 points.
What that technically means is that the gap closed between our Hispanic and white students. But thats not something we should be celebrating because someone got worse a little less, he said. If anything comes of my remarks today, its that we have a long way to go with all of our students.
This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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Sali Berisha, who is currently Albanias opposition leader, has argued he was banned from the UK on the basis of unproven false assertions - ARMANDO BABANI/ZUMA PRESS WIRE/SHUTTERSTOCK
The allegedly corrupt former prime minister of Albania has spent more than 400,000 fighting a government ban on his entry to the UK.
Sali Berisha, 79, who has been indicted for alleged corruption in Albania, was excluded from the UK by Priti Patel, the then home secretary, on the basis that he had clear links to organised crime groups and criminals who posed a threat to public safety in the UK and Albania.
He served as president of Albania between 1992 and 1997 and as prime minister from 2005 to 2013. He is the head of the opposition Democratic Party.
Mr Berisha with George W Bush, the former US president, in 2007 - GENT SHKULLAKU/GETTY IMAGES
Last December, an Albanian court ruled that he should be put under house arrest while he is investigated for allegedly abusing his office to benefit his son-in-law.
Mr Berisha has denied the allegations and said they had been orchestrated by Edi Rama, the present prime minister.
He appealed against the exclusion order at a special immigration tribunal, but it was rejected on the basis that it was the sovereign right of the UK to control entry through its borders.
Passive corruption accusation
It has now emerged through documents in Albania that Mr Berisha has spent more than 500,000 (417,500) employing lawyers in the UK to fight his case.
A source in Albania who has seen the file said: For the purpose of this appeal at SIAC [Special Immigration Appeals Commission] his daughter from her bank account in 2022 made a payment of 72,000. Then in 2023 a payment of 250,000 and the last payment of 200,000.
There is no suggestion that his daughter has been involved in any of the alleged corruption.
They emerged in a file of some 500 pages of documents as part of the case being investigated by Albanias special court against corruption and organised crime (SPAK).
He has since been accused by SPAK prosecutors of passive corruption, a criminal offence that carries a maximum sentence of up to 12 years in prison in cases where it is proven that the person has gained a direct or indirect benefit from their illegal actions.
Acute threat to the UK
Mr Berishas case led to revelations that the Foreign Office and Home Office have launched a secret project to stop Albanian crime bosses operating in the UK.
The goal is to weaken the threat posed by organised crime groups (OCGs) and to protect Britains interests in the region.
A Home Office legal document did not mention Mr Berisha, but described Albanian gangs as presenting an acute threat to the UK. They are said to be significant players in the UK cocaine market and highly prevalent across serious and organised crime in Britain, including people smuggling and sex trafficking.
It points to statistics showing that Albanians make up one in eight of all criminals serving in UK prisons, meaning that they are by far the largest foreign nationality.
The document said that links between politics and crime in the region create a permissive environment in which serious criminals and OCGs can operate and benefit from the political protection of corrupt politicians from law enforcement activity.
This political protection provides gangs with additional routes to launder money and enables them to use Albania as a safe haven from which to operate, the Home Office document added.
In exchange, gangs will help a politician during elections by buying votes and intimidating voters, it said.
The project aims to disrupt these links by co-ordinating action against politically exposed persons on all sides of Albanian politics. Sanctions could include exclusion from the UK and strategic comms.
Mr Berisha said the accusations against him were without any legal proof and that the 500 page file detailing the allegations comprised deceit based on hiding and falsifying hundreds of official documents of libel and manipulations.
He said the four year investigation into corruption allegations by the political prosecutors found no legal violations or criminal cases.
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ALEA: Police officer shot suspect who allegedly lunged at them with a knife in north Alabama
COLBERT COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) An investigation is taking place involving a police officer who shot a person who was allegedly coming at them with a knife in north Alabama.
According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, officers with the Muscle Shoals Police Department were called to the 300 block of Tuxedo Avenue West on Sunday. They were met by Ronald Parrish, 68, who was reportedly holding a knife.
After several attempts to get Parrish to drop the knife, he allegedly lunged toward one of the officers, causing one of them to shoot him. Parrish later died at Helen Keller Hospital.
Could Birmingham see a crime suppression unit like Montgomery?
The ALEA is investigating the shooting. Once the investigation is complete, the case will be turned over to the Colbert County District Attorneys Office.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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InfoWars is about to get a new owner. A Texas judge on Tuesday approved the liquidation of Alex Jones assets including Free Speech Systems, the parent company of InfoWars in order for Jones to pay the $1.5 billion defamation settlement he owes to the parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting.
FSS will now be sold at auction, meaning Alex Jones will no longer own or control the company he built, Chris Mattei, the attorney representing the victims families, said in a statement. This brings the families closer to their goal of holding him accountable for the harm he has caused.
Christopher R. Murray, the Chapter 7 trustee of Jones estate, had his plan approved on Tuesday in Houston Bankruptcy Court to use a sales broker to start selling off the companys assets. Among the items listed for sale are domain names, production equipment and the InfoWars online vitamin store, per the AP. Open auctions have been approved for Nov. 10 and Dec. 13, if needed.
Anything sold as a result will go towards the families that Jones owes. In July, a judge ruled Jones 2022 bankruptcy filing wouldnt get him out of paying the massive settlement.
Jones had said on his show that the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, in which 20 children were murdered, was staged by the government in order to grab guns.
Its as phony as a $3 bill, Jones said about the shooting. He also called the parents crisis actors who were faking their grief.
He was later sued for defamation by a number of Sandy Hook families.
In a court deposition, Jones said he wasnt trying to cause pain and suffering to the families with his comments. He also said the parents and the kids were now being used to destroy the First Amendment.
The post Alex Jones InfoWars to Be Auctioned Off to Pay $1.5 Billion Defamation Damages appeared first on TheWrap.
Alex Jones company Infowars and its assets are on track to go up for auction in November to help pay down the nearly $1.5 billion Jones owes to families of the Sandy Hook victims, about whom he peddled conspiracy theories for years.
At a hearing on Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez said he will soon approve the order for Infowars intellectual property to go to auction on Nov. 13, including its websites, social media accounts, trademarks and copyrighted material, The Associated Press reported. The companys other assets, including computers and studio equipment, are scheduled to go to auction on Dec. 10.
The auctions would mark the demise of Jones media platform after a legal saga that culminated in 2022 with the Sandy Hook families winning a total of nearly $1.5 billion in judgments against him in lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas. Jones and Free Speech Systems, Infowars parent company, subsequently filed for bankruptcy protection. Lopez liquidated Jones personal assets and dismissed Free Speech Systems bankruptcy case in June.
Jones was one of the most prominent conspiracy theorists spreading lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. For years, he accused the families of being actors and falsely claimed that the shooting, in which 20 children and six educators were killed, was a hoax as part of a plot to take away peoples guns. The victims families have said that Jones lies tormented them and led to a flood of harassment and threats that went on for years. Jones later testified that he believes the shooting was 100% real.
Its unlikely that proceeds from the two auctions will come anywhere close to the sum that Jones owes the Sandy Hook families. Still, Christopher Mattei, a lawyer representing the families in the Connecticut lawsuit, said the auctions would be a significant step forward.
Alex Jones will no longer own or control the company he built, Mattei said in a statement. This brings the families closer to their goal of holding him accountable for the harm he has caused.
Meanwhile, Jones has said he wants to continue to host talk shows on new platforms. As The Associated Press reported, he has also suggested that his supporters could purchase all of Infowars assets and thus allow him to continue his show with the company.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
To pay off his more than $1 billion debt owed to Sandy Hook families, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is being forced to sell his media company InfoWars for parts.
On Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez said that he will move forward with auctions of InfoWarss trademarks, websites, social accounts, and copyrighted material beginning on November 13. From there, the remaining assets, such as studio equipment and cameras, will be sold at an auction in December.
Jones owes families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting nearly $1.5 billion in defamation and emotional distress lawsuits after calling the mass killing a hoax and calling the families crisis actors.
Alex Jones will no longer own or control the company he built, Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families, said in a statement Tuesday. This brings the families closer to their goal of holding him accountable for the harm he has caused.
While a few months ago, Jones broke down and cried publicly and dramatically about the loss of his company, the day before the judgment, he was on tour in Pennsylvania with Tucker Carlson and fellow conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec. On stage he was his usual self, shouting about the globalists and threatening to imprison his enemies.
Notably, Joness personal social media is not included in the auction, and he additionally urged his supporters to buy his Infowars assets, which could allow him to continue the show.
Its very cut and dry that the assets of Free Speech Systems (Infowars parent company), the website, the equipment, the shopping cart, all that, can be sold, said Jones. And they know full well that there are a bunch of patriot buyers, and then the operation can ease on.
His fans, including fellow conservative commentators, gave their regards.
What the federal government did to Alex Jones, is positively criminal, wrote Candace Owens on X.
Ive always liked Alex Jones, wrote Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. He might have said things that were wrong and then he repeatedly apologized. How many times have you ever heard the mainstream media ever apologize about all the horrible things they have said?
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones Infowars will be sold for parts to pay towards the more than $1 billion he owes to families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
A Houston bankruptcy court said Tuesday that it plans to approve auctions for the assets of Jones company Free Speech Systems, Infowars parent. Everything from lighting fixtures used on the far-right networks broadcast sets to the companys dubious vitamin and supplement store will be up for sale beginning in November.
Alex Jones Claims Video No Doubt Proves President Biden Is Clone
FSS will now be sold at auction, meaning Alex Jones will no longer own or control the company he built, Chris Mattei, an attorney for the Sandy Hook families, said. This brings the families closer to their goal of holding him accountable for the harm he has caused.
Jones spent years lying about the Sandy Hook shooting in which 26 people, including 20 first graders, were killed. He claimed the tragedy was staged and that the victims families were paid actors in a government plot to take Americans guns.
Some of the families were harassed and received death threats as Jones marshaled vitriol towards them during the most devastating point of their lives. (JD Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president in this years presidential election, told a group of young conservatives in 2021 that they should listen to nonconventional people like Jones.)
The Sandy Hook families won roughly $1.5 billion in defamation and emotional distress lawsuits against Jones in 2022, the same year he and his company filed for bankruptcy.
The most high-profile assets that could be sold off at auction are Jones intellectual propertiesdepending on the buyer, the Infowars brand could live on under new management.
What that suggests to me is that the highest monetary bidders are going to be entities who want to take this brand and run with it in some way, Chris Hampson, a bankruptcy law expert at the University of Florida, told NPR.
Jones, who has vowed to continue broadcasting his conspiratorial nonsense via other means, has even suggested that some of his supportersa bunch of patriot buyerscould buy the assets and let him continue to host Infowars as their employee.
Jones personal social media accounts, including his X account with 2.8 million followers, are not currently included in the assets up for sale, but the trustee overseeing Jones bankruptcy case said he may ask the court for permission to liquidate those assets. Jones, who has repeatedly cried censorship over the years when platforms blocked or demonetized his crazed ramblings, has resisted handing over his social accounts, which could set up another legal fight.
Meanwhile, court filings suggest the total payout from the auctions of Jones assets will be a mere $8 million, not even close to the $1.5 billion owed to the Sandy Hook families.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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UPDATE (Sept. 25, 2024, 9:52 p.m. ET): New York City Mayor Eric Adams released the following statement Wednesday night: I always knew that If I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a targetand a target I became. If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.
UPDATE (Sept. 25, 2024, 9:40 p.m. ET): New York City Mayor Eric Adams is expected to face federal charges by prosecutors out of the Southern District of New York as soon as Thursday, according to two sources familiar with the matter, NBC News reports.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called for New York City Mayor Eric Adams to resign, becoming the first member of Congress to push for his departure as his administration continues to be roiled by investigations and allegations of corruption.
In a post on X, the New York Democrat on Wednesday argued that the recent flood of resignations and vacancies has made it impossible for Adams to continue governing. Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of Queens and the Bronx, urged the mayor to step down for the good of the city.
I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City.
The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening gov function. Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration.
For the good of the city, he should resign. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 25, 2024
Adams has already hit back, issuing a statement that reads, in part, For anyone who self-righteously claims people charged with serious crimes should not be in jail to now say that the second Black mayor of New York should resign because of rumors and innuendo without even a single charge being filed is the height of hypocrisy.
The mayor has previously brushed off calls for his resignation. But the statement from Ocasio-Cortez the most high-profile Democrat to push for his ouster to date could prompt further calls from other prominent party members.
I was elected by the people of the city, Adams said earlier this month, and Im going to fulfill my obligation to the people of the city so I can continue to do great things that Im doing.
Earlier Wednesday, another New Yorker House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed his confidence in Adams. As far as I can tell, Eric Adams is working as hard as he can to be the best mayor possible and meet the needs of the residents of New York City, said Jeffries, who represents parts of Brooklyn.
Adams and members of his inner circle have been caught in a web of scandals, leading to both federal and local investigations. In recent weeks, those investigations have led to a series of subpoenas and raids. Adams has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. As Harry Siegel noted for MSNBC, There are now four separate, though possibly overlapping, federal investigations targeting his inner circle and the mayor himself. No one has been charged with any wrongdoing in those investigations, and Adams says he always follows the law.
Meanwhile, Adams administration is dwindling, seemingly by the day. Just within the last month, the citys police commissioner, health commissioner and the chancellor of New York Citys public school system have announced their resignations.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat on Tuesday expressed concern over the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Sudan.
The chairperson of the 55-member organization, in a statement issued Tuesday, expressed "grave concern" regarding the security and humanitarian situation in the conflict-affected Sudan, with particular emphasis on the situation in El Fasher, Darfur.
Condemning the recent escalation of the crisis and the spread of violence, Faki called for an immediate cessation of the fighting across Sudan.
He further reiterated the AU's conviction that there can be no military solution to the crisis in Sudan. He said the ongoing "unjustified fighting" only prolongs the suffering of all Sudanese people and the devastation of the country after decades of conflict and forced displacement.
Sudan has been embroiled in a deadly conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since mid-April 2023.
Faki urged the two warring parties and their allies "to immediately and unconditionally embrace a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire."
He said a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire would pave the way for an inclusive all-Sudanese political dialogue to address the deep-rooted causes of the conflict and reset Sudan toward constitutional democratic order and stability.
He further reiterated the AU's commitment to contribute with all means at its disposal to ending the conflict through various African mechanisms, including the High-Level Panel on Sudan and the AU Special Envoy for the Prevention of Genocide.
As the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly convenes in New York, the AU Commission chairperson also renewed the call for effective unification of efforts for collective international action to solve this extremely dangerous crisis in Sudan.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (DC News Now) A Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) chase ended after a person crashed in Virginia on Wednesday, police said.
In a post on the X platform just before 1:20 p.m., the Alexandria Police Department (APD) said that officers were assisting the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) with a pursuit.
APDs post said that the chase ended after the car crashed, and one person was in custody.
Woman found shot inside Fairmont Heights home, PGPD investigating
ACPD said that its officers were involved in a chase initiated by the Metropolitan Police Department that entered Arlington County.
Police said traffic lights were out at the intersection of N Van Dorn Street and W Braddock Road. Drivers should treat it as a four-way stop.
No injuries were reported.
MPD was handling the investigation into the case.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
ORISKANY FALLS, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) An Oriskany Falls man is in State Police custody after an altercation with sheriffs, according to the Oneida County Sheriffs Office.
Sheriffs positively identified a male on Monday, September 23 later identified as 39-year-old David Marriott of Oriskany Falls who was a wanted subject out of Madison County. Sheriffs say they then approached Marriott to interview him. When asked to identify himself, Marriott allegedly gave officers a false name and date of birth.
When officers attempted to take Marriott into custody, he allegedly began a physical altercation with them. Officers ultimately deployed their stun guns to get Marriott under control. With the assistance of New York State Police officers, Oneida County Sheriffs were able to take Marriott into custody without further incident.
It was found that an officer received a minor injury to his leg during the altercation. The officer was treated by first responders on the scene and released.
Marriott was transported to the Wyman Law Enforcement Building in Oriskany where he was processed. He was then transported to CAP Court for arraignment. Marriott is currently being charged with:
False Personation, a Class B Misdemeanor,
Resisting Arrest, a Class A Misdemeanor,
Second-degree Obstruction of Governmental Administration, a Class A Misdemeanor, and
Second-degree Harassment, a Violation.
Marriott was eventually released on his own recognizance. He was subsequently turned over to the New York State Police station in Morrisville for a bench warrant.
Oneida County Sheriffs were assisted on the scene by the New York State Police and the Oriskany Falls Fire Department.
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ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) The James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center announced it will be hosting multiple drive-thru flu clinics throughout September and October.
Starting Sept. 28, the clinics will be held at each of the community-based Outpatient Clinics in DuBois, Huntingdon, Johnstown, Indiana, State College and Altoona. Veterans who are already enrolled in VA healthcare and those enrolled in the Caregiver Support Program are encouraged to attend.
Those who are not yet enrolled in VA healthcare can also receive a vaccine by bringing a copy of their DD214 with them to the clinics. Enrollment specialists will also be available at the main facility to help unenrolled veterans receive the healthcare they have earned.
Drive-thru Flu Shot Clinics are scheduled for:
DuBois 9/28/2024, 8:30 a.m. 1 p.m.
Huntington 9/28/2024, 8 a.m. noon
Johnstown 9/28/2024, 8 a.m. noon
Altoona 9/28/2024, 8 a.m. noon
Indiana 10/5/2024, 9 a.m. noon
State College 10/19/2024, 8 a.m. noon
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If you are a Veteran, and cannot attend one of the scheduled clinics, vaccines are being offered at Primary care appointments. Walk-in hours are also available starting Sept. 23rd every Monday and Wednesday, from 8 a.m. noon, and Thursdays from noon 3 p.m. through Oct. 31st, 2024.
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By Tim Kelly
TOKYO (Reuters) - In the race to become Japan's next leader, young contender Shinjiro Koizumi has positioned himself as a change candidate, but his veteran rivals Shigeru Ishiba and Sanae Takaichi are the ones pushing policies that could rock the boat diplomatically.
The Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled Japan for almost all of the post-war era, will on Friday pick a new leader to replace Fumio Kishida as prime minister.
That comes at a pivotal moment for Tokyo as it seeks to deepen ties with long-time ally Washington and solidify a perennially testy relationship with South Korea, in an effort to present a united front against an increasingly assertive China.
Koizumi, 43, the U.S.-educated heir to a prominent LDP dynasty, is promising to usher in a generational shift in political leadership, but one that remains at ease with a U.S. relationship that shapes Japan's foreign policy.
Koizumi is in a closely fought race with two experienced candidates who appear more willing to push back against Washington - former defence minister Ishiba, 67, who is fighting his fifth and he says his last leadership election; and Takaichi, 63, the nation's economic security minister.
"Among the current top three candidates, Koizumi would probably be the most favourable if the U.S. had a say," said Jeffrey Hornung, Japan Lead for the RAND National Security Research Division. "He is young, and he doesn't have the governing experience and so the easiest path is to move forward with what's already working."
Koizumi demonstrated his close relations with Washington in July when he spent a day surfing with U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel.
While analysts say Koizumi would seek continuity, Ishiba could seek to strike a more independent foreign policy from Washington while Takaichi could revive historical animosity with Seoul.
Some recent opinion polls show them ahead of their younger rival among the LDP's party members who will decide Friday's election, one of the most unpredictable in decades because of the waning influence of powerful factions within the party and a record nine candidates.
Whoever wins, the U.S. election in November could have a bigger impact on Japanese-American ties, especially if any second term for Donald Trump revives pressure on allies to pay more for U.S. protection or subjects them to trade tariffs.
A spokesperson for the State Department said the U.S. was looking forward to working with the next Japanese leader.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has faced political backlash for pursuing security cooperation with Japan, told Reuters he is confident that Kishida's successor "will agree on continuing to further develop our bilateral relations."
A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said Beijing was willing to work with a prime minister that would promote a "stable China-Japan relationship."
CONTENTIOUS ISSUES
None of the candidates are likely to abandon Kishida's plan to double Japan's defence spending to deter China from using military force in East Asia, or step back from an alliance with the U.S. that has guaranteed Japan's security for decades.
But both Ishiba, a rare dissenter within the LDP, and Takaichi, a hardline conservative, could complicate U.S. ties at a sensitive time.
Washington is upgrading its military command structure in Japan for the first time in decades, broadening security cooperation into semiconductors and military technology, and is pushing Japan-South Korea detente to help contain Chinese power.
"Ishiba might try to push the envelope on contentious issues," said Nick Szechenyi, a Japan expert and deputy director for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Among them is an agreement that governs the status of U.S. bases in Japan that host the biggest overseas concentration of U.S. forces.
On the campaign trail in Okinawa, Ishiba said he would seek more oversight over how Washington uses those bases. He also wants Washington to give Japan a say in how it would use nuclear weapons in Asia.
Another of Ishiba's campaign proposals for Japan to lead the creation of an 'Asian NATO' has already been dismissed as hasty by the assistant U.S. secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, Daniel Kritenbrink.
In an interview with Reuters, Ishiba also criticized U.S. opposition to Nippon Steels bid for U.S. Steel, a politically sensitive deal in a pivotal election swing state, saying it unfairly cast Japan as a national security risk.
Kishida has declined to address an issue he says is a matter for the companies involved to resolve and Koizumi has urged his party colleagues to avoid making comments that could be seen as interfering in the U.S. presidential election.
If Takaichi wins the leadership race and becomes Japan's first female prime minister she could create problems for the U.S.-led effort to pull Tokyo and Seoul closer together with her promise to visit the controversial Yasukuni war shrine.
Japanese leaders in 2013 stopped going to the shrine, which commemorates war dead including those convicted by an Allied tribunal of war crimes after World War II. That followed criticism from the U.S. and condemnation from South Korea and other nations that view the site as a symbol of Japans wartime aggression.
"She's the hope of the conservative LDP members now," said Tetsuo Kotani, senior fellow at The Japan Institute of International Affairs, a Tokyo-based think tank. "They are still very much skeptical about the future of the Japan-Korea relationship."
(Reporting by Tim Kelly, John Geddie, Sakura Murakami in Tokyo, David Brunnstrom in Washington, Hyonhee Shin in Seoul and Laurie Chen in Beijing; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Marine archaeologist Ben Saunders helps place the wood in the tank for study [Orkney Islands Council]
A shipwreck found washed ashore on a beach on Orkney has been put in a water tank for preservation and study.
The timbers were discovered on the island of Sanday in February after they were released from the seabed during a storm.
Researchers believe the wreck could be from the 17th Century and possibly of Dutch origin.
Marine archaeologist Ben Saunders, who has been working on the wreck, described it as a "significant" find.
"You dont see timber shipwrecks ashore and easily recoverable in this sort of size very often," he said.
"Ive only worked on three or four and thats across the UK and Europe in the last ten years.
"Theyre more commonly found subsea - when they tend to stay there because its expensive to recover them."
For the past six months the Sanday Heritage Group has maintained the wreck by covering the wood in old bed sheets and watering them weekly.
This prevented the timbers from decay, because as soon as they are removed from the sea they start to dry out and break down.
Mr Saunders said this has been key to the wreck's survival.
"Theyre still in pretty good condition, not far off the condition they were found in," he said.
The wreck was wrapped in damp sheets for the last six months [BBC]
The timbers are now being kept in the 8m stainless steel tank at the islands heritage centre.
The tank was built with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, which awarded 80,000 to Orkney Islands Council to help preserve the wreck.
The water will prevent deterioration for two to three years while research is carried out into the ships identity and significance.
Mr Saunders, who works for Wessex Archaeology, said it will allow them to understand more about historic shipbuilding techniques.
Twenty samples have been taken from the ship's frame to give archaeologists the best chance to establish the construction date.
They will use dendrochronology, also known as tree ring dating, where the rings in the wood are counted to establish the age of a tree.
The team will also try to identify the name of the ship from historic records from Sanday and the Orkney islands.
Clive Struver of Sanday Development Trust on the beach where the wreck was found [BBC]
Several potential merchant marks have been found on some of the timbers.
Mr Saunders said these could be examples of international timber trade.
He said: Orkney and Shetland had a really important position on a lot of international trading routes during the medieval period.
Sanday has been for centuries a major source of shipwrecks and this could be from any period around that time."
The island heritage centre hopes more details of the shipwreck will be revealed.
Clive Struver, chair of the Sanday Development Trust, said the shipwreck could be a archaeological attraction for the island and more research was "vital".
He added: "Something like this is such a rare find that its incredibly important we make the most of it and we do everything to preserve it.
"Not only for the local history but the British maritime heritage, it could be very significant."
Ellen Pesci, social history curator at Orkney Museum, said the find was "quite amazing".
"Right now its a little bit abstract because weve had to deconstruct it to put it in to the tank, so it looks like pieces of wood", she said.
But she said it was important for the residents of Sanday to retain ownership of the shipwreck.
Mrs Pesci hopes they will eventually be in a position to seek funding to put the shipwreck on display.
"It also has to be something that works in particular for the community," she said.
"Its a slow process - you have to go through those stages before having it in a glass tank, like the Mary Rose of Sanday."
About 200 shipwrecks have been catalogued around the island, dating back to 1596.
Angelina Jolie Meets with Refugees Who 'Lost Everything' After Being Displaced by Conflict in Sudan
"Every hour matters as lives are at stake," Angelina Jolie said of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan
Karl Schembri/NRC Angelina Jolie meeting with refugees in Chad
Angelina Jolie is continuing her humanitarian work, raising awareness for support needed for those displaced by conflict in Sudan.
On Sept. 25, the Oscar winner, 49, shared a photo on Instagram from her visit with refugees in Adre, Chad, who have escaped Sudan amid an ongoing internal conflict in the African country that began in 2023.
Jolie urged the United Nations to "scale up the humanitarian response in Sudan and the region" as the U.N. held its 2024 General Assembly in New York City.
The people Ive listened to have endured unspeakable violence and have lost everything. The support from local responders here has been a lifeline for refugees who have otherwise been forgotten by the world," Jolie said in a statement about her visit.
"It is incredible to see what they have been able to achieve and the lives they have managed to save, and all the time world leaders have stood silent or turned the other way.
Jolie, who worked with the U.N.'s refugee agency in multiple positions between 2001 and 2022, wrote on Instagram that the conflict in Sudan has left more than 10 million displaced within the country, while more than 2 million others have fled to neighboring countries. As Jolie wrote, some 25.6 million people in the region "are facing acute hunger."
Related: Angelina Jolie Says She Is 'Never First' as a Mom to 6 Children: 'Your Life Is for Another'
Robin Marchant/Getty Angelina Jolie on Sept. 8, 2024
Jolie commended the efforts of volunteer groups in Chad while emphasizing a greater need for international support in the region.
The efforts of such groups have been incredible they have done so much and with so little, she added. But they cannot respond to the vast scale of this crisis without proper international support and funding. I urge governments to help ensure that these volunteers receive the funding, protection and international solidarity that they need."
On Instagram, Jolie wrote that she hopes the U.N.'s General Assembly "will result in decisions, not just conversation. Every hour matters as lives are at stake."
The director-actress recently spoke to her experiences in humanitarian work and visits to war-torn areas of the world while talking about her new movie as a director, Without Blood, with The Hollywood Reporter. Without Blood follows a woman (played by Salma Hayek Pinault) who confronts a man who had a hand in her family's murder during a past armed conflict.
"Ive never had to experience war or lose somebody through armed conflict. But I have people I care very deeply about who have," Jolie said in the interview. "Ive seen people who have nothing give everything. And Ive seen people who have everything do nothing."
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AUSTINTOWN, Ohio (MyValleyTributes) Anna May Sheets, 95, passed away peacefully, Wednesday evening, September 18, 2024, at Hospice House.
Anna was born April 26, 1929, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, a daughter of the late Tufic and Lucy Saad Budway.
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In 1964, she moved to the Youngstown area where she built a life of dedication and love. She worked as a bookkeeper for Josephs Family Market in New Castle and later as a general manager for Zero Pest Control, but her greatest joy came from caring for her family.
Mrs. Sheets was a devoted member of St. Joseph Church in Austintown.
In her free time, she loved playing bingo, visiting casinos, and traveling to Florida for vacations, however, nothing brought her more happiness than spending precious moments with her family.
Anna leaves behind her two sons, Robert A. Sheets of Austintown and Jeffrey R. (Julie) Sheets of North Lima; two beloved grandchildren, Emily Sheets and Garrett Sheets and her sister, Wanda Barth of Austintown.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 43 years, Robert C. Sheets, who passed away in 2007, along with her daughter, Kristen Sheets and two sisters, Marian Budway and Norma Fukon.
Family and friends may gather to pay respects from 11:00 a.m. Noon on Saturday, September 28, 2024, at St. Joseph Church, 4545 New Road, Austintown, where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Noon.
Private interment will take place at Calvary Cemetery in Youngstown.
Arrangements handled by Kinnick Funeral Home.
To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.
A television tribute will air Thursday, September 26 at the following approximate times: 5:17 a.m. on WKBN, 8:39 a.m. on FOX, 5:21 p.m. on WYTV and 6:35 p.m. on MyYTV. Video will be posted here the day of airing.
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) Reports say an inmate at the private prison on the East Side was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center Tuesday for multiple stab wounds.
Police were called about 3:05 p.m. to the Northeast Ohio Correctional Facility for a report of an inmate who had been stabbed three times, including one stab wound to the chest that was bleeding heavily.
This is at least the seventh stabbing at the prison this year. Five inmates were stabbed in May and one in June, according to WKBN files.
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A major anti-abortion group is seizing on the reported death of two Georgia women from untreated rare complications of medication abortion to flip the script on Democrats, who have blamed their deaths on the states abortion ban.
The partner PAC associated with Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America launched a $500,000 television and digital ad campaign this week accusing Democrats, including Vice President Harris, of spreading deadly misinformation about the womens deaths.
The ads will reach cable and broadcast markets in Georgia including Atlanta, Augusta, Macon and Savannah, while digital ads will be targeted at Atlanta-area swing voters, the organization said.
According to a recent ProPublica report, Amber Nicole Thurman died in 2022 after waiting 20 hours in a suburban Atlanta hospital before doctors tried to give her the treatment she needed for an incomplete abortion.
A state medical board review said she died largely because of the hospitals delay in treating her and called it preventable.
Pro Publica also reported on the death of Candi Miller, who died after declining to seek medical care for complications from abortion medication. Her family said she was afraid of getting medical help once it was clear the abortion was incomplete.
Harris and Democrats have said the deaths are a direct result of an abortion ban made possible by the Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade.
At a hastily arranged speech in Atlanta last week after the stories broke, Harris spoke about the pain experienced by women in states with abortion bans, placing the blame for their suffering squarely on Republicans and former President Trump.
Georgia law bans abortion after fetal cardiac activity is detected, which is usually around six weeks into a pregnancy and before many know they are pregnant. Both women died shortly after the law took effect in 2022.
But SBA, along with Republicans like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, argue that Georgia law doesnt prohibit the treatment the women needed. The doctors who may have been afraid to treat Thurman were confused because of Democrats misleading messaging, they said.
Georgias law, like pro-life laws in every other state, allows emergency care, miscarriage care and treatment for ectopic pregnancy. The laws do not penalize women who have abortions and they use plain, commonly accepted legal language. There would be no confusion if abortion advocates were not spreading confusion, SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement.
But doctors in states with abortion bans across the country have said the exceptions to such bans are often unclear and contradictory. Theyve expressed fear that even treatments that are not abortions, like the routine procedure Thurman needed, could still be used against them.
Health care providers say state abortion laws contain too much uncertainty and dont protect them. As a result, stories about pregnant patients in medical distress being turned away from hospitals or being told to wait in a parking lot until their life is in danger are becoming common.
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Children enjoy a ride at the State Fair of Texas on Oct. 20, 2016 in Dallas. Credit: Allison V. Smith for The Texas Tribune
The Supreme Court of Texas on Thursday night denied Attorney General Ken Paxton's emergency filing seeking to overturn the State Fair of Texas policy banning all firearms from its fairgrounds. The fair is set to start Friday.
"It should go without sayingthough perhaps it cannot be said often enoughthat a judges role in this case is not to decide whether the State Fair made a wise decision. Our job, instead, is to decide whether Texas law allowed the State Fair to make the decision for itself. The State declines to take a position on that essential question but nevertheless asks this Court for an injunction overriding the State Fairs decision," the court said in its ruling. "It should also go without saying that our answer, for now, must be no."
The ruling comes two days after a Dallas County District Court struck down a request from Paxton on the fair's gun policy. The District Court Judge agreed with State Fair officials that they could enforce a gun ban as a private nonprofit.
Paxton, who said hours later on social media that he would ask the state's Supreme Court to overturn the ban, has maintained that the fair's gun ban violates state law, which bars most government bodies from prohibiting weapons. State Fair officials say it has the right as a private nonprofit, and the city of Dallas says it has no role in the fair's gun policy.
Heres what you need to know.
The background: Fair officials and law enforcement announced the policy change last month, roughly a year after a gunman opened fire at the fair, injuring three people. Officials also announced it will have security cameras at entrances and will not provide storage for larger bags.
A week after the policy change, several state lawmakers signed a petition pressuring State Fair officials to rescind it, saying the new policy makes the fair less safe.
Shortly after, Paxton sent fair officials and Dallas interim city manager a letter giving them 15 days to rescind the policy or else face legal action from his office.
Dallas owns Fair Park, where the 24-day event takes place annually, but State Fair of Texas, a nonprofit organization, operates the park and various city buildings and walkways within the property, per a 25-year agreement between the two entities.
A week before the Dallas District Court hearing, Paxton withdrew an eight-year-old legal opinion that allowed private nonprofits to ban guns on land they lease from a city.
After last weeks ruling by the Dallas County District Court, Paxton announced he would turn to the 15th Court of Appeals, a new state court lawmakers created last year to handle cases involving the state or businesses. Critics fear the court is an effort by Republicans to circumvent Democrat-dominated courts, while proponents say the court will increase efficiency.
Why Texas sued: Since Fair Park is owned by Dallas, the nonprofit's policy change violates state law, which allows licensed gun owners to carry in places owned or leased by governmental entities, unless otherwise prohibited by state law, according to Paxtons lawsuit. Texas law establishes that schools and courtrooms are considered gun-free zones and allows others, such as amusement parks or educational institutions, to institute their own bans on firearms.
Neither the City of Dallas nor the State Fair of Texas can infringe on Texans right to self-defense, Paxton wrote in his statement announcing the lawsuit.
In his letter to the interim city manager, Paxton acknowledged that some buildings on the Fair Park premises, like the Cotton Bowl and other buildings used for scholastic events, are areas where guns are prohibited by state law.
However, the entirety, or vast majority of the 277-acre Fair Park of Dallas is not a place where weapons are prohibited, Paxton wrote.
What State Fair officials say: The city of Dallas disagreed with Paxtons allegations, explaining that city officials werent involved in the State Fair's decision to enforce a gun ban.
The State Fair of Texas is a private event operated and controlled by a private, nonprofit entity and not the City, a Dallas spokesperson said in a statement.
Fair officials believe they could enforce a gun ban as a private nonprofit and are standing by their decision.
"The State Fair of Texas will continue to prioritize providing a safe and secure environment for our millions of fairgoers, as well as our staff, vendors, and volunteers, Karissa Condoianis, a state fair spokesperson, has said. As a private, not-for-profit organization leasing Fair Park for our annual State Fair, we believe we have the right to make this decision and maintain that it is the correct decision to protect the safety of our patrons.
Broader impact: This is the first high-profile case for the newly established 15th Court of Appeals, the judges of which were appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Tuesdays ruling might cool some Democrats concerns that the court was created to secure more Republican-friendly decisions.
Additionally, Paxton's effort to block the State Fair gun ban adds to a long list of cases that his office pursues scrutinizing policy decisions from local governmental entities with more liberal-leaning leadership voter registration, among the latest.
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- As an ocean nation heavily dependent on marine resources, Cabo Verde in the ocean decade focuses on local and global actions to promote sustainable ocean management, Jose Maria Pereira Neves, president of Cabo Verde, told the General Debate of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.
"We have been focused on the importance of sustainable ocean management, particularly for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) that are very vulnerable to climate change, and the degradation of marine ecosystems," said the president.
For three consecutive years, the country has hosted international ocean conferences to foster partnerships between governments, the private sector, scientists, and civil society to advance ocean science and create innovative solutions to ocean challenges, according to Neves.
It is important to bring together key stakeholders in order to boost collaborative solutions for the oceans, help develop research capacities to study the impact of climate change and ocean acidification, and promote knowledge sharing and technology transfer to improve ocean monitoring and observation systems, he noted.
Cabo Verde remains committed to playing an active role within the SIDS community, said the president. In the first quarter of 2025, the country will host a High-Level Meeting for the Atlantic, Indian and South China Sea regions, aiming at establishing a coordination mechanism for the sub-region.
"It is essential that we continue to raise awareness on the need to safeguard our ecosystems, historical landmarks, traditional knowledge, and intangible cultural practices," the president added.
NEW YORK (PIX11) A new area code has been proposed for portions of New York City.
The new area code would be for the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Marble Hill section of Manhattan. A three-digit number for the proposed area code hasnt been decided.
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All existing wireline and wireless telephone customers in the 347/718/917/929 numbering plan area would keep their current 10-digit phone number. The proposed area code would be assigned to new phone numbers.
The North American Numbering Plan Administrator, which manages the telephone numbering plan in the United States, is seeking authorization for the new area code because available phone numbers in the 347/718/917/929 numbering plan area are projected to be exhausted near the end of 2026.
The North American Numbering Plan Administrator hopes the new area code will be approved in time to be implemented six months before available phone numbers run out in 2026.
The New York State Public Service Commission plans to hold two virtual public hearings in October to receive comments regarding the area code proposal. To learn more about how to participate in the meetings, click here.
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.
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A 32-year-old man is accused of shooting two men, leaving one of them dead, in Graham on Monday during a dispute over a motorcycle.
Pierce County prosecutors charged Keith Allen Scott Canedy with two counts of second-degree murder, first-degree assault and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, court records show.
Canedy was arrested on Tuesday in Oregon after prosecutors sought a warrant for his arrest.
Law enforcement officers located his 2013 Ford F150 truck after detectives learned he was traveling south with his girlfriend, according to charging documents. Canedy was being held in the Clackamas County Jail, just south of Portland, and awaiting extradition back to Pierce County on Wednesday.
Charging details
Pierce County deputies were dispatched at 1:44 a.m. to the 20700 block of 92nd Avenue East for reports of a shooting. One of the victims was being taken to a hospital. The other sustained a gunshot wound to the head, charging documents show.
Deputies saw a motorcycle just south of the crime scene and tried to stop it after they were advised it might be involved. The rider drove off and was not detained, prosecutors wrote.
The victim, a 36-year-old man, was declared dead at the scene, prosecutors wrote. The identity of the victim has not been released.
The second victim, a 48-year-old man, was driven to the fire station at 187th and Meridian East before he was taken to a hospital. He had serious injuries but is expected to survive, according to the Pierce County Sheriffs Department.
Deputies spoke to a witness who said she was in her RV when she heard multiple vehicles stop outside. She heard arguing and then gunshots. She then saw the 36-year-old man lying on the ground. The 48-year-old man, who was injured, said that Keith shot the now-deceased victim in the face, prosecutors wrote.
The witness said the argument was over a motorcycle, and she saw Keiths gray Chevrolet Silverado drive away. She also heard two people believed to be friends with Keith drive away on the motorcycle. Prosecutors wrote that Canedy was identified as the alleged shooter.
A witness said that he was at his house when both victims showed up. The 36-year-old man said someone who lived down the street had stolen his motorcycle. While the witness was speaking to the victims, a motorcycle pulled into the area, documents show.
The victims went to the area where the motorcycle pulled up and came back soon after. The witness heard another car pull up with a woman yelling, asking for the 48-year-old mans location. When the man responded, the witness heard gunshots while he was inside his home, prosecutors wrote.
The witness saw a new 2024 Chevrolet Silverado Bison edition leaving the area. The witness confirmed the truck belonged to Canedy because it was brand new and a rare edition, prosecutors wrote. He alleged the gunshots came from the truck, prosecutors wrote. The witness then took the 48-year-old man to the fire station.
Detectives spoke to the 48-year-old man who said his motorcycle was stolen. He said he was shot over it, prosecutors wrote.
The stolen motorcycle was a 2024 Yamaha that was reportedly registered to Canedy. Detectives spoke to Canedys mother who said she kicked Canedy out of her home on Sunday. She said that Canedy was the only one who would drive the truck because it was so expensive, documents show.
Canedys mother said that he recently received a large settlement and was spending the money. He would buy things for himself or others. He had a habit of gifting items to people, but then would try to take them back if he got mad at them, prosecutors wrote.
Canedy has prior felony convictions, including residential burglary and second-degree burglary. He is prohibited from owning or possessing firearms.
Yasser Sanchez, an immigration attorney and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is pictured outside his office in Mesa, Ariz., on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
On a spring morning in 2010, thousands of pro-immigrant protesters flooded downtown Phoenix. They waved American flags and Mexican flags. Some, like a young girl in a stroller, held handwritten signs: MOMMY, WHY IS MY SKIN COLOR A CRIME? By some estimates, there were 20,000 people there; by others, over 100,000. Some had traveled from as far as Louisiana and Rhode Island to participate. As they marched through downtown and reached the Arizona State Capitol, the mayor of Phoenix, Phil Gordon, greeted them. Welcome to the site of the next civil-rights movement, he declared.
Weeks earlier, Arizonas governor signed SB1070, dubbed the show me your papers law. At the time, it was deemed the countrys toughest bill on illegal immigration: it made it a misdemeanor for immigrants to be in Arizona without carrying proper documentation at all times, and it empowered local law enforcement to detain people they suspected to be in the country illegally. The bills critics, like those who protested in Phoenix that May day, said it would unfairly target Hispanics and encourage racial profiling. I thought the government is more noble, more fair here, one naturalized migrant from Mexico, midway through the march, told the Los Angeles Times.
As the bill wound its way through the Arizona legislature, it garnered national and international attention. Boycotts against Arizona companies were organized. Protests erupted in 70 cities across the country, from Los Angeles to Boston. Latino celebrities spoke up against the law, one after another: Shakira, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan. A U.S. congressman was arrested while leading a protest outside of the White House. The Phoenix Suns, in an act of solidarity with the Hispanic community, wore jerseys that read LOS SUNS.
The bills proponents deemed it a necessary measure to curb the flow of illegal immigration into the state: Phoenix had garnered the reputation of being the countrys kidnapping capital, linked to illegal narcotics and human smuggling across the border. Arizonas undocumented population had grown fivefold in the two decades since 1990. The high-profile murder of an Arizona border rancher added fuel to the fire.
Eventually, after the protests subsided, much of the laws teeth were knocked out. A district court blocked key provisions from going into effect; later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that several parts of the bill were preempted by federal law. A year later, Russell Pearce, the state senator who was the bills lead proponent, became the first legislator in Arizona history to be recalled. Arizonas immigrant population, its growth stunted during the SB1070 era, began to increase again. A generation of Latino lawmakers took office across the state. Arizona shifted from being a deep-red state to purple. The age of anti-immigrant legislation, it seemed, was in the rearview.
This fall will determine whether that is true. In November, Arizonans will once again vote on a strict immigration ballot measure one that opponents call SB1070 2.0. The measure, if passed, would make illegally crossing the border a state crime and toughen punishments for selling fentanyl. Like SB1070, it empowers local law enforcement to arrest and jail unauthorized migrants, renewing fears among its critics about how it could lead to racial profiling.
We definitely feel like its a return to (SB1070), which is very problematic, said Jennie Murray, president of the National Immigration Forum.
SB1070 faced widespread opposition. This time, 14 years later, the ballot measure has widespread support. A recent poll from Noble Predictive Insights shows that nearly two-thirds of Arizona voters, including a majority of Democrats, plan to support the measure. A legal challenge to the measures constitutionality was tossed out. Few protests and no nationwide boycotts have accompanied the bill. The activist groups that would dedicate resources to opposing it are overextended between the presidential race, a U.S. Senate election and a high-profile abortion ballot measure. I think its going to pass, Yasser Sanchez, a Mesa immigration attorney, said. Groups dont have money to oppose it right now.
Protesters hold signs at a 2010 rally at the Arizona Capitol prior to former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signing SB1070 into law. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) | Ross D. Franklin
A new age for immigration
What changed between 2010 and now? Why did a tough-on-immigration bill garner massive opposition then, but a bill with some similar elements enjoys majority support now? Perhaps the shift isnt exclusive to Arizona: Americans, at large, are undergoing a major transformation on how they view immigrants and immigration.
Public opinion on immigration policy fluctuates, but for much of the 21st century, Americans have regarded immigration and its benefits to society either positively or with indifference. But in recent years, as illegal border crossings reached record levels, public perception has undergone a notable shift. Half of Americans, including 42% of Democrats, favor mass deportations of unauthorized immigrants, according to an Axios/Harris survey. (That was a fringe view in 2016 exit polls.) A majority of Americans now think immigrants today have worse character than immigrants 50 years ago did, per the same survey.
DN-immigration2
Gallups polling lays this out clearly: a larger share of Americans want to reduce immigration now than at any time since 2011, a month after the September 11 attacks. When asked if immigration should be kept at its present level, increased or decreased, a majority of Americans 55% say it should be decreased, up from 28% in May 2020. Only 16% say it should be increased.
This change has been felt acutely in Arizona. Youre seeing the same type of mood in Arizona, because the border issue has been an issue for two decades, and whether its Republicans or whether its Democrats, no ones solved it, said Mike Noble, a Phoenix-based pollster. In the August New York Times/Siena College poll, Arizona voters were more likely than voters in any other battleground state to say immigration is their top issue. (Arizona is the only battleground state on the southern border.) The same was true of its May poll.
But even Arizonans wouldnt have bitten on a law that was too draconian. Thats the calculation state Sen. Ken Bennett made, at least: As recently as 2022, Arizona voters decided to extend in-state tuition to Dreamers individuals who came to the U.S. illegally as children. When the Secure the Border Act made its way through the state senate this spring, it included a provision that would allow for the deportation of those same Dreamers, who were protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Republicans, who hold a one-seat majority in the state Senate, needed Bennetts vote; he demanded that the DACA language be removed. That this would somehow be retroactively applied against DACA individuals, to me, was blatantly unconstitutional, because both the U.S. and Arizona constitutions prohibit ex post facto law, Bennett told me.
Bennett also pushed to soften the penalties in the bill, and to ensure local law enforcement was only detaining migrants at the border, not conducting raids throughout the state. The DACA language was struck, and other parts were massaged; the bills final language met Bennetts approval, and the resolution passed the Senate with all 16 Republicans in favor, and all 14 Democrats opposed.
By Bennetts interpretation, the law, as currently written, can only be enforced by police who literally witness an illegal border crossing, either in person or by recording, as opposed to the SB1070 thing from a decade ago, where it was kind of a, stop anybody that looks illegal and ask them if they have papers, Bennett said. Thats not what this is about.
The bills opponents do not think that is good enough. During a heated discussion in May, state Sen. Anna Hernandez, a Democrat representing Phoenix, asked Bennett whether law enforcement officials could send video surveillance footage to police officers in other parts of the state, empowering them to find undocumented immigrants in their communities. Bennett, in response, said he didnt think that is how law enforcement works, the Arizona Mirror reported, though he admitted no geographical limit was added to the bill.
That makes some lawmakers nervous. One state senator, a Latina Democrat (and a citizen), said she was pulled over 18 times by police officers the year SB1070 passed. The new law could lead to the same crackdown on brown people, they warn: while police must have probable cause of illegal entry to make an arrest, the language is vague, and allows for any other constitutionally sufficient indication of probable cause. Bennett assures that the law cannot be applied retroactively, as the text indicates.
This nuance is lost in the ballot language: a yes vote, the ballot will read, will criminalize submitting false information to access public benefits or employment; entering Arizona outside of a port of entry; refusing to comply with a deportation order; and selling fentanyl that causes another persons death. Among those who support the bill, according to the Noble Predictive Insights polling, the penalty for drug dealers is the most popular portion. At present, only 16% of Arizonans are undecided on how theyll vote. From my experience polling a lot of ballot measures in Arizona over the last decade, thats a pretty low number, Noble said. That surprised me. A vast majority of Republicans 77% say theyll vote in favor of the measure.
Mayor John Giles, the Republican mayor of Mesa, Ariz., and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, right, and Mayor Corey Woods, the Democratic mayor of Tempe, Ariz., acknowledge the crowds applause as they walk on stage at the campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz., on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
But some Republicans are still skeptical. John Giles, the Republican mayor of Mesa (Arizonas third-largest city), claimed that the law was created because the Speaker of the House wanted to win a Republican primary for Congress, plain and simple. Its not because its a good idea. The lawmaker in question, Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, introduced the bill shortly after launching a bid for a vacated seat in the U.S. House; he ended up finishing in third place in the primary. But his resolution passed the state legislature and made its way onto the ballot, up for a vote in November.
Giles said the effects of the law could be catastrophic. One study estimated that Arizona lost $141 million from canceled conventions in the state in the wake of SB1070; some fear that this new law could have a similar result. It creates a real threat to the economy in Arizona, Giles said. The economic impact of SB1070 was catastrophic to our workforce and to the image of our state. And so this is digging up a bad idea, and just so that some politicians at the legislature can say that they are the most conservative in the room.
Its a big deal
Some in Arizona, Giles included, are nervous about ballot fatigue for Arizona voters. All the attention is funneled toward the presidential and Senate races, and perhaps the abortion amendment. But dozens more ballot lines await voters: in Maricopa County, the ballot is four pages long.
That risks issues like the immigration ballot measure being swept up by the top-ticket presidential race. To some, that seems like a natural result: Yasser Sanchez, the immigration attorney, sees the forces motivating the immigration measure being the same ones behind Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. Trump took all the bad ideas of (SB1070) and combined them, and put them on steroids, and made them nationwide, Sanchez said. If Trump wins, hes promised mass deportations, and hes vowed to engage local law enforcement in the effort.
To some of Sanchezs clients, that is a chilling thought. Armando Coronel is one of them. As a child, his parents brought him from Mexico to Mesa. They were on a visa but eventually overstayed. Coronel went to the local elementary, junior high and high schools, and his parents worked local jobs his dad laying carpet, and his mom in daycare. Coronel learned plumbing, and after graduating from high school, he started his own pool company. He still lives in Mesa, now with his wife and three children. They are expecting a daughter. He is working closely with Sanchez to get legal residency.
Coronel remembers the SB1070 era well. There was a lot of uncertainty, he said. People were scared to drive and to leave their homes. At the time, Coronel thought he had an active visa, but when traveling back from Mexico after a wedding, he was stopped. His visa had lapsed, the customs agents told him, and he would not be able to enter the U.S. He eventually made his way back to Mesa to his citizen wife and his three citizen children but brought with him an acute realization that he could be sent back to Mexico at any point. You kind of have that PTSD, you know? Youre just scared, he said. Anytime a cop pulls you over, youre like, Oh gosh, whats gonna happen?
The current landscape includes echoes of that era. Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, have taken a markedly anti-immigrant turn in recent weeks, propping up false claims against immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, as justification for mass deportations. Vance has called for the termination of longstanding immigration programs, like Temporary Protected Status, and labeled the legal beneficiaries of these programs illegal.
Coronel recognizes that the Arizona ballot measure, as currently worded, is intended to only affect the border area. But there is enough gray area to cause concern. We wont know how the law will be applied until the law is applied, Sanchez, his lawyer, said. And the threat of mass deportations if Trump is elected could affect the family directly.
What happens to my family, my home? Coronel asked me, holding his one-year-old son on his lap. What happens to my business? Its a big deal.
A chicken farm in Hector, Arkansas. (Source: USDA)
Thirteen farmers on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit against executives of bankrupt Arkansas poultry company Cooks Venture for the financial consequences chicken growers faced when the company abruptly closed in late 2023.
According to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, the plaintiffs are bringing action for deceptive and otherwise unlawful conduct against the defendants, to seek monetary damages, attorneys fees and other relief under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921.
Plaintiffs are Melisa Barr, Johnnie Bunch, Dustin Maybee, Lakeview Farms LLC, Leslie Harp, Lance Logan, Linda Sparks, Mike Unruh, Stuart Tanner, Tony Wagoner, Darren Swofford, Gregory Wilson and Bill Melbourne.
Defendants include four principal executive officers behind the Decatur-based company Matthew Wadiak, Blake Evans, Tim Singleton and John Niemann.
The plaintiffs are represented by Antimonopoly Counsel, FarmSTAND, the Brad Hendricks Law Firm and TFPC, a Maine public-interest law firm. Wednesdays lawsuit seeks to hold individuals behind the Cooks Venture scam accountable, and claims directly against Cooks Venture must go through bankruptcy court, according to a press release.
This nations laws do not permit what these four men did to poultry growers in the Ozarks through the Cooks Venture scam, said Basel Musharbash of Antimonopoly Counsel, lead counsel for the plaintiffs. If these growers prevail in court, it will send a powerful message: you cannot make a quick buck by swindling farmers who just want to create a quality product.
Northwest Arkansas chicken growers told state lawmakers at a February hearing that they were still cleaning up the mess left after the state euthanized a million chickens. The Arkansas Department of Agriculture depopulated the birds at the request of Cooks Venture after the company shuttered suddenly in late November due to financial problems.
In February, three chicken farmers told legislators some farmers had yet to receive payment or have the rotting carcasses removed from their property. Cooks Venture had said in letters that it would compensate growers for services already rendered and be responsible for the disposal of the birds.
Cooks Venture had operations in Arkansas and Oklahoma and sold meat from pasture-raised heirloom chickens, as well as grass-fed beef and lamb, that was flash frozen and delivered in a customizable box to customers homes, according to its website.
When he founded the company in 2019, Wadiak, former chief operating officer of Blue Apron, described Cooks Venture as a next-generation food company rooted in regenerative agriculture and transparency, according to a WATTPoultry article.
Wednesdays complaint alleges six counts of violating sections of the Packers and Stockyards Act for various actions, including conspiracy to engage in or use deceptive practices or devices and deprivation of the right to prompt and full payment for live poultry.
In depriving Growers of prompt and full payment and attempting to delay the collection of such payment by Growers, Defendants conduct was malicious, oppressive, and in reckless disregard of Growers rights, the complaint states. Among other things, the Defendants conduct was intended to injure Growers; exploited Growers dependence upon Defendants for information, and their powerlessness in the face of state officials; and caused unjustifiably severe harm to Growers.
Plaintiffs have requested a trial by jury on all issues that are triable.
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It appears that ourforever POTUS mightve been placed in harms waylast week after an apparent lapse of Secret Service security. On Wednesday, TMZ reported that former President Barack Obama was sitting in the back seat of his SUV on Saturday (Sept. 21) outside of a popular Hollywood restaurant Mother Wolf when the incident occurred.
At around 7:30 p.m., an armed man allegedly approached Obamas vehicle. He claimed to be a security guard for a bar mitzvah that was happening on the second floor of the establishment.
TMZ spoke to the man in question who asked to remain anonymous and he explained what went down. He claimed that he went outside because he was told federal agents were there but didnt know why. The man told the outlet that when he walked out into the alleyway, he saw two men to his right who were Secret Service agents. He then spotted a black SUV that had Dept. of Homeland Security plates.
According to the guard, he had no idea Obama was inside until he got closer to the passenger side of the vehicle and saw the former president using a laptop. In a panic, he allegedly walked away from the SUV and then greeted the agents.
He said he walked past Obamas SUV again before going back upstairs to the bar mitzvah. The guard recalled that a half hour later, his supervisor asked him to give up his credentials and license to carry a concealed weapon for the Secret Service.
Obamas daughters Malia and Sasha later had dinner with their father at Mother Wolf that night. However, the security guard called what happened definitely a security lapse on their part that there was no one on the backside of SUV, nor covering the stairwell.
The Secret Service has come under scrutiny lately following two separate assassination attempts on Donald Trump.
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DETROIT, Michigan The Army has picked American Rheinmetall Vehicles and HDT Expeditionary Systems to build prototypes of equipment-carrying robots, the service announced Tuesday.
Several companies were competing to build the second increment of the services Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport (S-MET), robot, including General Dynamics Land Systems, an Anduril and Hanwha team, and Teledyne FLIR.
GDLS won the first contracts in 2019 and 2020 to build the first increment of the vehicle.
Under the newest contract, American Rheinmetall and HDT will each build eight prototypes for a combined total of $22 million, the service said in a statement.
S-MET Increment II addresses capability gaps associated with excessive physical burdens, recharging batteries during continuous operations, and reducing sustainment burden for semi-independent operations, Kyle Bruner, the Armys project manager for force projection within the Program Executive Office Combat Support & Combat Service Support, said in the statement.
Using the robot also reduces Soldier load and enhances small unit combat effectiveness by reducing fatigue and injury caused by excessive physical loads, shifting the burden to the robotic platform, he added.
The first increment of S-MET is a radio-controlled, eight-wheeled platform that can carry various payloads and generate power for electronic systems. While the first increment is capable of carrying 1,000 lbs, the Armys goal for the second increment is to double the weight the robot can carry, the service said.
Additionally, the second increment should have higher exportable power to handle unmanned aircraft systems, run more quietly and have a dismounted wireless mesh communication network integrated into the system.
The system is also required to be modular and open in order to upgrade it easily and cost-effectively, the Army stated.
The service plans to award a production contract for S-MET Increment II following the prototyping phase and developmental testing in late fiscal year 2027. The services current plan is to buy up to 2,195 systems.
The Army is pursuing a different robotic combat vehicle for heavy maneuver forces, but the S-MET vehicle could be the more common robot of choice for lighter formations, the Armys Program Executive Officer for Ground Combat Systems, Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, said in an interview in late 2023.
S-MET is a very capable, small platform, and were seeing a lot of value with experimentation, Dean said.
Army recruiters may soon be relieved from the dreaded cold calls to high school students in their frustrated fishing expedition for new recruits.
The service recently introduced an artificial intelligence component, dubbed Recruit 360, along with several other changes, to revitalize its struggling recruiting efforts that have missed goals for multiple years.
Speaking Tuesday at the Association of the U.S. Army, Maj. Gen. Johnny Davis, head of Army Recruiting Command, and Brig. Gen. Antoinette Gant, chief of the Army Enterprise Marketing Office, laid out a series of changes over the past year to how the service recruits.
One of the newest developments is the AI-driven approach.
About two months ago, the service began using AI software to review 30 million potential applicant files, using 1,700 variables to determine if the person on the other end has a propensity to serve, Davis said.
Army won't rule out any possible fixes to recruiting, housing woes
Recruit 360 is an ability to provide a more refined prospective applicant list to a recruiter based off artificial intelligence, Davis said. Its changing the way we do business and the way our recruiters connect.
Theyve been experimenting with the software in five selected cities, said Davis, who did not name the company providing the software or the cities in his remarks.
The service failed to meet its accessions goal in both fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023. In 2022, the service recruited 44,901 new soldiers into the active Army, about 75% of its 60,000 goal, according to Army data. The following year, it recruited 54,000 soldiers, falling 11,000 short of the 65,000 recruits it needed.
In April, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said the Army had recruited 5,000 more soldiers compared to the same time in 2023 and was on track to meet its goal of 55,000 recruits
During Wednesdays event, Davis deferred questions on recruiting numbers, saying the secretary would be making an announcement soon.
Following those shortfalls in recruiting, the Army embarked on an ambitious restructuring of its recruiting force and added a host of new initiatives.
A big one, Gant said, is that leaders have recognized shifts in the data aligning with the Armys expanded recruiting approach.
As the population 18- to 20-year-olds in the U.S. declines, the services have turned to older, nontraditional recruits.
According to Gant, the average age of recent enlistees is 22 years old, with about 14% of the current crop of new soldiers at least that age.
That means recruiters now need more flexibility in where and how they look for new soldiers. Theyre looking at community colleges, online platforms and in workplaces where people may be interested in improving their career prospects through Army training, Gant said.
As part of the outreach effort, Gant noted recent online developments.
In May we launched GoArmy.com website, now in the cloud, its a better user experience, Gant said.
Theyre seeing individuals interested in the Army directly text or email questions and receive specific answers and information if they want a recruiter to call them back.
In other recruiting efforts, the service graduated its first cohort of dedicated recruiting warrant officers, is currently training a second cohort and is selecting next years class. Nearly 300 soldiers applied for the first 25 positions, according to Davis.
Starting in January, the Army briefly offered a $5,000 bonus for soldiers willing to volunteer for recruiting. That bonus has since ended, but since that offer, thousands have volunteered, he said.
The new soldier referral program, where the Army asks newly minted soldiers to refer friends to recruiters, yielded 75,000 referrals in 16 months that resulted in 5,000 new soldier contracts, Davis said.
Enlisted are not the only focus, however. Over the past year, the Army has sent nearly 500 first-term lieutenants to recruiting stations to better share their experience with prospective officer candidates.
The service built a kind of dashboard that allows recruiting battalion commanders and sergeants major to see what metrics are doing well across their recruiting efforts in geographically disparate locations and which are underperforming.
Ukrainian forces captured around 20 Russian soldiers and killed "several dozen" others during an operation to recapture an aggregate plant in the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast, a member of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) claimed on Sept. 25.
Speaking to national television, a HUR special forces officer with the call sign Viking revealed details of the operation, adding a further four Russian soldiers "tried to leave the plant and were neutralized outside the perimeter."
"The battle lasted a little over a week. There was intense shelling from the enemy. The enemy at the factory put up a lot of resistance, but in the end we completed the task," he said.
Russian troops had been in control of the Vovchansk plant for several months before the facility was recaptured on Sept. 24., HUR previously reported.
"The plant is destroyed and damaged. But it is possible to maintain a defense there," Viking said.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.
HUR Chief Kyrylo Budanov was briefed on the "successful completion of the operation," HUR said in a statement on Sept. 24, adding the "extremely difficult" attack was carried out by the agency's special forces.
"The fighters of HUR carried out a systematic sweep of the plant's buildings, constantly engaging in contact battles with the enemy in densely built-up conditions. In some cases, Ukrainian special forces engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy," it claimed.
"Ukraine's Armed Forces took the territory of the aggregate plant under control after all 30 buildings were cleared (of Russian forces)."
Vovchansk is an embattled town some 60 kilometers (37 miles) northeast of Kharkiv that has seen heavy battles since Russia launched a new offensive in the area in May.
While initially gaining ground, the Russian offensive in northern Kharkiv Oblast has quickly bogged down, with Russian troops reportedly suffering heavy losses.
The intensity of fighting has decreased somewhat compared to other sectors in Ukraine's east near Pokrovsk, Vuhledar and Toretsk.
Read also: What the fall of Vuhledar would mean for Russias war in Ukraine
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Arrest made in connection with teens murder in Taunton
TAUNTON, Mass. (WPRI) An 18-year-old from Massachusetts has been charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of 17-year-old Khamitri Cole in Taunton on Sept. 19.
The Bristol County District Attorneys office said Kareem Gendraw was arrested around 9:30 p.m. in Medford by members of the Massachusetts State Police and Violent Apprehension Section.
BACKGROUND: Teen shot, killed overnight in Taunton
Gendraw is accused of shooting and killing Cole inside a mobile home on Lothrop Steet. Cole was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gendraw is also charged with carrying an illegal firearm. He is set to be arraigned on Wednesday.
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Fort Lauderdale police and U.S. Marshals arrested a man they say shot and killed another man at a Mexican restaurant early Monday morning.
Police say Cesar Esquivel Estrada, 46, shot 34-year-old Socorro Camacho inside Antojitos Mexicanos, a restaurant located at 3943 Davie Blvd., around 1 a.m. Monday.
Camacho was dead when officers arrived around 1:30 a.m., said Detective Ali Adamson, a Fort Lauderdale police spokeswoman.
According to police, Estrada opened fire during an argument between the two men.
Security camera footage from inside the restaurant obtained by Local 10 shows the two men arguing, Camacho pushing Estrada to the ground, and finally, Estrada racking a handgun, shooting Camacho once, then continuing to fire into him after he fell behind the bar.
Estrada was arrested on one count of first-degree murder, Adamson said. Information on his bond or legal representation was not immediately available.
DHAKA, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Polythene and polypropylene bags will be banned at all supermarkets from Oct. 1 and in other markets from Nov. 1 in Bangladesh, a government official announced Tuesday.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the Bangladeshi interim government's Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, said stern actions will be taken against producers of polythene and polypropylene starting on Nov. 1.
The ban on plastic bags, which has been in place since 2002, will now be strictly enforced, she said.
Superstores have already placed orders for alternative bags, and necessary arrangements are being made to meet the demand, she added.
Officials said a detailed action plan was formulated to enforce the upcoming ban, including steps to raise public awareness through a nationwide media campaign.
Oliver Barker-Vormawor was the leader of the anti-illegal mining protests over the weekend [Oliver Barker-Vormawor/Facebook]
A Ghanaian activist who was arrested for organising a three-day protest against illegal mining over the weekend has been rushed to hospital to receive urgent medical care.
Oliver Barker-Vormawor's legal team says he did not receive timely medical attention from the police after he told them he was seriously ill on Tuesday.
Ghana's police denied this allegation, saying that Mr Vormawor and another protester in custody were receiving treatment at the police hospital.
Illegal gold mining, known locally as "galamsey", is rampant in Ghana and has been blamed for polluting more than 60% of Ghana's water bodies.
The activist, educated at the UK's renowned Cambridge University, was arrested over the weekend along with more than 40 others after they clashed with the police. He was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
Some protesters have said that they have been denied food and water since they were detained on Saturday. The police have not commented on this.
Mr Vormawor also helped organise a similar demonstration under the hashtag #FixTheCountry to protest the cost-of-living crisis last year.
On Tuesday, a court in Ghana remanded 39 of the protesters in police custody, while 11 of them will remain in prison custody for two weeks.
A group of lawyers has filed a petition against the police at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice for infringing on the rights of the protesters.
Many Ghanaians have condemned the arrest and continued detention of the protesters and are demanding their immediate release, using the hashtag #FreeTheCitizens which is now trending on social media.
One of the lawyers representing the protesters, Prince Ganaku, expressed shock at the treatment they had received.
"The behaviour of the police is reminiscent of the days of military rule, where human rights were treated as a mere suggestion," he told the BBC.
Many of the protesters were galvanised to protest against illegal mining because of the impending threat it poses.
Illegal mining has forced the country's water company to shut down water treatment plants and ration water in parts of southern Ghana.
Analysts say the country could be importing water by 2030 if nothing is done to address the issue.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has ordered the deployment of the police and the military to crack down on illegal miners. A similar approach was used in 2017 but didnt solve the problem.
A BBC investigation discovered that most of the illegal miners had moved their operations into the dead of night, which has frustrated efforts to deal with them.
More Ghana stories from the BBC:
[Getty Images/BBC]
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(PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo.) The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) was joined by law enforcement partners and health leaders to unveil a new art installation highlighting increased seat belt use in Pueblo County, and encouraging the trend to continue.
According to CDOT, seat belt usage rates in Pueblo County climbed to 79% in 2024, a full 12 percentage point gain from just two years ago, when the rate was just 67%, the lowest in the state.
The findings are part of a new 2024 Colorado Statewide Seat Belt Study released on Tuesday. Sept. 24. The study used observations of drivers and passengers in more than 4,700 vehicles at 48 locations throughout Pueblo County to determine how often drivers and passengers are buckling up.
Its great to see the Pueblo community continuing to make gains in seat belt use, said Darrell Lingk, Director of the Highway Safety Office at CDOT. Seat belts remain the most important safety feature for vehicle occupants and significantly reduce the chances of serious and fatal injuries in crashes.
While the positive trend in Pueblo County is encouraging, CDOT said there is still room for improvement. Statewide, 88% of vehicle occupants buckle up, according to the just-released 2024 study. Only Pueblo and Jefferson counties had usage rates below 80%.
To encourage Puebloans to continue the upward trend, and to celebrate the strides already made, CDOT unveiled an installation art piece on Tuesday that will be displayed along the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk. The large display reminds drivers and passengers that buckling up every time they get in a vehicle not only protects their life, it preserves their ability to do all of the things that make life enjoyable.
Courtesy: Colorado Department of Transportation
Courtesy: Colorado Department of Transportation
Courtesy: Colorado Department of Transportation
The neighbors we care for in our emergency department who were buckled up during a crash can often be fully recovered in a matter of days or weeks, said G. Wagner, Emergency Department Manager at CommonSpirit St. Mary-Corwin Hospital. Thats far less often the case when someone isnt wearing a seat belt.
Colorados seat belt laws
Colorado law requires the driver and every front-seat passenger of a motor vehicle to wear a seat belt whenever the vehicle is in operation on a street or highway.
Adults Colorado has a secondary enforcement law for adult drivers and front-seat passengers. Drivers can be ticketed for violating the seat belt law if they are stopped for another traffic violation.
Teens Colorados Graduated Drivers Licensing (GDL) law requires all drivers under 18 and their passengers, regardless of their age, to wear seat belts. This is a primary enforcement, meaning teens can be pulled over simply for not wearing a seat belt or having passengers without seat belts.
Children Colorados Child Passenger Safety law is a primary enforcement, meaning the driver can be stopped and ticketed if an officer sees an unrestrained or improperly restrained child under the age of 18 in the vehicle.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
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On the northern edge of the Rub al-Khali, there are secrets buried in the sand.
The vast 250,000 square miles (650,000 square kilometer) desert on the Arabian Peninsula is known as The Empty Quarter. And to most, aside from waves of ocher dunes, it does look empty.
But not to artificial intelligence.
Researchers at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi have developed a high-tech solution to searching huge, arid areas for potential archaeological sites.
Traditionally, archaeologists use ground surveys to detect potential sites of interest, but that can be time-consuming and difficult in harsh terrains like the desert. In recent years, remote sensing using optical satellite images from places like Google Earth has gained popularity in searching large areas for unusual features but in the desert, sand and dust storms often obscure the ground in these images, while dune patterns can make it difficult to detect potential sites.
We needed something to guide us and focus our research, says Diana Francis, an atmospheric scientist and one of the lead researchers on the project.
The team created a machine learning algorithm to analyze images collected by synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a satellite imagery technique that uses radio waves to detect objects hidden beneath surfaces including vegetation, sand, soil and ice.
Neither technology is new: SAR imagery has been in use since the 1980s, and machine learning has been gaining traction in archaeology. But the use of the two together is a novel application, says Francis, and to her knowledge, is a first in archaeology.
A satellite view of the Saruq al-Hadid site showing the western zone that was under excavation (right) and the eastern zone which is not excavated yet. - Khalifa University/Ben Romdhane et al., 2023
She trained the algorithm using data from a site already known to archaeologists: Saruq Al-Hadid, a settlement with evidence of 5,000 years of activity that is still being uncovered in the desert outside of Dubai.
Once it was trained, it gave us an indication of other potential areas (nearby) that are still not excavated, says Francis.
She adds that the technology is precise to within 50 centimeters and can create 3D models of the expected structure that will give archaeologists a better idea of whats buried below.
In collaboration with Dubai Culture, the government organization that manages the site, Francis and her team conducted a ground survey using a ground-penetrating radar, which replicated what the satellite measured from space, she says.
Now, Dubai Culture plans to excavate the newly identified areas and Francis hopes the technique can uncover more buried archaeological treasures in the future.
Expediting tedious work
Using SAR imagery is not common in archaeology, due to its cost and complexity.
But the use of it to identify buried sites is really exciting, says Amy Hatton, a PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, who is researching deep learning models to detect archaeological structures in northwest Saudi Arabia.
Hatton notes that, by using SAR imagery, which bypasses the problem of light scatter from dust particles, Francis and her team solved technical details that make remote sensing difficult in desert regions.
Khalifa University isnt alone in using artificial intelligence to detect potential sites.
Amina Jambajantsan, another PhD student at the Max Planck Institute, is using machine learning to speed up the tedious job of searching through high-resolution drone and satellite images for potential sites of interest. Her project, which focuses on medieval burial sites in Mongolia a country of more than 1.56 million square kilometers, nearly the size of Alaska has uncovered thousands of potential sites that Jambajantsan says she and her team could never have found on the ground.
Jambajantsan says that while the cost and computational demandsof SAR imagery could be a barrier to usage for a lot of researchers, the method is valuable for desert regions where other technologies struggle and is one she would consider for the Gobi Desert in Southern Mongolia, where her normal optical imagery is not yielding results.
This annotated satellite image shows the previous and ongoing excavations (yellow circle), and the areas the AI predicted for potential buried structures (red circle). - Khalifa University/Ben Romdhane et al., 2023
Man vs. machine
Machine learning is finding more and more applications in archaeology, although not all researchers are excited about it.
There are two distinct belief systems, says Hugh Thomas, an archaeology lecturer at the University of Sydney and co-director of the prehistoric AlUla and Khaybar excavation project in Saudi Arabia. On one side, people are pursuing technological solutions like AI to identify sites; on the other, those who believe you need a trained archeological eye to identify structures, he explains.
While technology could help identify and monitor archaeological sites particularly ones under threat from land use changes, climate change, and looting Thomas is wary of over-reliance on it.
The way that I would like to use this kind of technology is on areas that perhaps have either no or a very low probability of archaeological sites, therefore allowing researchers to focus more on other areas where we expect there to be more found, says Thomas.
Unearthing the past
The real test and hopefully, validation of the technology will happen next month when excavations begin at the Saruq Al Hadid complex, of which only an estimated 10% has been uncovered across a 2.3-square-mile (6.2-square-kilometer) area, according to Dubai Culture.
If archaeologists find the structures the algorithm has predicted, Dubai Culture plans to use the technology to unearth more sites.
Francis and her team published a paper on their findings last year, and they are continuing to train the machine learning algorithm to improve its precision, before expanding its use.
The idea is to export (the technology) to other areas, especially Saudi Arabia, Egypt, maybe the deserts in Africa as well, she says.
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Amina Jambajantsans name
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WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) Ascension is seeking healthcare workers to fill open positions at its two largest hospitals in Wichita.
The healthcare system says it has immediate openings for nursing staff in departments at Via Christi St. Francis and St. Joseph hospitals. Positions are available in the emergency department, stroke, surgery, oncology, cardiovascular, labor and delivery, and pediatrics.
The nursing shortage isnt just a local or national problem but a global one. Last year, the International Council of Nurses released a report calling for the worldwide shortage of nurses to be treated as a global health emergency, citing the impacts of the pandemic and nurse burnout. The National Institute of Health reports that by 2029, there will be a 73% increase in Americans 65 years of age and older, leading to an even greater need for medical personnel, including nurses, to provide care.
Kansan competes in Wheel of Fortunes Teachers Week
To address the shortage, Ascension has been working with local school districts, colleges, and universities to create a direct pipeline for students interested in medical careers. They are also working with the Greater Wichita Partnership and the Wichita Workforce Alliance to resolve the shortage.
The hiring event will take place Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m. at Via Christi St. Francis in Conference Room #203. Ascension is looking for both experienced and recent graduates to fill open nursing positions.
Nurses interested in attending are encouraged to bring their resumes. They can wear scrubs, but that is not a requirement.
Ascension says they will conduct same-day tours and job offers may be made to those interested. They are also offering referral bonuses and sign-on bonuses for some positions.
For more information about open positions at Ascension Via Christi, visit jobs.ascension.org.
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PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) On Tuesday night Ascension Sacred Heart Bay celebrated 40 years of performing heart surgery.
Few people can say theyve held a heart in their hands, but the heart surgeons at Ascension Sacred Heart Bay are proud to say they do that on a daily basis.
Since the cardiology program was first established in the late 1970s, more than 10,000 open heart procedures have been completed at the hospital. Surgeons, along with their families and even patients were invited to come together to showcase the important roles they played in the programs success.
Were fortunate and blessed to help our community. But really what we do is a team effort thats comprised of a lot of people on the scene, the nurses, your staff, restorer, therapists, and physical therapists. The list goes on and on. And what success weve had is really a reflection of those people as well. Said Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. Greg England.
Dr. Kunal Jani is the chief medical officer for the cardiac program. He says the sky is the limit.
The cardiac surgery program remains at the forefront of those technologies, ranging from supporting interventional cardiology to catheter-based therapies to advances in heart surgery itself. Theres nothing that were not doing thats not cutting edge here at this hospital.
Surgeons highlighted the importance of having high-quality medical care in Bay County, allowing patients to stay in their hometown for such a lifesaving procedure.
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Asia-Pacifics Media Landscape Is Now a System Apart: Never Before Has Asia Been More Diverged
Reshaped by streaming, COVID and evolving demographics, the Asian media landscape has evolved to become distinctly different from those in North America and Europe.
Never before has Asia been more exciting. But, also, never before, has Asia been more diverged from the rest of the world, as billions of consumers go on their own journey, said Vivek Couto, managing partner of consultancy firm Media Partners Asia and leading light behind the APOS media convention now underway in Indonesia.
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Asia itself is very far from homogenous. Population trends, economic growth and per capita incomes are shaping the different monetization models and growth rates within the video industry across Asian markets. In traditionally high subscription markets, theres a push to introduce ad-supported tiers for deeper penetration. Conversely, low per capita but rapidly growing economies, driven by young demographics, are expanding premium total addressable markets, increasingly monetizing through subscriptions and premium advertising on emerging mediums like CTV and retail media.
Some U.S. executives are struggling to accept that the region is now distinct and different from anywhere else. India is a market with a population three times bigger than the U.S. and is fast evolving according to its own rules. China is huge, but at a different stage of growth and different again. And the days when Southeast Asian pay-TV followed similar rules to those in the west are long gone, Couto told Variety.
And, then, theres the issue of U.S. content. Across the region Korean, Japanese and, increasingly, Chinese content is dominant. U.S. shows have prestige value, but local content, even local sports, is growing in importance across Asia.
Asia is its own market these days. We dont program or commission for travelability, Monika Shergill, Netflixs head of content for India, told Variety on the sidelines of the conference. There is no need. India, with its streaming audience now more numerous than the entire U.S. population, is big enough.
Many of the international media conglomerates are significant players in the region and have achieved success, but in many cases they have had to adapt their business models to local conditions.
YouTube dominates UGC and social video and leads video monetization in the region, securing top and second spots in most key markets at a 12-19% share. Meta has strong presence in the region, with 8-12% share in Australia, India, and Indonesia, MPA says.
And Netflix is among the top players in Australia, Korea, and Indonesia. But achieving that requires significant investment in local content (notably in India, Japan and Korea). And, in emerging markets, notably those countries with low credit card penetration, local telcos enable flexible payment options and have access to even the lowest economic classes.
Korea-originating dramas across genres, as well as some unscripted and variety shows, travels across Southeast Asia through platforms like Netflix and Viu, and command over 70% of engagement locally. In 2024, dramas like Lovely Runner and Queen of Tears were topped viewership across the region. ?Japanese content is another major Asian category with travelability led by anime, said MPA.
And Asia is a test case for retail media potentially capturing 30% to 70% of incremental digital advertising spending in key Asian markets with the segment led by Chinas e-commerce leaders Alibaba, JD, and Pinduoduo, Indonesia, where the movement is led by Shopee, Tokopedia, Bukalapak and Lazada, and Korea, spearheaded by local player Coupang. YouTube and Meta are expected to enter this category by 2025, Media Partners Asia adds.
Despite all these forms of development, Asia also remains one of the few continents where linear TV is forecast to remains a profit engine in key mass markets for several years to come.
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Republican Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama dropped a congressional bid to protect her Assembly seat. She is being challenged by Democrat Ron Nelsen.
Republican Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama, a two-term incumbent, holds a sizable fundraising lead against her Democratic opponent Ron Nelsen in the race for red-leaning Assembly District 2 in Clark County.
Kasama, a real estate agent who was first elected to AD 2 in 2020, originally announced a bid for Congressional District 3 before dropping out this year to seek re-election for her current seat.
When she announced a challenge to Democratic U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, she received support from then-House Republican Majority Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California.
After he was ousted from the position by his own party last October, Kasama started having concerns she wouldnt have enough backing, including financial support, to challenge an incumbent in a competitive district.
At the same time, she also grew concerned about the Democrats flipping AD 2, potentially strengthening the Democratic supermajority in the Assembly. Democrats currently have the bare minimum for a supermajority in the Assembly 28 of 42 seats.
My seat has become critically important to help with the governors veto ability, she said. We have to keep Assembly District 2, keep Assembly District 4 and pick up one other seat to get out of the super minority.
She said that Gov. Joe Lombardo reached out and said it would serve Nevada better if I stayed in Assembly District 2 to support the governor.
She dropped out of the CD 3 race at the beginning of the year.
Kasama will face Nelsen, a small business owner who previously ran in AD 2 in 2016 but came in a close second in the Democratic primary.
Nelsen said his decision to run that year was because he was heartbroken from the red wave in 2014 and was fired up to do something about it.
Kasama has raised $95,000, more than triple what Nelsen has raised at $25,000.
Republicans have a voter registration edge in AD 2, with 15,646 active Republican registered voters compared to 14,512 active registered Democratic voters, and 15,652 active nonpartisan voters.
Both candidates still think its competitive.
The district is not deep Republican or deep Democrat, Kasama said. Its a district thats a toss up. I think you have to have the ability to reach across the party line and reach out to the nonpartisan and bring them in. Ive been successful at doing that.
Keeping the veto power has been a top priority for Republicans this election cycle. Lombardo has stepped up efforts to break the Democratic supermajority in the Assembly and stop Democrats from gaining supermajorities in both chambers.
Kasama said the power of the veto prevents one party from pushing through sloppy legislation and forces members to work together to compromise.
I believe we truly end up with better policies and laws because we all sat at the table and worked on it, she said.
Lombardo vetoed a record-breaking 75 bills, including measures that would have provided health care coverage for pregnant undocumented women, reformed the eviction process, offered modest tenant protections, and capped rent at 10% for people older than 62 or who rely on disability insurance benefits for one year.
When asked about retaining a Democratic supermajority, Nelsen said it wasnt an issue he is running on.
Thats not on my plate and not for me to decide, he said. Im running to make AD 2 more representative of the people who live in AD 2.
As a long-time resident of AD 2, Nelsen said he wasnt happy with how Kasama has voted against a variety of issues like the bill that authorized funding for universal free breakfast and lunch and legislation that offered eviction protections.
Kasama said she is working with Lombardo to bring legislation that would require at least a 72 hour period between the time a bill is introduced and heard, though she thinks the timeframe should be a week.
You can literally have a bill introduced on the last day of session and have it voted on, she said. There is absolutely no time for people to read the bill and weigh in on it and have stakeholders weigh in on it. That is a travesty for our state. That is not good governance or good policy.
Other priorities, she said, include more legislation that requires more accountability around education funding and addressing the health care crisis and doctor shortage.
The state needs to look at ways to increase our Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates, Kasama said.
While knocking on doors, Nelsen said people are concerned about the affordable housing crisis, affordable prescriptions and the access to abortion and reproductive health care.
He said he is open to any proposal that will improve the quality of life of Nevadans.
Nelsen didnt have a specific policy proposal to address the affordable housing crisis but mentioned lawmakers should look at the impact of corporate entities swooping in to buy hundreds of homes in a few days.
He also said he would consider any bill that would help keep people in their homes.
I would be a freshman Assembly person and I would have to look at each thing that comes at me and vote the proper way, Nelsen said. I dont have a specific proposal. Im not a policy wonk yet.
Kasama said there should be more effort to pressure the federal government to open more Bureau of Land Management land to aid the development of affordable housing, a priority of Lombardos.
Lombardo sent several letters to the White House this year blaming the Biden administration for its role in the housing crisis.
Lombardo argued the administration was not doing enough to make more federal land available for housing development.
Some local and national housing policy experts say that developing further outside city limits would come with other problems, and have encouraged policymakers to consider infill development, which utilizes existing urban spaces.
In addition to BLM being made available to develop more housing, Kasama said there should be requirements put in place to ensure any development acquired from the federal government for the express purpose of developing affordable housing will remain affordable housing for people and not be sold for profit.
She also agreed that infill development is the most important aspect of addressing the housing crisis and said state lawmakers should work with local governments to help streamline regulations to aid in more development.
We can no longer just have all zoning for single family residential, she said. We have to have more density. We have to allow for duplexes. Higher density housing. The only way were going to get out of this is to increase the housing stock.
LAWRENCE COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) Multiple felony charges against the owner of a Middle Tennessee haunted attraction known for its intense scare tactics were dropped earlier this week.
Court records show Russ Alan McKamey was facing charges of attempted second-degree murder, rape and domestic assault after being arrested at his Summertown home on July 19. According to police, McKamey had been accused of assaulting his girlfriend on more than one occasion.
PREVIOUS: Owner of McKamey Manor charged with attempted murder, rape
An arrest affidavit alleged that McKamey had raped and strangled her to the point where she lost consciousness. However, on Monday, Sept. 23, all charges against McKamey were dropped following a court hearing in Lawrence County.
McKameys attorney Davis Griffin provided News 2 with a statement after the decision. District Attorney General Brent Cooper also confirmed he decided not to prosecute McKamey on the charges. In Griffins statement, he said Cooper spent two hours reviewing evidence before concluding that nothing in this case was prosecutable against Mr. McKamey.
General Cooper met with Mr. McKameys accuser in person and took her claims and responses to our evidence into account before making this decision, Griffin said. Mr. McKamey is grateful for the diligence and professionalism of both the Lawrence County Sheriffs Department and General Cooper in handling this case.
McKamey Manor sues TN AG over investigation into haunted houses practices
Griffin went on to state that the fervor surrounding these and other allegations against Mr. McKamey is severely uninformed, pointing to the outcome of the case as a potential indicator in the validity of other allegations against his client. His full statement is below.
Brent Cooper who has been a prosecutor for his entire 24-year career and the elected District Attorney General for the Twenty Second Judicial District for the last 10 years spent two hours personally reviewing the key evidence from our investigation of this case before concluding that nothing in this case was prosecutable against Mr. McKamey. General Cooper met with Mr. McKameys accuser in person and took her claims and responses to our evidence into account before making this decision. Mr. McKamey is grateful for the diligence and professionalism of both the Lawrence County Sheriffs Department and General Cooper in handling this case. Unfortunately, the fervor surrounding these and other allegations against Mr. McKamey is severely uninformed. There is also a prominent trend in our culture of exploiting victim status for attention and relevance which makes dedicating resources to justice for real victims more difficult than it should be. Most sad of all, there remains a group of unhinged people who have nothing better to do with their lives but harass Mr. McKamey and obsess over his every move. Anyone evaluating the merit of other allegations against Mr. McKamey should strongly consider the outcome of this case and the credibility of those who instigated it, which includes several individuals featured in the 2023 Hulu documentary about Mr. McKamey and who are also sources for the ongoing Attorney General investigation. Davis Griffin, attorney for Russ McKamey
McKamey has become well-known in Middle Tennessee because of the controversy surrounding his operation of the McKamey Manor. After relocating from San Diego, McKamey began offering thrill-seekers the opportunity to tour the manor on his property in Summertown in 2017.
McKamey Manor: TN AG looking into claims against extreme haunted attraction
While marketed as a haunted attraction, some have instead referred to the manor as a torture chamber. A 2023 Hulu documentary entitled Monster Inside: Americas Most Extreme Haunted House explored the experiences of participants, with some claiming there is no way to stop the tour, among other questionable practices.
The documentary included footage of the tours that was taken by McKamey and posted online. In some of the videos, people can be seen getting dragged by chains or locked into confined spaces while water pours in.
Prior to the Hulu documentary, thousands of people signed a petition in 2019 to shut the McKamey Manor down. Deputies have also been called to the property several times in the past, with a criminal investigator for the 22nd Judicial District Attorneys Office interviewing McKamey in March 2018.
Still, no criminal action directly related to the practices at the manor has ever been taken against McKamey. The controversy has, however, led to an investigation by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and several subsequent lawsuits.
Petition to shutdown Torture Chamber in Lawrence County, TN
Shortly after the Hulu documentary was released in October last year, Skrmetti sent a letter to McKamey requesting various documents and information pertaining to some of the claims of past participants.
In his letter, Skrmetti raised concerns about McKameys business practices, particularly taking issue with claims that there is no way to stop the tour nor win the $20,000 prize offered to those who make it to the end.
McKamey responded by filing a 32-page lawsuit against the Tennessee Attorney General a few months later. In the lawsuit, McKamey claimed the Attorney Generals request not only violates his First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights, but is a part of a larger effort to prevent him from engaging in lawful conduct on his private property.
Court records show the lawsuit was dismissed in August, but McKameys attorneys have filed a motion asking the court to reconsider. In April, McKamey filed another lawsuit. This time against Hulu and a past participant who was interviewed for the documentary.
CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee
The streaming service was later dismissed from the lawsuit, but litigation is ongoing against the person who was interviewed for the documentary.
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RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) Attorney General Jason Miyares sheds light on Virginians whose lives have been impacted by gun violence in a new short film. This is part of his Ceasefire Virginia public safety campaign.
Featured participants include Pastor Carlos Rivera of New Life Outreach International, Detective Wayne Hartly, trauma surgeon Dr. Michel Aboutanos, current inmates, rehabilitated community members Pete Wolridge and Madeline Lambert, grieving parents who lost children to gun violence Mark Whitfield and Michael Grey as well as Attorney General Jason Miyares.
View the short film below:
To learn more about the Ceasefire Virginia initiative visit their website.
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Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong. Sept. 20, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN A Lancaster County District Court judge will decide soon from a set of new briefs filed Tuesday whether to dismiss a lawsuit against Nebraskas two medical cannabis ballot measures.
Judge Susan Strong set the Tuesday deadline for the parties identified in the lawsuit to weigh in. John Kuehn of Heartwell, a veterinarian, rancher, former state senator and former member of the Nebraska State Board of Health, brought the lawsuit. The suit named Secretary of State Bob Evnen and the three sponsors of the Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana campaign.
The sponsors are Lincoln State Sen. Anna Wishart, campaign manager Crista Eggers and former State Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln.
Strong said last Friday she intended to narrowly issue a decision at the end of this week on the motion from Wishart, Eggers and Morfeld to dismiss the case. It got more complicated after Evnen asked the court to take up the case anyway and determine, once and for all, the true number of valid signatures.
The two petitions at center, set to appear on the Nov. 5 ballot, are:
Initiative Measure 437, the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation Act Define cannabis; legalize possessing, manufacturing, distributing, delivering and dispensing cannabis for medical purposes; and create the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission to oversee the new state law.
Initiative Measure 438, the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection Act Set an allowable amount of medical cannabis at five ounces; exempt patients and caregivers from using or assisting someone else in using the cannabis; and require a written recommendation from a health care practitioner prior to prescription.
Nebraskas pro-initiative public policy
Kuehns lawyers wrote that the indignation at Kuehns decision to pursue the case is misplaced, alleging thousands of allegedly fraudulent signatures that are enough to disqualify the efforts.
Nebraskas pro-initiative public policy does not allow initiative petitions to bypass judicial review, Kuehns brief states.
Kuehn has been a leader in Smart Approaches to Marijuana, or SAM, a national organization that seeks to prevent another big tobacco.
The Wishart-Eggers-Morfeld brief argued that Kuehn requests the equivalent of a recount and that he implies that he is best equipped to make important election decisions that already went through a robust process with various local resources and tools to determine validity.
They [Kuehn and his attorneys] also threaten the initiative process more generally a process the Nebraska Supreme Court reiterated just last week is precious to the people and one which the courts are zealous to preserve to the fullest tenable measure of spirit as well as letter, the Sept. 20 brief states.
Kuehns attorneys pushed back on that breathless and inflammatory characterization and pointed to Evnen, who is asking the court to definitively determine the number of valid signatures in addition to Evnens completed work.
Public confidence in elections
Evnens brief was written in part by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, a former state lawmaker. Hilgers has opposed medical cannabis and delta-8, which contains THC, the compound in the cannabis plant most commonly associated with getting a person high.
Hilgers is also investigating alleged fraud on the cannabis petitions, which uncovered at least one instance of alleged petition fraud that led to the arrest of a Grand Island man on felony charges.
Secretary of State Bob Evnen announces the officially finalization of Nebraskas fall 2024 ballot
However, the Evnen-Hilgers brief suggests a broader reason to take up the lawsuit, stating that Public confidence in the electoral process is the bedrock of democratic governance.
Citing a 2012 report from the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security, the Evnen brief states that credible elections are needed to avoid a risk of rotting the entire political system slowly from within.
Evnens attorneys state that he defends his office, election workers and the validation process and that Evnen must vigilantly and zealously guard the integrity of all aspects and phases of the electoral process.
Evnen is pursuing the claim because the Grand Island example gave rise to suspicion of an unusual and serious irregularity, the Attorney Generals Office writes.
Serious irregularities of that sort undermine public confidence in the electoral process, the Attorney Generals Office wrote on Evnens behalf. It is imperative these irregularities be investigated and any uncertainty regarding the validity of signatures which may be tainted by fraud or malfeasance is authoritatively resolved.
The presumption of validity
The Evnen brief contends that at least one notary, who signed off on the Grand Island mans petitions when he was allegedly not in the notarys presence, also calls into question more signatures.
On those petitions, the brief reads, the presumption of validity of those signatures is lost, but the sponsors could present evidence and have those signatures be rehabilitated.
To be sure, stripping the presumption of validity is strong medicine, the Evnen brief states. But it is justified here.
Kuehns attorneys join Evnen in arguing the Grand Island allegations call into doubt thousands more signatures.
Evnen and Hall County Election Commission Tracy Overstreet have confirmed that the allegedly fraudulent signatures were excluded prior to the ballot being certified for the Nov. 5 election.
The sponsors attorneys argue Evnen hasnt identified a single signature that was erroneously counted during verification.
In fact, in the same pleading, he [Evnen] affirmatively denies Plaintiffs allegations that he incorrectly counted signatures, the sponsors brief states.
The sponsors attorneys state the Kuehn lawsuit and Evnens allegations would lead to determining whether to revalidate more than 228,000 signatures on both petitions.
Kuehns allegations included signatures from voters who did not provide their full information (birth date, address, signature and more) or from voters who signed the petition but the petition circulators did not disclose whether they were paid.
The briefs from Kuehn and Evnen argue that the paid vs. unpaid circulator requirement is a serious one that the courts shouldnt overlook and which should be up to the sponsors to defend.
Single subject allegations
Kuehn also argues that the measure related to regulating medical cannabis consists of various subjects, in violation of the Nebraska Constitution, contending that creating a new commission is different from decriminalizing cannabis for private entities.
The attorneys for Wishart, Eggers and Morfeld pointed to 2020, when a successful ballot measure on gambling led to expanding the Nebraska Racing Commission to become the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission to oversee expanded gaming. They also argue the topics are naturally and necessarily related as the Nebraska Supreme Court requires.
Also in 2020, when the high court decided the gambling petitions constitutionality for the ballot, it also tossed a sole medical cannabis petition from the ballot on the single subject grounds. As a result, the sponsors divided the petition into two parts in later ballot drives.
Kuehns attorneys state the cannabis effort is different than gambling because no natural regulator existed for gambling at the time, while the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, and the Board of Pharmacy, already oversees all drugs and prescriptions.
Creating a new executive entity purely to regulate one drug is neither natural nor necessary to the general purpose of providing for the regulation of medical cannabis, Kuehns brief states.
In Evnens first response to the court last week, his attorneys argued the single subject issue should be up to the courts ultimate determination. However, the brief filed Tuesday states that Evnen firmly opposes the challenge.
The legal requirements of a court case
The ballot sponsors argue Evnens cross-claim is entirely hypothetical, with the secretary of state on one hand denying Kuehns allegations while on the other arguing that the court should weigh in.
Rather than defend the work of his office and election officials across the state, Secretary Evnen asks the Court to perform his ministerial duties, the sponsors brief states.
The sponsors argue the court cant yet decide the case because there isnt yet an actual case or controversy. Citing past court cases, the brief states courts cant decide facts that are future, contingent or uncertain.
The cross-claim is full of conclusory allegations that are insufficient to survive a motion to dismiss unsurprising since the facts on which his claim relies do not presently exist (and likely never will), the sponsors attorneys wrote. The cross-claim presents an unripe, nonjusticiable issue, and the Court lacks jurisdiction.
The Evnen brief states the court can help Nebraskans have the utmost faith in the integrity and fairness of Nebraska elections and electoral processes.
Unless that certainty is resolved, the brief continues, Evnens satisfaction with and his ability to carry out the duties of his office will be stymied. He and Hilgers argue that the public needs assurance that doesnt encroach on the authority of public ballot initiatives or referendums.
Honoring the constitutional and statutory requirements that protect the integrity of the electoral process facilitates rather than frustrates the exercise of those powers, Evnens states.
kuehn-response-MTD evnen-response-MTD sponsors-response-MTD sponsors-response-MTD-cross
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VIENTIANE, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The 56th ASEAN Economic Ministers' Meeting and related meetings concluded with the adoption of several agreements and priority plans to pave the way for future development.
The meetings, which took place in Lao capital Vientiane from Sept. 16 to 22, saw ministers discuss priority economic deliverables and take stock of the progress on a range of economic initiatives.
They also charted strategic directions for future regional economic integration, Lao National Radio reported on Wednesday.
At the meeting, ASEAN economic ministers endorsed the ASEAN Declaration on Supply Chain Connectivity. The declaration reaffirms ASEAN's commitment to enhancing innovation, competitiveness, and the resiliency of supply chains in the region.
The ministers also adopted recommendations for the upgrade of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Intellectual Property Cooperation.
The meeting also endorsed the ASEAN SME Policy Index 2024, a comprehensive assessment of SME policies across AMS that serves as a roadmap for policymakers, businesses and investors to navigate the complex landscape of SME development in the region, and adopted the Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam Action Plan for 2025-2026.
In addition, the meeting discussed ways to improve intra-ASEAN trade, particularly through trade facilitation measures and progressive implementation of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), and welcomed the significant progress of the ATIGA upgrade negotiations.
Talks also considered ways to further improve the region's investment environment. Ministers welcomed the commencement of the signing of the Fifth Protocol to Amend the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement, and adopted in principle the ASEAN Regional Investment Promotion Plan Phase 1 for 2025-2026.
AUSTIN (KXAN) Austin-Travis County EMS celebrated a major milestone in its Whole Blood Program, administering its 500th unit of whole blood over the weekend. This accomplishment highlights the programs significant growth and its vital role in delivering emergency care to critically injured patients, the agency said in a news release Tuesday.
Initiated in late 2021, the Whole Blood Program is a partnership between ATCEMS and We Are Blood, which is aimed at providing blood transfusions as quickly as possible after injury. This greatly enhances survival rates for those facing severe trauma, the release said.
Austin-Travis County EMS medics now equipped to provide life-saving blood transfusions in the field
This program has been an undeniable success for our department and has saved countless lives over the last three years, Chief Deputy Medical Director Dr. Heidi Abraham said in the release. Every second counts for patients in need of blood transfusions, and rapid intervention at the scene can be the difference between life and death. We are giving these patients the best possible chance of survival.
The programs impact has expanded, with the number of patients receiving field transfusions rising steadily, particularly in the last year. ATCEMS now carries blood on all seven district command units, increasing from three just 11 months ago. Recipients have ranged in age from 2 to 94.
The expansion of this program has truly been a game changer for us, and lifesaving for our patients, ATCEMS Chief Robert Luckritz said in the release. Our ability to expand the deployment of blood across our service area has undoubtedly saved many lives in our community, which is exactly what we had hoped for.
The programs success is supported by funding from the Austin City Council and a vital partnership with We Are Blood, the regions nonprofit blood center.
We Are Blood is proud to work with our community of donors to supply ATCEMSs pre-hospital transfusion program as they reach this tremendous milestone, Marian Garrard, CEO of We Are Blood said in the release. Central Texans can support this lifesaving program by donating at a nearby We Are Blood donor center or mobile drive.
For more information visit EMSRecruiting.org.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he would travel to China this week for talks with Chinese counterparts, the first such visit by an Australian Treasurer in seven years.
The main purpose of the visit is to co-chair the Australia China Strategic Economic Dialogue, which has not been convened for seven years, with the chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Chalmers said.
"This is another really important step towards stabilising our economic relationship with China," Chalmers told a news conference on Wednesday.
He will also meet with other high-level members of China's government, he added.
Ties between the nations had soured after Australia in 2017 accused China of meddling in its politics. An Australian call in 2020 for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 further infuriated China, which responded with blocks on various Australian imports.
But China has since lifted almost all trade curbs after an outreach from Australia's Labour government that won power in 2022.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Authorities say man charged in Madison County child sex case died as they tried to serve warrant
Authorities say man charged in Madison County child sex case died as they tried to serve warrant
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) Authorities say a Huntsville man who was set to go on trial in Madison County in June on a child sex abuse charge, but failed to appear, died September 11.
Law enforcement officials told News 19 William Cary Higginbotham, 48, died by suicide when authorities were closing in to arrest him on a failure to appear warrant. But there is no official word on where Higginbotham died.
36-year-old man sentenced for abusing Decatur child
Madison County court records show he was arrested in January 2023 on a charge of sexual abuse of a child under 12. Records also show he was set to go on trial on June 26.
The next record in the case file indicates he didnt show up for court, and the judge issued a warrant July 22 for failure to appear. Then on Sept. 13, prosecutors filed a motion asking the court to abate basically end the case against Higginbotham because he had died.
A Madison County District Attorneys Office spokesman told News19 Higginbotham was located by authorities on Sept.11 and as they attempted to make contact to serve the warrant, he killed himself.
The U.S. Marshals Service for the Northern District of Alabama also said Higginbotham took his own life as they attempted to serve him.
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News 19 has asked for the location of that encounter where Higginbotham died but we have not received any confirmed information. We had been told by some sources Higginbotham died in Blount County, but the sheriffs office there did not respond to requests for comment. The Blount County Coroner would not answer when asked if Higginbotham died in Blount County and said he would not provide any comment, citing an ongoing investigation.
Coroners in Madison, Jefferson and Limestone counties all told News 19 they did not have a record of Higginbothams death. Madison County is where he was charged, Jefferson County was a county we had been told was a possible location of his death, and he had lived in Limestone County.
We also reached out to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, seeking autopsy information on Higginbotham. The agency replied with a form letter Monday saying the records were not publicly available because the case was either under investigation by a district attorney or DFS had not finished its investigation.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
Authorities say teen who left Lafayette County juvenile treatment center back in custody
Editors Note: This story has been updated to reflect that the missing teen has now been located.
LEWISVILLE, Ark. Arkansas Department of Human Services officials said a teen who went missing from a juvenile treatment center Tuesday is back in custody.
Officials said the 16-year-old who was in the custody of the Arkansas DHS Division of Youth Services, left a juvenile treatment facility in Lewisville without authorization Tuesday afternoon. He was reported missing from the center shortly after 4:30 p.m.
Little Rock family hopes social media can help with 31-year-old missing persons case
On Thursday morning, DHS officials reported that the teen was located Wednesday and safely apprehended.
According to DHS officials, the teen has been in DYS custody since June on a charge of theft of property.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
How to avoid getting duped by AI on Election Day
With the rise of AI comes a problem at the ballot box: misinformation about the upcoming election.
On Wednesday, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul released a voter misinformation guide to protect you from falling victim to scams trying to influence your opinions.
Raoul says fake content is showing up online in a variety of forms misleading videos, candidate impersonations, and deceiving pictures and audio clips.
The right to vote is one of the most fundamental rights we have as Americans, and voters deserve to have accurate information about the important choices they make on their ballots, Raoul said.
The guide includes tips on where to find accurate information about the races and candidates, how to avoid AI-related information, and where to turn if you come across a scam.
How you can register or check your status in Illinois
They advised votes to know the basics about the election by consulting Illinois State Board of Elections and local boards of elections.
They advise if you receive a phone call or text message with information about voting or elections, be aware that it could be inaccurate or fake and again check with the SBE. Avoid scam-tactics that could disguised as communication about campaigns or the election. Do not click links in unsolicited text messages or emails from unknown sources.
You can also help stop the spread of misinformation. Do not share or engage with content that you have not verified to be real and accurate. Even liking or reacting to a post can boost the number of people who will see potentially false information, a release from the Attorney General said.
And if you see something on Election Day, say something. You can report it to the Attorney Generals office.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
PEKIN, Ill. (WMBD) Organic and nutritious treats for pals with paws.
Right now, if you step into the new location of Bears Bites, youd see just the framework of a central Illinois couples dream. But in two weeks, the store will be a full pet boutique and education center.
Starting Out
Founded in 2018, Bears Bites has since crafted food and treats for dogs that have organic vegetables and hormone- and steroid-free meat. The business also offers single ingredient chicken treats for cats.
Samm Hutchison is the founder and owner of the business. She shares the fulfillment she has gotten from owning her first building.
Its just kind of a dream, she said. Never in our wildest dreams did I think Id be standing in my own building. I started off by dehydrating just organic, sweet potatoes and bananas for my boys. And never did I think six years later itd be a nationwide business.
On the businesss website, Hutchison writes, The reason I started Bears Bites is because people need to be able to get good quality treats and not have to spend a fortune on them.
Growing The Business
Hutchison recently made the decision to move her business to Pekin. The new location is a larger space, and will allow considerably more store space.
Located at 282 Derby St., the building that will house Bears Bites previously housed Wilson Auto Sales.
The move comes after the business was one of five Illinois Makers Award winners this year.
The new place will allow Hutchison a stand-alone store front where new and old customers can walk in and purchase treats for their pets. But theres a new addition as well: A place to learn about pet health and nutrition.
Weve got the Education Center, which I will be teaching pet nutrition, Hutchison said. Im certified to teach pet CPR. Weve got a representative from CBD Dog health coming. Were working with trainers on how to educate parents for training. Theres just so much education that pet parents are looking for and they cant get.
Hutchison and her husband are excited to bring a unique storefront to central Illinois.
Its a big deal for me and its a huge deal for the community because we dont have anything like this locally, she said.
Bears Bites Foundation
Along with dog food and treat production, Bears Bites Foundation is the companys non-profit charity that donates money to families who cant pay their pets medical bills.
The foundation has helped 27 pet parents so far.
An event the foundation hosts is Vanity Fair which raised $10,000 this past year, and they say this coming year they plan to raise more.
Grand Opening
A grand opening for the store is planned for Oct. 12 which will include a tri-county adoption event including 13 rescue agencies.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com.
Photo via Getty Images/Illustration by Jim Small | Arizona Mirror
Arizonas top Republican legislators have joined Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador along with attorneys general and other officials from 20 U.S. states in accusing the American Academy of Pediatrics of possible violations of state consumer protection statutes over its standards and recommendations for gender dysphoria care for children.
In a letter sent by Labrador on Tuesday, Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma and the attorneys general requested information detailing the academys evidence for its current recommendations for puberty blockers for gender dysphoria-diagnosed youth.
Most concerning, AAP claims that the use of puberty blockers on children is safe and reversible, Labradors office said in a press release. This assertion is not grounded in evidence and therefore may run afoul of consumer protection laws in most states.
Children with gender dysphoria need and deserve love, support, and medical care rooted in biological reality, Labrador said in the release.
It is shameful the most basic tenet of medicine do no harm has been abandoned by professional associations when politically pressured, Labrador said. These organizations are sacrificing the health and well-being of children with medically unproven treatments that leave a wake of permanent damage.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization made up of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, voted in August to reaffirm its 2018 policy statement on gender-affirming care and authorized development of an expanded set of guidance for pediatricians.
The organization could not immediately be reached for comment. But at the organizations August 2024 leadership conference in Itasca, Illinois, American Academy of Pediatrics CEO and Executive Vice President Mark Del Monte emphasized that the organization is confident that the principles presented in the original policy statement, Ensuring Comprehensive Care and Support for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children and Adolescents, remain in the best interest of children, according to an Aug. 4 press release from the academy.
The decision to authorize a systematic review reflects the academys boards concerns about restrictions to access to health care with bans on gender-affirming care in more than 20 states, according to the Aug. 4 release.
In 2022, Arizona enacted a law barring trans youth from obtaining gender reassignment surgery. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey touted the law as protecting trans minors from irreversible procedures that could affect their future ability to have children. Proponents of the law framed it as a reiteration of international standards of care for transgender kids, while critics said it codified old standards which changed later that year and are adjusted periodically and forces doctors to choose between following the law and providing best medical care practices for their patients.
What is in the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for gender-affirming care?
As outlined in its policy statement, the academy encourages pediatricians to use a gender-affirmative care model when treating young patients. The model encourages pediatricians to recognize that:
transgender identities and diverse gender expressions do not constitute a mental disorder;
variations in gender identity and expression are normal aspects of human diversity, and binary definitions of gender do not always reflect emerging gender identities;
gender identity evolves as an interplay of biology, development, socialization, and culture; and
if a mental health issue exists, it most often stems from stigma and negative experiences rather than being intrinsic to the child.
Many medical interventions can be offered to youth who identify as (transgender and gender diverse) and their families, the academy notes in its policy statement. The decision of whether and when to initiate gender-affirmative treatment is personal and involves careful consideration of risks, benefits, and other factors unique to each patient and family.
However, Labrador said treatments that suppress hormones or use puberty blockers may have adverse health effects to the patient, including interfering with neurocognitive development, compromising bone density and interfering with normal puberty experiences. He said the treatments may cause harm particularly egregious to children who grow out of the condition by the time they are adults.
But the American Academy of Pediatrics in its policy statement says that research shows that children who assert their transgender identity before puberty and who know their gender as clearly and as consistently as their cisgender peers benefit from the same level of social acceptance as those peers.
More robust and current research suggests that, rather than focusing on who a child will become, valuing them for who they are, even at a young age, fosters secure attachment and resilience, not only for the child but also for the whole family, the academy wrote in its policy statement.
But Labrador and the other state officials say they want more information on how the academy has come to those conclusions, especially when it comes to puberty blockers.
The letter requests detailed information from the AAP regarding its communications and practices related to youth gender dysphoria and substantiation of the academys claims regarding the safety and reversibility of puberty blockers, the attorney generals press release says.
Other states joining Idaho and Arizona in sending the letter to the academy include officials from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
A version of this story was originally published by the Idaho Capital Sun, a sister publication of the Arizona Mirror and a member of the States Newsroom network of local news outlets.
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Bad Bunny performs onstage during night two during his "Most Wanted" tour at State Farm Arena on May 15, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. - Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images
The Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny has purchased billboards across San Juan in protest of the New Progressive Party, which has a lead in the November gubernatorial election. Across the citys main streets, several billboards have popped up, with one reading, A vote for the PNP is a vote for corruption.
On X , Bad Bunny wrote that he bought the billboards to show his love for Puerto Rico. Bad Bunny has yet to endorse a candidate but has rallied against the two main parties, the ruling PNP and the Popular Democratic Party, who share political power on the island.
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#BadBunny is buying billboards saying that a vote for the Statehood party (PNP) in #PuertoRico is a vote for corruption.
.@cpipr just released this investigation https://t.co/IUtFGexA5u pic.twitter.com/QOKneO3l2Y Erica G. for Class President (@EG10029) September 24, 2024
Although a poll shows PNP candidate Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon leading the governors race, Puerto Rican Independence Party Juan Dalmau has gained steam, especially with young voters angered by the islands sluggish recovery following Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Though Bad Bunny has been outspoken about Puerto Rico, he has steered clear of broader U.S. politics during a time when pop artists like Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift have supported the Harris-Walz campaign.
In an interview on the El Tony Pregunta podcast, Bad Bunny said, I am not getting involved in politics; politics gets into my life because it affects my country, because it affects Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rican artist Anuel AA and reggaeton star Nicky Jam have pledged their support for Donald Trumps presidential campaign. Anuel AA and Justin Quiles attended a Pennsylvania Trump rally on Aug. 30, with Anuel calling Trump, the best president the world has seen.
Bad Bunnys representatives declined Rolling Stones requests for comment.
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Sajeeb Wazed, son of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Information and Communication Advisor of Bangladesh government, gestures during an interview with Reuters at the Prime Minister's residence in Dhaka
Sajeeb Wazed, son of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Information and Communication Advisor of Bangladesh government, gestures during an interview with Reuters at the Prime Minister's residence in Dhaka
By Krishna N. Das
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The son of Bangladesh's ousted prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, said he was happy with the army chief's timeline for elections within 18 months, though it was later than expected, but warned that genuine reform and polls were impossible without her party.
General Waker-uz-Zaman, whose refusal to stand by Hasina in the face of deadly student protests prompted her flight to India in August, has told Reuters that democracy should return within a year to a year-and-a-half.
"I'm happy to hear we have an expected timeline at least now," Hasina's son and adviser, Sajeeb Wazed, told Reuters late on Tuesday.
"But we have seen this play out before where an unconstitutional, unelected government promises reform and then things only get worse."
He was referring to Bangladesh's history of coups since independence from Pakistan in 1971. The most recent was in 2007, when the military backed a caretaker government that ruled until Hasina took power two years later in a tenure that ran 15 years.
With the police left in disarray after Hasina fled, the powerful army took a key role in subsequent events, with Zaman saying he meets the head of the interim government each week as the military backs its stability efforts.
The two main political parties, Hasina's Awami League and its bitter rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), have both called for elections to be held within three months of the interim government taking office in August.
The south Asian nation's unelected interim government led by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has promised reforms in the judiciary, police and financial institutions before elections, but has not set a date for the exercise.
On Wednesday, Yunus' office said the government would hold talks with political parties after receiving recommendations from the six reform panels it has set up.
"Once the consensus on the reforms is reached and the voter list is prepared, the date for the vote will be announced," it said in a statement.
The BNP said it would like elections held at the earliest opportunity.
Wazed, who lives in Washington, said neither he nor the interim government had reached out for talks on the way ahead for the country of 170 million.
"It's impossible to have legitimate reforms and elections by excluding the oldest and largest political party," he added.
Hasina has been sheltering near Delhi since she fled last month. Many other senior Awami League leaders have either been arrested on accusations of having roles in the strife that killed more than 1,000 people, or have gone into hiding.
Many Awami League activists have been killed since Hasina's downfall, Wazed added.
Representatives of the interim government did not immediately respond to requests for comment on his statements.
The head of an election reform panel, Badiul Alam Majumder, said it would make recommendations within three months following a review.
"It's up to the government to decide whether to hold talks with the Awami League or determine the timing of the elections," he added.
Last month, Wazed told Reuters that Hasina was ready to face trial at home, a demand made by students who led the uprising, and that the Awami League would like to fight the elections.
On Tuesday, asked when Hasina might return home, he replied, "That will be up to her. Right now I want to keep my party people safe, so I want to raise international awareness on the atrocities being committed against them by this Yunus regime."
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das in New Delhi and Ruma Paul in Dhaka; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) A man who got less than $700 in a Grand Rapids bank robbery has been sentenced to a little more than four years in federal prison.
The robbery happened in June of 2023 at the Comerica Bank on Monroe Avenue NW in downtown Grand Rapids. Police arrested Timothy Andrew Crane two days later.
Crane, 31, is no stranger to the criminal justice system. Hes had several prison sentences since 2010 and was on probation for unarmed robbery when the bank heist occurred.
According to court records, Crane passed a note to a teller announcing the robbery and demanding $1,200. He got away with $690.
Man pleads to robbing downtown Grand Rapids bank branch
A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Crane to four years and two months in prison followed by two years of supervised release. And hes on the hook for $690 in restitution.
Court records indicate Crane has grappled with mental health and substance abuse issues.
Mr. Crane turned to drug abuse to cope with his homelessness and mental health struggles, his attorney wrote in a sentencing memorandum. Mr. Crane needs all forms of treatment to get ahold of his various issues.
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HANOI, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam plans to invest in a 1,540 km long north-south high-speed railway with a total investment of around 67.34 billion U.S. dollars, Vietnam News Agency cited the Ministry of Transport as reporting on Wednesday.
The railway, with an expected design speed of 350 km per hour, will include 23 passenger stations and five freight ones connected to key cargo hubs.
It will start from capital Hanoi, pass through 20 provinces and cities, and end in southern Ho Chi Minh City.
The ministry will present the investment policy to the National Assembly's general meeting next month.
The high speed railway is expected to complete its construction by 2035, according to the implementation plan.
The initiative has trained about 3,500 workers in barber shops across the UK [BBC]
An initiative to train barbers to identify vulnerable clients as part of a bid to reduce the number of men who take their own lives has been extended to the Isle of Man.
Barber Talk is being rolled out as part of the island's Suicide Prevention Strategy, a five year plan with the aim to eventually eliminate deaths by suicide.
Between 2006 and 2021, 156 people took their own lives, with the rate among men three times higher than women and middle-aged men being at the highest risk.
Launched by Public Health Isle of Man, the initiative will be delivered in October by Barber Talk UK, which is dedicated to raising suicide prevention awareness.
'Raising awareness'
Local and trainee barbers will be taught how to recognise signs that a client is struggling, what questions to ask, how to listen well and direct clients to support available.
About 3,500 barber shops have participated in the programme in the UK.
Joney Faragher MHK, who was part of a group that helped to create the island's strategy, said she thought it was a "brilliant initiative".
She said the move was important because everyone was able to "upskill" and it would help to raise awareness and training within the general population.
A freedom of information response published last month showed that in 2023, there were 14 inquests with verdicts of suicide.
Ms Faragher highlighted the Isle of Man's figures for a population of 85,000 were higher than the UK where the average was 10 per 100,000, but acknowledged island populations tended to have higher suicide rates.
Why not follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X? You can also send story ideas to IsleofMan@bbc.co.uk
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HONOLULU (KHON2) The iconic Na Wahine O Ke Kai canoe race kicks off this weekend and its a huge undertaking. Planning starts months in advance, proving it truly takes a village to make it happen. The limited resources on Molokai make it even more challenging.
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Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe are the premier paddling events in the world, but hosting them on the island of Molokai is no easy feat.
Paddles Up: A lesson in dedication to crew and culture
Lori Buchanan and her husband Moku have worked behind the scenes, helping with logistics for more than 40 years and theyve been an integral piece of the puzzle.
Whatever they need in order to make that happen on Molokai we try to support them, said Buchanan, Molokai resident. Everything from trying to figure out how to get 2,000 people in and out of a single lane dirt road in two hours, to what about the rubbish. After the event, what about porta-potties? What about the condition of the road? Are trees hanging over that need to be cut? Hows the boats in the harbor? Do they need assistance?
The list goes on and on.
Moku added, Theres a lot of moving parts and Molokai is always a challenge because were not really equipped for having big groups.
No matter the obstacle, the Buchanans and dozens of others involved with coordinating and working before, during and after the races have always pulled through.
This year, one of the biggest issues was the condition of the dirt road to the harbor.
Competitors come together days before Na Wahine O Ke Kai
The road to Hale O Lono is the only way to get all the canoes down to the starting point for the race. Theres a lot of work that needs to be done before that can happen.
Its in the worst disrepair that weve ever seen, said Lori. Transportation is an issue on Molokai. Many have to get on 55-passenger buses and mini buses and those buses have to be able to traverse down that dirt road safely and then back. So thats not possible right now.
The four-year hiatus of the races and heavy rains contributed to the damage. Despite all the challenges, Moku said they are proud to be part of it.
So its nice we can continue to support that and continue that legacy. Its a cultural thing, we all used to paddle when we were small too. We all paddled from when we were young until we became adults. Just trying to keep it going and I think my kids will keep doing what Im doing after Im gone, Moku said.
KHON2 will stream both the Na Wahine o Ke Kai and the Molokai Hoe on KHON2.com and broadcast on KHII.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2.
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) Helenes impact on Bay County isnt expected to be as severe as our neighbors to the east.
But Bay County Emergency Management officials are making the necessary preparation plans. Theyre also asking residents to do their parts as well.
One of the biggest announcements out of Tuesdays EOC meeting is Bay District schools have canceled all extracurricular activities on Wednesday and Thursday, and schools will be closed on Thursday.
School closures for Panhandle counties
The superintendent expects to resume operations Friday.
Its not a decision that is taken lightly. When we cancel schools has a massive rippling effect across the community. We acknowledge that. But its because of the safety of our students and our staff that in this particular circumstance on the information that we know at this time to be prudent, we are canceling, Superintendent Mark McQueen said.
Officials say they are working with Bay District Schools to open emergency shelters if necessary.
The Florida Highway Patrol has not yet announced any bridge closures, but if winds reach a sustained speed of 45 miles per hour, drivers are advised not to cross.
Bay County does not have any evacuation orders in place for now. But officials encourage residents to know their evacuation plan and have a hurricane kit prepared.
Franklin and Gulf County issue evacuation orders ahead of potential Hurricane Helene
Please be diligent right now during this time. Were not overly worried right now, but we want everybody to take this seriously and pay attention to whats going on and be prepared. If you have elderly or infirm and you need to be addressing it, please go ahead and start addressing that now and not wait until the last minute, Commissioner Doug Moore said.
Officials emphasize the importance of staying informed and making preparations now before the storm arrives
Bay County officials activated the citizens information center for storm related questions.
That number is 850-248-6090. Emergency information will be pushed out through alertbay.org.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com.
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) Bay District School officials approved the Cedar Grove Elementary School turnaround plan during Tuesdays meeting. The plan comes as the school struggles to reach a C grade.
Cedar Grove went from an F grade to a D grade, so they improved their grade last year to a D. To get out of the turnaround category, they have to go to a C or better, Deputy Superintendent Denise Kelley said.
Franklin County prepares for soon to be Hurricane Helene
The school board had the options of turning Cedar Grove into a charter school, bringing in an external operator, or closing the school if it doesnt reach a C grade by the end of the year. District officials say the charter school option is the best choice right now.
That choice can always be amended later in the year if the extension is not granted, but at this point, we needed to make a decision and present that to the state board, Kelley said.
District officials say they plan on asking the State Board of Education for an extra year to achieve a C grade due to a change in leadership at Cedar Grove.
Theres a new principal at Cedar Grove this year to build upon what the last administrator did to move that grade from an F to a D. They have two new assistant principals at that school. She has been able to recruit some highly effective teachers, Kelley said.
Two Bay County juveniles arrested after threats to commit school shootings
District officials say theyre confident the new administrators will lead Cedar Grove to success.
The principal that is there now, she has a proven record of turning around schools. She was at Rutherford when they went from a D to a C, and so we want to be able to work the plan, Kelley said.
Bay District School superintendent Mark McQueen will present the Cedar Grove Elementary School turnaround plan to the State Board of Education in October.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com.
Beaufort County schools will not close Thursday and Friday in the wake of Hurricane Helene, a Category 1 storm on Wednesday that was expected to strengthen and bring residual effects to the Lowcountry later in the week.
Candace Bruder, a district spokesperson, said they were closely monitoring Helenes development in consultation with Emergency Management.
Based on current forecasts, schools will operate on a normal schedule for Thursday, September 26, and Friday, September 27, Bruders email read Wednesday afternoon.
However, all after-school activities will be canceled Thursday, Bruder said.
Please note that if any changes to our operations become necessary, we will notify families in a timely manner, Bruder said. We encourage everyone to stay informed by checking our district website and social media channels regularly for updates.
Officials with the University of South Carolina-Beaufort said they were closely monitoring Helene. As of Wednesday afternoon, USCB was not closed. Updates and important information for students and employees will be provided as needed, the schools website noted. To get updated information, head to uscb.edu/weather.
The Technical College of the Lowcountry said it was monitoring Hurricane Helene and would post updates to its website at tcl.edu, text alerts and social media.
Helene intensified into a Category 1 hurricane Wednesday morning and was expected to strengthen before reaching Floridas Big Bend region late Thursday. At 1 p.m. Wednesday, the storm system was about 480 miles from Tampa, Florida, and packing 80 mph winds, according to the National Hurricane Centers advisory.
The National Weather Service said Hurricane Helene was likely to bring strong winds, heavy rain and rough seas to the Lowcountry.
A tropical storm warning was triggered at 11 a.m. Wednesday for Beaufort County, indicating that tropical storm-force winds are expected somewhere in the area Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head Island within the next 36 hours. The tropical storm warning was set to expire at 1:15 a.m. Thursday.
On Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Henry McMaster issued a State of Emergency to ensure the Team South Carolina has the necessary resources in place to respond to these potential impacts.
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Four years ago, we were both eager to be a part of democracy in action and get involved with the 2020 elections in our hometowns. One of us, Mallory, worked alongside veteran poll workers who had been serving for over 20 years in her hometown of Rome, Georgia. The other, Abhi, worked at a polling station in downtown Detroit, Michigan. What may surprise you is that, at the time, neither of us was old enough to vote! In our home states of Michigan and Georgia as well as most other states you can become a poll worker at 16 or 17.
Being a poll worker is an amazing way to see how elections work up close and even get paid (plus, its a great experience for your resume). Having as many poll workers available as possible around the country means that more polling places can remain open, and that wait times and voting lines are shorter. If youre looking for a productive, helpful and nonpartisan way to spend your time on Election Day, sign up to be a paid poll worker to help the people in your community vote.
One of the most rewarding parts of being a poll worker is getting to connect with neighbors in your community you might not have met otherwise. Throughout Election Day in 2020, Abhi met voters from all walks of life who counted on him to help them carry out their civic duty smoothly from people rushing in on their short lunch breaks to a mom trying to keep her two young kids from running all over while she filled out her ballot. Mallory bonded with her fellow poll workers across deep differences in age, political views, faith, and socioeconomic backgrounds. During their lunch break, Mallory and her team shared homemade banana bread and discussed the common ground they shared over the importance of local elections, nonpartisan politics, and voter participation for making change in their community.
We all know how scary it can be to do something for the first time especially something as consequential as voting. As a poll worker, youll get a front-row view of how elections work. Youll get trained on the local rules and protocols, so you know exactly how to help voters and how to respond to any questions that arise. You get to be the one to help voters especially new voters feel comfortable. And at the end of the day, you get to watch the results come in with pride: you made this happen for hundreds of voters!
As high school and college poll workers, weve also seen how important it is to have poll workers who are comfortable with technology. Each of us was the youngest person at our polling station, and many of the older poll workers were grateful that we could use the iPads and other technology to check in voters with ease.
We both got connected to our poll worker opportunities via Power the Polls which Abhi heard about from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and Mallory from a local League of Women Voters chapter. Power the Polls is a nonpartisan initiative focused on recruiting the next generation of poll workers, and they help you find your local poll worker application and requirements (and how much you get paid!). Weve been excited to see more recognition of the importance of poll workers over the last few years, with celebrities like Billie Eilish and Kerry Washington encouraging more people to sign up and take this crucial action for our democracy.
This year, as college students getting ready for our first time voting in a presidential election, were excited to make our voices heard in determining the countrys future. We also both feel a lot more confident casting our ballots as voters because weve been on the other side of the table and we know what to expect.
So were asking any young person who is able and who cares about our elections to do what we did: sign up to be a poll worker through Power the Polls today. Together, we can make a difference in our democracy, ensure that our elections run smoothly, and give all voters the chance to make their voices heard, regardless of who they are or where they live.
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A New South Wales, Australia man pleaded guilty to a serious charge after tossing a beloved and respected chicken named "Betty White" from a wildlife park, into an alligator pen, simply to feed the reptile, according to reports.
Nine News in New South Wales reported that 58-year-old Peter Smith of Hunterview pleaded guilty in Raymond Terrace Court to a single count of aggravated animal cruelty, which has a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a fine of nearly $25,000.
Smiths attorney, Bryan Wrench, said in court the case was a "very unusual matter," adding that his client simply wanted to feed a chicken to a hungry alligator in the Oakvale Farm and Fauna World at Salt Ash, in New South Wales.
Wrench told Magistrate Kirralee Perry there was the old adage, "never smile at a crocodile," but in this case, the alligator was happy after eating Betty White.
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An Australian man picked up a silky bantam chicken named Betty White from its enclosure at Oakvale Wildlife Park on January 2, 2024.
Smiths criminal record is non-existent, Wrench said, adding his client is a grandfather, grew up in the country and "just wanted to feed an alligator."
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Perry reportedly told Wrench she was not sure making light of the situation was appropriate, saying, "These are serious allegations."
The magistrate then said aggravated animal cruelty in New South Wales has a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment and a fine of $24,084.
Sleepy Town Thrust Into Chaos As Out-of-control Chickens Ruin Families' Everyday Lives
Inside a courtroom with gavel in view.
With such stiff penalties, Perry reiterated to the attorney that this was "nothing to make fun of, then."
Wrench told the magistrate 750 million chickens are killed each year, making clear he was not making light of the situation.
After pleading guilty, the judge adjourned the case until Nov. 20, when Smith will be sentenced.
According to court documents obtained by Nine News, police allege Smith committed the act of aggravated animal cruelty on "a silkie bantam chook," which is a breed of chicken.
Crocodiles Baited With Nausea-inducing Chemical To Prevent Them From Eating Toxic, Invasive Toad
The Silkie (also known as the Silky or Chinese silk chicken) is a breed of chicken named for its atypically fluffy plumage, which is said to feel like silk and satin.
The act occurred between 2:57 and 3:10 p.m. on Jan. 2 at Oakvale Farm and Fauna World.
Police responded to reports that the chicken known as "Betty White" was taken from an enclosure and tossed into the alligator pen, shocking families who witnessed the unplanned feeding.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Oakvale Farm for comment.
Oakvale Farm owner Kent Sansom released a statement after the hen was killed, saying staff and management were "deeply saddened" by the death of Betty White.
"This is the first time in our 43 years that we have had a member of the public (allegedly) engage in such cruelty in what is an animal sanctuary," Sansom said in the statement obtained by the station. "Betty White was hand-raised at the park and had played a crucial role in our endangered species breeding program for the bush stone curlew and other species by providing surrogacy to the chicks.
"Her quiet nature means she would not hesitate to approach a customer for some animal pellets, making her an easy target for (an alleged) ruthless perpetrator," Sansom added.
Fox News' Brooke Curto contributed to this article.
Original article source: Beloved Australian chicken with famous name tossed into alligator pen, shocking wildlife park visitors: report
(BCN) A 12-year-old girl who went missing in Berkeley on Tuesday night has been located, police said. Berkeley police had asked for the publics help in finding Bridget Merino, who was last seen Tuesday night in the 2100 block of Ashby Avenue.
Video: Camaro involved in fiery crash with Vallejo city vehicle
Police said Wednesday morning that she was found, but they did not specify when and where she was located.
Copyright 2024 Bay City News, Inc.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
BERNALILLO COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) Bernalillo County Commissioners voted to accept a grant for firefighter/EMT positions. The $262,000 grant is from the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration and was accepted on behalf of Bernalillo County Fire Rescue.
Controversial video of man removing bats in Belen prompts online backlash
On Tuesday, commissioners voted to accept a $262,000 grant from the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration on behalf of Bernalillo County Fire Rescue for the hiring of two firefighter/EMT positions.
During the 2024 New Mexico Legislative Session, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation to provide $24.9 million in grants for an additional 190 firefighter and EMT positions across the state. A total of 59 public entities received funding.
We are grateful for the support from our state lawmakers in recognizing the need for additional personnel. This grant allows us to focus on building a stronger team without immediately impacting the existing budget, Bernalillo County Fire Rescue Chief Greg Perez said in a news release.
Bernalillo County Fire Rescue is now accepting applications for the upcoming training academy starting in early 2025. For more information or to apply, 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 KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno (R-OH) speaks to guests during a campaign rally with Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) at Middletown High School on July 22, 2024 in Middletown, Ohio. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Ohio Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno accomplished something this week I didnt even know was possible anymore for my jaded journalists mind: He truly surprised me.
There I sat at my desk Monday, raising astonished eyebrows that a statewide political candidate would target a demographic represented in 51% of Ohios population about an issue that 57% of voters decided in a landslide less than a year ago. Nevertheless, here we were.
Bernie Moreno says women are single issue voters for abortion during Ohio town hall, Colleen Marshall and Mark Feuerborn reported for WCMH:
NBC4 obtained a video recording from a Warren County town hall on Friday, where GOP Senate hopeful Bernie Moreno accused suburban women of being focused solely on their ability to get an abortion.
You know, the left has a lot of single issue voters, Moreno said. Sadly, by the way, theres a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, Listen, abortion is it. If I cant have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else. OK. Its a little crazy by the way, but especially for women that are like past 50 Im thinking to myself, I dont think thats an issue for you.
The story made national headlines on Tuesday.
Morenos campaign spokesperson gave a statement to WCMH:
Bernie was clearly making a tongue-in-cheek joke about how Sherrod Brown and members of the left-wing media like to pretend that the only issue that matters to women voters is abortion. Bernies view is that women voters care just as much about the economy, rising prices, crime and our open southern border as male voters do, and its disgusting that Democrats and their friends in the left-wing media constantly treat all women as if theyre automatically single issue voters on abortion who dont have other concerns that they vote on.
In the video, Moreno makes two assertions and two jokes.
Without any humor, Moreno asserts: You know, the left has a lot of single issue voters.
He then asserts, Sadly, by the way, theres a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, Listen, abortion is it. If I cant have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.
Again, no humor here, in content or delivery. Just a second declarative statement along with Moreno using the fronted adverbial Sadly, indicating he thinks this plight hes envisioning about a lot of suburban women is sad.
The next part is where Moreno makes a joke. OK. Its a little crazy by the way, but especially for women that are like past 50 is his set-up.
Im thinking to myself, I dont think thats an issue for you,' is his punchline. Some people laugh.
Then he added his second joke: Thank God my wife didnt hear that one. Some laugh at that too.
I find the humor a bit strange. First, because its playing off of an idea that selfish myopia and a lack of empathy for others on huge societal questions is a desirable quality in a voter, and he weirdly projects that onto women over the age of 50.
But, more to the point, I find it strange because this issue this isnt some hypothetical in Ohio, its the very recent past. And Moreno has yet to take a clear stand on whether he would protect the expressed will of Ohio voters after he opposed Ohios reproductive rights amendment last year.
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Ohios 6-Week Abortion Ban
For eight weeks in the summer of 2022 after Roe v. Wade was overturned and Ohios six-week abortion ban was in place, we heard horror story after horror story from women and doctors.
We had the notorious case of the 10-year-old rape survivor who had to flee Ohio to seek care because Ohios extremist abortion ban didnt have exceptions for rape or incest. At least two other pregnant minors who had been raped were denied abortions.
Doctors affidavits described more than two dozen other instances in which the abortion law put Ohio women under extreme duress. They included two women with cancer who couldnt terminate their pregnancies and also couldnt get cancer treatment while they were pregnant. Other women had partially delivered fetuses too undeveloped to survive only to see the delivery stall. In that condition, with the fetus partly out, they had to sign paperwork and then wait for 24 hours, or for the fetuss heart to stop.
Women suffering other complications such as a detached umbilical cord faced similar intrusions just after they were devastated to learn they would lose a child they dearly wanted. They, too, had to wait a day or for fetal demise. In one instance, that took 14 hours, a doctor said. Still other women shattered to learn that the baby theyre carrying lacks vital organs necessary for survival were told that in Ohio they had to carry that baby, possibly for months, only to see it be stillborn, or to watch it quickly die.
Many of us were absolutely horrified by these stories and dont ever want our fellow citizens to suffer in such ways, no matter what our age, gender or demographic is.
The 2023 Ohio Abortion Rights Amendment
In November 2023, Ohioans went to the polls and passed a constitutional amendment protecting reproductive rights to put an end to these horror stories for good.
At least as early as August 2023 when it made the ballot, current Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown supported the reproductive rights amendment.
Moreno opposed the amendment. He also donated six figures of his own money to stop it, and he campaigned against the abortion rights amendment with false fear-mongering, about, of all things, child rapists.
Back in October 2021 when Moreno was first running for Senate, and in a primary against now-Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, Moreno told Brietbart, Im 100 percent pro-life with no exceptions.
In fact, as the article states, back in 2021, before Roe was actually overturned, both Vance and Moreno were 100% pro-life with no exceptions.
The Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade was decided in June 2022.
Thats when Ohio learned what it was like to have a six-week abortion ban with no exceptions.
By October 2023, Moreno supported a federal abortion ban at 15 weeks with exceptions.
Ohio voters passed the reproductive rights amendment Moreno opposed in November 2023, which set fetal viability as the standard, which comes in a variable range around 25 to 27 weeks.
But even after voters passed the amendment, Moreno said during the January 2024 primary debate that he supports a 15-week floor, where theres common-sense restrictions after 15 weeks.
In 2024, Moreno has been favoring euphemisms like standard, restriction, or floor, but hes stayed steady on the 15 weeks.
This September, when asked if he would support a national ban, Moreno told NewsNation its mostly an issue for the states.
But then he added, I do think at some point, aspirationally, we can get to the point where after 15 weeks theres some common sense restrictions.
Moreno is very committed to being noncommittal, but he seems pretty aspirationally thirsty for imposing something at 15 weeks, thus overturning the 2023 amendment.
Ohio voters of any age cant afford to be so cavalier about a six-year term representing Ohio families in the United States Senate.
As we know too well, these laws have intimate, enormous impacts on our lives.
Moreno has massaged his position a lot in a very short period of time.
So if he has time to make jokes about voters right now, itd be nice if Moreno would give Ohio voters a straight answer: Would he respect the will of Ohio voters and the Ohio Constitution? Or would he ever cast a vote perhaps the deciding vote in the U.S. Senate for a national abortion ban that overturns the will of Ohio voters?
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JAKARTA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo Wednesday strongly condemned recent Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon that have claimed hundreds of lives and called for an immediate global response to halt the military operations.
"Indonesia vehemently condemns Israel's attacks on Lebanon, and we urge all countries and the UN (United Nations) to respond quickly to prevent further casualties," Widodo said.
He added that Indonesia is committed to supporting world peace and protecting its citizens abroad who are in dangerous situations.
The Indonesian government is currently preparing to evacuate its citizens from the conflict zone in Lebanon.
Best restaurants in California? These lists highlight food from Sacramento to San Diego
The Sacramento areas top-rated restaurants reveal a vibrant culinary scene praised by various review platforms including Yelp, Eater, and Pizza Today. Eater has notably highlighted Sacramento as an exciting dining town amid a culinary revival, spotlighting diverse offerings from Michelin-rated Nixtaco in Roseville to midtowns vegetarian restaurant Mother. This variety is mirrored in Yelps listings, where eateries like Journey to the Dumpling and Guys for Lunch are celebrated for their exceptional flavors and local popularity.
The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories below were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.
A chicharron taco at Nixtaco in Roseville is made July 2, 2019, with pork belly in a great sauce with lime-pickled onions in a homemade tortilla. Lezlie Sterling/lsterling@sacbee.com
No. 1: Sacramento is one of Eaters best places to eat in 2024. Which restaurants are essential?
Eaters list of top culinary destinations includes cities in Brazil, Egypt and Japan. | Published February 24, 2024 | Read Full Story by Angela Rodriguez
No. 2: These California spots are among Top 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in the US, Yelp says
Wondering where to eat on Valentines Day? Yelp reviewers say these are the best California restaurants for romance. | Published February 10, 2024 | Read Full Story by Jacqueline Pinedo
No. 3: These California restaurants are some of the best in US, Yelp says. See who made the list
Half of the top 10 restaurants on Yelps latest list of Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S. are in California, stretching from the Sacramento area to the Central Coast. | Published January 27, 2024 | Read Full Story by Sarah Linn
No. 4: These California restaurants are among top 10 sushi spots in US, Yelp says. See the list
A total of 10 California spots made it on Yelps list of the 100 best sushi restaurants in the nation. Notably absent: Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine. | Published June 14, 2024 | Read Full Story by Hanh Truong
No. 5: These Sacramento-area restaurants are among top 100 places to eat in US, Yelp says
See which local restaurants made the list. | Published January 24, 2024 | Read Full Story by Jacqueline Pinedo
No. 6: This Sacramento-area restaurant serves up some of the best barbecue in the US, Yelp says
A total of nine California restaurants landed on Yelps Top 100 Barbecue Spots in the US list. | Published May 13, 2024 | Read Full Story by Sarah Linn
No. 7: These Sacramento-area pizzerias are among top spots to watch in 2024, Pizza Today says
Pizza Today also listed new pizza spots that are on its radar. | Published February 9, 2024 | Read Full Story by Hanh Truong
Chicken tacos sit on a plate at Char Market in Carmichael on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2024. Lezlie Sterling/lsterling@sacbee.com
No. 8: This Sacramento-area Mexican restaurant is one of the best in US, Yelp says. Heres why
The restaurant landed in third place on Yelps list for the Top 25 Mexican Spots in the nation. | Published September 20, 2024 | Read Full Story by Angela Rodriguez
No. 9: The Sacramento regions most underrated Thai restaurants, as chosen by readers
Readers nominated midtown and downtown favorites as well as hidden gems in the suburbs. | Published May 8, 2024 | Read Full Story by Benjy Egel
This report was produced with the help of AI tools, which summarized previous stories reported and written by McClatchy journalists. It was edited by journalists in our News division.
Plane enthusiasts admire Doc, one of only two flying B-29 Superfortress planes still flying worldwide, sitting at Ogden-Hinckley Regional Airport on Monday. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Seeing a historic artifact in a museum is one thing.
Seeing it, touching it, and in the case of B-29 Doc a World War II-era bomber flying in it, though, is an altogether different experience, says Sean Elliott, pilot of the craft.
"This is truly living history," he said. "We're not taking ground fire from Walmart. But it is that tactile experience that is another level of understanding, appreciation and respect for what the Greatest Generation did in these machines."
Doc's Friends, the nonprofit organization that operates and maintains B-29 Doc, brought the giant airplane to Ogden on Monday, part of a stop on a tour around the country aimed at fostering interest in the craft and, more generally, World War II. The airplane, known as the Superfortress, is one of just 1,644 B-29s made during World War II and just one of two that are still flying today.
"We want people to climb up inside, see it, touch it, get hands on with technology of the 1940s and get up close and personal," said Josh Wells, executive director and general manager of Doc's Friends. "What better way to learn about history than to have a 90,000-pound artifact move across the country and tell the story?"
Doc, one of only two flying B-29 Superfortress planes still flying worldwide, sits at Ogden-Hinckley Regional Airport on Monday. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
It's not cheap to fly in the airplane, and tickets which cost from $600 to $1,500, with just 11 seats available to visitors per flight are sold out. But the craft, staying at Ogden-Hinckley Regional Airport, will be flying the skies around the city on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and it'll be viewable from the tarmac of the airport at times.
Numerous airplane and World War II buffs were on hand Monday when B-29 Doc arrived at the Ogden airport, including Eric Villadsen, of Roy. "For me, the significance is it made Japan stand up and surrender," he said.
The Museum of Flight in Seattle calls the B-29 "the most capable bomber of World War II," noting it could carry more payload and fly faster and higher than other airplanes of the era like the B-17. "Two modified B-29s dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945, helping end the war in the Pacific," reads the museum's online description of the craft.
B-29 Doc actually served stateside as a training craft. In 1956, it was placed on a U.S. Navy target range in California, and then, in the late 1990s, restoration of the airplane began.
Pilot Sean Elliott talks about Doc, one of only two flying B-29 Superfortress planes still flying worldwide, after they arrived in at Ogden-Hinckley Regional Airport on Monday. | Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News
"On July 17, 2016, after 16 years of restoration, B-29 Doc roared back to flight," reads the organization's history of the airplane. "Since then, Doc has traveled to numerous air shows and is now serving out its mission as a flying tribute to the men and women who designed, built, maintained and served in the B-29 Superfortress to protect freedom."
Wells said without the B-29, which also served in the Korean War, World War II would have dragged on longer. Beyond that, he says, the airplane is emblematic of the Greatest Generation, the generation of men and women who fought in World War II or served in the effort to win the war.
"The B-29 was a technological marvel in the 1940s. It was the first all-electric aircraft. It was the first high-altitude, long-range bomber. It had all the bells and whistles," he said.
The cockpit of Doc, one of only two flying B-29 Superfortress planes still flying worldwide, sits at Ogden-Hinckley Regional Airport on Monday | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski was on hand for the arrival of the airplane. "It doesn't disappoint. This is a huge treat," he said.
Keith Jackson, of Layton, was also there and, as someone who lives near Hill Air Force Base, noted the planes he regularly hears flying the skies above his home. "I like the sound of jets flying over the house, so I'm drawn to it," he said.
The B-29 Doc travels to air shows around the country, and it came to Ogden from Great Bend, Kansas. It will next be headed to Southern California.
TOPEKA (KSNT) A Topeka mans home was swarmed by hundreds of dragonflies this week and it was all captured on video.
Jerry Reiman sent 27 News a video of the dragonflies warming around his home on Monday, Sept. 24. As other insects start to disappear with the arrival of colder temperatures, these airborne predators dont seem to be letting up.
It was like a biblical thing, Reiman said. My neighbor called me and says, Go out to your front yard. So I went out there and there were dragonflies everywhere, hundreds of them swarming around, but it was just his yard and my yard.
Kansas State University Entomologist Raymond Cloyd told 27 News the massive gatherings of dragonflies like the one Reiman spotted are normal. He had some insight to share on why so many of the insects were flying around in one spot.
If its a body of water, there might have been many nymphs there, it might have been a prime environment, it might have been the only water source in the area that the dragonflies could use for part of their life cycle, Cloyd said. They are not harmful period. They are predators feeding on other insects.
We will have turkey legs: Topeka Renaissance Festival set for summer 2025
Reiman said he didnt know what, if anything, could have brought so many dragonflies to his area this week. However, Cloyd said standing water can act like a magnet, meaning recent rainfall may have played a part in this.
Homeowners can bring in similar swarms of dragonflies by creating areas they enjoy. The insects are harmless to people but can have many benefits for the environment, including controlling the numbers of other insects.
For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
With the Biden administration essentially pausing work on ceasefire negotiations to end the war in Gaza, Israels fresh assaults on Hezbollah in Lebanon this week are adding another layer of complication, making prospects for a near-term deal all the more difficult if not impossible at least while the bombs are falling.
In recent days, senior US officials had largely stopped making a vigorous push on the ceasefire negotiations, sources told CNN, having determined there is currently no political will on either side Hamas or Israels to end the conflict.
Even as President Joe Biden and top aides refuse to abandon the effort entirely, a senior Democrat close to the White House summed up the sentiment among some officials involved in those deliberations this way: We cant want this more than they want it.
This person also cited a famous line from former Secretary of State James Baker, who in 1990 famously said in a message directed at the Israeli government about a Middle East peace deal: When youre serious about this, call us.
Another quote circulating among American officials as they assess the stalled talks is George Mitchells description of the process that eventually brought about the Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland: We had 700 days of failure and one day of success.
Ending the Gaza conflict is Bidens top foreign policy goal as he nears the end of his one-term presidency, but the stalled ceasefire talks are threatening to sink the presidents other priorities in the Middle East.
With the clock ticking, Biden only made a perfunctory call for a ceasefire during his final United Nations address on Tuesday and planned to discuss the matter with foreign counterparts this week in New York.
US officials are still in the early stages of assessing the volatile situation in Lebanon and trying to make sense of whether Israel has a well-defined end-goal when it comes to its northern neighbor. In the immediate aftermath of Israels covert attacks that exploded thousands of pagers and walkie talkies across Lebanon targeting Hezbollah operatives, the administration was working to determine how much the groups capabilities had been degraded as a result.
Absent a clear strategy from Israel, they are left hoping Israels onslaught might force Hezbollah to the table while avoiding any miscalculation that triggers a regional war.
American officials see the two conflicts in Gaza and now in Lebanon as difficult to separate, despite Israels insistence that it sees them as distinct issues.
Its a bit of a false dichotomy to suggest that any of these pieces are completely separable from the mass, a senior State Department official said Monday. Each of them has a logic and set of dynamics to itself, but they are mutually reinforcing in many ways.
So, what were trying to do is, even as we continue to try to get at the core conflict that has created so much suffering over the last year, we are equally focused on ensuring that this conflict does not expand, does not intensify and engulf the entire region, the official said.
Some inside the Biden administration believe a change in approach could help hasten the end of the conflict, including bypassing the three-phase deal currently being discussed and moving to a new effort that would lay out in one go the conditions both parties would need to agree to stop fighting.
No Plan B right now
But there are no indications the US is actively preparing to push for any Plan B for the time being.
In fact, there are currently no known plans for some of Bidens top national security deputies who have made countless treks to the Middle East over the last year to try to facilitate a ceasefire and hostages deal including CIA Director Bill Burns, Secretary of State Antony Blinken or White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk to visit Israel with that goal in mind.
When Blinken was last in the region earlier this month, his trip notably omitted a stop in Israel. And its been more than a month since Biden last spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and he doesnt plan to meet with the Israeli leader when he comes to the United States this week for his own UN speech.
Some US officials are concerned that the week of speeches in New York could further inflame tensions, but they are also actively working to setup meetings on the sidelines that could drive forth ideas to end the conflict.
Bidens speech at UNGA Tuesday contained no new proposal for breaking the logjam but claimed that a diplomatic solution is still possible. American officials continue to describe the talks as essentially moribund, with political will lacking on either side to reach an agreement. An American-drafted bridging proposal has yet to be formalized for presentation to Biden or either of the parties in the talks.
There have been difficulties and setbacks. Weve had challenges getting the prime minister across the line. Weve had challenges getting Hamas leader, Sinwar, across the line. But were determined to keep at it, said Bidens national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday on MSNBC.
We stay up nights trying to figure out a way to get across the line on this ceasefire and hostage deal. And we have spoken out directly about our concern when weve seen the prime minister not take steps that we think are necessary to get to that deal, he said. At the moment, I would say the biggest challenge is actually that Hamas and Sinwar dont want to do a deal. But if they do, if, if theyre prepared to come to the table, itll be incumbent on us to get the prime minister to the table and close this thing out.
As US officials increasingly acknowledge what appears to be the increasingly likely possibility that a ceasefire will not materialize before Bidens term ends in January, they also accept that that means the president will not see a landmark Saudi Arabia-Israel normalization deal agreed before he leaves office.
Unlike in last years UN speech, Biden made no mention of the possibility of Saudi Arabia recognizing Israel, which could transform the region, in his address.
That likely leaves it to the next president to either continue pursuing such an arrangement or to head in a different direction. Vice President Kamala Harris has frequently cited the importance of reaching a ceasefire and hostage deal but hasnt detailed any new approach in reaching an agreement.
Ultimately the thing that is going to unlock everything else in that region is getting this deal done, she said last week. Im not going to disclose private conversations, but I will tell you Ive had direct conversations with the prime minister, with the president of Israel, with Egyptian leaders and with our allies, and I think weve made ourselves very clear this deal needs to get done.
Still, if the window for a ceasefire and hostages deal before the end of Bidens presidency is slowly closing, US officials insist there is always the possibility of an unexpected turn of events in the Middle East that could quickly shift the narrative.
The death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is seen as one of the biggest potential game changers. Israeli and American officials alike would heavily celebrate the outcome, and Sinwars killing is perhaps among the most widely discussed singular events that has the best shot of prompting an abrupt end to the war.
It has been a few weeks since Sinwar last responded to messages from mediators looking to secure a hostage deal, but American officials have not received updated information about his condition.
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The Biden administration on Thursday announced $375 million more in security assistance for Ukraine, which for the first time will include American Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) glide bombs, a U.S. defense official told ABC News.
The bombs, which can be deployed by Ukraine's new F-16 fighters, have retractable wings that help them reach targets up to 70 miles away. There are several versions of JSOW, but the ones being sent to Ukraine are equipped with cluster munitions, according to the official.
The U.S. will also soon announce more than $2 billion in aid for Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), the official told ABC News on Wednesday. Unlike the $350 million package, which will draw equipment from existing American stockpiles for Ukraine, USAI funds are used for contracts to procure assistance, which can take months or years to materialize. The coming USAI funds will largely go toward restocking Ukraine with munitions, according to the official.
PHOTO: F-35 Launches Joint Standoff Weapon (Dane Wiedmann/F-35 Lighting II Pax River ITF)
The commitment to send JSOW glide bombs comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in the United States to make the case for global support, speaking before the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday in New York, with plans to present what he has called his "victory plan" to President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday.
"The plan of victory is strengthening of Ukraine," Zelenskyy said during a sit-down interview with "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts on Monday. "That's why we're asking our friends, our allies, to strengthen us. It's very important."
Zelenskyy hasn't publicly shared the details of his victory plan ahead of his upcoming meeting with Biden, but said it includes specific military supply requests, as well as proposals for potential security guarantees for Ukraine after the war. Zelenskyys chief of staff this week confirmed that includes Ukraine being invited to join NATO.
A source close to the Ukrainian president told ABC News the plan consists of five key points, four of which are to be implemented now and one after the war is over. The plan also includes specific figures and amounts of military assistance.
Former President Donald Trump said last week that he would "probably" meet with Zelenskyy, but this is no longer expected, according to sources familiar with the matter.
ABC News' Patrick Reevell and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
Biden administration pledges new glide bombs to Ukraine ahead of Zelenskyy White House meeting originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
The Biden administration is appealing a district court decision that's 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 Biden administration has 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 as is currently the case in Montana and surrounding states, including Oregon, where state and federal authorities oversee wolf management.
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.
Protections in Oregon
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is in charge of managing wolves in Oregon though the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service retains management authority in the western portion of the state.
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.
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This article was first published by the Daily Montanan, which, like Oregon Capital Chronicle, is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com. Follow Daily Montanan on Facebook and X.
In an interview, Biden responded to a question about dropping out by pointing, in part, to his age.
Though he took a joking tone, Biden earnestly acknowledged the difficulties of growing older.
The president maintained that he could have beaten Trump and praised Harris.
After months of having to defend his age, President Joe Biden seems willing to discuss it and its limitations openly. Sitting for an interview on "The View" on Wednesday, he subtly acknowledged how age factored into his decision to drop out of the election.
When the show's five co-hosts asked the 81-year-old Biden about his decision to end his reelection campaign, he first responded by pushing back against the idea that a Democratic coup forced him out.
"I never fully believed the assertions that somehow there was this overwhelming reluctance of my running again. I didn't sense that," Biden said. He said that his polling remained within reasonable ranges, though in reality, his numbers dipped significantly after his June debate against former President Donald Trump.
But the president soon switched to a different topic while maintaining a humorous tone, Biden seemed to recognize that being history's oldest presidential candidate posed legitimate challenges.
"There were some folks who liked to see me step aside so they had a chance to move on. I get that. That's just human nature," he said, nothing that wasn't the reason he stepped down.
Biden said it's hard for him to think about or vocalize how old he has gotten.
"I stepped down because I started thinking about it," he said.
"It's hard for me to even say how old I am," he added.
The hosts laughed, but Biden pressed on his earnestness: "No, I'm serious!"
He then moved into a more lighthearted cadence, joking with one of the hosts about their shared age. While Biden stopped short of pinning his decision on his age alone, he openly hinted at the toll being an 86-year-old president would have taken. In the past, he's said that he chose to step down to prevent damaging down-ballot Democrats' chances of winning their races.
Biden started defending his age well before his disastrous debate performance against Trump, who, at 78, is now the oldest candidate to run for president. Questions began to plague him in February after special counsel Robert Hur called him "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" in a report.
At his State of the Union speech in March, Biden simultaneously joked about and worked hard to justify his age. Voters repeatedly expressed he was too old to seek reelection despite reports from his doctor that he is in good health.
Beyond his tacit recognition of his limitations, Biden yet again insisted he is "confident" he could have beat Trump.
Biden's disdain for his longtime opponent was on full display. When Whoopi Goldberg, one of the hosts, compared Trump to a bug, Biden slapped the table, miming killing the insect to raucous applause.
He also expressed his confidence in Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her "tough" and "honorable."
He said that as his number two, she takes on a range of responsibilities, dealing with foreign and domestic policy alike.
Ultimately, Biden said he is "at peace" with his decision. Now unburdened by the task of defending his health on the campaign trail, he may be more at peace with his age, too.
Read the original article on Business Insider
By Steve Holland and Simon Lewis
NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden met Vietnam's president To Lam for talks on Wednesday, aiming to deepen relations with the Southeast Asian country and manufacturing hub and counter its ties with China and Russia.
Biden and Lam, the ruling Communist Party chief making his first visit to the U.S. as president, met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. A senior U.S. official said they discussed how to accelerate a strategic partnership agreed last year.
On meeting Biden on Wednesday, Lam hailed what he called Biden's historic contribution to elevating bilateral relations.
Biden said that since beginning a new era in relations last year, the two countries had made significant investments in semiconductors and supply chains and launched unprecedented cooperation on cybersecurity.
He also said they stood united in commitments to freedom of navigation and the rule of law - a reference to regional maritime disputes with China.
The Vietnam News Agency reported Lam told Biden that Vietnam was on the brink of a new era of development, and that it was a friend and reliable partner.
"Vietnam will continue to firmly implement its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralism and diversification," Lam told Biden, the state media agency reported.Lam met this week in New York with representatives of U.S. companies, including Meta, which pledged to expand investments in the Communist-ruled country with a population of 100 million.
Lam asked business leaders to back Hanoi's bid to have Washington remove it from the list of non-market economies and lift other trade restrictions and for the U.S. and Vietnam to cooperate on semiconductor supply chains.
Biden visited Hanoi a year ago and secured deals on semiconductors and minerals and an upgrade in diplomatic ties, despite U.S. concerns about human rights issues.
U.S. Representative Michelle Steel, a California Republican who represents a large population of Vietnamese Americans, wrote to Biden before the meeting asking him to directly address human rights abuses in Vietnam under Lams leadership.
Asked if Vietnam's NME status was discussed, the senior U.S. official told reporters: "They talked about economic cooperation broadly and plans to redouble cooperation with Vietnam."
Asked if they discussed China, the official said: "The leaders acknowledged the fact that Vietnam lives in a complicated neighborhood."
He said there was a recognition that Hanoi "has to be very cautious and strategic to its approach to the region" and that the United States is a strategic partner.
Alexander Vuving, a Vietnam expert at the Hawaii-based Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, said the meeting was important to helping Lam consolidate power after being confirmed as Vietnam's top leader in August.
He said it signaled Vietnam's balanced position between the great powers, given Lam's recent visit to China and meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as the importance of the Hanoi relationship in U.S. Asia policy.
Lam spoke at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday and his travels include a stop in Cuba, Vietnam's long-term Communist partner.
Ahead of his trip, Vietnamese authorities released some prominent activists from prison before the end of their jail terms, sources told Reuters.
They included Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison in January 2010 on charges of subversion, and environment activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong, who was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of tax fraud in September last year, but other dissidents remain in detention.
Sources told Reuters the United States has been urging Vietnam to avoid Chinese companies in its plans to build 10 new undersea cables by 2030.
Vietnam has long argued it should be freed of the NME label given recent economic reforms and that retaining the moniker is bad for increasingly close two-way ties that Washington sees as a counterbalance to China.
However, Murray Hiebert, a senior associate of the Southeast Asia Program at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies said it was not Biden's prerogative to offer concessions on that, given Commerce Department criteria.
Opponents, including politically influential U.S. labor lobbies, argue Vietnam's policy commitments have not been matched by concrete actions and it is increasingly being used as a manufacturing hub by Chinese firms to circumvent U.S. curbs on imports from China.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Simon Lewis in New York; additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Don Durfee, Howard Goller and Lincoln Feast.)
(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden celebrated a new era of relations with Vietnam as he met with the countrys Communist Partys General Secretary To Lam amid US efforts to counter Chinese economic and security influence across Asia.
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The two nations are united building a more open and secure Indo-Pacific region and are committed to freedom of navigation and rule of law, Biden said, hailing the two nations joint efforts since they upgraded diplomatic ties during Bidens visit to Vietnam in September last year.
Biden also highlighted investments in semiconductors and supply chains and unprecedented cooperation on cybersecurity with Vietnam, while the countrys top leader responded by noting Bidens historic contributions to the elevated bilateral relationship.
The relationship is truly a model in international relations for efforts to heal and build post-war relations, Lam said in his meeting with Biden, according to a posting on the website of Vietnam government.
The meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York underscores the Southeast Asian countrys growing geopolitical importance. Vietnam has emerged as one of the biggest winners from the US-China trade rivalry, with multinationals redirecting billions of dollars to Beijings neighboring manufacturing powerhouse in a bid to secure supply. Hanoi also has a long-standing territorial dispute in the South China Sea with its powerful fellow Communist country.
While China wasnt mentioned in the leaders opening remarks, Biden has made no secret of his campaign to leverage allies and partners in the region to counter the growing influence of the worlds No. 2 economy. In their private meeting, both leaders recognized that Vietnam must navigate a complicated neighborhood with complex relationships, a senior administration official who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity said afterward.
Aside from that multilateral work, the Biden administrations strategy toward China has hinged primarily on restricting Chinas tech sector in the name of national security while pursuing intensive diplomacy to keep up communications and minimize the risk of open conflict.
At the same time, the August rejection of Vietnams request to be classified as a market economy by the Biden administration was a setback for the countrys efforts to boost exports to its most important market and could threaten US efforts to woo countries away from China. The Vietnam leader has told US investors he expects the market economy designation soon.
The leaders cast their economic relationship more broadly and noted shared intent to redouble cooperation, while the US downplayed the significance of the market-economy status and Biden encouraged ongoing economic reform and opening of Vietnams economy, the US senior administration official said.
Read: US Rejects Vietnam Request to Lift Non-Market Economy Tag
If they got market economy status, this massive trade Vietnam has with the US will be even easier to conduct, said Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales.
Lam, who became the nations top leader after the death of longtime Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in July, is looking to burnish his geopolitical credentials, said Alexander Vuving, an Asia expert at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii.
The party chief has held meetings with executives from corporate behemoths such as Boeing Co. and Meta Platforms Inc., imploring them to step up investment in Vietnam.
Lam, who is also the countrys president, addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. He called for support for developing and underdeveloped countries, especially in terms of preferential capital, transferring advanced technology, training high-quality human resources, facilitating investment and trade, and reducing debt burden.
The former public security minister, seen as the key enforcer of the nations sweeping anti-corruption crackdown, is also pragmatic, Vuving said. Vietnam, whose human rights record is frequently criticized by the US and others, quietly released leading climate activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong and dissident Tran Huynh Duy Thuc ahead of Lams US visit.
Trongs death, and a political shakeup tied to the anti-graft campaign that has ensnared top government leaders, has rattled some investors and slowed government decision-making for business-related activities.
The Biden meeting signals Vietnams core policies arent changing as it continues to balance great power relations and expand economic ties, Vuving said. Lam met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in August, his first overseas trip as party chief.
Investors see that and will be even more confident investing in Vietnam, Vuving said.
--With assistance from John Boudreau and Clarissa Batino.
(Updates with Lam comment in the fourth paragraph.)
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Biden says actions to speed support to Ukraine to be announced on Thursday
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. actions to accelerate support for Ukraine will be announced on Thursday as part of an international effort to help the Ukrainians rebuild from the damage of Russia's invasion, U.S. President Joe Biden said.
Biden, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gathered with other world leaders on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in a strong display of unity for Ukraine.
"We're committed to providing Ukraine with the resources that it needs to build back stronger than before ... You're not alone in this fight," Biden said on Wednesday in launching a joint declaration of support for Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction.
Biden and Zelenskiy were due to meet at the White House on Thursday.
In his remarks, Zelenskiy mentioned the U.S. Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War Two and said: "Today we are laying the foundation for a similar architecture of recovery."
The joint declaration has support from more than 30 countries, including the Group of Seven major democracies.
A copy of the declaration distributed by the White House said it was Russia's responsibility under international law to pay for damages it had caused in Ukraine.
"We reaffirm that, consistent with all applicable laws and our respective legal systems, Russias sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain immobilized until Russia ends its aggression and pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine," it said.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Katharine Jackson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Howard Goller)
VIENTIANE, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Representatives from the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met here to discuss finalizing the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Post-2025 Strategic Plan.
They gathered in Lao capital Vientiane from Monday to Tuesday for the seventh meeting of the Ad-Hoc Working Group to develop the ASCC Post-2025 Strategic Plan, Lao News Agency reported on Wednesday.
The meeting aimed to advance the development of the ASCC Post-2025 Strategic Plan, with a focus on completing outstanding tasks such as promoting and protecting human rights and formulating ASEAN's perspectives on the Indo-Pacific.
The meeting concluded with a consensus on the strategic plan's progress. The draft ASCC Post-2025 Strategic Plan is expected to be submitted to the High-Level Task Force on the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 in November 2024.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday warned of an all-out war looming in the Middle East, even as he expressed hope for helping to broker a peace agreement between Israel and its neighboring enemies.
An all-out war is possible, Biden said on ABCs The View Wednesday when asked about the gravity of the situation.
As Israel bombards Hezbollah and the terrorist militia fires back at Tel Aviv, Biden said, Im a very strong supporter of Israel. I make no bones about it. I said years ago I was a Zionist.
Biden explained that all Zionist means is there needs to be an Israel.
Pres. Biden said that "there needs to be a two-state solution" when speaking on the conflict in the Middle East: "An all-out war is possible, but I think there's also the opportunity still in play to have a settlement that could fundamentally change the whole region." #theview pic.twitter.com/NIByd8l9Z6 The View (@TheView) September 25, 2024
Surrounded by an adoring panel of the shows co-hosts, Biden also took mild swan-song parting shots at Donald Trump. When asked about his thoughts on Trump, Biden paused for several seconds. Not a lot of socially redeeming value there, he finally said of the man he defeated in 2020 who is now running against his replacement candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
He really does not believe in democracy, Biden said, adding that January 6 was absolutely bizarre.
Pres. Biden calls former Pres. Trump "the most unusual president" on #TheView when asked about Trump's political rhetoric.
"[Trump] does not believe in democracy and the guardrails that our system has set up for the abuse of power."https://t.co/X359JJS6Q9 pic.twitter.com/jdP0o3DDla The View (@TheView) September 25, 2024
The outgoing president, who was forced out of his reelection race by leaders of his own party, went on to joke about his age. I know I only look 40 but Im 180 years old, he said, adding that when he hears his age said out loud81 years oldhe thinks, Holy God that cant be right.
Co-host Joy Behar, a youthful looking 81-year-old, quietly consoled the president, whispering in his ear and even holding his hand. The president appeared slow and stiff as he walked onto the set.
Biden also insisted that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didnt force him out of the race. That wasnt the reason that I stepped down, he said. I stepped down because I started thinking of it.
Im at peace with my decision, Biden added.
And he called the woman to whom he passed the baton tough and smart as hell, adding, As vice president there wasnt a single thing that I did that she couldn't do.
The appearance also served a trip down memory lane with The View airing previous clips of interviews with Biden throughout the yearssomething that only served to accentuate how quickly he has aged in just the past four years of his presidency. The old clips also reminded the six women who host the daytime talk show that Biden wasnt always the social progressive hes become.
Youve evolved, Whoopi Goldberg said. She asked Biden at one point if he thought he could have defeated Trump. Yes. I was confident I would beat Trump. Hes a loser, Biden said.
The comedian talk show host said Trump was a nuisance, like a bug right therebzzz, bzzz, she said, mimicking an imaginary bee buzzing around the table. Biden instinctively slapped his hand down, pretending to squash the bug.
The Trump campaign had something to say about that.
Democrats are the party of violence. pic.twitter.com/OHmSOVNs0P Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 25, 2024
Youve been the best, co-host Ana Navarro, a former Republican, told the president.
The View Takes on Harris Elder Abuse Debate Victory Against Trump
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President Joe Biden warned Wednesday that all-out war is possible in the Middle East, acknowledging the limits of his own persistent diplomatic efforts at achieving a cease-fire deal.
Im using every bit of energy with my team to get a cease-fire, he said in a live in-studio interview on ABCs The View. But I think theres also the opportunity, still in play, to have a settlement that could fundamentally change the whole region.
Those comments, notably more blunt than the presidents remarks Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly, were sandwiched within what was mostly a friendly and lighthearted interview with the shows six hosts focused on what he hopes to be his legacy.
A day after Biden himself spoke to other world leaders about his decision to give up his own reelection bid, he faced questions at the start of the interview about why he begrudgingly ended his campaign.
In response, he insisted that his relationship with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi is fine and suggested he stepped aside in July of his own accord, not due to Pelosis pressure campaign.
And he downplayed the intra-party opposition to his candidacy that arose in the days and weeks after his disastrous June 27 debate performance.
"I never fully believed the assertions that somehow there was this overwhelming reluctance to my running again, Biden said.
Increasingly focused on using his final months in office to define his own policy and political legacy, Biden asserted that his July 21 announcement that he would step aside and back Vice President Kamala Harris as the partys presidential nominee was not a response to polling showing his path to victory against former President Donald Trump had closed.
My polling was about always within range of beating this guy, he said.
POLITICO reported at the time that Biden and his closest aides in the 24 hours leading up to his announcement had reviewed his campaigns own internal polling showing him trailing badly in key swing states and losing enough ground in reliably blue states like New Hampshire and New Mexico.
Instead, Biden suggested that those who called for him to exit the race did so out of self-interest. There were some folks whod like to see me step aside so they have a chance to move on, he said. I get that thats human nature.
That assertion, however, is belied by the fact that most prominent Democrats with presidential ambitions never publicly abandoned him and quickly threw their support behind Harris after he stepped aside.
But that wasnt the reason I stepped down, the president continued. I stepped down because I started thinking about it. It's hard for me to even say how old I am its like, Holy God, that cant be right.
Biden, who at times gripped the hands of Joy Behar and Ana Navarro, the hosts seated directly at his sides, explained that he learned early to fight for his values that theres so many things that are worth losing over.
He said hed like to be remembered for being honest in what Ive done, straight up, and for his enduring optimism about whats possible when leaders remember the personal element of politics and search for common ground.
We can get so much done. We have to focus. We have to believe in ourselves again, he said, praising Harris as a leader who will carry his mantle forward. She believes in America. She believes in our capacity. She believes in what we can get done.
Biden was interviewed in New York by "The View"'s all-women panel, which features comedians Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS) (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/AFP)
US President Joe Biden warned Wednesday of the possibility of an "all-out war" in the Middle East but said he was hopeful a settlement was still achievable for the conflict-torn region.
Biden's comments as he appeared on ABC chat show "The View" came as Israel put troops on alert for possible entry into Lebanon and the war in Gaza grinds on.
"An all-out war is possible," Biden said when asked about the situation. "What I think is, also, the opportunity is still in play to have a settlement that could fundamentally change the whole region."
Biden appeared to raise the possibility of a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israeli strikes targeting the Hezbollah militia have killed more than 600 people this week.
"They have a possibility -- I don't want to exaggerate it -- there's a possibility if we can deal with a ceasefire in Lebanon that it can move into dealing with the West Bank as well," said Biden.
Israel has been carrying out deadly raids in the occupied West Bank since late August targeting what it says are Palestinian militants.
Biden added however that "we also have Gaza to deal with", as efforts stall to get a ceasefire deal to end Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza after the militant group's October 7 attacks.
"But it's possible and I'm using every bit of energy with my team to get this done. There's a desire to see change in the region," he said.
The US president also pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to drop his opposition to an independent Palestinian state to end the crisis.
"I don't agree with his (Netanyahu's) position. There needs to be a two-state solution," Biden told the show's all-women panel, led by US comedian Whoopi Goldberg.
dk/des
The New York Police Department (NYPD) says it is targeting the bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), which has set up operations in the Big Apple amid a surge of migration into the sanctuary city and as the gang establishes a presence throughout the U.S.
The TdA is a violent street gang believed to have originated in Venezuelan prisons and moved north over the last decade. However, 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.
Now, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell says TdA is actively recruiting gang members in migrant shelters where guns and drugs have been smuggled inside via food cartons.
Bloodthirsty Venezuelan Street Gang Sparks Fear In Us Amid Migrant Surge: What To Know
"Do we believe there's guns in the shelters that have a gang affiliation? Absolutely. Do we believe that they were being smuggled in? Absolutely," he told Fox News.
These images from a CBP intelligence bulletin, show tattoos and identifiers for Tren De Aragua.
The NYPD says there are hundreds of gang associates citywide, and they are not afraid to shoot at police. Earlier this year, a suspected gang member shot and wounded two police officers while another fired at an officer while shoplifting.
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"They're a big threat to the city. We're not new to gangs or crews in the city. So this is our newest crew. And what's alarming about this crew is that their conspiracy to commit crimes touches a lot of areas, from retail theft to extortion to robberies to human trafficking, and the worst of the worst, they've shot two of our cops," he said.
New York City is also a sanctuary city, which restricts police from co-operation with federal law enforcement. The city is one of a number of sanctuary cities that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bussed migrants in response to the surge at the border in 2022, sparking a war of words between Abbott and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
The gang has established a presence in Aurora, Colorado, where there have been a number of arrests and reports that the gang has taken over entire apartment buildings -- something local authorities have pushed back against. Fox News Digital reported in July that TdA members have been given a "green light" to fire on or attack law enforcement in Denver.
After Video Of Armed Venezuelan Gang Shared By Local Official Goes Viral, Colorado City Takes Action
The head of U.S. Border Patrol said recently that they have apprehended dozens of gang members attempting to enter the U.S. at the southern border.
A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bulletin in March alerted agents to tattoos and other identifiers of the gang. Federal authorities had previously warned that the gang was trying to establish itself in the U.S. and could potentially team up with the violent MS-13 gang.
The Biden administration announced significant action against the gang in July, when the Treasury designated TdA a "significant transnational criminal organization." That move blocks all property and assets owned by the gang in the U.S.
Click Here For More Coverage Of The Border Security Crisis
Meanwhile, the State Department offered up to $12 million for information leading to the arrest of three of the gangs leaders. The administration also stressed that it is working to disrupt the gang and has increased vetting.
However, it taps into ongoing concerns about immigration, which is a top issue for the election, with both presidential candidates claiming that they are the right person to secure the border.
Original article source: 'Big threat': NYPD targets bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang as it forms base in sanctuary city
Reconstruction of the Stroud Travel Stop along the Turner Turnpike starts later this year.
Reconstruction of the Stroud Travel Plaza along the Turner Turnpike is set to begin later this year with a reopening in 2026 with a McDonalds and full-service Loves truck stop.
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority on Monday awarded a $38.5 million contract to Becco Contractors to rebuild the plaza to the north of the westbound lanes, replacing the current location that is between the eastbound and westbound lanes.
The project also will include rebuilding the turnpike along a straighter alignment running through the current travel center and widening 1.5 miles of the eastbound and westbound lanes.
Beccos bid was 6.8% higher than the estimate of $36 million provided by engineers at Olsson. Duit Construction submitted a bid of $39.8 million and Koss Construction submitted a bid of $40 million.
The contract includes an early completion incentive for the project of $20,000 per day for up to 30 days. If the contractor completes the work in 395 days, Becco will receive the maximum incentive of $600,000.
The contract also includes an incentive and disincentive for seven days at $10,000 per day for the early completion of the through-lane south of the new service plaza.
Becco will have up to 14 days to complete the through-lane, but if they do it in seven days, they will receive the full incentive. If it takes longer than the 14 days, Becco will be hit with a $10,000-a-day disincentive for up to seven days.
More: Oklahoma turnpike bridge project will close a portion of Route 66 for about a year
The Stroud Travel Plaza, now the size of a 1990s convenience store, will be rebuilt as a full-service Love's truck stop.
'This is a big moment for us at the turnpike authority'
Darian Butler, director of engineering at the turnpike authority, said the widening will begin at State Highway 9, continue west under the rebuilt Old Stroud Bridge and end west of the service plaza.
This is kind of a big moment for us at the turnpike authority to get this project let to construction, Butler said. This is part of our Turner Turnpike plaza modernization that we started years ago. The Chandler Service Plaza, we reopened a few years ago, services the eastbound Turner Turnpike.
Reconstruction of the travel plaza was put on hold in 2022 when the turnpike authority faced legal challenges and delays selling bonds to start its 15-year, $5 billion ACCESS Oklahoma toll road expansion program.
The widening is not expected to result in any significant loss of services for westbound travelers. Butler said the turnpike authority will build the ramps and truck parking for the new travel plaza while McDonalds and Loves are to draw up their own plans to build the new truck stop and restaurant.
The turnpike at Stroud carries an average 31,000 vehicles daily at Stroud. That figure is projected by the turnpike authority to jump to 42,790 by 2045.
Until a few years ago, the Stroud Travel Plaza served both westbound and eastbound travelers, a feature that dated back to when the turnpike opened in 1953 with six Phillips 66 stations and five Howard Johnsons restaurants. The Stroud services consisted of a Phillips 66 station on the westbound side of the turnpike and a Howard Johnsons on the eastbound side linked together with an enclosed pedestrian bridge over the highway.
Reconstruction of the Stroud Travel Stop will include 50 more spaces for truck parking.
The turnpike authority ended its agreement with Howard Johnsons and Phillips 66 in 1985 and the travel plaza, best known as the Midway stop, was rebuilt between the eastbound and westbound lanes.
Loves purchased the last remaining eastbound travel stop from EZ Go last year soon after it was rebuilt.
Lauren Daniels, Loves spokeswoman, said the new travel plaza will be larger than the current location with services for truck drivers found at the chains full-service locations.
Crews will raze and rebuild the Loves store and McDonalds as one larger facility with bigger restrooms and a larger sales floor, similar to the Chandler store, Daniels said. The plan is to also add a Godfathers pizza restaurant concept.
Daniels said the rebuilt plaza will have more than 150 truck parking spaces, at least 50 more than the current travel stop, and a Speedco truck maintenance shop.
Currently the closest Loves Truck Care/Speedco locations are in Guthrie and Choctaw, so this is a very strategic location to expand Loves over-the-road maintenance network, which is the largest in the nation, Daniels said. Loves expects with a larger facility and more food options and truck services, there will be an increase in professional drivers and casual customers.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Construction to begin in summer on Turner Turnpike Stroud Travel Plaza
The U.S. Supreme Court building stands in Washington, D.C., U.S. Credit - Al Drago/Bloomberg
The U.S. Supreme Court returns to the bench on Oct. 7 to start a new term that includes cases on transgender rights, guns, pornography, flavored vapes, and more.
In the coming months, the court will hear a case that will examine the constitutionality of state bans on medical treatments for transgender minors. It will hear two others that could radically reshape regulations on ghost guns and redefine corporate accountability in the tech industry. And it may confront urgent election-related litigation after Nov. 5 that tests the limits of the Electoral Count Act, depending on the aftermath of the presidential election.
The new term begins as the Supreme Court is grappling with significant internal challenges and public scrutiny, as concerns about undisclosed gifts to certain Justices and ideologically divided decisions on some of the nations most divisive issues has raised questions about transparency and impartiality within the institution. A July 2024 survey from the Pew Research Center found that 47% of Americans express a favorable opinion of the court following a consequential term, in which it granted presidents broad criminal immunity for some actions in office, preserved access to an abortion pill, and upheld a law that prevents those under a restraining order for domestic violence from possessing guns.
Here are some of the key cases coming up this term.
Tennessees ban on gender transition care for minors
Perhaps the highest-profile case already on the docket, United States v. Skrmetti could have significant implications for transgender rights across the country. The case focuses on a Tennessee law that prohibits certain medical treatments for transgender minors, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender-transition surgeries.
The case marks the first time the Justices will weigh in on the constitutionality of statewide bans of this nature, which have proliferated in approximately two dozen Republican-led states in recent years.
The Tennessee law, known as SB1, has already stirred considerable controversy, with the Biden Administration and various advocacy groups arguing that it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar has contended that the law discriminates against transgender individuals by allowing these medical interventions for other medical conditions while categorically banning them for gender dysphoria. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti defends the law as a necessary measure to protect minors from potentially irreversible treatments that may be based on "uncertain" benefits.
The Supreme Courts decision to hear the case comes at a time of increasing legal fragmentation regarding transgender healthcare, with different federal courts issuing conflicting rulings. Legal analysts suggest that the Supreme Courts ruling could establish a landmark precedent not only on transgender medical care but also on broader issues of civil rights, including access to public facilities and participation in sports.
Ghost gun regulations
In Garland v. VanDerStok, the Justices will hear a case that challenges the Biden Administrations regulation of ghost gunsuntraceable firearms that can be assembled from kits and lack serial numbers.
The case represents a critical moment in the ongoing debate over gun control, as the regulation was designed to combat the increasing prevalence of these weapons in crime scenes across the country. The rule, implemented in 2022 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), expands the definition of a firearm under the Gun Control Act of 1968. It mandates that unfinished parts, such as gun frames and receivers, must be serialized and licensed, ensuring that they can be traced. The regulation also requires background checks for the sale of these components.
However, it has faced pushback from gun owners and manufacturers, who argue that it overreaches the authority granted to the ATF and violates the original intent of federal firearm laws. A federal appeals court upheld a lower courts decision to strike down the regulation. U.S. District Judge Reed OConnor contended that the definition of a firearm does not encompass kits and parts, arguing that such interpretations should be the purview of Congress, not the judiciary.
The ruling raised alarms among some law enforcement and advocacy groups, which fear that a Supreme Court decision against the regulation could lead to an influx of ghost guns, complicating efforts to address gun violence.
Age verification for pornographic websites
The Supreme Court is set to determine the legality of a Texas law mandating age verification for users of pornographic websites. The case, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, could have significant implications for First Amendment rights, as the state law, enacted in June 2023, aims to restrict minors from accessing sexually explicit content by requiring users to provide personal information for age verification.
Proponents of the law, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, argue that it is necessary to protect minors from exposure to harmful material. They assert that requiring age verification ensures that only adults can access pornography, thus addressing a pressing public safety concern. However, critics, including the Free Speech Coalition, contend that the law infringes upon the constitutional rights of adults, creating a chilling effect on access to protected speech. They argue that the measure is overbroad and fails to account for the privacy risks associated with submitting personal information online.
Read More: How an Ordained Rabbi Ended Up Owning the Worlds Most Famous Porn Company
A federal district judge initially blocked the law, citing concerns that it imposes unnecessary restrictions on adult access to constitutionally protected material. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later permitted the law to take effect, ruling that the age verification requirement is rationally related to the state's legitimate interest in preventing minors from accessing pornography. However, dissenting opinions within the panel highlighted the law's potential to limit access to protected speech for adults, raising questions about its constitutionality.
Flavored vapes and e-cigarettes
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear FDA v. Wages and White Lion Investments, a case that will evaluate the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision to deny marketing authorization for flavored e-cigarettes produced by Triton Distribution. The case comes amid ongoing concerns about the popularity of vaping among young people and the agency's efforts to regulate products that might appeal to minors.
At the heart of the dispute is the FDA's rejection of applications for sweet-flavored e-liquids, including varieties such as "Jimmy The Juice Man Peachy Strawberry" and "Killer Kustard Blueberry." The agency contends that these products pose a "serious, well-documented risk" of enticing young users, contributing to alarming rates of e-cigarette use among adolescents. In 2020, nearly 20% of high school students reported using e-cigarettes, with flavored options being the overwhelming choice, the FDA said in court documents. They have argued that companies failed to demonstrate that the benefits of their products for adult smokers outweighed the risks of underage consumption.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals previously sided with Triton, declaring that the FDA had acted in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner by imposing new requirements for studies on smoking cessation that had not been communicated prior to the companies applications.
The implications of the case could extend beyond flavored e-cigarettes. The court's decision may clarify the FDA's authority under the Tobacco Control Act of 2009, which mandates that new tobacco products be proven appropriate for the protection of the public health.
Metas appeal in Cambridge Analytica case
The Justices will hear Metas appeal in a high-stakes class action lawsuit related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which has drawn significant scrutiny over the misuse of user data. The high court will review a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed the lawsuit, spearheaded by Amalgamated Bank on behalf of shareholders, to proceed.
Investors allege that Meta misled them about the risks associated with Facebook user data being improperly accessed by Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm that worked for Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. The lawsuit claims that inadequate disclosures led to substantial drops in Metas stock price in 2018, following revelations that the personal information of approximately 87 million Facebook users had been exploited without consent.
The litigation, initiated in 2018, accuses Meta and its executives of violating the Securities Exchange Act by making false statements regarding data security risks that had already materialized. In its defense, Meta argues that the 9th Circuit's ruling sets a troubling precedent that could require public companies to disclose historical incidents that do not pose current risks. Meta has already faced penalties, including a $5 billion fine and a $725 million settlement related to user privacy violations.
NVIDIA case on securities fraud standards
In NVIDIA v. E. Ohman J, the Supreme Court will consider a case that challenges the Ninth Circuits interpretation of fraudulent intent in shareholder class action lawsuits. The core of the dispute revolves around allegations that Nvidia misrepresented its dependence on the volatile cryptocurrency mining market, leading to significant financial losses for investors. Shareholders claim that the companys CEO made misleading statements about demand for its products, failing to disclose crucial information that could indicate a risk of mismanagement.
At the heart of the case is the legal standard for establishing "scienter," or the intent to deceive, which requires plaintiffs to present specific facts demonstrating that a defendant acted with knowledge or reckless disregard. Nvidia, whose computer chips the world relies on to make AI systems, argues that the Ninth Circuit improperly accepted vague allegations from unnamed former employees and speculative analyses from hired experts, rather than concrete evidence of fraudulent intent. The company contends that such reliance on speculation undermines the stringent requirements set forth in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
A ruling in favor of Nvidia could reinforce higher standards for investor claims and potentially reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits, while a decision that supports the Ninth Circuit's stance might embolden shareholders to pursue more claims based on less concrete evidence, experts say.
Write to Nik Popli at nik.popli@time.com.
New bill would prohibit US financial aid to Afghanistan until wrongfully detained Americans are released
New bill would prohibit US financial aid to Afghanistan until wrongfully detained Americans are released
American taxpayer dollars would no longer be able to fund aid to Afghanistan until "wrongfully detained" U.S. citizens are released under new legislation drafted in the House.
The No Funding Without Freedom Act would also require the State Department to offer regular updates regarding unlawfully detained American citizens there.
Rep. Dan Meuser, a Pennsylvania Republican whose constituent Ryan Corbett is among those detained in the Taliban-controlled country, said the bill will cut off the billions transferred to Kabul since the "disastrous" 2021 withdrawal.
Corbett, a native of Meusers district, worked with "Bloom Afghanistan," a humanitarian organization. He was detained in August 2022 and is reportedly in declining health.
American Nearing 600 Days In Taliban Captivity As Wife Pleads For Biden Admin Help
Corbett has had limited familial contact and remains in a heavily sheltered environment.
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A second detainee, George Glezmann of Atlanta, Georgia, was detained in 2022 during a five-day cultural trip to the country.
The father and husband remains in captivity, which has included solitary confinement, and is reportedly suffering from hemangioma a blood vessel condition malnutrition and hypertension.
The bill added that the secretary of state would make the ultimate determination whether an American detained in Afghanistan is in such a position wrongfully.
Meuser said the U.S. remains the largest humanitarian donor to Afghanistan, providing more than $2.6 billion since President Joe Biden withdrew the U.S. military from the country.
Taliban Using Fingerprints, Gun Records To Track Down Afghans Who Assisted Us, Inspector General Finds
"Last month marked three years since the Biden-Harris administrations disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, which allowed the Taliban to seize control of the country. And despite the Talibans wrongful imprisonment of Americans like Ryan Corbett and George Glezmann, this administration has continued to provide billions of dollars in humanitarian aid to the terror group," Meuser said.
"We must leverage all options, including withholding financial aid, to secure the release of Ryan and George."
Meusers bill later gained a handful of sponsors, including Reps. Bill Posey, R-Fla., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., French Hill, R-Ark., and Greg Lopez, R-Colo.
Corbett was accused of "anti-state activities," and there are no official charges against him, Corbetts wife Anna told "Fox & Friends" in a January interview.
"I received a picture when the Qataris visited a second time. And he has lost so much weight. He has aged like 15 years. We received the picture, and it was so traumatic to see him."
Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., added at the time that the State Department has been "tremendously helpful" in working with Qatar to allow access to Ryan Corbett.
"[Anna] has only had 22 minutes' time in this period of over 16 months to actually have communication with him. We are just asking, pleading everyone to get him out, and back."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
Original article source: New bill would prohibit US financial aid to Afghanistan until wrongfully detained Americans are released
New billboards, lost endorsements, and a race too close to call
The DNC is paying for billboards in NC highlighting Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson's connections with former President Donald Trump.
Former President Donald Trump returns to the battleground state of North Carolina Wednesday making an appearance in Mint Hill. Trump will again be campaigning without Republican gubernatorial nominee Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, though many voters will be reminded of the close relationship the two men once shared.
As Trump makes his second trip to North Carolina in five days, Democrats are placing an additional 12 billboards in English and Spanish in cities across the state highlighting Trumps strong words endorsing Robinson.
We have to cherish Mark and Hes an outstanding person reads one such billboard.
Robinson, who the president once called MLK on steroids, has been struggling to stabilize his gubernatorial campaign following a CNN investigative report that tied Robinson to explicit comments on a pornography website in which he allegedly referred to himself as a black NAZI and a perv writing that slavery is not bad.
Theres a reason why Donald Trump has not rescinded his endorsement of Mark Robinson: Trump believes that Robinson is an incredible gentleman who shares Trumps extremist values and his shameful history of spewing hate, conspiracy theories, and election denialism, said Democratic National Committee spokesperson Kenny Palmer in a statement. Unfortunately for Trump, North Carolinians are tired of MAGA Republicans chaos and vitriol and will reject Trump and Robinsons dangerous vision for their state.
Trump trails Vice President Kamala Harris by one point in the latest Elon University poll released this week. Harris was favored by 46 percent of respondents, compared with 45 percent for Trump. Four percent said they were undecided.
With a margin that close, Trump cannot likely afford the distraction that has enveloped the Robinson campaign in recent days.
Still, four of the 12 new billboards featuring the two men will be in Mint Hill as the president prepares to speak at the Mosack Group at 1:00pm. The company manufactures and supplies plumbing products.
New legal counsel and new calls for Robinson to prove the allegations are false
The 56-year-old Robinson has no public events listed on his campaign webpage for Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Robinson announced that the Binnall Law Group had been hired and would use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for their lies.
GOP governors pose for a photo with Mark Robinson
Several senior campaign staff members resigned from the campaign on Sunday.
By Monday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee pulled their endorsements.
Both Kemp and Lee shared a photo with Robinson at the Republican National Convention two months prior.
The Tennessean reports that Gov. Lee cancelled a fundraiser for Robinson that had been scheduled for this week.
NC Newsline previously reported the Republican Governors Association has halted ad spending in the state.
Hal Weatherman, the Republican nominee hoping to replace Robinson as North Carolinas next Lt. Governor, said Robinson must use all his energy to conclusively prove the allegations are not true.
But if he fails to do so, he will lose, because the comments being attributed to him are highly disturbing. His entire campaign strategy should be focused on proving the allegations false. During this process I and the other Republican candidates need to stay focused on winning our own races, said Weatherman.
The Elon poll that showed Trump down by one percent to Harris also showed Robinson 14 points behind Attorney General Josh Stein, his Democratic opponent in the governors race.
Trump had counter-snipers on day of assassination attempt because of threat, bipartisan report says
The Secret Service failed to make clear decisions and did not communicate properly with local law enforcement or provide necessary resources that caused foreseeable, preventable security failings on July 13, when a would-be assassin opened fire on former President Donald Trumps rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to a new Senate committee report.
The highly anticipated interim report was released by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee by both Republicans and Democrats and reflects the work of the committee since it opened its probe following the Butler attack.
This report focuses on the Butler shooting and does not extend to investigatory efforts launched after a separate second assassination attempt on the former president at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this month.
Since the Butler attack, acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe has acknowledged that the event was a failure by the agency, but the committee, which interviewed multiple Secret Service personnel, found that individuals declined to acknowledge individual areas of responsibility for planning or security as having contributed to the failure to prevent the shooting that day, even when as an agency, the USSS has acknowledged ultimate responsibility for the failure to prevent the former president of the United States from being shot.
PHOTO: US Senator from Michigan Gary Peters speaks on the second day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, August 20, 2024. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
On a call with reporters, Senate Homeland Security Chairman Gary Peters pointed to several failures by the Secret Service.
MORE: Lack of communication, drone issues plagued Secret Service at Trump Pennsylvania rally: Report
Every single one of those failures was preventable and the consequences of those failures were dire, Peters said. This was the first assassination attempt of a former president and the presidential candidate in more than four decades.
Peters was joined on the call by committee ranking member Rand Paul, R-Ky., Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., ranking member on the investigations subcommittee.
Whoever was in charge of security on the day of Butler, whoever's in charge of security during the recent assassination attempt, those people can't be in charge. They there's so many human errors, Paul said. No amount of money that you give to Secret Service is going to alleviate the human errors if you leave the same humans in charge who made these terrible, dramatic mistakes with regard to security.
PHOTO: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul speaks at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA. Tuesday, February 20, 2024. (Medianews Group/los Angeles Dail/MediaNews Group via Getty Images)
On Friday, the Secret Service released a four-page Mission Assurance Report, which affirms many of the findings in the committees report, but the committee report offers additional details from interviews with USSS and local officials. '
In a statement to ABC News, the Secret Service's Chief of Communications said "many of the insights" gleaned from the Senate report "align with the findings from our mission assurance review and are essential to ensuring that what happened on July 13 never happens again."
"We have reviewed the interim report on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump," Chief of Communications for the U.S. Secret Service Anthony Guglielmi said. "The weight of our mission is not lost on us and in this hyperdynamic threat environment, the U.S. Secret Service cannot fail."
He said in addition to the mission assurance report their efforts include cooperating with Congress, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security Independent Review, DHS Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office.
"We take the work of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee seriously and have begun to implement many of their proposed enhancements," Guglielmi said.
MORE: At least 5 Secret Service officials involved in planning Trump's Butler rally put on administrative duty
As part of the investigation, the committee interviewed Secret Service agents, as well as the Secret Service counter-snipers that were at the rally.
A closer look at the roof of the building where shots were fired from
The Senate report pays special attention to the American Glass Research building from where Thomas Matthew Crooks fired, and unveils new details about the timeline of events on that day.
In the lead-up to the event, local law enforcement raised concerns about the building. The report finds that the line of sight from the AGR building plagued rally planning and that it was identified as a concern, but that no steps were taken to mitigate the threat. Trees obstructed the view of the sniper team that was positioned atop one of the nearby roofs.
The Secret Service initially began planning for the rally in early July with state and local law enforcement. The planning meetings lacked answers or a general plan, according to the report.
A Butler County Emergency Services Unit commander told the committee the July 11 site walkthrough was incredibly disorganized with no coordination, and said he felt like there was really no plan.
When the USSS counter-sniper team leader did a walkthrough of the area, he told the committee he wasnt independently looking at the threat areas, but rather making sure the roofs were safe for law enforcement to stand on.
The leader assumed that if there were an issue with one of the lines of sight with a sniper position, that counter-sniper would have told the head of the unit.
Agents from the Secret Service were notified of a suspicious person with a rangefinder 27 minutes before shots were fired, but that information was not relayed to senior Secret Service leaders on the ground.
Three minutes before shots were fired, local law enforcement communicated over the radio that someone was on the roof of the AGR building. The information was passed to the Secret Service two minutes before Crooks fired. A local officer said there was someone armed on the roof 22 seconds before shots were fired, but that information wasnt passed on to the Secret Service.
Secret Service counter-snipers did see local law enforcement running towards the AGR building with their guns drawn, but "the thought did not cross" the counter-sniper's mind to alert the former presidents protective detail, because they were trying to figure out what was going on.
"[W]hen we looked, just plain eyes, no optics or anything, you could see police running towards the building with their hands on their pistols. I think one actually had a pistol facing towards the ground, out of a holster," the counter-sniper told the committee. "Thats a pretty big deal for us, so immediately we turned and faced our guns towards the threat area. We didnt know what was happening, but it seemed pretty serious, especially with the locals response."
The counter-sniper told the Committee "police running, guns out, and there were a couple of people just running away from the AGR building, that looks like citizens, I guess you would say, just normal people."
He said, "something was wrong" and the "police were the main identifier that something bad was happening."
At that time, we didnt know what we were working with, a USSS counter-sniper told the committee.
Though counter-sniper efforts ultimately failed to prevent Crooks from firing, the Senate report finds that Trumps Butler rally was the first time that a USSS counter-sniper team was assigned to a protectee who was not the president, vice president, or formally nominated party nominee. Snipers were only at the rally in response to credible intelligence of a threat. Though the committee did not identify what that threat was, sources have told ABC News that Iran has targeted the former president since the killing of General Soliemani.
When the Secret Service sniper took his shot at Crooks, he did so mere seconds after identifying him, his partner told the committee.
Officers told the committee they didn't get resources they needed
Rowe has repeatedly asserted publicly that no assets were denied for the Butler rally. But some of the committees findings suggest otherwise.
The operator of the USSS counter drone measures, known as C-UAS, told the committee he requested additional C-UAS equipment and personnel in the11 days before the rally. However, these requests were denied, at times without explanation, according to the report.
The USSS lead advance agent told the committee Trumps Secret Service detail requested counter assault team liaisons to help coordinate tactical assets in advance of the July 13 rally, but USSS denied this request, the report found.
When the CUAS system went down, the agent who was responsible for it called the manufacturer hotline to start troubleshooting the problem, delaying the deployment of the system for hours.
Previous testimony from the acting director stated that Crooks flew a drone over the rally site during the few hours the CUAS system was down.
Secret Service communications and those of local law enforcement were siloed in real time, according to the committees report.
Those issues included inoperable radios -- in one instance, the head of the Pittsburgh Field Office gave his radio to the lead advance agent on the ground because his radio wasnt working. These types of problems were commonplace, according to the report.
At one point, some of the agents communications were getting crossed with those of the detail of first lady Jill Biden, who was nearby.
Blumenthal called the Secret Services lack of accountability an Abbott and Costello routine, making reference to the infamous Who's on First skit.
It was really truth being stranger than fiction, Blumenthal said of the finger-pointing as to who was responsible and who was in charge of the Butler event.
Committee leaders stress that the report is an interim set of findings meant to be expanded upon by further lines of questioning.
Blumenthal also called for new leadership at the Secret Service.
Peters told reporters last week that there have been instances in which agencies were not as responsive to committee requests as he wouldve liked.
Though the committee staff examined over 2,800 pages of documents provided by USSS and transcribed 12 interviews with USSS personnel, the report does reflect instances in which agencies did not meet committee requests.
The majority of documents provided by the USSS and DHS are heavily redacted. This has unnecessarily hindered the Committees ability to carry out its constitutional authority to investigate and acquire information necessary to identify needed reforms, the report says.
Guglielmi said the Secret Service has "been and continue to work cooperatively, transparently, and in good faith with Congress."
"The U.S. Secret Service has implemented changes to our protective operations including elevating the protective posture for our protectees and bolstering our protective details as appropriate in order to ensure the highest levels of safety and security for those we protect," Guglielmi said.
Trump had counter-snipers on day of assassination attempt because of threat, bipartisan report says originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Birthing services were removed in Stranraer more than six years ago [Getty Images]
A return of some birthing services at a maternity unit in south-west Scotland has been ruled out for the "foreseeable future" - meaning a 70-mile journey for expectant mothers.
An independent review had found in favour of a limited resumption for "low risk" pregnancies at the Galloway Community Hospital in Stranraer.
However, Dumfries and Galloway Health and Social Care Partnership (DGHSCP) decided against that move. It means pregnant women will continue to have to travel to Dumfries.
A campaigner - who estimated she had travelled about 7,500 miles to get maternity care - has described the decision as a "kick in the teeth".
The situation dates back to 2018 when staff sickness was blamed for the problems at the Galloway Community Hospital.
It resulted in the decision to stop birthing services at the site and move them to Dumfries.
At the time, the health board said recruitment had already started to tackle the situation but provision has never been resumed.
It prompted repeated calls to bring back birthing services and an independent review concluded they could return for "low risk" pregnancies.
Despite that, DGHSCP's Integration Joint Board has decided not to go down that road.
Andy McFarlane, who chairs the board, said it had confidence in maternity services throughout the region.
He said the decision had not been an easy one to make.
Mr McFarlane said the board had concluded that maintaining the current provision was the "best and most deliverable and sustainable model now and for the foreseeable future".
Map
He said any reintroduction of birthing services would have been for a small number of expectant mothers and would not be significantly different from a home birth.
They had also considered what was "deliverable safely", Mr McFarlane said, and that many women nationally faced "quite lengthy" journeys to give birth.
He added that it had been a "challenging decision" but the board felt its approach was "reasonable and appropriate for all".
Campaigner Claire Fleming - who clocked up thousands of miles to give birth - described the move as "absolutely horrendous" and said she was "truly upset".
"Its another kick in the teeth for the women of Wigtownshire and I feel like Ive been strung along attending meetings and NHS-led focus groups when they had no intention of changing," she said.
"The independent review highlighted the dangers and theyve chosen to ignore them."
Ms Fleming said she now feared for the long-term future of maternity services in the area.
"The unit will be completely closed in the next few years, this is just the first step," she warned.
ROME, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Emergency search operations for a five-month-old boy and his grandmother were ongoing late Tuesday after they were swept off the roof of a vacation home during a flash flood near the coastal Tuscan city of Pisa.
The flood began Monday when the Sferza stream swelled and broke its banks after days of severe thunderstorms. Both victims are German nationals on vacation in Italy.
The boy's parents and grandfather were rescued from the roof of the Tuscan rental home. Search efforts, aided by drones, helicopters, divers, and rescue dogs, were utilizing brief breaks in the weather.
Much of Italy has been battered by Storm Boris since Thursday last week, which on Tuesday prompted regional states of emergency in Tuscany, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna.
Thousands have been evacuated, and weather alerts remain in place across six of the country's 21 regions.
According to the meteorological monitoring site Il Meteo, the severe weather is expected to ease by the weekend.
Black Voters and the Fight for Democracy is a multipart series that explores the stakes of the 2024 election for our communities. This project was produced as part of the Advancing Democracy Fellowship.
Deidre Lesesne, a Pittsburgh-based poll worker, remembers the anger that seized her in 2020 when a group of white election monitors harassed a young Black voter who had arrived with his mother, father, and little brother. These monitors, supporters of former President Donald Trump, claimed that the underage sibling was attempting to cast an illegal ballot.
I just lost it. I said, You will not mess with this family, Lesesne told Capital B, her voice catching. The young Black man was a first-time voter. He was excited. He was there with his parents, who brought their other son maybe 14 years old to watch. It was a moment of pride. I thought, How dare you try to take this away from them?
Since the 2020 election, when Trump falsely claimed that Democrats were rigging the vote, Black poll workers and voters in swing states have been targeted for abuse from conservative advocates and election monitors. But ahead of the 2024 contest, whose integrity Trump is also questioning, some swing states are fighting back. The measures theyre taking to protect voters and poll workers could have a big impact on Black voting rights, since more than a third of Black eligible voters live in battleground states.
With early voting already beginning in some states, election officials and grassroots organizers are in preparation mode, and are boosting security measures. Theyre doing everything from introducing safety hotlines and alert systems at voting sites to staffing polling stations with trusted community messengers who might be able to defuse crises.
According to a survey from New York Universitys Brennan Center for Justice published in May, 70% of local election officials believe that the threat of violence is a greater issue now than it was in 2020.
Trump is wasting no time casting doubt on the integrity of the 2024 race, in the event that Vice President Kamala Harris triumphs. Hes broadcasting dangerous fabrications, maintaining that Democrats are fraudsters who want to cheat like hell.
A four-year-old lawsuit led by Black organizers in Michigan that would prevent Trump and his party from intimidating voters and poll workers also is gaining fresh momentum. The plaintiffs want a federal judge to prohibit Trump, his campaign, and the Republican National Committee from acting recklessly, and require that they gain federal approval before engaging in any activities related to recounts, certifications, or similar post-election activities.
Were in a climate today thats different from where we were even eight years ago, Amir Badat, voting special counsel and the manager of Black Voters on the Rise at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, told Capital B, noting that there appears to be more resistance to this abuse since 2020. Were seeing more voter intimidation particularly against groups that have been facing intimidation for generations.
Sanctity of the ballot box under siege
Threats to the election process can manifest in a variety of ways.
They can appear in the form of election monitors fueling unease among voters and poll workers on Election Day, as Lesesnes story illustrates. Similarly, there have been reports of people with guns showing up near voting sites. In 2022, for instance, armed individuals, some wearing tactical gear, lurked near ballot boxes in Mesa, Arizona, unnerving voters.
Threats also can continue after Election Day. Recall the wrenching 2022 testimonies of Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss two Black former poll workers in Georgia to the Jan. 6 committee.
Once Joe Biden was projected to win Georgia, Trump and his acolytes claimed that poll workers, including Freeman and Moss, had manipulated ballots and, in turn, dashed the former presidents reelection ambitions. (Of course, Trump was the one who tried to dragoon Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger into finding 11,780 votes.) The mother and daughter were then inundated with racist messages, including one about lynching.
This venom echoed some of the harassment that Black voters were confronted with during the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras, when white vigilantes terrorized newly enfranchised freedmen in an attempt to shut them out of the body politic.
I wore a shirt that proudly proclaimed that I was and I am Lady Ruby. I had that shirt in every color. I wore that shirt on Election Day 2020. I havent worn it since, and Ill never wear it again. Freeman said. Ive lost my name, and Ive lost my reputation. Ive lost my sense of security all because a group of people starting with [Trump] and his ally Rudy Giuliani decided to scapegoat me and my daughter, Shaye.
Shaye Moss, a Fulton County, Georgia, elections worker, testifies in June 2022 during the congressional hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Moss told Congress that her life was turned upside down by the lies told by former President Donald Trump and his associates. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images)
Moss testimony was just as heartrending.
My life was turned upside down. I no longer give out my business card. Dont want anyone knowing my name, she said. I havent been anywhere. Ive gained about 60 pounds. I dont want to go anywhere. I second-guess everything that I do. Its affected my life in a major way, every way. All because of lies.
Freeman and Moss experiences mirrored the horror and turmoil that engulfed parts of Michigan four years ago. In the days following the election, throngs of Trump supporters converged on a vote-counting center in majority-Black Detroit, demanding that officials stop the count and stop the steal and that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer be locked up.
Crucially, election-related threats can be much subtler, though this doesnt mean that theyre any less of a menace to the countrys young, fragile multiracial democracy.
We also have to worry about things such as mass challenges to the eligibility of tons and tons of voters to cast their ballots, Badat explained, referring to the door-knocking operations of pro-Trump advocates that intimidate voters and seed doubt and confusion.
In a recent letter, the LDF urged South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson to make plain in a public statement that voter intimidation is a crime, pointing to reports about plans to harass voters in the Palmetto State in November.
Regardless of what these threats look like, the intent behind them never varies. The aim, Badat said, is simple: to prevent certain groups from participating fully in our democracy.
Safety hotlines, panic buttons, other security measures
Over the past several months, election officials and grassroots organizers have been working overtime to stave off these looming dangers.
In Pennsylvania, the countrys biggest battleground state, officials dont want a repeat of what happened after Election Day in 2020, when they were targeted by Trump, who peddled false accusations of fraud.
The state has launched an election hotline, operated by its Department of State. Voters and poll workers can call (877) VOTESPA to report threats of violence. They can also submit a complaint online.
While individuals may have profound disagreements and differences about our politics, the way we address those disagreements in this country must be peaceful, through the political process, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a media release, which came after the assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in the Keystone State.
My Administration stands ready to make sure Pennsylvanians have the freedom and opportunity to express their political views peacefully and to participate in safe and secure elections, Shapiro went on.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump demonstrate at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, after the 2020 election. Michigan is implementing a new system this year to provide election personnel with greater security. (John Moore/Getty Images)
Similarly, polling stations in parts of Michigan and Georgia are being equipped with panic buttons or comparable alert systems to allow election workers to contact authorities if an interaction goes sideways.
[The Michigan Department of State] is in the process of developing a Poll Worker Alert System designed to be available to election workers throughout the General Election early voting period and on Election Day, Angela Benander, the director of communications and media relations in Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Bensons office, told Capital B in a statement.
In case of emergencies, election workers will continue to call 911. However, the tool provides an easy and discreet means for poll workers to alert Department staff to issues that do not rise to the level of an emergency but are urgent or concerning and need immediate attention, Benander added. The pilot version of the tool uses a QR code that can be scanned to easily send specific messages to the Departments command center.
While some of these measures include bringing in the police, organizers warn against over-reliance on law enforcement, given the fraught relationship between the police and Black voters.
As an alternative, many advocates are leaning into more community-centered methods. The North Carolina Black Alliance, for instance, has created a loose network of attorneys called the Black Legal Network to heighten protection at the polls.
We think that adding not just lawyers but Black lawyers from local communities to poll presence work will create more trust in the system, Yolanda Taylor, a program attorney for the North Carolina Black Alliance, told Capital B. We hope that if people can see our lawyers doing election protection work and wearing something such as a lanyard or a T-shirt that identifies them as Black legal observers or attorneys theyll come to us if they have questions or complaints. They wont decide to leave, feeling frustrated or disenfranchised.
She noted that Black attorneys have always played a central role in civil rights movements, so it makes sense that they step up again this election cycle.
Faiths United to Save Democracy, a coalition of faith leaders that partners with the LDF, is engaging in the same sort of work, training poll chaplains and then deploying them to voting sites across the country, especially in the South.
The goal is to have individuals who are trusted members of the community who are seen as kind of neutral members of the community available at polling stations to deescalate potentially tense situations, Badat said. Thats really important.
Taking the steps above could help to remedy some of the turnover issues that have beleaguered election offices in recent years, as increasingly tumultuous environments have pushed poll workers to resign from their posts.
On a deeper level, beefing up election protections would pave the way for contests that are freer and fairer that are, ultimately, more democratic.
Im nervous. [Trump and his followers] are fueled by hate and aggression and fake news and misogyny and every horrible thing you can think of. And were living in a world where the law seems to give them permission to do whatever they want, said Lesesne, the Pittsburgh poll worker.
I just want to do the job, she added. I just want to make sure that the rights of voters are protected.
The post Black Election Workers Brace for Security Threats appeared first on Capital B News.
On Tuesday, Marcellus Williams, 55, was executed by lethal injection after being convicted of breaking into the home of Missouri woman Lisha Gayle in 1998 and stabbing her to death.
His 24 years on death row and subsequent execution are marred with controversy: Williams attorney questioned jury selection at his trial as well as the handling of evidence, which led to a clemency petition. The petition also emphasized the fact that both the prosecutor in the case as well as the victims family objected to the execution and instead wanted the death sentence commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The outrage from Black folks online regarding Williams execution was palpable.
Approximately 13% of the people in the U.S. are Black.
Approximately 41% of the people on death row are Black.
FORTY-ONE PERCENT.
This isnt injustice. This is bloodlust.
We have to view, address and respond to that reality in accord. #MarcellusWilliams ashley yates (@brownblaze) September 24, 2024
Ashley Yates, known as @brownblaze, pointed out on X that Approximately 13% of the people in the U.S. are Black. Approximately 41% of the people on Death Row are Black...This isnt injustice. This is bloodlust.
Why do they want to kill this man so much? Its so unbelievably ghastly to want to take a life even with so many parties, including witnesses, coming out against this. What is the point of such barbarism? https://t.co/J0bansLqXb Zito (@_Zeets) September 24, 2024
Another X user, @_Zeets, wrote: Why do they want to kill this man so much? Its so unbelievably ghastly to want to take a life even with so many parties, including witnesses, coming out against this. What is the point of such barbarism?
May Khaliifah Williams rest in power and in perfect peace, may we honor him by resisting this anti-Black genocidal empire. I will sit with his words forever. pic.twitter.com/aXXFUUVrPB L (@lzreads) September 24, 2024
On X, @lzreads shared one of Williams poems with the caption: May Khaliifah Williams rest in power and in perfect peace, may we honor him by resisting this anti-Black genocidal empire. I will sit with his words forever.
in true politician fashion, she said absolutely nothing about marcellus khalifah williams or his case until he passed and she could use his death as a political talking point https://t.co/DafdYNSlZ9 jill scott heron (@stillnotziora) September 25, 2024
Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson stood by the decision to execute Williams and hoped that his death would conclude a case that languished for decades, revictimizing Ms. Gayles family over and over again, according to Associated Press.
Williams got reprieves in 2015 and 2017 from execution. However, Parson and the state Supreme Court rejected his appeals in rapid succession Monday, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene.
When Democratic U.S. representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted We must abolish the death penalty on Tuesday, X user @stillnotziora questioned the politicians timing.
In true politician fashion, [Ocasio-Cortez] said absolutely nothing about marcellus khalifah williams or his case until he passed and she could use his death as a political talking point, they wrote.
Williams was the third Missouri inmate put to death in 2024 and the 100th since the state started using the death penalty again in 1989.
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Joann Woodson of Clarksburg stands next to the portrait of her late husband, Army Staff Sgt. Waverly Woodson Jr., who on Tuesday was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his gallantry on D-Day. Photo by Katharine Wilson/Capital News Service
By Katharine Wilson
WASHINGTON Before his landing craft reached Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day, 21 year-old Army Cpl. Waverly Woodson Jr., a combat medic, was injured by intense shell fire.
His shrapnel wounds quickly dressed, Woodson worked tirelessly for 30 hours to save the lives of an estimated 200 soldiers as German fire raked the crowded sand.
On Tuesday, Woodson received posthumous recognition for his actions on that day in June 1944 after decades of advocacy from his family. The Army honored Woodson, a Clarksburg resident after the war, with the Distinguished Service Cross, the highest honor the Army can bestow on its own authority, in a ceremony on Capitol Hill.
The medal was laid on Omaha Beach before being presented to his widow, Joann Woodson, now 95.
His son, Stephen Woodson, 66, said this award has given the family closure.
All throughout the years, my dad never really complained about never being honored for what he had done, he considered that to be his duty, Stephen Woodson said. To have him receive an honor of this stature is just absolutely incredible.
The family has fought more than 20 years for Woodson to be recognized for his devotion to duty on D-Day. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined the effort in 2015.
Weve been working to right this wrong, Van Hollen said. This is an example of people coming together to help make our country strong.
But Woodsons bravery merits even more, say the family and Van Hollen, who have campaigned for him to receive the Medal of Honor. He was recommended for the award after his service in World War II, but the honor was never bestowed. Woodson left the service in 1952, having risen to the rank of staff sergeant.
Van Hollen told the packed audience at Tuesdays ceremony that there is only one reason Woodson was denied the honor: the color of his skin.
All throughout the years, my dad never really complained about never being honored for what he had done, he considered that to be his duty. To have him receive an honor of this stature is just absolutely incredible.
Stephen Woodson, son
Woodson was a member of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, the only all-Black battalion to storm the Normandy beaches during Operation Overlord, the massive Allied assault on German defenses along Frances Normandy coast.
No Black soldiers who served in World War II were given the Medal of Honor until 1997, when seven servicemen were finally honored. By that time, Woodsons crucial military paperwork had been destroyed in a 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in Overland, Missouri.
Without that paperwork, the Army determined that there was not enough evidence to upgrade Woodsons honors.
It wasnt until the work of historian and journalist Linda Hervieux, who wrote the book Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Days Black Heroes, at Home and at War, gained popularity that the Army took notice.
Capt. Kevin Braafladt, 1st Army Support Command historian, took up where Hervieux left off to uncover enough evidence of Woodsons service to open the door for the Distinguished Service Cross and, as the Woodson family hopes, may eventually allow for Woodson to receive the Medal of Honor.
Many of us thought this day would never come, Hervieux said. Its very hard to write history. Its very hard to give the Army the proof that it wants. Its nice to know as a reporter, sometimes you can do something that makes a difference.
Woodson didnt talk about his experiences in the Army until 1994, the 50th anniversary of D-Day. The French government had sponsored a trip for Woodson and his wife, Joann, to visit Normandy.
I was wondering how he was going to take it, you know, to be walking right back over the ground where there was so much fighting and everything, Joann Woodson said.
The trip was emotional, she said. Her husband was surprised to receive such a recognition from the French government who, she remembers him saying, paid more attention than the Americans did.
It was hard for Woodson to speak about D-Day with anyone, including his own son. In the few instances he did talk about the beaches of Normandy, his son recalled, one story was always repeated more than any acknowledgement of the hundreds of people he saved.
When his father got to shore, Stephen Woodson said, there was one soldier calling out for a doctor. The soldier was dying quickly, his body blown in half.
My dad could do nothing for him, other than console him, Stephen Woodson said.
Woodson stayed with the soldier and performed last rites.
That is the most emotional thing that he talked about in all of D-Day, Stephen Woodson said.
His father never sought recognition and never talked about how he was overlooked, Stephen Woodson said. Instead, his son said, he was driven to save lives.
After the war, Woodson and his family moved to Clarksburg from their home state of Pennsylvania.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Stephen Woodson said, there were very few doctors in the area open to serving Black patients. His father stepped in to help once again. Affectionately called Doc Woodson, Waverly Woodson would perform medical checkups for families who lived nearby.
While he was never able to become a licensed physician due to limited medical school options for Black Americans, Woodson with his strong medical experience and training in the Army was able to provide medical care for dozens of families.
Woodson died in 2005 at the age of 83.
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Although he did not live to see his service properly recognized, his widow said her husband would have loved an event with family and friends mingling like the ceremony that was held on Tuesday.
He was so good to everybody, Joann Woodson said. Our house was always open to all of the family. So if he were here, hed love this.
As Army Lt. Gen. Mark Landes looked at a photo of Woodson, propped up next to him at the Capitol Hill ceremony, he said that Woodson embodied the greatest legacy of our Army and our nation: ordinary Americans who become extraordinary.
For the better part of eight decades, his contributions to one of the most iconic operations of modern military history, D-Day, have remained unrecognized and forgotten, Landes said. It may have remained unsung for far too long, but a legacy it still is.
Stephen Woodson said his father is living through him and the rest of the family every day.
He deserved to know what his country thinks of him, Stephen Woodson said. Even 80 years later, hes smiling down on us right now.
Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina who described himself as a black NAZI on a porn website, also wrote a comment defending Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers use of the N-word during a drunken outburst in 2010, the Daily Beast has found.
The comment reads, A drunken Irishman says n----r. Whats next? Bears that crap in the woods?! Get over it people.
It was left under an article on the now-defunct Black news site, the Urban Daily, which covered Meyers slur-laden rant against a United Airlines employee at New York Citys John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Desiree Navarro
Meyers, who was a rising star in Hollywood after appearing in films like Bend It Like Beckham, experienced a career downturn as a result of his struggles with alcohol and drug use and a slew of personal tragedies.
Although the comment was no longer visible on the article, the Beast was able to access it through an archive of old comments left on the content-management platform WordPress. It was posted by an account with Robinsons infamous minisoldr username, which was tied to the gubernatorial candidates personal email.
Screenshot
It was the same account from which Robinson reportedly posted a comment that said that police should have shot civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton.
The unearthed comment is just the latest in a string of damning updates to Robinsons racist, lewd, and bizarre digital footprint. He has denied making the commentsand has committed to remaining in the race for governoreven as the GOP, along with Donald Trump, increasingly distances itself from him.
Robinson announced yesterday his hiring of a law firm founded by a long-time Trump attorney to investigate CNN, which released the original report linking Robinson to the offensive comments.
As Ive said from the beginning, the claims from CNN are salacious lies, Robinson wrote in a press release. I will not let these attacks distract us from sharing a better future for our state.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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A bleak new look at exactly what our children are doing on their phones | Opinion
The new documentary series Social Studies, premiering this week, is one of the most disturbing things Ive ever watched. And its because I got to see what teenagers do on their phones all day.
Parents have no idea whats going on, explained the filmmaker Lauren Greenfield, speaking after a screening last Friday. Theres this whole world parents dont know about.
Greenfield got to see this hidden world by convincing a group of Los Angeles high schoolers to do the unthinkable share their screens and let filmmakers record everything thats pinging across their phone-fried brains while they sit in class or laze around their bedrooms. We dont just glimpse what the kids post in public, but the whole crazed universe of what they see and share on those addictive little rectangles.
The view is bleak. Sex. Distraction. Harassment from peers and strangers. More sex. Infinite scrolls of mindless garbage what the tech companies call content fed by soulless algorithms designed to stoke every anxiety, insecurity, and desire that plagues teenage life. These kids TikTok feeds make Euphoria look like a Bluey episode. A woman behind me just kept mumbling, Jesus as she watched.
While there are LA-specific dramas in this tale I did not get invited to any drug-fueled warehouse raves during my high school years in Raleigh, North Carolina Greenfield warns that Social Studies isnt about a specific place or subculture. Its about the bizarre, amoral, mind-fracking world where we send our kids every time we let them pick up a phone.
That disturbing world has been hidden on purpose. Greenfields crew had to write special code to capture the activity on the teens phones, because the companies that make their money from ever-increasing screen time dont want a record of how that time is spent.
Typical American teenagers spend about half their waking hours on their smartphones, the New York Times reported last year. That is a fundamentally inhumane approach to life. Half of every teenage day is not spent talking to fellow humans in real life; learning in any meaningful way; exploring or exercising; daydreaming or reading.
The downstream effects of all this are bad enough, from falling academic achievement to poor relationship health. But Greenfields documentary left me with an aching sadness not for these kids futures, but for their present for the anxious, unfocused void that occupies so many of their fading hours on this earth. On some deep level, the kids feel it, too. They all said that if they could, they would rather not have it, Greenfield said, referring to the social media apps that consume teenage life. They were jealous of their parents not having it.
The scholar Christine Rosen, in her excellent new book The Extinction of Experience, insists that we start heeding the moral and ethical intuitions familiar to every parent. How will this impact our community? Is it good for families? Does it support or undermine our values? she writes. If we are to reclaim human virtues and save our most deeply rooted human experiences from extinction, we must be willing to place limits on the more extreme transformative projects proposed by our techno-enthusiasts.
No project of the last few decades has been more extreme than wasting half of adolescence on smartphones. I have three younger kids, and they are vibrant, noisy, curious little beings with a bottomless craving for attention and contact until theres a screen within eyeshot. Then they become tiny zombies, their rowdy minds gone quiet before the glow.
I dont want to spend the next decade fighting daily battles for the human version of my children. The hallmark of a freethinking, democratic society ought to be that when we find something harmful, especially to children, we fix it. We used to send kids to work in coal mines, and now thats illegal. We used to fly around on airplanes full of cigarette smoke, and now thats illegal. We used to paint baby cribs with lead, and now thats illegal.
School administrators are belatedly starting to ban phones during the school day. State and federal lawmakers are finally working on legislation to hold tech companies liable for negligent harm to young people, and those efforts have bipartisan appeal.
Its time to confront the consequences of plugging our young people into the Matrix for half their waking lives. Its time for childhood by algorithm to end.
Community columnist Eric Johnson lives in Chapel Hill and works for the UNC System. The views expressed here are his own.
A lone mule deer that was found blind and emaciated in Custer County, Idaho, this summer had the plague, the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine announced Sept. 18.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game was notified of the sick mule deer on June 9, when a member of the public saw it stumbling around on private land in Custer County. After locating the animal the next day, an IDFG officer euthanized it. The agency sent a variety of tissue samples, including the deers eyeballs, to the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine for disease testing. Those test results show that the deer was carrying plague in its eyes, which caused the blindness. The lab did not specify whether the sick deer was a doe or a buck.
Plague, also known as black plague, is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which occurs naturally in the western U.S. and passes through the food chain in various vector species like rodents and fleas. Only five other cases of deer contracting plague have been recorded by disease pathologists in the U.S., including in Wyoming and Oregon. This is Idahos first confirmed case of plague in deer.
Deer and other ruminants dont appear to be particularly susceptible to plague, but in the few published cases, it has specifically been found in the eyes, WADDL pathology resident Dr. Elis Fisk said in the press release. The disease doesnt necessarily kill the deer on its own, but it causes blindness, likely making them vulnerable to predators and significantly reducing their chances of survival.
The deers eyes were highly abnormal, Fisk explained. Eyeballs are usually full of clear fluids that help maintain their structure and internal pressure. But when pathologists cut into this deers eyes, they were instead filled with thick, reddish-brown debris. Fisk also described finding detached retinas, severe inflammation, and necrosis (an accumulation of dead tissue).
Because plague is so rare in deer, the team at WADDL didnt automatically assume it was to blame, pathologist Dr. Kyle Taylor said in the press release. A variety of different bacteria could have caused the same issue.
But it seemed prudent to test for plague to rule it out, especially since the samples could still have contained live bacteria, posing a safety risk to anyone handling them, Taylor said. The chances were small since proper safety protocols were followed, but its not something you want to overlook because plague is a potentially fatal disease, yet treatable if caught early.
Plague is usually transmitted to humans through bites from infected fleas, according to the World Health Organization. But it can also be transmitted via inhalation of airborne droplets or contact with infected tissue. In humans, it manifests as either bubonic plague in the lymphatic system or pneumonic plague in the respiratory system. Both can be fatal without proper antibiotic treatment. Lab testing is the only way to confirm a plague diagnosis.
Read Next: 9 Deer Diseases Every Hunter Should Know
Wildlife officers found the deer on private land, and everyone who came in close contact with it tested negative for the disease, IDFG public information supervisor Roger Phillips tells KREM2 News. Even the landowners dog tested negative, and there werent any other signs of animals with plague in the vicinity.
As Tyler points out, most deer that contract ocular plague die of predation or starvation before anyone spots them, making this discovery an outlier.
Its probably just a super rare finding that anyone came across this animal before it died in the wild, Taylor said.
By Humeyra Pamuk
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday the risk of escalation in the Middle East was "acute" and that Washington and its allies were working tirelessly to avoid a full-blown war between Israel and Iran-aligned Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
"With regard to Lebanon, we've been working tirelessly with partners to avoid a full-blown war and to move to a diplomatic process that would allow Israelis and Lebanese alike to go back to their homes," Blinken said at the start of a meeting with senior officials and ministers of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in New York.
"Risk of escalation in the region is acute..The best answer is diplomacy, and our coordinated efforts are vital to preventing further escalation," he added.
A senior State Department official on Monday said that the United States and its allies and partners are exploring concrete ideas this week on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly that convenes in New York, an event that brings dozens of heads of state and senior officials together.
Israel widened its airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday and shot down a missile that Hezbollah said it had fired at the Mossad spy service headquarters near Tel Aviv, ratcheting up the conflict between the two arch-foes.
The hostilities between them run in parallel to Israel's war in Gaza against Hamas and have been intensifying, with the death toll in Lebanon rising and thousands of people fleeing their homes.
Washington has also been pushing for months to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza that will bring the hostages back, but success has proven elusive. U.S. officials say such a deal would also help calm tensions between Hezbollah and Israel.
"Each of us has to continue to press all of the parties to make the decisions necessary to get this deal over the finish line. It remains again, the best way to get hostages home, bring relief to people, and also can help us reduce tensions on other fronts," Blinken said.
Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, while abducting 250 others, triggering the latest round of fighting in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In response, Israel launched a relentless military offensive on Gaza that killed more than 40,000 people, according to Palestinian officials, and reduced the tiny enclave to a wasteland.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Editing by William Maclean)
Boeing factory workers reported being pressured to prioritize speed of production over the quality of their work, according to findings from a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) probe into the company released on Wednesday.
Mike Whitaker, the FAA administrator, will testify about the findings on Wednesday afternoon before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, whose members received a memo on the FAA report.
Given the depth and history of Boeings safety deficiencies, its lack of candor with the FAA, and the agencys reactive regulatory posture, the newly released information raises questions about the effectiveness of the FAAs oversight of the company, the memo said.
The findings spotlight Boeings inadequate training for manufacturing personnel and failure to conduct sufficient quality inspections, according to CNN, which obtained the memo.
The agencys six-week audit of Boeing uncovered a wide array of problems, from improper safety measurements to missing bolts in planes like the Alaska Airlines 737 Max plane that had a door plug fly off in mid-air during a January flight.
The incident drew a sanction from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued in June.
However, the memo cites whistleblower warnings dating back more than a decade, which raised questions about Boeings ability to timely source and track aircraft parts and ensure faulty parts were not used in aircraft production.
Whitaker and the FAA maintain that they are now providing aggressive oversight of the company ensuring that they fix systemic production-quality issues by issuing airworthiness certificates for every newly produced Boeing 737 MAX.
The FAA also shared that it participates in weekly meetings with the company to review their performance metrics, progress, and any challenges theyre facing in implementing the changes.
Boeing officials say they are taking responsibility for their actions and moving forward with transparency.
Our culture is far from perfect, but we are taking action and making progress, David Calhoun, the companys CEO, told the Senate Committee in June. We understand the gravity, and we are committed to moving forward with transparency and accountability, while elevating employee engagement.
Since then, Boeing says theyve taken important steps to foster a safety culture that empowers and encourages all employees to share their voice, but it will require continuous focus. Under the FAAs oversight, we are continuing to implement our comprehensive plan to strengthen Boeings safety management, quality assurance and safety culture.
The Hill reached out to the FAA and Senate subcommittee for additional comments.
Updated at 12:38 pm EDT.
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BOGALUSA, La. (WGNO) A Bogalusa man was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the case of a fatal crash that claimed the life of an unborn baby.
According to the Office of District Attorney Collin Sims, on July 23, 2023, officers with the Bogalusa Police Department were called to the scene of a crash at 1:04 a.m. in the 600 block of Columbia Street.
An investigation of the scene determined that 27-year-old Charles Dyson was headed north on Columbia Street when, for unknown reasons, he crossed the center lane crashing head on into an oncoming vehicle.
New Orleans rapper Choppa in recovery following car crash
Officers said upon impact, Dyson and his two passengers were ejected from the car leaving one dead and the other paralyzed from neck down.
Dyson also suffered serious injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
The driver of the second vehicle was an eight-month pregnant woman whose unborn child died as a result of the crash. Her passenger also suffered major injuries and was taken to hospitals with the other survivors.
Court documents noted Dysons speech was slurred as he spoke to officers and that there was a strong odor of alcohol.
Dysons blood alcohol level was recorded at 0.12%. Additionally, toxicology analysis results indicated THC was present in his blood system. Officers report Dyson had used marijuana before the crash.
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The Louisiana State Police and Bogalusa Police Department determined Dyson was driving over 117 mph at the time of the crash.
On Sept. 23, Dyson was sentenced to 15 years in prison. His sentence includes 10 years for vehicular homicide and five years for third-degree feticide in addition to charges of third offense DWI and three counts of first-degree vehicular negligent injuring.
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LONDON, Ky. (FOX 56) Kentucky State Police are investigating a bomb threat Tuesday at the cookie factory in London.
According to a Facebook post from the London Police Department around 4:30 p.m., Kentucky State Police and the London Police Department responded to a bomb threat at Hearthside Food Solutions in London.
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Police said the building was evacuated and the building was searched.
The department said two searches were completed, including the use of explosive detection canines.
Employees will be returning to the building, per the department.
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Kentucky State Police are continuing to investigate the original complaint that came through their tipline.
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This article was originally published by The 19th.
The number of books banned in public schools over the past year skyrocketed to more than 10,000, with two states Iowa and Florida responsible for most of them, according to preliminary findings released by PEN America on Monday.
The report comes during Banned Books Week, which first began in 1982 to raise awareness about the importance of free and openly accessible information.
The rise in banned books during the 2023-24 school year nearly tripling from 3,362 bans PEN recorded the previous year can be attributed partly to the singling out of books about romance and womens sexual experiences and those about rape or sexual abuse, according to PEN America, a nonprofit advocating for the protection of free expression. Books with LGBTQ+ or racial themes or characters from marginalized groups also continue to be targeted.
PEN Americas report does not reflect the banning of unique titles, so if a dozen school districts all banned the same book, it would count as 12 bans, a PEN representative explained.
A number of books, many of which are works by women of color, showed up on PEN Americas Index of School Book Bans for the first time over the past year. They include Julia Alvarezs 1991 novel, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, about four immigrant sisters from the Dominican Republic a popular pick for readers during Latinx Heritage Month. Other recent entries to the index include Amy Tans novel about the Chinese-American daughter of an immigrant mother, The Kitchen Gods Wife (1991); Terry McMillans romance novel How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1996); and Ellen Ohs novel inspired by her mothers experiences during the Korean War, Finding Junie Kim (2021).
Agatha Christies Death on the Nile (1937), Betty Smiths A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943), Olive Ann Burns Cold Sassy Tree(1984), Barbara Kingsolvers Prodigal Summer (2000) and Julie Murphys Puddin (2018) also debuted on the index.
The 1953 novel Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin, a champion of civil and gay rights, appeared on the index for the first time, as did books related to slavery such as Alex Haleys Roots: The Saga of An American Family (1976) and W.E.B. DuBois Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880 (1935). Philip K. Dicks 1968 dystopian novel Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) debuted on the index, too.
More than a dozen new state and local policies contributed to the escalation of book bans over the past year. They include Iowas SF 496, which took effect last year and has been interpreted to mean that books with sexual or gender themes should be barred. According to PEN America, the law prompted thousands of book bans during the 2023-24 school year, compared with just 14 bans in the state during the previous school year.
Floridas HB 1069, which also took effect last year, mandates that books challenged for sexual conduct must be removed as they undergo review. PEN America said the statutory process the law created for book banning and the state guidance building on it has led to a spike in statewide book bans. In Florida and Iowa combined, roughly 8,000 book bans were recorded.
In Wisconsin, the Elkhorn Area School District banned more than 300 books for months on end, PEN America found. The books were removed after a single parent challenged them, but after the district reviewed the titles, they were eventually returned to the shelves, albeit with restrictions such as parental permission to check out certain titles. The organization expects newly enacted laws such as Utahs HB 29, South Carolinas Regulation 43-170 and Tennessees HB 843 to cause more book bans this school year.
The Utah law requires all schools in the state to ban a book once three school districts have found it objectionable. South Carolinas regulation bans books with sexual subject matter and gives the state Board of Education the ability to censor works statewide. The Tennessee law requires schools to remove books with gratuitous violence or sexual content.
To mark Banned Books Week, the American Library Association (ALA) has also released preliminary data related to censorship, focusing on book bans in public, school and academic libraries between January 1 and August 31. ALAs Office for Intellectual Freedom said it identified 414 attempts to censor works and that there were documented challenges to 1,128 unique book titles.
The number of attempts to censor books actually fell this year compared with last years 695 cases, the ALA found. The organization attributes this to widespread efforts to stop censorship. Librarians, students and concerned community members have organized against book banning in recent years, and book banning disputes have gone to court. This includes a federal courts preliminary injunction on Arkansas Act 372, which would open librarians and bookstore owners in the state to criminal prosecution if they failed to remove unsuitable works from their shelves.
Censorship is an issue that has drawn attention from the 2024 presidential candidates. Former President Donald Trumps campaign platform accuses President Joe Bidens administration of using the public school system to push their perverse sexual, racial and political material on our youth. In July, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, criticized book bans while speaking to the American Federation of Teachers union in Texas.
While you teach students about our nations past, these extremists attack the freedom to learn and acknowledge our nations true and full history, she said. We want to ban assault weapons, and they want to ban books. Can you imagine?
The theme of this years Banned Books Week theme is Freed Between the Lines to draw attention to how liberating reading can be. The week ends Saturday with Let Freedom Read Day to urge communities to fight censorship. Film director Ava DuVernay is the 2024 honorary chair of the day, while activist Julia Garnett, who fought book bans in Tennessee, is the youth honorary chair.
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Boston teachers delivered thousands of handwritten postcards to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu in their ongoing demands for better pay and classroom conditions.
Teachers in the states largest school district are weeks into the new school year with an expired contract.
The Boston Teachers Union and the Boston School Committee have held dozens of bargaining sessions since February 29th, and nearly seven months later, proposals still havent been figured out.
Teachers who participated in the postcard delivery to Boston City Hall on Tuesday said its not just affecting them but also their students on a daily basis.
They are feeling that they can no longer sustain doing the job that they love because theyre being asked to do two or three jobs at once, said Boston Teachers Union President Erik Berg.
The postcards are calling on Mayor Wu to support improved pay for teachers and paraprofessionals and for a properly staffed approach to the inclusion model that is used in Boston Public School classrooms.
We heard from folks some of our professionals who make less than $30,000 a year working full-time who are unable to live in the city that they serve, and in some cases, not even able to find housing at all, added Berg.
Boston 25 News reached out to Mayor Wus office for a response to Tuesdays postcard delivery and have not yet heard back.
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A 15-year-old boy has been sentenced for throwing beer barrels at police during a violent city protest.
The boy, who cannot be named due to his age, was sentenced to a 12 month referral order at Bristol Youth Court earlier.
He pleaded guilty to violent disorder, which included pushing members of the public and aggressively gesticulating towards officers, at Bristol Magistrates' Court on 20 August.
The unrest occurred when hundreds of far-right protesters and a counter-protest group gathered for two demonstrations near Castle Park in Bristol on 3 August.
Twelve months is the maximum amount of time a referral order can be imposed, and obliges youth offenders to agree to a contract of rehabilitative and restorative activities.
Avon and Somerset Police Det Ch Insp Tom Herbert said: "This boy's behaviour was reckless and completely unacceptable and it is right that he was sentenced in court today."
He added that the boy was the 25th person to be sentenced for their involvement in the disorder and that police had so far arrested 51 people - charging 40.
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BLUFFTON, S.C. (WSAV) The Bluffton Police Department (BPD) is investigating alleged threats against Beaufort County Schools.
The investigation comes after parents were sent a letter regarding alleged threats made on social media. The threats are currently seen as non-credible, but the BPD continues to operate out of an abundance of caution.
The letter reads as follows:
Dear Families,
In recent weeks, schools nationwide have been informed of potential threats on social media. We are writing to let you know we were informed today of a TikTok social media post referencing a potential threat this week at Bluffton Middle School (9/25), H.E. McCracken Middle School (9/24), Red Cedar Elementary School (9/26), M.C. Riley Elementary School (9/27), and Bluffton Elementary School (9/23) that has been reported to law enforcement who is investigating. Out of an abundance of caution, there will be an increased law enforcement presence at these schools.
As a reminder, any individuals making school threats are fully subject to law enforcement and school disciplinary action.
We are thankful for our law enforcement partners commitment to the well-being and safety of our school community.
BPD says that in addition to increasing school resource officers inside the buildings, officers will focus patrol routes in the parking lots and roads neighboring each campus for at least the next few days.
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Spanish authorities recently announced that five people were arrested this year and face fraud and money laundering charges after posing as Brad Pitt online and scamming two women out of over $350,000, The New York Times reports. The arrests were announced in a statement on Sept. 23 by Spains Interior Ministry. Three online scammers were arrested last November and two more were arrested in July.
Per The New York Times: The statement said the accused had contacted the women through an online fan page dedicated to Mr. Pitt and posed as the Oscar-winning American actor. The authorities said the accused had gone on to exchange instant messages and emails with their victims, who thought they were corresponding directly with Mr. Pitt.
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The online scammers managed to make these women believe they had become so close to the well-known American actor that they believed they had a romantic relationship with him, the statement added. Authorities said the Pitt imposters then asked for money. One women sent them about $168,000 and another sent around $195,500. Only $94,000 has been recovered so far as part of the investigation.
Pitts publicist Matthew Hiltzik issued a statement to The Times that reads: Its awful that scammers take advantage of fans strong connection with celebrities. But this is an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence.
The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood actor remains offline and does not have official social media accounts on platforms such as Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and more.
Pitt has been making the press rounds recently in support of his crime comedy Wolfs, which streams Sept. 27 on Apple TV+.
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PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) A web series highlighting colleges across the country has made a stop in Peoria.
The College Tour will feature Bradley University in its 13th season, which is currently filming. The series was created by former The Amazing Race winner Alex Boylan.
Each episode of the series focuses on a different college. According to the shows website, the goal is to showcase all aspects of the different schools, featuring real students as hosts and guides.
Ten Bradley students were chosen to participate in filming for the episode. The show is currently on campus and will be filming until Friday.
You can watch episodes of The College Tour on Amazon Prime, Tubi, or on the shows website.
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By a narrow margin, the faculty at Brandeis University voted in favor of the motion of no confidence against its university president Ronald Liebowitz partly over his "excessive" handling of on-campus protesters.
In an email, Chair of the Brandeis Faculty Senate Prof. Jeffrey Lenowitz told faculty members Monday the motion passed with 159 votes in favor, 149 votes in opposition, and 26 abstentions. Lenowitz said this vote represented 76.4% of the faculty.
"There were ten more votes in favor than against," Lenowitz wrote to Brandeis student paper "The Justice." "This reveals what our multiple faculty conversations and debates on it made clear: while faculty are united in their care for Brandeis and their great desire for it to flourish, they are divided on this motion."
This vote will now be taken to the Board of Trustees, who will decide whether to remove Liebowitz from his position and who will replace him.
Colleges Need Summer 'Do-over' After Raging Protests Left Jews On Campus Feeling Unsafe: Brandeis Student
Fox News Digital has reached out to Brandeis University for comment.
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The motion was first introduced on May 30 ahead of the 2024-2025 school year to discuss concerns about Liebowitzs leadership over issues like "badly handled budget shortfalls, failures of fundraising" and what faculty referred to as "excessive responses to student protests."
Brandeis University was one of multiple college campuses to be rocked by anti-Israel protesters over the Hamas terror attack against Israel last year. After protests grew nationwide, Brandeis, under Liebowitzs leadership, chose to no longer recognize the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) for its support for Hamas and the elimination of Israel.
About a month after the Oct. 7 terror attack, Liebowitz wrote an op-ed in the Boston Globe saying student organizations "should lose all privileges" if they called for violence.
Brandeis University disbarred the Students for Justice in Palestine for its support of Hamas.
"Most urgently, in this twilight zone moment when students and faculty seem to be enjoying their freedom to express grotesque language about Jews, Jewish life, and the Jewish state, Brandeis will uphold free speech rightly understood. Universities cannot stop hate speech, but they can stop paying for it. Brandeis will ensure that groups that receive privileges through their affiliations with the university, including using its name, will lose their affiliations and privileges when they spew hate," Liebowitz wrote.
Brandeis' Ejection Of Pro-palestinian Student Group Draws Mixed Reactions: 'What Are We Doing Now?'
He added, "Contrary to the prevalence of the BDS movement on college campuses, Brandeis will pursue closer ties with Israeli academic and cultural institutions and will encourage more universities to follow suit."
Although a slim majority of the faculty appear to be dissatisfied with Liebowitzs methods, Brandeis University was one of two colleges to receive an A grade over its handling of antisemitism and for promoting a safe environment for Jewish students, according to the Anti-Defamation League's Campus Antisemitism Report Card published in April.
Original article source: Brandeis University faculty votes 'no confidence' in president after 'excessive' crackdown on student protests
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No. 1 Alabama got knocked off. So did No. 4 Tennessee. And that wasn't close to the extent of the upsets during a wild day where nobody was safe from a stunning loss.
(Bloomberg) -- Former Conservative minister Michael Gove has been named as the new editor of The Spectator, less than a month after hedge fund manager Paul Marshall agreed to buy the politically influential British magazine for 100 million ($131 million).
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Gove, a former journalist who once ran to be Prime Minister, will replace Fraser Nelson on Oct. 4, according to Old Queen Street Media, a company owned by Marshall. In 2016, Gove was a proponent of the successful referendum campaign for Britain to leave the European Union a cause supported by Marshall.
It marks the end of an era under Nelson, who has led the right-leaning magazine known as the Tory bible since 2009. He presided over a broad church of columnists ranging from Matthew Parris, from the centrist section of the party known as one-nation conservatives, to more controversial and right-leaning writers such as Douglas Murray.
Nelson will continue to write for the magazine as associate editor.
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The appointment will give Gove a prominent voice after Tory members decide who will be the next leader of the UK opposition, with the outcome of the vote expected on Nov. 2. As one of the worlds oldest weekly magazines, The Spectator is highly influential among Conservative politicians and party members.
The Conservatives were in power from 2010 until June this year, when they suffered a thumping general election defeat to Labour.
A Brexit-supporter who also styles himself as socially liberal, Gove has historically been seen as a close ally and vocal supporter of Kemi Badenoch, one of the remaining four candidates to be the next Tory leader.
Gove previously competed in a leadership race himself, challenging Boris Johnson to become Prime Minister in 2019. Gove withdrew from the race after admitting to taking cocaine years earlier, paving the way for Johnson to enter Downing Street.
Johnson also edited the Spectator from 1999 to 2005.
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BRICK, NJ Brick Township Superintendent Thomas G. Farrell has been honored by a state association as a regional superintendent of the year.
Farrell, who is in his fifth year as superintendent of the Brick Township School District, was named Region III Superintendent of the Year for 2025 by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, the district and the association announced.
"Dr. Farrell is being recognized for his exceptional leadership, unwavering dedication to educational excellence, and innovative approach to fostering a supportive and engaging learning environment," said Richard G. Bozza, executive director of the NJASA.
"Under his guidance, his District has seen significant improvements in student performance, teacher development, and community engagement," Bozza said. "Dr. Farrell is committed to implementing forward-thinking policies and has an ability to inspire both staff and students alike."
Farrell, who has been a superintendent for 12 years total, began his tenure in Brick in March 2020, just days before schools across the state were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The pandemic coupled with the negative effects of S2 on the Brick School District certainly posed a challenge that Dr. Farrell met with courage, resilience, and positivity," the announcement said. "Dr. Farrell is a proven strategic leader in education, whose leadership skills translate organizational strategies into results in the best interest of all stakeholders."
Farrell, who serves as president of the Ocean County Association of School Administrators, and the other two regional superintendents of the year will now be considered for the New Jersey superintendent of the year, and that person will be eligible for consideration as the national superintendent of the year.
"This accomplishment recognizes Dr. Farrells exceptional leadership and commitment to providing student-centered instruction through teacher-led practice in a learning environment that fosters academic growth and interpersonal relationships," the announcement said. "It recognizes the Strategic Planning process, led by Dr. Farrell, which has garnered input from our community of stakeholders to cultivate greater support for our schools; thereby making Brick schools a proud extension of the community."
Brick Superintendent Honored For District's Improvements originally appeared on the Brick Patch
China News Service: We noted that at the just concluded 2024 World Manufacturing Convention, Chinese companies shared the latest innovations in commercial aerospace, humanoid robot, quantum computer, among others. Some commented that China is turning from a follower into a pacesetter in tech innovation. Do you have any further comment?
Lin Jian: Science and technology is the primary productive force, and innovation is the primary driver of development. The CPC and the Chinese government view tech innovation as the core of national development. After 75 years of relentless effort, China has established the most complete academic discipline system and the largest human resource pool, broken new ground in basic research and research of cutting-edge technologies, achieved new milestones in strategic high-tech fields, made new progress in innovation-driven high-quality development and accelerated the building of a higher-standard national innovation system. China ranked 12th in the 2023 Global Innovation Index released by WIPO, the only middle-income economy among the top 30.
In this globalized world where innovation factors flow across borders at scale like never before, no country can handle all difficulties in innovation alone, and humanity needs international cooperation, openness and sharing more than ever. Commitment to reform and opening up and mutually beneficial cooperation is the reason for Chinas leapfrog developmentthis is our invaluable experience. Having participated in and benefited from globalization, and also contributed to and worked for globalization, China advocates and practices open, fair, equitable and non-discriminatory cooperation, and is committed to working with other parties to explore a new model for global innovation and cooperation that is win-win for all, share resources, match complementary advantages, and jointly resolve common challenges and difficulties. Going forward, China will, as always, advance international innovation cooperation and contribute to building a better world for all.
Bloomberg: China said it will investigate US apparel maker PVH Corp. for suspected boycotting of cotton sourced from Xinjiang. The Ministry of Commerce asked PVH to submit a written response in 30 days on whether it has adopted discriminative measures against Xinjiang-related products in the last three years. If found at fault, PVH Corp. could be added to an unreliable entity list, according to a 2020 order released by China. Is this connected to the US governments plan of blocking the sale or import of vehicle software and hardware originating from China? And will China initiate similar investigations in more US companies?
Lin Jian: The Ministry of Commerce has made a response concerning the issue you asked about. Let me stress that the Chinese government is firmly committed to advancing high-standard opening up, upholding the multilateral trading system and defending the lawful rights and interests of various kinds of market entities. China always prudently handles issues related to the unreliable entity list, which only targets the very few foreign entities that undermine market rules and violate Chinese laws. Theres nothing to worry about for honest and law-abiding foreign entities.
CCTV: On September 24, at the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council, over 100 countries spoke up to support Chinas position on issues related to Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Xizang, and to oppose politicizing human rights issues. Whats Chinas comment?
Lin Jian: On September 24, at the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council held in Geneva, in response to the attacks and smears on Chinas human rights situation by the US and a handful of countries, over 100 countries supported Chinas just position and opposed the politicization of human rights issues in various ways, including making separate and joint statements. Cuba delivered a joint statement on behalf of nearly 80 countries. They stressed that issues related to Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Xizang are Chinas internal affairs. They spoke against the politicization of human rights issues, the application of double standards and interference in other countries internal affairs in the name of human rights. They called on parties to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, follow the principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity, and respect the right of people of all countries to independently choose development path in accordance with their national realities. China delivered a joint statement on behalf of member states of the Group of Friends on the Promotion of Human Rights through Dialogues and Cooperation. They called on the UN Human Rights Council to play its due role for countries to accumulate trust and advance cooperation through dialogue and exchanges. Statements were made in support of Chinas position by Uganda on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, Venezuela on behalf of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations, and Gambia on behalf of the African Group.
The fact that over 100 countries spoke up once again for justice and voiced support for China at the UN fully shows that the US and a handful of Western countries politicizing human rights issues finds no support in the international community, and such move is doomed to fail. China urges the US to deeply reflect on and earnestly address its domestic human rights issues, including racism, gun violence, social inequality, and infringement on the rights of refugees and immigrants, protect the human rights of its own citizens, stop interfering in other countries internal affairs and play a constructive role in international human rights cooperation.
Reuters: China said today that it has successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile to the high seas in the Pacific Ocean and that countries concerned have been notified in advance. A question is which countries did China notify and what path did the missile take?
Lin Jian: The Ministry of National Defense has released information on that. Id refer you to the Ministry of National Defense for your specific question.
Ukrinform News Agency: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with ABC News stated the Ukrainian side has evidence that Russia is using Chinese satellites to take a photo of nuclear power plants in Ukraine as part of preparations to potentially strike them. How can you comment on such a Ukrainian leaders statement?
Lin Jian: Im not familiar with what you mentioned.
Reuters: Follow up to my question. Has the Ministry received any objections from the countries that China notified about the missile launch or from any other countries as well?
Lin Jian: Id refer you to the Ministry of National Defense for your question.
Shenzhen TV: Its reported that in the Global Financial Centers Index 36 Report jointly published by the UKs Z/Yen and China Development Institute from Shenzhen, Hong Kong ranked third globally among 121 financial centers, moving up one place from the March issue of the index this year. Whats the Foreign Ministrys comment?
Lin Jian: Under One country, Two systems, Hong Kongs economy has flourished, and its status as an international financial, shipping and trading center continues to be consolidated. In particular, it remains a strong magnet with great influence and competitiveness as an international financial center, and has stayed among the top in the global financial centers index. The latest ranking represents another vote of confidence from the international community for Hong Kongs unique status and advantages and the promising prospects of One country, Two systems. We have every confidence in Hong Kongs outlook after it has restored order and is set to thrive. We welcome companies and talents from across the world to invest, do business and tap full potential there so as to benefit from Hong Kongs development and One country, Two systems.
Reuters: We have a follow-up question on the ballistic missile. Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary has said that the missile launch is a matter of serious concern for Japan and the international community. And we would like to seek a comment on this.
Lin Jian: The readout released by the Ministry of National Defense pointed out that this test launch is a routine arrangement in the annual training plan. It is in line with international law and international practice and is not directed against any country or target. Id suggest you direct the specific question to the Ministry of National Defense.
AFP: Israel said today that Hezbollah fired a missile on Tel Aviv for the first time ever. Is China concerned about the situation in the Middle East? Is China willing to facilitate a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah?
Lin Jian: At yesterdays press conference, I stated Chinas position on the current tensions between Lebanon and Israel. Let me reiterate that China calls on relevant parties to take measures immediately to cool down the situation, prevent further escalation of regional tensions, uphold peace and stability in the Middle East, and protect the safety of the people there. China stands ready to work with the international community towards this end.
MOSCOW, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- There are currently no ongoing negotiations on the resumption of the Black Sea grain deal, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.
Peskov said Moscow proceeds from previous challenges concerning the unsuccessful implementation of the deal.
Russia and Ukraine signed the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Turkiye in Istanbul in July 2022 under the auspices of the United Nations. The initiative allowed Ukraine to export grain and other agricultural products from its Black Sea ports.
On July 17, 2023, Russia suspended its participation in the Black Sea export deal. The Kremlin has indicated that Moscow would return to the agreement if necessary measures were implemented concerning Russia's agricultural exports.
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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.
Related video above shows crews on scene at the Route 20 bridge Wednesday afternoon
The Route 20 bridge over Twenty Mile Creek located in North East was closed earlier this year due to safety. Then on Wednesday, it came down in an unexpected way.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is in the process of replacing the bridge and this week, workers are in the demolition stage of the project.
The contactors plan was to only have one of the four spans of the bridge come down Wednesday morning but more came down with it instead.
PennDOT Press Officer Jill Harry said although it didnt happen precisely as planned, it happened the way they needed it to, which was to come down to be replaced, and no one was injured.
Everyone was safe and that it may seem very dramatic from the videos. This bridge was slated to come down and this really illustrates why so we needed to get it down because we wanted to keep everyone safe. We were keeping everyone safe during the project. We continue to everybody safe as were cleaning it up and then when the new bridge opens the drivers will be safe when they drive through here, said Harry.
She explained despite this development, it wont significantly change the timeline for finishing the bridge
The bridge is located on Route 20 (Main Street) over Twenty Mile Creek between the interchange with Interstate 90 and the New York state line in North East Township.
This is a developing story.
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NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (WTNH) A New Britain man caused $18,000 in damage to a gas pump when he set it on fire last week, according to police.
Police initially learned about the fire at about 4:10 a.m. on Sept. 10 when they were called to City Gas. Officers have noted that they received a call two hours earlier at Gulf Gas Station about another fire.
Nicholas Edward Slobodzian, 32, of New Britain, was found nearby wearing clothing matching the suspect, according to police. He had lighter fluid, paper and lighters in his backpack. Police said he also initially gave a fake name.
He has been charged with third-degree arson, second-degree breach of peace, first-degree criminal mischief, and interfering with an officer/resisting arrest.
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Drone flights will become regular and routine soon, according to the aviation regulator - Source: J Studios/Digital Vision
Fleets of autonomous drones will become an everyday sight in Britains skies within three years, the airspace regulator has said.
Under the plans, large-scale deployment of the unmanned aircraft will be rolled out by 2027, unlocking the ability to transport chemotherapy drugs to hospitals, mail to remote locations and defibrillators to emergencies.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it was preparing for regular and routine drone flights, which are currently only allowed in cordoned-off airspace to avoid the risk of collision with other aircraft.
Amazon said it was preparing to start drone deliveries in the UK by the end of the year, as part of a series of CAA trials.
The regulator said these trials would be the first step in allowing autonomous drones to share the skies with planes, helicopters and enthusiasts such as paragliders and model aircraft.
Drone flights have been slow to take off in Britain compared to the US and Europe, where regulations already allow packages and takeaways to be delivered aerially.
Britains crowded airspace has led to concerns from pilots that the vehicles are unsafe and need to be equipped with advanced collision avoidance technology.
The CAA said drone operators would need to demonstrate they had adequate detect and avoid technology as part of their widespread use.
It said the changes would create an agreed pathway to large scale routine operations within the UK.
To date, flights have only been allowed in Britain when airspace is set aside for drones. Amazon tested drone flights in Cambridgeshire but shut down the operation without making a single commercial delivery.
Amazon scrapped tests in Cambridgeshire, but has since announced plans to resume flights in the UK - Amazon
It has since announced plans to resume flights in the UK by the end of the year, although it has not said where they will take place.
Six operators including Amazon and the National Police Air Service are due to trial drone flights with the regulator this year. The CAA said it would update regulations over the coming years to pave the way for widespread flights by 2027.
Separately, Wing, a drone company owned by Google parent Alphabet, is set to transport blood samples between London hospitals in the coming weeks under a partnership with drone logistics company Apian.
Most drone flights in the UK require licensed operators to keep the aircraft within their line of sight and are manually controlled. There are now 601,980 registered drone pilots, according to the CAA. The regulator recorded 80 incidents involving the vehicles last year.
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GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) ECU Healths James and Connie Maynard Childrens Hospital has a new playroom thanks to the members of Pirates versus Cancer.
The group, full of students from the Brody School of Medicine, raises money that goes into a fund. This fund creates ways to give back to the community such as the new playroom installation.
Pirates versus Cancer has raised more than $150,000 since 2017, $17,000 of that was just last year alone, to make this come to fruition. The group has fundraisers each year to give back to the cancer patient community. Their biggest event includes cutting hair for cancer patients, making donations and asking for sponsorships from local businesses.
The playroom provides pediatric cancer patients with toys, board games and video games to all ages.
The Brody School students that are part of Pirates versus Cancer are all students who want to pursue a career in pediatrics, giving back to the patients and seeing them actually use the playroom for the first time is something the group cherishes the most.
To be able to be a part of such a big community event that raises money for a physical playroom that you can actually see. It impacts how we view medicine and our goals and drives to go into medicine, Katie Holt said.
Some of the sponsorships that have helped the movement were Rileys Army, Greenville Fire and Rescue and the Red Cross among others. The group is hoping for even more sponsorships in the future so they can continue to give back to the medical community.
The next big event for the group is next Spring, but if you want to show support before them, you can head to the Scare-Away-Cancer event on Oct. 27 at Pitt Street Brewing Company.
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Two people face charges after West Burlington police made a traffic stop, according to a news release.
Shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday, West Burlington Police in a fully marked squad car and in full uniform saw a black Chevrolet Colorado turn north onto West Burlington Avenue from Agency Street. Officers knew the registered owner did not have a valid drivers license, and conducted a traffic stop at West Burlington Avenue and East Pennington Street.
Dalton McKeown (L) and Breanna Villarreal (West Burlington Police Department)
The truck initially pulled over in the parking lot of Heartland Packaging, 506 W. Burlington Ave. Once officers opened their door to approach the truck, it took off at a high rate of speed. Officers initiated their siren, and the truck went north on West Burlington Avenue, running the stop sign at West Burlington Avenue and Mt. Pleasant Street, continuing north.
When officers approached Plank Road, they could not see where the truck was going. Officers saw the trucks brake lights westbound on Plank Road and realized its lights were off. The truck continued to flee to Highway 61. Burlington Police deployed stop sticks at Roosevelt and Sunnyside avenues, and that caused all but one tire to deflate.
The truck eventually stopped near Mt. Pleasant Street and Cottage Grove Avenue. The driver was identified as Dalton Mckeown and the passenger was identified as Breanna Villarreal, both of Burlington.
K9 Maverick was deployed and subsequently alerted to the odor of narcotics emanating from the truck. Villarreal was found to be in possession of marijuana and other controlled substances.
Dalton Mckeown is charged with eluding, a Class D felony, driving while barred, an aggravated misdemeanor, and other traffic offenses. Villareal was charged with an outstanding warrant as well as possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance-other (serious misdemeanors.)
Officers of the West Burlington Police Department were assisted by the Des Moines County Sheriffs Office and Burlington police.
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A bear nicknamed Nugget, badly burned in the Davis Fire and treated by veterinarians in the days that followed, has been euthanized, the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) said late Tuesday.
The 25-year-old bear was expected to be rehabilitated after third-degree burns to its paws, burns on its face and burns on its rump. But veterinarians at Animal Ark Wildlife Sanctuary and Nature Care, where Nugget was being cared for, determined that it was best to euthanize the bear.
Since Friday, the Davis Bears burns had taken a turn for the worse. Unfortunately, the necessary amputations would be so extensive that his general mobility would be impacted from foraging for food or climbing trees, Dr. Lesli Spears of Animal Ark said.
He is a wild animal, and this decision was made in his best interest to say goodbye, Spears said.
A bear nicknamed Nugget is bandaged and sedated after being found in Washoe Valley during the Davis Fire. (NDOW photo)
Spears and NDOW Wildlife Health Specialist Dr. Nate LaHue made the decision to euthanize Nugget.
Animal Arks Director, Theresa Owens, said, We gave our best efforts to rehabilitate him. He had a quiet, safe space in his den, food, water, pain medication and rubber mats to cushion his steps. Theres not much else that we could have done.
Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District personnel gave Nugget his nickname when they found him after a report in Washoe Valley. NDOW thanked the caller and the fire district for their efforts to get care for Nugget.
Although not the outcome we all wanted, this is preferable to allowing him to suffer for weeks in the wild, LaHue said.
The Davis Fire started south of Reno at Davis Creek Regional Park in Washoe Valley on Sept. 7, burning nearly 6,000 acres. Firefighters were able to control the fire despite winds that threatened to carry the fire into the Lake Tahoe Basin.
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Despite being the second biggest city in the United States, Los Angeles has a thin public transport network (Patrick T. FALLON) (Patrick T. FALLON/AFP/AFP)
A bus hijacking that led to a slow-motion police chase through Los Angeles early Wednesday left one person dead and the alleged gunman in custody, police said.
Officers were called to reports of shots being fired on the city bus just before 1:00 am as an armed man apparently ordered the driver to deviate from his route, sending some passengers rushing to escape.
Footage shows several police cars following the bus, which is displaying the word "Emergency", as it rolls through darkened city streets.
One person can be seen riding alongside the bus on a bike, filming events, while another does the same from a skateboard.
The chase continued for over an hour, including after officers rolled out spikes to puncture the bus's tires, leaving a trail of smoke from the wheels.
Video then shows a SWAT team surrounding the vehicle with an officer using a loud-hailer to order everyone out of the bus.
"Metro Bus 5858 this is LAPD. You're surrounded," the officer says. "Come out with your hands up, one by one."
The driver can be seen sitting still with his hands raised.
The SWAT team appears to set off flashbangs as officers with shields storm the bus.
A passenger who police said had been shot as the incident began was taken to hospital but declared dead.
- 'Nightmare' -
Police praised the driver for his calm reaction to the hijacking, during which he had pressed a panic button to alert officers.
"This operator continued to operate the bus in as safe a manner as he could under the circumstances, with the police trailing him for an hour before the spike strips finally took effect," said Donald Graham of the LAPD.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described the events as "a nightmare."
"I am grateful to our Metro bus driver who showed incredible composure," she said.
Hahn said there would be a full investigation, adding "we need ways to prevent people from bringing weapons onto our Metro buses and trains."
Despite being the second biggest city in the United States, Los Angeles has a sparse public transport network, with only a few underground train lines serving its millions of people.
The bus network is often used by poorer and more marginalized residents, including the homeless and those with mental health problems.
The hijacking is the latest incident to afflict the public transport network, which in recent months has seen stabbings and shootings.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has pledged to bolster the network in time for the 2028 Olympics, in a bid to hold a "car-free Games."
hg/bgs
BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio (WDTN) Officials from Butler County are headed to Florida to assist with Hurricane Helene.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones reports members of the Emergency Response Services Team has been deployed to Pensacola, Florida. First responders will be in Florida for 16 days.
Ohio Task Force 1 announces deployment
The following members are now headed to assist
12 members of the Emergency Response Services Team
1 critical incident commander
1 information technology employee
Our training and service to the community reaches far beyond the borders of Butler County. If we are called up to assist other agencies in a time of crisis, we will answer that call without hesitation. States Sheriff Jones.
Jones said the primary operation during the time period will be swift water rescue.
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Calif. Guidance Counselor Accused of Sexually Assaulting Boy, 16 and Police There Are More Possible Victims
Julie Tichon, 37, faces charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and oral copulation of a person under 18, authorities say
LAPD PIO/X Julie Tichon
A now-former California high school guidance counselor was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old student, authorities said.
Julie Tichon was a 37-year-old guidance counselor at YULA High School, a modern Orthodox Jewish school, in Los Angeles, according to a press release from the Los Angeles Police Department. Police allege she repeatedly engaged in sexual acts with a 16-year-old boy between February and March.
Authorities said she no longer works at the school.
Educators and school staff have a fundamental duty to create a safe environment for all students, and when that trust is broken, it affects the entire community, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said in a press release from his office.
"Our office is dedicated to seeking justice for the victim and holding this individual fully accountable. To every victim and family affected by such crimes, please know that we stand with you and will continue to fight for your safety and justice.
Tichon was arraigned on three felony counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor more than three years younger and one felony count of oral copulation of a person under 18, according to the DA's press release.
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Prosecutors said she was arraigned on Sept. 19 and has pleaded not guilty to all charges. They added that she was released by the court on her own recognizance and is expected back in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 1. PEOPLE couldnt immediately identify an attorney who could speak on her behalf.
Meanwhile, investigators believe there are more potential victims and are asking anyone to come forward.
The suspect used her position of responsibility to gain these victims trust, then began inappropriate sexual relationships with them, LAPD Detective Russ Hess alleged.
Anyone with information is asked to contact LAPD Operations West Bureau Detective Brent Hopkins at 213-473-0447.
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.
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This photo taken on Sept. 24, 2024 shows an exterior view of the venue for the WindEnergy Hamburg 2024 in Hamburg, Germany. WindEnergy Hamburg 2024, the leading global networking event for wind energy, kicked off here Tuesday, bringing together more than 1,600 exhibitors from 40 countries and over 200 conference stands, the organizer said. Spanning 75,000 square meters, the trade fair unites global manufacturers and suppliers from all stages of the onshore and offshore wind energy value chain, offering a comprehensive market overview. (Xinhua/Du Zheyu)
HAMBURG, Germany, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- WindEnergy Hamburg 2024, the leading global networking event for wind energy, kicked off here Tuesday, bringing together more than 1,600 exhibitors from 40 countries and over 200 conference stands, the organizer said.
Spanning 75,000 square meters, the trade fair unites global manufacturers and suppliers from all stages of the onshore and offshore wind energy value chain, offering a comprehensive market overview.
Alongside the exhibition, the event also features conference sessions where industry leaders and experts tackle the most pressing issues facing the wind energy sector.
"WindEnergy Hamburg is the main hub for the wind power industry. It brings together all major global stakeholders of the wind industry and fosters close interaction," said Claus Ulrich Selbach, an official from the Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH, the organizer of the event.
For four days, the event will focus on innovation, investments, and the future of wind energy. Leading industry representatives also stressed the crucial role of international cooperation in advancing the energy transition.
"In the journey towards clean energy, there is scope for more enterprises in Europe and Asia to work together to access each other's technologies, capabilities and markets," said Lee Chuan Teck from Enterprise Singapore.
WindEnergy Hamburg, held biennially, offers companies from around the world the chance to forge new business partnerships and collaborate on innovative solutions to the global challenges of the energy transition.
People visit the booth of the Sany Renewable Energy during the WindEnergy Hamburg 2024 in Hamburg, Germany, Sept. 24, 2024. WindEnergy Hamburg 2024, the leading global networking event for wind energy, kicked off here Tuesday, bringing together more than 1,600 exhibitors from 40 countries and over 200 conference stands, the organizer said.
Spanning 75,000 square meters, the trade fair unites global manufacturers and suppliers from all stages of the onshore and offshore wind energy value chain, offering a comprehensive market overview. (Xinhua/Du Zheyu)
People communicate during the WindEnergy Hamburg 2024 in Hamburg, Germany, Sept. 24, 2024. WindEnergy Hamburg 2024, the leading global networking event for wind energy, kicked off here Tuesday, bringing together more than 1,600 exhibitors from 40 countries and over 200 conference stands, the organizer said.
Spanning 75,000 square meters, the trade fair unites global manufacturers and suppliers from all stages of the onshore and offshore wind energy value chain, offering a comprehensive market overview. (Xinhua/Du Zheyu)
Visitors learn about a product at the booth of the Sany Renewable Energy during the WindEnergy Hamburg 2024 in Hamburg, Germany, Sept. 24, 2024. WindEnergy Hamburg 2024, the leading global networking event for wind energy, kicked off here Tuesday, bringing together more than 1,600 exhibitors from 40 countries and over 200 conference stands, the organizer said.
Spanning 75,000 square meters, the trade fair unites global manufacturers and suppliers from all stages of the onshore and offshore wind energy value chain, offering a comprehensive market overview. (Xinhua/Du Zheyu)
A model crane of Sarens is displayed at the WindEnergy Hamburg 2024 in Hamburg, Germany, Sept. 24, 2024. WindEnergy Hamburg 2024, the leading global networking event for wind energy, kicked off here Tuesday, bringing together more than 1,600 exhibitors from 40 countries and over 200 conference stands, the organizer said.
Spanning 75,000 square meters, the trade fair unites global manufacturers and suppliers from all stages of the onshore and offshore wind energy value chain, offering a comprehensive market overview. (Xinhua/Du Zheyu)
Visitors learn about a robot for engineering maintenance at the WindEnergy Hamburg 2024 in Hamburg, Germany, Sept. 24, 2024. WindEnergy Hamburg 2024, the leading global networking event for wind energy, kicked off here Tuesday, bringing together more than 1,600 exhibitors from 40 countries and over 200 conference stands, the organizer said.
Spanning 75,000 square meters, the trade fair unites global manufacturers and suppliers from all stages of the onshore and offshore wind energy value chain, offering a comprehensive market overview. (Xinhua/Du Zheyu)
People visit the booth of CRRC during the WindEnergy Hamburg 2024 in Hamburg, Germany, Sept. 24, 2024. WindEnergy Hamburg 2024, the leading global networking event for wind energy, kicked off here Tuesday, bringing together more than 1,600 exhibitors from 40 countries and over 200 conference stands, the organizer said.
Spanning 75,000 square meters, the trade fair unites global manufacturers and suppliers from all stages of the onshore and offshore wind energy value chain, offering a comprehensive market overview. (Xinhua/Du Zheyu)
Visitors view a sand table model at the booth of CRRC during the WindEnergy Hamburg 2024 in Hamburg, Germany, Sept. 24, 2024. WindEnergy Hamburg 2024, the leading global networking event for wind energy, kicked off here Tuesday, bringing together more than 1,600 exhibitors from 40 countries and over 200 conference stands, the organizer said.
Spanning 75,000 square meters, the trade fair unites global manufacturers and suppliers from all stages of the onshore and offshore wind energy value chain, offering a comprehensive market overview. (Xinhua/Du Zheyu)
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) Two candidates eager to win one of the most contested seats in the U.S. House of Representatives will take to the debate stage on Oct. 2 in a bid to get your vote.
The debate hosted by Nexstars KGET and KGPE will be held in Bakersfield. The candidates David Valadao and Rudy Salas will debate live exclusively from the KGET TV studios on Oct. 2 between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. The debate will also be streamed live on KGET.com and the KGET 17 News app.
Showdown in the Central Valley: The Battle for the 22nd Congressional District
The race for Californias 22nd Congressional District between Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) and challenger Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) is likely to be one of the tightest in the country, and could determine which party will control the House of Representatives.
The debate is the first and only scheduled debate between the two candidates.
The debate will air on Nexstar television stations covering Californias Central Valley: KGET-TV in Bakersfield and KGPE-TV in Fresno.
You can also join the conversation before, during and after the debate using the hashtag #CA22Debate on X.
The debate will air Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. on these Nexstar Central California stations and their digital platforms.
Station Network Market Station website Social KGET-TV NBC Bakersfield KGET.com @KGETnews KGPE-TV CBS Fresno YourCentralValley.com @CBS47
The 22nd Congressional District includes portions of Kern, Tulare and Kings counties.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
In its rush to staunch the red ink, California has cut the mic of one of its most successful recent undertakings: the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, which redraws legislative and congressional boundaries every 10 years.
Earlier this year, the Department of Finance took it upon itself to tell legislative leaders that the commissions work was done when it submitted its maps in December 2021, completely ignoring that the commission was in the midst of another important part of its mandate: working with the Legislature to improve the redistricting process. As a commissioner, I want to continue this bodys important work.
Opinion
The finance department is ignoring how the state government code stipulates that the commission has the authority to recommend amendments related to the commission and that the Legislature may not amend them without the concurrence of the commission.
The government code (Section 8251) further provides that amendments mat not be passed by the Legislature in a year ending in nine, zero or one. Not only do we still have work to do, we also have limited time in which to do it.
The 2020 commission is only the second iteration of this body, and it is reasonable to believe that there might still be some adjustments required. The commission has been working through an extensive list of changes that members have proposed, based on their experience and more than a week of intense discussions culminating in the commissions lessons learned report (Recollections, Recommendations, & Resources).
Some of the easier changes have already been agreed between the commission and the Legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. But a number of the tougher items are still on the list and require careful deliberation by the commission.
New items are also emerging that require the commissions attention.
The commission is aware of the states budget crisis and is not seeking exorbitant amounts or to exceed its mandate. But it does have a mandate beyond mapping that needs to be recognized in budget discussions. After we completed our maps, it was our understanding that we would have funding for four meetings a year, yet, since July of 2023, we have had funding for only one meeting per year (with no funding for any preparatory work for that one meeting), impeding our ability to discuss the remaining recommendations and finalize concrete proposals to the Legislature for timely debate and adoption.
The California Citizens Redistricting Commission is unlike most other state commissions: The commissioners are the executive decision makers; decisions on matters such as hiring need to be taken by a vote of the full commission. We recently lost our only staff member, along with a significant amount of institutional memory and technical skills required for the maintenance of our website and data collections, due to budget cuts. Those same budget cuts now impede us from meeting to discuss how to move forward.
This commission has not been profligate in its spending. We saved Californias taxpayers over $4 million in legal fees by producing maps that went unchallenged. In each period, we have underspent what was budgeted, and we have canceled meetings when they werent needed.
But there is a threshold below which we simply cannot do the work we are here to do.
In my decades working in international electoral assistance, I have seen that the most common way of undermining independent commissions is to starve them of the funding they need to carry out their work. I hope our states leaders can come together to ensure that the commission has at least the minimum resources it needs to do what the citizens of the state established it to do, which includes proposing changes to state law to improve future redistricting exercises.
J. Ray Kennedy is one of the Democratic members of Californias Citizens Redistricting Commission. This piece represents his own thinking on the matters discussed and is not an official document of the commission. Kennedy has worked in the field of international electoral assistance, primarily within the United Nations System, for more than 30 years.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed laws Wednesday to reduce oil and gas pollution the Democrats latest move in an ongoing battle against the fossil fuel industry and its impacts on the environment and public health.
The new laws set out to give local governments more authority to restrict oil and gas operations, close more so-called idle wells that aren't in use but haven't been properly sealed and closed, and fine companies for operating low-producing oil wells in the Inglewood Oil Field near Los Angeles. The legislation will help hold the oil industry accountable and protect communities from the impacts of pollution, Newsom said as he joined advocates and local officials at a park near the Inglewood Oil Field.
It's been a long journey that we've been on over the course of many, many years, he said said. But tremendous progress is being made.
Newsoms decision to sign the bills comes as he is fighting against the oil industry, which he called the polluted heart of this climate crisis, to try to pass a proposal aimed at reducing gas prices from spiking at the pump. He has tried to strengthen California's status as a climate leader during his time as governor. His administration passed rules phasing out fossil-fuel powered lawnmowers, cars, trucks and trains. The state plans to achieve carbon neutrality, meaning it will remove as many carbon emissions from the atmosphere as it emits, by 2045.
Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, said the laws Newsom signed Wednesday would pile on mandates and drive up costs for Californians.
These new laws do nothing to produce more oil here at home and, in fact, cost jobs while forcing us to bring in more oil from overseas, she said in a statement. While the Governor cannot stop demonizing our industry, the truth is we prioritize community and worker safety too.
Newsom signed a law in 2022 banning new oil and gas wells from operating within 3,200 feet (975 meters) of schools, homes, hospitals and other community sites. Then the oil industry qualified a referendum which would have asked voters whether to overturn the law in November. But they decided to pull the measure in June and said they would instead challenge the law through litigation.
One of the new laws Newsom signed requires the state to fine companies $10,000 a month for operating low-producing oil wells near the Inglewood Oil Field. The money will go into an account to fund local projects such as creating parks and affordable housing. The law requires companies to close and seal all wells at the site by Dec. 31, 2030.
The Inglewood Oil Field is the largest urban oil field in our State. said Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, a Democrat who represents the city and authored the bill. Its production in recent years has been marginal, but for decades the negative health impacts surrounding it have cost the nearby community with their life expectancy.
___
Austin 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 Austin on X: @sophieadanna
California to require schools to ban or limit student cellphone use by 2026
In California, when classes are in session, cellphones will be required to be put away.
New state law AB 272 passed by Gov. Gavin Newsom Monday aims to minimize cellphone use in the classroom in an effort to boost students' mental health. School districts and charter schools have until July 1, 2026 to implement policies limiting or prohibiting the use of smartphones.
"We know that excessive smartphone use increases anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues but we have the power to intervene," Newsom said in a news release. "This new law will help students focus on academics, social development, and the world in front of them, not their screens, when theyre in school."
California has passed the Phone-Free School Act requiring school districts, charter schools and county office of education to pass cell phone bans or restrictions by July 2026.
Students will still be allowed to use cellphones in the event of an emergency or perceived threat, according to AB 272. Teachers, administrators, doctors and individualized education programs will also have the authority to allow cell phone use.
AB 272 expands on a 2019 law allowing, but not requiring, school districts to regulate cell phone use in the classroom during school hours.
In June, the Los Angeles Unified School District's Board of Education voted to develop its own restrictions for its more than 429,000 students. By January, students in the nation's second-largest school district will be prohibited from using of cellphones and social media platforms throughout the school day.
Teachers say phones are distracting, parents divided on subject
About 72% of high school teachers and 33% of middle school teachers believe smartphones pose a major distraction for students, according to a Pew Research Center survey published in June and cited by state officials.
About 97% of students use cell phones during the school day for an average of 43 minutes, according to a Common Sense research report published in the fall of 2023.
"Combined with the U.S. Surgeon Generals warning about the risks of social media, it is urgent to provide reasonable guardrails for smartphone use in schools," California's news release stated.
However, a National Parents Union survey posted in March showed that parents are divided on a state's prohibition of student cellphone use.
Of the more than 1,500 parents polled, 57% supported cellphone restrictions at the local level instead of a statewide ban. The survey found that about the same percentage of parents said students should be allowed to use cellphones during breaks from class and afterschool activities.
Other states urge school cellphone restrictions
At least 11 states can restrict or ask schools to restrict smartphone use, but more officials are urging for similar policies.
In March, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill prohibiting students from using phones and other wireless devices in classrooms. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a similar bill in May that requires school districts to implement a policy regulating cellphone usage during school hours.
In May, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul encouraged legislators to enact a statewide ban on cellphones at public schools including the largest school district in the U.S., according to several reports. In July, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order restricting or prohibiting cell phone use for about 1.2 million students in public schools.
Last year, Florida became the first state to prohibit student phone use when during class time and to use school Wi-Fi to block students' social media access.
Contributing: Thao Nguyen and Kayla Jimenez, USA TODAY,
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California requiring student cellphone bans or restrictions by 2026
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) A California woman was sentenced on Monday of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
According to the U.S. Attorneys Office District of South Dakota, 44-year-old Jennifer Walsh, of Antioch, California, was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison.
Motorcyclist killed on I-29 Sunday crash identified
On Nov. 24, 2022, Walsh and another woman were pulled over for speeding on I-90 near Chamberlain. A K-9 drug detection dog alerted authorities to the presence of drugs. Officers found five pounds of methamphetamine in the vehicle. Walsh and her co-defendant Andrea Pitts were transporting the drugs from California to distribute them to South Dakota.
Walsh was indicted in March of 2023 and pleaded guilty on June 24, 2024.
Pitts sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 8.
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Magdalen Connolly claims the university failed her in its handling of her case and the long process ultimately resulted in my leaving academia
A former Cambridge University student has accused her PhD adviser of stealing her work.
Magdalen Connolly, an alumna of Cambridges Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, claims that an argument she first put forward as part of her postgraduate degree was plagiarised by Esther-Miriam Wagner, a Cambridge academic who was appointed to advise her.
Ms Connolly is now suing the university over its handling of the case, claiming that it failed to take her allegations of plagiarism and bullying against the academic seriously enough.
She alleges there was a protracted four-year process after she first lodged a formal complaint in July 2020, which she claims had a profound impact on her mental health and ultimately resulted in my leaving academia.
Giving testimony at an employment tribunal at Cambridge County Court on Wednesday, Ms Connolly alleged that the intention of the university was to protect Ms Wagner who still works at the university.
The former student, who won a fully-funded scholarship for her postgraduate degree, has also accused Cambridge University of age discrimination through its alleged preferential treatment of Ms Wagner based on her seniority in both age and position.
Cambridge University denies the claims.
The university also suggested that Ms Connolly had not stated in her initial complaint that she thought the alleged plagiarism counted as a criminal offence or fraud.
Evidence submitted to the tribunal said Ms Connolly enrolled as an MPhil student at Cambridge in 2013 and was subsequently informed by her PhD supervisor that Ms Wagner had been appointed as an advisor for her thesis on spoken Arabic in the pre-modern period.
Ms Connolly claims that Ms Wagner subsequently plagiarised her work.
Esther-Miriam Wagner plagiarised an argument Magdalen Connolly put forward as part of her postgraduate degree, a tribunal heard
She told the tribunal on Wednesday that after initially being advised not to sound the alarm over this, she later decided in July 2020 to raise a formal complaint so that no other students would be subjected to the same treatment.
The former postgraduate student also told the tribunal that she was not seeking disciplinary action against Ms Wagner, but wanted to make sure that if anyone else came forward, they would be taken more seriously than I was.
The scholar claimed that this decision was based on conversations with another academic who had also raised plagiarism concerns against Ms Wagner.
Cambridge has denied the claims.
Ms Connolly also claims it was unfair of the university to move her initial complaint against the academic, which she lodged in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, to instead be dealt with by the Cambridge University Library.
She told the tribunal on Wednesday that she had filed the initial complaint within the faculty so that it would be on record there, and alleged that its transfer to the university library was an attempt to reduce the severity of my claim and remove the hierarchical element to her complaint.
Cambridge University denied this, and said its transfer to Cambridge University Library was because both Ms Connolly and Ms Wagner were employees there.
A lawyer acting on behalf of Cambridge also told the tribunal that the motivation behind Ms Connollys initial complaint against Ms Wagner was about your career, about you.
A spokesman for Cambridge University said: The tribunal has recently opened and we expect it to last a number of days during which further evidence will be heard.
In addition, the universitys process for handling the allegations of research misconduct has not yet concluded so it would be inappropriate to comment further. The tribunal hearing continues.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has survived a motion in parliament aimed at bringing down his government and triggering an election.
Wednesday's no-confidence vote is the first in a series of similar votes expected to be put forward by the opposition Conservative Party amid Trudeau's plummeting approval ratings.
The motion failed after opposition leader Pierre Poilievre fell short in his effort to shore up support from leaders of two other political parties in parliament, the New Democratic Party (NDP) and the Bloc Quebecois.
Trudeau, who has been Canadas prime minister for nine years, has been leading under a minority government.
Voting was held on Wednesday afternoon, on the same day as Trudeau was set to host French President Emmanuel Macron.
While this motion has failed, the Conservative party plans to bring at least two other similar no-confidence votes on Thursday in hopes of sending Canadians to the polls.
Trudeau has been facing growing pressure to step down in recent months.
His approval rating has plummeted from 63% when he was first elected to 28% in June of this year, according to one poll tracker, amid concerns about housing unaffordability and the rising costs of living. His Liberal party lost two consequential by-elections this summer in Toronto and Montreal.
A deal between his party and the NDP has helped him stay in power since Canadas last federal election in 2021.
But the deal collapsed early in September after NDP leader Jagmeet Singh pulled out from the coalition, saying that the Liberals are too weak and too selfish to govern.
Trudeaus leadership has been under threat since, with Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre stating that he would put forward a no-confidence vote.
The vote would need the approval of the majority of the 338 members of parliament (MPs) in order for it to pass.
The Liberal Party, which holds 153 seats, voted against it, while the Conservative Party, which holds 119 seats, voted in favour.
The bulk of the other seats are held by the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois - both of whose members voted to defeat the motion.
In the end, the motion was defeated by 211 votes against it.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has been leading in several national polls [Reuters]
Pierre Polievere, who has been leading in various national polls, had urged fellow MPs to vote in favour of the motion by outlining his vision for Canada under a Conservative government.
His plan, he said on Tuesday in parliament, is to bring home the promise of Canada, of a powerful paycheque that earns affordable food, gas and homes and safe neighbourhoods.
But Singh, the NDP leader, said he would vote against Poilievres motion because he believes the Conservative Party will cut social programmes like dental care and pharmacare if it comes to power.
The Bloc Quebecois - a party whose aim is to represent the interests of Quebec, Canadas French-speaking province - has said it believes it could work with the Liberal government to secure assurances for Quebec-focused social programmes.
Trudeau was at the UN General Assembly earlier this week in New York City, where on Monday he appeared as a guest on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
In his interview with Colbert, Trudeau acknowledged that Canadians were going through a really tough time and struggling to afford gas, groceries and rent.
But he defended his leadership, saying that his government had invested in Canadians and would continue to do so.
Im going to keep fighting, he said.
Canceling subscriptions will be much easier for California residents, thanks to new law
Gov. Gavin Newsom is making it easier for state residents to cancel subscriptions.
On Tuesday, Newsom signed AB 2863, which requires businesses to offer a simple way for users to cancel their online subscriptions. For example, if a user signs up for a service online, businesses must now offer an online click-to-cancel option.
The law also requires businesses to send subscribers an annual reminder about the subscriptions cost, how to cancel and potential price changes.
Newsom signs 4 bills aimed at cracking down on street takeovers, racing
AB 2853 is part of a broader legislative package designed to strengthen consumer protections and address medical debt.
Nobody wants to get ripped off, whether its a small subscription fee thats seemingly impossible to cancel or massive medical debts that force families into financial ruin. Were strengthening protections for Californians across the board and helping save consumers money, Newsom said in a statement.
As California lawmakers continue to create consumer protection laws for residents, the federal government is also cracking down on the issue nationally.
The Federal Trade Commission has been working on its Click to Cancel rule since March 2023. The proposal would cover the same ground as AB 2853.
In August, the Biden Administration announced its Time Is Money initiative, which aims to crack down on all the ways that corporationsthrough excessive paperwork, hold times, and general aggravationadd unnecessary headaches and hassles to peoples days and degrade their quality of life.
Californias AB 2863 will impose various safeguards on subscription contracts signed or renewed after July 1, 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 KTLA.
Cancer victims implore U.S. House to take up compensation for radiation exposure
The Trinity explosion, 16 milliseconds after detonation. The viewed hemispheres highest point in this image is about 660 ft. (Berlyn Brixner / Los Alamos National Laboratory / Public Domain)
This story originally appeared in the Missouri Independent.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is holding up compensation for generations of Americans who developed cancer after exposure to the nations nuclear weapons program, several members of Congress said Tuesday.
A joint investigation by the Missouri Independent and MuckRock.
At a news conference in Washington, D.C, U.S. House members and Senators stood beside advocates from Missouri and tribal nations in the southwest who have for months, or even years cried out for help from the government as they and their loved ones suffered from cancer because of exposure to radiation.
Dawn Chapman, who lives near the contaminated West Lake Landfill in suburban St. Louis, said Johnson was the only reason these people are suffering right now in this room.
He can fix it, Chapman said. There are a lot of things in this world that you cannot fix. This one can be fixed. This one can pass.
Fred Vallo, who endured a 37-hour bus ride from New Mexico., said his community cant keep coming to the nations capital begging for help. He urged Johnson to visit New Mexico and see where the contamination originated for himself.
Ill even take you with my own truck if you dont believe us, Vallo said.
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Vallo and fellow advocates called on Johnson to bring the stalled Radiation Exposure Compensation Act up for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation has twice passed the U.S. Senate and would offer compensation to individuals suffering from certain cancers after exposure to improperly stored radioactive waste, uranium ore or bomb tests.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, who along with New Mexico Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Lujan championed the legislation in the Senate, said hed spoken with Johnson. But the House leader hadnt committed to taking action on RECA.
Lujan encouraged advocates to pray for Johnson to give him the strength and the wisdom to allow this legislation to the House floor, to be voted on, and to work to earn Republican and Democratic votes to get this to the President of the United States.
Johnsons office declined to comment.
Congress first passed RECA in the 1990s to compensate uranium miners and individuals exposed to bomb testing, known as downwinders, but the program only covered bomb testing victims in parts of Nevada, Arizona and Utah.
Since the original RECA legislation passed, Hawley said, the radiation was found to have traveled further than the government originally thought. And communities that were known to be affected at the time were left out.
The expansion would offer coverage to downwinders in the remaining parts of Nevada, Arizona and Utah and expand coverage to Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Guam. It would also offer new coverage for residents exposed to radioactive waste in Missouri, Tennessee, Alaska and Kentucky.
In Missouri, uranium refining and improper storage of radioactive waste has affected residents for decades. Coldwater Creek, which runs for miles through busy St. Louis suburbs, is contaminated with radioactive material, and exposure to its waters increased the risk of cancer for generations of residents primarily children.
Waste was haphazardly trucked from site to site in St. Louis county before being dumped at the West Lake Landfill where it remains today.
Hawley said he was confident there was enough support in the House of Representatives to pass RECA.
The wait has been too long, Hawley said, and it has been too cruel. And there is no need to wait any longer.
One family still suffering the effects of the bomb is Carol Rogers.
Rogers, of Shiprock, New Mexico, said her father was a miner. She and her mother could see the gold-hued uranium ore falling from his clothes as they scrubbed them and wrung them out. At the time, she didnt know helping wash her fathers clothes would cause her to develop cancer decades later.
When she was diagnosed, Rogers said, her doctor asked if she had worked with uranium. She said she hadnt.
Who did? she said he asked.
He said, Yes, its uranium, Rogers said.
After treatment, she said, she was in remission from cancer for three or four years. It came back, affecting her eye. Shes currently undergoing radiation treatment.
Its painful, Rogers said. I have to take pain medicine almost every day, sometimes twice a day.
Rogers said her father died of lung cancer. Her grandson was diagnosed with cancer at 19. Now 20, hes going through testing again along with his one-year-old baby. Doctors have recommended, she said, everyone in her family get tested, even infants.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, a Democrat from New Mexico, said the detonation of the worlds first atomic bomb at the Trinity Test site made it look like the sun rose over New Mexico at 3 a.m. one day in July 1945. And almost 80 years later, its still affecting New Mexican families.
For too many decades, New Mexicans have suffered generational impacts, Vasquez said, while being gaslightedfor having intergenerational disease, cancer, gastrointestinal issues, tumors, so much more.
Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com. Follow Missouri Independent on Facebook and X.
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Cancer victims implore U.S. House to take up compensation for radiation exposure
The Trinity explosion, 16 milliseconds after detonation. The viewed hemispheres highest point in this image is about 660 ft. (Berlyn Brixner / Los Alamos National Laboratory / Public Domain)
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is holding up compensation for generations of Americans who developed cancer after exposure to the nations nuclear weapons program, several members of Congress said Tuesday.
At a news conference in Washington, D.C, U.S. House members and Senators stood beside advocates from Missouri and tribal nations in the southwest who have for months, or even years cried out for help from the government as they and their loved ones suffered from cancer because of exposure to radiation.
Dawn Chapman, who lives near the contaminated West Lake Landfill in suburban St. Louis, said Johnson was the only reason these people are suffering right now in this room.
He can fix it, Chapman said. There are a lot of things in this world that you cannot fix. This one can be fixed. This one can pass.
Fred Vallo, who endured a 37-hour bus ride from New Mexico., said his community cant keep coming to the nations capital begging for help. He urged Johnson to visit New Mexico and see where the contamination originated for himself.
Ill even take you with my own truck if you dont believe us, Vallo said.
Vallo and fellow advocates called on Johnson to bring the stalled Radiation Exposure Compensation Act up for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation has twice passed the U.S. Senate and would offer compensation to individuals suffering from certain cancers after exposure to improperly stored radioactive waste, uranium ore or bomb tests.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, who along with New Mexico Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Lujan championed the legislation in the Senate, said hed spoken with Johnson. But the House leader hadnt committed to taking action on RECA.
Lujan encouraged advocates to pray for Johnson to give him the strength and the wisdom to allow this legislation to the House floor, to be voted on, and to work to earn Republican and Democratic votes to get this to the President of the United States.
Johnsons office declined to comment.
Congress first passed RECA in the 1990s to compensate uranium miners and individuals exposed to bomb testing, known as downwinders, but the program only covered bomb testing victims in parts of Nevada, Arizona and Utah.
Since the original RECA legislation passed, Hawley said, the radiation was found to have traveled further than the government originally thought. And communities that were known to be affected at the time were left out.
The expansion would offer coverage to downwinders in the remaining parts of Nevada, Arizona and Utah and expand coverage to Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Guam. It would also offer new coverage for residents exposed to radioactive waste in Missouri, Tennessee, Alaska and Kentucky.
In Missouri, uranium refining and improper storage of radioactive waste has affected residents for decades. Coldwater Creek, which runs for miles through busy St. Louis suburbs, is contaminated with radioactive material, and exposure to its waters increased the risk of cancer for generations of residents primarily children.
Waste was haphazardly trucked from site to site in St. Louis county before being dumped at the West Lake Landfill where it remains today.
Hawley said he was confident there was enough support in the House of Representatives to pass RECA.
The wait has been too long, Hawley said, and it has been too cruel. And there is no need to wait any longer.
One family still suffering the effects of the bomb is Carol Rogers.
Rogers, of Shiprock, New Mexico, said her father was a miner. She and her mother could see the gold-hued uranium ore falling from his clothes as they scrubbed them and wrung them out. At the time, she didnt know helping wash her fathers clothes would cause her to develop cancer decades later.
When she was diagnosed, Rogers said, her doctor asked if she had worked with uranium. She said she hadnt.
Who did? she said he asked.
He said, Yes, its uranium, Rogers said.
After treatment, she said, she was in remission from cancer for three or four years. It came back, affecting her eye. Shes currently undergoing radiation treatment.
Its painful, Rogers said. I have to take pain medicine almost every day, sometimes twice a day.
Rogers said her father died of lung cancer. Her grandson was diagnosed with cancer at 19. Now 20, hes going through testing again along with his one-year-old baby. Doctors have recommended, she said, everyone in her family get tested, even infants.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, a Democrat from New Mexico, said the detonation of the worlds first atomic bomb at the Trinity Test site made it look like the sun rose over New Mexico at 3 a.m. one day in July 1945. And almost 80 years later, its still affecting New Mexican families.
For too many decades, New Mexicans have suffered generational impacts, Vasquez said, while being gaslightedfor having intergenerational disease, cancer, gastrointestinal issues, tumors, so much more.
This story was originally produced by the Missouri Independent which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network, including the Daily Montanan, supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
Promotion banners of a Silk Road exhibition are seen at the entrance to the main venue at the British Museum in London, Britain, Sept. 24, 2024. The British Museum opened a Silk Road exhibition for a media preview on Tuesday, showcasing over 300 objects, including items from 29 national and international institutions.(Xinhua/Zheng Bofei)
LONDON, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The British Museum opened a Silk Road exhibition for a media preview on Tuesday, showcasing over 300 objects, including items from 29 national and international institutions.
Spanning from around 500 to 1000 A.D., the exhibition explores how the journeys of people, objects and ideas along the Silk Road shaped cultures and histories across continents.
Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum, told Xinhua that through partnerships with organizations worldwide, the exhibition demonstrates the connection between different cultures. "Even though we have distinct cultures and viewpoints, there are deep links that connect them," he said.
Luk Yu-ping, co-curator of the exhibition, emphasized the relevance of the past to the present. "In the past, China was central to these vast networks, influencing economic development and cultural exchange. This is mirrored today in initiatives like the Belt and Road, where China again plays a vital role in the global economy," she noted.
Luk highlighted the connections between China's Tang Dynasty and the world. "For instance, we focus on maritime routes linking China to West Asia, illustrated by artifacts from the 9th-century Belitung shipwreck, which carried ceramics, gold and silverware from Tang China, discovered off Indonesia's coast."
Sue Brunning, another co-curator, explained the broad geographical scope of the Silk Road. "We're portraying it as a series of overlapping networks connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. Although Northwest Europe is often overlooked in Silk Road discussions, our exhibition concludes with artifacts found in Scotland that can be traced back to present-day Iran," she said.
The exhibition will open to the public from Thursday until Feb. 23, 2025.
To help inform voters about 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: Tom Murry
District/seat: NC Court of Appeals seat 12
Political party: Republican
Age as of Nov. 5, 2024: 47
Campaign website: www.jointom.com
Current occupation: Assistant District Attorney; Major, Judge Advocate; Adjunct professor of law
Professional experience: Assistant District Attorney, Eleventh Prosecutorial District, Chair, NC Bar Association Criminal Justice Section; Adjunct teacher, Regent University School of Law; Chief, Client Services, NC National Guard Legal Assistance Program; Chief of Staff/Chief Legal Counsel for External Affairs, NC Judicial Branch; Major, Judge Advocate, NC Army National Guard; Executive Director, Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board
Education: Juris Doctorate, Campbell University School of Law; Doctor of Pharmacy, University of Arkansas
Please list any notable government or civic involvement. Representative, NC House District 41; Council member At-Large, Town of Morrisville
What areas of the law do you have experience in, as a judge or attorney?
Criminal, civil litigation, government/public interest and family law.
Other: Military law
What would be your top priority if elected?
Maintaining the independence of the judiciary is my top priority. The judiciary is an independent branch of government. Other branches of government are responsible for policy-making and carrying out laws.
What is your judicial philosophy?
The plain words of our Constitution should serve as the primary guide when interpreting laws. I am a textualist and an originalist and believe in judicial restraint.
Appellate courts often have to consider weighty constitutional issues with widespread public interest. How do you approach legal issues that have strong partisan divides?
Partisan politics have no place when it comes to deciding weighty constitutional issues. Judges are bound to administer justice without favor, denial or delay.
The NC Code of Judicial Conduct has not been updated since 2020. Do you think any changes to the code or its enforcement are necessary?
The Code of Judicial Conduct is promulgated by the Supreme Court under Section 7A-10.1 of the General Statutes of North Carolina. Any system of self-governance can be improved. The formal advisory opinion process is the best way to identify potential changes based on real-life issues judges are facing.
Public opinion polls show that Americans trust in the U.S. Supreme Court is near an all-time low. What should be done in NC to increase/maintain confidence in our states appellate courts?
Public trust in the courts is undermined when activist judges ignore the Constitution and legislate from the bench. The judiciary is an independent branch of government. Other branches are responsible for policy-making and carrying out laws. As a former legislator, I understand separation of powers and how laws are made. As a state prosecutor, I have seen how laws are executed in the courtroom. As a judge, I will continue to uphold the Constitution as the sole authority governing my work.
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.
To help inform voters about 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: Valerie Zachary
District/seat: NC Court of Appeals seat 14
Political party: Republican
Age as of Nov. 5, 2024: 62
Campaign website: reelectjudgezachary.com
Current occupation: Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals
Professional experience: Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals (Raleigh, NC) 2015present Zachary Law Offices (Yadkinville, NC) Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman (now K&L Gates) (Charlotte, NC) Research Assistant, Harvard Law School (Cambridge, MA)
Education: Harvard Law School: J.D. cum laude Michigan State University: B.A. with honors, Multidisciplinary Program with concentrations in French, Economics, and Political Science
Please list any notable government or civic involvement. Vice President, NC Bar Association Commissioner, NC Sentencing Commission (4th term) Member, NC Family Courts Advisory Commission Former member, NC Governors School Board of Governors NCSI-certified Healthcare Outcomes Resource Judge Certified appellate mediator Member, NC Supreme Court Historical Society Presenter, myriad panels and continuing legal and judicial education programs Former Co-Chair, Judicial Division of the NC Association of Women Attorneys
What areas of the law do you have experience in, as a judge or attorney?
Criminal, civil litigation, appellate, government/public interest, family law, insurance, labor/employment and taxes/accounting.
Other: Wills and Trusts; Probate; Estate Administration; Guardianship; Administrative Law; Real Property; Juvenile Law; Workers Compensation
What would be your top priority if elected?
My main objective in every case is to provide all parties with a fair and impartial tribunal for the settlement of disputes, in accordance with state and federal law.
What is your judicial philosophy?
The Court of Appeals is an error-correcting court. Accordingly, the judges of our court are tasked with interpreting and applying the law as written by our legislators, not with making law or policy. I have striven to apply the law as written in the approximately 600 opinions that I have authored during my tenure on the bench. These opinions are available for your review at nccourts.org.
Appellate courts often have to consider weighty constitutional issues with widespread public interest. How do you approach legal issues that have strong partisan divides?
As a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, I apply the law as written to every case before me, regardless of partisan divides.
The NC Code of Judicial Conduct has not been updated since 2020. Do you think any changes to the code or its enforcement are necessary?
The Code of Judicial Conduct is promulgated by the North Carolina Supreme Court, and the General Assembly determines the composition of the Judicial Standards Commission. The Court of Appeals has no authority to revise the Code.
Public opinion polls show that Americans trust in the U.S. Supreme Court is near an all-time low. What should be done in NC to increase/maintain confidence in our states appellate courts?
Public confidence in the courts increases when the courts apply the law fairly to all, and when outcomes are reasonably predictable based on a plain reading of the law. Regardless of party affiliation, the judges on the North Carolina Court of Appeals should work together to fulfill the mission of this error-correcting courtwhich is to apply the law and not to create law or policy. This is our duty as public servants to the citizens of North Carolina.
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.
To help inform voters about 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: Kevin Boxberger
District/seat: District 10D, Seat 3 (Wake County)
Political party: Democrat
Age as of Nov. 5, 2024: 40
Campaign website: www.boxbergerforjudge.com
Current occupation: District Court Judge, Tenth Judicial District
Professional experience: Firefighter in the United States Air Force 2002-2008; Firefighter for the City of Raleigh (2008-2010); Attorney (2013-2024); District Court Judge (2024-present)
Education: Associate Degree in Applied Fire Science, Community College of the Air Force; Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Colorado Technical University; Juris Doctorate from North Carolina Central University School of Law
Please list any notable government or civic involvement. Served in the Air Force for approximately six years and as a firefighter for the City of Raleigh for approximately two and one-half years.
What areas of the law do you have experience in, as a judge or attorney?
Criminal and family law.
Other: Domestic violence and civil no contact orders.
What is your judicial philosophy?
My judicial philosophy is to administer justice without favor, denial, or delay; to, without an agenda, apply the facts to the applicable law; and to treat everyone that appears before me with dignity and respect.
Tell us about a specific event in your legal career of which you are most proud.
What first comes to mind when thinking about this question is a 16-year-old I represented for stealing. Prior to Raise the Age, 16-year-olds were charged as adults. As such, a criminal conviction would appear on a background check. After resolving the matter in his favor, he gave me an origami of a bird with a personal message inside. He told me this event changed his life. Not only do I still have that origami, but it also currently sits on a desk in my office.
What is one of the biggest issues facing the judicial branch in NC and what should be done to address it?
Funding and attorney shortages. Regarding attorney shortages, a study from the American Bar Association in 2022 found that NC had 2.5 attorneys per 1,000 residents, which ranked 39 out of the 50 states. Not only are we in the bottom half of the country, but this shortage also primarily affects lower-income individuals seeking legal representation.
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.
CENTRAL ILLINOIS, Ill. (WCIA) Several Central Illinois counties will honor domestic violence victims throughout the month of October.
The Dove, Inc. Domestic Violence Program will hold four Candle Lighting Ceremonies to remember and honor those who have experienced and died from domestic violence. The ceremonies will also celebrate the survivors.
Firefighters remove 6 children from vehicle after Champaign Co. crash; no one hurt
At 7 p.m. on Oct. 3, residents of Shelby County are invited to First Assembly of God for the first Candle Lighting Ceremony of the month.
The second ceremony will be in Macon County at 7 p.m. on Oct. 8. The ceremony will be at First Evangelical Lutheran Church.
On Oct. 24 Moultrie County will host the third ceremony at First Christian Church, beginning at 7 p.m.
The last Candle Lighting Ceremony will take place in DeWitt County. Residents can arrive at Journey Church Clinton to light a candle for domestic violence victims. The ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. on Oct. 8.
More information can be found on Dove, Inc.s 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 WCIA.com.
In the years since the Capitol riot, The Star has followed the court proceedings of 47 Missouri and Kansas defendants accused of involvement in the attack, tracking their convictions, sentences and the legal arguments surrounding their cases.
Sentencing varied based on factors such as level of participation and cooperation with law enforcement. One man who blamed former President Donald Trump and Sen. Josh Hawley was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for assaulting officers.
A Missouri man who wore a Right Wing Death Squad cap was found guilty of multiple felonies and faces a lengthy prison sentence.
And a Kansas City man who spent 18 seconds in the Capitol received probation and home detention.
The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists at The Star. All stories below were reported, written and edited by Star journalists.
Nicholas Kennedy
No. 1: MO ex-Proud Boy who wore Right Wing Death Squad cap to Capitol on Jan. 6 found guilty
Prosecutors showed videos of Nicholas Kennedys steady march to the Capitol, past two lines of barricades, up the scaffolding put in place to construct the stage for the inauguration and into the building through a fire exit. | Published April 3, 2024 | Read Full Story by Daniel Desrochers and Judy L. Thomas
An informant told the FBI that a man identified as Christopher Kuehne of Olathe (left, in photo at left) brought orange reflective tape for KC Proud Boys to wear to identify themselves in the crowd. William Chrestman of Olathe is to the right of Kuehne.
No. 2: Former KC-area Proud Boy, decorated Marine vet gets brief prison time in Jan. 6 case
In a claim that strains credulity, he insists that he only entered the Capitol Building to protect property that [he] believed was going to be destroyed by the crowd, the Justice Department said of Christopher Kuehne. | Published February 23, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas
The FBI posted a photo of BOLO 126 on its tip website, asking for information on the mans identity. Authorities say the man was later identified as Kyle Kumer of Kansas City.
No. 3: KC man who took mom to Capitol on Jan. 6 and confronted police in tunnel gets prison time
After the riot, the FBI received a tip from a relative who gave authorities screenshots taken from Kyle Kumers Facebook page that discussed his experience at the Capitol, along with a video of the Lower West Terrace. | Published July 9, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas
Authorities say Angelo Pacheco was on the western U.S. Capitol grounds and scaffolding on Jan. 6, 2021, before entering the building.
No. 4: Kansas City man who spent 18 seconds in Capitol on Jan. 6 gets probation, home detention
His need to be part of the action, to be one of the many to dare to step foot inside, overcame his better judgment. | Published January 31, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas
Prosecutors say Christopher Roe, left, shoves a U.S. Capitol Police officer during an altercation outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
No. 5: Missouri man going to prison for Capitol riot says Donald Trump, Josh Hawley incited him
The Raytown man brought a pitchfork and broke into the Capitol multiple times on Jan. 6, 2021. | Published March 6, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas
Louis Enrique Colon of Blue Springs pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony charge of obstructing law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
No. 6: Former KC-area Proud Boy gets probation in Jan. 6 case. Feds say he aided investigators
The governments sentencing memorandum filed July 2 described Colon as a first-degree Proud Boy who traveled to the capital region as part of a structured group that was prepared for violence. | Published July 9, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas and Daniel Desrochers
This photo shows Jerod Thomas Bargar, of Centralia, Missouri, at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
No. 7: Missouri man who carried loaded gun onto Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 gets probation
I am by no means a harmful or threat to the community or society. I truly hope you can see past my events of that day and see that a human being made a very big mistake | Published January 9, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas
John George Todd III of Blue Springs is seen on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
No. 8: Missouri Marine vet who injured officer in Capitol riot sentenced to 5 years in prison
John George Todd III was found guilty of six charges in connection with the Capitol breach, including two felonies, and sentenced to five years in prison. | Published June 1, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas
The government said Eric Harrower, right, and Joshua Dressel, sitting left, used an overturned bike rack to help protesters scale a banister that led to the doors they breached during the Capitol riot.
No. 9: Deep sense of shame and remorse. Former Missouri man sentenced in Capitol riot case
He was immediately shocked and ashamed of the fact that he was a part of the event on January 6, Eric Harrowers attorney wrote in his sentencing document. | Published April 10, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas
Prosecutors say Joseph Kerry Hicks pushed an officer with his back while gripping a flag inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
No. 10: Judge lets MO man off on felony charge in Jan. 6 bench trial, convicts on lesser counts
Joseph Hicks is one of 37 Capitol riot defendants from Missouri and the 32nd to be convicted. Of those, 26 have been sentenced. | Published June 27, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas and Daniel Desrochers
No. 11: Kansas Marine vet who breached Capitol on Jan. 6 with flag painted on head pleads guilty
Chad Suenram, of Wichita, is among 10 Kansas residents charged in connection with the Capitol riot and the ninth to plead guilty. | Published April 24, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas
William Billy Chrestman of Olathe is seen here (in separate photos) at the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
No. 12: Ashamed of myself. KS Proud Boy gets prison sentence for threatening police on Jan. 6
Im ashamed of much of what I did that day, and Im ashamed of what my daughters have seen me do, Olathe Proud Boy William Chrestman told the court at his sentencing. | Published January 12, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas and Daniel Desrochers
No. 13: Acted myopically and foolishly. MO couple sentenced to 14 days in Capitol riot case
Defendants now recognize that they should have known their participation that day would add to Americans collective sense of insecurity, fear, and divisiveness, their attorney wrote. Defendants are good people who acted myopically and foolishly. | Published April 19, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas
Jared Luther Owens, of Farmington, Missouri, is charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors in the Capitol riot, including assaulting a law enforcement officer.
No. 14: MO Jan. 6 defendant accused of assaulting police can leave home for work, church: judge
Text messages sent by Jared Luther Owens after the Capitol riot showed that he was willing to engage in future violence, the government said. | Published April 29, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas
Daniel Donnelly Jr., 44, also known as Rally Runner.
No. 15: St. Louis Cardinals superfan Rally Runner sentenced to prison in Capitol riot case
Rally Runner is the 29th of the 37 Missouri residents charged in Capitol riot cases to be sentenced. Two other Missouri defendants have been convicted and await sentencing, and the cases of another six are pending. | Published August 15, 2024 | Read Full Story by Judy L. Thomas
(KRON) After powerful winter storms and waves sliced the Capitola Wharf in two, the beloved landmark officially reopened to the public on Wednesday.
Beach-goers can now walk the full length of the repaired wharf and soak in views of Santa Cruz Countys coastline. A grand opening ceremony will be held Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the newly reinvigorated Capitola Wharf, city officials said.
Visitors will find new benches dotted along the wharf thanks to community volunteers who assembled and installed places for sitting. A popular restaurant that was previously perched at the end was torn down. Capitola Boat and Bait, a small family-run shop, is still going strong and serving fishermen, boaters, and kayakers.
The Capitola Wharf in Captiola, California was split in half on Jan. 5, 2023. (Image courtesy Santa Cruz County)
On January 5, huge 35-foot waves and tidal surges ripped pillars from the sand. Splintered wooden pieces of the wharf were swept into the Monterey Bay. An atmospheric river-powered rainstorm thrashed beaches for days.
Construction crews equipped with heavy machinery worked for several months this year rebuilding pillars beneath the Capitola Wharf. State and federal grant money covered the $7.9 million construction effort.
Waves batter the Capitola Wharf after the storm destroyed a section of the structure on Jan. 5, 2023. (Shmuel Thaler/The Santa Cruz Sentinel via AP, File)
The Capitola Wharf is seen before construction crews repaired storm damages in 2024. (Getty Images)
A few beaches away, Aptos residents have learned to live without their iconic pier. Januarys storms battered Seacliff State Beachs historic pier beyond repair, and state park officials demolished the pier before it collapsed completely.
Parks officials wrote, The historic storms that impacted Californias communities this winter and damaged Seacliff State Beach are evidence of a new reality the states shoreline faces as a result of climate change, especially due to sea-level rise and extreme weather.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
Car Passenger Dies After Horse Gets Loose from Trailer and Smashes Through Windshield: Reports
The horse also died in the crash, which occurred in the early hours of the morning in Norco, Calif. on Sunday, Sept. 22
ABC7/Youtube Scene of where man travelling in a car was killed by a horse in California
A man has died after a horse collided with the vehicle he was traveling in through Norco, California.
On Sunday, Sept. 22 at around 2:05 a.m. local time, firefighters responded to reports of a "solo vehicle traffic collision with a horse" on the northbound lanes of Interstate 15, per a Facebook post shared by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) / Riverside County Fire Department.
"Upon arrival, firefighters declared one victim and horse perished at the scene, and the other patient (the driver) was transported by ground ambulance with minor injuries," the message read.
Local outlet The San Bernardino Sun cited California Highway Patrol spokesman Javier Navarro as stating that the victim was a 25-year-old man who had been in the front seat of a gray Honda Accord when the animal reportedly went through the car's windshield.
The horse reportedly got loose after the car towing its trailer struck a guardrail. According to The San Bernardino Sun, the horse escaped from the trailer and made it to the median before trying to cross the freeway. A black Honda Accord then "clipped" the animal, per the outlet, before the horse crashed into the victims' car's windshield.
The horse was also a fatality, unfortunately, Riverside County Fire Department spokeswoman Maggie Cline De La Rosa told the Los Angeles Times.
Per the Associated Press, the trailer crash sparked a series of crashes on the highway, including an accident where a semitractor-trailer hit the empty horse carrier.
Navarro and CAL FIRE / Riverside County Fire Department didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE. The victim has not yet been identified.
Getty California Highway Patrol vehicle
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Per the Los Angeles Times, the person taken to hospital with "minor injuries" was the 27-year-old male driver of the Honda Accord.
Navarro told the outlet that no one had been arrested and what caused the car carrying the horse trailer to veer off the road remains under investigation.
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Read the original article on People.
U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) at the 2024 Maryland Association of Counties summer convention. Cardin this week raised concerns about proposed data centers and the power lines needed to supply them. File photo by Danielle Brown.
U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D), a leading Maryland environmentalist for decades, is weighing in on two related high-profile controversies over energy supply and the environment.
In a letter Tuesday to Gov. Wes Moore (D), Cardin urges the state to proceed cautiously as it seeks to become a major hub of data centers for the tech industry. In a separate letter Tuesday to the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC), the senator expresses concerns about a proposed high-voltage transmission line project that would run through the state en route to data centers in Northern Virginia.
The two issues are interrelated.
Cardins unparalleled 58-year political career will come to a close in January, meaning as a practical matter he has limited influence over the disposition of these projects. But he still carries stature as a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and a longtime champion of Chesapeake Bay health and other environmental initiatives in the state. And his skepticism about establishing a data center industry in Maryland is noteworthy.
Moore is seeking to make Maryland attractive to tech companies that are looking to open data centers to power the internet and the expansion of artificial intelligence. The General Assembly this year overwhelmingly passed legislation from Moore that would ease the environmental review process for proposed data centers.
While acknowledging data centers value to innovation and economic growth, Cardin goes on to cast doubt on the path the state has taken.
I do not believe current policy balances the benefits of data centers to Marylanders against the substantial negative impacts that the unmitigated development of data centers would have on our already overburdened grid, ratepayers, and environment, he wrote.
The Moore administration has set up a data center stakeholder group to discuss issues related to setting up the industry in the state. The first stakeholder group meeting took place during the summer; the second is set for Oct. 3.
Importantly, a transparent and rigorous review process that allows for public participation should serve as the foundation of the States framework for a thoughtful and sustainable data center siting policy, Cardin wrote to Moore. This review process should include rigorous investigation into the true cost of the required transmission upgrades.
Second, the process should address the short and long- term cumulative impacts of each additional data center on land use, energy and water consumption, and impact on Marylands climate and energy efficiency goals, he wrote.
Cardins letter to the PSC concerns the proposed Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, which would run high-voltage transmission lines from a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, through Frederick, Carroll and Baltimore counties to support data centers in Northern Virginia. Although there is no formal proposal before the PSC yet, the very concept has stirred up major opposition throughout Central Maryland in recent months.
In his letter, Cardin notes that the route for the proposed transmission line would run through jurisdictions that carry the majority of Marylands conservation easements and are home to many rural communities.
As the Commission evaluates the potential impacts of the proposed transmission line, it is critical it thoroughly assess and explore alternative routes and mitigation strategies that would minimize the projects impact on rural residents and their livelihoods, Cardin wrote.
We urge the Commission to engage with community stakeholders, landowners, and local conservation and preservation organizations to gather insights on how best to lessen the projects impacts, his letter said. It is imperative the decision-making process reflects a comprehensive understanding of the social and environmental implications of the proposed project, including any impacts on overburdened and underserved communities.
While the first major data center project in Maryland is in the early stages of development in Frederick County, the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project would not service that project.
(KTLA) Cards Against Humanity, the satirical and often vulgar card game, announced Friday it would be suing controversial billionaire Elon Musk for $15 million.
The company made the announcement on social media and said the lawsuit stems from alleged illegal storage and clearing by one of Musks companies on a parcel of land that Cards Against Humanity purchased in 2017 as part of a progressive political stunt.
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The company behind the card game purchased a plot of land along the U.S.-Mexico border in an attempt to act as a roadblock for the Trump Administration if the former presidents proposed border wall were to become a reality.
More than 150,000 people donated $15 to raise money to purchase the land, retain legal counsel and construct a 30-foot medieval trebuchet catapult. The crowdsourcing effort culminated in a six-day series of surprise giveaways and political causes called Cards Against Humanity Saves America.
On Friday, Cards Against Humanity said it would be adding a seventh day to its previous campaign, this time going after one of the worlds richest people.
Seven years ago, 150,000 people paid us $15 to protect a pristine parcel of land on the US-Mexico border from racist billionaire Donald Trumps very stupid wall, the companys expletive-laden statement reads on a dedicated website. Unfortunately, an even richer, more racist billionaire Elon Musk snuck up on us from behind and completely f-d that land with gravel, tractors, and space garbage.
Cards Against Humanity alleges that Musks SpaceX has been using its land to store construction materials without the companys permission.
Officials for the company say they confronted SpaceX regarding the unapproved storing and dumping on the property, which resulted in a 12-hour lowball offer from the rocket and space technology company to purchase the land.
We said, Go fk yourself, Elon Musk. Well see you in court, the statement reads.
Trump says hed create a government efficiency commission led by Elon Musk
According to reporting in Reuters, SpaceX has attempted for the past several years to buy out land owners near its south Texas facilities and has used its vast might to lobby local legislators.
The article from Reuters paints a picture of SpaceX using its political power to skirt local permitting laws, develop the land at breakneck speed, purchase properties from longtime residents and close off roads to locals when SpaceX activity is taking place.
Rocket parts are displayed during a news conference at the SpaceX Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on Aug. 25, 2022. (Getty Images)
SpaceX Starship shown ahead of its fourth flight test at Boca Chica beach on June 05, 2024 in Brownsville, Texas. (Getty Images)
SpaceX head Elon Musk during a T-Mobile and SpaceX joint event on August 25, 2022 in Boca Chica Beach, Texas. (Photo by Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images)
A resident near the SpaceX development noticed the parcel of land owned by Cards Against Humanity had been cleared and was being used by Musks company to store construction materials.
On Thursday, Cards Against Humanity filed a $15 million lawsuit against SpaceX in Cameron County District Court, accusing the company of destruction of property and illegal trespassing, according to Reuters.
Officials for the card game company say that, even if the land is restored to its former state, they believe Musk has already damaged the companys reputation.
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150,000 people gave us their hard-earned money, and in exchange we vowed to protect this land from racist billionaires and their dumb vanity projects, Cards Against Humanity stated on its lawsuit website. We promised wed use every legal tool at our disposal to protect this land from bullies like Trump and Musk (whos spending millions to get Trump elected and also wants to build the stupid wall). If we dont take action now, why would anyone ever trust us again?
If successful in its suit, Cards Against Humanity says it will split the $15 million payment among the 150,000 original contributors to the 2017 crowdfunding effort, up to $100 each which explains why the companys lawsuit webpage has the URL: elonowesyou100dollars.com.
Neither Musk nor SpaceX have publicly commented on the pending litigation. Requests for comment by Reuters were not returned, the publication said.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
This article was originally published in CalMatters.
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California announced today which schools will share a windfall to bolster career paths for students but delays and mishaps have meant that thousands of students missed the opportunity to participate.
An estimated 300 K-12 schools will share $450 million to set up internships, boost dual-enrollment programs at community colleges and take other steps to connect students to high-paying jobs in health care, technology, the arts and other fields.
The announcement comes after a tumultuous few months for the Golden State Pathways program, which is part of Californias broader effort to bolster career and technical education at high schools and community colleges. Alongside other investments, the program is intended to ultimately make career training available to every student.
Initially created by the Legislature in 2022, the Golden State Pathways Program was supposed to roll out the following year, with schools applying for grants and the state Education Department announcing winners in January 2024.
But in spring 2023, a brewing state budget deficit led some legislators to propose delaying the program and sending the money elsewhere. After protests from school districts and career education advocates, the program survived then faced more delays when the state pushed back the application deadline.
In May, the Education Department announced that 302 school school districts won grant money, but according to reporting by EdSource, some of those grants were for far different amounts than what the schools had applied for.
In July, the state abruptly revoked the entire roster of grant recipients, saying it needed to review the applications again given that school districts had flooded it with appeals.
The California Department of Education takes Golden State Pathways, as well as all of Californias investments in workforce-ready educational opportunities, very seriously, and we are committed to ensuring that these funds get to local educational agencies as quickly as possible. We recognize the impact that this (delay) has had on districts, and every effort is underway to ensure that funds are distributed as swiftly as possible, Elizabeth Sanders, spokesperson for the Education Department, said in an email this week, adding that the agency is working to ensure that all communication moving forward is clear, responsive, and collaborative.
School districts and career education advocates were irate. The delay meant they could not move forward with plans for this fall, even though many had already committed to programs. In early September, a group of 20 school districts and nonprofits wrote an urgent letter to state officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, imploring them to speed up the process.
We respectfully ask that you do everything in your power to get promised Golden State Pathways grant dollars flowing, sent, and received to the hundreds of local education agencies that have planned, staffed and set expectations for this funding across California communities, they wrote. Time is of the essence for the communities that depend on them.
The delays were especially painful for districts that have been scrambling to help students recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Since campuses reopened, theyve grappled with high levels of chronic absenteeism, lackluster test scores and an uptick in student misbehavior. Many students, meanwhile, have struggled with high levels of anxiety and depression.
Career pathways have offered some hope. Students who participate in them tend to have higher graduation rates, higher rates of college enrollment and higher earnings later in life, according to research compiled by Policy Analysis for California Education, a nonprofit think tank.
By improving career paths for students, the state also hopes to spur its own economy by providing skilled workers for growing industries such as health care, technology and climate-related fields.
Students missing out
But the delays and uncertainty have forced schools and organizations to freeze hiring and planning.
Were in a holding pattern and the school year has already begun. Were missing an opportunity to reach more students and help more school districts with their goals, said Kirk Anne Taylor, executive director of Climate Action Pathways for Schools, a nonprofit that provides paid internships for high school students to work on environmental projects in their schools and communities.
Porterville Unified in Tulare County is among the districts that risked postponing its career pathways expansion plans. The district was hoping to use Golden State Pathways grant money this year to expand its climate internship program, where students create energy audits of school buildings and recommend ways to save gas and electricity. Over the past three years, the students audits have saved the school district more than $830,000 in energy costs. Students have also worked on green schoolyard projects and a switch to electric buses.
Taylors organization ended up finding another funding source for Portervilles program, but other districts werent so lucky, she said.
Its a great program in Porterville and were eager to move forward there and elsewhere, Taylor said.
In Los Angeles, a nonprofit called UNITE-LA connects schools with local businesses, setting up internships, job shadowing opportunities, mock interviews, professional speakers and other avenues for students to gain career experience. Due to the delays, plans to expand its programs at dozens of Los Angeles County high schools have been scuttled for a year.
Career education really has the power to transform students lives, said Carrie Lemmon, UNITE-LA senior vice president of systems change strategy. So many students are struggling right now. Were grateful for the grants, but every year we wait to implement these reforms, were losing more students.
This story was originally published on CalMatters.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- An office used for U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign in the state of Arizona was damaged by gunfire Monday, according to a report by NBC News on Tuesday.
Police are investigating the incident, which caused damage. No injuries were reported.
Harris has scheduled to visit Arizona a few days later as she campaigns for president, the report said.
CARLSBAD, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) The Carlsbad City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to move forward with plans to demolish the long-standing Carlsbad Village Plaza and replace it with a mixed-use development, including 218 rental apartments. The decision sparked opposition, with some residents voicing concerns over maintaining the character of Old Carlsbad.
The development will include two five-story buildings, with 27 units designated for low-income households, and a parking structure with spaces for electric vehicles. The plan also includes restaurants and shops in front of the housing units.
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Robert Medina, a Carlsbad resident, expressed frustration, questioning the claim that adding 218 units would reduce traffic. Right now, they contend that by putting 218 units, its gonna reduce trafficthats nonsense, he said.
Medina also voiced concerns about the impact on local businesses, including a Smart & Final and a pharmacy that serves low-income and elderly residents, many he says walk to the plaza because they dont own cars.
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This is going to displace elderly families who rely on this pharmacy, he said.
Bret Schanzenbach, president of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, supports the project, calling the plaza outdated and beyond its economic prime. We think this development is going to be fantastic for Carlsbad Village. This mixed-use project brings much-needed housing, Schanzenbach said.
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Developers argue that the current plaza is no longer viable, with years of deferred maintenance and neglect. Patrick Tooley of Tooley Interests said, The reality is that after decades of neglect, the retail buildings that exist here today are simply not viable in the long term.
The projects approval comes in the wake of state housing laws from Sacramento, which allow new regulations to override local zoning laws. These laws make higher-density housing more of a reality in Carlsbad.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
Casey Anthony judge warns Kentucky magistrate murder highlights new reality, says he kept guard dog to be safe
Casey Anthony judge warns Kentucky magistrate murder highlights new reality, says he kept guard dog to be safe
The fatal shooting of District Judge Kevin Mullins in his own East Kentucky chambers underscores the escalation of violence towards the judiciary since 2019, threats of violence against judges have more than doubled, according to one law group.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn "Mickey" Stines is accused of shooting Mullins, 54, multiple times following an argument in the courthouse. Mullins died at the scene, and Stines was charged with one count of first-degree murder.
According to the American Bar Association, credible threats of harm against judges have skyrocketed from 175 instances in 2019 to 500 in 2023.
"Judges are facing more and more threats violence has become the rule rather than the exception when defendants are unhappy with rulings. Most jurisdictions are unequipped in dealing with these mounting threats," said Belvin Perry, the former chief judge of Florida's Ninth Judicial Circuit, who received a slew of death threats when he presided over Casey Anthony's trial and throughout his career.
Shocking Attack On Nevada Judge Shows Need For Greater Protections, Says Judge Whose Son Was Killed
District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was killed by Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines, 43, in his judge's chambers, authorities said Thursday.
"Each court's security will do an evaluation of your home to make sure that your home is safe. They'll tell you to make plans for your family if something happens. Those are actual realities that judges each and every day have to live with," Perry said.
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"I've had, at times, 24-hour security at my house because of death threats. I kept a German Shepard, highly trained canine at home to be with my family when I was not at home. My wife had to take shooting courses."
Three days before Mullins was shot, Stines was deposed in a lawsuit levied by two women. The suit accuses the sheriff of "deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise" a deputy, Ben Fields, who pleaded guilty to raping a female prisoner while she was on house arrest.
The women allege that Fields repeatedly sexually abused a woman in Mullins' chambers.
It isn't clear whether the argument that preceded the shooting was related to the lawsuit. But if it were, it wouldn't be the first time a judge was attacked over a case.
Las Vegas Courtroom Attack Highlights Issue Of Violence Against Judges: Experts
Last year, a Maryland county circuit court judge, Andrew Wilkerson, was killed in the driveway of his home following his ruling in a child custody case.
New Jersey federal judge Esther Salas started The Daniel Anderl Protection Project after her 20-year-old son was shot dead in a racially-motivated attack meant for her in 2020. The gunman, who was disguised as a delivery driver, killed Daniel Anderl and seriously injured Salas' husband, Mark Anderl.
"In my opinion, every state and territory in the United States should have laws protecting judges and should have laws that are aimed at judicial security," Esther Salas previously told Fox News Digital. "There are a handful of states like New Jersey that have addressed judicial security head-on, and my hope and prayer is that states will follow New Jersey's lead, follow the federal legislation and create and enact their own laws that are aimed directly at the judiciary."
In June, the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Counter Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act, which would provide federal funding for state and local judges' security.
"Unfortunately, heightened polarization and partisanship has coincided with a spike in threats and attacks on members of the bench that endangers the independence of our justice system," Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat and one of the bill's sponsors, said in a statement.
Dems Roundly Condemn Death Threats Against The Supreme Court They've Repeatedly Disparaged
New Jersey federal Judge Esther Salas lost her 20-year-old son in 2020 after he was fatally shot in a racially motivated attack targeting Salas.
Perry told Fox News Digital that although violence against the judiciary is on the rise, it is not a new phenomenon.
In 1984, Perry narrowly evaded a gunman who opened fire in Florida's Orange County Courthouse.
The shooter, Thomas Provenzano, shot 60-year-old Deputy Sheriff William Arnold Wilkerson dead, left Deputy Sheriff Harry Dalton with brain damage and injuries that led to his premature death several years later and permanently paralyzed Officer Mark Lindsey Parker.
Provenzano had been charged with disorderly conduct five months earlier and intended to shoot the officer that charged him, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. He was executed via electric chair in June 2020.
Perry said that he happened to step out of the hallway where Provenzano opened fire moments before gunshots rang out.
"Unfortunately, we see that violence has become the ever present factor in the lives of judges," Perry said.
Combating the problem is the "million-dollar question," he said but improved security in courthouses would help.
"It's tragic that the judge in Kentucky got killed, even with a security system in place the sheriff was the person responsible for providing security," Perry said.
Original article source: Casey Anthony judge warns Kentucky magistrate murder highlights new reality, says he kept guard dog to be safe
Cash was snatched and damage was caused during a break-in at a North Yorkshire supermarket.
It happened at the Co-op store in Leyburn late on Monday night, according to police.
Two males broke into an outer door at about 22:30 BST, before breaking through a main door at about 23:00 BST and causing damage to the till area before leaving with an unspecified amount of cash, officers said.
Anyone who saw what happened, or who had information about the incident, was asked to get in touch with North Yorkshire Police.
One of the suspects was wearing all black clothing and navy blue trainers, while the other was wearing a turquoise jacket with black trousers and trainers, a force spokesperson said.
Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.
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AUSTIN (KXAN) It might not have been a cat stuck in a tree, but the Austin Fire Department did rescue a feline trapped in a vehicles engine.
AFD shared the happy news in a social media post Tuesday afternoon. AFD Firefighters Burns saved the cat after he had crawled into the engine compartment of a vehicle and got his ear stuck in a serpentine belt.
While his form of a thank you mightve involved some claws, AFD said the cat reunited with his family following 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 KXAN Austin.
AUSTIN (KXAN) Texas is getting a new intercontinental route, with Cathay Pacific announcing it will fly nonstop between Dallas and Hong Kong beginning in April.
The Hong Kong-based airline will operate flights to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport four days a week, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The airline will utilize Airbus A350-1000 aircraft on the route. Flights are already on sale.
Connecting the cultural and commercial opportunities between DFW and Hong Kong with a nonstop flight is crucial for these two globally influential regions, Sean Donohue, CEO of DFW Airport, said in a press release. We are excited to welcome Cathay Pacific as our newest international airline, with service that will grow DFWs connectivity throughout Asia and beyond.
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Dallas will be Cathay Pacifics sixth airport served in the U.S. The airline currently flies to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco.
The Hong Kong route is the second new transoceanic service announced at DFW in recent months. Fiji Airways will begin nonstop service to the Pacific island nation in December.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
BALTIMORE A Baltimore County woman who planned attacks on Baltimores power grid as part of a white-supremacist scheme was sentenced Wednesday to 18 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar handed down the punishment to 36-year-old Sarah Beth Clendaniel, of Catonsville, who in May pleaded guilty to one count of participating in a conspiracy to damage an energy facility and one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
Clendaniel plotted with neo-Nazi leader Brandon C. Russell, of Florida, to shoot and destroy several electrical substations surrounding Baltimore, federal prosecutors said in court documents. Driven by white-supremacist ideology and accelerationism, they intended to cause a cascading failure of the electrical system to permanently completely lay this city to waste.
This plot was audacious, outrageous, terrifying, Bredar said.
An expert from BGE estimated that it wouldve cost $75 million to replace the power stations that the pair planned to destroy, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum for Clendaniel, describing the calculation as an extremely conservative estimate.
A massive, unexpected loss of electrical power for an extended period of time likely would have led to the deaths of one or more persons with serious medical conditions who depended on electronic medical devices to keep themselves alive at home, the governments sentencing memorandum added, urging Bredar to sentence Clendaniel to 18 years in prison.
Russell has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to damage an energy facility and is slated to go to trial in November. Prosecutors asked a judge to conceal the names of undercover witnesses who are expected to testify against Russell by allowing them to use pseudonyms in court.
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CAPILLA DEL MONTE, Argentina (Reuters) - Wildfires have burned through 40,000 hectares (400 square kilometers) of Argentina's central farming region of Cordoba, according to officials, leaving charred cattle, houses, forests and fields in their wake.
Images from the hard-hit town of Capilla del Monte in the key ranching region showed cows completely burned and blackened amid scenes of decimated plants and trees. Locals described the sound of the blazes as like a "monster".
"It was a sound like a turbine, like a growl, it sounded like a monster, literally. And we escaped. We escaped from something that was coming to eat us," said Hugo Avila, a 50-year-old artist, who fled his home as the fire approached.
"We fled down the road, with the car, with my dogs and with the neighbors. And 15 minutes later I came back and this was it. Everything was on fire, a house reduced to nothing."
Argentina's President Javier Milei is scheduled to travel to the region on Wednesday, hours after his return from a trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Firefighters are trying to put out the blazes using water tanker planes and helicopters to prevent them from spreading to urban areas, the province said. The fires have been exacerbated by hot weather and drought, which has caused record blazes this year more widely around South America from Bolivia to Brazil.
Benjamin Grandoli, a 34-year-old teacher and cattle farmer, said that 98% of his land had been burned. Some animals died while others were saved from the fire.
"There are 280 animals, including those that died ... Right now they are in pens but they don't have food, and water from the mountain is scarce due to the drought. So it's complicated," he said.
"The disaster and impact of the wildfires is astonishing."
(Reporting by Luciano Gonzalez and Juan Bustamante; Writing by Eliana Raszewski; Editing by Lucila Sigal, Adam Jourdan and Aurora Ellis)
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Concerns are mounting over staff cuts at the Clark County School District as it deals with a budget deficit.
The district has yet to publicly say the amount of its shortfall. One school has already taken action to address the deficit, which is impacting an untold number of schools. There are more than 300 CCSD schools.
Having to come to work and not knowing if this is going to be your job for much longer is stressful, Marc Erbisch-Westcott said.
Hes a special education teacher at Don and Dee Snyder Elementary School located in the far southwest valley.
Our support staff is also affected by this. A lot of them have lost some of the extra hours that they were working before, and so they have to try and make ends meet with a loss in their income because theyre not salaried employees. Theyre hourly, he said.
On Friday, CCSD Interim Superintendent Dr. Brenda Larson Mitchell issued a press release to district employees where she acknowledged there was a central budget deficit.
In that letter, Larsen Mitchell stated an 8% raise in teacher salaries that was agreed upon last December wasnt included when the current budget was approved earlier this year.
Erbisch-Westcott says his principal has started to make adjustments to reflect that.
Were looking at having some teacher surplus. Were not able to afford in our budget the number of teachers we have on staff right now, he said. Theres one less teacher in that grade level which means all the classroom sizes go up.
He said the practice of surplus is when a teacher is moved to another school.
Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction Jhone Ebert was at a Las Vegas elementary school for an event on Tuesday when 8 News Now asked her about CCSDs financial situation.
We need to understand what has transpired, right? Understand what the root causes are. We hear different things are going, and so looking into where the district is with the allocation of the funds, Ebert said.
Do you have any faith that the current leadership in the district will be able to solve this? Reporter Joshua Peguero asked.
You said we were going to talk about Pre-K, Joshua, Ebert responded.
Governor Joe Lombardo announced last week he would investigate CCSDs budget issues.
Nevada lawmakers approved a record $12 billion investment into state schools last year, with CCSD getting a huge chunk of that.
The districts budget problems led to the departure of former Chief Financial Officer Jason Goudie, who said last Friday he was fired without cause.
The interim superintendent stated in her press release that CCSD is working to identify and correct all budget issues as quickly as possible.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
PLYMOUTH COUNTY, Iowa (KCAU) If you are a pork lover, join the Plymouth County Pork Producers in their Tenderloin Trail pork promotion!
During this promotion, nine area restaurants will be participating in the Plymouth County Tenderloin Trail serving their pork menu items, according to a press release.
Restaurant customers will be able to pick up a passport at any participating restaurant and when ordering a pork menu item get their passport stamped. Customers must collect at least 5 stamps to be entered into the drawing
At the end completed passport can be emailed to plycoporkproducers@gmail.com or left at the restaurant to be entered into a drawing.
Soho Kitchen and Bar set to reopen before holiday season
The prizes in the raffle include a pork bundle for Premium Iowa Pork, a pork bundle from Remen Processing, a pellet grill from Argi-Vision Le Mars, a gas grill from KF Propane in Remsen, and a $100 gift certificate to the winners choice of participating restaurant.
The promotion starts on Oct.1 and ends on Dec. 31.
Participating restaurants are listed below:
Golden Pheasant in Remsen
Mrs. Bs in Remsen
Klein on 9 in Remen
Chubs Country Stor in Akron
Ps Pizza House in Le Mars
Corner Cafe in Brunsville
Dooskys East in Kingsley
Scootchs Bar in Kingsley
Junkyard in Hinton
Sterling Meyer and Simon Kern with the Plymouth County Pork Producers stopped by the KCAU 9 studio Tuesday to discuss the promotion. You can watch that interview in the video player 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 SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Central Ohio school districts have implemented a variety of safety measures to protect students from potential threats, many of which involve updated technology.
School safety concerns are frequent; the Gun Violence Archive lists 135 school-related incidents in the U.S. in September of this year alone. Some local districts are taking additional steps to keep schools safe.
New Albany-Plain recently implemented Centegix CrisisAlert, a wearable device that allows all staff members to request help with the push of a button. Ohio School Public Relations Association President Patrick Gallaway said the system is well worth the approximately $50,000 annual cost to keep kids safe.
Ohio spends $5.5M in taxes on private school renovations
We are in our first year of implementation and just wrapping up the testing phase, Gallaway said. We have been using the system though and it is going to be a great tool when we have a situation on campus. That could range from a student getting hurt on the playground to a student or staff member that may be sick to the other extreme of an active shooter or someone trying to come on to campus.
Gallaway said each staff member wears a badge, which can be pressed a certain number of times for minor concerns where someone needs assistance. For large situations, staff should press the button a different number of times. Gallaway said the system is also connected to law enforcement for a quick response.
Westerville schools introduced the Raptor Emergency Management system in 2022, a similar centralized software accessible on phones and computers. Melanie Amato, executive director of communications and community engagement, said every district school uses the system in monthly drills and they have tracked success in the program.
Many schools have praised the system for streamlining emergency procedures, improving coordination during drills, and providing first responders with vital, real-time information, Amator said. Administrators have reported faster recovery efforts, improved student accountability and more effective drills.
The Raptor system costs the district $51,975 this year, Amato said.
Westerville schools weigh religious release polciy
High-tech or costly solutions respond to notable concerns, with multiple safety incidents around central Ohio this week alone. On Monday, several Hilliard schools went into lockdown or closed for the day after a student allegedly stabbed another student at a bus stop.
On Tuesday, South-Western City Schools Executive Director of Communication Evan Debo confirmed parents at Jackson Middle School received an email assuaging fears after social media posts referencing a Southwest school with a Sept. 30 date. Debo provided a copy of the email to NBC4, which assured families there was no need for concern but thanked students and parents for speaking up.
As that post has made the rounds on Snapchat, we have seen a game of telephone with the Fort Worth, TX hoax threat evolve particularly among middle school students that warranted a message home to families to reassure them that we were aware and that it had been investigated in conjunction with local law enforcement and that their children were safe, Debo said.
Communication is a pillar of improving K-12 school safety, according to the Department of Homeland Security. According to Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit dedicated to school safety, in four out of five school shootings, at least one other person had knowledge of the attackers plan but did not report it. According to a Homeland Security safety report, having multiple lanes of communication to report concerns is key for school safety.
Bexley, Grandview Heights and Upper Arlington school districts use the STAY SAFE, SPEAK UP! hotline, an online safety reporting system where people can report concerns. Many other districts direct students to the Safer Ohio tip line, a program from the Ohio School Safety Center where students can contact the state via call, app or online form to voice concerns.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
The Swedish stock market has been navigating a complex landscape, influenced by global economic shifts and recent monetary policy decisions. Despite these challenges, dividend stocks in Sweden continue to offer attractive yields for investors seeking stable income streams. In this article, we will explore three Swedish dividend stocks yielding up to 9.9%. A good dividend stock typically combines strong financial health with consistent payout history, making it a reliable choice in today's fluctuating market conditions.
Top 10 Dividend Stocks In Sweden
Name Dividend Yield Dividend Rating Bredband2 i Skandinavien (OM:BRE2) 4.47% Betsson (OM:BETS B) 5.92% Nordea Bank Abp (OM:NDA SE) 8.60% HEXPOL (OM:HPOL B) 3.77% Zinzino (OM:ZZ B) 3.58% Axfood (OM:AXFO) 3.04% Duni (OM:DUNI) 4.85% Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (OM:SEB A) 5.43% Avanza Bank Holding (OM:AZA) 4.75% Afry (OM:AFRY) 3.04%
Click here to see the full list of 22 stocks from our Top Swedish Dividend Stocks screener.
Below we spotlight a couple of our favorites from our exclusive screener.
Simply Wall St Dividend Rating:
Overview: BioGaia AB (publ) is a healthcare company that provides probiotic products worldwide and has a market cap of SEK11.30 billion.
Operations: BioGaia AB (publ) generates revenue primarily from its Pediatrics segment, which accounts for SEK1072.93 million, and its Adult Health segment, contributing SEK288.68 million.
Dividend Yield: 6.2%
BioGaia's dividend yield of 6.18% places it among the top 25% of dividend payers in Sweden, yet its sustainability is questionable. Despite a decade-long increase in dividends, they are not well covered by free cash flow, with a high cash payout ratio of 193.8%. Recent earnings show promising growth, with Q2 sales at SEK 384.12 million and net income at SEK 111.01 million, but significant insider selling raises concerns about future stability.
OM:BIOG B Dividend History as at Sep 2024
Simply Wall St Dividend Rating:
Overview: HEXPOL AB (publ) develops, manufactures, and sells various polymer compounds and engineered products across Sweden, Europe, the Americas, and Asia with a market cap of SEK36.54 billion.
Operations: HEXPOL AB (publ) generates revenue primarily from HEXPOL Compounding (SEK20.18 billion) and HEXPOL Engineered Products (SEK1.61 billion).
Dividend Yield: 3.8%
HEXPOL offers a stable dividend yield of 3.77%, although it falls below the top 25% of Swedish dividend payers. Dividends have been consistently growing and are well-covered by both earnings (55.4% payout ratio) and cash flows (57.8% cash payout ratio). Recent earnings showed a slight decline, with Q2 sales at SEK 5.45 billion and net income at SEK 654 million, reflecting minor year-over-year decreases in financial performance.
Story continues
OM:HPOL B Dividend History as at Sep 2024
Simply Wall St Dividend Rating:
Overview: SSAB AB (publ) produces and sells steel products in Sweden, Finland, the rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally with a market cap of SEK49.28 billion.
Operations: SSAB AB (publ) generates revenue from several segments, including SSAB Europe (SEK43.44 billion), SSAB Americas (SEK26.81 billion), SSAB Special Steels (SEK30.49 billion), Tibnor (SEK12.50 billion), and Ruukki Construction (SEK5.41 billion).
Dividend Yield: 9.9%
SSAB's dividend yield stands out at 9.92%, ranking in the top 25% of Swedish dividend payers. However, its dividend history has been volatile and unreliable over the past six years. Despite this, dividends are well-covered by both earnings (48.7% payout ratio) and cash flows (49.5% cash payout ratio). Recent financial performance showed a decline with Q2 sales at SEK 28.28 billion and net income at SEK 2.42 billion, reflecting lower year-over-year results.
OM:SSAB A Dividend History as at Sep 2024
Where To Now?
Investigate our full lineup of 22 Top Swedish Dividend Stocks right here.
Are any of these part of your asset mix? Tap into the analytical power of Simply Wall St's portfolio to get a 360-degree view on how they're shaping up.
Simply Wall St is your key to unlocking global market trends, a free user-friendly app for forward-thinking investors.
Curious About Other Options?
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Companies discussed in this article include OM:BIOG B OM:HPOL B and OM:SSAB A.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
The newly appointed chairman of the Isle of Man's abattoir Meat Plant has said his priority in the role was to get to understand the challenges facing the facility.
Damien Corcoran is one of five new directors appointed to the board of the Meat Plant, which receives about 2m in government funding each year, after a series of production delays and order cancellations.
Issues at the plant led to the Manx National Farmers' Union declaring a vote of no confidence in the facility's senior team last month.
Mr Corcoran said the new board had the expertise to enable them to focus on the challenges and form an "actionable plan".
'Necessary experience'
Born and educated on the Isle of Man before joining the British Army, Mr Concoran then moving into a career in retail, working for Aldi, Sainsbury's and Amazon-owned Whole Foods.
Other new members appointed were butcher Rob Teare, red meat businessman Philip Birnie, farmer Andrew McKeown, and agricultural economist and principal author of a comprehensive report on the abattoir Jonathan Birnie.
Mr Concoran said the first steps for the new appointees would be to speak to farmers, butchers and retailers to "understand what the challenges really are" and gather information before taking action.
Reflecting on the role of the facility and its potential for the future he said the "abattoir and meat generally is a critical part of food security".
He said: "If we can get to the point where we are fulfilling domestic consumption consistently, and if we can start getting the requisite volume and quality that we need, we should be able to export out product with pride."
Getting to that stage would see the plant "generate economic activity and propel the Isle of Man brand beyond the island itself", he added.
Why not follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X? You can also send story ideas to IsleofMan@bbc.co.uk
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) A woman from Champaign will spend almost three decades in federal prison after she was convicted of drug distribution charges.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Colin Bruce sentenced Malaia Turner, 36, to 27 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine.
Urbana man sentenced to 12 years for deadly apartment shooting
Evidence revealed that Turner held a leadership role in a conspiracy that had large quantities of ice methamphetamine and other drugs transported to Central Illinois. The drugs came from suppliers in California, Texas and Illinois.
Turner was arrested in August of 2022 and was convicted by a jury in May of this year. She faced anywhere from 10 years to life in prison, and Judge Bruce said her leadership role in the conspiracy made her eligible for an increased sentence.
The case against Turner was investigated by the FBI, Illinois State Police and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Upon release from prison, Turner will have to serve eight years on parole.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Ordinarily, US District Judge Gary J Brown would have sent the man to the local federal jail to serve out his sentence for tax fraud.
But one thing stopped him: The dangerous, barbaric conditions that have existed for some time at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
The notorious jail, commonly known as MDC, is in the spotlight once again due to its latest celebrity detainee. Last week, a New York judge ordered Sean Diddy Combs be held there after federal prosecutors charged him with sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty.
High-profile defendants like Mr Combs sometimes receive special protection when jailed, and the music mogul is reported to be in a section of MDC Brooklyn for detainees who require special protection.
Mr Combs is, according to local media reports, sharing a dormitory-style room there with the cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried, who once ran a company worth billions but was convicted on multiple counts of fraud in March.
And because it is the only federal jail in New York City, where many high-profile cases are processed, the pair are just the latest in an extensive list of notable names to have passed through the facility's doors. That list includes the rapper R Kelly as well as Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
But for many of MDC Brooklyn's 1,200 current inmates, its a different story.
In an August sentencing decision, Judge Brown cited multiple cases of fellow jurists who had hesitated to send defendants and convicts to the jail due to the conditions.
Allegations of inadequate supervision, unbridled assaults, and lack of sufficient medical care are supported by an increasing body of evidence, with certain instances that are irrefutable, he said.
Chaos reigns, along with uncontrolled violence, Judge Brown added. His ruling included the case of a defendant who was stabbed multiple times but reported receiving no medical care, instead being locked in his cell for 25 days. The judge cited staffing shortages and worsening conditions after the Covid pandemic that forced the jail into lockdown.
If the Bureau of Prisons decided to send the defendant in the tax fraud case to MDC, the judge wrote, he would vacate the man's sentence.
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A troubled history
MDC Brooklyn was opened in the 1990s, and its issues stretch back years.
In 2019, an electrical fire in the dead of winter caused a blackout, plunging the facility into darkness and frigid conditions.
And in June 2020, an inmate, Jamel Floyd, died after being pepper sprayed by correctional officers. His family sued the federal government over his death. A review by the Department of Justice concluded there was "insufficient evidence" that prison authorities "engaged in administrative misconduct," but did acknowledge that the use of pepper spray violated policy.
Judge Brown is not the only judge to harshly criticise the facility.
In January, Judge Jesse Furman of the Federal District Court in Manhattan refused to send a man who pleaded guilty in a drug case there because of its dangerous conditions.
After initially allowing the man, Gustavo Chavez, to await sentencing on supervised release, Judge Furman ultimately let him bypass MDC and report directly to the prison where he would serve out his sentence.
In July, 36-year-old Edwin Cordero died after he was injured in a fight while serving out a sentence at MDC.
The decrepit conditions are really fuelled by this sort of terrible conflation of circumstances, Andrew Dalack, the lawyer for both Mr Cordero and Mr Chavez, told the BBC. Overcrowding, understaffing and a lack of a political will to fix the conditions.
As a Brooklyn-based public defender, Mr Dalack has represented numerous clients who have been sent to MDC. Its a really scary place to be, he said.
After Mr Corderos death, US Congressman Dan Goldman, who represents the district where the Brooklyn facility is located, called for more federal oversight to address chronic understaffing, perpetual solitary confinement and widespread violence".
The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which manages the facility, said in a statement that it "takes seriously our duty to protect the individuals entrusted in our custody, as well as maintain the safety of correctional employees and the community".
A spokesman for the bureau pointed to the creation of an urgent action team, which is seeking to address issues at MDC, and an ongoing effort to hire more staff and address a backlog of maintenance requests.
A February 2024 report compiled by the Federal Defenders of New York, where Mr Dalack works, attributed overcrowding issues to the closure of its troubled sister facility in Manhattan, which the government shut down in 2021 - two years after Jeffrey Epstein's in-custody death at the facility.
They also said the presence of drugs and other contraband contributes to the facility's dangerous atmosphere.
The federal facility holds individuals who have been convicted of crimes, but a substantial portion of the population there is awaiting trial in the citys federal courts, and have yet to be found innocent or guilty.
The conditions weighed on Mr Dalacks clients, who were already facing the prospect of more permanent incarceration.
It should not be the case that while your life is on the line and your liberty is on the line, that you have to be completely stripped of your humanity, he said. MDC Brooklyn has a way of really breaking people down, and making them feel less than human.
More on this story
(WJET/WFXP) A Superseding Indictment returned by a federal grand jury this week has expanded the time frame of the operation allegedly run by a former DuBois city manager and employee to steal over $1.5 million from the city.
A federal grand jury returned a 10-count Superseding Indictment accusing 64-year-old John Herm Suplizio and 59-year-old Roberta Shaffer of DuBois that accused the two of stealing another $700,000 previously not accounted for along with money laundering charges.
PA city manager, employee charged with allegedly stealing over $850K in city funds
Suplizio and Shaffer, who were the citys manager and secretary respectively, for DuBois are accused of knowingly conspiring to embezzle, steal, convert, and misapply over $1.5 million of the citys money between May 2008 and March 2022.
In order to steal the money, prosecutors accuse the two of opening bank accounts without telling the DuBois City Council and auditors then would funnel the fees for the city from waste management and a pair of oil companies into the accounts.
The two would then allegedly withdraw large amounts of cash and write checks to themselves along with others, obtain cashiers checks with themselves listed as payees, and make payments to Suplizios personal credit card.
Three teens arrested after alleged assaults at Tinseltown, Walmart
The charges on Suplizios card ranged from vacation expenses, utility expenses for his residence, department store purchases, jewelry store purchases, political dinners, and other things frequently costing more than $10,000 which prosecutors said constitutes money laundering.
If convicted, each defendant faces up to five or 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or $500,000 or both with the actual sentence being based on criminal history and the severity of the offense.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com.
Clinicians have reported a rise in diseases in children that "should have been eradicated", according to a charity [BBC]
"Worsening health and wellbeing" in children means the NHS needs radical reform, according to a Merseyside hospital charity backed by academics.
Alder Hey Children's Charity, attached to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, said clinicians were seeing rising numbers of diseases in children which "should have been eradicated" including measles and rickets.
Charity chief executive Fiona Ashcroft said increasing inequality was "limiting the life chances" of children growing up in the UK today.
The charity is set to launch its Put Children First campaign at the hospital later, which calls on the government to create a "children centred NHS".
It said changes to the way decisions are made could help save some of the 39 billion it says is lost each year due to health inequalities - as spending on public services is higher in areas with high rates of child poverty.
The Department of Health and Social Care said it had an "ambitious strategy" to "shift focus from treatment to prevention".
Ms Ashcroft said she and her colleagues had been compelled to speak out after listening to children, parents and clinicians who are "witnessing first hand worsening health and wellbeing due to poverty and social inequality".
Worrying trends
As well as diseases dating back to Victorian times, she said children were being referred for treatment usually seen in adults such as lung disease and obesity.
The charity said Covid measures also accelerated a rise in mental illness in children and young people.
She said: "Children have not been a political priority for over a decade - and the health service has not been designed or commissioned with children and young people in mind."
The charity called for the government to appoint a children's health representative to inform the ministerial taskforce on child poverty.
It also said NHS reforms should include the creation of a "commissioning framework" especially for children to make the most of limited resources, and that a childrens representative should be on every mission delivery board across government.
University of Liverpool Professor David Taylor Robinson, who is also an honorary consultant in public health at Alder Hey Childrens Hospital, joined the call for a re-think, describing recent trends in child health indicators as "extremely worrying".
"We must tackle child poverty, reinvest in preventative services, and develop a national strategy to address health inequalities", he said.
In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care said: Too many children are not receiving the start in life or they care they deserve.
We will fix the NHS and create the healthiest generation of children in our history by shifting focus from treatment to prevention, starting by banning junk food ads aimed at children.
Our cross-government child poverty taskforce will develop an ambitious strategy to give children the best start in life.
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
More like this
This is an adapted excerpt from the Sept. 24 episode of "Deadline: White House."
On Monday, Donald Trump held a rally in Pennsylvania, where he once again repeated lies about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. Trump told the crowd that Ohio and Pennsylvania communities will never be the same after having been inundated with immigrants.
They will never be do you think Springfield will never be the same? The fact is, and Ill say it now, you have to get them the hell out. You have to get them out. Im sorry. Get them out, Trump said.
The crowd then erupted into applause with spectators chanting: Send them back!
That kind of response from Trumps rallygoers should hardly come as a surprise. Back in July, the crowd at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee held up signs reading MASS DEPORTATION NOW!
This feels like a throwback to a much darker, more dangerous period of American history. Trump has an entire crowd chanting Send them back. The racism is just so raw. But this is who Trump is it's not a gaff, it's not a one-off. This kind of rhetoric is what he's running on and with every day that passes hes doubling down on it.
What would it say about American culture and the American people, if they look at this man and say: Yeah, lets put him back in power. Lets make him the president of the United States again. Lets ratify these policies.
Trump keeps talking about mass deportation and yes, some polls suggest a majority of Americans want to do that, but Im not sure weve really come to grips with what that means: millions of people put on trains and busses, rounded up and arrested by the military and police. Children would be separated from their parents. It would be one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of our time. And yet it feels like many Americans are shrugging their shoulders and going, were OK with all of this.
We are less than six weeks out from the election and this is the choice in front of the American people. This is what it comes down to: Its not just who we want to make the president of the United States, but really, what kind of a country we want to be.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools this week quietly told librarians not to explicitly observe Banned Books Week in school again.
The last week in September is Banned Books Week, a national initiative launched in 1982 thats intended to draw attention to the harms of censorship and highlight the value of free and open access to information, according to the events website.
The American Library Association uses the week to educate the general public about historic attempts to censor books and to celebrate the freedom to read. Schools and libraries around the country, including in CMS, have held events and created library displays in the past marking the event and informing readers about the dangers of censorship. Last year, a public relations fiasco prompted Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools to walk back a directive prohibiting schools from observing the week.
CMS leadership told staff Monday they shouldnt make displays or hold events that specifically highlight Banned Books Week. Any displays should, instead, promote reading in general.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is asking its schools not to explicitly celebrate Banned Books Week and saying the district maintains a neutral stance on the annual celebration. This book, Being You: A First Conversation About Gender is one thats often challenged nationwide, including last year in the public library system in York County.
Leaders said this years decision was made to maintain neutrality and abide by district guidelines.
The district maintains a neutral stance on the celebration of (Banned Books Week), and while we fully support promoting ethical access to and use of resources, we must ensure that any displays or activities remain in compliance with district policies, a district spokesperson wrote in a message sent to digital learning and library staff Monday. Media Coordinators are encouraged to promote reading and literacy in alignment with our curriculum, but without explicitly celebrating (Banned Books Week).
The letter, which The Charlotte Observer obtained from both CMS and community members, was not signed. However, the district said the guidance was issued by its academic leadership team.
The letter went on to cite the districts process for selecting and reviewing library materials and the required criteria, including that content is age-appropriate.
Banned Books week decision response
Stacy Staggs is a CMS parent and an organizer with Public School Strong, a public education advocacy group in North Carolina. By asking librarians not to celebrate Banned Books Week, CMS is not truly maintaining neutrality on the event, she said.
Had they written that email without the explicit direction to not celebrate Banned Books Week, they might be able to claim neutrality, but thats not what they wrote Staggs said. There is a clear directive in that communication to not talk about Banned Books Week.
Staggs says its a misguided attempt to avoid ruffling feathers over Senate Bill 49, titled the Parents Bill of Rights. The NC law, which passed in August 2023, prohibits instruction on gender identity, sexuality and sexual activity for grades K through 4. It doesnt, however, define those terms or what constitutes instruction.
Book banning efforts increased in North Carolina in recent years, as well as across the United States. Books that contain LGBTQ+ content and books by authors of color are disproportionately challenged nationwide.
The American Library Association reported 4,240 unique titles were targeted for removal or restriction in 2023, a 65% increase from 2022. Preliminary data shows that more than 47% of challenges targeted LGBTQ+ titles in the first eight months of 2023. Of the top 10 most challenged books of 2023, seven contained LGBTQ+ content.
An analysis by researchers at the University of Colorado found authors of color, particularly women of color, were 4.5 times more likely to be banned than white authors in 2022.
Staggs says the districts decision delivers a worrying message to marginalized students and staff.
Those are groups whose voices are being pulled off the shelves, Staggs said. When CMS gave that directive, theyre promoting the erasure of these marginalized groupsThat affects students when they dont feel safe.
By contrast, Brooke Weiss, chair of the Mecklenburg County chapter of Moms for Liberty, says the district made the right call.
I appreciate the directive because there have been incidents in the past where highly sexualized material was promoted, and parents had no idea that kind of age-inappropriate material was available to their children in an educational setting, Weiss said. Its easier to make things clear ahead of a potential incident than to try to clean up and explain matters after one occurs.
2023 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools decision
CMS statement is notably gentler than the initial directive it issued this time last year when principals were told to cancel all events, displays and any other communications planned for Banned Books Week.
Banned Book Week is not aligned with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools academic curriculum or our pillars of excellence. It is not something we teach in our classrooms or as supplementary material for out of school learning, Shayla Cannady, then-communications chief for CMS wrote to principals Sept. 29, 2023. Under the Parents Bill of Rights, any attempts to share material in relation to Banned Book Week could be seen as a violation of the measure.
After complaints from staff and community members as well as media coverage, CMS walked back its earlier directive.
We are not taking a position on banned book week as it is a site-based decision, Cannady wrote in a follow-up message that evening. It is not a violation or in any way associated with Parents Bill of Rights.
CMS has erred on the side of caution in its attempts to abide by Senate Bill 49 since the legislation passed. It became one of the first districts in the state to make changes to its policies in response to the law and came under fire earlier this year for discontinuing use of a popular e-book app district officials were concerned could violate the law.
Staggs says she fears CMS simply changed the tone of its message this year, rather than the intent to discourage celebration of Banned Books Week.
I think CMS recognizes they mishandled last years communication, but rather than change their directive or recognizing the importance of Banned Books Week, they changed the delivery, she said.
In our Reality Check stories, Charlotte Observer journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Read more. Story idea? RealityCheck@charlotteobserver.com.
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) Many cities and emergency agencies are mobilizing resources to ensure residents are prepared with Helene on the horizon.
On Monday, the Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) entered OPCON 4, its Monitoring Phase.
The county is urging residents to prepare as local authorities are offering sandbags and other assistance.
Residents are encouraged to stay informed and prepare for possible impacts.
Here are some tips provided by CEMA:
Review your emergency plans.
Check your supply kits including food and water for your pets.
Secure any loose outdoor items.
Take photos of important documents.
The latest on Helene from Storm Team 3
Residents can follow CEMA for updates on social media, visit their website, and sign up for CEMA Alerts at ChathamEmergency.org or text 77295 to receive up-to-date information as it becomes available.
To help with preparations in Chatham, Pooler and Richmond Hill are each offering free sand and sandbags.
Poolers will be available from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Pooler Recreation Center (900 South Rogers St.). Youll need to show proof of residency, and city staff will be available to assist if needed.
Richmond Hill is also providing sand at the former Georgia Department of Transportation lot on Timber Trail. Residents must fill their own bags and bring their own shovels.
Many are preparing for the storm as theyre dealing with the impact of Tropical Storm Debby.
President Joe Biden declared it a major disaster, making way for assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. You can apply online at disasterassistance.gov.
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Chemical leak from train car stopped; evacuation order remains in effect in Hamilton Co.
A dangerous chemical leak at a railroad yard in Whitewater Township has stopped but an evacuation order remains in effect.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6, Hamilton County EMA said in a social media post just before 2 p.m. on Tuesday that there was a chemical leak near State Route 128. People were told to go and stay inside.
Residents were also told to seal off doors and windows, close fireplace dampers and turn off their heat.
The Central Railroad of Indiana said one of its tanker cars was venting styrene near U.S. 50 and State Route 128, a spokesperson told our news partner WCPO in Cincinnati.
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Crews responded and applied water to the tanker car.
After several hours, the car was safely separated from the train and the leak stopped, officials told WCPO.
Crews are still working on the car and testing the air. Local evacuation and shelter-in-place orders remain intact.
>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Dangerous chemical leak prompts evacuation in Hamilton County
According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, styrene is a colorless, flammable liquid used to make plastics and rubber. Styrene is highly volatile.
The CDC reports that people may experience tiredness, slowed reaction times, concentration problems, and balance issues if they are exposed to styrene concentrations more than 1,000 times higher than the levels normally found in the environment.
Residents were asked Tuesday to evacuate and leave the area of US-50 and OH-128 in any direction.
A shelter has been opened for the public at Whitewater Township Community Center at 6125 Dry Fork Road, Hamilton County EMA said.
We will update this story.
UPDATE: The image has been clarified for the evacuation area of half-mile radius. https://t.co/lTpcF0Ni9U pic.twitter.com/Mv66wHwCss Hamilton County EMA (@HCEMA) September 24, 2024
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CHICAGO Unexplained spikes in residential water bills are nothing new in Chicago. WGN Investigates has previously reported how some residents have been hit with bills of more than $10,000.
In the most recent case, Ana Villanueva and her brother were charged more than $18,000 for four months-worth of water.
At this point, I was sleepless, said Juan Villanueva. I couldnt function. My typical bill was normally $300 every two months.
More than three years ago, the siblings had purchased a property near the Northwest Side neighborhood where they grew up. They saw it as a good investment. But then came the big bills.
Previous Coverage: North Side residents fighting city over giant water bill
They called the city and were told a leak could be the reason for the increase. But the plumber they hired couldnt find one inside their walls.
So, [the city] said [the leak is] probably in your front lawn or maybe underneath your sidewalk, said Juan Villanueva.
But months later, when they replaced their lead water service line, no leaks were found there, either.
Ana Villanueva believes a faulty water meter was to blame for the increases. She noted that after the city installed a new meter, their bills dropped to previous levels.
But they still owe the city more than $17,000.
Previous Coverage: With bills in the thousands, Chicago families want answers from the city
Thats why they reached out to WGN Investigates who shared their story with 36th Ward Alderman Gilbert Villegas. He has worked to fix water billing issues, and helped organize a public hearing on the matter last year.
Villegas said now, thanks to a change in city ordinance, in some cases, a homeowners water bill can be lowered if billing mistakes are found.
It was hopeless before, he said. Because no one was really doing anything about it. Thats why Im anxious to help out this family being impacted by this, this wrongful bill.
WGN Investigates: Investigating public corruption, crime & fraud
It remains to be seen if the Villanuevas bill be lowered, as the new ordinance, referenced by Villegas, hasnt taken effect.
But after we interviewed the alderman, the city called Villanueva and told her she could file an appeal as soon as January 2025.
A city water department spokeswoman declined to comment.
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LOS ANGELES, September 24, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL) announced the delivery of one new Airbus A220-300 to TAAG Angola Airlines, the national carrier of Angola. This is the first A220 aircraft to deliver on long-term lease to TAAG and is the first of six new A220-300s confirmed to deliver to the airline from ALCs orderbook with Airbus.
"We are pleased to announce ALCs first of six new A220-300 aircraft delivered to TAAG Angola Airlines," said Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, Executive Chairman of Air Lease Corporation. "ALC is the first lessor to introduce the A220 to the airline and we look forward to assisting TAAG in commencing its long-term fleet modernization program by adding these new-generation, fuel-efficient aircraft."
"Adding the A220-300 demonstrates TAAGs ambition for modernization and growth as the company builds a versatile fleet to address market demand under the airlines expansion plan (new routes and frequencies increase). From a local content empowerment perspective, the aircraft will have an Angolan crew with multiple teams benefiting from comprehensive training programs," said Nelson de Oliveira, CEO of TAAG.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
About Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL)
Air Lease Corporation is a leading global aircraft leasing company based in Los Angeles, California that has airline customers throughout the world. ALC and its team of dedicated and experienced professionals are principally engaged in purchasing new commercial aircraft and leasing them to its airline customers worldwide through customized aircraft leasing and financing solutions. The company routinely posts information that may be important to investors in the "Investors" section of its website at www.airleasecorp.com. Investors and potential investors are encouraged to consult Air Lease Corporations website regularly for important information. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, ALCs website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this press release.
Story continues
About TAAG
TAAG Angola Airlines is the leading airline in the country and is recognized worldwide for its strong high-yield market, having grown its current network to 13 domestic and 11 international destinations. Its fleet allows, in addition to passenger transport, air cargo services which have become essential for Angolas growth and development. TAAG is a company that prides itself on a strong track record of service and performance excellence. For more information on TAAG Angola Airlines, visit: www.taag.com
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240924902425/en/
Contacts
Investors:
Jason Arnold
Vice President, Investor Relations
Email: investors@airleasecorp.com
Media:
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Senior Manager, Media and Investor Relations
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ADDIS ABABA Pharmaceutical giants and rich nations need to collaborate with African countries to improve access to mpox vaccines, the head of the World Health Organization told Semafor Africa.
An outbreak of the infectious disease struck DR Congo before spreading to neighboring nations including Burundi, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.
Affected countries have struggled to contain the spread of the disease formerly called monkeypox which is typically contracted through physical contact and whose symptoms include fever and painful rashes that spread around the body.
Access to vaccines is a major challenge for African countries, in part due to the available supply and high price, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
He added that to increase the number of vaccines in African countries, a multi-pronged approach is needed that involves strong collaboration with vaccine manufacturing countries, reduced pricing and in-country preparation.
The WHO chief also called for donor nations that stockpiled vaccines to make them available to vulnerable nations ahead of a planned legally binding international agreement that is set to be introduced at the next World Health Assembly on the promotion of health equity.
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In August, the WHO declared the outbreak in parts of Africa a global health emergency.
Thousands of people in DR Congo alone have been identified as a potential risk of carrying the virus and hundreds have died as the nation continues to appeal to donor nations to be provided with the vaccines. So far, it has received little as the virus spreads within the nation.
Outside of Africa, only Sweden and Thailand have discovered the virus among their populations. More than 70 non-Africa nations have readily available vaccines, some of whom have been accused of stockpiling while African nations wait.
Rwanda last week became the first African nation to start vaccinating its citizens after it received 1,000 vaccines from Nigeria, which shared shots donated by the United States.
The WHO has repeatedly called for fairness and access to vital medicines to address health inequality challenges that affect developing nations most acutely.
There is a recognition of the need to strengthen collaboration between countries, with emphasis on equity, to protect communities against the risks posed by pathogens, Tedros said.
Samuels view
Despite the WHO designating the mpox outbreak a global health emergency, little support has come from pharmaceuticals and donor nations to the African nations worst affected.
Access to Medicine Foundation, a health equity advocate association based in the Netherlands, has highlighted that most people in low income nations still lack access to lifesaving medications for treatable health conditions.
Jayasree K Iyer, who heads Access to Medicine Foundation, believes few lessons were learned from the COVID-19 pandemic that exposed the lack of vaccine availability in African nations.
COVID-19 has highlighted the great disparity in access to essential pharmaceutical products, where products available in rich countries are not available in regions in Africa, he said. The continent suffers from some of the highest burden of disease yet availability is one of the lowest in the world.
The View From DR Congo
Thousands have been infected with mpox in DR Congo over the last year and hundreds of deaths have been recorded.
The country received its first vaccine shipment this month. Global vaccine alliance group Gavi imported 215,000 doses, donated from the European Union. But that is far short of the 3.5 million vaccine doses that DR Congos health minister, Roger Kamba, said is needed to protect the countrys population.
OROSI, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) A child trapped by flames in their Orosi home was saved by a Tulare County deputy on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the Tulare County Sheriffs Office, deputies were called to the 14000 block of Florida Ave. for a house fire just before 4:30 p.m.
Inside, a 12-year-old child with Down syndrome was trapped.
Deputies ran into the burning home to search for the child. One deputy ran back into the home three times before eventually finding the child in a back bedroom.
Corcoran officer honored for saving man from burning vehicle
The child, his brother, and the deputy were taken to local hospitals to be treated for smoke inhalation. All three are expected to be okay.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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(Bloomberg) -- Chilean lawmakers gave their final approval to legislation that clamps down on tax evasion and boosts government revenues, handing President Gabriel Boric a win days before he unveils the 2025 budget.
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The lower house of Congress on Wednesday backed prior changes to the bill made by the Senate. The text toughens penalties for tax crimes, strengthens oversight of businesses, combats informality in the economy and limits cash payments, among other measures. When fully in effect, the legislation aims to increase total government tax income by 1.5% of gross domestic product, or roughly $4.5 billion.
We will apply the new powers with all their rigor, Finance Minister Mario Marcel told reporters. Tax evasion and avoidance are sources of profound injustice in the economy and in society. They are obstacles to inclusive growth, and they are a source of fraud.
The congressional approval comes just in the nick of time for Borics administration, which is putting the final touches on the 2025 budget proposal that must be presented this month. The measure will give the government an extra $1.2 billion next year, according to Marcel. The new income will finance social spending including plans to boost pensions and strengthen public security.
Still, some economists have expressed skepticism over the estimates of new revenue the legislation will generate, saying they are unrealistically high.
Raising 1.5% of GDP in steady state seems particularly ambitious, given the set of measures that were approved, said Andres Perez, chief Latin America economist at Banco Itau. Strengthening investment and potential GDP growth would likely lead to a more durable and swifter recovery in revenues.
In an interview this month, Marcel said there will be more wiggle room in next years budget, pointing to extra resources from the anti-tax evasion legislation and also a lithium deal between state-controlled company Codelco and SQM. The government is pressing ahead with plans to halve the fiscal deficit, he said.
(Updates with economist comment in sixth paragraph)
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China continues to stand by its position that what is needed to end the war in Ukraine (which it refers to as a "crisis") is an immediate ceasefire, negotiations, and refraining from sanctions and economic pressure.
Source: Ukrinform, citing Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a UN Security Council meeting
Details: The Chinese minister pointed out that firstly, it is necessary to stop the fighting and prevent the hostilities spreading to new territories.
Secondly, dialogue and negotiations should be started immediately, as this is the "only viable way" to settle the "Ukraine crisis".
Quote from Ukrinform: "Thirdly, the Chinese foreign minister said, it is necessary to manage spillovers of the crisis into the global economy. He clarified that he meant the need to refrain from sanctions and blocking certain areas of world trade. The Chinese diplomat did not name any particular countries, but he was obviously referring to restrictions against Russia and those who support it. In this context, the Chinese representative said that this threatens sustainable development, which is one of the goals of the UN."
Background:
In late May 2024, the governments of Brazil and China proposed a six-point plan.
The first point states that Ukraine and Russia should "call on all relevant parties to observe three principles for deescalating the situation, namely no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting, and no provocation by any party".
On 21 September 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Brazilian leader Lula da Silva to discuss efforts to restore peace.
Brazil is one of the countries that did not sign the final communique of the Global Peace Summit, which took place on 15-16 June in Switzerland.
In an interview with Ukrainska Pravda, Ukraine's Ambassador to Brazil, Andrii Melnyk, said that Brazil had not warned Ukraine of its intention to present a peace plan with China to end Russia's war against Ukraine.
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China fires ICBM into Pacific Ocean in first such public test in decades as regional tensions flare
China says it successfully fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, a rare public test that analysts said was meant to send a message to the United States and its allies amid heightened regional tensions.
An ICBM carrying a dummy warhead was launched at 8:44 a.m. Beijing time and fell into a designated area in the high seas of the Pacific Ocean, the Chinese Defense Ministry said in a statement. It did not specify the missiles flight path or landing location.
The ministry said the launch, by the Peoples Liberation Army Rocket Force, was part of its routine annual training and not directed at any country or target. It comes as China and Russia conduct joint naval exercises in nearby seas close to Japan.
The launch effectively tested the performance of weapons and equipment as well as the training level of the troops, and achieved the expected objectives, state news agency Xinhua said in a separate report, adding that China had notified relevant countries in advance of the test.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the US received some advanced notification of the test from Beijing, calling it a step in the right direction to preventing any misperception or miscalculation.
Military vehicles carrying DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles appear in a parade in Beijing on October 1, 2019. - The Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images/File
Wednesdays launch marks the first time China has tested an ICBM over the Pacific Ocean in more than four decades.
In 1980, China test-fired its first ICBM, the DF-5, into the South Pacific from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the countrys northwest, traversing a distance of more than 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles).
China has quietly conducted more ICBM tests since then, mostly over its own territory, with many landing in the deserts of the far western region of Xinjiang.
In December 2013, a Chinese defense ministry spokesperson was asked at a regular news conference about an ICBM test launched from a submarine in the Bohai Sea, an inland sea off Chinas northeast coast.
It is normal for China to conduct scientific research experiments within its territory according to plan, the spokesperson replied.
Chinas defense ministry and state media offered little details about the test on Wednesday, including the type of ICBM launched. The countrys latest ICBM, known to be the DF-41, is estimated to have a range of 12,000 to 15,000 kilometers (7,400 to 9,300 miles) and is capable of reaching the US mainland.
A powerful signal
Analysts said Chinas rare announcement of the test was intended as a warning to the US and its allies amid rising tensions in surrounding waters, from the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait to the South China Sea.
Beijings test was a message to Washington that direct intervention in a conflict across the Taiwan Strait would involve the American homeland being vulnerable to attack, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul.
To US allies in Asia, Chinas provocative test, conducted during its expansive regional military exercises, demonstrates its capabilities to fight on multiple fronts simultaneously, he added.
Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Singapores Nanyang Technological University, said the timing of the public test was potentially significant.
China launches a lot of missiles. They dont announce a lot of them. Its interesting that they would choose now, he said.
The public test comes as China adopts an increasingly assertive stance in the region.
Over the past weeks, Japan has strongly protested incursions by Chinese and Russian military aircraft into its airspace; Chinese and Philippine vessels have engaged in multiple collisions near a dangerous new flashpoint; and Taiwan says China has recently been conducting intensive missile firing and other military drills near the self-ruled island.
This is quite a statement to launch a ballistic missile into the Pacific at this time when China is in conflict with many of its neighbors, Thompson said. This launch is a powerful signal intended to intimidate everyone.
Another key question is which countries China notified in advance of the launch, Thompson said.
Theres a long-standing global norm of notifying countries when certain long-range ballistic missiles are launched to prevent the risk of miscalculation, he said. China is not party to any agreement other than a bilateral agreement with Russia.
Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters Wednesday that Tokyo was not notified by Beijing before the launch of the missile, which did not cross Japanese airspace.
The Japan Coast Guard told CNN it was told by China on Monday that space debris would fall into three areas two locations off the Philippine island of Luzon and another in the South Pacific between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Wednesday.
During the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union agreed to notify each other of ballistic missile launches extending beyond their territories, and expanded on that in 2000.
In 2009, China and Russia signed an agreement to notify each other of impending ballistic missile launches. The two sides extended the pact by another decade after it expired in 2020.
Military buildup
Under leader Xi Jinping, China has bolstered its nuclear capabilities and revamped the PLAs Rocket Force, an elite branch overseeing the countrys fast-expanding arsenal of nuclear and ballistic missiles.
In the past few years, satellite photos have shown the construction of what appears to be hundreds of silos for ICBMs in Chinas deserts, and the US Defense Department is predicting exponential growth in the number of nuclear warheads in Beijings arsenal in the next decade.
China held more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of 2023 and will probably have over 1,000 warheads by 2030, the Pentagon said in its annual report on Beijings military last year.
The PLAs Rocket Force was roiled by a sweeping corruption crackdown last year that saw a string of senior generals purged.
By conducting the high-profile ICBM test, Beijing may be attempting to show that recent corruption scandals have not diminished the militarys readiness or reach, said Easley at Ewha University.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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(Bloomberg) -- China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean in what appeared to be its first such public test in some four decades, a move likely to rattle the US as it seeks to sway world leaders at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.
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The Peoples Liberation Army Rocket Force launched the ICBM with a dummy warhead at 8:44 a.m. on Wednesday, the nations military said. The missile fell into the expected area, it added, without clarifying where that was. ICBMs are designed to carry a nuclear warhead to a target several thousand miles away.
This test launch is a routine arrangement in our annual training plan, the Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on social media. It is in line with international law and international practice and is not directed against any country or target.
China said it notified relevant countries in advance, according to a separate report by the official Xinhua News Agency. We did receive some advanced notification of this ICBM test, said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh, and we believe that that was a good thing.
Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi, however, said at a regular briefing in Tokyo that his nation received no prior notice, calling the military activity a serious concern.
While China frequently tests missiles most of those launches are conducted inland, according to James Char, assistant professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, who added the last reported ICBM test of this sort was in the 1980s. Shooting out to the ocean requires prior communication with countries in the region, Char added. So its not very common.
China celebrated its first successful ICBM test in May 1980, becoming the third country to do so in a feat authorities said broke the long-term monopoly of superpowers on intercontinental strategic nuclear weapons.
This weeks rare public announcement comes as China and the US ramp up efforts to stabilize ties with renewed military talks, despite lingering tensions. Those thorny issues include Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing wants to control and President Joe Biden has pledged to defend from a Chinese invasion.
Beijing has also recently been angered by the deployment of an advanced mid-range US missile system capable of striking parts of southeast China that have been in the Philippines since April, adding to already high tensions over competing claims in the South China Sea.
This is a pretty bold and provocative statement, and I think the timing is significant, said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, adding that the ICBM launch showed the world that Beijing could dispatch its strategic weapons on any country.
Its taking place during the United Nations General Assembly, he said. Its putting the world at risk.
Chinas Rocket Force has come under scrutiny over the past year, with top officials from the unit that manages the nations nuclear arsenal being investigated for corruption. US intelligence agencies believe the purge came after it emerged widespread graft undermined President Xi Jinpings efforts to modernize the armed forces and raised questions about Chinas ability to fight a war.
My sense is Chinas nuclear modernization has caused a rethink of testing requirements, said Ankit Panda, Stanton senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This missile may be part of a newer generation of ICBMs that have has previously never been tested into the Pacific. Its yet another symptom of the new nuclear age dawning in Asia.
Chinas nuclear threat has been a pressing concern of the US. The Pentagon said last year that Beijing had about 500 operational warheads and was looking to increase that to more than 1,000 by 2030 as part of Xis push to achieve a world class military by 2049. The nations Rocket Force has some 350 ICBMs, which are weapons with a range of more than 5,500 kilometers (3,420 miles), it added.
China has also reportedly launched into orbit hypersonic missiles, highly maneuverable weapons designed to be too quick and agile for traditional missile defense systems to detect in time. Thats raised concerns Beijing is exploring ways to counter American advancements in shooting down ballistic missiles before they threaten its homeland.
The US routinely test launches ICBMs and other missiles, including into the Pacific Ocean. In June, American forces fired a Minuteman III ICBM from California into a test site that is part of the territory of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific.
US adversaries Russia and North Korea have also stepped up their programs to deploy ICBMs that can strike the American mainland.
North Korea last year tested its solid-fuel Hwasong-18 ICBM with leader Kim Jong Un on hand. That ICBM flew longer than any of his nations other long-range missiles and appeared designed to carry a multiple nuclear-weapon payload, which increases the chances at least one bomb could slip past interceptors and reach a target.
This month, Russia appeared to suffer a setback in its longstanding ICBM program when its Sarmat ICBM known in the West as Satan II experienced a catastrophic failure during a test launch, the Guardian newspaper reported. It said satellite imagery showed a crater at a launch site, indicating that it blew up in a silo.
--With assistance from Alastair Gale, Josh Xiao, Yian Lee and Natalia Drozdiak.
(Updates with Pentagon response. A previous version of this story corrected the number of US war heads.)
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China fired a missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday following a speech on the international stage by President Biden, in which he called for security in the region.
The Ministry of Defense of the People's Republic of China announced that its military had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday morning.
The missile, which carried a dummy warhead and was not targeting any nation, fell into the ocean without incident. The People's Liberation Army's Rocket Force claims that the launch was part of its routine military training calendar.
Biden Addresses Un General Assembly For Last Time As Dictators, Despots Come To New York
China's DF-41 nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles are seen during a military parade in Tiananmen Square in Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Just hours prior, Biden made his final address to the United Nations in New York City, running through a series of security concerns for the international body.
Biden specifically noted the threat posed against Western interests by China and urged efforts for peace.
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"We also need to uphold our principles as we seek to responsibly manage the competition with China so it does not veer into conflict," he said. "We stand ready to cooperate on urgent challenges for the good of our people and the people everywhere."
Hundreds Of Millions Of Us Research Dollars May Have Aided Chinese Military Technology, Gop-led Report Says
President Biden addresses the 79th General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York City.
"We recently resumed cooperation with China to stop the flow of deadly synthetic narcotics," Biden continued. "I appreciate the collaboration. It matters for the people in my country and many others around the world."
Biden specifically referenced the need to combat the forces of "military coercion" being applied to Taiwan and others in the region.
This map shows the location in the Pacific Ocean where the Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile landed.
"On matters of conviction, the United States is unabashed, pushing back against unfair economic competition and against military coercion of other nations in the South China Sea, in maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, in protecting our most advanced technologies so they cannot be used against us or any of our partners," the president said.
A U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that they were given some notice before the launch.
"We monitored the PRC ICBM test launch that occurred earlier today," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "The PRC did give some advance notification of the ICBM test. This is a step in the right direction to reducing the risks of misperception and miscalculation."
"It also is a step toward facilitating a more regularized bilateral notification arrangement for ballistic missile and space launcheswhich the USG has previously proposed to the PRCand represents a common sense confidence-building measure," they added.
Original article source: China launches intercontinental ballistic missile into Pacific hours after Biden's UN address
BEIJING Chinas Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday it was launching a probe into Calvin Klein-parent PVH Group over alleged business disruptions around its Xinjiang supply chain.
The ministry said the investigation is part of its unreliable entities list mechanism. Launched in 2019 shortly after the U.S. blacklisted Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, the list is Chinas version of the U.S. Commerce Departments entity list that restricts named companies from accessing items originating in the U.S.
The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday announced plans to ban the import or sale of cars with specific hardware or software linked to China or Russia.
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Chinas Commerce Ministry on Tuesday did not say why it was investigating PVH now, but said the U.S. retail group had 30 days to respond. U.S. defense companies that previously landed on the unreliable entities list are barred from China-related imports or exports.
The Chinese investigation alleges that PVH targeted Xinjiang suppliers in violation of the principles of normal market transactions, with disruptions to normal transactions with Chinese businesses, individuals and other people, along with other discriminatory measures, according to a CNBC translation of the Chinese text.
PVH said in a statement to CNBC, As a matter of company policy, PVH maintains strict compliance with all relevant laws and regulations in all countries and regions in which we operate. We are in communication with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and will respond in accordance with the relevant regulations. We have no further comment at this time.
The group, which also owns Tommy Hilfiger, is one of several foreign retail companies that have faced scrutiny in China over efforts to distance themselves from alleged forced labor in Chinas Xinjiang region.
In a July 2022 corporate responsibility report, PVH said that Xinjiang is one of the regions where no direct or indirect sourcing is permitted.
International revenue for Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger fell 4.3% year-on-year to $1.38 billion in the quarter that ended Aug. 4, dragged down by a challenging consumer environment in Asia Pacific, particularly in China and Australia, PVH said in an earnings release.
That overseas revenue accounted for more than half of PVHs total revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter.
Xinjiang is home to the Uyghur Muslims, who have been identified by the United Nations, United States, United Kingdom and others as a repressed ethnic group. China has repeatedly denied allegations of forced labor and other abuses in Xinjiang. The government says that facilities there that the U.S., U.K., Canada and human rights groups have characterized as internment camps are actually vocational training centers.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The News
China successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday in a launch Beijings defense ministry said was routine and part of its annual training.
But the countrys nuclear weapons tests usually take place domestically, the BBC reported, with this believed to be the first time since 1980 that an ICBM was launched into international waters.
China said all concerned countries had been notified in advance, which the Japanese government disputed.
SIGNALS
A show of strength
Sources: Reuters, Associated Press
Its rare for Beijing to publicly announce nuclear weapons tests, which are usually conducted in isolated provinces, Reuters reported. China was trying to show that its Rocket Force is still doing business as usual despite recent corruption scandals, an Indo-Pacific expert told the outlet. The historic test, coming just weeks ahead of an expected call between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, may have also been Beijings way of telling Washington: Like you, were not ashamed we have nuclear weapons, and were going to behave like a nuclear power, a nuclear expert told The Associated Press.
But China may also have specific military objectives that go beyond posturing
Sources: Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Foreign Affairs
China may now lay claim to one of the fastest-growing arsenals among the nine nuclear-armed states, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and its stockpile is expected to reach about 1500 warheads by 2035. Beijings nuclear modernization is about more than simply projecting an image of military strength, and relates to specific objectives, a columnist argued in Foreign Affairs: Increasing its force survivability to deter the US from initiating even a first strike; improving weapons to get past US defense systems; making sure it has enough low-yield warheads that a smaller-scale US attack could be met with a proportionate response; and bolstering itself against nuclear threats from Russia and Iran.
A second Trump administration could pose even greater risks to China than his first
Sources: The New York Times, Brookings Institute
Earlier this year, Biden approved a revised (and highly classified) nuclear strategy that focuses Washington on Chinas arsenal expansion, The New York Times reported in August. The new approach emphasizes the need to deter Russia, the PRC, and North Korea simultaneously, amid the growing likelihood of collaboration, the US National Security Councils senior arms control director said. If Trump is reelected president in November, we can expect the same active hostility toward arms control and a cavalier attitude toward nuclear risk witnessed during his first administration, albeit with potentially much more serious consequences as Iran moves closer to a nuclear weapon and Russias war in Ukraine continues, a Brookings Institute expert argued.
The US says China has more than 500 nuclear warheads in its arsenal - including these intercontinental ballistic missiles seen at a 2019 military parade [Getty Images]
China says it carried out a rare test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into international waters, sparking protests from neighbouring countries.
The launch on Wednesday its first in more than 40 years - was routine and not aimed at any country or target, according to Beijing. Chinese media reported the government also gave relevant countries notice.
But Japan said it had not received a warning and expressed concerns, along with Australia and New Zealand.
The launch contributes to tensions across the Indo-Pacific region, with analysts saying it highlights China's increased long-range nuclear capabilities.
The US warned last year that China has built up its nuclear arsenal as part of a defence upgrade. An intercontinental ballistic missile can travel more 5,500km - putting China within striking range of the US mainland and Hawaii.
But Beijings arsenal is still estimated at less than a fifth of the size of the US's and Russias, and China has long maintained that its nuclear maintainance is only about deterrence.
On Wednesday, Beijing announced that the long-range missile was fired at 08:44 local time (04:44 GMT). It carried a dummy warhead and landed in the designated area - believed to be in the South Pacific.
Beijing's defence ministry added the test launch was "routine" and part of its "annual training".
But analysts said China was last known to have test-fired an ICBM internationally in the 1980s. Typically, it tests internally - having previously fired ICBMs west into the Taklamakan Desert in the Xinjiang region.
This sort of testing is not unusual for other countries, including the United States, but is for China, nuclear missile analyst Ankit Panda told the BBC.
Chinas ongoing nuclear modernisation already has resulted in substantial changes, he said. This launch now appears to also show a change in its approach.
It has sparked immediate reaction from other countries. Japan said it had received no notice and expressed serious concern about Beijings military build-up.
Meanwhile, Australia said the action was "destabilising and raises the risk of miscalculation in the region and that it had sought an explanation from Beijing. New Zealand called it an unwelcome and concerning development.
Mr Panda said he doesn't believe Chinas actions were primarily designed to send a political message - but no doubt this will be a stark reminder to the region and to the US that nuclear dynamics in Asia are quickly changing.
Other analysts went further, saying it was another wake-up call for the US and its allies in the region.
To Washington, the message is that direct intervention in a conflict across the Taiwan Strait would involve the American homeland being vulnerable to attack, said Leif-Eric Easley, an international relations professor at Ewha Women's University in South Korea.
For US allies in Asia, the provocative test demonstrates Chinas capabilities to fight on multiple fronts simultaneously," he added.
"Timing is everything," Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, wrote on X.
"[China's] statement claims the launch does not target any country, but there are high-levels of tension between China and Japan, Philippines, and of course perpetual tension with Taiwan."
While the relationship between Beijing and Washington has improved in the past year, China's increasing assertiveness in the region remains a sticking point. Tensions have ramped up between China and the Philippines as their ships have repeatedly collided in disputed waters.
Last month, Japan scrambled fighter jets after it accused a Chinese spy plane of breaching its air space, a move that it called "utterly unacceptable".
Beijing's relationship with self-governed Taiwan is another source of strain.
Taiwan's defence ministry said earlier on Wednesday that China had been carrying out "intensive" missile firing and other drills recently. The same statement noted that it detected 23 Chinese military aircraft operating around Taiwan on "long-range missions".
Beijing routinely sends ships and aircraft into Taiwanese waters and airspace, called a "greyzone warfare" tactic meant to normalise the incursions.
In July, China suspended its nuclear arms control talks with Washington, in retaliation for the US's continued arms sales to Taiwan.
The US last year warned of China's nuclear modernisation although its numbers still far short of Washington's. The Pentagon estimated that China has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads in its arsenal, of which approximately 350 are ICBMs.
The report projected that China will reach over 1,000 warheads by 2030; the US and Russia each say they possess more than 5,000 warheads.
There also have been conflicts around the Chinese militarys Rocket Force, the elite unit managing its nuclear arsenal. An aggressive anti-corruption campaign led to the firing of two of its leaders last year.
We recently published a list of 10 Best Residential Real Estate Stocks To Buy. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Avalonbay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) stands against other best residential real estate stocks to buy.
Home Buyers Have More Bargaining Power than Sellers, Says Economist
The rate hikes which started in March 2022 as a battle against inflation are coming to an end as the Federal Reserve finally decided to cut rates for the first time since 2020. The rate cuts were kicked off with a half-percentage point reduction on September 18. This long-awaited move lowered rates to about 4.875%, at the midpoint. With an optimistic view in mind about inflation cooling off, the big rate cut will be catering to the employment slowdown. The news just doesnt end here since the officials have pointed to another half-point reduction before the years end.
For the housing market, the big rate cut could be taken as a signal from the Fed to reverse the mortgage lock-in effect but the extent of easing matters. While an aggressive reduction in rates will reduce financing costs, create an inventory of existing homes, and reduce pressure on home prices, a gradual reduction wont be of much value for the homeowners who are holding on to their early-pandemic low mortgage rates. The anticipation of a rate cut at the September Fed meeting has brought down mortgage rates to as low as their lowest since February 2023. However, the dropping mortgage rates are a double-edged sword as they could potentially raise the demand so much thereby making home buying even harder.
In an interview with CNBC, Senior Economist Orphe Divounguy from Zillow emphasized the impact of rate cuts on housing affordability. Although affordability remains a challenge, the market is improving. In his opinion, the best time to act for home buyers is right now as the current scenario offers them a perfect entry point with more options and bargaining power being somewhat shifted from the sellers to the buyers. The number of active listings on the real estate platform has gone up by 22% since last year. Although short-term rates are expected to decline, longer-term rates like mortgage rates could remain at the current level. He expects more buyers than sellers in the market with improving affordability. Sellers will also be in good shape as well-priced and well-marketed homes are selling in just 20 days, according to company data.
With that being said, lets move to the 10 best residential real estate stocks to buy.
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Is AvalonBay Communities, Inc (AVB) Dominating Multifamily Housing?
An aerial view of a bustling metropolitan area with high-rise buildings and busy streets.
AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 34
Avalonbay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) is a leading multifamily real estate investment trust that develops, redevelops, acquires, and manages apartment homes across 12 US states and Washington, DC. The company focuses on metropolitan areas that boast a vibrant quality of life, higher home prices, and strong employment growth.
Avalonbay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) operates its apartment communities under four core brands including Avalon which focuses on upscale apartment living and high-end amenities, eaves by Avalon for the cost-conscious segment, Kanso which offers simplicity with moderate pricing, and AVA which is targeted at those in high energy, transit-served neighborhoods. Hence, the firm uses strong brand differentiation to target multiple customer groups within its extensive geographic footprint.
The firm occupies a leadership position in the multifamily housing sector. It owns a well-established portfolio of 281 apartment communities with more than 87,000 units. This portfolio is focused on coastal markets that have delivered solid same-store net operating income growth. While Avalonbay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) has an irreplaceable portfolio in established regions including New England, metro NY/NJ, Mid-Atlantic, Seattle, Northern, and Southern California, it is growing in other regions such as Raleigh-Durham, Southeast Florida, Denver, Dallas and Austin.
The company has also been benefitting from market conditions such as the strong inclination towards renting rather than buying a home and the low new supply in the firms suburban coastal markets. The company is also leveraging development capabilities to drive differentiated growth. Its development activity remains robust as it completed the development of 3 communities comprising 901 apartment homes during the three months ended June 30.
The unparalleled suburban coastal portfolio, superior competitive position among other multifamily residential REITs, and prevailing market dynamics make Avalonbay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) a good option to be considered among the best residential real estate stocks to buy. As of 2024s second quarter, the stock is held by 34 hedge funds.
Overall, AVB ranks 8th on our list of 10 best residential real estate stocks to buy. While we acknowledge the potential of AVB as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than AVB 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.
TAIPEI, Taiwan China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, stirring security concerns in the region already tense over Beijings territorial claims and rivalry with the U.S.
The ICBM carried a dummy warhead and fell into a designated area of the sea, the Defense Ministry said in a statement posted to social media.
The launch by the People's Liberation Army's Rocket Force was part of routine annual training, complied with international law and was not directed against any country or target, according to the statement.
It is unclear how often China conducts tests over such a distance. In 1980, China launched an ICBM into the South Pacific.
A map published in Chinese newspapers at the time showed the target area as roughly a circle in the center of a ring formed by the Solomon Islands, Nauru, the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu, western Samoa, Fiji and the New Hebrides.
The U.S. and nongovernmental organizations have said China has been building up its missile silos, but its unclear how many missiles and nuclear warheads it has added to its arsenal.
The Peoples Liberation Army, which functions as the ruling Communist Partys military wing, runs Chinas space program, which has established an orbital station and has ambitions to set up a moon base and land a spacecraft on Mars.
Rocketry has long been part of Chinas development into a major global power, spurring nationalism and growth that has made China the worlds second-largest economy.
The U.S. remains Chinas main global rival, although Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and others have territorial disputes with Beijing that occasionally threaten to develop into military clashes.
China maintains a no first use of nuclear weapons policy, even as its desire for regional predominance grows.
Tests of Chinas intercontinental ballistic missiles into international waters are rare. Experts and a historical survey of Chinas program by the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative suggest the last occurred in May 1980. That test saw China launch its DF-5 missile into the South Pacific.
China typically launches missiles toward its western deserts from its east coast, said James Acton, the co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The fact that China launched a test that splashed down in international waters was unusual but mirrors testing that the United States does for its own ballistic missile fleet.
"When they havent done something for 44 years and then they do it, thats significant, Acton told The Associated Press. Its Chinas way of telling us, Like you, were not ashamed we have nuclear weapons and were going to behave like a great nuclear power.
The launch came amid the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York. China is one of five veto-holding permanent members of the U.N.'s Security Council and has sought to gain influence over its key departments involving human rights and that align with its authoritarian system.
A series of corruption arrests this year ensnared several leading officers in the Rocket Force, alongside the detentions of two previous defense ministers amid allegations of misconduct.
A test launch now could both provide assurances to China's population amid an economic downtown and a signal to the world that the party remains firmly in control and is determined to rise to global prominence.
Were entering a new age. Were entering an age where the U.S. and China are engulfed in what feels like an arms race, said Jeffrey Lewis, a missile expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in the U.S.
The Chinese government always prioritized diplomatic issues over operational readiness. Its just a different China. Its a China that does not feel constrained, he said.
Theres a renewed emphasis on assuring themselves these systems work and demonstrating to others they work, Lewis added.
Meanwhile, tensions remain high over Taiwan, and with the Philippines, where the U.S. Army has deployed its new mid-range missile system, known as Typhon, to Northern Luzon. On Wednesday, two Filipino officials said the U.S. and the Philippines have agreed to keep the system there indefinitely to deter China.
I dont know whats the plan, but if I were to be followed, if I were given the choice, I would like to have the Typhon here in the Philippines forever because we need it for our defense, said Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., the head of the Philippines military.
Defense officials in Japan and Taiwan declined to comment directly on the Chinese announcement. Both, along with South Korea, maintain robust defenses against Chinese moves, including early warning systems and air raid shelters.
Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
(Bloomberg) -- A majority of Chinese Americans face racial bias, fueled by elevated tensions between the worlds two largest economies as they spar over trade, supply chains and geopolitics, according to a new survey.
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The finding was part of the survey by New York-based Committee of 100 and the University of Chicagos NORC, in which 68% of Chinese Americans said they face at least one form of discrimination every month, and 85% of them perceive the prejudice to be based on their race, ethnicity, accent, or name. While 27% of the survey respondents said they experienced verbal insults, 21% said the unwelcome behavior extended to physical threats or harassment.
The State of Chinese Americans Survey 2024 also found that a large proportion of the community, especially the youth and women, continue to struggle with mental health as a result of the discrimination on a regular basis. In all, 504 adults of Chinese American ethnicity were surveyed, with 50% of the respondents reporting having felt hopeless in the month before the poll, 43% experiencing depression, and 39% feeling worthless.
The results show that tensions between the US and China, along with political- and media-rhetoric have had a negative impact on how Chinese Americans are treated by acquaintance and coworkers. Relations between the worlds largest economies have soured in recent years over Beijings aggression toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea, as well as Washingtons campaign to cut China off from high-tech chips and pharmaceutical supply chains.
While there were 24.2 million Asian-Americans in the US as of 2022, Chinese Americans constituted the largest share within that group at 24%, or about 5.8 million people.
Four in five of the survey respondents said they are concerned about the language and rhetorics used by the presidential candidates when they refer to China and US-China relationship. A resounding 61% said the language used by American media in their reporting about China and bilateral relations negatively affects how strangers treat them, and about a quarter said their relationship with acquaintances and coworkers have also been impacted.
Understanding the mental health, discrimination and political perspectives of Chinese Americans is essential to create inclusive and informed policies, said Cindy Tsai, interim president of the Committee of 100, a Chinese American advocacy group. These insights not only enrich political dialogue but also foster a more equitable society.
Respondents were presented with 49 questions covering topics as wide as their experience of discrimination, political engagement and opinions on China-US relation.
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SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert is set to mount a bid to succeed State Sen. Brian Jones after he gets termed out of the legislature in 2026, according to campaign finance records.
Von Wilpert has served on the city council since 2020 representing District 5, encompassing the northern San Diego communities of Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch, Torrey Highlands and Rancho Penasquitos. She was re-elected to the role outright in March of this year.
Two months later, she submitted paperwork with San Diego city election officials to form a committee and a campaign website has been set up to support her seeking higher office in State Senate District 40, currently held by Jones.
The senate minority leaders soon-to-be-open district spans part of von Wilperts current constituency, as well as much of inland San Diego County including Poway, Santee, Alpine, Escondido, Fallbrook, Bonsall, Ramona and Valley Center.
San Diego Registrar of Voters in search of more poll workers
Jones, who was voted into the district seat in 2022, will reach Californias cumulative 12-year cap for representatives to serve in the State Capitol when his current term is up in 2026.
While she has yet to formally launch her campaign, should she be elected, von Wilpert would be the first Democrat in years to represent a number of these communities in eastern San Diego in the state senate.
When the Senate District 40 comes open in 2026, I see that our region has an opportunity we cant miss to make San Diego Countys voice in the State Capitol even stronger, von Wilpert told FOX 5/KUSI. I know I can make a big impact at the state level and make sure San Diego regions voice is heard in Sacramento by doing a lot of what Ive done at city council.
The councilmember added that she plans to run on similar issues that have been at the center of her work representing San Diegos fifth council district, including public safety, infrastructure and being a watchdog for the taxpayers.
One of the things Ive realized as a city councilmember is that it takes people working at all levels of government to work together to serve the population of our great state and our city, she said. I do a lot of work preventing gun violence but Ive realized gun violence does not stop at our borders. If I want to tackle illegal ghost guns, I need to take this to the state level.
The district spanning the northeastern part of the county has long been held by Republicans, despite party registration making it a true toss-up district.
According to the latest state registration data, about 35% of voters in the district are registered Democrats, 34% are registered Republicans, and 31% are another party or did not state a party preference.
Over the last few election cycles, through several rounds of redistricting, voters have elected Republican candidates as their representative for the state senate with relatively decisive margins.
During Jones first run for state state in 2018 when those inland communities fell under District 38, he won over his Democratic challenger by about six points. He won his District 40 campaign, which took place after district maps were redrawn, by a near identical margin.
Now-Supervisor Joel Anderson, who held the inland San Diego County state senate seat before Jones, was elected and re-elected by over 25%.
Although von Wilperts campaign manager, Dan Rottenstreich, noted that is possible for a Democrat to win this seat, pointing to the edge then-Vice President Joe Biden had over then-President Donald Trump in the district during the 2020 election.
Democrats have never had a candidate like Marni run for this seat Shes around. You probably know Marni, Rottenstreich said. People want a legislator that is focused on us.
Mounting a campaign for a competitive seat is historically an expensive endeavor, especially when it would be flipping the district from one party affiliation to another.
According to a campaign finance disclosure filed on Friday, von Wilpert already has $117,649 on hand for the race from contributions made to her city council re-election campaign earlier this year, where she did not face any competition.
Election Day is around the corner: Important dates San Diegans need to know
That will likely not be the case in her bid for state senate. Escondido City Councilmember Joe Garcia, a Republican, has also submitted the initial paperwork to mount a campaign for District 40, according to the campaign finance disclosures filed with California Secretary of State.
Garcias candidate controlled committee currently has $2,264 on hand, including some funds left over from the 2022 Escondido city council race, the filings show. However, he has not formally announced his candidacy, nor has he created a campaign website.
Rottenstreich said getting a head start on this campaign is par for the course with larger local-level districts, the biggest of which are for the state senate. With more voters to reach, it takes more time to mobilize funds and kickstart campaign operations.
In the meantime, both he and von Wilpert said her focus will remain on her work at the city council.
Right now, Im focused on being a councilmember, von Wilpert said. Thats why were going to wait until after this election in the spring of next year.
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EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) City Council representatives approved a rezoning request for the Housing Authority for the City of El Paso, or HOME, to build a low-income apartment complex in West El Paso.
City representatives voted 6-2 in favor of the zoning change during its meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 24. The two dissenting representatives were Joe Molinar and Isabel Salcido.
The South Mesa Hills Apartments project would be built on land by Mesa Hills Drive that is northwest of Sunland Park Drive.
The project, however, has received backlash from some Westside residents who previously voiced their concerns in July about what they said would be an increase of traffic and pollution that the new development would bring to the community.
According to a document from the City Plan Commission, there were 41 phone calls, 60 emails, four petitions with 1,173 signatures, and one letter in opposition to rezoning. In contrast, as of Sept. 23, staff members received five phone calls, two emails and two letters in support of the affordable housing project.
Were just very disappointed that we are completely ignored, understanding that we are more than 1,100 protesters, said Cristina Jimenez, president of the Coronado del Sol Neighborhood Association.
Jimenez said many of the neighbors frustrations lie with what they called a lack of transparency from HOME. She said the neighborhood association has reached out to the housing authority with several questions that have gone unanswered.
The problem is that we are going to have to face all together the traffic conditions that we will be living. We will have to be facing, everyone, all of us together, the environmental impact that this will have on all of us. I dont think City Council thought about that, she said.
HOMEs new complex will feature 104 units, with one- to three-bedroom floorplans.
Weve had a lot of opposition and after we build our stuff and were a member of their community, it changes. We get along well with the people around us. We see ourselves as members of that community. We meld well with the members of that community and we look forward to bridging those relationships, said Gerald Cichon, CEO of HOME.
Cichon said the housing authority chose the location due to the availability of resources in the area including food, employment and school options giving low-income El Pasoans the opportunity to find success.
If youre going to look for somebody whos going to try to pull themselves up and up by their bootstraps, you put them in a good location so they can do just that, Cichon said.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) Rumors circulated Tuesday about former President Donald Trumps choice of venue for his remarks in Savannah.
Trump spoke at the Johnny Mercer Theatre, which seats roughly 2,500. Many have compared the crowd size to the Enmarket Arenas capacity of 9,500 seats where Vice President Kamala Harris rally was recently held.
Others rumored that Mayor Van Johnson was involved in the decision.
Both the Johnny Mercer Theatre and Enmarket Arena are managed by a third party, Oak View Group, and political campaigns work through the company to book the spaces.
The Trump campaign requested availability of Johnny Mercer Theatre for todays Trump Townhall, the Oak View Group general manager told News 3. The campaign chose to host todays event at the Johnny Mercer Theatre.
Full remarks: Former President Donald Trump in Savannah
Although both are City property, the Mayor and City staff have no involvement in booking political rallies at either venue, a statement from the city of Savannah said.
Johnson called the rumors absolutely absurd.
The Trump campaign came to Savannah and toured both the Enmarket Arena and Johnny Mercer Theater. The Enmarket Arena was available if they chose to use it, he said. I guess they picked the venue that they felt they could successfully fill. And so instead of the 9,500-seat Enmarket Arena, they chose the 2,526-seat Johnny Mercer Theater.
To clarify, the theater holds 2,566 seats, according to the citys website.
WSAV received the following response from Morgan Ackley, the Georgia communications director for the Trump campaign:
Its unfortunate the Mayor of Savannah is regurgitating Kamala Harris false talking points about crowd sizes to compensate for her poorly attended events, rather than focusing on President Trumps message today to protect the Port of Savannah and bring more jobs and wealth back to the city and to the state of Georgia.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV.
WASHINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) Residents of the City of Washington may have noticed a discoloration or odor to their water, but a city official says, theres nothing to worry about.
The citys two primary wells that provide water to the second water treatment plant experienced motor failures. This caused changes to water to some residents in the city.
In a Facebook post by the City of Washington, it says, The Treatment Plant is currently running on two of its backup wells. Due to the difference in chemical makeup, residents may notice a different look, taste, and/or smell during this time.
The post continued with, The water leaving the plant and out in the distribution system has been and continues to be tested frequently to assure that all water adheres to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agencys appropriate safe drinking water guidelines.
Brian Rittenhouse, public works director, shares what the public works are doing right now to resolve the issue.
At the moment, were looking to get 12 pulled, he said, referring to well number 12. Anything [that] needs ordered, ordered, get 11 pulled, have that motor analyzed. We do have another motor currently on site, but we just do not want to start it up if there is a reason for these motor failures.
[Well] 11 was replaced here back in April or May, he said. It was around the price of $85,000. Were looking at well 12 if the same issues [occur], well probably do the same sort of repair being that they were 20 years old, its kind of a good idea maybe to just try to replace everything and get them back to where hopefully we dont have to touch them for another 20 years
Below is the affected areas of the water change.
The main objective of the public works crew today was to prepare the plant for tomorrow, where they will bring in a crane to begin to resolve the issue.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com.
Officials with the city of Waycross are preparing for the worst of Hurricane Helene.
School and government offices will be closed Thursday and Friday. The city manager of Waycross told Action News Jax their biggest concern is clearing their drainage canal systems.
The main thing is to clean those canals so if the water table does rise, then everything goes out of the city, Waycross City Manager Ulysses Rayford.
Rayford said crews worked on clearing out storm drains and their main drainage canal systems.
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Theyre about nine canals that do all the heavy lifting, so we make sure those are clear. What I mean by clear is we cut around them, make sure theres no debris in them, Rayford said.
Public Works Director James Smart said they now have a special crew to do regular maintenance on the canals.
We implemented a stormwater utility crew. They make sure all of our catch bases are clean. We have a vacuum truck that will get all the debris so our water can flow freely, Smart said.
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Rayford said due to their lack of preparedness for last years hurricane Idalia, they are preparing for the worst when Helene is expected to sweep through this part of Georgia on Thursday.
Unfortunately, we werent as prepared for what was coming in. It taught us a valuable lesson about preparation, Rayford said.
Rayford encourages people to stay home as emergency services will be in full force. The city manager also said the city and county government offices will be closed tomorrow and Friday. He said everything will reopen on Monday.
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) October 6-11 is Ohio Nonviolence Week and speaking in-depth about what the local community is doing to raise awareness is Chairperson Penny Wells.
Wells is the founder of the nonprofit Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past, which takes high school students on a journey to civil rights sites in the South. In 2023, Wells was inducted into the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame for her work.
At first, Wells said she just planned on taking the trips to the South but she realized she wanted to do more when the students came back as well.
So my goal was to take sophomores out, take juniors and seniors in high school So not only is that an experience in history, but its also a leadership development, life-changing experience where students come back with action plans and nonviolence week, which was totally the idea of students at Chaney High School, Wells said.
Well said she has also taken many adults on the trips with Sojourn to the Past. The nonprofits sister organization in California is now even taking police from the San Francisco Police Department.
They see this as part of their professional development meeting leaders of the civil rights movement, seeing how they were treated, listening to their stories, and then beginning to discuss among themselves, What can we do differently? How can we change the way we see our constituents? How do we can we change the way we interact with our constituents?' said Wells.
Nonviolence Week will kick off with a parade and rally at the Youngstown amphitheater with students, churches, non-profit groups and businesses. It will be student-led. Music and food will be part of the event. Those wanting to participate in the parade can register online. Last-minute participants are welcome as well.
Nonviolence is action. Its not a spectator event, Wells said.
You can see a schedule of the weeks events online.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Crystal Hill on Tuesday changed a school assignment plan that would lead to overcrowding at Dilworth Elementary after community opposition.
The school board has discussed the superintendents recommendation for student assignment changes at magnet schools that include moving several programs, adding grades nine and 10 to the districts current middle colleges and converting Davidson K-8 into an elementary school. Middle school students at Davidson K-8 will move to nearby Bailey Middle.
Part of the original plan Hill proposed Aug. 13 involved moving around 100 students from Marie G. Davis IB World School in southwest Charlotte to Dilworth Elementary School. It would make room for new students at Marie G. Davis, which will become a Montessori magnet and take on students currently at J.T. Williams Montessori.
There was one problem: Dilworth Elementary is already over capacity.
Parents urged the board at its meeting Sept. 10 to delay the change until after Dilworths new campus is finished in August 2026.
Dilworth Elementary School is currently overcrowded, said Roberta Fox, parent of a third grader at the school. Were making the best of it, but its not ideal. We dont have enough campus parking for teachers. Our art teachers classroom is on the stage in the gym.
Hill on Tuesday recommended delaying the Montessori magnet student shuffle until the 2026-27 school year.
Based on current enrollment, facility limitations and the planned opening of a relief school located on Park Road, I am amending my recommendation, Hill told the board Tuesday.
The board voted unanimously to approve the plan.
I really believe this is in the best interest at this time for all of the schools involved, the students and the families, said board member Lenora Shipp. And Im pleased that we got to this recommendation.
Some community members previously voiced concerns about adding grades to the districts four middle colleges which have 11th and 12th graders. However, Hill said the plan would allow more students to benefit from the program while still allowing some students the opportunity to transfer in at 11th grade.
No one loses anything in this model, Hill said.
The board did not pass the early/middle college proposal by a vote of 4-5.
CNN panel clashes over whether crime is down after new FBI report: 'So much better than it used to be'
A CNN panel clashed over whether violent crime was truly down after newly released FBI data found violent crime had declined in 2023.
"This was also going to be something that [former President] Trump wanted to run on [Vice President Kamala] Harris against, but the statistics are what they are," CNN host Abby Phillip told the panel about the report on Monday.
According to the FBI, violent crime incidents fell by 3% in 2023. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter specifically dropped 11.6% and rapes decreased by 9.4% in the past year. Over 16,000 agencies across the country contributed crime data to the FBI, Reuters said.
Former ESPN host and The Atlantic contributor Jemele Hill argued that most people feel like crime is "out of control," despite the data.
Cnn Host Admits It Doesnt Feel Like Crime Is Down, Despite Fbi Statistics
CNN panel clashed on whether crime is up or down, after FBI report released Monday says violent crime went down in 2023.
"Vibes very much contribute to how people feel about issues. Whether it be real or imagined. The reality is, in most people's minds they feel like crime is out of control," Hill said.
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She then referenced her hometown of Detroit as a prime example that backed up the FBI's findings about violent crime.
"Detroit was always in the top three of being one of the most murderous cities in America. Six, seven hundred murders a year, easy. It's maybe half that now," she said.
Detroit's population has declined, she conceded, but said that "the approach to safety is so much better than it used to be."
"But unfortunately, between social media and people passing around violent videos all the time, no matter what those statistics say, I still think it roots in people's minds that crime is just out of control. And I think we're much safer as a society today than we were when I was growing up," Hill argued.
Biden-harris Admin Says Crime Is Down, But Independent Data Shows Violent Crime Up Across 66 Cities
However, Republican strategist Erin Perrine claimed that the FBI statistics "leave room for questions," pointing to past years when homicide data from major cities like Los Angeles were not reported in the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System.
"Those major cities now, are reporting their crime statistics," Philip interjected. "All the major cities, any city with over 1 million people, those police departments reported these statistics. In some past years, they reported them, but the FBI did not include them because of a reporting issue."
"But if you look in the report, they talk about the past trends, they include that data now from those past years. The trend is still going down, so crime is going down," she argued.
Perrine pushed back, arguing that crime data from Washington, D.C. showed murder was up 35% and robbery was up 67% in 2023.
"Crime is still an issue" in major cities, she argued.
In separate statements on Monday, President Biden and Vice President Harris hailed the FBI report, touting their administration's funding for public safety in the American Rescue Plan as contributing to the reported decline in violent crime.
"Todays new data submitted to the FBI confirms that our dedicated efforts and collaborative partnerships with law enforcement are working; Americans are safer now than when we took office," the vice-president's office said.
President Biden and Vice President Harris released statements hailing their administration's work to reduce crime, after data submitted to the FBI found violent crime had declined in 2023.
A Department of Justice study released earlier this month came to the opposite conclusions, finding that violent crime has surged under the Biden-Harris administration.
Crimes such as rape or sexual assault, aggravated assault, and robbery increased from 2020 to 2023, the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics revealed in its National Crime Victimization Survey. Across the board, the survey found total instances of reported violent crimes increased from 5.6 per 1,000 individuals aged 12 and over in 2020, when Trump was still in office, to 8.7 per 1,000 in 2023.
Fox News' Emma Colton contributed to this report.
Original article source: CNN panel clashes over whether crime is down after new FBI report: 'So much better than it used to be'
(Bloomberg) -- Federal agents on Tuesday searched the Washington-area offices of Carahsoft Technology Corp., a major distributor of information technology products to government agencies, according to people familiar with the matter.
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FBI and Defense Criminal Investigative Service agents were seen at Carahsofts headquarters in Reston, Virginia, collecting documents and employee computers, said John Weiler, chief executive officer of the IT-Acquisition Advisory Council. Because of his work in the government technology contracting space, Weiler said he was informed of the search by multiple people with direct knowledge of it.
A Carahsoft employee at the Virginia office, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to discuss the matter, confirmed that staff had been notified of the FBI raid internally.
Representatives from the Department of Justice came to the Carahsoft office today as they are conducting an investigation into a company in which Carahsoft has done business in the past, said Mary Lange, a Carahsoft representative.
Carahsoft is fully cooperating on this matter, she said. We are operating business as usual.
An FBI spokesperson said the agency conducted court-authorized law enforcement activity on the street where Carahsoft has its offices but declined to elaborate. Mollie Halpern, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General, said, I can confirm that DCIS executed a joint search warrant operation with the FBI this morning in northern Virginia.
Carahsoft is a closely held company that since its founding in 2004 has grown into a dominant player in the government technology procurement market. Last year, it ranked 45th on Forbes ranking of largest private companies in the US, with $11 billion in estimated revenue and more than 2,400 employees.
On its website, Carahsoft says that it partners with thousands of vendors, resellers, system integrators and managed service providers to offer IT solutions for public sector customers in the US and Canada. Among the vendors listed on its website are Microsoft, Google, Oracle, AWS, Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike.
Reston, where Carahsofts headquarters are located, is a suburb about 20 miles from downtown Washington thats popular with publicly traded and closely held government contractors.
Story continues
Hours after the raid, the parking lot in front of the companys five-story office building was nearly empty. A Bloomberg News reporter who visited near the close of normal business hours was turned away at the door by two men inside the vestibule. The only other visitor was a man making a food delivery.
The FBI action was previously reported by Nextgov/FCW.
--With assistance from Michael Shepard.
(Updates with comment from DCIS in sixth paragraph.)
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WSAV)Coast Guard captains of the ports (COTP) set port conditions for northern Florida, Georgia, South Carolina ports Tuesday ahead of Tropical Storm Helene.
The Ports of Jacksonville, Fernandina, Brunswick, Savannah, coastal South Carolina and all other terminals and facilities have had port conditions set due to forecasted sustained tropical storm force winds generated by Tropical Storm Helene that may arrive within 24 to 48 hours.
Updated port condition changes by the Captains of the Ports will be available on the Coast Guards Homeport website.
Check below for your local Coast Guard Homeport page:
The Coast Guard is warning the public of these important safety messages:
Stay off the water. The Coast Guards search and rescue capabilities degrade as storm conditions strengthen. This means help could be delayed. Boaters should heed weather watches, warnings and small craft advisories.
Evacuate as necessary. If mandatory evacuations are set for an area, the public should evacuate without delay. Coast Guard personnel and other emergency responders may not be able to evacuate or rescue those in danger during the storm.
Secure belongings. Owners of large boats are urged to move their vessels to inland marinas where they will be less vulnerable to breaking free of their moorings or to sustaining damage. Trailerable boats should be pulled from the water and stored in a place that is not prone to flooding. Those who are leaving their boats in the water are reminded to remove EPIRBs and to secure life rings, lifejackets and small boats. These items, if not properly secured, can break free and require valuable search and rescue resources be diverted to ensure people are not in distress.
Stay clear of beaches. Wave heights and currents typically increase before a storm makes landfall. Even the best swimmers can fall victim to the strong waves and rip currents caused by hurricanes. Swimmers should stay clear of beaches until local lifeguards and law enforcement officials say the water is safe.
Be prepared. Area residents should be prepared by developing a family plan, creating a disaster supply kit, having a place to go, securing their home and having a plan for pets. Information can be found at the National Hurricane Centers webpage.
Stay informed. The public should monitor the progress and strength of the storm through local television, radio and Internet. Boaters can monitor its progress on VHF radio channel 16. Information can also be obtained on small craft advisories and warnings on VHF radio channel 16.
Heres where to get free sand, bags ahead of Tropical Storm Helene
The listed ports and facilities are currently open to all commercial traffic and all transfer operations may continue, the Coast Guard said.
Mariners are reminded there are no safe havens in these facilities, and ports are safest when the inventory of vessels is at a minimum. All ocean-going commercial vessels and ocean-going barges greater than 500 gross tons should make plans for departing the port, the Coast Guard said.
Vessels desiring to remain in port must immediately contact the COTP to receive permission and are required to submit a safe mooring plan in writing. Vessels bound for these ports unable to depart 24 hours prior to threatening winds making landfall are advised to seek an alternate destination.
The COTP said that pleasure crafts are advised to seek safe harbor.
Port facilities are advised to review their heavy weather plans and take all necessary precautions to adequately prepare for the expected conditions.
Be advised, about eight hours prior to the predicted arrival of sustained gale force winds (above 39 mph), most bridges will be locked down and will not open until after the severe weather has passed. It is critical that vessels intending to evacuate the ports of Jacksonville, Fernandina, or Canaveral via the St. Johns River or the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway depart early to avoid being blocked by bridges.
If and when port condition Yankee is set, meaning sustained gale force winds are expected within 24 hours, vessel movement shall be restricted, and all movements must be approved by the COTP.
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Weather Aware Wednesday through Friday for Impacts of Heavy Rain, Flooding, and Gusty Winds from a cold front and Helene
Wednesday: The cold front will stall across Alabama on Wednesday. This will draw up moisture from Helene and bring Central Alabama heavy rain and storms. Some of the rain could lead to flash flooding issues in the typical flooding locations. An isolated damaging wind gust or brief tornado cant be ruled out over East Alabama today. It will be cooler with highs in the upper 70s.
Helene will make landfall along the Florida Panhandle near Apalachicola, FL as a Major Hurricane by Thursday evening. Bands of heavy rain will move north of the center of the storm across Central Alabama throughout the day.
Rain totals of 2-5 are possible between Wednesday and Thursday, with isolated amounts approaching 8 inches. The highest totals will be across Eastern Alabama, or closer to the center of Helene.
It will become breezy with sustained winds of 15-25 mph, and gusts of 35-40 mph at times. Some trees could fall and expect a few power outages. High temperatures will only be in the middle 70s.
Heavy rain will continue Thursday night into Friday morning. Some flash flooding will be possible especially across Eastern Alabama. Helene will lift north into Tennessee during the day as it interacts with an upper-level low. These systems may move around each other, and this is known as the Fujiwhara Effect. Friday afternoon will be cloudy with fewer showers. High temperatures will remain in the 70s.
Weekend Outlook: The remnants of Helene will be north of Alabama on Saturday, and drier air will move in from the west. We will be partly cloudy with only a low chance for a shower. It will be warmer with highs in the lower 80s. The weather will be good for the Alabama vs. Georgia game at 6:30 PM in Tuscaloosa, and the 2:30 PM Auburn vs. Oklahoma game in Auburn. A cold front will move toward Alabama on Sunday with a mostly cloudy sky and a few showers. Highs stay in the lower 80s.
Be sure to follow the CBS 42 Storm Team:
Follow Us on Facebook: Chief Meteorologist Dave Nussbaum, Meteorologist Michael Haynes, Meteorologist Alex Puckett, and Meteorologist Jacob Woods.
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Demonstrators rally in support of abortion rights at the US Supreme Court (AFP via Getty Images)
A South Carolina State University junior suffered a pregnancy loss then two months later, she was charged with homicide.
Amari Marsh, 23, is now speaking out about the harrowing ordeal, which her lawyers have argued was a devastating health emergency that had no business getting tied up in the court system. Her case serves as yet another example of how pregnancy is at risk of being criminalized in the wake of the Supreme Courts reversal of Roe v. Wade which protected the right to an abortion in 2022.
I couldnt breathe, Marsh told KFF Health News, recalling how in 2023, still in her second trimester, she suddenly gave birth in the middle of the night in her off-campus apartment. She said she screamed and cried as blood spilled across the bathroom floor, but she never couldve imaged the loss would result in murder charges.
Just two months before the premature birth, Marsh had gone to Planned Parenthood in Columbia, South Carolina where abortion has been banned after about 22 weeks to take the Plan-C pill which would possibly cause an abortion to occur, according to an incident report obtained by the outlet. It doesnt detail whether she actually took the pill. The report also notes that Marsh was advised to return to the clinic for a follow-up, which she never did.
But Marsh claimed to the outlet that she never went to Planned Parenthood and never took a pill to induce abortion.
Ive never been in trouble. Ive never been pulled over. Ive never been arrested, she said. I never even got written up in school.
A month later, on February 28, the college junior went to the hospital after experiencing abdominal pains, and was informed she was pregnant and that a heartbeat had been detected. Marsh felt the energy was off, according to the report, and returned home. In the wee hours of the next morning, she gave birth in her toilet. I screamed because I was scared, because I didnt know what was going on, she told the outlet.
Her then-boyfriend called 911, and the emergency dispatcher on the line kept telling me to take the baby out of the toilet, Marsh said. But she refused to do that: I couldnt because I couldnt even keep myself together.
Marshs ordeal is a prime example of how pregnancy loss can become a criminal investigation very quickly, said Dana Sussman, senior vice president of nonprofit Pregnancy Justice (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
As Marsh was transported to Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg, first responders retrieved the baby from the toilet and tried to perform life saving measures, which were ultimately unsuccessful.
While at the hospital, after Marsh was told that her baby hadnt survived, a sheriffs office deputy in her hospital room informed her that she was being investigated due to the nature of the incident, but that she was currently not in any trouble, the report states. Marsh insisted that she did not feel as though she did anything wrong.
Weeks later, in mid-May, an officer informed Marsh via text that he needed to meet with her in person before I can close the case out. I am so sorry, KFF Health News reported.
The meeting took place on May 2, 2023. It ended in her arrest, records show. She was charged with homicide by child abuse which can result in a sentence of 20 years to life behind bars.
But a sentencing wont happen. This August, more than a year after she was arrested, a grand jury declined to indict her.
The arrest warrant, obtained by KFF Health News, claims that refusing to move the baby from the toilet was a proximate cause of her daughters death.
Marshs attorneys believe her case belongs nowhere near the court system.
This is not a criminal matter, Zipporah Sumpter, one of Marshs lawyers, told the outlet. She accused authorities of treating the college student as a criminal rather than a grieving mother.
South Carolina Democratic state Rep Seth Rose, who is also one of Marshs attorneys, called it a really tragic case. He told the outlet: Its our position that she lost a child through natural causes.
Marshs ordeal is a prime example of how pregnancy loss can become a criminal investigation very quickly, Dana Sussman, senior vice president of nonprofit Pregnancy Justice, told the outlet.
The Dobbs decision unleashed and empowered prosecutors to look at pregnant people as a suspect class and at pregnancy loss as a suspicious event, Sussman said.
In Ohio, Brittany Watts was criminally charged with abuse of a corpse after law enforcement found the remains of a fetus stuck in her toilet in September 2023; she had been repeatedly denied medical care to treat her miscarriage due to doctors uncertainty over whether she could legally abort the fetus. A grand jury ultimately declined to indict her.
Marsh told KFF Health News she is still processing the harrowing series of events, and keeps daughters ashes on a bookshelf in her bedroom. Shes taking classes at a local community college and hopes to soon re-enroll at South Carolina State University. She aspires to become a doctor.
Through all of this, I found my strength. I found my voice. I want to help other young women that are in my position now and will be in the future, Marsh told the outlet. I always had faith that God was going to be on my side, but I didnt know how it was going to go with the justice system we have today.
FILE - Barry Morphew leaves a Fremont County court building in Canon City, Colo., with his daughters, Macy, left, and Mallory, after charges against him in the presumed death of his wife were dismissed Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP, File)
A Colorado man's malicious prosecution lawsuit has been dismissed, with the federal judge saying prosecutors acted badly in his case, but authorities still had enough reason to arrest and charge him in his wife's death four years ago.
Barry Morphew filed a lawsuit against Chaffee County, its sheriff's department, District Attorney Linda Stanley and local and state investigators seeking $15 million in damages in May 2023, a year after the charges alleging he killed Suzanne Morphew in May 2020 were dismissed. The lawsuit alleged investigators fabricated evidence, engaged in a conspiracy to charge him, conducted a reckless investigation, didn't follow up on some evidence and withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense.
Morphew was arrested in May 2021, before Suzanne Morphew's body was found.
In hindsight, it appears everyone involved now agrees that Mr. Morphew should not have been arrested, at least not at that time, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico wrote in his order Tuesday. He noted that some of the investigators pointed out behind the scenes at the time, the investigation wasnt complete, there were loose ends to tie up, and there were too many questions to answer before a case against (Morphew) could be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
While prosecutors generally understand they have an ethical obligation not to bring charges until they can prove them beyond a reasonable doubt, having probable cause to arrest and charge someone doesn't require a beyond-a-reasonable-doubt level of proof, Domenico wrote.
Proceeding with the charges against Morphew in 2021 was at the very least unwise, Domenico wrote, but not every unwise decision is unconstitutional.
Despite Morphew's allegations that some evidence was fabricated and exculpatory evidence was withheld, there was still evidence that (Morphew) had a motive, means and opportunity to kill his wife; that his alibi was fabricated and that his credibility was dubious, Domenico wrote.
An investigation found Suzanne Morphew said her husband was physically and emotionally abusive, they fought frequently and that she sent him a text telling him she wanted a divorce days before she disappeared, Domenico noted.
Investigators also found that Morphew started liquidating assets and seeing another woman shortly after his wife went missing and long before her body was found. Morphew was the last person to see his wife alive, and he gave conflicting statements about the events leading up to her disappearance, the judge said in showing there was probable cause to file charges.
Prosecutors dropped the murder charge against Morphew in April 2022, just before he was to go to trial, after a judge ruled prosecutors could not present most of their key witnesses as punishment for failing to turn over the exculpatory evidence, including the fact that male DNA matching an unknown sex offender was found in Suzanne Morphew's vehicle.
Colorado state regulators ruled earlier this month that Stanley should be disbarred for withholding evidence.
Suzanne Morphew's remains were found in September 2023 about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from her house in Maysville, Colorado. Her death was ruled a homicide in April after an autopsy found a cocktail of drugs that are used to tranquilize wildlife was found in one of her bones. Barry Morphew had used such tranquilizers, and he was still considered a suspect in his wife's death, investigators said.
Morphew's attorney, Iris Eytan, has argued the evidence shows Suzanne Morphew was abducted, drugged and killed by someone else.
Barry Morphew, who should not have been arrested and was wrongly prosecuted, has no recourse to get the costs of the damage to him back from the offending prosecutors because they cannot be sued in the United States, Eytan said in a statement Wednesday. Prosecutors have immunity from civil damage suits, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2017.
That should change, Eytan argued.
Domenico also questioned whether prosecutors should have qualified immunity.
Morphew like anyone accused of a crime, deserves better than what happened here, Domenico said, as do the people of Colorado and Suzanne Morphew.
Perhaps Barry Morphew is right that immunity doctrines ought to be revisited and it should be easier to sue those who mishandle prosecutions like this for damages in federal court, the judge wrote.
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) Colorados two U.S. senators are behind a new bill to help communities affected by the Gold King Mine spill including those in New Mexico. Back in 2015, the mine in southwest Colorado released millions of gallons of acidic drainage and toxic metals into the Animas and San Juan Rivers which turned them dark orange.
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Colorado Democrats Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did provide some compensation but existing laws limited how much it could help businesses, farmers, and homeowners. The senators said their bill would give the EPA the authority and the funds to settle some outstanding claims.
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TOPEKA (KSNT) Earth has a visitor from afar this year that is making its way across our solar system for a once-in-81,000-year flyby, possibly for the first and last time in modern human history.
Brenda Culbertson, Solar System Ambassador with NASA, told 27 News people looking up at the night sky in October might notice a new light burning in space. This is from the comet A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, otherwise known as A3, which is currently visible to people living in the southern hemisphere.
Culbertson said the comet will become a nice evening object for people looking in the western sky in the northern hemisphere around mid-October in the early morning hours. As the comet moves through our solar system, it may become something people can see at night without the aid of a telescope.
The comet has been growing in brightness, but comets are highly unpredictable, Culbertson said. If this comet survives its close approach to the Sun, it should brighten significantly, becoming visible to the unaided eye, but as far as being a daytime object, that is unknown at this time.
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NASA Astronauts Matthew Dominick and Don Pettit have been posting photos and time-lapse videos of the comet from their vantage point above Earth to social media. You can check out some of their photos in the slideshow below.
(Photo Courtesy/NASA Astronaut Matthew Dominick)
(Photo Courtesy/NASA Astronaut Don Pettit)
(Photo Courtesy/NASA Astronaut Don Pettit)
(Photo Courtesy/NASA Astronaut Don Pettit)
This comet has a large orbit, calculated at around 81,000 years. Astronomers who see the comet this year will be the only ones in modern history to do so before it disappears from view again.
In mid-October, people should start looking in the western sky after the sky is dark, Culbertson said. Finding an unobstructed western view, in a dark place, people should be able to see it.
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Culbertson recommends choosing a night in the middle of October when the moon is not visible in the sky and there is no cloud cover to boost your chances of seeing the comet. Chances of seeing the comet improve if it completes its voyage past the sun with the possibility it could be seen during the day.
Comet A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS may not be the Comet of the Century, but it should still be a good sight, Culbertson said. The bit if is whether or not it will survive as it goes around Sun on its orbit. If it does survive, it will approach Earth in mid-October and should be very bright with the possibility of being visible in the daytime. We dont know what a comet will do until we see it happening, but predictions tell us that it should be a very bright, evening object and will be visible higher in the western, evening sky as October goes on. Here in Kansas, we should be able to see it nicely. Just stay tuned for more information.
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For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.
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SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) As Hurricane Helene approaches Georgia, Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King is urging Georgians to take several precautions before the storm.
Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall along the Gulf Coast as a major hurricane and continue into Georgia with devastating wind speeds, said Commissioner King. Because these damaging winds can affect areas hundreds of miles away from the expected trajectory, all Georgians should begin preparing for the storm.
Before the storm, make a list of all your covered items (furniture, electronics, appliances, valuables, etc). Make sure to keep an electronic copy of this list, which should include pictures.
Write down and photograph all property damage brought by Hurricane Idalia, including broken windows, damaged roofs, lost personal items, and more.
Notify your insurance company of any damages immediately.
Do NOT attempt significant or permanent repairs.
If it is safe to do so, you can cover your roof with a tarp or board up broken windows but leave the significant repairs to the experts.
Save all receipts. They will be useful if you file a claim with your insurance company.
Beware of scammers.
Be wary of anyone knocking on your door offering unsolicited repairs to your home.
Be suspicious of contractors who try to rush you, especially on non-emergency or temporary repairs.
DO NOT SIGN any document from any contractor until you have spoken to your insurance company DIRECTLY.
Be especially cautious of out-of-state contractors.
Do not believe a contractor who says they are supported by the government. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) does not endorse individual contractors or loan companies. Call FEMA toll-free at 800.621.FEMA for more information.
We have a talented, world-class consumer services team that stands ready to help any Georgian with insurance questions in the wake of Hurricane Helene, King continued. Whether you are dealing with a bad actor or just have a question about how to work with your insurance company, call toll-free at 1-800-656-2298.
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ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) Tuesday morning, the Ector County Commissioners Court met with the public to discuss beginning the process of issuing certificates of obligation towards a new courthouse and juvenile justice center. The court is looking at an amount to not exceed $325 million for the construction.
This comes after Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett said that the old building on Grant Ave has multiple issues. Issues that Fawcett said have to do with plumbing, electrical and bad smells that have been in the building for decades.
What it really comes down to is this isnt a functional facility, said Fawcett. Weve had to shut down county operations multiple times and that is simply dereliction of our constitutional duties to keep the courthouse open.
Inside the courtroom, there was a range of emotions from people who wanted the building, to those who were still on the fence about it, and then those who thought right now would not be a great time to take on new debt.
With interests rates rising, these certificates of obligation or bonds whatever, said Samuel Davidson an Ector County resident. Its not financially a good time to issue these things you know. Theyve been higher than theyve been in the past.
What has residents concerned about the new courthouse is the fact that this will be under a certificate of obligation rather than a bond. The difference between the two is that a certificate of obligation does not need a vote to finance public works projects or capital improvements as permitted by state law.
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CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (WFXR) Virginia State Police have released findings from its investigation into the incident that led to an officer-involved shooting in Christiansburg on September 20.
The man killed by Christiansburg Officers has been identified as 31-year-old Ronald Allen Troskoski from Huntingdon, PA. Troskoski was wanted in York County PA, and Montgomery County, VA on multiple charges, police say.
On Friday, September 20, a 9-11 call was received about a suspicious person in the Mud Pike area of Montgomery County. Montgomery County Sheriffs Deputies were the first to respond and arrived to find Troskoski allegedly displaying a knife.
ORIGINAL COVERAGE: Officer-involved shooting in Christiansburg ends with weapon carrying suspect dead
The incident escalated into a foot chase that ended when officers say Troskoski allegedly pointed a weapon at them. This resulted in officers opening fire and killing Troskoski at the scene.
VSP said the investigation is now being turned over to the Montgomery County Commonwealth Attorneys Office for adjudication and will have no further comment on the investigation.
WFXR News will continue to update you with new information as it becomes available.
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) Youngstown City Council is considering allowing open containers of alcoholic beverages to be carried throughout parts of downtown. Wednesday, the council wanted to hear what the public had to say.
Youngstowns DORA which stands for Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area would extend a block or so on both sides of Phelps Street.
Wednesday afternoon a hearing was held at City Hall on what the public thinks. No one spoke in favor of the DORA, one person was opposed, and another questioned the timing of the public hearing.
We have a police shortage and bringing this into play is going to take away from the neighborhoods if something should happen, said Tracy Randall.
But Police Chief Carl Davis said a robust plan will be implemented if a DORA is approved.
Too much development has gone into the downtown area for us to ignore that, said Davis.
Nick Chretien of the Economic Action Group said it would not be a free-for-all.
People will have a designated wristband. It will be on a designated cup. Its going to be beers and beverages from the establishments were talking about here, Chretien said.
Another person asked about representation at Wednesdays meeting.
Would this be a fair representation of peoples opinions when you have a meeting at 2:00 in the afternoon, or 2:30, and a lot of people cant come or would you not expect a lot of people to be here anyway? asked Helen McCarthy.
The majority of seats at the DORA public hearing were empty. Councilman Julius Oliver stated his opinion on why many people didnt attend the meeting.
I think the majority of the bars and restaurants are already on board. I think there was only one that opposed it. So I think they felt in a way, Why do I need to show up if Im already in favor of it?' said Oliver.
Oliver says he supports the DORA but Councilwoman Amber White said shes still undecided. She wants to first talk with the business owners downtown.
And seeing such a low turnout, especially from the business owners themselves, those are the ones I really wanted to hear from and downtown residents to really get their input, White said.
Now that a public hearing has been held, Ohios Division of Liquor Control must approve Youngstowns DORA after which the city council must approve it too.
The plan is to have both of those approvals in place by years end.
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Boeing (BA) finds itself stuck between a rock and a hard place as the labor strike between it and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union nears a second week.
On Monday, Boeing upped its offer to the union, which represents 33,000 workers, but did not proceed through union leadership and instead sent a "best and final" offer directly to workers, which didnt sit well with the IAM. Boeings latest offer upped pay hikes to 30% from 25% in the prior offer, doubled a signing bonus to $6,000, and increased 401(k) contributions, among other things.
"The survey results from yesterday were overwhelmingly clear, almost as loud as the first offer: members are not interested in the company's latest offer that was sent through the media," IAM said in a statement late Tuesday night. "Many comments expressed that the offer was inadequate and the company's decision to bypass the Union was viewed as disrespectful."
A strike sign is waved at union machinist picket line near Boeing's factory in Everett, Washington, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Earlier, IAM said it contacted Boeing to engage in direct talks after the offer, which the company refused. Therefore, the union said it would not be holding a vote on the proposal.
Nevertheless, Boeings insistence on going directly to union members speaks to the difficulty the company is in, said Anita Mendiratta, an aviation and tourism expert at consulting firm AM&A.
Boeing is already having to do some significant re-examination of the financials of the organization. To put this in context, every single day that Boeing is on strike, theyre losing between $100 million and $150 million, Mendiratta said to Yahoo Finance.
Without union workers based in Boeings Renton, Wash., assembly facility, Boeing cannot deliver its 737 Max jets, which are the companys cash cow. Boeing is still able to deliver its 787 Dreamliner out of its non-union South Carolina facility; however, those jets are limited in number. In the second quarter, Boeing delivered 70 737 Max jets, but only nine of the larger Dreamliners.
Mendiratta, who is also special adviser to the UN Tourism Secretary-General, said disruptions in Boeing not only hurt the American plane maker but also the aviation industry as a whole.
Its not just Boeing thats in trouble the entire global aviation system is in trouble because it relies on Boeing for 4 in 10 commercial aircraft as well as what it delivers in its other divisions, Mendiratta said. When there is a delay in the delivery of aircraft, and there are many airlines that are having delays, it means that the entire global aviation ecosystem is going to suffer, as is the global traveling public.
Story continues
Mendiratta doesnt see the union bending here, at least not in the short term. Boeing put workers in a difficult position that led them to strike in the first place, she said, and emotions are running high following Boeings latest move to circumvent IAM leadership.
IAM union workers also know they have public support behind them, as big labor has seen its popularity grow, while Boeing has seen its standing suffer. The union is in a very strong position, Mendiratta said, as the strike not only puts financial pressure on Boeing but also hurts Boeing on a reputational level too.
With the strike hitting Boeings bottom line by as much as $1.8 billion thus far, the plane maker needs to make a deal soon. Boeing shares are already down an astounding 40% year to date.
Shareholders hope Boeing and new CEO Kelly Ortberg can make a deal and reverse the cash drain by the time the plane maker is expected to report third quarter earnings at the end of October.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11) The NYC E-Vehicle Safety Alliance held a town hall meeting Tuesday to address what organizers are calling an e-vehicle and moped crisis unfolding on city streets.
Advocates at the meeting expressed urgent concerns about the number of pedestrians injured and even killed across New York City by e-bikes, e-scooters, and mopeds.
More Local News
At the town hall on the Upper West Side, the NYC E-Vehicle Safety Alliance stated that 91 of their members had been injured by e-vehicles. Pictures of some of the victims were displayed throughout the room.
Marian Lewis recounted her experience from 2021 when she was struck by an e-bike in Central Park.
His handlebar caught my puffy winter jacket, threw me into the air about three feet up and I crashed onto my left hip, she said. and I am screaming. Nobody saw him. It was hit and run.
After being thrown into the air and landing on her side, she said it took months to recover and learn to walk again.
I got blood clots that nearly killed me from going into my lungs and they had to put something up to my chest, a filter to save those, she added. They told my daughter to go home and get my end-of-life papers cause I was going to die.
Lawmakers at the town hall are now pushing for legislation that would regulate e-bikes by requiring them to have license plates and be registered with the DMV.
New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar highlighted the problem.
We all have had the experience of walking on the sidewalk and an e-bike is coming the other way and we almost get hit, said Rajkumar. So, this is a problem that needs to be solved.
Rajkumar introduced Priscillas Law in the state assembly last year, a bill named after Priscilla Loke, who was tragically killed by an e-bike running a red light in Chinatown last fall. The proposed law seeks to create consequences for dangerous riding that can be monitored by traffic cameras.
This will make sure that all e-vehicles are held accountable, Rajkumar continued. When an e-vehicle crashes into somebody, were going to know who the driver is because theres going to be a license plate. We can identify who it is.
Despite this push, several transit advocacy groups have opposed the regulation of e-vehicles. Transportation Alternatives has expressed concerns that the measures would create unnecessary burdens on bikers and lead to racial profiling if enforced by police.
Organizers said the town hall meeting was all-encompassing and raised issues related to crimes committed with e-vehicles such as robberies. According to the NYPD, mopeds and e-scooters have been used in more than 400 robberies in the city this year alone.
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Erie Elks Lodge 67 presented a check to a local shelter following a new partnership.
Community Shelter Services received $2,500 which was raised during the Elks Lodges annual Hawaiian luau on September 7.
Fundraising results released for 2024 Erie Walk to End Alzheimers
The contribution will go towards continued efforts at the shelter to provide housing, support and resources to the areas homeless population.
The exalted ruler of the lodge Becky Feronti said they are happy to help support the shelters mission.
Mercyhurst professor given Prophet of Peace Award by Benedictine Sisters
The executive director of the shelter reacted to the donation.
$2,500 goes a long way here at Community Shelter. For those that are facing the homelessness we can do hygiene products, we can feed a lot of people. We have the Kiwanis Caring Kitchen which is really nice, where we can feed the kids in the neighborhood that are hungry. We have our tiny village where we can house families, keep them together, said Diane Lazette, executive director of Community Shelter Services.
Lazette said the partnership helps expand their mission through the community.
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Company launches new EV monitoring system to provide crucial performance data: 'Our aim to remove some of the pain points'
In electrifying news for fleet managers overseeing electric vehicles, the San Diego-based telematics solutions provider Inseego unveiled an EV reporting package to help businesses run without a hitch.
According to an Inseego news release, the reporting package launched earlier this summer and is "designed to support the smooth transition to electric vehicles" while providing crucial data that can boost performance, productivity, and efficiency.
Per the company's website, its cloud-based solutions include GPS fleet tracking software, driver monitoring and management, sensor monitoring, AI-powered dash cams, and much more. With its latest offering, customers will receive reports on their EV fleets' status, charging information, efficiency, trip replay, and operational performance in addition to a live view of the vehicles.
These reports will alert customers to potential problems in real time, helping them save money and time on business operations. For instance, according to Inseego, the report will give fleet managers detailed information about disorganized charging schedules that could lead to reduced productivity and revenue.
For fleet managers just getting used to coordinating the movements of EVs, it can be challenging to figure out optimal charging routines and locate charging stations along drivers' routes. Inseego's up-to-date vehicle data can make all the difference between a smooth or bumpy ride.
EV fleets are on the rise from police departments to rental car companies to major global brands, plenty of businesses and agencies are switching to EVs since they're cheaper to operate and maintain than gas-guzzlers. Plus, they don't produce planet-warming pollution, helping to clean the air and reduce health issues like asthma.
Companies like Inseego can make the transition easier and hopefully encourage more businesses to electrify their fleets.
"Our aim is to remove some of the pain points that fleets encounter when switching to and running electric vehicles," Steve Thomas, managing director of Inseego, said in the press release. "By speaking with existing customers, we were able to identify recurring operational issues that were resulting in added cost, disruption, and delays. What became clear was the need for a more comprehensive EV reporting package based on real-world scenarios and experience."
"Fleets can demonstrate their green credentials and meet future sustainability targets by using the information provided by our EV reporting package to best manage the change process, target savings, and deliver business value. It is all about gaining that added layer of insight needed to make the day-to-day operation of electric vehicles smooth and trouble-free," he added.
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., is followed by reporters as he walks to the House Chamber for a vote on an interim spending bill to avoid a government shutdown next week, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) Congress on Wednesday passed a temporary measure that keeps government agencies funded into December, avoiding a shutdown for now while punting final spending decisions until after the Nov. 5 election.
The Senate approved the measure by a vote of 78-18 shortly after the House easily approved it. The bill generally funds agencies at current levels through Dec. 20. But an additional $231 million was included to bolster the Secret Service after the two assassination attempts against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Money was also added to aid with the presidential transition, among other things.
The bill now goes to President Joe Biden's desk to be signed into law.
This bipartisanship is a good outcome for America, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said moments before the vote. I hope it sets the tone for more constructive, bipartisan work when we return in the fall.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., billed the measure as doing only what's absolutely necessary," a statement directed at members of his own conference concerned about spending levels.
Still, it was a no-go for some Republicans, which forced House GOP leadership to rely on Democratic votes to pass the bill through a process that requires at least two-thirds support from voting members. The final vote was 341-82, with Republicans supplying all the no votes in both chambers. Johnson said the only alternative to the continuing resolution at this stage would have been a government shutdown.
It would be political malpractice to shut the government down," Johnson said. "I think everyone understands that.
The House floor was largely empty during debate on the measure. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, was the lone critic among the speakers, saying, We end up in a vicious circle every year, the same vicious circle.
Lawmakers in both chambers are anxious to return to their home states and districts to campaign, smoothing the path for passage of the temporary funding fix. But more arduous fiscal negotiations await them at the end of the year.
Under terms of a previous deal to avoid a federal default and allow the government to continue paying its bills, spending for defense and nondefense programs would rise 1% next year.
The Senate has been charting a course to go above that level, while House Republicans have been voting for steep cuts to many nondefense programs, and they have attached policy mandates to the spending bills that Democrats overwhelmingly oppose. So a final agreement will be difficult to reach.
In the meantime, the temporary bill will mostly fund the government at current levels, with a few exceptions like the funding infusion for the Secret Service.
The $231 million for the Secret Service does come with strings attached. It's contingent upon the agency complying with congressional oversight. The bill also allows the Secret Service to spend its allocations faster if needed.
Everybody understands that's critically important right now, Johnson said of the Secret Service money.
Trump thanked lawmakers for the extra Secret Service funding at a campaign event Wednesday. He had earlier called on Republicans not to move forward on a spending bill without also including a requirement that people provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote. That legislation failed in the House last week.
In a recent letter, the Secret Service told lawmakers that a funding shortfall was not the reason for lapses in Trumps security when a gunman climbed onto an unsecured roof on July 13 at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and opened fire. But acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr., also made clear the agency had immediate needs and that hes talking to Congress.
The Secret Service has asked for this additional funding. It's absolutely essential as they deal with the increased threat environment, said Sen. Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The continuing resolution is needed because Congress is nowhere close to completing work on the dozen annual appropriations bills that fund much of the federal government. The House has passed five of the 12 bills, mostly along party lines. The Senate has passed zero.
Republicans blame the impasse on Senate Democrats for not putting the dozen appropriations bills on the Senate floor for a vote, where they then could be reconciled with the House bills during negotiations. But Democrats counter that House Republicans are acting in bad faith, bogging the process down by undercutting the agreement that former Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated with the White House over spending caps for the 2024 and 2025 budget years.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democratic member of the House Appropriations Committee, said her party will accept nothing less than the 1% increase specified in that agreement. Also, if Republicans seek more than that for defense, there must be dollar for dollar parity for nondefense," she said.
The White House called on both chambers to pass the stopgap bill, while cautioning that it did not provide adequate funding to help communities recover from natural disasters and failed to include enough funding for health care provided through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Johnson warned that when the temporary extension expires in December, he will not support a massive, catchall bill to fund the government, referred to as an omnibus, so another stopgap may be needed that would allow the new president and Congress to have the final say on fiscal year 2025 spending levels.
I have no intention of going back to that terrible tradition, Johnson said.
Sen. Patty Murray, the Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, urged House Republicans not to follow the loudest voices on the far right in the negotiations for the full-year bill.
You cannot strike a deal to govern with people who do not really want to govern," Murray said.
A member of the Secret Service looks out from the roof of the White House on Sept 11, 2019.
WASHINGTON The Senate unanimously passed legislation Tuesday to boost Secret Service protection for presidential candidates, sending the bill to the White House for President Joe Biden's signature.
The strong show of bipartisan support came days after the House passed the measure, known as the Enhanced Presidential Security Act, without any opposition in a 405-0 vote.
The bill would give former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris the same level of protection provided to Biden. At only three pages long, the bill gives broad discretion to the Secret Service on how to apply measures to reach that level.
It comes the same month as an apparent second attempt to assassinate Trump. Biden called on Congress to act last week, saying that the Secret Service needs more help.
The Trump campaign, the Harris campaign and the Secret Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Senate passage of the bill.
The Enhanced Presidential Security Act was introduced in the House by Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., brought the legislation to the Senate floor.
Following the House vote on Friday, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said during a press conference that Trump is already receiving the highest levels of secret service protection. He added that Trump was receiving everything Biden is with respect to Secret Service.
At the same time, Rowe said the agency needs a paradigm shift in its approach to protecting presidents.
The passage of the bill comes as the House mulls a broader spending measure that includes a plan to provide an additional $231 million for the Secret Service.
It also comes a day after Trump accused the Justice Department of "downplaying" the alleged assassination plot against him in West Palm Beach, Florida. Trump was previously shot in the ear during an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON The U.S. House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to approve a stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government running through Dec. 20, though the divided Congress has a lot of negotiating to do if members want to pass the dozen full-year appropriations bills before their new deadline.
The short-term funding bill, sometimes referred to as a continuing resolution, will avoid a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
The CR is supposed to give lawmakers more time to hash out agreement on the appropriations bills. But Congress regularly uses it as a safety net to push off or entirely avoid making decisions about which departments should get more funding and whether to change policy about how federal tax dollars are spent.
House debate on the CR was broadly bipartisan with Democrats and Republicans voicing support ahead of the 341-82 vote.
The Senate is scheduled to vote later Wednesday evening to send the bill to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it.
Plenty of problems ahead
The stopgap bill was expected to be the last major legislation considered by Congress before Election Day. A lame-duck session is scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
In a matter of days, funding for fiscal year 2024 will run out and its Congress responsibility to ensure that the government remains open and serving the American people, House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said during floor debate. We are here to avert harmful disruptions to our national security and vital programs our constituents rely on.
Cole said he hopes Congress can approve the dozen full-year bills later this year.
The next president and the next Congress should not be forced to do the work of this administration and this Congress, Cole said. Theyre going to have plenty of problems lets not throw a potential government shutdown in front of them as well.
Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, ranking member on the spending panel, said lawmakers must begin conference talks in the days ahead to reach a bipartisan agreement on the full-year spending bills.
No matter who wins in November, we owe it to the next Congress and the next president to not saddle them with yesterdays problems, DeLauro said.
Noncitizen voting bill dropped
Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy spoke against the stopgap spending bill and expressed frustration that lawmakers were, once again, relying on a continuing resolution instead of having met the Oct. 1 deadline to pass the full-year spending bills.
We should not be kicking the can down the road to Dec. 20, a mere five days before Christmas, which is what this town always does, he said.
Roy also criticized House GOP leaders for not sticking with a six-month stopgap spending bill that carried with it a bill to require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
House leaders brought that bill to the floor last week, but didnt garner the votes needed to send it to the Senate. Noncitizen voting in federal elections is already illegal.
Secret Service spending
The 49-page continuing resolution extends the funding levels and policies that Congress approved earlier this year as part of its last appropriations process.
Lawmakers included a provision that will let the Secret Service spend money at a faster rate than what would have otherwise been allowed for protective operations, including for activities relating to National Special Security Events and the 2024 Presidential Campaign, according to a summary of the bill.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency got a similar provision so it can spend more money that would have otherwise been permitted from its disaster relief fund. The Forest Services Wildland Fire
Management account was also granted a faster spend rate.
The stopgap spending bill extended authorization for the National Flood Insurance Program as well as several other federal programs that were on track to expire at the end of September.
November election
Whether Congress reaches agreement with the Biden administration on the dozen full-year government funding bills later this year will likely depend on the outcome of the November elections.
Voters choosing divided government for another two years will likely incentivize leaders to work out bipartisan, bicameral agreements during the five weeks Congress is in session during November and December.
Republicans or Democrats securing unified control of the House, Senate and White House could result in another stopgap spending bill pushing off decisions until after the next Congress and next president take their oaths of office in January.
A new president, a new budget ask
Regardless of when Congress completes work on the dozen full-year funding bills, the next president will likely submit their first budget request to lawmakers sometime next spring, starting the annual process all over again.
The president is supposed to release the budget request in early February, but thats often delayed during the first year of a new administration.
The House and Senate Appropriations committees will then begin holding hearings with Cabinet secretaries and agency heads to ask about their individual requests and begin assessing whether lawmakers will boost their spending.
The Appropriations Committees in each chamber will likely release their separate slates of full-year appropriations bills next summer, possibly followed by floor debate.
This year the House Appropriations Committee reported all dozen of its bills to the floor, following party-line votes when Democrats objected to both spending levels and policy language.
House Republicans approved five of those bills on the floor.
Senate appropriators took broadly bipartisan votes to approve 11 of their bills in committee, save the Homeland Security measure. None of the bills has gone to the floor for amendment debate and a final vote.
Thats not entirely uncommon in the Senate, where floor time is often dedicated to approving judicial nominees and it can take weeks to approve one spending bill.
The House, by contrast, can approve bills in a matter of hours or days if leadership has secured the votes.
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CONNECTICUT (WTNH) Connecticut has had some unwanted visitors this year: the spotted lanternfly.
Why Connecticut leaders want you to watch out for and kill this insect
The insects can cause severe damage to crops and trees, according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). DEEP said that 47% of Connecticut trees are considered susceptible to the flies, and state leaders are urging residents to kill the flies if you see one.
Kill them by any means possible, Dr. Victoria Smith, a state entomologist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, said. Stomp on them, hit them with a fly swatter, what ever it takes. Just kill as many as you can find.
If you find one, take not of where you found it and report it to Connecticuts Agricultural Experiment Station.
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A panel of three former President Donald Trump-appointed U.S. Court of Appeals judges heard oral arguments on Tuesday over a lower court ruling on a Mississippi election law that allows the state to continue counting mail-in absentee ballots if theyre received within five days of Election Day.
Its a significant case for its potentially wide-ranging implications in other states -- some pivotal battlegrounds -- that currently allow elections officials to accept late-arriving ballots. If the Republicans who brought the case prevail in peeling back these mail-in voting provisions, the general election could become even closer across the country. This case is also considered by experts to be one of the likeliest election-related suits to reach the US Supreme Court before election day.
Around 20 states, including Mississippi, count mail ballots that arrive after Election Day but are postmarked on or before. They include Nevada, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, California and New York. Disqualifying late-arriving ballots would be a major change in those states.
PHOTO: A mail-in ballot issued by Hudson County, New Jersey, for the 2024 U.S. general election is seen on September 22, 2024, in Hoboken, New Jersey. (Gary Hershorn/ABC News)
National and statewide Republicans had sued Mississippi's secretary of state and other election officials in January over the mail-in ballot policies of the Republican-leaning state, which adopted legislation in 2020 that permits mail ballots postmarked by Election Day and that arrive up until five days after to be accepted.
MORE: Trump continues to push mixed messaging on mail-in ballots as states prepare to send them out
The Republican National Committee, Mississippi Republican Party and two individuals are seeking to overturn that COVID-era law. A similar challenge was brought by the Libertarian Party of Mississippi, which also testified on Tuesday.
In July, a district court rejected the lawsuit, concluding that Mississippis absentee ballot receipt deadline does not conflict with federal statutes.
On Tuesday, a panel of three Trump-appointed conservative judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit -- judges James Ho, Kyle Duncan and Andrew Oldham -- heard the Republicans arguments to reverse that decision.
The arguments centered on a familiar Trump argument regarding elections: that Election Day is simply a "day" and not a prolonged voting period. The court considered precedents like RNC v. DNC, and federal laws like the Uniformed And Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.
MORE: Postmaster general rejects Trump claims about ability to handle mail-in ballots
GOP lawyer Conor Woodfin said on Tuesday that the consummation date for ballot receipt should not be up for subjective interpretation in each individual state -- that Election Day should be the final day for acceptance.
The original public meaning of Election Day is the day that ballots are received by election officials," Woodfin said. "In Mississippi, it means the day for postmarking a ballot, in other states like Nevada and New Jersey, you don't even need a postmark, but that's not how courts interpret statutes.
The meaning of Election day is not up to the subjective views of each state. Instead, text and history tell us what those words mean and historical practice is especially important when applying words like election that are rich with historical meaning," he continued. "For decades after Congress established the uniform national election day, those words meant the day that ballots are received by election officials."
Scott Stewart on behalf of the Mississippi Secretary of State said on Tuesday that the district court was correct to uphold Mississippi's ballot receipt law that the 5th Circuit court should affirm the decision.
He said that the petitioners -- when grappling with concepts like early voting -- have been unable to locate a single definition on ballot receipt.
My friends [on the other side] say that ballot receipt is the definitive Election Day act. That is quite a statement for a party that has been unable to locate a single definition that mentions ballot receipt. I've just never seen a plain text case prevail with that kind of an absence, he said.
MORE: Suspicious mail containing white powder sent to election offices in at least 16 states
The Democratic National Committee as an intervener in the case also countered the Republican petitioners. Its counsel, Donald Verrilli said the definition of "election" suggests that votes cast by Election Day would be qualifying.
The meaning of the word 'election,' as the Supreme Court said has been the same since the founding to today -- and it is the final collective choice of an officer by qualified electors, Verrilli said.
So the day of the election is the day on which that final collective choice must be consummated. That is what it means. That is what our position rests ontheir position departs dramatically from that meaning, he added.
Verrilli was asked to expand upon the term collective in the definition.
What final collective choice means is that the process requires that all votes that are going to go into the determination of who holds the office are cast by Election Day. It doesn't say anything about the manner in which they are cast," he said. "That is something that the Constitution delegates expressly to state officials with. Of course, federal backstop and states have made different policy choices about that very thing, he said.
The hearing on Tuesday comes as in-person and mail-in absentee ballots became available on Monday across Mississippi for the upcoming general election.
Conservative judges hear Mississippi case that could peel back mail-in voting originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
NIXA, Mo. On Tuesday, locals filled the meeting room of the Christian County Public Library in Nixa after several parents raised concerns about children being able to access books that contain nudity and LGBTQ+ content without labels or warning signs.
But before the meeting took place, the library board of trustees held a special meeting to discuss recent changes made to the board and if they violated any sunshine laws in the process.
The Christian County Library District along with one of the board members is suing three other members of the board of trustees, saying they violated the Missouri Sunshine Law and the boards bylaws when they held Augusts special election.
Developer claims Trader Joes backed out of Springfield location
Because we made an error as the board, that is why we had this special meeting tonight and why there is an issue that we are needing to contact higher legal help the Attorney General to make sure we have not violated the law and that things can proceed, said Hagen.
Janis Hagen is the secretary on the board of trustees and is listed as the person who is suing three members, who in the lawsuit says violated the Missouri Sunshine Law and the boards bylaws.
During the special meeting, the board discussed the legality of the special election.
According to my understanding of what happened at this special meeting just now, its in limbo because of abstentions and lack of comment, said Hagen.
But thats not the only thing residents are worried about. Several parents in Christian County are voicing their frustrations when it comes to the reading material their children have access to.
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The idea of labeling books is not about banning books or restricting access to them. It certainly isnt about banning free speech. There are labels and warnings on many things that are protected under free speech, said a concerned parent who spoke at the meeting.
One parent says labeling LGBTQ+ books could hinder childrens abilities to explore who they are and make them feel singled out.
I just dont feel like its fair. We dont label books based on any other human attribute, you know, said Tamara Yancy.
The board voted at its last meeting to consider adding warnings and labels to certain books. The board of trustees will continue to seek legal counsel to see if they violated any laws in their election.
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NATCHITOCHES, La. (KTAL/KMSS)Prepare your tastebuds. Northwestern State University says its kicking off Octobers Creole Heritage Month with a Creole cooking class featuring alumna Chef Sheri Raleigh.
Northwestern State University (NSU) details Chef Raleigh as an accomplished Louisiana Creole chef who will guide participants through the rich history and cultural significance of Creole cuisine.
Those who attend the Cooking with Culture: Creole Cuisine Demonstration will learn about ingredients, techniques, and traditions passed down through generations in Creole families. Chef Raleigh hosts cooking classes and has authored Gifts from The Ancestors cookbooks with Creole and West African-inspired recipes.
This event is a collaboration between NSUs Hospitality Management & Tourism Program, the Creole Heritage Center, and the Gail Metoyer Jones Center for Inclusion and Diversity.
Celebrate NWLA food at Fete on the Farm
Our faculty and students look forward to collaborating with Chef Sheri L. Raleigh through preparing savory dishes while exploring influences of West Africa in Southwest Louisiana Creole heritage culture and cuisine, said Dr. Kent Peacock, director of the Creole Heritage Center.
This event serves as a powerful reminder of the role food plays in connecting people across cultures and history. We are excited to see the comparisons between Creole and West African food and culture as were guided on a culinary tour. We love creating opportunities for our community to learn, share, and celebrate together as we celebrate Creole Heritage Month, said Dr. Jasmine Wise, coordinator of Gail Metoyer Jones Center for Inclusion and Diversity.
The cooking demonstration will occur in Room 225 of the Family and Consumer Sciences Building (354 Caspari Street, Natchitoches).
NSU encourages interested participants to RSVP as there is limited seating.
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The Brinks Company
RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Brinks Company (NYSE:BCO) today announced a long-term ATM managed services agreement with Sainsburys. Under the terms of the deal, NoteMachine, a Brinks Company, will assume ownership and management of Sainsburys ATM business, which includes around 1,370 ATMs positioned in retail stores across the United Kingdom. The ATM network will be fully managed by NoteMachine, incorporating the full range of ATM managed services capabilities, including transaction processing, cash replenishment, maintenance, engineering, monitoring, parts supply and hardware refurbishment. The onboarding is expected to be completed by May 2025.
Mark Eubanks, President and CEO of Brinks said: Our partnership with Sainsburys further validates our capabilities in ATM managed services. This agreement aligns perfectly with our mission to make banking easier, more convenient and accessible for all. We are excited to be working with Sainsburys and we look forward to building on the strengths of both companies as we continue to innovate and enhance the way customers access financial services.
Simon Roberts, Chief Executive Officer of Sainsburys, said: We are really pleased that we can keep offering our customers free access to cash at all of our existing locations while also simplifying our banking business and reducing our costs. Were confident that NoteMachine is the right partner for us and our customers.
About The Brinks Company
The Brinks Company (NYSE:BCO), a leading global provider of cash and valuables management, digital retail solutions, and ATM managed services. Our customers include financial institutions, retailers, government agencies, mints, jewelers and other commercial operations. Our network of operations in 52 countries serves customers in more than 100 countries. For more information, please visit our website at www.brinks.com or call 804-289-9709.
About Sainsburys
Offering delicious great quality food at competitive prices has been at the heart of what we do since John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury opened our first store in 1869. Today, inspiring and delighting our customers with tasty food remains our priority and our purpose is clear we make good food joyful, accessible and affordable for everyone, every day.
Our focus on great value food and convenient shopping, whether in-store or online is supported by our brands Argos, Nectar, Tu Clothing, Habitat, Sainsburys Bank and Smart Charge. Sainsburys has almost 600 supermarkets and over 800 convenience stores. Argos is a leading digital retailer and is the third most visited retail website in the UK, with over 70 per cent of its sales starting online. Argos is conveniently available for customers to collect from hundreds of Sainsburys stores. Digital and technology enables us to adapt as customers shop differently and our profitable, fast-growing online channels offer customers quick and convenient delivery and collection capability.
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Sainsburys Bank
Sainsbury's Bank plc. Registered Office, 33 Holborn, London EC1N 2HT (registered in England and Wales, no 3279730) is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (register no. 184514). Sainsbury's Bank plc is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
Contact:
Investor Relations
804.289.9709 BRINKS CORPORATE
The Brinks Company
1801 Bayberry Court
Richmond, VA 23226-8100 USA
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) Helene is still a tropical storm with sustained winds reported at 65 mph as of this morning. The track has not shifted all too much, still a major threat to the Big Bend region of Florida. A Cat. 3 hurricane is expected to make landfall on Thursday night.
There is a massive wind threat with this storm. Hurricane force winds can be seen as far inland as central Georgia. Wide spread power outages and some structural damage will be seen.
Locally our coastal waters will become rough through the start of the weekend. A Small Craft Advisory and Gale Watch has been issued.
After a cold front passes through tonight, slightly cooler and less humid air filters in for the rest of the workweek and into the weekend. Temperatures will be in the lower 60s along the Northshore come Friday morning.
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Cops who shot resident and one of their own wont face charges, says CCRB
Cops who shot resident and one of their own wont face charges, says CCRB
LOWER MANHATTAN (PIX11) Almost five years to the day that he was shot and killed during a police stop, the five police officers involved in Antonio Wiliiamss death will not face any disciplinary charges.
That was the decision of the Civilian Complaint Review Board on Tuesday.
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The members made the declaration to the family of Williams, who had been waiting for a cab in the Edenwald section of the Bronx when he was approached by plainclothes officers on the night of September 29, 2019.
On Tuesday, his family members spoke out, minutes after learning of the CCRBs decision. They were not pleased, to say the least.
What I was hoping for was accountability and cops being fired, said Shawn Williams, Antonios father, at a news conference outside of CCRB headquarters on Church Street. What we got, what we received, he continued, [was] the cops got a pass.
The family and their attorney went on to say that theyd learned that a CCRB investigator whod reviewed their case had recommended that criminal charges be pursued against the five police officers involved, but the board itself decided against taking action.
[That] shouldnt happen. It shouldnt, said Williams, the father. Cops should be held accountable for every infraction.
The shooting also resulted in a police officer, Brian Mulkeen, being fatally shot.
Bronx DA clears police officers in 2019 friendly fire shooting
Williams had been waiting for a cab when plainclothes officers, including Mulkeen, stopped him on the street. Mulkeens body camera recorded the encounter. It shows Williams running away, and Mulkeen pursuing him. They struggled, and the five other cops got involved. Fifteen gunshots were fired, killing both Officer Mulkeen and Williams.
His stepmother, whod raised him from the age of eight, reacted at the Tuesday news conference.
This is very disturbing, she said. I dont understand how the CCRB did not take into consideration the actual footage and the evidence that was there.
According to the family, the bodycam video shows that before Antonio Williams started running away, there was no indication that Williams needed to be stopped.
Family of Antonio Williams calls for answers from NYPD after police-involved death
David Rankin, the attorney for the Williams Family, said that police were in violation of the laws theyre charged with enforcing.
You need to have some indication that a crime is being committed, he said, regarding the activity captured on bodycam video, and what they have is a guy leaning against a mailbox.
Williams was found to have had a gun on his person at the time of the incident, but it was never fired, according to the NYPD investigation.
The family has a civil suit pending against the NYPD over what happened. They and their attorney said that theyre now considering whether or not to appeal Tuesdays decision by the CCRB to not pursue charges against the officers involved.
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CORNELIUS, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) Cornelius Police detectives traveled to Texas to interview a 13-year-old accused of making threats against a local high school, the Police Department confirms.
A threat against William A. Hough High School prompted a modified lockdown for about an hour on Wednesday, September 18.
Modified lockdown lifted at Hough High School in Cornelius: Police
The threats were allegedly traced back to a 13-year-old in Texas. Cornelius PD detectives traveled to interview the teenager and reportedly gained a lot of valuable information on multiple cases of threat-making in their jurisdiction as well as elsewhere.
On Tuesday, September 24, officials announced that electronics were seized and that the investigation continues as the devices are analyzed.
Please know, the safety and security of our staff and students remain our priority, and we will keep working hard on these cases, the police department wrote. We appreciate our communitys support.
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Talbot's crimes emerged after he dropped a bag of cocaine at his daughter's school [GMP]
A police officer who stole cocaine from the force evidence store to sell on the streets of Manchester has been found guilty of supplying the drug.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) detective Andrew Talbot's crimes were uncovered after he accidentally dropped a bag of cocaine at his daughter's school.
An investigation then found the 54-year-old had conspired with a drug dealer to sell the Class A substance.
Talbot, of Leigh, was also found guilty of misconduct in public office and will be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court next month.
Talbot stole just under 4kg (9lb) of cocaine from the GMP property store and supplied it to drug dealer Keith Bretherton between February 2018 and January 2020.
He also searched GMP computers for information about known drug dealers and then gave Bretherton confidential police intelligence to help him recover a 20,000 drug debt.
After the incident at the school in February 2020, police found a GMP property bag containing traces of cocaine at his home.
Detectives discovered he had been working with 50-year-old Bretherton to sell the stolen drugs.
He was sacked in August this year at what police said was the "earliest legal opportunity".
'Brazen'
Liverpool Crown Court heard Talbot had earlier pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and ammunition without a firearm certificate, stealing cocaine, conspiring with Bretherton to commit misconduct in a public office, misconduct in public office and accessing computer material without authorisation.
Bretherton pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and possession of cocaine with intent to supply, and conspiracy, with Talbot, to commit misconduct in public office.
Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crime Prosecution Service's Special Crime Division, said: Andrew Talbot brazenly abused his position as a police officer for many years.
Not only did he steal drugs from Greater Manchester Polices own evidence store, he then shamelessly supplied those drugs on the streets of the city he was entrusted to police.
His disgraceful criminal conduct and association with convicted drug dealer Keith Bretherton are in stark contrast to his duties as an officer to protect the public, and risk undermining public confidence in policing."
Det Ch Insp Jennifer Adams, of GMPs Anti-Corruption Unit, said: Talbot took an oath to be a police officer and to serve the public but instead began to abuse this position to enter a world of criminality.
"This is why he was sacked at the earliest legal opportunity back in August and why we worked with the CPS to build a strong prosecution case to ensure he is brought to justice for the full scale of his offending."
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The spiny water flea was found in the Broads in Gilford, the deepest section of Lake Winnipesaukee, according to Fish and Game. (Hadley Barndollar | New Hampshire Bulletin)
This story was corrected at 11:02 a.m. on Sept. 25 to reflect that the study committee was created by a Senate Bill, not a House Bill.
A 38-year-old hiker who injured her leg and could not continue on. A 56-year-old man who had a medical emergency on a remote trail. A 70-year-old who slipped and injured her ankle while hiking.
These are just a handful of the hikers who needed the help of Fish and Game conservation officers and other rescuers this summer. How to better support the dozens of costly, laborious missions is one of many questions under consideration by a four-lawmaker committee studying the departments financial woes.
Part of Fish and Games problem, some said, is advertising. The lawmakers and various stakeholders testifying before them are searching for ways to better promote Fish and Games voluntary Hike Safe cards, which help offset the cost of the search-and-rescue efforts. This step, though, would be only one piece of addressing the departments funding strains.
I think largely New Hampshire has a branding problem. Who are we, right? said Tyler Ray, founder and director of Granite Outdoor Alliance, a nonprofit representing 120 outdoor businesses, to the committee Thursday. New Hampshire has this ruggedness, this sense of individualism that I think we could celebrate, and this Hike Safe card is a differentiator.
For $25 a pop or $35 for a family, including spouses and children and stepchildren under 18 those recreating outdoors get some peace of mind that, should they find themselves needing to be rescued, they wont be liable for the costs. (Unless, Fish and Game warns on its website, they are deemed to be reckless or to have intentionally created a situation requiring an emergency response.) Hunting and fishing licenses and current registration for off-highway recreational vehicles, snowmobiles, and boats also offer some liability protections.
The cards expire Dec. 31 each year and are valid only in New Hampshire. Their full cost, minus a small transaction fee, goes to the search-and-rescue fund, according to the department. In 2015, when the cards were first launched, Fish and Game sold 2,846, raking in roughly $74,800, according to Jessica Whelehan, a licensing supervisor with the department. Last year, the department sold 14,539, totaling over $371,000.
Fish and Game performs about 180 search-and-rescue missions a year, said Col. Kevin Jordan, the departments law enforcement chief, at an August study committee meeting. They come at a steep price, he said: an annual total of about $300,000 to $400,000, plus the physical toll the missions exact on officers. Despite the fact that his team covers the entire state, Jordan said, there are only 50 of them smaller than the size of Concords police department.
The cost of the missions is significant in a department under financial strain from what officials say has been years of increased responsibilities without the funds to match them. In the late 1800s, Fish and Game staffed a few fishing commissioners and detectives who enforced fish and wildlife rules, according to the department. Over the decades, those tasks grew to include hatcheries, search and rescues, snowmobile and OHRV enforcement, and more, compounded with a growing population. The department gets only a tiny sliver of its funds from the general fund, but Ray Green, chair of the Fish and Game Commission, told lawmakers in August that needs to change for the department to survive.
Safety is part of the departments drive. Fish and Game worked with the White Mountain National Forest to develop a joint program called hikeSafe focused on hiker and mountain safety education. They have a hiker safety code that urges hikers to have proper equipment and knowledge, stick together, prepare for emergencies, and more.
Ray, the alliance head, pointed out to the committee that the White Mountain National Forest is one of the most visited national forests in the country. To me, that said we have a marketing problem, he said. He proposed that the cards should appear on his groups website, all government agency websites, and have marketing dollars put behind them.
It has incredible potential, he said of the cards.
Doing a better job of promoting the cards is an issue that has been discussed for years. In 2018, a commission to study the efficiency and effectiveness of the departments operations made a long list of recommendations. Among them: Increase the promotion/marketing of the Hike Safe card. The commission encouraged Fish and Game to consider rebranding the card so that more people would purchase it.
While the card has been successful in bringing in additional revenue for the Department, the commission wrote, there seems to be many hikers and others who participate in some kind of outdoor recreation activity who do not buy them.
Rick Van de Poll, who sat on the commission as an outdoor recreation representative, told lawmakers the commission thought it was important for Fish and Game to further promote the projects it already has, such as the cards.
Everybody was in support of getting the word out to greater numbers of people for a Hike Safe card, Van de Poll said.
The lawmakers on the committee, created by Senate Bill 542, have until November to submit their findings and recommendations on the departments funding and partnerships to top state officials. They planned their next public meeting for Sept. 26 at the State House.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA/WKBN) A phenomenon known as the Fujiwhara effect could impact Tropical Storm Helenes path as it churns northward.
The Fujiwhara effect is when two areas of low pressure attract each other, when they normally would repel each other, according to WFLA meteorologist Eric Stone. In rare instances, two storms can combine to create a larger one instead of two smaller ones, according to the National Weather Service.
Breaking down Tropical Storm Helenes latest track
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines it as a binary interaction where tropical cyclones within a certain distance (300-750 nm depending on the sizes of the cyclones) of each other begin to rotate about a common midpoint.
Its something that you just dont see its very rare, Stone said. Usually two lows will repel each other, but in this case, theyre attracting each other.
Stone said the high pressure system over Florida will also help steer the system north, something that was not present during Hurricane Ian.
Whats going to happen is Helene is going to be sucked up guided and attracted to that upper level low, Stone said. Thats whats going to keep this thing moving more northerly than more northeasterly.
Evacuations issued for several Tampa Bay area counties ahead of Tropical Storm Helene
Then what happens is it actually gets sucked into that upper level low, and the two systems will be combined into one, he said. By that time, its not going to be a strong storm, so its not like were going to have this super powerful storm, but its a really cool effect.
The National Weather Service said one example of the Fujiwhara effect was in the East Pacific in 2017 with hurricanes Hilary and Irwin.
When was the Fujiwhara effect discovered?
This phenomenon was first identified by Japanese meteorologist Sakuhei Fujiwhara who observed two cyclones interacting in the Pacific in 2021.
Since then, the effect has been observed numerous times from storms as small as tornadoes, but it is still fascinating when it happens with a tropical system.
The Fujiwhara effect could make forecasting difficult
Forecasting where a hurricane is going to make landfall is always difficult; however, the Fujiwhara interaction could make this process frustrating. The issue is determining how strong the secondary area of low pressure will be.
If it is stronger, then this will pull the track of Helene closer to the Florida panhandle. If it stays weak, then Helene could make more of an impact along the Big Bend area of Florida. These details will become more clear in the next 24-36 hours.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Council costs in landmark oil well case could be 70k
Sarah Finch challenged Surrey County Council's decision to grant planning permission for expanding operations at the Horse Hill oil site [Getty Images]
The final costs of a landmark case brought against Surrey County Council over planning permission for oil wells are likely to be upwards of 70,000.
The authority will pay the appellant's costs for bringing the case to the High Court and the Court of Appeal, capped at 35,000 each.
It will also pay the cost of bringing the case to the Supreme Court, which is yet to be confirmed.
Councillors will discuss the implications of the case at a planning and regulatory meeting on Wednesday.
The council had granted planning permission for the Horse Hill site in Horley to expand its operations in 2019.
Sarah Finch, who challenged the decision on behalf of the Weald Action Group, brought the case to the High Court and the Court of Appeal before being granted permission to take the matter to the Supreme Court, where it was heard in June.
Supreme Court judges did not rule that Surrey County Council should reject the proposal for new oil wells, but that it should have considered the downstream emissions.
The planning permission granted was quashed by the Supreme Court, though the council said it believed at the time it had followed planning law.
The council had granted planning permission for the Horse Hill site to expand its operations in 2019 [Getty Images]
At the time of the decision, Stephen Sanderson, the chief executive of UK Oil and Gas PLC - the company behind the Horse Hill project - said the court's ruling was "perplexing".
Ms Finch told supporters she was "absolutely over the moon" to have won the case, described as a landmark decision which could put future UK oil and gas projects in question.
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'Right to Counsel': Advocates fight for rights of tenants facing eviction in Phoenix
Elected leaders and organizers rallied outside Phoenix City Hall on Wednesday to pass "Right to Counsel" protections for tenants facing eviction. Phoenix's program runs out of funding at the end of 2025.
"Right to Counsel" laws ensure tenants have legal representation during eviction proceedings. In Maricopa County, 94% of landlords have legal representation during such proceedings, compared to less than 1% of tenants, according to a 2020 study by the Morris Institute for Justice.
Supporters of the right to counsel say it balances the scales of justice between landlords and tenants, helps prevent wrongful evictions and saves cities money by reducing homelessness.
Phoenix City Councilwoman Kesha Hodge Washington speaks at a news conference to rally for right to counsel legislation for tenants outside Phoenix City Hall on Sept. 25, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz.
Phoenix Councilwoman Kesha Hodge Washington, State Sen. Anna Hernandez and local residents who had faced eviction said on Wednesday the protections would ensure fairness during the worst moments of someone's life and benefit society by mitigating the broader consequences of homelessness.
"The imbalance of power in our courtrooms leaves many renters vulnerable and unable to assert their rights," Hodge Washington, an attorney of 20 years, said. "It's not just about losing your place to stay. Evictions are linked to outcomes in family health and safety, child welfare, employment and education. They directly contribute to our ongoing homeless crisis."
Hernandez said, "It's about maintaining the stability of entire communities. Homelessness has far-reaching impacts, including increased strain on social services, higher public health costs and disruption in the education of our children."
Arizona State Sen. from Legislative District 24, Anna Hernandez, speaks at a news conference to rally for right to counsel legislation for tenants outside Phoenix City Hall on Sept. 25, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz.
Phoenix launched a form of right to counsel during the pandemic called the Tenant Eviction Assistance Project. The program provides free legal representation to certain low-income residents. But the program's federal funding expires after December 2025.
The city applied for a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in August to continue TEAP. If awarded, the city would be able to continue the program through November 2026.
But it's unclear how the program would continue without the grant. The city is projecting deficits in its operating budget as high as $103 million next year and $53 million the year after.
Cities statewide are struggling after the state ended residential rent tax collections and underestimated the cost of passing a flat income tax.
Meanwhile, eviction filings are not slowing down.
Landlords filed petitions for more than 83,000 evictions in Maricopa County in 2023. Last month's filings were the second highest monthly level in history. The filing are "more than 20% higher overall than what we saw in the year before the pandemic," Scott Davis, the Maricopa County Justice Courts spokesperson, said.
Resident Noelle Lewis expressed feeling disregarded during her eviction, saying her treatment was "inhumane."
"It was just the look in their eyes. Like, 'This is a regular day's work. I get paid to be here.' And not really even just giving consideration to their actions in that moment to have more kindness and compassion," Lewis said. "We're just lacking the basic remembrance that we all need each other at the end of the day."
Hodge Washington shared stories of clients she had represented: she helped a single mom of three avoid eviction over a clerical error and a veteran facing eviction over minor fees. She said victims of domestic violence can face eviction for property damage caused by their abusers.
"I remember the sigh of relief in each of these cases when I said I would take their cases for free," Hodge Washington said. But tenants "shouldn't have to rely on the generosity of a lawyer."
Beyond the moral argument, Hodge Washington stressed the economic logic by pointing to Philadelphia.
Phoenix's Deputy Human Services Director Susan Hallett told council members in March that Philadelphia, a city with roughly the same population as Phoenix, estimated saving $45 million after investing $3.5 million in right to counsel.
Phoenix's Industrial Development Authority agreed to fund a similar cost-benefit analysis for Phoenix.
Organized Power in Numbers, the organization responsible for Wednesday's press conference and requesting the cost-benefit analysis, hopes to see Phoenix City Council codify right to counsel by spring 2025.
Taylor Seely covers Phoenix for The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at 480-476-6116.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix residents call for 'Right to counsel' to combat evictions
How to counter disinformation on a free and open internet? Heres what Sen. Mitt Romney says
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, attends a roundtable discussion on the Jordan River Watershed and the Great Salt Lake at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District in West Jordan on Friday, May 5, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
The worlds shared town square, the internet, poses national security threats that are hard to ignore, senators heard at a committee hearing Tuesday. From cyber warfare to spying systems, Sen. Mitt Romney said that he feels disturbed by the weaponization of cyberspace by U.S. adversaries.
The conflict between free nations and authoritarian states is far-reaching, going beyond air, land and sea, and seeping into cyberspace, the GOP senator said at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday morning.
But Romney, who chaired the hearing, conveyed his skepticism of some methods used to ward off bad actors, especially when they have artificial intelligence and quantum computing at their disposal. The policy solutions would have to account for protecting freedom of speech in the U.S. while dismantling disinformation, he said.
What do free nations do to secure the rights that we hold so dear? Romney asked.
How can U.S. dominate cyberspace?
The solution, Romney said, is building more advanced technology, staying ahead of other countries, and discouraging spying, even though he guessed that request would get laughed at.
Romney cited the latest prediction from Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, which created ChatGPT. In a blog post Monday, Altman said, It is possible that we will have superintelligence in a few thousand days.
Establishing norms for cyberspace, an idea often talked about in Congress, isnt a strong deterrent, Romney said. If I was (Chinese President) Xi Jinping, Id laugh, the GOP senator said. The only thing that would allow us to defeat the spread of authoritarianism and digital authoritarianism is having the tools and capabilities to push back against it and to (exercise) our own strength.
Its essential to eliminate authoritarian-owned technologies in the U.S. and other places, whether its apps like TikTok or an army of bots on social media, Romney said. Foreign adversaries like China and Russia are far ahead of us in these things, he said.
Directing his question toward Jamil Jaffer, the founder and executive director of Virginias National Security Institute, he asked whether the answer to combatting cyber warfare is staying ahead of adversaries, and kicking them out when theyre found.
Jaffer said Romneys thinking was correct, adding strongly worded letters from senators, diplomats, and the like wont change anything.
What is going to get this job done is providing people who want freedom in those countries access to news and information the way that the Open Technology Fund is doing, and ensuring that were investing here at home, that were building the best and most awesome technology at home, Jaffer said. The Open Technology Fund is a U.S. nonprofit that advocates for global Internet freedom.
He said that while the U.S. leads in artificial intelligence, that might change. In fact, if we adopt the approach the Europeans have taken, which is regulate, regulate and regulate, were likely to lose that edge, Jaffer said.
He said the U.S. receives investments from all around the world because it is the most productive system of allocation of capital.
Weve got to take advantage of it, double down on it, and ... also (ensure) that our investors are not investing in Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, Jaffer said. Instead, he said, the right approach is to invest in the U.S.
Its about the allocation of capital, Jaffer said, adding that too many Europeans and the European system views us as the enemy, views our technology companies as the enemy, when in fact, were actually the innovators who are creating this space and these opportunities.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, speaks at RevRoad in Provo on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
How to protect freedom of speech and curb disinformation
On the subject of censorship, and a free and open internet, Romney said he has concerns about how to balance the need to keep the internet free and open with the rise in disinformation.
I wonder whether the day is coming when the American public stops looking at the internet for information because its so overwhelmed with information coming from bots made up stories, made up pictures, he said.
Romney said he doesnt know what determines a free and open internet, and who decides what is disinformation. He cited censoring Russian bots in the U.S. as an example and asked whether that hampers freedom in online spaces.
David Kaye, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, acknowledged the complexity of the question. The right to freedom of opinion and expression is a right recognized at the international level, he said.
The Human Rights Council (and) the U.N. General Assembly have very much pushed this idea that international human rights apply online as much as they do offline, Kaye said. But, he noted, there are countries that are pushing back on that idea.
Restricting information can lead to censorship from authoritarians who have different views on disinformation, Kaye said.
Romney interjected, saying a free and open internet means an account can slander someone but not be held accountable because theres no knowing if its an actual person or a bot is behind the account.
Should we insist that the social media companies determine that there is an individual or an entity thats actually posting something on the internet so that there is recourse if someone wants to bring an action against either a government or an institution or a person? Romney asked.
Kaye suggested looking at the European Unions Digital Services Act, which addresses this issue.
Their fundamental approach is transparency, on the one hand, but also risk assessment, where online companies are required to provide a risk assessment in order to prevent harm, like what Romney described, Kaye said.
It is a very tricky and narrow path to walk between demanding transparency and recourse, and promoting and protecting rights to free speech, he said.
But Jaffer pushed back, saying he worried about using the EUs regulatory approach as a solution in the U.S. given the right to free speech.
At the end of the day, what weve got to figure out is, how do we protect anonymous speech ... while also addressing disinformation and misinformation, while also ensuring that were providing capabilities to people who live in unfree societies to talk about the things they want to talk about and get the news from us, he said.
Travis County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved Central Health's budget and tax rate for fiscal 2025, but with a caveat that they would seek legal counsel on an affiliation agreement between Central Health and the University of Texas Dell Medical School that gives the school $35 million in annual funding.
The vote came after weeks of presentations, public comments and commissioners' questions, mostly about the $35 million, which is also the subject of an ongoing 2017 lawsuit by a group of taxpayers.
As has become something of a tradition, the vote was taken on the last Commissioners Court meeting in September before the budget takes effect Oct. 1.
Central Health, the hospital district for Travis County, is charged with providing health care for people making less than 200% of the federal poverty level, which is $30,120 for an individual and $62,400 for a family of four.
It does this through property taxes that support its Medical Access Program, which is similar to insurance but for people who don't have insurance and cannot get Medicare or Medicaid.
Members of the Travis County Commissioners Court, including Judge Andy Brown, back left, and Brigid Shea, left, attended the ribbon-cutting of the Central Health's Rosewood-Zaragosa Specialty Clinic in July. Dr. Patrick Lee, center, CEO and president of Central Health, helped cut the ribbon. On Tuesday, the Commissioners Court approved Central Health's annual budget.
How will my property taxes change?
Property taxes for the average homeowner in Travis County will go up $65.60 in 2025 under the tax rate of 10.7969 cents per $100 valuation property. The homeowner of an average valued home of $504,003 will pay $544.17 a year. Last year the owner of an average-priced home paid $478.57.
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 items such as $50 million in capital projects to build and remodel clinics, $19 million in Affordable Care Act premium assistance, and administration of health care as well as to its 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 clinic, a new Colony Park clinic and a new Cameron Road 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 is appointed, not elected. In Texas, only an elected board can levy a tax rate.
Why the delay in the vote?
After going into executive session last week, the commissioners asked for a better accounting from Central Health about how the $35 million to Dell Medical School is spent.
That $35 million is part of an affiliation agreement that was drawn up after voters agreed to help fund the building of the medical school in 2012. Critics, including people who brought the 2017 lawsuit, have said that money from Central Health can only be used for direct care for people making less than 200% of federal poverty level.
Both Central Health and the commissioners have asked Dell Medical School for more detailed accounting of how that $35 million is being spent. The commissioners in 2022 voted to hire a firm to conduct a performance audit of Central Health specifically with the $35 million in mind.
That audit, which was presented this month by Mazars USA, also was not able to get an accounting from Dell Medical School.
In the audit, Dell Medical School gave Mazars this statement: "Use of the funds as payment for billable patient services does not qualify as a 'permitted investment' and was not the intended purpose of the funds under the affiliation agreement. Instead, 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."
On Tuesday, attorney Fred Lewis, the architect of the lawsuit against Central Health regarding the $35 million, filed an unauthorized practice of law complaint against Steve Herbst, who led the Mazars USA performance audit, with the Texas Supreme Courts Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee. Lewis said in a statement that when Mazars' report concluded that there were no violations of law, the firm was not qualified to say that because there were no attorneys performing the audit.
Dr. Patrick Lee, Central Health CEO and president, has promised to have more transparency and better communication with the public and the Travis County Commissioners Court.
At Tuesday's Commissioners Court meeting, Dr. Patrick Lee, the CEO and president of Central Health, gave a presentation that outlined that the funding has helped expand access to care in Central Texas, including to the population Central Health serves.
He said that:
The medical school's students, residents and fellows are about 70% people of color and two-thirds female.
Almost 50% stay and work in Central Texas.
Almost 450 new doctors have come to the community because of the medical school with an additional 200 expected to come.
Almost all of the school faculty provide care in the safety net system (UT Health Austin, the clinical arm of the medical school, or Ascension Texas, the safety net hospital system, or Central Health or CommUnityCare clinics).
1 in 4 patients seen at UT Health Austin are on MAP, Medicare or Medicaid
The medical school students and faculty have started programs that have added community health workers, cancer screening, food security for people with chronic disease, fall prevention and diabetes management in the refugee population.
"This is about access through partnership," Lee said.
Working with the medical school dean, he said, " we recognize there is value to our community. We will improve our communications and develop a more responsive and inclusive reporting matrix."
Commissioner Brigid Shea acknowledged the "enormous improvement to health care as a result of the medical school," but she said, "One of the fundamental things that needs to happen is a renegotiation of the affiliation agreement."
"I think it is a stain on (UT) to say they are not allowed to use this $35 million for care. ... We need to understand, the public needs to understand, what we are getting for that $35 million," Shea said.
A medical school representative has not addressed the commissioners, but sent the American-Statesman a statement last week that reiterated Lee's presentation: "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."
Who is in charge? Central Health or CommUnityCare
Unlike previous years, when the $35 million was the core issue, this year the relationship between Central Health and CommUnityCare also has been called into question. This month, Lee put the CEO and president of CommUnityCare, Jaeson Fournier, on administrative leave.
CommUnityCare is the federally qualified health center that grew out of the city and county clinics. It has an affiliation agreement with Central Health to provide care and will receive $74 million in fiscal 2025 budget from Central Health.
Jaeson Fournier, the CEO and president of CommUnityCare, has been on administrative leave since the beginning of September.
Commissioner Jeff Travillion expressed concern about the way Fournier has been treated. "I, along with my colleagues, see positive things with your leadership," he said to Lee, "but we don't want to see another leadership run over."
Lee told the commissioners that "the complexity of this HR process is high." Both Central Health and CommUnityCare have engaged independent investigators that he hopes will work together, he said.
"We have determined that the allegations are of a critical nature," Lee said. Both the boards of Central Health and CommUnityCare have been made aware of the allegations, he said, which Central Health Board of Managers member Cynthia Valadez has continued to say has not happened. Lee said he was not sure that Fournier had been made aware of the specifics of the allegations.
Lee said Central Health is still waiting on documents from CommUnityCare that are needed for the investigation. "It would be better for all of us if this would wrap up as soon as possible," he said, after commissioners asked for a timeline.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Travis Co. commissioners OK Central Health budget, tax rate increase
We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Health Insurance Stocks to Buy. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) stands against the other health insurance stocks.
Health insurance remains a contentious issue in the United States, where many people struggle to afford basic medical care. Although widely seen as essential, it remains inaccessible to many Americans. Despite the availability of public and private health insurance options, individuals often find themselves between qualifying for federal assistance and affording private insurance, leaving many without coverage. On that front, the Kaiser Family Foundation reports that 64.2% of uninsured non-elderly adults (ages 18 to 64) cite high costs as the primary reason for not having health insurance.
Conversely, private insurance, primarily provided through employers, remains the most common form of coverage in the U.S., with around 60% of Americans insured this wayroughly three times the number covered by Medicaid. The number of Americans with private health insurance began gradually increasing in 2013 after a sharp decline in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with coverage averaging around 61% of the population from 2016 to 2023. This rise has boosted revenues for private insurers in recent years.
As of 2023, the U.S. health insurance exchanges, established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014, are marking their tenth year in operation. Over the past decade, the individual market has seen notable fluctuations in insurer participation, pricing, and plan options. With a recent surge in exchange enrollment, commercial insurers that previously avoided these marketplaces may need to reassess, as exchanges have become a vital part of health coverage. That said, this unprecedented growth may be temporary. The return of the subsidy cliffif enhanced subsidies are not renewed in 2025could reverse some of the progress. The 2024 election results may also influence the future of ACA coverage and subsidies, bringing potential changes under scrutiny.
Global consulting firm McKinsey reports that health insurers could gain significant advantages by fully integrating AI and automation across their business processes. The firm estimates that for every $10 billion in revenue, insurers could save $150 million to $300 million in administrative costs and $380 million to $970 million in medical expenses. Additionally, these technologies could generate an extra $260 million to $1.24 billion in revenue.
The global health insurance industry is poised for significant growth, with projections from Straits Research forecasting a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.8% from 2024 to 2032. By 2032, the market is expected to reach a value of $176.04 billion.
Our Methodology
To create our list of top health insurance stocks to buy, we first compiled an initial list of 20 health insurance stocks by sifting through ETFs, stock screeners, and online rankings. We then used Insider Monkeys Q2 2024 database to identify the 10 stocks most widely held by hedge funds. The list is sorted in ascending order of the hedge fund sentiment for each stock.
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 doctor holding a clipboard in a hospital ward, discussing patient treatment plan with the nurses.
Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 48
Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is a publicly traded managed care company that serves as an intermediary for both government-sponsored and privately insured healthcare programs, with a primary focus on the Medicaid market.
Wells Fargo recently updated its outlook on Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC), raising the price target from $81 to $93 while maintaining its Overweight rating, signaling confidence in the stocks investment potential. The revised price target is based on Wells Fargos analysis of two possible earnings scenarios for CNC. In the first scenario, assuming the continuation of enhanced exchange subsidies, the firm applied a 13x multiple to Centene's projected 2026 earnings per share. In the second scenario, should the enhanced subsidies expire, Wells Fargo anticipates a $0.70 EPS headwind, which would be partially offset by $2.00 per share in statutory capital.
Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) posted strong results for the second quarter, reporting an adjusted diluted EPS of $2.42, a 15% year-over-year increase. This solid performance was primarily driven by effective marketplace execution, despite challenges in Medicaid due to redeterminations. Looking ahead, the health insurer has raised its full-year premium and service revenue expectations to a range of $141 billion to $143 billion. Additionally, the company is targeting 2025 revenue between $14 billion and $16 billion, focusing on opportunities in duals, Heidi, and Fidei programs.
As of Q2 2024, 48 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC). Among the top investors, AQR Capital Management owned a stake valued at over $296.4 million.
Overall CNC ranks 7th on our list of the best health insurance stocks to buy. While we recognize the potential of CNC as an investment, we believe certain deeply undervalued AI stocks offer greater prospects for higher returns in a shorter period. If youre seeking an AI stock with even more promise than CNC and trading 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.
(Photo by krisanapong detraphiphat/Getty Images)
A Guthrie County deputy running for sheriff in the November election is suing the sheriff and county attorney, alleging theyve waged a politically motivated campaign to have him decertified as a police officer.
In a federal lawsuit filed this week, Deputy Matthew Harmann, a Republican, alleges that rather than accept the rather common occurrence of a subordinate seeking to unseat the sheriff, Guthrie County Sheriff Martin Marty Arganbright, a Democrat, along with County Attorney Dana Minteer and Chief Deputy Jeremy Bennett, engaged in an unconstitutional and coordinated campaign to impugn Harmanns sterling reputation in an effort to undermine his political campaign.
Harmann alleges the defendants tried to knowingly and falsely accuse him of misconduct in office and that when an independent investigator cleared Harmann of wrongdoing, they launched an effort to have Harmann decertified as a law enforcement officer, which would render him ineligible to serve as Guthrie County sheriff.
Court records indicate the Guthrie County Sheriffs Department hired Harmann as a part-time deputy in 2017, and that he currently serves as one of the departments two K9 officers.
His lawsuit alleges that prior to his February 2024 announcement that he was running for sheriff, Harmann had never received an adverse employment review or a work-related complaint and had never been the subject of any disciplinary proceedings with the sheriffs department.
The lawsuit claims that in the immediate aftermath of Harmanns campaign announcement, Arganbright, Bennett and Minteer communicated electronically about the perceived threat Harmanns candidacy posed to Arganbrights and Bennetts positions and to Minteers effectiveness as the county attorney.
The three then conspired to discredit Harmann and interfere with his election campaign, the lawsuit claims. Minteer issued a so-called Giglio notice in all criminal cases in which Harmann could potentially be a witness, alerting the court to the fact that Harmann was believed to have provided false information to his colleagues during the course of a potential criminal investigation.
The false information Harmann was alleged to have provided pertained to the whereabouts/conduct of an off-duty Guthrie County sheriffs deputy, the notice stated. Harmanns lawsuit did not detail the false information but referred to a letter to the editor published in a local newspaper claiming that on Dec. 17, 2023, Harmann helped a deputy suspected of driving an ATV after drinking by lying to investigating officers.
A week after Minteer issued the Giglio notice to the court, Bennett notified Harmann of an administrative investigation tied to the December incident, according to the lawsuit. The notice placed Harmann on unpaid administrative leave.
The county then hired Jon Thomas of Workforce Solutions to investigate allegations against Harmann. To disguise their motives, the lawsuit alleges, Arganbright and Bennett created a falsified version of the original notice of administrative leave, backdating it to Jan. 7 prior to Harmanns announcement of his run for sheriff.
According to the lawsuit, Thomas investigated the December 2023 incident and concluded Harmann violated no laws or ethical or professional rules.
While the sheriffs office did not impose any disciplinary action after the investigation was completed, Bennett allegedly asked that the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy decertify Harmann as a peace officer, citing the fact that he had been on administrative leave since January. As of this week, the lawsuit states, the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy has not taken any public action in the matter, and a hearing date has not been scheduled.
Despite this, the lawsuit alleges, Arganbright has falsely informed community members that Harmann has already been decertified by the academy.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for felonious misconduct in office and political retaliation and discrimination. It also seeks an order that would force the county to expunge from Harmanns disciplinary record any reference to the knowingly false efforts to have Harmann decertified as a police officer.
The defendants have yet to file a response to the lawsuit. Minteers office referred the Iowa Capital Dispatch to the West Des Moines law office of Jason Palmer, who was not immediately available for comment.
HONOLULU (KHON2) Juan Baron, the man who pleaded guilty to killing his lover at his Hawaii Loa Ridge home in 2022 appeared in court on Tuesday to see if the judge would allow him to withdraw his guilty plea.
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The hearing has been postponed until October due to a request by Barons defense attorney to have the hearing sealed. An interpreter may also be called as a witness for the prosecution.
Hawaii Loa Ridge murder suspect seeks to change plea
We have been trying to get another interpreter on short notice, but its not possible. So we are going to have to continue the hearing so that we have another Spanish interpreter that can interpret for Mr. Baron because this interpreter again may be testifying, explained Circuit Court Judge Catherine Remigio.
Baron had filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming he did not understand despite the court providing an interpreter during his plea deal.
In light of the prosecutors plan to call the interpreter as a witness, the court must now find a new interpreter to move forward.
The court will also give Barons attorney, Randall Hironaka, 48 hours to put in his request to seal the proceedings.
Check out whats going on around the nation on our National News page
If the public has any objection to Hironakas request, they are asked to write in to the court.
Barons next court date is set for Oct. 7.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
As Thursdays Board of Education meeting approaches, a publicized miscommunication between Chicago Public Schools leadership and board President Jianan Shi may signal a rift just when Chief Executive Officer Pedro Martinez needs board support the most.
In response to what the Chicago Public Schools communications team initially called a joint statement, sent to reporters Tuesday afternoon, Shi posted to his X page at 7 p.m. that it was, in fact, not a joint statement.
As Board President, I am just seeing this now, Shi wrote regarding the districts comments, which declared that the Board of Education had no plans to take action on Martinezs contract at the upcoming meeting, and would also not consider the question of taking out a high-interest loan to cover CPS budget gap. Mayor Brandon Johnson has advanced the borrowing plan, which Martinez has continued to oppose most recently in a Tribune editorial Tuesday which confirmed rumors that the CEO declined Johnsons request that he resign.
In the statement, CPS also again refuted claims of planned school closures which the Chicago Teachers Union continued to accuse the district of planning at a public bargaining session later that night.
During the session, a CPS spokesperson said the statement had mistakenly been billed as a joint declaration due to an internal misunderstanding as they rushed to produce a statement however, they emphasized that the message was still otherwise accurate.
Aside from clarifying that the statement should not have been attributed to the board, in his post to X, Shi did not comment on whether CPS assertions were accurate.
The board president did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Illinois state statute and a resolution the board will vote on Thursday indicate closures are extremely unlikely through at least the end of the current school year.
District guidelines on potential school closures, consolidations, and boundary changes which state law mandates school districts develop and make publicly available each school yeardo not allow for closures or consolidations this year, CPS noted in its statement.
In an interview with the Tribune Wednesday, Johnson carefully avoided directly criticizing Martinez but argued Chicago voters had elected him to transform this school district. He called for more investment in the school district when asked repeatedly why he is pushing for Martinezs ouster.
The board will also vote Thursday on a resolution that further places a moratorium on any closures, consolidations, and phase-outs for CPS institutions, until the end of the 2026-27 school year.
References to school closures and co-locations is a tactic to provide more chaos and uncertainty, to steal precious time away from delivering a world-class education to our children, CPS wrote.
On Tuesday Martinez said he had no plans to resign or close schools and the board will consider a resolution on extending the moratorium on school closures to 2027. The current statewide moratorium was set to expire in 2025.
However, CTU Vice President Jackson Potter held up a list at Tuesdays public bargaining session that the union obtained stating it detailed schools being considered for closures and consolidations.
President Stacy Davis Gates pressed the CPS officials present for answers as to why the list was created and who asked for it. Bogdana Chkoumbova denied that the district proposed closing schools, to which Davis Gates repeatedly emphasized that there is more than one way to close a school.
I see what you said and how you said it, but Im also looking at the schools on the list and seeing how theyve been starved of resources which everyone in here knows is a condition for closures. Davis Gates said.
Potter also said the list detailed that a number of sustainable schools would be folded into existing schools. The union is advocating for the number of sustainable schools to be increased to 200 by the end of the 2027-28 school year.
The district currently has 20 sustainable community schools, which are fully funded and staffed schools that offer comprehensive support to students and their families. Speakers at Tuesdays bargaining session spoke to the impact of sustainable community schools on their students, with parents, a student and a teacher stepping to the podium.
(Sustainable community schools) mean so much to me to my community to my kids, a Fenger High School parent said. It allowed my kids to have their name back. Theyre not a ZIP code, she said.
Davis Gates said theyre looking for expansion of sustainable community schools. She doesnt want to continue a back and forth with the district, she simply wants Martinez to do his job.
Pedro aint got to prove he want to do something good for Chicago Public Schools, he can do it already, Davis Gates said. This idea that he needs permission or more air time to get it done is ridiculous. We have a CEO who is working harder at keeping his job and making the press rounds than he is with talking to (representatives) for school funding for our schools. Its embarrassing.
Last week, the union announced its House of Delegates passed a vote of no confidence in Martinezs leadership in light of his failures to urgently address the needs confronting the district and embark on the transformation of our schools, according to a news release.
Though any potential termination of Martinezs contract does not appear on the Board of Educations agenda for Thursday, he is up for a performance review in January. To lose his position, he would have to be voted out by the full Board of Education. Even then, if fired without cause, he would be entitled to stay on his job for about a six-month transition period and then receive 20 weeks of severance pay.
If the board were to fire Martinez for cause, his contract would be terminated immediately without severance pay.
Firing for cause, according to the contract, could be for a number of reasons, including incompetence in the performance of job duties; fraud or misappropriation; negligence; cruelty; immorality; criminal activity; or exercising poor judgment on a serious matter that reflects poorly on CPS or the board. The contract also states that a finding of wrongdoing or recommendation for disciplinary action, up to and including termination, will follow an investigation by an overseeing Office of Inspector General or any designated investigative entity.
Crash stalls traffic on I-80 westbound in Liberty
LIBERTY TWP., Ohio (WKBN) A crash blocked one lane of traffic on Interstate 80 westbound in Liberty on Wednesday morning.
The crash happened about 10:15 a.m. at I-80 and State Route 11.
An ODOT camera showed a semi-truck flipped over and off of the road.
Emergency crews were in the area, which has since been cleared.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama wants to establish a sovereign Muslim mini-state within his country based on the model of the Vatican.
It would be created in Albania's capital Tirana and run by the Muslim Bektashi order. However, it will take a long time before the plan can be implemented because of the necessary legal changes, Rama wrote on X on Wednesday.
Rama had briefly presented his idea for the first time on Sunday at the United Nations Future Summit in New York, completely surprising most of his fellow Albanians.
The leader of the Bektashi order in Tirana, Edmond Brahimaj, expressed his enthusiasm for the idea, saying the "excellent initiative" will "usher in a new era of religious tolerance and the promotion of peace."
The Bektashi "Vatican" would be built in Tirana on an area of around 10 hectares at the World Centre of the Bektashi, which is currently located there. It would have its own borders, administration and passports.
The Sunni Dervish order, which originated in the 13th century, was widespread in the Ottoman Empire and moved its centre to Albania after it was banned by the founder of the modern Turkish state, Kemal Ataturk, in 1925.
Currently, around half of Albanians are Muslim, with 10% of them belonging to the Bektashi order. The remainder identified as Roman Catholic or Orthodox Christian in the last census in 2023.
During the communist era, the practice of religion was banned in Albania in any form. Brahimaj was an officer in the Albanian army from 1982 until the fall of the regime.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama speaks at a press conference for the winter retreat of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) parliamentary group. Daniel Vogl/dpa
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama wants to establish a sovereign Muslim mini-state within his country based on the model of the Vatican.
It would be created in Albania's capital Tirana and run by the Muslim Bektashi order. However, it will take a long time before the plan can be implemented because of the necessary legal changes, Rama wrote on X on Wednesday.
Rama had briefly presented his idea for the first time on Sunday at the United Nations Future Summit in New York, completely surprising most of his fellow Albanians.
The leader of the Bektashi order in Tirana, Edmond Brahimaj, expressed his enthusiasm for the idea, saying the "excellent initiative" will "usher in a new era of religious tolerance and the promotion of peace."
The Bektashi "Vatican" would be built in Tirana on an area of around 10 hectares at the World Centre of the Bektashi, which is currently located there. It would have its own borders, administration and passports.
The Sunni Dervish order, which originated in the 13th century, was widespread in the Ottoman Empire and moved its centre to Albania after it was banned by the founder of the modern Turkish state, Kemal Ataturk, in 1925.
Currently, around half of Albanians are Muslim, with 10% of them belonging to the Bektashi order. The remainder identified as Roman Catholic or Orthodox Christian in the last census in 2023.
During the communist era, the practice of religion was banned in Albania in any form. Brahimaj was an officer in the Albanian army from 1982 until the fall of the regime.
The umbrella organization of Albanian Muslims, KMSH, sharply criticized Rama's idea, which it said "endangers religious harmony."
"Such initiatives can set a dangerous precedent for the future of the country," it said in a statement to Albanian media. Rama had not previously consulted either the KMSH or the Interreligious Council of Albania.
The constitution of the NATO country, which is seeking entry to the EU, also stipulates that the country is "united and indivisible," though the constitution can be changed with a two-thirds majority in parliament.
Rama wrote on X that the project serves "to preserve and enrich the priceless treasure of tolerance and religious harmony, for which the Bektashi order, irreplaceable alongside the other three faiths, has its merits and role."
He accused his critics of "hellish ignorance and brutal negligence."
Martin Retting started collecting weapons over a hundred years ago. The New Yorker came to L.A. in the 1950s and opened a gun shop in Pasadena. In 1958 he moved it to Culver City, where it remained for another 65 years. Retting died in 1984, but the store remained until late last year when Rettings heirs retired. Since it was licensed so long ago, the stores longtime home, a one-story building on Washington Blvd. near the 405 freeway, was potentially able to keep a permit to sell weapons in the future. When neighbors heard that other gun shops were inquiring about opening at the site, they raised the issue to Culver City officials. The store is in close proximity to an elementary school, churches, a mosque, and a park. Neighbors did not want to see another gun store occupy the space. One advocacy group, including parents from nearby schools, started Culver 878, the number referencing the number of feet between the gun shop and the closest school. After after considering the incongruity of kids doing active shooter drills so close to a gun shop. We started organizing after Uvalde around a long-standing anxiety that people in our community have had about Retting, co-founded Megan Oddsen told the Los Angeles Times. They had concerns about their families well-being, Culver City Vice Mayor Yasmine Imani-McMorrin told KTLA. The city stepped in and made the family an offer of $6.5 million for the 0.227-acre parcel, which critics said was significantly above market value.
Former Martin B. Redding gun shop in Culver City Photo courtesy Katy Krantz
Retting and his wife, who, in addition to guns, also collected Samurai swords, Aztec daggers, and scimitars, donated some of their collection to LACMA, including antique costumes and decorative art. The store was featured in films, including a cameo in Zabriskie Point. The store was subject to several burglaries, including one in 1990, where the SWAT team closed Washington Boulevard and stormed the shop looking for a suspect. In a 2022 report, the California Department of Justice named Retting as one of the states top sources of guns that were illegally possessed or were used in the commission of a crime. As far back as the 1960s, the shop was under federal investigation for its questionable sales practices.
The Citys decision to purchase the building is in large part from listening to the community and its desire to have a different use for that location, Mayor Albert Vera told KTLA. It will be an involved process with the community on the next steps for that building and what it ultimately will become.
One year later, it became a canvas for artist Katy Krantz. I was following the story because I really wanted to see it go myself, Krantz tells Los Angeles. I thought this would be a really great opportunity to transform the building. I have two kids and am really disgusted by the access there is to guns.
The Culver City artist, who has also created works at community centers, schools, and new housing, collaborated with Brooklyn Wild Flowers and Valentina Trentini to cover the building in flowers and change the word GUNS to LOVE. A wall painted We Buy Guns became We Are One.
In trying to find out what image I wanted in place of that giant rifle, how about an arm outstretched with flowers, like an act of giving."
Former Martin B. Redding gun shop in Culver City Photo courtesy Katy Krantz
Krantz works as an arts educator and has an MFA from Hunter College. Last year she was named the Artist Laureate of Culver City. She is about to begin phase two of the project, filling in sunken trapezoidal spaces that look like windows with handmade tiles. Krantz, inspired by the Watts Towers and Dora De Larios tilework at the Compton library, is planning three workshops where community members will be invited to create handmade tiles utilizing letter stamps and found objects. Im asking folks to reflect on what the building was, she says. And maybe what they would like to see in the space. The first event will be held on October 26 in the parking lot at 11029 Washington Blvd. She hopes to install the work before the end of the year.
Most people are excited. We got tons of feedback good and bad, Krantz says of the times when she is working on the project. Honking horns and thumbs up. Somebody yelled, This sucks! I want my guns back. Krantz befriended a guard at the King Fahad Mosque across the street. He was tearing up telling me he had to look at that rifle every day and didnt realize what it was doing to him, she says. The flower imagery made him really happy.
The past few weeks have seen an unprecedented burst of indictments and convictions of Americans acting as foreign agents. A jury found Senator Bob Menendez guilty of acting as a foreign agent for the regime in Egypt. Formal charges were brought against the former top aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, accused of acting on behalf of China. But in Washington, there was another indictment that didnt get nearly as much attention or condemnationbut which points directly to the rot at the heart of Americas think-tank industry, which has relied for years on foreign financing, much of it hidden from the American public.
The indictment, unsealed in July, accuses one of Washingtons most prominent analysts of the Korean peninsula of secretly acting for years as an agent of the government in South Korea. Sue Mi Terry is hardly a household name, but she has for years served as one of the go-to think tankers for all things Korea policy. Writing for major journals, hosting major events, working for Americas leading think tanks, Terrya former CIA analyst and former member of the White Houses National Security Councilrose to the top of those voices helping steer U.S. policy vis-a-vis both North Korea and South Korea.
But as federal prosecutors alleged, there was another role that Terry played for nearly as long. For more than a decade, Terry worked as an agent for the South Korean government, the Department of Justice alleged. This, in and of itself, isnt illegal. Any American can work as an agent of a foreign government, so long as they register their work with the attorney general. But Terry never did soand so ran afoul of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA.
The allegations may not be as spectacular as those elsewhereno one has accused Terry of hiding gold bars, a la Menendezbut they are just as insidious. In addition to accepting thousands of dollars in luxury goods from her South Korean handler (who among us hasnt been offered Louis Vuitton handbags and Dolce & Gabbana coats from foreign intelligence officers?), Terry allegedly took funds from the South Korean government to publish on the Korean peninsulaa payment scheme that Terry hid from editors and readers alike. She also attended a private meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss Korea policyand then, immediately after the meeting ended, hopped into a car with her South Korean handler, letting them photograph her notes from the off-the-record meeting.
Perhaps most egregiously, Terrywho worked for both the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, and the Wilson Center think tanksarranged at least one think tank event covertly hosted by her South Korean handlers, and never bothered to tell her colleagues that they were secretly being feted by Seoul. Moreover, as the indictment details, Terry secretly routed thousands of dollars from South Korea to her think tank, even directly discussing with her handler how South Korea could covertly send [the] money, making sure to avoid payments that would look suspicious.
There are many more allegations within the indictment, from Terry regurgitating South Korean talking points to enjoying meals at Michelin-starred restaurants. And she is, as with so many other alleged foreign agents now facing their own indictments, innocent until proven guilty. But taken together, the allegations paint a damning portrait of an American analyst who not only sold out to a foreign power but also sold out her editors, her colleagues, and even Americas most senior diplomata breach of trust that is, at a minimum, spectacularly unethical, and now potentially criminal.
Still, for all of the allegations drenching Terry, its telling that there has been relatively little criticism of her actions among the broader foreign policy establishment. Compared to things like the Menendez conviction, or even the recent indictments about Russian financing swirling conservative YouTubers, her breaches have been met with a deafening silence from the very voices that might cluck at the downfall of others in similar straits. Indeed, the little commentary thats popped up about her work has largely been to defend her actionsand to instead slam the Department of Justice for charging her in the first place.
The most vociferous support for Terrys actions came from former White House counsel Gregory Craig. In Just Security, Craig slammed the lurid indictment, describing it as shockingly weak and as something that will have a chilling effect on scholars across this space. Per Craig, the Terry indictment indicates the ease with which an American citizen can be deemed to be a foreign agent.
Craig should know; in 2019, he faced his own foreign lobbyingrelated charges, stemming from his work in Ukraine. A jury eventually acquitted Craig of the chargesan embarrassing setback for the DOJ in its fight against foreign influence, from which its only recently recovered. And yet, even in that acquittal, the details of Craigs work in Ukraineand the work of his firm, Skadden Arpspainted a similarly damning portrait of Americans willing to sell out to foreign governments.
Not only were Craig and his Skadden colleagues working with the regime of pro-Kremlin thug Viktor Yanukovych, the man Ukrainians tossed from power in their 2014 democratic revolution, but such work was organized by Americas most notorious foreign lobbyist, Paul Manafort. While working with Yanukovychs regime, Craig and Skadden helped author a report that defended Yanukovychs jailing of his primary political opponent, Yulia Tymoshenko, even claiming that Yanukovychs power grab would be upheld in American courts. Along the way, Skadden coordinated directly with Manafort about the P.R. rollout for the report, with Craig going so far as to offer to hand-deliver a copy to a New York Times reporter. People in [Kyiv] are very happy with their work, Manafort later wrote directly to Craig. You are THE MAN.
Eventually, Skadden was forced to shell out millions of dollars in settlements with both the Department of Justice and Tymoshenko, related directly to its foreign lobbying work. Yet a jury decided that Craig himself hadnt committed any crimes, allowing him to walk free. But Craigs involvement pointed directly to a reality just as concerning. To swipe a quote, the scandals in the world of foreign lobbying arent always necessarily whats illegal, but whats still legaland even perfectly acceptable in the morass of Washington.
Craigs work, for instance, helped a budding autocrat strengthen his grip on Ukrainea grip that only shattered when democratic protesters rose up to depose himand that eventually toppled an entire foreign lobbying network overseen by Manafort. And while Craig himself was never convicted of any crimes, he was nonetheless outed as a key cog in Manaforts efforts to entrench a pro-Kremlin strongman in Ukraineand helped reveal why foreign regimes continue to hire American lawyers and law firms to help in their dirty work.
Now, with Terrys indictment, we see something similar. The details in the indictment are, legally speaking, arguably the weakest of the recent spate of foreign lobbying casesespecially since the funds involved are only a fraction of the millions involved in things like the Chinese lobbying case in New York. But the total funds are almost beside the point. The indictment not only revealed Terry as someone who spent years allegedly hoodwinking Americans on behalf of a foreign government, but it also showed how and why foreign governments continue to target think tankers in Washington.
If nothing else, the Terry indictment will hopefully jump-start long-overdue transparency reforms in Americas think-tank sector. For years, think tanks have skated by without even basic transparency requirementshelping create foreign influence networks that are even more opaque than foreign lobbying efforts elsewhere. In recent years, things have gotten even worse, with the Biden administration rolling back minimal requests for transparency, even as dictatorships like the United Arab Emirates continue to splash millions at Americas leading think tanks.
Now, however, the Terry indictment presents an opening, and a potential spur for reform. Because if not, shes almost certainly not the last think tanker well see allegedly outed as an agent for a foreign governmentand almost certainly not the last case that will reveal just how deeply the duplicity in Americas think tank community runs.
Nineteen railway stations have been affected by a cyber-attack, Network Rail says [Getty Images]
A hack which resulted in people accessing the wi-fi at 19 UK railway stations being shown a message about terror attacks has been linked to the account of an insider at the internet provider.
The message was displayed on people's devices when they logged onto Network Rail's wifi system.
It is run by a third party, Telent, with the actual internet service provided by another company, Global Reach.
In a statement, Telent said that, following investigations with Global Reach: "It has been identified that an unauthorised change was made to the Network Rail landing page from a legitimate Global Reach administrator account."
"The matter is now subject to criminal investigations by the British Transport Police," the statement continued.
Chris Dyson, 53, from Leeds, saw the message on Wednesday afternoon when he connected his device to the wi-fi at Birmingham New Street.
It gave details of Islamist-related terror attacks in the UK and Europe, alongside pictures taken from news reports about the incidents.
"The screen lit up with bizarre security alerts and dodgy pop-ups," he told the BBC.
"I started to panic slightlywhat if this was a sign of something more sinister?"
A Network Rail spokesperson said: "We are currently dealing with a cyber-security incident affecting the public wi-fi at Network Rails managed stations."
The affected stations include:
In London, London Cannon Street, London Bridge, Charing Cross, Clapham Junction, Euston, Kings Cross, Liverpool Street, Paddington, Victoria and Waterloo
In the South East, Reading and Guildford
In the North West, Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street
In the West Midlands, Birmingham New Street
In West Yorkshire, Leeds
In the West and South West, Bristol Temple Meads
In Scotland, Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central
The rail provider said it believed other organisations, not just railway stations, had been affected.
"This service is provided via a third party and has been suspended while an investigation is under way," the spokesperson said.
Related internet links
Cyprus leader says he is ready to resume peace talks 'today'
NICOSIA (Reuters) -Cyprus' president said on Wednesday he was ready to immediately resume reunification talks over the ethnically divided island, urging regional rival Turkey to also engage in the effort.
"We cannot change geography. It is an opportunity, not a curse. Turkey and Cyprus will always remain neighbours," Nikos Christodoulides said in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
"I adamantly believe we can carve a new path, one of peace, cooperation and collaboration," he said.
Cyprus was split decades ago in a Turkish invasion after a brief Greek-inspired coup, and preceded by years of sporadic violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
Reunification talks collapsed in mid-2017 and have been at a stalemate since.
A Turkish Cypriot breakaway state in northern Cyprus, backed only by Turkey, wants a two-state deal where its sovereignty is recognised. Greek Cypriots say the only framework available is that defined by U.N. resolutions calling for reunification under a bizonal, bicommunal federation.
"I am committed and I am ready to sit at the negotiating table today. Not tomorrow. Today," Christodoulides said.
On Tuesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told the U.N. General Assembly that the federation model "has now completely lost its validity", saying there were "two separate states and two separate peoples" on the island.
"The sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriots, which are their inherent rights, should be reaffirmed, and the isolation should now come to an end," he said.
He later told U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres that a meeting between the sides under the auspices of the U.N. to discuss models other than a federation could help, his office said.
Perched on the edge of the Middle East, the Cyprus problem is now massively overshadowed by the explosive situation of its neighbours.
Earlier this year the island became a bridge for delivering badly-needed humanitarian aid to Israel-beseiged Gaza in an initiative backed by the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. and Israel. It has also offered to assist in an evacuation of civilians from the region if tensions escalate further.
Yet despite the grim outlook, Christodoulides said he would never accept the linear narrative of a region in turmoil.
"I have experienced first-hand what countries in the region can achieve when they come together behind a common vision," he said.
(Writing by Michele Kambas; Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in AnkaraEditing by Gareth Jones)
China is raising its shockingly low retirement age and residents are angry. Are American workers next?
China plans to raise the nations official retirement age, a policy that addresses the countrys looming demographic and economic challenges. As the U.S. faces the possibility of depleted Social Security trust funds, many American workers might be wondering: Could we be next?
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Chinas increase the first such adjustment since the 1950s means the nations comparatively low retirement age will go from 50 to 55 for women working blue-collar jobs while women in white-collar roles will see their retirement age go from 55 to 58. Mens retirement age will go from 60 to 63.
The changes, which will be phased in over 15 years, raise the question about whether the U.S. government will have to hike its own retirement ages to preserve Social Security. The earliest possible age someone can qualify for Social Security is currently 62. The full retirement age for those born in 1960 or later is 67.
Why China made the changes
Chinas elderly population is surging, reflecting longer life expectancies in many nations likely brought on by higher standards of living and healthcare advances. But Chinas birth rate is falling, partly due to the one-child policy that was in effect from 1979 to 2015 an imbalance that means fewer young people are entering the workforce to support an aging populace. Chinas working-age population (ages 15-59) has been decreasing as a share of the total number of people in the country, straining economic growth and putting pressure on the nations pension system.
The BBC reported that Chinese residents expressed their discontent online. "In the next 10 years, there will be another bill that will delay retirement until we are 80," a user wrote on social media site Weibo. Are you asking me, when Im 60, to compete with young people for jobs? another Weibo user asked, per Bloomberg.
Could this happen in America?
Long before Chinas move, Social Security eligibility had become a reliable flashpoint in U.S. domestic and economic policy debates. The safety net program is projected to run out of sufficient funds by 2035, and without Congress making any changes, it will only be able to pay around 80% of retirees full benefits.
Story continues
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Raising the retirement age is one of several proposals to solve this issue, alongside cutting benefits for high earners and raising tax revenue. It would presumably help preserve Social Security funds by reducing the number of years people collect benefits.
But not all jobs are suitable for older workers, and extending working years could be harmful to some especially for those in physically demanding roles. And because lower-income workers may rely more heavily on Social Security, raising the retirement age could disproportionately affect them.
Regardless of the arguments, raising the retirement age will be politically tricky, since any increase in the age requirement would likely raise the ire of workers.
Earlier this year, a large group of U.S. House Republicans known as the Republican Study Committee (RSC) proposed raising Social Securitys full retirement age to 69 in their fiscal year 2025 budget proposal. It suggested gradually increasing the retirement age for those not facing imminent retirement to reflect longer life expectancies and improve the programs financial sustainability. Virginia Rep. Ben Cline, the group's budget task force leader, told Roll Call those now aged 59 would see an increase in the retirement age of three months per year beginning in 2026. The retirement age would reach 69 for those who turn 62 in 2033.
According to Center for American Progress analysis, "a full retirement age of 69 would cut benefits for all new retirees between roughly 12.5% and 14.3% by the time it is fully phased in. In addition, it would cost a median-wage retiree who earned $70,000 in 2022 and turns 62 in 2034 thousands of dollars every year."
Regardless of politics, Chinas decision highlights the complex challenges nations face as populations age and economic demands evolve. Still, there may be lessons for the U.S. worker backlash in China could be instructive to American policymakers as they consider changes, and Chinas gradual phase-in of the change offers a peek into how a change might take shape.
What to read next
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Czech Foreign Minister disagrees with Czech President, saying only credible peace plan for Ukraine is Zelenskyy's
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, in contrast to Czech President Petr Pavel, who said that after the war, Russia could retain temporary control over some Ukrainian territories, has stressed his support for Zelenskyy's Victory Plan.
Source: Lipavsky on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda
Details: Lipavsky noted that the only peace plan that is credible is President Zelenskyy's Victory Plan.
Quote: "Who else than us should know that the about us without us peace negotiations is a road to hell. This is what I stressed at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in New York."
The only credible peace plan is that of president Zelensky.
Who else than us should know that the about us without us peace negotiations is a road to hell. This is what I stressed at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in New York. pic.twitter.com/JCKkPg2i26 Jan Lipavsky (@JanLipavsky) September 24, 2024
Background:
In an interview with The New York Times, Pavel reiterated that Ukraine should accept the possibility of some of its territories remaining under Russian control "temporarily" after the war.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry subsequently issued a statement rejecting the possibility of part of Ukrainian territory remaining temporarily under occupation and similar "half-hearted solutions".
In response, Pavel said that hoping that the war would end with a clear success for Ukraine in a few weeks or months could be very dangerous for everyone. Therefore, he added, this issue should be considered in the light of what is realistically possible.
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Dakota among counties to get federal funding for flood, storm recovery
LINCOLN, Neb. (KCAU) The state of Nebraska has officially received federal aid for severe weather, including flooding, that impacted 16 counties this summer.
Gov. Jim Pillen announced the receipt of federal funding Wednesday. In addition to Dakota County, the counties eligible for funding are include Boyd, Clay, Dawson, Douglas, Fillmore, Holt, Howard, Lincoln, McPherson, Nance, Nemaha, Saunders, Scotts Bluff, Thomas, and Washington Counties.
Principal kayaks Rock River for flood-impacted Rock Valley school
The eligible counties suffered severe damage from flooding, tornadoes and more from June 20 through July 8, according to a release.
This is the fourth time this year that the state has gotten funds to help with the aftermaths of severe weather. More funding could also be available at a later date depending on further damage assessments.
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Dallas Police Officer Blinded in Both Eyes in Attack as Colleague Is Shot Dead
Senior officer Karissa David was critically injured after being shot in the face in an attack on Aug. 29, according to police
Dallas Police Department/X Darron Burks; Karissa David
A Dallas police officer has been left blind following an attack while she was on duty.
Senior Corporal Karissa David was shot in the face, while her colleague, Officer Darron Burks, was also shot and killed in a premeditated attack on Aug. 29 in Dallas, the Dallas Police Department stated in a news release.
According to a GoFundMe page set up for David, she is currently blind in both eyes," her family shared.
The suspect, identified as Corey Cobb-Bey, 30, carried out the attack shortly after 10:00 p.m. local time, first fatally shooting Burks with a handgun from his car after the officer approached him in a parking lot. He also "recorded the encounter" on his phone, according to police.
At 10:12 p.m., David arrived on the scene and positioned her squad car at the entrance of the parking lot. As she got out of the vehicle, Cobb-Bey shot at her multiple times. She then fired back at the suspect and he shot her in the face, per the release.
Senior Corporal Jamie Farmer, who was at the scene shortly before David, was also shot in the leg by Cobb-Bey with a shotgun.
Dallas Police Department Corey Cobb-Bey's mug shot
Cobb-Bey then fled the scene. Patrol pursued the suspect into Lewisville, and Cobb-Bey came to a stop on the expressway just north of Highway 121 and exited his vehicle with the shotgun in his left hand, police said. The suspect approached the officers and pointed the shotgun at them.
Cobb-Bey was then shot by multiple police officers at the location. "Cobb-Bey died at the scene and no officers were injured in this exchange of gunfire," the release added.
David was transported to the hospital in a critical but stable condition, where her family said she remained for several weeks up until her release on Sept. 19.
According to the GoFundMe, David has "a long journey to come" as she requires outpatient care for at least several months to come.
Dallas Police Department Karissa David
She has an upcoming surgery back in the hospital soon and various other specialist appointments scheduled, her family wrote. Money that comes in will be used for modifications to their home, technology and devices that will aid her in living without her vision, and transportation to the therapies and care she needs.
The police recovered two shotguns, a .22 caliber handgun and a 9mm handgun used by the suspect at the scene of the initial incident and where Cobb-Bey was shot by police.
At this time, the investigation has determined the shooting is premeditated, with Detectives finding and collecting evidence on social media, police said, per the release.
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An investigation is ongoing and being conducted by the Dallas Police Special Investigations Unit.
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Susan Zirinsky, the former president of CBS News and longtime executive producer of its news magazine 48 Hours, is behind Paramount+s We Will Dance Again. The documentary, which streamed on Tuesday, takes a minute-by-minute, you-are-there approach to Hamas militants murder and abduction of Nova music festival attendees in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The attack, part of a wider armed incursion that killed nearly 1,200 people, led to the ongoing Gaza war.
Director Yariv Mozer explained to The Hollywood Reporter that the films narrative, told through interviews with surviving festivalgoers, relies on extensive use of graphically violent video material taken in real time including footage retrieved from the assailants to be able to show how enormous the scale of this attack was and the brutality of these atrocities against people who couldnt defend themselves.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
Zirinsky, who has also produced documentaries about 9/11 and the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, agreed with Mozers rationale. But she notes that the material and cumulative effect is more intense than anything that Ive seen put on television in my entire career. This informed her decision, through her See It Now Studios (which produces and develops for Paramount platforms), to opt for distribution of We Will Dance Again via streaming, not network.
Ultimately, I thought we could not [run it on CBS] because theres no way possible to break for commercial, she says. With streaming, youre making a conscious choice to put this on.
Susan Zirinsky.
Mozer told THR that international buyers were taking divergent approaches to airing the documentary. Its interesting, he said. RTL in Germany decided to air it on primetime television, on a linear channel with commercial breaks, which I believe hasnt been done since Schindlers List. Then, the BBC, the version theyll air wont describe Hamas as terrorists. It was a price I was willing to pay so that the British public will be able to see these atrocities and decide if this is a terrorist organization or not.
Zirinsky who insists We Will Dance Again is not a political film, only a record of history added a sequence of text cards, which she wrote, to the outset of the narrative. They explain that the Oct. 7 attack triggered an Israeli military response that claimed the lives of more than 40,000 Palestinians so far, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, and that this film cannot tell everyones story.
For Zirinsky, noting that we cannot tell everyones story is critical. It was for me. She adds, it allows us to say that theres no winners here.
We Will Dance Again is now streaming on Paramount+.
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All evacuations were lifted in a western Cincinnati suburb Wednesday evening, a day after a chemical leak from a railcar prompted tests of water and air quality.
All initial reports do not indicate any health concerns, Little Miami Joint Fire and Rescue District Chief Mike Siefke said. There is no explosion, no loss of property and the water is safe to drink.
There are no concerns with air quality after officials in Ohio tested it over the last 24 hours and continue to do so for the next several days.
Residents in hundreds of homes were told to evacuate Tuesday night and area schools were closed Wednesday after officials discovered styrene, a toxic and flammable chemical used to make plastic and rubber, was leaking from the railcars pressure release valve. The chemical can cause headaches, nausea and respiratory issues, and long-term exposure can lead to more serious health problems, including organ damage.
The railcar that vented is now stabilized and was moved to its final destination without issue a couple miles away, Mike Miller of Central Railroad of Indiana said. All of the other railcars were moved as well, he said.
There are no reported hospitilizations due to the leak, Steven Fagan, the director of Hamilton County Public Health, said when evacuation orders were lifted. He added that anyone having symptoms should get checked out by a medical professional, but reiterated throughout the day that due to styrenes volatile nature it likely vaporized almost immediately.
Any cancers that may have been associated with styrene is more like an industrial accident where people are covered with fluids, and so the venting that occurred into the atmosphere isnt even close to that type of exposure, Fagan said.
Fagan advised those returning home to wipe off indoor and outdoor surfaces, wash any soft surfaces like bedding and throw away any food left out.
Schools are currently inspecting their facilites for any contamination and are going to be back in session Thursday, Siefke said.
The incident was likely caused by an additive stabilizer inside the railcar becoming ineffective, causing the product inside the tanker to vent, Miller said. Federal regulators have likely already started inspecting the train and will share their findings once the investigation is finished, he said.
Any residents who have questions or want the county to check out their property for contamination should call the local 211 number, Siefke said. Central Railroad of Indiana will have a representative at the local community center and a hotline to give residents support as well, Miller said.
Aerial video of the incident showed firefighters spraying down the car, which was sitting upright on tracks between a highway and an asphalt plant, the Associated Press reported.
Initially, officials were concerned the railcars rising temperature could lead to an explosion, but Siefke said that is not a concern we have right now.
Hamilton Countys Emergency Management Agency originally implemented evacuations orders for anyone within a half-mile of the area near US Route 50 and the Great Miami River, west of Cincinnati. About 200 homes were in the evacuation area, Siefke said. Residents just outside the evacuation area were told to stay inside and keep their windows closed.
The area has a mix of businesses, homes and large swaths of undeveloped land, the Associated Press reported.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said personnel from the Federal Railroad Administration are headed to the area to assist as needed.
Last year a train derailment on the opposite side of Ohio in East Palestine, about 300 miles northeast of Cincinnati, caused hazardous chemicals to leak and burn for days. The February 2023 derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line led to new safety rules and increased scrutiny of the rail industry and federal regulators.
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(NewsNation) A dangerous chemical leak spewing from a train tanker car has forced immediate emergency evacuations for residents in Cleves, Ohio, 16 miles west of Cincinnati.
The Hamilton County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency warned people in Cleves and Whitewater Township to leave the area immediately due to a dangerous chemical leak in an alert, adding that they have opened a public shelter for those fleeing.
Video acquired by NewsNation shows white fumes spewing out of a stalled tanker car.
Aerial video showed firefighters spraying down a railcar sitting upright on tracks between the highway and an asphalt plant.
Alert HC: Per Whitewater Fire, LEAVE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY at least a half-mile radius away from the intersection of US-50 and OH-128 in any direction. Potential for exposure to toxic chemical and possible explosion. Stay away from the area until further notice. pic.twitter.com/2UJGbQVFva Hamilton County EMA (@HCEMA) September 24, 2024
Cleves sits on the Ohio border with Indiana and has a population of about 3,000 people.
Tom Ciuba, a spokesman for the Central Railroad of Indiana, said it was notified around 1 p.m. about a railcar in the area of Cleves that was venting styrene, which is used to make plastic and rubber.
Ohio EPAs Emergency Response team arrived on scene in Cleves around 4:00 p.m., Tuesday. Our on-scene coordinator is there to assist the local fire department that is in charge of Incident Command Operations, an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson said in a statement.
Authorities said a pressure release valve on it was leaking styrene. The volume of styrene in the release is unknown at this time, the spokesperson said.
Three nearby school buildings were evacuated, according to Lisa Whiteley, a spokesperson for the Three Rivers Local School District.
Styrene gas, a neurotoxin, can immobilize people within minutes of inhalation and can be fatal at high concentrations. Last year in the Indian city of Visakhapatnam, a leak of styrene gas from a chemical factory killed 12 people and sickened more than 1,000.
Last year a train derailment on the opposite side of Ohio in East Palestine, about 300 miles (480 kilometers) northeast of Cincinnati, caused hazardous chemicals to leak and burn for days. The February 2023 derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line led to new safety rules and increased scrutiny of the rail industry and federal regulators.
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.
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Skyrocketing power demand from data centers will help push the US offshore wind industry out of the doldrums, rsted Americas CEO David Hardy told Semafor.
One of the worlds biggest wind farm developers, rsted has had a rough time over the last two years: Rising construction costs, permitting delays, and other challenges forced the company to walk away from two major projects in New Jersey and book more than $4.5 billion in impairments since 2023, sending its share price to one-third of its 2021 peak. The headwinds arent over yet, Hardy said at Semafors Nights of Net Zero event at Climate Week NYC, as the supply chain for offshore wind hardware looks likely to lag behind demand for the next several years, and uncertainty about the survival of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits in the event of a Donald Trump presidency leaves project investors skittish.
But the US push to compete with China on AI development is helping secure the clean power industrys long-term future, he said: With the overall growth of energy demand, we really do need all of the above. I just dont think this country can afford to slow [renewable energy deployment] down. In six months I could easily see five to seven new offshore wind projects with new offtake agreements and people putting their foot back on the gas.
Tims view
The AI-fueled boom in power demand is a hot topic at Climate Week, and the mood of the conversation is shifting. Earlier this year, when the scale of energy that will be needed for data centers started to become clear forecast to reach up to 9% of US power consumption by 2030, double the current rate the climate community was gripped by a sense of panic that the AI scramble would turn into an emissions nightmare. That anxiety is changing to excitement as more energy executives like Hardy say that Big Tech could be a powerful and sorely needed ally in the financing of clean power.
We got this, Arshad Mansoor, CEO of the Electric Power Research Institute, a research organization supported by the utility industry, told me. Having the tech and energy industries come together will actually accelerate the clean energy transition in the long run, because theyre sharing the financial risk and sharing a need they both have, and the tech companies need is very urgent.
Tech leaders who used to take power for granted increasingly see it as perhaps the biggest bottleneck in the data center buildout. But for an industry as deep-pocketed as theirs, the upside in staying ahead on AI far outweighs the cost of building energy infrastructure. Tech companies have the willingness and wherewithal to make projects happen that never would have been possible otherwise. The clearest example is the groundbreaking deal announced on Friday between Microsoft and Constellation Energy, under which Constellation will restart the mothballed Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania and sell all of its 835 megawatts of power to Microsoft for 20 years. When the plant was shuttered five years ago, Constellation never thought it would come back, Chief Strategy Officer Kathleen Barron said at the Nights of Net Zero event. The AI boom changed the calculus, and when Constellation started negotiating the deal with Microsoft, it found a client willing to pay a premium for steady clean power. The deal was so good that Constellation was willing to pay the $1.6 billion needed to restart the plant out of its own pocket, Barron said, even though it will take several years before any revenue from Microsoft comes in. Constellations share price is up 22% since the deal.
Restarting Three Mile Island wont benefit the regions households and other power consumers, per se. But its a model for how data center demand can be served without draining the existing grid, and without building new fossil fuel assets. Opportunities to restart mothballed nuclear plants may be exhausted. But there are other ways to achieve a similar outcome without building new plants from scratch, a process that would be slow, and expensive even by tech standards. Existing nuclear plants can be cost-effectively upgraded with new hardware to squeeze out more electrons, Barron said. Transmission and distribution lines, likewise, can be upgraded with hardware and software to expand their capacity, making it easier to incorporate more renewables and batteries. And utilities are beginning to negotiate with data centers on demand response, Mansoor said: If, during the few dozen hours annually when power demand is at its highest, a data center can shut down or run on a higher-cost local power source like a hydrogen or biofuel-fed generator, it can save the utility from needing to invest in gas-fired plants.
The most important aspect of the Three Mile Island deal is that it adds to the grid rather than drawing from it, Microsoft President Brad Smith said in an interview at Semafors separate Next 3 Billion event on Tuesday. Additionality needs to be a core principle for tech companies in their data center push, he added. Indeed, in a recent column, Brian Deese, a former White House economist and adviser to the Kamala Harris campaign, argued in favor of mandating additionality for data center power deals.
Room for Disagreement
The Three Mile Island deal isnt easily replicable, and any push to serve data centers with nuclear power will be constrained by the supply of uranium fuel, permitting, and other issues. Between that and the fact that renewables alone wont be able to provide sufficient baseload power for AI, its likely that new gas turbines will be built in some cases. The data center boom cant entirely dodge some increase in emissions.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) An investigation into the procedures of the 20th Judicial District Attorney Generals Office in Nashville found numerous questionable actions by the Tennessee Comptrollers Office.
According to a release, investigators determined government employees surveilled and monitored audio and video recordings of criminal defense attorneys, office employees, other building tenants, and visitors without their knowledge or consent.
Former office employees told investigators it was common practice to audio and video record criminal defense attorneys when they were reviewing evidence inside the DAs Office viewing room. These attorneys reportedly discussed privileged information, including statements made by their clients, along with defense strategies.
Click here to read the Comptrollers report.
A criminal defense team reviewing evidence in a pending criminal case. (Courtesy: Tennessee Comptrollers Office)
After the defense attorneys left the viewing room, every indication is the recordings were then provided to the assistant district attorney(s) or secretary of the office unit handling the criminal case, according to the report.
These activities could violate the United States Constitution, Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct and state law.
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According to the report, District Attorney General Glenn Funk allowed office employees to participate in campaign activities during work hours, and they used government resources to promote and benefit the DAGs reelection effort.
Paid-time-off forms were reportedly created for office employees after questions were raised within the office that could indicate office employees were participating in campaign related activities when required to be at work.
Funk allegedly utilized questionable practices with a former assistant district attorney (ADA) whose family member made a social media post in support of the Funks 2022 campaign opponent.
According to investigators, Funk received a questionable campaign contribution from the former ADA and he reassigned her to a different position within the office; and directed that she be monitored with the audio and video surveillance system without her knowledge or consent.
Elected district attorneys must act with high integrity and ethical standards when managing day-to-day business and office affairs, said Comptroller Jason Mumpower in a release. The actions noted by our investigators bring into question the DAGs integrity and the publics confidence in his ability to fulfill his responsibilities.
Im proud of the collective work of the Office of the Comptroller and the TBI special agents who thoroughly investigated these accusations, said Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch. The role of our team is to independently discover the facts and provide that information for further consideration, and we met that responsibility in this case.
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The Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference released a statement, which reads:
We reviewed the report this morning when it was published by the Comptroller. We recognize that it raises serious concerns. We have begun the process of evaluating the issues raised and will discern how to appropriately address them. Gen. Bryant Dunaway, president of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference Executive Committee
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced his office will not be pursuing any charges, citing a lack of evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.
Funks office released the following statement:
We appreciate Attorney General Skrmettis prompt response to the Comptrollers report. This matter is now at an end. As General Funk has always stated, neither he nor his office has committed any crimes or broken any law. This office will continue our mission to support victims, hold offenders accountable, and keep Nashville Safe.
The Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility also shared a statement:
Please be advised that Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9 Section 32 provides that all matters or investigations, involving allegations of misconduct by an attorney, shall be confidential unless or until public discipline is imposed or formal disciplinary charges are filed by the Board of Professional Responsibility against the attorney.
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LAWTON, Okla. (KFOR) Authorities in Lawton confirm, the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigations (OSBI) has been requested after a deadly officer-involved shooting.
The Lawton Police Department confirms, around 6:00 p.m. on September 23 officers were attempting to serve a felony arrest warrant at a residence near Northwest Lake Avenue and Northwest 14th Street.
Death Row inmate Emanuel Littlejohn fights for life in final appeal
Police officials say, when officers arrived on the scene contact was made with 34-year-old Terralyn Whalin who police observed she had a gun in her possession. Officers confirm, Whalin was given instructions to drop her weapon but Whalin refused and was shot.
Life-saving measures were provided to Whalin but she was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. No other injuries have been reported and an investigation is ongoing.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
Travis Mullis was executed by lethal injection Tuesday in Huntsville, Texas, for the 2011 sexual assault and murder of his 3-month-old son. Photo by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Texas executed Travis Mullis on Tuesday night, 16 years after sexually assaulting his 3-month-old son and crushing his skull afterward by stomping on the infant.
Mullis, 38, was put to death by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville near Houston.
In his last statement, he thanked all those who had been "in my corner inside and outside, even on Death Row, that accepted me for the man I became during my best and worst moments."
"I want to thank the field ministers, the Warden and the correctional staff for all the changes being made across the system, Even the men on Death Row, to show it is possible to be rehabilitated, and not deemed a threat and not the men we were when we came into the system, we have changed we are not the same," he said.
The Brazoria County resident was executed after waiving his right to appeal.
Mullis said he did not regret taking the legal steps to expedite his "assisted suicide," but he does regret killing his son.
"I do regret the decision to take the life of my son, I apologize to the mother of my son, the victim's family. I have no ill will towards the court, the judicial system. the prosecution or the execution protocol," he said.
"The morality of execution is between you and God. It was my decision that put me here. I'm ready Warden."
Mullis was pronounced dead at 7:01 p.m. CDT, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed to UPI in an emailed statement.
Mullis, then 21, was living with his girlfriend and their infant son, Alijah, in a friend's trailer home in Brazoria County when he tried to sexually assault an 8-year-old girl on Jan. 28, 2008.
He argued with his girlfriend and then left with their son, whom he placed in the back seat of their vehicle.
Mullis drove to Galveston, which is located east of Brazoria County, and sexually assaulted the boy.
Mullis strangled the infant when he wouldn't stay quiet and crushed his skull with his boot before tossing the infant's body onto a berm leading to the Galveston seawall.
He tried to hide his crime by getting rid of the car seat and hiding Alijah's body in a remote part of Galveston's seawall.
Mullis then fled to Philadelphia and turned himself in to police four days later and confessed to killing his son.
Defense attorneys argued Mullis was sexually assaulted by his adoptive father and was diagnosed with several mental health disorders that caused him to obtain treatment at several mental health treatment facilities while a teen.
A jury on March 11, 2011, convicted Mullis of capital murder and afterward sentenced him to death.
Mullis did not challenge the death sentence until July 2013 in federal court after the Texas statute of limitations had expired for challenging it in state court.
His attorneys unsuccessfully argued Mullis' sentencing was due to poor representation by his former attorneys.
They argued his death sentence was unconstitutional and the system failed Mullis when sentencing him to death, but the federal court did not stay his execution.
Mullis was the fourth person put to death by Texas this year and the 15th nationwide, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Texas is scheduled to execute two people in October.
(Bloomberg) -- Chinese stocks ended Wednesday higher, though paring from earlier gains as worries linger about whether a host of support measures announced Tuesday would turn around the economy.
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The onshore benchmark CSI 300 Index rose 1.5% at close after climbing as much as 3.4% on the day. The gauge remained 0.9% lower for the year. The advance in the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index also was slashed to 0.5% from its earlier ascent to 3.4%.
The weakening momentum underscored investors skepticism about Beijings capability to revive the market and economy, given the absence of more details on policy implementation. The paring came despite what appears to be enhanced state support, with the turnover in some exchange-traded funds favored by the sovereign fund seeing spikes in inflows.
The policies dont really address the root problems facing the real economy, said Shen Meng, a director at Beijing-based investment bank Chanson & Co. They at most provided bears with an opportunity to cash in and may create asset bubbles in the longer run.
With the previous rallies this year fizzling, market watchers sounded caution despite a blitz of stimulus measures announced Tuesday. The benchmarks recent gains the CSI 300 index rose for six straight days may be fleeting if policymakers fail to address the countrys long-standing problems.
Chinese equities have been trapped in a start-stop cycle of gains and losses for most of this year, as the governments piecemeal approach to reviving the market has resulted only in brief rebounds.
The rally in Hong Kong stocks may have been driven by short cover, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists including Wendy Liu. The short sales ratio as a percentage of the market turnover dipped to 13.6% on Tuesday, one standard deviation below the average since 2016, indicating many shorts have been covered, they said.
Still, investors largely applauded the comprehensiveness of the stimulus package, which included liquidity support for the stock market and a policy rate cut. The policies also fanned hopes that the government with the Politburo set to meet ahead of a week-long annual holiday starting Oct. 1 may be readying ammunition to address deep-rooted issues, such as weak consumer confidence.
Story continues
The Peoples Bank of China said it will set up a swap facility to allow securities firms, funds and insurance companies to tap its funds to purchase equities. The central bank is also weighing plans for a stock stabilization fund. The securities regulator later issued draft guidelines urging listed companies to boost investment returns.
We believe these coordinated policy announcements could pave the way for further policy support and raise the possibility of an economic upcycle in 2025, Chaoping Zhu, global market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management, wrote in a note. Combined with private sector companies that have improved their profit margin and corporate fundamentals, we do see value opportunities in Chinese equities, and diversification opportunities given the expensive markets around the world.
--With assistance from Charlotte Yang and Cecile Vannucci.
(Updates with closing prices and quote in fourth paragraph.)
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Tens of thousands of diesel-spewing trucks are contributing to higher-than-normal levels of air pollution in Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Yonkers, according to a statewide air monitoring study.
High levels of pollutants have been detected in sensitive locations like schools, hospitals, childcare facilities, and nursing homes located near highly traveled roads and industrial facilities.
The findings emerge from a multi-year air monitoring study conducted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, part of a statewide effort to identify the impact air pollution is having on disadvantaged communities.
Trucks are pictured traveling along the southbound New York State Thruway on the Yonkers/Bronx border, Sept. 25, 2024.
Beginning in 2022, cars equipped with high-tech sensors have been traveling local streets to gauge levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane and ethane in the air.
Vehicular traffic from major highways like I-87 and I-95 are contributing to higher-than-normal levels of diesel emissions in the Westchester County cities, the study found.
Trucks are pictured traveling along westbound Tuckahoe Road near Mile Square Road in Yonkers, Sept. 25, 2024.
Meeting Wednesday in Mount Vernon to discuss results
The state plans to share the results from the first phase of its testing at a public hearing Wednesday night at the Doles Center Auditorium in Mount Vernon. The event begins at 6 p.m.
New Yorks overall air quality has never been better, but historic inequities continue to create challenges that directly affect the health and wellbeing of disadvantaged community residents statewide, said Sean Mahar, the interim commissioner of the DEC.
Energy: Kathy Hochul: Nuclear power needs to be in NY energy mix to achieve climate goals
The three cities join nine other disadvantaged communities across the state whose air is being tested for pollutants, the largest such study ever conducted in New York.
Statewide, DEC analysts detected higher levels of pollution near roads with high traffic volumes and greater amounts of diesel truck and bus traffic, as well as near retail centers and communities that are home to railyards and waste management, industrial and manufacturing facilities.
An Aclima vehicle outfitted to measure air quality drives through the Bronx in 2022. Aclima, a company that has designed technology that measures levels of air pollution and greenhouse gasses, is working with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on a statewide initiative to measure air quality in communities overburdened by pollution. Seth Harrison/The Journal News
In Westchester County, monitors found high levels of pollutants (diesel and non-diesel) in the far southeast corner of Mount Vernon near the Bronx border, close to several body shops, metal making facilities and two asphalt plants.
In New Rochelle, high levels of diesel and non-diesel pollution were detected along I-95 as well as neighborhood streets along Lincoln Avenue and the neighborhoods of French Ridge and Rochelle Heights.
Monitoring: 'What am I breathing?' Inside NY's push to monitor air quality in low-income neighborhoods
In Yonkers, higher-than-normal levels of pollution were detected along I-87 and a portion of Tuckahoe Road, east of the Saw Mill River Parkway. The area is close to a childcare facility and a park in the Nepperhan neighborhood, the study noted.
Trucks are pictured traveling along westbound Tuckahoe Road near Mile Square Road in Yonkers, Sept. 25, 2024.
More work to be done
The Westchester-based Energy Justice Law & Policy Center says the groundbreaking study is a good first step toward addressing pollution that can have a lifelong impact on the respiratory health of people living in these communities and can lead to an increased incidence of heart attacks and strokes.
The DECs air quality monitoring provides valuable insights into the pollution levels across our communities, and its essential that we fully utilize this state data as we work toward solutions, said Dr. Bob Morrow, a Yonkers physician and member of the centers Air of Truth campaign.
Bridge: Bumpy ride on Cuomo Bridge bike path poses hazards for cyclists. What caused it.
The campaign is pushing for expanding the use of zero-emission buses, noise barriers to reduce the impacts of traffic and development, and vegetative buffers along highways to filter pollutants.
School buses make their way along the southbound New York State Thruway on the Yonkers/Bronx border, Sept. 25, 2024.
In August, the DEC kicked off an anti-idling blitz, sending DEC police officers to patrol neighborhoods with large numbers of idling vehicles. State law prohibits heavy vehicles from idling more than five minutes at a time. Fines range from $500 to $18,000 for a first violation.
The other communities tested were the Bronx; Brooklyn; Buffalo/Niagara Falls/Tonawanda; the Capital Region; Hempstead/New Cassel/Roosevelt/Uniondale/Westbury on Long Island; Manhattan; Queens; Rochester; and Syracuse.
(This story was updated to change or add a photo or video.)
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: Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Yonkers NY air testing results released
In our Reality Check stories, Idaho Statesman journalists seek to hold the powerful accountable and find answers to critical questions in our community. Read more. Story idea? Tips@idahostatesman.com.
The suspect in the fall 2022 stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students will appear in a Boise courtroom for the first time later this week, and a question on the minds of observers is what hell be wearing.
Rather than jail-issued outfits, Bryan Kohberger has been allowed to wear professional attire, or street clothes as his defense team called them, for more than a year of pretrial court proceedings. The last time he wore standard jail clothing was at his arraignment in May 2023 in Latah County.
But with his murder case recently moved to Ada County and under a new judge, Kohbergers defense team formally requested that their client continue to be permitted to avoid wearing jail clothing in the public eye. Anne Taylor, Kohbergers lead attorney, argued that a defendants appearance in a courtroom can influence the way potential jurors determine whether a person is guilty of the charges against them.
Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, at his arraignment hearing in Latah County, May 22, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho.
This request is owing to the public nature of the case and vast dissemination of images of Mr. Kohberger, Taylor wrote in the defenses court filing. As such, avoiding coverage in jail clothing is one thing that can reduce prejudice.
Under Idaho case law on the presumption of innocence, defendants have the right to wear street clothes at trial. But no such rule exists on the books ahead of the seating of a jury, state courts spokesperson Nate Poppino said in an email to the Idaho Statesman.
So whether it is allowed for pretrial proceedings is in the hands of the judge, he said.
Kohberger, 29, is accused of killing the four U of I undergrads at an off-campus home in Moscow in November 2022. At the time, Kohberger was a graduate student of criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University in Pullman just over the Idaho-Washington border.
The victims were seniors Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21, junior Xana Kernodle and freshman Ethan Chapin, both 20. Kohberger was arrested about seven weeks later in December 2022, and jailed without bond ever since.
He is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if a jury returns a conviction. Kohbergers defense aims to remove capital punishment as a possible sentence for their client.
In the meantime, his public defense team argued that Kohbergers every move is being closely watched, and the way hes allowed to look could impede his chance at a fair trial with an impartial jury.
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, who is leading the prosecution of Kohberger, has not publicly objected to him wearing street clothes.
Much of the media coverage and social media posts focus on Mr. Kohbergers appearance, Taylor wrote. Authorizing Mr. Kohberger to wear street clothing to all public hearings is one way to reduce potential for prejudice.
Bryan Kohberger, charged with killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, was transferred from Latah County and booked into the Ada County Jail on Sept. 15, 2024.
She noted a large number of social media posts and news articles about Kohberger based on his photo earlier this month when he was booked into the Ada County Jail, after his transport from Moscow with the granting of a venue change. Kohberger has shown up for past court appearances clean-cut and usually in a suit and tie, and many of the recent posts focused on Kohbergers facial hair in the Sept. 15 booking photo, she wrote.
Victims family opposes street clothes allowance
The family of victim Kaylee Goncalves opposed a venue change out of Latah County. In addition, her parents have long questioned the granting of an exemption to their daughters suspected killer to wear anything other than jail jumpsuits ahead of trial.
It makes me sick that he sits there in his suit and all dressed up in a fresh haircut, Kristi Goncalves, her mother, told NewsNation last year.
Kohberger is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
In her filing, Taylor cited as justification the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution and Article I from the Idaho Constitution, which includes due process and jury trial rights. She also referenced a 1976 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found a defendant cannot be forced to stand trial in jail attire.
The request from Kohbergers defense also has precedent in high-profile cases in Idaho. Chad Daybell, who earlier this year was convicted of murdering his two stepchildren and his previous wife, was allowed by the presiding judge to wear street clothes in court ahead of his trial.
But historically those are extremely rare permissions in Idaho, said Boise-based criminal defense attorney Edwina Elcox, who briefly represented Daybells wife, Lori Vallow Daybell. Vallow Daybell also was convicted of murdering her two children and received a life sentence. Chad Daybell was sentenced to death.
Elcox said such pretrial clothing approvals constitute special treatment, which would not typically be extended to other Idaho defendants in custody under less intense media and public scrutiny. A more universal allowance for street clothes before trial would create another set of logistics not currently overseen by county jails and the court system, she said.
The Ada County Sheriffs Office, which manages the Ada County Jail, does not offer clothing other than jail attire for court appearances, Deputy Lauren Montague, the sheriffs office spokesperson, told the Statesman. A defendants attorneys would have to do so, she said.
Given the nature and circumstances of Kohbergers case, however, Elcox said it may warrant the new judge, 4th Judicial District Judge Steven Hippler, to grant the same clothing exception that had been provided by the prior judge in Latah County.
Theres an inherent prejudice that is visually reinforced when you see someone in a prison jumpsuit and handcuffs and ankle shackles, Elcox said in a phone interview with the Statesman. I can understand the defense is taking a concept absolutely afforded to defendants in front of a jury and asking the court to allow this because of the magnitude and widespread publicity of the case.
Bryan Kohberger, charged with murdering four University of Idaho students, for the first time entered the courtroom in Latah County in street clothes, on June 9, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho.
Kohberger is due for a status conference before Hippler on Thursday afternoon at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise. The hearing will be livestreamed and available on the courts YouTube page at: youtube.com/@idahofourthdistrictcourt.
CLINTON COUNTY, Ohio (WDTN) The site of a longtime closed hospital in Clinton County is set to undergo an evaluation for contamination.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced Friday the Clinton County Port Authority will receive $300,000 to evaluate an inoperative hospital in Wilmington, which has been vacant for more than 60 years. According to the CCPA, the site sits behind Clinton Memorial Hospital, an operational hospital in Wilmington.
A Clinton Memorial Hospital spokesperson told 2 NEWS Hale Hospital is a separate structure that sits on the hospital property.
According to DeWine, Hale Hospital needs to have environmental assessments conducted for to look at potential contamination.
With every project, we are reclaiming Ohios rich history and reimagining it for a brighter future, said Lydia Mihalik, director of Ohio Department of Development.
This is the fifth round of funding for projects across Ohio for remediation projects.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) The Del Valle High School campus was vandalized late Tuesday night, Sept. 24, resulting in damage to several of its windows, according to a spokesperson with the Ysleta Independent School District (ISD).
The spokesperson says the districts maintenance staff worked to clean up the debris and began repairs on Wednesday morning, Sept. 25, and classes proceeded as usual.
Ysleta ISD security and the El Paso Police Department are investigating the incident and the district is assessing the extent of the financial damage, according to the spokesperson.
Wed like to reassure our parents that Ysleta ISD takes all incidents of vandalism seriously and remains committed to maintaining the safety, security, and well-being of students and staff at all campuses. We will continue working closely with law enforcement to identify those responsible and pursue all appropriate actions, the spokesperson said.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Republicans running for office in North Carolina and around the country are distancing themselves from Mark Robinson, deleting photos of themselves side by side with the embattled Republican nominee for governor and removing any reference to his endorsement from their campaign materials.
Robinson has become politically toxic since CNN reported on dozens of inflammatory comments he made on a pornography websites message board more than a decade ago, including referring to himself as a black NAZI, expressing support for slavery, and making other lewd and sexually explicit remarks.
At least 10 Republicans and conservative groups have either canceled events with Robinson or erased their digital footprints to distance themselves from the man they will share a ballot with this November.
US House candidate Laurie Buckhout, who is running in a competitive race in North Carolinas 1st Congressional District, deleted at least nine photos of herself with Robinson on X, according to screenshots and a Google cache of her tweets. She also deleted a post calling Robinson North Carolinas next governor. Buckhout appears to have deleted five tweets in total.
Laurie Buckhout, who is running as a Republican in a competitive US House seat, deleted photos picturing her and Mark Robinson together, according to a Google cache of her tweets. - Obtained by CNN
Other candidates appeared to delete photos with themselves side by side with Robinson from their Facebook pages, according to a review of screenshots against their current web pages. Still, some photos and posts of Robinson remain on their social media accounts.
Dave Boliek, the GOP candidate for state auditor in North Carolina, appears to have deleted a Facebook post featuring Robinson from August 2024. State Sen. Lisa Stone Barnes, running for reelection, appears to have removed at least one photo of herself with Robinson posted in January 2021 from her Facebook account. Other photos with Robinson, however, remain on her social media accounts.
State Rep. Bill Ward, running for reelection, appears to have edited a post to remove a photo of himself with Robinson from July of this year. Images of Robinson at the event, however, remain in the post.
Stacie McGinn, who is running for state Senate to represent parts of Mecklenburg County, deleted her post praising Robinson for commemorating a slain police officer. Leave it to Mark Robinson to say so eloquently what we all feel, she wrote in support of law enforcement, according to a screenshot. The post appears to have been deleted, but photos of events with Robinson in years past remain online.
And state Rep. Allen Chesser, who is running for reelection, deleted Robinsons endorsement from his website, according to the Wayback Machine, since the site was last archived in July.
Dave Boliek, who is running for state auditor, deleted a post showing him and Mark Robinson together in August. - Obtained by CNN
All but one of the candidates who removed posts featuring Robinson did not respond to CNNs request for comment, including regarding whether they still endorsed him.
McGinn told CNN in a statement, The comments that were discovered are reprehensible. Mark Robinson says he didnt make these comments, and it is up to him to prove that to the voters of North Carolina. Im focused on the voters of State Senate District 42 in South Mecklenburg County and our race.
Hal Weatherman, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor in the state, posted on X that Robinson should conclusively and quickly prove false the allegations against him. His entire campaign strategy should be focused on proving the allegations false. During this process I and the other Republican candidates need to stay focused on winning our own races.
Some of the most prominent North Carolina Republicans in Washington have spoken out against Robinson.
I think the clock is ticking, US Sen. Thom Tillis told CNNs Manu Raju. I believe that Mr. Robinson needs to make a call fairly quickly, defend his name or in the absence of a defense, then weve got to move on.
Tillis supported Robinsons opponent in the gubernatorial primary in March and has suggested he would not vote for Robinson in the general election.
If Mr. Robinson doesnt set forth a case that provides some credibility to a counterargument, then I think that most of us should move on, not be concerned with this race. Move on this week, Tillis said.
The junior senator from North Carolina, Ted Budd, who endorsed Robinson for governor last year, told CNN he will vote for Robinson but called CNNs report very disturbing.
Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina told Punchbowl News that she hasnt really followed him closely, when asked about Robinson and CNNs story. Foxx, according to her public Facebook page, has numerous photos with glowing and positive comments on Robinson. Foxx did not respond to CNN inquiries on Robinsons comments.
Outside of North Carolina, national Republicans and conservative activist and advocacy groups have distanced themselves from Robinson. In neighboring Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp withdrew his endorsement of Robinson on Monday. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, the chair of the Republican Governors Association, also pulled his endorsement and canceled a RGA fundraiser in Greensboro, North Carolina. The RGA confirmed to CNN it would not spend any more money in the governors race.
Other canceled events featuring Robinson include a since-removed fundraiser to support the Trump-Vance campaign in Wisconsin on September 29. An updated invitation online now reads, Our earlier speaker cancelled, but we have secured a great Trump ally for this event! Stay tuned!
Robinson was also scheduled to appear as the main speaker at a fundraiser for the conservative group Dakota First Action in October. Updated promotions for the event no longer feature Robinson, and the group has not responded to questions on whether he is still speaking.
An invite for a get out the vote rally with the Johnston County, North Carolina, GOP for October 3 was updated to remove Robinson.
Meanwhile, Robinsons events page which was once full of events is currently blank.
The National Rifle Association is no longer running ads in support of Robinson or against his opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein, according to Facebooks ad disclosure. Ads stopped last weekend, according to Facebook. The group did not return CNNs request for comment.
CNN also reported on Monday that digital ads for Robinson had stopped over the weekend and have not since restarted.
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To help inform voters about 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: Natasha Marcus
Political party: Democrat
Age as of Nov. 5, 2024: 55
Campaign website: NatashaMarcus.com
Current occupation: North Carolina Senator
Professional experience: Prior to serving as a state senator, I worked as a litigation attorney at the Brooks Pierce law firm and clerked for a federal judge in Greensboro. I also served in a development role at the Ada Jenkins Center, a community service center fostering financial independence in the North Mecklenburg area.
Education: BA Hamilton College (91), JD Duke University (94)
Please list any notable government or civic involvement. Ive served as a state senator for six years, currently on the Senate Commerce and Insurance, Judiciary, Redistricting and Elections, Budget, Justice and Public Safety Approps, and Education committees. Ive done community work for the past 20+ years, including Moral Monday protests, gun violence prevention, Habitat for Humanity builds, marches in support of womens rights, volunteering at the local free health clinic, fostering homeless cats and kittens, and organizing voter registration drives.
What would be your top priority if elected?
Ending the excessive insurance rate hikes. (Insurance Commissioner Mike) Causey approved an unprecedented 16 insurance rate increases, allowing insurers to make excessive profits on the backs of North Carolinians. Hes never held a single public hearing no data to justify the increases, no cross-examination. Instead, he makes deals with insurers behind closed doors. Ill end the rate racket and restore transparency. Im experienced in a courtroom-like setting and will hold the public hearings. More at NatashaMarcus.com.
What percentage raises should your state agencys employees receive in the next state budget?
Vacancy rates are historically high. Low pay for skilled actuaries and other DOI experts makes it hard to do the job of commissioner: to ensure affordable, quality insurance for NC consumers. As a senator, Ive fought for better pay for state employees and voted against the budgets that refused to do so. As commissioner, I will support competitive pay sufficient to retain and hire in the current market.
Will you attend all Council of State meetings?
Yes. Of course. Thats a key part of the job.
How will you work with the other nine members of the council, including the governor?
I serve on several bipartisan Senate committees. Im experienced in state government, work well with the current governor, as I will with the next governor. I come prepared, respect others and am true to my word. I understand how the branches of government should work together to benefit the people. I will find bipartisan solutions to reduce insurance and housing costs, foster a vibrant marketplace of insurance options for NC consumers, and reduce fraud and uninsured drivers all non-partisan goals.
Lawmakers recently made the Office of the State Fire Marshal a separate position from the Insurance Commissioner. Do you agree with that change? Why or why not?
Yes. According to his own party, Causey was stripped of his job as fire marshal for failing to fight for firefighters cancer coverage and for politicizing the position, using firefighters as political pawns. Thats unacceptable. Im proud to be endorsed by the Professional Firefighters and Paramedics and look forward to partnering with them and volunteer firefighters. I support removing politics from the OSFM. Firefighters trust independent leadership by professional firefighters, and I do, too.
How should the insurance commissioner negotiate insurance rate increases and what level of input should the public have on those decisions?
Every commissioner since 1977 has held public hearings on rate hike requests except one: Causey. Ill restore accountability and fight for the people by requiring insurance companies to justify their requests with data, presented under oath and subject to cross-examination. The public deserves a commissioner who wont allow rates to go one penny higher than is justified. Every four years, we have the chance to elect a commissioner who will work for the people, not for the insurance companies.
How will you investigate insurance fraud cases and discipline perpetrators?
Insurance fraud costs consumers $300 billion plus, annually. The commissioner should crack down on fraud to save honest policyholders money. Ill ensure employers dont evade workers comp laws by misclassifying workers, which cheats workers of protections and unfairly disadvantages rule-abiding businesses. Ill use DOIs sworn law enforcement officers and tip line to investigate systemic unfairness and large-scale fraud, not just the small cases, but the more significant, costly cases that Causey ignores.
Is there an issue on which you disagree with your party? What is your position on that issue?
Some Democrats accept donations that raise questions about whether public advocacy is their first priority. When officials whether members of my party or my opponent, who has accepted over $250,000 from insurance industry sources take money from special interests, it creates conflicts of interest. Im not accepting insurance company money, so I remain unentangled with the industry I will be empowered to regulate and can work for the publics best interest.
Under the Dome
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To help inform voters about 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: Rachel Hunt
Political party: Democrat
Age as of Nov. 5, 2024: 59
Campaign website: RachelHunt.com
Current occupation: State senator, attorney, college counselor
Professional experience: College counselor, family law attorney
Education: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA) University of South Carolina (JD) University of California Los Angeles (CCC)
Please list any notable government or civic involvement: Former Resident Manager, Loudon County Battered Womens Shelter; Former Chair Board of Directors, Charlotte Secondary School PTA; Former Board Of Directors, North Carolina Foundation for Public School Children; Coordinator - Leadership Providence, Providence United Methodist Church; Former Chair Board of Directors, Lillians List of North Carolina; Current Board Member - Hunt Institute.
What would be your top priority if elected?
If elected lieutenant governor, Ill focus on making North Carolina the best state in the nation to live, work and raise a family. Ill do that by advocating for more funding for local law enforcement, expanding job training programs in community colleges, increasing teacher pay, and expanding access to affordable child care.
What percentage raises should state employees and school personnel receive in the next state budget?
I would support the raises Gov. Cooper proposed in his most recent budget, a 5% raise for all state employees and an 8.5% increase for teachers.
Will you attend all Council of State meetings?
Yes.
How will you work with the other nine members of the council?
I look forward to working with the other members of the Council of State to address the issues that impact North Carolinians. For example, I would work with the Superintendent of Public Instruction to advocate for increased school funding and better conditions for our teachers and students, and Ill work with the Commissioner of Agriculture to promote NC agriculture and ensure that our family farmers can continue to farm for generations to come, preserving local agriculture and sustainable food production.
The LG office has limited duties, one of which is presiding over the Senate. How often will you preside over sessions?
I will preside over the Senate as often as I can in conjunction with the other boards and commissions the lieutenant governor serves on.
How do you see your role on the State Board of Education, and what are your priorities for public education?
Our current pay structure is causing a loss of talented teachers in the profession and dissuading new educators from joining. That is why I proposed a budget amendment this session to raise teacher salaries and reintroduce masters (degree) pay. By doing so, we can attract and keep top-notch teachers who will deliver the high-quality education our children deserve. If elected lieutenant governor, I am committed to collaborating with the legislature to ensure this proposal becomes law.
If you win, and the governor is from a different political party, how will that impact your role as LG?
My job as lieutenant governor will be the same regardless of who is governor. Ill focus on being the voice of all North Carolinians in Raleigh and encourage whoever is governor to work with the legislature to improve our education system, expand access to quality child care and protect a womans right to choose.
Is there an issue on which you disagree with your party? What is your position on that issue?
I believe in finding common ground and working across party lines to address the issues facing our state and I differ from my party on the topic of education reform. I believe we must prioritize investing in public schools and ensuring students succeed. Im open to new ways to improve our schools, like expanding vocational training and accountability measures to ensure that taxpayer funds are being spent effectively. By working together we can create a stronger and more prosperous future for NC.
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Democrats are watching with growing unease as GOP super PACs pour money into Senate races that will determine control of Congress next year, cutting into their long-running financial advantage this election season.
The late influx of cash in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland threatens Democrats tenuous two-seat hold on the Senate, which is certain to drop by one in November thanks to a lost seat in West Virginia. Although traditional Republican groups are spending plenty, super PACs boosting individual GOP Senate candidates are writing huge checks in the final weeks of the campaign.
Allies of former Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan made $18 million in fall reservations to boost his Senate bid, following a more than $60 million post-Labor Day planned offensive in Pennsylvania by a group backing Republican nominee Dave McCormick, according to sources tracking media buys. Thats on top of a crypto super PAC that has poured in an eye-watering $34 million to defeat Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown by helping his rival, Republican Bernie Moreno.
Its very concerning, not just in terms of the outcome of the races but in the message that it sends to people in office. That the folks you need to listen to arent your voters but the billionaires who can cough up $60 million, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., told Semafor.
The practice of super PACs supporting a single candidate started in presidential races, he added, and now its moved down to major Senate races. I think it is a trend.
Big spending doesnt guarantee a win, of course, but it makes top Republicans feel better about their chances. The late tide of money from GOP super PACs, in fact, comes after top Republicans delivered urgent warnings that winnable races could be out of their reach.
And every seat matters, because the 2026 Senate map will feature more opportunities for Democrats.
Theyre all very tight margin of error races and look to be tightening further outside groups see that. They know these races are competitive, said Montana Sen. Steve Daines, the GOPs campaign arm chair. Were seeing increased interest.
Democrats still count key advantages in this years Senate battle. Their candidates early financial decision-making allows them to get more advertising bang for their bucks than big outside groups, since candidates get the best rates. In Ohio and Pennsylvania, Republicans are outspending Democrats but paying more for their TV airtime, leading to relative parity on the airwaves, according to both parties.
Theyre pouring in a ton of money. So weve got to be concerned about that, said Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who chairs Democrats campaign arm. Theres a diminishing rate of return as super PAC money comes in.
Both parties have benefited from super PAC spending over the years, but Democrats are sweating the sheer magnitude of the money this time around. Brown said he expected big money to come in and Republicans are fulfilling my expectations.
The pro-McCormick PAC has lined up the largest single TV reservation of the cycle, according to Democratic sources, and may end up as the largest candidate-specific Senate super PAC in history. Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, the Democratic recipient of all those super PAC attacks, deadpanned: Its a big number. Might be a record.
Know More
The Senate GOP campaign arms executive director, Jason Thielman, told donors over the weekend that the GOP is at or near equal air-war footing with Democrats in Montana, Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania but raised concerns over Democratic advantages in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin and Michigan, according to an attendee at the meeting.
The Daines-led campaign arm is also cutting hybrid ads with GOP candidates to get better ad rates.
Senate Majority PAC, Democrats top super PAC, made much of its reservations about six months ago, giving them better spending rates. Sarah Guggenheimer, a spokesperson for the group, said Mitch McConnell and his pals late-notice reservations will do nothing to distract voters from what theyve already learned about Republican candidates.
Despite that confidence, Democrats drive to hold the Senate remains challenging, particularly with the GOP leading polls in Montana, looking competitive in Ohio and pouring resources into Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Another slate of battlegrounds could limit potential losses for the party.
Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Jacky Rosen of Nevada have enjoyed consistent leads in their races, and Reps. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Ruben Gallego of Arizona are still favored in their open-seat Senate campaigns.
Yet Republican PACs like the Senate Leadership Fund havent finalized their fall spending decisions, even as they spend millions of dollars in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Montana. And Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson said hes been lobbying outside groups to spend on defeating Baldwin.
Burgesss view
Its decision time for the Senate campaign worlds big spenders. Montana and Ohio remain the most important races on the map this fall, simply because those states are red enough that Republican candidates can win them even if Donald Trump loses the presidential election.
After those two states, however, Democrats could face more struggles in the coming weeks. They may have to shore up Angela Alsobrooks in Maryland if Hogans allies start chipping at her lead, though a blue-state win is still tough for the former governor.
Peters said Democrats will do everything we need to do to hold Maryland, while party sources said the Democratic group Women Vote! has spent $4 million to help Alsobrooks, with more on the way.
Late Democratic spending against Rick Scott of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas would amount to an insurance policy in case Brown or Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., cant overcome their red states leanings. But both of those states are expensive and elusive: Democrats havent won a Senate race in Florida since 2012 and havent won one in Texas since 1988.
Still, a national Democratic strategist said theres real potential for offensive opportunities in Texas and Florida.
Democratic candidates like Baldwin and Rosen are running ahead of the top of the ticket, where the race is closer between the former president and Vice President Kamala Harris. But in the end, Senate strategists in both parties expect those headwinds to shrink.
Georgia Democrats filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to compel Gov. Brian Kemp (R) to hold a hearing over three Georgia State Election Board members after the Democrats issued ethics charges against them.
Three Democrats in the Peach State issued a lawsuit asking the Fulton County Superior Court to require Kemp to take up a hearing on Georgia State Election Board members Rick Jeffares, Janice Johnston and Janelle King.
The lawsuit noted the Democrats submitted formal ethics charges on each member to Kemp. The Democrats allege that the three members violated Georgia law by calling and participating in an illegal meeting on July 12; consistently acting contrary to the advice of the AG in official matters relating to their public duties as members of the State Election Board; and voted on rules that favored one party, among other allegations.
While we have not yet been served, it is not our practice to comment on pending or active litigation, Garrison Douglas, a spokesperson for Kemp, said in a statement in response to the lawsuit.
However, what I can speak to is this: Per the standard stated in the Attorney Generals opinion, there have been no formal charges filed that would trigger the governors statutory authority to act on these matters, he continued. As he has done in the past, the governor will follow the laws and constitution of our state.
The State Election Board has been under increasing scrutiny this year. In July, government watchdog group American Oversight sued members of the board, including Jeffares, Johnston and King all members lauded by former President Trump alleging they held a meeting on July 12 without proper notice to the public and without proper quorum in person.
American Oversight also alleged the members convened the meeting knowing that the Attorney Generals office had instructed them that their plans were likely unlawful under the Open Meetings Act and that the three members were trying to push through controversial proposals without the due notice required by and consequent robust discussion and debate contemplated under the Open Meetings Act.
Following the lawsuit, members of the board reversed course and signaled they would revisit the rules they voted on during that meeting, according to The Associated Press.
More recently, the State Election Board convened last week, where they ruled in favor of passing a controversial new rule mandating hand-counting ballots at precincts.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Connecticut single mom moves into a hotel due to high rent prices why so many American are pushed to the brink
Necessity is the mother of invention, and as many families struggle to find necessary housing theyre inventing unorthodox solutions.
Enter Suzzane Hayes, a mother of three from Connecticut. Unable to find affordable rentals locally, she decided to move her family into a hotel.
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When push came to shove, I just had to be creative, she told Fox Business in a recent interview, describing how some hotels were willing to offer her a month-to-month rate that was lower than most rental apartments in her region.
The Hayes familys unusual move highlights a broken housing system thats pushing many Americans to get creative with their housing.
Persistent housing crisis
The rate at which Americans are starting families is outpacing the rate of new home construction. In 2022, the number of U.S. families increased by 1.8 million, while just 1.4 million new homes were constructed, according to new analysis from Zillow. Since this gap has persisted for several years and family sizes vary, Zillow estimates that the total housing shortage stands at roughly 4.5 million.
This persistent shortage has pushed both house and rent prices higher. From 2019 to 2024, rents have climbed 19%, according to the Washington Posts analysis of CoStar data. Meanwhile, home prices rose 4.7% in June over the year before and are expected to rise another 2.3% by 2025, according to CoreLogic.
A lack of supply and affordability is pushing many families to consider unconventional solutions. Multigenerational living, for instance, is on the rise, according to Pew Research. Meanwhile, 29% of homes purchased across the country were completed with co-buyers such as friends, groups and parents, data from CoBuy shows.
As for renters like Hayes, commercial properties like hotels have turned into surprising bargains. Earlier this year, 31-year-old Ben Keenan posted a TikTok claiming the cost of living on a cruise ship full-time or an all-inclusive resort would be cheaper than living in his Seattle apartment.
Read more: Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead
Story continues
Relocation
The housing crisis isnt evenly distributed across the world. While rents and home prices have been surging across North America, theyre actually dropping in Germany and France. And theres an oversupply of 9 million vacant homes in Japan, according to a Nippon report.
As a result, the number of Americans claiming their retirement benefits from abroad has jumped 46.6% from 2008 to 2022, according to data from the Social Security Administration.
Of course, you dont need to move to Kyoto to reduce housing costs. A healthy 8.2 million Americans moved interstate in 2022, according to the Census Bureau. Many of these interstate migrants may have been seeking cheaper housing.
I've thought about moving to Florida often, Hayes admitted in her Fox Business interview. Considering the fact that Connecticut was ranked the worst for renters in 2024, according to a reportby Consumer Affairs, Hayes could likely improve her living condition by moving to nearly any other state.
However, she remains committed to her home state because her three children are happy in fantastic schools there. But once theyve flown the nest, she may seek a brighter outlook in the Sunshine State if its still a safe haven by then.
What to read next
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Some House Democrats are already looking at the possibility of investigating former President Trump if they win the House majority in November.
Two top lawmakers, Reps. Richard Neal, D-Mass., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., did not rule out probing Trump if he wins the White House in November.
Neal, the top Democrat on the House Ways & Means Committee who led the probe into Trumps tax returns in the last Congress, told Fox News Digital it would be "hard to assess" whether he would see himself resuscitating that effort, but he added that the Supreme Courts recent decision expanding presidential immunity could change the calculus.
"That would be speculative, but I certainly would not back away from the positions Ive taken over the years on that issue," Neal said.
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Reps. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., left, and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., right, said they anticipate probes into former President Trump if he wins in November.
Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, told Fox News Digital, "Id rather look to the future than the past, but well do our job."
Read On The Fox News App
In a longer statement provided to Fox News Digital on Wednesday, Raskin accused Republicans of ignoring issues like gun violence and prescription drug costs.
"Instead, for two years, House Republicans have used the gavel to pursue a laughingstock flop of an impeachment investigation to help their presidential nominee and personal cult leader, Donald Trump. Even worse, they have blocked and obstructed Democrats' efforts to investigate the corruption of Donald Trump and his autocrat allies," Raskin said.
"Investigating this endless corruption is critical for Congress to create legislative fixes to ensure government serves the people and to put an end to efforts to exploit the presidency and sell out our government to the highest bidder."
Meanwhile, rank-and-file Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., said investigations could be warranted into Trumps family and their business dealings even if the former president lost his re-election bid.
Both singled out his son-in-law and former White House adviser Jared Kushner, whose investment firm got a $2 billion investment commitment from a fund led by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
"His family has some ongoing deals that we learned about after we went out of the majority that I think are worth visiting," Swalwell said. "The Kushners and the Saudi deal I think people want some closure on that."
He took a shot at the House GOPs probes into the foreign business dealings of President Bidens son, Hunter, adding, "If you tell me you're interested in Hunter Biden, then you probably owe it to the country to be interested in what happened there."
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Jared Kushner's foreign business deals could be probed, Democrats suggested.
Goldman, an Oversight Committee member, told Fox News Digital, "I think if Trump wins, obviously that'll be the principal purpose [of the committee], is to provide the checks and balances that Congress needs to check, and that Donald Trump especially requires."
"I think there are a lot of really important, substantive issues that the committee has not investigated this year that are not partisan, that we should be focused on," he said, adding, "But we also were frustrated this term that obvious, obvious concerns were not investigated."
"How did Jared Kushner get $2 billion from Mohammed bin Salman for an investment company in something that he had never done before That's a tremendous amount of money. There's been no investigation into that," said Goldman.
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Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt responded, saying, "Swalwell and Goldman should get a life. President Trump has endured two fake impeachments, four baseless witch-hunt indictments, and endless investigations into his businesses all of which have failed because they are not based on facts but rather, they are fueled by the vitriolic Trump Derangement Syndrome that has taken over the Democrat Party."
Raskins investigatory efforts into Trump during this Congress, as leader of the Oversight Committees Democratic minority, could also offer a possible preview of what Democrats probes could look like in a second Trump term.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said Democrats would "harass" former President Trump if they won.
Earlier this month, he and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., sent a letter to Trump demanding that the former president prove he did not take a "cash bribe" from Egypts president in 2017. The letter was spurred by a Washington Post report that also alleged former Attorney General Bill Barr had blocked a probe into the matter.
Investigating Biden and his family has been a core focus of the committee under Chairman James Comers tenure. Comer, R-Ky., released a report recently accusing the president of having committed impeachable offenses something the White House denies.
He denied that the intensity of his Biden probe could give Democrats cover to investigate Trump, however insisting their inquiries into Trump were political.
"If the Democrats want to waste taxpayer dollars and time investigating the Trump administration again for the second time, then that's their prerogative. But we focused on waste, fraud and abuse and mismanagement by the federal government," Comer told Fox News Digital.
"If Trump wins They're going to harass and obstruct every step of the way."
Original article source: Dems eye possible Trump investigations if they win House majority
I depend on a 'paid village' to look after my kids. I can't ask the grandparents for help because they work full time.
Jennifer Biggs said a "paid village" helps her take care of her children. Courtesy of Jennifer Biggs
Jennifer Biggs is a 35-year-old mom of three children, ages 6, 5, and 3, in North Carolina.
Her parents work full time and can't help out with childcare.
She said her "paid village" is taking care of her children.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jennifer Biggs. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I know some parents have villages made up of family members, namely grandparents, who can help with full-time childcare. My husband and I have never had that.
My mom lives 30 minutes from us, and my dad is about an hour away. My husband's parents live a 10-hour drive from us. My parents are still working 9-to-5 jobs. We've never expected or asked them to make a regular habit of being caretakers for our kids while we work. It's literally impossible for them to do without retiring early.
But even if they were retired, I wouldn't ask them to be responsible for the full-time caretaking of our children.
The relationship would change
I feel that when grandparents become primary caregivers in place of after-school clubs or day care, it changes the dynamic. Suddenly, the grandparent becomes a service provider to their adult child.
If my parents were the primary caretakers for my kids, I'd want them to abide by the routines and rules I have at home. For instance, I would want my kids to have limited screen time and to prioritize learning and development activities such as studying their letters and numbers and doing arts and crafts. It would change my relationship with my parents if I expected them to abide by my way of doing things.
It also changes the dynamic a grandparent has with their grandchild. Part of the fun of being a grandparent is having the freedom to spoil. But when they become the primary caregiver, they carry a parental responsibility, which takes away part of the joy of being a grandparent.
My parents already cared for me
I also don't want to ask my parents to put their lives on hold to take care of my children. My mom spent years caring for me, her child. Now that I'm grown, I don't want her to plan her life around mine. She should feel free to go on last-minute vacations, take classes, or see friends in her free time not be bound to the responsibility of watching her grandkids.
Our society often relies on the unpaid labor of grandparents, especially women, but it shouldn't.
Even though they don't consistently care for my kids, my parents still have very strong relationships with them, spoiling them on special days out or weekend sleepovers.
I depend on a 'paid village'
Without a family village caring for our kids, I depend on what I call my "paid village." We've used day care, after-school care, babysitters, and summer camps since having kids.
Sometimes, I get the feeling that people think I'm a bad mom for sending my kids to paid childcare, but my kids love their caretakers and the activities they do with them. And me continuing to work is what's best for me and my family.
Even though my kids spend their days in childcare, my husband and I raise our children. We instill in them our base moral values. We just don't do the caretaking for them 24/7.
Paid childcare means I don't burn out under the pressure of trying to do it all. It protects my mental health so I can work and parent without depending on the grandparents.
Read the original article on Business Insider
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) A Blount County deputy shot and killed a bear that was guarding the body of a motorcyclist killed in a crash on the Dragon (US Route 129), according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
A spokesperson for the TWRA confirmed to 6 News on Wednesday that the deputy was attempting to get to the victims body on Friday when he encountered the male black bear.
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The bear, which is estimated to have weighed between 150 and 175 pounds, was about 30 feet away from the deputy. The deputy tried to haze the bear and scare it away, but it stayed near the body.
The deputy retrieved his duty rifle and returned to the area where the body was, attempting to haze the bear again. The bear wasnt affected by the hazing again. Instead, the bear got defensive of the motorcyclists body and came toward the deputy.
First September tornado in recorded East TN history confirmed by NWS
The TWRA spokesperson said because of the totality of the circumstances and how close the incident was happening to the woods, the deputy fatally shot the bear to ensure his safety and the safety of the other first responders.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)
Two Des Moines police officers were reasonable in their use of deadly force against a suspect who pointed at them what was later identified to be a pellet gun, Polk County Attorney Kimberly Graham concluded on Wednesday.
Graham released a letter with her findings on the officer-involved shooting the morning of July 30, when a Des Moines police officer was shot by friendly fire and a suspect was killed after a vehicle pursuit stemming from a domestic dispute investigation. The suspect, Weston Dean Derby, 45, of Bellevue, Nebraska, pointed a gun at his head before pointing it at officers.
"Given all the circumstances, it was reasonable for Officers (Jesse) Schneider and (Anthony) Lampman to conclude that their lives were in imminent danger at the time the deadly force was used," Graham wrote in a letter to Police Chief Dana Wingert. "It is my conclusion that the use of deadly force was legally justified pursuant to Iowa law. No charges will be filed by our office."
Schneider, 37, the injured officer, is a senior police officer with four years of service with the Des Moines Police Department. Schneider was struck in the back of his shoulder in a gap of his body armor, and the bullet exited his chest, leaving the officer in serious but stable condition, Sgt. Paul Parizek said at the time.
Schneider was discharged from the hospital, to recover at home, a week after the shooting.
Officers had been dispatched to the 5800 block of Southeast 35th Circle for a report regarding a person violating a protective order around 3:30 a.m., Parizek said in a news release.
Police spotted Derby driving a stolen vehicle near the scene and attempted to stop him around 3:50 a.m., the news release said. Derby fled from police, and the pursuit continued during a rainstorm.
Graham stated in her findings that "Derby had driven repeatedly to the home of an ex-girlfriend, threatening and harassing her to the point she had obtained a temporary no-contact order the day before the shooting occurred. It is our understanding the deceased and his former girlfriend had a previous no-contact order in another state."
During the officers' pursuit of Derby, he fled westbound on East Army Post Road, appeared to lose control, left the roadway to the south and came to a stop, the Police Department's news release said.
"When Des Moines Police Officer Schneider located Mr. Derby to serve him with the no-contact order, and attempted to stop him, Mr. Derby sped up and attempted to elude the officer," Graham said in her letter. "After a short time, he drove off the road into dense weeds and small trees, which halted his vehicle."
The other officer involved in the shooting, Lampman, 23, with 10 months of service in the department, was placed on administrative leave.
Body camera footage showed the suspect pulling out a gun as the police approached him, Parizek said in a news release. Derby raised the handgun toward his head and then suddenly pointed the gun at the officers, using a two-hand grip, the release said.
Both officers fired their handguns at Derby, Parizek said, and Derby died at the scene.
Graham said she reviewed all the body camera footage and evidence from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. She described a similar chain of events in her letter to Wingert.
"Mr. Derbys words and actions are clearly seen and heard on the body-worn camera footage because of the close distance from the officers to Mr. Derby and illumination from a flashlight and vehicle headlights," she wrote. "Mr. Derby then turned around and held the gun to his own head for a few moments, during which time the officers did not open fire. Then Mr. Derby turned the gun straight toward the officers. The officers both opened fire at that time."
Schneider was accidentally hit by one round from Lampmans firearm. It appeared that Schneider may have moved into a position in front of Lampman as he was retreating during the shooting, Parizek told the Register the day of the shooting.
It was later discovered the weapon Derby was carrying was a pellet gun, Graham added in her findings.
Police have not released the body camera footage and are unable to do so until the Iowa attorney general also releases a report on the shooting. Parizek said Wednesday that Schneider and Lampman still are on paid administrative assignment. The department would neither begin an internal review nor comment on the findings until it had received the attorney general's report, he said.
Phillip Sitter covers the western suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com or on X at @pslifeisabeauty.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated when Officer Jesse Schneider was released from the hospital.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Fatal shooting by Des Moines police was justified, attorney says
Deseret News archives: In 1981, Supreme Court grew in stature as Sandra Day OConnor was sworn in
The front page of the Deseret News on Sept. 25, 1981, as Sandra Day O'Connor is sworn in as a U.S Supreme Court justice.
A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
On Sept. 25, 1981, Sandra Day OConnor made history when she was installed as the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. OConnor then spent a quarter of a century as the swing vote on the court.
Having already served in the three branches of state government in the West, OConnor was ready for the position.
During his 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan made a commitment to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court of the United States. When Justice Potter Stewart retired in 1981, Reagan fulfilled that promise by nominating OConnor, noting that she was a person for all seasons. The Senate unanimously confirmed her appointment on Sept. 21, 1981, and four days later, she took her seat on the bench.
According to historians, she did not like the label swing vote, OConnor frequently found herself referred to as such in the media because her pragmatic approach to judging sometimes resulted in her vote being cast among the majority in 5-4 decisions. OConnor authored 676 opinions in her career, 301 of which were the Opinion of the Court, touching on a wide range of issues.
Being a member of the Court, she once said, is a little like walking through fresh concrete. We look back and see our footprints in those opinions that weve written and they tend to harden after us.
After her retirement in 2006, she founded the Sandra Day OConnor Institute in 2009, which seeks to advance civil discourse, civic engagement and civics education, according to the institutes website.
Matt York, Associated Press
OConnor is highly regarded by many groups and was an influential speaker at many law schools, including BYU. She died in December 2023 at age 93.
Here are more stories from Deseret News archives about OConnor:
Sandra Day OConnor, first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, dies at 93
Iconic Justice Sandra Day OConnor was more than a trailblazer, she was a dear friend and mentor to these Utah lawyers
Sandra Day OConnors religious freedom legacy
Two U.S. Supreme Court Justices on how they disagree better
OConnor becomes first woman ever to preside over court
OConnor retires
OConnor breaks silence on her 1988 mastectomy
Y. graduates told to give freely
Over time, Gabriella Thomas has noticed a trend: Resources to help college students like her navigate the stressors of school are cropping up everywhere.
"They're not something you really have to go seek out," said Thomas, the president of Marquette University's mental health-focused Active Minds club.
That's a sign of needed progress, she said.
However, in the wake of increasing national attention on mental health, the average person's understanding of the topic is still relatively weak. For decades, research has shown most people lack the background knowledge needed to spot signs of common mental illnesses or name treatments that are known to help.
In itself, the umbrella term "mental health" is a close cousin to physical health something that fluctuates over time and requires care and attention to manage. And just as sometimes people get physically sick, whether temporarily or in the long term, they can also sometimes develop a mental illness.
Not only do stereotypes and misconceptions fester without better "mental health literacy," advocates and researchers warn, but fewer people ultimately reduce symptoms through treatment.
I think a lot of the time, people dont seek help because they genuinely just dont know where to start, Thomas said. Thats definitely the hardest part. Then you start to go (to get help), and you figure out what works best for you, and its like a domino effect.
Awareness of mental health is increasing but more is needed
In many ways, mental health today is hard to miss.
In 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General released a 53-page advisory outlining action steps at the national level to address troubling data on the state of youth mental health. In 2022, a national poll found that 90% of people believed the country was in a "mental health crisis."
It's no different in Wisconsin. In 2023, the state's Office of Children's Mental Health called the issue "extremely concerning" in its annual report. In 2024, Gov. Tony Evers pledged to respond with a "whole-of-government approach."
Despite that increased attention, an estimated 2 of 3 young people in the U.S. who need treatment for mental health issues don't get it. And advocates have been urging for reduced stigma against people living with mental illnesses for decades, not just since COVID-19.
One solution, advocates and researchers say, is going beyond increased public awareness to increased public understanding.
Rachel Tambling, a professor who studies mental health literacy at the University of Connecticut, said many messages about mental health are over-generalized or lack specificity.
Most people would think it's ridiculous to see a sign saying "your physical body is important," she said. But it's common to see messages like that about mental health, especially since the pandemic.
"It just shows you where we are with the concept of mental health literacy," Tambling said. "We aren't really even (at the point of) educating people. We're literally saying, 'Hey, it's important.'"
More: Most students find returning to school stressful. Here's a quick primer for parents.
Literature is posted informing patients and visitors about a group in the childrens mental health clinic at the Childrens Hospital Wisconsin Clinics Building in Wauwatosa on Sept. 16.
Many people can't recognize common signs of depression, anxiety
Thomas describes herself as having been a "stressed-out kid."
She said she subconsciously learned to cope with stress levels that were more intense than others around her experienced. For most of her childhood in the Chicago suburbs, it was manageable, she said.
But Thomas said she knew the pressures of college would make the situation unsustainable. It's why she decided to get help and relieve her symptoms, allowing her to focus better on her undergraduate degree in exercise physiology.
I wanted to be successful in college and make sure that I can manage, physically, without experiencing too much burnout, or being a ball of stress all the time," she said.
For many people, the first step to getting help is simply acknowledging it's needed. But without the ability to recognize symptoms, it can be tough to even reach that first step.
Symptoms of "mental health issues" can be many and more complicated than just stress and anxiety, or hopelessness and sadness. Someone with generalized anxiety disorder might struggle to concentrate, make decisions or fall asleep. They might notice nausea or trouble disgesting food, muscle pain, twitching, excess sweating or lightheadedness.
In a 2010 study, fewer than half of undergraduate college students enrolled in psychology courses could correctly identify generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder. Years later, a study of over 1,000 high school students came a similar conclusion about depression.
Efforts to increase physical health literacy have made major strides, Tambling said. More people are able to recognize terms like blood sugar and insulin, or pinpoint signs of a stroke or heart attack.
But the public's understanding about mental illness is often based on stereotypes, she said.
For example, someone might assume depression is only noticeable if someone cries frequently and stays in bed. But that's a narrow view of the illness, missing its many other potential symptoms.
"We don't realize as a culture that most people who struggle with mental illness are going to work, are going to the grocery store are cracking jokes, are at your birthday party," Tambling said.
Thomas, 21, said she's proud of her generation: It's becoming far more common to talk about symptoms of mental health, largely due to social media.
But with more of an ability to call attention to the issue, it's also easier to misuse common language.
Im sure people with ADHD dont appreciate when somebody throws out, Oh, that was so ADHD of me, she said. These terms are becoming more common because people are getting more informed which is great but some people are now using it too loosely, in a way.
Once you recognize symptoms, then what?
Intertwined with a lack of ability to recognize symptoms, studies have shown, is a lack of understanding about how to address them.
The 2015 study on high schoolers' mental health literacy unpacked that question, asking study participants to list the resources to manage depression. The answers: friends, family and "counselors," the study found.
But figuring out who is a "counselor," a therapist or mental health-focused doctor can be confusing. Within the long list of professionals who work in the field, there's variation in who can assess symptoms, make a diagnosis, hold a therapy session or prescribe medicine.
The majority of people who get medical help for their mental health start with a general practice doctor, not a specialist. And the list of quicker options, like walk-in mental health clinics or in-school staff trained to direct students to help, is growing.
Thomas said it's easy to stop looking for help after self-diagnosing a mental health issue using resources online and delay getting help from a professional.
"They're not realizing that, 'Hey, there's a way to get access to support that will make you not feel this way," she said.
What does a specialist doctor look for in making a diagnosis?
It's normal for people to be worried or sad, said Dr. Margaret Altschaefl, a licensed psychologist at Children's Wisconsin. Feelings like those are the body's way of signaling it's time to make a change.
Once it starts to really functionally impact us, where were not able to do things, or not take care of ourselves, thats when it becomes more of an illness or a disorder," said Altschaefl, who works with children and adolescents in Milwaukee.
For example, worries could become so intense they cause someone to lie awake for hours each night. Someone could fear failure so much that they become hyper-focused on studying, stop spending time with loved ones, avoid school, feel sick or become quick to anger.
When Altschaefl meets a new patient, she looks for clues in four categories associated with mental health: thoughts, emotions, "body feelings" and behaviors.
Amy Lemm, a Chlidrens Wisconsin care team assistant, works in the childrens mental health clinic at the Childrens Hospital Wisconsin Clinics Building in Wauwatosa.
Mental health issues can cause repeated, negative thoughts that won't go away, Altschaefl said. Those thoughts can take many forms: fear of being made fun of at school, worrying something bad is about to happen, or not liking yourself, for example.
Especially for younger kids, feelings in the body like stomachaches, headaches and exhaustion can act as signals of mental health issues. Behavior might change, too: A child could have more tantrums or avoid situations like school, trying new things or interacting with other kids.
Altschaefl tries to figure out whether a patient's symptoms generally happen in specific places at home, at school, with friends or follow them everywhere. She also wants to know how long the symptoms have been happening and how much they impede the patient from living their normal life.
Regardless of the diagnosis, Altschaefl said, symptoms can be managed. Put another way, if someone's foot hurts, the pain still exists whether they have a diagnosis to explain why.
It's why she helps make a care plan for each patient, outlining specific steps they can take to reduce symptoms.
Those arent restricted based on your diagnosis, she said.
As self-reported mental health issues rise, talking about mental health is becoming increasingly common
Thomas said in her parents' generation, talking about emotions was relatively taboo. Going to therapy was seen as a last-case scenario, only for people with debilitating mental illnesses, she said.
"I think that's something that my generation is doing a great job with," Thomas said. "There's a lot of people who are younger who are realizing, 'Hey, I just want to work on myself ... so I can be happier, so I can feel better about myself.'"
One study on youth mental health, in particular, has made its way into government reports, politicians' statements, news stories and researchers' analyses.
The first year that federal Youth Risk Behavior Survey asked about symptoms of mental health issues, other than suicidal ideation, was 1999.
High school students were asked whether in the past 12 months they ever felt "so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row" that they "stopped doing some usual activities."
That first year in 1999, 28% of high school students said yes. By 2021, the figure had risen to 42%. In Wisconsin, the picture is slightly better, going from 28% in 1999 to 34% in 2021.
The survey eventually added the term "mental health" to its questionnaire for the first time in 2021.
Students were asked whether in the past 30 days their mental health was "not good," using "stress, anxiety and depression" as a definition.
Nearly one in three students, or 29%, said their mental health was poor most of the time or always.
Altschafel, the psychologist, said her specialty clinic at Children's Wisconsin, said she's noticed increase in the number of teenagers and their guardians who arrive at the doctor's office with an idea about what their diagnosis could be.
"The knowledge, awareness and comfortability of talking about it with health professionals, and with kids and parents, has increased," Altschaefl said. "That's probably what's leading to some of the increase in people seeking services."
It's OK to seek help
Basic mental health education ultimately sends a broader message, advocates say, that it's a medical issue with proven treatments.
In other words, mental illness is not a choice.
But that's been the fallacy for decades, Tambling said.
"It's all tied to resources. If we don't value mental health, and we don't have mental health literacy, we don't know what's going on. Then we're not valuing and investing in resources for kids, for adults, for people," Tambling said.
There are myriad stereotypes associated with mental illness, studies have shown. It doesn't make people dangerous, criminal or incompetent but fears about being associated with stereotypes like these can prevent people from seeking help.
People of color, especially Black, Latino and Indigenous people, as well as LGBTQ+ people, are less likely to receive mental health care. Factors like poverty, substance abuse and incarceration are also tied to a lack of access, according to 2020 research.
Kettle Moraine High School of Health Sciences has a mental health first aid book as one of the resources that has been implemented as part of the district's youth mental health initiative.
For Thomas, one key way to expand access to services is to continue spreading the message that it's OK to ask for help.
When she signed up to work with Active Minds as a freshman, Thomas said she was nervous people would think she was "struggling." Now, she's happy to talk about it.
'Normal' looks different for each individual, she said.
Cleo Krejci covers education and workforce development as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. For more information about Report for America, visit jsonline.com/rfa.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How do doctors define 'mental health issues' among K-12 kids?
Josh Phipps, a deputy for the Russell County Sheriffs Office, died in a police shooting in Russell Springs Monday. He previously worked for Louisville Metro Police from 2020-21.
Kentucky State Police continues to investigate a police shooting that left a former Louisville Metro Police officer and current Russell County Sheriff's Office Deputy Joshua Phipps dead Sept. 16 in south-central Kentucky.
KSP stated the incident occurred just before 5:30 p.m. central time after Post 15 trooper Jake Smith attempted a traffic stop in Russell Springs. At first, the driver, later identified as 41-year-old Joshua Arnold, stopped the vehicle, KSP spokesperson Sherry Bray said, but then drove off during the interaction resulting in a chase.
Smith followed the car "for a short distance" before stopping behind a residence on Bluebird Drive. Arnold exited the vehicle and shot a handgun in Smith's direction "multiple times," Bray said. He then fled on foot and multiple officers arrived at the location to assist, including Phipps.
During the search, Phipps entered a camper trailer where officers heard multiple gunshots fired from inside moments later. When troopers arrived, they saw both Phipps and Arnold had "life-threatening injuries," Bray said. Phipps and Arnold were transported to a local hospital and both were pronounced dead.
LMPD spokesperson Aaron Ellis said Phipps joined the department in June 2020 and graduated from the academy in February 2021 before beginning work in the Second Division as a patrol officer. He resigned in May of the same year.
LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey also told The Courier Journal in a press conference that Phipps was well-known to many in the agency and "died tragically in the line of duty."
"He previously served with Louisville Metro Police and it's important that we recognize his sacrifice," Humphrey said. "There are many people within LMPD that worked with him and know him, and they're upset by his loss."
According to Phipps' obituary from the Stotts-Phelps-McQueary Funeral Home, the Columbia resident "passed away doing what he loved, serving and protecting the community." His service was held Saturday in Russell Springs.
Kentucky: Russell County Russell County deputy with Louisville ties dies after shooting in south-central Kentucky
KSP's critical incident response team continues to investigate.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Josh Phipps shooting: New details released in Russell County
VERMILLION COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)New details pertaining to the story we covered on September 17 of one man who was killed in a shooting on September 16.
According to a news release from Indiana State Police (ISP), ISP Troopers showed up at a local business located at State Road 163 and State Road 63 at 8:45 p.m. to reports of shots fired. Upon arrival, Gavin I. Bodkins, 19, of Clinton, Indiana stated he was the one who had fired the shots and called 911. Officers then spotted Devin S. Shelby, 41, of Robinson, Illinois had received gunshot wounds and first aid was administered. Due to the severity of the wounds Shelby was pronounced dead from his injuries.
Update on fatal Vermillion Co. shooting
Vermillion County Sheriff Mike Holtcamp has requested ISP Putnamville Post to conduct the investigation. The investigation is still ongoing and will be turned in to the Vermillion County Prosecutors Office when completed.
WTWO will update you when new information becomes available.
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Detectives use Zillow to track down man charged with child porn
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) Rhode Island State Police detectives used a popular real estate website to track down a suspect accused of producing child pornography.
Larry Albino, 50, of North Providence, faces both state and federal charges that he produced and disseminated child pornography with a toddler-aged victim known to him.
On Sept. 16, the state police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, with 10 videos that were shared from a computer in Rhode Island.
State Police Det. Brent Wilks, a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, tracked the file to an internet address in North Providence, according to a court document filed in Providence federal court.
The residence was previously listed for rent on Zillow.com, and the listing provided multiple images of both the interior and exterior of the residence, Wilks wrote. A review of the listing photographs of the kitchen revealed a black and brown speckled countertop, brown hardwood floors, a white dishwasher, white cabinets with silver knobs, and a hunter green backsplash.
The images matched the background of the residence in the illicit video, according to police.
Wilks also spotted a a brown, Berber style carpet in the living space was observed in the Zillow ad, that matched one of the videos.
Within 24 hours, detectives were at Albinos door with a search warrant. Wilks wrote Albino was wearing bright, multi-colored sandals that I immediately recognized to be the same sandals worn on the feet of the male subject, in the video.
Questioned as investigators were gathering evidence in his home, Wilks wrote Albino confessed to making the videos and further admitted he produced others but I dont have them.
I deleted them, you know, knowing what the hell I was doing was stupid and wrong, Albino told police according to a court affidavit.
He also told detectives that he planned to make money from someone he met online that he described as a perv.
Albino was first charged with five state counts including producing child pornography and second-degree child molestation. He pleaded not guilty and was initially held at the Adult Correctional Institution until he posted $7,500 bail. He was also charged with possession of a controlled substance after cocaine was found in his pocket and in a kitchen cabinet, according to an arrest report.
Days later, he was arrested again, this time on a federal count of production of child pornography. If convicted, Albino faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years to a maximum of 30 years behind bars.
Wearing a tan prison jumpsuit, Albino appeared before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Lincoln Almond for a detention hearing Tuesday afternoon at federal court in Providence. His attorney Kevin Fitzpatrick asked for Albinos release with an electronic monitoring bracelet.
But Almond ordered Albino held without bail, pointing out the defendant was accused of a heinous crime committed against a very young minor. Because of the significant jail time Albino is facing, Almond determined the defendant was a potential flight risk and a risk to himself.
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Detroit's 'most wanted,' sought for sex crimes, captured in Washington state after police chase
Detroit's 'most wanted,' sought for sex crimes, captured in Washington state after police chase
A fugitive sex offender dubbed Detroit's "most wanted" since 2018 was taken into custody in Burien, Washington state, on Tuesday following a pursuit by law enforcement.
Cory Alan Olson, who was using various aliases while on the run, had been evading law enforcement while living in the area in Washington before he was nabbed by King County Sheriff's detectives, according to Fox 13.
Olson had been using the name "Randall," which matched the name of a person in Kansas, whose identity was compromised while Olson was working temporary jobs in Washington state. Kansas authorities notified Washington state officials after the individual in Kansas was questioned about unpaid taxes on income earned elsewhere, leading to further investigation.
"I love the find me puzzle," Detective Riley Myklebust, who played a key role in Olson's capture, told Fox 13.
Washington State 1-Year-old Orphaned After Pregnant Mom, Dad, Both Found Dead On Hawaii Vacation
Myklebust said he ran into significant challenges while investigating identity theft cases.
Read On The Fox News App
"After about a week of looking through 10 plus addresses, years of records, I couldn't figure out who this guy was, and that was a hint, because usually I can figure it out," he said.
Olson was discovered by detectives as he was stepping into his car at a new job in Burien. Police attempted to stop him when Olson pushed a sergeant and drove away. But he was captured a short time later by Myklebust, who had been pursuing him in a minivan.
Fingerprints confirmed Olson's identity, although he still refused to admit who he was.
Cory Alan Olson was using various aliases while on the run.
"What did he say? He wouldn't give it up," Myklebust said.
Olson's criminal history includes the sexual assault of a teenage girl and evading arrest by injuring a deputy in a car crash. He then moved to Washington state, where he was charged for another sexual assault against a person with special needs.
During his arraignment for identity theft, criminal impersonation and multiple counts of forgery, Olson's attorney sought to protect his identity, which was granted by the court, Fox 13 reported.
Macklemore Declares 'F--- America' To Cheers At Seattle Concert Benefiting Un Agency With Hamas Ties
Fingerprints confirmed Olson's identity, although he still refused to admit who he was.
Click To Get The Fox News App
Police have highlighted the importance of public recognition due to a history of repeated sexual offenses. Olsen often went to karaoke bars and presented himself as a wealthy investor with a military background and often targeted women with teenage daughters, according to Fox 13.
Detectives noted his presence in several communities, including Issaquah, downtown Seattle, Puyallup and Olympia, the outlet reported. They said he used several names in addition to Randall, including Josiah, Payton and Nikko, with the last names Arb or Cadaa.
Anyone who has been a victim of Olson's is urged to contact police.
Original article source: Detroit's 'most wanted,' sought for sex crimes, captured in Washington state after police chase
By Christoph Steitz
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - When labour unions step into the ring with Volkswagen executives on Wednesday to fight over job security and plant closures, it will mark the toughest test yet for the most powerful figure at the automaker behind its CEO: Daniela Cavallo.
But the 49-year-old Italian-German will also appear a formidable opponent for managers, having risen through the ranks to become the first female head of the company's works council, styling herself as a defender of the "Volkswagen family".
The negotiations start less than a month after Volkswagen said it might close plants in Germany for the first time. That ended a two-year truce between unions and managers, highlighting that while conflict briefly subsided under Cavallo and Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume, the industry's problems did not.
"Unfortunately, I've got to admit that this is the darkest day so far," Cavallo said earlier this month, hours after Volkswagen told workers of plans to possibly close plants and end long-standing job guarantees.
High energy and labour costs, along with weakening demand in Europe, left management no choice but to take drastic measures, the company argued, breaking two taboos that Cavallo said marked a major cultural change at Europe's biggest automaker.
Her comments, according to two people familiar with the matter, reflect Cavallo's deep commitment to Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen, where she has spent her entire career, eventually becoming works council chief in 2021.
They also show the dispute is more than just business for a worker born and raised in Wolfsburg - it's been a family affair ever since her father swapped southern Italy for Germany in 1969 to join the firm.
Today, Cavallo, her husband and two sisters are all part of Volkswagen's roughly 680,000 global workforce, including the 130,000 VW brand employees in Germany affected by the dispute.
'REASON TO FIGHT'
"Every single one of the 130,000 employees is reason enough to fight," Cavallo, one of the 20 members of Volkswagen's supervisory board, told Reuters.
"But it's not just about the 130,000 colleagues. It's also about their families, the suppliers and service providers around them and, last but not least, the entire regions where the plants are located."
Cavallo, who joined Volkswagen in 1994 to train as an office clerk, quickly caught the attention of rising union star Bernd Osterloh for helping to negotiate fewer shifts at Auto 5000, a former unit that did not enjoy the same benefits as VW workers.
Story continues
Osterloh later became head of Volkswagen's works council, a position he held for 15 years, earning the nickname "King of Wolfsburg" as he used the significant historic powers granted to workers at the group to their full extent.
As Osterloh rose, so did Cavallo, who became the first works council member in Wolfsburg to take maternity leave, previously considered a no-go in a traditionally male-dominated sector.
"She's not impulsive, but structured," one of the people said. "That doesn't mean she's less effective. When it comes to business she's just as tough."
In fact, Cavallo is known for patiently but persistently sticking to a point, the people said.
When Volkswagen negotiated a pact around electric mobility in 2016, Cavallo insisted that jobs could only be cut if there was tangible evidence that they were no longer needed, raising the bar for layoffs.
Whether she succeeds in avoiding plant closures, a red line she has drawn ahead of negotiations, may also depend on how she wields her most powerful weapon - strikes - which could, in theory, take place from Dec. 1.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Matthias Williams and Mark Potter)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. Neighbors in University Heights continue to push back against a proposed development at the corner of National Avenue and Sunshine Street.
Now the developer, Ralph Duda with BK&M, says all the opposition caused Springfield to miss out on potentially getting a Trader Joes grocery store, as representatives for the chain were put off by all the controversy when they visited the site.
I worked for about three months to get Trader Joes to add Springfield, Missouri to their expansion city list, Duda said at a city council meeting. They added us. They did a site visit. We were in negotiations. When they did the site visit, they came down and saw all the signs that said save our homes. They backed out.
However, people living in University Heights arent so sure.
It makes me wonder if thats really true, said Springfield resident Jeff Carney. Honestly, I think Trader Joes would be very happy here. The whole community of Springfield would like to see it.
As president of the University Heights Neighborhood Association, Carney says a majority of residents want single-family homes in the empty lot on National and Sunshine.
Thats a great deal of pressure to see the gravel, practically a parking lot, Carney said. Its not good for anybody. Its an eyesore.
Its been my dream for a long time to redevelop this corner, Duda said.
He has been trying to rezone the lot for over a year after knocking down some houses on the corner.
Theres theres actually some support, a lot of support from the neighborhood that, you know, theyre just too afraid to speak up, Duda said.
He says hes addressed most of the concerns from neighbors.
Right now I cant find a tenant because they they know this is a hairy subject, Duda said.
Carney says the neighborhood wants that corner to be for families.
We just dont want our neighborhood destroyed, Carney said.
Trader Joes sent Ozarksfirst the following statement:
We are actively looking at hundreds of neighborhoods across the country as we hope to open more neighborhood stores each year. At this time, we do not have a location confirmed in Springfield, MO. We list all of the stores that are opening soon on our website. Trader Joes
City council will decide whether or not to rezone the land at the next meeting on Oct. 7.
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(NewsNation) Sean Diddy Combs and Kim Porters children put rumors to bed late Tuesday night, posting to Instagram and shutting down talk regarding their mothers sudden 2018 death.
We have seen so many hurtful and false rumors circulating about our parents, Kim Porter and Sean Combs relationship, as well as about our moms tragic passing, that we feel the need to speak out, the post said.
What we know about the Diddy investigation
Signed by Quincy Brown, Christian Combs, Jessie Combs and DLila Combs, the kids denied claims that their mother wrote a memoir and that a manuscript of some sort existed.
Kim Porters alleged memoir
Earlier this month, a 59-page book was self-published to Amazon, titled KIMS LOST WORDS: A journey for justice, from the other side. However, it has since come out that the man behind the publication of the so-called memoir told Rolling Stone he couldnt authenticate the manuscript.
The children also said anyone attempting to speak on behalf of the family and Porter were not a friend and didnt have her best interests at heart.
Still reeling from the death of their mother, the children asked for respect and privacy as they continued to navigate their journey through grief. The 47-year-old died suddenly in November 2018; an autopsy revealed the cause of death to be pneumonia.
Sean Diddy Combs and Kim Porter during 2006 BET Awards Press Room at The Shrine in Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by J. Strauss/FilmMagic)
While it has been incredibly difficult to reconcile how she could be taken from us too soon, the cause of her death has long been established. There was no foul play, the post stated, shooting down all speculation that Combs could have had a role in Porters untimely death.
Diddy now cellmates with Sam Bankman-Fried: Report
Despite the established cause of death, speculative fans and Browns estranged father Al B. Sure! have called for a new investigation into Porters death following Combs arrest and indictment, according to TMZ.
Porters four children continued, We are deeply saddened that the world has made a spectacle of what has been the most tragic event of our lives. Her memory should not be tainted by horrific conspiracy theories.
Diddys allegations, arrest
Combs has been accused of using his music empire to engage in sex trafficking and having a pattern of abusing women.
He was arrested Sept. 16 after months of allegations and federal raids on two of his properties. He pleaded not guilty in New York court the next day.
Both his bids to bail out of jail have been rejected, leaving him in Brooklyns Metropolitan Detention Center for the foreseeable future.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation.
(NewsNation) Sean Diddy Combs is sharing a cell with imprisoned FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, a source tells The New York Times.
The unit at Brooklyns Metropolitan Detention Center is dormitory-style and is in the same section as a group of other inmates, according to a person familiar with the living arrangements.
A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons told the Times the agency does not provide information about conditions of confinement, including housing assignments or internal security practices for any particular incarcerated individual.
The hip-hop mogul, 54, was indicted by a grand jury on several felony charges, ending monthslong speculation surrounding federal raids conducted on two of his properties in March.
Woman alleges Diddy filmed himself, bodyguard raping her: Lawsuit
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and unsuccessfully attempted to bail out twice, earning him a spot at the infamous lockup for the foreseeable future.
On Tuesday, one of the moguls lawyers, Marc Agnifilo, told the Times, Dedicated professionals at the M.D.C. are doing everything possible to help him and his lawyers prepare his defense, and I personally thank them.
He declined to talk about Diddys new roommates or living situation.
32-year-old Bankman-Fried was convicted last November of fraud and conspiracy a year after his companies collapsed into bankruptcy as investors rushed to withdraw funds.
A jury concluded that some of their money had been improperly spent on real estate, investments, celebrity endorsements, political contributions and lavish lifestyles.
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.
Sean Diddy Combs sexual misconduct allegations, lawsuits: Timeline
In a statement to The Associated Press, the federal Bureau of Prisons said it is addressing the staffing and other challenges at MDC Brooklyn.
NewsNations Cassie Buchman, Safia Samee Ali and Liz Jassin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Diddy's Lawyer Gives Bizarre Explanation For The 1000 Bottles Of Baby Oil Found In The Rapper's Homes
Sean "Diddy" Combs' lawyer, Marc Agnifilio, has offered a baffling explanation for the massive stash of baby oil and lubricants that federal agents discovered when they raided his L.A. and Miami homes.
The rapper is currently being held in the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center as authorities accused him of sex trafficking and racketeering, amongst other crimes.
Sean "Diddy" Combs has since managed to talk to his children from jail and is reportedly not getting preferential treatment while in custody.
Diddy's Lawyer Reveals Why The Rapper Had 1000 Bottles Of Baby Oil
MEGA
During a raid carried out in the music mogul's Miami and L.A. homes in March, Homeland Security agents discovered and confiscated 1000 bottles of baby oil and lubricants as part of investigations into his alleged sex crimes.
However, his attorney, Marc Agnifilio, has now shared that the stash was present in his homes because he prefers to buy his toiletries in bulk like any other American.
"I don't think it was 1,000. I think it was a lot. I mean, there is a Costco right down the street. I think Americans buy in bulk, as we know," Agnifilo told the New York Post.
He continued, "And you know these are consensual adults doing what consensual adults do, you know, we can't get so puritanical in this country to think that somehow sex is a bad thing because if it was there would be no more people."
Diddy's Legal Troubles Mount While He's In Jail
MEGA
Following his incarceration on alleged sex trafficking and racketeering, the "Bad Boy For Life" rapper has been hit with more sexual assault allegations.
According to CNN, one Thalia Graves filed a lawsuit against Diddy in a New York federal court, accusing him and his bodyguard Joseph Sherman of drugging and assaulting her in 2001 and filming the assault.
She claimed that she was offered a glass of wine and began to feel "lightheaded, dizzy and physically weak," only to wake up naked in a studio in Manhattan with her hands tied behind her back.
Graves alleged that Diddy then came into the room and raped her, smashing her head into a pool table as she tried to resist.
"The combination of physical and emotional pain has created a cycle of suffering from which it is so hard to break free," she said in her lawsuit. "I want to continue on this journey towards recovery and healing. I'm glad that he is locked up, but that's a temporary feeling of relief."
The Rapper's Latest Accuser Spoke Out During A Press Conference
MEGA
Graves spoke out against the rapper in a press conference with her attorney, Gloria Allred.
She said, per The Wrap, "The internal pain after being sexually assaulted has been incredibly deep and hard to put into words. It goes beyond just physical harm caused by and during the assault.
Graves also remarked that the pain from the assault left scars "may never fully heal," adding that the "hardest parts" are the "shame and the guilt," which have affected her "ability to function properly."
She pointed out that she has endured physical and emotional problems since the incident, including PTSD, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and sexual discomfort.
Graves concluded, "The combination of physical and emotional pain has created a cycle of suffering from which it is so hard to break free."
Diddy Is Not Getting Preferential Treatment
MEGA
As Diddy awaits trial after being denied bail twice in the past week, a source told People Magazine that he isn't getting any special treatment in his Manhattan jail.
"He is being treated like any other detainee awaiting trial," the source told the news outlet. "As with all public figures in his position, he was placed on suicide watch upon admittance to the facility as a precaution."
The insider added that Diddy is "very concerned about his kids and their well-being."
"He has three minor children, two of whom now have no living parent available with him incarcerated. Four of his seven children have neither parent available with him incarcerated. Mr. Combs has been able to speak briefly to family members and his children via phone," the source shared.
The Disgraced Music Mogul Has Addressed The Recently Released Fake Kim Porter 'Memoir'
MEGA
Meanwhile, Diddy has seemingly voiced his anger from jail concerning an alleged memoir that was written by his late partner, Kim Porter.
In the book, several unsettling allegations were made by the compiler, Chris Todd, including the way and manner in which Porter died.
The model, who shared four children with the rapper, died in November 2018 at age 47 from lobar pneumonia after several days of "flu-like symptoms."
Diddy's lawyers issued a statement on his behalf regarding the shocking claims, denouncing the book as "offensive" and "shameless."
His attorney, Erica Wolf, said, "The Kim Porter 'memoir' is fake. It is also offensive a shameless attempt to profit from tragedy. Chris Todd has no respect for Ms. Porter or her family, who deserve better."
"Unlike the fabrications in his sickening 'memoir,' it is an established fact that Ms. Porter died of natural causes. May she rest in peace," Wolf added, per The Independent.
In the peak of Atlantic hurricane season, words matter. And using the right ones at the right time can be the difference between alerting of a far-out rotating storm system to a nearer full-blown hurricane.
When the term tropical cyclone is used, in the simplest of terms, its all encompassing of a rotating organized system of clouds and thunderstorms, according to the National Hurricane Center. They form when it pulls its energy from warm tropical waters, has a warm core and non-frontal, the strongest winds are near the center in the eyewall and theres symmetry of precipitation.
Under the tropical cyclone umbrella there are tropical depressions, tropical storms, hurricanes and major hurricanes.
The flurry of words is further complicated by the different classifications of a storm system with sustained winds greater than 74 mph. In the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific oceans, the word hurricane is used, the Western North Pacific calling the systems typhoons, and the western South Pacific and Indian oceans deem the storms cyclones.
While hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are one in the same, different names are used to bear the imprints of history, culture, and geography, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
Why a hurricane?
Hurricane is a word that originated in the Caribbean, where the indigenous Taino people of the Greater Antilles worshiped a storm deity named Juracan, NOAA said. The administration said the gods name could have also derived from the Mayan god of wind, Huracan.
Later, Spanish explorers embraced huracan and furacan as words describing intense storms. They brought the two terms over to Europe.
The word became widespread in the English language as European colonial powers expanded their territories, where they would often encounter the strong storms in the Atlantic basin.
Why a typhoon?
Typhoon does not have a clear origin.
It may have a Greek root due to European influence, NOAA said. Some people think the word comes from the Greek word (Typhon), which was the name of a mythological monster connected with the power of the winds.
It may also have Persian influence from the word, tufidan, which means to roar or blow furiously, according to the administration. When Portuguese sailors traveling through the Western North Pacific, the brought back the word tufao. The term comes from the Urdu and Hindi tufan and could have originated from an earlier Chinese word, tai fung, which means great wind. The word has since evolved into da feng in modern Mandarin Chinese and taifu in modern Japanese.
Some scholars may argue that the Arabic word, tafa, meaning to turn around, could have contributed to the modern word typhoon, NOAA said.
Why a cyclone?
Cyclone has origins in ancient Greek, the administration said. It likely came from from either (kuklos, circle, wheel) or (kukloo, go around in a circle, form a circle, encircle).
Cyclone was first a word used to describe any system characterized by circular motion.
Around 1840, Henry Piddington, an official with the East India Company who also studied meteorology, adopted cyclone based on the root to describe tropical storms in the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific. Since then, in the nearly two centuries that have passed, cyclone remains the preferred term for the storms in these regions.
Waves and disturbances
During the Atlantic hurricane season, even before a tropical cyclone forms, there are words like tropical wave, tropical disturbance, invest and potential tropical cyclone. While the latter is self-explanatory, the others may leave some confusion.
Tropical wave: Also known as an easterly wave, a tropical wave is an elongated area of relatively low pressure or cyclonic curvature maximum moving east to west across the tropics. The wave can lead to the formation of a tropical cyclone.
Tropical disturbance: The system has organized convection and originates in the tropics or subtropics, having a non-frontal migratory character thats maintained for 24 hours or longer.
Invest: A weather system that interests forecast centers, wanting to collect specialized data sets and/or running model guidance. Invest does not correspond to the likelihood of system development into a tropical cyclone.
While the above three terms do not indicate a tropical cyclone, they can intensify in certain environments to become one. It would start with a tropical disturbance, which must have closed surface circulation and wind speeds less than 39 mph.
Once winds whip between 39 and 73 mph, a storm system is deemed a tropical storm. Hurricanes are called when the storms sustained wind speeds clock 74 mph or greater, with 111 mph winds being classified as a major hurricane Category 3.
The prospect of an anaerobic digestion plant being developed in Suffolk has been described as a "black cloud hanging over" the town where it could be built.
Acorn Bioenergy wants to build the site which will turn manure and crops into renewable energy on Spring Grove Farm near Withersfield and Haverhill.
The company said the project would benefit "the business community of Haverhill and the wider community within Suffolk".
Last November, Suffolk County Council deferred the proposal until the firm could provide additional information which, nearly a year on, still has not materialised.
Once the information has been received which could be in "the coming weeks" a new consultation will be carried out before the application is reconsidered.
The plant would be fed manure and crops and would produce enough renewable fuel to heat 7,000 homes, contributing to a reduction in carbon emissions.
But the plan has proved controversial with residents who take issue not only with the project itself but also with the amount of time the saga has dragged on for.
Mark Bowman, a member of Muck Off Acorn, a campaign group opposed to the project, said: "When on Earth is someone actually going to say yes or no?
"This is a black cloud hanging over Haverhill and it creates an enormous amount of anxiety with people who know their lives could be turned upside down by this.
"This site is on the doorstep of Haverhill and so it couldn't be in a worse location traffic will cause disruption and theres a great fear businesses will leave the town.
"The site is in an area which floods, and the plant itself will produce some unpleasant by-products which will inevitably find their way into the local watercourse.
"There will definitely be an impact on the quality of local life."
Joe Mason, a Suffolk County Council member for Haverhill Cangle, agreed.
"I am not against green initiatives that contribute to creating renewable energy and I am not against anaerobic digesters, but I am very much against this one," he said.
The residual impact will be profound on local businesses and the nearby community.
This site is highly likely to regularly emit foul odours that will impact not just peoples lives but local businesses too.
It would be an appalling way to great people to the area.
"Simply put, this project is the right idea in the wrong location, and I am keen to see this application refused."
There are also fears the plant could eventually be used to dispose of food waste, after councils were told they must offer a food waste collection service by April 2026.
"A food waste plant of that size would be the death knell for the town and it would collapse the town," said Mr Bowman.
In addition to biomethane, the plant will create organic fertiliser which will be returned to farmers to use instead of unsustainable artificial alternatives.
Alister Veitch, head of business development at Acorn Bioenergy, said: "We understand change can be difficult.
"But the reason we liked the site so much is it is very well hidden and we are very close to the A1307, so traffic will have a lesser impact on local people.
"There will be further jobs within the community and we will be relying on local contractors, engineers, plumbers, businesses to help us.
"So, I would say actually this will have a major benefit to the business community of Haverhill and the wider community within Suffolk.
"By the end of 2025, this plant will be very close to being commissioned, and as soon as we have approval we will move forward as quickly as possible with construction.
"This is a major application and it does take time. We are certainly not dragging our feet on this. We want a successful conclusion as quickly as anyone."
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As world leaders gather in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly, theres a lot to get done, with just six years left to achieve the bold ambitions laid out for the worlds 2030 agenda.
When world governments agreed to the 2030 plan back in 2015, a decade and a half seemed like plenty of time to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) designed to create a more prosperous, safe and fair global society. While amazing progress has been made, we are in danger of falling short. I believe the U.N.s goals can be attained through a collaborative commitment to make digital networks available to everybody in the world.
Mobility, broadband and the cloud are the infrastructure of 21st century life and everybody should have that opportunity. When they do, the U.N.s goals become easier to attain because these networks help people participate in education, healthcare, financial services and markets. That helps societies grow richer, fight disease and pandemics, create cultural exchange and equality, and spread the power of computing and machine learning so that it can be used to solve environmental problems.
Right now, 2.6 billion people around the world are not onlinethats almost a third of the population. Having so many people offline creates real world problems that harm public health, social equality and economic development. More than 2 billion people around the world lack access to adequate healthcare, some of which can be delivered through telehealth with medicines delivered by online pharmacies. 1.4 billion people around the world do not have bank accounts, which can be solved by decentralized financial institutions offering mobile accounts and payment apps. A quarter billion children have no access to education in an era where the internet can bring world class instructors to students worldwide. The emergence of artificial intelligence services, which rely on networks for computational power and to reach end users, is another area where we risk leaving people behind without network access.
Working with a group of private and public sector leaders and the World Economic Forum, the EDISON Alliance, established on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, seeks to address the digital divide in measurable ways. We saw an opportunity to act collectively, because the pandemics social distancing had created an immediate need for network services and because the launch of 5G networks greatly increased the capacity of those networks to bring service to more users and devices. In 2024, with broadband, fixed wireless access and satellite, we can reach more people than ever before. Still, we are leaving too many people out. We learned quickly that affordability, accessibility and usability were the three main obstacles to bringing people online.
In 2021, the Alliance embarked on the 1 Billion Lives Challenge, where we and our partners pledged to improve 1 billion lives around the world by delivering digital services in education, healthcare and financial services. Our goal was to achieve this by the end of 2025, but we crossed 1 billion lives this month, more than a year ahead of schedule, with Alliance members executing 320 projects across nearly 130 countries.
Everyone involved, from companies like Mastercard to governments like Bahrain and Rwanda, have committed to a multi-stakeholder approach to reaching people, where the public and private sectors work together to solve problems in economically feasible ways. Together, we have addressed diverse problems, from digital skills education to handset and device affordability.
Verizon contributed by expanding its responsible business program. Since the start of the 1 Billion Lives Challenge in 2021, our Verizon Innovative Learning programs accelerated to bring digital devices and technology training to more than 6 million students in the United States, increasing the number of students we have helped to nearly 8 million since the program started in 2012. Our partners at Apollo Hospitals brought telehealth services to inaccessible mountainous regions of India, reaching more than 30,000 patients in need. And our partners at the U.N. Development Programme worked with the government of Bangladesh to set up more than 4,500 digital centers to revolutionize the delivery of public services, empowering more than 9,000 micro-entrepreneurs along the way. EDISON has also worked with the government of Rwanda to completely digitize payments in a country where much of the population is unbanked.
As the U.N. enters the final third of its journey towards achieving its 2030 agenda, those working on each of the SDGs should consider how networks can help accelerate their progress and how digital inclusion supports these goals by giving people access to the markets and digital payment systems that support prosperity, telehealth services to improve and lengthen peoples lives, and access to educational opportunities that promote equality. At EDISON, we proved we can use these networks to positively impact lives in measurable ways. We stand ready to help the U.N. move society forward now.
Contact us at letters@time.com.
A new bishop will be installed by the Diocese of Davenport during a Mass Friday, September 27 after a prayer service Thursday night.
The prayer service will be at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Bettendorf. The diocese says a live stream broadcast on the diocese website will be the only way most people can be part of those prayers and blessings for the new bishop.
The installation Mass will be at Sacred Heart Cathedral. The celebration of Mass starts at 2:00 p.m., and only people with a ticket will be able to get into the cathedral.
Dennis Walsh (Diocese of Davenport)
Bishop-elect Dennis Walsh is from Ohio. The Church ordained him as a priest in 1992. Walsh most recently served at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Spencerville, Ohio.
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Outside a busy airport terminal, a feisty passenger cuts to the front of the line at curbside check-in and starts insulting the agent when he stops her. Dead set on catching her plane, she next commandeers a wheelchair escort by lying about her identity.
Who is that woman? asks a man nearby. My worst nightmare, replies a woman, Celeste, who is about to embark on a road trip with her nemesis, Paula, in Albany Road, an emotionally rich comedy-drama that earned the best feature award at this years Marthas Vineyard African American Film Festival.
Starring Tony winner Renee Elise Goldsberry as Celeste and Emmy winner Lynn Whitfield as Paula, the movie opens in theaters Nov. 15. But its next stop on the festival circuit is in the Motor City, a place with strong ties to its director-writer, Christine Swanson, and one of the leading actors, Goldsberry.
From left: "Albany Road" director-writer Christine Swanson and star Renee Elise Goldsberry on the set.
Albany Road will be screened Thursday night as part of the fifth annual Detroit Black Film Festival, which kicks off Wednesday and runs through Sunday. Founded and co-directed by husband-wife team Lazare and Marshalle Favors and presented by the Ford Foundation, the cinematic event highlights the work of Black independent filmmakers and features nearly 60 movies that will be shown at three Detroit venues (the Carr Center, the Marlene Boll Theatre at the Boll Family YMCA and the Michigan State University Detroit Center) and one suburban multiplex (Emagine Royal Oak).
The festival also include the Taste of Black Spirits National Conference at Detroits DoubleTree Suites, which has a Cinema, Culture & Cocktails theme.
Swanson has another film in the lineup, the 2022 short film Fannie starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as famed Mississippi civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, which will screen on Friday night. In it, Ellis-Taylor re-enacts the searing Is This America? speech that Hamer delivered at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.
An accomplished director of feature films, TV movies and TV series ranging from the CWs All American and NBCs Found to the CBS crime procedural FBI and Starz' Detroit-set drama "BMF," Swanson describes Albany Road during a phone interview as an intergenerational road-trip adventure where really, the love story is between the two women, who start out as adversaries and learn to see things from each others perspective.
Its really about the trajectory of their relationship, in light of their past, and in light of their present, and in light of their future. ... Its really working out the details of, how do we heal the hurts and get over the past so we can be present for the future?
In the storyline, Goldsberrys Celeste, an advertising executive traveling to an urgent meeting, and Whitfields Paula, the formidable mother of Celestes ex-fiance (J. Alphonse Nicholson), find themselves sharing a rental car when a fierce snowstorm cancels flights from New York City to Washington, D.C.
Funny, tense and intensely deep in its dive into pain, regret and forgiveness, Albany Road explores the personal costs of life choices with sensitivity. Its complex characters and full palette of moods are a throwback to classic character studies like 1983s Terms of Endearment, which happens to be one of Swansons favorite movies.
Ultimately, life has a life force that forces us to deal with ourselves, so we either grow and heal or we stay in hurt and remain stagnant, says Swanson of her films message.
Growing up, Swanson spent her first six years in South Korea with her U.S. military serviceman father and Korean mother. That was followed by a brief period in Florida. She was around 8 when her parents divorced, and she and her older brother moved with their dad to Detroit. They lived near 8 Mile and Wyoming with her grandmother and great-aunt, who helped raise her. Thats why I have an old soul, she says.
Swanson says she was the target of some bullying in Detroit public schools and in her neighborhood for being biracial, which led to her transferring to Shrine Catholic Schools starting in seventh grade. During her free time, going to the movies was a frequent activity.
One of the things that we were allowed to do in Detroit was be dropped off at the movie theater at Northland Mall, she says of the now-gone Southfield shopping center. I would attend movies with my brother or my cousins, by ourselves, and wed watch movies over and over and over again in hindsight, not realizing I was being indoctrinated with script structure and storytelling.
After graduating from Shrine Catholic High School, she went to the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, where, uncertain about her career path, she initially was a finance major. A visit to the campus by director Spike Lee, who spoke about his breakout hit, 1989s Do The Right Thing, changed all that.
In listening to him talk, I was like, People make movies for a living? I had no exposure to that in Detroit, she recalls.
Lees appearance convinced both Swanson and her future husband, Michael Swanson, who also was a Notre Dame student, to change their majors to film. After researching Lee and finding out he attended New York Universitys graduate film school, she resolved to do the same thing. And, in a cool twist of fate, during her final year in the MFA program at NYUs Tisch School of the Arts, Lee became her directing teacher.
Christine Swanson credits NYUs film program with teaching her the nuts and bolts of making movies. I just started to exercise my storytelling muscles through making short films, she says. Her 1998 short Two Seasons was accepted to the Sundance Film Festival and earned a nomination for a Student Academy Award.
Her first feature film as a screenwriter and director, was the well-received 2001 romance All About You." Instead of looking for a familiar face for the lead female role, she set out to find a new star and wound up casting Goldsberry, As soon as she walked in, I was like, Thats her!, she remembers.
The multi-talented Goldsberry would go on to play Angelica Schuyler in the original Broadway production of Hamilton, co-star in the CBS drama The Good Wife and the current Netflix comedy Girls5eva and portray the title role in the HBO movie The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Speaking by phone, Goldsberry credits Swanson with taking a leap of faith in making her a cinematic leading lady. I remember how daring and potentially foolish she was to give me the lead role in that film. It was a great faith that she bestowed upon me and I learned so much. So I am forever indebted to her for that trust and that opportunity. The confidence you gain from having that kind of responsibility and thriving in it is just invaluable.
Lynn Whitfield and Renee Elise Goldsberry of "Albany Road."
Swanson says the idea for Albany Road first came to her while she was working on All About You with Goldsberry and co-star Debbie Allen and began envisioning a road trip involving the two women. She wrote a script and kept rewriting it. through the years She shopped the project around Hollywood without landing a deal. Then life intervened and she stepped back from filmmaking for about 15 years to raise her four children.
When Swanson returned to working full-time, she focused on television and scored a triumph with her direction of The Clark Sisters, which was a huge, huge hit. It drew 2.7 million viewers when it premiered in 2020, which made it the top-rated original movie for the Lifetime network since 2016. Ellis-Taylor played the demanding music educator whose five daughters formed the renowned gospel singing group.
Swanson praises Ellis-Taylor for bringing such gravitas to the part. "Shes probably easily one of the best actresses of her generation, so to be able to work with her on 'Clark Sisters' and ... tap into her level of genius was just otherworldly. She happened to be a huge fan of the Clark Sisters and so was her family. For her, it wasnt a Lifetime movie, it was a movie of a lifetime. Thats how she approached it."
According to Swanson, the cable channel wasnt sure how the TV movie would perform. They were worried every step of the way. They were like, We just dont know who the audience is for a movie about a gospel singing family. ... But they were confident enough to put a solid budget behind the movie. Bolstering the networks commitment was the involvement of superstars Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott, who came on board as executive producers to add their celebrity clout to the project.
Still interested in making "Albany Road," Swanson and her husband, who's a senior vice president of production at NBCUniversal and her partner in their Faith Filmworks production company, decided ultimately to go ahead and self-finance the movie.
When asked for the secret to working with one's spouse, she notes that as a studio executive he oversees prestige projects like the recent Emmy winner for best comedy, HBO Maxs Hacks, and says, I guess if theres a secret, the secret is get somebody as smart as he is to be the producer of your film.
From left: Director-writer Christine Swanson, actors Renee Elise Goldsberry and Lynn Whitfield and producer Michael Swanson of the movie "Albany Road."
Swanson also praises her cast, especially her two leads. She says veteran actress Whitfield, whose credits include her Emmy-winning turn in The Josephine Baker Story and films like Eves Bayou, is amazing in the demanding role of Paula, a mother whose good intentions are also self-serving.
The minute she started acting, I kind of knew in my heart that God had given us a gift the performance of a lifetime that is awards-worthy. She says the consistent takeaway from past screenings is that Whitfield's "performance is breathtaking and will leave an indelible mark in the hearts of everybody who watches this.
Of her good friend Goldsberry, who is godmother to her four children, Swanson describes her as having "limitless" talent, In turn, Goldsberry calls Swanson truly a master at her craft. Goldsberry says Swanson has always championed her as a potential film star.
Shell scream it at the top of her lungs: You need to be a movie star! You need to be starring in films. Thats what you are, and you better hurry up, because you dont have forever, says Goldsberry with a laugh.
While making All About You more than 20 years ago, the two discovered that they both spent a good portion of their early years in Detroit. Swanson says she teases Goldsberry, an alum of Cranbrook Kingswood High School in Bloomfield Hills, about her connection to the D. I joke around with her. I say, Thats not Detroit'.'
She definitely said that and shes absolutely wrong, quips Goldsberry, whose father, Ronald Goldsberry, retired from Ford Motor Company as global vice president for customer services and was a Michigan State University Distinguished Alumni Award recipient in 2022. Ive spent enough time in every part of that city to claim it. Ive done something I've hidden from my parents probably in every corner of that city.
Goldsberry says she is hoping to attend the Detroit Black Film Festival and visit her father, whom she calls definitely the star in our family, during the trip. Swanson says she will be at the event and plans to see family members, too, including her 100-year-old Aunt Agnes, who lives in Highland Park. I always make sure to see her because she is the glue that keeps our family together from our Mississippi roots," she says.
For Swanson, her Detroit roots are a factor in why it's important to her that Albany Road is shown in big screens. I grew up in Detroit watching movies in theaters and feeling the energy of other people, she says. I wanted to make sure that nobody watched this first on a phone."
It's a testament to Swanson that a hand-held device won't do for "Albany Road." When a movie is this ambitious and moving, it deserves nothing less than a big screen.
Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.
'Albany Road'
6 p.m. Thursday
Emagine Royal Oak
$35 (includes one-day pass), $100 (festival screening pass)
For tickets and schedule information, go to Eventbrite.com.
https://filmfreeway.com/DETROITBLACKFILMFESTIVAL
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Director Christine Swanson brings new film home to Detroit for showing
Dispute over jukebox song played in restaurant leads to one man getting murdered in Florida: Report
Dispute over jukebox song played in restaurant leads to one man getting murdered in Florida: Report
A man was charged with murder on Tuesday after he allegedly shot and killed another man during an altercation over a song played on a jukebox inside a Fort Lauderdale, Florida Mexican restaurant, according to reports.
The Fort Lauderdale Police Department said 46-year-old Cesar Esquivel Estrada was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
At about 1:30 a.m. on Monday, police responded to Antojitos Mexicanos restaurant on Davie Boulevard after receiving reports of a shooting.
When officers arrived, they discovered a man, later identified as 54-year-old Socorro Camacho, had suffered gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead on the scene.
Suspects Take New York City Subway Train On A Joyride Before Crashing And Fleeing: Police
Two men got into an altercation over a song played on a jukebox in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, leaving one of the men dead.
A preliminary investigation indicated the shooting happened when a verbal dispute between two men escalated.
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NEWS 7 in Miami reported that a man whose friends witnessed the encounter said the dispute was over a song played on the jukebox.
Mauro Bonilla told the station a man insulted another over the song he chose to play.
Would-be Miami Corvette Thief Gets Stuck Before Begging Owner To Help Him 'Get Out' Of Vehicle
"One of them played a song on the rock-ola, the machine, and the other guy was pissed off and said youre not a real Mexican if you play that [expletive] music, you know," he told the station.
Bonilla also told the station the man who insulted the other mans song choice allegedly pulled his weapon out first, firing the first round, and the other man allegedly fired back.
Police identified the victim as Camacho, adding that the investigation into the matter is ongoing.
Florida Suspect's Plan Goes Up In Smoke When Suv Becomes Engulfed In Flames
The Fort Lauderdale, Florida police responded to a restaurant early Monday morning for reports of a shooting, which was reportedly over a song played on a jukebox.
After an investigation, detectives were granted an arrest warrant for Estrada on Monday, and the next day he was located by the departments Fugitive Unit and U.S. Marshals Service.
He has since been charged with first-degree murder and has been held without bond.
According to Broward County jail records, Estrada also has an immigration hold, suggesting he is in the U.S. illegally.
Fox News Digital has reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for more information about Estradas immigration status.
Anyone with information about the incident that led to Estradas arrest is encouraged to call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
Original article source: Dispute over jukebox song played in restaurant leads to one man getting murdered in Florida: Report
By Selena Li
HONG KONG (Reuters) - DBS Group Chief Executive Piyush Gupta said on Wednesday it is in the process of increasing ownership in its China securities joint venture to 91% from 51%.
The comments came a day after China introduced aggressive measures to prop up its ailing economy and capital markets.
The largest bank by assets in Singapore confirmed that it is the buyer of stakes up for sale by its Chinese joint venture partners, though the transaction is still pending regulatory approval.
The bank plans to maintain a 91% holding in the platform, as it sees its Chinese partners bringing value to the business, Gupta told reporters a briefing in Hong Kong.
DBS is the latest among a flurry of foreign banks such as J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley which have moved to raise stakes in securities joint ventures in China, taking advantage of the country's foreign ownership cap.
Four Chinese shareholders of DBS Securities China auctioned off a total of 40% of the joint venture in July, with an asking price of 408 million yuan ($58.15 million), according to information from Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange.
There has not been update about buyers or stake transfers since.
The move to raise shares in the China unit came as a slowing economy and sluggish markets squeezed the profitability of securities companies operating in China.
However, stimulus measures announced by Beijing on Tuesday have boosted prospects for securities companies, with shares of securities brokerages listed in Hong Kong surging in morning trade.
China's central bank said it's introducing a swap programme sized at an initial 500 billion yuan ($71.24 billion), which will allow funds, insurers and securities brokers easier access to funding in order to buy stocks.
"I'm positive that these measures of monetary stimulus, as well as the support to real estate market ... are enough to stimulate and (restoretrust again," Sebastian Paredes, the bank's head of north Asia and CEO for Hong Kong, said at the briefing.
($1 = 7.0165 Chinese yuan renminbi)
($1 = 7.0182 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Selena Li; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Kim Coghill)
VERSAILLES, Ky. (FOX 56) Bourbon has a rich tradition in Kentucky, with new distilleries popping up all over the state. Plans are now in place to open another distillery in Woodford County, just down the street from the Kentucky Castle.
Woodford County is home to several distilleries and now Saga Spirits Group is excited to add one more to the mix in a well-known location.
One year ago, Saga Spirits purchased a 150-acre lot in Versailles to create Kentuckys next great distiller. Last month, those visions became a reality when the company announced plans to develop a $92.5 million distillery.
Those plans for the distillery include a visitor center, tasting rooms, unique lodging, a restaurant, retail space, and event spaces. Saga Sprits Group also owns the nearby Kentucky Castle.
Its where the president of Saga Spirits Group, Wes Henderson, said the new distillerys plan started to evolve.
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He thought the experience of visiting the castle with the experience of enjoying Kentuckys signature spirit would be the perfect marriage. Upon completion, the project will boost the local economy and create 89 jobs. Something hes very proud of.
Its one of those things that I cant remember exactly when it came to me, but I thought, wow, the Kentucky Castle. What a cool place to have something bourbon-related. Not necessarily a brand I didnt really know yet. But as the plans and thoughts started to evolve, then the castle would be a great place to include and a project that would have some place in our Bourbon corridor, said Henderson. The economic impact with tourism, any tourism dollars, tax dollars for lodging, jobs, if I didnt already say that; I keep saying it a bunch of times because its very important. We also bring revenue to local farmers. You know, weve committed to buy our corn for distillation in this area. So thats $2 million a year or more to local farmers to support agriculture and Im more excited about that than anything.
Henderson is excited about a new challenge; he is no stranger to the bourbon industry. Henderson co-founded Angels Envy and is in the process of launching a new whiskey brand called True Story. He hopes his experience will guide him to a successful new chapter and continue their family legacy in bourbon.
Thats really the basis for what were doing here is to build True Story. So True Story will be woven into the fabric here at the Kentucky Castle, but thats primarily in the form of bourbon education and culinary and things like that, and people who want to visit our distillery can come here and stay, Henderson added. We have super premium experiences; its all about experiences. So, the True Story bourbon and whiskey will be made at the new distillery in Versailles. We hope that will be a global brand like other brands are. You know, our familys been responsible for billions of dollars of revenue from a bunch of different brands, and this is just the next chapter for us and I think its going to be something special; I really do. Everybodys so excited about the whiskey.
Read more of the latest Lexington & central Kentucky news
He said the end goal when opening a distillery is to have a spot on the Bourbon Trail and hopes one day that will happen. For now, hes searching for a name for the new distillery but thinks their new whiskey products True Story might fit the slot.
Construction is expected to begin this fall. Henderson said the entire project would take about 2 and a half years to complete.
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NEW YORK Two months before his 2022 suicide in a Rikers Island jail, Erick Tavira told a doctor that killing himself would give him real liberty, records show. One month before his death, Tavira poured scalding water on his body, just to feel something.
Neither incident nor a litany of other red flags led jail officials to place him on suicide watch, and on Oct. 22, 2022, Tavira, age 28, hanged himself in his cell at the George R. Vierno Center.
Now, documents and videos obtained by the Daily News through his familys litigation against the city reveal a steady drumbeat of warnings and missed chances by DOC and Correctional Health Services to avert the tragedy.
As lawyers for the city and detainees gather Wednesday before a federal judge in a wood-paneled courtroom at 500 Pearl St. to argue over whether to hold the city in contempt for its management of the jails, Taviras death stands as an example of the systems maladies.
There were so many signs here. This is someone who came in with preexisting well-documented issues that he also exhibited in the jails, said the familys lawyer MK Kaishian. DOC and CHS were aware of the risk factors and failed.
Taviras sister Amarilis Torres said the family expected he would get help. He had been suicidal for so many years. We thought he was supposed to receive medication, that they would do their job, said Torres, who named her infant son after her brother.
But they treated him like he was nothing. Like he was just another body there, literally.
Patrick Rocchio, a DOC spokesman, declined to comment on pending litigation, but said the department has taken a range of steps to address deaths in the jails including installing anti-ligature covers in housing units, anti-overdose medication, and better suicide prevention training.
CHS did not respond to a request for comment.
The sequence that ended with Taviras death began in June 2021 when in the midst of a psychiatric episode he went for that help to Metropolitan Hospital on the Upper East Side.
There, video shows, he removed his shirt while sitting in a chair in a waiting room. City hospital police appeared, and one of them took him down. He was then dragged from the room by a group of officers. A hospital officer claimed he twisted his ankle, and Tavira was charged with assault and sent to Rikers. None of the officers involved appeared to have faced any disciplinary action.
From the very beginning of his incarceration, the records show, DOC and CHS were well aware of his psychiatric history. While incarcerated he has been placed on suicide watch in the past, said a statement repeated in medical records throughout 2021 and 2022. He has a history of suicide attempt by overdose in 2018.
Even though he was in general population for much of his incarceration, he had more than 10 inpatient prior psychiatric hospitalizations, 15 psychiatric ER visits and a history of suicide attempts, the records show.
But Tavira missed at least 34 medical appointments in 2021 and 2022 and was not given his medication at least 129 times over his 490-day incarceration, including 57 doses in his final 130 days, the records show. There was often no explanation bare-bones notations of DOC-Not produced and CHS-Canceled pepper the medical records.
When he wasnt medicated, or taking it inconsistently, it can cause dips in mood or suicidal thoughts, Kaishian said.
He was placed on suicide watch just for one day in June 2021, the records show. A suicide prevention aide a detainee trained to monitor at-risk inmates mandated under DOC policy was never placed in his unit.
Suicide Watch Not Required, reads an Aug. 3, 2022, notation in a CHS report.
Roughy two weeks later, on Aug. 19, 2022, the medical notes disclose Tavira talked about taking his life.
He said he wants to go to Switzerland or Denmark to kill himself. Killing himself would give real liberty, the notes state.
But the medical staffer marked no on the report on whether Tavira was a candidate for suicide watch.
On Aug. 23, Tavira was beaten by another detainee. DOC opted to transfer him to a higher security jail, the George R. Vierno Center.
On Sept. 20, 2022, video shows, he refused to leave the chair he was on, and officers hit him with pepper spray.
Youre passively resisting. You cant stay here, an officer states.
I dont want to go to GRVC, Tavira says. His fear, the lawsuit alleges, was related to four other detainee deaths there.
Stop resisting, the officer says adding after dousing him, I told you I was going to spray you.
None of the officers involved appeared to have faced any disciplinary action, In February, the Board of Correction issued a report questioning the use of pepper spray on someone who is passively resisting.
Writing this letter on a commissary bin, Tavira wrote. Kindness is considered weakness [here]. Violence is normality. Provocative beings try to bring me down as low as one can be.
The smell of drugs being smoked is seeping into my cell as I write this. Trying not to notice it.
Two days after his transfer, saying he just wanted to feel something, Tavira poured scalding water on himself, the records show. CHS staffers failed to recommend him for suicide watch or higher supervision.
Tavira left no suicide note, but on Oct. 21, 2022, one day prior, he wrote a note to his jailers asking to be paid for his job cleaning shower stalls.
I have been keeping them clean. I would like to be paid for my hard work, he wrote. Today is the last day that I will clean the showers because I have not been feeling well.
The next day, Tavira tore white clothing into strips and carefully knotted them together into a 92.5-inch-long noose. He curled the noose through the grating of an air vent about 8 feet from the concrete floor, stood on something and slipped his neck inside.
The locations of vents and ceiling pipes in elevated positions in cells have been highlighted in the past as a trouble spots for suicides.
Tavira was last seen alive at 12:57 a.m. by an officer, but no staff checked on him after that, the records show.
He may have experienced conscious pain for 45 minutes while he was hanging, the lawsuit alleges. After he was discovered, the noose was placed into the body bag with him.
DOC sent a priest and two officers to notify the family but their brusque manner and lack of information only angered them, Torres said.
Tavira left no suicide note, but the writings found in his cell suggest a man beseeching God for peace and filled with regret at where life has taken him.
Among his things in his room were two sets of rosary beads, one in white and one in black, and a letter to his mother. I admit the sacrifices and pain she has dealt with because of me. Have mercy on her because she loves me too much, he wrote.
On a little scrap of paper he wrote, Lord help me with my addiction, repairing my family bond, keep me protected.
I currently sit in a cell in Rikers. Its going to take more than the man I am to get out of this hell, he wrote. My life cant and wont be wasted. I dont trust no one and I will get out one way or another.
Tavira is now buried in a New Jersey cemetery next to his grandfather.
Does Trump want to turn giant faucet to send Columbia River water to CA? What he said
The Columbia River could be the answer to Californias water problems, former President Donald Trump seemed to say at a news conference near Los Angeles.
Im going to give you more water than almost anyone has, he said. There would be plenty of water for lawns at big houses in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, for farmers and to dampen the hills where forest fires burn, he said.
He started talking about water when he was asked a question about California wildfires raging nearby, an hour into a press conference at one of his golf courses earlier this month.
You have millions of gallons of water pouring down from the Northwest, the snow caps and Canada, he said.
The Columbia River in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada.
All it would take is turning essentially a very large faucet, he said.
It takes one day to turn it, its massive, he said. Its as big as a wall, as that building right there behind you.
Now water goes aimlessly into the Pacific, he said.
He also peppered his remarks on water shortages with complaints about millions of gallons of water flowing into the Pacific Ocean to protect a little tiny fish called a smelt, which are actually an endangered fish in the San Francisco Estuary.
That raised some question about whether the giant faucet would be for water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers or from the Columbia River in the Northwest.
Canada news media reacts
Either way, Canadian news media were not impressed.
The Columbia River flows from Canada south into Washington, where it is joined by water from the Snake River in Eastern Washington near the Tri-Cities to flow into the Pacific Ocean.
The Toronto Star said Trumps promise touches on deep-seated anxieties about our southern neighbours muscling their way into our water supply.
Canada and the United States currently are finalizing a proposal to modernize the 1964 Columbia River Treaty, which has governed hydropower operations and management of flood risks on both sides of the international border.
Bonneville Dam east of Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash., on the Columbia River.
Under an agreement in principal, the U.S. will benefit from pre-planned water storage at Canadian treaty dams to help manage high flows originating in Canada to control flooding in the U.S.
Predicable flows also help stabilize barging and shipping on the Columbia River, support recreation and protect efforts to support salmon populations.
CTV, a Canadian news outlet, quoted a University of Calgary professor saying that Trump is uninformed.
Its somebody that doesnt fully understand how water works and doesnt understand the intricacies of allocating water not only between two countries but also for the environment, said Tricia Stadnyk, an environmental engineering professor at the University of Calgary.
The U.S. does not get to dictate sole-handedly how much water goes to the U.S. versus how much water stays in Canada, Stadnyk said.
CTV reported that she was perplexed by the giant faucet statement, but thought he might be referring to the headwaters of the Columbia River, where a snow dome drains to three oceans.
Dams in the Columbia River Basin are shown, including the Columbia River Treaty dams.
California is not the only entity that would like to get some of the Columbia River water.
The Kennewick Irrigation District, which has rights for Yakima River water that may be insufficient in drought years, previously tried to get rights to use Columbia River water but was blocked.
Diverting water from the Columbia and Snake rivers to California is not a new idea, said Rocky Barker, an Idaho environmental writer and author of Scorched Earth: How the Fires of Yellowstone Changed America, in his blog at rockybarker.com.
In 1990, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn convinced the county board to study a transfer of the water.
The 90 billion gallons of water a day running into the Pacific Ocean from the Columbia Basin is sinful and wasteful, Barker quoted him as saying. The proposal went nowhere.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) When a child goes missing in or around the Rochester area, theres one question News 8 viewers frequently ask in the social media comments: Why wasnt this an AMBER Alert?
The AMBER in AMBER Alert is an acronym for Americas Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. It began in Texas in 1996 and was named after Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old who was kidnapped and murdered in Arlington.
An AMBER Alert will not be activated unless the missing person case meets a set of specific criteria. It must involve:
The abduction of a child under age 18
who is believed to be in serious danger of harm or death, either because of the actions of someone else or because of their own proven mental or physical condition
Even in cases where both criteria are met, an AMBER Alert may not be activated if the information available has been deemed not specific enough, or if not enough time has passed since the child went missing.
In cases where police believe a child has been abducted by a family member, an AMBER Alert will only be activated if investigators believe the child is directly endangered by the actions of that family member.
When local police agencies determine a missing child case meets the above criteria, they contact the New York State Police Special Victims Unit to ask for an AMBER Alert. The SVU will then review the case itself.
Once an AMBER Alert is activated, the SVU will:
Notify all broadcasters in the activation area
Notify state partners, which will display notices on: highway message signs lottery ticket terminals Thruway service areas DMV message boards
Notify the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services Missing Persons Clearinghouse, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, FBI offices in New York State and the New York State Intelligence Center
Request interstate activation in neighboring states and/or Canadian Provinces if warranted
Add alert details on the AMBER Alert website
Create and distribute posters to all agencies in the activation area The Rochester region is in Alert Activation Region 2, which includes Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Monroe, Livingston, Wayne, Ontario, Yates, and Seneca counties.
AMBER Alert activation region map
If the SVU finds that an AMBER Alert request does not meet the activation criteria, it will refer local agencies to the Missing Persons Clearinghouse to pursue a missing child alert.
It may seem like an individual missing child situation could benefit from the increased attention brought by an AMBER Alert, but according to New York State, the AMBER Alert program is less effective when its used too often or inconsistently. In order to ensure AMBER Alerts maintain their sense of urgency, they are not enacted except in the most urgent situations.
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(KRON) A dog that was left in an apartment died from heat stroke on Tuesday, the Pleasanton Police Department announced on social media. Police received a call around noon about a dog being left alone on a balcony near Gibraltar Drive and Hacienda Drive.
The caller said the dog was barking and whining as it was exposed to the sun, according to PPD. Temperatures reached into the mid-90s and nearly 100 degrees as much of the East Bay was under a Heat Advisory.
US News ranks Stanford, UC Berkeley in Top 20 in latest college rankings
A Pleasanton Animal Services officer, following protocol, contacted the apartments leasing office to try and get a hold of the dogs owner. The officer was unsuccessful.
According to PPD, within 15 minutes of receiving the call, police arrived at the apartment unit and found the dog passed away from heat stroke.
Police called this a disturbing and tragic incident. According to PPD, a video of the dog was circulating on social media, which prompted many concerns from the community.
The community, including comments on the departments Facebook post, have expressed their concerns with some calling for the dog owner to be charged. However, a preliminary investigation suggests the incident was not intentional. The investigation is ongoing.
KRON4 Weather Radar
PPD emphasized the importance of keeping pets healthy amidst a heat wave.
If you see something, please report it immediately rather than waiting to share it on social media, the department wrote. With the hot weather, it is crucial to keep all animals cool indoors and ensure they have access to water. If you witness any animals in distress, please call 9-1-1 right away.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
DOJ will cooperate with Florida's probe into alleged second Trump assassination attempt: Garland
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed Tuesday the Justice Department will cooperate with Florida in its independent probe of an alleged assassination attempt on former President Trump.
Speaking at a press conference, Garland called the alleged attempted assassination a "heinous act" and said he was "grateful" the former president is safe.
"As I said immediately after the event, the Justice Department would spare no resource to ensure accountability in this matter. Since then, our prosecutors and agents have been working around the clock to discover the necessary evidence to ensure accountability," Garland said.
Trump survived an alleged attempt on his life Sept. 15 after the Secret Service opened fire on a suspect hiding in shrubbery surrounding Trumps West Palm Beach golf course, where the Republican presidential candidate was playing a round.
Former Ag Barr Dumbfounded At Doj's Decision To Release Letter Of Trump Would-be Assassin
The suspect, identified as 58-year-old Ryan Routh, fled the area but was quickly arrested during a traffic stop near Palm City, Florida. He remains in federal custody.
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It was just over two months since a 20-year-old gunman climbed to the roof of a building on the perimeter of a Trump rally and opened fire, narrowly missing the former president just minutes into his speech.
A general view of the fenced area near the sixth hole of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sept. 18. The area is where Ryan Routh allegedly hid, waiting for former President Trump.
The second alleged assassination attempt on Sept. 15 reignited criticism over the Secret Services handling of Trumps security.
Federal Judge Orders Trump Assassination Attempt Suspect Routh Not To Be Released
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis the state would conduct its own investigation, arguing Florida's Office of Statewide Prosecution may have a stronger case than the federal government.
"In my judgment, it is not in the best interest of our state or of our nation to have the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump leading this investigation, especially when the most serious, straightforward offense constitutes a violation of state law, not federal law," DeSantis told reporters last week, referring to a spate of federal cases against Trump.
Fox News David Spunt asked Garland Tuesday if the Justice Department would cooperate with Florida in the states independent investigation.
"Our job is to ensure full accountability here," Garland replied. "We always seek to cooperate and to get assistance from state and local law enforcement to the extent consistent with the law ... and appropriate with respect to the investigations."
Fox News Digital reached out to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moodys office for a response.
Original article source: DOJ will cooperate with Florida's probe into alleged second Trump assassination attempt: Garland
HAWKINS COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) Two people from Mooresburg and one from Bean Station are among nine suspects indicted in a federal drug trafficking case, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
A DOJ news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee states that nine defendants all face a charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Letcher County sheriff pleads not guilty to judges murder
Payton English, 27, and Bernie Smallwood, 62, are both from Mooresburg, the DOJ reports. Ricky Lynn Coffey, 36, is from Bean Station.
Coffey faces several other charges including:
Possession with intent to distribute or distribution of methamphetamine and fentanyl
Possession with intent to distribute cocaine
Possession of a firearm, including a firearm equipped with a silencer, in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
Possession of an unregistered firearm
The release states both English and Smallwood also face additional charges of maintaining drug-involved premises.
In addition to English and Smallwood, the other defendants in the case are as follows:
Jamal Witcher, 35, of Mansfield, Ohio
Taeshawn Witcher, 18, of Detroit, Michigan
Skyler Anthony Starkey Steward, 18, of Mansfield, Ohio
Keshon Lee, 27, of Detroit, Michigan
Emani Mason, 25, of Detroit, Michigan
Gianna Ryan, 22, of New Castle, Pennsylvania
The indictment charging the nine defendants was unsealed after the last of them appeared in federal court in Knoxville on Sept. 25.
The DOJ reports all nine have pleaded not guilty, and a trial is set for Nov. 19 in Knoxville.
Coffey faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 40 years and up to life in prison along with other penalties. Smallwood faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years and up to life in prison and other penalties. English faces up to 20 years in prison along with other penalties.
According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, the charges are the result of an investigation that involved the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the 4th Judicial District Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, the 3rd Judicial Drug Task Force, the Grainger County Sheriffs Office, the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office, the Hamblen County Sheriffs Office, the Knoxville Police Department, the White Pine Police Department and the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigation.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
What about the will of the people?
Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Bo French seems to have forgotten that determining the will of the people is why elections are held (Sept. 18, 1A, Tarrant GOP attacks Republicans on college polling sites). In criticizing Republican County Commissioners Manny Ramirez and Gary Fickes for approving early voting sites on college campuses, he is showing that the GOP is no longer interested in the will of the people. Instead, it appears he is pushing the agenda of subjugating the majority to a controlling minority.
Perhaps French and his fellow Republicans should concentrate on convincing more people that their policies are best for the county, the state and the country and spend less time on trying to suppress voters who may disagree with them.
- Dan Scarborough, Hurst
Our miserable political choice
William Coopers opinion article in the Sept. 20 newspaper (Page 11A, Our 2-party political system is failing us) is the best I have read about the mess in politics today. I am 91 years young and fear for the younger generations that will have to deal with what is happening in our politics.
In all my years of watching politics, starting around 19 years old, I have never feared for our country, but I do now. The pope is correct: Our choice is between the lesser of two evils.
- Charles Carlson, Hurst
On felons voting, what about Trump?
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently declared it illegal for any convicted felon to register or to vote in the 2024 election (Sept. 19, Page 1A, Paxtons warning on voter registration, what the law says). It makes we wonder: If the convicted felon Donald Trump lived in Texas, would Paxton would send his Republican buddy to jail for voting for himself? Of course not. Paxton is only trying to scare Democratic voters away from the polls.
- Sharon Austry, Fort Worth
Abbotts role in schools woes
School districts in Texas are struggling to hire teachers with classroom experience. The Fort Worth ISDs board of trustees, city leaders and families are concerned about the education system in Fort Worth. Gov. Greg Abbott is one of the big problems. He has not allowed added funding for schools, and he says he will not do so until a voucher program is law.
- Harold L. Smith, Arlington
End long-running baby-powder case
Youve likely seen on the news that claimants just had an opportunity to vote to settle the case alleging Johnson & Johnsons baby powder causes ovarian cancer in women. Theres so much speculation out there about this opportunity to end this case for good.
One hypothesis is that trial lawyers have built their cases on flawed expert opinions and faulty evidence, meaning the scientific integrity of the case has been dissolved.
For this plan to go through, it must clear a 75% hurdle of claimants in support. If most claimants want to end this lengthy process and move on with their lives, then the total number of votes will be in their favor. My hope is that enough will see it that way and vote accordingly.
- Mona Bailey, North Richland Hills
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BUTLER, Pa. (WHTM) Former President Donald Trump will return to the Butler Farm Show for a rally next month, the site where a man opened fire on the crowd in an assassination attempt of the former president.
According to the Trump campaign, the former president will hold the rally on October 5 in his first visit to the site since being shot in the ear by the lone gunman.
The gunman was killed by Secret Service agents after opening fire on the crowd. The shooting has led to intense scrutiny of the Secret Service and resulted in the resignation of the agencys director.
During the October 5 rally, Trump is expected to honor the memory of Corey Comperatore, who was fatally shot during Trumps July 13 rally while sitting in the stands. Two other survivors of the shooting, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, will also be recognized.
President Trumps return to Butler will stand as a tribute to the American spirit, said the campaign on Wednesday. In America, we do not let monsters like that evil assassin have the last word. Every time our nation is struck by attack or hardship, we rally, we persevere, and we prevail. When terrorists knocked down our towering skyscrapers, we rebuilt taller. When our communities are ravaged by fire, storm, or natural disaster, we pull together and come back stronger. And when a shooter attacked our democracy and tried to end this movement, President Trump will return to the site, joined by tens of thousands of proud citizens, and together, they will celebrate a unifying vision for Americas future in an event like the world has never seen before.
Dave McCormick says he nearly joined former President Trump before assassination attempt
Doors for the event open at 10 a.m. and Trump is expected to speak at 5 p.m. Tickets for the event are available and individuals can request up to two tickets per mobile number on a first come first serve basis.
Election Day is November 5.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
The Dept. of Energy's (DOE's) Grid Deployment Office has awarded $34.5 million to California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). The funding will support 19 hydropower projects across PG&E's territory. The utility on September 24 said the money is part of the DOE's Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectricity Incentive program. The Grid Deployment Office in early September said it was targeting 293 capital improvement projects across 33 states for potential receipt of payments. Oakland-headquartered PG&E on Tuesday said the grant would be used to enhance grid resiliency, to improve dam safety, and to reduce environmental impacts associated with hydroelectric operations. "Hydroelectric power is one of the most reliable, affordable, and efficient forms of carbon-free electricity in our portfolio," said Dave Gabbard, vice president of Power Generation for PG&E. "The federal funds will directly benefit PG&E customers by way of performance and capacity enhancements to hydroelectric projects that will continue to provide reliable, sustainable, and cost-effective renewable energy for decades to come."
Major Hydropower Generator
PG&E operates and maintains the second-largest privately owned hydropower system in the U.S. The utility said it generates some 3,867 MW of electricity through 61 conventional hydro powerhouses, a pumped storage facility, 98 reservoirs, 168 dams, and more than 400 miles of canals, flumes, tunnels, penstocks, siphons, and natural waterways. The utility said the hydropower projects expected to benefit from the federal incentive program are primarily located in Mendocino, Nevada, Plumas, Fresno, Tuolumne, Butte, Amador, Calaveras, and Shasta counties in California. PG&E said it plans major projects at sites including Potter Valley, Lake Fordyce, Lower Bucks Spillway, Lower Blue Lake, Rock Creek and Cresta Cofferdam, Lake Almanor Dam, Courtright Dam, Strawberry Dam, DeSabla, Tiger Creek, Salt Springs, Iron Canyon, Pit 7 Dam, Poe Dam, and Pit 1. "These funds will enable us to continue advancing hydroelectricity and environmental sustainability in a cost-effective manner and will further propel us toward a future where clean energy is accessible and dependable for all," said Gabbard. Darrell Proctor is senior editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).
Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will answer questions from voters on TV just not at the same time.
The two candidates have agreed to participate in separate town hall events that will air on Spanish-language network Univision, it was announced on Tuesday. Trumps event will air Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 10/9c from Miami, with Harris event to follow on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 10/9c from Las Vegas. Both events will air in Spanish on Univision and stream on ViXs Noticias 24/7 channel, with an English-language version available on Noticias Univisions YouTube channel.
More from TVLine
The candidates will take questions from undecided Hispanic voters about the economy, jobs, healthcare, immigration and foreign policy. Journalist Enrique Acevedo will serve as moderator.
There are more than 36 million Hispanics eligible to vote in the U.S., making them the largest minority in the country, with the power to influence the outcome of the race for the White House and the future of the nation, Noticias Univision president Daniel Coronell said in a statement.
The town halls may be the last time we hear from Trump or Harris in a forum like this before the Nov. 5 presidential election. The two faced off in their first debate on ABC on Sept. 10, with more than 67 million viewers tuning in and 74% of TVLine readers declaring Harris the winner. Harris has accepted a second debate that would air on CNN on Wednesday, Oct. 23, but so far, Trump has rejected those plans, suggesting that its just too late for another debate.
Will you watch Trump and/or Harris town halls? Is your mind made up already? Let us know in the comments how youre feeling about the upcoming election.
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Editors note: Story has been updated as new details are released.
ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA (WJET/WFXP) Former President Donald Trump is planning a stop in northwest Pennsylvania this weekend.
Trump is expected to visit Erie on Sunday, Sept. 29, at the Bayfront Convention Center, with doors opening at 10 a.m. and the event to kick off at 2 p.m. Tickets are available on Trumps website.
Trump plans Oct. 5 rally at site of assassination attempt in Butler, Pa.
Tom Eddy, Erie County Republican chairman, said he learned on Wednesday morning about Trumps visit on Sunday.
Eddy thinks the economy, specifically inflation, is top of mind for Erie voters. He said Republican headquarters has been extremely busy over the last month, but theres nothing like an in-person visit to get to know a candidate.
In-person voting begins for the US presidential contest, kicking off the sprint to Election Day
It is better to go and visit a candidate in person, you may not get to shake his hand, but you get a better perspective for who they are when you see them and you listen to them in-person as opposed to a well-orchestrated ad on TV, said Tom Eddy, Erie County Republican Party chairman.
Eddy thinks Trumps team is intentionally timing his visit right before the start of mail-in ballots to get out the vote.
Trumps visit comes after his running mate JD Vance recently stopped at Team Hardinger Transporation warehouse on Aug. 28 talking to voters about the economy and trucking industry.
Vice President Kamala Harris running mate Gov. Tim Walz also made a recent visit to Erie back on September 5.
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Donald Trump said his tax measures would being trillions of dollars in wealth back to the USA - ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Donald Trump has pledged to take jobs from Britain, Germany and China if he returns to the White House.
Speaking in Georgia, the former president set out plans for an aggressive trade policy that would impose very substantial tariffs on companies that did not relocate jobs to the US.
In a pitch to every major company and manufacturer on Earth, Trump also said he would use Americas economic muscle to slash the corporate tax rate for businesses that moved their operations to the country.
Not only will we stop our businesses leaving for foreign lands but under my leadership were going to take other countries jobs, the former president told a crowd in Savannah, Georgia.
Were going to bring thousands and thousands of businesses and trillions of dollars in wealth back to the USA.
I want German car companies to become American car companies, I want them to build their plants here, Trump continued. I want to beat China in electronics production. And well be able to do that easily.
He said that Britain was dying to attract big business from the US and was using its tax incentives to do so.
One day youre going to read, Oh gee, so-and-so, they just signed with China, they just signed with Germany, they just signed with Great Britain its dying to have them, theyll give you free tax, he said.
Slashing tax
Companies such as the investment giant BlackRock have sent white-collar jobs to Britain, drawn by depressed salaries and tax incentives.
Trump pledged to levy tariffs on companies that refused to move their operations to the US, while slashing the corporate tax rate from 21 per cent to 15 per cent for those that agreed to relocate.
The policy would prompt a manufacturing boom and cause General Electric (GE), IBM and every other manufacturer that left us to be filled with regret and come sprinting back to our shores, Trump said.
IBM and the three companies formed when GE split up in April are based in the US, although they are reported to have moved jobs to countries such as Mexico in recent years.
Trump cut the tax rate from 35 per cent to 21 per cent during his term in the White House in 2017.
This is going to blow that away, he claimed on Tuesday, saying he would bring in the most competitive tax anywhere on the planet but only for those who make their product in the USA.
By contrast, his political rival Kamala Harris proposes raising the corporate tax rate from 21 per cent to 28 per cent.
New manufacturing investment
Trump also announced plans to reward US-based manufacturers by expanding research and development tax credits, writing off 100 per cent of the cost of heavy machinery in the first year, and allowing full expensing for new manufacturing investments.
Republicans have previously expressed wariness about the former presidents tax promises and believe he is promising more than he can deliver, Politico reported last week.
In addition to his pledges on Tuesday, Trump has also said he would eliminate or cut taxes on tips, social security benefits and overtime pay, on top of the $4.6 trillion it will cost to renew the bulk of his 2017 tax cuts.
The Republican presidential candidate claimed he would ramp up production of cars in the US, while repeating his plan to impose a 100 per cent tariff on imported Chinese cars that are manufactured in Mexico.
Trump labelled Ms Harris a communist and tax queen and claimed that she had only become the Democratic presidential candidate, having replaced Joe Biden in July, because of political correctness.
Shes called the tax queen in other countries because she forces everybody out of our country into their hands, he said. Her economic plans would lead to a 1929-style depression and an exodus of businesses, he added.
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Trump Claimed Women Will "No Longer Be Thinking About Abortion" If He Wins, And The Backlash Was Immediate
It's not a secret that Vice President Kamala Harris is leading among women polled when it comes to the 2024 presidential election. And with abortion rights and women's healthcare ranking as a top issue, it's also not surprising that former president Donald Trump has recently chosen to address the topic during rallies.
Win Mcnamee / Getty Images
In fact, while speaking at a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina this weekend, the 78-year-old made quite the statement, asserting that, with him as president, women will "no longer be thinking about abortion."
Trump reads his bizarre Truth Social rant: So let's talk about our great women. Women have gone through a lot. Women are poorer than they were four years ago. Are less healthy than they were four years ago ... You will no longer be thinking about abortion pic.twitter.com/4oryV835Lb Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 21, 2024
NewsMax / Via Twitter: @atrupar
He said, "Let's talk about our great women, because women have gone through a lot they've gone through a lot."
"Women are poorer than they were four years ago; are less healthy than they were four years ago; are less safe on the streets than they were four years ago; are paying much higher prices for groceries and everything else than they were four years ago; are more stressed and depressed and unhappy than they were four years ago."
Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
"I will fix all of that women, I will fix all of that and I will fix it fair," he said. "Women will be happy, healthy, confident, and free. You will no longer be thinking about abortion."
"Because it is now where it always had to be with the states and with the vote of the people. The people are now voting and many of those votes are far more liberal than we thought."
His statement largely echoes a post he shared on Truth Social in all caps ahead of his speech. However, there, he doubled down on the false claim that democrats are "executing" babies post-birth before promising, "I WILL PROTECT WOMEN AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE."
Truth Social: Donald Trump / Via truthsocial.com
The speech was highly criticized online. One person wrote, "Women don't need Donald Trump to fix their problems. They need Donald Trump to stop causing them problems!"
Women don't need Donald Trump to fix their problems. They need Donald Trump to stop causing them problems! Proud Navy Veteran (@naretevduorp) September 21, 2024
Twitter: @naretevduorp
Another said, "I'm a woman and I am certainly not poorer than I was four years ago."
Im a woman and I am certainly not poorer than I was four years ago. Carmen Gisselle Rodriguez, CRNP (@CarmenGisselle7) September 21, 2024
Twitter: @CarmenGisselle7
And many invoked the case of 28-year-old mom and medical assistant Amber Nicole Thurman who developed a rare infection after taking prescribed pregnancy-ending pills that did not expel all fetal tissue from her body. She reportedly went to a hospital after experiencing heavy pain and loss of consciousness. However, due to her state's (Georgia) strict six-week abortion ban, doctors waited 20 hours before operating. By that time, her organs failed and she died. Upon investigation, the state found her death was "preventable."
But, but, he brags getting Roe v Wade overturned.Woman are literally dieing under laws that stop doctors, and medical staff, from doing their job https://t.co/3h1f6EGrzQ Dougle Kelly (@DougleKelly) September 21, 2024
NewsMax / Via Twitter: @DougleKelly
While stipulating that women "WILL FINALLY BE HEALTHY, HOPEFUL, SAFE, AND SECURE" under his presidency, Trump has also bragged about being the president to overturn Roe v. Wade and the protections it provided.
McLENNAN COUNTY, Texas (FOX 44) Central Texans have an opportunity to assist the family of a murder victim during their time of need.
A GoFundMe has been organized for the family of Michaela Brooker. The community has been asked to help cover her familys unexpected expenses and to ensure they can grieve without having to worry about bills, food, gas and support for her child. Every donation will go directly towards these costs, according to the webpage for the fundraiser.
We are heartbroken to share that our beloved Michaela was tragically taken from us too soon. A victim of a senseless act of violence, she was a cherished mother, daughter, and friend. Mackenzie Prater, organizer of the GoFundMe fundraiser
Richard Tanner Ozment has been charged with murdering Brooker in the 15000 block of Old China Spring Road on the morning of Saturday, September 21. The incident happened during a domestic argument.
As of Wednesday, September 25, the fundraiser has halfway reached its $10,000 goal.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Why wealthy countries are being urged to surrender their smallpox vaccine stockpiles
The DRC is the outbreak epicentre of a dangerous new strain of mpox - TCHANDROU NITANGA/AFP via Getty Images
Wealthy countries with millions of smallpox vaccines stockpiled for national security should urgently donate more doses to African countries battling the latest outbreak of mpox, the World Health Organization has warned.
For decades governments including the UK, Japan, United States and South Korea have been stockpiling shots of smallpox the only disease ever eradicated in case the lethal pathogen makes an accidental or intentional comeback.
Many of these smallpox vaccines are also effective against mpox as the two viruses are closely related. Yet, as a worrying outbreak of a dangerous new mpox strain intensifies in east Africa, few vaccines have reached the hardest hit regions.
We understand that nations would want to keep a stockpile, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, interim director of the department of Epidemic and Pandemic Threat Management at the WHO, told The Telegraph.
But right now we have an immediate need in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and in neighbouring countries. The vaccines that are sitting on shelves or in a stockpile are useless.
She added that the WHO does not know how many doses are being kept in national reserves, though a recent Reuters tally estimated it stands at several hundred million. Dr Van Kerkhove said governments should assess their stockpiles and share a proportion urgently.
More than 26,500 people have been infected with mpox and 724 have died since January, with 14 countries across Africa so far recording cases.
Despite an assessment from the Africa Centre for Disease Control suggesting the region needs between 18 and 22 million doses to vaccinate 10 million people at high risk, Dr Van Kerkhove said just 3.6 million shots have been pledged at the time of speaking.
That has now jumped, after the United States on Tuesday pledged a donation of 1 million mpox vaccine doses and at least $500 million to African countries to support their response to the outbreak.
Making the announcement at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, US President Joe Biden called on other countries to follow suit, adding: We must now move quickly to face mpox.
Yet as it stands, only 265,000 vaccines have arrived in the DRC, the epicentre, which is set to roll out its first shots within weeks.
Many countries deem smallpox stockpiles as a national security necessity and are reluctant to dilute their stocks.
Although the infectious disease was eradicated in 1980, samples remain in high security laboratories in the United States and Russia.
The threat of a smallpox reemergence, accidental or otherwise, remains and it could be devastating.
It is estimated that the virus killed between 300 and 500 million people worldwide in the 20th century.
Some countries are on especially high alert.
South Korea has long feared smallpox may be one ingredient of a lethal cocktail of viruses and bacteria that North Korea could weaponise against it, and it maintains an emergency stockpile of vaccines to protect against that eventuality.
Local media reports in 2022 indicated a stash of some 35 million doses for the country of 51 million. Smallpox vaccines are made by Korean pharmaceutical company HK inno.N, which was granted approval to make the drug in 2008.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on Monday confirmed the existence of its stockpiles to counter a bioterrorism outbreak but would not reveal its size, citing security reasons.
According to WHO recommendations, we aim for a stockpile level of 80 per cent of the population, taking into account herd immunity, it said in a statement.
During the 2022 mpox outbreak, South Korea donated 50,000 vaccines to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to help protect health workers and people living in the hardest-hit areas.
The KDCA said there were currently no plans to make further donations from its smallpox supplies.
The current stockpile of smallpox vaccine is a second-generation vaccine and is intended for the purpose of preparing for domestic outbreaks of bioterrorism infectious diseases (smallpox) in accordance with relevant laws, it said.
Just 265,000 vaccines have arrived in the DRC, which is set to roll out its first shots within weeks - Justin Makangara/REUTERS
It is not known if North Korea, which is technically at war with the South and continually threatens it with nuclear annihilation, actually possesses samples of smallpox for bioterror purposes.
South Koreas biennial defence white papers have reported on Pyongyangs possible biological weapons programme since 2000.
In 2006, the paper said the North was able to produce biological weapons such as the bacteria of anthrax, smallpox and cholera, but a decade later was more cautious about their existence. Independent experts have also taken a more sceptical view of the regimes bioweapons capabilities.
The UK, like South Korea, has not revealed how many vaccines it has stockpiled. The government holds medical countermeasures for a range of biological threats and hazards, but does not comment on these publicly.
And although the Department for Health and Social Care last week announced it had ordered more than 150,000 mpox doses made by Bavarian Nordic for domestic use, the government has not donated shots directly to the DRC.
The Telegraph understands that most of Bavarian Nordic vaccines currently available were purchased in 2022, and there are concerns that expiry dates are too tight to donate them to the DRC. Instead, the UK is funding Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which procures shots for lower and middle income countries and last week purchased 500,000 mpox vaccines for the outbreak.
Dr Javier Guzman, director of global health policy at the Center for Global Development, said most wealthy countries have enough doses stored to share mpox shots from smallpox vaccine reserves while protecting national security.
For instance, Japan has a stockpile of around 200 million doses of the LC16 vaccine. Donating just three million doses, as Japan has done, marginally reduces their reserves. Similarly, Spain has pledged 500,000 doses, approximately 20 per cent of its mpox vaccine stockpile, he said.
If more high-income countries take similar steps, they significantly increase the chances of containment, reducing the need for African countries to wait for new vaccine manufacturing.
Dr Guzman also reiterated that it would be a mistake to overlook the current threat posed by a more lethal strain which is already spreading widely.
When high-income countries conduct their risk-benefit analysis, they should consider that the risk of smallpox in high-income countries is very low, according to WHO, despite concerns about the possibility of deliberate release. In contrast, the risk of mpox spreading further is a real and present threat.
However, limited donations are not the only reason the rollout of mpox shots has been slow.
We have a real challenge in the world right now around access to medical countermeasures, said Prof Rebecca Katz, director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center.
It happens for a lot of reasons its everything from national security implications, to the cost of production, to the legal and regulatory barriers, to getting the product to the right populations. And none of these have easy solutions attached to them.
In this outbreak, regulatory issues have hit the headlines. It was only on September 13 that the WHO authorised the first shot for mpox, made by Bavarian Nordic, in a process called pre-qualification.
This is significant for two reasons. First, because many low and middle income countries without strong regulators also rely on the WHO to determine which medical tools are safe and effective although, in the case of the DRC, the country gave two mpox vaccines the green light in late June.
Second and perhaps more importantly, UN agencies and Gavi require the WHO approval to buy and distribute shots. Which is why Gavi only last Wednesday announced its first purchase of Bavarian Nordic mpox shots for use in this outbreak.
Dr Gavin Yamey, associate director for policy at Duke Global Health Institute, said the long delays point to how WHOs medicine and vaccine approval system is too slow, bureaucratic, and risk-averse.
Mpox vaccines were approved by the US regulator, the FDA, back in September 2019 and by the European Medicines Agency in July 2022, so the long delay by the WHO to give the green light was deeply frustrating, he added.
But Dr Van Kerkhove said the agency had moved as quickly as possible, adding that it was only on August 23 that Bavarian Nordic shared the final tranche of data the UN agency needed to green light the shot.
We will not compromise on safety. So thats paramount, she said. We did not receive the full dossier until August 23, we cant evaluate these vaccines without the full package of information the EMA, the FDA, they gave exceptional approval to use this vaccine.
She added that the WHOs team is also in the process of assessing a Japanese vaccine called LC16 and made by KM Biologics. She expects an announcement on this to be made soon.
But even with shots on the horizon for the DRC, challenges remain. The Bavarian Nordic vaccine requires two doses, which could be difficult in areas with a highly mobile or hard to reach population.
Meanwhile KM Biologics shot, which has been approved for use in children, is an intradermal vaccine (meaning it is scraped between layers of skin) and needs specialised training to administer. Both are expensive.
Vaccines are not the silver bullet, said Dr Van Kerkhove. Whats going to stop these outbreaks? Strong surveillance, really targeted risk communication materials, making sure patients are cared for appropriately in either healthcare facilities or through home care, making sure that families have access to clean water to wash clothes and linens.
She added: Vaccines are an additional component to that. They are an important one but I really want emphasise this over-reliance on vaccines, because this is not how this outbreak is going to stop.
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HARLEYVILLE, S.C. (WCBD) Dorchester School District 4 (DD4) received a major financial boost today as South Carolina Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver made a special visit to Harleyville Elementary School, presenting the district with a $16 million check in capital funds.
The event, attended by district leadership, faculty, and students, marked a significant milestone in its efforts to improve its infrastructure and learning environments.
The celebration began with a warm welcome from Harleyville Elementary student Royal Green, setting the tone for the event. DD4 Superintendent Jeff Beckwith expressed his gratitude for the generous funds and emphasized how crucial modern, safe, and comfortable facilities are for student success.
Superintendent Weaver praised the dedication of the Dorchester community, highlighting three key themes: the pride in ensuring a quality education for every child, the power of persistence that led to securing the funds, and the potential for partnerships between the community, state, and local leadership.
The ceremonial check presentation was met with applause, symbolizing a bright future for the district. Board Chair Phyllis Hughes echoed the excitement, thanking Superintendent Weaver and the General Assembly for their support. She also acknowledged the hard work of the districts teachers and the impact these renovations will have on students.
The $16 million will fund crucial upgrades across the district, including new roofing, flooring, structural repairs, and enhanced playgroundstransforming schools into inspiring spaces for learning.
Superintendent Weavers visit and the capital funding mark a turning point for DD4 as it works to create a safer and more dynamic learning environment for all students.
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Spain's coastal city of Malaga draws in many visitors with its promise of high temperatures and sunny beaches, but city officials appear to be fed up with scantily-clad tourists walking around the city. Alex Zea/EUROPA PRESS/dpa
As much of Europe sees leaves turning brown and the first autumn evening chills kicking in, Mediterranean regions are still basking in the kind of warmth that is rare even at the height of summer further north.
And as temperatures remain at around 30 Celsius in Malaga on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain, city officials are again pleading with visitors to "dress completely" as part of a billboard and internet campaign to discourage rowdiness as local sentiment turns against the perceived excesses of mass tourism.
Home to around 570,000 people, Malaga hosted over 14 million visitors in 2023, the year after a 750 fine was introduced to deter anyone from walking around town in just a pair of shorts or a string bikini.
A similar fine, albeit capped at 500, was brought in recently in Seville, where visitors also once felt free to amble around as if on the beach or at the swimming pool.
Locals earlier this year protested rising house prices, which they put down to buildings being given over to visitors. The complaints echoed other anti-tourist sentiments being vented across Spain, which in 2023 hosted over 85 million foreign visitors, many of them heading to anything-goes beach and party resorts on the Costa del Sol.
Even at more sedate destinations, such as Santiago de Compostela, the endpoint of an ancient walking pilgrimage route through France and northern Spain, tourists have been asked to restrain themselves, with complaints locally of people picnicking and lolling about bare-chested in the square in front of the citys cathedral, the burial place of St James the Elder, one of the twelve apostles.
Malaga's Malagueta beach: Home to around 570,000 people, Malaga hosted over 14 million visitors in 2023. Alex Zea/EUROPA PRESS/dpa
With the help of a pictogram of two clothed people, a tourism flyer in Spain's coastal city of Malaga is calling on visitors to "dress completely." Ciudad de Malaga/dpa
Driven out of Iran, Afghan refugees tell of ordeal
An Afghan refugee sits with his children after their deportation from Iran, at a registration centre near the Afghanistan-Iran border in the Islam Qala district of Herat province (Mohsen KARIMI) (Mohsen KARIMI/AFP/AFP)
At the border with Iran, streams of Afghan refugees return with children in their arms, their entire worldly possessions contained in a large bag.
Every day up to 3,000 Afghans -- some who were born in Iran -- arrive back in their home country after a failed attempt at a better life.
"Refugees face a lot of physical and mental torture," Abdul Ghani Qazizada, responsible for registering the arrivals in the border town of Islam Qala, told AFP.
Many entered Iran illegally or let their visas expire. Nearly 90 percent have been deported, with the rest returning voluntarily.
The rate of expulsions has increased "in the last six months," said Qazizada.
"They are warned there (in Iran) that they must leave within one week, or anyone above 18 must deposit 100 million toman ($2,375) in the bank," he said.
"These are the people who return to Afghanistan voluntarily because of this problem."
These refugees in counterfeit Fendi or Dior T-shirts are registered by the Afghan authorities and examined by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
To rebuild their lives, they are given 2,000 Afghanis ($29) per person if they arrive with their family, but nothing if they are alone.
- Growing hostility -
Ramazan Azizi, 36, waits, haggard, on a blue plastic chair to be registered with his wife and three children.
They entered Iran illegally in 2023, after paying $1,220 to a trafficker but have faced growing hostility towards Afghans, accused of increasing unemployment and prices but also crime in a country under international sanctions.
"The owners had to pay a fine because they rented their home to us. They threw our things out of the windows," Azizi, a construction worker, told AFP.
"They (authorities) told us to pack up and we did, we were taken to a military camp to be deported."
He said the family were crammed in with 2,000 to 3,000 other Afghans for six days.
"We were exhausted... without food or water," he said, his little girl wearing a pink T-shirt with rabbits on it sat by his side.
- Metal batons -
Tears flow from Fazila Qaderi, 26, as she recounts the ordeal she and her husband endured in the Karaj camp near the capital Tehran.
The guards "beat us a lot for six or seven days with metal batons", making no distinction between men or women.
"I saw an Afghan die, and they shouted at him 'son of a bitch, go home!'," she said, adding that her husband suffered broken bones.
"Yesterday I told (the guards): 'kill me or send us back to Afghanistan'."
They arrived in Iran four years ago, having paid a smuggler, as farm workers in the central-northern province of Qazvin.
Their new life had started well, until she was hospitalised for 12 days for a severe allergy and needed an operation.
"We gave $1,200 to the doctor for the surgery and they said they would do it the next day. When we went back, the security officials took us," she explained.
"We had a three-room apartment full of belongings, we couldn't take a single thing with us," she continues. "We had paid 50 million toman to the owner in advance, we couldn't take that back either," nor the advance to the doctor.
Now they have no money to pay for the trip back to their home province of Takhar in northeastern Afghanistan.
- 'Less than a dog' -
Day labourer Abdul Basir, 29, said he was arrested at work and expelled from Iran, despite having a valid passport and visa.
"With a passport I ended up in the military camp (in Karaj) for 10 days," he said. "What government can do that?"
With his hands and feet tied, he was taken away in a bus with 70 to 80 people standing, and once at the camp he was beaten to the point he couldn't move.
He describes "broken hands and feet, people fainting, maybe even dead" and thirst and hunger.
"There were elderly Afghans, women and children," he says, adding that people were taken away and not seen again.
He also claimed that security personnel tore up Afghan passports or valid Iranian residence permits.
He was deported back to Afghanistan without his Afghan passport, which he paid $340 for so he could flee unemployment in Herat province.
"Now, I don't have any money to pay for the bus to go home," he said.
The Afghan official at the border, Qazizada, said around 70 percent of the refugees were sent back without Iranian documents.
Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi asked Tehran on Thursday to "cooperate patiently with Afghan refugees, who have also contributed to the development of Iran".
In his first press conference earlier in the week, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was repatriating illegal nationals to their country "in a respectful manner".
Iran has been a host country for 4.5 million Afghans fleeing decades of war and unemployment.
Iran's spokesman for the parliamentary National Security Committee, Ebrahim Rezaei, earlier this month said police plan to "expel more than two million illegal citizens in the near future".
Afghans represent more than 90 percent of foreign nationals and most enter without identity papers, according to the official IRNA news agency.
More than 700,000 undocumented Afghans have also left neighbouring Pakistan following a crackdown which started in September last year.
In Iranian bakeries, signs prohibit the sale of bread to non-Iranians "under penalty of prosecution", according to photos on social networks.
Fazila Qaderi confirms that she has not been able to buy bread for two months: "For them, an Afghan is worth less than a dog."
pt-qb/sbh-ecl/fox
A jury found Jacob Mraulak guilty on all counts stemming from a crash that killed Vivian Carmody and injured her husband, Eastern Market CEO Dan Carmody, as they walked to dinner last year on Detroits east side.
The Romulus man who was charged with four crimes, including operating while intoxicated causing death, reckless driving causing death and reckless driving causing serious injury faces prison time and is set to be sentenced Oct. 18.
Mraulak, who was 28 at the time, was driving against traffic on East Lafayette near St. Aubin on Aug. 18, 2023. He veered onto the sidewalk and struck the couple, who were both in their late 60s. Medics rushed them to a hospital. Vivian Carmody later died, and Dan Carmody underwent surgery on his leg and ankle.
Eastern Market Partnership CEO Dan Carmody, right, and his wife Vivian Carmody.
Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow invited Carmody to be her guest for the State of the Union.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy made good on earlier statements.
When Mraulak was charged, she warned all drivers: "This is a harsh fact: Every time you get behind the wheel of a car, you should be acutely aware that you are potentially driving an instrumentality of death. Traffic accidents happen."
But, she also emphasized the dire results of breaking the law while behind the wheel.
More: Eastern Market CEO injured, wife dead after getting hit by car in Detroit
"Criminal traffic tragedies do not just happen," she said, after detailing the circumstances behind last year's tragic crash in Detroit. "There is a reason for them, and criminal consequences attach including, possibly, a loss of freedom."
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jacob Mraulak convicted crash that killed Vivian Carmody
While Honda has a long reputation for building fuel-efficient cars and trucks, its only now getting serious about EVs with its new 2024 Prologue. The Prologue is an all-electric SUV that seats five and is about the same length as a Honda Passport. Interestingly, Honda expedited its entry in the electric SUV arena by borrowing off-the-shelf EV know-how from General Motors. The Prologue shares its battery, motors and many of its features with the Chevrolet Blazer EV.
Toyota is in a similar situation. It co-engineered its first mass-produced EV, the bZ4X, with Subaru. The 2024 bZ4X builds on last years debut with a few improvements such as longer range and quicker charging. And like the Prologue, the bZ4X has two rows of seating, available all-wheel drive, and a long roster of tech features. Which one is the better buy? The auto experts at Edmunds pitted them against each other to find out.
Range and Charging
The single-motor front-wheel-drive Prologue is the one to get if range is a priority. According to EPA estimates, the Prologues maximum range is 296 miles on a full charge. All-wheel-drive models are slightly less at 273-281 miles, depending on trim. In the independent Edmunds EV Range Test, a dual-motor Elite model exceeded its EPA estimate, impressively going 320 miles on a full charge.
The Toyotas range varies from a low of 222 miles in the dual-motor Limited trim with all-wheel drive to a max of 252 miles in the single-motor XLE. This figure falls short of range in the Prologue and most similarly sized electric SUVs. The bZ4X exceeded its estimated range in Edmunds testing, though it still came up well short of the Prologue.
Things tighten up when it comes to charging speed. Plan on approximately 30 minutes to charge either EV from a low battery up to about 80% at a public fast-charging station under ideal conditions. You should also be able to easily fully charge these EVs at home and overnight when using a 240-volt power supply. But overall the Prologues longer range is a big advantage.
Winner: Honda Prologue
Performance and Comfort
The Prologue and bZ4X have similar performance. Alas, this isnt entirely good. Even in their most powerful configurations, acceleration is leisurely for an EV. Key competitors, such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Tesla Model Y, are considerably quicker.
Considering it wears a Honda badge, the Prologues ho-hum handling and firm ride are disappointing. On the plus side, the Hondas adjustable brake regeneration allows for one-pedal driving that brings the SUV to a complete stop without touching the brake pedal.
Story continues
The bZ4Xs regenerative braking awkwardly requires the driver to still use the brake pedal to come to a full stop. Working in favor of the Toyota are its more supportive front seats and its more comfortable ride over bumps.
Winner: tie
Interior and Utility
The Prologue and bZ4X dont raise the bar for EV interior design, yet theyre generally well thought out and feature touchscreens with large icons and intuitive menus. With its Google-based infotainment system, the Prologue offers perks like Google Maps navigation and the Google voice-based Assistant app. You dont get those features on the bZ4X, but its infotainment system is still easy to use.
The Prologue has more legroom in its second row than the bZ4X. This can be advantageous if you frequently have passengers aboard or small children in safety seats. For the bZ4X, it boasts better outward visibility as well as a bit more cargo space. Still, neither is as roomy for cargo as a Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4, and neither has a front trunk like a Tesla Model Y.
Winner: tie
Pricing and Value
The Prologue starts at $48,795, including destination charges, for the EX trim. It then tops out around $60,000 for the Prologue Elite. Thats quite a bit more than what Toyota charges for the bZ4X. The base XLE is $44,465 and the Limited is $48,575. The amount of comfort and technology-related features found on each is similar. The Prologue qualifies for the full federal $7,500 EV tax credit, and both EVs are often eligible for regional leasing deals. In general, though, youll pay less to drive the bZ4X.
Winner: Toyota bZ4X
Edmunds Says
The Honda Prologue and Toyota bZ4X should each satisfy brand loyalists. Theyre also pretty evenly matched. But ultimately Edmunds thinks the Prologue is the better buy because of its better range and roomier seating.
____________
This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds. Nick Kurczewski is a contributor at Edmunds.
Dornan was known by the handle Symbolic-Phone on Encrochat, the court heard [Getty Images]
A self-confessed drug dealer form Northern Ireland who used encrypted communications platform EncroChat to import cannabis has been jailed.
Joseph Dornan, 45, from Ahoghill in County Antrim, pleaded guilty to a number of offences including being concerned in the supply of a Class A controlled drug, and the transfer of criminal property, earlier this year.
He had been arrested after police in France and Holland obtained EncroChat conversations.
Dornan was handed a 44 month term at Londonderry Crown Court on Wednesday.
Dornan is one of the first to be sentenced in Northern Ireland for offences linked with EncroChat.
Police said his sentencing was a welcome milestone.
Dornan had been involved in an "international drug distribution network", the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said.
On Tuesday, the court in Derry was told he had committed the offences on dates in June and July of 2020.
The court heard Dornan was known by the handle Symbolic-Phone on Encrochat.
He had sent his mobile phone number and his business name to another user whose phone was hacked by investigating authorities.
Dornan also had a business van with the same phone number printed on the side of the vehicle, the court heard.
Dornan was sentenced at Bishop Street courthouse on Tuesday [BBC]
Following his arrest he admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply and to possessing criminal property, namely 20,000 and admitted offering to supply cocaine.
A prosecutor told the court the cannabis charge related to the importation of 23kg of the drug from Holland.
Dornan and two associates divided the cannabis equally among themselves and the 20,000 was Dornan's share of the cannabis transaction, the court heard.
An aggravating factor in the case, the prosecutor said, was Dornans previous 2005 conviction for his part in smuggling 61kg of cannabis resin and 41kg of herbal cannabis from Holland.
He said in the present case it was accepted Dornan is "a person who is supplying smaller retailers for commercial profit.
A defence barrister told the court Dornan got involved in the offending following the collapse of his business.
He had made a very foolish decision, the barrister said, adding Dornan "is terrified of going into custody.
The barrister added: He has now paid the price."
Sentencing, judge Rafferty said Dornan's previous drugs offending and his use of an Encrochat phone were aggravating factors.
"I appreciate imprisonment has an impact on the broader family but there are mothers and fathers who watch the health of their children decline through drugs misuse, he said.
'Welcome milestone'
The PSNI Det Insp McCamley said an extensive examination of message on the encrypted phone network had revealed the defendants involvement in an international drug distribution network.
"This is a welcome milestone, and a reflection of our ongoing commitment to bring those involved in criminal activity to justice, the officer said.
Police said the investigation and subsequent sentencing stems from Operation Venetic - the UK response to taking down EncroChat.
Oregon's addiction crisis is fueled by fentanyl, which is short acting and stays a long time in the body. (Getty Images)
Oregon lawmakers are starting to wade into the work of monitoring whether the states new drug possession law will successfully help the state combat Oregons fentanyl addiction and overdose crisis.
House Bill 4002, which took effect on Sept. 1, is just beginning to roll out. The bill recriminalized low-level drug possession and provided funding so county officials, if they desire, can set up deflection programs that help people avoid charges if they seek treatment or other recovery services.
For now, the state has little information about how effective the programs will be in keeping people out of jail and getting them in treatment in the 28 counties that are participating.
What is on the rise since Sept. 1: The number of drug possession arrests statewide, Ken Sanchagrin, executive director of Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, told lawmakers Tuesday in the Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response.
Weigh in on Oregons drug addiction crisis
The Oregon Capital Chronicle wants to hear from Oregonians affected by the states drug addiction crisis and from providers and others involved in treatment or other services.
To share your thoughts and experiences here.
In the first week after the law took effect, police arrested 227 people for drug possession. In comparison, police only made an average of about 50 arrests a week for drug possession after the passage of Ballot Measure 110, which decriminalized low-level drug possession in 2021.
The increase is not all due to the new law. When police arrest people for possession of controlled substances, suspects can end up facing a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the situation. The law only added a misdemeanor, leaving more serious misdemeanor and previous felony charges in place.
In the first three weeks of September, Oregon police logged 650 arrests for possession of controlled substances. But some of those involved people who also had outstanding warrants or other charges, meaning that deflection would not be an option for them. In the entire group, 167 arrests were made for only possession of a controlled substance.
From arrest to treatment
The police encounters have included some success stories. In Deschutes County, for example, police contacted a man in a car who just used fentanyl. The officers found he was open to treatment and helped him enroll in a treatment center, where he started an opioid treatment medication within two hours and entered an inpatient detox facility. By Sept. 12 less than two weeks before the new law started he was in a sober living house for people in recovery.
Rep. Jason Kropf, the committee co-chair, said the example is what the programs aspire to, but stressed more work is ahead.
Im here for the long term to continue the work in this space, said Kropf, D-Bend.
Deflection numbers also will take awhile to trickle in because some of the programs give people time to decide whether to participate. In some cases, an arrest or citation is recorded and that person may ultimately participate and avoid court charges.
Of the participating counties, 10 of them have programs that are running, including all three counties in the Portland region. Some rural areas, like Baker County, have also started programs. The others will start in October and later.
Complaints about funding
When lawmakers passed the bill, they designated nearly $21 million for counties and tribes to participate and cover administrative and startup costs like staffing and contracts. A total of $211 million is designated for related services, like recovery houses, residential treatment facilities and medication treatment in jails.
The state allocated $4.3 million to Multnomah County and $2.1 million to Lane County for deflection programs while giving a minimum of $150,000 to rural counties.
Sanchagrin of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, which handled the grants, said it heard from many rural counties that $150,000 was wholly insufficient. That amount, combined with the quick turnaround needed to start the deflection programs, discouraged some of the smaller counties that dont have dedicated staff to apply for grants, he said.
The eight counties that are not launching deflection programs are all rural: Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jefferson, Lake, Sherman, Wallowa and Wheeler.
If the funding increases and counties have more time in the future to join, that may bring in smaller counties, he said.
Still, he said, those that are participating came up with impressive ways of doing more with less.
Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene and the committees co-chair, said hes concerned that some counties are putting limits on who can enter deflection and people will enter the court system instead.
Where are we going with this? he said. The reality is were basically setting up a system thats not going to have equal protection.
Sanchagrin said the definition of deflection is very broad, a point the grant review committee discussed. But he said lawmakers should look at the results in individual counties for what works and doesnt work.
If one county has only a few successes and another has hundreds, he said, then I think that will be a point of discussion for you all.
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DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) Duke Energy is sending some of its crews to Florida.
According to Duke Energy, crews from Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio are preparing to help Florida recover from the effects of Hurricane Helene. Crews are being sent to four locations in the Sunshine State.
Duke crews in the following fields are being deployed:
Damage assessors Support personnel Power line technicians Vegetation workers
As the storm approaches, these skilled individuals are being strategically placed across the state, enabling them to respond as quickly as possible to widespread power outages that are expected as a result of strong winds and heavy rainfall, said Duke Energy.
Power restoration will begin once conditions become safe.
AES Ohio Director of Communications Mary Ann Kabel told 2 NEWS that AES Ohio is not sending crews, but will in the future if additional resources are requested.
Previous Hurricane Helene Deployment
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com.
Go behind the headlines as NewsNations Missing investigates missing person cases from across the country, from cold cases to the latest developing stories. Tune into our latest cases digital show each Friday where we speak to loved ones and examine the case. Subscribe to our newsletter here.
(NewsNation) A young girl went missing from a park, and five years later, her family is still trying to find out what happened to her.
Noema Alavez frantically called 911 to report her 5-year-old daughter, Dulce Maria Alavez, had vanished from a New Jersey park.
Dulce is still missing.
Dulce Alavez disappears
Boy abducted from California in 1951 found more than 70 years later
The girl disappeared on Sept. 16, 2019, when she and her 3-year-old brother were playing near the swings at a public park in Bridgeton, New Jersey. The rural city with a large Mexican American immigrant community is just about an hour south of Philadelphia.
Her mother was sitting in a car about 30 yards away, but Dulce never returned from playing.
Its really hard to believe that shes not here with us, Noema Alavez said.
Dulce Alavez was five when she disappeared. (Noemma Alavez)
Dulce Alavez would be 10-years-old today. (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
A sketch of a possible person of interest was circulated. (New Jersey State Police)
Age-progression photos show how Dulce Alavez might appear today. (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
Dulce Alavez was playing in a park with her brother before she vanished. (Noemma Alavez)
Her mother was in a parked car nearby when Dulce Alavez disappeared. (Noemma Alavez)
Dulce Alavezs family describe her as being as sweet as her name. (Noemma Alavez)
Dulce Alavez has not been seen since 2019. (Noemma Alavez)
Dulce Alavez and her brother were playing at a New Jersey park. (Noemma Alavez)
Her family hopes Dulce Alavez is still alive. (Noemma Alavez)
Alavez told NewsNation that Dulce has a spunky yet sweet personality, just like her Spanish name suggests.
She likes princesses, she likes to wear dresses, Alavez said. She likes Elsa and Moana.
Searching for Dulce Alavez
Two days after Dulce disappeared, an Amber Alert went out describing the original theory from witnesses and law enforcement that a suspect lured the girl into a red van with a sliding door.
New Jersey State Police later released a sketch of a possible person of interest who was described as a Hispanic male with acne, about 5 foot, 8 inches tall and between 30 and 35 years old.
Teens reported missing in Murfreesboro found safe, police say
To this day, that person has not been identified.
Cumberland County, New Jersey, prosecutor Jennifer Webb McCray told NewsNation the investigation remains open and active. She says all theories and possibilities are on the table, but investigators believe Dulce could still be alive.
In the absence of evidence of Dulces demise, we hold out hope that shes alive, McCray said.
Thats why they, and Dulces family, want people to take another look at her photos, the sketch and age-progression photos released by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Those photos show how Dulce could look today when she would now be 10.
This year alone, they say theyve received 17 tips from places like Nevada, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Have a question about the case? Join the conversation by submitting it on this page and we may answer it in the show. You can watch new episodes of Missing every Friday on our YouTube page.
Submit a form.
They hope someone will bring detectives the last puzzle piece theyve been looking for to help find Dulce, even if that information seems insignificant.
One element that did not seem to be important could be important and be the piece that breaks this wide open, McCray said.
Dulce Alavezs father
One lead that authorities seemed to rule out at one point is the possible involvement of Dulces father, Edgar Perez. The FBI said theyd interviewed him, but local law enforcement reportedly reached out to Perez again after someone identifying himself as Perez posted a video on YouTube in 2021 saying he didnt know where his daughter was.
The man specifically mentioned that he had been deported to Mexico before Dulce disappeared and alluded to suspicions about what he knew.
Trump suspects son arrested on child porn charges
Those that think I took my baby girl, let me tell you that I got nothing to do with it, the man said.
For now, Alavez and her family mark another year at the park where Dulce went missing and continue to plead for any information that could lead to them being reunited with their girl.
I want my daughter home, Alavez said. I just want her to be home with me and my 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 NewsNation.
PARIS The Netherlands plans to buy two support vessels that will act as sidekicks to its air-defense frigates, packing additional missiles to defeat swarms of anti-ship missiles and drones, for an investment in the range of 250 million to 1 billion (US$279 million to $1.1 billion).
The support vessels will also be able to provide fire support for amphibious operations using long-range loitering munitions, as well as equip underwater drones to track and identify suspicious activity in the North Sea, Dutch State Secretary for Defence Gijs Tuinman said in a letter to parliament on Tuesday.
The Royal Netherlands Navy needs to strengthen its air defenses and firepower for operations in the higher violence spectrum, as well as capabilities to protect critical North Sea infrastructure such as drilling platforms and data cables, according to the Ministry of Defence.
These vessels are needed to better protect the Netherlands and allies in the event of a threat, Tuinman said in a post on X , formerly Twitter, describing the two future support vessels as sailing toolboxes for the lead vessel. The ships are capable of carrying a lot of equipment, such as additional firepower and long-range anti-aircraft missiles.
Dutch shipyard Damen will build the vessels, with Israel Aerospace Industries supplying its Barak ER surface-to-air interceptor, Harop long-range loitering munition as well as electronic-warfare equipment. Buying the missiles, long-range munitions and EW equipment from a single supplier will simplify integration work, the defense ministry said.
The vessels will have a length of about 53 meters and a beam of 9.8 meters, for a displacement of 550 tons, a MoD spokesman told Defense News. That compares to a length of around 144 meters and displacement of more than 6,000 tons for the De Zeven Provincien-class air-defense and command frigates operated by the Dutch Navy.
The services air-defense frigates will continue to be equipped with RTXs SM-2 surface-to-air missile, and the frigates radar and fire-control systems will handle launch and targeting for the missiles on the support vessels.
The support ships will each have a crew of at least eight sailors. While current technology isnt sufficiently mature for fully autonomous vessels, the new ships will provide the Navy with experience in operating with small crews, as a first step toward unmanned vessels, Tuinman said.
The first iteration will be available for the North Sea in 2026, and both vessels will be fully operational in 2027. Equipment on the support vessels will be packed in containers, meaning air-defense kit can be swapped out for long-range munitions based on the specific needs of the mission, according to the letter.
The Barak ER air-defense missile that will equip the support ships has a range of up to 150 kilometers and can target anything from fighters to tactical ballistic missiles and glide bombs, with eight missiles packed in a vertical launcher, according to the companys spec sheet.
The Netherlands also looked at MBDAs Aster missile, which the minister said cant be fired from a container, while Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Stunner missile didnt entirely fit the Dutch requirements.
The Netherlands needs to be prepared for swarming tactics, with massive and simultaneous attacks of anti-ship missiles and drones, which require larger stocks of missiles, Tuinman told parliament. Additionally, RTX is halting production of the SM-2, and the successor missile SM-2 Block IIICU isnt compatible with the fire control on the Dutch air-defense frigates, the minister said.
Adversaries in coastal areas increasingly have access to advanced sensors and long-range weapons, which is changing doctrine for amphibious operations to a larger number of simultaneous landings, according to Tuinman. The IAI loitering munitions have a range of several hundreds of kilometers, and will be able to linger in the target area for some time before use, he said.
Meanwhile the threat to Dutch infrastructure in the North Sea remains undiminished, with Russia continuing to map the infrastructure in what appear to be preparations for disruption and sabotage, the minister said. The Navy escorted a Russian research vessel in June and July that spent several days in the Dutch part of the North Sea, with intelligence services suspecting the Russians were investigating opportunities for potential future sabotage.
The Ministry of Defence plans to buy off-the-shelf underwater drones equipped with long-range sensors to spot suspicious activity, while the support vessels will also be fitted with sensors to record suspicious vessels.
The Netherlands has unveiled plans for two new support vessels of a novel design that stresses modularity, including containerized weapons and sensors for a variety of different missions, and a relatively tiny crew. Reflecting current operational realities, each of the new ships will pack additional air defense missiles to help existing Dutch frigates put up more effective and persistent firepower in the face of the kinds of massed missile and drone attacks that have proliferated in the Middle East.
In an announcement yesterday, the Dutch Ministry of Defense said that it would spend between 250 million and 1 billion ($279 million to $1.1 billion) on the two new support vessels.
Varende gereedschapskisten. Zo kun je de 2 nieuwe multifunctionele ondersteuningsvaartuigen voor de @kon_marine ook wel noemen. Het zijn licht bemande schepen met moderne wapensystemen en apparatuur die een hoofdschip assisteren.
Wat voegen ze toe aan onze vloot? pic.twitter.com/0uB7rOjTGI Gijs Tuinman (@DefensieStas) September 24, 2024
A Dutch Ministry of Defense told Defense News that the new ships will be around 174 feet long, with a beam of 32 feet, and will displace around 600 tons. This makes them significantly smaller than the De Zeven Provincien class frigates, four of which spearhead the Royal Netherlands Navy. Each of these frigates is roughly 473 feet long, with a beam of 61 feet, and displaces around 6,600 tons, fully loaded.
The Royal Netherlands Navy De Zeven Provincien class frigate HNLMS Tromp (F803) in the Pacific Ocean for the RIMPAC 2024 exercise. Royal Netherlands Air Force photo by Sergeant-majoor Cristian Schrik OR-7 Cristian Schrik
Perhaps most remarkably, the support vessels will each be operated by a crew of at least eight sailors, according to the Dutch Ministry of Defense. This compares with a complement of around 230 sailors on each of the De Zeven Provincien class.
Despite their diminutive size and minimal crew, the support vessels will be notably well armed.
As an adjunct to the De Zeven Provincien class, which is primarily an air defense frigate, the new vessels will be equipped with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Barak-ER medium- to long-range surface-to-air missiles. The latest iteration of the Barak series, the ER version can hit targets at ranges of up to 93 miles and at altitudes of close to 100,000 feet. The Barak-ER is designed to engage a wide range of aerial targets, including aircraft, sea-skimming and cruise missiles, drones, glide bombs, and as seen in the video below tactical ballistic missiles.
The Barak-ER is normally loaded in eight-round vertical launchers, and it was selected by the Netherlands in favor of the MBDA Aster, which cannot be fired from a container, and the Rafael Stunner, which reportedly failed to meet Dutch requirements. Meanwhile, production of the Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) Block IIIA that arms the De Zeven Provincien class will soon come to an end, with the subsequent SM-2 Block IIICU not being compatible with the frigates fire-control systems.
While this raises questions about the future armament of the De Zeven Provincien class, once stocks of SM-2 Block IIIA missiles are expired or expended, it led to the decision to fit Israeli-supplied air defense missiles on the support vessels. At the same time, the Barak-ER missiles on these ships will be fully compatible with the De Zeven Provincien class, meaning that the frigates can be responsible for target detection and targeting, commanding missile launches from the smaller vessels, which will effectively serve as additional floating magazine capacity. Official concept artwork of the new vessel shows the aft deck loaded with four containers, apparently for missiles, with six launch tubes in each. There are also two stacked containers at the far end of the boat, perhaps containing support equipment or electronics.
HNLMS Tromp (F803) fires an SM-2 missile. Dutch Ministry of Defense RICHARD FRIGGE
In a letter to parliament yesterday, Dutch State Secretary for Defense Gijs Tuinman shed more light on the concept of operations, describing the support vessel or vessels sailing at a short distance from the air defense frigate, with missiles being launched from the support vessel [but] controlled by the frigate.
The need to boost Dutch naval air defense coverage was made clear by the campaign against Houthi missiles and drones targeting shipping in the Middle East in recent months, as well as Irans unprecedented, massed attack on Israel, using the same kinds of weapons. In particular, the limited stock of air defense missiles found on most warships has emerged as a concern and one that the support vessels will help address. Developments elsewhere in the world, including in China, suggest that swarming drones as well as ever more capable missiles will be a feature of naval warfare from now on.
As well as air defense, the support vessels will be able to deliver fire support during amphibious operations, for which they will be armed with ship-launched Harop long-range loitering munitions, also supplied by IAI.
With an endurance of up to nine hours, the Harop is designed to hunt high-value targets including unmanned surface vessels, command posts, supply depots, armored vehicles, and air defense systems. It patrols a designated area, seeking out targets with its electro-optical seeker, overseen by a human-in-the-loop, before attacking. The addition of loitering munitions on warships of different kinds is something that has recently gained some traction and the many benefits have also been addressed in the past by the TWZ.
With the Netherlands Marine Corps as one of the four Dutch armed forces, the country has long stressed amphibious capabilities and the acquisition of Harop loitering munitions is indicative of the increasing challenges faced by such operations. In particular, coastlines are now better defended, with enemies possessing long-range weapons and advanced sensors that can threaten amphibious landing forces. This also means the Dutch Armed Forces need to be better able to launch amphibious assaults at different locations simultaneously.
Soldiers from the Netherlands Marine Corps and U.S. Marines from the 2d Marine Division patrol on a breaching range during an exercise on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, March 13, 2023. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Eric Dmochowski Lance Cpl. Eric Dmochowski
The Harop is part of wider Dutch investments in long-range strike capabilities. As we have discussed in the recent past, the Dutch are planning to acquire conventionally armed Tomahawk cruise missiles for their next class of submarines, as well as the AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range, or JASSM-ER, for its F-35A stealth fighters, and the Israeli-made PULS (Precise and Universal Launch System) multiple rocket launcher for the Royal Dutch Army.
A Dutch F-35A brandishing AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles during a NATO air policing drill. Bartek Bera
Another role that is being specified for the support vessels is as motherships for uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs). Tuinman described using such drones to monitor and identify suspicious activity in the North Sea. Nefarious underwater activity by Russia, or other hostile actors is a growing worry for NATO.
Oil and gas drilling platforms and pipelines, wind turbines, and power and data cables are among the key assets that the new vessels and attendant UUVs should help protect. The type of underwater drones to be acquired has not yet been confirmed, but they will be existing, off-the-shelf designs with long-range sensors.
In 2021, undersea sensors off the coast of northern Norway that are used to collect data about passing submarines, among other things, were knocked out, and the following year an undersea fiberoptic cable located between mainland Norway and the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean was also put out of action. Earlier this year, a critical communications cable associated with Evenes Air Station, in northern Norway was severed, although its not clear if that was also underwater when cut.
Perhaps most prominently, in 2022, sabotage was put forward as the most likely reason for the mysterious gas leaks that struck two undersea pipelines in the Baltic Sea, after several explosions in the area. The leaks affected the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, used to carry gas from Russia to Europe and which were at the center of an energy war between Moscow and the West since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
One of the Nord Stream gas leaks photographed from a Danish F-16 fighter jet. Danish Armed Forces
While the North Sea has apparently been spared incidents like these so far, its clear that the Netherlands is very aware of the potential for Russian-inspired aggression in these waters, including underwater activities. The defense ministry points to an episode this summer, when the Royal Netherlands Navy escorted a Russian research vessel in Dutch waters, with the intelligence services suspecting that the Russian ship was investigating opportunities for potential future sabotage.
Overall, the Netherlands is now more heavily investing in underwater warfare capabilities, after years of neglect. As you can read about here, the Netherlands will also buy four new conventionally powered submarines from France, to replace its Cold War-era Walrus class and to contribute to its new-look defense posture.
An artists impression of the future class of conventionally powered submarines for the Royal Dutch Navy. Dutch Ministry of Defense
Returning to the new support ships, these will also be expected to jam an opponents radar systems, with IAI also delivering unspecified electronic warfare equipment for the new boats. In particular, the boats electronic warfare capabilities will be expected to disrupt operations by hostile missiles and drones, suggesting that some kind of non-kinetic anti-drone system might also be installed.
The small hull size means the ships wont necessarily be truly multi-role but will instead have their weapons and perhaps also sensors packed in containers that can be easily swapped out. In this way, launch containers for Barak-ER missiles, for example, can be exchanged for those with Harop loitering munitions. Meanwhile, the fact that the primary ship has control of its weapons is a big advantage, reducing crew requirements and overall cost and complexity.
The two new support vessels will be built by the Dutch shipyard Damen, with plans calling for the first to begin service as soon as 2026, with both vessels to be fully operational in 2027.
The North Sea: The destroyer USS Forrest Sherman (DDG-98) conducts maneuvering drills with Italian aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi (C551) and units from Standing NATO Maritime Group (SNMG) 1 including German replenishment oiler Berlin (A1411), Royal Danish Navy frigate HDMS Peter Willermoes (F362), Royal Netherlands Navy frigate HNLMS Van Amstel (F831), and German corvette Erfurt (F262), on March 3, 2022. U.S. Navy photo by Naval Air Crewman (Helicopter) 2nd Class Reuben Richardson Lt.j.g. Kathleen Barrios
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the support vessels will be their use as a stepping-stone toward fully uncrewed operations by large-size surface vessels. With a crew of potentially a dozen sailors or less, these are already very nearly uncrewed surface vessels. Although the Dutch Ministry of Defense admits that the current technology doesnt allow fully autonomous vessels, that is surely only a matter of time, and experience gained with these sparsely crewed ships should pave the way for that next frontier.
In many ways, the Dutch support vessels mirror interest in the United States and other countries in large uncrewed surface vessels with modular weapons payloads, allowing them to be adapted for a range of missions as required. At the same time, having a minimally crewed loyal wingman-type ship also makes a lot of sense, especially since the ship and crew can be reconfigured based on operational requirements.
Across the board, the Dutch Armed Forces are strengthening and modernizing as they adapt to the changing security environment in Europe and further afield. The two new support vessels represent a very interesting design, aiming to put a useful amount of defensive and offensive firepower and surveillance capabilities on a small and relatively inexpensive hull, with very little in the way of a crew to support these systems, but to have them work closely with more traditional warships. If successful, they may well pave the way for truly uncrewed surface combatants of similar size and capabilities.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
DWP to be given powers to spy on bank accounts as Labour revives Tory benefits policy
Keir Starmer has said he wants to crackdown on welfare fraud (Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be given new powers under Labours crackdown on benefit fraud, allowing them to request information from claimants bank accounts.
The new Fraud, Error and Debt Bill will revive a similar plan that was introduced by the Conservative government but placed in limbo but held back due to the general election. It will require banks to comply with government requests to share data to identify benefit fraud.
The DWP said: Staff will be trained to the highest standards on the appropriate use of any new powers, and we will introduce new oversight and reporting mechanisms, to monitor these new powers. DWP will not have access to peoples bank accounts and will not share their personal information with third parties.
This legislation delivers on the governments manifesto commitment to safeguard taxpayers money and demonstrates the governments commitment to not tolerate fraud, error or waste anywhere in public services, including the social security system.
DWP secretary Liz Kendall talks at fringe event at Labours 2024 conference (AFP via Getty Images)
Called a snoopers charter by critics, the new powers come alongside a raft of other measures designed to catch fraudsters faster and save 1.6 billion over the next five years. The DWP adds that almost 10 billion a year is lost to fraud and error in the social security system a year.
Sir Keir Starmer has also suggested that more money is likely to be pulled back from social security spending as he shared his plan to get the welfare bill down at his keynote Labour conference speech. This will likely take the form of changes to sickness benefits to be announced by Rachel Reeves at her first budget on October 30.
The snoopers measure was previously criticised by campaigners for being an invasion of privacy, disproportionately affecting older people, and treating benefit claimants like criminals.
Responding to Labours plans, Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watchs director, said: Everyone wants fraud to be dealt with, and the government already has strong powers to investigate the bank statements of suspects.
But to force banks to constantly spy on benefits recipients without suspicion means that not only millions of disabled people, pensioners and carers will be actively spied on but the whole populations bank accounts are likely to be monitored for no good reason.
The bill will also introduce new powers of search and seizure which will allow the department to take control of investigations into criminal gangs committing benefit fraud. This comes alongside allowing the DWP to recover debts from individuals who are able to pay.
The announcement comes just months after a criminal gang was jailed for committing the largest ever case of benefit fraud in May, stealing more than 50m from taxpayer funds. Three women and two men of Bulgarian origin were jailed for up to eight years for regular fraud committed between 2016 and 2021.
The department says that more detail on the legislation will be revealed when the Bill is introduced.
(Getty Images)
A dispute over a West Memphis early voting site should go to the Arkansas Supreme Court, a circuit judge told parties in a lawsuit on Wednesday.
Crittenden County Circuit Court Judge Chris Thyer, in closing statements to attorneys on both sides of a case arguing whether election officials should be required to offer early voting in West Memphis, asked that one or both of the lawyers submit an appeal and take the case to the states highest court.
Take this thing up so the Supreme Court can tell us what these statutes mean, because Lord knows I cant tell exactly what they mean, Thyer said.
On Sept. 19, attorney Jennifer Standerfer filed a lawsuit in Crittenden County Circuit Court on behalf of two West Memphis residents, Shirley Brown and Lavonda Taylor, who plan to vote early in the upcoming election.
The petition claims election commissioners have determined there should be no early voting in West Memphis, despite two sites plaintiffs argue should be active: one at First Baptist Church because it served as a polling site two years ago and one at the Seventh Street Church of Christ because the county clerk designated it as such.
Attorney Joe Rogers is representing the three members of the Crittenden County Board of Election Commissioners, Frank Barton, James Pulliaum and Anita Bell, who were sued in their official capacity.
Testimony in the case started Monday and continued virtually on Wednesday with Bartons testimony. The case is on an expedited schedule because of its potential impact on the election, and Thyer said he would have a ruling in the coming days.
Im afraid there is no correct answer, Thyer said. It is my sincere hope that no matter what I end up doing in this, that one or both of you take this issue up. Im begging you to appeal me. Frankly, the Supreme Court needs to give us all guidance, particularly as it relates to early voting.
Statutory construction
The lawsuit relies heavily on the interpretation of state statutes that outline early voting, and Thyer said, its hard to figure out what the Legislature meant by some of this stuff.
In Arkansas, early voting is either conducted by the county clerk or the local election commission. The law requires one early voting site in the county seat, and election commissioners may approve additional locations by a unanimous vote.
Other election procedures are outlined in state law, such as duties of the county clerk, absentee voting, ballot delivery and early voting.
Crittenden Countys election commissioners recently agreed on an early voting site in Marion, the county seat, but failed to come to a unanimous decision on a West Memphis location after Pulliaum voted against a public library twice.
During his testimony, Barton, who is the current chair of the county board of election commissioners and has been a member since 2015, said he didnt believe early voting sites fell under a 60-day deadline to finalize polling sites.
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Because there is a separate statute detailing early voting, Barton said he recognizes a difference between early voting locations and Election Day polling sites.
Though Barton said he has been told Pulliaum would change his vote in favor of the West Memphis public library, Barton said he did not intend to call a meeting to establish an early voting site in the city.
West Memphis is Crittenden Countys largest city with approximately 23,000 residents, about 48% of the countys total population. Without an early voting site, West Memphis residents would have to travel about five miles to the countys only guaranteed early voting site in Marion.
Based on his training as an election commissioner, Barton said early voting sites must be affirmed by a unanimous vote every year. He said its different for day-of voting sites, where locations can revert back to those used during a previous election if still available.
Letter from Paula Brown, Crittenden County Clerk
Regarding a Sept. 5 letter from County Clerk Paula Brown in which she designated an early voting site at the Seventh Street Church of Christ in West Memphis, Rogers argued that Brown acted outside of her authority because the proposed site was outside of the county seat.
The location was also an alternative site Pulliaum had mentioned to commissioners, but they never took a vote.
Barton said he did not intend to follow the clerks instructions that election commissioners should staff Seventh Street Church of Christ for early voting.
In a brief Rogers filed after the court adjourned Wednesday, he further argued that the election commissioners have the sole authority to establish early voting polling sites in West Memphis.
The brief also reiterated the position that early voting sites must be approved each year and because First Baptist Church in West Memphis did not receive a unanimous vote, it has not been designated.
Standerfer said she plans to file a brief in response to Rogers, though it wasnt yet filed at the time of publication.
During the hearing, Standerfer closed by reading a section from the Arkansas Constitution that she said showed pretty strong language that our laws will be read on behalf of the voters.
She argued the principle of having a free and equal election was crucial to our interpretation of the statutes.
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EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (WKBN)- A judge made a final ruling Wednesday in the East Palestine train derailment settlement.
After three hours spent in a courtroom examining the fairness of the $600 million class action lawsuit settlement, Judge Benita Pearson approved the agreement. But the decision was not universally welcomed by everyone.
They wanted to get this over with. They wanted us to shut up, and as far as Im concerned, those plaintiffs attorneys did not work for the people. They worked for their own pockets, said Jami Wallace, an East Palestine resident.
Anger and frustration were just a few of the emotions overflowing the ruling as residents say theyre still unclear just how much money theyll be getting.
We had to accept the settlement and opt-in before we were given a number, said Zsuzsa Gynes, a former East Palestine resident.
Back in April, Norfolk Southern agreed to the settlement. Attorneys for some East Palestine residents filed a motion asking the judge to re-evaluate the settlement saying it was rushed.
I wasnt contacted by the plaintiffs. I wasnt involved in a lot of the discussions, so I feel like my experience wasnt really relevant here, Gynes said.
Residents fear the money wont be enough once its divided up and wont cover any future health problems.
Its going to cost us a lot for the rest of our lives, basically, said Ashely McCollum, an East Palestine resident. What we are seeing with medical issues now, its going to be substantially larger.
The court-appointed class counsel who negotiated the settlement and represented residents, property owners and businesses within 20 miles of the derailment site issued a statement following the ruling:
This outcome would not have been possible without the resilience and support of the East Palestine community and the broader class of impacted residents and business owners. We look forward to beginning the distribution of funds in the coming weeks to help this community rebuild and move forward. Seth A. Katz of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, P.C.; M. Elizabeth Graham of Grant & Eisenhofer P.A.; and Jayne Conroy of Simmons Hanly Conroy.
The cases were combined into a class action in March 2023 after the first complaint against Norfolk Southern was filed on February 7, 2023. Some residents had said that the deal shouldnt be approved because they dont have enough information to evaluate whether they are getting enough compensation. The lawyers involved in the settlement believe it is fair based on what they know, but they havent shared details of their investigation with residents.
The plaintiffs attorneys said only 22 of the nearly 2,000 households in East Palestine opted out of the settlement In total, 173 of the 190,000 households in the 20 mile radius decided not to accept either. Overall, roughly 55,000 claims have been filed in this lawsuit.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.
EASTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) The Easthampton Fire Department teamed up with Baystate Health to give the gift of life on Tuesday.
Blood donations are urgently needed to save lives across the state, and every contribution counts.
Big E fairgoers celebrate Salute to Chicopee Day
A gift of whole blood is usually divided into red cells and plasma so that one gift can help more than one individual. Premature infants, surgical patients, accident victims, and persons with leukemia and other diseases often require frequent blood transfusions.
This drive comes at a crucial time, as Massachusetts is currently experiencing a significant blood shortage. Easthampton Fire Chief Christopher Norris told 22News, A lot of times our paramedics are out in the front line responding to medical emergencies and they see firsthand the dire need for blood and blood products just by giving 1 pint of blood can really save numerous lives.
For those who were not able to stop by at Tuesdays drive, Baystate Medical Center is always collecting donations at their locations.
Blood donors must be at least 17 years of age and weigh at least 110 pounds, and there is no maximum age limit.
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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.
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US-based hospital network Encompass Health has expanded its national network with the inauguration of the Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Fort Mill in South Carolina.
The 39-bed facility is said to be the health systems 165th hospital in the US and ninth in South Carolina.
The new hospital is designed to deliver rehabilitative services for patients who are recovering from serious health challenges such as spinal cord injuries, strokes, amputations and complex orthopaedic conditions to regain function.
It is equipped to provide intensive therapy for patients, requiring a minimum of three hours over five days a week.
The hospital also will provide frequent physician visits and round-the-clock nursing care.
Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Fort Mill has a range of amenities to support patient recovery, including private rooms, a therapy gym equipped with advanced amenities and an activities of daily living suite.
Additional features include an in-house dialysis suite, therapy courtyard, dining room, dayroom areas and an in-house pharmacy.
Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospitals of Fort Mill and Rock Hill area CEO Scott Butler said: The need for inpatient rehabilitative care in the Fort Mill and greater Charlotte area has been growing rapidly.
We look forward to providing the kind of compassionate, high-quality rehabilitative care that will help our patients get back to what matters most.
The interdisciplinary team at the hospital, comprising specialised nurses, therapists, and physicians, will offer comprehensive physical, occupational, and speech therapies for patients.
Encompass Health's presence spans 165 hospitals across 38 states and Puerto Rico.
Encompass Health South Atlantic region president Ronnie Wagley said: Were honoured to be the trusted choice for inpatient rehabilitation in the US.
Our nationwide network enables us to identify and implement best practices and advanced technologies to support every aspect of a patients recovery. Were excited to bring high-quality care to patients close to home in the Fort Mill and greater Charlotte community.
In July this year, Encompass Health opened a 50-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Johnston, Rhode Island.
"Encompass Health opens rehabilitation hospital in South Carolina, US" was originally created and published by Hospital Management, 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.
VICTOR, N.Y. (WROC) The first College Night and Career Fair of the week took place at Eastview Mall as part of the Annual Greater Rochester College Nights.
Colleges from across the country came to the mall to meet local students. This year nearly 75 schools are expected to attend College Nights.
College Nights are not only for high school students but are also for anyone looking to continue education or maybe make a career change.
Tuesday nights event at Eastview Mall was organized by Kiwanis Club of Farmington-Victor.
If you and your family missed out on tonights event, there are still two opportunities this week. The next event is Wednesday at the Marketplace Mall followed by Greece Ridge on Thursday. Both events will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst.
Ecuador capital 'under attack' from five wildfires
Smoke from a bushfire is seen over Quito on September 24, 2024 (Galo Paguay) (Galo Paguay/AFP/AFP)
Firefighters battled five blazes on the outskirts of Ecuador's capital Quito on Wednesday, as wildfires continue to rip through South American nations turned into tinderboxes by droughts linked to climate change.
Some 2,000 firefighters, military personnel and rescue workers have been deployed in Quito to try to contain the blazes and bring residents in affected areas to safety.
So far at least six people have been injured including two children and two firefighters, and around 100 families evacuated from their homes.
From Ecuador to Brazil, many Latin American nations are gripped by their worst drought in decades, fueling a blistering fire season that has set residents and governments on edge.
"Quito is under attack," the city's security chief Carolina Andrade told reporters.
Authorities in Ecuador believe that a fire that broke out Tuesday in the east of the city and swathed it in huge plumes of smoke was started by arsonists.
On Wednesday, they announced the arrest of a 19-year-old man caught with a gallon of fuel.
Pablo Munoz, Quito's mayor, vowed Wednesday to hunt down the perpetrators of the "terrorist" fires.
The emergency led President Daniel Noboa to cancel his speech at the UN General Assembly and return home from New York on Tuesday.
-'We lost everything' -
Schools suspended classes and government offices ordered remote work due to poor air quality in the city of around three million people.
"I wanted to save something, but we didn't get anything," said Alexis Condolo, a 23-year-old mechanic whose home burned down.
"We found the house in ashes. We lost everything. We only have a few clothes left."
Because of the smoke, "I had to sleep with a mask and wet wipes on top" of the mask, Claudio Otalima, an 82-year-old retiree, told AFP.
Quito has been battling forest fires for three weeks.
In Brazil, fires have consumed millions of acres (hectares) of forest and farmland in recent weeks, and smoke has clouded major cities such as Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, with fumes at times wafting across the border to Argentina and Uruguay.
The Copernicus atmosphere monitoring service said Monday that fires in the Amazon and Pantanal wetlands were the worst in almost two decades.
The dry spell -- which scientists have linked to climate change -- has also sent fires burning out of control in Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and Peru.
The situation across the continent on Monday saw Amnesty International urge leaders to do more to abandon fossil fuels and transform the industrial agricultural model.
"South American leaders must, more than ever, take urgent action to prevent climate catastrophe that could have irreversible consequences for humanity and for the planet," Amnesty International said.
- Power crisis -
Ecuador is facing its worst drought in six decades.
As a result, the country, which depends on hydroelectric power, is facing severe energy shortages and has implemented rolling blackouts and put 20 of its 24 provinces on red alert.
Over the past year, 3,302 forest fires have been recorded, burning 37,808 hectares (93,400 acres) of vegetation.
Fourteen people have been injured and 44,742 livestock have died, according to a report published Tuesday by the Risk Secretariat.
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For months, prominent Chicagoans in for-profit commerce and nonprofit governance, Democrats all, have fretted and shaken their heads as Mayor Brandon Johnson lurched from one crisis to another. So far, theyve mostly focused their efforts on quietly trying to identify and coalesce around a single potential candidate who can successfully challenge the mayor when he comes up for reelection in 2027. Such a consensus candidate, they know all too well, was missing the last time around.
But weve detected a notable shift in thinking in the past few days. A coalition is emerging that believes by 2027, the potential fiscal damage to Chicago could be too severe to allow for an easy recovery.
There now is more talk of mobilizing to try to prevent Johnson and his ruthless Chicago Teachers Union allies from tipping the citys school system, or even the city itself, into insolvency as a dangerous tactic to force the hand of Gov. JB Pritzker and inject state money into the contracts (and the broader educational ecosystem) the CTU desires.
Johnsons obedience to the CTU is nakedly clear. He tried to do the unions bidding in asking the CPS chief, Pedro Martinez, to resign, only for that to backfire last week when Martinez refused to go quietly. Martinez laid out his reasons for the unusual denial of the mayor in an opinion piece we published Tuesday.
For anyone who has kept their head under the covers, union President Stacy Davis Gates made her loathing of Martinez yet clearer Tuesday when she described him for the nightly news as a clown show CEO. Hardly subtle negotiating tactics.
As we have written before, the unions disdain for Martinez boils down to his refusal to authorize a risky payday-style loan that would plunge debt-laden CPS into further indebtedness with bankruptcy as a real risk, as well as the unions perception that Martinez is open to consolidating schools (although he wrote he had no intention of doing so during his current term).
Only the Chicago Board of Education can fire Martinez, and their intentions are not yet fully clear. Chicago Public Schools said Tuesday that the board doesnt have the Martinez contract on its Thursday agenda nor do they have any plans to vote on the controversial loan. More precisely, CPS initially said that they were making a joint statement with the Chicago Board of Education on those matters only for them to retract the joint part shortly afterward, forcing reporters all over town to update their stories. Jianan Shi, chairman of that board, implied on X that he only had seen the statement after it was released.
This is, of course, epic dysfunction that does nada, zero, nothing to help Chicagos kids.
Johnson could have avoided much of this if he had done the right thing and recused himself from the negotiations with CTU on the grounds that his ties with the union, which worked to ensure his election, were too public and too close. As most all of Chicago knows. He should have nominated a proxy who was capable of putting the city of Chicagos interests first in said negotiations (Martinez comes to mind). But that would have required more courage than this mayor has yet shown. Even failing recusal, he could have clarified his separation from the union in terms of whose interests he served. The very notion of the person in charge of a massive educational system tacitly supporting its potential bankruptcy at a unions behest is (to us, at least) a dereliction of duty.
Were hardly alone in this view. On Tuesday, forces began to amass against the Johnson-CTU coalition and they did not come from the right-wing fringes. On the contrary, they included former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former CPS CEO Janice Jackson, City Clerk Anna Valencia and at least 28 aldermen, all of whom signed a letter that said they strongly call upon the School Board to continue its support for Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez and to stand its ground against the unprecedented demands of the Chicago Teachers Union to fire him. We had said the same thing in an editorial on Monday.
When they write the history books about the Johnson administration, his absurd and failed attempt to get Martinez to quietly resign may well feature as his biggest mistake, the one that brought down a roaring opposition on his administrations head.
Also on Tuesday, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce weighed in with a statement, not just on the attempting ousting of Martinez but on the notorious $300 million potential loan. We strongly urge the board to keep CEO Martinez in place, these concerned entities wrote, reject the proposal to borrow more money, and work with all parties to bring long-term fiscal stability and quality of education to the school system.
So is this a tipping point? Certainly, the whispers have grown into open discussion of putting up opposition with funding behind it. There is a real, and we think well-justified, fear that the Board of Education merely is stalling this week to get the legalities set regarding ousting Martinez and any subsequent severance needed to forestall a lawsuit. No doubt the Johnson administration is going over his contract, which reportedly requires six months notice if he is fired without cause, to look for any loopholes. One worry is that Johnson will install a loyal ally in Martinezs position, someone akin to current chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas, as an example, who then will pursue the CTUs and the de facto mayors agenda. Whatever the fiscal risk.
Weve heard no contrary statement from the mayor to give us confidence none of this will be the case. And it is difficult to discern the boards position at this juncture or even know its level of unification. On either of these matters. But there still is time for everyone to climb down from the barricades as unlikely as that now appears.
Someone should start running for Mayor of Chicago now, tweeted the tech entrepreneur and restaurateur Nick Kokonas Wednesday, summarizing a broader sentiment. Imagine if a candidate proposed real, detailed and logical solutions to counteract the current admin (sic). Perhaps we could avoid 14 people running and improve policy.
Those in opposition to Johnson include many of the citys best and brightest. The mayor, whose approval rating even before the past weeks debacle hovered around 25%, should remove his blinders.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
Eduardo Xol, a star designer on ABCs Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, has died at 58 from a stabbing.
The Riverside County coroner confirmed the musician, actor and activists death on Tuesday. Xol died from his injuries at the Desert Regional Medical Center on Friday 10 days after being stabbed in Palm Springs on Sept. 10.
We are heartbroken at the tragic loss of our beloved Eduardo Xol. As his family, we know that his kindness has touched the lives of so many, Xols family said in a statement to TheWrap. We ask for that kindness returned now allowing our privacy to be respected as we process our grief. In lieu of flowers we ask that donations be made in Eduardos name to the Lupus Foundation of America as he spent so much of his life in the service of others.
The Palm Springs Police Department is currently investigating the incident, though authorities have reportedly arrested 34-year-old Richard Joseph Gonzalez under suspicions of attempted murder in connection to Xols death. He is currently being held without bail.
Born on Feb. 19, 1966, Xol grew up in Los Angeles, and at age 10, became one of the youngest people to be scouted and chosen as a performer for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. After joining the Brand New Theater as an artist in The Palm Beach Club in Cannes, France, he eventually made his feature film debut in Luis Valdezs 1981 musical Zoot Suit. By the late 90s, hed fully thrust himself into music and television, starring in syndicated telenovelas and producing his first solo album La Pasion through a partnership with BMG U.S. Latin.
After moving back to the States in 1998, he joined the cast of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition as a co-star in Season 2. He starred on the ABC reality series until Season 8 alongside host Ty Pennington. Xol later published his first book with HarperCollins in 2007, titled Home Sense, which was named the Best Self-Help Book at the 2008 International Latino Book Awards. He is also the co-founder of non-profit organization ALUMI Media Group, which seeks to provide underserved communities with alternative learning practices through arts and media.
Xols mother further confirmed his death to TMZ, who was first to report the news.
The post Eduardo Xol, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Designer, Dies at 58 appeared first on TheWrap.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) A new space in Terre Haute will help prepare local students for successful futures.
Junior Achievement in Wabash Valley held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday on a flex facility at the Learning Lab that will house two financial literacy Capstone programs.
The programs are called JA BizTown and JA Finance Park. They feature lessons of a teacher-led-in-classroom curriculum, followed by an immersive learning experience at the flex facility.
JA BizTown is for 4th through 6th graders and simulates how businesses create a thriving economy.
JA Finance Park is for 7th through 12th graders and teaches them about financial planning and career exploration.
They will be given a random persona whenever they come for this experience and they will have to create a monthly budget based off of a bunch of different aspects of their persona, so these are real skills and tools we are giving them that they will need for successful futures that they are unfortunately not learning in school, said Madeline Plant, District Manager of Junior Achievement in Wabash Valley.
Over a dozen area businesses are partnering with Junior Achievement to help offer these programs to local students.
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EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas told the City Council on Tuesday, Sept. 24 that crime is down slightly in the City.
Pacillas said crime is down in El Paso 3% compared to the same time last year.
Pacilllas added that crime has dropped because of his departments initiatives, including the Violent Crime Task Force.
I think were already seeing that the great work that the men and women with El Paso Police Department have been doing over the year, violent crime is down, he said.
While the department has seen a drop in crime, Pacillas says the one trend they continue to see is auto theft.
The main one that were seeing is auto theft. Thats the one that is really hitting us and you still have those trends with the Kias and the Hyundais because of the switch thats in there, Pacillas said.
Pacillas also mentioned the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua (TDA). Pacillas said there are no confirmed members of TDA in the region, but El Paso Police do suspect they move through the area.
El Paso is called El Paso, for the Pass of the North because its a path to the north. So, just like anything else thats moving through the borders, theres good and bad that happens in there. Yes, suspected TDA has moved through El Paso, Pacillas said.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) First News sat down with Trumbull County Sheriff candidate Paul Monroe to discuss the race.
Watch the full interview in the video above.
Monroe is running as a Democrat to retain his position for a third term. He is running against Mike Wilson. You can watch Wilsons interview here.
Monroe said since 1985, he has had experience with every job in law enforcement from administration to beat cop to police chief to, now, county sheriff for the last eight years. He said its that experience that separates him from his opponent.
He believes he has brought leadership to the Trumbull County Sheriffs Office, saying he brought in experienced officers to lead departments.
This job isnt about politics. This job is whats important to me and whats most important to you, at the end of the day, is whats most important to me is your safety. And thats what were about, Monroe said.
In light of staffing shortages in law enforcement, he said hes raised his offices hiring standards, with a goal of bringing on the cream of the crop.
Monroe said the biggest challenge his office continues to face is opioids. He said he plans to fight it with the current drug task force in the county and by targeting counterfeit drugs while increasing the task forces footprint in the drug trade. He said his office works closely with the FBI, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Agency on investigations.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) First News sat down with Trumbull County Sheriff candidate Mike Wilson to discuss the race.
Watch the full interview in the video above.
Wilson is running as a Republican to challenge current sheriff Paul Monroe for the position. You can watch Monroes interview here.
Wilson said he has a military background, as well as being experienced in law enforcement administration and different types of investigations. He also serves as a trustee in Hartford Township.
He said the Trumbull County Sheriffs Office has been over budget for over seven years, and his experience as a trustee would be valuable in balancing it.
Wilson said his leadership skills are what separates him from his opponent, saying he wants to change the culture for employees of the sheriffs office. He said if hes elected, that will be his biggest challenge.
Treating people well makes you successful. Right now, the sheriffs department lost 65 employees over the last three years. The corrections officers are down from the maximum of 89 to 48, Wilson said.
He said he wants to take better care of the employees and provide them with more training.
Wilson also wants to bring a drug rehabilitation program back to the sheriffs office, saying its about more than just enforcement.
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Ohio Issue 1 would change how congressional and state legislative districts are drawn.
The Ohio Chamber of Commerce called Ohio's current redistricting model "flawed" but still opposes Issue 1, a proposal on the ballot to remove politicians from drawing congressional and statehouse districts.
"Our concern is, if passed, the consequence could result in raising the cost of doing business in Ohio, making our state less competitive for business, and impacting critical issues our members care deeply about, including minimum wage, legal reform, tort reform and forced unionization," Ohio Chamber President & CEO Steve Stivers said in a statement.
Stivers, a former Republican congressman, added that the chamber isn't satisfied with the status quo either. "The current system is flawed and should be fixed through bipartisan efforts.
The Ohio Chamber is an important voice in business, representing 8,000 members statewide. In the past, the group has bankrolled opposition to constitutional amendments, such as a 2015 push to legalize marijuana and a 2017 measure on prescription drug costs.
A spokeswoman said the Ohio Chamber had not decided whether to donate to the No on Issue 1 campaign, but any donation would be publicly disclosed.
More recently, the chamber has endorsed three Republicans running for Ohio Supreme Court this fall. Last year, it backed a measure to make it harder to amend the state Constitution but did not weigh in on a proposal to protect abortion and other reproductive rights.
For this endorsement, proponents and opponents of Issue 1 made their case to a committee of chamber members, board members and interested parties.
Republican politicians and groups, including the state party, have lined up against Issue 1, describing the measure as a Democratic power grab.
More: Ohio Issue 1 2024: What is it? Would it stop gerrymandering?
If approved, Issue 1 would create a 15-member citizen commission to draw congressional and state legislative districts. The commission would include five Republicans, five Democrats and five independents with no recent, close ties to elected officials or political campaigns.
If the amendment is rejected, Ohio would continue with its current method of drawing maps, starting with lawmakers or a seven-member panel of elected officials. A divided Ohio Supreme Court repeatedly rejected this commission's maps as unconstitutional.
Jessie Balmert covers state government and politics 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 Cincinnati Enquirer: Election 2024: Ohio Chamber opposes Issue 1 redistricting measure
Sign for the Wisconsin Elections Comission. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)
The Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) on Tuesday delayed taking action on two complaints against municipal clerks for not following state and federal laws guiding the return of absentee ballots.
A complaint against the city of Greenfield alleges that the local clerk created separate deadlines for disabled voters lawfully designated assistants to return absentee ballots. State law gives absentee voters until polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day to bring their ballot to their designated polling place and drop it off.
In Greenfield, a man returning his wifes ballot because of her disability was turned away and sent to the clerks office because of a local policy that states someone returning another voters ballot must take it there.
A separate complaint was filed against the city of Brookfield alleging that the city refused to accept any absentee ballots at polling places and instead required them to be returned to the clerks office with enough time for the clerk to bring the ballot to the correct polling place to be counted. The man who brought the complaint alleges that when he arrived at the polling place around 5 p.m. he was told he must bring his ballot to the clerks office but that no one would be there to receive it because city staff was in a meeting.
With less than 50 days until the election, Brookfield has drawn other criticisms over its absentee voting policies after the city council voted not to allow the use of absentee ballot drop boxes to collect ballots. A group of voting rights focused organizations held a press conference in the city Tuesday to protest that decision.
At the WEC meeting Tuesday afternoon, which at times grew heated, Republican commissioners questioned if it was possible to create a system that perfectly accommodates voters with disabilities returning their ballots while allowing clerks to affirm that people who have permission to assist a disabled voter are returning another persons ballot.
We cannot make this world perfectly equitable for all, Commissioner Don Millis said.
Republican Commissioner Robert Spindell drew repeated pushback from the Democrats on the commission for arguing that whatever the body decides, it has to make sure it doesnt encourage ballot harvesting a practice that is prohibited by state law involving organizations gathering and returning large amounts of absentee ballots which Republicans regularly warn against without much evidence that is widespread. .
The Democrats on the commission also said that the state has had the same interpretation of the absentee ballot statutes since long before WEC was created in 2015 that voters can return their ballots until polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. Commission Chair Ann Jacobs pointed out that the Uniform Voting Instructions, approved by the commission last year and made mandatory for clerks to follow, reaffirm that longstanding interpretation of statute.
Im sort of floored that, coincidentally, in a political year, theres attacks on absentee voting, Jacobs said. Suddenly, were changing our minds on the rules. Im just flabbergasted by that. We made those instructions mandatory, and it tells every absentee voter in this state that they can take their absentee ballot to the poll site.
The Republicans on the commission signaled theyd be unwilling to vote to accept the complaints against the two cities while the Democrats said they didnt want to take a vote that would upend the interpretation of the uniform voting instructions so close to the election, with hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots already sent to voters with those instructions included on the envelope.
I am extremely against even the consideration of us undoing our uniform instructions prior to Nov. 4, when we have what is it? as of this morning, 450,000 ballots out with our uniform instructions, Jacobs said.
The commission ultimately voted to delay the consideration of the complaints until after the election.
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We recently published a list of the 11 Most Promising EV Battery Stocks According to Analysts. In this article, we are going to take a look at where EnerSys (NYSE:ENS) stands against the other promising EV battery stocks.
Despite the electric vehicle industry growing at a fast pace, some challenges remain. The major ones are range anxiety among consumers, slow battery charging time, and the availability of charging infrastructure. However, even with these challenges, the industry remains healthy and a lot of energy and resources are being contributed toward it.
The infrastructure market is expected to grow at a phenomenal pace as PwC expects the EV supply equipment (EVSE) market to grow from $7 billion to $100 billion by 2040, at a 15% compound annual growth rate.
For electric vehicle components, governments around the world are incentivizing EV production. For example, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $1.7 billion in funding to transition 11 vulnerable auto manufacturing plants across eight states to EV production and related components. For more details, you can read 8 Best EV Stocks to Buy According to Short Sellers.
Advancements in EV Battery Technology
Due to the environmental impacts of internal combustion engines, scientists have also been working tirelessly to solve the current problems faced by EV batteries. Researchers, led by the University of Colorado Boulder, have uncovered the cause of battery degradation, a common issue that leads to reduced capacity over time. Their study, published in Science.org, may pave the way for improved lithium-ion batteries, which are crucial for EVs and energy storage.
Using advanced X-ray technology, they discovered that hydrogen molecules from the batterys electrolyte bind to the cathode, taking spots meant for lithium ions, which weaken the batterys performance. This new understanding could help engineers develop longer-lasting, cobalt-free batteries for EVs, which would increase driving range, reduce costs, and address environmental and ethical concerns related to cobalt mining.
Additionally, according to a research report published in Frontiers in Quantum Science and Technology, Yuji Hatano and his team explored the impact of transverse magnetic fields on diamond quantum sensors for EV battery monitoring. Their research aimed to improve measurement accuracy for temperature and magnetic fields, which are crucial for determining the state of charge (SOC).
The study showed that diamond sensors enhance SOC estimation, which could potentially increase the EV cruising range by 10%. A prototype demonstrated high precision with currents up to 1,000 amperes, and misalignment detection was highly accurate. The findings suggest diamond quantum sensors could significantly improve battery monitoring in EVs and other industries.
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Moreover, solid-state batteries could also reduce the charging time in batteries which could drastically improve the consumer sentiment and increase the demand for EVs. It was suggested by Mark Fields, former Ford CEO and President on CNBCs Squawk Box and we discussed it in our article on the best EV stocks for the long term. Here is an excerpt from the article:
Fields suggested that automakers need to offer more affordable EVs and expand hybrid offerings while working towards breakthroughs in battery technology, especially solid-state batteries. These batteries could eventually reduce charging times to match the convenience of filling up at a gas station He emphasized that while automakers are working on delivering low-cost EVs, the real game-changer will be the development of solid-state batteries, which could significantly improve charging times and consumer convenience.
Our Methodology
For this article, we identified over 20 EV battery stocks through screeners and ETFs. We narrowed our list to 11 stocks with the highest average analyst price target upside, as of September 12. We also added the hedge fund sentiment around each stock which was taken from Insider Monkeys database of over 900 hedge funds as of the second quarter of 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletters strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A close up view of an energy efficient system housed in a specialized cabinet.
EnerSys (NYSE:ENS)
Average Analyst Price Target Upside as of September 12: 22.45%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 30
One of the most promising EV battery stocks, EnerSys (NYSE:ENS) has been adding to its portfolio to cater to the rising demand for EV batteries and other energy storage solutions. A key development came in June 2021 with the introduction of the NexSys iON battery.
The battery integrates cutting-edge lithium-ion technology with a modular design, which improves both performance and adaptability. Utilizing Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) large format prismatic cell chemistry, the NexSys iON battery offers high energy capacity while maintaining a compact size, which makes it an ideal solution for heavy-duty applications.
The NexSys iON batteries are engineered for industrial uses, including electric forklifts and other heavy-duty electric vehicles. The batteries are designed to be nearly maintenance-free and feature an integrated Battery Management System (BMS) that enhances their safety and reliability.
In Q2, 30 hedge funds had investments in EnerSys (NYSE:ENS), with positions worth $430.571 million. AQR Capital Management is the top investor in the company as of Q2. In the quarter, the firm increased its stake by 18% to 908,253 shares worth $94.022 million.
EnerSys (NYSE:ENS) is also actively expanding its presence in the EV battery market through strategic collaborations. In June 2023, the company signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Verkor, a French battery manufacturer. The partnership is aimed at developing a battery supply chain strategy in the U.S.
Further strengthening its position, the company announced plans in February for a major expansion with a $500 million investment in a new lithium-ion cell gigafactory in Greenville, South Carolina. Expected to start production by late 2027, the facility will manufacture various types of lithium-ion cells for commercial, industrial, and defense applications, with a targeted annual production capacity of four gigawatt-hours.
The new plant is expected to generate around 500 jobs and shows that the company is focused on significantly scaling up its production capabilities to meet the increasing demand for EV batteries and other energy storage solutions.
7 analysts have covered EnerSys (NYSE:ENS) and the average price target of $120.00 implies an upside of 22.45% from the present levels, as of September 12.
Overall ENS ranks 10th on our list of the most promising EV battery stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of ENS 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 ENS, 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.
The world's richest person, Elon Musk, has hit back after not being invited to the UK government's International Investment Summit.
He was not invited due to his social media posts during last months riots, the BBC understands.
"I dont think anyone should go to the UK when theyre releasing convicted pedophiles in order to imprison people for social media posts," Mr Musk claimed on X.
Earlier this month, the government released some prisoners to reduce prison overcrowding, but no-one serving sentences for sex offences were included.
Following disorder and rioting across the UK in August, some people were jailed for encouraging unrest on social media.
During the August riots, Mr Musk posted on X, formerly Twitter, predicting civil war in the UK and repeatedly attacking the prime minister.
He also shared, and later deleted, a conspiracy theory about the UK building "detainment camps" on the Falkland Islands for rioters.
At the time, ministers said his comments were "totally unjustifiable" and "pretty deplorable".
The BBC understands this is why he has not been invited to join hundreds of the worlds biggest investors at the event on 14 October. The government declined to comment.
The summit is the key moment that PM Sir Keir Starmer hopes will attract tens of billions of pounds in inward funding for business from the worlds biggest investors.
Mr Musk was invited to last year's event but did not attend. However, he took a starring role in November's AI Summit, including a fireside chat with then-PM Rishi Sunak.
Jeremy Hunt, the former Conservative chancellor and now the shadow chancellor, told the BBC it was a "big loss" not to have Mr Musk at the summit.
"He told me last year he was planning a new car plant in Europe and had not decided where but the UK was a candidate," Mr Hunt claimed.
Rishi Sunak and Elon Musk chatted at a summit on artificial intelligence last year [PA Media]
David Yelland, a public relations specialist and former editor of the Sun newspaper, told the BBC that if Mr Musk were to attend the summit, it would be "reputationally disastrous for the whole event".
"Hes a fan of free speech but he behaves like a child and he posts things that are deeply inaccurate and extremely damaging," he said.
"This is not just a guy that is saying stuff in the pub. This is a guy that is encouraging untruths around the world."
Reputational risk
The governments decision not to invite Mr Musk to the summit suggests it thinks the potential investment is not worth the reputational risk and opens up uncomfortable questions about the background of other investors it has actively encouraged.
Attracting international investment routinely involves charm offensives with investors or nations with questionable human rights records.
The government has actively pursued trade links in the Gulf. Sir Keir, for example, publicly boycotted the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as leader of the opposition, but now he and his team routinely visit these nations to drum up trade and investment.
A number of top sovereign wealth fund executives are expected at the summit.
Mr Musk is said to be turning his attention to a second European gigafactory in addition to his plant in Berlin, Germany, after completing his Mexican plant.
Under the Conservatives, the Tesla boss was quietly shown around various UK sites with potential for a gigafactory for cars and batteries.
He has previously told journalists he opened the site in Berlin and not the UK partly because of Brexit.
Bloomberg estimates Mr Musk's net worth to be around $228bn.
That's based largely on the value of his shares in Tesla, of which he owns more than 13%. The company's stock began to soar in value in 2020 as the firm's production increased and it started to deliver regular profits.
Elon Musk says he is not having affair with Italy's Meloni after mutual praise at gala
ROME (Reuters) - Elon Musk said on Wednesday that he was not having an affair with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, replying to a joke after their mutual praise at a black-tie event in New York this week drew headlines on both sides of the Atlantic.
Photographs of the two lit up social media after Musk presented Meloni with the Global Citizen Award from the Atlantic Council think tank on Monday. The New York Post called it a "public love-in" between the world's richest man and the first female Italian prime minister.
"I was there with my Mom. There is no romantic relationship whatsoever with PM Meloni," Musk wrote on X in response to a post of a photo of the two of them gazing fondly into each other's eyes at a banquet table, which had the jokey caption "we all know what happened next".
In a speech before handing over the award, Musk said Meloni was "someone who is even more beautiful inside than outside". The Italian right-wing leader replied that the U.S. entrepreneur was a "precious genius".
Meloni, who split from her long-time partner in 2023, requested that Musk be the person to hand her the award, while the tech businessman flew to Italy twice last year to meet the Italian leader -- in June and December.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Peter Graff)
Amid rising concerns that X has become less safe under billionaire Elon Musk, the platform formerly known as Twitter is seeking to assure advertisers and critics that it still polices harassment, hate speech and other offensive content.
From January to June, X suspended 5.3 million accounts and removed or labeled 10.7 million posts for violating its rules against posting child sexual exploitation materials, harassment and other harmful content, the company said in a 15-page transparency report released Wednesday. X said it received more than 224 million user reports during the first six months of this year.
It's the first time X has released a formal global transparency report since Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter in 2022. The company said last year that it was reviewing how it approaches transparency reporting, but still released data about how many accounts and how much content were pulled down.
Safety issues have long dogged the social media platform, which has faced criticism from advocacy groups, regulators and others that the company doesnt do enough to moderate harmful content. But those fears heightened after Musk took over Twitter and laid off more than 6,000 people.
Read more: 'A stab in the back.' How Elon Musk's decision to move X from San Francisco is stirring mixed emotions
The release of X's transparency report also comes as advertisers plan to cut their spending on the platform next year and the company escalates its battle with regulators. This year, X Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino told U.S. lawmakers that the company was restructuring its trust and safety teams and building a trust and safety center in Austin, Texas.
Musk, who said last year that advertisers who were boycotting his platform could go f yourself, also has moderated his tone. At this year's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, he said that advertisers have a right to appear next to content that they find compatible with their brands."
When Musk took over Twitter, several changes he made raised alarms among safety experts. X reinstated previously suspended accounts, including those of white nationalists, stopped enforcing its policy against COVID-19 misinformation and abruptly disbanded its Trust and Safety Council, an advisory group that included human rights activists, child safety organizations and other experts.
All of those things add up to a less safe environment, said Stephen Balkam, the founder and chief executive of the Family Online Safety Institute. The group was part of the Trust and Safety Council before it was shuttered.
Xs transparency report is very opaque" and appears to contradict Musks image as a free speech absolutist because it shows that the company is taking down content, Balkam said.
Eirliani Abdul Rahman, co-founder of YAKIN, short for Youth, Adult Survivors & Kin In Need, who was among the members who resigned from Twitters Trust and Safety Council, said the report was "laudatory" but insufficient.
"This would be for me lip service when the owner himself doesn't actually abide by the rules, Abdul Rahman said.
A spokesperson for X could not be immediately reached, but Yaccarino said on X: "Our commitment to transparency and safety continues."
X has also grappled with criticism that it has become less transparent under Musk's leadership. The company, which was once publicly traded, became private after Musk purchased it for $44 billion.
The change meant that the social media platform no longer reported its quarterly user numbers and revenue publicly. Last year, X started charging for access to its data, making it tougher for researchers to conduct studies about the platform.
Concern about the lack of moderation on X also has posed a threat to its advertising business. The World Bank in September halted paid advertising on the platform after its ads showed up under a racist post. About 25% of advertisers expect to decrease their spending on X next year and only 4% of advertisers think the platform's ads provide brand safety, according to a survey by the market research firm Kantar.
Some of the top problems that users reported on X involved posts that allegedly violated the platform's rules on harassment, violent content and hateful conduct, the platform's transparency report shows.
Musk has said on X that his approach to enforcing the platform's rules is to restrict the reach of potentially offensive posts rather than taking down the posts. He sued California last year over a state law that lawmakers say aims to make social networks more transparent because of free speech concerns.
X's transparency report shows that toughly 2.8 million accounts were suspended for violating the platform's rules against child sexual exploitation, making up more than half of the 5.3 million accounts that were pulled down.
But the report also showed that X resorted to labeling user content in some cases rather than removing or suspending accounts.
X applied 5.4 million labels to content reported for abuse, harassment and hateful conduct, relying heavily on automated technology. Roughly 2.2 million pieces of content were taken down for violating those rules.
The platform's rules state that the site doesn't allow media depicting hateful imagery such as the Nazi swastika in live videos, account bios, profiles or header images. Other instances, though, must be marked as sensitive media. This week, X also made changes to a feature that allows users to block people on the platform. People whom users have blocked will be able to see their posts but not engage with them.
X also suspended nearly 464 million accounts for violating its rules against platform manipulation and spam. Musk vowed to "defeat the spam bots" on Twitter before he took over the platform. The company's report included a metric called the "post violation rate" that showed users are unlikely to come across content that breaks the site's rules.
Meanwhile, X continues to face legal challenges in several countries including Brazil, whose Supreme Court blocked the site because Musk failed to comply with court orders to suspend certain accounts for posting hate speech. The company bowed to legal demands this week in an attempt to get reinstated. It has also been reporting content moderation data to regulators in places such as Europe and India.
He's running up against limitations perhaps for the first time in his career around content issues, Balkam said. My only guess is the executives of his companies must be tearing their hair out while he spends his days and hours into the middle of the night using this platform to troll people.
The report included the number of requests X gets from government and law enforcement agencies. The company received 18,737 government requests for user account information and it disclosed information in about 53% of these cases.
Twitter started publicly reporting in 2012 the number of government requests it received for user information and content removal. The companys first transparency report, which included data about copyright takedown notices, came after Google started releasing such information in 2010.
After revelations surfaced in 2013 that the National Security Agency had access to user data that Apple, Google, Facebook and other tech giants collected, a growing number of online platforms started to disclose more information about requests they received from the government and law enforcement.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
If the Democratic Party were to dream up the ideal candidate to challenge Republican Rep. Mike Garcia, a former Navy fighter pilot and business executive, for the 27th Congressional District they couldn't have imagined someone much better than George Whitesides.
In a district that stretches from Santa Clarita to Lancaster and where aerospace is one of the leading industries, Whitesides has had a space-focused career in both the private and public sectors. He was chief of staff for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration during the Obama administration and later became chief executive of Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's commercial space company based in Mojave. That's the job that brought him and his family to the Antelope Valley in 2012.
His resume, however impressive, is not the most compelling reason that voters should pick Whitesides on Nov. 5. He's a smart, pragmatic Democrat whose goal in Congress is to work with colleagues, regardless of party, to address problems facing Americans. That's an important trait for the next representative of this district. Traditionally this has been a safe seat for Republicans, but a shift in voter registration in recent years means Democrats have made some inroads. For example, President Biden won the district in 2020, but Gov. Gavin Newsom came in second in 2022.
Read more: L.A. Times electoral endorsements for 2024 November election
Recently, the problem Whitesides has focused on is one that has plagued California: "megafires," those massive wildfires such as the Camp fire that leveled the town of Paradise in 2018. In 2020, Whitesides left Virgin Galactic to co-found a new advocacy organization, Megafire Action, which focuses on pushing policies to prevent wildfires, harden homes in high-risk areas and use science to better fight fires. He plans to turn what he has learned into legislation dealing with related issues such as the insurance crisis, wildlands management and incentivizing homeowners to make their properties more fire-resilient.
But most important, he's the only candidate in the race who will fight to protect two cherished, fundamental rights that have been under attack in recent years: the right of women to control their own bodies and the right to cast a vote in a free and fair election.
Read more: 2024 California propositions voter guide: minimum wage, crime, marriage, healthcare, rent and more
Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Santa Clarita) is one of the lawmakers working to undermine those rights. When he won the seat in a special election in 2020 after Democrat Katie Hill resigned in the wake of a sex scandal, Garcia was a political unknown with an appealing record of military service, a business-friendly platform, and real-world experience in real estate and as an executive at Raytheon.
But his votes quickly revealed that Garcia is no moderate. After the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, he voted against certifying the election results. He co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act, a bill that would have banned abortion nationally, with no exceptions including saving the life of the woman. He even voted against a bill protecting the right to birth control. If voters send him back to Congress, Garcia will be a reliable vote for restrictions on reproductive rights.
He also appears to have adopted Donald Trump's penchant for misrepresenting the truth. In his first campaign ad this election, Garcia boasts that he co-sponsored the Violence Against Women Act to protect women against domestic violence. What he co-sponsored was a sham version put forward by Republicans to derail the Democrats' bill to re-authorize the 1994 law with expanded protections for LGBTQ+ people and firearm restrictions for people convicted of domestic abuse. Fortunately, the tactic did not work and the updated law passed without Garcia's vote.
Read more: Endorsement: Adam Schiff for U.S. Senate
Whitesides also identifies as a business-friendly moderate, specifically a "New Democrat." This coalition of centrist members say they are focused on innovative solutions and working across the aisle. Furthermore, he has a record of building the kinds of bridges he wants to see in Congress.
Early in the COVID pandemic, Whitesides helped organize local aerospace leaders to work with hospitals and local government to provide front-line healthcare workers with resources. The group, which eventually became the Antelope Valley COVID Task Force, even tapped its engineering skills to develop medical gear such as oxygen hoods that helped COVID patients breathe. Anyone can cast a vote on party lines. But being able to build alliances is critical skill to accomplish anything in Congress.
Whitesides says he's running to build a better future for his two kids. "I don't want to leave them with a government that doesn't work. I don't want to leave them with a climate that's in crisis. I don't want to leave them with a gun safety epidemic."
Nor do we. It's time for a change of leadership in the 27th Congressional District.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Enrollment growth concerns: Why Texas universities are worried about students access to core classes
AUSTIN (KXAN) Universities in Texas are dealing with record enrollment numbers and keeping up with this growth is getting more difficult.
Its raising concerns about students getting access to the core courses they need to graduate.
In a Higher Education Senate Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, lawmakers were briefed on this, after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asked them to look into growing concerns.
Artificial intelligence, core course access at issue in Texas Senate higher education hearing
University of Texas at Austin Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Rachel Davis Mersey and Texas A&M University Executive Vice President and Provost Alan Sams were invited to testify.
One of the hardest things for UT and others is ensuring all students can easily take the core classes they need to graduate.
To combat this, Mersey said theyre no longer accepting the top 6% of high school students from their graduating class. That automatic admission threshold is now the top 5%.
UT Austin to drop automatic admissions for top Texas students to 5% in 2026
Sams said one of Texas A&Ms internal committees is recommending they pause undergraduate enrollment growth on the main campus for the next five years to give the university a chance catch up.
This growth has put a strain on our both physical infrastructure, but also the scheduling of course offerings, Sams said. Adding faculty could provide additional course offerings, either in person or online, [but] additional facilities are needed.
Texas A&Ms student body has grown more than 30% in the last 10 years, Sams said. Thats more than double the average of all other public universities in the state.
Both Mersey and Sams said their universities have added more core classes to help out. Mersey said UT Austin is even offering some core classes over the summer at lower prices. She told lawmakers UT Austins four-year graduation rate has now grown to 74.8% the highest rate ever.
Lawmakers did had some concerns about students access to in person classes versus online, but Mersey and Sams testified that doesnt seem to be an issue right now.
Another point that generated conversation and question in the subcommittee hearing on Tuesday was artificial intelligence.
Dr. Michelle Singh the assistant commissioner for digital learning on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board testified.
She laid out an initiative with three goals:
Use AI technology ethically
Stay at the front of AI innovation
Help educators understand it
The University of Texas at San Antonio president Taylor Eighmy spoke on how this prepares students for working in a digital-driven future. But some senators expressed concerns about AI helping educators create curriculums.
Eighmy assured the committee that artificial intelligence will be a tool for teachers and is not a replacement.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
The entire coast of Florida is under various warnings from Tropical Storm Helene, which is expected to intensify rapidly into a hurricane and grow in size as it moves north along the states Gulf coast during the day Wednesday.
Helene is forecast to make landfall in Floridas Big Bend region early Thursday as a major hurricane Category 3 or higher but its impacts will be felt over a large area of the state east of the storms center.
A tropical storm warning was extended Wednesday morning to include the entire coast of the state, including Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties in South Florida. A hurricane warning is in effect on the west coast from north of Tampa Bay to Mexico Beach on the Panhandle.
The storm will likely be quite wide, enhancing the risk of widespread storm surge. There is a danger of life-threatening storm surge along the entire west coast of the Florida Peninsula and Florida Big Bend, said the hurricane center said. The highest inundation levels are expected along the coast of the Florida Big Bend. Residents in those areas should follow advice given by local officials and evacuate if told to do so.
Mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders are in place for at least 13 counties, the Florida Division of Emergency Management said in a post on X.
There is the possibility of 5-8 feet of surge hitting the Tampa area, if peak surge were to hit at high tide, the National Hurricane Center estimated. The greatest threat of surge was potentially 10-15 feet in the area near the Ochlockonee River to Chassahowitzka.
In addition to Tampa, storm surge warnings were in effect from Indian Pass in the Panhandle south to Charlotte Harbor and Flamingo (3-5 feet) and coastal Collier County.
A flood watch is also in effect for Collier, Hendry and Glades counties for Wednesday and Thursday.
The cone of probability currently includes Tampa and reaches into the western panhandle near Pensacola.
Its important that people dont get wedded to these cones, said Gov. Ron DeSantis. You can be out of the cone and still have major impacts. And the farther east this goes, it may not have as much runway for intensification, but it brings in the entire west coast of Florida for potential significant storm surge.
Currently Tropical Storm Helene, it is expected to become a hurricane within hours, then intensify into a major hurricane with winds up to 115 mph before it approaches the northeastern Gulf Coast on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said.
The large width of the storm is a concern.
Of equal importance to the forecast intensity is Helenes forecast size, the hurricane center said Tuesday evening. Helenes forecast radii are at the 90th percentile of major hurricane size at similar latitudes, and therefore storm surge, wind, and rainfall impacts will likely extend well away from the center and outside the forecast cone, particularly on the east side.
Because of the storm threat, DeSantis issued a state of emergency in 61 of Floridas 67 counties. Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties are some of the few that are not currently under a state of emergency. President Joe Biden on Tuesday approved an emergency declaration for Florida.
Theres some similarities to the track that was taken on Hurricane Michael, said DeSantis at a Tuesday morning news conference. The thought is that when its over the Gulf, especially the more north it goes, rather than east, it has a chance to have a rapid intensification.
Florida State Universitys Tallahassee campus will be closed from Wednesday morning until Sunday night. All University of South Florida campuses will be closed Wednesday through Friday. Florida A&M University cancelled classes beginning Wednesday afternoon through Friday. Several school districts in the state will also close campuses, and government offices and buildings will be closed in many counties.
As of Tuesday evening, Port Canaverals status hotline says the port remains open but is reducing operations. The ports website as of Tuesday evening says it remains open but anticipates possible limited waterside and vessel shoreside Port operations will follow as conditions change.
Helenes center will pass near the northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula at near-hurricane strength on Wednesday before moving over the eastern Gulf of Mexico Wednesday and Thursday. It will become a major hurricane Thursday while over the eastern Gulf and reach Floridas Big Bend coast late Thursday, the hurricane center said.
Kevin Guthrie, executive director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said at the news conference that system will produce tropical storm-force winds in excess of 250 miles from the center. That will encompass most of the peninsula from the space coast all the way through the first coast and the entire coastal portion of the west coast of Florida, he said.
The National Weather Service Miami in a briefing Tuesday evening that all of South Florida remains at risk of local to moderate flooding Wednesday through Friday, along with possible brief isolated tornadoes Wednesday and Thursday.
All of South Florida could also potentially see squalls of tropical-storm-force winds late Wednesday and Thursday, between 39 mph and 57 mph, according to NWS Miami. Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach has about a 15% to 20% chance of seeing sustained tropical-storm-force winds.
As of 5 a.m. Wednesday, Helene was located 45 miles east-northeast of Cozumel, Mexico, and 120 miles southwest of the western tip of Cuba, moving northwest at 9 mph. Helenes sustained winds had increased to 65 mph. Tropical storm-force winds extend 175 miles east of the center.
Meanwhile, a tropical depression is likely to form by later this week from a tropical wave in the far eastern Atlantic, forecasters said. The system is expected to move west to west-northwest.
As of 2 a.m. Wednesday, the disturbance has an 80% chance of developing in the next seven days and a 50% chance in the next two days, up slightly from earlier in the day.
Lastly, forecasters are also watching for potential tropical development from a disturbance located northeast of Bermuda on Wednesday.
Experts at Colorado State University issued an updated two-week forecast Sept. 17, calling for a normal of hurricane activity. The forecast says it is very unlikely there will be an above-normal amount of activity through the next two weeks.
Hurricane season runs from June 1-Nov. 30, but the height of storm production runs from mid-August into October.
This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.
Eric Oswald, director of the Drinking Water and Environmental Health Division of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, speaks to attendees of the Great Lakes Drinking Water Conference on Sept. 25, 2024. | Kyle Davidson
As Wednesday marked the 50th Anniversary of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, state and national environmental officials met in Novi to discuss the past and future of drinking water protections and how Michigan can continue to address threats to our water.
Eric Oswald, director of the Drinking Water and Environmental Health Division of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) told attendees of the Great Lakes Drinking Water Conference that while drinking water regulation had previously been sporadic and stemmed from diseases like cholera spreading through drinking water systems, the Safe Drinking Water Act marked a huge step for drinking water regulations nationally, establishing maximum contaminant levels and setting monitoring requirements.
Michiganders define themselves by their water, EGLE Director Phil Roos said, with the Great Lakes holding 21% of the worlds fresh surface water and residents enjoying abundant access to groundwater.
We have thousands of miles of rivers, 11,000 lakes, all of that, and its all so fragile, so precious, and something we got to protect. Were here to talk about the drinking water part of that, but its interchangeable with those water resources that we have that are the reason we have the abundant clean drinking water that we have in this state, Roos said.
In the 50 years since the Safe Drinking Water Act was established, Congress and the States have continued to raise the bar to face emerging challenges, but without those federal requirements to test, monitor and maintain water quality, communities would face much greater risks from contamination and pollution than we see today, Roos said.
And while recent years have seen Michigan leading the nation in replacing lead service lines, Roos noted the state had been brought into that position while navigating the Flint Water Crisis and lead contamination in Benton Harbor.
Theres a lot to be proud of, after some really big, enormous challenges, we have in Benton Harbor, in Flint, in Detroit and across the state we have some of the cleanest drinking water in the country, in the world, Roos said.
Alongside replacing lead lines, Michigan has also made large strides on rebuilding sewer systems, upgrading septic systems and addressing other aspects of water infrastructure, Roos said.
With systems that are 50, sometimes 100 years old, Roos said its been challenging to raise water rates enough to update those systems. However, for the first time, funding from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harriss administration as well as the State Budget for Fiscal Year 2024 has allowed EGLE to finally invest into water infrastructure, Roos said.
Theres not a higher priority than drinking water, safe drinking water, water infrastructure improvements that is at the top of our budget list every single year, and it will be in this coming year, Roos said.
However the gap between available funds and the departments needs remains large, Roos said.
In our State Revolving Fund, we had about $750 million that we had available that we could allocate to water infrastructure projects, drinking water and also just water resources, wastewater treatment plants, storm water and so forth and we had $3.5 billion in asks, Roos said.
While that $3.5 billion need remains, it has received over a billion dollars in federal dollars that it is allocating to fill the gaps, with Roos saying EGLE would continue to do all it can at the state level to leverage federal funds.
Were all taxpayers here, we can also look at why this makes sense in dollars and cents. For every million dollars investment in water infrastructure creates 15 jobs, for every dollar it creates $6 in economic benefits. Thats a pretty darn good return, Roos said.
Most of our focus, as it rightly should be, is on public health, but its also economic health. And its just protecting our way of life. Its part of our culture, its everything that we depend upon. And we couldnt be doing this at the level we are without our federal partners, Roos said.
Alongside efforts to improve Michigans water infrastructure, Roos noted changes to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) Lead and Copper Rule are also on the horizon, meaning the state will need to accelerate its efforts to remove lead lines.
Luckily, in Michigan, we had higher standards. But its going to be more communities that may be close to being out of compliance or out of compliance that were going to have to work with, and were going to have to help them make the investments they need to to be in compliance, Roos said.
As Michigan continues to face down other challenges like emerging contaminants and microplastics, EGLE has a plan to raise the bar, which it calls Vision 2027.
Weve set this Vision 2027, which is to make Michigan clearly an enduring national leader in environmental protection by the end of this administration, 2027. Good news is were already there in a number of areas, Roos said.
The department worked with a consultant to identify 15 to 20 metrics looking at the impacts on air, land, water and climate that were comparable across the state. As EGLE works to set benchmarks in areas across all of its program areas, its plan is to see improvement on 75% of those goals each year.
Were not going to do it on everything, because sometimes were going to have the wrong goals. The point is to just keep having continuous improvement every year. Look at where were at, revise the goals, figure out where we can invest in the right areas where we can really make a big difference, Roos said.
Alongside addressing concerns like PFAS, emerging contaminants, microplastics and combined sewer overflows, Roos and Oswald identified cybersecurity as another area for improvement.
Theres been a lot of effort at the federal level, including a directive from the EPA asking states to revise and report back on their cybersecurity plans, Roos told the Advance.
While hes not aware of any major events in Michigan, Roos said officials overseeing water systems have to think about the unknowns and examine their systems regularly for potential threats.
Weve got to have the level of assurance where it doesnt even enter into citizens mind and they can go about living their lives free of worry,
I think were there generally, but you know, you hear little incidents popping up around the country so far, nothing, nothing thats too big of an issue or inconvenience, Roos said.
When addressing PFAS officials also need to begin looking at the source so it doesnt get into water systems to begin with, Roos said.
However the state has strong protocols for identifying and investigating the source and mitigating known contaminants that have been released, Roos said, noting that EGLE has an industrial pretreatment program where wastewater treatment facilities require waste from potential polluters to be pretreated.
Sounds like a simple thing, but in the areas where we have had contamination in the past. Were reducing 98, 99% of PFAS, Roos said.
While speaking at the conference Mae Wu, the deputy assistant director for Water at the EPA identified Michigan as a leader in addressing PFAS.
However when it comes to things like microplastics where less is known about them, more research and development is needed, Roos said, as well as an inventory to assess the extent of the issue. While EGLE has received some funding to begin doing basic research and planning to address microplastics, its still heavily reliant on the EPA to fund and work toward solutions for emerging issues.
Environmental activists smeared red paint on the columns of Finland's parliament building in a protest against the peat industry (Emmi Korhonen) (Emmi Korhonen/LEHTIKUVA/AFP)
Environmental activists sprayed red paint on Finland's parliament building on Wednesday to protest against the peat industry, sparking strong criticism from politicians.
Activists from Extinction Rebellion Finland and Swedish organisation Aterstall Vatmarker (Restore Wetlands) smeared several granite columns at the building's main entrance in red paint resembling blood.
They told AFP they were protesting against the Finnish state-owned company Neova mining peat in Swedish wetlands.
Peat extracted from wetlands is often used as an energy source or for farming purposes, emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide.
In their natural state, peatlands store large amounts of carbon dioxide.
"We have painted the columns with this easily washable paint to show that Finland is actively involved in accelerating the climate crisis," said Valpuri Nykanen, an activist from Extinction Rebellion Finland standing outside the building.
"Finland is mining peat in Sweden, while we know that we must phase out oil, gas and all fossil fuels and peat is very fossil," added Lior Tell-Stefansson from Aterstall Vatmarker.
Police arrived at the scene after 8:00 am (0500 GMT) and removed 10 protesters sitting on the stairs with signs in their hands.
The incident was investigated as aggravated damage to property, the police said in a statement.
Several Finnish politicians immediately condemned the act.
Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat quoted Prime Minister Petteri Orpo as saying it was "completely incomprehensible and unacceptable vandalism".
"Finland is a free democracy. We have the right to demonstrate and influence things, but we have civilised ways of doing it," Orpo said.
ank/po/kjm
WASHINGTON Chesapeake Bay cleanup is behind schedule but going in the right direction, largely because Pennsylvania has stepped up efforts to curb the flow of fertilizer and other runoff into bay tributaries, an Environmental Protection Agency official told Maryland lawmakers Wednesday.
To Marylanders as a Marylander the most important bay issue is Pennsylvania. And Im pleased to say that Pennsylvania has been stepping up investing in small farms and investing in wastewater treatment plants, Adam Ortiz, an EPA regional administrator, said at the U.S. Capitol.
Ortiz addressed reporters after briefing Democratic Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, as well as members of the states U.S. House delegation, about bay cleanup.
The lawmakers met as a 2025 federal deadline for the cleanup of the bay looms. The goal is reducing the runoff of harmful nutrients and sediment into the nations largest estuary.
Cardin said that 2025 was the year that was targeted in 2014 for the goals of the last bay agreement. We know that were not going to hit our targets that were set in 2014.
But he said he was encouraged that progress is being made and the objective now is to maintain the momentum for the bay program.
In July, the bay got its best score in 20 years in an annual report card produced by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The bay received a C+ for its ecological health, considering factors such as aquatic grasses, dissolved oxygen and nutrient content.
I know that nobody would be thrilled with bringing home a grade of C+ but the fact of the matter is it is the highest grade weve seen in a long time, Van Hollen said. I want to stress the fact that if we werent doing all the things that were doing, we would be falling back fast.
Pennsylvania has long been criticized by other states and environmental advocates for hindering the cleanup effort. Some argue the state has failed to rein in its farms and animal feeding operations, which contribute fertilizer and animal waste runoff to bay tributaries.
But Ortiz said Wednesday: The higher grade that the Chesapeake Bay has received is mostly driven by progress upstream in Pennsylvania. Thats a big deal.
_____
Coal is stored outside the Hunter coal-fired power plant, operated by PacifiCorp, in Emery County on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
Utahs coal-fueled power plants are substantial contributors to hazy skies in the areas national parks, but the states plan to mitigate that effect isnt enough for the federal government.
The Environmental Protection Agency requires states to strategize with their neighbors to address regional haze the visibility impairment produced by pollutants in a broad geographic area and it is considering partially approving and partially disapproving Utahs strategy to combat the haze, a move that environmentalists consider a step toward accountability.
A spokesperson at the Utah Department of Environmental Quality said the office is still working to understand the potential partial disapproval and next steps to strengthen its plan, but gave no further comment.
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While the EPA agrees with the portion of Utahs assessment of several points on the status of haze in the state, including current visibility conditions and progress to date, the federal agency is considering rejecting the states long-term strategy, reasonable progress goals and federal land managers consultation, according to the rule proposal posted in August.
The EPA is also proposing to disapprove a portion of Utahs infrastructure plan to control ozone that travels beyond state lines and impairs visibility. A final ruling is expected before Nov. 22.
Utah cited PacifiCorps long-term plans to decrease activity in the coal-fired Hunter and Huntington plants, located in Emery County, as moves to increase renewable energy resources and energy storage capacity increase and coal units are scheduled to be retired or converted to natural gas.
According to Utahs plan, affording emission controls is a concern, and requiring the plants to install selective catalytic reduction systems a technology to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions could create the potential for involuntary closure of Hunter and Huntington units.
The state recommended establishing an annual cap on emissions for the plants, instead of installing the reduction systems. However, the EPA argued that rejecting emission control measures in favor of emissions limits can only happen with the assumption of a utilization decrease, which isnt the case for Utah.
The EPA said the proposal unreasonably rejected nitrogen oxides emission reduction measures at Hunter and Huntington; didnt evaluate some emission reduction measures at CCI Paradox Lisbon Natural Gas Plant; and improperly included automatic exemptions for startup, shutdown, and malfunction in the emission limitations for Intermountain power plant, among others.
Utahs determination to impose plantwide annual mass-based emission limits will not secure any reduction in (nitrogen oxides) emissions from Hunter and Huntington, the proposed rule reads.
In fact, according to the proposed rule, with the annual emission limits, the utilization levels at Huntington would increase by 7.75%, as well as 0.94% at Hunter, compared to the average utilization from 2015 to 2019.
In other words, Utah set its mass-based emission limits at levels premised on an increased plant utilization scenario, the EPA wrote.
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A projected emissions inventory estimates that, combined, both plants may have accounted for 18.35% of man-made nitrogen oxides and 43.45% of sulfur dioxide emissions of the state in 2028.
Data from the Western Regional Air Partnership and other sources show that electric generating units in the state Hunter and Huntington in particular make substantial contributions to anthropogenic visibility impairment at numerous national parks. And the states proposed plan to control the plants emissions will not mitigate that.
And, notably, the proposed rule reads, unlike what the state indicated in its long-term plan, PacifiCorp hasnt once stated an expectation to decrease the plants utilization.
We disagree with Utahs assertion that its (state implementation plan) submission includes strong evidence that utilization of these facilities is likely to decrease in the future, the EPA wrote.
The EPA has also partially approved and partially disapproved the state implementation plans Utah submitted in 2008 and 2011. Then, the agency disapproved of the states determinations on two pollutants. After a couple of tries to fix those plans, the EPA approved the states submission in 2019.
Environmentalists applaud the proposal
The Environmental Protection Agency has rightfully rejected the do nothing plan that Utah submitted to clean up our air and reduce haze hanging over our national parks, Paula Decker, co-chair of the Sierra Club Utah chapters executive committee, said at an advocacy event last week.
During the event on the steps of the state Capitol that the Sierra Club described as a filibuster, volunteers read aloud about 6,000 public comments submitted to the EPA as part of the rule proposal process. Some of the members of the small group who showed up on Wednesday also delivered copies of the comments to Rocky Mountain Power, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality and the Utah Public Service Commission.
Maia Hernandez, a Salt Lake City resident, left one of those comments while visiting Arches National Park with a friend.
I moved to Utah about five years ago. I most recently went to Arches. When I saw them, maybe a couple months ago, and even in the span of five years, its been a pretty visible difference in how the parks have been impacted by haze, Hernandez said. Specifically as a consequence of the coal polluters in the state.
Many of the comments read during the event, Hernandez said, are centered around the lack of pollution controls.
Were not saying to have them stop running, she said of the coal-powered plants. But more so make sure that there are controls in place that facilitate the reduction of pollution from these plants, as well as hope for the eventual phase out.
Utah, according to a Sierra Club database, PacifiCorps Hunter coal plant is No.1 in the country for contributing to haze in large national parks and national wilderness areas. The neighboring Huntington plant ranks 12 both affect most predominantly Capitol Reef National Parks visibility.
The Utah Department of Environmental Qualitys Division of Air Qualitys state implementation plan considering its five national parks Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion, may face roadblocks in the future. If the EPA fully rejects it, the agency may step in with its own implementation plan.
Its an action that Decker would like to see.
A strong federal plan will direct polluting facilities in Utah to do whats right, install pollution reduction technology that will drastically lower the amount of haze-causing and health-harming pollutants being dumped into our air, she said. A strong federal plan would enforce the common sense timeline for closing coal burning power plants in our state by 2030.
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On October 1, Iran will open its first and largest foreign trade center in Yerevan, Armenia. According to reports, the trade center, backed by Irans Development and Trade Organization, spans over 18,000 square meters. The opening ceremony will be attended by Iran's Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade Mohammad Atabek, Armenia's Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan, and key figures from Iran's industrial sector.
This development comes at a critical time, as Iran has voiced serious concern about the Zangazur Corridor. Spokesperson of Azerbaijans Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aykhan Hajizada has also recently suggested that Azerbaijan is working on building communication lines through Iran, which adds another layer of complexity to the situation.
Sharing his insights into the matter, Elyar Kamrani, a political expert specializing in the Caucasus, spoke to Azernews, interpreting the move as part of Irans broader strategy.
First of all, it should be noted that the rapprochement between Iran and Armenia, both in the political and economic fields, takes place within the framework of deep strategic relations between the two countries. Iran also demonstrates this by using Armenia as an instrument of pressure against Azerbaijan and the countries of the region, Kamrani stated.
He pointed out that this alliance dates back to Armenias independence, with Iran supporting Armenia during the First and Second Garabagh Wars. Kamrani added, The fact that Tehran has a hostile attitude towards Azerbaijan and opened a consulate and commercial facilities in the territory of Armenia, bordering Azerbaijan, in Gafan is also reflected.
Kamrani further elaborated on Irans broader motives: From the beginning, Iran stated that it intends to open a 'free trade zone' in the border zone with Armenia. This has the essence of keeping Iran's Armenian market in its hands and using Armenia as an instrument of pressure on the region.
He warned that this could facilitate illicit activities, saying, Another goal is to help terrorist groups and send narcotics from the territory of Armenia to Europe and other countries.
On Azerbaijans stance, Kamrani referenced recent statements by Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizade. He suggested that Azerbaijan views Iran as both an alternative to the Zangazur Corridor and a potential transit partner, especially considering historical transport routes through Iran to Nakhchivan. The transportation link between the two countries gained prominence due to the blockade of Nakhchivan since Azerbaijan's independence. Prior to the pandemic, the land crossing from Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan was predominantly through the northern territories of Iran. It is evident that the primary aim of this statement is to establish an alternative to the Zangazur corridor and to set the course for the development of the transportation route I mentioned."
In concluding remarks, Kamrani stressed Tehran's intention: Tehran believes that if Armenia improves friendly relations with Iran and has closer relations, Armenia can also support Iran's propaganda against Zangazur. However, it should be noted here that interest in the Zangazur corridor is shown not only by regional powers but also by the United States and Europe. As a result, taking into account that there are common interests here, I think the fact that the corridor will be opened sooner or later seems real.
We recently published a list of 10 Best Residential Real Estate Stocks To Buy. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) stands against other best residential real estate stocks to buy.
Home Buyers Have More Bargaining Power than Sellers, Says Economist
The rate hikes which started in March 2022 as a battle against inflation are coming to an end as the Federal Reserve finally decided to cut rates for the first time since 2020. The rate cuts were kicked off with a half-percentage point reduction on September 18. This long-awaited move lowered rates to about 4.875%, at the midpoint. With an optimistic view in mind about inflation cooling off, the big rate cut will be catering to the employment slowdown. The news just doesnt end here since the officials have pointed to another half-point reduction before the years end.
For the housing market, the big rate cut could be taken as a signal from the Fed to reverse the mortgage lock-in effect but the extent of easing matters. While an aggressive reduction in rates will reduce financing costs, create an inventory of existing homes, and reduce pressure on home prices, a gradual reduction wont be of much value for the homeowners who are holding on to their early-pandemic low mortgage rates. The anticipation of a rate cut at the September Fed meeting has brought down mortgage rates to as low as their lowest since February 2023. However, the dropping mortgage rates are a double-edged sword as they could potentially raise the demand so much thereby making home buying even harder.
In an interview with CNBC, Senior Economist Orphe Divounguy from Zillow emphasized the impact of rate cuts on housing affordability. Although affordability remains a challenge, the market is improving. In his opinion, the best time to act for home buyers is right now as the current scenario offers them a perfect entry point with more options and bargaining power being somewhat shifted from the sellers to the buyers. The number of active listings on the real estate platform has gone up by 22% since last year. Although short-term rates are expected to decline, longer-term rates like mortgage rates could remain at the current level. He expects more buyers than sellers in the market with improving affordability. Sellers will also be in good shape as well-priced and well-marketed homes are selling in just 20 days, according to company data.
With that being said, lets move to the 10 best residential real estate stocks to buy.
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Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc (ELS): The Hidden Gem Revolutionizing Residential Real Estate
An iconic residential property, symbolizing the company's industry focus on REIT--Residential.
Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 32
Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) is a residential real estate investment trust based in Chicago. The company owns and operates a portfolio of manufactured home communities, rental homes, and RV campgrounds across the United States. The REIT offers housing options and vacation opportunities in some of the most desirable housing markets and vacation destinations in the country.
Over the 50 years in business, Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) has transformed the image of the site-set housing industry. The firm has a strong national presence and a commendable industry reputation. While its presence in 35 states and British Columbia mitigates the risk of economic downtown in a specific area, it results in a strong brand awareness of the companys commitment to the high end of the market. Additionally, the companys properties stand extremely valuable since they are one-of-a-kind and positioned where such developments cant be built anymore.
Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) has one of the countrys largest real estate networks with 450 properties with 171,477 sites in 35 states and British Columbia. The firm is currently demonstrating performance that exceeds expectations. For the first six months of 2024, the company reported a 6.4% increase in net operating income. Driven by the continued strength in annual revenue and reduced expenses throughout the portfolio, normalized FFO growth of 5.9% year-to-date was recorded.
The high-quality portfolio of premier communities, prominent history in the site-set housing industry, and a strong balance sheet make the Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) attractive. As of Q2, the stock is held by 32 hedge funds. Balyasny Asset Management is the largest shareholder in the company.
Overall, ELS ranks 10th on our list of 10 best residential real estate stocks to buy. While we acknowledge the potential of ELS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than ELS 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.
Bottled water brands are seen in a supermarket in Los Angeles
By Nate Raymond
(Reuters) - A federal judge in California has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen regulations for fluoride in drinking water, saying the compound poses an unreasonable potential risk to children at levels that are currently typical nationwide.
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco on Tuesday sided with several advocacy groups, finding the current practice of adding fluoride to drinking water supplies to fight cavities presented unreasonable risks for childrens developing brains.
Chen said the advocacy groups had established during a non-jury trial that fluoride posed an unreasonable risk of harm sufficient to require a regulatory response by the EPA under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
"The scientific literature in the record provides a high level of certainty that a hazard is present; fluoride is associated with reduced IQ," wrote Chen, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama.
But the judge stressed he was not concluding with certainty that fluoridated water endangered public health.
The ruling was hailed by the environmental group Food & Water Watch, which led a coalition of organizations that sued the EPA in 2017. The agency had denied their so-called citizen's petition asking it to consider banning fluoridation chemicals from public drinking water.
"The court's historic decision should help pave the way towards better and safer fluoride standards for all," Michael Connett, a lawyer for the advocacy groups, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The EPA said it was reviewing the decision.
Water in the U.S. has been fluoridated since 1945, though the recommended levels have since been lowered to address the potential for tooth damage and other risks.
More than 200 million Americans, or about 75% of the population, currently have fluoride added to their drinking water at recommended levels of 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water.
Communities add fluoride to water on a voluntary basis. Doctors and dentists recommend it because it can help protect children's teeth that have not yet broken through the gums. The U.S. practice differs from Europe, where fluoridated drinking water is rare.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and David Gregorio)
By Jonathan Spicer
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's calls for talks with Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad are a long shot but meant to send a message of reconciliation in a region increasingly distracted by war, the head of Syria's main opposition abroad said.
Ankara, which long backed rebels seeking to oust Assad, has stepped up its push for direct talks as it tries to secure its border with Syria and seeks the return of more than three million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey.
Hadi Al Bahra, president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, said an Erdogan-Assad meeting was "possible" even though Ankara fully understands that Damascus cannot currently deliver on its demands.
"Turkey is very eager about this," he told Reuters. "They see clearly what they need to achieve... but know very well the limitations of (Assad's) regime."
"They know it's difficult and it will take time, but they are building a case... and sending clear messages to the world and to the regime, including to Arab countries," Bahra said late last week at the coalition's Istanbul office.
Bahra heads the internationally-recognised Syrian opposition, which holds regular talks with the United Nations and represents anti-Assad groups including the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army or Free Syrian Army.
His note of caution comes as Erdogan made his latest appeal to Assad on Saturday, saying Turkey was "waiting for a response" from its southern neighbour, which has been riven by 13 years of war that drew in the United States, Russia, Iran and Turkey.
Since 2016, Turkish troops have been stationed across growing swathes of northern Syria, in large part to check a Kurdish militia that Ankara deems a terrorist group.
Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza and with Hezbollah in Lebanon has pushed Syria's poverty, hunger, extremism and lingering violence further off the world's radar, Bahra said, seriously risking a "full collapse".
For global and regional powers, Syria is not even a "top 10" priority, he said. They consider it "a manageable humanitarian crisis - which is a faulty impression," Bahra added.
After meetings with U.S., Turkish and other delegations last week, he said a UN-led political process remains "frozen".
REFUGEES
Russia, Iran and Iraq have urged Erdogan and Assad to meet.
However, Assad said last month that this effort had yielded no "results worth mentioning", adding that while he wants Turkish troops to withdraw from Syria, it was not a precondition for talks. Damascus wants a timeline for withdrawal, while Ankara wants its concerns over the PKK militia addressed.
In his comments on Saturday, Erdogan said he believed a meeting with Assad would usher in a new era in ties, adding: "Millions of people outside Syria are waiting to return to their homeland."
More than 3 million Syrians fled the war for Turkey, among the world's largest homes for refugees. Yet they face some prejudice and sporadic violence, and they emerged as a divisive issue in last year's election in which Turkey's main parties pledged repatriation.
Bahra said many Syrians now in Turkey had fought against Assad's rule and were from regions well beyond the Turkish-controlled north, complicating matters.
Turks "know for a fact they can force maybe 100,000, 200,000 or 500,000 refugees to go back to Syria, but they cannot force 3 million or three and a half million", he said.
"They see clearly that to get this... you need to achieve political resolution of the crisis."
(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Daren Butler and Gareth Jones)
As election season gets in full swing we spoke with local officials about whats being done to keep everyone safe while ballots are being cast and how to make sure your vote is properly counted. emphasizing
The director of elections said safety is a focus this year due to what is being seen across the nation.
Polls of Erie voters after Trump-Harris debate gives glimpse into national opinions
There are less than two months until election day and the Erie County Election Office is gearing up for the big day.
Were testing all of our voting equipment were testing the voting machines that will be used at the polls on election day as well as our central scanners that we use to scan the mail-in ballots, said Tonia Fernandez, director of elections for Erie County.
But before the big day, she said there are a few aspects voters should be mindful of before casting their ballot.
Pennsylvania mail-in ballots with flawed dates on envelopes can be thrown out, court rules
Its important to write clear, include your identifier so either the last four of your social or your drivers license number along with your date of birth, Fernandez said This is the declaration on the back of your return envelope for your mail ballot you want to sign it in the box you want to write the month and the date that you actually sign it.
The election and poll coordinator reacted to poll worker retention.
We actually have a really great retention rate with our poll workers so its really not about filling in a lot of vacancies but life shows up sometimes unplanned vacations surprise vacations or whatever the case, said Sue Sheffield, election and poll coordinator for Erie County.
You have to be a registered voter in Erie County, Pennsylvania and it really depends on why you want to be a poll worker because theres some that just want to be a part of their communities and we work really hard to keep them in their precinct but theres also a need for non-partisan atmosphere, she continued.
One concern this year is safety for election office workers and for those coming to cast their vote.
Ever since the 2020 election, election offices across the nation have been receiving threats here in Erie County we havent really received any real significant threats other than maybe some hate mail, Fernandez explained. We do have our constables the constables will be at the polls theyre considered the peacekeepers at the polling locations and we do train our poll workers to take different actions and different scenarios.
How will Erie Co. vote this November? New post-debate poll gives insight
Fernandez also reminded voters to use a designated agent for anyone who is unable to apply, get, or return mail-in ballots.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com.
ERWIN, Tenn. (WJHL) Erwin Mayor Glenn White was recently reprimanded by Unicoi County Schools after handing out campaign signs to students in his high school government class Aug. 30 but official election-related consequences are unlikely.
Kingsport homeless shelter aiming for November opening
White, who is seeking a second four-year term, told News Channel 11 in a telephone interview that a student had asked for a sign on behalf of their parents. He said he didnt know it was inappropriate to provide them one while on the job as a teacher, and that when additional students asked for signs he allowed about 20 of them to be fetched from his vehicle and brought into the classroom.
It definitely wont happen again, said White, who has taught school for 35 years and served as a Unicoi County commissioner prior to being elected town mayor.
White faces Erwin alderman Michael Baker and John Day in the mayoral election.
White tentatively agreed to an on-camera interview Monday, but said Tuesday morning he would limit his comments to a statement.
This was not part of a campaign event and did not take away from class time, White wrote. The students were enthusiastic to learn that their high school government teacher is running for public office, and they had several questions about the election process and their local town government.
The statement acknowledged that a photo of students holding signs that was shared may have caused concern for other candidates. White also wrote that he realized that allowing students to have campaign signs after school could be a distraction to the educational process.
Of course we reprimanded Mr. White
A photo provided to News Channel 11 and confirmed as legitimate by School Superintendent John English shows a classroom with seven students visible. One, a girl, looks over her shoulder at a boy whos holding three Re-Elect Glenn White Town of Erwin Mayor connected vertically. The girls desk also has a sign right in front of it.
English told News Channel 11 that someone called the school systems central office that afternoon. After confirming what had happened and seeing the photograph from the classroom, administrators met with White the same day.
Sean Williams child pornography trial pushed back to Nov. 12
English said school leaders consulted with the systems attorney, who told them its probably not okay, but its probably an election commission or town Board of Mayor and Alderman issue as far as how it might affect the election, he said.
While it doesnt have a specific policy about campaign signs on school grounds, English said the school system has a standard policy that politics are not allowed in school.
We reprimanded Mr. White and dealt with that on a personnel level.
A written reprimand dated Sept. 3 and signed by White, English and UCHS Principal Chris Bogart states that English and Bogart explained to Mr. White that this was inappropriate and not allowed under election rules. Mr. White stated he understood this and assured us that this situation would not occur again in the future.
The reprimand says White did explain that he was asked for signs and didnt ask anyone to take them. He reiterated that in the phone interview with News Channel 11.
Is it not allowed?
News Channel 11 reached out to several sources to try and learn whether White had indeed violated any specific guidelines. The answer isnt clear.
Tennessee Code Annotateds (TCA) local election section appears silent on the issue. Unicoi County Election Administrator Sarah Fain said her office doesnt govern the issue and it would be a local ordinance or law issue, if anything.
The Tennessee Ethics Commission does have a five-page Guiding Principles of Ethical Conduct for Public Officials, though it applies specifically to state elected officials and their staff. That document says under Independence of Judgment that public officials should be independent and impartial, and should avoid conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest when performing their duties.
Under the Integrity of the Processes of Government section, the document also says this: A public official should not use public funds, time, personnel, or other state-provided resources for the private gain or political purpose of the official or that of another person, unless otherwise authorized by law.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Mlungisi Makhanya lives in South Africa following the fire-bombing of his house in 2022 [Swaziland News]
Eswatinis main opposition leader has been poisoned as part of an assassination attempt and is being treated in hospital, his party says.
Mlungisi Makhanya, 46, has been living in exile in neighbouring South Africa for the last two years, saying he fears for his life at home following a violent crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Africa's last remaining absolute monarchy.
"Our president has been stabilised but he is still in a critical condition," the Peoples United Democratic Movement (Pudemo) said.
Eswatini spokesman Alpheous Nxumalo denied state involvement, saying the "government does not kill or poison suspects".
Pudemo says the attempt on its leaders life comes ahead of planned protests next month calling for multi-party elections.
The country, formerly known as Swaziland, allows independent candidates to stand for parliament but does not allow political parties to participate.
King Mswati III has been on the throne since 1986 and rules by decree. He has been criticised for his extravagant lifestyle and is regularly accused of not allowing any dissent, which his government denies.
Last year, Thulani Rudolf Maseko, a human rights lawyer, who was opposed to the king, was killed in his home in the capital, Mbabane, sparking widespread condemnation.
In September 2022, Makhanyas home in Eswatini was set alight in an alleged fire bomb attack by state agents. He now lives in South Africas capital, Pretoria, with his family.
Makhanya leads Pudemo, one of the leading pro-democracy parties which are theoretically allowed, but banned from participating in elections.
He was allegedly poisoned in the early hours of Tuesday inside his house in Pretoria by an unnamed "young boy", who Pudemo said was used as an "agent of evil intent by Swazi government".
Makwanya was rushed to a Pretoria hospital escorted by the South African police, the Swaziland News website reported. He was later moved to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), in a critical but stable condition, it added.
He reportedly informed police and doctors that he had been poisoned and robbed of his cell phones.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, Wandile Dludlu, the Pudemo deputy president, said an "extremely dangerous and fatal" pesticide poison was used in the incident.
"It is encouraging that the president has survived a day," Dludlu added.
"It was an assassination attempt on the life of our leader."
This was rejected by the Eswatini government.
"Government, through the law enforcement agencies - that adheres to a strict code of ethics and professionalism - only apprehend suspects and bring them to Justice, and they are brought to justice 'alive', not 'dead'," Nxumalo said in a statement.
The Pudemo party has appealed for international support to ensure Makhanya's security and that of his family while in hospital.
The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), a group of Swazis living in South Africa, condemned what it termed a "bold attack" and a "clear assassination attempt" against Makhanya.
It called on the South African government to take action against Swazi state agents it said were targeting exiled pro-democracy activists "fighting for freedom" .
Opposition parties have accused security agents of killing dozens of protesters who have blamed the lack of development in the country on the current political system.
In 2021, student-led protests that began over alleged police brutality morphed into calls for political change. At least 46 people died in a series of clashes between the security forces and demonstrators, according to Human Rights Watch.
The government has disputed this figure and said that the police were responding to violent attacks.
"This is a political fight between the oppressed masses and the traditional autocratic monarch," Dludlu said, vowing that Pudemo would proceed with next month's protests as planned.
You may also be interested in:
[Getty Images/BBC]
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The Ethics Commission meets in the Sakakawea Room of the North Dakota Capitol in Bismarck on June 26, 2024. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)
The North Dakota Ethics Commission is planning to propose legislation during next years session that would overhaul how it investigates potential ethics violations.
Staff say the changes would bring the panel more in line with the original vision for the Ethics Commission approved by voters.
Although it adds more steps, I think the process will move smoother, Executive Director Rebecca Binstock said during a Wednesday meeting.
One major amendment, if adopted, would allow members of the public to share information with the commission without having to submit a formal complaint. People who share that information would also be able to remain anonymous.
Currently, the commission staff cannot investigate something if no one has formally complained about it which significantly limits the boards enforcement ability, Binstock said.
We constantly hear people who share information with us and then in the same breath, say, No, no, no, I dont want to file a complaint, she said.
The changes also would address confidentiality requirements, allowing a person accused of a violation to make public statements.
Commission members and staff would still be bound to confidentiality during the enforcement process, however.
The proposed changes would also give the commission more control over when and how the commission conducts investigations. The commission would also for the first time have the freedom to dismiss or informally resolve allegations before an official investigation is launched, for example.
Another significant change has to do with subpoenas. Under state law, the commission can require someone to testify or provide them information. But there isnt a clear procedure explaining how the commission can enforce compliance.
The commission is planning to ask for an amendment that would allow it to apply for a subpoena from a district court judge.
The panel also hopes to propose a bill that creates a process for enforcing compliance with financial disclosure requirements for elected officials.
The commission and secretary of state plan to work together on the bill, Binstock said during the meeting. Specific language has not yet been drafted.
Another legislative proposal would clarify in statute that the two-year prohibition on lobbying after a public official leaves their office only applies to those who were elected, not those who were appointed.
The commission will seek an amendment clarifying its process for issuing advisory opinions, as well. It will discuss the proposal during its October meeting.
The panel is working with lawmakers on the proposals, Binstock said.
The Ethics Commission was created by a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2018. The amendment gives the board authority to adopt and enforce rules related to elections, lobbying, corruption and transparency.
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The EU judicial cooperation agency is stepping up its fight against organized crime
FILE - Exterior view of the Eurojust building prior to a press conference in The Hague, Netherlands, on Dec. 5, 2018. The European Union's judicial cooperation agency, Eurojust, launched a new network Wednesday to strengthen and further coordinate the continent's fight against organized crime. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) The European Union's judicial cooperation agency, Eurojust, launched a new network on Wednesday to strengthen and further coordinate the continent's fight against organized crime.
The European Judicial Organised Crime Network's first priority will be tackling drug-related crime. Drug trafficking cases at Eurojust have doubled since 2020. The organization said that in 2023 it worked on almost 2,500 cases that led to the seizure of drugs worth more than 25 billion euros ($28 billion).
Eurojust said in a statement that tackling crime gangs that generate an estimated 139 billion euros in illicit profits each year requires a transnational approach that is fast and flexible and that can adapt to an ever-changing criminal landscape.
Evi Franco, a federal magistrate at the Belgian Federal Prosecutors Office who deals with organized crime gangs, welcomed the new network, saying it will enhance communication between prosecutors in countries across the 27-nation bloc.
Only by a closer cooperation, we can take on major drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, but also migrant smuggling and human trafficking. We have to work together so organized crime does not have the upper hand, she told reporters in an online briefing.
Earlier this year, Belgian authorities said that customs seized 116 tons of cocaine in the port of Antwerp in 2023, setting a record for the second year in a row. Authorities blame the fast-growing drug trade for outbreaks of violence in major port cities like Antwerp, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and Marseille in France.
Eurojust's president, Ladislav Hamran, said the new network will speed up cooperation between different countries seeking to crack down on the drug trade.
Through closer collaboration and by aligning judicial strategies across member states, we send a clear message: Organized crime knows no borders, but neither does our resolve to investigate and prosecute, Hamran said in a statement.
Grey wolves were virtually exterminated in Europe a century ago but, thanks to conservation efforts, numbers have rebounded (DENIS LOVROVIC) (DENIS LOVROVIC/AFP/AFP)
EU member states on Wednesday voted in favour of lowering the protection status of wolves, a move decried by conservationists that paves the way for a relaxation of tight hunting restrictions.
Grey wolves were virtually exterminated in Europe a century ago, but their numbers have rebounded thanks to conservation efforts, triggering howls of protest from farmers angered at livestock losses.
Representatives of the 27 EU states backed a proposal to push for changes to an international wildlife convention that would see the species downgraded from "strictly protected" to "protected".
Only two countries voted against, according to a diplomatic source and the the European Commission, which put forward the plan, welcomed its approval.
Steffi Lemke, Germany's environment minister, said a rising wolf population made the decision "justifiable from a nature conservation perspective and necessary from the point of view of livestock farmers."
In 2023, there were breeding packs of grey wolves in 23 European Union countries, with a total population estimated at around 20,300 animals, bringing the elusive creatures into more frequent contact with humans.
In announcing plans to revise the protection status last year, Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the "concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger especially for livestock".
Von der Leyen herself lost her beloved pony Dolly to a wolf that crept into an enclosure on her family's rural property in Germany two years ago -- leading some to suggest the matter had become personal.
- 'Politically motivated' -
The wolf became a "strictly protected" species under the 1979 Bern Convention, to which the EU is a party.
The text allows for the animal to be killed or captured only when it poses a threat to livestock, health or safety.
The commission's proposal would loosen such rules by demoting wolves to "protected" species, which would allow hunting under strict regulation.
This year has seen rolling protests by farmers around Europe against the bloc's environmental rules.
The pan-European farmers group Copa-Cogeca welcomed "a major step forward in the management of wolf populations and harmonious co-existence" while the FACE European Hunting Federation called it an all-round "victory".
But animal rights activists fear that the change could result in large numbers of wolves being hunted.
Already in 2022, several Austrian regions authorised the killing of wolves in what critics argued was a breach of current European laws.
More than 300 environmental and animal protection organisations opposed a status downgrade, arguing it was premature since while population numbers have grown, their recovery is ongoing.
In a letter, they said there was no evidence that culling reduced depredation on farmed animals. Hunting was no replacement for other prevention measures, such as fencing, they argued.
"We see this as a proposal that is politically motivated and not at all based on science," Sabien Leemans, senior policy officer at environmental group WWF, told AFP.
- Small impact -
A 2023 EU report found that the overall impact of wolves on livestock was "very small". Only 0.065 percent of the bloc's 60 million sheep were mauled to death every year and just over 18 million euros ($20 million) was paid to compensate for wolf damage annually.
The report said horses, dogs and other animals were also sometimes slain -- but that no fatal wolf attacks on people have been recorded in Europe over the past 40 years.
Wednesday's vote, once formally adopted by the bloc's environment ministers, will give the EU a mandate to push for a change in the Bern Convention at a meeting in December.
A two-thirds majority is required to alter the text, which was signed by 50 countries, including the 27 EU members.
If the convention is changed, the commission will then be allowed to move to amend related EU rules.
"Today's decision... empowers rural communities to take the necessary steps to protect themselves," said Herbert Dorfmann, a lawmaker with the conservative European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament.
But Leemans of the WWF warned it risked opening a "Pandora's box". Some countries are already pushing to ease hunting rules for brown bears too, she argued -- a concern dismissed by the commission.
"What we're talking about is the wolf, and only the wolf," commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz told reporters.
ub-ec/tw
The European Union wants to help the judicial authorities in its 27 member states work more closely together in the fight against organized crime.
European cooperation needs to be strengthened and better coordinated to deal with the complex and rapid development of international crime, representatives of the European judicial network Eurojust said in The Hague on Wednesday.
Eurojust President Ladislav Hamran said the new initiative sent a clear signal of intent. "Organized crime knows no borders, but it also knows nothing of our determination to investigate and prosecute."
Eurojust says organized crime generates an estimated 139 billion ($156 billion) a year within the EU.
More than three quarters of all criminal gangs in the EU are active in several countries, and the new justice network aims to ensure that investigators can intervene more quickly and flexibly.
The network's main focus is on the fight against drug trafficking. About 50% of the gangs are involved in the drug business, according to a Europol report. This is often associated with extreme violence, money laundering and other serious crimes.
The EU's judicial agency Eurojust has been supporting national judicial authorities in the fight against organised crime for more than 20 years. It works closely with Europol, the European police agency, which is also based in The Hague.
EU to support Ukraine regardless of US position Borrell
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell has stated that the European Union will continue supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, regardless of the next US administrations position.
Source: Ukrainform citing Borrell during a press conference following the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Ukraine
Quote: "I don't know what the Americans, the US with a new presidency will do or not.
But by the time being, allow me to say that the European Union's support, military, civilian, economic, financial and humanitarian, is greater than the US.
More than 100 billion is the bill that we've paid. Among them, 45 [billion] for military support. Less than the US? Certainly, but quite an important figure."
Details: Borrell reiterated that no one expected Ukraine to resist at the beginning of the war, given that Russia was the fourth-largest country in the world by military spending, while Ukraine ranked 35th.
Quote: "So the difference between the military capabilities of Russia and Ukraine is incredible.
The fact that Ukraine was resisting was a kind of miracle. At the beginning, what [did] we offer to Ukraine? We offered helmets! Now we are offering F-16s, and that's quite a difference, no?
One thing for me is clear: as far as Ukrainians want to resist, we have to support them. Otherwise, we will make a historical mistake."
Background: On 21 August, Borrell called on Western powers to lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of their weapons against Russian military targets.
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By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The government of Azerbaijan, host of this year's COP29 U.N. climate summit, has offered to cover the costs for negotiators from climate-vulnerable small islands to attend the event, a senior COP29 official told Reuters.
At the United Nations climate summit in November, countries are due to set a new target for funding to help poorer countries cope with climate change - a topic with direct consequences for island nations highly exposed to rising sea levels.
Baku has offered to fund the travel, hotel and all other costs for four delegates from every small island developing state (SIDS) to attend COP29 - the head of the respective country's negotiating delegation, plus three other officials, said the senior COP29 official, who asked not to be named.
"We will do our best to ensure the participation of those countries in need," said the official, who described the move as an attempt to ensure the talks are inclusive.
COP29 is scheduled to take place in the Azerbaijani capital Baku from Nov. 11-22.
The official declined to confirm the amount of funding involved. Some 40 SIDSs take part in U.N. climate negotiations.
Soaring hotel prices in host cities during the annual U.N. climate summits have become a recurring complaint among some delegates in recent years.
Delegates from developing countries draw on a range of funding sources to support their participation in U.N. climate negotiations, including from the U.N. climate body, regional organisations and bilateral donors.
Small island countries have a powerful voice in global climate talks, where they consistently demand governments take far more ambitious steps to rein in climate change.
Countries agreed at last year's COP28 summit in Dubai to "transition away from fossil fuels" - a compromise struck after SIDSs, the European Union and others pushed for a stronger commitment to "phase out" such fuels. Some oil and gas-rich Gulf nations opposed the move.
COP29 host Azerbaijan, a Caucasus republic that is an oil and gas producer itself, has not yet confirmed how it plans to follow up on last year's fossil-fuel agreement during COP29.
Today, Azerbaijan's energy is nearly entirely produced from fossil fuels, although the government aims to expand renewable sources like wind and solar.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; editing by Mark Heinrich)
EUREKA SPRINGS, Ark. The city of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, is issuing a disaster emergency proclamation Tuesday after its sewage treatment plant malfunctioned, according to the Little Rock District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
USACE says it was told by the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment that a malfunction at the Eureka Springs wastewater treatment plant is causing the release of around 10,500 gallons of untreated wastewater.
Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs nominated for best haunted hotel award
According to USACE, the wastewater is traveling into Leatherwood Creek up to the White River arm of Table Rock Lake near Holiday Island, Arkansas, six miles downstream of Beaver Dam.
The City of Eureka Springs is collecting samples to determine if there are high levels of E. Coli in Leatherwood Creek and is working to address the leak. USACE is urging the public not to swim or drink from Leatherwood Creek downstream of the sewage treatment plant until the issue is resolved.
Updates on the situation can be found on the USACE Little Rock District Facebook page or through the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) enforcement reports.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Central Europe's devastating floods were made much worse by climate change and offer a stark glimpse of the future for the world's fastest-warming continent, scientists say.
Storm Boris has ravaged countries including Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Austria and Italy, leading to at least 24 deaths and billions of pounds of damage.
The World Weather Attribution (WWA) group said one recent four-day period was the rainiest ever recorded in central Europe - an intensity made twice as likely by climate change.
On a positive note, the storm was well forecast, meaning some regions were better prepared for it, likely avoiding more deaths.
Scientists at WWA work out how much of a role climate change played in an extreme weather event by comparing it with a model of how bad that storm, drought or heatwave might have been in a world where humans hadn't been burning fossil fuels for nearly 200 years.
The Italian army evacuates citizens from the hamlet of Traversara after the Lamone river burst its banks [GEtty]
The kind of rainfall unleashed by Boris is thankfully still rare expected to occur about once every 100-300 years in todays climate, which has warmed by about 1.3C due to greenhouse gas emissions.
But if warming reaches 2C, similar episodes will become an extra 5% more intense and 50% more frequent, the WWA warned.
Without more ambitious climate action, global warming is expected to reach around 3C by the end of the century.
This is definitely what we will see much more of in the future, said Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London and co-author of the WWA study.
"[It] is the absolute fingerprint signature of climate change [...] that records are broken by such a large margin."
The record rains fit into the broader pattern of how Europes climate is changing in a warming world.
Europe is the fastest-warming continent. The last five years were on average around 2.3C warmer than the second half of the 19th Century, according to the Copernicus climate service.
This not only brings much more frequent and intense heatwaves, but also more extreme rainfall, particularly over north and central Europe. The picture is more complicated in southern Europe, due to shifts in large-scale weather patterns.
The simplest reason for more intense rainfall in a hotter world is that a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture about 7% for every 1C. This extra moisture can lead to heavier rainfall.
[BBC]
Stalling weather systems
One reason Boris has produced so much rain is that the weather system got 'stuck', dumping huge amounts of water over the same areas for days.
There is some evidence that the effects of climate change on the jet stream - a band of fast-flowing winds high up in the atmosphere - may make this 'stalling' phenomenon more common. But this is still up for debate.
Even if we don't get more 'stalled' weather systems in the future, climate change means that any that do get stuck can carry more moisture and therefore be potentially disastrous.
These weather patterns occurred in a warmer climate because of our greenhouse gas emissions, [so] the intensity and volume of rainfall was larger than it would have otherwise been, explains Richard Allan, professor in climate science at the University of Reading.
Weather forecasts are continually improving, and in this case the huge levels of rainfall that triggered the floods were forecast several days in advance.
That meant flood preparations could be put in place.
That's partly why the death toll was not as bad as previous major flooding in 1997 and 2002, even though the recent rain was heavier in many places and the floods covered a larger area.
There has been a lot of money spent after the previous two floods to [install and update] the flood defences, explains Mirek Trnka of the Global Change Research Institute in the Czech Republic, one of the countries most affected by the flooding.
In the city of Brno, for example, where Prof Trnka is based, not all of the flood defences had been completed, but the advanced warning allowed authorities to strengthen areas where there was still work to be done.
Not everywhere in Europe has been as fortunate. The EU has pledged 10bn (8.3bn) in emergency repairs to help affected areas.
It shows just how expensive climate change is, says Dr Otto.
Over recent decades, improved flood protection has largely shielded communities from increased impacts.
But there are concerns that rising temperatures - and so ever increasing extreme rainfall - could make them ineffective.
The [severity of the] flood events is going to increase considerably in the future, so if you keep the flood protections at the same level as they are today, the impacts may become unbearable for societies in Europe, explains Francesco Dottori of IUSS in Pavia, Italy.
There is of course a clear way to stop these rainfall events from getting ever worse - cutting emissions of planet-warming gases such as carbon dioxide.
Our simulations show that if you are able to keep future global warming below 1.5C, which is one of the targets of the Paris agreement, then future flood damage will be cut by half compared to the [business as usual] scenario, Dr Dottori adds.
Otherwise, we know what will happen to these events in the future, Prof Allan says.
"The intensity of rainfall and these weather events will only get worse."
Map by Muskeen Liddar.
Europes worst floods on record made twice as likely by climate crisis and will only get worse
Europes worst floods on record which just left entire towns submerged are now twice as likely to happen because of the climate crisis, revealing a grim preview of what lies ahead for the continent, scientists have warned.
The deluge caused by Storm Boris this month in many parts of central Europe left at least 24 people dead and caused billions of euros in damage. It was regarded as the worst flooding in the continent since records began.
Boris stalled over central Europe and, in just four days, brought unprecedented levels of rainfall across Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Romania, and the Czech Republic, leaving rivers overflowing and many places submerged.
A study published by an international team of scientists warns that as global temperatures rise, extreme floods like this one are becoming more frequent, with the climate crisis doubling their likelihood.
It notes that rainfall from the storm was 7 per cent heavier and attributes it to a warming atmosphere, which can now hold more moisture than in pre-industrial times.
The intensity of rainfall has increased from 68mm before the temperatures started rising due to the warming caused by human activities to 72mm today.
If average global temperatures rise 2C by the 2050s as projected, storms like Boris could become 50 per cent more frequent, unleashing more rain, upto 75mm, across Europe, the study by the World Weather Attribution states.
Yet again, these floods highlight the devastating results of fossil fuel-driven warming, Dr Joyce Kimutai from Imperial College Londons Grantham Institute said.
Until oil, gas, and coal are replaced with renewable energy, storms like Boris will unleash even heavier rainfall, driving economy-crippling floods.
Chart shows rising intensity of rainfall in Europe due to storms like Boris (World Weather Attribution)
The flooding from Boris devastated many parts of Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Romania, and Czechia, with some of the worst impact felt in urban areas along major rivers.
Videos showed dramatic rescue operations involving helicopters, people carrying elders and children through waist-deep water, and people waiting on their roofs as their houses got submerged.
Towns along the Polish-Czech border were particularly hard hit, and Vienna saw parts of the city submerged as the Danube river overflowed. Some areas experienced five times the average September rainfall as authorities scrambled to evacuate people and erect flood defences.
A man stands in a flooded street in the town of Kodzko, Poland, on 15 September 2024 (AP)
In Poland alone, thousands of homes were damaged and major infrastructure such as roads and bridges was swept away by the floodwaters. The storm has broken 12 dams, leading to widespread flooding.
Power outages forced schools, factories and hospitals to shut temporarily. Meanwhile, in Romanias eastern regions, entire neighbourhoods were submerged and emergency crews were stretched to their limits.
Danube river flowing past the illuminated Hungarian parliament building in Budapest on 16 September 2024 (AFP via Getty)
Even with days of preparation, floodwaters still devastated towns, destroyed thousands of homes, and saw the European Union pledge 10 billion in aid, Maja Vahlberg, a technical advisor with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, said.
Countries need to plan for unprecedented floods and integrate climate change into land-use planning.
The new study suggests that while the number of Vb depressions the weather system responsible for these floods has remained consistent since the 1950s, the intensity of rainfall events has increased due to warmer air and ocean temperatures in the region.
The 1997 and 2002 floods in central Europe were described as once-in-a-century events, but two decades later, global warming has increased from 0.5 to 1.3C, and they have happened again, Dr Bogdan H Chojnicki, climatologist at Poznan University, said.
The trend is clear if humans keep filling the atmosphere with fossil fuel emissions, the situation will be more severe.
Map shows flooding from Boris impacted a greater area than flooding in 1997 and 2002 (World Weather Attribution)
While Europe has advanced greatly in forecasting and emergency planning since those floods around the turn of the century, experts say more needs to be done to be able to cope with the increasing challenge of disasters. Europe is also the fastest warming continent due to the climate crisis.
Researchers say theres a need for better floodplain storage, improved warning systems, and more resilient infrastructure. But most importantly, the report stresses the need for stronger climate action to reduce the risks of future disasters.
Crippling droughts in southern Italy. Devastating wildfires in Portugal. Killer floods in Central Europe... climate change is wreaking havoc in Europe but politicians across the continent are trying to pull back on climate commitments, said Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London.
Climate change is an existential threat, especially for poorer parts of society. Europeans need to know that tackling it will make their lives so much better.
The cost of inaction will be measured not only in lives lost but also in the economic toll these disasters take, experts say.
The 10 billion pledged by the European Union for repairs following Storm Boris may just be the tip of the iceberg if global temperatures rise further.
Climate models and physics show us that these types of intense downpours are getting more frequent and more intense as the world warms, said professor Hannah Cloke from the University of Reading.
This should spur action to prepare for weather events that could happen at any time, as well as reducing the emissions that are contributing to their intensity.
An EV plant bolstered by Bidens climate law sparks hope in Northeast Ohio but not a revival of its Democratic roots
For this long-beleaguered region of Northeast Ohio, a gleaming new 2.8 million-square-foot manufacturing plant symbolizes something that has been fleeting in recent years: hope.
Hope that years of promises so often broken or deferred have been replaced by action in the form of 2,200 employees at the Ultium Cells electric vehicle battery plant, which sits at the forefront of cutting-edge green technology and manufacturing.
Hope in the shadow of the hulking former General Motors Lordstown plant that closed its doors in 2019, forcing workers like George Goranitis to leave the only jobs and homes they knew.
All the mills shutting down, packers shutting down the last thing here for a good-paying job was General Motors Lordstown, Goranitis said.
The collapse of the lone remaining cornerstone of a manufacturing powerhouse cut to the heart of a proud community.
Members, you know, werent able to handle some of the news, Goranitis recalled. And, you know, the situations they were in at that time, they took their own lives. There was divorces because of it. You know, families were ripped apart.
The story of the GM plant closure in Mahoning Valley in Northeast Ohio isnt new.
Nor is the story of how Donald Trump tapped into the anxieties within those communities with his bold promises to bring back the manufacturing prowess of old.
Here in Trumbull County, for decades a Democratic stronghold filled with union workers, President Barack Obama crushed Republican nominee Mitt Romney by 23 points in 2012.
Four years later, Trump flipped the county the first Republican to do so in more than four decades in a dramatic demonstration of strength among White blue-collar voters in the industrial Midwest.
He went on to win Trumbull County by an even greater margin in 2020, as Ohio, once the premier bellwether state, cemented its shift firmly into Republican hands.
Trump is once again the GOP nominee.
And hes once again centering his campaign on big promises of a Midwestern manufacturing renaissance.
We are going to bring so many auto plants into our country, Trump boomed at an event this month in Michigan. Youre going to be as big or bigger than you were 50 years ago.
Its a pitch that demonstrates his keen awareness that union voters especially auto workers hold the keys back to the White House in the critical states that form a political firewall through Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Its also one that highlights why the story of Lordstown and the new electric vehicle battery plant located here is such a critical window into this political moment.
Lordstown today represents singular convergence of political pledges broken and delivered, the pain and promise of economic transition, and the evolving tumult inside unions across the country that have experienced clear wins at the same moment rank-and-file members are shifting away from their long-standing support for the Democratic Party.
Our plant, honestly, is a Trump plant, Goranitis, who spearheaded the effort to organize the new Ultium plant where he now works, said of his union worker colleagues in a wide-ranging interview behind his UAW Local 1112 headquarters in nearby Warren.
Signs seen outside the Lordstown plant before its closure. - CNN
Trumps 2017 promise
When Trump arrived in nearby Youngstown in his first year as president, the Lordstown GM plant was already under clear signs of stress. That made Trumps bold declarations all the more resonant with the community.
Dont move, Trump said as he pledged to bring jobs back to the region. Dont sell your house.
Many of the plants workers took Trumps words literally, according to David Green, who served as the local UAW president during Trumps term in office.
Seventeen months later, GM announced that the plant would be idled. Employees who wanted to hold on to their pensions would be required to relocate to other GM facilities. Houses were sold. Many moved. Others were forced to commute each week to the new locations, leaving their families to do so.
Trump railed against the GM leadership on Twitter and urged some kind of deal to reopen the plant.
But Green said his letters to the White House pleading for help were ignored at least until he appeared on Fox News to make his case.
Trump was watching.
Shortly after, he fired off a tweet aimed squarely at Green.
Democrat UAW Local 1112 President David Green ought to get his act together and produce, the president wrote. G.M. let our Country down, but other much better car companies are coming into the U.S. in droves. I want action on Lordstown fast. Stop complaining and get the job done!
It was a heady moment for Green, who like so many others had followed his father onto the GM Lordstown factory floor and had spent his whole career there until the plant closed.
I ignored it because my mama told me, Dont give it any credibility, and it goes nowhere, Green said. The reality is my daughter got bullied over that. And I didnt know until just a couple of years ago when she told me. She was a senior in high school, and kids were blaming me and mad at her and bullying her.
Trump then eagerly touted the start-up Lordstown Motors as the savior he was instrumental in delivering.
He dispatched his vice president, Mike Pence, to tour the facility in 2020 with cameras in tow.
A few months before that falls election, Trump held a major promotional event on the South Lawn of the White House, flanked by prototypes of what the company pledged would be the first all-electric commercial pickup truck.
The area was devastated when General Motors moved out, and then we worked together, and we made the deal on the plant, Trump said as he stood beside the companys chief executive.
The company would go on to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy three years later.
The executive who stood beside Trump would eventually settle with federal regulators over claims that he misled investors about demand for the first all-electric commercial pickup truck. He did not admit any wrongdoing.
The Ultium Cells plant is under construction in Lordstown, Ohio, on October 16, 2020. - Megan Jelinger/AFP/Getty Images
Ultium breaks ground
Given the past several years, there was an understandable skepticism in the community when the new joint venture between GM and South Koreas LG started construction on its planned electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant, which opened in 2022.
Standing inside that plant this summer, Josh Ayers was candid about when he came to believe what the future could hold.
Probably when they actually broke ground. I mean, honestly, Ayers said. When Ayers left the GM plant and his hometown, he never expected to find an opportunity to return to either.
This gives people in the Valley another chance, Ayers said as he ticked through the reasons people from here so deeply value the community, from friends and family to the familiar (and highly recommended) local restaurants such as Wedgewood Pizza and the Hot Dog Shoppe.
That Ayers was standing inside a cutting-edge technological plant like Ultium was one thing.
That he was standing next to Kareem Maine, the plant director who for many months had sat across from him during intense negotiations over the plants union contract, was another.
The ratification of their agreement in June marked just the latest critical development inside a plant that in many ways has laid the groundwork for an expanding industry.
Its easy to get caught up in the day-to-day like you look around, but you really have to take the time, step back and say, Hey, we accomplished a lot in a short period of time, Maine said.
Those accomplishments have been closely watched by the current Oval Office inhabitant, who was quick to congratulate Ayers and his team after the agreement.
Five years ago, the previous administration made false promises to Lordstown workers and then stood by as the community lost jobs and faced economic devastation, President Joe Biden said in a statement. Today, Lordstown is a comeback story and it didnt happen by accident.
The Ultium plant started production just two weeks after Biden signed into law a sweeping clean energy investment package.
A view of the Ultium Cells factory in Lordstown, Ohio, on July 7, 2023. - Gene J. Puskar/AP/File
A record of results
The Biden administration has utilized its major legislative wins to bolster Ultiums efforts to the tune of billions of dollars in grants and funding assistance.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are also unapologetically pro-union, with Biden regularly touting his view that hes the most pro-union president in history.
I agree with that, Green said.
While UAW leaders, both national and local, pressed Biden and Harris for more aggressive action on the unions behalf throughout the past several years of negotiations, their role in the eventual results drove emphatic national endorsements.
And the results are real, bolstering UAW President Shawn Fains strike strategy that led to a historic agreement with the Big Three automakers.
But it was the Ultium plants inclusion in that agreement once viewed as a nonstarter in the negotiations that was truly game-changing here in Northeast Ohio.
In total, wages for the plants workers were nearly doubled over the length of the agreement.
Safety standards that would serve as the barometer for all future agreements were locked in.
Most importantly, the GM Lordstown employees who were forced to transfer in 2019 had a clear path back home.
I teared up quite a few times having these conversations with my brothers and sisters that I used to work with here in Lordstown, said Goranitis, who started with GM out of high school and spearheaded the organizing effort at the new plant. They never thought it was going to happen.
Fain was given a prime speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where the story of Lordstown was elevated.
The UAW endorsed Harris and aggressively pushed out video of her appearance on the picket line as a senator and Democratic presidential hopeful in 2019 and her support of unions.
But on the ground here, that record of results hasnt had a dramatic effect with rank-and-file workers.
A lot of the members that I do speak with, they say at the time that Trump was in office that just our economy at that time, the jobs were better at that time and businesses were booming, Goranitis said.
Goranitis, thrust into a leadership position after his efforts over the last few years, is now grappling with the complexities many in UAW leadership are confronting in the months before Election Day.
He wont tell his members how to vote, but he is trying to explain his view that Harris and Democrats have been better for his members. The results here are, at least on their face, clear-cut.
And yet.
Its a hard time right now, right? Because, you know, the unions have always backed Democrats, Goranitis said. Always have. And it does look like its starting to take a turning point.
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NORMAL, Ill Two schools. One marching band. Over 150 students on the field.
There are some rivalries between the two schools. I know for an absolute fact students love it. They have some of their best friends across town, Normal West and Community co-band director Paul Carter said.
Co-band directors Paul Carter and Ryan Budzinski are tasked with the challenge of organizing Normals joint high school marching band. The two schools joined forces in 2018.
Were thrilled about students being able to be a part of a larger group and to build relationships with folks across town that share common goals, Budzinski said.
It allows us to be more successful, I think, because were able to pull all of resources and compete at a higher level. Weve had some more successful seasons the past couple of years in the history of our programs, Carter said.
For senior Parker Sweeney, this years theme is a symbol of his time in the marching band. He began as a drum major but has transitioned into a field manager.
This year is called a seed to bloom. At the beginning we start as seeds and have a green jacket on as we progress through the show we eventually unzip and end up blooming. Its a metaphor for how you grow and change as a person, Sweeney said.
For senior Charlotte Buhin, the marching band has left a lasting impact on her future as a drum major. She plans to continue marching band in college next year.
I cant imagine not having marching band rehearsal after school and going to that. Its been such a big part of my life. I just want to continue it anyway I can, Buhin said.
From bitter rivals to now best of friends Sweeney and Buhin will miss the unlikely relationships they were able to create with the marching band merger.
Just the community we form. Ive made some of my closest friends here and making out with best friends and making something bigger than myself, Buhin said.
All those friends and to just hang out with and be connected again. Because coming off of COVID, I didnt have many friends. It was just hard to connect, and it gave me a connection, Sweeney said.
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Everything that we would want in a Kansas City firefighter: Kyle Brinker mourned
Scores of first responders from throughout the region stood quietly as Kyle Brinkers casket, wrapped in a flag, was handed down from a Kansas City fire engine.
A group of bagpipes cut into the stillness, as those close to the late Kansas City firefighter slowly escorted his remains into a memorial service. Across the parking lot, a large flag suspended from ladders rising from a pair of fire engines fluttered in the breeze.
Mourners gathered at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty Wednesday afternoon to remember and celebrate the life of Brinker, 33, the Kansas City firefighter-paramedic who died last week after suffering a medical emergency at a training event.
The Kansas City Fire Department estimated Brinker responded to nearly 20,000 calls during his 11 years with the department.
Funeral services for Kyle Brinker take place on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty. Brinker served in the Kansas City Fire Department for 11 years, most recently at Station 35, one of the citys busiest stations.
A good heart, a good person
As a paramedic, he was top-notch, said KCFD Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins. Theres a lot of folks here in Kansas City that are still here because of the work that he did.
A good heart, a good person, everything that we would want in a Kansas City firefighter, he was the epitome of that, Hopkins said.
Officials have not released Brinkers cause of death, but have said he suffered a medical emergency during a training exercise Sept. 17. Personnel at the scene gave him medical care before he was rushed to North Kansas City Hospital. Staff were unable to revive him.
Firetrucks lead the funeral procession for Kyle Brinker on Wednesday, Sept. 25 in Kansas City. Brinker served in KCFD for 11 years, most recently at Station 35, one of KCFDs busiest stations.
A visitation and celebration of life were held in Liberty Wednesday afternoon, ahead of a procession taking Brinkers casket through the city to the fire stations where he worked during his time with the department.
As a fire service, first responders, we deal with tragedy on a daily basis, Hopkins said. But were never really fully prepared when one of our own suffers a tragedy. Its been a difficult week for the department, difficult week for Kyles family.
Brinker grew up in Pennsylvania. He attended Coastal Carolina University to study marine science before taking up fire science at the Community College of Allegheny County. He later studied emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh after earning his certification as a paramedic in 2012.
Brinker moved to Kansas City to join the department, Hopkins said. He had a near-perfect score on an entrance exam and was seen as having the right qualities.
Pipers played for the funeral services for Kyle Brinker on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty. Brinker served in KCFD for 11 years, most recently at Station 35, one of KCFDs busiest stations.
Beyond work, Brinker was passionate about barbecue and made an amazing brisket, family wrote in his obituary.
He loved to travel with his wife, Becky and together they have been to Jamaica, St. Lucia, Mexico, and many smaller trips around the country, they wrote. Kyle enjoyed his pet, Doug the Dog, both walking him and playing fetch.
Family members suggested memorial donations be made to the Surviving Spouse and Family Endowment Fund operated by the Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission. For more information, visit kc-crime.org/safe.
This story contains previous reporting from The Stars Ilana Arougheti.
Details on the case against Jose Ibarra, the man accused of killing University of Georgia student Laken Riley, are being publicly revealed for the first time.
Some of the evidence that prosecutors say they have against Ibarra include a thumbprint on Rileys cell phone, video of a man dumping a bloody jacket and gloves into a dumpster just a half mile from where her body was discovered, and DNA from her fingernails.
Prosecutors say a fingerprint expert identified Ibarras thumbprint on Rileys cell phone.
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They say he was recorded on video cameras around a UGA students dormitory and near the intramural running fields that Riley used before she was killed.
Attorneys for Ibarra want the court to suppress evidence from two cell phones, Ibarras social medical accounts, and his DNA sample.
They say police had no reason to suspect him of a crime when he was detained.
But prosecutors say Ibarra was detained because police had a reasonable suspicion that he was involved with Rileys death.
Ibarras lawyers are asking for his trial to be moved out of Athens-Clark County.
Jury selection for Ibarras trial is expected to begin on Nov. 13.
Ibarra is charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the death of another.
According to law enforcement, both Ibarra and his brother Diego were in the United States as undocumented immigrants.
Information from the U.S. Attorneys Office said Diego Ibarra is a citizen of Venezuela and was processed for expedited removal but claimed a credible fear of return to Venezuela. He was consequently released from immigration custody pending adjudication of his claim for asylum on April 30, 2024.
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Special counsel Jack Smith is expected to submit an oversized brief in former President Donald Trumps election interference case in Washington D.C. by Thursday. The briefing is, in the view of the judge overseeing the case, needed to respond to the Supreme Courts presidential immunity ruling.
Smith requested permission to exceed the normal length limits for briefs, seeking to file up to 200 pages of argumentation in the case, which immediately drew comparisons to past special counsel reports, like those from special counsels Robert Mueller or Robert Hur. This comes as a response to the Supreme Courts ruling earlier this year, which found the president enjoys broad legal immunity for official core constitutional acts.
The Supreme Court ruling threw the prosecution of Trump for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election into chaos and the new filing is an opportunity for Smith to make the case that Trumps efforts do not qualify as official acts.
Attorney Ty Cobb, a former Trump White House lawyer, told Salon that the filing from Smith was appropriate and necessary in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling but he said that the filing likely wont be like special counsel reports.
The Mueller report [was] 400 pages of we didnt find anything, this will be 180 pages of evidence and the evidence will be powerful, undeniable and persuasive, Cobb said. The issue for the judge to decide is whether it infringes on official acts assigned to the presidency and whether it could chill any decision-making by the president if the areas involved cross that constitutional line.
As for the potential that swaths of the filing may be redacted something suggested by the fact that there will be a private and public version of the document Cobb said that he thinks the bulk of the evidence will be out there for public viewing. He added much of the evidence, like Trumps call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, is already public.
James Sample, a constitutional law professor at Hofstra University, agreed that the filing was necessary in light of the Supreme Courts dramatic expansion of Presidential immunity, saying that an oversized, highly detailed legal brief, detailing with as much factual specificity as is possible, is not only appropriate, but necessary.
It is precisely because Mr. Trump, along with his nakedly partisan Supreme Court allies, has so stunningly succeeded in thwarting the truth-finding mechanism of an adversarial trial, that Jack Smiths filing is essential both for the task of categorizing official and non-official acts, but also for the filings value in adding to the historical narrative of one of the gravest attacks on democracy in American history, Sample said.
Sample went on to quote former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who once said that sunlight is the best disinfectant in reference to the details expected in the filing and the potential for redaction.
If the special prosecutors filing sheds light on the complex, violent, deadly and very-nearly successful effort to overturn the 2020 election, then, even apart from the filings legal necessity, the filing is a service to the nation, Sample said.
Bennett Gershman, a former prosecutor and a law professor at Pace University, suggested that significant portions of the filing may be redacted given the closeness to the upcoming election but that many of the actions Trump took in his attempt to overturn the election results clearly were not official acts.
Gershman pointed to Trumps statements on social media, threats made to former Vice President Mike Pence and his personal interactions with co-conspirators as examples of actions that were, in his opinion, clearly not official acts. He added that Trump had no constitutional authority with respect to the functioning of the Legislative Branch, and Pences official responsibilities with the Legislative Branch, in reference to Congress certification of election results
The filing will hammer home these points, probably reveal and detail supporting evidence that has not yet been made public, and easily distinguish evidence of official acts, Gershman said. For Trump to claim presidential immunity for the actions described above is baseless and absurd.
Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.
Sarah Krissoff, a former federal prosecutor, predicted that the matter of redactions could be an area where the prosecution and defense might clash, noting that the Supreme Courts ruling demands that the court engages in a fact-dependent inquiry to determine if something was an official act and that Trumps team very much does not want all those facts aired (and analyzed) in public.
The defense team wants the redactions to be as broad as possible, to protect against the dissemination of information that is damaging to the former President, Krissoff said. It is very likely that the judge has to weigh in on the scope of the redactions, given the competing interests of the government, the defense, and the press.
One of the attorneys who represented Trump during the second impeachment trial, David Schoen, indicated that he thinks the move is politically calculated and that you can be sure the Harris campaign will borrow allegations from the 180-page filing and use it. He added that he sees the filing as violating Justice Department policy of not taking legal action against a candidate within 60 days of an election.
They know the case will not go to trial before the election and they want to have an impact; so now they will lay out the bare accusations and their version of facts, without any meaningful vehicle for cross examination or for rebuttal and with no requirement that they actually be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, Schoen said.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) An attorney with the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation speaks up on pending lawsuit where a family claimed their child with special needs did not receive the proper services.
On Monday night, EVSC says they were made aware of the lawsuit and were looking into it. On Tuesday, Eyewitness News met with legal council to discuss more.
Speaking with Attorney Pat Shoulders for the EVSC, he says this is the first case in his 36 years with the corporation that will go to trial. Under federal law, Shoulders says he cannot speak to the specifics of his lawsuit, but did speak generally about the ongoing dispute.
Ill simply tell you that the dispute really is over request for the EVSC to pay for placement out of the home in another state at a boys ranch and we dont believe the taxpayers of Vanderburgh County need to shoulder that burden when adequate and very good services were being rendered right here in our schools, says Shoulders.
The familys lawyer, Catherine Michaels says this is not the case. She says the Indiana Department of Education covers more than 99% of the costs associated with residential placements and speaking of an excess costs fund that the corporation can apply for.
When a child needs residential placement where that money is actually coming from because its not coming from the local source because a lot of school districts wouldnt have the money to do this, so this is not about the taxpayers of Vanderburgh County, says Michael. In fact the only thing theyre having to pay is the attorneys fees that theyre paying to defend this action.
In a news release, Michael calls this a systemic issue and schools should be supporting children with special needs, not fighting to keep them in unsafe environments.
The EVSC says an individualized education plan (IEP) is completed for every student with special needs. Were told an annual review of the IEP is also completed with teachers and parents.
Shoulders says the EVSC works every day to tend to those needs.
When you say a systemic problem, we have exactly one case one case with 4000+ kids thats pending a hearing right now so thats nonsense, says Shoulders. The law allows the prevailing party in these cases to ask the hearing officer or the court to award attorney fees, if and when we prevail, we intend to seek reimbursement of our attorney fees because we believe this case is unfounded.
Shoulders calls it, in his own words, disgusting for the attorneys on the other side to ask for a closed hearing, yet a news release made public just days before going to trial.
The trial will take place on Monday, and Shoulders has motioned for it be opened for Eyewitness News to be present.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW).
Donald Trumps pledge to be womens protector is not sitting so well with, well, women. That includes his own former White House employees.
During an appearance Tuesday night on CNN, former Trump White House aide Alyssa Farrah Griffin was asked if she thought there was anything odd about Trumps rant about women from his campaign event in Indiana, Pennsylvania, the night before.
I started laughing and thinking it was creepy, but then thinking more about it, its very infantilizing, Griffin said.
Talking about women as though were weak, were meek, we need a protector, we need a defender, and we just sit around thinking about abortions all day, Griffin continued. It just underscores a fundamental lack of understanding for why a demographic that represents half of the country is one that he is struggling so profoundly with.
I think Donald Trump, if he loses this election, is going to look back and think that one of the worst decisions he made was not having a female on the ticket, who actually knows how to speak to living, breathing, normal women about issues that matter to them, Griffin said.
Griffin added that in addition to reproductive rights, economics and national security were also womens issues. The way he is talking about them is not the way to sway voters in the middle, Griffin said.
A recent NBC News poll found that Kamala Harris was leading Trump among women voters by 21 points.
Trumps not the only one struggling to connect with women voters. Last week, Bernie Moreno, a Trump-endorsed candidate for Senate from Ohio, told the audience at a town hall that he thought it was crazy that women only cared about abortion.
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The head of the Federal Aviation Administration told a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday that Boeing must address a series of safety issues before he will let them boost 737 MAX production, warning the issue could impact company profits.
FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker capped production at 38 MAX planes per month in January after a door panel missing four key bolts flew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 midair in January.
"They cannot grow to where they need to grow without" making broad safety improvements in six key categories and maintaining those improvements at higher production rates, Whitaker said at a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation hearing on FAA's oversight of Boeing. "They don't do that, they don't grow, and if they don't grow, they're not going be able to achieve profitability."
Boeing shares fell 2.3%. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the hearing.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, chair of the committee, noted that Boeing previously produced 52 planes per month in 2018 but production has slid below 38. He asked if lowering the cap would make it more effective.
"Boeing has put profits and speed of production ahead of quality and safety, and ultimately that failing is at the core of its current difficulty," Blumenthal said.
Reuters reported Sept. 10 that Boeing told suppliers it was delaying a key production milestone for its 737 MAX by six months, three industry sources said, a sign the planemaker was struggling to boost production of its best-selling jet.
"Boeing is quite aware that they're not going to increase production on any of these aircraft" until they show they are meeting six key metrics or being in the "green," Whitaker said.
Asked if a production cap applies to other Boeing airplanes like the 787, Whitaker told reporters it was a "fluid situation" but added: "If you had a robust safety management system, you wouldn't increase production unless you were in the green on everything. So that's our expectation across the fleet."
Boeing's latest 737 supplier master schedule communicated to the industry calls for MAX output to reach 42 a month in March 2025, compared with its previous target of this month.
Boeing has not changed its official plane production target, which calls for 38 MAX jets a month by the end of 2024, up from roughly 25 jets a month in July.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by David Gregorio)
Former Milwaukee Public Schools board president Michael Bonds was sentenced on Wednesday to two years behind bars for his role in a bribery scandal.
U.S. District Court Judge Gerald A. McHugh, of Philadelphia, ordered Bonds to also serve a year of supervised release after his prison term ends. Bonds, 65, also must forfeit the $18,000 prosecutors say he received as part of the criminal enterprise.
Bonds wasn't remanded into custody on Wednesday; he was given until Nov. 12 to surrender to authorities and begin his prison term.
Bonds served on the MPS board from 2007 until he abruptly resigned in July 2018, with less than a year left on his term.
Federal prosecutors argued Bonds used his influence to help Universal Education Cos., a Philadelphia-based charter school company, get benefits to operate their three locations in Milwaukee the former Green Bay Avenue School, 3872 N. Eighth St.; Webster School, 6850 N. 53rd St.; and Lee Elementary School, 921 W. Meinecke Ave.
More: Recall signatures submitted for MPS recall effort; verification process begins
Bonds pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy and violations of the Travel Act for taking kickbacks in return for votes between 2014 and 2016 that benefited Universal, which employed his co-conspirators.
School privatization scams and corruption go hand in hand," Ingrid Walker-Henry, president of the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association, said in a statement. "While it is good to see corrupt private school executives and former elected officials being held accountable, as long as private charter and voucher schools continue to take money from taxpayers with virtually no oversight, the system remains vulnerable to this kind of grift and corruption.
"Elected leaders must protect taxpayers and public school families by ending the privatization scam once and for all.
Milwaukee Public Schools issued a victim-impact statement that was read in court. In it, MPS said Bonds' conduct harmed the school district's reputation and broke taxpayers' trust with the government agency.
The five-year delay in sentencing was due to a combination of the complexity of the white collar case and suspensions stemming from the global pandemic, which affected many courthouses around the country, and waiting until after the co-conspirators were tried.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark B. Dubnoff, who pushed for probation for Bonds, argued the nature and level of his cooperation with prosecutors proved crucial to building their case against his co-conspirators.
More: Former Milwaukee DPW employee sentenced for hundreds of thousands of dollars in theft
The James A. Byrne U.S. District Courthouse in Philadelphia.
Universal's CEO, Abdur Rahim Islam, and its CFO, Shahied Dawan, were convicted in March of conspiring to defraud the United States after attempting to conceal taxable income from the IRS and for bribing Bonds.
According to a news release from U.S. Department of Justice, Islam paid Bonds $18,000 in exchange for advocating for and voting in favor of Universal's expansion of charter school operations in Milwaukee, and for favorable lease terms.
Islam, 67, was also convicted of six counts of honest services wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud, and six counts of filing false tax returns.
Dawan, 72, and Islam defrauded the IRS by failing to include all taxable income, including unapproved bonuses and improperly reimbursed expenses to Islam, from about 2011 to 2018.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ex-Milwaukee school board president gets 2 years in bribery scheme
MEMPHIS, Tenn. One of the former Scorpion Unit officers accused in the beating of Tyre Nichols returned to the stand on Wednesday and testified that he lied in his reports to protect his family.
Desmond Mills was one of the five officers originally charged in the case, but he took a deal and pleaded guilty to federal civil rights and conspiracy charges last November. While in court, he told prosecutors that the goal of the conspiracy was to not tell the truth.
He says he was afraid that if he told the truth he would be sitting in the same seat hes sitting in now and would be held accountable for it.
Mills said he knew that the off-camera conversations between the five officers would not be included in their Response to Resistance reports. He said the officers took off their body cameras so that they would not get caught.
Im sorry: Ex-MPD officer Desmond Mills cries on stand in Tyre Nichols testimony
I knew that excessive force was used and I did not want to tell him [Lieutenant DeWayne Smith, supervisor], Mills said.
He admitted in his testimony to hitting Nichols three times with his baton after pepper spraying him. Mills told the jury on Wednesday that this was the first time he had ever used his baton.
He said he was not worried that anyone would tell Smith about the beating because they had what he called a non-verbal, mutual agreement that what was said off-camera was not to be written in their reports.
Mills admitted that neither he nor any of the other officers informed the dispatcher of the extent of Nichols injuries, and admitted that he did not check on Nichols after he had been handcuffed.
I failed to render aid. I failed, Mills said.
He also says he followed behind the ambulance when they were driving Nichols to the hospital but did not inform the nurses that he was hit in the head. I didnt want to admit what I saw, Mills said.
Mills testified that Haley called Mills later that same night and acted like he was hoping he wasnt seen on Mills body camera. However, Mills says the footage from his body camera only showed Haley walking up, nothing else.
Mills also stated that the information in his report was inaccurate and claimed the information he wrote came from Martin. He said he lied to make the arrest look better than it was and said they tried to make Mr. Nichols look worse than he was.
He said that after the beating, he was concerned that Nichols would not survive past January 7. He said Nichols didnt look good which he described as shocking.
As an officer, I respond to scenes where the victim looks like Mr. Nichols. This was the first time I was part of it, said Mills. I was going along with the cover-up, trying to avoid it. Hoping for the best. Hoping that Mr. Nichols would survive and this whole thing would blow over.
During cross-examinations, Tadarrius Beans attorney, John Keith Perry, questioned Mills on his statements to the ISB [Internal Affairs], noting that he claimed Nichols bowed up in a fighting stance, but Mills admitted that he lied.
Mills, who has three children, told the jury he lied to internal affairs because he had a lot at stake.
I needed this job for my family my wife and kids. This job has insurance. I have kids with special needs. I was thinking of them first. I needed this job for my family and I let them down. Mills said.
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Mills wept on the stand Tuesday and apologized for his part in the beating of Nichols. The jury was asked to disregard Mills answer when he cried on the stand and apologized, voicing his regret to the jury for his role in the beating.
I wish I could have stopped the punches. It hurt to watch, said Mills. I made his child fatherless. Im sorry. I know sorry cant bring him back, but I pray that his child has everything he needs growing up.
Civil Rights attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, who represent the Nichols family, held a prayer vigil outside the Odell Horton Federal Building on Wednesday morning, where they called the entire encounter with Nichols unnecessary.
I dont think theres any doubt to anyones eye that what we saw yesterday was dramatic. It was powerful. It was emotional, but when you loop it back to why were here, we actually realized how unnecessary it all was, said Romanucci.
Civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci held a prayer vigil outside the Odell Horton Federal Building where the officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols are on trial. (Photo by WREGs Quametra Wilborn)
Civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci held a prayer vigil outside the Odell Horton Federal Building where the officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols are on trial. (Photo by WREGs Quametra Wilborn)
He noted that the attorneys and family are present for accountability and quoted Mills, saying that the entire city of Memphis should be sorry for allowing this to go on for so long.
Tyre Nichols attorney says Mills emotional testimony was unnecessary
Crump mentioned that this is one of the most emotional trials he has ever been involved in.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith are facing charges of federal civil rights violations, conspiracy, and obstruction in connection to Tyre Nichols death in 2023.
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PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) A former Portsmouth assistant commonwealths attorney pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal marijuana charges.
According to court documents, from March 2021 until May 2022, Matthew Taylor Morris and three co-conspirators, Donald Rogers, Nicholas Capehard, and Jeffery Sines, sold large quantities of marijuana in Hampton Roads.
Rogers, who according to court documents was the owner of VA Premier Pawn, bought wholesale quantities of marijuana, THC vape pens, THC wax and THC edibles and paid to import them into Virginia. Rogers would then distribute these products to Morris, Capehard and Sines for them to sell. Morris sold 15 pounds of marijuana a month, including to his legal clients.
Previous: Ex-Portsmouth prosecutor with troubled past now faces federal marijuana charges
For the little more than a year this was all happening, Rogers stored about 1,000 pounds of marijuana and marijuana products at Morris law office in Virginia Beach. Morris helped Rogers move the drugs in and out of the office using duffel bags.
One of the pieces of evidence mentioned in the court documents is a picture of Capehart standing in front of more than $100,000 in cash. Morris diploma and legal credentials were seen on the wall behind Capehart.
Related: Virginia State Bar reprimands former Portsmouth prosecutor, cases in question
Related: Portsmouth prosecutor had more problems than just unpaid dues to the state bar
In April 2021, Capehart was on vacation in Las Vegas and asked Morris for advice on how to bring drugs back to Hampton Roads. Morris told him via text to buy souvenirs and place the drugs in the souvenirs wrapped tightly in Saran Wrap. Morris further advised him to mail the souvenirs to his law office and write legal mail on there somewhere too. He said it would make it privileged and harder for cops to get a search warrant for the package.
Morris faces up to 10 years in behind bars and a $500,000 fine when he is sentenced on Jan. 22, though he could serve as little as four years supervised release.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Sines also pleaded guilty Tuesday and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 7. He faces up to 40 years in prison. Rogers is expected to plead guilty on Sept. 30 and Capehart on Oct. 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 WAVY.com.
John Raymond, 62, faces up to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 23
Slidell Police Department;CBS/YouTube John Raymond in 2002 and 2022
A Louisiana pastor and Christian school headmaster who was once a contestant on Survivor has been convicted of cruelty to juveniles.
On Monday, Sept. 23, a jury in St. Tammany Parish found John Raymond, 62, of Lacombe, guilty of three felony charges of cruelty to juveniles for putting tape on the heads of three students to keep their mouths closed because they were talking too much, a St. Tammany Parish Court clerk confirmed to PEOPLE.
Raymond, who has served as headmaster of Lakeside Christian School in Slidell, was also convicted of second-degree cruelty to juveniles for putting his hand over the mouth of a 4-year-old boy who was having a tantrum, which prevented the boy from breathing and made him go "limp," police said in a statement.
Im not guilty, Raymond said after the verdict, NOLA.com reports. Ive never been cruel to a child, and I love children.
Raymond, who was a contestant on Survivor: Thailand in 2002, said he was a victim of cancel culture," NOLA.com reports.
His legal troubles began on April 7, 2022, when the Slidell Police Department arrested Raymond after receiving a complaint from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) about potential child abuse at the school, the department said in a statement.
The complaint stated that Raymond taped multiple students mouths shut as a form of discipline.
Related: 'Survivor' Contestant & La. School Headmaster John Raymond Accused of Putting Tape on Students' Mouths
Slidell Police launched an investigation that found that several students, all 13 years old, had been removed from a class due to excessive talking, the statement said.
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John Raymond became angry and brought the students to his office, it said. At some point, Raymond took a roll of packing tape and taped the students mouths shut by wrapping the tape around their heads."
The statement adds: "Raymond allegedly sent the students back to class for around 45 minutes before another school administrator felt uncomfortable with the situation and removed the tape from the students faces.
On May 9, 2022, police arrested him again and charged him with one count of cruelty to a juvenile when a 4-year-old who would have occasional tantrums was crying and screaming, police said in a statement.
Raymond allegedly placed his hand over the boys nose and mouth (preventing him from breathing) to the point of him going limp, the statement said.
A staff member told Raymond to stop, and then observed the boy out of it and lethargic, unable to stand, and saw mucous come out of the boys nose, as he attempted to breathe, the statement said.
In another incident, Raymond allegedly held the boy upside down by his ankles and repeatedly whipped him on the buttocks, the statement said.
He was remanded to the St. Tammany Parish Jail and was released on $100,000 bond on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 23. He faces up to 40 years in prison.
His attorney and the school did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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A former White House aide to former president Donald Trump slammed his claim that he will be a protector of women as creepy and very infantilizing.
Trump on Monday issued a vague, eerie vow to the female half of the U.S. population that he would be their protector.
I want to be your protector. As president, I have to be your protector, Trump said at a rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, addressing female voters. I hope you dont make too much of it. I hope the fake news doesnt go oh, he wants to be their protector. Well, I am: as president, I have to be your protector.
Trump, With a Straight Face, Tells Women: I Am Your Protector
Trump told women he would make them safe at the border, on the sidewalks of your now-violent cities, in the suburbs where you are under migrant criminal siege You will no longer be abandoned, lonely, or scared. Youre not gonna be in danger.
Alyssa Farah Griffin, Trumps former White House communications director, told CNN Tuesday that her ex-boss off-the-wall rambling made her laugh out loud.
I started laughing and thinking it was creepy, but thinking more about it, its very infantilizing, she said in an appearance on Anderson Cooper 360. Talking about women as though were meek, were weak, we need a protector, we need a defender and we just sit around thinking about abortions all day just underscores a fundamental lack of understanding for why a demographic that represents half of the country is one that he struggles so profoundly with.
At his rally, Trump appeared incapable of accepting that hes getting shellacked in the polls by Vice President Kamala Harris among women voters. Harris has a 21 point lead among women nationally, according to an NBC News poll released Sunday. I always thought women liked me, I never thought I had a problem, but the fake news keeps saying women don't like me, I don't believe it, he told the crowd.
Farah Griffin said Trump and his GOP running mate JD Vance, whose own weird comments about women have left the Republican ticket repeatedly on the defensive, have fallen flat on the campaign trail with outreach to women.
JD Vance Rants About Miserable Professional Women in Unearthed Clip
I think Donald Trump, if he loses this election, is going to look back and think that one of the worst decisions he made was not having a female on the ticket who actually knows how to speak to living, breathing, normal women about issues that matter to them, she said.
Farah Griffin also addressed Trumps weird claim at the rally that, under him, women will be happy, healthy, confident and free and no longer thinking about abortion.
Reproductive rights do matter, she said. Access to IVF, to the whole suite of care that women care about, whether it be abortion or so on. But economics and national security are also womens issues and the way he is talking about them is not the way to sway voters in the middle.
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(Reuters) -Russia has established a weapons programme in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine, according to two sources from a European intelligence agency and documents reviewed by Reuters.
IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned arms company Almaz-Antey, has developed and flight-tested a new drone model called Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists, according to one of the documents, a report that Kupol sent to the Russian defence ministry earlier this year outlining its work.
Kupol told the defence ministry in a subsequent update that it was able to produce drones including the G3 at scale at a factory in China so the weapons could be deployed in the "special military operation" in Ukraine, the term Moscow uses for the war.
Kupol, Almaz-Antey and the Russian defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment for this article. China's foreign ministry told Reuters it was not aware of such a project, adding that Beijing had strict control measures on the export of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Fabian Hinz, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based defence think-tank, said the delivery of UAVs from China to Russia, if confirmed, would be a significant development.
"If you look at what China is known to have delivered so far, it was mostly dual-use goods - it was components, sub-components, that could be used in weapon systems," he told Reuters. "This is what has been reported so far. But what we haven't really seen, at least in the open source, are documented transfers of whole weapon systems."
Still, Samuel Bendett, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank, said Beijing would be hesitant to open itself up to international sanctions for helping Moscow's war machine. He said more information was needed to establish that China was playing host to production of Russian military drones.
The White House National Security Council said it was deeply concerned by the Reuters report of the drones programme, which it said appeared to be an instance of a Chinese company providing lethal assistance to a U.S.-sanctioned Russian firm.
The White House has not seen anything to suggest the Chinese government was aware of the transactions involved, but China has a responsibility to ensure companies aren't providing lethal aid to Russia for use by its military, a spokesperson added.
Asked about the Reuters report, a NATO spokesperson said via email: "These reports are deeply concerning and Allies are consulting on this matter."
"The Chinese government has a responsibility to ensure its companies are not providing lethal assistance to Russia," added the spokesperson, Farah Dakhlallah. "China cannot continue to fuel the largest conflict in Europe since the Second World War without this impacting its interests and reputation."
Britain's Foreign Office called on China to stop providing diplomatic and material support to Russia's war effort.
"We are extremely concerned by reports that Russia is producing military drones in China," a spokesperson said.
"This adds to a growing body of open-source evidence that Chinese companies are enabling Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine. The supply of weapons would be a direct contradiction to statements from China that it would not provide weapons to relevant parties of the conflict."
The G3 can travel about 2,000 km (1,200 miles) with a payload of 50 kg (110 pounds), according to the reports to the Russian defence ministry from Kupol, which was placed under U.S. sanctions in December 2023. Samples of the G3 and some other drone models made in China have been delivered to Kupol in Russia for further testing, again with the involvement of Chinese experts, they said.
The documents do not identify the Chinese drone specialists involved in the project that it outlined, and Reuters was unable to determine their identity.
Kupol has taken delivery of seven military drones made in China, including two G3s, at its headquarters in the Russian city of Izhevsk, according to the two separate documents reviewed by Reuters, which are invoices sent to Kupol in the summer by a Russian firm that the two European intelligence sources said serves as an intermediary with Chinese suppliers. The invoices, one of which requests payment in Chinese yuan, do not specify delivery dates or identify the suppliers in China.
The two intelligence sources said the delivery of the sample drones to Kupol was the first concrete evidence their agency had found of whole UAVs manufactured in China being delivered to Russia since the Ukraine war began in February 2022.
They asked that neither they nor their organisation be identified due to the sensitivity of the information. They also requested certain details related to the documents be withheld, including their precise dates.
'DOUBLE STANDARDS ON ARMS SALES'
The sources showed Reuters five documents in all, including two Kupol reports to the ministry in the first half of the year and the two invoices, to support their claims of the existence of a Russian project in China to manufacture drones for use in Ukraine. The programme has not previously been reported.
Kupol's reports did not give more precise locations for sites related to the project. Reuters was also unable to determine whether the defence ministry gave the company the green light to proceed with the serial production proposed.
Beijing has repeatedly denied that China or Chinese companies have supplied Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, saying the country remains neutral.
In response to questions for this article, the foreign ministry told Reuters that China's position presented a contrast with other nations with "double standards on arms sales" whom it said had "added fuel to the flames of the Ukrainian crisis".
The ministry said earlier this month that there were no international restrictions on China's trade with Russia, when responding to a Reuters report that Kupol had started to produce the Garpiya-A1 long-range military drone in Russia using Chinese engines and parts.
The new documents reported here indicate state-owned Kupol has gone further by sourcing complete UAVs from China.
Both Russia and Ukraine are racing to ramp up their production of drones, which have emerged as highly effective weapons in the war.
David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector who heads the Institute for Science and International Security research group, and has conducted extensive work on Chinese and Russian cooperation on drone production, told Reuters that Kupol could skirt Western sanctions on Russia by setting up a production facility in China where it could access advanced chips and expertise.
But Bendett at the Center for a New American Security said Beijing had reason to tread carefully: "For a factory to exist officially that builds UAVs for the Russians exposes China to some of the more severe effects of the sanctions, so it's not clear the extent to which China would be willing to expose itself."
The Ukrainian government did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
COMPARABLE TO US REAPER DRONE?
The G3 is an upgraded version of the Garpiya-A1 drone, according to Kupol's reports sent to the defence ministry. It was redesigned by Chinese experts working off blueprints of the Garpiya-A1, they said.
Kupol said that within eight months, the project in China would be ready to produce a Chinese-designed REM 1 attack UAV with a payload of 400 kg. The two European intelligence sources said this system would be similar to the U.S. Reaper drone.
The sources said another Russian defence firm called TSK Vektor acted as the intermediary between Kupol and Chinese suppliers in the project. They said the Russian firms worked with a Chinese company called Redlepus TSK Vector Industrial, based in Shenzhen, without specifying Redlepus' role.
TSK Vektor and Redlepus did not respond to requests for comment.
A separate document reviewed by Reuters reveals plans involving Kupol, TSK Vektor and Redlepus to establish a joint Russian-Chinese drone research and production centre in the Kashgar special economic zone in China's Xinjiang province.
Reuters was unable to determine who produced the document, which bore the logos of the three companies, or identify the intended recipient.
The 80-hectare "Advanced UAV Research and Manufacturing Base" would be able to produce 800 drones a year, the document said. No timeline was given for when it would be operational.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his military had received around 140,000 drones in 2023 and that Moscow planned to increase this number tenfold this year.
"Whoever reacts faster to demands on the battlefield wins," he told a meeting in St Petersburg about drone production.
(Additional reporting by Ryan Woo in Beijing, Tom Balmforth in London, Max Hunder in Kyiv, Andrew Gray in Brussels and Jonathan Landay, Daphne Psaledakis and Steve Holland in Washington; editing by Pravin Char and Mark Heinrich)
This photo provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections shows Marcellus Williams. Credit - Missouri Department of CorrectionsAP
Marcellus Williams was executed by the state of Missouri on Tuesday, Sept. 24, despite concerns citing his potential innocence. Williams died by lethal injection shortly after 6 p.m. at a Missouri state prison in Bonne Terre, St. Francois County. He was 55 years old.
In the aftermath of his death, there has been widespread condemnation, especially since the execution was not supported by the prosecution nor the victims family.
Williams was convicted and sentenced to death in 2001 for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, a social worker and well-known St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter, who was killed in her home.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office urged officials and courts to call off the execution over concerns regarding the trial's jury selection (the vast majority of the jury was white) and potential racial biasWilliams was Black, while Gayle was white. Furthermore, DNA evidence did not tie Williams to the murder.
Even for those who disagree on the death penalty, when there is a shadow of a doubt of any defendant's guilt, the irreversible punishment of execution should not be an option, St. Louis Countys Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said in a statement, according to the New York Times.
Governor of Missouri Mike Parson and the Missouri state Supreme Court denied and rejected multiple efforts to prevent the execution, including clemency pleas from Williams lawyers, members of the victims family, and the prosecution, as well as letters from from The NAACP. and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
On Sept. 24, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution.
Deacon Dave Billips, with the Office of Peace and Justice with the St. Louis Archdiocese, holds a sign as he protests the execution of Marcellus Williams on Sept. 24, 2024, outside the Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis. Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-DispatchAP
In the aftermath of Williams execution there has been an outcry from the public due to the doubts over his conviction, especially since it was reported in August that a new development showed that the knife used in the murder was believed to have been contaminated by DNA from a prosecutor and investigator working on the case.
Williams poetry and writings have been shared virally on social media. One documenta copy of which was shared with TIME by the Missouri Department of Correctionsshows Williams handwritten last statement before his death, which reads, All Praise Be to Allah in Every Situation!!!
Marcellus Williams last statement reads: All Praise Be To Allah In Every Situation!!! https://t.co/byLN49MXc6 philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 24, 2024
Many have also shared his poetry, which had been featured in multiple online journals and the Kansas City Star.
In the lead up to, and in the aftermath of Williams death, many advocates also have pointed to his story as not an isolated momentbut as indicative of a greater narrative of racial injustice in the criminal justice system.
If youre enraged about Marcellus Williams (you absolutely should be), you need to make sure that youre viewing this violent, racist injustice, not as an isolated incident, but as part of pattern of systemic violence and racism. GNCordova (@GNCordova) September 24, 2024
Various criminal justice advocates and politicians are also calling for the end of the death penalty, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Missouri Representative Cori Bush, and Derrick Johnson, CEO of the NAACP.
The state of Missouri and our nation's legal system failed Marcellus Williams, and as long as we uphold the death penalty, we continue to perpetuate this depravity, Bush said in a statement on Tuesday night after Williams execution.
Contact us at letters@time.com.
(WGHP) Scattered showers and thunderstorms are in the forecast for Thursday. The remnants of Hurricane Helene will bring widespread rain and wind on Friday.
A stalled front along the North Carolina/Tennessee border will bring us a chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms on Thursday. Heavy rain is likely across the mountains and foothills. On average, rain totals in the Piedmont will be lower. Our highs will be in the middle 70s. The chance of rain is 50%.
Hurricane Helene will make landfall across the Florida panhandle Thursday evening. The system will race across Georgia, weakening into a tropical storm by Friday morning. For the Piedmont, heavier, widespread rain will move in overnight Thursday into Friday morning. Wind gusts will also increase during this time. By sunrise Friday, wind gusts will be between 30 and 40 mph. During the day Friday, Helene will continue to weaken and dissipate over Kentucky and Tennessee. In the Piedmont, heavy rain, even thunderstorms, will march across the region. Heavy rain will move out after lunchtime on Friday. Flooding is possible. Along with the flood threat, Friday will also carry a chance for brief, spin-up tornadoes. Rain totals will range from 1.5 inches to as much as six inches across the mountains and foothills. Isolated higher rain totals are possible across the mountains. Wind gusts could be as high as 45 mph. Power outages will be possible on Friday. Our highs will be near 80 degrees.
We will recover on Saturday with highs around 80 degrees. The chance of rain is 25%.
On Sunday, what could be described as the remnants of Helene will leave Kentucky/Tennessee and move into the Piedmont. A few scattered showers are possible with highs in the upper 70s. The chance of rain is 40%.
Showers will linger into Monday with lows in the lower 60s and highs in the middle 70s. The chance of rain is 40%.
On Tuesday, look for partly cloudy skies with lows in the lower 60s and highs in the middle 70s. The chance of rain is 25%.
Wednesday will be mostly sunny with lows around 60 degrees and highs in the middle 70s.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX8 WGHP.
Attorney Ben Crump speaks to the media during a prayer vigil for Tyre Nichols outside of the Odell Horton Federal Building as the third week of the federal trial of three former Memphis Police Department officers charged with violating Nichols civil rights continues in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump addressed progress in the Tyre Nichols federal criminal trial Wednesday after a prayer vigil outside the federal court building.
The attorney, who along with his legal team has been representing Nichols' family, said that from what he's seen of the jury, he feels confident they'll be able to execute their duties.
"The jury is very attentive and they're paying attention," Crump said, adding that it was important the jury would be able to absorb and evaluate all the evidence presented at trial.
"It's emotional, to everybody," he said, gesturing at Nichols' parents. "This is one of the most emotional trials I've ever been involved in. And we expect justice."
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Ben Crump talks about Tyre Nichols federal criminal trial in Memphis
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Its the time of year again when coughs and sneezes start to become more common again.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, immunization rates in Michigan have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to Amy Shears, a registered nurse and immunization supervisor at the Kent County Health Department.
We are entering the respiratory season, the fall respiratory season, she told News 8. This is when we start to see an increase in flu virus cases, COVID cases, RSV, all of the above that really tend to circulate throughout the fall and winter in our state. We have seen numbers for coverage rates for kids, adolescents and adults really kind of stagnate this year, especially post-pandemic. We are not up to our pre-pandemic immunization rates.
New vaccine approved amid seasonal COVID-19 surge
Shears said this could likely be because the transition from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic routines, like taking their kids in for check-ups with their primary care physicians, has been challenging for individuals and parents. But even so, Shears encourages everyone to get the necessary immunizations to stay protected this season.
Flu vaccine, COVID vaccine across the lifespan are recommended and RSV vaccine and immunization for those groups that are a little more at risk, she said. We need to take the initiative and that best route to keep everyone safe and get them vaccinated so that hopefully if they do come into contact with any of these viruses then their illness isnt as extreme and they can recover quickly and not miss too much school.
There are many ways in addition to getting vaccines that can help protect you from germs. Shears said washing your hands, covering coughs or sneezes, using hand sanitizer frequently or even wearing a mask if you choose can help prevent germ spread. She also encourages staying home if you are sick and having a primary care physician that can help guide you if you do get sick.
Visit the Kent County Health Department website for more information about where you can get immunizations in Kent County.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
(Bloomberg) -- Fortescue Ltd., the worlds fourth-biggest iron ore miner, will pay $2.8 billion to replace two-thirds of its fleet of haulage trucks and equipment in Western Australia with electric versions, as it seeks to cut diesel consumption and meet ambitious emissions-reduction targets.
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The miner will buy 475 emissions-free machines, including 360 autonomous battery-electric trucks, from Germanys Liebherr Group, it said in a statement Wednesday. The fleet, which was developed using Fortescues battery technology, will service its sprawling iron ore operations in the remote Pilbara region and is aimed at reducing costs in the longer term.
Perth-based Fortescue, led by Executive Chairman and billionaire Andrew Forrest, has plans to decarbonize its entire iron ore mining operations by 2030. Reducing industrial pollution from mining is a significant challenge, with Fortescue consuming 631 million liters of diesel last financial year alone.
You will watch the breath sucked out from CEOs chests when they realize this is a $2.8 billion order, Forrest said in a phone interview after the announcement. This is the future of heavy industry. And its zero emissions.
Fortescue shares surged as much as 6.4% in Sydney after the announcement, and closed 4.7% higher to A$18.85 apiece. Since reaching a record high early this year, they have tumbled about 37%, as falling demand in China for iron ore has pressured prices of the steelmaking material.
The deal with Liebherr also includes purchasing 55 electric excavators and 60 battery-powered dozers, the company said in its statement, adding that the technology will be available to the rest of the mining industry in the near future.
Emissions from stationary energy, which includes emissions from direct combustion of fuels in mining, accounts for more than 20% of Australias air pollution, according to the government. Pollution from the global industry sector is continuing to increase faster than any other segment, according to researcher Systems Change Lab.
Earlier this month, fellow iron ore major Rio Tinto Group announced it would develop seed farms in Australia to test biofuel as a replacement to diesel.
(Updates to close share price)
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Experts urge residents to fish and eat invasive species wreaking havoc on native ecosystems: 'Bring home as many as you want'
Invasive blue catfish are so prominent in the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding waters that Maryland officials are telling recreational anglers and commercial operators that they can catch as many of them as they want all in the name of preserving the ecosystem.
The fish was introduced to the area in the 1970s and has proliferated to the point that one expanse in the Potomac River may have more than 50% of the species by biomass, Southern Maryland News reported.
The Maryland Catfish Trail offers seven spots for baiting the blues, as well as flathead catfish and snakehead, which are also invasive.
"We have a lot of them out there, so for folks who want to go out fishing, you can go out and bring home as many as you want and whatever size you want," Joseph Love of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources told Southern Maryland News.
In addition to fishers, restaurants and grocers are also helping, as the blue catfish provides the double win of boosting business with a great-tasting meal while helping the environment via the removal of invasives.
Monica Daley, a local restaurant owner, told the News that the flaky texture of the fish is important. It resembles cod or haddock and tastes as good as striped bass, she said. Customers buy 60 pounds' worth of fillets per week, and each meal sells for $18.50.
It's a familiar story, as conservation departments everywhere are urging consumers to eat all kinds of "ugly" fish, including snakehead and carp which are being branded as channa and copi, respectively, to increase their appeal.
This "invasivorism" helps to knock down problematic populations of invasive species, which outcompete native species for vital resources.
Over 10 years, per the News, commercial blue catfish landings quadrupled to 4 million pounds in 2023. The creature eats blue crabs, shad, herring, mussels, seagrasses, and clams and can grow to at least 84 pounds, as the state-record catch proves.
Commercial fishing companies don't get much for a pound of catfish 80 cents, one angler told the News but they can catch the animals in great numbers, and the money quickly adds up.
"It's a good income for some fishermen," Billy Rice said. "Once you catch your quota [with the others], you're done; with catfish, it's game on."
The blue catfish weren't part of the scene two decades ago. But they soon began leaping into nets. The peak of their takeover may be past, too, which is a sign that the emphasis on controlling them is working.
"When we first started 12, 15 years ago, it was catching," Rice told the News. "It was just game on, and you'd load the boat anytime you went. Now it's gotten to the point where it's fishing, so I guess what I'm trying to say is on the Potomac, our commercial fishing is putting a dent in them by a fair amount. You don't take 3 million pounds out of one river and not make a difference."
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An Extreme Makeover: Home Edition designer has died after he was stabbed at a home in Palm Springs, California, his family said.
Eduardo Xol, 58, who appeared on seven seasons of the HGTV reality series, died Thursday at Desert Regional Medical Center, his mother told TMZ.
Xol had called authorities on the morning of Sept. 10 saying he needed help, police told People. When authorities arrived, they discovered him with "significant" stabbing wounds.
According to police, 34-year-old Richard Joseph Gonzales has been arrested as a suspect in Xols death.
Gonzales allegedly landed on authorities' radar when he called police the day Xol was found and claimed that he was the victim of an assault the night before. After following up, police determined that he was likely at the scene of the crime, cops said.
Police described Gonzales and Xol's relationship as associates, though did not provide further details.
Gonzales is being held without bail at the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio, and police have reportedly requested murder charges be brought against him.
We are heartbroken at the tragic loss of our beloved Eduardo Xol. As his family, we know that his kindness has touched the lives of so many, his family wrote in a public statement. We ask for that kindness returned now allowing our privacy to be respected as we process our grief. In lieu of flowers we ask that donations be made in Eduardos name to the Lupus Foundation of America as he spent so much of his life in the service of others.
Eduardo Xol joined the second season of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition as a design expert. Bob D'Amico/Fred Watkins/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Xols TV career took off after he appeared as the design expert on the second season of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Before that, he appeared in a handful of telenovelas, including Acapulco, cuerpo y alma, Sentimientos Ajenos and La Jaula de Oro.
Xols film producer friend Richard Perez-Feria called him a talented, beautiful, passionate friend, brother, son and partner in an Instagram post.
Sending healing love at this horrific time to his circle of friends and family who loved him so, Perez-Feria added. Sadly, tomorrow isnt promised. Love each other. Rest in peace, Eduardo.
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Eduardo Xol, who starred in "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" in the early 2000s, has died. He was 58.
According to the Riverside County (California) Sheriff's website, the actor and TV personality died Friday, just 10 days after sustaining injuries from an alleged stabbing attack. His time of injury was listed as 5:41 a.m. Sept. 10. He died at 12:19 p.m. Sept. 20.
On Sept. 10, the Palm Springs Police Department reported receiving a call at that time from a man requesting help, Gustavo Araiza, a lieutenant with the Palms Springs Police Department, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Upon arrival, officers discovered Xol had a significant number of injuries. Xol claimed he had been stabbed but did not identify the suspect at the time.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Family Accused Of Ditching Foster Kids After Cameras Stopped Rolling
Eduardo Xol died Friday.
Hours later, a man named Richard Joseph Gonzales called police dispatch and claimed he had been assaulted the previous night, the statement added. After a thorough investigation, police arrested Gonzales on suspicion of attempted murder in Xol's stabbing.
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Gonzalez is being held without bail. Police told Fox News Digital that, from what they can tell, the two men were acquaintances, and they knew each other.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Xol's family wrote, "We are heartbroken at the tragic loss of our beloved Eduardo Xol. As his family, we know that his kindness has touched the lives of so many. We ask for that kindness returned now allowing our privacy to be respected as we process our grief. In lieu of flowers we ask that donations be made in Eduardos name to the Lupus Foundation of America as he spent so much of his life in the service of others."
Fox News Digital has reached out to "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" for comment.
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Friends and fans of Xol have been sharing tributes to the Los Angeles native online.
The actor was injured in a stabbing attack.
"Its nearly incomprehensible that Im writing this post as a goodbye to someone who has been so present, so important in my life," Xol's friend, Richard Perez-Feria, wrote on Instagram. "When I first learned that Eduardo Xol had passed, I went numb. It was impossible to process that information as it didnt square with my thousands of experiences with him.
Eduardo Xol's friend spoke out on social media, writing, "Its nearly incomprehensible that Im writing this post as a goodbye to someone who has been so present, so important in my life."
"Please dont ask me how or why at this pointwhat matters most is who he was: A talented, beautiful, passionate friend, brother, son and partner," he continued. "The millions of laughs, hopes and secrets we shared remain at the fore of my thoughts. I want to honor my dear friend and celebrate his life as one that mattered to so many. He certainly mattered to me. Sending healing love at this horrific time to his circle of friends and family who loved him so. Sadly, tomorrow isnt promised. Love each other. Rest in peace, Eduardo."
Original article source: 'Extreme Makeover' star Eduardo Xol dead at 58, one week after being stabbed
FAA chief says Boeing and SpaceX should be treated the same after Elon Musk accuses regulator of playing favorites
Elon Musk said the FAA should punish Boeing for its Starliner fiasco rather than fining SpaceX "for trivia."
The head of the FAA pushed back, saying the companies should be treated equally, according to Reuters.
Musk, SpaceX's founder, is arguing with the regulator over a $633,000 fine and a Starship delay.
The head of the Federal Aviation Administration has pushed back against Elon Musk's claim that the agency should punish Boeing for its Starliner failures rather than impose "petty" fines on SpaceX.
The FAA's administrator, Mike Whitaker, said Boeing and Space X should be treated equally after Musk accused the regulator of fining his rocket company "for trivia" and neglecting Boeing's Starliner issues.
"I think Boeing and SpaceX should have the same oversight. They should all have safety management systems. They should all have whistleblower programs," Whitaker said in comments to reporters on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
In a post on X last week, Musk railed against the FAA's proposed $633,000 fine for SpaceX over two instances in which the rocket company is said to have violated its launch licenses.
"NASA deemed the Boeing capsule unsafe for astronaut return, turning, out of necessity, to SpaceX, yet instead of fining Boeing for putting astronauts at risk, the FAA is fining SpaceX for trivia," the billionaire SpaceX founder wrote.
A SpaceX rocket is set to return Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, the two astronauts left stranded on the International Space Station by Boeing's malfunctioning Starliner spacecraft, to Earth next year.
Starliner ultimately returned from orbit without any passengers after the craft experienced a series of helium leaks on its first crewed voyage, leading NASA to turn to SpaceX instead in a huge blow for Boeing.
Whitaker defended the $633,000 fine at a US House of Representatives hearing on Tuesday, telling lawmakers that SpaceX needed to operate at the "highest level of safety."
He said the rocket firm had violated agency rules by launching satellites into orbit without the correct permit which SpaceX slammed as incorrect.
SpaceX is also engaged in a war of words with the aviation regulator over delays to the next launch of Starship, the giant rocket Musk wants to use to travel to Mars.
Earlier this month, the company said it didn't expect to get approval to launch Starship for the fifth time until November, two months later than expected.
Musk criticized the delay on X, writing that humanity would "never get to Mars if this continues."
Whitaker also defended the delay in the next Starship launch at the House hearing, saying Musk's company had failed to complete an updated sonic-boom analysis and had failed to comply with Texas law.
The FAA and SpaceX didn't immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside normal working hours.
Read the original article on Business Insider
MISSOURI Marcellus Williams, a man convicted of repeatedly stabbing former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter, Lisha Gayle in 1998, was executed Tuesday evening, making him the third inmate in Missouri to die by lethal injection this year.
According to the Death Penalty Information Organization, Williams is the 12th inmate to be put to death under Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and the 100th inmate since Missouri reinstated the death penalty in 1989.
Despite protests, calls for clemency, Missouri executes Marcellus Williams
The first inmate to be executed under Gov. Parson was in 2019. Russell Bucklew was convicted for the murder of a man named Michael Sanders in 1996.
Authorities said Bucklew also kidnapped and raped a woman, Stephanie Ray Pruitt, then got into a shootout with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Bucklew was executed in October 2019.
In 2020, Walter Barton was put to death for the fatal stabbing of an 81-year-old woman.
On Oct. 5, 2021, Ernest Lee Johnson was executed for his conviction of killing three employees inside a Columbia, Missouri, store in 1994. Gov. Parson denied him clemency after Johnsons attorneys argued he had an intellectual disability and said it would be unconstitutional for the state to execute him.
Two people were executed in 2022, Kevin Johnson, 37, for the 2007 killing of Kirkwood Police Sergeant, and Carman Deck, 56, was put to death for the killing of a De Soto couple in 1996.
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Four inmates were executed in 2023 being Johnny A. Johnson for first-degree murder of a six-year-old girl and Michael A. Tisius for the shooting death of two officers while trying to free a friend from jail. Leonard S. Taylor was also executed for killing his girlfriend and her three children in Jennings.
Amber McLaughlin was executed in January 2023 and was the first transgender woman in the U.S. to be executed. McLaughlin was convicted of stalking and killing a former girlfriend, then dumping the body near the Mississippi River.
As of 2024, David Hosier was executed on June 11 for the killing of woman with whom he was having an affair and her husband. Brian Dorsey was put to death April 9 for killing his cousin and her husband two decades ago.
In 2014 alone, 10 inmates faced execution under Jay Nixon, and in 1999 alone, 9 inmates were put to death under Mel Carnahan.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
A new exhibition is set to open in Hull reflecting on the transatlantic slave trade.
Artist Deanio X has produced a series of artworks in response to research carried out by the Wilberforce Institute.
The exhibition, entitled To Heal a Butterfly, includes portraiture, digital animation and sculptures.
It opens on Saturday at the Wilberforce House Museum on High Street and runs until 23 April 2025.
'Shared history'
In 2023, Deanio X was one of ten artists commissioned by King Charles to create portraits of pioneering members of the Windrush Generation.
In this exhibition, the artist has created imagined representations of enslaved people listed within the Sea Island and Jamaica records.
The artwork, described as a "homage to the philosophical significance" of traditional West African symbols, will temporarily replace historical paintings in the museum.
Robin Diaper, curator at Hull Museums, described the exhibition as "thought-provoking".
"There are many different perspectives and ways of viewing the complicated and challenging history of slavery [and] Deanios work will provide a new way of looking at this shared history," he said.
Dr Nick Evans, from the Wilberforce Institute, a research centre for the University of Hull, added: "Art has an important role in communicating the brutality of Britain's slavery past to new audiences."
Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
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Breakout US pop star Chappell Roan said Wednesday she will vote for Kamala Harris, after coming under criticism when she said she didn't feel "pressured to endorse someone."
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Roan said that "I have so many issues with our government in every way."
"There are so many things that I would want to change. So I don't feel pressured to endorse someone," the 26-year-old told the British paper.
"There's problems on both sides. I encourage people to use your critical thinking skills, use your vote -- vote small, vote for what's going on in your city."
Late Tuesday Roan posted a TikTok to clarify that her inclination to "question authority and question world leaders" -- in this case Vice President Harris as well as President Joe Biden -- does not mean she's voting for a Republican.
"No I'm not voting for Trump, and yes, I will always question those in power," she said.
But the backlash persisted.
In another video, posted Wednesday, Roan said in an exasperated, expletive-laden video that while she despises Trump, she is disappointed in the Democratic Party, which she said had failed members of the LGBTQ community, the Palestinian people and "every marginalized community in the world."
"That's why I can't endorse," she said.
"I"m not going to settle for what the options are in front of me," she said. "Yeah, I'm voting for... Kamala, but I'm not settling for what has been offered, 'cause that's questionable."
Earlier this year Roan -- whose debut album "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess" has seen her soar to fame on hits including "Pink Pony Club" -- declined a White House invitation to perform at a Pride event.
"I won't be a monkey for Pride," she told Rolling Stone recently, explaining her decision was in protest of the US government's support of Israel's war in Gaza.
Roan, who was born Kayleigh Amstutz and grew up in Missouri, identifies as queer and has cited drag queens as influential on her pop project.
In that same Rolling Stone interview she reiterated that criticism for Harris does not imply support for Donald Trump.
In her twin videos this week, she emphasized that "I want to be part of the generation that changes things for good, because we need it."
"Actions speak louder than words," she said. "And actions speak louder than an endorsement."
mdo/nro
Ukraines president is in the fight of his life. Again.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is racing to secure more U.S. military aid and broader authorization to use Western-supplied weapons as Russia makes slow-but-steady progress on the battlefield, his countrys energy grid nears the point of collapse, and Ukraine confronts the possibility of the reelection of a hostile Donald Trump.
All that makes the stakes of Zelenskyys visit this week to the U.S. and the U.N. incredibly high even for someone Trump derided as the greatest salesman in history for his ability to persuade the U.S. to provide aid.
The Biden administration will announce new funding for Ukraine but does not appear ready to agree to one of Zelenskyys main requests: that the U.S. lifts restrictions on American-made missiles, allowing Kyiv to strike deeper into Russia.
President Joe Biden has been reluctant to grant that request. The administration isnt convinced it would change the trajectory of the war and believes it could cause Putin to further escalate, according to two senior administration officials. Both were granted anonymity to publicly discuss private deliberations.
And that ask which has also divided Ukraines European allies appears to be at the centerpiece of the much-hyped victory plan that Zelenskyy is expected to present to Biden at the White House on Thursday, according to one of the officials.
Zelenskyy is also expected to discuss the plan with Vice President Kamala Harris in a separate meeting Thursday. And he will present it to prominent lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including the top Democrats and Republicans on the Armed Services Committees and the foreign policy committees.
In general, much of Washington is still on board with helping Ukraine fend off Russia in a 2 -year-old war that has left an estimated 1 million people killed or wounded on both sides.
The Biden administration is preparing a few big spending packages for Ukraine, including a $375 million drawdown of U.S. military equipment to send to Kyiv right away, and a $2.4 billion package expected to be announced Thursday while Zelenskyy is visiting the White House.
The larger package, confirmed by two U.S. officials granted anonymity to speak publicly about upcoming aid for Ukraine, will be spent on U.S. defense manufacturers to build new weapons and equipment for Ukraine, as opposed to pulling it from existing U.S. stockpiles.
The $375 million is part of a remaining $5.9 billion in presidential drawdown authority authorized by Congress in April as part of a wider $61 billion Ukraine aid package.
A preview of the new funding package came Wednesday. The White House said in a statement following a meeting between Biden and Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly that the U.S. had "directed a surge in U.S. security assistance to Ukraine, which will help Ukraine win."
Zelenskyys appeals to congressional leaders will likely add to the pressure the Biden administration is facing to relax restrictions on Kyiv's use of donated weapons against targets in Russian territory.
But theres also selling for Zelenskyys Capitol Hill backers to do.
At this point, we need to make the case more strongly to the administration that they need to provide permission for him to strike deeper into Russia. I've been advocating it for weeks and months now. I'm immensely frustrated by the short leash that's been put on Ukraine, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). And I'm just going to continue pounding and pummeling every official who has anything to do with the decision."
Zelenskyy now has to beat back controversy about his Sunday visit to a munitions factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he was flanked by two of the state's vulnerable Democratic lawmakers. House Republicans have opened an investigation into whether taxpayer funds were misused in providing security to the event and Speaker Mike Johnson called on him to fire his ambassador to Washington, Oksana Markarova, over her role in planning the appearance.
The timing couldnt be more delicate for Zelenskyy, as the election looms and a Trump victory calls into question the future of U.S. support for Ukraine. His visit also comes as Russias relentless attacks on Ukraines energy grid raise the threat of even more hardship for the people of Ukraine.
Ukraines supporters on Capitol Hill hope Zelenskyys visit could spur a breakthrough on loosening the rules of engagement and give Kyiv a free hand to hit Russian targets with the Army Tactical Missile System and other long-range weapons provided by the West.
"The history here is that President Biden has done all the right things, just a little bit later than I would like, Blumenthal said. So, there's more than ample reason for hope."
Senate Foreign Relations Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who met with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and has urged the White House to approve Ukraines use of U.S.-donated weapons to strike deeper inside Russia, said it remains an active discussion.
So our objective is to keep bipartisan support, and do what we need to do to help him, recognizing that it's a struggle, and he's done incredible things, Cardin said in an interview. I think he probably wants to get the [White Houses] sign off on the arms he needs, particularly as relates to defense, longer-range missiles.
Top House Republicans, meanwhile, are also putting pressure on the Biden administration to release an unclassified strategy for the war, required by Congress as part of the April aid package. The administration sent lawmakers a classified version, but six House Republican chairs of national security panels argued in a joint statement Wednesday that "all of Congress and the American people deserve to understand how their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent."
Biden has expressed a commitment to keep helping Ukraine, vowing at his farewell address to the United Nations that he would stand with the war-torn nation. But while U.S. officials are still publicly expressing the belief that Ukraine can fend off Russia, they no longer publicly voice the idea of regaining all its territory.
Biden and his inner circle are aware that time may not be on their side, according to the two officials. Biden fears that U.S. aid to Ukraine would likely end if Trump wins in November, destabilizing the conflict and likely emboldening Putin, according to the officials. Still, the presidents aides have long noticed a correlation between high-profile Zelenskyy media moments and a rise in polling support among Americans for Ukraine and hope this week will deliver that again.
Zelenskyy is also drawing Republican fire for an interview with The New Yorker published Sunday, in which he called Trump running mate Sen. JD Vance who has called for ending U.S. support for Ukraine and for Kyiv to surrender territory to Russia "too radical."
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) condemned Zelenskyy's actions, saying, "It's the height of stupidity and arrogance for Zelenskyy to be weighing in on our elections and campaigning for candidates. As Americans, this is our election, and we don't need foreign leaders on U.S. soil interfering and taking sides."
Meanwhile, as the House tackles a stopgap spending patch to avert a government shutdown, Johnson said he didnt have time to meet with Zelenskyy.
I had a very busy schedule this week. If you hadn't noticed, he told reporters.
Asked if it would be tougher for Ukraine to secure future U.S. support if Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador, stays in place, Johnson demurred.
I'm not going to even project what any of this may mean, but I do hope that Zelenskyy does the right thing, he said. I think it was wildly inappropriate what happened. And we cannot have foreign nations interfering in our elections.
As recently as this weekend, it sounded like Zelenskyy would have a meeting with Trump. But the former presidents campaign now says a meeting is not on the books. In the rally Monday, when Trump called Zelenskyy the greatest salesman in history he also said the Ukrainian leader wants Harris to win this election so badly.
Still, some Republican allies of Ukraine are sticking up for its president. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said he hadnt seen Zelenskyys comments about Vance and waved off criticism about the factory visit.
It strikes me as appropriate for Americans to realize how many U.S. jobs are involved in manufacturing ammunition and weaponry for Ukraine, Wicker told reporters.
Asked about Trumps characterization of Zelenskyy as a salesman, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said Ukraines fight isnt about any one individual. Despite early U.S. estimates that Russia would conquer Ukraine within days, Ukrainians never backed down.
They stood and fought, Sullivan said. That's the most compelling reason, I think why people's support them not how articulate you may or may not be.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this report misspelled Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's name.
Claim:
Project 2025, a conservative coalition's proposal for a future U.S. Republican presidency, recommends instituting a military draft for all public school seniors, requiring them to serve in the armed forces for a minimum of two years.
Rating:
Rating: False
In late September 2024, a rumor circulated on social media about Project 2025, a conservative coalition's proposal for a future U.S. Republican presidency, supposedly instituting a military draft for public school seniors.
According to the rumor which spread across platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok Project 2025 not only recommends the draft but also requires the students to serve in the armed forces for a minimum of two years. Per the posts, the alleged draft would not apply to private school students.
An X post read (archived), for example:
ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION, YET?!
Project 2025: opens up 'the draft' to all public school seniors for a 2 year commitment
Private school kids are exempted.
Gee, I wonder why?!
PASS. IT. ON.
ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION, YET?!
Project 2025: opens up the draft to all public school seniors for a 2 year commitment
Private school kids are exempted.
Gee, I wonder why?!
PASS. IT. ON. Jeras Ikehorn (@JerasIkehorn) September 20, 2024
Several Facebook posts also made the claim, and at least one TikTok video referenced it, with someone asserting: "If you go to public school, when you turn 18 you are automatically enlisted in the military. But if you are in private Christian school you get to opt out."
The claim, however, is false. Project 2025, which is a wide-sweeping effort by The Heritage Foundation that centers on a roughly 1,000-page document, does not propose instituting a military draft for all public school seniors, nor does it require a two-year military commitment from those students.
A search of Project 2025's document for terms such as "2 year(s)" or "two year(s)" yielded no results to support the claim. The document mentions a military draft once (on page 109), though that reference is not regarding a proposed future draft. Rather, that passage references the past when former U.S. President Richard Nixon signed legislation to end the draft reading: "The Army no longer reflects national demographics to the degree that it did before 1974, when the draft was eliminated."
https://media.snopes.com/2024/06/2025_mandate_for_leadership_compressed.pdf
Ellen Keenan, senior communications manager at The Heritage Foundation, wrote via email the claim "is entirely false and ridiculous." The email continued: "We do not call for the reinstatement of the draft anywhere in Project 2025."
The false rumor seemingly stemmed from a different proposal within the document about military recruitment, not conscription. That passage proposes requirements for all students in federally funded public high schools to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), the military's entrance exam. The recommendation reads: "Improve military recruiters' access to secondary schools and require completion of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) the military entrance examination by all students in schools that receive federal funding."
Project 2025 leaders are hoping to implement their proposals as early as November 2024, if voters choose Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election. Trump has attempted to distance himself from the initiative, and the extent to which his campaign and Project 2025 leaders are working together is unclear.
Sources:
"Ellen Keenan." The Heritage Foundation, https://www.heritage.org/staff/ellen-keenan. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
Wrona, Aleksandra. "Project 2025 Wants All Public High School Students To Take Military Entrance Exam?" Snopes, 14 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/project-2025-high-school-military-exam/.
Wrona, Nur Ibrahim, Aleksandra. "What's Project 2025? Unpacking the Pro-Trump Plan to Overhaul US Government." Snopes, 3 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//news/2024/07/03/project-2025-trump-us-government/.
By Dan Peleschuk
KYIV (Reuters) - Russia is increasingly using highly destructive guided bombs in its more than 2-1/2-year-old invasion of Ukraine, pummeling Ukrainian forces on the battlefield as well as towns and cities near the front line.
Last week alone, Moscow's forces dropped more than 900 such weapons on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
He has repeatedly called on Kyiv's Western partners to help boost Ukraine's long-range strike capabilities to neutralise the threat.
Here's a look at Russia's guided bombs:
WHAT ARE THEY?
The air-launched weapons are conventional, often Soviet-era ordnance that have been fitted with wings and satellite-aided navigation to extend their range and precision.
Also known as "glide bombs", they are both cheaper than the ballistic and cruise missiles Russia regularly fires at Ukraine and more abundant. Weighing between 500 kg and 3,000 kg (1,100-6,600 lb), they are often dropped from beyond the range of Ukrainian air defences.
Their destructive power means they can ravage even strongly fortified Ukrainian defensive positions, which have been steadily crumbling in parts of the east in recent months.
"They are very simple in essence, so you cannot jam them, you cannot hide from them," Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's former foreign minister, told the Financial Times earlier this year.
WHERE HAVE THEY BEEN USED?
Russia first stepped up its use of guided bombs earlier this year while capturing the now-ruined eastern city of Avdiivka. The weapons later played a critical role in a Russian cross-border offensive last May in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Russia has also dropped guided bombs on Kharkiv city itself, killing seven people last month in an attack on a residential building, officials in Ukraine said. Last week, 21 people were wounded in a strike on another apartment block.
The weapons have also rained down on the northeastern region of Sumy, including the regional capital, where Moscow struck a geriatric centre last week, since Ukraine's cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk region.
HOW CAN UKRAINE DEFEND AGAINST THEM?
Zelenskiy and other officials are stepping up pressure on Kyiv's allies to send more air-defence systems and allow Ukraine to use Western-provided weapons for strikes deep inside Russia.
Experts have said Kyiv's best bet is to target the Russian warplanes that drop the weapons rather than intercept the individual bombs once released.
Last week, a Ukrainian drone strike destroyed a warehouse storing missiles, guided bombs and artillery ammunition in Russia's Tver region, the domestic security service told Reuters.
A Ukrainian delegation including Zelenskiy is in the United States this week to press Kyiv's case that Russia should be forced into peace.
(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Timothy Heritage)
Franchise Brands plc (LON:FRAN) just reported healthy earnings but the stock price didn't move much. We think that investors have missed some encouraging factors underlying the profit figures.
View our latest analysis for Franchise Brands
How Do Unusual Items Influence Profit?
For anyone who wants to understand Franchise Brands' profit beyond the statutory numbers, it's important to note that during the last twelve months statutory profit was reduced by UK3.3m due to unusual items. While deductions due to unusual items are disappointing in the first instance, there is a silver lining. We looked at thousands of listed companies and found that unusual items are very often one-off in nature. And that's hardly a surprise given these line items are considered unusual. Assuming those unusual expenses don't come up again, we'd therefore expect Franchise Brands to produce a higher profit next year, all else being equal.
That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.
Our Take On Franchise Brands' Profit Performance
Because unusual items detracted from Franchise Brands' earnings over the last year, you could argue that we can expect an improved result in the current quarter. Based on this observation, we consider it likely that Franchise Brands' statutory profit actually understates its earnings potential! And on top of that, its earnings per share increased by 34% in the last year. Of course, we've only just scratched the surface when it comes to analysing its earnings; one could also consider margins, forecast growth, and return on investment, among other factors. With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. For example - Franchise Brands has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.
Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Franchise Brands' profit. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. Some people consider a high return on equity to be a good sign of a quality business. While it might take a little research on your behalf, you may find this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with significant insider holdings to be useful.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WBOY) Whether youre a child or an adult, a hospital stay can be a stressful time, and one six-year-old girl in Fairmont is hoping to make patients feel better one Squishmallow at a time.
In roughly one week, Mila Floyd has raised more than $800 in donations and collected 17 soft and colorful Squishmallows, waiting to provide comfort to those who may need it most.
Recently she came to us with the idea of wanting to give sick people Squishmallows cause her Squishmallows make her feel better, and she thought they would make the sick people feel better, too, said Milas mom Brooke Floyd.
On top of being inspired by her mother, who works at a local hospital, Mila was also inspired by her grandmother, Melissa Taylor, who works with Wings for Hope, a nonprofit that raises money for cancer patients at United Hospital Center (UHC).
UHC cuts the ribbon on its new Intermediate Care Unit
It blows my mind that at six years old that she would even come up with this idea. But, she came up with it on her own, and then we just decided we needed to act on it, you know, and help her do this, said Taylor.
It makes me very proud of her. Shes a very good girl and she has a great heart, said Brooke Floyd.
And as for why Squishmallows, Mila said they make me feel happy when I feel kind of nervous. So I think theyll help other people feel happy when theyre kind of nervous.
Mila will continue to use the monetary donations to purchase as many squishmallows as she can, with a goal of about 100, all including a special message from Mila. The Floyd family said the first Squishmallow delivery will be to cancer patients at UHC, and she hopes to make more deliveries to other area hospitals as well.
The Floyd family is collecting donations through Brooke Floyds Venmo, @Brooke-Floyd-7. You can also call them at 304-657-8281.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
WARSAW (Reuters) - Disinformation attributable to Russian and Belarusian services spiked on the internet by around 300% during the first days of severe flooding in Poland, the country's deputy premier and digitalisation minister was quoted on Wednesday as saying.
The worst floods in at least two decades left many towns in central Europe, including southwestern Poland, submerged earlier this month, and the government warned of a spread of disinformation at the same time.
Digitalisation Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski told journalists in parliament that some of it was spread on the internet by Belarusian and Russian services.
"Accounts that had previously been used during the beginning of the war in Ukraine... became active again and began to disseminate information that floodwalls would not hold, (alleging) that the government does nothing ..., that we are dealing with floodwalls being blown up," Gawkowski was quoted as saying by PAP news agency.
Russian and Belarusian authorities have repeatedly denied Western accusations of disseminating internet disinformation.
Poland, one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters, has repeatedly accused Russia and Belarus of trying to destabilise the European Union and NATO member state since Moscow's invasion of its neighbour in 2022.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; editing by Mark Heinrich)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Columbus is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. It also continues to face an affordable housing crisis. As the citys population rapidly rises, the need for affordable housing might be greater than ever before.
A new project backed by Nationwide Childrens Hospital is tackling that issue. Four brand new duplexes now sit on Reeb Avenue. They were unveiled last Monday, and all of the units have already been leased.
According to Nick Jones, vice president of community wellness at Nationwide Childrens, years ago, the hospital planned to turn the former South Side Learning and Development Center into affordable homes as part of the hospitals Healthy Homes initiative.
This just allows more families to be able to make the choice on where they want to live and not have that choice be made for them, Jones said.
Watch: Families receive housing through childrens hospital
The $2.35 million project was made possible through City of Columbus grant funding, the South Side Renaissance Fund, and private funding.
According to Healthy Homes, the new rental units average approximately $920 per month compared to the average rental for similar properties around $1,400 per month.
Delexis Turner is a single mother. She got the keys to her apartment a few days ago.
I love it here, Turner said. Since I walked through the doors, I fell in love with the place.
Turner and her four children were living in Old Towne East for the last eight years. She said she was working two jobs to be able to afford rent.
I was spending way over a grand for a three-bedroom townhouse with no basement, Turner said. And it seemed like the more the years went on, it was going up and up and up.
The new units have three bedrooms, 1 baths, and basements. Turner said its a new start for her.
It seemed like I had to work more hours, more time and basically dedicate my life to work, Turner said.
The units are intended for families supported by the Reeb Center across the street. The center serves as a community space thats home to several nonprofit partners.
Jones said healthy lives begin at home and in neighborhoods. He said 80% of families health outcomes are determined by things that happen outside of the hospital walls.
One of those major impacts is access to quality, safe, decent, affordable housing and bringing on units like this that, you know, adds actually more units to the south side, Jones said.
Jones said the new units make the south side a healthier environment for families and kids.
There is help in this world, Turner said. Youve just got to go out there and look.
Jones said Nationwide Childrens has the largest childrens hospital-backed housing initiative in the country. It has impacted more than 900 homes since 2008, with more than 600 of those being on the south side alone.
It just continues to add more equitable and diverse housing options in a market like the south side that has been going through a lot of great change over the last 15 years plus, Jones said.
Im happy. My children are happy, Turner said. This is a big step.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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University of Texas student Frank Guzman and his wife, Caroline Katba, were reported missing in Mexico where they were traveling before Guzman's research work began in Chile for his UT doctorate.
Family and friends are asking for the public's help in locating University of Texas doctorate student Frank Guzman, who along with his wife, Caroline Katba, has been missing since late July, according to the Texas Missing Persons Clearinghouse Bulletin.
Guzman and Katba were traveling in Mexico when their families lost contact with them around July 22, according to a social media post from Guzman's sibling, Liz Guzman.
In an interview with the American-Statesman, Liz Guzman said their brother and sister-in-law were traveling by car through Latin America to Chile, where Frank was expected to do fieldwork and research for his doctorate degree at UT.
Liz Guzman said the couple would frequently text their families with pictures and updates, but on July 22 they both went "offline" on the messaging app WhatsApp. They last heard from her brother earlier that day.
"He told me he was arriving at his next hotel around 3 p.m., we're an hour ahead, maybe I give you a call around 3 or 4 your time," Guzman said. They never got a call.
Both families have attempted to reach the pair multiple times throughout the summer, Guzman said, but thought the couple might have lost service or connection as they traveled south. Nonetheless, their worry grew throughout the summer, and when a UT professor contacted Guzman's dad to tell him Frank had not shown up to class, Guzman said.
"My brother has completed 12 years of effort into this degree; he wouldn't just leave it," Liz Guzman said.
Guzman said a security team hired by the University of Texas believes the pair were last spotted in Coatzacoalcos, a city in Mexico's state of Veracruz. She added that the team told the family that there is no documentation of them leaving Mexico, as they had planned to do July 22.
Guzman has filed missing person reports for their brother in Mexico and Texas, and there is also a missing person's report in Mexico for Katba. Guzman has also contacted the U.S. Embassy and FBI, they said.
Frank Guzman and Caroline Katba were last heard from on July 22.
Frank Guzman is an anthropology student at UT's College of Liberal Arts. According to his LinkedIn page, he has been a Longhorn since 2020 and studied previously at Penn State University and Stanford University. Katba is in the process of opening a business, Guzman said.
UT spokesperson Mike Rosen said the university can't speak to specific cases or confirm or deny if someone is missing due to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, but he said that in emergencies abroad involving individuals doing UT work or on UT programs, the university deploys its international Critical Incident Response Team, which collaborates with the U.S. State Department, embassies and international authorities to best help.
"In the case of a missing student, UT would provide assistance and resources to the fullest possible extent to help ensure every effort is made to locate and assist the student," Rosen said.
Guzman is asking people with connections to the area to spread word of the missing couple, and for anyone with information to promptly contact the family.
"They were just traveling, and they would have never disappeared out of nowhere. They had an end goal," Guzman said. "He's just a student; he's just a regular guy."
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: University of Texas student, wife missing in Mexico. Family seeks help
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike as seen from Tyre
(Corrects dateline to Beirut from Baghdad)
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Ahead of Lebanese engineer Maya Gharib's wedding planned for next month, excited relatives were arranging for her dress to be picked up.
But on Monday, 23-year-old Gharib, her two sisters and their parents were killed in an Israeli strike on their home in a suburb of the southern city of Tyre, said Gharib's brother Reda, the only surviving member of the family.
Israel says Monday's strikes targeted Hezbollah weapons. Lebanon's health ministry said the attacks left more than 550 people dead, including at least 50 children and 98 women, in Lebanon's bloodiest day since the end of the 1975-90 Civil War.
A screenshot shared with Reuters shows a message sent by a relative to the dress shop after the Gharib family died: "The bride was martyred."
"They were just sitting at home, and then the house was targeted," Reda Gharib, who moved to Senegal last year for work, told Reuters in a phone call.
The family were buried in a rushed funeral the next day, with few people in attendance due to the danger of strikes. Reda was unable to fly in as most flights had been cancelled amid ongoing Israeli attacks and rocket fire from Hezbollah.
His father was a retired veteran of Lebanon's army, a cross-sectarian force funded by the U.S. and other countries and widely seen as source of unity in Lebanon. His sisters were all in their 20s.
"We are a nationalistic family with no party affiliation, though of course we stand with everyone who resists aggression," Reda Gharib said, noting no member of the family was a member of Hezbollah.
But he says that now, having lost his family, he wanted Hezbollah to continue fighting Israel "until victory" and not to accept any negotiations.
'INDISCRIMINATE'
Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel on Oct. 8, the day after the militant Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel, declaring a "support front" for Palestinians.
The clashes escalated sharply since last week, with hundreds killed and thousands injured in Lebanon as Israel wages an air campaign that has seen strikes in most parts of the country.
In the days since the chaos unleashed by the Israeli strikes on Monday, other reports have emerged of families with many members killed.
In the southern town of Hanouiyeh, an Israeli strike killed eight members of one family and a live-in domestic worker from Gambia, relatives said.
Mohammad Saksouk, whose brother Hasan was among those killed, told Reuters the strike hit a building next to the family home, which collapsed onto theirs.
He said the family had nothing to do with Hezbollah and criticized the Israelis for "indiscriminate" attacks while also questioning why Lebanon had been dragged into a battle that Hezbollah says is in support of Palestinians.
"Now, we're homeless. We are living in the streets," he said via phone from a temporary shelter. "Before, we were living completely normal lives. Who will give us back our homes?"
The victims included Hasan Saksouk, his adult children Mohammad and Mona, Mohammad's wife Fatima and their 9-month-old daughter Rima, as well as Mona's three children, all under nine years old.
Anna, the Gambian worker in her early 30s, also perished.
The coastal town of Saksakieh saw 11 civilians killed on Monday, including six women and two children, according to Mayor Ali Abbas, who said there were direct strikes on homes.
"These are civilian homes, they have nothing to do with any kind of military installation," Abbas told Reuters.
(This story has been refiled to fix dateline to Beirut, not Baghdad)
(Reporting by Timour Azhari; Editing by Gareth Jones)
For storm chaser and Mississippi Coast resident Josh Morgerman, Buc-ees is one of his favorite places to stop for hurricane snacks.
The megastore in Pass Christian isnt open just yet, but luckily for Morgerman, he was able to stop at the Alabama location en route to Florida to track Hurricane Helene.
Din-din on the hood of the car. How a chaserdude does fancy. In Alabama. Chasing #HELENE. pic.twitter.com/7DGByYsBAX Josh Morgerman (@iCyclone) September 25, 2024
Morgerman, known across the world as iCyclone, lives a few blocks off the beach in Bay St. Louis and left the Mississippi Coast on Tuesday for Floridas Big Bend region, which is expected to get the worst impact from the storm.
Helene became Category 1 hurricane in the Caribbean Sea Wednesday morning and may undergo rapid intensification in the Gulf of Mexico before landfall Thursday night as a major hurricane. Heavy rains, catastrophic storm surge, flooding and wind damage are expected.
Helenes east side is expected to be extremely powerful, and it may become one of the largest hurricanes on record since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to weather experts.
Morgerman travels to the corners of the world and has documented some of the worst cyclones and hurricanes in history. He often records video live from inside the eye of storms and good friends with notable meteorologists, including Jim Cantore, who was at Morgermans housewarming party this summer. The custom-built home could withstands winds from a Cat 5 hurricane.
Helene will be the next notch in Morgermans storm belt.
Ominous signs this morning. #HELENE is getting that look to it, and a dangerous situation is developing. Some of the computer models remain aggressive with this thing, showing it getting very strong (Cat 4) before landfall.
Three IMPORTANT POINTS for Floridians:
1) Dont pic.twitter.com/LVANqrcRiI Josh Morgerman (@iCyclone) September 25, 2024
A dangerous situation is developing, he said on X Wednesday afternoon, adding that models show an aggressive hurricane moving fast over land, bringing hurricane winds well inland.
Morgerman encouraged Floridians to play close attention to Helene, finish emergency plans today and evacuate if needed.
A hurricane warning is in effect for the Big Bend region along Floridas Gulf Coast, and much of the state is under a tropical storm watch as of 11 a.m. Wednesday.
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) An armed man was apprehended following a fare evasion at a subway station in Brooklyn Tuesday morning, according to the NYPD.
The incident happened at the Cortelyou Road station around 10:50 a.m.
More Local News
The gun was located in the mans possession during the investigation, police said.
Interim NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow released a statement following the arrest:
Once again, its clear that when criminals take transit, they dont pay. We are grateful to NYPD officers for stopping a fare evader at a subway station near Prospect Parkwho turned out to be a criminal that repeatedly preyed on riders, and who was carrying a loaded gun. Those officers make New Yorkers safer, and help all of us feel safe on the subway.
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).
Ben Mitchell is a digital content producer from Vermont who has covered both local and international news since 2021. He joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of his work here.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Father of 6 Killed in Alleged Hit-and-Run While Celebrating His Anniversary and Birthday
Dustin Trey Dorcz died days before his 36th birthday, his family says
Dustin Dorcz Facebook Dustin Dorcz
A Texas man is being mourned by his family and loved ones after he was killed in an alleged hit-and-run while visiting Houston to celebrate his anniversary.
Dustin Trey Dorcz, of Lufkin, Texas, died in a crash ten days before his birthday on the early morning on Sept. 15, the Houston Police Department said in a press release last week.
He was not named in the initial press release but has been named by his family in his obituary and in The Lufkin Daily News and on KHOU 11.
A witness said Dorcz, 35, was walking on a freeway near the East Interstate Highway 10 in Houston when a vehicle of unknown make and model allegedly struck him, per HPDs statement.
The vehicle did not stop to render aid and fled the scene, the statement said.
"I just cant imagine leaving someone behind like that," Dorczs wife Lindsey Dorcz told KHOU 11. Lindsey was not at the scene at the time of the crash, per the outlet.
A witness reportedly told Lindsey that the victim was very close to the guardrail, far away from the roadway, she said, per KHOU 11. An HPD officer told the outlet police spoke with a witness, but did not provide further details.
In her interview with KHOU 11, Lindsey said the couple were visiting Houston to celebrate their fifth anniversary and Dustins birthday.
Dustin's obituary states he was going to turn 36 on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
In his obituary, Dustin was remembered as a 100% family man and someone who was always the life of the party.
Dustin was a jack of all trades, reads a part of the obituary. He was everyone's go-to 'fixer'. One of the hardest working men any of us knew, and would always make it happen for his kids and wife.
Dustin leaves behind six children, the youngest of whom is 6 years old, per the obituary.
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.
As of Wednesday, HPD did not have any further update on a suspect or suspects, a department spokesperson told PEOPLE.
"If that person is watching this, maybe God can work on you and you can give my husband the justice he deserves and come clean," Lindsey told KHOU 11.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the HPD Hit and Run Unit at 713-247-4065 or speak anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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Read the original article on People.
The father of the accused Hedingham mass shooter pleaded guilty Wednesday to improperly storing a 9mm handgun on a bedside table a weapon that matches evidence found near several victims.
Alan Thompson will serve a years unsupervised probation for the misdemeanor charge of storing a firearm with a minors unsafe access. He dabbed at his eyes during Wednesdays hearing, but he did not speak in court or address victims families while leaving.
Alan is accepting responsibility, and the community is outraged, said his attorney, Russell Babb. But it is important for us to understand that as a parent, Alan Thompson is living the unthinkable ... and he may never know why this happened.
The 61-year-old handyman lost his son James in the Oct. 13, 2022, shooting spree in which his younger son Austin, then 15, is charged with killing five people and injuring two others in Raleighs Hedingham neighborhood near the Neuse River Greenway Trail.
Austin Thompson allegedly used a shotgun and a handgun in the shooting, and more weapons and ammunition were found on him after an hours-long standoff in which he traded gunfire with law enforcement, injuring a Raleigh police officer, The News & Observer previously reported.
Investigators seized 11 firearms and 160 boxes of ammunition some of them empty from the home, search warrants showed. This included four shotguns, five rifles and two pistols.
Alan Thompson confers with his attorneys Roger Smith, left, and Russell Babb while appearing in court in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. Thompson, the father of the accused Hedingham mass shooter, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of storing a firearm with a minors unsafe access. Thompson lost his son James in the Oct. 13, 2022 shooting spree in which his younger son Austin, then 15, is charged with killing five people and injuring two others.
Gun kept on bedside table, prosecutors say
During Wednesdays hearing, Wake County Assistant District Attorney Luke Bumm said investigators found a 9mm handgun at the shed where Austin Thompson was caught, and that it was consistent with evidence found around the earliest victims.
Alan Thompson, he said, kept the loaded handgun in an unlocked box on a bedside table.
But Babb said Austin Thompson showed no signs of violence, and that Alan Thompson spoke with Austin twice on the phone in the moments leading up to and after the mass shooting.
He did not seem agitated, Babb said. He did not seem angry. He did not seem upset.
What is particularly terrifying is that by this point, James was almost certainly dead, he said.
Alan Thompson wipes tears from his eyes while appearing in court Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. Thompson, the father of the accused Hedingham mass shooter, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of storing a firearm with a minors unsafe access. Thompson lost his son James in the Oct. 13, 2022 shooting spree in which his younger son Austin, then 15, is charged with killing five people and injuring two others. Thompsons attorney, Roger Smith, stands to the left.
Babb said Thompson spoke to his youngest son while driving home from a job, and that he asked if he needed anything while he stopped to get a gallon of milk.
Austin seemed totally fine on the phone, Babb said. Completely normal.
Thompson then saw police cars rushing toward Hedingham and called again, warning Austin that he and his brothers should hunker down in the house. He called a third time and got no answer.
Police initially would not let Thompson into the house, Babb said, and when he learned his eldest son was dead, he assumed Austin had gone to pursue the killer.
Thats when an officer told him, Babb said.
Austin was not chasing the shooter. Austin was the shooter.
Tracey Howard, husband of Nicole Connors, who was killed in the Hedingham mass shooting in October 2022, sits in court Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. Howard was in court to see Alan Thompson, father of the accused Hedingham mass shooter, plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of storing a firearm with a minors unsafe access. Thompson lost his son James in the Oct. 13, 2022 shooting spree in which his younger son Austin, then 15, is charged with killing five people and injuring two others. Thompson will serve a years unsupervised probation.
The charges against Austin Thompson
Austin Thompson is charged with five counts of murder in the deaths of his 16-year-old brother James, Nicole Connors, Susan Karnatz, Mary Elizabeth Marshall and Gabriel Torres.
He is also charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and inflicting serious injury for the injuries sustained by Marcille Lynn Gardner; and with that offense and assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer for the injuries sustained by Raleigh Police Officer C. Clark.
Austin Thompson was taken into custody after reportedly shooting himself and was taken to WakeMed, where he remained in critical condition for several days.
His trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 22, 2025, in Wake County Superior Court, District Attorney Lorrin Freeman has said.
At Wednesdays plea hearing, Babb emphasized Austin Thompson gave no indication of violent thoughts.
There was no advance warning of any kind, he said. There is no history of mental illness. There were no bullying incidents. ... Austin was not abused. He did not say or write ominous threats. He did not make odd drawings or act suspiciously. ... He did not get into trouble at home. He did not get into trouble at school. ... There were no warning signs something like this could ever happen.
Alan Thompson had no prior criminal record. District Court Judge Mark Stevens said his 45-day jail sentence is suspended.
In this case, Stevens said, noting its gravity, I want to say less. The only thing I want to say is this is a case of epic tragedy.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) The father of a teenager accused in a 2022 mass shooting in North Carolinas capital city that left five people dead pleaded guilty Wednesday to storing improperly a handgun that authorities said was found with his son after the shootings.
Alan Thompson, 61, appeared to cry as he entered the plea to the misdemeanor charge in Wake County court, news outlets reported. District Court Judge Mark Stevens, who gave him a 45-day suspended jail sentence and a year of unsupervised probation, called the matter a case of epic tragedy.
Thompsons attorney said in court there were no warning signs that Austin Thompson -- accused of five counts of murder as well as other charges -- would commit violence. The shootings happened when Austin was 15, and among the five people killed was his older brother.
Austin Thompson is scheduled to go to trial in September 2025 and faces life in prison if convicted.
As a parent, Alan is living the unthinkable, he has lost both his sons and still doesnt know why this happened, said Russell Babb, a lawyer representing Thompsons father and mother.
Authorities have alleged the Oct. 13, 2022, killing rampage began when Austin Thompson shot and stabbed 16-year-old brother James in their east Raleigh neighborhood. He then shot multiple neighbors, including an off-duty Raleigh police officer on his way to work, according to police.
Dressed in camouflage with multiple weapons strapped to his belt, Austin Thompson was located by law enforcement in a shed near a public greenway and arrested after an hours-long standoff. Investigators have said a handgun and a shotgun were used in the shootings.
Wake County Assistant District Attorney Luke Bumm said Wednesday a handgun found in the shed belonged to Alan Thompson. According to Bumm, Alan Thompson kept the loaded 9 mm handgun in an unlocked box on a bedside table. The gun was consistent with evidence around the earliest victims, Bumm said. Alan Thompson was initially charged last year.
Babb said Austin Thompson showed no signs of violence, and that his father spoke with Austin twice on the phone in the moments leading up to and after the mass shooting.
He did not seem agitated, Babb said. He did not seem angry. He did not seem upset.
Babb said Alan Thompson spoke to him while driving home from work, and that he asked if he needed anything while he stopped to get a gallon of milk. Thompson then saw police cars rushing toward the Hedingham neighborhood and called again to tell Austin Thompson to hunker down, according to Babb.
Police initially wouldnt let Alan Thompson enter the house, Babb said, and first responders told him his older son was killed and his younger son was missing. Babb said he assumed his younger son had gone to pursue the killer but that's when an officer told him "Austin was not chasing the shooter. Austin was the shooter.
Alan never in a million years thought his own family member would behave this way, he is heartbroken, Babb said.
Also killed in the shootings were Officer Gabriel Torres, Mary Elizabeth Marshall, Nicole Connors and Susan Karnatz. Two other people were wounded during the shootings, including another officer. Austin Thompson is also accused of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer.
Investigators seized 11 firearms and 160 boxes of ammunition some of them empty from the Thompson home, according to search warrants. Wake County's top prosecutor has said Austin Thompson had a self-inflicted gunshot wound when he was captured.
Deutsche Post bicycles are available at the Magdeburg-Buckau delivery base. Germany's postal service has won permission to raise postage costs for postcards and letters by around 10.5% starting early next year, Germany's Network Agency regulator said on Wednesday. Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa
Germany's postal service has won permission to raise postage costs for postcards and letters by around 10.5% starting early next year, Germany's Network Agency regulator said on Wednesday.
Deutsche Post had cited higher costs as the reason for seeking the price increases. The postal service is required to deliver mail everywhere in Germany, including remote areas which involve lengthy travel times.
The exact stamp price for each type of letter has not yet been decided, although the German government has urged keeping the cost for a standard letter below 1 ($1.12).
Industry experts said they anticipated that the price of sending a standard letter within Germany could rise from 0.85 to 0.95 ($0.95 to $1.06).
The increase was significantly less than what Deutsche Post had requested. A company spokesman said he was "astonished" by the decision and criticized the move to keep postage rates relatively low.
Deutsche Post is a division of global logistics giant DHL Group, which grew out of the formerly state-owned German postal service. But domestic mail delivery is now only a small - and generally unprofitable - part of the company's business.
"The result and [underlying] assumptions are difficult to understand in view of expected wage increases, shrinking letter volumes and high investment requirements," he said.
He said postage for a standard letter in Germany is currently 43% below the EU average: "Deutsche Post will now thoroughly examine the Federal Network Agency's decision and present its view of the matter to the authority."
As recently as 2012, the postage for a standard letter was just 0.55.
CHICAGO FBI agents in Chicago are searching for three people who robbed an ATM technician outside of a bank in Naperville on Tuesday morning.
The robbery unfolded just after 11 a.m. outside of a Bank of America in the 1300 block of East Ogden Avenue, according to agents from the FBIs Chicago Field Office.
Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines
Agents said the ATM technician was performing maintenance on the machine when three people approached in a Silver Nissan Altima. Two of the suspects then exited the vehicle and stole money from the ATM.
Following the robbery, the three individuals fled the scene, agents said.
According to agents, the suspects never showed or implied to the technician that they had a weapon, but one of them did physically assault the technician and made a verbal demand for funds.
Photo provided by the FBIs Chicago Field Office shows the vehicle and an individual involved in the robbery of an ATM technician outside of a Naperville bank on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
Photo provided by the FBIs Chicago Field Office shows the vehicle involved in the robbery of an ATM technician outside of a Naperville bank on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
On Tuesday evening, agents provided photos that were captured by security cameras of the vehicle that is believed to have been used in the robbery and one of the people responsible.
Agents said they believe the individuals responsible were three Black males with thind builds who stood about 5-foot-6.
At the time of the robbery, they were spotted wearing a dark blue zip-up sweater, a black ski mask, black winter gloves, black pants and black sneakers.
LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland
Anyone with information on the incidents is asked to call the FBIs Chicago Field Office at 312-421-6700.
Those with information that could help agents in their investigation can also submit tips at tips.fbi.gov. Tips can be submitted anonymously.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Judges on the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals hearing an appeal of South Carolina banker Russell Laffittes 2022 conviction for bank fraud questioned attorneys Wednesday about the unusual late-hour dismissal of two jurors during Laffittes trial.
At least two of the judges seemed skeptical of the actions of U.S. Judge Richard Gergel, who dismissed the jurors and substituted two fresh ones, and questioned whether Gergels actions in the case of at least one excused juror had violated Laffittes constitutional rights.
Gergel had questioned the juror out of the presence of Laffittes lawyers, and Laffitte attorney Billy Wilkins told the three appeals court judges that Laffittes right to have his lawyer present during Gergels questioning of the juror was violated.
At Laffittes trial, just 50 minutes after Gergel excused the two jurors and replaced them with alternates, the newly-constituted jury found Laffitte guilty of six counts of conspiracy, bank and wire fraud and misapplication of bank funds.
The dismissed jurors may have been holding out for Laffitte. One of them told Gergel she was feeling pressured to change her vote, according to court records. At that point, around 8:30 p.m. with a long holiday weekend looming, the jury had been deliberating more than 10 hours.
The verdict against Laffitte ended a three-week trial that also put disgraced attorney and now-convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh in the spotlight. Evidence in the case showed that Laffitte, then president and CEO of Palmetto State Bank, had conspired with Murdaugh to misappropriate millions of dollars in clients funds. Murdaugh had steered the money toward Laffittes bank.
Laffitte was sentenced to seven years in federal prison by Gergel.
Murdaugh pleaded guilty in federal court to numerous financial crimes and was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison. Murdaugh is now appealing that sentence as cruel and unusual punishment, saying it is far more than other white collar crime cases.
The judges on the appeals court panel Steven Agee, Toby Heytens and Stephanie Thacker could uphold Laffittes conviction, decide the juror issue was an error but rule it harmless, or grant Laffitte a new trial.
The case was argued in Richmond, Va.
Laffitte is now an inmate at Coleman federal prison, a low security institution, in Florida. His release date is April 20, 2029.
Arguing to uphold the verdict were assistant U.S. Attorneys Katie Stoughton and Emily Limehouse.
Besides Wilkins, John Nieman Jr. argued for Laffitte. Columbia attorneys Mark Moore and Michael A. Parente also represent Laffitte.
A state grand jury has indicted Laffitte on state charges similar to the federal charges on which he was found guilty. The state charges are pending. No date for a trial has been announced.
The U.S. Department of Justice has sued two northern Wisconsin towns accusing them of not having voting machines accessible to people with disabilities.
The DOJ said it had reached an agreement with the Town of Lawrence to resolve its complaint, but not the Town of Thornapple. Both towns are in Rusk County.
The complaint also said the State of Wisconsin failed to ensure every polling place within the state was accessible to voters with disabilities, as required by federal law.
"Our democracy works when voters with disabilities have the right to vote on the same terms as any other voter. By failing to offer accessible voting systems, Thornapple and Lawrence shirked their responsibilities under the Help America Vote Act to provide equal access to the ballot for all voters," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division said in a statement.
"We commend Lawrence for working with the Justice Department to swiftly remedy this violation by taking simple action to ensure that federal elections are accessible to all eligible voters."
Federal officials accused both towns of having failed to provide accessible voting systems in the April 2 presidential primary, and the Town of Thornapple of also having failed to do so in the Aug. 13 partisan primary.
The federal complaint alleges Thornapple and Lawrence violated that law by "deliberately failing to make accessible voting machines available to voters in certain 2024 federal elections," according to a DOJ news release. Both the Thornapple and Lawrence town boards voted in 2023 to stop using the accessible voting machines the towns had previously used, according to the complaint.
Lawrence Town Chairman Bob Nawrocki could not be immediately reached for an interview.
Suzanne Pinnow, Thornapple's chief election official, declined to comment on the lawsuit. In a May Journal Sentinel article, Pinnow disputed that voters with disabilities were unable to use an accessible voting machine during the April election.
A vote by the small board overseeing the Town of Thornapple in Rusk County, population 711, to rely solely on hand counting paper ballots took place last year and caught the eye of state and federal officials after the April presidential primary election, when advocates for voters with disabilities raised concerns.
The decision was made in June 2023, according to a town supervisor around the time of a discussion in the local newspaper over whether to abandon electronic voting machines and amid visits to the area by one of the nation's most prominent purveyors of election conspiracy theories. Town officials would not tell the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel exactly what prompted the vote.
Under the U.S. DOJ's agreement with Lawrence, which is subject to court approval, the town will make an accessible voting machine available at every polling place it operates in subsequent federal elections and will train its staff on how to operate the equipment.
The DOJ also filed a motion requesting Thornapple ensure that at least one polling place within the town has an accessible voting machine during the Nov. 5 election.
Federal officials previously threatened to sue over the issue in July.
The Help America Vote Act, passed in 2002, was designed in part to make in-person voting more accessible for voters with disabilities.
The complaint also said the state of Wisconsin failed to ensure that every polling place within the state was accessible to voters with disabilities, as required by federal law.
"Voting must be accessible for all eligible voters," Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a statement. "Clerks should follow the Wisconsin Elections Commissions guidance reminding them that they must comply with the Help America Vote Act by providing voting systems that are accessible to voters with disabilities."
(This story was updated to add a photo or video.)
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Feds sue 2 northern Wisconsin towns over accessible voting machines
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) Federal money is coming to Central Illinois Regional Airport to help rehab a runway and to purchase fire-fighting equipment.
U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen announced more than $12.2 million in U.S. Transportation Department dollars coming to airports in Bloomington, Rockford and the Quad Cities, all areas he represents.
By investing in safety upgrades at our local airports, our communities will have better access to affordable air travel right in their backyards. This important funding will be used to repair runways, prevent flooding, and purchase new safety equipment that will make our local airports sustainable for the future, the Rockford Democrat said.
Peorias 182nd Airlift Wing to get newest version of the C-130 Hercules cargo plane
The Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority received $1.6 million to replace its existing rapid response aircraft rescue and fire-fighting vehicle to meet safety requirements.
Additionally, the money will be used to fix up 5,960 feet of the existing paved Runway 11/29 at CIRA to maintain the structural integrity of the pavement and minimize foreign object debris.
The Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority is grateful for Congressman Sorensens support of the Central Illinois Regional Airport and, specifically, for this new infrastructure and safety grant, said Alan Sender, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners for the Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority.
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Students swing on a playground at Meadow Lakes Head Start in Wasilla, Alaska. It closed this year due to funding and staffing challenges. (Image by Lela Seiler, courtesy of CCS Early Learning)
Hundreds of Head Start program leaders from all over the nation are in Washington D.C. this week to talk to their congressional delegations. Members of the National Head Start Association from Alaska to Florida are all asking for the same thing: enough money to pay their staff.
Head Start provides child care, early education and services like health care and dental to more than 800,000 children in low-income families nationwide. The Biden-Harris administration enacted a new rule in August that requires Head Start programs to increase teacher salaries to be comparable to their public school counterparts over the next seven years, an estimated $10,000 salary bump for most. Large operators will have to provide health benefits to employees, and increase access to mental health supports.
The changes, which were proposed last year, are all a response to the early child care workforce crisis that has closed 1 in 5 Head Start classrooms nationwide, despite waiting lists for children to get into programs.
But the new rule didnt come with additional funding from Congress, and Head Start program directors have responded much like Alaskas Mark Lackey: Its great in theory, but it needs a lot of money to become a reality.
Head Start providers negotiate grants for services directly with the federal government. Lackey said his grant money is a fixed amount, even as his costs go up. He said he knows he needs to pay staff more at his care centers in Wasilla and he wants to do so. But, he gave a short laugh, there is no way we can, he said.
Lackey is meeting with the states federal delegation Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola to ask them to fund cost of living increases for the federal programs grantees, who serve 3,000 children a year in Alaska.
He said Head Start programs are foundational nationwide, but they are especially important for the sparsely populated state.
In Alaska, we have very little else. Our infrastructure is so limited and our workforce is so limited that Head Start is just crucial to our state. If we serve fewer kids, those kids will not have a chance to get services anywhere else, especially with the state budget being so tight, he said.
Congress has supported Head Start for 60 years; the federal government pays for 80% of the program. But rising costs and diminishing state funding in Alaska have left Head Start programs poorly equipped to retain qualified staff. The state used to match the remaining 20%, but its contribution has dwindled down to about half of that in the last decade. For the last two years Alaska lawmakers have voted to meet the match, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed half the increase this year and most of the funding last year.
The effect has been closed classrooms and decreased access to the services for Alaskans. Lackeys program, CCS Early Learning, closed one care center and gave up 95 slots over the last year because of an inability to hire and retain staff. In Nome, provider Deb Trowbridge may have to close all but one of four area centers for lack of staff, even after offering up to $500 a day to emergency substitute teachers with college degrees to keep the doors open. Last year, seven Alaska programs were on notice that they may lose federal funding because they were underenrolled.
Even with a seven-year runway, Lackey said he is unsure how to make his program bring in enough money that he can pay teachers more.
What the (federal) administration has said is to reduce the number of kids you serve, and thats not an acceptable answer, he said. His program has had a waitlist for years; there are more than 50 children on it. The purpose of the program is not to give fewer children a head start. Its to give all the kids that are eligible a head start.
Federal Head Start Director Khari Garvin said the plan set out by the Biden-Harris administration is achievable.
We can pay for the quality that this sector needs and deserves, and also at the same time serve children and families that need the service, Garvin said.
Mark Lackey, executive director, and staff members from the CCS Early Learning in Wasilla, Alaska, pose with Office of Head Start Director Khari Garvin and regional program manager Robert Colombini on Oct. 19, 2023.
(Photo courtesy of the Office of Head Start)
He pointed out that the federal guidance that accompanies the new rule allows Head Starts to eliminate only the slots that are already empty because programs do not have enough staff to fill them there are legal limits to how many children may be overseen by one person and that under the new rule the government will continue to pay for the unfilled space. He said that change allows programs to reinvest the money in staff salaries.
Additionally, small programs that serve fewer than 200 children are exempted from certain requirements, including the wage parity requirement, as long as they make progress towards raising wages.
Those exemptions are important for small providers in remote Alaska, which bear all the burdens of urban providers in addition to smaller hiring pools and higher costs.
The federal administration has already secured $2.5 billion for the program, $1 billion of which was COVID relief, Garvin said in defense of the lack of new funding for the requirements.
He said the new rule is intended to break a cycle that is keeping Head Start programs on the rocks.
The cycle is that you have classrooms that are either empty or closed because and you have children who cant be served because there arent enough qualified staff that the Head Start program can attract, he said, adding that it is not sustainable to pay experienced, credentialed employees a wage that does not cover the true cost of living.
And he pointed specifically to a concern from the Biden-Harris administration that the program be equitable. The people that staff Head Start programs tend to be women or women of color, he said.
While programs have seven years to implement the wage parity with public schools piece of the new rule, other parts of the rule need to be in place as soon as late October. Those include a provision that allows excessive housing costs to be deducted from a familys annual income to increase their odds of being eligible for a place in the program and a provision that requires programs to have health and mental health advisory committees.
Lackey said that implementing the new rule without securing additional federal funding first feels like a political move: Instead of directly pressuring Congress for money, the administrations rule puts a new burden on providers, who then turn to Congress for relief.
Without this rule, its been easy for the administration to point at Congress and Congress to point at the administration. And with this rule, the ball is in Congresss court, he said.
Which is why he and more than 200 Head Start leaders from all 50 states and Puerto Rico have inundated lawmaker calendars with meetings this week to ask for funding that will allow their programs to keep up with the cost of living.
Lackey said its a daunting task, but he said he feels energized by the number of people who are advocating for the same thing.
Well see if Congress is listening, or if Congress is just worried about the upcoming election, he said.
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An effort to force the release of Prince Harrys immigration records hit a major obstacle Monday when a federal judge ruled in favor of Harrys right to privacy.
D.C. District Judge Carl J. Nichols said that public interest in the records is not significant enough to justify a court-ordered document release.
Harry has a legitimate privacy interest in his immigration status, Nichols wrote, per The Washington Post.
Prince Harry lawsuit
The lawsuit over Prince Harrys immigration records originated last year.
It was brought by a conservative think tank called the Heritage Foundation, which argued that accessing the records would help the public determine whether the Department of Homeland Security is appropriately screening for past drug use.
Our goal is to ensure the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) treat everyone prince or ordinary citizen equally when it comes to being allowed to legally enter the U.S., wrote Nile Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundations Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, earlier this year.
Gardiner noted that Harry has made it clear in his memoir, Spare, and elsewhere that hes used a variety of drugs, including marijuana and cocaine. That drug use should have come up during his move to the U.S., since visa applicants are asked whether theyve violated laws related to controlled substances.
Harry seems to have received special treatment: the DHS looked the other way if the Prince answered truthfully, or it looked the other way if the Prince lied on his visa application. Either action would be wrong, Gardiner and the Heritage Foundation lawsuit argued.
The lawsuit is between the Heritage Foundation and the Department of Homeland Security, not Heritage and Prince Harry.
The foundation filed it after DHS denied its request for the records under the Freedom of Information Act, according the The Washington Post.
Is Prince Harry an American citizen?
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, have lived together in the U.S. since 2020, but its unknown what visa Harry entered the country under, The Washington Post reported.
Some types of visas dont require much if any disclosure about past drug use, or they allow for applicants to apply for a waiver to excuse known violations of controlled substances laws, the article said.
What is known is that Harry describes himself as a U.S. resident in legal filings in the United Kingdom, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Earlier this year, he told ABC News that he loves every single day in the U.S. and has thought a bit about applying for citizenship.
The American citizenship is a thought that has crossed my mind, but certainly is not something that is a high priority for me right now, Prince Harry said.
Prince Harry ruling
In his ruling, judge Nichols rejected the Heritage Foundations claim that learning more about Prince Harrys immigration records would help the public understand the Department of Homeland Securitys approach to past drug use.
Public disclosure of records about a single admission of a foreign national would provide the public, at best, limited information about the Departments general policy in admitting aliens, he said in his ruling, per The Washington Post.
A Heritage Foundation employee, Mike Howell, who is involved in the lawsuit, told The Washington Post that hes considering appealing the judges decision.
A new criminal information was filed Tuesday in federal court against former Detroit Riverfront Conservancy Chief Financial Officer William Smith, charging him with wire fraud and money laundering.
A criminal information charge commonly suggests a plea deal is in the works. Smith's lawyer, Gerald Evelyn, could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.
Smith is expected to be arraigned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, said Gina Balaya, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office. She said she cannot confirm whether there is a plea deal in the works and said the office will have no additional comment, adding "we're going to let the document speak for itself."
Smith was accused of wire and bank fraud in a criminal complaint filed in June. Hes been accused in an alleged scheme to siphon nearly $40 million from the nonprofit organization during an 11-year period. The conservancy is funded by public grants and private donations.
Federal prosecutors accused Smith of embezzling to support a lavish lifestyle, with spending on air travel, hotels, limos, clothes, jewelry and more, the Free Press previously reported. Allegedly stolen funds from the organization went to cover credit card charges made by him and his family members from 2012 through 2024, including a $17,500 Louis Vuitton purchase, federal investigators had said.
The new case dates the scheme from about November 2012 through about May of this year. It alleges Smith transferred conservancy funds from the organizations Comerica Bank account to a bank account in the name of The Joseph Group & Associates LLC, a corporation owned and controlled by Smith.
The corporation was not an approved vendor for the conservancy, and it provided no services to the organization, according to the new filing.
It states Smith routinely and without authorization transferred the funds, which he then transferred to accounts held by other entities he owned and controlled, including First Round Management LLC. The criminal information states he used the embezzled funds to buy real estate and support his personal and business interests.
It alleges Smith used conservancy funds to pay off American Express charges he and his family incurred, typically by initiating wire transfers from the conservancys account at Comerica Bank to American Express to pay off the credit card balances.
None of the expenditures were authorized by the conservancy, according to the new filing.
It indicates that Smith and his family incurred about $15.6 million in American Express charges between November 2012 and May 2024, and Smith used about $14.9 million in conservancy funds to pay off the charges during the same time period.
Smith is accused of buying cashiers checks from various financial institutions, purchases that were not authorized, and using the cashiers checks for his own purposes without the knowledge or approval of the conservancys board of directors.
The filing states Smith covered up and sustained his fraudulent scheme by falsifying bank statements that he provided to the Conservancys bookkeeper, altering or deleting unauthorized transfers on the statements in order to keep them off of the Conservancys books.
It adds that Smith covered up and sustained his alleged scheme by taking out a line of credit with Citizens Bank on behalf of the conservancy, claiming to be acting with the authorization of the groups board of directors but, in fact, he had no such authority. He is accused of using the funds from this line of credit, which eventually totaled $5 million, to infuse monies into the conservancys bank accounts to help cover up his embezzlement.
More: Experts review how Detroit Riverfront Conservancy could have missed alleged $40M fraud
More: Amid scandal, interim Detroit Riverfront Conservancy CEO focuses on future
For the laundering charge, Smith is accused of initiating the transfer of $65,000 in funds embezzled from the conservancy from a bank account held by The Joseph Group & Associates LLC to an account held by First Round Management LLC on or about Sept. 24, 2021.
In a prior, separate federal civil forfeiture matter against Smith, up to $3.9 million of his assets were frozen, though a judge previously granted him a monthly allowance of up to $3,421 from a rental property he owns.
The conservancy also filed a civil lawsuit against Smith, his family members, and a friend in July in Wayne County Circuit Court in a step to recoup some of the alleged millions he is accused of embezzling.
(This story was updated to meet Free Press standards.)
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
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Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Feds file new case against Detroit Riverfront Conservancy CFO
'We feel their pain': Gazans stunned by Israeli strikes on Lebanon
An Israeli air strike on the southern Lebanese village of Khiam (Rabih DAHER) (Rabih DAHER/AFP/AFP)
As Israeli bombs flattened buildings and sent smoke billowing skywards over Lebanon this week, Gazans looked on with both empathy and fear over how the widening war might affect them.
Israel carried out a third day of air strikes against Lebanon on Wednesday, saying it was targeting weapons caches and infrastructure belonging to the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group.
In a dramatic escalation after nearly a year of cross-border violence, Israeli air raids on Monday killed at least 558 people in Lebanon in the country's deadliest day since the 1975-1990 civil war.
After the unprecedented October 7 attack by militants against southern Israel, Hezbollah said it began striking Israel in solidarity with Hamas, another Iran-backed group.
The October 7 attack sparked the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, marked by relentless Israeli bombardment that has devastated much of the Palestinian territory.
Chadi Nawfal, a 24-year-old resident of Gaza City who said he lost his home in an Israeli strike, told AFP on Wednesday that footage from Lebanon was hard to watch.
"The bloody scenes from Lebanon that we see on our television screens are very harsh images," he told AFP.
"We people in the Gaza Strip are the only ones who can currently feel the pain that the Lebanese people are experiencing."
The sustained Israeli aerial assault on Lebanon is the latest in a series of attacks that began last week with coordinated blasts of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies.
The explosions killed 39 people and wounded almost 3,000, and were followed by a deadly strike on Friday on south Beirut, with leading Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil among the dead.
- Israeli focus moves north -
Another strike on the Lebanese capital on Tuesday killed Hezbollah rocket forces commander Ibrahim Kobeissi.
Taken together, Israel's onslaught confirmed its Defence Minister Yoav Gallant's claim a week ago that the war's "centre of gravity" was moving northward.
Hezbollah fire has displaced tens of thousands of Israelis, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has said it is determined to return them to their homes along the border with Lebanon.
Ayman al-Amreiti, another displaced resident of Gaza City, said he was worried the fighting in Lebanon would mean the ongoing war in Gaza gets less global attention.
"The military weight is now shifting to Lebanon, so even the media attention on the Gaza Strip has become secondary," the 42-year-old told AFP.
"This encourages the appetite of the occupation (Israel) to commit more crimes."
Hamas's attack on Israel nearly a year ago resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Of the 251 hostages seized by militants that day, 97 are still being held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,495 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
The United Nations has described the figures as reliable.
- 'The victims are the people' -
There are obvious differences in timeframe and scale, but Umm Munzir Naim, 52, told AFP she could not help but see similarities between the fighting in Lebanon and in Gaza.
"The war against Lebanon and Hezbollah is a war like in Gaza. The victims are the people," she said.
"The small, the big, the properties, everything is targeted -- humans, trees...
"They say it's against Hamas and Hezbollah, but on the ground it's people who die."
Amreiti said he hoped the fighting would end soon in both places, and that their fates could even be linked given Hezbollah's past pledges to stop fighting once a Gaza ceasefire comes about.
"The outcome, the hope is that any settlement with Hezbollah will also involve Gaza," he said.
"Right now, that is the hope that the children of the Palestinian people are turning to."
str-tgg/rcb/jd/srm
The downtown Belleville business and St. Louis brewing communities are mourning the loss of one of their own.
Corina Mager, a homebrewer and brewer/bartender at Shoehorn Brewing, died Sunday after battling a long illness. Her death brought a reaction from other downtown business owners and from others who share her passion for beer making and hospitality. They shared their thoughts on social media and with each other.
There were homebrewers in Monroe County and restaurant and tavern owners in Millstadt who expressed their loss.
Shoehorn Brewing co-owner Mike Johnson shared thoughts about Mager in an email Tuesday to the BND:
I, like many others, met Corina and Jeff through the Homebrewing community. Corina being the social butterfly that she was, introduced me to her husband Jeff and slowly we all became close friends.
It seemed that she never met a stranger. Routinely I would hear that she met a person at a brewery and within minutes invited them over for their regular Sunday brew days. She would cook for the group and folks would make it a potluck of good times and great conversation.
She never sat down. She was always moving about, mothering folks and making sure everyone was having a good time whether at home, beer festivals, or work. In the later stages of her illness, I would have to insist (really demand) that she take breaks and sit down. Reminding her that she didnt need to work but she was insistent on doing what she could. It was something she could control.
It seemed she felt guilty taking time for herself. Always having her mind drift to helping others.
Corina was an amazing person. Kind, thoughtful, and true. She was a fighter up to the bitter end. And she will be dearly missed.
Co-owner Jeremy Hall did not immediately reply to a request for comments.
Shoehorn Brewing co-owner Jeremy Hall and brewer Corina Mager during the microbrewerys soft opening event in December 2022.
Bryan Schubert, brewer and owner of Millpond Brewing in Millstadt, said in a brief phone interview that he knew the Magers for close to 15 years.
He met them through a homebrew club in Waterloo. He said they worked together when they could during the construction of Millpond and collaborated on some of the brewerys projects.
Theyre close friends, he said.
Corina Mager became an extended part of the Millpond family, said Schubert, helping all the time and asking nothing in return. She always tried to do her best to help others and is the last person youd expect something like this to happen to.
Shoehorn Brewing shared news of Magers death Monday via Facebook.
The post was later shared by other downtown businesses including The Lincoln Theatre, Chaos Sushi Bar & Grill, Blanquarts Rusty Gem Vintage Market and Toots Cake & Candy Supplies.
Condolences began appearing on the social media platform as news of Magers death spread.
Sending our prayers and love to a Main Street family member. Bennies Pizza Pub.
We are so sad to hear about one of our friends. Sending our condolences from the Margaritas Family. Margaritas Mexican Restaurant
We are extremely saddened to learn of the passing of our dear friend Corina Chappell Mager. She was an award winning home brewer (with her husband Jeff) and a professional brewer at Shoehorn Brewing in Belleville. She was a fixture at our event and many other related events in the area. Corina had an effervescent and outgoing personality and we became friends quickly. We will miss seeing her smiling face at our event. Our condolences go out to her husband Jeff, her family, and her many friends. Jason Hulbert, Doug Boczek and Carl Bundy, Mt. Vernon Brewers Festival.
The craft beer world lost quite a gem yesterday. Corina Mager went far beyond being a remarkable and unique brewer. She was a trusted friend to all. She was an individual who, despite what kind of day she was having, would put everything aside to give you a shoulder to lean on. Nobody was a stranger. Nobody was an outsider. Nobody was judged. She made sure all were welcomed and accepted. Corina, your infectious laugh and smile will be missed here at the White Rooster. White Rooster Farmhouse Brewery
Mager was also a member of the Pink Boots Society, which consists of women and non-binary individuals, assisting members in education and career advancement in the fermented/alcoholic beverage industry.
The society posted, Our craft beer community lost a very special human this weekend. Sincerest condolences go out to Corina Chappell Magers family and all those who had the wonderful pleasure to brew a beer with her or be a part of her life... She will be missed beyond words.
A blog post on drink314.com shared that Magers contributions to the brewing scene and her vibrant personality had touched many in the industry.
Mager leaves behind her husband and homebrewing partner, Jeff, and children, Alyssa and Mason.
Johnson launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to help the Mager family pay for medical and funeral costs.
The GoFundMe post includes a message from Alyssa:
... She was beautiful, kind, and welcoming to every person she met. Were going to miss her laugh, smile, and positivity. Theres not enough words to describe what she means to us, our best friend. She was our angel on earth and now in heaven. I know shes going to be watching over us. If love could have saved her, she wouldve lived forever.
Information regarding funeral services for Mager was not immediately available.
Corina Mager was a brewer and bartender at Shoehorn Brewing in downtown Belleville.
A prolific documentary filmmaker is out with a new account of the Jan. 6 insurrection and he has a stark warning about this November.
Nick Quested embedded with the Proud Boys in the run-up to Jan. 6, 2021, and portions of what he captured on film have come out in recent years. That includes footage of a critical meeting between members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers in an underground garage just before the insurrection. Thanks to his proximity, Quested was later called to testify before the congressional committee investigating what happened that day, and he served as a witness in the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial.
With the 2024 presidential election now less than six weeks away, Quested is concerned.
We are going to see poll watchers creating pretext and false allegations against poll workers and the vilification of officials, he warned. Were going to see pressure on elected officials and armed protests outside tabulation centers in swing states. Were going to see a flurry of lawsuits and state legislatures refusing to certify electors that should have been duly presented according to the popular vote of the state.
This is not going away, he said. This is going to happen again. Its in action right now. You can see it. And exactly what they said they were going to do last time they did it. They are telling you they are going to do it and they will do it again.
The Emmy-winning filmmakers efforts have now culminated in a complete documentary about the Capitol riot coming out on Oct. 4, called 64 Days: The Road to Insurrection. It features never-before-seen footage of Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio as the insurrection attempt unfolded.
It serves as a meticulous, almost encyclopedic account of how close Donald Trump came to stealing the election. It examines the period between November 2020 and January 2021, and incorporates various emails and records as well as interviews of extremists, key Trump White House figures, investigative counsel to the Jan. 6 committee, election officials, state officials and others to illuminate how the Trump White House, far-right extremists and a coterie of Kraken lawyers navigated the days and weeks leading to Jan. 6.
History can sometimes be a guide to the future.
Trump has already spent weeks on the campaign trail declaring he will not accept election results he deems dishonest. He claims his opponents will cheat like dogs, and he frequently says that any election officials who refuse to blindly follow him are corrupt. He has described convicted Jan. 6 rioters, including those who assaulted Capitol police, as hostages and warriors.
Questeds film has been years in the making, ever since Tarrio first invited him into his world, his Miami home and, ultimately, the Maryland hotel room where Tarrio holed up on the eve of the insurrection and then watched the violence unfold on television as he sent texts to fellow Proud Boys taking credit for the chaos.
Make no mistake, Tarrio wrote. We did this.
Quested testifies as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, on June 9, 2022. Andrew Harnik via Associated Press
This hotel room footage is what people have not seen before, Quested said.
Two days before the violence at the Capitol, the Metropolitan Police Department arrested Tarrio for the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner ripped from a Black church in Washington, D.C. When police stopped Tarrio at a tunnel entryway headed toward the Capitol on Jan. 4, he had two empty magazines meant for an assault rifle or similar type of weapon. He claimed they were meant for a purchaser who backed out at the last minute. He had already admitted to burning the sign on social media before his arrest, and had said he was turning himself in against the wishes of my attorney.
When Tarrio went before a judge who ordered him to leave the city, Quested got wind that he needed a ride and agreed to pick him up from police headquarters.
I wanted to interview him and Im thinking, I just gotta get time with him, I just gotta get time with him, Quested said.
64 Days shows Quested picking up Tarrio and heading to the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., about five minutes away.
Oath Keeper leader Stewart Rhodes was there, Quested recalled.
He understands Tarrio is getting kicked out, so he provides a bit of a cover story for him, and then suddenly we are in the garage and filming. Until someone tells me to go away, Im not going, Quested said.
Rhodes, during his own testimony at his seditious conspiracy trial, claimed he only met with Tarrio to give him legal advice in light of his arrest. With Rhodes at the hotel was Kellye SoRelle, then the Oath Keepers lawyer and Rhodes girlfriend. (Seven months later, SoRelle would plead guilty to felony obstruction of justice, and admit to destroying texts shared among Oath Keepers after the violence at the Capitol.) Also present were Bianca Gracia, president of Latinos for Trump; Joshua Macias, the founder of Vets for Trump; and a small assortment of bodyguards.
Proud Boys leader Henry "Enrique" Tarrio is seen at a rally in Portland, Oregon, Sept. 26, 2020. Allison Dinner via AP
That meeting between Rhodes and Tarrio in the garage beneath the Phoenix is still one of the enduring mysteries of Jan. 6. Exactly what was said between the men remains unknown.
Even at their respective seditious conspiracy trials, the garage footage was never shown to jurors, though its admission was fiercely fought over due to the presence of an unidentified voice in the film speaking the words: We have to do it strong and fast.
The clip was never admitted as evidence in the trials on the grounds that it could be viewed as hearsay.
Quested, so often invited to film the Proud Boys, was shooed away in those moments underground, but when he left the Phoenix with Tarrio and headed to another hotel room in Baltimore, he was allowed to film again.
In the film, Tarrio appears for the first time to be exhausted as he sits on the edge of a bed after searching for a toothbrush.
Bad blood had existed between the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys for months before that moment in Tarrios hotel room. Prior to the meeting in the garage earlier that night, the groups outwardly disliked one another. But then, on Jan. 5, Tarrio was there in the hotel room, commending Rhodes.
A delicate truce apparently struck between the extremist leaders was a testament to the supposed challenge they were preparing to face with an incoming Biden administration, Tarrio reflected.
I believe in this shit and I think if they come down on [us], Im going to stand my ground, Tarrio said in the hotel room. For me, its not about money or fame, or anything like that. I truly believe what I am doing is right. Theres not anybody in the world thats going to go ahead and tell me otherwise.
Protesters violently confront police in an effort to overturn the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Kent Nishimura via Getty Images
Members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers would later be found on text-message chains together, some of which included Republican political operative Roger Stone and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
More than a year later, when Tarrio spoke at his sentencing for seditious conspiracy and other charges he received 22 years he painted himself as a man subject to the whims of those he rallied around him. The man in the hotel room, who cheered on the violence in texts and reveled in it with friends, now stood in court and begged a judge to believe: I am not a political zealot.
But in 64 Days, Quested captures Tarrio saying that to resist is for pussies, resist puts you on the beat down, and that the truth is, we need to revolt.
Theres a way that you can enact change. You can get armed and go to the Capitol. As crazy as that sounds, yeah, I think thats the way you make the biggest noise, Tarrio says in the film.
A booking photo of Tarrio. Alexandria Sheriff's Office
The film includes accounts of events like key Stop the Steal rallies in November and December 2020, while that movements founders and champions namely Stone, right-wing organaizer Ali Alexander and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones whipped up Trumps supporters by spreading his unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.
The temporary occupation of the Georgia state Capitol led by Jones and Alexander on Nov. 18, 2020 and attended by white supremacist Nick Fuentes and hundreds of Trumps supporters strikes a particularly haunting chord in the film.
Someone in the crowd is heard urging Alexander and Jones not to leave. Jones quickly and quietly suggests they remain peaceful. But it becomes clear how tenuous the dynamic is, as a disagreement ensues and Alexander, eyes flashing and jaw tightly set, seethes: As the hillbillies make up all the ideas, were gonna lose the country. Were not the left, were not going to democratize ideas. Listen to me, listen to me. Listen to me.
The disjointed but still successful occupation of the Georgia Capitol occurred just four days after Quested had filmed a different Stop the Steal rally in Washington, D.C. Federal prosecutors highlighted this rally and another on Dec. 12, 2020, as coalition-building events for extremists in the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy case.
When Trump tweeted out his infamous wild invitation on Dec. 19, just a week later, it was gasoline on a fire.
I believe that the Proud Boys intention was to enter the Capitol and potentially occupy it in the way that Stop the Steal occupied the Georgia state Capitol on Nov. 18. I think these Oath Keepers were going to be there to protect the occupiers of the Capitol. Thats what the plan was, I think, Quested said.
He added: The Proud Boys are not exactly great tacticians.
Members of the Oath Keepers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Manuel Balce Ceneta via AP
A few days after Jan. 6, Quested said he thought this was some crazy shit.
But I kind of tried to just keep my head down, he said. When the Jan. 6 committee called me, I thought, Oh, Ill answer a few questions and then they will go away. Im sure theyve got somebody else who can tell them the story better than me. But they kept on calling me and asking me questions.
Quested was interviewed by the committee and the FBI, and spent four grueling days testifying in the Proud Boys sedition case an experience he called frightening, as defense lawyers tried to impeach him from every angle.
To tell the story in three parts the Set Up, the Conspiracy and the Insurrection the film features interviews with key Trump allies like former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, who funded efforts to undermine the 2020 election; Cleta Mitchell, the lawyer on the phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger where Trump asked Raffensperger to find him 11,000 votes; and others including Raffensperger himself and Russell Bowers, the former speaker of the Arizona House who, along with his family and ailing daughter, came under intense pressure by Trump and allies like Rudy Giuliani to alter that states election results.
The film premieres Oct. 4 at Cinema Village in New York, and is set to be screened nationwide. A screening is expected to be held near the U.S. Capitol in November.
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(Bloomberg) -- Alphabet Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said it will take many years to resolve Googles antitrust battles, downplaying the idea that they pose an immediate threat to the companys business.
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Its going to take time for it to play out, Pichai said in an interview for an upcoming episode of The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations. Where we think it really harms our ability to innovate on behalf of our users, we are going to be vigorous in defending ourselves.
Google is embroiled in two separate antitrust trials brought by the US Justice Department, which alleges the tech leader illegally dominates the digital advertising market and online search. The ads trial kicked off in court this month. In the search case, which Google lost, Judge Amit Mehta said he aims to iron out the final issues by August.
We definitely disagree with the ruling, but its still in the middle of the remedies phase, Pichai told Rubenstein, referring to the part of the legal process where a court determines the solution to Googles market dominance. And you know, we will appeal and this process will likely take many years.
The governments timeline for legal action contrasts with particularly fast-paced changes in the technology industry, which the Justice Department is considering as part of its analysis. Already, Google is working quickly to develop a strong position in artificial intelligence. By the time both of the current cases conclude, the industry will have evolved dramatically.
It could be months before Judge Leonie Brinkema makes a decision on the ads case, which alleges Google violated antitrust law by building a monopoly over web advertising technology. If the government wins, it aims to break up the company and force it to sell some of its assets. Google would likely appeal that decision, arguing that it has competed fairly against rivals like Meta Platforms Inc.s Facebook and Amazon.com Inc.
To explain how long appeals can take, Pichai pointed to Googles victory against a 1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) antitrust fine in the European Union General Court last week more than four years after it was levied.
With our scale and size, I think scrutiny is inevitable, Pichai said. And Im confident given that we are focused on innovating using technology, well do well in the long run.
Story continues
For the full interview with Google CEO Sundar Pichai, watch The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations on Wednesday October 9 on Bloomberg Television at 9 pm New York time.
(Adds Pichai quote in final paragraph.)
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For the first time in more than four decades, China has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) out in the Western Pacific, ostensibly for training purposes.
For the first time in more than four decades, China has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) out in the Western Pacific, ostensibly for training purposes. As an individual act, this sends immediate signals, especially to the United States and its allies. There are also signs that the launch could be the start of more regular open-ocean tests as China continues to dramatically expand its nuclear stockpile and ICBM arsenal.
Transporter-erector-launchers for Chinas DF-41, one of a number of ICBM types the country currently has in service, on parade. GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced the ICBM launch earlier today (it is now Thursday, September 26, in China), but provided only limited details and did not identify the specific type of missile that was fired. The Ministry did stress that the missile was not loaded with live warheads. The last time China sent an ICBM of any kind flying out into the Pacific, at least that we know of, was in 1980. Chinese ICBM launches since then have been targeted at inland ranges in the Western end of the country. Chinese forces have fired shorter-range ballistic missiles into bodies of water within the broader Western Pacific region, including the South China Sea, in the intervening years.
Publicly available warning notices show that the missile was launched from Chinas Hainan Island at the northern end of the South China Sea and indicate it was aimed at a patch of the Pacific just outside of Frances Exclusive Economic Zone around French Polynesia. The distance between the launch and impact points is roughly 7,145 miles (11,500 kilometers).
1/x#China announced that they test-fired an #ICBM into the central #Pacific this morning (25 Sep) at 00:44 UTC.
From Navigational Warnings and NOTAM's, it was fired from Hainan with a ~11 700 km range and RV impact near 10.4 S, 146.5 W.@nukestrat @planet4589 @wslafoy @nktpnd pic.twitter.com/WnhcxNiLxQ Dr Marco Langbroek (@Marco_Langbroek) September 25, 2024
4/x
Approximate 3D flightpath (exact launch site on Hainan is unknown for now) pic.twitter.com/dmTkrJSmgQ Dr Marco Langbroek (@Marco_Langbroek) September 25, 2024
It is unclear if @francediplo and @presidencepf were contacted in advance (beyond the NOTAM). The landing zone of the Chinese's reentry vehicle is right next to the French Polynesian EEZ. This is clearly problematic and possibly part of China's signaling. pic.twitter.com/1jC7VVqj0I Sebastien Philippe (@seb6philippe) September 25, 2024
Launching from Hainan points to the missile that was fired being a road-mobile ICBM, such as a DF-31 or DF-41, rather than a silo-based one. China has been massively expanding its silo infrastructure in recent years, but all of the known fields are deep within the mainland. It is also worth noting that China also has silo-based versions of the DF-31 and that there have long been discussions about the likely possibility of a variant of the DF-41 variant that can be launched in this way, as well. Chinas last known open-ocean ICBM launch was of an older silo-based DF-5.
The ICBM test shows a range of 11,500 km. Applying the same range from the new missile silo field in Ordos, China, we can see that the entire United States in within the range of this ICBM should it be deployed in the new silos. pic.twitter.com/Kksu5WqTEd Sebastien Philippe (@seb6philippe) September 25, 2024
Satellite imagery the Pentagon has previously released of work on a new silo in a field in northwestern China. DOD Satellite imagery included in the Pentagons last annual China report showing what appears to be the completion of work, at least externally, on a new ICBM silo in a field in northwestern China. DOD
Experts and observers have pointed out that there is real practical training and testing value to Chinas new Pacific ICBM launch. This includes just being able to go through the full motions of firing such a missile out to its intended range along a typical flight profile. When launched at targets on inland ranges, Chinese ICBMs are fired at very high trajectories to account for the relatively limited space available. A live-fire launch from Hainan would also offer Chinese personnel a valuable opportunity to practice deploying a road-mobile launcher to a forward site and actually employing it once there. Other nuclear powers, including the United States, routinely launch nuclear-capable ballistic missiles out into the Pacific, as well as the Atlantic, for training and testing purposes, as well as to demonstrate general deterrent capacity and otherwise send signals.
That means, if the PLARF wanted to test a depressed trajectory, they're going to need to find another place to test their ICBMs like the pacific ocean. Decker Eveleth (@dex_eve) September 25, 2024
Especially considering the ICBM they launched is almost certainly launched from a mobile launcher. By doing it out at Hainan and launching from a potentially unfamiliar launch location the missile crew may be unfamiliar with you can identify potential pitfalls in the process. Decker Eveleth (@dex_eve) September 25, 2024
At the same time, the first Chinese open-ocean ICBM launch into the Pacific in decades sends clear signals to countries across the region and beyond. Chinese authorities expressly notified their counterparts in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, all three of which are allies, about the impending launch, according to Japans Kyodo News. Unsurprisingly, a U.S. Air Force RC-135S Cobra Ball, an aircraft specifically configured to gather intellignce about missile launches, looks to have been in the air in the Western Pacific at the time based on online flight tracking data. The over-water launch would have given the U.S. government and others a rare opportunity to glean new insights into current Chinese ICBM capabilities.
China conducted a rare test launch of an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) carrying a dummy warhead into the Pacific. https://t.co/vRIZVNqRnS To track it, the US deployed an RC-135 Cobra Ball aircraft to collect optical and electronic data of the missile and warhead. pic.twitter.com/OCClNYSV2j Hans Kristensen (@nukestrat) September 25, 2024
Whether any other countries were notified in advance is unclear. As already noted, the impact point appears to have been close to the territory of another American ally, France, which has also been looking to expand its military presence in the Pacific. The missiles path looks to have snaked between Taiwan and the Philippines also both major American partners in the region based on the warning notices, as well.
China has confirmed the successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the Pacific Ocean, available public data mapped shows danger zones almost as close as 90-km to the Philippines were announced by China as a part of this test pic.twitter.com/ZqovtlQhEu Damien Symon (@detresfa_) September 25, 2024
The ICBM launch came just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden called attention to competition and cooperation with China, as well as Americas strong ties with South Korea and Japan, in an address to the United Nations.
We also need to uphold our principles as we seek to responsibly manage the competition with China so it does not veer into conflict, Biden said. We stand ready to cooperate on urgent challenges for the good of our people and the people everywhere.
The launch also follows years now of the U.S. government drawing attention to the Chinese militarys significantly expanding nuclear and missile arsenals, including the aforementioned silo build-up, and calling for greater transparency about these developments. Chinas nuclear stockpile more than doubled in size just between 2020 and 2023, according to the Pentagon. These Chinese have an estimated 500 warheads, in total, now, and that figure is expected to grow to around 1,000 by 2030 and 1,500 by 2035, according to U.S. government asessments.
In August, The New York Times reported that U.S. nuclear deterrent strategy had become primarily focused around China for the first time ever. The Times story cited a classified document that the outlet said further warned about possible coordinated nuclear challenges from China, Russia and North Korea. Chinas ties with Russia, including in the realm of military cooperation, have grown substantially in recent years, especially since 2022 with the Kremlins increasing global isolation as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Russia and Chinese warships in the Tsugaru Strait between the Japanese home islands of Honshu and Hokkaido during a naval exercise in 2021. Photo by Sun Zifa/China News Service via Getty Images
American officials have also been pushing to get their Chinese counterparts to the table to negotiate possible new strategic arms control agreements, so far without any real success.
Geopolitical friction exists between China and the United States, as well as many other countries in the Pacific region and beyond, over a host of issues, including the status of the island of Taiwan. Beijings expansive and largely unrecognized territorial claims, especially in the South China Sea, also present particularly significant risks for flashpoint moments that could easily turn into larger conflicts, as has been seen in recent months around the Philippines.
The new Chinese open-ocean ICBM launch could also be intended to send signals domestically. The Peoples Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) was reportedly at the center of a number of corruption scandals that prompted major leadership shakeups in 2023, as you can read more about here. The PLARF oversees the countrys arsenal of nuclear and conventionally-armed ground-based ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles, as well as various supporting elements.
Beyond any immediate messaging, these are signs that the ICBM launch from Hainan reflects bigger changes in Chinese policy coming down the line. The Chinese Ministry of Defense described firing the missile out into the Pacific as a routine part of an annual training plan, which suggests this could be just the start of launches like this occurring more regularly.
Especially as its nuclear arsenal grows in scale and scope, and its deterrence policies evolve along with that, China will need to increasingly demonstrate the full range of its capabilities and do so in more open and credible manners. As already noted, the United States and other nuclear powers routinely conduct open-ocean launches of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles for exactly these reasons.
Chinas first open-ocean ICBM test since 1980 is still a major development by itself that highlights the countrys still expanding nuclear and missile capabilities.
UPDATE: 9/26/2024
The Chinese government has now released pictures from the ICBM launch yesterday, confirming that the missile that was fired was a road-mobile type. From what can be seen, it appears to be a DF-31 variant, possibly a DF-31AG.
DF-31AG, I think. Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) September 26, 2024
Contact the author: joe@twz.com
Canadian authorities have released an image of an unidentified object that was shot down over the country's Yukon Territory by a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter in February 2023.
Canadian authorities have released an image of an unidentified object that was shot down over the countrys Yukon Territory by a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter in February 2023. This is the first image of any of a trio of still-unidentified objects that were downed over the United States and Canada that month, details about which remain scant. The new disclosure continues to raise more questions about those incidents given that the picture appears to have been declassified within days of the shootdown, but was then withheld from release until now.
Canadas CTV News first published the image of what is also known as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) 23, seen at the top of this story and below, along with an accompanying string of partially redacted internal emails from members of the Canadian armed forces earlier today. UAP is the term U.S., Canadian, and other authorities currently use to refer to what have been commonly described as unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in the past. The outlet said it independently verified the records after recieving them from an unnamed source who had obtained them via an Access to Information request. Canadas Access to Information Act is similar in many respects to the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but the former is only accessible to Canadian citizens.
Canadian DND via Access to Information Request Via CTV News
UAP 23 was downed over the Yukon on February 11, 2023. This came two days after another unidentified object, also known as UAP 20, was shot down in U.S. airspace off the northern coast of Alaska. A shootdown of a third unidentified object as it passed over Lake Huron came on February 12. This all followed U.S. and Canadian authorities tracking a Chinese spy balloon passing through their airspace for days before deciding to destroy it as it soared out over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina on February 4.
The very low-resolution and grainy image we now have of UAP 23 shows a broadly doughnut-like shape with an open center, as well as an apparent notch or gap in its circumference on one side. It is possible that what is seen is light reflecting only from certain parts and that what is visible is not truly representative of its full shape.
The quality of the picture, which CTV News notes appears to be a photocopy of an email printout, makes it impossible to discern any definitive details. The image appears to have been taken from an aircraft below it, although that has not been confirmed, CTV News report adds.
The best description we have is: Visual a cylindrical object. The top quarter is metallic, remainder white. 20 foot wire hanging below with a package of some sort suspended from it, one of the associated emails, dated February 11, 2023, says. Looking at the released picture again with this description in hand it looks like it might show a balloon catching the sun with a payload underneath.
At the time, Canadian authorities described what had been shot down over the Yukon as a small, cylindrical object.
An F-22 Raptor stealth fighter, like the one seen here, shot down UAP 23 over the Yukon on February 11, 2023. USAF Senior Airman Julia Lebens
It is unknown whether it [UAP 23] poses an armed threat or has intelligence collection capabilities, according to a memo provided to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on February 15, 2023, says. The area in which the impact [after shootdown] occurred is a known (caribou) migration route, which opens the possibility of future accidental discovery by Indigenous hunters.
CTV News published the heavily redacted document, which it also received from an unnamed source who obtained it first via an Access to Information request, in September 2023. The release of the memo had already raised new and still largely unanswered questions about what Canadian and U.S. authorities may or may not know about the trio of downed objects, as well as what other UAPs had been monitored in either countrys airspace before then, as you can read more about here.
No remains of any of the three still-unidentified objects brought down in February 2023 are known to have been recovered. The owners and/or operators of those objects, and whatever their purposes might have been, remain unknown, at least publicly. Past reports have suggested UAP 23, specifically, may have been a so-called pico balloon often launched by amateur radio enthusiasts.
U.S. officials subsequently said that the trio of objects appeared to be benign, which looks to have been a direct factor in withholding the image of UAP 23 from the public. The unredacted portions of the newly disclosed Emails, which you can find here, show a clear push between February 11 and February 15, 2023, including from then-Canadian Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre, to not only declassify the image, but also proactively release it, including on social media. However, by the end of February 15, the emails have taken a decidedly different tone.
Then-Canadian Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre, at left, walks with Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David Thompson, at right, during a visit to the Pentagon in November 2023. USAF Eric Dietrich
Should the image be released, it would be via the CAF [Canadian Armed Forces] social media accounts, Taylor Paxton, then-acting Assistant Deputy Minister for Public Affairs with Canadas Department of National Defense, writes in one Email. Given the current public environment and statements related to the object being benign, releasing the image may create more questions/confusion, regardless of the text that will accompany the post.
Major Doug Keirstead, Public Affairs Officer to Chief of the Defense Staff, subsequently sent another Email to his boss, Gen. Eyre, reiterating advice from acting Assistant Deputy Minister Taylor, as well as others, to hold off on releasing the image pending U.S. engagement.
The War Zone has reached out to the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense and the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) for more information.
If the goal behind not releasing this image and any others from the Febraury 2023 shootdowns was to avoid confusion and speculation, it only appears to have had the opposite impact. The War Zone, along with others, has tried to obtain imagery from these incidents from the U.S. side on multiple occasions to no avail and we have called into question the puzzling optics of not doing so in the past.
Amazing how quickly they declassified the MQ-9's MTS-B sensor footage of the Su-27 collision but we still haven't even gotten a single still frame of the 3 objects NORAD shot down over North America during the great balloon hunt.
Quite telling. Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) March 16, 2023
Even before February 2023, many members of Congress in the United States with access to classified information had criticized and otherwise called into question the U.S. militarys attitude towards UAP issues, broadly. The Department of Defense did establish an All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in 2022 as a focal point for tracking and investigating all things UAP, but significant questions have been raised since about its resourcing and authorities. There have also been as yet unsubstantiated accusations of AARO and others within the U.S. government engaging in more active coverups.
Data release and footage is prioritized based on the geopolitical environment at the time, then-head of AARO Sean Kirkpatrick said in response to a question from The War Zone about why imagery from the February shootdowns had not been released at a press briefing in October 2023. So engagements with Chinese fighters, Russian fighters have a much larger priority in getting it through the review process or declassification than UAPs or other similar engagements.
We are however, working through those processes, which all exist and weve got several of them actually already declassified and ready to update on our website [which] well be doing on the next update to the website, Kirkpatrick, who left AARO in December 2023, added at that time. And were putting them out as quickly as we can get them through their proper steps.
In a report released earlier this year, the Department of Defenses own Office of the Inspector General (DODIG) went so far as to warn that a continued lack of a comprehensive, coordinated approach to address UAP issues may pose a threat to military forces and national security. The War Zone has repeatedly highlighted the significant evidence that a substantial number of UAP sightings are not only explainable, but are likely drones, high-altitude balloons, and other uncrewed aerial assets that hostile actors are using to gather intelligence on critical capabilities and installations in and round the United States.
A more recent Congressional effort to push for more UAP transparency through an amendment to the annual defense policy bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), for the 2025 Fiscal Year looks to have collapsed, at least for now.
UFO UPDATE:
THE UAP DISCLOSURE ACT FAILS TO MAKE THE CUT FOR THE MANAGER'S AMENDMENT TO THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) and ranking Republican Roger Wicker (R-MS) yesterday (Sept. 19, 2024) filed a massive pic.twitter.com/qVZdgUjLmF D. Dean Johnson (@ddeanjohnson) September 20, 2024
It will be interesting now to see whether or not the Canadian governments decision to release the image of UAP 23, such as it is, and the accompanying emails, will lead to further disclosures about the February 2023 shootdowns by that country or the United States.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com
Five financial institutions are partnering with the United Way of Erie County to benefit one of their community schools.
PNC Bank, Erie Federal Credit Union, ErieBank, Marquette Savings Bank and Northwest Bank have teamed up to support the community school model at Lincoln Elementary School.
The model is a strategy to organize school and community resources around student success.
These institutions will not only financially support the model but will also get involved with tutoring, volunteering and more.
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It really was an idea led by Jim Stephenson, who is the president of PNC Bank, and he convened other leading financial institutions in the community to bring them together with this idea, said Laurie Root, president of United Way of Erie County.
This academic year is Lincolns third year as a community school.
Several new initiatives for students and staff have been launched, such as each grade level receiving $700 in curriculum-aligned enrichment funding.
It makes such a difference. It just really improves the culture of the kids coming into this school and gets them excited to learn in different ways, Root said.
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Brian Polito, Eries Public Schools superintendent, explained that partnerships like this have already impacted other community schools and hes looking forward to how this will benefit Lincoln students as well.
The community school model has been here for a couple of years, but we love to have our funding partners. Oftentimes, they really get involved with the school and the community, said Polito.
Polito went on to say this program creates a better future through education and building local relationships.
Its great for kids and the community to see that people really to care about them, he added.
The coalition began its partnership with the schools this past summer.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com.
Fla. Woman Who Scammed Her Own Grandmother Out of More Than $317,000 Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison
The Sept. 23 sentencing came after Tanya M. Aboseada pleaded guilty to 12 counts of wire fraud in May
Getty A stock photo of a person holding a bank card in front of a laptop
A Florida woman has been sentenced to three years in prison for scamming her grandmother out of more than $317,000.
On Monday, Sept. 23, Tanya M. Aboseada of Pompano Beach, Fla., appeared in court, where she received the sentencing from a southern Illinois judge after pleading guilty to 12 counts of wire fraud in May, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Southern District of Illinois Office.
Aboseada, 39, convinced her grandmother, who lives in Cahokia Heights, Ill., "to wire money into her bank account under false pretenses on at least 12 occasions between November 2021 and August 2022," the release stated, citing court documents.
The amount the victim wired her granddaughter totaled $317,049. Aboseada was said to have lied about "needing money to transfer a truck title into her name, owing money to the IRS, paying attorney fees and fines for a vehicular accident she was in, and paying the family of an alleged child she killed in a vehicular accident to avoid going to jail," per the release.
Getty A stock photo of a woman in handcuffs
Aboseada has been ordered to pay the full amount she stole in restitution in addition to her prison sentence, as well as being ordered to serve three years of supervised release.
Seniors are warned to avoid giving money to strangers who may be looking to take advantage of them, but its a different kind of deceit when criminals target their own elderly family members, U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe said, per the news release.
I appreciate our partnership with the FBI to bring justice for the grandmother, who was simply wanting to help her grandchild she thought was in need, Crowe added.
FBI Springfield Field Office Special Agent in Charge, Christopher Johnson, said, The fraud perpetrated by Tanya Aboseada relied on the love and devotion of a family member, which is in many ways more heartless than when the perpetrator is a stranger.
The FBI upholds an unwavering commitment to deliver justice to victims of elder fraud, and to prioritize the pursuit of those who deliberately target vulnerable seniors, Johnson added.
The case was brought as part of the Department of Justices Elder Justice Initiative, which aims to "combat elder abuse, neglect and financial fraud and scams that target our nations older adults," per the U.S. Department of Justice website.
Related: Woman Loses $10K After Scammers Pose as Her Bank. Now She Reveals How She Mistakenly Gave Them Full Access
Crowe said in a previous press release in May, The Departments Elder Justice Initiative dedicates federal resources to combat abuse and financial crimes targeted at senior citizens."
Im thankful for our partnership with the FBI to hold offenders accountable, and in this case, a criminal who stole from and victimized her elderly family member, Crowe added.
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.
At the time, FBI Springfield Field Office Special Agent in Charge, David Nanz, also said, Older Americans are too often the target of scammers who hide behind computer screens while stealing money. But criminals who steal the hard-earned life savings of their own family members demonstrate an even greater disregard for this vulnerable population."
The FBI is committed to investigating and holding to account those intent on harming seniors, Nanz continued.
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Scenes from first day of the Big Sky Experience at the University of Montana on Aug. 22, 2023. (Provided by the University of Montana)
Montanas flagship universities both are celebrating enrollment milestones this fall, albeit different ones.
In Bozeman, powerhouse Montana State University said its the first university in the history of the state to bring in more than 17,000 students, and its the largest in a four-state region that includes Wyoming and the Dakotas.
Enrollment is perhaps the most highly visible sign of how we are fulfilling Montana States land-grant mission to expand higher education access to as many of our citizens as possible, said MSU President Waded Cruzado in a statement; Cruzado will retire in June 2025. We celebrate enrollment records because college degrees change lives and because education is the key to individual prosperity and a strong American democracy.
Tuesday, the University of Montana said it saw a nearly 5% enrollment jump counting Missoula College, the highest increase in 15 years. UM also said it counts 1,450 first-year freshman, the largest incoming class in nine years.
That growth puts the UM headcount at 10,811 this fall, according to census data from UM.
Additionally, UM said that since 2021, the year after the Covid-19 pandemic started, UM added more than 1,300 students to its headcount, the most of any college in Montana.
UM is the fastest growing flagship university in Montana, UM President Seth Bodnar said in a statement. Our mission is inclusive prosperity, and the growing UM student body mirrors the hard-working people who make up our state. We are proud to be serving increasing numbers of Montanans, first-generation, Native American and veteran students.
At UM, enrollment is still 41% lower than its peak in 2011, according to a Montana University System dashboard. However, UM spokesperson Dave Kuntz praised the increase this fall as significantly higher than other flagships in the region and as strategic for Montana.
We have really, especially the last couple of years, accepted the fact that UM is the launch point for so many folks who have just been ignored elsewhere, Kuntz said.
For example, he said, UM has seen a 15% increase in students who are the first in their families to go to college, and this year, 28% of the total student population are the first to enroll in higher education.
UM pointed to a 10.8% increase in veteran students at 420 total, and an 11.9% jump in Native American students at 839 total.
Kuntz said he would love to see enrollment closer to 16,000, but he also said UM is growing with a laser focus on its mission, and its helping students have a successful career and fulfilling life.
What youre going to see here at UM as we claw back to where we were is that growth is going to be really strategic for the state and really centered on that mission of access for Montana students, he said.
In news releases about their fall counts, the flagships showed off different measures when it comes to Montana residents.
UM noted that of its student enrollment, 65.9% are Montana residents. MSU counts 49% as residents, but it noted its count at 8,369 is the largest number of Montana residents enrolled at any college or university in the state.
UM highlighted the following data from its fall census:
484 more students this fall compared to last;
A 5.6% increase in first-time freshmen over last fall;
An increase in transfer students to 656 this fall, or 19.3% over 2023;
A 15.7% increase in UM students who are first in their family to attend college; and
An undergraduate headcount made up of 31.6% of students who are eligible for Pell Grants, awarded to those whose families earn significantly less income than the states median.
The enrollment boost is helping UMs budget as well, Kuntz said. He said UM expects to generate roughly $48 million in assessed tuition this year compared to $43 million last year.
In its previous slump in enrollment, UM experienced a decline in faculty members, but this year, Kuntz said the additional revenue allows UM to invest in the campus, possibly in faculty, but definitely in student-centered, student-success-related positions, such as academic advisors and financial advisors.
MSU provided the following figures from fall enrollment:
It brought in 3,611 new first-time college students, including 1,497 Montanans;
A record 15,053 undergraduate students and 2,091 graduate students;
A record 856 Native American/Alaska Native students enrolled, a 5% increase from last year;
A record retention rate of 78.4%, which measures the number of students who return for a second fall; and
A 22% increase in Gallatin College MSU at 1,101.
There is a real sense of energy on campus this fall, said Robert Mokwa, MSUs provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, in a statement. The students are excited to be here to begin their college journeys, and that excitement is due in no small part to the enthusiasm and dedication of our faculty and instructors who work every day to make MSU the best it can be for our students.
FLORENCE, S.C. (WBTW) Florence police gave updates on Tuesday into the citys Flock camera system and the 30 cameras they installed from March to May.
Flock cameras are license plate readers, meant to locate stolen vehicles. But they also help police solve other crimes.
The Florence Police Department arrested 32 wanted people and located 17 stolen vehicles between March and August thanks to the citys Flock cameras. It said the cameras helped them find five missing people in that same timeframe.
The states grant of almost $400,000 allowed the city to install 30 cameras for four years. Police put the cameras near the citys main roads and intersections, like the Five Points.
Flock cameras helped police investigate six attempted murders. In two cases, the suspects were identified in less than 24 hours. In a Charleston stabbing, the suspect was located and arrested in Florence less than 30 minutes after finding his vehicle.
The city of Florence and Florence County work in conjunction, so the two have access to each others cameras.
Using them for other agencies, there was one specific incident where they were looking for a vehicle because, an attempted murder, I believe it was, Police Capt. Stephen Starling said. They called us up and said, Hey, we have this vehicle were looking for. Can you look in your area? So we said, Sure. We put the tag number in the Flock system, and within 15 minutes, the vehicle was located in our jurisdiction by a deputy, and that person was arrested.
If the city receives more money from the state or has enough money in its budget, police said they would like to install more cameras in the future.
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Skylar Musick is a multimedia journalist at News13. Skylar is originally from Long Island, New York. She joined the News13 team in June 2024 after graduating from Villanova University in May 2024. Follow Skylar on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and read more of her work here.
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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.
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Ten Teamsters local units that represent 45,000 members in Florida, Georgia and southeastern Alabama have broken with the union's national leadership by endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign.
Josh Zivalich, president of the Teamsters Joint Council 75, said the seven-member board felt strongly that it needed to support the ticket of Harris and running mate Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor.
"We decided we wanted to endorse the Harris-Walz campaign," Zivalich said. "We think the stakes are very high for working people, and certainly union people, and we thought it was important to make a stand."
The decision is a departure from the Sept. 18 announcement by the board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters not to endorse either Harris or former President Donald Trump. The Republican White House nominee's campaign hailed the Teamsters' non-selection calling it a "crushing blow" against Harris as "she became the first Democrat in almost three decades" not to enjoy the backing of the Teamsters.
But the decision was also a setback for Trump, who coveted the union's backing as well. Teamsters President Sean O'Brien was given a prime-time speaking slot at this July's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, and Trump teased a potential endorsement during rallies this summer.
What's more, since the non-endorsement by the national governing board, the Harris-Walz ticket has steadily received endorsements from local Teamsters councils, including in important battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Nevada.
On Tuesday, the three Teamsters local councils in Georgia joined the group, as did the six in Florida and the one in southeastern Alabama that also oversees Florida's western Panhandle. Zivalich would not say what the final seven-member vote was in support of of Harris-Walz.
"But I can tell you there wasn't anybody that voted that we should endorse Mr. Trump," he said.
Why the Florida, Georgia Teamsters say they back Harris-Walz
Zivalich said union opposition to Trump in part stems from the "outright hostile" stance the National Labor Relations Board took against organized labor during the former president's lone term in the White House.
He said organized labor also is outspoken in opposition to the Project 2025 goal of dismantling the American regulatory state, which Zivalich said would undermine protections from the right to organize to safety supervision under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a federal agency.
Trump and his campaign have disavowed Project 2025, and say they do not support what Democrats and critics call its extremist program. But Trump's campaign rhetoric, particularly his call to slash federal regulations and his supporters' wish for dismantling the "deep state," echoes Project 2025's provisions.
"We think that those laws and agencies not only need to be protected: They need to be strengthened. That's clearly not Mr. Trump's agenda," Zivalich said of federal law and the regulatory state.
Election 2024: Trump fires vitriolic post at 'Comrade Kamala' as Dems in Florida 'slam' him on Obamacare
The Teamsters, he added, have often worked with pro-labor Republicans and have endorsed them.
"But Mr. Trump is not one of them," Zivalich said.
He said the three state councils will now inform the rank-and-file via social media, text communications and numerous other outlets. Activists and union stewards in the Teamsters locals will also make the case for Harris-Walz as they visit members to make sure they are registered to vote and explain that "the Teamsters did their due diligence on the record of the candidates and offer them what our endorsements are," he said.
"Certainly our members are going to vote the way that they feel and that is deeply, deeply respected," Zivalich said. "But we felt that we needed to definitely show them that their leadership believes that the Harris-Walz ticket is the right ticket for organized labor and for them to consider that."
Teamsters members in Florida, Georgia and southeast Alabama work predominantly in package and freight delivery, as well as airlines, public sectors, the brewery industry and food-service transportation, he said.
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida, Georgia Teamsters endorse Kamala Harris, Tim Walz campaign
Florida Democratic House District 60 Rep. Lindsay Cross and her Republican challenger, Ed Montanari, on Sept. 23, 2024. (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix)
If the Florida Democratic Party can achieve its incremental goal of escaping its superminority status in both chambers of the Legislature this election year, they cant lose any of the seats they now hold in the Capitol.
One seat that has been targeted by the Republican Party of Florida for a possible flip is House District 60, comprising much of the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park in Pinellas County. While its Democratic incumbent Lindsay Crosss first attempt to be re-elected, its long been a Democratic stronghold.
Both state parties are watching closely, and both have financially invested in the race.
Cross won the seat by eight percentage points in 2022 and Joe Biden won it by 11 in 2020. But the district like the entire state has become less blue over the past few years. As of July 22, the state Division of Elections reported that 36% of voters in the district were registered Democrats, 33.5% were registered Republicans, and 30% as nonparty-affiliated voters or with third parties.
Enter Ed Montanari, a Falls Church, Virginia, native who moved to St. Petersburg as a teenager and calls himself a moderate Republican. A former Air Force fighter pilot who flew for American Airlines for more than three decades, hes closing out a nine-year term on the St. Pete City Council.
His top campaign pledge is that, if elected, hell help fix the states property insurance crisis which both candidates say is the number one issue that they hear about from voters in the district. Montanari is attempting to make the case that Cross has failed in her one term in office on that issue and that the voters would be better off electing him.
Republicans hold 83 seats in the 120-member Florida House and 28 seats in the 40-member Florida Senate.
Ineffectual?
During a recent candidate forum in St. Petersburgs low-lying Shore Acres area, he criticized Cross, insinuating that she has been ineffectual. He specifically took her on for being unable to advance her proposal to expand the My Safe Florida Home program by $205 million to mitigate flood risks a major topic for those sitting in the audience.
My opponent did put a bill forward in front of the Legislature, Montanari said.
The problem is, it didnt go anywhere. You need somebody in Tallahassee to get things done. And thats what this election is all about. Do you want somebody in Tallahassee to represent the interests of Shore Acres, the city of St Petersburg, and the residents of House District 60 and get things done that has a proven track record, or do you want to have somebody who talks a good game? Im serious about this. My Safe Florida Homes? That was a layup. That should have gotten done, especially in this neighborhood.
Edwin Beaton, a political science professor at USF-Tampa, says that although Montanari is smart to take up the insurance issue, blaming it on a one-term Democrat might be considered a reach among those paying attention.
The Republicans control the Legislature and the governors mansion, he said. That argument is not going to fly.
Cross notes that she had a Republican co-sponsoring her bill (Miami-Dades Vicki Lopez) as well as a Republican sponsoring it in the Senate (Lee Countys Jonathan Martin).
Thats just a red herring, Cross said in a follow-up interview. It detracts from the fact that I am getting things done and I am pushing back against really extreme policies coming from the supermajority.
In addition to property insurance, Montanari is touting his support for school choice and cracking down on undocumented immigration.
Environmentalist
A native of the Detroit suburbs and a Colorado State University grad, Cross came to Florida in the early aughts to work as an environmental scientist because this is a great place to practice that profession and make a difference here.
Her career has been steeped in environmental causes, such as serving as Tampa Bay Estuary Programs environmental science and policy manager, executive director of the Florida Wildlife Corridor, and government relations director for Florida Conservation Voters.
In addition to property insurance, she boasts that she has been able to bring home millions to Pinellas in state appropriations in her two years in office.
Her campaign is seizing on an internal poll conducted by the Democratic-leaning polling firm Impact Research of 400 likely voters conducted in July suggesting that Montanaris extreme abortion stance raises concerns.
Abortion
In a television ad that the Cross campaign began airing last week on places like ESPN, a woman is shown discussing how she needed an abortion to save her life.
So, when politicians like Ed Montanari vote against access to abortion, theyre voting against critical care for women in the worst moments of their lives she says in the ad, while a graphic cites two votes the City Council made in 2023 on abortion rights.
One of those votes was in February of 2023. As reported by the Tampa Bay Times, only three members of the councils Health, Energy, Resilience, and Sustainability Committee supported giving $50,000 to the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund to allow for travel expenses for women in St. Petersburg who needed an abortion. Montanari was not a member of that committee and did not vote on the proposal at that time.
When the proposal went before the full council in April of 2023, Montanari did vote against it as did five other council members, as the measure went down to defeat, 6-2. Two Tampa Bay-area House Republicans (Berny Jacques and Mike Beltran) had warned the council that the abortion fund would run against state law and threatened to withhold state dollars from the city if the council passed it.
Montanari does oppose Amendment 4, the proposed constitutional amendment on the Nov. 5 ballot that would enshrine abortion rights into the Floridas Constitution, allowing women to get a legal abortion up until the point of viability, at around 24 weeks.
I think that its an extreme bill for the state of Florida, he has said. It doesnt have any sort of restrictions. You can do abortion up until the ninth month.
But like Donald Trump, Montanari also doesnt support Floridas law banning most abortions in the state after six weeks, a bill signed into law last year by Ron DeSantis and that went into effect on May 1. He calls the new law a bridge too far, and says he would support a 15-week ban, which the Legislature passed in 2022 but was dissolved once the Florida Supreme Court ruled on its constitutionality earlier this year, allowing the six-week ban to go into effect.
Defend Our Dems
The Florida Democratic Party announced last week that Cross was one of four incumbents in the Legislature and two members of Congress who are part of their Defend Our Dems program, which will include organizing and fundraising support ahead of the November election.
This November, we have a chance to break the Republican supermajority in the Florida Legislature and make Hakeem Jeffries Speaker of the House but to do that, we first have to protect these seats, party Chair Nikki Fried said in a written statement.
When asked by an audience member at the Shore Acres forum how hed distinguish himself and be not just another number of the supermajority, Montanari said that while he had meshed well with his (mostly Democratic) colleagues on the City Council, he also would push back when things went too far.
Im going to be effective in getting things done, but Ill stand up if I have to, he said.
Cross questioned that assertion.
Ive seen people who claim to be moderates go up to Tallahassee and will tell people from their district that they dont believe in that thing, but then they go up to Tallahassee and because of the extreme supermajority and top-down system, those people may disagree with it, but they quietly press the yes vote every single time, she said.
Polling
That above-mentioned Impact Research survey conducted by the Cross campaign showed her up by a somewhat surprising 12 percentage points, 50%-38%. The survey said that even after balanced bios on both candidates were provided to the voters, Cross remained up by 7 points.
For his part, Montanari doesnt think much of that survey.
The race is going very well, he told radio talk-show host Drew Steele last week. I would call this a very light blue seat, because its trending Republican, just like Pinellas County is.
But will it trend all the way red on Nov. 5?
Incumbents have a distinct advantage over challengers, and though the Republicans might be gaining on Democrats in that district, [Cross] is the incumbent, said USF professor J. Edwin Beaton noting that incumbents at the local, state, and federal levels are re-elected at a more than 90% clip.
With six weeks left in the race, Cross also has the edge in campaign cash, with more than $100,000 more cash on hand in her combined accounts than does Montanari.
The first vote-by-mail ballots are due to be sent to Pinellas voters (and voters throughout the state) later this week.
The original version of this story listed 84 Republicans in the Florida House of Representatives, but the House District 72 seat is currently vacant.
Century Tower at the University of Florida. Credit: UF website
Florida was named for the eighth year in a row the top state for higher education by U.S. News & World Report.
The rankings, released Tuesday, take into account factors including graduation rates, social mobility, student debt, retention rates, and academic reputation.
The University of Florida was ranked the seventh-best public institution in the nation in the annual rankings, dropping one place from a year ago when it was ranked sixth.
UF recently lost its spot atop The Wall Street Journals rankings, where it dropped to #34 in the 2025 rankings after it was named the #1 public university in 2024. The Journals rankings weigh heavily 70% on student outcomes, which includes post-graduation salaries, paying off accumulated debt, and graduation rate. The remaining weight is put on learning environment and diversity.
Five other Florida institutions ranked inside U.S News top 100 public universities:
#23 Florida State, the same ranking it received in 2023-2024.
#45 University of South Florida, the same ranking it received in 2023-2024.
#46 Florida International University, an improvement from #64 in 2023-2024.
#61 University of Central Florida, an improvement from #64 in 2023-2024.
#81 Florida A&M, an improvement from #91 in 2023-2024.
Florida Atlantic University jumped nine spots to #103, the University of North Florida jumped three spots to #126, and Florida Gulf Coast University rose one spot to #161.
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Categorically
New College of Florida was ranked #7 of 19 in the Top Public Schools category and #122 in National Liberal Arts Colleges, a drop from #100 in 2023-2024 and #76 in 2022-2023.
FAMU retained its spot as the top public Historically Black College or University category for the sixth year in a row. It ranked third among public and private HBCUs.
The states top higher education ranking is frequently touted by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the State University System Board of Governors, often followed by mentions of recently enacted policy dealing with post-tenure review or legislative control over classroom materials.
The response continues to be negative, driving some professors out of the state, according to a survey of 350 Florida faculty. The policy, prompted by action from the Florida Legislature, requires that tenured faculty must undergo a review every five years. Failed reviews can result in termination, which one professor said effectively nullifies some of the more important tenure protections.
The first year of post-tenure review yielded a retention rate of approximately 99%, with 91% of professors reviewed meeting or exceeding expectations.
Floridas universities continue to prove that prioritizing academic achievement and faculty excellence leads to incredible outcomes, said board Chair Brian Lamb in a news release. On behalf of the Board of Governors, I recognize our universities, their trustees, administrators, and staff for the success in this years rankings and thank Governor DeSantis and the Florida Legislature for their support and investment in higher education.
Two of the three top public institutions in the nation are in California. The University of California Los Angeles was ranked the best and University of California Berkeley was ranked the second best. University of Michigan Ann Arbor was ranked third best.
The impressive rankings achieved by our 12 universities this year reaffirm Floridas status as the top state for higher education, said Chancellor Ray Rodrigues in a news release. The State University System of Florida remains committed to maintaining academic excellence and delivering a high-quality education. The recognition from U.S. News & World Report highlights the successful results of our efforts.
Florida is ranked #1 in lowest tuition and fees by U.S. News. In-state tuition has not risen in a decade.
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Helene now a Category 1 hurricane as it moves over Gulf toward Florida
Helene now a Category 1 hurricane as it moves over Gulf toward Florida
(NewsNation) Helene strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane Wednesday as it moved over the Caribbean into the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida.
Floridians along the peninsulas west coast have been preparing for another hurricane forecast to bring strong winds and dangerous flooding as soon as Thursday across the Gulf Coast.
LIVE TRACKER: Whats the path of Hurricane Helene?
What was a tropical storm early Wednesday morning continues to strengthen ahead of its anticipated landfall in the United States on Thursday. Helene is anticipated to be the fourth hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. this year.
Thousands along Floridas coast have been advised to evacuate as Helene approaches especially those living in areas previously hit hard by recent hurricanes.
Video shows Helene battering Cancun: Its a monsoon
Brad Reinhart, a senior hurricane specialist, said in a phone interview with the Associated Press that Helene could become a Category 3 by the time it reaches the Gulf Coast.
People in the Florida Panhandle and the west coast of Florida certainly need to pay close attention, Reinhart said. Its a pretty aggressive forecast for intensification over the next few days. People need to remain on high alert.
Could the Fujiwhara effect influence Helenes path?
Tracking Helenes movement in the Gulf
As of Wednesday morning, Helene was about 500 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, with maximum winds of 80 mph.
Helene, which formed Tuesday in the Caribbean, is expected to move over deep, warm waters, fueling its intensification. People in regions under hurricane warnings and watches should be prepared to lose power and should have enough food and water for at least three days, forecasters warned.
President Joe Biden declared an emergency in Florida and deployed Federal Emergency Management Agency teams to Florida and Alabama to support local first responders. Federal authorities were positioning generators, food and water, along with search-and-rescue and power restoration teams, the White House said.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in 41 counties. On Tuesday morning, the storm moved through the Caribbean Sea near Cuba and the Cayman Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Prepare that its going to be as strong as possible, DeSantis said. The wind you can hide from its the water that can be really, really devastating if you remain there when youre told to evacuate.
The storm is anticipated to be unusually large and fast-moving, meaning storm surges, wind and rain will likely extend far from the storms center, the hurricane center said. States as far inland as Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana could see rainfall.
Watches and warnings issued for Helene
This National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite image taken at 6:10pm ET shows Tropical Storm Helene off the Gulf Coast of Florida near Mexico and Cuba on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (NOAA via AP)
Sandbags are filled at a public site while residents prepare their homes for potential flooding, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Tarpon Springs, Fla., as Tropical Storm Helene approaches. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Karl Bohlmann, left, and Tangi Bohlmann, of Tarpon Springs, collect sandbags at a public site while residents prepare their homes for potential flooding, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Tarpon Springs, Fla., as the Tropical Storm Helene approaches. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Residents Dennis Lusby, left, and John Guerra fill sandbags at the Orange County distribution site at Barnett Park in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, ahead of the forecast for the possibility of heavy rains in Central Florida. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
Denis Keeran, of Maitland, fills sandbags at the Orange County distribution site at Barnett Park in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, ahead of the forecast for the possibility of heavy rains in Central Florida. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
Justin Fogle, of College Parks, fills a sandbag at the Orange County distribution site at Barnett Park in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, ahead of the forecast for the possibility of heavy rains in Central Florida. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
Residents fill sandbags at the Orange County distribution site at Barnett Park in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, ahead of the forecast for the possibility of heavy rains in Central Florida. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
A person walks in the rain after the passing of Hurricane John in Marquelia, Mexico, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Alberto Cruz)
A person wearing plastic walks in the street after the passing of Hurricane John in Marquelia, Mexico, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Alberto Cruz)
Watches and warning have been issued for parts of the Yucatan Peninsula, western Cuba, Grand Cayman and Florida, according to the Weather Channel.
A hurricane warning was in effect for the Anclote River to Mexico Beach, Florida; and Cabo Catoche to Tulum, Mexico including Cozumel.
A hurricane watch is in effect for the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio; and in Florida, from Englewood to Anclote River, including Tampa Bay. Hurricane watches mean that hurricane conditions are possible. They are usually issued 48 hours before forecasters predict the first occurrence of tropical storm-force winds.
In Florida, a storm surge warning was in effect for Indian Pass southward to Flamingo; Tampa Bay; and Charlotte Harbor. This means theres a possibility of life-threatening inundation in those areas for the next 36 hours.
The Dry Tortugas; all of the Florida Keys; the Florida west coast from Flamingo to Anclote River, including
Tampa Bay; west of Mexico Beach to the Walton/Bay County Line; the Florida east coast from Flamingo northward to the mouth of the St. Marys River; Lake Okeechobee; Rio Lagartos to Cabo Catoche, Mexico; and Cuban provinces of Artemisa, Pinar del Rio, and the Isle of Youth are under a tropical storm warning. A tropical storm warning indicates tropical storms conditions are expected in the next 24-36 hours.
The Georgia and South Carolina coasts north of the mouth of the St. Marys River to the South Santee River are under a tropical storm watch, so these conditions are possible in the areas within 48 hours.
In the coming days, people in regions under storm watches and warnings should be prepared to lose power, Lisa Bucci, a hurricane specialist, told AP. Bucci added that those in affected areas should stock up on enough food and water for at least three days.
Now is the time to start preparing. If youre in an evacuation zone, you should evacuate, Bucci said. Dont be fooled by the way the storm looks at the moment. We are expecting it to rapidly intensify.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Kamala Harris and Donald Trump both are aiming to be the candidate of manufacturing, but this week, they offered radically different pictures of the state of that industry while promising to help in nearly opposite ways.
Vice President Harris spoke Wednesday before the Economic Club of Pittsburgh where she unveiled the third plank of her "opportunity economy" agenda focused on spurring new factories.
"I will recommit the nation to global leadership in the sectors that will define the next century," she said in her speech, which highlighted industries like aerospace, AI, and quantum computing as likely to come in particular focus in a potential Harris administration.
She added she wanted advancements in these areas "not just being invented but built here in America by American workers.
Underlining her remarks was flurry of manufacturing activity in recent years under the Biden-Harris administration, with Harris casting her plans as a way to continue that upward trend.
Read more: What the 2024 campaign means for your wallet: The Yahoo Finance guide to the presidential election
A series of recent government efforts, from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to new green energy incentives to the CHIPS and Science Act focused on semiconductors, contributed to a more than threefold increase in new US factory construction in recent years.
Former President Donald Trump, by contrast, painted a darker portrait of the state of manufacturing and offered a different approach in a speech Tuesday. In that address, he focused on using new protective tariffs alongside other measures like lower corporate taxes and fewer regulations as a means to spur factory building.
"With the vision I'm outlining today, not only will we stop our businesses from leaving for foreign lands, but under my leadership, we are going to take other countries' jobs," Trump promised the crowd in Savannah, Ga.
He also called recent years a "horror show" for manufacturing but ignored the boom in factory construction a metric that was largely flat during his four years in office.
He focused instead on specific examples of increasing foreign footprints among well-known companies like GE (GE) and IBM (IBM), as well as the possible sale of US Steel (X) to Nippon Steel in Japan.
But, at least in the case of the proposed sale of US Steel, company officials on both sides of that possible acquisition said they wouldn't move additional steel manufacturing overseas if the deal is approved in the coming months.
President Biden has also announced his opposition to the US Steel deal and his administration is reportedly looking to block it, but it remains to be seen if he will act before November's election.
Story continues
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump at a campaign event in on September 24 in Savannah, Georgia. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images) (Brandon Bell via Getty Images)
A Harris plan to build on Biden's policies
Underlying the focus from Harris and Trump this week is a recent campaign trail trend that has seen Harris make significant gains among voters on the issue of the overall economy since taking the Democratic mantle from President Joe Biden this summer.
Harris and her campaign are hoping to use this week's speech to further a trend that has seen her tied at 46% on economic issues in a recent Morning Consult poll and ahead in Financial Times polls in both August and September.
Other polls have her close behind Trump on economic issues nationally and in key swing states.
Read more: Trump vs. Harris: 4 ways the next president could impact your bank accounts
The overall message in Wednesday's speech was for Harris to outline her overall economic vision including previously announced plans around small businesses and the cost of living.
Harris also touched on care economy themes, where she has recently outlined a priority of capping childcare costs at 7% of working families' incomes.
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arrives to deliver an economic speech in Pittsburgh on September 25. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) (JIM WATSON via Getty Images)
A message of 'pragmatism'
But for this speech, much of the focus was on Harris's message of pragmatism.
"I promise you I will be pragmatic in my approach," she said, citing Franklin D. Roosevelt's efforts at bold, persistent experimentation.
The focus on pragmatism is a clear effort to draw a contrast with Republicans and appeal to moderate voters who might be wary of Harriss economic bona fides but are also wary of Donald Trumps approach there.
The message is in part reacting to a reflexive free-market, trickle-down dogma for the last 40-odd years from the other side that starts with an answer that is always tax cuts and deregulation, whatever the question," said Jennifer Harris, who helped lead industrial policy in the early years of the Biden administration.
Indeed, in a speech Tuesday Trump focused on tariffs, as well as tax cuts and cutting red tape, as his plan to force companies to move their operations to the US.
Which argument is more appealing to the millions of manufacturing-minded voters in swing states remains to be seen.
Will the idea of a "horror show" declared by Trump resonate with voters? Or can Harris convince them that this aspect of Biden's largely unpopular economic agenda is one to embrace?
The number of manufacturing jobs did grow under Trump in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic. But those economic disruptions led to the loss of over 1 million manufacturing jobs, according to government data.
Those jobs have now returned, and currently, more Americans work in manufacturing than at any time since the end of the George W. Bush administration. But it's still a far cry from the heyday of manufacturing decades prior.
This post has been updated with additional developments.
Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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Fluoride in drinking water poses enough risk to merit new EPA action, judge says
FILE - A student drinks from a water fountain at an elementary school in California on Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
NEW YORK (AP) A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water because high levels could pose a risk to the intellectual development of children.
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it's not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids, but he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the EPA to take steps to lower that risk, but didnt say what those measures should be.
It's the first time a federal judge has made a determination about the neurodevelopmental risks to children of the recommended U.S. water fluoride level, said Ashley Malin, a University of Florida researcher who has studied the effect of higher fluoride levels in pregnant women.
She called it the most historic ruling in the U.S. fluoridation debate that weve ever seen.
The judge's ruling is another striking dissent to a practice that has been hailed as one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century. Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last month, a federal agency determined with moderate confidence that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water.
The EPA a defendant in the lawsuit argued that it wasn't clear what impact fluoride exposure might have at lower levels. But the agency is required to make sure there is a margin between the hazard level and exposure level. And if there is an insufficient margin, then the chemical poses a risk, Chen wrote in his 80-page ruling Tuesday.
Simply put, the risk to health at exposure levels in United States drinking water is sufficiently high to trigger regulatory response by the EPA under federal law, he wrote.
An EPA spokesperson, Jeff Landis, said the agency was reviewing the decision but offered no further comment.
In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and they continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later.
Fluoride can come from a number of sources, but drinking water is the main source for Americans, researchers say. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population currently gets fluoridated drinking water, according to CDC data.
Since 2015, federal health officials have recommended a fluoridation level of 0.7 milligrams per liter of water. For five decades before that, the recommended upper range was 1.2. The World Health Organization has set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water of 1.5.
Separately, the EPA has a longstanding requirement that water systems cannot have more than 4 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water. That standard is designed to prevent skeletal fluorosis, a potentially crippling disorder which causes weaker bones, stiffness and pain.
But in the last two decades, studies have suggested a different problem: a link between fluoride and brain development. Researchers wondered about the impact on developing fetuses and very young children who might ingest water with baby formula. Studies in animals showed fluoride could impact neurochemistry cell function in brain regions responsible for learning, memory, executive function and behavior.
The court case, argued in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, started in 2017. The lead plaintiff was Food & Water Watch, a not-for-profit environmental advocacy organization. Chen paused the proceedings in 2020 to await the results of the National Toxicology Program report, but he heard lawyers' arguments about the case earlier this year.
In our view, the only effective way to eliminate the risk from adding fluoride chemicals to water is to stop adding them, said Michael Connett, the plaintiffs' lead attorney, in an email Wednesday.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Former Bowling Green High School student allegedly tased after coming to campus with a knife
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (FOX 56) A former Bowling Green High School (BGHS) student was allegedly tased by a School Resource Officer (SRO) on Wednesday.
Kyle McGraw, Principal of BGHS, released a statement on Wednesday that said just before noon, a former student approached campus under duress and holding a knife.
Accident report reveals what led to fatal Winchester bus crash
The former student was reportedly confronted by a staff member outside school where he said that someone was trying to kill him, per Principal McGraw.
When the SRO tried to detain the former student, he quickly became noncompliant, and the officer had to tase him, school leaders said. The officer was reportedly unsuccessful in gaining compliance from the former student, despite allegedly tasing him.
According to BGHS, additional police officers came to the school and detained the former student.
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This occurred while other students were in the Commons of BGHS, Principal McGraw said, and may have been visible through windows to some students and staff.
After the former student was allegedly removed from campus, school leaders said that BGHS resumed the day as scheduled.
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ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) The University of Texas Permian Basin will be welcoming David Salyers, former Vice President of Marketing at Chick-fil-A, as the next speaker for the universitys Distinguished Lecture Series.
According to the UTPB website, Salyers served as one of the original marketing executives at Chick-fil-A, spending more than 37 years with the company. Additionally, UTPB said Salyers has become a renowned speaker, author, and consultant, known for helping individuals, teams, and organizations unlock their potential through brand development.
Falcon Focus: UTPB opens up conference play
The Distinguished Lecture Series is free and open to the public. UTPB is inviting community members, business professionals, and students to attend this lecture in the series beginning at 7 pm on Tuesday, October 8 at the Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center. You can learn more on the UTPB website here.
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A former CIA officer has been found guilty in a Virginia court of assaulting a female subordinate at an office party last year, the latest in a string of public court cases documenting what victims allege is a systemic failure by the agency to properly adjudicate cases of sexual assault and harassment.
Donald James Asquith was convicted of misdemeanor assault and battery in Loudoun County District Court on Wednesday morning and was sentenced to six months, with all but 24 hours of that sentence suspended if he abides by the law. He has appealed.
In disturbing testimony from the stand, the victim, identified in court only as Margaret T, recounted that Asquith, her boss at the time, drunkenly groped her after making a series of sexually graphic and demeaning statements to and about her during an office gathering for his 50th birthday in June 2023.
According to a statement from a CIA spokesperson, Within days of receiving a report of this incident, CIA acted swiftly to restrict Mr. Asquiths access to, and contact with, the victim.
According to multiple sources, Asquith was eligible for retirement at the time of the incident and, afterwards, moved to do so something the victims attorney, Kevin Carroll, suggested was a failure on the part of the agency to take disciplinary action against him. Asquith, he said, was allowed to retire; the CIA spokesman said in a statement only that Asquith had separated from the Agency in September 2023.
In a victim impact statement delivered to the court, T described seeking justice in a Byzantine and ultimately useless process with the employer.
According to Carroll, T sought guidance from CIA for months about how to securely report her assault to law enforcement without jeopardizing her colleagues Agency covers and mission. CIA never provided her such guidance.
The CIA was not named in public court; statements from both Carroll and the agency as well as multiple sources confirm that the workplace in question was a satellite office facility belonging to the agency in Loudoun County, Virginia.
An attorney for Asquith did not respond to a request for comment.
T testified that on June 9, 2023, she attended a birthday celebration for Asquith in a conference room at the CIA facility. She and other CIA employees testified that Asquith appeared to have been drinking heavily by the time she arrived around 4:15 that afternoon. Asquith, T said, almost immediately grabbed the lanyard around her neck with her photograph on it and said: Can you believe how sexy she is?, referencing her age. As the party went on, according to T, he began to ask her how often she and her husband had sex, pantomimed oral sex, asked questions about her personal grooming asking about her bikini area and if I was clean and bare, T said and then, began to touch her legs. T, who was seated next to Asquith, testified that she repeatedly sought to move her chair away, but that Asquith would pull it back close to him. At one point, she testified, he lifted his legs in the air, bent his knees, and said to the room: Look at me, Im [T].
T testified that she didnt leave because she thought she could deescalate the situation with Asquith, whom she said she was keenly aware was her boss.
But eventually, she testified, he leaned over and forcibly shoved his hand beneath her skirt, exposing my underwear. At that point, T said, she froze, and a colleague made the decision that they should leave. As she departed the room, she testified, Asquith grabbed her and rubbed their chests together in what he termed a boobie hug, and forcibly kissed her.
A female colleague of Ts, identified only as Kendall G, offered a similar account of a litany of graphic sexual remarks and invasive questions. G confirmed that Asquith compared the breast sizes of women in the office, thrust his hips at the tabletop in a pantomime of the sexual act, and asked female colleagues in the room, including T, about their and their partners use of Viagra. G, as well as a third male colleague, testified that they had seen Asquith reach under Ts skirt.
I felt small and powerless and mortified, T testified, clearly holding back tears.
Asquiths attorney told the court that Asquith did not remember the events in question. He argued that because T had not verbally articulated her nonconsent to his physical touching and because she had stayed a long time at the party and because Asquith was too intoxicated to have recognized more subtle expressions of nonconsent he could not be said to have intentionally assaulted T. He was, his attorney argued, not required to read her mind.
The court was unmoved.
This was unwanted touching, Judge Lorrie Sinclair Taylor said. There is no doubt in the courts mind that the defendant is guilty.
CIA under scrutiny
The trial comes as the CIA has faced an increasingly public reckoning about its handling of sexual assault cases.
Wednesdays trial follows a decision by the US District Court in Washington, DC, last week to sentence a former CIA officer to 30 years in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting multiple women; and another misdemeanor conviction, also under appeal, of a former CIA trainee accused of assaulting another trainee in a stairwell at Langley.
Both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees have been hearing testimony from alleged victims of sexual assault and harassment at the agency in a multi-year investigation that has spawned legislation reforming CIA processes for handling such cases.
In April, the House panel released an eight-page report that found the CIA had failed to handle allegations of sexual assault and harassment within its workforce in a professional and uniform manner, and appeared to mete out little to no accountability or punishment for perpetrators.
The report found that there was confusion and disorder in the process for reporting allegations. Victims, the report found, were deterred from coming forward because victims did not have anonymity and were unable to seek confidential assistance.
T, in her victim impact statement, spoke obliquely about her frustration that no one nor any institution has yet been willing to hold Mr. Asquith accountable for his grievous decisions and actions.
It is a travesty that people who take an oath to serve their country are exactly the people who have in turn ignored and thereby facilitated environments in which a drunken boss can and does use his power to humiliate, belittle and even assault someone in what should be a safe workplace all the while hiding behind claims of privacy and secrecy, she said.
If we keep treating these cases like they are parking violations, we all lose, she said.
The agency has sought to streamline its reporting processes for victims, including establishing a dedicated office last year to receive allegations of assault and harassment. In February, the agency announced it had put in place a federal law enforcement officer tasked with working with that office to facilitate investigations, including referrals to the appropriate law enforcement entity or investigatory process, according to a July statement from CIA Director Bill Burns.
Some victims have alleged that they have been discouraged by the agency from reporting instances of assault to law enforcement because their affiliation with the agency is covert. Burns in his statement insisted that while we understand that employees may have questions about how to engage with law enforcement Agency employees do not need permission to contact law enforcement to report a crime.
The fact that a sexual assault or sexual harassment has occurred is not classified, although surrounding circumstances, including the identities of any clandestine employees or facilities related to the allegations, may be, Burns said.
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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) A former DuBois City manager and secretary were indicted by a federal grand jury for the alleged theft and misappropriation of $1.5 million in city funds and money laundering.
United States Attorney Eric Olshan announced the 10-count Superseding indictment on John Herm Suplizio, 64, former DuBois city manager, and Robert Shaffer, 59 former city secretary. The two were originally indicted and arrested in November 2023 on conspiracy and federal fraud charges.
This superseding indictment expands the time frame of the federal theft conspiracy in the November indictment with allegations of an additional $700,000 in theft. It also adds money laundering charges.
The indictment accuses Suplizo and Shaffer of knowingly conspiring to embezzle, steal, convert and misapply over $1.5 million owned by the city since around May 2008. According to the indictment, the duo opened bank accounts without the knowledge of the DuBois City Council or auditors. They then funneled fees meant for the city from a waste management company and two oil and gas companies into the secret accounts.
Read more from the Suplizio Saga by clicking here.
The two would then allegedly use the stolen money to make large cash withdrawals, write checks to themselves and others, obtain cashiers checks with their names on them, and make payments to Suplizios personal credit card, among other things, Olshan said in a release.
Olshan added that purchases on Suplizios credit card included vacation expenses, utility expenses for his home, political dinners, and purchases at department and jewelry stores.
The indictment alleges that many of the transactions they engaged with the proceeds were over $10,000, which constitutes money laundering under federal law.
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The law provides for a maximum sentence of up to either five or 10 years in prison, a fine of up
to either $250,000 or $500,000, or both, on each count.
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A jury on Wednesday convicted former Houston narcotics officer Gerald Goines of two murder charges for instigating a January 2019 drug raid that killed a middle-aged couple, Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas, he falsely accused of selling heroin. Goines admitted that he lied in the affidavit supporting the no-knock search warrant that authorized him and his colleagues to break into the couple's home, describing a heroin purchase that never happened.
The prosecution argued that Goines' lies made him criminally responsible for the deaths of Tuttle and Nicholas, who were killed after Goines and several other officers broke down the front door and immediately shot the couple's dog. Tuttle, who according to prosecutors was napping in a bedroom at the time, reacted to the tumult and gunfire by grabbing a revolver and shooting at the intruders, injuring four of them, including Goines. The cops responded with a hail of at least 40 bullets, killing Tuttle and Nicholas, who was unarmed but allegedly looked like she was about to grab a gun from an injured officer.
The two murder charges against Goines were based on a statute that applies when someone "commits or attempts to commit a felony" and "in the course of and in furtherance of the commission or attemptcommits or attempts to commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual." That charge was inappropriate in this case, the defense argued, because Goines' underlying felonyproducing the fraudulent search warrant affidavitdid not cause the deaths of Tuttle and Nicholas, which they brought on themselves.
"This case is overcharged," defense attorney Mac Secrest told the jury during closing arguments on Tuesday. "It should never have been charged [as] felony murder," he said while pointing at the prosecutors. "It got amped up to it because of the politics in their office, because of the media outcry, the pressure."
Goines' lawyers argued that Tuttle and Nicholas would still be alive if they had surrendered instead of resisting. While the prosecution emphasized that the cops fired first, Secrest emphasized that Tuttle fired "the first shot at a human being" (as opposed to the dog). "These officers didn't fire upon anyone until they were fired upon themselves," he said. "Nobody shot at Dennis Tuttle until he started putting bullets into peoples' faces and necks."
Although the officers were not wearing uniforms, Goines' lawyers argued that the word police on their tactical gear should have made it clear who they were. The defense also claimed the cops verbally identified themselves as police officers, although the existing audio record does not reflect that.
According to the account that Art Acevedo, then Houston's police chief, gave at a press conference the night of the raid, the cops "announced themselves as Houston police officers while simultaneously breaching the front door." Within seconds, they had killed the dog. It would be undestandable if Nicholas and Tuttle missed any announcement amid the violence and confusiona possibility that Jeff Wolf, a Texas ranger who investigated the incident, noted during his testimony.
"Mr. Tuttle reacted as anybody would, any normal person, hearing guns ring out in their house, their doors blown in, his wife on the couch, the dog is dead in the living room," Harris County Assistant District Attorney Keaton Forcht said during his opening statement two weeks ago. "He grabs his pistol and comes storming out." Forcht argued that Goines therefore was "legally responsible for every shot in that house, whether it was from officers or Dennis Tuttle."
Forcht reiterated that point during his closing argument. "Everything that happened in that house, everything, flowed directly from that warrant," he said. Because of Goines' dishonesty, he argued, "those two individuals are now dead."
After deliberating for about eight hours on Tuesday and Wednesday, the jurors accepted that framing, rejecting the defense's claim that Goines' victims were the real aggressors. The jury is scheduled to return on Thurday morning to consider the appropriate penalty.
The murder charges are punishable by five years to life in prison. The jury also convicted Goines of tampering with a governmental record, a felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison.
Goines targeted Tuttle and Nicholas based on 911 calls from a neighbor, Patricia Garcia, who described them as armed and dangerous drug dealers who had sold her daughter heroin. Garcia, who did not even have a daughter, later admitted she had made the whole thing up, pleading guilty to federal charges related to her false reports.
In his search warrant affidavit, Goines claimed a confidential informant had bought heroin from a man at 7815 Harding Street, where Tuttle and Nicholas had lived for two decades. Goines later confessed he had invented that transaction, although he claimed he personally had bought heroin at the house the evening before the raid. Prosecutors showed that was not true either, presenting evidence that Goines was 20 miles away from the house at the time of the alleged drug purchase and had not visited the location that day.
Goines also faces seemingly redundant federal charges in connection with the Harding Street raid. "While acting under color of law," according to a November 2019 indictment, Goines "prepared an affidavit for a search warrant that contained numerous material false statements, presented that affidavit to a State of Texas judicial officer, swore under oath to the truthfulness of the contents of that affidavit, obtained a search warrant based on that affidavit from that judicial officer," and "executed that search warrant."
In doing so, the indictment says, Goines "willfully depriv[ed] Dennis Tuttle of the right, secured and protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States, for people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures." That offense "involved the use, attempted use and threatened use of a dangerous weapon" and "resulted in the death of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas."
In addition to the criminal charges, Goines faces federal civil rights lawsuits filed by relatives of Tuttle and Nicholas. One of those lawsuits also names Acevedo as a defendant.
Goines' lies in this case were part of what Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg described as a "pattern of deceit" going back more than a decade. The Harding Street raid prompted Ogg's office to re-examine some 1,400 drug cases involving Goines, a 34-year veteran who had a habit of framing suspects by inventing drug purchases. "The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned at least 22 convictions linked to Goines," the Associated Press reports.
Acevedo, who initially hailed Goines as a "hero," has insisted that the Harding Street raid did not reflect "a systemic problem with the Houston Police Department." But Ogg saw things differently. "Houston Police narcotics officers falsified documentation about drug payments to confidential informants with the support of supervisors," she said in July 2020. "Goines and others could never have preyed on our community the way they did without the participation of their supervisors; every check and balance in place to stop this type of behavior was circumvented."
The post Former Houston Drug Cop Convicted of Murder After His Lies Resulted in Two Deaths appeared first on Reason.com.
A former John Kerry staffer was arrested on Nantucket late Friday morning for allegedly writing a bad check to a casino for $1.5 million, just one day after his island mansion was sold at a foreclosure auction.
Daniel Burrell was wanted by law enforcement authorities in Colorado and Nevada after writing a $1.5 million check that bounced at a Las Vegas casino, the Nantucket Current reported.
The arrest comes one day after Burrell's island estate was sold at a foreclosure auction for $12.52 million.
Burrell previously had warrants out for his arrest in Pitkin County, Colorado, the outlet reported, for allegedly defaulting on over $75 million in bank loans he used to pay off divorce payments, buy a yacht and purchase luxury homes.
Tim Walzs $250M State Program To Feed Hungry Kids Fraudulently Spent On Luxury Goods, Overseas Real Estate
Daniel Burrell is escorted from Nantucket District Court by the Nantucket Sheriff's Office in Massachusetts on Friday, September 20, 2024. Burrell was arrested on Nantucket late Friday morning on a warrant out of Las Vegas, where he is alleged to have written a bad check to a casino for $1.5 million.
This arrest is the latest in a number of legal troubles for Burrell, who served in the Clinton administration as a member of its Domestic Policy Council from 2000 to 2001.
Read On The Fox News App
Burrell's ties to Kerry include serving as a campaign finance assistant to the former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State during his presidential campaign in 2004. He once described Kerry as "an incredible mentor," the Current reported.
"Dan was a young college graduate hired as a campaign finance assistant and ultimately finished the 2004 campaign as a regional finance staffer in California, before heading to law school and starting his own professional ventures," a source close to Kerry told Fox News Digital.
Last November, Burrell was sued by First Western Bank for allegedly defaulting on $56 million in business and construction loans. Then in April 2024, Alpine Bank launched legal action, according to the Current, which alleged he owed $18 million on an $18.5 million loan. An online foreclosure auction was held for one of Burrell's Aspen, Colorado, estates after he used it as collateral against the loan, which allowed the bank to acquire the property for $24.6 million.
John Kerry Used Government Email Alias As Secretary Of State, Whistleblowers Say
Daniel Burrell previously had warrants out for his arrest in Pitkin County, Colorado, for allegedly defaulting on over $75 million in bank loans he used to pay off divorce payments, buy a yacht and purchase luxury homes.
A spokesperson for Kerry issued a statement to Fox News Digital on his behalf stating that "we hope that Dan and his family find peace and healing."
Burrell is the founder of the Burrell Group, an investment management company focusing on commercial offices, multi-family, medical facilities, and student housing, according to the company's LinkedIn page.
John Kerry Scorched For Misleading On Private Jet Use: 'Democrats' Standard Of Hypocrisy
President Biden awards the Medal of Freedom to former Secretary of State and former U.S. Sen. John Kerry during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on May 3, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Burrells casino debt case has been assigned to Las Vegas Justice Court and will be heard either Monday or Tuesday, according to his lawyer, Andrew Frtiz. Burrell was unable to immediately provide the $10,000 bail set by the judge in Nantucket and was held overnight at the Nantucket Police Department, according to the Current.
"My understanding is he was picked up today on an arrest warrant out of Nevada where he is owing money, presumably on these casino markers, to a casino in Las Vegas, Nevada," Fritz told the Current at the time.
Prior to Friday's arrest, the Current reported Burrell was entangled in other legal issues on Nantucket over the summer, ranging from a petty theft charge to a dispute with a small business property manager on the island.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Nantucket County Sherriff's Department for comment, but has not yet heard back.
Original article source: Former John Kerry staffer arrested on Nantucket for allegedly writing $1.5M bad check
Former President Donald Trump will return to the Butler Farm Show grounds for his October rally, marking the first time hes visited the site since he was shot in an assassination attempt.
>> Butler neighbors react to former President Trumps return in October
NBC News confirmed Trump planned to host another rally in Butler on Oct. 5.
>> Heres when former President Donald Trump will return to Butler
Trump first announced in late July that he planned to return to Butler, after a gunman opened fire at his rally on July 13.
>> Former President Trump says he plans to return to Butler in October
Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief, was killed at the July 13 rally. Trump plans to honor Comperatore and the two men who were injured in the assassination attempt when he returns to Butler.
I will be going back to Butler, Pennsylvania for a big and beautiful rally, honoring the soul of our beloved firefighting hero Corey and those brave patriots injured two weeks ago. What a day it will be-- fight, fight, fight! the former president said on Truth Social over the summer.
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Local veterans car stolen with his dog inside, family offering cash reward for beloved pets return Peters Township woman speaks out for first time about violent hammer attack, her recovery Local man admitted to using skimming device on gas pumps at Monroeville Sheetz, police say VIDEO: Butler neighbors react to former President Trumps return in October DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts
Former President Donald Trump made another stop in our area Wednesday, and Chopper 9 was over the motorcade as he made his way to Mint Hill.
PREVIOUS: Donald Trump announces campaign stop in Mint Hill
Trump spoke for more than an hour about jobs and the economy at the Mosack Group Facility, which is a manufacturing company.
First, he talked about a reported foreign assassination plot against him.
The 45th president started his speech focused on Iran noting the reported threats U.S. intelligence officials briefed his campaign on about a plot to assassinate him.
Hello from the campaign trail. First time covering former President Trump this election cycle.
He has a stop here in Mint Hill at 1pm.
We are live a NOON with a preview and will have full coverage on Channel 9 at 5 & 6. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/uyJmTqWr5w Hunter Saenz (@Hunt_Saenz) September 25, 2024
If I were the president, I would inform the threatening country, in this case, Iran, that if you do anything to harm this person we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens, Trump said. Were going to blow it to smithereens. You cant do (make threats).
After that, Trump pivoted to domestic issues, including manufacturing jobs, as he spoke in a facility that creates pipes, adapters, and other products.
Under my plan, American workers will no longer be worried about losing your jobs to foreign nations, Trump said. Instead, foreign nations will be worried about losing their jobs to America.
If elected, he said he would knock the federal corporate tax rate down from 21% to 15% if a companys product is made in America.
He also said hed tax foreign competitors of U.S. companies and offer U.S. manufacturers a 100% write-off on the costs of heavy machinery and equipment.
A few hundred supporters were at the intimate event, along with Republican candidates running down-ballot.
Gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson was not there.
Trumps campaign has tried to distance itself from after Robinsons latest scandal. Trump didnt mention his name on Wednesday.
However, Trump insisted North Carolina is critical for his campaign.
We win North Carolina. Were going all the way, Trump said.
(WATCH BELOW: VP Harris makes stop in Charlotte, talks about the future)
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) A former officer of the Savannah Police Department has been indicted in the shooting death of Saudi Lee, the Chatham County District Attorneys (DA) Office announced Wednesday.
Lee was shot by former officer Ernest Ferguson during a chase in the Carver Village Neighborhood in June 2022.
The 31-year-old was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.
Man charged after shooting on Augusta Avenue
Ferguson was indicted earlier this year in a separate Dec. 2022 case on a charge of robbery by sudden snatching.
Meanwhile, Lees family filed a lawsuit against the city and the officers involved seeking damages for his senseless and unjustified shooting death.
What happens with future police misconduct is really up to law enforcement, said DA Shalena Cook Jones. Thats a matter of training. Its a matter of resources. And those kinds of questions are outside of our control. But what we can do, we do, and that is to make sure that any violations of the law are brought to justice.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US Vice President Kamala Harris said she would offer tax credits to companies that increase "good union jobs" like the ones that the steel industry brought to Pennsylvania.
Harris also said she would prioritize investments in strengthening factories and retooling existing ones, in a speech at the Pittsburgh Economic Club that focused on the middle class.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose; editing by Costas Pitas)
SEQUATCHIE COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) A former Tennessee state trooper has been indicted and arrested as the result of a case handled by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), officials announced Wednesday.
At the request of 12th Judicial District Attorney General Courtney Lynch, the TBI said its special agents started investigating a complaint on April 22 about a trooper having frequent contact with an individual involved in prostitution, who had warrants from multiple jurisdictions.
TN National Guardsman pleads guilty after applying to work as hitman on fake website
Over the course of the investigation, authorities said they learned Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) Trooper Brenton Wiegand was involved with the woman while in his state vehicle and in uniform from September 2023 through April 2024.
Then, on Monday, Sept. 23, the Sequatchie County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging 38-year-old Wiegand with one count of aggravated rape and one count of official misconduct, according to the TBI. He was arrested the following day and booked into the Sequatchie County Jail.
Davidson County DAs Office reportedly recorded attorneys, visitors & employees
Officials said the bond for Wiegand who is no longer employed by THP will be set on Monday, Sept. 30.
No additional details have been released about this investigation.
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Former Wayne County deputy sentenced for role in drug trafficking, fraud operations on the job
RALEIGH, N.C (WNCN) A former Wayne County sheriffs deputy has been sentenced to over six years in prison for his role in drug trafficking and fraud operations while on the job. Michael Kenneth Cox pleaded guilty to the charges earlier this year.
Cox worked for the Wayne County Sheriffs Office from 1996 until he retired as the head of the drug unit in 2018.
Cox was indicted on about a dozen charges. He was accused of taking part in a scheme to steer contracts for Wayne County Sheriffs Office vehicles to his own business. This was regardless of whether Coxs company provided such work at the lowest price as required by the Wayne County procurement requirements.
PREVIOUS | Former Wayne County deputy pleads guilty to role in drug trafficking, fraud operations on the job, USDOJ says
Along with the fraud charges, Cox was indicted for conspiring with multiple drug traffickers to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and oxycodone and two counts of making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to prosecutors.
Federal documents show Cox was sentenced to six years on two of the counts against him followed by three years of supervised release. The remainder of the charges against him were dropped.
RELATED | One former, one current Wayne County sheriffs deputy facing 12 separate fraud charges, prosecutors say
During a Wednesday afternoon press conference, United States Attorney Michael Easley said Coxs crimes were uncovered during a large drug trafficking investigation in eastern North Carolina called Operation Polar Bear. Investigators got information that some traffickers were being helped by members of law enforcement.
According to Easley, Cox actively protected drug traffickers and helped them dodge allegations by saying they were informants. Easley also said that at one point Cox provided a false alibi for an alleged shooter.
He put his men and women in law enforcement in jeopardy, Easley said.
Cox and his co-conspirator, fellow Wayne County Sheriffs Office employee Christopher Worth who is scheduled to be sentenced next month worked together to take taxpayers money from the county through unfair bids, Easley said.
Bids were cooked, said Easley. They conspired together to make sure Cox would always win the bid.
The U.S. Attorney emphasized that for the few bad law enforcement members in this case, there were several more that worked with investigators to root out the corrupt actors.
This case highlights how fragile our system really is and how fragile our rule of law is, Easley said. Every once in a while, the devil gets one of us.
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FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) UPDATE: Fort Smith Police say that the missing child has been found safe.
FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) Fort Smith police are looking for a missing 12-year-old boy.
Police say they are looking for Seth Elmore to verify his safety. He was last seen wearing a black and white camouflage hoodie with black shorts and red Arkansas Razorback crocs.
If anyone has any information about Seths whereabouts, call 479-709-5100.
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Fort Worth ISD is looking for a new superintendent, again. How did we get here?
At the end of last month, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker walked into a school board meeting and told board members that the citys biggest school district was falling behind.
On Tuesday, nearly a month later, Fort Worth Independent School District Superintendent Angelica Ramsey resigned from her post as head of the district.
Although the issues leading up to Ramseys departure came to a head over the past month, many of those challenges date back years, some of them well before her arrival in Fort Worth.
The districts school board voted Tuesday evening to accept Ramseys resignation from the superintendent position, effective Oct. 1. Shell remain on the districts payroll until August, although its unclear what capacity shell be working in.
Ramsey came to Fort Worth ISD in September 2022, after serving as superintendent of the Midland Independent School District for about a year. When they announced the hire, board members said they were impressed with Ramseys focus on students and classrooms.
At the time, Fort Worth ISD was in the middle of what district leaders called a seismic shift in how it handled reading instruction, moving away from a now-discredited instructional model called balanced literacy and toward instruction grounded in the science of reading. The district was celebrating growth in state test scores and A-F ratings that leaders attributed in part to that change. Ramsey told the Star-Telegram at the time that she supported that shift, and hoped to continue building on it.
But the progress in reading didnt continue, state test scores suggest. In 2022, the last round of testing before Ramsey arrived in the district, 36% of students in grades 3-8 tested on grade level in reading. Two years later, that number had fallen to 31%.
FWISDs STAAR scores prompt criticism
The districts test scores have been one of the biggest sources of criticism against Fort Worth ISDs leadership. At last months board meeting, Parker pointed out that, over the past 10 years, the Dallas and Houston independent school districts have made steady progress on state tests, while Fort Worth ISD has stagnated.
In 2015, Dallas and Fort Worth ISDs were dead even on state tests, with 28% of students scoring on grade level across all subjects. But over the nine years that followed, Dallas ISD improved steadily, climbing to 42% this year. Fort Worth ISD, meanwhile, improved just one point.
In an email to the Star-Telegram on Monday, Ramsey pointed out that, over the past two years, the districts test scores have held steady or grown in most areas as scores across the state have slipped. But although the gap has narrowed somewhat, Fort Worth ISD continues to lag behind Texas other major urban districts. Ramsey didnt respond to requests for comment for this story.
On Wednesday morning, Parker acknowledged that those issues predate Ramseys time in the Fort Worth ISD, but said the district needs leaders who will help teachers give students the quality of instruction that they need. Parker said shes heard from several experienced teachers in the district who have told her that bureaucracy is keeping them from helping students grow academically, or from teaching newer educators how to do the job. There seems to be a breakdown between what goes on in the classroom and in the districts central office, she said.
In Texas, mayors have no formal role in their cities education systems, meaning Parker isnt officially involved in the search for a new superintendent. But she said shed like to see the board pick a candidate with a proven turnaround record in other districts.
But before that, the board needs to be thoughtful about who it appoints as interim superintendent, she said. District leaders can use that transition period to listen to teachers and families before moving on to a new permanent superintendent, she said.
Right now, I think we all need to take a deep breath, she said.
Fort Worth schools face declining enrollment
Stagnant test scores arent the only challenge the district has faced during Ramseys tenure. Like many districts across the country, Fort Worth ISD has watched its enrollment dwindle over the past decade, dropping 20% between 2016 and 2023. District leaders have pointed to a number of causes for the enrollment declines, including housing patterns, increased competition from charter schools and declining birth rates.
Whatever the reason, declining enrollment is placing financial pressure on the district, forcing the board to make difficult decisions about its facilities. The district is in the middle of a $2 million study looking at how its facilities line up with its needs. A report from that study, which is likely to include recommendations for school closures, is expected to go before the board this winter.
More top stories from our newsroom:
Fort Worth school board accepts superintendent's resignation
Fort Worth ISD teachers speak out as superintendents fate is decided
Driver shot by off-duty officer shares his account of events
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Separate from that study, the district floated a proposal last spring to consolidate seven low-enrollment middle schools into three larger campuses. All seven campuses were targeted for renovations and improvements under the districts 2021 bond issue. But after pushback from parents and other community members, the districts board abandoned the idea and moved forward with renovations as originally scheduled. A district spokesperson told the Star-Telegram those campuses could still end up being targeted for closure under the facilities study.
The district also started the current school year without a codified set of academic goals. In late July, Ramsey brought a proposed five-year strategic plan before the board. The plan included a goal for half the districts students to score on grade level in reading and math on the Texas state test by 2029. The presentation marked the first time the proposal had been seen in public. The board voted the proposal down, with some members saying they wanted to allow more time for public input before passing the plan. District leaders expected a proposed strategic plan to go back before the board in September, but that hasnt happened.
Fort Worth ISDs school board is expected to appoint an interim superintendent in the coming days.
Superintendent Angelica Ramsey is resigning her post as chief of the Fort Worth Independent School District.
The districts board accepted Ramseys voluntary resignation without any public discussion at a meeting Tuesday night. In a joint written statement after the meeting, the board and Ramsey announced that her resignation as superintendent is effective Oct. 1 but her employment will continue through Aug. 30, 2025. The statement did not say in what capacity she will work for the district after Oct. 1.
The board said it will appoint an interim superintendent to serve until it begins a search for a replacement.
The 8-1 vote came after a four-hour closed executive session. District 1 Trustee Camille Rodriguez was the only board member to vote against accepting Ramseys resignation.
Following the meeting, board President Roxanne Martinez said she supported the move after hearing concerns from the community about the direction the district was headed.
The board will, of course, be moving forward with our commitment and focus on student outcomes and improving student achievement, she said.
Ramseys leadership of the district has been under scrutiny for the past month, after Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker sent board members a letter which was co-signed by more than 40 other elected officials and community leaders calling on them to do more to improve student performance. During the boards Aug. 27 meeting, Parker called for a bold, unified approach to turning the district around.
Parker stopped short of calling for Ramsey to be replaced, but said the districts academic outcomes are unacceptable. She pointed out that test scores in both the Dallas and Houston independent school districts have steadily improved over the past decade, even as Fort Worths have stagnated.
In 2015, Dallas and Fort Worth ISDs were exactly on par with each other, with 28% of students in each district scoring on grade level on the state STAAR test. But since then, Dallas ISD improved steadily, while Fort Worth held steady. Last year, 42% of Dallas ISDs students tested on grade level, while just 29% of Fort Worth ISD students did so.
Parkers comments before the board came two weeks after a closed-door meeting that included Parker, Ramsey and a number of other city leaders. Neither the district nor the mayors office would confirm details about the meeting.
During the public comment section of Tuesdays meeting, Israel Michel, a systems engineer with Lockheed Martin and a former student of Ramseys, spoke on the superintendents behalf. Ramsey had a profound impact on his life, Michel said, both as a teacher and as a mentor.
During my time in her classroom, I witnessed her unwavering commitment to ensure student success, he said. She consistently focused not only on academics, but also took the time to understand our individual challenges.
Another speaker, Lee Saldivar, president of Fort Worth LULAC chapter 4743, said many of the problems the district is struggling with have been issues for decades, dating back well before Ramsey came to Fort Worth. The district has had long-standing issues serving students with special needs, dealing with bullying and preventing workplace injuries, he said. He encouraged the board to look for solutions to those problems and not lay the blame with Ramsey, who has been with the district for two years.
In July, following Ramseys most recent job evaluation, the board voted 5-4 to award her a $15,000 performance bonus, which is the smallest her contract allows. Her contract was set to expire in July 2026.
During a meeting last week, board members discussed Ramseys job performance during a closed-session meeting, but took no action. Before the closed session began, about 20 people spoke during public comment, with some criticizing the superintendents leadership of the district, and others arguing that the districts problems predate Ramseys time in Fort Worth.
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The Fort Worth school boards decision to accept Superintendent Angelica Ramseys resignation reaffirms its commitment to the success of the district, Mayor Mattie Parker said in a statement to the Star-Telegram Wednesday.
I applaud the Board for the seriousness with which they have taken their roles as the elected governing body of Fort Worth ISD, she said.
Ramsey resigned Tuesday, four weeks after Parker and 40 other business, civic and nonprofit leaders penned a letter to the school board demanding improvements in student achievement. The 8-1 vote to accept the resignation followed a four-hour closed session. Board member Camille Rodriguez voted against the motion.
Paker praised school board president Roxanne Martinez for her commitment to move the district forward and find the transformative leader our district deserves.
She called on the community to come together to ensure Fort Worths schools thrive to build a brighter future for its students. The 72,783-student district is the largest in Tarrant County.
Together, we have the potential to make FWISD the premier public school district in the country, she said.
In the wake of Ramseys resignation, several of those signatories argued the board shouldnt escape scrutiny for the districts failures. They said lackluster reading scores and declining student achievement wont be solved by hiring a new superintendent.
Members of the school board should look in the mirror, learn lessons from the last 10 years, hold themselves accountable, adopt a no excuses attitude, and chart a course that provides our kids the education they deserve, said Pete Geren, president of the nonprofit Sid W. Richardson Foundation, which awards grants to support education and cultural institutions in Fort Worth.
Ramsey never really understood Fort Worths culture, said former Mayor Betsy Price.
The community has always been involved with their schools from business leaders, neighborhood leaders to parents, and she wasnt in the community a lot, and wasnt out connecting with people, Price said.
Ramsey did organize several advisory councils to get feedback from teachers, parents, students and business leaders on ways to improve the district.
Price was one of several people who participated in an Aug. 8 private meeting with Ramsey organized by Parker. She said some of those present were dissatisfied with what they saw as a lack of a plan for moving the district forward.
Price acknowledged Ramsey took over the district at a difficult time with falling enrollment, fights over curriculum, debates about school closures on top of the issues with poor test scores.
Any improvement in leadership would be welcome, said Texas A&M law school dean Robert Ahdieh another signatory to the Aug. 27 letter.
Ahdieh, who in addition to running the law school is involved in business attraction, said having a high quality public education system is key to Fort Worths success.
We should acknowledge that none of this is flip a switch. None of this is changes in a seat and miraculously miracles happen, he said.
The whole community needs to come together to signal that high quality education is a priority, Ahdieh said.
Its a tough situation, because superintendents usually get five years to turn things around and Ramsey has had only two, said Bob Ray Sanders, spokesperson for the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce.
But Ive seen us go through many five year plans and never succeed with the plan, Sanders said.
He noted that Parkers message at the Aug. 27 school board meeting was not meant as an indictment of Ramsey, but rather a call for the board to work with the superintendent to improve the school district.
The board needs to be stronger and have real responsibility for this district, and not get tied up in politics, he said.
Sanders, who was also present at an Aug. 8 meeting, described it as tense and frank with a lot of participants expressing frustration about the school districts low test scores.
There was also sympathy from some in the meeting because Ramsey had tried to put forward a strategic plan that was rejected by the school board in July, Sanders said.
However, Sanders acknowledged Ramseys experience coming from the much smaller 26,000-student Midland school district may not have adequately prepared her to take on the rigors of the job in Fort Worth.
Fox News liberal-leaning political analyst Juan Williams on Tuesday called out former Trump White House counselor Kellyanne Conway to her face, live on the air for her spin on what was purportedly Donald Trumps speech on what he plans to do with the economy if he wins the 2024 election.
Conway claimed the former president got very granular with his lengthy address in Georgia and argued it was a challenge to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris to stop talking in generics and be more granular.
Williams, though, wasnt having it.
You know, Kellyanne said he got granular. Im still waiting for the grain here, the granular pieces, because, to me, this was a speech in which hes trying to set out a new policy, I guess [] but all I heard from him was attacks on Harris, Comrade Kamala. For an hour and a half, Kamala is a communist.
Conway, who during Trumps presidency displayed her penchant for alternative facts, pushed back, saying: Come on, Juan. You have the text in front of you. Dont say that.
Williams was undeterred.
This was pretty much just an ad hominem personal attack, he said. It made for like a rally-like atmosphere. It was a brash promise that hes making to make everything better, he says, Itll be so easy. But the reality is, even as he attacks Harris, he ignores the fact the U.S. economy right now is growing even after COVID. Its the best on the globe. Manufacturing fell to its lowest under Trump.
Williams said he hadnt heard any new policies from Trump and that it was just the same old schtick from the ex-POTUS.
Conway told Williams, I just cant sit here and abide these lies.
To which Williams fired back, Its not a lie. Its the absolute truth.
Watch the exchange here:
Related...
Republicans are set to flip the Senate for the first time this cycle in this weeks Fox News Power Rankings .
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris enjoys a small post-debate bump, three new toss-up races emerge in the House, and the GOP loses ground on the governor map.
Two weeks after their first debate, Harris is up a point and former President Trump is down the same in an average of high-quality polls.
If those numbers sound familiar, it is because they match the shifts after the first debate between President Biden and Trump four years ago.
That could be a problem for Republicans. In 2020, Trump did not narrow the polling gap that the first debate created until a stronger showing in the second. As of today, Harris and Trump have not agreed on terms for a rematch.
Harris gaining with independent voters.
Fox News Poll: Voters Think Harris Did Better Than Trump In Debate
Read On The Fox News App
Harris improvement comes from independents more than any other group. They backed Trump by 8 points in a Fox News survey last month but now prefer Harris by 12. Biden won independents by 15 points in the last election, so an enduring Harris lead in this group could give her an edge on election night. (Poll results among subgroups can be volatile.)
The same post-debate poll has Trump down two points among all voters, leaving the former president at 48% and Harris at 50%. A spread like that on election night gives Trump an electoral college advantage .
Further slippage in support for the former president would change that math.
Republicans have enjoyed a head start in the Senate from the beginning of this cycle. Their star candidate in Montana is doing more than anyone to get them to the finish line.
The latest forecast predicts Republicans will take at least 51 seats on election night, while Democrats are expected to take at least 47. That leaves two races in the Toss Up category.
Montana moves out of that category this week.
Fox News Power Rankings Senate map.
This state has been represented for nearly two decades by Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, one of the last rural Democrats, who has leaned on his farming background and gun rights advocacy to exceed expectations in three elections.
However, Trump won the state by 16 points in 2020, and Tester faces a strong opponent in businessman and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy. He has run an efficient, disciplined campaign on the economy and the border.
That makes Montana a better pickup opportunity for the GOP than Ohio, which does not lean toward Trump as much as its western neighbor and where Republican candidate Bernie Moreno has made missteps on the trail.
Sheehy leads with 51% to Testers 45% in an AARP poll conducted in late August. The incumbent Democrat is ahead among independents, but that is not enough to overcome this conservative electorate.
Sitting among the peaks that shape Montanas landscape is a mountain of cash. Over $121 million has been spent by the campaigns and outside groups so far, according to OpenSecrets , with at least $100 million more in reserved spending . That is an extraordinary sum for a race that isnt competitive at the presidential level and equates to more than $150 per registered voter.
Montana's cash mountain.
That is what keeps this race tight. Tester has more than three times as much cash on hand as Sheehy, giving the Democrat spending money for local advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts.
If that cash can push this race back within the margin of error, Democrats have a shot at retaining the upper house.
Early Voting Means Election Season' Has Already Begun
Montana moves from Toss Up to Lean R.
The House is still a toss-up in the latest forecast. In fact, with three more races joining that category, it is less clear than ever which direction the lower chamber will take.
Californias 45th district: President Biden won this southern California district by 6 points last cycle ( Daves Redistricting ), but its heavy and right-leaning Asian American population makes it highly competitive. Republicans are pouring money into the race to protect incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel, whose position on abortion could be an issue with Los Angeles-area voters. She faces Democratic lawyer Derek Tran. This race moves from Lean R to Toss Up.
Fox News Power Rankings House forecast.
Iowas 1st district: A recent Des Moines Register survey showing Harris 4 points behind Trump raised eyebrows in the Iowa presidential race. It could have a downballot impact as well. Second-term GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks won by six votes in 2020, and while redistricting gave her a more comfortable win in the midterms, she remains vulnerable in this Davenport and Iowa City district. Former State Representative Christina Bohannan is the Democratic candidate. Iowas 1st district moves from Likely R to Toss Up.
Fox News Power Rankings House competitive shifts.
Nebraskas 2nd district: This Omaha-centered district has been represented by Republican Rep. Don Bacon since 2017. Bacon and the district made news last week when he signed a letter calling for Nebraska to become a "winner-take-all" state before the presidential election. The gamble would have helped Trump if it had succeeded, but calling for the change could put Bacon in danger with some of the centrist voters he has relied on in previous elections. He faces Democratic State Sen. Tony Vargas. This district moves from Lean R to Toss Up.
Nebraska Gop Senator Opposes Electoral College Change That May Have Helped Trump Win Re-election
Finally, a sleepy gubernatorial cycle had its wake-up call last Thursday when CNN reported that North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov Mark Robinson referred to himself as a "Black Nazi" on a porn website he frequented between 2008 and 2012. He denied the report.
Robinson is more than embattled in this race. At least four senior staffers have resigned from his campaign, allies have jumped ship, and the Republican Governors Association is not spending another dollar on advertising.
No one knows how this will impact Trump. Voting has begun with Robinsons name a few rows down from Trumps on the ballot, and Democrats are reminding voters about the strong, consistent praise that the former president has offered Robinson. However, calcified support for Trump among Republicans and the states history of ticket splitting should keep him competitive.
In the meantime, the Power Rankings already had the governors race at Lean D because of previous Robinson scandals. Now, it moves to Likely D.
Voting has begun in 21 states, including Wisconsin, North Carolina, Minnesota and Virginia. By the end of the month, more than half of all states will send ballots to voters.
While many voters are expected to cast a ballot early, election day itself is only six weeks away.
Next week, vice presidential hopefuls Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, will participate in a debate hosted by CBS News in New York City. Fox News will simulcast the debate with special coverage anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum at 8:20 p.m. ET.
Fox News Media has proposed a second Harris-Trump debate to be moderated by MacCallum and Baier in October.
Original article source: Fox News Power Rankings: Harris ticks up and Senate Republicans take charge
FPL, Duke staging thousands of workers around Florida ahead of Helene. How to report outages
Hurricane Helene is forecast to bring life-threatening storm surge, widespread flooding and pounding rain along the Florida Gulf coast before it makes landfall as a major hurricane with destructive winds potentially up to 125 mph, likely in the Big Bend area, sometime Thursday. Hurricane- and tropical-storm-force winds and rain will cover large portions of the state and Floridians know what that means.
Power outages. Lots of them.
Power companies know it too, and they're getting ready.
Florida Power & Light (FPL) said in a release the company is "mobilizing a restoration workforce of thousands" and getting them into position ahead of time with staging sites in the area most likely to be impacted.
Duke Energy Florida is sending 8,000 workers across the state, the company said in a release Wednesday. including crews from their Midwest operations in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.
"Trucks will begin arriving at Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg College Tarpon Springs, The Villages and Suwannee Valley Farmer's Market later this afternoon," Anna Gibbs, Duke Energy Florida spokesperson said.
Utility cooperatives such as Talquin Electric Cooperative and the Florida Electric Cooperative Association (FECA) are also readying for power restoration needs.
Once power outages begin, restoration efforts will be launched in force wherever and whenever it is safe to do so.
In the meantime, here are some things you can do to get ready.
How to prepare for a power outage
Take an inventory of the items you need that require electricity and make sure you have batteries or alternative power sources for all of them. Charge up any portable chargers or power banks.
Talk to your medical provider about medical devices powered by electricity and your best course of action. Ask about any refrigerated medicines you need and how long they can be stored at higher temperatures.
Make sure you have enough nonperishable food and water. Keep your freezers and refrigerators closed. Experts say a refrigerator will keep food cold for about four hours, while a full freezer will keep the temperature for about 48 hours. Use coolers with ice if necessary.
Unplug any appliances or electronics in your home, including internet modems and TV cables to avoid problems with power spikes when it comes back on.
Do not turn off utilities unless you suspect damage or local officials tell you to.
During and after the storm
Do not walk, swim or drive through floodwaters. You can easily get infected and there's no way to tell if a loose power line could be in there. Back up and pick another path.
If rising floodwaters threaten your home or business, or if you are forced to evacuate, turn off your power at the circuit breaker panel or fuse box.
Stay away from power lines that have fallen or are sagging. Assume any power line you see is active. Report downed lines to 911 and your local power company and stay at least 35 feet away from them and anything they are touching.
If a power line falls across a vehicle while you're in it, stay in it and call for help. If you have to get out due to fire or flooding, jump out and land with both feet, make sure you do not touch the car and the ground at the same time.
Never touch a circuit break or replace a fuse while standing on a wet surface. If a circuit breaker has been tripped, contact an electrician to inspect them before turning them on.
Don't use any electrical equipment or electronics that have been submerged. Have a qualified electrical inspector check the electrical system.
How do I report or check on power outages?
Check your utility bill for contact information. Some common power companies in Florida are:
Contributing: Samantha Neely, USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Hurricane Helene power companies gear up for outages. What to do
French minister vows to 'protect the French' after student rape and murder
A 22-year-old man suspected of killing a French student has been arrested in Switzerland (Elodie LE MAOU) (Elodie LE MAOU/AFP/AFP)
France's conservative interior minister on Wednesday vowed new rules to "protect the French" after a Moroccan man suspected of raping and murdering a 19-year-old student then leaving her body in a Paris park was arrested in Switzerland.
A source close to the case told AFP the alleged attacker was a 22-year-old Moroccan man. Prosecutors have said the suspect had been previously convicted of rape and been the subject of an expulsion order.
The killing of the student is expected to further inflame political tensions in France where the right-wing government that took office this week plans to crack down on immigration.
New interior minister Bruno Retailleau said "this is an abominable crime" and authorities need to "develop our legal arsenal to protect the French".
"If we have to change the rules, let's change them," added the minister, who has vowed to boost law and order, tighten immigration legislation and make it easier to deport foreigners convicted of crimes.
The student's body was found in the Bois de Boulogne park in western Paris, not far from the Universite Paris-Dauphine she attended. Only her first name, Philippine, has been released.
- Man with pickaxe -
Witnesses had reported seeing a man with a pickaxe, said a police source.
A Moroccan national was arrested on Tuesday in Geneva and identified as a suspect in the Paris murder, a Swiss justice ministry spokeswoman told AFP. Extradition proceedings are being prepared, she added.
The Paris public prosecutor's office said a rape and homicide investigation had started and that French authorities seek the extradition "as quickly as possible".
According to prosecutors, the man was convicted in 2021 of a rape committed in 2019, when he was a minor.
He had been released in June having served his sentence, then placed in an administrative detention centre.
In early September, a judge freed him on condition he reported regularly to the authorities.
The judge's decision was motivated by the fact that the man neither sought asylum nor opposed the extradition order, according to a copy of the ruling consulted by AFP.
He also did not engage in any threatening behaviour while in the detention centre.
But just before the student's murder, the suspect had been placed on a wanted list because he had flouted the conditions of his release.
- 'Time to act' -
The killing has sparked outrage in France, with far right and left-wing politicians urging tough measures.
"Philippine's life was stolen from her by a Moroccan migrant who was under a removal order," Jordan Bardella, the leader of the far-right RN, the largest single party in parliament, said on X Tuesday.
"Our justice system is lax, our state is dysfunctional and our leaders are letting the French live alongside human bombs," he added.
"It's time for this government to act: our compatriots are angry and will not mince words."
Former socialist president Francois Hollande said deportation orders had to be enforced "quickly".
France routinely issues deportation orders, but only around seven percent of them are enforced, compared to 30 percent across the European Union.
Marie-Laure Basilien-Gainche, an expert in public law, said French authorities were issuing too many orders.
"We are seeing an increase in the number of removal orders issued against people who -- we know from the start -- cannot return to their country of origin or transit," she said.
Lorrain Merckaert, mayor of the Paris suburb of Montigny-le-Bretonneux, said he was in contact with Philippine's parents. He expressed his "deep sadness" at "this terrible tragedy".
Officials said a funeral would take place at Saint-Louis cathedral in Versailles on Friday.
tll-gd/ah/tw
Mario Tama / Getty Images An aerial view of vegetation regrowth amid areas destroyed or damaged by the Lahaina wildfire, including the iconic banyan tree (RIGHT C), on August 4, 2024 in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Key Takeaways
Hawaiian Electric Industries will sell $500 million in stock to help pay for damages from the 2023 Maui wildfires.
The power company is pricing the stock at $9.25, a $1.65 discount from Monday's closing price.
Hawaiian Electric Industries has warned that it may not be able to continue as a viable operation because of the costs to cover the fire damages.
Shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries (HE), or HEI, tumbled Tuesday, a day after the holding company for the state's biggest power provider announced a major stock sale at a discounted price to help pay for damages related to last year's deadly Maui wildfires.
HEI is offering 54 million shares, worth half a billion dollars, as well as giving underwriters the option of purchasing $75 million more at the public offering price. The company is selling the stock at $9.25 each, $1.65 less than Monday's closing price. Shares of Hawaiian Electric sank more than 7% to $10.10 an hour after the opening bell Tuesday.
HEI said the money raised would be used "to fund its contribution to the expected Maui wildfire tort litigation settlement and for general corporate purposes."
HEI Recently Warned About Future Viability
The operator of Hawaiian Electric warned last month that it might not be able to continue as a viable operation because of the $1.71 billion it owes for damages incurred from the fires. It pointed out that it and Hawaiian Electric didn't have a financing plan in place to cover the costs. HEI and Hawaiian Electric settled a class-action lawsuit in August after being accused of negligence that led to the blazes.
Shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries have lost about 30% of their value this year.
Read the original article on Investopedia.
The US and French leaders pressed jointly Wednesday for an immediate 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon, in a call joined by allies as the death toll mounts from Israeli strikes on Hezbollah.
Presidents Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York as they voiced fears that the conflict, after a year of bloodshed in Gaza, would escalate into a full-blown regional war.
The situation in Lebanon has become "intolerable" and "is in nobody's interest, neither of the people of Israel nor of the people of Lebanon," said a joint statement released by the White House.
"We call for an immediate 21 day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement."
The statement was issued jointly with Western powers, Japan and key Gulf Arab powers -- Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot earlier unveiled the proposal at an emergency Security Council session.
"There has been important progress in the past few hours," Barrot said.
"We've been working since the start of the week in New York on a diplomatic solution with our American friends in particular."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and warned, "Hell is breaking loose."
Israel said it welcomed diplomacy on Lebanon but did not commit to a ceasefire, vowing to pursue its goal of degrading Hezbollah.
"We are grateful for all those who are making a sincere effort with diplomacy to avoid escalation, to avoid a full war," Israel's envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told reporters before entering the session.
But he added: "We will use all means at our disposal, in accordance with international law, to achieve our aims."
The violence comes after the failure to reach a ceasefire in Gaza where Israel for nearly a year has been seeking to wipe out another Iranian ally, Hamas, which carried out the deadliest attack ever on Israel.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Tehran, which in recent weeks has held back on retaliatory strikes on Israel after attacks targeting Iranian interests, may no longer be restrained.
"The region is on the brink of a full-scale catastrophe. If unchecked, the world will face catastrophic consequences," he told reporters.
Hezbollah holds powerful influence within long-turbulent Lebanon. The country's foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, asked by reporters if a ceasefire was possible, said: "Hopefully yes."
- 'Acute' risk of escalation -
Israel went ahead with the offensive in Lebanon despite repeated appeals by the United States to avoid a wider war.
"Risk of escalation in the region is acute," said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has made 10 trips to the Middle East since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023.
Israel and Hezbollah had been skirmishing since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, but at a lower level.
Last week pagers and other handheld communications devices of Hezbollah exploded in an operation widely attributed to Israel.
Hundreds have died and thousands have been displaced since Israel launched its strikes, with the Lebanese health ministry saying that another 72 people died on Wednesday.
Diplomats said that the United States was no longer directly linking its struggling push for a Gaza ceasefire with Lebanon efforts due to the urgency of the crisis.
"An all-out war is possible," Biden said on ABC's chat show "The View."
"What I think is, also, the opportunity is still in play to have a settlement that could fundamentally change the whole region," Biden said.
Robert Wood, the deputy US ambassador to the United Nations, told the Security Council he was concerned by deaths in Lebanon.
But he also pinned blame on Hezbollah, accusing it of violating Security Council resolutions through its alliance with Hamas since October 7.
"Nobody wants to see a repeat of the full-blown war that occurred in 2006," Wood said.
But he said that any end to the conflict needed to include a "comprehensive understanding" that preserves calm along the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon.
bur-sct/bfm
France to send foreign minister to Lebanon in bid to stop war, Macron says
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday he was dispatching his foreign minister to Lebanon this week as part of efforts to prevent a full-fledged war, calling on Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah to immediately stop hostilities.
"There cannot be, must not be war in Lebanon," he said in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
France has historical ties with Lebanon and prior to the recent flare-up had worked for months on proposals to defuse tensions between the two sides.
It has been working with the United States at the United Nations on an initiative to stop the fighting and open the door to more diplomacy, diplomats said.
"We are firmly calling on Israel to stop the escalation in Lebanon and Hezbollah to stop firing towards Israel," Macron said.
He said his newly appointed Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot would travel to Lebanon at the end of the week.
On the conflict in Gaza, Macron said that while Israel had a right to defend itself after the attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, the war had lasted too long and needed to end now.
"There is no justification, no explanation for thousands of civilian Palestinian deaths. Too many civilians are dead," he said.
(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Howard Goller)
UN Security Council meeting on leadership for peace, on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly
By John Irish and Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -France and the United States are working to hammer out a 21-day temporary ceasefire between Lebanese Hezbollah militants and Israel to allow time for broader negotiations, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday.
"A diplomatic solution is indeed possible. In recent days, we've worked with our American partners on a temporary ceasefire platform of 21 days to allow for negotiations," he told the 15-member U.N. Security Council.
He said the plan would be made public soon.
"We are counting on both parties to accept it without delay, in order to protect civilian populations and allow for diplomatic negotiations to begin," he said.
Barrot, who heads to Lebanon at the end of the week, said Paris had worked with the parties in defining the parameters for a diplomatic way out of the crisis under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.
"It's a demanding path, but it is a possible path," he said.
Resolution 1701 - adopted following a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 - expanded the mandate of a U.N. peacekeeping force, allowing it to help the Lebanese army keep parts of the south free of weapons or armed personnel other than those of the Lebanese state.
It has sparked friction with Hezbollah, which effectively controls southern Lebanon despite the presence of the Lebanese army. Hezbollah is a heavily armed party and Lebanon's most powerful political force.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood told the council that a fully implemented 1701 was the only longterm solution.
"The United States has engaged intensively with all parties in the region. Our aim is clear - to avert a broader war that we believe is in no party's interest, not the people of Israel and not the people of Lebanon," Wood said.
"We are working with other countries on a proposal that we hope will lead to calm and enable discussions to a diplomatic solution," he said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the meeting that Lebanon could not be allowed to become another Gaza.
"Let us say in one clear voice, stop the killing and destruction. Turn down the rhetoric and threats. Step back from the brink. An all-out war must be avoided at all costs," he said.
(Reporting by John Irish and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Howard Goller)
CHICAGO A southwest suburban man will spend more than two years in federal prison for selling stolen goods out of his Chicagoland stores.
Ziad Zayed, a 49-year-old Frankfort resident, pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge in 2023 after prosecutors said he ran a fencing operation using his Crestwood business Crestwood Electronics Inc. and other businesses, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Northern District of Illinois said Monday.
Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines
A fence is an individual who acts as a middleman between thieves and buyers of stolen goods. They purchase the stolen goods and later resell them for profit.
According to prosecutors, Zayed knowingly purchased stolen electronic devices and other merchandise before he repacked them and sold them to buyers state and overseas.
LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland
The stolen items included laptops, fitness tracking devices and digital cameras, some of which prosecutors said had been stolen from railcars near the city.
On Wednesday U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman sentenced Zayed to two years and four months in federal prison, he was also ordered to pay more than $1.3 million in restitution.
Authorities did not provide a mugshot for Zayed.
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Update: Franklin Co. will defend ex-administrator in $5M lawsuit filed by its own auditor
Now that a special prosecutor has declined to file charges, Franklin Countys auditor is suing the countys former top employee for $5 million.
That employee was under whistleblower protections and left his job with the county with a legal agreement that neither he nor the county would disparage the other or sue.
The agreement doesnt apply to elected officials, though.
Franklin County Auditor Matt Beaton filed the $5 million lawsuit in Franklin County Superior Court this month. Hes claiming that former County Administrator Mike Gonzalez illegally recorded him in order to make him look bad.
Beaton claims his reputation has been harmed by Gonzalezs conduct, including causing him mental pain and suffering.
Gonzalez told the Herald in a statement Wednesday that the county will be defending him against the lawsuit. A law firm based in Olympia already has been assigned to the case, he said.
Franklin County is defending me against this lawsuit. The fact is I was protected by RCW 9.73.030 section 2 when I made that recording. Matt asked me to lie to Shawn Sant, Gonzalez said. I wasnt willing to compromise my ethics, and you see the results.
The lawsuit refers to Gonzalez by his fathers surname Cronemeyer.
He claimed thats an effort by Beaton to minimize his Latino heritage. County records show Gonzalez is the name he uses on legal documents, though his drivers license shows his dual last name.
This is another display from Matt, that has now devolved into race bate politics. My legal name is Michael Richard Gonzalez-Cronemeyer. I dont need to defend or apologize for my ethnic makeup, he said. Hes attempting to marginalize my Latino heritage. The fact is I have White, Puerto Rican, Mexican and Spanish blood, and I can speak Spanish.
Over my career as a journalist and in politics I have fought for every color, creed, orientation for what is morally right, he said. My grandmother Petra Gonzalez-Prado loved the word Adelante. It means keep going. I will keep marching forward and will continue to work for the citizens that employee me.
Secret recording of meeting
Gonzalez told sheriffs investigators that he secretly recorded a meeting with Beaton and county Commission Chairman Rocky Mullen in January because he believed they were going to ask him to commit a crime while a criminal investigation was ongoing into a payment dispute involving the former manager of the HAPO Center.
After the county commissioners replaced the group managing the center, Gonzalez was intending to pay Simmons Venue Management for its last month of service before it handed over duties to Harris White Leasure Group in October 2023.
He decided not to move forward with the payment once he learned the commissioners opposed it.
Then the commissioners and Beaton allegedly tried to convince Harris White Leasure to push the payment through anyway.
The Franklin County Commissioners meeting room inside the Franklin County Courthouse on North Fourth Avenue in Pasco.
The sheriffs department investigated Beaton and Mullen for possible misconduct, witness tampering and making a false statement.
They were told by investigators not to meet with Gonzalez, and then investigators requested that the prosecutors office reiterate to Mullen and Beaton that they should not have any closed door meetings with Gonzalez while the investigation was ongoing.
Whistleblower protections are granted to employees who disclose what they believe to be improper or illegal behavior and are designed to protect the reporting party from retaliation. Acts of retaliation can result in civil penalties in Washington.
Gonzalez told investigators he never intended to release the recording, but did so after Mullen allegedly lied to investigators about what happened during the meeting, according to investigation documents released to the Herald under the state Public Records Act.
The Washington Privacy Act, which Beaton is accusing Gonzalez of violating, is clear that it does not apply to instances when one party believes the other is attempting to make unlawful demands.
Criminal tampering investigation
In the lawsuit, Beaton claims the intent of the meeting was to address Gonzalezs unprofessional conduct in the use of Franklin County email in discussing Franklin County business with Franklin County officials.
He is likely referring to an email sent by Gonzalez blasting Beaton for allegedly telling the Harris White Leasure Groups owners that he was trying to make Gonzalez look bad.
Beaton said in the recording he said if Gonzalez approved the payment against the wishes of the commissioners he would look bad, but that wasnt his intent. He was allegedly calling Wes Harris at the direction of then-commission chairman Clint Didier in order to tell HWL to push the payment through.
Matt Beaton
I said, If he approves (the payment), the commissioners may learn more about him than they want to know, but I dont believe they will, Beaton said in the recording.
Snohomish County Chief Deputy Criminal Prosecutor Elise Deschenes described Mullen and Beatons behavior in the meeting with Gonzalez as irregular and concerning.
She said she believed the state did not have enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime had been committed when the two men asked Gonzalez to write a letter recanting his previous statements.
However, she said, in Mullens case prosecutors did not have the resources to prosecute him for a misdemeanor charge of lying to investigators when he was interviewed about the meeting. Gonzalezs recording was instrumental in establishing that Mullens account of the meeting did not match what he told investigators.
The Franklin County Courthouse on North Fourth Avenue in Pasco.
Despite Didiers name being mentioned about a dozen times, Mullen told investigators it never came up.
While Beaton clarified some points for investigators, he ultimately did not agree to an interview, according to the documents. Didier also did not agree to sit down with investigators.
When it came to whether Beaton tampered with a witness, Deschenes wrote, Here, the suspect reportedly contacted Mr. Harris and told him to process the bill as he normally would. While this call was strange, and appears to have improper motivations, his actions do not amount to an unauthorized act.
Beaton claimed in the recording that he was acting at Didiers direction.
Deschenes also wrote that the state would have a hard time proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspects conduct was unauthorized nor is getting Gonzalez in trouble a benefit sufficient to prove the charge.
When it came to whether Beaton tampered with a witness by telling Gonzalez to write a letter saying he misunderstood the situation, she wrote that it was not clear enough whether he was telling him to write the letter to other county employees or law enforcement.
While, again, the suspects motivations in making the request are concerning, what he is actually requesting is not clear enough for the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the charge of Tampering with a Witness.
She later described the letter request as odd, but said his motivation seemed to be more political than an attempt to interfere with the criminal investigation.
The Franklin County Courthouse on North Fourth Avenue in Pasco
Severance agreement reached
In the new lawsuit, Beaton also accuses Gonzalez of unlawfully transmitting the recording of the meeting to the Tri-City Herald or misrepresenting it as a public record to a Herald employee.
However, the Herald learned of the recording from sheriffs investigators and obtained it through a Public Records Act request.
Mike Gonzalez
Beaton claimed that it was Gonzalezs intent to use the recording to get the news media to portray him in a false light.
The Heralds reporting was based on hundreds of pages of documents, investigative reports and hours of recorded interviews by investigators with Franklin County employees, elected officials and contractors.
The investigators from both the Franklin and Benton county sheriffs offices agreed that it was appropriate to investigate the allegations and a Superior Court judge agreed to search warrants based in part on the differences between Mullens claims and the recording by Gonzalez.
Gonzalez, who was recently hired as the city manager in Sunnyside, left the county earlier this year after reaching a severance agreement, which paid him $133,000 for the rest of his contract under the condition that he didnt sue the county or say anything negative about it.
The agreement does not prevent him from testifying in other lawsuits or criminal investigations, though.
Beatons lawsuit was filed by Seattle attorney Joel Ard, who also is representing Beaton in a lawsuit filed to stop a recent court-mandated change to a new voter registration waiting period in Washington.
Beaton is asking a judge to award him no less than $5 million, as well as attorneys fees and any further relief the court deems necessary.
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) With Hurricane Helene continuing to gain strength and speed in the Gulf of Mexico, Franklin County officials are encouraging residents to evacuate the county as a direct impact from the hurricane seems more and more likely.
A mandatory evacuation order has now gone into effect for all residents and visitors across the county.
For those who are planning on staying the Franklin County Sheriffs Office is asking them to stock up on food and water, stay indoors no matter what, and not to drive.
Sheriffs deputies will remain in the county and wait out the storm, but they do have an important and clear message for anyone who is on the fence about evacuating.
Franklin County prepares for soon to be Hurricane Helene
If you are on the fence about leaving, leave, Franklin County Sheriff A.J. Smith said. Were going to take care of your property. Once the storm passes, well be out looking around, theres not going to be any looters, its not going to be that kind of stuff. Everybody will be working, were going to have extra law enforcement resources here.
If winds reach a sustained speed of at least 40 m.p.h then the bridges will close which means emergency vehicles will no longer be sent out.
For alerts from Franklin County officials, click here.
You can also text FRANKLINFL to 888777.
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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Multiple services to assist veterans, active service members, and their families will be available this week in Fresno during the 34th annual Central Valley Veterans Stand Down.
The non-profit Healing California will be on-site with a free, fully equipped mobile pop-up dental and vision clinic. Dental services include an exam, x-rays, extractions, fillings, or cleanings. Vision services include an eye exam, and if needed, a new prescription and up to two free pairs of glasses crafted on-site.
Central Valley Veterans say attendees will have access to drug and alcohol recovery counseling services, numerous social service providers, and help with outstanding legal issues from the Fresno County Court System. Hot meals, clothing, and personal hygiene supplies will also be distributed.
Valley veterans return to Fresno from honor flight
According to organizers, the stand down will also provide educational counseling, employment counseling, home purchase counseling, and small business startup counseling, to help stimulate economic development and support the livelihood of those who served the country.
The Central Valley Veterans Stand Down will be held Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Veterans for Foreign Wars Post 8900 on 3585 N. Blythe Ave. in Fresno.
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) Life could be challenging for fathers, especially single dads. Every Friday, its Fatherhood Fridays, sponsored by the Fatherhood Coalition of Mahoning Valley.
But this Friday, theres a smooth jazz performance to help fathers relax at the open house event.
Reverend John-Michael Oliver talked about the services available to dads.
We will provide education on visitation rights, workforce, financial literacy and these community resources will be available for fathers and the household, Oliver said.
The event in downtown Youngstown (139 E. Boardman St.) is free, but organizers ask attendees to register at Eventbrite under the Mahoning Valley Fatherhood Coalition.
The event is Friday from 6 to 8 p.m., and its not just for fathers; everyone is welcome.
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Since the start of the harvest in Champagne in early September, members of France's CGT trade union have been travelling across local communities to distribute flyers to grape-pickers informing them of their rights (FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI) (FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI/AFP/AFP)
French champagne producers are looking to restore their damaged reputations after four workers died last year amid hot weather, as authorities closed squalid housing and launched probes into suspected human trafficking.
This harvest, the vineyards are taking steps to better protect workers from abuse, in a bid to uphold the reputation of the renowned sparkling wines.
"We have called for the entire sector to mobilise," said Maxime Toubart, who heads the Champagne growers' association.
Since the grape harvest kicked off in early September, members of the CGT trade union have been handing out flyers to grape-pickers, many of whom are Eastern Europeans.
The leaflets come in eight languages including Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Italian and French, and inform labourers of their rights, including the minimum hourly wage, the limit on working hours and mandatory breaks.
"Hello, we have come to inform you of your rights," CGT trade unionists told a gaggle of workers picking Pinot Noir grapes in the small village of Igny-Comblizy on a recent morning.
As they spoke, representatives of the Veuve Clicquot Champagne house kept a close eye on their subcontractor providing temporary labour.
This year, 22 labour inspectors and 84 police have been deployed to oversee the harvest on a daily basis, according to the Marne prefecture in northeastern France.
- 'Camps in the woods' -
Every year around 120,000 seasonal workers are brought in to handpick grapes that are grown across 34,000 hectares (84,000 acres) in eastern France and used to make its iconic bubbly.
The reputation of the famed winemakers took a hit last year when reports emerged of migrant workers living in appalling conditions and other labour violations.
Three temporary housing facilities were shut down for being "dirty" and "unfit for habitation".
Authorities also launched an investigation into the deaths of four grape harvesters in the Champagne region, believed to have suffered sunstroke in scorching heat.
The industry group Union of Champagne Houses has sought to distance itself from the violations, with its co-head David Chatillon blaming contractors hiring seasonal workers.
"Rogue actors have threatened the image of Champagne," said Chatillon, fuming.
Last October, the industry group launched an action plan vowing to improve existing practices.
Prosecutors in November 2023 opened two probes into suspected human trafficking after around 200 Ukrainian and other foreign workers were found living in poor conditions during routine checks.
One contractor will be taken to court in March 2025 as a result of the first probe. The second investigation is still underway.
Jose Blanco, general secretary of the CGT-Champagne trade union, said that despite improvements, a lack of proper housing was "the big problem of Champagne".
"We are still finding camps in the woods," he said.
Blanco said the new generation of winegrowers has "failed in their mission", adding that many lamented strict housing standards for migrant workers.
Champagne houses "ought to keep an eye on their subcontractors, but many bury their heads in the sand", added Blanco.
- 'Wake-up call' -
Maxime Mainguet, vice-president of the freshly created federation of subcontractors in Champagne, said problems had piled on for some time before they came to a head last year.
"I think it was a real wake-up call," Mainguet said, adding that growers were now more careful when signing contracts. "The subject has been taken very seriously."
A winery that does not pinch pennies, Moet & Chandon Champagne houses 1,900 of its 3,500 seasonal workers.
In the town of Pierry, around 100 employees stay in a modern residence in the middle of the vineyards -- a small two-storey building complete with dormitories, bathrooms, a laundry room and a canteen.
Workers are offered physical therapy sessions and stretching classes.
"We need to make people want to come and keep coming to harvest," said Frederic Gallois, vineyard and supply director at Moet & Chandon.
On average, workers there earn between 1,200 and 2,000 euros ($1,340-$2,230) for a 10-day stint.
While the CGT trade union has criticised the massive use of migrant workers, which it says drives down wages, Toubart insisted that both French nationals and foreigners receive equal pay and pointed to recruitment difficulties.
"The Champagne name has no interest whatsoever in poor welcome and poor pay," Toubart said.
"It's also a question of image, and we don't want to play games with that."
zl-as/tgb/ju/bc
ECTOR COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) More than forty years after the murder of an Odessa woman, a 62-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for her death, according to an update from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Velma Nesset was murdered in 1982. The 64-year-old went missing on her walk to work at the Permian Mall, and her body was later discovered in a culvert. An autopsy revealed she had been sexually assaulted and murdered.
An initial suspect was arrested and confessed to the crime, but a 1983 trial ended in acquittal due to insufficient evidence and a false confession. The case then went cold for nearly 40 years.
In 2020, DPS identified Nessets case as eligible for advanced DNA testing. That led police to Billy Wayne Ludwigson.
In July 2020, the Texas Rangers and Odessa Police department arrested Ludwigson in Denver, Colorado. According to DPS, he confessed to the murder. Ludwigson would have been 20 at the time of the murder.
Left: photo from unrelated 1982 arrest. Right: 2020 mugshot related to murder charge (Courtesy Texas Department of Public Safety)
He was extradited to Texas in October 2020 and indicted on murder charges. On August 9, 2024, Ludwigson entered a guilty plea. A Ector County court sentenced him to 20 years in prison, per DPS.
Funding for the advanced DNA testing came from the DPS Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. The program is funded by the Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance. The DOJ/BJA provides funding for agencies across the U.S. for unsolved sex assault and sexually-related homicides.
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US politicians have already been able to determine their political approach to Armenian society. Recall that so far a similar method has been widely used in France.
For example, in the pre-election campaign, if any candidate sees himself weak in front of his opponent, the trampoline method comes in use - as they say, Armenians are again in the foreground. However, no one gives a damn to them after the election is over.
Campaigns related to the presidential elections in the United States have been going on for several months now. Among the candidates in the competition between the Democrats and the Republicans, the names of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are at the forefront. But to what extent Harris can take up and carry the baton from Joe Biden to the end sometimes raises questions.
Kamala Harris' laughable promises in the pre-election campaigns suggest she will not be able to successfully carry the Democrats forward. For some reason, Harris, who tells unfinished tales of the 81-year-old 46th president of the United States Joe Biden to the public, is struggling to convince the masses.
But there is the easiest and cheapest way to make Harris' dreams come true - the Armenian society, the Armenian lobby, and the organizations that fund them.
Kamala Harris appreciated this opportunity very skillfully. She charmed the separatist spirit of the Armenian lobby with the words she wrote in her recent letter. The Armenian media, which highly values ??this, has now delivered that letter to the Armenian community in America as if it were heavenly words sent down from the sky.
Apart from standard and template expressions, the letter mentions "the rights of Armenians expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh (Garabagh) and the importance of their return". Kamala Harris notes in her letter that this is the only way to ensure stability in the region and protect the dignity of the Armenian people.
I was not surprised when I read the letter. Because until this one, she had made statements that are even more ridiculous in pre-election campaigns, and at that moment, any illiterate American citizen understood that she was illogical.
Kamala Harris may have studied at a well-known university and observed the practices of those political professionals. However, she has not been able to learn a simple term about the South Caucasus. Even more so, many candidates like Harris have made themselves a laughingstock with their absurd ideas. Apparently, Kamala Harris does not understand politics as much as a donkey, which is the symbol of the Democratic Party.
She sees peace and stability in the region in the return of Armenians to Garabagh where they left themselves on their own volition despite an offer from Azerbaijan to accept the nationality. But she does not express a logical opinion about the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Kamala Harris believes that the occupation of Azerbaijani territories for 30 years and the transformation of Garabagh into a place of ruins means peace and stability in the region. This is not as much as the donkey thinks. This means that even if Harris deserved the claps of a group of Armenian separatists with her illogical statement, she would not be a successful candidate for the Democrats.
Sometimes I feel sorry for the entire American people when I see what politicians like her think. Because the poor people are constantly suffering because of the incompetence of brains like Harris.
US-based confectionery giant Hershey has announced a restructuring plan that includes reducing its workforce to drive productivity by automating processes.
The Reeses brand owner has not said how many jobs will be lost. It told Just Food in a statement that the lay-offs will impact [] less than 5% of [its] workforce.
According to Hershey, the rationale for the move, announced yesterday (8 February), alongside its 2023 financial results, is to cut manufacturing and supply-chain costs and leverage new technology to automate processes and generate long-term savings.
Hershey said that it does not expect significant disruption [] to [its] employee base, from the move.
We are focused on leveraging investments we are making in technology to drive automation and the scale across multiple categories - confection, salty snacks", the chocolate producer said.
Examples of this would be driving greater efficiencies and connectivity through shared services, enabling better forecasting and responding to changes in the marketplace more quickly to better meet consumer needs."
The two-year plan ending in 2026 is expected to generate $300m in ongoing annual savings.
Hershey said the redundancies will result in severance expenses between $45m and $60m.
Last August, Hershey said it was set to shut down a US facility that produces Dots Homestyle Pretzels.
The company announced its factory in Velva in North Dakota will no longer be operational as the company aims to improve efficiency for its pretzel brand.
Hershey saw its Q4, 2023, net sales increase by 0.2% year-on-year to $2.65bn but its net income of $349m was down 11.5%
Michele Buck, Hershey's CEO, said: "We continue to operate in a dynamic environment but we are encouraged by the resilience of seasonal traditions and the consumer response to innovation within our categories.
"While historic cocoa prices are expected to limit earnings growth this year, we believe our strong marketing plans, innovation and brand investments will drive top-line growth and meet consumers' evolving needs. We are elevating our focus on productivity and transformation to strengthen our business and deliver peer-leading performance over the long term."
Hershey said it expects 2% to 3% net sales growth in 2024.
"Hershey to lay off workers as automation drive kicks in" was originally created and published by Just Food, 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.
Fresno business owner says no fire is stopping him succeed: Blessed to be here
Fresno business owner says no fire is stopping him succeed: Blessed to be here
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Bobby Griffin is a struggling business owner in Fresno, whose latest struggle is a fire that left his business and two neighboring businesses without electricity.
Jazzys Jean N Things and Herbal Products has been a part of Van Ness Village near Fresnos Tower District since 2021 but hes been a small business owner since 1984.
[When] I started my business it was called Jazzys Beauty Salon, said owner Bobby Griffin. It was named after my daughter.
Griffin says when his daughter decided to start selling jeans at the salon, the name Jazzys Jeans N Things stuck and that name followed the business across multiple locations in Fresno.
Griffin has remained persistent and always put his best foot forward at work, even after he was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in 2016. Since dealing with the cancer, reopening Jazzys, and starting from scratch, hes had trouble getting people into his store.
On Sept. 16, his business was one of three impacted by a fire. Griffin says the fire that cut Jazzys electricity is hardly an obstacle when compared to everything else he says the fire has actually helped some people find his store.
One customer who walked into the store during YourCentralValley.coms interview with Griffin said he had only just heard of the fire and knew where Jazzys was because his nephew saw it on the news.
Earl Maxwell says hes known Griffin for years and he has followed Griffin from location to location across Fresno.
Im going to spread the word, said Maxwell after finding out what happened. Im going to send more people here.
Griffin says that is exactly what he needs. At 87 years old, hes not as social media savvy as his neighbors who have already reached out to the community for help. Griffin believes old-fashioned word of mouth and divine intervention will suffice.
[My business] is not going down, because Im going to stick with it until the very end, Griffin said. Im blessed to be here.
Jazzys is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., located at 1468 N Van Ness Avenue.
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FIRST ON FOX: When Florida police visited the home of Brian Laundrie in 2021 after the disappearance of his fiancee Gabby Petito on the other side of the country, his parents dodged their questions before officers ultimately left with her van and more questions than answers, newly released bodycam video shows.
"I'm not talking to anybody," Laundrie's father, Christopher Laundrie, tells a North Port police officer after answering the door in a sleeveless shirt as his wife, Roberta, looks on over his shoulder.
The officer, who has a New York detective on the phone who was looking for Petito, asks, "You don't want to talk to us?"
Gabby Petito's Parents Reach Settlement With Laundrie Family And Attorney Steve Bertolino In Florida Lawsuit
WATCH: Florida police bodycam shows Brian Laundrie's parents on the day Gabby Petito was reported missing
"No," Christopher Laundrie replies, shaking his head.
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The officer explains he has a detective on the phone and asks when the last time the parents saw their son or Petito.
"Well, Brian is here, and that's all we're saying," his father replies. "We have an attorney That's all I want to say."
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He agrees to share the attorney's phone number with police.
North Port police recorded the encounter on Sept. 11, 2021, the day Petito's mother, Nichole Schmidt, reported her missing in her New York hometown. The video was just made public through public records requests.
"This nightmare never ends," Schmidt told Fox News Digital Wednesday, just over three years after her daughter's remains were found at a campsite north of Jackson, Wyoming. Petito had last been seen alive at a grocery store in town there on Aug. 28, 2021.
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After authorities say Laundrie bludgeoned and strangled Petito, he left her body in the Bridger-Teton National Forest and drove home to his parents' house in North Port using her van and debit card.
"Is this her vehicle, her van?" the officer asked Laundrie's parents, pointing at her white Ford parked in their driveway.
"It's both of theirs," Christopher Laundrie replied.
The officer returned to his patrol vehicle and put the Suffolk County detective on speakerphone, as they discuss what to do. She revealed that Petito hadn't been in contact with her parents since Aug. 27.
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Gabby Petito was reported missing in September 2021, roughly two weeks after her former fiance Brian Laundrie is believed to have killed her and abandoned her body at a campsite in Wyoming.
"His sister told me another story that he left her out there and flew home, and yet you're seeing the van in their driveway, and they won't say where she is," she says. She notes that the vehicle is registered to Petito and says her family considers it hers.
By then, Petito's phone had been off for 10 days.
Brian Laundrie as seen in bodycam footage released by the Moab Police Department in Utah.
"I don't know if that van's a crime scene," the detective says.
A North Port sergeant later approached the door and tried to ask the Laundries for help reassuring Petito's parents that she was OK. They refused and said their son wouldn't talk to investigators either. He told them the van was registered to her only, that it shouldn't be there, and that police would tow it.
"If that's what you're saying you gotta do, you gotta do it," the father replies. "Right now, I'm not speaking to you anymore."
The family's lawyer, Steve Bertolino, previously told Fox News Digital he advised them to invoke their constitutional right to remain silent as the investigation played out.
Brian Laundrie himself also declined to ever speak with police and eventually snuck out and shot himself in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park about 10 minutes away, where his remains went undiscovered for weeks until floodwater receded.
Gabby Petito's Mom And Stepmom Send Not-so-subtle Message To Roberta Laundrie
Fox News Digital was present when his parents discovered a drybag at the scene, which they handed to police.
The FBI eventually revealed it contained a handwritten confession as well as personal effects belonging to both Laundrie and Peitito.
A North Port detective informs Chris and Roberta Laundrie that human remains were discovered in the search for their son at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park on Oct. 20, 2021.
"I ended her life," reads the note, recovered on Oct. 20, 2021. "I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made. I panicked. I was in shock."
He claimed he did it after she injured herself in a fall.
The slaying inspired Petito's parents to found a nonprofit foundation in her honor, assisting other families of missing persons and advocating against domestic violence.
They have lobbied for federal legislation, some of which became law with bipartisan support, as well as lethality assessment laws in Florida, Utah and New York designed to give police grounds and authority to separate victims from their abusers.
The foundation donated $100,000 to the National Domestic Violence Hotline last year.
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This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
If you or someone you know is suffering from domestic violence, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 18007997233 (SAFE).
Original article source: Gabby Petito bodycam shows Brian Laundries parents refuse to help police after missing person report
Game-changing restoration project helps to restore oyster reefs in U.K. estuary: 'It has proved to be powerful'
Big changes often start small and in the case of one new oyster restoration project, they're no larger than a grain of sand.
The Spurn Point project, which aims to reintroduce 500,000 oysters into the U.K.'s Humber estuary in the next five years, is breaking with tradition by starting small, the Hull Story reported.
Historically, most oyster restoration projects have focused on relocating juvenile and adult oysters from faraway hatcheries. This approach, while moderately successful, racks up long transportation costs and creates significant stress for the oysters.
Instead, the new Spurn Point initiative is beginning with tiny larvae, spawning them in a facility located directly on the estuary.
There, larvae are bedded onto existing scallop shells, which are rich in nutrients and calcium. Once the juvenile oysters have reached a certain size, they can be released directly into the Humber at protected sites, the Hull Story explained.
Laura Welton, one of the project's officers, said: "If the trial is successful, this method has sustainable potential for creating larger sustainable oyster reefs in the Humber and around the U.K."
The restoration of these oyster populations isn't intended to provide food for humans. Rather, the mollusks will serve essential functions in the marine ecosystem that have declined, as they've been overfished for decades. This includes cleaning and filtering water to improve clarity and nutrient availability, as well as naturally forming reefs that help curb wave energy and shore erosion.
Consulting scientist Dr. Boze Hancock told the Hull Story: "While remote setting is only one tool to help the restoration of a critical habitat in the North Sea and surrounding waters, it has proved to be powerful in enabling restoration at scale. From the United States to Hong Kong and Australia, it has really helped restore oyster reefs, and it will help the work in the Humber estuary."
The benefits of restoration projects like this one are nearly limitless. Healthy and thriving ecosystems, from rainforests to coral reefs, enable the development of a more robust food chain, cleaner air, cleaner water, and more biodiversity, all of which benefit humans directly.
Even hyper-local projects, like rewilding your backyard with native plants, can help local flora and fauna thrive and promote the natural rhythms that keep the planet healthy.
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Gateway Church denies the allegations made by a woman in a recent lawsuit that she was sexually assaulted and groomed by a high school senior at youth group activities when she was 13 years old.
The North Texas megachurch filed its response to the lawsuit Friday in a Tarrant County district court. The church, based in Southlake, is also requesting a jury trial.
Defendant generally denies each and every material allegation in Plaintiffs Original Petition and demands strict proof thereof, the document reads.
The woman, who is now an adult, and her parents are asking for more than $1 million in damages. The plaintiffs allege the girl was groomed and sexually assaulted by fellow youth group member Gabriel Reece Snyder.
Snyder is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
According to the suit, the girls family were devout and active members at Gateway. Snyder began grooming the girl at nighttime youth group meetings where there was little or no supervision by Gateway youth counselors or other chaperones, the lawsuit states.
Snyder took the then 13-year-old outside The Kings University in Southlake, where the meetings were held, and sexually assaulted her multiple times, according to the suit. The assaults began in December 2016 and continued through February 2017, by which time Snyder was 18 years old, the girl said.
There were surveillance cameras in the area where the assaults occurred, the lawsuit states, but no one ever came to the victims aid.
The woman and her parents are holding Gateway responsible for allowing unsupervised and isolated access to the victim when Defendant Gateway knew, or should have known, of the dangers posed by allowing hundreds of children ranging in age from 6th to 12th grade to attend youth group together, at nighttime, without adequate in person and/or remote video supervision, the suit states.
Snyder, now 25, is currently serving a prison sentence in Dayton, Texas, in connection to an assault of another minor, according to the suit. He was sentenced in a Tarrant County court to four years for sexual assault of a child. He began a sex offender treatment program in October 2023 and is projected to be released on parole on Oct. 30 of this year, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice records.
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Robert Morris, the senior pastor and founder of Gateway Church, resigned in June amid allegations of sexual abuse. Cindy Clemishire, who is now in her 50s, told the religious watchdog blog The Wartburg Watch that Morris abused her for four years in Oklahoma and Texas beginning when she was 12 and Morris was 21.
Two other lawsuits were settled around the time of Morris resignation, one alleging the church attempted to cover up a sexual abuse of a child and the other accusing the church of discrimination.
Church officials reached agreements with the plaintiffs in both cases but said the settlements were not admissions of wrongdoing, according to court documents.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is investigating reports of a potential shooting at Ware County High School that occurred on Monday, September 23. The investigation was initiated at the request of the Ware County School Police Department.
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According to the GBI, the incident began when a teacher and students believed they heard gunshots in the hallway outside their classroom. Emergency protocols were activated, leading to a large law enforcement response. After a thorough search, authorities determined no threat to students or staff.
The GBI was called in to investigate the source of the noise that was initially thought to be gunfire.
Authorities ask anyone with information about the incident to contact the Ware County School Police Department at (912) 283-8656 or the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Douglas at (912) 389-4103. Tips can also be submitted anonymously at 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online via the GBI website, or through the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
The case will be turned over to the Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorneys Office for review once the investigation is completed.
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Activist groups met Wednesday at the Fulton County Courthouse to demand a new system to remind people about court dates.
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They told Channel 2s Audrey Washington the lack of notifications leads to some preventable incarcerations.
People are constantly complaining about getting notices for court and other legal filings late because the post office doesnt have their act together, community organizer, Devin Barrington-Ward told Washington.
Barrington-Ward said without a text notification many people with criminal cases get hit with a failure to appear warrant and then go to jail.
Getting arrested for failure to appear, being locked up and then dying in jail, activist Rev. Keyanna Jones Moore explained.
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The activists highlighted the case of 43-year-old Michael Brandon Rivers.
Rivers was found unresponsive inside the Atlanta City Detention Center on Sept. 9.
Barrington-Ward said Rivers was at the detention center since June after a failure to appear warrant was issued.
Not because he killed someone, not because he raped someone, not because he tried to steal an election, but because he missed a court date on a misdemeanor charge, said Barrington-Ward.
The Fulton County court website states a person can receive a text reminder for real estate matters, not for criminal cases.
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Washington spoke with a clerk of court representative who said it is the individuals responsibility to stay aware of their court dates and times.
We are here today to say no more. We will not die silently, and you will see what we plan to do about it, said Dominique Grant of Women on the Rise.
Next, the activist groups will attend the upcoming Fulton County Commission meeting to request funding for a court date text reminder system.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Claudia De la Cruz, the Party for Socialism and Liberation's 2024 presidential nominee, speaks during an interview on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in a park in Decatur, Ga. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)
ATLANTA (AP) Presidential candidates Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz arent qualified to be on Georgia's ballots and votes for them should not count, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
Following a hearing Tuesday, the unanimous court agreed that West and De la Cruz failed to qualify. That is because their presidential electors did not each submit a separate petition with the 7,500 signatures needed to access Georgias ballots. Instead, only one petition per candidate was submitted, as specified by Georgia's secretary of state.
Democrats who are trying to prevent other candidates from siphoning votes from Vice President Kamala Harris challenged West and De la Cruz's positions on the ballot. West and De la Cruz qualified as independents in Georgia, although De la Cruz is the nominee of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Democratic Party lawyers and the Republican-majority Supreme Court worked together to suppress democracy," De la Cruz said in a statement. This unjust ruling is a reminder of why it is so urgent to build an alternative outside the two-party system.
A spokesperson for West's campaign urged voters to still choose him even though such ballots wouldn't be counted.
His name is still appearing on the ballot, spokesperson Edwin DeJesus said. We encourage all voters supporting our campaign to cast their vote for Cornel West in Georgia.
The names of both candidates will remain on Georgia's ballots, but votes for them wont be counted, said Robert Sinners, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. A lawyer for Raffensperger told justices Tuesday that it is too late to reprint ballots, in part because not enough watermarked security paper is available. There could also be problems with reprogramming voting machines.
If ordered to disqualify the candidates, Raffensperger will order notices in polling places and mailed-out ballots warning that votes for West and De la Cruz won't count, Sinners said. That is a common remedy for late ballot changes in Georgia.
The disqualifications will leave Georgia voters with the choice of four presidential candidates Harris for the Democrats, Republican Donald Trump, Libertarian Chase Oliver and the Green Party's Jill Stein.
Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians automatically qualify for elections in Georgia. Even four candidates will be the most since 2000 in Georgia.
Justice Sarah Warren, writing for a unanimous court, affirmed the rulings of two lower court judges who separately overturned Raffensperger's decisions to qualify West and De la Cruz.
But the defect that prevents independent presidential candidates West and De la Cruz from appearing on Georgias ballot does not pertain to the number of signatures acquired; it is that Wests electors and De la Cruzs electors filed no nomination petitions at all, Warren wrote
Justices rejected the argument that a 2017 federal court decision that lowered the signature threshold for statewide ballot access to 7,500 citing constitutional issues should also prohibit the claim that each of the 16 electors should have to file petitions, which would require a total of 120,000 valid signatures.
No constitutional challenge to the current statutory scheme for qualifying candidates for the office of elector of independent candidates for president is properly before this court in these cases, Warren wrote. We therefore express no view on any such constitutional questions today.
Because the court ruled no elector submitted a valid petition, an appeal into federal court on constitutional grounds could be difficult, said Bryan Tyson, a lawyer who represented West.
Georgia is one of several states where Democrats have challenged third-party and independent candidates, seeking to block nominees who could take votes from Harris after President Joe Biden won Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020.
Todays ruling affirms what two judges have already found: neither of these candidates is qualified to be on the ballot, and the Secretary of State attempting to ignore the judges rulings doesnt make state election law any less clear," said Democratic Party of Georgia Executive Director Tolulope Kevin Olasanoye.
Republicans in Georgia have sought to keep all the candidates on the ballot, and the party has pushed to prop up liberal third-party candidates in battleground states.
Those interests contributed to a flurry of legal activity in Georgia. An administrative law judge disqualified West, De la Cruz, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Georgia Green Party from the ballot. Raffensperger, a Republican, overruled the judge, and said West and De la Cruz should get access. He also ruled that under a new Georgia law Stein should go on Georgia ballots because the national Green Party qualified her in at least 20 other states.
Kennedy's name stayed off ballots because he withdrew his candidacy in Georgia after suspending his campaign and endorsing Trump.
Georgia man convicted of murdering father, setting house on fire to cover it up
Less than a week after being convicted, a Fayette County man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing his father.
According to the Fayette County Sheriffs Office, Griffin Leach killed his father and set the house on fire to try to cover it up.
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The murder he was convicted of happened on Jan. 12, 2023. That day, deputies were sent to help with a fire call at a home on Porter Road.
When deputies arrived at the house, they found it fully engulfed in flames. During an investigation of the house, they found a body in the master bedroom.
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Deputies stopped Leach, seeing him driving back and forth past the house. When he was stopped, Leach told deputies that his father had committed suicide and set the house on fire, according to the sheriffs office, but deputies found a revolver in his possession.
A .38 special revolver was recovered from the defendants truck. Forensic testing later showed that the bullet recovered from the victims body had been fired from the .38 special found in the defendants possession, according to the sheriffs office.
Officials said an extensive investigation led by the FCSO Criminal Investigations Division ended up with Leach charged for the murder his father and using arson to try and cover it up.
Leach was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, arson and concealing the death of another on Sept. 12.
On Sept. 18, Leach was sentenced to a life sentence plus 35 years consecutively, without the chance for parole.
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IN OTHER NEWS:
Georgian delegation did not applaud Biden's statement on Ukraine at UN video
The Georgian delegation headed by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze did not join the general applause after US President Joe Biden's words of support for Ukraine during his speech at the UN General Assembly.
Source: European Pravda, citing Georgian media
Details: Joe Biden said: "We cannot grow weary. We cannot look away. And we will not let up on our support for Ukraine. Not until Ukraine wins a just and durable peace based on the UN Charter."
Many in the room responded to his words with applause, while the Georgian delegation remained silent.
The Georgian service of Voice of America also found out that the Georgian Prime Minister's invitation to President Biden's reception in New York, which is traditionally organised for leaders participating in the UN General Assembly session, was cancelled on the evening of 25 September local time.
The US Embassy subsequently confirmed this information, explaining the decision by the anti-democratic actions of the Georgian authorities and negative rhetoric against the West.
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World leaders attend United Nations "Summit of the Future" in New York
By Felix Light
TBILISI (Reuters) - The United States has withdrawn an invitation to Georgia's prime minister to attend a reception for world leaders hosted by President Joe Biden during this week's U.N. General Assembly, a U.S. official said, in the latest blow to a once-close relationship.
The official told Reuters that Washington had cancelled the invitation to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and declined all meetings with the Georgian delegation.
They said the move was connected with Georgia's passage of a law on "foreign agents" earlier this year. Recent conversations with the Georgian government had convinced Washington that Tbilisi was intentionally scuttling its own path to joining the European Union and NATO, the official added.
Georgia's InterPressNews cited the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi as saying that the invitation had been rescinded over what it said was the Georgian government's "anti-democratic actions, disinformation, and negative rhetoric towards the U.S. and the West."
It quoted parliamentary speaker Shalva Papuashvili as saying that the withdrawal of the invitation was "frivolous".
Broadly pro-Western and a major U.S. aid recipient since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, EU candidate-member Georgia has in recent months seen its ties with Western powers sour over accusations of authoritarian and pro-Russian leanings.
The ruling Georgian Dream party, widely seen as controlled by billionaire ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, passed the "foreign agents" law despite condemnation by Western countries who saw it as inspired by Russian legislation used to crush Kremlin critics.
The law requires organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence, imposing onerous disclosure requirements and punitive fines for violations.
Georgian Dream is seeking a fourth term in office in an October parliamentary election, and Ivanishvili has repeatedly suggested that if re-elected the party will move to ban the pro-Western opposition United National Movement.
According to opinion polls, Georgian Dream remains the most popular party but it has lost ground since 2020, when it won almost 50% of the vote and a slim parliamentary majority.
In a post on Facebook, senior Georgian Dream MP Mamuka Mdinaradze accused Biden of seeking to provide an electoral "lifeline" to the Georgian opposition.
In further signs of the chill in relations, the U.S. this month imposed sanctions on two Georgian police commanders it said were involved in beatings meted out to leaders of mass protests against the foreign agent law.
Last week the EU, which has previously said Georgia's application process is de facto frozen, said it may suspend its visa-free regime for Georgians if the October election is not free, fair and peaceful.
(Reporting by Felix Light and Steve Holland; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Hershey has carried out the jobs the company indicated in February it would make as part of efforts to generate savings and invest in automation.
The US group is reportedly laying off around 200 employees, around 1% of its total workforce.
At the same time, Hershey, which also makes salty snacks, is said to be adding dozens of new jobs in areas such as technology and data science.
The confirmation of the cuts was reported by news agency Reuters, which quoted numbers supplied by an unnamed company spokesperson.
In February, Hershey announced a restructuring plan that included reducing its workforce to drive productivity by automating processes.
At the time, the snacks major said it wanted to generate $300m in savings by 2026. The initiative also aimed to improve supply chain and manufacturing-related spending.
A Hershey spokesperson confirmed to Just Food the job losses are the ones mooted early this year. "The changes to jobs and roles are part of transformation announced in February, obviously at a much smaller scale than media reported," the spokesperson said.
On the reasoning behind the job cuts, the spokesperson offered a statement on changes were making to advance our vision and strategies we introduced in 2023.
The statement said: We remain focused on transforming our business to better position Hershey for success. As part of that transformation, we are making meaningful changes to evolve our capabilities, systems and ways of working to become a leading snacking powerhouse.
Last month, New York-listed Hershey revealed its net sales in the three months to 30 June fell 16.7% to $2.08bn and were down 16.8% in organic terms, year-on-year.
Sales also dropped across the groups North American confectionery and international business divisions. However, Hershey's North American salty snacks business bucked the trend as reported sales rose 6.4%, with volume-mix up 9% on the back of a 3% decrease in pricing.
President and CEO Michele Buck said at the time that the operating environment remains dynamic, with consumers pulling back on discretionary spending
"Hershey pushes on with job cuts" was originally created and published by Just Food, 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.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has outlined the key points for potential peace negotiations to end Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
Source: Baerbock at the UN Security Council meeting in New York, as reported by European Pravda, citing German newspaper Der Spiegel
Details: "Peace means that Ukraine's existence as a free and independent country is guaranteed. It means security guarantees," Baerbock stated.
On one hand, she said, "We are very grateful that more and more of our partners around the world are thinking about how this war can be ended. We need that. We need an end to this war," Baerbock emphasised.
At the same time, she stressed that this cannot mean standing idly by while there is no end to the war in sight, and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has not come to the negotiating table. "We should not simply stand by and watch as Russia destroys the rest of Ukraine," she said.
She also addressed the issue of Russia abducting Ukrainian children.
"Russia has been committing these crimes for 923 days now, abducting and torturing children for 923 days. We will not rest until the children are back with their families," Baerbock declared.
Addressing Russia's UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya, Baerbock said: "You can deceive yourselves. The strongest man in your country can hide behind the teenage girls he has abducted. But you cant fool the world."
Background:
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell has stated that Ukraine's surrender and its transformation into a second Belarus is not the quickest way to end the war.
In an interview with The New York Times, Czech President Petr Pavel reiterated that Ukraine should accept the possibility of some of its territories being "temporarily" under Russian control after the war is over.
Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently issued a statement, rejecting the idea that some Ukrainian territory could be left under Russian occupation in order to end the war.
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Omid Nouripour, Federal Chairman of Alliance 90/The Greens (Bundnis 90/Die Grunen), gives a press statement on the state elections in Brandenburg. Anna Ross/dpa
The German Green Party's co-leaders, Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour, announced on Wednesday that the entire party executive is resigning in November following a string of poor results in regional elections.
The move comes a year ahead of national parliamentary elections. Germany's Greens are currently the second-largest party in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party coalition government, which has been beset by bitter infighting and has slumped badly in opinion polls.
"We need a fresh start," Nouripour said at a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday. A new executive committee is to be elected at the Greens' national party conference in mid-November.
"New faces are needed to lead the party out of this crisis," said Lang. "Now is the time to take responsibility and we are taking on this responsibility by making a fresh start possible."
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, among the best-known Green politicians in Germany, applauded the resigning leaders and credited them for taking responsibility following a series of election defeats.
"This step shows great strength and foresight. Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour are proving what the party chairmanship means to them: responsibility," Habeck told dpa.
'Great service to the party'
"They are paving the way for a powerful new beginning. This cannot be taken for granted, it is a great service to the party," Habeck said.
Habeck added: "We have had a tough few months, the Greens have faced a strong headwind."
He also said that others leading figures in the party, including himself, need to accept responsibility for the party's poor performance.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who was the Greens' candidate for chancellor in the 2021 election, stressed that the party needs to regain public trust after seeing eroding support among voters.
"All of us who bear responsibility for the Greens and this country must ask ourselves what we can and must do differently," Baerbock said on Wednesday while attending the UN General Assembly in New York.
"This is about regaining people's trust in politics. Trust that politics is there for people and their concerns."
Baerbock said the party needs to find ways to reassure people that "change is good and important" to combat climate change as well as "for a strong Europe, for justice in this country and for peace in Europe."
In nationwide polls, the Greens have seen support fall far below the 14.8% the party received in the 2021 national election. At the time, the result was viewed as a disappointment after Baerbock had hoped to contend for the chancellorship.
But recent polls put support among voters across Germany down at around 10% to 11%.
Battering in state elections
Among the most recent and bitter disappointments for the Greens was Sunday's election in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, when the party lost all its seats in the state parliament after falling short of the 5% threshold needed to take seats in German elections.
The Greens are part of the incumbent coalition government in Brandenburg but got just 4.1% on Sunday, a steep decline from the 10.7% the party received in the previous state election in 2019.
Elections on September 1 also saw the Greens lose ground in the German states of Thuringia and Saxony. The Greens will not hold any seats in Thuringia after the election, and barely cleared the 5% threshold in Saxony.
European Parliament elections held in June also saw the Greens perform poorly with German voters.
The party has been the focus of attacks from conservative and right-wing politicians in Germany, who have alleged that Green policies on climate change and particularly around the energy transition, have harmed Germany's economy and industry.
Lang and Nouripour were elected co-chairs at the end of January 2022 and are considered relatively popular among party members.
Many within the Green Party give them credit for the fact that there has not been the kind of intense internal rivalries and clashes over policy that have characterized the party in the past.
Chancellor question
In addition to choosing new party leaders at a party conference in mid-November, the Greens will also decide whether to put foward a chancellor candidate in the September 2025 national election.
Baerbock, who ran for the post in 2021, said she does not want to be the candidate this time, opening the way for Habeck to campaign.
"I want an open debate on a possible candidacy at the party conference and an honest vote by secret ballot," said Habeck.
The party conference in November will now be the place "where the Greens will reorganize and reposition themselves in order to start the race to catch up for the federal elections with renewed strength," he said.
"Together, and only together, can we Greens be a strong voice in Germany and for Germany in Europe and the world," Baerbock said on Wednesday while reiterating her support for Habeck.
(Bloomberg) -- Germanys Greens are seeking a fresh start after a populist surge saw voters in three eastern states reject their policies aimed at cleaning up the economy.
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Co-leaders Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour on Wednesday announced theyre stepping down, taking responsibility for electoral setbacks that ejected the Greens from the legislatures in the states of Brandenburg and Thuringia. The party barely scraped past the 5% threshold needed to secure parliamentary seats in Saxony.
The outcome in Brandenburg, where support for the Greens plunged to just 4.1% from almost 11% in 2019, is a testimony of the deepest crisis our party has faced in a decade, Lang, 30, said in a post on X. Its not the time to cling on, but to take responsibility and make a new start possible.
Lang and Nouripour took charge in February 2022 in keeping with the Greens tradition of shared leadership. The pair will request that members choose new leaders at the partys next congress in November, said Nouripour, 49, who moved to Germany at the age of 13 from Tehran.
The Greens, who govern nationwide in a coalition with Chancellor Olaf Scholzs Social Democrats and the business-friendly Free Democrats, have become one of the biggest losers from the rise of populist parties in Germany.
Nationwide support has slumped to 11% of the vote, according to the latest survey by Forsa for broadcasters RTL and N-TV. That compares with almost 15% in the 2021 election. All three coalition parties have lost support with just 12 months to go until the next national ballot.
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Volkswagen employees demonstrate in front of Herrenhausen Palace before the start of collective bargaining between Volkswagen and IG Metall. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
Labour leaders at German automaker Volkswagen demanded concrete details from company management on possible job cuts at the start of collective bargaining talks on Wednesday.
Several thousand VW employees protested in front of the building in Hanover where negotiations took place. The workers used drums, sirens and whistles to denounce cost-cutting plans the core VW brand, and flares occasionally filled the air with red smoke.
VW earlier this month cancelled a long-standing job security deal with workers and warned that it could no longer rule out mass layoffs or plant closures as part of an austerity plan at the auto brand.
"Future instead of cutbacks" could be read on one banner. The crowd jeered VW management's plans with loud boos and chants.
The possibility of cuts and shutdowns have raised the stakes for collective bargaining talks between VW management and the IG Metall trade union, which represents much of VW's workforce.
"I think IG Metall will do it," said 23-year-old apprentice Josi Gross, who told dpa she is particularly concerned about whether the company will keep her on after completing her apprenticeship.
VW management also recently terminated a long-standing deal that guaranteed employment for apprentices at the company, Europe's largest automaker.
"Plant closures and mass redundancies are not on the table with us," said Thorsten Groger, chief negotiator for IG Metall in the German state of Lower Saxony, which includes VW's headquarters in the city of Wolfsburg and many of the company's biggest factories.
VW, on the other hand, reaffirmed its austerity course.
"We have to restructure our company together. The situation is serious," VW's head of human resources, Arne Meiswinkel, who is serving as chief negotiator, said at the start talks. "The task now is to find viable solutions."
The collective bargaining round, originally planned for the end of October, were moved forward after VW tightened its austerity measures at the beginning of this month.
Instead of just discussing pay, negotiations are also to be held on job security. Initially, only the approximately 120,000 employees in the six large western German plants covered by the VW in-house wage agreement will be affected.
Separate collective bargaining deals apply at VW's plants in the eastern German state of Saxony. VW also terminated the job security agreement there on Tuesday.
The company has so far not provided any concrete details about the proposed cuts, such as which plants might be targeted for closure.
Groger and other labour leaders demanded immediate details on Wednesday, and said further information would be a prerequisite to wage discussions.
"So far, we have only been left in the dark," he said. "You don't build a future with fear - you destroy the future with fear."
Moreover, according to Groger, VW's parent company, the Volkswagen Group, had recently reported solid profit figures and had paid out high dividends to shareholders.
This shows that there is room for manoeuvrer, Groger said, and the union would be sticking to its demand for a 7% wage increase for VW workers.
He also warned that workers are prepared to mount "fierce resistance" if the company presses forward with cuts.
"We are only at the beginning of a dispute with the company that is going to be tough," he said, adding that strikes could come any time after December 1.
"If necessary, tens of thousands will stand outside the factory gates and on the streets at Volkswagen sites," he said.
Daniela Cavallo, head of the influential works council at Volkswagen, acknowledged the challenges facing the company but criticized management's handling of the situation.
"The equal importance of job security and profitability is non-negotiable," she said. "Of course, we currently have serious problems on the profitability side. But you can't solve them by using plant closures as a threat."
Thorsten Groeger (rR), lead negotiator for IG Metall, speaks in front of Herrenhausen Palace before the start of collective bargaining between Volkswagen and IG Metall. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
(L-R) Drone manufacturer Joerg Schamuhn, CEO Arial UAS GmbH, Philipp Nagl, CEO DB InfragGO AG, Daniela Gerd tom Markotten, Head of Digitalization and Technology DB AG, and Peter Usko, CEO DB Fahrwerksdienste, stand behind DB's new long-haul drone at the stand at InnoTrans 2024. The trade fair for rail technology takes place from 24.9. - 27.9.2024. Carsten Koall/dpa
German state-owned railway Deutsche Bahn on Wednesday announced plans to start testing the use of drones to monitor the country's rail network beginning in the spring.
Deutsche Bahn made the announcement at the InnoTrans rail industry trade fair in Berlin, where the company also showed off a prototype drone.
"In future, a total of around 100 of these drones are to be deployed throughout Germany," the company said.
Deutsche Bahn already uses drones to assess the condition of the tracks or to check the vegetation along the tracks.
However, according to the company, the new drones have a significantly greater range of around 150 kilometres and can also be used during ongoing rail operations without the need to close tracks.
Deutsche Bahn said the drones would also be more cost-effective and quieter than helicopters, for example.
"We can use them during normal train operations, even in wind and weather, even at night," said Daniela Gerd tom Markotten, a Deutsche Bahn executive responsible for digitalization and technology.
"This is also great for employees, as they no longer have to go out in the wind and weather, but can get the information they need on their tablet with the help of AI," she said.
The drones will make it possible, for example, to get a quicker overview of the impact on infrastructure after a storm, the company said: "All the data that the drones record while flying is available to the teams in real time and in high resolution."
German Development Minister Svenja Schulze speaks at the Indian renewable energy conference and trade fair RE-INVEST at the Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre in Gandhinagar. Dirk Godder/dpa
Germany's Development Ministry announced on Wednesday that it would send Ukraine 70 million ($78 million) to support its heating and electricity supplies over the winter.
The money will be used to supply Ukrainian towns and municipalities with small thermal power stations, boiler systems, generators and solar energy systems, the ministry announced following a meeting of the budget committee.
The Ukrainian Energy Ministry has said it expects noticeable power outages this winter despite repair efforts.
"Russia's attacks on energy supplies are intended to wear down and drive out Ukrainians," said German Development Minister Svenja Schulze. "We are supporting Ukraine in rebuilding its electricity supply in a decentralized way so that Russia will not be able to destroy it as easily," she added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Russia had destroyed all of Ukraine's thermal power plants and "a large part" of the country's hydroelectric capacity. In all, Russia has inflicted damage on 80% of the energy infrastructure, he said.
Germany's Green Party Chairwoman Ricarda Lang (r) and Omid Nouripour speak at a press conference at the federal headquarters of Alliance 90/The Greens. After the party's failures in several elections, the Green leadership is drawing personnel consequences. Fabian Sommer/dpa
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck applauded the resigning leaders of his Greens and credited them for taking responsibility following a series of election defeats.
"This step shows great strength and foresight. Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour are proving what the party chairmanship means to them: responsibility," Habeck told dpa on Wednesday, not long after Lang and Nouripour announced their intention to step down.
"They are paving the way for a powerful new beginning. This cannot be taken for granted, it is a great service to the party," Habeck said.
Habeck added: "We have had a tough few months, the Greens have faced a strong headwind."
The vice chancellor said everyone in the party's leadership, including himself, bears some of the blame for disappointing results in regional elections.
A retail thief in San Bernardino County who nicked nearly $2,000 in merchandise was left hanging when his getaway driver took off.
The Sept. 23 incident unfolded at a store in The Colonies, located at 1931 N. Campus Avenue in Upland, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter, by the Upland Police Department.
Store surveillance footage, released by police, shows the suspect casually walking through the store, grabbing boxes of shoes, handfuls of jeans and shirts and placing them into a cart.
A short time later, store cameras captured the thief loading all the stolen merchandise into a black trash bag moments before leaving through an emergency exit.
A retail theft suspect in Upland was arrested after being abandoned by his getaway driver on Sept. 23, 2024. (UPD)
A retail theft suspect in Upland was arrested after being abandoned by his getaway driver on Sept. 23, 2024. (UPD)
A retail theft suspect in Upland was arrested after being abandoned by his getaway driver on Sept. 23, 2024. (UPD)
A retail theft suspect in Upland was arrested after being abandoned by his getaway driver on Sept. 23, 2024. (UPD)
A retail theft suspect in Upland was arrested after being abandoned by his getaway driver on Sept. 23, 2024. (UPD)
A retail theft suspect in Upland was arrested after being abandoned by his getaway driver on Sept. 23, 2024. (UPD)
A retail theft suspect in Upland was arrested after being abandoned by his getaway driver on Sept. 23, 2024. (UPD)
A retail theft suspect in Upland was arrested after being abandoned by his getaway driver on Sept. 23, 2024. (UPD)
A retail theft suspect in Upland was arrested after being abandoned by his getaway driver on Sept. 23, 2024. (UPD)
A retail theft suspect in Upland was arrested after being abandoned by his getaway driver on Sept. 23, 2024. (UPD)
A retail theft suspect in Upland was arrested after being abandoned by his getaway driver on Sept. 23, 2024. (UPD)
Once outside, the man is seen running with the bag toward a white four-door sedan on the street just out of the parking lot with the back driver-side door open for the suspect to jump into.
The driver, however, never fully came to a stop and sped off when they spotted a police cruiser approaching the suspect in the parking lot.
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At that point, the thief turns and dumps the trash bag and attempts to run away, but after a short foot pursuit through the parking lot, the man surrenders to officers.
The suspect, who was on parole for being a felon in possession of a firearm, was arrested and booked for grand theft, organized retail theft, conspiracy and placed on a parole hold, according to the social media post.
The suspect vehicle was able to avoid capture (for the time being), however, all $1,779.79 [worth] of merchandise was recovered, police said.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) The countdown to election day continues, and as long as youre registered, you can vote at the polls in November, during the early voting period, or via absentee ballot.
But with so many options, dates, and deadlines, the whole process can become confusing. Some legitimate organizations try to make it a little easier for voters, sending out messages with important information and reminders. But so do scammers in an attempt to get you to give them your personal information.
Better Call 4 gets customer a refund from big box store
As Better Call 4 has told you before, you may think youd never fall for it, but scammers are really good at what they do.
Scammers are very smart, Judy Dollison, president of the Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio, said. And really, education is the best way to protect ourselves and avoid falling victim to scams.
Watch: Getting to the bottom of possible election scams
Better Call 4 viewer Diana sent a message after she got a letter from the Voter Participation Center.
They sent me an absentee ballot request, which already had my name and address filled in, Diana said. I Googled the organization and from what I could tell, it looked like a real thing. But then, I noticed that the postage-paid envelope was not the Franklin County Board of Elections address (at least I dont think so). I wondered if your team could check into it? I would hate for others to get scammed if it is a scam.
According to the Franklin County Board of Elections and the Ohio Secretary of States Office, the Voter Participation Center is a real 501(c)(3) and has been for more than 20 years. The BOE called it an advocacy group and the envelope Diana received is in fact addressed to the Board of Elections, which can be seen on its website.
However, it seems Secretary of State Frank LaRose has reservations about the VPC. He issued a warning during the last election season saying the organization used inaccurate data, sent forms to individuals at the wrong address, claimed voters are not registered when they were, and caused confusion with voters nationwide.
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He offered this guidance for voters: All trusted information about voting and registering to vote can be found at VoteOhio.gov.
While groups like the VPC are established and are trying to help, there are still instances of fraud attempts.
If you have questions or concerns, contact Better Call 4 and remember that NBC4 is 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 NBC4 WCMH-TV.
NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio (WJW) The FOX 8 I-Team has uncovered more about mental health issues holding up the trial for the woman accused of killing a toddler outside a grocery store in North Olmsted.
The I-Team also found that last year, just in Cuyahoga County, more than 100 suspects charged with crimes were ruled incompetent.
Bionca Ellis faces charges for stabbing and killing a child she didnt even know outside a Giant Eagle store, but she has been ruled incompetent for trial.
At a hearing Tuesday, Cuyahoga County Court Judge John Russo revealed doctors do not think Ellis is malingering, or faking mental illness.
While the court psychiatric clinic from Cuyahoga County may have indicated there may have been malingering by Ms. Ellis, that, in fact, the doctor found with reasonable certainty that she was not malingering, he said.
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This case began in June.
The I-Team revealed a Rocky River judge had released Ellis from jail on another case despite a magistrate calling for a mental health exam for Ellis.
Days later, police arrested Ellis for the murder of the child.
The I-Team then revealed Ellis had told Cleveland police she had killed before in California.
But, police video shows Ellis said she probably ate them when asked about a victim and police in California considered her claim unfounded.
Ellis now sits in a mental health facility getting treatment and doctors believe she will be able to think clearly again.
At the hearing Tuesday, the judge also said, the doctor believes that Ms. Ellis can be restored to competency if she is provided psychiatric medication.
Meanwhile, the man accused of killing a Cleveland police officer on July 4 also was recently found incompetent for trial. So, we checked how often that happens.
Last year, just in Cuyahoga County, the court found about 110 suspects incompetent for trial. Some of them were from cases making headlines.
A woman charged with killing her child had been ruled incompetent, but she got better with treatment. She ended up going to prison.
Yet, a woman charged with wandering around a secure area of Hopkins Airport for hours also was found incompetent for trial and not likely to get better. Records show her charges have been dropped.
Haitian group brings criminal charges against Trump, Vance for Springfield comments
Back to Ellis, she could get treatment up to a year and even be forced to take medication.
After that, her case would likely come back before the court for a judge to determine what happens.
She could, for example, have her charges dropped, or she could be ordered to remain in a secure mental health facility.
The majority of individuals who are court ordered to competency to stand trial restoration services in Ohios six state psychiatric hospitals are restored to competency status, said the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Ohio has a 75-80% restoration rate for felony cases and about a 50% restoration rate for misdemeanor cases.
The court says Ellis deals with multiple mental health disorders.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Leisure Stocks To Buy Now. In this article, we will look at where Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) stands against the best leisure stocks to buy now.
In recent years, the leisure market has experienced remarkable growth. According to Market Research Intellect, the size of the global leisure market was estimated at $1.46 trillion in 2023 and is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 21.8% from 2024 to 2031, when it will have grown to $8.6 trillion.
Along with growth, according to the YouGov survey, there were also notable changes in the leisure and entertainment industry in 2023 due to changing customer demands and technological breakthroughs. Even though 81% of US and 79% of UK customers recognize the value of museums, more than half of them only occasionally visit them. On the other hand, only 5% of people in the APAC and UAE skip theme parks, compared to 30% in North America.
While out-of-home entertainment expenses are on the rise, 13% of customers intend to spend more. Additionally, 36% of viewers find advertisements entertaining, and 36% of them are using virtual reality. In the United States, 10% prefer to buy movie tickets in advance, while 27% are concerned about how AI breakthroughs may affect professions, notably in information technology and accounting.
In the meantime, gambling is changing; 70% of US gamblers are open to sports betting with AI assistance, and cryptocurrency betting is becoming more popular in the US and the UK. As we have mentioned in our article, 10 Best Sports Betting Stocks to Buy Now, generative AI is projected to dramatically impact sports betting in the next 12-18 months.
As per YouGov study, with 10% of UK consumers possessing smart devices and 24% looking at second-hand equipment, the fitness industry has also experienced growth. In general, live events such as food and drink festivals remain popular; even with safety concerns, 45% of attendees want to participate in 2024. Lastly, a shift in consumer views is evident in the rise of dynamic pricing, particularly in the US, where 54% of consumers are willing to pay more to support artists.
On the other hand, the size of the global leisure travel market was valued at $340.31 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 22.6% from USD 417.3 billion in 2023 to $2129.96 billion by 2031, as per SkyQuest.
Regionally, North America has been the market leader for leisure travel, especially the United States and Canada. However, when it comes to the global leisure travel industry, Asia-Pacific is expanding at the fastest rate. Countries in Southeast Asia, such as China and India, are major destinations for tourists in the area.
Story continues
Amid the growth, a most recent Longwoods International tracking study of American travelers indicates that 39% of them plan to go abroad for leisure over the next 12 months. Furthermore, 34% of those who plan to travel abroad for leisure say they will travel abroad more this year, 50% plan to take about the same number of such trips, and only 16% say they would travel abroad less.
Amir Eylon, President and CEO of Longwoods International, stated that the expected boost in international travel by Americans is impressive, given lingering concerns about inflation and the financial health of the U.S. consumer. Moreover, he revealed that it is further evidence that American travelers see COVID-19 fading away in their rear-view mirror.
Methodology:
We sifted through holdings of leisure ETFs and online rankings to form an initial list of 20 leisure stocks. Then we selected the 10 stocks that were the most popular among institutional investors. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them, as of Q2 2024. We have used the stocks Revenue Growth Rate (year-over-year) as a tie-breaker in case two or more stocks have the same number of hedge funds invested.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletters strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here)
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Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 64
Among the largest hotel chains globally, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) operates more than 6,500 properties. It features 1.2 million rooms and 22 brands. It has several luxury and midscale properties. Of the total number of rooms the company offers, 28% and 19% are attributed to its two largest brands, Hilton and Hampton. Hilton Honors is a loyalty program that boasts over 115 million members.
The companys mid-single-digit percentage of hotel rooms worldwide and its 20% share of all industry pipeline rooms under construction serve as indicators of the strength of its brand.
Furthermore, the firm has the capacity to grow its market share because its current pipeline represents 21% of all rooms under development worldwide, while its portfolio currently comprises 5% of all industry rooms.
Even if the travel industry is experiencing a brief decline in demand, Hiltons strong upper scale, lifestyle, and luxury presence are enhancing its brands intangible value, which is the primary source of its wide moat. The companys portfolio is expanding by several hundred hotels thanks to a collaboration with Small Luxury Hotels in February 2024 and the acquisition of a controlling stake in the Nomad brand in April 2024. Its extended-stay offering, LivSmart Studios, which made its debut in 2023, its newly formed midscale brand, Spark by Hilton, which debuted in 2023, and its acquisition of Graduate Hotels in 2024 all serve to bolster its pricing power. The extended-stay idea LivSmart and the luxury economy/midscale brand Spark of Hilton actually have several hundred partners in talks to become part of the companys portfolio. Spark has the potential to reach a few thousand units over time, making it an appealing unit growth catalyst for the company.
Pershing Square Holdings stated the following regarding Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
In the first half of 2024, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) generated strong revenue growth as the lodging industry experienced solid global demand against a favorable supply backdrop. Near-term industry trends remain positive, with continued strong international growth, improving business transient demand and extremely robust group demand, which is poised to sequentially accelerate in the third quarter. Leisure travel continued to moderate from the high levels of recent years following the COVID-19 reopening. In the second quarter, HLTs revenue per room (RevPAR), the industry metric for same-store sales, increased 3.5% as compared to 2023. Combined with strong 6% net unit growth, aggregate fee revenues grew 10%. Earnings per share grew 17% year-over-year, benefiting from Hiltons excellent cost control and continued best-in-class capital return. Reflecting an incrementally challenging macroeconomic picture, principally in China, the company slightly reduced the upper end of their prior RevPAR guidance, now estimated by management to be +2% to +3%, while modestly increasing full years earnings guidance (Click here to read the full text) Bill Ackmans Pershing Square is the largest shareholder in the company, with 8,952,290 shares worth $1.95 billion.
Overall HLT ranks 3rd on our list of the best leisure stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the potential of HLT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than HLT 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 post was originally published on Insider Monkey.
GLOUCESTER, Va. (WAVY) The Commonwealths Board of Historic Resources added eight historical sites on the Virginia Landmarks Register, including a Baptist church in Gloucester.
Union Zion Baptist Church is one of the earliest churches founded and built by emancipated African Americans in the county following the end of the Civil War, according to a release.
Established in 1867, a small group of congregants from Zion Poplars Baptist Church formed the church. Union Zion Baptist Church was part of a larger movement in the South during the mid- to late-19th century in which congregations within Black communities grew independently from White churches and cultivated their own spaces for worship and gathering.
Among Union Zion Baptist Church, the Board of Historic Resources also approved three schools that were beneficiaries of the Rosenwald Fund, a historic district where three Civil War battles took place, a local bakery that expanded into a large business in the Southeastern United States, and a program established in 1917 by businessman Julius Rosenwald and Tuskegee Institute founder Booker T. Washington to improve educational opportunities for African Americans in the South.
The Board validated the eight properties during a quarterly public meeting on Sept. 19 in Bath County.
For more information, click here.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
The 15 goats will join a herd of Soay sheep which are already grazing on the site [Whipsnade Zoo]
A herd of goats will be taking up maintenance duties on an area of protected hillside surrounding a landmark lion figure.
Fifteen Kashmir goats will be grazing the site of special scientific interest (SSSI) owned by Whipsnade Zoo which surrounds the 147m (483ft) chalk white lion in Bedfordshire.
The area is looked after by volunteers who are not allowed to use pesticides and machinery on the land.
Sarah Forsyth, curator of mammals at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) which runs the zoo, said: "It's lovely to have Kashmir goats at Whipsnade Zoo again, and the new herd will be doing some really important work to make sure our site is a place where all our wonderful wildlife can thrive."
The zoo cares for the surrounding area which includes the Whipsnade White Lion which was created in 1933 and use wildlife-friendly methods to protect the native plants and animals on the 600-acre site.
The goats will be able to graze on the site which is currently managed by volunteers who are unable to use machinery or pesticides there [ZSL Whipsnade Zoo]
The herd has been moved from the Great Orme headland in Llandudno after Conwy council, which was looking for new grazing pasture for the animals, contacted the zoo based on its experience of working with the breed before.
Ms Forsyth said: "We currently have around 20 volunteers who come and clear the lion each Thursday, which takes an enormous amount of effort and dedication.
"We are unable to use pesticides or machinery on our site due to the sensitivity of the biodiversity in the area, making the work of our volunteers and conservation grazers more vital than ever."
Also known as nannies, the goats will graze on thistles, brambles and nettles on the site and join a herd of Soay sheep who already live on the site.
"One of our Kashmir goats, Billy, was descended from the royal herd that lives on the Great Orme," Ms Forsyth added.
"He was selected to be the mascot for the Royal Welsh Regiment, and he served in the Army for eight years, before returning to Whipsnade Zoo for his retirement."
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Harry Reid International Airports Terminal 3 would become Terminal 2 as part of a wide-ranging plan to expand the existing airports two facilities and add dozens of gates.
Leaders with the Clark County Department of Aviation were expected to present an improvement plan at the Oct. 1 Clark County Commission meeting. As of Wednesday, the plan had yet to carry a price tag in publicly available documents.
In 2023, the airport set a new high for passenger traffic a record 57.6 million passengers a 9.4% increase over 2022. Its traffic is ranked among the top 10 in the country, partially due to the number of private aircraft.
A conceptual plan of a reimagined Terminal 1. (CCDOA)
The airports modernization plan would expand and renovate Terminal 1, maximize passenger traffic inside Terminal 3, and better connect the two facilities, documents said. Under the current configuration, there is no Terminal 2.
Our goal is to ensure that Harry Reid International Airport remains the centerpiece of our large hub commercial airport and combined with the supplemental airport, will become the flagship of our entire airport system, the presentation said. The reimagined campus will enhance guest experience and more efficiently maximize airport operations with improved ways to connect people to the region. Safe and convenient multimodal centers will accommodate visitors and the local communities throughout the valley.
As part of the plan, the existing piers at Terminal 1, which mainly house Southwest Airlines, would be demolished and replaced with concourses. The existing terminal houses 39 gates. The new pier-concept terminal would have 65.
A conceptual plan of a reimagined Terminal 3, which would be renamed Terminal 2. (CCDOA)
Terminal 3, which opened in 2012, would be renamed Terminal 2. The original Terminal 2 was demolished in 2016. Airport leaders hope to install new escalators to better move passengers from the terminal to the post-security side.
In addition, a new one-way circular road would better connect the two terminals and two multimodal centers for ride-share and public transportation options. Currently, ride-share drivers pick passengers up in the two airport garages.
To alleviate congestion at Reid Airport, a new airport, called the Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport, is in its planning stages for a strip of land in Jean about a half-hour south of the current site.
The plan includes a new one-way road to better connect the two terminals and passengers with ride-share services. (CCDOA)
The new commercial airport will open airspace, roadways, require new terminal buildings and general aviation to accommodate future growth, the aviation department said.
As 8 News Now reported in April, the new airport project was moving out of the near three-decade early planning phase and onto the environmental phase, with project completion planned for 2037.
The county changed the airports name in honor of late Democratic Sen. Harry Reid in 2021. All of the changes to signage, etc. were paid through donations and non-public funds.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
FIRST ON FOX -- Google has featured Vice President Kamala Harris campaign website in a more desirable location on its search engine results than former President Trumps official site, according to a new study by the Media Research Center.
"Google is trying to stack the deck in favor of Kamala Harris," Media Research Center founder Brent Bozell told Fox News Digital.
"Google's search engine pushes left-wing media articles favoring Kamala Harris and slamming Donald Trump," he added. "Don't trust Google searches."
MRC Free Speech America researchers analyzed the Sept. 6 search results of two separate searches: "Donald Trump presidential race 2024" and "Kamala Harris presidential race 2024."
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The conservative media watchdog wanted to determine where Google Search would position each candidates presidential campaign website but found different results, which favored Harris.
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"In the past, Google buried the campaign websites of Republican candidates. Now the search giant very clearly pads its search results about political candidates with leftist legacy news articles, many of which are hostile to Republicans and either neutral or favorable toward Democrats," MRC Free Speech America associate editor Gabriela Pariseau wrote when recapping the findings.
"Readers will have to sift through the biased news before they even see the organic results of their searches, let alone a candidates website," Pariseau continued.
When searching for "Donald Trump presidential race 2024," the former president's campaign website appeared sixth in Google search results.
"But before reaching Trumps website, readers would see options to click on seven articles from left-wing sources. The New York Times, Politico and The Washington Post were listed under the Top Stories panel," Pariseau wrote.
"Once MRC researchers reached the actual search results, Google displayed a link to an article from The Economist titled Donald Trump v Kamala Harris: whos ahead in the polls? Additionally, the results showed CNNs elections page along with a link to its live election updates. Google also displayed a link to NBCs live election updates page," she added, noting that MRC NewsBusters Executive Editor Tim Graham found "blatant leftist bias" in many articles suggested by Google.
However, when MRC Free Speech America researchers searched "Kamala Harris presidential race 2024," her campaign website was third in the organic Google search results. In addition, the articles that were suggested were largely from left-leaning outlets.
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"Nearly every article that appeared above Harriss website in search results related to historian Allan Lichtmans prediction that Harris will win the 2024 election," Pariseau wrote.
"This overt leftist bias is especially concerning considering that according to a November 2023 Pew Research survey, a rising number of American adults receive their news from search," Pariseau continued. "The study found that 15 percent of U.S. adults prefer to get their news from search engines which is up from 13 percent in 2022 and 11 percent in 2021."
A Google spokesperson dismissed the study.
"Both campaign websites consistently appear at the top of Search for relevant and common search queries. This report looked at a single rare search term on a single day several weeks ago, and even for that search, both candidates websites ranked in the top results on Google," a Google spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Some Google defenders have suggested that Trumps campaign site shows up higher on Google Search than on other search engines like Bing and DuckDuckGo. Others have noted that the campaign website regularly lands as the top result when searching for simply "Donald Trump" on Google instead of "Donald Trump presidential race 2024."
MRC Free Speech America researchers also feel the placement of Trump and Harriss websites is noteworthy. A 2023 study conducted by Search Engine Optimization expert Brian Dean found that the sixth result on search engines -- where Google placed Trumps website -- typically receives just under half as many click-throughs as the third result, which is where Google placed Harris website.
"This comes after a previous MRC Free Speech America study that prompted Google with searches about Kamala Harris found that Google favored leftist media outlets at a rate of 17:2 in Google Search and 19:2 in the Google News tab across four queries," Pariseau wrote.
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The MRC told Fox News Digital it conducts Google searches "using a special algorithm to do searches as though they are being performed for the first time on what we call a clean computer or phone with each new search."
The "clean" computer means that there is no prior search history or tracking cookies that can influence the results achieved when doing a search, as prior search history and tracking cookies impact search results. In addition, the MRC algorithm is not logged in to any accounts while performing a search.
Original article source: Google search favors Harris over Trump, places articles with leftist bias atop GOP nominees site: study
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) on Wednesday unleashed a racist tirade against Haitian people.
Lol. These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters... but damned if they dont feel all sophisticated now, filing charges against our President and VP, Higgins wrote in a now-deleted tweet on X (formerly Twitter). All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) posted a threatening tweet on Sept. 25, 2024, based on debunked claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. Clay Higgins/X
The post came in response to the news that the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a nonprofit organization that advocates for immigrants, is suing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), for inciting violence with their lies about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Higgins deleted the post late Wednesday afternoon after being confronted by colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, called for Higgins to be censured.
Horsford told reporters that he had asked Higgins to delete the post and that he initially refused to do so.
He actually told me, no, he would not, and then thats when we started the action on the floor, Horsford said. Its vile. Its the type of rhetoric that continues to divide people against each other. We have Haitians and Haitian Americans who are literally under threat.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) told reporters he had advised Higgins to remove the post. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Higgins had prayed about the post and then removed it.
The underlying noxious claims about Haitians gained traction on Facebook earlier this month, and Trump and Vance spread it even more widely. Trump amplified the vile accusation on the debate stage against Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this month, and has made it a regular part of his stump speech.
There is absolutely no truth to the claim, and members of the Haitian community in Springfield largely have legal status, hold jobs, and have bought homes and opened businesses.
Reporters, Springfield officials and even some Republicans have said the claim is not true, but Trump and Vance have persisted. Earlier this month, Vance argued on CNN that sometimes it makes sense to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention.
Trump and Vances lies have led to bomb threats, evacuations, and event cancellations in Ohio.
Higgins tweet on Wednesday is not his first time using menacing language on social media. In 2020, he posted a picture of armed Black demonstrators on Facebook and said he would drop any 10 of you where you stand. Facebook removed the post for violating its policies against violence and incitement.
Even though blatant racism has become standard among many GOP figures, at least one of Higgins Democratic colleagues is singling him out.
One of the most racist and bigoted posts Ive seen from a fellow member of Congress, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), who has Haitian ancestry, said on X. And from his official government account at that. Disgusting.
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A few Republican governors have pulled their endorsements of North Carolina GOP gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson in recent days following the CNN report of the many incendiary remarks he allegedly made on a pornography websites message forum.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin have all said they will no longer support Robinson in the aftermath of the report that he posted inflammatory comments on the site more than 10 years ago, including that he wished for slavery to be reinstated and preferred Adolf Hitler to be in charge of the country in 2012 instead of the leaders at the time.
Robinson, North Carolinas current lieutenant governor, has vowed to stay in the race and has denied the report.
A spokesperson for Lee told The Tennessean on Monday that the governor was no longer supporting Robinsons candidacy. Lee is the chair of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), a group dedicated to electing Republicans to governorships.
The RGA has also seemed to pull back from its spending to boost Robinson, with its most recent North Carolina ad buy having expired Tuesday and the groups communications director saying no additional placements had been planned.
Lee was scheduled to travel to North Carolina for a fundraiser with Robinson this week, but the event was canceled, and Lee is no longer going to the state.
Kemp also withdrew his support for Robinson on Monday after The Atlanta-Journal Constitution obtained photos of Kemp speaking at a fundraiser for Robinson last month.
The governor attended the fundraiser as vice chair of the Republican Governors Association and will not be offering further support to the Robinson campaign, a senior deputy for Kemp told the outlet.
Youngkin followed suit Wednesday, with a spokesperson for his PAC telling a local outlet that the governor attended an event for Robinson in August as a member of the RGAs executive committee and has no plans to further support his candidacy.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) did not go as far as pulling his endorsement but said he doesnt think Ill be going back to North Carolina to campaign.
I havent read but just a little bit of them. I mean, I think that they cause some, raise some eyebrows, he told the South Carolina news outlet The State. But on the other hand, its easy to destroy somebodys reputation these days. I dont know whats true and whats not true; I like to give everybody the benefit of the doubt. But apparently its caused some trouble in his campaign.
McMaster, another member of the RGAs executive committee, told the outlet the group has spent a lot of money on Robinson already, and the lack of additional ad buys doesnt mean that were not hoping Republicans will go vote for him, but the RGA reached the limits of what they could spend and decided to not spend more on that race.
The decisions from the governors is the latest blow to Robinsons campaign after the Thursday report, which also stated that Robinson had called himself a black Nazi and expressed enjoyment of transgender porn.
After the report, a few Republicans in North Carolina distanced themselves from Robinson, and he did not attend a rally former President Trump held in the state this past weekend. Trump endorsed Robinson in the primary and often praised him before the report came out.
Several of Robinsons top staff also resigned from their positions after the report, including his campaign manager, deputy campaign manager, finance director and general consultant.
Robinson has remained adamant that he is continuing with the race despite some pressure he has received to step aside.
In response to the governors withdrawing their endorsement, a spokesperson for Robinsons campaign pointed to a post the lieutenant governor sent Wednesday on the social platform X in which he said he spoke with GOP leaders across North Carolina and told them the election is about policies, not personalities.
Now is not the time for intra-party squabbling and nonsense, he said. We have 41 days to make our case we cant do it without all hands on deck. From President Trump to our local community officials, we must vote Republican.
Lauren Irwin contributed.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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As the presidential race between former President Trump and Vice President Harris tumbles toward its November finish line, legal battles surrounding the 2024 elections are beginning to heat up.
Republicans have filed challenges in major swing states nationwide that revolve around proof-of-citizenship requirements and mail ballot deadlines, while Democrats have challenged state election officials who have expanded their roles.
The blitz of election litigation, much of which echoes the 2020 legal challenges that formed the foundation of Trumps baseless mass election fraud claims, threatens to sow confusion among election officials and voters and is expected to only multiply in the days and weeks after the election.
Proof of citizenship
Conservatives have put proof-of-citizenship requirements front and center this election cycle, both in the courts and on Capitol Hill.
Though independent studies indicate noncitizen voting is rare, it became the sticking point over negotiations to avoid a government shutdown, until Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Sunday abandoned his effort to couple a funding bill with a proof-of-citizenship measure.
The battle is still raging in the courts, however.
In Nevada, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Trump campaign sued Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar (D) earlier this month, claiming he failed to purge more than 6,000 noncitizens from the states voter rolls.
They are asking a state judge to order Aguilar to verify that all registered voters are, indeed, citizens before Novembers election and take steps to regularly maintain Nevadas voter rolls.
Aguilar has not yet responded to the lawsuit, but state officials have previously cast doubt on the figure, contending that many of the people in question have likely been naturalized as citizens in recent years.
In Arizona, where documentary proof of citizenship is required to vote in state races, the Democratic secretary of state recently identified 97,928 registered voters who were incorrectly understood to have provided proof.
The Republican recorder in Maricopa County, which spans the Phoenix area and is the states most populous county, asked the states high court to get involved to determine whether they should be allowed to get full ballots this November.
On Friday, the court ruled that they should.
We are unwilling on these facts to disenfranchise voters en masse from participating in state contests. Doing so is not authorized by state law and would violate principles of due process, the Arizona Supreme Court wrote in its ruling.
Mail and absentee ballots
In 2020, the sudden influx of mail-in and absentee voting in the middle of the pandemic spurred a flurry of lawsuits from Trump and Republicans casting doubt on the results.
This cycle, Trump is encouraging Republicans to utilize mail-in voting even as he rails against it.
The mail-in voting isnt working. Its corrupt, he said during a Pennsylvania rally in July. But until then, Republicans must win.
The RNC has brought two, separate suits against Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) concerning absentee ballots: The first challenges her guidance that election officials should mark ballots with missing stubs as challenged rather than outright reject them.
The second lawsuit concerns signature verification. The RNC claims some local clerks arent following a requirement enshrined in state law to physically mark absentee ballot envelopes when they are approved for tabulation.
Republicans have filed similar lawsuits in other battleground states like North Carolina, where the RNC is challenging state election board guidance to count absentee ballots even if they are submitted in an envelope that doesnt meet certain standards.
Mail-in envelopes have also been top of mind in Pennsylvania, where a coalition of voting rights groups sued to challenge a state law precluding ballots with incorrect or missing dates on the envelope. About 10,500 ballots were rejected on those grounds in the 2022 midterms, state officials wrote in court filings.
The case attracted the attention of the Democratic National Committee and RNC, which intervened to support and oppose the challenge, respectively.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court earlier this month in a 4-3 decision threw out the challenge, saying a lower court lacked jurisdiction because the lawsuit did not name all 67 county election boards as defendants. It remains possible that the plaintiffs could file a new lawsuit and again seek the courts intervention.
Election certifications
In Georgia, another critical swing state, the State Election Board faces a lawsuit from Democrats challenging recent changes it made to the states election certification rules.
Just weeks before Election Day, the state board passed a series of rules that now require local boards to conduct a reasonable inquiry before certifying election results and say investigations must occur if any discrepancies are discovered at a precinct. If an error beyond correction is identified, its up to the local boards to determine how to compute the votes justly, per the new rules.
Critics have warned that the last-minute changes could create confusion among election workers and cause delays in certifying results which could ripple out into races where deadlines to certify results are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.
At minimum, these novel requirements introduce substantial uncertainty in the post-election process and if interpreted as their drafters have suggested invite chaos by establishing new processes at odds with existing statutory duties, the August lawsuit filed by the Democratic National Committee and several Democrats reads.
The lawsuit is set to go to trial on Oct. 1, when a judge will determine whether both rules changed by Georgias State Election Board should be invalidated to prevent confusion and disorder.
Though neither Harris nor her campaign are formally a part of the lawsuit, theyre backing the effort to rein in the unelected board of three Republicans, one Democrat and a nonpartisan chair.
Certifying an election is not a choice, its the law, Harris-Walz principal deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks told The Hill when the lawsuit was filed. A few unelected extremists cant just decide not to count your vote.
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After a Haitian advocacy group filed criminal charges against former President Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance, one member of Congress responded with a racist rant that is, frankly, completely in line with the character of the modern GOP.
Earlier this week, the nonprofit Haitian Bridge Alliance took advantage of an Ohio law allowing private citizens to file criminal charges against individuals, charging the Republican candidates with a series of offenses related to a smear campaign they promoted against Haitian migrants living in the town of Springfield, Ohio. Trump and Vance have falsely claimed that the migrants are undocumented, and have terrorized the town in a variety of ways including by killing and eating local pets.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) responded to the charges from Haitian Bridge Alliance on X, formerly Twitter, with undiluted racism.
Lol. These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters but damned if they dont feel all sophisticated now, filing charges against our President and VP, Higgins wrote. All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th, he added.
Higgins has since deleted the post.
Horsford even moved to have Higgins censured over the post, for using his official account to publicly slander, insult, and demean all Haitians and Haitian Americans in an overtly racist post.
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) objected, noting that the tweet had been deleted while threatening to go through every comment from the other side.
Horsford was far from the only member of Congress to take issue with Higgins post, though. One of the most racist and bigoted posts Ive seen from a fellow member of Congress, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) wrote on X. And from his official government account at that. Disgusting.
House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also called it disgusting, releasing a statement calling Higgins an election-denying, conspiracy-peddling racial arsonist who is a disgrace to the Peoples House.
Higgins is no stranger to perpetuating anti-Black racism. In 1992, Higgins, then an Army military policy officer, described former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke as a homeboy during Dukes unsuccessful bid for the presidency.
Regardless of the fact that Davids a homeboy and all that, the boys a Nazi, and thats a real problem, Higgins told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and added that he had, in fact, voted for Duke in his 1991 gubernatorial campaign.
Higgins is also a staunch supporter of Trump, and has spread several conspiracy theories popular among the MAGA faithful, including that the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was orchestrated by the FBI.
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Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford speaks with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol about border policy negotiations on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON Senate Democrats attempted to pass a resolution Tuesday addressing abortion access in emergency medical situations, but Republicans blocked it from moving forward.
The floor action followed months of unsuccessful attempts by congressional Democrats to approve legislation on various reproductive rights, including access to birth control and in vitro fertilization.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Tuesday she introduced the resolution to clarify what Congress objective was several decades ago when lawmakers approved the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA.
We want to make it clear that Congresss intent is that women can get life-saving care when they go to an emergency room anywhere in this country, Murray said.
Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford blocked Murrays unanimous consent request to approve the resolution, saying that doctors in emergency departments are able to act in cases of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and life-threatening situations.
This is a false claim that somehow what happened in the Dobbs decision and whats happening in states is limiting that, Lankford said. Its actually the political rhetoric thats making people afraid.
Lankford objected to another of Murrays unanimous consent requests in March, blocking approval of legislation that would have expanded access to in vitro fertilization for military members and veterans.
No recorded vote
Unanimous consent is the fastest way to approve legislative items in the Senate. Under the process, any one senator can ask to approve a bill or resolution and any one senator can object. There is no recorded vote that puts all senators on the record.
Murrays two-page resolution, which had the backing of 40 cosponsors, would have expressed the sense of the Senate that every person has the basic right to emergency health care, including abortion care.
The resolution also expressed that State laws that purport to ban and restrict abortion in emergency circumstances force medical providers to decide between withholding necessary, stabilizing medical care from a patient experiencing a medical emergency or facing criminal prosecution, and put the lives, health, and futures of patients at risk.
This resolution wouldnt have actually changed the text of EMTALA.
The 1986 law states that hospital emergency departments must treat or transfer patients who have emergency medical conditions, regardless of their health insurance status or ability to pay.
It defines an emergency medical condition as something that could result in the health of the patient being in serious jeopardy, such as the patient experiencing serious impairment to bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.
Dobbs decision
The federal law has been the center of political and legal debate since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion two years ago in the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization ruling.
The Biden administration issued a public letter shortly afterward saying EMTALA protected doctors and other qualified health care providers who ended a pregnancy to stabilize the patient if their life or health was at risk.
Republican attorneys general in several states challenged that view of the law and the U.S. Department of Justice later sued Idaho over its abortion law.
That case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year, but the justices ultimately decided to send it back to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The high court said it should have waited to hear the case until after the lower court ruled.
At the center of the disagreement between Republican state attorneys general and the Biden administration is that the federal law applies when a pregnant patients life or health is at risk; many of the conservative state laws only allow abortions after a certain gestational age when a womans life is at risk.
Exactly when a womans life becomes at risk due to pregnancy complications has led to dozens of stories from women throughout the country, who say they had to wait for treatment until their health deteriorated further.
Analysis from the Associated Press released in August found that more than 100 women experiencing medical distress during pregnancy were turned away from hospitals or negligently treated during the last two years.
ProPublica recently obtained reports that confirm that at least two women have already died after they couldnt access legal abortions and timely medical care in their state.
This cruelty is unforgivable and unacceptable
The Senate resolution that Republicans rejected Tuesday is nearly identical to one House Democrats introduced earlier this month.
Murray said ahead of her UC request that women and their families will not forget about being denied medical care due to Republican state restrictions on abortion access.
No woman is ever going to forget when she was sent off to miscarry alone after her doctor said, Look, I know your life is in danger, but Im not sure Im allowed to save you right now, Murray said. No husband is going to forget calling 911 in a panic after finding his wife bloody and unconscious. No child is going to forget, for a single day of their life, the mother that was taken from them by Republican abortion bans.
This cruelty is unforgivable and unacceptable. Democrats will not let it become settled status quo.
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FIRST ON FOX: Republican senators introduced a series of measures on Wednesday aimed at taking a comprehensive approach to curbing the Chinese Communist Party's influence in the west.
Sens. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., led the introduction of several pieces of legislation in the Senate, all focused on targeting different aspects of China's involvement in America, including at universities and in the U.S. agricultural sector.
"The CCP is the single greatest threat to Americas national security and financial independence," Ricketts told Fox News Digital in a statement. "A CCP-led world would mean coercion instead of choice, tyranny instead of liberty, and dictatorship instead of democracy. The only way to combat this threat is with a strong, strategic, all-of-government approach. These bills move us closer to that."
Joe Manchin Says He Won't Endorse Harris Over Support For Eliminating Filibuster
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at a meeting in Beijing, Sept. 20, 2024.
The Nebraska Republican introduced five bills: to protect domestic food supply chains; to disincentivize university endowments from investing in "adversarial entities"; to prevent tax breaks for investing in Chinese, Russian, Iranian, North Korean, or Belarussian companies; to stop U.S. market participation and ownership in businesses that are sanctioned for human rights violations; and to prohibit index funds from purchasing Chinese stocks.
Dems Look To Force Votes On Emergency Abortion As Abortion Pill Deaths Make Headlines
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Sen. Pete Ricketts makes a speech during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., May 3, 2023.
Schmitt also introduced a measure that would bar members of the CCP and their relatives from obtaining student visas to attend American universities.
"The Chinese Communist Party remains our most significant adversary, both militarily and economically. It makes no sense for American universities to continue educating the children and other family members of CCP officials. These more than 100,000 admission slots should go to American students," Schmitt told Fox News Digital in a statement.
John Cornyn Flexes Fundraising Chops As Battle To Succeed Mitch Mcconnell Ramps Up
Sen. Eric Schmitt speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 16, 2024.
"If you are associated with a foreign organization that is actively working to undermine the United States, you should certainly not have the continued privilege of being educated on our college campuses. The Protecting Higher Education from the Chinese Communist Party Act fortunately puts an end to these special privileges."
Enigmatic Voter Group Could Split Ticket For Trump, Dem Senate Candidate In Arizona
The Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army performs a flag-raising ceremony on China's Army Day on Aug. 1, 2024 in Nanchang.
The senators' legislation comes as Republicans continue to sound the alarm over CCP influence and current U.S. vulnerabilities.
Americans increasingly agree with their warnings, with about half saying that limiting both Chinas power and influence should be a top priority for the U.S. when it comes to foreign policy. Another 42% believe it should be given some priority, according to a Pew Research Center survey earlier this year.
Original article source: GOP senators eye comprehensive China strategy to curb CCP influence
IHG Hotels & Resorts has surpassed the milestone of 200 open hotels in its Northern Europe market.
This expansion includes the introduction of several IHG brands across Germany, Hungary, Poland and Sweden.
Germany will welcome the luxury boutique Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants and the midscale conversion brand Garner later this year.
The Candlewood Suites extended stay brand is set to make its debut early next year while the first hotels under the Kimpton and Vignette Collection brands have already opened in Hungary.
Additionally, the collaboration between IHG's Holiday Inn brand and NOVUM Hospitality's niu brand has resulted in more than 30 new openings.
In Germany, the upcoming Holiday Inn Express Munich Airport-Erding is scheduled to open in late 2024, alongside Kimpton Frankfurt Main, which will be the first Kimpton-branded hotel in the country, located within the FOUR development.
The Holiday Inn the niu brand continues to expand with two more properties signed, adding to the initial 52 agreed.
A total of 56 Garner hotels were signed in April 2024 as part of a long-term agreement with NOVUM Hospitality, with the first properties expected to open later this year.
In addition, 11 Candlewood Suites properties were signed in April 2024, with openings planned towards the end of this year.
Poland will see the addition of the fourth Holiday Inn Express hotel in the country, Holiday Inn Express Lublin, set to open as a conversion from an independent hotel in partnership with Polski Holding Hotelowy.
The voco hotels brand is making its Polish debut with voco Katowice, a 167-guest room hotel, scheduled to open in 2025.
Krakow will welcome the Hotel Indigo Krakow Wawel Castle in 2025, signed with Howell Estates, marking the second Hotel Indigo in the city.
In Hungary, the Kimpton BEM Budapest opened in July 2024 while the Verno House Budapest, part of the Vignette Collection, opened last month.
In Sweden, the opening of voco Stockholm - Kista in early September 2024 marks IHG's re-entry into the market.
Furthermore, the recently opened Holiday Inn Express Brussels - Airport, developed with Borealis Hotel Group, features 208 guest rooms.
IHG's Northern Europe market, comprising 13 countries, now has 197 open hotels and 169 properties under development.
"IHG exceeds 200 open hotels in Northern Europe" was originally created and published by Hotel Management Network, 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.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox speaks at his monthly news conference held at the Eccles Broadcast Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox arrived in East Asia this week to encourage economic ties between the Beehive State and the countries of South Korea and Japan.
Cox is leading a delegation of 47 Utah businesses in a trade mission beginning on Tuesday and extending over 11 days until Oct. 4. Coxs campaign to strengthen business relationships with South Korea and Japan builds on visits made by his predecessor, former Gov. Gary Herbert, in 2018 and 2019.
Utahs position as the best state in the U.S. is bolstered by our ability to reach across the globe and grow our economy through international partnerships, Cox said in a statement to the Deseret News. This trade mission will further enhance our states economic strength and expand the global reach of Utah-made goods and services.
What is Cox doing in Asia?
The governors visit will feature conversations with key Utah industries, including aerospace, defense and financial services, according to a press release from the Governors Office of Economic Opportunity, which organized the trip with World Trade Center Utah.
This week, Cox will be in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The public schedule for Cox on Thursday includes a ceremonial signing of the countries drivers license reciprocity agreement, a visit to Yonsei University and a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg.
On Friday, Cox is scheduled to lead a Why Utah roundtable discussion; to meet with the CEO of Hanwha Aerospace & Systems; to meet with the South Korean minister of trade, industry and energy; and to attend an aerospace dinner. On Saturday, Cox will visit the Korean War Memorial and tour the University of Utah Asia Campus, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
The governors Why Utah pitch highlights unique Utah characteristics that make it strong player on the world stage, according to Ryan Starks, the executive director of the Governors Office on Economic Opportunity.
We speak 130 languages in Utah, have a highly educated workforce, and a business-friendly tax environment, Starks said in a statement to the Deseret News. With the 2034 Olympic Games on the horizon, coupled by the emergence of professional sports, Utah is poised for continued global economic success.
Utah is home to more than 35,000 Korean Americans and 25,000 Japanese Americans, with hundreds of companies already doing business with these two countries, according to a press release from the Governors Office of Economic Opportunity and World Trade Center Utah, which jointly organized the trade mission.
We deeply value the contributions of our Korean American and Japanese American communities, who have played a vital role in sharing Utahs story in these key markets, Cox said.
What could Coxs Asia trip do for Utah?
The Governors Office of Economic Opportunity, or GOEO, said the mission represents a smart investment for Utah. Cox made similar trips France, the U.K. and Mexico in 2023 that resulted in nearly $200 million in new trade opportunities, the office reported. Utah has boasted its emerging status as a Crossroads of the World with events featuring prominent business and political leaders.
It was recently announced that former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake had been named the new board chairman for World Trade Center Utah. The board includes executives from Zions Bank and Salt Lake Chamber, as well as policymakers like state Sen. President Stuart Adams, R-Layton; Natalie Gochnour, director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute; and Starks, who joined the governor in Asia.
The trade mission with Utah leaders to South Korea and Japan is essential to build economic partnerships, foster innovation and expand trade markets, Starks said. Engaging directly with international leaders and companies brings growth opportunities that benefit Utah businesses and the states economy, expanding Utahs global influence.
HONOLULU (KHON2) In light of a dramatic scene that unfolded in front of Kapiolani Medical Center on Monday, Governor Josh Green M.D. and Attorney General Anne Lopez urge the hospital and the Hawaii Nurses Association to seek a federal mediator.
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Both parties entered their sixth day of negotiations and have yet to reach a deal. Governor Green and AG Lopez believe a mediator would help break barriers and help both sides reach a fair agreement.
Our nurses are a critical piece of our health care system in Hawaii. I encourage both parties, who I respect, to request the assistance of a federal mediator, Green said.
Iwamoto, Hussey included in those arrested at Kapiolani nurses protest
By law, the Governor cannot intervene in private negotiations between Kapiolani Medical Center and its nurses, but he is ready to assist through mediation if requested.
During this phase of the negotiation, with a federal mediator, I would ask that both parties ensure that no services are interrupted at Kapiolani and that the nurses continue to receive their health benefits. These gestures of good faith should help the parties move forward, Green added.
Governor Green has also offered state resources and neutral spaces for discussion, including conference rooms.
Now more than ever, we must remain focused on resolution, Green continued. He emphasized the importance of working together and called for calm dialogue.
In a statement released by Kapiolani Medical Center Chief Operating Officer Gidget Ruscetta, the hospital agrees a federal mediator can help reach the final step in a contract settlement.
Additionally, the hospital plans to extend our nurses health, dental and vision benefits beyond Sept. 30, as long as HNA accepts the governors recommendation and adheres to the terms of Kapiolanis response.
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BOSTON (WWLP) Governor Healey, joined by other administration officials, held a signing ceremony for a bill that helps Massachusetts compete for federal funds on Tuesday afternoon.
This bill uses interest from the states stabilization fund to pursue federal funds, without drawing any additional money from taxpayers or from the fund itself.
This includes up to $750 million to pursue the aforementioned federal money, $12 million for tech assistance for municipalities and tribes, and $50 million for financial assistance for federal programs.
The governor said the state has been able to take advantage of available funding from the Biden-Harris administration. We viewed it as our responsibility and our opportunity to go out there and maximize Massachusetts ability to bring home these dollars working with partners, said the governor at the bill signing.
The Director of Federal Funds and Infrastructure, Quentin Palfrey, said Massachusetts is leading the way in creating public policy to hold secure federal funding. There will never be a better time to invest in infrastructure in Massachusetts, said Palfrey. With todays first-in-the-nation federal funds bill, were just getting started.
The governor addressed the impact of her close ties with the Biden-Harris administration on the states ability to secure funding, saying while she never passes up an opportunity to talk up Massachusetts, the credit goes to the members of her team who apply for the money.
Governor Healey said she will continue to fight for federal funds for Massachusetts, regardless of who is in office come January.
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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.
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TOOMBS COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) On Wednesday, Governor Brian P. Kemp announced that Shinsung Petrochemical (Shinsung), an automotive supplier, will invest $11.2 million in a new manufacturing facility in Toombs County, creating more than 30 new jobs.
Eighty-three percent of expansions and new locations from the past fiscal year are on their way to rural communities, delivering more than 18,300 new jobs and $12.5 billion in investment to hardworking Georgians in communities like Toombs County, said Governor Brian Kemp. We are excited that Shinsung is joining that growing network of suppliers locating in rural communities and creating new opportunities for all to succeed, no matter their zip code.
Established in 1974, Shinsung specializes in products like automotive sealant. The company will be a key supplier for Hyundai Motor Group and the Metaplant in Bryan County.
We enjoyed visiting the location of our future facility in Lyons this week and celebrating our next step in the state of Georgia with our new partners in the community, said Chan Woo Park, COO of Shinsung. We look forward to joining Georgias network of automotive suppliers, providing adhesive and sealant solutions for manufactures nearby. We are excited to be in Toombs County in Georgia.
Gov. Kemp: Georgia job creation remains strong
Construction on Shinsungs new manufacturing facility, located at 1407 Highway 1 North in Lyons, is expected to finish in 2025.
It has been very rewarding to witness the transformation of Toombs Corporate Center at U.S. Highway 1 in Lyons over the last few years, said Chair Tim Truxel, Toombs County Development Authority. We truly appreciate the corporate partners we already have and look forward to a new prosperous relationship with Shinsung Petrochemical, Inc. Congratulations to Toombs County, the State of Georgia, and Shinsung Petrochemical, Inc., for this exciting opportunity!
I am excited to witness this investment to Toombs Corporate Center at U.S. Highway 1 in Lyons, said Lyons Mayor Willis NeSmith. The community has worked diligently to make this a premier industrial park. The location is ideal to service the growing automotive industry in Southeast Georgia.
We are so pleased to welcome Shinsung Petrochemical, Inc., to Toombs County, said Chair David Sikes, Board of Commissioners of Toombs County. This project is a great addition to our diverse industrial base.
Director of Project Implementation and Supplier Strategy Alyce Thornhill represented the Georgia Department of Economic Developments Global Commerce team on this project in partnership with the Toombs County Development Authority, Georgia Ports Authority, and Georgia Power.
The last few years have been historic for Georgia in many ways, with generational investments in automotive and other key industries creating hope and opportunities for Georgians across the state, said Commissioner Pat Wilson. Our partnerships at every level, from local economic developers to statewide partners and including our international presence, have been a large part of that success. Congratulations to Shinsung and Toombs County; we look forward to what the future holds for your new partnership.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV.
Gov. Kemp issues state of emergency for Georgia ahead of Hurricane Helene
GEORGIA (WJBF) Georgia leaders are preparing for the effects of Tropical Storm Helene.
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WJBF Meteorologists say this storm is now a category 1 hurricane..
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declared a State of Emergency Tuesday and is prepared to deploy 500 National Guard troops to heavily affected areas.
ALSO ON WJBF: Georgia activates travel alert webpage for Hurricane Helene
State leaders and GEMA say this will be a more expensive storm than Hurricane Debbie and ask everyone to avoid non-essential travel if necessary.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSAV)- As part of the culmination of Workforce Development Month activities, Governor Henry McMaster and S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) Executive Director William Floyd presented BMW with the 2024 Workforce Champion Award at the Governors Mansion on Tuesday.
This award honors an employer that has displayed extraordinary effort and innovation in developing and connecting educators and students with employment opportunities in S.C.
BMW was selected as the honoree because of its commitment to providing hands-on experiences to middle and high schoolers in its state-of-the-art facility and its apprenticeship programs, which are the first of their kind in the state.
South Carolina is at the forefront of business innovation and career opportunities, and our young people are more aware of that truth than ever before, said Governor Henry McMaster. BMW is educating and training South Carolinians from childhood to adulthood about the importance of manufacturing in our state. I am proud to present this award to BMW as they represent the best of our workforce, support our communities, and help create strong families.
BMW was celebrated at the ceremony for its summer camps featuring Robotics Days, its ongoing outreach efforts at schools and job fairs, and its Scholars and Rising Scholars Programs. The Scholars Program is a two-year apprenticeship for students with manufacturing-related degrees at Greenville Technical College, Spartanburg Community College, and Tri-County Technical College to attend class full-time while working part-time at BMW.
Beaufort County School District awarded Catalyst Grant
The Rising Scholars Program is a one-year apprenticeship for high school seniors to work part-time at BMW while attending high school and a Career and Technical Education Center. This program was one of the first of its kind in S.C., paving the way for other companies to follow in BMWs lead. After successfully completing the program, they are presented with a certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor and become eligible for the BMW Scholars Program.
Along with Governor McMaster, it is my privilege as the Executive Director of the Department of
Employment and Workforce to present the Workforce Champion Award to BMW, said DEW Executive Director William Floyd. BMW educates our young people about the importance of STEM-related careers in advanced manufacturing in a way that makes them easily understood and achievable.
The award was presented to Vice President of Human Resources Sherry McCraw, Department Manager of Talent Programs Paul Sinanian, and Manager of Government and Community Relations Max Metcalf, on behalf of BMW.
The most important investment for BMW is our people, and our future workforce is right here in South Carolina. We must provide students with opportunities to learn through experience so they will take an educational path that leads them to a successful career, said BMW Vice
President of Human Resources Sherry McCraw. The rapid pace of digitalization, artificial intelligence, and electrification is transforming the automotive industry. This means we must provide a learning environment that promotes creativity, fosters innovation, and teaches technical training skills.
The Workforce Champion Award recipient was nominated and selected by DEWs Regional Workforce Advisors, who connect employers and educators, students, and parents across the state.
For any business interested in learning more about student outreach, reach out to a Regional Workforce Advisor at rwa@dew.sc.gov.
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Gov. Pillen declares emergency of Bronco Fire near Crawford in Nebraska Panhandle
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. June 10, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN Gov. Jim Pillen has declared a state of emergency in Sioux County for the Bronco Fire, which has burned more than 1,000 acres since Sept. 18, the Governors Office said Tuesday.
Latest reports indicate that the blaze northwest of Crawford in the Nebraska Panhandle is nearly contained.
As of Monday, the fire was 97% contained, according to the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.
Pillens written emergency proclamation follows his verbal authorization allowing the state adjutant general to activate emergency plans and resources necessary to manage the fire, a new release from his office said.
The adjutant general also serves as the state disaster coordinator. The proclamation permits the use of funds from the Governors Emergency Fund.
Authorities determined lightning was the cause of the fire that started on private property and spread onto the Oglala National Grassland, the NEMA reported.
At its peak, over 130 firefighters and multiple aircraft, including two Nebraska National Guard UH60 helicopters, were used to contain the fire.
The wildfire has created problems greater in scope than local governments alone may resolve, the proclamation said.
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Gov. Roy Cooper (Photo: Galen Bacharier)
Gov. Roy Cooper said Wednesday that he believed Lt. Gov. Mark Robinsons presence on the ballot could hurt former President Donald Trumps chances of winning the battleground state this November.
Theres some down-ballot things going on some guy running for governor on the Republican side whos made a little news, Cooper said during an interview at The New York Times Climate Forward conference.
And we think there can be a bottom-up effect here. Because Donald Trump makes guys like Mark Robinson, supports them, encourages them, still hasnt condemned him in any way.
A CNN investigation last week found a history of explicit sexual and racial comments posted online by an account tied to Robinson. The lieutenant governor has denied that he made the comments and hired an attorney; meanwhile, staff have left his campaign and Republicans have distanced themselves from Robinson politically and financially. When Astead Herndon, the Times reporter and podcast host interviewing Cooper, remarked that he wouldnt repeat the comments found by CNN, Cooper joked that youd get a call from the FCC.
(Trump) needs to suffer the consequences of creating and supporting people like Mark Robinson, as does every Republican leader in North Carolina who supported and endorsed it, Cooper added.
It remains to be seen how the governors race could impact whats expected to be a razor-thin race for president in North Carolina. Recent polls have shown Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, leading by double digits over Robinson. Presidential polls, meanwhile, show the state as an effective toss-up at the moment.
Robinson, previously a sure bet to speak ahead of Trump at North Carolina rallies, no longer appears at events with him or his vice presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. JD Vance.
Democrats have placed 12 additional billboards in cities across the state this week highlighting Trumps strong words endorsing Robinson, even as the lieutenant governor has lost key Republican endorsements.
The governors trip to New York City also marked the first time since the new revelations that he has ceded temporary control of the state to Robinson. Under North Carolina law, the lieutenant governor serves as acting governor when the chief executive is out of the state.
Cooper talks climate and how to get GOP cooperation on energy spending
Cooper has focused heavily on clean energy spending and investment in recent years. That spending was the focus of his interview Thursday, during which he explained how he sought to navigate Republican majorities and opposition to or outright denial of climate change.
It has been key to pitch clean energy spending as an economic boon, Cooper said, and tout the industrys ability to create long-term jobs and revenue.
Theres always a see-saw in electoral politics thats partisan, he said. You want to make sure the investments youre making in energy can survive a blue wave or a red wave.
Government wages hundred-million-dollar war on species capable of destroying ecosystems: 'We will not pass a devastated ecosystem to the next generation'
Thailand's experience with an invasive fish is showing just how badly things can go wrong when a species enters uncharted territory.
What's happening?
The blackchin tilapia has wreaked havoc on the Southeast Asian country's waterways, spreading to 17 provinces in recent years, as the BBC reported.
Like other invasive species, it is devouring and outcompeting native species to the detriment of ecosystems. Another issue is economic and could cost the country almost $300 million.
"The core problem is that the blackchin tilapia prey on small fish, shrimp, and snail larvae, which are among Thailand's important aquaculture products," the BBC stated.
The West African fish may have escaped from a Charoen Pokphand Foods laboratory after the company imported 2,000 of them in 2010, or they could have boomed after being smuggled into the country.
Why is this important?
As the BBC noted, it doesn't matter how it happened but what comes next. It's a path being taken by communities around the globe, as human actions and the warming climate allow invasive plants and animals to colonize areas far and wide.
"We will not pass a devastated ecosystem to the next generation," Bangkok lawmaker Nattacha Boonchaiinsawat told the outlet.
Because the tilapia can bear 500 fingerlings at once, the government has released Asian seabass and long-whiskered catfish to prey on the fish and doubled its bounty to $0.42 per kilogram.
Residents are being encouraged to eat the catch too, but experts told the BBC that ousting the fish may not be possible.
"I don't see the possibility of eradicating it because we cannot limit its range," Suwit Wuthisuthimethavee of Walailak University said. "When it is in nature, it reproduces continuously."
What else is being done about the blackchin tilapia?
In another measure, the government has genetically modified tilapia, which it hopes to release by the end of the year, to produce sterile offspring.
"Who will win?" Nattacha asked the BBC. "We need the people to follow the case closely; otherwise this matter will be quiet, and we will pass on this kind of environment to the next generation."
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Governor asks Letcher County sheriff accused of murder to resign in letter
LETCHER COUNTY, Ky. (WJHL) Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has formally asked Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines to resign from his position following his arrest for the alleged murder of a judge.
Letcher County sheriff pleads not guilty to judges murder
Stines has been charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 19 shooting death of district judge Kevin Mullins.
On Wednesday, a letter from Beshears office and Kentucky General Counsel S. Travis Mayo was sent to Stines. As of Wednesday, Stines remains in the Leslie County Detention Center.
The letter asks that Stines tender his resignation as sheriff to the Letcher County Judge/Executive by the end of Friday.
If you do not tender your resignation, the Governor will move forward with removal under KRS 63.100, the letter reads.
The county attorney for Letcher County previously told News Channel 11 that procedures were in place to remove Stines from his position if he did not resign.
Stines was arraigned in Carter County, Kentucky court on Wednesday morning over Zoom. Stines pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge.
During the arrangement, public attorney Josh Miller was appointed as Stines public defender. Miller told Judge Rupert Wilhoit that Stines believes he will soon lose his job as sheriff, which was why he requested a public defender.
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We recently compiled a list of the Jim Cramer's 10 Stock Picks That Could Change Your Investment Game. In this article, we are going to take a look at where PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) stands against the other stocks that could change your investment game according to Jim Cramer.
Tech Stocks Shine When Rates Are High but Struggle After Rate Cuts, Says Cramer
In a recent episode of Mad Money, Jim Cramer points out that tech stocks often perform well when the Federal Reserve maintains high interest rates and the economy slows down. However, when the Fed cuts rates, as it did recently, Wall Street shifts its focus to companies that can show significant earnings growth due to these lower rates. This may seem confusing, but in the stock market, cash is limited, and it's currently flowing into companies that would struggle without the rate cuts. While many stocks initially rose after the cut, they couldn't maintain those gains, leading to a market decline.
"The thing is, these tech stocks tend to be winners when the Fed keeps rates high and the economy slows. But when the Fed slams on the accelerator, as it did today, Wall Street bands together and piles into the companies that can post big earnings gains with much lower interest rates. Now, that may sound strange to you. Obviously, the real world makes no distinction between a company that does well all the time and one that does extremely well some of the time. However, in the crazy world of the stock market, we only have so much cash to go around, and right now, it's flowing into companies that would have been doomed in a world where the Fed didn't start cutting rates. These companies have stocks that are much prized right now, so the money funnels into them. Everything else went up but couldn't stay up after the rate cut. These did stay up; unfortunately, there aren't enough of them to allow the averages to close in the black. That's why we close in the red."
Cramer questions whether all tech stocks are now weaker and suggests that not every company will suffer the same fate. He believes there are still standout stocks in the tech sector that can thrive regardless of economic conditions, even if they dont perform well on days when the market dips. These companies help larger businesses operate more efficiently, and there's always a demand for that kind of support, indicating that some tech players will continue to shine.
"So, is every player doomed to the same small part? Are the stocks of all tech companies weaker now? Can nothing transcend that status? Like when I went out for Bye Bye Birdie or Guys and Dolls in high school, I mean, first, no publicly traded company would ever be that low. I was totally expendable, other than as Lieutenant Rooney in ARS Gold Lace, where I don't think I ever spoke more than a few words. But there will be stocks that shine even in tech with rates coming down. However, we come out here to find legitimate stars that can thrive regardless of the economy, and they don't do that well on days like today. Many of these outfits are about helping big companies do more with less, and there's always demand for that. They're not big players; you bring in these guys to bridge the gap and perform better with fewer people."
Story continues
Jim Cramer: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Drives Profit Growth Despite Slowing Sales
Jim Cramer also highlights that artificial intelligence is a crucial factor in today's market. Companies using AI can enhance their profit margins, increasing earnings even amid declining sales. This indicates that AI can drive profitability without needing to boost sales.
Our Methodology
This article summarizes Jim Cramer's latest Mad Money episode, in which he analyzed several stocks. We selected 12 companies and ranked them by their ownership levels among hedge funds, beginning with those that are least owned and moving to those that are 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).
Brightly-lit nighttime view of an electricity power grid with distribution lines and transmission substations.
PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 46
Jim Cramer expressed strong support for Patty Poppe, the CEO of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), emphasizing that he believes in the company despite any rate increases. He stated that he is committed to backing PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), indicating confidence in its potential for success.
"Weve been behind Patty Poppe, PCG's CEO, and we are not going to get off that horse. No way! That stock is a good one, rate increase or not."
PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG)'s positive outlook is backed by its strong Q2 2024 earnings, which exceeded analyst expectations and showed significant revenue growth along with improved operational efficiency and a stable financial situation. PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) is investing heavily in infrastructure upgrades to improve reliability and safety, addressing past challenges and reducing wildfire risks, which boosts investor confidence.
PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) is committed to transitioning to renewable energy, aligning with California's climate goals. Investments in solar and wind projects are expected to drive long-term growth. Recent regulatory changes have also given PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) more financial flexibility, including approved rate increases to fund infrastructure improvements and manage past liabilities, which are crucial for stability and growth.
As California pushes for cleaner energy and grid modernization, PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) is well-positioned to meet the growing demand for sustainable energy solutions, enhancing its market opportunities. Recent announcements about new renewable energy projects and favorable regulatory decisions have further improved market sentiment, solidifying a strong outlook for PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG).
Overall PCG ranks 7th on our list of the stocks that could change your investment game according to Jim Cramer. While we acknowledge the potential of PCG 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 PCG 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.
A 17-page memo from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) detailed instances of Israel deliberately interfering with humanitarian aid efforts including the killing of aid workers, bombing hospitals, and denying trucks carrying food and medicine from entering Gaza, where the United Nations has declared a full-blown famine in the northern region.
In April, USAID sent their findings to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the State Departments refugees bureau determination was made known to top diplomats. U.S. law requires that the government suspend weapons shipments to any country blocking U.S.-backed humanitarian assistance. Despite the memo and list of evidence cited, Blinken rejected the assessment, ProPublica reported on Tuesday.
Following Hamas Oct. 7 attack, President Biden and his administration have continually emphasized its commitment to a cease-fire and hostage deal in Gaza. Since the Israeli cabinet declared war against Hamas, however, the U.S. has delivered more than 50,000 tons of missiles, artillery, and other military equipment, Israels Defense Ministry stated last month.
ProPublica wrote that both Blinken and the Biden administration did not accept the findings from the U.S. governments top two authorities on humanitarian aid. In Blinkens statement to Congress on May 10, he said, We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.
According to a copy obtained by ProPublica of a cable between U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, and Blinken, the ambassador expressed that Israels war cabinet, comprising Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, should be trusted to handle humanitarian shipments to Palestinians in Gaza. Despite assessing that Israel will not arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede U.S. provided or supported shipments of food and medicine, Lew wrote that other parts of the Israeli government have tried to impede the movement of [humanitarian assistance.]
A former senior civil military adviser in the refugees bureau, who worked on different versions of Blinkens statement to Congress, resigned over the final versions conclusion. There is abundant evidence showing Israel is responsible for blocking aid, Stacy Gilbert said in a statement shortly after her departure. To deny this is absurd and shameful.
On the day Blinken sent his report to Congress, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, (D-MD), denounced the administration for choosing to disregard the requirements of the National Security Memorandum, or NSM-20. Whether or not Israel is at this moment complying with international standards with respect to facilitating humanitarian assistance to desperate, starving citizens may be debatable, he wrote in a statement. What is undeniable for those who dont look the other way is that it has repeatedly violated those standards over the last 7 months.
Among the evidence listed in the memo was a report that lifesaving food had been stockpiled less than 30 miles across the border in an Israeli port enough flour to feed 1.5 Palestinians for five months. In February, Israels Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich issued a directive to block deliveries of flour to the main U.N. agency for Palestinians and cited allegations that some of its employees were affiliated with Hamas.
At least 930 trucks of food, medicine, and other aid were held in Egypt awaiting approval from Israel as of March, USAIDs memo detailed. The memo to Blinken also cited numerous incidents in which aid facilities and workers were hit by airstrikes even after some had shared their locations and received approval from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Israels government has insisted that most of those violent incidents were unintentional.
On April 1, seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers were killed by an Israeli strike while delivering aid to Gaza. The workers were traveling in two armored cars branded with the charitys logo in a de-conflicted zone, WCK said in a statement following the deadly tragedy. The seven killed were from Australia, Poland, United Kingdom, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, and Palestine. Despite coordinating movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route, the statement read.
WCK CEO Erin Gore wrote, This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war.
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GREAT BEND, Kan. (KSNW) Great Bend police say a teen has been arrested after a reported school threat.
The department says officers, detectives and school resource officers responded to Great Bend Middle School shortly before 11:30 a.m. Tuesday on reports of threats made to students and staff.
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Officers find two people shot near Kansas City school
Investigators learned that a student had reportedly communicated the threat to several students. The department says a 14-year-old student was taken into custody, and information was passed on to the Barton County Attorneys Office.
Police say they are still investigating and ask anyone with information about the case to contact investigators at 620-793-4120, CrimeStoppers at 620-792-1300, or online at p3tips.com.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
BINGHAMTON, NY (WIVT/WBGH) Dozens of local businesses gathered at the Double Tree for a day-long conference focused on diversity and inclusivity in the workplace.
The Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual DEI conference in Binghamton today. DEI stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
The keynote speaker for the event was the Director of Binghamton Universitys Harriet Tubman Center for Freedom and Equity, Anne Bailey.
Bailey is a history professor at BU and instrumental in the development of the Downtown Freedom Trail.
The trail consists of 13 markers spread across two and a half miles in Binghamton, that commemorate the local people and places that fought for equal rights.
Bailey says we need to remember our past mistakes but use them to pave the way for the next generation.
The term Ive coined is called the age of repair, and I think, in general, across the world but even here in the U.S. especially, were in an age where we are really trying to repair some of the legacies of the past. We cant go backwards, we cant change the past, but what we do now is really what matters. And this community is really committed to repair, says Bailey.
Throughout the conference, there were four breakout sessions, each featuring a different local speaker.
This years theme focused on Minority, Women and/or Veteran Owned Businesses.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WIVT - News 34.
Greece to urge EU to offer medical aid to injured Lebanese, minister says
FILE PHOTO: An injured man undergoes an operation at a hospital in Beirut
FILE PHOTO: An injured man undergoes an operation at a hospital in Beirut
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece will urge the EU to provide medical treatment to injured Lebanese citizens, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis told his Lebanese counterpart at a meeting in New York, according to the Greek foreign ministry.
Gerapetritis told Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib that Greece was concerned about the Middle East crisis and the risk of its further expansion, the Greek ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
"It is absolutely necessary to stop the vicious cycle of violence and confrontation," it said.
Greece will try to mobilise Europe to provide "centrally and at a European level medical aid to Lebanese citizens who have been injured and are in need of treatment".
Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon targeting its Hezbollah movement have sharply intensified since Monday, when more than 550 people were killed in the deadliest day in Lebanon since the end of its 1975-1990 civil war. Around half a million Lebanese have fled their homes, and hospitals have been overwhelmed with the wounded.
Greece urged its citizens on Tuesday to evacuate Lebanon and avoid any travel to the country.
(Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Peter Graff)
GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) Jeffrey Michael George, 50, was convicted on Friday to 48 years for murder and kidnapping, according to the Thirteenth Circuit Solicitors Office.
Evidence presented at the trial showed that on December 1, 2019, George conspired with others to lure the victim, Ivan Gula, to a residence in Greer. When the victim arrived to the residence, George held a gun to his head while the other co-defendant, David Stokes, struck him multiple times with a machete, according to the Solicitors Office.
The evidence later showed that George transported Gulas body into the bed of his truck and dropped it off to the burial spot that was a short distance away from the crime scene, the Solicitors Office stated.
The Solicitors Office stated that Stokes has pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping and is currently awaiting his sentence.
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MARCY, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) Senator Joe Griffo and Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon joined several other lawmakers at the Maynard Fire Department in Marcy on Wednesday to call on OSHA to revisit a rule that might stress emergency service providers.
Lawmakers and firefighters assembled on Wednesday, September 25 to call on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to revisit proposed updates to the Fire Brigade Emergency Response Standard. Rulemakers believe that the current standards established in 1980 are outdated and should be changed to reflect changes in guidelines by other agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.
I appreciate OSHAs efforts to protect the health, safety, and well-being of firefighters and first responders, Senator Griffo said in a statement.However, I believe that this change will create new challenges or exacerbate existing ones for fire departments that are already struggling and will weaken fire protection in New York and across the nation. While I recognize that the safety of first responders is paramount, I am hopeful that OSHA will reconsider its proposal.
Firefighters across the state as well as the Firefighters Association of the State of New York (FASNY) have expressed their concern with the rule changes. FASNY says that it will put significantly more administrative stress on volunteer fire departments and make it harder to recruit and retain members.
While I understand the importance of ensuring the safety and effectiveness of our fire departments, I share the concerns raised by Sen. Griffo and firefighters across the state regarding the proposed changes to the Fire Brigade Emergency Response Standard, Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente said in a statement. These changes could place significant additional burdens on volunteer and combination departments, which already face challenges in recruitment and retention. I urge OSHA to carefully consider the potential impact on these vital services and work toward a solution that balances safety with the practical realities of our fire departments.
Griffo says he has introduced a bill named the Public Safety Protection Act that would provide police and fire departments access to $300 million in grants. Assemblyman Billy Jones of Chateaugay Lake has introduced a similar bill in the New York State Assembly.
If the bill passes, police and fire departments would be able to apply for $100 million $50 million for each department every year to help with recruitment and retention exercises. Grants can also be used to purchase equipment for the departments.
Fire service in Oneida county is a crucial component of emergency preparedness, Assemblywoman Buttenschon said in a statement. The new suggested OSHA requirements need to be vetted throughout local fire departments to ensure that they can function at the capacity and level that is necessary to maintain an optimal fire service. Local input from our fire departments is essential in this process, as the unique challenges and resources of each department must be considered to implement effective, practical solutions that best serve our communities.
OSHA has scheduled a virtual public hearing for the changes on Tuesday, November 12. For more information on how to make your voice heard, you are encouraged to visit OSHAs website here.
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SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) Democrats and Republicans were represented outside of the Savannah Civic Center Tuesday where former President Donald Trump made remarks on the tax code and manufacturing.
Proud supporters stood downtown with signs and flags chanting passionately for who they believe should be their next president.
Nearby, dozens of Harris-Walz supporters gathered, organized by the Young Democrats of Chatham County.
The protest remained peaceful, but some words were exchanged between the two groups.
PHOTOS: Former President Donald Trump in Savannah
Trump does not represent Savannah. He does not represent young people. He doesnt represent women. Doesnt represent people of color. Were not about it, said Tiger Lily Harrington, president of the Young Democrats.
Harrington said their mission is to let the former president know that he is not welcome in Savannah.
We just dont think that Trump represents us, Harrington said. We dont want someone who doesnt support womens reproductive rights, who doesnt believe in climate change, who doesnt believe in fair elections. He is a threat to our democracy. And so he just does not stand for anything that we stand for.
Another Harris-Walz supporter held a sign, encouraging people to look up and learn about the controversial Project 2025.
The reason why were here, I think that its important to be here so that we can stand for our democracy and not fascism. I think that its very important to be an activist and not be filled with hate, Silberman said.
Election 2024 Latest: Trump makes first campaign stop in Georgia since feud with Kemp ended
As a gay, Jewish American, Silberman said he has been offended by some of the things the former president has said.
It was during his interview with News 3 that voices were raised between Harris and Trump supporters.
I think people should vote for Kamala Harris because you can hear whats happening in the background. This is hate. And if you are an American, you should believe in the American dream for everyone.
While the exchange did get very heated, nothing turned violent.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV.
GRPD: Suspects in smoke shop robbery taken into custody
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Police in Grand Rapids say two robbery suspects were taken into custody Wednesday.
It happened at Drunken Monkey Smoke Shop, located on Fulton Street E near Arthur Avenue NE, according to the Grand Rapids Police Department.
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When officers arrived, the suspects both male ran away, police told News 8.
The suspects were found nearby and taken into custody without incident, according to GRPD.
Police say no injuries have been reported.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
The new lance can reach 50ft and injects insecticide into the nest [Tony Rive]
The Guernsey Asian Hornet Team has increased its nest destruction capability after acquiring a new lance, says the States of Guernsey.
The AirAdik lance was able to help the team tackle nests in high places, typically treetops, and when fully extended would reach 15m (50ft) above ground level, officials said.
A pressurised air system allowed the lance to inject insecticide into the target so that it could be safely removed, they added.
A States spokesperson said: "While the hunt is already on to locate and destroy all of this years nests, it is anticipated that this new lance will prove invaluable for dealing with difficult to reach nests."
The specialist equipment cost 2,150, which was split with the Guernsey Beekeepers' Association [States of Guernsey]
The overall cost of the specialist equipment stood at 2,150, according to the States.
The Guernsey Beekeepers' Association has contributed 50% of this.
A cylinder and regulator valve for the new kit had also been donated by Donkey Divers Ltd to supply the lance with a steady flow of compressed air to treat nests, officicals said.
Francis Russell, invasive non-native species (INNS) policy and coordination officer, said: "As with the three nests already found this year, most of the 14 nests that we tackled last year were within easy reach of our standard 8m (26ft) lance from a mobile elevated platform.
"But the most difficult nests were out of reach or on uneven ground. The only option for removing the nests found on the cliffs at Fermain and two over quarries in the Vale was to utilise rope access specialists.
"This new lance will be a game changer and hopefully reduce the occasions where we need to work from a mobile elevated platform."
The equipment will be used across Guernsey, Herm and Sark.
Follow BBC Guernsey on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.
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Authorities in Arizona are investigating after gunfire damaged a local Democratic campaign office in Tempe in an overnight incident, police said. The office was unoccupied at the time and no one was injured.
Gunshot damage was discovered on Monday, the Tempe Police Department told the Daily Beast in a statement, adding that the matter is being looked at as a potential property crime. Local TV stations aired footage showing four apparent bullet holes in a glass door and windows, according to the Associated Press.
The office is used by both Vice President Kamala Harris campaign and state congressional candidates.
We are grateful to Tempe Police for coming quickly to the scene and are fortunate no one was present or injured, Sean McEnerney, the Arizona Democratic Party coordinated campaign manager, said in a statement to the Daily Beast.
Police noted that it marked the second incident of criminal damage to the office in as many weeks. Just after midnight on Sept. 16 its front windows were shot with what is believed to have been a BB or pellet gun.
The twin shootings come just a few days before Harris is set to touch down in Arizona, a key battleground state. The vice president will campaign across the Grand Canyon State on Friday, according to her team. Insiders told The New York Times that she is planning to visit the southern U.S. border, her first such trip since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee earlier this summer.
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Kenyan craft beverages producer African Originals has secured $2m in funding, as it looks to scale its local and global operations.
Founded in 2018, African Originals produces ten SKUs that include ciders, gins, mixers and iced teas.
The companys $2m funding round was led by Phoenix Beverages, a brewer in Mauritius. African Originals said the capital will be used to bolster its production capabilities and grow its operation "in Kenya and internationally".
African Originals products are sold across the African continent in markets such as Kenya, Rwanda and Mauritius and will launch in Uganda later this year, the group told Just Drinks.
They are also available in the UK, sold through online outlets like Amazon UK and Value Africa. The company's full cider range and its Mara gin are currently sold there.
The next phase of our journey is focused on building capacity while continuing to deliver high quality, locally-inspired beverages that celebrate Kenyan craftsmanship, African Originals founder and CEO Alexandra Chappatte said.
With this capital, were investing in the brand and setting the stage for even greater expansion.
African Originals told Just Drinks that it has no majority shareholder owning over 50%. Its "significant stakeholders include Phoenix Beverages, Amaya Capital and the companys founder Chappatte.
The business reported that its gross sales were $3m in 2022 and $7m in 2023. It added that it expects to hit $10m this year.
In total, African Originals has raised roughly $10m to date. The company raised 700,000 ($936,736) in funds in the past via the UK crowdfunding platform Crowdcube.
We were excited for our community to join us as shareholders. The crowdfunding aligned with our goal of deeper community engagement, CEO Chappatte said.
"Kenya-based African Originals raises $2m for expansion" was originally created and published by Just Drinks, 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.
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille said on Wednesday that the Caribbean country was a long way from winning its war against armed gangs that control most of the capital, as a United Nations deadline for long-delayed support fast approaches.
"We are nowhere near winning this, and the simple reality is that we won't without your help," Conille said at an event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
"There is a sense of urgency because the Haitian people are watching with cautious optimism, they're really hoping to see clear results."
Haiti is currently facing a gang attack at the capital's main port, Conille said, the key entry point for funding and goods.
A shipping official told Reuters this week that ships were being shot at, preventing them from docking and unloading containers, while authorities have reported the kidnapping of two Filipino crew members from a cargo vessel in the port.
Haiti's main seaports and international airport closed for nearly three months earlier this year after violence escalated at the end of February, an outbreak that saw thousands broken out of prison and the last prime minister resign.
"We worry that without the urgent implication of everyone to support this effort, we will lose the little success that we've been able to obtain at a very large price," Conille added.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier announced sanctions against former deputy Prophane Victor and gang leader Luckson Elan for their role in human rights abuses, as well as $160 million in assistance for Haiti, and called for further support of the U.N.-backed international security mission.
'MOVE WITH SPEED'
About 10 countries have together pledged over 3,100 troops, but only around 400 have deployed. The U.N.'s one-year mandate expires in early October and the U.N. Security Council is set to vote on Sept. 30 on whether to renew it.
While countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars, both the U.N. mission trust fund and humanitarian plan remain drastically underfunded.
Musalia Mudavadi, an official from Kenya which is leading the mission, said the current funds were not enough to sustain the current deployment, let alone the thousands of troops that were promised.
"We encourage all the countries that have pledged troops to move with speed," he said.
The number of people internally displaced has nearly doubled in the last six months, according to U.N. estimates, now surpassing 700,000. Around half the country is going hungry.
Conille's government is also tasked with arranging the first elections since 2016. His predecessor repeatedly delayed a vote, saying a free and fair process could not take place under the existing insecurity. The U.S., the mission's top financial backer, has pushed for elections by next year.
Conille said that while far more security was needed, Haiti is already investing half of an estimated $140 million needed to hold a referendum on the Constitution in February and elections in November 2025.
Conille said he was "quite confident" that they would be able to hold the votes despite the insecurity, but warned that this would not be possible if commitments enabling the mission's full deployment are not kept.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis in New York, Daphne Psaledakis in Washington and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by Chris Reese, Bill Berkrot and Jonathan Oatis)
Several of North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinsons key staffers in his Capitol office said they planned to resign, according to multiple reports.
At least four staff members in charge of running operations for the besieged North Carolina lieutenant governors office are resigning, local station WRAL first reported. Robinson has faced mounting pressure after a bombshell CNN report revealed his alleged record of lewd and racially insensitive comments on pornography websites in the past.
The resigning officials include Brian LiVecchi, Robinsons chief of staff and general counsel, communications director John Wesley Waugh, policy director Jonathan Harris, and director of government affairs Nathan Lewis.
The departures make up half of the named staff on the North Carolina officials government website.
LiVecchi confirmed the resignations to the New York Times on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear why the staffers decided to leave, and calls sent to LiVecchi and Waugh went unanswered on Wednesday afternoon.
Mark Robinson Hires Longtime Trump Lawyer To Hold CNN Accountable
On Sunday, multiple members of Robinsons campaign staff announced resignations, including campaign manager Chris Rodriguez and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk. Robinsons campaign also did not immediately answer a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Meanwhile, Robinson has been making moves to try to salvage his gubernatorial campaign. On Tuesday he announced he would retain longtime Trump attorney Jesse Binnall to investigate the claims made in the CNN report, which he has consistently denounced as salacious lies.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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(Marc Serota/Getty Images).
Two of every five Missouri adults owe money to medical providers, according to a survey published Tuesday by the nonprofit Missouri Foundation for Health.
Those debts include unpaid fees for services ranging from lab tests and doctors visits to emergency treatment and dental care. Often, the bills are from one-time or short-term medical expenses, the report states.
One in ten Missouri residents have more than $5,000 in medical debt.
The result is that Missourians with medical debt commonly cut back on spending for basic needs, exhaust their savings and increase other forms of debt, like credit card debt.
When people struggle to access affordable health care, the effects ripple through our economy, said Sheldon Weisgrau, foundation vice president of Health Policy and Advocacy, in a press release.
Its not just about health; its about financial stability, workforce productivity, and the ability of families to thrive, he added.
The foundation commissioned a statewide survey of over 2,000 adults last spring, conducted by the research firm SSRS. Data were weighted to be representative of the population.
The survey found Hispanic and Black Missourians are more likely to have medical debt compared to white adults.
Those in rural areas are also more likely to have current or recent medical debt, as are those with disabilities.
Half of Missouri adults have held medical debt at some point in the last five years, according to the report. Most of them 78% of those under age 65 had health insurance at the time they received the care that sent them into debt.
One reason those with coverage are incurring debt, the report notes, is that many have unaffordable deductibles meaning out-of-pocket costs they must pay before the insurance company starts to pay. Cost-sharing measures, like copays, can also be high.
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In 2023, the average family deductible in Missouri was $3,783, according to the nonprofit KFF. The average deductible for single coverage in Missouri was $2,340.
Yet many Missourians live paycheck to paycheck.
Four in ten Missourians dont have the money to pay for an unexpected $500 bill, the Missouri Foundation for Health survey found.
The burden of medical debt is not only financially devastating but also demoralizing for families, said Samantha Schrage Bunk, MFH health policy strategist, in the press release.
The results in the survey were similar to the national average found in a 2022 survey conducted by the nonprofit KFF.
The states with the worst rates of medical debt havent expanded Medicaid, KFF has found. Missouri implemented Medicaid expansion in October 2021.
There has been increasing attention to medical debt at the state and federal level in the last few years. At least 17 states this year proposed legislation related to consumer relief for medical debt, though not Missouri, according to LexisNexis state legislative tracker.
The Missourians surveyed widely support policies that would require greater price transparency, limits for hospital charges and uniform criteria for financial assistance programs.
Missourians are clear they want policy changes that make health care affordable and accessible, and theyre looking for government and health care systems to listen to them and take action today, Schrage Bunk said.
In an earlier report, published in March, Missouri Foundation for Health interviewed focus groups.
[Medical debt is] something that I will have to pay for the rest of my life, one low-income woman, who has between $1,000 and $2,500 in debt is quoted as saying.
Others quoted needed to declare bankruptcy due to medical debt, or took hits to their credit that hurt their ability to find housing and employment.
One rural farmer needed to take on odd jobs in town to try to pay off thousands in debt. A man with disabilities needed to pay hundreds each month for years, instead of saving for retirement. A young mother needed to cut back on spending for food and clothes for her kids to pay hospital bills.
Another described the vicious cycle of taking out credit card debt to try to pay off medical debt.
Honestly, if youre middle class or low class, one interviewee asked, how can you afford $2,000 a ride in an ambulance?
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From the Boiling Frogs on The Dispatch
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Philip Chosky Theatre during a campaign event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 25, 2024. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Joe Manchin was furious.
Shame on her, the senator from West Virginia said Tuesday of Kamala Harris. She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. Its the only thing that keeps us talking and working together. If she gets rid of that, then [the Senate] would be the House on steroids.
His anger had been piqued by a comment Harris made earlier in the day during an interview. I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe, she told Wisconsin Public Radio, and get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.
Theres a lot about that thats strange. For instance, since when does Kamala Harris do interviews?
But its also strange on the merits. Not so long ago, as a member of the Senate, she pledged to oppose eliminating the filibuster if the Republican majority at the time got any funny ideas.
Even stranger, her strategy as a presidential candidate to this point has been to make vague centrist-y noises on policy while selling herself to Trump-leery voters as a guardian of norms, as Philip Klein put it. Yet here she was on Tuesday undermining both elements of that pitch by calling for an end to the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation in the Senate for the sake of codifying abortion rights.
It turns out that Kamala Harris can be quite specific on policy and quite radical on norms when she wants to be.
Manchin spent the first two years of Joe Bidens presidency fending off progressive demands to nuke the filibuster, believing that simple majority rule in the Senate would mean the end of bipartisan compromise. Fellow Democrat-turned-independent Kyrsten Sinema shared that belief and accordingly shared his disdain for Harris after her comments circulated on Tuesday. To state the supremely obvious, eliminating the filibuster to codify Roe v Wade also enables a future Congress to ban all abortion nationwide, Sinema tweeted. What an absolutely terrible, shortsighted idea.
Terrible, shortsightedand politically foolish, perhaps, if the two most celebrated mavericks in the Senate are any indication of centrist opinion nationally. Manchin now says he wont endorse Harris for president.
Has she made a terrible mistake?
The threat from the left.
Sinema is right, of course, that any law that passes the Senate by a simple majority can also be undone by a simple majority. A Democratic chamber that enacts federal abortion rights with 51 votes has set the table for a future Republican chamber to restrict abortion rights with 51 votes. In theory.
But thats not an argument that will deter Democrats. After all, they know public opinion is on their side on this issue. Codifying Roe would be less politically risky for liberals than limiting abortion access would be for conservatives. You can imagine Harris reading Sinemas tweet and thinking, The GOPs going to ban abortion? I dare them.
The subject is so favorable for Democrats, in fact, that some might view Sinemas point as a reason to follow through on nuking the filibuster. The left would love to frighten American voters every two years with the prospect of abortion rights going poof if Republicans return to power. Theyd make every federal election a referendum on Roe if they could. A 51-vote threshold in the Senate to legislate on this issue would make that easier for them.
The political problem for Harris in wanting to nuke the filibuster for Roe isnt how the right will take advantage of it, its how the left will take advantage of it if shes elected.
Theres no logical reason why an exception to the 60-vote rule should be made for abortion but for nothing else, and progressives will be quick to press that point on the new president. Once the filibuster has been waived for Roe, Harris base will demand to know why it shouldnt be waived for a thousand other leftist priorities. Why not for Medicare for All? Why not for the Green New Deal? Why not for a voting-rights mega-bill on the order of H.R. 1?
That would become a political nightmare for the new White House. Vulnerable Democratic senators would be left with nowhere to hide on progressive policy priorities; leftists would feel disenchanted when their big-ticket wish list failed to pass; and the right would be galvanized by the ambitions of the lefts agenda, especially after the bait-and-switch of Harris campaigning for president as a moderate.
You cant be half-radical in ending the filibuster, hoping to nuke it for abortion rights and only for abortion rights, but its characteristic of Harris approach to this campaign that she would try. Shes aiming to propel herself over the finish line in November with a series of carefully selected popular panders and hoping that voters will otherwise overlook her deafening silence on most other issues. What the Harris agenda might look like post-filibuster apart from abortion isnt a question she wants you asking yourself, and certainly not one she wants to answer.
So why raise the prospect of nuking the filibuster at all and risk spooking the centrist voters and Nikki Haley Republicans whom shes eager to woo?
The answer, inescapably, is that she believes theres more to be gained than lost at the polls by doing so.
Abortion is different.
Klein is right when he says that, for centrists, Harris argument against the filibuster is actually an argument to support downballot Republicans this fall. Without the 60-vote threshold in place in the Senate, the only way the GOP will be able to keep the new president in check is if it enjoys an outright majority in one or both houses of Congress.
Conservatives who want to see Trump defeated but dont want progressivism to run rampant are logically now compelled to support right-wing governance in the upper (and/or lower) chamber. Thats not a message Harris should want to send!
She has two aces up her sleeve, though. One is that most Americans pay no attention to congressional process and wont be thinking about the repercussions of ending the filibuster when they go to vote. Many couldnt tell you what the filibuster is, Im sure. If youre thinking three moves ahead, like Klein is, then Harris wanting to ditch the 60-vote rule for abortion is hair-raising. If youre thinking half a move ahead, like most voters do, her wanting to pave the way to bring back Roe as federal legislation simply sounds like a good idea.
Which brings us to the other ace: From the start, the one great exception to Harris strategic M.O. of ambiguity and moderation on policy has been abortion. She knows the polls strongly favor Democrats on that issue, she knows she needs to run up the score with women and younger voters to beat Trump, and so shes willing to be bolder on the subject of reproductive rights than she is on any other topic. If she could make this race a pure gut-check on Roe, shed be elated.
Prominent Republicans have given her further reason to be aggressive on abortion with their tone-deaf comments about women. J.D. Vance, for example, has never fully recovered from the old childless cat lady comments that haunted him in his first weeks as the GOPs vice presidential nominee. Bernie Moreno, the Republican candidate for Senate in Ohio, complained a few days ago about suburban women being single issue voters and urged those who are menopausal to worry less about a subject that no longer concerns them.
Then, at a rally in Pennsylvania, a man whos been accused by dozens of women of sexual misconduct and who was found liable for sexual abuse just last year uncorked a soliloquy that came off as creepy and paternalistic even by the usual authoritarian standards:
Populist Republicans are handing Harris a war on women message on a silver platter. Meanwhile, Trumps own centrist panders on abortion have put pressure on the Democrat to distinguish herself on the issue by tacking further to the left. Calling for ending the filibuster and codifying Roe is her response to both developments: As the gender gap becomes a gender canyon, Harris seems to believe shell net more votes than shell lose by being radical about reproductive rights.
Im not sure shes wrong. And the more likely it becomes that Republicans will recapture the Senate this fallwhich is already very likely and getting likelier by the momentthe less this gambit should hurt her with voters who, like Klein, are thinking a few moves ahead. Those who follow politics closely will soon realize that her party wont be in a position to nuke the filibuster on abortion or on anything else during her term as president; those who dont follow politics closely will cheer bring back Roe! and not give the subject a second thought.
So whats the electoral downside of this pander for her, exactly? Seems to me its just another popular empty promise that might give her an edge on Trump.
Whos worse?
If theres a downside to Harris filibuster position, its that it will make it easier for Trump to convince undecided voters that she, not he, is more likely to pursue dubious power grabs as president.
Thats not true, but Democrats have given centrists cause to worry. Court-packing, statehood for Washington, D.C., and now tinkering with the 60-vote threshold to move a left-wing agenda are all theoretically on the menu if Harris party ends up with control of Congress, never mind that the first two and possibly the third are unlikely to have 51 Democratic votes in favor.
Given the near-certainty that Republicans will control the Senate, though, voters should worry more about what Trump will do with total control of government than what Harris might.
Its an article of faith among partisan conservatives that if a President Trump calls on the Senate GOP to end the filibusterwhich hes done before, by the waytheyll laugh him off and say no. Many Republican leaders in the chamber are leery of the idea, and if the party ends up with a bare 51-seat majority, its a cinch that Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski will block any nascent attempts.
But what if the majority is 52 seats or more?
Maybe the John Thunes and John Barrassos of the chamber will be true to their word and tell the newly reelected president to pound sand, but since 2016 the Republican establishment has trended steadily toward greater obedience. Depending on how things go in November, that trend might plausibly accelerate. If Trump overperforms and wins the election comfortably, how courageous can we realistically expect Republicans in Congress to be about resisting his agenda?
What if he comes to them requesting support for some central priority of his campaign, like more resources to carry out a mass deportation program? Senate Democrats would surely filibuster that; Trump would then howl that theyre thwarting the will of the people and demand that the 60-vote threshold must be eliminated immediately.
If you have faith that Thune and Barrasso will remain unmoveable under intense pressure from Trumps feral base to purge the foreign infiltrators, that makes one of us.
Then again, Senate Republicans dont need to cave in order for Trump to move his agenda. The way much of his second term will work, I expect, is that hell make a half-hearted concession to constitutional process by asking Congress to pass legislation; Republicans wont be able to find 60 votes for it in the Senate and then Trump will decide that, actually, he can do everything he wants to do under his own executive authority. No need to end the filibuster. The legislature simply wont matter.
He wouldnt be the first president to take a more expansive view of one of his powers after being told no by Congress but he might be the first to do so comprehensively. Hes not coming back to Washington and staffing up with slavish cronies only to twiddle his thumbs in the Oval Office in frustration while waiting for the Senate to act. Just listen to him:
Thatll be his attitude with respect to his entire agenda. Congress can assist him in doing what he wants to do or Congress can get out of his way as he goes about doing what he wants to do, but one way or another, hes going to do what he wants to do. Having the legislative branch come along would be nice for appearances sake but ultimately its neither here nor there.
And most Senate Republicans will be fine with that. A conference that wouldnt convict Trump after he incited an attack on the Capitol isnt going to go to war with him over his power to impose tariffs, particularly knowing which side of that war their constituents would be on.
Saying Trump would be worse is setting too low a bar for Harris, though, however true it might be. I hope she thinks better of her filibuster ploy after the election, not just because abortion is properly an issue for the states but because a party faced with an opponent as menacing as the New Right has a civic duty not to make American voters more comfortable with norms-smashing than theyve already become. Democrats should govern cautiously and judiciously and have faith that theyll be rewarded for it in elections by the American center until the populist threat has passed.
And if you happen to share that faith, well, that too makes one of us.
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Haltom City police have identified a car involved in a Sept. 15 road rage shooting that killed a 16-year-old boy, and detectives are asking for the publics help to identify suspects in the case.
The victim, Raul Gonzalez, died at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth on Monday, eight days after he was shot, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiners Office.
In a news release, police said the car theyre searching for is a 1999 black Honda Accord with a gray hood and gray front-right quarter panel. The license plate associated with the car is FNV9986.
Police said they have entered the plate number into the National Crime Information Center and Texas Crime Information Center databases as a wanted vehicle, but the suspect could have removed or altered the license plate.
Anyone with information about the car or the shooting is asked to contact the Haltom City Police Department at 817-222-7000. You can also email Detective Key directly at dkey@haltomcitytx.com or call his direct line at 817-222-7034. Anonymous tips can also be submitted through 469tips.com or by calling 817-469-8477.
Detectives also are seeking help from anyone who has access to video cameras close to the location of the shooting, which happened near the 4400 block of East Belknap Road between 4:15 and 4:45 a.m. on Sept. 15. The two vehicles that the suspects and the victim were in traveled northeast on Belknap through the intersection of Layton and Belknap, police said.
More top stories from our newsroom:
Fort Worth school board accepts superintendent's resignation
Fort Worth ISD teachers speak out as superintendents fate is decided
Driver shot by off-duty officer shares his account of events
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New Hampshire prosecutor arrested by state police, placed on leave
A New Hampshire prosecutor was arrested on Monday for allegedly violating a domestic violence protective order, authorities announced Wednesday.
Michael Schauer, 40, of Piermont, was taken into custody in connection with an investigation by uniformed patrol and the states detective bureau, according to New Hampshire State Police.
Schauer, an assistant Grafton County attorney, faced a judge on Tuesday and was released on personal recognizance, state police said. He is currently on administrative leave, per protocol.
State police didnt share any additional details on Schauers arrest.
Anyone with information on the incident involving Schauer is urged to contact New Hampshire State Police Trooper Jacob Ingerson at 603-846-3333 or Jacob.J.Ingerson@dos.nh.gov.
Schauer is due back in court on Dec. 11.
An investigation is ongoing.
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On Sept. 22, 1994, "Friends" debuted on NBC and TV was never quite the same. The series stars have said they knew before the pilot was done and dusted that they had a hit on their hands.
Vice President Kamala Harris called Donald Trump a loser who failed to grow domestic manufacturing under his watch in one of her strongest speeches yet against the former president.
All told, almost 200,000 manufacturing jobs were lost during his presidency, starting before the pandemic hit, making Trump one of the biggest losers ever on the economy, Harris said in remarks Wednesday that channeled Trumps own hyperbole.
Harris painted Trump as an out-of-touch rich guy whos only looking out for himself and his rich friends.
And as Andrea said, Harris said, referring to a previous speaker at the event, not everybody was handed, on a silver platter, $400 million and then filed for bankruptcy six times.
Oh, I said that, she interjected. I actually said that.
These were some of the vice presidents most direct attacks on Trump since becoming the Democratic nominee on a key issue thats weighing on swing voters.
Harris was in western Pennsylvania to lay out her plans for bolstering the middle class, which she called the defining goal of my presidency.
Her vision for an opportunity economy includes a $6,000 tax credit for new parents and $25,000 in down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers to get their footing in a challenging housing market. She also pledged tax credits for steel and other manufacturing sectors and investments in apprenticeship programs for the skilled trades.
Harris presented herself as a product of the middle class, recalling her mother sitting at that yellow Formica table, late at night, cup of tea in hand, with a pile of bills in front of her, just trying to make sure she paid them off at the end of the month. Whereas Trump, Harris noted, used family money to launch a real estate empire that went under a handful of times.
You see, for Donald Trump, our economy works best for those who own the big skyscrapers, not those who actually build them, not those who wire them, not those who mop the floors. Well, I have a very different vision, Harris said.
Harris knocked Trump on his lofty campaign promises about bringing factories roaring back to life, a key part of his pitch in 2016. The coronavirus pandemic set back Trumps progress on that front he rode a steady climb in manufacturing-sector job growth that began under former President Barack Obama, but which reversed in the pandemic, resulting in a net job loss of 188,000 jobs in this area under Trumps watch.
Trumps campaign ignored the remarks about manufacturing in its statement on Harris.
Personal savings are down, credit card debt is up, small business optimism is at a record-low, and people are struggling to afford homes, groceries, and gas. Every time Kamala speaks, it becomes increasingly clear that ONLY President Trump will Make America WEALTHY Again, said Trumps national press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Harris campaign gets serious about courting Pa. GOP voters at organizing event in Lancaster
(Getty Images)
LANCASTER With six weeks until the presidential election, the Harris campaign hosted its first in-person organizing event aimed at winning over Republicans in Pennsylvania, in conservative Lancaster County.
If youve got a coalition happening that stretches all the way from AOC on the left to Dick Cheney on the right, Ann Womble, Republicans for Harris co-chair said at the gathering at Barn At Stoner Commons, you know this is a big tent and you know that we can find a place in this effort, even if we dont agree with all the policies.
Womble, who was the former Lancaster County Republican Partys chairperson from 2012 to 2014, leads the Harris campaigns effort to win over Republicans in Pennsylvania with former U.S. Rep. Jim Greenwood, who represented a district in the Philadelphia suburbs from 1993 to 2005.
Greenwood called himself a real Republican to the 100 people in attendance on Tuesday, detailing his background in elected office as a Republican. He encouraged the audience to go out and talk to their friends who are undecided in the election and say the choice is pretty simple.
Its between a guy who is mentally, morally, psychologically, intellectually unfit to be the president of the United States, Greenwood said. And a woman who is decent, honest, who has spent her whole life serving others and who I believe will make us proud again and take us forward.
Greenwood, who said he supported every Republican presidential candidate from Richard Nixon to Mitt Romney, also said his answer to undecided Republicans who might be concerned that Harris is too liberal, is that there will be Republicans in office to make sure she passes legislation with bipartisan support.
He pointed to bipartisan legislation passed under the Biden administration, including the infrastructure bill, and CHIPS and Science Act.
Greenwood and Womble were joined by former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois, and former U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia.
Comstock said in past elections she wrote in Republican candidates instead of voting for Trump, but is backing Harris this time, who she said would stand up to dictators, and follow the rule of law.
Comstock criticized Trumps comments during a rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania on Monday, where the former president referred to himself as a protector of women.
I want a woman who understands about protecting women, not Donald Trump who is absurdly saying just last night Im going to be your protector, Comstock said.
Walsh, who voted for Trump in 2016, said he would love for Comstock to be president one day and for Duncan to be governor of Georgia.
Walsh said during her speech at the Democratic National Convention Harris sounded like the late GOP President Ronald Reagan. Trump, he said, bad mouths the country.
Duncan said that Harris would be the steady hand that the country needs, and said shes entertaining the thoughts and minds of the middle during her campaign.
Trump campaign spokesperson Kush Desai responded to the organizing event by telling the Capital-Star that if so-called Republicans are campaigning for another four years of unfettered illegal immigration and rising prices under Kamala Harris, theyre neither Republicans nor worth listening to.
While the Trump campaign doesnt appear to have an active coalition courting Democratic voters in Pennsylvania, his campaign has been endorsed by former Democrats Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.
Craig Snyder, former chief of staff to the late Pennsylvania GOP U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, who leads a Haley Voters for Harris coalition attended Tuesdays event but didnt deliver remarks. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who is supporting Trumps presidential campaign after ending her own, has slammed the effort using her name to try to win over votes for Harris.
During the 2024 Republican Party primary, Trump won Pennsylvania, although Haley received 158,000 votes, 16%, statewide, even though she ended her candidacy a month before the primary election.
Haley received 20% of the vote in Lancaster County during the 2024 primary.
Womble believes some Haley voters can be won over and told reporters that Lancaster County is full of what she called traditional Republicans, that arent particularly supportive of Trump this year.
Trump won Lancaster County by 20 points over Hillary Clinton in 2016 and carried the county over Joe Biden by 16 points in 2020. But Democrats have made ground in recent statewide elections, including Democrat Josh Shapiro, who only lost the county by 1 point in his successful bid for governor in 2022.
Although the election is 42 days away, only one candidate from either ticket has made an appearance in Lancaster County in 2024: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Partys candidate for vice president, who met with volunteers at a field office earlier this month.
U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), the Republican Partys candidate for vice president, has not visited the county, but wasnt too far away on Saturday with appearances in Berks County for a rally and an interview with conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson in Dauphin County.
Speaking to reporters after his speech, Walsh said he believes that Trump selecting Vance as his running mate hurt the GOP tickets chances with independent and Republican voters on the fence.
There would not be this movement, Id argue, Walsh told reporters, if Trump didnt select Vance and double down on ugly, ugly MAGA.
He added that Harris aint a flaming lib, which he intended as a compliment.
Shes not a crazy lib, he told reporters. Thats not who she is, and she cant get elected that way.
Duncan told reporters that he thinks Harris is doing her part with fundraising and building coalitions attempting to appeal to the middle, seemingly a reference to Harris announcing different policy positions viewed as more moderate in comparison to her previous presidential campaign.
At the end of the day, Donald Trump continues to make it harder for himself, because he continues to pick on folks like Brian Kemp, the governor of my home state, hes a great conservative and trusted by both Democrats and Republicans, he continues to stick his foot in his mouth, Duncan told reporters.
Although Kemp and Trump have feuded publicly, Kemp is backing Trumps candidacy for the White House, after not supporting him in the Republican Party primary election.
Kemp was in Pennsylvania on Tuesday to campaign for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick in Delaware County.
In addition to a focus on Lancaster County, Womble said the Harris campaign believes that the four key markets where there are persuadable Republicans and independents are Allegheny, Butler and Erie counties; suburbs of Harrisburg; and Philadelphias collar counties.
The Harris campaign launched a new ad series in Pennsylvania on Tuesday aimed at rural and GOP voters who may not want to vote for Trump. It features farmer Bob Lange, of Malvern, Chester County, a lifelong Republican who voted for Trump twice, but said hes switching to vote for Harris in November.
Harris will be in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, while Vance is scheduled to be in Bucks County on Saturday.
The presidential race in battleground Pennsylvania remains extremely close, with the latest poll from Marist showing Harris and Trump tied at 49% each.
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Bullet holes were found in the front windows of a Democratic Party campaign office in Arizona on Monday, police said.
Police in Tempe, just east of Phoenix, are investigating the gunfire damage, NBC News reports. The shooting took place just days before Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to visit the swing state as part of her presidential election campaign.
The office, which is used by the Harris presidential campaign and state Democratic congressional candidates, was also shot at a week ago by someone using a pellet or BB gun, according to police.
We are grateful to Tempe Police for coming quickly to the scene and are fortunate no one was present or injured, said Sean McEnerney, the Arizona Democratic Party coordinated campaign manager.
The incident is being treated as a property crime, as nobody was in the office when the bullets were fired.
No one was inside the office during the overnight hours, but this raises concerns about the safety of those who work in that building, as well as those nearby, said Sgt. Ryan Cook of the Tempe Police Department.
Recent years have been marked by a number of high-profile incidents and threats of political violence in the U.S., including the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, the attempted kidnapping of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), and the bomb threat at the city hall building in Springfield, Ohio, amid heated anti-immigrant rhetoric from GOP nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).
Trump himself has faced two suspected assassination attempts this year.
Related...
LONDON (Reuters) -Members of Britain's Labour Party narrowly voted against the government's decision to limit winter fuel payments to the elderly, a symbolic move piling pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer who has backed the cuts to help stabilise the economy.
Starmer, who sought to lift the mood at the governing party's annual conference with his speech on Tuesday, has stood by the cuts to payments to help the elderly cover fuel bills, saying short-term pain was necessary to spur economic growth.
But Labour delegates at the party's conference in the English city of Liverpool voted against the government with a show of hands on Wednesday following an impassioned speech by Sharon Graham, head of Unite, one of Britain's biggest unions.
To a standing ovation, Graham said she did not understand "how our new Labour government can cut the winter fuel allowance for pensioners but leave the super rich untouched".
"This is not what people voted for, it is the wrong decision and it needs to be reversed."
Starmer says he was forced to make tough decisions after the previous Conservative government left a 22-billion-pound ($29-billion) black hole in public finances - a charge the Conservatives deny.
Asked about the vote, Starmer told GB News: "I understand why colleagues in the Labour movement feel very strongly about this. Conference policy doesn't make government policy and we've had to take a difficult decision."
"The reason this is so important is we want to and will stabilise the economy."
But the row over the cuts cast a pall over the conference and looks set to continue to be a point of conflict between some British unions, traditional backers of Labour, and a government focused on reining in spending to meet its fiscal targets.
Graham said the fiscal rules were "self-imposed".
"The decision to keep fiscal rules is hanging like a noose around our necks," she said.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, additional reporting by Kylie MacLellanEditing by Ros Russell)
An office in Arizona used by Kamala Harris' campaign was shot at early Monday morning in the second apparent gun attack in a week, according to investigators.
Police in Tempe, Arizona, responded to the office, which the local Democratic Party also uses, after they received calls from staffers about the damage. At least five bullet holes were found in the windows and the door.
PHOTO: An Arizona Democratic campaign office in Tempe, Ariz. was damaged by gunshots, Sept. 23, 2024. (KNXV)
"No one was inside the office during the overnight hours, but this raises concerns about the safety of those who work in that building, as well as those nearby," Tempe Police spokesperson Sgt. Ryan Cook told ABC News.
MORE: 2024 election updates
Tempe police said they were analyzing evidence and were taking "additional measures" after the shooting "to ensure the safety of staff and others in the area." A motive for the shooting has not yet been determined and the investigation continues, according to the police.
The same office was shot at just a week prior, on Sept. 16, in an incident the police said appeared to involve a BB or pellet gun. That shooting also happened just after midnight and caused "criminal damage," according to the police.
Arizona Democratic Party Chair Yolanda Bejarano condemned the vandalism in a statement to ABC News Phoenix affiliate KNXV.
PHOTO: An Arizona Democratic campaign office in Tempe, Ariz. was damaged by gunshots, Sept. 23, 2024. (KNXV)
"It's extremely sad that the Arizona Democratic Party has become the target of violence it's not who we are as Arizonans or Americans. We are working with law enforcement to ensure this threat is taken seriously and that our staff members are safe while they're at work," she said in a statement.
MORE: Video Threats of political violence spike in lead-up to election
Law enforcement around the country is under heightened alert over an increase in political violence threats.
Harris is scheduled to visit Arizona on Friday.
Harris campaign office in Arizona damaged by apparent gunfire, police say originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) Terri Sanders stood among the dozens of voters who turned out Tuesday afternoon to pick up campaign signs at a Democratic event in north Omaha.
I haven't seen outreach like this in a long time, the 67-year-old CEO of an African-American newspaper said of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris ' organizing campaign in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, which includes Omaha. Not since Obama.
The honking car horns and pulsing music were a small measure of the energy Harris and Democrats are putting toward winning a single Electoral College vote, thanks to a quirky formula that allocates Nebraska's five electoral votes based on the votes in individual congressional districts in an otherwise reliably Republican state.
In a national race that by all current measures seems exceedingly close, one small electoral vote could provide the margin of victory. So Democrats have planted a large flag.
Harris and Democratic groups have spent more than $5 million in the district since she entered the race on July 23, and have more than $6 million in ad time reserved through Election Day, Nov. 5, according to the media-tracking firm AdImpact. Former President Donald Trump's campaign, on the other hand, had spent only about $95,000 on advertising in the state and had reserved roughly $6,800 through Nov. 5.
Trump and Republican allies had sought another route to victory, namely to persuade the Republican-dominated Legislature to rewrite the state's rules and make Nebraska a winner-take-all contest instead of awarding its Electoral College votes by congressional district. Maine is the only other state that awards its votes that way. (Trump won the Nebraska district in 2016, but Joe Biden won it in 2020.)
A Republican state senator in Nebraska took that option off the table on Monday when he refused to bow to pressure from Trump and other Republicans to change the rules so close to the election.
Lacking the votes in Nebraska's unicameral Legislature, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen said Tuesday he would not call a special session to attempt the change.
In addition to the television advertising, Harris' team has 25 paid staffers and three offices dedicated to organizing a district with a population roughly the size of Las Vegas and covering geography larger than Rhode Island but smaller than Delaware.
It's that kind of organizing that suggests Harris is committing her fundraising advantage not just to ads, but to neighborhood-level outreach in the district, as well as seven targeted states, said David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama.
The fact that they have the resources to compete in that district tells you something about A, their focus, and B, their capacities. In a close race, that can really matter," said Axelrod. We're looking at marginal races across the seven states and, in some of them, that may be decisive.
The district is a distinctly Midwestern micro-battleground, with its Democrat-heavy urban core where the Union Pacific Railroad was born. To the south are politically mixed inner-ring suburbs of working-class neighborhoods and several meatpacking plants, with more politically mixed suburbs to the west.
For Nebraska's 2nd District to break the tie in the race for the winning majority of 270 Electoral College votes, Trump would have to win all Republican-leaning states plus Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina. He would also have to win Maine's 2nd Congressional District, which he won in 2020, while losing the state overall.
Harris would have to win all Democratic-leaning states, including Maine, plus three northern battlegrounds, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, for Nebraska's 2nd to make the difference.
It's far from clear what Trump has working for him in Nebraska's 2nd District, outside of the small sum spent on TV and the unsuccessful effort to lobby chief Republican Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha to side with majority Republicans in backing winner-take-all.
The Trump campaign has a Nebraska campaign director and an election integrity director, staff, volunteers and offices, campaign aides said. However, they declined to say how many were working specifically in the 2nd District.
Campaign aides would only say voters in Nebraska generally had heard from Trump volunteers by phone, in door-to-door outreach and at public events, and that volunteers from around the state had called into the 2nd District to help.
Candidate activity has been light.
Republican Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance headlined a Trump fundraiser in Omaha on Aug. 21, about four days after Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz headlined a Harris campaign rally in the city. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff visited Omaha in July for a small-business campaign event.
The Harris campaign, advised by veteran Obama organizer Mitch Stewart, has conspicuously placed one of its three district offices prominently on Omahas 24th street, the main north-south route into north Omaha, the heart of the city's Black voting bloc.
It was near that office that Sanders was collecting her sign at the Democratic get-together Tuesday, where volunteers were painting blue circles on white signs, simple symbols spotted throughout Omaha, representing Democratic-voting households in a state surrounded by Republican red.
Sanders, CEO of the Omaha Star Nebraska's oldest African-American newspaper paused before heading to her car and said, Kamala isn't acting like she's got this in the bag, by the way.
She's playing to win in a real way, she said nodding. In a real way.
Kamala Harris first one-on-one network interview since becoming the Democratic nominee will air Wednesday evening on MSNBC, the cable news channel announced.
Stephanie Ruhle will grill the vice president in Pittsburgh in a sit-down interview that will be broadcast at 7 p.m. ET during a two-hour edition of All In With Chris Hayes. Harris previously sat for a primetime interview with CNNs Dana Bash but was accompanied by her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
How Kamala Harris Plans to Steal Undecided Voters Away From Donald Trump
She has since spoken to podcasts and local media outlets, and was interviewed last week by Oprah Winfrey in a livestreamed campaign event. But Harris has been criticized by press groups and others for restricting media access, a strategy reportedly backed by her campaign despite some reporters disapproval.
The most fierce criticism has come from Harris opponents, Donald Trump and JD Vance, who have repeatedly admonished her for supposedly avoiding the press.
Vance also complained about the upcoming MSNBC interview when the news was announced Wednesday. This is legitimately pathetic for a person who wants to be president, he wrote in a post on X, claiming that Ruhle has explicitly endorsed Harris and therefore wont ask hard Qs.
His comment appeared to be a reference to Ruhles comments during her appearance last week on Real Time With Bill Maher. On the show, she got into a heated discussion with New York Times columnist Bret Stephens as he said hed like to hear more answers on policy from Harris.
Kamala Harris is not running for perfect, shes running against Trump, Ruhle said. We have two choices. And so there are some things you might not know her answer to, and in 2024 unlike 2016 for a lot of the American peoplewe know exactly what Trump will do, who he is, and the kind of threat he is to democracy.
Her comments apparently didnt escape Trumps attention, with the Republican nominee accusing Ruhle of being a dumb as a rock bimbo after the show aired.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump are out on the campaign trail in key swing states. Harris is in Pennsylvania, and Trump is in North Carolina.
When we invest in those things that strengthen the middle class, it grows our economy, Harris said.
Harris spent the day focusing on the top issue for voters: the economy.
I have pledged that building a strong middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency, Harris said.
She told the crowd in Pittsburgh she wants to boost Americas manufacturing and cut taxes.
Under my plan, more than 100 million Americans will get a middle-class tax break, Harris said.
Both Vice President Harris and former president Donald Trump talked about the importance of manufacturing nationwide.
Trump was in the battleground state of North Carolina.
Weve had enough. We cant take it anymore. Kamala Harris, you have fired. Get out! Trump said.
He focused a lot of his speech on hammering out his plan to increase tariffs which are taxes on goods imported from another country.
Im imposing tariffs on your competition from foreign countries. All these foreign countries that have ripped us off, Trump said.
Harris says increasing tariffs will hurt middle-class families, but Trump pushes back on the claims.
Kamala is not attacking me. Shes attacking you, a furniture job, shes attacking your community, Trump said.
Trump is headed to Michigan later this week and Harris heads to Arizona.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Vice President Kamala Harris has fought to end the death penalty since 2003but suddenly, the Democratic presidential nominees campaign has gone mum on the issue.
Missouris decision to execute Marcellus Williams late Tuesday, despite the pleas from his victims family and the prosecutors in his case, as well as hundreds of thousands of petition signatures sent to the governors office calling for a commuted sentence, brought the issue back to the foreground. But despite mounting pressure, Harriss campaign wouldnt respond to direct questions about her current stance on human euthanization, reported Axios.
Thats a far cry from where shes stood on the issue over the years. In her inaugural address as San Franciscos district attorney, Harris promised to never charge the death penalty. She kept that promise through her time as a prosecutorall the way through 2019, during her first run for the White House, when she included the liberal policy as part of her core agenda, promising an end to capital punishment in her criminal reform plan.
Kamala believes the death penalty is immoral, discriminatory, ineffective and a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars, her campaign website read at the time.
Harriss sudden retreat from the historically liberal policy aligns with the Democratic Partys latest stance on capital punishmentwhich is, apparently, that it is no longer a topic for discussion. In August, the nations liberal party dropped its antideath penalty stance from its platform, marking the first time since 2004 that the DNC has failed to address the death penalty, reported HuffPost.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign has gone all in on the death penalty, advocating to expand the extreme punishment to people convicted of relatively minor crimes, such as dealing drugs. During his time in office, Donald Trump executed more people than any administration in 120 years, according to the ACLU.
His obsession with capital punishment goes back to his early days as a New York City real estate developer, when he personally paid out $85,000 for full-page ads in four local papers calling for the execution of the Central Park Fivea group of teenagers who were accused of raping Trisha Meili but who were later exonerated after serial rapist Matias Reyes confessed to the crime a decade later.
I want to hate these murderers and I always will, Trump wrote in the May 1989 ad. I am not looking to psychoanalyze or understand them, I am looking to punish them.
Bring back the death penalty and bring back our police! he wrote in all caps.
Vice President Harris on Wednesday announced a framework for her manufacturing agenda, which she said was aimed at making sure America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century.
Her plan is to increase investments in biomanufacturing, aerospace, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, blockchain and other emerging technologies.
She also said she would offer tax credits to companies who expand good union jobs in steel and iron and manufacturing, to support existing workers and factory towns.
She said she would work to eliminate degree requirements while increasing skills development and also call on the private sector to emphasize skills and not only degrees for workers.
One of the recurring themes in American history is that when we make an intentional effort to invest in our industrial strength, it leads to extraordinary prosperity and security, not only for years but for generations, the vice president said in remarks at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh, Pa.
Across all these industries of the future, we will prioritize investments for strengthening factory towns retooling existing factories, hiring locally, and working with unions. Because no one who grows up in Americas great industrial or agricultural centers should be abandoned, she said.
The address was given in Pennsylvania, perhaps the key state in the race between Harris and former President Trump.
Harris suggested the U.S. cant afford to fall behind China in making changes to its manufacturing sector to make it more competitive.
China is not moving slowly, theyre not. And we cant afford to either, she said. As president, if things are not moving quickly, I will demand to know why and I will act, I will work with Congress, workers and businessesto reform permitting, to cut red tape and get things moving faster.
Harris bashed Trump throughout her remarks, calling him one of the biggest losers ever on manufacturing, in part because he promised to build factories but some were scaled back like the Foxconn facility in Wisconsin.
She also argued that Trumps economic agenda would weaken the economy and hurt working people.
For Donald Trump, our economy works best if it works for those who own the big skyscrapers, not those who actually build them, not those who wire them, not those who mop the floors. I have a very different vision for our economy, she said.
Trump gave an economic-focused speech earlier this week, also in Pennsylvania. He spoke about his plan to use tariffs to help U.S. industries, and threatened Illinois-based John Deere with massive tariffs on its products if it outsources some of its manufacturing to Mexico, as it had previously announced.
In a statement, the Trump campaign criticized Harriss address.
Kamala Harris is right about one thing its time to turn the page, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Shes had three and a half years to prove herself, and she has failed. Personal savings are down, credit card debt is up, small business optimism is at a record-low, and people are struggling to afford homes, groceries, and gas.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Though the International Brotherhood of Teamsters refused to issue an endorsement for the 2024 presidential election, this week, local Teamsters unions coast-to-coast have challenged national leadership by issuing their own endorsements of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Altogether, regional councils representing a million Teamsters have thrown their support behind Harris for president. The most recent endorsements come from chapters in several key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Nevada.
We decided we wanted to endorse the Harris-Walz campaign, said Josh Zivalich, the president of the Teamsters Joint Council 75, which represents 45,000 members in Florida, Georgia, and southeastern Alabama. We think the stakes are very high for working people, and certainly union people, and we thought it was important to make a stand.
Last week, Teamsters President Sean OBrien announced the national union would not make a presidential endorsement. This comes after OBrien spoke at the Republican National Convention in July and was subsequently snubbed for a chance to speak on the Democratic stage. In forgoing their endorsement for president, the Teamsters are one of the only major unions to not support Harris in November.
In its decision, the union cited division among its members nationwide. The Teamsters electronic member poll, which garnered over 35,000 votes, showed 59 percent of workers supporting Donald Trump and 34 percent supporting Harris. Similarly, after the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters endorsed
Harris on September 19, a limited informal survey showed 65 percent of its members supported endorsing Trump. But these numbers represent only a fraction of the unions 1.3 million membership.
Another group of workers backing the Harris-Walz ticket is Teamsters Joint Council 32, which represents 85,000 members in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. In their statement, they cited their appreciation for hometown hero Walz, writing, He has stood beside us on our picket lines, listened to our concerns, and increased protections for Union workers.
Also in the Midwest, Michigan Teamsters President Kevin Moore told local news in Detroit, Weve seen four years of Donald Trump. Its the same old rhetoric and were not going back. Tim Walz and Kamala Harris give us a vision for all people.
Vice President Harris and Former President Trump have agreed to two separate town halls in October hosted by Univision.
Journalist Enrique Acevedo will field audience questions from undecided Hispanic voters. Trump will be the first to take the stage on Oct. 8 in Miami, followed by Harriss event in Las Vegas on Oct. 10. Both episodes will air with Spanish translation at 10 p.m. ET.
There are more than 36 million Hispanics eligible to vote in the U.S., making them the largest minority in the country, with the power to influence the outcome of the race for the White House and the future of the nation, Daniel Coronell, president of Noticias Univision, released in a statement.
Both of the selected cities have a large Hispanic population. Miami is 70 percent Latino, while Las Vegas is 34 percent Hispanic.
Each states voters have presented a narrow contest in recent polling. Trump boasts a slight lead among voters in Florida compared to Harris, who is topping Trump in Nevada.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Americans who own cryptocurrency are getting unprecedented attention from both major presidential candidates amid the tight battle for the White House.
Both former President Trump and Vice President Harris took steps this month to appeal to cryptocurrency voters, a constituency those in the industry are arguing could make a difference in elections.
The crypto industry has gained power and prominence in Washington as major digital currency firms pour millions of dollars into lobbying policymakers and mobilizing voters with crypto holdings.
Stand With Crypto, a nonprofit launched with funding from the major crypto exchange Coinbase, launched a swing state tour this month to boost voter registration among so-called crypto voters.
The crypto voter is real, bipartisan, and ready to engage this cycle, Logan Dobson, Stand with Cryptos executive director, told The Hill following one of the nonprofits events in Washington, D.C., last week.
Dobson described crypto voters as a diverse group of people who invest in crypto, build companies or work with digital currencies, or those simply interested in the field. This demographic is seeking more directives from the government, Dobson said.
At the same time, some political researchers are pouring cold water on the theory, suggesting cryptocurrency will not be a decisive issue in the general election even as crypto ownership increases.
Its not something that has historically, that in the past few elections has made a substantial difference, said Justin Esarey, a politics and international affairs professor at Wake Forest University. I cant recall it being something that a large bloc of voters have ever expressed that its going to influence their vote, I guess is what I would say.
Harris and Trumps embrace of cryptocurrency supporters is a notable difference from both President Biden and the GOP nominees previous term.
Biden has appointed a slew of crypto-critical regulators, and his administration has received constant pushback over the policies of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler.
Harris, however, issued her strongest statement so far on digital currencies at a fundraiser on Wall Street this week, telling donors, We will encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets, while protecting investors and consumers.
Business investor Mark Cuban, a vocal supporter of Harris and critic of the Biden administrations crypto policies, called her latest remarks about crypto a positive.
I think she said very clearly that she is for advancing new technology in this country, and you know, she wants us to continue to be a technological leader in AI and crypto technologies and more. And I think that is a very significant positive, Cuban said Tuesday on a Harris campaign press call.
Her remarks came less than a week after Trump, who also shifted his stances on cryptocurrency, and his sons launched a new cryptocurrency platform, World Liberty Financial.
Trump, during the launch, offered few specifics about the new business venture but described crypto as a massive business with the potential to really be something special. The launch builds upon Trumps promise to make the United States the crypto capital of the planet if elected in November, a sharp contrast from his years of skepticism of crypto.
Coinbase went as far as arguing that the presidential election could be decided by young crypto voters and encouraged candidates, especially those in battleground states, to account for this constituency.
The real call from all of them was pretty unanimous, is that they feel like they need clarity from the federal government on what the rules are around crypto, how theyre allowed to build products, build companies and what that sort of guideline looks like from the government, Dobson said.
The crypto industry, I think, is hungry to have some rules to follow. They would love for there to be clear guidelines laid out by the federal government, by the regulatory bodies, by Congress, but they dont feel like they have that right now, and its making it really difficult to build.
More than 52 million Americans currently own cryptocurrency, nearly a fifth of the population.
There is a huge disaffection with the current financial system among crypto voters, Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad told The Hill.
Its not a partisan issue. Its Democrat, Republican, urban, rural it cuts across all aspects of the country, Shrizad said.
Dobson argued the crypto voting bloc is not necessarily being directly spoken to by either of the major political parties, which he argued do not often reach a bipartisan audience.
Crypto is a cause that spans across parties, and so we think its really important to have that kind of issue-based, get-out-the-vote message to really mobilize people who care about an issue rather than just in favor of one party or the other, he said.
The campaign comes as part of a broader effort in the cryptocurrency industry to boost the voices of industry supporters as it works to defeat skeptics of the field. A report from Public Citizen, released last month, found the industry has poured more than $119 million into federal elections in 2024.
Other researchers are expressing doubt that crypto will solely drive voters to the poll.
Esarey, who studies voter behavior, pointed to a recent Fairleigh Dickinson University poll, which has circulated in conversations about Trumps crypto efforts. The survey found about 15 percent of registered voters said they owned or previously owned cryptocurrencies, NFTs, or similar digital products.
And among those [15 percent], I would have to believe that cryptocurrencies were or regulation of cryptocurrency was taking precedence over all those other things I mentioned, like the economy or immigration, he told The Hill.
And I find it challenging to believe that cryptocurrency regulation is going to outweigh those other issues for any substantial chunk of that 15 percent.
Esarey acknowledged those who sell or hold a lot of cryptocurrencies have a financial interest in the types of regulation, but he still believes it would be an extraordinary claim to say crypto will be decisive in this election.
But his Wake Forest colleague Raina Haque, a law professor with an expertise in emerging technologies, argued the 15 percent chunk of past and present crypto owners could be critical, given the presidential race is neck and neck. A polling index by Decision Desk HQ/The Hill shows Harris with a lead of 3.9 percentage points over Trump.
You wonder if that 15 percent feel strongly. And if they do, then perhaps, yes, appealing to that kind of group assuming that theyre kind of a monolith, which theyre not it could have some impact on the election, she said.
Is it the defining? No. I think it would be hard to claim that this topic is the defining issue that will change election results otherwise. But certainly, like, we see these two parties trying to appeal to what is perceived as this electorate for that reason that anything can swing the election one way or another.
It could also be a way to reach a broader audience beyond party lines, Haque said.
Crypto is something that has reached many ethnic groups, maybe outside of even traditional voting blocs for like Republicans, for example, she said, adding, This appeal to crypto-minded voters might actually help a party reach a voting bloc that otherwise might be harder for it to get.
Taylor Giorno contributed.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) Police have filed charges against a man in connection to the deadly Harrisburg shooting in August that killed a 17-year-old former Steelton-Highspire School District student.
Rashad Neal, 30, of Harrisburg, faces charges in the Aug. 12 shooting along the 1700 block of Regina Street that killed Antoine Byers, according to court documents filed from Harrisburg City Police.
According to a criminal complaint, Neal was part of a group that arrived in the area looking for a friend when they saw Byers fire three shots at their friend.
Police say video showed Neal and another man who has not been charged at this time, got out of the vehicle and pulled out handguns. A witness said they saw Neal use a 9mm handgun to fatally shoot Byers and police noted video showed muzzle flashes coming from the gun used by Neal.
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Police spoke to the second person who exited the vehicle who said they attempted to shoot at Byers but the gun did not fire and he fled. They then told police they assumed Rashad found a stored Glock 9mm under the front passenger seat and used it to shoot Byers.
Police said that multiple attempts at trying to call Neal were unsuccessful. It was also learned that he had disabled his Facebook after learning that Byers died.
Cell phone records showed that Neal was in the area during the time of the shooting and that his phone was in North Carolina. Police noted that Neal had been convicted of murder in North Carolina in 2017, making him ineligible to have a gun.
Multiple felony firearm charges, as well as theft and fleeing charges, were filed against Neal on Friday. Court records show that Neal has not yet been arrested.
This is a developing story. Stay with abc27 News as more information becomes available
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
Merck's Experimental Favezelimab/Keytruda Combo Fails In Late-Stage Colorectal Cancer Study
On Wednesday, Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) released topline data from the KEYFORM-007 Phase 3 study of the fixed-dose combination of favezelimab and pembrolizumab versus the standard of care for pretreated patients with microsatellite-stable (MSS) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).
The US drug giant said the study did not meet its primary endpoint of overall survival.
Also Read: Mercks Keytruda Secures First FDA-Approval For Rare Form Aggressive Cancer.
At the final pre-specified analysis, the favezelimab and pembrolizumab fixed-dose combination did not demonstrate an improvement in OS compared to standard of care (regorafenib or TAS-102 [trifluridine and tipiracil hydrochloride]).
The safety profile of the fixed-dose combination was consistent with that observed for favezelimab and pembrolizumab in previously reported studies, with no new safety signals observed.
A full data evaluation is ongoing.
In the U.S., Keytruda is approved for patients with unresectable or metastatic microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) colorectal cancer.
Keytruda has not been approved for the treatment of MSS mCRC.
Last month, Merck stopped two Keytruda Phase 3 trials, KEYNOTE-867 and KEYNOTE-630, after underwhelming data.
Concurrently, on Wednesday, Japans drug regulator approved new indications for Keytruda (pembrolizumab), in certain lung and urothelial cancers.
Merck Stock Prediction For 2024
Equity research can be a valuable source of information for learning about a company's fundamentals. Analysts create financial models based on the fundamentals and expected future earnings of a company to arrive at a price target and recommendation for the stock.
Shares of Merck & Co have an average 1-year price target of $142.57, representing an expected upside of 24.02%.
Because of differences in assumptions, analysts can arrive at very different price targets and recommendations. No analysts have bearish recommendations on Merck & Co, while 5 analysts have bullish ratings. The street high price target from Cantor Fitzgerald is $155.0, while the street low from Wells Fargo is $125.0.
Price Action: MRK stock is down 0.10% at $114.85 during the premarket session at last check on Wednesday.
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HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) Two Harrisburg men have been charged after a teen was repeatedly given drugs and sexually abused while images of her were shared on social media.
According to charges filed by Harrisburg City Police, on July 2 a 15-year-old girl was walking in the area of S. 19th and Derry Streets when she was approached by Franklin Fisher III, of Harrisburg. The girl said she needed a ride and was offered one by Fisher, who proceeded to take her to a home on S. 19th Street despite knowing her age.
Franklin Fisher III mugshot, from Dauphin County Prison
Inside the home, police say the teen was instructed to perform sexual acts on a second man, and in exchange, Fisher would receive marijuana from him. The teen was then introduced to crack and powder cocaine before being instructed to perform sexual acts with Fisher while police say he took pictures of her that were shared on Snapchat. Police say Fisher proceeded to sexually assault the victim multiple times.
Police say the teen was asked to stay the night during which she was continuously provided cocaine. Police say Fisher was also in communication with one of the teens friends and was encouraging them to join.
Harrisburg Police say a third man, identified as Alonzo Lindsay, also raped the victim and physically assaulted her when she attempted to get off a bed. The teen was again given crack and powder cocaine, as well as alcohol, while Fisher continued to communicate with her friend.
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The teens friend shared the information with her mother who went to the home to pick up the victim. She was taken to Holy Spirit Hospital where police say she appeared to be high on drugs.
Fisher is facing nearly two dozen charges including statutory sexual assault, trafficking individuals, promoting prostitution of a minor, living off prostitutes, and disseminating photo/film of child sex acts.
Fisher is being held in the Dauphin County Jail on $100,000 bail.
Lindsay is facing charges including rape forcible compulsion, unlawful contact with a minor, and Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse forcible compulsion. He is currently awaiting a preliminary hearing.
Police have not identified the third man involved in the investigation.
This is a developing story. Stay with abc27 News as more information becomes available
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
Marshall Baker
Cronkite News
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.
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.
Pinyon Plain Mine is on Kaibab National Forest land south of the Grand Canyon, near the Havasupai Tribes sacred mountain, Red Butte. The mine is inside the boundary of the Baaj Nwaavjo Itah Kukveni National Monument. (Photo by EcoFlight via Grand Canyon Trust)
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.
A view of the headrig at Pinyon Plain Mine taken outside the fence, inside the boundary of Baaj Nwaavjo Itah Kukveni National Monument. (Photo by Blake McCord via Grand Canyon Trust)
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.
For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.
New Haven man facing 8 years for allegedly selling laced cocaine to a 22-year-old at Mohegan Sun
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (WTNH) A New Haven man was sentenced on Tuesday to eight years in prison for allegedly selling cocaine laced with fentanyl to a man in a bathroom at Mohegan Sun Casino, according to the department of justice.
Pitbull to close out year at Mohegan Sun
Court documents said that on May 18, 2021 Jerrard Santiago, 44, sold the laced cocaine to a 22-year-old man, who overdosed on the casino floor and died approximately 11 days later.
Santiago has been detained since his arrest 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 WTNH.com.
PALISADE, Colo. (KREX) Palisade is known for its wine and fruit production, but when the temperature drops, one area of town finds itself warmer than the others.
Hawk Ridge Vineyard is located in a unique location in town that makes it extremely resilient to springtime frost.
Grape vines theyre very resilient but they have their limitations. Especially, when it comes to deep winter temperatures, says Charlotte Oliver, Colorado State Universitys viticulture extension specialist for Western Colorado.
Oliver said Palisade is unique because its near a really interesting canyon thats coming out of the De Beque Canyon itself and then moving down the valley over into the Colorado National Monument. With that, we actually have a perpetual wind.
The constant flow of wind carries steady temperatures all season long, meaning warmer weather can be found at the mouth of the canyon rather than can be found at the edges.
Owner of Hawk Ridge Vineyard John Garlich calls it the best of the best, and contacted the Colorado West Land Trust to protect this land.
Executive Director of Colorado West Land Trust Rob Bleiberg explains the conservation easement that the Hawk Ridge Vineyard now possesses.
When we say protect, what we mean is we have entered an agreement with that landowner, its a voluntary agreement called a conservation easement. Once that agreement is in place, however, that is a binding agreement on this landowner and subsequent landowners. The way this agreement is written is its crafted to support in this case wine production, fruit production (and) farming.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Hurricane Helene is expected to grow into a major hurricane before it makes landfall in Florida on Thursday.
Certain parts of the Carolinas are expected to fall in Helenes path, including Haywood County, which is just past Asheville.
ALSO READ: Helene strengthens into a hurricane; heres how itll impact the Carolinas
Channel 9s Dave Faherty learned many are concerned about the heavy rain in the higher elevations, which could cause flash flooding along creeks and the Pigeon River. At the Canton Fire Department, flash flooding preparations were already underway Wednesday.
Canton firefighters were also moving out of their building in the downtown area. Nearby, Faherty spotted sandbags they plan to place around the building.
The firefighters are concerned that heavy rain from Hurricane Helene will cause flooding similar to Tropical Storm Fred three years ago, which dumped a foot of rain on Canton. The Pigeon River and several creeks in the area flooded, causing widespread damage and leading to the deaths of six people.
Prepare ourselves to get out of here because we will have water in the building again, Canton Fire Chief Kevin Wheeler said. Were trying to prep that and also prep so we can protect our citizens.
Now, residents in those areas said they are preparing themselves for 10 to 12 inches of rainfall from Hurricane Helene. David Madison told Faherty that he spent Wednesday morning moving cars and clearing out his basement. He lives near Clyde, which is downstream along the Pigeon River.
Madison said in 2021, water came rushing into his home during Tropical Storm Fred.
ALSO READ: Rapid Intensification: How a storm can go from unnamed, to a major hurricane in 48 hours
The waterline was up about two feet in our garage and flooded the basement. We lost everything that we had in the basement, so you know, all that had to be replaced, he said.
In Canton, Faherty spotted businesses like Bearwaters Brewery loading up a truck and moving everything out of their basement Wednesday morning. Workers said three years ago, the tropical storm flooded their business and others downtown.
Theres no point in taking a chance with this, said Kevin Sandefur, whos with the brewery. We went through this in 2021 and there was catastrophic damage to the equipment and the contents of the building and we dont want to risk that a second time.
Renee Burnette said she remembers the devastation from Fred.
Through here, it flooded this whole area. Up waist-high. Up to your neck, she said.
Madison said he remembered local churches in the area pitching in to help victims. Everyone is hoping and praying it doesnt happen again.
The mayor of Canton is encouraging residents to consider moving important items and inventory out of their homes or businesses in case of flash flooding. Burke and Caldwell counties swift water rescue teams have also been placed on standby.
VIDEO: Rapid Intensification: How a storm can go from unnamed, to a major hurricane in 48 hours
Head of NASA Says Musk's Instability Is Okay Because He Doesn't Really Run SpaceX
Company Figurehead
SpaceX is one of NASA's key commercial partners. But this relationship has come under scrutiny in recent years as the aerospace company's owner, Elon Musk, has turned into an ever more erratic and controversial public figure.
Nevermind the setbacks suffered by Starship its flagship rocket that NASA still plans on using to bring its astronauts down to the lunar surface even though its completion hangs in the balance the fact of the matter is that Musk's unstable online behavior is becoming so inflammatory that it poses a threat to the smooth functioning of his companies, and in particular SpaceX's relationship with the government's space program.
But the agency's administrator Bill Nelson doesn't seem too phased by those concerns, Axios reports. Why? Because Musk is effectively out of the picture, according to Nelson, who instead says it's company president Gwynne Shotwell who's handling all the day-to-day operations while her boss is busy tweeting.
"The good news about that is that Elon has a president that he lets run the company," Nelson told Axios at its House Climate Week at the UN General Assembly on Monday.
Nelson also took the opportunity to praise Shotwell. "She's done a phenomenal job," he added. "And as we say in the South, the proof is in the pudding."
Tweeter in Chief
A lot of Musk's controversies center around X-formerly-Twitter, of which he is the current owner and former CEO. He was deeply involved in its operations in the year following his takeover, and continues to draw criticism for his leadership now even though it's now more hands-off.
But really, it's what he says on there that tends to land him in hot water.
From tweeting about assassinating presidential candidate Kamala Harris, to boosting racist rhetoric and conspiracy theories so frequently that we've stopped counting, to posting a bizarrely puerile poem during an all-night Twitter spree, it's no wonder that Musk's doesn't exactly come off as a stable, well-adjusted guy that you can count on at least not anymore.
2nd Burn
In light of all that, Nelson's comments about Musk are a deft bit of deflection. No need to get tied up in all that baggage. But the funny thing is that he's said pretty much the exact same thing before down to making what sounds like a little dig at the SpaceX owner.
"One of the most important decisions [Musk] made, as a matter of fact, is he picked a president named Gwynne Shotwell," Nelson said in an interview with NPR in May.
So it could be that ol' Bill is already bored of hearing the same question. Or maybe he's genuinely relieved that a guy who seems to spend most of his time losing his mind on Twitter isn't running the whole show.
For now, the most pressing item on NASA's list is retrieving its two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station after the failure of Boeing's Starliner, which brought the crew members there. To bring them back home, it's relying on SpaceX, which despite everything about its owner, has been a safe steward for the space agency.
More on NASA: The Company Building NASA's Next Space Station Says Things Are Actually Going Great Even Though It's Firing 100 Employees and Can't Pay Its Bills
William "Bill" Neville. Photo from The Ohio Channel.
The former executive director of the Ohio retired teachers pension fund has received more than $1.65 million to leave the position.
William Bill Neville will no longer be working with the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) effective Dec. 1, 2024. His departure comes after a near-unanimous vote on Friday when the STRS board chose to move forward with an end-of-employment agreement.
Only board member Wade Steen, whose term ended Friday, abstained.
Neville had been on paid leave for nearly a year while a law firm appointed by Attorney General Dave Yost investigated allegations of violent outbursts and sexually explicit language.
Last February, the law firm found that many of the claims were unsubstantiated; however, he did have a record of raising his voice, according to the firm.
We obtained the mutual agreement that went over his compensation and benefits, which included:
The first lump sum payment now of $265,312.50
A second lump sum payment in 2025 of $256,312.50
Accrued and unused vacation time payment of $173,426
Accrued and unused sick time payment of $149,949
Medical, dental and vision insurance coverage as well as Cobra premiums payment of $54,000
He also gets two years of service credit through the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS), valued at $760,000. This one isnt directly made to him but to OPERS. He can retrieve it from OPERS. If STRS doesnt do this, the contract is null and void.
If he gets all of his money, he releases and discharges anyone affiliated with STRS from liability, charges, or claims.
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A joint statement from the board and Neville said: STRS Ohios Executive Director, William Neville, has announced his plans to retire effective December 1, 2024. In a letter to the STRS Board Neville stated, It has been my privilege to be part of the STRS Ohio team for the last 20 years. I have been continuously inspired by my fellow associates profound dedication to our members and retiree teachers who have provided invaluable services to the students in this great state. I wish STRS Ohio and Ohios public educators nothing but success in all future endeavors. The STRS Ohio Board wants to thank Bill for his 20 years of dedicated service to Ohios teachers and greatly appreciates the extraordinary leadership he provided to STRS and all of its members.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
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Amy Ferreira, left, and Nancy Bernstein.
The campaign to fill the seat being vacated by Clark County Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman, who is retiring, pits former prosecutor Amy Ferreira against attorney Nancy Bernstein.
Bernstein is a native Las Vegan with 15 years of experience as a criminal defense attorney and civil litigator, according to her website. She earned her law degree from UNLVs Boyd Law School, served as a clerk for former District Judge Lee Gates, and interned at the District Attorneys Office. She currently works as a personal injury lawyer at the Richard Harris law firm.
Ferreira moved to Las Vegas following her graduation from Syracuse University College of Law in 2006 to work for the Clark County District Attorneys Office. She served as a prosecutor for 13 years and completed 35 felony jury trials some for the Special Victims Unit, where she prosecuted cases involving sexually abused children. Ferreira founded the first Animal Cruelty Unit in the DAs office, and has a small farm where she houses rescued animals.
In 2020, Clark County Justices of the Peace appointed Ferreira to serve as a hearing master, where she has presided the past four years over a variety of calendars, including small claims, evictions, traffic, and initial appearances for criminal defendants.
Justice Court is a persons first interaction with the criminal justice system in a lot of cases, she says, noting the experience can affect perceptions. If people have a good, positive experience in Justice Court, it makes them want to participate in the process whether theyre a victim, a witness, a first responder, or a defendant. It sets the tone moving forward.
Ferreira says during her four years as a hearing master, shes managed to avoid perceptions of prosecutorial bias, noting in 2022 she was named the Las Vegas Justice Court employee of the year.
I think that speaks to the kind of job Im doing, she says. If you were to survey defense attorneys, they would tell you that at the District Attorneys office, I was always fair, reasonable, tough, and a fighter, but never uncooperative or unprofessional in any sense. I think Ive proven that Im a good judicial officer who takes their oath very seriously and would never be biased towards or against either party.
Bernstein, who is raising a young son, says she initially planned to pass on the opportunity to run for an open seat, but decided at the last minute to enter the race.
She says she has way more experience in the court than Ferreira. I have worked as a lawyer for many years and now as managing partner at Richard Harriss office. Ive represented over 100,000 cases in Justice Court. I know the system, I know the judges, and Im ready.
Bernstein admits her experience in criminal cases is limited. She represented clients in traffic cases before they were decriminalized in 2023.
She declined to discuss the Valdez Jimenez ruling from the Nevada Supreme Court, which is designed to level the disparities that arise among defendants during bail hearings. The ruling requires judges to impose the least restrictive conditions on pre-trial defendants, while ensuring the publics safety and the defendants return to court.
Bernstein says she has no experience representing a defendant at a bail hearing. I have practiced primarily in civil law.
She notes her opponent has never practiced civil law.
Ferreira agrees, noting that upon her appointment as hearing master, she very quickly learned I needed to do a whole lot of work and learned a whole lot of things. When it comes to being a judge, experience and qualifications really matter. Were dealing with peoples lives.
Ferreira says the Valdez Jimenez ruling very much affected how I do the initial appearance calendar every Sunday and every holiday. Im very comfortable with the ruling in terms of understanding what it means, what it says, and how to apply the facts of the case to that particular ruling.
Bernstein takes exception with the Clark County jails role as the largest mental health facility in Southern Nevada and holding facility for the unhoused.
Sufferers should not be there. The staff are not equipped to help the mentally ill, she says. If were spending a certain amount of money for someone to be incarcerated, is that less or more than if we were to help the problem?
As a hearing master, Ferreira does not sentence defendants.
She says specialty courts are addressing homelessness and mental health issues, but they are only as good as the services that we have available in our community. While we have many community partners doing incredible work in these areas, the fact remains that our community is sorely lacking in resources related to substance abuse, mental health and homelessness. Judges can only order people to participate in the programs that exist.
Bernstein says she is concerned about the courts recent decision to eliminate the Resort Corridor Courts. Cases involving individuals ordered out of the resort corridor on the Strip and in downtown Las Vegas are currently held in two designated departments but will be shared among eight courts, beginning in November.
I was quite surprised, she said of the ruling. It would be a shame for Las Vegas to be so dangerous that we lose tourism. Maybe this will work. Maybe it wont.
Bernstein recently found herself on the other side of a civil suit when she was named in a federal case filed by her ex-husband Ed Bernstein, a high-profile personal injury attorney. In 2022, Ed Bernstein, accused his ex-wife and the Heidari Law Group, where she worked at the time, of violating trademark law by launching a website under the name of Bernstein and Associates.
Sam Heidari, for a short time and unbeknownst to me, took out a bunch of corporate names with the Secretary of State and he made up a website. I dont even know how to do this, she said.
The suit alleged that Nancy Bernstein, who has been married and divorced twice since her divorce from Bernstein more than two decades ago, and practiced law under her new married names, was using the Bernstein name for marketing purposes.
He included all my seven last names in the lawsuit, just for funsies, she said of her ex-husband, with whom she has two adult daughters. I had no idea what was going on. I called him and said, Eddie. Like, I dont know what youre talking about.
Nancy Bernstein quit her job with the Heidari Law Group and her ex-husband dropped the case.
I stayed out of it, she said.
Bernstein has raised about $62,500 as of July, and had $2,200 on hand. Ferreira raised roughly $59,000 and had $29,000 on hand.
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) Firefighters battled a heavy smoked fire at a business in Scranton Wednesday morning.
You could see it for miles, we were coming down from Dickson City, and you could see a big cloud of smoke, said Braden McCammon from Scranton.
It looked bad, it looked bad, it looked like a bomb was set off or something, said Sherry Williams of Scranton.
Plumes of thick black smoke billowed across the Scranton sky Wednesday morning.
Scranton firefighters were called to Schoenberg Companies on the 200 block of Birch Street, with flames coming through the roof that later collapsed after firefighters were told to evacuate.
Lanes reopen after Scranton mural project completion
Jennifer Robinson
Jennifer Robinson
Jennifer Robinson
Jennifer Robinson
A difficult fire to fight. Firefighters were stationed all around the building, pouring large amounts of water hoping to get to the seed of the fire
At some point we we make our way in safely, but the building is pretty well compromised at this point. Its lost the roof, stated Chief John Judge IV of the Scranton Fire Department.
Scranton Fire Chief Judge says the cardboard and other contents inside the warehouse are feeding the flames.
Table salt was the majority of the product that was in their boxed table salt ready for packaging for supermarkets, explained Chief Judge.
The five employees of the salt warehouse made it out safely.
The DEP was contacted to test the runoff going into the roaring brook below the South Washington Avenue Bridge.
South Scranton Intermediate School was dismissed at 10:40 a.m. due to the chemical fire, Scranton School District officials stated.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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As Hurricane Helene swirls toward the Gulf of Mexico and Florida this week, some cruise lines notified passengers of changes to their schedules.
Carnival Cruise Line adjusted itineraries for five of its ships, according to a recent statement.
Carnival Paradise, Carnival Valor, Carnival Breeze and Carnival Horizon canceled scheduled visits to Cozumel, Mexico, this week. Carnival Horizon also canceled a visit to Grand Cayman.
FILE: The Carnival Valor cruise ship.
In place of Cozumel, Carnival Paradise was rerouted to Costa Maya on Tuesday, while Carnival Horizon will visit Amber Cove, Dominican Republic on Thursday.
For passengers of Carnival Valor, since no other port options were available, officials said the ship was sailing back to New Orleans.
Helene might also affect the status of ports in the U.S. for ships.
Carnival Paradise is slated to port at Tampa Bay, while Carnival Elations is scheduled to port at Jacksonville, but officials noted that the return to those ports may be impacted by the storm.
On the Atlantic coast of Florida, Port Canaveral, a popular port for cruise lines, is on alert as Helene's impacts are expected to stretch across the Sunshine State.
How To Watch Fox Weather
The U.S. Coast Guard set the Port Condition to "X-RAY" for Port Canaveral early Tuesday. This means that the port remains open under normal operations, but expects changes to come as they monitor the situation.
Helene is expected to make landfall in Florida late Thursday.
Original article source: Helene disrupts cruise line schedules across Gulf of Mexico
(Bloomberg) -- Meta Platforms Inc. debuted its first pair of augmented reality glasses devices that show a combined view of the digital and physical worlds, a key step in Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerbergs goal of one day offering a hands-free alternative to the smartphone.
Most Read from Bloomberg
The new glasses, introduced Wednesday and called Orion, look like thick, black reading glasses, but have lenses that can display text messages, video calls, and even YouTube videos onto the users field of vision. They are prototypes that arent for sale, but will be used internally at Meta for testing and improving the product.
An accompanying wristband that detects nerve stimulation and cameras built into the frames that track eye movement allow Orion wearers to click or scroll on the display using just their hands.
Metas Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth said he expects the glasses will become a consumer product within the next decade, adding that the next two models are in the works.
The company wants to price the glasses so not just consumers use it, but developers want to build for it, Bosworth said Wednesday in an interview on Bloomberg Television.
The glasses represent nearly a decade of technological advancement and significant financial investment at Meta. They also offer a glimpse into Zuckerbergs vision for the future of technology, which has cost the company tens of billions of dollars over the past four years alone.
Meta is already selling Ray-Ban branded smart glasses equipped with cameras and speakers, but Zuckerberg believes that AR glasses will become a kind of mobile, hands-free computer that could one day rival smartphones as the preferred way to communicate and interact online. If smart glasses eventually become mainstream, Meta hopes to be a major player in that new industry, which would also help the company reduce its reliance on competitors like Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.s Google to deliver its products to consumers.
These things happen slowly and then kind of all at once, Bosworth said in the Bloomberg TV interview. When you can replace an existing use case, people can switch very quickly. Things like using augmented reality glasses to replace your phone, thats going to take a lot longer.
Story continues
That goal is still years away despite the Orion prototype, which debuted at Metas annual Connect conference in Menlo Park, California. The company had hoped to make this version of the device available to the public, but executives said its not yet small enough or stylish enough. Those same challenges have plagued similar efforts by other tech companies over the years, including Google and Microsoft Corp.
Snap Inc. unveiled its own pair of AR glasses earlier this month, but is only releasing them to developers.
Eventually, Meta executives believe they will be able to make the glasses thin and powerful enough that general consumers will buy them. The goal is to bring Orion to market in the next few years for the price of a high end laptop or smartphone, said Rahul Prasad, a senior director of product management at Meta.
Any kind of prior attempt at AR has been a headset, goggles, helmets, he said. We want to get to glasses.
For now, Meta will continue to build and refine the glasses internally until they are ready for public sale. Hundreds of Meta employees have been testing the Orion glasses. The company plans to expand that group considerably now that theyve been debuted publicly.
Unlike competing products, such as Apples Vision Pro headset, Metas Orion glasses dont require a bulky head strap or battery pack to operate. Orion has seven cameras, including two for tracking eye movements, which allow users to control the display using visible hand gestures. Orion works best, though, when paired with an accompanying wristband, which uses electromyography to detect much more subtle hand movements so users can control the glasses with minor finger movements.
Meta designed and produced more than 10 different computer chips embedded in Orion, part of a plan to reduce energy consumption for the glasses but also to decrease the amount of heat generated so that they arent warm to the touch. Instead of glass, Orions lenses are made of silicon carbide, a material popular in some electric vehicles, which is lighter than glass and also helps bend light at extreme angles, Prasad said.
While using silicon carbide is a major breakthrough for Meta, Bosworth said the company is already looking for a cheaper alternative that could provide the same functionality at a lower price.
New Quest VR Headset
Meta also announced a new, cheaper version of its Quest virtual reality headset, freshening its effort to persuade consumers to spend more time using virtual and augmented reality to play games, watch videos and chat with others.
The Quest 3S headset has much of the same functionality as the existing Quest 3 device but offers less memory and is several hundred dollars cheaper. The headset will be available in stores beginning Oct. 15 and will cost as little as $300, compared to the $500 Quest 3 devices.
--With assistance from Alicia Clanton and Ed Ludlow.
(Updates with comments from Meta CTO beginning in the third paragraph.)
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Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in the Florida Big Bend region at about 11:10 p.m., the National Hurricane Center announced.
The storms maximum sustained winds were estimated to be 140 mph and is moving north-northeast at 24 mph.
READ MORE: Hurricane Helene: Western NC prepares for storm 3 years after major flooding
Helene is expected to bring damaging winds, heavy rain, and flash floods across much of the Southeast.
In the Carolinas, Severe Weather Center 9 predicts well see the worst of the storm Thursday night into Friday morning.
The Carolinas
On Wednesday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a State of Emergency ahead of Hurricane Helene. Later that day, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster also declared a State of Emergency for the Palmetto State.
Even if that track continues to inch West of us, #Helene is a BIG storm!!!! Big impacts still coming to the QC pic.twitter.com/fYvRgMpszm John Ahrens (@JohnAhrensWSOC9) September 25, 2024
Steady rain began Thursday in the Charlotte area and will likely last most of the day. This could already add up to a few inches in spots, causing some flooding.
Helene threatens heavy rain, flash flooding, landslides, and damaging winds to the mountains and Piedmont areas of our state, Gov. Cooper said in a statement. Now is the time for North Carolinians to prepare, make sure emergency kits are up-to-date and pay attention to the weather alerts in your area.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Tropical Storm Helene forms; expected to become major hurricane
After that, we get the big rain from Helene overnight Thursday into early Friday. Areas far west in the mountains could see rain totals adding up to 10 inches or more, which would lead to significant flooding.
We wont see nearly as much in the Charlotte metro, only around 5 to 7 inches. Right now, Flood Watches are confined to our western counties.
VIDEO: Caldwell County flood concerns
Along with the big rain, we will have to deal with strong winds of over 30 to 40 mph, with gusts of 50 to 60 mph, as the storm passes by our region just to the west. This could bring down trees and power lines on Friday.
There will also be a low tornado threat to watch out for. With each wave of rain, theres a potential for quick spin-up tornadoes through the evening hours Thursday.
Then, there may be a deceiving break in the action late in the evening after 11 p.m. Thats when Helene will roar in with tropical storm force winds and additional rainfall and potential tornadoes.
The worst weather will be from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. Friday.
This all clears out by Friday afternoon. Well have a few more rain chances this weekend but nothing major.
If folks can stay at home, stay at home
In the College Downs area of Rock Hill, the city invested more than $2 million trying to prevent flooding in the low-lying area. Workers lowered some of the land, turning it into greenspace so that flood waters have a place to go.
Despite the work, some say areas in the county like that one could see some flooding Friday morning. The storm is expected to bring 2 to 4 inches of rain in the area.
York Countys emergency management director said Thursday that people should prepare for the possibility of downed trees, power outages, and flash flooding.
If folks can stay at home, stay at home, Chuck Haynes said. Tomorrow would be a great day to not go out. Stay off the roadways.
Haynes says anyone who is in a life-threatening situation Friday should call 911. But if you see downed trees blocking roads or other non-emergency situations, you can call the county for help at 803-326-2300.
This is a developing story; check wsoctv.com for updates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
VIDEO: Tropical Storm Helene forms; expected to become major hurricane
Is Helene on track for Ohio? Storm forecast to become major hurricane. What's its path?
Helene is expected to strengthen to a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday -- the fastest progression from a tropical depression to a major hurricane ever, USA TODAY reports -- as it targets the Gulf Coast.
Is the storm tracking toward Ohio? Here's the latest forecast.
Where is Hurricane Helene going to hit? When will it hit Florida?
Currently over the Gulf of Mexico, Helene is targeting the Big Bend area of Florida, where the panhandle transitions to the Florida peninsula. It is forecast to make landfall on Thursday, USA TODAY reports.
Three Florida counties in the region have already ordered residents to evacuate, the Tallahassee Democrat reports, ahead of a "not survivable" 15-foot storm surge.
"Helene stands toe-to-toe with any of the threats that Florida has faced over the past ten years or indeed really over hurricane history," Ryan Truchelut, founder of WeatherTiger and a hurricane forester for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, told the publication.
Will the path of Hurricane Helene lead it to Ohio?
According to the latest forecast Wednesday morning from the National Hurricane Center, the remnants of Helene will be over Tennessee and Kentucky by Friday afternoon. The storm will then shift to the west and head over the Western Kentucky as well as the southern areas of Illinois and Indiana early Saturday morning, missing Ohio completely.
However, earlier forecasts showed the storm tracking more northward, over Indiana and Western Ohio by Saturday morning.
Hurricane categories, per NOAA hurricane center
Hurricanes are rated from 1 to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale based on maximum sustained wind speed, per the National Hurricane Center. Here's how the categories are broken down:
Category 1: Wind speeds of 74-95 mph, very dangerous that will produce some damage, per the NHC. Homes could have some damage to roofs, siding and gutters. Large tree branches could snap. Power lines and poles could be damaged, causing outages.
Category 2: Wind speeds of 96-110 mph, extremely dangerous that will cause extensive damage. Home could have major roof and siding damage. Many trees will be snapped or uprooted. Near-total power loss is expected with outages that could last from days to weeks.
Category 3: Wind speeds of 111-129 mph, causing devastating damage. Homes could see major damage, with roofs being ripped off. Many trees will be downed. Electricity and water will be unavailable for several days to weeks.
Category 4: Wind speeds of 130-156 mph, causing catastrophic damage. Homes can sustain severe damage, with the loss of roofs and exterior walls. Most trees and power poles will be downed, isolating residential areas. Power outages will last from weeks to month. And the most of the area will be uninhabitable for the same period of time.
Category 5: Wind speeds of 157 mph and greater, causing catastrophic damage. A high percentage of homes will be destroyed. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate areas, with outages lasting weeks to months. The area will be uninhabitable for weeks to months.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Is Helene heading to Ohio? Storm is forecast to become major hurricane
THURSDAY UPDATES: Hurricane Helene on final approach for 'catastrophic' collision with Big Bend
A strengthening Helene in the Gulf of Mexico is the latest tropical terror to grip Florida.
The expected Category 4 hurricane closing in on Florida's Big Bend has already prompted three coastal counties Franklin, Wakulla and Taylor to order all residents to evacuate in the face of a projected and "not survivable" 15-foot storm surge. Helene could also become Tallahassee's worst wind event in recorded history as 100 mph winds meet "Tree City USA."
Ryan Truchelut, founder of WeatherTiger and a hurricane forecaster for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, said Helene, which became a hurricane Wednesday morning, is a storm without precedent.
"Helene stands toe-to-toe with any of the threats that Florida has faced over the past ten years or indeed really over hurricane history."
Here's the latest from the path of the storm:
Just what does catastrophic mean? A sobering snapshot from National Weather Service
If you need a picture of what catastrophic means, look no further than the National Weather Service's latest hurricane statement.
"Damage to critical infrastructure, catastrophic damage to the trees and powerlines, widespread inaccessibility due to blocked roads, and damage to well-built structures will all be likely, particularly close to and east of the track. Power outages will likely last days, if not weeks."
"Potential wind impacts in this area include: Structural damage to sturdy buildings, some with complete roof and wall failures. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Damage greatly accentuated by large airborne projectiles. Locations may be uninhabitable for weeks or months. Numerous large trees snapped or uprooted along with fences and roadway signs blown over. Many roads impassable from large debris, and more within urban or heavily wooded places. Many bridges, causeways, and access routes impassable. Widespread power and communications outages."
"There is a danger of catastrophic and unsurvivable storm surge for Apalachee Bay. This forecast, if realized, is a nightmare surge scenario for Apalachee Bay. Please, please, please take any evacuation orders seriously!"
"Widespread deep inundation, with storm surge flooding greatly accentuated by powerful battering waves. Structural damage to buildings, with many washing away. Damage greatly compounded from considerable floating debris. Locations may be uninhabitable for an extended period. Near-shore escape routes and secondary roads washed out or severely flooded. Extreme beach erosion. New shoreline cuts possible. Massive damage to marinas, docks, boardwalks, and piers. Numerous small craft broken away from moorings with many lifted onshore and stranded."
"Extreme rainfall flooding may prompt numerous evacuations and rescues. Rivers and tributaries may overwhelmingly overflow their banks in many places with deep moving water. Small streams, creeks, and ditches may become raging rivers. Flood control systems and barriers may become stressed. Flood waters can enter numerous structures within multiple communities, some structures becoming uninhabitable or washed away. Numerous places where flood waters may cover escape routes. Streets and parking lots become rivers of raging water with underpasses submerged. Driving conditions become very dangerous. Numerous road and bridge closures with some weakened or washed out."
Florida State University to evacuate student from dorms 'in an abundance of caution,' turns Tucker Center into 'refuge facility'
This evening, FSU's emergency management team alerted the campus community that it will be relocating students to more fortified facilities as the city braces for a possible Category 4 hurricane, a storm without precedent for Florida's capital city.
"Out of an abundance of caution, students living in residence halls will be asked to relocate to other university facilities," the 7:20 p.m. FSU alert stated. "Students will receive their assigned location by 9 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 26. On-campus refuge space is tentatively scheduled to open at 10 a.m. and all students must be in place by NOON (12 p.m.)"
At the same time, FSU announced it would be turning the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center into a "refuge facility" for off-campus students.
"Florida State University will open a refuge facility at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center beginning 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 26, for the duration of the storm to current registered students who live off-campus and feel unsafe to weather Hurricane Helene in their current living situation," FSU Alert stated. "It will remain open until FSU issues the ALL CLEAR. No guests or individuals not currently registered for classes will be permitted in the Tucker Center refuge."
Students must arrive at the Tucker Center with a FSU ID no later than noon as travel conditions will begin to deteriorate at the time.
Helene storm surge to come uncomfortably close to Wakulla Springs
A storm surge warning is in effect for both coastal Wakulla County and parts inland, said David Reese, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tallahassee.
Reese said one reason for the inland surge is that rising water could come up the St. Marks River, he said.
Parts of the Big Bend coastline could see up to 20 feet of storm surge from Hurricane Helene, according to the latest National Hurricane Center forecast.
That storm surge warning does include St. Marks, Reese said. It does go up to near Newport. It does not quite get to Crawfordville. It is forecast to get to the other side of U.S. 98 between Newport and Medart or Sopchoppy. Right now, were forecasting it to come just shy of Wakulla Springs, although it could get uncomfortably close.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said earlier this evening that storm surge could hit 15 to 20 feet along the Apalachee Bay from Hurricane Helene, now forecast to hit Category 4 strength.
Reese added that storm surge is the amount of water covering what would otherwise be dry land.
At the immediate coast, if youre standing at the edge of the water ... 15 to 20 feet of water could be over (your) head tomorrow or tomorrow night, Reese said. Things taper down the more inland you go because of terrain and everything else. But that does not include wave action so you can add waves on top of that.
NHC: Helene forecast to become Category 4 storm with 132 mph winds; storm surge could hit 20 feet
Hurricane Helene is now forecast to become a Category 4 storm, with devastating wind speeds of up to 132 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
"But additional strengthening might be possible," a meteorologist with the National Weather Service told the Tallahassee Democrat.
The National Hurricane Center's forecast track for Hurricane Helene as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.
The NHC also ratcheted up storm surge predictions for Apalachee Bay to as high as 20 feet in its 5 p.m. forecast.
"A catastrophic and deadly storm surge is likely along portions of the Florida Big Bend coast, where inundation could reach as high as 20 feet above ground level, along with destructive waves," NHC said. "There is also a danger of life-threatening storm surge along the remainder of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula."
Steinhatchee bar owner: Helene coming so fast 'we didn't have time to prepare much'
Scott Peters, owner of Crabbie Dad's bar in Steinhatchee, supervised a crew Wednesday, a day before Hurricane Helene's forecast arrival, loading beer, coolers, and liquor into trucks and moving it all to safety further inland.
Peters, 46, said the storms that have hit the bar hes owned for 19 years seem to keep getting stronger and each season. The bar sits about 100 feet across First Avenue from where the Steinhatchee River empties into Deadman Bay.
The exterior of Crabbie Dad's Bar & Grill on Tuesday, August 6 2024.
"Were taking everything I can lift and move and things I didnt take out last time that I learned a lesson from, said Peters. You take every storm as serious as you can because this is such a low-lying area. Were basically at sea level.
As he spoke, a county emergency alert sounded on nearby cell phones, warning of a dangerous storm surge and cautioning people to have three days of supplies on hand before the storm hits Thursday evening.
Peters said how bad the storm surge gets will depend in part on what the tides are doing as the hurricane hits sure. But he worried that because it gained strength so rapidly, its plowing a huge pile of water toward shore.
He said growing up in the area, people used to have hurricane parties and write out storms. But the recent string of more powerful hurricanes hitting the area has convinced him thats no longer a good idea.
If thing comes in and goes over us as fast as theyre saying, we could get 8-10 feet of water. Thats what scares me, said Peters. The things coming so damn fast we didnt have time to prepare much.
Trevor Hughes, USA Today
Leon County has distributed more than 25K sandbags ahead of Hurricane Helene
Leon County Administrator Vince Long said the county has given out nearly 25,000 sandbags as the community braces for a direct hit from Helene.
In an afternoon email update, Long also said that Public Works crews have been operating around the clock preparing for the hurricane and debris removal contractors are on standby.
Long said workers have pre-deployed barricades and equipment near places that historically flood and that road crews will be embedded at six different schools so they can immediately deploy once conditions are safe. The crews will be stationed at Fort Braden School, Chiles High School, Chaires, Canopy Oaks and Woodville elementary schools and Montford Middle School.
He said Leon County Emergency Medical Services has "surge staffing" plans in place and that crews will be pre-deployed for rapid response "before, during and after the storm."
The Consolidated Dispatch Agency is prepared to stage a backup call center, Long added, and is working with neighboring counties to provide 911 coverage should phone or internet service go down.
"The most severe threat for our community ... remains hurricane-force winds that could cause widespread power outages, significant property damage and put lives at risk," Long said.
In Wakulla County, all residents ordered to evacuate, but some inmates are left behind
Residents in Wakulla County in Floridas Big Bend region are under mandatory orders to evacuate by 8 a.m. Thursday, but some inmates are being left behind.
The Wakulla County Sheriffs Office said it has no plans to evacuate the jail. It has capacity for 350 inmates. A spokesperson said the jail isnt full but couldnt say exactly how many inmates were there Wednesday.
There are two state prison facilities in the county, the Wakulla Correctional Institution and its satellite, the Wakulla Correctional Institution Annex. Those prisons werent evacuated Wednesday. They can hold more than 2,500 prisons combined.
The Florida Department of Corrections has already announced it had completed the evacuations of about 2,500 other inmates from 25 other prisons across 14 counties. It wasnt immediately clear whether the Wakulla County prisons would be evacuated later, ahead of the hurricane making landfall.
Valentina Sandoval
North Florida residents weary as Helene to become fifth hurricane to hit in eight years
The forecast arrival on Thursday of another hurricane seems like a recurring nightmare for residents of Florida's Big Bend and eastern Panhandle.
Helene is expected to be the fifth hurricane to smack this roughly 200 miles of mostly rural coast between Panama City and Cedar Key in just eight years. Only three hurricanes have arrived elsewhere along the rest of the state's more than 800 miles of coastline over that time span.
In Steinhatchee, tensions felt high when Janalea England and her husband walked into a local restaurant for lunch Monday. The community is "just getting recovered from Idalia," she said. Two friends along that stretch of coast told her: "If we get hit again, we're done."
Water floods the streets and yards in Steinhatchee, Fla. after Hurricane Idalia made its way through the Big Bend on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.
As concerned as she is about her own community's slow recovery, England is even more concerned about Cedar Key, a historic fishing community 40 miles to the south. The rural archipelago also suffered flooding and damage from Idalia and Debby. Then last week, a fire damaged four businesses along the town's Dock Street, the city said. On Tuesday, the city posted evacuation warnings and photos of residents prepping sandbags.
Some Cedar Key restaurants and small businesses still suffer from previous storms, England said. "Now you've got this thing? I could see someone could wash their hands."
Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today
NHC ups storm surge forecast to unheard of 18 feet for Big Bend coast
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said storm surge could hit a mind-boggling 12 to 18 feet along the Big Bend coast from roughly the Carrabelle River to the Chassahowitzka River. That's up several feet from the most recent forecasts.
"Due to the large size of Helene, there is a danger of life-threatening storm surge along the entire west coast of the Florida Peninsula and Florida Big Bend," the NHC said. "The highest inundation of greater than 10 feet is expected along the Florida Big Bend coast. Residents in those areas should follow advice given by local officials and evacuate if told to do so."
Numerous counties in the Big Bend are under mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders. A list can be found at www.floridadisaster.org/evacuation-orders.
Weather Tiger: Helene will hit Big Bend with a 'cataclysmic' blow
Hurricane Helene is on track to become the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Apalachee Bay since the 1840s, Dr. Ryan Truchelut of Tallahassee-based WeatherTiger said in his most recent forecast.
"Due to the intensity and extraordinary size of the storm, Helene will bring catastrophic, life-threatening surge to the west-central Florida and Big Bend coasts, and a core of destructive winds to a broad swath of North Florida and Georgia that likely includes Tallahassee, Truchelut wrote.
He said landfall somewhere in Apalachee Bay on Thursday evening is probable, most likely between 6 p.m. and midnight. "This is just a touch west of yesterdays track," he added.
There was little to no good news in the forecast. Helene, feeding off Gulf waters "heated to a stupefying historical extreme," is expected to rapidly intensify to a Category 3 hurricane, though a Category 4 is not out of the question.
Because of Helene's size, impacts will be felt hundreds of miles from the Hurricane Center's cone, especially on the eastern half of the storm, he wrote.
"The anticipated landfall on Thursday is a truly unprecedented scenario for North Florida. Between Michaels Category 5 landfall in Mexico Beach in 2018 and an 1896 Category 3 hit on Cedar Key, the only other major hurricane to make landfall anywhere in Apalachee Bay since 1851 is last years Idalia which as a relatively compact storm, is a poor comparable to the gargantuan Helene. A major hurricane has never on record moved into Leon County, which the current NHC forecast shows."
Gadsden County issues voluntary evacuation
Gadsden County issued a voluntary evacuation and is opening several emergency shelters in response to Hurricane Helene.
"If you live in a mobile home or an unsafe structure, please evacuate to a shelter or somewhere else that is safe," Gadsden County Emergency Management said in a Facebook post. "Please take action before the impacts of the storm. Remember first responders will not be able to respond after winds reach above 40 mph."
Shelters are scheduled to open at 4 p.m. today at Gadsden County High School, 27001 Blue Star Highway, Havana, and West Gadsden Middle School, 200 Providence Road, Quincy. Gadsden High will house the general population and people with special needs and pets; West Gadsden Middle will house the general population.
Florida State University advises students to consider evacuating
FSU Alert, the Florida State University emergency warning system, is recommending that "individuals should strongly consider making plans to leave the Tallahassee area TODAY before weather conditions deteriorate and be prepared to be away from campus for an extended period of time."
"As a major hurricane, Helene has the potential to cause severe wind damage and widespread power outages in the Tallahassee area," FSU Alert stated, "The universitys operations could be disrupted for a significantly longer period than initially anticipated."
Tallahassee's history of dodging bullets with hurricanes may come to a violent end
Tallahassee has a mostly charmed history with hurricanes, though that's changed a bit over recent years and may end violently on Thursday if Hurricane Helene's eyewall tears thorough Tallahassee.
In the past, hurricanes of all sizes have either lost their wind strength by the time they hit us (Eloise, 1975; Alma, 1966). Or they veer around Tallahassee, while dumping tons of rain (numerous times).
Click here to learn about some of the most notable storms to pass through the area.
'Prepare for a direct hit,' city of Tallahassee officials warn
The city of Tallahassee just texted its utility customers the following: "Helene has been upgraded to a hurricane and is forecast to be a major hurricane with peak winds of 125mph before making landfall tomorrow, with Tallahassee projected to receive a direct hit. Finalize all preparations and plans now."
Helene reaches hurricane status
While crossing into the Gulf of Mexico on a collision course with Florida, Helene is now officially a hurricane packing winds of 70 mph. Forecasters expect Helene will reach Category 3 status with winds as high as 125 mph before it reaches landfall.
"There is still some uncertainty on exactly how strong Helene will get, and upward adjustments to the forecast intensity could be required in subsequent advisories if Helene rapidly intensifies more than forecast," National Hurricane Center forecasters wrote in the latest discussion. "Regardless, Helene is forecast to be a large major hurricane when it reaches the Big Bend coast of Florida. As a result, storm surge, wind, and rainfall impacts will likely extend well away from the center and outside the forecast cone, particularly on the east side."
As the storm ticked east, the hurricane warning was also extended the Jackson and Calhoun counties.
See the storm's latest track and models and overlay it with your address using our Storm Tracker and Model Mixer. Bookmark it at https://data.tallahassee.com/storm/
Leon, Tallahassee officials brief community ahead of Hurricane Helene's 'unprecedented damage'
The City of Tallahassee and Leon County are holding a hurricane preparedness update.
Mayor John Dailey warned residents that if the forecast track holds the community will see "unprecedented damage like nothing we have ever experienced before as a community."
Officials also declared a mandatory evacuation for those living in mobile and manufactured homes.
Time running out for 'bacon-saving east shift' that would spare Tallahassee, neighbors brunt of Helene
In his morning briefing, Dr. Ryan Truchelut, of Tallahassee-based WeatherTiger, warned that the noose is closing around Floridas capital city and its coastal neighbors.
Strengthening Tropical Storm Helene will avoid all land interaction and shoot through the Yucatan Channel into the Gulf of Mexico, giving it a glide path for rapid intensification on its way to Florida as a Category 3 storm, or even higher.
When the storm eventually makes landfall between Apalachicola and Cedar Key, it could be more devastating than Hurricane Michael for many communities.
Life-threatening storm surge of 10-15+ in Apalachee Bay will submerge much of the Big Bend and eastern Panhandles low-lying coastal counties, where mandatory evacuations are in effect, wrote Truchelut, who produces written and interactive video forecasts for the USA TODAY NETWORK Florida. This would by far be the worst surge in recorded history in Apalachee Bay, exceeding Michaels surge and that of the much smaller Idalia in Apalachee Bay and the Nature Coast.
He also noted that as Helenes track holds steady time is running out of time for the kind of bacon-saving east shift that kept the worst of Idalia and Debby to our southeast.
The difference between damaging and potentially catastrophic winds for your local impact is whether or not the core/eyewall of Helene moves over you, which in this case may be 60 miles wide or so he wrote. Its too early to know exactly who will get the core, but if you do, expect damaging inland wind gusts of 80-100+ mph. For Tallahassee, that would cause damage exceeding Hermine or Michael.
He noted that today is the last day to conclude your preparations.
IF YOU HAVE AN EVACUATION ORDER, GO TODAY. Weather conditions will go downhill tomorrow.
Commissioner Rick Minor: Tallahassee could see six hours of 74-110 mph winds
Leon County Commissioner Rick Minor pleaded with residents to take seriously Hurricane Helene, which is on track to make landfall south of Tallahassee as a Category 3 storm with winds as high as 115 mph.
In an email to constituents on Tuesday night, Minor said he was briefed by Leon County Emergency Management officials, who said that if the current track holds, Leon County will suffer a direct hit.
"On Thursday we'll face about six hours of sustained winds of 74-110 mph, leading to thousands of downed trees, more than a hundred blocked roads, hundreds of damaged structures, and many, many days of extended power outages," he said. "But we mustn't panic fortunately, we all have enough time to carefully plan and prepare.
Minor urged people to go to www.LeonReady.com, review the checklists and other info and start your preparations now.
""Listen to the updated storm forecasts, carefully consider the expert advice that'll be provided," Minor said, "and finalize the plan for yourself, your family, and your pets: do you evacuate, go to a shelter, or wait out the storm at home?"
Minor said the forecast could change, but he warned residents not to bank on it.
"But if the current projections turn out to be true, it's going to be a bad one," he wrote. "Leon County residents can't afford to discount the severity of this storm."
'Nightmare' scenario unfolding for Big Bend, Tallahassee
As Tallahasseeans awoke Wednesday morning, there was no big shift in the track of what is expected to become Hurricane Helene later today. There was no wind shear that diminished what is shaping up to be an unprecedented threat to Tallahassee.
Florida's capital city and its Big Bend coastal neighbors remain in the bullseye. For those living in Wakulla, Franklin and Taylor counties, the National Weather Service forecasters offered a grim wakeup call hours after emergency managers ordered all county residents to evacuate.
"This forecast, if realized, is a nightmare surge scenario for Apalachee Bay," forecasters wrote in the latest cyclone statement for the region. "Please, please, please take any evacuation orders seriously."
While exact impacts will be heavily dependent on the eventual track, expect catastrophic wind damage near the eventual point and inland along the track. Even though the hurricane is forecast to be moving quickly, very high rainfall rates and already saturated soils in some places will still combine for a serious flood risk across the region. Tornadoes also are possible.
According to the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, Helene could render some areas "uninhabitable for weeks or months." Widespread power and communications outages also are expected for prolonged periods.
The NWS said potential impacts include structural damage to sturdy buildings, some with complete roof and wall failures; complete destruction of mobile homes; damage greatly accentuated by large airborne projectiles; numerous large trees snapped or uprooted; fences and roadway signs blown over; many roads impassable from large debris and more within urban or heavily wooded places; many bridges, causeways, and access routes impassable.
Storm surge flooding, which could be as high as 15 feet in some places along Apalachee Bay, will be "greatly accentuated" by powerful battering waves. Other impacts from the surge include structural damage to buildings, with many washing away; damage greatly compounded from considerable floating debris; near-shore escape routes and secondary roads washed out or severely flooded; flood control systems and barriers may become stressed; extreme beach erosion; new shoreline cuts possible; massive damage to marinas, docks, boardwalks and piers; numerous small craft broken away from moorings with many lifted onshore and stranded.
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Helene updates: Florida hurricane threat without precedent unfolding
Heres what you need to know:
Helene is expected to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Floridas Big Bend
All of metro Atlanta and north Georgia are under a Tropical Storm Warning
Hurricane Helene is forecast to make landfall as a major storm on Floridas Big Bend late Thursday. It will then move across Georgia and into metro Atlanta late Thursday night and into Friday morning.
The storm will slowly weaken as it heads north into Georgia
Hurricane conditions are expected all the way up into middle Georgia
Strong, top-end tropical storm conditions expected across metro Atlanta and North Georgia
Sustained winds of 40-60 mph, gusts 60-75+ mph
Possible extensive wind and tree damage expected
Tornadoes are also possible
Rivers expected to reach flood-stage
Gov. Brian Kemp declared a State of Emergency on Tuesday in anticipation of Tropical Storm Helene. President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for FEMA to assist Georgia.
The Georgia Emergency Management Association is encouraging everyone to have a plan and stay up to date through official weather updates.
All of metro Atlanta and north Georgia is under a Flood Watch until Friday afternoon.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Severe Weather Team 2 App for alerts wherever you go]
Severe Weather Team 2 is monitoring Hurricane Storm Helene around the clock and making sure you have the latest information to keep you and your family safe.
Tropical Storm Helene officially strengthened into Hurricane Helene as it passed through the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday.
Severe Weather Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz says Helene is expected to make landfall along Floridas Big Bend late Thursday. But Nitz says the storm is moving fast and will make its way across Georgia and into metro Atlanta and north Georgia late Thursday night and into Friday morning.
A Tropical Storm Watch was issued Wednesday morning. It has now been upgraded to a Tropical Storm Warning.
With it, Helene is expected to bring heavy rains, tropical storm-force winds, and the potential for brief spin-up tornadoes.
But thats not the first severe weather metro Atlanta will see this week. Monahan is forecasting heavy rains unrelated to Helene on Wednesday.
Because of those rains and the heavy rains Helene is expected to bring in, there is a strong concern for flooding along rivers, creeks and other areas prone to flooding. The National Weather Service has placed most of the state of Georgia under a Flood Watch until Friday afternoon.
Monahan says the flash flooding threat is increasing on Wednesday with a high risk over the northeast Georgia mountains. Widespread rainfall totals anywhere from two inches to more than four inches are possible.
By Friday, metro Atlanta and north Georgia could see between five and nine inches of rain, according to Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Brian Monohan.
On Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service issued a Tropical Storm Watch for Upson County in the southern part of the metro Atlanta area.
Is Helene a hurricane?
During its 11:00 a.m. update on Wednesday, the National Weather Service confirmed that Tropical Storm Helene has strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane.
It is expected to continue moving over the deep, warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday. As it moves across those waters, it is expected to keep strengthening.
It is expected to be a major Category 4 hurricane when it makes landfall at Floridas Big Bend on Thursday.
[INTERACTIVE: StormTracker 2HD Radar]
When will Helene move into Georgia?
Nitz says Helene is moving quickly. So once it makes landfall late Thursday in Florida, it is expected to quickly make its way into Georgia and into north Georgia by late Thursday night and early Friday morning.
As it moves in, Georgians can expect to see heavy rains and strong winds. Nitz said to expect sustained winds of 40-60 mph, and gusts of 60-75+ mph.
Along the track and to the east of Helenes center, there will be a risk of a brief, spin-up tornado. So depending on the exact path Helene follows, parts of metro Atlanta could see a tornado risk.
Has the government responded?
On Tuesday, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp issued a State of Emergency through Oct. 2. What does a state of emergency do? The order essentially frees up emergency funds for areas that could be impacted and mobilizes agencies to help with preparation, response and recovery before and after a storm.
The order also allows up to 500 Georgia National Guard troops to help with storm preparation and response.
President Joe Biden, also on Tuesday, approved a major disaster declaration for FEMA to assist the state.
Channel 2s Tom Regan spoke with Georgia Emergency Management Agency officials who say they are already preparing for the storm and warning Georgians to stay alert and have a plan before the storms effects move into the area.
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Help coming from all over US following devastating NE Ohio dairy farm fire
Help coming from all over US following devastating NE Ohio dairy farm fire
DORSET TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WJW) One day after a breathtaking effort to move more than a thousand dairy cattle from the Comp Family Dairy Farm, offers of help continue to come in from as far away as Georgia.
A devastating fire late Sunday destroyed the farms miliking parlor and heavily damaged other buildings on the property.
Almost immediately offers to help move the cattle to other farms came from across Ohio into Pennsylvania as well as from Indiana and Michigan.
Meet Pesto, the viral humongous penguin chick
Its overwhelming, like the chills and the tears that come to my eyes for the outreach of all of these people that are willing to help out these people, said Cassandra Rogers.
Rogers, owner of Thee Sassy Shack Boutique in Orwell worked with the family to create T-shirts with a Comp Dairy Farm Logo.
Knowing there were other offers to help create and sell T-shirts as a fundraiser for the farm she reached out, as someone they know, to offer her help.
In less than 24 hours she believed she had more than 250 orders.
Hundreds of cows transported after Ashtabula County dairy farm fire
WJW photo
WJW photo
Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, all over Ohio, tons that we have to ship out. Last I checked this morning there was almost $16,000 in gross sales, said Rogers, noting that 100% of the profits from each shirt will be going to the Comp family.
Theres all the employees that are not milking now because they dont have the money coming in, so thats why I did this, to help them on the other side of insurance, said Rogers.
The facilities are gone and so insurance covers that, but theres a lot of revenue, these girls make milk every day, trucks come here twice a day, so the revenue is gone from these cows, said Mandy Orahood of the Ashtabula County Farm Bureau.
Aware that there were numerous efforts to try and help them, Orahood on Tuesday was working with family members to set up a local bank account to which people could safely contribute.
Eventually, the farm will start hauling feed to the farms where their cattle are being housed, and there are other needs.
Deserve to be locked up: Men sentenced in Edgewater arson set while family slept
The Comp family was also aware that a neighbor started a GoFundMe page to help. One which they were vetting.
But there were other pages established without their consent.
Weve already got a request from Pakistan to start a GoFundMe so we already know, its hard to trust right, its hard to trust in todays world, said Orahood. We are going to be starting a Comp Family Farm relief page on Facebook so and that is going to be coordinated.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Federal statutes allow some hemp products which include less than 0.3% delta-9 THC to be sold in stores, but a new New Jersey law restricts their sale. (Getty Images)
A group of hemp businesses is arguing a new state law banning the sale of hemp products in New Jersey stores without a license from the states cannabis agency will turn farmers, business owners and consumers into criminals.
Under the law, the groups argue, hemp will be effectively recriminalized, despite federal statutes allowing some hemp products which are derived from cannabis and have less than 0.3% delta-9 THC to be sold in stores.
The groups are asking a federal judge for a preliminary injunction to stop most of the law from going into effect. Attorney General Matt Platkin, Cannabis Regulatory Commission Chair Dianna Houenou, and state Agriculture Secretary Edward D. Wengryn are named as defendants.
Their suit comes roughly two weeks after Gov. Phil Murphy signed the controversial bill, crafted after lawmakers heard concerns from parents and others that minors could easily get their hands on hemp products.
Murphy expressed reservations about the bill, saying it could lead to uncertainty in the hemp industry. He noted one provision is so vaguely worded it could be interpreted as allowing the sale of hemp made out of the state.
But Murphy signed the bill anyway, saying it was important to ensure harmful chemicals and unregulated products stay out of the hands of children.
Now, businesses have until Oct. 12 30 days after the bill signing to pull from their shelves all items containing hemp, like CBD lotions, hemp drinks, and delta-8 gummies. Under the new law, the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission will have about six months to establish new rules and guidelines on issuing licenses to retailers, though that doesnt mean sales of hemp products will necessarily resume in six months.
The plaintiffs say that many businesses will be forced to close and lay off employees, potentially leading to thousands of lost jobs.
The groups suing the state agreed with Murphys criticism of the bill, stressing that last-minute changes made before it passed the Legislature impose a dizzying maze of rules that are far too complicated for ordinary citizens to navigate.
Under the law, businesses will suffer immediate, irreparable financial harm, they said.
New Jerseys law will drastically overhaul the regulatory environment hemp products face and contradicts the federal 2018 Farm Bill that made hemp sales legal, the plaintiffs added.
The law could be in violation of the dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution by criminalizing certain out-of-state products while allowing those same products to be produced in state. It may also violate the supremacy clause by changing the definition of hemp products to contradict the federal definition, they argue in the complaint.
The parties in the lawsuit include hemp retailers based in New Jersey, manufacturers from out of state who sell products to New Jersey retailers, and hemp-derived beverage businesses whose products are shipped to New Jersey.
While they want a judge to declare most of the new law void, they agree the section prohibiting the sale of hemp products to people under 21 years of age should remain intact.
Spokespeople for the Attorney Generals Office and the Cannabis Regulatory Commission declined to comment.
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CORNING, N.Y. (WETM) The Heritage Village of the Southern Finger Lakes announced that it has joined an access program that will support low-income families who visit the museum.
Museums for All is a signature access program that is a part of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The program is conducted by the Association of Childrens Museums to encourage people of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly.
Elmira Fire Department to receive federal funding to hire more firefighters
Through this program, those who receive SNAP benefits can visit the museum for only $3 per person (compared to the standard $10 for an adult) for up to four people with the presentation of a SNAP EBT card. Kids 17 and under may visit for free.
Heritage Village is just one of more than 850 museums across the country that provide similar free and reduced admission options to eligible members of the community through this 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 WETM - MyTwinTiers.com.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) A mandatory evacuation order has been issued for Hernando County Residents who live west of U.S. 19, starting Wednesday morning.
Hernando County Schools will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday.
Residents in Hernando County are preparing for whatever Tropical Storm Helene brings.
Robert Hanley was one of many residents who were busy filling sandbags to help protect their homes.
Its happened so many times here, Im kind of used to it, said Hanley.
Pamela Schneider filled up sandbags to take to her home. She has also been through flooding before.
Im down in Hernando Beach and Im going to put them along my garage door, my front door, my back door, tape up the doors and then bring all of my outdoor furniture in, said Schneider.
She says after she does all she can to prepare her home, she plans to evacuate.
Ill go stay with a friend and take things that are important to me, Schneider said. Pictures, and such like that, out of my house with me.
Hernando County officials plan to reopen sandbag locations at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday to allow residents to prepare as best they can.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Israel tells its troops to prepare for a possible ground operation in Lebanon
Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in the southern village of Kfar Rouman, seen from Marjayoun, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) Israel is preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon, its army chief said Wednesday as Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets across the border and a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was the militant group's deepest strike yet.
Addressing troops on the northern border, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Israel's punishing airstrikes this week were designed to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.
The U.S., France and other allies jointly called for an immediate 21-day cease-fire in the conflict that has killed more than 600 people to provide space for diplomacy.
Their joint statement, negotiated on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, said the fighting was intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation. Other signatories include the European Union, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Israel says it targeted Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers. In an apparent reference to the missile fired at Tel Aviv, Halevi told troops: "Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves.
It was not clear whether he was referring to a ground operation, airstrikes or some other form of retaliation against Hezbollah, which is Lebanons strongest political force and, with backing from Iran, is widely considered the top paramilitary group in the Arab world.
The Israeli military has said in recent days it had no immediate plans for a ground invasion, but Halevis comments were the strongest yet suggesting troops could move in. Israeli said Wednesday it would activate two reserve brigades for missions in the north another sign that Israel plans tougher action.
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have steadily escalated since war broke out 11 months ago between Israel and Hamas, another Iran-backed militant group. Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and Hamas. Israel has responded with increasingly heavy airstrikes and the targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders while threatening a wider operation.
Nearly a year of fighting had already displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border before the recent escalation.
Israel has vowed to do whatever it takes to ensure its citizens can return to their homes in the north, while Hezbollah has said it will keep up its rocket attacks until there is a cease-fire in Gaza, something that appears increasingly remote.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel and Hezbollah to step back, saying all-out war would be disastrous for the region and its people.
Lebanons Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the U.N. Security Council to act immediately to guarantee the withdrawal of Israel from all the occupied Lebanese territories and the violations that are repeated on a daily basis.
Israels U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters at the U.N. that Israel welcomes initiatives to broker a cease-fire and is open to ideas. But if diplomacy doesnt stop Hezbollah attacks so residents of northern Israel can return home, he said, his country would use all means at our disposal, in accordance with international law, to achieve our aims.
Lebanon's health ministry said 72 people were killed Wednesday in the continuing Israeli strikes, raising the death toll from the past three days to 636, with more than 2,000 wounded. At least a quarter of those killed have been women and children, according to Lebanese health officials.
At Dar Al Amal hospital in the eastern city of Baalbek, Soumaya Moussawi lay in bed with her head bandaged and face bruised.
She had been sitting outside with relatives when warplanes started striking in the distance, she said.
Then suddenly it hit next to us. We were all thrown in different directions, she said. Two cousins and her father were killed, and another cousin was badly wounded.
This week has been the deadliest in Lebanon since the bruising 2006 monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israels Mossad intelligence agency, which it blames for a recent string of targeted killings of its top commanders and for an attack last week in which explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of people and wounded thousands, including many Hezbollah members.
Israeli military officials said they intercepted a surface-to-surface missile that set off air-raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel. There were no reports of casualties or damage. The military said it struck the launch site in southern Lebanon.
Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the missile fired Wednesday had a heavy warhead but declined to elaborate or confirm it was the type described by Hezbollah. He dismissed Hezbollahs claim of targeting the Mossad headquarters just north of Tel Aviv as psychological warfare.
The Israeli military said it was the first time a projectile fired from Lebanon had reached central Israel. Hezbollah claimed to have targeted an intelligence base near Tel Aviv last month in an aerial attack, but there was no confirmation. Hamas repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv in the opening months of the war in Gaza.
The launch ratcheted up hostilities in a region that appeared to be teetering toward another all-out war, even as Israel continues to battle Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel said Wednesday its air force had struck some 280 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon by early afternoon, including launchers used to fire rockets on the northern Israeli cities of Safed and Nahariya.
In the southern Israeli city of Eilat, a building at the port was struck by a drone, an attack that injured two people and was claimed by an umbrella group for Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. A second drone was intercepted, the Israeli military said.
Fleeing families have flocked to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along the beach. Some sought to leave the country, causing a traffic jam at the border with Syria.
The United Nations said more than 90,000 people have been displaced by five days of Israeli strikes. In all, 200,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel nearly a year ago, drawing Israeli retaliation, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Hezbollahs latest strikes included dozens of rockets fired Wednesday into northern Israel, the military said.
Rocket fire over the past week has disrupted life for more than 1 million people across northern Israel, with schools closed and public gatherings restricted. Many restaurants and other businesses are shut in the coastal city of Haifa, and there are fewer people on the streets. Some who fled from communities near the border are coming under rocket fire again.
Israel has moved thousands of troops who had been serving in Gaza to the northern border. It says Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including some capable of striking anywhere in Israel.
Cross-border fire began ramping up Sunday after pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah were attacked remotely, killing 39 people and wounded nearly 3,000, many of them civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, which has not confirmed or denied responsibility.
The next day, Israel said its warplanes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and attack drones, including weapons concealed in private homes. The strikes racked up the highest one-day death toll in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising monthlong war in 2006.
___
Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press Writers Suleiman Amhaz in Baalbek, Lebanon; Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Edith Lederer at the United Nations, contributed to this report.
___
Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
The aftermath of a Hezbollah strike on Kiryat Bialik, near the city of Haifa in northern Israel (Jack GUEZ) (Jack GUEZ/AFP/AFP)
Hezbollah said it had fired a ballistic missile at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Wednesday, with Israel launching more air strikes on Lebanon after its military intercepted the unprecedented launch.
It is the first time Hezbollah has claimed a ballistic missile strike since its nearly year-long battle with Israel began after its Palestinian ally Hamas carried out its October 7 attack.
Israel conducted more air strikes on areas around Lebanon on Wednesday, after raids earlier this week killed at least 558 people in the deadliest day of violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The Lebanese health ministry said Wednesday's strikes killed 15 people, including in mountain areas outside Hezbollah's traditional strongholds.
According to Lebanese officials, hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled their homes in southern and eastern Lebanon to escape the violence between the Iran-backed militants and Israel.
Nour Hamad, a 22-year-old student in the Lebanese city of Baalbek, described living "in a state of terror" all week.
"We spent four or five days without sleep, not knowing if we will wake up in the morning," she said.
"The sound of the bombardment is very frightening, everyone's afraid. The children are afraid, and the grown-ups are afraid too."
In Tel Aviv, sirens sounded following Hezbollah's unprecedented missile launch, which the Israeli military intercepted.
"The situation is difficult. We feel the pressure and the tension. It's been going for a long time now," Tel Aviv resident Hedva Fadlon, 61, told AFP.
"I don't think anyone in the world would like to live like this."
Longtime foes Hezbollah and Israel have been locked in near-daily exchanges of fire since Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.
The attack sparked a war in Gaza that has drawn in ally Hezbollah and other Iran-backed armed groups from across the Middle East, including Yemen and Iraq.
Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said the "vast majority, if not all" of the 558 people killed in Israel's aerial bombardment on Monday were unarmed civilians in their homes.
The United Nations Security Council said it will hold an emergency meeting on the crisis in New York on Wednesday, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the situation was critical.
- Rocket commander killed -
Hezbollah claimed 18 attacks on Israel on Tuesday, while the Israeli military said the Iran-backed group fired about 300 rockets across the border.
Hezbollah also confirmed an Israeli claim that it had killed their rocket forces commander Ibrahim Kobeissi in a strike on the Lebanese capital.
At the UN General Assembly in New York, Secretary-General Guterres issued a stark warning.
"We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink," he said, while cautioning against "the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza".
US President Joe Biden, whose government is Israel's main backer, warned against a full-blown war in Lebanon in his speech during the New York gathering.
"Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," Biden said.
Lebanon's foreign minister, also at the UN assembly, said the number of displaced Lebanese had soared to nearly 500,000 since Israel ramped up its military campaign.
A security official in neighbouring Syria told AFP about 500 people had crossed the border to flee the bombing.
- Defiant Netanyahu -
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his departure for New York until Thursday, where he too is due to speak at the General Assembly.
"During the day, the prime minister will hold consultations to discuss the continuation of the attacks in Lebanon," his office said.
Netanyahu defied international calls for restraint, vowing on Tuesday to keep up Israel's campaign against Hezbollah.
"We will continue to hit Hezbollah... the one who has a missile in his living room and a rocket in his home will not have a home," he said.
Iran, Hezbollah's main backer, condemned Israel's raids, with its president, Masoud Pezeshkian, saying its ally "cannot stand alone".
On Wednesday, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei said the recent killing of Hezbollah commanders would not crush the group.
"Some of the effective and valuable forces of Hezbollah were martyred, which undoubtedly caused damage to Hezbollah, but this was not the sort of damage that could bring the group to its knees," he said.
- 'New phase' -
While the Israel-Lebanon border has seen near-daily clashes for a year, the violence escalated dramatically last week, when coordinated communications device blasts that Hezbollah blamed on Israel killed 39 people and wounded almost 3,000.
Then Israel carried out an air strike on Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold, killing a top military commander and other fighters and civilians.
Efforts to end the war in Gaza, which analysts say are key to stopping the escalation in Lebanon, remain stalled.
The war in Gaza began with Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,495 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.
burs/ser/kir
A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Kevin Buckland
Beijing's big shot of stimulus is still pumping through Chinese markets, but its effect on broader markets could already be fading.
Mainland blue-chips chased Tuesday's 4.3% surge with gains up to 3.4% in today's session and Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped as much as 3.1%, extending yesterday's 4.1% rally.
China's strong start to Wednesday initially helped to buoy stock benchmarks in Australia and South Korea - whose economies are closely tied to China's fortunes - but those gains soon fizzled out.
From the moment of the Chinese authorities' announcement on Tuesday of their biggest and broadest stimulus measures since the pandemic, analysts had looked through the euphoria to question whether anything would address core structural problems.
The reaction on Wall Street overnight was modest with advances between 0.2% and 0.5%, and U.S. futures at the time of writing were pointing about the same amount lower.
Concerns about a U.S. downturn following a big surprise weakening in consumer confidence, revealed in data on Tuesday, may have helped to temper any optimism about the global growth narrative.
Europe has plenty of economic worries as well, and futures indicate a lower start for stocks in the region.
Essentially, it all tells the same story: The global easing cycle is well and truly upon us (unless you're in Japan).
The People's Bank of China followed Tuesday's volley of rate cuts with another reduction on Wednesday, and traders are leaning heavily towards a second super-sized Fed cut at the next meeting in November.
Fed Governor Adriana Kugler speaks on the economic outlook later today, continuing a busy week of Fedspeak that includes Chair Jay Powell on Thursday.
In Europe, today's schedule has the ECB's Elizabeth McCaul participating in a roundtable and the Bank of England's Megan Greene speaking on the topic of consumption.
Sweden's Riksbank is widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points later in the day, and economists say two more are likely in the remaining two meetings of 2024.
Riksbank Governor Erik Thedeen himself agrees with that assessment and is not taking the possibility of a half-point cut off the table.
Key developments that could influence markets on Wednesday:
-Riksbank policy decision
-ECB's McCaul, BoE's Greene speak
-France consumer confidence, unemployment (both Sept)
(This story has been corrected to say there is more than a 50% chance of a half point cut, not 80%, in paragraph 2)
(By Kevin Buckland; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
Residents of Safed in upper Galilee in northern Israel look on Wednesday as the country's Iron Dome air defense system intercepts missiles fired from south Lebanon. The Israeli military identified approximately 40 missiles crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory. EPA-EFE/ATEF SAFADI
Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Israeli air defense fighters successfully intercepted a surface-to-surface ballistic missile launched by Hezbollah toward Tel Aviv on Wednesday, the first time the group has targeted the country's largest city.
The Israeli military said air raid sirens triggered in and around the Tel Aviv suburbs and in central Israel, but the missile was shot down and there were no reports of damage or casualties.
"Following the alerts that were activated in the Gush Dan and Sharon area [in Tel Aviv], one launch of a surface-to-surface missile was detected that crossed from Lebanon and was intercepted by the air defense fighters," the IDF said in a status update on X.
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani posted a map on X showing five locations in Tel Aviv where sirens sounded and dozens in and around Netanya, 20 miles north of the city, saying the attack came just before 6:30 a.m.
"Good morning? Not exactly. It's 6:30 a.m. and Hezbollah just launched a missile toward Israel, sending millions of innocent civilians across central Israel running for shelter," Shoshani said.
Hezbollah confirmed it had launched a Qader 1 ballistic missile at Tel Aviv saying in a statement that that it was aimed at Mossad HQ in the city in retaliation for the killings of Hezbollah leaders and pager and walkie-talkie boobytrap attacks which it blamed on the Israeli foreign intelligence agency.
The group also said the attack was in solidarity with Palestinians' "valiant and honorable resistance" in Gaza and "in defense of Lebanon and its people."
The IDF later posted a video on social media of a strike by Israeli Air Force warplanes it said had obliterated the launcher from which it said the missile was fired in the Nafakhiyeh area of southern Lebanon.
That operation was among a wave of deadly strikes Israel said hit dozens of sites storing Hezbollah weapons overnight that continued into Wednesday with the Lebanese Health Ministry saying 15 people had been killed including four in the central Lebanon town of Joun where seven people were also injured.
Three people were killed in Bint Jbeil and three in Ain Qana in the south, three in Al-Maaysra in the north, and two in Tebnine.
That comes after 558 people were killed and more than 1,800 were injured on Monday and Tuesday.
The IDF confirmed it was engaged in a new round of "extensive" strikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley following Hezbollah's abortive attempt to attack Tel Aviv.
Addressing the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden warned a new full-scale war in the region was not in anyone's best interest and that a diplomatic solution was possible -- even as The Pentagon announced the deployment of additional U.S. troops to the Middle East.
Britain nonetheless announced late Tuesday that it was following suit, sending 700 troops along with Royal Air Force aircraft and helicopters to nearby Cyprus in preparation for a possible emergency airlift of an estimated 10,000 British citizens from Lebanon.
The deployment, which got underway overnight, is in addition to 2 British warships already in the eastern Mediterranean.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged British citizens to get out of the country immediately, while commercial flight options were still available.
"We are ramping up the contingency plans in light of the escalation. It is important that we be really, really clear: now is the time to leave," said Starmer.
Hezbollah may have enough missiles to breach Israel's Iron Dome. But doing so could trigger its destruction.
The Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah is estimated to have stockpiles of up to 200,000 missiles.
They would likely be able to breach Israel's Iron Dome air-defense system, experts say.
But using them could trigger a massive regional war that would destroy Hezbollah.
In recent weeks, Israel has inflicted a series of humiliating blows on the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, reportedly planting explosives in its pagers, killing its top leaders, and raining missiles on its bases.
But at any moment, Hezbollah could strike back with a massive missile and drone swarm attack that could devastate Israeli forces and rapidly escalate the conflict, analysts say.
The Iran-backed group likely has stockpiles of up to 200,000 missiles, a report from March by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said.
That may be enough to overwhelm Israel's Iron Dome air-defense system and inflict huge damage on the country's cities and infrastructure, experts say.
"A war between Israel and Hezbollah, if it really goes into a war all out, will escalate very, very quickly," William Wechsler, the senior director of the Rafik Hariri Center and Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council, told Business Insider.
If Hezbollah takes that step, countries, including the US, would rapidly be dragged into the conflict as it spread across the entire region. That could result in the destruction of Hezbollah.
Israel's dangerous bet
In the wake of the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas and Israel's subsequent occupation of Gaza, clashes between Israel and Hezbollah across Israel's northern border have steadily intensified.
The Lebanon-based group has kept up the pressure on Israel in solidarity with Hamas, firing missiles over the border that have forced thousands of Israelis to flee. Meanwhile, Israel has retaliated with strikes on southern Lebanon.
All the while, Israel's allies, including the US, have sought to head off a wider conflict while deploying more troops to the region to deter Iran and its allies.
A Hezbollah drone intercepted by Israeli air forces over northern Israel. JALAA MAREY
But Israel is now taking the fight to Hezbollah, assassinating several of the group's senior leaders in Beirut on Friday and launching missile attacks that Lebanese health authorities say have killed about 550 people.
"Israel has made the decision to escalate," Wechsler said, and it knows that Hezbollah realizes that responding with full force could trigger a chain of events resulting in its destruction.
What US involvement means
It was after its 2006 war with Israel that Hezbollah started stockpiling weapons as a deterrent and a threat. With the help of Iran, it obtained not just missiles but also precision-guided weapons and air-defense systems.
But in a scenario in which Hezbollah uses them to their most devastating effect which could kill tens of thousands of civilians, cause power blackouts, and devastate infrastructure the Israel Defense Forces would have the capacity to strike back and exact massive damage on Hezbollah in response, Wechsler said.
In the event of a full-blown war, "we assess that at least some" Iron Dome batteries "will be overwhelmed," an unnamed senior US official told CNN in June. Two unnamed US officials told the publication that Israel believed the Iron Dome could be vulnerable, particularly in the north.
The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.
The Iron Dome is one of the most advanced defense systems in operation.
The system consists of an array of 10 mobile batteries that can be deployed across Israel. Each battery consists of three to four launchers carrying dozens of Tamir interceptor missiles and a sensitive radar, the US military Iron Dome contractor Raytheon Technologies says .
A breach of the Iron Dome could start a cycle of violence, with the US likely stepping in to defend Israel and avenge any loss of American lives in a Hezbollah strike, Wechsler said.
Iran could then get involved, fearing the destruction of its most powerful and important proxy group, and use its huge regional network of militias to strike US bases and allies across the region, he added.
It's a chain of events Hezbollah and its backers in Tehran are likely highly wary of.
Israel's Iron Dome repelling a barrage of rockets from Hezbollah. The Iron Dome is one of the most advanced defense systems in operation. Anadolu/Footage
"The United States is not going to allow Israel to be put under existential threat. It's not going to allow its partners in the Gulf to be put under existential threat," Wechsler said.
"It makes much more sense logically for Hezbollah to back down, to go back to the status quo ante in some way," he added.
One possibility, some reports have said, is that Israel is "escalating to de-escalate," placing Hezbollah under intense pressure to secure a diplomatic agreement compelling it to step back farther from Israel's borders, which could allow evacuated Israeli citizens to return.
For now, though, Hezbollah shows little sign of relenting, launching its first-ever attack early Wednesday near Israel's capital, Tel Aviv. A missile that the group said was intended to strike Mossad's headquarters was intercepted.
It's a warning shot of the Hezbollah's capabilities.
The danger of the unpredictable
But a huge danger is that the war may escalate in ways no one has predicted.
It's unclear, for a start, exactly where Hezbollah draws its red lines that would trigger a mass missile and drone attack on Israel. Some analysts are speculating that Israel is preparing for a new ground assault on southern Lebanon to drive back Hezbollah.
This could be one of the triggers for Hezbollah to use its missile arsenals. Or it could decide that Israel has already crossed the red line with its bombardment campaign and be preparing an imminent strike.
"Just because it makes logical sense doesn't mean it will happen," Wechsler said of Hezbollah's incentives to act with restraint.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Hezbollah steps up its response to Israeli attacks but its gloves are not fully off
Despite pledging a battle without limits against Israel, Hezbollahs response to back-to-back Israeli attacks appears to have been carefully calibrated.
Its strike Wednesday that was intercepted near Tel Aviv managed to be both unprecedented and understated. It marked many firsts: The first time Hezbollah launched what it said was a ballistic missile at Israel; the first time a missile had reached near Tel Aviv from Lebanon; and the first time Hassan Nasrallah, the militant groups leader, made good on his promise to respond to Israeli strikes on Beirut with Hezbollahs own on Tel Aviv.
But given the strength of Israels air defenses, a single missile even a ballistic one was always likely to have been shot down.
Why, then, launch just one? As the risk of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah and their respective American and Iranian backers grows each day, the lone shot on Tel Aviv could be taken as both a threat and a cease-and-desist. We have powerful weapons at our disposal, and a powerful friend at our beck and call dont try us, Hezbollah seemed to say. The militant groups gloves are far from fully off the group has a range of medium and long-range missiles in its arsenal but Wednesdays strike appeared to be a signal to indicate how powerful a punch it could pack.
This strike is the latest notch in Hezbollahs managed escalation as it seeks to respond to an intensive Israeli campaign to force the armed group to cease its daily fire at Israels northern-most territory.
Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in the village of Kfar Rouman, southern Lebanon, on Wednesday. - Hussein Malla/AP
It is worth remembering how we got here. Hezbollah joined the fight against Israel out of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza after Hamas October 7 attacks against Israel. So far, it has avoided a full-scale war with Israel. Until last week, it had largely limited its involvement to near-daily cross-border strikes that the Israeli military has returned.
The strikes forced more than 60,000 Israelis to flee their homes in the north of the country, but the number of casualties remained relatively low. The Lebanese side of the border was also emptied of its nearly 100,000 residents in Israeli strikes as part of the cross-fire.
But things began to spiral after a rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan heights killed 12 Druze children. Israel accused Hezbollah of firing the rocket, which came from the direction of Lebanon, but Hezbollah has firmly denied it was behind the strike.
For Israeli officials, though, the situation had become untenable. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began to pivot from fighting Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon, backed by bellicose allies on his extreme right.
For almost a year, Israel had waged its war in Gaza with the twin aims of destroying Hamas and returning the hostages it had taken. On September 16, Israel added a new objective: ensuring the safe return of residents from communities along its border with Lebanon to their homes.
The next day, hundreds of pagers belonging to Hezbollah militants exploded across Lebanon. The day after, Hezbollah walkie-talkies also exploded. The twin attacks killed dozens and injured thousands, delivering a humiliating blow to the group. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, but CNN has learned the explosions were the result of a joint operation between Israels intelligence service, Mossad, and the Israeli military.
Israels attacks did not relent. The next day, it launched an airstrike on a multi-story building in a Beirut suburb where a group of Hezbollahs elite Radwan Force had met, killing its leader Ibrahim Aqil other high-level figures. This week, another airstrike killed Ibrahim Qubaisi, another senior official who commanded Hezbollahs missile units.
People displaced from their homes seek shelter in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, on Wednesday. - Fathi Al-Masri/AFP/Getty Images
Reeling from the biggest-ever hits to its military structure, Hezbollah has also discreetly expanded its war aims. It said it launched the ballistic missile Wednesday in support of Palestinians in Gaza and, crucially, in defense of Lebanon and its people an explicit recognition that it is now engaged in a conflict to protect its own territory.
While both sides have refrained from declaring that they are at war with each other, their ramped-up goals may make that moot.
Hezbollah insists there will be no ceasefire in Lebanon until there is one in Gaza. Netanyahus government not only insists there will not be a ceasefire in Gaza its pivot to Lebanon makes the possibility of a deal even more remote.
Where do both sides go from here? Neither has much space to back down.
As international calls to defuse the tensions grow, many Lebanese residents are not waiting to find out whether they will be successful. Lebanons Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Israels offensive has displaced up to half a million people. Beiruts streets are emptying, as foreign embassies urge their citizens to flee the country and many Lebanese move even further north.
After years of crises, the growing military conflict is inflicting further despair on Lebanons increasingly exhausted population. The fact that neither Hezbollah nor the Lebanese authorities have called this a war is little consolation for those in throes of bombardment and mass displacement.
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) The City of Rochester has seen a significant decrease in shootings through August 2024, according to a new report.
The NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services reports that Rochester saw a 39% decrease in shootings. The report says that New York State has a 28% decline in shootings across New York communities.
The 28% decline reflects 417 shootings with injuries statewide from January 1 to August 31, 2024 compared to 578 incidents from last year. Rochester has seen a number of high-profile shootings, including last summer when multiple people were shot in a deadly shooting at Maplewood Park.
According to RPDs Open Data Portal, between January 1 to August 31, 2024, there have been 142 shooting victims. As of Wednesday, that number is 156. RPD says that there were 234 shootings around that time.
Governor Hochul released a statement on the decline, saying this decrease is due to the states strategies to combat gun violence.
Public safety is my number one priority, and protecting New Yorkers and their communities is the foundation of all our efforts, Hochul said in her statement. Our strategies for tackling gun violence are proving effective, but our work is never finished we will continue investing, innovating, and partnering with law enforcement to make New York a safer place for everyone.
A full breakdown of declines in shootings can be found below:
Nassau County: 40 percent decline
Rochester: 39 percent decline
Suffolk County: 39 percent decline
Syracuse: 26 percent decline
Utica: 47 percent decline
Yonkers: 56 percent decline
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Homeless support organization holds memorial for Blue Line shooting victims: It never really occurred to us that this would happen
About 50 people gathered at an Evanston church Tuesday for a memorial service honoring four people who were shot and killed as they slept on a Blue Line train earlier this month, as well as numerous other people experiencing homelessness who had died in the preceding year.
The deaths of Margaret Miller Johnson, Sean Jones, Adrian Collins and Simeon Bihesi have renewed scrutiny around safety and security on the CTA and stunned those who work with Chicago-area homeless people. Authorities arrested and charged 30-year-old Rhianni Davis with murder shortly after the shootings. No potential motive has yet emerged in the case and Davis was ordered detained pending trial.
Betty Bogg, CEO of Connections for the Homeless, said at a news conference at Lake Street Church before the service that while people without a place to live are prone to premature deaths, it never really occurred to us that this would happen.
Connections had worked with Miller Johnson and her husband starting in 2018, Bogg said. Theyd been living out of their truck at the time and she remembered how excited theyd been when they were placed in the organizations hotel shelter program. The organization had last heard that Miller Johnson had been living in Des Plaines, but hadnt been in touch with her since January.
It wasnt clear how Miller Johnson wound up sleeping on the train on Labor Day morning.
The organizations board president, Pastor Monte Dillard, said the memorial was an opportunity to grieve and condemn this act of brutality directed at some of our societys most vulnerable members.
He also addressed loved ones of people being honored at the service.
To each of the families who you will hear from today, we want you to know that we do not only see your grief, but we carry it, he said.
A table holding flowers, a picture of Miller Johnson and other deceased people who had received services from the organization stood behind Dillard. The organization has hosted memorials for its deceased clients since 2019, according to Bogg.
Theres this perception that unhoused people are just by themselves and completely without any connection, and thats often not the case, she said.
Miller Johnsons sisters attended the news conference and memorial but declined to speak. Media members were asked to leave the service after the recognition of Miller Johnson and the other people who died on the Blue Line.
Bogg remembered Miller Johnson as a caring, intelligent woman who looked after her husband. She defied many stereotypes about homeless people, Bogg added, with a college degree and a husband.
She added that the shootings have rattled other homeless people who receive services from Connections and for whom the CTA can be a relatively safe option to get some rest.
Its terrifying to think that the one place that you thought maybe youd be OK, youre definitely not OK, Bogg said. Being killed in this way is not something that people have had in the forefronts of their mind.
Davis next court appearance is set for Friday, records show.
Housing developers could be asked to pay to upgrade water treatment works as a way to tackle a housebuilding crisis under new proposals being considered by the infrastructure minister.
John ODowd told BBC News NI his officials were examining whether new legislation would be needed to allow developer contributions.
Housebuilding in Northern Ireland fell to a 60-year low last year, partially due to restrictions on new connections to an underfunded water system.
Plans for an estimated 19,000 homes are being held up due to the restrictions.
'We haven't even delivered one home'
One such project is a site on the Buncrana Road in Londonderry where the Braidwater Group plans to build over 2,500 new homes, but the design and the delivery of the project has already been set back a number of years.
Managing director Joe McGinnis said: "It's taken decades to get to this pointwe've invested majorly and there are a number of people that were involved in this before us, and at this stage we haven't even delivered one home.
"This is more than 1,000 homes in the first phaseprivate, affordable, and socialwe're investing over 5m in the infrastructure to open the site, like the pipes and the roads.
It's over 2,500 homes in total; neighbourhood shopping, community open space, and contribution to local infrastructure has been embedded in the planning permission."
He said it was "very disappointing" to find out in July that there was no money to do 15m worth of upgrades at a nearby pumping station.
"The solution is that the Department for Infrastructure, NI Water, ourselves, and potentially the local council would work to find that short- or long-term arrangement to connect the homes in which the pipes are being put in for private, affordable, and social housing."
John O'Dowd is considering restrictions as a way to tackle a housebuilding crisis. [PA Media]
'I am looking at developer contributions'
One of the key priorities outlined in Stormont's Programme for Government is to provide more social, affordable, and sustainable housing.
O'Dowd said he had the support of executive colleagues in the belief that NI Water needs further investment.
"I am looking at developer contributions to see if we have to change legislation to allow developers to be able to contribute to the upgrade of wastewater treatment works," he said.
I'm also introducing new legislation in relation to sustainable drainage, which is storing storm water and allow it to release slower so that it doesn't overpower wastewater works.
"Even if NI Water was fully funded at this stage, we could only supply 4,500 new properties on to the system. There are currently possible solutions for another 18,000 properties.
"That means NI Water and developers working together to find localised solutions,
Mark Spence says housebuilding numbers are at their lowest for 60 years [BBC]
The Construction Employers Federation in Northern Ireland has warned about the impact this was having on the industry.
Chief Executive Mark Spence said: "While the housebuilding numbers are at their lowest for 60 years, next year they will be lower again.
"That could be the lowest since World War II."
He is calling for an independent, expert-led review into how to fund NI Water, which he says has also been supported by the Northern Ireland Audit Office.
Some developers, he said, are now looking to work outside of Northern Ireland because of these problems or considering stopping work altogether.
"We are hearing this from many developers in Northern Ireland; several of them have already started working in Scotland, the north of England, and the Republic. Others are simply looking into whether their businesses are still viable," Mr Spence said.
A spokesperson for NI Water said the wastewater system is at capacity due to historical underinvestment.
It says its current budget allocation from the Department for Infrastructure is less than levels the Utility Regulator determined necessary for both operating costs and capital investment.
As a result, it said: "We are working through a process of prioritising the asset investments that may progress. Inevitably, this means there is investment that has been planned that is now being deferred.
Hong Kong court jails former editor for sedition, releases another on health grounds
FILE PHOTO: Chung Pui-kuen, former chief editor of the now-shuttered Stand News, and Patrick Lam, former acting chief editor, leave the District Court in Hong Kong
By Jessie Pang
HONG KONG (Reuters) -A Hong Kong court on Thursday night sentenced a former editor to jail for 21 months and immediately released another after they had earlier been found guilty of conspiring to publish seditious articles in a ruling that has prompted an international outcry.
In a landmark case about media freedom, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam of the now-defunct Stand News media outlet were convicted last month - the first time journalists have been found guilty of sedition since the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China in 1997.
Chung was sentenced to 21 months while Lam was given a sentence that allowed him to be released immediately on health grounds.
District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin noted evidence from Lam's lawyer on Thursday that he had serious autoimmune and advanced kidney disease, and prison could further endanger him.
Chung smiled as the judge said his colleague Lam would be released, and Lam's wife wept.
Chung would have to serve around 10 months in jail given earlier remand custody.
Stand News, once Hong Kong's leading online media outlet, was known for its hard-hitting reports about the city's 2019 pro-democracy protests and later the national security crackdown.
Under the colonial-era sedition law, the maximum sentencing is two years imprisonment and a fine of HKD5,000 (US$642).
Western diplomats witnessed the sentencing, including representatives from the United States, the European Union, France, Britain, Canada and Ireland.
Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office, said earlier that the office was calling on Hong Kong authorities to review the court's decision in line with obligations under international human rights law.
Twenty-three member states of the Media Freedom Coalition, including the U.S., UK and Canada, have similarly signed a statement, urging "Hong Kong and China authorities to abide by their international human rights commitments and legal obligations, and to respect freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Hong Kong."
A spokesperson for Hong Kong's government said in a statement that the government "strongly disapproved of and rejected the fact-twisting remarks and baseless smears" by the coalition.Hong Kong and Chinese officials have said the security clampdown was needed to maintain stability after the pro-democracy protests.
Judge Kwok wrote in a verdict in August that "the political ideology of Stand News was localism" and "the line it took was to support and promote Hong Kong local autonomy".
Hong Kong's mostly-youthful localist movement emerged in the 2010s amid political tensions with Beijing, emphasizing local identity and culture, as well as greater autonomy. Some supporters called for Hong Kong independence.
"I believe that during the offence period, the....defendants did not carry out real media work, but participated in the so-called struggle at that time," the judge said on Thursday.
In August, Chung wrote in a mitigation letter to the court that some Hong Kongers "care about the freedom and dignity of everyone in the community and are willing to pay the price of losing their own freedom".
Lam wrote that "the only way for journalists to defend press freedom is to report."
Stand News was raided by police in December 2021 and its assets were frozen, leading to its closure.
($1 = 7.7843 Hong Kong dollars)
(Reporting by Jessie Pang; Additional reporting by James Pomfret; Editing by Greg Torode, Edwina Gibbs and Toby Chopra)
FILE - Then Editor of Stand News Patrick Lam, center, is escorted by police officers into a van after they searched evidence at his office in Hong Kong, Dec. 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)
HONG KONG (AP) Writing to the Hong Kong court that convicted him of sedition, former Stand News editor Patrick Lam said he regretted missing a chance to tell a police officer about independent journalism.
Lam and his ex-colleague Chung Pui-kuen, both former top editors of the now-shuttered Stand News, will learn their sentences Thursday after being found guilty last month in a landmark case widely seen as a barometer of media freedom in Hong Kong.
They were the first journalists to be convicted of sedition since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. They face up to two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $640) under a colonial-era sedition law that has been increasingly used to crush dissent.
Stand News was one of the last media outlets in the city that openly criticized the government as the authorities waged a crackdown on dissent following huge anti-government protests in 2019.
The online outlet, founded in 2014, emerged at a time when the citys news industry was already facing increased censorship and interference, according to Lams mitigation letter, read out in court by his lawyer Audrey Eu in August.
Every journalist at Stand News sought to run a news outlet with complete editorial independence, Lam wrote, even in its final days.
Our freedom was counting down. Every colleague was acutely aware. They chose to stay, quickened their pace and made use of every bit of space left in the narrow gap, Lam said in the letter.
That gap slammed shut for Stand News in December 2021, just months after the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was shut down. Its founder is fighting collusion charges under a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.
Police raided Stand News' office. Lam and Chung were arrested. The outlet shut down later the same day.
Lam wrote that during his detention, a police officer described their positions, telling him that were each serving our own master. Reflecting on the exchange, Lam wrote, I regret not taking the opportunity to explain to the police officer that journalists never need to be loyal to anyone, support anyone, or be enemies with anyone. If we truly have anyone to be loyal to, it can only be the public, and it must be the public.
In August, Lam and Chung were convicted of conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications, along with Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd., the holding company for Stand News.
Judge Kwok Wai-kin wrote in his judgement that the outlet had become a tool for smearing the Beijing and Hong Kong governments during the 2019 protests. He ruled that 11 articles published under Lam and Chungs leadership carried seditious intent, including commentaries written by activist Nathan Law and prominent journalists Allan Au and Chan Pui-man.
Chan is also Chungs wife and was earlier convicted in the Apple Daily case. She's still in custody pending sentencing.
Kwok said that Lam and Chung were aware of and agreed with the seditious intent, and that they provided Stand News as a publication platform to incite hatred against Beijing or Hong Kong government and the judiciary.
The convictions swiftly drew criticism from foreign governments. The Hong Kong government insists there are no restrictions on media freedom when journalists report the facts.
Analysts said the verdict appeared to be drawing new lines for the citys media practitioners, although self-censorship is increasingly common following the drastic political changes brought about by the 2020 security law.
Many leading pro-democracy activists have been arrested or forced into self-exile, and dozens of civil society groups have been disbanded. In March, the city introduced another security law, deepening concerns over press freedom among journalists.
Selina Cheng, the chair of Hong Kong Journalists Association, said she had not heard of major changes in local newsrooms in the weeks following the verdict. Still, the association said the damage already done to the citys press was irreversible long before the verdict was handed down.
Whatever the sentence, the case has already changed Lam and Chungs lives. They spent almost a year in custody following their arrests. Their trial, which began in October 2022, ran over 50 days, and the verdict was delayed several times.
Lam was absent from the verdict hearing last month due to health reasons. His lawyer, Eu, said that Lam, the father of a young girl, had been diagnosed with a rare disease and had to undergo chemotherapy. He also missed the opportunity to pursue studies overseas due to the case, she said.
In his letter, Lam defended his profession. He said journalists would be shirking their duty if they avoid reporting on matters that the public has a right to be informed about.
The only way for journalists to defend press freedom is to report, he wrote.
Chung appeared calm in court after the conviction. Eu told the court that his client hasn't had a job since the case began.
In his mitigation letter, Chung described his wife's experience reporting on the massive earthquake that hit Japan in 2011. He said Chan told him that as despite dangerous conditions she was reluctant to leave because she felt a responsibility to document the event.
Her dedication to journalism is etched in my heart, he wrote.
He added many Hong Kongers who are not journalists have held to their beliefs, and some have lost their own freedom because they care about everyones freedom in the community.
Accurately recording and reporting their stories and thoughts is an inescapable responsibility of journalists, he said.
___
Find more AP Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) Women who served in the United States Armed Forces are set to take off from McGhee Tyson Airport early Wednesday for the HonorAir Knoxville Flight 35.
Flight 35 left Knoxville around 9 a.m. with more than 130 East Tennessee veterans to visit the memorials built to honor their service and sacrifice. 6 News Lori Tucker joined this years flight and will share updates throughout the trip on WATEs Instagram.
At the Vietnam Memorial, two female veterans take time to find the name of a family friend (Photo via 6 News Lori Tucker)
A beautiful view of the Washington monument (Photo via 6 News Lori Tucker)
The breathtaking Korean War memorial. (Photo via 6 News Lori Tucker)
The Honor Guard statue at the Air Force Memorial is the first stop on Honor Air Flight 35s Washington, D.C. tour. (Photo via 6 News Lori Tucker)
Lori Tucker and HonorAir Flight 35s oldest veteran, 82-year-old Dr. Sandy Kambric, who was a flight surgeon in the Navy.
HonorAir Knoxvilles 35th Flight dedicated to all women veterans prepares for take off ahead of their Washington, D.C. tour. (Photo via 6 News Lori Tucker)
HonorAir Knoxvilles 35th Flight dedicated to all women veterans prepares for take off ahead of their Washington, D.C. tour. (Photo via 6 News Lori Tucker)
HonorAir Knoxvilles 35th Flight dedicated to all women veterans prepares for take off ahead of their Washington, D.C. tour. (Photo via 6 News Lori Tucker)
Getting ready for takeoff! All women veterans on board- 141 strong- are headed to DC and a tour of veterans memorials (Photo via 6 News Lori Tucker)
HonorAir Knoxvilles 35th Flight dedicated to all women veterans prepares for take off ahead of their Washington, D.C. tour. (Photo via 6 News Lori Tucker)
HonorAir Knoxvilles 35th Flight dedicated to all women veterans prepares for take off ahead of their Washington, D.C. tour. (Photo via 6 News Lori Tucker)
Veterans Voices: Hear the stories of those who served
The veterans returned to Knoxville Wednesday evening, where they were welcomed back with cheering crowds and smiling faces. The public was invited to welcome them home.
This is a developing story. Download the WATE 6 News app or sign up for our email alerts for updates.
Since October 2007 HonorAir has taken 34 flights and thousands of East Tennessee veterans to Washington, D.C.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Hostages freed in Gaza truce pine for those left behind
Israeli former hostage Aviva Siegel poses with a T-shirt showing her husband Keith Siegel, who is still held by Hamas (Fabrice COFFRINI) (Fabrice COFFRINI/AFP/AFP)
It has been nearly 10 months since Aviva Siegel was freed from captivity in Gaza, but her thoughts remain in the Palestinian territory where her husband Keith is still held by Hamas.
Siegel is one of a group of hostages released during a brief truce in the Israel-Hamas war last year who now pine for the loved ones they left behind -- and worry about what stalled truce talks mean for their fate.
"I'm still in Gaza, I haven't left yet," Siegel told AFP, describing her mental state.
"I'm with Keith in spirit at all times. I can't bear to imagine that he and the other hostages are 40 metres (130 feet) below ground, without air to breathe, without food to eat, without anything nice."
Aviva and Keith were seized from kibbutz Kfar Aza near the border with Gaza during Hamas's unprecedented attack on October 7, two of the 251 hostages abducted to the Palestinian territory that day.
The week-long truce last November saw Palestinian militants released 105 hostages seized on October 7, the Israelis among them in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Siegel became one of the first to tell her story publicly after returning to Israel.
"I wanted to die so many times," she told AFP, her voice shaking at the memory.
"When I got out, I had lost 10 kilos (22 pounds). I could barely walk, eat or drink. I don't want to imagine the situation Keith is in."
Of the hostages seized on October 7, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
- 'Sick of burying hostages' -
Shortly after her liberation, Siegel began attending weekly protests held in the Israeli commercial hub of Tel Aviv, calling for a truce deal that would allow for the return of the remaining hostages.
Those protests have only grown as organisers try to ramp up pressure on the government to seal a deal.
The Israeli army's announcement that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages from a Gaza tunnel in late August has made a breakthrough all the more urgent, Siegel said.
"Keith is still there," she told AFP at one of the recent protests.
"We have to get them out. It's too cruel... It's unbearable and unforgivable."
Like Siegel, Raz Ben Ami was freed during the November truce and is now hoping for the release of her husband, Ohad Ben Ami, 55.
She too has taken to the streets to demand progress towards a deal, speaking at one recent rally while wearing a t-shirt bearing her husband's photograph.
"I'm sick of my government that doesn't do enough to bring back the hostages.. sick of this nightmare that takes me back to Gaza every day," she said.
"I'm sick of burying hostages, returned in coffins."
- 'I prefer to hope' -
Another regular at the Tel Aviv protests is Bat-Sheva Yahalomi, marching with a picture of her husband Ohad Yahalomi, who was captured on October 7 from their home in kibbutz Nir Oz along with their 12-year-old son Eitan.
Bat-Sheva can't stop thinking about the last time they saw each other, before armed men took her and the children away from Ohad, who lay on the floor wounded in an exchange of fire after trying to protect the family.
"I think the last thing he saw was our kidnapping, and he probably doesn't know what happened to us," she said.
Bat-Sheva and her two daughters managed to escape after they fell from their captor's motorbike.
Eitan was released in the November truce after 52 days in Gaza.
But Ohad's continued captivity means "it's still October 7" for Bat-Sheva, a French-Israeli joint citizen.
"What breaks me is hopelessness, the idea that (the hostages) lose hope and don't think they'll be rescued," she said from her new home in a kibbutz in central Israel.
On her fridge, alongside pictures from happier days, hangs an image of her husband with the words "Bring them home".
When the children ask where their father is, Bat-Sheva says she tells them "the truth" but also works to keep their spirits up -- as well as her own.
"I don't know but I prefer to hope that he's alive," she said.
mib/mj/lba/rcb/jd/kir/fox
Although the oil and gas sector is a traditional part of Azerbaijan's economy, our recent agenda is focused on "green energy."
This was stated by Orkhan Nazarli, Chairman of the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy, at an international conference on carbon assessment held in Baku and organized by his organization, Azernews reports.
"Our country's agenda for the use of renewable energy sources includes ambitious goals. In accordance with 'Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development,' 'high-quality environmental conditions' and 'green energy' have been selected as national development priorities. The strategic framework for 'Clean Environment' and 'Green Growth Country' was defined in the 'Strategy of Socio-Economic Development' in 2006," he said.
The creation of various types of green energy and the transportation of this energy to global markets is a priority of Azerbaijan's energy policy. It is planned to increase the share of renewable energy sources in electricity production in Azerbaijan to 30% by 2030. One of our goals is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35% by 2030, and by 40% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels. The areas mentioned, including Garabagh, Eastern Zangezur, and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, have been defined as "green energy" zones. In our country, 2024 has been declared the "Year of Solidarity for the Green World," with the goal of increasing contributions to strengthening international solidarity in the global fight against climate change, the head of the service added.
The head of the State Tax Service also emphasized that climate change is a global threat that endangers human health, which is the most valuable aspect of humanity.
"We have high expectations for today's forum, as we gather to explore new approaches, share best practices, and promote cooperation. I am confident that the discussions and interactions we have today will be fruitful for all participants. The topic of climate change is becoming increasingly urgent and is now a central issue on the international agenda. It is not only a challenge facing countries around the world; it is an immediate risk that can lead to more serious consequences than we anticipate. Therefore, the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change plays a crucial role in the global fight against climate change. In this battle, addressing climate change trends and all stages of adaptation, mitigation, damage, and loss is essential for countries to collaborate towards a more sustainable future," he stated.
"That is why we are gathered here today to discuss carbon pricing, one of the most effective tools to combat global climate change. Carbon pricing mobilizes economic actors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable development. Sharing experiences in this area allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of carbon pricing tools applied in different countries and companies, improving these tools over time. Each country and company faces unique experiences and challenges in combating climate change. Lessons learned in tackling these issues can be invaluable for others. Experience sharing enables the dissemination and implementation of effective carbon assessment strategies globally. Emerging countries and companies can mitigate their risks by learning from the successes and mistakes of more experienced partners. This process aids in better understanding and overcoming barriers to the implementation of carbon pricing tools. The forum serves as an ideal platform for sharing such innovations," Nazarli added.
We recently compiled a list of the 11 Best EV Stocks To Buy For The Long Term. In this article, we are going to take a look at where NIO Inc. (NYSE:NIO) stands against the other EV stocks to buy for the long term.
The Challenges of EV Adoption and the Promise of Solid-State Batteries
On August 30, Mark Fields, former Ford CEO and President joined CNBCs Squawk Box to discuss the challenges facing electric vehicle (EV) adoption. Fields pointed out that early enthusiasm for EVs was driven by automakers and government regulations, but mass adoption is proving more difficult. Consumers are hesitant due to several factors including the high cost of EVs, the lack of visible and convenient charging infrastructure, and the slow charging times compared to gas refueling.
Fields suggested that automakers need to offer more affordable EVs and expand hybrid offerings while working towards breakthroughs in battery technology, especially solid-state batteries. These batteries could eventually reduce charging times to match the convenience of filling up at a gas station.
Fields commended his former companys strategy as it involves focusing on hybrid models to ease consumers into EV technology without the range anxiety that comes with current models. He noted that automakers are also facing financial challenges in the EV space, as shown by his former companys recent writedowns.
He emphasized that while automakers are working on delivering low-cost EVs, the real game-changer will be the development of solid-state batteries, which could significantly improve charging times and consumer convenience.
Exploring Three Scenarios for the Future of EVs
Despite the challenges, the EV industry seems inevitable and is poised to grow over the next few decades. We discussed the International Energy Agencys (IEA) EV outlook in our article about the best EV stocks according to short sellers. Here is an excerpt from it:
The IEAs Global EV Outlook 2024 examined the potential paths to electrifying road transport by 2035. The report presents three scenarios: the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS), the Announced Pledges Scenario (APS), and the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario (NZE). The STEPS considers current policies and market trends, the APS assumes that all government pledges will be fully implemented on time, and the NZE outlines a pathway to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. The projections show that the global EV fleet could grow significantly by 2035. Under the STEPS, the number of EVs is expected to increase from less than 45 million in 2023 to 525 million by 2035. In the APS, this number could reach 585 million, while the NZE Scenario projects a more ambitious growth to 790 million EVs by 2035. The report also discussed the growth of electric light-duty vehicles (LDVs), buses, and two/three-wheelers (2/3Ws). LDVs, which include passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, are expected to remain the largest segment of the EV market. Electric buses and 2/3Ws are also projected to see significant growth, especially in regions like China and India, where policy support is strong. However, achieving full electrification of these segments will require continued policy support and technological advancements.
Moreover, governments worldwide are pushing for increased EV production due to environmental concerns, with the U.S. making significant moves in this direction. On July 11, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced $1.7 billion in grants to support the conversion of 11 auto manufacturing plants in eight states to produce electric vehicles and their components. This is part of President Bidens Investing in America initiative, which is aimed at protecting union jobs and giving a boost to EV manufacturing.
The program is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and will preserve over 15,000 union jobs and create nearly 3,000 new ones, which will support the production of EV components like batteries and electric motorcycle parts.
Our Methodology
For this article, we used screeners and ETFs to identify 22 EV manufacturers with a market cap of above $50 million and narrowed our list to 11 stocks with the highest average analyst price target upside, as of September 11. We took analyst comments mostly from The Fly and TipRanks. We also added the hedge fund sentiment around each stock which was taken from Insider Monkeys database of over 900 elite hedge funds.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletters strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
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A fleet of eco-friendly electric cars, a symbol of the company's commitment to sustainability.
NIO Inc. (NYSE:NIO)
Average Analyst Price Target Upside as of September 11: 12.70%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 20
NIO Inc. (NYSE:NIO) is a Chinese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Shanghai that specializes in designing and developing EVs. The company was founded in 2014 and has grown significantly in both domestic and international markets. The companys notable vehicles include ET7, ET5, ES8/EL8, ES7/EL7, and EC7 along with some others.
The company is also known for its battery-swapping technology. It has installed over 2,552 battery swap stations in China, which positions it as a unique player in the EV industry.
With its presence in markets such as China, Norway, and Germany, the company continues to scale operations. It has also launched its new electric car brand, ONVO, which targets the mainstream market. In May, ONVO launched its first vehicle, L60, which is a smart electric mid-size family SUV. The company plans to start its deliveries in the third quarter of 2024.
In addition to its focus on EVs, NIO (NYSE:NIO) has expanded into semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicle technologies, which further improves its role in the mobility space. It is also a prominent name in the EV charging infrastructure market with nearly 4,000 Power Charger Stations and 23,256 chargers. It is also linked to more than 1.6 million third-party chargers. Additionally, the company has completed over 51 million battery swaps to date. It is also one of our best EV charging stocks.
NIO (NYSE:NIO) has been covered by 37 analysts with an average price target of $6.31, which represents an upside of 12.70%, as of the September 11 market close.
TipRanks reported that on the same day, Citi analyst Jeff Chung maintained a Buy rating on NIO (NYSE:NIO) with a $7 price target. The analysts outlook is based on recent strategies by the company to boost consumer interest, including increased incentives for car purchases without hurting its finances much.
It includes developments like the 50% increase in charging and battery swap services. At the same time, it is slightly cutting back on direct cash discounts, which means customers get more valuable services instead of just price reductions.
In the second quarter, 20 hedge funds held stakes worth $82.117 million in NIO (NYSE:NIO). Point72 Asset Management is the most significant shareholder of the company and has a position worth $26.89 million, as of June 30. It ranks at 11 on our list of best EV stocks to buy for the long term.
Overall NIO ranks 11th on our list of the best EV stocks to buy for the long term. While we acknowledge the potential of NIO 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 NIO 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.
Democrats on Capitol Hill took aim at Project 2025 on Tuesday at a special hearing aimed at exposing Americans to the increasingly unpopular conservative policy plan drawn up by a host of right-leaning organizations.
It was a hearing billed as outlining the plans devastating impact on hardworking American taxpayers and dealing with a wide range of the plans proposals which are extensive in scope and deal with everything from energy policy to education.
But the vast majority of the hearings time centered around one issue: abortion access, and the dangerous circumstances which abortion bans across conservatives states around the country can leave women facing.
Its hard to fault Democrats for fixating on that part of the plan, given the shocking stories that have emerged from woment stuck waiting for their conditions to worsen before doctors would treat them, afraid of running afoul of legislation banning abortion care except in life-threatening circumstances. But the party could run the risk of overshadowing efforts to highlight other aspects of the plan, like how it represents a path to undoing decades of regulation and policies dealing with the environment and could bring to a halt the USs efforts to fight climate change. Theres also the blueprint for eroding the independence of the Justice Department, which has alarmed constitutional law and ethics watchdogs.
Still, the partys strategy is inarguably working: An NBC News poll released on Sunday indicates that the Project 2025 brand is in the absolute furthest depths of unpopularity. More than half of those surveyed registered voters from a nationwide sample of 1,000 have a negative view of the policy project, while just 4 percent viewed it positively.
Rep Jared Huffman, of California, leads the Democrats anti-Project 2025 task force in the House of Representatives (Getty Images)
Just six pages into the more than 900 pages of Trump Project 2025 it says, quote, The Dobbs decision is just the beginning, Rep Ayanna Pressley warned at the hearing, which was only attended by Democratic members on the partys Policy & Steering Committee, party leaders and the Stop Project 2025 Task Force.
On Tuesday, several women who had been denied care until the last possible moment shared those same painful stories the Democrats have been highlighting for weeks. One was Gracie Ladd, who described having to leave her home state of Wisconsin to seek abortion care in Chicago because only one hospital in her entire home state would even consider the procedure necessary to keep her from delivering a baby who would have died in minutes if he was even born alive at all. Ladd said she was told by multiple doctors that her son Connor would have been born in agonizing pain.
Im angry because in my state, there's no way that I wouldn't be labeled a murderer for making the compassionate choice for my son, Ladd told the Democratic members. I'm angry that I had to drive to Chicago to receive abortion care two days in a row with a medical team I had never met, a medical team I did not feel comfortable with ... angry that although I was privileged enough to be able to take time off of work find childcare for my living son and I could travel to Chicago two days in a row, not all women can. What are their options? What do they do in this situation?
But mostly I'm angry that the people who were not even in that ultrasound room with me on the day that I received the worst news of my life want to try to tell me what I can and cannot do when it comes to the medical choice for my body and my son.
Her harrowing tale is one of many that Democrats have centered in recent weeks, which have forced the Trump campaign into a clear defensive position. Donald Trump himself remains content to continue espousing his role in the overturning of Roe vs Wade, but has been forced to repeatedly fight back against efforts from his own party to expand the fight against abortion rights and stake out positions in favor of exceptions to state-level bans upon which he would previously have avoided commenting entirely.
Trump has also sought to repair his image with women by embracing a plan to fund in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments through either government subsidies or through a private insurance mandate both prospects that have been unappealing to conservatives in his party.
But in general the ex-president has done little to repair the gender gap that is forming between him and Kamala Harris, and much of his response to criticism of conservative policies outlined in Project 2025 has been to deny his involvement or connections to the plan entirely.
NBCs poll if accurate shows Harris up more than 20 points among women nationally. A victory on those margins would be proof of a massive divide growing in American society among the gender lines, though one more pronounced among older and whiter communities.
The News
House Republican leaders ignored lobbying from some of their own members for a preelection vote on in vitro fertilization, even a symbolic defense of it giving vulnerable GOP incumbents no political cover as Democrats yoke them to proposals that could imperil it.
GOP leaders avoided action on IVF after several of Speaker Mike Johnsons swing-district members had pushed for a vote that would allow them to show their commitment to it. Even a member of Johnsons leadership team acknowledged that an IVF vote would have benefited battleground-seat Republicans who are getting pummeled by Democratic charges that GOP control of Congress would threaten womens access to the popular fertility treatment.
We should bring it to the floor, Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., the House GOP secretary, told Semafor of pro-IVF proposals. Individual Republicans in tough races can be open with their IVF views, she said, but it would probably help them more if [leaders] brought the bill up.
The House GOPs move sets up a stark contrast with both Senate Republicans, who blocked a Democratic IVF bill last week, and former President Donald Trump, who has called himself a leader on fertilization. Trump has even pitched a federal coverage guarantee for women seeking to conceive through IVF, going much further than the handful of House Republicans who have backed a symbolic GOP pro-IVF bill or a Democratic bill that would protect access to it.
Those vulnerable GOP lawmakers are now on an island defending their stance on a treatment that voters in both parties broadly support. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris launched an IVF ad this week, part of a broader Democratic push to connect the fertility treatment with abortion access and cast Republicans as dedicated to further restricting reproductive health care.
House Republican leadership has shown some deference to their own vulnerable members by not forcing them to vote on more restrictive anti-abortion bills that might otherwise get a GOP majority. But multiple Republican lawmakers told Semafor they had urged the speakers office to take up an IVF bill, showing that they see the lack of a vote as a missed opportunity.
Were advocating to get IVF codification on the floor. Obviously, not all my colleagues agree, said New York Rep. Marc Molinaro, who this spring became the first Republican backer of a Democratic bill protecting IVF. Three of his vulnerable GOP colleagues later joined him.
Molinaro and other swing-district Republicans first got behind pro-IVF legislation more than six months ago after the Alabama Supreme Court put the treatment at risk by ruling that frozen embryos are children.
Another in that group, Rep. Lori Chavez-Deremer, R-Ore., said that she personally pushed the speaker to not call up a bill that would prohibit the use of any federal funds from on abortion care.
Absolutely not. And it was because of me who said, Do not put this on the floor. This is not what Americans want, she said.
Democrats, however, are hitting top Republicans hard for saying they support IVF while, in several high-profile cases, backing legislation that would put the treatment in potential jeopardy by effectively defining frozen embryos as people. Johnson, who has said he supports IVF but that ethical issues related to its use are up to the states to decide, signed onto such a bill last year.
This is the future Trump wants for those wanting to expand their families, the Democratic Party posted on X this week, with a link to the Harris pro-IVF ad.
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Theres some private hope among pro-IVF Republicans that Johnson might allow a vote on it during the post-election session, but the GOP would still face the same issue: a clear split among its members about how far to go in showing support for IVF, with a handful of conservatives opposed to it outright. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., in particular has sounded off against the treatment as morally wrong.
Still, vulnerable House Republicans are getting some backup on IVF. Winning for Women, a right-of-center organization helping to elect conservative women, committed to a half-million dollar ad campaign focused on the issue. Rep. Michelle Steel spent nearly $300,000 on a pro-IVF campaign earlier this month, according to the media-tracking platform Big AL.
Molinaro matched that number with an ad centered around his support for womens reproductive rights while mentioning hes the first Republican to back a pro-IVF bill in the House.
Kadias view
Given the yawning gender gap between Trump and Harris in the presidential race, its no surprise that Democrats are working hard to communicate the GOPs IVF split to voters. And Duarte has a point when he argues no one floor vote would provide enough cover to fully blunt that Democratic messaging.
Under those circumstances, the lack of a House vote on IVF this year effectively cedes ground to House Democrats who are eager to pick a fight on reproductive rights next year no matter whos in the White House. If the GOP loses the majority, the same members who tried to avoid a tough IVF vote this year are going to have to swallow plenty of them in 2025.
Room for Disagreement
Not every swing-district Republican whos backed pro-IVF legislation is convinced that a floor vote would help them counter Democratic campaign messaging on reproductive health care.
Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., whos signed onto Iowa GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks bill that would establish tax credits for IVF, said Democrats dont care if were on record.
If its there, Ill vote for it to protect IVF, but a lot of us are on record very clearly, he said. Theyre gonna say what theyre gonna say.
Notable
Even some red-district House Republicans acknowledged that calling up an IVF vote before the election would have benefited their vulnerable colleagues, CNN reported.
Several vulnerable House Republicans have openly wobbled on IVF as they try to court women voters, The New York Times reported.
EXCLUSIVE: The House Judiciary Committee is investigating the Justice Department after it released the manifesto of the suspect charged with the attempted assassination of former President Trump, warning that the move could inspire potential copycat offenders and "cause additional harm to occur."
Fox News Digital obtained a letter House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland Wednesday, after the Justice Department released Ryan Rouths letter, or manifesto, outlining his plans to assassinate Trump.
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Routh was arrested after a Secret Service agent saw his rifle poking through a chain-link fence at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, while the former president was golfing.
The DOJ, in a court filing this week, released Rouths letter "to the world," in which he explained his effort was "an assassination attempt on Donald Trump." Routh offered $150,000 to someone who could "complete the job" if he failed.
The letter was released as evidence in a detention memo by the Justice Department in an effort to ensure Routh's detention.
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"During your tenure as Attorney General, the Department has generally refused to release details about so-called manifestos written by the perpetrators of high-profile crimes," Jordan wrote. "Yet, earlier this week, in a public court filing, the Department released a letter in which the man who sought to assassinate President Donald J. Trump in Florida on September 15, 2024, offered a $150,000 bounty on President Trump."
Jordan warned that the decision to release that manifesto "seems to contravene the Departments stated policy that public access to legacy tokens, more commonly known as manifestos, will contribute to further attacks by spark[ing] incredibly intense interest and study by potential copycat offenders and providing a blueprint for future attackers."
Trump Assassination Suspect Wrote Chilling Letter Months Before Golf Course Plot
"The Departments decision to broadcast the attempted assassins bounty on President Trump at the same time that the Department is aggressively and unconstitutionally prosecuting President Trump raises significant concern that the Department could cause additional harm to occur," Jordan wrote.
Rep. Jim Jordan walks through the Longworth House Office Building in Washington, D.C.
Jordan is now requesting the Justice Department share all documents and communications referring to the FBIs May 2023 "Protection of Legacy Tokens" memo, and all records referring or relating to the release of the would-be assassins letter to "The World."
Jordan demanded those records by Oct. 9 at 5 p.m.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digitals request for comment.
Routh, 58, has been charged by the Justice Department with attempted assassination of Trump, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Routh has also been charged federally with possessing a gun with a scratched-out number and with possessing a gun illegally as a felon, though more serious charges are likely pending. The weapon had a round in the chamber and was loaded with a total of 11 rounds.
Routh is the second would-be assassin who attempted to take Trumps life this year.
"The Justice Department is committed to using the full force of our authorities to thoroughly investigate every lead and ensure accountability into this matter," Garland said Wednesday. "Our nation has now experienced two assassination attempts against the former president in just the last three months."
Garland added: "That is abhorrent."
Trump was hit in the ear by a bullet fired by Thomas Crooks, who was killed by federal agents after he opened fire at the former presidents rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Original article source: House Judiciary investigating DOJ for release of Routh manifesto offering $150k Trump bounty
A group of House lawmakers Tuesday grilled an executive with cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, who said the company is deeply sorry for causing the global technology outage that grounded thousands of flights and impacted various industries last July.
On behalf of everyone at CrowdStrike, I want to apologize. We are deeply sorry this happened and are determined to prevent it from happening again, CrowdStrike Senior Vice President Adam Meyers said during opening remarks.
Meyerss appearance before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure marked the only hearing so far scheduled to discuss CrowdStrikes botched July 19 update, which crashed computers running Windows software and prompted a global outage.
Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed due to the outage, while hospitals, emergency services and some government offices were also impacted. The incident sparked scrutiny of the cybersecurity firm and how foreign adversaries could take advantage of these sorts of vulnerabilities.
The sheer scale of this error was alarming. A routine update could cause this level of disruption just imagine what a skilled and determined nation-state actor could do, subcommittee chair Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) said in opening remarks.
We cannot lose sight of how this incident factors into the broader threat environment. Without question, our adversaries have assessed our response, recovery and true level of resilience.
It is clear that this outage created an advantageous environment ripe for exploitation by malicious cyber actors, he added.
Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) noted Tuesdays hearing was not intended to malign CrowdStrike, but rather to understand the circumstances behind the outage.
Meyers emphasized the July outage was not a cyberattack from foreign threat actors.
This incident was caused by a CrowdStrike rapid response content update that was focused on addressing new threats, he said, adding the company is focused on increasing transparency and learning from the failed update.
We have undertaken a full review of our systems and begun implementing plans to bolster our content update procedures so that we emerge from this experience as a stronger company, he said. I can assure you that we will take the lessons learned from this incident and use them to inform our work as we improve for the future.
Changes to the platform include a new option for customers to opt in and choose when they receive content updates, Meyers said. Extensive internal training programs and conferences are also provided to CrowdStrike staff, Meyers told Rep. Mike Ezell (R-Miss.).
Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas) put Meyers on the spot for CrowdStrikes failure to collectively test content updates on the internal side before it is pushed out.
Thats where we are now, the new methodology is to test all of the content updates internally before theyre released to the early adopters, Meyers rebuked.
Im still trying to figure out how this thing got launched, with it not being absolute, Luttrel said at one point, prompting Meyers to go into greater detail about where the process failed.
Homeland Security Committee Chair Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) brought up the hot-button issue of artificial intelligence (AI), asking the executive who made the decision to launch the update and if AI played a role.
Meyers confirmed AI was not responsible for any decisions in the process, noting the update was part of a group of 10 to 12 updates released every day by the firm. He said the firm is no longer fielding updates simultaneously to all customers in the same session to avoid a similar situation.
When pressed by Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.) if CrowdStrike has a way to allow for greater cooperation between the firm, Microsoft and other good actors, Meyers said the firm began working closely with Microsoft the weekend of July 19 and a sit down between the two companies was later held to discuss future improvements.
Meyers said awareness is a key factor in incidents like the global outage, for both the customers on their platform and the general public.
He later said the company would fully cooperate with an investigation into the incident by the Cyber Safety Review Board and other reviews to ensure that we have provided transparency and visibility into the firm.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday defied former President Donald Trump by approving a government funding bill without a crackdown on the imaginary threat of widespread voter fraud.
The bill passed in overwhelming bipartisan fashion, by a final tally of 341 to 82, with 209 Democrats and 132 Republicans in support and only 82 Republicans against.
Shortly after the House vote, senators on Wednesday evening approved the legislation with a 78-18 tally, averting a government shutdown at the end of the month.
Trump has openly advocated for a government shutdown if Republicans omitted the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, a bill that would require Americans to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote.
I would shut down the government in a heartbeat if they dont get it and if they dont get it in the bill, Trump said last month.
Trump privately called on multiple House Republicans this week to push for new voting restrictions in the funding bill, multiple sources told The Hill on Wednesday. Adding such provisions to a funding bill would all but guarantee a shutdown, since Democrats would refuse to support the legislation.
Its already illegal for noncitizens to vote, and they rarely do. Still, Trump has claimed without evidence that undocumented immigrants could sway Novembers election.
Contrary to Trump, many Republicans have said that shutting down the government in October of an election year is a dumb idea.
Im still mystified anybody wants to do it, let alone five weeks before an election, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told HuffPost on Wednesday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) last week had the House vote on a resolution that paired government funding with the SAVE Act, but the bill failed, with almost all Democrats and 14 Republicans voting no.
This has been the least productive Congress in modern history, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said before the vote on Wednesday. The majority cant even convince its own members to support its own bills.
Johnson has echoed Trumps false claims that undocumented immigrants are voting in large numbers. He suggested this week that he would not support certifying the election results on Jan. 6, 2025, if the election isnt fair.
Asked Tuesday if he would certify a Trump loss, Johnson said, If we have a free, fair and safe election, were going to follow the Constitution, absolutely.
This story has been updated with the Senate vote.
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U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has urged President Volodymyr Zelensky to fire Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, for alleged "election interference" related to Zelensky's visit to a Pennsylvania ammunition plant, Fox News reported on Sept. 25.
Johnson alleges that Markarova arranged a taxpayer-funded trip to a battleground state that "purposely excluded" Republicans ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
"I demand that you immediately fire Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova," Johnson wrote to Zelensky in a letter obtained by Fox News.
Zelensky, on Sept. 22, visited the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Pennsylvania to thank workers for producing critically-need 155 mm shells for Ukraine. The factory tour kicked off his visit to the U.S., where he plans to present his victory plan to American leadership.
In his letter to Zelensky, Johnson characterized the factory visit as "a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats."
Republican Congressmember James Comer, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, announced on Sept. 25 that he was opening up an investigation into the White House's "misuse of government resources" regarding Zelensky's visit.
"If the Biden-Harris Administration attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit the Vice President's presidential campaign, this is an abuse of power and misuse of taxpayer dollars," Comer wrote on X.
U.S. support for Ukraine has increasingly become a partisan issue in a heated election season. At a campaign rally on Sept. 24, former U.S. President and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump criticized U.S. involvement in the war in Ukraine and promised to "get out" if elected in November.
"(U.S. President Joe) Biden and Kamala (Harris) got us into this war in Ukraine, and now they can't get us out," he said.
Johnson maintained that Ukraine still has support from both major U.S. parties in his letter to Zelensky.
"Support for ending Russias war against Ukraine continues to be bipartisan, but our relationship is unnecessarily tested and needlessly tarnished when the candidates at the top of the Republican presidential ticket are targeted in the media by officials in your government," Johnson wrote.
While congressional Republicans sharply criticized Zelensky's factory visit as election interference, Trump had previously planned a joint appearance with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Pennsylvania this week.
The joint event was later canceled, without details given as to the reasons for the decision.
Read also: Trump vows to get America out of Ukraine war, blames Biden for conflict
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(Bloomberg) -- Lawmakers on Wednesday averted a politically damaging government shutdown and quickly passed a short-term federal funding bill before members darted from Washington for a final campaign stretch ahead of the November election.
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The measure was approved 341-82 in an expedited process that limited floor debate and required two-thirds backing.
Speaker Mike Johnson relied on Democratic votes to help his narrow Republican majority get the bill approved. The opposition came solely from Republicans.
The Democratic-led Senate then swiftly took up the measure, in a 78-to-18 vote reflecting bipartisan approval with time to spare before the Oct. 1 funding deadline. The measure now goes to the president.
The temporary measure will keep funding the US government at current levels through Dec. 20, when Congress will have to approve more spending. The bill also contains $231 million for the US Secret Service to bolster security for presidential candidates, following assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump.
After several weeks of internal House Republican wrangling, Johnson earlier this week called a government shutdown this close to the election political malpractice. Republicans earlier have acknowledged that voters would blame a shutdown on them, undercutting their ability to hold onto their narrow majority.
Yet Wednesdays quick vote came after two weeks of GOP infighting and a failed attempt to pass a partisan short-term spending bill backed by Trump and ultra-conservatives.
Johnson initially proposed a six-month funding extension, tied to new requirements to prove citizenship before registering to vote in federal elections, a plan Trump favored. But the speaker couldnt muster enough support from his own party to pass the measure.
As a result, Johnson dropped the voting registration provisions and agreed to a three-month timeline that Democrats preferred.
Some conservative lawmakers are criticizing Johnson for turning to Democrats for votes to fund the government and argue the shorter timeline will again put pressure on Republicans to compromise to avoid a government shutdown going into the holiday season.
Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, said Johnson handled the spending fight poorly.
Congress turned to the stop-gap measure because lawmakers were unable to agree on funding for the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stands near Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro during his visit to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania (REUTERS)
House Speaker Mike Johnson is demanding that Volodymyr Zelensky fire the widely respected diplomat who has represented Kyiv in Washington since 2021 after she arranged for the Ukrainian president to visit a munitions plant in a battleground state with a Democratic governor.
In a letter released by Johnsons office on Wednesday, the Louisiana Republican accused Ambassador Oksana Markarova of interfering in the ongoing US presidential election by helping set up the trip by Zelensky to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, over the weekend.
During his visit, Zelensky inspected production lines where the 155mm artillery shells used by his countrys forces are being produced. He did so alongside the states governor, Josh Shapiro.
While inspecting the plant, he told workers: It is in places like this where you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail. Thanks to people like these in Ukraine, in America, and in all partner countries who work tirelessly to ensure that life is protected.
What appears to have irked Johnson is the fact that no Republican officeholder was invited to the plant visit, along with the fact that Shapiro, who was considered a front-runner to be Vice President Kamala Harriss running mate before she selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, is a top surrogate for the vice president.
In his letter, the House Speaker claimed that Markarova enabled Zelensky to interfere in the election because the manufacturing plant was in a politically contested battleground state and the tour led by Shapiro failed to include a single Republican because on purpose no Republicans were invited.
The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference. This shortsighted and intentionally political move has caused Republicans to lose trust in Ambassador Markarovas ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country, he wrote, adding that the veteran diplomat should be removed from her post immediately.
Zelensky, who is in the US to attend the UN General Assembly this week, also irked Republicans by criticizing former President Donald Trump in an interview with the New Yorker.
He said the ex-president, who was impeached for attempting to blackmail the Ukrainian leader into announcing a fake investigation into Joe Biden when he was a candidate for president in 2019, doesnt really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how.
Trump has frequently claimed, without evidence, that he could end the nearly three-year-old war in 24 hours by forcing Zelensky to make some sort of deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a known ally of the ex-president.
At a rally on Monday, he claimed Zelensky wants Democrats to win the election so badly and repeated the claim the next day.
Numerous Republicans have opposed US assistance to Ukraine since the war began in 2022, with some repeating Russian propaganda about Zelensky during official House proceedings.
Zelensky is set to visit Washington on Thursday, where he is scheduled to meet with Senate leaders from both parties as well as President Biden and Vice President Harris.
Republicans on Wednesday approved legislation condemning a number of Biden administration officials for the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, casting it as an accountability measure for the failed exit.
The bill censures both President Biden and Vice President Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for their role in the withdrawal, along with 11 other current and former officials.
Ten Democrats joined Republicans to pass the bill with a 219-194 vote.
Rather than admit their failure, this administration continues to this day to celebrate their deadly evacuation, House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said in kicking off debate on the House floor.
You cannot fix a problem without first admitting that there is a problem. Thats what accountability is all about.
The legislation is the first major GOP bill involving Afghanistan to secure approval, and it does not include what advocates for Afghans say is among the most pressing issues related to the withdrawal: enhancing efforts to aide Afghan allies left behind during the exit or provide a pathway to citizenship for those brought to the U.S. on temporary immigration statuses.
The legislation comes after McCauls panel released a more than 300-page report reviewing the decision making and planning involved with the evacuation.
While highly critical of Biden, the report spends little time analyzing the role of former President Trump, who previously negotiated the U.S. exit with the Taliban, committing to an earlier timeline.
Also under Trump, immigration processing slowed to a crawl, including for those eligible for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), the multi-step pathway for those who assisted the U.S. military or contractors to come to the U.S. The trickle of processing on the lengthy progress hindered the Biden administrations ability to swiftly relocate allies.
And while the report condemns the Biden-Harris administrations decision, it struggles to identify specific actions the vice president took in planning the exit.
Nonetheless, the chaotic departure resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers and more than 170 Afghans, while leaving allies and others vulnerable under Taliban rule behind.
Democrats were quick to blast the legislation as an election-year hit on the president while highlighting the report contained little information on Harris.
While the situation in Kabul was chaotic, the administrations response was not. Our military and diplomats adapted quickly to facilitate the largest airlift in U.S. history to relocate over 120,000 people and thats why President Biden said it was a success and pulling out of Afghanistan was the right thing to do, said Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the foreign affairs panel.
He also blasted Republicans for the timing of their report and its focus on Harris.
They wanted to make a spectacle before the November elections, Meeks said, while noting Harris is referenced only three times in the more than 3,000 pages of interview transcripts.
McCaul has denied that politics played a role in the timing of the report and has often complained that Biden administration officials slow-walked their responses.
He is also moving ahead with plans to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress for failing to testify on the withdrawal.
The timing of our investigation and of this report was not of my making. It was not my timing. It was deliberately delayed by this administration, I think in a plan to take it well beyond this election, well beyond this Congress, McCaul said.
Meeks on Wednesday closed with a plea to colleagues to back legislation that would support Afghan allies both in the U.S. and still abroad.
There is legislation that Congress can pass now to move forward. Something impartial. Something that will have real credibility, he said.
The Afghan Adjustment Act and the Afghan Allies Protection Act, which are long-standing, bipartisan proposals, would keep the faith with the Afghans who fought and worked alongside us.
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DENVER (KDVR) The Boulder County Sheriffs Office announced Tuesday that unidentified human remains were found northwest of Lyons. The death of the person is considered suspicious, the sheriffs office said.
The sheriffs office said it received a call shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday about possible human remains that were found in the 1000 block of Blue Mountain Road. The road is also known as County Road 71 North.
The area is in unincorporated Boulder County.
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When deputies arrived they were able to confirm that the remains were human. The gender of the body was not able to be determined because of the condition of the remains.
The sheriffs office said that there was no reason to believe there was a threat to public safety, despite the death being considered suspicious.
They also said there was no indication that this death is related in any way to the other recent death, being investigated.
The other set of remains, which were still unidentified as of Tuesday, were found as a result of the Stone Canyon Fire in early August.
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(Bloomberg) -- OpenAI has pitched the Biden administration on the need for massive data centers that could each use as much power as entire cities, framing the unprecedented expansion as necessary to develop more advanced artificial intelligence models and compete with China.
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Following a recent meeting at the White House, which was attended by OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and other tech leaders, the startup shared a document with government officials outlining the economic and national security benefits of building 5-gigawatt data centers in various US states, based on an analysis the company engaged with outside experts on. To put that in context, 5 gigawatts is roughly the equivalent of five nuclear reactors, or enough to power almost 3 million homes.
OpenAI said investing in these facilities would result in tens of thousands of new jobs, boost the gross domestic product and ensure the US can maintain its lead in AI development, according to the document, which was viewed by Bloomberg News. To achieve that, however, the US needs policies that support greater data center capacity, the document said.
Altman has spent much of this year trying to form a global coalition of investors to fund the costly physical infrastructure required to support rapid AI development, while also working to secure the US governments blessing for the project. But the details on the energy capacity of the data centers Altman and OpenAI are calling for have not previously been reported.
OpenAI is actively working to strengthen AI infrastructure in the US, which we believe is critical to keeping America at the forefront of global innovation, boosting reindustrialization across the country, and making AIs benefits accessible to everyone, a spokesperson for OpenAI said in a statement provided to Bloomberg News.
The push comes as power projects in the US are facing delays due to long wait times to connect to grids, permitting delays, supply chain issues and labor shortages. But energy executives have said powering even a single 5-gigawatt data center would be a challenge.
Joe Dominguez, CEO of Constellation Energy Corp., said he has heard that Altman is talking about building 5 to 7 data centers that are each 5 gigawatts. The document shared with the White House does not provide a specific number. OpenAIs aim is to focus on a single data center to start, but with plans to potentially expand from there, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Story continues
Whatever were talking about is not only something thats never been done, but I dont believe its feasible as an engineer, as somebody who grew up in this, Dominguez told Bloomberg News. Its certainly not possible under a timeframe thats going to address national security and timing.
The US has a total of 96 gigawatts of installed capacity of nuclear power. Last week, OpenAIs biggest investor, Microsoft Corp., struck a deal with Constellation in which the nuclear provider will restart the shuttered Three Mile Island facility solely to provide Microsoft with nuclear power for two decades.
In June, John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra Energy Inc., said the clean-energy giant had received requests from some tech companies to find sites that can support 5 GW of demand, without naming any specific firms. Think about that. Thats the size of powering the city of Miami, he said.
That much power would require a mix of new wind and solar farms, battery storage and a connection to the grid, Ketchum said. He added that finding a site that could accommodate 5 GW would take some work, but there are places in the US that can fit one gigawatt.
--With assistance from Dina Bass and Mark Chediak.
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CLEVELAND (WJW) A vibrant cluster of approximately 200 monarch butterflies has formed a roost on the northeast side of the main woodlot at Wendy Park, near the volleyball courts.
Thats according to information from Cleveland Metroparks.
Dog food sold nationwide recalled due to possible salmonella risk
They say the annual migration of monarch butterflies is currently underway, with many enthusiasts searching the lakefront for evening rooststight groups of butterflies resting together on tree limbs, according to Cleveland Metroparks.
The Metroparks reports monarch numbers are lower than in previous seasons, a decline attributed to several factors, including significant habitat loss.
Big Powerball win in small NE Ohio village
Monarchs migrate in August and September, flying from their breeding grounds in the northeast United States and Canada to overwintering sites in Mexico and California.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner speaks to reporters on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, at the Indiana Statehouse. (Casey Smith/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Nearly 300 Hoosier schools were recognized Wednesday for earning near-perfect passing rates on the states annual reading exam, IREAD.
The celebration event, held at the Indiana Statehouse, honored elementary schools where at least 95% of students who took the exam in 2024 demonstrated reading proficiency. Hundreds of teachers and local district staff were in attendance and honored by state officials.
Coming into this role almost four years ago now, we immediately knew that we had a lot of work to do. We knew that our reading scores were really struggling for a while in Indiana, and then COVID hit, and then it further exacerbated all of the progress we were trying to get to. (Scores) went down a bit at almost every school across the state, and we had to rebound as fast as possible, said Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner. There were so many people that put their hands in to help and make sure that every child is reading in our state.
We still have work to do, she continued. But as a state, its remarkable to see all the progress.
The latest standardized test results released last month showed foundational reading competency among Indianas third graders improved slightly from last year. Even so, overall IREAD performance is still low, with roughly one in five test takers struggling to read.
We still have work to do. But as a state, its remarkable to see all the progress.
Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner
Data from the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) indicates 82.5% out of the roughly 82,000 third graders at public and private schools in Indiana passed the exam, which was administered statewide this spring and summer.
Public school students passed at a rate of 81.5%, compared to 92.5% of students attending private schools.
As of this spring, 277 elementary schools have reached that goal an increase from 242 schools a year ago.
Thinking about what you all have bred, realize its going to have a generational effect for our state, statewide, Gov. Eric Holcomb said, speaking to teachers and local school officials. We all have to learn to read and read to learn.
Moving the needle on IREAD
The online, untimed, multiple-choice test gauges student progress on foundational reading skills like phonics and vocabulary as well as silent reading and comprehension, according to IDOE.
The IREAD is intended to help identify students who need additional support, and to determine if younger students who take the exam in second grade or before will be able to master reading skills by the end of third grade.
Students who dont pass the exam typically receive remediation, and may be retained in third grade.
A new law passed earlier this year now requires reading-deficient third graders to be held back a year in school, although there are some exemptions, including for students with special education needs, English language learners, and students who have already been retained twice.
A separate mandate also requires schools to administer the statewide IREAD test in second grade a year earlier than current requirements. Local educators must direct new, targeted support to at-risk students and those struggling to pass the literacy exam.
Hoosier education officials said theyre optimistic that recent score improvements are prompted by a slew of new reading-focused policies and initiatives, and signal a reversal of previously dismal literacy rates.
IREAD scores have been declining for a decade, well before the pandemic. Since 2012, the number of students who are not able to read at the end of third grade has more than doubled.
In response, the state is shifting its literacy instruction to implement the science of reading as part of an effort to improve students reading skills.
The phonics-based literacy approach incorporates phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Education experts say it gives students the skills to decode any word they dont recognize.
During the 2024 session, state lawmakers additionally approved a training requirement for all Pre-K to Grade 6 and special education teachers to complete 80 hours of professional development on science of reading concepts and pass a written exam.
The licensure mandate has received heavy criticism from Hoosier teachers, who argue that the new training mandate is unfair and overwhelming. But state education officials maintain the training will help ensure that students across the state receive consistent reading education.
Looking ahead and making further gains
Jenner told reporters on Wednesday the new science of reading curriculum has helped, but she emphasized its the states literacy cadre program that has really helped students in their schools to earn higher scores on IREAD.
Some schools in the program jumped more than 20 percentage points on the assessment, according to IDOE. Around 75% of eligible schools have already opted into the cadre.
We have momentum right now, Jenner said. We saw a return on investment with the Indiana Literacy Cadre, which significantly moved the needle for teachers who had that level of support. So, we are just going to keep investing in what works. And if something doesnt necessarily work, we will reallocate those dollars to what is working for our schools and our students.
She further pointed to IDOE data showing that several million dollars worth of competitive grants made available for schools to deploy science of reading improved IREAD scores by only point one, while the literacy cadres are credited with ticking test results up by roughly 2.5%.
Youre going to see us really talking a lot about the data and whats working for students all students. Youll hear that a lot in the upcoming legislative session, Jenner continued. Were going to invest in what is working the literacy cadre, right now, is showing the most return on investment in Indiana.
State funding for the cadre currently funded through Lilly Endowment grants could be among the education departments asks in the 2025 legislative session, Jenner added. She said, too, that the State Board of Education, in tandem with Indiana legislators, will also be increasing their focus on specific support for Hispanic and English learner students. Both student groups saw decreases in their 2024 literacy rates.
Improving student attendance and addressing chronic absenteeism is also on the agenda.
Indianas top education officials applauded the states improved chronic absenteeism rates earlier this month but conceded that too many Hoosier students are still missing a significant number of school days.
The latest attendance numbers reported by IDOE show that 17.8% of K-12 students roughly 219,00 kids were chronically absent during the most recent 2023-24 school year, meaning they missed at least 18 days.
We have reviewed that data to look at some correlation and causation, and we know that if a child is chronically absent, they are less likely to be a reader. They are less likely to have language arts and numeracy skills. They are less likely to be college and career ready, Jenner said. But on the flip side, saying it more positively, if a student is at school every day, they are more likely to really maximize their success.
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Florida Division of Emergency Management executive director Kevin Guthrie spoke to reporters at Tampa Electric Co.'s headquarters in Tampa on Sept. 25, 2024. (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix)
Hurricane Helene will bring life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds, and flooding rains to a large portion of Florida, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Wednesday morning.
Helene turned from a tropical storm to a hurricane while making its way up the western Caribbean by the time the NHC updated its forecast at 11 a.m.
We are going to have a significant impact from this storm, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at the headquarters of Tampa Electric Co. in eastern Hillsborough County. The models vary on how intense, but theres clearly a path to rapidly intensify prior to making landfall.
Forecasters expect Helene to reach Category 3 status with winds as high as 125 mph before landfall.
DeSantis said the track of the storm indicates landfall someplace in the Big Bend area of North Florida on Thursday night.
Right now, its in that Wakulla/Franklin County area and would potentially proceed into the city of Tallahassee, he said. Now, these things can wobble one way or another, but it is somewhat remarkable, when I looked at this mornings runs, most of those models are pretty much in agreement about the path of this storm.
Another storm
The Big Bend area has been the site of the two most powerful storms to hit Florida in the past year Hurricane Idalia in August 2023 and Hurricane Debby just last month.
Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said that as of 9:30 a.m. Wednesday 64 of the states 67 counties were under some type of tropical storm, flood, storm surge, or hurricane watch or warning with only Escambia, Okaloosa, and Santa Rosa not included.
Multiple counties in Florida are calling on residents who live in evacuation zones to leave their homes for higher ground. Florida residents can learn if they need to evacuate by going to the states Division of Emergency Management website and listing their address.
Guthrie said there is also the possibility of life-threatening rising water moving inland from the coastline in the next 36 hours along the entire Gulf Coast.
DeSantis and Guthrie said they were waiting for FEMA to approve the states updated request for an emergency declaration and federal assistance for 21 more counties. On Tuesday, FEMA approved the original request for 41 counties made by the DeSantis administration the day before, but the state has now expanded the areas needing that approval.
Need for assistance
Guthrie explained the relevance of getting that pre-approval for emergency assistance from FEMA.
I was talking with someone this morning from a fiscally constrained rural county on our Gulf Coast whos having to make decisions today because theyve been hit by two storms, and theyre saying, Look. We cant afford to put the police officer out there directing traffic because were not guaranteed that were going to get reimbursed for that security mission, or that traffic mission, he said. Counties are making decisions based on whats in that declaration.
The storm is expected to knock out electricity for hundreds of thousands of residents. DeSantis said that 18,000 utility linemen from out of state were already in Florida as of Wednesday morning, with more coming later in the day. But he expressed optimism that power could be restored relatively quickly.
Some of our most recent storms, youve had significant outages in terms of the number of customers, but the length in which they were out has been historically low in terms of other storms in other states, he said.
When will Hurricane Helene impact Nashville and Middle Tennessee? Storm to bring heavy rain, gusty winds
(This story has been updated with new information)
The Middle Tennessee region is expected to see heavy rain and windy conditions Thursday night through Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Nashville.
As of 7 a.m. Central Time Thursday, Helene strengthened into a Category 2 storm. Remnants of the hurricane will move north across Georgia and eventually into Tennessee on Friday and throughout the weekend.
East Tennessee will receive the greatest chances for heavy rains, reported the National Weather Service. However, depending on the track and size of the hurricane, the entire region may be impacted said the weather service. No severe weather is expected at this time, they added.
When will Hurricane Helene impact Nashville and Middle Tennessee?
A flood watch has been issued for all of Middle Tennessee beginning this evening through Saturday morning.
The heaviest rainfall is expected to begin tonight and continuing through Friday night. "At this time, widespread rainfall totals of 2 to 5" are expected across the mid state from today through Saturday," the weather service said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Cumberland Plateau area could higher amounts of rain. On Friday, winds will reach between 30-40 mph, said the weather service.
Minor, localized flooding is possible, warned the weather service, however, the current drought status indicates river levels are low enough to receive heavy rain.
Watch the livestream: Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall in Florida Thursday.
After Friday, rain chances will lessen as the system moves west out of Middle Tennessee.
Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival, taking place in Franklin, will likely be unaffected Saturday, as the rain chance is only 40%, reassured the weather service on social media. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will remain throughout the weekend before drier, more "fall like" weather moves in early next week, said the weather service.
Where is Hurricane Helene? Track the storm's path
Nashville weather radar
Spaghetti models for Hurricane Helene
Diana Leyva covers trending news and service journalism for The Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@gannett.com or follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @_leyvadiana
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hurricane Helene: How much rain will it bring to Nashville, Middle TN
TALLAHASSEE, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday warned that Hurricane Helene, which threatens to pummel Floridas Big Bend as a major storm, will be the most powerful, potentially devastating storm to impact the region in memory.
Helene quickly grew from an unorganized weather disturbance over the weekend to become a hurricane on Wednesday as the storm moved north over the Gulf of Mexico and straight for Floridas Panhandle. An early Wednesday evening forecast from the National Hurricane Center said the storm will likely make landfall as a Category 3 or 4 storm.
"This is a storm that is stronger than what we've seen in this region," DeSantis said. "I think some of this is untrodden ground."
Helene is expected to make landfall somewhere within Floridas Big Bend region, and the state will begin feeling the effects of the storm by Thursday morning. DeSantis expected the storm to be powerful enough to still unleash damaging winds well after it leaves Florida.
Forecasters predict the storm to bring powerful winds to as far as the Appalachian Mountains. They urged that "preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion" along the Big Bend coast by the end of the day.
Its going to hit the north part of Florida and its going to keep moving, DeSantis said. Florida is just an opening act.
DeSantis was joined at the Florida emergency operations center by state Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie. Guthrie and DeSantis plan to remain at the EOC as the storm makes landfall Thursday, although DeSantis said its roof has not been tested for such high winds.
I guess well have to see, DeSantis said.
DeSantis said earlier on Wednesday that residents need to be prepared to lose electricity, and to know evacuation zones. But he said he still refused to scare people into evacuating across the state, despite the potential for a historic disaster. He said there is still a chance that Helene could shift east and become a weaker storm, and he would rather only provide residents with information and allow county emergency managers to call the shots.
I don't believe in trying to scare everybody and trying to just say the only thing that could happen is the worst case, DeSantis said at a Wednesday morning briefing in Tampa. We said there's a range of possibilities for this storm.
Helene by midday Wednesday was 500 miles south-southwest of Tampa in an area of the Gulf near the Yucatan Peninsula. National Weather Service forecasters had determined by Wednesday morning that the storm had grown into a dangerous fast-moving hurricane.
They predicted the Big Bend to see storm surge of at least 10 feet along the coast, and powerful winds that will continue well inland.
Because of Helenes expected fast forward speed, damaging and life-threatening gusts are expected to penetrate well inland over portions of the Southeastern United States, the forecasters wrote.
The storm is also expected to be powerful enough to bring damaging impacts throughout most of the state.
Its a big, big storm, and its going to have a lot of impacts, DeSantis said.
DeSantis had issued an emergency declaration for 61 counties by Monday as local officials began issuing mandatory evacuation orders along the Gulf Coast. Just south of Tallahassee, Franklin, Taylor and Wakulla counties issued mandatory evacuations for all residents by Wednesday. The mandatory evacuation orders continued down the coast, including parts of Charlotte, Manatee and Pinellas counties.
At least 12 nursing homes and hospitals have already evacuated ahead of the storm, and more were possible as forecasters pinpoint Helenes track.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management began preparations for Helene over the weekend, with more than 18,000 linemen positioned around areas that were predicted to see a direct hit. DEM has also gathered rescue teams, high-water vehicles, boats and helicopters that can be deployed after the storm has passed.
The city of Tallahassee has already warned residents to prepare for a "direct hit," and state government offices are closing Wednesday in preparation.
Florida has already requested a pre-landfall declaration from FEMA, but the federal agency has only granted partial approval, so far. DEM Director Kevin Guthrie said FEMA has only agreed to help cover some of the costs associated with the storm, but not the security efforts and post-landfall debris removal that are by far the most expensive.
FEMA could still approve that spending before the storm or after it makes landfall.
Helene is expected to impact some of the most fiscally constrained counties in the state. Guthrie said some localities have already begun to amass pre-landfall necessities, such as off-duty police officers, with an expectation that FEMA will help pay for them as requested by the state. Guthrie said federal officials in Washington are not aware that Helene is threatening to a part of Florida thats covered by a thick canopy of heavy-limbed trees. Tallahassee is even known for its tree canopy-covered roads.
Where we live, where the rubber meets the road, counties are making decisions based on whats in the declaration the governor and I submitted, Guthrie said. We think thats the best way forward.
The National Hurricane Center warned that the storm surge could reach as high as 20 feet in some areas.
Hurricane Helene now a Category 4 storm is forecast to make landfall along Florida's Gulf Coast on Thursday evening, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm is expected to bring "catastrophic" winds and a "deadly storm surge" to a large portion of Florida and the Southeast, meteorologists warned. The storm surge could reach as high as 20 feet in some areas.
The governors of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina declared states of emergency ahead of Helene's arrival.
Multiple counties in Florida issued mandatory evacuation orders for people in low-lying areas. Residents in the storm's potential path have been told to prepare for up to a week without electricity.
"This is a very large storm," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a press briefing Thursday. "It will cause a lot of damage."
Where is the storm and what is its path?
National Hurricane Center
According to the NHC's latest update, Helene with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph was located about 145 miles west-southwest of Tampa, Fla., and was moving north-northeast at 21 mph.
The storm is expected to rapidly intensify and come ashore in Florida's Big Bend region with winds exceeding 130 mph, forecasters said.
In addition to high winds, the storm will threaten millions of residents along the Gulf Coast with heavy rainfall, as well as the possibility of tornadoes. Before it heads up into the Gulf of Mexico, Helene will bring heavy rain to portions of the western Caribbean, potentially mudslides and flooding across western Cuba. The system will also pose the threat of inland flooding across several U.S. states.
9/26 3:40 AM EDT: Several tornadoes appear likely later today into tonight in association with Hurricane Helene. The greatest threat is expected from parts of Florida into southeast Georgia, the Midlands and Low Country of South Carolina, and southern North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/n2ci885KsN NWS Storm Prediction Center (@NWSSPC) September 26, 2024
"Considerable flash and urban flooding is expected across portions of Florida, the Southeast, southern Appalachians, and the Tennessee Valley Wednesday through Friday," the National Hurricane Center said.
There is the potential for life-threatening storm surge along the entire Florida peninsula, the weather service warned.
A peak storm surge of up to 20 feet is possible along portions of Florida's Gulf Coast.
A catastrophic and deadly storm surge is likely along portions of the Florida Big Bend coast, where inundation could reach as high as 20 feet above ground level, along with destructive waves.
There is also a danger of life-threatening storm surge along the remainder of the west pic.twitter.com/jizu9K9HNp National Weather Service (@NWS) September 26, 2024
How is Florida preparing?
People fill sandbags in Pinellas Park, Fla., on Wednesday ahead of Helene. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
DeSantis expanded a state of emergency on Tuesday to 61 counties ahead of the storm.
The declaration allows the state to execute its Comprehensive Emergency Management plan, allowing the use of resources for any logistical, rescue or evacuation operations.
Helene is expected to make landfall near the Big Bend region of the Florida panhandle, which was pummeled by Hurricane Debby earlier this season.
Now is the time to make an emergency plan, know your evacuation zone, and be as prepared as possible for the storm, DeSantis said in a post on X.
Evacuation zones
(Know Your Zone)
Officials urged people in low-lying areas to consult a website outlining evacuation zones, and to heed evacuation orders. Mandatory evacuations were issued in 14 counties, including Pinellas and Hillsborough, as of midday Wednesday.
The University of Tampa, which is in one of the zones under mandatory evacuation orders in Hillsborough County, said Wednesday that it was working evacuate all residential buildings on its campus.
The Tampa Bay Bay Times reported that many grocery stores in the Tampa area sold out of water Tuesday as hurricane shoppers stocked up on supplies.
A satellite image of Helene as it makes its way toward Florida. (NOAA)
Watches and warnings
As of 2 p.m. ET Thursday, a hurricane warning was in effect for:
Anclote River to Mexico Beach, Florida
A "hurricane warning" means that hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area. It is typically issued 36 hours before the anticipated arrival of tropical-storm-force winds.
A hurricane watch was in effect for:
Englewood to Anclote River, including Tampa Bay
A "hurricane watch" means hurricane conditions are possible within the watch areas. It is usually issued 48 hours before the hurricane is anticipated to hit.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for:
Dry Tortugas
All of the Florida Keys
The west coast of Florida from Flamingo to Anclote River, including Tampa Bay
West of Mexico Beach to the Okaloosa/Walton County Line
Lake Okeechobee
A "tropical storm warning" means that tropical storm conditions are expected in the warning areas within the next 36 hours.
A storm surge watch was in effect for:
West of Indian Pass to Mexico Beach
Tampa Bay
Charlotte Harbor
A "storm surge watch" indicates the possibility of life-threatening flooding, such as rising water moving inland from the coast.
Hurricanes dont stop at the coast these mountain towns know how severe inland flood damage can be, and theyre preparing
The French Broad River winds through the mountains of western North Carolina, fed by dozens of mountain streams, and crosses the city of Asheville. At over 2,000 feet above sea level and more than 250 miles from the coast, it is an unlikely place to prepare for a hurricane.
Yet, the remnants of several hurricanes have swept through this region over the years, sending rivers in the region raging out of their banks.
When these storms hit back to back, the devastation can be enormous. In September 2004, for example, remnants of Hurricanes Frances, Ivan and Jeanne all brought excessive rain to western North Carolina in the span of a few weeks, overwhelming the French Broad and other rivers in the Asheville area.
Western North Carolinas history is just one example of the inland risks from tropical cyclones.
A U.S. map of hurricane storm tracks since 1851 shows that the storms and their remnants often travel far inland. Yellows to reds reflect increasing hurricane strength. Green is tropical storm strength, and blue and gray are weaker but can still be damaging. NOAA Climate.gov
In 1955, Connie, followed closely by Diane, produced some of the worst inland river flooding in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts. Diane became known as the first billion-dollar storm. The compound impacts prompted Congress to fund major studies of hurricane meteorology and protection efforts.
Vermont was caught off guard by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, which swept away hundreds of homes. In 1998, Tropical Storm Charley traveled nearly 200 miles up the Rio Grande Valley, quickly flooding the dry Texas landscape, with devastating consequences. The remnants of Hurricane Ida in 2022 caused nearly US$84 billion in damage as its heavy rains caused flooding in states from Louisiana to New York.
I am a historical geographer who researches flood hazards and how communities both exacerbate the risk and respond. With the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, expected to be exceptionally busy, storms like these are a reminder to mountain communities and other inland regions across the U.S. to prepare.
Tough lessons from North Carolinas mountains
Western North Carolina provides an important case study of a hurricane season risk that might seem rare but can be catastrophic. It also shows how some communities are starting to respond.
In July 1916, the Asheville area was deluged by back-to-back tropical storms that tore apart river bridges and roads, washed away businesses and left large parts of the city under water.
The first tropical storm made landfall in Mississippi and meandered into the Southern Appalachians. As it lingered over western North Carolina, 6 to 10 inches of rain fell in the mountains, running off into creeks and then into rivers, including the French Broad.
Back-to-back tropical cyclones in 1916 left businesses in Asheville, N.C., surrounded by floodwater. Archival Photography by Steve Nicklas via NOAA
A week later, a second tropical storm moved ashore, this time in South Carolina and headed for the already saturated ground of the French Broad River basin. It dropped 12 to 15 inches near Brevard. Weather Bureau forecasters wrote that saturated soils allowed 80% to 90% of the new precipitation to run off the mountains into French Broad River tributaries.
At Asheville, the river rose to 23.1 feet a record more than 5 feet higher than any crest before or since. The water washed out bridges and damaged most businesses and industries on the floodplain.
Dozens of people died in the flooding, and commerce was disrupted for weeks. The Santee River, which flows seaward from the Blue Ridge Mountains, destroyed some 700,000 acres of crops in South Carolina.
The French Broad River spread far beyond its banks, wiping out railroad tracks and inundating neighborhoods and factories during the storms in 1916. Archival Photography by Steve Nicklas/NOAA
Responses to the 1916 storms werent enough
After the storms, there was talk of replacing some devastated structures with flood-proof buildings. However, the importance of rail transport and the limited amount of land for commercial and industrial uses compelled reconstruction near the river. Congress approved a flood control study in 1930, but no structural protections were built. Revised building codes and land use restrictions to reduce flood impacts came much later.
Then, in September 2004, the region was hit with back-to-back tropical storm disasters again.
Hurricane Frances made landfall on Florida and eventually climbed the Blue Ridge Mountains into Western North Carolina. Remnants of the hurricane dumped 8 to 12 inches of rain near Asheville. Black Mountain received 14.6 inches, which flowed into a French Broad River tributary, triggering widespread flooding where the rivers meet. The torrent severed a water main and cut off drinking water to Asheville residents.
Remnants from Hurricanes Frances and Ivan crossed the same region of North Carolina. North Carolina Climate Office
Shortly after Frances hit, Hurricane Ivan roared ashore in Alabama and moved inland, bringing 4 to 12 more inches of rain to the French Broad basin over three days. Saturated soils on the mountain slopes lost their grip and caused numerous landslides, and portions of Asheville and Brevard flooded. Remnants of Hurricane Jeanne brought even more rain to western North Carolina a few days later.
Using the past to plan for the future isnt enough
Traditionally, officials planning for hazards like hurricanes have relied on records of past events to guide their decisions. However, this approach assumes that the climate is stable, and that just isnt the case.
As the climate warms, the air can hold more moisture, meaning tropical cyclones as well as inland thunderstorms can deliver more rain.
This can be particularly troublesome as giant storms move inland and cause streams and rivers to flood. Back-to-back storms can be even more destructive. New development in areas that were once unlikely to flood may be more susceptible as the climate heats up.
Heavy precipitation events are becoming more frequent and intense as temperatures rise. The numbers show the change in precipitation on the heaviest 1% rainfall days from 1958 to 2021. National Climate Assessment 2023
Some communities are starting to consider how future risk might worsen.
In the Asheville area, Buncombe Countys hazard mitigation plan now explicitly recognizes hurricane risks and acknowledges that future occurrences are likely.
Following the 2004 flood, the county modified its use of a water supply reservoir to include storage of floodwaters, and it now requires new buildings constructed in areas inundated in 2004 to be elevated 2 feet above the base flood elevation. The city of Brevard, 30 miles south of Asheville, restricted construction in flood-prone areas to limit future losses.
Asheville has created green spaces along the French Broad River and has made efforts to enlarge stormwater retention behind dams on tributaries. But altering stormwater drainage systems is costly when the existing systems were designed to meet historical rainfall levels, rather than the scale of rainfall that will accompany climate change.
Often, small mountain towns have little available land between a river and the mountains. Here, the French Broad River flows near Marshall, N.C. Nicholas Hartmann via Wikimedia, CC BY
Extreme weather events, including mountain and inland flooding, are becoming a frequent problem across the U.S., and I believe they demand greater consideration in disaster planning at all levels. For communities, preparing for these future risks requires learning from past floods but also recognizing that future storms may produce flooding that goes beyond the scale of anything seen before.
This article has been updated to correct the date of Tropical Storm Irene.
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: Craig E. Colten, Louisiana State University
Read more:
Craig E. Colten received funding from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. No direct funding supported this particular study.
The forecast arrival on Thursday of another hurricane seems like a recurring nightmare for residents of Florida's Big Bend and eastern Panhandle.
Helene is expected to be the fifth hurricane to smack this roughly 200 miles of mostly rural coast between Panama City and Cedar Key in just eight years. Only three hurricanes have arrived elsewhere along the rest of the state's more than 800 miles of coastline over that time span.
With the tourist hotspot of Destin to the west and Tampa to the south, the eastern Florida Panhandle forms an elbow at the Big Bend.
Residents there are tired. They're stressed. They've worried as they've watched the weather, and many may have packed up and evacuated at least once. And yet, somehow they have to muster the strength this week to prepare homes and businesses, stock up on food and water and make possibly life-changing decisions about whether to stay or go . . . again.
"It's like everybody is in mass PTSD. Imagine thousands and thousands of people at the same time," says Mike McKinney, who lives with his wife Maggie in a home north of Panama City, about 75 miles west of Tallahassee. They rode out the howling winds of Category 5 Hurricane Michael in their bathroom with a friend in 2018 and emerged to find the smell of destruction and uprooted trees around their home.
After Hurricane Idalia ripped across Taylor County about 60 miles south of Tallahassee in 2023, the McKinneys passed through on a trip. As they saw the familiar storm damage, Maggie said her heart started racing.
"We saw the giant piles of debris, and I thought 'Oh my God,' " she said. "This pulls me right back to Hurricane Michael. The blood pressure kind of rises and and you feel that pit in your stomach."
Janalea England, who lives in Steinhatchee in Taylor County, knows the feeling. She finds it almost unbelievable that her rural Florida County is in the potential path of its third hurricane in 13 months.
Category 3 Idalia made landfall near Keaton Beach in August 2023 with a storm surge of up to 12 feet and wind gusts over 80 mph. The surge of water flooded homes and businesses in the region, causing significant damage in some cases, the National Hurricane Center reported. Just 11 months later, Taylor County was hit again when Hurricane Debby moved ashore near Steinhatchee on August 5, causing 3 to 5 feet of storm surge. Two people in the area died as a result of falling trees and two others were killed in car crashes. Both storms brought flooding rain.
Now, a little more than seven weeks later, the area is in the crosshairs of another major hurricane. Helene is forecast to make landfall somewhere along the Big Bend Thursday with winds as high as 125 mph, up to 12 inches of rain and a storm surge that could reach 15 feet high, depending on whether landfall coincides with high tide.
Tropical Storm Helene on satellite in the western Caribbean on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 24, 2024.
"A part of me is like it's not coming here," said England, whose family owns the Steinhatchee Fish Market. Part of her wants to "believe 100%" that it's going to turn. But practicality ruled this week as she and her husband worked to check for loose boards on their home and business and any potential trouble spots on the home's roof.
"It very well could be us again, and this time it's looking like a worse one and that's what's scaring me," she said. She checked in on vulnerable friends and family, other businesses closer to the Gulf of Mexico, including some that haven't yet fully recovered from Idalia, and wrestled with the evacuation question.
How to stay safe during a hurricane: The nation's top hurricane forecaster has 5 warnings
A flooded street is seen near the Steinhatchee marina in Steinhatchee, Fla. on Aug. 30, 2023, after Hurricane Idalia made landfall.
The hurricane center has seen decades of improvement in track forecasting, but its margin of error at 72 hours out is roughly 100 miles. That means Helene could still wind up well east or west of its projected landfall location south of Tallahassee. That uncertainty makes it hard for some to decide whether to evacuate or not.
In her home near Tallahassee on Tuesday, Julie Hauserman put off the preparation tasks before her, posting on Facebook: "Honestly paralyzed with hurricane prep fatigue right now."
"Everybody I talk to feels that way," said Hauserman, long-time Florida journalist and author. "We're weary, we're just storm weary. You're doing the same thing over and over and over."
Hauserman and the McKinneys look around them at damaged timberland and blue tarps on roofs and question why fates have shifted along this coastline that seemed sheltered from destructive hurricanes for decades.
"This is getting more and more frequent," Maggie McKinney said, and storms like Michael are rapidly intensifying more often as they approach the coast.
"Temperatures in the Gulf are absolutely sky high and it's fueling these storms," Hauserman said.
Many scientists agree, saying the warmer-than-normal Gulf pumps more rain into hurricanes and makes some of them more intense. Meteorologists said record warm temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are likely to help Helene intensify as it moves northward in the Gulf.
"The fact that the storms are so intense when they make landfall because they have rapidly intensified in the Gulf of Mexico almost certainly has a climate-change contribution to it," said Jim Kossin, an atmospheric scientist and science advisor at the nonprofit First Street Foundation. "The remarkably warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico are a big contributor and climate change has contributed to those."
It's hurricane season: Putting your preparedness kit together
No matter where Helene eventually makes landfall, much of Florida could feel the impacts if the storm does become the monster size called for in the official forecast. Storm surge is forecast along almost the entire length of the state's west coast. Even those who live well inland and away from the center of the storm may feel the impacts, Jamie Rhome, the hurricane center's deputy director, said this week.
The McKinneys, who were at a family reunion in Palm Coast on Florida's east coast this week, planned to leave a day early Wednesday to drive home. Not only do they want to stay in their home during the storm, they also wanted to avoid the path of destruction that could occur to the east if Helene stays on its forecast track or veers east.
Maggie and Mike McKinney stand in their front yard in 2022, four years after Hurricane Michael struck their community after making landfall near Mexico Beach in Florida's Panhandle.
These storms are "devastating" some of Florida's most rural counties, McKinney said.
Economic losses across North Florida after Idalia were estimated at more than $1 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's disaster data. Losses after Michael were estimated at $30 billion.
While many Florida communities still bear evidence of previous storms, it seems like the impacts last longer in the rural counties along the eastern Panhandle and Big Bend, Hauserman said.
In Steinhatchee, tensions felt high when England and her husband walked into a local restaurant for lunch Monday, she said. The community is "just getting recovered from Idalia," she said. Two friends along that stretch of coast told her: "If we get hit again, we're done."
As concerned as she is about her own community's slow recovery, England is even more concerned about Cedar Key, a historic fishing community 40 miles to the south.
"Lord have mercy," England exclaimed. The rural archipelago also suffered flooding and damage from Idalia and Debby. Then last week, a fire damaged four businesses along the town's Dock Street, the city said. On Tuesday, the city posted evacuation warnings and photos of residents prepping sandbags.
Some Cedar Key restaurants and small businesses still suffer from previous storms, England said. "Now you've got this thing? I could see someone could wash their hands."
Cedar Key Fire Rescue was keeping the number four bridge closed until hazards were removed after Hurricane Debby made landfall on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024.
Hauserman slowly packed a box on her porch Tuesday, loading it with mobiles, knickknacks and plants. She and other friends plan to ride out the storm at her partner's home in Tallahassee with their pets, hoping the power will either stay on or be restored quickly.
"I live on a road with a tree canopy," she said. "If a squirrel sneezes we lose power."
"You're supposed to have all your things ready," she said. "But what does that even mean any more? We're just tired, that's what we are."
Dinah Voyles Pulver covers climate change and the environment for USA TODAY. She's been writing about hurricanes, tornadoes and violent weather for more than 30 years. Reach her at dpulver@gannett.com or @dinahvp.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida's Big Bend seems to attract hurricanes. Why?
By John Irish
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday he had sensed a greater willingness by Iranian officials to engage with the agency in a more meaningful way after talks in New York, and that he hoped to travel to Tehran in October.
Several long-standing issues have dogged relations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency, including Tehran's barring of uranium-enrichment experts on the inspection team and its failure for years to explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites.
Grossi held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, one of the key architects to the 2015 accord that limited Iran's ability to enrich uranium in return for a lifting of Western sanctions, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
"What I see is an expressed willingness to re-engage with us in a more meaningful fashion," Grossi told Reuters in an interview.
With nuclear diplomacy largely stalled between the Iranian presidential election and the U.S. one on Nov. 5, Iranian and European officials have met in New York to test their mutual willingness to reduce tensions amid Tehran's disputed nuclear program, its role in Ukraine and mounting regional tensions.
Grossi said he wanted to make real progress in restoring proper technical discussions with Iran quickly and was aiming to travel to Tehran in October to meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
"Of course now we have to give content and substance to this because we are not starting from zero. We have had relatively protracted process without replies to some of the questions we have," he said.
"We also need to calibrate together with them how we go through this period where they are waiting to see what is going to happen with their other partners, starting with the United States."
IAEA board resolutions ordering Iran to cooperate urgently with the investigation into the uranium traces and calling on it to reverse its barring of inspectors have brought little change, and quarterly IAEA reports seen by Reuters on Aug. 29 showed no progress.
Development of Iran's nuclear programme has also advanced. By the end of the quarter, the latest IAEA reports showed Iran had completed installation of eight new cascades at Fordow but still not brought them online.
At its larger underground site at Natanz, which is enriching to up to 5% purity, it had brought 15 new cascades of other advanced models online.
"Iran has kept a regular pace without accelerating too much, but it continues," Grossi said, adding that the Fordow cascades remained offline.
Iran has stepped up nuclear work since 2019, after then-U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned an agreement reached under his predecessor Barack Obama.
When asked about the prospects of a revival of nuclear talks, Grossi said the preparatory work needed to start now, notably for the IAEA to get the necessary clarity on Iran's activities since it reduced cooperation with the agency.
"I think we need to, or the ambition should be to get results in a different way, because the old way is simply not going to be possible anymore," he said, adding that he foresaw a more active role for the agency.
(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Howard Goller and Lincoln Feast)
Lebanese army soldiers are deployed at the site where a building was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut southern suburb. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, six people were killed and 15 others were wounded in the strike, which was targeting Hezbollah's rocket chief, according to the Israeli military. Marwan Naamani/dpa
The International Committee of the Red Cross has called on the parties to the conflict in the Middle East to respect international humanitarian law in view of the increasing number of civilian victims in Lebanon.
The ICRC said in Geneva on Wednesday that international humanitarian law made it clear that care must be taken at all times to spare the civilian population and civilian objects when carrying out military operations, and to distinguish between civilian objects and military targets.
Spokesman Christian Cardon said that "the civilian population will undoubtedly pay the highest price if the conflict escalates further."
The ICRC's work in international armed conflicts aims to uphold and promote international humanitarian law, and is based on the four Geneva Conventions.
The ICRC works with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to provide assistance to the injured and displaced, such as medical supplies for hospitals, as well as food, household products and cash for residents.
Lebanese army soldiers secure the site where a building was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut southern suburb. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, six people were killed and 15 others were wounded in the strike, which was targeting Hezbollah's rocket chief, according to the Israeli military. Marwan Naamani/dpa
A Lebanese Shiite family walk along Sidon-Beirut highway, as they flee from Rmeileh in south Lebanon to Beirut. Thousands of families fled southern Lebanon for areas in the capital Beirut and Mount Lebanon, following the expanding Israeli attacks. Marwan Naamani/dpa
A fire erupts in a forest following a rocket hit from Lebanon on Safed. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
Damages are seen inside a building following a rocket from Lebanon hit a house in Safed. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
Key Insights
Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Pentamaster Corporation Berhad fair value estimate is RM5.96
Pentamaster Corporation Berhad's RM3.43 share price signals that it might be 42% undervalued
The RM5.36 analyst price target for PENTA is 10% less than our estimate of fair value
In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Pentamaster Corporation Berhad (KLSE:PENTA) by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!
Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.
See our latest analysis for Pentamaster Corporation Berhad
The Calculation
We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.
Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:
10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast
2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 Levered FCF (MYR, Millions) RM83.6m RM143.5m RM186.1m RM219.0m RM248.5m RM274.6m RM297.7m RM318.4m RM337.2m RM354.8m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Est @ 17.71% Est @ 13.46% Est @ 10.49% Est @ 8.41% Est @ 6.95% Est @ 5.93% Est @ 5.22% Present Value (MYR, Millions) Discounted @ 9.1% RM76.6 RM121 RM143 RM155 RM161 RM163 RM162 RM159 RM154 RM149
("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = RM1.4b
The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (3.6%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 9.1%.
Story continues
Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2034 (1 + g) (r g) = RM355m (1 + 3.6%) (9.1% 3.6%) = RM6.7b
Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= RM6.7b ( 1 + 9.1%)10= RM2.8b
The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is RM4.2b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of RM3.4, the company appears quite good value at a 42% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.
dcf
The Assumptions
The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Pentamaster Corporation Berhad as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 9.1%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.989. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.
SWOT Analysis for Pentamaster Corporation Berhad
Strength
Currently debt free.
Weakness
Earnings declined over the past year.
Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Machinery market.
Opportunity
Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Malaysian market.
Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%.
Threat
Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.
Looking Ahead:
Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Pentamaster Corporation Berhad, we've put together three relevant items you should assess:
Financial Health: Does PENTA have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk. Future Earnings: How does PENTA's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!
PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Malaysian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) The next Ryan Coogler film dropped its first trailer yesterday and with it, the Black Panther director teases a new direction.
The film has been anticipated for months, with a reported bidding war over the film taking place earlier this year. As that was happening, Michael B. Jordan, a frequent collaborator of Cooglers, was announced as the films lead actor.
On April 13, cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw posted a photo from set on Instagram, signaling the start of production for the film, which at the time was known as Grilled Cheese.
Kings Island Halloween Haunt ready to scare
The trailer debuted yesterday, unveiling the first images from Cooglers horror film, an official title, Sinners and an imposing tagline: You keep dancing with the devil, one day hes gonna follow you home.
The trailer also confirms that Jordan will be playing a dual-role. According to IMDB, the film is about twin brothers (Jordan) who encounter an evil presence after returning to their hometown.
Hailee Steinfeld, Delroy Lindo and Jack OConnell are set to star alongside Jordan.
Artisans behind the camera include Arkapaw, with musical compositions provided by Ludwing Goransson, editing by Michael P. Shawver, costumes designed by Ruth E. Carter and production design by Wright State University alum Hannah Beachler.
The film is scheduled for release on March 7, 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 WDTN.com.
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador in a letter Tuesday challenged guidance from a major medical organization over its support for gender-affirming care for children and teens.
The letter, signed by Labrador and the attorneys general or officials from 20 other states, accused the American Academy of Pediatrics of potentially being out of compliance with state consumer protection laws by peddling misleading and deceptive information.
He accused the organization of sacrificing the well-being of children by supporting unproven treatments that could cause permanent damage.
It is shameful the most basic tenet of medicine do no harm has been abandoned by professional associations when politically pressured, Labrador said in a statement.
The American Academy of Pediatrics last year reaffirmed a policy statement from 2018 that endorses comprehensive, gender-affirming, and developmentally appropriate health care for youth. Its policy is based off of available research and expert opinions from clinical and research leaders, according to the group, but noted that its a rapidly evolving clinical field.
The policy statement advocates for insurance plans that provide coverage for medical and psychological health care for young transgender and gender-diverse people, and for pediatricians to support policies and laws that protect trans youth from discrimination and violence.
It also recommends that education for medical providers include best practices to care for youth who identify as trans. The organization also calls for the federal government and medical field to prioritize research to improve evidence-based care for trans and nonbinary youth.
Labrador said children with gender dysphoria need love, support and medical care rooted in biological reality, and that parents should be able to trust the medical guidance they receive isnt the latest talking point from a dangerous and discredited activist agenda.
Labrador disputes info about puberty blockers
Idaho passed several laws in recent years that restrict health care for transgender and nonbinary youth and adults. Those include banning gender-affirming care for people under 18 and restricting public funds, such as Medicaid, from being used for transition-related care. Though some of those laws are still caught up in litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court for now allowed the prohibition on gender-affirming care for trans kids to take effect.
In his letter, Labrador disputed the groups statements and its claim that puberty blockers are reversible. He called for the organization to explain how it drafts its policy statements and to provide evidence that puberty blockers are reversible.
When it comes to treating children diagnosed with gender dysphoria, the AAP has abandoned its commitment to sound medical judgment, Labrador wrote.
The American Academy of Pediatrics described puberty blockers as reversible but also said the effects of puberty suppression on fertility is unknown. Using cross-sex hormones to allow adolescents who have initiated puberty to develop secondary sex characteristics of the opposite biological sex can be partially reversible, the statement read, but can become irreversible once they are fully developed.
Most major medical organizations in the U.S. support gender-affirming care, which can refer to therapy, puberty blockers and hormone treatments. Some countries in Europe have restricted gender-affirming care for children after officials raised issues about insufficient scientific studies.
Transgender youth report a higher rate of suicide attempts, according to the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention nonprofit for LGBTQ+ youth. Trans and nonbinary people have told the Statesman access to gender-affirming care has been essential to their mental health and well-being.
A new election program being used in Ada County is getting attention from states across the country and has the potential to put to rest false claims about stolen elections.
Ada County Clerk Trent Tripple unveiled the Ballot Verifier program in April, and since then, he said, his phone has been busy.
A lot of people have taken interest in this, Tripple told me in a phone interview. Its kind of fun to see how easy this is for people to look at and go, It just makes sense.
He said the Nebraska Legislature held a hearing on it last week, and states such as Kentucky, Washington, Arizona and several in New England are looking into the program. Tarrant County, Texas, which includes Fort Worth, adopted Ballot Verifier last month.
The Ballot Verifier program allows anyone to look at a pdf version of every single ballot cast in an election, along with how the vote was recorded, whats known as the cast vote record. Users can sort based on contest and drill down to the precinct level, broken down by early voting, absentee voting and in-person Election Day voting.
It allows anyone to individually and independently audit the election results reported by the county. Users can check to see whether there are any anomalies, such as whether thousands of ballots are being suspiciously deposited in one precinct disproportionately to voter turnout.
This kind of verification system is vital because four years ago, then-President Donald Trump told his followers that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen, based on lies that fake ballots had been cast for his opponent, President Joe Biden.
And we all know how Trumps Big Lie ended on that fateful day on Jan. 6, 2021.
With Trump back on the ticket this year, the fear among many is that if Trump loses again, he once again wont accept the results and will incite his followers to storm to the U.S. Capitol again.
We never want to go back to that.
The Ballot Verifier program offers a remedy.
Ballot Verifier is a product of Civera, a civics information technology company that helps government agencies provide public information and government data efficiently.
In terms of settling the nerves of a lot of people who are questioning the elections integrity stuff, its had a strong impact, I believe, Tripple said.
He noted that a gadfly had pestered his office for months after the 2020 election looking for errors and statistical anomalies that might suggest voting shenanigans.
As they were getting ready to launch Ballot Verifier, Tripple said they called him in to beta test it.
As he got done with it, he said, This is it. This is all I need. This is 100 times more than what Ive been asking for from everybody else, Tripple said.
First in the country
It took about 18 months to get the project up and running, according to Nicole Camarda, public information officer for the Ada County Clerks Office, but she pointed out that Ada County was also the first government agency to do this, and a lot of initial testing had to be done.
Id love to see this spread throughout Idaho and across the country. It would certainly put an end to this stolen election nonsense.
Tripple said a Republican state representative was in his office Friday contemplating legislation to mandate Ballot Verifier across the state.
Tripple estimates that it would cost about $1 million to make it happen. A side benefit is that it would bring some of Idahos rural counties voting machines into the 21st century (six Idaho counties still hand count all ballots).
Adam Friedman, Civera CEO, told me in an email that it would take Civera 7-to-10 business days to launch the Ballot Verifier to enable voters to review all ballot images and cast vote records from the Nov. 5 general election.
This timeline would apply to any jurisdiction whether that be a state or county.
That said, Friedman noted, the elections office in the jurisdiction would have to deliver to Civera a complete and accurate payload of ballot images and cast vote records after election results are certified.
Their certification and digitization process could take anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks after an election.
It cost Ada County $20,000 for the initial development and another $20,000 annual licensing fee, which is a ridiculously low cost for something so vital.
Results go back to the May 2022 primary. Results do not go back to the 2020 presidential election because Ada County did not capture ballot images back then.
Tripple said the Elections Office has briefed the Ada County Republican and Democratic parties, with strong support from both.
Its good to see that both sides are welcoming this as a refreshing way of really hammering home the point that Idaho elections have never really had a problem, and this just allows everyone to see that on their own, if they wish, Tripple said.
Election challenges
Ballot Verifier also could fend off expensive challenges from people like Mike Lindell, the My Pillow guy who challenged election results in Idaho in 2021.
With Ballot Verifier, Ada County would be able to tell him to go look for himself.
The other beautiful thing about this is that it negates the need to file public records requests for this information. Its all right there for anyone and everyone to see.
Tripple said that no matter what they do, there are still going to be people out there who just wont believe the facts right in front of their face.
I think from the beginning, Ive always said that 95% of the people will never touch this website, he said. Its just the simple fact that it exists that helps them know that were not trying to hide anything.
And then, maybe, just maybe, we can talk about the issues.
I want the masses to know that the outcome of Ada County elections, and I would hope for the whole state of Idaho, if we tend to go this direction, is that it reflects the will of the people and those that voted were accurately tabulated, Tripple said. And there is nothing here other than to focus on the candidates that got elected and their policy and get to the heart of conversations rather than bickering about who won.
TechCrunch
Actress Emma Watson has made a previously undisclosed investment into the womens health company Hertility, bringing its total funding to more than $14 million, the company told TechCrunch in an interview on Monday. Dr Helen ONeill, the CEO and co-founder of Hertility, said she met Watson through one of her investors who felt that the actress's stance on womens rights would make her a natural fit as an investor.
The Supreme Court of Illinois ruled people can be stripped of their firearm identification card if theyre charged with a felony and havent been convicted.
The decision comes from a case in 2016 involving Aaron and Charles Davis, a father and son charged with a felony of reckless discharge of a firearm. The state took away their FOID cards while they waited for trial. The two got their cards back after the charges were reduced. They sued the state, saying it violated their second amendment rights.
A lower court agreed with the father and son, but the Supreme Court reversed the decision unanimously.
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) The Illinois Supreme Court ruled the state can revoke a persons firearm owner identification (FOID) card if that person has been charged with a felony.
The high court reinstated the statute after a lower court ruling that issued a permanent injunction barring the state from enforcing the law. The ruling goes back to a case in which Aaron and Charles Davis, a father and son, were charged with reckless discharge of a firearm.
The two allegedly shot their fired their rifles into the air over the weekend of July 4th, 2016. Illinois State Police used a federal law to take the father and sons FOID cards away.
The law makes it illegal for any person who is under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce any firearm or ammunition or receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
The Davises sued complaining they should have been able to keep the right to bear arms even though their FOID cards were revoked. The two wanted the courts to declare the FOID Card Act unconstitutional because it only applies to people who have been charged with, but not convicted, of a felony.
A Madison County Judge determined the law was unconstitutional in March 2023, but the state appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court declared in a unanimous decision to reverse the lower courts decision on Thursday.
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I'm in my 70s and don't babysit my grandchildren. I've already done my time raising kids.
Grandmother of five Nirmala Sequeira never babysits her grandkids. It gives her freedom to enjoy retirement.
The 71-year-old said her adult kids "wouldn't dream" of asking her to watch their children.
She says she doesn't feel obliged or guilty because she has already done her duty as a parent.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nirmala Sequeira, a retired secretary from Toronto. It has been edited for length and clarity.
My partner and I are retired, but we have a busy life. We love going to restaurants and meeting new people at social events. We enjoyed a six-week vacation in my native India a few years ago. At 71 and 76 years, we're not slowing down.
I was lucky to retire at 59, four years after my first grandchild was born. I now have five, whom I'm very proud of and adore.
But that doesn't mean I'm available for babysitting. In fact, the two of my three children who have kids wouldn't even dream of asking me. They respect the fact that I've done my time as a caregiver when I raised them as a working mother.
I was committed to my career as a government secretary in Dubai where I lived with my ex-husband. The hours were 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. I'd give my two older children breakfast at 6 a.m. my third was born in Canada, nine years after my first and drop them at an in-home daycare on my way to work.
After I finished, I'd drive them back, give them a snack, put them down for a nap, play with them, feed them, bathe them before bed.
I've done my bit with childrearing
I was in my late 20s and, despite juggling parenthood with a demanding job, didn't get tired. I had no back-up from my relatives who lived in India and Canada. I built up my energy and managed things myself.
Now that my older children have kids of their own, they do the same thing. My grandchildren are aged between 10 and 16. They're in school and attend after-school programs and summer camps. When they were younger, they were at daycare.
My daughter, 44, and son, 42, live a 30-minute drive from my house. We visit each other, but it wouldn't occur to them to have me help out. They know I've done my bit and have my own life to lead.
They're fortunate to be high earners and I've brought them up to pay for childcare when they need it. I've told them that's what a salary is for. In turn, you're providing an income to someone else. They need to put food on their table, too.
The only time I've looked after my daughter's children, I actually got paid for it. Several years ago, she won a top employee award at the bank where she works. The prize was a week-long cruise. The bank gave her $600 to cover childcare, which she paid me.
People should make the most of their later years
I enjoyed picking up my grandson and granddaughter from school, making their meals and spending the evening with them. But there's no way I'd do it regularly.
Like me, my children believe that kids who attend daycare and camps often turn out better than those brought up by grandparents. They're watched and taught by professionals, in an environment with other kids.
I don't feel any guilt or obligation. I feel bad for grandparents who do. Maybe they think that, if they don't provide childcare, it will cause resentment.
Still, it's important to make the most of your later years. Over the last several years, my youngest daughter, a 33-year-old teacher and I have traveled to places like Iceland, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. In 2018, we went backpacking across Europe for six weeks.
I have a great future ahead with my partner. We're having fun and embracing our freedom.
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An employee at an Independence bar and restaurant has filed a lawsuit against another employee and the restaurants owners, alleging that the employee, while in a managerial role, sexually assaulted her on the premises and that the abuse led to her termination.
In the lawsuit filed in Jackson County court on Sept. 16, a former employee at Tavern 24 in Independence states that Manny Peine, her former supervisor, forced her to perform sex on him in the parking lot of the restaurant.
The alleged assault took place around 10 p.m. on Nov. 16, 2023, when Peine, 30, allegedly asked the 25-year-old plaintiff to smoke a cigarette with him in his car in the Tavern 24 parking lot. While in the vehicle, Peine allegedly physically forced the victim to perform sex on him, also using physical force to prevent her from leaving the car.
The alleged assault was not the first time that Peine had conducted himself inappropriately toward the victim, according to the lawsuit. She alleges that Peine began addressing her with unwanted sexual advances, including non-consensual touching, as soon as she was hired in August 2023.
At the time of the assault, Peine worked for Tavern 24s sister restaurant Dirty Bird, but picked up shifts at Tavern 24 in a managerial position, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that when working at Tavern 24, Peine created a sexually hostile environment for the victim and other employees.
Plaintiff believed that both her job and personal safety would be placed in jeopardy, if she wasnt cool and did not play along and consent to his unlawful conduct and sexual harassment, the lawsuit reads.
Shortly after the alleged sexual assault, the victim made a report to another co-worker who had seniority over both her and Peine, according to the lawsuit. This co-worker passed along the report to Tavern 24 owners Jason and Sarah Dunlap, who allegedly responded by firing the victim on Nov. 19.
In the lawsuit, the victim alleges that Sarah Dunlap made several references to the alleged sexual assault as the reason for her termination, saying that everyone was talking about it.
Tavern 24 was unavailable to provide comment on the lawsuit Tuesday evening, but an employee told The Star that the restaurant was unaware of any pending litigation.
The former Tavern 24 employee and her attorneys are bringing charges of assault and false imprisonment against Peine. They are also bringing charges of gender discrimination and creating a hostile work environment against Tavern 24 and sister restaurant Dirty Bird, and a charge of negligent hiring against Tavern 24s parent company, Dunlap-Perrin LLC.
The lawsuit alleges that Jason and Sarah Dunlap maintained a personal friendship with Peine and were aware of prior allegations of his inappropriate conduct and drug use on premises.
Peine was found guilty of felony drug possession in Kansas last year, as well as of interfering with a law enforcement investigation by falsely reporting a felony, according to court records.
He also pleaded not guilty to charges of domestic violence carried out against a romantic partner in Kansas last year, court records show, in a case that was ultimately dismissed.
The lawsuit will be heard in Jackson County court at 8 a.m. Jan 13.
A fraternity member at Indiana University is facing seven felony charges after he allegedly assaulted two women over the span of a week at Greek residences on campus in September.
Monroe County authorities charged Noah Apgar, 20, with five counts of rape, one count of strangulation and one count of criminal confinement in connection with the alleged attacks.
"On September 15, 2024, an IU student reported to officers that a rape occurred on September 6, 2024, at a Greek house on North Eagleson Avenue," a spokesperson with the IU police told Fox News Digital in a statement. "The suspect in this case, Noah Apgar, is the same suspect from the rape that occurred on September 13, 2024, at Sigma Alpha Epsilon. On September 17, 2024, Apgar was arrested for rape, strangulation, and confinement. He has been trespassed from all IU property."
Apgar is the third male IU student to be arrested and charged in connection with sexual assaults since late August, according to local news outlet WIBW.
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The first reported assault, which took place between midnight and 2 a.m. after a Friday evening out, is detailed in a probable cause affidavit filed in Monroe County and obtained by Fox News Digital.
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The victim in that case, identified as Victim No. 1, told police that she and Apgar met up at a fraternity house after they connected on Snapchat despite having never spoken in person.
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Monroe County authorities charged Noah Apgar, 20, with five counts of rape, one count of strangulation and one count of criminal confinement in connection with the alleged attacks.
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At that fraternity house, Apgar allegedly told the victim she was "'only dressed like this to get with every other guy here' or 'you're dressed like that because you talk to guys,'" the affidavit states.
Later that evening, the victim and Apgar traveled to his fraternity house at Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Apgar allegedly convinced the victim to go into the bathroom with him, at which point they started consensually kissing until the suspect apparently became aggressive and assaulted the victim despite her vocal pleas to stop, according to the affidavit.
Former Cia Officer Drugged, Sexually Assaulted Dozens Of Women In Multiple Countries, Gets 30 Years In Prison
Security camera footage obtained by campus police apparently shows the victim "smiling and willingly walking behind Mr. Apgar." However, when she emerges from the bathroom later on, she "she looks generally disheveled," with red marks on her neck.
The first attack allegedly occurred at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at Indiana University.
The victim then left the fraternity house and "screamed" for help, eventually finding two sorority members who escorted her to their residence and got her the assistance she needed.
Security camera footage also apparently shows a student holding Apgar back from following Victim 1.
Cia Guilty Of Mishandling Internal Sexual Assault Cases, Bombshell House Report Says
While the second assault is not detailed in court records, police said the events of the second alleged attack are similar to those in the first.
Three Indiana University students have been arrested for alleged sexual assaults since August.
Apgar's public defender, Brady Lory, declined comment on the case at this time.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon told Fox News Digital in a statement that the SAE Fraternity Service Center "was made aware of an allegation involving a member of our chapter at Indiana University."
"Upon learning of the alleged incident, SAE immediately suspended the member and began working with the University administration. We are also fully cooperating with local law enforcement to investigate the incident and have urged all of our local members to do the same," the fraternity said.
"Sigma Alpha Epsilon denounces all acts of sexual violence," the fraternity added. "Violence in any form does not represent the Fraternitys values as defined by our creed, The True Gentlemen. We are committed to the well-being of our members, guests, and their respective communities. Our staff will continue to work with our chapters, university officials, and local alumni leaders to reinforce these values."
Original article source: Indiana University fraternity brother accused of attacking multiple female classmates in one week
SPRUCE PINE, N.C. (WSPA) An inmate at the Mountain View Correction Institution was found dead of an apparent suicide on Wednesday.
The inmate was identified as 38-year-old Jason William Martin, and was found unresponsive in his cell shortly before 1 p.m. Medical staff performed life-saving procedures and EMS did respond to the scene, according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.
He was pronounced dead at 1:45 p.m.
Martin was convicted in Rockingham County in April 2017 on habitual felon charges, according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.
He was schedule for release in January 2028.
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UK-based pub and bar operator Punch Pubs has expanded its portfolio through the acquisition of 14 venues across the UK.
The move is part of the company's strategic growth, bringing its total number of sites to 1,300 and marking more than 50 acquisitions since September 2023.
The group secured the Milton 1 and 2 portfolio from Aprirose, a real estate investment firm.
These venues, currently managed by Blackrose Pubs, represent a separate transaction from Punch's earlier takeover of the Milton 3 portfolio, which comprised 24 pubs.
The newly acquired pubs include the Shield and Dagger in Bristol, the Anchor in Bexley, the Auction House in Coventry and the Lochside in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Punch Pubs group property director Stephen Allen said: "This acquisition reflects our continued dedication to expanding and enhancing our portfolio.
"We look forward to investing in these pubs and supporting them with our industry-leading resources, ensuring their long-term success. Key to this will be Queensway Advisory, which is providing management services as the pubs join the Punch business.
Aprirose, along with its investment partners, purchased the pubs in 2019.
The divestiture is in line with Aprirose's strategy to exit the operational pub platform.
Aprirose chief executive Manish Gudka said: This sale aligns with our strategic goal of exiting our operational pub platform and re-allocating capital towards new opportunities we are actively pursuing across several sectors with a range of investor partnerships.
We appreciate the hard work of Blackrose Pubs in managing these assets, and we are confident that the pubs will continue to thrive under Punchs ownership.
"Punch Pubs expands with acquisition of 14 UK venues" was originally created and published by Verdict Food Service, 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.
Luis Albino was playing in a park with his brother Roger when he was kidnapped
Getty
More than half a century after a 6-year-old boy was lured away and kidnapped while he played in an Oakland park with his brother, he was stunningly found living on the East Coast as a grandfather.
Luis Armando Albino, who was kidnapped in February 1951, was miraculously located after his niece took a DNA test that first revealed that he was possibly alive. When the FBI helped Albino travel back to California 73 years later, the long-lost boy-turned-grandfather was able to reunite with his brother, Roger, months before the latter died, the Associated Press reported.
"They grabbed each other and had a really tight, long hug, they sat down and just talked," Albinos niece Alida Alequin, who spoke to The Mercury News, said of the brothers reunion.
On Feb. 21, 1951, Luis and Roger were playing in a park in West Oakland when a woman in a red bandana approached the younger Luis and promised to buy him candy, per the AP. Instead, he was flown across the country and raised by a couple on the East Coast.
Related: What We Know About the Case of a Missing Boy Found Living as a Grandfather 70 Years Later
Roger was reportedly questioned by police in the aftermath of the kidnapping, but there was no trace of his younger brother until 2020, when Alequin decided to take a DNA test for fun, KTVU reported.
The test revealed a 22% match with a man that she had never met, the outlet reported.
"My daughter found a lot of pictures of this man, and we started comparing," Alequin told KTVU. "The resemblance was so strong; how much he looked like my other uncles. And then another picture where he looked so much like my grandmother, that one gave me chills, and I said, Theres something here.
In 2024, there was finally a break in the case. After Alequin searched through old news clippings at the Oakland Public Library, she contacted police about her potential uncle.
"On March 18, 2024, a woman contacted OPD's Missing Persons Unit regarding the possible location and identity of her uncle, Luis Albino, who had been missing for more than 70 years, the Oakland Police Department told PEOPLE in a statement. The woman told our investigators that her online DNA test results matched an individual believed to be her uncle, who was kidnapped in 1951.
The department was ultimately assisted by the FBI, and in June, Albino was finally found.
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KTVU reported Albino has since visited California twice, once in June and again in July and even visited Roger, who was the last family member to see him in 1951. The two reportedly talked about their memories of that fateful day and bonded over their respective stints in the military.
Roger died in August, the outlet reported.
Alequin recalled meeting her uncle in person for the first time in an interview with KTVU.
Lots of hugs and tears, Alequin said. He hugged me really tight and he said, Thank you for finding me. And he gave me a kiss on the cheek.
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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Fresno Firefighters were outside all day Tuesday battling a major fire at an abandoned building off Highway 99.
Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig said the county was planning on selling the old morgue building until this fire. Magsig also says that the building has had a history of vagrants living there illegally.
Old Fresno County morgue destroyed by fire
Around 7:30 a.m., Fresno Fire was called into action after a major fire was reported at the old Fresno County Coroners Office.
While en route, there was already a large column of smoke visible from miles away. When the crews arrived, they reported heavy fire and smoke showing from both floors of the building, Fresno Fire Departments Josh Sellers said.
Fire crews were outside in triple-digit weather all day battling the fire, and ultimately calling cleaning crews to put out hotspots and bring the structure down.
Just like any other day that we have these higher temperatures, were giving those firefighters breaks trying to rotate and limit the work duration and make sure that they get rest and time to rehydrate in between their work cycles, Sellers said.
Sellers says its still too early to determine the cause of the fire. However, County Supervisor Nathan Magsig says he has an idea.
Over the course of the last several months, weve had issues with vagrants breaking into that particular site, cutting through the fence that was there and vandalizing the building. I saw some pictures already that the fence had been cut again. I have suspicions that vagrants may have caused the fire today, Fresno County Board of Supervisor Nathan Magsig said.
The old morgue building was last used as an animal shelter two and a half years ago, and the county had plans to sell the structure.
Right now, the county is going through the process of taking a look at a lot of properties that are underutilized or can be sold. This was one of the properties that we were looking at, Magsig said.
Now, a major cleanup is underway.
Were going through the process of gathering permits so we can remove the debris off-site, Magsig said.
Because the county still has plans for the land.
I know our public works department will take a look and see if they have a particular use for this site. But if there is not a use, I know that we can declare this particular piece of property as not needed in the county of Fresno and we can put it up for sale and then the public will have an opportunity to bid on it, Magsig said.
No one was injured in the fire and Supervisor Magsig says that he expects crews to be out at the scene for several more weeks before all debris is cleaned and the county can move forward.
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Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, shown here at a news conference May 31, 2024, has joined a letter claiming a pediatric medical association's gender-affirming care policy may violate the law. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird along with attorneys general and other officials from 20 U.S. states has accused the American Academy of Pediatrics of possible violations of state consumer protection statutes over its standards and recommendations for gender dysphoria care for children.
Bird joined a letter sent Tuesday by Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador. The attorneys general requested information detailing the academys evidence for its current recommendations for puberty blockers for gender dysphoria-diagnosed youth.
Most concerning, AAP claims that the use of puberty blockers on children is safe and reversible, Labradors office said in a press release. This assertion is not grounded in evidence and therefore may run afoul of consumer protection laws in most states.
Children with gender dysphoria need and deserve love, support, and medical care rooted in biological reality, Labrador said in the release.
It is shameful the most basic tenet of medicine do no harm has been abandoned by professional associations when politically pressured, Labrador said. These organizations are sacrificing the health and well-being of children with medically unproven treatments that leave a wake of permanent damage.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization made up of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, voted in August to reaffirm its 2018 policy statement on gender-affirming care and authorized development of an expanded set of guidance for pediatricians.
The organization could not immediately be reached for comment. But at the organizations August 2024 leadership conference in Itasca, Illinois, American Academy of Pediatrics CEO and Executive Vice President Mark Del Monte emphasized that the organization is confident that the principles presented in the original policy statement, Ensuring Comprehensive Care and Support for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children and Adolescents, remain in the best interest of children, according to an Aug. 4 press release from the academy.
The decision to authorize a systematic review reflects the academys boards concerns about restrictions to access to health care with bans on gender-affirming care in more than 20 states, according to the Aug. 4 release.
In Iowa, the Legislature passed Senate File 538, a law prohibit transgender minors from obtaining gender-related medical care such as puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy or any surgical interventions. It was signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds in March 2023.
What is in the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for gender-affirming care?
As outlined in its policy statement, the academy encourages pediatricians to use a gender-affirmative care model when treating young patients. The model encourages pediatricians to recognize that:
transgender identities and diverse gender expressions do not constitute a mental disorder;
variations in gender identity and expression are normal aspects of human diversity, and binary definitions of gender do not always reflect emerging gender identities;
gender identity evolves as an interplay of biology, development, socialization, and culture; and
if a mental health issue exists, it most often stems from stigma and negative experiences rather than being intrinsic to the child.
Many medical interventions can be offered to youth who identify as (transgender and gender diverse) and their families, the academy notes in its policy statement. The decision of whether and when to initiate gender-affirmative treatment is personal and involves careful consideration of risks, benefits, and other factors unique to each patient and family.
However, Labrador said treatments that suppress hormones or use puberty blockers may have adverse health effects to the patient, including interfering with neurocognitive development, compromising bone density and interfering with normal puberty experiences. He said the treatments may cause harm particularly egregious to children who grow out of the condition by the time they are adults.
Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai`i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky Chief Medical Officer Deborah Nucatola said in an emailed statement that her organization condemns the letter sent by Labrador and that it undermines the evidence-based practices of gender-affirming care.
The use of puberty blockers for youth, endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, is safe, reversible, and critical for supporting the physical and mental health of transgender individuals, Nucatola said in the statement. This care is not only widely accepted by every leading medical organizations but is also essential for ensuring that young people can make informed decisions about their bodies and futures. We need to prioritize compassionate, science-driven care over political rhetoric, ensuring that all individuals receive the respect and support they deserve.
The American Academy of Pediatrics in its policy statement says that research shows that children who assert their transgender identity before puberty and who know their gender as clearly and as consistently as their cisgender peers benefit from the same level of social acceptance as those peers.
More robust and current research suggests that, rather than focusing on who a child will become, valuing them for who they are, even at a young age, fosters secure attachment and resilience, not only for the child but also for the whole family, the academy wrote in its policy statement.
But Labrador and the other state officials say they want more information on how the academy has come to those conclusions, especially when it comes to puberty blockers.
The letter requests detailed information from the AAP regarding its communications and practices related to youth gender dysphoria and substantiation of the academys claims regarding the safety and reversibility of puberty blockers, the attorney generals press release says.
Other states joining Idaho and Iowa in sending the letter to the academy include officials from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
2024-09-24-AAPs-Compliance-with-State-Consumer-Protection-Laws
This story was originally published by Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and X.
In the intractable fight against America's online scam epidemic, there is one unlikely place where efforts to fight back appear to be making an impact.
From her office in Dubuque, Iowa, Jill Gogel has been doing everything she can to combat the scammers plaguing her customers. Fraud has become, in her words, "an everyday occurrence," and last year, the FTC reported that victims nationwide lost $10 billion to scams.
As vice president of fraud services at the Dupaco Community Credit Union, handling nearly 170,000 accounts in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin, Gogel has seen how fraud affects her customers firsthand.
"We're all victims of fraud at some point," she says. "How we handle it can be a difference as well. And where you have your support."
For Gogel, that support meant a more aggressive, personal and proactive approach to protecting her customers.
"I think sometimes we need to just remember that maybe taking two extra minutes for one person can be a really, really big difference-maker for that one person," Gogel told CBS News.
Gogel and her team at Dupaco have mandated that every employee, from bank teller to executives, participate in fraud training each year, which teaches them how to spot and address credit union members whose withdrawal patterns may indicate fraudulent activity.
"We really want our tellers to engage with that member to understand what it is they're doing, especially if they're, if it's an unusual transaction for them," Gogel said, noting that not every customer reacts appreciatively.
When something raises concerns, Gogel says she gets a phone call from the employee, who may say, "I didn't like this interaction. Something felt off." That's when the credit union alerts other branches to keep an eye out for this customer in case they attempt to withdraw funds at a different branch. Sometimes, the concern triggers outreach to a trusted contact listed on the account to alert them to a potential problem.
Gogel and her team have even gone as far as informing the authorities. Corporal Isaiah Hoff of the Dubuque Police Department partners with Dupaco on potential fraud cases and says for some victims, "it's a hard pill to swallow."
"That carries a lot of weight when I can show up with some supporting evidence that this is not who they say it is," Hoff said, explaining that often he can get through to a scam victim in a way their family or friends cannot.
Gogel says the proactive approach is showing results. When Dupaco first started its initiative 10 years ago, the credit union says it was preventing roughly $300,000 in potential fraud losses. Last year, she estimates preventing $10 million from reaching potential scammers.
For Gogel, the credit union's members are a reason to keep doing this work.
"We have 170,000 reasons every single day to, sometimes I like to say, put on our superhero capes and make sure that we're protecting our members," she said.
Some experts say that these kinds of protective measures would be just as useful for larger banking institutions. According to Ronald Long, a retired Wells Fargo banker who specializes in elder financial abuse, it is something the big banks should be more proactive about.
"[Dupaco is] a role model that says it can be done. Having everyone come together, work together," Long said.
While Long is not advocating that every senior citizen have their transactions scrutinized, he does point to the numbers. A 2023 study by AARP found that victims over 60 in the United States lose $28.3 billion each year to elder fraud.
"We should be taking every step that we can within reason to make sure that as we age, we're not doing things that amount to financial suicide," Long said. "And it is, I think, a societal thing to say that we will work as hard as we can together to make sure we're protecting the finances of folks as they age."
Paul Benda, an executive vice president for risk fraud and cybersecurity at the American Bankers Association, says these situations are "really hard" for the banks to navigate, and that the responsibility for blocking illicit transactions should fall on government agencies tasked with protecting the elderly.
"The bank's job is to make sure the money gets where it's supposed to go as safely and securely as possible, but we don't want to insert ourselves and tell you, 'oh, you should or shouldn't send that money,' because we don't have all the information," Benda said.
He added, "I understand why people want us to do that, but we're really afraid of being wrong. If we stop you from investing in that crypto or in that gold thing, and then it turns out that was a legitimate request and it wasn't a scammer, then the bank is probably going to be liable."
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On Sunday, Monmouth Police, together with the Warren County Sheriffs Office, arrested 28-year-old Keokuk, Iowa, resident Ryan M. Oneill for guns and drug offenses after responding to 911 calls reporting gunfire, according to a news release from the Warren County States Attorneys Office.
Ryan Oneill (Warren County States Attorneys Office)
On Tuesday, the Warren County States Attorneys Office filed a petition to detain Oneill on five formal charges including Class X armed violence, possession of a firearm/ammunition by a felon, and Class X possession of methamphetamine of more than 15 but less than 100 grams, with the intent to deliver. The listed charges all carry a mandatory prison sentence, the release shows.
According to a statement given in court by the states attorney, when Oneill was arrested, a bullet hole was found in the windshield of the vehicle he was driving. Inside, police found two bags of meth, each weighing more than 30 grams, as well as a pistol magazine containing 9mm ammunition. The vehicle had substantial collision damage resulting in airbag deployment before police arrived.
Witnesses said the shooting took place during a struggle for the gun after Oneill threatened another man with a handgun inside the vehicle during a drug deal. Nobody was injured by the discharge of the weapon, the release says.
Oneill will remain in custody pending his next appearance for a preliminary hearing Oct 10.
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The Local police had warned about Crooks acting suspiciously before the rally. Secret Service failed with key lapses in its security plan and not communicating with local and state law enforcement agencies before a gunman opened fire at Donald Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a new report found.
The findings from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs came via interviews and 2,800 pages of documents. The panel determined the agency tasked with protecting the former president did not take a proper leadership role in planning and securing the site on July 13. About 20 minutes into the Trumps rally, gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire, wounding the former president, killing a spectator and injuring two more.
The Secret Service has faced intense criticism for its planning and the investigation into the attempted assassination.
[United States Secret Service] failures in planning, communications, security, and allocations of resources were foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the events resulting in the assassination attempt, the report says.
A new interim Senate report has outlined the failures of the Secret Service before the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. They included missed chances to catch the gunman and failure to take threats seriously (Getty Images)
Some of the failures highlighted were the negligence in blocking a line of sight from the roof of the nearby building where the gunman would eventually be found. There were also credible threats about Iran targeting US politicians.
But most striking, the chaotic, and deficient, method of communication the Secret Service had with local and state law enforcement contributed to a delay in locating the gunman promptly and preventing the former president from taking the stage.
These are some of the failures found in the report:
Lack of leadership
The report found that a key failure was the lack of clearly defined responsibilities or chain of command in planning and making security decisions ahead of the rally.
No single individual was responsible for making decisions which meant the roles and responsibilities of the advance team, in charge of planning, were unclear and ultimately led to security oversights.
Federal, state and local law enforcement did not receive planning documents ahead of time because there was no single point of contact and meetings were informal. One Butler Emergency Services Unit Commander described the rally site walkthrough as incredibly disorganized and left feeling as though there was no plan.
The report recommends Congress require the Secret Service to identify defined roles and responsibilities for agents responsible for advance planning of any protective event.
Officials determined there was a lack of leadership in the security plan to help protect Trump while he was at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Failures to block line of sight
Secret Service failed to ensure the building where the shooter shot from was properly secured and covered despite acknowledging concerns about it.
That was because they believed local law enforcement would handle securing the building.
However, local law enforcement officials reportedly told the Secret Service planning team they were unable to secure the building due to lacking manpower. The agency allowed the rally to continue despite the sight lines not being blocked when agents arrived at the site in the morning.
Requests for additional resources were denied
Secret Service officials failed to provide unmanned aircraft systems, a counter-assault team liaison or counter surveillance unit to the rally all of which may have helped spot the gunman earlier.
Crooks had flown a drone over the site for 11 minutes before the shooting and was undetected by the Secret Service. An operator on the system, had to call tech support for help. The operator admitted he had less than an hour of total training on the system.
Lack of communication between agencies and creditable threats not being shared were prevalent on July 13 (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Acting director Ronald Rowe previously said that had the countermeasures been working, the agency might have found Crooks before the shooting.
No communication between different law enforcement agencies
Most obviously, the inability of all levels of law enforcement agents and officers to communicate effectively significantly contributed to the gunman being able to take a shot at Trump and rallygoers.
Secret Service agents did not provide local and state law enforcement with plans ahead of time nor did they ensure each department could share information in real time. On the day of, each team used a different communication method through text messages, radio, email and verbal which delayed the information.
Local police had warned about Crooks acting suspiciously before the rally. The warning did not get to many on the Secret Service because agencies were using different radio systems.
Still, snipers failed to pick up on reports about a possible shooter and watched local police approach Crooks with pistols drawn - without raising any alarms.
The gunman was initially spotted at 5:32 p.m. by a local sniper, in between then and when shots were taken at 6:11 p.m., at least eight Secret Service personnel were notified of the suspicious individuals presence.
When we looked, just plain eyes, no optics or anything, you could see police running towards the building with their hands on their pistols, a sniper team leader told Congress, according to CNN. I think one actually had a pistol facing towards the ground, out of a holster. Thats a pretty big deal for us, so immediately we turned and faced our guns towards the threat area. We didnt know what was happening, but it seemed pretty serious, especially with the locals response.
Secret Service snipers were only told to look for something at their three oclock two minutes before Crooks started shooting. It was around that time, that warning went out on the radios that a man was on a nearby roof.
Prior potential threats were not relayed
The report says Secret Service counter snipers were to be provided at the rally days before the shooting took place because there was credible intelligence of a threat. Yet, that information was never shared with Secret Service personnel responsible for planning the rally or any state or local law enforcement authorities.
There were reports about Iran targeting US officials, but it was not relayed to agents in the Pittsburgh field office or other Secret Service agents. Secret Service members told Congress they should have been aware of the threat because it would have allowed them to request extra resources.
This aerial photo of the Butler Farm Show, site on July 13. It shows the aftermath after a gunman opened fire on Trump during a rally. Now, Secret Service failures are being highlighted in a new report (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Despite the threat, there is no evidence Crooks was working with a foreign government.
Still, officials told CNN that the threat alone should have increased the security around Trump.
As a Site Agent or Lead [Advance] Agent assigned, you should have any intelligence or any information pertaining to an active threat to a particular protectee, absolutely, in case that we need to take, you know, take additional measures, or maybe plan for additional assets or additional resources for that particular matter So it shocked me, an agent said, according to the report.
(Bloomberg) -- Irans new president, making his global debut before the United Nations General Assembly, managed to dominate the day Tuesday by warning Israels attacks on Lebanon cannot go unanswered, while also urging Western nations to come back to a nuclear accord and lift sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
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President Masoud Pezeshkian drew more attention for his dual messages of threat and cooperation than the days other star speakers, including Joe Biden, making his farewell appearance as US president at the UN rostrum with a plea for collective action to address current and emerging global challenges.
Hanging over the day was Israels promise to press ahead with its military campaign in Lebanon, escalating concern that an all-out war in the Mideast may be close at hand.
Pezeshkian, a relative moderate within Irans constrained political spectrum, worked to balance two different mandates: easing the Islamic Republics economic isolation while also responding to Israels escalating war with Iran-backed Hezbollah to its north and Hamas to the south.
We are ready to engage with nuclear deal parties if the nuclear deals commitments are implemented fully and in good faith, Pezeshkian said, referring to a 2015 agreement placing limits on Irans nuclear program. Former President Donald Trump quit the pact in 2018 and reimposed a crippling sanctions regime.
Pezeshkian called on the US and its partners to remove sanctions on Iran in order to lay the foundations for further agreement.
The substance of Pezeshkians address to the UN General Assembly didnt differ much from that of his predecessors, but his tone was far more understated.
Macrons Interested
The likelihood of successful nuclear talks appeared dim, especially given Irans backing of the militias at war with Israel. But he had one potential taker for talks: Pezeshkian told Bloomberg News that plans are underway to discuss a revival of the nuclear deal after a positive meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. Macrons office said his country is willing to solve differences with Iran under clear parameters.
Still, calling Israels bombardment of Gaza desperate barbarism, Pezeshkian made clear in his UN remarks that Iran wont ease its support of its allied forces in the face of stepped-up Israeli attacks.
More than 500 people, including 50 children, have been killed by Israels bombardment of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon so far. The escalation by the key US ally increases the likelihood of all-out war with the Islamist group, the most powerful of Irans allied militant forces across the Middle East.
A diplomatic move is always better than a confrontation, Israels UN Ambassador Danny Danon wrote on X. Even so, he said, we are determined to restore security to our citizens in any possible way.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to arrive in New York later in the week and address the General Assembly on Friday. Earlier Tuesday, he said air strikes would continue, and a top Israeli general said the country is destroying military infrastructure Hezbollah has built over 20 years.
The conflict hung over the first day of the General Assembly debate in New York, with several leaders who took to the podium criticizing Israels attacks. Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for coercive measures against Israel while others repeated demands for a cease-fire.
In a speech earlier in the day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres aimed a thinly veiled accusation at Israel as well as others such as Russia for its action in Ukraine saying the level of impunity in the world is politically indefensible and morally intolerable.
Others, such as Biden, were milder. Urging de-escalation in the Middle East, he said full-scale war is not in anyones interest.
The danger of escalation was set to be a major theme on Wednesday as well. The UN Security Council was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on the situation in Lebanon in a bid to push for both sides to back down.
The violence flared last week with a series of explosions that targeted pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah. Israel didnt take credit for sabotaging the devices but officials including Pezeshkian condemned the strike, which killed more than 25 people and wounded hundreds.
Worse for Iran, the countrys ambassador to Lebanon was among the wounded.
Pezeshkians appeal to come back to talks faces a cold reception from the US, which says Irans funding of Hamas, Hezbollah and other proxies makes talks of rapprochement impossible. Hell also have to attend to the priorities of hard-line institutions back home.
Can Irans Reformist President Make a Difference?: QuickTake
Those include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, both of which will be weighing how to respond to Israels worsening attacks on a critical ally.
Some of Irans competing objectives are in clear conflict now, said Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group. Its hard to get an economic reprieve from the West when Iran is on the opposite side of two conflicts the West cares about: Ukraine and Gaza-Lebanon.
Vaez was referring to another alliance that has angered the US and its allies the strengthening military ties between Iran and Russia. US and UK officials have accused Iran of supplying ballistic missiles to Russia, a charge Pezeshkian denied in a meeting with reporters in New York on Monday. He said he doesnt approve of Russias war on Ukraine.
According to Tehran-based economist Saeed Laylaz, Iran hasnt responded to Israel with force in part because of its desire for sanctions relief. Thats a critical step toward attracting desperately needed foreign investment, and time may be running out with Trump seeking to return to the White House.
I dont believe that Iran will make a big move that will bring it directly into this conflict, Laylaz said. That will work in favor of Netanyahu and Trump, and thats what the Islamic Republic will avoid.
--With assistance from Jon Herskovitz.
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Iran trying to assassinate Donald Trump, other US leaders, officials say
WASHINGTON Iran has made it "clear" that it is trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump, as well as members of his administration and the current Biden administration as payback for the killing of an Iranian general and other hardline policies, U.S. officials and lawmakers said Wednesday.
The comments came after Trumps dramatic disclosure Tuesday night that he had been briefed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence about Tehran's real and specific threats against him.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate intelligence committee, said he hadn't seen any indication Iran had anything to do with the two alleged assassination plots against Trump, including one that drew blood at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in July.
"But I think there is also clear evidence out there that Iran has made it clear that they intend to if they could, they would try to assassinate the former president, Rounds said. And they've talked about assassinating other senior members in leadership.
Sean Savett, a spokesman at the National Security Council, confirmed the Iranian threat.
As we have said many times, we have been tracking Iranian threats against former President Trump and former Trump administration officials for years, dating back to the last administration, Savett said in a statement to USA TODAY. These threats arise from Irans desire to seek revenge for the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian general slain in a 2020 drone strike ordered by then-President Trump.
Iran has denied trying to assassinate U.S. officials, but the Justice Department has launched numerous investigations and prosecutions into such efforts, including into plots against former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton. U.S. officials have been issuing public warnings about Iran's desire for vengeance since shortly after Soleimani was killed.
Trump himself acknowledged the ongoing concern Wednesday in a post on X that garnered 19.9 million views by noon.
Big threats on my life by Iran. The entire U.S. Military is watching and waiting. Moves were already made by Iran that didnt work out, but they will try again, Trump wrote. Not a good situation for anyone. I am surrounded by more men, guns, and weapons than I have ever seen before.
In his post, Trump thanked Congress for unanimously approving far more money to Secret Service for his protective detail. Nice to see Republicans and Democrats get together on something, he wrote. An attack on a former President is a Death Wish for the attacker!
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the ranking Republican on the Senate intelligence committee, told USA TODAY: "I think what (the Trump campaign) said is they've been briefed on a real, credible and specific threat. Which they're not exaggerating."
The warning comes six weeks after the Justice Department, without naming an intended victim, charged a Pakistani national with ties to Iran in an alleged plot to assassinate a U.S. politician or government official, potentially in response to Soleimani's death. And in July, CNN reported the Secret Service had beefed up security for Trump over concerns of an Iranian plot.
A spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, acknowledged briefing Trump but declined to address any specifics. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung offered few details.
It was still unclear Wednesday what prompted the Trump briefing and what the former president was told including whether any of the longstanding concerns had intensified based on new intelligence.
Trumps campaign and ODNI officials had no further comment on Wednesday.
But Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC News Wednesday morning the government was tracking "an ongoing threat by Iran against a number of senior officials, including former government officials like President Trump, and some people who are currently serving the administration.
"The Iranian desire and plotting to assassinate Donald Trump is the single gravest foreign threat to an American leader in our history," Rubio said, citing a video posted by the Iranian regime in January 2022 depicting the assassination of Trump on a golf course as revenge for killing of Soleimani.
He called it "probably the gravest example of election interference we've ever seen."
Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., did not respond directly when asked if he'd been briefed by ODNI on the information the Trump campaign says it received. But he said his committee has been updated "regularly" by the FBI on Iranian threats to the fomer president.
"The Iranian regime still has a number of current and former officials that they are trying to exact revenge on from the Soleimani death," he said.
After Trump was shot and wounded in the right ear at his July 13 campaign rally, the White House confirmed the broad outlines of a separate threat against him from Iran.
Contributing: David Jackson, Francesca Chambers, Tom Vanden Brook.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iran wants to assassinate Donald Trump as payback, US officials say
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah ALI KHAMENEI meets military personnel and veterans of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war in Tehran. Iran's supreme leader said on September 25 that Israel's killing of top Hezbollah commanders couldn't bring the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group to its knees. Iranian Supreme Leader's Office/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Iran's religious leader sees no signs of defeat for the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, despite the killing of high-ranking commanders in attacks by Israel.
"Without doubt it was a loss for Hezbollah, but it was not a loss that would bring about its defeat," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, said at a veterans' event in Tehran on Wednesday. He added that Hezbollah's organizational and human strength was far greater.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned against underestimating Hezbollah. "It is more than capable of destroying the bases and colonies of the Israeli regime," he wrote on the X platform.
Hezbollah has been considered Iran's most important ally in the Middle East for many years, but observers consider it unlikely that Tehran would rush to its aid in the event of war between it and Israel.
Iran's new government led by President Masoud Pezeshkian is struggling with a severe economic crisis and is seeking to re-establish ties with the West. The military and political leadership in Tehran has so far only made threats against Israel and the West but has not carried out any direct attacks.
A security office built at the Department of Finance in Dublin cost more than 1.4 m (1.2m).
Chairman of the Office of Public Works (OPW) John Conlon revealed the figure at the Oireachtas Finance Committee on Wednesday.
He emphasised that the pavilion's construction followed an "extensive" security review by An Garda Siochana (Irish police).
However Tanaiste (Deputy Irish PM) Micheal Martin described the spend as "ridiculous".
Martin said he was "shocked" when he first heard the cost of the project and said a "fundamental review" was needed.
'Significant costs'
Green Party TD Steven Matthews said that while the the shelter is "very attractive", it was "quite a significant, high cost project".
Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Conlon confirmed that the OPW constructed and finalised the project, which had a total cost of 1.429 million (1.193 million).
"While it looks like, and is, a fairly significant cost, there are very significant mechanical, electrical and security system costs in that," he said.
"There was also a significant cost to provide a temporary structure while that building was taking place."
Mr Conlon added that there were also significant costs for underground works, ventilation, data, comunications, CCTV, a control centre, sub-structure works and re-routing of underground services.
"There is a huge security element to this project," he said.
Value for money
Speaking about the security shelter from New York, Taoiseach (Irish PM) Simon Harris stressed the importance of value for money.
"Of course, projects need to be carried out for security reasons from time to time," he said.
"Security is extraordinarily important, but also making sure that happens within in the context of value for money is an absolute imperative."
A report was also published on Wednesday morning on a controversial 336,000 (283,149) covered bike shelter built in the grounds of the Irish parliament last year.
The report was written by Mr Conlon, who said that while the project's costs "can be explained", the overall cost "is completely not acceptable in the wider context of value for money and value for the taxpayer".
It is an extraordinary cost for the provision of a covered bicycle parking facility and one which the OPW has to seriously reflect on," he added.
According to the report, the OPW told authorities in Leinster House three years ago that installing uncovered bicycle parking outside the Member's Restaurant would have been a cost-effective option.
This was not deemed acceptable following security advice, although the OPW felt that any operational changes needed in relation to security "were not insurmountable".
Mr Conlon said he has revised project approval thresholds downwards and will ensure members of the OPW Management Board will approve all works above 200,000 (167,000).
He has also engaged an external auditor to advise how to ensure value for money for projects below 500,000 (418,000).
More on this story
We recently published a list of 10 Best Natural Gas Stocks To Invest In According to Hedge Funds. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) stands against the other best natural gas stocks to invest in according to hedge funds.
The natural gas sector has experienced significant fluctuations in recent years, driven by a variety of geopolitical, economic, and environmental factors. As the global energy transition takes shape, natural gas remains a crucial player in the energy mix, offering a relatively cleaner alternative to coal and oil. This importance is reflected in its role in power generation, industrial activities, and heating, particularly in fast-growing markets across Asia and the Middle East. In this article, we explore the ten best natural gas stocks to invest in, based on insights from hedge funds. These stocks represent companies that are well-positioned to benefit from the evolving dynamics of the natural gas industry, including shifts in global supply and demand, the rise of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and increasing investments in cleaner, low-emission gases.
According to the World Banks 2024 Commodity Markets Outlook, natural gas prices rebounded significantly in mid-2024 after a steep decline earlier in the year, following a mild winter. U.S. prices surged by 80% compared to their average in March, while European prices saw a 25% increase. This recovery was driven by strong demand from Asia, particularly for LNG, as well as outages and supply disruptions in Europe. Despite this rebound, natural gas prices are expected to be lower in 2024 compared to the previous two years, reflecting a cooling in demand and ample supply. However, a recovery is anticipated in 2025 as markets stabilize and the demand for cleaner energy sources grows.
Natural gas demand has been relatively stable, with some regions, such as Asia-Pacific, seeing an uptick driven by industrial activity in China and India. Meanwhile, Europes demand has remained subdued, 22% lower than its 2005 peak. The World Bank expects global demand to grow by about 2% annually through 2024 and 2025, primarily fueled by emerging markets in China and the Middle East. However, advanced economies are projected to see flat or declining demand due to a shift towards renewable energy and increased energy efficiency. At the same time, global supplies have remained stable, with record-high U.S. production offsetting declines in Russia and Europe. LNG exports from the U.S., Qatar, and Africa are expected to continue expanding to meet growing demand, particularly in Asia.
Story continues
The International Energy Agency (IEA) also highlights similar trends in its 2024 Gas Market Report. According to the IEA, global gas demand grew by 3% in the first half of 2024, surpassing the historical average growth rate of 2%. However, this recovery remains fragile, with supply constraints and geopolitical tensions contributing to price volatility. The IEA points out that Asia accounted for 60% of the demand growth, with China and India seeing over 10% year-on-year increases in gas consumption. This surge in demand was driven largely by industrial use, supported by economic expansion in the region. On the supply side, LNG production faced challenges in the second quarter of 2024, marking its first year-on-year contraction since the COVID-19 pandemic. This decline in output was attributed to feed gas supply issues and unexpected outages, leading to upward pressure on prices in key markets.
As we look ahead, the natural gas market is poised for a period of moderate growth, driven by demand in fast-growing economies and the expansion of LNG trade. Both the World Bank and the IEA agree that while global demand is set to increase, the market remains vulnerable to a range of risks, including geopolitical developments, supply disruptions, and the transition to cleaner energy sources. In this context, companies that can navigate these challenges and capitalize on opportunities in the LNG sector, as well as in low-emission gas technologies, are likely to emerge as strong investment candidates.
In the second half of 2024, natural gas demand growth is expected to slow, with the IEA forecasting a year-on-year increase of just under 2%. The decline in LNG production in the second quarter of 2024 has led to tighter supply-demand fundamentals, pushing up prices in key markets such as Asia and Europe. The U.S., which has been a major driver of global LNG exports, is expected to see further expansion in export capacity by the end of the year. The Freeport LNG expansion, the ramp-up of Plaquemines LNG, and the start-up of Corpus Christi Stage 3 are among the key projects set to come online, boosting U.S. export capacity. These developments will play a crucial role in meeting growing demand in Asia and offsetting supply shortfalls in other regions.
Despite the challenges facing the natural gas industry, there are several reasons for optimism. The continued expansion of LNG trade, particularly between the U.S. and Asia, presents significant growth opportunities for companies involved in the production, transportation, and distribution of natural gas. Additionally, the increasing focus on low-emission gases offers new avenues for growth, as governments and corporations alike seek to reduce their carbon footprints. According to the IEA, the supply of low-emission gases is expected to more than double by 2027, driven by policy support and investment in cleaner energy technologies. This trend is expected to benefit natural gas companies that are investing in technologies to reduce emissions and improve the sustainability of their operations.
In short, while the natural gas market faces several uncertainties, it remains a critical component of the global energy landscape. Companies that are well-positioned to navigate the complexities of supply and demand, expand their LNG operations, and invest in low-emission technologies are likely to perform well in the coming years. As investors look for opportunities in this space, the ten natural gas stocks highlighted in this article offer a compelling mix of growth potential, financial stability, and strategic positioning within the broader energy transition. Whether driven by rising LNG exports or the push for cleaner energy, these stocks represent some of the best investment opportunities in the natural gas sector today.
Our Methodology
For this article, we sifted through ETFs and online rankings to first compile a list of 20 natural gas stocks. Next, we selected the 10 stocks that were the most widely held by hedge funds, as of Q2 2024. The list is arranged in ascending order of the number of hedge fund holders in each firm.
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).
Aerial view of a oil rig in the middle of an ocean, with a bright orange sunrise in the background.
Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 38
Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) is a key player in the natural gas sector, making it an excellent candidate for inclusion in our list of ten best natural gas stocks to invest in according to hedge funds. As of the second quarter of 2024, 38 hedge funds hold positions in Range Resources, a notable increase from 30 in the previous quarter, signaling growing confidence among institutional investors. The companys strong presence in the Appalachian region and its diversified operations in natural gas, NGLs, and crude oil have cemented its position as a leader in the energy sector.
In its Q2 2024 earnings report, Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) demonstrated resilience in a challenging environment by maintaining efficient capital expenditure and generating substantial free cash flow. The companys low breakeven costs, driven by class-leading drilling and completion processes, along with its liquids-rich portfolio, provided significant financial benefits. Liquids revenue uplifted natural gas prices during the quarter, with NGL price realizations outperforming industry benchmarks such as Henry Hub.
Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) continues to capitalize on its diverse transportation portfolio, exporting a majority of its propane to international markets, notably China. This export flexibility, combined with domestic sales optimization for other liquids like butane, allowed the company to achieve a premium of $24.35 per barrel for NGLs in Q2, $1.26 above the Mont Belvieu equivalent.
Operationally, the company turned 17 wells to sale, focusing on long laterals, some extending over 15,000 feet. This efficiency reduced well costs and boosted production, which reached 2.15 Bcf per day in Q2. Liquids accounted for 30% of production, with an expected rise to 32% in the second half of 2024.
From a financial standpoint, Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) posted a cash margin of 37% and realized $3.10 per Mcfe, $1.22 above NYMEX Henry Hub prices. The companys disciplined approach to managing costs and capital allocation has resulted in strong cash flow, supporting debt reduction, share buybacks, and dividend payments. With a vast inventory of high-quality wells and strong financial metrics, Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) is well-positioned to deliver long-term value to shareholders while meeting growing global energy demands.
Overall RRC ranks 1oth on our list of best natural gas stocks to invest in according to hedge funds. While we acknowledge the potential of RRC as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than RRC 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.
If you or someone you know needs help, call the toll-free Statewide 24-hour Sexual Violence Crisis and Information Hotline at 1-888-421-1100. Click here for a list of Rape Crisis Resources in Utah.
IRON COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) An Iron County man has been sentenced to time in prison after he inappropriately touched a woman while allegedly doing yard work under the influence of narcotics.
According to the Iron County Attorneys Office, Andrew Wirsing, 51, was sentenced Monday to serve up to five years in prison.
Utah police warn of personalized and threatening email scam targeting victims
The Attorneys Office states that Wirsing was hired to do yard work for a woman. While reportedly under the influence of narcotics, the Attorneys Office says Wirsing went into the home and inappropriately grabbed the woman.
Wirsing pleaded guilty to two charges of attempted forcible sexual abuse on August 12, and both charges are third-degree felonies. According to the affidavit of probable cause, Wirsing groped the woman twice.
Police say that Wirsing called the Sheriffs Office to come forward, where he stated that he inappropriately touched the woman while going in for a hug. He also told police that he couldnt remember everything as he was under the influence of drugs.
The homeowner pushed Wirsing away, made him leave the property, and reported the incident to law enforcement, the Attorneys Office said. Wirsing was arrested earlier this year and has remained incarcerated since his arrest.
Wirsings sentence wont exceed five years as his sentence will run concurrently according to sentencing documents. The Attorneys Office says the states board of pardons will determine how long he will serve at the Utah State Prison.
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STERLING, Ill. (WTVO) Illinois State Police Blackhawk Area Task Force arrested Dakota Bottoms, 29, for allegedly delivering cannabis among other charges.
Bottoms was released on pre-trial conditions and awaits a further court date in Whiteside County.
ISP collaborated with the Sterling Police Department, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, Scott County Special Operations Unit and Rock Island Police Department conducted the investigation.
Bottoms prosecution will be taken care of by the Illinois Attorney Generals Office.
Bottoms is charged with two counts of delivering cannabis and two counts of possession of cannabis with intent to deliver.
The investigation is open and ongoing. ISP says no further information will be released.
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A fire-fighting plane tries to extinguish a fire that erupts in a forest following a rocket hit from Lebanon on Safed. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
The military conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon intensified on Wednesday, as Israel announced additional troop mobilizations and sent warplanes to the north of Beirut, as Hezbollah targeted Tel Aviv for the first time.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was mobilizing two more reserve brigades for missions in the northern area and that troops must be ready for a ground manoeuvre.
"We have entered a new phase in the operation," said Ori Gordin, the IDF commander for the north. He said Israel must "change the security situation, and we must be fully prepared for manoeuvres and actions."
According to the military, the aim is to enable around 60,000 inhabitants of northern Israel who have fled to return to their homes.
Hezbollah sources said the militia fighters were "ready to confront any possible ground invasion."
More back and forth
Israeli strikes on Wednesday morning killed 51 and injured some 223, the Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said at a press briefing later in the day.
The attacks struck towns and villages in the south of the country and also north of Beirut.
Overall some 600 people have been killed since the escalation began on Monday, the ministry said.
Israeli warplanes attacked the predominantly Christian areas north of Beirut for the first time since the conflict with the Shiite Hezbollah militia escalated about a year ago.
The towns of Maaysra, north of Beirut, and Joun near the coastal city of Sidon were also hit.
Maaysra, however, is the only Shiite village in the predominantly Christian area, which is about an hour's drive north of Beirut. Joun is mainly composed of Sunni Muslims with some Christian.
The Lebanese state news agency NNA also reported numerous attacks on places in the east of the country. There was no immediate confirmation from Israel's military.
Hezbollah tries to hit Tel Aviv
These followed a rocket attack by the Hezbollah militia, which directly attacked the Israeli coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv for the first time.
According to the Israeli army, the rocket was intercepted.
Hezbollah subsequently declared that the rocket attack was aimed at the headquarters of Israel's foreign intelligence service Mossad in a suburb of Tel Aviv.
Mossad, it said, was responsible for the assassination of several of the militia's leaders and for the evidently coordinated mass explosions of communication devices used by Hezbollah in Lebanon last week.
Hezbollah continued shelling Israel and said it had fired dozens of rockets at a military base in the north of the country.
Around 40 missiles were fired from Lebanon and some of them were intercepted, the Israeli military announced. One rocket fell near an assisted living facility near Safed in the north; there were no injuries.
Hezbollah hiding behind Lebanese civilians
Observers and ex-military personnel in Lebanon confirmed the Israeli military's accusation that Hezbollah is hiding weapons in residential areas.
"[Hezbollah] has no barracks or places to store their weapons because Israel will detect them," said former Lebanese army brigadier Wehbe Katischa, who served in southern Lebanon.
"That's why their most important depots are located between houses and in mountainous areas near residential areas."
The Hezbollah militia had an estimated 150,000 missiles in the region before the start of the Gaza war almost a year ago.
Israel's military repeatedly said that the attacks in Lebanon would target the militia's weapons depots.
Israel has long accused Hezbollah of hiding weapons in residential areas and of manufacturing rockets there. The Lebanese government has tried to refute some of these accusations.
According to Lebanese Middle East expert Riad Chawahdschi, the explosions that follow Israeli bombardments are also proof of the weapons depots in residential areas.
Videos circulated by Israel in this regard are not propaganda; there are also videos of this kind that residents release after attacks, he noted.
Thousands displaced in Lebanon
At least 90,530 people have been displaced since Monday, including nearly 40,000 in 283 shelters, the United Nations reported.
It said nearly 600 have been killed, including 50 childrean and 94 women in nearly 1,700 strikes across the country.
Humanitarian organizations urgently require at least $170 million to sustain ongoing response and respond to new needs, the UN said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on the parties to the conflict in the Middle East to respect international humanitarian law in view of the increasing number of civilian victims in Lebanon.
The ICRC said in Geneva on Wednesday that international humanitarian law made it clear that care must be taken at all times to spare the civilian population and civilian objects when carrying out military operations.
No signs of an Iranian military intervention to date
Iran's religious leader expressed confidence that Hezbollah shows no signs of defeat, despite the loss of high-ranking commanders in Israeli attacks. However, he made no mention of Iran taking a more active role in the ongoing conflict.
"Without doubt it was a loss for Hezbollah, but it was not a loss that would bring about its defeat," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, said at a veterans' event in Tehran on Wednesday. He added that Hezbollah's organizational and human strength was far greater.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned against underestimating Hezbollah. "It is more than capable of destroying the bases and colonies of the Israeli regime," he wrote on the X platform.
Hezbollah has been considered Iran's most important ally in the Middle East for many years, but observers consider it unlikely that Tehran would rush to its aid in the event of war between it and Israel.
Iran's new government led by President Masoud Pezeshkian is struggling with a severe economic crisis and is seeking to re-establish ties with the West.
The military and political leadership in Tehran has so far only made threats against Israel and the West but has not carried out any direct attacks.
A view of the damage in a building hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut southern suburb. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, six people were killed and 15 others were wounded in the strike, which was targeting Hezbollah's rocket chief, according to the Israeli military. Marwan Naamani/dpa
Israel's military hinted for the first time Wednesday of possible ground operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, with a top commander stressing the need to be ready for "maneuvers and action" against the Iran-backed group. This comes after more than a week of airstrikes that Lebanese officials say have killed more than 600 people and displaced thousands.
The U.S. has urged Israel to focus on diplomacy rather than escalating its fight with Hezbollah, with concern growing that a full-scale war between the longtime foes could mushroom into a wider conflict that puts American forces in the Middle East at greater risk and destabilizes the volatile region.
"We have entered a new phase of the campaign," Major General Ori Gordin, the Israel Defense Forces commander for the north of the country, said Tuesday, according to a statement released Wednesday by the IDF. Crossfire between the IDF and Hezbollah across Israel's northern border with Lebanon has ramped up since the U.S.-designated terrorist group's Hamas allies launched their Oct. 7 massacre, sparking the ongoing war in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
"The operation began with a significant blow to Hezbollah's capabilities, focusing on their firepower capabilities, and a very significant hit on the organization's commanders and operatives. Facing this, we need to change the security situation, and we must be fully prepared for maneuvers and action," Gordin said, speaking with other senior officers as he visited the border region to observe exercises.
A photo provided by the Israel Defense Forces on Sept. 25, 2024, shows Commander of the IDF Northern Command, Major General Uri Gordin (center) visiting commanders and fighters of the 7th Brigade for an
It was not immediately clear if Gordin was talking about a ground incursion, which could see Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah in direct combat inside Lebanon for the first time in years.
Hours after his remarks were released, the IDF said two additional brigades were being sent to the northern front, further bolstering the ground force available in the border area with Lebanon to "enable the continuation of the fighting effort against Hezbollah, the defense of the citizens of the State of Israel and the creation of conditions for the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes."
"Escalate to deescalate"
Briefing reporters on Tuesday, a senior U.S. State Department official stressed the Biden administration's focus on finding a diplomatic resolution to the increasing pace, intensity and scale of attacks between Hezbollah and Israel, to break "this cycle of strike and counterstrike."
The official indicated that the administration was, based on the history of such tactics, not convinced that Israel's "escalate to deescalate" approach could bring about the desired results. For Israel, the stated goal has long been enabling tens of thousands of border community residents to come back home months after they were displaced by Hezbollah's relentless rocket fire.
Those rocket, drone and missile attacks dozens of which the group has launched this week, including what the IDF says was a first attempt to hit a target in Tel Aviv with a ballistic missile on Tuesday have been largely ineffective. The majority of the group's weapons are shot down by Israel's advanced missile defense systems, and many others land in open space. Several people have been wounded as the rockets and drones crash down, but the damage inflicted by Israel on the other side of its northern border has been significant by comparison.
The heart of Beirut's densely populated southern suburbs a Hezbollah stronghold was targeted in yet another airstrike Tuesday, and the group later confirmed Israel's claim to have killed Ibrahim Qubaisi, who led its rocket and missile force, in the strike.
Lebanese health officials said at least six people were killed in that blast, and since the airstrikes ramped up last week, Lebanon's health ministry has reported more than 610 people being killed in total. It's not clear how many of the dead were Hezbollah fighters, but the group acknowledged the deaths of three more from its ranks on Wednesday alone, on the heels of Qubaisi's assassination.
Warnings of an "all-out war"
Israel launched its successive waves of airstrikes after inflicting an initial blow to Hezbollah last week with explosives-laden pagers and walkie talkies that had been distributed to thousands of the group's members across Lebanon. Dozens were killed and thousands wounded by the exploding devices, including many bystanders, according to Lebanese officials.
Tens of thousands of civilians have fled Israel's bombardment of southern Lebanon, plying packed highways to seek refuge in Beirut and beyond, many with no clear idea of where they're going.
Israel says it's only targeting Hezbollah military infrastructure and missile launch sites in the country.
People look at a building badly damaged by an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 24, 2024. / Credit: Mohamed Azakir/REUTERS
Hezbollah has vowed to keep firing weapons at Israel until its forces pull out of Gaza, where their war with Hamas continues in its 11th month amid what the IDF has clearly iterated as a shift in focus to the north. Israel has demanded that Hezbollah halt its rocket and drone attacks so the roughly 60,000 displaced northern Israel residents can return to their homes.
Some of them won't have much home to return to, however. CBS News visited the town of Kiryat Bialik on Tuesday, at which Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and drones in recent days. Most have been intercepted by the country's Iron Dome defenses, but not all of them, and at least one home was left in ruins.
Tel Aviv were woken again Tuesday to the blaring of sirens, as the Israeli military intercepted a surface-to-surface missile the first time Hezbollah has ever fired such a weapon at Israel's biggest city. It was a major escalation for the Iranian-backed group, which is significantly larger and better armed than its Hamas allies, but still overwhelmingly outgunned by Israel, and tending its wounds after the attacks of the last week inside Lebanon.
Despite the calls from the U.S. to deescalate, and increasingly assertive rhetoric from other countries in the Middle East condemning Israel's actions, the attacks on both sides have continued ratcheting up.
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Iraq said in a joint statement Tuesday, after meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, that Israel was pushing the region "towards all-out war," condemning what they called "the Israeli aggression on Lebanon."
The concern is that Hezbollah's primary benefactor Iran and Israel's closest ally the U.S. could both be drawn directly into the conflict, triggering a regional war that many fear could spiral wildly out of control and become even deadlier and more destructive than the one still raging in Gaza.
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A man passes by a damaged building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut southern suburb. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, six people were killed and 15 others were wounded in the strike, which was targeting Hezbollah's rocket chief, according to the Israeli military. Marwan Naamani/dpa
Israel said on Tuesday it was intensifying its bombing campaign in Lebanon as two days of airstrikes targeting the Shiite Hezbollah militia sent the death toll above 550 and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes.
The dead included Hezbollah's rocket chief and two UN aid agency employees.
"We must not let Hezbollah rest. We must continue with all our strength," the Israeli chief of staff, General Herzi Halevi, said, according to military sources.
The attacks are to be intensified and more military forces will be deployed, he said. The Israeli Air Force said it had struck "Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon, including launchers, terrorist infrastructure sites and buildings in which weapons were stored."
Hezbollah rocket chief killed
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) later announced it had killed Hezbollah's rocket chief in the Beirut suburb of Ghobeiry.
They said Ibrahim Qabisi was responsible for rocket attacks on Israel and for attacks on civilians. In addition to Qabisi, other commanders in the rocket unit were also killed, a statement added.
The IDF said that Qabisi "planned the abduction terror attack in Mount Dov in the 2000s" in which three Israeli soldiers were "abducted and killed." The bodies of Omar Suwad, Benny Avraham and Adi Avitan were returned to Israel in 2004 in a prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah mediated by Germany.
Hezbollah later confirmed Qabisi's death in a statement.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said six people were killed and 15 injured in the strike. Witnesses reported that two floors of a building had been destroyed and videos showed large clouds of smoke.
Also on Tuesday, four residents and a Syrian refugee were killed in Israeli attacks on the Lebanese village of Duair south of Beirut, while six people died in airstrikes in Nabatijeh, the Lebanese state news agency NNA reported.
Tens of thousands on the run
Tens of thousands of people in Lebanon have been displaced by Israeli airstrikes, according to official figures released on Tuesday.
Of those displaced, 27,000 have sought refuge in emergency shelters in the south and the Bekaa Valley in the east, said Nasser Jassin, the acting environment minister.
More than 250 schools have been converted into emergency shelters for this purpose. Since then, basic relief supplies, hygiene items and meals have been distributed to around 20,000 people.
The aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that teams were distributing mattresses and hygiene articles in emergency shelters throughout the country. There are also telephone counselling centres for displaced persons to provide them with psychological support.
Many MSF staff remained in their homes in the south and east due to the ongoing Israeli attacks, while others fled.
Militia hits back
Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon but is backed by Iran, said it launched numerous attacks, including on a military base in northern Israel near the city of Safed. The Israeli military also said it had recorded around 300 shells fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory over the past two days.
The militia said it sent a volley of rockets at Israeli military bases, including the heavier Fadi-1 and Fadi-2 rockets.
The Iran-backed group said it targeted bases near the Israeli city of Haifa, a military airfield west of Afula and other locations including the town of Rosh Pina.
Israel's army said Hezbollah has launched more than 8,800 rockets and drones in just under a year. Until the recent escalation, Hezbollah had mainly used smaller rockets and drones against Israel.
Deadly days in Lebanon
The number of people killed in two days of Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon has meanwhile risen to 558, with some 1,835 injured, Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad said.
Some 50 children were among the dead, he said. The injured were being treated at over 54 hospitals and medical centres across Beirut and southern Lebanon, added Abiad, who is health minister in a caretaker government.
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said two of its employees had been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, adding it was "outraged and deeply saddened" by the deaths.
Dina Darwiche, from their Bekaa office in eastern Lebanon, died after the building she was residing in was hit by an Israeli missile on Monday, UNHCR said in a statement.
"Her husband and one of her children were rescued and are being treated in hospital for serious injuries. Dina and her youngest sons bodies were tragically recovered today," the statement said.
It added that Ali Basma, who also has worked in UNHCR's Tyre office in southern Lebanon was confirmed dead on Monday.
As the war in Gaza approaches its first anniversary, the Israeli attacks mark a dramatic escalation of the conflict with Hezbollah to the north.
In another major blow to Hezbollah last week, many hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members exploded across Lebanon. Many observers attributed the attack to Israel, although Israel has not officially claimed responsibility.
A man passes by a destroyed car and damaged building that were hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut southern suburb. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, six people were killed and 15 others were wounded in the strike, which was targeting Hezbollah's rocket chief, according to the Israeli military. Marwan Naamani/dpa
Lebanese army soldiers are deployed at the site where a building was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut southern suburb. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, six people were killed and 15 others were wounded in the strike, which was targeting Hezbollah's rocket chief, according to the Israeli military. Marwan Naamani/dpa
Israel is preparing for a potential ground operation as its war with Hezbollah intensifies, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Today, we will continue, we are not stopping; we keep striking and hitting them everywhere," Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the chief of the General Staff, said Wednesday. "The goal is very clear -- to safely return the residents of the north. To achieve that, we are preparing the process of a maneuver, which means your military boots, your maneuvering boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, with underground infrastructure, staging points and launchpads into our territory and carry out attacks on Israeli civilians."
Israel continued its offensive against Hezbollah on Wednesday, conducting "extensive strikes" in southern Lebanon and the Begaa area, east of Beirut. The Israeli army said it struck 260 targets in Lebanon on Wednesday and attacked more than 2,000 Hezbollah targets in the last three days.
"We are continuing to attack, were not stopping, the opposite: we are in parallel preparing to continue," IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Wednesday.
PHOTO: Israeli soldiers gather near a tank in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on September 19, 2024. (Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images)
On Wednesday, at least 81 people were killed and 403 were wounded in Israeli strikes, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
In total, more than 650 people -- including at least 50 children -- have been killed and over 1,700 others injured since Monday, according to the ministry.
Israel also called up thousands of troops to northern Israel on Wednesday, "for operations duties along the northern front that will allow us to continue the war, according to Hagari.
Hezbollah fired a long-range ballistic missile at Tel Aviv for the first time on Wednesday, targeting Mossad headquarters, according to the group. Hezbollah said it blames Mossad for the recent assassinations of its top leaders and explosions of members pagers and hand-held radios.
The missile was intercepted by aerial defense systems, according to the IDF. Israel also said it took out the missile launcher inside Lebanon.
PHOTO: Israeli tanks are being moved, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights September 22, 2024. (Jim Urquhart/Reuters)
PHOTO: An Israeli emergency responder inspects the site of a rocket attack, fired from Lebanon, in Kibbutz Saar, north of Nahariya, Sept. 25, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)
Over 90,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced over five days of Israeli airstrikes, according to the United Nations.
The number of displaced people in Lebanon as a result of the war could approach 500,000, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib warned Tuesday, stressing that "the war in Lebanon will not help the Israelis return to their homes and negotiations are the only way to do so."
As strikes continue to hit Lebanon, its largest hospital -- Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut -- is preparing for the worst, reopening multiple wings and organizing a massive triage unit. Flags were placed on the roof of the hospital with the letter "H," to identify it for planes flying overhead.
"I'm asking for this hospital not to be shelled," Dr. Jihad Saade, the general director of the hospital, said Wednesday. "We don't want the problem of Gaza to be repeated here, regarding shelling and bombing of hospitals. It's very dangerous if this hospital is targeted."
At least two people were injured after Iraq said it fired two drones at the Israeli port of Eilat "in support of our people in Palestine and Lebanon." One of the drones was struck down and another drone hit near the port.
International leaders gathering at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week have called for deescalation between Israel and Hamas as well as Israel and Hezbollah, calling for a cease-fire agreement to end the war with Hamas and a diplomatic resolution to end the widening conflict with Hezbollah.
PHOTO: Emergency workers arrive at the scene of an Israeli airstrike in the town of Maisara, north of Beirut, Sept. 25, 2024. (Bilal Hussein/AP)
MORE: What we know about the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria
Mediators between Israel and Hamas are now as far from a cease-fire deal as they have ever been, multiple senior U.S. officials told ABC News.
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan issued a rare joint statement on Wednesday, condemning "the Israeli aggression against Lebanon," warning that "Israel is pushing the region into an all-out war."
PHOTO: A fire burns as a result of projectiles fired from south Lebanon near the city of Safed, northern Israel, Sept. 25, 2024. (Atef Safadi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Halting "the dangerous escalation ... begins with stopping the Israeli aggression against Gaza," the ministers said in a statement released after they met on the sidelines of the U.N. on Tuesday.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a key financial backer of both Hamas and Hezbollah, also warned Wednesday that killing members of Lebanon's Hezbollah will not bring the group to its knees.
ABC News' Will Gretsky, Morgan Winsor and Somayeh Malekian contributed to this report.
Israel prepares for potential ground invasion of Lebanon, continues airstrikes on Hezbollah originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
As tensions continue to mount between Israel and Lebanon, Jerusalem on Wednesday called up reserve brigades to its northern border and ordered them to be "prepared" as Israel stares down a "new phase of the campaign."
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), a "number" of reservists were called up for "operational activities in the northern arena."
Fox News Digital could not confirm the exact number of Israeli soldiers being called to the northern border, though government-sponsored public broadcasting Israeli news outlet KAN reported that at least two reserve brigades had been mobilized.
"You hear the jets overhead. We have been striking all day. This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah," Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of the General Staff, said while speaking to his troops on the northern border. "Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response."
Israel Strikes Within Lebanon After Hezbollah Ballistic Missile Forces Millions In Tel Aviv Into Bomb Shelters
"Prepare yourselves," he added. "Today, we will continue. We are not stopping."
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The IDF said the order to mobilize reservists would further its combat operations against Hezbollah, as well as continue to secure the north to ensure Israelis can return to their homes in the region.
"We have entered a new phase of the campaign, and we must be fully prepared for maneuvering and action," Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, head of the Northern Command, said following his assessment of the troops on the border Tuesday.
"We are now in Operation Northern Arrows," he continued. "Facing this, we need to change the security situation, and we must be fully prepared for maneuvers and action."
Israel has not formally announced any plans for a land invasion into Lebanon, but security experts have been warning for weeks that this is the likely next step as Jerusalem continues to ramp up its aerial campaign against Hezbollah.
Leaders from around the world have met at the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to address the worlds most pressing issues, and Israels war in Gaza, as well as its strikes in Lebanon, have dominated the weeks debate.
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An explosion takes place as Israeli strikes hit southern Lebanon, as seen from Zibqin, Lebanon, Aug. 25, 2024, in this still image obtained from a video.
Earlier this month, the Israeli prime ministers office said Benjamin Netanyahu would be attending the top meeting in New York, though as the fighting along the northern border escalated over the last week it became increasingly unclear if he would actually make the trip.
Netanyahus office confirmed Wednesday that the prime minister will leave for the meeting Thursday instead of this evening as previously planned, and will address the UNGA on Friday with the intention of returning to Israel on Saturday.
It is unclear why exactly he postponed his departure, though it coincides with reporting Wednesday that said the entire Political-Security Cabinet will now convene this evening a move that suggests proposals could be put forward that require a vote, according to KAN reporting.
Netanyahus office also confirmed Wednesday morning that the prime minister "will hold consultations with security officials in order to discuss the continuation of the attacks in Lebanon."
In a statement to reporters, Netanyahu said, "I cannot elaborate on everything we are doing, but I can tell you one thing: we are determined to return the residents of the north safely to their homes.
"We are inflicting blows on Hezbollah that he did not imagine. We do it with power, we do it with guile. I promise you one thing we will not rest until they return home," he added.
By Wednesday afternoon local time, Israel had hit more than 280 Hezbollah targets in a one-day period and was continuing to conduct strikes against weapons storage facilities and other targets.
The barrage of missile fire came after Hezbollah launched what it claimed was a ballistic missile toward the headquarters of the Mossad intelligence agency in Tel Aviv.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant oversee a meeting at Israel's Ministry of Defense following the IDF's preemptive strikes against Hezbollah, Aug. 25.
The missile, which was intercepted, was fired by the terrorist network one day after Israel killed Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi in an airstrike in Beirut.
The exchange of fire continued after Lebanon saw its deadliest day of conflict since 2006 on Monday with nearly 500 people killed, according to local authorities, including more than 90 women and children.
Original article source: Israel readies reserve troops on border with Lebanon: 'Prepare yourselves'
Israel shoots down first Hezbollah missile aimed at Tel Aviv as group says it targeted spy agency
Israel on Wednesday said it shot down a missile fired by Hezbollah toward Tel Aviv, the first time the Iran-backed militia group had fired at one of Israel's most populated cities.
Hezbollah said the missile targeted the headquarters of the Israeli Mossad spy service, believed to have coordinated an unusual attack that exploded thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies across Lebanon, killing 39 and injuring thousands, last week.
Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon on Wednesday killed at least 23 people, according to the country's health ministry.
Israel's military said war sirens sounded across central Israel, but nobody was injured. Its air defense systems intercepted a surface-to-surface missile fired from a village in Lebanon, but the missile was headed toward "civilian areas," not the Mossad's headquarters.
"The Mossad headquarters is not in that area," Spokesman Nadav Shoshani said.
Israel continues intense strikes targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon
Israeli warplanes continued to pummel southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah hub, on Wednesday. The military said in a statement it hit 60 targets of Hezbollah's intelligence directorate, including "intelligence-gathering tools, command centers, and additional infrastructure."
At least 23 people were reported dead in Wednesday's airstrikes, Lebanon's health ministry.
The Lebanese army evacuated more than 60 people from the village of Alma Chaab, on the southern border with Israel, after intense airstrikes overnight.
Meanwhile, Israel's northern Galilee region endured a heavy rain of Hezbollah rockets around 40 were fired in one burst.
One rocket hit an assisted living facility in the town of Safed, but no one was injured, authorities said.
More: Middle East tensions flare: What to know about escalating Israel-Hezbollah fighting
Israel-Hezbollah fighting escalates
For almost a year, the Iran-backed militant group has intensified the firing of rockets into northern Israel. Tensions on that border have increased since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that killed 1,200 people. Israel responded by launching military strikes on Gaza that have killed about 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gazan Health Ministry.
U.S. officials are concerned that a ratcheting up of tensions could lead to a broader regional conflict in the Middle East and have been trying to negotiate a cease-fire.
The increase in fighting pushed Israel and Hezbollah closer to an all-out war. Many fear a larger conflict could wreak unprecedented destruction on the region and escalate tensions between the U.S. and Iran Israel's and Hezbollah's respective allies.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel shoots down first Hezbollah missile aimed at Tel Aviv
Israel strikes more targets in Lebanon as sirens sound in Tel Aviv
Smoke from heavy Israeli air raids billows from the southern Lebanese village of Jabal al-Rihan. Powerful air attacks were launched across much of southern Lebanon. Lebanese Health Ministry said 182 people were killed and more than 700 wounded in what would be the deadliest day in Lebanon since the conflict started in October. Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Israel's military once again attacked facilities of the Iranian-backed Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon from the air overnight, it said on Wednesday morning.
Among the targets bombed were Hezbollah weapons depots, missile launchpads and fighters, the army said on the online platform X. Subsequent explosions indicated large quantities of stored weapons, it added.
Warning sirens rang out across Tel Aviv in the early hours of Wednesday for the first time since May as air defence intercepted a missile fired from Lebanon, the Israeli military said.
The surface-to-surface rocket was fired from a launchpad in the south of the neighbouring country, and the launchpad was subsequently destroyed by the Israeli Air Force, it said.
There were no reports of damage or casualties, the military added.
It is the first time Hezbollah has targeted Tel Aviv, in central Israel, since the war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7 last year.
Hezbollah subsequently declared that the rocket attack was aimed at the headquarters of Israel's foreign intelligence service Mossad in a suburb of Tel Aviv.
Mossad, it said, was responsible for the assassination of several of the militia's leaders and for the evidently coordinated mass explosions of communication devices used by Hezbollah in Lebanon last week.
Since October 7 there have been almost daily military confrontations between the Israeli army and Hezbollah in the border area between the two countries.
As the war in Gaza approaches its first anniversary, Israeli attacks have marked a dramatic escalation of the conflict with Hezbollah to the north.
Israel said on Tuesday it was intensifying its bombing campaign in Lebanon as two days of airstrikes targeting Hezbollah sent the death toll above 550 and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes.
We recently published a list of the 11 Most Promising EV Battery Stocks According to Analysts. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) stands against the other promising EV battery stocks.
Despite the electric vehicle industry growing at a fast pace, some challenges remain. The major ones are range anxiety among consumers, slow battery charging time, and the availability of charging infrastructure. However, even with these challenges, the industry remains healthy and a lot of energy and resources are being contributed toward it.
The infrastructure market is expected to grow at a phenomenal pace as PwC expects the EV supply equipment (EVSE) market to grow from $7 billion to $100 billion by 2040, at a 15% compound annual growth rate.
For electric vehicle components, governments around the world are incentivizing EV production. For example, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $1.7 billion in funding to transition 11 vulnerable auto manufacturing plants across eight states to EV production and related components. For more details, you can read 8 Best EV Stocks to Buy According to Short Sellers.
Advancements in EV Battery Technology
Due to the environmental impacts of internal combustion engines, scientists have also been working tirelessly to solve the current problems faced by EV batteries. Researchers, led by the University of Colorado Boulder, have uncovered the cause of battery degradation, a common issue that leads to reduced capacity over time. Their study, published in Science.org, may pave the way for improved lithium-ion batteries, which are crucial for EVs and energy storage.
Using advanced X-ray technology, they discovered that hydrogen molecules from the batterys electrolyte bind to the cathode, taking spots meant for lithium ions, which weaken the batterys performance. This new understanding could help engineers develop longer-lasting, cobalt-free batteries for EVs, which would increase driving range, reduce costs, and address environmental and ethical concerns related to cobalt mining.
Additionally, according to a research report published in Frontiers in Quantum Science and Technology, Yuji Hatano and his team explored the impact of transverse magnetic fields on diamond quantum sensors for EV battery monitoring. Their research aimed to improve measurement accuracy for temperature and magnetic fields, which are crucial for determining the state of charge (SOC).
The study showed that diamond sensors enhance SOC estimation, which could potentially increase the EV cruising range by 10%. A prototype demonstrated high precision with currents up to 1,000 amperes, and misalignment detection was highly accurate. The findings suggest diamond quantum sensors could significantly improve battery monitoring in EVs and other industries.
Story continues
Moreover, solid-state batteries could also reduce the charging time in batteries which could drastically improve the consumer sentiment and increase the demand for EVs. It was suggested by Mark Fields, former Ford CEO and President on CNBCs Squawk Box and we discussed it in our article on the best EV stocks for the long term. Here is an excerpt from the article:
Fields suggested that automakers need to offer more affordable EVs and expand hybrid offerings while working towards breakthroughs in battery technology, especially solid-state batteries. These batteries could eventually reduce charging times to match the convenience of filling up at a gas station He emphasized that while automakers are working on delivering low-cost EVs, the real game-changer will be the development of solid-state batteries, which could significantly improve charging times and consumer convenience.
Our Methodology
For this article, we identified over 20 EV battery stocks through screeners and ETFs. We narrowed our list to 11 stocks with the highest average analyst price target upside, as of September 12. We also added the hedge fund sentiment around each stock which was taken from Insider Monkeys database of over 900 hedge funds as of the second quarter of 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletters strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
Aerial view of an open pit mine, with workers extracting minerals.
Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO)
Average Analyst Price Target Upside as of September 12: 27.18%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 29
Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) is a British-Australian multinational corporation, which is recognized as one of the largest mining and metals companies globally. The company continues to be a leading force in the global mining industry, contributing to various sectors, including copper, aluminum, diamonds, and most recently, lithium projects. It is our 9th most promising EV battery stock according to analysts.
Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) is strategically investing in its lithium capabilities by developing its own projects, especially the Rincon lithium project in Argentina, which includes a planned battery-grade lithium carbonate plant. In Serbia, the company is working to develop the Jadar lithium project, which has the potential to fulfill a substantial portion of Europes lithium demand.
On August 29, Bloomberg reported that Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) is one of the companies that have been shortlisted to develop lithium assets in Chile's Altoandinos project. The initiative, announced by state-owned Enami, is part of a broader strategy under Chilean President Gabriel Boric to expand lithium extraction and boost output.
The Altoandinos project consists of three undeveloped salt flats, which are projected to produce 20,000 metric tons of lithium by 2032, with output expected to triple by 2037. Enami plans to finalize partner selections by March and is currently negotiating terms with the listed companies.
Apart from lithium, Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) is also a major producer of copper which is a key component of batteries. In the first half of the year, the company mined approximately 327 kilotonnes (kt) of copper and is on track to mine 660 to 720 kt in 2024.
Rio Tinto projects a 2% growth in copper equivalent production for the year and aims for a 3% annual increase from 2024 to 2028 through its ongoing and upcoming projects. The company expects to see more cash flow from the Oyu Tolgoi underground copper mine and additional benefits from their investments in the Simandou project and the Rincon lithium project. The Oyu Tolgoi mine has increased its copper production by 15% compared to H1 2023 and is on track to produce 500,000 tonnes of copper annually from 2028 to 2036.
9 analysts have covered Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) stock with an average price target of $78.75. The price target represents an upside of 27.18% to the companys stock from September 12 levels.
In the second quarter, 29 hedge funds held positions in the company, at a combined value of nearly $1.3 billion. As of June 30, Fisher Asset Management is its largest shareholder with 17.04 million shares, worth $1.12 billion.
Overall RIO ranks 9th on our list of the most promising EV battery stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of RIO 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 RIO, 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.
People inspect damages caused by an overnight Israeli air raid attack in the area of Jiyeh along the coastal highway between the southern port city of Sidon and Beirut. Marwan Naamani/dpa
Israel's military chief told troops to prepare for a possible ground offensive in Lebanon as heavy Israeli airstrikes continued for a third day and militants targeted the cities of Tel Aviv and Eilat.
The strikes on Lebanon, and the subsequent reduction in the military power of the Shiite militia group Hezbollah, have laid the foundation for a possible ground incursion, Israel Defense Forces' chief of staff Herzi Halevi told troops on Wednesday.
"You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day," the IDF chief said as he visited a troop exercise on the northern border, according to a military statement.
"This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah," he said.
Earlier Ori Gordin, the IDF commander for the north, said the army was mobilizing two more reserve brigades for missions in the northern area and that troops must be ready for a ground manoeuvre.
"We have entered a new phase in the operation," he said. Israel must "change the security situation, and we must be fully prepared for manoeuvres and actions."
Israel's goal is to return the some 60,000 people displaced from their homes in the north due to the near daily attacks by Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The cross-border clashes have taken place for more than 11 months and have also displaced thousands of Lebanese from their homes.
Hezbollah sources said the militia fighters were "ready to confront any possible ground invasion."
Military conflict heats up, death toll rises
Israeli strikes on Wednesday morning killed 51 people and injured more than 200, the Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Overall some 600 people have been killed since the escalation began on Monday, the ministry said.
The latest attacks struck towns and villages in the south of the country and also north of Beirut.
Front line action saw not only more Israeli strikes in Lebanon, but a Hezbollah strike - for the first time - on the Israeli metropolis of Tel Aviv. The IDF said it intercepted the rocket.
In the evening the southern port city of Eilat was attacked by two drones. One was intercepted while the other hit the harbour and exploded, injuring two people and sparking a fire, Hagari said.
Reports said they could have been launched from Iraq. Hagari did not comment on that. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have repeatedly targeted the Israeli southern port city.
But Halevi, acknowledging Hezbollah's unprecedented rocket attack on Tel Aviv, said: "Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves."
Hezbollah declared that the rocket was aimed at the headquarters of Israel's foreign intelligence service Mossad in a suburb of Tel Aviv.
Mossad, it said, was responsible for the assassination of several of the militia's leaders and for the evidently coordinated mass explosions of communication devices used by Hezbollah in Lebanon last week.
Around 110 missiles were fired from Lebanon and some of them were intercepted, the Israeli military said. One rocket fell near an assisted living facility near Safed in the north; there were no injuries.
Hezbollah hiding behind Lebanese civilians
Observers and ex-military personnel in Lebanon affirmed the Israeli military's accusation that Hezbollah is hiding weapons in residential areas.
"[Hezbollah] has no barracks or places to store their weapons because Israel will detect them," said former Lebanese army brigadier Wehbe Katischa, who served in southern Lebanon.
"That's why their most important depots are located between houses and in mountainous areas near residential areas."
The Hezbollah militia had an estimated 150,000 missiles in the region before the start of the Gaza war almost a year ago. Israel's military repeatedly said that the attacks in Lebanon would target the militia's weapons depots.
Israel has long accused Hezbollah of hiding weapons in residential areas and of manufacturing rockets there. The Lebanese government has tried to refute some of these accusations.
Thousands displaced in Lebanon
Meanwhile at least 90,530 people have been displaced since Monday, including nearly 40,000 in 283 shelters, the United Nations reported.
It said nearly 600 have been killed, including 50 children and 94 women in nearly 1,700 strikes across the country. Humanitarian organizations urgently require at least $170 million to sustain ongoing response and respond to new needs, the UN said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday that international humanitarian law made it clear that care must be taken at all times to spare the civilian population and civilian objects when carrying out military operations.
No signs of an Iranian military intervention to date
Iran's supreme leader expressed confidence that Hezbollah shows no signs of defeat, despite the loss of high-ranking commanders in Israeli attacks. However, he made no mention of Iran taking a more active role in the ongoing conflict.
"Without doubt it was a loss for Hezbollah, but it was not a loss that would bring about its defeat," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said at a veterans' event in Tehran on Wednesday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned against underestimating Hezbollah. "It is more than capable of destroying the bases and colonies of the Israeli regime," he wrote on the X platform.
Hezbollah has been considered Iran's most important ally in the Middle East, but observers say it uncertain that Tehran would rush to its aid in the event of war between it and Israel.
A fire-fighting plane tries to extinguish a fire that erupts in a forest following a rocket hit from Lebanon on Safed. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
The News
One of Israels top military officials indicated Wednesday the country is preparing for a potential ground incursion into Lebanon. The remarks came as the United Nations Security Council was set to meet to discuss the situation.
You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said, according to a military statement. This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.
A Pentagon spokesperson said that such an incursion did not appear imminent, Reuters reported.
The remarks came after weeks of escalating tensions and both sides trading fire, with waves of Israeli airstrikes killing hundreds of people in recent days, according to Lebanons health ministry.
The United States and France are urgently working to de-escalate the situation, officials have said, although some US officials have cautioned that the conflict may get far worse. And on Tuesday, President Joe Biden used his address to the United Nations to call for an end to the conflict.
Full-scale war is not in anyones interest. The situation has escalated, Biden said.
Israels military chief told troops on Wednesday that its airstrikes in Lebanon were aiming to destroy Hezbollahs infrastructure and to pave the way for a possible ground incursion by Israeli forces.
You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day, the head of Israels military, Herzi Halevi, told troops while visiting the countrys northern border with Lebanon.
This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.
The goal of the incursion is to allow the tens of thousands of Israelis who have been displaced by cross-border fire in the north of the country to return to their homes, Halevi said.
To achieve that, we are preparing the process of a maneuver, he said. It means your military boots, your maneuvering boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts.
Entering into Lebanon will show them what it means to face a professional, highly skilled and battle-experienced force, Halevi said.
The comments come after Israel ramped up its airstrikes in Lebanon and shot down a missile that Hezbollah said it had aimed at the headquarters of Mossad, Israels intelligence agency, near Tel Aviv the first time the Iran-backed militant group has tried to strike so deeply into Israeli territory.
People fleeing Israeli bombings in Lebanon wait to enter Syria through the Masnaa crossing in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday. - Hassan Jarrah/AFP/Getty Images
Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was calling up two reserve brigades because of the conflict with Hezbollah. Israels top general in the north, Ori Gordin, had also warned the military must be fully prepared for maneuvers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country will not rest until the northern residents can return home.
I cannot detail everything we are doing, but I can tell you one thing: we are determined to return our residents in the north safely to their homes, the prime minister said, amid Israels intense wave of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
We are inflicting blows on Hezbollah that [they] did not imagine. We do it with power, we do it with guile. I promise you one thing - we will not rest until they come home, he added.
Israel has drastically stepped up its strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon this month, as it begins to pivot away from its nearly year-long war against Hamas in Gaza.
Last week, Israel made returning residents to their homes in the north an explicit war aim. The next day, hundreds of pagers belonging to Hezbollah militants exploded across Lebanon. The day after, Hezbollah walkie-talkies also exploded. The twin attacks killed dozens and injured thousands.
Israel did not say it was behind the attacks, but did claim responsibility for an airstrike on southern Beirut the next day, which killed the leader of Hezbollahs elite Radwan Force, Ibrahim Aqil. This week, another airstrike on Beirut killed Ibrahim Qubaisi, a senior official who commanded Hezbollahs missile units.
Reeling from the biggest-ever hits to its military structure, Hezbollah began to respond, firing hundreds of missiles into Israel over the past week, but Israels unrelenting escalations appear to have put the group on the back foot.
You are coming in much stronger and far more experienced than they are, Halevi told troops Wednesday. You will go in, destroy the enemy there, and decisively destroy their infrastructure. These are the things that will allow us to safely return the residents of the north afterward.
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Israel intercepts Hezbollah ballistic missile near Tel Aviv in first such attack
Israel intercepted a missile fired by Hezbollah near Tel Aviv on Wednesday, an unprecedented attack by the militant group that reached deep into the countrys commercial heartlands and marked a new escalatory step in the conflict between the two sides.
People in Tel Aviv and the central city of Netanya woke up to sirens on Wednesday as Israel said its air defenses intercepted a surface-to-surface missile the first time ever a missile fired by Hezbollah has reached close to the city, the Israeli military said.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah confirmed it launched a Qadr 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israels intelligence service Mossad, which it blames for attacks targeting its members, including the coordinated explosions of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies last week.
It is believed to be the first ballistic missile to be launched by Hezbollah toward Israel, and was fired in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in Gaza and in defense of Lebanon and its people, Hezbollah said.
The Israeli military said the missile was intercepted near Tel Aviv, a city of more than 4 million people on the Mediterranean coast, and the air force struck its launcher in the area of Nafakhiyeh, southern Lebanon.
Following the sirens that sounded in the Tel Aviv and Netanya areas, one surface-to-surface missile was identified crossing from Lebanon and was intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array, the Israeli military said.
Israeli military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani described the missile as heavy and long range.
Its the first time that Hezbollah has fired toward Tel Aviv, he said.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly said that any Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital would prompt an attack on Israels economic center.
Israel and Hezbollahs exchange of fire continued Wednesday.
Damage is seen at the site of an Israeli strike that hit the Lebanese seaside town of Jiyeh early on Wednesday. - Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
A cloud of smoke erupts during Israeli air strikes on a village south of Tyre in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. - Hasan Fneich/AFP/Getty Images
The Israeli military said it hit more than 280 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Wednesday.
At least 51 people were killed in Lebanon on Wednesday, according to the countrys minister of health. Firass Abiad said large waves of people had been displaced across the country.
Meanwhile, around 40 projectiles crossed from Lebanon into Israel on Wednesday morning, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Several were intercepted but one hit an assisted-living facility in northern Israel, with no injuries reported.
Since the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas last October, Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and drones from Lebanon targeting northern Israel.
About 60,000 people have been evacuated from Israels northern region as a result of the cross-border fighting. Israel has maintained that fighting will continue until it is safe for those residents to return home.
The missile intercept comes days after Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah killed more than 500 people across Lebanon, including dozens of children. Monday was the deadliest day in Lebanon in nearly two decades.
Flights at Tel Avivs Ben Gurion airport continued as usual Wednesday, an airport spokesperson said.
Sirens were heard Wednesday in Netanya for the first time since October 7, 2023, according to Israeli authorities.
Misery in Lebanon
In recent days, Israel and Hezbollah have traded waves of airstrikes and rocket attacks, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes in southern Lebanon.
Israel has said it is targeting Hezbollah positions and infrastructure which it has said are embedded in residential areas with one strike killing a senior commander, Ibrahim Qubaisi, on Tuesday. The Israeli military said Qubaisi commanded various Hezbollah missile units and was killed along with two other commanders in southern Beirut.
Residents who have fled their homes in Lebanon said residential areas had been flattened and whole towns emptied. One man told CNN he witnessed non-stop bombardment from every direction which he described as indiscriminate bombing.
A cloud of smoke erupts during an Israeli air strike on the village of Sujud. - Rabih Daher/AFP/Getty Images
The UN childrens agency (UNICEF) warned that many children remain missing under rubble and caught on dangerous roads after Israeli airstrikes.
At least 558 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on Monday, including 50 children and 94 women, Lebanons Health Minister Firass Abiad said. More children were killed in the country in one day on Monday than in the entire past year, Ettie Higgins, UNICEF Deputy Representative for Lebanon Ettie Higgins told a UN briefing.
Meanwhile Lebanese hospitals are struggling with the influx of wounded, and there are difficulties getting those in need to hospital for treatment as roads were congested with people trying to flee from Israeli strikes. British-Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu-Sittah said the healthcare system is very, very fragile as it cannot cope with more than 2,000 injuries in two days.
We have received children with unfortunately, the same pattern of injuries that I used to see in Gaza, Abu-Sittah told CNN. Blast injuries in the face, amputations to the limbs, multiple shrapnel injuries, crushing injuries as a result of houses being demolished on top of them.
An estimated half a million people have been displaced in Lebanon, the countrys foreign minister said Tuesday, with that number set to rise further.
Om Husseins family were among the thousands who fled the countrys south. They spent 14 hours on the road to Beirut, stuck in congested roads, and said they didnt have time to collect clothes or medicine. We had no food or water, but volunteers on motorcycles distributed water to those stranded in cars, she told CNN.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military warned displaced residents of southern Lebanon not to return to their homes as it vowed to speed up its offensive operations against Hezbollah without reprieve.
Israeli troops held exercises simulating ground combat in Lebanon, which the military has not ruled out.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNNs Eyad Kourdi, Jomana Haradsheh, Charbel Mello, Benjamin Brown, Mick Krever, Tamara Qiblawi, Sarah El Sirgany, Lucas Lillieholm and Kathleen Magramo contributed reporting.
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Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg attended Eton himself and has two sons at the independent school - Maja Smiejkowska/PA
Eton College was wrong to raise fees by 20pc in response to Labours VAT raid, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has said.
The former Cabinet minister, who attended Eton and has two sons at the independent school, said it is making a mistake by adding the full value of the tax to fees, which will rise to 63,000-a-year from January.
He added: Its disappointing that Eton is not taking some of the pain itself as it is a very rich institution.
Eton basically has three sets of parents. It has a very small number of oligarchs who can afford whatever [the fee] is, but thats a tiny number.
It then has a large number of people on bursaries and then it has all the rest of us in the middle and were being ignored actually by putting the full 20pc on, he said.
Sir Jacob described the Labour Governments policy to add VAT to private school fees as class warfare and said the party had always hated private education and sought to make it difficult for parents to use it.
He added: It will be very difficult for smaller, less well-known schools. Inevitably there will be parents who cannot afford the additional cost and they will fall on the state sector.
Eton will pass on 20pc VAT to parents in full from January, the school announced last month. It was the first major private institution to make known it would pass on the full cost of the tax to parents.
The school, where fees are currently 52,749-a-year, wrote to parents saying that only those on bursaries would be exempt from the fee increase.
The Government has said private schools will be forced to pay VAT on fees, as well as business rates, from January 2025. The policy will include anti-forestalling measures effective from 29 July this year onwards.
The Government is currently consulting on how the policy will be implemented with further announcements expected in the Budget on October 30.
The impact of the policy on children with special educational needs (SEN) formed the basis of a legal challenge launched this month against the Government.
In a letter to HM Treasury, lawyers claimed the policy discriminates against special needs children and could be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The letter said SEN children risk being forced out of private school if their parents can no longer afford higher fees, with the state sector unable to meet their more demanding educational needs.
Senior lawyers have warned as long ago as the 1980s that taxing private schools would likely fall foul of the ECHR, which has been domesticated into British law.
The Telegraph revealed that Lord Pannick, a senior constitutional and human rights lawyer, believed: It would be strongly arguable that for a new government to impose VAT on independent schools would breach the right to education.
Labour has defended the policy as necessary to fund improvements to state schools and recruit 6,500 more teachers to fill gaps in certain areas of the curriculum.
The Government has said it expects private schools to soften the blow on parents by passing on less than 20pc of VAT in fee rises.
Figures from leading private schools have spoken out against the policy. A former headmaster of Winchester College told The Telegraph in June it would put bursaries at private schools under threat.
Tim Hands, who retired as headmaster of Winchester last year, said the move would mean private schools had less money to subsidise the cost of tuition. He said: This measure is not going to encourage social mobility but the reverse. It is going to mean selection by wallet but only from bigger wallets.
A government spokesman said: We want to ensure all children have the best chance in life to succeed. Ending tax breaks on private schools will help to raise the revenue needed to fund our education priorities for next year, such as recruiting 6,500 new teachers.
Eton College was approached for comment.
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Jamestown police ask for publics help in homicide investigation
Jamestown, New York (WJET/WFXP) Jamestown police are asking for the publics help in identifying a vehicle that was involved in a homicide earlier this month.
According to the Post-Journal, Officers found Doug Howie, a 68-year-old resident, at the scene suffering from a bullet wound. Howie would later succumb to his injuries at UPMC Hamot.
Today, Jamestown police released images of the dark-colored pickup trick that was said to be involved in a homicide on September 10th around 8:40 p.m. along Newland Avenue.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Jamestown Command Desk at (716) 483-7537 or the confidential tip line at (716) 483-8477 (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 WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com.
ORLANDO, Fla. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance headlined a Winter Park fundraiser on Wednesday that guests spent from $5,000 to $100,000 to attend, according to GOP sources.
Roads were shut down in the neighborhood south of Lake Virginia around the lakefront home of prominent GOP fundraisers Diane and Eric Holm, two of the largest franchise owners of Golden Corral restaurants. The Holms were among those listed as hosts on an invitation for the event posted online.
Florida Democrats, some of whom stood on nearby sidewalks waving signs for Vice President Kamala Harris campaign, slammed Vance for holding the event despite Florida being in a state of emergency as Hurricane Helene approached.
I think its really important to focus on responding to a natural disaster rather than to prioritize your own political ambitions and host a fundraiser, said state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando. It should have been rescheduled. Its disappointing that it wasnt.
The Trump-Vance campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
According to the invitation, the host list for the Vance lunch reception also included Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, and U.S. Reps. Kat Cammack, R-Gainesville, Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, and Michael Waltz, R-St. Augustine Beach.
A spokesperson for Patronis said the CFO did not attend the event and was in Tampa on Wednesday preparing for Helene.
The Cammack, Bean and Waltz campaigns, as well as Simpsons office, did not respond to questions about whether they attended.
State GOP chair Evan Power also did not return a request for comment.
The chartered plane used by U.S. Sen. Vance, R-Ohio, arrived in Orlando at about 11:51 a.m., according to Jack Sweeney, the University of Central Florida student who runs the Trump Jets tracking account. Vances plane later took off from Orlando at 2:51 pm, Sweeney said.
Susan Windmiller, a Democratic Party volunteer from east Orange County, was one of about two dozen protesters who stood by on the sidewalks holding campaign signs for Harris.
The motorcade came zipping through, probably a half a dozen black SUVs, Windmiller said.
Guests at the fundraiser paid $100,000 if they were hosts, $15,000 for a photo and $5,000 to attend, according to the invitation.
Vance had also been scheduled for appearances in Macon and Flowery Branch, Ga., on Thursday. Those events were postponed due to Helene, which had formed into a hurricane Wednesday morning with a projected track towards Tallahassee on Thursday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared states of emergency in more than 60 of Floridas 67 counties, including Orange County.
Eskamani, who canceled her own event this week in Winter Park, added Vance is the same candidate that wants to dismantle NOAA, citing the controversial conservative Project 2025s plans to privatize he National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the same candidate who doesnt believe in climate change. So it doesnt surprise me that this event wasnt rescheduled.
Windmiller said holding such an expensive event hardly speaks to connecting with the kind of struggles that working families are faced with here in Central Florida.
Politicians and candidates have been under fire before for holding private fundraising events amid weather emergencies. Former U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Winter Park, was falsely accused in 2018 of holding a D.C. fundraiser as Hurricane Irma approached.
Wednesday, the Florida GOP sent an email claiming Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell basks in luxury as Helene barrels towards Florida, criticizing her for having spent Tuesday night fundraising and hobnobbing in New York City.
The Mucarsel-Powell campaign said she had returned to her home in Miami by Wednesday.
According to Politico, Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott was spotted Tuesday night at a fundraiser for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Politico did not report where that fundraiser took place.
_____
(Staff writer Skyler Swisher contributed to this report.)
_____
The News
Sen. JD Vance, Donald Trumps running mate, told Semafor on Wednesday that its a tragedy that private sector union participation has gone down in recent years.
Speaking to reporters on a press call focused on Trumps union support this cycle, Vance was asked by Semafor whether he believes more workers should be in unions. The Ohio senator said it was ultimately up to the workers, but that he blamed foreign competition for reducing union membership.
Im not going to tell any worker exactly what they should be doing with their decisions, but I do think that the fact that union membership has declined shows that, in a lot of ways, we have heavily invested in shipping American jobs to countries that sometimes employ literal slaves, Vance said. Because people like Kamala Harris have said were never, ever going to fight back against these foreign countries using slave labor to undercut the jobs and wages of American workers, weve seen that union membership decline in a very big way.
Union membership fell to a record low rate of 10% in 2023, according to data from the Labor Department, even as the total number of union members crept higher. Democrats have argued Trump and Vance are making a hollow pitch to labor, citing their opposition to the PRO Act, a top union priority that would clear hurdles to organizing workers, among other stances. Vance has distinguished between good unions and bad unions in prior interviews, arguing the legislation would empower labor groups that support Democrats.
Vance, asked about right to work laws in individual states by Real Clear Politics, added that a Trump-Vance administration believes that it is up to each state to determine policy.
I think what we see is our job in national policy is to protect as many workers jobs as possible, to promote tax and spending and tariff policies that promote large scale economic growth and actually give workers more their take on pay and more jobs to begin with, Vance said.
Vance also repeated Trumps pitch to UAW workers that Democrats were hurting the industry by encouraging a transition to electric vehicles, an industry whose rise he predicted would ultimately help China.
Know More
Wednesdays press call comes after the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a major labor union, declined to endorse either presidential candidate this cycle. Still, polling released by Teamsters showed that a majority of members preferred Trump over Harris. While Harris later earned endorsements from many state and local Teamsters units, the decision was seen as a blow to her campaign.
Setting the policy aside, the Trump campaigns rhetorical pitch to unions is distinct from many others in the party, especially Republicans in red states with fewer traditional ties to labor. Nikki Haley, Trumps on-again-off-again rival, openly boasted about discouraging unionized companies from opening up shop in South Carolina as governor.
The View From The Harris-Walz Campaign
Donald Trump and JD Vance are running on the most anti-worker ticket in modern history, Ammar Moussa, director of rapid response for the Harris campaign, said in a statement. Trump stacked his administration with anti-worker stooges and is actively cheering on billionaires who attack union workers. Trump and Vances Project 2025 agenda would go even further to ban public sector unions, attack rights to organize, strip away child labor protections, and gut overtime pay. Workers arent fooled by Trump and Vances lies about labor and thats why unions, including 1.5 million Teamsters, have endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket.
Notable
Trump and Harris have been battling over union worker support this cycle, recognizing the impact that it seemed to have on Trumps 2016 win, CBS News reported last month.
UAW filed federal labor charges against Elon Musk after Trump praised him for firing workers threatening to strike during an interview together ( Musks company, Tesla, denies illegally targeting workers trying to unionize).
JD Vance Says He Doesnt Have to Prepare That Much for VP Debate Against Tim Walz
J.D. Vance, Donald Trumps running mate, says he isnt sweating next weeks vice presidential debate against Minnesota governor Tim Walz.
We have well-developed views on public policy, so we dont have to prepare that much, the Ohio senator told the New York Post Wednesday, adding that he wont be participating in any kind of bootcamp to prepare himself for the debate on Tuesday.
The New York Times reported that Walzs team, on the other hand, will hold a multi-day debate camp in rural Michigan, aiming to closely replicate the conditions of a live TV debate.
Kamala Harris record is one of unaffordable groceries, unaffordable housing and Americans who are losing their jobs, Vance added. So I dont think we have to prepare that much because we dont have to hide our record from the American peoplewe just have to talk about it.
Both Walz and Vance are engaging in mock debates as a way to practice for the event, which will take place in New York City and be hosted by CBS News.
In Walzs, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is acting as Vances stand-in. Meanwhile, Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip, is playing Walz for Vance.
A person familiar with Vances debate-prep routine told the Post that the practice sessions have mostly been at his home in Cincinnati with the assistance of his wife, Usha Vance.
Reports of Walz and Vances unequal levels of preparation for the debate come after the Democrat downplayed expectations for how he would performand raised those for his opponent.
Look, hes Yale Law guy, he said on MSNBC soon after Harris and Trumps debate. Im a public school teacher. So we know where hes at on that.
Im looking forward to it, he added. I will work hard. Thats what I do. I fully expect that Senator Vance, as a United States senator, a Yale Law guy, he will come well-prepared.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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This is an adapted excerpt from the Sept. 22 episode of "Inside with Jen Psaki."
I think its safe to say that right now Donald Trump would desperately like us and all of you to be talking about certain things, like the crazy conspiracies about the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, or his blatantly antisemitic remarks about Jewish voters.
Trump wants all of us to focus on the circus, and on Saturday, both the ringmaster and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, brought that circus to their rallies.
At an event in North Carolina, Trump accused migrants of attacking villages throughout the Midwest. In Pennsylvania, Vance doubled down on those conspiracy theories. I challenge you to go to Springfield, Ohio, which has been overwhelmed by 20,000 Haitians. Go to any community that has been overwhelmed by Kamala Harris illegal alien policies and tell me that these are stories made up by politicians, Vance told supporters.
To set the record straight, no, villages arent being attacked by migrants and yes, politicians, like them, are making things up about Springfield, but thats because Trump wants that to be the focus right now. Its what he wants everyone talking about.
I know that may bend the mind; I mean, why on earth would a presidential candidate want to draw attention to his xenophobia, racism, antisemitism and misogyny? Well, of course, Trump is not a normal candidate. To him, all press is good press. All attention is good attention. To Trump, the only way to win is to own the spotlight no matter how harsh it is.
His theory goes a little like this: If we are all talking about his crazy and offensive comments, if we are talking about the circus, then were not talking about everything else.
Because there is a whole lot that he doesnt want us to be talking about right now. He doesnt want us to talk about Harris inching ahead in the polls after beating him like a drum on the debate stage. Like the new national poll from NBC News that shows Harris leading Trump 49% to 44% while that result is within the margin of error, it shows a clear shift in Harris favor. Or the number in that same poll that shows her favorability rising more quickly than any politician since George W. Bush after 9/11. Or the one that shows voters increasingly see her as the candidate of change.
And he doesnt want us to talk about how hes too chicken to debate Harris again after she accepted an invitation for a rematch from CNN on Saturday.
He certainly doesnt want us to talk about his dangerous and unpopular opposition to abortion rights and the preventable deaths we are learning about in Georgia. I mean, he literally posted this weekend, in all caps, telling women that if he wins, YOU WILL NO LONGER BE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION. Trump was apparently so pleased with that ridiculous statement that he repeated it verbatim on Saturday in North Carolina.
Trump also doesnt want us to talk about the overt effort from his supporters to tamper with the election if they dont like the outcome. And thats exactly what the Trump-friendly election board in Georgia did on Friday when they ordered the hand-counting of ballots a move that is likely to cause chaos and delay the reporting of results in a critical state.
And Trump definitely doesnt want us to talk about his handpicked guy running for governor in North Carolina, Mark Robinson. You know, the guy who, according to CNN, called himself a Black Nazi on a porn site and who, according to The Washington Post, praised Mein Kampf on that same site.
So yes, Trump wants attention but he wants it on his rhetoric, not his record. On his words, but not their consequences. Because the consequences are a town like Springfield getting torn apart, a Republican Party represented by guys like Robinson and a country where women die waiting for medical care.
Thats what Trump really does not want us talking about. But as voters begin voting and Election Day gets closer and closer, that is where our focus should be.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
RWE will collaborate with the Port Authority of Setubal in Portugal to develop a logistics hub for floating offshore wind energy.
RWE and the authority will explore the potential of the port, located south of the capital city Lisbon, to become an industrial hub for the marshalling, assembly and deployment of key components for floating wind projects, such as floating substructures and mooring systems.
The Portuguese Government is banking on the potential of floating offshore wind technology, based on the countrys water depths, wind speed and 2,500km coastline.
RWE Offshore Wind country lead for Portugal Alvaro de Miguel commented: Portugal is well-positioned to become a key market in the floating offshore wind sector. Enhancing port capacity and supply chains is crucial for the successful deployment of commercial-scale projects. This will create opportunities to attract investment, spur growth and generate skilled employment.
Port Authority of Setubal board chairman Carlos Correia added: Our port is suitable for the future needs of the growing floating wind industry.
Portugal is gearing up for its highly anticipated inaugural offshore wind auction, launched in late 2023, as the government continues to encourage private investment in the national renewable energy sector. More than 50 developers have expressed interest, with some companies such as Ocean Winds and Martifer Renewables establishing strategic partnerships to bid for the tender.
The country currently has one floating offshore wind farm located off Viana do Castelo, which is the first in Europe. WindFloat Atlantic has three turbines supported by semi-submersible floating structures and is expected to be decommissioned in 2045.
Portugal aims to achieve a 47% share of renewable energy in its total energy consumption by 2030, with wind contributing 10.4GW of capacity.
Power Technologys parent company, GlobalData, reports that in 2023, onshore wind dominated Portugals renewable power capacity mix with a share of 52.5%. By 2030, solar PV is estimated to have a share of 67.5% in the renewable capacity mix whereas onshore wind is forecast to cover 26.5%, and offshore wind 0.213GW.
"RWE to support development of floating offshore wind hub in Portugals Port of Setubal " 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.
After Revealing She Fell Out With Family Members Over Their Republican Views, Jennifer Lawrence Explained Why Shes Endorsing Kamala Harris
The 2024 presidential election is fast approaching, and Jennifer Lawrence is the latest celebrity to explain why Kamala Harris has her vote.
Taylor Hill / FilmMagic
Abortion is literally on the ballot, the Oscar-winning actor told People this week, describing the current Vice President as an amazing candidate. I know that she will do whatever she can to protect reproductive rights.
Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
As I'm sure you know, Kamala has consistently supported legislation to restore the right to abortions across the US after Roe v. Wade a landmark legal ruling that protected the constitutional right to abortions since 1973 was overturned in June 2022.
You want to talk about this is what people wanted? Kamala said at the presidential debate last month while condemning state-level abortion bans. Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term, suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because health care providers are afraid they might go to jail and shes bleeding out in a car in the parking lot? Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images
Referring to Kamalas Republican opponent, former president Donald Trump, Jennifer made her stance clear, saying: Thats the most important thing, is to not let somebody into the White House who is going to ban abortion.
Gilbert Flores / Variety via Getty Images
For context, Jennifer has previously talked openly about growing up in a conservative home in Kentucky. In fact, during an interview with Vogue, which took place days after Roe v. Wade was overturned, she revealed she previously fell out with family members over their Republican beliefs.
Robert Smith / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
I just worked so hard in the last five years to forgive my dad and my family and try to understand: Its different. The information they are getting is different. Their life is different, she said, talking about a rift in her family prompted by the 2016 presidential election.
Ive tried to get over it and I really cant. I cant. Im sorry Im just unleashing, but I cant fuck with people who arent political anymore, she said. You live in the United States of America. You have to be political. Its too dire. Politics are killing people. Discussing womens reproductive rights specifically, Jennifer said at the time: I dont want to disparage my family, but I know that a lot of people are in a similar position with their families. How could you raise a daughter from birth and believe that she doesnt deserve equality? How? Rich Polk / Variety via Getty Images
Now, the Hunger Games star is using her platform to produce documentaries shining a light on womens rights, emphasizing the importance of education through storytelling during her interview with People.
Thats the beautiful, amazing thing about film and documentaries, she told the outlet. Hearing facts or listening to the news, hearing certain things happen, its very easy to forget until you actually see human existence and you see whats going on. I think thats when minds can be changed. Wwd / WWD via Getty Images
Jennifers company, Excellent Cadaver, has produced two as-yet-unreleased documentary films: Bread & Roses, which follows three women in real time as they fight to recover their autonomy living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, and Zurawski v Texas, which is about the women involved in a 2023 lawsuit against the state of Texas over restrictive abortion laws.
Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images
Talking more about Zurawski v Texas also co-produced by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Jen said that the women in the film have gone through what no human being should ever, ever endure.
Women are dying, she said, hoping that the documentary will enlighten peoples idea of what abortion is and why certain people need abortions and why its so important to keep lawmakers out of families and out of peoples doctors offices. These laws are made by random white men and theyre not made by healthcare providers, she added. Jamie Mccarthy / WWD via Getty Images
In conclusion, Jennifer once again urged people to take action by voting, saying, The most important thing that we can do right now is just vote.
You can read more about Jennifer and the documentaries she produced in the full People article here. Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images
More on this
New Jersey hits pause on an offshore wind farm that can't find turbine blades
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) New Jersey hit the pause button Wednesday on an offshore wind energy project that is having a hard time finding someone to manufacture blades for its turbines.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities granted Leading Light Wind a pause on its project through Dec. 20 while its developers seek a source for the crucial components.
The project, from Chicago-based Invenergy and New York-based energyRE, would be built 40 miles (65 kilometers) off Long Beach Island and would consist of up to 100 turbines, enough to power 1 million homes.
Leading Light was one of two projects that the state utilities board chose in January. But just three weeks after that approval, one of three major turbine manufacturers, GE Vernova, said it would not announce the kind of turbine Invenergy planned to use in the Leading Light Project, according to the filing with the utilities board.
A turbine made by manufacturer Vestas was deemed unsuitable for the project, and the lone remaining manufacturer, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, told Invenergy in June that it was substantially increasing the cost of its turbine offering, Invenergy said.
That left the project without a turbine supplier.
The stay enables continued discussions with the BPU and supply chain partners regarding the industry-wide market shifts, Invenergy said in a statement. We will continue to advance project development activities during this time.
Christine Guhl-Sadovy, president of the utilities board, said the delay will help the project move forward.
We are committed in New Jersey to our offshore wind goals, she said. This action will allow Invenergy to find a suitable wind turbine supplier. We look forward to delivering on the project that will help grow our clean energy workforce and contribute to clean energy generation for the state.
The delay was the latest setback for offshore wind in New Jersey. The industry is advancing in fits and starts along the U.S. East Coast.
Nearly a year ago, Danish wind energy giant Orsted scrapped two offshore wind farms planned off New Jerseys coast, saying they were no longer financially feasible.
Atlantic Shores, another project with preliminary approval in New Jersey, is seeking to rebid the financial terms of its project.
Opponents of offshore wind have seized on the disintegration of a turbine blade off Marthas Vineyard in Massachusetts in July that sent crumbled pieces washing ashore on the popular island vacation destination.
But wind projects in other states, including Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Virginia, are either operational or nearing that status.
New Jersey has become the epicenter of resident and political opposition to offshore wind, with numerous community groups and elected officials most of them Republicans saying the industry is harmful to the environment and inherently unprofitable.
Supporters, many of them Democrats, say that offshore wind is crucial to move the planet away from the burning of fossil fuels and the changing climate that results from it.
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Go Jim Go! kicks off 2024 ride for Le Bonheur
Go Jim Go! kicks off 2024 ride for Le Bonheur
MEMPHIS, Tenn. Go Jim Go! officially kicked off Wednesday morning.
The annual fundraiser for Le Bonheur Childrens Hospital has brought in millions of dollars to one of the nations best childrens hospitals.
Click here to donate!
WREG Chief Weather Expert Tyler Eliasen has the honor this year of carrying out what Weather Expert Jim Jaggers began 18 years ago.
In true tailgate fashion, the special kickoff ceremony featured the Munford High School band, cheerleaders, food and cheering fans.
A number of others joined Tyler as they pedaled their way across Tennessee, mississippi and Arkansas between now and Oct. 2.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
"Youre stuck with me," the president joked during a Wednesday, Sept. 25, appearance on the daytime talk show
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images Joe Biden on 'The View' on September 25, 2024
Joe Biden says hes "not going away" after his presidency ends.
On Wednesday, Sept. 25, the president made an appearance on The View, co-hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin. During their conversation, he discussed his post-White House plans for when his term ends on Jan. 20, 2025.
"Although I'm leaving, youre stuck with me. I'm not going away," Biden, 81, shared on the talk show.
He went on to say "there's so many other things I want to do" while noting the foreign policy work being done at the University of Pennsylvanias Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement think tank, and the domestic policy solutions being researched at the University of Delawares Biden Institute. Both centers were established in 2018.
Biden said that he wants to continue "to keep the things going that we started," adding, "I think we can get them done."
Related: Joe Bidens Kids and Grandchildren Told Him They 'Were Proud' of His Decision to Exit 2024 Presidential Race
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images Joe Biden on 'The View' on September 25, 2024
Earlier in the episode, he reflected on his more than 50 years in politics, after starting his career as a United States senator from Delaware, and said he is "at peace" with his decision to no longer run for reelection since he dropped out of the race on July 21.
"Look, when I ran this last term, I saw myself as a transition president, transitioning to a new generation of leadership," Biden said before cracking a joke about his age. "I know I only look 40 but I'm 180 years old been around forever."
"But what happened was we [were] having so much success [in] getting things done that people thought we couldn't get done. I found myself having used more time than I would have ordinarily to just pass that torch," he explained.
Related: Joe Biden Shares the Simple Advice He Gave Kamala Harris on How to Defeat Donald Trump
Biden went on to compliment his vice president, Kamala Harris, who became the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee in his place.
"Working with Kamala, she is bright, she is tough, she's honorable," he said. "And the thing I like about her, and one thing we share in common, is that we have an optimistic view of the future here. There's nothing we can't do."
Andrew Harnik/Getty Joe Biden and President Kamala Harris at a campaign rally on May 29, 2024
He added, "It was the greatest honor in the world sitting behind the Resolute Desk as president of the United States. I loved it, but [it] sounds corny, but I love my country more."
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In another part of the interview, Biden spoke of his legacy, saying, "What I want to remembered for is being honest [about] what I've done, straight up." He then recalled his days serving as Barack Obamas vice president from 2009 to 2017 and said "I think I used to drive Barack crazy every morning."
"We'd meet at nine o'clock for eight years and then we end the day together," he continued. "Id say to him, Barack, remember, all politics is personal, including international. We build relationships. It matters. To build trust. It matters. It matters. It matters. And I just think the environment is such that we can get so much done, but we have to focus. We have to believe in ourselves again."
Related: Barack Obama Praises Joe Biden at the DNC amid Reports of Tension Between Them: 'We Became Brothers'
He continued, "And that's what I like most about Kamala. She believes in America, she believes in our capacity, she believes in who we are," before ultimately noting that he is "less concerned about what my legacy is."
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Joe Biden Shares the Simple Advice He Gave Kamala Harris on How to Defeat Donald Trump
"There wasnt a single thing that I did that she couldnt do," Biden said of his vice president during a live conversation on 'The View'
Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty
President Joe Biden previously shared advice for Vice President Kamala Harris on how to win the election, and it's simpler than you might think.
When Biden, 81, sat down for a live interview on The View on Wednesday, Sept. 25, he was asked by co-host Sunny Hostin, As the only person who has ever beaten [Donald] Trump, what advice have you given the vice president about how to win?
His response was straightforward: Be herself.
Related: Kamala Harris Makes History as She Wins Democratic Presidential Nomination in Virtual Roll Call Vote
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
Biden elaborated, Look, she is smart as hell, number one. She is tough. She was a first-rate prosecutor. She is a United States senator of significant consequence. And as vice president, there wasnt a single thing that I did that she couldnt do.
Biden claimed that with a vice president like Harris, 59, he could delegate her responsibility on everything from foreign policy to domestic policy, largely due to their similar beliefs.
The one thing we have in common We thought the way to build this country and build the economy which was left in tatters was to build a middle class from the bottom up. We give the poor folks an opportunity, give the middle class a chance to grow and the wealthy can still do well, he said.
Biden added, eliciting laughter from the audience, They should start paying their taxes, but...
Justin Sullivan/Getty
Discussing the development of the middle class and societal changes, Biden told the hosts at The View that the nation is feeling discouraged about its future.
"I dont know all of a sudden how were so down on the prospects of America," he questioned. "Theres nothing, nothing, nothing weve ever set out to do we havent been able to do as a people, and weve done it together. Nothing. Nothing."
Related: Presidential Debate Full Recap: Harris Calls for Second Face-Off After Holding Firm Against Trump's Attacks
While Biden pulled out of the 2024 presidential race in July, he said he's confident that Harris can do the job in his place if elected.
"She has the energy, she has the integrity, she has the intelligence, she has the grit, she has the stamina and she has the guts to do the right thing," he concluded.
At the Democratic National Convention in August, Biden took to the stage to show his support for Harris.
"Our best days are not behind us, theyre before us," he said to the crowd. "Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made when I became the nominee, and it was the best decision I made in my whole career."
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Read the original article on People.
This is Totally Normal Quote of the Day, a feature highlighting a statement from the news that exemplifies just how extremely normal everything has become.
Shame on her. She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin to CNN on Tuesday, responding to Vice President Kamala Harris support for paring back the legislative filibuster
During an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio on Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris expressed her support for eliminating the filibusterthe Senate maneuver that effectively makes 60 votes the threshold for passing legislation, rather than a simple majoritywhen it comes to abortion rights.
I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe, she said in the interview, and get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.
This didnt strike me at first as especially newsworthy. Embedded in her central policy pledge of restoring Roe protections is the understanding that she would support the filibuster carve-out necessary to achieve that. This is not a subject on which there are 10 Republicans willing to deal, and its not the type of law that can be passed through reconciliation. It also does not meet the key newsworthiness benchmark of being new. Harris said in September 2022 that she cannot wait to cast the deciding vote to break the filibuster on voting rights and reproductive rights. That was a new position, in 2022. In 2017, she signed a letter with 60 of her fellow senators pledging to oppose any effort to curtail the legislative filibuster. She, along with quite a few other Senate Democrats who signed the letter, indeed changed their tune when the circumstances changed, and are subject to criticism for that. But this isnt a stance she arrived at yesterday while on the air with the good people of Wisconsin.
But since Harris does very few interviews, I guess this is as juicy as it gets. And so a proper rending of garments was had. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, an ardent defender of the legislative filibuster, said in a Wednesday speech, for example, that to gamble the guardrails that make the Senate what it is, to short-circuit the process by which dissenting views are guaranteed a hearing, that ought to be disqualifying, by itself.
The most deliciously over-the-top performance of anguish, however, came from West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.
Im not sure how to describe Manchin anymore. He was a conservative Democrat who switched his registration to independent earlier this year, but he still caucuses with Senate Democrats. There was a brief moment, hours after President Joe Biden announced hed exit the presidential race in July, where word was that Manchin was thinking about re-registering as a Democrat to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. He didnt. Ive spent little to no time thinking about who Manchin would endorse in the presidential race, because Im no longer required to think about Manchin. He is retiring at the end of the year.
Alas, though, Manchin made clear Tuesday that his support is certainly not going to Harris, now that she has reiterated her 2022 support for chipping away at the filibuster. Manchin has devoted much of his time during Bidens presidency toward protecting the filibuster, so we understand why hed snap into action when a presidential nominee raises the subject.
But these quotes to CNN are such a hoot!
Shame on her, he lamented. She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. Does she??
He continued: I think that basically can destroy our country, and my country is more important to me than any one person or any one persons ideology. I think its the most horrible thing.
Jesus! Its a parliamentary quirk that has turned 51 into 60, guy!
I mean, if you do believe that a comprehensive legislative filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy, then it does follow that to pare it back, in any form, would be to destroy our country. But it couldcouldbe that his premise is a little over-the-top. (There are reasonable defenses of the filibusterand then theres a description of the filibuster as the Holy Grail of democracy.) Especially as there are significant democracy concerns with Harris opponent that he may want to consider in evaluating his choice.
But there is good news for Manchin, McConnell, and the rest of the filibusterists. First, Republicans are favored to win control of the Senate, so this all becomes moot. (Unless theres unified Republican control of government, President Donald Trump again demands Republicans eliminate the legislative filibuster, and we see what would-be Senate Majority Leader John Thunes spine is made of.) Second, it would not actually be up to a President Harris to curtail the filibuster. Democrats, if they kept control of the Senate with 50 votes, would have to get 100 percent of their caucus to go along with any change. Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinemaalso not a big fan of Harris comments!were the two biggest impediments to filibuster reform during Bidens presidency. In a Harris presidency, dont be surprised to see a new stick-in-the-mud emerge.
John, once a Category 3 hurricane, diminished for a time but has since re-formed just offshore in the Pacific. The storm will make an encore visit to Acapulco and much of the same area of the Mexico coast as the first round, with torrential rainfall and dangerous flooding being the greatest threats to lives and property, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
Because of the risks to lives and property from flash flooding, mudslides, storm surge and high winds, the AccuWeather RealImpact Scale for Hurricanes is a 3.
As communities along the country's Pacific coast prepared for the storm to make a second landfall, Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador raised the death toll from Hurricane John to five, according to The Associated Press.
Soon after John became a major hurricane, it moved inland over Mexico and quickly lost wind intensity but dumped torrential rainfall near Acapulco earlier this week. John's first round of downpour delivered at least 17 inches of rain to Acapulco and a whopping 21 inches of rain to Las Viga, Mexico. Rain has continued to pour down in some areas since then.
"Because part of the old circulation from John remained intact as it drifted offshore over the Pacific and regained wind intensity, the storm retained its former name," AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva said.
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John will drift northeastward once again and make landfall along the Mexico coast before the end of this week. This time, the center of the storm will track west of Acapulco instead of east of the major port city and vacation destination. The first landfall was farther to the southwest along the Mexico coast.
"Interaction with land will again cause a loss of wind intensity with John, but the storm will wring out torrential rain once again," DaSilva said.
Factoring in both deluges from John, a total of several feet of rain is likely to pour down in some communities with an AccuWeather Local StormMax rainfall of 50 inches.
"Especially where the old and new rain areas overlap, the risk of flash flooding and mudslides will be greatest. However, life-threatening conditions can occur even where the first round of rain stayed away," DaSilva added.
Some of John's strongest winds will affect Acapulco this time around, but the feature is forecast to peak at Category 1 hurricane intensity rather than that of a major hurricane.
A storm surge of up to a few feet can occur with the greatest danger of inundation near and just to the southeast of where the center makes landfall.
It may take until the weekend before all of the downpours from John as a tropical rainstorm diminish.
Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
EXCLUSIVE: House Speaker Mike Johnson is calling on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to fire Ukraines ambassador to the United States after she allegedly organized a U.S. taxpayer-funded visit to a battleground state ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Fox News Digital has learned.
Ukraines ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, organized a tour of an American manufacturing site for Zelenskyy over the weekend in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state ahead of Novembers election.
Speaker Mike Johnson
'Abuse Of Power': House Gop Opens Probe Into Ukrainian President's Trip To Battleground Pennsylvania
Johnson, R-La., said that tour was led by a "top political surrogate" for the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, and "purposely excluded" Republicans. Johnson called it clear "election interference."
"I demand that you immediately fire Ukraines Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova," Johnson wrote in a letter to Zelenskyy exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital Wednesday.
"As you have said, Ukrainians have tried to avoid being captured by American domestic politics, and influencing the choices of the American people ahead of the November election," Johnson wrote. "Clearly, that objective was abandoned this week when Ambassador Markarova organized an event in which you toured an American manufacturing site.
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"The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because on purpose no Republicans were invited," Johnson continued, adding the tour was "clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference."
Johnson said the "shortsighted and intentionally political move has caused Republicans to lose trust in Ambassador Markarovas ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country."
"She should be removed from her post immediately," he wrote.
Johnson stressed that "all foreign nations should avoid opining on or interfering in American domestic politics."
"Support for ending Russias war against Ukraine continues to be bipartisan, but our relationship is unnecessarily tested and needlessly tarnished when the candidates at the top of the Republican presidential ticket are targeted in the media by officials in your government," Johnson wrote.
"These incidents cannot be repeated."
Johnson thanked Zelenskyy for his "prompt attention to this matter."
Zelenskyy Warns Vances Plan To Give Russia Seized Land Will Lead To Global Showdown
"I trust you will take immediate action," Johnson said.
Zelenskyy over the weekend visited a Pennsylvania ammunition factory alongside two Pentagon leaders the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology and the Pentagons top weapons buyer.
Zelenskyy also met with Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was said to be on the short list to be considered as Harris running mate before she chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Zelenskyy recently participated in interviews and was critical of former President Trump and his running mate JD Vance, calling the Ohio senator "too radical."
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro at the Celebration of Freedom ceremony during Wawa Welcome America July 4, 2023, in Philadelphia.
The House Oversight Committee is now investigating the Biden-Harris administrations alleged use of taxpayer-funded resources to fly Zelenskyy to Pennsylvania ahead of the November presidential election.
Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., announced the investigation Wednesday and is seeking records regarding the administrations alleged "misuse of government resources" to allow Zelenskyy to "interfere in the 2024 presidential election."
"The Committee seeks to determine whether the Biden-Harris Administration attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice President Harris presidential campaign and, if so, necessarily committed an abuse of power," Comer wrote Wednesday in a letter to the White House, Justice Department and the Pentagon.
Comer said his committee is investigating the circumstances that led to "justify" the administrations transport of Zelenskyy on a Department of the Air Force aircraft to Pennsylvania.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, Pentagon, Justice Department and Harris campaign for comment.
Original article source: Johnson demands Zelenskyy fire Ukraine's ambassador to US amid fallout from Pennsylvania trip
Queen Rania Al Abdullah has been one of Jordan's leaders since 1999, as the wife of King Abdullah II. The Middle Eastern constitutional monarchy borders Israel, so she's been watching the conflict between Israel and Hamas closely.
ABC News' Linsey Davis sat down with Jordan's queen on Tuesday to talk about the ongoing conflict, suffering in Gaza and what a path to peace in the region might look like.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden addressed the U.N. General Assembly, including remarks about the Israel-Hamas war. He said:
I put forward with Qatar and Egypt a cease-fire and hostage deal. Its been endorsed by the U.N. Security Council. Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms, bring the hostages home, secure security for Israel, and Gaza free of Hamas grip, ease the suffering in Gaza, and end this war.
"As we look ahead, we must also address the rise of violence against innocent Palestinians on the West Bank and set the conditions for a better future, including a two-state solution, where the world where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition and normalized relations with all its neighbors, where Palestinians live in security, dignity, and self-determination in a state of their own.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to address the U.N. General Assembly on Friday.
In July, Netanyahu spoke to a joint meeting of Congress, urging American leaders to provide more bipartisan support to Israel amid its ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
During his remarks, the prime minister called Hamas' terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023, "a day that will forever live in infamy," comparing it to the attacks on Pearl Harbor and 9/11.
"I, too, appeal to America: Give us the tools faster and we'll finish the job faster," Netanyahu said. "Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas' military capabilities and its role in Gaza and bring all our hostages home. That's what total victory means. And we will settle for nothing less."
ABC NEWS: The world's leaders are gathered here in New York for the U.N. General Assembly. And front and center is the Israel-Hamas war, and concerns about a wider conflict in the region. We sat down with Jordan's Queen Rania Al Abdullah today, for a wide-ranging conversation about the war in Gaza, the prospects for peace and the role of the U.S. in it all.
Your Majesty, we thank you so much for talking with us and giving us this time today. Really appreciate it. We are now, as you know, just a few days away from marking one year since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. At least 41,000 Palestinians have died, thousands of them children. An estimated 100 hostages who still remain in Gaza at this point.
I know that you have said that the downtrodden and persecuted don't need a change of mindset, they need a change in circumstances. In your estimation, who or what can best bring about that change in circumstance?
PHOTO: Jordan's Queen Rania speaks with Linsey Davis of ABC New in New York City, Sept. 24, 2024. (ABC News)
QUEEN RANIA: Well, first of all, thank you for having me here. You know, this war has been unprecedented in its scale and brutality. Gaza, which is a third of the size of New York, has been hit with more explosives than, than Dresden, Hamburg and London throughout -- combined -- throughout World War II. So we have the highest death rates of any conflict this century. And 70% of those killed are women and children. Gaza is breaking all sorts of records in all the worst ways.
The highest rate of starvation, we have the highest cohort of child amputees, the highest level of civilian destruction, infrastructure destruction. Two of three buildings have been destroyed: most schools and hospitals, every single university. We have in this war, there have been more children, journalists, aid workers and medical personnel killed than any other war. So this is not a defensive war or a normal kind of war.
Every country has a right to defend itself. But what we're seeing here is truly an indiscriminate killing spree that's taking place. And instead -- we are coming close to the first anniversary of Oct. 7, and we've said from Day One the killing of civilians is wrong. But the response to Oct. 7 is not justifiable. What we're seeing today is a breaking of international law. And we are setting a new precedent in our world.
And so it sometimes feels like the world is operating from two different playbooks. Israeli pain is validated, whereas Palestinian pain is normalized, even justified. It sometimes seems that Israel is the exception to every rule that governs our world, and Palestinians are the exception to universal human rights.
And the reason why we have gotten to this point is because the world has failed. There has been no global response that withdrew support from Israel or applied sanctions or put any cost or consequences to the origin of this problem, which is the illegal occupation. And so when a country is able to get away with so much, Israel has become emboldened to break more legal and moral boundaries, and impunity never corrects itself. It just grows through complacency. And what we're seeing here is beyond complacency.
You know, when a red line is not really a red line, it becomes a green light, it becomes permission. And Palestinians have been paying the highest price for that permission to, to, to break all norms. And it has very dangerous implications for our world because we're setting a new standard, a new precedent, a new normal.
Are we saying that it is OK to, to use starvation as a weapon of war, to target aid convoys, to to target shelters that house civilians, to use collective punishment? What is this saying about our world today? If we cannot, if we are undermining the rule of law, then can we really hold any other country accountable for its actions? If we are criticizing Russia for its conduct in Ukraine, why are we turning a blind eye to what's happening, which is even much worse?
ABC NEWS: You have said that the global community has dragged its feet and, as you well know, some of the most powerful people in the world are gathered here in New York this week for the U.N. General Assembly. What do you think is the appropriate response for these world leaders and specifically the role of the United States?
RANIA: Well, look, as I said, we, Israel seems to be scaling up rather than scaling down. And while the war was, was being conducted in Gaza, we're seeing a ramp up of activities and violence in the West Bank where, Hamas are not in the West Bank. So, you know, months of killing raids, mass arrests, violence by illegal armed settlers under the protection of the Israeli Army have led to the highest level of violence in the West Bank in the last 20 years.
PHOTO: Jordan's Queen Rania speaks with Linsey Davis of ABC New in New York City, Sept. 24, 2024. (ABC News)
So, you know, and Israel is using the same playbook in the West Bank as it is in Gaza, you know, destroying infrastructure, cutting off access to electricity, food and water. And many are seeing in this approach just another step in Israel's decades long strategy of completely dominating the West Bank, of its expansionist settlement policy -- make life as miserable as possible for people in the West Bank, drive them out and then move into, into their homes and territory.
And now what we're seeing in Lebanon is another dangerous escalation. The, the risk of a regional escalation is now dangerously high. Yesterday was one of the deadliest days -- was the deadliest day -- where almost 500 Lebanese have been killed, in the past year, we saw 600 being killed.
And a tit-for-tat violence between Hezbollah and Israel is not new in our region. And historically, they've kept the rules of engagement such as that they left the confrontation within a certain threshold to avoid an open war. Hezbollah, from Day One, as well as Iran, has made it clear they do not want to cross this threshold. And we saw in Iran's response when their diplomats were assassinated in Syria, they responded, and then they said that this was going to be it. Hezbollah made, said the same thing, that they will not, they do not want open war.
However, I think Israel's calculations are slightly different. They seem to want to escalate and, using Iran as a pretext. Iran, I'm not a defender of Iran's policies or or what their plans are in the region. But their -- Oct. 7 was not caused because of Iran. And this particular conflict is as a result of an illegal occupation and oppression that has continued for six decades. It's not just about Iran.
However, Israel seems to be ramping up. And I think part of the reason is Bibi's, Netanyahu's own political calculations because of his own situation. He's also probably overcompensating for what was a failure of Oct. 7, a security failure on his side. And therefore, he's trying to appeal to the most extreme elements in his government. And frankly, he's doing it because he can get away with it.
ABC NEWS: Well, how concerned are you, based on Lebanon again, seeing its deadliest day since 2006, that this may lead to a wider war in the region and what can be done to prevent it specifically on behalf of the United States?
RANIA: Well, look, I am very worried about what's happening. And I think today, we are much closer to a regional war than we have been in the past year. And I think it is time for the global community to act.
You know, specifically the U.S., I think the, you know, expressions of concern or even calls for a cease-fire really are meaningless when, when you continue to provide arms that kill civilians. You know, the answer is never more arms. That only needs more violence and more escalation. And America's support, the blanket support that's provided for Israel, has exceeded any reasonable political calculus.
You know, the U.S. has military, military, economic and diplomatic leverage it can use over, with Israel and it should start exercising that. Not just because it's the right thing to do, not just because we have to uphold international law, but because this is one of the highest rates of killing that we've seen in the century.
And because the, the dangers of escalation are extremely high right now. And nobody -- let me be very clear -- nobody wins from such an escalation. There will be nobody teaching anybody a lesson. So I think it's enough of this bravado and, you know, chest thumping and bully talk, like like children in a playground that we're going to teach you a lesson.
If Hezbollah, if Israel was to achieve its objectives, even if it was to kill every last Hamas fighter, every last Hezbollah fighter, how long will that keep Israel safe? As long as there is an illegal, crushing occupation, as long as people are denied their basic human rights, their freedoms, then there will always be resistance.
And nowadays, with modern technology, with AI, with communication tools, it won't take very long for people to regroup and resist again. And the only way to avoid it, to really bring security to the region, to the people of Israel, to Jewish people all over the world -- who are sometimes unfairly being held responsible for the actions of this government -- is through a just and comprehensive peace deal that really addresses and gives rights to both sides.
ABC NEWS: How much culpability do you think that Hamas has with regard to what's happening in Gaza right now?
RANIA: Well, Oct. 7 was carried out by Hamas. And, but the, but the people who are paying the price are innocent civilians. Like I said, you know, the 41,000 who have been killed, the vast majority of them are women and children.
ABC NEWS: But there are people who will say that's because Hamas is hiding out in hospitals and schools and shelters.
RANIA: Right. Well, first of all, you know, the, the, the human shield argument. I think the numbers defy that argument. The, the death toll, which is wildly disproportionate. It just cannot be explained or rationalized. And as you know, Gaza is one of the most densely populated places in the world. So anywhere that Hamas is going to be, by default, there's going to be civilians there. And even if you, even if you know that an operative is there, if there is a, if you're sure that they're going to be civilians there, then it's illegal to target those places.
And when we talk about human shields, I mean, you know, it is standard operating procedure by the Israelis. And we've seen it time and again. When they do raids, they take civilians, Palestinian civilians. I've just seen it recently where they shot a Palestinian, strapped them to the hood of the car and drove through Palestinian cities. This is happening all the time. They never talk about the human shields there.
You know, so it's just, again, the root cause of this conflict. This conflict did not start on Oct. 7. I feel like it's strange that I have to keep reminding people of this. This is not just about Hamas on Oct. 7. If Hamas was to disappear tomorrow, this conflict would continue. You know, this conflict long predates Hamas and will likely outlive it.
PHOTO: Jordan's Queen Rania speaks with Linsey Davis of ABC New in New York City, Sept. 24, 2024. (ABC News)
ABC NEWS: And so what is the way forward? Obviously, you support a two-state solution, but in the meantime, what happens to the Palestinian people? What do they do? I mean, even if the cease-fire were over today, they're living in cities that need to be rebuilt entirely.
RANIA: I think the No. 1 step now is to try to get an immediate cease-fire. And the reason that, why we're not reaching that is because clearly the prime minister of Israel has been buying time. You know, every time the two sides are close to an agreement, he throws in a new set of conditions or last-minute obstacles.
So we need to stop the fighting immediately, and that will de-escalate the Lebanon front, every other front. And then the world community really needs to address the cause of this issue. And in the past, peace talks have failed because we used the same equation. You know, there were never any costs or consequences placed to disincentivize the occupation. So Israel just felt emboldened to build more settlements, to grab more land. There was never any effort to uphold international law.
So I feel if we need to approach the peace process, we need to have a set of parameters or foundations that we can all agree on. And these can be the starting point. Otherwise, we're just, peace will remain elusive, only to reach another dead and deadly end.
So, for example, the starting point should be upholding the international law without exceptions. There can be negotiations and compromises, as is the case with any peace deal. But the departure point, the floor that needs to be set, should be international law.
Second, human rights are universal. They don't need to be negotiated or earned. Both Palestinians and Israelis have the right to peace and security and self-determination, regardless of which side is more powerful.
Third, security is not a zero-sum game. For the longest time, Israelis have been trying to safeguard their own security by denying Palestinians the same. Neither side's insecurity serves the other. It just reinforces the cycle of retaliation and and repression. The only way out of that is for both sides to have peace.
And, you know, for accountability, there can never be justice without accountability. When the nation does something wrong, it needs to be faced with repercussions, not exceptions.
And lastly, we cannot be held hostage to the voices on the extreme, that are, voices that are applauding starvation and displacement, that encourage collective punishment, that defend the indefensible, that justify the unjustifiable. We cannot be led by those forces.
If we can agree on those five principles as a starting point, then we can reach a situation where we can find a just peace in our region. And I am just saying that security measures, more war, more weapons are not the answer. The international community needs to come and decide, they have a decision to make: either we prove that the law stands above politics and power, or they have to admit that in the so-called rules-based world order, the rules only apply to, to the weak. And that's a decision for the international community to make.
ABC NEWS: I have so many more questions, but unfortunately, we are out of time. I thank you so much for taking the time to talk.
RANIA: Thank you so much, it was a pleasure. Thank you.
Jordan's Queen Rania offers path to peace in Middle East originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
The post Josh Klinghoffer Charged with Vehicular Manslaughter, Pleads Not Guilty appeared first on Consequence.
Josh Klinghoffer, former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist and current touring member of Pearl Jam, was arraigned in a California court on Thursday on a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. Through he attorney, he pleaded not guilty.
The charge stems from a car accident on March 18th, 2024, in which Klinghoffer struck 47-year-old pedestrian Israel Sanchez with his SUV in Alhambra, California. Sanchez was in a crosswalk and hit from behind. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
In July, Sanchezs family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Klinghoffer, alleging that he was distracted while driving and failed to brake in time.
According to Rolling Stone, a source with knowledge of the investigation said that no criminal intent is alleged and a review of the evidence determined there was no phone involved. However, a lawyer representing Sanchezs family, Grayson Yoder, said the video he has seen appears to show Klinghoffer holding a phone, and he has not been presented any exculpatory exculpatory to the contrary. Yoder also believes the fact that Klinghoffer never used his brakes is proof of gross negligence.
Klinghoffer did not attend the hearing in person. His attorney, Andrew Brettler, previously issued a statement saying, This was a tragic accident. After Josh struck the pedestrian in the intersection, he immediately pulled over, called 911, and remained at the scene until police and paramedics arrived. He has fully cooperated with authorities throughout the investigation.
Following todays hearing, Sanchezs daughter told Rolling Stone that, Were seeking justice here. I dont know why Josh is getting just a misdemeanor. Its not okay. My father was a very great father.
Josh Klinghoffer Charged with Vehicular Manslaughter, Pleads Not Guilty
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By Rajesh Kumar Singh
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines, the pioneering low-cost carrier, is facing a campaign by an activist investor to overhaul a business model it says is outdated, putting pressure on CEO Robert Jordan and leaving the airline scrambling to modernize, analysts say.
This comes ahead of an investor day on Thursday, where Jordan is expected to outline a plan to restore the carrier's long-term profitability - a standard investors came to expect from the airline before the pandemic.
The proposed changes include plans to switch to assigned seating and extra-legroom seating - higher-margin offerings that competitors like Delta and United Airlines embraced years ago.
Ahead of the investor meeting, its chief operating officer, Andrew Watterson, told staff in a video message that the airline needed to change its network to account for shifts in business travel patterns after the pandemic.
While that would entail bigger changes for some cities, the airline has no plans to stop serving them, Watterson said, according to a transcript of the video reviewed by Reuters.
"It's a delicate balancing act, and it requires difficult decisions," he said.
Southwest followed up that message on Wednesday by announcing cuts to its service in Atlanta next year.
Analysts and investors, including hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, have expressed concern that the airline is rigidly committed to a playbook developed decades ago and that some of the proposed changes may be too little, too late. Elliott has launched a campaign to oust Jordan and other top executives.
The hedge fund said on Tuesday it plans to request a special meeting of Southwest's shareholders as soon as next week to overhaul leadership. In response, the airline ruled out any leadership change and said it was carrying out a "significant transformation" of its business that would improve its financial results.
Southwest, which once boasted a record 47 consecutive years of profit prior to the pandemic, is currently struggling to regain sustained profitability. Interviews with analysts, investors, and workers suggest that the airline's long-running success may have led to overconfidence and stubbornness among its leaders.
"They have been far too ingrown and ... far too smitten with 'we've got to do it the Southwest way,'" said Rob Britton, a professor at Georgetown University.
In response to the criticisms, a Southwest spokesperson said the company typically does not make a decision unless there is data to support it.
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"Throughout its history, Southwest has been very deliberate in decision making when it comes to the markets it serves and its business model," the spokesperson said.
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In an example of strategic missteps, Southwest decided to expand into 18 new markets during the pandemic a strategy that had previously helped the airline gain market share during downturns. However, government-funded pandemic aid changed the operating landscape, and Southwest's continued expansion hurt its margins.
Analysts have also criticized Southwest's slow response to growing demand by travelers for premium travel, which tends to be a source of high-margin revenue for airlines. The company initially dismissed this trend as "highly cyclical" in January but reversed its stance six months later by unveiling plans to attract premium travelers with assigned and extra-legroom seats.
"Southwest is an example of complacency at work and all the risks that brings to business," said Henry Harteveldt, founder of travel consultancy Atmosphere Research Group.
The airline has also been criticized for its slow adoption of new technologies. For example, Southwest implemented the SkyPath software only this year, an application that uses iPad sensors and GPS data to help navigate turbulence. The software has been used by United and American Airlines pilots for years.
Southwest said the application's rollout required finding a way to integrate it into its system and making sure its pilots had the necessary support and training.
On a podcast last month, Jordan said the airline has invested in technology like "crazy." He credited those investments for Southwest's relatively smooth operations in July when a global cyber outage grounded flights worldwide.
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Southwest's ruthless focus on costs underpinned its success before the pandemic. But operating expenses have surged, with the company spending 99% of its revenue on operating costs last year, up from about 80% in 2015.
Furthermore, Southwest's reliance on Boeing has proven costly, as the planemaker's production and regulatory challenges have forced the airline to operate aircraft it did not plan to fly.
Brett Snyder, an airline analyst, suggests that Southwest's problems stem from a failure to plan for the future when its business was still humming.
Some say the lack of foresight has left the airline without more diversified revenue streams and vulnerable to softening domestic fares. Unlike peers such as European carrier Ryanair, Southwest's flights were not available for booking on third-party platforms until recently. It still sells tickets only in U.S. dollar, inhibiting its ability to serve customers overseas.
Southwest's challenges highlight the need for the airline to identify and capitalize on new growth opportunities beyond its existing fleet and network, Snyder added.
"The airline was going to run out of traditional growth opportunities with its existing fleet and network," he said.
"One of the failings was to really look more forward as opposed to living in the present."
(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago; Editing by Joe Brock and Matthew Lewis)
FILE - In this photo taken with a drone, portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed the previous night in East Palestine, Ohio, remain on fire at mid-day, Feb. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
A federal judge on Wednesday approved a $600 million class-action settlement Wednesday that Norfolk Southern railroad offered to everyone who lived within 20 miles (32 kilometers) of last year's disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
Judge Benita Pearson gave the deal final approval after a hearing where the lawyers who negotiated it with the railroad argued that residents overwhelmingly supported it, attorneys for the residents and railroad spokesperson Heather Garcia told The Associated Press. Roughly 55,000 claims were filed. Only 370 households and 47 businesses opted out.
Those who did object to the deal were vocal in their concerns that the settlement won't provide enough and that the deal was rushed through so quickly that they can't possibly know what the potential health impact from the derailment will be. They say it's hard to know all the risks, given the way test results have been reported by the EPA and the fact that the lawyers haven't disclosed everything they learned in their investigation.
The objectors had hoped the judge would order the plaintiff's lawyers to release the tests their own expert did after the derailment and address their concerns about a toxicologist who told them at one of the lawyers' town meetings that they shouldn't worry because he doesn't think anyone will develop cancer. That angered residents who have been complaining about unexplained ailments since the derailment and talking with doctors who are conducting studies to try and determine what the health impacts will be. Experts say it's too soon to know the health impacts.
These attorneys were bullying people and telling them they were never going to get any money if they didnt take this. People felt backed into a corner, resident Jami Wallace said.
The judge's approval clears the way for payments to start going out quickly. The lawyers had previously said they hoped to get the first checks in the mail before the end of the year.
As part of the settlement, any aid residents received from the railroad will be deducted from their final payments. Wallace and others who had to relocate for an extended period while the railroad paid for hotels or rental homes likely won't get anything.
Anyone who lived within 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) of the derailment can get up to $70,000 per household for property damage plus up to $25,000 per person for health problems. The payments drop off the farther people lived from the derailment down to as little as a few hundred dollars at the outer edges.
This outcome would not have been possible without the resilience and support of the East Palestine community and the broader class of impacted residents and business owners, the plaintiffs attorneys said in a statement. We look forward to beginning the distribution of funds in the coming weeks to help this community rebuild and move forward.
When the train derailed late on Feb. 3, 2023, tank cars full of hazardous chemicals ruptured and spilled their contents that caught fire just outside the small town on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Then three days later officials decided to needlessly blow open five tank cars of vinyl chloride and burn the toxic plastic ingredient inside because they feared they would explode.
Since the derailment, the railroad has offered residents and the community $108 million in assistance and paid for the massive cleanup that has cost more than $1 billion.
We made a promise to make things right and this is just one piece of that commitment," the railroad said in a statement. "We remain committed to this community for the long haul and look forward to continuing our relationship with the Village as we work to help the area recover and thrive.
Tamara Lynn Freeze said she and her husband ultimately decided to accept the deal despite their concerns about giving up the right to ever sue even if someone eventually develops cancer. She said the idea of having to go it alone against the railroad's army of lawyers one day is daunting.
It seems like everybody kind of just wanted it to be over with. like the attorneys and obviously Norfolk, Freeze said.
She and her husband live in his childhood home, which is some 175 yards (160 meters) from the derailment site. They will now decide whether to give up that house that's paid for or find somewhere they can feel comfortable planting a garden and living their lives normally again.
The judge who dismissed Jack Smiths classified documents case against Donald Trump will preside over the trial of his alleged would-be assassin.
Prosecutors charged Ryan Routh with the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate on Tuesday. Officials say he stalked the former president in Florida for about a month. As early as August 18, he positioned himself outside Trumps Mar-a-Lago. Cell phone data has confirmed that, according to CNN.
Now, Judge Aileen Cannon, who dismissed the documents case in June following months of delays and antagonistic behavior toward federal prosecutors, will preside over the case. Jack Smith, the DOJ-appointed special counsel, is currently appealing her decision.
Routh has also been charged with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer, in addition to the two previous gun charges. Officials took him into custody on September 15 following an incident at Trumps Florida home.
Routh is believed to have political views different to the former presidents but his social media accounts claim he voted for him in 2016.
Ryan Routh has been charged with the attempted assassination of a former president, prosecutors announced on Tuesday. Judge Aileen Cannon will preside over his case (AP)
He was charged about two months after the first assassination attempt against the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania during a campaign rally. A 20-year-old Thomas Crooks opened fire on Trump from the roof of a nearby warehouse on July 13, striking Trumps right ear.
Members of the crowd were also shot before the Secret Service ordered a sniper to shoot him dead.
US District Judge Aileen M Cannon will oversee Ryan Routh trial (AP)
Routh is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said, The attempted assassination on the former president is a heinous act, while speaking at a news conference on Tuesday. I am grateful that he is safe, and as I said immediately after the event, the Justice Department will spare no resource to ensure accountability.
A judge has halted construction of an industrial warehouse development underway in rural Bloomington, citing flaws in the environmental review conducted by San Bernardino County. Scores of homes have already been demolished. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
A Southern California developer must halt construction of a controversial industrial park in San Bernardino County that has displaced scores of homes, after a judge found flaws in the projects environmental impact report.
County supervisors in late 2022 green-lighted an industrial real estate firms proposal to remove 117 homes and ranches in rural Bloomington to make way for more than 2 million square feet of warehouse space. Several environmental and community groups sued the county soon after, alleging that the approval of the Bloomington Business Park violated numerous regulations set out in state environmental and housing laws.
Nearly two years later, and after more than 100 homes have already been leveled, San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Donald Alvarez ruled last week that the county's review of the project did not conform with the state law intended to inform decision-makers and the public about the potential environmental harms of proposed developments. He said construction of the warehouse project must stop while the county redoes the report in a manner that complies with the law.
A San Bernardino County spokesperson declined to comment on the ruling because it is the subject of active litigation. The developer, Orange County-based Howard Industrial Partners, said it would appeal portions of the ruling and predicted that delays to the overall project would be short-lived.
The 213-acre industrial park came with trade-offs familiar to communities in California's Inland Empire that are being asked to shoulder the sprawling distribution centers integral to the storage, packaging and delivery of America's online shopping orders.
The environmental impact report found that the development would have significant and unavoidable impacts on air quality. But it also would bring jobs to the majority Latino community of 23,000 residents, and the developer pledged to provide millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements.
And because the warehouse project would be about 50 feet from Zimmerman Elementary, the developer agreed to pay $44.5 million to the Colton Joint Unified School District in a land swap that would usher in a state-of-the-art school nearby.
For Bloomington residents and community advocates who have been fighting the explosive growth of the warehouse industry in the Inland Empire, the courts decision is being viewed as a victory.
Ana Gonzalez, executive director of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said her organization has challenged a couple of warehouse approvals annually for the past five years. The lawsuits typically end in settlements that award the community extra protections, such as air filters and HVAC systems for nearby homes. She said shes never before seen construction stopped in its tracks.
"To see the way this one turned out just gives us hope, and it ignites that resilience that our community needed to keep fighting," Gonzalez said.
Still, she said, the timing is bittersweet.
I dont know at this point if we could ever get the homes that were there back, Gonzalez said. To see the community being wiped out in Bloomington is really heartbreaking.
The ruling raises broader questions about the rigor of San Bernardino Countys process for approving warehouse projects, which have become a mainstay of the county's economy. While proponents say the developments bring much needed jobs to the region, many residents living in their shadows lament the pollution, traffic and neighborhood disruption.
In Bloomington's case, the project in question fractured the community. Some people who sold their homes to make way for the industrial park say they got a good price and were happy to move on, while many of the neighbors left behind see a future with 24-hour truck traffic and a hollowing out of the communitys rural culture.
Alondra Mateo, a community organizer for another plaintiff in the suit, the Peoples Collective for Environmental Justice, said the many residents who have spoken out in public hearings, raising concerns about the environmental impacts of the Bloomington Business Park, were told that the county was adhering to the required environmental review process.
For the court to take a look at all the evidence and then agree with us, Mateo said, is such a big, powerful win to our community that has honestly been gaslit for so long.
Candice Youngblood, an attorney with the nonprofit environmental law group Earthjustice, which represented the plaintiffs, called the countys environmental report deficient. She said the courts findings are a testament to the fact that this document reflects cutting corners at the expense of the community and in the interest of industry.
Read more: 'Who's going to live here?' What happens when an e-commerce warehouse takes out your neighborhood
In a nearly 100-page ruling, Alvarez determined that the county had violated the California Environmental Quality Act by not analyzing renewable energy options that might be available or appropriate for the project, and not adequately analyzing construction noise impacts.
Alvarez found the county failed to analyze a reasonable range of alternatives to the project; and failed to sufficiently analyze how air emissions would impact public health. Despite finding the project would have unavoidable impacts on air quality, the county determined using zero-emission trucks would be an economically infeasible form of mitigation a finding that Alvarez deemed "not supported by substantial evidence."
But he ruled against the plaintiffs on several issues, rejecting their arguments that the county failed to analyze the project's traffic impacts; failed to adequately analyze environmental justice issues; improperly analyzed operational noise impacts; and abused its discretion by failing to translate key portions of the report into Spanish.
Youngblood, with Earthjustice, said the ruling forces the county to restart the environmental review process, including providing community members with new opportunities to weigh in on the project's impacts.
Mike Tunney, Howard Industrial Partners vice president for development, said the company was "pleased" by the court's ruling upholding portions of the environmental report. He said the ruling would result in "minor revisions" to the report, which the county would "quickly address."
We are committed to making the necessary adjustments to address the issues identified by the Court," Tunney said in a statement. We will simultaneously pursue an appeal of portions of the Courts ruling that threaten a $30 million major flood control project which is already under construction to prevent ongoing flooding that has negatively impacted the community for decades."
This article is part of The Times equity reporting initiative, funded by the James Irvine Foundation, exploring the challenges facing low-income workers and the efforts being made to address Californias economic divide.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Dan Isett, Oklahoma State Department of Education spokesman, stops KFOR reporter Dylan Brown from following state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters after a news conference Aug. 16 at the state Capitol.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday that will keep Oklahoma State Department of Education officials from barring journalists from Oklahoma City television station KFOR from the room in which State Board of Education meetings and news conferences are held.
Earlier Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Bernard Jones heard arguments concerning KFOR's request to force state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters and his spokesman, Dan Isett, to allow the stations journalists in the room for Thursday mornings state board meeting. In past months, Isett has prevented the stations journalists, sometimes physically, from being in the room.
"Newsgathering is the lifeblood of free speech the essential precursor to the dissemination of information and ideas that the public needs to form opinions, participate in democratic processes, and hold those in power accountable," Jones wrote. "Greenlighting a governmental attempt to restrict access to a limited public forum based on its unilateral determination that a news organizations reporting is factually untrue amounts to an unworkable standard. Such a standard, indeed, would empower the government to act as the final arbiter of truth, chilling investigative journalism and suppressing dissenting viewpoints."
The restraining order granted by Jones is effective for two weeks. He said in the order that he would address KFOR's request for a longer term preliminary injunction in the future. He seemed to express exasperation during the hearing about the issue, saying, What perplexes me about this whole thing is why we are even here."
KFOR and three of its journalists filed the lawsuit Monday and asked Jones for the restraining order. Central to the lawsuit is the allegation state officials are engaging in unconstitutional discrimination by arbitrarily deciding which media outlets can attend public events. The lawsuit seeks to prevent state officials from denying press access based on perceived legitimacy or viewpoint and to strike down any unwritten policies limiting media attendance. KFOR has been the only news agency kept out of the meeting room in recent months.
"(A)fter considering all written submissions, evidence, and arguments presented at todays hearing, the court finds that KFOR is likely to succeed on its First Amendment claim," Jones wrote in his order.
He continued: "Defendants conduct in barring KFOR from attending OSBE meetings and denying access to press conferences while allowing other credentialed media to attend appears largely motivated by the viewpoint of KFORs publications. Though Defendants insisted today that the restrictions were imposed due to KFORs repeated publication of 'falsehoods,' even vaguely referencing several instances in support, the Court finds this justification to be little more than a ruse, masking an effort to punish a news organization for its editorial stance. This effort is particularly troubling given that the standards for what constitutes a 'falsehood' appear arbitrary and are determined by the very officials who are the subject of KFORs critical reporting."
Isett had no comment as he exited the courtroom Wednesday morning, but he did comment after Jones released his ruling, saying, "A judge can give KFOR privileges, but that doesnt keep them from being fake news."
Walters, whos also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, did not attend the hearing. Isett and Walters are being represented by the state agencys top two attorneys, Michael Beason and Shannon Smith.
In his arguments, Beason initially cited security and space concerns as reasons for not allowing KFOR journalists into the meeting room arguments Jones said he was struggling to embrace then later accused the station of deliberately outright false reporting and saying that was another reason for keeping KFOR reporters out. Beason said KFOR reporters arent following a journalism code of ethics.
We dont take issue with the editorial stance (of KFOR), Beason said. We take issue with falsehoods.
More: How much are taxpayers spending to defend Ryan Walters and OSDE? Partial records give an idea
Beason said KFOR had refused to address false reporting, at which point Isett sitting in the gallery nodded his head. Beason questioned the commitment of KFOR to journalism and reporting and seeking the facts, after Jones had noted, Everyones version of the facts in this day and age is different.
Beason told the judge a committee decided which news agencies could be represented in news conferences often conducted by Walters after monthly state board meetings. Asked by Jones to name the committee members, Beason said it wasnt a formal committee but that it included Isett, Walters and the agencys Texas-based chief adviser Matt Langston, who rarely attends board meetings but whom Beason identified as the agencys second-in-charge.
Attorney Courtney Corbello with the Institute for Free Speech, which is representing KFOR and journalists Dylan Brown, Kevin Josefy and Gage Shaw, called Beasons presentation an admission of viewpoint discrimination on the part of the state agency.
Afterward, Corbello called the hearing one of the most interesting TRO hearings Ive ever been a part of and said she thought it went well for her clients.
I think the judge understood that we dont want to give our government officials that sort of power, to decide which reporters are reporting the right news, the true news, and which ones arent, Corbello said.
Exclusive: Daughter of teacher targeted by Ryan Walters writes board about effect of online vitriol
KFOR journalists hold press credentials issued by the Legislative Service Bureau, which is the credentialing agency for the state Capitol complex, on which sits the Oliver Hodge Building, where the state board meetings are held. Those credentials are renewed annually and accepted by every other state agency for access to government proceedings.
KFOR is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which owns nearly 200 television stations in the United States.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Judge issues ruling in KFOR lawsuit against Ryan Walters, spokesman
Jazz Watts, a resident of Sapelo Island, wears a hat that reads "I am Sapelo" outside the McIntosh County courthouse in Darien, Ga., on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum)
A judge on Wednesday ordered a halt to a special election initiated by residents of the one of the Souths last remaining Gullah-Geechee communities of Black slave descendants, who were looking to voters to undo zoning changes that residents say threaten their island homes.
Senior Judge Gary McCorveys ruling to stop the referendum came after hundreds had already voted early in coastal McIntosh County and less than a week before polls countywide were to open on the official election day Tuesday.
The judge sided with McIntosh Countys elected commissioners seeking to cancel the election, ruling that Georgias constitution doesnt allow citizens to challenge zoning ordinances by referendum. He dismissed arguments by attorneys for island residents that county officials had no legal standing to sue.
McIntosh County has the duty to avoid wasting public funds and must be afforded some remedy to challenge the decision to hold an election ordered erroneously, McCorvey's ruling said.
Residents of the tiny Hogg Hummock community on isolated Sapelo Island, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) south of Savannah, said they were blindsided a year ago when county officials approved zoning changes that weakened restrictions on development used for decades to protect the enclave their enslaved ancestors founded after the Civil War.
Residents and their supporters spent months collecting more than 1,800 petition signatures to force the referendum, which a Probate Court judge approved after verifying the petition in July.
Jazz Watts, a Hogg Hummock homeowner and an organizer of the petition drive, accused county officials of disenfranchising their own constituents.
Its not only unfair, its unjust," Watts said. "Were talking about peoples right to be a part of not only the electoral process, but a right to be a part of how theyre governed.
Ken Jarrard, an attorney for McIntosh County commissioners, said they were pleased with the ruling. County officials had estimated that opening polls on Tuesday alone would cost at least $20,000 money they argued would be wasted if the election was held and later declared invalid in court.
McIntosh Countys chief priority is to be a good steward of taxpayer funds, Jarrard said in a statement. A primary reason this case was brought was to ensure the County does not spend funds improperly.
Kate Pontello Karwacki, chairperson of the McIntosh County Board of Commissioners, declined to comment further.
The zoning changes adopted last year doubled the size of homes allowed in Hogg Hummock, also known as Hog Hammock. Residents fear larger homes will lead to increased property taxes and pressure some to sell land held by their families for generations.
Roughly 30 to 50 Black residents live in Hogg Hummock, a community of dirt roads and modest homes founded by former slaves from the cotton plantation of Thomas Spalding.
Small communities descended from enslaved island populations in the South known as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia are scattered along the coast from North Carolina to Florida, Scholars say their separation from the mainland caused residents of these communities to retain much of their African heritage, from their unique dialect to skills and crafts such as cast-net fishing and weaving baskets.
While the Hogg Hummock residents are likely to appeal, it's unknown whether a higher court could intervene before Tuesday's planned election day.
Hogg Hummock residents also have a separate lawsuit pending that accuses county officials of race discrimination and violating their due process rights when the zoning changes were adopted.
This is not over, Watts said. Were not deterred and were not discouraged. We know this is about our community, our culture and our history.
A rarely used provision of Georgias constitution empowers voters to force special elections to challenge local acts or ordinances, resolutions, or regulations of local governments if they can get a petition signed by 10% to 25%, depending on population, of a city or countys voters.
The commissioners' lawsuit argued that power doesnt apply to zoning. Jarrard said zoning powers are spelled out in a different section of Georgias constitution, and Georgia law defines specific procedures for repealing zoning ordinances that dont include special elections.
Attorneys for the Hogg Hummock residents and Probate Court Judge Harold Webster urged McCorvey to dismiss the countys lawsuit, arguing commissioners had no legal standing to challenge a special election that Webster was authorized to order.
McCorvey said in his ruling that Webster had failed to properly address the `validity of the petition.
Moore said in an email Wednesday that Webster had followed Georgia's constitution and the state Supreme Court's guidance. She said Webster had not decided whether to appeal.
Both sides argued their position was supported by a Georgia Supreme Court decision last year that upheld another countys 2022 referendum that blocked officials plans to build a launchpad for commercial rockets.
A Barnstable Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Cape and Islands District Attorney against the sheriffs of Barnstable County and Dukes County that sought to disclose confidential employee personnel records of the sheriffs staff members going back 20 years or more.
Barnstable County Sheriff Donna D. Buckley and Dukes County Sheriff Robert W. Ogden sought the dismissal of the case in Barnstable Superior Court Sept. 3. They claimed that the materials requested by the district attorneys office go beyond what is legally required and should only apply in pending cases.
Both sheriffs were pleased with the ruling, but still questioned the purpose of District Attorney Robert Galibois efforts for more than a year.
Barnstable Superior Court Judge Michael Callan asks Cape and Islands Assistant District Attorney Rose-Ellen El Khoury a question during a hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. Dukes County Sheriff Robert Ogden and Barnstable County Sheriff Donna Buckley were in court seeking dismissal of civil cases brought against them by Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois.
In dismissing District Attorney Robert Galibois complaint last week, Judge Michael K. Callan agreed with the sheriffs interpretation of the Brady doctrine, which limits disclosure of personnel information to those employees directly involved in a criminal case at issue. Employees in the Barnstable County Sheriffs Office, specifically, are responsible for collecting and securing evidence collected at crime scenes throughout the Cape and Islands.
The landmark decision, Brady v. Maryland, handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1963, held that, under the Fifth and 14th amendments, a prosecutor has a duty to disclose favorable evidence to defendants upon request, if the evidence is material to either guilt or punishment.
Sheriffs Ogden, Buckley respond
Judge Callan understands the law and saw through whatever the ultimate goal of the district attorney was, Ogden said, in response to the ruling by phone on Monday. He said he was confused about why the district attorneys goal was to persecute his own law enforcement employees over something that was not required of them.
Ogden said he had supported Galibois campaign for office and considered him a colleague and a friend. His message to Galibois is, Can you please stop being a persecutor and go back to being a prosecutor and doing your job? Ogden said he and his employees just want to get back to work as the directives have taken a lot of personnel time and money.
Buckley responded to the ruling by phone, saying that Galiboiss effort, defies logic and his explanations never made sense. She said, I hope this is an opportunity for us to move forward. In a press release, she said, For more than a year, this misguided effort by the district attorney has consumed valuable time and resources of the sheriffs office.
Callans ruling stated that Galibois seeks to have the sheriffs provide exculpatory information in a new and different manner than outlined in the Brady policy and that alternative remedies exist for the district attorney to obtain potentially exculpatory information.
Exculpatory evidence in a criminal trial, generally, justifies, excuses or creates reasonable doubt about a defendants alleged actions or intentions.
Judge: DA required to make reasonable inquires
The district attorney is required to make reasonable inquiries on members of the prosecution team during criminal proceedings, which include the sheriffs officers when they are involved in a particular prosecution, Callan said. But, he added, In fact, the party who is entitled to the potentially exculpatory information is the defendant subject to prosecution, not the district attorney.
Both sheriffs said they have always complied with the Brady obligations in individual cases. After the Sept. 3 hearing, Buckley told the Times, Im not violating the law. I make sure our office complies, but she said that does not include personal information about any employees.
Ogdens attorney, John Collins, said in the court hearing that no other district attorneys in the state or country are asking for the information that the Cape and Islands district attorney has been seeking.
Requests for Brady compliance started in 2023
The requests for Brady compliance go back more than a year and a half since Galibois took office in January 2023 and the office learned that it had not established written policies or protocols for obtaining and disclosing Brady information.
The district attorneys office first provided copies of its new policies and procedures relating to Brady information to both sheriffs, then amended its policy on the issue to comply with a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling in January of this year.
The DAs office sent correspondence numerous times to both sheriffs, who repeatedly declined to comply. The basis stated for the directives in the affidavit for the court orders and at the court hearing was that the office could not fulfill its discovery obligations to a criminal defendant as a direct result of the sheriffs refusals to comply.
Assistant District Attorney Rose-Ellen El Khoury said in the Sept. 3 hearing, Its telling the sheriffs to allow us to do our job.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Sheriffs say time, money wasted on DA Galibois request, after ruling
Republican candidate for Minnesota House District 2A and former Hubbard County Sheriff's Deputy Bidal Duran. Courtesy photo.
A Republican candidate for a state House seat who is running on his experience in law enforcement was excoriated by a state judge last fall for intentionally or recklessly mischaracterizing the truth on a pair of affidavits in a felony drug case.
House candidate Bidal Duran was a deputy with the Hubbard County Sheriffs Office last year, when he requested permission to search the cell phones of two men arrested during a traffic stop that turned up a large quantity of meth and thousands in cash.
Duran first said the suspects were pulled over in a routine speed trap on a quiet county road but later said he was tipped off by a confidential informant, leading the judge to deny the search warrant and accuse him of lying about the existence of the informant.
The conduct of Agent Duran could be insidious and has hopefully not spread to other officers in the Hubbard County Sheriffs Office, Minnesota Ninth District Court Judge Eric Schieferdecker warned in an Oct. 2 judgment.
The denial led to the drug case falling apart, and Duran was investigated for misconduct after the judges order. The disciplinary investigation ultimately cleared Duran of violating department policy, but details of the investigation raised questions about Durans thoroughness and work-ethic as a law enforcement officer.
Last fall, Duran was also given a written reprimand for turning off his body camera twice during an interaction with a member of the public, who told investigators Duran threatened them with jail unless they answered his questions.
Durans employment with Hubbard County was terminated last month. The county and Duran declined to say why, but Minnesota House Republican Campaign Committee spokesman Andrew Wagner said it was part of a medical retirement.
For the past 9 months, I have been pursuing a medical retirement. During this extensive process, I exhausted the entirety of my medical leave, and as a result was terminated from employment, Duran said in a statement shared by Wagner.
Duran is a Marine corps veteran who was deployed on a combat mission to Afghanistan in 2010, according to his campaign website. He became a police officer for the city of Bemidji in 2013 and then joined the Hubbard County Sheriffs Office in 2020.
Duran is favored to beat Democrat Reed Olson, a restaurateur, homeless shelter operator and former Beltrami County commissioner in the Republican-leaning House District 2A that covers a large stretch of northern Minnesota from Bemidji to the Canadian border.
Voters in the district elected outgoing Republican Rep. Matt Grossell four times, even after he entered into a court diversion program following a drunken incident at a St. Paul hotel bar.
Olson said in a statement that he is a firm believer in the Constitution and its protections against unwarranted search and seizure: A violation of anyones rights is a potential violation of everyones rights.
It looks pretty bad
Duran, who served on the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force, started his quest for a search warrant after two other deputies stopped a vehicle on a rural road near Park Rapids in late December 2022 for going 33 mph in a 30-mph zone.
Deputies smelled marijuana and searched the vehicle, finding 118 grams of purported meth, 15 grams of marijuana and $7,292 cash. Law enforcement believed the men were on a mission to sell the meth, and Duran wanted the judge to allow him to search their cell phones.
In his first search warrant application in March 2023, Duran said the two men were caught in a speed trap that the sheriffs deputies set up because of community complaints about speeding.
Schieferdecker denied Duran full access to the suspects phones because police didnt have enough probable cause. Instead he granted a narrow warrant to access the phones web history, search history and location data, according to court records.
A few months later in June, Duran resubmitted the search warrant seeking all the communications on the cell phones. This time, he included new information about a confidential informant, who had tipped him off to a driver bringing large amounts of drugs to the area.
This affidavit aligned with what Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Agent Dan Skoog, who was also involved in the stop, would say during a later investigation: that the car was pulled over because of information Duran said he had from a confidential informant, not from a speed trap.
Schieferdecker, apparently surprised by the existence of a confidential informant, circled the paragraphs about the informant and asked Duran over email if he had this information when he wrote the first affidavit and if the speed trap was set up because of that information. Duran emailed back yes to both questions.
I had previously advised you not to jerk me around about on probable cause in search warrants. That had no effect on your practices. I am very disappointed, Schieferdecker replied, according to an email thread included in the disciplinary investigation.
He said Duran would have to submit all of his search warrants to the sheriff before he would review them and would inform other judges and the suspects attorney about his concerns.
Months later, in his October order denying the search warrant, Schieferdecker wrote that the omission of the confidential informant made him unsure if there were even more details left out of either affidavit about the traffic stop. After Duran submitted his first search warrant, Scheiferdecker asked him if he had included all of his probable cause, and Duran said yes.
Intentionally misleading the Court in pursuit of a search warrant is extremely serious and inexcusable, Schieferdecker wrote.
After Schieferdeckers order denying the search warrant, the Hubbard County Attorneys Office dropped felony charges of methamphetamine possession or sale and driving while intoxicated.
It looks pretty bad on my behalf, Duran said in an interview with the Reformer.
But Duran said theres more to the story. He told the Reformer to ask the Hubbard County Attorneys Office what legal advice they gave him.
Because if I was given bad advice and I was told to move forward with the search warrants .. is that me? Duran said.
Duran would not elaborate on what that advice was. Asked if the prosecutor told him not to mention the confidential informant at first, Duran said there was no need to because the information provided during that case did not need for that.
Hubbard County Attorney Jonathan Frieden did not respond to requests for comment on what legal advice he provided Duran. He told the officer in charge of investigating Duran for misconduct that his office did not review the first warrant application but did review the second warrant, to which he added detail.
Duran also suggested digging deeper into why the judge ruled the way he did, as well as the judges history.
Then we can actually have a real good conversation once you get all the facts straight, Duran said.
The candidate didnt elaborate on the judges history, and said he would share his side of the story after the Reformer found out more information. Then he said goodbye and hung up.
Investigation finds no policy violations
Following the judgment, the Hubbard County Sheriffs Office opened a misconduct investigation into Duran.
The investigative file isnt public under Minnesota law because the complaint didnt result in discipline, but the file was shared with the Reformer by Wagner, the Minnesota House GOP campaign spokesman.
Wagner pointed out that the review, which was conducted by an outside investigator with the Becker County Sheriffs Office, determined Duran didnt do anything wrong.
But the investigation also revealed sloppy police work and poor communication, and the investigator said he understood why Schieferdecker would feel Duran was not being truthful, even if he did not intentionally lie.
Frieden, the Hubbard County attorney, and Assistant County Attorney Jonathan Olson, who was the lead prosecutor on the drug case, told the investigator the first warrant application looked like it was copied and pasted from other police reports.
They said they thought Duran was being somewhat lazy and not wanting to fully complete his work and not wanting to add more detail into the warrant application.
Frieden and Olson also said they had concerns with other warrant submissions from Duran and had previously talked to him about being more transparent and specific. Still, they said they didnt believe Duran did anything wrong.
Skoog, the BCA agent who was involved in the stop, told the investigator that police commonly leave confidential informants off of search warrant applications.
The investigator also interviewed the Paul Bunyon Task Force commander at the time, Joe Kleszyk, who also said task force officers commonly withhold information about a confidential informant on a search warrant unless the deputy is specifically asked if there is an informant involved.
After Duran submitted his first affidavit, Schieferdecker did email him to ask, Is this the entirety of your [probable cause]? according to court records.
Duran replied, It should be. I hope I sent the right one? but did not mention the confidential informant.
In his order, Schieferdecker made clear he did not think it was appropriate for officers to withhold information about confidential informants and noted the state has a process for protecting their identities.
Schieferdecker declined to comment through a spokesman and also declined an interview with the Becker County investigator.
The Hubbard County attorney could have appealed Schieferdeckers judgment denying the search warrant. But he told the disciplinary investigator that they decided not to because he felt it would open a big can of worms by siding with Duran over the judge.
Frieden, in an interview with the Reformer, said without the search warrant it would be too difficult to prove that the drugs belonged to the two suspects.
Just because somethings in a vehicle does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that anyone in that vehicle was aware of it. And even if they were aware of it, that they actually possessed it, Frieden said.
Frieden said he wouldnt have any problem putting Duran on the witness stand in future cases.
A federal judge had decided to refuse to lower Julie Chrisleys sentence and has resentenced her to 84 months in prison.
The judge said the sentence is a sufficient punishment.
Ahead of the court hearing, daughter Savannah Chrisley said she had hoped for a sentence reduction for her mother.
My biggest concern is that the judge is going to use sentencing guidelines that have not been revised in quite a long time and use a table that really should not exist, so theyre going to potentially use that for their justification to keep 84 months, Savannah said.
Following court, she told Channel 2s Tom Jones that her mothers resentence was 100% injustice.
Lets face it. Were in Fulton County. Weve seen the injustices happen time and time again, Savannah said.
Julie Chrisley has spent the last 20 months at a federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky after being found guilty of fraud in 2022 along with her husband Todd, and their accountant Peter Tarantino.
In June, an appeals court vacated her sentence and then ordered the lower District Court to resentence Julie.
The appeals court also upheld Todds conviction, who is currently serving a 12-year sentence in Florida.
Todd and Julie were charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax fraud.
Julie Chrisley was also charged with wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
The Chrisleys were initially indicted in August 2019. Prosecutors said the couple submitted fake documents to banks when applying for loans.
RELATED STORIES:
Julie Chrisley sent a fake credit report and bank statements showing far more money than they had in their accounts to a California property owner in July 2014 while trying to rent a home.
A few months after they began using the home, in October 2014, they refused to pay rent, causing the owner to have to threaten them with eviction.
The money the Chrisleys received from their reality television show, Chrisley Knows Best, went to a company they controlled called 7Cs Productions, but they didnt declare it as income on federal tax returns, prosecutors said.
The couple failed to file or pay their federal income taxes on time for multiple years.
The family had moved to Tennessee by the time the indictment was filed but the criminal charges stem from when they lived in Atlantas northern suburbs.
Channel 2 Action News first started investigating the Chrisleys in 2017, when we learned that Todd Chrisley had likely evaded paying Georgia state income taxes for several years.
Court documents obtained by Channel 2 Action News showed that by 2018, the Chrisleys owed the state nearly $800,000 in liens.
The couple eventually went to trial and a federal jury found them guilty of bank fraud and tax evasion.
Savannah Chrisley said the family moving forward with appealing the case for both her parents.
RELATED NEWS:
ATLANTA - A federal judge in Atlanta upheld reality TV star Julie Chrisley's prison sentence during Wednesday's resentencing hearing in her tax evasion and fraud case.
The 51-year-old "Chrisley Knows Best" star has served 21 months of her seven-year sentence that was handed down to her after she and her husband, Todd Chrisley, were convicted of lying to banks throughout metro Atlanta to obtain $36 million in loans and then hiding their income from the Internal Revenue Service to avoid paying federal taxes on more than $500,000.
Chrisley's sentence was vacated in June by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit after the court found a legal error in the calculation of her sentence, requiring the lower court to reassess her punishment.
Prosecutors asked the judge to keep Chrisley's sentence at seven years. Her attorneys had requested a shorter sentence.
The judge sided with the prosecution, ruling that Chrisley should remain in custody for 84 months.
Chrisley and her attorneys had requested that she be resentenced virtually. A judge denied that request as well as another request that Chrisley be able to appear in court in civilian clothes instead of a prison uniform.
The reality star is expected to appeal the ruling.
Savannah Chrisley hoped for mom's early release
Todd and Julie Christley's daughter Savannah Chrisley said on an episode of her podcast on Tuesday that she was hopeful about her mother's situation but is trying to look at things realistically.
"I hope and pray with everything that I have in me that this judge sends my mama home. I'm in such a phase of life right now of just needing my mom," she said. "Trust me, I need my dad, too. I do. But I feel like you go through phases of life to where you're a daddy's girl, you're a mama's girl. Like you just need your dad for some things and you just need your mom for some things and I need them both home,"
The reality star and podcaster said she has been holding back on talking about her mother's situation out of fear that she might affect the outcome.
"There is so much fear in my life right now pertaining to Mom's resentencing on the 25th that I don't know what to do. And I don't want to jeopardize her freedom because of things that I say," Savannah Chrisley said.
The 27-year-old has been a vocal advocate against what she has called the "inhumane treatment" of her parents in the prison system.
Savannah Chrisley appeared at the 2024 Republican National Convention, where she described the Department of Justice as a "broken agency."
"72600019, and 72601019. These may be just numbers to you, but to me, they're my whole heart. These numbers are my parents' identification numbers in our federal prison system," the "Chrisley Knows Best" star told the crowd.
What were the Chrisleys convicted of?
Todd and Julie Chrisley, along with their accountant Peter Tarantino, were found guilty in 2022 of conspiring to defraud banks and the IRS out of millions of dollars. The case involved two main fraudulent schemes: tax evasion and bank fraud.
Prosecutors say the Chrisleys funneled Todd's income into accounts under Julies name and subsequently transferred those funds to family members to avoid detection by the IRS. Tarantino was found guilty of making false statements to federal agents to mislead the IRS.
Prosecutors also say along with Todds former business partner, Mark Braddock, the Chrisleys used falsified financial documents to secure loans and lines of credit from various banks by grossly inflating their assets.
While the appeals court vacated Julie Chrisley's sentence due to insufficient evidence linking her to losses incurred before 2007, it upheld the convictions of Todd Chrisley and Tarantino., ruling that they should continue to serve their 12-year and three-year prison sentences respectively.
Julie Chrisley Resentencing: Heres what we know about todays hearing
For the last 20 months, Julie Chrisley has been serving a seven-year sentence at the federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky.
Chrisley and her husband Todd have been appealing their 2022 fraud convictions that landed them a total of 19 years behind bars.
But that could possibly change for Julie.
In June, an appeals court vacated her sentence and then ordered the lower District Court to resentence Julie.
What the sentence will be will be revealed at a hearing on Wednesday morning.
The government and Julies attorneys have submitted their sentencing recommendations to the court. The government is asking the judge to resentence Julie to the original seven years she was sentenced to in 2022.
Julies attorney has asked that the judge resentence her to no more than five years, saying his client has been a model prisoner.
For her daughter Savannah, she just wants her mother home.
I am so ready to have my mama home, the young Chrisley said during the latest episode of her podcast. I need my mama home, and I hope and pray that this judge just looks at the situation and sees that even if she was guilty of what they say she did, the time does not fit the crime, the punishment does not fit the crime.
Todd and Julie were charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax fraud.
Julie Chrisley was also charged with wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
The Chrisleys were initially indicted in August 2019. Prosecutors said the couple submitted fake documents to banks when applying for loans.
RELATED STORIES:
Julie Chrisley sent a fake credit report and bank statements showing far more money than they had in their accounts to a California property owner in July 2014 while trying to rent a home.
A few months after they began using the home, in October 2014, they refused to pay rent, causing the owner to have to threaten them with eviction.
The money the Chrisleys received from their reality television show, Chrisley Knows Best, went to a company they controlled called 7Cs Productions, but they didnt declare it as income on federal tax returns, prosecutors said.
The couple failed to file or pay their federal income taxes on time for multiple years.
The family had moved to Tennessee by the time the indictment was filed but the criminal charges stem from when they lived in Atlantas northern suburbs.
Julie will be appearing in person for the hearing. She tried to see if she could appear virtually, but the judge previously denied that request.
For the last month, Julie has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service as they move her to Atlanta for the hearing.
At Wednesdays hearing, Julie is going to look like any other federal prisoner. A judge ruled last week that she must appear in her prison uniform for the hearing, despite asking to appear in everyday clothing.
There will likely be a group of Chrisley Knows Best fans outside the courthouse showing their support for Julie and the rest of the Chrisley family.
Following a hearing in front of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Savannah Chrisley met with fans and thanked them for standing by them.
So far, it remains unclear if Savannah or any of the Chrisley family will be in Atlanta for the hearing.
The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the federal courthouse in downtown Atlanta.
RELATED NEWS:
Stellantis And Leapmotor Gear Up For European Launch Of Budget City Car And SUV
Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) and Chinas Leapmotor revealed that they are set to begin taking orders in Europe for a city car and an SUV, as they expand their budget electric vehicle (EV) offerings in the region.
Stellantis is leading a 51:49 operating agreement for the joint venture Leapmotor International, as the Leapmotor C10 and T03 media event takes place in Milan.
This strategic partnership aims to accelerate and boost Leapmotors product sales globally, excluding Greater China, by leveraging Stellantis global resources and commercial expertise to offer affordable prices.
Earlier this week, the company was in the headlines after it confirmed that it is looking for a new CEO to replace Carlos Tavares.
Also Read: Stellantis Begins Search For New CEO To Succeed Carlos Tavares (Updated)
Tavares took the helm of the company in January 2021. The search for a new CEO is part of the normal process of determining leadership succession given the importance of the position, a Stellantis media representative told Benzinga in a statement.
Tavares contract is set to expire in 2026. The company added that there is still a possibility that the current CEO will stay in the role for longer.
Earlier this month, President of U.S. Stellantis National Dealer Council (NDC) Kevin Farrish reportedly wrote to company CEO Tavares, accusing him of short-term decision-making and urged that the CEO spend more to clear older inventory.
Meanwhile, the carmaker Stellantis reportedly responded that it takes absolute exception to the open letter sent by the Farrish, terming it a public personal attack.
Price Action: STLA shares are trading lower by 1.70% to $15.30 at last check Wednesday.
Photo by Jonathan Weiss on Shutterstock
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This article Stellantis And Leapmotor Gear Up For European Launch Of Budget City Car And SUV originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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From the G-File on The Dispatch
Illustration by Noah Hickey. Photo of pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Columbia University by Spencer Platt/Getty Images. Photo of pro-Palestinian protesters at City College of New York by Alex Kent/Getty Images. Photo of Ta-Nehisi Coates by Carol Lee Rose/Getty Images for Decolonizing Wealth Project.
Hey,
Im going to start, reluctantly, by discussing Ta-Nehisi Coates.
My reluctance stems from the fact I have zero interest in contributing to his cult of personality. Whatever you may think about Coates views onor moral authority overthe issue of race is fine. If youre a big fan, we probably disagree. I think the damage he did to the country and the racial conversation outweighs whatever positive contributions he made.
Thanks to a listener question on a podcast yesterday, it occurred to me that Coates memoir, Between the World and Me, and Lin Manuel Mirandas Hamilton came out the same year. It was a sort of conflict of visions. Hamiltons version of America was one where blacks and Hispanics could take ownership ofculturally appropriate if you want to use that dumb termthe founding. Mirandas vision of America was dynamic, inclusive, innovative, and deeply patriotic without being propagandistic. Coates vision was of immutable white sin and grievance.
In that conflict of visions, Coates won, at least among elites. Without Coates you probably dont get the 1619 Project, which, in many ways, was a reply to Hamilton. Youd still get protests over George Floyda death that deserved to be protested, after all (though not violently). But I suspect that the celebratory coverage of the protests, even after they turned violent, wouldnt have been so appalling if progressive elites hadnt gone down the Coates rabbit hole.
The thing is, long before we had the term luxury beliefs, one of the great signs of status was the noblesse oblige of performative guilt. A large segment of the chattering classes and their audiences simply enjoy wallowing in guiltAmerican guilt, white guilt, Jewish guilt, Christian guilt, capitalist guilt, even climate guilt. What they enjoy even more is feeling better about themselves by insisting that others dont feel guilty enough, which is to say they dont feel as guilty as me or us.
The point isnt that feeling shame over American slavery and Jim Crow is misguided. They were indeed shameful and evil. But admitting that, which I do freely and honestly, is not enough. The Coatesian vision of reparative justice necessarily requires adopting notions of ancestral, hereditary, collective guiltone of the most ancient and toxic of illiberal ideas (it lays at the heart of antisemitism for the last 2,000 years).
Anyway, there are other reasons I was reluctant to write about Coates splashy return to public life. I dont think he is all that fascinating. Which is to say, I dont find him sufficiently interesting as a thinker or writer to feel powerfully motivated to read a long profile of him, even to criticize it. Also, Jeffrey Blehar did a fine job covering many of the points I would make, conveying a similar sense of ennui and resentment at the suggestion that Coates has a claim to everyones attention.
But the biggest source of my reluctance is quite simple: I could not give the scrawniest malnourished rats ass about his views on Israel. Whatever you think of Coates authorial persuasiveness or authority (not the same thing!) to write about his personal experiences as a black man in America, he does, when writing about the topic, have the advantage of being a black man in America. But the idea that I should value his opinion above any rando on Twitter because he took a couple junkets to Israel and the West Bank is dead on arrival with me.
Look, I come from a bit of a niche, professionally and personally. If you asked me for experts on animal husbandry, carpentry, or mechanical engineering, I wouldnt be of much use to you. But people with real expertise or experience with Israel and the Middle East? How much time do you have? Because its a long list, spanning the ideological spectrum. And Coates isnt on it.
When he says, I dont think I ever, in my life, felt the glare of racism burn stranger and more intense than in Israel I see it as a confession against interest more than compelling testimony or witness. The use of stranger instead of stronger is also telling. Maybe it seemed so strange because it wasnt really racism at all? Or maybe the racism he saw was a kind of projection, an effort to make the wish the father of the thought. The reason thirsty people believe mirages in the desert are lush oases is at least in part because thats what they want to see.
And thats the context I put Coates in. When it comes to Israel, hes a joiner and a groupthinker. The dementia that causes Queers for Palestine to think they are allies of Hamas and Hezbollah and sees pinpoint targeting of terrorists as genocide but terrorists calls for actual genocide as mere resistance is contagious.
Vive la resistance.
I dont think antisemitism, critical theory, or postcolonial oppression theory (or whatever that stuff is called) entirely explains the virality of this stuff. That stuff is definitely part of the story. But I think theres something more basic as well: resistance addiction.
Vast swaths of Western cultureelite culture, political culture, online culture, academic culture, and most especially pop cultureare obsessed with being part of a resistance. Everyone wants to play the rebel, fighting the system from the outside. Nobody wants to be cast as the responsible grown-up striving to make the system work. The system is supposed to be all-powerful, and yet no one wants to claim theyre part of it.
Virtually any institution or entity that makes some claim of authority, or even self-confidence, can be a target of some resistance. The reason the punk eco-warriors throw paint or soup at great works of art? Because great works of art have cultural authority. Why tear down or deface statues? Because statueseven of abolitionistsevoke cultural confidence and elicit youre not better than me resentment.
Israel is a symbol of confidence, and many hate it for it. Its success, and its refusal to apologize for it, mark it out as an insult to the failures of its neighbors. And the spurious claims that it is a colonial outpost of America or the white West not only trigger outrage but vast amounts of sweet, sweet, self-flagellation-fueling guilt. Israel is a statue to topple, a painting to draw on with crayon. It is a target, at least in part, because it is a fashionable target for resistance addicts.
Consider, for instance, the climate resistance crowd. Many on the right like to argue that they are just a bunch of Marxists using environmentalism for their real anti-capitalist agenda. Theres certainly some truth to that. And I can tell that story quite easily.
But maybe that story gets the motivations wrong, at least for a lot of people. Maybe the people who joined the anti-capitalist resistance in the first place did so not so much because they hated capitalism, but because hating capitalism was the cool thing to do for people who want to cosplay rebellion and resistance. We like to think that ideology can fuel rebellion; for a lot of people, the desire for rebellion causes them to shop around for an ideology.
This would explain Greta Thunbergs segue from bleating How dare you! at supposed climate criminals to roaring Crush Zionism! Anti-Zionism is just so hot right nowThunberg is simply Ferris Bueller-ing, jumping in front of the latest parade and pretending to lead it. If it offends you that I sound like Im not taking Thunberg seriously, let me clarify: Youre right. I dont.
This would also at least partially explain the maddening tendency of Israel haters to abandon consistency whenever the topic moves from Israel. They decry Israels fictional genocide but yawn at actual genocide elsewhere. They decry homophobia but see Hamas and Hezbollah as part of their popular front. Israel is illiberal because its Jewish and there should be a high wall between religion and state. But countless actual Muslim theocracies are fine, because they are the authentic anti-colonial expressions of oppressed peoples. Or something.
In other words, its cool to resist Israel because that gets a rise out of people. Go and blaspheme Odin or Zeus, and see who pays attention. Blaspheme Jesus or Allah andhooboypeople will pay attention.
Talking about Israeli genocide offends people because its a lie and parasitically feeds off the horrors of the Holocaust. Talking about actual Chinese or Syrian genocide is a drag, man. It doesnt get a rise out of people, it just creates all sorts of obligations and inconveniences. In other words, resistance-cool explains all of the intellectual double standards because they arent intellectual double standards at all. The standard is what is fashionable and what isnt.
And you know what else it would explain? A lot of the same jackassery on the new right.
Because its pretty much the same jackassery. A whole herd of independent minds are coming to Washington, D.C., this weekend and they want you to Join the Resistance to: the Military Industrial Complex, the Medical Industrial Complex, the Censorship Industrial Complex, the Academic Industrial Complex, and a whole bunch of other complexes.
The new rebels cant even bother with coming up with new language sometimes; they just copy the old left, talking about fighting the power and taking on the establishment. Most of the new right intellectuals and Trumpy Intellectuals simply mimic slogansand occasionally the policiesof the left, because thats either the only resistance language they know or the only language thats recognizable as resistance talk to an audience that learns everything it knows from TV.
In his book Regime Change, Patrick Deneen (an actual intellectual) pays cutesy homage to Leninist language, while Steve Bannon just outright calls himself a Leninist. All the people who know what time it is sound like Weather Underground wannabes. (The Weathermens name had a somewhat similar connotation, in that it was inspired by the Bob Dylan lyric You dont need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Both imply a moment at the precipice when inexorable change is coming.)
I think some of the famous lefties who have moved rightward in recent years are admirable and serious people. I think some of them are crackpots or worse. But one of the things that helps explain the migration of some of them is the desire to be part of a resistance, to be transgressive and play the role of the maverick, to challenge pieties and offend the establishment. Another thing that helps explain some of them is the same audience capture we see on the left. When the audiences tastes move, the people who cater to that audience often move with them. Robert F. Kennedy Jr,a lifelong leftyis now a darling of the new right. His views havent changed that much; the market just moved, and he moved with it.
Maybe, just maybe, wed see less asininity on the left and right if we taught people that resistance for its own sake is not noble or courageous or cool. Just because Hollywood churns out a constant stream of stories of heroic resistance fighters doesnt mean that being a resistance fighter makes you heroic. History is full of resistance movements that were evil, vicious, and cruel. And when they came to power, they availed themselves of the opportunity to prove it.
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Most people had never heard of Mark Robinson until 2018, when a video of him defending gun rights in a Greensboro City Council meeting went viral. That flash of fame led him to drop out of college (he graduated later), quit his job in furniture manufacturing and focus on public speaking engagements.
By 2019, he was running for lieutenant governor. He won. And just four years later, hes hoping to keep going and become North Carolinas next Republican governor in November.
Now, though its not going great.
Robinsons ascent in politics has been remarkable, even if its almost entirely due to this far-right conspiracy theorist riding on the coattails of former President Donald Trump. But he was also destined to crash, which is whats happening now. His years of publicly making sexist, racist, Islamophobic, anti-LGBTQ+ and otherwise vile comments finally caught up to him. Its one thing to fly below the radar as a lieutenant governor, but you cant escape scrutiny as a gubernatorial candidate, particularly in a swing state like North Carolina in a presidential election year.
A CNN report last week uncovered years of disturbing comments that Robinson apparently made on a porn site forum. He referred to himself as a Black Nazi. He described being sexually aroused by secretly spying on girls in showers. He called himself a perv who enjoys pornography featuring transgender people a sharp contrast to his present-day transphobic rhetoric.
Robinson has denied the report is true. Hes even vowing to sue CNN. But he has yet to show how this story, which was meticulously reported and came with receipts, is false lies, as hes claimed. The fallout since its publication has been brutal: His top campaign staff resigned en masse, GOP groups pulled ad money for his campaign and Republican politicians, once eager to support him, now want nothing to do with him.
Even Trump, who enthusiastically endorsed Robinson in March and has hailed him as Martin Luther King on steroids, is avoiding being seen with him.
The CNN report is a doozy, but it is not by any means the first sign that Robinson has said things that are unacceptable that should be unacceptable for a statewide elected official.
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson speaks before Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on March 2 in Greensboro, North Carolina. AP Photo/Chris Carlson
While the CNN report may have been the straw that broke the camels back for many of his supporters, whats more surprising is how many straws came before it, without derailing his rise.
Hes demeaned powerful women (saying Michelle Obama emanates the stench of human waste and Nancy Pelosi is akin to Adolf Hitler). Hes pushed conspiracy theories. (He wouldnt be surprised if the 1969 moon landing was fake and the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an inside job.) Hes spread Islamophobia for years. (Someone should open an Islamic theme park, he said on Facebook. That would be a blast.) Hes repeatedly condemned birth control and abortion, at one point waving his hand by his groin and telling women to get this under control.
Hes also made alarming comments about weighty political issues, like contraception and transgender rights, that beyond offensiveness, offer hints of how his apparently conspiratorial thinking would play out in a Robinson-led North Carolina.
For example, as governor, he could do more than just make strange complaints that birth control is being forced on very young ladies even as conservative-led states are making it more difficult to access it, something thats been happening since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade 2022. And then theres Robinsons vow to arrest transgender women for using womens bathrooms, part of the ongoing right-wing crusade to push trans and gender-nonconforming people out of public life.
And the North Carolina Republican has made so many other inflammatory comments that havent even been fully reported on, but that are still out there on social media.
Consider his still-public posts attacking Black communities. Robinson, who is Black, has said on Facebook that African Americans wallow in victimhood like hogs in slop.
Hes described African American culture as a GODLESS, man hating, baby killing, bastard breeding, violent, lawless culture.
Hes said he doesnt consider himself part of the African American community because this community murders its children and sucks from the putrid tit of the government and then complains about getting sour milk.
A spokesperson for Robinsons campaign did not respond to a request for comment on whether he stands by his past comments about Black people.
Between now and Election Day, there will almost certainly be more stories uncovering more offensive things that Robinson has said. But we now have the clearest sign yet that the damage has been done to Robinsons chances as governor: Trump has ditched his own star prodigy.
A $250,000 grant from the Justice Departments Community Oriented Policing Services program (COPS) is helping the Kewanee Police Department put two more officers on the job. Chief Stephen Kijanowski spoke with Our Quad Cities News via Zoom about the grant and its impact on the city.
He said the department had help applying for the grant from a staffer who has a masters degree in grant writing. The funds will go to hiring more officers for specialty units.
Those two positions that we hire will allow us to place more seasoned officers into our specialty units, said Kijanowski. One of those special units is the street crime unit, and theyre a patrol unit that focuses on mid to low level narcotics distribution, violent crime. Theyre also part of our DAART program, which is the Drug Alcohol Addiction Response Team. That program is a proactive, community focused, compassionate approach to helping individuals battle the addiction to drugs or alcohol. If they have mental health issues, we are able to help get them to resources and provide support in their in their journey to recovery.
Kijanowski says the grant will also be used to put another officer in one of the schools in the city. Were also going to use that to put an officer into one of the schools as well, and that will be a school resource officer. Once that new officer gets hired, well put him into our School Resource Program, which we already have one officer in already.
He says support from city officials has been crucial to expanding the force. We were lucky that our city council does support our law enforcement. I think our community does as well, and we were able to get two positions put into our budget this year. With this grant waiting to be announced, we waited for that, so we were able to hire those positions with this grant. I think that is an important part is balancing our budgets. A small town, or any place, big or small, has to be worried about financial aspects. Cops are expensive to have. Kijanowski said about 60% of his annual budget goes to regular salaries, not counting overtime.
The grant stipulates that the officers must be kept on staff for five years. The grant provides payments to support their salaries for three years, but Kijanowski has no intention of ending the positions after five years. Our goal is to keep them through our budgeting process and be able to pay for them just through our normal funds. Were always looking for grants, though. Were always looking for support from state or federal grants, which we have received several in the past couple of years.
While having more officers on the streets is important, Kijanowski says its just as important to have someone working with kids in schools. A school resource officer is already at Kewanee High School and the plan is to add another at Central School. The officers will also spend time at the elementary schools.
In programs across the state, those school resource officers become part of that community at the school, and theyre able to develop good relationships with the staff and the youth that go to the school, he said. They (students) end up seeing the officer not just as an authority figure of a police officer, but as a resource to them, to help guide them as theyre growing up. So, its been a positive influence there, as well as for our street crime unit.
The street crime unit started in 2008, with Kijanowski among its first members. The unit was successful from the beginning. When we implemented that program, our crime rate went down and our drug arrest went up because we found that people that were committing these other crimes were also drug users, he said. Our goal with that street crime unit is to put people that sell narcotics or sell drugs in our community in prison.
Kijanowski says having officers in the schools serves two purposes. Were honestly trying to get into that school system to provide protection to those children, but also to provide guidance and show them a positive way in life and try to get them on the right path if they are on the wrong path. Having that officer in there is definitely a positive thing, not only for the school, but its a good thing for the police department. Its good for us for kids to see us, especially in junior high and high school, not as just the cops who are out there trying to bust you, but a resource for them. Were human beings, come and talk to us.
The street crime unit is in desperate need of more personnel, he said. That street crime unit is important; right now, we have half an officer in that unit. Basically, hes a dual role officer. Hes doing our general investigations and our street crimes unit, but thats one-man unit now, so thats tough. With this grant, were going to be able to beef that unit up and go out there and focus on the violent crime issue, the guns issues, the drug issues. I think theyre all interconnected, and I think its in connection with mental health as well. If youre on drugs, you might be on drugs because you have a mental health issue you want to try to solve, or those drugs can lead to those kinds of problems. So definitely supporting that program is important to me. We had three guys in that unit at once. And now I said, were down to a half guy, but well get the two by the end of the year, hopefully, if things continue.
This money, $250,000 is a lot of money. You know, we are a small town. We have limited income. Things are looking better for Kewanee as a whole, but we need to continue that. You know, strong fiscal trends and proper budgeting and things like that. So, any type of assistance from the state or from the federal government is just extremely, extremely helpful to us.
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Juvenile in custody after another shooting threat was made in Owensboro
HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) An Emerson Academy student is in custody after another shooting threat was made in Owensboro through the social media platform, Snapchat.
In a post by the Owensboro Police Department, they say the threat was made towards an Apollo High School student over the social media platform. Authorities say the School Resource Officer coordinated with OPD to locate the juvenile for further investigation.
We urge all community members to actively engage in communicating with our youth that these types of threats are not a joke or funny in any capacity and will have severe consequences, says OPD. OPD and school officials take these threats seriously and will take swift action against those who threaten the safety of our children.
The Emerson Academy student was charged with Terroristic Threatening and has since been released to their parents.
This is a developing story.
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This is Americas border czar, and shes failed us, says the narrator in Donald Trumps first attack ad against Kamala Harris, which features footage of the vice president dancing followed by a series of statistics describing chaos at the southern border, including over 10 million illegal border crossings and 250,000 Americans dead from fentanyl.
From the moment Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Republicans have attacked her record on immigration, which clearly they perceive as her greatest weakness. Trump and his campaign surrogates have dubbed her Bidens failed border czar, including at the one and only debate.
Harris, too, seems to perceive immigration as a vulnerability in her campaign. Thus far, her only rebuttal to the Republicans attacks has been to tout her support of the bipartisan border security bill and to criticize Trump for ordering his supporters in Congress to walk away from that legislation. She has been relatively silent on exactly what her immigration role has been in the Biden administrationnot to mention what her current immigration positions are as a candidate for president.
The truth is that Harris never was Bidens border czar. Early in his presidency, Biden put Harris in charge of a program that would tackle the root causes of migration from the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, where many of the migrants to the U.S. come from. In effect, the idea was to cut off migration at its source with a robust economic development plan. The program appears to be working. The number of migrants crossing the southern border has dropped precipitously in recent months, with Harriss efforts in Central America playing a contributing role. And yet, she does nothing to tout her success.
Rather than shrink from her immigration record as a political liability, Harris should lean into it on the campaign trail as a political asset. She can start this Friday when, for the first time since becoming the nominee, she visits the southern border. Harris can help the nation see that the kind of economic development she fostered in Central America can cut pressure on our border and serve as a critical complement to traditional at the border security.
Since the spring of 2021, when Biden first put Harris in charge of the Root Causes Strategy, the vice president has led the effort to secure commitments from international corporations to invest more than $5.2 billion in the Northern Triangle. As 77 percent of migrants from the region are driven out by lack of economic opportunity, the idea is that if you can incentivize regional governments to create conditions on the ground to attract investment, and then boost and stabilize the economy, many of those migrants will opt to stay home. Thus far, more than $1.1 billion of the money raised by Harris has been deployed, resulting in more than 90,000 new jobs, workforce training for 388,000 people, 3.5 million individuals obtaining bank accounts or access to credit, and digital access for 4.5 million people, according to the Partnership for Central America.
Jonathan Fantini-Porter is the executive director of Partnership for Central America, the nongovernmental organization that was set up to coordinate and manage Harriss Call to Action in the Northern Triangle. A member of the Biden-Harris Transition Team, Fantini-Porter told me that Harris was involved in building the Central America plan from the start with business and civil society leaders.
One of the tasks that we were given by the vice president was, lets figure out what the right model is here that the experts in this field have identified as the path to a solution. She launched the Central America plan with us sitting around a table on May 24, 2021, and has since then led the effort to drive this forward.
The data for the Northern Triangle paints an intriguing picture. According to a Congressional Research Service report, U.S. Border Patrol encounters at the southern border with Guatemalan, Honduran, and Salvadoran nationals spiked dramatically between 2017 and 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic. During that same period, when the Trump administration was prioritizing an enforcement approach to immigration, World Bank data shows a decrease in foreign direct investment, or FDI, in the region. Since 2021, those trend lines have reversed, with Border Patrol encounters with Guatemalan, Honduran, and Salvadoran nationals falling as more FDI flows into the Northern Triangle.
Something is occurring in this region that is causing people to not want to leave as much as they previously were, said Fantini-Porter. We would argue that one factor is that youre seeing economic activity occur.
To be sure, there are other factors suppressing migration from the Northern Triangle, such as the deterrent effects of Bidens executive order partially banning asylum claims, the Mexican governments crackdown on migrants traveling through its territory, and a perilously hot summer making the journey even more arduous. Others point to the Bukele effect in El Salvador, where a draconian approach to law enforcement has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the murder rate there. In any event, it would be folly not to consider the impact of economic development in the region by the Partnership for Central America.
Beyond crediting Harris for setting the vision for the Root Causes Strategy, which is the first time the federal government has used a public-private partnership model to tackle U.S. immigration challenges, Fantini-Porter says that the vice president has been intimately involved in moving the Central America program forward. He cites the example of Yazaki, a global auto parts manufacturer based in Japan. Fantini-Porter says Harris personally invited Itaru Motobayashi, the executive vice president of Yazaki North America, to the Summit of the Americas in 2022, held in Los Angeles, to pitch him on investing in Central America as a path to secure their supply chain, he recalled. In a follow-up meeting with Harris, Motobayashi committed to investing $30 million in a new wire harness manufacturing facility in the western highlands of Guatemala, which opened in 2023 and resulted in more than 7,000 jobs in a region known for a high rate of exit migration.
And importantly, that factory also contributes to an integrated supply chain between the United States and Central America, said Fantini-Porter. Those car harness parts go into cars that are then manufactured and sold in the United States. You end up having this integrated supply chain benefit that helps not only reduce migration but also create jobs in the United States and supports the geopolitical conditions that are so important right now to the Americas in terms of challenging Chinese incursion in this region.
So why isnt Harris touting her success in addressing the root causes of migration? No doubt she believesor her advisers believethat the less she talks about immigration, the better. But trumpeting her accomplishments in Central America, as well as her support for the bipartisan reform bill that Trump ordered Republicans to block, will show voters that she pursues real solutionsrather than using immigration as a political cudgel like her opponent doesand it will help voters understand that the border crisis requires a two-pronged approach of enforcement and economic development.
When people talk about the humanitarian crisis at the border, clearly its a symptom of a more deep, entangled set of conditions in the region where people are coming from, Ariel Ruiz Soto, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told my colleague at Ideaspace last year for a deeply reported article about the Root Causes Strategy. Theres a regional crisis and the border is one of the consequences of that regional crisis. Trying to solve or address irregular migration at the U.S.-Mexico border is already too late. What we need to do is better manage how migration happens.
Harris has shown real vision and leadership in addressing how that migration happens. She expertly wielded her soft power in bringing together business and civil society leaders and personally recruiting global corporations to open up shop in the Northern Triangle, giving would-be migrants a reason to stay home. The irony of the Bidens failed border czar attack is that she has been precisely the opposite of a failure.
In one of her first big 2024 campaign ad buys last month, Vice President Kamala Harris debuted her new brand: border-state prosecutor. The ad, called Tougher, features images of the wall at the southern border, dwarfing a half-dozen small tents in a makeshift camp. Harris poses at a lectern before what appears to be a large haul of illegal drugs, a voiceover saying she spent decades fighting violent crime at the border; that she took on drug cartels and jailed gang members. As vice president, it goes on, she backed the toughest border control bill in decades. And as a candidate she pledges to hire thousands more Border Patrol agents and to crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking. The ad closes with an image of Harris addressing a line of uniformed immigration enforcement officers.
One of the striking features of the Harris campaign, as several of my TNR colleagues have observed, has been its wholesale adoption of the Trump campaigns framing on immigration. In particular, Harris appears to be capitulating to the way Trump and his campaign have declared crime the defining feature of immigration issues: Unchecked, Republicans warn, immigration will lead to waves of migrant crime, of women and girls being trafficked, of communities wiped out by fentanyl. These claims do nothing for womens and girls safety or drug users; they scapegoat immigrant communities. Why would Harris accept this narrative? One clue may lie in her Tougher ad and similar rhetoric from the campaign since then: If Harris can become a border state prosecutor, she can appeal to the voters who might see her tough-on-crime record as an asset, while sidestepping critiques of her actual record as a prosecutor.
Trumps campaign has long used immigration as its not-so-subtle Southern strategy: to associate an already vulnerable out-group with crime. More accurately, Trump attacks crime, a free-floating signifier for a host of (often unspecified) bad things done by bad people, with very little connection to the law or the American criminal legal system. Crime is through the roof, and you havent seen the migrant crime yet, Trump said at a rally in Wisconsin in early September. It started, and its vicious, but you havent seen the extent of it yet. In ads, Trump and the Republican National Committee have tried to tag Harris as the Biden border czar, responsible for the border, which isnt true but has nevertheless structured the border prosecutor strategy of the Harris campaign.
Unintentionally or not, the Harris campaigns border rhetoric leans into stigma against immigrants and against people caught up in the criminal punishment system. In response to a question on immigration in Septembers presidential debate, Harris touted a border bill she supported, saying that it would have allowed us to stem the flow of fentanyl coming into the United States. I know there are so many families watching tonight who have been personally affected by the surge of fentanyl in our country. That bill would have put more resources to allow us to prosecute transnational criminal organizations for trafficking in guns, drugs, and human beings. Fentanyl might be an illicit substance moving across the border, but the people moving it are not recent or unauthorized immigrants. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said that the vast, vast majority of fentanyl coming into the United States is smuggled through the ports of entry and tractor-trailer trucks and passenger vehiclesthat is, through legal crossingsand the U.S. Sentencing Commission has said that 86.4 percent of fentanyl trafficking offenses (between September 2022 and September 2023) were committed by U.S. citizens. But the way Harris conflated the fatal overdoses involving fentanyl with immigration and the border can end up reinforcing the talking points about immigrants, fentanyl, and drug cartels coming from J.D. Vance.
These criminal offenses seem selected to communicate a simple message: Harris only goes after the worst kinds of crime. While some voters may have been critical of her judgment as a prosecutor, such as when her office concealed misconduct by a technician at the crime lab they used, now Harris is emphasizing her record prosecuting transnational criminal organizations who traffic in guns, drugs, and human beings, as she said in her first major interview, and as she repeated at the debate. In the past, she has spoken at sex-trafficking events about having visited what she said were tunnels at the border used for human traffickingeven as she also emphasized that, as attorney general, she learned that the vast majority of people trafficked for sex in California were born there. But she still talks about the border and human traffickers in tandem. As when she invokes having prosecuted predators who abused women, the way Harris talks about trafficking helps reinforce her image as a defender of women. The crime she fights, her campaign signals, is such a righteous crusade that no one is supposed to question the way it is fought.
The fentanyl and sex-trafficking talk draws on tropes that Republicans have exploited, such as Vance spreading misinformation about immigrants and fentanyl overdose deaths, or Trump tying immigrants to sex trafficking in the most grotesque terms. Can you imagine you have this small little community; all of a sudden you have 20,000 illegals in your community. Nobody knows where they come from, Trump said at a rally in September. Im angry about young American girls being raped and sodomized and murdered by savage criminal aliens. Nearly a decade of right-wing conspiracy theories about sex trafficking color the way people will hear Harris touting her record on human trafficking and the border. Some of those conspiracy theories even blame Harris for sex trafficking.
Harris the border-state prosecutor is a response to this rhetoric. If she is critical of Trump on the border at all, it is that he is not tough enough. But that also compromises her ability to speak as forcefully about Trumps hateful anti-immigrant propaganda. In Septembers debate, Harris warned viewers that Trump would resort to a bunch of lies, grievances, and name-calling. But when Trump then used the debate to spread anti-immigrant propaganda about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, eating neighbors cats and dogs, Harris did not take the opportunity to refute or denounce that lie. Nor, at any other point in the debate, did she actually acknowledge these immigrant communities and the troubles they face.
When asked directly about Springfield a few days later by interviewers convened through the National Associate of Black Journalists, Harris said Trump was spewing lies that are grounded in tropes that are age-old. She linked them back to Trumps own history. This is not new in terms of where its coming from and 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. But mostly, she talked about the impact of Trumps lies not on the Haitian immigrant community but generally on children, on a whole community put in fear, and on 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. She did not use the words Haiti, Haitian, or immigrant when addressing those harmed by these lies. But she did talk about cops.
Kamala Harris did not approve South Korea nukes in presidential debate
US presidential hopeful Kamala Harris did not endorse South Korea developing nuclear weapons in a debate with Donald Trump on September 10, contrary to claims in a video shared online with thousands of views. Neither candidate mentioned South Korea at the event, while Harris has previously called for the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula".
"[Breaking news] South Korea developing its own nuclear capabilities declared during US presidential debate," read part of the Korean title of a YouTube video shared on September 14.
"Harris announces new approval for South Korea acquiring nukes."
The eight-minute video, which attracted more than 29,000 views, shows various clips from the US presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
A woman narrating the video says the possibility of South Korea having nuclear weapons was brought up.
"It was a significant moment that proved South Korea acquiring nuclear weapons is not just an idea out of thin air but is being taken seriously even within the United States," she says in Korean.
"From South Korea's perspective, it is believed that a Harris win would be overwhelmingly favourable (to South Korea)."
Screenshot of the false YouTube video, captured on September 23, 2024
The video circulated on YouTube, TikTok and Facebook as calls grew for South Korea to arm itself with nuclear weapons, faced with Pyongyang's ramped up weapons testing and bolstered military ties with Moscow.
Two in three South Koreans surveyed for a June poll by the state-funded Korea Institute for National Unification said they supported the country having nuclear weapons if the North does not give up its nuclear arsenal (archived link).
This level of support has remained consistent over the years.
'Complete denuclearisation'
South Korea was not mentioned in the September 10 presidential debate, according to a transcript from US broadcaster ABC News (archived link).
Supporting South Korean nukes would moreover be a departure from Harris's public position on the issue.
During a visit to the demilitarised zone that separates North and South Korea in September 2022, she said a "complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula" was Washington and Seoul's shared goal (archived link).
She added that US commitment to South Korea's defence was "ironclad".
Harris's campaign website suggests that position would not change if she became president, describing her "unwavering commitment to South Korea in the face of North Korean threats" (archived link).
Furthermore, the video shared online features a fabricated CNN article.
A screenshot at the 4:27 timestamp quotes Harris telling the US news channel: "We must consider the expansion of South Korea's nuclear umbrella from various angles and leave many possibilities open."
Screenshot of the supposed CNN interview shown in the false video
However, AFP found no trace of the article, which contains various grammatical errors, including referring to Harris as "he" and failing to capitalise her name.
A reverse image search on Google found Harris's photo in the screenshot was taken from a CBS interview that aired on December 26, 2021 (archived link).
Screenshot comparison of the image used in the false article (left) and the CBS interview (right)
According to the interview transcript, she was asked about the Covid-19 pandemic, the economy and foreign policy, but there was no discussion about South Korea or nuclear weapons.
Social media users are claiming the top election official in Montana left Kamala Harris off the US state's ballots in an intentional effort to hurt her chances in the race against Donald Trump. This is misleading; the Democratic presidential nominee's name was briefly missing for overseas voters casting their ballots electronically, but the secretary of state's office said the temporary error was quickly resolved and that no final votes were affected.
"If a state left Trump off of the ballot, do you think the media would respond with a shrug of the shoulders? The Montana Secretary of State left Kamala Harris off the ballot," says a September 22, 2024 X post calling for Republican Christi Jacobsen, who holds the office, to be "jailed."
Screenshot from X taken September 24, 2024
Liberal advocacy group Occupy Democrats copied the message in an image posted on Instagram. Numerous users shared it across the platform and other sites, such as Threads.
Screenshot from Instagram taken September 24, 2024
Similar posts further accuse Jacobsen of "election interference" or trying to "steal" the November 5 contest.
But the claims are misleading.
While some overseas voters did open up electronic ballots that were missing Harris, the temporary glitch only affected some residents living abroad -- not all Montanans. The secretary of state's office said in a September 23 news release that the error was quickly resolved and that "no ballots were affected" (archived here).
The office added in a September 24 email that "all certified candidates for Montana's 2024 General Election appear on the ballot."
Technical error prompted shutdown
The error in question affected voters covered under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), a federal law that allows military members and other Americans living abroad to register and vote absentee in elections.
In Montana, residents covered under the act can mark their ballots as early as 45 days before Election Day using a hub called the Electronic Absentee System (EAS).
But when the system opened to voters the morning of September 20, Max Himsl and his wife noticed something astray: Harris's name was not listed as an option.
Himsl, from Montana's Flathead County, has been working and living in the United Kingdom as a plumber.
He told AFP in a September 24 LinkedIn message that he and his wife flagged the issue to the county's elections department, which had emailed the link granting them access to the EAS. They also notified Jacobsen's office.
He said the county told him others had also called confused, with some wondering if they had to enter Harris as a write-in candidate. Local media reported that other counties also fielded calls about the bug.
Paula Buff, Flathead County's election advisor, said in a September 24 statement that her office forwarded the concern to the secretary of state "immediately."
The secretary of state's office told AFP: "Shortly after the system went live Friday at 8 am, Flathead County emailed the secretary of state's office that a UOCAVA voter had notified them that candidates were not displaying properly on the EAS system. After receiving that email, the Secretary of State's Office took the system offline for troubleshooting with the vendor."
The office said the platform was restored that afternoon.
"One potentially impacted voter submitted a ballot before the system was taken offline during the troubleshooting period. That voter was contacted and addressed."
The office said 19 other voters in Flathead County might have accessed the system before it was pulled offline, but that none of them had submitted their votes.
Himsl, one of those 19, said the issue was corrected by the end of the day.
"Kamala Harris and Tim Walz did eventually make it onto the ballot after they fixed whatever error they had," he said.
However, he said the state downplayed the incident by saying in its September 23 statement that the issue may have affected "few voters."
"Every person utilizing Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting would have got the same ballot," he said. "Had I not called both Flathead County and the state, the issue may have went undetected for a longer period."
Other ballots unaffected
The mistake was limited to the EAS, Jacobsen's office said. The state is mailing ballots for other absentee voters on October 11, and in-person polls open on Election Day.
Harris will be named on all the printed ballots -- including those in Flathead County, Buff said. Sample ballots for other counties, including the three most populous jurisdictions of Yellowstone, Gallatin and Missoula, list the vice president among the candidates (archived here, here and here).
Screenshot from a sample Yellowstone County, Montana ballot taken September 25, 2024
"Any problems with the UOCAVA electronic system would not affect paper ballots, which are printed and prepared separately," said KV Aldrich, the Yellowstone County elections administrator, in a September 24 email.
"Yellowstone Countys ballots for in-person and absentee voting contain the names of all candidates certified by the secretary of state for the ballot, including Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz."
Aldrich told AFP she is unaware of any overseas Yellowstone County voters affected by the glitch.
AFP has debunked other misinformation about the 2024 election here.
Kamala Harris plans to sell herself as a pragmatic capitalist to business leaders in Pittsburgh on Wednesday in a speech designed to crush Donald Trump on the economy and rob him of undecided middle-class voters.
The Democratic presidential candidate will tout her middle-class roots as an asset in managing the economy when she appears before the Economic Club of Pittsburgh, according to a senior campaign official. And shell present herself as a pragmatist whose economic philosophy will not be bound by ideology, the official said.
And in the birthplace of steelmaking and labor unions, Harris plans to slam Trump as a shill for billionaires and a villain of everyday workers and entrepreneurs. For Donald Trump, our economy works best if it works for those who own the big skyscrapers. Not those who build them. Not those who wire them. Not those who mop the floors, Harris plans to say in a preview shared by her campaign.
Kamala Harris Misses Out on Endorsement Thanks to Filibuster Stance
Her campaign is hyping her Pittsburgh address as a serious shot at assuaging elusive undecided voters who want more specifics from Harris on how she plans to lead the country. They say internal research shows the more voters hear directly from Harris, the more they like herregardless of specific policy planks.
In a razor-thin close race, Harris needs all the votes she can get from a remarkably tiny group. A new CNN poll shows just 2 percent of voters havent yet decided which candidate to support, and another 12 percent say theyve chosen one but could change their minds.
Harris has won the endorsement of Pennsylvanias Teamsters, which bucked its national union days after the powerful International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to endorse either presidential candidate.
The vice presidents visit to the biggest, most electorally rich battleground state comes as she catches up to Trump in gaining the trust of voters to manage an issue they rank as most important. Trump had a 15-point lead on President Joe Biden on the economy last fall in a Harvard/IOP Youth Poll. Harris has now almost closed the gap entirely.
Still, the presidential race is a dead heat and could break either way. The Harris campaign is doubling down on the economy to win, hoping Trump continues to get sidetracked by immigration and wild conspiracy theories.
Trump is promising both tax cuts and sweeping, punitive tariffs, which billionaire Mark Cuban on Tuesday called insanity. Cuban has his own agenda: advising Harris on the virtues of cryptocurrency, a cause embraced by Trump and Republicans.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris declines to weigh in on how she will vote on Proposition 36, one of the most consequential criminal justice ballot measures to come before California voters. (Matt Rourke / Associated Press)
Vice President Kamala Harris, a California voter and former attorney general, is declining to say how she will vote on one of the most consequential criminal justice ballot measures to come before state voters in years.
As she runs for president, Harris has emphasized her credentials as the former top law enforcement official for the countrys largest state, presenting herself as tough in advertisements and at the Democratic National Convention in August, going after smugglers and seeking justice for crime victims.
But her campaign declined to answer questions from The Times about how she will vote on Proposition 36, a prosecutor-led tough-on-crime ballot measure that splits her Democratic base but has broad support among California voters, according to polls. The measure would impose stiffer sentences and potentially longer jail and prison time for repeat fentanyl and theft offenses, reversing parts of a ballot measure voters approved a decade ago , when Harris was attorney general.
Harris also declined to weigh in on that measure Proposition 47 before voters approved it in 2014. And her presidential campaign declined to answer questions from The Times about her views on the older measure, which lowered sentences for certain nonviolent offenses and has reduced prison populations.
Her refusal to answer questions about the two crime measures underscores Harris cautious approach, which predates her presidential run. She has given relatively few interviews since Democrats elevated her to the top of the ticket in late July, and the issue has not come up in those encounters. Harris strategy depends on winning moderate voters in swing states who may view California issues through a more conservative lens than the states political class.
Former President Trump, who is registered to vote in Florida, has struggled to answer how he will vote on a hot-button ballot measure in his state that would expand abortion rights. Trump suggested in a late August interview with NBC that he might support Floridas abortion rights measure but reversed course a day later after antiabortion activists criticized him. Trump has boasted that as president he appointed Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, fulfilling a 2016 campaign promise, but the issue has become one of his biggest political vulnerabilities.
Read more: Your guide to Proposition 36: Stiffer penalties for some drug and theft crimes
Republicans have pounded Harris on crime, even as statistics show some property crimes and most violent crimes are down both in California and nationwide. Trump has said cities are out of control as he attempts to couple the issue with immigration and describe a broader sense of disorder. Trump in August misleadingly claimed Harris destroyed California because of her alleged role in Proposition 47, despite her lack of involvement in passing the measure.
Though Harris did not take a stand on Proposition 47, some of her allies were involved in campaigning for the measure they billed as a progressive criminal justice reform.
This is a losing issue for Democrats. Full stop, said Alex Conant, a Republican consultant who advises Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. She's still trying to explain and walk back her comments about defunding the police from four years ago. She wants to talk about crime with balanced rhetoric and a complete lack of specifics.
Harris praised efforts to examine police budgets in the wake of the George Floyd movement but distanced herself from those views when she became President Bidens running mate later in 2020 and then went on to increase money for law enforcement. She had trouble navigating her record as a career prosecutor during her 2020 presidential primary, facing Kamala is a cop critiques from activists on the left that blunted her ability to fully define her more nuanced record.
Read more: The 'defunding' police debate and reimagining public safety: Kamala Harris' record on a fraught American issue
Harris entered politics as San Francisco district attorney in 2004 and was elected as the states attorney general in 2010 and again in 2014. She has defined her law enforcement approach as smart on crime, also the title of her 2009 book. That included creating a program to offer job training and other support for young first-time, nonviolent drug offenders when she was district attorney while seeking to come down harder on sex offenders and others accused of violent crimes.
But when Proposition 47 came before voters in 2014, Harris, then attorney general, declined to weigh in. There were two reasons, according to Nathan Barankin, her chief of staff at the time: The advocates who drafted the proposal did not consult her or ask for her support, which he found surprising. And she had previously decided it was a conflict of interest to advocate for or against most ballot measures because, as attorney general, she was in charge of writing the ballot summary and title.
Read more: New poll shows most California voters want to see tougher punishment for theft, fentanyl crimes
AGs always face a damned if you do damned if you don't quandary, Barankin said. But if you weigh in, someone is going to scream bloody murder that you wrote this a certain way to favor your perspective.
But Harris did weigh in on at least one other measure while she was attorney general. During her 2016 Senate race, when she was still serving as attorney general, she supported a ballot initiative aimed at getting money out of politics, her campaign said at the time.
Harris also used her authority as attorney general to decline to defend a 2008 statewide initiative, which outlawed gay marriage, when it was challenged in court.
Other attorneys general followed a similar practice, mostly remaining neutral on ballot measures but, like Harris, making some exceptions. Former Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, for example, campaigned against a measure that would suspend the states climate policies when he ran for governor in 2010. Atty Gen. Rob Bonta has voiced support for three propositions on abortion rights, gay marriage, and funding for mental health treatment.
The truth is, Harris took stands when she felt it was a politically smart thing to do and sometimes she didn't take a position where a voter would want an attorney general to take a position, said Dan Morain, a former Times reporter who wrote Kamalas Way: An American Life, a biography of Harris.
Read more: Newsom appears unlikely to campaign heavily against Proposition 36 but cautions voters
Morain said Proposition 36 is an especially complicated issue from both a policy and political standpoint. California's elected Democrats are divided over it, with some arguing the measure will help get more people off the streets and into drug treatment, and others warning it will revert the state to a tough-on-crime era that filled prisons with Black and brown Californians.
The politics of this are pretty fraught, he said. It doesn't shock me she isn't taking a stand on this yet.
Even Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was an outspoken and active opponent of Proposition 36 when the campaign began, appears to have backed down as it becomes clear that it is likely to pass. He said last week that he was unlikely to invest more time and money on the opposition effort.
I fear I cant do everything, he told reporters during a Sept. 19 bill signing ceremony in San Francisco, saying he had a busy political agenda that included electing Harris president.
The comments came on the heels of a poll showing 71% of likely voters support the measure. The Public Policy Institute of California survey found only 26% of voters planned to vote against it. That was a far wider margin than an August poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and The Times, showing 56%-23% support for the measure.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
As part of September's #BehindTheSeams campaign, GOTS and OCA are highlighting the need to increase the supply of organic fibres by helping farmers navigate the challenges of shifting from conventional to organic farming.
Transitioning to organic farming involves an in-conversion period, typically lasting three years, during which farmers face challenges such as unstable crop yields and market uncertainties. During this phase, support from brands and stakeholders is crucial.
OCA has been addressing these challenges by providing capacity-building, premium payments, and market linkages for over 35,000 farmers in India and Pakistan during the 2023-2024 cotton season, as part of a broader programme supporting over 80,000 farmers.
This impact has been made possible through the commitments of 16 brands and retailers participating in OCAs Farm Programme which addresses existing challenges in organic cotton farming. It provides farmers with tools, expertise and market commitments from buyers and ensures higher earnings and a secure supply of organic fibres.
By committing to purchase in-conversion cotton, brands can invest in the additional support and inputs farmers require, resulting in certified crops with significant environmental and economic benefits.
The #BehindTheSeams campaign calls on businesses across the textile industry to join OCA's Farm Programme helping to secure a sustainable supply of organic fibres and contribute to global sustainability goals.
Last week (18 September), GOTS and AI firm Marple reported their Satellite Cotton Monitoring Project in India demonstrated a 97% accuracy rate in detecting cotton fields and an over 80% accuracy rate in determining organic status.
"Textile industry urged to boost support for organic cotton growers" was originally created and published by Just Style, 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.
CHARLESTON, WV (WVNS) A 36-year-old Kanawha County man pleaded guilty to a role in a drug trafficking organization.
According to a press release, Tres Avery Davis, 36, of Charleston, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 to possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl.
Shots fired in Beckley leaves one person injured
Davis was also one out of 31 defendants who were found guilty for their involvement in Operation Smoke and Mirrors, which is a major drug trafficking investigation where members of law enforcement seized more than 400 pounds of methamphetamine, 40 pounds of cocaine, 3 pounds of fentanyl, 19 firearms, and $935,000 in cash.
Those involved in the drug trafficking organization transported the drugs, usually several hundred pounds per trip, to southern West Virginia from the West Coast using tractor-trailers. Once the drugs were exchanged for cash, normally hundreds of thousands of dollars, the money was then taken to California.
Investigators followed the trail of methamphetamine being sold here in Charleston and traced it all the way back to Los Angeles, California, and our southern border. The investigation revealed this organization was bringing methamphetamine across our southern border on pallets containing hundreds of pounds at a time. United States Attorney Will Thompson
California-based supplier pleads guilty to role in methamphetamine trafficking organization in West Virginia
The press release stated that the drug shipments that were sent to West Virginia involved around 196 pounds of methamphetamine and four kilograms of cocaine being transported from California to the Bluefield area of Mercer County by Ildiberto Gonzalez Jr. in March 2023.
Gonzalez got a box that was thought to have around $400,000 in exchange for the drug shipment, however he was later pulled over by law enforcement, and the truck and trailer were seized.
30-year-old Ildiberto Gonzalez Jr., of of San Bernadino, California, was sentenced on July 22, 2024, to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a quantity of methamphetamine.
Gonzalez acknowledged his role in the March 2023 delivery under the direction of his co-conspirator, Alejandro Gallegos, and that in January 2023, he was also involved in other drug shipments for Gallegos.
Fayette County woman sentenced after being on the run for more than two years
42-year-old Alejandro Gallegos, also known as Alex, Rooster, G and Primo, of Hacienda Heights, California, pleaded guilty on June 20, 2024 to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine.
Gallegos sentencing is scheduled for October 10, 2024, and he faces at least 10 years to life in prison, a minimum of five years of parole, and a $10 million fine.
Not only did Gallegos send drugs to southern West Virginia, he also sent them to other states such as Georgia and South Carolina.
For the purpose of sentencing, Mr. Gallegos is personally responsible for more damage done to our communities by methamphetamine than any other single defendant who has ever appeared in United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. United States Attorney Will Thompson
Fayette County man sentenced to prison for drug conspiracy
Operation Smoke and Mirrors marked the largest methamphetamine seizure in West Virginia history, however the FBIs work, and that of our local, state, and federal partners, is far from finished. Todays sentencing sends a message. To those who think southern West Virginia can be a place to traffic dangerous drugs, know that we are using every tool at our disposal to rid our communities of these substances. Our neighborhoods, businesses, schools, and streets deserve to be free of this poison, and the men and women of the FBI remain fiercely committed to that mission. Kevin Rojek | FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge
According to the press release, as a part of the guilty plea, Davis revealed that he transported around 2,000 blue pills containing fentanyl to a house on Kemp Avenue in the Charleston area of Kanawha County on March 7, 2023, and that he planned to distribute some of the pills.
Davis sentencing is scheduled for January 9, 2025, and he faces at least 10 years and up to life in prison, a minimum of eight years of parole, and an $8 million fine.
Marion County man arrested in Kanawha County for kidnapping, attempted first-degree murder
Other defendants who were sentenced as a part of Operation Smoke and Mirrors include:
39-year-old Jasper Wemh, of Charleston, was sentenced to 16 years and eight months in prison on May 2, 2024, after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
41-year-old Michael Allen Roberts Jr., of St. Albans, was sentenced to 14 years in prison on March 6, 2024, after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine.
42-year-old Justin Allen Bowen, of Charleston, was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison on August 31, 2023, after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
30-year-old Perry Johnson Jr., of Dunwoody, Georgia, was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison on April 11, 2024, after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
58-year-old Todd Tyler Snead, of Waynesboro, Virginia, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on September 6, 2023, after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
47-year-old Ryan Keith Kincaid, of South Charleston, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on December 8, 2023, after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Meadow Bridge man pleads guilty to federal gun crimes
The announcement was made by United States Attorney will Thompson, who thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), the West Virginia State Police, the West Virginia National Guard Counter Drug Program, the Kanawha County Sheriffs Office, the Charleston Police Department, the Putnam County Sheriffs Office, and the Raleigh County Sheriffs Office for their work on the investigation.
Law enforcement agencies that make up the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT) include the Charleston Police Department, the Kanawha County Sheriffs Office, the Putnam County Sheriffs Office, the Nitro Police Department, the St. Albans Police Department and the South Charleston Police Department.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
Kansas Roger Marshall used taxpayer dollars to fly near his Florida home. Is that legal?
Reality Check is a Star series holding those with power to account and shining a light on their decisions. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email our journalists at RealityCheck@kcstar.com.
Sen. Roger Marshall has taken at least seven official trips to the area around his vacation home in Sarasota, Florida, in the four years hes spent in the Senate, according to Senate expense reports.
The trips some of which were directly to Florida and others that included a series of destinations, with stops in Kansas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Idaho and Oklahoma totaled several thousand in flights, per diem expenses and transportation.
It is illegal to use taxpayer money to pay for personal travel. Marshalls office said each of the trips to Florida were for official purposes.
Each flight was approved by Senate Rules and admissible official travel that included visits to military bases, agriculture interests, and meetings regarding health care policy, said Charyssa Parent, a spokeswoman for Marshall.
The trips, first reported by Politico, come as Marshall in recent years has increased his presence in Florida, where he owns a vacation home appraised at $1.2 million eight times more than the hunting cabin he calls home in Kansas.
It is unclear how much time Marshall spends at either his cabin in Kansas or his home in Florida beyond a few pictures posted on social media.
Parent said Marshall only averages three trips a year to visit his children and grandchildren in Florida, which indicates at least some of his visits with his grandchildren have included official travel.
Marshall spent at least part of his Christmas holiday in Florida in both 2021 and 2022, based on his official expenses. In both years, Marshall took trips that lasted from the end of December to early January and included stops in Sarasota, where two of his four adult children also have homes.
While both trips included other cities including some in Kansas in both instances Marshall made two trips to Sarasota.
Kedric Payne, the senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit government watchdog, said that while it is illegal to use taxpayer funds for personal use, there is occasionally a blurred line when it comes to personal travel tacked on to a business trip.
It starts to get complicated, where on your way to official business you take a personal trip, Payne said. That can be organized in a way where you get reimbursement for the official part, but not the personal part.
While Marshalls office said the flights were approved by the Senate Rules Committee, Payne said there have been examples of lawmakers who faced federal charges for the misuse of taxpayer money or campaign funds in the past.
Former Rep. Aaron Schock, an Ohio Republican, was indicted for spending government funds to redecorate his Capitol Hill office in the style of Downton Abbey, among other examples of misusing taxpayer money. Schock agreed to a settlement with the federal government for $110,000 in restitution and taxes.
Then theres the recent example of former Rep. George Santos, a New York Republican who pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds to pay for luxury goods, gambling and even to pay his own rent.
Voters have a right to know that their public officials are good stewards with the public funds, Payne said. And when you have a member of Congress potentially misspending taxpayer money, you have a big problem.
Attorneys for Karen Read filed a 77-page brief with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday as they try to get two criminal charges dropped, arguing that the states continued push to retry her would amount to unconstitutional double jeopardy.
The Bay States highest court agreed last week to review the Read murder case after the 44-year-old Mansfield womans lawyers filed an appeal challenging Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannones decision not to dismiss two of three charges against her: second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly crash.
Reads trial ended in July when hopelessly deadlocked jurors told Cannone they couldnt come to a unanimous decision, leading to a mistrial.
The SJC set a deadline no later than Sept. 25 for Reads legal team to file a principal brief on the case. Prosecutors have until Oct. 16 to file their brief.
In the brief, Attorneys Martin Weinberg, Michael Pabian, Alan Jackson, and David Yannetti argue that Reads double jeopardy protections have been violated because several jurors who came forward after the mistrial indicated that Read was found not guilty of the two charges in question.
The very day after the trial court declared a mistrial, counsel for Ms. Read began receiving unsolicited communications from five of the twelve deliberating jurors (in four instances, directly from the jurors themselves) indicating, unequivocally and unconditionally, that the jury had a firm and unwavering 12-0 agreement that Ms. Read is not guilty of two of the three charges against her, including the charge of murder in the second degree, the defense stated in the briefing.
Morning. Karen Read's lawyers have filed their brief to the SJC. This is their appeal of Judge Cannone's ruling to keep all of Read's charges for her next trial. The defense is arguing that her double jeopardy protections have been violated. #boston25 pic.twitter.com/NvYlBCJJ2q Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) September 25, 2024
Reads attorneys added that the charges should be dismissed given that there are hundreds of years of case law supporting their argument.
Crucially, neither the Commonwealth, which frankly acknowledged receiving communications from one juror to the same effect nor the Superior Court judge, who expressly accepted the veracity of juror statements relayed in affidavits by counsel, disputed the factual basis for the defense motion in any meaningful respect, the brief went on to state. Despite the widespread media given to the defense filings of the attorney affidavits attesting to the jurors representation they had acquitted Ms. Read of two of three charges, no juror disputed the facts represented by the attorneys in any manner. Given the central importance that acquittals have held in our criminal justice system for hundreds of years, the defense respectfully submits that the jurys unanimous agreement precludes re-prosecution of Ms. Read on Counts 1 and 3 and mandates dismissal of those charges.
The legal team also argued that the superior court relied solely upon the lack of an open and public verdict affirmed in open court in rejecting Reads claim of acquittal.
This reasoning is rooted in a formalism that has been consistently rejected by the United States Supreme Court and this Court in a string of precedents spanning more than one hundred years, the attorneys stated in the brief.
If an agreement is reached to drop charge one of second-degree murder and charge three of leaving the scene of personal injury or death, Read would just stand to face a charge of OUI/manslaughter.
Read is accused of killing John OKeefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, by striking him with her SUV and leaving him in a snowstorm in Canton in January 2022.
Prosecutors said Read and OKeefe had been drinking heavily before she dropped him off at a party at the home of Brian Albert, a fellow officer. They said she rammed him with her SUV before driving away.
The defense has portrayed Read as a scapegoat, saying OKeefe was actually killed inside Alberts home and then dragged outside and left for dead.
Last week, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey announced that Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan will lead the Commonwealths retrial of Read. He was one of Whitey Bulgers defense attorneys during his 2013 mob trial.
Judge Cannone tentatively scheduled Reads retrial for Jan. 27, 2025.
Read the full brief from Reads legal team below:
Karen Reads attorneys file brief with Mass. SJC by Fox Boston Staff on Scribd
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This Kansas City-area county is slashing its property tax levy to lowest in 10 years
The Platte County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday evening to lower its property tax levy for the upcoming two years to just one cent for every $100 of assessed value of a piece of real estate, the lowest its been for over 10 years.
Commissioners said the county can afford the property tax cut because its bringing in enough money from sales taxes.
For the last couple of years, the county has been generating excess sales tax revenues, so instead of spending it and growing the government, weve decided to give some of it back to Platte County property owners with this property tax reduction, said Scott Fricker, the countys presiding commissioner.
Revenue collected from the reduced tax levy goes toward the countys general fund.
The vote lowered the levy from .06 for 2024 taxes, to 0.01 for 2025 and 2026.
Fricker said during the Tuesday meeting that the commission would lower the tax rate to zero if it could, but that would require voter approval to then raise it again in the future.
Joe Vanover, Second District commissioner, said that Fricker has closely followed the countys finances since he was elected in 2023, routinely analyzing the sales and use tax collections and sharing his projections.
Ive studied (his) plan, Vanover said in a press release. I wholeheartedly agree that the Platte County government should cut our property taxes.
The current levy was needed to pay for major upgrades to the law enforcement communications systems, he said, and the county paid its final lease on the system last year.
Dagmar Wood, First District commissioner, added she believes the county is finally in a good position to lower its rates.
The public was invited to share comments on Tuesday, but the commission did not receive any.
Platte Countys levy is not the only factor that determines a homeowners property tax bill. In addition to the county, other local taxing authorities such as school districts, city governments and libraries all set their own levies which are usually higher than the countys that together make up tax bills.
Tax bills are calculated based on the assessed value of a property, which changes as the housing market changes. In Platte County, the market values of homes increased by about 3% in the last year, according to data from real estate websites Redfin and Zillow.
Platte County homeowners age 62 and older are eligible for Missouris senior property tax freeze program, which could reduce future tax bills.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. A local nonprofit parked its mobile unit in the parking lot of the corner of a busy intersection in Kansas City, Missouri, in the name of health care.
KC Care Health Center offered free screenings and testing to people in need. They say easy access to free services is like a weight lifted.
Kansas City family in need of help after mom dies days after giving birth
Peace of mind, Sheree Rogers said. You can see, I can breathe a little bit and relax and just enjoy, you know, the city.
It means a lot, Barbara Araiza said. Theyre doing a good thing about this, they are.
Araiza is brought to tears and Rogers said she gains more play time with her son after marking important tasks off the checklist.
Nurses and KC Cares Health insurance navigators and prevention teams were on hand.
KC Care offered free blood glucose screenings, dentals screenings and HIV and STI testing.
Despite the rain, more than a dozen people stopped by the tents.
Emily Dreher said theyre hoping to bring access to quality healthcare in low-income communities.
Theyre also helping people sign up and learn more about Medicaid.
KC rescue crews save window washer stuck on 23rd floor
A lot of people have health insurance, Dreher said. Theyre not sure how to use it or where to go or what benefits they do qualify for. So, were just trying to get out in the community and let people know how to best utilize their resources.
Dreher said people can make an appointment to get a free M-POX vaccine at the KC Care location, 3515 Broadway Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64111, through Oct. 3. Just call and make an appointment at (816) 753-5144.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
RAF helicopters on standby as Britons told by PM: Get out of Lebanon now
RAF helicopters on standby as Britons told by PM: Get out of Lebanon now
RAF helicopters were ready for a major evacuation as the Prime Minister urged British nationals in Lebanon to leave immediately as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continues to escalate.
The UK is sending around 700 troops to Cyprus in case an emergency evacuation of the country is required.
Royal Navy ships RFA Mounts Bay and HMS Duncan are deployed in the eastern Mediterranean for an evacuation mission.
RAF transport aircraft and helicopters are also on standby.
Airlines suspending flights to Lebanon because of the escalating violence means commercial escape routes could be cut off as the situation deteriorates.
The Prime Minister will be at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday and Thursday as world leaders attempt to prevent the fighting in Lebanon spiralling into an all-out war.
Speaking on his plane to the US, he said: The most important message from me this evening is to British nationals in Lebanon, to leave immediately and I just want to reinforce that.
Yes, we are ramping up the contingency plans, I think that you would expect that in light of the escalation.
But it is important that we be really, really clear: now is the time to leave.
More broadly, I am worried about the situation and I think we need to be clear we need de-escalation, we need a ceasefire, we need to pull back from the brink.
I think that will be amongst the first topics we discuss in New York.
Former UK National Security Adviser Lord Ricketts stressed that British armed forces had experience in carrying out an evacuation from Lebanon, with preparations now being stepped up.
This is sensible contingency planning, he told Times Radio.
We are clearly near the point now where commercial flights are going to stop.
Obviously, its best for British people to leave on commercial flights, they are much more effective at moving large numbers of people than the military.
But the military are well prepared now to do an evacuation if they need to do it.
We did an evacuation in 2006 involving helicopters and aircraft and then ships to move I think 4,000 people out of Lebanon at the height of the Israeli incursion in 2006.
So this is something that the military are well practised at doing and they are now set up to do it if the airport should close and people simply cant get out.
Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander on Tuesday as part of a two-day bombing campaign that left more than 560 people dead and prompted thousands in southern Lebanon to seek refuge from the widening conflict.
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike on Wednesday, September 25 (REUTERS)
With the two sides on the brink of all-out war, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel, including a longer-range projectile that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel.
It was the Iran-backed groups furthest strike yet in nearly a year of exchanges. Israel said it intercepted the projectile, and there were no reports of casualties or damage.
The British deployment to Cyprus comes as the Government begins the first stage of its Dunkirk-style contingency plan, with the military team supported by Border Force and Foreign Office officials.
The Royal Air Force has planes and transport helicopters on standby to provide support if necessary.
Defence Secretary John Healey announced the movement of troops on Tuesday night following a Cobra meeting earlier in the day.
Mr Healey said: Events in the past hours and days have demonstrated how volatile this situation is, which is why our message is clear, British nationals should leave now.
We continue to urge all sides to step back from conflict to prevent further tragic loss of life.
Our Government is ensuring all preparations are in place to support British nationals should the situation deteriorate.
I want to thank the British personnel who are deploying in the region for their commitment and professionalism.
The UK already has a significant diplomatic and military presence in the region, including RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and British ships RFA Mounts Bay and HMS Duncan, which have remained in the eastern Mediterranean over the summer.
The Cobra meeting chaired by Mr Healey was attended by intelligence chiefs and diplomats and provided an opportunity to test government planning.
The need for a contingency plan was underlined as more airlines cancelled flights to Lebanon on Tuesday.
Airlines in the United Arab Emirates, a key East-West travel hub, cancelled flights on Tuesday.
Long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad cancelled flights, as did FlyDubai, the low-cost carrier.
EgyptAir also cancelled flights to Lebanon.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) The Kent County Sheriffs Office and Safe Haven Ministries have been awarded a $1.2 million grant to combat human trafficking.
The three-year grant comes from the Office for Victims of Crimes, which is part of the U.S. Department of Justice, the sheriffs office announced Tuesday in a release.
Once approved by the Kent County Board of Commissioners, the $1.2 million will help groups collaborate, improve the understanding of human trafficking in West Michigan and provide more resources for victims, the release says.
So far in 2024, the sheriffs office says its Human Trafficking Task Force has identified 90 victims of labor and sex trafficking, and it expects to identify more by the end of the year.
The success of the Human Trafficking Task Force rests on our collaborative efforts with community-based victim service providers such as Safe Haven Ministries, said Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young in a statement. Our increased capacity through this grant award ensures we continue the important work of giving victims a voice.
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Rep. Daniel Grossberg, D-Louisville. (LRC Public Information)
Leadership of the Kentucky Senate Democratic Caucus joined fellow party members in calling on Louisville Democrat Rep. Daniel Grossberg to resign amid allegations of inappropriate behavior towards women.
The leaders said in a Wednesday statement that the Senate caucus remains committed to the principles of respect, accountability, and justice in our efforts.
As public officials, we must uphold the highest standards of conduct and integrity. The recent allegations involving Rep. Daniel Grossberg are deeply troubling, the statement said. No one should be subject to harassment or intimidation in any setting. Given the seriousness of these accusations, we call on Rep. Grossberg to relinquish his seat immediately.
Last week, prominent Kentucky Democrats, including Gov. Andy Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, called on the freshman representative to resign following a Lexington Herald-Leader report about Grossberg getting a lifetime ban from a Louisville strip club after inappropriately touching a dancer and offering another dancer $5,000 to have sex with him. The House Democratic Caucus permanently expelled Grossberg Friday.
Meanwhile, through comments shared by his attorney, Grossberg vowed to stay in office and denied the allegations. He faces no opponent in the general election for the 30th House District, which includes central parts of Jefferson County. Earlier this summer, the House Democratic Caucus had temporarily suspended Grossberg and asked the Legislative Ethics Commission to investigate allegations that he sent inappropriate text messages to women earlier this summer.
Kentucky sheriff pleads not guilty in fatal shooting of judge in his chambers
The Kentucky sheriff accused of first-degree murder in the death of a district court judge entered a not guilty plea Wednesday during his first court appearance since the killing that shocked the small community of Letcher County.
Shawn Mickey Stines, 43, remains jailed without bond after the arraignment, which was held remotely in a courtroom in Carter County, 100 miles away from the courthouse where Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was shot to death six days earlier.
Prosecutors did not present evidence during the arraignment, leaving a possible motive for the killing a mystery. Stines appeared remotely from the Leslie County Detention Center.
Stines also did not comment on the charges during the hearing, but Judge Rupert Wilhoit asked him about his finances after Stines confirmed he wanted a court-appointed attorney.
The judge expressed skepticism about whether Stines, who said he owns two homes and earns $115,000 as sheriff, was truly indigent.
Sir, its my understanding that he is in the process of losing his job as sheriff of Letcher County, obviously, and will not have income going forward, public defender Josh Miller told the judge.
A preliminary hearing to present evidence in the case was scheduled for October 1 in Morgan County, another courtroom far from the crime scene.
What transpired in the judges chambers moments before the fatal shooting that afternoon is still being investigated, authorities said. Other people were in the building when the judge was shot but no one else was inside his chambers, Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart has said.
Stines job made him responsible for security at county courthouses, including the personal security of judges, according to the Kentucky Sheriffs Association. Hes now facing a first-degree murder charge, and its unclear who will take his place as sheriff.
Police vehicles near the scene after a district court judge in Kentucky was fatally shot in his chambers , on Thursday September, 19. - WYMT
Cameras were inside the building, and all witnesses will be interviewed, said Gayheart, who stressed this is the first time a tragedy of this magnitude has afflicted the county.
Stines and Mullins ate lunch together hours before the shooting, Circuit Court Clerk Mike Watts told CNN affiliate WKYT.
The whole county is just devastated by this, Watts told WKYT, nodding to the void left in the local justice system. Weve not only lost our sheriff and district judge, but Ive lost two personal friends that I worked with daily.
Just days before the shooting, on September 16, Stines was deposed in an ongoing federal lawsuit involving a former deputy who coerced a woman to have sex with him in 2021, CNN previously reported.
The lawsuit alleges the sexual allegations against the deputy were not appropriately investigated by Sheriff Stines, who fired the deputy in 2022.
Jonathan Shaw, the attorney representing Stines in his official capacity in the lawsuit, told CNN in an email he did not have the authority to speak on Stines personal behalf in the federal suit or the murder case.
An act of violence between 2 men I loved like brothers, county attorney says
Many residents knew the two prominent figures in the community, and friends of both the sheriff and judge said they were stunned by the killing and struggling to understand why it had happened.
The quiet, seemingly routine day in court turned chaotic when police received a 911 call just before 3 p.m. Thursday reporting shots fired from inside the courthouse building, state police said.
Hearing reports of an active shooter in the courthouse, court security officer Wallace Kincer and Watts, the circuit court clerk, leapt into action, leading attorneys and court staff away from unknown danger that lurked in the chambers, according to Matt Butler, commonwealths attorney for Letcher County.
Fear rippled through the county as students in Letcher County Public Schools were placed on lockdown shortly before 3:30 p.m.
Mullins was found with multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Butler recused himself and his office from the sheriffs prosecution because he and the judge married two sisters and their children act more like siblings than cousins, he said in a statement last week. Our community has suffered an act of violence that appears to be between two men that I have worked with for seventeen years and loved like brothers, Butler said in a social media post.
Some residents, including Butler, are calling for more adequate security protocols in the courthouse, such as installing a metal detector and adding security at the entrance.
The Letcher County Courthouse is one of the last that you can walk into without a metal detector or security at the front door, said Butler, who called it unacceptable.
Mullins is survived by his wife and two daughters, his obituary states. He died in his chambers of the courthouse where he spent his career working to help people, the obituary said.
CNNs Dalia Faheid and Dakin Andone contributed to this report.
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(NewsNation) The Kentucky sheriff arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a local judge in his courthouse chambers pleaded not guilty during a virtual court appearance Wednesday morning.
Authorities say Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines, 43, shot District Judge Kevin Mullins multiple times last Thursday following an argument in the courthouse. Mullins, 54, died at the scene.
Stines, according to The Mountain Eagle, allegedly walked into the judges outer office, then told court employees and others gathered there that he needed to speak with Mullins alone. After the two walked into the judges chambers, witnesses heard shots. Stines walked out with his hands up and surrendered to police.
Letcher County official shares what he knows about shooting
Stines was charged with one count of first-degree murder. Police have not revealed a motive.
According to the Associated Press, a brief arrest citation from Thursday says: Perpetrator used a firearm to shoot Letcher County District Judge Kevin Mullins. Judge Mullins succumbed to his injuries after the shooting.
Mullins was shot at 2:55 p.m., and Stines arrest came five minutes later, per the citation, which has no other information related to the shooting.
Judge approves $600M East Palestine train derailment settlement
During court Wednesday, Carter County District Judge H. Rupert Wilhoit III questioned if Stines was indigent and needed to be appointed a public defender. Public Defender Josh Miller argued that Stines will soon lose his job, and a legal team to defend himself could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshears general counsel called on Stines to submit his resignation to Letcher Countys judge-executive by the end of Friday, the Associated Press reported.
Wilhoit ultimately allowed Miller to defend Stines as a public defender at the next hearing, which he set for October. The judge told Stines, though, that this could change in future court proceedings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation.
After gaining independence, Azerbaijan managed to achieve a continuous progress. Azerbaijan, which pursues an independent policy, has chosen the path of development despite international and regional pressures.
In his address before Milli Majlis (Parliament of Azerbaijan), President Ilham Aliyev outlined the future strategies of Azerbaijan, with a particular focus on enhancing military capabilities, fortifying national borders, and mitigating emerging geopolitical threats. These strategic initiatives underscore Azerbaijan's persistent endeavours to adapt to a global milieu characterized, as noted by President Aliyev, by the breakdown of international law and the erosion of the global security framework, necessitating a proactive stance towards national defense and sovereignty.
New realities require new strategies
The head of state emphasized that the military power of Azerbaijan and Armenia is not comparable.
"In the time after the Second Garabagh War, we have significantly increased our military capacity, new armed units have been created and the number of special forces has been increased several times. New special forces and commando units have been set up, and their number will increase year by year," President Aliyev said.
The President also highlighted the rise of revanchist forces in Armenia, both among fringe political groups and the current Armenian leadership, which continues to live in "dreams of revanchism." He remarked, "The countries standing behind Armenia, their activities, their decisions, resolutions, statements - all this shows that this dirty game against us is not over yet." These external forces, he pointed out, have attempted to prevent Azerbaijan from fully reaping the benefits of its post-war victory, "The countries standing behind Armenia, their activities, decisions, resolutions, statements all this shows that this dirty game against Azerbaijan is not over yet. Foreign circles that cannot digest our Victory are preparing new plans against us."
President Ilham Aliyev laid out a clear strategy for self-sufficiency in military production, stating that Azerbaijan has initiated large-scale modernization in its military industrial complex. "We are conducting modernization work in our military factories and producing new weapons and ammunition," he said, stressing that this strategy reduces dependency on foreign suppliers and enhances Azerbaijans capacity to export military products. This move also fosters local innovation, creating thousands of new jobs and boosting the national economy.
Securing Borders and Regional Stability: Azerbaijans red line
The security of the state begins far from the borders and becomes a critical line once it reaches the border. It extends inland.
Border protection is crucial for ensuring the integrity and sovereignty of the country. After gaining independence, Azerbaijan focused on reconstructing its border areas. The broken border areas with neighboring countries have been rebuilt, and engineering and technical facilities have been installed. Issues with neighboring Russia, Iran, and Georgia have been resolved through negotiations between relevant institutions. However, there are frequent attempts by illegal drug smugglers from Iran to cross into Azerbaijan. Illegal activities also occur on the borders of Russia and Georgia. This highlights the urgent need to equip the borders with modern infrastructure, especially in the case of Armenia.
The President also addressed the issue of border security, especially along Azerbaijans 500-km border with Armenia. He explained the challenges posed by the rugged terrain, stating, "Some of our service areas are located at an altitude of over 3,000 meters. Despite this, our military positions along the border are being reinforced. We are strengthening the conditional border because any provocation can be expected from Armenia at any moment."
Therefore, although keeping the land borders closed currently causes certain difficulties, it is considered a more realistic measure for ensuring internal security because the security of the state and citizens is more important than all other interests.
Addressing Geopolitical Challenges
Current geopolitical profile of the world is indeed miserable. The ongoing situation in the regions such as Middle East, Eastern Europe and even South Caucasus demonstrates how the World system diminished itself from its past "glorfying", less conflictual days. At the core of President Aliyev's vision is the continuous strengthening of Azerbaijans military capabilities, driven by the evolving global power dynamics and security threats. As he noted, the collapse of international law and the erosion of post-WWII security architecture have created a world where "might is right." He stated that this principle prevails, and some major states are not even hiding this at all."In fact, we have been conducting a policy in this direction for many years. During the occupation, increasing our military strength was always our primary objective."
For information, note that the likelihood of a new military conflict in the region is significantly increased by the strengthening of the France and Indias strategic partnership with Armenia, under the pretext of which the countries conduct military exercises with Yerevan, thereby raising the level of the Armenian Armed Forces. Of course, Armenia, putting aside its revanchist and expansionist policies, could also seize a unique chance to improve its country's development by signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan and following Baku's peace agenda. Unfortunately, this is not happening so far. So it is indeed time for Armenia to act, instead of giving false hopes by statements toward peace. So as the head of state emphasized, Armenia should officially end its territorial claims against Azerbaijan and make amendments to its constitution. Cause, Azerbaijan is willing to engage in bilateral cooperation with any country based on mutual respect, although it will not tolerate dictation, accusations, or blackmail.
Nevertheless, Azerbaijan's readiness to neutralize any threats to its sovereignty, serve as a broader strategy of self-reliance and resilience, as the country continues to navigate its way through a complex web of geopolitical threats, both from Armenia and from external powers unhappy with the countrys rising influence.
Strategic Blueprint for the Future: Only way is moving forward!
The main keynotes are clear as the sky above our head. President Ilham Aliyevs speech presents a clear and coherent strategy for securing Azerbaijans future, focusing on strengthening the military, securing its borders, and navigating geopolitical challenges. And ultimately, as the country prepares to host COP29, it also positions itself as a regional leader, not just in terms of military and security, but in areas such as environmental diplomacy and economic growth.
Azerbaijan's commitment to these priorities, as outlined by President Ilham Aliyev, provides a strategy for navigating the complex and often hostile geopolitical landscape, ensuring its sovereignty and security for years to come!
LONDON (AP) Michael Gove, who was a longtime U.K. Cabinet minister under successive Conservative Party governments, has been appointed the editor of The Spectator, one of the worlds oldest political magazines.
Wednesday's announcement came little more than two weeks after hedge fund manager Paul Marshall bought the magazine via his company Old Queen Street Ventures. The Spectator has a long-standing reputation of supporting the Conservative Party and providing intellectual ballast to its discussions both in and out of power.
Marshall, who was worth 875 million pounds ($1.2 billion) in the most recent Sunday Times Rich List of people resident in the U.K., is already the co-owner of GB News, which launched three years ago as a right-leaning, Fox News-style British alternative to mainstream news channels.
Alongside his political and journalistic nous, Michael brings a love of books, philosophy, art, opera and a mischievous sense of humor," said Freddie Sayers, chief executive of new owner OQS. He is perfectly suited to this role, and I cant wait to work together to bring The Spectator to new audiences.
Gove, who served in the successive governments of Prime Ministers David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, will take up his new role at the start of October. Gove served in a variety of Cabinet positions from 2010 until July, when the Conservative Party suffered its worst election defeat for nearly two centuries. The Tories lost power after 14 years, with the Labour Party taking the reins.
Before he became a lawmaker after the 2005 general election, Gove had been a prominent journalist at The Times and was considered a close confidante of its owner Rupert Murdoch.
The Spectator is one of the worlds oldest politics and current affairs magazines, established in 1828 in Londons Old Queen Street, which has given its name to Marshall's OQS venture.
WHITESBURG, Ky. (WJHL) The Kentucky sheriff who was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a district judge in his courthouse chambers has pleaded not guilty.
Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines, the sheriff of Letcher County, entered his plea during an arraignment on Wednesday. Stines was assigned a public defender, for the time being.
He will appear back in court for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 1 at 1 p.m. in Morgan County, Kentucky.
District court judge Kevin Mullins (left) was fatally shot on Thursday. Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines (right) has been charged with first-degree murder in Mullins death. (Letcher County government; Leslie County Detention Center)
Stines was arrested and charged with first-degree murder after the Sept. 19 shooting death of District Judge Kevin Mullins inside the Letcher County Courthouse.
Kentucky State Police (KSP) reported that an argument occurred between Stines and Mullins before the shooting. Mullins was reportedly shot several times and died at the scene, officials said.
We know that it was an argument between the two but what exactly transpired prior to the shots being fired, thats still something were trying to get answers to, State Trooper Matt Gayheart said during a previous press conference.
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Nearly a week later, residents of Letcher County are still acclimating to the new status of things.
The law enforcement community in Letcher County and Whitesburg has felt the wide-reaching effects of Stines arrest and alleged actions. Whitesburg Police Chief Tyrone Fields told Nexstars WJHL that it has not been easy in the wake of the shooting.
You know, everybodys struggling, Fields said.
A sign on the Letcher County Sheriffs Office building says its closed until Oct. 1. However, Fields said law enforcement is still answering calls throughout Letcher County. Deputies, KSP troopers and Whitesburg officers are continuing to respond to emergencies and police matters.
Were still working 24 hours, and thats what were here to service, Fields said. We understand the times are very trying, but we want to let you know that were still here, were still available and were still available to help you.
KSP trooper: Argument preceded judges courthouse shooting death
Despite his charges and being in jail, Stines remains sheriff of the county. County Attorney Jamie Hatton said that since the sheriff is an elected position, Kentucky law means Stines will still be sheriff unless he resigns or other actions are taken.
The Letcher County Courthouse on Monday, days after District Judge Kevin Mullins was fatally shot inside. (WJHL)
Although hes charged with this horrible crime, hes still our sheriff, Hatton said. So were working on procedures to ascertain to see if he plans to resign that position or retain that position. And based on that decision, we have to determine what is the next step if he doesnt wish to resign and how do we run our local sheriffs office.
In the meantime, Letcher County Deputy Bill Jones has been appointed chief deputy and will act in the sheriffs place. However, if Stines does not resign, procedures could result in him being removed from office.
That could require Kentucky Governor Andy Beshears involvement, Hatton said.
Letcher Co. residents say judge, sheriff both highly respected
Beshear also faces the job of filling Mullins district judge seat.
According to Hatton, retired judge Eric Hall, who has experience as a trial judge, will start taking cases on Sept. 30 until an appointment for Mullins seat is made.
There is a judicial nominating commission or committee that tenders three names to the governor, and hell select one name from that list and that will be our district judge until the next election, which I believe will be in 2026, Hatton said.
State police have said there were multiple witnesses to interview as the investigation into the shooting continues.
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Kentucky sheriff charged in the fatal shooting of a judge pleads not guilty
A Kentucky sheriff arrested and charged last week with shooting a judge in his chambers after an argument pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines was arraigned before a special judge on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of Judge Kevin Mullins.
Stines appeared virtually from the Leslie County jail, where he has been held since Thursday's shooting at the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg, about 217 miles southeast of Louisville.
Shawn Stines, being held in the Leslie County jail, during an arraignment hearing in Carter County Circuit Court on Wednesday.
He was appointed a temporary public defender during the brief arraignment hearing and is due back in court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday.
A motive remains unclear. Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart has said preliminary information indicates that Stines "fatally shot Mullins following an argument inside the courthouse."
Mullins, 54, was shot multiple times and died at the scene. Stines, 43, surrendered to authorities at the courthouse.
District Judge Kevin Mullins.
Three days before the deadly shooting, Stines was deposed for nearly four hours in connection with a 2022 federal lawsuit that listed him as a defendant, a lawyer for the plaintiff in the suit said Wednesday.
According to the suit, one of Stines deputies was accused of sexually abusing a woman in Mullins chambers.
In June 2021, the suit alleges, the deputy asked to meet the victim at the Letcher County courthouse after dark in the judges chambers because there were no cameras. The suit accuses Stines of failing to adequately train and supervise the deputy.
A lawyer representing Stines in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Judge Mullins was not accused of wrongdoing in the suit. Ned Pillersdorf, the attorney representing the woman who is suing Stines, said the courthouse had become a problem with women targeted for sexual extortion.
We named [Stines] as a defendant under the theory that he knew, or should have known, that he had a deputy preying on all these vulnerable women, Pillersdorf said. We basically alleged that they turned that courthouse into a brothel.
A 2022 filing in the case by Stines lawyer argued that Stines was immune from being sued over the allegations because of his position as an elected official and law enforcement officer.
Stines at all times acted in good faith and exercised reasonable care and skill in effectuating his duties as required by law, the filing says.
Matt Butler, Commonwealths Attorney for the 47th Judicial Circuit in Letcher County, told NBC News that sometime after 2022, cameras were installed in the Mullins' chambers and courtroom. He said it was unclear if it was a result of the lawsuit.
A spokesperson for the Kentucky State Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday about whether the agency is investigating a possible connection between the lawsuit and the shooting.
The shooting sent shock waves through the small community. Matt Butler, commonwealth's attorney for Letcher County and Mullins' brother-in-law, called it an "unspeakable tragedy" and said the community was "completely devastated."
"I always thought he was hilarious. I always thought he was very witty. He was fun to be around outside of court," Butler said in a video message.
The judge's mother, Patsy Holbrook Mullins, told NBC News after his funeral service Sunday that she was "very impressed by the outpouring of support."
Butler recused himself and his office from the case because of his personal relationship with the judge and because one of his staff members was in the judicial court suite at the time of the shooting. The case will be handled by Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman and the commonwealths attorney for the 27th Judicial Circuit, Jackie Steele.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
By Andrea Shalal
(Reuters) -U.S. Muslim advocacy group Emgage Action on Wednesday endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris despite its ongoing concern over the war in Gaza, saying former President Donald Trump posed a greater danger with his promise to reinstate travel restrictions affecting majority-Muslim countries.
The endorsement comes as the 2024 race between Harris and Trump remains very tight ahead of the Nov. 5 election. Arab American and Muslim voters may play a decisive role in the outcome in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and other battleground states. These voters helped President Joe Biden defeat Trump in 2020 by thousands of votes.
Many Muslim groups, including Emgage Action, have criticized the Biden administration, where Harris serves as vice president, for its support of Israel's war in Gaza. Harris has urged an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, saying she supports Israel's right to defend itself as well as the Palestinians' right to self-determination.
"While we do not agree with all of Harris policies, particularly on the war on Gaza, we are approaching this election with both pragmatism and conviction," Emgage CEO Wa'el Alzayat said in a statement, adding it sought to provide "honest guidance to our voters regarding the difficult choice they confront at the ballot box."
Emgage Action, which endorsed Biden in 2020, said it mobilized 1 million Muslim voters in that election. The group said the Harris endorsement reflects a "responsibility to defeat Trump and defend the community against what would be a return to Islamophobic and other harmful policies."
Trump's campaign had no immediate comment.
His campaign has held dozens of events with Arab Americans and Muslims in swing states and plans another event this weekend in Michigan, Richard Grenell, Trump's former acting director of national intelligence, said last week.
Trump has said he will reinstate the "travel ban" that restricts entry into the United States of people from a list of largely Muslim-dominant countries. Biden rolled back the ban shortly after taking office in 2021.
The Harris campaign welcomed the endorsement a week after another big voting bloc, the pro-Palestinian grassroots organization Uncommitted National Movement, said it would not endorse Harris, Trump or a third-party candidate.
Harris has already won the backing of smaller Muslim groups, including the Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund and the American Muslim Democratic Caucus.
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.
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.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Heather Timmons and Lisa Shumaker)
KILLEEN, Texas (FOX 44) The Killeen Independent School District has announced that 29 additional schools were recognized recently as Purple Star Designated Campuses by the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
The district says this designation highlights strong school support for military-connected students and families. The 29 new Purple Star campuses moved the total number of Purple Star campuses to 38. The designation is a two-year distinction.
The Purple Star Campus Designation is a special honor created by the 86th Texas Legislature through SB 1557, recognizing Texas school districts and open-enrollment charter school campuses which show their support and commitment to meeting the unique needs of military-connected students and their families. The district says it proudly serves the students of Killeen, Harker Heights, Nolanville and Fort Cavazos.
The following Killeen ISD campuses are currently Purple Star Campuses:
Brookhaven Elementary School
Cedar Valley Elementary School
Clarke Elementary School
Clear Creek Elementary School
Dr. Joseph A. Fowler Elementary School
Haynes Elementary School
Iduma Elementary School
Ira Cross Elementary School
Killeen Elementary School
Maude Moore Wood Elementary School
Meadows Elementary School
Montague Village Elementary School
Mountain View Elementary School
Nolanville Elementary School
Oveta Culp Hobby Elementary School
Pershing Park Elementary School
Reeces Creek Elementary School
Richard E. Cavazos Elementary School
Saegert Elementary School
Skipcha Elementary School
Timber Ridge Elementary School
Venable Village Elementary School
Willow Springs Elementary School
Chaparral High School
Early College High School
Ellison High School
Harker Heights High School
Killeen High School
Killeen ISD Career Center
Pathways Academic Campus
Robert M. Shoemaker High School
Audie Murphy Middle School
Charles E. Patterson Middle School
Liberty Hill Middle School
Manor Middle School
Nolan Middle School
Palo Alto Middle School
Roy J. Smith Middle School
The district says in order to receive the Purple Star Campus Designation, a school must meet the following criteria:
Designate a campus-based military liaison. Create and maintain an easily accessible web page that includes information for military-connected students and their families. Host a campus transition program. Offer at least one of the following initiatives: A resolution showing support for military-connected students and families; participation in Month of the Military Child or Military Family Month; or a partnership with a school liaison officer to encourage and provide opportunities for active-duty military members.
(Courtesy: Killeen Independent School District)
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Not long after midnight on April 1, 2023, Isaura Soto-Gaona was managing Kims Red Rose in Hillsboro when she asked four young men to leave. Three of them left, but one lingered near the doorway, pulled out a gun and shot the 42-year-old woman to death.
The shooter, Sain Delgado Venegas, admitted he murdered her and on Tuesday was sentenced to life in prison with a possibility of parole after 25 years, the Washington County District Attorneys Office said.
Venegas also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder and guilty of being an inmate with a weapon.
Surveillance cameras inside Kims Red Rose captured the shooting, authorities said, and connected Venegas to the shooting by matching his clothing with other surveillance cameras at the Washington County courthouse, where he met with his parole officer a few weeks before he killed the bar manager.
Thousands left without representation as lawmakers grapple with public defender shortage
And, the District Attorneys office said, while he was being held in the county jail awaiting his murder trial, jail deputies found a makeshift weapon hidden in his jail cell during a routine search.
The attempted murder charges stemmed from Venegas trying to shoot the bartender and Ms. Soto-Goana, but the gun malfunctioned. Then he racked the slide and fired a round directly at Ms. Soto-Gaona. The round struck her in the chest, the DAs office said.
Venegas will serve his life sentence in an Oregon Department of Corrections prison.
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BALTIMORE The king of Jordan, Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, visited the State House in Annapolis on Wednesday and met with Gov. Wes Moore to participate in a roundtable discussion with business executives and educational leaders.
Abdullah met Moore and others who represent the states private sector, research and higher education institutions in the morning. The discussion was closed to reporters and the specific topics of conversation were not immediately disclosed.
Moore, a Democrat with a national profile still within his first two years in elected office, has occasionally met with heads of state and foreign ambassadors both in Annapolis and in Washington, D.C. Hes met with, for example, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in July in Washington to discuss business opportunities between the state and the country and hes hosted the ambassador from Mexico in Annapolis in 2023.
Moore said Wednesdays meeting recognized the first instance of a foreign head of state visiting the Maryland State House on official business.
This is a historic moment, and for one we are truly, truly humbled and grateful, Moore said.
Abdullah rolled up to the front of the historic capital building in a long motorcade at about 11 a.m. and was greeted immediately in the light rain by Moore and First Lady Dawn Moore.
Abdullah and Moore then participated in a 26-person, hour-long discussion with the states top business, tech industry and education leaders, like University of Maryland Baltimore County President Dr. Valerie Sheares Ashby, President and CEO of T Rowe Price Group Robert Sharps, and Vice President of International Government Affairs for Lockheed Martin Nancy Schlegle.
Ambassador of Jordan to the U.S. Her Excellency Dina Kawar, Director of Vision Oversight of Jordan Dr. Tareq Abu Ghazaleh, Director of Political Affairs for King of Jordan His Excellency Moath Al Zoubi, and Director of the Kings Office His Excellency Alaa Batayneh also attended Wednesdays meeting with Abdullah, who said Wednesday marked his first official visit with any U.S. governor.
Im just delighted to have this opportunity to look at some synergies, which I know we definitely have, Abdullah said to Moore.
Abdullah addressed world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday and also recently met with American governors at a meeting in July in Salt Lake City, according to the National Governors Association.
Wednesdays visit isnt the first time a member of the Jordanian royal family visited Maryland.
Nearly 30 years ago, Abdullahs father, the late King Hussein bin Talal, had dinner at the Maryland home of a high-ranking U.S. official, Moore said.
While the governor joked with the king about Maryland cuisine, which he called the best cuisine inside the United States, the governor told Abdullah that their relationship goes well, well beyond, and that Wednesday provided opportunity to have a vibrant discussion about our people, and our economies, and our opportunities, and also our futures.
This is a way to talk about common goals, to talk about common interests, and to talk about collaboration that we think is going to be so important, Moore said.
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(COLORADO SPRINGS) A kitten who was found in distress about a month ago has now found her new home, with none other than one of her heroes.
On Thursday, Aug. 22, the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) said the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) was responding to an area on North Academy Boulevard and Austin Bluffs Parkway after they had received multiple complaints from nearby businesses of trespassing, camping, and narcotics activity.
CSPD rescues kitten inside wall of abandoned building
While officers were searching an abandoned building for trespassers, CSPD said they heard what sounded like a cat in distress coming from the attic. After searching for several minutes, the officers determined the cat was trapped inside a wall and had potentially been there for several days without food or water.
Officers tore down a section of the wall and ceiling to reach the kitten.
Courtesy: Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region
Courtesy: Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region
The cat was found severely malnourished according to HOT officers who had to tear down a section of the wall and ceiling. The kitten was taken to the Humane Society Pikes Peak Region (HSPPR), where they said the kitten was too small for her age at only 15 ounces at about eight weeks old.
The kitten went to a foster home for a few weeks to gain weight and grow. However, the calico already had blossomed into one of the officers hearts, who placed a choice hold on her, in the hope of giving her a home when she was ready to be adopted.
Courtesy: Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region
A month later, HSPPR announced on Tuesday, Sept. 24, that the kittennow named Wallflower, had gone to her forever home with one of the officers who saved her life.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
What to know about the Al Smith dinner: Harris plans to skip, Trump plans to attend
Vice President Kamala Harris plans to skip a historic charity dinner while former President Donald Trump said Monday he will attend.
The annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a white-tie charity event in New York City, is known for prominent political figures poking fun at one another and the issues of the moment.
The Harris campaign confirmed with USA TODAY that the Democratic presidential nominee will not attend the dinner scheduled for Oct. 17, as they want to focus on the battleground states so close to the election.
The campaign noted her commitment to engaging Catholic voters and said Harris would attend as president if elected.
Trump slammed Harris on Truth Social, saying it is an honor to attend and "sad, but not surprising, that (Harris) has decided not to attend."
"I dont know what she has against our Catholic friends, but it must be a lot, because she certainly hasnt been very nice to them," Trump's Truth Social post read.
More: Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin on Trump's campaign schedule this week
Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (L-R), Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump sit together at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner in New York, U.S. October 20, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Who is Al Smith?
Alfred E. Smith, for whom the foundation is named, was the former governor of New York and the first Catholic to win a major party nomination for president.
Smith was elected to the governor's office for four terms between 1918 and 1926.
In 1928, Smith was the Democratic nominee for president, staying true to his political roots in New York City and championing urban causes during his campaign, according to the foundation website.
Smith lost to former President Herbert Hoover in a landslide election in 1928.
Al Smith charity dinner known for humor, Catholic origins
The Al Smith dinner benefits Catholic charities. Smith was known for his sense of humor, and speakers at the event often take jabs at themselves or others.
In 2016, Trump and his opponent Hillary Clinton took swipes at one another, but some of the audience booed at Trump, feeling he went too far.
In 2017, Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan came under fire for his relationship with Trump, according to CNN, and he gave the invocation at Trump's inauguration.
In 2020, President Joe Biden and Trump gave virtual remarks that largely put jokes aside due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden is the second Catholic American president after John F. Kennedy.
Comedian Jim Gaffigan to emcee Al Smith dinner
Actor and comedian Jim Gaffigan, whose Catholic faith often comes up in his jokes, is the master of ceremonies for the Al Smith dinner this year.
In 2020, Gaffigan attacked Trump on Twitter, now known as X, calling him "a liar and a criminal."
"Remember everything Trump accuses the Democrats of he's guilt of. Dont let the socialist name calling distract you from the fact he is a fascist who has no belief in law," he said in a post.
USA TODAY reached out to Gaffigan's representatives for this story.
This story has been updated to reflect a change to the headline and the top of the story.
Contributing: William Cummings, Sara M Moniuszko, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2024 Al Smith dinner will have Trump, no Harris: What to know
What to know about the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, which could bring unprecedented destruction
Residents and rescuers check a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs Tuesday. (Hassan Ammar / Associated Press)
Clashes in the last year between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon have largely been confined to a tit-for-tat border conflict until now. In recent days, Israel assassinated several top Hezbollah leaders in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and bombarded sites across the country, claiming more lives in a single day than since at least 2006.
And Hezbollah has sent a barrage of rockets, less lethal but hitting ever deeper into Israeli territory, forcing thousands to flee and stoking an Israeli sense of vulnerability.
The escalation is fueling fears that a limited conflict will soon expand beyond many borders with calamitous consequences.
What are the chances of all-out war?
By many measures the intensity of airstrikes, the number of dead, the rhetoric there is already a significant war raging between Israel and the Lebanese militant and political group, which the U.S. classifies as a terrorist organization.
Neither side has declared it formally, but a steady escalation of cross-border attacks has raised fears of of an all-out war between two battle-scarred adversaries.
Some U.S. and other diplomats continue to insist that neither Israel nor Hezbollah or, importantly, Hezbollah's backer Iran wants the conflict to widen, given the potential for it to spiral catastrophically out of control. Other observers, however, predict that momentum has already passed a point of no return and full-scale war is inevitable.
Read more: Israeli barrage kills nearly 500 people in Lebanon
Why are they fighting?
Hezbollah and Israel have been bitter enemies for decades. Each is dedicated to the other's destruction.
But Hezbollah now says it has stepped up its attacks on Israel because of that country's war in the Gaza Strip, where health officials say more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed. The Hamas militant group that ruled in Gaza triggered the war when it invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, killed about 1,200 people and seized more than 200 hostages.
On Oct. 8, Hezbollah declared its solidarity with Hamas and started sending rockets and drones over northern Israel. It has since vowed to continue attacks until there is a Gaza cease-fire.
For its part, Israel says the proximity of tens of thousands of well-armed Hezbollah fighters poised on its northern border is an untenable threat. With more sophisticated weapons than it has ever had, Hezbollah has been able to fire rockets ever deeper into Israeli territory.
Read more: News Analysis: An imperiled Hezbollah faces the prospect of all-out war with Israel
Haven't they gone to war before?
Yes, and there have been other conflicts along the Israeli-Lebanese divide predating Hezbollah, underscoring the volatile nature of the border and mutual historical hatreds.
The most bitter entanglement started in 1982 when Israel invaded southern Lebanon and its troops marched all the way to Beirut. Israeli forces were battling armed Palestinian militants who had been shelling Israel from outposts in Lebanon.
Hezbollah did not yet exist but formed after 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion.
Although Israel soon withdrew from the outskirts of Beirut, it continued to occupy southern Lebanon for nearly two decades, until it finally pulled out in 2000.
In 2006, Israel and Hezbollah fought a war that lasted just over a month and killed about 1,300 Lebanese (Hezbollah militants and civilians) and 165 Israelis, while causing major destruction in southern Lebanon and in some parts of northern Israel.
What are the chances this war would spread?
The biggest fear in Washington and some Arab capitals is that a broadening conflict will pull in other nations.
An eventual confrontation between Iran which backs Hezbollah and the U.S. which backs Israel is a scenario that both have wanted to avoid at all costs.
Iran wants nothing more than to undermine Israel but has always sought to do so through proxies, including Hezbollah and Hamas, with Hezbollah being the most important of all of them.
At some point, however, Tehran may fear that a raging war in Lebanon would cut off its valuable land bridge to the Mediterranean Sea, a mighty incentive for keeping the conflict at bay.
The last thing the U.S. wants, in an election year especially, is to be dragged into yet another war one that would bring potential nuclear dangers as well as the possibility of a far wider conflict.
Read more: Hundreds of pagers mysteriously explode in Lebanon; Hezbollah blames Israel
Can the international community stop it at this point?
There's the rub.
Hezbollah says it will stop its attacks on Israel only if there is a permanent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas something the top diplomats from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar have spent many unsuccessful months trying to do.
The diplomats claim they are close, but increasingly it seems that neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is truly interested in ending the fighting on anything but his own absolute terms.
The Biden administration has refused to put more pressure on Israel or deny it weapons, while it is unclear how much pressure Qatar and other Arab states are putting on Hamas or whether either side would even listen.
In that same vein, Israel under Netanyahu has apparently paid little heed to U.S. entreaties to not escalate hostilities with Hezbollah. President Biden, in his address Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly, again urged "a diplomatic solution" that he said was "still possible." "An all-out war benefits no one," Biden said.
But no prospects for revived diplomacy appeared imminent.
What would a war look like?
As horrific as the Gaza war has been, an Israeli-Hezbollah war could be worse.
As Iran's most valued proxy and with the resources that brings, Hezbollah has more fighters and far superior weaponry than Hamas. Fighting could be much deadlier, especially on the Israeli side, because Hezbollah would be better equipped to attack deep inside Israel.
Israel, even if somewhat taxed after months of military operations in Gaza, has a commanding advantage in air power. In recent days it has delivered stunning blows to Hezbollah's leadership and communications by assassinating several commanders in Beirut and remotely blowing up pagers and other handheld devices used by Hezbollah. The attacks have suggested Israel may have penetrated Hezbollah security.
In theory, the number of civilian casualties in Lebanon could be fewer than in Gaza, because the Lebanese, unlike Gazans, are not hemmed into a small geographical area with little possibility for escape or refuge. Still, in the 2006 conflict, Israel laid waste to numerous Lebanese villages.
Ultimately, to wage a full-scale war, Israel would launch a ground invasion into Lebanon as it did in the 1980s, to historically disastrous results. Whether this would lead to a longer-term Israeli occupation, or the establishment of an internationally patrolled neutral zone, or some other arrangement, is as unknown as the other outcomes of the ongoing conflict.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Theres an incredibly risky two-pronged trend in the housing market. Insurance companies are refusing to cover properties because theyre located in severe weather zones or because the housing stock is old. And banks wont give you a mortgage because of the same risk. The outcome is a further divided housing markettraditional homes that can be insured and mortgaged and a burgeoning segment of properties that can only be sold for cash and at a deep discount, if at all.
An estimated $1.6 trillion in property value of uninsured homes was at risk three years ago and 6.1 million homeowners were uninsured, concluded a report published this year from the Consumer Federation of America. Its only grown worse since then, even if that is the most recent data available. And yet, such homes can still sell. According to Axios, uninsurable homes still change hands on the housing market. You cant take a mortgage out on them, but you can pay all-cash, and probably receive a steep discount, the publication reported.
I dont have to tell you how much of a risk it is to have an uninsured property. It may be less so if youre a billionaire who wants a stunning view and has cash to burn. But for typical Americans living in California, Florida, Texas, or other states vulnerable to severe weather, not so much. More often than not, these are low-valued homes and low-income households that go uninsured. They may choose to go without insurance if they cant afford rapidly rising premiums or if they simply cant find an insurer to cover them. Even so, places such as California and Florida have their own last resort forms of coverage, whether it be the FAIR Plan for the former and Citizens for the latter.
What you need to know is theres an insurance crisis unraveling across the country, especially in those states mentioned above. In California, property insurers are capping the number of policies they write or refusing to write new ones. In Florida, multiple home insurers have fled the state. Insurance woes have made it much harder for homeowners and homebuyers dealing with skyhigh prices and mortgage rates.
The president of CoreLogics global insurance solutions business, Garret Gray, once told me his house in a Los Angeles canyon was nearly uninsurable. Its got a really bad CoreLogic fire score, he said. He almost backed out of the deal before he made some changes to make the home insurable. The thing is, some people might not back out of the deal. Instead, they might attempt to get a better deal from the seller.
Then theres Jason Damm, an assistant professor of professional practice of finance at the University of Miami and a landlord in the city. He once told me that after renewing his insurance earlier that year, his premium went up. That was before the insurer sent him a notice that it was pulling out of the state and his policy was canceled. At the time, he was without insurance and hadnt decided what to do because of how costly and difficult it was to find coverage. I dont have insurance on the house, which is quite dangerous, Damm previously said. Ive been looking. Its very expensive, so Im trying to decide what to do. Its a huge problem. I mean, I don't know what Im going to do with it, whether Im going to try and find a policy or just go without insurance.
Story continues
Its not just him. Miami happens to have the highest share of uninsured homeowners, about 15% worth, and its home values havent fallen at all. All the while, the city is extremely vulnerable to climate related events, which costs the entire country billions of dollars a year. So it seems people are still buying and selling homes in Miami, insured or uninsured.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Kremlin says it is impossible to force Russia into peace
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has said that Ukraine's desire to force Russia into peace is an "absolutely fatal mistake" because it is impossible to do so.
Source: Russian Telegram channels
Details: A journalist quoted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as saying at a UN Security Council meeting that Putin had violated so many international norms and rules that he would not stop on his own, so Russia can only be forced into peace. The journalist asked the Russian rulers spokesman whether it was possible to force Russia into peace.
Quote from Peskov: "This position is a fatal mistake. Theyre deeply mistaken."
Details: In the usual Kremlin manner, he also threatened the Ukrainian authorities once again with "consequences".
"It is impossible to force Russia into peace. Russia is actually a supporter of peace, but on condition that the foundations of its security are ensured and the tasks of the special military operation [as Russia refers to the war ed.] are fulfilled. But unless these goals are achieved, it is impossible to force Russia," Peskov said.
Background:
On 22 September, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, arrived in New York to participate in the events of the UN General Assembly High-Level Week.
During his visit to the US, Zelenskyy plans to present a detailed version of his Victory Plan to President Joe Biden. A meeting between the heads of state is scheduled for 26 September. Zelenskyy also intended to share his plan with presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Zelenskyy previously revealed that the plan consists of four points focused on strengthening Ukraines defence capabilities, "plus one we will need after the war".
Zelenskyy also said that the Victory Plan is designed around decisions that are expected to take place between October and December 2024.
Media reports indicate that Zelenskyy's Victory Plan includes an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO and commitments from the US regarding ongoing supplies of modern weaponry.
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Kremlin says Zelenskiy is making "fatal mistake" by trying to force it to make peace
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday that a plan by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to force it to make peace was a "fatal mistake" that would have consequences for Kyiv.
Zelenskiy told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that the war between Russia and Ukraine could not be calmed by talks alone and that Moscow must be forced into peace.
In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Such a position is a fatal mistake, a systemic mistake. This is a profound misconception that will inevitably have consequences for the Kyiv regime."
Peskov said that Russia wants peace, but the issue cannot be forced, adding: "A position based on an attempt to force Russia into peace is an absolutely fatal mistake, because it is impossible to force Russia into peace."
He said: "Russia is a supporter of peace, but on the condition that the foundations of its security are ensured."
Putin said in June that Russia would end the war in Ukraine only if Kyiv agreed to drop its ambitions to join NATO and to hand over the entirety of four regions claimed by Moscow, demands Kyiv swiftly rejected as tantamount to surrender.
Ukraine and its Western allies say Putin must be prevented from winning the war because, if not stopped, he will threaten other neighbouring states. Putin has cast the conflict as an existential struggle for Russia, while denying he has any interest in expanding the war to other countries.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) Mark your calendar for a wild night and a free meal. The Krewe of Highland invites the community to celebrate as they say farewell to their past royals and pass the torch to their new Krewe.
They detail the MAD MAXXX: Crowned in Chaos Coronation, a post-apocalyptic party inspired by the Australian film, which will take place on October 5th.
Come dressed in your sexiest post-apocalyptic garb, says their post.
According to their website, The Krewe of Highlands originated in 1994 to celebrate Mardi Gras and champion the neighborhood. It was founded by Highland resident, commissioner, and local business owner Matthew Linn, who encouraged inclusivity, individuality, and culturally rich residents.
Wine tasting: Sommelier and Chef Niema pair up for a unique event
According to their social media, the Crowned in Chaos Coronation will be held at the Uptown Bar & Lounge (1605 Marshall St, Shreveport). The doors open at 7 p.m., and the presentation begins at 8 p.m.
The Krewe notes you do not need to be a member to attend. We welcome anyone looking to party with the hottest Krewe in town! There will be a free meal onsite, a cash bar, a car to take you chaos out on, special treats, and more.
According to the ticketing website, admission is $45, and partygoers are encouraged to wear cocktail or costume attire.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) A group of students at Wherry Elementary School are now KRQE Weather Academy certified, thanks to the pros at KRQE. Meteorologist Liz Fellinger taught kids about New Mexicos weather.
After the presentation, students took a short quiz, received a certificate, and were recognized as official Graduates of the KRQE Weather Academy. Students also received a KRQE Weather Academy certificate, an activity sheet, and a review sheet.
Teachers interested in bringing the KRQE Weather Academy to their students, fill out the form here.
Sponsored content disclaimer: The information and advice displayed in this story are those of individual sponsors and guests and not Nexstar Media Group, inc.
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TOPEKA (KSNT) Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has declared this week as Kansas Falls Prevention Awareness Week.
Kelly announced Sept. 2023-27 will be Kansas Falls Prevention Awareness Week on Tuesday, Sept. 24. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Kansas Older Adults Falls Prevention Coalition are working to empower older adults in Kansas to reduce their fall risks, according to a news release from KDHE.
Falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries for people 64 and older in the Sunflower State.
Injuries from falls are largely a preventable community health problem, Daina Zolck, KDHE Section Director for Injury and Violence Prevention, said. This proclamation emphasizes the importance of ensuring all Kansas citizens are aware of this issue and taking steps to protect themselves and those 65 years or older at increased risk of falling.
According to the news release, falls among older individuals threaten their safety and independence, as well as create economic and personal costs.
KHP works to enforce railroad safety
This annual event highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing the increase in falls among people 65 years of age and older. Falls can be reduced by utilizing cost-effective strategies, such as exercise programs to improve balance and strength, medication management, vision improvement, reduction of home hazards and fall prevention education. Statement excerpt from KDHE
For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.
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The Kentucky Democratic Party has barred a Lexington councilwoman accused of sexual misconduct from attending state Democratic Party events.
The Kentucky Democratic Party State Central Committee voted Saturday to also remove Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilwoman Brenda Monarrez from all of its communications, according to Jonathan Levin, a spokesman for the KDP.
The motion read as follows:
Motion to remove Brenda Monarrez from all KDP sponsored events and all internal communications from the KDP and further to bar her entry to any official KDP sponsored functions due to the serious and well documented allegations of sexual misconduct against her.
Monarrez said she was given no notice of the partys actions either before or after it voted on the ban.
I was given no notice of any intended action being taken beforehand and did not receive a notification of any decision afterwards, Monarrez said. I was not allowed to give any statement, answer any questions or provide any sort of defense or evidence.
At the same Saturday meeting, the party also voted to bar Rep. Daniel Grossberg, a Louisville representative, from attending KDP events. Grossberg has been accused by multiple people of sexually inappropriate conduct, including communications and interactions.
Lexington Councilwoman Denise Gray said Monarrez was sexually aggressive towards her twice over three years in a petition for an emergency protection order that was granted Aug. 8.
As part of the conditions of that protection order, Monarrez must attend council meetings virtually and must work from her home office.
A hearing is set for Oct. 14 to determine if the protection order should remain in place.
Monarrez has strenuously denied the allegations saying they were without merit and politically motivated.
A protection order is a civil matter. No criminal charges have been filed.
Monarrez faces Emma Curtis, who has come forward as one of Grossbergs victims, for the Fourth District Council seat on Nov. 5. The race is nonpartisan. Both Curtis and Monarrez are active in the Kentucky Democratic Party.
Kentucky Senate Democratic leadership on Wednesday publicly called for Democratic state Rep. Daniel Grossberg to resign, becoming the latest members of his party to distance themselves from the embattled lawmaker.
As public officials, we must uphold the highest standards of conduct and integrity. The recent allegations involving Rep. Daniel Grossberg are deeply troubling, Senate Democratic leadership said in a statement.
No one should be subject to harassment or intimidation in any setting. Given the seriousness of these accusations, we call on Rep. Grossberg to relinquish his seat immediately.
Democratic leadership in the Senate includes Minority Caucus Chair Reggie Thomas of Lexington, Floor Leader Gerald Neal of Louisville, and Minority Whip David Yates of Louisville.
On Friday, the Herald-Leader reported Grossberg was banned from a Louisville strip club for life for allegedly trying to touch the crotch of a dancer on stage. Upon being kicked out that night last winter, Grossberg touted his status as an elected official and threatened to close the place down, according to employees of the club.
A few weeks earlier, he offered to pay another dancer as much as $5,000 for sex.
The legislator has denied soliciting prostitution from anyone and said he hasnt used his office to gain advantage
In the hours after that story published, calls for his resignation from fellow Democrats across Kentucky poured in, including Gov. Andy Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, and U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey.
Grossberg has also been booted from attending local party events and functions with Louisville Democrats and on Friday he was permanently expelled from the House Democratic caucus.
Removal from caucus means the 45-year-old lawmaker who represents the 30th House District is not allowed to vote for who should serve in House Democratic leadership and cannot attend caucus meetings, during which policy and votes are discussed among party members.
Additionally, Grossberg wont have access to caucus resources, like assistance from its staff on bill drafting and research.
Grossberg has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing and refused to resign. He told News Radio 840 WHAS in Louisville on Friday that he is seeking treatment to help refuse my impulsive behavior going forward, but he plans to keep my head down and continue working to serve my constituents in the meantime.
I apologize to anyone who I have made uncomfortable, he said in a statement. Their voices deserve to be heard. Similarly, I deserve due process so that I can respond to these allegations in the appropriate venue. I look forward to doing so, under oath, during the legislative ethics inquiry.
The Louisville Democrat has been ensnared in a growing controversy throughout the summer linked to his harassing, sexually charged texts and interactions with young women.
Prior to Fridays story, the Herald-Leader had published accounts from six different women who accused Grossberg of varying degrees of inappropriate behavior, including sexual harassment in person and in electronic messages.
This story may be updated.
Edna Monroy, with Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, joins a 2021 rally marking the first day of enforcement of Los Angeles' tenant anti-harassment ordinance. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday voted in favor of adopting measures to strengthen the citys tenant anti-harassment ordinance after the original law, approved three years ago, resulted in thousands of tenant complaints and no prosecutions.
The council voted 12-0 to direct the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would include several amendments to the law, known as TAHO. They include redefining what constitutes harassment and imposing a minimum civil penalty of $2,000 per violation.
"Today's vote is an indication of how much renters matter to this council," said Councilmember Nithya Raman, who helped introduce changes to the law earlier this year.
Read more: In L.A., 13,000 complaints of tenant harassment led to four fines. Advocates call for stronger laws
The original law was approved in 2021, banning landlords from harassing tenants and making violations a criminal offense. At the time, it was seen by tenant advocates as an important step toward better protecting renters from being intimidated or threatened by their landlords, which advocates say is sometimes done to push tenants from their rent-controlled homes.
As of this summer, more than 13,000 complaints alleging harassment had been filed with the housing department. Four fines were pending and no cases had been criminally prosecuted. The numbers, tenant advocates said, made it clear that the law is ineffective.
"TAHO as currently written is toothless, it is a paper tiger," attorney Shane Henson of the nonprofit Inner City Law Center said during public comment on Tuesday.
The amendments to the law help create incentives for private attorneys to take on harassment cases, by introducing minimum penalties and requiring that tenants who win in court be awarded attorneys fees.
They also redefine harassment. Currently, the law says to constitute harassment, landlords must knowingly and willfully engage in conduct that causes detriment and harm and serves no lawful purpose, a standard advocates said was impossible to prove. With the changes it would say harassment is "bad faith" conduct that causes tenants detriment or harm.
Landlord advocates called the the law one-sided and said the city should also ban harassment by tenants toward landlords.
"Until the city provides equal protection to all residents people will continue to live in fear for their personal safety," said David Kaishchyan of the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles. Some landlords have said they sometimes face harassment from upset tenants, including when tenants and advocates protest in front of their homes.
On Tuesday, tenant advocates filled the council chambers to advocate for the proposed amendments, and several renters spoke tearfully about experiencing harassment from landlords.
"We need help, please," said renter Norma Solis, who said she has experienced years of harassment and has become afraid of going outside.
During the meeting, Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez re-introduced amendments that upped the amount of damages tenants are entitled to when they prevail in court and set a minimum penalty of $2,000. They were also approved by the council. Those penalties are key to preventing bad behavior, she said.
"What were trying to do is deter harassment from happening in the first place," she said.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Cannabis confiscated by Los Angeles police officers after raiding an illegal dispensary. On Tuesday, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors moved to "deplatform" unlicensed cannabis businesses by having them removed from Yelp, Google and other websites. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion Tuesday to deplatform illegal cannabis dispensaries, seeking their removal from Google, Yelp and other online platforms.
Introduced by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, the measure instructs multiple county agencies to prepare reports within three months on potential steps to stop unauthorized cannabis advertising including online marketing in the countys unincorporated areas.
Approved 5 to 0 as part of Tuesdays consent agenda, the measure also directs five county leaders to write and sign a letter calling on several popular websites to voluntarily cease advertising illegal cannabis dispensaries in the County.
Read more: Catastrophic: Looming restrictions on popular THC drinks and gummies alarm hemp industry
The goal is to encourage the operators of Yelp, Google, and other platforms to differentiate between licensed and unlicensed cannabis dispensaries, enabling consumers to make informed decisions about where to shop.
Online giants such as Alphabet, the parent company of Google, as well as Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, have voluntarily removed ads and other content in the past in response to reports of political misinformation and other serious violations of their terms of use. But recent developments in New York demonstrate that it's not always easy to compel such platforms to remove content.
In February, Gov. Kathy Hochul pleaded with Google and Yelp to delist illegitimate cannabis dispensaries as the state began to see the rollout of its nascent recreational cannabis industry, as the Associated Press reported at the time. Initial results were not promising, as many illicit dispensaries remained on the sites while some of New York's fledgling legal dispensaries were repeatedly delisted.
Alphabet and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Yelp spokesperson said the company does not allow cannabis dispensaries to purchase ads on its platform.
"Yelp believes consumers have a First Amendment right to read and share information about all businesses, even if unlicensed," the spokesperson said via email. "Allowing users to contribute and see information (including complaints) about unlicensed businesses serves the public interest and provides a resource for regulators to determine whether any particular business has appropriate licenses."
Illegal dispensaries undercut their legitimate counterparts in communities across California by skirting testing and licensing requirements, not paying taxes, and otherwise avoiding regulation, which allows them to sell products at bargain prices. It can be difficult for customers to tell whether stores are on the up and up.
Unfortunately, distinguishing between licensed and unlicensed dispensaries is now more difficult than ever, the measure states. When searching for a cannabis dispensary, search engine and GPS platforms such as Google and Apple Maps do not distinguish between licensed and unlicensed businesses, but instead give results that contain, more often than not, unlicensed dispensaries, thus legitimizing problematic establishments.
The motion cites a February report by the Pew Research Center that found there were nearly 1,500 cannabis dispensaries in L.A. County; as of 2022, only 384 of them were properly licensed.
Read more: Californias legal weed system is broken, while Michigan's is thriving. What gives?
Other places have done a better job keeping illegal dispensaries in check. San Diego County has made fighting the illegitimate businesses a priority and effectively eliminated them, The Times reported in June. Meanwhile, the L.A. County law enforcement team responsible for enforcing dispensary laws only raids two to four of them per month, according to a member of the team. Many reopen within weeks of the busts.
In Michigan, as The Times reported last month, the pot industry is booming and illegal dispensaries are a relative rarity after dedicated enforcement efforts led to the closure of many unlicensed retailers in recent years.
Several members of the public submitted comment before the Tuesday hearing, including Daria Brooks, who wrote that all advertising campaigns should be removed from social media for illegal cannabis shops operating in unincorporated areas. Advertising on social platforms brings more crime, traffic issues and unwanted loiterers into our neighborhoods.
Times staff writer Rebecca Ellis contributed to this report.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, has said at Labours conference that the previous Conservative government created a toxic discourse around asylum, which gave a yellow flash light to racists and created space for overt racism on our streets.
Instead she said that what was needed was a system which can deal with asylum seekers quickly and fairly, as well as ending the industrialisation of small boat crossings used by illegal immigrants through more cooperation with, rather than blaming, other countries.
Theres certainly no doubt that immigration has become an increasingly toxic debate, or that failings in the asylum system have contributed to that, but the focus on rhetoric as the root of the issue is a common Westminster fallacy. Public anger about immigration and asylum isnt driven by the tone of discussion, but rather by the material realities people see all around them.
Governments both Labour and Conservative have promised to reduce immigration over the last two and a half decades, while the number of immigrants has continued to increase. As planning laws have made it increasingly hard to build things, the amount of immigration has outstripped our level of house building and infrastructure development. The result has been higher costs for everyone and an increased fraying of public services. Viral headlines about huge queues for Bristol dentists are the most visible sign of this austerity by immigration.
At the same time, there has always been significant anger about illegal immigration, which is seen as jumping the queue, even if the immigrant turns out to have a genuine asylum case. This has increased in recent years with the rise in small boat crossings, which jumped from almost none before late 2018 to tens of thousands every year, with many of those from countries like Albania or Vietnam which are not at war.
The visible inability of the British state to secure its own borders led to a clamour to deal with the issue. At root, the problem is one of human rights: Britain simply doesnt have the power to remove many clearly fraudulent or dangerous individuals. Just this week we saw the case of a Ugandan who clubbed a man to death in the back of an ambulance but cannot be sent home because they cant provide the psychiatric support he needs there. That just passes the danger onto the British people.
This has had significant costs. Rescuing, housing, and processing these asylum seekers has cost billions of pounds. Indeed, a major chunk of what Labour claims is a 22 billion black hole in the public finances is due to over-spending on asylum. At a time of anaemic growth many people are understandably furious to see people whove arrived illegally being looked after with taxpayer money. They ask why pensioners should lose their winter fuel allowance while illegal immigrants in hotels have their heating paid for.
While Labour has promised to move them out of the hotels, that means buying up properties to put them in. Local authorities are increasingly receiving government grants to enable them to facilitate this. While understandable, it means yet more redistribution of money from the British taxpayer to uninvited asylum seekers.
The anti-asylum seeker riot in Knowsley last year provides a good example. Although there was an effort to present it in some parts of the press as a result of rhetoric on immigration by some Conservative ministers, the facts didnt bear it out. The area has been Labour since it was created in 2010, so was hardly fertile ground. Nor was there any specific bit of rhetoric which led to the riot.
It was actually a viral video of a schoolgirl being approached by a man who wanted her phone number despite her telling him no as she was underage. Locals connected it to a nearby hotel where asylum seekers were staying, which became the focus of the riot.
Instead of blaming political rhetoric and racism, Labour should listen to the public and reform the immigration and asylum system so that it meets the needs and desires of Britain. Sadly that seems unlikely. The fringe panel where these comments were made was organised by the Refugee Council, which continues to push to expand routes for asylum despite the huge increase in asylum seekers in recent years. In this climate, that really is toxic.
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HONOLULU (AP) About 2,000 workers went on strike Tuesday at Hawaii's largest resort, joining thousands of others striking at hotels in other U.S. cities.
Unionized workers at Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort the largest Hilton in the world began an open-ended strike at 5 a.m. They are calling for conditions including higher wages, more manageable workloads and a reversal of cuts implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic such as limited daily room cleaning.
Hilton representatives didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the strike.
Greg and Kerrie Sellers woke up Tuesday to drum beats, whistles and chants that they could hear coming from below their balcony at the resort.
We heard the commotion from when we first woke up this morning," Greg Sellers recalled as they sat on a bench overlooking a lagoon outside the resort. "I dont know that its going to have a great impact on our time here. I guess were sympathetic to the cause because ... the working rights over in Australia are much, much better than what they seem to be ... over here.
Beachgoers sunbathing or sitting under umbrellas at the stretch of Waikiki beach near the resort could hear the strikers in the distance as hotel guests enjoyed the pool, shops and restaurants throughout the sprawling resort.
Outside on the street, workers marched and chanted bearing signs with slogans such as One Job Should Be Enough, which reflects how many Hawaii residents work multiple jobs to afford living in a state with an extremely high cost of living.
With the start of Tuesday's strike, more than 4,000 hotel workers are now on strike at Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott hotels in Honolulu, San Diego and San Francisco, according to the UNITE HERE union. They will strike until they win new contracts, the union said, warning that more strikes could begin soon.
More than 10,000 hotels workers across the U.S. went on strike on Labor Day weekend, with most ending after two or three days.
Aileen Bautista said she has three jobs, including as a housekeeper at Hilton Hawaiian Village, in order to makes ends meet as a single mom.
I am on strike again, and this time I am ready to stay on strike for as long as it takes to win," she said in a statement.
Her coworker, Estella Fontanilla, paused from using a megaphone to lead marching workers in chants to explain that preserving daily housekeeping is crucial because it is much harder to clean rooms that haven't been cleaned for days. She said she wants guests to keep asking for daily cleaning.
Story continues
It was unclear how the strike would impact hotel services. The union warned that hotels where workers are striking may suspend services while trying to operate with skeleton staffing, and picket lines will run outside hotels for up to 24 hours a day.
During earlier strikes, guests experienced disruptions including unavailable daily housekeeping, towels and linens piled up in hallways, piles of trash visible outside, closed bars and restaurants, and reduced pool hours, the union said in a statement.
The hotel strike comes as more than 600 nurses are locked out of the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children after going on a one-day strike earlier this month. On Monday, 10 people were arrested for blocking busloads of temporary nurses from entering the Honolulu hospital where nurses are calling for safer patient-nurse ratios.
On Tuesday, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and Attorney General Anne Lopez urged hospital and union leaders to seek federal mediation to help reach an agreement.
Prison isnt working for women, according to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Its not actually working for anyone, offenders, staff or society. Be that as it may, why should female offenders get out of jail free just because of their sex?
There are many good reasons for not locking up women who commit crime. They are disproportionately primary carers for children. Their crimes are predominantly non-violent, including a large number of pretty wretched women locked up after repeated acquisitive criminality to feed drug habits that are killing them. Of the 3,453 women currently in a prison, theft, fraud and drugs offences running at 55 per cent of the total population dwarves the 15 per cent in for assaults.
Their offending pathology is greatly influenced and accelerated by emotional, physical and sexual abuse by men. There are a small number of very dangerous women in custody for whom jail is the appropriate and only destination. Ive locked them up in the past. They included people like Rose West, Myra Hindley and IRA bombers.
But these exceptions hide the rule abused and addicted women and girls who are far better and more cheaply dealt with outside places awash with mental illness and rocketing levels of self harm. The latest statistics paint a grim picture a 29 per cent increase in self injury in a female estate.
Some commentators have pointed out that our legislative framework precludes favouring one protected characteristic over another. Treating women more leniently than men who offend is, they say, a breach of the Equality Act. This is not absolutely correct even if it is ethically suspect.
The Act provides for discrimination in favour of one protected characteristic or another in this case sex if it is a proportionate means to a legitimate end. So, in this case, it could be argued that women in custody should be treated differently because they are considerably more marginalised and vulnerable as a group by the experience of imprisonment. And its not just they who suffer.
Research for the parliamentary joint committee on human rights suggests that 95 per cent of children dependent on women who go to prison have to leave the family home. This emotional dislocation and distress of a parent in prison increases the chances of the children involved offending in later life. Inter-generational criminality is one of the drivers of prisons full to bust today where we cant reduce the dangerousness of truly harmful people because our penal system is overwhelmed by men and women serving short sentences for non violent crimes who leave better enabled to make more victims than they did on the way in.
Prison may not work for women but any solution must be one where the public have trust that personal responsibility for criminal behaviour will continue to be a feature of a justice response. Punishment must not be allowed to become a dirty word, but punishment without purpose that drives women to suicide and their children into crime is not the ethical benchmark we should be aiming for.
Just over a fifth of released women will reoffend so community solutions must be found that will deliver punishment, restitution and rehabilitation. Perhaps the greatest urgency is around breaking the cycle of criminality gifted from mother to children. So, where a family is a significant factor either protective or predictive of further offending, the establishment of womens centres looks like an innovative way of improving parenting.
In other cases its clear that offending is motivated by physical addiction. We must not regard the shoplifting that drives this dismal existence as a victimless crime. But surely we should be able to have some form of compulsory detention in NHS facilities for treatment rather than incarceration in brutalising jails.
Finally, releasing women from many prisons that were only ever crudely repurposed male facilities would allow an alternative to the increasingly flawed and risky mass early release of male adult offenders. The kit and the staff exist already. Its an easy conference win for the Lord Chancellor to decarcerate women. Its much harder to explain to the public at large and female victims in particular why a threadbare early release safety net allowed their abusers a free shot. Women and children first, in each circumstance.
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Well, he did try to warn us. Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice, David Cameron famously declared, ahead of the 2015 election. Stability and strong Government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband.
His Lordship may have gone on to win that election. But ever since, those last four words have been constantly thrown back in his face. Again and again, chortling Labour supporters have pointed to the countless crises over which the Tories subsequently presided from Brexit and the dementia tax to Partygate and Liz Truss before adding sarcastically, Thank God we avoided chaos with Ed Miliband!
They wont be laughing much longer, though. Because, a decade on, Lord Cameron is about to be proven all too horribly right. Chaos with Ed Miliband is finally on the horizon and all because of the former Labour leaders calamitously stupid war on landlords.
At the Labour Party conference this week, our 54-year-old schoolboy of an Energy Secretary set out his plan of attack. Private landlords, he squawked, will be given less than five years to ensure their properties achieve an energy rating of C or above or theyll be banned from letting them out.
Is this adenoidal dweeb really unable to see the gapingly blatant flaw in his scheme? Much of Britains housing stock is simply too old. Carrying out the required upgrades, therefore, will be either impractical or eye-wateringly expensive. As a result, vast numbers of landlords will tell Mr Miliband where he can stick his heat pump and sell up. Which means that, unless the existing tenants can afford to buy the property themselves (which they wont be able to, otherwise they wouldnt be renting in the first place), theyll be out the door.
Even in properties that do meet Mr Milibands demands, though, tenants will suffer. Because, thanks to the drastic shortage hell have caused in the rental market, rents are bound to soar. Thats how the law of supply and demand works. And if Mr Miliband doesnt realise that, hell soon receive a brutal demonstration.
But by then, of course, it will be too late. Labour claims to be on the side of renters, yet its reforms will make renters poorer or homeless.
Soon enough, the party will pay for this folly. Renters have long been an integral part of its support base. Per YouGov, 42 per cent of private renters voted Labour in Julys election (while a mere 12 per cent voted Tory). I doubt so many will make that mistake again.
In short: Labours war on landlords will end in disaster not just for families but for Labour itself.
All the above should be obvious. So why is Mr Miliband doing it? Is he delusionally naive? Or, is he deliberately carrying out an ideologically crazed left-wing plot to wreck the private rental sector? Or, more simply, is it revenge on landlords for habitually voting Tory just as the removal of Winter Fuel Payment is revenge on pensioners?
Whatever the motive, it wont do a thing to halt climate change. Next to China, India, the US and Russia countries over which we have little to no influence Britains carbon footprint is meagre. So, no matter how zealously our Government sets about impoverishing us with its net zero brainwaves, the planet wont even notice. Meanwhile, millions of ordinary people not just Tory landlords will suffer.
For the time being, though, Mr Milibands plan will at least make insecure middle-class progressives like him feel good about themselves. And, to achieve this vital goal, I suppose sacrifices must be made.
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U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of running a "mafia state" and compared him to a slave owner during his speech at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 24.
Lammy, who took over as British Foreign Secretary in July 2024, has consistently reiterated his country's support for Ukraine and condemned Russia's attacks against Ukrainian civilians and violations of international law.
Lammy criticized Putin's actions regarding the invasion of Ukraine, recalling the days of slavery, and accused the Russian government of flouting international law, while claiming to be defending the so-called Global South.
"Your invasion is in your own interests," he said, addressing Putin. "Yours alone. To expand your mafia state into a mafia empire. An empire built on corruption."
"Mr. President (Putin), I speak not only as a Briton, as a Londoner, and as a foreign secretary. "
"But I say to the Russian representative (in the U.N. Security Council), on his phone as I speak, that I stand here also as a Black man whose ancestors were taken in chains from Africa, at the barrel of a gun to be enslaved, whose ancestors rose up and fought in a great rebellion of the enslaved," Lammy added.
U.K. Foreign Secretary said that he recognizes "imperialism" in the actions of the Russian authorities, adding that "he will call it out for what it is."
Lammy delivered his speech at the U.N. Security Council as Ukraine continues to seek permission to use long-range Western weapons, including British-made Storm Shadow missiles, to strike deep into Russia.
Storm Shadow missiles are only allowed to be used on Ukraine's territory for now. Ukraine has reportedly used Storm Shadow missiles, with a range of up to 250 kilometers (150 miles), to hit Russian military targets in Crimea, a sovereign Ukrainian territory illegally annexed by Russia.
The Telegraph reported in August, citing unnamed sources, that the U.K. was privately in favor of allowing Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles in strikes on Russia, but was unwilling to publicly press for such a change in policy due to fears of backlash from the U.S.
Read also: Biden-Zelensky talks: Ukrainian soldiers want firepower to win but question if US wants Russia defeated
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Landlord for 3,500 homes in Clark County agrees to $48M settlement for deceiving renters
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A company that owns about 3,500 homes in Clark County has agreed to a proposed settlement over deceptive practices on rent costs, charging undisclosed junk fees and unfairly holding security deposits, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Invitation Homes has agreed to a $48 million nationwide settlement that will provide refunds to consumers, the FTC said in a Tuesday news release. Invitation is the nations largest landlord of single-family homes. As of June 30, Invitation owned or managed more than 109,000 homes across the U.S.
U.S. Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) issued a statement regarding Invitations operations in Clark County:
The FTC took a major step in addressing deceptive rental practices in Southern Nevada which have contributed to skyrocketing rental costs, Titus said. Invitation Homes is the second-largest owner of single-family homes in Clark County, with some 3,500 homes. The FTC action requires Invitation Homes to make refunds to consumers and sends a strong message that rent gouging will not be tolerated.
Invitation Homes also failed to inspect homes before allowing residents to move in, the FTC said. The settlement would provide refunds to consumers harmed by the companys actions. The corporate landlord will also be required to clearly disclose its leasing prices, establish policies and procedures to handle security deposit refunds fairly, and stop other unlawful behavior, the FTC said.
Invitation Homes agrees to pay $48 million to settle claims it saddled tenants with hidden fees
The company preyed on tenants through a variety of unfair and deceptive tactics, the FTC said. Invitation was accused of saddling people with hidden fees and misleading people about eviction policies during the pandemic. In some cases, Invitation even pursued eviction proceedings after people had moved out, according to FTC Chair Lina M. Khan.
No American should pay more for rent or be kicked out of their home because of illegal tactics by corporate landlords. The FTC will continue to use all our tools to protect renters from unlawful business practices, Khan said.
The settlement states that Invitation Homes will be:
prohibited from deceiving consumers about the true rental price of a house, including a requirement to include all mandatory monthly fees in a houses advertised rental price and disclose whether listed fees are mandatory or not.
prohibited from withholding security deposit money for damages that are part of normal wear and tear and requiring that any money withheld be used to repair or correct the damage for which it was withheld.
prohibited from using withheld security deposit money to fix issues that were present before the renter moved in or to cover the cost of maintenance, repairs, or capital improvements not related to damage caused by a renter.
required to notify consumers about federal, state, or local programs designed to assist people facing eviction.
prohibited from filing evictions against certain renters who have already moved out of their house and notified Invitation Homes of their departure.
The companys website lists properties available in Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas, touting Invitations professional property management and ProCare service.
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Former Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday the revival of the Red Line project he canceled nearly a decade ago is a mistake and should not be a priority as officials seek federal assistance for Maryland transportation projects.
I dont think its going to happen, Hogan, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, said during an interview with The Baltimore Suns editorial board. I think theres almost no chance whatsoever.
If Hogan wins in November, he would join a federal delegation from Maryland that is widely supportive of the east-west rapid transit plan in Baltimore and what is likely to be billions of dollars in federal funds that could accompany it.
Hogan said his position on the project had not changed since he first canceled it after becoming governor in 2015, returning $900 million already committed by the federal government and redirecting state funds to roads in the process.
Hogans successor, Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, has prioritized reversing that decision during his first two years in office reigniting plans for what could be a $7.2 billion light-rail line stretching between East and West Baltimore.
State transportation officials have said about half of the cost could come from the federal government, through funding requests that have yet to be formalized. But they have not said how they would fund the states share, especially when rising costs and an unreliable transportation funding system have led to widespread cuts in the states six-year transportation plan.
Hogan repeatedly referred to those fiscal constraints and blamed Moore while casting doubt on the Red Line.
The No. 1 issue in the state is fixing the traffic, and we have the traffic relief plan, which took years to battle through, and the federal government dragged their feet at the last moment. And Wes Moores killed it, Hogan said. Wes Moore is now killing every transportation project statewide to try to do the Red Line, and I think its a mistake.
The old governor couldnt even place Baltimore on the map, Moore spokesperson Carter Elliott IV said in a statement. This is someone who returned $1 billion in federal funding for much needed transportation investments, and completely botched the Purple Line project something his own Secretary of Transportation called his legacy. His failure to provide adequate funding for the states transportation system continues to wreak havoc on the Transportation Trust Fund. Decisions made by Hogan and his administration cost the state more than $600 million. He neglected the states largest city throughout his entire term, its no wonder hes unable to understand why this project is a core component of the citys renaissance.
Moore has also used the phrase that Hogan uttered when he canceled the project calling it a wasteful boondoggle to refer to the Hogan-backed Purple Line addition to the Washington Metro, which has seen delays and billions in cost overruns. Part of the reason for the declining state transportation funds is the Purple Line, including $425 million in additional spending approved earlier this year.
Hogan has drawn the ire of other Democrats over the project. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott called the cancellation deliberate and catastrophic while referring to Hogan only as he who shall not be named during the announcement of the Red Lines revival last year.
Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, a Democrat competing against Hogan to replace the retiring Cardin, has said she supports the Red Line. And Democratic U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin secured language in the 2021 infrastructure bill that they said allows projects like the Red Line to get priority when considering billions of dollars in new capital projects investment grants.
Hogan, however, said he would not prioritize that kind of investment.
He singled out rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge as his top priority for transportation. Those funds, however, are expected to come from an emergency relief program rather than regular routes for transportation funds.
He also named the Howard Street tunnel expansion and the Frederick Douglass Tunnel projects that are already in the works and have dedicated funding as higher priorities than the Red Line in Baltimore.
Right now theres no funding to move forward any of the important priorities for transportation because theyve blown through the $5.5 billion surplus and the Transportation Trust Fund, Hogan said, referring to state funds that have depleted in recent years while the state has made new investments and seen the drying up of pandemic-era federal aide. So nothings really going to get built. They cant even afford to pitch in on the Key Bridge.
Las Vegas parents hear child for the first time after life-saving surgery
Las Vegas parents hear child for the first time after life-saving surgery
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Imagine your child cannot make a sound or taste and can barely breathe. That was a reality a Las Vegas family faced when their child was born. Now after months of care, their baby is able to make noise for the first time.
Just hearing noise from 19-month-old Asher has been a long journey for this family.
Its crazy to go 19 months not hearing your babys voice, Ashers mother Rebecca Davila explained.
You take for granted we have other kids, and you get to hear them coo or cry, Ashers father Bryan Davila said.
The silence was defying for Ashers parents as his airways were 99% closed.
He spent a total of 13 weeks in the PICU and he ended up coming home with a tracheotomy. He developed something called subglottic stenosis, a fancy word for closure of the airway, Rebecca said.
He needed surgery and a specialist in airway reconstruction was all the way in Boston. They needed help with medical bills piling up and the cost to get to Boston out of reach. Help came from Las Vegas-based non-profit Miracle Flights.
For these families to be able to travel it gets very expensive Miracle Flights exists to solve the medical travel journey by providing free commercial flights not only once but over and over again, Robert Sanchez, Vice President of Operations for Miracle Flights explained.
After multiple trips to Boston thanks to Miracle Flights they were able to hear Ashers voice for the first time as he was able to taste food. We got to hear his speaking voice for the first time ever and it was really amazing, Rebecca said.
It was a sound and smile months in the making.
Miracle Flights has provided more than 160,000 flights and is celebrating 100 million miles later this year.
Asher is expected to get his tubes removed in time for his second birthday and then should be on his way to a normal life.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
In a move that's raised eyebrows across Los Angeles County, an unspecified number of sheriff's deputies have been relieved of duty. The reason? A federal investigation that's got more questions than answers. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Sheriff's Department confirmed the action Tuesday night, linking it to a probe involving the U.S. Attorney's Office. But beyond that basic outline, details are about as clear as the L.A. skyline on a smoggy day.
So what's the deal? The brass at the Sheriff's Department is playing it close to the vest and acknowledging only that the situation is connected to federal authorities. When asked about the number of deputies affected or the nature of the investigation, department officials declined to provide further details.
Federal authorities have been equally tight-lipped. The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment when approached for information. The FBI, maintaining its standard protocol, neither confirmed nor denied the existence of any investigation.
But you know how it goes in our city secrets have a way of slipping out. Several sources within the department, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the situation, shared some insights. According to these sources, one of the relieved deputies was from the Aero Bureau. Two others reportedly held detective positions, with one having worked in the Operation Safe Streets Bureau, which focuses on gang-related crime.
The Sheriff's Department has stated that they are cooperating with the ongoing investigation. However, the lack of official information has led to speculation about the scope and nature of the federal probe.
This development raises questions about oversight and accountability within one of Southern California's largest law enforcement agencies. As the investigation unfolds, it may have implications for the department's operations and public trust.
For now, we're all left waiting for more information. One thing's for sure in this town, the plot always thickens.
Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert slammed Democrats while on the House floor saying they hate Jolly St. Nick as she sparred with California Representative Katie Porter over the sales of Christmas trees on federal land.
Its so sad to hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle hate Christmas, Boebert dryly said Tuesday.
Her comment, which led to laughter from audience members in the chamber, was part of the debate over her proposed amendment to the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program which seeks to reduce wildfire risk and restore landscapes through collaboration between the public and the government.
Boeberts amendment requires regional foresters to submit an annual plan regarding the sale of Christmas trees and firewood on federal land. It is a measure she asserts would allow families to heat their homes cost-effectively and thin overgrown forests.
Controversial Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert responded to a colleagues opposition to her amendment by suggesting Democrats hate Christmas (CPSAN)
Porter, a progressive member of the House, disputed the amendment believing it unnecessarily places a preference over a marketable product over landscape restoration.
Tree harvesting for anything other than the purpose of landscape restoration is not in the spirit of the program, Porter said.
The forest service already has broad authority to conduct the sale of firewood and Christmas trees, they dont need it under this restoration program, the California rep added.
But rather than address Porters concerns, Boebert first accused her colleagues on the other side of the aisle of hating Christmas.
Democratic Representative Katie Porter said she opposed Lauren Boeberts amendment to a forestry bill because it prioritized marketable plans over landscape restoration (CPSAN)
The accusation seemingly lit a match under Porter who said as a Christian, she was offended that Boebert suggested she hates Christmas.
This bill is not about, nor has nothing to do, with inhibiting people from celebrating their religious holidays, Porter said.
The sudden pivot from the amendments purpose to a debate over the representatives fondness for Christmas is an unsurprising turn of events for a House floor debate. Conversations over bills and amendments have famously divulged into heated debates over unrelated topics.
In 2023, the Republican-controlled House used precious remaining hours to debate reinstating whole milk into schools. In 2019 two lawmakers got into a tiff about the band Nickleback while discussing a voting rights provision.
Porter concluded her argument, Many of us make happy family memories with trees that are living. We have ways to enjoy trees without cutting them down or burning them.
Ultimately, Boeberts amendment passed.
Two poll workers check in two voters at an early voting site in Fayetteville on Oct. 28, 2022. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)
A lawsuit filed last week claims Crittenden County election officials have failed to prepare early voting in West Memphis despite having established polling sites.
Filed Sept. 19 in circuit court on behalf of two West Memphis residents who intend to vote early, Shirley Brown and Lavonda Taylor, the lawsuit alleges the three members of the Crittenden County Board of Election Commissioners are not seeking poll workers, preparing election materials and conducting other duties to facilitate early voting.
The petition claims election commissioners have determined there should be no early voting in West Memphis, despite two sites the plaintiffs argue should be active: One at First Baptist Church because it served as a polling site two years ago and one at the Seventh Street Church of Christ because the county clerk designated it as such.
West Memphis is Crittenden Countys largest city with approximately 23,000 residents, about 48% of the countys total population. Without a polling site, West Memphis residents would have to travel about five miles to the countys only guaranteed early voting site in Marion.
Chairperson Frank Barton and commissioners James Pulliaum and Anita Bell were sued in their official capacity as election commissioners. Barton and Pulliaum were unavailable by phone on Tuesday, and Bell declined to answer questions about the lawsuit.
The county attorney, who is representing the commissioners, was also unreachable by phone. Jennifer Standerfer, the plaintiffs attorney, said she could not comment on ongoing legislation.
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Circuit Judge Chris Thyer heard testimony in Craighead County on Monday because of scheduling conflicts in Crittenden County. A second hearing is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Marion. The case is being heard at an expedited pace because of its potential impact on the Nov. 5 election.
The lawsuit seeks early voting access at the two churches in West Memphis, which county election officials would organize. The petition also asks the judge to declare that the Crittenden County Board of Election Commissioners determination that no early voting will be held in West Memphis is unlawful.
Commissioner disagreements
In Arkansas, early voting is either conducted by the county clerk or the local election commission. One early voting site is required in the county seat, and election commissioners may approve additional locations by a unanimous vote.
According to plaintiffs petition, Crittenden County election commissioners tried twice in recent weeks to designate a public library in West Memphis as an early voting site, but the Democratic member of the commission, Pulliaum, voted against it both times.
Pulliaum instead proposed the citys Seventh Street Church of Christ serve as an early voting site, but commissioners did not vote on the site as an alternate location. According to a document submitted as evidence in the case, church leadership offered to host early voting.
Days before a deadline prohibiting any more changes to early voting polling sites, Pulliaum requested that he change his vote in favor of the public library, according to the petition. Barton would have had to call an emergency meeting for the vote, which did not occur before the deadline.
On Sept. 5, County Clerk Paula Brown submitted a letter to the local election commission designating the church Pulliaum previously proposed as an early voting site. She also requested commissioners organize poll workers to operate the site.
It has come to my attention that the Commission did not designate a polling site in West Memphis for early voting, Brown wrote. This is surprising since West Memphis is the largest municipality in the county.
[2024 Voter Guide: The candidates, the ballot measures, and the tools you need to cast your vote.]
The petition does not detail what, if anything, occurred after Sept. 5, which was the deadline to make any changes to early voting sites.
A ruling in the case is expected this week, and could come as early as Wednesday.
Early voting begins on Oct. 21 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Early voting ends at 5 p.m. on the Monday prior to the election on Nov. 5.
Early voting sites should not affect Election Day polling locations.
The leaders of Germany's Greens are quitting after several election defeats
Green Party Chairwoman Ricarda Lang, right, and Omid Nouripour speak at a press conference in Berlin, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. The leaders of Germany's environmentalist Greens, one of the parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's troubled coalition government, announced Wednesday that they will step down after the latest in a string of disappointing election results. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)
BERLIN (AP) The leaders of Germany's Greens, one of three parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's troubled coalition government, announced Wednesday that they will step down after the latest in a string of disappointing election results.
The environmentalist party's support declined sharply in the European Parliament election in June. This month, it fared poorly in three state elections in eastern Germany. Voters ejected it from two state legislatures, most recently in Brandenburg on Sunday.
Co-leader Omid Nouripour said in a hastily arranged statement to reporters that the result in Brandenburg is evidence of our partys deepest crisis for a decade.
It is necessary and it is possible to overcome this crisis, he said. The party leadership has decided that a new beginning is needed and it is time to put the destiny of this great party in new hands, he added.
Nouripour and the party's other co-leader, Ricarda Lang, took the helm of the party in early 2022 after predecessors Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock joined Scholz's government as vice chancellor and foreign minister respectively.
The party has seen its popularity decline since, along with that of its coalition partners. The mainstream conservative opposition Union bloc leads national polls ahead of a national election expected next year, while the far-right Alternative for Germany is polling strongly.
The national government an uneasy combination of Scholz's center-left Social Democrats with the Greens, who also lean left, and the pro-business Free Democrats has angered Germans by bickering at length over poorly explained projects that sometimes raise fears of new costs.
Those included a plan drawn up by Habeck's economy and climate ministry to replace fossil-fuel heating systems with greener alternatives. There have been frequent tensions between the Greens, who were strong advocates of Germany's exit from nuclear power and have a relatively liberal approach to migration, and the Free Democrats, who saw their own support reduced to microscopic levels in this month's state elections. Meanwhile, Germany's economy is struggling to generate any growth.
The plan is for new party leaders to be elected at a previously scheduled party congress in mid-November, Nouripour said.
New faces are needed to lead this party out of this crisis, Lang said. You can imagine that this decision isn't easy, but we are taking it out of conviction.
Neither Nouripour nor Lang are part of Scholz's Cabinet. Their decision does not affect the Greens' five Cabinet ministers.
In the European Parliament election, the Greens slumped to 11.9% of the vote from an exceptionally successful 20.5% five years earlier, losing ground among young voters in particular. In Germany's last national election in 2021, when Baerbock made the party's first run for the chancellery, the party won 14.8%.
Baerbock said in July that she wouldn't make another bid for Germany's top job in the next election, scheduled for September 2025. The party hasn't yet decided whether it will put up a candidate for chancellor again, though Habeck is widely believed to be keen to run.
Habeck told German news agency dpa that the leaders' resignation is a great service to the party and they are clearing the way for a strong new beginning.
Prosecutors say Visa handles more than 60% of US debit transactions, earning the company more than $7 billion in fees a year. Jean Sebastien Evrard/Getty Images
The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit accusing Visa of engaging in anticompetitive behavior.
Prosecutors say the financial giant's monopolistic actions affect "the price of nearly everything."
Visa called the lawsuit "meritless" and said it would defend itself vigorously.
Visa is in the antitrust crosshairs.
The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on Tuesday arguing that the payment-processing giant illegally maintained a monopoly with anticompetitive behavior and imposed unfair costs on customers and merchants.
"Visa has unlawfully amassed the power to extract fees that far exceed what it could charge in a competitive market," Attorney General Merrick Garland said. "Merchants and banks pass along those costs to consumers, either by raising prices or reducing quality or service. As a result, Visa's unlawful conduct affects not just the price of one thing but the price of nearly everything."
"Today's lawsuit ignores the reality that Visa is just one of many competitors in a debit space that is growing, with entrants who are thriving," Visa's general counsel, Julie Rottenberg, said in a statement to Business Insider, adding: "We are proud of the payments network we have built, the innovation we advance, and the economic opportunity we enable. This lawsuit is meritless, and we will defend ourselves vigorously."
American consumers use debit cards to complete transactions estimated to be worth more than $4 trillion a year in which funds are transferred directly from their bank accounts to a merchant's account.
The payment method is especially popular among younger shoppers and people with lower incomes who may not have a credit card or prefer not to use one, prosecutors said.
With each electronic payment processed over its network, whether in a store or online, Visa collects a small fee.
In the complaint, filed in the Southern District of New York, prosecutors said Visa handled more than 60% of US debit transactions, earning the company more than $7 billion in fees a year.
Prosecutors said Visa's use of "generous monetary incentives and threatening punitive additional fees" enabled the company to maintain an illegal monopoly in the debit-card-processing market.
The lawsuit alleges that one way that Visa protects its dominant position is by entering into contracts with potential competitors that prevent them from becoming actual competitors a move that is illegal under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
"Visa has expressed fear that its self-described 'frenemies' in Big Tech would launch technology that competes with Visa by enabling payment directly from consumers' bank accounts," Garland said, referring in particular to Square.
Story continues
The suit follows a yearslong investigation started after Visa's attempted $5.3 billion acquisition of the fintech company Plaid, which the Department of Justice sued to block in 2020. The companies abandoned the deal the following year.
Visa acknowledged in a 2021 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the Department of Justice was planning to investigate its US debit-card business.
A key issue under scrutiny is the use of security tokens, which can be used to block the routing of payments to other networks. Visa's rival Mastercard settled a similar matter with the Federal Trade Commission in 2022.
While the scrutiny of Visa predates the Biden administration, this latest action is one of several crackdowns on middlemen companies that the White House argues are raising costs for American consumers.
"Visa is a classic example of a middleman that takes advantage of its role as gatekeeper to stamp out competition," said Benjamin Mizer, the principal deputy associate attorney general, adding: "More and more we are seeing these kinds of intermediaries gain control in a broad range of industries, from healthcare to online advertising to live music to housing."
Read the original article on Business Insider
Smoke from heavy Israeli air raids billows from the southern Lebanese village of Taibeh. Powerful air attacks were launched across much of southern Lebanon. Lebanese Health Ministry said 182 people were killed and more than 700 wounded in what would be the deadliest day in Lebanon since the conflict started in October. Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Israel's continued attacks in Lebanon killed at least 19 people on Wednesday morning, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
A total of almost 100 people were injured in the strikes, the ministry added.
The attacks struck the towns of Ain Kana and Bint Jubayl in the south of the country. The towns of Maaysra, north of Beirut, and Joun near the coastal city of Sidon were also hit.
An attack in the southern Lebanese town of Tebnine injured 27 people alone, while 38 people were injured in several airstrikes in the Bekaa Valley, according to the Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, the Shiite Hezbollah militia continued its bombardment of targets in Israel, announcing that it had fired dozens of rockets at the town of Hazor Ashdod and at a military base in the north of the country.
The Israeli military reported that around 40 missiles had been fired from Lebanon, some of which it had intercepted.
One missile landed near a sheltered housing facility for the elderly near Safed in the north of the country, according to the Israeli military, but no casualties were reported.
A man passes by a damaged building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut southern suburb. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, six people were killed and 15 others were wounded in the strike, which was targeting Hezbollah's rocket chief, according to the Israeli military. Marwan Naamani/dpa
At least 5 injured in intentionally set explosion at California courthouse
In this still image from video provided by KEYT, law enforcement work on a scene following an explosion at the Santa Maria Courthouse in Santa Maria, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. | KEYT
At least five people were injured in an explosion at a California courthouse Wednesday morning.
The explosion occurred after a suspect allegedly threw a bag past the weapons screening station and in front of the local arraignment room at the Santa Maria Courthouse, a court executive officer told ABC News.
The explosion, the result of an intentionally set improvised explosive device, left several people with non-life-threatening injuries, Santa Barbara County Sheriff public information officer Raquel Zick wrote on social media.
Though the sheriffs department initially stated there were two injuries, a spokesperson for the Marian Regional Medical Center later told The Associated Press that it was treating five people in relation to the explosion.
Other reports, meanwhile, say six people were being treated. Three are in fair condition and two are in good conditions, a hospital spokesperson told ABC News. The condition of the sixth person is unknown but is not believed to be serious.
The Sheriffs department confirmed that the suspect, an adult male, had been detained. The name of the suspect has not been released.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the courthouse, as well as other city buildings, were closed.
In this still image from video provided by KEYT, people gather following an explosion at the Santa Maria Courthouse in Santa Maria, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. | KEYT
CLOSURE: Due to a law enforcement investigation of a bomb explosion at the nearby #SantaMaria Superior Court this morning, Santa Maria City Hall, Finance Department, City Attorney's Office, Santa Maria Public Library, and Recreation and Parks Department are closed for today. CityofSantaMariaCa (@City_SantaMaria) September 25, 2024
This stage of the investigation is slow moving and detectives dont believe there are any additional outstanding suspects, Zick wrote Wednesday afternoon. The bomb team is processing the scene and the suspect is still being interviewed.
Britons urged to leave Lebanon now but what are their travel options after most flights cancelled?
The Foreign Office warns against all travel to Lebanon, and the prime minister has urged British citizens to leave (FCDO)
As Israel attacks targets in central Beirut, the UK Foreign Office has run the first evacuation fliight from Lebanon to help British citizens, their spouses and children under 18 to leave the country. The plane from Beirut touched down at Birmingham airport on Wednesday evening carrying more than 150 British nationals and dependents, according to the Foreign Office.
More evacuation flights are planned. The government says they will continue for as long as the security situation allows.
But the Foreign Office warns: Do not rely on FCDO being able to evacuate you in an emergency.
It is nine weeks since the foreign secretary, David Lammy, first urged UK nationals to leave Lebanon while they could. Sir Kier Starmer reiterated the call last month.
The Foreign Office advises against all travel to Lebanon due to risks associated with the ongoing conflict between Israel, Lebanese Hezbollah and other non-state actors in Lebanon, and advises anyone in Lebanon to leave now.
The preferred method is by a commercial flight. But options are extremely limited, with almost all airlines cancelling flights in and out of the capital, Beirut.
Seven hundred British troops have been sent to Cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation of around 6,000 Britons from Lebanon.
The Foreign Office says: There are ongoing mortar and artillery exchanges and airstrikes in Lebanon, primarily on the boundary with Israel but also in other parts of the country, including Beqaa Valley and locations north of the Litani river.
Tensions are high and the situation could deteriorate with little warning, which could affect or limit exit routes out of Lebanon. If the political or security situation, commercial routes out of Lebanon could be severely disrupted or cancelled at short notice, and roads across the country could be closed.
We encourage you to book the next available flight, even if it is not a direct route.
But how feasible is it to leave? These are the key questions and answers.
Is Beirut airport still open?
Yes. Rafic Hariri International Airport is operating but far from normally.
MEA, the Lebanese national carrier, is running a full programme of flights, including the usual morning departures to London Heathrow.
According to data from Flightradar24, the only other departures have been of private jets and some government aircraft flown in to bring citizens out.
The UK government stresses it wants British nationals to leave on scheduled flights. The problem is: demand for the few seats is intense, and finding space within the next few weeks is very difficult. With capacity more than halved from Beirut, and large numbers of people of all nationalities seeking to leave Lebanon, The Independent has been able only to find two seats to London, on Friday 4 October, at a fare of 953 each.
Some private jet flights to Turkey have been sold for tens of thousands of euros.
The first UK evacuation flight from Beirut operated on Wednesday 2 October, and more are being organised.
The Foreign Office warns: When planning your travel to the airport, monitor the local security situation and only make the journey if you judge it safe to do so.
What do we know about the first rescue flight?
Flight DN9999 from Beirut to Birmingham was the first rescue flight organised by the UK government to bring home British citizens since the Covid pandemic.
The plane belongs to the Romanian airline, Dan Air. It is a 15-year-old Airbus A320 a standard low-cost jet equipped with 180 seats, .
The aircraft began the rescue mission in Bucharest, the airlines base, with a two-hour positioning flight carrying no passengers to Beirut.
The plane was on the ground in the Lebanese capital for three-and-a-half hours, missing its intended departure time by 90 minutes.
On the 2,400-mile flight from Beirut to Birmingham, it made a technical stop at Bucharest along the way, about one-third of the way into the journey, to refuel and change crew. This was a much shorter stop, just 40 minutes. The plane eventually touched down at Birmingham at 8.39pm,
The passengers on board were British citizens in Lebanon who were contacted from the register of those who have provided their contact details in advance.
Ahead of the flight, the UK government said: Vulnerable British nationals and their spouse or partner, and children under the age of 18, will be prioritised for this flight.
This includes those with greatest need, including those with medical conditions, over-65s and children. British nationals should not make their way to the airport unless they have a confirmed seat on the plane.
Passengers paid 350 for the one-way journey well above the average commercial fare. But seats on scheduled flights are extremely scarce, and some private jet operators have been asking tens of thousands of pounds to fly people out from Beirut to Turkey.
Other countries have also laid on rescue flights, including Bulgaria, Germany, Jordan, Russia and Spain.
What further rescue flights are planned by the UK?
It appears the Dan Air DN9999 charter from Beirut to Birmingham via Bucharest will continue for the coming days. The plane that conducted the first flight is heading back empty direct from Birmingham to Beirut.
On Thursday afternoon it is scheduled to depart at 3.40pm, Lebanese time, from Beirut, with another technical stop at Bucharest to refuel and change crew.
Can people leave by land?
The FCDO advises against leaving Lebanon through land border crossings.
The border with Israel is closed. The border with Syria is open, but the Foreign Office advises against all travel to Syria due to the ongoing conflict and unpredictable security conditions.
Some travellers may decide to risk the journey to Damascus, because the airport in the Syrian capital is running normally with flights to Kuwait City, Abu Dhabi or Sharjah (adjoining Dubai) probably the best bet, due to easier connections to the UK.
But some British nationals are travelling to the northern border of Lebanon, taking a taxi for around 100 miles through Syria to Turkey and flying back from Antakya airport via Istanbul.
The obvious destination for an evacuation by sea of British citizens would be Cyprus.
At their closest the two countries are 100 miles apart. But the distance from the key port of Tripoli in Lebanon and Limassol in Cyprus is about 160 miles, representing typically seven hours sailing.
Ferries formerly ran between Tripoli and the Turkish port of Mersin, but no longer operate.
How do I contact the British Embassy?
The Foreign Office says: If youre in Lebanon and you need emergency help from the UK government, contact the British Embassy in Beirut.
But access to the British Embassy is by appointment only. The Embassy says: To call us in an emergency or send us an online enquiry use our contact form.
Should people with holidays planned in Cyprus be worried?
Understandably people with trips booked to Cyprus are looking at the map of the eastern Mediterranean with concern. The popular Cypriot resort of Ayia Napa is barely 100 miles from the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Yet the Foreign Office does not have concerns about Cyprus. The official travel advice for the island has not been amended since June 2024, when it was reviewed for style and accuracy.
Under the heading Regional risks the only concern is the long-standing warning about travel to the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus: FCDO can only provide limited consular support if you are visiting areas in the north that are not under control of the Republic of Cyprus.
Similarly, the governments of Ireland, Canada, the US and Australia express no alarms about Cyprus in their travel advice to citizens.
I think their stance is the right one. Overspill from Lebanon to Cyprus looks extremely unlikely. Consider Syria, which has been in a civil war since 2011; even though the Mediterranean port of Latakia is only 70 miles from Cyprus, there has been no danger posed to the island as a result of that tragic conflict.
As the Foreign Office does not warn against travel to Cyprus, there is no prospect of being able to cancel a trip for a full refund. Neither will travel insurance be of help; the insurer will say that there is no reason not to go.
It is legally possible to transfer a proper package holiday to someone else.
Alternatively, the holiday company may possibly offer the chance to switch to a different destination; this is relatively low season, and there may be capacity elsewhere.
Smoke billowed from buildings in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre following fresh Israeli strikes [Reuters]
Israels military chief has told troops that extensive air strikes in Lebanon targeting the armed group Hezbollah could pave the way for them to enter enemy territory.
"You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day. This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah," Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said.
Lebanons health minister said more than 50 people were killed in strikes on Wednesday, which the Israeli military said hit Hezbollahs intelligence directorate, as well as launchers and weapons stores.
Diplomatic efforts are gathering pace to de-escalate the hostilities, with France and the United States proposing a 21-day ceasefire.
The remarks by Lt Gen Halevi are the plainest indication yet from a senior figure that a ground invasion into Lebanon may be imminent.
We keep striking and hitting them everywhere, he told soldiers from the 7th Brigade taking part in an exercise on Israels northern border on Wednesday - in a statement quoted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The goal is very clear - to safely return the residents of the north. To achieve that, we are preparing the process of a manoeuvre, which means your military boots... will enter enemy territory.
Lt Gen Halevi said troops would "destroy the enemy" and its infrastructure.
There was no immediate sign that Israel was poised to enter Lebanon and the US Pentagon said on Wednesday it did not appear "imminent".
But the IDF chief of staffs remarks were published shortly after the IDF called up two reserve brigades for "operational missions in the northern arena.
When a BBC team visited an Israeli border town on Wednesday, the army said that Hezbollah fighters must move well back from the border, to positions north of the Litani River, as demanded by a UN resolution passed in 2006.
Israel's allies, including the US, have said they are working to avoid all-out war in the region.
Several media reports on Wednesday said senior US officials were attempting to broker a short-term pause in fighting between the two sides.
French President Emmanuel Macron met with US President Joe Biden at the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss efforts to secure a ceasefire.
Shortly after the talks, France said the two countries were proposing a "temporary ceasefire" of 21 days "to allow for negotiations".
"There cannot be a war in Lebanon. This is why we urge Israel to cease this escalation in Lebanon and to Hezbollah to cease this missile launch to Israel," Mr Macron told the UN.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate ceasefire, and said "hell is breaking loose".
Lebanese PM Najib Mikati said his country is "facing a blatant violation of our sovereignty and human rights through the brutal practices of the Israeli enemy".
He added he hoped he could leave the UN session with a "serious solution" to "put pressure on Israel to achieve an immediate ceasefire on all fronts". Asked by Reuters if a ceasefire can be reached soon, he responded: "Hopefully, yes."
Israel's envoy to the UN, Danny Danon, said it was grateful for diplomatic efforts to avoid escalation but would use "all use all means at our disposal, in accordance with international law, to achieve our aims".
He said Israel "does not seek a full-scale war", and has made its desire for peace "clear".
Mr Danon added that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu will arrive in New York on Thursday, have bilaterial meetings later that day and speak at the General Assembly the following morning.
Israel's David's Sling air defence system reportedly intercepted the missile north of the central Israeli city of Tel Aviv [Reuters]
Cross-border fighting continued on Wednesday, with Hezbollah saying it had targeted the headquarters of Israel's Mossad spy agency with a missile fired towards Tel Aviv - the first time Hezbollah has targeted the heavily populated area.
It was intercepted by air defences and there were no reports of damage or casualties. The launcher was subsequently destroyed in an air strike, the IDF said.
IDF spokesman Lt Col Nadav Shoshani said the missile was heading towards civilian areas in Tel Aviv, noting that the Mossad headquarters is not in that area.
Hezbollah also fired dozens more rockets into northern Israel, injuring two.
Meanwhile, the IDF said Israeli fighter jets had hit more than 280 Hezbollah terror targets in the latest wave of air strikes on Lebanon.
Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad told reporters that the strikes had killed at least 51 people and injured 223, without saying how many were civilians or combatants.
The health ministry reported deadly Israeli attacks in southern areas including Joun, in the Chouf mountains near the southern city of Sidon, as well as Maaysrah, in another mountainous area north of Beirut, and in the north of the Bekaa Valley.
Lt Gen Herzi Halevi told Israeli troops on the border with Lebanon to prepare to "go in [and] destroy the enemy" [IDF]
More than 600 people have been reported killed across Lebanon since Monday, when Israel began an intense air campaign to destroy what it said was infrastructure built up by Hezbollah since they last fought a war in 2006.
Another 90,000 people in Lebanon have been newly displaced, adding to the 110,000 who had fled their homes before the escalation, according to the UN. Almost 40,000 are living in shelters across the country.
Nearly a year of deadly cross-border fighting sparked by the war in Gaza has also displaced around 70,000 people in northern Israel, whose safe return the Israeli government and military say they want to ensure.
Hezbollah says it is attacking Israel in support of its Palestinian ally, Hamas, and will not stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza. Both groups are backed by Iran and proscribed as terrorist organisations by Israel, the UK and other countries.
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It comes after an unprecedented wave of attacks on Hezbollah.
Last week, 39 people were killed and thousands were wounded when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members to communicate exploded in two waves across Lebanon. Israel is widely believed to be responsible for the attacks.
Then, an Israeli air strike on Friday on the groups stronghold of Dahieh, in southern Beirut, essentially wiped out the chain of command of its main fighting unit, the Radwan Force. The group confirmed that one of its top military leaders, Ibrahim Aqil, was among 55 people killed.
[BBC]
US and allies call for 21-day ceasefire along Israel-Lebanon border after UN talks
US and allies call for 21-day ceasefire along Israel-Lebanon border after UN talks
By John Irish, Maya Gebeily and Ari Rabinovitch
UNITED NATIONS/BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The United States, France and several allies called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border while also expressing support for a ceasefire in Gaza following intense discussions at the United Nations on Wednesday.
The ceasefire would apply to the Israel-Lebanon "Blue Line," the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, and would allow the parties to negotiate towards a potential diplomatic resolution of the conflict, a senior Biden administration official said.
"We call on all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary ceasefire immediately," according to a joint statement of the countries released by the White House.
The allies that signed the joint statement included Australia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the European Union.
Israel widened its airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday and at least 72 people were killed, according to a Reuters compilation of Lebanese health ministry statements. The ministry earlier said at least 223 were wounded.
Israel's military chief said a ground assault was possible, raising fears the conflict could spark a wider Middle East war.
Over the last several months, Washington has been engaging with officials in Israel and Lebanon to reduce hostilities, the senior White House official said.
"We have had those discussions for quite some time," the official said, adding Washington and its allies were aiming to convert those discussions into a broader agreement during this 21-day ceasefire period.
The official said Biden had been focused on the possibility of a ceasefire "in almost every conversation he had with world leaders" at the United Nations General Assembly this week.
Based on discussions with Israelis and Lebanese, the U.S. and its allies felt this was the right time for a call for a ceasefire, the official added.
Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters before a U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday that Israel would welcome a ceasefire and preferred a diplomatic solution. He then told the Security Council that Iran was the nexus of violence in the region and peace required dismantling the threat.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told reporters before the council meeting that his country supported Hezbollah and would not remain indifferent if the conflict in Lebanon spiraled.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the call for a ceasefire, saying the key to its implementation is whether Israel is committed to enforcing international resolutions. Asked earlier if a ceasefire could be reached soon, Mikati told Reuters: "Hopefully, yes."
World leaders voiced concern that the conflict - running in parallel to Israel's war in Gaza against Palestinian Hamas militants also backed by Iran - was escalating rapidly as the death toll rose in Lebanon and thousands fled their homes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to arrive in New York on Thursday and address the U.N. General Assembly on Friday.
LEBANON CONFLICT PUTS PRESSURE ON BIDEN, HARRIS
The U.S. administration has for nearly a year sought unsuccessfully to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.
The conflict has been costly politically for U.S. President Joe Biden and by extension Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign with the violence in Lebanon increasing pressure on his administration to find a diplomatic solution.
Earlier on Wednesday Israel shot down a missile that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement said it had aimed at the headquarters of the Mossad intelligence agency near Israel's biggest city, Tel Aviv.
Israeli officials said a heavy missile had headed towards civilian areas in Tel Aviv, not the Mossad HQ, before being shot down.
"You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day," General Herzi Halevi told Israeli troops on the border with Lebanon, according to a military statement.
"This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah." A Pentagon spokesperson said an Israeli ground incursion did not appear imminent.
As many as half a million people may have been displaced in Lebanon, its foreign minister said. In Beirut, thousands of people displaced from southern Lebanon were sheltering in schools and other buildings.
ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES TARGET HEZBOLLAH LEADERS
Israeli airstrikes this week have targeted Hezbollah leaders and hit hundreds of sites deep inside Lebanon, where hundreds of thousands have fled the border region, while the group has fired barrages of rockets into Israel.
Mourners thronged a funeral on Wednesday in Beirut's suburbs for two senior Hezbollah commanders killed in Israeli strikes the day before. Fighters in fatigues carried the flag-covered coffins as a band played. The crowd chanted Hezbollah slogans and some wept.
Israel said its warplanes were hitting south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah stronghold further north, and that it was calling up two more reserve brigades for operations on Israel's northern border.
In a video message that made no comment on diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire, Netanyahu said Hezbollah was being hit harder than it could ever have imagined.
Israel has made a priority of securing its northern border and allowing the return there of some 70,000 residents displaced by near-daily exchanges of fire since war broke out in October between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on Israel's southern border.
Lebanese hospitals have filled with the wounded since Monday, when Israeli bombing killed more than 550 people in Lebanon's deadliest day since its civil war ended in 1990.
(Reporting by John Irish, Michelle Nichols and Humeyra Pamuk at the United Nations, Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem and Gabriella Borter and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Additional reporting by Jana Choukeir and Clauda Tanios in Dubai, Joshua McElwee in Vatican City, Kate Holton and Catarina Demony in London, and Urvi Dugar in Washington; Writing by Michael Georgy, Kevin Liffey, Cynthia Osterman and Lincoln Feast; Editing by Howard Goller and Stephen Coates)
Lenticular clouds, sometimes mistaken for UFOs, are in a league of their own
Lenticular Clouds Shrouding the Peaks of Mount McKinley (Getty Images/Ron Sanford) Lenticular Clouds Shrouding the Peaks of Mount McKinley (Getty Images/Ron Sanford)
On June 24, 1947, pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing multiple mysterious, gleaming circular objects along the crest of the Cascade Mountains in Washington. It was one of the most famous UFO sightings -- in fact, that was the exact moment the term "flying saucers" was coined.
An Air Force investigation later concluded that what Arnold really saw were disc-shaped wave clouds called lenticular clouds, which are not uncommon in the Cascades and on top of Mt. Rainier, the highest peak in the mountain range.
Lenticular clouds are different from other clouds because they don't form and move along but rather sit in one place, continually re-formed as air moves through them, causing them to morph slightly over time. They are the result of air rising to its condensation point over and downstream of an object, typically a mountain; however, they can also result from waves generated in the atmosphere itself.
A mysterious lenticular cloud forms over the Owens Valley,Eastern Sierra California. (Getty Images) A mysterious lenticular cloud forms over the Owens Valley,Eastern Sierra California. (Getty Images)
Mount Rainier is famous for its frequent lenticulars, as is Mount Fuji in Japan, and all tall mountains. When more than one lenticular layer appears on top of each other, they are referred to as "stacked lenticulars." But don't believe every photo you see on the Internet -- this photo of five layers over Mount Fuji is a hoax. This one is real:
Lenticular Clouds over New Zealand on August 29, 2020. (Geoffrey Beckett via Storyful) Lenticular Clouds over New Zealand on August 29, 2020. (Geoffrey Beckett via Storyful)
Not surprisingly, the state of California has a lot of lenticular clouds due to its rapidly changing landscape from deep valleys to tall mountains. This classification of cloud has been featured many times in our "Weather Permitting" Photo Blog, including sightings of the formations during a wedding near Lake Tahoe in June 2023, during a brilliant sunset in the Sierra Nevada in May 2021, near Los Angeles in spring 2022 and at sunrise in Tehachapi, California, in January 2020.
Lenticular, or Sierra Wave Clouds, by Christopher Balladarez on May 25, 2021. Lenticular, or Sierra Wave Clouds, by Christopher Balladarez on May 25, 2021. (AccuWeather Photo Blog)
After Arnold's report, the UFO craze began to sweep the nation, sparking hundreds of copycat sightings. On July 8, 1947, as many as 30 residents of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, reported "a very large and dark object which consisted of two superposed discs which seemed to move close to each other if not to merge every few seconds."
Renald Fortier from Ingenium, Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation suggests that the Montreal sighting might have been lenticular clouds as well. The description of superimposed large discs that merge certainly does sound like the wave clouds, perhaps a similar occurrence to lenticular clouds that recently scared residents over a South African town at night.
The cloud's form takes its name from the Latin word lenticularis, according to Merriam-Webster, meaning lentil-shaped. They are often saucer-shaped but can take many forms, including oblong and jellyfish-shaped.
From above on weather satellite images, they look like smooth blobs, as seen over Mount Etna below, or long smooth streaks.
A satellite image showing a lone lenticular cloud hovering above a snow-covered Mt. Etna in early December 2021. A satellite image showing a lone lenticular cloud hovering above a snow-covered Mt. Etna in early December 2021 (AccuWeather Photo Blog)
Lenticular clouds don't necessarily portend any specific weather conditions. Although the clouds look like gentle giants, the wind is actually speeding quickly through them, rapidly moving up and down, and pilots may want to avoid the area around them because of turbulence.
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee isnt committing to any timeline on when the Washington Bridge may be completed.
In March, state officials said they planned to reopen a new westbound Washington Bridge by 2026. That same month, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who was in Rhode Island to tour the bridge, said he believed that would be an aggressive goal, but one that must be met.
When asked during a live interview on 12 News at 4 on Tuesday whether that timeline still held up, McKee said, lets find out, backing away from the original fall 2026 deadline.
RELATED: McKee anticipates Washington Bridge demolition will resume soon
When pressed on whether the projects end date would extend into 2027 or 2028, McKee declined to go into specifics. As quickly as it can be done, as safely as it can be done, he said.
Earlier this month, demolition on the bridge got underway but was later paused due to legal reasons.
The timeframe for selecting a contractor also remains unclear. The states initial request for proposals ended with no bidders, but McKee said some action is imminent.
Congressman Jake Auchincloss represents people in Bristol County, Massachusetts, who have also been impacted by the bridges closure.
This far into this disaster, there needs to be much more clarity, and there needs to be much more confidence in leadership than were seeing right now, Auchincloss said.
ALSO READ: $125M coming to RI for Washington Bridge
What that requires is a well-scoped request for proposal that gives confidence to construction firms, that they understand what theyre being asked to do, they understand what the incentives are that provides voters and taxpayers confidence that public money is being well-spent, he further explained.
Rhode Islands lawsuit against 13 companies over the bridges failure is ongoing. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley says the city isnt focused on taking similar action.
My top priority is to fix the damn bridge, Smiley said. Part of the reason we have the delay in demolition is because of pending lawsuits, and I think piling lawsuits on top of lawsuits on top of lawsuits isnt going to get this bridge constructed any faster.
You can watch the full interview with McKee on 12 News at 4 by clicking here.
NEXT: Deadline extended for Washington Bridge grant applications
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The entrance to the Women and Children's Building at the Countess of Chester Hospital, pictured in August 2023
The operating theatre where some babies were delivered at Lucy Letbys hospital was like something out of a horror film, the Thirlwall Inquiry has heard.
A father whose two sons died at the Countess of Chester said his partner was taken to a dingy, cold and unhygienic room for a caesarean section in June 2016.
The mother was carrying triplets, and when the doctor made the incision to remove the babies, blood and spinal fluid splattered on to a wall of the theatre and landed on her head, the inquiry heard.
Although she complained about the pain, the mother was told by the anaesthetist: Its not hurting.
Letby was convicted of murdering two of the three triplets in the days immediately after their birth.
A third infant survived after being taken to Liverpool Womens Hospital when his parents became concerned with care at the Countess of Chester.
Describing the birth, the father of the triplets said he was nervous after seeing the room in which his partner was to give birth.
It struck me how it was cold-looking and dingy, he said in a statement to the inquiry.
The state of the theatres looked like something out of a horror film. It was very cold and unhygienic.
The first incision caused a big spray of blood to go across the room. A small amount landed on her head. This left me feeling nervous. It was a huge relief to see them come out safely.
The parents of the triplets said Lucy Letby was visibly upset when two of them died - Chester Standard/South West News Service
The inquiry heard how the triplets had shared a placenta, placing them at high risk. The parents had been asked whether they would like to have the heart of the smaller baby stopped, to give the other two a better chance of survival. However, they decided to carry on with the birth.
Speaking of the birth, the mother said: I was sent to the theatre, and despite being 33 weeks pregnant with triplets, I had to walk from the observation room. I was told to climb on to the bed and sit on the edge ready to be given a spinal block.
My legs started to go numb and I was told to quickly put my legs on the table. It was not easy for me.
Describing how the caesarean section progressed, she said: Blood and spinal fluid splattered over the screen and on to the wall behind me, and this also went on to my face.
I was told I would feel some pressure and pulling but no pain. I said it was hurting. The anaesthetist said: Its not hurting, its just a bit of pulling.
The babies were taken to the neonatal unit, which was where the family first came across Letby.
Lucy Letby was looking after two of the babies, the mother added. She told us how lucky we were, and their weights were great. I wanted to express milk and Lucy Letby showed me how to do this.
Two of the triplets later needed oxygen treatment, but the parents were assured that the infants were healthy, doing well and heavier than had been expected.
However, on June 23, just two days after his birth, one of the babies referred to as Child O suffered an unexpected collapse and died.
We were confronted by a scene of complete chaos, said the mother in her statement. It was complete madness. Nurses were running round left and right grabbing medicines and IVs. It was clear Child Os collapse was a complete shock to them.
The following day, another of the babies referred to as Child P also suffered an unexpected collapse in the neonatal unit.
As soon as I got to the unit I was confronted with the same chaos as the day before, said the mother.
As soon as they managed to stabilise Child P and he was improving he would deteriorate again. He was being pumped with drugs and resuscitated over and over again.
An image of the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, taken from a video which was shown during Lucy Letbys trial in June 2023
His father described the scene of Child Ps death as absolute pandemonium with doctors and nurses looking up procedures on the internet.
I saw a nurse Googling a procedure, he said. The procedure was a lung drain. There was an image of a person with an arrow where the incision should be.
I was angry at this point. I remember other staff coming over to the computer to have a look at it. They all had a look at it and did the procedure.
It looked like they were following a tutorial rather than they actually knew what they were doing.
The parents demanded that their third child be taken to Liverpool Womens Hospital and found it a stark difference from the Countess of Chester.
We noticed a different level of cleanliness, said the mother. There were clear hygiene protocols. We were told to wash our hands before entering the unit and again when we went in the room.
The Thirlwall Inquiry is examining what could have been done to prevent the deaths at the Countess of Chester.
Speaking of Letbys arrest, the mother said: We were devastated in a state of disbelief because Lucy Letby was the one looking after the boys.
Lucy Letby did not stand out more than any other nurse. She was visibly upset when the boys died.
She put both boys in the cot together and she was crying. It was her idea to take pictures of the boys. She dressed them and put them together.
The father of the triplets, who still has nightmares about being back in the hospital, said there was now no doubt in my mind that Lucy Letby was responsible.
I have angry dreams about Lucy Letby, he said. I cry a lot more than I used to.
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An Eastern Kentucky sheriff charged with killing a local judge pleaded not guilty to murder Wednesday morning at his first court proceeding.
Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines appeared virtually in a Carter County courtroom, which is about 2 1/2 hours from Letcher County.
Stines is charged with killing District Judge Kevin Mullins in Mullins office in the county courthouse on Sept. 19. If convicted, Stines could serve from 20 years to life. The death penalty may also be a possibility because the killing involves the death of a public official, though Kentucky has had a ban on executions for almost 15 years.
When asked about the potential that prosecutors would pursue the death penalty in the case, special prosecutor Jackie Steele said, Any decisions regarding the death penalty will be done at a later date when all the evidence has been processed and the case has had a thorough evaluation.
Police said there was a short personal argument between the two before Stines, 43, allegedly shot Mullins, 54, multiple times.
At Wednesdays court hearing, Stines had yet to have a defense attorney appointed to the case, but he was represented by Josh Miller, the directing attorney for the capital trial branch at the Department of Public Advocacy.
Stines acknowledged he has not hired private counsel or discussed the case with an attorney. Carter County District Judge Rupert Willhoit III said Stines likely would need to hire one if his case proceeds to circuit court because he is not considered indigent at this point.
Stines remains the Letcher County sheriff.
Motive for the shooting is still unclear. Police have not released details about the argument, but Stines gave testimony in a tense deposition days before in a case in which he was accused of not properly supervising a deputy who coerced a woman to have sex with him in the judges office.
Stines surrendered to law enforcement immediately after the shooting.
The case has received numerous special appointments including a Carter County District Judge Rupert Willhoit III as presiding judge and Steele, the commonwealths attorney for Laurel and Knox counties, as special prosecutor.
Ramsey Dallam, deputy director of the Special Prosecutions Unit in the office of Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, also is involved in the prosecution and took part in Wednesdays arraignment.
Stines not guilty plea was expected ahead of his Wednesday appearance, as felony defendants are not able to plead guilty at their first appearance in district court because district judges dont have the jurisdiction to accept a guilty plea for a felony.
Stines is scheduled to reappear for his preliminary hearing Oct. 1 at 1 p.m.
Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines appeared virtually in a Carter County courtroom Sept. 25, 2024. Stines is charged with killing District Judge Kevin Mullins in Mullins office in the Letcher County courthouse on Sept. 19. Stines has pleaded not guilty.
CARTER COUNTY, Ky. (WJHL) The Letcher County sheriff appeared in court Wednesday to be arraigned on his first-degree murder charge after his alleged killing of district judge Kevin Mullins.
Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines appeared over Zoom in court at 11 a.m. At the arraignment, Judge Rupert Wilhoit appointed Stines a public defender for the time being based on the circumstances of the case.
Stines pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He will appear back in court for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 1 at 1 p.m. in Morgan County, Kentucky.
The full arraignment can be watched above.
Courts, law enforcement adjusting after Letcher Co. sheriffs alleged murder of judge
On Sept. 19, Stines was arrested and charged with first-degree murder after the shooting death of Mullins in the Letcher County Courthouse.
Kentucky State Police (KSP) reports an argument occurred between Stines and Mullins before the shooting. Mullins was reportedly shot several times and died at the scene.
Despite his arrest, Stines remains the sheriff. Jamie Hatton, the county attorney for Letcher County, told News Channel 11 that Stines must resign from the elected position or else the county must execute procedures to have him removed from the role.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel investigating Boeing's safety culture on Wednesday faulted the planemaker's quality practices and oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration citing documents obtained in an ongoing investigation.
The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which is holding a hearing Wednesday with FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker, said Boeing workers continue to feel pressure to prioritize speed of production over quality.
The committee's Democratic staff said in a memo Boeing struggles to ensure employees are adequately trained, fails to ensure improper parts are not installed and its quality inspection procedures and the FAAs review raises questions about qualifications and the independence of individuals performing inspections.
In some facilities, Boeing personnel are allowed to inspect their own work.
"Given the depth and history of Boeings safety deficiencies, its lack of candor with the FAA, and the agencys reactive regulatory posture, the newly released information raises questions about the effectiveness of the FAAs oversight of the company," the committee said.
Boeing said it has "taken important steps to foster a safety culture that empowers and encourages all employees to share their voice, but it will require continuous focus."
The FAA did not comment but Whitaker said at a House hearing Tuesday that Boeing needed to undertake significant safety culture improvements that might not be completed for years.
The committee disclosed details of an FAA audit completed after a door plug missing key bolts blew off a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 jet at 16,000 feet in January.
The Justice Department and FAA are investigating.
The 116-page FAA letter details 97 Boeing allegations of noncompliance that span "issues in Boeings manufacturing process control, parts handling and storage, and product control." The audit found 23 examples where employees "failed to follow processes or lacked proficiency," the memo said.
Whitaker has barred Boeing from expanding MAX production until it makes major quality improvements.
The committee said an internal Boeing survey from May shows many machinists feel pressured to prioritize speed over quality during airplane production and said the FAA identified quality inspection deficiencies at Boeing in 2017.
Whitaker's written testimony for the Senate hearing says the FAA will "expeditiously provide notice, in real time, of any activities that may be criminal so that DOJ can take any action they deem appropriate."
Story continues
Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge in July after breaching a 2021 agreement with DOJ.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Letcher sheriff charged with murdering judge appears in court, gets ultimatum from governor
Shawn "Mickey" Stines has resigned as Letcher County sheriff and faces a murder charge. (Leslie County Detention Center)
The Eastern Kentucky sheriff charged with murdering a judge entered a not guilty plea Wednesday and was put on notice by Gov. Andy Beshear that if he does not resign by Friday the governor will act to remove him.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines, 43, appeared remotely for his first appearance since District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was gunned down Sept. 19 at the Letcher County Courthouse. Stines surrendered to authorities at the courthouse and was charged with first degree murder.
Stines told Special Judge Rupert Wilhoit III he does not have a lawyer but was accompanied by attorney Josh Miller, director of the state Department of Public Advocacys capital trial branch.
Beshears office on Wednesday released a letter to Stines from its general counsel, C. Travis Mayo, sent in care of the Leslie County jailer. The letter asks Stines to tender his resignation by the end of Friday, and says that if he does not, Beshear will move forward with removal under a Kentucky law.
Stines is jailed at the Leslie County Detention Center.
Letters to the Editor: Israel has finally had enough with rocket barrages from Lebanon
Israel's Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets launched from Lebanon into northern Israel on Sept. 21. (Leo Correa / Associated Press)
To the editor: Hezbollah hit Israeli civilians with a barrage of rockets on Oct. 8, 2023, and has done so daily for almost a year now. Was Hezbollah "retaliating" on Oct. 8? And for what, exactly? ("Hezbollah hits back with rockets as it declares an 'open-ended battle' with Israel," Sept. 21)
According to United Nations Resolution 1701, no armed forces other than U.N. forces and the Lebanese military are allowed south of the Litani River in Lebanon, creating a buffer zone close to Israel. Hezbollah has not only violated the resolution, but it has also increased its armed forces in that area.
Hezbollah's yearlong rocket barrage burned and depopulated northern Israel's towns and villages. Israel can no longer tolerate this, which should surprise no one.
Apparently, Hezbollah can defy U.N. Resolution 1701 with impunity, but Israels actions in self-defense must be "retaliated against," which is a frightening display of political moral inversion.
Julia Lutch, Davis, Calif.
..
To the editor: If a Muslim country were doing this, "preempting" an attack by engaging in a strike that killed nearly 500 people, it would be called terrorism. Why are we allowing this to continue happening?
It's been nearly a year since Israeli forces started absolutely decimating the Gaza Strip. Israel has the right to defend itself, but this is no longer defense it's an outright egregious attack.
Punishing Hamas by killing so many Palestinians is not something the U.S. should be supporting. Now we're continuing to send Israel aid as it sets its sights on Lebanon?
Enough is enough. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration is a major threat to world peace.
Sol Siddiq, Riverside
..
To the editor: I am fed up with The Times calling Hamas and Hezbollah fighters "militants."
Militants are individuals or small groups that are willing to use violence to achieve their political aims. Someone who bombs an abortion clinic when no one is in it so it wont be able to perform abortions is a militant; someone who does so when people are in it is a terrorist.
But groups of thousands of people who are armed with standardized weapons, who have uniforms and commanders and tactical and strategic plans, are not militants.
Militants dont have companies, battalions, brigades and divisions. Militants dont have thousands of rockets and missiles.
Hamas and Hezbollah are armies. The Times should use the terms "soldiers" or "units" when speaking of them.
Ephraim Landau, Ashkelon, Israel
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Editor's note: Several residents from Summertown, Tennessee in Lewis County (ZIP code 38483), about 70 miles southwest of Nashville, submitted letters regarding their desire for U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn to participate in a candidate debate facing Democratic opponent state Rep. Gloria Johnson.
Letters to the editor reflect the views of individual readers. Scroll to the bottom to see how you can add your voice, whether you agree or disagree. We welcome diverse viewpoints.
Re: Marsha Blackburn won't debate Gloria Johnson, despite benefits for Tennessee voters, by David Plazas, The Tennessean, Sept. 16 (digital) and Sept. 22 (print).
I live in Lewis County which is part of District 7 where Marsha Blackburn and Gloria Johnson are running for the Senate seat. Marsha Blackburn has not agreed to a debate with her opponent. She also has not had any live town halls and faced her constituents since 2017.
I recommend that a debate be scheduled anyway and both parties be invited. If Marsha Blackburn does not show up, Gloria Johnson can meet with people anyway and answer her potential constituents questions about her thoughts on the policies that matter to the people of District 7 as well as the state of Tennessee and the whole country.
Karen L. Todd, Summertown 38483
Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, met with nearly three dozen Cannon County Democrats at a restaurant in Woodbury on July 24, 2024. Johnson has visited more than 90 counties during her U.S. Senate campaign.
***
I just wanted to chime in. Marsha is insulting our democracy by refusing even one debate. Its insulting to all Tennesseans that shes so confident in the election she doesnt need to take her message to the people of Tennessee.
I hope shes surprised in November. What a weak position to take!
George Hurgeton. Summertown 38483
***
I think it would be very interesting to hear a debate between these two women running for Senate.
Why does Marsha want to skip it?
It could help voters of both parties across the state to know more about them. I would definitely watch!
Janet McIntyre, Summertown 38483
OPINION: We asked readers if Marsha Blackburn should debate. The results are overwhelming
***
It has been reported that Marsha Blackburn has refused to debate Gloria Johnson. The voters deserve to know where these representatives stand and what their policy positions are.
I ask that you schedule a debate anyway and if one candidate doesnt show up hold the debate anyway and the one who shows up gets all of the time.
Surely, that should be the least that is offered and provided in a democracy.
Rob Wheeler, Summertown 38483
***
I believe you should schedule a debate, preferably with both Senate candidates, but if only one agrees, schedule it anyway.
If one doesn't show up, then the whole time is given to the one who attends. It's only fair. Why should the public be denied knowing what one has or hasnt done or wishes to do for us? Each state only gets two senators. The public deserves to see the main candidates express themselves in public debate.
We must get past citizens casting their votes based on whether there is an R or D by the candidates names. Who are the candidates and what is their history and track record? What do they stand for? What has the incumbent accomplished? If the candidates are honest and above board, then there is no reason to refuse to debate each other.
Barbara Elliott, Summertown 38483
Agree or disagree? Or have a view on another topic entirely? Send a letter of 250 words or fewer to letters@tennessean.com. Include your full name, city/town, ZIP and contact information for verification. Thanks for adding to the public conversation.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Letters: Blackburn-Johnson Senate debate favored by Summertown readers
LexArts grilled by Lexington council over lack of diversity in arts and finances
LexArts is trying to do more to recruit and showcase more diverse artists, the taxpayer-supported arts group told city officials Tuesday.
Ame Sweetall, president and CEO of LexArts, said the group has given out more than $60,000 in grants this year to diverse arts groups and organizations including the Bluegrass Indo-American Civic Society, the African-American Arts Association and the Marafiki Center, a nonprofit that focuses on the citys African population.
It is also increasing its outreach efforts to make sure diverse artists are aware of grant funding cycles, is continuing to monitor and make sure there is more equity in its grant funding and elevating the work of diverse artists, Sweetall told the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councils Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee.
Still, many council members raised questions about its outreach efforts and finances during the Tuesday meeting.
The community arts group, which receives more than $325,000 a year from the city, was criticized in May 2024 for failing to do more to elevate and fund diverse artists. The group helps raise money and gives grants to multiple arts groups in Lexington.
The issue came to a head after LexArts published a photo on its Facebook page of all white artists selected for a Commerce Lexington artist contest. LexArts did not select the artists, but the post prompted an outpouring of complaints from visual artists, writers and musicians about lack of inclusiveness in the citys art scene, particularly with LexArts-funded projects.
After the May meeting, Vice Mayor Dan Wu asked LexArts to come before council to review its diversity efforts and answer questions about its funding.
Two former board members stepped down from the organization after the public dust-up in May. One of those members was head of the groups Diversity, Equity and Inclusion subcommittee.
Sweetall said Tuesday the diversity equity and inclusion committee has now been made permanent. Its also streamlined its grant process to make it easier for people to apply.
We have strategic recruitment for the board of directors and for staff, Sweetall said.
The goal of the organization is to raise $2.7 million this fiscal year, Sweetall said.
About one third of that $2.7 million budget goes to administration. About 30 percent is designated for grants and another third goes directly to artists or specific arts projects, according to information provided by LexArts on Tuesday.
Councilwoman Jennifer Reynolds asked what specifically LexArts is doing to reach more diverse artists. Reynolds represents the 11th Council District, which includes some of Lexingtons most diverse neighborhoods.
We dont always see those represented in LexArts, Reynolds said.
Sweetall said the boards DEI committee is identifying minority neighborhoods to make sure it appears at those neighborhood events. Its also working with Global Lex, the citys international center, to make sure it is finding more diverse artists.
Question about spending, late payments to art groups
Still, council members had multiple questions during Tuesdays more than hour-long discussion about LexArts finances and past audits.
A 2022 audit showed the group raised $1.9 million through sponsorships and grants and spent roughly $1.7 million.
But a March 14, 2024, letter to LexArts from auditors Mather and Company said they struggled to get accurate information from LexArts.
The completion of our audit was delayed as a result of not receiving critical information necessary to perform the audit in a timely manner. Additionally, certain items were received in an incomplete/incorrect form further delaying audit procedures and requiring numerous communications between our staff and the Organizations Finance & Operations Director and others, the letter said.
Stefan Hendrickson, treasurer of the LexArts board, said they have addressed all issues raised in the 2022 audit and have upped internal controls, including making sure there is more oversight.
A 2023 audit has been launched, and it has not found any problems, Sweetall said.
Councilman David Sevigny said LexArts shared its budget but not its balance sheet. Its hard for the city to tell the groups cash flow situation.
Ive heard from a number of organizations that you support that payments are slow, Sevigny said.
Complaints about tardy payments prompted Mayor Linda Gorton to meet with LexArts in May. Some of the groups that receive funding from LexArts includes the Lexington Philharmonic and the Lexington Childrens Theatre.
Sweetall said LexArts has now implemented a policy that ensures that when LexArts receives its quarterly payments from the city that money is then turned over to arts organizations in a timely manner.
Last year, the city also funded $50,000 for a grants specialist and $50,000 for equity arts grants. Thats in addition to the $325,000 annual allocation. Sweetall said Tuesday the grants specialist has left.
Wu asked how many grants that grant writer was able to secure. Sweetall said the grant writer identified 50 different grants, including two grants that dealt with equity. Sweetall did not say how many grants the grant writer has been able to secure.
Not everything was funded, Sweetall said. We have to fundraising for equity to provide equity.
Sweetall said its not clear if LexArts will be able to continue to fund the grant-writer position.
PAPAKOLEA, Hawaii (KHON2) Like so many areas on Oahu, the Papakolea community and surrounding neighborhoods are dealing with infestations of little fire ants.
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Councilmember Tyler Dos Santos-Tam held a community meeting on Tuesday night, one out of three meetings scheduled to address public safety, development and invasive species.
Little fire ants found in Waimanalo nursery, how to test your own home
According to the Hawaii Ant Lab, there are more than 71 active sites on Oahu, with two new detections recently reported near Round Top Drive.
Its a pretty extensive area that has little fire ants and our ability to actively control those sights, were far beyond capacity so we really need to engage with the public, explained Chris Frohlich, Hawaii Ant Lab Program Coordinator.
The Community Action Plan is one of the few programs the Hawaii Ant Lab has to bring the community together and learn how to treat the ants themselves.
Any fire ant is bad news and so we want to make sure neighbors are able to test, theyre able to identify, theyre able to tell the difference between little fire ants and other kinds of ants and really protect their property, their plants and their pets, said Dos Santos-Tam.
By the end of the meeting, residents were able to identify, report and work with local organizations to help manage and reduce the spread of this invasive species.
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Little Rock Police Department officials said a cold case investigation into a 2018 shooting death of a Little Rock man has led to an arrest on Monday.
Officials said 34-year-old Anthony Murry was taken into custody in Missouri and is facing charges of capital murder in the Aug. 14, 2018, death of 28-year-old Christopher Nixon.
Update: Little Rock Man, 28, IDd as Homicide Victim
Police responding to a call around 5 p.m. found Nixon with multiple gunshot wounds in a car outside an apartment complex. Officials said an ambulance took Nixon to UAMS, where he died a short time later.
Investigators said Nixon had gone to the complex to pick up his brother.
The police report on the incident states that two women in the car with Nixon were uninjured. The pair were questioned by detectives and released.
Arkansas mom approaches two year anniversary of her sons death; killer yet to be found
Officials said investigators were looking for three Black men who witnesses saw driving away from the shooting scene.
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UPDATE 9/25 7:20 The Utah Supreme Court upheld the decision of Third District Court Judge Dianna Gibson to keep Amendment D off the November ballot.
The district court correctly ruled that neither constitutional prerequisite was met with respect to Amendment D, the per curiam decision from the Supreme Court said. The Legislature did not cause the amendment to be published in newspapers throughout the state for two months, and the description that will appear on the ballot does not submit the amendment to voters with such clarity as to enable the voters to express their will.'
The Utah Democratic Party released a statement after the ruling, saying in part, Todays Supreme Court Decision ensures that voters can make their voices heard, despite all the Republican Supermajoritys attempts to trick Utahns into giving away their power.
President J. Stuart Adamas and Speaker Mike Schultz released a statement after the decision as well, on behalf of the legislature.
The Courts action is unprecedented and troubling. The Legislature offered the Court a way to preserve the voting rights of all Utahns, but instead, the Court took the chance to vote on Amendment D out of the voters hands. Its a sad day for Utah and voters, whether for or against the constitutional amendments, the statement from Adams and Schultz said.
The Supreme Court said it will publish a more detailed opinion about its decision at a later date.
ORIGINAL STORY: Amendment D arguments go before Utah Supreme Court
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) The Utah Supreme Court will decide whether or not the state will count votes for Amendment D in the Nov. 5 election after justices heard arguments Wednesday morning.
The Utah Supreme Court picked up the case after Third District Court Judge Dianna Gibson ruled that the language in the ballot summary was counterfactual and therefore void as litigation continued. Gibsons decision meant Amendment D would still appear on ballots this November, but votes for or against it would not be counted.
Representatives for the Utah State Legislature filed an appeal before the Supreme Court to remove the injunction against the proposed amendment, which led to Wednesdays oral arguments.
Among the arguments, Utahs highest justices asked both sides the meaning behind the publication requirement for a proposed constitutional amendment and the language of the amendment summary that appears on the ballot, among others.
What is Amendment D?
Amendment D was created by the Utah Legislature in an emergency special session in August 2024. State officials say the amendment would strengthen and clarify the citizen initiative process for future Utah elections. Opponents of the amendment say this language is misleading, adding the amendment would strip Utah voters of their constitutional rights.
State officials have also argued the amendment is necessary to keep foreign influence out of Utahs law structure.
The amendment stems from an ongoing case between the League of Women Voters of Utah against the Utah Legislature. In 2018, Utah voters passed Proposition 4 which called for an independent redistricting process to combat gerrymandering. The legislature later repealed Proposition 4 and replaced it with a different version modified by Utah lawmakers.
Earlier this year, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that the Utah Legislature may have overstepped when they repealed and replaced the Proposition, saying the ballot initiative process was a constitutional right. Utah lawmakers met in a special session a month later and passed Senate Joint Resolution 40, putting Amendment D on the ballot.
The amendment would allow Utah lawmakers to make changes to ballot initiatives passed by Utah voters while increasing the amount of time for Utahns to gather signatures for a statewide referendum.
What the state argued
Taylor Meehan, an attorney on behalf of the Utah State Legislature, argued the injunction placed against Amendment D should be repealed, or at the very least narrowed under specific terms set by the court.
Whether Amendment D ultimately succeeds or fails should be left in the hands of Utah voters who can read for themselves, think for themselves, and ultimately cast a considered vote, said Meehan.
The Utah Supreme Court first brought up the issue of publication. Under the state constitution, proposed amendments are to be published in at least one newspaper in every county of the state, where a newspaper is published for two months immediately preceding the next general election.
Meehan explained the full text of Amendment D was fully published, along with all other amendments, in 35 newspapers across the state. She also argued that online articles should be considered continuous publications as they can still be archived and accessible at anytime online. She further said online articles where the full text of the amendment was hyperlinked should be considered.
Meehan argued the online coverage, which linked back to the amendment, should be considered sufficient notice of the proposed change as hyperlinking would be better than taking out a full page in a hard-copy newspaper that no one ever reads anymore.
Imagine the Legislature did exactly what plaintiff say the publication clause requires and no more, where the only notice of Amendment D was in hard-copy county newspapers that still exist with nothing online, said Meehan. I think plaintiffs would be making exactly our argument that such conduct does not give the notice that the publication clause requires.
The Utah Supreme Court seemed skeptical about Meehans arguments saying newspapers do still exist and suggested the framers of Utahs constitution intended for the full text of a proposed amendment to be presented to voters as often as the newspaper publishes new issues.
Meehan also argued that Utah voters have several resources available where they can learn more about the amendment. Whether thats with Utah voter pamphlets provided at the ballot box, the Lieutenant Governors Offices website, or through vote.utah.gov.
She said a reasonably intelligent voter could discern the true meaning behind the amendment, clearing up any potentially misleading language. However, she maintained the ballot summary sufficiently explained Amendment D.
What opponents argued
Mark Gaber, arguing on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Utah, said the injunction should be upheld saying it has been a fundamental right for Utahns to alter and reform local government through the initiative process. He upheld that Amendment D would remove that right guaranteed by the Utah State Constitution.
There is nothing in the ballot language that informs the voter that that is the fact. It is false and misleading in a number of ways and is actually counterfactual, said Gaber, later adding, The central feature of Amendment D is the that the Legislature has unfettered power under the Amendment to repeal any initiative that a voter passes. You do not see the word repeal anywhere on the ballot summary but that is the key power the Legislature is transferring to itself.
Gaber said ballot summary language was not an issue before as a nonpartisan staff in the Office of Legislative Counsel would write the ballot summaries. However, that responsibility now falls to the Speaker of the House and the Senate President. Gaber further argued that no voter should get their ballot and question whether or not it was telling the truth.
As far as the publication requirements, Gaber argued there was no remedy the Court could impose to meet the requirements before the Nov. 5 election. After Chief Justice Matthew Durrant suggested ordering the State to provide notice every day, Gaber maintained it would not be enough.
Gaber did say the Legislature could come back and try to make an amendment change again but if only they follow the State Constitution when they do it.
[This] should happen in a deliberate and thoughtful manner. The people of Utah should be involved in the legislative process that leads to the legislature voting on the amendment, said Gaber. This process was so rushed, three people were allowed to testify in the Legislature in opposition to this for one minute each. The Legislature heard three minutes of public testimony from opponents to the amendment.
Whats next?
The Utah Supreme Court will now consider the arguments made by both sides and present their opinions. Chief Justice Durrant did not immediately provide a timeline of when an expected opinion would be made.
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ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) United States Congressman Tony Gonzales hopes to tackle a rise in oilfield-related thefts with his Protect the Permian Act legislation.
Everyone was in a silo dealing with this issue, knowing about it, hearing about it, especially if youre from that area, he said. But for us that live and work in the Permian Basin, its been a topic that has been growing.
Congressman Gonzales says 2024 has brought an increase in thefts from oilfields like this one behind me prompting him to introduce the legislation.
The latest example of oilfield theft came earlier this month, when the Crane County Sheriffs Office arrested two Cuban citizens for stealing diesel fuel and criminal trespassing on an oilfield lease.
RELATED: Two arrested following Crane County diesel theft
Matt Coday from the Oil & Gas Workers Association said there are some questions about how much theft is going on while it also affects oilfield workers.
Thats the hardest thing for us to do is to be able to quantify the amount of oilfield thefts. Coday said. A lot of people are very concerned about going to work Am I going to be attacked today? Is it my company going to be hit? And so, theres a lot of fear going on.
According to the congressman, the bill would create tougher penalties for those who commit oilfield theft, while making more help available to local governments actively combating it, ultimately helping them tackle what Gonzales calls a very complex issue.
But if you got a federal grant that said, This one agent, this one deputy, their sole job is to help combat oil theft, well, now, all of a sudden, youve put the resources towards it, he said.
Local officials are also recognizing the ongoing threat oilfield theft poses.
Its a growing problem, Ector County Sheriffs Office Lieutenant Richard Dickson said. As the oil field gets busier, the thefts increase also. Theyre stealing crude oil, theyre stealing copper, theyre stealing equipment, theyre stealing pipe. Anything thats necessary to produce oil in the Permian Basin is a target for thieves.
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BEAUFORT, S.C. (WSAV) Firefighters help fight fires and therapy dogs help fight stress. A local woman brought the two together, creating a calendar that gives back to charity.
Rebecca Bass and her two therapy dogs, Elkie and Ocho, have made regular visits to the Beaufort Fire Department over the years, forming a bond with local firefighters and first responders. Bass has years of experience, training over 100 dogs for the Alliance of Therapy Dogs organization. Theyve visited local hospitals, schools, and hospice organizations. She thought it would be great to start visiting fire stations, recognizing that first responders are under constant stress. The biggest perk she says petting a nice therapy dog.
When we started visiting here, it became very clear to me how much impact the therapy dogs were having on the firefighters. They immediately relax. You could see it in their body language. They were smiling, laughing. Just a very visible impact, says Bass.
The team at the Beaufort Fire Department formed a quick relationship with the pups, seeing firsthand the impacts of therapy dogs roles. Beaufort Fire Lieutenant, Jacob Leonard, says, Its kind of like a highlight for our day. Well come in and a couple of crews will be brought in from different stations over the city and we just kind of hang outand its super fun.
After witnessing the relationship created between the firefighters and the pups, Bass thought she should pay tribute back to both of her heroes. She proposed a 20-month calendar composed of a firefighter and a therapy dog symbolizing the strength, courage and compassion of the community first responders.
Bass says not only do the firefighters benefit from the pups, but the sales of the calendar will go back into the community. The proceeds of the calendar are going to three different charities Beaufort County Animal Services, The Child Abuse Prevention Association (CAPA), and the Burned Childrens Fund, which is a favorite charity of the firefighters, says Bass.
The firefighters at the Beaufort station were thrilled to participate in such a charitable project. They exclaimed how much they loved posing with the dogs and the instant relief of their daily stress. Beaufort Fire Department Lieutenant, Jacob Leonard, says, The great thing about dogs is they love who theyre with, no matter who it is. And theyre super loyal. So, it certainly brings down our stress and makes us smile. Its a good thing.
Bass says this is more than just a calendar. Its a testament to the power of community and the impact that a simple idea can have when it brings people together for a common cause.
The calendar will cover January 2025-August 2026. It will be officially launched at a special event on October 16th at Shellring Aleworks. The community will have the opportunity to meet the firefighters and therapy dogs and purchase a calendar. The cost is $25. To place an order now, you can email rebecca@seabassproperties.com.
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Local first responders heading to Florida for Helene relief
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) Several Kansas agencies are sending a team to Florida to assist with the response to tropical storm Helene.
Kansas is deploying a Type 1 Swift Water Search and Rescue Team, leaving on Tuesday night. The task force consists of members from :
Derby Fire Department
Junction City Fire Department
Manhattan Fire Department
Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center
Olathe Fire Department
Sedgwick County Fire District 1
Wichita Fire Department
Office of the State Fire Marshal
The task force will be deployed until Oct. 8 unless the state of Florida changes its request.
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Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume is aiming for a package of measures to shore up the carmaker (Tobias SCHWARZ)
Volkswagen managers and workers representatives will start crunch talks in Hanover on Wednesday, following the German group's announcement that drastic cost-cutting measures are needed to keep the carmaker competitive.
Two homegrown figures who have spent their entire careers at Volkswagen -- group CEO Oliver Blume and head of the works council Daniela Cavallo -- will face off at the meeting.
Blume wants to seal a "package" of measures this year to shore up the carmaker, which has struggled with weak demand and a difficult transition to electric vehicles.
Cavallo has promised "bitter resistance" to the plans that include the possible closure of production sites in Germany -- an unprecedented step in the 87-year history of Volkswagen.
- The boss -
A mechanical engineer by training, Blume plotted his career through the different brands -- Audi, Seat and then VW -- before becoming CEO of Porsche in 2015.
The mild-mannered manager, 56, was tapped by the family dynasty behind Volkswagen to become head of the group in 2022, replacing controversial figure Herbert Diess.
A consensus-builder by reputation, Blume was seen as a breath of fresh air after Diess had rubbed shareholders and unions the wrong way with provocative statements.
So it was all the more surprising when Volkswagen announced this month that it could cut thousands of jobs by closing factories in Germany.
The shock proposal alarmed unions and the government but Blume has said drastic action was necessary to take on the "major challenges" faced by the carmaker.
In his short time as CEO, Blume has already sought to cure Volkswagen's ills, scrapping Diess's policy of doing everything in-house and striking new partnerships.
The German giant has made investments in Chinese manufacturer XPeng and US outfit Rivian to work on in-car technology, although the new projects will take time to pay off.
- The union leader -
Like Blume, Cavallo was born close to Volkswagen's headquarters in the central German city of Wolfsburg and has never strayed far from the group.
Her father emigrated to Wolfsburg from Italy to take up a job at Volkswagen along with thousands of other so-called guest workers.
Cavallo, the first woman to lead Volkswagen's works council, began an apprenticeship at the carmaker out of high school.
In 2002, she was elected to represent workers at the VW subsidiary Auto 5000, working her way up to the head of the general works council in 2021.
"My job is not to understand technology down to the last detail, but to advocate for people's interests," Cavallo told Die Zeit newspaper after being criticised for not having spent sufficient time on the factory line.
Story continues
Cavallo is "very clear on what she wants for employees", said car market expert Stefan Bratzel, who warned that management should not "underestimate" the 49-year-old.
She reportedly gets along with Blume better than she did with Diess.
There was a slim chance that the two Volkswagen lifers could figure something out "in partnership", said Bratzel.
lep/sea/sr/tw
Local libraries get $887,000 from New York State
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) A number of libraries in Livingston, Ontario, and Wayne Counties are getting new funding from New York State.
The money totaling $887,093 comes from the states Public Library Construction Aid Program, NYS Senator Pam Helming announced Wednesday.
The following libraries will receive the funding:
Avon Free Library, Livingston County: $263,063
Geneva Public Library, Ontario County: $116,055
Clifton Springs Library, Ontario County: $68,456
Wood Library Association, Ontario County: $103,368
Phelps Library, Ontario County: $64,261
Victor Farmington Library, Ontario County: $144,913
Bloomfield Public Library, Ontario County: $51,630
Naples Library, Ontario County: $29,660
Macedon Public Library, Wayne County: $5,083
Williamson Public Library, Wayne County: $34,013
Clyde-Savannah Public Library, Wayne County: $6,591
Our local libraries are the heart of our communities, providing free access to knowledge, technology, and resources that empower individuals and families, Helming said in a statement Wednesday. This state funding supports capital and infrastructure projects that keep our libraries vibrant and accessible, ensuring that all residents, regardless of income or background, have the tools they need to succeed.
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TROTWOOD, Ohio (WDTN) Local organizations are teaming up to provide free food to hungry residents in Montgomery County.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 26, individuals who are in need of a free meal can visit the Goodwill Easter Seals West Campus at 735 E. Main St. in Trotwood. During the community event, to-go boxes and educational resources will be distributed to guests.
A table will also be set up for grab and go groceries.
According to Ivy Glover, director of social impact at Wright-Patt Credit Union (WPCU), the event is to assist community members who experience food insecurity.
While this event takes place during September, we know that food insecurity occurs year-round, said Glover. We hope this day serves to educate people about the harsh reality of food insecurity and offer some relief at the same time.
WPCU reports over 80 percent of people cited rising food costs as the reason behind having to use emergency food services
Access to Excess, Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley, Food For The Journey, Miami Valley Meals, National Conference for Community and Justice of Greater Dayton (NCCJ) and WPCU are working together to make the event occur.
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(WKBN) Three local schools are getting some state money in an effort to give more students the chance to pursue a career in technical education.
United Local Schools : $744,464.51 for agriculture and construction programs
Valley STEM+ME2 Academy (part of the Mahoning County Career & Technical Center): $649,018.00 for advanced manufacturing and engineering programs
Brookfield Local Schools: $1,444,402.60 for the engineering program
A total of 34 schools across Ohio are receiving awards through a second round of the Career Technical Education Equipment Grant Program. According to Governor Mike DeWine, that means over 6,000 additional students in the state will be able to attend.
The awards will help grow programs in engineering, manufacturing, construction and more.
The money will go toward purchasing modern equipment and machinery similar to what students will encounter in the workforce.
Investing in our schools and making sure they have updated equipment for training is an investment into our students futures, DeWine said. Providing the opportunity for more schools to purchase equipment so they can train additional students will set them and our state up for success.
In March, 57 schools were awarded these grants, totaling just under $70 million, to expand career tech education to over 10,000 additional students per year.
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London man asks police to help him out with dope before being arrested
LONDON, Ky. (FOX 56) A London man was arrested in connection with a parole violation warrant on Monday, and charged with carrying multiple drugs.
According to the London Police Department (LPD), 45-year-old Ronald Reams of London was arrested on Monday with an active parole violation warrant.
iPhone alert leads police to man accused of 2023 Lexington pharmacy burglaries
When the police were arresting Reams, officers reportedly found what was believed to be suspected methamphetamine and marijuana on his person, according to a news release.
Court documents show Reams told police he allegedly smoked marijuana, but did not know where the methamphetamine came from.
Reams allegedly asked officers to help him out with the dope, according to an arrest citation.
Ronald Reams was lodged in the Laurel County Correctional Center on Monday. (Laurel County Correctional Center)
Ky. parents call for action after several students faint, vomit during outside event
Reams was charged with first-degree possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana. He was lodged in the Laurel County Correctional Center.
Police said that Reams was also allegedly connected with several thefts in the area, which the LPD said officers are investigating.
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Supporters of Iwao Hakamada, including his sister Hideko Hakamada (C), display a banner declaring him an 'innocent man' on Thursday (Philip FONG) (Philip FONG/AFP/AFP)
The world's longest-serving death row prisoner was acquitted on Thursday, more than half a century after his murder conviction, when a Japanese court ruled that evidence had been fabricated.
Ailing health prevented 88-year-old former boxer Iwao Hakamada from being in the court to learn the outcome of his retrial, which was granted a decade ago after a long campaign by supporters.
But his 91-year-old sister Hideko, who often speaks for him, bowed deeply to the judge who declared Hakamada innocent.
"Everyone we won the acquittal, it's all thanks to your support," she said outside the Shizuoka District Court, close to tears with her voice cracking.
Hakamada spent 46 years on death row after being convicted in 1968 of robbing and killing his boss, the man's wife and their two teenage children.
"Investigators tampered with clothes by getting blood on them" which they then hid in a tank of miso, or fermented soybean paste, said Thursday's ruling, seen by AFP.
It slammed the use of "inhumane interrogations meant to force a statement... by imposing mental and physical pain".
"The prosecution's records were obtained by effectively infringing on the defendant's right to remain silent, under circumstances extremely likely to elicit a false confession," the ruling said.
Hundreds of people queued in the morning to try to secure a seat for the verdict in a murder saga that has gripped the nation and sparked scrutiny of Japan's justice system.
Prosecutors have two weeks to appeal, according to Japanese media.
Hideko told a post-trial news conference that the not guilty verdict had "sounded divine".
She wore a white jacket and, asked before the verdict if it symbolised her brother's innocence, said she had deliberately avoided dark colours.
- 'A bout every day' -
Japan is the only major industrialised democracy other than the United States to retain capital punishment, a policy that has broad public support.
Hakamada is the fifth death row inmategranted a retrial in Japan's post-war history. All four previous cases also resulted in exonerations.
His lead lawyer Hideyo Ogawa said Hakamada sometimes seems like he "lives in a world of fantasy" after decades of detention, mostly in solitary confinement.
Describing his battle to obtain an acquittal to AFP in 2018, Hakamada said he felt he was "fighting a bout every day".
"Once you think you can't win, there is no path to victory," he said.
Hakamada appeared not to be immediately aware of the decision, after Japanese media reported that supporters had removed the batteries from his TV remote control on Thursday.
Hideko had told reporters she wanted to tell him the news soon after the verdict, but at the right moment.
He was filmed shortly after the decision leaving home to go for a walk, dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and a green hat.
- 'Hostage justice' -
Hakamada initially denied having robbed and murdered the victims in 1966 but then confessed following what he later described as a brutal police interrogation that included beatings.
Ogawa said after the verdict that 58 years had been "too long" to settle the case but "the fact that the judge found falsification on three major issues was also a very significant milestone".
The Supreme Court upheld Hakamada's death sentence in 1980 but his supporters kept up the fight to reopen the case.
A retrial was granted in 2014 and Hakamada was released from prison, although legal wrangling meant the proceedings only began last year.
Supporter Atsushi Zukeran, wearing a T-shirt saying "Free Hakamada Now", said outside the court that the case was "a painful reminder of how Japan's criminal justice system must change".
Given how long the affair dragged on, "part of me wouldn't be able to celebrate the acquittal entirely", Zukeran said.
Teppei Kasai, Asia programme officer for Human Rights Watch, told AFP Hakamada's case was "just one of countless examples of Japan's so-called 'hostage justice' system".
Amnesty International said Hakamada had endured "almost half a century of wrongful imprisonment and a further 10 years waiting for his retrial".
Boram Jang, the rights group's East Asia researcher, said that meant the verdict was "an important recognition of the profound injustice he endured for most of his life".
tmo-nf-kaf/pbt
Why use a rocket when you could use a giant, miles-long "gun" instead?
Thats the question posed by Longshot Space, a company thats completely rethinking how to send mass to orbit. The company is developing a kinetic launch system that will gradually accelerate payloads to hypersonic speeds before launching them to orbit. While Longshots full-scale system will take up a lot of space, the startup is betting it can achieve very, very low costs to orbit compared to a rocket -- as low as $10 per kilogram, which is a staggering reduction compared to the $6,000 per kilogram price of a rideshare on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The company raised a $1.5 million pre-seed round in April 2023; now, nearly 18 months later, Longshot closed a little over $5 million in combined venture funding and non-dilutive funding from the U.S. Air Forces TACFI program. The new capital will be used to build a massive, 500-meter-long gun in the Nevada desert to push 100 kilogram payloads to Mach 5.
The move to Nevada is needed; Longshot has built out a prototype from its facilities in Oakland, California, but a dense, urban location is not the best place to site increasingly large space guns. The Oakland prototype hit 4.6 Mach speeds, but going any faster will mean a longer tube and the use of highly combustible hydrogen gas.
Wed prefer not to blow ourselves and other people up, Longshot CEO Mike Grace said in a recent interview. We decided to just declare victory and withdraw at Mach 4.6.
Longshot CEO Mike Grace.
The mile-long strip of land in Tonopah, Nevada a town that is home to the world-famous Clown Motel, as well as the development of the secretive F-117 stealth bomber, Grace said will enable Longshot to demonstrate launch capability to prospective customers, including the U.S. Department of Defense.
Longshots architecture works in two ways: The first is by using an accelerant gas to push a plate (and the payload) forward using multiple injections, and by squeezing the payload from the sides. But the company will be able to get to upwards of Mach 7 speeds without any squeezing, so this first system in Nevada will just be a multi-injection gun with a 30-inch diameter, so the company can start moving payloads as quickly as possible.
The system has to be so long in order to keep acceleration forces low, which is better for both the vehicle and payload. Longshot is aiming to keep the maximum gravitational forces to 500-600 times the force of gravity. An ultra-long system, something thats around 25 kilometers, could bring those g-forces down to just 250 Gs, however.
The companys aim is not to replace propulsive rockets. Not all payloads are suitable for the high g-forces, let alone humans; the size of the tube will also always be smaller than larger rocket fairings, so Longshot is principally looking for customers who want to go cheap and rugged. For comparison, rocket launches exert around 3 Gs during take-off, so this is much, much more gravitational force. But it's still far less than other kinetic launch systems, like that proposed by SpinLaunch, which would accelerate payloads to upwards of 10,000 Gs.
The new round included participation from Starship Ventures and Myelin VC. With the funding complete, Longshot is now awaiting approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration to begin construction on the massive Nevada system. The startup also submitted a proposal under the DODs Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonics Test Bed MACH-TB program, which was established in 2022 to solicit hypersonic testing capabilities from private industry.
The upcoming electoral cycle in Doral could shift the tone of debate in the citys heated political atmosphere, a situation that has recently led to deadlocked votes. The two factions of the council each claim to be the true advocate for residents while accusing the other side of pursuing an agenda for personal gain.
Three of the five council seats are up for grabs in November, with two incumbents Mayor Christi Fraga and Seat 1 Councilman Rafael Pineyro seeking reelection. Fraga and Pineyro frequently vote together, while council members Digna Cabral, Maureen Porras and Oscar Puig-Corve are often on the opposing side. Puig-Corves Seat 3 is also on the ballot after he decided not to seek reelection.
READ MORE: Three Doral council candidates are promising to end the polarization. Who are they?
While both Pinyero and his opponent, Ivette Gonzalez Petkovich, have centered their campaigns on the citys ongoing political battle with Miami-Dade over the possible relocation of the countys garbage incinerator, both acknowledge that the Miami-Dade County Commission will have the ultimate decision on whether to relocate the facility or keep it within Doral city limits.
El Nuevo Herald spoke with both candidates to learn more about their views. Heres what the two had to say.
Pineyro cites revoking council pensions and opening Central Park as key accomplishments
Pineyro, 40, told el Nuevo Herald he considered the revocation of lifetime pensions for former elected officials one of his major accomplishments during his tenure, fulfilling a key promise from his 2022 election campaign. The vote in June 2023 to revoke the pensions which were initially approved in 2021 significantly influenced the dynamics on the council and sparked a pending lawsuit against the city filed by four former Doral employees, including former mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez, who is now a Miami-Dade County commissioner.
Councilman Rafael Pineyro is seeking reelection after two years of political turmoil within the council after being one of the three council votes that supported the revocation of lifetime pensions for former elected officials. Pineyro posed in the chambers in Doral on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024.
Pineyro also cited the opening of Doral Central Park, which after six years of construction has become the citys largest recreational space, as one of his key accomplishments. Initially expected to cost $150 million, the project ended up costing Doral residents over $180 million, with the city covering the additional $30 million from its reserves. Pineyro noted that after he became a council member, the council was able to save $10 million by reducing additional costs associated with the parks development.
READ MORE: Doral just opened a massive 78-acre park. Take a look at whats inside
Pineyro has also been a vocal advocate for the relocation of the incinerator, which has been located in Doral since the 1980s. After it caught fire in 2023, the county has been weighing whether to rebuild it at the same site or elsewhere.
Weve been collecting signatures as a city, which are officially presented to the [county] commissioners, Pineyro said. Weve held more than five community meetings with residents across different parts of the city to ensure that together, Doral doesnt once again become the site of a new plant. Weve paid the price for nearly 40 years this is both an environmental issue and a health concern for our residents.
As part of his campaign, Pineyro has also promised to advocate for responsible and controlled growth and for workforce housing programs. Recently, the city council approved a development in the last phase of Midtown Doral that will include a workforce housing component meant for firefighters, military personnel, teachers and nurses. According to the councilman, around 60 units would be designated for that group.
This project is the one that will be located right in front of the Ronald Reagan High School, where the intention is that even teachers can now live near where this project would be. This project is the continuation of what Midtown Doral is, he said.
Pineyro recently voted against former president Donald Trumps resort project, which he showed as evidence of his commitment to combating overdevelopment in the city, a key part of his campaign platform. The project, which passed its first vote in August, proposes the construction of a 1,429-unit condominium and 141,000 square feet of retail on the edge of the Trump National Doral Miami.
READ MORE: Donald Trump leaves his name off a luxe condo complex hes building in the Miami market
Pineyro reaffirmed that his opposition remains consistent with his commitment to maintaining controlled and sustainable growth in Doral. Pineyro said the location of the project, on the corner on 87th Avenue and 41st Street, has reached its maximum expansion capacity.
The city has consistently discussed the need to avoid high-density projects to the west of 87th Avenue. We have to be cautious as we look into the future, he remarked. I am very careful in any project that is approved, as its essential to preserve the quality of life of our residents.
While Pineyros campaign finance disclosures note that more than $10,000 of the $95,880 he had raised through Sept. 23 came from real estate companies, he said that none of the donations have ever been tied to a conditional vote or any specific project approval.
On the council, Pineyro is a close ally of Fraga, and some residents have voiced concerns over his independence. Pineyro addressed those concerns by asserting his autonomy, noting that while he shares a similar vision for the citys future, he has at times voted differently from the mayor.
Ive always said that its not just about defending Fragas project, its about sharing a similar vision for the future of Doral, he said.
Pineyro holds a bachelors degree in public administration and a masters in psychology. His career has included roles at the Miami-Dade County Parks and Recreation Department and serving as a case manager in the Williamson County, Texas, juvenile court, where he worked as a youth services officer. He later joined the city of Doral as a legislative analyst and then served as chief of staff for Bermudez. A registered Republican, Pineyro now runs his own management consultant firm, Pineyro Enterprise Inc.
Gonzalez Petkovich advocates for relocating the incinerator
Gonzalez Petkovich, 45, is an attorney specializing in criminal law, family law, domestic violence law and cannabis law. She served as a prosecutor with the Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office for five years and currently runs her own law firm. She also has a bachelors degree in business administration and political science.
A longtime advocate for the relocation of Miami-Dades incinerator, Gonzalez Petkovich has been pushing for its move since 2016, well before the fire that destroyed the facility in 2023.
Ivette Gonzalez Petkovich, a candidate for Seat 1 of the Doral City Council, poses in front of Doral City Hall on Sept. 5, 2024. A longtime advocate for relocating the Miami-Dade garbage incinerator outside of Dorals city limits, this marks her second bid for a council seat in the city. She previously ran in 2022 but was defeated in runoff election by Maureen Porras.
Gonzalez Petkovich said her involvement in politics stems from her commitment to fighting against injustices. Even though she has not sought a position on school boards, one of her primary concerns is the funding of public schools, which she believes have been deprived of essential resources. Her concerns also extend to broader community issues, such as the relocation of the incinerator and the difficulties faced by mothers of children with special medical conditions in securing access to medical marijuana for treatment.
This marks her third attempt at securing public office. In 2016, she ran for the Florida House of Representatives in District 103, challenging incumbent Manny Diaz Jr. During that campaign, she faced criticisms for not residing in the district she sought to represent. She ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for the seat but was ultimately defeated by Diaz in the general election. She now is registered as a non-affiliated voter.
In 2022, Gonzalez Petkovich made another political bid, this time running for Dorals Seat 2, where she was defeated in a runoff by Maureen Porras. Porras, now a pivotal swing vote, plays a key role in Dorals ongoing political turmoil.
Like Pineyro, Gonzalez Petkovich has expressed worries about overdevelopment. While she didnt specify which projects she would deny as a councilwoman, she emphasized the need for the council to have a better understanding of proposed developments and to carefully assess which areas within the municipality are appropriate for future growth.
She made it clear that she wont be seeking alliances as a councilwoman. I want to be a council member focused solely on the interests of the residents, nothing else. My experience has always been centered on that, she said.
Gonzalez Petkovich also expressed concern about police getting involved in politics, citing their frequent appearances at political events with the citys elected officials. The police should not be involved in politics, she stated. They must maintain a much clearer independence than what we see now.
Gonzalez Petkovich said that her focus on cannabis law is rooted in advocacy. She has been helping the mothers of children with medical problems ranging from brain cancer to epilepsy by representing them in court to secure access to medicinal marijuana to alleviate their childrens pain or symptoms.
Gonzalez Petkovich has served on several boards in Doral, from the Citizens Audit Advisory Board in 2018 to the current Doral Charter Revision Commission, which approved 10 amendments to the Doral Charter that will also appear on the November ballot. According to her, those changes aim to clarify the language and ensure transparency.
She has raised $4,310, mostly through individual donations, as of Sept. 23.
Where the candidates stand apart
Pineyro supported council laws to limit hours for nightclubs following the April shooting at Martini Bar, which killed two people and injured seven others.
Gonzalez Petkovich has expressed caution regarding that approach, stating that the councils response seemed reactive and that imposing an hour limitation might not have prevented the shooting. Gonzalez Petkovich believes that instead of introducing a new ordinance in response to the shooting, the focus should have been on better enforcement of existing laws.
READ MORE: Doral tightens security requirements for nightclubs in the wake of fatal shooting
Although both candidates oppose the recreational use of marijuana, they bring different views to the matter.
Gonzalez Petkovich has been an advocate for medical marijuana with the Florida Cannabis Coalition and was part of the Amendment 2 movement in Florida in 2016, when state residents voted to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana.
In contrast, Pineyro has taken a more conservative approach, proposing a resolution in opposition to this years Amendment 3, which would legalize the recreational use of marijuana. His proposal was deferred with a 3-2 vote by the City Council, following a suggestion from Councilwoman Digna Cabral to wait for the voters decision in November.
Pineyro said the legalization of recreational marijuana poses a risk to existing laws, compromises community safety and threatens the well-being of residents while primarily benefiting special interests within the marijuana industry. By opposing Amendment 3, we uphold our commitment to maintaining a safe and healthy environment for all residents, Pineyros memo said.
Gonzalez Petkovich argued that Pineyros proposal wont make a difference if voters support the amendment. The reality is far more complex. To address this issue, you need experience, she said.
She added that while shes not in favor of legalizing recreational use, she continues to support medical marijuana usage.
I strongly supported medical marijuana because Ive lived through its benefits, but the Department of Health has done a poor job with regulation, she said. If Amendment 3 passes, itll be like the Wild West. Florida still hasnt figured out how to regulate it, and the state is not prepared for adult use.
A local DJ who has been on the Northeast Florida radio airwaves for more than 30 years has died.
Easy listening station 96.1 WEJZ announced the death of Arthur Crofton on its Facebook page on Wednesday afternoon.
Crofton, known for his mellow English accent, was on the station in the mornings, along with co-host Yvonne Velazquez.
WEJZ said the following about the passing of Crofton:
It is with an extremely heavy heart that we announce that Arthur Crofton has passed away. To say that he will be missed is a huge understatement. Arthur has been hosting mornings on WEJZ for over 30 years. He entertained and informed millions of North Floridians and he loved every minute of it. Please keep his family in your prayers.
It is with an extremely heavy heart that we announce that Arthur Crofton has passed away. To say that he will be missed... Posted by 961 WEJZ on Wednesday, September 25, 2024
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A looming strike could disrupt the economy just before the election. Its mostly up to 1 fiery union leader.
NEW YORK A looming dockworkers strike threatens to shut down East Coast ports and snarl the national economy just before the election. Crippling the economy is not just a byproduct of a dockworkers strike its the point, according to the crucial leader of the union threatening the disruption.
The decision to strike is largely in the hands of the mercurial and tough-as-nails head of the dockworkers union, Harold Daggett, a native New Yorker whos been accused of having mob ties. Lately hes been critical of the Biden administrations labor record and provocatively asked where the president has been for his members.
In one video post, where he promised to hurt the economy if the unions demands werent met, Daggett envisioned what will happen when his workers walk out: The first week, the strike will dominate the headlines. The second week, car dealers will start laying people off. By week three, malls will begin closing. Soon construction workers would lose their jobs.
In todays world, Ill cripple you, he said recently in a video post. I will cripple you.
Its unlikely the damage to the economy will be as swift or severe as he imagines, but Daggett isnt playing around.
For over a decade, Daggett has been the president of the International Longshoremens Association, which represents the tens of thousands of workers who load and unload cargo at ports along the Atlantic Seaboard and in the Gulf of Mexico.
The unions constitution allows Daggett to call a strike without a vote of his members. He has pledged one if the unions demands arent met when a six-year master contract with the shipping industry expires at the end of September.
Daggett has rarely given public interviews and he declined to be interviewed for this article. The ILA instead prefers getting its message out in friendly forums, including through Facebook posts and YouTube videos.
A strike now appears increasingly likely and a major disruption to the supply chain could throw a wrench into Vice President Kamala Harris sunny economic message. The strike could be injected almost immediately into the presidential campaigns because it would begin the same day as Tuesdays vice presidential debate.
While President Joe Biden considers himself the most pro-union president in history, Daggett like the head of the Teamsters who has been causing headaches for Democrats doesnt seem to be buying it.
According to the ILAs biography of their leader, Daggett is a third-generation member of the union. He was born in New York and lives in New Jersey, the two states that are jointly home to the East Coasts largest cargo port. He rose through the ranks of the powerful New Jersey-based union local, 1804-1, and became the head of the whole ILA in 2011.
A less congenial version of events, found in court records filed over the years by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, allege Daggett rose through the unions ranks in part because of his ties to the mob.
During the pandemic, Daggetts workers kept going while many others stayed home. Shipping companies also made enormous amounts of money raking in record profits and handing out giant management bonuses. But, in Daggetts eyes, his laborers never got their piece of that pie.
Now he wants a contract that guarantees big raises for his members and a ban on robots taking longshore workers jobs.
Some numbers, floated by industry sources, suggest Daggett is asking for close to 80 percent raises over the next six years. The union rejects that but released numbers suggesting the figure is closer to 60 percent.
Anyone who is surprised hasnt been paying attention. Over a decade ago, Daggett said he wished everyone working on the port could make $400,000.
While the industry is small shrunken by generations of automation it is powerful in part because the union represents workers at a choke point in international trade. The jobs remain highly sought after and quite lucrative for blue collar work.
In 2020, over 600 longshore workers in New York and New Jersey made over a quarter million dollars, according to the last available data from a bi-state agency that used to police the port.
Daggett, a union official, does well too. He received $728,000 last year from the ILA, plus another $173,000 as president emeritus of 1804-1, according to union filings with the Department of Labor. (For comparison, the heads of the AFL-CIO, Teamsters and autoworkers union all make less than $300,000 a year, though the heads of the actors and major league players unions make more than $1 million.)
The United States Maritime Alliance, which negotiates on behalf of the port industry, has accused Daggetts team of failing to come to the table. The ILA, in turn, said in a statement that is misleading and there have been multiple communications in recent weeks but that the industry is offering an unacceptable wage package.
Lately, Daggett seems to be distancing himself from people who might seem like his allies, including the Democrats in the White House and in key port states.
He publicly dissed Biden, has not asked for help avoiding a strike from his ally New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and criticized a deal to avoid a strike reached last year by the union that represents West Coast dockworkers.
Daggetts bluster is on full display when he rails against automation, which the ILA generally defines as any technology that would replace a human workers job.
Someone has to get into Congress and say, Whoa, timeout, this world is going too fast for us, machines got to stop, Daggett told one interlocutor in a recent friendly interview. Yes, were getting smart kids out of MIT and all these places. Yeah, they are all brilliant, but what good is it if youre going to put people out of work? Who is going to support their families, machines? Machines dont have families.
Daggett recently expressed major disappointment in Biden for how the president helped avoid a strike last year on the West Coast. Biden dispatched officials to broker a deal that included 32 percent increases for dockworkers there but that didnt provide what Daggett considers sufficient protections against automation.
Where is the president of the United States? Hes not fighting for us, Daggett said in a recent video. In L.A., he told the union, hurry up and get a contract. Thats the mentality they have. They dont even know what the hell theyre doing today. Well, I know what Im doing, Im going to save everybodys job.
While that isnt necessarily the agreed-upon version of the events the West Coast union praises Bidens time in office and has endorsed Harris its important to hear how Daggett is framing that episode. Not long ago, the West Coast union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, was considered the more strike prone. Daggetts remarks show that seems to have suddenly changed.
The last time any White House used the strike prevention powers given to presidents by the Taft-Hartley Act was in 2002, when President George W. Bush used the law to break an impasse involving dockworkers on the West Coast citing the risk to the military buildup ahead of the war in Iraq. (On Wednesday, the ILA pledged to continue moving military cargo, even if it went on strike.)
By contrast, East Coast dockworkers have not been on strike since 1977.
Perhaps that is why few people thought Daggetts strike threat was real until recently, even though hes been telegraphing his tough stance for months. During a July 2023 speech to a major gathering of ILA members, Daggett warned shipping giant Maersk to make a deal or else.
Wake up, world, he said. I have a message for Copenhagen, thats the home of Maersk: Dont fuck with the maritime unions around the world. We will shut you down!
Nonetheless, as recently as early August, Maersks CEO said a strike was highly unlikely. This changed quickly. The company announced this week it plans to charge higher prices to move cargo in and out of East Coast ports because of the potential strike.
Others see more than just a good deal for his members at play, including legacy and dynasty building. Daggetts son, Dennis Daggett, is now the head of the powerful New Jersey local his father once led and the ILAs executive vice president.
A person familiar with the maritime industry, granted anonymity to discuss a delicate situation, said part of the dynamic right now is Harold Daggetts wish to see his son replace him atop the union; the better the new contract, the better the chances of that happening.
The Biden administration has never used Taft-Hartley and does not plan to. That alone is a major victory for the ILA, because threatening to invoke Taft-Hartley would decrease Daggetts leverage.
If Daggett is grateful, he hasnt shown it.
In one recent video, he criticized Bidens response to the Baltimore bridge collapse. Daggett described a conversation he had with Biden about the bridge and accused the president of not doing enough to make sure dockworkers were kept whole. I never got no help from the government, Daggett said.
The White House and Maryland Gov. Wes Moores office both rejected this version of events.
The president is proud of his support for port workers, Biden spokesperson Robyn Patterson said in a statement. Thats why he mobilized a whole-of-government response to get the Port of Baltimore quickly reopened so workers could get back on the job following the Key Bridge collapse and why he worked closely with state and local partners to ensure impacted workers got the benefits and assistance they needed.
Carter Elliott, spokesperson for Moore, a Democrat, pointed to work with a union local and to temporary relief efforts that provided more than $13 million in direct financial assistance to more than 3,300 temporarily-displaced port workers.
Along his rise to power, Daggett has been dogged by allegations that he benefited from mob support in various ways. Two decades ago, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn accused him of benefiting from a mob conspiracy to elect him head of the ILA, which he was not at the time. He was acquitted.
During the trial, Daggett denied wrongdoing and said he rose through the ranks because of worker support. Daggett testified that a hit man who was cooperating with the government in the case had put a gun to his head years earlier because Daggett was intent on moving the union from Manhattan to New Jersey, where many of his members work. They also relied on a star witness the hit man who co-founded the gang the Jets and was clinically deaf so could only read lips who wasnt considered credible by the jury.
One of the co-defendants in the case was missing during the trial and later found dead in the trunk of a car outside a diner in New Jersey also acquitted but dead.
Still, even after that case fell apart, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn continued to describe Daggett as an associate of the Genovese family in a separate but related racketeering case that has been lingering in court for nearly a decade.
In the years since, Daggett and the ILA helped push New Jersey to dissolve a bi-state police agency meant to keep the union and mob in check.
A suspect fatally shot a passenger on a Los Angeles MTA bus early Wednesday before hijacking the vehicle and then leading police on a wild chase for over an hour before he was apprehended by a SWAT team, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) tells Fox News Digital.
The dramatic incident unfolded at around 12:45 a.m. when police received a 911 call about a shooting and subsequent bus hijacking at Figaro Street and Manchester Avenue.
Police say the suspect shot at least one person before holding the driver at gunpoint and forcing him to drive northbound. During the initial stages of the hijacking, other passengers were seen exiting the bus, police say.
Atlanta Bus Hijacking Suspect Had 19 Prior Arrests, Mental Illnesses, Family Says
A bus hijacking and a "Speed-style" chase took place in Los Angeles early Wednesday when a suspect shot a passenger and then took police on an hours-long chase.
The LAPDs SWAT team eventually stopped the bus at 2:05 a.m. in the vicinity of South Alameda Street and 6th Street, about six miles northeast of where the initial hijacking took place.
Police deployed spike strips to slow it down and it eventually came to a stop before the suspect barricaded himself in the vehicle.
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Online images and a live stream from local news reporters show an MTA bus stopped at the side of the road with an armored police vehicle in front of it and an armed SWAT team at the scene.
A bus was hijacked in Los Angeles early Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.
The suspect was taken into custody and the injured victim was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition but later succumbed to his injuries, police say. Police say the incident is now being treated as a homicide investigation.
The Los Angeles Fire Department says that two other people on the bus refused treatment. A motive for the shooting is not known.
A map of where the bus hijacking in Los Angeles, California, came to an end.
Original article source: Los Angeles bus hijacked after on-board fatal shooting, sparking wild police chase
If you are an income investor, dividend yield is probably one of the first things you look at when examining a potential stock for your portfolio. That's logical, but yield alone isn't sufficient for determining if a company is good enough to provide decades of passive income.
For example, a stock like AGNC Investment (NASDAQ: AGNC) which has a huge 13% dividend yield, is a terrible choice for most passive income investors. Meanwhile, lower-yielding Realty Income (NYSE: O), Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD), and Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE: ARE) present three great options to add to your portfolio right now. Here's why.
The problem with ultra-high yields
AGNC Investment isn't a bad company. But this mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT) is complex and focused on total return, not dividends. Yes, the yield is huge at over 13%, but don't get suckered in by the dividend yield. If you want to know why, just look at the graph below.
AGNC Chart
The dividend has been heading lower for a decade! The stock price has followed the dividend down, which is why, despite a terrible dividend history, the yield is so high. Sure, you are still collecting a dividend, but less income and a loss of capital are not what most passive-income investors really want.
1. Realty Income is a core holding
Realty Income, on the other hand, has increased its dividend every year for 29 consecutive years. The yield is a very compelling 5.1%. And the net lease REIT has a rock-solid investment-grade balance sheet.
It also happens to be the largest player in its property niche, with a gigantic portfolio of more than 15,400 assets. It is around four times larger than its next-closest peer by market cap. Its portfolio spans North America and Europe, giving it plenty of levers for growth.
To be fair, Realty Income is a slow and steady tortoise, but it can provide a solid foundation for your income-focused portfolio.
2. Toronto-Dominion Bank is a contrarian play
Toronto-Dominion Bank, or just TD Bank, is one of the largest banks in Canada. That country's banking regulations are very strict and create conservative cultures within Canadian banks like TD Bank.
The tight rules also effectively give the largest banks entrenched positions. So, on the whole, TD Bank is very reliable, noting that it has paid a dividend every year since 1857. Most companies haven't even existed that long. The dividend yield is an attractive 4.6%, which is toward the high end of the bank's historical yield range.
Why is the yield so high for such a conservative and reliable dividend stock? Well, TD Bank is dealing with some legal and regulatory issues related to its internal controls around money laundering. It isn't good news, and it appears that a few bad apples have gotten the bank in hot water.
However, the company believes the problem will be resolved by the end of 2024. Growth might be slow for a little while, but given the company's long history of success, it seems like this is a contrarian play that most passive-income investors should consider right now.
3. Alexandria Real Estate Equities is getting tarred with the wrong brush
It is hard to place Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a category. On one hand, this REIT owns healthcare assets, which likely have a bright future. On the other hand, it owns offices, which have been performing terribly since the pandemic.
Wall Street appears to be erring on the side of caution and treating Alexandria as an office REIT, pushing the shares down and the yield up to a historically high 4.2%. You should take the opposite view and look at it as a healthcare REIT.
The nuance here is important. Alexandria owns medical research facilities. Yes, these are offices, but they are also laboratories. You can't divorce the lab space from the office space, as both are vital to the development of new medical advances. To simplify things, researchers can't really plug away at a computer writing up their findings in the same place where they play with the chemicals.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities is a pure play in the medical research sector and has a 14-year history of annual dividend increases. The time to buy this misunderstood REIT is now if you want decades of reliable income.
Don't go for broke with high dividend yields
If you are looking to generate decades of reliable income, you really have to be careful not to get caught up in a hunt for yield. You need to find companies with good yields and proven track records that show they can support their dividends over the long term. Realty Income, TD Bank, and Alexandria all provide just that today.
Should you invest $1,000 in Realty Income right now?
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Reuben Gregg Brewer has positions in Realty Income and Toronto-Dominion Bank. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Realty Income. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Want Decades of Passive Income? 3 Stocks to Buy Now and Hold Forever. was originally published by The Motley Fool
Los Angeles settles with Monsanto for $35 million over PCBs in waterways
Contamination of key Los Angeles waterways such as the Santa Monica Bay, Los Angeles Harbor and Echo Park Lake due to the spread of toxic chemicals is at the heart of a $35-million settlement between the L.A. City Council and agriculture giant Monsanto and two smaller companies.
The City Council on Tuesday announced the payout by the companies to settle a lawsuit filed in 2022 over damages from long-banned chemicals called PCBs, which have been linked to health problems including cancer.
The City Council approved the settlement at Tuesday afternoons meeting, voting 13 to 0 after a closed session. Councilmembers Imelda Padilla and Nithya Raman were absent.
A call to the office of City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto was not immediately answered.
Monsanto confirmed the agreement Wednesday morning, saying in a statement that the settlement contains no admission of liability or wrongdoing. Monsanto said it ceased producing PCBs in 1977 and never manufactured or disposed of PCBs in the Los Angeles area.
In March 2022, then-City Atty. Mike Feuer sued Monsanto, which was swallowed by the German corporation Bayer in 2018, and smaller chemical companies Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia.
The complaint sought compensation for the cost of past cleanups and for future abatement of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. The chemicals tainted and continue to pollute many Los Angeles waterways, including the Dominguez Channel, Ballona Creek, Marina del Rey and Machado Lake.
The city has expended millions and millions of dollars so far and is going to continue to expend millions and millions of dollars to remediate this issue, Feuer said at the time.
PCBs are human-made organic chemicals that have no known taste or smell and range in consistency from oils to waxes, according to the Environmental Protection Agency .
Read more: L.A. sues Monsanto, two related companies over toxic chemicals in waterways
They had several commercial uses, including in transformers and capacitors, oil used in motors and hydraulic systems, cable insulation, oil-based paint, caulking and plastics.
PCBs were produced and used domestically from roughly 1929 until they were banned in 1979, according to the EPA.
From the 1930s through 1977, Monsanto was the sole producer of PCBs in the United States, according to the National Library of Medicine .
Exposure to PCBs increases the chances of a person developing cancer while diminishing the effectiveness of the immune system and damaging reproductive organs and the nervous system, according to the EPA.
The lawsuit alleged that Monsanto knew that its commercial PCB formulations were highly toxic and would inevitably produce precisely the contamination and human health risks that have occurred. Instead of informing public officials, the company misled the public, regulators, and its own customers about these key facts.
The lawsuit alleged that, as early as 1937, Monsanto acknowledged internally that PCBs produced systemic toxic effects upon prolonged exposure.
Monsanto said in a statement it has "conducted hundreds of studies on PCB safety, provided appropriate warnings to its customers based on the state of the science at the time, and has committed to participation in agency processes where it has been determined to be a potentially responsible party."
Read more: California air regulators vote to ban toxic chrome plating by 2039
Many of Los Angeles' waterways had been impaired by PCB contamination, according to the lawsuit.
The city has said that it continues to shoulder the cost and responsibility of cleaning these locales along with monitoring and analyzing samples.
People face PCB exposure, according to the lawsuit, by eating contaminated food, breathing contaminated air, or drinking or swimming in contaminated water. Fish captured in contaminated waters and eaten also provide an avenue for PCB exposure.
The settlement avoids a court trial, which presented some risk to the city.
Seattle announced a $160-million settlement with Monsanto in July over PCBs in the city's drainage system and rivers.
In May, however, an appeals court in Washington state overturned a $185-million verdict against Monsanto in a lawsuit brought by three teachers who claimed brain damage due to PCB leaks.
Updates:
11:30 a.m. Sept. 25, 2024: The story has been updated with a statement from Monsanto.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Clockwise from top left: Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi. Credit - Courtesy Photo
On the clear, blue-skied Saturday morning of Oct. 7, 2023, our loved ones and 245 others were brutally stolen from us by Hamas terrorists. Carmel was visiting her parents at Kibbutz Beeri. Almog, Alexander, Eden, Hersh, and Ori had been celebrating peace and freedom at the Nova Music Festival. These six beautiful people were abducted into Gaza, several of them with critical injuries. They languished in miserable conditions for 328 days, then, on Aug. 29, were shot in the head, hands, shoulders, and elsewhere in their battered and starving bodies.
Israeli forces found their emaciated corpses two days later in a tunnel 65 feet under a Gazan childs bedroom. The tunnel was just over two feet wide and 5 ft. 6 in. high. It had minimal oxygen, no light, and no plumbing. Their Hamas captors executed our loved ones at point blank range, exited the tunnel, and shut a bolted door.
In captivity, Alexander, nearly six feet tall, dropped from 190 pounds to 132 pounds. Hersh, a couple inches taller, weighed just 116 pounds. Eden, 5-ft.-5, was found at 79 pounds.
It was Hamas that took our loved ones, tortured them, and pulled the triggers that murdered them. But many others failed to save them. Israeli governmental decision-makers had opportunities to reach negotiated settlements to release our loved ones and, for calculations they deemed strategic, they chose not to. These choices will be the eternal legacy of these men. But there are so many other people who could have done so much more to save themand still others who will join them as accomplices in avoidable deaths if they stand by and allow malevolent entities to triumph over the passive words of people with power.
This is our clarion call now: There are still 101 hostages in horrific conditions in Gaza, and the time to save them is running out. Sympathetic words alone will not spare them the same fate as Almog, Alexander, Carmel, Eden, Hersh, and Ori. Now is the time for decisive, deliberate, meaningful action.
For 328 days, many of us traveled the world and met politicians, diplomats, business titans, celebritiespeople with power. They made promises, nodded, held our hands, cried with us, hugged us tightlyand then failed to deliver results. Many of us circled the globe and sat with religious leaders, ambassadors in the halls of the United Nations, former Presidents and First Ladies. So many people with power in the biggest companies in the world said they would be with us until our loved ones came home alive. We held meetings, openly and discreetly, in places like Davos, Washington, Moscow, London, Sofia, Budapest, and Geneva.
Demonstrators gather during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv on Sept. 21, 2024. Jack GuezAFP/Getty Images
Celebrities met us in secluded rooms but asked that we never acknowledge publicly that they did so; they feared losing followers. Leaders of humanitarian aid organizations, including the International Red Cross and the World Health Organization, claimed they would like to intervene but could not figure out how. Two Muslim clerics confidentially assured us, wrongly, that our loved ones would be okay because harming hostages violated Islam; but they and too many other religious leaders were publicly silent. More than one of these many people with power assured us that the hostages would survive, that their return was only a matter of time. Some said our loved ones were suffering but surely not dying.
Two hundred fifty one hostages from 39 nationalities were stolen from their lives and from the world on Oct. 7. Why did the Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Foreign Ministers of those nations never stand, arm in arm, on a global stage and demand their release? Why are the names of the 101 hostages who remain in captivity not on the nightly news in countries around the world? Where is the global outcry calling for their release? Where is the condemnation from the religious and spiritual leaders of the five faiths of the hostages still being held? Where is the economic and diplomatic pressure on Hamas and its sponsors? Why are NATO member countries and U.S. non-NATO allies continuing to operate with favored status while failing to save lives, including those of U.S. citizens? Why has the United States, the worlds strongest superpowerwith leverage on all the regional players in this conflictfailed to deploy that power sufficiently and creatively to produce a hostage release and a resolution to this war?
Nefarious actors the world over are watching, learning, and planning. The implications for global security are much wider than Israel and Gaza. Humanitys future is at stake. Its time to use the power you have and do better.
Almog, Alexander, Carmel, Eden, Hersh and Ori are not coming back. In their memory, we implore you: Take action now to bring home their 101 brothers and sisters still in Gaza. As Rabbi Hillel famously asked in ancient Jewish law, If not now, WHEN?
Contact us at letters@time.com.
LSUs Memorial Tower on Monday, March 20, 2023, on Tower Drive in Baton Rouge. (Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator)
An LSU historian is being sued for defamation by a Pennsylvania state legislator and seeks to have the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that the lawmaker is trying to curtail his First Amendment rights.
James Gregory, director of LSUs William A. Brookshire Military Museum and an adjunct instructor of military history, is being sued by Republican Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano for defamation after Gregory criticized Mastrianos academic research and raised concerns about its integrity.
Mastriano sued Gregory and nearly two dozen other defendants in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma in May, but the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, filed a motion Thursday to dismiss the lawsuit. The free speech organization, known for its defense of conservative speech on college campuses, is representing Gregory.
The First Amendment means all Americans have the right to criticize public officials, no matter how angry that criticism makes them, Greg Greubel, a FIRE attorney, said in a news release. Politicians should be concerned about legislating for the people, not suing critics when their feelings get hurt.
The lawsuit alleges Mastriano is the victim of a multi-year racketeering and antitrust enterprise that seeks to steal, use and debunk his work that is worth at least $10 million in tourism-related events, validated museum artifacts, book, media, television and movie deals.
Mastriano is a far-right Republican and retired military officer who was the GOPs nominee for Pennsylvania governor in 2022. He lost to Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro. Though Gregory first raised concerns before his bid for governor, Mastriano said it was during the campaign that Gregorys allegations began to gain traction in the news, including some national outlets.
In the lawsuit, Mastriano alleges a conspiracy to try to steal his Ph. D. in U.S. military history and other professional opportunities.
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The reality is this: One, I lived in Oklahoma and now I live [in Louisiana], I have no stake in Pennsylvania politics, Gregory said in an interview. Two, Im a registered Independent and I vote Republican. Three, my first report predates his political aspirations.
The dispute is over the two mens research into U.S. Army Sgt. Alvin York, a Medal of Honor recipient who was among the most decorated soldiers of World War I. Gregory said he once referenced Mastrianos work, as he was an established scholar on York, but began noticing problems with his research.
To date, Gregory has flagged 213 examples of what he believes are academic fraud. The instances range from quotes in Mastrianos paper with no citation to complete fabrications, Gregory said.
For example, Gregory said he found a photo in Mastrianos book that included a caption that had been cut from another photo from the same time period, giving the impression the photo depicted something different than what it actually did.
From day one, its been nothing but academic for me, Gregory said. Academically speaking, this is not good. This person should not be publishing and should not be teaching if theyre capable of such blatant cases of academic fraud.
Gregory believes Mastrianos lawsuit is intended to cause fear and chill academic speech.
It was like Mastriano saying, Shut up or shell out, Gregory said. This is not how academic discourse is done.
In its motion to dismiss the case against Gregory, FIRE argues that criticizing the work of a fellow historian is not defamation and that the First Amendment protects his right to do so.
FIRE said Oklahoma law allows quick dismissals of questionable litigation that targets free speech, known as strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP), and holds the plaintiff responsible for paying the defendants legal fees.
James plight is a perfect example of why robust anti-SLAPP protections are vital to expressive freedom, Greubel said in a statement to the Oklahoma Voice. Otherwise, the First Amendment is nothing more than a luxury for those who can afford to fight off an expensive lawsuit.
Mastriano and his attorney did not respond to requests for comment from the Oklahoma Voice.
Emma Murphy, reporter with the Oklahoma Voice, contributed to this report.
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The speeches by the leaders of Brazil and Colombia on the opening day of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday were pathetic.
They condemned Israel for the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and lamented the political crisis in Sudan. However, they totally ignored one of the worlds biggest refugee crises unfolding in their own backyard: Venezuela.
Neither Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva nor his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro denounced Venezuelas dictator Nicolas Maduro for having recently stolen his countrys elections, or for the fact that his death squads have killed thousands of peaceful protesters in recent years; or that about 8 million Venezuelans more than 20% of the countrys population have fled their homeland since he took power in 2013.
Lula and Petros omission of Venezuela in their U.N. speeches was even more preposterous if you consider that they proposed grandiose plans to solve the war in Ukraine and in the Middle East, as if they were major players or had some influence in those parts of the world.
Lula touted a joint Brazilian plan with China to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, which critics say would pretty much allow Russia to keep part of the Ukrainian territory it invaded. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has called the plan destructive.
Lula started his speech saluting the Palestinian delegation at the assembly, and blamed mostly Israel for the war against Palestinian terrorist groups that have been calling for Israels annihilation and attacking it for many years. The Brazilian leader also lamented the suffering of the people of Ukraine, Sudan and Yemen, and denounced the United States for keeping Cuba on its list of states that promote terrorism.
Petro, who addressed the U.N. assembly shortly thereafter, made an even more ridiculous speech. The Colombian president, who has been accused by Israeli officials of not only being anti-Israel but antisemitic, spent more time talking about the Israel-Hamas war than about any other conflict.
Petro accused Israel of carrying out an alleged genocide in Gaza, failing to say that the Hamas terrorist group started the war by invading Israel almost a year ago and murdering about 1,200 innocent civilians, including women, babies, and 250 youths who were attending a music concert. Neither did Petro mention that Hamas has been attacking Israel, and calling for Israels destruction, for many years.
To his credit, President Biden mentioned Venezuela in his address to the General Assembly, as he was talking about the need to defend freedom and justice around the world.
We saw it that universal yearning for rights and freedom in Venezuela, where millions cast their vote for change. It hasnt been recognized, but it cant be denied. The world knows the truth, Biden said, referring to Maduros July 28 electoral fraud.
Argentinas President Javier Milei also mentioned Venezuela in his address to the General Assembly, rightfully lashing out at the United Nations for allowing the dictatorships of Cuba and Venezuela to hold seats at the U.N. Human Rights Council without the slightest qualm.
Likewise, Guatemalas center-left President Bernardo Arevalo said in his speech that his country rejects any repression of freedom and justice as is happening right now in Venezuela and Nicaragua.
Ironically, no other countries in the world have been more affected by the stampede of Venezuelan migrants than Colombia and Brazil. More than 2.4 million Venezuelans have fled to Colombia and over 500,000 to Brazil in recent years, according to U.N. figures.
Venezuelas opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told me in a recent interview that three, four, five million Venezuelans may flee to neighboring countries if there is no hope for a restoration of democracy in Venezuela. Asylum requests by Venezuelans in Brazil have increased by 25% since Maduros recent electoral fraud, according to press reports quoting U.N. officials.
Instead of trying to solve far-away conflicts in countries they barely know, Lula and Petro should have called for renewed efforts to restore democracy in neighboring Venezuela, which is Latin Americas biggest humanitarian catastrophe in recent history and is impacting their own countries more than any other global conflict.
Dont miss the Oppenheimer Presenta TV show on Sundays at 9 pm E.T. on CNN en Espanol. Blog: andresoppenheimer.com
Lula pushes China-Brazil 6-point peace plan at UN, already dismissed by Ukraine as 'destructive'
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva touted his peace plan jointly developed with China at the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 24, despite the proposal already being dismissed as "destructive" by Ukraine.
Condemning the "invasion of Ukrainian territory," Lula said it was now "crucial" to create the conditions needed for peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow.
"This is the message of the six-point understanding that China and Brazil are offering to establish a process of dialogue and an end to hostilities," he added.
China and Brazil first put forward the plan in May, setting it up as an alternative to Ukraine's own efforts of initiating peace negotiations and ending Russia's full-scale invasion.
The timing of the proposal, not to mention China and Brazil's friendly stances towards Russia, have called into question what their vision of peace would actually mean for Ukraine.
According to Reuters, Lula's foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim will meet with representatives of 20 countries in New York on Friday in an effort to garner support.
The outlet said Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates are among those who have been invited, but Ukraine's staunchest allies would not attend.
The six-point plan, proposed by China and Brazil, refers to the war as a "crisis" and calls for:
Non-escalation or provocations by either side. An international peace conference accepted by both Russia and Ukraine, which includes a "fair discussion" of all peace plans. An increase of humanitarian assistance to "prevent a humanitarian crisis on a larger scale," as well as an exchange of prisoners of war, and no attacks on civilians. All possible efforts must be made to "prevent nuclear proliferation and avoid nuclear crisis." Attacks on nuclear power plants and other peaceful nuclear facilities "must be opposed." Enhanced international cooperation on several issues in order to "protect the stability of global industrial and supply chains."
It makes no mention of Ukraine's territorial integrity or the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
Read also: What the fall of Vuhledar would mean for Russias war in Ukraine
China and Brazil proposed and prompted the plan in parallel to Ukraine's ongoing peace efforts based on Zelensky's 10-point peace formula.
Zelenskys plan calls for a complete withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine, punishing those responsible for war crimes, and the release of all prisoners, among other goals.
A major part of the push for Ukraine's plan was a global peace summit in Switzerland in June.
China did not attend the summit despite an invitation, while the Brazilian representative who was present did not sign the resulting communique.
In an interview with Brazilian outlet Metropoles published on Sept. 12, Zelensky was scathing about the six-point plan, describing it as "destructive."
"You either support the war, or you don't support the war. If you don't support it, then help us stop Russia," Zelensky said.
"(Should we) just give up our land, forget that they are killing our people?
"What is the compromise in that? That's why I think it's destructive. It's just a political statement."
Read also: Russia continues construction of naval base in occupied Abkhazia, Ukraine hints it will be legitimate target
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The League of Women Voters of Centre County is providing a three-part series about the offices on your ballot this year. This second installment focuses on federal offices. LWVCC thanks the LWV of the United States for the following information produced and published by them on the Vote411.org website.
PA U.S. House of Representative
Description of office: The U.S. Constitution requires that the House of Representatives be composed of Representatives from each state, elected in proportion to population. There are 435 members of the House of Representatives, with 17 Representatives allotted to Pennsylvania after the 2020 census. A U.S. Representative must be at least 25 years old, have been a citizen of the United States for the past seven years, and be a resident of the state they seek to represent at the time of the election (though not necessarily the same district). The House of Representatives is responsible for introducing and voting on bills, resolutions and amendments, and for approving the budget. Representatives also serve on various policy committees. The House may send Articles of Impeachment of elected officials to the Senate and elects the president if there is a tie in the Electoral College. Term: 2 years. No term limits. Salary: $174,000
PA U.S. Senator
Description of office: The U.S. Constitution prescribes that the Senate be composed of 100 members (two Senators from each state). One third of the total membership of the Senate is elected every two years. A Senator must be at least 30 years of age, a citizen of the United States for at least nine years and be a resident of the state from which s/he is chosen at the time of the election. Senators write and vote in favor of or against final bills and serve on various policy committees. The Senate has several exclusive powers not granted to the House including advice/consent on presidential nominations and treaties and conducting the trial of federal officials impeached by the House. Term: 6 years. No term limits. Salary: $174,000
U.S. President
Description of office: The president is: the head of state of the United States of America; the Chief Executive Officer; and the Commander in Chief of all military forces. The powers of the president are prescribed in the Constitution and federal law. The president appoints the members of the Cabinet, ambassadors to other nations and the United Nations, Supreme Court Justices and federal judges, subject to Senate approval. The president, along with the Cabinet and its agencies, is responsible for carrying out and enforcing the laws of the United States. The president may also recommend legislation to the United States Congress. Term: Four years. Limit of two terms. Salary: $400,000 per year.
U.S. Vice President
Description of office: The primary responsibility of the Vice President of the United States is to be ready at a moments notice to assume the presidency if the president is unable to perform his or her duties. The vice president serves as the sole power to break a tie vote in the Senate and formally presides over the ceremonial receiving and counting of electoral ballots cast in presidential elections. The vice president serves as principal advisor, governing partner and representative of the president. The vice president must: be a natural-born citizen of the United States; be at least 35 years old; and be a permanent resident in the United States for at least 14 years. Term: The vice president is elected together with the president to a four-year term Salary: $400,000
You must be registered in Centre County at your current address in order to vote in Centre County. College students may choose to vote either at their Centre County address or at their home address but must be registered accordingly. The deadline to register or change your registration is Oct. 21 by 5 p.m. Make sure you are ready to cast your ballot either by mail or in person on Nov. 5.
Check your voter registration and make changes at www.centrecountyvotes.gov.
Sue Sargo is the presiding officer of the League of Women Voters of Centre County.
LYNN HAVEN, Fla. (WMBB) Lynn Haven residents were back at city hall Tuesday, arguing against a new Grease Pro going up at the corner of Harvard Boulevard and Highway 390.
Theyre concerned about traffic congestion on the already-busy highway, as well as noise in the nearby Derby Woods and College Point neighborhoods. But theyre most worried about potential pollution of the groundwater.
Its an oil change, tire repair and basic auto repair facility, which really shouldnt be there. Theres going to be chemicals. You dont put that in a neighborhood and thats what were concerned about is the noise and the chemicals, you know, getting into the neighborhood. But then what flooding problems are we going to have? Things like that, Resident Zack Detwiler said.
Lynn Haven Police Chief Ricky Ramie reinstated
Construction on the property recently began and some claim the contractors are not following the plans approved by the city.
We are doing what the most that we can within our purview and within our codes of ordinances to ensure that the developer is following the rules. And that way theyre not impeding upon anyone else. I know there have been some concerns about traffic as well as stormwater. So again, they can be assured that our staff is on top of this as much as we can be and making sure that were keeping the developer within the lines, Lynn Haven mayor Jesse Nelson said.
At last, one resident questioned the developers 1-thousand-dollar campaign donation to Nelsons last mayors campaign, claiming it arrived just before the commission voted on the project. Nelson says it had nothing to do with the commissions decision.
Bay County prepares for potential storm
Some people assume that were playing favorites with developers. This developer is getting treated the same way all of our other developers are treated, doesnt matter if they have supported someone in the campaign or not. As commissioners, all of us take an oath to uphold the Constitution. The Florida statutes, as well as doing the best we can for our citizens here in Haven, Nelson said.
Commissioners told the residents they will discuss their concerns about the Grease Pro development at the October 8th commission meeting.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com.
Im recovering, Cottonwood Col. and Chief passed out, rushed to hospital after being exposed to fentanyl while assisting OD victim, police say
COTTONWOOD, Ala (WDHN) A Colonel with Cottonwood Police is recovering in the hospital after he and the police chief were exposed to what they believe was fentanyl during a call.
At around 6:00 p.m. on Monday, September 23, Cottonwood Police Colonel Jim Smith and Chief Tony Money responded to Hanging Moss Trail to assist EMS with a drug overdose.
According to Col. Smith, officers seized what they believed was a controlled substance, and while inside the home, they became exposed to an airborne substance they believed was fentanyl, and Chief Money suddenly passed out.
Col. Smith says after the Chief went down, he and an EMS worker began having visual hallucinations, and Col. Smith became unresponsive.
Col. Smith, Chief Money, the EMS worker, and the overdose victim were treated on the scene before being rushed to the hospital.
The EMS worker was released late Monday night, and Chief Money was released early Tuesday morning; however, Col. Smith is still in the hospital undergoing treatment.
I am recovering and feeling well, Col. Smith said.
The Colonel tells WDHN officers in Cottonwood are well trained for these situations and often deal with fentanyl, but emergency responders should always be prepared for unexpected situations such as this.
The investigation has been turned over to the Houston County Sheriffs Office, and the authorities are still awaiting an official report showing what they were exposed to in the 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 WDHN - wdhn.com.
MA Residents Can Order Free COVID Tests Again. How To Get Yours.
MASSACHUSETTS By the end of September, Americans will be able to order another round of free COVID-19 nasal swab tests that will be delivered to homes.
Each household will be able to get four tests through COVIDtests.gov. Already have some at home? Check here to see if your tests' expiration dates have been extended.
Updated rapid tests are expected to be able to detect newer variants just as a new COVID variant, XEC, arrives in Massachusetts. It is a member of the Omicron family.
The availability of free at-home tests comes just after the Food and Drug Administration approved two updates COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging everyone 6 months or older to get a new shot this fall since last year's shots were geared toward a strain that is no longer around.
As flu and RSV season approaches, health officials recommend residents stock up on tests and update all vaccinations.
Massachusetts residents can get their four tests from the United States Postal Service once the program officially kicks off in "late September." Check for updates here.
MA Residents Can Order Free COVID Tests Again. How To Get Yours. originally appeared on the Across Massachusetts Patch
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) meets with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian (R) on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (Ludovic MARIN) (Ludovic MARIN/AFP/AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday pressed Iran's new president to use his influence to dial down soaring tensions in Lebanon, where Israel is striking Tehran-backed Hezbollah.
Macron met with Masoud Pezeshkian, a self-styled reformist in a cleric-run state which Israel sees as its archenemy, on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly as casualties mounted in Lebanon.
Macron "highlighted the responsibility of Iran to support a general de-escalation and use its influence with destabilizing actors," an Elysee statement said, in a clear reference to Hezbollah.
Macron has already spoken twice by telephone with Pezeshkian as tensions rose between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant movement backed by Iran.
On August 7, Macron urged the Iranian president to avoid reprisals and work to prevent a military escalation after Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh died in a presumed Israeli operation as he visited Tehran for Pezeshkian's inauguration.
Pezeshkian on Monday cast Israel as seeking conflict, saying Iran held back on retaliating after Western powers spoke of progress in reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.
Macron also pressed Pezeshkian after Western nations said Tehran supplied missiles to Russia, leading European powers to impose sanctions that targeted air links.
Macron "warned the Iranian president against the Islamic republic's continuation of support for Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine," the Elysee said.
Pezeshkian, in his meeting with reporters, denied that Iran supplied missiles to Russia and said that his country opposed Moscow's "aggression" against its neighbor.
Pezeshkian has cast himself as a moderate. The United States has publicly voiced skepticism about dealing with him, doubting how much influence he carries in a system where Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ultimately calls the shots.
Macron also asked for the release of three French nationals imprisoned in Iran.
vl-sct/jgc
Warren Buffett Bet $1M He Could Outperform Hedge Funds Over A Decade. He Did It With A Strategy Requiring No Investing Skill
Back in 2007, Warren Buffett made a bold move. The legendary investor bet $1 million that a simple, no-frills S&P 500 index fund could beat a selection of hand-picked hedge funds over 10 years. Experts manage the hedge funds, and for that, they charge a layer of fees. Many see them as the pinnacle of sophisticated investing.
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However, Buffett believed that something as straightforward as an index fund, which simply tracks the performance of the top 500 companies in the U.S., would do better in the long run.
What was the result? Buffett comfortably won the wager. Over the decade, the Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund, which he selected, yielded an astounding 125.8% return, whereas the returns made by the hedge funds varied from 2.8% to 87.7%. However, how could this ordinary investment approach surpass some of the most accomplished financial minds?
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Warren Buffett has argued that low-cost index funds are a wise investment option for most people for many years. An index fund enables investors to own a portion of each company in the index instead of trying to time the market or identify the next big stock.
Its a detached strategy that merely replicates the markets overall performance. As Buffett said, "You don't have to do that, you just have to sit back and let American industry do its job for you."
This might sound too simple to be effective, especially compared to the complex strategies employed by hedge funds. However, Buffett has always said keeping costs low is key to successful investing. Hedge funds usually charge a lot around 2% of your money every year, plus 20% of any profits they make. These high fees can cut into your earnings over time.
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In contrast, the Vanguard fund Buffett chose had an expense ratio of just 0.04%, meaning almost all of the investment's growth stayed in the investors pocket. "Fees matter in investing, no doubt about it," said Ted Seides, the hedge fund manager who accepted Buffett's bet. He later admitted that Buffett was right about the impact of high fees.
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Despite the clear advantages of low-cost index funds, many wealthy individuals and large institutions continue to seek out more expensive investment strategies. Buffett explained this phenomenon by saying, "No consultant in the world will tell you just buy an S&P index fund and sit for the next 50 years. You don't get to be a consultant and certainly don't get an annual fee that way."
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This article Warren Buffett Bet $1M He Could Outperform Hedge Funds Over A Decade. He Did It With A Strategy Requiring No Investing Skill originally appeared on Benzinga.com
2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
In his fourth and final address to the United Nations General Assembly, President Joe Biden covered quite a bit of ground, though the Democrat appeared especially animated when speaking about Russias war in Ukraine.
The world now has another choice to make: Will we sustain our support to help Ukraine win this war and preserve its freedom or walk away and let aggression be renewed and a nation be destroyed? Biden asked. I know my answer. We cannot grow weary. We cannot look away. And we will not let up on our support for Ukraine, not until Ukraine wins a just and durable peace.
If Vice President Kamala Harris is elected in November, the world can expect the United States to follow through on the commitments Biden outlined at the U.N. If, however, Donald Trump returns to power, it appears increasingly likely that American policy toward Ukraine would change course dramatically. NBC News reported:
Trump signaled reluctance about providing further U.S. financial assistance to Ukraine, just hours after Biden defended U.S. backing of its ally in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly. Every time [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy comes to the United States, he walks away with $100 billion, Trump said from a campaign stage in the battleground state of Georgia. I think hes the greatest salesman on Earth.
As part of the same remarks, the Republican marveled at the history of Russias military might suggesting the Russian forces might not be worth trying to fend off while appearing to goad his audience into booing the Ukrainian leader.
Trump on Russia: Somebody told me the other day, they beat Hitler, they beat Napoleon. That's what they do. pic.twitter.com/OCvRTPvP0j Acyn (@Acyn) September 24, 2024
The comments came one day after the former president held a rally in Pennsylvania in which he insisted that the U.S. is to blame for Russias war in Ukraine, mocked Zelenskyy and argued without evidence that Ukraines president wants Harris to win the 2024 election so badly.
This also comes on the heels of Trump refusing to say whether or not he wants our Ukrainian allies to win the war.
In June, Sen. Tom Cotton appeared on Fox News and said opponents of Russias war in Ukraine have nothing to fear from a Trump election victory. [Former] President Trump has said that he strongly supports Ukraines strength and survival, the Arkansas Republican said.
Three months later, it seems strongly mightve been the wrong choice of words.
As for the near future, Trump had tentative plans to meet with Zelenskyy, but NBC News reported that plans have changed and that the Republican candidate no longer wants to have the meeting.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Its difficult to say with confidence which party will control the U.S. House next year, but theres a reasonably good chance that House Speaker Mike Johnson will continue to wield the gavel in January when it falls to Congress to officially certify the results of the 2024 elections.
With this in mind, it was unsettling to see the Louisiana Republican hedge when asked about his willingness to honor the will of the American electorate. NBC News reported:
Do you commit to observing regular order in the certification process of the 2024 election, even if Kamala Harris beats Donald Trump? a reporter asked Johnson [Tuesday] morning. Well, of course, if we have a free, fair and safe election, were going to follow the Constitution, Johnson replied.
Before considering the GOP leaders answer on the merits, its worth pausing to appreciate how unfortunate it is that Johnson had to be asked the question in the first place.
As regular readers know, in the not-too-distant past, prominent American politicians were not asked whether they were prepared to accept their own countrys election results. The line of inquiry seemed wholly unnecessary: Our political system was stable and healthy enough to make the answer to such a question obvious.
But as the radicalization of Republican politics intensifies, leading officials from the party arent just confronting the question, theyre also hedging while replying.
.@PabloReports: Mr Speaker, do you commit to observing regular order in the certification process of the 2024 election, even if Harris beats Trump?
MIKE JOHNSON: Well of course -- if we have a free, fair, and safe election we're gonna follow the Constitution, absolutely pic.twitter.com/IsASJnIyYD Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 24, 2024
At a superficial level, Johnsons answer might seem anodyne. If the election is free and fair, of course hell accept the outcome.
But just below the surface, a rather clumsy shell game comes into view.
Republicans expect to accept 2024 results, so long as the elections are free and fair. Republicans will decide for themselves whether the elections were free and fair, based on amorphous and undefined standards they will not share. If Democrats win elections, the results necessarily trigger questions about the free and fair nature of the elections because Republicans say so at which point the GOPs intentions to accept the results are thrown out the window.
Its precisely why many congressional Democrats were incensed by Johnsons comments.
Making matters worse is the House speakers credibility on the subject. Following the Republicans press conference, House Democratic Conference Chair Pete Aguilar told reporters, in reference to Johnson, He doesnt have a track record that would indicate to the American people that he should be believed.
Its a fair point. Though his record on the subject is often overlooked, Johnson helped spearhead an ill-fated effort to convince the Supreme Court to keep Donald Trump in power despite the voters verdict shortly before he voted with his party to reject certifying the results of a free and fair election.
Johnson also echoed some of the wilder conspiracy theories about the race, and nearly four years later, he is still reluctant to acknowledge the legitimacy of the 2020 elections.
All of this additional context necessarily makes the GOP leaders latest comments even worse.
But as far too many Republican officials hedge on accepting the 2024 results, Im also reminded anew of something Rachel said in May. The way you lose your democracy is by losing the expectation that we are participating in an election because all sides in that election plan to accept the result to go home if they lose and to go into office if they win, she said. Once we no longer expect that, we are no longer in a democratic system of government in many important respects.
Once one of the two major governing parties no longer believes elections are binding, then in many important ways, the democracy ship has sailed, because they are no longer competing on democratic grounds. Once one of the two major parties is no longer pledging that they will abide by the election results whether they win or lose, the democratic system of government is not threatened with harm, it is wounded already.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Its not exactly a secret that Senate Democrats are on the defensive this election cycle. The party currently has a one-seat majority in the chamber, but with Sen. Joe Manchin retiring in West Virginia, Republicans have, for all intents and purposes, already flipped one seat.
As we discussed last week, to secure a majority, Republicans will need to win only one additional seat, which is hardly unrealistic: Democrats are having to fight tooth and nail to hold on to competitive seats in Montana, Ohio, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Maryland. To have a chance of a 50-50 split in the Senate, Democrats would have to win literally all of those races, some of which are being held in states where Donald Trump is all but certain to win easily.
And so, the party is on the defensive. But what if the map could grow? The conventional wisdom suggests every incumbent Senate Republican is all but certain to win re-election, but what if the conventional wisdom is wrong?
The Washington Post reported over the weekend that a small but vocal number of Senate Democrats believe the party is leaving potential pickup opportunities on the table, and are pushing party leaders and political operatives to pour money into trying to knock off GOP incumbents.
And not just any Republican incumbents.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has finite resources, and it doesnt want to see any of the partys incumbents lose due to lack of investment. That said, Axios reported that Democratic leaders are telling their partys biggest donors that their perspective is evolving.
... Democrats are signaling they want to expand the playing field and be in a position to steal Republican seats in states like Florida. Yes, its still red, but former President Trump isnt expected to win by double digits. They are also eyeing Texas, where a recent poll has Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) up by three points against Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas).
This isnt just scuttlebutt from unnamed partisan operatives: Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the current chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, confirmed to Axios this week that the races in Florida and Texas are real and we hope to get resources into those states.
The report added that airtime hasnt yet been officially booked in the race against Rick Scott, though Democratic sources tell us they expect the DSCC to make a splash in Florida in the coming weeks.
All things considered, itd be overstating matters to describe the Senate races in Texas and Florida as among the nations most competitive, but this shift in focus isnt rooted in pie-in-the-sky optimism.
Revisiting our recent coverage, Cruz barely won a second term in 2018, and this year, Rep. Colin Allred looks like a candidate with plenty of crossover appeal. It was against this backdrop that Chris LaCivita, a senior campaign adviser for Donald Trump, wrote via social media two weeks ago, What the hell is wrong with the Senate race in Texas?
LaCivita added that, as far as hes concerned, its time to get some real professionals in to save Cruz. Implicit in the message, of course, is that Cruz needs saving.
Meanwhile, Floridas Scott who has won three statewide campaigns by incredibly narrow margins last month started dumping quite a bit of his own money into his re-election campaign. Whats more, a handful of recent statewide polls have shown former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell trailing the far-right incumbent by 5 points or less, raising Democratic hopes of a possible upset.
In case that werent quite enough, theres Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, a Republican who was widely seen as a shoo-in for re-election up until very recently.
There is no Democratic nominee in the race, but independent Dan Osborn best known for having led a labor strike at a Kelloggs plant in 2021 appears to be faring better than expected.
How do I know that for sure? In part because of fresh polling showing Osborn within striking distance, and in part because Republicans are starting to target Osborn with attack ads, and if he werent picking up support, they wouldnt bother spending money in one of the nations reddest states.
Watch this space.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
UPDATE (Sept. 25, 2024, 6:38 p.m. ET): On Wednesday, the Senate voted 78-18 to pass the stopgap funding bill and avert a government shutdown, sending the measure to President Joe Biden.
A couple of weeks ago, facing the possibility of a Republican-imposed government shutdown, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries shared an underappreciated point with reporters. Democrats are temporarily in the minority but have repeatedly governed as if we are in the majority, because we recognize that our job is to deliver for the American people, the New York Democrat explained.
Two weeks later, the accuracy of Jeffries assessment rang true anew. NBC News reported:
The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a funding bill to avert a government shutdown next week after it removed a proposal demanded by Donald Trump that would require Americans nationwide to show proof of citizenship to register to vote. The vote was 341-82, with all opposition coming from Republicans. House Republican leaders, facing defections within their ranks, relied heavily on Democratic votes to approve the short-term measure.
It was just last week when the House GOP leadership tried a far-right approach to preventing a shutdown, tying spending cuts to a far-right election scheme called the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote. That bill failed in humiliating fashion, prompting House Speaker Mike Johnson to turn to a backup plan.
This week, we learned that the backup plan was, for all intents and purposes, to give up entirely.
The temporary spending bill called a continuing resolution, or CR now heads to the Democratic-led Senate, which is expected to approve it quickly.
But as the dust settles on this unnecessary drama, its worth appreciating just how frequently House Republican leaders have been forced to rely on the Democratic minority to govern.
Five months ago, for example, Congress passed a long-sought security-aid package, but in order to advance the legislation, Johnson and his leadership team had no choice but to disregard the wishes of their far-right members and partner with the Democratic minority which provided more than two-thirds of the votes needed to pass the bill.
This was not an isolated incident. Ten days earlier, the House reauthorized the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and it was the Democratic minority that provided a majority of the votes. A few weeks before that, the House passed a bill to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year and Democrats provided nearly two-thirds of the votes.
A month before that, House Republican leaders endorsed a stopgap spending measure and relied on Democrats to pass it. A month earlier, the House considered a bipartisan compromise on tax policy, which was endorsed by the House GOP leadership. It was nevertheless Democrats who provided most of the votes to pass it.
Two weeks earlier, a bill to prevent a partial government shutdown cleared the House, but roughly two-thirds of those votes came from the House Democratic minority.
The circumstances have become a staple of the current Congress. A year ago this week, to prevent a government shutdown, it was Democrats who provided most of the votes on a must-pass bill. Two months later, again to prevent a government shutdown, Republicans also relied on Democratic votes.
During the mid-November debate on that bill, Democratic Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois joked during floor remarks, Next week, Americans will gather around their dinner tables and share what theyre thankful for. I hope my Republican colleagues will use that moment to reflect on how lucky you are to work with us House Democrats.
A month later, when the House needed to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, Democrats again provided a majority of the votes.
And when Republicans threatened to crash the economy on purpose by leveraging the debt ceiling, it was you guessed it Democrats who cast most of the votes to pass the bipartisan solution.
As 2023 came to an end, Axios highlighted the underappreciated pattern: Republicans may hold the House majority, but Democratic yeas outnumbered GOP votes on every major bill that landed on President Bidens desk this year.
In 2024, the pattern remains unchanged. A Washington Post report summarized in the spring, If it wasnt obvious before, its obvious now. The Houses governing coalition has been cemented. It consists of nearly every Democrat and about half of Republicans. The pattern was reinforced this weekend with a vote to pass Ukraine aid, but it has played out over and over again this Congress with the passage of major pieces of legislation.
When Republican John Boehner was the House speaker, he too found himself dependent on Democrats when his far-right members didnt want to govern. During Paul Ryans tenure, it happened some more. When Kevin McCarthy did the same thing, it contributed to the intraparty revolt that cost him his gavel.
And now, here we are, watching Speaker Johnson do the same thing, reinforcing the fact that one of the major parties on Capitol Hill is focused on constructive policymaking, and its clearly not the GOP.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
More than two years ago, after Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices overturned Roe v. Wade, Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed restoring the rights that the jurists took away. If the filibuster gets in the way, she declared in June 2022, the Senate needs to make an exception to get this done.
The Democrats position has not changed. Indeed, the Democrat reiterated her position during an interview this week with Wisconsin Public Radio. I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe and get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom, and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body, and not have their government tell them what to do, Harris said.
Sen. Joe Manchin, who claimed to be weighing a possible endorsement of his former partys presidential ticket, expressed fresh outrage about the position Harris announced more than two years ago. The New York Times reported:
Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, an independent who considered making a presidential run this year, said on Tuesday that he would not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris after she reiterated her support for eliminating the Senate filibuster to pass abortion rights legislation. Shame on her, Mr. Manchin, who is not running for re-election, told CNN. She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy.
As a practical matter, Manchin walking back the possibility of a Harris endorsement is unlikely to have any meaningful impact on the race: The Democratic ticket wasnt planning to compete in the independent senators home state of West Virginia, and its not as if the senator, whos retiring this year, has vast influence over a huge electoral contingent.
But the merits or lack thereof of Manchins comments are worth examining in more detail.
Part of the problem with the senators perspective is that he appears to genuinely believe in a historical record that simply does not exist in reality.
A couple of years ago, for example, Manchin told Fox News that the filibuster has been the tradition of the Senate ... for 232 years. A week earlier, after rejecting a Democratic voting-rights push, the West Virginian told reporters that he cared about the underlying issue, but he was even more committing to protecting the Senate as it has operated for 232 years.
While Ill concede that debates over Senate procedures can be complex, and fair-minded observers can have competing opinions about tactics and strategies, there are elements of the debate that exist outside the realm of subjectivity. There are certain truths from U.S. history that simply exist. Opinions about them may vary, but they do not change what is demonstrably true.
And what is demonstrably true is that the filibuster did not exist when the Senate was created in 1789. When senators considered proposals, they held a debate and then voted. If a majority of members supported the measure it passed. The institution functioned this way for generations.
Adam Jentleson, a former top aide to the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, has flagged several quotes from the nations Founding Fathers, noting that the Constitutions framers considered the idea of legislative supermajorities, before ultimately rejecting them. This quote from James Madison widely recognized as the father of the Constitution is of particular interest:
In all cases where justice or the general good might require new laws to be passed, or active measures to be pursued, the fundamental principle of free government would be reversed. It would be no longer the majority that would rule: the power would be transferred to the minority.
Alexander Hamilton agreed.
Hamilton rebutted the idea that supermajority thresholds promote compromise, writing: what at first sight may seem a remedy, is, in reality, a poison. It would be wrong to subject the sense of the greater number to that of the lesser, because if a pertinacious minority can control the opinion of a majority, the result would be tedious delays; continual negotiation and intrigue; contemptible compromises of the public good, Hamilton wrote.
If Manchin wants to argue that the nations founders were wrong, fine. Have at it. If the West Virginian and those who agree with him genuinely believe that the Senates traditional model of legislating was wrong, its preferable to require supermajorities, and restoring majority rule to the institution would be a mistake, theyre welcome to make that case.
What Manchin should not do, however, is argue that his position is rooted in the Senates institutional history. It is not.
Proponents of filibuster reform are not looking to change the Senate, so much as theyre trying to restore the Senate to how it used to function.
As for the idea that the filibuster is necessary to protect democracy, Im at a loss as to understand how the West Virginian arrived at such a conclusion. As things stand, with the routinization of filibuster abuses, Americans can put the House, Senate and White House in the hands of one party, only to find that party unable to approve popular legislation backed by most voters because of a procedural roadblock that didnt use to exist.
Manchin is apparently convinced that this procedural roadblock helps preserve democracy. He has this backward.
For his part, Donald Trump celebrated the independent senators statement. Congratulations to Senator Joe Manchin for not endorsing Radical Kamala Harris because of her DEATH WISH for the Filibuster and the Rule of Law, the former president wrote online.
What Trump neglected to mention is that hes repeatedly called for the elimination of the Senates filibuster rule, making his missive about Manchin that much more ridiculous.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Donald Trumps latest campaign event in North Carolina a state the former president has focused considerable attention on lately was ostensibly supposed to focus on manufacturing and job creation. But while the Republican did have a few things to say about his intended topic, he also strayed from his script to talk about one of his favorite subjects.
ranting about Kamala Harris and McDonald's has become a daily thing for Trump pic.twitter.com/gUFUDUGZCw Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 25, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump declared, never worked at McDonalds. It was a fake story. It was a fake story; the press now refuses to write it because its so, you know, this is a simple one. She said she worked at McDonalds and she didnt. ... It was a lie. She never worked at McDonalds over the hot french fries.
The GOP candidate quickly added that he plans to go to a McDonalds in two weeks its always two weeks, isnt it? and he intends to work the french fries. Trump concluded, I will have worked longer and harder at McDonalds than she did if I do that even for half an hour.
If the rhetoric seemed at all familiar, its because Trump has been obsessed to an unhealthy degree with the vice president having worked at McDonalds as a college student.
Its not altogether clear why, exactly, the Republican is convinced that Harris lied about this by all appearances, she really did work there but whatever the trigger, his fixation on the story is increasingly creepy.
In fact, the day before his latest North Carolina event, Trump was in Georgia, where he focused attention on Harris and McDonalds.
The day before that, Trump was in Pennsylvania, where he appeared enraged by the lack of interest in Harris and McDonalds.
A few hours before the Pennsylvania event, Trump wrote on his social media platform, Kamala should take down and disavow all of her Statements that she worked for McDonalds despite the fact that she appears to have worked at McDonalds.
Three days before that, Trump also whined online that Harris made her McDonalds experience a major part of her Campaign. (The only one person making this a major part of the campaign is him.)
Two days earlier, Trump held a rally in North Carolina, where he complained that Oprah Winfrey interviewed Harris but didnt ask about McDonalds.
A week earlier, Trump held a press conference in California, where he also focused attention on Harris and McDonalds. A few hours later, the Republican campaigned in Las Vegas, where he talked about it some more.
The same evening, Trump again turned to his online platform to insist that the Democratic nominee NEVER WORKED AT McDONALDS A TOTAL LIE. LAMESTREAM MEDEA REFUSES TO REPORT THIS FACT.
Its not a fact, and news organizations have refused to go along with Trumps obsession because theres no evidence to bolster his hysterics.
Alas, we can keep going. The week before the Las Vegas event, Trump insisted that Harris never worked at McDonalds. He wrote the same thing two days earlier, after repeating the claim at Washington, D.C., event the day before.
In other words, with fewer than six weeks before Election Day, the Republican nominee appears to be focused at least as much on this issue as anything else.
That, of course, is utterly bonkers, in part because theres literally no evidence that Harris lied, in part because Trump hasnt even tried to substantiate his attack with anything other than repetition, and in part because his obsession isnt likely to move the electoral needle.
The broader circumstances, meanwhile, continue to be noteworthy. The Democratic nominee has been involved in public service for decades, working as a prosecutor, a state attorney general, a U.S. senator, and a vice president. If the GOP candidate and his team are eager to scrutinize her record, there should be plenty of accurate things to choose from.
So why is it that Trump has relied so heavily on made-up nonsense? If Harris is as bad as her partisan critics claim, why cant Trump simply tell the truth and shift his focus away from her college-era fast-food experience?
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Todays edition of quick hits.
* In the Middle East: The Israeli militarys chief of staff told troops that todays barrage of airstrikes was in preparation for a possible ground offensive in Lebanon. The IDF had earlier said it was calling up two reserve brigades to the northern border, as the United States and others urge against an expansion of its conflict with Hezbollah.
* Hurricane Helene is strengthening as it moves past Mexico and toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. It became a Category 1 hurricane today and is expected to hit Floridas Big Bend late tomorrow. Helene is expected to become Category 3 storm. Around 32 million people are under flood watches.
* The Secret Service really didnt need another controversy, but it appears to have one anyway: The U.S. Secret Service is investigating allegations that one of its agents sexually assaulted a female staff member of the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, the agency confirmed Wednesday.
* In Missouri: A Missouri man convicted of murder was executed Tuesday evening after the governor and the Supreme Court rejected efforts by his attorneys and the prosecutors office to halt the execution. Marcellus Williams, 55, was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of Felicia Lisha Gayle, a newspaper reporter found stabbed to death in her home in the St. Louis area. He maintained his innocence.
* An ill-equipped judge gets another huge case: The federal judge who presided over and threw out the criminal classified documents case the Justice Department brought against Donald Trump is now set to oversee the case into the latest apparent assassination attempt against the former president. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon a Trump appointee was randomly assigned the attempted assassination case Tuesday.
* A worthwhile hearing, Part I: Congressional Democrats spent Tuesday pressing Republicans on a slew of policies outlined by Project 2025 a 922-page proposal for a future GOP presidency, written in part by allies of former President Donald Trump holding a mock hearing on Tuesday on some of the key planks in the agenda.
* A worthwhile hearing, Part II: Democrats used a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday to rail against a Supreme Court decision that gave criminal immunity to presidents for official acts, which wiped out part of the allegations in the Washington case against Donald Trump related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
* Liquidating Infowars: Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones Infowars media platform and its assets will be sold off piece by piece in auctions this fall to help pay the more than $1 billion he owes relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, under an order expected to be approved by a federal judge.
* The Affordable Care Act continues to generate good news: The Treasury Departments report shows that 4.2 million small business owners and self-employed workers have coverage through the ACA Marketplaces, up from 3.3 million in 2022 and 1.4 million in 2014.
See you tomorrow.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) A Madison man was sentenced last week for receipt and distribution of child pornography.
According to a U.S. Attorneys Office District of South Dakota press release on Wednesday, Christopher James Smith, 32, was sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison. Smith will have five years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender upon his release from federal prison.
Authorities searching for wanted Minnehaha Co. man
According to the U.S. Attorneys office, between January 18, 2021, and August 19, 2022, Smith knowingly received child porn including victims as young as one and two-years old.
Smith was indicted in August of 2023 and plead guilty on June 26, 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 KELOLAND.com.
Tell us how you really feel, Clay Higgins.
Democrats in the House of Representatives tried to censure Rep. Clay Higgins after the Louisiana Rep. typed up a deranged post targeting Haitian-Americans on Wednesday, calling them thugs and slapstick gangsters who need to get their a-- out of our country.
Many of Higgins colleagues in the House of Representatives were quick to call out the post. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), called the remarks vile, racist and beneath the dignity of the United States House of Representatives.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus moved to censure Higgins shortly after the post was made. Every member of Congress must be clear that we need to eliminate hate in all its forms, Rep Steven Horsford (D-NV), the chair of the caucus, said in a statement. It is time to turn the page on this pattern of denigrating and villainizing immigrants for political gain.
Republicans quickly moved to shut the measures down, the Associated Press reported.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) defended Higgins, telling reporters that after he was confronted by colleagues he went to the back and he prayed about it, and he regretted it, and he pulled the post down. That's what you want the gentleman to do. I'm sure he probably regrets the language he used.
However, Higgins seemed to directly contradict that in a statement given to CNNs Anderson Cooper shortly after the censure battle. Its all true, I can put up another controversial post tomorrow if you want me to, Higgins told the network. I mean, we do have freedom of speech, Ill say what I want.
Higgins, 63, indicated his outrage stemmed from a Haitian nonprofits decision to file criminal charges against JD Vance and Donald Trump for their role in sparking a recent spate of chaos in Springfield, Ohio, which began after they spread an unfounded rumor that Haitian immigrants were stealing and eating residents pets.
These Haitians are wild, Higgins wrote. Eating pets, vudu (sic), nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters but damned if they dont feel all sophisticated now, filing charges against our President and VP.
Higgins closed his since-deleted post with a veiled threat, writing, All these thugs better get their mind right and their a-- out of our country before January 20th.
Twitter
Jan. 20 is slated to be inauguration day for either Trump or Kamala Harris, depending on who wins the election on Nov. 5.
Higgins post elicited shock and mockery in equal measure. As of Wednesday afternoon, its most-liked comment read, Okay grand wizard calm down. Another top response read, Ill give you this much, you just put the racism right out there for everyone to see. You aren't hiding behind a hood.
Donald Trump and JD Vances Pet-Eating Hoax Bites Back With Charges Against Them
Others mocked Higgins for misspelling voodoo, which is particularly ironic since Higgins was born in New Orleans, a city known to have rich history associated with the African diasporic religion.
Higgins, whose cover photo on X is a photo of Trump during his first assassination attempt, has long had a penchant for conspiracy. He suggested last fall that the FBI put operatives into ghost buses to incite the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
More recently, Higgins, a former cop, raged that Thomas Matthew Crooks body was cremated before he could arrive to personally examine it in Pennsylvania. This, he said, meant the coroners report about how Crooks diedby being shot dead by a counter-snipercouldnt be fully trusted.
The problem with me not being able to examine the actual body is that I wont know 100% if the coroners report and the autopsy report are accurate, he said at the time. We will actually never know.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Starting early next year, a longer stretch of Main Street will be converted into a one-way road to make room for additional parking in what has become a busy business district.
The planned upgrades include 45 more parking spaces, a one-way traffic extension from Martin Luther King Jr. Way to O Street, and a westbound directional change along that entire downtown stretch on Main, city planners said.
Business owners and city officials met during an outreach meeting to discuss features to the Main Street One-Way project, an experimental pilot program initially approved by Merced City Council in 2021.
Proponents say the project is a cost-effective solution to improving parking availability and traffic safety in an area that is significant to the citys economic growth
Downtown is so important to have a good city, Mayor Matthew Serrato told The Merced Sun-Star. A bevy of small businesses operate downtown which keeps revenue local, said Serratto, who attended the meeting.
The Department of Transportation will fund a majority of the project, allocating an estimated $630,000 from a federal initiative aimed at reducing traffic congestion and enhancing air quality. The remaining estimated $70,000 will come from Measure V, a half-cent transportation sales tax approved by county voters in 2016, according to Richard Maddox, senior engineer for the city.
Maddox told the approximately 14 community members in attendance that construction would last 60 business days, with phased road closures, and involve minimal construction. Main Street (between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and O Street) would be closed off one section at a time during each phase.
We intentionally are trying to keep this limited to more of a striping project, than were trying to rebuild the road or change the sidewalk, said Maddox, adding that the changes will be limited to painting road markings and updating traffic signs.
Attendants asked how construction would affect businesses and about solutions to regulate the flow of available parking. Its not uncommon for customers, employees and residents to occupy a parking space for several hours at a time.
The convenience of being able to park in front of businesses will probably be interrupted, Maddox said. Shops will nonetheless remain open during the projected 60 business days of construction, he said.
Lena Lara, the store manager at Merced Uniforms & Accessories on Main Street, said shes called tow truck services dozens of times in the past few years due to an increased need for parking. The store, located between M and N streets, will be affected by construction starting next year.
Weve had to call the tow truck several times because they take our parking, she said. Workers in the surrounding area park in reserved spaces for the business, she said. It was maybe two weeks ago, the last time we called the tow truck, and it belonged to one of the cooks. We try, we do our best, we go walk around. I mean, I dont have time. There are signs posted. I dont have time to walk door-to-door asking [people] to move [their] car.
Other community members asked about traffic safety and offered suggestions to protect pedestrians and bicyclists from drivers. The use of red-light cameras was posited as a solution requiring additional traffic studies which Measure C could fund, Maddox said.
When the project is completed, 12 motorcycle stalls and 4 accessible parking spaces will be available, according to Maddox.
Annissa Fragoso, who owns Farmers Insurance Agency on Main Street, attended the meeting to advocate for accessible street parking. I came, and I knew exactly what was on my mind, she said.
When asked how many accessible parking spots the project would generate, Maddox said, Were not taking away any handicap spaces that currently exist, to which Fragoso replied, Theres none. The room broke into side conversations when Maddox did not immediately respond.
While accessible parking does exist along Main Street, Maddox said that there are no accessible parking spaces between M and K streets. The project will change that, he said.
For years, Fragoso said shes asked for more parking spaces downtown that adhere to standards of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). She said she worries for her elderly clients and those with physical disabilities.
Im going to be old one day, Fragoso said. We are not going to stay young forever. The next steps would require a bid on the project by interested contractors, approval by the city council, and securing a contract by the end of the year.
Energy stock prices have been weak, and insiders are taking advantage of that. - Getty Images
Warren Buffett isnt the only one who likes the energy sector. Alongside Berkshire Hathaways BRK.A BRK.B huge purchases of Occidental Petroleum OXY shares, insiders at energy companies have been buying large amounts of stock for weeks and selling very little. Vickers Insider Weekly has singled out the energy sector as an insider favorite in four of the past five weeks, as of Sept. 16.
Buffett plus insiders is a powerful signal. Buffett likes Occidental Petroleums prodigious cash flow and extensive holdings in the U.S. Southwests Permian Basin, which helps make it a low-cost producer. But why are insiders buying?
Most Read from MarketWatch
In the big picture, its because energy-stock prices are seriously lagging. But the weakness wont last forever. Longer term, this is an industry that is going to grow, says Hennessy Energy Transition Investor HNRGX portfolio manager Ben Cook. There will be supportive commodity prices and good earnings and cash flow in the right companies. Thats attractive and the management teams know it. The insiders recognize there is good opportunity.
Heres how out-of-favor the energy sector is:
Unjustified discounts
These steep discounts seem odd for a half-dozen reasons, say energy-investing experts.
Energy companies have become much more shareholder-friendly in the past few years, Cook says. They have better capital-spending discipline, which creates strong free cash flow. They are returning much of that cash to shareholders via dividends and buybacks. The insiders are saying, I am willing to take the downside risk because the investment merit of these stocks has improved, Cook adds.
Plus, oil CL00 BRN00 prices will likely go higher from here. One reason is that the Middle East could be on the brink of a wider war. Yet oil has not budged in response. The risk of geopolitical disruption is not priced into oil at all, Cook says.
Global interest-rate cuts will help. Besides the Fed, central banks in Europe and Canada have been cutting rates to support growth. That creates a healthy environment for energy demand, says Cook. A growing global economy and pursuit of higher quality of living in less-developed countries ultimately mean an increased need for energy. Meanwhile, that capital discipline among U.S. producers keeps supply in check.
Story continues
Global demand for U.S. energy also will support domestic producers and services companies. Global demand will grow at least in line with world GDP growth of 1.5%-2%, Thummel says. Fossil fuels are over 80% of the global energy supply, and that will not dramatically change over the next few decades. Meanwhile, global inventories and the U.S. strategic reserve are below historical level.
Artificial intelligence (AI) requires a lot of computing power, which uses a lot of electricity. This demand will favor natural-gas (NG) producers, notes Thummel, since power plants use a lot of NG. Green at Penn Capital points out that the shares of electric power producers such as Vistra VST, NRG Energy NRG and Talen Energy TLN have taken off this year. The vast majority of that power will be from natural gas, Green says. But you have had no recognition of this in the price of exploration and production stocks and the service companies that provide the drilling rigs.
The U.S. presidential election outcome will be OK for energy, no matter who wins. Democratic administrations are good for energy stocks because they often restrict supply, notes Green. Meanwhile, Donald Trumps drill baby drill mantra might be irrelevant. Trump wont make energy companies drill like crazy because the investor base will not allow that, Green says. Investors like the cash flow, dividends and share buybacks that come from capital spending discipline. The only way they will drill more is if oil prices go up and their cash flow allows them to invest.
Favored energy stocks to consider
Cook at Hennessy says oil-services giants Schlumberger SLB, Baker Hughes BKR and Halliburton HAL all have been disproportionately punished in the current energy-sector weakness. He favors quality energy companies with better balance sheets including Exxon Mobil XOM, Cheniere Energy LNG, EOG Resources EOG, NextEra Energy NEE and ConocoPhillips COP.
Thummel says Chevron CVX shares look excessively discounted because of overblown concerns about foreign investment, which he thinks will soon start paying off. He also singles out Diamondback Energy FANG in the belief that it could be an acquisition target as the consolidation among Permian Basin producers continues. Diamondback is one of the last pure-play Permian producers with significant scale, he says.
Energy stocks insiders are buying
Vickers Insider Weekly highlights bullish energy sector insider buying at: PBF Energy PBF; Texas Pacific Land TPL; Talos Energy TALO; Matador Resources MTDR; Comstock Resources CRK; Global Partners GLP; Hallador Energy HNRG; HighPeak Energy HPK; ProFrac Holding ACDC, and Granite Ridge Resources GRNT.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) A major operation targeting violent crime in Oklahoma City resulted in dozens of defendants being charged with firearm and drug crimes. The two month, multi-partnership initiative was announced Tuesday morning by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma City is safer today, U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester said. Safer because 50 individuals have been charged in federal and state court with a variety of firearms and drug trafficking offense.
Operation Sonic Boom is what led to those charges. Troester said 193 guns, including 83 machine gun conversion devices, or MCDs, and nearly 140 pounds of drugs with a street value of $750,000 were all recovered in the initiative.
Machine gun conversion devices. Photo courtesy KFOR.
Seized guns from Operation Sonic Boom. Photo courtesy KFOR.
Seized equipment from Operation Sonic Boom. Photo courtesy KFOR.
Seized guns from Operation Sonic Boom. Photo courtesy KFOR.
Operation Sonic Boom press conference. Photo courtesy KFOR.
180 guns, plus guns in two months, less than two months really, should scare everybody, said Special Agent Jeff Boshek with the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives Dallas Field Office.
Troester and others involved in the operation zeroed in on the MCDs, also known as switches, that he called a clear and present danger to citizens.
These small either plastic or metal devices can convert handguns and rifles into fully automatic weapons, machine guns, Troester said.
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They can be made by 3-D printers like one they recovered in the operation, or ordered from overseas and online. Right now, Troester said theyre not illegal under Oklahoma law, but they are illegal under federal law. Since another operation last year called Switch Off, they recovered 86 of those while charging 39 people.
When law enforcement finds them, we will prosecute them, Troester said.
In their words, it was a successful operation.
We cant quantify the lives that were saved by this operation, Oklahoma City Police Chief Ron Bacy said.
But its against a problem they feel theyll be fighting a lot in the future.
Were still here and were not leaving. Were doubling down, Boshek said.
Over 40 of the defendants charged in Sonic Boom are being charged federally. Only eight of them are facing state charges in Oklahoma County. The numbers listed in the beginning of the story are the collective recoveries over the course of the operation and not attributed to each defendant.
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Man, 56, struck by van driver in second fatal Bronx hit-run crash this week
A 56-year-old man crossing a Bronx street was fatally struck by a hit-and-run van driver Wednesday the second time this week a pedestrian in the borough has been killed by a driver who sped off.
The latest victim was crossing E. 163rd St. near Westchester Ave. in Longwood when the driver of a burgundy van rammed into him at about 6:30 a.m. and kept going, cops said.
Medics rushed the victim to Lincoln Hospital, but he could not be saved. His name was not immediately released.
At about 12:35 p.m. Monday, 64-year-old SM Akhtaruzzaman was fatally struck as he crossed Bronxwood Ave. at E. 229th St., just down the block from his Wakefield home, cops said.
The driver of Chevy Silverado with a tow hitch attached, who had a green light, was turning left onto the avenue. Akhtaruzzaman was in the crosswalk and had the walk signal when he was struck, cops said.
Neither driver has been caught.
The crashes come as cops have been struggling with a 26% jump in pedestrian fatalities this year.
As of Sept. 19, cops have investigated 85 pedestrian deaths compared with 67 by that time last year.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KNWA/KFTA) A Missouri man charged in federal court with allegedly aiding in the kidnapping and murder of a pregnant Arkansas woman is expected to change his plea.
Jamie Waterman. Photo courtesy Greene County (MO) Jail
Jamie Waterman is accused of assisting his wife, Amber Waterman, in the kidnapping and murder of Ashley Bush and her unborn child in 2022.
Amber Waterman was charged with kidnapping resulting in death and the death of an unborn child. Initially pleading not guilty, she changed her plea to guilty during a hearing in Springfield on July 30.
Attorneys for Amber Waterman want Benton County charges dismissed because of double jeopardy
Jamie Waterman, charged as an accessory after the fact to the kidnapping resulting in death, was scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 25, with a trial planned for October. However, the hearing was canceled the day before, and a plea change hearing has since been scheduled, according to court documents.
This plea change hearing is now set for Oct. 15, coinciding with the expected sentencing of Amber Waterman to life in prison without parole.
Case timeline
October 25, 2022: Investigators believe Amber created a fake Facebook account named Lucy Barrows to lure Ashley Bush into a meeting under the pretense of a job offer.
October 28, 2022: Ashley meets Lucy at the Gravette Public Library, where Lucy offers baby supplies. Ashleys fiance, Josh Willis, feels uneasy about the situation.
October 31, 2022: Ashley is dropped off at a store by Willis but goes missing after texting him. Her phone is later found in a ditch. Meanwhile, Amber claims to have gone into labor and delivers a stillborn child that evening, with evidence suggesting the baby was cut out of her.
November 1, 2022: Police interview the Watermans and search their home and vehicle, discovering Ambers lost phone and inconsistencies in her statements.
Arraignment rescheduled for Garfield man accused of negligent homicide
November 2, 2022: The Watermans hold a memorial service for Ambers stillborn child. The Benton County Coroner later requests a DNA swab from the baby.
November 3, 2022: Police seize a vehicle from the Watermans and find blood stains. Jamie Waterman confesses that Amber killed Ashley and led him to dispose of her body, which he burned.
After the arrest: The Watermans are arrested and booked into jail. Federal prosecutors request they be held without bond.
November 10, 2022: Benton County Prosecutor Nathan Smith charges Amber with two counts of capital murder and one count of kidnapping, seeking the death penalty. Jamie remains charged federally, lacking evidence for state charges.
December 2, 2022: Jamie Waterman pleads not guilty to the charges against him.
July 30, 2024: Nearly two years after the crime, Amber Waterman pleads guilty to kidnapping resulting in death and causing the death of an unborn child. Her sentencing is scheduled for October 15, where she faces a life sentence without parole.
Stay with KNWA/FOX24 as this story continues to develop.
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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) A man has been acquitted of burglarizing a Bakersfield home, his attorney at trial pointing out inconsistencies in witness testimony, according to a release from the Kern County Public Defenders Office.
A jury on Thursday found James Rudy Govea not guilty of felony residential burglary. He had faced up to six years in prison if convicted.
Govea remains in custody on unrelated misdemeanor cases.
We thank the jury for their thorough review of the evidence, which brought the truth to light and delivered a just not guilty verdict, Deputy Public Defender Brandon Mata, Goveas attorney, said in the release.
On May 8, police were called to Pershing Street and spoke with a homeowner who said she saw someone fleeing her property. The suspect took a bicycle when confronted.
Police searched the area and found Govea, whom the homeowner identified as the burglar.
At trial, Mata maintained his clients innocence, pointing out several inconsistencies in witness testimony, according to the release.
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KETTERING, Ohio (WDTN) Students at Kettering Fairmont High School faced a frightening situation Tuesday morning as a reported religious activist shouted offensive statements as they walked into class.
Amidst several threat hoaxes, school safety has become a rising concern for school officials and parents alike.
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A man stood on Shroyer Road and used a bullhorn to shout derogatory statements against the LGBTQ+ community. The incident was caught on cell phone camera by families dropping their kids off at school for the day. One parent confronted the man as he continued to create a scene.
The man was not arrested but was asked to leave the premises. One parent told 2 NEWS after her child went inside, she was not leaving until the man was gone.
And I said, well, we cant leave until we know our kids are safe. And I said, are all the doors locked at Fairmont? And they said, absolutely, said Aimee Butts, parent.
In a statement sent to parents shortly after the incident, Kettering City Schools Superintendent Mindy McCarty-Stewart addressed the incident and commended their students for remaining composed while it happened.
With many districts in the Miami Valley being targets of false threats, parents say they are now more concerned about sending their kids to school.
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You never know what people are going to do. Theyre kind of just looking at them like, what is he doing out here? What is he going to do? Like, is this going to be a situation type of thing? So it was a little scary, said Allison Adams, parent.
The school says they are working with local law enforcement to address this incident. Counseling is available for students who would like to speak to someone.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com.
A 64-year-old Rome man was arrested after he was accused of making threats and harassing 911 dispatchers.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
On Monday, around 8 p.m., Floyd County deputies arrested Steve Lorenzo Miller, 64, of Rome.
Authorities said Miller called 911 a total of 39 times. Millers sole purpose for calling was to annoy and harass, according to Floyd County officials.
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The following day, around 10 a.m., Miller had his first court appearance.
While leaving the courtroom, deputies said Floyd threatened to kill the judge.
Once jailers got Miller inside his cell, they said he threatened to have someone kill the judge.
Miller was charged with unlawful conduct during 911 calls and two counts of intimidation or injury of an officer or court.
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WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) Charges are filed against a Kansas man authorities said sexually assaulted a friends daughter in a supply closet of a Wichita Falls church.
Matthew Heideman is jailed on $200,000 bonds on two counts of sexual assault.
Victims testify in two Wichita County child sex crime trials
The 14-year-old victim said she knew Heideman through her father and they had been texting each other through social media without her fathers knowledge.
Last March she said Heideman asked her to meet him at the restroom at the church.
The victim said when she met Heideman at the bathroom, he pulled her into an adjacent supply closet and sexually assaulted her twice.
The father told police he volunteers and teaches Sunday school at the church on Sunday mornings and the victim is without direct adult supervision during those times. He said he believes the assault occurred Sunday, March 17, 2024.
Police said an inspection of the church and storage room matched the girls descriptions, and they also found evidence the two had been messaging during that time period.
The girl also told police that a week before the assault her father and Heideman came to her mothers residence to take her home and that Heideman hugged her and grabbed her buttocks.
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.
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WICHITA CO. (KFDX/KJTL) Wichita County deputies said a man on railroad property drove his vehicle at a person sent to check out suspicious activity and then ran into the side of her van.
Deputies said the suspect, Kevin Siegwarth, fled from the scene and was later found hiding under a nearby house. He is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal mischief and evading arrest.
Wichita Falls teen arrested after overnight robbing spree
A deputy said he was called to the disturbance at Fisher Road at the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway tracks on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 22. The victim was in a crew transport van there and said she was sent there by a train crew member to find out what a suspicious man in a Camaro was doing.
She said he was acting strange and asked her about some railroad equipment and who owned it.
She said she began recording him, he accelerated his vehicle toward her, and she had to move to avoid being hit.
The deputy said the video shows her yelling at the man not to hit her, and after she moved out of the way, he put his car in reverse and backed up very quickly, almost striking her again with the rear bumper.
The deputy said the suspect then accelerated toward the victims van and hit it on the drivers side door. The suspect then peeled off in the gravel and fled on Business 287.
The suspects vehicle was traced to a house on Homestead Lane. When deputies went there, they saw Siegwarth and told him to stop, but he ran inside. They say he was found hiding under the house and eventually crawled out.
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.
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Man dies after being hit with bottle in Prague
A man has died after being hit over the head with a vodka bottle while he was on holiday in the Czech Republic.
Dai Richards, understood to be from Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was on a night out in Prague on Friday.
Police said Mr Richards was hit on the head at about 23:00 local time (22:00 BST) and was taken to hospital where he later died.
Police in Prague said they have arrested a 26-year-old man in connection with Mr Richards' death.
The family told WalesOnline that Mr Richards had returned from a family holiday on Thursday night before heading to Prague on Friday for the stag do of a close friend.
"He left the house at 5am and it was by 10pm that night our time Gemma and Jola had a phone call from [Mr Richards' friend] Nathan to say that there was an incident that had happened with David and the whole family needed to get a flight as soon as possible as he was critical," they said.
They said that when they arrived they hoped Mr Richards would pull through his injuries. However life-support machines were switched off on Saturday afternoon.
Police said a rift broke out between two groups of tourists in the Narodni trida area of the city, who at first spoke calmly but then: "There was a rift between them and one of them hit the other on the head with a bottle of vodka."
However, Mr Richards' family have called it a blind attack.
The family paid also paid tribute to Mr Richards by saying he had "the heart of a lion" and described him as "the glue to the family."
"He was an absolutely amazing father, partner, son, brother, and friend. There isn't a bad word to be said about him," they added.
Paying tribute, AFC Abercynon said the world had "lost a good man, a father, a son and a brother".
In statement online, it said it was a "loss for all of us, but the grief and sorrow that you as a family must feel are the deepest and most poignant and personal".
A fundraising page has been set up to support the family.
The Foreign Office have said they were supporting Mr Richards' family.
WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) A man is facing abduction charges after a woman reported that he took off in a vehicle with her children after an argument.
The incident on Monday nearly set off an Amber Alert, though a police report notes that officers were able to find the children, as well as the suspect.
The incident started just before 9 p.m. An Akron woman called police to report that her ex-boyfriend had left her stranded at a bar on Mahoning Avenue.
She told police that she went to pick up the suspect, Antonio Carter, from jail and took her two children, ages 2 and 4, with her. She said they were on their way back to Akron when she and Carter got into an argument and Carter pulled her out of the truck on Mahoning Avenue and left her there, breaking her phone in the process, according to a police report.
The woman said Carter then took off with both of the children in the vehicle.
The woman told police that a family member of Carters picked her up and she got out of the vehicle at a nearby laundromat and called 911.
Police later found the children at the womans mothers house, and Carters truck was down the road from his house. Police arrested Carter after he later showed up at the mothers house, the report stated.
Carter was transported to the Summit County Jail, facing local abduction charges.
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Overview of the Recent Transaction
On September 24, 2024, Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)'s firm made a notable adjustment in its investment portfolio by reducing its stake in Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC). The transaction involved the sale of 21,561,209 shares, which resulted in a 2.58% decrease in the firm's holdings in the bank. This move had a trade impact of -0.31% on the portfolio, with the shares being traded at a price of $40.01 each. Following this transaction, the firm still holds a substantial number of shares, totaling 814,347,226, making BAC a significant holding with an 11.67% position in the portfolio and a 10.49% stake in the company.
Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio), often referred to as "The Oracle of Omaha," is a legendary figure in the investment world. As the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett transformed a textile company into a major conglomerate, primarily focusing on insurance and other diverse investments. Buffett's investment philosophy, deeply influenced by Benjamin Graham, emphasizes understanding a business's fundamentals, long-term prospects, and intrinsic value. This approach has consistently outperformed the market, making Buffett one of the most followed investors globally.
Warren Buffett's Recent Adjustment in Bank of America Holdings
Insight into Bank of America Corp
Bank of America is a premier financial institution in the United States, boasting over $3.0 trillion in assets. It operates through various segments including consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, and global markets. The company's significant scale and diversified operations have positioned it as a key player in the financial sector, primarily serving the U.S. market but also maintaining a presence in several other countries.
Warren Buffett's Recent Adjustment in Bank of America Holdings
Analysis of the Trade's Market Impact
The reduction in Bank of America shares by Buffett's firm might raise questions about the timing and rationale, especially given the stock's current valuation. As of the latest data, BAC is considered "Fairly Valued" with a GF Value of $38.49 and a price to GF Value ratio of 1.02. The stock has experienced a year-to-date increase of 16.37%, indicating a robust performance in the current fiscal year.
Current Market Valuation and Stock Performance
Bank of America's stock currently holds a GF Score of 82/100, suggesting good potential for future performance. The stock's profitability and growth ranks are particularly notable, reflecting its solid market standing and operational efficiency. However, the stock's financial strength could be a concern, as indicated by its Financial Strength rank.
Story continues
Comparative Analysis with Other Major Investors
Other notable investors like Dodge & Cox, Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), and Richard Pzena (Trades, Portfolio) also hold significant positions in Bank of America, highlighting the stock's appeal in the financial sector. This collective interest from top investors further underscores the bank's importance in investment portfolios, including that of Buffett's firm.
Conclusion
Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)'s recent transaction involving Bank of America shares reflects a strategic adjustment in Berkshire Hathaway's extensive portfolio. While the reduction is relatively small, it aligns with Buffett's disciplined investment approach, focusing on value and long-term growth. Investors and market watchers will likely keep a close eye on subsequent moves by Buffett's firm, as these could signal broader market trends or shifts in economic outlook.
This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
LEMON GROVE, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) The San Diego County Sheriffs Office has released the name of the man who was found shot and killed in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Lemon Grove Wednesday night.
On Tuesday, the department said the body of 23-year-old Darron Willie Singleton Jr. of Lemon Grove was discovered around 11 p.m. last Wednesday following several calls of gun shots in the 2200 block of Dain Court.
San Diego police officer dies in Riverside County after DUI arrest
They said deputies began lifesaving efforts until medics arrived, but Singleton Jr. ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The Medical Examiners Office completed the autopsy on Friday, the department said. Preliminary results indicated the manner of death was multiple gunshot wounds and the cause of death was a homicide.
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Homicide investigators are still working to gather more information regarding what led to Singleton Jr.s death. Currently, there is no confirmed suspect in this case, according to the department.
Anyone with more information about the incident is asked to contact the Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330. Callers can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) A man was found guilty by a Pennington County jury of assaulting a law enforcement officer.
According to the Pennington County States Attorneys Office, 31-year-old Richard Ingalls was found guilty after he strangled a Rapid City Police officer in January 2024. Sentencing for Ingalls is scheduled for Nov. 4 where he faces a maximum of 25 years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine.
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According to Pennington County officials, Ingalls was staying at the Cornerstone Rescue Mission when he became aggressive and the staff contacted the police. When the first officer arrived he attempted to detain Ingalls in handcuffs. Ingalls resisted, grabbed the officers neck gaiter and began strangling him, constricting his airway.
The officer was able to free himself and hit Ingalls until bystanders intervened and assisted the officer.
The jurys verdict sends a clear message that violence, especially against law enforcement officers in our community, will not be tolerated, Senior Deputy States Attorney Olivia Siglin said in a news release.
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SCOTT, La. (KLFY) A man who was caught on video being choked by a Scott Police lieutenant at this years Scott Boudin Festival has been shot to death, and a suspect has been arrested in connection with the murder, authorities said.
Treveon Cobb, 21, is charged with second-degree murder, according to police.
Authorities said officers with the Scott Police Department responded at approximately 7:20 p.m. Monday to the 1200 block of Victoria Street in reference to a shooting in progress. Officers found a victim suffering from gunshot wounds who was pronounced dead on the scene.
The victim was identified as 21-year-old Anthony Babino. Babinos story went viral after video was released showing Scott Police Lieutenant Brun Lavergne allegedly choking the unarmed Babino outside the annual Scott Boudin Festival.
Travean Cobb
Harry Daniels, Babinos attorney, said the family will continue to fight for accountability in the alleged choking.
This is a heartbreaking moment for the Babino family. But we cannot let Anthonys death be the death of justice, Daniels said. Now its up to us to fight even harder in Anthonys memory so this kind of wanton violence ends today.
Cobbs bond was set at $500,000.
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Maxwell Rusey, formerly of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court [Kent Police]
A man behind a romance fraud in which a Medway woman was scammed out of more than 120,000 has been jailed for five years.
Maxwell Rusey, formerly of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on 23 September.
In May 2023, a woman came forward to tell police she had transferred a lot of money to a man she had met online, but now believed she had been defrauded.
She had joined a website to meet new people and had been contacted by a man who claimed to be an army officer involved in "covert operations" in Mali.
Following further messages between the two, the man said he wanted to live with the victim when he returned to the UK.
He told her he had a consignment of gold which he needed to import back to the UK and asked if she could help his friend pay the relevant duties and taxes.
The woman agreed and, in 16 separate transactions in 2022 and 2023, paid 128,500 into accounts the man claimed belonged to his colleague.
Detectives from Kent Police discovered that Rusey was responsible for setting up the accounts.
'Particularly cruel offence'
He was arrested in March 2024 and later charged with fraud and money laundering offences after a fake passport used to set up one of the accounts was found in his possession.
The 53-year-old admitted money laundering and possession of articles for use in fraud.
Det Con Mark Newman said: "Romance fraud is a particularly cruel offence which causes serious emotional harm for victims, as well as the financial impact it entails.
"Many victims struggle to report offences due to the level of deception used by fraudsters and I would like to praise the victim in this case for coming forward and supporting this prosecution."
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NORTH HAVERHILL, N.H. (AP) A man who pleaded guilty as a teenager to the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors is challenging his life-without-parole sentence, saying that the New Hampshire Constitution prohibits it.
Robert Tulloch was 17 when he killed Half Zantop and Susanne Zantop in Hanover as part of a conspiracy he and his best friend concocted to rob and kill people before fleeing to Australia with their ill-gotten gains.
A hearing was held Wednesday in Grafton County Superior Court to consider legal issues raised in Tullochs case. Tulloch, 41, chose not to attend.
His attorney, Richard Guerriero, said that a child defendant should have the opportunity to at least be considered for parole.
Were not asking you to find that you can never sentence a juvenile to life in prison, Guerriero told Judge Lawrence MacLeod Jr. Were not asking you to find that a person who commits a homicide before the age of 17 is guaranteed to have to be released from prison.
Tulloch awaits resentencing at a later date, following a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Another opinion made that decision retroactive, giving hundreds of juvenile lifers a shot at freedom. In 2021, the court found that a minor did not have to be found incapable of being rehabilitated before being sentenced to life without parole.
At least 28 states have banned such sentences for crimes committed when the defendant is a child. But efforts to pass similar legislation in New Hampshire have not succeeded.
The New Hampshire attorney generals office has not yet recommended what term Tulloch should serve when he is resentenced. The office says its possible it will ask for a similar life-without-parole sentence.
The New Hampshire Constitution says no court of law shall deem excessive bail or sureties, impose excessive fines, or inflict cruel or unusual punishments.
That language would include sentencing someone to life without parole when they commit a crime as a child, Guerriero said.
It is cruel in the constitutional sense to punish children the same way we punish adults, when in every other context we recognize that they are different, he said, adding, Theyre not fully formed yet.
He also argued Wednesday that the state constitutions language is broader and offers more protection for individual rights than the U.S. Constitutions, such as greater ease in challenging a police warrant and trial rights for juveniles.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire and other organizations filed a brief in support of Tulloch.
Benjamin Agati, senior assistant attorney general, noted that Tulloch is the last of five men who awaits resentencing as directed by the state supreme court. Three were resentenced to lengthy terms with a chance at parole. One was resentenced to life without parole after refusing to attend his hearing or authorize his attorneys to argue for a lesser sentence. None of them brought up the constitutional argument that Guerriero has, he said.
Agati agreed that the New Hampshire Constitution is more protective than the federal constitution, but said that applies to government intrusion, not to a judicial determination of an appropriate sentence.
If theres a change to be made, its a change to be made in the Legislature, he said.
If a judge finds that the state constitution permits life-without-parole sentences for crimes committed by children, Guerriero also asked for findings that a defendant is incapable of change and proof beyond a reasonable doubt that such a sentence is appropriate. Agati said Tulloch should be sentenced just like any other defendant without an additional burden of proof on the part of the state.
Tullochs friend, James Parker, 40, was released from prison on parole in June. He was 16 when the crimes were committed. Parker had pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to second-degree murder in the death of Susanne Zantop. He served nearly the minimum term of his 25-years-to-life sentence.
Parker agreed to testify against Tulloch, who had planned to use an insanity defense at his trial. But Tulloch changed his mind and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
The teens, bored with their lives in nearby Chelsea, Vermont, wanted to move to Australia and estimated they needed $10,000 for the trip. They eventually decided they would knock on homeowners doors under the pretext of conducting a survey on environmental issues, then tie up their victims and steal their credit cards and ATM information. They planned to make their captives provide their PINs before killing them.
For about six months, they had tried to talk their way into four other homes in Vermont and New Hampshire, but were turned away or found no one home.
Parker, who cooperated with prosecutors, said they picked the Zantop house because it looked expensive and it was surrounded by trees. Susanne Zantop, 55, was head of Dartmouths German studies department and her husband, Half Zantop, 62, taught Earth sciences.
Parker and Tulloch were arrested weeks later.
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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) A miner was killed in a work-related accident Tuesday night at the Oak Grove Mine.
According to the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), 52-year-old Jose Lara was killed in the accident and leaves behind a wife and three children.
We are deeply saddened by the loss of Brother Lara, and we are committed to uncovering the details of his death to help prevent future tragedies, UMWA International President Cecil Roberts said. Please join us in keeping the Lara family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
Operations at the mine are suspended while an investigation into the accident is completed.
This is the ninth coal mine fatality of 2024 and first in Alabama, according to the UMWA.
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Man killed in shootout with Northern California deputies after brief chase near Marysville
A man was killed in a shootout late Tuesday with sheriffs deputies near Marysville after leading them on a brief chase.
The deadly events unfolded in Browns Valley about 14 miles northeast of Marysville. A Yuba County sheriffs deputy tried to stop the driver of a truck on Marysville Road near Shadowbrook Trail about 10:25 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Sheriffs Office. It was not immediately known why deputies attempted to stop the man.
The driver did not stop and a 30-minute chase ended when the truck broke down on Highway 20 between Hallwood and Walnut avenues in the community of Hallwood, just northeast of Marysville, sheriffs officials said. Yuba City Police Department officers joined the chase.
Deputies said the man opened fire from his truck just before 11 p.m., trading gunfire with deputies. Deputies pronounced the man dead at the scene. The shooting and investigation into the incident shut down Highway 20 in Yuba County in both directions for hours.
No deputies were hurt in the fatal shooting, authorities said. The mans name was not released pending notification of family members.
Highway 20 reopened to traffic at 11:15 a.m., said California Highway Patrol officials.
Man o War Boulevard in Lexington closed after serious collision injures four people
All lanes of Man o War Boulevard were closed because of a serious three-vehicle crash at Mount McKinley Way in Lexington Tuesday night.
Four people were sent to a hospital.
The Lexington Police Department was called to the scene at about 6 p.m., said Lt. Brandon Helm.
Crews extricated two patients with serious injuries, according to a Lexington Fire Department spokesperson. Four ambulances responded to the scene.
Helm said one of the people who was taken to the hospital had life-threatening injuries.
As of about 8 p.m., traffic was being routed off Man o War at Pimlico Parkway and Mout McKinley Way, he said.
The Lexington Police Departments Collision Reconstruction Unit was investigating the collision, which Helm said involved two passenger vehicles and a pickup truck.
This story will be updated.
LIBERTY TWP., Ohio (WKBN) Police say a man on parole for an attempted kidnapping conviction was charged with kidnapping again after they received a report from a woman who said he held her against her will.
Police met with a woman at a hotel on Perni Lane around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. She had reported that a man she had been seeing, 34-year-old Anthony Jackson, had assaulted her the previous day and then would not let her get out of the vehicle he was driving. She added that Jackson also took her phone and keys to her vehicle and refused to give them back, according to a police report.
Police were called after Jackson allowed the woman to get out of the vehicle to use the restroom at the hotel, the report stated.
Officers found Jackson sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot, and he told officers that he was waiting for a friend and kept asking if someone had called on him, the report stated.
Police learned that Jackson was on parole for an attempted kidnapping and assault conviction from 2022 in Trumbull County. He was sentenced to 13 months in prison on Nov. 14, 2023, for that crime, according to court records.
Police further questioned Jackson as to what had occurred with the woman. He denied arguing with her but said he wanted her to cool off so he put her in the back seat, the report stated. He denied hitting her but admitted to taking her phone, saying he didnt want her to call the police, according to the report.
During a search of the vehicle, which was a rental under the womans name, police reported finding a claw hammer inside a bookbag with Jacksons identification cards. The womans phone was on the center console area of the vehicle.
Jackson is charged with kidnapping, a first-degree felony; and disrupting public services, a fourth-degree felony. He was arraigned Wednesday in Girard Municipal Couty and is being held in the Trumbull County Jail without bond.
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Man pleads no contest to lesser charge in child porn case
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) A 21-year-old man who faced a child pornography charge has pleaded no contest to a lesser offense, according to court records.
Austin Brodsly pleaded no contest Tuesday to a misdemeanor count of advertising obscene matter. A charge of possession of child pornography was dismissed.
Prosecutors say hell be placed on misdemeanor probation and have to serve 300 hours of community service and complete 48 sex offender treatment counseling sessions. His electronic devices will be subject to search.
Brodsly was 17 at the time he received the illicit materials, prosecutors say, and 19 when authorities discovered them. A total of four video clips were recovered.
Due to his age, background, and prospects, our office believes this was a fair resolution to the case, District Attorneys Office spokeswoman Daniela Gonzaga said.
Brodslys attorney, Jared Thompson of Humphrey & Thompson, said his client downloaded many images or videos of adult pornography, and scattered among them were a few videos that are questionable at best.
He said authorities never determined the ages of those in the four dubious clips.
For each questionable video, Thompson added, there were thousands of mainstream adult images suggesting Brodsly wasnt searching for illegal content.
My belief is that he inadvertently obtained those questionable videos, Thompson said.
An investigator who viewed two videos uploaded to an account linked to Brodsly wrote in court documents that a different girl was in each video, and both appeared to be between 8 to 10.
Thompson argued they did not appear that young, and that data from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children indicated they were postpubescent.
On the morning of May 30, 2023, police served a warrant at Brodslys home on Prescott Forest Court in northwest Bakersfield.
Brodsly told police he received pornographic material but didnt believe it involved minors, according to court documents. He also said he sent pornography through Snapchat and the chatting app Discord, documents said.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
The Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum and the Azret Sultan State Historical and Cultural Reserve Museum in Kazakhstan have signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation, Azernews reports.
The directors of both institutions, Amina Malikova from the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum and Maulen Sadikbekov from the Azret Sultan State Historical and Cultural Reserve Museum, expressed their confidence that this memorandum will not only enhance cooperation between the museums but also contribute significantly to the development of cultural ties between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
The memorandum aims to cultivate and expand the fruitful bilateral relations between the two museums, focusing on collaboration in the fields of science and culture while creating the necessary opportunities to facilitate such endeavors.
The parties agreed to conduct fundamental research in museum studies and to enable knowledge exchange among specialists, which aims to study mutual experiences and enhance professional development.
The document outlines plans to organize scientific research conferences and seminars at the request of either party, providing a platform for professionals to share their insights and findings.
The memorandum also stipulates various important aspects of museum operations, including the implementation of joint exhibition projects, the development of exhibition plans, and the exchange of scientific and methodological literature between the two institutions.
Founded in 1967, the National Carpet Museum holds more than 14,000 exhibits of the finest Azerbaijani carpets.
Initiated by eminent carpet artist Latif Karimov, the museum is beautiful inside and out.
The museum's new building is designed in the form of a rolled carpet. Now, the museum hosts multiple events, including international symposiums, conferences, and various exhibitions.
In 2019, the museum received national status for its significant contribution to promoting Azerbaijani carpet weaving art.
In 2020, the Carpet Museum enriched its collection with a beautiful pile of carpets purchased by the Culture Ministry at the Sartirana Textile Show in Italy.
The 19th-century Guba carpet "Ugakh" was donated to the Carpet Museum, while the Garabagh carpet "Chelebi" enriched the collection of the museum's Shusha branch.
For four years, the Carpet Museum won the Travellers' Choice Awards. The award proves once again that the professional activity of the National Carpet Museum is highly appreciated by visitors from all over the world.
Azret Sultan State Historical and Cultural Reserve Museum was established in 1978, 30 August, as the National Museum of the architectural complex of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi.
In 1989, 28 August, it was reorganized as the Azret Sulta State Historical and Cultural Reserve Museum.
The main activity of the museum-reserve takes place in two directions. The first involves its protective role, which is dedicated to the safeguarding and preservation of historical and cultural sites located in the Turkestan region.
The total area allocated for these state-certified historical and cultural monuments spans 557.1935 hectares and encompasses 207 sites: 1 of which is recognized for its international significance, while 16 hold national importance and 14 are of local relevance.
In 2003, the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, renowned as an exceptional example of medieval architecture, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List due to its international significance.
Over the last couple of years, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as the world's next megatrend. Thus far, breakthroughs in generative AI have mostly revolved around the technology industry.
In particular, semiconductor specialist Nvidia is viewed as the engine powering the AI vehicle right now. Demand for its most powerful graphics processing units (GPUs) has been off the charts, and investors have cheered on the stock accordingly. That said, many use cases for AI remain largely overlooked by investors.
One of them is how AI is creating exciting new opportunities in the healthcare space. Among the companies leading the charge for AI in the medical world are giant Novo Nordisk and a relatively tiny Hippocratic AI, but I see Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) as the top opportunity. Here's why.
AI is a big opportunity in healthcare
AI can impact several areas along the healthcare spectrum, including service-oriented jobs such as nursing, software platforms, and hardware devices.
According to Precedence Research, the global total addressable market (TAM) for healthcare AI sits at around $26.7 billion today. This market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 37% from 2024 to 2034 -- reaching $614 billion. The U.S. healthcare AI market alone is forecast to be worth $195 billion by 2034.
Image Source: Getty Images
What companies are bringing AI to healthcare?
One of the biggest challenges facing the healthcare industry right now is staffing. According to a report published by multinational conglomerate Philips, staffing shortages in hospital settings are spurring demand for more digital infrastructure in the form of automation solutions.
A start-up called Hippocratic AI is tackling that worker shortage head-on by developing healthcare agents powered by large language models (LLM). The company is essentially seeking to bring artificial general intelligence to the healthcare world and is leveraging Nvidia's Avatar Cloud Engine to do it.
Another influential company that is helping bridge the gap between healthcare and AI is Danish pharmaceutical powerhouse Novo Nordisk, the developer of diabetes and obesity care treatments Ozempic and Wegovy.
Novo Nordisk is teaming up with French IT company Atos to develop a supercomputer that is meant to spearhead research in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. It will be powered by GPUs from both Nvidia and Intel, and will be stored within one of Digital Realty's data centers in Denmark.
Why do I see Lilly as the top opportunity?
While the projects from Novo Nordisk and Hippocratic AI are exciting, I think there are some risks surrounding their ambitions. For starters, Hippocratic AI is still a start-up. It could take quite a long time before the company makes significant inroads in treating patients (assuming it does at all). Furthermore, I see Novo Nordisk's supercomputing project as quite broad -- making the investment prospects a little unattractive.
Story continues
By contrast, Eli Lilly has identified a specific opportunity to pursue and is leveraging AI to find solutions. Namely, it has teamed up with ChatGPT developer OpenAI to assist with research for treating drug-resistant pathogens.
According to a report from MarketsandMarkets, the global market size for antimicrobial resistance will reach $7.7 billion by 2028. In addition, the World Bank is forecasting that the negative economic impacts of antimicrobial resistance could top $1 trillion annually by 2030.
Eli Lilly is already celebrated as one of the world's leading drug companies. Its portfolio includes many blockbusters, including Verzenio, Trulicity, Taltz, Jardiance, Mounjaro, and Zepbound. Moreover, the company is about to make a splash in the $31 billion Alzheimer's disease market.
Not only is Eli Lilly focusing on a large and underserved area of the healthcare realm, but it's teaming up with one of the biggest names in AI to tackle that challenge. I suspect it will take years before Lilly has a breakthrough in developing an effective new antimicrobial drug that works against bacteria that have become resistant to currently available treatments. Or, its efforts could ultimately fail.
However, if I had to choose one company that I see as most likely to find success at the intersection of AI and healthcare, I would choose Eli Lilly. Given its long track record in drug development and its commitment to innovation, I see some parallels between Nvidia's signature on the tech sector and Eli Lilly's influence in healthcare.
I think it's laying the groundwork for long-term success and will achieve a new level of innovation beyond its medical laboratories. If investors are looking for a high-growth opportunity in healthcare AI, I see Eli Lilly as the best choice.
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(FOX40.COM) A man was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to four counts of second-degree murder in the case of a deadly crash on I-80 in November 2021.
The Nevada County District Attorneys Office said Michael Kelley was sentenced to 36 years to life. He was charged with murder since he was found to be under the influence at the time of the crash and had a previous DUI conviction.
More closures coming to Sacramento area freeways
DUI-related convictions in California include what is known as the Watson advisement, when a person is warned in court that another DUI-related incident that causes death may include a murder charge.
On the morning of November 20, 2021, Kelley had a blood alcohol level that was more than twice the legal limit when he entered the highway near Truckee, the DAs office said.
The Montano family, two 29-year-old parents and their three children under age 10 had also departed that morning from North Highlands heading toward Utah when they crashed into Kelleys vehicle near Eagle Lakes Road.
Man and infant in wrong car seat die in Northern California crash
Both parents and two of their children died in the crash. The only survivor in their vehicle was the youngest child, who was 4 at the time, although he had multiple injuries, family members and the familys attorney said to FOX40.com at the time.
The driver of a third vehicle involved in the crash also survived.
In the days after the crash, an uncle of the surviving child said that he and his wife would take him in.
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SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) In a landmark case, a San Diego man has become the first person in the U.S. to be convicted for illegally importing potent greenhouse gases, specifically hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), in violation of federal regulations.
Michael Hart, 58, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday, admitting to a conspiracy to smuggle these harmful substances from Mexico into the U.S. for profit, court records show.
HFCs are widely used in refrigeration, air conditioning and other applications. They are known as an ozone-depleting substance that has been banned under the Clean Air Act. HFCs are believed to impact global warming hundreds to thousands of times more than carbon dioxide.
Five University of California campuses to get more military equipment
As part of international efforts to combat climate change, the phasedown of HFCs has led to a rise in illegal importation activities, with Hart now at the center of this illicit trade. The import of HFCs, according to the the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020, is prohibited without allowances issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Justice Department is committed to enforcing the AIM Act and other laws that seek to prevent environmental harm, said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim. He emphasized the critical nature of these regulations, noting that the importation of these refrigerants poses a substantial threat to efforts aimed at mitigating climate change.
Court documents reveal that between June and December 2022, Hart offered HFCs for sale through various online platforms, including OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace. He coordinated with conspirators who placed orders for the refrigerants, which he then purchased in Mexico and smuggled across the border concealed in his vehicle.
Clean air is not for sale to the highest bidder, U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath stated. The Department of Justice will use every tool at our disposal to protect air quality and hold criminal polluters accountable.
Hart is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 9, 2024, at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Marilyn Huff.
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BELLEVUE, Wash. - The man who shot and killed his estranged wife inside Sams Tavern in Bellevue in July 2021 was sentenced to nearly 32 years in prison.
According to the King County Prosecuting Attorneys Office, Dylan Jennings was sentenced to 380 months in prison for the first-degree domestic violence murder of Anna "Maxx" Lopez on Friday.
On July 5, 2021, Jennings carried out a plan to shoot and kill Lopez, his ex-wife, while she was finishing work at Sams Tavern. According to court documents, he and his wife were separated, and she had started dating someone else.
Jennings told investigators that he was angry that she was seeing someone and that a week and a half before the murder, he broke into his brothers safe using a hacksaw to steal a gun inside, court documents say.
Investigators say he plotted for more than a week before driving to Sams Tavern and shooting his wife, who worked as an employee and was closing down the bar.
"During the interview with investigators, the defendant showed no remorse and blamed his estranged wife for leaving him and for dating someone else. He referred to his actions as taking care of business," according to charging documents.
Jennings had also previously been convicted of several domestic violence charges in the past, including assault and unlawful imprisonment.
Officers with the Bellevue Police Department responded to this incident and took him into custody.
The King County Prosecuting Attorneys Office stated that Jennings sentence for murder was at the high end of the sentencing range set by lawmakers, with an additional 60 months added for a firearm enhancement.
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) A man who pleaded guilty to a reduced charge for a May 8 stabbing at an East Side apartment complex was sentenced Wednesday to five years probation in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Michael Cobb, 68, received the sentence from Visiting Judge W. Wyatt McKay on a fourth-degree felony charge of aggravated assault.
Cobb was originally charged with felonious assault, a second-degree felony, for the May 9 stabbing of a man at a Kendis Circle apartment complex.
Cobb has been in the Mahoning County jail since his arrest.
Police were called to the apartment complex for a fight and when they arrived, they found a man bleeding profusely from the arm.
Reports said the victim told police it was Cobb who stabbed him. A witness also told police Cobb stabbed the man.
Cobb told police he was hit first by the victim before he stabbed him. In court Wednesday via video hookup from the jail, Cobb told the judge he was defending himself. He also apologized and asked to be released so he could care for his children.
Cobb has served 145 days in jail while awaiting his sentencing.
Judge McKay said Cobb suffered a head wound when he was hit by a stereo by the victim and that he also has a business he needs to take care of.
Cobb is to stay away from alcohol or drugs as part of his probation and have no contact with the victim.
The judge also said he was imposing a suspended 18-month prison sentence, which will only be served if he violates his probation.
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Man wanted in Maryland for allegedly shooting woman, setting house on fire arrested in Pittsburgh
A man wanted in Maryland for allegedly shooting and killing a woman and then setting her house on fire was arrested in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
Nikolas Patrick James, 46, allegedly shot and killed a woman in Kitzmiller, Maryland early Tuesday morning.
A BOLO was issued for James by the Garrett County Sheriffs Office.
He was found in the Banksville area of Pittsburgh, in the 1100 block of Banksville Road, where he was arrested.
James is being held in Pittsburgh and will be extradited back to Maryland.
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Outgoing West Virginia Independent Sen. Joe Manchin said Tuesday he won't back Vice President Kamala Harris' White House bid after she came out in favor of changing Senate rules to pass abortion protection laws.
"I'm not endorsing her," Manchin told reporters Tuesday.
Earlier, Manchin was more vociferous about Harris' announcement that she'd be in favor of scrapping the chamber's 60-vote filibuster to pass a law reviving the abortion protections that existed under Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that was scrapped in 2022.
"Shame on her," Manchin, who is retiring and left the Democratic Party earlier this year, told CNN. "She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. It's the only thing that keeps us talking and working together."
PHOTO: Sen. Joe Manchin questions FBI Director Christopher Wray during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the FBI's proposed budget for the 2025 fiscal year June 4, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Outgoing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., another retiring Democrat-turned-independent and filibuster defender, also panned the idea, saying it would open the door to further restrictions by a future Republican Senate majority.
MORE: Younger Americans overwhelmingly support Harris -- but both Harris, Trump have room to grow: Poll
"To state the supremely obvious, eliminating the filibuster to codify Roe v Wade also enables a future Congress to ban all abortion nationwide," Sinema posted on X. "What an absolutely terrible, shortsighted idea."
Harris, who along with President Joe Biden, had supported changing Senate rules to help restore Roe v. Wade's protections, which allow abortions until a fetus is viable. She reiterated her stance in an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio.
"I've been very clear: I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe,' Harris said. "Fifty-one votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do."
Harris' comments come as she pivots to the center to win over undecided voters, but abortion remains a key issue that fires up the Democratic base and helped the vice president find her footing in office. She has been particularly vocal on the issue after reports of two Georgia women's deaths seemingly due to delayed treatment after undergoing medication abortions.
PHOTO: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks to reporters before an afternoon vote at the U.S. Capitol September 9, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Bonnie Cash/Getty Images)
MORE: Trump repeats claims that women will 'no longer be thinking about abortion' if he becomes president
Still, it's unclear if Democrats would have the votes to pass any abortion protections, as their 51-49 majority hangs by a thread this November due to a formidable map that has them defending seats in several purple states and the red states of Montana and Ohio.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer was circumspect on what kind of legislation Democrats would push, only saying Tuesday that "it's something our caucus will discuss in the next session of Congress."
Former President Donald Trump celebrated Manchin's saying he wouldn't endorse Harris.
"Congratulations to Senator Joe Manchin for not endorsing Radical Kamala Harris because of her DEATH WISH for the Filibuster and the Rule of Law. Joe knows that only the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, can protect our Country, our People, and Make America Great Again," Trump posted on his social media platform.
ABC News' Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.
Manchin says he won't endorse Harris over abortion filibuster carveout originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Gary John Selwood was convicted of the manslaughter of Paul Carter [Avon and Somerset Police]
A man whose "unprovoked" attack on another man in a social club led to his death has been found guilty of manslaughter.
A jury at Bristol Crown Court has convicted Gary John Selwood of the manslaughter of Paul Carter, 69.
The 59 year old punched Mr Carter in an unprovoked and unjustified attack at Whitchurch Folk House in Bristol, on 27 February 2022.
Selwood, who was extradited from France back to the UK to face trial, will be sentenced at the same court on Monday.
After being punched, Mr Carter fell backwards and struck his head on the corner of some furniture at the venue, off East Dundry Road.
He was knocked unconscious and suffered a bleed to the brain, leading to his death in Southmead Hospital on 16 April.
The day after the attack, Selwood was arrested in the Bedminster area of the city on suspicion of assault, before being released under investigation.
He later moved to France, where he was arrested in the Aulnay area on 26 March this year and extradited back to the UK by specialist officers.
Mr Carter's family said they were "devastated" by his death [Avon and Somerset Police]
Following the verdict, the family of Paul Carter said in a statement that they have been "devastated" by Mr Selwood's death.
Weve been tormented by the pain and suffering inflicted by Selwood from such a mindless attack," they continued.
We will never be able to come to terms with losing dad in this horrific way. Nobody deserves this.
"Our lives have felt paused waiting for Selwoods return from France."
'Tried to avoid justice'
They added: We still have to live with the knowledge that we may never fully know or understand the reasons for Selwoods actions.
We were relieved to hear todays verdict of guilty, and the knowledge that justice will be served in sentencing, something that Selwood tried to avoid when he left the UK to set up a new life in France by burying his head in the sand and not owning up to his actions.
"But our loss will continue as nothing will bring back our dad."
Det Insp Mark Newbury, of the Major Crime Investigation Team, said Selwood's assault had been "reckless".
Our thoughts are very much with Pauls family, whove had to endure a lengthy wait for justice, complicated by the need to extradite Selwood from France, where he moved following his initial arrest.
"Nothing will ever bring Paul back, but we hope this conviction will be of some comfort to them.
This case needs to act as a warning to others who engage in needless violence even one punch can have horrific consequences.
"It can cause devastation to victims and their families, but also to the person who throws the punch.
Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.
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DOON, Iowa (KCAU) There is no impact to the Rock River after manure spilled into one of the rivers tributaries southwest of Doon.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said in a release that its Spencer field office was alerted overnight about a manure spill flowing into a Rock River tributary.
Officials investigated and found that manure had flowed across a field and entered into a tributary just west of the Fillmore Avenue and 270th Street intersection. No fish were found in the tributary as there is little flow in the stream. No impact was observed in the Rock River.
The manure came from Winding Meadows Dairy in Rock Valley with Jochum Agri-Service applying the manure in a field about two miles west of the dairy, the release stated.
Iowa man concealed 17-year-olds body, criminal complaint says
The company told the DNR that a hose coupling broke with about 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of manure had spilled.
Earthen beams were placed to block the flow, but the manure had still spilled into a stream in a nearby field
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Many prisoners were once scared kids. How do we break this cycle of violence? | Opinion
I want to tell you all about an experience I had 27 years ago that still haunts me.
I was helping out one day in my sons first-grade class. The class was filled with 6-year-olds squirming and excited to have a visitor in the classroom. The kids were precious and exactly what you might expect in a class of first graders.
Except for one.
One little boy was very, very different. This beautiful child, who had been born with Black skin, was filthy. He reeked and his clothes were soiled from constant wear. His affect was flat and he showed no excitement for the days activity. He barely responded when asked questions. He was so detached from what was happening around him, it was like his body was there but not his soul. I have never forgotten him.
I asked the teacher about him and she said he never did his homework. I offered to get parents to take turns helping him with his homework. The teacher replied that his father was in prison for murdering his mother, he lived with his blind grandma, and hed just end up in prison one day.
I went home in a state of shock. At the time, I looked at the teacher as an authority figure and her word was final. The way she spoke about him made it clear I wasnt to bring it up again.
I have relived that encounter over and over and wince in pain for that child. I still pray for him.
I told this story to Sister Helen Prejean, the activist working to abolish the death penalty who wrote Dead Man Walking, and she said many people in prison experienced emotional abuse and sexual violence, as far back as when they were small children.
A disproportionate number are also Black. While 26% of South Carolinas population is Black, 59% of its prison population and 48% of its jail population are Black, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. And about three in four inmates executed in South Carolina since 1912 have been Black, according to Department of Corrections data. After the states first execution in 13 years this past Friday, 14 of the 31 men on the states death row are Black and 17 are white.
I think daily about our prisons. If I knew all the background stories of our prisoners, Im sure I would spend the rest of my days weeping. These children grow up in homes where violence, disempowerment and insults are the norm. Imagine yourself in this type of situation and being unable to retreat, because the people youre up against are in your home and school. Those repressed emotions finally get expressed as violence and crime.
At one point, these violent men and women were scared kids. How do we break this cycle of violence? As it is now, we wait too long to help and intervene. The institutions we have are underfunded and understaffed. We all want to stay safe and this requires more money and staffing. Currently, we wait until were on the defensive, after crimes have been committed before taking action. We as a society need to educate ourselves on how these violent cycles begin so we can intervene before more violent crimes are committed.
We owe it to the innocent little kids in our world to be their champions when theyre growing up in situations where no one has their back. American journalist Fox Butterfield wrote in his book In My Fathers House that children of prisoners are six times as likely as other people to be convicted or incarcerated. The Annie E. Casey Foundation estimates that the number of children with a parent behind bars at some point in their lives is a staggering 5 million.
For comparison, the state of South Carolina has a population of 5.28 million. Imagine if every person in the state of South Carolina was a part of that cycle of violence.
I know we can come together to do better for the 5 million children who need our help and attention. Please consider reading In My Fathers House and All Gods Children by Fox Butterfield to gain a real understanding of these families and how violence and crime are passed down through generations.
Whenever I see a mug shot on the news of someone whos committed a crime, I want to know what their childhood was like. The breakdown that led them to crime didnt start that day. They, too, were once just like that little boy in my sons class.
Sherrerd Hartness is a speaker and advocate focused on the long-lasting effects of murder on society. Her younger sister, Carlotta Hartness, was murdered in 1977. She lives in Columbia.
Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region late Thursday night after it strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane earlier in the day.
Forecasters with the National Hurricane Center said the eye of the storm made landfall about 10 miles west-southwest of Perry, Florida, about 11:10 p.m. ET with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph.
The storm weakened to a Category 1 as it moved inland across Georgia but the threat of life-threatening storm surge, winds and heavy rain continued, the hurricane center said in a 2 a.m. Friday update.
Forecasters warned Helene could have a wind swath more than 400 miles wide and could bring "unsurvivable" storm surge.
Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina have declared emergencies ahead of landfall.
Flooding is a concern in North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina.
The system became a tropical storm Tuesday in the western Caribbean Sea and caused flooding in the Cayman Islands.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
(Bloomberg) -- Cybersecurity startup Wiz Inc. is in discussions to sell existing shares at a valuation as high as $20 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Wiz, which in July walked away from a deal to be bought by Alphabet Inc.s Google for $23 billion, is talking about a transaction that would let existing shareholders tender from $500 million to $700 million of their holdings, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. The valuation being discussed ranges from $15 billion to $20 billion, the person said.
The company also may raise money directly from investors, one of the people said. Terms of the offering could change, and it may not come together, the people said.
The New York-based startup connects to cloud storage providers such as Amazon.com Inc.s Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Corp.s Azure, and scans data stored there for security risks.
Venture firms involved in the transaction include G Squared, Thrive Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, the people said. A representative of G Squared declined to comment. Thrive and Lightspeed didnt immediately respond to requests for comment. Wiz also didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wiz turned down Googles bid because it decided it could ultimately be worth more as a public company. The company also worried about a protracted regulatory approval process if it agreed to be acquire, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg in July.
The Google offer valued Wiz at nearly twice the $12 billion valuation from a fundraising round in May, which drew investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed and Thrive Capital.
(Updates to include valuation range under discussion in second paragraph.)
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Marcellus Williams was executed Tuesday evening for the death of Photo courtesy of Missouri Department of Corrections/Website
Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Marcellus Williams was executed by Missouri on Tuesday evening for the 1998 murder of journalist despite objections from his attorneys and a state prosecutor.
Williams, 55, was executed by lethal injection at the Missouri State Prison in Bonne Terre. He was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. the Missouri Department of Corrections confirmed to UPI in a statement.
Williams, who also went by Khaliifah ibn Rayford Daniels upon converting to Islam, was convicted in 2001 for the stabbing death of Felicia Gayle in her home in 1998 and sentenced to death, though he maintained his innocence.
St. Louis County's lead prosecutor and Williams' attorneys sought a stay of execution based on recent testimony from the prosecutor in the 2001 trial and the results of DNA testing done recently that showed the evidence against Williams was contaminated. Gayle's family had also asked for Williams' life to be spared.
In a statement emailed to UPI following the death of their client, Williams' legal team lamented "how rote application of a process to protect finality outweighs finding truth and achieving fairness."
"We are disappointed how the clemency process unfolded," they said.
"To us, Khaliifah was an inspiration. We aspire to his level of faith, to his integrity and to his complete devotion to the people in his life. He was fiercely protective of the people he loved, and he loved them deeply."
"Although we are devastated and in disbelief over what the State has done to an innocent man, we are comforted that he left this world in peace."
St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell had joined Williams' attorneys in seeking an execution stay by the Missouri Supreme Court and asking for a more thorough hearing in the case.
Bell in January filed a motion seeking to vacate the verdict and death sentence in Williams' case.
Bell said newly completed DNA testing indicated Williams might not be the one who murdered Gayle and showed police had mishandled the murder weapon before the 2001 trial.
The contaminated evidence made it harder for Williams to prove his innocence and showed the DNA on the murder weapon belonged to an investigator and assistant prosecuting attorney, both of whom handled the murder weapon without wearing gloves.
Missouri's Attorney General's Office said the new evidence did not clear Williams of the crime.
It did show that law enforcement and many others handled the knife prior to the trial but did not prove that Williams' DNA was not on the murder weapon, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said.
Other evidence that led to Williams' conviction remained intact, Bailey added.
The Missouri Supreme Court and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson denied the stay of execution request, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in the matter.
Innocence Project executive director Christina Swarns called Williams' conviction and execution the product of a "broken system" and suggested his conviction was because he was a Black man accused of killing a White woman.
"His conviction was based on the testimony of two witnesses who were paid for their testimony," Swarns said in an emailed statement Tuesday evening.
She said the trial was unconstitutional because it "intentionally excluded" prospective Black jurors and all parties agreed the murder weapon was contaminated.
Williams' last statement was, "All praise be to Allah in every situation!!!"
He was the third person put to death by Missouri this year.
Missouri death row inmate Marcellus Williams was executed by lethal injection Tuesday for the 1998 murder of Lisha Gayle, a former newspaper reporter who was found brutally stabbed in her suburban St. Louis home.
Williams, 55, died after 6:00 p.m. CDT at a Missouri state prison in Bonne Terre in Francois County, approximately 60 miles southwest of St. Louis, Williams' lawyer confirmed to ABC News.
The capital punishment case saw national attention with Williams maintaining his innocence, the victim's family opposing the execution and his prosecution submitting motions for appeals at every level.
MORE: Court holds evidentiary hearing for Missouri death row inmate claiming innocence before execution date
"Marcellus Williams should be alive today. There were multiple points in the timeline when decisions could have been made that would have spared him the death penalty. If there is even the shadow of a doubt of innocence, the death penalty should never be an option. This outcome did not serve the interests of justice," Wesley Bell, chief prosecutor for St. Louis County, said in a statement after the execution.
The United States Supreme Court denied two separate appeals to spare Williams' life on Tuesday an hour ahead of his execution, despite the objection of Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.
Williams' attorney Tricia Rojo Bushnell released a statement after SCOTUS' decision, saying, "Tonight, Missouri will execute an innocent man Marcellus "Khaliifah" Williams."
"As dark as today is, we owe it to Khaliifah to build a brighter future. We are thankful to the St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney, for his commitment to truth and justice and all he did to try to prevent this unspeakable wrong. And for the millions of people who signed petitions, made calls, and shared Khaliifah's story," Bushnell said.
On Monday, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and the state's Supreme Court rejected a bid to halt the execution.
PHOTO: This photo provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections shows Marcellus Williams. (Missouri Department of Corrections via AP)
In a statement to ABC News, Parson said, "No jury nor court, including at the trial, appellate, and Supreme Court levels, have ever found merit in Mr. Williams' innocence claims."
"At the end of the day, his guilty verdict and sentence of capital punishment were upheld. Nothing from the real facts of this case have led me to believe in Mr. Williams' innocence," Parson added.
Williams was charged with first-degree murder in 1999 for the killing of Gayle, a social worker and former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was found guilty in 2001.
Prosecutors in Williams' original trial alleged he broke into Gayle's home in August 1998 and stabbed her 43 times with a large butcher knife, according to court documents. Her purse and her husband's laptop were stolen after the attack.
The kitchen knife used in the killing was left lodged in Gayles body, according to court documents. Blood, hair, fingerprints and shoe prints believed to belong to the perpetrator were found around the home.
MORE: Tennessee inmate on death row for 28 years fights for his freedom
Williams' defense claimed that his DNA was never found on the murder weapon and two unidentified sources of DNA would lead investigators to the actual killer.
In DNA evidence discovered in August, it was found that the former prosecutor and investigator who litigated the original trial failed to wear gloves when handling the murder weapon, leaving their DNA on the knife, revealing the sources of the unidentified DNA, which did not belong to an unidentified killer.
In his statement Monday, Parson accused Williams' attorneys of trying to "muddy the waters about DNA evidence" with claims that have previously been rejected by the courts.
"Nothing from the real facts of this case have led me to believe in Mr. Williams' innocence," Parson said.
Williams' execution marks the third in Missouri this year and the 100th since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1989.
ABC News' Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.
Marcellus Williams executed by lethal injection in Missouri after SCOTUS denied appeals originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Marcellus Williams was executed in Missouri. Read his final words, and his poetry
Marcellus Khaliifah Williams final statement before he was executed Tuesday night in Missouri was one of simplicity and faith.
He wrote, All praise be to Allah in every situation!!!
The 55 year old was a devout Muslim and a religious leader at Potosi Correctional Center, the state prison south of St. Louis which houses death row prisoners.
He was recently transferred to the nearby Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, where executions take place.
On Tuesday afternoon, his last visit was with Imam Jalahii Kacem, who later accompanied him in the execution chamber.
Williams maintained that he was innocent in the killing of Felicia Gayle, who was found stabbed to death in August 1998 in the St. Louis area. No forensic evidence linked him to the murder, but two witnesses testified that he had confessed to them. They have since died.
The St. Louis County Prosecutors Office, which tried his case in 2001, attempted to overturn his conviction earlier this year.
On Monday, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson denied clemency. A series of last ditch appeals ultimately were rejected this week. Three U.S. Supreme Court justices favored granting him a stay of execution.
Williams execution drew statewide protests and nationwide outrage.
He was declared dead at 6:10 p.m. Tuesday. The state uses lethal injection in its executions.
Marcellus Khaliifah Williams wrote a final statement ahead of his execution of Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, at a prison in Missouri.
Williams legal team said they were devastated and in disbelief over what the State has done to an innocent man, but were comforted that he left this world in peace.
To us, Khaliifah was an inspiration, federal public defenders said in a statement. We aspire to his level of faith, to his integrity, and to his complete devotion to the people in his life. He was fiercely protective of the people he loved, and he loved deeply.
They also said Williams case showed how racial discrimination is ignored in the justice system and that transparency was woefully missing in Parsons decision denying clemency.
Last year, the governor disbanded a board of inquiry that had been set up under a previous administration to look into Williams case. Parson has never said if the board reached a recommendation or what that recommendation may have been.
Parson said in a statement provided by the corrections department that he hopes this gives finality to the victims family.
No juror nor judge has ever found Williamss innocence claim to be credible, Parson said in the statement. Two decades of judicial proceedings and more than 15 judicial hearings upheld his guilty conviction, thus, the order of execution has been carried out.
Gayles family did not support capital punishment in Williams case.
Protesters gathered at the corner of 39th and Troost for prayer in Kansas City on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024 following the execution of Marcellus Williams. Williams was executed shortly after 6 p.m. on Tuesday after a final push for a stay was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Tricia Rojo Bushnell, an attorney for Williams with the Midwest Innocence Project, said his execution illustrated Missouris grotesque exercise of state power.
Let it not be in vain. This should never happen, and we must not let it continue.
Williams was also a father and a poet. In a poem entitled An Affair of I sent to The Star earlier this year, Williams wrote, in part:
devious smiles
nervous grins
political sins
legal flips and spins
fingers begin to bend to form a fist then -
handshakes weakened
cordiality and decorum ends
constitution blowing in the wind
panel dismantled according to whims
governors patience wearing thin
been going on too long
- been alive too long is what they intend
execution date sought how dare anyone question why?
Missouri executed Marcellus "Khaliifah" Williams on Tuesday in the 1998 killing of a former newspaper reporter despite a prosecutor in the case and the family of the victim saying his life should be spared.
Williams, who always maintained his innocence a claim backed by not only his defense team but later prosecutors is now the third inmate executed in Missouri this year and the 15th in the nation. He was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. following the lethal injection, the Missouri Department of Corrections reported.
Tonight, we all bear witness to Missouris grotesque exercise of state power," Williams' attorney, Tricia Rojo Bushnell, said in a statement, emphasizing how prosecutors have "zealously fought to undo the conviction and save Mr. Williams life."
Williams' son, Marcellus Williams Jr., told KSDK-TV: "This is a murder."
Williams, 55, was convicted in the Aug. 11, 1998 murder of Lisha Gayle, a former police reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch killed during a burglary at the St. Louis suburban home she shared with her physician husband. She was stabbed 43 times with a kitchen knife taken from the couple's home.
Tonight, Missouri executed an innocent man.
Our hearts are with Marcellus and his loved ones.https://t.co/ebCcFv0vWg pic.twitter.com/aSQxazoK9X Innocence Project (@innocence) September 24, 2024
No DNA ever connected Williams to the crime scene. In recent months, a prosecutor in the case said the execution should have been called off, and in a clemency petition, Gayle's family said that they "define closure as Marcellus being allowed to live."
"Marcellus execution is not necessary," they said.
Even so, Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and the Missouri Supreme Court denied Williams clemency on Monday.
And on Tuesday with less than an hour before the execution, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to stop it, though the court's three liberal justices said they would have granted Williams a stay: Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. The high court offered no explanation for the decision.
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Murder victim and former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Lisha Gayle in 1971. Marcellus Williams was convicted of her killing and executed on Sept. 24, 2024 in Missouri.
Marcellus William's final meal, final visitors, final breaths
Williams' last meal included chicken wings and tater tots, corrections spokesperson Karen Pojmann told USA TODAY.
His last visit was with Imam Jalahii Kacem for about 90 minutes.
Before his death, Williams was asked if he had any last words. Ahead of the execution, the corrections department provided USA TODAY with what Williams said he was planning on being his last words. They are: "All praise be to Allah in every situation."
The state of Missouri has executed Marcellus Williams.
I just received confirmation from one of his attorneys.https://t.co/YQ1EOd86Tk https://t.co/NRjEu2R832 Natalie Neysa Alund (@nataliealund) September 24, 2024
Missouri Death Row Inmate Marcellus Williams was executed on Sept. 24, 2024 in the 1998 stabbing death of Lisha Gayle, a former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Marcellus Williams was 'a kind and thoughtful man'
Williams' lead defense attorney said more than one million citizens and faith leaders implored Parson to commute her client's death sentence.
"That is not justice," Bushnell said. "And we must all question any system that would allow this to occur."
She described Williams as "a kind and thoughtful man" who spent his last years supporting those around him in his role as an imam.
"We will remember him for his deeply evocative poetry and his love for and service to his family and his community," she said. "While he yearned to return home, he is a thoughtful man who has worked hard to move beyond the anger, frustration, and fear of wrongful execution, channeling his energy into his faith and finding meaning and connection through Islam. The world will be a worse place without him.
She went on to thank the prosecuting attorney who tried to save Williams' life "for his commitment to truth and justice and all he did to try to prevent this unspeakable wrong."
Missouri Death Row Inmate Marcellus Williams was executed by lethal injection on Sept. 24, 2024 in the 1998 stabbing death of Lisha Gayle, a former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was 55.
'Tonight, Missouri lynched another innocent Black man'
Williams' execution not only drew criticism from religious leaders and concerned citizens but government leaders and national advocacy groups including the NAACP and Black Lives Matter.
Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush, a Democrat, said Parson didnt just ignore the pleas and end Williams life, he "demonstrated how the death penalty is wielded without regard for innocence, compassion, equity, or humanity."
"He showed us how the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt can be applied selectively, depending on who stands accused and who stands in power," Bush said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Tonight, Missouri lynched another innocent Black man," NAACP President Derrick Johnson told USA TODAY. "Governor Parson had the responsibility to save this innocent life, and he didnt. The NAACP was founded in 1909 in response to the barbaric lynching of Black people in America we were founded exactly because of people like Governor Parson who perpetuate violence against innocent Black people. We will hold Governor Parson accountable. When DNA evidence proves innocence, capital punishment is not justice it is murder.
Black Lives Matter posted on X that "it is sickening what this vile governor just did to an innocent Black man."
USA TODAY has reached out to Parson's office to comment on the criticism.
Death penalty in the US: Which states still execute inmates, who has executed the most?
How was Marcellus Williams executed?
Williams died by lethal injection, the most common method in the nation.
Condemned inmates in the state may choose to die from lethal injection or lethal gas.
Williams was administered a 5-gram dose of pentobarbital in accordance with the state of Missouri's lethal injection protocol.
What was Marcellus Williams convicted of?
Williams was convicted in 2001 of first-degree murder, burglary and robbery in Gayle's slaying.
Gayle, who was 42, was in the shower the morning someone broke into her home on a private gated street. Gayle left the second-floor bathroom and was walking downstairs when she encountered the killer on the stairway landing. At some point, she was stabbed 43 times with a kitchen knife taken from the home.
Later that night, Gayle's husband found his wife's body in the couple's front foyer and called 911.
Among the evidence police collected: bloody shoeprints and fingerprints, a knife sheath and the suspect's hair collected from Gayle's shirt, hands and the floor. Missing from the house were Gayle's purse and jacket, and her husband's laptop.
A suspect was not immediately named so in May 1999, Gayle's family announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
Not long after Williams was arrested based on testimony from a jailhouse witness, who told police that Williams confessed that he killed Gayle while they spent time incarcerated together.
Williams' girlfriend, Lara Asaro, also named Williams as the culprit. At the time of his conviction, Williams had just started serving a 20-year prison sentence for robbing a downtown St. Louis donut shop.
Williams' attorneys argued that both informants stood to benefit from their cooperation with prosecutors, and that their stories sometimes changed or conflicted with other details about the killing. Both witnesses have since died.
From left, Nancy Watson, a boy USA TODAY is not identifying, and murder victim and former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Lisha Gayle in 1988. Marcellus Williams was convicted of her killing and executed on Sept. 24, 2024 in Missouri.
Williams was previously set to be executed twice, but both were halted
Williams was previously set to be executed in January 2015 and in August 2017.
Both lethal injections were halted to conduct further DNA testing and investigation. The most recent stay of execution was ordered by then-Gov. Eric Greiten who appointed a board of inquiry to look into the case.
But during the summer of 2023, newly sworn-in Parson dissolved the board and lifted the stay. The court, Parsons said, would decide Williams's fate, and the Missouri Supreme Court issued a third execution warrant for Williams.
Death row inmate Marcellus Williams is pictured in this handout photo obtained by Reuters August 14, 2017.
What did Williams argue in his appeals?
On Aug. 21, county prosecutor Wesley Bell's office and Williams' attorneys reached an agreement allowing Williams to enter a new, no-contest plea to first-degree murder in exchange for life in prison sentence without parole. The victim's husband, Daniel Picus, signed off on the plea.
Although Bell moved to overturn Williams' murder conviction, state Attorney General Andrew Bailey argued it should stand and ordered St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton who accepted the plea to hold an evidentiary hearing on the matter.
During a Aug. 28 evidentiary hearing, the retired prosecutor who handled the case admitted evidence was mishandled in the 1998 trial that could have exonerated Williams.
Murder victim and former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Lisha Gayle in 1978. Marcellus Williams was convicted of her killing and is set to be executed on Sept. 24, 2024 in Missouri.
But on Sept. 12, Hilton declined to vacate Williams' conviction and sentence, despite questions about DNA evidence on the knife used in the attack. In appeals, his defense produced evidence that DNA taken from the knife revealed an unknown male profile and did not match Williams.
There is no basis for a court to find that Williams is innocent, and no court has made such a finding," St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton wrote. "Williams is guilty of first-degree murder, and has been sentenced to death.
After Parson rejected one of the last bids to halt the execution Monday, the governor released a statement saying "no jury nor court, including at the trial, appellate, and Supreme Court levels, have ever found merit in Mr. Williams innocence claims.
"Capital punishment cases are some of the hardest issues we have to address in the Governors Office, but when it comes down to it, I follow the law and trust the integrity of our judicial system," he said.
Williams' execution came within an hour of another one in Texas
Williams' death came less than an hour before Texas executed its fourth prisoner this year. Travis James Mullis died by lethal injection Tuesday night for killing his infant son in 2008, making him the 16th person to be executed in the nation this year.
Two more back-to-back executions are expected in Alabama and Oklahoma on Thursday.
This story was updated to add new information.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Marcellus Williams executed in Missouri amid strong innocence claims
Marcellus Williams, photographed in prison (photo submitted).
Just a few hours after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeal, Missouri officials executed Marcellus Williams Tuesday at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre.
Williams, who was backed in his appeals for clemency by St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, left only a single sentence All praise to Allah in every situation in his last statement, KMOV TV reported.
Williams was sentenced to death for the 1998 slaying of Felicia Gayle, a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who was stabbed more than 40 times.
None of the physical evidence at the crime scene, including fingerprints, bloodied shoe prints and hairs, could be tied to Williams. He was arrested based on the testimony of a jailhouse informant, who said Williams confessed the murder.
During testimony at his murder trial, Williams then-girlfriend also said he confessed to the killing. Williams picked her up the day of Gayles slaying wearing a jacket over a bloody shirt and with scratches on his neck. She saw a laptop in his car later shown to have been stolen from Gayles apartment and a purse in the trunk, with Gayles identification card.
In the final effort to free Williams or reduce his sentence, Bell filed a case under a 2021 state law allowing prosecutors to bring new evidence to the courts. It was the first time the law has been used in a death penalty case.
Bell filed the case in January, arguing there was clear and convincing evidence that potential jurors had been excluded based on race and questioning whether DNA evidence on the knife that killed Gayle had been contaminated by careless handling.
The Missouri Supreme Court heard a final appeal of the ruling in that case on Monday, and found the evidence was not convincing.
Bell failed to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence Williams actual innocence or constitutional error at the original criminal trial that undermines the confidence in the judgment of the original criminal trial, Judge Zel Fischer wrote in the opinion.
The Department of Corrections declared Williams dead at 6:10 p.m. after a lethal injection, the Kansas City Star reported.
Bell issued a statement that he remained convinced Williams should have been spared.
Marcellus Williams should be alive today, Bell said. There were multiple points in the timeline when decisions could have been made that would have spared him the death penalty. If there is even the shadow of a doubt of innocence, the death penalty should never be an option. This outcome did not serve the interests of justice.
State Rep. Crystal Quade, the Democratic candidate for governor, issued a statement over social media saying that she disagreed with allowing the execution to proceed.
Ive always stood firm in my stance that the state should not execute potentially innocent people. Marcellus Williams is no different, Quade said.
There was no statement from Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, the Republican candidate.
Gov. Mike Parson, in a statement on Monday stating he would not stop the execution, said he was not convinced by any appeals.
No jury nor court, including at the trial, appellate, and Supreme Court levels, have ever found merit in Mr. Williams innocence claims, Parson said. At the end of the day, his guilty verdict and sentence of capital punishment were upheld. Nothing from the real facts of this case have led me to believe in Mr. Williams innocence, as such, Mr. Williams punishment will be carried out as ordered by the Supreme Court.
Williams is the 100th person executed by Missouri since 1989, when executions resumed after a two-decade lapse.
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BRANDON, S.D. (KELO) Every week of early fall brings a new marching band competition, and this Saturday, music will be in the air at Brandon Valley High School.
Members of the Brandon Valley marching band are tuning up for the Big Sioux Review.
Well have 16 different bands from around the area, including Augustana Marching Band, Big Sioux Review Chair Jodi Ackerman said.
Jodi Ackerman is the chair of the Big Sioux Review, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this fall.
Were really hoping to bring people out that have maybe participated in the Big Sioux Review in the past or been to it and maybe havent been to it for awhile, so were really excited to bring people in, Ackerman said.
With thousands of people expected to attend, Ackerman says it takes hundreds of volunteers to make the event a success.
How you can help find Tyler Weathersby
Weve had some people contact us saying hey, I understand you might need a few more volunteers and Im here, I love what the bands doing, how can I help?, Ackerman said.
Everything from concessions to taking tickets to hosting bands to parking buses, Brandon Valley Band Director Tyler Nettestad said.
Tyler Nettestad is the band director at Brandon Valley and says the final product is worth the price of admission.
Just a great time for our community to see different bands from around the region doing their thing, Nettestad said.
The Marching Lynx will take the field in an exhibition during the Big Sioux Review, performing their show titled Coursing Through My Veins.
In its raw sense, its about addiction and overcoming addiction, so we start kind of with a euphoric moment and then we hurdle into this painful moment, and then finally were into our recovery and recovering from that addiction, Nettestad said.
The Big Sioux Review is also one of the bigger fundraisers for the Marching Lynx.
The monies that we raise from Big Sioux Review are used for things like our senior banners, theyre used for scholarships, its used for travel expenses and all kinds of things for the students, Ackerman said.
It starts Saturday night.
The Big Sioux Review is on Saturday at Brandon Valley High School. Gates open at 5:30. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for students and senior citizens.
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Republican North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson has hired a law firm to probe the CNN report that unearthed shocking comments he allegedly made on a porn website years ago, his campaign announced Tuesday.
In a statement, Robinson dismissed the contents of the article as salacious lies and vowed to stay focused on the issues important to the people of his state.
I will not let these attacks distract us from sharing a better future for our state, and Im glad to be able to bring Jesse Binnall and his team on board to investigate where and how these false smears originated, Robinson said. I am confident that Binnall Law Group will leave no stone unturned and enable us to use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for their lies.
Binnall has in the past represented former President Donald Trump and some of his allies, according to The Daily Beast.
Robinson hinted at his plans to take legal action against the network on Monday in his first campaign appearance since the story broke.
Youd better understand I am coming after CNN full-throttle, he said.
Robinson has contested the accuracy of the story, while also suggesting the past comments may be real.
Several top members of his campaign resigned in the wake of the article, while Trump, who endorsed Robinson earlier this year and has praised him on multiple occasions, has sought to distance himself from the candidate and did not mention him during a campaign rally in the state over the weekend.
CNNs KFile unit on Thursday published a report alleging that Robinson made racist and lewd posts on the message board of a pornography website called Nude Africa between 2008 and 2012, including referring to himself as a black NAZI and saying he supports the return of slavery, among other things.
While Robinson, who currently serves as the lieutenant governor of North Carolina, remains defiant, at least 10 Republicans and conservative groups have canceled events with him or removed social media posts tying them to Robinson, according to CNN.
Robinson is running against state Attorney General Josh Stein (D), who was leading in the polls even before the damaging story came out as Robinsons history of making contentious statements had been highlighted by Democrats. The Cook Political Report on Friday shifted its rating for the race from lean Democrat to likely Democrat in light of the latest controversy surrounding the candidate.
Asked if the GOP should abandon Robinson over the alleged posts, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) replied: Well, it wont surprise you to know that Im happy that theres not a Senate race in North Carolina.
Meanwhile, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) gave Robinson a deadline to produce evidence refuting the contents of the CNN investigation findings, saying that if he doesnt manage to do this by Friday, the GOP should focus on other downballot candidates and the presidential race instead.
If Mr. Robinson doesnt put forth facts as part of a lawsuit that would discredit the sources by this week, then weve got to move on, Tillis told CNNs Manu Raju. Weve got an election thats 40 days away, and weve got to move on.
Related...
Mark Robinson hires lawyer to investigate CNN over Black Nazi scandal but rejects help from IT experts
North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson has hired a Trump-aligned lawyer to go after CNN, which reported last week that the Republican left a litany of racist and disturbing comments on a pornography website before entering politics.
Robinson announced Tuesday he had hired attorney Jesse Binnall, who represented Trump in his unsuccessful attempt to overturn the 2020 election results in Nevada and defended the former president in a January 6 insurrection case.
I am confident that Binnall Law Group will leave no stone unturned and enable us to use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for their lies, Robinson, the current lieutenant governor of North Carolina, said in a statement obtained by The Hill. In the meantime, my campaign remains laser-focused on the issues at stake in this election.
Despite lawyering up, Robinson reportedly rejected attempts from supporters to connect him with IT experts to investigate the comments which might have exonerated him.
The Independent has contacted CNN for comment.
Mark Robinson claims CNN report on inflammatory past web comments is full of lies. (AP)
Last week, the broadcaster reported that Robinson left comments on a porn site called Nude Africa calling himself a Black Nazi, praising Hitler, admitting to peeping on women as a teen, and describing his arousal from transgender pornography, despite publicly attacking trans people during his campaign.
Robinson has denied making the comments, which CNN said could be matched to biographical details and a common username and email Robinson used across various websites.
Im not going to get into the minutiae of how somebody manufactured this, these salacious tabloid lies, Robinson told CNN.
User data shows the account in question on Nude Africa accessed the site from a location near Robinsons home, according to further reporting by Politico.
In addition to imperiling his own campaign, Robinsons alleged comments may also threaten Donald Trump, who has previously lavished the North Carolina Republican with praise, calling him Martin Luther King, Jr., on steroids.
North Carolina is a key swing state, and the Trump campaign has since attempted to distance itself from Robinson.
This is an issue that has to do with Robinsons campaign and not President Trumps campaign, a Trump official told Axios on Thursday.
JD Vance has also tried to keep Robinson at arms length.
I dont not believe him, I dont believe him I just think that you have to let these things sometimes play out in the court of public opinion, he told NBC News when asked about the North Carolina candidate.
Embattled North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson has hired a firm founded by a longtime Trump lawyer to investigate CNNs report detailing years of racially insensitive and lewd comments on pornography sites by a username linked to the GOP candidate.
In a press release on Tuesday, Robinson announced he was retaining the services of the Binnall Law Group, a Virginia-based firm founded by Jesse Binnalla lawyer who has represented former President Donald Trump and others in his orbit.
As Ive said from the beginning, the claims from CNN are salacious lies. I will not let these attacks distract us from sharing a better future for our state, Robinson said in a press release.
Top Trump Lawyer Is a Longtime Tax Deadbeat
Robinson said his lawyers would investigate where and how these false smears originated. I am confident that Binnall Law Group will leave no stone unturned and enable us to use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for their lies.
Local North Carolina station WRAL reported that Robinson rejected offers from supporters to connect him with tech specialists to investigate the postsa move that potentially helped convince some staffers to abruptly leave his campaigns, sources told the station.
My team and I are looking forward to getting to the bottom of CNNs claims and we will bring all our resources to bear in getting the facts, Binnall said in the press release.
Trump Taps Nevada Stop the Steal Lawyer to Defend Him in Civil Rights Suit
Binnall has long served as an attorney for former President Trump, working on several major federal cases in the last few years.
In 2020, Binnall was one of several lawyers who represented retired Gen. Michael Flynn when he withdrew his guilty plea for lying to the FBI, ABC News reported. Flynn was eventually pardoned by then-President Trump that December.
After the 2020 election, Binnall represented Trump in the campaigns failed attempt to overturn the electoral vote in Nevada. Donald Trump won... after you account for the fraud and irregularities that occurred, Associated Press reported him as saying in November 2020.
He also was one of several lawyers Trump hired to represent him in his failed racketeering lawsuit against Hillary Clinton. In January 2023, a judge in Florida ordered the case thrown out and fined Trump and another attorney, Alina Habba, $1 million for filing a frivolous lawsuit.
Robinson and Binnall did not immediately return requests for comment from the Daily Beast.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Mark Robinson may be in hot water with Trump and his voters after latest controversy
BURNSVILLE, N.C. Republican candidate for governor Mark Robinson had just finished a fiery speech, given to a crowd of about 100 gathered in a grassy town square nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, when he added a word of warning.
Winning this election in November is not going to be easy for any of us, Robinson said during a rally in early September. Not for one single, solitary Republican.
CNN reported Thursday "a series of inflammatory comments allegedly made by Robinson on a pornography website message board over a decade ago. The postings ranged from support for reinstating slavery to calling himself a black NAZI!
Robinson denies being the author behind the messages.
Mark Robinson, Republican candidate for North Carolina governor, speaks at his rally in Burnsville, September 14, 2024.
Since launching his gubernatorial campaign last year and sailing through North Carolinas March primary, the current lieutenant governor garnered a reputation for controversial statements, including mocking school shooting victims and endorsing antisemitic conspiracy theories.
All the while, Robinson had been in lockstep with his partys leader and former President Donald Trump. The pair made multiple appearances together in North Carolina and endorsed one another's campaigns.
Before news broke last week, several Tar Heel State voters told USA TODAY they were committed to Trump and therefore planned to keep the rest of their ballot straight-ticket Republican.
But amid this latest scandal, Robinson could be on his own, facing down a rocky race that threatens consequences for Republicans up and down the ticket in 2024.
Keeping up with Election 2024? Sign up for USA TODAY's On Politics newsletter.
Dipping support for Robinson
Robinsons campaign already hit a popularity stumble heading into September, when multiple polls showed him trailing his opponent, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, by double digits.
Despite sharing the stage and much of the same GOP base, Robinsons numbers also lagged that of Trump.
While Robinson, whose gubernatorial contest had been referred to as the most competitive this cycle, fell behind, Trump maintains a one-point edge over Vice President Kamala Harris in North Carolina, according to a recent survey by Emerson College Polling and The Hill.
Robinson's campaign said in a statement last Tuesday they were not concerned: "Polls have consistently underestimated Republican support in North Carolina for several cycles now," said Mike Lonergan, communications director for the campaign. "Mark Robinson remains in a strong position to win in November."
Lonergan did not respond to an additional request for comment since Thursday's report.
Matthew Pearl, 37, moved to North Carolina two years ago and told USA TODAY earlier this month that he hadn't paid much attention yet to the governor's race. A registered Republican planning to vote for Trump, Pearl said at the time he would probably vote for fellow member of the GOP, Robinson.
But since reading CNN's report, Pearl said that's no longer the case.
"It definitely disgusted me," said Pearl, who lives in Belmont, just west of Charlotte, North Carolina. It was pretty mind blowing to see ... there's negative things that everyone has, but that stuff, like you are not a good human being.
Mark Robinson, Republican candidate for North Carolina governor, speaks at his rally in Burnsville, September 14, 2024.
Pearl said he does not believe Robinson's denials and has started to look into Stein, Robinson's opponent, though he is still in the process of making a decision.
But, he said, I know I won't vote for Mark Robinson, Ill tell you that.
'Mixed reviews' from Tar Heel State voters
Within a midway crowded with deep-fried food stalls and colorful carnival rides, Christina Osterbind was manning a modest-sized booth stocked with Trump merchandise at the 10-day North Carolina Mountain State Fair in Asheville earlier this month.
While out selling in the still lingering summer heat, Osterbind, 46 and a resident of Virginia, said she would talk politics with many fairgoers. Besides the presidential contest, she said she heard from many about the governors race.
And did people there support Robinson as much as Trump, even before news broke?
Yes and no, she said.
Its kind of been like a mixed review, Osterbind continued. "A lot of them, they dont mind him. They like him. They like a lot of his views. But there's some things they dont agree with.
Christina Osterbind has been selling Trump merchandise at fairs and parades across states since his first presidency. Many of her products this year have sold out or nearly sold out, she said, at the North Carolina Mountain State Fair in September.
Kenny Hollifield, 52, hadnt made up his mind yet when it comes to the presidential race but said at this point, he leans towards Trump.
I dont like either one of them, but, I like more fiscally responsible politics, said Hollifield, a project manager in construction from Marion, North Carolina, on the edge of the mountains.
Yet when it comes to the governors race, Hollifield is much more decided: Definitely not Mark Robinson, he said. Too fanatical.
Hes just too radical for me, especially on guns, Hollifield added, saying he plans to vote for Stein this year.
Robinson first rose to prominence for his fervent defense of gun rights as a citizen at a Greensboro City Council meeting in 2018. His entrance to politics came soon after, in 2020 becoming the states first Black lieutenant governor.
Continued fallout from Robinson's scandal
Trump, who once referred to Robinson as "Martin Luther King on steroids," appears to be putting space between himself and the embattled candidate.
At a campaign rally in Wilmington Saturday, Trump made zero mention of Robinson. That same day, a hundred miles away in Fayetteville, Robinson made his first public appearance since the CNN report.
Incendiary comments, staff resignations: What we know about Mark Robinson scandal
Still, the former president has not dropped his endorsement of Robinson. And NBC News reported Friday he has no plans to, despite calls from allies and advisers.
SELMA, NC - APRIL 09: Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson joins the stage with former U.S. President Donald Trump during a rally at The Farm at 95 on April 9, 2022 in Selma, North Carolina. The rally comes about five weeks before North Carolinas primary elections where Trump has thrown his support behind candidates in some key Republican races. (Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
Other prominent Republicans are pulling their support though, including Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. Chair of the Republican Governors Association, Lee was scheduled to host a $500 per ticket fundraiser in Greensboro, North Carolina, this week, but his office confirmed Friday the event and Lee's appearance were canceled.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp likewise will "not be offering further support to the Robinson campaign," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday.
Multiple staff members have resigned since the scandal broke. The campaign announced Sunday that top adviser Conrad Pogorzelski, campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, finance director Heather Whillier and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk stepped down.
Cook Political Report shifted their rating of North Carolina's gubernatorial race to "likely Democrat" immediately following the news from CNN.
White House sized stakes in North Carolina
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called the allegations against Robinson unnerving, during an appearance on NBCs Meet the Press Sunday.
If theyre true, hes unfit to serve for office, Graham said. If theyre not true, he has the best lawsuit in the history of the country for libel.
Still, Graham told NBCs Kristen Welker he does not believe this will come back to bite the rest of the GOP.
Robinsons going to have to deal with it. Theres nothing, no accusation involving Trump. This is all about Robinson, Graham said Sunday. Its him, not me, its not Trump. Hes the one that supposedly said these things. He has a right to defend himself. He needs to defend himself.
Democrats, though, certainly hope otherwise.
Its great news for the Democrats, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., said Sunday on Meet the Press. I mean, Robinson is, actually hes the new dream candidate to run against.
Were Robinson to drag Trump down in a sort-of reverse coattails, a win for Harris in battleground North Carolina could be the ballgame in this years presidential race.
Trumps has a smaller advantage in North Carolina compared to the polling lead he held over President Joe Biden, prior to Bidens exit from the race in late July.
In a memo Friday, the Harris campaign argued North Carolina is even more competitive at the presidential level in the wake of last weeks bombshell.
Donald Trump and Mark Robinson have a long history of praising each other, campaigning alongside each other, and sharing the same toxic agenda, the memo reads. Donald Trumps and Mark Robinsons fates in North Carolina are tied together.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mark Robinson may struggle with voters, impact presidential race in NC
North Carolinas scandal-ridden Republican candidate for governor, Mark Robinson, once suggested that prominent civil rights leader the Reverend Al Sharpton should be shot.
The Bulwark reports that back in 2009, the North Carolina lieutenant governor commented on a NewsOne article about a protest against police brutality that Sharpton took part in, writing, If the cops wanted to shoot an elderly black man they should have shot Al Sharpton. Closing his mouth would do this Nation good.
The publication found several other unhinged comments that Robinson made on the same website, including Obama IS a blackface step-in fectch-it [sic] for liberal white America and Its Oprah the wicked witch, leading the way to sexing up the children!
The comments were previously unreported and made on a now defunct system, and The Bulwark was only able to find them thanks to an archive of comments made on websites using the WordPress content management system. They used Robinsons personal email address that was known to be used on other websites, and found a trove of comments.
Sharpton, as one might expect, took exception, drawing a connection between Robinson and Donald Trump.
This is a long line in despicable, self-hating, antisemitic rhetoric from a man who enjoys the support of Donald Trump and the Republican party, the civil rights leader said in a statement Now, his candidate in that state has suggested cops shoot me instead of some other victim. Its clear that someones life is expendable to them, especially if you disagree on the issues.
Last week, CNN broke a bombshell story that Robinson had left comments on a pornography website calling himself a Black NAZI, expressing his desire to own slaves, and talking about peeping in womens locker rooms. The story came on the last day that a candidate could withdraw from North Carolinas election, and Robinson defiantly said he would stay on.
Since then, Trump has refused to disavow Robinson, even as the gubernatorial candidates own staff has abruptly resigned. Senator Lindsey Graham has scrambled to try and distance Trump from Robinson, as the scandal could deal a decisive blow to the former presidents efforts to win the key swing state. It seems there are some scandals that are just too much for Trumps GOP allies.
Markets score 60 red points. Here are Thurston food safety inspections for Sept. 25
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.
Hong Phat Market
1107 College St. SE, Lacey
Grocery Stores and Confectioneries
Sept. 11: 60 red points; 20 blue points.
Comments:
The person in charge did not demonstrate active managerial control and knowledge of cold holding requirements.
Cut produce was not properly washed before being cut.
TCS foods in refrigeration were not at or below 41 degrees as required.
Unit thermometers were not functioning properly.
The facilitys activities, such as food preparation, exceeded their permit. The facility was instructed to submit a risk category change form.
Some in-house items and repackaged items did not have labels.
A sanitizer solution was not prepared at the time of the inspection.
The produce area counters were in disrepair.
A food prep sink was dirty.
Meat Market
Sept. 11: 30 red points; 28 blue points.
Comments:
The person in charge lacked knowledge of cold-holding temperature requirements and did not perform duties to maintain active managerial control of risk factors.
Food contact surfaces were improperly cleaned. A meat grinder was dirty with visible food debris. A meat saw was not properly washed and rinsed.
Unit thermometers were inaccurate and food thermometers were not used to measure internal temperatures.
Pig ears were observed thawing on a shelf at room temperature.
A self-serve seafood cooler lacked a guard or cover to prevent potential contamination.
The handles of in-use utensils were in contact with food.
A ware-washing sink was being used for food prep.
There was no food prep sink in the meat department.
Shelves were not at least 6 inches off the ground. A walk-in cold hold and freezer had excessive food debris. Card board was observed being used as surfaces throughout the facility.
Ben Thanh Market
7255 Martin Way E, Olympia
Meat Market
Sept. 11: 60 red points; 13 blue points.
Comments:
Active managerial control was absent.
Both food worker cards on site were expired.
An employee did not wash their hands as required.
A cutting board that was used with raw meat was not rinsed or sanitized.
Multiple chemical bottles were not properly labeled.
Fish appeared to be thawing in stagnant water.
There was a gap under a door.
Test strips were not available to test an in-use sanitizer solution.
Grocery Stores and Confectioneries
Sept. 11: 5 red points; 2 blue points.
Comments:
Ground raw product was stored above whole/cut raw meat. Raw meats must be stored according to their cooking temperatures.
The south ceiling had water damage.
Panda Express
4210 Martin Way E, Olympia
Sept. 11: 50 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Cooked rice was observed cooling in covered 2-inch-deep pans in the walk-in cold hold at the time of inspection.
Teriyaki Chicken was hot held at 110-146 degrees on the serve line. Hot held TCS foods must be at or above 135 degrees.
Kozys Southbay In & Out
3425 Shincke Road NE, Olympia
Food Service Establishment (Deli)
Sept. 11: 35 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Garlic in an oil mixture was stored at room temperature.
Cut lettuce and tomatoes were stored at greater than 41 degrees in a prep unit.
South Bay Grocery and Deli
3444 South Bay Road NE, Olympia
Food Service Establishment
Sept. 11: 30 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Workers did not have food worker cards at the time of inspection.
The facility lacked a hand-wash sink.
No probe tip thermometer was available.
A sink was moved without prior approval.
Grocery Stores and Confectioneries
Sept. 11: 5 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Half and half, Peets coffee and a hard-boiled egg were above 41 degrees in a cold hold unit.
Walmart
1401 Galaxy Drive NE, Lacey
Deli
Sept. 17: 25 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
An employee reportedly did not wash their hands before donning gloves to handle food products.
Mayan Family Mexican Restaurant
4520 Pacific Ave. SE, Lacey
Sept. 11: 15 red points; 10 blue points.
Comments:
Two food worker cards were expired.
The hand-wash sinks at the bus station and the bar area were not equipped with disposable paper towels.
Boxes of beef steaks were stored on the freezer floor. Food items must be stored at least 6 inches off the ground.
Buzzs Bar and Grill
5018 Mud Bay Road NW, Olympia
Sept. 17: 15 red points; 5 blue points.
Comments:
Coleslaw was held at 45 degrees. Cold held TCS foods must be at or below 41 degrees.
The menu lacked asterisks next to food items that can be cooked to order.
Sanitizer test strips were absent during the inspection.
Starbucks
537 Sleater Kinney Road SE, Lacey
Sept. 12: 15 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Food worker cards were expired.
An in-use sanitizer solution was too weak as prepared.
Budd Bay Cafe
525 Columbia St. NW, Olympia
Sept. 12: 15 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Shellfish tags were not properly dated.
Two prep cold hold units were between 43 and 44 degrees. Cold held TCS foods must be at or below 41 degrees.
The menu lacked asterisks next to items that would be ordered raw or undercooked. All such items must have an asterisk that directs readers to a consumer advisory.
Dairy Queen
4545 Yelm Highway SE, Lacey
Sept. 13: 15 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Beef patties were measured at 130-155 degrees in hot hold drawers. Hot held TCS foods must at or above 135 degrees.
Sliced tomatoes in prep units were cold held at 44-48 degrees. Cold held TCS food items must be at or below 41 degrees.
Mayan Family Mexican Restaurant
4820 Yelm Highway SE, Lacey
Sept. 13: 0 red points; 13 blue points.
Comments:
Containers of TCS food items were not date marked.
An in-use sanitizer solution was too weak as prepared.
An ice-scoop holder had evidence of soil and slime build up.
Candlewood Suites
4440 Third Ave. SE, Lacey
Grocery Stores and Confectioneries
Sept. 11: 10 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
The hand-wash sink had evidence of utensils and coffee cups stored in it. Hand-wash sinks must be accessible and free of obstructions.
Jersey Mikes Subs
5116 Yelm Highway SE, Lacey
Sept. 12: 10 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Most food worker cards were not available for verification.
Shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes in the cook line were measured between 43-45 degrees.
Office Bar and Grill
2030 Mottman Road SW, Tumwater
Sept. 12: 10 red points; 10 blue points.
Comments:
There was no thermometer in a two-door home-style fridge.
The menu lacked a consumer advisory for foods that can be ordered raw or under-cooked.
A chlorine sanitizer solution was too strong as prepared.
The drain lines of a three-compartment sink lacked an air-gap.
Arbor Center Chevron
9335 Martin Way E, Olympia
Deli and Frozen Desserts
Sept. 16: 10 red points; 3 blue points.
Comments:
An in-use sanitizer was too strong as prepared.
Chicken was observed thawing at room temperature.
Grocery Stores and Confectioneries
Sept. 16: 10 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Items in an open-air cold hold were at 50 degrees. Cold held TCS food items must be at or below 41 degrees.
Octapas
610 Water St. SW, Olympia
Sept. 13: 10 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Food worker cards were expired.
TCS food products in the prep table were at 43 degrees. Cold held TCS foods must be at or below 41 degrees.
McDonalds
4640 Whitman Lane SE, Lacey
Sept. 13: 10 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Cut lettuce in an under counter cold hold was measured at 47-48 degrees. Cold held TCS foods must be at or below 41 degrees.
Arirang Asian Market
7940 Martin Way E, Olympia
Food Service Establishment
Sept. 17: 10 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
The packaging process for to-go fish cakes allowed the items to reach room temperature.
Olympia Seafood Company
411 Columbia St. NW, Olympia
Food Service Establishment
Sept. 13: 5 red points; 5 blue points.
Comments:
Food items in a single door cold hold unit were 44 degrees rather than at or below 41 degrees.
An in-use sanitizer solution was too weak as prepared.
South Bay Market
3425 Shincke Road NE, Olympia
Grocery Stores and Confectioneries
Sept. 11: 5 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Hot dogs in the walk-in cold hold were measured at 45 degrees. Cold held TCS food items must be at or below 41 degrees.
Hampton Inn and Suites
4301 Martin Way E, Olympia
Food Service Establishment
Sept. 13: 5 red points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Hard boiled eggs and milk were measured between 47-51 degrees.
Jimmy Johns
2370 Marvin Road NE, Suite C, Lacey
Sept. 16: 5 blue points; 0 blue points.
Comments:
Cut lettuce was cold held at 45 degrees. Cold held TCS food items must be at or below 41 degrees.
No violations
Aloha Acai Cafe . 4570 Avery Lane SE, Lacey. Food Service Establishment.
Circle K . 83000 Martin Way E, Olympia. Food Service Establishment.
Taqueria Perez LLC. 3726 Pacific SE, Olympia (Commissary). Mobile Food Unit.
Mary Trump has accused legacy media organizations of normalizing former President Donald Trump and injecting meaning into his increasingly incoherent statements, and warned of its dangerous effects.
The Republican nominee has fumbled through speech after speech on the campaign trail, delivering a stream of gaffes and word salad rants. Some in the media have vigorously sounded the alarm about his mental acuity, while others, such as The New York Times, have been accused of sane-washing the former presidents ramblings.
The push to normalize Donald is breathtaking, his niece Mary Trump, an author and psychologist, said on PBSs Amanpour and Company Tuesday.
Its as if the legacy media has decided that its job is not to report what hes saying, but to translate it for us, she added. The problem is twofold. One, theyre not telling us thats what theyre doing. Theyre reporting it as if these are the things Donald is saying coherently.
And secondly, theyre not really translating him at all, because his gibberish, really, is untranslatable. What theyre doing is theyre imbuing meaning upon his words that actually doesnt exist in those words, which is much more dangerous.
She said its shocking to see this treatment of her uncle, considering the laser focus that was placed on President Joe Bidens age and mental acuity before he dropped out of the 2024 race. At 78, Donald Trump is now the oldest presidential nominee in U.S. history.
Mary Trump went on the program to discuss her latest book, Who Could Ever Love You, which unpacks her family trauma and its lasting consequences on her well-being, Donald Trumps character and the country.
Related...
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore greets King Abdullah II of Jordan at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Md., before participating in a roundtable discussion, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) Maryland Gov. Wes Moore welcomed King Abdullah II of Jordan to the state's Capitol on Wednesday for a roundtable discussion with business and education leaders from around the state.
It was the first time a foreign head of state has visited the Maryland State House on official business, Moore said in opening remarks.
This is a way to come together to talk about common goals, to talk about common interests and to talk about cooperation that we think is going to be so important, and we have brought leaders from across the state to engage in this historic visit, as we look to have this very vibrant discussion about our people and our economies and our opportunities and also are futures, Moore said.
Officials from Maryland's leading industries, including engineering, research, manufacturing, health care, hospitality, financial services, and technology, attended the meeting. They discussed trade, investment and partnership opportunities between Maryland and Jordan, the governor's office said.
Abdullah said he was delighted to have an opportunity to exchange views and have the opportunity to look at some synergies, which I know we definitely have.
We are instantly good friends, the king said in opening remarks about the governor sitting next to him. Hes a fellow paratrooper, so that goes a long way to this relationship.
Moore was a paratrooper with the U.S. Armys 82nd Airborne and saw combat in Afghanistan. The king is a former commander of Jordan's Special Forces.
Abdullah was in New York this week to speak at the United Nations.
Moore, who is considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, has met with foreign officials before in Annapolis and in the nation's capital about 30 miles (48 kilometers) away. In July, he met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Washington.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) As Hurricane Helene strengthens and heads toward Florida and Georgia, several first responders from Maryland have been deployed to aid the region.
Credit: Montgomery County (MD) Fire & Rescue Service
Montgomery County (MD) Fire & Rescue Service
Montgomery County (MD) Fire & Rescue Service
Pete Piringer, a spokesman for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS), announced that Maryland Task Force 1 began preparing for deployment on Wednesday afternoon.
Virginia Task Force 1 heads to Florida to help rescue efforts ahead of Helene
Piringer said the Maryland Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue Team consists of 45 members from MCFRS, the Prince Georges County Fire Department, the DC Fire and EMS Department, the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services and Howard County Fire and EMS.
The team is headed to Atlanta, Ga. where theyll be assisting with swift water rescues.
We have assets that can get people out of areas that are immersed with water that are normally not immersed with water, MCFRS Chief Corey Smedley said. So, we have the boats that can do that. We have the trained swift water rescue personnel that can assist in that, and then, in the unfortunate event that someone is missing, we have the capability to help with our K9s to help find them.
When will Hurricane Helene make landfall?
This deployment came as Florida and Georgia declared emergencies, prompting several schools to close and residents to evacuate.
Maryland Task Force 1s deployment is 10 days, but that could be extended depending on the severity of the storm.
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NEW YORK (PIX11) Mayor Eric Adams is expected to announce the replacement for New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks on Wednesday, sources told PIX11 News.
Sources said that the mayor has chosen Melissa Aviles-Ramos, the deputy chancellor of family and community engagement, to replace Banks. Banks informed Adams of his resignation on Tuesday.
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The chancellors resignation not only follows a number of people stepping down from the mayors inner circle but three weeks after the FBI raided the home he shares with his partner, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.
The FBI took both their cellphones and electronic devices during the search. Banks and his two brothers, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks and Terence Banks, an advisor and former supervisor to the citys subway system, were all included in the federal investigation.
FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, Corporation Counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix, Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg and Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan have all resigned from the Adams administration in recent weeks.
Adams is under federal investigation for allegedly taking illegal campaign donations from the Turkish government.
David Banks, a former teacher, principal and the founder of an all-boys network of schools has led the nations largest school system since 2022.
The head of the United Federation of Teachers released a statement saying, Now more than ever, we need to focus on doing the work that our students, educators, and public schools need.
State Sen. John Liu, who oversees the Senate committee on New York City education, said Banks stepping is terrible timing and raises renewed questions about whether mayoral control is the best form of school governance.
The announcement is expected at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
This is a developing story. Please refresh the page for updates.
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.
Mayor Brandon Johnson asserted a mandate to transform Chicago Public Schools and expand school investments Wednesday when asked to explain his ongoing effort to push CPS CEO Pedro Martinez out of office.
The mayor carefully avoided criticizing Martinez directly when asked in an interview with the Tribune why he called on the school district leader to resign last week. But he professed a need for new direction in the Chicago public schools and said he was elected to transform this school district.
That is exactly what I intend to do, Johnson said. We are moving in a different direction based upon what the people of Chicago want. They want me to invest in their children, invest in their communities, and that is exactly what we are doing.
Johnson and Martinez had largely remained measured in public statements as tensions grew over Martinezs refusal to close CPS budget gap by taking on loans. But both leaders are now more forcefully arguing for their schooling visions ahead of a Board of Education meeting Thursday where Martinezs future could be determined.
Johnsons interview with the Tribune was his first to focus on Martinezs leadership since he privately called on Martinez to step down. But as he was asked questions about the tense situation, the mayor repeatedly shifted focus from Martinez to his own aspirations for broad investment in schools and school children.
Asked what about Martinezs performance he takes issue with, Johnson called for more school libraries and librarians, basic amenities that too many children go without. The district needs manageable class sizes and sustainable community schools controlled by residents, he added.
Those are my values, and Ill stand by those values, Johnson said. Individuals and people who are aligned with the values of the people of Chicago, those are the people that were going to continue to work with to build a system that works for all of our children.
In order to avoid cuts Johnson and CTU officials say will imperil the school systems ability to achieve that, they want the district to take on loans to help close its budget gap of over $500 million.
Johnson asked Martinez to resign after the CEO rejected the loans, according to Martinez. The Board of Education approved a budget in July that did not include the loans, though a majority of board members are now siding with the mayor and plan to amend the budget to add the loans, a top mayoral aide told the Tribune last week.
The disagreement over the loans has grown into a battle over Martinezs job now intensifying ahead of Thursdays Board of Education meeting. That tension could come to a head at the meeting, although the boards public agenda does not currently call for a vote to fire Martinez.
The Chicago Teachers Unions House of Delegates made a unanimous vote of no confidence in Martinez Monday. On Tuesday, civic leaders, such as former CPS CEO Arne Duncan and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, joined 24 aldermen to state their support for Martinez in an open letter.
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Martinez on Tuesday published an op-ed in the Tribune explaining his stand against exorbitant, short-term borrowing and his decision to not resign despite the mayors request. He also sent a statement to CPS staff and families declaring he would not close schools.
His opponents, chiefly the teachers union, have cited a list of schools that could be closed compiled by the school district to allege Martinez is weighing school closures. Martinez has resolutely denied the list signals any impending closures and called the accusations a misinformation campaign. CPS said Tuesday that the district had explored the possibility of co-locating schools on the list, in a closed session meeting with the board, but the analysis was later abandoned.
A Johnson aide told the Tribune last week such closure plans are unacceptable. Johnson worked for the CTU before seeking elected office, and the union played a critical role in his election.
Speaking Wednesday, Johnson touted his ties to the school district as a former teacher, former CTU organizer and parent the first CPS school parent to be mayor, he added and said his focus remains with the families of the city of Chicago.
But he steered clear of directly attacking Martinez. Asked a second time what Martinez had done to deserve to be pushed out, Johnson again highlighted the mandate he believes voters gave him in his 2023 election.
I am determined to transform this public school system, particularly for Black and brown children who have been marginalized for decades in this city, Johnson said. The hopes and aspirations of people for a very long time has always been to have a mayor and a city committed to investing in children and investing in public education. And that is exactly what I am going to do.
When asked if the board was aligned with him in his efforts to oust Martinez, Johnson responded that this is really about being aligned with the people of Chicago.
Too many of our children across the city are not getting what they deserve, whether its special education services, whether its (English language learners) services, whether its bus services, he said, promising to respond to those demands for more school investment.
Johnson did not directly answer when asked if he believes the board has reason to fire Martinez for cause. Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, argued the board in fact does after Martinez shared a statement with reporters Tuesday attributed to the board and CPS that board President Jianan Shi said he had not seen beforehand.
Instead of saying whether the board is with him on firing Martinez, Johnson talked about the gross disinvestment in the school district.
The effect of austere budgets and privatization and those schemes have harmed people, he said. We are moving in a different direction. We are doing things differently.
Johnson also did not directly answer when asked if he trusted Martinezs pledge to not close schools.
This is not about a single individual, Johnson said. If one person believes that they can transform decades of racism and disinvestment, you should be suspicious of that person. This is about all of us coming together, and thats what Im doing. Im bringing people together as the city of Chicago has given me authority to do to invest in our children.
At the end of the interview, the mayor invoked the families who send their children to public schools in the city and the workers who help teach.
Im going to have their back, he said.
jsheridan@chicagotribune.com
McMaster declares state of emergency as Hurricane Helene heads for Florida Panhandle later this week
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW) Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency Wednesday afternoon as Hurricane Helene appears destined to hit the Florida Panhandle before weakening and moving across parts of the Carolinas later in the week.
The governors executive order encourages state residents to monitor their local weather forecasts and to begin making plans for the storm. A tropical storm watch was issued Wednesday afternoon for coastal areas in Horry and Georgetown counties.
Tracking the Tropics: Helene now Category 1 hurricane and will continue to intensify
Helene officially became a hurricane Wednesday morning, and as of 5 p.m., the storm was about 460 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph., according to the National Hurricane Center. It was moving north at 12 mph.
The forecast calls for Helene is rapidly intensify into a Category 2 Wednesday evening and then grow into a major hurricane by Thursday morning.
McMaster state of emergencyDownload
News13 meteorologist Frank Johnson said Wednesday the Grand Strand should expect winds in the 40 mph range and 1 to 2 inches of rain starting late Thursday and lasting through the night. There will also be a risk of isolated tornadoes as the storm makes its way through the region.
The rainful could affect rivers and streams across the Carolinas, the National Weather Service said Wednesday. The Cape Fear River, Lumber River, Pee Dee River and Black Creek have the highest chance of reaching or returning to minor flood stage late this or early next week.
The Waccamaw River at Conway also has a high chance of reaching minor flood stage because of ongoing flooding upstream and incoming rainfall, according to the National Weather Service.
The governors order activates the South Carolina Emergency Operations Plan and directs state emergency management officials to coordinate with all state agencies in preparation for potential requests for state assistance from local officials and county emergency management leaders, a news release from McMasters office said.
Although South Carolina will likely avoid the brunt of Hurricane Helenes impacts, the storm is still expected to bring dangerous flooding, high winds, and isolated tornadoes to many parts of the state, McMaster said in the release. This State of Emergency ensures that Team South Carolina has the necessary resources in place to respond to these potential impacts. South Carolinians in potentially affected areas should start to take precautions now and monitor local weather forecasts over the next several days.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has also issued a similar emergency declaration for his state.
The SCEMD has several resources available for people to prepare for hurricanes, including hurricane.sc. This site is an interactive tool for anyone needing a quick reference on hurricane preparedness.
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Dennis Bright is the Digital Executive Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
Meet the Afghan general who wants to take on the Taliban
In rural Mason Neck, Virginia, among homes with Confederate flags hanging out front and towering pickup trucks occupying driveways, a stately brick mansion makes for an unexpected neighbor.
In the homes front lawn, sitting amid manicured shrubs, rises an even more unusual sight: the flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. It is one that has not flown in its own country since 2021, when U.S. forces departed and top leaders fled, ceding control to the Taliban.
Former Afghan Lt. Gen. Sami Sadat believes hell once again see that flag ascend in Afghan skies.
This is his home, and also the hub for the Afghanistan United Front, an organization he founded and largely self-funds to unite Afghans and return Afghanistan to the constitutional order, ensuring that Afghans can enjoy freedom, peace, and prosperity.
Inside the house, behind Sadats desk, is another Afghan flag, one he took from the compound of the provincial governor of Helmand province when Sadat ordered the evacuation of the provinces capital city of Lashkar Gah on Aug. 12, 2021.
We made a promise to take this flag back, Sadat said in an interview with Military Times.
While few Afghan generals over the course of the 20-year war became internationally known, Sadats profile rose higher than most.
He was prominently featured in the 2022 National Geographic documentary Retrograde, which followed the officer, then in control of the entire Afghan Army, as he sought to hold the line amid crumbling order in the final days before the fall of Kabul.
Sadat as the Afghan Army commander prior to the fall of Kabul. (Courtesy of Sami Sadat)
Sadat, 39, is a polarizing figure. In his memoir The Last Commander, published in August by Bombardier books, he admits his blunt and combative manner garnered powerful enemies including Ashraf Ghani, the last president of Afghanistan and sometimes put him at odds with the U.S. generals ostensibly there to support Afghan military efforts.
In one of the books scenes, he describes telling off a U.S. Army one-star who demanded he and other Afghan soldiers be searched and turn over their weapons before entering their own headquarters for a mission briefing.
Ultimately, Sadat said he threatened to shut the general out of the meeting entirely.
I walked in with all my combat gear on, carrying my M-4 rifle, Sadat writes. I hated myself for being so rude, but we needed to make a point. This was our war. America was a supporting partner.
By Sadats account, the months prior to the 2020 Doha Agreement, a peace deal with the Taliban that set the stage for U.S. withdrawal, had yielded significant victories by the Afghan military in holding and retaking key territory.
Sadat felt the deal hamstrung Afghan forces, limiting their ability to engage with and pursue the Taliban just as their military efforts were gaining momentum. It was a feeling of betrayal, Sadat says in his book, that would only be compounded the following year as American forces began to withdraw.
In May 2021, all the contractors responsible for the Afghans fleet of Black Hawk helicopters left at the same time, without the handoff process needed to keep the aircraft maintained and flying, according to his memoir.
Sadat describes the pain of listening to U.S. troops blow up their remaining caches of ammunition, leaving none behind for Afghan allies. It makes his frustration and helplessness visceral.
As a time when we were rationing every round, the sight of mortar shells being fired uselessly into the desert, one after another, was demoralizing, he writes.
Sadat holding his memoir. (Hope Hodge Seck)
The Afghanistan United Front, or AUF, is itself something of an act of defiance. It shares many common aims with the National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan, led by former Afghan politician Ahmad Massoud and headquartered in Tajikistan.
Sadat said he reached out to Massoud soon after the fall of Afghanistan with interest in joining his movement, but the NRF had adopted an approach and older Afghan flag associated with mujahideen factions of the 1990s. Sadat insisted on standing behind Afghanistans last constitution, and its final flag.
NRF leaders perceived a power struggle, and Sadat ended up on his own. He now says hes open to changes to the Afghan government once the people are back in control, but believes the guiding documents and symbols of the country must remain constant until then.
We need something for now to bind our legal claim, and that is the constitution and a constitutional order, he said.
The extent of Sadats network of allies is hard to ascertain. His book features advance praise from H.R. McMaster, a former U.S. national security advisor and retired Army lieutenant general who calls it an invaluable perspective on the American self-defeat in Afghanistan.
Sadat has also toured with Australian counterinsurgency expert David Kilcullen and Thomas Kasza, a U.S. Army veteran who founded an organization to support Afghans who assisted special operations troops.
In 2022, Sadat met with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and became a contributor to the Republican-led committee report on Afghanistans fall released in September.
Sadat said he aligns with the reports perspective on President Joe Biden, whose abandonment of Afghanistan speaks, he believes, to Bidens longstanding contempt for the country.
And while he remains in friendly communication with other U.S. military leaders he once worked with in Afghanistan, those individuals have made clear they are unable to get involved in his cause, he said.
Where he has the most support, meanwhile, is at the ground level of his home country, among the scattered Afghan military forces.
We could mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers in a matter of months, he said, adding that the Talibans suffocating rule in Afghanistan was also stirring up the fight in young men whod never previously served. We believe that thousands and thousands of fresh recruits will also rush to the call.
Sadat says he believes 'tens of thousands' of Afghan fighters would rally to defeat the Taliban once called upon. (Courtesy of Sami Sadat)
Before that comes to fruition, lessons must be gleaned from failures of the past.
Sadat said he believes the HFAC Republicans report provided a sense of accountability for the U.S. governments mistakes and failures in Afghanistan leading up to the countrys collapse. But he wishes the report probed deeper into the risk the Taliban pose today, not only to the Afghan people, but also to the Western world as the extremist movement gains strength and lends support to other radical Islamist groups.
Another 9/11 attack and major global attacks is not a matter of if; its a matter of when, because theyre preparing, Sadat said. So, there are two ways the Americans can do this. One way is to support us, so we can go and destroy them inside Afghanistan. The other way is, the Americans wait and fight them in Europe and the Middle East and inside America.
It remains unclear when the time will be right for AUF to launch its planned political and military offensive against the Taliban. Sadat said he cant discuss the timeline, but made clear the group cant afford to wait forever.
An upcoming book tour that will usher him to locations across the United States including stops in Texas, Arizona and New York will, he hopes, raise more resources and awareness for the AUF to continue its work.
As soon as we have enough resources, were going to go and start our campaign, Sadat said.
And in this, were not asking anyones permission.
This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for The Marshall Projects Jackson newsletter, and follow them on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit and Facebook.
This November, tens of millions of voters will select Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump to be president for the next four years. But, the presidency is just one piece of our democracy.
Here in Mississippi, voters also have the opportunity to determine who will serve on their state and local courts.
South Mississippi voters will have the chance to weigh in on one seat on the state Supreme Court and one seat on the Court of Appeals. These courts make rulings that impact the lives of Mississippians. Those elected to judicial offices hand down hundreds of decisions each year about criminal convictions, civil rights and the law.
The Marshall Project - Jackson and Mississippi Today compiled information about each race and candidate to help you make an informed decision at the polls. Election Day is Nov. 5. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 7. Find your local polling place and see how your ballot will look here.
Not sure if you are registered to vote? Check your status here. Or click here for directions on how to register to vote.
You can download a printable PDF of our Judicial Election Guide here.
Mississippi Supreme Court
One Mississippi Supreme Court seats is up for election in South Mississippi, with Associate Justice Dawn Beam facing a challenge.
The race is nonpartisan, but not apolitical, Mississippi College law professor Matt Steffey told The Marshall Project - Jackson.
In the race for District 2, Place 2, which covers the southern part of the state, the states Republican Party endorsed incumbent Dawn Beam, who is facing Gulfport-based attorney David P. Sullivan.
The high court is divided into three districts across the state with three seats, each called a place. Each justice is elected to an eight-year term. The district boundaries are being challenged in federal court. The lawsuit seeks to redraw the districts, claiming that the way the lines are drawn splits the states largest concentration of Black voters, which violates the Voting Rights Act and dilutes Black voting power.
District 2 encompasses 27 counties in the southern parts of the state, from Clarke and Adams counties down to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
To qualify for the court, a candidate must be: eligible to vote in the district; at least 30 years old; a practicing attorney; and a resident of the state for five years before the election. Associate justices make $173,800 annually, presiding justices make $176,737, and the chief justice makes $181,491. The roles are assigned by seniority, with the chief justice the most senior, followed by two presiding justices.
The state Supreme Court often has the final say in cases involving criminal, civil and death penalty appeals, questions on the states laws and its constitution, and legal issues of public interest. It hears appeals from lower courts, such as the chancery and circuit courts. The court decided 260 cases in 2023 and issued rulings in 2,656 motions and petitions.
In a controversial 2023 decision, the court voted 8-0 to uphold the creation of a separate court system in Jackson, commonly called House Bill 1020, but also struck down a provision that would allow four judges to be appointed, rather than elected, to Hinds County Circuit Court. These judges, appointed by White state leadership, would have joined four judges that have been elected by Hinds Countys predominantly Black population.
In 2021, the high court invalidated the states ballot initiative process after voters approved a measure to legalize medical marijuana. The ballot initiative process, outlined in the state constitution, allowed voters to place a constitutional amendment proposal on the ballot by collecting a set number of signatures from each of the states congressional districts.
When this process was outlined in 1992, the state had five congressional districts. It was down to four by 2021. In a 6-3 vote, the court ruled the medical marijuana vote invalid. It argued that the ballot initiative process outlined in the state constitution would only work if amended, and that amending it was beyond the courts power.
Supreme Court seat, District 2, Place 2
Admitted to Mississippi Bar: 1989
Residence: Sumrall, Lamar County
Relevant experience: Five years as chancellor for the 10th District Chancery Court (Forrest, Lamar, Marion, Pearl River and Perry counties); former Lamar County prosecutor; attorney in private practice.
Campaign finance: As of July 10, Justice Beams campaign committee raised $63,958, mostly from political action committees, and spent $28,595, leaving the campaign with $35,363 on hand. Read the latest report here.
Statement of economic interest: Beam and her husband, a physician, own Beam Properties, LLC. Read the latest statement here.
Associate Justice Dawn H. Beam has focused her career on improving child welfare. Before taking the bench on the high court in 2016, she oversaw youth court as a chancery judge in the 10th District, where she worked to clear a backlog of cases and identify abused and neglected children. She has also worked as a youth court prosecutor and child support counsel for the states Department of Human Services. In 2007, she told the Hattiesburg American newspaper that reforming youth court led her to run for Lamar County attorney.
Beam joined the state Supreme Court in 2016, after being appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to fill the seat left vacant by former Justice Randy Pierce. In various news interviews, Bryant cited Beams experience as chancery judge, prosecutor and private attorney, coupled with her concern for abused and neglected children, as qualifiers for his appointment. She was later elected to a full eight-year term, and is now running for her second term. She is the only woman on the court.
While serving on the Supreme Court, she has co-chaired the Mississippi Commission on Childrens Justice, created by the court to develop a comprehensive approach to improving the child welfare system. Through that commission, she introduced the Family First Initiative to fix the states foster care system alongside former first lady Deborah Bryant, which went unfunded amid a recent welfare scandal.
She also co-chaired the Guardianship and Conservatorship Commission, which recommended the GAP Act to protect children and vulnerable adults. She is a member of the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission, which addresses the accessibility of civil legal representation for poor people.
On the campaign trail this year, shes courted Republican groups across her district and visited various festivals and churches. The daughter of a minister, she often references her Christian beliefs as a guiding factor in her career. Beam has the endorsement of the states Republican Party.
Justice Beam has a long track record of issuing conservative rulings from the court, Republican Party Chairman Mike Hurst said in a statement.
In both the ballot initiative and House Bill 1020 decisions, Beam voted with the majority.
Contributors to her reelection committee include political action groups Truck PAC; Mississippi REALTOR PAC; Mississippi Poultry Association; and Mississippi Medical PAC. Contributors also include corporations like Gulfports Island View Casino Resort, CEO Warren A. Hood Jr. of Hood Companies, Inc., and Republican politicians, including former state Sen. Sally Burchfield Doty.
Admitted to Mississippi Bar: 1995
Residence: Gulfport, Harrison County
Relevant experience: Public defender in Harrison, Stone and Pearl River counties; municipal judge in DIberville since 2019; municipal judge pro tempore in Ocean Springs; former city prosecutor of Gulfport.
Campaign finance: Sullivans campaign has raised $38,800 as of July 10 and spent $1,381, leaving the campaign with $37,419 on hand. Read the latest report here.
Statement of economic interest: None on file.
David P. Sullivan comes from a family of Mississippi lawyers. His father was the late Supreme Court Justice Michael D. Sullivan. His grandfather was a state senator and Hattiesburg city attorney, a position his great-grandfather also held.
Sullivan is running to continue the familys legacy, he said at an August DIberville Business Club meeting, as well as to increase the Gulf Coasts representation on the court. In the Supreme Court district, two of the three justices have connections to the Gulf Coast.
Sullivan grew up in Hattiesburg, but moved to the Gulf Coast in 1994 after completing law school at the University of Mississippi.
Sullivan brings 29 years of experience in the courtroom, where he has taken on multiple roles.
His early experience in private law firms included providing legal representation for insurance companies and for businesses facing workers compensation claims. He then served two years as city prosecutor in Gulfport before opening his private practice.
Sullivans firm now focuses on criminal defense. He is also a public defender in Harrison, Stone and Pearl River counties.
In addition to his practice, Sullivan is a municipal court judge in DIberville. Municipal judges have jurisdiction over misdemeanor crimes, city ordinances and traffic violations. They may also conduct initial court appearances, where defendants are advised of their charges and whether they will be eligible to be released on bond.
His election committees two largest campaign contributions, $5,000 each, came from Jackson-based personal injury attorney Crymes G. Pittman, a former president of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, and James F. Hardin Jr., owner of Aladdin Construction in Biloxi.
Mississippi Court of Appeals
The Mississippi Court of Appeals is an appellate court, meaning it reviews cases that have already been decided in a lower trial court. The Court of Appeals hears both civil and criminal cases.
The court was created by the state Legislature to reduce a backlog at the state Supreme Court. It began hearing cases in 1995. All appeals are filed with the Supreme Court, which then decides whether to keep the case or assign it to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals decided 354 cases in 2023, issuing about 58% of appellate decisions.
Two judges are elected to the court from each of its five districts. They serve eight-year terms. This year, one Court of Appeals seat is up for election. Like all judicial elections, they are nonpartisan.
Three candidates are running for the District 5, Place 2, seat, which is held by Judge Joel Smith. Smith was appointed by Gov. Tate Reeves in 2021 to fill a vacancy and won a special election in 2022. He is not seeking reelection. The candidates are: Ian Baker, a prosecutor; Jennifer Schloegel, a four-term chancery court judge; and Amy Lassiter St. Pe, a municipal court judge. District 5 is the southernmost district, encompassing the Gulf Coast. The appellate court judgeship pays $168,467 a year.
Court of Appeals, District 5, Place 2
Admitted to Mississippi Bar: 2006
Residence: Gulfport, Harrison County
Relevant experience: Assistant district attorney; former clerk for Court of Appeals Judge Bill Myers; attorney in private practice; attorney for Biloxi Civil Service Commission.
Campaign finance: As of July 10, Bakers campaign committee raised $70,780 and spent $2,793, leaving it with $67,988 on hand. Read the latest report here.
Statement of economic interest: Baker is employed by Harrison County as an assistant district attorney. Read the full report here.
Ian Bakers experiences center on criminal law. For the past 11 years, Baker has prosecuted cases for the district attorneys office serving Harrison, Hancock and Stone counties. He is a division chief in the office, where he prosecutes major violent crimes, gang crimes, sex crimes and drug trafficking. Along with being an assistant district attorney, he also teaches at the Gulf Coast Law Enforcement Training Academy and is a nationally certified gang prosecutor.
Baker stated on his campaign website that he was hired to join the district attorneys office by Smith, the current judge, who was the district attorney at the time.
Prior to his stint as a prosecutor, Baker owned a private practice, Baker & Brewer, PLLC, in Biloxi. He was also an attorney for the Biloxi Civil Service Commission, which governs city employees. After graduating law school, Baker worked as a clerk in the Court of Appeals under Judge Bill Myers.
Bakers campaign committee contributions come mainly from individuals in the Gulf Coast area. This includes a $25,000 personal loan from the candidate and contributions from attorneys.
Admitted to Mississippi Bar: 1991
Residence: Gulfport, Harrison County
Relevant experience: Elected to four terms as chancery court judge for Harrison, Hancock and Stone counties; attorney in private practice.
Campaign finance: As of July 10, Schloegels campaign committee raised $159,120 and spent $29,230, leaving it with $131,878 on hand. Read the latest report here.
Statement of economic interest: Schloegels statement of economic interest lists her position as a chancery court judge. Read the full report here.
Judge Jennifer Schloegel is serving her fourth term as chancery court judge in Harrison, Hancock and Stone counties. Chancery judges handle civil cases, including land and business disputes, divorces, child custody disputes, wills and estates. Schloegel issues decisions that may end up in front of the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court. According to Schloegel, these courts upheld, in full or in part, 32 of 33 of her decisions that were appealed over 14 years.
In one case, Schloegel ruled against then-State Auditor Stacey Pickering and then-Attorney General Jim Hood in a public records access case. After the Biloxi Sun Herald newspaper requested records in 2012 from the Department of Marine Resources, Pickerings office subpoenaed the documents and claimed they were being used in investigations, exempt from public records laws. Schloegel ruled that the records were public and held Pickering and others in contempt for failing to turn them over as she ordered. In 2017, the state Supreme Court affirmed Schloegels ruling.
Schloegel has also been appointed to the Committee on Continuing Judicial Education, a task force that offers recommendations on how many mandatory judicial education hours judges must receive.
Schloegels campaign raised the most money in this race, including contributions from both individuals and corporations. The corporations include law firms, Island View Casino Resort and Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort. The two largest individual contributions, $5,000 each, came from Rebecca Watts Thompson, the candidates mother, and James R. Reeves, Jr., a Biloxi personal injury attorney.
Schloegel acknowledged receiving the candidate questionnaire from The Marshall Project - Jackson and Mississippi Today, but did not respond.
Admitted to Mississippi Bar: 2003
Residence: Pascagoula, Jackson County
Relevant experience: Municipal court judge; city attorney; attorney in private practice.
Campaign finance: As of July 10, St. Pes campaign committee raised $154,050 and spent $41,756, leaving it with $112,294 on hand. Read the latest report here.
Statement of economic interest: St. Pe owns a law firm and is a board member of Merchants & Marine Bank. She also receives income from the cities of Moss Point, Gautier and Pascagoula. Read the full report here.
Amy Lassiter St. Pe is an attorney in private practice, a municipal court judge in Gautier and city attorney of Moss Point. She is the first woman to hold a municipal court judgeship in Jackson County, according to news reports. St. Pe has also held many roles involving redevelopment. She provides legal counsel for the Pascagoula Redevelopment Authority, an urban renewal organization started by the city in 2011.
Gov. Tate Reeves appointed St. Pe to the Gulf Coast Restoration Funds advisory council. The fund was created in 2018 to manage money from the settlement following the 2010 BP oil spill. It has funded projects such as a road in Jackson County to reduce traffic on Interstate Highway 10 and the completion of the Mississippi Aquarium.
As a municipal court judge, she handles initial appearances and sets bonds for criminal defendants. Municipal judges also have jurisdiction over misdemeanor crimes, city ordinances and traffic violations. As city attorney, she represents Moss Point in lawsuits and provides legal counsel.
As a private attorney, St. Pe is lead counsel in a case before the state Supreme Court, representing Ocean Springs Islands RV Resort, LLC. A Jackson County judge ruled that the company could build its RV park in the Gulf Park Estate neighborhood, but some residents oppose it. Adam Dial and W. Ed Trehern, developers on the project, have made some of the largest individual contributions to St. Pes campaign committee.
St. Pes campaign contributions include $1,000 or more from Republican politicians such as state Sen. Brice Wiggins and the Committee to Elect Jeremy England, another Mississippi state senator. St. Pes campaign has also received contributions from corporations including the Island View Casino Resort, M&T Family Dentistry and Desporte Seafood. Her committee has received support from the Mississippi Physicians PAC and many individual doctors. St. Pes husband, Laurin St. Pe, is chief executive officer of Singing River Health System.
Additional reporting was contributed by Taylor Vance of Mississippi Today.
The Memo: Harris and Trump try to shore up key weaknesses on the border, abortion
Vice President Harris and former President Trump are seeking to ease their sharpest electoral vulnerabilities as the clock ticks down to Election Day.
For Harris, the topic is immigration, where polls show Trump with a significant advantage and where President Bidens record is viewed dimly by many voters.
For Trump, the issue is abortion, where Harris has a correspondingly wide edge and where Republicans and conservatives have suffered a number of setbacks at the polls since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
Harris is expected to visit the southern border on Friday, according to The New York Times, as she seeks to harden her political tone on the topic.
The vice presidents willingness to adopt more strident rhetoric on the border has received some muted criticism from progressive groups. But center-left voices insist it is the correct course.
Tough talk about the border upsets progressive interest groups but very few progressive voters, Jim Kessler, the executive vice president for policy at Third Way, told this column.
Kessler argued that it was imperative for Harris to move to the center on the border, on crime and being pro-growth on the economy and I feel shes done all of those things.
Theres no mistaking the vulnerability for Harris when it comes to the border not least because she played a leading role on the topic in the early phases of the Biden administration.
In an NBC News national poll released Sunday, Trump held a 21-point advantage over Harris when registered voters were asked which candidate would be better at securing the border and controlling immigration.
Harris has already moved away from some of the more progressive positions she held in the past. During her bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination, she raised her hand at a debate to indicate she favored decriminalizing unauthorized border crossings. Now, she says she believes there should be consequences for such crossings.
Harris has also sought to present a harder image in her TV ads and speeches.
One Harris ad opens with a narrator intoning: Kamala Harris has spent years fighting violent crime. As a border-state prosecutor, she took on drug cartels and jailed gang members for smuggling weapons and drugs across the border.
The ad promised that if elected, She will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking.
Trump, meanwhile, has walked an idiosyncratic path on abortion.
The former president expresses pride in his role in nominating the three conservative Supreme Court justices who were pivotal in striking down Roe v. Wade.
But Trump treads gingerly around the topic of a federal ban on abortion and whether he would veto such a ban if he were president when it passed Congress.
At his Sept. 10 debate with Harris in Philadelphia, Trump appeared to rule out signing a federal ban on abortion.
After Harris asserted that he would sign such a measure, Trump responded, Im not signing a ban and theres no reason to sign a ban.
But asked by moderator Linsey Davis whether he would veto such a ban, Trump avoided a direct answer, saying the situation would not arise because such a measure could not get enough votes in Congress.
When Davis pressed further, asking about an assertion from the former presidents running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), that Trump would veto such a ban, Trump replied: Well, I didnt discuss it with JD, in all fairness.
Electorally speaking, the topic of abortion for Trump is the mirror image of immigration for Harris. The NBC News poll showed Trump trailing by 21 points on the question of who would be better at dealing with the issue of abortion.
Trump has in the past ascribed the underwhelming GOP performance in the 2022 midterms to the abortion issue.
Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping that the topic might energize voters, tilting the razor-close election in their favor.
In recent days, Trump has sparked fresh controversy by suggesting that, if he were back in the Oval Office, women would no longer be thinking about abortion.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) told CNNs State of the Union that this assertion was ludicrous and accused Trump of being just deranged.
This guy just doesnt understand what the average woman is confronting in her life in this country, and how could he? Hes not lived a normal life, Whitmer said.
Harris, for her part, sought to keep the spotlight on abortion this week, telling Wisconsin Public Radio in a Monday interview that she would favor eliminating the Senate filibuster for the purpose of codifying the protections in Roe v. Wade.
Ive been very clear, Harris said. I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe, and get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.
GOP strategist Brad Blakeman, however, contended that Trump was handling the abortion issue perfectly and that he was simply stating facts by stressing that the issue is now mostly decided at state level.
American voters are not seeing a wholesale reversal of Roe v. Wade at all, Blakeman said. What they are seeing is each state deciding its own way on abortion.
The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.
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Abortion rights advocates meet in the office of Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove on September 17, 2024. (Noir Prism Studios/All* Above All)
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Jason Smolka lives in the Chicago area and is the national chair of a historically Latino fraternity. Jah Green lives in Philadelphia, where he works in the cannabis industry. Akil Bell is a grants manager for a nonprofit focused on Black womens health in the Los Angeles area.
All are part of a growing effort to engage men of color in abortion rights advocacy.
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and states passed strict abortion bans across the country men, including top lawmakers and Second Gentleman Doug Emoff, started stepping off the sidelines and publicly advocating for abortion and reproductive rights. But men of color, who overwhelmingly support abortion access, have been underrepresented in those discussions.
The stigma around openly discussing abortion in some communities and existing ideas about masculinity had led to many men of color not knowing how they fit into the abortion rights movement, according to advocates.
So earlier this month, the abortion rights group All Above All convened more than 100 advocates, many of them men of color, for a day of lobbying and advocacy on Capitol Hill. They were there to lobby in favor of two bills, the Abortion Justice Act and the EACH Act, which proponents say would expand federal funding and access to abortion for people of color and lower-income people especially.
Green, who traveled to Washington, D.C., from Philadelphia, described himself as a longtime ally on the issue of reproductive rights.
Its always been important for men to weigh on this issue, he said. Its not just a womens issue. Its a family issue, its a people issue.
There is a voice amongst the men of color that we are comfortable in saying, We are for this, said Smolka, the national chairman of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc. We are not just sitting around the sidelines and saying, Well, its not my choice, so you go to fight the battle. Its not my choice, but the battle is still mine as well.
Bringing men into the conversation has historically been somewhat of a blind spot of the abortion rights movement, said All Above Alls president, Nourbese Flint.
Polling from All In Action Fund and HIT Strategies found that while men of color support abortion access and view it as an important issue in determining how they vote, theyre unsure of their place in the abortion rights movement and were waiting to be invited in.
So this was our invitation, as well as our rallying call, to men who might care about this issue but dont know how to get involved and need to see some other folks get involved, she said.
All Above All has advocated for expanded abortion access and going beyond the protections of Roe v. Wade as a vehicle for advancing economic and racial justice. The organization is a longtime supporter of The EACH Act, a bill that would repeal the Hyde Amendment that has for decades prohibited federal dollars from funding abortions. The rule bars low-income Americans from having abortion procedures covered by Medicaid, a burden that falls disproportionately on women of color.
At this moment, where Roe is gone, why dont we build the things that people need? Thats what were trying to advocate for: Lets rebuild not for 1973, but for 2024, Flint said.
Men look to other men as ambassadors when it comes to engaging on the issue, according to Flint. For her, getting men of color into the conversation is part of a longer-term strategy to make the abortion rights movement more representative of those impacted.
We actually have to bring men into the conversation and then show them the structure of what masculinity looks like, and know that you can be a feminist and still be masculine, she said.
Men of color who participated in the lobby day all tied abortion rights to issues of broader economic well-being and fairness, health care and civil rights.
Bell, the grants manager for Black Women for Wellness from the Los Angeles area, described abortion rights as not just an individual matter but a community issue.
For me as a Black man, its been about finding my voice in the conversation, he said. Its more than just about abortion, its about access to health care.
Of the 132 advocates from 22 states and D.C. who came to the Capitol, 74 were men. They held over 70 meetings with congressional offices, according to All Above All.
Many of the men present were there with historically Black and Latino Greek letter organizations, which have played a more prominent role in the 2024 election since Vice President Kamala Harris, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., became the Democratic nominee.
The voice of our current membership feels very passionate about this and is being impacted in a way that the previous generation wasnt, Smolka said.
Smolka said hes seen a shift in how young Latinos openly discuss both abortion and gender roles. Becoming more involved and vocal on reproductive rights, Smolka said, is also helping them deconstruct traditional notions of machismo within their community, one that is often viewed as hyper-masculine.
We ourselves are in an identity crisis as we go through the term from Hispanic to Latino, to Latinx and Latine, and how that impact even is felt within our own membership generation, he said. With the younger generation, you see this comfort with better gender equity, more fluidity, what gender is and whose roles are what.
Former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party have been seeking to peel off support from Black men, who lean Democratic, in large part on economic issues. Both parties will be vying for the votes of Latinos, who supported Trump over Harris by 7 points in the latest 19th News/SurveyMonkey poll.
Black men and Latinos, while less likely to support Harris than Black women and Latinas, do overwhelmingly support abortion access. In the same poll, 71 percent of Black men, 68 percent of Asian-American and Pacific Islander men and 61 percent of Latinos believed abortion should be legal in most or all cases. Just under half of Black men and over half of Latinos also agreed that elected officials should take steps to protect fertility treatment, birth control and emergency contraception.
Green, who works in the cannabis industry, sees parallels between cannabis policy and the post-Roe v. Wade abortion landscape, where rules differ from state to state. He argued abortion bans that make people navigate state-by-state rules pigeonhole lower- and middle-class people into lesser options.
Lets not pretend like this is not an economic issue, he said. People are already living on the margins, the middle class is shrinking yearly.
Vice President Kamala Harris has centered abortion rights in her presidential campaign and pledged that if elected, she would sign legislation to restore a right to abortion, a proposition that could have long odds without Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress.
Democrats have repeatedly passed the Womens Health Protection Act, which would guarantee a federal right to abortion, when theyve controlled the House. But the legislation hasnt passed the Senate due to the upper chambers filibuster rules, which require 60 votes to advance most legislation. In a recent interview, Harris called to eliminate the Senate filibuster to pass abortion rights protections.
Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, a sponsor of the EACH Act, said she believes the tide has turned more in favor of repealing the Hyde Amendment as more stories come out detailing patients suffering and even dying in states with abortion bans.
This is a different era, she said. Suddenly, people are understanding that people are dying, that terrible harm is being done, and that we have to get rid of this rule.
To Green, policies like the Hyde Amendment wrongly assume people exist in silos outside the context of families and support networks.
I dont have kids currently, but I come from a family of single parent households, and Ive been fortunate enough to break the cycle within my family, he said. I think every righteous person out there should have that right to make that decision for themselves on whether or not they want to break those cycles.
The post Men of color are finding their place in abortion rights conversations appeared first on The 19th.
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Leading mental health experts, including a former White House doctor, have expressed alarm over Donald Trumps mental faculties, suggesting hes showing signs of cognitive decline.
Several experts told The Independent their concerns about the Republican presidential nominee are similar to those they had about President Joe Biden before he dropped out of the race, warning Trump appears to have lost touch with reality, as exhibited by the 78-year-olds rambling speeches and erratic debate performance.
They join a growing number of mental health professionals calling for independent and objective cognitive testing as Novembers election edges closer.
Biden, 81, faced a deluge of questions about his mental fitness for another four years in office following his disastrous debate against Trump in June when he repeatedly stumbled over his words and trailed off. Now, all eyes are on Trump, who is prone to incoherent tangents and bizarre musings.
That was on full display at Monday nights rally in Pennsylvania, where Trump was mocked for his word salads.He said of Kamala Harris: She had the other interview with the other guy who was a nice guy I think from Philadelphia from Pennsylvania, he was a nice guy, he was asking her all these [inaudible] the daily take they dont take like I do! Anybody wants to go, go what the hell differences they make they have and how dishonest was ABC...
But Trump insists he is cognitively very strong.
On the campaign trail in Potterville, Michigan, Trump leapfrogged from one random topic to another (Getty Images)
Earlier this month a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, Richard A. Friedman, said he was alarmed by what he witnessed during Trumps debate performance on September 10. In an op-ed for The Atlantic, he said Trump displayed some striking, if familiar, patterns that are commonly seen among people in cognitive decline.
Dr. Ben Michaelis, a clinical psychologist who has previously carried out cognitive assessments for the New York Supreme Court, agrees. He told The Independent that Trump is really not in a strong cognitive place.
Michaelis who stressed he has not examined Trump in person and could not offer any formal diagnosis watched the former presidents debate against Kamala Harris earlier this month, noting that it started at 9 p.m.
Theres a term when youre talking about people with dementia called sundowning, its a lot harder for them as the day goes on, he said, suggesting it appeared Trump could have been experiencing those symptoms.
Its very difficult for them to maintain focus on a topic, he continued. The idea of being able to maintain that level of focus for that amount of time, that late in the dayyou wouldnt think twice about it if that was your grandfather. Its just he happens to be running for president.
When it comes to Trumps rambling speeches, where he has often veered from one unrelated topic to another, Michaelis said it struck him as logorrhoea the Greek word meaning excessive talking which can be associated with dementia.
An example of this was at a speech in Potterville, Michigan, where Trump leapfrogged from talking about how he lost billions of dollars in San Francisco to where he ranks in a list of horribly treated presidents. In another speech, he began talking about bacon and within a minute had moved on to wind turbines.
Trump has addressed his tendency to venture off topic, bragging about what he calls the weave.
Psychiatrists observed Trump in the debate and said he displayed patterns seen in people in cognitive decline (AP)
When I do the weave...Ill talk about nine different things and they all come back brilliantly together, he said. Friends of mine that are English professors, they say: Its the most brilliant thing Ive ever seen.
But the experts dont agree. Its excessive incoherent talking, Michaelis said.
Again, I am not diagnosing him with anything, but it can be a symptom of significant mental illness or dementia. [It is] that inability to maintain focus and to move in a sort of tangential way from topic to topic.
If youre observing him, [the topics] dont seem at all connected but they may have some random connection in his mind, thats what seems to be happening.
Allen Frances is a professor and the chair emeritus of psychiatry at the Duke School of Medicine as well as the architect of the DSM-IV the manual for diagnostic criteria of a range of mental disorders.
Frances is very much opposed to the misuse of the diagnostic system, and in 2016 he did not believe Trump displayed symptoms of a mental health disorder.
But, from what he has observed from afar, Frances told The Independent he believes the dial has now shifted, and it is likely Trump has deteriorated a great deal since he was in office.
First off, he seems pretty incoherent, he said. Its hard for him not to be tangential, circumstantial, not to stay on message. Hes all over the place.
Frances cited examples of unfounded claims Trump made in the debate: that babies are being executed after birth, schools are performing surgery on children, and Haitian immigrants are eating pets. The things hes saying suggest hes really lost touch with reality, he said. It seems to me likely although we cant be definitive about saying anything about anyone at a distance it seems likely he has deteriorated a great deal.
The psychiatrist, who conceded there is a possibility Trumps behavior can also be explained as a deliberate attempt to appeal to specific voters, argued there should be an upper age limit for candidates running for the presidency.
A number of experts believe there should be an age limit on candidates running for president (Getty Images)
Former White House physician Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who has cared for Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton, agrees there should be a cap on the age of presidential candidates if they will not agree to undergo objective cognitive assessments.
We dont let you be an airline pilot because of public safety past the age of 65, we dont let you be an FBI agent past the age of 57, he told The Independent. [The President] has the most powerful position in the free world.
Kuhlman, who has never medically examined Trump, said independent cognitive testing would provide a much better objective picture of whether a candidate has some cognitive decline which he added everybody has to some degree after the age of 60 or if there is a presence of progressive dementia.
Dementia is more common for those in their eighties, which Donald Trump will be in about a year and a half, Kuhlman notes.
A cognitive assessment tests a persons vocabulary, spatial visualization, reasoning, memory and speed. So we know the vocabulary usually stays about the same, but those other four drastically start falling off past the age of 70, Kuhlman explains.
Kuhlman whose bookTransforming Presidential Healthcare: Ensuring Comprehensive Care for the Commander in Chief Amid 21st Century Threats is out now concurs with the observations of his peers.
If you listen to the debate, or if you listen to his speech every day, whats missing is reasoning or that critical decision making, he said.
The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.
The Merck logo is seen at a gate to the Merck & Co campus in Rahway, New Jersey, New Jersey
(Reuters) -Merck said on Wednesday a combination of its experimental drug and blockbuster therapy Keytruda failed a late-stage trial testing it in previously treated patients with a type of colorectal cancer.
This is the latest failure in a set of trials studying a combination involving Keytruda at a time the drugmaker seeks to expand its use in types of cancers not yet treated by immunotherapies while facing a loss of patent protection for the drug at the end of the decade.
In the past few months, Merck has discontinued trials that tested a Keytruda combination in skin or lung cancer.
The trial for colorectal cancer enrolled 441 patients, where the participants who took the experimental drug favezelimab along with Keytruda did not show significant improvement in overall survival compared to those on the standard-of-care treatment.
Colorectal cancer, which develops in the colon or rectum, affects more than 150,000 people in the United States annually, according to data from the National Institutes of Health.
Favezelimab works by preventing a protein called LAG-3 from binding to certain molecules on tumor cells. This activates the body's immune response and can reduce tumor growth.
The favezelimab-Keytruda combination is also being evaluated as a treatment for types of blood disorders and solid tumors.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh; Editing by Varun H K and Shilpi Majumdar)
All meteorological eyes are on Helene as storm intensifies over warm ocean waters
Helene is expected to become a large dangerous hurricane and strike Florida later this week
Helene continues strengthening, forecast to make landfall late Thursday in Floridas Panhandle coast, ensemble tracks are currently consistent with this solution.
Tropical Storm/Hurricane watches and warnings issued along the Florida Coast into southern Georgia.
Inland wind and flooding threat will include portions of Georgia and South Carolina, potentially impacting the Atlanta metro area.
Life-threatening storm surge of 10-15 feet will be possible for portions of the west coast of Florida into the Big Bend.
Slight deviation in the track to the east could bring hurricane force winds and a damaging storm surge into Tampa Bay.
Sea surface temperatures (SST) are remarkably warm, in the 86-degree range, plenty sufficient enough to allow further strengthening upon landfall, possibly as a Cat. 4 storm
Helene forecast to intensify into Major Hurricane
Hurricane-force wind gusts arrive Thursday evening along the West Coast of Floridapotentially close to Tampa Bay
Wind gust snapshot for Thursday evening
Storm to strengthen and head for the Southeast U.S.
After making landfall late Thursday in the Florida panhandle, Helene is expected to make a leftward turn into the Ohio Valley and Midwestthis will bring some gusty easterly winds into Chicago and some possible showers.
Powerful wind gusts from Helene move into sections of Georgia and South Carolina
The following images depict rainfall totals over the next 5 days and the Excessive Rainfall Outlooks
Source: Weather Prediction Center
After the Landfall: How will it affect Chicago?
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Four Democratic lawmakers from the Georgia General Assembly plan to speak about workers rights, and accusations of rights being violated, at the East Point Amazon ATL6 warehouse.
According to a release from lawmakers, State Representatives Kim Schofield (D-Atlanta), Viola Davis (D-Stone Mountain), Sandra Scott (D-Rex), state Senator Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta), members of the State House and Senate Democratic caucuses and labor representatives will be at the warehouse Wednesday afternoon to weigh in on what they describe as deteriorating conditions at the facility.
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For months, legislators have engaged in repeated efforts, including letters, on-site meetings with Amazon leadership and conversations with workers, to address the deteriorating working conditions at the ATL6 facility, Rep. Schofield said in part. However, despite these efforts, the situation has not shown consistent improvement, and the work environment remains hostile and unsafe. Recently, Amazon has escalated its actions by firing long-time employees who have been vocal about advocating for better working conditions.
The group of lawmakers said they plan to address accusations that Amazon has engaged in unfair labor practices, including harassing, threatening and intimidating workers to discourage efforts by staff to unionize.
Channel 2 Action News has reached out to representatives from Amazon for a response to the comments and accusations regarding working conditions at the facility. We are waiting for their response.
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(Bloomberg) -- Mexicos senate passed President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors plan to bring the National Guard under military command, shrugging off warnings that it will give the armed forces excessive power.
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Lopez Obrador created the Guard in 2019 as a civilian institution with policing duties, but argued it will operate more efficiently under the command of the Defense Ministry rather than the Public Security Ministry.
The bill, which amends the constitution, passed with 86 votes in favor and 42 against on Wednesday morning.
The reform will ensure the National Guard is not thrown away and destroyed in the future, Lopez Obrador said in a press conference Sept. 22. We dont want to see a repeat of what happened to the Federal Police, he said, referring to the police force he eliminated because he considered them too corrupt to function.
The change comes at a time when violence by organized crime gangs is roiling the country. Clashes between rival drug cartels in the northern state of Sinaloa left at least 53 people dead in recent weeks.
The new rules will allow the armed forces to fully participate in public security, something which had previously been restricted to exceptional cases, said Ernesto Lopez Portillo, who heads Universidad Iberoamericanas Citizen Security program.
Its not an another step toward militarization, its the definitive step, Lopez Portillo said in an interview. This decision carries enormous risks because theres a chronic weakness in the accountability and transparency standards of the armed forces.
The article in the constitution that limited the role of the armed forces to military activities rather than civilian policing had been unchanged since 1857, he said.
Civilian Oversight
The move comes just days before Lopez Obradors term ends and his protege, Claudia Sheinbaum, takes office. Sheinbaum told reporters that fears over the change are baseless, and that human rights will be respected, while Mexicos military has civilian oversight.
There have been 198,571 homicides in Mexico since Lopez Obrador took office in 2018, up 45% from the previous administration. Lopez Portillo said the government hadnt provided any evidence that the armed forces are better than civilians at fighting crime.
This reform is the final nail in the coffin of Mexicos civilian security, said Senator Luis Donaldo Colosio from the opposition Movimiento Ciudadano party during the debate. Our armed forces are lethal. Theyre masterfully trained to shoot, kill and bring down any threat to national security, not to prevent, not to dissuade.
A previous attempt by Lopez Obrador in 2022 to make the Guard a fully military organization was blocked by the Supreme Court, which ruled it unconstitutional.
Now, with his party controlling more than two thirds of the lower house, and nearly two thirds of the senate, the president was able to achieve his goal by amending the constitution.
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Mexican national sentenced to five years in prison for drug trafficking, illegal firearm possession
(WFRV) The Manitowoc County Sheriffs Office announced via U.S. Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad for the Eastern District of Wisconsin that a Mexican national was sentenced to five years in prison for various charges.
According to the release, 41-year-old Jose Resendiz-Gomez pled guilty to the following charges:
Cocaine possession with intent to distribute
Firearm possession as a previously convicted felon
Two Wisconsin men arrested after K9 finds a large quantity of suspected heroin
Agents with the Manitowoc County Drug Task Force had arranged a cocaine purchase from Resendiz-Gomez in July 2023. According to the release, he was already a previously convicted felon with no lawful status in the United States.
He was arrested at a traffic stop a month later when he was returning from Illinois, with over 600 grams of cocaine ready to distribute in Manitowoc. A search warrant at his home revealed two pistols and 70 rounds of ammo.
Upon his sentence completion, he will face deportation to Mexico. No more details are available.
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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Senate approved a constitutional reform early on Wednesday morning that will give the armed forces control of the civilian-led national guard, in a move critics say gives too much power to the military over law and order.
The measure passed the Senate with 86 votes in favor and 42 against, just meeting the two-thirds majority needed to amend the country's constitution, after already passing the lower house of Congress.
The reform marks another win for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the final week of his administration, as his leftist Morena party and its allies backed the controversial measure. One opposition senator who has voted in line with the ruling coalition to pass other proposals this month also voted to put the military in charge of the national guard police force.
An 11th-hour Lopez Obrador-backed constitutional overhaul to upend Mexico's judiciary by electing judges by popular vote became law earlier this month, sparking tensions with the United States and Canada on concerns of weakening checks and balances and investor confidence.
The president had previously thrown his weight behind a law to put the national guard under military control, but as the measure was not a constitutional reform, the Supreme Court was able to overturn the law last year.
Shortly after he took office in late 2018, Lopez Obrador created the National Guard, which was put under civilian control at the time to assuage concerns about the military's influence over public security.
But throughout his administration, Lopez Obrador has turned over duties which were long held by civilians to the military, including customs duties and airport operation.
(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by David Alire Garcia, William Maclean)
The New Mexico cannabis cowboys: Modern day desperados
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) It was something once relegated to the shadows in back alleys and dimly lit street corners. But all that changed two years ago after lawmakers legalized recreational marijuana. In New Mexico today there are 13 times more cannabis stores than Starbucks. However, despite stringent laws and regulations a dark cloud hangs over the cannabis industry plagued by a thriving black market, flagrant criminal activity, and hundreds of millions of dollars.
Its a throwback right out of the Old West where brazen desperados once roamed the territory with little fear of retribution. It sounds like complete lawlessness but the reality is, its more true than not, said Duke Rodriguez, CEO of Ultra Health, the largest licensed cannabis operation in New Mexico. The industry is running amok, said Will Glaspy, Executive Director of New Mexico HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas). We gave a storefront to the drug cartel when we passed recreational marijuana, State Rep. Bill Rehm said.
Consider the evidence, from Clovis to Santa Fe, Albuquerque to Torrance County. There are so many cannabis-related violations, that regulators at New Mexicos Cannabis Control Division are powerless to curb the illicit activity. Its horrible. Its not the idea that I have for New Mexico, State Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Joseph Cervantes said. We know theres crime, massive crime worth millions of dollars right under our nose and were not willing to do anything about it, Senator Cervantes said.
(El Baile Event Center)
Exhibit A? The El Baile Event Center is a drug marketplace specializing in the sale of illicit cannabis products. From its Central Avenue location in Albuquerques Nob Hill, dozens of vendors gather each Friday to openly peddle everything from outlawed gummies and flower to bootleg edibles and vapes. When I walked in, I tell you it was mind-blowing. The shocker is how blatantly open it was being conducted, said Ultra Health CEO Duke Rodriguez who recently toured El Baile. (There were) folding tables with products, everything from infused Rice Krispies to drinks to every imaginable product that would be for sale. Theres no reporting of gross receipts tax, no payments of cannabis excise tax, completely unsafe and certainly untested products, Rodriguez said.
(Found at El Baile Event Center | KRQE)
(Found at El Baile Event Center | KRQE)
(Found at El Baile Event Center | KRQE)
(Found at El Baile Event Center | KRQE)
(Found at El Baile Event Center | KRQE)
(Found at El Baile Event Center | KRQE)
(El Baile Event Center | KRQE)
(Found at El Baile Event Center | KRQE)
Theyre selling unlicensed, untested cannabis that the state cannot confirm is safe for ingestion. I would say that that is a threat to public health and safety, says Cannabis Control Director Todd Stevens. (El Baile Event Center) is not a licensed cannabis facility and there are no actual New Mexico licensees at this facility. This would be considered criminal activity, Stevens said. Because the Cannabis Control Division doesnt have authority over unlicensed rogue operations, state regulators can only watch illicit transactions go out the door and hope police investigate. Ultra Healths Duke Rodriguez says the El Baile Event Center cannabis products are absolutely 100% illegal. Why hasnt it been shut down? Thats the question many of us in the industry keep asking, Duke Rodriguez said.
Dineh Benally poses for a photograph before a Navajo Nation presidential forum at a tribal casino outside Flagstaff, Ariz., Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca, File)
And then, theres Torrance County. In 2022, former Navajo Nation presidential candidate Dineh Benally was issued a cannabis license for a massive marijuana plantation near Estancia called Native American Agricultural Development Company. Only later did state regulators learn they had licensed an outlaw enterprise. Native American Agricultural Development Company was found to be in violation of some of our most egregious statutory requirements, Cannabis Control Division Director Todd Stevens said. We revoked that license in December and issued a $1,000,000 fine, Stevens says. Today, the fine remains uncollected. CCD Director Stevens admits his agency can only issue fines but has no authority to collect them.
Last year, the Office of the State Engineer opened an investigation into water rights at the Estancia cannabis production facility operated by Dineh Benally. Inspectors discovered the extensive marijuana operation, which includes some 40,000 cannabis plants and several hundred hoop houses, did not have valid permits for commercial water use. In July, the State Engineers Office sent the land owner a cease and desist letter. The land owner, Tom and Jerry Ranches said water wells on the cannabis farm were shut down last month. In a phone conversation with KRQE News 13, land owner Tom Gordon declined to discuss the lease of his land to Dineh Benally.
Meanwhile, its business as usual for the Native American Agricultural Development Company where tons of bootleg marijuana worth tens of millions is openly produced and shipped to points unknown. They are no longer a cannabis licensed facility which would mean that any commercial cannabis activity going on at that location is now criminal, Todd Stevens said. The CCD Director says illegal trafficking of cannabis is a class four felony. Native American Agricultural Development Company licensee Dineh Benally canceled a scheduled meeting with KRQE News 13 on the advice of his attorney.
Just down the road from the Native American Agricultural Development Company sits Bliss Farm, another vast cannabis operation with thousands of marijuana plants and more than 100 greenhouses. The Bliss Farm cannabis license was issued to a Chinese man named Chunlei Zhao who lists addresses in Farmington and Albuquerque. Cannabis Control Inspectors discovered some two dozen serious cannabis violations, revoked the farms cannabis license, and slapped the facility with a $1,000,000 fine which has not been paid.
(Bliss Farm | KRQE )
Bliss Farm is not the only rogue Torrance County cannabis farm. Since 2021, central New Mexicos Estancia Valley has been overrun with at least seven multi-million dollar marijuana plantations with international connections. Each of the cannabis operations involves locally owned agricultural farmland leased to individuals of Chinese descent.
These are large-scale operations that are packaging their marijuana and shipping them all across our country. Theyre coming from the Peoples Republic of China. Theyre setting up their operations here, said Will Glaspy who heads up a federal drug program that provides resources to local law enforcement agencies. The legalization of marijuana has made it more difficult for our law enforcement partners to conduct their investigations and its provided some cover for the Mexican drug cartels and Chinese organized crime to be able to carry out their illegal activities, circumventing state law in the process, Glaspy said.
Administrators with the states Cannabis Control Division say they dont know the extent of black market marijuana in New Mexico. But industry experts who have studied the weed market put the price tag on bootleg cannabis here at a whopping half billion dollars. Ultra Health CEO Duke Rodriguez calls New Mexicos marijuana marketplace, the wild, wild west. Buy unregulated, untaxed, untested cannabis and you risk unknown potency, banned pesticides, or dangerous mold.
At least 50% of the cannabis commerce occurring in New Mexico is occurring in the illicit market, Duke Rodriguez said. This is a complete threat to everybody whos invested in this industry on a legitimate legal basis. This is a crime. Why isnt this crime being addressed, Rodriguez said.
When the original act was passed, the promise was that this was going to eliminate the black market and the criminal element in New Mexico. To the contrary we become ground (zero) for the illegal market in New Mexico, State Senator Joseph Cervantes said.
To understand why so many rogue cannabis organizations proliferate, you have to look at the states licensing process. For example, after the Santa Fe-based pot shop, Unlimited Extract got a state cannabis license, its operation was hardly by the book. Unlimited Extract openly touted banned products on its website and directed a parade of customers to a clandestine marijuana store in the garage of a Santa Fe residence. By the time state inspectors got wind of the illicit operation, they said Unlimited Extract was out of compliance with everything.
(Unlimited Extract banned products listed on its website)
(Unlimited Extract State Licenses | KRQE)
We did have evidence that (Unlimited Extract was) operating out of a residential garage that does not have a license, Cannabis Control Director Stevens said. That would be an unlicensed premise, which would be criminal in nature. Anyone conducting commercial activities without a license would be (unlawful), Stevens said. State cannabis regulators have filed a Notice of Contemplated Action relating to the Unlimited Extract operation and disciplinary action is pending.
(Unlimited Extract operating out of a residential garage. | KRQE)
(Unlimited Extract operating out of a residential garage. | KRQE)
(Unlimited Extract operating out of a residential garage. | KRQE)
(Unlimited Extract operating out of a residential garage. | KRQE)
(Unlimited Extract operating out of a residential garage. | KRQE)
(Unlimited Extract operating out of a residential garage. | KRQE)
(Unlimited Extract operating out of a residential garage. | KRQE)
(Unlimited Extract operating out of a residential garage. | KRQE)
(Unlimited Extract operating out of a residential garage. | KRQE)
(Unlimited Extract operating out of a residential garage. | KRQE)
If Unlimited Extract wasnt compliant with state cannabis regulations then how did the Santa Fe pot shop get a state-issued cannabis license? The answer relates to compliance inspections of a licensees premises by state inspectors. According to CCD Director Stevens, In my opinion, theyre one of the most important, if not the most important part of the process is inspecting these facilities to ensure that these businesses are compliant (with regulations). However, in the case of Unlimited Extract, the business wasnt inspected until months after its cannabis license had been issued.
New Mexico takes a unique position on cannabis licensure. Here, marijuana licenses are issued on the honor system where state credentials are issued to practically anyone who applies. We issue these licenses to good faith actors, and we assume people follow the law until we go into these businesses and find elsewhere, Todd Stevens said. Out of 3,000 licensed cannabis facilities across New Mexico, Stevens admits, the Cannabis Control Division has only inspected about half of them. With the limited resources that we have, sending officers to a place where cannabis activity is not licensed we dont quite have that ability yet with the resources that we have. We focus on our licensed cannabis activities that are fully licensed, Stevens said in July.
For example:
The Cannabis Control Division issued a retail cannabis license to The Phat Unicorn (Belen) without inspecting the facility. When regulators got around to inspecting the pot shop at its licensed address all they found was a dirt road.
When the state handed JKC Enterprises (Las Cruces) a retail cannabis license no one at the CCD bothered checking the retail outlets licensed address on Bataan Memorial Highway. Inspectors couldnt perform an inspection because there was no building to inspect.
(CMF Production | KRQE)
CMF Production (Clovis) received its General Cannabis Production Facility license in 2022. One year later Cannabis Control Agents paid a visit to the CMF facility. Inspectors noted extensive Cannabis violations including illegal sourcing and distribution of cannabis products, improper labeling and tracking of products, unlicensed manufacturing activity and improper transportation of cannabis. CMFs cannabis license was later revoked.
(Grass on Wheels | KRQE)
Last year the state issued Grass On Wheels (Albuquerque) a retail cannabis license. Apparently, the Cannabis Control Division didnt read the Grass On Wheel license application. Eight months after issuing Grass on Wheel its cannabis license, state inspectors discovered the business was committing a host of violations including selling cannabis out of a van in a residential neighborhood.
Its the same story all over New Mexico: Hundreds of uninspected licensed facilities with multiple unaddressed violations of the Cannabis Regulation Act. New Mexico may be the only state in the country that issues recreational cannabis licenses without first conducting a facility compliance inspection. With only nine field inspectors, Todd Stevens said his division lacks the resources to perform timely inspections, and, he admits, thats a problem. We dont know that any licensed facility is going to be compliant without an inspection, Stevens said.
This is a narcotic. Right now we need to make sure that we have control over it, State Senator Mark Moores said. We have 30% of it coming from out of state. We have the (Cannabis Control) Division issuing licenses to people before theyre being inspected. This is a major concern. If were going to do this as an industry in New Mexico, weve got to get it right, Senator Moores said.
The decision to legalize marijuana was made. And while I didnt support it at the time, its a decision and were going to work with it. Im determined to make it work better. But right now weve really got chaos, State Senator Joseph Cervantes said.
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The Colorado Supreme Court announced last month that it will review two cases, one questioning whether a procedural misstep in a murder trial was sufficient to reverse a defendant's conviction and the other examining what role Colorado's open records law plays in legal claims against the government.
Sheinbaum complained that King Felipe had not replied to a letter about the colonial past (Marvin RECINOS) (Marvin RECINOS/AFP/AFP)
Mexican president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum angered Spain on Wednesday by barring its King Felipe VI from her swearing-in ceremony, accusing him of failing to acknowledge harm caused by his country's conquest of Mexico five centuries ago.
The decision prompted Spain to boycott the event altogether, with its Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calling the Mexican decision "inexplicable" and "totally unacceptable".
Mexico's outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in 2019 sent a letter to the king asking that he "publicly and officially" acknowledge the "damage" caused by the 1519-1521 conquest, which resulted in the death of a large part of the country's pre-Hispanic population.
"Unfortunately, this letter was never replied to directly, as should have been the best practice in bilateral relations," Sheinbaum said in a statement.
Mexico had in July invited just Sanchez to the swearing-in ceremony on October 1, the statement added.
The Spanish foreign ministry said in a statement that the government "has decided not to participate in the inauguration at any level".
"Spain and Mexico are brotherly peoples. We cannot therefore accept being excluded like this," Sanchez said later in a news conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
"That is why we have made it known to the Mexican government that there will be no diplomatic representative from the Spanish government, as a sign of protest."
- Leftist guest list -
Mexico published the guest list a week ago for the inauguration of Sheinbaum, who will be the country's first woman president following her left-wing ruling party's landslide June election victory.
King Felipe VI was not on the list, which includes regional leftist leaders as well as US First Lady Jill Biden.
Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles told journalists in Madrid on Wednesday: "The head of state, the king of Spain, always attends all swearing-in ceremonies and therefore we cannot accept that in this case he should be excluded."
While Mexico and Spain have close historical and economic links, relations between the Latin American nation and its former colonial ruler have been strained since Lopez Obrador -- an ally of Sheinbaum -- took office in 2018.
He has frequently complained about Spanish companies operating in Mexico and twice declared during his mandate that his country's relations with Spain were "on pause".
Madrid has rejected his demand for an apology for the events of the Spanish conquest five centuries ago.
Sanchez said on Wednesday, without elaborating, that Spain had "already explained its position on the subject".
The socialist premier expressed "great frustration" at Sheinbaum's decision, saying that he considered Mexico's leaders to be "progressive" like his government.
bur-st/rlp/
By David Alire Garcia and Belen Carreno
MEXICO CITY/MADRID (Reuters) - A fight dating back more than five centuries reemerged on Wednesday as Mexico's incoming president defended a decision to not invite the Spanish king to her inauguration next week after the monarch declined to apologize for colonial-era abuses.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also weighed in earlier in the day, describing the snub as "unacceptable," less than a week before Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum's Oct. 1 swearing-in ceremony.
In a rare rebuke on Tuesday, the Spanish government announced it would not send any representative to the event.
The diplomatic spat threatens to cast a pall over Sheinbaum's inauguration in Mexico City, once the seat of Spain's vast colonial holdings in the Americas after Spanish invaders and their native allies toppled the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1521.
Mexico City was built over the ruins of the Aztec metropolis.
In a two-page letter posted to social media on Wednesday, Sheinbaum wrote that only Prime Minister Sanchez had been invited, in part because King Felipe VI did not directly respond to a personal letter that the outgoing Mexican president sent the monarch in 2019.
In that letter, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a close Sheinbaum ally, asked the king to "publicly and officially" recognize the abuses committed during the conquest of Mexico in order to chart a friendlier new course between the countries.
"Unfortunately, that letter did not prompt any direct answer," wrote Sheinbaum, who noted she spoke with Sanchez a few days earlier.
In 2019, Lopez Obrador was seeking to organize an event in 2021 that would mark the anniversaries of the conquest, Mexico's 19th century independence from Spain, as well as the founding of Tenochtitlan in the 1300s.
At the time, he also sought a similar apology from Pope Francis for atrocities committed against Mexico's indigenous population as well as the repatriation of pre-Hispanic books and other artifacts held in European museums and libraries.
Francis did not respond to Lopez Obrador but has previously apologized for the "many grave sins (that) were committed against the native people of America in the name of God."
After Lopez Obrador reiterated his request for a formal apology shortly after his letter was made public, Spain's foreign ministry rejected it, arguing that the conquest should not be "judged in light of contemporary considerations."
The outgoing Mexican president has often invoked the Spanish conquest to rally nationalist sentiment, stressing that Mexico is no longer any country's colony.
On the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly annual session in New York on Wednesday, Sanchez was asked by reporters if Spain should apologize, but he sidestepped the question.
"We can't accept this exclusion, and that's why we informed the Mexican government that the absence of any diplomatic representative of the Spanish government is a sign of protest," said Sanchez.
"Not only do we consider it unacceptable, its inexplicable," he added.
(Reporting by David Alire Garcia in Mexico City and Belen Carreno Bravo in Madrid; Editing by Sonali Paul)
(The Hill) Michael Cohen, former President Trumps ex-personal attorney, said Tuesday that he plans to flee the country if his former boss wins in November.
Im out of here. I mean, Im already working on a foreign passport with a completely different name, Cohen told MSNBCs Nicole Wallace, when asked what he thinks will happen to him if Trump retakes the White House.
I dont know how its going to work, as far as dealing with my wife and my children, he continued. I certainly dont want them moving to where Im looking to go.
Michael Cohen leaves his apartment building on his way to Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 13, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
The remarks came in a larger discussion around reporting from The New York Times describing some of the GOP nominees plans to prosecute his enemies if he returns to office. The Times named Cohen as someone on that list.
Cohen, in recent years, has made his way to the top of Trumps enemy list, a stark reversal from his previous role as the former presidents fixer.
But the ex-attorney turned on his boss and served a three-year sentence after pleading guilty to federal campaign finance charges and other crimes. He maintains that he committed some of the crimes at Trumps direction and testified to that effect as the star witness in the New York hush money case earlier this year.
The trial centered on false business records related to a payment made around the 2016 election to silence a witness about an alleged affair with the former president returned a guilty verdict, making Trump the first sitting or former president to be convicted in a criminal case.
Cohen said he is not the only person who should fear repercussion if Trump returns to power.
Yourself, the president of MSNBC, General Milley, you know, Liz Cheney. How many people has he turned around and said that this is, that these are people that I intend to go after if I have the ability to? he said, referring to the former Wyoming lawmaker and former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Cohen also lamented the recent Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, which he described as the worst.
Now he thinks its, not only is it, I can do whatever I want, but I cant even be prosecuted, Cohen said. Its a get-out-of-jail-free card solely for the president.
The ruling determined that core presidential powers are immune from criminal prosecution, which was largely seen as a victory for Trump amid his legal battles.
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Michael Cohen says hes working on a foreign passport with a completely different name in case Trump wins
Donald Trumps former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen has revealed he is working on getting a foreign passport and a totally new name as a back-up in case the former president soars to victory in November.
Cohen, who in 2018 pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, testified against the former president during his hush money criminal trial back in May.
The disbarred lawyers testimony contributed to Trump being convicted on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over $130,000 hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels through Cohen in order to cover up an alleged affair. Trump continues to deny his involvement with the payments and that the affair took place.
Now, Cohen believes that he would be at the top of Trumps retribution list if he defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
As a result, the former fixer revealed on MSNBCs Deadline: White House on Tuesday that he will likely flee the country if a second Trump term does materialise, saying he is already working on a foreign passport under an assumed name.
Michael Cohen said he will have no choice but to flee the country if Trump is re-elected president (MSNBC/YouTube)
Im out of here, he told host Nicolle Wallace. Im already working on a foreign passport with a completely different name.
Cohen added: I dont know how its going to work as far as dealing with my wife and my children. I certainly dont want them moving to where Im looking to go.
When Wallace probed once more whether hed leave the country, Cohen confirmed: I have no choice.
Cohen did not reveal where he plans to move.
During his first term, Trump repeatedly attempted to use his presidential powers to investigate or punish those he considered enemies from former FBI Director James Comey to his 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Following his stint in jail, Cohen was asked to sign a document that would bar him from publishing his tell-all memoir about his time working with Trump in 2020. He refused and was sent back to prison.
A federal judge then ruled that his confinement to jail is [a] retaliatory effort from the government and ordered his release.
Trump speaks at Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center on September 24 in Savannah, Georgia. Cohen fears he will seek revenge in a second term (AP)
Now, Cohen has warned that senior executives in the liberal media are also likely unsafe including MSNBCs president Rashida Jones and Wallace herself.
How many people has he turned around and said that these are people that I intend to go after if I have the ability to? Cohen warned.
The Supreme Courts July ruling granting Trump, and other presidents, immunity from official acts undertaken in office only makes things worse, he added.
Now he thinks its not only can I do whatever I want, but I cant even be prosecuted. Its a get out of jail free card solely for the president, Cohen continued.
Daniels, who was the recipient of the hush money payments, previously revealed her own plans to flee the US if Trump was acquitted in the criminal trial.
I think if its not guilty, we got to decide what to do. Good chance well probably vacate this country, her husband Barrett Blade told CNN in May.
Daniels said she had been facing violent threats from MAGA supporters ever since Trump was indicted in March 2023.
Earlier this month, she told Rolling Stone she believes there is a strong possibility that the former president will have her tried for treason if he is re-elected in November.
Michael Gove appointed new editor of The Spectator
Former government minister Michael Gove is to be the new editor of The Spectator, after the magazine was bought by hedge fund tycoon and GB News-backer Sir Paul Marshall.
He will take on the role at the start of October, according to Freddie Sayers, the magazine's publisher.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Sayers, who is also the chief executive of new owner OQS, added Mr Gove was "perfectly suited to the role".
Mr Gove, who stepped down from Parliament at the general election, was a journalist before he became a Conservative MP.
He will start the job after final approval from Acoba, the advisory committee on business appointments which advises former ministers when they take jobs after leaving the government.
Mr Gove replaces Fraser Nelson, who is stepping down "after 15 incredibly successful years", Mr Sayers said.
Mr Nelson will continue to write for The Spectator and will become associate editor.
In an article published on Wednesday, Mr Nelson called Mr Gove "the clear successor" to replace him.
"Hes a first-class journalist who took a detour into politics and not (as so often happens) the other way around," he wrote.
"There's never a good time to leave a job like mine but, after 15 years and a new owner with big ambitions, there is an obvious time."
Mr Nelson has overseen a highly successful period for the magazine, including the growth of its digital product.
His decision to step down follows Andrew Neil's exit as the magazine's chairman earlier this month.
Mr Gove, first elected MP for Surrey Heath in 2005, served in the governments of David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.
He announced he was stepping down in May, amid an exodus of Conservative MPs ahead of the 4 July election.
He takes on his new role as editor of the right-leaning magazine as the Conservative party prepares to elect its next leader.
Earlier this month, it was announced that the Spectator had been sold for 100m to Sir Paul, through his Old Queen Street (OQS) media group.
He beat around 20 other bidders to buy the magazine, once edited by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
It went back on sale in April after an Abu Dhabi-backed bid to buy it along with the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph collapsed.
This came after the government intervened in January. Legislation banning foreign states from owning UK newspapers soon followed.
That deal would have transferred the ownership to the Gulf-backed RedBird IMI consortium.
The Spectator was established in 1828, making it one of the oldest politics and current affairs magazines in the world.
Mr Sayers also announced that the magazine's non-executive Chairman would be Charles Moore, a former Spectator editor.
Mr Sayers said Lord Moore, who sits as a non-affiliated member of the House of Lords, would have "the specific brief of safeguarding editorial independence and the soul of the publication".
Michael Gove, the former Cabinet minister, will begin his new job three months after stepping down as an MP
Michael Gove has been appointed as editor of The Spectator magazine after its takeover by Sir Paul Marshall, the GB News co-owner, The Telegraph can reveal.
The controversial former Cabinet minister will begin his new job on Oct 4 just over three months after he stood down as an MP. It means he will be at the helm of the magazine known as the Tory Bible as the Conservative Party leadership election reaches its climax.
He will take over from Fraser Nelson, who has achieved record print circulation figures during his 15 years in the job as well as making a success of its digital subscription strategy.
It was also announced that Lord Moore, a former editor of The Spectator and The Telegraph, will become The Spectators non-executive chairman, replacing Andrew Neil.
Sir Paul Marshall, the tycoon and major investor in GB News who bought The Spectator this month, pictured in 2010 alongside Michael Gove, the education secretary at the time - ALAMY/WILLOWS
Mr Goves appointment will not only give him a major platform for shaping opinion around who should be the next Tory leader, but it also suggests a shift in emphasis at the influential magazine, which was fiercely opposed to the Covid lockdowns that Mr Gove championed while in government.
Mr Gove is a divisive figure in Conservative circles, having scuppered Boris Johnsons 2016 leadership bid by standing against him after promising he would back him. It earned him a reputation as a backstabber that has stayed with him ever since.
Mr Johnson, himself a former editor of The Spectator, had run the successful Vote Leave campaign with him before they became rivals.
The cover of The Spectator on March 15 2014. Inside featured a piece by author Anthony Horowitz on his meeting with the Cabinet member
Mr Gove will take over as editor of the magazine three weeks before the end of the Tory leadership contest. He has in the past been a vocal supporter of Kemi Badenoch, though their relationship is said to have cooled in recent months. She told a hustings event last month that she was not controlled by the former housing secretary.
Mr Gove is thought to have sought the approval of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which must approve any job taken by an ex-minister within two years of leaving government.
Mr Nelson, who is also a Telegraph columnist, is expected to leave the worlds oldest weekly magazine, which had become so successful under his stewardship that Sir Paul outbid Rupert Murdoch to pay 100 million for it earlier this month, around twice what it had been expected to sell for.
Fraser Nelson and Andrew Neil at a Spectator party in 2018 - DAVE BENNET/GETTY/SPECTATOR
Mr Goves divisiveness in the Conservative Party was not confined to his long-running rivalry with Mr Johnson. David Cameron, now Lord Cameron, described him in his autobiography as mendacious after falling out with him over Brexit and said of him: One quality shone through, disloyalty.
Liz Truss described him as that snake after he helped undermine her brief premiership by saying he would not vote for her Budget when it was put before Parliament.
Sir Paul, who made his fortune as the co-founder of the hedge fund group Marshall Wace, is a former member of the Liberal Democrats who switched his allegiance to the Conservative Party because he supported Brexit.
He is co-owner of GB News and owner of the news website UnHerd, and is part of a consortium that has previously expressed an interest in buying Telegraph Media Group, the sale of which is ongoing.
Michael Gove pictured receiving the Minister to Watch Award, presented by Penny Mordaunt at the 2020 Spectator Parliamentarian Of The Year Awards - DAVE BENNETT/GETTY/THE SPECTATOR
Earlier this month, veteran journalist Mr Neil resigned as chairman of The Spectator with a parting shot at Sir Paul.
He told its staff: My greatest regret is that I have not been able to find you a new home guaranteed to nurture the unique chemistry of The Spectator, which makes it so special and successful, said Mr Neil.
You can have all the resources in the world but if you dont understand what really makes The Spectator tick then they will be as nought.
He also urged Sir Paul not to interfere in editorial matters, saying: I regarded it as my prime responsibility for 20 years to ensure [editorial independence], protecting the editor not just from outside pressures, commercial or political, but even from proprietors, said Mr Neil.
I cannot tell if the new owners will have the same reverence for editorial independence since they have not shared their thinking.
Mr Gove and Sir Paul share a belief in the need for a more responsible form of capitalism, and in March, Mr Gove defended Sir Paul in the House of Commons during a debate about extremism.
Sir Paul had liked a tweet that said civil war is coming because of the increasing proportion of Muslims making up the population of Britain, which Labour criticised. Mr Gove said: I deprecate the personal attack on Sir Paul, describing him as a distinguished philanthropist.
Mr Goves new job marks a return to the career he left when he became an MP in 2005. He was assistant editor of The Times, having started his career in journalism working on The Telegraphs Peterborough column.
Journalist Michael Gove, comedian David Baddiel and presenter Tracey MacLeod in 1992 on Channel 4s A Stab in the Dark
Mr Gove is not the first former Cabinet minister to become an editor: George Osborne, the former chancellor, was appointed editor of The Evening Standard in 2017 by its owner Lord Lebedev, but he was unable to halt its decline during his three years in the job. Earlier this month, the newspaper ceased daily publication and moved to a weekly print publication model to cut costs.
Sir Paul bought The Spectator through his Old Queen Street Media company, which owns UnHerd. Its chief executive is Freddie Sayers, who is now publisher of The Spectator.
After the takeover, he promised that UnHerd and The Spectator would remain fully separate titles, with independent editorial and governance structures.
Mr Sayers said: To be editor of The Spectator requires a rare breadth of intellectual interests and depth of journalistic experience.
Alongside his political and journalistic nous, Michael brings a love of books, philosophy, art, opera and a mischievous sense of humour. He is perfectly suited to this role, and I cant wait to work together to bring The Spectator to new audiences.
Fraser has achieved huge success over his 15 years as editor, modernising and building The Spectator into a formidable media brand. I am delighted that he will continue to write and, as Associate Editor, be part of The Spectator family.
Lord Moore becomes the magazines non-executive chairman - Andrew Crowley
Lord Moore said: The Spectator thrives because of its free spirit and editorial independence. Having been continuously associated with the paper for more than a fifth of its nearly 200-year history, I am honoured to have been asked to be its chairman. I look forward to its future being even greater than its past.
Mr Nelson said: Theres never a good time to leave a job like mine but, after 15 years and a new owner with big ambitions, there is an obvious time. In many ways, Michael is the obvious successor.
Hes a first-class journalist who took a detour into politics, he was my news editor when I was a young reporter at The Times and he first declared his ambition to edit The Spectator in an Aberdeen classroom at the age of seven. Now, aged 57, he has made it. His experience, combined with his journalistic skills and the quality of the team around him, will make for quite a potent combination.
Charles was made editor of The Spectator aged 27 and went on to edit The Daily Telegraph. His remit as chairman will be to safeguard editorial independence and I can think of no one better-suited to The Spectator chairmanship.
Mr Gove has been contacted by The Telegraph for comment.
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Michigan state Rep. Jen Hill (D-Marquette) (left) speaks at a news conference about legislation aimed to curb sexual extortion during a news conference in the Anderson House Office Building in Lansing, Michigan on Sept. 25, 2024. | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols
Jordan DeMay was a well-loved member of the Marquette High School community, the homecoming king and a star athlete. But in March 2022 the northern Michigan 17-year-old thought he was messaging a young woman on Instagram, complying with her request for explicit photos of himself.
DeMay killed himself six hours later.
He was tragically tortured, DeMays father John DeMay said during a news conference Wednesday. He was convinced and groomed into sending an explicit picture of himself, which he did and when that happened, the extortion started. It was vicious, it was consistent, it was methodical and it was purposeful.
There was no young woman talking to DeMay, instead it was two men in Nigeria connected to more than 100 similar extortion schemes who told DeMay to kill himself.
Soliciting individuals online for explicit photos and then harassing and blackmailing them, commonly known as sextortion, is a growing problem nationwide, Michigan state Rep. Jen Hill, D-Marquette said during a news conference Wednesday talking about a package of bills to explicitly criminalize the act.
Hill noted that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified sextorion as particularly targeting minors, specifically boys ages 14 to 17.
Between October 2021 to March 2023, more than 13,000 reports of online financial sextortion of minors were received by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. These reports resulted in at least 20 suicides and the FBI remarked in 2024 that reports of sextortion on minors are rapidly increasing.
One case is too many. One family grieving is too many, Hill said during the news conference. We have to act now to protect our children, to prevent more heartbreak and to make sure that no more families are going to go through this heartbreak.
The package of bills, HB 5887, HB 5888 and HB 5889 together create specific criminal penalties for sexual extortion where none exist in Michigan, as well as implement educational resources to be distributed to schools on how to talk to students about the dangers of sexual extortion and how to get help.
Were sending a message to the rest of the world. Michigan will not tolerate exploitation of our children, and we will not let kids go without the support they need, Hill said. Schools, law enforcement and communities will have one more tool to protect our young people and to raise awarenessIm calling on my colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, to stand with me. This is not and should not be a partisan issue. Its a moral issue.
Adults that intentionally and maliciously threaten to distribute explicit visual material of another individual with the goal to manipulate a victim could be charged with a felony under the proposed legislation. Depending on if this is the persons first offense or if the victim is under the age of 18 or suffers bodily harm or death, penalties vary from a possible five-year maximum prison sentence to a maximum of 20 years in prison.
If the perpetrator of sexual extortion is an individual under the age of 18, they face a misdemeanor charge that could lead to up to a year of imprisonment.
The grief of DeMays death and the cruelty of what he went through radiated through the community, Marquette County Sheriff Gregory Zyburt said, remembering the funeral where thousands of DeMays peers attended to support the family.
You talk with any cop throughout their career, theres three or four complaints that they took that they will never forget. This is one of them for me, Zyburt said.
And because DeMays parents were willing to work with law enforcement at the time, authorities were able to achieve a historic extradition of the perpetrators from Nigeria, resulting in the pair being sentenced to more than 17 years in prison. But the lasting impact of the DeMay family is they are starting a conversation about a topic often enshrouded in shame.
this message has to be known by every kid out there, Zyburt said. Its not the end of the world and its not worth taking your life.
Sextortion of minors and other sexual crimes against children need to be talked about more, Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said during the news conference.
Not only are the topics of suicide and sexual violence difficult to talk about, especially when its about kids, Winstrom said, but members of law enforcement and the state legislature, typically older individuals, didnt grow up with the same dangers lurking in social media and other areas of the internet.
To see the leaders in our state step up and [be] willing to step up in front of the cameras and have this conversation, this is going to be very positive, Winstrom said. Look at the leaders that Jordan got in these rooms The momentum that Jordan is building to make sure that we protect our children in the state of Michigan This is so important to us and so important to the children of Michigan.
The Michigan House of Representatives approved two bills on Wednesday that aim to strengthen reading instruction, less than a month after 2024 M-STEP scores showed 60% of third graders failed the state reading test.
This package of bills, years in the making, is similar to what has been introduced in two previous sessions. The bills are part of a larger effort to improve reading outcomes in the state, which have raised concerns among lawmakers and education advocates. The state is also investing in strengthened reading instruction training, rooted in the science of reading, the body of research that shows how children effectively learn to read. Phonics is just a part of the science of reading.
The two bills are:
Senate Bill 567: Introduced by Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, this bill, among other things, would require schools to ensure students are screened for characteristics of dyslexia or other difficulties in learning to read by the 2027-28 school year. SB 567 passed the House 100-8.
Senate Bill 568: Introduced by Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, it would require teacher preparation programs to include instruction on dyslexia and identifying the characteristics of it. SB 568 passed the House 99-10.
The legislation, which passed the Senate earlier this year, goes back to the Senate to consider House changes and if approved heads next to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's desk.
More: Over environmental concerns, Michigan House passes tax break for data centers
The bills, and other work done by state leaders in recent years, are about more than just dyslexia, advocates have said, but about an invigorated effort to help all students learn to read using research-backed methods, a part of a body of work called the science of reading. While screening laws haven't yet made it to the governor's desk, more budget money has been directed to training educators, including $10 million in this fiscal year's budget for LETRS training. LETRS emphasizes skills in phonics and how students process and identify sounds in words.
But the state's work is likely not done yet, experts say.
A report released in July by Michigan State University researchers found that the kind of reading lessons a Michigan student receives largely depends on the public school they attend and that some of the materials used most in reading lessons in state elementary schools are not highly rated.
And concern over the reading abilities of students has only grown with the recent release of state M-STEP scores, released in August, when third graders hit a grim testing milestone: While 45% of third graders scored proficient or higher on the test in 2019, this year's scores show that number dipped below 40% for the first time.
Free Press staff writer Arpan Lobo contributed. Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan students would be screened for dyslexia under new House bills
As Tropical Storm Helene barrels toward South Carolina, two school districts in the Midlands have canceled all after-school programs, activities and events for Thursday.
Richland One and Lexington-Richland Five school districts will maintain their normal schedule Thursday, including school start and dismissal times, but have canceled all afters school programs, due to potential inclement weather from Tropical Storm Helene, school officials said in a news release Wednesday.
While Richland One plans to resume its normal schedule on Friday, Lexington-Richland Five said its waiting for updated forecasts.
No changes have been made to schedules for Friday, September 27 at this time, a Richland One news release said. If a decision is made to delay the start of the school day, dismiss school early or cancel school on Friday, students, staff, parents and the media will be notified as soon as possible.
As for Lexington-Richland Five, District officials will continue to monitor National Weather Service reports on the impacts of Hurricane Helene to our area and will make a determination about Fridays schedule as the forecast becomes more certain.
Helene is expected to make landfall around 8 p.m. Thursday near Tallahassee, Florida as a major hurricane, according to a Richland County news release. Forecasts show the county could experience up to 5 inches of rain as well as sustained winds of up to 35 mph, with gusts of up to 45 mph.
Increasing winds, precipitation, and threat of tornadic activity are expected in Richland County tomorrow night with the greatest risk between midnight and 6 a.m. Friday, the release said.
Deteriorating conditions also are expected to produce an increased possibility of flash flooding, downed trees and powerlines, according to the release. Residents are reminded to remain vigilant and monitor local forecasts.
Mike Johnson was under pressure not to seal a deal without agreement on controversial voter security measures (Getty Images)
House Speaker Mike Johnson has rebuffed former president Donald Trumps overtures by letting the House of Representatives vote to approve a spending bill to keep the government funded until December despite the fact that it included no provisions to tighten elections.
Trump had previously called on House Republicans to not agree to a continuing resolution without the SAVE Act, which claimed it would would prevent illegal immigrants from voting. This, despite the fact that US law already prohibits such a practice in federal elections.
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, Trump wrote on Truth Social last week.
Some conservatives and members of the House Freedom Caucus expressed frustration at the fact that House Republican leadership gave up.
And I realize he's got a tough job, but the country's in tough shape, financially, militarily in every way, Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina told The Independent. So I will wish he had fought harder, but it is what it is.
But House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole told The Independent that including the SAVE Act was not feasible and a government shutdown would be worse.
My personal opinion is, we were not likely to be able to get that and the government shutdown was not going to be helpful to President Trump, let alone to our efforts to hold on to the House, he said.
The House voted 341-82 to pass the continuing resolution, which will fund the government at levels set in the fiscal year 2024 budget, through December 20.
It's pretty consistent to where this congress has been on issues like providing funding to Ukraine and israel and funding government earlier this year, so it's not surprising, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California told The Independent.
All of the chambers Democrats voted to approve the measure, joining with 140 Republicans to pass it under a provision of House rules requiring two-thirds of the chamber to vote on bills that bypass the regular legislative process.
All Democrats voted with 138 Republicans to keep the government open. The House held the vote under suspension of the rules, which allowed for House Republican leadership to sidestep it having a vote in the Rules Committee, given opposition from far-right members. That meant that the legislation had to pass with more than two-thirds of the vote.
Despite defying the former president, Johnson is a Trump loyalist who even turned up to the former presidents trial in New York to support him. It is unclear how Trump will respond to Johnsons defying his demands to keep the government open.
Throughout the 118th Congress, Republicans have relied on Democrats to pass stopgap spending bills to prevent a shutdown, to raise the debt limit and pass aid to Ukraine and Israel.
The House will now leave until the after the election. Republicans hope to hold onto and grow their narrow majority in the House while Democrats seek to flip a handful of Republican-held seats that voted for President Joe Biden in 2020.
The legislation will now head to the Senate where it is expected to pass swiftly.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) Months after Birmingham-Southern College closed its doors for good, Miles College has now agreed to buy its 192-acre campus.
On Wednesday, BSC announced that the former college and Miles College had signed a purchase agreement for the campus. Both boards of trustees from the institutions have signed off on the matter.
It is clear that institutions like Miles College continue to serve as powerful engines of economic
growth and opportunity, Miles College President Bobbie Knight said in a statement. For generations, Miles College has been a cornerstone of progress in our community. This opportunity is a significant next step in our vision to lift our college, campus, and community.
BSC, which had been one of the preeminent private liberal arts schools in the state since 2018, shut down on May 31, months after college officials had pleaded with city and state officials to loan them money to dig them out of a $38 million hole that had deepened over decades of financial mismanagement. Despite the city of Birmingham pledging $5 million, State Treasurer Young Boozer denied giving the school a loan, sealing BSCs fate.
Miles College, which was founded in 1898 in Fairfield, had previously made different offers to BSC for their property, but had come up short until the announcement Wednesday. No price tag for the property has been announced.
Specifically, once the sale is done, BSC will work with the Alabama Attorney Generals office to develop a plan for its endowment, subsequently applying for approval of the plan through court.
We expect that process will take many months or even years to complete, and we will communicate with our endowment contacts once we know more, former BSC President Daniel Coleman said in the statement.
No details on how much the property was sold for or when the sale will be complete were released.
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The 1,600-strong CNC already guards around a dozen nuclear sites across Britain - Civil Nuclear Constabulary/X
Ed Miliband has tasked the nuclear police force with strengthening its presence across Britain as the Government seeks to protect key energy projects following a rise in climate protests.
The Energy Secretary has called on the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC), an armed police force, to expand its remit beyond nuclear sites to protect vast gas terminals.
It comes amid rising geopolitical tensions and an increase in the number of climate protests across the UK, as groups such as Just Stop Oil and Greenpeace increasingly target fossil fuel plants.
Oil and gas sites are currently policed by groups from the Ministry of Defence, although the CNC, which employs around 1,600 people, will take over responsibilities in April.
Their immediate priority will be guarding the UKs coastal gas plants, with job adverts indicating that the CNC is seeking new officers at the St Fergus terminal in Aberdeenshire and at Easington in Hull.
Roles are also being advertised for Norfolks Bacton terminal, which processes gas from the North Sea and supplies much of London and the South East.
The CNC confirmed the changeover, but said it is not being undertaken in response to a new threat having been identified.
A government statement said: The Civil Nuclear Constabulary will commence responsibility for providing continued armed police protection at specific energy infrastructure from 1 April 2025, having been given consent to do so by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The CNC works at around a dozen nuclear sites, the largest of which is Sellafield in Cumbria containing more than 100 tonnes of plutonium and 81,000 cubic metres of high-level waste.
The constabulary also has a marine protection unit equipped to accompany nuclear cargoes shipped to and from the UK.
However, Mr Milibands decision to expand the CNCs remit comes amid concern that it is not only nuclear sites that need experienced and armed police protection, particularly as the UK aims to strengthen its energy security.
Bacton gas terminal has been hit by environmental protests in the past, while activists have also targeted SSE over its plans to build a gas-fired power station at Peterhead in Aberdeenshire.
Such protests are becoming increasingly widespread.
Last year, six Greenpeace protesters occupied a giant ship ferrying an oil platform to the North Sea off the Canary Isles, and refused to move for 13 days until it reached Norway.
Meanwhile, in 2022, hundreds of Just Stop Oil protesters blocked 10 oil terminals across the UK in an attempt to paralyse the countrys fossil fuel industry.
Greenpeace protesters occupied a giant ship ferrying an oil platform to the North Sea for 13 days last year - Greenpeace/via Reuters
Fears over the impact of climate protests on energy sites are in addition other geopolitical concerns, particularly the prospect of a foreign state targeting UK infrastructure.
Such risks have heightened ever since the Nord Stream pipelines were targeted in a sabotage attack two years ago in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine.
This was followed by a separate incident last year that saw an explosion rip through the 95-mile Balticconnector pipeline between Finland and Estonia.
Britain is highly vulnerable to such attacks given its reliance on foreign imports.
Subsea pipelines from Norway accounted for 57pc of the UKs total imports of gas last year, with the Easington terminal receiving the vast majority of fuel. The UK also imports gas from Belgium and the Netherlands via pipelines to Bacton.
The main protection for offshore installations, including pipelines, comes from the Royal Navy and RAF via its Quick Reaction base at Lossiemouth.
This site operates four squadrons of Typhoons and three squadrons of Poseidon marine patrol aircraft, equipped with sensors and weapons systems for anti-submarine warfare, as well as surveillance missions.
A spokesman for the CNC said: The Energy Act 2023 amended the Energy Act 2004 to enable the CNC to provide a wider range of policing services beyond the civil nuclear sector in the interests of national security.
Any provision of policing services outside of the CNCs core mission of protecting civil nuclear sites and civil nuclear material, requires the approval of the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The Energy Act 2023 recognises that the CNC is an important national asset and enables the CNCs specialist skills and capabilities to be utilised across a range of sectors to protect the public.
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) An official with Mill Creek MetroParks has asked the Ohio Division of Wildlife for permission to kill more deer over the next five months to help with forest regeneration in Mill Creek Park, Huntington Woods, and Hitchcock Woods.
The request is to kill 75 more deer between Oct. 7 of this year and March 31, 2025. It would be done in the Boardman section of Mill Creek Park between Route 224 and Midlothian Boulevard.
Mill Creek MetroParks Natural Resources Manager Nick Derico sent the deer management request proposal to the Division of Wildlife on Sept. 6, referencing ecological assessments and area mapping.
The proposal requests that 75 white-tailed deer be killed and the meat sent to Keller Meats in Litchfield, Ohio to be processed. After the meat is processed, they plan to give it to the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley.
The proposal says that an overabundance of white-tailed deer has negatively affected forest regeneration in Mill Creek MetroParks, which risks its long-term sustainability.
Mill Creek has evaluated the current conditions in certain plots of land. Their objective is to then track the changes as a result of the proposed deer management plan.
The full proposal and data collection is available below.
Mill-Creek-MetroParks-2024-2025-Deer-Damage-Request-ProposalDownload
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.
Millions of dollars was raised to help L.A. County firefighters. Where did it go?
Every episode of "LA Fire & Rescue," a short-lived 2023 NBC docuseries, ended the same way.
After watching L.A. County firefighters pull off heroic rescues, viewers were asked to donate to a nonprofit that raised money for the county Fire Department.
But some of the money earned by the Los Angeles County Fire Department Foundation through the show and other fundraising efforts never reached the department, attorneys representing the county government allege.
The county has sued the foundation, accusing it of using the Fire Department's logo and lifesaving work to collect donations and then operating a personal slush fund." The questionable spending, according to the county, included $232,500 paid to the foundation's president, Stacy Mungo Flanigan, since last year.
The foundation has denied any wrongdoing, asserting that all donations benefited firefighters across Southern California, with more than $5 million going toward the L.A. County Fire Department.
Mungo Flanigan's attorney said the payments to her client included a bonus for successful fundraising efforts.
Since then-Fire Chief Daryl Osby started the foundation in 2015, the county has allowed it to raise money using the Fire Department logo with the understanding that the funds would be spent on first responders, according to legal filings by county attorneys.
Attorneys met in a judges chambers Friday afternoon to try to settle a fierce months-long legal battle that has pitted the county against Osby, who still chairs the foundation.
Each side accuses the other of squandering precious resources meant for first responders.
The donors and the County deserve to know where those funds went, said L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who first called for an investigation into the foundation last year.
Read more: Hahn 'outraged' as L.A. County fire foundation collected donations despite fundraising ban
Osby, who retired in 2022 after making history as the departments first Black fire chief, said his former employer is wasting its time and money.
I can only imagine the substantial taxpayer funds that were meant for public safety that the fire department and Los Angeles County has spent on this lawsuit, Osby said in a statement.
County attorneys told the judge on Friday that before considering a settlement, they want an auditor to review more bank records to account for all the donations.
From 2019 to 2022, the foundation received an average of $1.9 million a year in "gifts, grants and contributions," according to court filings.
The foundation has already turned over thousands of pages of documents to the county through the lawsuit and is willing to give the county the roughly $2 million left in its bank account, its lawyers said.
Supervisor Janice Hahn called for an investigation into the foundation last year. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Mungo Flanigan received two bonuses from the foundation this year, according to court filings one for $75,000 and one for $82,500.
Those bonuses were tied to her work performance in 2021 and 2022 but werent paid out until recently, foundation lawyers said.
Mungo Flanigan also works in administrative services for the L.A. County Fire Department, receiving compensation last year of about $254,000, according to salary records.
The foundation can give "reasonable" financial compensation to its president, according to foundation bylaws. Tax filings show that Mungo Flanigan received $75,000 from the foundation in 2022 and nothing in 2021.
The board had a lot of reasons why she deserved the money, considering she was working 15 hours a day and bringing in millions of dollars, said Carol Gillam, Mungo Flanigan's attorney. She was extraordinarily successful at bringing this money in.
Since April, Mungo Flanigan has received monthly $12,500 payments from the foundation to assist in responding to the lawsuit, according to filings.
County attorneys have also questioned the nearly $900,000 a vendor received from the foundation, paid out in nearly 50 checks, many of which contained no memo explaining the reasons.
The vendor, FireRescueStuff, purchased merchandise hoodies, hats, pins that the foundation then sold in its online store, according to foundation attorneys.
FireRescueStuff's owner, Jon Schultz, told The Times that he started working with the groups in 2022 at the request of both the foundation and the Fire Department. He said the department told him it needed help shipping thousands of uniforms for its junior lifeguard program.
Everything was done, he said, in partnership with the Fire Department. He said most of the checks highlighted by county lawyers were reimbursements from the foundation for warehouse space, firehouse appliances, and uniforms, among other purchases.
I wouldnt be selling trinkets on a website if I had made $900,000," he said.
Former Fire Chief Daryl Osby, who created the foundation in 2015, called the county's lawsuit frivolous. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Osby created the foundation to pay for programs and equipment that weren't within the department's budget. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department has a similar relationship with the Los Angeles Sheriffs Foundation, which takes in money to assist the LASD, according to its website.
The fire foundation received mail at a Fire Department building. Its web URL was supportlacountyfire.com. And it was allowed to fundraise using the Fire Departments logo, plastering it on products in its online store.
The county said it allowed this under the assumption that every dollar raised by the foundation would be spent on firefighters.
In a July declaration, Osby said it was well known that the foundation supported not only the Fire Department but organizations that lifted up the community, including associations for Black and female firefighters.
Osby wrote that the relationship with the Foundation changed dramatically when Anthony Marrone became permanent chief in February 2023 and told Osby he was not interested in taking over as chair of the foundation.
Marrone said in a statement that he "didn't see the need" to step in.
"I thought it was best for the nonprofit to have an independent board," he said. "But I have always supported the Fire Foundation and appreciated all the fundraising it did on the Fire Districts behalf.
Last year, the board of supervisors learned that the foundation had gone into delinquent status with the California Department of Justice, which regulates charities, because of missing paperwork. The designation meant the group was barred from fundraising.
Mungo Flanigan previously told The Times that she had no idea about the missing paperwork and filed it as soon as she learned of the problem.
The county sent a cease-and-desist letter warning the foundation to stop using the county logo, then sued in February, arguing that the foundation was poised to disburse $3 million meant for firefighters.
At the county's request, a judge agreed to freeze most of the foundation's money, except for what it needed to pay legal fees, and wind down the foundation. The foundation is no longer actively soliciting donations on its website.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Common Council will continue the debate over changing Milwaukee's city flag after some council members called the possible replacement, "The People's Flag," does not represent all the people in the city.
That flag, also known as "Sunrise Over the Lake," has been around since 2016. The current city flag was adopted in the 1950s. The current flag has been said to be outdated, offensive and not representative of Milwaukee today.
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"If we want to make something official, we can't half-ass this," Alderman Mark Chambers, Jr. said oin Tuesday mornings council meeting.
So the city's 1950s-era city flag will continue to fly, as efforts to replace it with The People's Flag stalled in the Common Council.
"We all represent some people that love it and some people that hate it," Alderwoman Milele Coggs said.
Those opposed say the replacement doesn't clearly represent Black or Latino residents.
The legislation also did not follow the city's typical equity process, or come with a fiscal impact note.
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"Do we want the symbol of our city to continue to look backward, or look forward?" Alderman Peter Burgelis asked. "And that we see opportunity and possibility on the horizon."
Burgelis sponsored the resolution. The People's Flag was selected as part of a design contest back in 2016 and can be seen throughout the city.
The current flag features the now-gone Milwaukee County Stadium and a Native American headdress.
"It needs to be replaced," Alderwoman JoCasta Zamarripa said.
Alderman Bob Bauman had submitted a modified version of The Peoples Flag, with Milwaukee City Hall featured. It was shot down.
"This alternative at least satisfies one of my concerns, and that was the generic nature of the original proposal," he said.
He said the design and selection of a new flag must be equitable, diverse, inclusive and unanimous.
"That's not The People's Flag if it passes by one vote," he said.
After a series of procedural processes, motions and more debate, the council held the item for a later date.
Chambers said he hopes the resolution dies, as "The Peoples Flag" lacked input from more Black Milwaukeeans.
"We are here to work. We are here to do what's right for the people," he said. "Not some, but for all."
So now, all sides will keep their flags firmly planted, at least until the Common Councils budget session set for next month. First on the agenda will be the flag resolution.
"I think my colleagues are still concerned about the process that happened eight years ago and that's totally legitimate," Burgelis said.
Between now and then, Burgelis hopes to have a better idea of what type of costs the city may have if it were to move forward with changing its flag.
MILWAUKEE - One man is dead after a shooting in Milwaukee on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
The Milwaukee Police Department said the fatal shooting happened around 4:20 p.m. near 27th and Wisconsin.
The 44-year-old victim sustained a fatal gunshot injury. The circumstances leading up to the shooting are under investigation.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office identified the victim as Ronald C. Smith.
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Police continue to seek anyone involved.
MPD investigates
Anyone with any information is asked to contact MPD at 414-935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS or use the P3 Tips app.
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) A man from Minnesota pleaded guilty in Norfolk to conspiracy to create and distribute animal crushing videos on Tuesday.
Animal crushing is the term used to describe the act of crushing, burning, maiming or torturing animals.
According to court documents, from at least June 11, 2021, to July 8, 2022, 62-year-old Jeffrey Radtke received payments from co-conspirators to help pay videographers. Over 20 electronic payments ranging from $1 to $300 from his co-conspirators helped pay videographers outside of the United States to create videos depicting the torture and deaths of juvenile macaque monkeys.
Radtke and others had direct communications with a co-conspirator in Indonesia. Radtke and others routinely communicated with the individual to help create these animal crush videos and direct the videographers how to torture the animals.
Between June 7, 2021, and Aug. 5, 2022, Radtke sent over 40 payments ranging from $25 to $295 to the co-conspirator in Indonesia.
On April 24, 2023, law enforcement seized Radtkes electronic devices. Radtkes computer contained over 2,600 videos and 2,700 images depicting animal crushing.
Radtke is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 13, 2025, and faces up to five years in prison.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.
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(COLORADO SPRINGS) The Colorado Springs Police Department arrested a man on Tuesday, Sept. 24 after two minors overdosed on mushrooms at Fox Meadow Middle School.
According to CSPD, the two students were transported to a hospital for medical attention. Police said they overdosed on psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms or shrooms. The Department of Justice/ Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says ingesting mushrooms can cause psychological consequences such as hallucinations, and the inability to tell fantasy from reality.
Overdose effects include longer more intense trip episodes, psychosis, and possible death.
Detectives Johnson and Detective Linfoot responded to the hospital to initiate the overdose drug investigation and through detailed interviews, they found another set of minors were involved in the case. All four students were engaged with a narcotics dealer through Telegram, a phone app for instant messaging, officers said.
The group of four ages ranging between 12 and 16 had purchased mushrooms from an adult dealer on Monday evening, Sept. 23. CSPD said the transaction occurred in the parking lot of a King Soopers located at 815 Cheyenne Meadows Road.
Detectives worked with the minors parents and recovered the remaining psilocybin mushrooms as evidence. Then, they utilized the minors phones to communicate with the dealer.
CSPD said the minors were able to provide a general physical description of a car associated with the dealer, but no identification was made at the time. Detective Johnson contacted the dealer through Telegram when posing as a minor. MNU detectives and Detective Johnson were able to set up another narcotics transaction and draw out the dealer during the undercover purchase.
During the operation, detectives were able to identify the man as 21-year-old Damien Solano who was carrying approximately 2 ounces of mushrooms, as ordered by Detective Johnson through the Telegram app.
Solano was arrested and booked into CJC for four counts of unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, or sale, one count of unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, or sale attempt, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Courtesy: Colorado Springs Police Department
In 2022, Colorado signed a psychedelic law that decriminalized five psychedelic drugs including psilocybin, psilocin, dimethyltryptamine, ibogaine, and mescaline. Proposition 122 is only for individuals who are 21 and over. There are penalties for those who are not 21 and are in use, possession, or transporting psychedelics. Someone who distributes and allows underage individuals to access these substances is also subjected to penalties.
Harrison School District 2 is grateful for our School Resource Officers and the commitment of our local law enforcement, who acted swiftly to arrest the adult providing psilocybin mushrooms to juveniles in a local grocery store parking lot, a spokesperson with District 2 told FOX21 News. We appreciate the diligence of our education staff, our students, and families who immediately report concerns like these. Community awareness and action are vital in addressing substance abuse and the adults in our community who provide these substances to our youth.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. Two teenagers charged with murder in the killing of popular restaurant owner and Irish chef Shaun Brady will remain in custody as the courts decide whether to charge them as adults.
The teens havent been identified due to their juvenile status, both face second-degree murder in the deadly shooting of Brady, which happened after Kansas City police say he tried to stop them from stealing a car outside his restaurant, Brady & Fox, at E. 63rd and Rockhill Road the evening of August 28.
Suspect arrested for 2018 killing of teen outside Cascones Restaurant
The suspects will return to court on October 22 for detention reviews and again in December for their certification hearings.
The deadly shooting happened just days before KC Irish Fest, where Brady played a pivotal role.
He was a really beloved figure in our community. He was a native of Tipperary in Ireland and just a generous do anything for anybody kind of guy. A lot of us are just stunned, crying, angry, wondering why? What for? friend Pat ONeill told FOX4 after the shooting.
KC Irish Fest created a memorial fund to help Bradys family.
The shooting left the Brookside community in shock and demanding answers after repeated instances of property crimes over the summer, some involving juveniles who were armed, and in some cases pointed weapons at people.
The police know that these break-ins and car thefts are up. This one was in the middle of the day. Who would think that, in the middle of the day, youd get shot outside your business? Frederick Thompson told FOX4 after the shooting.
The community also made a green ribbon tribute to Brady that neighbors planned to keep through September.
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Missing Teen: Have you seen Kaleb Hicks?
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) The New York State Police are seeking assistance in locating 17-year-old Kaleb Hicks.
According to NYSP, Hicks was last seen on Snell Hill Road in the town of Bath and it is believed that he may be traveling to Rochester.
He is described as 5-foot 10-inches in height. He was last seen wearing grey t-shirt, black Marvel branded pajama pants, and a dark sweatshirt.
Anyone with information is asked to contact NYSP at (585) 398-4100.
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A federal judge on Monday dismissed claims that medical staff at the Pueblo County jail were deliberately indifferent to a detainee's risk of suicide in the days before he died, but allowed other claims relating to the man's physical pain to proceed.
Mississippi schools were named 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools. See the list here
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced Monday recipients of the 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools award, one of the most prestigious awards in education.
This year's 356 National Blue Ribbon Schools included four Mississippi schools in counties from the coast to the northern corners of the state:
Mannsdale Upper Elementary School, Madison County School District
Magnolia Park Elementary School, Ocean Springs School District
Ripley High School, South Tippah School District
Stone Elementary School, Stone County School District
How are schools chosen?
The U.S. Department of Education created the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program in 1982 to highlight the academic achievements of elementary, middle and high schools, both private and public.
Up to 420 schools can be nominated each year, and each school has to submit a comprehensive application with data including assessment results and graduation rates. The nominees are not judged on data alone. Each application also includes examples of the school's culture and community involvement.
You decide: What is Jackson Metro Student of the Week? Read about our new feature series
For public schools, the state's top education official submits the yearly nominations. For private schools, the nominations are chosen by the Council for American Private Education.
Each blue ribbon winner is categorized as one or both of two labels: Exemplary High Performing School and Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools.
Mannsdale Upper Elementary
Mannsdale Upper Elementary, opened in 2016, was one of 227 elementary schools on this year's list. The Madison school was recognized as an Exemplary High Performing School.
In a press release regarding the award, Mannsdale Upper Elementary Principal Nicole Cockrell said she is excited to be included on this year's list.
"The teachers, students and staff have worked diligently since the school's opening to build citizens of excellence," Cockrell said. "This distinction confirms that building relationships and teaching with heart matter."
Madison County Schools Superintendent Ted Poore expressed similar sentiments in the press release.
"We are thrilled to see the hard work and dedication of our faculty, administrators, students, families and community recognized with such an honor," Poore said. "This award lets everyone across America know what we have known for years: that Mannsdale Upper Elementary is among the very best in the nation."
See how schools ranked in MDE grades: Mississippi school grades are in for 2023-2024. See the scores here
Magnolia Park Elementary
Magnolia Park Elementary's win marks the second time the school has won a blue ribbon award. The school also won in 2001. The Ocean Springs school was recognized this year as an Exemplary High Performing School.
In a press release regarding the achievement, Magnolia Park Elementary Principal Alison Graham said the award is a testament to the hard work of teachers and students.
"Just to be nominated for this award is a tremendous honor, but to be named as one of the awardees is a phenomenal achievement and could not have been possible without our students, staff and supportive community," Graham said.
Stone Elementary School
Stone Elementary School, recognized as an Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing School, posted on Facebook Tuesday thanking parents, community members, staff and Wiggins Mayor Darrell Berry for steadfast support.
"This award belongs to every member of our SES family," the Facebook post states. "Together, we've created something truly special, and we are so proud of what we've accomplished as a community."
Ripley High School
Ripley High School, the only Mississippi high school honored on this year's list, was one of 63 high schools chosen.
In a post on X, formally Twitter, Ripley High School said the accomplishment is an honor especially since only four schools in Mississippi were chosen.
Earlier this month, the Mississippi Department of Education released their yearly accountability grades. All four Mississippi schools named 2024 Blue Ribbon Schools also received an A rating for the MDE 2024 accountability grades.
Later this fall, the 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools will be recognized in an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., and each school will receive a plaque and flag commemorating the honor.
Got a news tip? Contact Mary Boyte at mboyte@jackson.gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: 2024 Blue Ribbon Schools include four Mississippi schools
BONNE TERRE, Mo. (KTVI) Despite protestations from the prosecutors office that sent him to death row and anti-death penalty advocates, as well as calls for clemency from the victims family and two men famously convicted by the Missouri justice system for murders they did not commit, the state executed Marcellus Williams late Tuesday afternoon.
Williams, 55, died via a lethal dose of pentobarbital. The execution was carried out just after 6 p.m. on Sept. 24 at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri. He was declared dead at 6:10 p.m.
Earlier that day, Williams released his final statement: All Praise Be To Allah In Every Situation!!!
Williams last meal was served at 10:53 a.m. Tuesday and included chicken wings and tater tots, Karen Pojmann, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said. His last visit was with Imam Jalahii Kacem, from 11:01 a.m. to 12:32 p.m. The imam was with Williams in the execution room.
Williams son and two attorneys were in one room, with state agents and three selected media members in the other. Pojmann said members of Lisha Gayles family did not attend the execution and chose not to release a statement through the Department of Corrections.
Williams was convicted of first-degree murder in the August 1998 stabbing death of Lisha Gayle during a robbery of her suburban St. Louis home. He had long maintained his innocence.
Williams was put to death despite questions his attorneys raised over jury selection at his trial and the handling of evidence in the case. His clemency petition focused heavily on how Gayles relatives wanted Williams sentence commuted to life without the possibility of parole.
Last month, Gayles relatives gave their blessings to an agreement between the St. Louis County prosecuting attorneys office and Williams attorneys to commute the sentence to life in prison. But acting on an appeal from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Baileys office, the state Supreme Court nullified the agreement.
Tricia Rojo Bushnell, Williams attorney and executive director of the Midwest Innocence Project, filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday morning seeking a stay of the execution. That appeal was denied just over an hour before the execution.
Gayle, a social worker who previously worked as a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was found stabbed to death inside her home in August 1998. Her purse and her husbands laptop were stolen. Investigators and prosecutors claimed Williams broke a windowpane to get inside the home, heard water running in the shower, and found a large butcher knife. When Gayle came downstairs, they said Williams stabbed her 43 times and left the knife in her throat.
Prosecutors said Williams confessed to the killing to his former girlfriend after she found Gayles purse in Williams car. She also said Williams threatened to kill her and her family if she told anyone about it. A jailhouse informant also testified that Williams bragged about the murder to him.
Defense attorneys, then and now, said the girlfriend and informant were convicted felons only interested in reward money. However, Governor Mike Parsons statement said the girlfriend never inquired about the money, and the informant provided investigators with details about the crime that were never made public.
Following Mondays rejection of the appeals, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, who was not involved in the original case, said in a statement that his office still had questions about the integrity of (Williams) conviction.
Even for those who disagree on the death penalty, when there is a shadow of a doubt of any defendants guilt, the irreversible punishment of execution should not be an option, Bell said. As the St. Louis County prosecutor, our office has questions about Mr. Williamss guilt but also about the integrity of his conviction.
Parson, however, disagreed. The governor, a former county sheriff who has not granted clemency for capital punishment during his entire tenure as the states chief executive, said Williams received ample consideration from the justice system.
This was Missouris third execution of 2024. Brian Dorsey and David Hosier were executed earlier this year. Nine inmates across the state are awaiting execution. Christopher Collings is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 3 for the 2007 rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl in Stella, Missouri.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Missouri executed a man on death row on Tuesday, despite objections from prosecutors who sought to have his conviction overturned and have supported his claims of innocence.
Marcellus Khaliifah Williams, 55, was killed by lethal injection, ending a legal battle that has sparked widespread outrage as the office that originally tried the case suggested he was wrongfully convicted.
In an extraordinary move condemned by civil rights advocates and lawmakers across the US, Missouris Republican attorney general, Andrew Bailey, pushed forward with the execution against the wishes of the St Louis county prosecuting attorneys office.
Williams was convicted of the 1998 killing of Lisha Gayle, a social worker and former St Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. He was accused of breaking into Gayles home, stabbing her to death and stealing several of her belongings.
But no forensic evidence linked Williams to the murder weapon or crime scene, and as local prosecutors have renounced his conviction, the victims family and several trial jurors also said they opposed his execution.
We must all question any system that would allow this to occur. The execution of an innocent person is the most extreme manifestation of Missouris obsession with finality over truth, justice, and humanity, at any cost, Tricia Rojo Bushnell, Williams attorney, said in a statement just before the execution. Tonight, we all bear witness to Missouris grotesque exercise of state power. Let it not be in vain. This should never happen, and we must not let it continue.
Williams son and two of his attorneys watched the execution from another room, the AP reported. Williams appeared to speak with a spiritual adviser by his side in his final moments. In a written last statement released by corrections officials, he said: All Praise Be to Allah in Every Situation!!!
Williams, who served as the imam in his prison and dedicated his time to poetry, twice had his execution halted at the last minute. He was days away from execution in January 2015 when the Missouri state supreme court granted his attorneys more time for DNA testing. In August 2017, Eric Greitens, the Republican governor at the time, granted a reprieve hours before the scheduled execution, citing DNA testing on the knife, which showed no trace of Williams DNA.
Related: Missouri to execute Marcellus Williams despite prosecutors objections and innocence claims
Greitens set up a panel to review the case but when Mike Parson, the current Republican governor, took over, he disbanded that board and pushed for the execution to proceed.
In January, Wesley Bell, the Democratic prosecuting attorney in St Louis who has championed criminal justice reforms, filed a motion to overturn Williams conviction. Bell cited repeated DNA testing finding that Williams fingerprints were not on the knife.
Ms Gayles murderer left behind considerable physical evidence. None of that physical evidence can be tied to Mr Williams, his office wrote, adding: New evidence suggests that Mr Williams is actually innocent. He also asserted that Williams counsel at the time was ineffective.
Additional testing on the knife, however, revealed that staff with the prosecutors office had mishandled the weapon after the killing touching it without gloves before the trial, Bells office said. A forensic expert testified that the mishandling of the weapon made it impossible to determine if Williams fingerprints could have been on the knife earlier.
In August, Williams and prosecutors reached an agreement to halt his execution: he would plead no contest to first-degree murder in exchange for a new sentence of life without parole. His lawyers said the agreement was not an admission of guilt, and that it was meant to save his life while he pursued new evidence to prove his innocence. A judge signed off on the agreement, as did the victims family, but the attorney general challenged it, and the state supreme court blocked it.
Last-ditch efforts by both Williams lawyers and St Louis prosecutors were unsuccessful in recent days. In a plea over the weekend, Bells office said there were constitutional errors in Williams prosecution and pointed to recent testimony from the original prosecutor, who said he rejected a potential Black juror because he looked like he could be Williams brother. The jury that convicted him had 11 white members and one Black member.
The governor also rejected Williams clemency request on Monday, which noted that the victims family and three jurors supported calls to revoke his death sentence. The US supreme court denied a final request to halt the execution on Tuesday, with the three liberal justices dissenting.
The attorney general argued in court that the original prosecutor denied racial motivations for removing Black jurors and asserted there was nothing improper about touching the murder weapon without gloves at the time.
Baileys office has also suggested that other evidence points to Williams guilt, including testimony from a man who shared a cell with Williams and said he confessed, and testimony from a girlfriend who claimed she saw stolen items in Williams car. Williams attorneys, however, contended that both of those witnesses were not reliable, saying they had been convicted of felonies and were motivated to testify by a $10,000 reward offer.
Bailey and Parson have not commented on their decision to override the wishes of the victims family, but have pointed to the fact that the courts have repeatedly upheld Williams conviction throughout his years of appeals.
A kind and thoughtful man
Williams execution was widely denounced on Tuesday evening.
Derrick Johnson, NAACP president, said Missouri had lynched another innocent Black man. Missouri congresswoman Cori Bush said the state had failed Williams, adding: We have a moral imperative to abolish this racist and inhumane practice. And Bell said: Marcellus Williams should be alive This outcome did not serve the interests of justice.
Bushnell, Williams attorney from the Midwest Innocence Project, praised Williams evocative poetry and service to his family and his community, saying he had been a kind and thoughtful man, who spent his last years supporting those around him in his role as imam.
While he yearned to return home, he worked hard to move beyond the anger, frustration and fear of wrongful execution, channeling his energy into his faith and finding meaning and connection through Islam. The world will be a worse place without him, she said.
Williams public defenders said the governor had utterly ignored the victims family, adding in a statement: Khaliifah was an inspiration. We aspire to his level of faith, to his integrity, and to his complete devotion to the people in his life.
Related: South Carolina executes first man in 13 years despite new evidence of innocence
Michelle Smith, co-director of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, who considered Williams a mentor, said in an interview before the execution that she hoped his case would help the public understand that capital punishment doesnt work.
I know people who say: We shouldnt kill innocent people, but other than that, I believe in the death penalty. But if you believe in the system at all, that means youre OK with innocent people being killed, because the system isnt perfect. It is going to kill innocent people.
Since 1973, at least 200 people sentenced to death have been exonerated, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Robin Maher, the groups executive director, said she was unaware of another case in which someone was executed after a sitting prosecutor objected and confessed to constitutional errors that undermined the conviction.
Williams execution is one of five scheduled across the US in a one-week period. On Friday, South Carolina executed a man days after the states main witness recanted his testimony. On Tuesday, the state of Texas executed Travis Mullis, 38, who waived his right to appeal his death sentence for killing his three-month-old son in 2008. His attorney said he suffered a lifetime of profound mental illness, but was a redeemed man who accepted responsibility for his crime.
The state of Missouri on Tuesday evening executed Marcellus Khaliifah Williams, who maintained he was innocent in a 1998 killing and whose execution had garnered widespread opposition in Missouri and beyond, the Associated Press reported.
The state uses lethal injection in its executions, which are conducted at a prison in Bonne Terre, about an hour south of St. Louis.
The 55-year-old was convicted in 2001 of killing Felicia Gayle, a former reporter in St. Louis. Two witnesses, who later received reward money, said that Williams had told them he had killed Gayle. One of them led authorities to Williams car, where some of Gayles belongings were found. But no forensic evidence linked him to the murder. His attorneys said bloody footprints and DNA collected at the scene were not matched to Williams.
His execution followed an unprecedented legal battle under a recent Missouri law that allows prosecutors to challenge potentially wrongful convictions.
Williams legal team said this was the first execution in Missouri opposed by both the prosecutors office and the victims family.
Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center is shown in this Feb. 7, 2023 photograph. The prison in Bonne Terre, Missouri, houses the prison systems execution chamber.
Two petitions opposing Williams execution garnered more than one million signatures, according to the Innocence Project. The execution was also opposed by Amnesty International, the NAACP, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Rep. Cori Bush, a St. Louis Democrat.
On social media, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said he has had experience on both sides of death penalty cases.
No matter where you stand on capital punishment, it is a travesty to execute someone unless you are certain of their guilt. Missouri is not, he posted. May God have mercy on us all.
Williams was the third person to die by lethal injection this year in Missouri, following the execution of Brian Dorsey in April and David Hosier in June. One more person is scheduled this year in Missouri, Christopher Collings on Dec. 3.
Williams is one of four people to be executed this week in the U.S. The others are scheduled in Texas, Alabama and Oklahoma, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Williams was a father, a poet and an Islamic leader in prison. In June, a few days after the Missouri Supreme Court handed down his execution date, he sent this poem to The Star entitled The Pre-execution Execution:
I dont spend time worrying about death -
despite its everydayness,
its ability to alter and seize moments,
its attribute of taking people in a state of frivolity, unaware.
Remembering it often is much better than worrying...
Death the destroyer of pleasures,
that which will wake the soul up and begin the next phase
Statewide protests
About 100 people gathered an hour ahead of the scheduled execution at 39th Street and Troost Avenue in Kansas City to protest the execution.
Demonstrators held signs reading Missouri, the killer state, Capital punishment means those without capital get the punishment, and No state murder, let Khaliifah live.
Amina Mohammed said if someone is facing punishment, there should be clear evidence.
I feel like they know this is wrong, she said of decision makers in Williams case. Its sad.
Dozens of cars honked as they drove by the intersection.
Sydney Osborne made a cardboard sign with one of Williams poems she had seen published on the Innocence Projects website.
I wanted to celebrate his art, she said, adding that there were many holes in Williams case, but the government doesnt care.
One organizer had spelled out KW for Khaliifah Williams with candles, which became surrounded by bouquets of flowers.
Several protesters said they believe Williams had been convicted at least in part because he was a Black man. Dick Cayton, of Blue Springs, said he believes the government bends over backwards for some people, but not others. He was holding a sign that read What if we got it wrong?
Others said anyone who is pro-life should have been at the protest.
A protester with a bullhorn denounced Parsons decision to deny Williams clemency and criticized the governors possible pardon of Eric DeValkenaere, a white Kansas City Police Department officer who was convicted in the killing of a Black man.
Sydney Smith pointed to the lack of DNA evidence in Williams case and said his execution showed that the criminal justice system was not working.
We have to try to change that so thats why were out here, Smith said.
Other demonstrations were organized in Jefferson City, St. Louis, Columbia and near the prison in Bonne Terre.
Prosecutor supported claims
After a series of appeals, Williams skirted death twice, in 2015 and in 2017 when planned executions were halted to conduct further investigation and DNA testing. Former Gov. Eric Greitens also convened a board of inquiry, comprised of retired judges, to look into the case.
In June 2023, Gov. Mike Parson dissolved the board with little explanation and lifted the stay of execution.
Williams case was catalyzed in January when the St. Louis County Prosecutors Office filed a motion supporting his innocence claim. While that was pending, the Missouri Supreme Court in June scheduled his Sept. 24 execution, setting off a flurry of legal actions that culminated last month during two hearings.
On Aug. 21, Williams legal team revealed that recent DNA testing showed the original trial prosecutors DNA on the murder weapon.
Former prosecutor Keith Larner admitted to handling the knife at least five times without gloves. Potential DNA evidence belonging to the perpetrator could have been removed when the weapon was mishandled. That weakened Williams case, and he agreed to plead no contest. The deal would have re-sentenced him to life without parole and spared him from capital punishment. But the Missouri Attorney Generals Office opposed the agreement, and the Missouri Supreme Court struck down the deal.
A full evidentiary hearing then took place before St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton, who ultimately denied Bells efforts.
On Monday, Williams chances narrowed as the Missouri Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Bell and Parson denied clemency.
Three cases remained pending before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier Tuesday. One asked whether reversal is necessary when a capital conviction is so infected with errors that the prosecutor who prosecuted the case no longer seeks to defend it. It was brought late Monday after the Missouri Supreme Court rejected Bells appeal.
The other cases argued that the trial prosecutor struck a potential juror from the pool because he was Black and questioned whether capital defendants have due process rights in the clemency process.
Those were denied shortly after 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated they would have granted the stay of execution on one of the cases.
What if Missouri got it wrong and executed an innocent man? Abolish the death penalty | Opinion
What if we got it wrong?
On Tuesday, Missouri executed Marcellus Khaliifah Williams by lethal injection. Minutes before Williams was executed, I happened to stop at a protest held for him near Troost Avenue and 39th Street in Kansas City. It was by chance, as I was headed to another assignment.
But a sign held by someone in attendance caught my attention. It read: What if we got it wrong?
After reading that, I felt compelled to pull over and park a half block away. As I walked to the scene, I could sense the overwhelming amount of sadness surrounding this gathering. For about an half hour, I stood in solidarity with those who were there.
The death penalty is draconian and should end here in Missouri. Last year, at least 29 states had either abolished the death penalty or paused executions by executive action, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, or DPIC. Missouri isnt among them, a very disheartening reality that state lawmakers must address.
After Williams mind-numbing execution, the Show-Me state should be the next to end this barbaric act. Taking someones life under the guise of justice is inhumane. It certainly doesnt deter crime.
What if we got it wrong?
In 2001, Williams was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1998 death of former reporter Felicia Gayle of St. Louis. He was sentenced to death. Before he died, Williams, 55, spent more than two decades on death row.
What if we got it wrong?
In this case, an argument could be made that we did. Despite serious doubts about Williams guilt his attorneys contend DNA evidence recovered from the scene excluded Williams as the killer Missouri still sanctioned his death.
What if we got it wrong?
In this country, executing innocent prisoners isnt unheard of. Since 1973, at least 196 people sentenced to death in the U.S. have been exonerated, according to the DPICs innocence database. Others werent as fortunate. For every eight prisoners put to death in America, one has been exonerated, the DPIC found.
After Williams death 100 people have now been executed in this state, the fifth most in the nation, DPIC data shows. Another reason to abolish the death penalty here: Four other Missouri prisoners were exonerated from death row, according to DPIC.
Most Americans a record high 50% believe the death penalty is applied unfairly, a 2023 Gallup poll found. The same year, support for the death penalty was at its lowest point in five years, Gallup reported.
But Black men like Williams accused of killing a white person such as Gayle were more likely than not to face the death penalty, according to DPIC.
The lives of black Missourians are valued less in Missouri, the Missouri State Conference of the NAACPs Nimrod Chapel said late Tuesday.
The veracity of Williams first-degree murder conviction was challenged in court. Even St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell fought to absolve Williams of the crime and entered a plea agreement that would have spared the condemned mans life. But those efforts proved to be in vain.
In a statement, Bell wrote: There were multiple points in the timeline when decisions could have been made that would have spared him the death penalty. If there is even the shadow of a doubt of innocence, the death penalty should never be an option. This outcome did not serve the interests of justice.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson had the power to stop this merciless killing but didnt. As did the Missouri and United States Supreme courts. None of us should be surprised either failed to move to right this grave injustice.
Last year, Missouri was one of five states in the country that carried out executions. Four people Amber McLaughlin, Michael Tisius, Johnny Johnson and Leonard Raheem Taylor, who maintained that he was innocent, died by lethal injection in 2023.
This year, in addition to Williams, Brian Dorsey and David Hosier died by lethal injection. On Dec. 3, Missouri is scheduled to execute Christopher Collings.
Prosecutors statement
In a statement, Parson wrote that no jury or judge ever found Williams claims of innocence credible. But Bell, a duly-elected prosecutor, did.
Two decades of judicial proceedings and more than 15 judicial hearings upheld his guilty conviction, thus, the order of execution has been carried out, Parson wrote.
In a statement released prior to Williams death, one of his attorneys, Tricia Rojo Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence Project, described this act as a grotesque exercise of state power, she wrote.
Tonight, Missouri will execute an innocent man, Marcellus Khaliifah Williams, Bushnell wrote. The victims family opposes his execution. Jurors, who originally sentenced him to death, now oppose his execution. The prosecutors office that convicted and sentenced him to death has now admitted they were wrong and zealously fought to undo the conviction and save Mr. Williams life. More than one million concerned citizens and faith leaders implored Governor Parson to commute Marcelluss death sentence. Missouri will kill him anyway.
That is not justice. And we must all question any system that would allow this to occur. The execution of an innocent person is the most extreme manifestation of Missouris obsession with finality over truth, justice, and humanity, at any cost.
In this case, the question we must ask ourselves for a very long time: What if we got it wrong?
The Cole County Courthouse, in Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).
The Department of Social Services knowingly and purposefully subverted the states open records law to gain the upper hand in litigation, a Missouri judge ruled Monday.
Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem determined the department violated the Sunshine Law by wrongfully denying a records request because of the identity of requester and not the contents of the records.
The department also took months to respond to the request without a reasonable justification, Beetem ruled.
A software company and former state vendor, HHS Technology, submitted the records request and filed the Sunshine lawsuit.
Beetem in his decision ordered the department to hand over the records and set a hearing for Oct. 18 to consider penalties. HHS is entitled to civil penalties of up to $5,000 plus reasonable costs and attorneys fees.
The Department of Social Services declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
HHS Technology was involved in years of litigation against the state for breach of contract and Beetem awarded the company more than $23 million in August 2022, over its work building a fully-integrated system for managing DSS programs including Medicaid.
The records request, submitted in April 2022, was for documents showing how the state requested and allocated public money for its Medicaid system and related communication about the competitive bidding process.
These are prime examples of open records the Sunshine Law was intended to allow the public to access, Beetem wrote, calling the records indisputably open.
The department acknowledged receiving the request but then, despite repeated inquiries, the company heard nothing for months.
Missouri Sunshine Law requires government agencies to respond to requests as soon as possible. They must provide the records within three days or explain the delay and provide a timeline for predicted fulfillment of the request.
The department decided the documents would be closed sometime in October, according to the decision. But the company did not hear back from DSS until February 2023.
At that point, nearly a year after the request was submitted, the state formally denied it and refused to turn over records.
The state said the documents were exempt from the Sunshine Law because they were related to ongoing litigation.
The litigation exception to Sunshine Law carves out records related to the nexus of ongoing litigation. Records must be inherently connected to litigation to qualify.
Beetem ruled the states interpretation of the litigation exemption was inappropriately broad and would justify closing any records that could be potentially subject to litigation in the future.
Beetem said the department intentionally violated the Sunshine Law to impermissibly gain an advantage in thelitigation.
The agency identified 570 documents responsive to the request that it deemed closed, according to the decision.
Eleven of those were privileged communications with counsel.
But none of the remaining 559 records at issue is a legal file, memorandum, or work product generated by the Departments counsel, Beetem wrote.
And DSS did not close the 559 at-issue records based on their contents, he added.
Rather, they closed the records based on the identity of the requester (HHS) and their belief that HHS desired these documents for use in thelitigation.
Last year, Beetem ordered the state to pay more than $240,000 in legal fees as part of a ruling that found the attorney generals office knowingly and purposefully violated open records law while it was being run by now-U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley.
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The state of Missouri executed 55-year-old inmate Marcellus Williams on Tuesday night, despite calls from both the prosecutor's office and the victim's family to halt his execution.
Williams, who was convicted of the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, was put to death by lethal injection at 6:10 pm CT on Tuesday, according to the Missouri Department of Corrections. He maintained his innocence throughout his 23 years in prison.
The execution came after a string of last-minute attempts to spare Williams' life. His attorneys filed a number of appeals, citing jury selection bias and a lack of DNA evidence on the murder weapon. The U.S. Supreme Court, the final body that could have stopped Williams execution, then denied his attorneys' last request on Tuesday, with all three liberal justices dissenting.
The decision by the high court's right-wing majority came after Missouris Supreme Court and Republican Gov. Michael Parson also rejected requests to delay the execution.
Mr. Williams has exhausted due process and every judicial avenue, including over 15 hearings attempting to argue his innocence and overturn his conviction. No jury nor court, including at the trial, appellate, and Supreme Court levels, have ever found merit in Mr. Williams innocence claims, Parson said in a statement.
Since January, St. Louis prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell had sought to block Williams execution, stating that prosecutors had earlier made constitutional errors that contributed to Williams murder conviction. New evidence suggested Williams was actually innocent," he said.
Marcellus Williams should be alive today. There were multiple points in the timeline that decisions could have been made that would have spared him the death penalty, Bell wrote in a statement following the execution. If there is even the shadow of a doubt of innocence the death penalty should never be an option. This outcome did not serve the interests of justice."
The family of Felicia Gayle also opposed Williams execution.
A devout Muslim, Williams final statement was All praise be to Allah in every situation!" The father of two was described by his attorneys as extraordinary." He spent much of his time in prison studying Islam and writing poetry. He was known to many as Khaliifah, which means "leader" in Arabic.
One of Williams' attorneys, Larry Komp, said in a statement that his death will result in an erosion of public confidence in the system.
Transparency is a hallmark of Democracy, and it is woefully missing here, Komp wrote. To us, Khaliifah was an inspiration. We aspire to his level of faith, to his integrity, and to his complete devotion to the people in his life. He was fiercely protective of the people he loved, and he loved deeply.
Attorneys, politicians and criminal rights activists across the country condemned the decision to proceed with the execution. Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called for the death penalty to be abolished following Williams execution.
Governor Mike Parson shamefully allowed an innocent man to be executed tonight. We must abolish this flawed, racist, inhumane practice once and for all. Rest in power, Marcellus Williams, Bush wrote.
Former Georgia Congresswoman Renitta Shannon wrote that the Supreme Courts decision not to block Williams execution is indicative of larger systemic issues within Americas criminal justice system.
What does it say about our legal system when the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to stop an execution even when the county prosecuting agency that handled the original trial files a brief in support of a stay and supports vacating the entire conviction? she wrote in a post on X. I sincerely hope that the conversation about #MarcellusWilliams is very far from being over. I hope this execution politically haunts every elected official in #Missouri and beyond who supported it or didnt care enough to raise their voice about it.
The NAACP said Williams death harkened back to the days of Jim Crow and racist terrorism.
"Tonight, Missouri lynched another innocent Black man," the civil rights group stated in a post on X. "Governor Parson had the responsibility to save this innocent life, and he didnt. The NAACP was founded in 1909 in response to the barbaric lynching of Black people in America we were founded exactly because of people like Governor Parson who perpetuate violence against innocent Black people. We will hold Governor Parson accountable. When DNA evidence proves innocence, capital punishment is not justice it is murder."
Williams death is Missouris third execution this year.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. The Missouri Department of Transportation says the department and loved ones are mourning the loss of a senior maintenance worker who was hit and killed in the line of duty.
MoDOT says Jay Bone, 60, was hit while working on Route O outside of Sedalia in Pettis County on Tuesday morning. Bone had been with MoDOT since 2015 as a senior maintenance worker for MoDOT Kansas City.
Bone was working at a construction zone on Highway O in a rural area outside of Sedalia when he was struck and killed.
The semi-truck that was traveling through the work zone after being sent through by some of the construction workers that were set up as flagman on either end of the construction zone, Cpl. Justin Ewing with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.
As that truck was passing by the working crew from MoDOT, one of the workers was struck and killed by the semi-truck.
KC Superman says hes banned for life from Westport, faces two new charges
The Missouri Highway Patrol is investigating, and its initial crash report says an 18-year-old driver of a Peterbilt 379 semi-truck hit Bone at about 11:15 a.m., and Bone was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:30 a.m. He was taken to a funeral home in Sedalia.
All of the circumstances and contributing factors to how the crash actually occurred are still being investigated. Witness statements are being taken. Full reconstruction is being done by the major crash investigation unit of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Ewing explained.
Nothing in the crash report indicates the driver left the scene, and so far no arrest or charges have been filed.
Last year the MSHP troop that serves that Kansas City metro area reported around 900 crashes in work zones. Nine of those were deadly.
Ewing stressed the importance of safety and awareness in work zones.
Weve got to be paying full attention like we should be at any given moment anyways, but especially in those areas where we know theres going to be potentially people out working, Ewing said.
We have to pay extra attention. We have to put our phone down, slow down, watch our speed, and make sure were paying attention to everything around us.
The deadly crash happened less than a week after MoDOT held its day of remembrance for fallen workers, which took place in Jefferson City.
Ewing also went on to explain that it could be weeks or up to two months for MSHP to complete their investigation.
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John Macnamara was responsible for bugging phones, breaking into peoples houses, intercepting peoples telephone calls - PA
He was a shrewd ex-detective described as the King of Digging Dirt; a cold, intimidating ex-copper who would stop at nothing to cover up allegations against his boss. At the centre of the circle protecting former Harrods owner Mohamed Fayed, now alleged to be a serial rapist and sexual abuser on a historic scale, was his right-hand man John Macnamara.
Last Thursday, a new BBC documentary revealed the true scale of the sexual abuse allegations against Fayed, who is accused of raping five women and sexually assaulting countless others. Since the documentary aired, more than 150 others have come forward. It also revealed how Harrods not only failed to intervene, but reportedly helped cover up the Egyptian tycoons crimes.
Harley Street doctors administered invasive gynaecological exams to the young women Fayed had singled out for jobs in his private office; HR staff reportedly turned a blind eye to complaints of sexual harassment and abuse; and a web of heavyweight security staff delivered his victims right into the hands of their abuser.
At the centre of it all was Macnamara, one of Fayeds most loyal lieutenants. He was an ex-detective who allegedly spied on Harrods employees and would stop at nothing to squash complaints against his boss. Allegedly nicknamed Mac the Knife, Macnamara was the most trusted of Fayeds security staff. At the height of Fayeds power, Macnamara really ran the whole show, says Henry Porter, novelist and former Vanity Fair UK editor.
Fayeds team from left to right: John Macnamara, head of security; Katherine Whitty, personal assistant; Mohamed Fayed; and Michael Cole, head of PR - Shutterstock
From 1995 to 1997, Porter investigated Fayed, following the publication of a Vanity Fair profile by the reporter Maureen Orth. It detailed allegations of his serial sexual abuse, surveillance of staff and how he walked the store on the lookout for young, attractive women to work in his office. True to form, Fayed sued, and fought a two-year libel case against Conde Nast.
Over the course of the investigation, Porter experienced the wrath of Fayeds security chief first-hand. He says witnesses were subject to telephoned threats and in-person visits. Macnamara was responsible for bugging phones, breaking into peoples houses, intercepting peoples telephone calls, Porter says.
We hid our witnesses from him because we knew he was a danger He put recording equipment on 45-50 of the people we spoke to. He had the run of all al-Fayeds properties. These included his now-infamous apartments at 60 Park Lane, and the Ritz in Paris.
One woman told the BBC that Macnamara, who died in 2019 aged 83, threatened her to stop her speaking to Vanity Fair about allegations against Fayed. He said I wasnt to be involved in the article, she recalled. If I went against his advice, he knew where my parents lived. It turned me cold.
Mike Radford, the documentarys executive producer, said that Fayeds team operated a system that was not only designed to deliver women to him, [but] designed to intimidate women who then might feel in any way likely to speak out about what had happened to them. Macnamara in particular was known for threatening people.
His bullying tactics were legitimised by his long and successful career in the police. After a 28-year career in the Metropolitan Police, Macnamara left in 1987 having achieved the rank of detective chief superintendent. He had an unblemished track record and had been afforded the special responsibility of deputy head of the Scotland Yard Fraud Squad, working on a number of high-profile cases of corruption in the public sector.
After leaving Scotland Yard, Macnamara got a job as director of security at House of Fraser, in which Fayed and his brothers had bought a stake in 1984. By 1994, he had been promoted to director of security at Harrods, a role that involved not only managing the security of the department store but also the ever-growing ranks of security personnel and bodyguards who protected Fayed. In the mid-1990s, he had assembled a small army of security staff.
Since the BBC documentary aired, more than 150 women have come forward with sexual abuse allegations against the former Harrods boss - Bloomberg
Described by Tom Bower, Fayeds unauthorised biographer, as a small, weasel-like, efficient Scotsman, Macnamara would seemingly stop at nothing to cover Fayeds tracks. Porter previously described Harrods as a fiefdom, which despite its real location in Knightsbridge, operated quite independently from the rest of Britain, with a security service of its own, an armed police force and a tyrant in command. If Fayed was the tyrant in command, then Macnamara was the linchpin of the circle that aided and abetted him.
Because of his long career in policing, Macnamara was reportedly able to exploit his network to initiate baseless police investigations on behalf of his boss. Porter alleges that in the process of investigating Fayed for Vanity Fair, there were attempts to have him and his colleague, the lawyer David Hooper, convicted of vexatious criminal charges, a tactic Fayeds team often used.
In his biography of Fayed, Bower wrote: His network of contacts throughout Britains police forces and private detective agencies smoothed his access to the most confidential information about any Briton. New recruits were reportedly background checked on a police computer. His approaches for assistance to serving policemen were greeted with respect which an honest, retired senior Scotland Yard officer could expect, he added.
Fayeds team was particularly aggressive in silencing anyone who went against him - Getty
Bower reports that these connections remained strong long after he moved to Harrods. At al-Fayeds suggestion, Macnamara had invited police officers for drinks at Harrods. Some departed with a hamper and the chairmans thanks, he wrote. In turn, Macnamara was welcomed at the police stations Christmas party.
A source who spent time observing Fayeds inner circle says that Macnamara shared Fayeds views on women and was an old-fashioned chauvinist. He remembers a meeting in Fayeds office in Harrods in which the recruitment of a new personal assistant was discussed and Macnamara asked whether the new hire had big breasts.
He was a sort of enforcer who, whenever someone complained, would arrange for them to be suppressed and covered up, he says. He was very cold and unscrupulous. A private security outfit including bodyguards and bulldog lawyers is not unusual for a very wealthy businessman; Fayeds team was particularly aggressive in silencing anyone who crossed him.
Macnamara at the inquest into the death of Princess Diana, April 7 2008 - Shutterstock
After the Paris crash that killed Princess Diana and Fayeds son, Dodi, Macnamara was put in charge of a private investigation on behalf of his employer, who launched a campaign against the Royal family and the British establishment, claiming the couple had been murdered. Macnamara later admitted he had initially lied about how much alcohol the chauffeur, Henri Paul, had drunk that night.
He was cross-examined at the Princesss inquest and, despite making sworn statements, he admitted there was no evidence of a criminal conspiracy to kill the couple, nor was there evidence that the couple were engaged or that the Princess was pregnant when she died, he admitted.
Macmanara retired from Harrods in 2002. As the person at the centre of the web of cover-ups, the unanswered question of how exactly Fayed was able to continue his campaign of abuse for more than two decades without facing justice died in 2019 with him.
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WASHINGTON, DC (WIVT/WBGH) Congressman Marc Molinaro has invited two Broome County leaders to Washington DC to share their perspectives on the workforce.
Molinaro is hosting Frank Stento of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and Ashley Gamba of Community Options at a House Small Business Committee hearing. The meetin will discuss workforce development strategies.
Im excited to have Frank Stento and Ashley Gamba in Washington today to share their perspectives. Through our Think DIFFERENTLY and Broome Countys Next Chapter initiatives, we have been working to create an economy that offers good-paying job opportunities for every person of every ability. I look forward to hearing their testimony on how we can build on our work in Broome County and across Upstate New York, said Molinaro.
Stento is a skilled craftsman who completed a registered apprenticeship program in 2016. He is now the Business Development Director for IUPAT District Council 4, which represents 2,000 workers in the Southern Tier and Central New York. He works to attract new members and connects currents members with work opportunities.
Gamba is an Executive Director with Community Options in Binghamton, a nonprofit organization that provides housing and employment support for individuals with disabilities. Before this position, Gamba worked as the New York State Director of Employment Services and oversaw vocational services in Binghamton, Syracuse, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. She has been an advocate for those with disabilities for over 18 years.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WIVT - News 34.
MOLOKAI, Hawaii (KHON2) The Maui Fire Department (MFD) continues battling a large brushfire on Molokai near the airport, which prompted temporary road closures and voluntary evacuations Tuesday morning.
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The fire was first reported around 10:30 a.m. Shortly after, door-to-door evacuation warnings were given as a precaution for homes near the fire. Multiple crews responded to the scene with additional backup from the Maui Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).
According to Maui County, one structure and one vehicle were consumed by the fire, but there were no reported injuries.
It was about within 200 yards of my familys homestead, stated Maui County Councilwoman Keani Rawlins-Fernandez. As a councilmember working so closely on the recovery with Lahaina, the PTSD from just that tragedy really built up an anxiety for me.
As of 5 p.m., the Molokai fire is 100 acres and approximately 60% contained. There are no active threats, evacuation advisories, or road closures. Firefighters will continue containing the fire throughout the night.
It was a big fire. We havent had a fire in a while. Its really dry right now and if the wind was higher than what it was today and the fire department didnt catch it in time, I think everything would have just went up in smoke, stated Molokai resident, Cheryl Puailihua.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by MFD. The public is encouraged to remain vigilant as fire conditions are subject to change. The public can report residential, commercial or public facility damage from the Molokai fire here.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2.
"The workload, new environment, and the long hours took a toll on her physically, emotionally, and mentally," said Anita Augustine about her daughter
Anna Sebastian Perayil/LinkedIn Anna Sebastian Perayil
Officials in India are looking into the death of an Ernst & Young employee, whose mom said she died as a result of her "overwhelming workload."
Anna Sebastian Perayil, who worked out of the Pune office of the global accounting firm, died in July four months after joining the organization as an executive a letter written by her mother, Anita Augustine reads. The letter has since gone viral online and was obtained by the International Business Times UK Edition and The Times of India.
The 26-year-old's mother alleged in her letter, sent via email to Ernst & Young India chairman Rajiv Memani, that her daughter "worked tirelessly at EY," but "the workload, new environment, and the long hours took a toll on her physically, emotionally, and mentally."
Momentimages/Getty Stock image of a person typing on a keyboard
"She began experiencing anxiety, sleeplessness, and stress soon after joining, but she kept pushing herself, believing that hard work and perseverance were the keys to success," Augustine wrote, later adding that she felt "management took full advantage" of her daughter being new to the company.
"This is a systematic issue that goes beyond individual managers and teams." Augustine added about Perayil's "overwhelming workload."
Related: Woman Rescued After She Crashes Porsche Through Third Floor Wall of Parking Garage and onto Tree
Sibi Joseph, Perayil's father, told The Economic Times that the letter's leak proves that "there are many people similarly suffering in the company who want the letter to be out in public."
Memani acknowledged the letter in a LinkedIn post on Thursday, Sept. 18, saying he was "deeply saddened."
Steve Taylor/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Stock image of an E&Y office
"I have conveyed my deepest condolences to the family, although nothing can fill the void in their lives. I truly regret the fact that we missed being present at Annas funeral. This is completely alien to our culture. It has never happened before; it will never happen again," he said, affirming that the "well-being of our people is my top-most priority."
"I am absolutely committed to nurturing a harmonious workplace, and I will not rest until that objective is accomplished," his statement added.
Related: Woman Says She Won't Let Friend Bring Emotional Support Animal to Her Home After It Destroyed Her Furniture
That same day, Shobha Karandlaje, Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Labour & Employment, announced on X that the ministry had launched an investigation into "the allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment."
Linkedin Ernst & Young India chairman Rajiv Memani's statement
Ernst & Young India also issued a statement to The Independent expressing that they have provided Perayil's family with "all the assistance as we always do in such times of distress and will continue to do so."
"We are taking the familys correspondence with the utmost seriousness and humility," the statement added.
According to The Indian Express and Business Today, Union Minister of Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya announced on Monday, Sept. 23, that government officials have sought information from state authorities regarding Perayil's death, and a report is expected to be submitted within seven to 10 days.
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PEOPLE reached out to Ernst & Young and Ernst & Young India but did not immediately hear back.
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Read the original article on People.
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Two Arizona mothers are suing the state Department of Education over curriculum requirements for the school voucher program that Attorney General Kris Mayes has instructed the department to enforce.
The Empowerment Scholarship Account, or ESA program, works by giving the parents of participating students a debit card that can be used to pay for various educational costs, or reimbursing the parents for those costs. The costs can include private school tuition, homeschooling supplies or the money can be saved for college.
The voucher program originated in 2012, but was expanded in 2022 from serving a limited group of about 12,000 students who met specific criteria to a universal program available to all of the states roughly one million K-12 students. There are currently more than 78,600 students enrolled, according to the Department of Education.
In July, the Attorney Generals Office, headed by Democrat Kris Mayes, informed the director of the ESA program that it might be violating state law by reimbursing parents for supplementary educational materials without requiring proof that those materials were necessary for a specific curriculum being taught to the students. She advised the director, John Ward, to stop doing so immediately, saying that it left the program open to potential fraud.
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While Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, an ardent advocate of the ESA program, said he didnt agree with Mayes interpretation of the law, he decided to concede to her demands and require the extra documentation from parents.
When I received the attorney generals message, I sent it to the most knowledgeable people in my department, Horne wrote on the ESA program website. I asked them to look at it, not as an advocate, because we all disagree with the Attorney General, but in a neutral way, as though they were judges to determine if they could give me a reasonable assurance of success. They analyzed the statutes on which the attorney general relied, and indicated to me that as a neutral judge, they would rule against me if I made a fight out of it and refused to comply. Getting into a fight and losing, would be much more damaging.
Horne served as Arizonas attorney general from 2011 to 2015.
The Department of Education began requiring documentation that supplemental educational materials were necessitated by a students curriculum on July 3, two days after the attorney generals office sent the letter.
The two mothers, Velia Aguirre of Maricopa County and Rosemary McAtee of Pinal County, who are represented by the conservative Goldwater Institute, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education in Maricopa County Superior Court on Sept. 23. In it, they asked the court to order that the ESA handbook authorize the use of supplementary materials that are generally known to be educational items without requiring parents to identify a curriculum requiring them. They also asked the court to permanently block the Department of Education from requiring such information.
Aguirre is the mother of three children who she homeschools using funds from the ESA program, while McAtee homeschools seven of her nine children using the ESA program.
The government is changing the rules and putting impossible burdens on me, Aguirre said in a written statement.
Aguirre, a former special education teacher with a masters degree, said that after the ESA program changed its requirements, it declined to reimburse her for educational materials that werent tied to a specific curriculum.
Those materials included an activity set to teach one of her children how to tell time, wooden puzzles, feeling and emotions puzzle cards for social emotional learning, a phonics activity, pencils, a box of erasers and several books.
Ms. Aguirre routinely buys materials that are not specifically listed on any curriculum documents but that, in her knowledge and experience, she determines are necessary and appropriate supplements to her childrens educational needs, John Thorpe, an attorney for the Goldwater Institute, wrote in the lawsuit. She also anticipates continuing to do so in the future.
McAtee said that she was similarly denied reimbursement for several books that she bought for her childrens education. While most of them were classic educational books that aim to teach children about colors and historical figures, one was titled Catholic Encyclopedia for Children.
Both women appealed the denials to the Arizona Board of Education and lost.
Thorpe argued that the ESA program expressly allows parents to be reimbursed for supplementary education materials without providing proof of their necessity for a specific curriculum, adding that the 2023-2024 ESA parent handbook allows it. The handbook was approved by the Arizona Board of Education in April 2023.
Mayes claimed in her July letter that the handbook was in conflict with state law.
The Attorney General has simply stated what is required by law, Mayes spokesman Richie Taylor wrote in a statement to the Arizona Mirror. The law doesnt prevent parents from purchasing paper and pencils, but it does require that materials purchased with ESA funds be used for a childs education. With instances of voucher dollars being spent on things like ski passes, luxury car driving lessons, and grand pianos, its clear that providing documentation on spending is essential to prevent the misuse of taxpayer funds.
Thorpe noted in the lawsuit that Mayes letter followed failed attempts by legislative Democrats to rein in the program.
The addition of this new requirement violates state law and state regulations, needlessly exacerbates a backlog of tens of thousands of purchase orders awaiting review, and senselessly burdens and limits parents in their ability to provide for the education of their children, Thorpe wrote.
Republicans in the state Legislature championed the expansion of the ESA program, calling it a victory for school choice. Democrats opposed it, saying it subsidized private school tuition for wealthy families whose children already attended private schools before vouchers were available, that it gives tax dollars to religious schools and that it takes money away from public schools.
Last year, the estimated net cost of the voucher program was $332 million last fiscal year a figure that is expected to grow to around $429 million this year, according to a report from the Grand Canyon Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. The institute also recently reported that parents had accumulated $360 million in funds, some carried over from prior fiscal years, in voucher accounts.
In the lawsuit, Thorpe wrote that Mayes had misinterpreted the law, pointing to amendments made by the state legislature in 2020 prior to the universal expansion that were created to broaden the allowable uses of ESA funds.
The bills sponsor, then-Sen. Sylvia Allen, a Republican, said the purpose of the legislation was to ensure that parents could be reimbursed for supplementary materials outside of those called for by a curriculum.
Were redefining curriculum more broadly by changing the definition to allow rather than require supplemental materials to be part of established curriculum, Allen said during a Feb. 26, 2020 Senate hearing on the bill. This allows parents to use the learning materials that are right for their children.
Thorpe wrote that he and his clients believe Horne only complied with Mayes demands out of fear that she would bring legal action against him, Department of Education employees and possibly even parents, based on statements from the July 1 letter.
The Department of Education concedes the argument of the Goldwater Institute, Horne wrote in a statement to the Mirror. When this issue first arose in July, my concern was that the Attorney General could force Empowerment Scholarship Account holders to return funds if they did not comply with her offices interpretation of the law. This lawsuit will settle the issue in court and my sincere hope is that the arguments made by Goldwater will prevail.
Mayes will continue to fight for transparency and accountability in how tax dollars are used via the ESA program, Taylor said.
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How to monitor, report power outages across Georgia as Hurricane Helene grows
Georgia Power, the states largest utility company with over 2.7 million customers, says its preparing for possible power outages as Tropical Storm Helene intensifies and heads for the Peach State.
The utility company says customers can monitor and report outages in various ways, including online.
Georgia Power is prepared to respond to outages safely and as quickly as weather conditions allow... a news release from the company said Tuesday. Georgia Power is in touch with its response partners including local and state governments, as well as other regional utilities.
There are various ways to stay connected and respond to power outages in Georgia as Tropical Storm Helene intensifies, both for Georgia Power customers and for those with another provider.
Georgia Power users can sign up for personalized text messages on storm updates, outage alerts and statuses on their own home and surrounding community. One must log into an online account or mobile app and verify a phone number to enroll in the alerts.
A statewide outage map is available to the public and customers. Residents can click on coordinates to view how many customers are affected by outages in a particular area. The pins also show when outages are expected to be restored.
For state and local storm tips, updates, customer services and other information, visit @GeorgiaPower on X, formerly known as Twitter.
How to report an outage
One does not need to be a Georgia Power customer to report outages.
Anyone can submit information such as a street name, apartment number, city, state and zip code to describe where an outage is suspected.
Residents can also report street light issues by clicking locations on a map via the Georgia Power site.
Some outages are not obvious. Signs could include a loud noise, neighbors without power, a lightning strike or storm damage nearby, lights flickering or construction crews in the area, according to the Georgia Power website.
This information is beneficial in determining the location and extent of trouble, the site says.
One can call Georgia Power 24/7 about dangerous situations such as downed power lines at 1-888-891-0938. Call 911 for emergencies.
What about other Georgia electric providers?
Aside from Georgia Power, a handful of other providers give power to hundreds of thousands of Georgia residents.
Cobb EMC, which has more than 218,000 customers, has an outage center website where you can monitor and report issues.
Jackson EMC, covering more than 250,000 customers, offers an outage map too.
Sawnee EMC, with just over 200,000 customers, offers a map to find outage information.
Dozens of additional providers across the state have tracking information available at poweroutage.us/area/state/georgia, with more information available on their websites.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) Two weeks after the Rhode Islands largest school district shut down its network due to irregular activity, Target 12 has learned an anonymous group claims to have personal information after accessing Providence Public School District computer files.
Target 12 obtained a letter written by Providence Superintendent Dr. Javier Montanez dated Wednesday, which explained an investigation found there was unauthorized access to the school districts network.
Moreover, an unverified, anonymous group has claimed that they have PPSD files, Montanez wrote. While we cannot confirm the authenticity of these files and verify their claims, there could be concerns that these alleged documents could contain personal information.
Network-Update-092524Download
Montanez said the district is still gathering more information. An analysis is underway that will help to find out what may have occurred, what may have been impacted, and what actions may need to be taken, according to Montanez.
School district spokesperson Jay Wegimont previously told Target 12 the irregular activity was discovered on Sept. 11. The districts IT staff followed security protocols and disabled internet connectivity as a precaution.
READ: Providence School Board says district experienced network security breach
Since then, the district brought in a third-party IT agency to provide additional support and restoration services, plus a third party vendor Montanez said has expertise in cyber-security to launch forensic analysis of the network.
The network activity is also being investigated by the R.I. State Police, FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
We will continue to work with our partners to fully understand the potential exposure and should it be needed, provide additional guidance and resources to students, families, and staff if they were impacted, Montanez said.
On Sunday, the Deputy Superintendent of Operations Zack Scott told families that beginning on Monday, students and staff members would be able to use Chromebooks in school, though other devices would be reconnected in the coming week.
Last week, Mayor Brett Smiley told Target 12 that Providences infrastructure is separate from the school departments, but the city blocked a connection on an accounting software to secure the citys computers.
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.
His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and Gov. Wes Moore open a roundtable discussion with university and business leaders in the Maryland State House on Sept. 25, 2024. Photo by Danielle J. Brown
On a dreary Wednesday morning, outside a hastily spruced-up Maryland State House, the state of Maryland and the Kingdom of Jordan began what was touted as a new relationship with a hug.
As the motorcade of nearly two dozen motorcycles, police cruisers and sport utility vehicles with flashing lights approached the front of the State House under drizzly skies, Gov. Wes Moore (D) and his wife, Dawn Flythe Moore, calmly stood outside on a patch of red carpet.
A black SUV pulled up and Abdullah II ibn Al-Hussein, the king of Jordan, stepped out of the vehicle. He shook hands and embraced the governor, and then shook hands with Moores wife.
Abdullah and the Moores then walked up State House steps that had been fitted with temporary brass handrails and about a dozen ferns, and headed into the building for a roundtable discussion on how Maryland and Jordan can collaborate on future economic opportunities.
While Abdullah has visited Maryland before, Moore said that his visit Wednesday marked the first time that a head of state has visited the Maryland State House on official business.
The king and the governor headed to the Governors Reception Room, where they sat down with a handful of administrators from Maryland universities and a dozen CEOs and executives from a range of companies, including Lockheed Martin International, Marriott International, McCormick and Co. and others.
This is where you come together to talk about common goals, talk about common interests and talk about collaboration, Moore said in opening remarks.
We have brought leaders from across the state to engage in this historic visit. We look to have a very vibrant discussion about our people and our economies and our opportunities ahead, he said. While Moore has met with other foreign leaders as governor, huddling with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Washington, D.C., in July, for example, this was his first time hosting.
Abdullah, who was in the U.S. for this weeks General Assembly at the United Nations, said that his visit to Maryland represents a new relationship between the state and his country.
The press were escorted out of the reception room after about 4 minutes of opening remarks. Few details of the meeting were available, but in a statement after the fact, the governors office said the more-than-90-minute meeting touched on trade, investment and partnership opportunities between Maryland and Jordan.
But one of the attendees, University of Maryland, Baltimore County President Valerie Sheares Ashby, called the meeting extraordinary.
Sheares Ashby said Abdullah began his comments talking about education.
As a president of a university, youre always the person talking about the transformative power of education, but to have the king and the governor say it and start the conversation with that basis was inspiring to me, she said minutes after the meeting ended
It was just a wonderful day, she said. Wonderful for the state. Wonderful for our global visibility and a fantastic day for higher education.
While the meeting went on inside the State House, a drone flew above Lawyers Mall.
The meeting ended after noon. Abdullah talked and walked down down the broad steps alongside Moore.
At the bottom of the steps, the two men shook hands and embraced again. Then Abdullah stepped into a black SUV, and moments later the motorcade rolled slowly away from the State House.
The Maryland State House featured a red carpet on Sept. 25, 2024 in honor of His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan visiting Maryland. Photo by Danielle J. Brown.
Gov. Wes Moore and the King of Jordan walk down the steps outside State House after meeting more than an hour Sept. 25. Photo by William J. Ford.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore greets the King Abdullah of Jordan outside the State House on Sept. 25. Photo by William J. Ford.
King Abdullah of Jordan greets Dawn Flythe Moore outside the Maryland State House in Annapolis on Sept. 25. Gov. Wes Moore looks on. Photo by William J. Ford.
Two Maryland Capitol Police officers stand guard in front of the State House doors in Annapolis before the King of Jordan arrives Sept. 25. Photo by William J. Ford.
OMAHA Organizers of a November ballot measure that would require Nebraska businesses to provide employees with a minimum level of paid sick leave announced Wednesday that they had secured the public backing of more than 200 businesses.
Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans rolled out the list of supportive businesses as part of the latest step in a campaign that has of yet drawn no organized public opposition. Years of polling on the issue indicates bipartisan support for its aims.
The ballot measure would require businesses with 20 or fewer employees to fund a minimum of five paid sick days a year for full-time employees. Bigger businesses would be required to fund seven days of paid sick leave.
Full- and part-time employees would earn an hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. The measure seeks to close gaps in coverage for people working in factories, agriculture and other service jobs, including restaurants and retail.
Hundreds of thousands without leave
Organizers cite economic estimates showing that more than a third of full-time employees in Nebraska and more than three-fourths of Nebraska part-time employees lack paid sick leave. In total, that means more than 250,000 workers are without paid sick leave.
Lindsey Clements, co-owner of Vis Major brewery and restaurant, said she and many of the other business owners who signed on see the job benefit as a valuable investment in recruiting and retaining quality employees and keeping customers safe.
Her business already offers sick leave. She called it a smart, responsible decision that promotes a healthier, more sustainable industry. She said the restaurant industry and others employ a number of people who live paycheck to paycheck.
Businesses that put those workers in a position to choose between their financial well-being and their own health or the health of their family are risking the motivations of the people who help make their businesses run, Clements said.
If every similar business had to offer a minimum level of sick leave for workers, she said, the service industry would see less employee turnover, leading to better service and a more positive dining experience.
Why some support it
Rafael Santa-Maria, chief operating officer of Caring for People Services, which does in-home health care for the elderly and people with disabilities, said his industry would benefit from paid sick leave, and vulnerable people seeking help would, too.
His business offers paid time off, he said, but many companies in that service field dont. In the short run, that might help those companies save money. But it could cost them and their customers, Santa-Maria said.
Having a person decide between employment and health is a paradox, he said. This is not only a single impact point, as illnesses can be spread swiftly among workers whose main duty is to care for vulnerable populations.
The Rev. Debra McKnight, founder and pastor of Urban Abbey, a coffee shop, bookstore and church, said Nebraska employers have economic and moral reasons to adopt paid sick leave. Economically, she said, people focus on work better when they feel secure.
Morally, she said, people working without the security blanket of paid leave still get sick and have families. People should care enough about those workers to extend the same courtesies they would want for themselves and their loved ones.
Her business offers paid leave, she said.
People are people, and they should matter to us, she said. They should matter to us deeply people over profit.
McKnight and Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans co-sponsor Craig Moody, who runs Verdis Group, a sustainability consulting firm based in Omaha, said the ballot measure would provide a strong return on investment for Nebraska businesses.
A healthy community and workplace is an investment and has a high return for all of us, including people not sneezing on our dinner, McKnight said. I understand budgets are hard, but it seems like a pretty easy place for all of us to start.
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More than 8,000 Catholic employers can now deny workers time off for an abortion or IVF
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More than 8,000 Catholic employers across the country will not be required to provide accommodations for workers needing abortion or fertility care following a ruling in North Dakota.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act took effect in June 2023, granting workers many of them low-wage women protections if they needed time off from work for pregnancy-related conditions. Earlier this year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces the law, released rules that broadly defined pregnancy-related conditions to include anything from morning sickness to an abortion or fertility care. Under the rules, workers could request time off to get an abortion or for an IVF procedure, for example, and employers must work in good faith to provide the accommodation.
But the Catholic Benefits Association and the Diocese of Bismarck sued the EEOC this summer, arguing that a broad interpretation of the law that included abortion and fertility protections would be violating Catholic employers religious freedom.
The EEOC, the complaint said, hijacked this statute and demanded that Catholic and other employers affirmatively accommodate abortion and immoral fertility treatments.
The EEOC rules dont require employers to pay for the care, just to provide time off to allow workers to seek it.
This rulemaking does not require abortions or affect the availability of abortion; it simply ensures that employees who choose to have (or not to have) an abortion are able to continue participating in the workforce, by seeking reasonable accommodations from covered employers, as needed and absent undue hardship, the EEOC rules states. The rules also extend to time off for prenatal appointments or accommodations like time to sit, rest, drink, eat or use the bathroom, protections that are not impacted by the injunction.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor sided with the Catholic Benefits Association and the Diocese of Bismarck this week, issuing a preliminary injunction and signaling they were likely to win their case. The injunction bars the EEOC from forcing the association and diocese to accommodate workers seeking abortion or infertility treatment.
It also limits the impact of new harassment guidance from the EEOC. This year, it put out guidance saying that employers who repeatedly call workers by the wrong pronouns or name, or who deny them use of restrooms appropriate with their gender identity could be found to be creating a hostile work environment. The judge ruled that the EEOC cannot take action against the association or the diocese for refusing to use correct pronouns or provide appropriate bathroom access.
An exemption for religious employers in the EEOC rules was not enough, Traynor said, because of lack of clarity around when the exemption would apply because the rule states it will be handled on a case-by-case basis. The judge also rejected the EEOCs argument that the harassment guidelines were just guidelines and not requirements.
It is a precarious time for people of religious faith in America. It has been described as a post-Christian age, wrote Traynor, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump. The current suit falls into a long line of cases that should be unnecessary in a country that was built on the concept of freedom of religion. Unfortunately, these cases are essential for faithful individuals where government mandates run counter to core religious beliefs. Traynor serves as board member of the North Dakota Catholic Conference, a group that represents the states Catholic bishops.
The injunction will impact the 1,380 Catholic employers and 7,100 Catholic parishes including schools, charities and hospitals that are a part of the Catholic Benefits Association, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of Catholic employers. An estimated 162,000 workers are on its member health plans.
The ruling is one of the most significant blows to the protections of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The law was passed with strong bipartisan support in December 2022 after more than a decade of advocacy as advocates saw pregnant workers repeatedly being pushed out of jobs or fired simply for asking for pregnancy accommodations. Most were low-income women of color.
But the abortion provision was the most controversial of the laws rules when they were announced in April. At the time, EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows said the rules were designed to help avoid workers being forced into harrowing situations, jeopardizing their health, their pregnancies and their economic security. The EEOC argued pregnancy and related conditions has long been interpreted by Congress to include abortion.
Gillian Thomas, the senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union Womens Rights Project, said in a statement that the ruling marks a dangerous new low in the weaponization of religion against civil rights.
For nearly five decades, abortion has been recognized as part of the full spectrum of workers pregnancy-related needs that are protected by the law, Thomas said, adding: Todays ruling turns that history on its head, in the process denying workers at more than 8,000 employers nationwide the time off and other accommodations they may need to access abortion care, as provided in the landmark Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and implementing regulations.
She added that for good measure the courts decision could also endanger the well-being of LGBTQ+ workers, who are facing record high levels of abuse on and off the job.
This summer, another Trump-appointed judge in Louisiana blocked enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Acts abortion protections in Louisiana, Mississippi and among members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Abortion, the judge said, is not a medical condition that employers must accommodate.
But the courts havent always landed in the same place. A separate case introduced by 17 Republican-led states regarding the abortion rule was tossed out in June by a judge in Arkansas who said the lawsuit lacked standing because the EEOC would be unlikely to enforce the abortion accommodation requirement against them. That case has since been appealed. Another case in Texas barring state employees from having access to any of the laws protections is also still ongoing.
Abortion access, IVF treatment and gender-affirming care have all become major talking points in an election that may be defined by them. Vice President Kamala Harris, who supports all three, has been critical of Trumps stance on abortion and IVF in particular. Trump initially said hed vote in support of a ballot measure to add abortion protections to the Florida constitution, before then saying hed vote against it. And while many anti-abortion advocates have rallied against IVF procedures, Trump has said hed ensure the government or insurance companies would fully pay for the treatments, without providing details as to how.
Im a leader on IVF, which is fertilization, the IVF, Trump said at the presidential debate earlier this month. I have been a leader.
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Mooresville town planners gave their blessing to Charlotte developer Pappas Properties Tuesday night for a proposed 625-home mixed-use community where a four-lane highway is being built near Lake Norman.
The Mooresville Planning Board voted 6-2 to recommend a rezoning for the 98-acre Mooresville Village that also would include, according to the developers plans, a grocery store, bank, shops, offices, hotel, trails, open space and a multi-use path.
The Planning Board makes recommendations to the Mooresville Board of Commissioners, which has final say on rezonings.
On Oct. 7, commissioners will set a date for a public hearing on the project in the coming months, Mooresville Planning Department documents show.
Mooresville Village would sprout where N.C. 115 will intersect the $34 million East West Connector road thats under construction off Interstate 77. Thats near Langtree Road, Exit 31, in southern Iredell County near the lake and a little over a mile north of Davidson Exit 30.
A Charlotte developer wants to build a mega mixed-use community off this two-lane road in Mooresville near Lake Norman.
Housing would include single-family homes, townhomes, cottages and apartments, with many geared to adults 55 and older, according to the developers plans.
And 5% of the homes would be attainable housing offered first to firefighters, land owner Steve McLeod of Davidson told the board. McLeod said hes owned the land since 2001 and once owned nearby property that became the Lowes headquarters when the home improvement chain moved from North Wilkesboro.
Pappas development highlights include Birkdale Village in Huntersville, Phillips Place in Charlotte and other Charlotte-area mixed communities. Mooresville Village will be his first such similar community in Iredell Countythe Mooresville area, he said.
Mooresville Village was formerly called Cadia Mooresville with 825 homes originally proposed, planning board documents show.
The community would have a total of 279,900 square feet of commercial-retail space.
The developments first three of four construction phases would coincide with construction of the town of Mooresvilles four-lane East West Connector. The project has been under construction since January and will take three years to complete.
A construction crew works on a project to create a new road called the East West Connector in Mooresville, N.C., on Friday, September 13, 2024.
Ohio-based contractor Kwest Group is carving out the connector from N.C. 115 to Langtree and Transco roads near I-77 Exit 31.
The connector will have a divided median and multi-use paths, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
A construction crew works on a project to create a new road called the East West Connector in Mooresville, N.C., on Friday, September 13, 2024.
Transit or traffic in Mooresville?
Pappas Properities hopes to complete the first three of four phases of Mooresville Village by 2028, including single-family homes, a grocery store building and a retail center.
The Mooresville Village mixed-use community would include this retail center with outdoor dining, a grocery store, bank and shops.
The developers architect renderings also show an acre reserved for a transit station for Charlottes planned Red Line commuter rail.
The mayors of Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson recently endorsed a funding proposal to extend the Red Line through their towns, but Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney balked at having a station in his.
During interviews with The Charlotte Observer, Carney said only 2,500 people would use the station, per previous Red Line studies. Many would drive in from other counties, he said.
Compare that figure to the 48,000 cars of commuters who drive N.C. 150 into Mooresville from Sherrills Ford in Catawba County every day, he said.
2,500 is such a drop in the bucket, Carney said.
At the same time, transit stations are housing magnets, he said. And Mooresville has been saying no to apartments because the town already has so many, Carney said.
For now, the Red Line would end in Davidson.
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DUBLIN, Ohio (WCMH) A central Ohio housing developer is moving forward with plans to continue building out a 120-acre neighborhood in Dublin.
Columbus-based Homewood Corp.s proposal calls for the construction of a third section within Avondale Woods, a residential development in southern Dublin. Once completed, the new section would be home to 26 single-family homes built on 12 acres to the west of Langley Drive and Scarlett Lane.
Construction on Avondales first and second sections has already started, with this proposal aiming to seamlessly extend onto the existing community with the addition of section three.
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The layout of the development emphasizes a single community composed of both homeowners and rental residents, the proposal states. There are no barriers between the different housing types or Sections, and the recreation paths link all the open space amenities including the community center and swimming pool which is also a joint resource for all residents.
The new section would be home to 26 single-family homes built on 12 acres to the west of Langley Drive and Scarlett Lane. (Courtesy Photo/Dublin Planning and Zoning Commission)
The 26 single-family homes will be comprised of traditional architecture and will include elements that seek to convey a welcoming neighborhood feel or more simple times, the proposal states. Homewood notes that the colors, materials and architectural features will link all of the Avondale housing types.
Dublins Planning and Zoning Committee recommended approval of the proposals final development plan on Sept. 19. Homewoods proposal will also need to be reviewed and approved by city council before construction can begin.
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Avondale is one of several proposed developments moving through Dublins approval process, including Irish Village, another mixed-use proposal that would sit next to Ballantrae Community Park. The village is being proposed by Stavroff Land and Development, the same developer suing the city of Dublin and alleging private property rights were violated when its shopping district overhaul was rejected.
Another vacant Dublin site sandwiched between office buildings could soon see construction on a mixed-use development with a five-story apartment building, retail, a restaurant and a dog park. Plans call for the development to be built on a 16-acre site at the northeast corner of Emerald Parkway and Woerner Temple Road owned by VanTrust Real Estate.
Developers are also proposing a series of apartment buildings on 18.9 vacant acres on Blazer Parkway, between Metro Center and the Blazer Research District. The conceptual plan calls for six residential buildings totaling 330 units, an increase of 30 units from the initial submittal to the planning and zoning commission.
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Gov. Jared Polis talks about House Bill 24B-1001, the special session bill that cements a deal between the legislature, governor and two conservative groups that had put two ballot measures on property taxes on the November ballot. Joining him for the signing, left to right, House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon; Sen. Chris Hansen, D-Denver; and Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Weld County, three of the bills sponsors. House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, R-Colorado Springs, was unavailable.
The quagga mussel, first discovered in the United States in 1989, is an invasive species that alters the food web by filtering water and removing plankton, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (Amy Benson/U.S. Geological Survey)
The quagga mussel, first discovered in the United States in 1989, is an invasive species that alters the food web by filtering water and removing plankton, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (Amy Benson/U.S. Geological Survey)
Officials with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that they have detected new quagga mussels in the Snake River near Twin Falls.
Tuesdays announcement arrived almost exactly one year after state officials announced they had detected the invasive species in the Snake River for the first time in September 2023. In response to first mussel detection, state officials used a copper based chemical called Natrix in the Snake River in an effort to kill them off, the Sun previously reported.
Until this most recent detection of quagga mussels, state water sampling was negative for quagga mussels in 2024, the Sun also reported.
While we are incredibly disappointed to see any confirmations, we know that pest eradication is rarely one and done, Idaho State Department of Agriculture Director Chanel Tewalt said in a written statement Tuesday. We have made significant progress, and now we must focus on the next phase of eradication. (The Idaho State Department of Agriculture) and the many partners who have helped in countless ways will continue to push for full eradication.
The quagga mussels were detected in the Shoshone Falls pool, Pillar Falls and the Twin Falls Reservoir behind the Twin Falls hydroelectric facility, state officials said Tuesday.
Quagga mussels are an invasive, nonnative species that reproduces rapidly. State officials with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture said eradicating the mussels is a priority because they are capable of clogging pipes, which could pose a threat to drinking water, irrigation, agriculture, recreational tourism and hydroelectric energy generation.
In a statement released Tuesday, Idaho Gov. Brad Little said the state is fortunate because of its invasive species programs and state investments in those programs. During the 2024 legislative session, legislators approved $6.6 million in the fiscal year 2025 budget to fight invasive species, the Sun previously reported.
Idaho had the foresight years ago to start investing in the resources needed to detect and eradicate invasive species, and that investment is paying off, Little said in a written statement. I want to thank my partners in the Idaho Legislature for making this happen. With an effective, robust invasive species program in place, we are far better off today than we were even a year ago when quagga mussels were first detected in the Snake River.
One of our greatest success stories as a state has been the coordinated, rapid response to quagga mussels last fall, but we knew we would be on watch for a period of five years. I have great confidence in the team at the Idaho State Department of Agriculture and their many, many partners to continue to tackle this problem with minimal disruption to the public.
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Idaho Capital Sun, like Oregon Capital Chronicle, is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and X.
quagga mussel
The quagga mussel, first discovered in the United States in 1989, is an invasive species that alters the food web by filtering water and removing plankton, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (Amy Benson/U.S. Geological Survey)
Officials with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that they have detected new quagga mussels in the Snake River near Twin Falls.
Tuesdays announcement arrived almost exactly one year after state officials announced they detected the invasive species in Snake River for the first time in September 2023. In response to first detecting the mussels, state officials used a copper based chemical called Natrix in the Snake River in an effort to kill off the mussels, the Sun previously reported.
Until this most recent detection of quagga mussels, state water sampling was negative for quagga mussels in 2024, the Sun previously reported.
Idaho Department of Agriculture Director Chanel Tewalt
While we are incredibly disappointed to see any confirmations, we know that pest eradication is rarely one and done, Idaho State Department of Agriculture Director Chanel Tewalt said in a written statement Tuesday. We have made significant progress, and now we must focus on the next phase of eradication. (The Idaho State Department of Agriculture) and the many partners who have helped in countless ways will continue to push for full eradication.
The quagga mussels were detected in the Shoshone Falls pool, Pillar Falls and the Twin Falls Reservoir behind the Twin Falls hydroelectric facility, state officials said Tuesday.
Quagga mussels are an invasive, nonnative species that reproduces rapidly. State officials with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture said eradicating the mussels is a priority because they are capable of clogging pipes, which could pose a threat to drinking water, irrigation, agriculture, recreational tourism and hydroelectric energy generation.
In a statement released Tuesday, Idaho Gov. Brad Little said the state is fortunate because of its invasive species programs and state investments in those programs. During the 2024 legislative session, legislators approved $6.6 million in the fiscal year 2025 budget to fight invasive species, the Sun previously reported.
Idaho had the foresight years ago to start investing in the resources needed to detect and eradicate invasive species, and that investment is paying off, Little said in a written statement. I want to thank my partners in the Idaho Legislature for making this happen. With an effective, robust invasive species program in place, we are far better off today than we were even a year ago when quagga mussels were first detected in the Snake River.
One of our greatest success stories as a state has been the coordinated, rapid response to quagga mussels last fall, but we knew we would be on watch for a period of five years. I have great confidence in the team at the Idaho State Department of Agriculture and their many, many partners to continue to tackle this problem with minimal disruption to the public.
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More restrooms may be coming to the National Mall
More restrooms may be coming to the National Mall
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) More restrooms may soon be built on the National Mall, a welcome plan for those visiting the monuments.
The National Park Service (NPS) wants to replace all the existing public restrooms between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, installing restrooms all the way to the U.S. Capitol.
Its pretty frustrating because nine times out of 10, I have to change my child on my lap, said Zandra Jones, of Las Vegas, who was at the National Mall for a rally.
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Jones, who used to live in Clinton, Md., was not the only one voicing support for more restrooms.
Im pregnant right now, said Emma Lackey-Wagoner, of St. Louis, Mo. So I do have to use the restroom a little bit more often than maybe your average woman.
The current public restrooms on the National Mall are at least 50 years old, according to the NPS, which is why it wants to build new ones.
My girlfriend had to walk probably a mile or a half a mile to just use the restroom, so that would be great, Jones said.
The National Capital Planning Commission will decide on the NPS request at its Oct. 3 meeting.
The first new restrooms could be in place in 2026.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Three more women have accused a judge of bullying during employment tribunal hearings.
They say Judge Philip Lancaster was belittling and intimidating and made them feel stupid while they presented their cases. One said she felt his behaviour in her case verged on psychological abuse.
The three women have spoken out following a BBC report in April in which five women accused Mr Lancaster of bullying and sexist behaviour.
A spokesperson for the Judiciary Office, which supports the judiciary across courts in England and Wales, said judges cannot comment on matters of conduct due to constitutional arrangements.
It said allegations of misconduct in court can be referred to the Judicial Conduct Investigation Office.
The three women all appeared before Judge Lancaster at the employment tribunal in Leeds between 2021 and this year.
'Battered and intimidated'
In October 2022, Jackie Moore represented her daughter who had brought a case of constructive unfair dismissal and disability discrimination against her employer.
Ms Moore had spent two years preparing the case and had a number of preliminary hearings before different judges who she found efficient and polite.
However, she says none of that prepared her for the full five-day hearing she had before Judge Lancaster. She says he was patronising right from the start.
He thought I wouldnt have a clue.
Ms Moore said the judge repeatedly snapped at her and blocked or challenged the questions she was asking the witnesses provided by her daughters employer.
She says she felt battered, intimidated and bullied by him, throwing his weight about.
When she read the accounts by other women who had appeared before the judge she realised she was not alone.
Jackie Moore said she felt patronised by Judge Lancaster [BBC]
Employment tribunals are specialist courts that rule on disputes between employers and employees. There are about 30,000 hearings in Scotland, England and Wales annually, mainly involving issues such as unfair dismissal, redundancy terms and discrimination. Northern Ireland has a separate system.
In April BBC News heard allegations from five other women about Judge Lancasters behaviour. The women, who encountered him in separate cases, said they wanted to highlight his "degrading behaviour", including what they said was misogyny and bullying.
'He made my life hell'
Earlier this year, another woman spent seven days in a hearing before Judge Lancaster, having brought a case of age discrimination, constructive dismissal and unfair discrimination against her employer.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, says she felt fully prepared as she had spent well over a year working on her case, even attending other hearings in Leeds to see how litigants-in-person people who represent themselves were treated.
Again, she says her preliminary hearings had gone well. Everyone allowed me to talk, nobody shut me down, nobody made me feel useless.
That experience, says the 45-year-old, was in direct contrast to how she was treated by Judge Lancaster.
He made my life hell, she recalls. "Hed put his hands on his head, and appeared disinterested in what I was saying. He repeatedly asked why I was asking [my employers witnesses] particular questions and raised his voice numerous times. I felt useless. She is now appealing the ruling.
Angela Gates says she was made to feel "like a villain being prosecuted" [BBC]
Angela Gates brought a case of disability discrimination and constructive dismissal against her employer in 2021.
She says a hearing in front of Judge Lancaster made her feel like a villain being prosecuted.
She says: I felt I couldnt give my side on anything.
The four-day hearing was held on Zoom, and Ms Gates, 53, says Judge Lancaster regularly shouted at her, repeatedly telling her to be quiet. She says his behaviour was appalling and degrading, verging on psychological abuse", adding: "I dont believe Ive been given a fair trial.
In his judgement, the judge said he agreed with the defences description of Ms Gates as tipping into paranoia, saying this was not a criticism of her but a fact, given her poor mental health. Ms Gates says she found this grossly offensive.
He has no medical training to reach that conclusion, she says.
She appealed the judgement but didnt complain about Judge Lancasters behaviour as, like many other litigants, you are told not to complain on the grounds of bias".
"You feel it will affect your case if you get personal about a judge.
A spokesperson for the Judiciary Office said appeals can be lodged against any judgement where a party believes there is an error of law or they did not receive a fair hearing.
But bringing a complaint against a judge in the employment tribunal system is extremely difficult. Judges notes are regarded as the official court record but there is no obligation to release them. Since late last year, proceedings in some tribunals have been recorded but there is also no obligation on the court to release the audio or provide the claimants with a transcript.
One of the women who originally complained about Judge Lancasters behaviour, Alison McDermott, believes the judicial system is totally unaccountable.
Im fed up with this nonsense, the lack of transparency and fairness in a court of law in the UK, she said. The whole system is in urgent need of a comprehensive investigation.
MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) A Morgan County man convicted of capital murder as a teen in 1994 has been resentenced, the Alabama Attorney General announced Wednesday.
Roy Burgess Jr., now 47, was sentenced again to life without the possibility of parole.
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Burgess was first convicted of capital murder in 1994 for the killing of Kevin Gardner in Decatur. According to the attorney generals office, Burgess robbed and killed Gardner on August 12, 1993.
He was convicted on October 27, 1994, and on October 28 the jury voted 10-2 that he should be sentenced to life in prison. The judge overruled that sentence and sentenced Burgess to death during a hearing on December 9, 1994.
He appealed his sentence to the Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, who affirmed the judgment and sentence in 1998, and denied a rehearing in 1999. He then appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court, which affirmed the judgment but ordered the Court of Criminal Appeals to remand the trial court to reevaluate his sentence.
The Morgan County Circuit Court conducted the review and in 2001, Burgess was resentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life-without-parole sentences could not be given to juveniles convicted of capital murder in another case involving an Alabama teen, Evan Miller. Later, the Supreme Court held that the ruling applied retroactively to cases presented for collateral review.
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Burgess used this Miller ruling to file a Rule-32 petition, and a judge found that he was entitled to a re-sentencing hearing.
I am pleased that justice for Kevin Gardner has been served once again, said Attorney General Marshall. Roy Burgess took the life of an innocent young man who died trying to help a classmate. On the scales of justice, Burgesss age at the time of his offense could not excuse or diminish the savage and evil nature of his crime. Today, the court correctly ruled that he should again receive the maximum allowable punishment for which he is eligiblelife without parole.
Burgess will be returned to the Alabama Department of Corrections to serve the life 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 WHNT.com.
Tim Ryan tore into Donald Trump and JD Vance on Wednesday over their smears about migrants in Springfield.
The former Ohio congressman, who was defeated by Vance in his 2022 Senate race, was asked about what was happening in Springfield during an appearance on MSNBCs Morning Joe. His time on the air came the day after a Haitian nonprofit group announced it had filed charges against the GOP nominees over their baseless claims that migrants in the city are eating residents cats and dogs.
Chaos Dogs City Where Trump Says Haitians Eat Pets
Its tragic, Ryan said of whats happening to Springfield, where bomb threats have forced schools to close since the conspiracy theories erupted. He acknowledged there had been some issues with local migrants related to housing and health care but said theyd been a net positive and that the community love these Haitian immigrants who came.
I think this is just an indicator, Willie, of just how crass Donald Trump and JD Vance are, Ryan said, addressing co-host Willie Geist. They dont give a damn about who they use, which bodies they step over in the process to gain power. And I think its sickening that they would use these immigrantsall they want to do is scare people.
They want to scare us about immigrants, he continued. They want to scare everybody about the liberals are coming to get you, the transgender people are coming to get you, World War III is gonna happen, the economys gonna collapse. Its so fear basedI think theyre two scared little boys who want everyone else to be scared with them.
Ryan, who represented Ohio in the House between 2003 and 2023, also shared his astonishment that Vancewho currently represents the state in the Senatewould hurt the economic well-being of one of his own communities for his own political purposes.
Your job is to represent these people, Ryan said. Your job is to stick up for these communities, and youre destroying them. Its sickening to watch this happen.
He added: If you want to look at what the character of these two gentlemen isand I say that term looselyif you want to see their character, youre seeing it with this issue.
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Four Native American students from California have each received a $10,000 scholarship from the Morongo Band of Mission Indians near Palm Springs through the Tribes 19th Annual Rodney T. Mathews Jr. Scholarship Program.
Since its launch, Morongo's Mathews Scholarship Program has provided $630,000 in scholarships to 62 Native American students attending universities across the country. These scholarships are only accessible to enrolled members of the 109 federally recognized tribes in California.
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Morongo's annual Rodney T. Mathews Jr. Scholarship program is dedicated to reversing the historical underrepresentation of Native Americans in higher education, said Morongo Tribal Chairman Charles Martin. This initiative provides vital support to scholarship recipients while fostering the development of future tribal leaders. Empowering Native students to advance their education and skills creates pathways for driving meaningful progress that will enhance our tribal communities for generations to come.
The 2024 recipients are:
Keseloh McQuillen of the Yurok Tribe, is working on her Master of Arts Degree in the Language Teaching Studies Program at the University of Oregon. She grew up on the Yurok Reservation, which is near the traditional village of Turip in Klamath, California. Her goal is to return to her community in Humboldt County after receiving her masters. She believes that with the knowledge gained from the Language Studies Program, she can add strengthen language development within the Yurok community.
Receiving this scholarship from the Morongo Tribe gives me relief. This assistance relieves financial strains and enables me to focus entirely on my academic goals. I am driven to take advantage of this opportunity to succeed and to finish my program in 11 months. I appreciate the Morongo Tribe's commitment to education, McQuillen said.
Cody Goodwin of the Wailkila Tribe, is working towards his bachelors degree in Aviation Airport Design at San Jose State. His goal is to join the U.S. Airforce with hopes to one day pilot C-17 Globemasters, the largest military transport aircraft ever developed for Air Force. He also aspires to become a Flight Instructor.
For me, this scholarship is very significant since it allows me to continue with my pilot training and earn my commercial and multi-engine ratings. It's an important step toward achieving my aviation career goals. It also helps with some of my living expenses, which allows me up to concentrate more on my training and studies. I am incredibly appreciative of this support, Goodwin said.
Kathleen Keller-Manuelito of the Bishop Paiute Tribe, is pursuing her degree in Nursing at the University of Kansas. She previously graduated from Haskell Indian Nations University in 2016 with a bachelors in business administration. In the past she worked with the American Indian Records Repository, which preserves treaties between the U.S. Government and Native Americans. While obtaining her clinical hours for nursing, she hopes to work with Indian Health Services. Her career goal is to create and open an Indigenous birthing center for women.
I want to thank the Morongo Band of Mission Indians for offering the Mathews Scholarship to all California Natives. Being awarded this scholarship relieves a great deal of worry for me as a working mom of a toddler who is getting ready to move across the nation. This scholarship will not only help with living expenses such as daycare costs, but it will also provide me the opportunity to devote all my attention to my studies this fall semester. Once again, I want to thank the scholarship committee, the Morongo tribe, and everyone else who made this opportunity for a life-changing award possible, Keller-Manuelito said.
Yamahni Duncan of the Berry Creek Rancheria of Tyme Maidu Indians, He is in his final year at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is working towards bachelors degrees in both Psychology and Philosophy. He intends to pursue a doctorate in philosophy or psychology. By advancing his knowledge, he hopes to have an important impact on his Tribal community.
"I applied for this scholarship from Morongo in part because it would be really helpful in paying for my housing costs. Despite the fact that my college provided funding for my education, I had to deal with the costs of finding housing on my own. That burden has been greatly reduced as a result of receiving this scholarship, allowing me to concentrate more on my education," Duncan said.
The Morongo scholarship program honors the late Rodney T. Mathews Jr., a Morongo tribal member and Hastings Law School graduate who passed away in 2004. He worked as an attorney for 20 years before serving as a judge pro tem for more than a decade.
His mother, Eunice Mathews, said the scholarship program recognizes her sons lifelong commitment to equity and education. We are so proud of all that Rodney accomplished and are touched by how the Mathews Scholarship continues to honor his legacy.
Scholarship applicants are considered based on their academic success and community service. Candidates must be full-time students at an accredited college or university; complete 60 hours with a designated California Indian agency; and be actively involved in the Native American community.
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Mosquito threat: Why some Central Mass. towns don't have all the tools to fight the menace
OXFORD While this small town of 13,000 residents has been in the critical-risk zone for Eastern equine encephalitis for more than a month, it faces the hard task of paying for a service that could potentially lessen or prevent the problem.
A sign outside Oxford Town Hall warns of the dangers of Eastern equine encephalitis Thursday.
The challenge is coming up with the money to join the Central Massachusetts Mosquito Control Project, a state agency that provides spraying and other services to limit mosquito populations and the diseases they spread.
Its not inexpensive to be part of the project, said Jennifer Callahan, Oxford's town manager, who put the annual price tag at $84,000, a tall order for a community with a tight budget.
Oxford is one of four towns in southern Worcester County that falls in the EEE critical-risk zone. The others are Douglas, Sutton and Webster. The latter is the only one that is a member of the mosquito control project.
The steep membership fee is an issue in Douglas, where Town Administrator Matthew Wojcik said it would cost $104,000 yearly. Dues are based on a towns size and property values, and it takes a vote of a city council or town meeting to join. When dues are paid, the amount is deducted from a community's share of state aid.
The Central Massachusetts mosquito projects current fiscal year budget is $3 million and it provides services to more than 40 towns in Worcester and Middlesex counties. A call to Executive Director Timothy McGlinchy requesting an interview was not returned.
Wojcik said its not easy justifying the membership cost since serious health threats from mosquitoes havent been a yearly issue. In fact, an Oxford man in his 80s who contracted EEE this summer was the first human case in the state in four years. That case is one of four human EEE cases so far this year in Massachusetts.
More than money
Finances arent the only impediment to membership. Some towns have residents who oppose spraying because theyre concerned about the potential environmental impacts. Wojcik cited this issue in Douglas and so did Erin Hightower, the health director in Uxbridge.
Uxbridge is in the high-risk zone for EEE, and while Hightower hasnt crunched the numbers in a few years, she believes it would cost the town at least $70,000 yearly to join the mosquito control project. Its a sizeable amount when considering $70,000 represents 44% of the towns annual health department budget of $160,000.
Uxbridge, like other nonmember towns, relies on the state to spray when mosquito alerts are announced. Meanwhile, some residents pay private companies to spray their yards.
'Great services to residents'
Northbridge is also in the high-risk zone for EEE, but this town of 16,000 has been a dues-paying member of the mosquito control project since 2000, according to Jeanne Gniadek, the towns health administrator.
Last fiscal year, Northbridge paid dues of nearly $55,000 that increased to more than $57,000 this fiscal year.
I think it offers great services to the residents, said Gniadek. She explained when a resident is worried about mosquitoes in their yard, the project comes out and sprays. It's also the case when the state lab notifies the town that a mosquito sample tested positive for EEE or West Nile virus.
When Northbridge was elevated to high-risk this summer after the EEE human case was announced in Oxford, Gniadek said the mosquito project sprayed in town for only one night because it had done previous applications. That compares to five nights of spraying by the state in the critical-risk towns that are nonmembers because those communities hadnt had any spraying this year.
Climate change: More demand?
The mosquito control projects website lists several preventive services for members to decrease insect numbers including larval control, public education and efforts to eliminate standing water where mosquitoes breed.
Demand for those services could increase in the years ahead as climate change warms the planet and brings more mosquitoes to areas of the state where outbreaks of mosquito-borne illnesses haven't traditionally occurred. Dr. Catherine Brown, epidemiologist at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, recently alluded to these environmental changes and said the state health department encourages towns to join their local mosquito control districts.
Can the state cover some costs?
Membership is prohibitive for some communities, leaving them wondering if the state could help pay some of the costs. Callahan feels the availability of state grants could encourage communities to join local mosquito control projects.
Beyond the membership costs and the corresponding deduction in state aid, there is no state funding sources available based on the rules tied to state legislation that established the mosquito control districts, according to the state Department of Agricultural Resources. Any change requires action by state lawmakers.
However, communities can tap into state grants to manage mosquitoes. In Uxbridge, a grant paid for the town to develop a mosquito-control plan that included replacing culverts and improving emergency communications.
Meanwhile Sen. Ryan Fattman, R-Sutton, whose district includes the four towns in the critical-risk zone, noted the state stepped up this summer to spray in those communities. Fattman also said there would be money for spraying and other initiatives if the state hadn't spent $1.4 billion on the emergency shelter program, on top of $1 billion spent last year.
"That money taken away is an opportunity cost for other programs," said Fattman.
Contact Henry Schwan at henry.schwan@telegram.com. Follow him on X: @henrytelegram.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Central Mass. towns face fiscal, other challenges in fighting EEE
Mother of Elijah Lewis, Boy Found Dead in Mass. Park, to Plead Guilty in 5-Year-Old Son's Murder Case
Danielle Dauphinais will plead guilty to second-degree murder and other charges, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE
New Hampshire Attorney General's Office Elijah Lewis.
The mother of a New Hampshire boy found dead in a Massachusetts park in October 2021 will plead guilty to her sons murder.
Danielle Dauphinais plans to admit to second-degree murder and two counts of witness tampering, according to her notice of intent to enter a plea filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court South and obtained by PEOPLE.
The 38-year-old faces 55 years to life in prison on the murder charge and an additional 3.5 to 7 years for witness tampering, per the filing.
Michael S. Garrity of New Hampshires Office of the Attorney General confirms to PEOPLE that Dauphinais has a plea hearing slated for Thursday, Sept. 26, at 9 a.m. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25.
Danielle Dauphinais.
Related: 'I Have No Connection with This Child': Inside Mom's Disturbing Statements Before Elijah Lewis' Death
PEOPLE reached out to Dauphinaiss lawyer, Benjamin L. Falkner for comment on the planned plea. Falkner did not respond in time for publication.
Authorities had been looking for Elijah Lewis for nine days when a cadaver dog found his body buried in the woods Oct. 23, 2021.
The child had been dead for some time, investigators later said in an indictment obtained by PEOPLE, which said Elijah had been murdered on or between September 27, 2020, through September 24, 2021.
The childs body had facial and scalp injuries, acute fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment and pressure ulcers, according to the attorney generals office, which released his autopsy results that November.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Massachusetts determined the 5-year-old died by homicide caused by violence and neglect.
Joseph Stapf in mugshot.
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That month, both Dauphinais and her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, were arrested in New York City on charges connected to the case, PEOPLE previously reported.
Dauphinais was indicted in April 2022 on charges of one count of first-degree murder for purposely causing her sons death, one count of second degree murder caused recklessly with extreme indifference to the value of human life and three counts of tampering with witnesses, according to the attorney generals office.
Later that year, on Sept. 29, 2022 Stapf pleaded guilty to manslaughter, second-degree assault, falsifying physical evidence and witness tampering in connection to Elijahs death, according to the attorney generals office. He was sentenced to between 22 and 45 years behind bars.
Days before authorities started looking for Elijah, Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, N.H. reported to law enforcement that a man later identified as Stapf had surrendered the couples 3-day-old son at the hospital on Oct. 10, 2021, per a probable cause affidavit obtained by PEOPLE. Stapf had not left identifying information.
Authorities determined that the newborn had been born drug-dependent at the couples home and that they had handed him over in the hope that they would not lose custody of their young daughter.
Facebook Elijah Lewis.
Related: Autopsy Shows N.H. Boy, 5, Whose Mom Allegedly Wanted Him 'Gone,' Died by Homicide, Fentanyl Poisoning
A few days later, Merrimack police learned that Dauphinais older son, Elijah, was missing.
In police interviews with Stapfs mother, Joanne Stapf claimed that Elijah had behavioral issues and that he was habitually urinating and defecating on the floors and bedding, per the affidavit, which quotes Joanne as saying she agreed with Dauphinais that Elijah had to go to ensure the safety of his sister.
She claimed to authorities that the couple told her they had taken Elijah to a center for treatment, because she claimed, per the affidavit, that he was uncontrollable and a mentally unstable kid.
On the day Stapf surrendered his infant son, he texted his mother, instructing her: No bringing up Eli, per the messages transcribed in the affidavit, referencing Elijah.
Merrimack New Hampshire Police Department Elijah Lewis's bedroom as pictured during a search of the New Hampshire home in Oct. 2021.
During a search of the couples residence, investigators found a locked box with a filled methadone prescription for Dauphinais. There were also two bags with a brown powder substance consistent with heroin/ fentanyl, per the affidavit. In another locked box, investigators recovered a filled subscription for Stapfts methadone.
Investigators also found a medical card with Elijahs name on it and an unsigned affidavit for his temporary guardianship to Dauphinaiss sister.
When investigators observed the rooms belonging to the couple's daughter and to Elijah, Lieutenant Sean M. Cassell wrote in his affidavit that he believed Elijah was no longer living there.
In photographs included in the affidavit, the little girls bed is covered with stuffed animals, her name written in gold and white letters across the wall.
In contrast, the dresser in Elijahs room was littered with adult perfumes/ colognes, per the affidavit. An adult mans shirts hung over boxed Legos.
Investigators could not find a single photograph of Elijah in the home.
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Read the original article on People.
A Texas woman with Pikes Peak-area ties has answered Childrens Hospital Colorados request for help making the first weeks of life easier for some of their littlest patients, and hopes others will do the same.
In August, the Colorado Springs hospitals neonatal intensive-care unit, or NICU, asked the public to donate to protect premature babies from too much light and sound before theyre ready.
An isolette is an enclosed crib that helps provide a warm and germ-free environment for premature babies, commonly known as an incubator. A baby that is born weeks or months before full gestation will function better in a dark, quiet environment that simulates the conditions inside the womb. A NICU, when its full of the hospitals tiniest and sometimes sickest patients, is the exact opposite of that.
The isolette cover damps light and sound to help mimic the environment inside a mothers womb while the babys senses are still developing, according to clinical nurse manager Erin Havrilla.
Its important to try to provide everything they would be experiencing in Moms tummy, to the extent that we can, Havrilla said in August. That includes sound and light dampening.
When Linda Davenport Miller read a Gazette article about the need for the covers, she saw a need that she was singularly qualified to help with.
I saw that there was a need, and this was something I could do, said Miller, who holds a Bachelor of Science in clothing and textiles. Ive been sewing and making patterns forever, so I thought, Lets do this.
She tried to find out if anyone out here was making the covers, said Bob Carroll, Millers husband. It didnt sound like anyone was, so she started making them.
After searching everywhere she could for the right materials and patterns, including fabric shops, hobby stores, and the Internet, Miller got to work.
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She was only planning to make a couple, Carroll said. Next thing she knew, shes made 21 of them.
Miller and Carroll, who live in Texas but have a condo in Manitou Springs, brought the covers with them to donate to the hospital.
Despite its appearance, an isolette cover is not a blanket, and according to Havrilla, making one is a little more complicated than sewing a blanket or a T-shirt.
The ideal cover, she said, would have a dark inner layer to dampen ambient sounds, and a quilted outer layer, preferably decorated.
According to Miller, it takes about four hours to create a single cover. The collection she and her husband brought to Colorado from their Texas home represents nearly 100 hours of work.
I have the experience, and I have the time, so I thought, Why not? she said.
Miller, who plans to make a few more covers with the remaining materials she has, said she hopes other people will follow her example and make a few covers for the little ones at Childrens Hospital Colorado.
They dont have to make a bunch, like I did, she said. Just one or two will make a difference.
We could call it the Isolette Cover Challenge, Carroll said.
Community members who would like to help can contact the hospitals Association of Volunteers at 719-305-7042 or cosdonations@childrenscolorado.org.
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) Police are asking for the publics help to identify a suspect who shot into a vehicle on Saturday, killing a passenger.
The incident occurred just after 7 a.m. on Saturday on US-35 between Interstate 75 and James H. McGee Boulevard. Police say 26-year-old Jermea Lyle was in the backseat of a vehicle with her four-year-old daughter when a shot was fired from another vehicle, striking her.
Lyles boyfriend transported her to Miami Valley Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Dayton Police officers were dispatched to the hospital around 7:25 a.m. on a report of a person shot and began their investigation.
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We have pulled surveillance video from ODOT and things like that. We have camera coverage kind of covering here on I-75 southbound but what we dont know is did some vehicles get on this ramp here where there is no camera coverage, said Maj. Brian Jones.
Police are looking to talk with the driver of a blue Chevy Impala and another white vehicle that followed the driver, exiting onto Germantown Pike. At this time, they are unsure where the shooter came from.
We dont know how this happened, we dont know why this happened. So we need the communitys help for sure. This lady lost her life in front of her little child and its just a tragedy. So if we can at least bring some justice and resolution to this, said Jones.
Anyone with information is asked to call Dayton Police or Crime Stoppers at 222-STOP.
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VIRGINIA BEACH The mother of a St. John the Apostle Catholic School student who was suspended for not immediately reporting that a classmate had a bullet is suing the school.
Rachel Wigand filed the complaint Monday in Virginia Beach General District Court. Shes asking that she be reimbursed for the $4,780 in tuition she paid for her 11-year-old son for the first half of the school year, as well as attorneys fees and other costs.
The lawsuit claims the school breached its contract with the Wigand family by punishing the boy. The student-parent handbook, which lays out obligations that students must meet, doesnt say anything about needing to immediately report incidents in which a student has ammunition, according to the lawsuit. The only thing that it says must be immediately reported is allegations involving sexual harassment, the complaint said.
The complaint also alleges that St. Johns failed to provide a safe learning environment for Wigands son by not using such things as metal detectors to ensure that students are not bringing unsafe items into the school.
The boy, a sixth-grade student, was shown the bullet by a classmate earlier this month, just moments before they were to begin taking a standardized test. Because he wanted to remain anonymous, the boy chose to wait until the test was over, and the other boy wasnt around, before he reported the incident to the principal, according to the lawsuit.
Both boys were suspended for 1 days, the lawsuit said, with Wigands son getting punished for not reporting what he saw immediately. The public suspension led other students to conclude he was the one who reported the incident, and caused him to be subjected to retaliation by other students, including pushing, name calling and isolation, the lawsuit said.
Lily Nguyen Dunkle, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of Richmond, said in a statement Tuesday that the diocese is confident the school met all legal and internal standards, and stands behind its administrators.
Nothing is more important to our school leaders than making sure our communities are protected, and our schools policies, practices, and, yes, disciplinary decisions, all seek to make us safer, the statement said. Our disciplinary practices are designed to be constructive learning opportunities, not punitive or permanent punishments. We expect our students to learn from discipline, but disciplinary decisions do not remain on a students permanent academic record.
Wigands attorney, Tim Anderson, disputed the dioceses claim that the suspension will not remain on the boys record. He also said students must reapply each year, and among the questions they must answer is whether theyve ever been suspended.
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
MSNBCs Stephanie Ruhle will interview Kamala Harris on Wednesday, less than a week after defending the Democratic presidential nominee on Real Time with Bill Maher.
Ruhles defense came during a back-and-forth exchange with fellow panelist Bret Stephens. The New York Times columnist pressed Ruhle on Harris lack of press interviews since she became the nominee, and said it would be great to hear her clarify her stance on Israel-Palestine. Ruhle said she wasnt as concerned about Harris silence as she was the threat of another Donald Trump presidency.
Lets say you dont like her answer are you going to vote for Donald Trump? Ruhle asked Stephens. Kamala Harris is not running for perfect, shes running against Trump.
Ruhle continued: We have two choices, so there are some things you might not know her answer to. And in 2024 unlike 2016, for a lot of the American people we know exactly what Trump will do, who he is, and the kind of threat he is to democracy.
Stephens told Ruhle that hes not voting for Trump, but that hed still like to hear more from the sitting vice president.
I dont think its a lot to ask her to sit down for a real interview, as opposed to a puff piece, Stephens said.
Ruhle, again, said it wasnt a big deal.
I would just say to that, when you move to Nirvana, give me your real estate brokers number, and Ill be your next door neighbor, Ruhle said. We dont live there.
On Wednesday, Harris will sit for her first one-on-one network interview since becoming the nominee. (Harris previously did a joint interview with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, with CNNs Dana Bash on August 29.) Ruhles interview with Harris will be recorded in Pittsburgh and air at 7:00 p.m. ET Wednesday during a two-hour edition of All in With Chris Hayes.
Last week, Oprah Winfrey hosted a town hall with Harris that included a number of Hollywood stars; Harris received celebrity endorsements from Meryl Streep, Bryan Cranston, Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jennifer Lopez, and Julia Roberts during the event.
Heading into Wednesday, Trump and his running mate JD Vance have given 58 interviews since the Harris-Walz ticket was announced, according to Fox News. Harris and Walz, during that same time, have given 21 total interviews.
The post MSNBCs Stephanie Ruhle to Interview Kamala Harris, Days After Saying Shes Not Running for Perfect appeared first on TheWrap.
FARNHAMVILLE, Iowa A man already in custody for allegedly hiding the body of a 17-year-old Farnhamville girl who was found dead Monday morning has now been charged with her murder.
The Calhoun County Sheriffs Office said Nathaniel Bevers-McGivney, 21, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of the teen, who the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has identified as Michele Jackson. The charge was filed Tuesday as part of an investigation into the disappearance and death of the girl.
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The CCSO says it was notified Sunday night that Jackson went missing. Bevers-McGivney was detained as a part of the investigation. The teens body was discovered Monday morning and Bevers-McGivney was initially charged with abuse of corpse-fail to disclose known location. He has been held in the Carroll County Jail since being first arrested.
The criminal complaint on the abuse of corpse charge says while family members searched for the girl Sunday night they came across Bevers-McGivney and he was covered in apparent blood and in possession of some items belonging to the victim. When law enforcement asked about the blood, Bevers-McGivney requested to speak to a lawyer.
The murder criminal complaint says Bevers-McGivney cut the victims throat with a knife. The complaint did not reveal any information about a possible motive in the case.
The investigation into the case is ongoing.
According to an obituary for Jackson, she was a junior at Southeast Valley High School. Private family services are being held on September 26th.
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PHOENIX (KRQE) A man convicted of the murder of a missing Navajo Woman was sentenced on Monday. Tre C. James, 31, of Pinon, Arizona will serve life in prison for the murder of Jamie Yazzie, who was classified as a missing and murdered Indigenous person from the Navajo Nation.
James was found guilty of first-degree murder by a federal jury. They also found James guilty of several acts of domestic violence committed against three other women. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas L. Rayes for the District of Arizona gave James an additional 10-year sentence in prison to run concurrently and five years of supervised release for each of those assaults.
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Officials say James shot and killed Yazzie on the Navajo Nation in the summer of 2019 and hid her remains on the Hopi Reservation. The remains were hidden for almost three years.
Many things factored into the years-long investigation such as the fact that Yazzie hadnt been reported missing for several days, James had cleaned the crime scene, and the user occurred while James and Yazzie were home alone together. The global pandemic, which hit the Navajo Nation hard, also was a challenge to navigate. The assaults on the other women James committed were discovered during the ongoing investigation.
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Authorities say a 19-year-old Muskegon County man is accused of making a bomb threat that disrupted a Caribbean cruise.
Joshua Darrell Lowe II, of Bailey, is charged in federal court with making a false bomb threat, according to a U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan news release.
In January 2024, Carnival Cruise Lines got an e-mail saying that there may be someone with a bomb on the cruise ship named Sunrise. The ship had left Miami for Jamaica and staff had to search more than a thousand rooms. The U.S. Coast Guard and Jamaican authorities were notified and escorted the ship to port, the release said.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and must pay restitution.
We take every threat of mass violence seriously, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in the news release. Hoaxes can endanger lives, incur needless costs, and divert public safety resources needed to address real threats. My office has zero tolerance for wrongdoers who intentionally convey false and misleading information that prompts a law enforcement response.
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MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) A man accused of shooting and killing another man at a party in Muskegon turned himself in to face a murder charge, the Muskegon police chief told News 8.
Deangelo Bolden-Sims, 38, was arraigned Wednesday on a charge of open murder stemming from the death of Carlos Piggee. Bond was set at $300,000.
Muskegon police: Deadly shooting stemmed from dispute
The shooting happened the night of Aug. 31 in the area of Beidler Street and W. Forest Avenue. Police say Bolden-Sims and Piggee, 48, of Muskegon Heights, who had a previous dispute, both wound up at the same party.
There was a very short interaction and the offender wound up taking the life of our victim, Muskegon Department of Public Safety Director Tim Kozal previously told News 8.
Police had been working with federal law enforcement and last week put out a call for help from the public to try to track down Bolden-Sims, who they believed to be in Michigan but not in Muskegon. Kozal had said they were also hopeful that he would surrender.
Bolden-Sims is expected back in court for hearings on Oct. 2 and and Oct. 9.
*Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the day of Bolden-Sims arraignment. It happened Wednesday. We regret the error, which has been fixed.
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New Jersey's high court will weigh whether a law shielding addresses of judges and others tramples First Amendment protections. (Amanda Brown for New Jersey Monitor)
New Jerseys Supreme Court has agreed to take up a reporters challenge to a state law that criminalizes the disclosure of the addresses and other personal information of judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement personnel.
The reporter, Charlie Kratovil, editor of local outlet New Brunswick Today, has battled New Brunswick officials over his reporting on the home address of a now-retired city official who lived more than two hours away from the city in Cape May.
The city warned Kratovil that if he published the officials home address he could face civil and criminal prosecution under the controversial statute called Daniels Law but Kratovil has argued any prosecution would violate his freedom of speech.
A Superior Court Judge ruled against Kratovil last September, finding the law was so narrowly tailored that its purpose protecting judges and other officials was sufficient to overcome its constitutional burdens. An appellate panel upheld the ruling in April.
Kratovils fight with New Brunswick began in May 2023 after he discussed the home address of the citys police director, Anthony Caputo, with council members during a public meeting where he said the street name but not exact address. Two weeks later, the city sent Kratovil a cease-and-desist letter invoking Daniels Law to prevent publication of Caputos address. Kratovil then sued the city, asking a judge to bar city officials from taking action.
Caputo retired in January. Kratovil said he obtained Caputos address from voter registration records obtained under the Open Public Records Act
New Jersey lawmakers enacted Daniels Law after the attempted assassination of U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas left her son, Daniel Anderl, dead and her husband critically wounded.
Legislators have since expanded the law to shield the personal information of child protective investigators.
In June, scores of data brokers urged a federal judge to declare the law unconstitutionally limited speech, arguing it had failed to accomplish its stated goal because addresses of people covered by the law remain readily available online, including on government websites.
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Students Against Discrimination group leaders Nahid Islam, second from the left, and Asif Mahmud, far left, are sworn into Bangladesh's new interim government in Dhaka on August 8, 2024. Credit - Munir Uz ZamanAFP/Getty Images
Two years ago, Nahid Islam graduated from Dhaka University with a bachelor thesis that examined why no student movement in Bangladesh had ever managed to reach its goals. Little does it matter that he forgot what his conclusion was. The 26-year-old has now changed history.
Islam was one of the most visible faces of a student movement which kickstarted countrywide mass protests in Bangladesh in recent months, resulting in the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, once considered to be among the most powerful women in the world.
Hasina is a bloodsucker and a psychopath, Islam told TIME with a calm voice from an opulent black leather chair in his wood-paneled office at the Ministry for Information Technology in Dhaka, on a Sunday afternoon in September.
Not long ago, he was an information technology tutor, forced into hiding in order to avoid being arrested by the government. Now he is the countrys ICT and media minister.
In June, together with a handful of other students, Islam walked into the library at Dhaka University, holding up placards calling on people to take to the streets. The High Court had just reinstated a controversial quota that favored family members of veterans from Bangladeshs 1971 Liberation War to get government jobs. Islam and his colleagues demanded a fair chance for everyone instead.
Protests against the quota system first rattled university campuses across Bangladesh in 2018. At the time, the government eventually backtracked and the protests died down. This year too, it could have ended with the issue of the quota system, Islam said.
But then security forces began shooting live rounds at protesters. On July 16, Abu Sayed, another student leader, was shot dead while walking towards police officers with open arms.
His killing turned out to be a game-changing moment for the movement, said Islam. The protests quickly swept up large parts of the population across the country, offering people a welcome outlet for mounting frustration in the face of a corrupt government, soaring prices, and an increasingly authoritarian rule.
Eventually the protesters focused on Prime Minister Hasina herself. When the students came up with a one-point demand on August 3, it was Islam who delivered it: Hasina needs to resign, he announced on the campus of Dhaka University. On August 5, when hundreds of thousands were closing in on her residence in the heart of Dhaka, she boarded a helicopter and was flown to India, where she remains in exile.
No one thought she could be toppled, Islam said, rocking back and forth in his big leather chair.
Read More: Sheikh Hasina and the Future of Democracy in Bangladesh
With the militarys support, the studentsall of the sudden in charge of a country of 170 millionasked Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84, to preside over an interim government. The economist, who rose to fame when he revolutionized the development industry with his microcredit idea, was in exile himself due to an array of legal charges levied against him by the Hasina government. Hes been acquitted since taking office.
As the head of the interim government, Yunus is Islams boss nowbut only because the students wanted it this way. When asked who was taking orders from whom, Islam smirks before saying: Yunus consults us on all major decisions.
He points at a red landline on his desk at the ministry. The VIP phone, Islam said and shrugged. No idea what I should use it for. I text Yunus on Whatsapp.
If Islam is still puzzled about everything that has happened in his life over the past couple of weeks, his stoic demeanor does not give it away.
His personal secretary, a seemingly stressed officer older than himself, keeps rushing in and out of the room, carrying documents for him to sign. Islam's two mobile phones are ringing constantly. And visitors show up until the early morning hours at his residence in an uncharacteristically lush area of Dhaka, where the living room aloneadorned with a chandelier and white velvet sofasis almost as big as his old apartment.
The sociology graduate has always been among those who defied the government. In his first week of university in 2017, the Dhaka-born son of a teacher took part in protests against a coal plant on the edge of the Sundarbans, a mangrove forest on the border with India. In 2019, Islam ran for campus elections and later, along with his peers, formed a student organization at Dhaka University, the Democratic Student Force.
But he first became known to the larger public in July of this year, after he was kidnapped and tortured by the countrys intelligence services, notorious for its enforced disappearances of government critics. One sweltering night, around 30 plainclothes officers showed up at a friends house where he was hiding to avoid arrest for his role in the protests. He says they put black cloth on his head, then they told him: the world will never see you again."
In what Islam believes was one of their secret prisons, they beat him with what he says felt like an iron rod, leaving bruises on his arms and legs. Dizzy from a combination of the pain, tormenting sounds, and a glistening bright light directed at him, he drifted in and out of consciousness.
Whos the mastermind? Where is the money coming from? they wanted to know, he recalled. A day later, Islam says he was dumped beside a bridge. Photos of his injuries were circulated by local media and caused outrage.
The intelligence services were looking for known faces, for the leader of our movement, but we didnt have just one. That was our main strength, he said. And while he seems to be navigating his new role as a minister with confidence, he insists that leading the protests was teamwork: The media always want one face, but I am not the only leader in this movement. There were many of us.
Muhammad Yunus, center, speaks during a press conference as Students Against Discrimination group's chief Nahid Islam, second from the right, watches on August 8, 2024. Munir Uz ZamanAFP{/Getty Images
After Hasinas government was ousted, the power vacuum had to be filled quickly. Dr Samina Luthfa, Islams sociology professor from Dhaka University, says she met an uncharacteristically nervous Islam on the day the students announced the interim government to the people. Hes very young, it was a huge responsibility.
In the aftermath of the overhaul, peoples expectations projected onto the interim government are skyrocketing. In this new Bangladesh, everybody anticipates only the best from the students who guided them in the liberation from a dictator, as many now dare to say openly.
Read More: The Trials of Muhammad Yunus
His phone is ringing, again. He is being asked to mediate at a Dhaka hospital, where students attacked doctors after one of their peers died from alleged neglect. The doctors responded with a strike. While he is gulping down his rice and chicken lunch, another call. Can Yunus office share his number with some protesters who demand government jobs?
Its odd, Islam said, once this was us, he says, referring to the protesters. Now were the ones who have to manage it.
Bangladeshis are energized by the success of making their voices heard after a 15-year rule that was sustained by vote rigging, crackdowns on critics, and a general climate of fear. People are now making use of their new freedom. Women stage demonstrations against harassment cases. Students oppose exams they want to see postponed after weeks of interrupted classes. Even school children in upper-class parts of Dhaka were seen protestingthey didnt like their principal, they said.
Over the last 15 years people couldnt talk, now they finally get a chance, Islam explained.
But his biggest challenge might still lie ahead.
While there is a general sense of relief in the country, theres not been much time to celebrate. Restoring law and order remains a concern for the new government. And theres also a lingering fear that the military or the ousted Awami League could try to forcibly take back power. It would not be the first time, as in Bangladesh, politics have traditionally been marred by violence.
Islam says that it is the job of the interim government to root out corruption and bring the country back onto a path of democracy until elections are held. We will only be here for a short time.
All the corruption and the violence people dont want this anymore, he said. We should understand the pulse of the new generation. We need to move on.
Contact us at letters@time.com.
Representative Nancy Pelosi scolded CNNs Jake Tapper in an interview Tuesday for giving airtime to Donald Trumps attack on Kamala Harriss mental fitness.
Tapper brought up the subject by mentioning criticism of how the media has covered Trumps apparent cognitive decline.
Im sure that you hear from progressive voters, Democratic voters who sayas I hear from them on social media[that] the media made such a big deal out of Joe Bidens alleged cognitive problems; why dont they talk about Donald Trumps cognitive problems? Tapper said to Pelosi. Well, Donald Trump talked about that just a second ago, and I want to get your reaction.
Tapper played a clip of Trump at a rally claiming that Kamala Harris has got bigger cognitive problems than [Biden] has, in my opinion.
Why would you even cover that? replied Pelosi, clearly annoyed. This is a person who is not on the level. He is their nominee for president. He is incompetent. Lets not even talk about the silliness of it all, and the weirdness of it all, and the assault on women that it is.
Speaker Emerita Pelosi rips into Jake Tapper for giving credence to trump's "I'm not crazy, Kamala is" bullshit.
If someone tells you the sky is purple, it's not your job to repeat that shit. Look out the fucking window yourself.
THAT'S your job.pic.twitter.com/hQpnqivtUt BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) September 24, 2024
Tapper was criticized earlier this week for echoing a false claim that Representative Rashida Tlaib made antisemitic comments against Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. In reality, Tlaib was questioning why the attorney generals office was filing criminal charges against pro-Palestine protesters but hadnt done so in other protest cases. Tappers response fell short of a full apology in that case.
During the first presidential debate between Trump and President Biden in June, Tapper was criticized along with debate co-moderator Dana Bash for failing to challenge any of Trumps false statements. Trump, who had attacked the network in the days leading up to the debate, was singing Tapper and Bashs praises afterward. All of this adds to a long list of criticism of how Tapper and CNN handle political coverage.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus First Deputy Defense Minister, Major General Pavel Muraveiko arrived in Baku on September 25 to participate in the 5th Anniversary Azerbaijan Defense International Exhibition ADEX at the invitation of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, Azernews reports.
Within the visit, it is planned to discuss the current state and prospects of military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Belarus.
When Dwight Middleton moved to Colorado Springs in July, he was drawn by the citys natural beauty. But on Monday, he saw it in a different and more fascinating way than hed ever dreamed possible from 1,000 feet above the city, in a restored World War II-era biplane.
This was like heaven for me, said Middleton, 78. You get a totally different perspective from up there. Its a whole new realm, and its really nice.
Middleton, an Air Force veteran and retired teacher, was one of several veterans who on Monday were treated to a sky tour of Colorado Springs, courtesy of a national nonprofit that specializes in delighting seniors and military veterans.
Dream Flights pilot Jeff Klosky addressed the veterans before taking them, one at a time, into the skies above Colorado Springs.
We are here to say Thank you, said Klosky, a former Air Force pilot who now flies for American Airlines.
Our organization is here to give back to those who have given so much, and to say Thank you to our vets who stepped up. It doesnt matter if you only did admin work, or if you never left the country. You stepped up when your country asked you to.
Jack Christiansen, who spent three years stateside as a naval surgeon during the Vietnam War, said he appreciated the event, as well as the sentiment behind it.
Its nice to see this kind of recognition and respect, Christiansen said. We didnt get a lot of it back then.
Since its 2011 inception, Dream Flights has been on a perpetual barnstorming tour of the U.S., taking more than 7,000 World War II, Korean and Vietnam war veterans up in the organizations Stearman Model 75 biplanes. The open-cockpit warbird has been around since the 1930s, serving as a trainer aircraft for military pilots.
The nonprofit has visited cities in at least 48 states, Klosky said.
Weve got a plan for Hawaii coming up, he said. And if we havent hit Alaska, were going to hit it next year.
As the men sat in a waiting area at Jet Centers of Colorado, some chattered excitedly. A few were visibly nervous, either about flying in an aircraft with an open cockpit, or about the logistical challenges of getting their bodies into the cockpit seat.
Middleton tapped his foot in anticipation of the flight.
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How could you not be excited? he asked. I never thought I would be involved in something like this.
As for maneuvering the seniors into the plane, Klosky and crew chief Brian Corbett had it covered. Years of experience have taught them patience and technique, and several local volunteers were on hand if needed.
I come from a military family, said volunteer Brenda Belton, a stylist at SportClips, which is a major Dream Flights donor.
My father served in the Navy during the Vietnam War. My brother is retired Navy, and my sister is still active-duty Navy. We were always raised to respect veterans.
Taryn Hoyle, Beltons daughter, heard about the volunteer opportunity and asked to tag along.
I love volunteering, and I love planes, Hoyle said. So this is perfect for me.
After briefing the veterans on airfield safety, Klosky asked, So, whos going first?
Middletons hand shot up.
While the plane taxied toward the runway, Middleton could be seen in the front seat (which Klosky called First Class), waving and grinning.
When the biplane returned about 15 minutes later, he was almost but not quite speechless.
That was fantastic, he said, grinning and shaking hands with Klosky. Fantastic.
Klosky, who has been flying with Dream Flights for four years, said that beaming faces like Middletons are all the compensation he needs.
Thanks to generous donations from corporate and private donors, were able to make these flights free for people who have given our country so much, Klosky said. I dont want cash. I get paid in smiles.
NASA Almost Gave All Its Crew Funding to Boeing's Disastrous Starliner, Leaving SpaceX Out in the Cold
As part of its Commercial Crew program, NASA picked two private companies in 2014 to develop spacecraft capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station: SpaceX and Boeing.
While SpaceX's Crew Dragon quickly became a tour de force, regularly delivering crews to the aging orbital outpost beginning in 2020, Boeing has had far more trouble with its much-maligned Starliner spacecraft.
The aerospace giant's first crewed test flight this year was riddled with technical issues even before it launched in early June. Ongoing problems forced NASA to reevaluate, choosing to send Starliner back down to Earth without a crew on board last month.
Instead, stranded astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are stuck on board the ISS until February, at which point a SpaceX Crew Dragon will deliver them back down to the surface.
The unfolding situation could've looked dramatically different had NASA chosen differently almost exactly a decade ago. As it turns out, NASA almost went all-in on Boeing for its Commercial Crew program, as Ars Technica senior space editor Eric Berger recounts in his latest book "REENTRY: SpaceX, Elon Musk and the Reusable Rockets that Launched a Second Space Age," which was published on Tuesday.
As detailed in an excerpt published by Ars this week, the space agency came incredibly close to allocating its entire Commercial Crew budget to Boeing.
Alongside Boeing, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada were also bidding for a lucrative multibillion-dollar contract with NASA. The process was simple: the company asked for a set price and was awarded the amount if the agency chose it for the contract.
Instead of trying to underbid the competition, Boeing told NASA it needed the agency's full budget and as Berger wrote, the "gambit very nearly worked."
By the time NASA had some time to evaluate the three companies' proposals, the number of players quickly shrunk to just two: Boeing and SpaceX.
"We really did not have the budget for two companies at the time," NASA's head of the Commercial Crew program Phil McAlister told Berger. "No one thought we were going to award two. I would always say, 'One or more,' and people would roll their eyes at me."
Boeing came in at a considerable $4.2 billion while SpaceX asked for $2.6 billion. Ironically, given Boeing's ongoing problems with its Starliner, Boeing received an "excellent" rating for its ability to meet NASA's requirements, while SpaceX only got a "very good" rating.
However, SpaceX's bid was low enough for NASA to consider picking it in addition to Boeing.
Nonetheless, during an August 6 meeting at NASA HQ, an overwhelming number of the convened advisory board members picked Boeing when they were asked for an opinion.
"It was not groupthink; it's just that everyone at the time was comfortable with Boeing," McAlister told Berger. "SpaceX had only been flying cargo to the space station for two years."
But at the very last minute, NASA's Commercial Crew contract had to be "hastily rewritten," per Berger, to include SpaceX as a "follower," while Boeing was the "leader," getting the majority of the funding.
Berger's detailed insight paints a fascinating picture of what went on behind closed doors at NASA. Of course, in retrospect, the agency clearly made the right call: SpaceX's Crew Dragon has proven invaluable, especially with growing US-Russia tensions following the invasion of Ukraine forcing NASA to limit its reliance on Soyuz spacecraft.
However, Boeing's continuous stumbling with Starliner spacecraft suggests NASA would've been far worse off without the help of Elon Musk's space company a close call that could've impacted the fate of the ISS and the country's presence in Earth's orbit.
More on Starliner: Stranded Astronauts Say Theyll Vote From Space
Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk, photographed at his home in 2022. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk recorded criminal defense attorneys and other visitors to his office and the private building in which its housed, as well as using government resources to advance his 2022 reelection campaign, an audit by the Tennessee Comptroller found.
According to the report, Funk used government funds to purchase audio and video recording devices in 2020 and 2021, placing the devices in public spaces as well as in a designated room for defense lawyers to examine evidence on behalf of their clients in pending criminal cases and to discuss defense strategies. Defense attorneys who spoke with state investigators said they were not notified they were being recorded and would not have used the room were they aware.
Funk told state investigators visitors to his office have no expectation of privacy.
If a defense attorney wants to talk to their client in private, they need to do that in their own office, or a protected space such as their home, the defendants home, inside of an attorney-client room in the courthouse or a sheriffs office, said Funk, according to the report. But if youre in a public space and youre talking to your client, you dont have an expectation of privacy there.
Yet the U.S. Constitution offers protections to persons accused of crimes and sets forth prohibitions against the use of self-incrimination, including disclosure of attorney-client communications.
Nashvilles CBS affiliate, NewsChannel 5, first reported in February 2023 that Funk had installed listening devices in his office.
Threats of retaliation against employee and mixing of government and political resources
The report also documented implied threats directed toward an assistant district attorney after a family member created a social media post offering support for Funks 2022 opponent.
I think if you fire her now, (name redacted) will use that against you, read an email sent to Funk by an unnamed staff member. I dont want you to seem Trumpish to people who dont know you and have them think you fired her just because someone disagreed with you.
Funk responded, Thats mainly what I think. But others are recommending the more serious response.
Funk subsequently suggested the assistant district attorney donate a significant amount of time or money to his campaign a violation of state law, which prohibits public officials from soliciting or accepting money with the understanding it could affect behavior by the official reassigned the ADA to a role considered by other office employees to be a demotion and monitored the ADA via video and audio surveillance.
Additionally, the report found evidence employees of the District Attorneys Office participated in campaign activities some during regular office hours with Funks knowledge and submitted paid time off request slips after the campaign events had been completed.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti notified Funk on Wednesday his office will not prosecute Funk on criminal charges due to an absence of available and admissible evidence but chided Funk for ethical lapses.
I am particularly troubled by the audio recording functionality in places where defense attorneys converse with their clients, especially in the Crimes Against Children room, wrote Skrmetti. You should consider whether you or your subordinates have any duty to report or disclose past conduct regarding that practice or any other potential violation of your ethical obligations.
In a statement, Funks office said, We appreciate Attorney General Skrmettis prompt response to the Comptrollers report. This matter is now at an end. As General Funk has always stated, neither he nor his office has committed any crimes or broken any law. This office will continue our mission to support victims, hold offenders accountable, and keep Nashville Safe.
Funk, formerly a criminal defense attorney, was first elected to office in 2014. He will come up for reelection in 2030.
20thJudicialDistrictAttorneyGeneralsOfficeReport
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Nashville's district attorney secretly recorded defense attorneys, colleagues and other visitors without their knowledge, according to an investigation's findings released Wednesday.
In a scathing report, the Tennessee comptroller's office found that District Attorney Glenn Funk installed an extensive surveillance system for audio and video recordings nearly four years ago. While investigators say numerous signs were posted that visitors were being filmed, there was only one small warning in an obscure" place that audio surveillance was also happening.
Former office employees informed investigators that it was common practice to use office equipment to audio and video record criminal defense attorneys in the viewing room without disclosure and for office personnel to subsequently provide the captured audio and video recordings of the criminal defense attorneys to office staff handling the criminal case, the report states.
Despite the common practice, the defense attorneys who spoke with the state investigators said they were largely unaware they were being audio recorded while examining evidence, stating that they often discussed privileged information and defense strategies while in the viewing rooms.
Funk rejected the suggestion that he should have done more to warn visitors about the surveillance, telling investigators that you dont have any expectation of privacy in the District Attorneys Office," according to the report.
The report highlights a 2022 incident in which Funk instructed his office to use the surveillance system to monitor a former employee whose family member voiced support for Funk's election opponent on social media. That employee later made a $500 contribution to Funk after the two met to discuss the social media post. The employee told investigators that Funk alluded that a campaign contribution of some kind would ease the situation and warned they would need to talk more about the employee's continued employment.
According to investigators, Funk was also advised to wait until after the election to terminate the employee because it could be used against him by his political opponent.
Funk was eventually reelected in May 2022 and the employee resigned two months later.
Government resources, including personnel, equipment, and property, should only be used for official purposes. Our investigation revealed that the offices resources were routinely used to promote or otherwise benefit the District Attorney Generals reelection campaign and related activities, the report states.
Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a letter Wednesday that after reviewing the evidence against Funk, he doesn't think there is any basis for a successful criminal prosecution.
Please note that the closure of this matter in my office does not absolve you or your staff of any ethical duties that may be implicated by the underlying concerns, Skrmetti wrote. I am particularly troubled by the audio record functionality in places where defense attorneys converse with their clients, especially in the Crimes Against Children room.
A spokesperson for Funk, Steve Hayslip, said Funk appreciated Skrmetti's prompt response and pointing out that as Funk has always stated, neither he nor his office has committed any crimes or broken any law.
This matter is now at an end, Hayslip in an email.
The investigation was also handed over to the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, which did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
Funk has been the Nashville-area district attorney since 2014. He was reelected to an eight-year term in 2022, where he notably declared that he would not prosecute medical practitioners who perform an abortion or prosecute any pregnant woman who seeks one.
ARCHER CITY (KFDX/KJTL) Governor Abbott has recognized Archer City Elementary School as one of just 31 schools in Texas to receive a National Blue Ribbon School award.
This honor, awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, highlights schools for their overall academic excellence and progress in closing achievement gaps.
Hoegger Farms wants to use i.d.e.a.WF grant to bring products to retailers
The National Blue Ribbon program evaluates schools based on student performance, including standardized test scores, academic programs and student engagement.
Archer City Elementary stood out not only for its high academic standards but also for its innovative programs and inclusive learning initiatives.
Archer City first-grade teacher Sondra Doyle believes the individualized focus technique is what makes them so successful.
I feel like we had such high success because we focus on the individual student. Were able to adjust our lesson plans and the overall goals of education to meet the students where theyre at, Doyle said. No matter what time of year they come in, whether theyre at the beginning of the year, at the middle of the year, no matter what their background is, our leadership here at Archer City offers us a diverse curriculum and supplements and scheduling so that were able to make sure each student is successful.
The National Blue Ribbon recognition, now in its 41st year, symbolizes educational excellence, and Archer City Elementary plans to build on this success. Principal Amy Huseman expressed her appreciation for her staff and all they do.
I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to our teachers for their unwavering commitment to providing high-quality education. Receiving the national blue ribbon school award is a tremendous honor and reflection of the collaborative efforts of our entire school community, Huseman said. Let this award serve as a reminder of what we can achieve when we work together towards a common goal.
As one of a select group of schools, Archer City has cemented its place as a leader in academic excellence.
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MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) Seven Midland ISD students have been recognized as Commended Students by the National Merit Scholarship Program, the school district announced on Wednesday. In order to qualify, the students scored among the top three percent of all participants nationally on the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
MISD said these students bring the total number of students recognized by National Merit to 10, up from the four in 2023, and the two in 2022. This years Commended Students include:
Eliana Aguila, Midland High School
Aidan Sanchez, Midland High School
Ryan Rounds, Legacy High School
Paula Padron, Young Womens Leadership Academy
Hannah Russum, Young Womens Leadership Academy
Sumi Schwarz, Early College High School
McKensey Dunaway, Early College High School
RELATED: Three MISD senior become first National Merit semi-finalists since 2019
The achievements of these students are a testament to their hard work and dedication, said Dr. Amanda Melchor, MISDs Executive Director of Secondary Teaching and Learning. Being named a Commended Student is an incredible accomplishment that will enhance college and career prospects and raise the profile of MISD academics as a whole.
Commended Scholars and National Merit Semi-finalists will be recognized at the October 15 board meeting.
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MADISON The board charged with setting policy for the state Department of Natural Resources launched the process Wednesday for implementing stricter standards for "forever chemicals" in the state's drinking water.
The Natural Resources Board approved a rule-setting process to update standards for the PFAS family of chemicals in public water supplies to comply with newly enacted federal standards.
The rule-making process will take nearly three years and will entail research by DNR staff, the formal writing of the rule, another approval by the NRB, and finally, an opportunity for lawmakers to weigh in.
The agency recommended the same numbers put into place at the federal level last year by the Environmental Protection Agency 4 parts per trillion for PFOS and PFOA, and 10 ppt for PFHxS, PFNA and HFPA-DA that will require communities facing PFAS issues to step up drinking water treatment.
The new standards also suggest a health-based limit of 0 ppt for PFOA and PFOS, which can be used as a guideline for communities, but not enforced.
More: Wisconsinites have lower blood PFAS levels than found in other states, new study finds
Wisconsin was one of only a handful of states to approve PFAS standards before the EPA created federally enforced numbers last year.
The previously approved standards for PFOA and PFOS are 70 parts per trillion, either in combination or alone.
"We were a couple of years essentially, ahead of the feds, and that puts us in a good position because we have already received sample results from the almost 2,000 public water systems that are affected by this rule," said Adam DeWeese, the public water supply manager for the DNR. "So we already have a pretty good understanding of who is going to be needing to perform for preventive action."
Ninety public water systems would be required to implement treatment systems to bring down the levels of PFAS in the water. On the high end, a treatment system could cost as much as $25 million or more for a large water system.
Each of the 1,900 water systems throughout the state would be required to conduct another round of sampling for PFAS, to ensure they haven't changed. Each test is estimated to cost $600.
The impacted systems are a mix of non-community water in places such as restaurants and churches, in addition to community systems, DeWeese said. Because Wisconsin has been ahead of the curve and has required sampling, many of the 90 systems impacted by high levels of PFAS have already applied for federal funding to help with filtration.
More: Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear case about DNR ability to make businesses clean up toxic spills
"We're getting the money now so that they're actually ahead of the curve there, and make their corrective actions before the force of the new federal standards," he said.
For private well owners with high levels of PFAS, the cost of drilling a new well into a deeper uncontaminated aquifer could cost $16,000.
The department plans to hold one in-person public hearing on the rule in the fall of 2026 to gather input from residents, environmental organizations, businesses and other interested parties.
Wisconsin already has regulations in place for surface water, enacted in 2022.
For surface water, standards set an action limit for PFOS at 8 parts per trillion for all waters except those that cannot naturally support fish and do not have downstream waters that support fish. For PFOA, the preventive action limit is 20 parts per trillion for waters classified as public water supplies and 95 parts per trillion for other surface waters.
Wisconsin does not have regulations for PFAS in groundwater the most common source of drinking water in the state. The DNR attempted to create standards for the chemicals in groundwater in 2022, but members of the NRB appointed by former Gov. Scott Walker blocked the rule. Since then, Republicans have blocked attempts to regulate PFAS in groundwater by Democrats in the Legislature.
Board member Robin Schmidt called attention to that fact during the meeting.
"I just wanted to make sure people understand that there are 800,000 private wells for which we still have no PFAS standards because the drinking water standards apply to municipal and regulated water supply public water supply systems, but anybody on an individual well really does not have any established groundwater standard for protection," she said.
"I think we need to keep trying to do what we can to make sure that the state understands that difference, and the importance of moving forward at giving us authority to make those rules."
More: After 3 years on bottled water, French Island residents weary of political fight over PFAS
PFAS have been a source of contention for the Legislature in recent year. Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican-authored bill that would have triggered the Legislature to release $125 million to support communities in cleaning up their water supply, citing disagreements over some of the wording in the bill and the potential impact on the DNR's authority to address PFAS-related issues.
More: Foam on Wisconsin water bodies may contain high levels of 'forever chemicals'
What are PFAS?
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a family of man-made chemicals used for their water- and stain-resistant qualities in products like clothing and carpet, nonstick cookware, packaging and firefighting foam.
The family includes 5,000 compounds, which are persistent, remaining both in the environment and human body over time. The chemicals have been linked to types of kidney and testicular cancers, lower birth weights, harm to immune and reproductive systems, altered hormone regulation and altered thyroid hormones.
Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X at @SchulteLaura.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: DNR to create new drinking water standards for 'forever chemicals'
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) Navajo Nation tribal leaders are the latest to call on Congress to reinstate the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Navajo President Buu Nygren, Navajo National Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley, and dozens of others marched in Washington on Tuesday urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to hold a vote on the bill.
Indigenous group heads to DC to fight for radiation compensation
RECA used to provide financial aid to people suffering from adverse health effects caused by living near nuclear testing sites and uranium mines. An effort was made to expand the bills coverage of diseases related to nuclear testing to cover downwinders who live near New Mexicos radioactive sites but that work failed back in June when the bill expired.
Our miners, back post-1977 all the way to the 1990s, they went into those mines not knowing what they were going into, said Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren.
We urge Congress to move swiftly and to hear the peoples voices today. Were here with heavy hearts, said Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council Crystalyne Curley.
New Mexicos entire Congressional delegation, along with a Missouri Republican senator, also called for a new vote on RECA.
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Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of Homeland Security at the Department of Homeland Security and Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. (Photo/Navajo Nation)
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren has brought the single most important doctrine of the Navajo Nation to the attention of the highest civilian federal official whose job it is to protect the security of the United States.
In a private meeting Tuesday with Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of Homeland Security at the Department of Homeland Security, the President asked the secretary to acknowledge and respect Navajo sovereignty in the simplest possible way.
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President Nygren asked the secretary to have the federal government acknowledge and sanction the use of Navajo Nation-issued identification cards for voting, travel and other vital activities that require photo identification.
Beginning May 7, 2025, all U.S. citizens will be required to provide REAL ID-compliant identification for air travel and to enter certain federal buildings.
President Nygren explained to Secretary Mayorkas that federal recognition of a Navajo Nation-issued REAL ID, would reduce the burden on Dine citizens and serve as a key expression of the Navajo Nations sovereignty.
Our ability to issue tribal IDs that are recognized across the country is crucial to our sovereignty, President Nygren said. We must ensure that our people can travel, vote and access essential services without unnecessary restrictions placed upon them by outside authorities.
He said this autonomy would protect the Navajo Nations right to issue identification that meets federal requirements and preserve the Navajo Nations principle of self-determination.
Recent proposals in Congress that could limit the types of tribal IDs that are accepted for voting purposes places unreasonable and likely illegal limits on tribal sovereignty, President Nygren said. Some of these proposals would require tribal Certificates of Indian Blood, known as a CIB, to indicate place of birth. That would add another layer of complexity for tribal citizens.
The President said he would be able to minimize the impact of restrictive federal regulations and continue to promote and protect Navajo Nation sovereignty through the issuance of its own identification documents.
Secretary Mayorkas expressed interest to work with the Navajo Nation on the Presidents initiative. He acknowledged the unique challenges that face tribal communities.
He committed to explore how the Department of Homeland Security can support the development and implementation of a Navajo-issued REAL ID-compliant tribal identification program.
The President and secretary also discussed advanced law enforcement training through the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, collaboration with the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, and U.S. Customs and Immigration Services.
These federal offices could help the Navajo Nation address travel and border matters, and cybersecurity support from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in order to protect Navajo infrastructure from digital threats.
President Nygren told Secretary Mayorkas of his priority to safeguard and encourage use of the Navajo language, Dine Bizaad, which is rapidly diminishing among younger generations.
Secretary Mayorkas, a native Spanish speaker, shared his concern about language loss with the President, and both exchanged ideas on how to preserve and revitalize Indigenous languages.
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RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) A day after declaring he was coming after CNN, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is following up on his pledge.
Robinson, the Republican nominee for North Carolina governor, announced through his campaign on Tuesday that he hired Binnall Law Group to lead an investigation into a CNN report released about him last week.
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson dismisses shocking comments on porn forum unearthed in bombshell report as salacious tabloid trash
The CNN report alleged Robinson made several offensive comments on pornographic website Nude Africa before his political career, including calling himself a Black Nazi and expressing support for reinstating slavery. Robinson has denied the report, with his campaign calling it a smear and outrageous lies.
As Ive said from the beginning, the claims from CNN are salacious lies, Robinson said in a statement. I will not let these attacks distract us from sharing a better future for our state and Im glad to be able to bring Jesse Binnall and his team on board to investigate where and how these false smears originated.
I am confident that Binnall Law Group will leave no stone unturned and enable us to use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for their lies, he continued in his statement. In the meantime, my campaign remains laser-focused on the issues at stake in this election.
Jesse Binall, the law firms partner, has previously represented former president Donald Trump in Trumps unsuccessful attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Nevada, Trumps indictment over his handling of classified materials, and several civil cases against him connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Lt. Gov. Robinson coming after CNN full throttle after mass exodus of campaign staffers in wake of report
In a statement Binall said, My team and I are looking forward to getting to the bottom of CNNs claims and we will bring all our resources to bear in getting to the facts. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, his family and the voters of North Carolina deserve nothing less.
Since the CNN report was released, several key staffers have resigned from Robinsons campaign and other Republicans have pulled their support for Robinson, including two GOP governors. The lieutenant governor has also not appeared at campaign rallies held by Trump and his running mate, Ohio senator JD Vance, in North Carolina.
Robinson has promised to continue his campaign for governor.
A poll released the same day as the report shows Democratic state attorney general Josh Stein leading Robinson 48% to 40% in the North Carolina governors race, with 10% of voters undecided.
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[Source]
A new study by The Asian American Foundation revealed that nearly 40% of Asian residents in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties in Seattle have experienced anti-Asian hate in the past year.
Out of the 1,000 respondents, 2 in 5 Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders reported theyve been the victim of an anti-Asian incident and 1 in 5 said they had been physically attacked in the past year. In addition to the hate crimes, there has been a rise in home invasions targeting Asian families, with organized crime rings preying on elderly residents.
Community leaders gathered in Little Saigon to discuss the findings, noting that the pandemic has worsened existing challenges. Community organizations are advocating for stronger ties with law enforcement, self-defense training and support services for victims to address the growing concerns.
Trending on NextShark: Global decline in academic freedom threatens innovation, study warns
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The Morphew case still turns.
A federal judge has dismissed Barry Morphews $15 million civil lawsuit against at least 19 defendants who investigated and prosecuted a murder case against him in 2021, saying that though there were problems with the investigation, there was probable cause to arrest him in connection with his wifes murder.
U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Domenico granted seven different motions filed by the defendants to dismiss the claims against them.
Morphews complaint alleged that the arrest affidavit made misleading statements and omissions to establish probable cause, in effect, maliciously conspiring to prosecute him.
Though he dismissed the lawsuit, the judge wrote the prosecution had infuriating flaws.
Morphew was arrested May 5, 2021, almost a year after his wife, Suzanne Morphew, 49, disappeared. He met with investigators 60 times, according to the arrest warrant, and has maintained his innocence since the beginning. The case was dismissed without prejudice in April 2022 and Morphew filed his lawsuit a year later.
His wifes remains were found in September 2023 in Moffat, Colorado, around 45 minutes to the south of the Morphew family home.
Domenico said that though there should be consequences for omitting significant evidence and failing to follow up on several unanswered questions damages are not one of those.
In his 33-page ruling, Domenico stated: All of Mr. Morphews asserted causes of action suffer from one or more legal deficiencies. Chief among those deficiencies is that despite the failings of the investigation and prosecution, there was still probable cause to arrest and charge him with murder. For this and the other reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs claims must be dismissed.
In her response, Morphews civil attorney Iris Eytan said that Barry Morphews legal battle is far from over.
Noting that in Domenicos order he wrote that Morphew should not have been arrested at the time that he was she added that he should not have been arrested at all, not at any time. She said Morphew was wrongly prosecuted, has no recourse to get the costs of the damage to him back from the offending prosecutors because they cannot be sued in the United States.
Among those sued were Chaffee County Undersheriff Andy Rohrich, Chaffee County Sheriffs Investigator Alex Walker, 11th Judicial Assistant District Attorney Mark Hurlbert, former Colorado Bureau of Investigation Director John Camper and six CBI agents who worked on the case, the Chaffee County commissioners, and Chaffee County.
Also sued were defendants listed as John and Jane Does 1-10, who were described as any other unknown employees who may have worked with the Chaffee County sheriffs department or the 11th Judicial District Attorneys office.
Domenico took issue with that, writing that claims against unnamed defendants were vague and failed to meet the pleading standards.
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What now?
The case is now in fresh hands, transferred to the 12th Judicial District, which operates out of Alamosa, Colorado.
Twelfth Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly has been working with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. This August, she told The Denver Gazette in an email that the case is ongoing.
Suzanne Morphews autopsy report, released in April 2024, revealed chemicals in the marrow of her femur bone that are used to euthanize wild animals. The coroner determined her death to be homicide by undetermined means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication, a mixture referred to in laymans terms as BAM.
The 129-page arrest affidavit mentioned a theory that Morphew controlled his wife by injecting her with a poison dart and killed her later.
Domenico noted in his ruling that Morphew, 56, used BAM, Telazol, and Xylazine as tranquilizers and that he brought these chemicals, which he knew to be controlled substances, from Indiana.
Regarding the tranquilizer theory, the judge also noted in the order that several exculpatory facts were not mentioned in the affidavit.
The tranquilizer gun is the only method by which to shoot a tranquilizer dart and Plaintiffs tranquilizer gun, which was stored in a locked gun safe, was inoperable and had not been used in a long time, he noted, for instance.
Nearly two-and-a-half years after Suzanne Morphews case was dismissed, the Colorado Supreme Court has advised to disbar Linda Stanley, the former 11th Judicial District Attorney who led the original Barry Morphew prosecution.
Four-and-a-half years after Suzanne Morphew went missing from her Salida-area home, the case remains unsolved.
In a text Wednesday, her sister, Melinda Moorman Balzer, wrote: My desire remains the same justice for my beautiful sister Suzanne Morphew.
Similarly, the last paragraph of Domenicos ruling, he noted: Suzanne Morphew certainly deserved better.
This story was originally published on Sept. 24 at 8:35 a.m.
Nearly five months in, Oregon wildfire season expected to last into mid-October
A road closure from the Fossil Complex fires in central Oregon in September. The fires have burned nearly 25,000 acres. (Courtesy of Northwest Interagency Coordination Center)
Oregons forest and fire leaders were succinct in describing this years wildfire season to a group of Oregon senators.
It just wont quit is essentially where were at, and our folks are really tired, Kyle Williams, deputy director of fire operations at the Oregon Department of Forestry, told the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire on Tuesday.
Williams and two others Doug Graffe, Gov. Tina Koteks wildfire and military advisor; and Travis Medema, a chief deputy for the Oregon State Fire Marshal told senators the state would likely wrap up its now five-monthlong fire season in mid-October, following a record 1.9 million acres burned. Thats nearly three times as many acres as the states 10-year average.
Medema said projections from the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, which coordinates wildfire resources, showed one or two more significant event days before the state is fully out of the 2024 wildfire season.
The Oregon Department of Forestry is currently fighting a 300-acre fire near Coos Bay and the Fossil Complex in eastern Oregon, made up of five fires over nearly 25,000 acres.
Were finally on the downhill of the slope, Williams said, but warned that forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show 10 days ahead of dry and above average temperatures. Whats next is what were focused on, and were in good shape. Were mostly back in the barn ready to go again.
The bulk of the wildfires have burned through east Oregon grass and shrub, with about 25% of it in forestland, according to the Wildland Mapping Institute. More than one-third of all acres blackened have been on private land, and about 62% has been on federal land. Most wildfires are caused by humans, according to the interagency coordination center, but this year the bulk of blazes have started from natural causes, such as lightning.
The wildfires prompted Kotek to declare a statewide emergency and ask for federal help and regulatory flexibility for farmers and ranchers. Shes also invoked the Conflagration Act 17 times this year, with the latest invocation on Sept. 10 for the Service Fire in Wheeler County. The act unleashes resources to fight blazes that threaten lives, communities or key infrastructure.
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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.
The Republican Nebraska lawmaker who effectively helped kill an eleventh-hour push to make the winner of the state receive all of the Electoral College votes on Election Day -- a move that would have likely benefited former President Donald Trump in a tight race with Vice President Kamala Harris -- told ABC News Prime Anchor Linsey Davis that effort "did not seem fair."
"I'm always willing to listen to people and try to find a compromise, but also try to understand why they're voting yes But this just did not seem fair. If we're going to go ahead and change [the rules] in the state of Nebraska, I think we should do it mid-term. I think we should do it two years before the presidential election," Nebraska State Sen. Mike McDonnell told Davis on Tuesday of the timing around a potential law change.
The potential winner-take-all electoral change would have been pivotal if the Republican-leaning state then allocated all of its five electoral votes solely to Trump if he won statewide, instead of dividing them with Harris if she won in one of Nebraska's three congressional districts. Nebraska gives three Electoral College votes to the statewide winner and one to the winner of each congressional district.
MORE: Key Nebraska Republican opposes Trump effort to change state's electoral vote process
PHOTO: Nebraska state Sen. Mike McDonnell (right) speaks to ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis, Sept. 24, 2024. (ABC News)
Earlier this week, McDonnell, who was one of three state Republican holdouts that Gov. Jim Pillen needed to break an expected filibuster in a special legislative session, said he would not support the change before November. This announcement effectively killed the winner-take-all push.
Instead, McDonnell said he believed the legislature should take up the issue in next year's legislative session, which tentatively starts the first week of January 2025.
"We do listen, as Nebraskans, and sometimes people say, oh, 'Nebraska nice,' that means, you know, you're kind of weak -- and it's not. We work hard and we play by the rules and we're just asking everyone to come in, work hard in Omaha, the 2nd Congressional District, and play by the rules," McDonnell said Tuesday.
PHOTO: Nebraska state Sen. Mike McDonnell speaks to ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis, Sept. 24, 2024. (ABC News)
MORE: Republicans step up effort to change Nebraska's electoral vote process to benefit Trump
McDonnell mentioned that he had been opposed previously to "winner-take-all" in the state since he ran for legislature starting in 2016.
Pressed by Davis if anyone or anything could make him change his decision, McDonnell was resolute: "No. I've tried to listen and I always will listen. I think the rest of the country should follow us and look at the unicameral [Nebraska Legislature] and look at getting rid of the winner-take-all."
PHOTO: In this March 1, 2019 file photo, Nebraska State Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha is shown in the Legislative Chamber in Lincoln, Neb. (Nati Harnik/AP)
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen later released a statement Tuesday confirming he has "no plans" to call a special session before the November general election.
Trump on Monday thanked Pillen for attempting to "simplify the complexity" of the state's electoral map, while attacking McDonnell for opposing it, calling him a "Grandstander."
"Unfortunately, a Democrat turned Republican(?) State Senator named Mike McDonnell decided, for no reason whatsoever, to get in the way of a great Republican, common sense, victory. Just another 'Grandstander!'" Trump wrote in a social media post.
MORE: This could be the closest presidential election since 1876
Meanwhile, Harris's running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, while speaking at a New York fundraiser on Monday night, celebrated McDonnell's decision, saying that the race would be close because the "Electoral College is the way it is," before stating, "Thank God for that one guy in Omaha" -- a reference to McDonnell.
Asked to respond to Trump's comments, McDonnell said, "Well, today's the first day I've talked to the media and I'm always willing to get, as I said, over the last eight years, serving in the legislature willing to talk to people and listen."
And asked about Walz's comments and if Harris and Trump should make campaign stops in Omaha -- as well as if his own decision may have changed the outcome of the election -- McDonnell stayed away from making any predictions, but invited them both to Omaha.
"I'm inviting both Vice President Harris and President Trump. Come to Omaha. Come have a debate here! There's still 42 days. Listen to the people. Talk to the people and answer the questions."
MORE: Trump repeats claims that women will 'no longer be thinking about abortion' if he becomes president
PHOTO: Nebraska state Sen. Mike McDonnell (right) speaks to ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis, Sept. 24, 2024. (Education Images/UIG via Getty Images)
McDonnell emphasized that most -- if not all -- of the feedback he had gotten about the issue had been civil.
"We know it's a very important issue. It's a passionate issue, and people are passionate about it 90% of them have been professional and polite," McDonnell told Davis.
ABC News' Isabella Murray, Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
Republican Nebraska lawmaker who tanked push to change state's electoral votes speaks out originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) Community members of Rochesters Bulls Head neighborhood are growing upset following news the Walgreens on West Main Street could close later this year.
News 8s Natalie Kucko caught up with neighbors there, who rely on the store for prescription medications and other needed resources.
Late last week, Rochester Mayor Malik Evans penned a letter to the CEO of Walgreens, urging the company to reconsider its plans to close the location.
Two years ago, Thurston Road in the 19th Ward saw its Walgreens shut down, which left devastating effects to nearby residents.
Those in the Bulls Head neighborhood feel this move would be just as harmful, creating a pharmaceutical desert there.
Were going to see even worse effects here. If you look around the neighborhood, a lot of people dont have transportation. So, it would be an added expense for them to get rideshare, or an extreme inconvenience for them to take a bus. There is nowhere in this entire quadrant where people are going to be able to get their medication. Its something I think Walgreens isnt really considering, said Perry Ashford of Rochester.
Its right in a neighborhood where we really need it. Theres a lot of people that are sick, like me, that cant get out. I was able to get out today, but theres days where I cant get out of the house, said Sheila Hardeman of Rochester.
Hardemans daughter had just learned of the pending closure, and said it brings future stress to the well-being of her family.
I didnt even really know until you all just walked up to me. I didnt even know. Thats crazy. We really do need it here, said Shineke Hardeman.
Mayor Evans has promised a path forward for a replacement pharmacy in the neighborhood. However, some arent hopeful.
What resolutions? Well probably have to wait until after the Bulls Head reconstruction happens. Maybe theyll have a drug store there, but who knows? said Ashford.
The Mayors office says it appears the West Main St. Walgreens will close in November.
News 8 asked Monroe Co. Executive Adam Bello for comment on the plans, and he declined.
In a statement, Walgreens says it plans to relocate most of its employees from the West Main St. location to remaining stores in the area.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) Renowned astrophysicist and writer Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson is bringing his live science showcase to East Tennessee early next year.
The Tennessee Theatre announced Monday that the historic venue will host Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson: Search For Life in the Universe on Wednesday, February 26.
Tennessee Theatre expansion to add more restrooms, concessions, and event spaces
Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and Official Platinum presales for the event will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 10 a.m. A venue presale will begin on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 10 a.m. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, Sept. 27 at 10 a.m.
According to an event description, Tyson will discuss the ongoing effort to search for habitable planets, liquid water, and intelligent life in the cosmos.
See more top stories on WATE.com
Tyson has served as the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City since 1996 and has gone on to become one of the most well-known science communicators of modern times. He written numerous books and hosted science programming for PBS and National Geographic. His weekly StarTalk podcast has amassed nearly 500,000 million total views on YouTube.
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Manatee County prepared for the impacts of Hurricane Helene on Wednesday, which is forecast to barrel past Floridas Gulf Coast as a major storm over the next 24 hours.
For the Bradenton area, expected impacts include 5 to 8 feet of storm surge, tropical storm force winds of up to 73 mph and up to 6 inches of rain, according to the National Hurricane Centers latest forecast.
The storms predicted path held steady Wednesday as it entered the Gulf and grew in size and speed. Forecasters predict landfall on Thursday evening in Floridas Big Bend region as a massive Category 4 hurricane.
Emergency officials and forecasters warn that the storms effects will be felt far outside of the forecast cone with a tropical wind field of 345 miles wide and growing.
Manatee County officials issued emergency evacuation orders for residents in low-lying coastal areas and mobile homes and urged locals to watch the storm closely.
Evacuees arrive at Electa Arcotte Lee Middle Schools evacuation shelter as Hurricane Helene approaches Manatee County on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.
Bradenton residents evacuate
As Hurricane Helene approaches, people around Bradenton are heeding Manatee Countys evacuation orders.
Donna Puro has lived in the Trailer Estates Mobile Home Park near Sarasota Bay for around 40 years. In the past, shes evacuated for strong hurricanes, including Irma and Ian. Now shes evacuating once again for the latest storm to threaten Florida with wind, rain and storm surge.
Puro, 77, spent Wednesday morning preparing her mobile home alongside her daughter, Denise, and their friend, George Savinon. They grabbed sandbags, took items off the walls to keep them from becoming debris and moved the grill to a secure location.
But Puro isnt planning on staying at her house, which is in a mandatory evacuation zone. Instead, shes going to a nearby Hyatt hotel, which she said she booked three days ago out of precaution, well in advance of the storm officially forming into a tropical storm or a hurricane.
Her friend called that a smart move.
You can replace a trailer, but you cant replace your life, Savinon said.
Still, Puro said she believes things are going to be OK.
I think were going to be safe, Puro said. Compared to the other ones, this one doesnt seem as close.
Puro wasnt the only one evacuating out ahead of the storm. At least 30 people and 5 pets had already evacuated to Electa Arcotte Lee Middle, one of Manatee Countys two emergency shelters, as of Wednesday afternoon.
George Savinon, Donna and Denise Pura smile after prepping their homes in Trailer Estates to evacuate to a nearby hotel as Hurricane Helene approaches Manatee County on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.
Several assisted living facilities around town also loaded residents onto buses for evacuation.
Rick Zientek, 71, who has lived at Trailer Estates for five years, is also evacuating with a pet. He and his 16-year-old dog, Lucky, are headed to an Airbnb in Fort Pierce to ride out the storm.
He said his area has seen flooding in the past, with water coming up over the seawalls and a sewer manhole that occasionally gushes. For Zientek, water is his main worry when it comes to Helene.
Im more concerned about the storm surge than anything else, because yeah were going to get some wind and rain, but Im more concerned with that with the canal right there, Zientek said.
Evacuees arrive at Electa Arcotte Lee Middle Schools evacuation shelter as Hurricane Helene approaches Manatee County on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.
Flooding remains a concern in Manatee
Charlie Strickland, 25, and his parents experienced the serious flooding threat that a hurricane brings just over a month ago during Hurricane Debby.
The family, which lives down the street from the Lake Manatee Dam off of Rye Road, lives in one of the many properties that experienced severe flooding after Debbys historic rainfall.
Strickland said they had about a foot of water on the property after that storm.
Walking out of the house that morning, it looked like I was living on a ship, Strickland said.
Thankfully none of the water managed to get into the house, but he added that it nearly flooded the garage. Strickland, who has lived in that house for 11 years, said hes never seen that kind of flooding before.
It was really bad, Strickland said.
With Helene approaching, Strickland said flooding is once again a concern. While he says theyve done their best to secure items that could turn into flying debris and have elevated as much as they can to prevent water damage, he doesnt know if it will be enough.
What happened with the last hurricane definitely makes you a little nervous for sure. You just dont know. You never know, I guess, Strickland said. Theyre saying that we got more rain last time than weve ever really gotten before. So that makes me feel a little better. But you know, its hard to say for sure whats going to happen, Strickland said.
Employees of Aspire at Bradenton move equipment into a truck while evacuating residents from the nursing home as Hurricane Helene approaches Manatee County on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.
NEWBERG, Ore. (KOIN) When she was 15, Miriam Sangabriel moved with her family from Mexico to Newberg. The community has always been supportive and her family felt confident in opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant, Kopitos Cocina.
Four years ago, Kopitos Cocina began as a food cart during the pandemic, which Sangabriel said was surprisingly great because everything was outdoor, everything was takeout.
But having an actual brick-and-mortar restaurant was always a family dream.
Kopitos Cocina began as a food cart in Newberg and is now a restaurant, September 2024 (KOIN)
My parents had a restaurant. Seven years ago they retired, she told KOIN 6 News. My siblings and I decided to continue the family dream of having a restaurant.
But it was wasnt easy getting to this point, especially when language barriers can be a roadblock while trying to set up a business.
Kopitos Cocina co-owner Miriam Sangabriel with her family in Newberg, undated (Courtesy photo)
I found myself in a lot of situations when I didnt know who to ask, where to go what to do, especially in my first language, which is Spanish, she said. It was really hard to find that in the community.
The Latinx population is growing in the Willamette Valley and she decided she needed to help others who might be struggling. Last year she found the Latinx Conexion y Comercio, helping Latino businesses with tools, information, connection and more.
I think its just my job to let everyone know where to go and find this information so they can take advantage of that. We get help. We just dont know where to find it, she said.
Miriam Sangabriel is a co-owner of Kopitos Cocina in Newberg. September 2024 (KOIN)
Part of that is working closely with the Chamber of Commerce and hosting networking events while at the same time adding some spice to Oregons wine country.
We just try to offer a space where people can come, celebrate and have a good time, enjoy food and atmosphere and just feeling welcoming, eating our food, she said.
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) A student at Newport High School was taken into custody Tuesday after sharing a school shooting threat on Snapchat, according to Newport police.
The social media threat claimed there would be a school shooting on Wednesday, Sept. 25, but investigators found there was no active threat to any students or to the school. The 14 year old, however, faces a charge of disorderly conduct.
Unknown smell in Southwest Washington sparks concern amongst residents
Newport police said parents and school administrators made several reports out of concern for their students, prompting officers to take action.
Although it was determined the statement was made in poor taste, the Newport Police Department and the Lincoln County School District have zero tolerance for threats against schools or the children who attend them, officials said in a statement.
An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact police.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed four bills into law which the state hopes will reduce the number of dangerous street takeovers, sideshows and street races that have been a scourge on major cities.
The bills, which the Governors Office said received bipartisan support, will impose stricter penalties and give law enforcement new tools to combat the siege of these illegal street activities, including the potential loss of a violators vehicle.
Sideshows are reckless, criminal activities that endanger our communities, Newsom said in a news release issued Monday. We have seen too many people killed or hurt at these events.
Street takeover SFV
The four bills signed into law by the governor are as follows:
Assembly Bill 1978 by Assemblymember Kate Sanchez (R-Rancho Santa Margarita) Allows a law enforcement officer to seize a vehicle used to obstruct a roadway to make way for a street takeover or race without having to take the driver into custody.
AB 2186 by Assemblymember Greg Wallis (R-Palm Springs) Expands existing law to allow a law enforcement officer to seize and impound a vehicle for up to 30 days if the officer determines the vehicle was used for a race or speed exhibition in an off-street parking facility. Existing laws do not have those provisions for parking facilities.
AB 2807 by Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua (D-Stockton) Standardizes existing language to clarify that a vehicle sideshow is also known as a street takeover. Previously, there was no such distinction.
AB 3085 by Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson) Allows law enforcement to impound a vehicle suspected to have been used in a street takeover or street race on highways or parking lots with a warrant or judges order, similar to existing laws related to evading police.
The new legislation, California lawmakers believe, will provide new resources for law enforcement to crack down on street takeovers drivers and spectators with the threat of vehicle impoundment among the most powerful tools at their disposal.
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A ports strike on Oct. 1 involing the East and Gulf Coasts now seems inevitable since neither side seems willing to budge.
Fashion and retail trade groupsthe National Retail Federation, the American Apparel & Footwear Association, and the Retail Industry Leaders Associationhave all issued statements calling for the Biden administration to intervene to avoid a strike. The Biden administration has already said it doesnt plan to invoke the 1947 federal Taft-Hartley Act, a move that would pause the strike and move the parties back to the bargaining table.
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Sources told Sourcing Journal that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has been in contact with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents employers of the East and Gulf Coast longshore industry. But the outreach by the federal government shouldnt be read as a possible shift in the Biden administrations openness to help broker a deal. Rather, the DOL has been reaching out every week for the past month solely to get updates on possible movements in contract talks, one source familiar with those calls told SJ.
The International Longshoremans Association (ILA) broke off talks on June 10th, the last time the workers union was in talks with the USMX to hammer out a Master Contract. Last month, the ILA sent out a notice to employer groups indicating that the current collective bargaining agreement was expiring on Sept. 30, and would not be extended. One source familiar with the talks, who asked not to be identified, told SJ that the impasse since June was highly unusual since parties typically push on with negotiations until the deadline, and often will extend contract talks to try to get a deal done. Thats because parties in union talks are supposed to negotiate in good faith as they try to work out a deal thats agreeable to both sides.
Credit ratings firm Fitch Ratings said that a strike wouldnt impact the credit of the East and Gulf Coast port owners, the largest being the Port Authority of the New York and New Jersey. Its revenue bonds are rated AA-, adding that the ports have long-term contractsusually 10 to 30 yearswith terminal operators, which insulate them from volume and revenue fluctuations. But Fitch did note that a new ILA contract would likely lead to higher labor costs. Terminal operators, in turn, are expected to pass along higher costs to shippers via rate increases where possible, Fitch said.
Other credit and equity analysts tracking the possible port strike seem to be on the same page in thinking that a strike wont last beyond two weeks. How one gets to that outer time limit remains a question mark.
The legal framework for the invocation of Taft-Hartley has three required elements. There has to be a threatened or actual strike, the strike has to affect all or a substantial part of an industry participating in trade, commerce, transportation among the several States or with foreign nations, and it is the Presidents opinion that a continuance of the strike would imperil the national health or safety.
But what constitutes national health or safety?
A 2023 report from the Congressional Research Service on Taft-Hartley said former President Bill Clinton chose to stay on the sidelines in the 1997 UPS strike that lasted 15 days. Clinton said there must be severed damage to the country before the President is authorized to intervene under Taft-Hartley. In 2002, then President George W. Bush chose to intervene when 29 Pacific Coast ports locked out members of the International Longshore and Western Union (ILWU). Bush said the lockout was detrimental to the economy and national security because it impeded foreign trade and had the potential to slow the movement of military supplies.
The process is started when the President appoints a board of inquiry (BOI) regarding the labor dispute. The BOI issues a report, after which the President may direct the U.S. Attorney General to petition a federal court to implement an injunction. The effect of the injunction would be a halting of the strike for 80 days, the so-called cooling off period. Meanwhile, the longshoremen back to work, while the two unions would return to the bargaining table.
If the two are still in talks between days 60 and 75, the USMX would make its final offer and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would hold a secret ballot for voting on the offer. The certified results are sent by the NLRB to the Attorney General, who then seeks to have the injunction removed. In a situation where the final offer is not adopted, the President forwards to Congress the BOI reports, election results, and recommendations for Congress to take appropriate action.
The two known sticking points center on wages and automation. One source told SJ that the base rate is $39 an hour, but the ILA is seeking a $5 annual increase each year over the six-year term of a new contract, or what has been deemed a 77 percent increase. The wage increase that the ILA is seeking is larger than the 32 percent that the ILWU agreed on last summer when they agreed to a new six-year deal that prevented a West Coast port strike.
The other major bone of contention is automation. The 2018 contract is said to have a provision that there can be no full automation unless both parties agree, this person said. While the indication is that the USMX isnt changing its stance on that requirement before it can be fully automated, the ILA points of contention seem to be about other aspects in connection with automation of some responsibilities.
Dockworkers fear they will lose their jobs due to automation. Unlike other strikes, this one is real and the concern over automation is legitimate, Tracey Ortiz, SPS Commerces director, project management, said. She said ports across the country haves started automating equipment because it saves money, time, and has a higher degree of reliability.
Ortiz noted that the pattern among longshoremen to not negotiate is atypical, but that theyve taken a stand because the issues at stake is more than just about money.
This is about future automation replacing a large majority of jobs within the ports and that reality is valid. It will eventually happen, she said, adding that the current reality is that the ports are not prepared with nearly enough automation to absorb a strike, even for a day or two.
Historically, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have been the busiest U.S. ports, with the highest volume of import and export freight. In 2024, that shifted with the Eastern port volume spiking 20 percent over 2023.
First Houston saw an increase in volume and, last year, Savannah started to see spikes, Ortiz said. Now Savannah is projected to be the busiest U.S. port in the next five years.
She said that with the large shift of cargo heading for Eastern ports, the risk of immediate impact on the supply chain is very high should a strike occur on Oct. 1.
A Colorado Springs man was found guilty of financial crimes in federal court for receiving more than $500,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, according to a press release from United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado.
On Monday, Charles Lacona Jr., 67, was convicted of two counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering at a federal court in Denver for receiving $513,732.20 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. To receive the funds, according to the press release, Lacona falsified tax documents and payroll reports.
The press release states that Lacona used part of the fraudulent PPP loan to buy a Cadillac for nearly $70,000.
This is another case of someone using for personal gain a program meant to help people suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt Kirsch, the United States Attorney for the District of Colorado, said via press release. I want the public to know that we are aggressively prosecuting people who stole from this relief program.
"These federal programs were designed to help families and small businesses facing financial challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic," Tom Demeo, the Acting Special Agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Denver Field Office, said via the press release. "Through our partnership with the U.S. Attorney's Office, IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to aggressively pursue individuals who attempt to exploit federal relief programs for their personal benefit."
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A spokesperson for the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado told the Gazette that "more than a dozen" people have been convicted of crimes relating to illegally taking COVID pandemic relief funding in the state. Nationally, the government has seized more than a billion dollars in COVID-19 related fraud, a spokesperson for the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado said.
According to court documents Lacona's trial lasted five days before he was found guilty on all three counts. Lacona's sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
The "supposed" NHS duty of candour was "certainly not honoured" by the Countess of Chester Hospital, the parents of two triplets murdered by Lucy Letby have told a public inquiry.
The deaths of the boys, referred to as Baby O and Baby P, on successive days in June 2016 led to the removal of Letby from the hospital's neonatal unit after consultants suspected she deliberately harmed them.
But their parents said they were unaware of the increased mortality rate at the unit in 2015 and 2016 until police first contacted them a year later, and only learned of the nurse's removal during her criminal trial in 2023.
The babies' parents were speaking at the Thirlwall Inquiry, which is examining the NHS's response to Letby.
The former nurse, 34, was convicted of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others.
The triplets were born in good health and continued to be stable until Letby returned from a holiday in Ibiza and became their designated nurse, the inquiry heard.
She injected air into the bloodstream and stomach of Baby O and also inflicted a liver injury of the kind usually associated with the impact of a road collision.
Baby P died after Letby administered air into his stomach via a nasogastric tube.
Their mother stated to the inquiry: "I was never told anything about Letby.
"It was only during the trial that I found out she had been taken off the ward.
"I do not believe the Countess of Chester were honest with us at any stage. In my view they never should have taken on our care in the first place."
The parents said they were not made aware of the neonatal unit's higher mortality rate.
"They knew something untoward was going on and they continued to take on my care even though we could have been sent to a neonatal unit elsewhere," the mother said.
Letby was first arrested at her Chester home in 2018 [Cheshire Constabulary]
The triplets' father added they were given no counselling for their loss, adding: "Had we received some support we might have been in a better position to try and act on what our instincts were telling us, which was that something had gone badly wrong.
"We were in no fit state mentally to take on a hospital which had no interest in trying to help us or be honest with us."
The couple said they only started to get "meaningful information" when the police investigation started.
The father said he hoped the inquiry would recognise that very few parents are realistically going to be in a position to "take on the system and get answers".
He continued: "We can only get answers if those in positions of authority who have information are required to be candid and honest. This simply didn't happen.
"I have heard talk about the duty of candour but it was certainly not honoured by Countess of Chester Hospital in this case."
Lucy Letby was removed from duties at the Countess of Chester Hospital [BBC]
Both parents told inquiry chairwoman Lady Justice Thirlwall: "Obviously, we want to see what evidence comes out about this in the inquiry but clearly hospital management should have been much more responsive when concerns were raised rather than ignoring or covering up concerns to protect the reputation of the hospital and the neonatal unit.
"The information sharing with us was not adequate. It was worse than that, it was basically non-existent.
"Nobody at the hospital was candid with us. The duty of candour needs to be made legally enforceable."
After two of the triplets died the fearful parents demanded the removal of the surviving baby from the hospital, the inquiry heard.
Lady Thirlwall praised them for saving the third child's life despite their "awful experiences".
She added: "Thanks to your quick thinking at a time when you were devastated you insisted and managed to achieve [the surviving triplet] being transferred to Liverpool Women's Hospital where they seemed to thrive from the moment they got there.
"There is no question that made a huge difference."
The inquiry continues.
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Thirwell Inquiry
NHS staff urged to only use medical gloves if needed in bid to cut costs
The health board says gloves are not vital unless dealing with blood, bodily fluids or hazardous chemicals [Getty Images]
A health board's call for staff to reduce the number of disposable gloves they use must not compromise safety, a union has warned.
NHS Grampian said its "Gloves Off" campaign aimed to cut down on unnecessary waste and costs by reminding staff to carefully consider whether gloves are required when delivering care.
The board said the message was that gloves were not vital unless dealing with blood, bodily fluids or hazardous chemicals.
The health union Unison said that while it welcomed the measure in principle it should not be only financially driven, and access to the protective equipment must not be restricted.
Staff across NHS Grampian used more than 34 million disposable gloves during the last financial year.
These cost more than 1.3m to buy, with in excess of a further estimated 86,000 in disposal costs.
The health board warned earlier this month it needed to reduce spending to tackle an "extremely challenging" financial position.
NHS Grampian said the gloves off drive was being introduced to "improve patient care and reduce unnecessary waste" by reminding staff to carefully consider when gloves are required.
'No substitute for handwashing'
NHS Grampian Board chairwoman Alison Evison spoke in support of the initiative at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
We know the inappropriate use of disposable gloves is detrimental to both patient care and the environment," she said.
"Gloves are no substitute for handwashing and sometimes when we wear gloves we forget to wash in between, or touch lots of different surfaces with them. This increases the risk of spreading germs.
The message is simple: Gloves Off unless youre dealing with blood, bodily fluids or hazardous chemicals."
She added: "We need the public to be supportive of staff too.
The "Gloves Off" campaign aims to reduce unnecessary waste and costs [Getty Images]
Martin McKay, of the Grampian branch of the Unison union, told BBC Scotland News: If financial controls are put in place that restrict access to the required protective equipment then, obviously for us, that has a direct impact on staff, on our members.
And it can have an impact on the ability to carry out services to the best of their ability.
If you dont have the tools for the job then you cant carry out the job properly."
He added: It has to be a fully open, transparent process. Otherwise, if its just financially-driven, then we would have some issues with that.
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SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. (WBOY) A Nicholas County man has been charged after allegedly performing sexual acts on a minor for multiple years.
On Sept. 13, troopers with the Nicholas County detachment of the West Virginia State Police responded to a residence regarding a sexual abuse report taken by State Police Communications in Beckley, according to a criminal complaint.
John Radcliff
When troopers arrived at the residence, they made contact with a mandated reporter who stated that a victim was being abused by John Radcliff, 67, of Canvas, troopers said.
On Sept. 16, troopers took part in a child advocacy center interview with the victim, who stated that Radcliff had touched the victim and showed the victim his genitals approximately 8 times between 2018 and 2019 and made [the victim] touch it, according to the complaint.
Man charged after allegedly firing sawed-off shotgun by accident in Clarksburg
Also during those years, Radcliff sexually abused the victim at least two times, and forced the victim to perform oral sex acts approximately 3 times. Troopers also said that Radcliff performed other acts of sexual assault approximately 2 times.
Radcliff has been charged with eight counts of sexual abuse and five counts of sexual assault. He is currently out after posting a $125,000 property/surety bond on Sept. 24.
He pleaded not guilty to his charges on Sept. 23, and a preliminary hearing has been set for Sept. 26 with Nicholas County Magistrate Michael Hanks.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Ruth Ogunleye wants the full investigation into her complaint to be published [Ruth Ogunleye/Tiktok]
A soldier sacked by the Nigerian military after she accused some senior officers of rape and sexual harassment has released a video condemning her treatment.
Ex-private Ruth Ogunleye made the allegations via her TikTok account in January, saying she had suffered immensely as a result of her ordeal at the hands of a general and two colonels.
Her allegations caused widespread outrage in Nigeria and prompted the women's minister to discuss the case with the army chief.
After an investigation, the army dismissed her allegations and said the soldier had been discharged on medical grounds as she suffers from a condition that makes her vulnerable, without giving further details.
Ms Ogunleye has now released a second video on TikTok, in which she calls for the investigation to be made public and describes how she was raped and given an injection by those she accused.
Firstly I want to thank [army spokesman] General Onyema Nwachukwu for posting me on all social media platforms, newspapers, it shows how powerful I am," she said.
January 9th 2024, I came on social media to complain of how I was harassed, of how I was raped and how I was injected and put inside a casket.
How I had a gun pointed at me, was handcuffed and kept inside an office for some days.
I want to beg the Nigerian army to post the outcome of the investigation on all social media platforms, so that the world would know what transpired, she noted.
The outcome of the investigation was revealed by Gen Nwachukwu on Tuesday evening.
"Upon receipt of her complaint, the Nigerian Army referred the matter to the Military Police for a thorough investigation. The investigation concluded that Colonel IB Abdulkareem did not commit the alleged offences," he said.
He said Ms Ogunleye had been discharged after refusing to get medical treatment from either the National Hospital in the capital, Abuja, or the Nigerian Army.
He went on to accuse her of propagating "false narratives against Colonel Abdulkareem and other senior officers [and] using online platforms to engage in cyberbullying and defamation".
However, women's rights activists have called for an independent investigation.
"The army is known for not wanting to wash its dirty linen in public," Hadiza Ado, founder of Women and Children Initiative, told the BBC.
If the army investigation are saying she had a medical condition which affects her, then for how long was she in the service with that condition, why coming out to say it now that she was dismissed? she asked.
More Nigeria stories from the BBC:
[Getty Images/BBC]
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Former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Tuesday criticized recent comments by the Republican Senate candidate in Ohio in which he openly questioned why women over 50 are concerned about reproductive rights.
Bernie Moreno, who is running against incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) in a tight race, during a Friday town hall called into question older womens focus on abortion as an issue determining their vote.
Sadly, by the way, theres a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, Listen, abortion is it. If I cant have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else, he said.
Its a little crazy, by the way, but especially for women that are like past 50. Im thinking to myself, I dont think thats an issue for you, Moreno added.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Haley claimed Morenos words could hurt him politically, while the GOP is counting on him to win the race as part of their plan to regain the majority in the upper chamber of Congress.
Are you trying to lose the election? Haley said. Asking for a friend. #Tonedeaf #DonLemonVibes
Haleys post made an apparent reference to former CNN anchor Don Lemon calling her past her prime after she called for mandatory competency testing for politicians over 75.
Im just saying what the facts are. Google it. Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime? Lemon said in February 2023. It says 20s, 30s and 40s. And Im just saying Nikki Haley should be careful about saying that politicians are not in their prime, and they need to be in their prime when they serve. Because she wouldnt be in her prime according to Google or whatever it is.
Lemon was fired from the network a few months later.
Reagan McCarthy, a spokesperson for Morenos campaign, dismissed his statement as a joke, taking a swipe at the left-wing media.
Bernies view is that women voters care just as much about the economy, rising prices, crime and our open southern border as male voters do, and its disgusting that Democrats and their friends in the left-wing media constantly treat all women as if theyre automatically single issue voters on abortion who dont have other concerns that they vote on, McCarthy said.
Abortion has repeatedly proven to be a winning issue for Democrats as Republicans have made efforts to further restrict access to the medical procedure following the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
Last year, Ohioans voted to codify abortion rights in the state constitution in a major win for reproductive rights advocates.
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Police rescue personnel search for missing people in debris washed away from flooding along the Tsukada river following heavy rain in Wajima city, Ishikawa prefecture (Yuichi YAMAZAKI) (Yuichi YAMAZAKI/AFP/AFP)
Rescuers on Wednesday recovered the body of a ninth victim of severe floods which battered parts of central Japan last week, local media said.
A woman's body was found near a river in Wajima city, reports said, where some 50 centimetres (19.7 inches) of rain fell in 48 hours to Sunday evening -- a local record and more than double the usual precipitation for this time of the year.
Regional police and government officials could not immediately confirm the report by broadcaster NHK, having previously confirmed eight deaths from the flooding.
Some 367 residents in 46 communities remained isolated because of landslides and other obstacles, according to the Ishikawa prefecture government.
Emergency shelters housed more than 600 people on Tuesday.
The floods came as the area makes a fragile recovery from a magnitude-7.5 earthquake on New Year's Day, which toppled buildings, triggered tsunami waves and sparked a major fire.
Japan is prone to natural disasters and routinely faces serious flooding and landslide damages.
hih/fox
NEW YORK (PIX11) NJ Transit and Amtrak trains traveling in and out of New Yorks Penn Station are experiencing delays due to a derailment south of the station, according to Amtrak.
Train 144 derailed while departing from the station around 2 p.m., Amtrak said. Part of the train was still at the platform, so customers could depart from the train.
NJ Transit said delays should be no more than 30 minutes. For updated train schedules, visit the NJ Transit and Amtrak websites.
Matthew Euzarraga is a multimedia journalist from El Paso, Texas. He has covered local news and LGBTQIA topics in the New York City Metro area since 2021. He joined the PIX11 Digital team in 2023. 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 PIX11.
No deficit here: SLO County budget hits more than $1 billion in latest adjustment
The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors unanimously accepted final adjustments to this years budget on Tuesday which now tops out at over a billion dollars, according to budget director Lisa Howe.
SLO Countys $1.1 billion budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year is an almost 11% increase over last years, which was just shy of $974 million.
More or less consistent with last year, the countys main budget priorities included homelessness, behavioral heath, housing and economic development, while lesser priorities included storm recovery, infrastructure, water resiliency and organizational effectiveness, Howe said at Tuesdays meeting.
Howe also said the county successfully closed an anticipated $15.6 million general fund deficit and saved more than it expected to last year, adding an extra $9.1 million in carryover funds to the countys accounts.
The budget finalization came after the approval of the California legislatures 2024 State Budget Act, which closed a $47 billion deficit in the nearly $300 billion statewide budget, according to Howe.
Based on the governors proposed state budget, the county had anticipated significant reductions in funding to government services, but the approved budget did not end up significantly hurting the county, Howe said.
While it does include significant reductions statewide, it does recognize the vital role that county governments play and the public services that counties deliver, and it does minimize overall reductions to county governments as part of this item, Howe told the Board.
The countys total budget is made up of the governmental funds budget which encompasses the general fund budget as well as other proprietary funds.
According to Howe, the finalized general fund budget is $757 million, a 6% increase from last years. The governmental funds budget increased 3% from 2023-24 to $872 million this year.
A breakdown of San Luis Obispo Countys budget. San Luis Obispo County
The fiscal year started on July 1, but the county could not finalize its budget until the books closed in August, Howe said.
The next step is for the county to print the final budget accounting for the approved adjustments and submit it to the state no later than Dec. 1, though it typically happens as early as October, Howe said.
CA closes nearly $50 billion budget deficit with minimal impacts to county governments
The county held its initial budget hearing for its 2024-25 fiscal year budget on June 3, before the state had approved its budget.
At the time, California was facing a $46.8 billion general fund deficit.
Howe said staff expected to return to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors with budget adjustments as the state worked to close its budget gap, but then actual reductions in funding from the state were not as aggressive as anticipated.
In fact, the countys budget has increased since the June 3 hearing.
The governmental funds budget increased an additional 2% from $855 million to the current $872 million and the general fund increased 1.6% from $745 million to the final approved $757 million.
There were some minor reductions, however, departments wholly anticipated being able to absorb those reductions, Howe said.
She said the county will continue to monitor the state budget as it fully anticipates future reductions in funding and grants.
One county department that was expected to lose some funding due to the state budget adjustment was Public Health. Its budget will drop $17,000 from its previously allocated $1.5 million this fiscal year.
Howe said the reduction would not cause any service level impacts, however.
In addition, there were a number of grant allocations that have been or will be reduced over the next few years, Howe said.
SLO County faces $15.6 million budget deficit. Heres how it plans to close the gap
Rather than mainly pulling funding from counties, the state budget addressed its shortfall by employing $6 billion in reserve funds and reducing spending by $16 billion, among other solutions.
Howe said that even though the state has balanced its budget, the county will continue to track legislation that impacts funding sources.
For example, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2561 over the weekend, which will require public agencies to meet with representatives of their employees regarding wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment as well as present employment vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts at a public hearing at least once a year, Howe said.
SLO County finally balanced its current budget
With the final budget adjustments made on Tuesday, the county closed an expected deficit and balanced its budget with a small surplus in savings from last years unused funds.
Howe told theboard the county successfully eliminated its $15.6 million general fund budget deficit by utilizing a combination of short- and long-term solutions.
The deficit was closed through $8 million in one-time payments made most notably from the countys general, COVID-19 and rainy day funds and $7.6 million in long-term restructuring and reductions in departmental spending over time.
Howe said staff was wary of over-utilizing short-term solutions in the form of one-time payments that would carry over and become the minimum gap in future budgets.
SLO County faces $15.6 million budget deficit. Heres how it plans to close the gap
Howe also informed the board it had $12.2 million more in excess savings from last year, which carries over as a funding source for the 2024-25 fiscal year budget.
Of those $12 million in year-end savings, $3.1 million were used to reimburse FEMA for COVID-19 response costs received in fiscal year 2023-24, resulting in $9.1 million in actual usable savings.
Howe wrote in the staff report before the board meeting that the excess savings were a result of careful financial management across the county.
She applauded the diligent work to control spending and strategic decisions made by the Board of Supervisors like the implementation of a hiring chill that created temporary savings.
The extra $9 million was unequally split and used to replenish the countys general reserve, governmental funds budgets and rainy day fund at Tuesdays meeting.
Board of Supervisors finalizes budget with no opposition
The Board of Supervisors approved these budget adjustments and allocations on Tuesday in a unanimous vote, but noted that the process was not necessarily over this year and could continue to be improved upon.
Supervisor John Peschong said though he voted to finalize the budget as is, he recommends a reconsideration of budget priorities in future years.
In the future, one of the things we should look at is putting money into an affordable housing fund, Peschong said.
Supervisor Bruce Gibson commended the state for closing its multi-billion dollar deficit and the county for its frugality that brought in more savings than expected at the end of the year, but warned that the county must remain continually vigilant.
He emphasized that certain events could still impact the countys funding this year like the result of the vote on Prop. 35 in November, which would revoke $5 billion in budget solutions if passed, he said.
$9 million is going to evaporate like the frost on a beer in Paso Robles in August very quickly, he quipped. Were not out of the woods yet.
No harmful air readings detected after 3-alarm fire at North Texas pool supply warehouse
Some North Texas residents were told to shelter in place Wednesday morning while firefighters battled a three-alarm chemical fire at a pool supply warehouse in Frisco.
Video footage from Star-Telegram media partner WFAA shows a massive plume of smoke coming from Texas Pool Supply, which is located at 10550 John W. Elliott Drive.
The fire was reported around 7:45 a.m., Frisco Fire Marshal Kelly Kistner said at a news conference. Some chemicals were released as a result of the fire, and HAZMAT crews also responded to the blaze.
According to Kistner, three primary chemicals pool salt, chlorine and pool shock were involved in the fire. Two of those are considered hazardous, Kistner said.
The shelter in place has been lifted, Frisco city officials posted on social media around 9:30 a.m. The Frisco Fire Department is monitoring air quality in the area, and as of around 10:15 a.m. no harmful readings were detected.
Ten first responders, including three firefighters and seven police officers, are being treated at a local hospital, city officials said in a social media post around 2:10 p.m. Everyone is in stable condition.
It was previously reported that two firefighters were sent to a local hospital as a precautionary measure.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, officials said.
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The murder of a trainee doctor in India has raised questions about the safety of female health professionals in other countries, including Pakistan [Reuters]
Women working in hospitals in Pakistan say they regularly face sexual harassment, violence and verbal abuse, from male colleagues, patients and their families.
Following the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at work in an Indian hospital, more than a dozen female medics in Pakistan told the BBC they were worried about their own safety.
But this is a largely hidden crisis, as many are too scared to come forward to report the crimes while those who do are often told no one would believe their allegations.
Most of the women the BBC spoke to asked that their names be withheld for fear of losing their jobs, honour and respect.
A few months ago, a young doctor came to Dr Nusrat (not her real name) in tears. While she was using the toilet, a male doctor had filmed the woman through a hole in the wall and was using the video to blackmail her.
I suggested filing a complaint with the FIA [Federal Investigation Agency, which handles cyber crimes], but she refused. She said she didnt want it to be leaked and reach her family or in-laws, Dr Nusrat explained, adding that she knows of at least three other cases where female doctors have been secretly filmed.
Dr Nusrat happened to know someone senior in the police who spoke to the blackmailer, warning him he could be arrested for what he had done. The police officer made sure the video was deleted.
Unfortunately, we couldnt take further action, but we got the hole covered so that no-one could do it again, says Dr Nusrat.
Other women shared experiences of being sexually harassed, including Dr Aamna (not her real name), who was a resident medical officer in a government hospital five years ago when she was targeted by her senior doctor, a powerful man.
Women are afraid to speak openly about harassment and abuse, fearing it will affect their careers and personal lives [BBC]
When he saw me with a file in my hand, he would try to lean over it, make inappropriate comments, and try to touch me, she says.
She filed a complaint with the hospital administration, but says she was met with indifference. I was told I had only been there for a short time, and asked what proof I had of this harassment. They said, 'We've been unable to fix this person in seven years - nothing will change, and no-one will believe you'.
Dr Aamna says she knows of other women who have managed to record videos of harassment, but nothing happens - the harasser is merely transferred to another ward for a few months, then comes back.
She had to complete her placement to qualify as a doctor, but moved as soon as it was over.
Testimony gathered by the BBC suggests her story is disturbingly common.
Karachi's chief police surgeon, Dr Summaya Tariq Syed, wants to see people accused of abuse held to account [BBC]
The root of the problem lies in a lack of trust and accountability, according to Dr Summaya Tariq Syed, the chief police surgeon in Karachi and head of Pakistans first rape crisis centre.
She describes her 25 years of service as a constant battle against violence and betrayal, and says she has been disappointed with how things are handled.
She recounts how, a few years ago when she was in a different role, she was shut in a room by colleagues who wanted her to change what she had written in a post-mortem examination report about someone who had been killed.
They said, Sign it or you have no idea what well do to you, but she refused. Given the senior position of one of the people involved, she says, no action was taken against them.
Another female doctor at a government hospital in Punjab explains that it can be hard for women to report abuse.
The [hospital] committees that do exist often include the same doctors who harass us, or their friends. So why would anyone file a complaint and make their life even more difficult?
There are no official statistics available on assaults against female health workers in Pakistan. However, a report in the US National Institutes of Health in 2022 paints a troubling picture. It indicates that up to 95% of nurses in Pakistan have faced workplace violence at least once in their career. This includes assault and threats as well as verbal and mental abuse, from colleagues, patients and hospital visitors.
This tallies with a report in the Pakistan Journal of Medicine and Dentistry, which quotes a 2016 study of public sector hospitals in Lahore that suggested 27% of nurses had experienced sexual violence. It also cites a study from Pakistans north-western Khyber Pakhtunkha province that indicated that 69% of nurses and 52% of female doctors there had experienced some sort of sexual harassment in the workplace from other staff.
As well as abuse, female doctors spoke of a lack of basic facilities, such as toilets in every block and places to rest on long shifts [BBC]
Dr Syed recounts a particularly disturbing attack that happened in Karachi in 2010: A doctor at a government hospital lured a nurse to his hostel, where he wasnt alone - two other doctors were there as well. The nurse was raped and was so distraught that she jumped off the roof and was in a coma for about a week. Nothing that happened was consensual. But she decided not to pursue the case.
Dr Syed believes that society often blames victims and if the nurse had reported it the blame would have fallen on her.
Harassment and threats come from patients, their friends and families too, she says, describing how members of the public attacked her team while they were handling bodies in the mortuary last year.
Two people had to ward off blows from a person who tried to hit me, just because I told him not to make videos.
She registered a complaint with the police and is now waiting for the case to work its way through court. We must continue our part of the fight - staying quiet will only strengthen the culprits.
Other female doctors also describe a lack of security as a problem, especially in state-run hospitals, where they say anyone can walk in unchecked. At least three said people who attacked them were ordinary citizens who had entered the hospital while drunk. Drinking alcohol is largely banned in Pakistan.
Dr Saadia (not her real name) explains that several of her colleagues at a major government hospital in Karachi have been repeatedly sexually harassed. Its often people under the influence of drugs wandering into the hospital, she says.
One evening, a colleague was on her way to another ward when a drunken man started harassing her. Another time, a different doctor was attacked. Some other doctors managed to get rid of the man, but there were no security guards around.
Women health workers want better security and lighting in hospital buildings [BBC]
Nurse Elizabeth Thomas (not her real name) says incidents where drunk patients try to touch them are common. We feel terrified, unsure whether to treat the man or protect ourselves. We feel utterly helpless. And there are no security staff to help us.
Dr Saadia says they dont even know if the person sweeping the floor or roaming around the ward claiming to be staff is actually staff.
Looking back at her time at a government hospital in Punjab five years ago, Dr Aamna says: In remote areas, forget about security; they dont even have proper lighting in the hallways.
According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2023, there are 1,284 government hospitals in the country. Doctors say security measures are extremely poor.
Healthcare workers say many either lack CCTV cameras or have too few, and those that do exist often dont function properly. They say thousands of patients and their families visit these hospitals daily, and attacks on medical staff have become common.
Dr Saadia recounts how she once had to hide after a patient's relative attacked her for waiting for test results to arrive before administering an injection.
He was a tall man, and he started yelling at me. I was pressed against the door. He threatened me, saying, Give the injection now, or Ill kill you.
Many of Pakistans nursing staff come from minority non-Muslim communities, which can make them vulnerable in other ways, says Elizabeth Thomas.
I know many nurses who are harassed, and if they dont comply, theyre threatened with accusations of blasphemy. If a nurse is attractive, theyre often told to convert their religion.
Were always left wondering how to respond because if we dont do what they want, they might falsely accuse us of blasphemy. This has happened to nurses.
On top of the abuse, female doctors describe enduring long, demanding shifts with a lack of basic facilities.
During my house job, we went through times when, during a 30-hour shift, we didnt have a room to rest in. We would go outside and rest in a colleagues car for 15 minutes or so, says Dr Saadia.
When I was in the emergency ward, there was no toilet. We couldnt go to the loo during 14-hour shifts. Even when we were menstruating, we couldnt use a toilet.
She says toilets for hospital staff were in other blocks, so far away that they didnt have time to go and use them.
Medical students, doctors and members of the public have held protests, demanding justice for the trainee doctor killed in India in August [EPA]
The BBC asked local health ministers in the four provinces where these women have worked to comment, as well as the national health co-ordinator in Islamabad but did not receive any replies.
Since the rape and murder of the trainee doctor in India, discussions have intensified among female doctors in Pakistan about how to ensure their own safety.
Dr Saadia says it has affected her deeply and she has changed her routine: I no longer go to dark or deserted places. I used to take the stairs, but now I feel safer using the lifts.
And Elizabeth Thomas says it has shaken her too. I have a seven-year-old daughter, and she often says she wants to become a doctor. But I keep wondering, is a doctor safe in this country?
After a legal battle, Flying Horse's two resident-run metro districts are likely headed for more independence and new responsibilities in the sprawling upscale neighborhood in northern Colorado Springs.
The resident-run district boards and the third metro district controlled by the neighborhood's developer, Classic Homes, have reached a proposed settlement over millions in disputed costs, long-term management and the future of the still-developing commercial district, Downtown Flying Horse. Voters will weigh in during November to approve payments necessary to settle the lawsuits that will not raise their taxes.
Often confused with the homeowners association, the metro districts manage about 40% of the property taxes Flying Horse residents pay, with most of that money going to cover the long-term debt that was taken on by the developer to pay for infrastructure, such as streets and sidewalks.
City data shows developers have set up 117 metro districts across town, with a few of those still pending approval. The districts are independent of the city, like a library district. As of last year, residents in those districts were responsible for paying back $700 million in debt, the city said at the time.
In Flying Horse's Metro Districts 2 and 3, residents owe over $70 million for infrastructure, Metro District 2 President Bill Graziano said.
Graziano and District 2 Secretary Dan Mulloy both say they got involved because of the high level of debt and the level of control Classic Homes held over all the metro district boards. The Metro District 2 residents both ran for the board and encouraged others to do the same.
Residents took control of the Metro District 2 and 3 boards through the ballot box in May 2023. But they still didn't have control of the property taxes because under an intergovernmental agreement Metro District 1, a Classic Homes controlled entity, had the right to spend money on behalf of the other two districts. Residents were not eligible to run for the District 1 board.
Under the recent legal agreement, if a November ballot question passes, the resident-run boards will take long-term control of the property tax collections and the operation and maintenance of some public infrastructure, such as parks. It's an agreement that took two rounds of mediation to reach.
"The ultimate goal is to gain control over our tax revenues," Mulloy said.
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Flying Horse residents will weigh in on the settlement in November when they decide whether to approve annual payments to the Flying Horse District 1.
The question will ask them to designate annual payments of 3 mills to Flying Horse District 1 for 15 years to settle more than $17 million in disputed debt to District 1, according to the proposed ballot question. In the first year, the payment will be about $305,000 and will likely rise as property values rise. The districts will have 7 mills to dedicate to operation and maintenance costs.
Resident board members did not agree that their districts should cover more than $17 million in operation and maintenance costs and infrastructure costs and associated interest, but continuing to fight the costs in court carried risk, Graziano said.
"When you assess the cost factor and the litigation risk, our settlement agreement was quite positive and quite favorable," he said.
If the boards made similar payments of about $400,000 to the Classic Homes-controlled District 1 over 15 years, the boards would still owe $30 million if the debt remained in place. This is partially because the debt accrues 8% interest, Graziano explained.
The settlement also gives District 1 control over the property slated to become Downtown Flying Horse, an area northwest of New Life Drive and Colorado 83 slated for both businesses and new homes. The land had previously been included in Metro District 3. It was transferred to Metro District 1 before residents took control of the Metro District 3 board. The resident-run Metro District 3 board sued to return the land to their district because removing it hurt long-term revenue streams.
Classic Homes declined to comment on the proposed settlement.
If the two resident-run boards take over management, it's likely they will consolidate into one district for efficiency, Graziano said.
By law, the Supreme Court term starts on the first Monday in October. And so, as the leaves turn and that day once again approaches, its time to see where we left off last season.
What makes a divisive case?
Like hurricanes, Supreme Court narratives tend to form in the summer as the last few decisions come out in late Juneor, as was the case this year, July 1and they generally focus on the big cases. As Ive said before, its hard to define big cases without some circular logic: The big cases are the ideologically divisive ones and the ideologically divisive cases are the big ones. Whenever Donald Trumps name is on either side of the v, its bound to be divisive. And with two of them in the term ending in a bit over a week, doubly so.
Last term, which ran from 2022 to 2023, this phenomenon was easy to spot. For example, the court upheld Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) requiring states to consider race when drawing congressional districts, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson in the majority. Although it was on every list of major cases at the beginning of the term, the case didnt get much attention after it was decided. But if the court had come out the other wayif it had held by a 6-3 vote that the VRA violated the equal protection clausesurely that would have been used as proof of the court listing hopelessly right. You see the problem.
Still, the 2023-24 term was more ideologically divided than the previous one, when 90 percent of the courts cases were decided with at least one liberal justice in the majority. This term, that number dropped to just under 80 percent. Last term, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas were the justices least likely to get their way. This term, the courts three liberal justices found themselves dissenting most often. Last term, the court decided cases on affirmative action and religious libertymore focused on culture war topics. This term, the court decided cases on the administrative state and presidential immunitymore obviously partisan issues.
But some things did look similar. Last term and this term, about half of the cases were decided unanimously. There is always someone in my X feed who suggests that the unanimous cases shouldnt really count when we consider the courts important cases. This term, that would have meant excluding the Texas and Florida social media decision, the mifepristone abortion drug decision, and the NRAs First Amendment decision. Obviously, these were all big cases that happened to be decided unanimously.
The spotlight on Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Justices Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Barrett also maintained their status as the three swing justices. Yet, it seems trendy right now to suggest that there is something going on with Barrett. From the right, radio host Mark Levin posted on X that she is the latest in a long line of formerly conservative justice nominees who is smitten with media adulation. Liberal law professor Steve Vladeck wrote that as Barrett established her principled independence in the middle of the court, the other five Republican appointees moved only further to the right.
Vladeck argued that as willing as Justice Barrett is to follow her principles even when they lead her away from Republican political preferences, the same cant always be said of the other two justices in the courts middle Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. As evidence, Vladeck noted that the chief justice authored the opinion overturning Chevron deferencebut he didnt mention that it was an opinion Barrett joined in full. So how can that prove that Roberts is the partisan hack and that she is the principled stalwart?*
In fact, these three justices were all in the majority more than 90 percent of the time this termas they have been since Barrett joined the court in 2020. Yet there is a sense among court watchers that Barrett is breaking away from the conservative pack. Shes written separately to cast doubt on whether post-ratification history can really be a part of a principled originalists analysis. She broke with conservatives in the January 6 obstruction case and an EPA decision on environmental policy. Her concurrence in the Trump immunity case seemed more bullish on Trumps prosecution, and her concurrence in the Trump 14th Amendment case was more limited. And, along with the chief justice and Justice Kavanaugh, she voted to leave Idahos abortion restrictions on hold and declined to hold the Biden administration liable for coercing social media companies.
It shouldnt come as any surprise that Barrett would have a mind of her own. She has a different background than the other conservative justices, having never worked in politics or in a presidential administration (although she did work on Bush v. Gore during her brief stint in private practice). Instead, for the vast majority of her career until her appointment to the appellate bench in 2017, Barrett was a law professor, which may account for her different approach to some of these questions. Shes also the only justice who clerked for Justice Antonin Scaliaan iconoclast if there ever was one.
And yet I wonder whether all the focus on Barrett is more of a coincidence of timing than anything else. Not only did she overwhelmingly side with Roberts and Kavanaugh, but the three major cases where she broke with them all came out in succession on the last three days of the term, giving the impression of a drumbeat. But what would we all be saying about Barrett if those cases had come out in February and her other three dissentsall with Justices Thomas and Neil Gorsuchhad come out at the end instead?
Executive power.
The two most talked about cases of this term were the Trump immunity case (decided 6-3 along ideological lines) and the Trump ballot disqualification case. Both were at least wins for Trump in the immediate sense. The ladies of the Supreme Court were less convinced by the majoritys reasoning. Both cases seemed like frustration points for Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson, in which they published pointed opinions of their own. As mentioned earlier, Barrett had her own separate concurrence in both cases as well.
The administrative law cases decided significant questions, including how much deference courts should give executive branch agencies about the scope of their own power, when agencies should be able to decide when someone violates one of their regulations instead of a court, and how long someone has to sue an agency to challenge a new regulation. They will certainly have a greater effect on the day-to-day lives of Americans and the economy as the conservative justices continue efforts to pare back the power of the executive branch and force more policy decisions back on Congress.
It is an odd juxtaposition that the people who most strenuously objected to the decisions in the Trump cases out of fear for a second Trump presidency are also the ones who were most upset that the court was limiting the power of the presidency.
By the numbers.
In total, the justices released 60 opinions this term, continuing the steady decline of the last 35 years. The modern court had never decided fewer than 100 cases until 30 years ago. And its not like justices dont have the time. As Chief Justice Roberts once quipped, Only Supreme Court justices and schoolchildren are expected to and do take the entire summer off.
Or perhaps not. Justice Kagan, speaking to a group of judges this summer, seemed to disagree. I do not feel that I am working less hard as when I got to the court 15 years ago even though there has been a slippage in the total number of argued cases, she said. And the reason is that we do all of this emergency work that we did not 15 years ago.
Its true. The emergency docketwhere the justices are asked to decide whether a law will stay in place while the case is being litigatedwas hot as a Houston parking lot in August. The justices left in place an injunction preventing the Biden administration from expanding the definition of sex discrimination in Title IX to include sexual orientation and gender identity. They allowed Arizona to ask for proof of citizenship when registering to vote but not when showing up to cast a ballot (Barrett, Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson would have stopped both parts of the law). They kept on hold President Joe Bidens new efforts to forgive student loan debt.
So where does that leave us? Statistics can be helpful when trying to assess Supreme Court trends. Unless they arent. Individual case outcomes always matter the most. But sometimes, their import is in the eye of the beholder. Some cases fall squarely along ideological lines. Others dont. And as we head into what is sure to be one of the most contentious elections in American history, all eyes may once again be on the court, with partisans on both sides trying to work the refs.
But when someone tells you they know what the court is going to do, perhaps it is best to offer them this paraphrase of a line from Justice Jackson: Other terms presenting different cases and different statistics may lead to different conclusions.
Institutional drag.
The court continued to be plagued by negative headlines over the summer. The drumbeat of ethics stories carried on. Public opinion of the court remained near historic lows. At least one justice admitted to being frustrated enough to punch a wall. But by far, the biggest story from the Supreme Court this summer was a scathing insider account of the courts internal decision-making in the run-up to the decisions in the Trump immunity case, the January 6 obstruction case, and the Trump ballot disqualification case.
The story included a leaked memo from the chief justice to his eight colleagues and changes in justices votes and opinion authorship. It painted the conservative justices on the court as driving outcomes to protect Trump and the liberal justices on the court as salvaging the cases against him. (Though again, its worth remembering that the special counsel has refiled their case against Trump with the same number of charges using the same criminal statutes that they filed the first time.)
The story represents the biggest breach of the kind of deliberative confidentiality since the leak of the draft opinion in the Dobbs caseexcept this one may prove more damaging. That leak was widely presumed to be a rogue clerk and felt like an extraordinary event. This one, though, has led some to speculate whether the leaks are coming not from a clerk but from a current justice. Are constant leaks, moreover, now the new normal?
More than the Dobbs leak two years ago, this terms leak may lead to cultural changes at the court. Justices and their clerks might no longer presume that their draft writings and internal debates will remain confidential. If so, this kind of weaponized transparency will naturally stifle conversations across perceived ideological dividesas it has in Congress after the introduction of television cameras and in the executive branch after the Freedom of Information Act.
So as the court starts a new term, the justices may be just as focused on the threats to their institution as in the cases before them.
Correction, September 25, 2024: Fixed the spelling of Steve Vladecks last name.
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No meetings have been scheduled between former U.S. President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky this week, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Sept. 25, citing an unnamed official on Trumps campaign.
As Zelensky's visit to the U.S. continues, he is expected to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden to present a victory plan at the White House on Sept. 26.
It was also reported that he planned to discuss it with presidential candidates Trump and Kamala Harris.
Last week, Ukraine's president said that he would most likely meet with Trump on Sept. 26-27, without providing further details.
"The main thing is to have time. I will not look into the future, but I think it will be important for both of us," Zelensky told journalists.
But according to the official cited by AP, no meeting has yet been scheduled between Trump and Zelensky.
Kyiv has not commented on AP's reports.
Trump's possible return to the White House is causing concern in Ukraine. The pro-Trump wing of the Republican Party blocked the U.S. aid bill in Congress for months earlier this year, which proved detrimental to the situation on the Ukrainian battlefields and contributed to the loss of a key city of Avdiivka.
Statements and rumors coming from Trump's inner circle also suggest he might seek to pressure Ukraine to cede territory or give up its NATO aspirations to achieve a quicker resolution of the war.
The former president has repeatedly said he would end the war within "24 hours if reelected" and evaded a question about whether he wants Ukraine to win during a recent debate with Harris.
In his recent remarks, Trump criticized America's involvement in the war in Ukraine, saying the country is "stuck" and will only be able to "get out" if he wins the election.
Zelensky and Trump held the first in five years call in July. According to Ukraine's president, Trump told him he is "very supportive," and would do "everything to strengthen Ukraine" if elected president.
Read also: What the fall of Vuhledar would mean for Russias war in Ukraine
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
CHICAGO An eight-year prison sentence has been handed down to a North Aurora man involved in a DUI crash that left a motorcyclist dead in May of 2023.
40-year-old Luis Aca Osorio was handed the sentence after pleading guilty to aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol causing death, Kane County States Attorney Jamie Mosser announced Monday.
Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines
The charge stemmed from a crash that prosecutors said unfolded just after 5 p.m. on May 7, 2023, in Batavia.
An initial report by police indicated that Osorio was heading southbound in a van in Batvia when he rear-ended a motorcyclist who was driving in front of him in the 400 block of South River Street.
Police said the motorcyclist was ejected in the crash and became pinned underneath the van. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition and later died from his injuries.
According to prosecutors, police found Osorio stopped a short distance from the crash scene and believed he may have been impaired.
After submitting to a breath test, prosecutors said Osorio was found to have a breath alcohol concentration of 0.204.
LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland
This entirely preventable traffic crash is another reminder that drinking and driving cannot only happen at any time of the day, but that it can have fatal consequences. I would like to thank the Batavia Police Department, victim advocate Linda Hagemann, Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists Advocate Carrie Kilpatrick, and ASA Kelly Orland for their more assistance in this case. I would also like to thank the victims family for their kindness, patience and understanding throughout this process. Today, I hope that they got the justice that they feel they deserved and can finally close this chapter of their lives to move onto the impossible task of healing the wounds left by the loss of their loved one. Driving Under the Influence will not be tolerated in Kane County, and I believe that this negotiated sentence sends that message clearly, Kane County Assistant States Attorney Katy Flannagan said in a news release.
Osorio must serve 85 percent of the sentence in accordance with state law and will receive credit for 24 days served in the Kane County jail.
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SEOUL, South Korea The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed Tuesday to boost the countrys nuclear war capability and take other steps to protest the recent arrival of a nuclear-powered U.S. submarine in South Korea.
North Korea has repeatedly vowed to expand its nuclear arsenal, but the latest threat by Kim Yo Jong came after North Korea dialed up regional tensions by unveiling a uranium-enrichment facility and testing a new ballistic missile earlier this month.
In a statement carried by state media, Kim Yo Jong said that the submarine's visit clearly reveals the frantic military and strategic attempt of the U.S. She said North Koreas nuclear war deterrent must be bolstered both in quality and quantity continuously and limitlessly in response.
The U.S. strategic assets will never find their resting place in the region of the Korean Peninsula, she said. We will continue to inform that all the ports and military bases of the ROK are not safe places." ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Koreas formal name.
Her comments suggested North Korea may test-fire a missile whose range covers a South Korean site where the U.S. submarine is docked, some observers say.
South Koreas military said the Vermont, a nuclear-powered and fast-attack submarine, arrived at the southeastern South Korean port city of Busan on Monday to take on supplies and allow its crew to rest.
Temporary deployments of powerful U.S. military assets like aircraft carriers, nuclear-powered submarines and bombers to South Korea are not unusual, but Washington has boosted them over the last year in a show of force against North Koreas evolving nuclear threats.
Pyongyang often responds furiously to such visits, calling them proof of hostile intentions, and reacts with missile tests.
On Sept. 13, North Koreas state media published photos of a secretive facility to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. It was North Koreas first unveiling of a uranium-enrichment facility since it showed one at the countrys main Yongbyon nuclear complex to visiting American scholars in 2010. Last week, North Korea tested a newly built ballistic missile designed to carry what it calls a 4.5-ton super-large conventional warhead and a modified cruise missile.
Since late May, North Korea has also floated thousands of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea in a Cold War-style psychological campaign, prompting South Korea to restart anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts at border areas.
South Koreas military warned Tuesday of unspecified military action if the North pushes its balloon campaign to a point that seriously threatens the safety of South Korean civilians.
Military spokesperson Lee Sung Joon didnt say what action South Korea could take, but he reiterated that the military isnt considering shooting down the balloons midair because they could be carrying hazardous substances.
So far, North Koreas balloon activities haven't caused serious damage.
Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.
The youth director of a North Texas church has been arrested on charges of possession of child pornography and indecency with a child by contact, Denton police said Wednesday.
Investigators arrested 63-year-old Craig Stone, who was the youth director at a church in the 1500 block of Willowwood Street in Denton, according to a police news release. Police did not name the church.
Both charges are felonies and involve teenage victims, police said.
A parent and their child reported on Aug. 28 that Stone had engaged in inappropriate behavior with teens, according to the release. In interviews throughout September, more teens told detectives that there might be sexual images of children on Stones computer. A male teenager also reported being touched inappropriately by Stone.
Detectives served a search warrant at the church and Stones home on Tuesday.
Police said that Stone agreed to speak with detectives and that he admitted to touching one victim. He also admitted to possessing naked images of another male victim, according to the release.
Stone was booked into the City of Denton Jail on Tuesday night with bond set at $20,000. Its unclear whether he has obtained an attorney.
The investigation is ongoing. Police asked for anyone with information about Stone, including any unreported incidents, to call Detective Marqui Curtis at 940-349-7727.
The following resources are available for anyone affected by sexual abuse, authorities said:
The Childrens Advocacy Center for North Texas, (972-317-2818), empowers child abuse victims and their families through education, healing and justice.
Denton County Friends of the Family provides compassionate, comprehensive services including a 24-hour crisis line available via phone or text at 940-382-7273.
FORT WORTH, Texas - Fort Worth police announced the arrest of 11 people in connection to a sting operation targeting child predators online.
The Fort Worth police worked with several other agencies from August 7 to 9 on what it called Operation Heatwave.
During the operation, undercover agents used online platforms to talk to suspects looking to "engage in sexual conduct with children under the age of 17."
"We want to send a clear message: we will not tolerate any attempt to harm our children. The Fort Worth Police Department, alongside our dedicated partners, will continue to use every resource at our disposal to target and bring these offenders to justice," said Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes in a statement.
The suspects were charged with the online solicitation of a child.
Suspects Arrested in Operation Heatwave
Alexis Javier Sanchez Monreal, 25 years old - Dallas, TX
Anthony Harold Knox, 56 years old - Fort Worth, TX
Cesar Ignacio Hernandez Perez, 31 years old - Arlington, TX
Craig Bridgland, 42 years old - Brisbane, Australia
Daniel Carlos Ramos, 40 years old - Fort Worth, TX
Donte Tejuan Zachary, 44 years old - Fort Worth, TX
Jonathan Hayden Pond, 33 years old - Fort Worth, TX
Jose Luis Estrada Jr., 42 years old - Krum, TX
Joseph Thomas Milarski, 21 years old - Bedford, TX
Ralph Edward Hoskins, 32 years old - Arlington, TX
Todd Brian Behney, 53 years old - Fort Worth, TX
(FOX40.COM) Two people who were riding together on a Harley Davidson motorcycle were killed in a Yuba County crash Monday night, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Around 11:28 p.m., a 21-year-old man in a Toyota Corolla left a driveway on the 8600 block of Highway 70 and turned towards Highway 70 southbound. At the same time, a 62-year-old man and a 63-year-old woman were headed northbound in the second lane. As the Corolla turned toward the highway it pulled directly into the path of the Harley Davidson, according to CHP.
Man receives 36-year sentence for DUI crash that killed four members of a Northern California family
The motorcycle reportedly crashed into the left rear door of the Corolla and both riders were ejected. CHP said the riders were pronounced dead at the scene. No alcohol or drugs were considered to be a factor in the incident.
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ROSCOE, Ill. (WTVO) NorthPointe Health and Wellness is requesting the state of Illinois to turn part of its Roscoe facility into a neighborhood hospital.
So our customer continues to ask us for resources locally. And one of those resources is a freestanding emergency room, said Campus Director Gus Larson. NorthPointe was just that extension of caring for people. So we did a brick-and-mortar here in 2007. And over the course of time, our customers have asked for more.
NorthPointe has continued to provide improvements for patients over the years. In 2015, the campus received approval from the state for outpatient surgery, and last year, added a free-standing birth center as well.
The director said the campus wants to meet even more medical expectations from the community.
You know, the people live and work in a community that meets their needs, and meeting their needs is also meeting their medical needs, said Larson.
As of now, anyone calling 911 near NorthPointe will be transported by ambulance to Rockford or Beloit. The addition of an emergency room on NorthPointes campus would allow more people to be taken care of closer to home.
The neighborhood hospital would include 10 beds as well.
Youve probably heard long wait times as a nationwide story in emergency rooms. And we believe that happens because a lot of the communities are all funneling into the bigger cities, said Larson. We feel that we could help address some of those delays by providing emergency care close to home.
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FILE - A police officer stands guard outside the entrance of the courthouse in Oslo, Norway, April 16, 2012. Norwegian police said Wednesday that they have detained a man in his 50s for inciting crimes against humanity in Cameroon. It was the first time that Norway was embarking on such legal proceeding for inciting crimes against humanity, police said. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
OSLO, Norway (AP) Norwegian police said Wednesday that they had detained a German national of Cameroonian heritage for allegedly inciting crimes against humanity in war-torn Cameroon, the first time Norway was embarking on legal proceedings for such crimes.
The man, who is in his 50s, lives in Norway but has not been named. He was detained because the National Criminal Investigation Service, known in Norway as KRIPOS, said that they believed he had a central role in an ongoing armed conflict in Cameroon.
Anette Berger, the prosecutor in the case, said, We are in an early phase of the investigation, and there are several investigative steps that remain."
On Wednesday, KRIPOS would seek his custody from the Oslo District Court on the basis of the risk of tampering with evidence.
For the past seven years, a protracted armed conflict known as the Anglophone crisis has devastated communities across the west African country's two English-speaking regions officially called Northwest and Southwest as armed separatists clash with government forces.
Following a crackdown on peaceful protests in 2016, armed rebel groups mobilized and vowed to fight for the independence of the Anglophone areas, which they call Ambazonia.
The ensuing conflict with the Cameroonian military has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced over 760,000 others, according to the International Crisis Group. The rebel groups, as well as the military and police, have been accused of committing abuses and crimes against civilians.
(NewsNation) The CEO of the company which makes popular drugs Ozempic and Wegovy was grilled by lawmakers over the medications high prices in the United States.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. called the hearing after learning that Americans pay $969 for the weight loss and diabetes drug Ozemic but Novo Nordisk charges $155 for the same drug in Canada and only $59 in Germany. Sanders accused Novo Nordisk of unfairly jacking up the price of both drugs, making it out of reach for millions of Americans, NewsNation parent company Nexstar reported.
It is not just an issue of corporate greed. It is a profound moral issue, Sanders, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said, according to Nexstar.
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Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jrgensen, however, said that lowering the prices could result in unintended consequences like the drug being dropped completely from insurance companies.
You have said that our amazing medicines cant help patients if they cant afford them. That is true, Jrgensen said. It is also true that the full value of Ozempic and Wegovy can only be realized if patients can access them, patients need both affordability and access.
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A federal judge in the nation's capital sentenced a Colorado Springs man on Wednesday to seven months in prison after he was found guilty of multiple criminal charges for his role in storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Tyler Earl Ethridge, 35, was found guilty on six charges on Sept. 8, 2023, in U.S. District Court in Washington for his role in storming the Capitol and refusing to leave when engaged by law enforcement.
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced Ethridge on a felony offense of civil disorder and misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a capitol and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol. Ethridge was also given 24 months of supervised release following his prison sentence and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
According to evidence presented during the trial, Ethridge traveled from Colorado to Washington and, on Jan. 6, 2021, attended former President Donald Trumps Stop the Steal rally on the National Mall.
Prosecutors showed during trial that Ethridge entered the Capitol at 2:35 p.m. and went to the Rotunda, where he filmed several videos that he posted on social media, according to court documents.
In one of the videos, Ethridge said "I don't want to say that what we're doing is right, but if the election is being stolen, what is it going to take?" "I'm probably going to lose my job as pastor after this ... I think we're to a point where talk is cheap. If this makes me lose my reputation, I don't care."
Minutes after leaving the Rotunda, Ethridge was said to have joined a crowd of rioters in the hallway between the Rotunda and the Senate Chamber. There, Ethridge, alongside the other rioters, resisted police efforts to clear the area by bracing his body and attempting to physically resist the officers efforts to move him out of the hallway.
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Previous reporting from The Gazette details that Ethridge also removed fencing on the Capitol's northwest approach and encouraged the crowd to keep fighting after he climbed a median before entering the Capitol.
Ethridge remained active on social media following his return back to Colorado. In one post in September 2021, he wrote, Dont be afraid of what they sentence you with. Im not. Im ready for whatever Ill be charged with. America is still primed and ready.
The FBI arrested Ethridge on July 8, 2022, in Colorado.
According to other Gazette reporting, Ethridge was a 2017 graduate of the Practical Government School at Andrew Wommack's Charis Bible College in Woodland Park.
At the time of the riots, Ethridge was a pastor at Christ-Center Church of Tampa in Dover, Fla. The congregation announced on Jan. 19 that he was no longer with the parish.
In the 44 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,504 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 560 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony, according to an FBI press release sent out Wednesday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will leave Washington today, along with the rest of his House and Senate colleagues, without committing to observing regular order and certifying the result of the election if Vice President Kamala Harris were to win in a few short weeks.
Congress wont be back in session until after the November 5 presidential election.
Its one of two nausea-inducing actions taken by Johnson this week, as hes worked the last several days to try to get his conference on the same page about a plan to avert a government shutdown when funding runs out at the end of the month. That effort to coalesce House Republicans around a singular funding plan was fruitless and Johnson ended up working with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution Wednesday. HR 9747 makes its way to the Senate this evening and, if passed, will kick government funding drama back to December, creating the risk of a government shutdown just a few days ahead of Jan. 6 2025, as various components of the government brace for the potential mayhem that may hover around certifying the election results.
On the funding side of things, Johnson struggled with the same issues that have plagued his conference since before he became the designated Kevin McCarthy replacement a year ago. In a bid to please Donald Trump and the most MAGA of House Republicans, Johnson committed earlier this month to attaching the SAVE Act to any funding legislation brought forward for a floor vote. But GOP hardliners abandoned the plan once it became clear that Johnson intended to attach the voting legislation which would outlaw non-citizen voting (already illegal) and discourage voter participation by requiring an additional voter-registration hurdle, proof of citizenship to a stopgap bill, a temporary funding solution that deficit hawks despise.
In the end, he worked with Democrats and some Republicans to pass a bill that will fund the government at current levels until Dec. 20 and give $230 million-plus in emergency funds to the Secret Service in the wake of recent assassination attempts on Trump. Kicking another crucial funding deadline to the end of the year, so close to inauguration and Jan. 6, has Democrats uneasy.
Which brings us back to Johnsons other odious choice: The speaker is leaving town after prevaricating on whether Congress should play its normal role in certifying the results of the election. When asked during a press conference on Tuesday if hed commit to observing regular order in the certification process of the 2024 election, even if Kamala Harris beats Donald Trump, Johnson hedged.
Well of course if we have a free, fair, and safe election, were going to follow the Constitution. Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely, he said.
That big if fits alongside the various other cryptic, intentionally vague lines that Trump and his allies have been employing for months as they dodge questions about accepting the results of the election. Trump has said repeatedly that he will only accept the results if the election is fair.
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NATCHITOCHES, La. (KTAL/KMSS) Northwestern State Universitys Office of Electronic and Continuing Education will offer a Notary Public Exam Prep Course starting Tuesday, Oct. 29.
According to a press release from NSU, in partnership with Louisiana State University Shreveport, this 52-hour course is an introduction to notary public fundamentals. The instructor, attorney and notary Jennifer Brown distributes significant course study guides and materials to assist in preparation for the exam.
This course will be delivered via online video conferencing. The instructor will provide participants with a conferencing link to join the class once enrolled.
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Requirements for the course are that participants must have internet access, a camera and sound. The test is based on the Louisiana Secretary of States newest edition of The Fundamentals of Louisiana Notarial Law and Practice, which is available only at the Secretary of States website.
Officials say that participants must have the book before the end of the course but the 2025 books will not be be available until February 2025. The instructor will provide detailed notes to study by and help you during the class until the book is available.
To learn more about qualifications Please visit the Louisiana Secretary of States website or call (225) 922-0507. In order to take the Louisiana State Notary Exam, students must be Louisiana residents and registered to vote in Louisiana.
The early bird fee is $430 until Oct. 23 and $450 thereafter.
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A big asteroid could threaten life on Earth -- but nuclear bombs could come to the rescue, a new laboratory experiment suggests (N. Bartmann) (N. Bartmann/EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY/AFP)
Humanity could use a nuclear bomb to deflect a massive, life-threatening asteroid hurtling towards Earth in the future, according to scientists who tested the theory in the laboratory by blasting X-rays at a marble-sized "mock asteroid".
The biggest real-life test of our planetary defences was carried out in 2022, when NASA's fridge-sized DART spacecraft smashed into a 160-metre (525-feet) wide asteroid, successfully knocking it well off course.
But for bigger asteroids, merely crashing spaceships into them will probably not do the trick.
When the roughly 10-kilometre wide Chicxulub asteroid struck the Yucatan peninsula around 66 million years ago, it is believed to have plunged Earth into darkness, sent kilometres-high tsunamis rippling around the globe and killed three quarters of all life -- including wiping out the dinosaurs.
We humans are hoping to avoid a similar fate.
There is no current threat looming, but scientists have been working on how to stave off any big asteroids that could come our way in the future.
A leading theory has been to be blow them up with a nuclear bomb -- a last-ditch plan famously depicted in the 1998 sci-fi action movie "Armageddon".
In the movie, Bruce Willis and a plucky team of drillers save Earth from an asteroid 1,000 kilometres wide -- roughly the size of Texas.
For a proof-of-concept study published in the journal Nature Physics this week, a team of US scientists worked on a much smaller scale, taking aim at a mock asteroid just 12 millimetres (half an inch) wide.
To test whether the theory would work, they used what was billed as the world's largest X-ray machine at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The machine is capable of generating "the brightest flash of X-rays in the world using 80 trillion watts of electricity", Sandia's Nathan Moore, the lead study author, told AFP.
Much of the energy created by a nuclear explosion is in the form of X-rays. Since there is no air in space, there would be no shockwave or fireball.
But the X-rays still pack a powerful punch.
- Turned into a 'rocket engine' -
For the lab experiment, the X-rays easily vaporised the surface of the mock asteroid.
The vaporising material then propelled the mock asteroid in the opposite direction, so that it effectively "turned into a rocket engine," Moore said.
It reached speeds of 250 kilometres an hour, "about as fast as a high-speed train," he added.
The test marked the first time that predictions about how X-rays would affect an asteroid had been confirmed, Moore said.
"It really proves this concept could work."
The scientists used modelling to scale up their experiment, estimating that X-rays from a nuclear blast could deflect an asteroid up to four kilometres wide -- if given enough advanced notice.
The biggest asteroids are the easiest to detect ahead of time, so "this approach could be quite viable" even for asteroids the size of the dinosaur-killing Chicxulub, Moore said.
The experiment was based on using a one-megaton nuclear weapon. The largest ever detonated was the 50-megaton Soviet Tsar Bomba.
If there was to be a planet-saving mission in the future, the nuclear bomb would need to be placed within a few kilometres of the asteroid -- and millions of kilometres away from Earth, Moore said.
- Asteroids come in many flavours -
Testing out the theory using a real nuke would be dangerous, hugely expensive -- and banned by international treaties.
But there is still plenty to be discovered before such a high-risk test.
The largest uncertainty right now is that asteroids can "come in many flavours", Moore said.
"We have to be prepared for every scenario."
For example, the asteroid hit by DART, Dimorphos, turned out to be a loosely held-together pile of rubble.
The European Space Agency's Hera mission is scheduled to launch next month on a mission to find out more about its composition -- and the finer details about how DART sent it packing.
Mary Burkey, a staff scientist at California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that was not involved in the new study, has run computer simulations about using nukes on asteroids.
She praised the study, saying that "being able to match my calculations to real-life data increases the credibility of my results."
Her simulations have also demonstrated that such a mission "would be a very effective means to defend planet Earth", Burkey told AFP.
"However, in order for it to work, there must be enough time after a mission for the extra push of velocity to move the asteroid's trajectory off Earth."
dl/bc
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) New York State Attorney General Letita James Office of Special Investigation released its report into the shooting death of Daniel Legler Tuesday. It determined no criminal charges should be pursued against the New York State Trooper who killed him.
Legler, 35, was shot by Trooper Dominick Caito in August 2023 after a police chase which started on I-490 West near Innovative Field ended in a crash near Rochester Tech Park.
Investigators said Legler did not stop when troopers tried to pull him over for an expired license plate. Police chased his car until he hit a rail, jumped a curb, and crashed into a field in Gates.
Body camera footage released last year shows Caito ordering Legler to stay in his car, saying, I have K9. K9 will get you. When Legler exits the car, Caito tells him to stay inside, saying he is at gunpoint.
Watch the full video (contains explicit language and graphic images)
Caito demands to see Leglers hands, warning him that he will be tased. Legler drops to the ground, at which point Caito tells him to roll over onto his chest. When Legler begins to sit up, Caito pushes him back, again commanding him to roll over and warning him that he will be tased.
Caito puts his hand on Leglers arms and chest, commanding him multiple times to roll over. Then there is a loud pop.
Caito backs up and five gunshots are heard in the video. Caito again orders Legler to get on the ground multiple times. He fires once more, and Legler falls.
According to the AG report:
The trooper asked Mr. Legler to turn around to be placed under arrest. Mr. Legler then stumbled backward to the ground and a physical struggle ensued as the trooper attempted to place Mr. Legler in handcuffs. During the struggle, the trooper heard a shot fired and backed away from Mr. Legler. The trooper then saw a gun in Mr. Leglers hand and discharged his service weapon in response. The trooper commanded Mr. Legler to remain on the ground, but Mr. Legler attempted to stand up and the trooper discharged his service weapon, striking Mr. Legler. Mr. Legler was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers recovered a gun at the scene.
According to the AGs OSI report, a prosecutor would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the trooper was not justified in using deadly force against Legler. It determined criminal charges should not be pursued.
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NYC doctors rally against ruling that limits their time with patients
NYC doctors rally against ruling that limits their time with patients
NEW YORK (PIX11) Dont touch patient time, every minute counts, was the chant of doctors who are furious over the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation setting the clock back on the amount of time doctors can spend with new patients, from 40 minutes to 20 minutes.
Because of the backlog of hundreds of patients waiting to see doctors, the new rule that took effect last week slashes in half the amount of time a doctor can tend to a new patient.
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This cut is a crisis in the making, declared Frances Quinn, the president of the Doctors Council.
To dramatize their alarm over the timing change, doctors staged a rally outside the Queens Hospital Center.
Our mission is to make our patients as healthy as possible. If were not able to address everything in the 20-minute limit, were going to miss something. Thats why were concerned, Dr. Jasmine Sandhu said.
Doctors claim they face a myriad of difficulties with new patients. Often its beyond the medical.
Many dont speak English. Frequently we have to get help to get the patients history. All this takes time, Dr. Sameer Misral noted.
Dr. Quinn added, The first appointment with the patient is about building trust. It cannot be rushed.
Doctors who are engaged in a contract dispute with the hospitals corporation say they are gravely concerned about staff morale and more importantly patient safety if they are not given adequate time with a physician. No one from Health and Hospitals has responded to PIX11 News request for comment.
Judy Wessler is a patient advocate who shares her concerns over the shorter visits with doctors.
It means abbreviated sloppy care. If its a first visit for a new patient, you gotta develop a new relationship and you dont do that in 20 minutes, Wessler said.
Its all a matter of time. The doctors say every minute counts and they hope the city listens to their concerns and rolls back on the shorter time, and allows doctors to utilize the time they need to provide quality health care.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
NYC professor who held machete to reporter's neck talks about slitting the masters throat'
NYC professor who held machete to reporter's neck talks about slitting the masters throat'
The former New York City college art professor who famously put a machete to the neck of a newspaper reporter was caught chanting about "slitting the masters throat" during an anti-Israel rally last week.
Shellyne Rodriguez, who previously taught at Hunter College and at the Cooper Union School of Art, spoke to a crowd Friday outside the Brooklyn Museum, the New York Post reported.
"Our ancestors dreamed of us slitting the masters throat," Rodriguez chanted in the video while wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with "Police Murder People."
"Our ancestors are horrified to see Black people, Latinx people, Indigenous people, children of migrants, and Muslims joining the slave patrol NYPD and [inaudible] plantation overseers in the jails and prisons," she said.
Columbia Rabbi Tells Jewish Students To Leave Campus, Warns That School, Nypd 'Cannot Guarantee Your Safety'
Shellyne Rodriguez threatens a New York Post reporter by holding a large machete to his throat on May 23, 2023, in the Bronx. Rodriguez was reportedly heard last week making anti-Israel and anti-police chants at a rally in Brooklyn.
The crowd repeated each chant and applauded Rodriguez when she finished speaking, according to video footage of the rally.
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Rodriguez was fired from Hunter College in 2023 after she was seen on video lunging from her apartment and into the hallway where she held a machete to veteran New York Post reporter Reuven Fentons throat.
"Get the f-- away from my door, or Im gonna chop you up with this machete!" she yelled, holding the blade to the reporters throat, she told Fenton, the Post reported.
Ivy League Anti-israel Agitators' Protests Spiral Into 'Actual Terror Organization,' Professor Warns
Shellyne Rodriguez leaves The Bronx County Hall of Justice after being sentenced to 13 months of behavioral therapy for menacing.
The reporter was looking for comment after Rodriguez lashed out at students at a table with anti-abortion materials, which was caught on camera. She called the material "f- - -ing propaganda" before throwing items from the display.
After lunging at Fenton, Rodriguez followed him to the street and chased him with a machete, the New York Police Department said.
She eventually pleaded guilty to harassment and menacing and was ordered to complete 13 months of behavioral therapy.
Shellyne Rodriguez walks along the street in the Bronx.
Rodriguez was promptly fired from Hunter College. In an email to students, she blamed termination on "fascism," according to an Instagram post by the Cooper Union Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.
A few months later, Rodriguez was subsequently sacked from her teaching gig at Cooper Union for making anti-Israel remarks while participating in a panel calling for divestment from the Jewish state.
Original article source: NYC professor who held machete to reporter's neck talks about slitting the masters throat'
NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) Melissa Aviles-Ramos will take over as the new chancellor of New York City Public Schools once chancellor David Banks leaves the post at the end of the year, Banks announced Wednesday.
Im really thrilled that the person who will be succeeding me in this role is our Deputy Chancellor Melissa Ramos, Banks said.
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Aviles-Ramos currently serves as deputy chancellor of family and community engagement. Before that, she worked as Banks chief of staff and Vice President of Monroe College. City officials credited Aviles-Ramos with spearheading the citys education plan for asylum-seekers.
We want to invest in New York City, and we dont want to invest in the present, we want to invest in the future, Aviles-Ramos said Wednesday.
Aviles-Ramos, a Bronx native, started her career as an English teacher at Harry S Truman High School, where she ultimately served as principal. She is currently the highest-ranking Latina and Spanish-speaking leader in New York City Public Schools, according to city officials.
Aviles-Ramos brings a wealth of knowledge of the citys public school system. She has served as a devoted teacher, assistant principal, principal, deputy superintendent, and acting superintendent before transitioning to a central office position where she played a pivotal role in developing Project Open Arms, city officials said.
Banks on Tuesday announced he will step down at the end of the year, a move he said has been planned for some time. Aviles-Ramos said she will follow through on projects started under Banks when she takes her new post on Jan. 1, 2025.
Over the course of 17 years, Ive seen a few chancellors come and go every now and then, and weve seen some changes. And they dont feel good on the ground. People start to worry about stability, continuity, Aviles-Ramos said. I want you to see me as a symbol of stability.
Banks joined a handful of other top city officials to leave their posts in recent weeks. Earlier this month, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban and chief legal counsel Liza Zornberg announced their resignations.
On Monday, Commissioner of New York Citys Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Ashwin Vasan announced his resignation.
Banks on Wednesday said his decision to leave has nothing to do with a recent FBI raid on the home he shares with First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.
Im out of gas, Banks said. Ive given it everything that I have.
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.
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NEW YORK (PIX11) Officers respond to calls and emergencies. They also make connections and must communicate in many ways, including American Sign Language.
NYPD Community Affairs works to build bridges with communities. To recognize National Deaf Awareness Month, the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau is visiting members of the deaf and hearing-impaired community.
The unit has also marked a police cruiser with decals and signs for the community.
Detective Angel Familia is with the NYPDs Community Affairs Bureau. We can tap into diverse communities, Familia said.
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The assignment on Tuesday from the 45th precinct in the Bronx took them to a school parking lot in Throggs Neck. The students attend St. Josephs School for the Deaf.
Familia has made a special impression on them because he speaks their language.
Both my parents are deaf. My first language was American Sign Language. We get to communicate with them in their primary language, the detective said.
Familia does educational events and also responds to calls and works cases when a sign language interpreter is required.
At St. Josephs, the field trip to see the cruiser and meet officers is important to the students.
Community Affairs has done great things to reach out and to provide access and teach that there are positive interactions with the police department, said Debra Arles with St. Josephs.
NYPD Community Affairs works with school safety, clergy and crime prevention. They are looking to make more connections.
Every day, I speak to community leaders on the phone. Our job is to build a relationship and connect to the local precinct, said Assistant Commissioner for NYPD Community Affairs Alden Isiah Foster.
The bureau and cruiser will be making other stops around New York City.
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NYSP asking for publics help in stolen vehicle complaint
WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWTI) The New York State Police are asking for the publics assistance regarding a stolen vehicle complaint.
Around noon on September 16, State Police responded to State Route 12F in the town of Watertown for a stolen vehicle complaint of a 2022 Chevrolet C/K 1500.
Authorities in Watertown are attempting to identify the suspect who was captured on surveillance camera exiting the vehicle and entering Best Buy in Salmon Run Mall in Watertown.
Anyone who recognizes the individual in the photo is asked to contact State Police at (315) 366-6000 and reference case #NY2400676236.
(Courtesy of New York State Police)
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) A driver is in critical condition after he allegedly crashed a stolen car at the intersection of Nester Street and Klein Street.
The crash happened Tuesday afternoon after New York State Police said they spotted a stolen Chevy Equinox in the city. They tried to stop the vehicle, which took off from them.
Troopers said the chase led them to the intersection where the driver crashed into an uninvolved Kia and then crashed into a tree.
NYSP said the driver of the stolen vehicle was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital with life-threatening injuries. He is in critical, but stable condition. The passenger in the stolen vehicle and the driver of the Kia had minor injuries.
NYSP is continuing the investigation.
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Two Colorado Springs middle school students were hospitalized and a man was arrested after an overdose on psilocybin mushrooms at the school Tuesday morning, police said.
At about 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, a school resource officer at Fox Meadow Middle School in Harrison District 2 reported that two students had overdosed. Both were taken to Children's Hospital in Colorado Springs.
Police said two students along with two other teenagers purchased the mushrooms from an adult drug dealer Monday night.
The four, ranging in age from 12 to 16, contacted the dealer through the app Telegram and bought the drugs in the King Soopers parking lot at 815 Cheyenne Meadows Road.
Detectives worked with the youths' parents to recover the remaining mushrooms as evidence and to contact the dealer with one of their phones.
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Posing as one of the teens, detectives arranged another meeting with the dealer and subsequently arrested Damien Solano, who was carrying two ounces of mushrooms at the time, police said.
Solano, 21, faces several charges including four counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, one count of an attempted sale and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Solano's first court arraignment was scheduled Wednesday afternoon.
According to Christine O'Brien, a D-2 spokeswoman, the two students were treated and released to their families .
"We appreciate the diligence of our education staff, our students, and families who immediately report concerns like these," she wrote in an email to The Gazette.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 Tuesday to censure embattled member Andrew Do. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The Orange County Board of Supervisors censured Andrew Do on Tuesday marking another significant, if ceremonial, rebuke of the embattled politician.
In a three-page resolution, the board strongly and publicly" condemned Do "for his failure to abide by the code of ethics and commitment to public service, and for the reckless judgment and favoritism he has demonstrated.
The censure was approved 4-0, with Do absent. The supervisor, who is in the last year of his final term, has not attended a board meeting since Aug. 13, having been marked as an excused absence three times.
Do did not return an email seeking comment.
Read more: Orange County demands group linked to supervisor's daughter return millions of dollars
The censure follows the board's decision to remove Do from all committee and board appointments on Sept. 10 . He has also faced calls to resign from the board.
In a lawsuit filed Aug. 15, Orange County alleged that executives at a nonprofit, the Viet America Society, had brazenly plundered taxpayer money meant to feed needy seniors during the pandemic.
Among the executives named in the lawsuit was Do's daughter, Rhiannon. LAist previously reported that Do directed or voted to direct as much as $13.5 million to Viet America Society without disclosing that his daughter was connected to the group.
In early August, the county demanded that Viet America Society return $2.2 million after the organization failed to prove to auditors and the county how it spent the money, or that it had done the work it was hired to do.
Read more: Nonprofit and supervisor's daughter 'brazenly plundered' tax dollars, Orange County says in lawsuit
The lawsuit alleges some of those funds were instead used to purchase multiple homes.
Rhiannon Do, 23, is alleged to have used county dollars to buy a home in Tustin in July 2023. The sale price was $1.035 million, according to the real estate site Redfin.
Rhiannon Dos attorney, David Wiechert, said in a previous email to The Times that she is a hardworking, honest, and law-abiding young woman.
The third-year law student at UC Irvine also previously interned at the Orange County district attorneys office for three months while officials were preparing to bring a suit against Viet America Society.
Read more: While an Orange County supervisor was under scrutiny, his daughter interned with county prosecutors
After the lawsuit was filed, federal agents raided the homes of Rhiannon and Andrew Do.
The board-approved censure asserts that Andrew Do demonstrated reckless and unethical conduct in the performance of his duties as a fiduciary of public funds.
Supervisor Andrew Do brazenly exploited his position of power to enrich his family and friends under the guise of feeding the elderly, supporting veterans and hosting community events, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley said in a statement .
Foley has called on Do to resign, as has state Sen. Janet Nguyen (R-Huntington Beach), who is running to succeed him on the board. Frances Marquez, who is also running for the vacant seat, similarly called for Do to resign.
The lawsuit was moved last month from Orange County to San Diego County. A motion hearing is set for Oct. 18.
Updates:
8:10 a.m. Sept. 26, 2024: Updated with a board candidate Frances Marquez calling on Do to resign.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
For the second time in a week, a metro Detroit library is closed due to pest control issues.
The Oak Park Public Library is temporarily closed amid concerns found in an inspection Tuesday, the library announced on Facebook. Staff brought in a pest control company to address the issue, according to the post.
"Given customer concerns and OSHA recommendations on the topic, the City of Oak Park Public Library conducted a thorough inspection of the library facility today," the post read. "During inspection, some concerns were noted, and a professional pest control company has been contacted to evaluate the need for further action."
On Tuesday afternoon, a library patron and staff member saw insects on two chairs in the library's computer lab area, according to information emailed from Oak Park spokeswoman Brittany Toth. The library immediately closed and removed the chairs from the building, according to the email. Pest control later confirmed the insects in question were bedbugs, according to the email.
The library remained closed Wednesday as a pest control company inspected and cleared the building, according to the email. The building will undergo a pest control treatment and cleaning Wednesday before reopening to the public Thursday, the email said.
"Although not required, out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to preventively treat and professionally clean the facility prior to reopening," according to the email. "We feel that taking every available action to ensure our public spaces are safe, comfortable and accessible for both our staff and community members goes without question here in the City of Oak Park."
Pests, particularly bedbugs, are not a new issue at libraries in metro Detroit or nationwide. Libraries across metro Detroit have had to deal with this issue over the years, some implementing prevention protocols to help keep the bugs at bay.
Earlier this week, the Royal Oak Public Library reopened after a brief closure amid insect reports.
The library closed Saturday after bugs were reported to have come out of a DVD case returned to the library. Staff then brought in a pest control company for an inspection and the library was cleared to reopen by Monday afternoon. The library later said a cockroach had been found.
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Both Oak Park and Royal Oak libraries are part of a network of metro Detroit libraries called The Library Network, where library cardholders can get reciprocal privileges at member libraries, including checking out books.
The Ferndale Area District Library, which is a member of the network, does quarterly inspections and regularly checks items coming into the library to prevent infestations, Library Director Jordan Wright said Wednesday. The library works with a company using a bedbug-trained dog for the inspections, Wright said.
Berkley Public Library Director Matt Church said Wednesday that staff keep an eye out for potential issues, though the library doesn't conduct formal inspections with a pest control company.
Similarly, the nearby Huntington Woods Library doesn't work with a pest control company for formal inspections but staff are always checking for issues, Library Director Deb Hemmye said Wednesday.
A request for comment was left Wednesday with the Michigan Library Association.
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Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Oak Park Public Library closes amid pest control issue
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) urged New York City Mayor Eric Adams to resign in a social media post Wednesday, claiming that the investigations, resignations and vacancies surrounding his administration are threatening the ability of the government to function.
I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City. The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening gov function. Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration, Ocasio-Cortez said Wednesday in a post on the social platform X.
For the good of the city, he should resign, she added.
In an emailed statement, Adams said that Ocasio-Cortezs push for him to resign is due to rumors and innuendo.
For anyone who self-righteously claims people charged with serious crimes should not be in jail to now say that the second Black mayor of New York should resign because of rumors and innuendo without even a single charge being filed is the height of hypocrisy, he said in the statement.
I am leading this city to protect it from exactly that kind of phony politics. The people of this city elected me to fight for them, and I will stay and fight no matter what, he added.
Adams and his associates face several inquiries.
Earlier this month, federal agents conducted searches of the homes of New York Citys police commissioner and at least three top deputies to Adams, The Hill reported.
The searches come after Adams had his home raided by the FBI in February as part of an investigation conducted by the U.S. attorneys office in Brooklyn.
His associates homes were searched months earlier as part of a federal corruption probe centered on the mayors 2021 election campaign, which allegedly conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations.
In the post, Ocasio-Cortez included a link to a New York Times article that describes her call on Adams to resign.
New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks submitted his resignation earlier this week after federal agents seized his phone earlier this month, The Associated Press reported.
Earlier this month, New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban also resigned nearly a week after the FBI seized his devices.
The New York Times reported that Adams claims he isnt leaving and that neither he nor his closest associates have been formally accused of wrongdoing.
We are constantly bringing in new people, he told reporters at City Hall, according to The New York Times. So lets not give the image that all of a sudden, there are people saying, Hey, I dont want to be in city government.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) defended Adams on Wednesday morning.
As far as I can tell, Mayor Adams is trying to do the best that he can in one of the toughest jobs in the world to keep the focus on meeting the needs of the residents of the people of New York City, Jeffries said.
The Hill reported Tuesday that federal investigators have declined to comment on the ongoing investigation connected to the seizures.
Story updated at 4:56 p.m. EDT
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
FILE PHOTO: New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during an event at City Hall in New York
FILE PHOTO: New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during an event at City Hall in New York
By Jasper Ward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday called on New York City Mayor Eric Adams to resign "for the good of the city" as senior city administration officials have become entangled in multiple federal corruption investigations.
"I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City," Ocasio-Cortez, a New York congresswoman who represents parts of the city, said in a post on X.
"The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening gov function. Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration."
David Banks, the chancellor of the city's public school system, became the latest senior official in New York City to announce his resignation on Wednesday. The New York Times reported that Banks' phone was seized by federal agents as part of a bribery investigation weeks earlier.
Edward Caban resigned from his post as New York City police commissioner on Thursday, a week after federal investigators seized his phone.
Agents also seized phones and searched the homes of several other high-ranking officials and advisers in Adams' administration.
In November, FBI agents seized electronic devices belonging to the mayor. Adams, a former police captain who became mayor in 2022, has said he is cooperating with all investigations and has instructed his officials to do the same, and that his priority remains serving New Yorkers.
No one has been charged with wrongdoing.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
Officer Cade Moritz discharged from hospital 8 days after being shot in the head
DES MOINES, Iowa A Des Moines police officer who was shot in the head earlier this month during an exchange of gunfire with a suspect is continuing to recover after being discharged from the hospital.
Sgt. Paul Parizek, the spokesperson for the Des Moines Police Department, said Senior Police Officer Cade Moritz was released Tuesday. The department posted photos on social media of Moritz walking out of MercyOne Medical Center, surrounded by family, friends, and fellow officers, including another officer injured in the shooting Senior Police Officer Jacob Boekhoff.
DMPS considers school closures, boundary changes due to dwindling enrollment
According to the post, DMPD officers provided an escort out of Des Moines as Moritz moved on to continue recovering at a rehabilitation program.
SPO Moritz walked out of the hospital yesterday, 8 days after being shot in the line of duty. (Courtesy: Des Moines Police Department)
SPO Jacob Boekhoff, who was also shot in the same incident, joined SPO Moritz and his fiancee Lexi, and a crowd of officers as SPO Moritz left the hospital yesterday.(Courtesy: Des Moines Police Department)
DMPD officers provided SPO Moritz an escort as he left the city and moved on to begin the next stage of his recovery at a rehabilitation program. (Courtesy: Des Moines Police Department)
Moritz and Boekhoff were injured in a September 16th shooting after they tried to take 37-year-old Joshua Dean Green, of Carlisle, into custody following a short chase that began in the 2500 block of Easton Boulevard.
After Greens car crashed police say he refused officers orders to exit the vehicle. Officers tried to remove him and deployed a Taser. During the struggle, police say Green pulled out a gun and shot at officers, injuring Moritz and Boekhoff. Officers returned gunfire, hitting Green. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two other officers were involved in the shooting and remain on standard administrative leave while the investigation of the incident is being completed, they are Captain Chad Steffen, a 20-year veteran of the department, and Senior Police Officer Frankie Contreras, a three-year law enforcement veteran.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) Oct. 15 remains the date for final completion of the new Woodbury County LEC and jail.
Shane Albrecht with Baker Group told LEC Authority members Tuesday that thats the target for completion. Albrecht reported work on the roof and HVAC system as well as lawn seeding remain, but he was unable to provide an update on seismic bracing that the general contractor failed to install as part of the fire suppression system.
Feedback from recent public tours of the new jail has been positive, according to chief deputy Tony Wingert. Additionally, he said its estimated 500 people toured the building on Sept. 18.
Comments were very positive, Wingert said. We had people questioning a few things, but when we explained whatever their question was, they seemed to accept that very well.
How to stay safe with farm equipment on the roads
It was very positive, and I talked with people the rest of the weekend, people that had gone, LEC Authority member Mark Nelson said. I was at a meeting the next day with a club that one of its members had gone on a tour with [Woodbury County Sheriff Chad Sheehan] and was just blown away by what he had seen out there.
Concerning the current jail facility, Nelson inquired if tours of the old building could also be given at a later date, but no action was taken. The authority next meets Oct. 15.
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An "all-clear" was declared Wednesday in a township near Cincinnati, a day after a chemical gas leak from a rail tanker prompted fears of an explosion and triggered hundreds of evacuations.
The evacuation orders that had been issued Tuesday within a half-mile radius of the incident in Whitewater Township about 22 miles west-northwest of Cincinnati have been lifted, and all roads have reopened, Little Miami Joint Fire and Rescue District Chief Mike Siefke said during a Wednesday evening news conference.
All initial reports did not indicate any health concerns. Theres no explosion, no loss of property, and the water is safe to drink," Siefke said.
Roughly 210 households in Whitewater Township had been under evacuation orders after colorless, odorless gas spewing from the tanker at State Route 128 and U.S. Route 50 was reported to first responders shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Authorities determined the chemical to be styrene, Siefke said. Its used in the production of plastic, rubber, fiberglass and other structural materials.
By Wednesday morning, the rail car was "no longer venting," Central Railroad of Indiana spokesperson John Keffer said. The car was "stabilized" and moved to its destination, Mike Miller of Central Railroad of Indiana said Wednesday night.
Firefighters try to contain a dangerous chemical leak from a train car in Whitewater Township, Ohio, on Tuesday.
The investigation is ongoing, but the probable cause of the leak was the additive stabilizer in the car became ineffective, Miller told reporters earlier.
Styrene is an extremely reactive chemical. For safe transport, stabilizing additives are added to control it. The released styrene likely reacted with oxygen and other elements in the air.
The first responders noticed the venting, Miller added. They were on site, we mobilized environmental contractors and we mobilized the scene.
The chemical can irritate the respiratory system, cause headaches and disorient those who breathe it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Long-term exposure has been associated with some forms of cancer, the CDC says, but it's not known as a direct killer.
Dr. Steve Feagins, the Hamilton County Public Health medical director, said during the Wednesday evening news conference that the amount of styrene exposure from the rail car leak was "not even close" to being enough to cause cancer.
Any cancers that may have been associated with styrene, its more like an industrial accident where people are covered with fluids. And so the venting that occurred into the atmosphere isnt even close to that type of exposure," he said.
The threat for the community was that the rail car tank had been heating up could explode, Siefke said Tuesday. Firefighters doused the container with water in an attempt to reverse its temperature rise, he said.
Environmental officials were taking parts-per-million measurements in the community to determine the leak's impact, he said. A representative for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday night that the agency had been checking the air quality "all night long" starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and its tests showed that "the air quality is very good."
I am not aware of any hospitalizations related to this event," Feagins said Wednesday.
Area public schools, the Three Rivers Local School District, shut down instruction early Tuesday and canceled instruction and all activities scheduled for Wednesday, according to the district website.
It wasn't yet clear who owns the rail car or its cargo, officials said Tuesday night. A spokesperson for Central Railroad of Indiana said in a statement that it was cooperating with first responders.
State Route 128 and U.S. Route 50, which takes motorists from coast to coast, were shut down in both directions near the site but reopened Wednesday.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
On the heels of Ohio handing out school report cards, the U.S. Department of Education recognized 14 Ohio schools as 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools for outstanding academic performance on Monday.
The National Blue Ribbon school program awards public and private elementary, middle or high schools for "overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups."
The program that started in 1982 nominates up to 420 schools each year, and this year 356 received the Blue Ribbon recognition. The Department of Education gave 316 public schools and 40 non-public schools the award.
The following are the 14 Ohio National Blue Ribbon Schools.
The 14 Ohio schools that achieved National Blue Ribbon status
Ashland: Reagan Elementary School
Broadview Heights: Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School
Chagrin Falls: Chagrin Falls Middle School
Columbiana: Columbiana South Side Middle School
Columbus Grove: Columbus Grove Elementary School
Creston: Norwayne Elementary School
Fort Loramie: Fort Loramie Junior-Senior High School
Hamilton: Morgan Elementary School
Logan: Chieftain Elementary School
Massillon: Tuslaw Middle School
Shadyside: Leona Ave Middle School
Steubenville: Harding Middle School
Westerville: Whittier Elementary School
Willoughby Heights: School of Innovation
Congratulations to the 14 Ohio schools recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools! These learning communities are among 356 schools being honored by @USEDgov for overall academic performance or the significant progress made to close achievement gaps. pic.twitter.com/EJo7AaOIRp OH Dept of Ed and Workforce (@OHEducation) September 23, 2024
What is a Blue Ribbon School?
Chief state school officers for all states nominate the public National Blue Ribbon schools.
The Department of Education has minimum requirements that certain schools must meet in order for them to achieve the award.
An example of one of the minimum requirements is for at least one-third of the public schools nominated from each state to have a "high percentage of students from disadvantaged backgrounds." The DOE said the chief officers of each state would define what constitutes a "disadvantaged background" but it could be students who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals; students with disabilities; students who are English language learners; migrant students; and/or students receiving services under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Public schools must also meet the criteria based on their students' performance on state assessments in reading and mathematics, or other measures of student performances, such as graduation rates or student growth on state assessments.
Schools can be awarded as "Exemplary High Performing Schools" or as "Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing."
Criteria for becoming a Blue Ribbon School
In order to receive the National Blue Ribbon honor, public schools must have at least 100 students enrolled and must have assessment data for at least 10 students in each tested grade for both reading and mathematics.
The Council for American Private Education (CAPE) is in charge of nominating non-public schools. The DOE advises schools who wish to be nominated to contact the organization directly.
Schools that enter the program can are gifted a National Blue Ribbon School award flag that the DOE call a "recognized emblem of exceptional teaching and learning."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: See the 14 Ohio schools honored as National Blue Ribbon Schools
Anti-gerrymandering protest. (Photo by Olivier Douliery, Getty Images.)
Ohioans will be voting on Issue 1 this November a redistricting reform proposal that could change the balance of power within the Statehouse.
We spent a day with supporters and a day with opponents. Here is what you need to know about the constitutional amendment.
What am I voting on?
[2024 Voter Guide: The candidates, the ballot measures, and the tools you need to cast your vote.]
You will be voting on whether Ohio should remove politicians from the redistricting process.
Currently, Ohio politicians draw the maps ones that directly impact them and their colleagues.
The Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC) is made up of seven spots. Two will always go to Republican lawmakers and two to Democrat lawmakers in the Statehouse. The three remaining seats include the governor, secretary of state, and auditor.
This led to the Ohio Redistricting mess of 2022, where a bipartisan Ohio Supreme Court struck down seven different passed maps as unconstitutionally gerrymandered, citing that the GOP members of the commission were drawing lines to unfairly benefit their party out of proportion with the statewide preferences of voters.
Voting yes on Issue 1 would create a 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission (OCRC), made up of Republican, Democratic and independent citizens who broadly represent the different geographic areas and demographics of the state.
Issue 1 bans current or former politicians, political party officials, lobbyists and large political donors from sitting on the commission.
It requires fair and impartial districts by making it unconstitutional to draw voting districts that discriminate against or favor any political party or individual politician. It also mandates the commission to operate under an open and independent process.
A bipartisan screening panel of two Republican and two Democratic retired judges would choose the commissioners through an extensive application process.
The commissioners would draw the maps based on federal law, also taking into account past election data on partisan preferences. The commission would make sure that each district has a reasonably equal population and that communities of interest are kept together.
Voting no on Issue 1 would be reject the citizen commission proposal and keep the current setup with politicians in charge of mapmaking.
Supporters
This isnt a fight between Democrats and Republicans its between citizens and politicians, according to the amendment backers.
Outside the Shaker Heights Public Library, Annette Tucker Sutherland stayed in the heat for hours to talk to potential voters.
Im out here trying to urge everybody to ban gerrymandering in Ohio and take control of legislative districts back from the politicians, Tucker Sutherland said.
She is part of Citizens Not Politicians, the nonpartisan coalition that proposed the constitutional amendment.
It is made up of about one hundred organizations ranging from unions to religious groups, plus an additional 70 business leaders with diverse political beliefs, all dedicated to banning gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is the purposeful manipulation of boundary lines to favor a political party.
Republican former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen OConnor is the face of the Yes campaign, showing that this isnt a partisan issue.
With this amendment on the ballot, Ohioans have the chance to reclaim their power from the self-serving politicians who want to stay in power long past their expiration date while ignoring the needs of the voters, OConnor said.
One example of why Tucker Sutherland said this is needed is because of 2011s Senate Bill 5, which ended or severely limited collective bargaining rights for workers. Despite the mass protest, the bill was signed into law. Voters were so angry that they put a referendum on the ballot, which passed overwhelmingly.
The past several years have brought numerous situations where critics say a majority of Ohio Republican politicians have sided against democracy, citing: Going against the will of the voters on anti-gerrymandering reform passed in both 2015 and 2018 by continually producing more gerrymandered maps; going against a bipartisan Ohio Supreme Court that rejected gerrymandered maps seven separate times, and refusing to cooperate in presenting constitutional maps; trying to subvert voters voices on abortion rights, recreational marijuana, and voter power over the Ohio Constitution; and failing to pass constitutional funding for public schools for decades. Critics point to gerrymandering that gives Republican lawmakers supermajorities in both chambers when an average of voter preferences over the last 10 cycles including 2022 shows Ohio as a 56 to 43 Republican to Democratic state, not a Republican 60+ state.
Something that brought together Democrats and Republicans in their anger against the state lawmakers was the August 2023 special election. Opponents struck down Issue 1, which Republican lawmakers proposed to make it harder to amend the state constitution. It failed 57-43%.
Twenty-two of Ohios 88 counties voted no against Issue 1, making up nearly 60% of the vote. Twelve fall into the urban category, six in the partly rural and four totally rural. Fifteen of the 22 counties voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
Issues like S.B. 5 and the 2023 August special election should never have happened in the first place because the citizens were so against it, advocates have argued.
Cuyahoga County voter James Posey said he feels like the current system leaves him unable to have his voice heard at the state level.
Do you think [the lawmakers] represent you and your interests? we asked him.
They havent been, they really havent been, Posey said.
That is why he is voting yes.
Ending gerrymandering is the key to making things more fair in Ohio and returning us to a point where we have a legislature that listens to all voters and engages in bipartisan collaboration, Tucker Sutherland said.
Citizens will be able to actually watch the process of mapmaking, she added.
There will be a full public and transparent process, she said. Therell be a lot of rules to make sure that the districts end up being as fair as we can possibly make them and fair.
The government should work for the benefit of all people, not to help themselves in their careers, he said.
Its been going on for a long time and theres a purpose behind it, Posey said. Its purpose is to keep in place the power of the people that are in power and thats an issue.
Opponents
Moving south to Medina County, opponents argue that Issue 1 would actually lead to less accountability.
We dont want any more bureaucracies and thats what this sets up, former Republican Congressman Jim Renacci said.
While sitting with us in Wadsworth, Renacci agreed that the redistricting system needs to change but claimed Issue 1 would cause more problems.
Everybody is political, but this system is supposed to find 15 people who arent political? he asked. Good luck doing that.
Gary Fox, a voter who recently ran for a seat in the Ohio House, is most concerned that the commissioners arent able to be held accountable as easily as lawmakers can be.
Although he didnt beat incumbent state Rep. Sharon Ray, R-Wadsworth, he said its an option for citizens to vote legislators out. When it comes to Issue 1, only the commission can remove a fellow commissioner.
To do away with a system where democratically elected people are responsible for those maps and to replace that with activists and bureaucrats who are not responsible to anybody and cannot be removed, thats like going out of the frying pan and into the fire, Fox said.
Bruce Christopher, a Republican and Medina County trustee, brought up financial concerns.
Each commissioner will get paid $125 per day that they work, plus reimbursement for travel.
That would be your tax money and my tax money, Christopher said, adding that any costs associated with lawsuits meaning the Ohio Supreme Court justices would be on the clock would also be funded by taxpayer dollars.
If someone is unhappy with the maps proposed by the commission, there is recourse. Ohioans could seek a review of the plan, and the state Supreme Court would provide an expedited process, selecting two special masters, (a map expert) to hold public hearings and then do an in-depth review of said map on if it complies with the law. If someone disagrees with that ruling by the masters, they can file additional objections which then go to the Supreme Court to hold additional hearings and review.
This still isnt foolproof because the Supreme Court that struck down the 2021-22 maps seven times was politically motivated, Fox said.
I believe activist judges were, and one of them was a Republican, insisting that we gerrymander, he added.
This whole bureaucratic mess of the commission could be avoided, Renacci said, if voters reject Issue 1.
This [current] system doesnt work, adding a new bureaucracy doesnt work, he said. But yes, lets find a way to keep it in the hands of the citizens.
We brought up 2015 and 2018, explaining that voters overwhelmingly chose redistricting reform to prevent gerrymandering but kept it with government officials.
Advocates are clear that gerrymandering is still rampant, even though they gave lawmakers at least two times to cut it out.
We asked about those advocates who now want a bureaucracy because they cant trust politicians.
Its the Democrats who decided they didnt like it because they didnt have enough people at the table, and thats the real key, Renacci responded. If it was reversed, the Republicans wouldnt like it either.
He brought up how Democrats gerrymandered decades ago, but now that they are not in power, they hate the process.
This is an ongoing system and its an ongoing battle that depends on whos in control, he added. I think in the end, if you put it in a bureaucracy, somebody would say, Well, now nobodys in control. Now its even worse because its unaccountable.'
Although rivals with Gov. Mike DeWine, who also opposes Issue 1, Renacci admitted that he agreed with him on his views of the proposed amendment.
If voters strike down Issue 1, then lawmakers can have further conversations about how to make the system work, he said.
Renacci believes AI technology could help fairly draw maps.
Lets find people who are competent and capable who can sit over a computer and do this in the best interests of Ohioans, he said.
Confusion
Each side of the debate is facing an issue right now. The campaigns are getting too confusing, some voters said.
The signage and slogans look similar.
Photos by WEWS.
Issue 1 supporters say this is a tactic by the opponents since they know the vote no side is going to fail, so they are hoping to trick people. Opponents deny this.
So, to be very clear:
VOTE YES if you want to create a 15-member independent, citizens panel for redistricting. This would remove politicians from the process.
VOTE NO to keep the status quo, using the current system with elected officials. It could also *possibly* mean the Republicans will try to come up with another option to put on the ballot.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) There are exactly two weeks left until the start of early voting on Oct. 8, with the deadline to register to vote one day before, on Oct. 7. Voters can check to see if you are registered or register at voteohio.gov.
A lot of folks think that they are registered to vote, and they forgot that they moved, or their name changed, director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio Jen Miller said. Others have been removed from the rolls if they havent voted recently, so we want every Ohioan to check their voter registration.
Miller said registering to vote, or verifying your registration, is not as daunting as it can seem.
As you have an Ohio-issued drivers license or state ID, you can update your registration or register for the first time online, she said. It doesnt take long at all, but there are also paper forms that you can get at libraries, at the DMV, at a lot of different facilities as well.
Watch: How safe are Ohios elections?
Voter rolls are constantly updated. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said if you are a consistent voter, it should not impact you.
We maintain accurate voter rolls, he said. This shouldnt be controversial. When people die, we take them off the voter rolls. When people move out of state, we take them off the voter rolls. Its what Ohioans expect me to do, is what the law requires.
When you go vote, also keep in mind new voter ID laws. Nearly two years ago, Ohio began requiring photo ID to vote, so you cannot use something like a utility bill addressed to you to verify your identity in person anymore.
If you go to your polling location or the early vote center and you dont have your ID, you can vote provisionally, but youre going to get instructions, make sure you dont throw that piece of paper away and itll tell you what steps you have to take to make sure your ballot counts, Miller said. Youll have to return to the board of Elections with proper ID to so that your ballot does count.
You can also request an absentee ballot now; the deadline to request one is Oct. 29. You do need to either mail in your absentee ballot request or take it to your board of elections.
The ballot will be mailed to your house, and then you will have to either mail it back or drive it to the board, but you do not need a photo ID to vote absentee. The deadline to turn in your absentee ballot is Nov. 5, or it must be mailed in and postmarked by Nov. 5. If you mail it and it does not arrive by Nov. 9, it will not count.
As far as ballot drop boxes go, there are new rules for those this election.
Drop boxes are an efficient and secure way to get your voter registration forms or absentee request forms to your ballot to the Board of Elections, Miller said. Theyre 600 pounds, theyre bolted to the ground, they have 24/7 video surveillance and theyre emptied by one Republican and one Democratic staffer. One thing to note this year is that if youre returning the ballot for a loved one, you will have to take that into the Board of Elections. Only individual voters can return their ballot to the 24/7 drop boxes.
When you are considering whether you want to cast your ballot in this election, which has races from the presidential all the way down to local levies, LaRose reminds you that voting in Ohio is secure, despite some rhetoric that says otherwise.
That kind of thing, unfortunately, happens from time to time, LaRose said. Our job, again, is to show Ohioans the facts and also to point out that Ohio is the gold standard. We do it well here. Theres always room for improvement. There is room for improvement in other states and my hope is that other states would follow Ohios example.
And no matter which race you care most about this fall, Ohioans will be able to see results on Election Day, which is Nov. 5. LaRose said other states have gotten that wrong, because they dont do the logistics they need to ahead of time.
Were going to get you those results done on election night, even if it means that weve got to pull a late night, he said. What that means is those are all the ballots that we currently have, those are the absentee votes, those are the ones that came in by mail, those are the early vote ballots. And, of course, the ones that are counted are cast on Election Day, all those get counted on election night. Why we have the official tally a few weeks later is because overseas military ballots still need to come in. We still need to leave time to resolve provisional ballots, for example.
LaRose said unless it is a very, very thin margin, Ohioans will know who won and lost that night.
On election night, the election was run so cleanly, so smoothly, so in such a trustworthy way that the person who came up short calls the winner and congratulates them. Thats the idea of how it should work, he said.
LaRose said there has been more than 99% accuracy in elections since he has been in office. Plus, he said ballots are verified.
Weve had people say, well, we shouldnt have electronic voting. We should just have paper voting. Well, you know, we have both in Ohio, he said. We have electronic results that give us that rapid result that we all want on election night and then we verify it with the paper. So those two in parallel, just one of the reasons why Ohioans know they can trust this process.
LaRose also said that voting machines are never connected to the internet, get tested before each election, and each polling place is run by both Democrats and Republicans.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Several stolen vehicles were recovered and eight individuals arrested after a multi-agency investigation in the Colorado Springs area, police said Tuesday.
No names were released, but the arrested individuals are facing a variety of felony and misdemeanor charges for alleged motor vehicle theft and drug-related offenses, police said in an online blotter entry.
A Beat Auto Theft Through Law Enforcement (BATTLE) team consisting of officers from the Colorado Springs Police Department, Colorado State Parole, and Colorado State Patrol conducted an operation in Colorado Springs and El Paso County.
Six stolen vehicles were recovered, according to police.
One of the arrestees was a targeted prolific offender and another was a convicted felon who had just been released from prison two days earlier, police said. The recently released offender was found in possession of a stolen vehicle, a handgun and a felony-level amount of narcotics, police said. Other suspects had active arrest warrants.
CINCINNATI A dangerous chemical leak at a railyard near Cincinnati forced nearby schools and residents to evacuate Tuesday as officials warned of a possible threat of an explosion.
Emergency officials continued to work at the scene of a railcar leaking styrene on Tuesday night in Whitewater Township near Cleves, just west of Cincinnati. Around a dozen agencies, including the Greater Cincinnati Hazardous Materials Unit, responded when the railcar started leaking, said Mike Siefke, chief of Little Miami Joint Fire and Rescue District.
Styrene is a flammable gas and can be fatal if inhaled. The chemical is also considered a probable human carcinogen that can damage organs, inflame lungs, and make it hard to breathe, according to previous reporting from the Cincinnati Enquirer, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Officials said the initial call related to the chemical leak went out at 12:46 p.m. Tuesday and a spokesperson for Central Railroad of Indiana was notified around 1 p.m. that the railcar was venting styrene. The railroad does not own the railcar but it was on the company's property, the spokesperson added.
Residents near Cleves were urged to leave their homes due to the chemical leak, according to the Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency. Officials have yet to say what railroad was transporting the chemicals or if any other hazardous chemicals were being stored on board.
No civilian or firefighter injuries were reported. Siefke said a few residents have sought medical attention, but he did not know how many or for what they were treated.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said personnel from the Federal Railroad Administration were en route to the incident. The Ohio EPA said its Emergency Response team was at the scene to assist local emergency responders, adding that the volume of styrene released is still unknown.
At a 10 p.m. briefing Tuesday, Siefke said there are still concerns about a possible explosion, although the car's temperature has been lowered by spraying it with water.
'Couldve been a lot worse'
Siefke said that air monitoring for styrene had begun as officials attempted to collect data to determine whether the evacuation and shelter-in-place orders were set appropriately. Currently, the radius for evacuation is a half mile from the leaking car.
The first results from the air monitoring will be known by early Wednesday, which is expected to determine if the radius of the shelter-in-place order should be changed from its current three-quarters of a mile.
Officials initially told residents to stay indoors and seal off doors and windows, and later issued an evacuation order for some. A shelter was opened at the Whitewater Township Community Center, where officials said about a half-dozen people were sheltering there.
Andrew Knapp, director of the Hamilton County Communications Center, said that there are about 210 residential households in the half-mile evacuation circle.
"So were very fortunate there are a limited number of residential homes," Knapp said. "It couldve been a lot worse if it were somewhere else.
Local schools were also evacuated Tuesday afternoon after the railcar began venting styrene. Three Rivers Local School District said on its website that the district will be closed on Wednesday.
Some residents displaced
Charlie Davis, 74, was watching a movie in his Hooven home when he heard banging on the door. A police officer was going door to door on his street warning residents of the evacuation order.
When he came outside, he said the air smelled of gasoline and his eyes started to burn. I know people who ignored (the evacuation order), but not me. Ive got too many health problems, he said.
Charles Garner, 58, a Hooven resident, said he was visiting downtown when the order was placed. He couldnt make it home because U.S. Route 50 was shut down. His 92-year-old mother, also a Hooven resident, had to leave her home and was taken to the shelter.
Cincinnati styrene leak caused concern in 2005
In August 2005, styrene began leaking from a railcar in Cincinnati's East End. That also was not the result of a derailment, but the leak forced evacuations and shelter-in-place orders for residents.
After two days of fear that the 30,000-gallon tank car could explode, hazmat teams were able to contain the leak. A railcar had been left sitting over the summer for more than five months, leading the styrene inside to heat and leak out.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati railyard leak: Officials fear explosions after evacuations
WHITEWATER TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WDTN) One day after a toxic chemical was released from a train car in Hamilton County, a portion of residents are still unable to return home by themselves.
Hamilton County Emergency Management and Homeland Security updated the public at noon on Wednesday saying an evacuation remains in effect for a 0.5 mile radius of the area of U.S. 50, S.R. 128 and Valley Junction Road.
HCEM confirmed Styrene gas was noticeably leaking from a rail car on Tuesday, Sept. 24, but has stopped as of 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25. Officials are reportedly monitoring the temperature of the sole rail car, as all other cars have been removed from nearby.
The concern of a potential explosion from the remaining car lingers.
In addition, there is the potential for an explosion to occur and the evacuation order will remain in place until first responders are confident the area is safe, said HCEM.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes Styrene as toxic and colorless with a sweet smell. A common way of being exposed to Styrene is inhalation, according to the CDC.
Just before 1 p.m. on Sept. 24, dispatchers received a call claiming Styrene was leaking. First responders were reportedly sent to the area, and an evacuation order was issued for people within a half-mile of the area.
A shelter-in-place order was enacted for those 0.75 miles from the evacuation area, but has since been lifted. Businesses and schools in the immediate area were shut down after the incident and remain closed.
Residents within the evacuation area are asked to call 211 to learn how to temporarily return home to retrieve essential medication and pets.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Attorney General Gentner Drummond has launched a new campaign to help catch some of Oklahomas most wanted criminals.
According to the Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office, Drummond is teaming up with the U.S. Marshals Service and other federal, tribal, state, county and local law enforcement to identify the states 10 most wanted fugitives.
LOCAL NEWS: Court documents: Jones man admits to shooting victim over attitude
Officials say the people on this list may pose a serious threat to public safety.
The fugitives on this list are a threat to public safety. It is critical that we work together to hold these individuals accountable for their alleged crimes, Drummond said. We hope to enlist the help of all Oklahomans in this campaign to get these dangerous criminals off the street.
The financial rewards for some of these cases range from $1,000 to $10,000 and are available to anyone who can offer information to help lead to the arrest of someone on the list. The A.G.s Office says these individuals are wanted for crimes such as murder, sex crimes, assault, drug trafficking, robbery and other serious crimes. Multiple people on this list are also considered armed and dangerous.
According to Drummond, the 10 Most Wanted List includes:
Alfonso Mondragon wanted for murder.
Andrew Patrick Johnson wanted for rape.
Jose D. Cuellar-Becerra wanted for aggravated domestic assault, kidnapping, arson, drug trafficking, and possession of a firearm in commission of a felony.
Juan Jose Rivera-Pena wanted for child molestation.
Keith Alan Grimes wanted for domestic assault and battery by strangulation.
Rodolfo Jaime Gonzalez wanted for lewd acts with a minor.
Jonathan Adrian Baez-Perez wanted for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm after a former felony conviction, and larceny of a vehicle.
Virginia Alice Hubbard wanted for neglect by caretaker and financial exploitation by caretaker.
Wenfred Louis Davis wanted for trafficking in illegal drugs-fentanyl, possession of a controlled and dangerous substance-methamphetamine, and possession of paraphernalia.
Melvin Joe Stevenson wanted for trafficking illegal drugs-methamphetamine and larceny of merchandise from a retailer.
LOCAL NEWS: Major multi-partnership operation leads to dozens of drug, gun charges in OKC
Officials say the list is updated periodically as some individuals are arrested and others pose new threats to the public.
The list can be found at Oklahoma.gov/oag/okmostwanted. Anyone with information regarding anyone on this list is asked to email OKMostWanted@oag.ok.gov or call the tip line at 405-343-8107.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Apple retail workers at the Penn Square Mall store have voted to ratify their first collectively bargained agreement, making it the second to win a unionized contract, according to a news release Tuesday.
Working with Communications Workers of America Local 6016, workers won a new three-year employment contract with the multi-billion corporation, improving pay, work-life balance and working conditions.
"It is exhilarating to finalize this bargaining process and know that after all the work we have done and all the obstacles that Apple has put in our way, we have finally secured the protection and improvements in pay and benefits we deserve," Michael Forsythe, genius admin and Apple-Retail Union-CWA member, said in the release.
He added that he hopes this sets another example of how the "tens of thousands" of Apple retail workers can work together to create change in the workplace.
What to know about the union's deal with Apple
An average 10% increase over the next three years based on ratings and employee performance will be implemented in the new contract. In the next year, wage will increase by 4%. Over the next two subsequent years, it will increase by 3%. Employees can gain up to 11.5% pay increases over the next three years.
Performance management and discipline conduct will be based on an attendance policy for workers at the Apple store at Penn Square Mall to ensure fair disciplinary actions across team members. To ensure a safe environment, a new safety committee will be formed at the store. Two representatives from Apple and two from the union will meet twice a year to review labor-management relations.
More: After two years, unionized OKC Apple workers secure labor agreement
"Unions give us the ability and platform to advocate for things like higher wages, ensuring fair treatment for all employees and better working conditions directly with the employer," said Kirsten Matson. "The labor resurgence has really picked up in popularity the last few years. I think COVID made many people have concerns with low wages and job security, especially as the cost of living continues to skyrocket."
She noted recent examples in unionizations across the country for Starbucks, UPS and the Writers Guild of America strike in Hollywood.
The new contract also offers availability guidelines for scheduling time off to address work-life balance difficulties.
Union members had authorized a strike due to delayed negotiations between Apple Retail-CWA union members and the corporate headquarters. Agreements were reached following an employee protest earlier this month. It is the first secured contract between Apple store workers and CWA unionizers.
Apple spokesperson Sharon Gilson said, "At Apple, we work hard to provide an excellent experience for our team members and our customers. We have always paid our retail teams in the top tier of the market, and we provide exceptional benefits for all full- and part-time employees. Throughout this process, we have bargained in good faith, and this agreement allows Penn Square team members to enjoy similar performance-based wage increases this year as last year, along with the same medical and time away benefits our U.S. retail employees currently receive."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Apple union retail workers vote to move forward with new contract
Emmanuel A. Littlejohn is sworn in at his clemency hearing before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board in August.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday denied death row inmate Emmanuel Littlejohn's request for an emergency stay of execution.
Littlejohn, 52, is set to be executed by lethal injection at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
He is facing execution for the fatal shooting of Oklahoma City convenience store owner Kenneth Meers during a robbery in 1992. Littlejohn has always maintained a fellow robber was the triggerman.
His life still could be spared if Gov. Kevin Stitt commutes his punishment to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 in August to recommend clemency.
The board has recommended clemency only four other times since executions resumed in Oklahoma three years ago. Stitt granted clemency only once, in 2021, to Julius Jones, who was hours away from being executed.
Among those who urged Stitt to show mercy to Littlejohn was the Rev. John A. Reed Jr., a community activist, civil rights leader and longtime Oklahoma City pastor. Reed died Aug. 26.
"I ask you to consider the full measure of justice, and to weigh the potential for transformation against the finality of execution," Reed wrote in an Aug. 16 letter.
At a news conference Wednesday, another prominent Oklahoma City pastor, Derrick Scobey, called on Stitt to show mercy.
"We believe you to be a good man and we simply want you to do the right thing as it relates to what the scripture would declare." Scobey said.
The inmate's sister, Augustina Litteljohn, of Wichita, Kansas, told reporters "to know Manuel is to love Manuel."
"He's a big kid in a 52-year-old man's body," she said. "But more than that, he is a son, he is a father, he is a brother, he is a grandfather, he is an uncle."
In seeking a stay, Littlejohn's attorneys challenged the constitutionality of the method of execution law as written. They complained the prison can turn to nitrogen gas, then electrocution and finally a firing squad if methods are deemed unavailable and there are no guidelines in the law on switching.
Judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals voted 5-0 to deny a stay. They said the concern that the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, "may, at the eleventh hour, select one of the other methods is nothing but conjecture."
What happened in Emmanuel Littlejohn's case?
Littlejohn was one of two robbers who took a few hundred dollars from the Root-N-Scoot convenience store in south Oklahoma City on June 19, 1992. Littlejohn was then 20 and had been recently released from prison.
Meers, 31, was killed by a single shot to the face as he charged at the robbers with a broom. Witnesses differed on who was the triggerman.
At his clemency hearing, Littlejohn said, "I know that you have heard from a variety of people who think I deserve to die. They don't know me. They were not there. I know that I didn't kill Mr. Meers. I've admitted to my part. I committed a robbery that had devastating consequences. But, I repeat, I did not kill Mr. Meers."
Tried first in 1993 was robber Glenn Bethany. His jury chose life in prison without the possibility of parole after finding him guilty of first-degree murder.
Littlejohn was tried in 1994. His jury voted for the death penalty after finding him guilty of first-degree murder. A second jury in 2000 also voted for the death penalty at a resentencing trial. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the resentencing because of improper testimony from a jailhouse snitch.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond and his assistants told the parole board Littlejohn and Bethany robbed the store to pay back a drug dealer who went by the nickname, "Big E." They had been selling drugs for "Big E" but owed him because Bethany "was more interested in using the drugs than selling them," they said.
They argued the evidence was clear that Littlejohn was the shooter and that he even admitted it at the end of his first trial. They reported he said to Meers' brother, "He's still dead. He ain't coming back. ... I killed the (expletive.) I'll kill you."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma death row inmate Emmanuel Littlejohn faces execution Thursday
Who are Oklahomas deleted voters? State provides data breaking it down by party.
Oklahoma Democrats and independents made up an outsized share of voter registrations deleted for inactivity, but overall voter deletions roughly tracked with party affiliation trends in the state. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY Hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans whose voter registration was deleted in recent years roughly reflect the overall layout of party affiliation in the state, though Democrats and independents were overrepresented among voters deleted for inactivity.
Of the voters removed in the past 24 months, 46.6% were Republicans, 31.2% were Democrats, 21.4% were independents and 0.79% were Libertarians, according to an analysis by Oklahoma Voice of records available from the state Election Data Warehouse. This generally tracks with party affiliation trends of Oklahoma voters who are still registered.
Over the past two years, Oklahoma removed 241,113 people from voter rolls, according to the state Election Data Warehouse, which keeps detailed records of deleted voters for 24 months after removal. The state recently announced more than 453,000 voter registrations have been removed through routine auditing since Jan. 1, 2021, a span of time that extends beyond legally required recordkeeping.
More than 2.38 million people are registered to vote in Oklahoma. Most voters who have been removed can register again. Those who wish to cast a ballot in the Nov. 5 General Election must register by Oct. 11.
The most common reason that registrations were deleted is because the voter moved to a different county or state, according to Data Warehouse records.
The second-most common deletions were for inactive voters, a group that differs more noticeably from party affiliation lines. Others were removed because they have died, been convicted of a felony or were deemed in court to be mentally incapacitated, among other less-common reasons.
State records show 83,701 voter registrations were deleted for inactivity. Most of these Oklahomans havent voted since 2016 or before, data shows.
Just under half of deleted inactive voters were from the same four counties: Oklahoma, Tulsa, Cleveland and Canadian, the only four counties in the state with 100,000 or more registered voters. About 55% of inactivity deletions came from less populous counties, according to a review of Election Warehouse data.
Democrats and independents made up a larger share of deleted inactive voters than their proportion of Oklahoma voters overall. While Democrats represent about 27.5% of registered voters in the state, they made up 34% of registrations deleted for inactivity.
The numbers are even more disproportionate for independents, who represent 30% of the deleted inactive voters but make up only 19.5% of total registered voters in Oklahoma.
Meanwhile, about 52% of Oklahomans are registered Republicans, and about 35% of voters deleted for inactivity were registered with the GOP.
Its no surprise that Democrats and independents show greater inactivity than Republicans in Oklahoma, said Pat McFerron, a conservative campaign consultant and polling expert.
The vast majority of consequential partisan elections in Oklahoma are decided in Republican primaries, well before Democrats and independents get the chance to weigh in, McFerron said. Very few General Election races in the state are competitive enough to be decided by 10% or less of the vote.
When pollsters like McFerron call inactive voters, many say theyre unlikely to vote because theyre not interested in government and politics, he said, and the other common response is they just dont think their vote matters.
Only the Democratic Party in Oklahoma has opened its primary elections to independent voters. The states Republican and Libertarian parties have not.
Implementing open or unified primaries could help engage more people, McFerron said. These concepts would allow registered voters to participate in primary elections regardless of their party affiliation, and it could make every candidate accountable to every voter.
A campaign to bring open or unified elections to Oklahoma is underway. McFerron said he is working with the initiative.
Oklahoma is now 50th in the nation in voter turnout for November elections, and if we dont do something to change it, were going to continue to have less and less civic engagement, McFerron said.
Democratic campaign consultant Adam Graham agreed that open primaries could be a significant help, as would automatic voter registration or other measures to make it easier to register to vote.
Campaign messaging also must improve, he said.
Candidates of both parties are pushing to the extreme ends of the political spectrum and are too focused on culture-war issues, Graham said. That leaves moderate voters feeling left out and less inclined to show up to the polls.
I think weve got to start giving voters a message from candidates that they are interested in hearing about, Graham said. Property taxes, groceries, schools, teachers being paid. Weve got to get back to the nuts and bolts of state government.
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(This story was updated to add new information.)
Gov. Kevin Stitt is recovering from heart surgery and has returned to work, his spokesperson said Wednesday.
Stitt, 51, underwent intravenous surgery on Friday to repair a blockage in a main artery of his heart. Abegail Cave, the governor's spokesperson, said doctors repaired the blockage with a stent.
"After a routine checkup, doctors discovered that Governor Stitt had significant blockage in a main artery," Cave wrote in an email to The Oklahoman. "He underwent intravenous surgery on Friday where the doctors repaired the blockage with a stent."
Cave said Stitt was doing well and returned to his office on Monday. Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell's office said it was notified about the surgery after Stitt had returned to work.
"On Tuesday, the Governors chief of staff called the Lt. Governors chief of staff to let her know the Governor had undergone surgery on Friday," Pinnell's spokesperson Mariah Carter said in an email.
On Wednesday, the governor's office posted a message on the social media site X, thanking the doctors and nurses who cared for him as well as others who supported him. "I hope youll take this as a reminder to schedule that check up and prioritize your heart health!," the posting said.
Stitt said his surgery was performed at Oklahoma Heart Hospital South in southeast Oklahoma City.
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Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat was among the state officials and lawmakers who issued public statements wishing Stitt well.
"Great to hear this morning that @GovStitt is on the mend after his recent surgery," Treat said in a post on X. "My wife Maressa and I continue to pray for the governor, his family and for his speedy recovery."
Treat's message was echoed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Like many Oklahoma and Texas governors before them, Abbott and Stitt have a well-publicized rivalry. However, both governors have worked together on policy issues, including an impromptu visit to Israel in November to visit with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Wishing Gov. Kevin Stitt all the best on his speedy recovery," Abbott's office said in a post on X. "See you soon, at the Red River Rivalry."
What is a stent? How is it used to correct an artery blockage?
A stent is a common procedure for heart issues, the American Heart Association said. Placing a stent is done through a minimally invasive procedure known as a percutaneous coronary intervention or angioplasty, said Cyd King, the regional communications director for the American Heart Association.
King said a coronary stent is a tiny wire mesh tube used to prop open an artery during angioplasty. The stent stays in the artery permanently and helps improve blood flow to the heart muscle. The stent also helps relieve chest pain, known as angina, he said.
More: Oklahoma governor encourages discussions across party lines at 'Disagree Better' event
"The doctor will insert a long, thin, flexible tube called a catheter into the blood vessels to your heart," King said in a statement sent to The Oklahoman. "This tube has an empty balloon at the end of it, which will get inflated with air to open up the narrowed artery and place the stent."
Stitt, a Republican, is serving his second term as governor. He and his wife, Sarah, have six children.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt recovering after heart surgery
Oklahoma Human Services halted two proposed rule changes that would have altered subsidies for child care and a quality rating system for child care providers. A sign marks an Oklahoma Human Services office in Oklahoma County. (Photo by Carmen Forman/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY A state agency has halted controversial rule changes that would change eligibility standards and reimbursement rates for child care subsidies.
Oklahoma Human Services officials announced Wednesday that they had withdrawn the proposed rules to address budget concerns and to allow more time for public input, according to a news release. The agency has voiced concerns that with the end COVID relief funding, its current spending is unsustainable.
Continuing the pandemic-era level of spending is unsustainable without significant impacts to other vital services that Oklahomans depend on every day, said Jeffrey Cartmell, director of Oklahoma Human Services. We have a fiscal responsibility to taxpayers to maximize both the federal and state dollars entrusted to our agency. While we explore modifications to the subsidies and Quality Rating and Improvement System ratings, we will work to ensure minimal disruption to our Human Services partners and clients and find the best path forward for Oklahoma.
The rule proposing changes to the child care subsidies would have changed the threshold to become eligible from 85% of the state median income to 70%, meaning a smaller portion of the population would be eligible. Subsidies are a type of financial assistance that helps low-income families pay for child care.
Rep. Suzanne Schreiber, D-Tulsa, previously voiced similar concerns with the proposed rule change.
I have serious concerns that that is going to compound the loss of ARPA dollars, she said. Families no longer qualifying for subsidies will force less people to use child care because they will step out of the workforce because they cannot make the economics make sense for their family.
American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funding was used to help subsidize child care for parents and reduce co-pays. With this COVID relief funding, parents had a copay of $0. Oklahoma Human Services increased co-pays to 50% in 2023 to prepare parents for the return to 100% co-pays, effective Oct. 1.
According to the proposed changes to the quality rating system, the change would have aligned the system more with licensing requirements.
Oklahoma Human Services assigns child care centers a rating between one and five stars. A child care center rated five stars is allocated more funding per subsidized student. This funding decreases with the rating.
The rule changes would implement more requirements and inspections in order to earn a higher rating, while repeated violations would be more likely to drop a child care centers rating.
The original projections significantly underestimated the number of programs that would reach the highest levels, according to the proposal.
While quality child care is a priority, Oklahoma should maintain the standards in a way that ensures only the highest quality programs reach the highest levels, Cartmell said.
The administrative rule changes must be approved by the Legislature and governor before going into effect.
A spokesperson from Oklahoma Human Services said the department intends to propose some kind of changes again after receiving more public input.
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Gov. Kevin Stitt takes part in a bill signing ceremony on July 9 at the Oklahoma State Capitol. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY Less than 24 hours before a man was scheduled to be executed, Gov. Kevin Stitt had not acted on a clemency recommendation.
Emmanuel A. Littlejohn, 52, was set to die by lethal injection at 10 a.m. Thursday at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board on Aug. 7 voted 3-2 to recommend clemency.
Littlejohn was set to die for the 1992 shooting death of Kenny Meers during a convenience store robbery in Oklahoma City.
Meers was shot in the face.
Littlejohn told the Pardon and Parole Board that he was present for the robbery, but did not shoot Meers. Glenn Bethany received a life without parole sentence for his role.
Absent a grant of clemency from Stitt, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections planned to move forward with the execution, said Kay Thompson, an agency spokesperson.
Stitts office did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2023, the agency executed Oklahoma County killer Phillip Dean Hancock. The victims were Robert Lee Jett Jr. and James Vincent Lynch.
The Pardon and Parole Board had recommended clemency, but Stitt took no action.
Stitt in 2021 granted clemency to Julius Jones, who was close to execution for the 1992 murder of Paul Howell of Edmond.
Thirteen people have been executed by the state since 2021 when it lifted a moratorium on the procedure following some highly publicized complications. Executions had been put on hold for more than six years.
Littlejohns last meal request was for a meat pizza and cheesecake, Thompson said.
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Oklahoma man says he didn't commit the crime he's set to die for. Will the governor spare him?
Emmanuel Littlejohn, 52, is set to be executed in Oklahoma on Thursday but nobody knows whether hes truly guilty of the crime for which he was condemned.
Littlejohn was convicted of murdering Kenneth Meers, 31, during a robbery at the Root-N-Scoot convenience store Meers owned in Oklahoma City in 1992. Meers was shot and killed by a single bullet, but both men who took part in the robbery Littlejohn, then 20 years old, and Glenn Bethany, then 26 were charged and convicted in his murder.
Littlejohn and his legal team have argued that his accomplice was the sole shooter and that he should not be executed because his case involves inconsistent prosecutions. Multiple jurors submitted sworn affidavits in support of Littlejohns clemency, claiming they mistakenly voted for the death penalty because they misunderstood how a sentence of life without parole works.
I would have been OK with a life sentence, Littlejohn said in an interview last month. But a death sentence for robbery? Im not cool with that.
While Littlejohn has exhausted his appeals, he awaits a clemency decision from Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, after the state parole board voted 3-2 to recommend commuting his sentence to life without parole.
Both Bethany and Littlejohn could be charged with the crime because of a statute called felony murder, which allows anyone who is charged with a violent felony to also be charged with murder if the crime results in a death.
But Littlejohns lawyers have argued for decades that he should not be executed because prosecutors offered contradictory accounts of Meers murder arguing first in Bethanys trial that Bethany was the shooter and then arguing that Littlejohn was the shooter in his own trial after Bethany had already been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.
Emmanuel Littlejohn.
You must carefully scrutinize the testimony of everyone, which includes the testimony of the people across the street, who are certain that it was the taller of the two individuals who stood at the door and fired a shot back inside, the prosecution told the jury during Bethanys trial. (Bethany is the taller of the two men.)
They murdered Kenneth Meers, the prosecution said. The question is whether you believe he is the shooter or the other man who was inside the store that day. Either way, hes guilty of murder.
When Littlejohn went to trial the next year, the prosecution argued that he was the one who fired the shot that killed Meers, saying he was the only one who had a gun during the robbery.
In an interview, Littlejohn acknowledged his part in the robbery, which he described as a drug deal gone wrong.
Me and Glenn Bethany was selling dope, he said. We had got this dope from one drug dealer. When it came time to pay, Glenn didnt have all his money.
We owed him $1,500. Glenn smoked all the dope. He said, Give me my money, or Im gonna kill you. Thats when we started looking at stores to rob, Littlejohn said.
But he maintained he did not fire the fatal shot.
All I know is when I left the store, Mr. Meers was still alive, he said. I didnt kill Mr. Meers.
Bethany did not respond to a request for an interview.
It is not the first time Littlejohn has faced an opportunity to overturn his death sentence. In 1998, the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals vacated the death sentence and ordered a resentencing.
The evidence was less than conclusive as to the identity of the shooter, the court wrote at the time while maintaining that prosecutors did not act inappropriately in presenting both Littlejohn and Bethany as the shooter.
In 2000, a second jury sentenced Littlejohn to death.
But according to Littlejohns clemency petition, jurors involved in his sentences were confused about the meaning of life without the possibility of parole. Such a sentence was relatively new at the time in Oklahoma, the petition said, so jurors were confused about whether it meant Littlejohn could somehow be released one day even though life without parole sentences do not allow for such outcomes.
Two jurors from Littlejohns 1994 and 2000 sentencings provided sworn affidavits in the clemency petition saying that they did not think death is an appropriate sentence but that they chose it out of concern he might one day walk free.
One juror said she changed her vote to death because she felt the alternative was that he would get loose and that a life sentence even without parole could be changed and he might have a chance to get out of prison. Another said that, in hindsight, she would not vote for death but instead for life without the possibility of parole and stick with it.
The Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to recommend clemency for Littlejohn last month.
In a statement, state Attorney General Gentner Drummond came out against the decision, saying, My office intends to make our case to the governor why there should not be clemency granted to this violent and manipulative killer.
Now the decision of whether to spare Littlejohn rests with Stitt, the governor, who has granted clemency only once, while the board has recommended clemency for death row inmates five times.
Governor Stitt has met with those involved in the case, including family members, prosecutors, victims, and the defense. The Governor has not reached a decision in this case yet, and he continues to prayerfully and carefully considers the facts, evidence, and recommendations from the Pardon and Parole Board, a spokesperson for Stitts office said in a statement.
Littlejohn hopes Stitt will grant him clemency so he can spend more time with his daughter and his new grandchild.
I know its hard for him to do, but I have faith in him that he can do it, Littlejohn says. I just want him to spare my life, let me live a life.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The Colorado Springs Police Department arrested one adult male during a motor vehicle theft and robbery investigation Tuesday morning.
At approximately 10:30 a.m., while recovering a stolen vehicle, an officer obtained information associated with an additional stolen motor vehicle in the 1000 block of Irving Lane.
The second stolen vehicle was taken during a robbery that occurred days prior, police say. Officers then started to investigate the second stolen vehicle and determined it was linked to a suspect living on Irving Lane.
A search warrant was completed for the residence along with an arrest warrant for the suspect for motor vehicle theft. Multiple department units assisted with setting containment on the residence and ultimately getting the suspect to surrender, prior to executing the search warrant.
The suspect, identified as 30-year-old Mario Rascon, was transported to the El Paso County Jail on the warrant. The investigation into the robbery, along with additional crimes linked to the suspect, is ongoing.
Authorities provide details of deadly crash on Highway 75 north of Sioux City
EDITORS NOTE: The story has been corrected to state which vehicle overturned and the type of semi. We regret the error.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) UPDATE: Officials have provided the details of a deadly Wednesday crash on Highway 75 north of Sioux City, including the identity of the victim.
According to the Iowa State Patrol crash report, the crash took place at 10:27 a.m. at on highway 75 at the intersection at C70, about a mile north of Sioux City.
Joann Martin, 64, of Hinton, was driving a Chrysler Voyager west on C70 and crossed the northbound lanes on Highway 75, to turn onto southbound Highway 75. While doing so, a 2000 Freightliner semi going north on Highway 75 hit the side of the minivan.
Both vehicles crossed the median into the southbound lanes and the semi overturned, blocking the road.
Manure spill enters Rock River tributary near Doon
Iowa State Patrol Trooper Karen Yaneff told KCAU 9 that the Freighter semi that crashed into the minivan was in the left lane of northbound Highway 75. It was driving alongside another semi in the right lane that was turning east onto C70.
The southbound lanes of the highway were closed until about 2:40 p.m.
PREVIOUS: Highway 75 north of Sioux City has reopened following a deadly crash that happened earlier this morning.
According to the Iowa 511 website, the road has been reopened since 2:40 p.m.
Iowa State Patrol told KCAU 9 earlier today that more information on the crash will be available later today.
PREVIOUS: One person has been confirmed dead after the crash on Highway 75 between Sioux City and Hinton.
Iowa State Patrol Trooper Karen Yaneff told KCAU 9 that the ISP is investigating the fatal crash, but further details could not be provided.
According to the Iowa DOT, the crash happened before 10:35 a.m. Wednesday morning. The crash happened on southbound Highway 75 near the intersection with C70 at James.
The 511 website states that the road is expected to be closed for a long duration of time.
This is a developing story. KCAU 9 will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.
PREVIOUS: Southbound Highway 75 is partially blocked currently due to a crash just north of Sioux City, according to the Iowa 511.
The Iowa 511 shows that the road is closed on Highway 75 near the intersection with C70.
Principal kayaks Rock River for flood-impacted Rock Valley school
Southbound traffic is being rerouted through Hinton.
The 511 website states that the road is expected to be closed for a long duration of time.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports.
One dead, one hospitalized after being found in Merced County fuel tank, authorities say
A woman has died and another woman has been hospitalized after they were found trapped inside a fuel tank in Merced County, according to authorities.
Merced County sheriffs deputies responded about 3:15 p.m. Monday, to a property in the 15000 block of Oak Street in Delhi for a report of two people inside of a tank containing fuel, according to the Merced County Sheriffs Office. Deputies located the women inside the tank.
Cal Fire crews tried to rescue the women. One woman was pulled from the tank and rushed to the hospital. Her condition is unknown at this time. The other woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities did not release the ages or identities of the women.
Law enforcement said that there was no indication that the women ended up in the fuel tank as a result of any malicious act.
The tank was on a property with a residence, but its unclear if the women lived at the residence or if the fuel tank was related to any form of business, authorities said.
Oliver said that detectives also located three malnourished calves at the property. Two of the calves were seized by authorities, and one was immediately euthanized.
The Merced County Sheriffs Office asks anyone with information regarding the incident to contact their Investigations Bureau at 209-385-7445.
LONG CREEK, Ill. (WCIA) One person was sent to the hospital on Tuesday after a fire destroyed a home in Long Creek.
The fire happened on Jeanette Drive around 11:13 a.m. Long Creek Fire Chief Stephen Webb said over 30 firefighters responded to the home, including those from his department, Mt. Zion, Argenta-Oreana, Bethany, Cerro Gordo and South Lealand.
Person arrested after FBI investigates social media threat at Parkland College
The fire was largely knocked out in 30 minutes, Webb said, but the home was a total loss. One civilian was hurt and they were taken to the hospital; Webb could not provide an update on their condition.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
MEROM, Ind. (WTWO-WAWV) 1:22 p.m. UPDATE: According to a news release from Indiana State Police (ISP), Sullivan County Sheriffs Department contacted ISP s Putnamville Post at 7:50 p.m. to request assistance in a domestic situation involving a shooting and a barricaded subject. Officers arrived at a home near South 4th Street in Merom and discovered a woman with multiple gunshot wounds. She was taken to a local hospital, and then flown to a hospital in Indianapolis for further care but the injuries were deemed non-life-threatening.
The alleged shooter Tony G. Maree, 53, of Merom, Indiana had barricaded himself in the home. Officers had set up a perimeter and Sullivan County Sheriff Jason Bobbitt, requested assistance from the Terre Haute Police Department Emergency Response Team. After several verbal and tactical attempts to make contact with Maree with no success, the response team entered the residence to find Maree dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The investigation is being conducted by Indiana State Police detectives, Jason Schoffstall, and Ryan Winters, with the assistance of Sergeant Michael Featherling, CSI Sergeant Michael Organ, and CSI Sergeant Tim Rader of the Putnamville Post.
The family has been notified.
WTWO will update if any more information becomes available.
10:08 a.m. UPDATE: After speaking with Sgt. Ames, we have confirmed that one of the individuals was shot but did not face life-threatening injuries, but that the suspect was found dead after a self-inflicted gunshot wound. We will update this story later as we learn more.
Earlier, according to a Facebook post by Indiana State Police Sgt. Matt Ames, The area of 4th Street in Merom was asked to be avoided around 9:43 p.m. due to the barricade situation and was being worked by ISP, Sullivan County Sheriffs Department, and other agencies. According to a follow-up post by Sgt. Ames, The situation was resolved by 12:17 a.m. and there was no longer a threat deemed to the community. Sgt. Ames has said that more information will be released later.
ORIGINAL: Indiana State Police say that one person was shot in Merom. The incident happened around 8 pm Tuesday and resulted in one person who barricaded themselves in a building.
Indiana State Police say the individual shot, suffered non life threatening injuries. ISP is assisting Sullivan Police Department.
This is a developing situation and we will update you as more become available
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyWabashValley.com.
Only police officer in Island Heights quits: From the Asbury Park Press archives
Asbury Park Press
Wednesday, Sept. 25, 1957 67 years ago
Three years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional in Brown vs. The Board of Education, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered federal troops into the state capital of Arkansas to ensure that a group of Black teens who history would remember as the Little Rock Nine were admitted to the the citys Central High School. Three weeks earlier, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus had ordered the states National Guard to block the students from entering under the guise that their personal safety was at risk.
Mob rule cannot be allowed to override the decisions of the court, Eisenhower said in a radio and television address to the nation on the night of Sept. 24, 1957.
Meanwhile, a thousand miles away here in Monmouth and Ocean counties, local police officers were campaigning for better pay.
Above the fold
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Battle-dressed paratroopers, their rifles loaded, encircled Central High School today to back up federal integration orders, and federalized National Guardsmen began pouring into the city.
A spokesman for nine (Black) children indicated they will seek to enter the school today.
The military action, ordered by President Eisenhower through the Army, was the most drastic ever taken to back up federal court racial integration orders.
The first troops rolled through Little Rock at dusk after flying from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. They were units of the famous and rugged 101st Airborne Division.
Big carrier planes kept arriving until a thousand soldiers had been brought in.
Testament: The Little Rock Nine Monument, on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol, honors the courage of the first black students to enroll at Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Little Rock artist John Deering created the bronze sculptures.
Below the fold
ALLENHURST Commissioner Walter W. Reid Jr. yesterday suggested the borough consider abandoning around-the-clock police desk duty to save money.
He proposed the borough join 30 other municipalities in Monmouth County, which handle off-hour emergencies through the county police radio system.
A proposal to increase police wages in the borough will be on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Under the proposal, the police chiefs salary would be increased from an annual salary of $5,593 to $6,500; the captains salary from $5,196 to $6,000; the sergeants from $5,064 to $5,800; and patrolmen from $4,932 to $5,532.
Ocean County news
LAKEWOOD Police Chief Walter L. Comstock announced today that administrative charges against the local Patrolmens Benevolent Association have been dismissed.
Municipal Business Administrator Robert A. Herbert filed the charges after the PBA criticized the Township Committee in newspaper advertising, for withholding a decision about salary increases the police union is seeking.
Comstock and Township Committeeman Harry H. OClaire, who serves as the local police commissioner through the governing body, determined the PBA did not willfully violate any administrative regulations.
The PBA wants a 10% salary increase. The Township Committee has offered a 3% raise. The police union had lobbied for the measure to be placed on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Inside
ISLAND HEIGHTS The only regular police officer in the borough has quit.
Police Sgt. William Morris, who has been absent from his post for more than a week, has resigned, according to Mayor Harry A. Duckworth.
No reason for the resignation was given.
Top TV listings for Wednesday, Sept. 25, 1957
WAGON TRAIN (7:30 p.m. NBC) The Jean Le Bee Story;
DISNEYLAND (7:30 p.m. ABC) Adventure in Wildwood Heart;
THE BIG RECORD (8 p.m. CBS) Patti Page, Janis Paige, Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Don Rondo, Webb Pierce, Stan Kenton and The Mills Brothers;
KRAFT THEATRE (9 p.m. NBC) Vengeance starring Cliff Robertson;
OZZIE AND HARRIET (9 p.m. ABC) The Jet Pilot (Repeat);
U.S. STEEL HOUR (10 p.m. CBS) Haunted Harbor starring Burgess Meredith and Gaby Rodgers.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park Press NJ archives for Sept. 25
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) A new task force officially launches Wednesday in Ontario County to spot and stop targeted threats.
The Ontario County Threat Assessment Committee was announced at the Sheriffs Office, with local law enforcement, school officials, mental health professionals, and leaders announcing their involvement with the task force.
This committee was formed as a response to Governor Hochuls directive after the mass shooting at a Tops store in Buffalo.
As each county was tasked with designing a response to targeted threats, Sheriff David Cirencione said the committee members met monthly to compare notes about potentially at-risk individuals reported to their agencies.
It was glaring how each one of us had a piece of information about this persons behavior and their grievance, but none of us had all the information, said Sheriff Cirencione. By collaborating and sharing this information, it allowed us to take action that we otherwise would not have been able to take because we had the totality of the story.
He says during last year and a testing phase, the committee was able to intervene in at least five instances where a child or adult either threatened harm or showed signs of making a plan.
The committee researches tips sent in from a variety of sources, including the sheriffs department app. They also train schools, businesses, and anyone who asks them to come on what to pay attention to.
Some of these threat assessments came in on adults in the community who were not in the school, who were just as legitimate, all of which led to some sort of action being taken by our committees to mitigate these threats, said Sheriff Cirencione.
Sheriff Cirencione said as the program expands, the committee may increase meetings to biweekly or weekly as tips come in.
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Operation Beef Bandit nabs 3 men with nearly 2 tons of meat in Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (WTAJ) Three men were arrested as part of Operation Beef Bandit for allegedly stealing nearly two tons of beef valued at $7,000 in Philadelphia, Attorney General Michelle Henry announced.
The three, Douglas Mathis, Jamir Scott, and Tariq Duncan, were allegedly caught stealing 1,600 pounds of beef from a parked tractor-trailer on the 7300 block of Edmund Street Tuesday morning, Sept. 24, Henry said in a release.
She added that all three were witnessed wearing dark clothes and masks when they broke into a locked tractor-trailer and carried 25 cases of beef valued at $7,000 from the trailer to their van.
Million dollar Mega Millions and Powerball tickets sold in Pennsylvania in two days
This was tenacious investigative work that involved collaboration between law enforcement agencies to stop high-value thefts from parked tractor-trailers, Henry said. I commend the timely work of our Organized Crime Section who tracked this crew and, essentially, caught them in the act.
The three men were charged with corrupt organizations, theft and related offenses. Bail for each was set at $200,000.
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.
Operation Beef Bandit was led by New Jersey State Police. Office of the Attorney General agents and the Philadelphia Police Department worked with New Jersey officials to track down the men.
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Editor's Note: The Ideas Lab asked the Democrat and Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate to submit 1,000 word essays on how they would tackle gun violence, the issue Wisconsinites surveyed as part of the Main Street Agenda project said is the second most significant problem they face heading into the Nov. 5 election.
Sadly, today, a multitude of underlying issues have resulted in tragic acts of violence and firearms are among those instruments used to carry out these incidents.
While Sen. Tammy Baldwin argues for further restrictions on law-abiding citizens, real progress to prevent acts of violence carried out with a firearm, or any other mechanism, requires addressing the underlying problems. We need to focus on solutions such as enhancing mental health resources, eectively enforcing existing laws, and improving school safety.
60% of perpetrators of mass shootings have mental health issues
Our nation is facing a mental health crisis. Too often, individuals growing up without a strong support system face mental health problems and are turning to acts of violence.
This has tragically been displayed in the increase of mass shootings in America and must be addressed. Especially those that aect our most vulnerable population, our children. As a grandfather of three, I take this issue very seriously and in Washington will promote policies to keep our children safe.
Tammy Baldwin: Common sense firearm safety laws can curb gun violence epidemic
A study found 60% of perpetrators of mass shootings in the United States displayed symptoms of a mental health disease including depression and paranoia. We must provide schools with the tools needed to address this growing crisis.
The mental health crisis not only leads to tragic mass shootings, but is a major factor in the leading cause of death in gun violence which is suicide. For every 100 gun deaths in Wisconsin, 71 are suicides. That is heartbreaking.
Nearly 60% of Wisconsin high school students feel anxious, depressed or suicidal. Too often politicians are focused on reactive policies and fail to promote proactive solutions. I believe we should improve access to mental health care for those at-risk and their families to prevent tragedies and create an environment of hope.
When it comes to ensuring individuals showing signs of self-harm or violence dont have access to a firearm, a due process method is extremely important, but it is critical that any measure taken respects the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.
It is also critical that we work to enhance our schools physical security and improve their preparedness.
Federal education funds should be directed to school security, safety
I would take steps to redirect federal education funds towards bolstering school security by strengthening points of entry, allowing sta to better track and verify visitors.
We also need to put school resource ocers back in schools to foster an environment of safety and facilitate a quick response to any incident. School resource ocers would be able to provide training to sta and students, ensuring emergency drills are thorough and eective.
Throughout this process, we must engage parents and community leaders in each school by involving them in the implementation of safety procedures while building partnerships with local law enforcement.
Social media, video games play a role in gun violence aecting youth
Our nation has promoted a culture of violence in which children are saturated in hyper- violent video games and social media platforms that fuel further acts of aggression in our communities, specifically those already struggling from gang activity and gun- related crimes.
Both police and violence prevention workers have cited social media as a challenge in curbing gun violence.
I strongly support the bipartisan Kids O Social Media Act which would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media platforms and stop social media companies from promoting algorithmically-targeted content to their users under the age of 17. Getting our children away from the toxic and violent culture promoted on social media and engaging them with community leaders and support systems while promoting strong familial values can play an important role in reducing violence impacting children and teens.
Fully fund the police and enforce existing gun laws
It is also critical that we fully fund and support law enforcement so they can protect our children and our streets eectively. Over the past decade-and-a-half, the total number of law enforcement ocers in Wisconsin has dropped 11% to a new record low in the state. This dangerous trend needs to change and it starts by giving our police the tools needed to be successful.
I also strongly support enforcing existing gun laws that are focused on keeping guns out of the hands of criminals. This can be done by improving data sharing and collaboration between law enforcement agencies investigating gun-related crimes, cracking down on gang violence while prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law illegal possession and tracking of firearms, and properly funding technology such as forensic tools to track down guns used in crimes.
Baldwins push for further restrictions on law-abiding citizens does not work for one simple reason: criminals dont obey the law.
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We know that cities across America with the strictest gun laws, like New York, DC, and Chicago, have some of the highest violent crime rates. The vast majority of criminals get their hands on firearms through illegal means. Therefore, adding more restrictions on law-abiding citizens and infringing upon their rights would be not only wrong but dangerous.
Some of America and Wisconsins worst acts of violence were carried out without firearms, highlighting the importance of tackling the root causes of what is motivating individuals to commit horrible crimes. Tragically, in Waukesha a deranged man drove an SUV through the annual Christmas parade, killing 6 Wisconsinites and injuring 62 others. But we are not talking about banning SUVs because they were used as an instrument to carry out an act of violence. We need to get serious about addressing the underlying issues leading to violence.
Owning a firearm is the right of every law-abiding citizen which was established by our Founding Fathers in the Second Amendment. Individual rights are at the core of the great American experiment and the right to bear arms ensures Americans have the means to defend themselves and their loved ones against tyranny, oppression, and any danger.
Protecting individual rights while addressing the issue of gun violence requires a balanced approach. To protect our children and make our state and nation safer, we must focus on proactive measures that address the root causes rather than imposing restrictions on law-abiding citizens. By fostering commonsense eorts that engage communities, parents, and law enforcement we can take meaningful steps forward, building a safer future while upholding the liberties that define America.
Eric Hovde is the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Wisconsin. He is the CEO of Hovde Properties, a Madison-based real estate development company.
Respondents in a 'WisconSays' survey by the UW-Survey Center ranked gun violence as the second most significant problem facing Wisconsin. Gun violence is a broad issue with complex roots. There are four aspects wed like you to touch on in your submission:1. Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens In America. What would you propose to reverse this disturbing reality?2. As of 10 a.m. on September 5, there have been 30 mass killings in the U.S. this year. What legislation would you support to curb mass shootings?3. Violence at schools is a contributor to the statistics behind both mass killings and youth death causes. On Sept. 4, two teachers and two students were killed at a Georgia high school, and nine students were injured. A 14-year-old student and his father have been charged in connection with their deaths. What more can be done to prevent such tragedies from reoccurring?4. Death by suicide is a significant factor in gun violence. Firearms are the most common means of suicide. On average, for every 100 gun deaths in Wisconsin, 71 are suicides. What can be done to prevent such tragedies? Do you support red flag laws or similar measures that establish a process for judges to remove firearms from individuals with mental health conditions?
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Opinion: Hovde wants to address root causes of gun violence. Here's how
Nebraska State Sen. Michael McDonnell was a firefighter for 24 years and proved his mettle by striding into burning buildings long before he ran for office.
Even so, political courage is so rare these days that it came as a surprise to many people when 58-year-old McDonnell resisted pressure by Republicansincluding vice presidential candidate JD Vanceto support a last-minute change in how his state allocates its five electoral votes that would potentially give Donald Trump a decisive edge in the upcoming election.
The measure would have all but assured Trump one more electoral vote in a contest close enough that it could determine who goes to the White House. And the vote on the bill itself promised to be so close that it was doomed when McDonnell announced his decision on Monday.
After deep consideration, it is clear to me that right now, 43 days from Election Day, is not the moment to make this change, McDonnells statement read.
McDonnell offered a guiding principle.
Elections should be an opportunity for all voters to be heard, no matter who they are, where they live, or what party they support, he said.
Trump Rages at Nebraska State Senator for Defying His Electoral College Wishes
That expression of equanimity echoed something McDonnell said as chief of the Omaha Fire Department (OFD) at a 2013 graduation for 47 new firefighters. He noted that the OFD had responded to 43,000 calls for help in Omaha that year and added, Firefighters responded without knowing who it was, where they lived, if they were affluent or less affluent, what color their skin was, what religion they practiced, if they were a Democrat or Republican or independent. They responded because they wanted to help; they wanted to make a difference.
McDonnell reported that the graduates included Dan Goessling, whose brothers Josh and Nathan were also firefighters. They joined the OFD even though their father, Capt. John Goessling, had been killed when a roof collapsed during a four-alarm arson blaze at a Family Dollar store in 1996.
Knowing the pain of the ultimate sacrifice, why not not do something else? McDonnell asked. I could not be more proud of all three of John Patrick Goesslings sons for saying, We understand. We know what it feels like, but we still want to serve.
McDonnells own desire to serve continued after his retirement and led to his successful run as a Democrat for state Senate in 2016.
A portent of a future conflict had come during the graduation ceremony three years before when he blessed himself at the end of a chaplains invocation.
He was a conservative-enough Catholic that he became the sole Democrat to vote for a near-total abortion ban that ultimately failed. He also was the lone member of his party to support prohibiting transgender surgery and drugs for minors, which ended up passing.
Nebraska awards electoral votes for the winner of its three congressional districts, plus an additional two electoral votes to the states outright winner. District 2, which is highlighted in blue and includes Omaha, was won by Joe Biden in 2020s presidential election. Nebraska Legislature
This past March, the Nebraska Democratic Party censured McDonnell, saying he adversely affected the reproductive rights of Nebraskans and the rights of transgender individuals in the state.
In April, McDonnell responded at a press conference.
Today, I am announcing I am now going to be a registered Republican in the state of Nebraska, he declared.
He made clear that it was not an easy decision. He had been 10 when his grandfather taught him the three hallmarks of the McDonnells: Were Irish. Were Catholic. And were Democrats.
McDonnel then found himself as a Republican in the MAGA eraand by extension, he was expected to go along when Team Trump pressed for a change in the state law regarding the allocation of Nebraskas five electoral votes.
Election map showing a not-so-impossible Electoral College tie that could have taken place if Nebraska switched to a winner-take-all system that was won by Donald Trump. 270 To Win
Under current Nebraska law, two electoral votes go to whoever wins the state as a whole. The others go to the winner in each of the states three congressional districts. Two of them are deep red and all but sure to go to Trump. The third, McDonnells home district in and around Omaha, came to be called the blue dot when it went for Barack Obama in 2008. Trump won it, along with the other two districts in 2016, but it reemerged as a blue dot for Biden. And it might well go for Harris in November.
The blue dot would have vanished into a sea of red if McDonnell had succumbed to the will of the GOP and supported the winner-take-all allocation.
As the country tuned in for the outcome, McDonnells firefighter background seemed no guarantee that he would buck Team Trumps wishes. Many firefighters are possessed by the grace of selflessness only when an alarm comes in.
A disappointing number support a man who lied about what he did and how many friends he lost on 9/11. Trump did not attend an anniversary observance of the attack until this year when he needed votes. And he brought along the right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer, who once called the terrorist murder of 2,996 people, including 343 members of the FDNY, an inside job. Firefighters nonetheless invited Trump to a firehouse across town after the ceremony.
A statement shared by Mike McDonnell on Monday. State Sen. Mike McDonnell
Given that, McDonnell might have been expected to back the effort to guarantee Trump an added electoral college vote.
He did not.
He was rewarded for his efforts with quick recognition from Trump, who called him out by name in a post on the former presidents Truth Social platform.
I would like to thank Governor Jim Pillen of Nebraska for trying to help the Republican Party simplify the complexity of the States Electoral Map. It would have been better, and far less expensive, for everyone! Unfortunately, a Democrat turned Republican(?) State Senator named Mike McDonnell decided, for no reason whatsoever, to get in the way of a great Republican, common sense, victory, he wrote. Just another Grandstander!
McDonnell would be a hero for sticking by his principles if his principles had not also led him to oppose the reproductive rights of women and gender-affirming health care for trans teens.
But there is no denying that he acted with courage, the kind that firefighters routinely demonstrate when there is a call for helpand the kind politicians seldom show anytime, anywhere.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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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:
41 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.
What is Happening?
By every conceivable measure, former President Donald Trump should be 10 points up, but hes not
Click here to see Gallups pre-election report the numbers are fascinating. More from Gallup: The political environment suggests the election is Trumps and Republicans to lose. Nearly every indicator of the election context is favorable to the Republican Party, and those that arent are essentially tied rather than showing a Democratic advantage.
If that isnt enough consumer confidence just plummeted Consumers are scared
And crucial union voters in Michigan told MSNBC (much to their dismay) they dont care about Jan. 6 one voter called it Feb. 6. Look at Alex Wagners face reminds me of the old W.C. Fields rule of Never work with children or animals.
Yet, Trump is at best tied as we say often, never underestimate Republicans ability to screw things up.
His friends know it. As Politico reports, Donald Trump was meeting privately in mid-September with one of his oldest friends, Steve Wynn, when the casino mogul and Republican mega-donor delivered the former president a blunt warning: Youre off message, and it isnt helping.
The Harris campaign knows all this. What will THEY do to win? Exactly what they have been doing.
Case in point: Interview or infomercial?
Stephanie Ruhle of MSNBC explained to Bret Stephens the logic for the lack of aggressive Harris coverage.
Watch this she actually tells the truth and MSNBC holds her out as the serious journalist doing an interview with Harris
Colby Hall explains the hilarity of it all Click here to read his opinion piece on it
President Joe Biden addresses world leaders during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on September 24, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Ground Invasion
The worst thing that can happen for America is that we become irrelevant or at least ignorable in world affairs
That happened slowly through the Obama and Biden administrations now will happen very quickly if Israel defies the Biden administration and launches a ground invasion of Lebanon.
For his part, President Biden on The View today said, There needs to be a two-state solution Theres a desire to see change in the region. WHAT?!?! A year in and we are still stuck on this?! The Palestinians dont want a two-state solution they were given Gaza and turned it into a terror state. The only way to have peace in the Middle East is regime change in Iranfull stop. Either President Biden doesnt understand this, which is bad, or he cant admit he was wrong to tie Israels hands after Oct. 7, which is worse! Axios reports, We want to prevent a ground war, a senior U.S. official said, re-calibrating the Biden administrations focus on what might still be achievable.
The Associated Press reports Israels military is ready but hasnt decided on the ground option against Hezbollah: Addressing troops on the northern border, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the latest Israeli airstrikes were designed to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.
A war with Hezbollah looks very different than a Gaza war politically its different too. Hezbollah isnt Hamas fighting for the Palestinians.
Hezbollah is an Iranian terror army hellbent on destroying Israel and launching attacks from a different country. Now more than ever the moral clarity question isnt a question
Either you are with the terrorists launching cruise missiles at Tel Aviv or you are with the Israelis if you need help figuring it out here is a good video from Sky News Australia.
The war that Biden worked a year to prevent will prove a far, far scarier point.
Walter Russell Mead opines in The Wall Street Journal under the headline, Bidens Diplomatic Magical Thinking. He continues, His attempts to soothe the Middle East have produced the opposite effect.
All due respect to Mead, but hes making far, far too small a point. Bidens attempt to soothe the Middle East has emboldened President of China Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Iranian Ayatollah, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro.
Team Obama then, Biden now, and Harris of the future love to talk about a rules-based order
Well, someone has to enforce the rules since the end of World War II, that was the United States.
Since the end of the Cold War, the American president has held god-like power to enforce their will. Obama started giving it away when he did not enforce his red line in Syria Biden sped it up with the withdrawal from Afghanistan, his failure to stop or punish Putins invasion of Ukraine and his sucking up to Iran.
Lets review Bidens foreign policy position right now:
Hes begging Iran to stop Hezbollahs firing missiles into Israel
And Iran is actively trying to assassinate Trump
How is that for a legacy?
Does SNL Matter Anymore?
John McCain and Sarah Palins campaign ended with a Saturday Night Live skit, long before election day!
I can see Russia from my house defined Palin.
This weekend SNL is live for the first time this election season and they have LOTS of material to work with
Wouldnt it be great if an interview with Harris had the answer to every question be Look I grew up in a middle-class house.
Watch tonight: SNL cast member turned free speech activist Rob Schneider joins us to discuss his new book, You Can Do It: Speak Your Mind America.
And well discuss whether SNL has the courage to go after both candidates fairly!
An absentee voter mail-in ballot shows the names of the presidential and vice presidential candidates for the Nov. 5 US general election. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
Cat Ladies vs. Weird
Both Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz got the vice presidential nomination, at least in some part, for the same reason they were good on cable TV.
Walzs weird comment about Trump and Vance on MSNBC catapulted him into the VP conversation
Vances constant defense of Trump and MAGA and Tucker Carlson hits on Fox back in the day brought him to the attention of Team Trump.
Tuesday night they will square off in a VP debate that might actually matter
Especially because Walz all but refuses to do interviews Go deeper : So far Walz hasnt delivered on the white, working-class vote Tuesday night is his chance to take the case to Vance.
Tonight, Julia Manchester and Sophia Cai will talk about how each man will frame the conversation to go after this years most important voters: Women.
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.
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Ten people and five pets were temporarily displaced from their homes following a structure fire in Fountain early Tuesday, according to Gazette news partner KOAA.
The fire took place at an apartment complex on Alegre Circle, which is located near U.S. 85/87 and Southmoor Drive. Fountain Fire Department officials first posted about the blaze on social media at about 6:30 a.m.
The Red Cross of Southern Colorado is responding to help assist the displaced people and animals, according to News 5.
The fire was out by 7 a.m. according to the department. No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Were now several weeks into the sprawling, fake story about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, OH. I dont want to get into the specificity of the lies. All of that has been well-covered. Instead, I want to talk about how profoundly anti-American the Trump/Vance ticket has now become.
By turning their backs on their neighbors who have done nothing wrong, Trump and Vance have also turned their backs on the American experiment. They do so for purely selfish reasons. They do so to provoke fear, outrage, and, potentially, violence. The lies about Haiti, or Hatia, as JD Vance calls it, are only the latest example of the decade-long, hate-filled fever dream to which the charlatan known as Trump has cruelly subjected this country.
At a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday, Trump said immigrants are changing the character of our small towns and villages all over the countrythey will never be the same. Do you think Springfield will ever be the same? I dont think so. The fact is, we have to get em the hell out. Rousing applause.
We have to get em the hell out.
Miss Sassy Is Safe: JD Vances Pet-Eating Hoax Hits Another Embarrassing Snag
People who have done nothing wrong. People who have come to this country to make a better life for themselves. People escaping poverty, unrest, abuse. People who have committed no offense greater than having a higher proportion of melanin in their skin.
This specific lie isnt about so-called illegal immigrants. This is about people legally residing in a community in Ohio doing good work serving their families and their community. These are people who have done everything they were supposed to do, and still find themselves subject to the unearned hatred of one of our two presidential nominees and, maybe even worse, by the senator from Ohio who is supposed to represent them.
So, why do we have to get em the hell out?
The answer is simple. Its obvious. And its disgusting. Because theyre Black. Im not interested in hearing any of the MAGA bullshit about straining social services, or rising housing costs.
No.
Because that wasnt the claim made by JD Vance and Donald Trump when they began hyping this bullshit. It had to do with demonizing and other-izing people who have already suffered enough that they chose to leave the nation of their birth. They did so exactly the way the MAGA people who claim to have no problem with legal immigration said they should. They went through the system. They got their paperwork. And their reward is bomb threats. Because, Ill say it again, theyre Black.
F**k you, MAGA.
JD Vance, left, with Donald Trump in Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. July 20, 2024. Tom Brenner/Reuters
The lies are provable. The racism is demonstrable. The hatred is palpable. And yet, theres virtual silence from the American public about this point because weve all grown so numb to the poisonous rhetoric now institutionalized by the Republican Party that we dont bat an eye when Donald Trump promises to go door-to-door to round up millions of people and put them in camps. We tried that once before. It was one of the most egregious American sins of the 20th century.
Weve had to endure this pucker-mouthed loser telling us, repeatedly, for the better part of a decade that immigrants are raping and killing Americans, with the caveat that some some are good people. Nobody disputes that immigrants sometimes do commit horrible crimes. But they do so in far lower numbers than their American compatriots.
Im so sick of the immigrant bashing and the Jew bashing and the LGBTQ bashing and the insults and the lies and the slander and the bullying. So sick of this grotesquerie of a man preening through a life of malfeasance while lecturing the rest of us on what makes America great.
I can tell you what makes American great.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the Tsar passed a series of temporary laws called The May Laws, which forbid Jews from owning homes, living where they wanted, conducting business, etc. etc.
My grandfathers parents uprooted everything they knew to cross an ocean. They arrived on Ellis Island without knowing English, without any money. They made their way west to Chicago, where they settled on the South Side, and built a livelihood selling fruits and vegetables. A couple generations later, their descendants have spread out across the nation repaying many, many times over what the nation gave to them.
Thats the story of America.
Thats what makes this country great. Since its founding, weve accepted foreigners onto our soil and given them a shot. Think about how remarkable it is for a nation to welcome the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The fact that this same country which once enslaved Black people also unshackled millions of others from destitution and persecution. America is great because it gives refuge to the weak.
And then what happens? Eventually, the weak grow strong. They settle into their new home, they support their families, they get jobs, they open businesses. Like my family, they eventually have children and grandchildren who grow up to shoulder the burden of caring for and maintaining this great country, which once gave them an opportunity. Kamala Harris. Barack Obama. Nikki Haley. Marco Rubio. Millions and millions of others who live ordinary lives caring for the shining city on a hill.
I no longer have any patience for this nasty bullshit. For weeks now, a small Ohio city has been subjected to vitriol based on lies. Disgusting lies. Racist lies. Nobodys eating f***ing cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. Nobodys stealing birds from the park and barbecuing them.
Real Americans stand up against bigotry. Real Americans care about the least among us, not only because we are empathetic humans, but because a generation or two back, most of our families were in exactly the same position. Donald Trump is not a real American. Hes not even a good American. He is the worst of us enraptured, like Narcissus, with his own mirage. Nobodys eating pets but I have some small hope that this racist lie will be the things that, ironically, cooks Trumps goose.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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President Jimmy and First Lady Rosalyn Carter were quite a team. During their time in office and beyond they served us honorably and unselfishly.
As President Carters 100th birthday approaches on Oct. 1, I want to take a moment to reminisce on some great memories I share with our former president.
I first met President Carter in 1976 as a Tennessee volunteer on his presidential campaign. In 1979, after I completed my six-year term on the Tennessee Public Service Commission, President Carter saw fit to appoint me, with confirmation from the U.S. Senate, to fill an unexpired term on the board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
After my appointment, President Carter and I stayed in touch. Later, after being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (Tennessee District 5) in 1988, I watched with amazement as former President and First Lady Carter continued their efforts to provide adequate housing for the less fortunate, notably through their work with Habitat for Humanity. Their work inspired not just myself but, all of the U.S. Congress.
Habitat sets record with 'The House that Congress Built'
In 1997, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution challenging all sitting members of Congress to sponsor and participate in building a house with Habitat for Humanity. In 1998, I took the challenge, in the spirit of the Carters.
Former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter speak during the Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashville opening ceremony at the Ryman Auditorium Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn.
I spoke with President Carter and worked with Millard Fuller (co-founder and former president of Habitat for Humanity) to build a home in Nashville. To complete this task, I partnered with a great friend and an outstanding Tennessee home builder, Jim McLean and the Middle Tennessee Home Builders Association.
We showed up to the build site with 300 volunteers and as Danny Herron, the current executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashville says, In 1998, the Home Builders Association built a Habitat home in 4 hours, 39 minutes, and 8 seconds setting a world record as 300 volunteers constructed The House that Congress Built, sponsored by Congressman Bob Clement... It was through the example set by the Carters that we were able to pull this together and change lives.
I made it a point in 2016 to see the Carters again. My wife, Mary, our friend Jim McLean, and I traveled down to the Carters home of Plains, Georgia, to visit with the former president and first lady. On the way down we called the president and the first lady to let them know we were close.
During the call, the Carters invited us to dinner, but believing we were too far out, I politely declined the offer not knowing we were closer than we thought! Well, we missed dinner with the president, but we made it to Maranatha Baptist Church and of course it was a delight to attend the Sunday School class taught regularly by President Carter himself.
Carter is a testament to unwavering principles and work ethic
Whenever I am with the Carters I am in awe of their commitment helping others. The last time the Carters visited Nashville, was October 2019 and we had the honor to be with him.
At the time President Carter was 95 years old and had recently fallen, giving himself a black eye. But that could not stop his spirit and dedication. The Carters showed up to a build site and, even while bruised, helped finish this home. Truly, the exemplification of Christian goodness.
As we prepare to celebrate President Jimmy Carters 100th birthday, let us honor a man whose life has been a testament to unwavering Christian principles, a tireless work ethic, and a boundless love for others.
President Carters legacy is not just one of political achievements, but of a profound moral compass that has guided him through decades of service.
Bob Clement is a former U.S. Congressman from Tennessee's 5th Congressional District and an author.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Opinion: Jimmy Carter is about to turn 100. Honor his great legacy
Larry was raised by his mother and grandmother on Chicago's west side. Although his family faced financial challenges, he enjoyed playing video games, and spending quality time with the most important women in his life. Video games allowed Larry to role play, embracing new possibilities and different experiences. His passion for gaming was so contagious that his grandmother joined him on Saturday mornings. Thats what Larry wanted to write about in his college admissions essay: the power of games, imagination and family.
But when he shared a draft with his high school college counselor, Larry got a response he wasnt expecting: Write a more traditional essay, about the trauma and challenges of growing up as a Black teenager in Chicago.
I study Black students trauma narratives in college admissions essays. Larry is one of the many students Ive interviewed over the course of my research.
When I tell people about my work, Im often met with one of two responses praise for exploring such an important and salient topic, or a barrage of questions that suggest people fear calling out the practice will limit opportunities for the students they serve, especially in the wake of last years U.S. Supreme Court decision on race-conscious admissions.
Ive worked in college admissions for a decade, and Ive spoken to thousands of high school students about navigating the process. For the past six years, in addition to my professional experience, I have researched the college admissions essay for my dissertation, studying how Black students learn about and respond to expectations to talk about their identities and backgrounds.
Students lean on educators, parents and mentors for support in the constantly changing college admissions process.
Yet it is the advice of some of their most trusted advisors that writing about trauma can make them stand out.
Or even worse, that their trauma is all they have to offer.
Black students often feel pressured to write about pain or trauma in college admissions essays, writes Aya Waller-Bey.
Opinion: Black culture is the engine that drives Detroit. Black people ought to be treasured
Black kids know more than trauma
Another attendee at a networking event with Detroit-based nonprofits and educators told me exactly that he believed that trauma was the only thing Black students knew. It wasnt the first time Id heard that from someone who worked with Black youth on their college applications.
But it was the first time I suggested reframing the exercise: Do you ever ask them to start their essay writing process by discussing what they love about themselves? He had not.
In my research, Ive learned from my students that despite enjoying diverse experiences such as playing in their high school bands, running for class office, working at a local shoe store, or designing computer games, there was perceived pressure to frame their narratives through a lens of hardship. Those students who chose to disclose intimately painful experiences believed it was what admissions officers wanted to hear, and the stories they felt were most important to tell about their lives at the time.
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'Beating the odds'
I don't fault them.
I, too, have felt that stories about overcoming adversity so easily framed how I beat the odds.
But what does it mean to reduce or contort the colorful lives that Black students live into the anti-Black fantasies of others? Why do we teach Black students to be resilient, and not free?
The Black experience isnt singularly one of pain, trauma and suffering. And educators, college access programs and all those who operate within the sphere of influence for young people should not explicitly or implicitly tell students that to be seen, they must write about their most traumatic experiences.
If anything, we should encourage Black students to write about their gifts, what they bring and their visions for their futures. These counternarratives are equally valuable, and can highlight the contributions students will make on campus and post-graduation, and, more importantly, promote self-actualization.
The pushback I receive from those working in college access is that stories about overcoming struggle and hardship represent critical moments of transformation and growth in students lives.
In some cases, college essays that discuss inequality serve as critiques of social systems and policies that have created the social conditions that have contributed to their suffering. Also, the reality for Black students and Black people growing up in Detroit and the U.S. more broadly is that racism permeates every social institution.
This reality, coupled with the 2023 Supreme Court ruling on race-conscious admissions that placed limitations on admissions practices, also meant that the college essay could be one of the few opportunities where Black and other racially minoritized and historically underrepresented students could make their race and the struggles endured known.
Pain on display
Lets be clear theres a lot of blame to go around. An essay question on the Common App, the free online application platform that allows students to submit one application to thousands of schools, invites students to recall a time they faced a challenge, setback, or failure and reflect on lessons learned. Local scholarship competitions solicit essays with similar topics and name overcoming obstacles as a criterion or an important factor of consideration.
These prompts signal to parents, educators and college counselors that universities and funding bodies expect students to write about their pain.
College essays about trauma are not a requirement. All of the students I interviewed for my dissertation were currently enrolled undergraduate students while some chose to write experiences they deemed traumatic, most did not. And they were still accepted.
As a first-generation college student raised in the Dexter-Linwood area in Detroit, I understand this all too well. I know what it means to write a college essay representing the perfect presentation of the traumatic parts of my life, to quote one of the Black undergraduate students I interviewed for my dissertation.
I also know what it means to feel like I have to serve my trauma on a platter to be competitive for admissions, scholarships and fellowships, and so do many of the young people I encounter in college storytelling workshops and interviews for my research.
Educators trying to discern how best to support their students in college essays often ask me whether discouraging students from writing about trauma would place them at a disadvantage in the admissions process, especially students who identify as first-generation college or low-income students.
Theyre asking the wrong question.
The choice should be theirs
The more important question is whether or not students truly desire to share the time they faced food or housing insecurity, or assumed adult roles after the sudden death of a parent or if they feel forced to perform their trauma to be deemed worthy of admission.
The choice should be theirs, and educators should be mindful of encouraging students to put their trauma on display for college admissions or funding opportunities.
The college essay is not a diary. Students should not be encouraged to divulge painful moments about their lives for a room of strangers to evaluate and consume.
Black students are more than their pain, and telling them they are more worthy of opportunity when writing about trauma signals that we believe trauma is the most important part of their identities.
We tell students trauma should be their introduction to admissions officers when, in many cases, its a footnote. I hope college advisors and counselors encourage students to write about what they love about themselves, their identities and their communities. And stop telling Black students they must write about trauma in their college admissions essays.
Aya Waller-Bey
Aya M. Waller-Bey studies race and identity in college admissions essays and higher education. She is a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Michigan's Department of Sociology.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Opinion: College admission shouldn't require display of racial trauma
Editor's Note: The Ideas Lab asked the Democrat and Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate to submit 1,000 word essays on how they would tackle gun violence, the issue Wisconsinites surveyed as part of the Main Street Agenda project said is the second most significant problem they face heading into the Nov. 5 election.
Gun violence in America is a tragedy that has taken the lives of far too many and impacted every community in our great state. Across Wisconsin, I have sat with the victims of gun violence, mourning the losses of sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, promising that I would work alongside them to make our communities safer.
Nationwide, 43,000 Americans die from gun violence every year. That is 116 people killed per day. In Wisconsin, a person is killed with a gun every 14 hours, with 68% of gun deaths from suicide and 28% from homicide. Guns are the third-leading cause of death for children in our state and half of domestic violence related homicides involve a gun. Instead of being able to just be kids, our children have to practice active shooter drills and grow up fearing that one day these drills could become reality. So lets be clear, we have to fix this.
Eric Hovde: Address root causes of gun violence. Don't restrict law-abiding citizens
As a responsible gun owner and a representative of a state with proud hunting traditions, I understand that commonsense gun safety laws don't violate the Second Amendment they save lives. So as your senator, I will work tirelessly to respect our proud traditions while making meaningful changes to ensure every community and every family can live without fear of gun violence.
I helped pass gun bipartisan gun legislation, Safer Communities Act
In May 2022, two horrific mass shootings took place. The first was a racially motivated attack at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York that left ten people dead. The second was a school shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas that resulted in the tragic deaths of 19 children and two teachers. These were not the first nor the last preventable mass shootings. Both of the shooters legally obtained their AR-15 rifles and displayed many warning signs, yet the tragic events still unfolded.
In Washington, we took action and introduced the historic Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. We partnered with Republicans from across the country and passed the bill into law. This bill was the first major gun safety package in nearly 30 years, strengthening background checks, providing funding for states to extend red flag laws and bolstering mental health services, investing in community safety and school safety initiatives, and closing a dangerous loophole to protect victims of domestic violence.
In addition to helping pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Ive worked to secure funding to conduct gun violence prevention research and funding for mental health support for the Mount Horeb School District as the community recovers from the devastating school shooting incident this past May. While these investments and legislation cannot undo all the tragedy and harm gun violence has caused, they are steps forward toward healing and preventing future instances of gun violence.
Wisconsinites support universal gun background checks
Despite our progress, we still have so much work to do. And we were reminded of that fact through yet another tragedy just weeks ago. Instead of enjoying their first few weeks of the new school year, students at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia are now grieving the loss of classmates and teachers after a 14-year-old opened gunfire, killing four and wounding several others. And just like the many other mass shootings that have taken place in our country, there were warning signs and a legally obtained AR-15 rifle. This shooting was at least the 46th school shooting just this year.
And the data is clear: the vast majority of Wisconsinites support universal background checks. As Senator, my job is to listen to my constituents and deliver for them. Thats why last spring, I joined my colleagues to introduce gun safety bills that take their views to heart. The Background Check Expansion Act would expand federal background checks to all gun sales or transfers, including to all unlicensed and private sellers.
The Background Check Completion Act would close the loophole that allows gun sales if a background check hasnt been completed within a specific time period. And finally, The Assault Weapons Ban of 2023 would prohibit the sale, manufacture, transfer, and importation of 205 military-style assault weapons by name. The named weapons have been used for warfare and have also been the weapon of choice in many mass shootings. The bill outlines exceptions for 2,200 guns for hunting, household defense, or recreational purposes, maintaining our Second Amendment rights and respecting our proud Wisconsin traditions.
Protect domestic abuse survivors; pass Wisconsin red flag laws
I also know how important it is to protect domestic violence survivors from gun violence, a reality that is unfortunately close to home for many. Studies have shown that the presence of a gun in domestic violence situations increases the homicide risk against women by 500%. Thats why I support the Lori Jackson Nicolette Elias Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act to close a loophole that would keep guns out of domestic abusers hands and invest in state and local efforts to protect survivors.
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Additionally, throughout my career I have supported red flag legislation so loved ones and law enforcement can intervene through a court when someone presents a clear danger to themselves or others. Currently, Wisconsin has no red flag laws in the books. These laws are critical for preventing gun violence at large, whether that be suicide or homicide by gunfire. I strongly urge our state level lawmakers to put aside partisan differences and put these laws into place to prevent further tragedy.
There is only one solution to stopping gun violence, and thats legislative action that prevents the wrong people from getting guns in their hands and causing harm to themselves or others. We can only take action if lawmakers on both sides of the aisle work together to put forth and deliver solutions. Wisconsinites have my word that I will never stop working to pass commonsense legislation that protects their families and our communities while respecting the traditions that make our state great.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, is seeking a third term in the U.S. Senate.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Opinion: Tammy Baldwin says shell reduce gun violence. Heres how
Former President Donald Trump was riding high just a few short months ago. He was atop the polls against President Joe Biden, and his campaign was being praised as the savviest and most disciplined of any of his three bids for the White House. But the closer weve gotten to Election Day, the more things seem to be reverting to the historic norm, as Trump lashes out wildly and his top aides begin to air their concerns in the press.
The turbulence around the former president makes me think of a famous psychological experiment that aimed to test childrens ability to delay their self-gratification. The researchers placed a marshmallow on the table in front of each child and said that they could eat the candy now but that if they wait until later, they could have two marshmallows. As a scientific marker for future success, the Marshmallow Experiment has come under increased scrutiny. But as a metaphor it perfectly encapsulates the root cause of Trumps spiraling campaign.
When Trump formally declared his candidacy in November 2022, there was still a slim chance that he might not regain the Republican nomination. His attacks on democracy after the 2020 election had been laid bare in the House, and his endorsed candidates had underperformed in the midterm elections most competitive races. But after two presidential campaigns defined by chaos and infighting, this time Trump handed the keys over to a pair of professionals who kept the ship running smoothly.
The first of the two to be hired was Susie Wiles, a former aide to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who also ran Trumps Florida operations in 2016 and 2020. She took over Trumps post-presidential political operation out of Mar-a-Lago in early 2021 before becoming co-campaign chair. An NBC News profile this year highlighted Wiles role in getting Trump this far:
If there is a personality trait that links Trump to the soft-spoken, media-shy Wiles, its that survive-and-thrive drive: Trump feeds his by disrupting order; Wiles feeds hers by maintaining order. Many Republicans credit Trumps political comeback, at least in part, to her bringing a new sense of discipline and direction to his campaign.
Working alongside Wiles has been Chris LaCivita. Before this year, the veteran Republican operative was best known for helping run the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign in 2004, which helped smear Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as insufficiently patriotic to be president. Together the two of them managed not just to get revenge on Wiles former boss, DeSantis, who was at one point Trumps biggest rival, but also to transform what should have been a major reckoning for the GOP into a blitzkrieg primary that left Trump the unquestioned nominee. As Trump wrapped up the nomination, much of the media coverage focused on his campaigns apparently newfound discipline, giving Wiles and LaCivita ample credit for the shift.
But that was the campaign the candidate has been another story entirely. Trump remains as much of a loose cannon as ever. He continues to pop off in speeches and on Truth Social about any and everything, from his many trials, both civil and criminal, to the ever-growing list of ways hes trying to personally cash in on his candidacy. But as long as Trump remained ahead in the polls, there was peace within Trumps operation.
In fact, arguably the period when Trump has managed to be the most disciplined was after his June debate against Biden. In the 3 weeks that Biden was attempting to stave off concerns about his electability, Trump stayed (mostly) silent. Rather than pull the focus to himself, he was for once content to let someone else hold the spotlight as members of Bidens party called for him to drop out.
The apex came at the Republican National Convention in early July, when the narrative around Trumps election was one of seeming inevitability. But even then, Trump was already loosening the fetters: choosing a MAGA sycophant as his running mate and wasting his nomination speech by repeatedly veering off topic. Then Biden dropped out and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him a seismic shift that has left Trump stumbling and unable to regain his footing. Since then, the facade of discipline has crumbled at a quickening pace.
Trumps performance against Harris in this months debate and the coverage surrounding it rattled him to the point that he tromped into the spin room himself, clearly thinking his surrogates were failing. Hes reportedly grown irate both at the amount of credit that Wiles and LaCivita have gotten for his campaigns successes and at their decision to debate Biden so early that it drove the president from the race. Theres some truth there, in that a campaign specifically designed to beat Biden has floundered against Harris, not least because the candidate hasnt been able to stick with any one message against her.
Trump has brought disgraced former aide Corey Lewandowski back into the fold, hindering the effectiveness but giving Trump the battle for his approval that he craves from his subordinates. As The Washington Post chronicled on Friday, even the most basic campaign functions have become points of contention in this new abnormal, with a decision about whether or not to send out mailings to voters lasting weeks. Though Wiles and LaCivita dont seem in danger of getting fired, they appear to have given up on even pretending to influence Trumps choices. Instead theyre just trying to keep the focus on the campaign against Harris and not its internal drama.
Its been a striking transformation, albeit one that Trumps record almost predestined. Trump has received plenty of outside advice on how to stay on track and focus on Harris weaknesses with voters. He has listened to none of it. Instead, hes returned to his old standbys: picking fights with celebrities, spreading racist conspiracy theories, hanging out with far-right influencers and riling up his base in hopes of repeating his 2016 victory. It is doing little to win over skeptics who are considering giving Harris a shot, but it gives Trump the short-term gratification hes always been unable to resist for too long. Even with the White House on the line, the marshmallow in front of him has proved to be too tempting compared to the promise of two later.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Amer Ghalib, a Muslim immigrant from Yemen who serves as the mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan made headlines this week by endorsing Donald Trump for president. In a Facebook post, Ghalib wrote, President Trump and I may not agree on everything, but I know he is a man of principles. He also called him the right choice for this critical time.
If Ghalib a self-described conservative Democrat had endorsed Trump in 2020, then he likely would have been subjected to a swift backlash. As a candidate and as a president, Trump had weaponized hate against Muslim and Arab Americans and targeted us with his Muslim travel ban that in many cases separated families. And Ghalib seems to have braced for a backlash in his endorsement. He wrote, Ill not regret my decision no matter what the outcome would be, and Im ready to face the consequences.
But even though 81% of voters in Hamtramck, a majority-Muslim city, cast their ballots for Biden in 2020, there appears to have been no notable outrage to Ghalib throwing his support to Trump. That should concern Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign. There are large Muslim and Arab populations in Michigan, obviously, but also in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Virginia.
Ghalib said Trump recently met with him for 20 minutes when he was holding a rally in Michigan. Ghalib, a vocal critic of the Biden administrations seemingly blind support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus devastating war in Gaza, cited that as a main driver of his decision. We asked multiple times that they should change course, but nothing happened, he told reporters. Kamala Harris is still going in the same path and nothing was addressed. Ghalib claims Trump, without providing details, promised to end the war. But even if Trump did, given his anti-Palestinian record as president, we know that it would be consistent with the goals of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, not the Palestinian people.
According to a recent poll of Muslim voters by Council of American-Islamic Relations, only 11% of Muslim voters nationwide said they planned to support Trump in November. Ghalibs endorsement notwithstanding, the news isnt that Muslims are supporting Trump; its that theyre not supporting Harris. Winning about 30% of Muslims votes, she was , according to that poll, statistically tied with Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Contrast Harris polling at 30% among Muslim voters with the estimated 69% of Arab or Muslim voters across the country who voted for Biden in 2020.
As a Muslim voter who is clear about the harm Trump will cause, this is worrisomebut not unexpected. Harris began her campaign inheriting a palpable anger directed at Biden within the Muslim and Arab community for his bear hug of Netanyahu and his continuing refusal to slow down the supply of weapons to Israels military despite the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people. But when Biden dropped out and Harris became the Democratic nominee, there was a fresh start. Many in these communities wanted to support Harrisand many are.
But the Uncommitted Movement leaders told NBC News last week that Harris had given them the cold shoulder and fumbled by refusing even the small gesture of allowing a Palestinian American speaker at Augusts Democratic National Convention.
That said, unlike Ghalib, Uncommitted Movement leaders in Michigan announced that while they were not endorsing Harris, their top priority was defeating Trump. They said Trumps agenda includes plans to accelerate the killing in Gaza while intensifying the suppression of anti-war organizing. As a result, they explained point blank, We must block Donald Trump, which is why we urge Uncommitted voters to vote against him and avoid third-party candidates that could inadvertently boost his chances.
Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romaan, a Palestinian American, was one of the people on the short list to speak at the DNC but was effectively blocked by Harris and the Democratic Party. Romaan told me in an email that Ghalibs endorsement of Trump does not represent the overwhelming majority of Muslim voters. But she added that the Harris campaign is missing an opportunity to animate a multifaith, multiracial, multigenerational coalition whose ask is simple: stop the bombs and uphold international humanitarian law when it comes to Netanyahu and his military.
Romaan, a first-term Democratic lawmaker in the battleground state of Georgia, said there is still time for Harris to address this issue. If she does, Romaan added, it will lead to a decisive edge come November.
While the suffering in Gaza doesnt get the same headlines it got earlier this year, that suffering is still top of mind for many in the Arab and Muslim communities and our allies. Because the suffering is ongoing. Saturday, the Israeli military launched missiles at a school they claim was being utilized by Hamas and, according to CNN, killed at least 22 people, mostly women and children. There was no warning. We were sitting in the schools, and suddenly missiles started raining down on us, a witness told a CNN reporter. Where is the conscience?
Beyond Gaza, we are now seeing an alarming and deadly escalation of Israeli military action in Lebanon that has killed more than 500 people and displaced thousands. Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been bombarding each other since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas sparked Israels invasion of Gaza. This could get far worse. UNICEF warned Tuesday that any further escalation in this conflict would be catastrophic for children and families in Lebanon. If the media is again filled with images of dead women and children caused by Netanyahus use of U.S. weaponry, Harris will have to denounce this or risk losing even more support from communities that Democrats have depended on for victory.
During her acceptance speech at the DNC, Harris spoke about Palestinians in a way that no Democratic presidential nominee ever has. She described the the scale of suffering in Gaza as heartbreaking. She not only committed to not only to working toward a ceasefirewhich she first called for in March, well before Bidenbut she also vowed to ensure the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.
In contrast, Trump has repeatedly used the word Palestinian as a slur to attack Democrats who express concern for the brutal suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. As President, he cut millions of dollars in vital aid to Palestinians as Netanyahu urged him. And during the Gaza war, Trump vocally criticized Harriss calls for a ceasefire--with his primary concern not being the slaughter of Palestinians but that Israel was absolutely losing the PR war.
Trump is as pro-Netanyahu and anti-Palestinian as they come. He may have locked up the endorsement of the Mayor of Hamtramck, but thankfully the bigoted Trump will not win a majority of Muslim and Arab American voters in 2024. Yet in a close race, even peeling away a few percentages from these two communities could hand Trump a victory. That is why Harris needs to step up to address the policy concerns of these two communities now. Not just for the good of the Arab and Muslim communities, but for the benefit of all Americans who want to see Trump defeated.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Months after the Tennessee General Assembly and its Republican supermajority voted to vacate the entire board of Tennessee State University amid allegations of financial mismanagement, the school seems to be headed in a new fiscal direction.
It remains unclear, however, whether that new direction will include the recovery of the $2.1 billion owed by the state to TSU, one of Tennessee's historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Before being named interim president of TSU last July, veteran HBCU administrator Dr. Ronald A. Johnson held the same position at Kentucky State University from the summer of 2022 to 2023. KSU was mired in significant public controversy when Johnson took the reins, with an audit finding insufficient documentation of credit card charges totaling more than $1.3 million. It was widely speculated that the school was on the brink of closure, and Johnson himself noted that he had not seen this level of failure in terms of checks and balances.
Though an official audit of TSUs books found no fraud or malfeasance at TSU between 2019 and 2023, there were instances of unsanctioned credit card use, flaws in the documentation of transactions, and 56 significant procedural deficiencies.
Those discoveries alone make Johnsons work necessary both for improving TSUs reputation among lawmakers and the public alike, and for ensuring the long-term sustainability of the school.
Every finding or observation that comes to me, no matter how small, is important because it's telling me that I cannot guarantee that other people's monies are being properly handled," Johnson told the Tennessean.
This point about properly handling other peoples money is an important albeit frequently dismissed one for HBCUs.
Tennessee state Rep. Harold Love, Jr. (D-Nashville) speaks with trustees Dwayne Tucker and Marquita Qualls during a break at the TSU Board of Trustees meeting at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Sept. 20, 2024.
We often want to avoid the necessary conversations about bad leadership decisions and the ways administrators can engage in the kind of self-sabotage that completely undermines the mission of these historically Black institutions.
Most of the time, its easier to point to those who have wronged HBCUs particularly the states that have engaged in willful, systemic underfunding. This is the point of state Rep. Harold Love Jr., a TSU alumnus whos also been vocal in trying to secure the $2.1 billion Tennessee is said to owe the university, per the federal government.
Pay TSU the $2.1 billion its owed and watch HBCU students flourish and benefit Tennessee
I'm hoping that my colleagues will use the same energy that we directed toward (vacating) the board to finding solutions for TSU's funding and TSU's growth in this upcoming session," Love said.
Fiscal responsibility should have no effect on debt repayment
Even as Johnson and Co. work to clean house, Love is right to press for the repayment of what is, essentially, stolen money. And its important to note that this repayment should have nothing to do with the proper management of TSUs existing funds or lack thereof.
Interim President Ronald A. Johnson listens to a presentation at the TSU Board of Trustees meeting at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Sept. 20, 2024.
If, for example, I borrow $5,000 from a friend, promising to pay her back in the future, I have no right to base my repayment of that money on my friends ability to follow a budget. Ultimately, she can set fire to every single dollar or use it to line the carrier of her miniature labradoodle. Her financial irresponsibility will catch up to her, of course, but its not my job to police that responsibility in lieu of repayment.
Likewise, your employer doesnt ask how much you spend on groceries each week or investigate whether youre paying off personal debts in a timely fashion before issuing your biweekly paycheck. Everyone should understand how to properly manage their finances, but a lack of understanding doesnt determine whether you get paid from your job. Your work does that.
CMA Awards snub Beyonce, proving Black women are still unwelcome in country music
For TSU and every other land-grant HBCU, including those with a history of financial mismanagement the ability to receive matching funds from the state is based primarily on enrollment and land-grant status, as determined by the Second Morrill Act of 1890.
Somehow, though, external concerns about fiduciary missteps have taken precedence over needed, and justified, recompense.
Nashville's HBCU needs to pursue its underfunding more aggressively
I want to restate that I believe Dr. Johnsons work is needed. I am also hopeful that his efforts will have a long-lasting impact on TSU one that is stronger than individual motivations or a collective desire to revert to the status quo.
You have to have engaged people who understand why they are there, Johnson told the State Journal in Frankfort, Kentucky, at the end of his KSU tenure. Some people just come to higher education for a job, and some with the understanding that every morning they wake up, they are there to change lives, and have an impact on the bigger community.
More than ever, TSU needs engaged people who understand why they are there, who are ready to meet the needs of students now and in the future, and who take seriously the responsibility of maintaining and building upon the rich legacy of HBCU education.
That work will continue long after Johnson has departed and the newly appointed president has taken his place. And it will extend to the next generation of TSU leaders, who have yet to join the schools administration. But efforts to secure TSUs long-term sustainability cannot be built on fiscal management alone.
This cant be either/or. It must be also/and.
At some point, TSU must recover the money it has long been owed. Its leadership must ensure this happens, using every means at its disposal to do so. Before her retirement, former TSU president Glenda Glover said she prefers negotiation as opposed to litigation, but to this point, negotiations have proven futile.
Politics have become a distraction from serving students
After 2021 reports that placed the amount the state owed separate from the federal government's $2.1 billion calculation between $151 and $544 million, Gov. Bill Lee responded with a recommendation to pay the school $250 million for infrastructure. He called the funds an investment, instead of the first installment of what should have been an ongoing debt repayment.
Lawsuits arent ideal. Theyre expensive and time-consuming, and in this case, they run the risk of upsetting a good number of people at the state Capitol. TSU has had to play this game before, trying to toe the line between demanding fair treatment and biting the hand that barely feeds.
In the early 1960s, when Nashville was in the throes of desegregation efforts, via student-led sit-ins and demonstrations, then-Tennessee Gov. Buford Ellington reached out to TSU president Dr. Walter Davis to ask his students to stand down. Though implicit, the command to stay in your place was clear.
Andrea Williams
I can imagine that TSU leaders feel this conflict, particularly the new board appointed by Lee, all of whom are TSU alumni. But just as Johnson is guiding the school through necessary sacrifices, including potential job and budget cuts, its also time to push past standard operating procedures and center the students in their care.
TSUs future, and future generations, depend on it.
Andrea Williams is an opinion columnist for The Tennessean and curator of the Black Tennessee Voices initiative. She has an extensive background covering country music, sports, race and society. Email her at adwilliams@tennessean.com or follow her on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @AndreaWillWrite.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Opinion: Tennessee owes TSU $2.1 billion. They must demand repayment
Mary Dickson, a playwright, former journalist and downwinder, shares her experience at a press conference calling on Utah's congressional delegation to support the legislative expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in front of the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building in Salt Lake City on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) still needs to be renewed to ensure sick Utahns and others get the life-saving assistance they need. This week, reports from Congress suggest a breakthrough in RECA negotiations giving us fresh hope a solution is in reach. But this entire time, our own congressional delegation has remained silent. Why?
Utahns have been suffering as a result of the devastating effects of radioactive fallout from atmospheric nuclear tests for well over half a century. There is no debate about this. All of us who have lived in Utah most of our lives have friends or family who have suffered over the decades.
In 1990, Congress passed a law to compensate victims and families who developed cancer resulting from their exposure to fallout from the Nevada Test Site. The law, championed by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush, who called it compassionate payment to those presumed to have been harmed.
The bill was a lifeline for many downwinders. According to government data, 10,000 Utahns from southern Utah counties have already benefitted since this life-saving program began. But RECA never went far enough.
Too many of us in northern Utah, surrounding states and elsewhere were excluded. The Cold War had far more casualties than those originally included in RECA. Nearly 30 years ago, the National Cancer Institute concluded that every county in the continental U.S. got some level of radioactive fallout from testing. Among the 28 counties across the country that ranked highest in deposition of radioactive material in the soil from Nevada bomb tests were Utah, Morgan, Davis, Salt Lake, Weber, Summit and Wasatch counties, which comprise 77% of the Utah population. None of those are currently covered under RECA. That means that for decades, people in these counties have been getting sick with no recourse.
On June 7, RECA went dark. Due to the inaction of the House of Representatives, including Utahs congressional delegation, no new claims can be filed. For years, weve been calling on our representatives to expand the program to cover victims across the entire state their constituents and beyond. Now, there is a real opportunity on the table to renew the program and expand coverage across Utah as well as other Western states, areas contaminated by radioactive waste from our nations nuclear weapons program, and workers who mined and milled uranium.
Back in March, the Senate passed bipartisan legislation to reauthorize and expand RECA with a supermajority of 69-30, a vote unheard of in this political climate. But not one of our senators or representatives support it. Six months later, for cancer victims like myself and so many people I know who lack RECA coverage, its becoming increasingly inexplicable.
Some members of our delegation are even fighting the Senate bill each step of the way. We deserve an explanation for this. The Senate bill would expand RECA coverage and help victims in places like New Mexico and St. Louis other areas that have proven areas of major contamination and associated cancers and deaths. After all, Department of Energy maps of fallout trajectories show how far fallout from the blasts in Nevada was carried. The associated waste from weapons production was deposited negligently across the country. Radioactive contamination does not respect state lines. Its completely reasonable to work with these other states to help innocent citizens and their families. After all, we are all Americans.
Its long past time for our congressional delegation Sens. Lee and Romney, and Representatives Maloy, Owens, Curtis and Moore to step up. Each one of them has a role to play. Tell Speaker Mike Johnson to put the Senate bill on the floor for a vote. Make this a priority. After all, our entire state government from our state legislature to our governor are on record supporting RECA renewal and expansion. The bipartisan nature of this support is in stark contrast with the insensitive inaction of our delegation.
Im glad to hear that advocates from across the country, including members of the Navajo Nation, will be in Washington D.C. this week to make their case to our delegation and other members of Congress. This time, I hope our representatives listen and get something done.
Mary Dickson is a Salt Lake City downwinder, writer and internationally recognized advocate for survivors of nuclear weapons.
Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 in part by creating a parallel universe where everything was going wrong. Violent migrants were flooding into the country, Trump argued. Crime was at an all-time high. Democrats are scheming to rig elections and mandate socialism in your kids school. Being a part of the MAGA movement meant signing on to Trumps warped view of reality.
In 2016, Trump found plenty of voters willing to buy into his message of American carnage. Thats not proving so easy this time around.
The last month of campaigning has seen the media finally fact-checking Trumps absurd lies with the result being that the former presidents campaign has been revealed as a disorganized mess led by some of the most odious names in the far-right influencer universe.
From a hoax about Haitian immigrants eating Ohioans cats to the return of fired adviser Corey Lewandowski (and the addition of influencer Laura Loomer), its clear Trumps campaign is running out of ideas. Now it is also running scared from a second debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
The MAGA movements world was always a fragile one. Now its on the verge of shattering.
That doesnt mean Trump is fated to lose. Record levels of political polarization have led to a race where tens of thousands of votes in a mere handful of states will prove decisive. But unlike in 2016 and even 2020, the facts on the ground are making it harder for Trump to sell his doom-and-gloom vision of an America in decline.
For one, fewer Americans feel pessimistic about the economy. That played to Trumps benefit in 2016, but earlier this month the Wall Street Journal recorded a nearly 10-point jump in the number of Americans who believe the country is on the right track. In the key state of Georgia, nearly six in 10 residents think the economy will continue to improve over the next year. Back in January, that number was just 36 percent.
More Americans are also feeling safer in their homes and communities, despite Trumps repeated lie that crime rates are sky-high. In fact, the Biden administration is presiding over a historic drop in crime rates, including a nearly 12 percent year-over-year drop in murders the biggest single-year decline in two decades.
The FBI dealt another blow to Trumps fantasyland this week with the publication of its annual nationwide crime statistics. They confirmed not only a huge drop in murders, but also a 9.4 percent decline in rapes and a 7.6 percent decline in property crimes. Across almost every metric, crime statistics disagree with Trumps cries about violence in the streets.
Republicans disinformation has successfully convinced too many Americans that crime is rising; paradoxically, Republicans in the House are pushing to slash law enforcement funding. Thats making it awfully tough for Trumps key surrogates, who are torn between portraying their constituencies as crime-ridden and taking credit for the real reductions in crime seen during the Biden years.
In fact, crime is falling out of fashion as an issue driving voters to the polls; a growing number of voters from across the political divide now say that abortion ranks as their top election issue. Polling also found crime issues were no longer top of mind for Minnesota voters, rattling a state Republican Party that has gone all-in on messaging designed to make Minnesotans feel unsafe in their communities.
Unlike in 2016, or even 2020, media outlets seem to have finally understood the importance of showing Americans what Trumps fantasy world of chaos and violence means for them. The Washington Posts Ashley Parker raised eyebrows with her look into what she called Trumps imaginary and frightening world where Americans cant venture out to buy a loaf of bread without getting shot, mugged or raped.
Despite his descent into the Truth Social rumor mill, Trump has often benefited from a media that treated his unhinged ideas as serious policy proposals. Its no surprise that Trumps swing-state polling has suffered since voters finally got a look behind the curtain at the Wizard of MAGA. They clearly dont like what they see.
Most Americans are actually doing better now than they were in 2020, both financially and personally. Their communities are safer, their retirement portfolios are up, and a growing number feel optimistic about the future. That kind of stability is hostile soil for the seeds of Trumpism. The future of the MAGA movement depends on convincing these voters that a recovery they can feel doesnt actually exist.
Thats a big ask in an election where the vast majority of voters have already made up their minds and where undecided voters are moving away from Trumps spiraling campaign. The manufactured high of MAGA fearmongering is wearing off. Republicans are in for one hell of a hangover.
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.
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The Bronze Star is awarded to a person in any branch of military service who, while serving in any capacity, shall have distinguished him or her self by heroic or meritorious achievement or service in connection with military operations against an armed enemy. Photo by Maj. Jon Quinlan/U.S. Air Force
For years, an award of the Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan was part of the story of the rise to national prominence by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, despite the fact that it wasnt true. Moores failure to correct the public record when he had opportunities to do so has drawn a considerable amount of criticism.
I dont know which accusation I find more annoying: That Moores failure to correct the record diminishes the significance of his military service, or that criticism of his failure to be more forthcoming constitutes an attack on his military service. Neither accusation is fair.
The fact that Moore should have been more forthcoming is a blemish on his reputation for truthfulness and honesty, not on his record of military service. His military service reflects great credit on his character but does not immunize him from criticism for errors in judgment.
Nothing worries me about the state of politics in this country more than the loss of the commitment by some of our leaders to the principle that truth is essential to political discourse, democracy and the rule of law. Its a principle that legendary reporter and Watergate investigator Bob Woodward refers to as the centrality of truth.
Moore has a golden opportunity to help restore a commitment to the centrality of truth.
As a member of the Army Reserve, Moore volunteered to be deployed to Afghanistan and arrived there in August 2005. He was assigned to a civil affairs unit of the 82nd Airborne Division tasked with the mission of persuading insurgents to align with the newly elected Afghan government. By all accounts, he did his job extremely well and was highly regarded by his superiors.
In January 2006, while still in Afghanistan, Moore successfully applied to become a White House Fellow. He returned from Afghanistan in March 2006 and began his fellowship. Its not clear how the erroneous account that he received the Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan became public, but it circulated until 2022.
Moore did not correct Gwen Ifill in 2008 and Stephen Colbert in 2010 when they introduced him as a recipient of the Bronze Star during nationally televised interviews. A 2013 column in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about his book, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, referred to the Bronze Star that he earned during his combat tour in Afghanistan.
During Moores 2022 campaign for governor, an Army spokesperson told FOX45 News that Moores service record did not include the Bronze Star. Moores campaign insisted that it was others, not him, who made the false claim. Last month, however, the New York Times reported that Moore himself listed receipt of the Bronze Star on his application for the White House fellowship.
Moore initially told the Times that he had forgotten what he had written on the application, but later explained that he listed the award on the advice of a superior officer, Michael Fenzel, who assured him that he would be receiving it at the end of his seven-month deployment. Fenzel, now a lieutenant general, confirmed Moores account and was surprised to learn that Moore had not received the award.
As a veteran, I have the utmost respect for Moores military service. He placed himself in harms way on behalf of his country. Volunteering for deployment to Afghanistan, regardless of any awards he did or did not receive recognizing his meritorious service, was more than enough to gain my admiration.
My respect and admiration for Moores service does not alleviate my concern about his decision not to correct the misinformation about the Bronze Star. It was a mistake, which he belatedly admitted and apologized for.
Many of us have seen Moore as a refreshing change, someone who draws upon his military training and experience to incorporate the concepts of duty and honor into a strong commitment to public service. It was disappointing to learn that he may not be quite as different from other politicians as we hoped, but he has a chance to redeem himself by leading from the front in the fight to restore the centrality of truth.
Moore should speak directly to the public about the importance of truthfulness and acknowledge the legitimacy of concerns that he misled people about the award of a Bronze Star. He can describe the lesson that he learned about compromising his most precious commodity, his credibility, and urge others not to make the mistake that he made. If he does that, he will set a powerful example of moral and political leadership for others to follow.
A nearly $1 million renovation of the decrepit 4U Motel on South Nevada Avenue in Colorado Springs wasnt a slap on some paint and call it good remodeling project, leaders of Springs Rescue Mission say.
The makeover that transformed a boarded-up eyesore is what administrators hope is a foreshadowing of whats to come for tenants, as homeless women move from the missions emergency overnight shelter into the new, 12-unit transitional housing complex as a step to self-sufficient living.
Police officers could tell you story after story of everything that was wrong here, all the things that were traumatic that happened here, said President and CEO Jack Briggs, who is leaving the job on Sept. 30. Today, the rescue mission is working to see it redeemed and restored as a place of hope. This is the underdog story.
Homeless service providers and other residents attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house on Tuesday, and toured the studio apartments at 1102 S. Nevada Ave.
The property is about a block away from Springs Rescue Mission, the citys only emergency overnight shelter for single men and women. The Christian organization provides case management, addiction recovery, three hot meals a day, transitional and permanent supportive housing, work programs and other services.
Built in 1955, the 4U motel in recent years was a blighted property and a hub for illegal activity including drug use and prostitution, said Travis Williams, chief development officer who will become interim president and CEO when Briggs steps down.
The story is being rewritten.
With the scent of fresh paint in the air, each unit is ready and waiting for residents who will start moving in next week.
Like the transformation of the 4U, well see lives of the most vulnerable people, the ones who have the largest need and will integrate into our community well, transformed here, said Corrie Cole, director of donor relations for Springs Rescue Mission.
This was a total re-fabrication, he said. We took the 4U down to the studs and reimagined it. There was a lot of thought put it into and now its bright and clean.
Each unit has a separate bedroom with a single cot and bathroom with a shower, and through a locking door shares an adjoining kitchenette with the next-door neighbor. The kitchen includes a microwave, mini fridge, sink and cupboards.
A colorful handmade quilt covers each single bed, with an inspirational and metaphorical letter from the quilter waiting for new residents to read.
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Audrey, a donor, writes that she didnt know how to make a quilt before she volunteered to make 12 of them. But Audrey says God answered her prayers by sending the right people to teach her and show her the way to accomplish that.
One thing she learned was that she could turn scraps of fabric into something meaningful and beautiful, as she washed, ironed, measured, cut, pinned and sewed the material.
If your quilt could talk it would tell you it was painful, but that discomfort was so worth the outcome of having a new life and a new purpose, Audrey writes.
Homeless people who graduate from a Springs Rescue Mission program in preparation for being re-housed and supporting themselves qualify for a unit. Theyll sign 18-month leases and pay program fees that start at $500 per month and increase in $50 increments that cap out at $750.
Tenants must remain clean and sober during their residency and work on improving income, expenses and budgeting. They also do career mapping, to figure out what is your joy going to look like and how are you going to achieve positive reintegration, Cole said.
Norwood Development Group purchased the 4U Motel property in 2022 and is leasing it to Springs Rescue Mission for one dollar a year. The company also supported the campus 65-unit permanent supportive housing apartment complex known as Greenway Flats, which opened in 2019.
The new complex is one of three buildings that comprise The Studios; the other two are to the south. They also were former motels that Springs Rescue Mission converted to transitional housing for homeless people; one is for men and the third accommodates seniors and people with mobility issues.
The $987,000 cost of the 4U Motel renovation was covered by a fundraising campaign and other community donations, said Keith Schumacher, chief financial officer.
The renovation, which started last fall, was difficult at times, he said. An old swimming pool as well as chunks of concrete that had been buried in the original development needed to be excavated, he said.
Brittney, who has been homeless in Colorado Springs and staying at Springs Rescue Mission for the past year and a half and declined to give her surname, was hanging out with friends nearby on Tuesday.
I think its amazing, she said of the new complex. But Im not sure its the best location; there are a lot of people using (drugs) around there.
Being homeless in Colorado Springs is hard, she said, and really stinks in the winter because its so cold.
But Brittney said shes now considering seeing if she can get a unit at The Studios.
Its a great opportunity for people, said Sgt. Olav Chaney, supervisor of the Homeless Outreach Team of the Colorado Springs Police Department. Itll help the community and us (law enforcement).
Measure 118 promises to give all Oregonians cash while hiking taxes on corporations. (Getty Images)
A proposed corporate tax hike to send every Oregonian a check could end up costing the state more than $1 billion annually, legislative revenue analysts told lawmakers this week.
Voters will decide in November whether to approve Measure 118, which would increase by 3% the corporate minimum tax on sales above $25 million and distribute proceeds to all Oregonians. In 2026, the average rebate could range from about $1,000 to $1,300, according to an analysis released this week.
State fiscal analysts have spent months trying to figure out how the proposed new tax and rebate would affect Oregons budget. Its complicated it would raise taxes on many corporations, resulting in more tax revenue, but because the rebate would be claimed by many Oregonians as personal income tax credits that reduce their taxes, personal income tax revenue could decrease. Other Oregonians would receive their rebate in the form of direct payments, which would show up on state balance sheets as money spent.
Sen. Mark Meek, the Gladstone Democrat who chairs the Senate Revenue Committee, called the measure a debacle and said he was very much more confused now after a 45-minute presentation Tuesday about the possible costs.
From the sounds of it, it was very poorly written, Meek said. It was written to be sexy to those people that have children and families that want that money in their pocket but dont understand the cost, what its going to take and if its even going to be a benefit to them.
The legislative revenue office added expected tax increases, tax decreases and spending together to estimate that the state would receive more money in the current budget cycle, but that it would have a negative cash flow in future budgets. If the measure passed, the state would be down about $547 million in the 2025-27 budget, $2.1 billion in the 2027-29 budget and $2.5 billion in the 2029-31 budget.
Thats money that couldnt be used for state services, including investing in housing, health care and highways. And it would reduce how much money the state automatically adds to its rainy day fund.
The state would also be on the hook for making sure that anyone who receives social services tied to income like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Employment Related Day Care wouldnt see their benefits reduced based on a higher income from the rebate.
I dont know if I can stress the complexity of going through every person who is entitled to a rebate and figuring out what the impact on their benefits would be, Legislative Revenue Officer Chris Allanach said.
Money pouring in
The legislative presentations come as backers of the proposed measure stepped up their fundraising efforts. On Tuesday, the same day that campaigns needed to start reporting contributions within seven days of receiving them, the Oregon Rebate PAC reported that it has received $200,000 in the past month from Jones Holding LLC, owned by California venture capitalist Josh Jones.
Much of the measures financial support has come from wealthy Californians, including Jones, who gave $780,000 through his company; the mother and foundation of late Tesla engineer Gerald Huff, which gave nearly $200,000; and Dylan Hirsch-Shell, a former Tesla engineer running for mayor of San Francisco, who gave $100,000.
Opponents, led by Oregon Business and Industry, have raised nearly $9.3 million to defeat the measure. The Defeat the Costly Tax on Sales committee received six-figure checks from some of the largest retailers and manufacturers in Oregon and the nation, including Home Depot, Walmart, Bi-Mart, the Tillamook County Creamery Association and Daimler Trucks.
A long bipartisan list of opponents includes Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek, most state legislators, labor unions, businesses and progressive groups including the Oregon Center for Public Policy. Supporters of Measure 118 have decried its opponents, especially elected officials, as being too loyal to corporate donors.
Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, said he has heard from constituents who read comments from opponents, including Kotek, about how the measure would have a negative impact on state revenue. But he said he struggles to clearly answer their questions because of the measures complexity.
I feel like Ive done a poor job trying to make clear why that is, he said.
Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, described it as a disaster in the making, and said lawmakers would have to figure out how to implement the measure if voters approve it. He wont be among them Boquist is barred from running for reelection because he missed too many days of floor sessions in 2023, and hes running for treasurer instead.
Its so difficult, Boquist said. I mean youre going to have a single mother of two kids looking at their ballot and saying, OK, I would get $4,800 according to the voters pamphlet, if I vote yes. Do I pay my rent? Do I pay my food? And you go to the opposite end of the spectrum, and you can have a homeschooling couple with six children, and they could be the ultra-conservative anti-tax people, and theyre going to look at this and say, Well, I could maybe get $12,800 back. I could put that in the college fund for my kid to go to college.
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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) A New Orleans bar is reopening its doors after its porch collapsed during a New Orleans Saints game on Sunday, Sept. 22.
Wrong Iron will begin welcoming guests at 4 p.m. on Wednesday after being closed for two days while repairs were being made.
New Orleans RTA unveils new diesel, hybrid buses
New Orleans police, EMS and fire crews responded to the collapsed patio around 1:37 p.m. on Sunday.
According to the bars owner, the porch sunk in after fans watching the Saints game headed to the covered patio area as it started to rain.
(WGNO/Jeff Kent)
(WGNO/Jeff Kent)
(WGNO/Jeff Kent)
The NOPD reported that one person was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, and four others were treated at the scene.
On Tuesday, Wrong Iron took to social media to announce the bar will reopen at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the front porch area will remain closed.
The post states that guests can still stop by and enjoy the inside bar, patio and kitchen.
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More than 100 members of Congress have signed on to a letter demanding that the United States conduct an independent investigation into the Israeli forces killing of Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi earlier this month in the occupied West Bank, after the military alleged that its soldiers likely shot the young pro-Palestinian woman on accident.
The Tuesday letter was drafted by Rep. Adam Smith, a Democrat representing Eygis home state of Washington. A Seattle resident and recent University of Washington graduate, the 26-year-old activist was shot dead by Israeli forces on Sept. 6 while she was volunteering as an international observer for Palestinians engaging in a weekly protest against an illegal settlement expansion in the occupied territorys village of Beita.
After news of Eygis killing spread throughout the international community and the U.S., the Israeli Defense Forces said it would conduct a preliminary investigation into the shooting a rare move by the military that even more rarely results in accountability. Upon conclusion of said preliminary investigation, the IDF stated that it was highly likely that Eygi was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her during a violent riot.
Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi's mother, Rabia Birden, mourns at her daughter's grave in, Aydin, Turkey, on Sept. 14. Eygi, 26, was killed on Sept. 6 by Israeli forces during a peaceful protest against settlement expansions in the occupied West Bank's village of Beita. Berkan Cetin/Anadolu via Getty Images
The letter said that lawmakers are deeply disturbed by the IDFs probe, which contradicts credible eyewitness accounts from fellow volunteers and Palestinians on the ground, as well as a recent Washington Post investigation that corroborates the accounts with additional interviews and photo and video evidence. Eygis family also called the Israeli probe wholly inadequate.
The evidence suggests that an Israeli sniper intentionally shot an unarmed Eygi in the head from an elevated position while she was in a quiet olive grove more than 200 yards away from Israeli forces, about 30 minutes after clashes between Palestinian residents and Israeli soldiers subsided and most protesters had retreated.
The U.S. must take the evidence into consideration and launch an independent probe into whether Eygis killing was a homicide, the lawmakers said. The Biden administration and Congress have continued to provide unconditional military and diplomatic support for Israel, which has been accused of repeatedly violating international law.
After talking to 13 eyewitnesses and reviewing more than 50 photos and videos, the Post found from the end of prayers around 1:05 p.m., it took less than 15 minutes for things to escalate. By 1:16 p.m. tear gas had been deployed and activists were moving down the hill. pic.twitter.com/N3y000TSC2 meg kelly (@mmkelly22) September 12, 2024
To walk away without asking further questions gives Israeli forces unacceptable license to act with impunity. There must be accountability for Ms. Eygis death, the letter stated. We therefore call on the White House, State Department and Department of Justice to lead an independent, thorough, credible and transparent investigation into the killing of Ms. Eygi. This investigation should include all evidence found and rationale for how findings were determined in a written report to the family.
The letter, which gives the departments until Oct. 4 to provide the written report, is followed by eight pages of signatures from more than 100 lawmakers in both congressional chambers.
Eygis family expressed appreciation for the letter, stressing their long-repeated calls for both a thorough independent investigation and the release of all evidence to her loved ones moves that are the bare minimum the family said they should expect from the Biden administration.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank village of Beita hold both Friday prayers and a funeral prayer in absentia for slain Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, on Sept. 13, 2024. Eygi, 26, was killed on Sept. 6 by Israeli forces while protecting Palestinians peacefully protesting against settlement expansions in the West Bank. Enes Canil/Anadolu via Getty Images
As Aysenurs family, we know the United States is more accustomed to providing impunity to Israeli military and officials instead of justice for the family members impacted by Israels criminal actions, the family said in a Tuesday statement. The U.S. has never held Israeli actors accountable for its killings of American citizens, and the killings of tens of thousands of Palestinians whose lives were violently taken from them by U.S.-supplied weapons.
Spokespersons for the White House and State Department did not respond to HuffPosts request for comment. A spokesperson for the Justice Department confirmed receipt of the letter, but declined to comment on the substance.
Despite calling Eygis killing unacceptable, President Joe Biden appeared earlier this month to support Israels conclusion, saying that the American womans death was the result of a tragic error resulting from an unnecessary escalation. Biden had also not yet called Eygis family, who found the presidents response insensitive and false.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have faced a surge of settler and military violence ever since Israel launched its almost yearlong offensive in Gaza, which began after Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and captured more than 200 hostages. As of Monday, the United Nations says Israeli forces have killed more than 41,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 96,000 in Gaza while in the West Bank, soldiers and settlers have killed a total of nearly 700 Palestinians.
ATLANTA Aya Alhaddad loves the feeling of being in a busy kitchen. Plates clattering, oil swishing in the pan, sweet and savory scents mingling in the air.
When she first moved to Atlanta, working in the restaurant business was a means to an end. Her hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, had begun to feel small after high school and Alhaddad wanted room to grow. Atlanta seemed full of opportunity and back-of-house jobs were plentiful.
Soon enough, Alhaddad, 22, began to see a prosperous career path. She dreamed of opening her own cafe and enrolled in business classes at Atlanta Technical College, a two-year community college, to make it a reality.
Today, she is part of a growing group of blue-collar Gen Z workers who say they don't believe that the results of the 2024 election will make a difference in their lives, even as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump seek their votes in a remarkably close race.
They do whatever they want, Alhaddad, who isnt registered to vote, said of the two very different candidates. I just stay out of it because I don't trust them.
Nonvoters like Alhaddad say they have more important things to do than voting. As tuition costs at traditional four-year colleges have skyrocketed, young people have increasingly opted for vocational programs, trade schools and blue-collar jobs.
More: The bro vote: Trump and Harris duel over what it means to be a man in America
Between 2010 and 2019, the number of students enrolled in four-year colleges dropped by 14%. Vocational-focused community colleges, meanwhile, saw a 16% uptick in enrollment between 2022 and 2023, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
These young adults in the workforce hold many of the same concerns about the direction of the country as their college-educated peers. And theyre among the key groups of voters Trump and Harris believe could decide the 2024 election.
Related: Kamala Harris says she'll end college degree requirements for some federal jobs
Trump is courting young men, particularly those without a college degree, by appearing on male-oriented podcasts and at professional fighting matches. Harris, too, has worked to energize young Americans leaning into meme culture on the campaign trail and proposing economic policies that benefit those just starting out.
But reaching these voters is proving a tough sell. They are less likely to vote and more likely to say politics isnt relevant when compared with their college-going peers.
And those like Alhaddad arent buying either candidates promises.
Economic worries
For Malina Bordere, 25, the economy is a top concern. More specifically, the high cost of housing.
I really want the market to crash, she said after taking a cosmetology class in Atlanta one morning in September. Bordere laughed but was only half-joking.
Bordere's goal is to own a building of salon suites and lease them out to other stylists. Shes attending cosmetology school to learn the ins and outs and connect with people who may eventually want to rent out her suites. But with average mortgage interest rates in the U.S. hovering above 6%, she said it feels unattainable.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives to speak about the economy during a campaign event in Potterville, Michigan, on August 29, 2024.
It's really hard for people to come out of high school, college and try to buy a home, she said. Everybody needs to be able to buy a home.
Anxieties about economic power and affordability are a through line across voting demographics, and particularly among youth. A recent USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll found that the majority of people ages 18-34 believe the U.S. economy is stagnating or is in recession.
However, youth in the workforce are more concerned about different parts of the economy than their peers in college.
They're more focused on the day-to-day.
Where college students tend to care more about big-picture student debt, those who went straight into the workforce often want to hear more about candidates plans on creating jobs and lowering costs, said Kadida Kenner, CEO of the New Pennsylvania Project, a voting rights organization in the pivotal battleground state.
Young women react to meeting Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Kamala Harris at a meet and greet for women voters in Birmingham, Alabama on June 7, 2019.
Youth ages 18-29 without a college education were also more likely than those in college, or those with a degree, to describe their financial situation as bad, according to the Harvard Youth Poll, a nationwide survey conducted in early September.
Its heightened, Kenner suggested, because they're experiencing adulthood quickly, without the installation of a college campus.
Political engagement
Nitzan Pelman, CEO of Climb Together, an organization that helps low-income adults find well-paying jobs, argued that recent high school graduates who enter the workforce often feel economic pressure more acutely than their peers.
The high cost of tuition is often the main barrier preventing people from attending college, meaning that those who do not attend often already fall into lower income brackets.
They don't really have the flexibility or the luxury of a school, she said. The cost of life and the cost of college has forced people to be more considerate or circumspect.
More: How are college costs adding up these days and how much has tuition risen? Graphics explain
Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump speaks at the Economic Club of New York in New York City on Sept. 5.
Kavaughn Moncrieffe, 23, said he has thought about going into a four-year degree program after he earns his GED certificate but, as a busy father of young children, programs in HVAC and audio engineering are more practical.
With little time for himself already, Moncrieffe is also among the large group of working-class young adults who are tuned out of politics.
Among people aged 18-29 surveyed in the Harvard Youth Poll, 27% of those without a college education said they probably or definitely would not vote in November, compared with just 7% of their college-educated peers.
Seventy-six percent of the noncollege population said they werent politically engaged, compared with 59% of those who had attended college and 64% who were currently in college.
Moncrieffe said that while he believes politics matter, he doesnt believe they impact his life in a substantive way.
These people are going to do what they want anyway, he said. Whether they make our life better or they make our life worse, we can't really control that.
John Della Volpe, the director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics , said the challenge candidates and voter registration groups have in reaching voters like Moncrieffe is in showing the connection between policy actions and real life.
In focus groups, he uses the example of how the Affordable Care Act, passed under former President Barack Obama, allowed youth to stay on their parents' health insurance until they turned 26.
For that cohort of folks, we need to show them the difference that participation can make, and that government can make in their lives, Della Volpe said.
Kenner said political operatives also need to meet young blue-collar voters where they are by providing information about the difference between political parties, where they can vote and how to vote. She's found that building trust also requires organizers to have a sustained, long-term presence in a community.
You set up shop, you give out things to the community, and then hopefully they recognize what you're doing, and then they go in there and register to vote and support you, she said.
It costs millions of dollars for political campaigns to invest in getting voters registered and to the polls. But when it comes to working-class youth, the untapped potential is immense.
Only 14% of youth with a college degree said they don't yet know who they are voting for in the 2024 election. Among youth not in college and without a degree, that number jumped to 24%.
There are more people in this group than in the college group, Della Volpe said. And by the way, they really are up for grabs.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Gen Zs blue-collar bloc matters for the 2024 election
Pa. attorney general candidates bring in millions, but donations are mostly from a few sources
(Getty Images)
The Pennsylvania attorney generals race has drawn millions of dollars in contributions to both candidates, but a large chunk of spending on behalf of Republican Dave Sunday isnt visible to voters in his latest campaign finance report.
Democrat Eugene DePasquale received $3.2 million in contributions between May 14 and Sept. 16, according to his campaign committees latest report that was due Friday and posted online this week.
Although DePasquale says thats the largest amount reported by any attorney general candidate during the same period since 2000, its significantly less than the $5.5 million that a PAC backed by conservative mega donor Jeff Yass has spent for television advertising on Sundays behalf.
That spending, however, isnt included in Sundays latest campaign committee report.
Sundays report does show that he received nearly $1.4 million in contributions, largely from the Republican Attorneys General Association and another Yass-backed committee, the Commonwealth Childrens Choice Fund. Each gave Sunday $550,000.
In a statement, DePasquales campaign touted donations from nearly 4,000 individuals averaging less than $100 each. But DePasquale also received a significant amount from a single organization. The Democratic Attorneys General Association contributed more than $1.5 million.
DePasquales report also lists about two dozen contributions of more than $10,000 each from PACs for labor unions including the Pennsylvania State Educators Association, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and Service Employees International Union.
Penn State political science professor Daniel Mallinson said with the focus on Pennsylvania as a must-win battleground state in the presidential election, running a statewide campaign such as an attorney general bid is expensive this year.
Youre having to pay for political advertising and your own political operations somewhat in competition with all of that noise from the presidential campaigns, Mallinson said.
The office of attorney general has also taken on a higher profile than the other row offices of state treasurer and auditor general as it has emerged as a key stepping stone for the governors office and a means to influence national issues and policy.
Yass, a Montgomery County trader and founder of Susquehanna International Group, has personal wealth nearing $50 billion, according to Forbes. As a proponent of charter schools and taxpayer funded vouchers to help parents pay for private school tuition, Yass has contributed tens of millions to PACs devoted to those issues.
Much of that money passes through to the Commonwealth Leaders Fund, which has pumped more than $45 million into Pennsylvania elections since 2017, according to campaign finance records.
Advertising industry data obtained by the Capital-Star shows Commonwealth Leaders Fund has paid for $5.5 million in broadcast and cable TV advertising critical of DePasquales record. The ads bear the disclaimer that they are paid for by the Commonwealth Leaders Fund on Sundays behalf.
Pennsylvania candidates for elected office are required to report donations of valuable things to the Department of State.
Sundays latest report lists no such donations during the period in which the advertising data shows Commonwealth Leaders Fund was booking advertising with television stations across the state.
Sunday campaign spokesman Ben Wren told the Capital-Star that the campaign received a notice of the in-kind contributions from Commonwealth Leaders Fund after the Sept. 16 cutoff for the latest report.
We had no way of knowing the in-kind number until they sent it, Wren said in a text message, adding that the contributions would be included in the reporting cycle in which the notice was received.
A spokesperson for the Department of State told the Capital-Star in-kind contributions are to be reported in the reporting period in which they were received and referred to the departments Frequently Asked Questions document for campaign finance reporting, which does not clarify when a contribution is considered to have been received.
DePasquales campaign manager Carver Murphy said Sunday is hiding behind Yass bucks instead of running a campaign for the people of Pennsylvania.
Voters arent going to be fooled by clever contribution timing, Murphy said.
(WJET/WFXP) Pennsylvania-based health company Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), one of the largest primary care groups in Pennsylvania, earlier this month reached a $65 million settlement after the data of nearly 135,000 patients and employees were exposed.
Of those patients, over 600 had their personal medical record photos, which included nude photographs, hacked and posted on the internet.
As part of the settlement, each Settlement Class member will receive a payment ranging from $50 to $70,000, with those who had their nude photos published online receiving the maximum. The attorneys estimate that the funds will be distributed early next year.
Was your data leaked in massive breach?: How to know, and what to do now
According to the lawsuit, the data breach occurred on February 6, 2023, exposing personally identifiable information and protected health information including one or more of the following: address, email address, Social Security number, passport information, drivers license number/state ID number, health insurance provider, medical diagnosis/medical treatment information, medication, lab results, and nude photographs.
The data breach was later identified as the work of the cyber-hacker group ALPHV, also known as BlackCat. ALPHV has gained notoriety for cyberattacks against academia and healthcare institutions. In total, around 132 gigabytes of information and images were uploaded to the dark web.
At the time of the data breach, the hackers told LHVN that if the ransom was not paid, the sensitive images would be released publicly. Despite having this knowledge, LVHN did not pay the ransom, and the images were subsequently released.
The lawsuit accused LVHN of putting its own financial considerations above their patients best interest.
As a result, the lawsuit argued that the class, including a plaintiff identified as only Jane Doe, have suffered embarrassment and humiliation.
Doe will also get a larger portion of the settlement money, according to Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, the law firm representing the class.
Had the case gone to trial she would have lost her anonymity and she would have had to sit there in front of a courtroom full of people while we displayed her nude images to the jury, to the judge, attorney Patrick Howard said, per a statement included in the firms news release. She was taking a risk. Shes obviously very sensitive about what happened here and its been a lot emotionally for her. For her to step out and bring the lawsuit knowing thats the risk, we wanted to see her properly compensated.
23andMe to pay $30M settlement over 2023 breach: How much could victims get?
LHVN, in a statement published by Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, defended its decision to refuse payment to the hackers, but said it would continue to enhance its cybersecurity defenses.
LHVN, based in Allentown, operates 15 health systems with a combined 32 hospitals in eastern 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 Queen City News.
This is a locator map for Pakistan with its capital, Islamabad, and the Kashmir region. (AP Photo)
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) Pakistani authorities brought a nurse they said was arrested over the weekend before state-run media on Wednesday to answer questions about her alleged suicide bombing attempt. The government-organized interview in Balochistan province was broadcast on national and local television channels.
The southwestern Balochistan province has for years been the scene of a long-running insurgency, with several separatist groups staging attacks that target mainly security forces in their quest for independence. The province also has an array of militant groups that are active there.
Pakistans government has also long battled militants and insurgents of various groups across the entire country fighting that has killed hundreds, both civilians and members of the security forces.
Authorities are likely eager to show that they are gaining the upper hand in the fight.
In Wednesday's interview in Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan, the nurse identified herself as Adeela Baloch and said she had worked at a government hospital in the district of Turbat before she was misguided by terrorists and recruited to carry out a suicide attack.
She said she was arrested before she could carry out the attack.
It was not clear if she spoke under duress. She did not name the group that had allegedly enlisted her or describe the target of the planned attack.
The Associated Press could not independently confirm her identity or verify her claims. Officials contacted by the AP declined to provide details and only said she would not be prosecuted because she did not carry out the attack.
Last month, the outlawed separatist Balochistan Liberation Army, said a woman was among a group of its fighters who had killed more than 50 people in the restive province.
Earlier on Wednesday, a roadside bomb targeting police in Quetta wounded 12 people, according to local officials.
(FILES) An Israeli right-wing activist holds up an Israeli national flag to obscure the camera of a video journalist during the Jerusalem Day flag march (HAZEM BADER) (HAZEM BADER/AFP/AFP)
Since war began in Gaza on October 7, Israel's military campaign has received rolling coverage on domestic television, with just one notable aspect missing -- the Palestinians living, and dying, under the bombs.
Every night during prime time, Israeli viewers hear about military operations in the Gaza Strip, now ravaged by the ongoing retaliation for Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.
The deadly attack "was a surprise for Israeli society, and media gave full priority to Israel's suffering and trauma, which is still present," Jerome Bourdon, a media sociologist and professor at Tel Aviv University, told AFP.
Israel has four main news channels.
There is Channel 11, the main channel of the public broadcaster; Channel 12, "the most watched"; Channel 13, "the most critical" of the government; and Channel 14, "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's propaganda tool, Israel's Fox News", summarised Oren Persico, a journalist for "The Seventh Eye", an Israeli news website focused on the media.
After analysing many hours of news, satire and talent shows, "The Seventh Eye" earlier this month delivered its verdict: "Media in Israel, from Channel 11 to 14, do not show images of human suffering in Gaza."
Television viewers see "images of rubble, of a bombarded building, but not individual stories of people concerned", the website said.
- 'A different angle' -
The pattern is not exactly new, Bourdon said, as Palestinian voices were "made invisible" even before October 7.
The attack that day by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 41,467 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to data provided by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
The United Nations has acknowledged the ministry's figures as reliable, but they are "not used by Israeli media", Persico said.
The exception is ultra-conservative Channel 14, which mentions "40,000 terrorists eliminated" in chyrons and on its website.
In an interview with AFP, one of Channel 14's journalists, Hallel Bitton-Rosen, said its news coverage focuses on "support for fighting forces that protect the country and citizens against vile terrorists that perpetrated the terrible massacre" last year.
The Israeli army says 348 soldiers have been killed during operations in Gaza since the beginning of the ground offensive on October 27.
When Israeli TV channels do dedicate segments to Palestinians, there is "a different angle compared to foreign media", Bourdon said, pointing in particular to settler attacks on villages in the occupied West Bank, where violence has soared since October 7.
Israeli journalists tend to favour the line that "the army failed to stop the settlers" rather than "couldn't protect Palestinians", he said.
- Legitimate torture? -
In late July, Israeli soldiers were arrested and questioned by military police on suspicion of sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee after a prison surveillance video was leaked to media.
Israel's most important military backer, the United States, said at the time that "reports of sexual abuse of detainees are horrific" and called for perpetrators to be held accountable.
On Channel 12, however, debate raged over whether torturing and even sodomising "terrorists" could be considered "legitimate".
Inside Channel 12's newsroom in Tel Aviv, there was "a before and after October 7", said a popular reporter who wished to remain anonymous.
"The focus is on the horror that struck us, not on Palestinian stories," he said.
Several journalists AFP spoke to said they have not faced editorial pressure to cover the war a certain way.
Instead they said the dearth of attention allotted to Gaza's civilian inhabitants could be explained by lingering shock from October 7 and a widespread belief that Palestinian sources cannot be trusted.
They contended it was international media who covered the war unfairly, with a clear bias in favour of Palestinians.
Israel's media landscape is not monolithic, however.
The left-leaning Israeli daily Haaretz and the online news site +972 are among the few outlets producing investigations on Gaza.
They have examined, for example, alleged torture of civilians by Israeli soldiers and the use of artificial intelligence to identify strike targets.
Bourdon noted, though, that these outlets' audiences are limited to a "minority" on the "intellectual left" in the country.
we/mj/bfi/lba/rcb/jd/jsa/fox
Two Palm Beach residents died by suicide within weeks of each other this summer.
One, a 64-year-old man who co-founded a popular internet company, left behind a heartbreaking note addressed to his family.
The other, a 74-year-old man, had experienced recent professional difficulties and had a history of suicidal threats. It's unclear if he left a note as the incident remains under investigation.
The former's death in New York City was public, and sparked multiple stories in the media.
The latter's death was more isolated: He chose a quiet beach on Palm Beachs North End.
Palm Beach Daily News does not generally name people who die by suicide.
Help is available for people experiencing suicidal thoughts. Call 211 or 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The deaths of these men the first on July 16, the second on Aug. 19 appear to be part of what has been called by many organizations a silent crisis: the high rate of suicide among men in the United States.
Men make up half of the population of the United States, but accounted for nearly 80% of suicides in 2022, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That year, an estimated 49,449 people died by suicide, 3% higher than the 48,183 people who died the year before, the CDC said.
That amounts to 39,255 men who killed themselves in 2022, according to the CDC.
September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and local mental health advocates are raising awareness of the issue as they work to spread the word: Resources are available. And theres no shame in asking for help.
More: What are the warning signs of suicide? Experts share advice
Why do more men kill themselves?
According to the CDC, the suicide rate among men was about four times higher than the rate among women in 2022, the most recent data available. In Palm Beach County, men were more than three times more likely to kill themselves in 2023, according to the Medical Examiners Office annual report. Of the 232 suicides reported by that office in 2023, about 180 were men.
It may seem counterintuitive: Numerous studies have found that women are more likely to be diagnosed with mental health conditions, including depression, and to attempt suicide, according to the Mayo Clinic.
So why is the number of men who complete suicide so much higher?
"Women historically reach out for help sooner," said Sharon L'Herrou, president and chief executive of 211 Palm Beach and Treasure Coast, one of the primary nonprofits in Palm Beach County that offers mental health resources and locally operates the suicide lifeline.
Sharon L'Herrou, president and chief executive of 211 Palm Beach and Treasure Coast
That search for help is documented in the higher number of calls received from women by 211, she said.
Men also are more likely to use more lethal means to commit suicide, L'Herrou said. In 2022, of the 27,032 total people whose deaths were listed as self-inflicted by a firearm, 23,538 were men, according to a CDC database.
Suicide is "insidious," said Audrey Gruss, a Palm Beach resident who founded the Hope for Depression Research Foundation in honor of her mother, Hope, who had depression as an older adult.
Audrey Gruss, founder and chair of the Hope for Depression Research Foundation
Gruss pointed to men who attempt or commit suicide because they face financial troubles. "They shouldn't be killing themselves," she said. "They should be getting help ... The last frontier of medicine is the brain, and that's why we who work here are so passionate about mental health."
Already dire circumstances the suicide rate steadily rose from 2005 to 2020 were exacerbated by the pandemic, L'Herrou said.
Since 2010, suicide-related calls to 211 have risen 87%, she said. The organization last year answered 4,583 suicide prevention calls, for an average of 12 calls a day, she said.
"This is not a new situation," L'Herrou said. "The mental health crisis and the suicide rate in this country have been alarmingly high and growing. The pandemic really threw gasoline on that."
With additional fears around health and safety, isolation and uncertainty, resentment toward employers and burnout caused by the pandemic, there was a spiraling effect, she said.
Promising research and reducing stigma
The Hope for Depression Research Foundation hopes to stop that spiral by funding groundbreaking research that can lead to better, more effective medications and therapies, Gruss said.
When she founded the organization in 2006, she had just read an article from The New York Times that said seven of the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies no longer invested in research into medical remedies for mental health.
Depression and related mood disorders account for about 95% of all mental health issues, making it akin to the common cold in its widespread nature, Gruss said. Depression also is the condition most commonly associated with suicide, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Since its launch, Gruss' foundation has held galas, 5Ks and other fundraising events in locations including her part-time hometowns of Palm Beach and Southampton, New York. A race in Southampton over the summer drew 1,000 people and raised more than $500,000.
Audrey Gruss cheers as runners cross the finish line during the Hope for Depression Research Foundation Race of Hope 5K to Defeat Depression Feb. 17 at Bradley Park.
"I get goosebumps," Gruss said. "It shows us that people are responding, the community is responding."
In 2013, the foundation launched the Depression Task Force, which is comprised of 10 scientists from institutions including Duke and Columbia universities and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Gruss said that all of their research is shared through the Hope Data Center at the University of Michigan.
The team has made breakthroughs in identifying the causes of depression, isolating 20 genes found in people who experience the disorder, she said.
"We call these 20 novel targets 'shovel-ready' for advancement into clinical research," she said.
The potential result: new antidepressants that better target the root cause.
Gruss hopes the result will be fewer cases of depression and people who are more willing and comfortable talking about depression.
"All of this is no longer a secret," she said. "It's no longer something you can't discuss socially with people. Everybody should be talking about the importance of having good mental health."
Palm Beach Police mobilize mental health unit
In Palm Beach, a team of officers with the town's police department are working to connect people in mental health crises with the services that can help them.
Palm Beach Police Chief Nicholas Caristo launched the Behavioral Sciences Unit in 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic as the department charted an increase of calls related to mental health.
Palm Beach's lone suicide this year was Aug. 19, when the 74-year-old man killed himself, according to data provided by the Police Department. There have been an additional two calls to the department regarding suicide.
There were no suicides last year, part of a steady decrease since 2021, where there was a high of four, and 2022, where there were two suicides, according to the department.
Palm Beach Police Det. Adam Zeller is a member of the department's Behavioral Sciences Unit.
The eight members of the team were chosen by Caristo based on their training and skills in the field, including their personalities and empathy, said Detective Adam Zeller, a member of the Behavioral Sciences Unit.
"You come into law enforcement because you want to help people, first and foremost," he said.
Among their many duties, officers in the Behavioral Sciences Unit help to connect people in crisis with resources, Zeller said.
"Community organizations are working so much more closely with law enforcement, fire rescue, public safety in general, and we in turn are utilizing them in a mutually beneficial way," he said.
College makes crisis intervention a priority in police training
Over the past decade, the relationship between first responders and mental health has experienced a dramatic shift as awareness rises and more work is done to break the stigma, according to research conducted by professors for West Virginia and Towson universities.
At Palm Beach State College, Criminal Justice Institute Director Vincent Morton has prioritized mental health, both when it comes to field training and awareness for new officers to take care of themselves.
Criminal Justice Institute Director Vincent Morton
The college's criminal justice program is the primary police training academy for the 26 law-enforcement agencies in Palm Beach County.
In crisis intervention training, both sworn and prospective officers learn how to respond to mental health issues they may see while on patrol, and how to respond appropriately, including de-escalation techniques, he said.
When responding to a call, officers are trained to look at a person's communication, body language and state of mind, he said. "There are multiple things that can help us determine whether they're a threat to themselves or somebody else," Morton said. "Sometimes it's just talking to them and having the hard conversations with people to see if there's a problem."
The training is a double win, Morton said: Not only does it ensure well-equipped officers for some of Palm Beach Countys smaller law-enforcement agencies that may have difficulty scheduling training, but it also creates more training and awareness for newer officers.
Right now, Palm Beach State College is the only criminal justice academy in Florida that incorporates crisis-intervention training into the program, Morton said. State agencies are working to change that under recent legislation that requires every criminal justice academy in Florida to provide crisis-intervention training, he added.
A story of survival
Suicide doesn't just affect the person who dies, or attempts death.
Several studies estimate that for each person who completes suicide, up to 135 people are affected: family members, friends, classmates, coworkers, and neighbors.
Research shows that this trauma makes the survivors more susceptible to suicidal thoughts, 211's L'Herrou said.
Advocates said that prevention resources and follow-up are extremely effective tools.
More: Recent Palm Beach County murder-suicide highlights effects of domestic violence
People who call 211 or 988, the national suicide prevention line, are connected to 211 Palm Beach and Treasure Coast. Both numbers work like 911, where the system detects your location and directs you to the closest call center, L'Herrou said.
"What that means is you're getting local people who care about you," she said.
The organization was founded in 1971 and was first accredited to answer suicide-related crisis calls in 1993, L'Herrou said, adding that 211 in Palm Beach County has a resource directory with more than 1,600 agencies that represent thousands of services to help callers.
For L'Herrou, an example of her organization's work to prevent suicide still brings her to tears, even a few years later.
She received a call while sitting at her desk one day. "My desk phone rang, and I answered it," she said. "I don't even know how this woman got my number.
"But she said, 'I wanted you to know that I'm a mother today because someone on your team saved my son's life last night,' " L'Herrou recalled, her voice breaking.
The woman's son had called 211, where they talked to him and convinced him to accept help. A mobile response team went to him, and he was voluntarily hospitalized, L'Herrou said.
It's a good reminder of the potential effects of suicide, she said: "The loss of that person's life is a tragedy, but it's not only that one life. The loss of that life just ripples out and touches so many, many, many people, and so many people are left grieving."
Depression is a family illness, Gruss said, because the family also feels the pain.
She knows from experience after years of watching the effect of her mother's depression on their family.
"Many families aren't aware of the signs of depression and have the old pull-it-up-by-the-bootstraps attitude," Gruss said. "That's tragic because it really is not the way to approach any symptoms or signs of depression."
Instead, she said, entire families should get involved in the care and treatment of their loved one, just as they would with a complicated physical illness.
"Let's do away with the judgmental factors and the stigma and the fear," Gruss said. "This is an illness, and it has to be treated."
Help is available for people experiencing suicidal thoughts. Call 211 or 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: National Suicide Prevention Month: Silent crisis, stigma and hope
To some people, this news will sound like everything a nightmare is made of.
A spider native to East Asia that can cover the palm of a persons hand has been spotted in Bostons historic Beacon Hill.
Its the most northern sighting yet of the Joro spider and the first time one was spotted in Massachusetts.
Andy Davis, research scientist at the University of Georgias Odum School of Ecology, believes the yellow, green, and black spider is a female and said its likely shes not the only Joro in Boston.
He said the parachuting eight-legged creatures are skilled at catching rides on cars and trucks and have been traveling up the East Coast.
A big reason for the spread north is the spiders ability to fly by releasing silk that catches wind currents, allowing it to conduct non-precise flight guided by the wind.
It doesnt surprise me at all because I think theres more of them in the same area, and I think were going to start seeing more of them, Davis told Boston 25 News.
Before arriving in Beacon Hill, the most northern Joro spider sighting was in Pennsylvania.
Joros are venmous, like all spiders, but Davis said theyre not harmful to humans or pets and that their bites are less painful than a bee sting.
These spiders are actually some of the shyest spiders every documented. They are more afraid of you than you are afraid of it, he said.
Joros first invaded Georgia nearly a decade ago and have been rapidly multiplying.
It seems right now the Joro spiders dont have any predators that are taking them out, he added. That may change and, in fact, weve already had some evidence that theres native birds here starting to capitalize on the Joro spider.
The Joro spider thats been spinning its web outside the six-floor Greek Revival home on Mount Vernon Street in Beacon Hill has been attracting a lot of attention.
Some said they initially mistook it for Halloween decor in the Boston neighborhood that takes decorating seriously.
It looks like a Halloween decoration that somehow got lost on the street to be honest, said Ella Pickard.
The natural habitat of Joro spiders ranges into northern Japan, which has a colder climate thats similar to the northeast.
Some researchers are predicting that Joros will continue traveling north into Canada because of their ability to thrive in frigid temperatures.
Davis urged the public to report Joro spider sightings here.
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A trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Jeyhun Bayramov and Ararat Mirzoyan, with the participation of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, will take place on September 26 in New York, Azernews reports, citing Aykhan Hajizade, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, he telling to journalists.
On September 24, in New York, the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, considered one of the largest diplomatic events in the world, bringing together leaders of participating countries, began. This session, which will continue until September 30, will be opened by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and chaired by Filemon Yang from Cameroon.
As per tradition, the main theme of the UN General Assembly session, held annually since 1955, is: "Leaving No One Behind."
In this event, which prioritises peace issues, Azerbaijan, a country that is advancing in contributing to the topic, naturally participates, represented by Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.
Coloradans will have two options to experience the wintry attraction, Ice Castles, with a new location in Eagle to join the second year in Cripple Creek.
We are thrilled to add a second location in Colorado this winter where we can create a sense of magic and wonder for our guests, said Ice Castles CEO Kyle Standifird in a news release Wednesday. "Our team is energized to build an experience in Eagle that complements the stunning natural beauty adjacent to the Eagle River.
The town of Eagle is located along the Interstate 70 corridor between Vail and Glenwood Springs. Ice Castles founder and owner Brent Christensen said the location would syphon ski traffic this winter, especially among families that might want some weekend trip variety beyond hitting the slopes.
Ice Castles is returning to Cripple Creek after it had a two-year hiatus from Colorado and, previous to that, several years in Summit County.
Cripple Creek Mayor Annie Durham previously told The Gazette the debut season last winter was overwhelmingly successful."
Made out of stacked icicles frozen together, the whimsical display requires low temperatures to create. According to the release, Ice Castles in Cripple Creek and Eagle will begin forming the attractions in late October and aim to open in late December. The display typically lasts through March.
Both Eagle and Cripple Creek will likely benefit from high altitudes prolonging the season. Last year, the Cripple Creek attraction, at higher than 9,000 feet elevation, was open for 11 weeks, beyond the company's average of five to six weeks in other locations.
Laying the groundwork for the attraction required more preparation for its first year in Cripple Creek compared to Eagle, according to Christensen.
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Cripple Creek partnered with casinos and the company to share the cost, which amounted to a share of about $18,000 reportedly spent for Cripple Creek.
The deal included about 8 million gallons of water to form the attraction. Where water would go during the melting period was also a point of concern this spring as the town considered any runoff risks.
"Sometimes we don't know how it's going to behave," said Christensen.
In Eagle, the site of the attraction is in an undeveloped piece of land adjacent to the town's fairgrounds and the Eagle River. The town's elevation is 6,500-plus feet. Christensen said the company negotiated a "not prohibitive" water rate, and that the town has an abundance of parking that's appealing for anticipated large crowds.
Christensen said that with a foundation in place, his company hopes this year in Cripple Creek will be more of a "plug and play" operation.
"The first year can always be a little challenging," he said.
Ice Castles started in Utah, and has other attractions planned this year in Utah, New Hampshire and Minnesota. Peak-season tickets will be available starting Nov. 26.
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) Bay County is included in the 61 counties covered by Governor Ron DeSantis state of emergency.
But Panama City commissioners are adding a layer of protection.
Panama City commissioners unanimously voted to declare a 72-hour state of emergency for the city due to Hurricane Helene. If necessary, Mayor Micheal Rohan or City Manager, Jonathan Hayes has the authority to extend the declaration for an additional 7 days.
Several Panhandle organizations announce closures due to potential tropical storm
The commissioner would then officially vote on the extension at their next meeting.
It allows us to have certain authority for either myself or the mayor in regards to a myriad of issues as it relates to a storm preparedness and response. It also triggers our employees to start tracking specific time in the preparation for and storm preparation for reimbursement from FEMA and just making sure that we have everything ready to go so we can quickly respond in the event that the storm does become more serious than were spending right now, Panama City City Manager Jonathan Hayes said.
As of Wednesday, there are no evacuation orders for Bay County and city officials dont expect any. Helenes local effects on Thursday will likely be rain, flooding, and tropical-force winds.
City officials say its still important to have a plan.
You know, this community is very resilient when it comes to dealing with hurricanes, whether its Hurricane Opal back in 95 or Hurricane Michael in 2018 at this community. I mean we live here along the coast and have for centuries. And so you know I think you know use common sense you know be careful be cautious, Hayes said.
School closures for Panhandle counties
Due to the state of emergency, commissioners have rescheduled Thursdays regular meeting and budget hearing to next Monday.
City officials encourage residents to get their latest updates on the citys social media sites or sign up for ALERTBAY.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 mypanhandle.com.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) A state panel will decide if Rhode Islands education commissioner will earn a contract extension.
The State Council on Elementary and Secondary Education will meet on Wednesday night to review an evaluation of R.I. Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green and negotiate her contract.
Infante-Green has stated publicly she intends to stay in Rhode Island.
I love Rhode Island. This is where my work is, and weve been doing really good work, Infante-Green said in a Sept. 6 taping of Newsmakers.
WATCH: RI Education Commissioner Infante-Green on Newsmakers
According to state payroll records, Infante-Green earned $296,174 during the 2023-2024 fiscal year. No details of her proposed contract have been released.
Infante-Green took over as education commissioner in 2019 when her predecessor, Ken Wagner, left the department to join the Annenberg Institute at Brown University. The following year, the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) took control of the failing Providence Public School District.
Late last month, Infante-Green recommended to the Council that the school district should remain under state control for three more years. The Council unanimously approved her recommendation.
Infante-Green made her recommendation following the August release of two independent reviews of the district.
SchoolWorks said notable progress had been made, but flagged several issues, including that the number of those who had a favorable perception of the district has decreased.
RELATED: Key report leaves RIDE still deciding who should control Providence schools
A separate report from the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University evaluated the districts academic performance during and after the pandemic, and compared that to similar New England districts.
Between 2019 and 2022, authors of the report found the district had incurred less learning loss in reading compared to all three states, less learning loss in math compared to Massachusetts and Connecticut, and remained the same as Rhode Islands comparison district average.
RIDE spokesperson Victor Morente touted Infante-Greens accomplishments over the last five years.
The commissioners work as a federal appointee, state official, and overseer of the PPSD intervention has garnered her recognition, Morente said.
Morente said last June, Infante-Green became the first Latina Rhode Island education chief to be selected to serve on the Board of Directors for the Council of Chief State School Officers.
Last October, U.S. Sec. of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona appointed Infante-Green to the National Assessment Governing Board.
Morente said it marked the first time a woman of color education chief from Rhode Island has been appointed to the role.
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.
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Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Parents whose children died as a result of college hazing incidents are speaking out after the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously passed the "Stop Campus Hazing Act," a bill that could become the first federal law to address hazing across the country.
The bill, which now heads to the Senate, would require colleges and universities that receive federal student aid to provide anti-hazing programs to all students.
It would also require colleges and universities for the first time to report hazing incidents and publish online the names of organizations that have violated anti-hazing policies. The reports would go under the Clery Act, the federal campus safety law that requires colleges and universities to report crime statistics.
That type of legislative action is what Evelyn and Jim Piazza of Lebanon, New Jersey, believe could have saved the life of their son, Penn State student Timothy Piazza, who died from traumatic brain injuries on Feb. 4, 2017, two days after an alcohol-fueled party and hazing ritual known as "The Gauntlet."
"When my son said he wanted to join Beta Theta Pi, I looked it up and it said it was a non-drinking, non-hazing fraternity, and I thought he was making a good choice," Evelyn Piazza told ABC News' Janai Norman in an interview that aired Wednesday on "Good Morning America." "Come to find out after the fact that that chapter had been suspended a few years prior for hazing."
PHOTO: Stephen Gruver, left, and Evelyn and Jim Piazza speak with ABC News' Janai Norman in an interview that aired Sept. 25, 2017, on 'Good Morning America.' (ABC News)
Timothy Piazza fell down a flight of stairs into the basement at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity during "The Gauntlet." Fraternity brothers carried Piazza back upstairs and placed him on a couch, where they poured water on his face and slapped him in an attempt to wake him up, according to a grand jury report that cited evidence including surveillance video, witness testimony and phone records.
A fraternity member finally called 911 about 12 hours after the initial fall, by which time Piazza was breathing heavily, had blood on his face and his skin had turned gray, according to the grand jury report.
In March 2017, the Beta Theta Pi fraternity was permanently banned from Penn State.
One year later, in 2018, the Piazzas reached a settlement with the fraternity's national organization over their son's death.
The terms of the settlement and amount of money the parties settled for was not disclosed, per the terms of the agreement, according to a statement released by the family at the time.
The settlement also included a "sweeping fraternity-conduct Reform Agreement aimed at averting another preventable death."
The reform program comprises 17 points, including requiring all chapter houses to be alcohol- and substance-free by August 2020, involving Piazza's parents in any decision-making about how the closed Beta chapter house at Penn state is used in the future and requiring that the college or university's police or public safety department be immediately notified of any reported student conduct violations that result in "serious bodily injury or death of a member, new member or third-party guest."
S. Wayne Kay, general secretary and chairman of the board for Beta Theta Pi's national organization, said at the time the settlement was announced that Piazza's death "remains one of the greatest disappointments and darkest hours in Beta's history."
"It is heartbreaking and numbing to know our former members let Tim and his family down in such a tragic way," Kay said in a statement. "There will never be enough words to describe the pain they feel, and Betas everywhere join with me in expressing our shared anger and sorrow that this could have happened in our fraternity."
PHOTO: Maxwell Gruver is seen in this undated photo shared by his mother, Rae Ann Feldner Gruver, on Facebook on Sept. 14, 2017. (Rae Ann Feldner Gruver via Facebook)
In 2019, four Beta Theta Pi fraternity brothers were sentenced after previously pleading guilty to hazing-related charges stemming from Timothy Piazza's death.
Since their son's death, the Piazzas have become vocal anti-hazing advocates, partnering with Stephen and Rae Ann Gruver, whose 18-year-old son Maxwell Gruver also died in 2017 following a night of drinking and alleged hazing at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity's Louisiana State University chapter.
Parents who lost children to alleged hazing incidents call for change: 'It could be anyone's child'
The day after he died, Maxwell Gruver's blood alcohol level was still 0.495%, four times the legal limit, his father Stephen Gruver told ABC News in December 2017.
A former LSU student was sentenced in 2019 to five years in prison in connection with the 18-year-old's death.
Days after Gruver's death, Phi Delta Theta General Headquarters said it was immediately shuttering the LSU chapter, "based on the preliminary findings of an investigation that uncovered enough information to conclude that some chapter members were in violation of established risk management policies, including our Alcohol-Free Housing policy."
PHOTO: Timothy Piazza, center, with his parents Evelyn Piazza and James Piazza in Flemington, N.J., on Oct 31, 2014. (Patrick Carns via AP Photo)
Stephen Gruver said that his family and the Piazzas remain committed to raising awareness about the dangers of hazing nearly a decade after their sons' deaths.
"We do this in honor of our sons," Stephen Gruver told Norman, in an interview alongside Evelyn and Jim Piazza. "We know that they would have expected us to follow this path, and we know that we're saving lives by getting this message out.
Jim Piazza added of their advocacy work, "If we don't do this, who's doing to do it?"
Parents of Penn State hazing victim lobby for stricter laws against dangerous hazing rituals
The parents said they are particularly focused on making sure people know that hazing goes beyond the stereotype of silly or embarrassing pranks.
"It comes in very, very different forms," said Stephen Gruver.
Added Evelyn Piazza, "It could be, 'Oh, you can't leave until you finish this handle of alcohol or wall sits or planks on broken glass.' It is not swallowing goldfish and streaking across campus. It's not like the movies."
In 2018, the Piazzas and the Gruvers joined with other parents who lost children due to hazing-related deaths to form the Anti-Hazing Coalition, a partnership that also includes the National Panhellenic Conference and the North American Interfraternity Conference.
According to its website, the goal of the coalition is to "eradicate hazing through aggressive student educational outreach, new state-level efforts to strengthen criminal and civil penalties for hazing and federal advocacy to use transparency to make lasting cultural change in student organizations and on university campuses."
ABC News' Julia Jacobo contributed to this report.
Parents of hazing victims react to House passage of 'Stop Campus Hazing Act' originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Parents of Missing Yellowstone Employee 'Not Giving Up' on Finding Son After He Didn't Return from Hike
The helicopters come and go every 15 minutes and that's kind of how I've timed my life by every 15 minutes," his mother, Pandy King, said
Yellowstone National Park/Facebook Austin King
The family of missing Yellowstone National Park employee Austin King is speaking out after his recent disappearance.
Kings parents, Brian King-Henke and Pandy King, immediately left their home in Minnesota following the news that their son did not return from a seven-day trip to Eagle Peak on Friday, Sept. 20, and having been staying at a local hotel in Wyoming, according to CBS affiliate KTVQ.
"Every day they come back with, you know, 'We're still looking. We're not giving up. We're still searching,' " King's father to the outlet, revealing that upon hearing that his son was missing, he "couldn't even think. It was something that you can't fathom."
Per his parents, King, 22, moved to Yellowstone this summer, which they admittedly encouraged him to do. However, they agreed that the trek was "something he was not prepared for," King-Henke said.
Getty Images Yellowstone National Park
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Since then, his mother noted that the search and rescue efforts have continued at a steady pace. The helicopters come and go every 15 minutes and that's kind of how I've timed my life by every 15 minutes," she said.
Despite the amount of days since the disappearance of their son who last contacted his parents on Tuesday, Sept. 17 after reaching the peak, per KTVQ Brian and Pandy are holding out hope for his safe return.
It's settling a little bit, but I'm there for his mom and brother," King-Henke told the outlet about trying to stay positive amid growing feelings of defeat. "So, I can't think that. I'm glad he was doing what he loved.
Related: Search Continues for Missing 22-Year-Old Yellowstone Employee After Going Hiking in Bad Weather
In an update on Tuesday, Sept. 24, Yellowstone National Park confirmed via news release that the search for King is still active. Yellowstone National Park, with assistance from Grand Teton National Park, Park County, Wyoming, and Teton County, Wyoming, continue to look for Austin King by foot and air in the vicinity of Eagle Peak in the parks remote southeast corner, the park said.
Per the release, Yellowstone officials noted that since Saturday, Sept. 21, 85 personnel, two helicopters, a search dog team, and an uncrewed aircraft have focused efforts on the high-elevation, expansive and hazardous area as they continue to look for King.
Park officials also said that there is no end to the search at this time, as authorities will continue looking for the next several days.
When asked for comment, representatives for Yellowstone National Park told PEOPLE that they "do not have additional information to share" beyond the release issued on Tuesday.
Related: Missing Woman, 24, Found Severely Dehydrated and Emaciated After Surviving Nearly 2 Weeks in Wilderness
King, a concession worker, "was first dropped off at Terrace Point by boat on Saturday [Sept. 14]," Yellowstone National Park said in a missing person's notice issued by the National Park Service and U.S. Department of Interior.
He then spoke to a backcountry ranger outside of his planned route at Howell Cr. cabin on Sept. 16, before embarking on his summit to Eagle Peak the next day, the park confirmed.
King was last heard from on Sept. 17, "when he called friends and family from the summit of Eagle Peak in the parks remote southeast corner," Yellowstone National Park stated in a news release first posted to Facebook on Sept. 22.
"While on the summit, King described fog, rain, sleet, hail and windy conditions," the park said, revealing that his disappearance was first reported after "he failed to arrive for his boat pickup near Yellowstone Lakes Southeast Arm on Friday afternoon," following his trip.
Related: Hiker Found 'Alive, but Not Well' After Month-Long Disappearance: 'May Have Only Had Another Day Left'
At the time of his disappearance, King was "wearing glasses, a black sweatshirt and gray pants," the park said, noting that he is 6 feet tall 6, weighs 160 lbs and has brown hair and hazel eyes.
Yellowstone officials are asking anyone with information on Kings whereabouts to contact the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center at 307-344-2643.
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Read the original article on People.
Timothy Piazza would have turned 27 this week. But instead of celebrating his birthday, his parents have been fighting to keep his memory alive and this week, they got a bittersweet victory.
We kind of feel like we got a little wink from heaven, said Jim Piazza, Timothys father.
On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the Stop Campus Hazing Act, a bill that could become the first federal law to address hazing nationwide. Its the kind of legislation that the Piazzas say could help prevent what happened to their son from happening to other students.
Read: Hurricane Helene forms, forecast to strengthen into Cat. 4
It brings us closer to the transparency that we so desperately need for parents and students that are making decisions about what organizations to join, said Jim Piazza.
Its bittersweet because it wont help our son or any of the other families that we know but it will hopefully save lives and our kids deaths wont be in vein, said Evelyn Piazza.
Tim Piazza was just 19 years old when died in 2017 after a hazing incident at a fraternity party at Penn State University. Security camera footage captured fraternity members giving Piazza 18 alcoholic drinks in less than 90 minutes. He then fell down the stairs, injured himself, and died less than two days later.
Today would have been Tim Piazzas 27th birthday. He died in 2017 after a hazing incident at Penn State. His parents are celebrating a bittersweet victory after the House passed the Stop Campus Hazing Act. I talked w/them about this moment after years of pushing for change. pic.twitter.com/SAjwafAftA Kirstin Garriss (@ReporterGarriss) September 25, 2024
He was the kind of kid that if he observed something like this happening to someone else, all of his friends said he would have been the first one to carry that person to the hospital himself if he had to, said Jim Piazza. And thats really whats heartbreaking knowing that nobody cared, nobody valued his life and they just you know watched him die essentially after putting him in a state that was irrecoverable.
The bill is the change the Piazzas have been fighting for since his death. It would require universities to report hazing incidents, create a consistent definition for hazing statistics, and provide hazing prevention programs for students and faculty.
Hazing is always done with the intent to do cause harm to somebody whether it be embarrassment or physical harm or making them sick, demeaning them in some way, said Evelyn Piazza. It may not be a deadly weapon like an automobile, but you give some a handle of alcohol and theyre under duress that is a deadly weapon, so you need to look at hazing in the light that it really is and how dangerous it is.
Lawmakers say more than 100 students have died on college campuses in hazing-related incidents since 2000. Some of those parents of hazing victims were inside the House Gallery Tuesday as both Democrats and Republicans prepared to vote for the bill.
Read: Wind & Rain: How Hurricane Helene could impact Central Florida, county-by-county
Many of them like Georgia Democrat Lucy McBath got emotional while advocating for the bill on the House Floor.
Its about transparency and accountability. Empowering students and families so they can make informed decisions about the schools that they attend or the clubs that they join, said Rep. McBath. Its about ensuring that college remains a place of new beginnings and hope for our childrens future.
Several others acknowledged the families who have experienced these tragedies and the work theyve done to fight for change at the state and federal levels.
The memories of hundreds of other campus hazing victims by mandating greater transparency in fraternity hazing reporting, said Rep. Jeff Duncan, R - South Carolina
In the face of this unspeakable tragedy, Evelyn and Jim [Piazza] have been at the forefront of efforts in Pennsylvania, here in Congress and other states around the country about the dangers of hazing, said Rep. Glenn Thompson, R Pennsylvania.
Read: See where you can get sandbags in Central Florida
As the bill moves to the Senate, the Piazza family said theyre also urging colleges and universities to step up.
Report to law enforcement when you find a hazing incident and also expel students. Obviously, they are not the type of people that you want in your university so get rid of them, said Evelyn Piazza.
The Piazzas said theyre also pushing for more states to pass felony hazing laws that include jail time for people who violate their violations.
According to the organization, StopHazing, 44 of the 50 states have anti-hazing laws in place. But these laws vary significantly. The organization says some statutes focus only on hazing at the collegiate level, while others expand to include other groups.
Since his passing, the Piazzas have also set up the Timothy J. Piazza Memorial Foundation in his honor. The organization provides support for children and adults who need prosthetics. His parents say Timothy loves kids and his dream job would have been making prosthetics.
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Timothy Piazza would have turned 27 this week. But instead of celebrating his birthday, his parents have been fighting to keep his memory alive and this week, they got a bittersweet victory.
We kind of feel like we got a little wink from heaven, Jim Piazza, Timothys father, said.
On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the Stop Campus Hazing Act, a bill that could become the first federal law to address hazing nationwide. Its the kind of legislation that the Piazzas say could help prevent what happened to their son from happening to other students.
It brings us closer to the transparency that we so desperately need for parents and students that are making decisions about what organizations to join, Jim Piazza said.
Its bittersweet because it wont help our son or any of the other families that we know, but it will hopefully save lives and our kids deaths wont be in vain, Evelyn Piazza said.
Read: Trent Lehrkamp: Georgia teen hospitalized was not hazed, drank voluntarily, police say
Tim Piazza was just 19 years old when he died in 2017 after a hazing incident at a fraternity party at the Penn State University. Security camera footage captured fraternity members giving Piazza 18 alcoholic drinks in less than 90 minutes. He then fell down the stairs, injured himself, and died less than two days later.
Parents react to House passing bill to stop hazing culture on college campuses nationwide.
He was the kind of kid that if he observed something like this happening to someone else, all of his friends said he would have been the first one to carry that person to the hospital himself if he had to, Jim Piazza said. And thats really whats heartbreaking knowing that nobody cared, nobody valued his life and they just you know watched him die essentially after putting him in a state that was irrecoverable.
The bill is the change the Piazzas have been fighting for since his death. It would require universities to report hazing incidents, create a consistent definition for hazing statistics, and provide hazing prevention programs for students and faculty.
Parents react to House passing bill to stop hazing culture on college campuses nationwide.
Read: Senators introduce Stop Campus Hazing act
Hazing is always done with the intent to do cause harm to somebody whether it be embarrassment or physical harm or making them sick, demeaning them in some way, Evelyn Piazza said. It may not be a deadly weapon like an automobile, but you give some a handle of alcohol and theyre under duress, that is a deadly weapon, so you need to look at hazing in the light that it really is and how dangerous it is.
Lawmakers say more than 100 students have died on college campuses in hazing-related incidents since 2000. Some of those parents of hazing victims were inside the House Gallery Tuesday as both Democrats and Republicans prepared to vote for the bill.
Many of them like Georgia Democrat Lucy McBath got emotional while advocating for the bill on the House Floor.
Read: Longtime Jacksonville radio DJ Arthur Crofton dies
Its about transparency and accountability. Empowering students and families so they can make informed decisions about the schools that they attend or the clubs that they join, Rep. McBath said. Its about ensuring that college remains a place of new beginnings and hope for our childrens future.
Several others acknowledged the families who have experienced these tragedies and the work theyve done to fight for change at the state and federal levels.
The memories of hundreds of other campus hazing victims by mandating greater transparency in fraternity hazing reporting, Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-South Carolina, said.
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In the face of this unspeakable tragedy, Evelyn and Jim [Piazza] have been at the forefront of efforts in Pennsylvania, here in Congress and other states around the country about the dangers of hazing, Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pennsylvania, said.
As the bill moves to the Senate, the Piazza family said theyre also urging colleges and universities to step up.
Report to law enforcement when you find a hazing incident and also expel students. Obviously, they are not the type of people that you want in your university so get rid of them, Evelyn Piazza said.
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The Piazzas said theyre also pushing for more states to pass felony hazing laws that include jail time for people who violate them.
According to the organization, StopHazing, 44 of the 50 states have anti-hazing laws in place. But these laws vary significantly. The organization said some statutes focus only on hazing at the collegiate level, while others expand to include other groups.
Since his passing, the Piazzas have also set up the Timothy J. Piazza Memorial Foundation in his honor. The organization provides support for children and adults who need prosthetics. His parents say Timothy loved kids and his dream job would have been making prosthetics.
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With the governments early release scheme for prisoners causing controversy, the second series of Parole (BBC Two) feels timely. The programme-makers have been allowed to film Parole Board hearings, speaking before and after to the Board members and the prisoners hoping for release. In each case, the Board asks if they have changed. Is it safe to send them back into society? Will they be able to cope on the outside?
The first prisoner was John, who had served 17 years for the murder of an acquaintance. He now practises Buddhism and says he is disgusted by his despicable crime. He explained that he was a messed-up alcoholic and drug user at the time of the offence. He was asking for a move to an open prison, as a stepping stone to release.
Im not that man any more, John said. This is the essence of what the Parole Board must consider. John spoke calmly to a panel which included a forensic psychiatrist, who said: The question is: if the Parole Board was to recommend this man to be released and if he was then to end up living next to me, or to my mother would I be comfortable with that?
As the first episode went on, we were fed additional information. The attack was ferocious and premeditated. Nine years into his sentence, John had committed another assault, taking a young, first-time prisoner hostage and subjecting him to a terrifying ordeal that almost proved fatal. But his hearing was successful, with the Board concluding that his bouts of sadistic violence were in the past.
The outcome of the second case was easier to predict. Kevin had assaulted two police officers, the latest of several convictions. In and out of prison since the age of 21, he is now 50 and said he had decided to start acting my age. But it was clear that he still harboured a sense of grievance against authority.
The Board member turned down his request for release but admitted that she had struggled with the decision: Im a human, not a robot. But her concern for public safety outweighed her sense of compassion. The series demonstrates the great responsibility placed on these peoples shoulders.
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Pasco County school officials began taking heat Tuesday soon after they announced classes would take place Wednesday despite the threat of Tropical Storm Helene.
Why, many people asked, would the district not follow the lead of its neighboring counties and shutter schools to give everyone more time to prepare? Reddit chains suggested the district dropped the ball. Online chat groups criticized the move as disregarding students and staff members safety.
Although tomorrows weather may be fine, we must prioritize safety and give ample time for preparations, Krinn Technical High School principal Chris Dunning, who is running for superintendent in November, wrote on his Facebook page.
Superintendent Kurt Browning stood firmly by his decision, as students began arriving Wednesday morning. He said the district prepared five campuses to serve as evacuation shelters after students departed Tuesday, and theyre ready to open at 4 p.m. Wednesday as scheduled.
It made no sense, Browning said, to cancel classes and lose a day of instructional time when the storm was not expected to be anywhere near particularly when the forecast suggested that the weather and its aftermath might force schools to be closed both Thursday and Friday.
The districts student calendar is tight on minutes, he noted, and the state Department of Education cant be expected to waive the amount of time required for student learning.
Why would I want to close schools when today is going to look like yesterday? Browning said. If parents are concerned about a bright sunny day, then keep your children home.
The district reported that 92% of staff and 94.5% of students attended classes today, which is a normal level.
Browning rejected the idea that the district somehow was standing in the way of employees getting ready for Helene.
Hurricane season started June 1. This is September 25th, he said. We have preached it. Everyone has said, prepare, prepare, prepare.
Yes, there are last-minute things to do, Browning acknowledged. But like other families that work outside the schools, they had time after school Tuesday to complete those tasks.
Some people pointed out that the County Commission declared a local state of emergency that included a mandatory evacuation of coastal areas beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday, and suggested it was not fair to them for the school-based evacuation shelters not to be available until 4 p.m.
County emergency management director Andrew Fossa told commissioners Tuesday that he had asked the district to consider releasing students early Wednesday, but was rebuffed. He then added that the county should have time to get the evacuation done regardless.
Browning said he did not yield on the point because the reality of past hurricanes indicated that even with evacuation orders, people do not show up to shelters until they believe the threat is imminent, if at all. Fossa backed that up.
Historically it has shown (if) we order an evacuation of Pasco County, people dont move. They dont listen, he told commissioners.
He pointed to Hurricane Idalia in 2023, when low lying areas along the Gulf were flooded yet shelters reported having only handfuls of residents.
I preach it til Im blue in the face, and then people of Pasco County are complacent, Fossa said.
At the same time, Browning said, the district has to provide schooling for the many families who want their children in classes. He said during past storms when the district closed early, I had folks ready to string me up because I closed schools and its bright and sunny and perfect out there.
Denise Nicholas, a leader of the districts countywide PTA Alliance, said almost all of the complaints she heard came from school district employees.
I havent heard anything from parents, honestly, Nicholas said, as she dropped off her child at school. Some kids want to stay home.
She backed the districts decision, saying it seemed like whatever way it went, it would face critics.
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One person was shot dead after a gunman hijacked a bus with passengers on board in DTLA early Wednesday morning and forced the driver to lead the LAPD on a harrowing hour-long slow speed chase on downtown streets, police said.
Police were alerted to the incident on the Metro bus around 12:45 am., the LAPD said, and responded to Figueroa and 117th Street after the shots were fired.
As the officers approached, "Officers attempted to communicate with the driver but the bus pulled away and a pursuit ensued," the LAPD said. The gunman, police say, forced to driver the lead to drive the wrong way down streets with the LAPD behind them.
Cops threw down spike strips at Alameda south of Sixth Street and brought the bus to a stop. LAPD SWAT hurled flash bangs onto the bus and hurried aboard to rescue the driver and an uninjured passenger, police said. Another female passenger had been shot multiple times, police said.
SWAT deployed noise flash diversionary devices and boarded the bus. The suspect involved in the incident was taken into custody. The bus operator and two passengers were still on the bus. One of the passengers was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. LAPD PIO (@LAPDPIO) September 25, 2024
No details were provided on the identity of the deceased victim, who was shot inside the bus and died at a local hospital, police said. "South Bureau Homicide detectives have responded to conduct their investigation and will conduct a search of the bus for evidence," the LAPD said.
Mayor Karen Bass expressed her condolences to the passenger's family in a social media post writing, "My thoughts are with the loved ones of the individual who was tragically killed early this morning. What happened this morning was completely unacceptable and has no place in Los Angeles."
The LA Metro driver is "in relatively good spirits, although a bit shaken up," LAPD Deputy Chief Donald Graham told reporters at a news conference at the scene Wednesday morning. He added that city bus drivers are "civil service heroes."
"This operator continued to operate the bus in as safe a manner as he could under the circumstances, with the police trailing him for an hour before the spike strips finally took effect," he said. "So I think the world of the operator, and this individual and bus operators in general, for the job that they have to do."
The Mayor also expressed gratitude to the driver, and the swift actions of the LAPD, in her statement. "I want to thank the bus operator involved for their courageous and swift response as well as LAPD officers for their work to apprehend the suspect. While the investigation is still ongoing, I want to be very clear that those involved must be held fully accountable to the rule of law."
(KRON) Two United Airlines passengers were sent to the hospital after they were injured during the descent of a San Francisco-bound flight on Thursday, the United team and the Federal Aviation Administration told KRON4.
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United Airlines flight 2428 was on its way from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco International Airport on Thursday afternoon. At about 12:45 p.m., the Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center Airspace said that another aircraft was in the vicinity of the United flight.
The plane started its descent to account for the other aircraft, which flew at a lower altitude, United officials told KRON4.
United officials said the flight was descending with the seatbelt sign on, but despite the visual warning, one customer, who was out of their seatbelt at the time, and another passenger reported being injured and were sent to the hospital.
The status of the two passengers injuries was not shared as of this report. There was no loss of safe separation, the FAA said, claiming they started an investigation on the matter.
Were grateful to our crew for their efforts to ensure the safety of our employees and customers, United said.
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El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker defended his office's leave policy to the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, saying that the decision to close all branches for an extra day around the Labor Day holiday was necessary for employee morale.
"These closures are intended to show appreciation for the team's dedication, support staff morale, and ensure the continued delivery of high-quality services to the community," he said.
Schleiker presented on the decision to the commissioners at an informal meeting. Commissioner Holly Williams said that the policy concerned her. She said she received calls complaining about the closures, which included the Friday and Saturday before Labor Day.
"That was very frustrating to me," Williams said.
The Clerk and Recorder's Office has 165 employees operating the county's motor vehicle services along with marriage licensing and recording out of four branches. The office is also responsible for conducting elections.
The office sent employees home the weekend of Labor Day. It also has extra paid days off planned for a half day before Thanksgiving, a half day before Christmas Eve and a full day after Christmas in addition to standard observed county holidays.
Schleiker said the days were chosen as low-volume days for the four branches, which he said typically see under 100 customers.
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Schleiker said that the days off were an effort to help retain employees. He said that the office was facing a staffing crisis when he took office in January 2023 after his previous position as the county's assessor.
"As soon as I became clerk and recorder, there were several who had resignations on the desk and getting ready to resign," he said.
Schleiker said that concessions like the occasional extra day off helped the office reduce its turnover rate, which was about 26% in 2022 and 13% in 2023.
He also said that special circumstances increased the overall workload for his employees this year and in 2023. He said that Clerk and Recorder's Office employees worked consistent overtime on the county's redistricting process last year, and that employees work on the weekends to keep open the Union Town Center Branch on Saturdays.
Schleiker said he was also anticipating a heavy workload around the upcoming November election.
BOCC chair Cami Bremer said she worried the days off might be unfair to other county employees, some of whom also work Saturdays.
"I'm concerned about parity across the organization," she said.
Schleiker said he would be in more communication with the county going forward when making schedule decisions.
When Bishop Geoffrey V. Dudley Sr. first moved to the metro-east as an Air Force chaplain assigned to Scott Air Force Base more than 20 years ago, he had a vision.
That vision wasnt only for the New Life in Christ Church, which he formed in the early 2000s to serve the spiritual needs of people in and around OFallon, but also for affordable housing in the community, a cause close to his heart as someone who had grown up in public housing.
That vision is becoming a reality.
New Life Community Development Corporation, the nonprofit arm of the church, broke ground Tuesday afternoon on a $21 million affordable housing development in Fairview Heights for independent-living seniors and veterans.
This is the first of what we are believing to be many projects in this community to make a difference, Dudley said. From seniors to family housing to our veterans to those who are handicapped, we are looking to have impact here, and thats what we believe we are called to do.
On just over 11 acres north of St. Clair Square and Interstate 64, the North Bend Senior Residences will consist of 60 units in duplex and triplex homes. There will be 18 two-bedroom units and 42 one-bedroom units.
The proposed site plan for the North Bend Senior Residences in Fairview Heights, Ill.
The community of choice will also feature a clubhouse with an exercise room and media center, an outdoor community area with a fire pit and grills, and walking paths.
When we say communities of choice, were really talking about building sustainable, long-term affordable housing, said James Roberts, president of AHDVS LLC, an affordable housing development company.
Because for many of our seniors who live on modest, fixed incomes, it is important that we create sustainability for them. And we work very hard to make sure that the type of housing we offer is one that they would choose to live in And we made sure that from a rental standpoint, it will be affordable today and tomorrow.
The North Bend Senior Residences development is being financed with state and federal grants and loans, including $2.8 million through the Covid-19 Affordable Housing Grant program and $1.5 million in low-income housing tax credits. Both are administered by the Illinois Housing Development Authority.
The 60 units will be broken down as follows, according to the authority:
Nine units will serve households with incomes below 60% of the annual median income, which is $49,560 for a household of two in St. Clair County
39 will serve those at or below 50% of the annual median income, which is $41,300 for a household of two
12 will target households below 30% of the annual media income, which is $24,780 for a household of two
Fifteen units will be supported by project-based vouchers from the St. Clair County Housing Authority.
We know theres a real need for senior housing in the metro-east, and were proud to support this new community with an award from the states housing tax credit program, said Julia Frevert, communications director of the Illinois Housing Development Authority.
Securing the credits is a competitive and complex process, and I want to recognize New Life and the entire congregation for taking this new challenge on and securing your first ever award, Frevert said, because while we have the tools to make the progress like this possible, we cannot do this work without our partners like you in the community.
Bishop Dudley and Vivian Moore, executive director of New Life Community Development Corporation, echoed that sentiment. Nothing happens without others, Moore said.
Construction is anticipated to take 14 months, and leasing for independent-living seniors age 62 and older will start in March 2025. The leasing office will be located in suite 100 at 12 Wolf Creek Drive in Swansea.
Patients at Washington dental clinic told to get tested for HIV, hepatitis
People expect the dentist who cares for their teeth to keep their equipment sanitary. In Eastern Washingtons Spokane County, patients at a dental clinic received an alarming letter.
According to the Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD), people who received care from Sandy Fletcher Montano, DDS, at the Deer Park Dental Clinic between November 2021 and June 2022, were told to get tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. Testing is available with a patients healthcare provider and most urgent care clinics also provide testing, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) stated.
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The DOH was notified of potential infection control allegations and suspended the license of Montano in June 2022 and indefinitely suspended his license in April 2024.
The potential infection control breaches were reported as a complaint and include improper cleaning and disinfection of reusable equipment and improper reuse of disposable equipment which could expose patients to blood and other infectious material, stated the release.
However, according to the SRHD, the risk of contracting a disease is low.
SRHD said hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV can sometimes cause no symptoms in patients for many years after infection. But even without symptoms, patients can still transmit it to others and laboratory testing is the only way to be certain they arent infected.
These illnesses are serious but often treatable, the release stated.
Answers to other potential questions can be found in a FAQ PDF from the DOH and SRHD that is found here.
SRHD also said it could not notify patients individually because Montano was not being compliant with the investigation.
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According to the DOH, via a post in June 2022, an investigator tried to conduct an infection control inspection at Montanos clinic on Dec. 1, 2021, but he allegedly refused to allow the inspection. The DOH said Montano will not be able to practice in Washington until the charges are resolved.
At the time Montanos license was suspended, the DOH has also suspended licenses in Benton County, Skagit County, Snohomish County and California. For more details, visit the DOHs website.
Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.
Lissie Harper, who had been married for just a month when her husband was killed, called the alleged remarks by John Apter inappropriate - Jason Bye
The widow of a constable killed on duty hit back at the former chairman of the Police Federation after being told he made a sexually suggestive comment about her, a gross misconduct hearing has been told.
Lissie Harper described the alleged comments as highly inappropriate, the panel considering the charges against John Apter heard.
Mrs Harper also suggested Mr Apter had abused his senior position by making the alleged remark just months after her 28-year-old husband Andrew lost his life.
Mr Apter, who was chairman of the federation, which represents rank and file officers, between 2018 and 2021, is said to have told colleagues: I wouldnt mind looking after her tonight and Id like to comfort her in my hotel room as Mrs Harper prepared to collect a posthumous award for her husband in 2020.
He is also accused of touching a much younger officers bottom on the night of the annual police bravery awards, and telling a pregnant colleague maybe youll get a bum now.
John Apter presented Lissie Harper with her husbands posthumous award the day after allegedly making sexual remarks about her - Solent News & Photo Agency/Hampshire Police
The Hampshire Constabulary gross misconduct hearing was told Mrs Harper attended an awards ceremony at the Annual Roads Policing Conference in January 2020 to collect an award on behalf of her husband.
The Thames Valley Police roads officer had been dragged to his death by three teenagers in a getaway car as he responded to a burglary call in August 2019, just a month after the couples wedding.
During the ceremony, Mr Apter gave a speech and presented Mrs Harper with the award.
Cecily White, a barrister representing Hampshire Constabulary, said the night before the ceremony, Mr Apter allegedly made remarks about Mrs Harper to colleagues.
Ms White said: In the context of a discussion about [Mrs Harper] attending the event, which would have been quite stressful for her, he said, Id like to comfort her in my hotel room, with an obvious sexual connotation.
The misconduct panel was told that on hearing about the alleged comment, Mrs Harper had said if it was true it was highly inappropriate from someone in that position.
Andrew and Lissie Harper were due to go on their honeymoon the day after the police officers death - Mark Lord Photography
Mrs Harper has not been called to give evidence at the hearing.
Martin Buhagiar, the former head of communications of the Police Federation, told the hearing Mr Apter regularly engaged in locker room bloke banter, and claimed he had got used to comments such as the one allegedly made about Mrs Harper.
Mr Buhagiar said the main priority at the awards ceremony was taking care of Mrs Harper as it was her first public appearance since her husbands death, and a group of colleagues were discussing it.
We wanted to make sure everything was done in the right way, Mr Buhagiar said.
Somebody said something along the lines of if she needs comforting we bring her in in the right way, and if she needs a pause we afford her that pause.
I remember him [Mr Apter] saying something like, Id like to comfort her in my hotel room.
It took me a few seconds to hear it because at first I took it as him saying he could look after her, but then the penny dropped and there was an awkward silence.
Mr Buhagiar said after the awkward silence, he quickly wrapped up the conversation and the group of colleagues disbanded.
Drunk at bravery awards claim
When asked why he had not raised the comment with Mr Apter immediately, Mr Buhagiar said: My style was never to confront people in a crowd.
John and I worked together for years and we had conversations in private, I didnt want to turn it into a bigger issue.
Mr Buhagiar claimed that at the police bravery awards in October 2021, Mr Apter had been drinking from a hip flask throughout the evening.
He added that at the end of the evening Mr Apter had filmed a short video interview about how the night went, but it could not be used because he was too drunk.
Mr Apter, who has retired after a 30-year police career, denies the claims and the hearing continues.
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PEARL RIVER COUNTY, Miss. (WHLT) The Pearl River County SPCA (PRCSPCA) issued an urgent call for help because overcrowding has reached crisis levels.
According to officials, adult dogs are remaining in shelter care far longer than usual, with some waiting more than 200 days for adoption, creating severe strains on available kennel space. The shelter, which aims to find homes for animals within 7-21 days, is now facing an average stay of 52 days for adult dogs.
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This significant increase in the length of stay has created a bottleneck, leading to a crisis in our ability to provide appropriate kennel accommodations, said Beth Treadway, director of PRCSPCA. As a result, weve had to suspend the surrender of personally owned pets and require appointments for stray dogs. This is the only way to prevent euthanasia due to a lack of kennel space.
In an effort to address this crisis, PRCSPCA is calling on the community to help increase adoptions by at least 10 dogs per week. Additionally, the shelter is seeking foster families, volunteers, and donations to help support their lifesaving work.
In addition to adoptions and fostering, PRCSPCA is seeking volunteers to assist with tasks like transporting animals and providing daily care at the shelter.
For more information on how to get involved, visit www.prcspca.org or contact PRCSPCA at 601-798-8000.
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Pedestrian injured after being hit by bus in Berkeley
(KRON) A pedestrian was seriously injured after being hit by an AC Transit bus in Berkeley on Tuesday morning, the Berkeley Police Department said.
The crash happened at the intersection of Warring Street and Derby Street at 10:54 a.m. The pedestrian was hospitalized with a head injury.
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Because of the severity of the collision, the Departments accident investigation team is conducting the investigation, BPD said.
AC Transit said the bus came to a stop at a Stop sign, and after it started moving again, a pedestrian came into contact with the bus.
Nobody on the bus was injured, AC Transit said.
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Two railroad lines, two tragedies. Two young women who were killed by trains while walking across the tracks in the Chicago area this year were not the first victims on those lines but no pedestrian crossing gates had been added at the sites in question.
Months later, no new gates have been put up. Authorities say they are working on it, though its unclear when they might be installed.
While road-rail crossings in the Chicago area typically have gates to stop vehicles, there often are no such protections for pedestrians.
Of 971 rail crossings with roadway gates in Cook and the collar counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties, only an estimated 204, or 21%, have pedestrian gates, according to the Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates crossings.
Nationally, pedestrian incidents and fatalities are rising at a higher level when compared to overall accidents at crossings. While overall accidents at rail crossings increased 15% from 2020 to 2023, the number of pedestrian incidents increased 20%, and the number of pedestrian fatalities increased 31%, according to federal data.
Though the ICC does not have data on the number of road-rail crossings in Illinois with adjacent pedestrian crossings, advocates say that where such crossings exist, more safety is needed.
There should be pedestrian gates at all crossings where pedestrians are using them, said attorney Jim Pullos, who has filed suit in one of the recent local cases.
Walkers typically are much closer to trains, which can extend 3 feet beyond the tracks on both sides. In many cases, one train passes before the victims began crossing the tracks, when another train from the other direction, its noise possibly drowned out by the first train, comes unexpectedly. Pedestrian gates could help prevent such accidents by staying down when a second train is coming.
Two recent fatalities, in northwest suburban Barrington and Chicagos Hegewisch community, involved such circumstances, authorities said.
Seventeen-year-old Marin Lacson was killed on a foggy morning in January while walking to high school on Illinois Route 59 where it crosses Metras Union Pacific (UP) Northwest line. There was no pedestrian gate to warn or stop her.
Her family filed suit Wednesday against Metra, Union Pacific and Barrington. Marins father, Mike Lacson, issued a statement saying the family was devastated by her death, but wants to make sure safety improvements are made so she will not have died in vain.
As we learn more details about Marins death, we are truly shocked and saddened by the lack of action by those responsible for the safety of our community, he said. It is utterly distressing that basic safety measures were ignored for years and continue to be ignored.
As with many crossings, Barrington is in a quiet zone, which means that train horns are not to be sounded except at the operators discretion.
Marins death was entirely preventable, Pullos said.
On the other side of Chicagos extensive rail network, in 2021, a woman was killed when she was struck by a train while crossing the South Shore Line tracks in Hammond.
This summer, 22-year-old Grace Bentkowski was killed when she was struck by a train while walking across the same line at the station in nearby Hegewisch on Chicagos Far Southeast Side.
Bentkowskis father, Phil Bentkowski, thought the South Shore operators would have installed gates, lights and a horn at its crossings after the previous accident in Indiana, but he said neither station has them.
Maybe if something were done, my daughter would still be here, Phil Bentkowski said. Since I cant get my daughter back, the next best thing I can do is save someone elses.
Thats why the Bentkowski family has started an online petition to bring safety improvements to both stations.
The accident that took the life of Bentkowski, a creative producer for NewsNation, was one among many recurring tragedies on the nations rails. Though rail collisions plummeted 82% between 1972 and 2019, nationwide, a person or vehicle is hit by a train on average every three hours, according to Operation Lifesaver, which campaigns to prevent rail deaths. That amounted to 1,775 deaths and injuries nationwide, 2023 federal statistics showed.
In Barrington, records show several accidents have occurred over the years at the Route 59 crossing. In 2013, an 11-year-old student lost a foot when he was hit by a train near Route 59. His mother had called for pedestrian gates at the time, and there are two on Lake-Cook Road, but they were never put up on Route 59.
In Illinois, one of the complicating factors is that a mix of agencies are responsible for improving crossing safety.
Village officials told the Tribune they have secured $1.1 million from the Illinois Commerce Commission to install pedestrian gates at the Metra crossings on Route 59, and Hillside Avenue at U.S. Route 14, and additional gates on Lake-Cook Road.
The village has met on-site multiple times with the ICC, Union Pacific (UP) Railroad, and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to evaluate conditions and review the proposed work. While village leaders had hoped to simply add pedestrian gates, the other agencies maintain that all of the gates, including existing ones, need to be replaced to meet UP and federal regulations at the Route 59 and Lake-Cook crossings, which will take longer.
Officials also plan to dig a pedestrian underpass under Lake-Cook Road at a freight train crossing near Barrington High School, and have obtained $500,000 for a preliminary design feasibility study to begin late next year.
Before then, IDOT and Canadian National Railway are coordinating the installation of pedestrian gates at that crossing late this year.
The village also worked for more than a decade to get a roadway underpass thats being built on Route 14 under the CN tracks, eliminating the ground-level crossing. The village and Metra also held rail safety sessions for residents and students.
The village of Barrington has always made safety a priority, maintaining a strong working relationship and a long history with the ICC, IDOT and railroad agencies, spokeswoman Becky Wyskochil wrote to the Tribune. In fact, in the summer of 2023, the village collaborated with the state and CN to install pedestrian gates as part of a railway-led grade crossing renewal and vehicular gate replacement project. This effort resulted in full pedestrian gate control at the CN crossing on Hough Street (Route 59).
The village also worked to get pedestrian gates at the Union Pacific crossing at nearby Hart Road in 2021.
After the recent tragedy, residents formed the Barrington Student Safety Organization, to push for safety improvements. In response, the village hired four more crossing guards and raised their pay, and has safety monitors at four crossings in town. Additional signage and pavement markings were installed in February.
Attorney Roma Khan, president of the organization, asked for the village to do more. After the previous accident, she said, They dropped the ball because the community stopped asking for it. We want to prioritize this. I will not let this go until gates are installed.
Metra issued a statement that it has been installing pedestrian gates on sidewalks for about five years as it renews road crossings. With roughly 270 crossings on Metra-owned lines, while renewing about five to 10 crossings a year, it will take time to get to every crossing. Roughly a fourth to a fifth of those have pedestrian gates now.
Metra rules do not allow one train to enter a station when another train going the other direction is already there, unless there are provisions at the station to prevent pedestrians from crossing the tracks (such as intertrack fencing) or there is a safe route across (such as a pedestrian tunnel or an overpass).
Union Pacific Railroad, which owns and operates Metras Northwest line, issued a statement that it hadnt had a chance to review the lawsuit, but stated, At Union Pacific, safety is the key foundational pillar of everything we do. Our thoughts are with the Lacson family and community impacted.
In Hegewisch, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD), which runs the South Shore Line, issued a statement expressing its condolences to the Bentkowskis, and reminded people to look both ways before crossing. It also announced that it hired an engineering firm to analyze its stations and recommend what safety improvements should be made.
We expect to receive the diagnostic report within the next 90 days and are committed to securing the necessary funding to implement safety enhancements as soon as possible, railroad officials said in a statement.
As a national rail hub, Illinois is second only to Texas in the number of public roadway-rail crossings, at about 7,500. Following accidents, people often question which towns get crossing improvements and which dont.
The state Commerce Commission prioritizes projects based on factors such as safety of the existing crossing, collision history, traffic volume, engineering requirements and geographical location, spokeswoman Cayli Baker said.
The approval process typically entails staff recommendations sent to the agencys five commissioners, who then vote on whether to approve any funds. The money comes from the states Grade Crossing Protection Fund, which generates around $40 million a year from the state road fund.
The latest five-year plan calls for improving 1,261 at-grade crossings with upgrades to warning devices, while 22 will get an underpass or overpass, and six will get new pedestrian grade separations such as bridges or tunnels.
The commission is also involved in warning about the dangers of highway-rail grade crossings, in part through Operation Lifesaver, encouraging people to always look both ways before crossing tracks.
Applications for crossing improvements may be submitted on the grade crossing website, at https://www.icc.illinois.gov/rail-safety/crossing-safety-improvement-program.
Were in the 21st century, safety is a very big thing, Phil Bentkowski said. How trains can slide under radar is beyond me.
This week is See Tracks? Think Train Week, and Friday is #RedOutforRailSafety Day, when Operation Lifesaver asks people to show support by wearing red and sharing photos online.
Pedestrian seriously injured, flown to hospital after being hit by car in Norwood
A pedestrian was flown to a Boston hospital Tuesday night after they were struck by a car in Norwood.
Police say the collision occurred in the area of Nahatan and Maple Street around 8:00 p.m.
The victim was flown to Boston via medical helicopter with serious injuries, according to officials.
The driver stayed at the scene and was released after officers obtained a statement. It is unclear if the driver will face any charges.
Nahatan Street between Nichols Street and Washington Street will be shut down for an extended period while crews investigate.
Massachusetts State Police were notified for accident reconstruction.
The facts and circumstances leading up to the crash remain under investigation.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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A controversial law professor at the University of Pennsylvania whose alleged racist, sexist, xenophobic, and homophobic comments repeatedly landed her in hot water was publicly reprimanded and suspended for a yearwith only half-payafter years of fighting.
Amy Wax, a tenured professor at Penns Carey School of Law, was sanctioned for her controversial comments on race after a lengthy review process that took over two years.
Wax has now become the first tenured professor at the Ivy League university to face sanctions in about 20 years, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
A spokesperson for Penn told the Daily Beast in a statement that Wax engaged in years of flagrantly unprofessional conduct within and outside the classroom that breached her responsibilities as a teacher to offer an equal learning opportunity to all students. They said the disciplinary decision against her was now final.
Racist Penn Law Prof Makes Disturbing Claim U.S. Is Better Off With Fewer Asians
The sanctions against Wax include a one-year suspension with half-pay, set to begin during the 2025-2026 academic year. Wax will also lose her named chair position.
When Wax speaks at public events, she will also be required to speak for yourself alone and not as a University or Penn Carey Law School faculty member.
Academic freedom is and should be very broad, Penn Provost John L. Jackson wrote in the public reprimand issued against Wax and published in the Penn Almanac on Tuesday. Teachers, however, must conduct themselves in a manner that conveys a willingness to assess all students fairly.
Controversial Penn Law Professor Invites White Nationalist to CampusAgain
According to the provost, Waxs comments left many students understandably concerned that you cannot and would not be an impartial judge of their academic performance.
Waxs comments about race began to draw criticism after she co-authored an op-ed published in the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2017. In a later interview that same year, Wax said I dont think Ive ever seen a Black student graduate in the top quarter of the class, and rarely, rarely, in the top half.
Theodore Ruger, the former dean of Penn Law School, removed her from teaching any required courses in 2018, Inside Higher Ed reported, after making comments on the academic performance and grade distributions of the Black students in her required first-year courses.
In a letter obtained by student newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian, Ruger also accused Wax of telling a Black student she had only become a double Ivy League student due to affirmative action.
In classrooms, he claimed Wax said Mexican men are more likely to assault women and remarking such a stereotype was accurate in the same way as Germans are punctual, and that gay couples are not fit to raise children.
A complaint was filed against Wax by a group of Penn Law School alumni in 2021. The law school hired Northwestern Law School Dean Daniel Rodriguez to investigate Waxs conduct.
Board Recommends UPenn Suspend, Not Fire, Controversial Prof
According to Penns record of the investigation, Rodriguez interviewed 26 alumni. Wax herself refused to participate in the investigation.
In his final report, Rodriguez found that Professor Wax has made a number of comments in class and a few outside of class which could reasonably be viewed as derogatory and harmful, but also ultimately found that there was no evidence of discrimination against any individual student.
In a December 2021 podcast with Brown University economist Glenn Loury, Wax called Asian immigration to the United States problematic due to the danger of the dominance of an Asian elite in this country.
Later, she complained that most Asian-Americans vote for the Democratic Party, and said as long as most Asians support Democrats and help to advance their positions, I think the United States is better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration.
More students and alumni issued complaints against Wax in 2022, shortly after her comments about Asian immigrants. Then-Dean Ruger started a faculty review process against her, writing that she exhibited a a callous and flagrant disregard for the student body by making incessant racist, sexist, xenophobic, and homophobic actions and statements.
A board of five tenured faculty members reviewed the charges against Wax. In May 2023, the board unanimously found Wax committed a major infraction of the Universitys behavioral standards.
Specifically, they cited the law professor for a history of sweeping, blithe, and derogatory generalizations about groups by race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and immigration status, as well as making discriminatory and disparaging statements targeted at specific racial, ethnic, and other groups with which many students identify both in and outside of her classroom.
It also found that she violated the universitys policy for keeping student grades private by publicly speaking about the grades of law students by race, and continuing to do so after receiving a warning from the dean.
Sanctions against Wax were approved by then-Penn President Liz Magill, but Wax appealed the decision to the schools Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility. The committees decision, also published on Tuesday in the Penn Almanac, found that no significant defect in procedure, allowing the sanctions to finally go into effect.
During the appeal process, Wax remained defiant. In November 2023, she invited Jared Taylor, a writer described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as white supremacist, to speak at her class Conservative and Political Legal Thought. Taylor is the editor of American Renaissance, a publication the SPLC says promotes pseudo-scientific studies and research that purport to show the inferiority of blacks to whites.
About 80 Penn law students showed up to the lecture to protest Taylors appearance, student paper The Daily Pennsylvanian reported.
Wax did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
After years of promising it would find a way to punish professor Amy Wax for her controversial views on race and gender, Penn delivered today despite zero evidence Wax ever discriminated against her students, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech watchdog group, said in a response to Tuesdays announcement.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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A Pennsylvania bakery known for its election cookie poll is swamped with orders
Bakery owner Kathleen Lochel holds sugar cookies, one with blue and white sprinkles and a Harris 2024 label on it and the other, with red and white sprinkles and a Trump 2024 label on it in Lochel Bakery, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Hatboro, a suburb of Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa)
HATBORO, Pa. (AP) A suburban Philadelphia bakerys cookie poll that started during the 2008 presidential campaign as a joke between the owners and their customers has grown into much more.
Lochel's Bakery in Hatboro is swamped with orders. People are driving from a couple hours away to buy the cookies in person and shipment orders are coming from as far away as Alaska.
The bakery sells 4-inch (10-centimeter) round sugar cookies, one with blue and white sprinkles and a Harris 2024 label on it and the other with red and white sprinkles and a Trump 2024 label on it. The sale of each Harris 2024 cookie counts as a vote in the poll for Democrat Kamala Harris and likewise for Republican Donald Trump.
The cookie poll started in 2008 and accurately predicted the winner the first three times, but not in 2020, when Trump lost the election for the White House to Democrat Joe Biden.
Kathy Lochel, whose husband is Lochels third-generation baker, said sales exploded that year, as customers bought thousands of cookies.
Its just a fun, non-stressful tally that were taking," Lochel said. "Its definitely not scientific. Its just a delicious way I say to take the pressure off with what is going on with the election, all the ads, all the campaign stuff, just a cookie.
"I cant emphasize that more. Its just a cookie.
Helene Moran bought Trump cookies on her 82nd birthday with her daughter and son-in-law who live in North Carolina.
Which we do whenever Trump is up for election, said Moran, who lives near the bakery. Hes my sweetheart, I love him so much.
This year, election cookie sales are outpacing 2020s sales.
These cookies are being shipped all over the United States right now, so much so that theyre on back order, so were about three to four weeks back, Lochel said.
For now, the bakery guarantees shipments will arrive by Election Day on Nov. 5, Lochel said. Customers are driving from a couple hours away can get them faster, she said.
It may not hurt business that Lochel's is in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. It also may not hurt that Lochels is in the heavily populated and moderate suburbs of Philadelphia, where Trump and Harris are vying for support.
Trump's numbers may have gotten a boost after he shared a story about the cookie poll on his social media platform. As of Tuesday, Trump was leading Harris, 12,558 to 889 a far bigger lead than pollsters have found.
The election aside with its attack ads, name-calling and social media barbs the cookie-buying public has been perfectly pleasant and positive.
The people that are coming into our store, whether they're buying red or blue cookies, theyre friendly, they joke, they laugh, they buy other things, Lochel said.
___
Follow AP's coverage of Election 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024
A Pennsylvania bakery known for its election cookie poll is swamped with orders
A suburban Philadelphia bakerys cookie poll that started during the 2008 presidential campaign as a joke between the owners and their customers has grown into much more.
Lochels Bakery in Hatboro is swamped with orders. People are driving from a couple hours away to buy the cookies in person and shipment orders are coming from as far away as Alaska.
The bakery sells 4-inch (10-centimeter) round sugar cookies, one with blue and white sprinkles and a Harris 2024 label on it and the other with red and white sprinkles and a Trump 2024 label on it.
The cookie poll started in 2008 and accurately predicted the winner the first three times, but not in 2020, when Republican Donald Trump lost the election for the White House to Democrat Joe Biden.
Kathy Lochel, whose husband is Lochels third-generation baker, said sales exploded that year, as customers bought thousands of cookies.
Its just a fun, non-stressful tally that were taking, Lochel said. Its definitely not scientific. Its just a delicious way I say to take the pressure off with what is going on with the election, all the ads, all the campaign stuff, just a cookie.
I cant emphasize that more. Its just a cookie.
Helene Moran bought Trump cookies on her 82nd birthday with her daughter and son-in-law who live in North Carolina.
Which we do whenever Trump is up for election, said Moran, who lives near the bakery. Hes my sweetheart, I love him so much.
This year, election cookie sales are outpacing 2020s sales.
These cookies are being shipped all over the United States right now, so much so that theyre on back order, so were about three to four weeks back, Lochel said.
For now, the bakery guarantees shipments will arrive by Election Day on Nov. 5, Lochel said. Customers are driving from a couple hours away can get them faster, she said.
It may not hurt business that Lochels is in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. It also may not hurt that Lochels is in the heavily populated and moderate suburbs of Philadelphia, where Trump and Kamala Harris are fighting for support.
Trumps numbers may have gotten a boost after he shared a story about the cookie poll on his social media platform. As of Tuesday, Trump was leading Harris, 12,558 to 889 a far bigger lead than pollsters have found.
The election aside with its attack ads, name-calling and social media barbs the cookie-buying public has been perfectly pleasant and positive.
The people that are coming into our store, whether theyre buying red or blue cookies, theyre friendly, they joke, they laugh, they buy other things, Lochel said.
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A final vote from the Colorado Springs City Council on Tuesday strongly limits where marijuana shops that want to sell recreational marijuana can operate, a move a resident-backed marijuana campaign described as a "backdoor ban" on retail cannabis sales locally.
The council voted 7-2 a second time to preemptively prohibit facilities that sell recreational marijuana from operating within 1 mile of K-12 schools and residential child care and drug or alcohol treatment facilities. Councilwomen Yolanda Avila and Nancy Henjum remained opposed.
Recreational marijuana sales are not permitted currently in Colorado Springs, but medical marijuana sales are.
After the Citizens for Responsible Marijuana Regulation resident group successfully petitioned the question onto the Nov. 5 ballot, voters will get to decide if the roughly 90 existing medical marijuana shops in the city can opt into also selling recreational marijuana.
Voters, too, will decide an opposing council-backed question that proposes changing the city charter to prohibit retail marijuana stores and product, manufacturing, testing and cultivation facilities from operating in city boundaries.
Currently, Colorado Springs limits medical marijuana shops from operating within 1,000 feet of schools and child care facilities.
Opponents on Tuesday again shared concerns the new city ordinance could undermine the will of the voters this fall.
Councilman Dave Donelson said he supported the ordinance but worried the council could be voting on a "non-issue" Tuesday. He suggested the council table its vote until after the November election, to better gauge residents' support for retail marijuana sales. Councilwoman Lynette Crow-Iverson, who sponsored the ordinance, asked for the second vote to take place as scheduled Tuesday.
A city-provided map depicting existing medical marijuana shops in relation to schools and child care and rehabilitation facilities shows the ordinance would likely limit permitted recreational marijuana sales to the city's eastern side illustrating how difficult it could be for retail marijuana shops to find a location to legally operate.
The council's approval of the 1-mile buffer requirement "is a back-door ban designed to confuse voters," campaign spokesperson Meghan Graf said in an email Tuesday.
The existing 1,000-foot buffer requirement for medical marijuana shops has not been an issue for city leaders since Colorado Springs began allowing medical cannabis sales, said Tanya Garduno, president of the Southern Colorado Cannabis Council.
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"Now you're saying, 'If you (voters) do approve (retail marijuana sales), we are going to, in essence, ban it in our city,'" Garduno said. "... What you're trying to do right now is control something that doesn't exist."
Medical marijuana sales have brought jobs and tax revenues to Colorado Springs that have helped clean up the city and keep lights on in local parks, she added. The resident-backed campaign proposes dedicating recreational marijiuana revenue to funding public safety programs, mental health services and post-traumatic stress disorder treatment programs.
Crow-Iverson and other supporters have said they believe the zoning buffer will keep marijuana out of the hands of underage users.
Colorado's Marijuana Enforcement Division, which licenses and regulates the state's medical and retail marijuana industries, prioritizes preventing youth access to regulated marijuana, division spokeswoman Heather Draper said in an email this week.
Colorado allows people who are 21 or older to purchase recreational marijuanas. People who are 18 and older who have a medical card can purchase medical marijuana.
Stores are required by state law to check a consumer's identification twice before a sale is made. People also cannot enter the sales floor at licensed marijuana shops until their identification has been checked, Draper said.
The division regularly employs underage operatives to try to purchase marijuana at licensed stores in Colorado, efforts to proactively monitor licensed stores' compliance, she said.
If stores are caught selling marijuana to underage operatives, division investigators issue criminal citations to the employees who made the sale, and the state pursues regulatory penalties for the business, owner(s) and employees who were part of the sale, Draper said.
The state conducts between 300 to 400 checks every year. For the past three years, including 2024 to date, there has been a 99% compliance rate with those checks, Draper said.
The Marijuana Enforcement Division's public underage sales dashboard shows that of 84 violations in Colorado between September 2015 and April 2023, no marijuana shops in Colorado Springs or El Paso County were cited for selling the drug to underage users.
Councilwoman Avila said medical marijuana is already allowed in Colorado Springs limits. It's up to adults to use it responsibly and keep it from children the way parents are responsible for keeping alcohol and guns away from their children, she said.
Crow-Iverson has said the council has the authority to implement laws like the one passed Tuesday limiting retail marijuana sales locations.
Pennsylvania bakery known for its election cookie poll is swamped with orders
Pennsylvania bakery known for its election cookie poll is swamped with orders
HATBORO, Pa. (AP) A suburban Philadelphia bakerys cookie poll that started during the 2008 presidential campaign as a joke between the owners and their customers has grown into much more.
Lochels Bakery in Hatboro is swamped with orders. People are driving from a couple hours away to buy the cookies in person and shipment orders are coming from as far away as Alaska.
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This Week in Pennsylvania
The bakery sells 4-inch (10-centimeter) round sugar cookies, one with blue and white sprinkles and a Harris 2024 label on it and the other with red and white sprinkles and a Trump 2024 label on it.
The cookie poll started in 2008 and accurately predicted the winner the first three times, but not in 2020, when Republican Donald Trump lost the election for the White House to Democrat Joe Biden.
Kathy Lochel, whose husband is Lochels third-generation baker, said sales exploded that year, as customers bought thousands of cookies.
Its just a fun, non-stressful tally that were taking, Lochel said. Its definitely not scientific. Its just a delicious way I say to take the pressure off with what is going on with the election, all the ads, all the campaign stuff, just a cookie.
I cant emphasize that more. Its just a cookie.
Helene Moran bought Trump cookies on her 82nd birthday with her daughter and son-in-law who live in North Carolina.
Which we do whenever Trump is up for election, said Moran, who lives near the bakery. Hes my sweetheart, I love him so much.
This year, election cookie sales are outpacing 2020s sales.
These cookies are being shipped all over the United States right now, so much so that theyre on back order, so were about three to four weeks back, Lochel said.
For now, the bakery guarantees shipments will arrive by Election Day on Nov. 5, Lochel said. Customers are driving from a couple hours away can get them faster, she said.
It may not hurt business that Lochels is in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. It also may not hurt that Lochels is in the heavily populated and moderate suburbs of Philadelphia, where Trump and Kamala Harris are fighting for support.
Trumps numbers may have gotten a boost after he shared a story about the cookie poll on his social media platform. As of Tuesday, Trump was leading Harris, 12,558 to 889 a far bigger lead than pollsters have found.
The election aside with its attack ads, name-calling and social media barbs the cookie-buying public has been perfectly pleasant and positive.
The people that are coming into our store, whether theyre buying red or blue cookies, theyre friendly, they joke, they laugh, they buy other things, Lochel 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 ABC27.
(WHTM) Three Pennsylvania men were caught stealing 1,600 pounds of beef from a parked tractor-trailer in Philadelphia on Tuesday morning, according to the Office of the Attorney General.
The AGs Office said the investigation, dubbed Operation Beef Bandit, was a collaborative investigation between the Philadelphia Police Department, Attorney General Agents, and New Jersey State Police.
$4,200 worth of New Zealand beef stolen from trucks in Lebanon County
Douglas Mathis, Jamir Scott, and Tariq Duncan, all of Philadelphia, were arrested while the Attorney Generals office says they attempting to steal the $7,000 worth of beef from a tractor-trailer in the 7300 block of Edmund Street. Officials say the men were caught wearing dark clothes and masks while breaking into the locked trailer and carrying 25 cases of beef from the right to their van.
According to the AGs Office, the three are charged with corrupt organizations, theft, and related offenses. Bail for each was set at $200,000 cash.
Pennsylvania Arbys employees allegedly stole nearly $3,000 in roast beef
This was tenacious investigative work that involved collaboration between law enforcement agencies to stop high-value thefts from parked tractor trailers, Attorney General Henry said. I commend the timely work of our Organized Crime Section who tracked this crew and, essentially, caught them in the act.
Senior Deputy Attorney General Helen Park will prosecute the case.
This marks the third beef-related theft in Pennsylvania over the past few months.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. (WHTM) Pennsylvania State Police Troop H Chambersburg Barracks are seeking new information on the fatal 2016 Thanksgiving Day fuel truck crash on I-81 in Franklin County.
According to police, on Thursday, November 24, 2016, a blue and white Ford F-150 was heading north I-81 while pulling a trailer. State Police say at around mile marker 19, the trailer came loose, and the trailer traveled across the median and struck a tractor-trailer transporting gasoline.
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State Police say the tractor-trailer caught fire and killed the driver, who was later identified as William Golladay, 48, of Mount Jackson, Virginia. The trailer was later found to be stolen from Stakes Auto in Fayetteville, Pa., per police.
Anyone with information is asked to please call PSP Chambersburg Barracks at 717-264-5161 or PSP Tips Toll-Free at 1-800-4PA-TIPS or online.
PSP Tips wrote in a Facebook post that all callers to PSP Tips could be eligible for a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest, the solving of a crime/cold case, or the location of a wanted person/fugitive or missing person.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
People across metro receiving threatening emails with personal info, pictures of their home
People across the metro say they are getting threatening emails demanding money, and also contain your personal information, as well as pictures of your own home.
Its important you pay attention right now. Take a moment to breathe, thats how the email started.
But what caught Lonnie Ross attention was the picture attached of his front yard and mailbox.
Its like someone close by, you know? So walking down my street, driving a car so they ride up on me, Ross told Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray.
Along with the photo, the email also contained other personal and identifying information.
It had my phone number, my address, email, my name. And what really got me, they took a picture of my mailbox, Ross said.
Channel 2 Action News has heard from multiple viewers receiving similar threat emails this month.
The emails warn they have access to your devices and are gathering personal information after you click on malware online.
The criminals demand a $2,000 ransom to be paid in Bitcoin.
Its very well written, very convincing, said cybersecurity researcher Willis McDonald.
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He said the criminals do not have access to your devices like they claim.
The pictures are coming from Google Street View. However, it is likely the criminals do have the information they used in the email because of data breaches.
This is a direct result of something like that, where your data has been breached. Its got your phone number, your email, your name, McDonald said.
He also said AI functions like Chat GPT have made these scam emails a lot better and the schemes a lot more sophisticated.
By using things like AI tools, theyre able to make more convincing letters. Theyre able to make, you know, revisions on the fly really quick, McDonald said.
The Federal Trade Commission says cryptocurrency complaints to the FBI increased by 45% in just one year.
There were more than 69,000 complaints in 2023, totaling more than $5.6 billion in losses.
To better protect your privacy, you can easily request on Google Street View that your home be blurred out.
IN OTHER NEWS:
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) Peoria-based company NFW is up for an Earthshot Prize, an awards ceremony started by Britains Prince William four years ago to celebrate those trying to solve environmental problems.
The company specializes in creating everyday items, such as handbags and shoes, with plant-based materials instead of plastics. Theyve partnered with numerous companies, from BMW to Ralph Lauren.
Company President Steve Zika said hes honored to see NFW receive a nomination.
I think the prize will be tremendous for us to get our message out to different consumers, different customers, even to different investors and to all sorts of audiences to help us achieve our mission of replacing plastics with plants, he said.
NFW uses Mirum, a natural rubber that is a base polymer in the different materials the company produces.
Zika said the company prides itself on innovation.
NFW is the only company in the world thats using our patented technology to use all-natural materials like plants to displace toxic plastics in our supply chains, he said.
The company is nominated in the Building a Waste Free World category. The awards ceremony will be held Nov. 6 in Capetown, South Africa.
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(FOX40.COM) A person is safe after re-entering a burning home Tuesday to locate a pet, Sacramento Metro Fire said.
According to the fire department, crews responded to a well involved house fire on Ivy Creek Drive around 1 p.m. which was threatening two neighboring structures.
Severely Burned bear rescued from Tahoe-area fire moved to sanctuary
The fire department said everyone inside the house was able to get out but one person went back in to find a dog. The person was able to get out again safely.
The fire was put out and the neighboring homes sustained minor exterior damages.
The fire department warned the public against re-entering a burning structure.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) A person has been rescued after getting trapped inside a storm drain in Fresno, the Fresno Fire Department said on Tuesday.
Firefighters say they responded to reports of a person trapped in a storm drain on Tuesday afternoon in Van Ness Ave. near Santa Clara St.
At the time of the report, members of the Fresno Fire Departments Urban Search and Rescue Team were training nearby. They responded to the location and said the individual in the storm drain was not injured and was able to be helped out.
Because of this incident, Fresno Fire wants to remind the public to never climb into a storm drain because they can be dangerous and possess hidden hazards.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | CBS47 and KSEE24.
Person hospitalized following crash in northeast Charlotte, MEDIC says
A person has been hospitalized following a crash in northeast Charlotte Wednesday morning, according to MEDIC.
The incident occurred just before 6:30 a.m. on the 4900 block of North Tryon Street.
ALSO READ: Petition gains steam for traffic light after deadly crash near high school
MEDIC said the victim was taken to Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
Details are limited at this time.
Channel 9 has reached out for more information.
VIDEO: Petition gains steam for traffic light after deadly crash near high school
PESHTIGO, Wis. (WFRV) A 24-year-old man from Marinette County was sentenced to federal prison for reportedly victimizing numerous minors throughout northeast Wisconsin.
A release from the United States Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin on September 20 states that Peshtigo resident Zachary Zastawniak was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for various child sexual exploitation charges.
Zastawniak, who recently pled guilty to knowingly persuading a minor to send him a sexually explicit video, acknowledged during his sentencing hearing that he had victimized numerous minors in Oconto County and Northeast Wisconsin by employing coercive techniques to force them to engage in sexual activity.
Wisconsin man, arrested for theft, released and re-arrested for another crime later that day
Authorities say that Zastawniak utilized various social media platforms and applications during the numerous incidents.
Zastawniak was sentenced by Senior United States District Judge William C. Griesbach, who during the sentencing hearing described the case as horribly aggravated and stated that Zastawniak engaged in monstrous behavior and made evil decisions.
Judge Griesbach also noted the bravery and courage of the victims, many of whom spoke at sentencing.
After his 25-year prison sentence, Zastawniak will also have to spend 25 years on supervised release and register as a sex offender.
Two Wisconsin men arrested after K9 finds a large quantity of suspected heroin
The case was investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigations, the North Fond du Lac Police Department, Oconto Falls Police Department, Oconto Police Department, Oconto County Sheriffs Office, and the Kingsford, Michigan, Department of Public Safety.
It was also part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
No other details were provided.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
A pet food company has issued a voluntary recall of its popular dog food, sold nationwide, due to concerns about Salmonella and Listeria.
On September 22, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that a company selling dog food has voluntarily withdrawn a product from store shelves after samples tested positive. Here's what you need to know.
According to the FDA, ANSWERS Pet Food has taken steps to remove one of its products from the market after samples were "reported to have tested positive for the presence of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes."
Related: FDA Issues Pet Food Recall Due to Salmonella Risk to Pets and People
The recall notice states that specific lots of ANSWERS Detailed Beef Formula for Dogs, ANSWERS Straight Beef Formula for Dogs, and ANSWERS Straight Chicken Formula for Dogs are affected. The products were distributed throughout the United States in retail stores and direct online sales.
The brand names and lot numbers of the product being withdrawn include:
ANSWERS Pet Food Detailed Beef Formula for Dogs sold in 4lb (Half Gallon Carton) with an expiration date of May 06, 2026, with the lot code BUBD MAY 06, 2026
ANSWERS Pet Food Straight Beef Formula for Dogs sold in 4lb (Half Gallon Carton) with an expiration date of January 31, 2026, with the lot code BUBD JAN 31, 2026
ANSWERS Pet Food Straight Chicken Formula for Dogs sold in 4lb (Half Gallon Carton) with an expiration date of January 02, 2026, with the lot code MAR 11, 2026
The recall notice from the FDA and ANSWERS Pet Food states that as of the time of reporting, "no illnesses associated with these lots have been confirmed."
Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes have the potential to cause adverse health concerns and "can affect animals eating the products, and there is risk to humans from handling contaminated pet products, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after contact with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products," per the recall notice."
What Should I Do If I Have the Products Included in the FDA Warning?
According to the FDA guidelines, if you have the affected dog food products they should "be thrown out or destroyed in a way that children, pets, and wildlife cannot access it. Areas that may have come in contact with any contaminated food should be sanitized."
The agency asks people to not touch the affected products with bare hands and to instead "suggests wearing gloves or using paper towels when placing any contaminated product in a sealed bag to throw out or when handling such food."
For consumers who wish to have a recall, the notice asks them to submit a receipt and pictures of the product to info@answerspetfood.com along with the retailers information. If you have questions or concerns, please email ANSWERS Pet Food at info@answerspetfood.com.
What Signs or Symptoms Might Indicate Salmonella Infection?
The FDA recall notice warns that dogs may not notice signs or symptoms of a Salmonella infection, though they may have symptoms such as a decrease in activity levels, fever, loss of appetite, diarrhea, or vomiting.
"If your pet has consumed product lot identified below and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian," the notice suggests.
The FDA notice explains that Salmonella bacteria can infect humans, and the signs and symptoms tend to be more noticeable and can include abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and fever.
What Are the Symptoms of L. mono Infection?
"Listeria monocytogenes rarely causes illness in dogs, but it is possible. Dogs can have mild symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting. Even if a dog is not showing symptoms, it can still be a carrier of the bacteria and spread it to humans," the notice shares.
Symptoms for people may include confusion, headache, fever, nausea, diarrhea, stiff neck, muscle aches, and convulsions. The FDA notes, "Young children, elderly people, pregnant women, and those with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to Listeria monocytogenes infections and symptoms can be more severe."
If you're concerned about the potential of your dog showing signs of infection, please contact a veterinarian. If you're showing signs yourself, get in touch with your doctor.
By Jasper Ward and Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the U.S. border with Mexico on Friday, the White House said on Wednesday, in her first visit to the politically contentious southern border since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.
During her trip to Douglas, Arizona, Harris plans to speak about border security and how she is pushing "the toughest bipartisan border security plan in a generation," a campaign aide said, adding that the plan includes new border agents and technologies to stop fentanyl.
"As a former attorney general from a border state, she took on international gangs and criminal organizations who traffic drugs, guns and human beings, and she has long believed we need an immigration system that is secure, fair, orderly and humane, a stark contrast from the divisive and dangerous politics of Donald Trump," the campaign aide said.
Harris was California's attorney general before being elected to the U.S. Senate and then in 2020 vice president. She visited the border in 2021.
Trump, Harris' Republican rival, has made illegal immigration a key issues in his campaign ahead of the Nov. 5 election. The former president has repeatedly criticized Harris over border policy.
Harris told CNN last month she would renew a push for comprehensive border legislation that would tighten migration into the United States, vowing to "enforce our laws" against border crossings.
Immigration remains a top issue for voters. Fifty-four percent of respondents to a recent New York Times/Siena poll thought Trump would do a better job on the issue, while 43% indicated that Harris would.
Senate Republicans killed a bipartisan border bill in February that Trump had pressed them to reject. President Joe Biden and Harris have accused Trump of wanting the border to remain a campaign issue.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward and Nandita Bose; Editing by Chris Reese, Jonathan Oatis and William Mallard)
Pet iguana missing for hours overnight back home in Denver after escaping through window
DENVER (KDVR) A pet iguana is back home after escaping through a window in a Glendale neighborhood. She was missing for more than half a day.
Iguana owners Cheyenne Drake and Joseph Cervantes took to social media on Monday night after their 15-year-old, four-and-a-half foot-long pet iguana Cheech went missing. The couple went to dinner at around 6:30 p.m. and returned about two hours later to the window screen of their lizards room popped out.
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She was gone. The window was open, she had somehow shimmied her way out, said Drake. Shes cold-blooded, so she cant keep herself warm. Shes always under a heat lamp so we were really afraid that she was going to freeze and especially not make it through the night.
Cervantes got Cheech around 2010 when she was the size of his palm.
I got her in a brown paper lunch bag as a baby at a reptile shop, said Cervantes. Shes really tame. Shes really docile, shes a roamer. I dont really have her in a cage, she has her own room and stuff. She can move as she pleases.
But, this isnt the first time Cheech had escaped.
Shes gotten through another screen door at my last house, and the last time I had to have the fire department, said Cervantes.
After searching in the dark Monday night, the couple tried again early Tuesday morning to find Cheech. A couple hours later, Cervantes spotted her high up in the tree next to their home.
The couple called the fire department but was told they couldnt help.
They were like, unfortunately, we dont do animal rescues up in trees anymore theyve had a lot of firefighters get injured from rescuing animals, getting into the trees, climbing down, said Drake.
Neighbors were looking into different companies to help get Cheech down, including tree companies and AAA. But, on the roof of their neighbors house, with Cheechs favorite raspberries in hand, Cervantes took matters into his own hands.
I went inside to get some water, I came out 30 seconds later, hes in the tree, said Drake.
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It was high. It was very high, said Cervantes.
Cheech was returned home, safe in the lizard room with his siblings Pancake, a python, and Cheeto, a bearded dragon.
Gosh, I was so relieved. I was thinking there for a second that I wasnt going to see her again, said Cervantes.
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BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, pets will raise awareness for abuse with a special parade.
Crime Victims Assistance Center is hosting the 3rd Annual Purple Pets for Prevention Parade on October 4 in downtown Binghamton. The event will begin in the Metrocenter parking lot where CVAC staff, board members, volunteers, and supporters will meet with their pets. Pet parents are urged to dress up their pets in purple clothes and accessories before parading around the one-mile route.
Activities will be held prior to the event including a K9 demonstration from the Vestal Police Department at 5:30.
The Pets for Prevention Parade aims to raise awareness about domestic violence in the community. It also aims to show those affected by abuse that they are not alone.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month which is represented by the color purple.
Registration, the parade route, and further information can be found on the Broome CVAC Facebook page.
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PHILADELPHIA - "When survivors speak, change happens! Lets go do this!" chanted about fifty people on a bus headed to D.C.
They left Philadelphia on Monday to attend the Crime Survivors Speak March on Washington Tuesday.
"Action, protection and safety. A space to heal," chanted crowds of people.
The focus of the march is on healing, connecting and empowerment.
"The atmosphere was just energetic. It was electrifying and it was so so many people," said Lee West.
He and his wife Kim both attended the event. They joined others fighting for victims' rights.
"Get the experience of meeting people from all over the country who are going through the same thing that I've been, which is losing my daughter to the senseless violence out here," he said.
West lost his beautiful daughter Robin on September 1, 2016. She was 19 years old.
"I miss her. I miss her tremendously," he said.
25-year-old Khalil Wheeler-Weaver was convicted of murdering Robin in Union County.
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Investigators say he was a serial killer and was also convicted of killing other women. They say he used dating apps to lure troubled young women.
Robin was from Philadelphia but went to northern Jersey for her birthday. A month after she disappeared, her body was found in a building that had been set on fire.
"Robin was a free spirit, she was an outgoing young lady, full of life and unfortunately, at 19, her life was cut short. It was four days before her 20th birthday," said her father.
Others who attended the march brought along pictures of their loved one. They listened to speakers and held a candle-lighting.
"It's a great deal of sadness but coming together really helped us out," said West.
The march allowed people to speak up for victims and advocate for their families.
"As far as passing bills families need help. They need help with everything that is going on around them. Some of the things that people cannot handle such as trauma care," said West.
He says he will continue to fight for his daughter who wanted to continue her education and become a veterinarian.
"Continue to fight for what is right for these families out here and do what is necessary to make change," he said.
(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines military chief has backed the permanent presence of a US missile system thats been in the country for months now, risking anger from China which had branded the weapon deployment as destabilizing.
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If I had my way I want them to stay here forever, General Romeo Brawner Jr., the head of the Philippine armed forces, told reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of the Asian Defense and Security Exhibition in Manila. Hes referring to the Typhon missile system deployed by the US in northern Philippines since April which had irked Beijing.
In fact, if we had enough money, for me, Id like to buy Typhons, Brawner said, to boost the nations defense arsenal and ramp up its security deterrence. Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said in July that the missiles deployment in the Philippines was only temporary after Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi told him that the weapon could be destabilizing.
The advanced mid-range capability missile system had been a point of contention between Manila and Beijing in the past five months, adding to already high tensions over competing claims in the South China Sea. The military chiefs latest remarks come days after Reuters reported that the US has no immediate plans to withdraw the weapon from its longstanding treaty ally in Asia.
Asked whether the Philippines plans to allow the Typhon system in the country indefinitely, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro separately said in the same event that hell neither confirm nor deny that, as he took a swipe at Beijing.
Before other countries interfere with the creation of our credible defense posture, they should first stop their illegal activities, get out of the West Philippine Sea, take away their ballistic capabilities, destroy their nuclear arsenal, Teodoro said, in apparent reference to China.
The Philippines, which had been trying to modernize its defense system, also plans to buy 40 new fighter jets amid recent hostilities with China in the airspace. Brawner last month said the country wants to acquire the latest weapons systems for deterrence.
--With assistance from Ditas Lopez.
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Phoebe Gates Honored as 'Rising' Champion of Abortion Rights While Sister Jennifer Says She's 'So Proud'
Phoebe, 22, called the award an "an acknowledgement of a responsibility to keep going, and a rallying charge to do more"
Courtesy of Phoebe Gates Phoebe Gates
Phoebe Gates is getting honored for being a champion of reproductive rights and she says shes just getting started.
Last week, the 22-year-old daughter of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates traveled to Washington, D.C., for Reproductive Freedom for Alls 55th anniversary celebration, where she was honored with the Rising Reproductive Freedom Champion award.
In a diary for Vogue, the Stanford University graduate wrote that ever since Roe v. Wade was struck down in 2022, RFFA's president and CEO, Mini Timmaraju, has become a mentor and co-conspirator in the right to defend and advance reproductive freedom," which encompasses abortion access, birth control and more.
Phoebe delivered the final speech of the night, on Sept. 18, to a room of 200 guests including activists and elected officials.
As for the award, Phoebe called it an incredible honor that I accepted as an acknowledgement of a responsibility to keep going, and a rallying charge to do more.
Related: Bill Gates Says He Texts Daughter Phoebe to 'Say That Im Sending Her an Email': 'Meeting Her Halfway'
Courtesy of Phoebe Gates Phoebe Gates and Mini Timmaraju
Phoebe went on to say that although members of my generation have fewer rights than those who came before us, she left D.C. feeling hopeful and energized.
I know that the champions I metand the 41 million of my peers who are eligible to vote in this election on November 5are not willing to sit around and wait for things to change, she added.
Like her mother, whom Phoebe called a hero of mine, she went on to throw her support behind Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming election against former President Donald Trump, who supports abortion restrictions with exceptions and believes states should be able to impose bans.
Phoebe wrote of Harris and her running mate, If we mobilize to elect VP Harris and Gov [Tim] Walz to the White House, and we win key Congressional races across the country, we have the chance to bring back our rights through national legislation next year.
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After seeing Phoebe get honored, Jennifer Gates couldn't help but celebrate her little sister.
"So proud of you," the 28-year-old resident physician and soon-to-be mom of two wrote on her Instagram Story.
Christopher Jason Phoebe Gates
Phoebe, who has long used her platform to champion women's health and reproductive rights, recently told The Wall Street Journal that this year, she plans to give millions to pro-abortion access groups.
She went on to say that the decision was influenced by her mom, who announced her own $1 billion pledge to support womens rights earlier this year.
Theres a tangible chance to make a change here," Phoebe told the newspaper.
Related: Phoebe Gates Celebrates 22nd Birthday with Cake and the 'Best Team' as Mom Melinda Pays Tribute
Phoebe is also the co-founder of forthcoming digital fashion platform Phia and appeared on her dads new Netflix docuseries, What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates.
In a recent blog post, the 68-year-old philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder said that out of all the conversations he had during the making of the show, his sit-down with his youngest daughter was his favorite.
Courtesy of Netflix Bill Gates and Phoebe Gates
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
Im glad we made it work, though, because our conversationfor the episode on misinformationturned out to be a series highlight, wrote the proud papa.
Phoebe helped me better understand how women onlineparticularly women who stick up for other womenoften face threats to their safety that are intended to make them think twice before they speak out, Bill wrote, adding that he cant wait to see how her advocacy work will make a difference in the world.
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PHOENIX - A grief-stricken wife and mother are speaking out after losing 42-year-old Craig Cooper in a deadly Phoenix crash where an alleged DUI driver struck and killed him while speeding.
Craig was killed by the suspected drunk driver early Sunday morning on Sept. 22 while he was riding his motorcycle. It turns out the suspect has another DUI charge pending from two months ago.
Cooper's family is still in shock after learning what happened to him, especially because his two young kids will have to grow up without their father.
"We've been together for over 16 years," said Brittane Cooper, Craig's wife. "We have two beautiful sons."
A Phoenix family once whole is now mourning Craig's death.
"I am absolutely hurting. I am ripped apart," said Deborah Rivers, Craig's mom.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety says Craig was killed by an alleged drunk driver who was speeding on I-10 eastbound near Loop 202.
Craig's wife got the news that morning from law enforcement that her husband had been hit on his motorcycle and did not survive.
"I couldn't breathe. I thought I was dreaming. It couldn't be real because we didn't deserve this," Brittane said.
According to court documents, 22-year-old Andrew Ramirez Perez was under the influence. His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit.
Andrew Perez
DPS says he was driving 140 mph when he hit Craig's motorcycle from behind. In an interview with authorities, he reportedly admitted to not knowing what he hit and thought he was driving between 70 and 75 mph.
"The suspect has a pending DUI criminal speed from July of this year where he was almost in the exact same spot where the collision occurred," a prosecutor said during a court appearance.
That case is still pending with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
Ramirez Perez is accused of second-degree murder and a judge set his bond at $250,000, cash only.
"To the driver, I want to say, I really want you to know that this has caused a lot of pain, sorrow and devastation, and it's left so many people lonely,'" his mother said.
Broke my heart
"You ripped my family apart. You took everything from us. You took a loving father, a great husband, a son, a brother, a friend to everybody," Brittane said.
She describes her husband as an involved father who always made his family laugh, and that he loved animals. Her last memory with him was on Saturday, dancing in the house with their youngest son.
Just a few days later, and she now has to plan his funeral.
"I wanted to see him right away and I still haven't seen him. I barely just picked up his stuff today. It broke my heart," Brittane said.
Craig's mother's heart is just as shattered as she accepts that her son's life was taken far too soon.
"It hurts so bad, and we're not getting him back," she said.
A GoFundMe has been set up for the Cooper family and it can be found by clicking here.
Photo shows cat rescue during floods in Malaysia, not Thailand
An image of a Malaysian woman cradling four cats during a flood has spread across Thai social media posts that falsely linked it to deadly floods in northern Thailand brought on by Typhoon Yagi in September 2024. The woman pictured in the photo told AFP she was able to safely evacuate all four felines during an earlier flood in July in East Malaysia's Sabah state.
"Oh my, I'm gonna cry. Wishing for all lives to be saved," read a Thai-language X post published on September 10, 2024. It included hashtags such as "floods" and "Chiang Rai floods".
It racked up more than 35,000 shares and featured a screenshot of a Facebook post that shared an image of a woman cradling four cats on an inflatable boat in floodwaters.
Screenshot of the false post, taken on September 23, 2024
The claim circulated online the day after deadly floods caused by a tropical depression struck Thailand's northern provinces of Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai.
Floods and landslides triggered by Typhoon Yagi claimed at least 700 lives in the region as it swept across Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar in September 2024 (archived link).
The same image was shared alongside similar claims here, here, and here.
Meanwhile, one X user shared the image here, saying that the woman and her cats did not survive but the scenes were not from Thailand.
In fact, the photo shows a dentist from the East Malaysian state of Sabah evacuating during floods in July. She told AFP she and her cats are safe.
July 2024 Sabah floods
A reverse image search followed by keyword searches on Google found the same picture on Facebook from a July 1, 2024 post expressing condolences for people affected by flooding in Penampang (archived link).
The photo was captioned "Phoebe saving the cats".
Penampang -- a district in East Malaysia's Sabah state -- was severely hit by flash floods after heavy downpours on June 30, 2024. At least one person was found dead while a total of 296 people from 97 families were displaced (archived links here and here).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the false post (left), which appears to have been cropped, and the original Facebook post (right):
Screenshot comparison of the false X post (left) and the original Facebook post (right)
Further keyword searches on Facebook led to another post on the same day that identified the woman as a dentist called Dr Phoebe who works in Donggongon, a town in Penampang (archived link).
"Yes, its definitely me and my cats," Dr Phoebe Ann Zepher told AFP on September 19, 2024.
The cats were safely evacuated to a two-storey residence in the neighbourhood, said Phoebe, who added "now they are doing okay".
Her feline rescue was also featured on local media reports here, here and here (archived links here, here and here).
AFP has debunked other misinformation linked to Typhoon Yagi here and here.
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) Pitt Community College is continuing celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month through the AmexCan organization.
Wednesday, there was a Hispanic Heritage Festival which was open to the public. The event welcomed organizations across Pitt County and invited all kinds of members of the community of all ethnicities.
Dancers from Mexico also came down to show their support, as well as, local food trucks that offered ethnic cuisines. Its important because we have so many cultures in the United States and more are exactly in this campus. And, everyone just, they need to feel like they are welcome to this community, AmexCan member Alfredo Gonzalez Reyes said.
The club is the first to represent Hispanic students at Pitt Community College. They aim to showcase the beauty and importance of the Hispanic culture thats present here in the Pitt County community.
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A crash outside Press in Newport in August 2020 killed a husband and wife and injured two others. It happened after a police chase that began in Cincinnati as law enforcement was investigating a drug trafficking group. The leader of that group pleaded guilty Tuesday.
Four years ago, a man being investigated for trafficking drugs and guns led police on a chase from Lower Price Hill into Newport, where he crashed into a restaurant's sidewalk patio, killing a husband and wife.
The investigation into that crash led to the seizure of massive quantities of illegal drugs and charges against 16 people including a man prosecutors say was the leader of the drug trafficking organization at the center of the case.
That man, 36-year-old Ryan Haskamp, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Cincinnati to drug and gun conspiracy charges, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Haskamp is the last of the 16 people charged to plead guilty, officials said.
In total, authorities seized 11 guns and more than one kilo of methamphetamine, 200 pounds of the hallucinogenic drug DMT, five pounds of marijuana, 15 kilos of hashish and hashish oil, one kilo of MDMA or ecstasy, 19,000 doses of LSD, as well as other drugs including fentanyl and cocaine.
Haskamp faces 15 years to life in prison. A sentencing date has not been scheduled.
Haskamp supplied methamphetamine to Mason Meyer, 32, the driver of the car involved in the August 2020 fatal crash outside Press on Monmouth Street in Newport. Two other people were injured in the crash.
According to prosecutors, Haskamp used at least five homes in the Cincinnati area as "stash houses," to store and sell drugs.
He also enlisted others to use hotel rooms or rent properties through Airbnb to traffic drugs and had packages of drugs delivered to the Airbnb properties, prosecutors said. He supplied drugs to numerous others who would distribute them in both the Cincinnati and Dayton areas.
Meyer pleaded guilty in 2021 to charges including murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Leader of drug ring that had 200 pounds of psychedelic drug pleads
Stories reflecting on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's party conference speech make a number of Wednesday's front pages. The Times pulls out the PM's vow to "turn up our collar and face the storm" in an address it sketches as an "attempt to refocus the government after days dominated by rows over gifts and infighting in No 10". Sir Keir's on-stage kiss with his wife, Victoria, also makes the splash. [BBC]
The Telegraph says the prime minister rehashed a popular Brexit slogan as he vowed to take back "control" of the NHS, education and other key policy areas. Variations on the phrase cropped up 15 times across the 54-minute speech, which the paper styles as an "attempt to connect" with Reform voters. [BBC]
The Starmers' kiss also tops the Metro. "A home for every hero" is the headline, a reference to Sir Keir's pledge to house all military veterans, young care leavers and victims of domestic abuse. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's promise to halve knife crime also gets a write-up. [BBC]
The Financial Times leads on Sir Keir's promise to repair Britain and warns of "stark choices" ahead. Also featured is a report on China's "aggressive" package of new growth measures, and another on HSBC and JP Morgan "unwittingly" processing payments for companies run by the late Russian mercenary leader, Yevgeny Priogozhin. [BBC]
"Tough love" is how the Daily Mirror characterises Sir Keir's Liverpool address. The prime minister's plea to British nationals to leave Lebanon also makes the front page. Sir Keir said, "We are ramping up the contingency plans, I think you'd expect that in light of the escalation." [BBC]
The Mail leads on the Ministry of Defence sending 700 troops to Cyprus to prepare for the possible evacuation of British nationals from Lebanon, described by the paper as a "potential Dunkirk-style rescue". [BBC]
The EU is prepared to shorten the time it will ask Sir Keir's government to allow under-30s to remain in the UK for, according to the i. The paper says a possible deal with Brussels could help "unlock" new agreements with Europe on security and trade. [BBC]
The Princess of Wales "showed her determination to return to work", the Daily Express reports, as she set about planning a Christmas concert on Tuesday. A photograph of Catherine, Prince Louis and Prince Charlotte attending a royal carol service at Westminster Abbey in 2023 accompanies the story. The princess, 42, had taken some time away from public engagements while undergoing treatment for cancer. [BBC]
The Sun reports on Phillip Schofield's "TV comeback", 16 months after he left ITV's This Morning programme. The paper says Mr Schofield has filmed a "one-man survival" show for Channel 5, in which he will discuss the period since he admitted to having an affair with a younger co-worker. [BBC]
The Daily Star leads on a father and son claiming to have been "attacked" by the Loch Ness monster while out canoeing. Both Geoff Potts and his son, Chris, say they felt something strike their vessels from below. "Canoe believe it?" the paper asks. [BBC]
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By Laila Bassam and James Mackenzie
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Hezbollah's flexible chain of command, together with its extensive tunnel network and a vast arsenal of missiles and weapons it has bolstered over the past year, is helping it weather unprecedented Israeli strikes, three sources familiar with the Lebanese militant group's operations said.
Israel's assault on Hezbollah over the past week, including the targeting of senior commanders and the detonation of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies, has left the powerful Lebanese Shiite militant group and political party reeling.
On Friday, Israel killed the commander who founded and led the group's elite Radwan force, Ibrahim Aqil. And since Monday, Lebanon's deadliest day of violence in decades, the health ministry says more than 560 people, among them 50 children, have died in air barrages.
The Israeli military chief of staff Herzi Halevi said on Sunday that Aqil's death had shaken the organisation. Israel says its strikes have also destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rockets and shells.
But two of the sources familiar with Hezbollah operations said the group swiftly appointed replacements for Aqil and other senior figures killed in Friday's airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in an Aug. 1 speech that the group quickly fills gaps whenever a leader is killed.
A fourth source, a Hezbollah official, said the attack on communication devices put 1,500 fighters out of commission because of their injuries, with many having been blinded or had their hands blown off.
While that is a major blow, it represents a fraction of Hezbollah's strength, which a report for the U.S. Congress on Friday put at 40,000-50,000 fighters. Nasrallah has said the group has 100,000 fighters.
Since October, when Hezbollah began firing at Israel in October in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza, it has redeployed fighters to frontline areas in the south, including some from Syria, the three sources said.
It has also been bringing rockets into Lebanon at a fast pace, anticipating a drawn-out conflict, the sources said, adding that the group sought to avoid all out war.
Hezbollah's main supporter and weapons supplier is Iran. The group is the most powerful faction in Tehran's "Axis of Resistance" of allied irregular forces across the Middle East. Many of its weapons are Iranian, Russian or Chinese models.
The sources, who all asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, did not provide details of the weapons or where they were bought.
Hezbollah's media office did not reply to requests for comment for this story.
Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King's College London, said that while Hezbollah operations had been disrupted by the past week's attacks, the group's networked organisational structure helped make it an extremely resilient force.
"This is the most formidable enemy Israel has ever faced on the battlefield, not because of numbers and tech but in terms of resilience."
POWERFUL MISSILES
Fighting has escalated this week. Israel killed another top Hezbollah commander, Ibrahim Qubaisi, on Tuesday. For its part, Hezbollah has shown its capacity to continue operations, firing hundreds of rockets towards Israel in ever deeper attacks.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah said it had targeted an Israeli intelligence base near Tel Aviv, more than 100 km (60 miles) from the border. Warning sirens sounded in Tel Aviv as a single surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by air defence systems, the Israeli military said.
The group has yet to say whether it has launched any of its most potent, precision-guided rockets, such as the Fateh-110, an Iranian-made ballistic missile with a range of 250-300 km (341.75 miles). Hezbollah's Fateh-110 have a 450-500 kg warhead, according to a 2018 paper published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Hezbollah's rocket attacks are possible because the chain of command has kept functioning despite the group suffering a brief spell of disarray after the pagers and radios detonated, one of the sources, a senior security official, said.
The three sources said Hezbollah's ability to communicate is underpinned by a dedicated, fixed-line telephone network - which it has described as critical to its communications and continues to work - as well as by other devices.
Many of its fighters were carrying older models of pagers, for example, that were unaffected by last week's attack.
Reuters could not independently verify the information. Most injuries from the exploding pagers were in Beirut, far from the front.
Hezbollah stepped up the use of pagers after banning its fighters from using cellphones on the battlefield in February, in response to commanders being killed in strikes.
If the chain of command breaks, frontline fighters are trained to operate in small, independent clusters comprised of a few villages near the border, capable of fighting Israeli forces for long periods, the senior source added.
That is precisely what happened in 2006, during the last war between Hezbollah and Israel, when the group's fighters held out for weeks, some in frontline villages invaded by Israel.
Israel says it has escalated attacks to degrade Hezbollah's capabilities and make it safe for tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return to their homes near the Lebanon border, which they fled when Hezbollah began firing rockets on Oct. 8.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has said it prefers to reach a negotiated agreement that would see Hezbollah withdraw from the border region but stands ready to continue its bombing campaign if Hezbollah refuses, and does not rule out any military options.
Hezbollah's resilience means the fighting has raised fears of a protracted war that could suck in the U.S., Israel's close ally, and Iran - especially if Israel launches, and gets bogged down in, a ground offensive in southern Lebanon.
Israel's military did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian warned on Monday of "irreversible" consequences of a full blown war in the Middle East. A U.S. State Department official said Washington disagreed with Israel's strategy of escalation and sought to reduce tensions.
UNDERGROUND ARSENAL
In what two of the sources said was an indication of how well some of Hezbollah's weapons are hidden, on Sunday rockets were launched from areas of southern Lebanon that had been targeted by Israel shortly before, the two sources said.
Hezbollah is believed to have an underground arsenal and last month published footage that appeared to show its fighters driving trucks with rocket launchers through tunnels. The sources did not specify if the rockets fired on Sunday were launched from underground.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday's barrage had destroyed tens of thousands of Hezbollah rockets and munitions.
Israel's military said long-range cruise missiles, rockets with warheads capable of carrying 100kg of explosives, short-range rockets, and explosive UAVs were all struck on Monday.
Reuters could not independently verify the military claims.
Boaz Shapira a researcher at Alma, an Israeli think tank that specializes in Hezbollah, said Israel had yet to target strategic sites such as long-range missiles and drone sites.
"I don't think we are anywhere near finishing this," Shapira said.
Hezbollah's arsenal is believed to comprise some 150,000 rockets, the U.S. Congress report said. Krieg said its most powerful, long-range ballistic missiles were kept below ground.
Hezbollah has spent years building a tunnel network that by Israeli estimates extends for hundreds of kilometres. The Israeli military said Monday's air strikes hit Hezbollah missile launch sites hidden under homes in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah has said it does not place military infrastructure near civilians. Hezbollah has issued no statement on the impact of Israel's strikes since Monday.
TUNNELS
The group's arsenal and tunnels have expanded since the 2006 war, especially precision guidance systems, leader Nasrallah has said. Hezbollah officials have said the group has used a small part of the arsenal in fighting over the past year.
Israeli officials have said Hezbollah's military infrastructure is tightly meshed into the villages and communities of southern Lebanon, with ammunition and missile launcher pads stored in houses throughout the area. Israel has been pounding some of those villages for months to degrade Hezbollah's capabilities.
Confirmed details on the tunnel network remain scarce.
A 2021 report by Alma, an Israeli think tank that specializes in Hezbollah, said Iran and North Korea both helped build up the network of tunnels in the aftermath of the 2006 war.
Israel has already struggled to root out Hamas commanders and self-reliant fighting units from the tunnels criss-crossing Gaza.
"It is one of our biggest challenges in Gaza, and it is certainly something we could meet in Lebanon," said Carmit Valensi, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, a think-tank.
Krieg said that unlike Gaza, where most tunnels are manually dug into a sandy soil, the tunnels in Lebanon had been dug deep in mountain rock. "They are far less accessible than in Gaza and even less easy to destroy."
This story has been refiled to fix the spellings of Netanyahu's first name, and 'comprise,' in paragraphs 26, 37 respectively)
(Reporting by Laila Bassam and Tom Perry in Beirut and James Mackenzie in Jerusalem; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
Police: New Boston man confesses to murder of his friend
NEW BOSTON, Texas (KTAL/KSHV) A New Boston man is facing murder charges in the shooting death of his friend Monday.
According to the New Boston Police Department, officers responded to the call of a shooting at Front Street Apartments around 4:16 p.m. When they arrived, 21-year-old Javier Vega reportedly told the officers he shot his friend.
They detained Vega and found the victim, 23-year-old Sterling Levy, deceased in the doorway of a second-story apartment. Witnesses at the scene told police that Vega and Levy were friends who lived in the same apartment with Levys father.
Natchitoches teen dies at hospital after shooting
According to witness reports, Vega and Levy were arguing inside the apartment when Levy punched Vega in the jaw. As Levy walked outside to talk to his fiance, Vega reportedly got a gun.
Authorities said he walked back to the front door, opened it, and pointed the gun at Levy. A struggle ensued as Levy tried to take the gun from Vega and the weapon discharged, striking Levy in the chest.
Levy was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police booked Vega into the Bowie County Jail. He is facing murder charges in connection with Levys death.
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ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) A police chase that traveled through multiple Big Country counties ended in a crash after law enforcement deployed spike strips.
Per scanner traffic, the chase traveled through at least Eastland, Callahan, and Taylor Counties. It ended on I-20 around 9:00 to 9:30 p.m. near the Elmdale exit, where a pickup rolled over into the eastbound lane after law enforcement deployed spike strips.
DPS and Abilene officers immediately checked on the driver and called for an ambulance, though there was no word on the drivers injuries or if others were involved.
As of 10:00 p.m. Tuesday, eastbound traffic is moving slowly on the shoulder to pass the wreckage, while westbound traffic is completely stopped.
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Police don't believe explosion in Cologne linked to string of blasts
A police car stands on a street in the Alt-Muengersdorf district after an operation. After the recent explosion at a cafe in the Pesch district, the police are searching for a second suspect. Investigators are searching for the fugitive during a large-scale police operation in a garden in the west of Cologne. Roberto Pfeil/dpa
Police in Cologne have a suspect in custody and are hunting for another after an explosion in the early hours of Wednesday destroyed a cafe.
But police investigators don't believe the suspects are involved in a series of other mysterious blasts that have unsettled the western German city in recent weeks.
Local residents reported hearing a blast in the outlying district of Pesch around 2:45 am (0045 GMT), according to Cologne police.
Shortly afterwards, the cafe on the ground floor of an apartment building was engulfed in flames. The exact cause remains unclear, according to the authorities.
A man suspected of involvement with the explosion turned himself in to authorities accompanied by his lawyer on Wednesday afternoon, not long after police launched a manhunt for him.
A large search remains underway for a second man believed to be responsible for the destruction of the cafe.
Around 20 people were briefly evacuated from their flats as the fire brigade extinguished the fire early on Wednesday, which took about an hour.
Two residents were slightly injured and treated on site for suspected smoke inhalation, according to a spokesman. They were then released by the emergency services.
A worker at a nearby bakery told dpa that the cafe had only opened a few months ago and the owners were currently on vacation.
The incident had initially raised questions about whether the latest blast was connected to a number of other explosions across the city that police believe are linked to disputes between rival gangs in the illegal drug trade.
Last week, for instance, there were two explosions in the city centre within the space of a few days.
"There are obviously unpaid bills in the milieu that are still being settled," Michael Esser, the head of Cologne's criminal investigation department, said last week. One blast last week occurred in front of a clothing shop, and witnesses reported seeing a man running away from the scene.
Another device exploded in front of a dance club on Hohenzollernring.
There were also several incidents in Cologne and the surrounding area at the weekend.
"As the Cologne police, we are currently facing major challenges due to unprecedented cases of violence and serious crime that have never been seen before in Cologne," Esser said.
More than 60 investigators are working on the cases, he added.
Senior Cologne public prosecutor Ulrich Bremer said last week that one of these "unpaid bills" relates to the disappearance of an estimated 300 kilograms of cannabis, with the group that was cheated out of the drugs now trying to get compensation.
Prosecutors believe two hostage incidents over the summer were also related to the missing cannabis.
Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton has said the time it has taken to deal with this matter has been unacceptable [PA Media]
Anti-immigration posters that were put up in the Rathcoole estate should have been removed by the Department for Infrastructure, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has said.
Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton told BBC News NI it had taken "far too long to have them removed" and police "needed to intervene".
The posters in the estate in Newtownabbey issued a threat to anyone "facilitating the settlement of Muslims or illegals" in the area.
Most of the posters were erected at the start of August, in what police have described as a hate crime, but have now been removed by the PSNI.
Some posters still remain on lamp posts [BBC]
Mr Singleton said the police had tried to engage with the Department for Infrastructure from the start of August but that the process had been too slow. He said it was the responsibility of the department to remove the posters.
He said that while police had the power to seize material for the purpose of an investigation, the law was less clear on officers' ability to do so in other circumstances."
It got to a point where the PSNI felt we needed to intervene and remove the posters," Mr Singleton said.
'We need to learn'
Some other anti-immigration posters remain on poles in parts of the estate.
Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster about the remaining posters, Mr Singleton said: "I dont consider them as acceptable, but whether they are criminal is another assessment again.
"This is one of the challenges that we have whenever you see material that is perhaps not just as clear cut or offensive.
"Where it may be viewed as abhorrent to some, you do potentially have freedom of speech considerations engaged as well and thats why you have to view every single incident on its own merit."
He said that posters were only able to be removed because of where they were placed on lampposts at "waist and head height".
These posters have been removed by the PSNI [BBC]
The senior police officer said that "police officers arent routinely trained and equipped" to remove material that would have been placed higher up on electricity poles or on buildings.
He said that he wanted an urgent meeting with the department and other landowners to discuss the issue.
"We have been dealing with these types of issues from the turn of the year when we have seen a number of these issues present themselves in housing estates across Northern Ireland, but in this occasion it took too long and we need to fix that."
Democratic Unionist Party MLA Philip Brett told BBC News NI that the police with the support of political representatives had removed the posters.
"We trust that this is the end of the issue," he said.
The Muslim community make an important impact in north Belfast and right across Northern Ireland.
The message from the people of Rathcoole, north Belfast and Northern Ireland has been clear that these people are welcome in our community and those posters are not.
The Department for Infrastructure has been asked for a response.
TAYLOR COUNTY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) Police are investigating allegations of voter fraud in Taylor County.
A press release from the Abilene Police Department claims a citizen reported, One of the two major parties was attempting to register a minor while at a booth at the West Texas Fair and Rodeo.
KTAB and KRBC news found an alleged recording of the video on social media. In the video, a booth worker is heard asking someone who walks up, How old are you? and that person responds. Their response is jumbled and unclear, but social media users believe they say their age is sixteen. The election worker then responds, I can register you to vote.
The person who posted the video claimed the Taylor County Democratic Party is now under investigation.
An active investigation involving the Abilene Police Department, Taylor County Elections Office, County Judge Phil Crowley, and the Attorney Generals Office has been confirmed.
The department wants citizens to use caution and good judgment in this election cycle, which has been, and continues to be, highly contested, the press release explains.
No arrests have been made during the investigation so far, and no further information is available at this time.
The Taylor County Elections Office issued the following statement regarding the investigation and allegations of fraud:
Taylor County Elections Office 9-25-24 StatementDownload
On September 26, the Taylor County Republican Party issued the following statement:
It is NOT the Republican Party that is being investigated, but we will not comment on an ongoing investigation. The Taylor County Republican Party appreciates our Taylor County Law Enforcement and Elections Administrator for taking election integrity seriously.
BigCountryHomepage.com has reached out to the Taylor County Democratic Party for comment.
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HARRISON TWP., Ohio (WDTN) The Montgomery County Sheriffs Office is investigating an aggravated burglary and shooting incident.
The incident occurred in the 5500 block of Brantford Road between Sept. 23-24.
According to the sheriffs office, on Sept. 23, deputies were dispatched to the residence on report of burglary and theft of firearms. Deputies spoke with the homeowner, a male, who said that firearms had been taken from said residence.
2 men acquitted of charges due to insufficient evidence
The next day, deputies were dispatched back to the residence on reports of a shooting. Deputies spoke again to the homeowner, who said that he confronted two individuals who allegedly entered the home. Shots were fired during the altercation and the alleged individuals fled from the residence on foot.
Deputies later located two individuals in the vicinity, one had sustained a gunshot wound. That person was taken to an area hospital for non-life threatening injuries, discharged from the facility and then taken into police custody.
Multiple search warrants have been executed in Trotwood and more alleged suspects have been identified by police. A vehicle of interest has been obtained as well.
This story is developing.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Oklahoma City Police are investigating after one person was shot and killed on Tuesday, September 24.
According to the Oklahoma City Police Department, officers responded to a home in the 1800 block of SW 18th St. around 4:30 p.m. Upon arrival, they found 31-year-old Arturo Martinez who had been shot and killed.
LOCAL NEWS: Dense fog leads to prison bus crash near Perkins
Investigators discovered that Martinez had driven to the home to settle a dispute between him and the occupant. A disagreement began between the two, leading Martinez to pull out a gun and point it at the occupants head.
A third person in the home saw the situation unfolding, grabbed a gun and shot Martinez.
The shooter has been interviewed by investigators and was released pending further investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Homicide Tip Line at 405-297-1200.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
John Apter is accused of gross misconduct towards three women [PA Media]
A national Police Federation chairman flirted with a younger woman on a night out with colleagues and repeatedly topped up her glass before touching her bottom in a restaurant, a disciplinary tribunal has heard.
The unnamed police officer felt she had to accept John Apter's advances because of his senior position, prosecutors have said.
She looked "uncomfortable" and changed places with colleagues at the table to avoid him, the hearing was told.
The former federation chairman, 55, denies the charge as well as making sexual remarks about a police constable's widow, Lissie Harper, and another woman.
Previously the tribunal heard he spoke to colleagues about Ms Harper in 2020, saying: "I'd like to comfort her in my hotel room."
He is also alleged to have commented on a pregnant woman's figure in 2019, telling her: "Maybe you'll get a bum now."
Barrister Cecily White, presenting charges of gross misconduct, said Mr Apter was socialising in London before a Police Federation of England and Wales awards ceremony in December 2021.
She said the chairman bought a woman a bottle of Prosecco in a pub "when he bought individual drinks for everyone else" and topped up her glass three times.
The group moved to the restaurant where Mr Apter stood at the bar with his hands on the woman's hips, the tribunal heard.
PC Jon Carter-Lang told the hearing the woman, who had been smiling and laughing, suddenly looked "uncomfortable".
He said she had been "touchy-feely" and "flirtatious" throughout the evening and at one point placed her hand on Mr Apter's chest.
Mr Apter is accused of making a sexual remark about Lissie Harper, the widow of PC Andrew Harper [PA Media]
Barrister Ms White said Mr Apter made the officer move along a bench in order to sit next to her and then touched her bottom, whispering: "Is that OK?"
The accused denies flirting but admits he scratched the woman's back.
Earlier, Martin Buhagiar, a former federation head of communications, told the hearing that "jokey, light-hearted" sexual comments had been a "Police Federation issue".
Mr Buhagiar recalled hearing the comment about Ms Harper, which he said led to an "awkward silence" among staff who were present.
He denied a defence lawyer's suggestion that he was "happy to stick the knife in" because his work relationship with Mr Apter had not been good.
The allegations first emerged at the end of 2021, after which Mr Apter was suspended from Hampshire Constabulary and his chairman role.
A criminal inquiry into the claims was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
PC Harper, from Wallingford in Oxfordshire, was killed while responding to a bike theft in Berkshire in 2019. Three teenagers were jailed for his manslaughter in 2020.
The hearing continues.
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Police looking for suspect who broke into businesses in Liberty Twp.
LIBERTY TWP., Ohio (WKBN) Police in Liberty Township are looking for a suspect who broke into at least two businesses along Belmont Avenue.
On Wednesday, investigators released surveillance images of the suspect, saying he broke into Chipotle and Tangier Express on August 26. Police believe he also broke into KFC, however, surveillance footage was not available from that incident.
In all three break-ins, the suspect entered through the drive-thru window.
Those with information on the mans identity are asked to contact Detective Jeff Palmer at 330-539-9830 or jpalmer@libertytwp.com.
Liberty Police Department
Liberty Police Department
Liberty Police Department
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.
11:00 p.m. Update: Newton Police say the teen has been safely located.
Update: Kolongi Cobbs has been located safe. Thank you for the assistance. Missing Juvenile Kolongi Cobbs- 52... Posted by Newton MA Police Department on Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Original article: Authorities are asking for the publics help locating a missing juvenile who was last seen on Tuesday night.
Police say that 17-year-old Kolongi Cobbs, who has special needs, left Newton North High School at 6:05 p.m. and hasnt been heard from since. He is described as a 52, 110lb teen wearing black sweat pants, a coral-colored zip-up with a multi-colored backpack.
Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call police at 617-796-2123.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib voiced disappointment with U.S. President Joe Biden's remarks about the escalating crisis between Israel and Lebanon on Tuesday, but said he still hoped Washington could intervene to help.
"It was not strong. It is not promising and it would not solve this problem," Bou Habib said of Biden's speech at the United Nations earlier in the day.
"I (am) still hoping. The United States is the only country that can really make a difference in the Middle East and with regard to Lebanon," Bou Habib said in New York during a virtual event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Half a million people are estimated to have been displaced in Lebanon, he said. He said Lebanon's prime minister hoped to meet with U.S. officials over the next two days.
After almost a year of war against Hamas in Gaza, Israel is shifting its focus to its northern frontier with Lebanon, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of its ally Hamas.
Israel says some 70,000 Israelis have been forced to flee their homes in northern Israel.
In his address, Biden sought to calm tensions, saying full-scale war was not in anyone's interest. He told the 193-member U.N. General Assembly a diplomatic solution was still possible.
Israel has said it prefers a diplomatic solution that would move Hezbollah away from the Israel-Lebanon border.
Hezbollah says that it also wants to avoid all-out conflict and that only an end to the war in Gaza will stop the fighting. Gaza ceasefire efforts are deadlocked after months of faltering talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.
Bou Habib suggested Israel's government was not seriously pursuing a negotiated end to the fighting and instead sought to win on the battlefield.
The U.S. effort to halt an all-out conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has been led by a special envoy, Amos Hochstein. He has been thwarted by a cycle of attacks and counterattacks the Lebanese militant group began on Oct. 8, the day after Hamas onslaught into Israel, triggering the Israeli offensive into Gaza.
Hochstein and French diplomats have sought to broker a deal under which Hezbollah would pull back from Israels northern border, creating a buffer zone in which the Lebanese army would deploy.
Hezbollah has rejected a deal until Israel agrees to a ceasefire with Hamas. Israel says returning Israelis driven from their homes in northern Israel is a key objective of its fight with the Lebanese militants.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay, Phil Stewart and Jasper Ward; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Howard Goller)
Police are searching for a suspect after a shooting left two people hospitalized in Santa Ana.
On Sept. 23, Santa Ana police received reports of a shooting in the 400 block of West Camile Street at around 3:31 p.m.
While responding to the scene, officers were told the victims had been transported to the hospital for treatment.
Police arrived at the hospital where both victims were found with gunshot wounds. They were identified as Steven Garcia, 20, and a 15-year-old juvenile.
Despite life-saving measures, Garcia died from his injuries. The juvenile remained in stable condition and is expected to survive.
The circumstances leading up to the deadly shooting remain unclear.
Family devastated after young Southern California father struck and killed by driver
Detectives are attempting to identify and locate additional witnesses who can provide information about the homicide, authorities said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Santa Ana Police Homicide Section Detectives at 714-245-8390. Anonymous tips can be provided to OC Crime Stoppers at 1-855-847-6227 or online at occrimestoppers.org.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. Police are asking for the publics help in identifying the driver of a vehicle involved in a hit-and-run that left a pedestrian with minor injuries.
The incident occurred around 2 p.m. on Sept. 19 at the intersection of East Beaver Avenue and Locust Lane. According to State College Police, a white, college-aged woman with blond hair was driving a Jeep with a KD sticker on the rear window. The driver fled the scene after hitting the pedestrian.
Centre County dispatcher helps deliver baby via phone, earns award
Image Provided by the State College Police Department
Authorities are urging anyone with information to contact the State College Police Department at (814) 234-7150, by email, or submit an anonymous tup through their website.
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No further details have been released, and police are continuing to investigate the incident.
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UPDATE: Silver Alert Illinois reports Timothy Gharrity, 74 has been located.
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) Police are asking for the publics help to locate Timothy Gharrity, 74, who went missing this week.
According to the Illinois State Police, Gharrity was last seen driving a lime green 2015 Chevrolet Sonicm, with license plate 964AB547 eastbound on Spring Creek Road from Alpine Road at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, September 24th.
The Rockford Police Department described Gharitty as 6 tall, 180 lbs, with white hair and missing his right eye. He was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt and blue sweatpants.
Police say Gharitty has a condition which places him in danger.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact the Rockford Police Department at 815-980-1887.
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Police shoot suspect in armed robbery case after he jumps into a Boise backyard
The Boise Police Department said officers shot a man suspected of armed robbery while he was fleeing an arrest attempt in the early morning hours Wednesday.
The suspect was struck by gunfire as a result of officers discharging their duty weapons, Haley Kramer, Boise police spokesperson, told the Idaho Statesman in an email.
At 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, police responded to a report of an armed robbery with a gun at a business located on West Fairview Avenue near the North McKinney Street intersection in Northwest Boise, the news release said.
Police said they attempted a traffic stop on a vehicle matching the description of the male suspects.
The vehicle pulled over briefly before fleeing south on Cole, the Boise Police Department said in the release. Officers were able to get a possible identification for the suspect and discontinued the pursuit.
Officers attempted to locate the suspect again after receiving a report of a similar vehicle at North Cole Road near the Fairview intersection, according to police. After seeing the suspect jump a fence into a backyard on North Redway Road, police set up a perimeter around the backyard and notified nearby residents.
Police confirmed two Boise police officers fired at the suspect while attempting to make contact with and take him into custody.
The suspect was injured and officers deployed a K9 and less lethal options allowing officers to safely approach the suspect and take him into custody, the release said.
Police declined to answer the Idaho Statesmans questions about why officers fired at the suspect and the extent of his injuries.
Ada County Paramedics arrived and took the suspect to the hospital for treatment, according to the release. The suspect remained in the hospital as of 11:30 a.m. Wednesday The officers were not hurt.
The Meridian Police Department will lead the investigation into the shooting through the Ada County Critical Incident Task Force. The two officers who fired at the suspect have been placed on administrative leave in accordance with the departments policies, according to the release.
A man was shot and killed by police in Fontana, California, on Tuesday after authorities said he attacked a civilian and officers in a violent rampage.
An officer with the Fontana Police Department responded to reports of a male suspect in the area of Cherry Avenue and Baseline Road using the pole to damage property and assault a person just before 2:20 p.m.
Police say the responding officer attempted to de-escalate the situation, but the man refused multiple commands to drop the weapon and surrender.
During the encounter, the suspect attacked the officer with the pipe, resulting in a lethal force response from the officer, a Fontana PD news release stated.
A Fontana police officer seen striking a suspect on the ground on Sept. 24, 2024. (Ailah Ponla)
A Fontana police officer seen striking a suspect on the ground on Sept. 24, 2024. (Ailah Ponla)
An image from a Fontana police officers body-cam that shows the suspect attempting to attack an officer on Sept. 24, 2024. (FPD)
Investigators on the scene of a deadly police shooting in Fontana on Sept. 24, 2024. (OnScene.TV)
Police on the scene of a deadly officer-involved shooting in Fontana on Sept. 24, 2024. (OnScene.TV)
Police on the scene of a deadly officer-involved shooting in Fontana on Sept. 24, 2024. (OnScene.TV)
Footage recorded by a bystander shows an officer punching the suspect on the ground toward the end of the incident, apparently after he had been shot.
Police said the man was rushed to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Ailah Ponla, who recorded the video, told KTLA that she believed the officer used excessive force.
The Fontana Police Department is aware of a video circulating on social media that depicts a portion of the incident, the release stated. It is important to note that this video only shows a small portion of the event in its entirety. The Fontana Police Department is conducting an internal administrative investigation into the entirety of the incident.
Authorities also said the officer sustained injuries during the attack and was taken to the hospital. The extent of his injuries and his condition were not immediately available.
Per protocol, investigators with the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department will handle the investigation into the fatal shooting.
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An embryologist holds a dish with human embryos at an IVF clinic. Photo: Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images
Imagine you want something you believe will bring you joy for the rest of your life. To achieve your goal, you need help. It may take several attempts and methods may change as needed, but you and your helper make a good plan.
Imagine that someone who does not know you or your journey, who is not trained to offer the help you need, mandates that your helper is not allowed to use one of their most effective and safe tools.
This is the heartbreaking situation people who need fertility treatment and the reproductive medicine providers who serve them face as judges and policymakers consider efforts to limit access to fertility treatment, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg and sperm donation.
To see a person hold their child brings joy. Reproductive medicine providers embrace efforts to help us serve the one in six people who experience infertility and need help to become parents. To offer IVF, a reproductive endocrinologist completes four years of college, four years of medical school, four years of obstetrics and gynecology residency, and three years of fellowship.
We embrace regulations that help us keep our patients safe, annual medical licensing and board recertifications. We embrace professional society guidance with their thoughtful recommendations for best practices in medical ethics and the need for shared decision-making between patients and providers. We report to and have regular oversight visits from governmental agencies and professional organizations dedicated to quality and safety.
While surgery to improve anatomy and non-IVF treatments including fertility medicines and intrauterine insemination help some, we can attain a path to eventual success for over 90% of our patients only if we have access to IVF, egg, sperm, and embryo donation, and gestational carrier treatments.
Why?
Humans are beautifully made, but all made differently. Some have persistent troubles with eggs and sperm finding each other, interaction, or quality. Some have genetic conditions they do not want to pass on to their children. Some have difficulty carrying a pregnancy. IVF is a path to assist eggs and sperm interaction, identify embryos with a higher chance of healthy live birth, and place embryos into a receptive uterus.
Few fertilized eggs have both normal chromosomes and molecular competence to become an ongoing pregnancy, so some pursue multiple attempts, including egg, sperm, and embryo donation.
Each journey is unique, with no one right way that will serve everyone.
For some, IVF is their best treatment option, for others, their only treatment option. Take away IVF, egg and sperm donation and reproductive medicine specialists will go from counseling-patients they have a greater than 90% chance that treatments will eventually bring them to their family to a less than 30% chance restricted to non-IVF or donation options.
Think about your own medical care. Imagine your provider advised treatments exist that could over time bring a greater than 90% chance of achieving your medical goals, but the most successful tools were made unavailable by people who are not aware of your unique situation and not experts in the field. If your personal medical success was reduced to less than 30% chance of success, would you advocate for bodily autonomy and shared decision-making between patients and providers?
Human biology and medical treatments are too complex for one size fits all regulation. The reason providers complete extensive training, licensing, and certification is to gain the capability to offer safe and effective treatments tailored to those who need them.
One in six people experiences infertility in their lifetime. You do not need to imagine someone who has infertility. You know them, even if they have not shared their painful and private journey. Please remember them and the families they yearn to build when you consider supporting people and policies that protect the right to keep decisions about medical care between providers and patients.
DES MOINES, Iowa Two Des Moines Police officers will not be facing charges in a shooting that left a Nebraska man dead and one of the officers seriously injured in July.
On July 30 at around 3:30 a.m. Senior Police Officer Jesse Schneider and Officer Anthony Lampman responded to a report of a man violating a no contact order at a home in the 5800 block of SE 35th Circle. According to the Polk County Attorneys Office, the no contact order was filed the day before, on July 29, after the suspect repeatedly showed up at the victims home and threatened and harassed her.
When officers arrived on scene they located the suspect, identified as 45-year-old Weston Derby from Nebraska in his car, but Derby sped off and a short chase ensued, Des Moines Police said. The chase ended after Derby crashed his vehicle into an area of dense weeds and small trees.
Officer Cade Moritz discharged from hospital 8 days after being shot in the head
According to the attorneys office, Derby was seen on body camera footage exiting his vehicle with a firearm in his hand while he tried to flee the scene on foot. Officers ordered Derby to stop, and when he did he turned around and held the firearm to his head for a short time before pointing the firearm at the officers, the attorneys office said.
Officer Schneider and Officer Lampman opened fire, fatally killing Derby. Officer Schneider was seriously injured when he was accidently hit by a round from Officer Lampmans firearm.
The attorneys office said that the firearm Derby was holding was actually a pellet gun.
After reviewing the evidence collected by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the attorneys office declared the officers use of deadly force was justified and it was reasonable for the officers to believe that their lives were at risk when the shooting occurred. No charges will be filed against the officers.
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New poll reveals what younger, older NC voters think about president and governors races
A new poll from AARP shows that economic issues are most important to North Carolina voters older than age 50, the states most active voters.
The same poll shows younger voters, women and Black voters helping push Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein to a double-digit lead in the governors race, even before the scandal over the past week involving Steins Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
Poll results also show where voters of all ages stand in the presidential race and attorney generals race.
Here are the key takeaways from the poll results:
NC governors race
In the race for governor, Stein has a double-digit lead over Robinson, as other polls have also shown. The poll was completed in mid-September, just a few days ahead of the news last week of the bombshell allegations in a CNN story that Robinson posted racist, antisemitic and vulgar posts on a pornography website, which Robinson denies. Nearly all his campaign staff quit on Sunday.
Poll results show:
Stein has a 10-point lead, with 52% of voters.
Robinson has 42% of voters.
Voters younger than 50 give Stein a 19-point lead, while Stein has just a 3-point lead with voters older than 50.
Stein also leads by 17% among women voters and independent voters.
Stein also has a 71-point lead among Black voters. If Robinson wins, he would be the first Black governor of North Carolina.
Economic issues most important to voters older than 50
The poll also asked voters older than age 50 what were the most important issues driving their votes.
Social Security was the top issue with 84%, followed closely by Medicare, then policies to help seniors live independently at home as they age.
Those top three issues were followed by the cost of utilities, the cost of prescription drugs and the cost of housing.
Turnout factor of older voters
The News & Observer reported in 2020 that voter turnout for those age 66 and older was at 84%. For voters ages 41-65, turnout was 82%. The turnout percentages decrease by age group, with the youngest voters, age 18-25, having 60% turnout in the 2020 general election. All those turnout numbers increased since the 2016 general election.
The data from 2020 also showed that 81.6% of Republicans voted in 2020 compared to 75.1% of Democrats and 69.8% of unaffiliated voters.
What the pollsters point out
Bob Ward of Fabrizio Ward and Jeff Liszt of Impact Research, the two polling firms that conducted the poll for AARP, have done polls in all the battleground states. Liszt said past evidence shows that North Carolina voters will split their tickets and not vote along party lines.
For independent voters especially, Ward said, issues and personalities of candidates can sway them in downballot races. Looking specifically at older votes, Social Security is their biggest issue, he noted, more so than abortion. That Social Security priority is driven by older Black voters, he said.
Immigration is a top issue for many voters, and Ward noted that is driven by older Republican voters.
Liszt pointed out that caregivers polled show they favor Trump by 9 points, Stein by 8 points, and are about even for the attorney generals race.
With Stein having such a large lead against Robinson, is it possible Robinson could win?
While its possible, Ward acknowledged, it is not likely.
The backdrop of all this, Ward said, is that it is still the economy thats really important.
Economic issues really are the backdrop of 2024, Ward said. Liszt said he absolutely agrees.
Democrat Jeff Jackson (left) is running against Republican Dan Bishop for N.C. Attorney General in 2024.
NC attorney general race
With Stein running for governor, the attorney general seat is open. Both major party candidates are current members of Congress: U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop, a Republican.
Jackson has a small lead, with 47% of voters.
Bishop trails by a few points at 43%.
But 10% of voters polled said they were still undecided.
Voters age 50 and older lean 5 points in favor of Bishop.
Jacksons lead overall is due to leading by 15 points with voters younger than 50.
Presidential race: poll of NC voters
The polls shows that the contest for North Carolinas electoral votes in the presidential race is extremely competitive.
Former President Donald Trump has 48% support of likely voters.
Vice President Kamala Harris has 46%.
Another 4% of voters are undecided, and 3% support third party candidates.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a rally at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, NC on Thursday, September 12, 2024.
Trump has a stronger lead among voters older than 50, and Harris has a strong lead among voters ages 18-34.
Harris leads women voters, and Trump leads men.
There is also a significant difference in voters based on college education, with Harris leading college-educated voters and Trump leading non-college-educated voters.
Former President and current Republican candidate for president Donald Trump acknowledges the crowd after arriving to a rally in Wilmington, N.C. on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.
How the polling was done
The poll funded by AARP was from the bipartisan team of Republican polling firm Fabrizio Ward and Democratic polling firm Impact Research.
Pollsters interviewed 1,324 likely voters in North Carolina. That includes a statewide sample of 600 likely voters of all ages as well as an additional 476 likely voters age 50 and older, and an additionally 252 likely voters who are Black and older than 50. People polled were randomly drawn from the states voter list. Interviews were done on landline phones, mobile phones and SMS-to-web. The margin of error ranges from plus or minus 3.5% to 4.9%.
You can read the full AARP poll results online at: aarp.org/ncpolling.
Under the Dome
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Pope Francis reacts during his weekly General Audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. Evandro Inetti/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Pope Francis expelled 10 members from a scandal-plagued movement based in Peru following allegations of physical abuse and other mistreatment.
The 10 men from the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae movement are accused of sadism and violence, as well as abuses of authority and sect-like methods.
The move was announced by the Peruvian Bishops Conference, which on Wednesday posted a letter from the diplomatic office of the Holy See in Lima.
Among those excluded are a retired archbishop, several priests and laypersons. The pope sent two special investigators to Lima last year to examine the litany of allegations.
The ultra-conservative Catholic educational organization was founded as a reaction to the left-leaning liberation theology that became popular in Latin America starting in the 1960s.
Children and young people are said to have been mistreated in the group for years. The first accusations date back to 2000.
Its founder, Luis Fernando Figari, was already expelled from the group by Pope France last month.
The statement said the pope and Peruvian Bishops Conference regret the abuse, ask the victims for forgiveness and call on the Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana to follow the path of justice and reparation.
By Nerijus Adomaitis
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's security police (PST) have begun a preliminary investigation into reports that a Norwegian-owned company was linked to the sale of pagers to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that exploded last week, a police lawyer told Reuters.
Over a two-day period last week, thousands of pagers, as well as walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah operatives, blew up in Lebanon, killing at least 39 people and wounding thousands. The attacks were widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
It is not clear how and when the pagers were weaponised so they could be remotely detonated. Taiwan, Hungary and Bulgaria are already investigating possible links in the supply chain.
"PST has initiated a preliminary investigation to determine whether there are reasons for starting a (full) investigation on the basis of allegations in the media that a Norwegian-owned company may have been involved in the dissemination of pagers to Hezbollah," PST lawyer Haris Hrenovica said in a text message to Reuters.
Earlier he told Norwegian news agency NTB that the police had no specific suspicions at this time.
Bulgarian authorities said last week they were investigating Sofia-based company Norta Global Ltd after a Hungarian media report that it was involved in facilitating the sale of the pagers.
The company was founded in 2022 by Norwegian citizen, Rinson Jose, 39, according to Bulgaria's corporate registry. He signed the company's articles of association at the Bulgarian consulate in Oslo, the documents reviewed by Reuters showed.
Jose declined to comment on the pagers when reached by phone last Wednesday and hung up when asked about the Bulgarian business. He did not return repeated calls and text messages.
When Reuters tried to call him on Tuesday this week, the call was directed to an answering service.
Jose's Linkedin profile shows he has been employed by DN Media Group since February 2020. DN Media Group said he worked in the sales department and that he left for a conference in Boston on Sept. 17.
He last contacted his colleagues by email on Sept. 18, according to Norwegian media. His employer told Reuters it had not been able to reach him since.
Reuters has found no evidence linking Norta Global to the DN Media Group.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; additional reporting by James Pearson in London and Edward McAllister in Sofia; editing by Gwladys Fouche and Alex Richardson)
Pope Francis took the unusual decision Wednesday to expel 10 people a bishop, priests and laypeople from a troubled Catholic movement in Peru after a Vatican investigation uncovered sadistic abuses of power, authority and spirituality.
The move against the leadership of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, or Sodalitium of Christian Life, followed Francis decision last month to expel the groups founder, Luis Figari, after he was found to have sodomized his recruits.
It was announced by the Peruvian Bishops Conference, which posted a statement from the Vatican embassy on its website.
The statement was astonishing because it listed abuses uncovered by the Vatican investigation that have rarely if ever been punished canonically such as hacking someones communications and cited the people the pope held responsible.
The move is likely to be welcomed by some of the victims who spoke to CNN earlier this year and had urged the Vatican to take serious measures against the perpetrators after decades of impunity.
According to the statement, the Vatican investigators uncovered physical abuses including with sadism and violence, sect-like abuses of conscience, spiritual abuse, abuses of authority, economic abuses in administering church money and the abuse in the exercise of the apostolate of journalism.
The latter was presumably aimed at a Sodalitium-linked journalist who has attacked critics of the movement on social media.
Figari founded the movement in 1971 as a lay community to recruit soldiers for God, one of several Catholic societies born as a conservative reaction to the left-leaning liberation theology movement that swept through Latin America, starting in the 1960s. At its height, the group counted about 20,000 members across South America and the United States. It was enormously influential in Peru.
Victims of Figaris abuses complained to the Lima archdiocese in 2011, though other claims against him reportedly date to 2000. But neither the local church nor the Holy See took concrete action until one of the victims, Pedro Salinas, wrote a book along with journalist Paola Ugaz detailing the twisted practices of the Sodalitium in 2015, entitled Half Monks, Half Soldiers.
An outside investigation ordered by Sodalitium later determined that Figari was narcissistic, paranoid, demeaning, vulgar, vindictive, manipulative, racist, sexist, elitist and obsessed with sexual issues and the sexual orientation of Sodalitiums members.
The investigation, published in 2017, found that Figari sodomized his recruits and forced them to fondle him and one another. He liked to watch them experience pain, discomfort and fear, and humiliated them in front of others to enhance his control over them, the report found.
Still, the Holy See declined to expel Figari from the movement in 2017 and merely ordered him to live apart from the Sodalitium community in Rome and cease all contact with it. The Vatican was seemingly tied in knots by canon law that did not foresee such punishments for founders of religious communities who werent priests. Victims were outraged.
Vatican investigators Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, right, from Spain, and Archbishop Charles Scicluna, from Malta, walk outside of the Nunciatura Apostolica during a break from meeting with people who alleged abuse by the Catholic lay group Sodalitium Christianae Vitae in Lima, Peru, on July 25, 2023. - Martin Mejia/AP
But according to the findings of the latest Vatican investigation, the abuses went beyond Figari, included Sodalitium clergy and also involved harassing and hacking the communications of their victims all the while covering up crimes committed as part of their official duties, according to the statement.
The investigation was carried out by the Vaticans top sex crimes investigators, Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, who travelled to Lima last year to take testimony from victims.
The highest-ranking person ordered expelled was Archbishop Jose Antonio Eguren, whom Francis already forced to resign as bishop of Piura in April over his record, after he sued Salinas and Ugaz for their reporting.
In addition to Figaris own abuses, their reporting had exposed the alleged forced eviction of peasants on lands in Egurens diocese by a Sodalitium-linked real estate developer.
Ugaz, the journalist, welcomed the move to expel the 10 people and said the reference to Sodalitium hacking referred to her: She said her communications had been hacked in 2023 after she reported on the Sodalitiums off-shore holdings and other financial dealings, and said she believed the group was trying to find out her sources.
It is a demonstration that in Peru, the survivors would never have found justice and reparation (without Bertomeo and Scicluna) because the Sodalitium is an organization with a lot of political, social and economic power, she said in a statement to The Associated Press.
The Vatican, in the statement, said the Peruvian bishops joined Francis in seeking the forgiveness of the victims while calling on the troubled movement to initiate a journey of justice and reparation.
CNN contacted Figaris lawyers for comment without a reply. He has denied all allegations against him in the past.
CNN also reached out to Archbishop Jose Antonio Egurens representative, without reply, and has reached out to Sodalitium Christiane Vitae.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
By Joshua McElwee
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis called Israeli strikes on Lebanon a "terrible escalation" of the Middle East conflict on Wednesday at the end of his weekly general audience at the Vatican, which went ahead two days after he cancelled meetings over mild flu.
The pope said the attacks, in which Israel says it has been striking targets affiliated with the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, were "unacceptable" and urged the international community to do everything possible to halt the fighting.
Francis did not specifically identify Israel, but said he was "saddened by news from Lebanon in recent days that bombardments have caused much destruction and many victims".
The 87-year-old pontiff, who has suffered bouts of ill health in recent years, appeared in good form through his audience although he coughed lightly a few times while speaking.
The Vatican has not provided details about the pope's health since announcing on Monday he had cancelled his meetings for that day. It said at the time the pontiff had made the decision as a precautionary measure in view of a trip to Luxembourg and Belgium, which starts on Thursday.
At the audience, the pope confirmed his plans to continue with the visit, and asked for prayers for its success.
The tour, his 46th foreign visit as pope, comes less than two weeks after he returned from a demanding 12-day, four-country excursion around Southeast Asia and Oceania.
The pope referred to the strikes in Lebanon in off-the-cuff remarks at the end of his hour-long audience.
Francis, pope since March 2013, now regularly uses a wheelchair due to knee and back pain. Earlier this year, he cancelled several appointments over what the Vatican variously described as a cold, bronchitis and influenza.
On the Sept. 2-13 trip to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, Francis maintained a packed schedule, headlining more than 40 events, and travelling some 33,000 km (20,500 miles).
Francis started the general audience on Wednesday by taking a tour around the crowd in an open-air popemobile, waving to people as a band played orchestral versions of pop songs.
In his main messages to pilgrims, the pope focused on the dangers of temptation, including online pornography, which Catholic teaching forbids.
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Aung San Suu Kyi, 79, is serving a 27-year prison sentence on charges ranging from corruption to not respecting Covid pandemic restrictions (Vincenzo PINTO) (Vincenzo PINTO/AFP/AFP)
Pope Francis has offered refuge on Vatican territory for Myanmar's detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Italian media said on Tuesday.
"I asked for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and I met her son in Rome. I have proposed to the Vatican to give her shelter on our territory," the pope said, according to an account of his meetings with Jesuits in Asia during a trip there earlier this month.
The Corriere della Sera daily published an article by Italian priest Antonio Spadaro that provided extracts from the private meetings, which took place in Indonesia, East Timor and Singapore between September 2 and 13.
"We cannot stay silent about the situation in Myanmar today. We must do something," the pope is reported as saying.
"The future of your country should be one of peace based on respect for the dignity and rights of everyone and respect for a democratic system that enables everyone to contribute to the common good."
Suu Kyi, 79, is serving a 27-year prison sentence on charges ranging from corruption to not respecting Covid pandemic restrictions.
Rights groups say her closed-door trial was a sham designed to remove her from the political scene.
AFP was unable to reach a junta spokesman for comment on the reported offer from Pope Francis.
Suu Kyi's son Kim Aris told AFP he was sure his mother would be grateful for the offer.
"I am sure that Maymay would express her gratitude to Pope Francis for urging the military junta to release her and his proposal to the Vatican to offer her refuge," he said, using a Burmese word for mother.
"Nonetheless, I am doubtful that the junta would take such a request into account, as they remain fearful of Maymay's popularity among the Burmese people, even from outside of the country."
In 2015 Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won Myanmar's first democratic election in 25 years.
The military arrested her when it staged a coup in 2021 and she is said by local media to be suffering health problems in detention.
The 1991 Nobel Peace laureate was once hailed as a beacon for human rights.
But she fell from grace among international supporters in 2017, accused of doing nothing to stop the army persecuting the country's mainly Muslim Rohingya minority.
The crackdown is the subject of an ongoing United Nations genocide investigation and persecution continues, according to Rohingya refugees in neighbouring Bangladesh.
Suu Kyi remains widely popular in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which has been in turmoil since the 2021 coup, with the junta fighting both established ethnic rebel groups and newer pro-democracy forces.
cmk/gab/gil/yad/rma/gv
POPLAR GROVE, Ill. (WTVO) Poplar Grove Village President Don Sattler has been charged with aggravated assault in a public place and disorderly conduct, allegations stemming from an outburst during a public meeting earlier this year.
According to Boone County court records, Sattler was charged Tuesday, Sept. 24, with single counts of each offense and must appear in court on Oct. 15.
Charges against him come after he became engaged in a verbal confrontation with Poplar Grove Trustee Jeff Goings on July 10 while the Board of Trustees was in executive session.
A 40-second clip of the incident shows Sattler get out of his chair, raise his fists, and shout to Goings, Come on, lets fight right now, followed by an exchange of profanities. The video also shows Sattler follow Goings as Goings appears to be leaving the room.
Both charges against Sattler, 59, are misdemeanors.
Calls and emails to Sattler seeking comment were not immediately returned. Goings was unavailable for comment.
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Portion of Vermont Route 78 to close for repairs
On September 29, a portion of VT Route 78 will be closed to all traffic for 24 hours.
The road between Alburgh Springs Road and East Alburgh Road will close at midnight for railroad crossing repairs. Service repairs like removing rails, installing new concrete panels, and more will be made for the New England Central Railroad line.
Vermonts Agency of Transportation has provided detour information:
From New York: US Route 2 south to Colchester, Interstate 89 north to Exit 21 in Swanton
From Swanton: Interstate 89 south to Exit 17 in Colchester, US Route 2 north to Alburgh
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Nika Bartoo-Smith
Underscore Native News + ICT
PORTLAND, Ore. Staff greeted visitors to the Center for Native Arts and Cultures on the evening of Sept. 19, handing out posters, magazines and bandanas emblazoned with the words Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory.
Mixed media art covered the gallery at the Center, a collection of work from 10 artists from the past 15 years of Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) fellowship programs. A twisted metal sculpture hung from the ceiling, paintings of Alaska Native women adorned one corner and a wood carving stood near the center of the room.
Two people spend time with different art pieces during the Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory exhibition opening at the Center for Native Arts and Cultures on September 19, 2024. (Photo by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore Native News/ICT)
Throughout my career, I've watched NACF use their capacity to empower others in the Native arts and creative community, Andrea Hanley, citizen of the Navajo Nation, vice president of programs at NACF and the exhibit curator, said to a crowd gathered for the opening reception of Citizen Fellow. This exhibition features artists who have centralized cultural consciousness and the influence of NACF in their work.
Spanning mediums such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, video and installation, the exhibition runs through Nov. 23 at the Center for Native Arts and Cultures.
Members of the Portland All Nations Canoe Family share a song with a crowd gathered at the Center for Native Arts and Cultures for the Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory exhibition opening on September 19, 2024. (Photo by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore Native News/ICT)
The Creation of Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory
In November 2023, the founding past president and CEO of NACF, T. Lulani Arquette, Kanaka Oiwi, invited Hanley onboard as vice president of programs. Hanleys primary directive was to curate an exhibit showcasing 15 years of fellows. She pulled it off in under a year.
In terms of the time frame, for me, it just meant that I needed to just start, just hit the ground running in terms of organizing the exhibition, Hanley said. Lots of people don't realize how long it actually takes to put together a show.
Hanley has over three decades of experience working with Native art institutions and curating exhibitions. She has worked with prestigious organizations including the National Museum of the American Indian and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. Most recently, she served as the chief curator at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Andrea Hanley, citizen of the Navajo Nation, vice president of programs at NACF, spoke to an audience at the Center for Native Arts and Cultures on September 19, 2024. She spent the last 10 months curating the exhibition Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory. (Photo by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore Native News/ICT)
That experience helped her to pull off an exhibition spanning over a decade of work and sifting through dozens of fellows in under a year.
Museums don't have anything on us, Hanley said to those gathered for the opening reception. In working in museums for the past thirty years, they don't have anything on us. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to do this.
Working on this exhibition, Hanley sought to curate an exhibit that showcased artists working with a variety of mediums and from a multitude of backgrounds and perspectives. The central theme of the whole exhibition is about looking to art as a way of archiving and remembering.
Citizen Fellow also looks at preserving moments in time, Hanley told the crowd gathered on Sept. 19. Artists and the cultural leaders selected for the fellowships, both past and present, demonstrate commitments to their narratives and an inherent connectedness to creative acts of resistance, resilience and community engagement. And they reflect a powerful diversity of experiences.
Meet the artist: Anna Tsouhlarakis
Mingling among the crowd, several of the 10 artists in the group exhibition visited with community members at the opening on Sept. 19, answering questions about their work and admiring other fellows' artwork as well.
Shyla Spicer, citizen of Yakama Nation, president and CEO of NACF, welcomes community members to the Center for Native Arts and Cultures for the opening exhibition of Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory on September 19, 2024 with Andrea Hanley, citizen of the Navajo Nation, exhibit curator and vice president of programs at NACF. (Photo by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore Native News/ICT)
Tonight, we celebrate our artists and the impactful work that they contribute to the cultural landscape, said president and CEO of NACF Shyla Spicer, citizen of Yakama Nation, as she looked out at the crowd gathered to celebrate the exhibition opening. We thank you for your dedication to your practices and the bravery you show in showing your work to the world. Youre unflinching in your resolve to make the world more beautiful, equitable and sustainable.
Speakers stood at the front of the gallery space surrounded by art. On a wall of windows with the shades drawn three large canvas prints hung with spotlights illuminating their words.
I really like the way you respect Native American rights, one sign read, in all capital letters in Helvetica font. Another said I love how you smile when you see a Native person.
Canvas printed signs in all capitals with messages about respecting Native American people adorn one wall of the exhibition during the Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory exhibition opening at the Center for Native Arts and Cultures on September 19, 2024. The pieces by Anna Tsouhlarakis, citizen of the Navajo Nation with Creek and Greek descent, are part of her series, the Native Guide Project. (Photo by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore Native News/ICT)
These messages are part of a recent series done by Anna Tsouhlarakis, citizen of the Navajo Nation with Creek and Greek descent, a 2015 National Artist Fellow at NACF. A transdisciplinary artist who does primarily performance, video, photography and installation work, Tsouhlarakis went to undergrad at Dartmouth College and received her masters in fine arts in sculpture from Yale University.
The hanging tapestries Tsouhlarakis put up for the installation three pieces inside and one on the back wall outside the building are from a series called the Native Guide Project. Tsouhlarakis wanted to create a project that centered positive reinforcement when it came to conversations around race.
I loved the idea of just putting these words out into the world, and making people be confronted by it, and having to deal with these words, with this text that's in front of them, Tsouhlarakis said to the crowd at the exhibition opening. Maybe you disregard it. Maybe it pisses you off, but you have to deal with it because you've thought about it for a minute. Or maybe you think, Hey, I do that. Well done me.
Anna Tsouhlarakis, citizen of the Navajo Nation with Creek and Greek descent, was a 2015 national artist fellow at Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. During the Citizen Fellow exhibition on September 19, 2024, she talked about her Native Guide Project. The series of signs displays positive messages, such as I appreciate how you recognize the diversity of Native Americans, that she hopes make people stop and think. (Photo by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore Native News/ICT)
The project started with a large billboard in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. It has since evolved. During the entire month of November 2019, she sent them out as advertisements on Instagram, playing with the demographics of who received the messages.
All the messages are framed in a way that centers positivity and assumes the reader is doing a good job of respecting Native American people and the diversity within over 574 Native nations. You did so many things well today, including respecting tribal sovereignty! one of the Instagram posts reads.
For me, when people look at these and they say, Well, how is that Native art? It's exactly what I'm talking about that evolution, that change with materiality, Tsouhlarakis said, speaking to how Native art always has and always will evolve. The continued use of Native foundational knowledge and ways of being, of who we are. And so to me, these are traditional Native art. That's the tradition I'm working in.
Meet the artist: Abigail Romanchak
A charcoal black and white series of woodcuts fused together hung on a wall behind the speakers during the Citizen Fellow opening exhibition. What looked like little islands covered the wooden blocks they appeared to stick out in 3D.
Called Pilina, the woodcut by Abigail Romanchak, Native Hawaiian, was inspired by the Lahaina fires in Maui that devastated the community in August 2023. The fires made her think about water rights, and what the islands looked like before colonization.
These shapes you're seeing on the wall in Pilina are woodcuts, and they represent traditional moku, Romanchak said to the crowd while gesturing to her work. Traditional moku are land divisions that pre-contact Hawaiians lived by. And the land divisions would go from a mountain ridge down to the ocean, and Hawaiians were really thinking about the best use of land and sharing and community, whether it be through farming or fishing.
Abigail Romanchak, Native Hawaiian, pointed to her woodcut piece, Pilina, as she described its meaning to an audience gathered for the opening night of the exhibition Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory at the Center for Native Arts and Cultures on September 19, 2024. (Photo by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore Native News/ICT)
Romanchak studied art at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. She was part of the 2015 Native Hawaiian Fellowship at NACF.
Much of her work looks at identity, land and water exploring topics such as climate change and human interaction with the environment.
Pilina not only memorializes traditional land divisions, but I think I really want this piece to make people think about how our water is being shared and who owns our water today, Romanchak said to the crowd.
Meet the artist: John Feodorov
A quiet observer during the Citizen Fellow opening exhibition, John Feodorov meandered through the crowd, pausing to spend time with each piece of art on display.
Feodorov, Dine, is an artist himself in fact three of his mixed media pieces are on display as part of the Citizen Fellow exhibition.
John Feodorov, Dine, stands near two of his mixed media paintings during the Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory exhibition opening on September 19, 2024 at the Center for Native Arts and Cultures. NACF elected Feodorov as one of the artists for its national artist fellowship in 2011. (Photo by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore Native News/ICT)
Growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, and studying art at California State, Long Beach, Feodorov and his parents traveled to New Mexico once a year to visit his grandparents. Both his visits and growing up as an urban Native person continue to influence the work he creates.
Two of Feodorovs pieces hung on the wall behind the speakers during the opening exhibition on September 19. He calls them improvisational landscapes. The pieces are mixed media: a combination of acrylic or oil paint with collage elements.
Feodorov created the three paintings on display at Citizen Fellow using Google map satellite images from the 1920s of his grandparents and mothers New Mexico land allotment. One of the pieces featured an old photograph of his grandparents' sheep barn and a plastic toy sheep.
I was finally becoming comfortable with thinking of what I did as Native American art, Feodorov said, talking about when he first connected to NACF with the National Artist Fellowship in 2011. It was always presented as that, but I never felt comfortable talking about it like that. Because I didn't know that my work, at the time, really would have any connection with a Native person. But I knew that it was the work that I needed to do. I just didn't know, you know? I thought that I was kind of an outlier.
An elder holds the hand of a young child as they talk about a painting at the Sept. 19th opening for Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory, an exhibition at the Center for Native Arts and Cultures that runs through November. (Photo by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore Native News/ICT)
Regardless, he continued to create the work that called to him. Today, Feodorovs work has been exhibited in places such as the National Museum of the American Indian, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., and the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
He is also an Associate Professor of Art at Fairhaven College at Western Washington University, hoping to inspire the next generation of artists.
The evolution of Native art
Feodorov has inspired other artists to expand what is defined as Native art as well.
When I started seeing the works of James Luna or John Feodorov all of these different artists that were kind of pushing the boundaries in different ways, I realized that I could possibly extend that trajectory as well within Native art, Tsouhlarakis said. I began to really reflect back and think about Native ways of making. That really made me realize up until the 1940s or 50s, Natives were always evolving the way that they made art.
Cutouts and photos from James Lunas installation titled Take a Picture with a Real Indian adorned a wall in the Center for Native Arts and Cultures during the Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory exhibition opening on September 19, 2024. Luna, of Luiseno, Puyukitchum, Ipai, and Mexican heritage, was a national artist fellow with the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (2015). He passed on in 2018. (Photo by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore Native News/ICT)
Tsouhlarakis pointed to the silversmithing in Navajo Nation something that came from materials brought over by the Spaniards.
The artists throughout "Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory" are pushing the limits of art and creating change through their perspectives creating new definitions of what is within the boundaries of Native art.
Our best resource is that we can adapt and we evolve and we grow as a people, and that's why we're still here, despite everyone wanting to get rid of us at different points, Tsouhlarakis said. That is something I've always held onto is how we are continually evolving and growing as Native people, as Native artists. And so it's always been my goal to keep pushing those boundaries of, what does that mean to be Native-made? What does that mean to be Native art?
This story is co-published by Underscore.news and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest. Funding is provided in part by Meyer Memorial Trust.
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With an Oct. 1 union dockworker strike looking more and more likely, shipments have heavily flowed into the East and Gulf Coast ports in September ahead of the possible work stoppage, even as shippers have built in their own contingency plans.
U.S. seaborne imports to the East Coast rose 9.8 percent year over year, up from a 2.6-percent annual increase in August, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Meanwhile, imports into the West Coast in the first 19 days of September have escalated further, jumping 27.5 percent from the year-ago period.
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But both options are looking less than ideal for shippers as the deadline approaches.
Douglas Kent, executive vice president of corporate and strategic alliances at the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), acknowledged the rerouting potential isnt too great either, especially when the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in particular have seen a flood of cargo in August and September.
Its not like you can just fully absorb [the cargo] through rerouting, and plus, theres a cost and time differential associated with that. Most of the goods that would be imported through the East and Gulf Coast ports are meant to satisfy demand on that side of the U.S., Kent told Sourcing Journal. Thats not the sole solution, and that still has some lingering impacts relative to cost and our ability to process shipments that would get rerouted.
As the International Longshoremens Association (ILA) continues to show no intent of bargaining for a new deal, retailers and other importers have continued to weigh the pros and cons of their cargo movement strategy.
Ronnie Robinson, chief supply chain officer at DSW parent company Designer Brands, told Reuters that the footwear seller normally routes about 20 percent of its shoe imports through the East Coast. But in the wake of a possible strike, he already shifted roughly half of those goods to the West Coast.
Already more expensive than its sea-based counterpart, air freight rates have escalated as a possible work stoppage nears. For example, Robinson said Designer Brands paid 10 times more to fly in a small shipment of leather boots and dress shoes from Brazil than it would for a typical ocean transit.
People are paying whatever they can to make sure theyre in the front of the queue, Robinson told Reuters, adding that Designer Brands cannot risk late deliveries to clients like Macys, Nordstrom and Dillards.
According to Robinson, the company currently has 10,000 to 20,000 units in transit via East Coast-bound ships that were worried about.
Not all brands are expecting a severe impact to their operations. Brian Bourke, chief growth officer at Seko Logistics, told Sourcing Journal that many of his companys clients got out in front of the strike threat by either flowing more of their goods into the West Coast or pulling inventory forward.
Especially for the retail peak season, of which we have a large number of our clients within that space, the deadlines have already hit. Products are already in the distribution centers, being ready to be distributed to the stores, Bourke said. The union doesnt even have to strike one day in order for there to be an impact on global supply chains. And thats what weve been seeing in real time. Simply the threat of a strike changes behaviors and changes flows.
Kent agreed with the sentiment, saying the majority of these goods are already here.
While there had been speculation in recent months that many ships originally destined for the East Coast after Oct. 1 would simply be diverted to the West Coast instead, the ocean carriers appear to be avoiding the decision.
The vessels that are now on their way to the East Coast will have to sit and wait until that industrial disruption is resolved, said Jeremy Nixon, CEO of Ocean Network Express (ONE), during the Marine Money Week in Asia event in Singapore on Tuesday.
In an update Friday, Maersk said it expects vessels en route to ILA-impacted ports to anchor temporarily, but did not say for how long.
Daily reviews will determine port calls, and adjustments will be made as needed, said the update. Our aim is to minimize delays and maintain schedules. Market and operations teams are exploring alternative cargo acceptance/routing for extended strikes.
The decision to stay on the East Coast and wait out a strike comes amid ILA president Harold Daggetts rhetoric that union members would travel to the West Coast to prevent those ports dockworkers from working on ships that are diverted in that direction. There are also concerns that West Coast workers will briefly walk off the job for a day in solidarity with the ILA if they strike.
Execs from the CMA CGM and the Port of Los Angeles suggested last week that ships arent prepping to divert away from the East Coast.
Asked about the option of diverting ships to Mexican or Canadian ports on the East Coast, Nixon appeared to rule that out as well.
Mexican ports are running at very high utilization levels, as are the Canadian ports right now, Nixon said. We have no additional capacity available as an industry to move freight through the Mexican ports or the Canadian ports to make up anything close to the U.S. requirements.
The Massachusetts Department of Corrections and Boston College are celebrating a milestone on the path to reintegrating incarcerated individuals into everyday society.
The first-ever graduation ceremony of the Boston College Prison Education was held Monday, a program that allows incarcerated inmates at MCI-Shirley to pursue college degrees while serving their sentences.
Three incarcerated students received their degrees in Applied Liberal Arts. The BCPEP has accepted over 80 students into its program since it was first established in 2019.
BCPEP Program Director Patrick Conway said inmates who pursue higher education have a proven track record of more successfully reintegrating into society than those who dont and are less likely to re-offend.
Our degree focuses on offering formative educational experiences that provide tangible career skills and humanistic learning experiences that help cultivate personal development and growth, said Conway. Boston Colleges partnership with the DOC is designed to educate and empower these individuals to build better futures for themselves and their communities. We look forward to continuing to make a positive impact on the lives of our students and helping to rethink and reimagine the role of education in prisons.
The program offers a liberal arts curriculum much like the one on Boston Colleges own Chestnut Hill campus, with over 25 courses taught by about 40 Boston College faculty members.
Ten students who were released from the Department of Correction study since the beginning of the program have continued their studies at BCs Woods College of Advancing Studies.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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Shayna Cook, left, assistant state superintendent in the state Department of Education's Division of Early Childhood, gives a presentation on prekindergarten expansion. Sitting next to Cook is Tara Phillips, executive director of operations, policy and strategy in the early childhood division. Photo by William J. Ford
One of the requirements for the Blueprint for Marylands Future 10-year education reform plan was to expand prekindergarten, but its off to a slow start.
None of the states 24 school districts came anywhere close in the past two school years to the Blueprints requirement that at least 30% of pre-K students should be in privately run facilities, according to data presented Tuesday to the state Board of Education.
Because no one reached the mark, it was lowered to 10% for this school year, a level that only four counties were able to achieve last year.
The Blueprint plan requires school districts to provide a mixed-delivery system, serving young students in both public and private child care centers. But local school districts said in Blueprint plans that some private providers find it challenging to participate in the states prekindergarten expansion due to lack of space, finding qualified personnel and other challenges.
However, state Department of Education officials said Tuesday that the state is actually moving faster on pre-K when compared to other states.
One benchmark is allowing families earning incomes at or below the 300% federal poverty level, said Shayna Cook, assistant state superintendent in the departments Division of Early Childhood. Cook said other states chose 100% or 200% of the federal poverty level.
And the 31,873 students enrolled in pre-K in the 2022-23 school year 30,718 public and 1,155 private grew to nearly 33,000 in the 2023-24 school year, with 31,381 in public and in 1,601 private facilities.
This growth demonstrates the states commitment to expanding access to quality pre-K education and reflects efforts to begin to lay the foundation for the mixed delivery system, Cook said.
Even with that increase of slightly more than 1,100 more seats added, nine of the states 24 jurisdictions had zero private providers to begin the 2022-23 school year.
Only Howard and Worcester counties were able to record double-digit percentage of private providers that year, with 14% and 13%, respectively. Howard Countys share was unchanged last year, but Worcester Countys percentage of private providers rose to 18% last year.
After being in single digits in the 2022-23 school year, Carroll and Wicomico counties exceeded double figures last school year at 12% and 11%, respectively.
Five counties still had no private providers last school year: Garrett, Kent, St. Marys, Somerset and Talbot counties.
Cook said there remains a lack of communication between private providers and local school districts.
One plan is for the department to promote its Push to Pre-K Initiative, which provides technical assistance on the prekindergarten expansion program. In addition, providers can also receive grants to help expand their business.
State Superintendent Carey Wright said during a briefing with reporters Tuesday that its difficult to get a business off the ground, especially in rural counties.
Reach out to us. Were here to help, she said to private pre-K providers. We can help you as much as we possibly can to get your feet on the ground. Thats the resource that we bring, so use us.
More time needed
The board deferred action Tuesday on a controversial literacy policy that could result in third-graders being held back if they do not meet reading standards.
One reason for the delay was the presence of three new board members participating in their first meeting Kenny Clash, Kimberly Lewis and Xiomara V. Medina. A decision on the policy will how be pushed back for at least another month.
We decided that it was better for us to take more time to consider this policy, to give our new members an opportunity to get up to speed [and] take into account the best feedback weve received from stakeholders thats guiding our additional development, said board President Joshua Michael.
The board last month considered a revision to the policy that would let parents and guardians allow their children to advance to the fourth grade, but they would have to agree that their children enroll and participate in a supplemental reading support program.
But reading intervention and other literacy programs would start in kindergarten for students who need additional support.
A few minor changes that could be made include an emphasis on local school district control with guidance from the department and to ensure support for all students in kindergarten through third grade.
What was initially in the media as a retention policy is not a retention policy. It is really a parent-choice policy, Wright said Tuesday. It is not a finger-pointing exercise. Its the ability for us to see what schools need the most help.
Medina, an associate director of clinical training and field placement at Bowie State Universitys Department of Counseling and Psychological Studies, said she would like the policy to reflect more cultural awareness.
This whole thing has reduced our children to numbers. Theres not a single cultural consideration youve told me, she said after state officials completed a brief summary of the policy. Im missing people in all of this.
If approved, the policy wouldnt be implemented until next school year. However, the retention portions wouldnt begin until the 2026-27 school year.
Nikki Woodward, vice president of the Maryland State Education Association, said the union recommends delaying implementation of the entire policy until the start of the 2028-29 school year.
This timeline allows for adequate training of educators and families on new curriculum and requirements, she said to the board. It also ensures enough time for data collection and tracking the success of interventions.
Prep for Hurricane Helene: What to have ready at home before storm reaches Georgia
As Hurricane Helene intensifies in the western Caribbean, the Peach State is at risk for widespread power outages, wind damage and flash flooding, according to forecasters.
Weather experts and government officials advise Georgia residents to prepare before Helene makes landfall Thursday evening, expected to be a Category 3 hurricane when it reaches land. Preparation is essential to minimizing the impact of severe weather, officials say.
Heres how you can stay ahead of the storm:
Create an emergency kit
Government officials say the following items are important to have handy:
3-day supply of water for evacuation, 2-week supply of water for home
Store non-perishable and/or easy-to-prepare food items
Flashlight and extra batteries
First aid kit
At least a one-week supply of medications and medical items
Sanitation and personal hygiene items
Copies of important family documents
Store cell phone chargers
Family and emergency contact information
Extra cash
Local map and radio
Secure Property
Keep trees and shrubs well trimmed to prevent substantial property damage
Place valuables and important documents in a waterproof container on the highest level of home
Use sandbags to reduce flood damage
Anchor or bring in any outdoor furniture that is not secure, including trash cans and decorations
Cover windows with hurricane shutters
Clear debris from gutters and drains
Review your insurance policy and talk to your insurance provider about flood damage
Have an evacuation plan
Fill gas tank(s)
Decide where and how to reconnect with family members
Know your evacuation zone
Be aware of the nearest shelter or hotel
Plan ahead for pets/service animals
Be ready for power outages
Charge up cellular devices and power banks in advance
Set refrigerator to the coldest setting temperature. Keep freezers closed to avoid food spoiling
Stock up on batteries and portable chargers
Stay away from downed power lines
Call 911 to report any fallen trees that are blocking roadways.
The FEMA and Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency websites have additional emergency preparedness information.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told global leaders that Israel's ramped-up attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon "cannot go unanswered" during his first address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday afternoon.
The Iranian president, in comments made both to the Assembly and during his time in New York City, urged the world to stop Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon and that Hezbollah "cannot stand alone" in fighting back.
"We condemn Israeli crimes against humanity. It is imperative that the international community should immediately stop the violence, bring about a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and bring an end to the desperate barbarism of Israel in Lebanon before it involves the region and the world," Pezeshkian told world leaders.
Israel's military has significantly increased its airstrikes in Lebanon, targeting senior Hezbollah leaders and its arsenal. A majority of its strikes have been targeted toward southern Lebanon, while it has carried out a small number of strikes further north in Beirut, Lebanon's capital.
The current conflict in the Middle East erupted nearly a year ago with Hamas's Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel, in which Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped another 250 others. A day later, Hezbollah began firing projectiles into northern Israel in an attempt to divide the Israeli military's attention into both the northern and southern areas of the country.
Israel has killed several Hamas leaders and thousands of Hamas fighters, destroyed much of the terrorist group's infrastructure as well as uncovered much of the group's underground tunnel infrastructure. It has also killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, while Israeli leaders have admitted that about half were civilians. Hamas intentionally embeds itself within the civilian population with the intent of incurring civilian casualties. Israel has destroyed much of the infrastructure in Gaza, while an overwhelming majority of Gazan civilians have been displaced from their homes and face both food insecurity and the spread of disease due to the lack of humanitarian resources.
"Israel has been defeated in Gaza," Pezeshkian stated.
He did not reference Hamas or the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
In recent weeks, Israel's military has largely turned its attention to the somewhat contained war with Hezbollah that was simultaneous to its war against Hamas in Gaza. The Israeli military hit hundreds of targets over the last two days in Lebanon, which killed more than 500 people and injured more than 1,800 others. Hezbollah embeds its missiles among civilian homes.
Israel has also targeted and killed several Hezbollah senior leaders over the course of the war, including in the time since it escalated its attacks in Lebanon.
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Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, said Israel will "accelerate the offensive operations," adding that Hezbollah must not be given a break."
Israeli leaders also urged Lebanese civilians living in the southern part of the country to evacuate north.
"Naturally blind Israeli state terrorism over the past few days in Lebanon, followed by a massive aggression with thousands of victims, cannot go unanswered," the Iranian president added.
However, he did not mention Hezbollah's continued rocket, missile, and drone cross-border attacks into Israel.
Israel is believed to be behind an unprecedented attack last week in which thousands of Hezbollah militants' beepers detonated in controlled explosions. A couple dozen people were killed in the near-simultaneous explosions that occurred over two consecutive days, while thousands of people were injured. An Israeli official said Hezbollah has fired over 8,000 projectiles into Israel since it began on Oct. 8.
Hezbollah cannot stand alone against a country that is being defended and supported and supplied by Western countries, by European countries, and the United States, Pezeshkian said in an interview with CNN, translated from Farsi to English.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi denied a report from Bloomberg News in which Pezeshkian told reporters, "Were willing to put all our weapons aside so long as Israel is willing to do the same."
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Mr. Pezeshkian has not made such remarks at all," Araqchi told an Iranian news outlet. "The Islamic Republic of Iran would definitely not be indifferent to the Zionist regimes recent aggression against Lebanon and will defend and support Lebanon in an all-out manner."
Iran funds and supports several militant groups throughout the Middle East that have all carried out sustained attacks against Israel, U.S. forces in the region, or Western interests over the last year. Hamas and Hezbollah are among its "axis of resistance."
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) President Joe Biden has approved a major disaster declaration for severe storms that impacted Kansas over the summer.
Gov. Laura Kelly made the request for storms that impacted the state from June 26 to July 7.
The counties named in the declaration were Chase, Clark, Comanche, Doniphan, Finney, Geary, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Kearny, Meade, Scott, Thomas, and Wabaunsee.
Wichita police release details in shooting outside elementary school
The declaration allows state and local governments, as well as certain private nonprofit organizations that provide vital and essential services, such as rural electric cooperatives, to apply for funds for emergency and permanent work to repair or replace infrastructure damaged by the disaster.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Voters walk into cast their ballots at the Center Point Church on Nov. 8, 2022, in Orem, Utah. (George Frey/Getty Images)
If I could take any time off from being a journalist or feeling interested in politics, it would be the October before a presidential election.
No disrespect to those of you who find these weeks thrilling and exciting. But I have worked as a professional journalist through four of these consarned crucibles (2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016, before taking a break in 2020 for nonprofit work), and each cycle drained me further of the will to live.
The fault is not that of journalists, at least not the dedicated reporters Ive worked with for most of my career. No, the fault rests with political parties, cable news channels and social media clickbait factories that treat every day in the runup to a presidential election as THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY IN HISTORY.
DID YOU SEE WHAT YOUR HATED OR BELOVED CANDIDATE DID? Stay tuned! Before you leave this page, are you sure you dont want to click through a slideshow for the WORST VICE PRESIDENTS EVER?
Please, make it stop.
Or as actual horse racing reporter Joe Drape told Poynter in June: My colleagues who I admire in politics should remember that the rule of thumb in horse racing is nobody knows nothing. You got opinions, you got information in front of you, you got speculation, but until the race is run, nobody knows whos gonna win.
At one point, the overheated coverage and carnival-like atmosphere amused me. It struck me as a harmless diversion.
Like the time in 2008 when I lived in New Hampshire, working at the Concord Monitor, and one of Hillary Clintons press people called me at home. She pressed me for information about an upcoming story examining the candidates foreign policy stances. I politely ended the call as soon as possible after all, I wasnt a reporter or senior editor and didnt have anything to do with the piece in question.
But hey, it was a fun anecdote. And everyone gets a little carried away during election season, right?
I also remember the time in 2016 when an approximately 180-year-old Bob Dole phoned the Monitor newsroom to talk about the primary. He somehow had gotten his hands on the general newsroom number, so as I sat at my desk designing a page, a voice rang out: Hey, does anyone here want to talk to Bob Dole?
To my regret, someone else conducted the interview.
In the years since 2008 and certainly since 2016 our national political conversation has devolved. Old-media gatekeepers have crumbled, and rhetoric has turned dark and dangerous. While Vice President Kamala Harris has injected youthful vitality into this years contest, former president Donald Trump has played his greatest hits for the third straight presidential election. In the slightly altered words of Green Day, wake me up when October ends.
I know were feeling overloaded and concerned. Ive heard it from readers via email and in person. That queasy mix of anxiety and exhaustion churns in the pit of my stomach, too.
So here are a handful of pointers for making it through the next 40 days relatively unscathed.
Follow your state and local elections. Kansas isnt a battleground state in the presidential election, which means that your attention makes the most difference when focused close to home. Ive made this point in column after column, but Ill make it again here. State legislative and community-wide contests affect your day-to-day life. Too many people ignore them.
Tune out the horse race coverage. Whos ahead? Whos behind? Who gives a damn? In a close national election, polls and election forecasters fill an irrelevant need. If you want to follow a national contest like the presidential election, figure out what the candidates stand for and why. Learn about their backgrounds and what people who work for them say. Follow high-quality journalism from States Newsrooms Washington, D.C., bureau and others. But unless youre gambling on the outcome, leave fretting about the odds to others.
Avoid social media conflict. Look, youre not going to persuade your cousin that she doesnt know what shes talking about. You cant tell your grandfather who to vote for now that hes made up his mind. There will be time to consider the toll of politics on your personal relationships, but not right now. Let the election happen. Dont engage in conflict or negativity that will make everyone feel unhappy.
If you wont listen to me about these last two points, listen to University of Colorado School of Medicine professor Steven Berkowitz, as quoted all the way back in March: Limit the amount of news that you watch. Also, watch different outlets with different perspectives. Delve into the issues with print media. Stay away from too much social media hysteria.
Get some exercise. Winter hasnt snowed us in yet, so for goodness sake, take a walk or gentle jog. Eat good food. Take care of your body and mind, especially when you experience a constant drumbeat of negativity.
Remember your caring. If you have a big heart and big feelings about the election, try to remember those emotions for all of the other months. Dont do so to create drama, but to motivate yourself for all of the challenges that await civically minded people. We have big jobs to do in Kansas and the United States, and they dont stop on Election Day.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
The Prince of Wales has issued an urgent call to end environmental destruction and to "make peace with nature".
"We are living at odds with the natural world - and it is buckling under the pressure of our actions," he said, in a video message played at a Campaign for Nature event at the General Assembly of the United Nations, in New York.
Prince William said climate change and the prospect of a million species facing extinction represented the most pressing "existential threat".
His speech followed the announcement of the finalists for the fourth year of the prince's Earthshot awards for international ideas to improve sustainability.
Among the Earthshot finalists is a scheme for earthquake-resilient bricks in Nepal [Earthshot]
"If we are to keep this planet liveable for our children and grandchildren, we must act urgently," the prince said, in a speech that had echoes of the eco-campaigning of his father, King Charles III.
"We can and must change our relationship with the natural world."
Such a reset in the relationship would mean economic changes, "realigning financial flows from destruction to regeneration".
"It means change," the prince said, calling on international leaders "to halt the unsustainable production and consumption of natural resources".
"We must act to save our rivers, oceans, savannas, mangroves and forests, as well as the communities that protect and live alongside them," he said.
A project in Ghana to reduce waste is one of the 15 Earthshot finalists [Earthshot]
The 15 finalists for this year's Earthshot awards were also announced in New York, recognising innovative ways of protecting the environment, drawn from 2,500 nominations, including:
a project to reduce waste and cut air pollution in Ghana
building a social enterprise around farming seaweed in the Philippines
solar-powered refrigeration in Kenya
earthquake-resilient bricks in Nepal
a scheme in Kazakhstan to protect a type of antelope on the brink of extinction
a project in Scotlant to feed fish using a by-product from distilling whisky
The five winners, to be revealed at an event in Cape Town, South Africa, in November, will receive 1m each.
Meanwhile, the Princess of Wales is continuing her return to work, after the end of her chemotherapy.
On Tuesday, she held a meeting in Windsor Castle, to plan her annual Christmas carol concert in Westminster Abbey.
Prince William Urges World Leaders at UN for Key Cause Hours After Prince Harrys Appearance
The Prince of Wales stressed the urgent action needed to safeguard biodiversity at a UN meeting during climate week
Kensington Palace Prince William in his video address made to the UN meeting on Sept. 24, 2024
Prince William appeared via video link to talk to heads of state at the United Nations on Tuesday, Sept. 24, just hours after his brother Prince Harry visited in person
In his virtual address, William, urged world leaders to halt the loss of biodiversity and vital natural habitats across the globe
William's speech came as his wife Kate Middleton, 42, hosted a meeting at Windsor Castle for her annual carol service at Westminster Abbey in December
Prince William is making an urgent appeal on behalf of his children and generations to come.
Late on Tuesday, Sept. 24, the Prince of Wales, 42, appeared via video link to talk to heads of state at the United Nations.
It came just hours after his brother Prince Harry, 40, had visited the UN for a meeting with the Clinton Global Initiative.
In his virtual address, William, said world leaders have a duty to halt the loss of vital natural habitats and preserve biodiversity across the globe.
He warned that one million species face extinction, and added that there was a need to stick to the commitment to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and other promises made in Montreal, Canada in 2022.
We now have just five years to deliver on our collective promise, he said at the meeting on biodiversity that took place at the UN General Assembly in New York.
The event was hosted by The Campaign for Nature (CfN) a global campaign working to safeguard at least 30% of the worlds lands and oceans by 2030.
Related: Prince William Unveils Finalists for the Fourth Earthshot Prize in New Video: 'True Inspirations'
Kin Cheung - WPA Pool/Getty Images Prince William at an Earthshot Prize event in London in June 2024
Related: Prince Harry's Emotional Plea: 'My Lock Screen Is a Picture of My KidsWhat's Yours?' as He Highlights Social Media Dangers
Opening the event, which is taking place during climate week in New York City, William called the destruction of these precious ecosystems the most pressing existential threat we face.
If we are to keep this planet liveable for our children and grandchildren, we must act urgently, he continued.
His intervention was made as his passion project The Earthshot Prize announced its latest cohort of finalists. The winners, who will receive $1.3 million to scale up their projects to help repair the planet, will be announced in Cape Town, on Nov. 6. Three of the finalists come from the U.S.
William is also heavily involved with United for Wildlife, which makes crucial interventions to help secure the future of endangered animals from poaching and habitat loss.
We must act to save our rivers, oceans, savannas, mangroves and forests, as well as the communities that protect and live alongside them, William said on Tuesday.
Kate Green/Getty Prince William at an event to support his Earthshot Prize winners in London, in Oct. 2023
Earlier he began his speech by saying that on his travels across the world, he had been incredibly fortunate to have visited many places around our planet and witnessed the diversity of life and of species.
Time and again, I have been humbled by the Earths extraordinary beauty and its resilience, he added.
But, the truth is, we are living at odds with the natural world, and it is buckling under the pressure of our actions.
The global loss of unique natural areas poses a grave threat to our climate, our clean air, our drinking water, and our health.
The prince concluded by underlining his work with United for Wildlife and The Earthshot Prize, where we aim to nurture, accelerate and scale ground-breaking innovations that will repair and regenerate the planet whilst driving prosperity for all.
Related: Kate Middleton Plans for the Holidays as She Hosts Meeting for Annual Christmas Carol Service
Kensington Palace Prince William in his video address to the meeting at the UN, Sept. 24 2024
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I believe that if leaders worldwide commit to work together, accept that change is no longer a choice but an imperative, and join with businesses, communities, innovators and citizens to take bold, perhaps challenging and creative steps, we can meet our commitments to each other and the future generations, William said.
We are all in this together.
William's speech came as his wife Princess Kate, 42, hosted a meeting at Windsor Castle for her annual carol service at Westminster Abbey in December. It is the latest stage in her gradual return to work since she ended her chemotherapy treatment.
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TUI passengers are demanding their money back after a 2,000-a-head cruise failed to dock in a third of the ports it was scheduled to because of a broken propeller.
The travel operators Rhine Gems cruise, was scheduled to visit eight cities in Germany, Switzerland, and France on August 26.
However, the ship only reached one country, with 155 passengers on board left stuck in Frankfurt for three nights. More than 100 travellers have joined a messaging group on WhatsApp to demand their money back.
In a video shared on the app and seen by The Telegraph, the captain admitted they were aware of problems before the cruise departed. Before customers embarked, one destination was changed from the German city of Worms to Ludwigshafen, a city four hours away.
In the video the captain said: We are dealing with this problem every day.
When asked how long the propeller has had an issue, he replied: I dont know exactly. It must have been there [for] three or four weeks.
More than 40 of the approximately 155 passengers on board have contacted The Telegraph with their complaints.
Passengers have been offered 200 compensation plus a 200 voucher. However, passengers have said this is not enough for the disruption they faced and are demanding full refunds.
One customer claimed that they had paid 4,353 for the cruise for him and his wife. Another said they paid 8,927 for four passengers. Others said that wedding anniversaries, birthdays and even honeymoons had been ruined by the disruption.
The cruise set off in the evening on August 26 from Frankfurt, Germany, from what travellers described as an industrial site. The next day the ship arrived in Koblenz for the morning.
At 9am on the third day, three hours behind schedule, the cruise arrived in Ludwigshafen. Travellers claimed their ship was moving significantly slower than other ships nearby.
At a meeting that afternoon, they were told that the original itinerary would be scrapped because the water levels in the river were too low. Instead of three countries, the cruise would now be confined solely to German waters.
Customers claimed that other ships were able to travel further down the Rhine, despite the low water levels. They were allegedly told that the problems with the propeller meant that the TUI Isla could not maintain the speed the river authorities required.
The damaged propeller was putting extra strain on the remaining engine, and causing it to overheat, passengers claimed they were told by staff on board.
Rather than spending the fourth day of their cruise in Strasbourg, they travelled to Speyer for a part day in port, before turning around. The fifth day of the cruise, which was originally due to be spent in Basel, was instead spent in Rudesheim, before the ship travelled on to Mainz. It was supposed to be in Breisach, 275km away.
Both the seventh and eighth days of the cruise were spent in Frankfurt, where the cruise had embarked from originally.
One customer, Ron Mookerjee, 44, who was travelling with his mother, said he wanted a full refund for the stress and anxiety the disruption caused. He said: I thought I was going on holiday.
Another passenger said: The worst part of this is the total lack of responsibility from TUI. Other travellers said that they felt like prisoners on the ship and described the compensation offered as incredibly derogatory.
Cruises are package holidays and therefore come under the consumer protections that apply to all types of package holiday. If something is not as expected, and the travel company is at fault, then customers can expect a refund or a suitable alternative.
TUI has a satisfaction guarantee for its river cruises love it or your money back but says this does not apply to events beyond our control, including unavoidable and unforeseen technical problems or low water.
Jane Hawkes, a travel expert, said that under the Package and Linked Travel Regulations 2018, holidaymakers can request a full refund if unavoidable/extraordinary circumstances occur at their destination or its immediate vicinity which significantly affect the performance of the package.
She said that the travellers would be able to appeal to ABTA after eight weeks, or that they could consider small court action.
A TUI UK and Ireland spokesman said: We would like to apologise to customers impacted by the changes to TUI Islas Rhine Gems itinerary departing Frankfurt from August 26 2024. The unfortunate itinerary changes were caused by berthing issues and changes to river water levels.
We know this was disappointing news so all impacted customers were given a 200 per person goodwill gesture, along with a 200 per person future holiday voucher.
The propeller has now been fixed.
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From Project 2025 to Evangelicals for Harris: How Wheaton College grads are involved in presidential politics
CHICAGO As a chief architect of Project 2025, Russell Vought has risen into the national spotlight for co-authoring the controversial conservative blueprint designed to radically overhaul the federal government under the next Republican president.
But years ago, the Wheaton College graduate made headlines for another written work one that included strong words against Muslims used in defense of the actions of his alma mater.
The west suburban evangelical Christian college in 2015 suspended its first tenured Black female faculty member after she announced plans to wear a hijab in solidarity with Muslims facing persecution, while stating that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. Some evangelical leaders criticized her for not explaining what makes Islam distinct from Christianity.
Voughts rebuke went even further.
Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology, he wrote in an article for the website The Resurgent. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned.
That assertion would haunt Vought politically during his 2017 nomination by President Donald Trump to serve as deputy White House budget director. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders opposed Voughts confirmation, saying this nominee is really not someone who is what this country is supposed to be about, while describing the essay as indefensible.
It is hateful. It is Islamaphobic. And it is an insult to over a billion Muslims throughout the world, Sanders said during a contentious hearing, though Voughts confirmation was narrowly saved in a 50-49 vote, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tiebreaker.
With the high-stakes 2024 presidential election looming, various alumni and former faculty of Wheaton College a private liberal arts school of under 3,000 students about 30 miles west of downtown Chicago are playing an outsized role in the pending fate of the nations leadership, as evangelical Christianity in America faces a crossroads over a potential Trump second term.
Like Vought, some with ties to Wheaton are vying to shift the nation to a more conservative future. Vought, who serves as policy director of the Republican Partys platform writing committee and president of the right-leaning Center for Renewing America, did not return Tribune requests for comment.
At the same time, an evangelical Christian movement against Trump and the MAGA contingent has also been championed by notable voices linked to Wheaton, from a prominent political columnist to a faculty statement decrying the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection to academics who have come out in favor of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.
Although roughly 8 in 10 white evangelical Christian voters supported Trump in 2016 and 2020, a growing number of leaders in the faith are also working to stave off a return to power for the Republican nominee. That political divide is in many ways mirrored in the broader world of Wheaton College, which is often dubbed the Harvard of Christian schools.
College officials, however, seem to be trying to stay out of the fray of the heated presidential campaign.
A late August email from the provost to faculty reminded everyone that Wheaton College is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit charitable institution and we are institutionally and individually prohibited from endorsing any party affiliation over another or particular candidates for public office.
As a nonprofit Christian liberal arts institution with nearly 50,000 living alumni, Wheaton College is strictly nonpartisan and does not participate in electoral politics, Wheaton College spokesman Joseph Moore said in an email to the Tribune. However, members of our community, as well as our alumni, have the freedom of their political viewpoints and party affiliations. We have countless alumni with views across a political spectrum, as all colleges and universities do.
Alum David Congdon, an instructor at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, noted that his alma mater has been, for some time, a symbol of American evangelicalism.
It just has a remarkably powerful role in the religious landscape of the country, said Congdon, author of the book Who is a True Christian? Contesting Religious Identity in American Culture, which includes a section on the college. The challenge facing Wheaton College is that evangelicalism surrounding it has changed in many ways. And that makes it difficult for an institution like Wheaton, which has this long-standing identity to know how to navigate the rifts within evangelicalism today. And thats led to, I think, an internal dissonance within the institution.
Compared to other periods in Wheatons history, Congdon believes that lately the school is trying to be less reflective of American evangelicalism.
Because evangelicalism is sort of in crisis, he said, referring to the political and cultural turmoil.
The college is instead striving to be more of a stable representative of what evangelicalism ought to to be, Congdon added.
The words of Billy Graham
To the group Evangelicals for Harris, casting a ballot in the upcoming election isnt just a vote; it is a reflection of our faith, according to its website.
The political action committee hosted an August Zoom call featuring a panel of about 20 speakers, including pastors and academics. One was a Wheaton College graduate who recently served as associate chaplain of discipleship at the college.
Another Evangelicals for Harris speaker was former Wheaton College visiting assistant professor of history Joey Cochran. He told the Tribune during a recent interview that he was thrilled to endorse Harris, in part because he fears the basic tenets of American democracy would be at risk under another Trump administration.
For all of us who believe in democracy, we believe there should be a peaceful transfer of power every four years in the executive branch, Cochran said. Until the last transfer of power, I dont think we ever thought this wouldnt happen peacefully.
Cochran left Wheaton College in the spring. During his four years there, his online essays and social media posts about the fall of Roe v. Wade and the Israel-Hamas war were targeted by various high-profile conservatives, including William Wolfe, a Southern Baptist and close affiliate of Vought who served as a senior official in the Trump administration.
Christian faculty who need to be fired post haste, Wolfe posted on the social media site X while tagging Cochran and two other academics and their colleges on June 24, 2022, the day the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe.
Cochran was also one of three Wheaton College faculty members included on the right-leaning youth organization Turning Point USAs professor watch list, which uncovers the most radical, left-wing professors from universities that are known to suppress conservative voices and advance the progressive agenda, according to a video on the groups website by founder Charlie Kirk, a northwest suburban Prospect Heights native.
Now Cochran works as an instructor of history at Purdue University Northwest, a public school in Hammond.
Cochran said he exited Wheaton College after officials informed him last year that his hours were being cut to part time, which the west suburban father of four said was unsustainable for his family; he wonders, though, if the online controversies or politics played a part in the colleges decision.
Wheaton officials said in a statement that Cochran was not forced out of a position at Wheaton College.
He was a one-year visiting assistant-professor sabbatical replacement for a history professor last year, Moore, the schools spokesman, said in an email. He taught as an adjunct for a period of time at Wheaton before that. The college did not have any tenure-track positions open at the conclusion of our most recent academic year, and he took a position at another institution.
As for Evangelicals for Harris, the group recently invoked the memory of perhaps the most world-renowned Wheaton College alum in a political advertisement that went viral.
It begins with footage of the Rev. Billy Graham, known as Americas preacher, calling on the faithful to confess their sins and repent.
Have you been to the cross and said, Lord, Ive sinned? Im sorry for my sin and willing to change my way of life, said the evangelist, a 1943 Wheaton College graduate who died in 2018.
That clip is followed by a video of Trumps response to the question of whether hes ever asked God for forgiveness.
Thats a tough question. Im not sure I have, Trump replied. I just, I dont bring God into that picture. I dont.
Billy Grahams granddaughter, Jerushah Duford, was among the featured speakers who expressed support for Harris during the Evangelicals for Harris Zoom call.
But the political ad was lambasted by Billy Grahams son, the Rev. Franklin Graham, who had spoken in favor of Trump during the July Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, appearing after pro wrestler Hulk Hogan.
The liberals are using anything and everything they can to promote candidate Harris. They even developed a political ad trying to use my father Billy Grahams image to help promote her or rather to try to make Donald J. Trump look bad. They are trying to mislead people, he wrote in a Facebook post that received more than 100,000 likes. Maybe they dont know that my father was a firm supporter of President Trump in 2016. He appreciated the conservative values and policies of President Trump, and if he were alive today, my fathers views and opinions would not have changed.
Save the country
Trump has repeatedly tried to distance himself from Project 2025, the roughly 900-page presidential transitional document that calls for the elimination of the U.S. Department of Education, the dismantling of the Department of Homeland Security and an end to diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives, among other sweeping changes.
I have nothing to do with Project 2025, Trump said during his presidential debate against Harris this month. Thats out there. I havent read it. I dont want to read it, purposely. Im not going to read it.
Democratic leaders enlarged a copy of the book, Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, which outlines Project 2025, and they used it as an anti-Republican prop during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Harris has frequently denounced the manual, noting Trumps political connections to many of its authors.
What youre going to hear tonight is a detailed and dangerous plan called Project 2025 that the former president intends on implementing if he were elected again, Harris said during the debate.
And Vought, who went on to lead the Office of Management and Budget under Trump, was caught on a secretly recorded video last month countering Trumps disavowal of Project 2025. Vought claimed that behind the scenes, Trump has actually blessed the work of the Center for Renewing America, a major force behind Project 2025
Hes very supportive of what we do, Vought said on the video, which was taken by undercover British journalists from the Centre for Climate Reporting posing as potential donors, a tactic generally rejected as unethical by mainstream American media outlets.
Project 2025 was also spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank where another Wheaton College alum, Eric Teetsel, served as vice president of government relations until mid-September.
Teetsel described Project 2025 as the conservative movements attempt to put our ideas on the table and say, this is what we think will make this a better place to live, during a recent interview with the Tribune.
He added that more than 100 conservative organizations worked on the document.
A number of others listed as Mandate for Leadership authors and contributors have various local connections. One is former Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore, who graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka. Another is John Ratcliffe, who was director of national intelligence under Trump and was born in Mount Prospect. Kiron Skinner, a former Trump administration official who authored a chapter on the Department of State, is from Chicago. The documents afterward was written by Heritage Foundation founder and former president Edwin John Feulner Jr., who was born in Chicago.
Although Teetsel said he grew as a person of faith while attending Wheaton College, he stressed that he traces none of his political convictions or ideologies to his time there. The 2006 alum railed against what he described as the left-leaning political orientation on campus, which he believes has only proliferated since his graduation.
People go in expecting that its a conservative Christian school. Certainly the parents who send their kids there and the donors expect that, when in fact that is not what students experience on campus, he said. Wheaton has repeatedly demonstrated, and I think its fair to say chosen, the path of least resistance when it comes to the big issues in our culture today. And what that has done is facilitate the presence of pernicious, damaging, unbiblical, ungodly ideologies on campus.
Teetsal was a vocal critic of the 2014 hiring of Julie Rodgers, Wheaton Colleges first staff member charged with serving the gay and lesbian community in the chaplains office.
At the time, Rodgers was openly lesbian but declared herself celibate after years of enduring so-called conversion therapy, which was embraced by some conservative churches in an attempt to turn gay people straight. In the 2021 Netflix documentary Pray Away, she chronicled the harms of the practice and urged its end.
Rodgers resigned from her Wheaton College job in 2015, writing on her blog that she had quietly supported same-sex relationships for a while now.
Ive become increasingly troubled by the unintended consequences of messages that insist all LGBT people commit to lifelong celibacy, wrote Rodgers, who did not return Tribune requests for comment. No matter how graciously its framed, that message tends to contribute to feelings of shame and alienation for gay Christians.
Teetsel argued that while Rodgers intentions were good, she is confused and leading others away from the truth, he said in a 2015 blog post.
Every institution of Christian higher education must take seriously the prevalence of all sorts of sexual confusion and sin on campus, but particularly homosexuality, a burden whose weight has proven too much to bear for far too many of our beloved brothers and sisters, the blog post said.
His essay concluded that hiring Rodgers and giving her access to students as a voice of wisdom and authority was an error for which Wheaton owes students, parents and the entire alumni community an apology.
Looking forward to the November election, Teetsel referred to the group Evangelicals for Harris as fake AstroTurf, and predicted that about 80% of evangelical voters would support the Republican nominee.
Whatever concerns they may have about Donald Trump pale in comparison to what they know about where Kamala Harris stands on issues about which the Bible is absolutely clear, like the issue of life, the issue of human sexuality and so on, he said.
A Pew Research Center survey released this month found 82% of white evangelical Protestants would vote for Trump or are leaning toward doing so; the Republican nominee also appealed to 61% of white Catholics and 58% of White non-evangelical Protestants.
However, many respondents of other faiths and backgrounds 86% of Black Protestants, 85% of atheists, 65% of Hispanic Catholics and 65% of Jewish voters reported that they would vote for Harris or were leaning toward doing so, according to the poll.
On Sept. 3, Vought announced on social media that Teetsel would be joining the Center for Renewing America as executive vice president.
Eric is going to be indispensable as we expand our efforts to save the country! Vought posted on X.
Lets roll, Teetsel responded.
Mounting opposition
A diverse group of dozens of evangelical leaders from all over the country as well as some from other parts of the world held a private meeting at Wheaton College in spring 2018, spurred by their rising concerns about the influence of Trump and partisan politics on their faith.
The two-day gathering was held at the Billy Graham Center. One organizer was Wheaton College alum Douglas Birdsall, honorary chair of the Lausanne Movement, an international Christian organization.
Wheaton College graduate and longtime faculty member Mark Noll, who was asked to speak at the event about the history of American politics and Christianity, recalled that many participants were frustrated by the political alliance between white evangelical communities and the Republican Party.
There was a lot of anti-Trump rhetoric at that meeting, which was certainly interesting to listen to, Noll said. But there wasnt agreement on what the practical steps could be to mobilize, to organize.
Some attendees specifically complained about Trump; others were more worried that politics were being prioritized over theology, he recounted.
I just dont think its at all good for Christian people to tie their Christian faith, without reservation, to any political system, said Noll, who taught at Wheaton College for nearly 30 years. If your Christian identity is equated with a political position that, to me, is a very damaging matter.
In the years that followed, opposition to Trump emanating from Wheaton College and its graduates grew stronger.
Nationally syndicated Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, once a presidential speechwriter for George W. Bush, repeatedly excoriated evangelical support of Trump.
In the process, evangelical leaders have placed themselves uncritically, with open eyes into a political coalition that is inspired by ethnic nationalism, Gerson, a Wheaton College graduate, wrote in a 2019 column a few years before his death in 2022. Such are the occupational hazards of calling good evil, and evil good.
The outcry hit a fever pitch after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
Its time for an evangelical reckoning, Ed Stetzer, then a Wheaton College dean and leader of the schools Billy Graham Center, wrote in an opinion piece that ran in USA Today.
The op-ed also mourned the trail of destruction (Trump) has left within the evangelical movement.
Shortly after the Jan. 6 attack, more than 200 Wheaton College faculty and staff signed a statement contending that more leaders, including many evangelical leaders, could have spoken truth to the disillusioned supporters of President Trump diminishing the prospects for violence and bolstering the witness of Christian love and the call for justice in our civic life.
The January 6 attack on the Capitol was characterized not only by vicious lies, deplorable violence, white supremacy, white nationalism, and wicked leadership especially by President Trump but also by idolatrous and blasphemous abuses of Christian symbols, the statement said.
Alum Michael Nietzel called it a bold message to emerge from the faculty and staff of a flagship evangelical college.
Wheaton still enjoys a sterling reputation among Christian colleges, so it was meaningful for Wheaton faculty to make that statement, said Nietzel, who served as president of Missouri State University from 2005 to 2010. It made people take notice that there was a growing voice in the evangelical church that wasnt swallowing this Christian nationalism and this perversion of the Gospel that youd see with so many people that buy into the whole Trump ideology.
While Nietzel hopes more evangelicals will oppose Trump in November, hes not overly optimistic.
It looks to me, among the far-right Christian church, theres still strong support for Trump, he said.
A Lifeway Research study of American Protestant pastors released Tuesday found 97% plan to vote in the presidential election but 23% refused to say who they planned to vote for, compared with 4% in 2020 and 3% in 2016, according to the survey.
Of those pastors who plan to vote and disclosed their preference, half said they would vote for Trump, while a little less than a quarter favored Harris; 23% were undecided, the poll showed.
Central matters
On a recent weeknight, the 500-seat auditorium in Billy Graham Hall at Wheaton College was nearly full for a discussion on evangelicalism and politics titled Our Hope, Your Vote, and What Really Matters.
The gathering began with a prayer.
So we submit our conversation to you tonight and we trust you Lord to guide and direct it, and we ask that you would make our path straight. Lord, we do pray for our nation during this election season. We ask Lord for your blessing and for your guidance.
The first speaker was Curtis Chang, consulting professor at Duke Divinity School and senior fellow at Fuller Theological Seminary.
He began by noting that, in the evangelical world, Wheaton College represents a centrist institution, not in a political sense but in the truest meaning of the term.
It has centered itself on the central matters that matter most, said Chang, who was raised in north suburban Morton Grove and Skokie. Center derives from the Latin crux. And crux of course derives from the cross. And thats Wheaton at its best. It has planted itself on saying we will stand for what is central to our faith.
As a centrist institution, Wheaton College can be a gathering place and meeting point for people who hold other views on matters that are non-central including politics even if those people dont always agree, added Chang, co-author of the book The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics.
Believe me, our world and our church, we need the center to hold, he said.
The other speaker was Tim Alberta, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of The New York Times best-seller The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism.
Alberta lamented that so many of us believe we are locked in this trench warfare mentality of this election could be the last.
Just that week, he said, he received two fundraising appeals from large evangelical organizations warning that this election could mark the end of Christian America, depending on the outcome.
And its easy in that ecosystem to do away with the Sermon on the Mount, to dispose of the Beatitudes and to pick the sword back up and believe that, ultimately, the ends justify the means, he said, pointing out the disconnect in this mentality.
Toward the end, the speakers fielded weighty questions from the audience that intertwined morality, theology and politics.
How can a Christian support Democrats who favor reproductive rights? What would you tell children concerned about the extremism of their parents, or anyone who is in relationships that are fracturing around the polarization of this era? What is it about Donald Trump that you think is so appealing to so many Christians?
At one point, Alberta recalled how his late father, an evangelical pastor, always had two sayings around election time. The first was, God does not bite his fingernails.
Like, its going to be OK. He will still be sovereign the day after the election, Alberta said, eliciting laughs from the audience.
His dads other election season mantra was, Folks, as Christians we are in sales, not management.
The crowd laughed again.
It is not your job to worry about the world around you, Alberta said. It is not your job to fret and to panic about these perceived threats.
Nor is it anyones job to put together a coalition to save Christian America, out of a need to win by any means, he added.
Your job, and the way in which you will one day receive that welcome of Well done, good and faithful servant, is by selling the gospel of Jesus Christ, Alberta said. And by doing it in the unlikeliest of places to the unlikeliest of people.
____
DES MOINES, Iowa Hoover High School started the school year with a new cell phone policy banning phones in the classroom. So far, its showing signs of success.
Dr. Ian Roberts, the Superintendent of the Des Moines Public School District, said that an increase in attendance at Hoover High School is in part due to the cell phone ban.
Early indicators from Hoover High School are very encouraging. Case in point: for the same period last year, students average daily attendance was at about 76%. This year and that attendance is, I think about 86%, which speaks volumes. And of course, right, while there are other factors, Qynne Kelly and team are attributing some of the early successes to how were looking at the implementation of our cell phone policy. Dr. Robert said.
DMPS considers school closures, boundary changes due to dwindling enrollment
Hoover High School is a pilot program for what DMPS could implement district-wide when it comes to a cell phone ban.
Hoover really bodes well for what is to come. Heres what we plan to do in terms of strategy and timeline. At the end of the first semester, sometime in mid-to-late January, our data assessment and evaluation team and I are going to collaborate with our school leader and leadership team and Hoover, look at the data, look at an evaluation, and then were going to make the decision there and then about how we roll out a sort of much wider, if you may, cellphone policy adjustment, Dr. Roberts said.
Students at Hoover have also noticed a change since the school year started.
And I first, honestly, I was like, this is so stupid. Like, what difference is this going to make? Hushindi Abwe, a Hoover High School Student said. Well, like, as time goes on, I can actually like, see like an improvement in, like my mental health or overall and like how Im doing in classes. So I feel like it has been a positive thing so far.
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On Sept. 19, the Forest Service published a draft decision, issuing a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the massive CuMo Exploration Project. If this decision becomes final after the objection period, it would authorize a six-year mineral exploration effort, including 250 drill holes and 122 drill sites, all located at the headwaters of the Boise River Watershed.
The project has been promoted to investors as a potential site for one of the largest open-pit mines in the world. While Idahoans face the environmental consequences, international conglomerates will profit, all without paying royalties thanks to the outdated 1872 Mining Law, which allows companies to exploit taxpayer-owned resources on public lands without compensating Americans.
The CuMo Projects ownership is a confusing web of international interests. In 2011, Mosquito Consolidated Gold Corp, a Canadian mining company, proposed exploration near the headwaters of Grimes Creek, visible from Bogus Basin. The company rebranded as American CuMo Mining Corporation (CuMoCo) and in 2013 established Idaho CuMo Mining Corporation (ICMC), marketing itself as an Idaho Company a common tactic among mining firms.
However, ICMC was a subsidiary of Joway Health Industries Group Inc., a company based in Nevada, but with offices in China. Last year, Joway merged with Canadian-based Multi-Metal Development Ltd., changing its shell companys name to Idaho Copper Corporation (IDCU).
Ownership of the project has shifted again through a recent sheriffs sale between Multi-Metal Development Ltd. and International Energy & Mineral Resources (IEMR), involving a forced auction of Idaho Copper Corporation, a subsidiary managing the CuMo Project. This sale reflects ongoing financial instability and raises concerns about the future management and environmental oversight of the project. As control over the project shifts, there is a risk that cost-cutting measures could take precedence over responsible environmental stewardship.
The sheriffs sale of IDCU raises alarming concerns about the future environmental oversight of the CuMo Project, which is already one of the most controversial mining ventures in Idaho. The judge who approved the sale even questioned the projects worth, stating, Far from establishing value, these facts call into question whether the shares have any functional value. Financial turbulence often leads to lax oversight, delayed environmental mitigation efforts, and a reduced focus on sustainable practices. This forced sale threatens to undermine crucial environmental safeguards that protect the regions water quality, wildlife, and natural habitats. This situation should be a wake-up call for regulators and the community to demand stronger environmental guarantees and transparent management to ensure that financial turmoil does not lead to ecological disaster.
The 1872 Mining Act, which governs hardrock mining, is 152 years old and woefully outdated. Written before the advent of modern technology, it has allowed mining companies to exploit natural resources without accountability. The CuMo Project exemplifies the urgent need to reform this law to protect public lands. Idahoans should not be left with the mess of a failed mining venture that provides no local benefits.
The CuMo project has never been, and never will be, for Idaho.
Sydney Anderson is mining and policy manager at Idaho Rivers United.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Business leaders along the Prospect Corridor and the mayor walked out of a meeting Tuesday optimistic. Their hope is that crime is dwindling in the area.
Were not out of the woods yet this took several years in the making so its not going to be solved in two weeks, Donald Maxwell, a developer of the Linwood Shopping Center said.
Now the focus shifts to maintenance and growth. Each entity believes that driving economic growth into the area will also help alleviate some of the ongoing issues.
What Im interested in is solving it and solving the problems long term. Ill work with our businesses, the prosecutor and police to make sure Kansas City is as safe as possible, Mayor Quinton Lucas said.
Despite protests, calls for clemency, Missouri executes Marcellus Williams
What we wanted to talk about today is a long term solution, Maxwell said.
Months after businesses along the Prospect corridor begged for relief from city leaders, theyre not only seeing that relief delivered on, but the conversation is also advancing past just solving crime.
Weve seen a decrease in Lotterings aggressive panhandling, Maxwell said.
The real way you fight it is not just enforcement but also development, Lucas said.
There you heard it, increased patrols over the last month or so have decreased some of the crime that has become second nature at the Linwood Shopping Center.
But all the problems that had manifested for years, arent solved.
The hope is that they can get to the next stage of the process which will involve advancing real tangible projects in this area to help.
Hoping that economic development can revitalize not only the look and the feel, but also the desire from some to be destructive.
Were going to continue to take those steps to make sure our businesses can stay open but particularly in communities that have historically under invested, Lucas said.
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When we talk about property crime over all, the mayor says there has been progress since the conversation ramped up just a few weeks ago.
He points to real solutions like the two ordinances that passed as part of that work.
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Political activists join in a sit-in protest calling for the release of opposition political prisoners in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) Hundreds protested in front of Congo's top court Wednesday to demand the release of political prisoners, including the countrys three most prominent opposition figures imprisoned on charges the opposition says are politically motivated.
Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the central African country which has a history riddled with political turmoil, was reelected in December with results questioned by the opposition. He has spent much of his time in office trying to gain legitimacy after a disputed 2018 election while struggling to quell violence in the countrys east to the disgruntlement of many.
Protesters in the capital, Kinshasa, held banners that read, Release political prisoners, with some chanting Tshisekedi, you have killed our country! Others barricaded and occupied the court's entrance.
After the protest ended, representatives of several opposition parties handed the minister of justice a statement that accused Tshisekedi of trying to muzzle the opponents and to silence dissenting voices."
We came to see the minister of justice to tell him that it is not normal that in a state governed by the rule of law, there are political prisoners who are imprisoned unjustly, Fiston Mayas, a member of the main opposition party Together for the Republic, told The Associated Press.
The parties called for the release of Jean-Marc Kabund, leader of the Alliance for Change party, Mike Mukebayi, a former member of the provincial parliament for Together for the Republic and Seth Kikuni, a candidate in the presidential elections last year.
Kabund and Mukebayi were arrested last year for insulting the head of state and spreading false rumors." Kabund was sentenced to 7 years in prison after he accused the president of corruption and embezzlement while Mukebayi is currently in prison awaiting trial.
Both are held at the notorious Makala Central Prison, Congos largest penitentiary which has a capacity for 1,500 people, but holds more than 12,000 inmates, most of whom are awaiting trial, Amnesty International said in its latest country report. Earlier this month, an attempted jailbreak at the prison left 129 people dead, including some who were shot by guards and soldiers and others who died in a stampede at the overcrowded facility, according to authorities.
Kikuni was arrested earlier this month for incitement of civil disobedience and spreading false rumors. He is being detained at the government intelligence agency, Erick Binga, a communications officer at the Ministry of Justice told the AP, without providing more details.
Last month, Congo announced its intention to apply for a seat at the UN Human Rights Council. The decision was heavily criticized by the opposition and various civil society organizations, including the Bill Clinton Peace Foundation which said Congo does not meet the conditions necessary to claim such a position of international responsibility and that the countrys human rights record would discredit the institution.
The Human Rights Council reviews the human rights records of all countries periodically, appoints independent investigators to report on issues like torture, and sends fact-finding missions to investigate rights violations.
The council has been criticized since its creation in 2006 because of some members poor rights records and claims that rights abusers seek seats to protect themselves and their allies.
House Democratic leadership expressed "concern" over House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) comments on Tuesday regarding the certification of the presidential election results.
Of course. If we have a free, fair, and safe election, were going to follow the Constitution, Johnson told reporters when asked if he would back the certification of the winner. Absolutely, yes.
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), the No. 3 Democrat in the House, did not appear to trust the Republican's vow.
He doesnt have a track record that would indicate to the American people that he should be believed, Aguilar said shortly after, from the same podium.
Aguilar is not alone in his worries. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has been speaking with his close colleagues about how to plan for next January's joint session, Axios reported, citing sources familiar with the discussions. As House Democratic Caucus chairman, Aguilar is likely one of the lawmakers to whom Jeffries has spoken.
The Democratic Party has seen a surge in momentum since Vice President Kamala Harris ascended to the top of their presidential ticket at the end of July. But the chaos on Jan. 6, 2021, appears to continue to loom large in their heads, especially with nearly 3 months until the next president is certified.
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House Administration Committee ranking member Joe Morelle (D-NY) told the outlet Democrats are "clearly paying attention" to the process of certifying the next president, and Johnson's comments "give me greater concern.
"When he says things like he did today it causes great concern. [Democrats are] getting very anxious about it," he added.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Johnson is not the only leading Republican to add a caveat to his answer on whether he will back the election results. The GOP, led by former President Donald Trump, has voiced concern over the possibility of election fraud, even though there was no evidence of widespread such behavior in 2020.
With just six weeks until Election Day, Republicans and Democrats have been laying the groundwork to tailor the voting and vote-counting processes to their respective liking.
This article was originally published in Rhode Island Current.
The Providence School Board typically broadcasts its meetings to YouTube.
But Wednesday evenings board meeting would not be televised.
Less than five minutes before the scheduled start time, school board President Erlin Rogel took to social media to express his regret that a weeklong internet outage at Providence schools would also affect the boards regularly scheduled programming. But the portion of the meeting most germane to the network issues wouldnt have been broadcast anyway, since it met in executive session.
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In a statement issued Thursday, Rogel described the executive session as regarding the recent breach of the districts network. It included a presentation from the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) and the Providence Public School Department (PPSD).
While I cannot disclose the specific contents of our discussion, I can state that the district is awaiting an analysis of this breach to learn more about its severity and the degree to which any information was exposed, Rogel wrote. While we await the results of that analysis, PPSD continues to mobilize every resource available to ensure that learning proceeds with as little disruption as possible.
Rogel did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Rhode Island Current.
The school board presidents use of the term breach differs from the districts official language, which has tiptoed around the problems exact nature. A Sept. 12 letter to the PPSD community described irregular activity on the district network, which ultimately led IT staff to shut down internet access across district offices and schools. Internet remains largely absent in Providence schools, aside from a fleet of wifi hotspots enlisted to provide connectivity in the main networks absence.
A Sept. 16 letter sent from PPSD to community members said a forensic analysis was still ongoing and that there is no evidence that PPSD data has been affected.
But on Monday, the hacker group Medusa appeared to take credit for the irregular activity with a post to its publicly accessible ransom blog that purported to include 41 watermarked, sometimes partially obscured, screenshots that preview the contents of the 201 gigabytes of data the hackers claim to have stolen, with identifying information like alleged serial numbers for employee cell phones and parents contact information included.
After penetrating a system, Medusa ransomware works quietly in the background and amasses exploitable data. Once the bounty is big enough, it will encrypt files and make them inaccessible to users. A ransom note is then delivered to victims, with files held hostage unless a ransom is paid. Medusa hackers also employ a double extortion method, meaning they not only steal files, but will sell or release the data publicly if payment is not received.
The ransom page suggests PPSD can recover or delete its data by paying $1 million. A $100,000 payment would extend the timer by one day. The deadline is the morning of Sept. 25, according to the hackers countdown timer.
Specifics about district kept secure
Jay G. Wegimont, PPSD spokesperson, did not respond to numerous requests for clarification or comment on Friday.
Forensic analyses take time, meaning those answers wont be available immediately. But its still unknown whether the school department has a cyber insurance policy, or the possible costs associated with the usage of hotspots that are currently substituting for a dedicated network. Also up in the air is whether the district successfully awarded a 2024 contract that would renew 4,600 licenses for copies of security software Cortex XDR Pro, a product from Palo Alto Networks that promises out of the box protections against Medusa with proper installation.
Wegimont did not provide information as to the status of the districts senior director of information technology, for which a job posting has been online since May. The role is also vacant according to a Jan. 2024 organizational chart. The 2024-2025 budget contains 13 full-time information services roles for PPSD, down three from the previous year.
We also want to note that our student and staff information systems are also separate from our network, Superintendent Javier Montanez wrote in a Sept. 16 letter to the PPSD community.
Wegimont did not clarify what this means. Typically, large networks called domains offer varying levels of access for different types of users across IT services for big organizations like school districts.
Back-to-school for threat actors, too
Perennially underfunded school districts nationwide are a favorite among ransomware actors. A U.S. Government Accountability Office report published in Oct. 2022 cited research that over 647,000 K-12 students were potential victims of ransomware attacks as of 2021. Resulting learning loss ranged from days to weeks, while it took districts infrastructure anywhere from two to nine months to recover.
Providence officials have not confirmed ransomware as the source of their network woes. The alleged hack comes at an inopportune time for PPSD, which has been under state control since 2019 and will remain so for up to another three years, state education officials announced last month.
If Medusa leaks the PPSD data it claims to have, and it contains private student information, the leakage could be in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law meant to shield confidential student data. Best practices determine that affected school districts contact authorities once a breach is suspected. (Schools do not, however, have to contact the U.S. Department of Education about ransomware, although it is recommended so they can receive federal resources.)
As is standard operating procedure, the District and their professional third-party IT agency contacted RI State Police, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last Wednesday, Wegimont said in a Sept. 18 email.
Kristen Setera, a spokesperson for the FBI Boston Division, declined to comment.
Generally speaking, we do not comment on specific incidents because victims should feel confident that, when reporting a crime to the FBI, their status as victim is paramount to the investigation and that their identity will not be disclosed, Setera said in a Thursday morning email to Rhode Island Current. If a victim wants to disclose our involvement, we leave it up to them to do so.
In the meantime, Providence schools have made do with older technologies. Maribeth Calabro, president of the Providence Teachers Union, did not acknowledge requests for comment from Rhode Island Current, but did previously speak with multiple news outlets about the effects on the districts teachers. Some are confused about which devices they can or cant use, Calabro told the Boston Globe, and have opted to teach the old-school way instead, without computers.
A comment Tuesday on a social media post about the potential Providence hack seems to voice one students concern: Bro.. I just want the school wifi back.
Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com. Follow Rhode Island Current on Facebook and X.
PROVIDENCE An anonymous group hacked into the citys school district computer network two weeks ago and may hold files containing personal information, the superintendent said Wednesday.
The announcement by Supt. Javier Montanez was the first public acknowledgment that the irregular activity the district first reported two weeks ago was an actual cyberattack.
In a letter sent out to the school community Montanez said, While we cannot confirm the authenticity of these files and verify [the groups] claims, there could be concerns that these alleged documents could contain personal information.
The letter did not say whether this unverified, anonymous group of hackers claiming to have district files were demanding a ransom.
Montanez said the district, along with a professional third-party IT agency were still gathering more information and are conducting an analysis that will provide us greater clarity on what may have occurred, what may have been impacted, and what actions may need to be taken.
Providence Schools Supt. Javier Montanez.
We will continue to work with our partners to fully understand the potential exposure and should it be needed, provide additional guidance and resources to students, families, and staff if they were impacted, Montanez said.
How Providence schools adapted during cyberattack
Following the data breach two weeks ago, the district unplugged its internet network connection out of an abundance of caution.
Essential office staff and classroom teachers were provided Wi-Fi hot spots or were using their own cellular phones to connect independently to the internet without using the districts connection.
On Sunday the district reported that internet connectivity was returning to normal and that students would be able to use Chromebooks throughout the schools but that there is more work to do.
Why hasn't more information been shared?
Doug Alexander, the director of the Institute for Cybersecurity & Emerging Technologies at Rhode Island College, said Wednesday that sharing information with the public after a network breach is an extraordinarily delicate topic for a couple of reasons.
You dont want to say anything youre not certain about, and its often a period of great uncertainty, even a few days after an incident, as to just who got in, how they got in, whether or not they accessed data, whether they took the data.
And secondly, and perhaps most importantly, you dont want to tip your hand to the attackers about what you know, said Alexander, because you may be trying to lure them into tipping their hand if they get overconfident. And that way, you may know more about them and be able to trace their tack better.
Alexander, who was the tech director for Warwick schools from 2016 to 2020, said a computer system like Providences the largest school system in the state has a multitude of databases, email and other connected systems.
And an analysis of such a complex web of data takes time.
It takes time to analyze the logs and basically go back and find an audit trail of what might have happened if something was accessed in an unauthorized way, he said.
You dont want to cause a panic; you dont want to set bad expectations or the wrong impression.
Alexander said cyberattacks are a growing concern in the modern world and schools are commonly targeted because their districts often have less computer protection security.
Stressing that he had no details about the Providence school district breach, Alexander said ultimately the administration does owe an explanation to the public as to what happened to the extent they can without incurring legal liability.
The question of whether preparations were adequate, the question of whether or not this could have been anticipated, could be issues of legality, he explained.
But until the district knows exactly what happened, they want to make sure that what they are saying is accurate to the public. My theory would be they just havent gotten to the point where they feel they can make a full statement yet because the situation has not been clarified internally.
Contact Tom Mooney at: tmooney@providencejournal.com
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: 'Anonymous group' claims to have Providence school district files
New public preschool classrooms provides testament to importance of early education
KANEOHE, Hawaii (KHON2) Lt. Governor Sylvia Luke, area legislators and students celebrated a milestone for Windward Oahu families after two new public preschool classrooms opened their doors in Kaneohe.
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The two new classrooms at Benjamin Parker Elementary School are part of the Ready Keiki initiative, providing universal access to preschool and increasing access to early education.
DOE gets grants to expand world language programs
Each classroom will be able to accommodate 20 keiki, specifically those who are experiencing specific learning, language and family situations.
The opening of these two preschool classrooms at Benjamin Parker is not only a huge step for our Windward Oahu community but a testament to the importance of expanding early education across the state. Whether here in Kaneohe, Hilo or Wailuku, keiki across Hawaii, no matter where they live, should have access to high-quality early education. Lt. Governor Sylvia Luke
The Windward community has expressed the need for increased childcare and preschool options
These new classrooms are a direct response to that need, and we couldnt be more thrilled to see them open in Kaneohe, said EOEL Director, Yuuko Arikawa-Cross. We are grateful to our partners for making this a reality for our keiki.
Families living or working in Windward Oahu should mark Oct. 1 on their calendar as open enrolment for the remaining seats begins.
Pre-K has already made a big difference here at Ben Parker. Our keiki will be coming to kindergarten better prepared, and their families are excited to have this opportunity so close to their homes or work, said Principal Patricia Macadangdang.
Everyone is encouraged to reply regardless of their priority group. For more information, families are advised to call EOEL at (808) 784-5350.
Those who are ready to apply can do so using the EOELs Public Prekindergarten Programs online portal. Other childcare and school options can be found on Ready Keikis 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.
The News
Russias President Vladimir Putin issued a stark nuclear warning to Ukraine and Kyivs Western allies Wednesday, stating that Russia may use nuclear weapons if it was attacked. Putin added that an attack on Russia using conventional weaponry that was backed by another nuclear power would be considered a joint attack.
The warning seemed aimed directly at the West, as the US and European Union countries have signaled they may soon grant Kyivs long-standing request to use Western long-range missiles to target Russia.
SIGNALS
Kyivs quest for long-range missiles
Sources: BBC, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Financial Times
Zelenskyy is expected to raise the long-range missile request at his meeting with US President Joe Biden on Thursday. The weapons are ideal for penetrating bunkers and ammunition stores, and with Russia using the same weapons to great effect in Ukraine, Kyiv has described its bar from using them as akin to making it fight this war with one arm tied behind its back. The US public indecision has already given Moscow an advantage, argued one Russia expert, as Putin has had time to move targets out of missile range, and Iran has already supplied Russia with ballistic missiles a move the West views as an escalation. It may already be too little too late, according to BBC reporters, for the missiles to turn the tide on the two-year conflict.
Putins red lines
Source: Financial Times
Many analysts have said that Putins red lines a common term for the point at which he may launch a nuclear war are growing less credible the more often the Russian president fails to live up to his threats. Moscows increasingly violent rhetoric, such as a Kremlin official warning that Kyiv would be turned into a molten grey mass last week, has had little effect on Western decision-making, with most states willing to go ahead with incremental escalation, according to the Financial Times. However, one expert did warn that there is a risk that the West will overlearn from pushing Putin, and the Russian president may escalate on other fronts, as seen in Moscows decision to arm Iran-backed Houthis in the Middle East.
Putin issues nuclear warning to the West over strikes on Russia from Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it was struck with conventional missiles, and that Moscow would consider any assault on it supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack.
The decision to change Russias official nuclear doctrine is the Kremlins answer to deliberations in the United States and Britain about whether or not to give Ukraine permission to fire conventional Western missiles into Russia.
Putin, opening a meeting of Russias Security Council, said that the changes were in response to a swiftly changing global landscape which had thrown up new threats and risks for Russia.
The 71-year-old Kremlin chief, the primary decision-maker on Russias vast nuclear arsenal, said he wanted to underscore one key change in particular.
It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation, Putin said.
The conditions for Russias transition to the use of nuclear weapons are also clearly fixed, Putin said, adding that Moscow would consider such a move if it detected the start of a massive launch of missiles, aircraft or drones against it.
Russia reserved the right to also use nuclear weapons if it or ally Belarus were the subject of aggression, including by conventional weapons, Putin said.
Putin said the clarifications were carefully calibrated and commensurate with the modern military threats facing Russia confirmation that the nuclear doctrine was changing.
Russias current published nuclear doctrine, set out in a 2020 decree by Putin, says Russia may use nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatens the existence of the state.
The innovations outlined by Putin include a widening of the threats under which Russia would consider a nuclear strike, the inclusion of ally Belarus under the nuclear umbrella and the idea that a rival nuclear power supporting a conventional strike on Russia would also be considered to be attacking it.
The United States in 2022 was so concerned about the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russia that it warned Putin over the consequences of using such weapons, according to Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns.
Confrontation
The 2-1/2-year-old Ukraine war has triggered the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis - considered to be the closest the two Cold War superpowers came to intentional nuclear war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been urging Kyivs allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles, including long-range US ATACMS and British Storm Shadows, deep into Russia to limit Moscows ability to launch attacks.
With Ukraine losing key towns to gradually advancing Russian forces in the countrys east, the war is entering what Russian officials say is the most dangerous phase to date.
Zelensky has urged the West to cross and disregard Russias so-called red lines, and some Western allies have urged the United States to do just that, though Putins Russia, which controls just under one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, has warned that the West and Ukraine are risking a global war.
Russia no longer has any instruments to intimidate the world apart from nuclear blackmail, Andriy Yermak, Zelenskys chief of staff, said in response to Putins remarks. These instruments will not work.
Putin, who casts the West as a decadent aggressor, and US President Joe Biden, who casts Russia as a corrupt autocracy and Putin as a killer, have both warned that a direct Russia-NATO confrontation could escalate into World War Three. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has also warned of the risk of nuclear war.
Russia is the worlds largest nuclear power. Together, Russia and the US control 88% of the worlds nuclear warheads.
In his remarks to Russias Security Council, a type of modern-day politburo of Putins most powerful officials including influential hawks, Putin said that work on amendments on changing the doctrine had been going on for the past year.
The nuclear triad remains the most important guarantee of ensuring the security of our state and citizens, an instrument for maintaining strategic parity and balance of power in the world, Putin said.
Russia, he said, would consider using nuclear weapons upon receiving reliable information about the massive launch of aerospace attack vehicles and their crossing of our state border, meaning strategic or tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic and other aircraft.
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Putin is lying about Ukraine and does not want real peace US Secretary of State
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stated that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is continuing to lie when he claims that the Ukrainian people have no identity of their own, and that Putin is uninterested in true peace.
Source: Blinken at the meeting of the UN Security Council, as reported by European Pravda
Quote: "Putin continues to claim, falsely, that Ukraine is not a real state. He continues to deny that the Ukrainian people have their own identity. In Putins eyes, the Ukrainian people like Ukraine itself do not exist."
He recalled that Ukraine has repeatedly stated that diplomacy is the only way to end this war, and that it is ready to negotiate. But the head of the Kremlin does not want this.
"Putin, on the other hand, has no interest in such a peace recently declaring that Russia would return to the negotiating table only when Ukraine withdraws its troops from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia; in other words, when Ukraine withdraws from its own territory," Blinken recalled.
He stressed that the world must "support Ukraines call for a just and lasting peace to end Russias war of aggression."
Blinken also noted that some countries at the UN Security Council meeting had put forward their proposals, some of which did not mention the UN Charter or its principles, did not mention the differences between the aggressor and the victim, and called on all parties to de-escalate.
"A proposal along these lines would reward Putins aggression, allow him to rest, rearm, reinvade Ukraine as he has done time and again. It would also embolden would-be aggressors everywhere around the world," Blinken concluded.
Background:
During the UN Security Council meeting, Blinken stated that he is convinced that in order to promote peace in Ukraine, Ukraine's peace initiatives must be supported and the attempts by Iran, the DPRK and China to fuel aggression must be stopped.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly with a bipartisan delegation of the US Congress and told them about his Victory Plan.
Zelenskyy has said that Russia's war against Ukraine is "closer to the end" than many people think and has called on Ukraines allies to strengthen its forces.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys visit to the United States notably darkened the mood in Russia.
In the run-up to the high-profile journey that clearly irked the Kremlin, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed that America is just like the Third Reich. Other commentators apparently received the same set of talking points and started to describe the U.S. as a Nazi nation.
Joe Scarborough Tears Into Trump for Defending Putin Over Ukraine
In anticipation of the visit, most state TV pundits and experts warned viewers that a decision to allow Ukraine to strike deep within Russian territory is all but imminent. To address these fears, some of the most prominent talking heads are being sent out to convince the population that even long-range strikes are not that big of a deal.
Tigran Keosayan, husband of Margarita Simonyanthe notorious editor-in-chief of the state-controlled RT networkcaused quite a stir when he showed up on Vladimir Solovyovs show earlier in September and tacitly criticized people who demand nuclear strikes in response to Ukraines counter-attacks into Russian territory. Keosayan argued that these kinds of strikes would not imperil Russias existence and therefore would not warrant a nuclear response.
Solovyov, who is a known proponent of preemptively nuking Western capitals, seemed to be in shock when he was contradicted on his own show. Since Simonyan is well-connected to Russian President Vladimir Putins Kremlin circles, the talking points her husband was sent to deliver were most likely pre-approved.
For his part, during Solovyovs state TV program Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, the host insisted that Russia should deprive Ukraine of any means of generating electricity, including nuclear power plants.
Solovyov even argued that nurseries and kindergartens should be forced to rely solely on gasoline generators. This callous suggestion once again revealed that the Kremlin is giving up on the idea of controlling Ukrainian territories, and thus would rather destroy any modern conveniences than to allow their neighbors to live free of their former Moscow overlords.
After the debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, most of Russian state TVs talking heads and experts grimly concluded that their favored candidate, Trump, will most likely fail in his presidential bid, which means that America cant be expected to abandon Ukraine and simply hand it over into Moscows clutches. However, if Trump was to prevail and Russia was able to defeat Ukraine, according to military expert Alexey Anpilogov, a Russian steamroller would keep moving throughout Europe and Poland would be next on the Kremlins target list.
Putin Pals Eat Crow as Complete Fool Creams Our Donald
Before Putins troops invaded Ukraine in 2022, Natalia Makeeva, a forecaster from the Center for Geopolitical Expertise, appeared on a show called The Meeting Place and assured viewers that the absolute majority of the people in Ukraine are pro-Russian and would meet the invading Russian troops with sweet bread and flowers.
During Mondays broadcast of The Meeting Place, by contrast, political scientist Alexander Sytin addressed the glaring misconception that spurred the Kremlins ill-fated invasion. He asked: Are you still certain, nearly three years later, that theyre waiting for you there, that they love you and are ready to submit to you?
Host Andrey Norkin bluntly admitted: Its not about whether theyre waiting for us or love us, we just have to bring some kind of order thereotherwise they will keep jumping at us.
Hold on a second, who jumped on whom? Sytin replied, amazed by the attempt to blame Ukraine for the war.
On an earlier September broadcast, Sytin threw caution to the wind as he pondered why Russia even launched the invasion given that it isnt able to gain control of Ukraine by the means of conventional warfare and is most likely unwilling to use nuclear weapons. Putin himself said in 2022 there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be unleashed.
During Mondays broadcast of The Meeting Place, journalist Maxim Yusin urged pundits and viewers not to delude themselves and to face reality.
Lets come down to earth, he said, later adding: This conflict is forever, your grandchildren will still be fighting in it.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R), pictured in July with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) at a nuclear exhibition, has proposed changes to the country's nuclear doctrine (Gavriil Grigorov) (Gavriil Grigorov/POOL/AFP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced plans to broaden Russia's rules on the use of its nuclear weaponry, allowing it to unleash a nuclear response in the event of a "massive" air attack.
Under the proposed rules, Russia would also consider any attack by a non-nuclear country supported by a nuclear power as a joint attack by both.
Putin said it was necessary to adapt to emerging threats, and while he did not directly refer to Ukraine, the proposed measures appeared linked to Moscow's offensive launched in February 2022.
The changes, which Putin himself has the power to approve, come as Ukraine is seeking permission from Western allies to use long-range precision weaponry to strike targets deep inside Russia -- so far to no avail.
In a televised meeting with high-level officials, Putin detailed the proposed changes to the country's nuclear doctrine: the "utmost measure of protection of the country's sovereignty".
"We see the modern military and political situation is dynamically changing and we must take this into consideration," Putin said, citing "the emergence of new sources of military threats and risks for Russia and our allies".
Among the new measures, "it is proposed to consider aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state" when this is carried out "with the participation or support of a nuclear power" as "their joint attack on Russia", Putin said.
This would seemingly apply to Ukraine, a non-nuclear state that receives military support from the United States and other nuclear-armed countries.
Putin said that proposed changes "clearly set the conditions for Russia to transition to using nuclear weapons".
"We will consider such a possibility once we receive reliable information about a massive launch of air and space attack weapons and their crossing our state border," the president added.
"I mean aeroplanes of strategic and tactical aviation, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic and other aircraft," Putin said.
The president said the proposed changes also meant "we reserve the right to use nuclear weapons in case of aggression against Russia and Belarus", Moscow's close ally.
- 'Critical threat' -
He added that this included a situation in which another state "using conventional weapons, creates a critical threat to our sovereignty".
The president said that Russia's nuclear weapons were "the most important guarantee of security of our state and its citizens".
"It's important to predict how the situation will develop and accordingly adapt the clauses of the document on strategic planning to current realities," Putin said.
The proposed new doctrine has been prepared as a draft, while Putin needs to approve the text for it to enter force, TASS state news agency reported.
It was the first time that Putin had held such a meeting in public, TASS reported.
Only the president's opening remarks to officials seated around a long table were aired on television.
Putin said in his speech that such meetings on nuclear deterrence were scheduled twice a year.
The participants included former president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy head of Putin's security council, as well as the defence and finance ministers and the heads of the FSB security service and SVR foreign intelligence service.
bur/bc
The Russian president has previously threatened the use of nuclear arms but his new proposal expands those scenarios [Reuters]
Vladimir Putin says Russia would consider an attack from a non-nuclear state that was backed by a nuclear-armed one to be a "joint attack", in what could be construed as a threat to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.
In key remarks on Wednesday night, the Russian president said his government was considering changing the rules and preconditions around which Russia would use its nuclear arsenal.
Ukraine is a non-nuclear state that receives military support from the US and other nuclear-armed countries.
His comments come as Kyiv seeks approval to use long-range Western missiles against military sites in Russia.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has travelled to the US this week and is due to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington on Thursday, where Kyiv's request is expected to be top of the agenda.
Ukraine has pushed into Russian territory this year and wants to target bases inside Russia which it says are sending missiles into Ukraine.
Responding to Putin's remarks, Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said Russia "no longer has anything other than nuclear blackmail to intimidate the world".
Putin has threatened the use of nuclear weapons before. Ukraine has criticised it as "nuclear sabre-rattling" to deter its allies from providing further support.
Russian ally China has also called for calm, with reports President Xi Jinping has warned Putin against using nuclear arms.
But on Wednesday, after a meeting with his Security Council, Putin announced the proposed radical expansion.
A new nuclear doctrine would "clearly set the conditions for Russia to transition to using nuclear weapons," he warned - and said such scenarios included conventional missile strikes against Moscow.
He said that Russia would consider such a "possibility" of using nuclear weapons if it detected the start of a massive launch of missiles, aircraft and drones into its territory, which presented a "critical threat" to the country's sovereignty.
He added: "It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation."
The country's nuclear arms were "the most important guarantee of security of our state and its citizens", the Kremlin leader said.
Since the end of World War Two, nuclear-armed states have engaged in a policy of deterrence, which is based on the idea that if warring states were to launch major nuclear strikes it would lead to mutually assured destruction.
But there are also tactical nuclear weapons which are smaller warheads designed to destroy targets without widespread radioactive fallout.
In June, Putin delivered a warning to European countries supporting Ukraine, saying Russia had many more [tactical nuclear weapons] than there are on the European continent, even if the United States brings theirs over.
Europe does not have a developed [early warning system], he added. In this sense they are more or less defenceless.
At the time he had hinted of changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine - the document which sets out the conditions under which Moscow would use nuclear weapons.
The Kremlin said on Thursday that changes outlined by Putin should be considered a warning to the West.
Elaborating on the move, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "It must be considered a specific signal - a signal that warns these countries of the consequences if they participate in an attack on our country by various means, not necessarily nuclear."
Peskov said that Russia would make a decision on whether not to publish the updated nuclear documents, adding that adjustments to the document on state nuclear deterrence were being formulated.
Putin issues nuclear warning to the West over strikes on Russia from Ukraine
By Vladimir Soldatkin and Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it was struck with conventional missiles, and that Moscow would consider any assault on it supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack.
The decision to change Russia's official nuclear doctrine is the Kremlin's answer to deliberations in the United States and Britain about whether or not to give Ukraine permission to fire conventional Western missiles into Russia.
Putin, opening a meeting of Russia's Security Council, said that the changes were in response to a swiftly changing global landscape which had thrown up new threats and risks for Russia.
The 71-year-old Kremlin chief, the primary decision-maker on Russia's vast nuclear arsenal, said he wanted to underscore one key change in particular.
"It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation," Putin said.
"The conditions for Russia's transition to the use of nuclear weapons are also clearly fixed," Putin said, adding that Moscow would consider such a move if it detected the start of a massive launch of missiles, aircraft or drones against it.
Russia reserved the right to also use nuclear weapons if it or ally Belarus were the subject of aggression, including by conventional weapons, Putin said.
Putin said the clarifications were carefully calibrated and commensurate with the modern military threats facing Russia - confirmation that the nuclear doctrine was changing.
Russia's current published nuclear doctrine, set out in a 2020 decree by Putin, says Russia may use nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatens the existence of the state.
The innovations outlined by Putin include a widening of the threats under which Russia would consider a nuclear strike, the inclusion of ally Belarus under the nuclear umbrella and the idea that a rival nuclear power supporting a conventional strike on Russia would also be considered to be attacking it.
The United States in 2022 was so concerned about the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russia that it warned Putin over the consequences of using such weapons, according to Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns.
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The 2-1/2-year-old Ukraine war has triggered the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis - considered to be the closest the two Cold War superpowers came to intentional nuclear war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been urging Kyiv's allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles, including long-range U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadows, deep into Russia to limit Moscow's ability to launch attacks.
With Ukraine losing key towns to gradually advancing Russian forces in the country's east, the war is entering what Russian officials say is the most dangerous phase to date.
Zelenskiy has urged the West to cross and disregard Russia's so-called "red lines", and some Western allies have urged the United States to do just that, though Putin's Russia, which controls just under one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, has warned that the West and Ukraine are risking a global war.
"Russia no longer has any instruments to intimidate the world apart from nuclear blackmail," Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy's chief of staff, said in response to Putin's remarks. "These instruments will not work."
Putin, who casts the West as a decadent aggressor, and U.S. President Joe Biden, who casts Russia as a corrupt autocracy and Putin as a killer, have both warned that a direct Russia-NATO confrontation could escalate into World War Three. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has also warned of the risk of nuclear war.
Russia is the world's largest nuclear power. Together, Russia and the U.S. control 88% of the world's nuclear warheads.
In his remarks to Russia's Security Council, a type of modern-day politburo of Putin's most powerful officials including influential hawks, Putin said that work on amendments on changing the doctrine had been going on for the past year.
"The nuclear triad remains the most important guarantee of ensuring the security of our state and citizens, an instrument for maintaining strategic parity and balance of power in the world," Putin said.
Russia, he said, would consider using nuclear weapons "upon receiving reliable information about the massive launch of aerospace attack vehicles and their crossing of our state border, meaning strategic or tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic and other aircraft."
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Dmitry Antonov and Maxim Rodionov; writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Andrew Osborn, Mark Heinrich and Jonathan Oatis)
House Republicans planned to escalate their investigation into Nathan Wade, a former special prosecutor in Fulton County, Georgia, by subpoenaing him to appear for a deposition this week, but Wade appears to be missing in action.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) had ordered Wade in a subpoena, reviewed by the Washington Examiner, to appear Thursday for the closed-door interview as part of the committee's investigation into Fulton County District Attorney Fani Williss prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
However, Wade has been unresponsive to the subpoena, and his silence has led Jordan to take the unusual step of asking the U.S. Marshals Service to try to locate Wade in Georgia to serve him, according to a committee spokesperson.
"Nathan Wade's evasion of service is extremely unusual and will require the Committee to spend U.S. tax dollars to locate him," the spokesperson said in a statement.
A Republican lawyer familiar with the matter said that the U.S. Marshals Service has not been able to find Wade and that "at this point, we know he's trying to avoid service." The lawyer called Wade's actions "clearly dilatory."
Wade's law office did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
Wade's apparent avoidance of the subpoena comes after two onetime Trump advisers, Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, were imprisoned this year, each with four-month sentences, for failing to comply with House-issued subpoenas relating to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Willis hired Wade to lead her prosecution of Trump in 2021, but an undisclosed romantic relationship between the pair led Wade to resign from the case in March. Willis is facing the prospect of disqualification from the case over her relationship with Wade, and the Georgia Court of Appeals is expected to rule on the matter next year.
Jordan's attempt to subpoena Wade comes after the Georgia lawyer backed out of appearing voluntarily for a scheduled interview last week at the last minute after initially agreeing to the appearance in July, according to a letter Jordan wrote to Wade.
The chairman said Wade's attorney contacted the committee five days before Wade's scheduled appearance to say that Wade had to postpone his appearance indefinitely based on instructions Wade received from Willis's attorney Roy Barnes.
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"The eleventh-hour intervention from District Attorney Willis does not excuse your failure to appear for your transcribed interview," Jordan wrote.
Barnes had written to Wade that he would need to be accompanied by a lawyer representing the Fulton County District Attorney's Office in any deposition so that the lawyer could "assert any necessary privilege objections" on Willis's behalf.
Willis charged Trump and 18 co-defendants last year with racketeering violations and other charges, alleging they illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 election results. Willis brought Wade in to present the case to a grand jury and run the prosecution along with two other special prosecutors, despite Wade having no experience with racketeering cases.
The House Judiciary Committee began investigating Wade in May, observing how he made nearly $700,000 billing Fulton County for his services while in a relationship with Willis for at least part of the time he worked for her. Willis has argued that she gained nothing financially from the relationship and that she split costs with Wade when they would spend time together.
Jordan wrote in his letter to Wade that his committee was continuing to investigate "politically motivated prosecutions" and had an interest in whether Wade was paid using taxpayer dollars that included federal grant money.
"District Attorney Willis reportedly compensated you and financed her politically motivated prosecution using a mixture of taxpayer funds, possibly including part of the $14.6 million in federal grant funds that her office received from the Department of Justice between 2020 and 2023," Jordan wrote.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Jordan subpoenaed Willis herself for documents on her office's grant money use in February. Willis has stood by her office's spending.
"Any examination of the records of our grant programs will find that they are highly effective and conducted in cooperation with the Department of Justice and in compliance with all Department of Justice requirements," Willis said in a statement in February.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the Security Council meeting on nuclear deterrence at the Kremlin. -/Kremlin/dpa
President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia is changing its doctrine that lays out the use of nuclear weapons in view of the sky-high tensions with Western powers.
The updated doctrine takes aim at nuclear powers such as the United States, Britain and France.
While Putin did not specifically name those countries, he said that a nuclear power that support a non-nuclear state's attack on Russia risks becoming a target of a Russian counter-strike.
"I would like to draw your attention to something else," Putin said during a meeting of the Security Council in the Kremlin on the subject of nuclear deterrence.
"The updated version of the document proposes that aggression against Russia by a non-nuclear state, but with the involvement or support of a nuclear state, should be considered as a joint attack on the Russian Federation."
But Putin did not specify the nature of Russia's response, such as whether it would be nuclear.
Putin launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine two and a half years ago. Ukraine, which does not have nuclear weapons, has been supported militarily by the West.
On multiple occasions Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons to protect Russian sovereignty and territory. He also placed Russia's nuclear forces on high alert in 2022, shortly after the war broke out.
Russia has been discussing a change to its nuclear doctrine for some time. The talk has included the possibility of allowing for pre-emptive strikes.
But so far the doctrine only permits the use of nuclear weapons if there is a direct threat to Russia's sovereignty.
Putin said on Wednesday that Russia has always handled the issue of nuclear weapons in a "highly responsible" manner.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the Security Council meeting on nuclear deterrence at the Kremlin. -/Kremlin/dpa
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a series of changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine on Sept. 25 during a Security Council meeting on nuclear deterrence, Russia's state-owned outlet Ria Novosti reported.
Throughout the war, the Kremlin has repeatedly laid down red lines, which it has said could provoke a nuclear response if crossed.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Sep. 1 that Russia will change its nuclear doctrine based on an analysis of recent conflicts and the West's "escalation course." Work on drafting the doctrinal changes is at "an advanced stage," Ryabkov reported at the time without revealing any details as to the changes being introduced.
"An aggression by a non-nuclear state with the participation of a nuclear state is proposed to be considered as their joint attack on Russia," Putin said during the Security Council meeting on Sept. 25.
Moscow also retains the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of an attack, including if the enemy, using conventional weapons, poses a critical threat to Russia and Belarus, Putin added. The Russian president said these changes were made in agreement with Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.
According to the new suggestions, Russia may consider the use of nuclear weapons after receiving information about a massive launch of missiles or drones crossing its state border.
Putin said that the nuclear "triad" remains the most important guarantee of Russia's and its citizens' security. The new draft nuclear doctrine also contains an expanded list of countries and military alliances, as well as a list of military threats, he added.
The Russian government did not specify a date when the proposals for changes to the nuclear doctrine would come into force.
The head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, responded to Putin's statements by saying that "Russia has nothing else but nuclear blackmail, no other tools to intimidate the world."
"These tools will not work," he added.
Putin approved a nuclear doctrine in 2020, which listed for the first time the threats against which nuclear weapons could be deployed.
Among other provisions, it states that Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction are used against it or its allies.
Russian forces can also deploy their nuclear arsenal in response to any conventional weapons if Russia's existence is threatened. The country's president decides on the use of nuclear arms, it adds.
Yet, in late February 2024, journalists from the Financial Times (FT) were able to obtain access to secret Russian documents related to Russia's tactical nuclear weapons.
The threshold for the use of these weapons by Russia is much lower than Russian officials have publicly claimed, the FT said.
According to the media outlet, the Russian military could also use them to "deter states from aggression" or "escalating military conflicts."
Read also: Explaining Russias new nuclear doctrine saber-rattling or real threat?
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
[Source]
On Sept. 17, Pat Karaphat, a queer Thai man, was walking home in San Franciscos Tenderloin District when he was allegedly assaulted by a man who repeatedly punched him while shouting racist slurs like "f*cking Asian" and "f*cking monkey." Karaphat, a former boxer, considered fighting back but believed his attacker was armed. No money was demanded, leading Karaphat to believe the attack was racially motivated. He dialed 911 at around 4 a.m. once he reached his apartment, and the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) arrived within five minutes.
The aftermath: Officers noted Karaphat's injuries included facial swelling and a head injury. Karaphat later sought medical attention for his injuries but expressed that the emotional trauma was more profound. I am in no physical pain. But it hurts so deeply inside. I feel trauma and so much fear to leave my house, Karaphat told Ethnic Media Services. He emphasized the need for broader changes in the city to ensure safety for all residents, particularly marginalized communities.
Ongoing investigation: No arrests have been made. The case remains under investigation, with police exploring the possibility of it being a hate crime. The San Francisco Police Department does not tolerate racism of any kind. No one should be targeted because of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or any other shared characteristic, SFPD spokesperson Paulina Henderson said. Anyone with information is urged to contact the SFPD at 415-575-4444.
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Quick fix or overhaul: Republicans and Democrats have differing visions for third Onondaga County redistricting
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) The minority leader of the Onondaga County Legislature wants to go to the drawing board to re-draw political boundaries.
Im looking to hit the reset button, said Legislator Chris Ryan. Start over.
On the front steps of the building that houses the legislative chamber, Ryan was joined by several current and former legislators, all of whom object to the way the countys Republican majority went about the redistricting two years ago.
Those maps were supposedly drawn by members of the county executives office, claimed their attorney, Ronnie White. Their goal was to enlarge the Republican partisan advantage.
Democrats sued Republicans, claiming the enacted maps broke apart a district of Black voters and forced unlike communities into the same district.
Democrats are celebrating a judges recent ruling to overturn the maps, but it wasnt their initial qualms that sent the boundaries back to the drawing board. It was a more-recently discovered exclusion of inmates counting as a voter in their districts once out of prison.
Republicans, including the Onondaga County Executive, are planning on a quick fix.
In a statement to NewsChannel 9, Ryan McMahon said: While we believe that home rule law meant that we were not obligated to include these inmates in the count, out of respect for the taxpayers, both parties have agreed to go back and include them. This will ultimately result in only minor adjustments to the lines.
While the other side may tout this agreement as a win for them, it is far from it, said Republican Legislature Chairman Tim Burtis.
Burtis stood on the sidewalk, behind reporters, to watch his Democratic colleagues stand at a simple podium to demand a path forward.
I think we have a gentlemans agreement right now on how this is going to go, said Burtis.
That gentlemans agreement is far from what Democrats are planning.
Were asking for far more, said Leader Ryan, because if there are slight modifications, those maps are still going to be unfair. If they make maps that are slight modifications, they will not be in compliance with New York State law.
Democrats would like more public hearings, a point of contention when the first and second versions of maps were drawn two years ago.
The judges ruling requires one public hearing, hosted by the Onondaga County Legislature. A second will be hosted by the Onondaga County Executive, as was the case in 2021, said Chairman Burtis.
Either way, the maps need to be approved by the Onondaga County Legislature and signed by the Onondaga County Executive in time for the 2025 county elections.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR.
This Rare, Mosquito-Borne Illness Is A Public Health Threat In Some States. Here's What Doctors Want You To Know
A person in New York has died from eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE. This was the first person to be diagnosed with the illness in the state in nearly a decade. As a result, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has declared EEE to be a public health threat.
In case youre not familiar with it, EEE is a rare and serious mosquito-borne disease that can cause brain infections in people who are infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A man in Massachusetts was also infected with EEE this summer, causing state officials to take extra precautions.
Keeping New Yorkers safe is my top priority, Hochul said in a September 23 statement.
Now, officials plan to continue mosquito-spraying efforts, making mosquito repellent available to people at state park offices, visitor centers, and campgrounds. People are also being urged to avoid parks and camping at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes tend to be most active.
But what is EEE and how concerned about this should you be? Infectious disease doctors explain.
Meet the experts: Infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Thomas Russo, MD, professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York.
What is the survival rate for eastern equine encephalitis?
Some people can have EEE and have no symptoms, making it difficult to say exactly what the survival rate is. However, research puts the fatality rate at 30 percent, noting that 50 percent of survivors have lingering neurological issues.
How many people have died from EEE?
An average of 11 human cases of EEE are reported in the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This year, two people have died from the illnessa 41-year-old man in New Hampshire with no underlying health issues and a New York resident.
While any death from a mosquito-borne illness is shocking, the number of deaths is in the usual range per year in the U.S., says infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
Thomas Russo, MD, a professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York, agrees. If you look at the CDC data over the last 20 years, the cases range from anywhere from one to 38 per year, he says. This year is maybe a whiff higher, but certainly not the highest year.
How is EEE transmitted to humans?
EEE is spread to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito, per the CDC. The virus circulates in the environment between mosquitoes and birds that are usually found in swamps.
The virus can occasionally be spread through organ transplants, the organization says.
What are the symptoms of EEE?
EEE can cause a febrile illness (fever) or neurologic disease, per the CDC. People with a febrile illness will usually have these symptoms:
Fever
Chills
Body aches
Joint pain
People with neurologic diseasewhich is the more serious form of EEEmay have these symptoms:
Fever
Headache
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Seizures
Behavioral changes
Drowsiness
Coma
Can you recover from EEE? How is it treated?
People with the febrile form of EEE will usually recover in a week or two, according to the CDC.
Sadly, about a third of people who develop a severe case of EEE die, according to the CDC, and many who are recover have long-term physical or mental problems.
There is no specific medication to treat EEE. Instead, people with the condition are usually given supportive care, like medications to help control their fever and pain, Russo says.
How can I protect myself from EEE?
EEE is always something that public health authorities take seriously, Adalja says.
EEE is the biggest concern in people who live in areas where the virus has been detected in mosquitoes and where there have been human cases, he adds. (Its also been detected this year in Massachusetts and New Jersey, FYI.) If you live in those areas, Adalja recommends trying to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes, including wearing bug repellents with EPA-registered ingredients, and doing your best to stay indoors during times when mosquitoes are most active.
Overall, Russo says that EEE is usually a regional issue. But mosquitoes can harbor infectious disease everywhere in the country, he says. As a result, he stresses the importance of doing what you can to lower your risk of mosquito bites.
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Rat damage in storage unit; what to know before renting
MILWAUKEE - You dont have to look far to find a self-storage facility. There are tens of thousands across the country. If someones belongings are damaged, who is responsible for the costs? The business or the customer? Contact 6 looked into what consumers need to know before renting.
When Sinatra Walker went to collect her belongings from Life Storage at Capitol Drive and N. Holton Street in Milwaukee, she found her unit had some destructive visitors.
In a cellphone video, Walker shows a leak coming from her water cooler. Walker said "rats bit into" her machine.
Walker showed Contact 6 the holes on the bottom of her sofa and ottoman, where she said the rats chewed through her furniture. She showed Contact 6 the teeth marks on cords running up the back of her refrigerator. Her refrigerators water and ice dispensers no longer work.
"This stuff has to be repurchased," said Walker. "Its not fair to the customers."
Life Storage is operated by Extra Space Storage. A spokesperson told Contact 6, in part, that "Clean properties are a priority at Extra Space Storage. When this unusual increase in rodent activity was discovered we immediately contacted our pest control vendors and increased our pest control efforts."
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Contact 6 spotted bait boxes outside the Life Storage building.
Sinatra Walker
Walker wont get a refund for her damaged items for one big reason: she didnt take the insurance offered upon leasing her self-storage unit.
"I have rented with them previously and never had this problem," explained Walker.
Walker said she did buy an insurance policy for her first unit. She refused insurance the second time because she didnt plan to keep the unit long. Walker was waiting for an apartment to become available.
"My stuff was there a little over three weeks," said Walker.
Before renting her unit, Walker signed a document rejecting the insurance. It states "I understand that my property is stored at my sole risk" The contract goes on to say "I also understand that the owner is not responsible for any loss to my property."
As Contact 6 found out, thats the industry standard and legal.
What do you need to know?
Consumers regularly write to Contact 6 about issues with storage units. They have questions about property damage, rising rent and evictions. Contact 6 visited Mequon Storage to ask: what do consumers need to know before renting?
Chris Hitler is the owner of Mequon Storage and MyStorageHome.com. MyStorageHome.com has zero complaints to the Better Business Bureau.
"You should get insurance because youre not going to be protected by the storage operator," agreed Hitler.
Hitler is a past president of the Wisconsin Self Storage Association. He said before signing a lease, always do an inspection of the facility.
"It is clean? Is it well-maintained?" asked Hitler.
Hitler said its also important to look for good lighting and cameras, if safety is a priority.
Chris Hitler
Most self-storage unit leases are month-to-month with automatic renewals. Perishable items are prohibited in units. Theres also no cap on how much facilities can raise rent once a lease expires.
"I would ask before renting, "what are your rate increase policies?" For us, we do it once a year in the January, February timeframe. Some companies do raise rent up to three times a year," said Hitler.
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Wisconsin statute said when a consumer signs a storage unit agreement, "the operator has a lien on all personal property stored." It states that if the customer fails to make payment, the operator can auction off the units belongings.
Attorney Tristan Pettit of Pettit Law Group in Milwaukee said an auction might be underway in just 45 days.
"(The facility is) allowed to send out two notices and then, after that, you can essentially post notice of having a sale," said Pettit. "(The facility is) allowed to keep enough of what they make from that auction to pay off the lien."
Pettit said whatever money is left over goes back to the customer.
Walker is still discovering bite marks on her belongings. She thinks Life Storage should be warning its customers.
"I just feel that they need to fix the issue," said Walker.
Attorney Tristan Pettit
Extra Space Storage said it does notify impacted customers about increased rodent activity, like when the unit next door is found illegally storing food. Walker said she did keep some plastic spice jars in her unit but theyd been emptied. She said the jars were destroyed by rats, along with her plastic plates.
If you have a storage unit, make sure your address is kept up to date. That way, the business can always contact you.
If you have a consumer complaint and want to see if Contact 6 can help, we want to hear from you.
Full statement: Extra Space Storage on damage to Walkers property
"Clean properties are a priority at Extra Space Storage. When this unusual increase in rodent activity was discovered we immediately contacted our pest control vendors and increased our pest control efforts.
"We always encourage all customers to have their property insured when they store their valuables at a self-storage facility. The insurance offered as part of the leasing process does cover pest damages.
"However, it is against our lease policy and the insurance policy to store perishable goods. This includes food, seasonings, pet food, etc as this is all known to attract rodents and create rodent problems."
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) There is backlash from across the country to a story brought to you by NBC4 involving statements made by Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, who criticized suburban women for being single-issue voters.
NBC4 obtained cell phone video from a recent Warren County town hall meeting where Moreno said many suburban women only care about their ability to get an abortion, questioning why older women care about reproductive rights at all.
Haitian nonprofit files criminal charges against Trump and Vance over Springfield
The Moreno campaign said his comments were tongue-in-cheek sarcasm.
If I cant have an abortion whenever I want in this country, then I will vote for anybody else, Moreno said at the meeting. Okay, a little crazy, by the way, but especially for women that are like past 50. Im thinking to myself, I dont think thats an issue for you.
Watch: Brown, Haley respond to Moreno single-issue voter comment on abortion
Reaction to the story was quick.
Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley accused Moreno of being tone deaf, posting on X, Are you trying to lose the election? Asking for a friend.
NBC4s Colleen Marshall was the first to report Morenos comments and got a reaction from his opponent, Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown.
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The idea that he doesnt understand why women care so much about this, and maybe in some sense he was mocking them, I think, says a lot more about him, frankly, about him and his values, Brown said. I continue to be shocked that Bernie Moreno thinks he knows more, that he knows better than 57% of Ohioans who turned out to vote and said that we want constitutional right to abortion in our state.
Brown stopped short of saying abortion will be the issue that decides the very close Senate race.
Hear more from Brown, including reaction to the chaos in Springfield, this Sunday on The Spectrum.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
The Fort Worth ISD school board voted Tuesday night to accept the resignation of Superintendent Angelica Ramsey, effective Oct. 1.
District officials said Ramseys last day of employee with the district will be Aug. 30, 2025, though its unclear in what capacity she might work after Oct. 1.
After the meeting, Ramsey released a four-page statement to the community. Read the full text of her statement below:
Dr. Angelica Ramseys statement on departing Fort Worth ISD
I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the Fort Worth ISD board for allowing me the honor of serving this district over the past two years. It has been a privilege, and I have approached this responsibility with the utmost seriousness and dedication.
I joined Fort Worth ISD to make a meaningful impact on the education of students like myself. My goal was to implement systems that empower all students to reach their fullest potential. Ive had the pleasure of working alongside an exceptional teamteachers, administrators, and support staff who have shown tireless dedication to the children of this community. Their hard work and commitment are second to none.
Together, we have begun to see the positive outcomes of these efforts. Since my arrival, the district has risen from a D to a C rating, with several campuses showing notable improvement. This is a testament to the hard work of our students, teachers, and staff.
The districts estimated overall rating increased by 6 points, from 64 in 2023 to an anticipated C rating of 70 in 2024. This represents a significant 36% decrease in the number of students attending D or F-rated campuses, meaning over 16,000 fewer students are enrolled in low-performing schools. This progress highlights the districts commitment to improving student outcomes and creating more equitable learning environments.
In addition, all Fort Worth ISD high schools either improved or maintained their STAAR letter-grade ratings from 2023 to 2024. Were proud of the dedication and perseverance shown by our students and teachers across the district. Thirteen high schools increased their ratings, with four making an impressive leap of two letter-grades. Nine high schools maintained their strong ratings, and seven of our high schools of choice are A-rated campuses.
Moreover, the district added 13 more A and B-rated schools this year, bringing the total to 11 A-rated and 21 B-rated campuses a true reflection of Fort Worth ISDs dedication to academic excellence and growth. Additionally, 30% of our campuses (37 schools) improved by one letter grade, while 9% of campuses (11 schools) increased by two letter grades.
This remarkable progress reflects our ongoing commitment to excellence, ensuring that all students are prepared for success in college, career, and community leadership.
I am particularly proud of our work in serving Emergent Bilingual students.When I first arrived, only 0.85% of these students were being reclassified. Last year, that number rose to 7.9%, representing an 830% increase. This progress is a significant achievement and reflects our commitment to providing the support necessary for every student to thrive.
I am also proud to share that more than 90% of our students are graduating. Additionally, the percentage of students graduating college, career, and military ready has increased from 63% when I began to an anticipated 86.6% with the Class of 2024 an increase of 37.5%. This growth reflects the very mission of Fort Worth ISD: preparing students for success in whatever path they choose.
We developed a comprehensive Strategic Plan with significant community input, and I remain hopeful that the board will continue to drive this plan forward because our students simply cant wait.
Weve also opened a new campus Rolling Hills Elementary and have begun the work of developing a facilities master plan, which lays the groundwork for necessary upgrades to our schools. Our students deserve safe, high-quality environments that support their learning without disruption.
Fort Worth ISD has also made significant strides in addressing food insecurity. We opened multiple on-campus markets across the district, in partnership with organizations like the Tarrant Area Food Bank and Texas Health Resources.
For the first time in years since well before the pandemic we united all staff for a Convocation, kicking off the school year with a renewed focus on our students and celebrating the hard-earned successes of Fort Worth ISD.
One of my first actions as superintendent was launching advisory councils to gather input from students, staff, parents, teachers, principals and business and community leaders, ensuring we worked collaboratively to improve the district.
We also strengthened internal and external communication through the One FWISD newsletter and Monday Message for staff, as well as the Friday Message for the broader community.
I made it a priority to visit every school, spending two to three days each week on campuses. This role cannot be fulfilled from behind a desk; it requires being present and engaged with our schools.
We presented the board with a balanced budget, which required making difficult decisions, including reducing positions. However, we ensured that these cuts did not affect the classroom.
And just recently, the district received a preliminary rating of a perfect 100 on the FIRST Rating, based on information reported to TEA for the fiscal year 2022-23. Effective September 10, 2024, the districts A or Superior FIRST rating for 2023-24 was made final by TEA.
We restructured the technology department to focus on campus-level services and revamped Learning and Leading to provide targeted support to both students and educators.
Additionally, I am proud of our efforts to start the Zero to Five parent education program. We had 1,974 parents attend these early literacy focused classes, with 60 children graduating from the program. Of those graduates, 52 enrolled in FWISD pre-K. We also began offering these classes to our refugee parents.
Beyond my role within the district, I have remained an active member of the community, engaging with several civic and educational organizations. I serve on the North Texas Leaders and Executives Advocating Diversity Committee, the North Texas Commission, Council of Great City Schools, TALAS Board, Fort Worth Rotary, and Optimist Club of Fort Worth. I am also a director on boards including the Longhorn Council, Junior Achievement, One Second Collaborative Steering Committee, United Way of Tarrant County, and Girl Scouts of Fort Worth. These opportunities allowed me to support the broader community and work collaboratively to advance the mission of public education.
Lastly, to the students of Fort Worth ISD: thank you. It has been my greatest honor to serve you. Your feedback, resilience, and determination have inspired me. Remember, you are the heart of this district. Whoever follows me in this position is here to serve you, and I believe in your potential to shape a brighter future for this community.
Read our Voter Guide to find out how NC candidates responded to our questions
What are the top priorities of gubernatorial candidates if elected? How do congressional candidates rate the state of the economy? What do state legislative candidates think of private school vouchers?
We asked these questions and more of candidates running in statewide and congressional races, as well as many of the Triangle-area candidates on the ballot for legislative and city races.
Below youll find a list of candidates in the Nov. 5 general election, as well as a link to questionnaires providing information on each candidate and their responses to our questions. More candidates will be added as we publish more questionnaires.
To help inform voters, these candidate questionnaires are free to read without a subscription, and are 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.
If youre not sure of whos running for races in your area, you can find your ballot using the State Board of Elections voter search tool.
TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Two people from Reedley were arrested after 480 pounds of Tinco variety red grapes were taken from a vineyard in Tulare County, according to the Tulare County Sheriffs Office.
Deputies say around 8 a.m. on Tuesday AG Detectives were aware of a traffic stop on a Ford Explorer SUV at Avenue 384 and Road 56 in Kingsburg.
Why is Tulare Countys $700 grape theft being handled as a felony?
During the traffic stop, a deputy contacted the driver and passenger identified as 47-year-old Juan Benjamin Ventura and 57-year-old Dionicio Sandoval both from Reedley.
Tulare County Sheriffs Office
Tulare County Sheriffs Office
Tulare County Sheriffs Office
Deputies say they noticed the SUV had several hundred pounds of unpackaged grapes in the rear of the SUV.
AG Detectives responded and said the grapes were stolen from a field in the area of Ave 400 and Rd 84 in Tulare County. Detectives say they had been cut and stored at a location in the field the night before.
The next day, detectives said Ventura and Sandoval drove back to the field to retrieve the grapes. The grapes were identified as Tinco variety red grapes and were weighed at the scene and were valued at $700, which is a felony in California.
Ventura and Sandoval were booked on suspicion of Grand Theft, Possession of Stolen Property, Conspiracy, and providing false names to deputies. Unfortunately, the grapes had to be destroyed due to premature harvest and improper packaging.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
On September 25, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with the Assistant Minister of Defense of Serbia for Material Resources, Mr. Nenad Miloradovic within the 5th Anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX held in Baku, Azernews reports.
Weapons and equipment displayed at the booth of the state company Yugoimport SDPR of Serbia were inspected.
The meeting at the booth noted that relations based on strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Serbia are at a high level and emphasized the importance of further developing joint military cooperation.
The sides discussed the current state of relations and prospects in the military-technical field.
EXCLUSIVE A senior House Foreign Affairs Committee member is calling for a State Department office to be shuttered due to its "domestic censorship activities," according to a letter.
In the letter, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) raised concerns to Secretary of State Antony Blinken over "the outright censorship of Americans by the State Department under your tenure."
The House Republican zeroed in on the agency's Global Engagement Center, slamming the Biden-Harris administration for crafting internal press guidance that Issa argued was used to "smear" Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) and reporters covering the GEC's ties to apparent censorship efforts in the United States.
"By smearing anyone who disagrees with it as a Russian stooge, this network conflates U.S. citizens with a U.S. adversary, as State Department talking points did to my colleague Representative Jim Banks and the award-winning journalists Gabe Kaminsky and Matt Taibbi in a scheming sleight of hand that ruled out of bounds political opinions and fact-based reporting it opposed but cannot refute," Issa wrote in the letter to Blinken late Tuesday.
The letter comes after Banks sent his own letter earlier this month to Blinken over the 2023 press guidance. The Indiana Republican opened an investigation into a "sloppy and hypocritical lie" from the State Department over it appearing to try to link him falsely to Russia in the press guidance.
The leaked press guidance was first reported on earlier this month by the New York Post. It was issued internally to determine how to respond to Washington Examiner reporting on the GEC's funding of a British group blacklisting conservative media outlets from advertising dollars, as well as Taibbi's "Twitter Files" coverage of the GEC seeking to counter alleged COVID-19 disinformation.
The press guidance included a misquotation from Banks that appeared in a Russian media outlet covering a 2023 story by the Washington Examiner on the GEC. In the original quote, which Banks had given to the Washington Examiner last year, the lawmaker raised concerns over the GEC's $100,000 grant in 2021 to the Global Disinformation Index, a group targeting outlets in the U.S.
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"The intentional misquotation gives the impression that I had been speaking with a Russian propaganda outlet," Banks told Blinken in his letter.
In his letter this week, Issa told Blinken that the GEC's assertions that it "does not engage in domestic activity" are untrue. The GEC, an interagency group working with the Defense Department and other agencies, is mandated to act internationally.
But Republicans say the GEC's funding of the Global Disinformation Index, among other groups, shows that it has unjustly become involved with domestic censorship groups which the GEC has long denied. A provision through the annual State Department appropriations bill, which passed the House this summer and will be negotiated in the Senate, seeks to prohibit future funding to the GEC over the funding to GDI.
Earlier this month, the Republican-led House Small Business Committee published a report on the GEC that argued the interagency group promoted tech start-ups and other small businesses in the disinformation detection space to private sector entities with domestic censorship capabilities."
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
"The GEC is too intertwined with this ecosystem to be reformed, particularly as a matter of grants, outlook, and staffing," Issa wrote in the letter. "The United States critically needs a peacetime information function that counters with the truth the increasingly sophisticated adversaries opposed to Americas national interest. A functional State department would begin the overdue task of working in good faith with Congress to craft an enduring, credible solution."
"Mr. Secretary: It is time for this failed entity to be held accountable. It is time to bring an end to the Global Engagement Center," Issa added.
Eighty years ago this week, on October 24, 1944, Capt. Donald A. Amend from Wichita sailed toward Japan aboard a ship called the Arisan Maru. Crammed into the ships cargo hold with him were nearly 1,800 other Allied prisoners of war, including 30 fellow Kansans.
These soldiers hailed from across the state and represented multiple military branches. Private First Class Robert Lee Hale from Bonner Springs belonged to the famed Fourth Marine Regiment. Captain Herman H. Hauck from Valley Falls was in the Army. Corporal Russell L. Lash from Cunningham served in the Army Air Force, while Fort Scott native Alfred W. Hausam was a Navy torpedoman.
The Kansans were also survivors. Most had endured the notorious Bataan Death March and then over two years in brutal POW camps in the Philippines. But now, the sight of American airplanes over Manila signaled a shift in the tide of war.
Forces under General Douglas MacArthur landed in the Philippines just four days earlier. In a massive amphibious assault codenamed A-Day,, MacArthur fulfilled his famous promise: I shall return. Liberation seemed just weeks or months away.
What the sick, starving POWs locked inside the Arisan Maru didnt know was that another Kansan, 24-year-old quartermaster Jesse L. Selig from Dodge City, was aboard a nearby submarine. Minutes later, a torpedo fired from Seligs submarine, the Shark II (SS 314), would fatally cripple the Arisan Maru.
A staggering 1,791 of the 1,800 POWs died in the explosion or during the minutes and hours that followed. Sadly, all 31 Kansans perished. This little-known tragedy remains the deadliest friendly fire incident in U.S. military history. Its time we remembered these brave soldiers.
Only nine POWs on the Arisan Maru survived. Japanese ships recaptured four from the ocean. The other five miraculously floated 250 miles to China, where sympathetic villagers nursed the men back to health and helped them reach a remote American base.
Meanwhile, Jesse Selig and his 86 fellow submariners suffered a fate that made the tragedy even worse.
The Shark II didnt survive the October 24 encountersunk by a devastating depth charge attack that sent the submarine to the bottom of the South China Sea. The Japanese destroyer Harukaze announced the kill in a radio message, which U.S. radio spies in Hawaii intercepted and quickly decoded.
Vice Admiral Charles Lockwood, commander of Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet, documented the incident in a memorandum dated November 27, 1944. Now declassified, Lockwoods memo suggests that instead of fleeing the scene, the Shark II may well have been sunk while attempting to rescue American prisoners of war. Any effort to save POWs floating in the ocean, while heroic and noble, proved fatal.
Eighty years later, the U.S. government still calls the Arisan Maru sinking a tragic accident. But declassified records blur the line between accidental and intentional. American codebreakers knew the locations, destinations and cargos of Japanese ships in 1944. They secretly passed details to Submarine Command, which then directed submarine skippers precisely where to attack.
As we mark the 80th anniversary of this grim chapter of American history, we face mounting threats at home and abroad. Let us remember Donald Amend, Jesse Selig and their fellow Kansans who gave their lives on the Arisan Maru and Shark II.
Let their story remind us of the enduring value of freedom, service, and the vigilance required to protect democracy and our way of life. Their sacrifices, like those of so many others, demand nothing less.
Jeff Langholz is co-author and lead researcher of Hold Strong , a historical fiction book about the Arisan Maru tragedy . His grandfather served in WW2 and is buried at Fort Riley.
Rent is eating up a greater share of tenants income in almost every state
An apartment maintenance man changes the lock of an apartment after constables posted an eviction order in Phoenix. In Arizona, low wages, a housing shortage, and short-term rental and vacation homes are eating away at the stock of affordable housing for renters. John Moore/Getty Images
There were 21 states where a majority of tenant households spent 30% or more of their incomes on rent and utilities last year, compared with just seven states in 2019.
Nationwide, about 22 million renters are shouldering that percentage. Anyone paying more than 30% is considered cost burdened, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and may struggle to pay for other necessities, such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care.
Three presidential swing states had among the biggest increases in the share of renters who spent that much on housing: Arizona (to 54% from 46.5%), Nevada (to 57.4% from 51.1%) and Georgia (to 53.7% from 48.4%). The numbers are based on a Stateline analysis of American Community Survey data to be released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Florida and Maine also saw large jumps.
In Arizona, low wages, a housing shortage, and short-term rental and vacation homes are eating away at the stock of affordable housing for renters, according to Alison Cook-Davis, associate director for research at Arizona State Universitys Morrison Institute for Public Policy.
Youve got people across the state kind of pulling their hair out, saying I thought Arizona was supposed to be the affordable state, Cook-Davis said.
Rents in Arizona have shot up 40% to 60% in the last two years, she said. And the states eviction filings spiked 43% to 97,000 between 2022 and 2023, she said.
In places such as Arizona and Nevada where the housing bubble of the late 2000s left vacant houses, the construction of apartments and other homes has not caught up with population increases, Cook-Davis added.
A University of Nevada, Las Vegas, data brief reported in May that the Las Vegas area had the highest percentage of cost-burdened renters in the state, at 58.3%, more even than the New York City metro area (52.6%) or San Francisco metro area (48.9%).
Todays newly released census figures showed that in addition to Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, the states with the highest jumps in the share of cost-burdened renters were Florida, which increased to 61.7% from 55.9%, and Maine, at 49.1% from 44%.
That jump left Florida as the state with the highest rate of cost-burdened renters. It was followed by Nevada (57.4%), Hawaii (56.7%), Louisiana (56.2%) and California (56.1%).
Florida isnt the deal it used to be, said Christopher McCarty, director of the University of Floridas Bureau of Economic and Business Research. Florida still has disproportionately lower-paying jobs compared to other states, and rents are increasing compared to other states as well.
The states with the lowest rates of cost-burdened renters as of 2023 were North Dakota (37%), Wyoming (41.2%), South Dakota (41.3%), Kansas (43.5%) and Nebraska (44%).
Youve got people across the state kind of pulling their hair out, saying I thought Arizona was supposed to be the affordable state.
Alison Cook-Davis, associate research director for Arizona State Universitys Morrison Institute for Public Policy
The share of cost-burdened renters increased since 2019 in every state except Vermont (down to 47.8% from 54%), Wyoming (down to 41.2% from 44%), North Dakota (down to 37% from 38%) and Rhode Island (down to 48.1% from 49%).
Theres hope for the future in Arizona and other states with increased home construction, Cook-Davis said.
If you keep building, eventually this will sort itself out. But that could take years. Its a slow process, she said.
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.
WORCESTER U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern of Worcester has officially endorsed a yes vote on a ballot question that would end the MCAS graduation requirement, according to the campaign in favor of Question 2.
In Massachusetts, we believe that every student deserves a high quality education that sets them up for success and the opportunity to demonstrate their true potential, regardless of whether or not they are good at standardized testing," McGovern said in a statement provided by the campaign. "Thats why I believe we need to move beyond the MCAS high school graduation requirement. As the brother of two public school teachers, I am proud to support question two. I stand with educators and students across the commonwealth who believe in a more comprehensive approach to assessing student readiness.
Question 2 is one of five statewide ballot initiatives in the November elections.
A yes vote would support eliminating the graduation requirement. It would not eliminate the test; students in grades three through eight and 10th graders would still be required to take the exam in math, English, language arts and science, technology and engineering.
The Yes on 2 Campaign stated in a news release that McGovern is the first member of the state's federal delegation to weigh in on Question 2.
Proponents of the measure believe eliminating the MCAS as a graduation requirement will allow teachers more freedom to set curriculum and that standardized tests are an imperfect measure of learning.
Opponents argue that strong statewide standards have helped make Massachusetts' public education system one of the best in the country and that MCAS is strongly correlated with future academic and economic success.
McGovern joins the Massachusetts Teachers Association in supporting the question. The Worcester City Council and School Committee have voted to support Question 2.
"Rep. McGovern is known for his work standing up for the wellbeing of our young people and fighting for an economy where all can thrive, so its no surprise hes joining our effort to stop the harmful MCAS graduation requirement from robbing qualified students of their future," Massachusetts Teachers Association president Max Page said in a statement. "The MCAS graduation requirement gives too much power to a standardized test that cant fully measure a students preparedness for success after graduation, and it undermines the high standards of our state."
Wednesday the Committee for High Standards Not High Stakes, the political committee in support of Yes on 2, announced its first broadcast TV ad. The 30-second ad features a Waltham teacher speaking in favor of the ballot question.
Gov. Maura T. Healey, the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents and business groups have opposed Question 2. Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Timothy P. Murray, the former lieutenant governor of the state, has written an editorial in opposition to the ballot question for Commonwealth Beacon.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Rep. Jim McGovern endorses Question 2 to end MCAS requirement
This image taken from video released by New York City Office of the Mayor, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, shows mayor Eric Adams speaking during a videotaped statement. (New York City Office of the Mayor via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a grand jury on federal criminal charges, according to two people familiar with the matter, an extraordinary culmination to weeks of searches, subpoenas and resignations of top officials that have thrust the citys government into crisis.
The indictment detailing the charges against Adams, a Democrat, was expected to be unsealed Thursday, according to the people, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan declined to comment.
In a speech recorded at his official residence, Adams said he would remain in office, describing any charges he may face as entirely false, based on lies.
I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target and a target I became, Adams said. "I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit."
It was not immediately clear what laws Adams is accused of breaking or when he might have to appear in court.
Federal investigators had seized Adams' electronic devices nearly a year ago as part of an investigation focused, at least partly, on campaign contributions and Adams' interactions with the Turkish government. Because the charges were sealed, it was unknown whether they dealt with those same matters.
The indictment was first reported by The New York Times.
It marks a stunning turn for Adams, a former police captain who won election nearly three years ago to become the citys second Black mayor on a campaign that stressed his working class roots and commitment to public safety. But as Adams has made reducing crime a cornerstone of his administration, he has faced growing legal peril, with multiple federal investigations honing in on his top aides and his own campaign.
In the last two weeks alone, the leaders he appointed to oversee the country's largest police force and largest schools system have announced their resignations.
Adams is the first mayor in New York City history to be indicted while in office. If he were to resign, he would be replaced by the citys public advocate, Jumaane Williams, who would then schedule a special election.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has the power to remove Adams from office. Hochul spokesperson, Avi Small, issued a statement late Wednesday that said Governor Hochul is aware of these concerning news reports and is monitoring the situation. It would be premature to comment further until the matter is confirmed by law enforcement.
The indictment comes against the backdrop of the United Nations General Assembly, which has brought dozens of world leaders to New York, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The federal investigations into Adams administration first emerged publicly on Nov. 2, 2023, when FBI agents conducted an early morning raid on the Brooklyn home of his chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs.
At the time, Adams insisted he followed the law and said he would be shocked if anyone on his campaign had acted illegally. Days later, FBI agents seized the mayors phones and iPad as he was leaving an event in Manhattan.
Then on Sept. 4, federal investigators seized electronic devices from the citys police commissioner, schools chancellor, deputy mayor of public safety, first deputy mayor and other trusted confidantes of Adams both in and out of City Hall.
Federal prosecutors declined to discuss the investigations, but people familiar with elements of the cases described multiple, separate inquiries involving senior Adams aides, relatives of those aides, campaign fundraising and possible influence peddling of the police and fire departments.
A week after the searches, the city's police commissioner, Edward Caban, announced his resignation. About two weeks later, Schools Chancellor David Banks announced he would retire at the end of the year.
Adams himself insisted he would keep doing the citys business and allow the investigations to run their course.
Over the summer, federal prosecutors subpoenaed Adams, his campaign arm and City Hall, requesting information about the mayors schedule, his overseas travel and potential connections to the Turkish government.
Adams spent 22 years in New York Citys police department before going into politics, first as a state senator and then as Brooklyn borough president. He was elected as mayor in November 2021 a victory he has repeatedly said was ordained by God.
But after more than two years in office, Adams popularity has declined. While the city has seen an increase in jobs and a drop in certain categories of crime, the administration has struggled with an influx of tens of thousands of international migrants who overwhelmed the citys homeless shelters.
There has also been a steady drip of accusations and a swirl of suspicion around people close to the mayor.
In addition to the sprawling inquiries launched by Manhattan prosecutors, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are investigating another one of Adams close aides, Winnie Greco, who had raised thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the citys Chinese American communities and later became his director of Asian affairs. Greco hasnt commented publicly on the FBI searches of her properties and continues to work for the city.
When agents seized electronic devices from Caban, the former police commissioner, in early September, they also visited his twin brother, James Caban, a former police officer who runs a nightlife consulting business.
Agents also took devices from the schools chancellor; his brother Philip Banks, formerly a top NYPD chief who is now deputy mayor for public safety; their brother Terence Banks, who ran a consulting firm that promised to connect businesses to government stakeholders; and from First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, who is David Banks domestic partner.
All denied any wrongdoing.
While those investigations churned, federal authorities also searched the homes of newly named interim police commissioner, Thomas Donlan, and seized materials unrelated to his police work. Donlon confirmed the search and said it involved materials that had been in his possession for 20 years.
In his speech Wednesday night, Adams appeared to cite that search as proof of overreach by federal investigators.
Hours before the charges were announced, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on Adams to resign, the first nationally prominent Democrat to do so. Adams reacted with scorn, dismissing Ocasio-Cortez as self-righteous.
Adams, who is expecting a tough primary election next year, faced additional calls to resign once the indictment became public Wednesday night, including from many of his declared or expected Democratic challengers in the mayoral race.
Brad Lander, the citys comptroller, said the indictment marked a sad day for New Yorkers. State Sen. Zellnor Myrie added that it was especially painful for so many Black New Yorkers who put our hope and faith in this Mayor.
Scott Stringer, a former city comptroller who is expected to run against Adams, said the indictment had left New York City "with a broken down trainwreck of a municipal government."
Joe Borelli, the top Republican in the City Council, who is believed to be eyeing a run for mayor, said he would reserve judgment until viewing the charges.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) This afternoon, Sioux Falls city councilors discussed a new child care report put together by a Sioux Falls law firm.
The 20-page report comes after city councilors approved paying $75,000 to Woods Fuller Law Firm in May to help address the ongoing child care crisis. Woods Fuller says they are working on a few objectives including the need for an office for child care solutions and creating more in-home day cares. Those working in child care also addressed the need for funding.
Fund set up for Sioux Falls homicide victims 7 kids
Ultimately the crisis is lack of different revenue sources coming in to support this industry.
The report also pointed out that child care workers are in the bottom two percent of pay across all occupations nationally.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 pregnant woman sitting on a bed. A new report found a high number of prosecuted pregnant people for pregnancy or birth related reasons in Alabama. (Getty)
A new report says that nearly half of pregnant people who faced criminal charges for conduct associated with pregnancy, pregnancy loss, or birth after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal abortion protections came from Alabama.
The report from Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit based in New York City, estimates that there were at least 210 prosecutions related to conduct associated with pregnancy, pregnancy loss or birth nationwide in the first year after the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. Of those, 104 came from Alabama.
Pregnancy Justice protects and advances pregnant peoples bodily autonomy and rights by defending those who have been criminalized, advocating for proactive policy and legal change, and shifting the public narrative, according to their website.
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The 210 prosecutions are a high point, despite likely being an undercount, according to the report. The report said that 143 of the defendants are white, and the majority are low-income.
The report said that the majority of the pregnancy-related charges alleged a form of child abuse, neglect or endangerment, with the majority alleging substance abuse. In 133 cases, substance abuse was the only offense alleged.
Five cases had allegations concerning abortion, and 22 cases involved a fetal or infant demise and allegations around conduct concerning pregnancy, pregnancy loss or birth. 191 of the 220 charges lacked a harm requirement.
There were 198 charges of child abuse/ neglect/ endangerment, nine cases of homicide, eight drug-related crimes, three other, one abortion-related crime and one abuse of a corpse.
Dobbs also emboldened state legislatures, judges, anti-abortion activists, and prosecutors to develop ever more aggressive strategies to protect fetal victims, the report said. The movement to enshrine fetal rights takes many forms.
Lourdes Rivera, president of Pregnancy Justice, said in a Tuesday Zoom interview that these attacks have been more under the radar.
As we know, risky is very subjective, she said. Its often very mired with stereotypes and sexism and sometimes racism, and its really devoid of medical evidence, or sometimes contrary to medical standards of care, but, yet, people are being criminalized in this environment.
Prosecutors in Alabama for decades have used a chemical endangerment of a minor statute to prosecute pregnant women, a practice the Alabama Supreme Court upheld in 2013. In February, the court ruled that parents of destroyed embryos could collect civil damages under an 1872 statute allowing parents to collect damages for the deaths of their children.
A lot of what we see is because of the discretion of local prosecutors, Rivera said. And for some reason, I mean, I cant be in the minds of these prosecutors, but they have decided to prioritize going after pregnant individuals under these chemical endangerment laws and child abuse and neglect laws.
Rivera said that that reading embryos and fetuses into existing criminal laws is what is being used to criminalize pregnant people.
The architecture has been built, she said. Its being used right and I also think that, for the most part, because theres support for abortion rights in public opinion, its politically difficult for prosecutors to use the specific abortion laws, or specific abortion laws to prosecute individual patients, right? But this mechanism already exists to allow them to do it under the radar.
But pregnant people are also being prosecuted with a lack of prenatal care as supposed evidence for a crime being committed. The report cites 15 allegations of a lack of prenatal care.
Some people dont have access to care because abortion bans are creating maternal health care deserts, and some people dont have the resources, or some people are afraid to go because of fear of being criminalized, she said. These are structural issues. Theyre not individual moral failings.
She said that the outcome of these prosecutions are that pregnant people are afraid to seek medical care and referenced the deaths of women from consequences of abortion bans reported by ProPublica in Georgia.
Rivera said that one of the leading causes of death for pregnant people is opioid abuse and fear of prosecution could discourage a person from seeking help.
If you tell somebody, If you go to the doctor, youre going to get reported to the police, youre not going to go or if people know that, if they go to the doctor and share health information, and the result is that theyre going to lose their their baby and their children, theyre not going to go and so this is the natural outcome of such a criminalized environment and the fear of being criminalized, she said.
Jaylen Black, vice president of marketing and communications Planned Parenthood Southeast, said that she had not read the report in full but that it was unsurprising.
Weve always said that Alabama actually has the toughest abortion bans, and thats because there our inability to be able to help patients or people in Alabama when theyre seeking this care, she said. So its in their state law that says that we cant even help navigate people.
Black said that the danger of abortion bans was known but that the opposition cannot deny facts or court rulings.
This is no longer a hyperbole of, oh, this is women might, she said. Oh, this could. No, this is happening. Women are getting prosecuted. Women are dying and women are in extremely dire situations because of the state laws, because of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
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A new report finds that Indiana loses $4.22 billion annually due to child care issues, namely in missed tax revenues and employee shortages. (Getty Images)
The lack of affordable child care options in the state is costing the state not just on an individual level, but also in terms of economic potential, according to a new study from the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and Early Learning Indiana.
The price tag is $4.22 billion each year, of which $1.17 billion can be linked to annual loss in tax revenue. Other costs to economic productivity include the 57% of parents with young children who miss work or class because of child care problems. Or the 40% of parents, mostly women, who left the workforce as a direct result of childcare-related issues.
Childcare access and affordability issues continue to hold back the Hoosier workforce and future economic growth for our state, said Indiana Chamber President and CEO Vanessa Green Sinders in a statement. This report brings into focus just how important it is to solve these childcare challenges. While daunting, we see creative solutions emerging across Indiana and were confident that through sustained advocacy and collaboration, we can keep making progress to help our citizens and employers.
I live in a small town, so we have very limited options. We either have no childcare or pay $860 a month for childcare, which is almost as much as our mortgage.
Indiana mother of a 5-year-old
This struggle drags down the states economic performance and hampers future job growth, the study concludes. Relative to other states, Indiana ranks 27th in the nation for labor force participation the same rank the Hoosier State has for its unemployment rate, which sits at 3.5%.
The organizations note that high-quality child care has another benefit: boosting the future academic performance of the states youngest Hoosiers. Studies have linked high-quality child care with improved literacy rates the same scores that plummeted in recent years following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hundreds of thousands of Hoosier children need high-quality early learning experiences to thrive in school and beyond, said Maureen Weber, the president and CEO of Early Learning Indiana, in the release. For the business community, this report shows a two-fold impact as parents are forced to leave todays workforce while tomorrows workers cannot reach their full potential. We will continue our work with partners in government, business and the philanthropic community to ensure high-quality early learning opportunities for all Indiana children.
The study, which includes several personal stories from surveyed families, is part of a nationwide partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation analyzing the untapped potential of more than a dozen states.
Recent reform at the state level including philanthropic efforts are promising, the report adds, but the survey results show that there is more work to be done to maximize Indianas economic potential.
Though the state has thousands of providers and seats available but not enough. Only 61% can be served with existing capacity.
Quantifying the economic impact
Broadly speaking, the $4.22 billion in untapped economic potential falls into two categories: workplace disruptions such as worker absenteeism and employee turnover and lost tax dollars from unearned wages.
Parents missed an average of 14 days of work related due to child care disruptions per year absenteeism that cost employers $906 million annually. Others left the workforce entirely, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, and turnover cost employers another $2.14 billion.
The $4.22 billion in lost economic value for Indiana each year is not an abstract number. Each dollar lost due to insufficient childcare is a dollar that will not be used to fund a single mothers education, provide for a child, or put food on a struggling familys table, the report said. The annual loss to the state of Indiana is certainly eye-opening; compounded over decades, and measured in terms of unaddressed human need, it becomes staggering.
One-in-four parents reported quitting a job due to child care issues, while another 21% said they dropped from full-time work to part-time employment. Another 15% were fired, 11% turned down a promotion and 19% turned down a job offer.
Those who leave the workforce or interrupt their schooling due to child care issues damage their earning potential down the road.
Women bear the brunt of the childcare-related economic losses; women with children earn slightly less than males with children earn, even after controlling for job and qualifications. The study revealed that women are also more likely than men to quit a job to care for a child, the report found. Translated, this means women are not only leaving the workforce at higher rates but are also being penalized with a higher opportunity cost for doing so.
The survey ends by posing a question to stakeholders, including government officials, businesses and parents: What could Indiana do with an additional $4.22 billion each year?
Report findings
Survey results completed by 609 Hoosier parents of children under the age of six were gathered in March 2024 for the report and then used to craft a model to estimate the economic cost of the child care shortfall. Though the study broke down some data by gender, it did not do so for race or ethnicity.
Just over three-quarters of those parents, or 77%, paid for child care, telling researchers they primarily picked their provider based on affordability. Low-income families are defined as those earning under $30,000 while high-income families earn more than $100,000.
The average high-income household paid $895 per month for child care, compared to $544 each month for a low-income family. The middle-income families spent the least, at $496 per month. Combined, families spent an average of $677 per month.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a household should devote no more than 7% of their income to child care. But poorer families often spend more. The average annual cost of child care is closer to $8,000 annually.
In general, families in Indiana elect to place their child under the care of close family members at least some of the time. Parents in lower income tiers are most likely to report that their children are under the care of a parent, stepparent, or guardian. Such households often forgo a second income, electing instead to subsist on one parents salary, the study concluded.
Overall, high-income earners have a wider range of care options available to them relative to low-income earners, and high-income parents are more likely than other groups to be using multiple childcare solutions at the same time.
Two-thirds of parents got some sort of tax break or government assistance, such as vouchers or tax credits. Just one-quarter of parents reported employer support whether directly through subsidies or indirectly with flexible working options. Incentivizing employers to support child care options has been a big focus for the chamber, which has sponsored such efforts in the past.
Over one-quarter of parents experienced employment changes due to issues with their child care, or 27%. However, that response changed based on a familys income. One in five, or 20%, of high-income families experienced an employment change compared to 36% of low-income families.
In terms of employer support, parents said flexible hours and remote work were the most appealing to close child care gaps. Such amenities, traditionally only available to higher-wage earners, have reportedly reduced turnover and improved employee satisfaction.
Additionally, 11% of parents including 12% of fathers planned to leave their employment in the next year. Again, low-income families were more likely to be planning a career change than their high-income counterparts. Other parents reported dropping from full-time student status to part-time learning to accommodate inconsistent child care availability.
Most high-income families were satisfied with their child care arrangements, or 88%, compared to 74% of middle-income families and 66% of low-income families. Fathers also reported being more satisfied with their arrangements than mothers.
Additionally, parents utilizing Head Start or Early Head Start programs reported the highest satisfaction, at 87%, followed by parents using child care centers and families relying upon nannies or au pairs both at a 82% satisfaction rate.
Recent momentum
The conclusion doesnt include any proposed solutions to the states child care shortage something that lawmakers have struggled to address in recent years.
Actions taken in 2024 include increasing the maximum number of children allowed at unlicensed homes and extending licensing requirements. A separate law authorized a pilot program for micro centers, lowered age limits for child center staff and allowed child care employees to access state benefits for their own child care needs.
Those bills explicitly focused solely on deregulation and other proposals that didnt include a budget line and authors vowed to return to the issue in the 2025 budget-writing session.
However, the General Assembly will return in January with smaller reserves as well as long-term Medicaid funding problems and might not prioritize actions to close Indianas child care gap though both the Republican and Democratic candidates for governor have discussed the states child care issues in their campaigns.
Untapped_INDIANA_072924_DIGITAL
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To help inform voters about 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: Benton Sawrey
District/seat: Senate District 10
County or counties represented: Johnston
Political party: Republican
Age as of Nov. 5, 2024: 37
Campaign website: bentonsawrey.com
Current occupation: Attorney
Professional experience: Eleven years practicing law in Johnston County.
Education: B.A. North Carolina State University; J.D. University of South Carolina School of Law
Please list any notable government or civic involvement. Former member of Johnston Community College Board of Trustees; former member of the Downtown Smithfield Development Corporation Board of Directors; former member of Partnership for Children of Johnston County Board of Directors.
Sawrey declined to answer the remainder of our questions. The questions were:
What would be your top priority if elected?
By percentage, what raises should state employees, school staff and teachers receive in the next state budget?
What legislation would you support to improve Triangle transportation, housing or infrastructure? Please be specific.
Do you think the legislature should fund about $500 million for private school vouchers through the Opportunity Scholarship program? Why or why not?
Is there an issue on which you disagree with your party? What is your position on that issue?
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To help inform voters about 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: Mike Causey
Political party: Republican
Age as of Nov. 5, 2024: 74
Campaign website: mikecauseync.com
Current occupation: NC Commissioner of Insurance
Professional experience: NC Insurance Commissioner, NC State Fire Marshal
Education: BS Business Administration, AAS Civil Engineering Technology
Please list any notable government or civic involvement. NC Council of State, State Fire Marshal, Commissioner of Insurance, Keep NC Beautiful, Alamance Community Lions Club, Hornets Nest Kiwanis Club, Guilford County Agricultural Advisory Board, Guilford County Environmental Review Board, Adopt A Highway Coordinator NCDOT
What would be your top priority if elected?
Protecting consumers by maintaining a viable insurance market with more competition and more choices. Fighting insurance fraud and prosecuting violators to hold down insurance costs. Continue to be responsive and accountable to consumers and helping seniors with Medicare and prescription drug issues.
What percentage raises should your state agencys employees receive in the next state budget?
A specific dollar amount would be more helpful to state employees at the lower end of the pay scale. The amount or percentage will depend on legislative priorities and the state budget. I will advocate for increased pay to make sure state employees salaries compete or beat the private sector.
Will you attend all Council of State meetings?
Yes.
How will you work with the other nine members of the council, including the governor?
In a collaborative manner as I have done for the past eight years.
Lawmakers recently made the Office of the State Fire Marshal a separate position from the Insurance Commissioner. Do you agree with that change? Why or why not?
No. It is not good for consumers and takes away the oversight responsibilities over the Office State Fire Marshal that have been in place since OSFM was created. The separation causes a disconnect between DOI and the fire service in this state. An ill-conceived idea that could be made better with legislative action.
How should the insurance commissioner negotiate insurance rate increases and what level of input should the public have on those decisions?
By following state law under Chapter 58 and the rate making process as required by the General Assembly since 1977. As Commissioner of Insurance, I have represented consumers well and said No to every rate hike request before me during my tenure. Have negotiated settlements as close to zero as possible.
How will you investigate insurance fraud cases and discipline perpetrators?
Following state law as we are currently doing through the Fraud Control Group- Criminal Investigation Division at the NC Department of Insurance. DOI is aggressively fighting and investigating insurance fraud and getting felony convictions in record numbers.
Is there an issue on which you disagree with your party? What is your position on that issue?
Yes, State Fire Marshal issue and building inspection issue. I support the elected insurance commissioner having oversight of Office of State Fire Marshal and the Department of Insurance. I support more resilient building and fortified roofs in our coastal counties by strengthening state building codes.
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Republican Representative Clay Higgins made a racist attack on Haitians Wednesday, referencing several racist tropes and the debunked pet-eating conspiracy from Ohio.
In his post on X (formerly Twitter), the Louisiana congressman said, These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters but damned if they dont feel all sophisticated now, filing charges against our President and VP.
Twitter screenshot Rep. Clay Higgins @RepClayHiggins: Lol. These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters but damned if they dont feel all sophisticated now, filing charges against our President and VP. All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th. with screenshot of AP article: Haitian group in Springfield, Ohio, files citizen criminal charges against Trump and Vance
Higgins was apparently upset that a Haitian American nonprofit organization took advantage of an Ohio law allowing citizens to file affidavits for criminal offenses, and filed charges against Donald Trump and J.D. Vance for spreading the debunked rumor that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, captured and ate pets, ducks, and geese.
Higginss post is not only bigoted but also echoes the same sentiments as Trump, Vance, and many other right-wing figures who have called for Haitians legally in the United States to be deported. Many of these figures, led by the Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees, have continued attacking Haitians despite the uptick in violent threats against schools, hospitals, and government buildings in Springfield.
Recently, Trump has expanded his attacks against Haitian immigrants from Springfield to another small town, Charleroi, Pennsylvania. As was the case in Ohio, Charlerois town officials have pushed back, with Charleroi Borough Manager Joe Manning remarking, Theres what the former president is saying, and then theres easily observable reality.
Manning told The New Republics Greg Sargent that the Haitian community has helped fill jobs in the small Pennsylvania town and even showed solidarity with workers at a factory that was closing. But details like that are of little concern to people like Higgins, Trump, and Vance, who refuse to let the facts get in the way of a racist narrative they think will help them politically.
The front-runners to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stay out of American politics after he made comments critical of former President Donald Trump.
Zelensky, in the United States for the United Nations General Assembly, has been presenting U.S. officials with his victory plan to end the war against Russia. But his visit has simultaneously antagonized Republicans, whose support is needed for future military assistance.
In an interview with the New Yorker, Zelensky called Trumps running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), too radical over his views on Ukraine while suggesting that Trumps plan to end the war in a single day was nothing more than a campaign slogan.
I think it would be advisable for him to stay out of American politics, Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) told the Washington Examiner. They have their differences on some issues, but its not his place to litigate that here in the middle of an American election.
The warning comes ahead of Zelenskys visit to Capitol Hill on Thursday. He has the support of Senate leadership, including McConnell, but the GOP conference is still stinging over the roughly $60 billion in foreign aid Washington approved earlier this year.
A sizable minority of Senate Republicans voted against the package in April, questioning the value of the funding without a clear off-ramp to the conflict.
Those wounds were reopened on Sunday when Zelensky visited a munitions plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The visit was billed as a thank-you to the workers helping with Ukraines war effort, but Republicans called the trip election interference in a swing state.
I think that was a monumental blunder for Zelensky to get involved in American politics, said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), an adviser to McConnell. I mean, it's just not very smart. Ukraine needs all the friends it can get.
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Both Cornyn and Thune are running to replace McConnell as GOP leader next year.
Thune doubted there is an appetite to give Ukraine additional support in Congress, though he judged that the Biden administration could draw from existing funds in the near term.
I doubt it. We just don't have the bandwidth to deal with it, Cornyn added in a separate interview.
The Biden administrations authority to send $6 billion in equipment will expire at the end of the month.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
When asked about Zelenskys remarks on Wednesday, Vance sidestepped his criticism but said all options must be considered in negotiating an end to the war, presumably including Ukraine ceding some land to Russia.
He's going to negotiate an end to the conflict, Vance said of Trump. And of course, everything is going to be on the table, but I think nothing is going to be definitively on the table.
Marisa Schultz contributed to this story.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. senators are sworn in as jurors on Capitol Hill in Washington
By Bo Erickson and Moira Warburton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Representative Clay Higgins faced a call for censure on Wednesday for a repeating false claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, that the head of the Congressional Black Caucus denounced as inciting hate.
Democratic Representative Steven Horsford called for Higgins' censure after the Louisiana lawmaker posted, and later deleted, a message repeating Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's false claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, have been eating their neighbors' pets and calling on them to leave the country.
"These words on an official post do not reflect credibly on the House," Horsford said. "In fact, they are inciting hate. They are inciting fear, and because of that, it is time for this body to stand with one voice and to ensure that there is accountability."
The House went into recess afterward, without taking immediate action.
Springfield city and Ohio state officials have repeatedly debunked the false claim, though Trump has doubled down, vowing to try to deport members of that community, even though the majority of the 15,000 Haitian Americans in Springfield are in the U.S. legally.
"These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters," Higgins said in the since-deleted post on X social media. "All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th," which is Inauguration Day.
Higgins' office did not respond to a request for comment about the post and deletion.
Since Trump voiced the false claims during a debate against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, his rival in the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, Springfield has faced a wave of bomb threats to schools and other facilities.
Top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries in a statement blasted Higgins' post as "vile, racist and beneath the dignity" of the House.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Higgins had regretted the post.
"He was approached on the floor by colleagues who said that was offensive," Johnson told reporters. "He said he went to the back and he prayed about it, and he regretted it, and he pulled the post down."
(Reporting by Bo Erickson, Moira Warburton and Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)
A far-right US Republican was berated by fellow lawmakers Wednesday over a racist attack that referenced lies spread by the party's presidential election nominee Donald Trump about Haitians eating pets.
Louisiana's Clay Higgins -- taking his cue from Trump and running mate J.D. Vance -- has been pushing a false narrative that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating their neighbors' cats and dogs.
"Lol. These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters," Higgins posted on X before threatening the community to leave the country.
"All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th," he warned in the since-deleted post.
Vudu is the former name for digital video store and streaming service Fandango at Home, but it is likely that Higgins meant vodou -- sometimes rendered as "voodoo" -- a religion practiced chiefly in Haiti.
The Haitian community in Springfield is in the country legally, and Steven Horsford, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, took to the House floor alongside several fellow Democrats to call for Higgins to be censured.
"The disgusting statement by Clay Higgins about the Haitian community is vile, racist and beneath the dignity of the United States House of Representatives," said Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
"He must be held accountable for dishonorable conduct that is unbecoming of a member of Congress. Clay Higgins is an election-denying, conspiracy-peddling racial arsonist who is a disgrace to the People's House."
Higgins posted after a Haitian American lobby group filed charges against Trump and Vance -- which is permissible under Ohio law -- for spreading the rumor about the pet-eating.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson came to his fellow Louisiana congressman's defense, calling Higgins "a dear friend" who was "frank and outspoken" but "principled."
"He was approached on the floor by colleagues who said that was offensive," Johnson told reporters.
"He went to the back -- I just talked to him about it -- he said he went to the back and he prayed about it, and he regretted it, and he pulled the post down. That's what you want the gentleman to do, I'm sure he probably regrets the language he used."
ft/jgc
Republican vice president nominee Senator J.D. Vance is postponing his visit to metro Atlanta later this week.
A spokesperson with former President Donald Trumps campaign confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that Vances visit will be rescheduled because of the incoming Hurricane Helene.
[Hurricane Helene updates: Metro Atlanta, north GA under Tropical Storm Watch]
Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Brian Monahan says the storm will move across Georgia and into metro Atlanta and north Georgia late Thursday night and into Friday morning.
The campaign in the affected states is monitoring to ensure the safety of our team and residents, they said in a statement.
Vance was scheduled to host a Get Out the Vote in Flowery Branch on Thursday. Theres no word yet on when it will be rescheduled for.
RELATED STORIES:
Hurricane Helene officially formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday morning. Its expected to make landfall on Floridas Big Bend on Thursday night.
Former President Trump was in the Peach State on Tuesday to speak to voters in Savannah about his plan to lower taxes for business owners and highlight the importance of buying American-made goods for the economy.
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This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPMs home for opinion and news analysis.
Donald Trump portrays city neighborhoods as feral places, deranged by Democrats. The crime is so out of control in our country, Trump charged at a Michigan campaign stop during the recent Democratic National Convention. The top 25 [cities] almost all are run by Democrats and they have very similar policies. Its just insane. But you cant walk across the street to get a loaf of bread. You get shot, you get mugged, you get raped. We have these cities that are great cities where people are afraid to live in America.
This is, of course, a ludicrous caricature, as numerous bread-fetching city dwellers could attest. Yet to understand the significance of this seething anti-cities rhetoric both its political potency and the unique opportunity it presents for Democrats requires a brief look at a deep-seated tension in how conservatives have talked about urban areas across recent decades.
For more than a century, the Republican Partys conservative wing has run against cities. Early in the twentieth century, their animus was rooted in nativism and religion. They mobilized small-town Protestant voters by attacking heavily Catholic cities as beholden to popery, demon rum, and corrupt Irish machines. Several generations later, during Richard Nixons ascent, the partys right wing roused white voter antipathy toward escalating urban crime and civil uprisings, both supposedly fostered by the federal War on Poverty.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, leading conservative politicians and intellectuals modified Nixons rhetoric, adding elements aimed at corralling new urban and urban-adjacent Republican voters. During his 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan explicitly placed the social functions played by local neighborhoods at the heart of his urban commentary. Tender odes to the beauties of the human-scale city neighborhood paired with condemnation of government programs for undermining community self-help capacities infused national GOP communications output. Crucially, this often lent the partys outreach efforts a pro-urban veneer. Propelled partly by this neighborhoods appeal, Reagan attracted key support from traditionally Democratic white-ethnic inhabitants of older city and suburban areas.
But this component of Republican rhetoric eventually evaporated. In recent years, Donald Trump and his allies have moved hard in the other direction, portraying urban areas solely as dangerous alien enclaves and as menaces to the American Dream anchored in the suburbs. In refusing any reference to neighborhood ties and social virtues, the MAGA compulsion toward urban demonization concedes rhetorical ground that Democrats can occupy to their advantage. Right now, we believe, Democrats should assertively bring neighborhoods back into the conversation, but this time fully on their own terms.
By crafting an unabashedly progressive vision for the importance of urban neighborhoods to national health, they can draw upon the deep-seated affection many Americans have for their local communities and environments. At the same time, Democrats can potentially forge bridges to a segment of small-town and rural voters for whom neighborhood ties also play an emotionally resonant role. But to do this, they need to know something about how this term once percolated through, and now has vanished from, their GOP opponents political worldview.
Reagans Urban Rhetoric: Yoking Neighborhoods to the Conservative Agenda
Its seldom remembered today how thoroughly discussions of urban neighborhoods permeated American political campaigns in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Over the postwar decades, U.S. cities had been badly battered by social forces and policy choices that left large swaths of the urban fabric in tatters. What anxious 1960s commentators discussed as an urban crisis had come by the 1970s to seem a permanent state of affairs.
Yet amid the urban gloom of the 1970s, a countervailing force took shape: a diffuse yet powerful grassroots movement dedicated to bolstering the redeeming social ties and lifeways that urban neighborhoods still offered. Known simply as the neighborhood movement, this activist upsurge adopted an anti-technocratic ethos and a populist rhetoric. Participants portrayed neighborhoods as the little guys, facing off against the vast, neighborhood-destroying machinery of profit-hungry corporations, indifferent city halls, and a disdainful cosmopolitan media. Meanwhile, the authenticity, local relationships, and plucky self-advocacy of historic urban communities became fodder for innumerable newspaper features, from the style and real-estate sections to the city and national political pages.
While most of the movements national leaders leaned in a progressive direction, the movement didnt sit easily on the Left-Right spectrum. In some guises, local affiliates showed the influence of the counterculture, Black or Chicano nationalism, or the labor movement. In other guises, activists wielded the language of neighborhood stability and values to oppose initiatives such as school integration, scatter-site public housing, or disruptions to what 1976 presidential candidate Jimmy Carter in a much-pilloried gaffe called the ethnic purity of a community. The movement was always an ideological crazy quilt. Yet it fostered an upsurge of grassroots organizing that percolated through the nations older cities.
By the time Ronald Reagan embarked on his 1980 White House bid, the word neighborhood had taken on a central role in national politics one that would only grow that year. At the campaigns outset, Reagan strategists were highly attuned to the slow-motion splintering of the New Deal coalition. Several came to believe that a domestic focus not solely on workplace and economic issues, but rather on the sanctity of local residential environments, could accelerate the coalitions final demise.
Indeed, the 1980 Reagan neighborhood strategy was designed to win over a specific chunk of voters within the larger group that would later be dubbed Reagan Democrats. The targeted voters here were mostly white, generally lower-middle class, culturally conservative, disproportionately though not exclusively Catholic, suspicious of federal antipoverty and racial justice initiatives, but still rooted in either older city districts or blue-collar inner-ring suburbs rather than the burgeoning suburban periphery.
Moreover, to a substantial segment of these voters, neighborhood wasnt simply a warm and fuzzy word evoking friendly sidewalk greetings and block-party cookouts. At this moment, to speak of defending neighborhoods from outside meddling even when done in apparently race-neutral terms often had a powerful racial charge. Neighborhood schools, after all, had been the rallying cry of white urban opposition to busing and redistricting for school integration.
To create an urban rhetoric based around local community life, Reagans team had to take the protean language of the diverse neighborhood movement and bend it to their political agenda. This movements language was not automatically conservative; it had to be made to resonate in that fashion. This task was taken on by two key campaign speechwriters and strategists, who sought to hitch the term neighborhood to bigger conservative ideological goals.
On the libertarian side was John McClaughry, who had become enamored by the Small Is Beautiful philosophy motivating the previous decades enthusiasm for experiments in grassroots institution building. Though generally understood as an outgrowth of the 1960s counterculture, McClaughry thought, these impulses could be harnessed to promote an anti-statist economic vision. This was especially true when applied to urban neighborhoods, where government could be portrayed as the great disrupter of organic forms of human-scale organization.
Meanwhile, a conservative cultural component was refined by William F. Gavin, an advocate for a sharp-elbowed urban Republicanism that would be at home in blue-collar Catholic neighborhoods like his boyhood haunts in Jersey City. Neighborhood loyalties could become an even more potent national electoral force, Gavin insisted, when leftist activist movements were saddled with the blame for the decomposition of local traditions and lifeways.
The outcome in 1980 was a candidate with no real experience in traditional urban neighborhoods and no apparent affection for the struggling cities of which they were a part who sang their praises in almost romantic terms. This Reaganite theme first emerged in 1978, in a syndicated radio address where the future candidate gauzily pronounced: The neighborhood scale is a human scale a place where the real spirit of a community can develop. Many neighborhoods are rich in tradition and memories. And in many, there is a mixture of generations and functions, so that activity is continuous. This in turn works to keep crime down when, as one urban planning critic described it, there are eyes on the street, eyes of grandparents and shopkeepers who watch the passing parade.
And what was to blame for neighborhood decline, in this telling? Virtually every public program good, bad, or indifferent that had touched the nations urban fabric. As Reagan continued: Building codes, zoning laws, highway construction, urban renewal, federal mortgage insurance, the so-called Model Cities program, forced school busing these and other factors have often combined to depress the value of neighborhoods and undercut the fullness of their life.
These themes offered one anchor for the GOPs 1980 appeals. It was Gavin who devised Reagans resonant five-word campaign slogan: Family, Work, Neighborhood, Peace, Freedom. The rallying cry covered giant banners at the Republican National Convention and infused the candidates speeches. The appearance of neighborhood on that list was no accident. As Reagan pollster Richard Wirthlin later explained, each word was aimed at a coveted bloc of swing voters with neighborhood meant to especially woo white, blue-collar voters, particularly Catholics. The ensuing adoption of neighborhood symbols was so thoroughgoing that Harry Boyte, a noted left-wing organizer and scholar, would remark in astonishment: From the campaign rhetoric, one might have wondered whether Reagan had spent recent years involved in some neighborhood renewal project or seeking to get the local savings and loan to give more loans to the community.
Surprising some observers, Reagan won slightly more votes in urban counties than did his Democratic opponent, President Jimmy Carter. While its difficult to tell what role the neighborhood theme played in that outcome, staffers were confident that it helped. By this time, however, the neighborhood movement was already waning in strength as an organized political force. This decline was evident four years later by the comparative absence of neighborhood talk from both Reagans and Walter Mondales presidential campaigns.
But as the 1980s dawned, the Reaganite adaptation of the neighborhood movements basic social vocabulary had accomplished at least two things. First, it meant that Republican talk about older cities did not appear entirely hostile and aggressive. The partys essentially anti-urban policy aspirations were sprinkled over with praise for a specific type of urban social organization recognizable to voters. The story this conveyed to many voters and journalists was that despite planned GOP slashes to a host of programs crucial to beleaguered municipalities Republicans admired and sought to augment the urban environments that mattered to everyday people.
Second, these invocations turned neighborhood itself into a contested political term, one that couldnt be fully owned by the Democrats. This was true even though congressional Democrats, in their 1970s legislative output, had been far more supportive of pro-neighborhood regulations, such as anti-redlining laws, favored by the nations leading networks of neighborhood organizations. Now, if Democrats wanted to center pro-neighborhood initiatives in their rhetoric about urban issues, they would need to fight Republicans over that terms very meaning and importance. As it turned out, this wasnt a fight that many Democrats of the 1980s were interested in mounting.
Trumps Urban Rhetoric: The Enemy Within
The current Republican presidential candidates political stance toward cities was also forged during the 1980s, but it was one shorn of the paeans to neighborhoods that Reagan crafted so skillfully. Its contours are best captured by Donald Trumps intervention in the well-known Central Park jogger case of 1989, referenced by Kamala Harris in the recent presidential debate.
In April of that year, a white female investment banker was raped and left for dead in New Yorks Central Park. Trump, then known as a real-estate developer, reportedly spent $85,000 on ads in four New York newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty and the execution of five teenaged defendants four African American and one Hispanic collectively known as the Central Park Five. After charging that roving bands of wild criminals roam our neighborhoods, Trump wrote, I want to hate these muggers and murderers. They should be forced to suffer. The teens were found guilty and sentenced to prison.
Thirteen years later, however, DNA evidence and another mans confession compelled the New York Supreme Court to vacate the convictions. In 2014, the freed prisoners were awarded about $40 million in civil damages. By then, Trump was flirting with runs for political office. Asked if his confrontational style would harm his political prospects, Trump referred to the exonerated Central Park Five. Far from apologizing for calling for the execution of innocent men, Trump boasted that his stance on the case will help me. I think people are tired of politically correct.
For 35 years, Donald Trump has based his political appeal partly on blaming liberal politicians for urban neighborhoods becoming cauldrons of chaos and crime. In some ways, Trumps rhetoric resembles Reagans. When Reagan visited the South Bronx during the 1980 campaign, he famously remarked that he had not seen anything that looked like this since London after the blitz. Like Trump, Reagan blamed failed federal policies and recommended tax incentives and private business as the way to revive urban neighborhoods. And like Trump, Reagan supported a get-tough, law-and-order approach to crime.
Trump has sought to paint city neighborhoods as burning hellholes, alienating the same urban voters the GOP once courted. (TPM Illustration/Getty Images/Hieronymus Bosch)
The similarities, however, end there. In Reagans rhetoric, cities had a chance for redemption: if they embraced small government, neighborhoods would thrive again, people would look out for each other, and neighborhoods would become safe and prosperous once more. Trump, on the other hand, sees little room for redemption. Cities are the enemy. You do not redeem your enemies, you defeat them.
Trump is often viewed as totally lacking in verbal discipline, meandering aimlessly between vindictive tirades and self-important bluster. But from 2016 to the present his talk about cities and neighborhoods has demonstrated remarkable consistency. Across the nine years of speeches, press conferences, and tweets that we examined, Trump has hammered home the same message time and time again: cities are enemy territory.
Consider the following quote (odd even by Trumps standards) from a 2016 meeting with the Washington Posts editorial board where he questioned the need to fund military alliances like NATO. So I know the outer world exists and Ill be very cognizant of that. But at the same time, our country is disintegrating, large sections of it, especially the inner cities. Note how Trump segues almost effortlessly from discussing international military commitments to supposed urban decay at home.
The central metaphor Trump uses when talking about cities is war. Normally, war occurs between sovereign nations. For Trump, however, the war is within our nation. War requires two sides that are clearly differentiated and physically distinct. For Trump, the two sides are cities and suburbs. In the cities, as Trump tells it, you will find one of Americas enemies: foreigners who presumably look different from native-born Americans. They have infiltrated urban neighborhoods, in his telling, fueling a conflict between alien cities and native suburbs.
To understand Trumps view of cities and urban neighborhoods, you also need to understand how he views suburbs. Suburbs, in his speeches, are home to the real America. They are where the American Dream, a phrase Trump turns to repeatedly, is realized. For Trump, the American Dream is not about participating in community structures and projects but about the pursuit of material wealth, primarily through the ownership and defense of single-family homes.
By contrast, cities are the American nightmare, the place where the American Dream dies. Trump uses terms such as living hell, total decay, violent mayhem, and a disaster to describe cities. Cities are foreign outposts within American society. In this view, the hordes of illegal aliens invading the southern border have taken over city neighborhoods. During the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Trump called Chicago a war zone thats worse than Afghanistan.
Under this view, sanctuary cities whose policies, according to Trump, force prisons and jails to release criminal aliens directly into your neighborhoods are the archenemy. As he boasted at a 2017 rally: We are cracking down strongly on sanctuary cities that shield criminal aliens. And in order to stop the drugs, gangs, and traffickers, we are building a wall on the southern border.
And this war metaphor is not just talk. In 2020, Trump repeatedly mulled sending federal troops into cities to confront racial justice protests. In August 2022, shortly before announcing his third White House run, Trump returned to that theme, contemplating sending the National Guard into cities: In places where there is a true breakdown of the rule of law, such as the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago, the next president should use every power at his disposal to restore order and, if necessary, that includes sending in the National Guard or the troops, he said.
Such talk has policy implications, too. Trump repeatedly attacked the Obama Administrations Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which required local governments to develop plans to promote greater integration. While laudable, AFFH has few mechanisms to compel local governments to act. That did not stop Trump, however, from charging that AFFH will abolish the suburbs. As Trump tweeted in 2020: The suburban housewife will be voting for me. They want safety & are thrilled that I ended the long running program where low-income housing invaded their neighborhoods.
In short, Trump views cities as enemy territory. If he could, it seems, Trump would build a wall around cities to protect the suburbs. Trump does at times talk about saving cities, frequently touting his Opportunity Zone program, which cut taxes for investors in low-income neighborhoods. In fact, the Opportunity Zone program is a boondoggle for wealthy investors and has generated few benefits for residents of economically marginalized communities. In any case, Trumps aggressive rhetoric about how cities need to be contained and ultimately repressed drowns out any discussion of policies to help neighborhoods.
Trumps Rhetorical Retreat: An Opportunity for the Democrats
Undoubtedly, Trump has won political support by stoking suburban fears of urban crime and neighborhood decline. His get tough approach to policing has surely won him votes. Many citizens are afraid. Some cities do have higher levels of crime than suburbs. Many central-city neighborhoods face overwhelming challenges. Meanwhile, television and social media exaggerate urban dangers.
Every rhetorical strength, however, has a weakness. Trumps strategy is a glaring vulnerability that Democrats can exploit. The key is not to focus exclusively on attacking his fortress of lies and exaggerations, but rather to seize the rhetorical ground on urban neighborhoods that Republicans have abandoned and then to imbue it with progressive principles.
One explanation of Trumps extreme anti-city rhetoric may be that, unlike Reagan, he has conceded the urban vote to the Democrats. As noted earlier, in 1980 Reagan won more votes than Jimmy Carter in urban counties. Forty years later, however, Biden won twice as many urban-county votes as Trump (nearly 31 million to just over 16 million).
The urban rhetoric of presidential candidates, however, cannot be understood in isolation from the broader story they are telling about the nation. Reagan always had a sunny, optimistic narrative. In his 1989 Farewell Address he talked about a shining city on a hill, teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. Even though Reagan and Trump share a faith in unfettered markets, tax cuts for the rich, and hostility to federal social programs, the contrast in their language could not be more striking.
(TPM Illustration/Getty Images)
Trumps neighborhood rhetoric reflects a much darker vision of the nation than Reagans. His political appeal is based on activating fears about people who look and speak differently from his target voters. Trump gins up his political base by stoking anxiety about dangerous others, a category that includes immigrants, Muslims, and LGBTQ people, but also residents of central cities. In this view, outsiders (abetted by liberal politicians) are driving American society into chaos and decline. Only he, Donald Trump, can save God-fearing native-born Americans from being pushed aside and humiliated in their own country.
It is tempting to respond by countering Trumps rhetoric with facts: immigrants are not criminals and rapists (in fact, they commit crimes at lower rates than native-born Americans); cities are not cauldrons of chaos (in fact, crime is down); and suburbs are not uniformly bastions of the American Dream (in fact, many inner-ring suburbs are struggling). Yet if exasperated pro-city commentators end solely by debunking Trumps anti-cities invective, this may only reinforce Trumps rhetorical framing (dont think of an elephant!). Facts never trump (pun intended) emotional rhetoric. Democrats need an alternative urban rhetoric that draws from the deep progressive traditions in American politics.
In recent decades, centrist Democrats have utilized a pro-urban rhetoric, but it is a thin rhetoric rooted in a technocratic vision of cities as centers of the new knowledge economy. Journalists and academics are fond of pointing out that urban areas voting heavily Democratic are the most productive and innovative in the American economy. This is true, but such an appeal just underscores the difference between cities and the rest of the country. We need a rhetoric that does not divide cities from the rest of the nation but unites them in a common project.
Given its positive emotional resonance, the word neighborhood could sit at the center of that rhetoric. Reagan cannily linked Americans affection for strong neighborhoods to his small-government, free-market agenda. Trumps inability to comprehend the positive resonance of urban neighborhoods has created a rhetorical vacuum that Democrats can fill to their advantage. Democrats can broaden their political appeal by drawing on Americans attachment to local communities. But it should not be an appeal to the homogeneous tightknit European-ethnic neighborhood that Reagan and Carter fought over and that Trump has updated with his defense of fortified, predominantly white suburban subdivisions.
Todays urban neighborhoods are much more diverse, containing not only different races and ethnicities but different lifestyles and family types. Pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods foster face-to-face encounters in shared public spaces that nurture tolerance and a sense of interdependence. They cultivate community without conformity. Strong neighborhoods help people to get along at the same time that they help them to get ahead. They help to reconcile the longstanding tension in American life between individualism and community.
For several key voter groups, this kind of place-based appeal could have meaningful resonance. For instance, in the highly scrutinized Blue Wall states, many neighborhoods whether in major metropolises or in smaller cities like Erie, Lansing, and Racine are still suffering from legacies of industrial job loss, which massively destabilized everyday local environments and institutions. In the same states, the prospects and perils facing individual neighborhoods are of concern for many urban and inner-ring suburban Black and Latino voters, especially given how neighborhood health often correlates with opportunities for economic mobility. Responding explicitly to those concerns could counteract minor but real erosion among these two traditionally Democratic voter blocs.
In short, engaging voters on why neighborhoods matter, paired with policies explicitly crafted to nourish fragile communities at the most local scale, can help Democrats expand majorities among current coalition partners while making small but useful inroads in economically precarious Republican-leaning regions.
Besides appealing to specific places and demographics, the language of neighborhood can resonate more broadly with many Americans who yearn for strong and diverse communities. Speeches at the Democratic National Convention contained seeds of a robust language about the crucial role neighborhoods can play in enhancing freedom and equity. In his acceptance speech, vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz used the term neighbor(s) seven times. That family down the road, Walz said, they may not think like you do, they may not pray like you do. They may not love like you do. But theyre your neighbors. And you look out for them. And they look out for you. Everybody belongs. And everybody has a responsibility to contribute. At their best, Walz suggested, neighborhoods support the freedom to live as one chooses while also instilling a shared sense of community responsibility: again, community without conformity.
In a powerful DNC address earlier in the week, Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia invoked the language of neighborhoods for similar purposes: I need my neighbors children to be okay so that my children will be okay. I need all of my neighbors children to be okay. I need American children on both sides of the track to be okay. We should reject the GOPs zero-sum vision, Warnock was suggesting, that helping disadvantaged neighborhoods threatens the well-being of those doing somewhat better. Strong neighborhoods support shared prosperity.
Such invocations of mutual responsibility and intertwined futures played little part in the Republican anti-statist appropriation of neighborhood themes during Reagans ascent. Today, Donald Trumps dystopian portrayals of cities demonstrate that he is temperamentally incapable of even hollow gestures toward the support that strong neighborhoods can, and often do, offer urban inhabitants up and down the class ladder.
The opportunity for Democrats is clear: their MAGA opponents have vacated the public discourse over what neighborhoods mean for modern American life. Just as Democrats with their defense of diverse families have redefined what it means to be pro-family, they also need to reframe what it means to be pro-neighborhood. Neighborhoods that are racially, ethnically, and economically diverse can be successful neighborhoods. They exist in suburbs and small towns as well as big cities.
Many neighborhoods are struggling, however. An appeal to the importance of neighborhoods needs to be more than just talk. Democrats should emphasize that strong neighborhoods are too important to be left to the vagaries of the free market. Neighborhoods need help from government. The expansion of social insurance and safety-net programs like Social Security, Medicare, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and childcare subsidies is crucial for the health of economically precarious neighborhoods, but this is not enough.
Many of the policies of the Biden-Harris administration, as well as Harriss more recent housing policy proposals, can rightly be framed as pro-neighborhood. Addressing housing affordability will help to stabilize neighborhoods, as will programs like the eviction moratorium during COVID. The federal government can support the YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) movement by encouraging communities to eliminate exclusionary zoning. A diverse neighborhood policy agenda could include increased funding for community development block grants that target fiscally stressed communities, stronger enforcement of anti-redlining laws, more funding for home repair, increased support for grassroots community development corporations and much more.
Whatever policy choices might ensue, placing neighborhoods closer to the center of their vision for our national future will allow Democrats to move beyond cold neoliberal defenses of the American city, while aligning themselves with daily relationships that many voters experience as vital and deeply meaningful.
The authors would like to thank Jake Shaw for helping with the research.
Resentencing for Lee Malvo postponed in Maryland after Virginia says he can't attend in person
FILE - Sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo, center, is surrounded by deputies as he is brought into court to be identified by a witness during the trial of sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad at the Virginia Beach Circuit Court in Virginia Beach, Va., Oct. 22, 2003. (AP Photo/Davis Turner, Pool, File)
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) A Maryland judge on Wednesday indefinitely postponed a resentencing hearing for convicted sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, after Virginia rejected a request to temporarily let him out of prison to attend a court session in Maryland.
Malvo and his partner, John Allen Muhammad, shot and killed 10 people and wounded three others over a three-week span in October 2002 that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area. Multiple other victims were shot and killed across the country in the prior months as the duo made their way to the area around the nations capital from Washington state.
Malvo, who was 17 years old at the time of the shootings, was convicted of multiple counts of murder in Virginia and Maryland and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He has been serving his sentence in Virginia.
Muhammad, who was older than Malvo and was accused of manipulating him to to serve as a partner in the shootings, was executed in Virginia in 2009.
Since Malvo was initially sentenced, though, a series of Supreme Court rulings and changes in Maryland and Virginia law have severely limited or even abolished the ability to sentence minors to life in prison without parole.
In 2022, Maryland's highest court ruled 4-3 that Malvo is entitled to a new sentencing hearing.
That hearing was scheduled to occur in December in Montgomery County, Maryland. But Malvo has insisted that he be allowed to attend that sentencing hearing in person, and his court-appointed lawyer argued that if isn't allowed to do so, his guilty pleas in Maryland should be vacated and he should be given a new trial.
He has a right to be here in person, and he's not waiving it, his lawyer, Michael Beach, said at Wednesday's hearing.
Prosecutors said they made efforts to have Malvo transferred from a Virginia prison to attend a hearing, but those efforts were rejected.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkins spokesman, Christian Martinez, confirmed after Wednesdays hearing in a written statement that (d)ue to his violent criminal history, Governor Youngkins position is that Mr. Malvo should complete his Virginia sentence before being transferred to Maryland for resentencing.
With Malvo unavailable to attend in person, prosecutors said Malvo could either attend a hearing virtually or wait until he is released from custody in Virginia.
Montgomery County Circuit Judge Sharon Burrell sided with prosecutors, She said that since Malvo insists on attending in person, and Virginia won't release him, she had no choice but to indefinitely postpone the resentencing until he finishes serving his time in Virginia.
Malvo is serving a life sentence in Virginia, but is eligible for parole. A parole board rejected his most recent parole request in 2022.
Beach said after the hearing that he expects to pursue any appeal options available to him. He said during the proceedings that if the sentencing hearing is delayed for an extended period of time, he believes it raises due process issues that could require the Maryland charges against Malvo to be dismissed.
Malvo, who is 39, attended Wednesday's hearing virtually, wearing a yellow prison uniform. He looked youthful, similar to his appearance at the time of his arrest.
Perhaps underscoring the difficulties of conducting a hearing over video, Wednesday's hearing was delayed three times when the video hookup between the prison and courthouse disconnected.
Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said after the hearing that it's too early to say what kind of prison term he would seek once Malvo is sentenced in Maryland. He said, though, that any prison term imposed on him in Maryland should be in addition to the time he served in Virginia, rather than giving Malvo credit for time served.
A new residential cruise ship plans to sail around the world every 2 years. Cabins start at $11 million.
Ulyssia Residences plans to launch a residential ship in 2028.
The 132-condo Ulyssia would sail around the world every 2 years.
Buyers need a net worth of at least $27.9 million to be considered for its $11 million-plus cabins.
Do you have a travel itch, a love of sailing, and an extra $11 million to spare? If so, Ulyssia Residences has a ship for you.
The Switzerland-based company says its first 132-cabin residential vessel will launch in October 2028. From then on, the floating condominium would sail around the world every 2 years, from the cold waters of Greenland to the warm beaches of Madagascar.
Ulyssia is one of several new contenders vying for cruise lovers' hearts and wallets. But unlike competitors such as Villa Vie and GlobeCruises, this newcomer is marketing its vessel as a "superyacht" replete with high-end amenities like helicopters and submarines for ultra-high-net-worth travelers.
Ulyssia's condos would be some of the priciest and largest in the niche residential cruise industry.
The ship, shown in a rendering, would accommodate up to 300 guests and 320 crew. Ulyssia Residences
The ship's 132 cabins would accommodate up to 300 residents and guests. However, Alain Gruber, the CEO of Ulyssia Residences, told Business Insider in an email that he estimates the vessel will have an average of 200 guests onboard.
The one- to six-bedroom condos would start at 9.8 million euros, or about $10.95 million.
The ship would have 22 rentable guest suites and 10 penthouses, as shown in a rendering. Ulyssia Residences
It's a relatively steep starting cost one of Villa Vie's most expensive cabins was reserved at $469,000, although it's about three times smaller than Ulyssia's smallest 1,216-square-foot accommodation.
Yet both are compact compared to Ulyssia's penthouses, the largest of which would span 10,570 square feet. As expected, with this size comes a steeper starting cost of 60 million, about $67.04 million.
No matter the square footage, Ulyssia's floating condos would all have amenities like reception rooms, kitchens, terraces, and floor-to-ceiling windows.
It's the price of a permanent around-the-world vacation on a luxury ship.
Ulyssia, shown in a render, would sail around the world every 2 years. Ulyssia Residences
Gruber said residents would vote on management's itinerary options, finalized three years in advance.
Like many mass-market around-the-world cruises, the ship would spend at least three nights up to one week at every port, giving travelers more time to immerse themselves in each destination.
Expect up to two "major expedition" segments every year, one in a cold climate (like the Northwest Passage or the Arctic) and one in warmer weather (like Madagascar or Micronesia).
Gruber noted that most interested travelers have been families and folks in their 50s.
Ulyssia's team started planning its residential ship, shown in a render, two years ago. Ulyssia Residences
The ship would have children and education services to accommodate the youngest travelers.
As for the older guests, the company's CEO expects most to be "entrepreneurial" the kind of people who would own multiple homes in different countries, Renato Chizzola, Ulyssia's senior vice president of lifestyle and development, said in a press release.
But there's one major roadblock between these wealthy would-be residents and a life at sea.
Ulyssia said Meyer Werft will be building its vessel. Ulyssia Residences
Ulyssia doesn't have a ship yet, and the vessel acquisition process has become an infamously difficult challenge for similar startups.
Residential cruise companies can either build a new ship (as Ulyssia plans to) or refurbish an older used vessel.
Storylines is pursuing the former by building its own luxury residential ship. However, its launch has been delayed eight years to 2027, and former employees, consultants, and investors told BI in 2023 that they'd started to doubt the vessel would ever be built.
Life at Sea Cruises intended to purchase a used vessel for its three-year sailing. But it failed to secure enough funding and canceled its voyage two weeks before its planned departure in November 2023.
The company filed for bankruptcy eight months later.
Villa Vie successfully purchased a more-than-30-year-old vessel for its never-ending cruise, which could set sail in the coming days. However, its launch has already been delayed four months amid issues like the ship's aging rudder stocks and certifications.
Ulyssia's team tapped Meyer Werft to build its superyacht, a 1.7 billion about $1.9 billion project.
Ulyssia, shown in a rendering, would have amenities like a beach club. Ulyssia Residences
The popular German shipbuilder has constructed cruise ships for recognizable companies like Disney, Celebrity, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean.
Ulyssia said construction on its vessel is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2024 "but no later than" September 2025. The ship would then be completed in October 2028 (but by March 2029).
Gruber said his team is 'fully funded' and 6 months ahead of schedule.
Ulyssia, shown in a render, would have high-end common spaces. Ulyssia Residences
Frank Binder, the company's founder and chairman, is the principal investor. Customer deposits and financial institutions will also help finance the shipbuilding process.
The ship's amenities could provide some insight into its massive price tag.
Ulyssia, shown in a render, would have amenities like a "culinary studio," market, and water toys. Ulyssia Residences
Ulyssia is promising amenities like a spa and gym with indoor padel and pickleball courts.
Take a dip in the ocean water at the ship's marina, which would be outfitted with water toys and dive equipment, including two submersibles.
Or, head to the skies with one of the two eight-seater helicopters.
Feeling peckish? The ship would have seven restaurants and four bars.
Residents would have amenities like indoor and outdoor pools, as shown in a render, and a garage for their vehicles and bicycles. Ulyssia Residences
Residents can also expect traditional cruise ship facilities like pools, a cigar lounge, a nightclub, a theater, and a medical center.
The latter would be upgraded with equipment for diagnostics and surgery, such as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner.
Several members of Ulyssia's team, including its CEO, previously worked for The World, currently the only luxury residential ship in operation.
Ulyssia said its ship, shown in a render, would have two helicopters that would take guests to excursions, airports, and hospitals. Ulyssia Residences
The World and Ulyssia have two key differences their vessels' ages and their residents' net worth.
The World's ship would be 26 years old by the time of Ulyssia's planned launch in 2028.
The World requires its buyers to have a minimum net worth of $10 million.
Ulyssia would have amenities like a "culinary studio," market, and water toys. Ulyssia Residences
Ulyssia's minimum is 25 million about $27.87 million.
At least its travelers would get to see the world on a luxury superyacht. The helicopters and submarines probably help, too.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Several metro-east fire departments responded to a fire in the 100 block of Judith Lane in Cahokia Heights early Wednesday morning after they received a call reporting the fire at 1:44 a.m., the assistant chief of the Camp Jackson Fire Department said.
Nine people who were in four apartments in the building were able to get out safely, according to Assistant Chief Sharon Davis.
The two dogs that were inside the building died in the fire.
When firefighters arrived on scene, there was heavy fire in the attic and roof.
Davis did not know a cause for the fire and said the Illinois State Fire Marshals Office is investigating the fire.
The Camp Jackson Fire Department was assisted by firefighters from Cahokia Heights, Columbia, Prairie Du Pont and Sauget.
When an official with the Green Bay, Wisconsin, school district previewed new student test results for the school board last month, he urged members not to get too excited.
While it looked like the number of students scoring at the lowest level dropped by over 12%, the reality was more complicated.
Comparing 2023 to 2024 is challenging, David Johns, an associate superintendent, told the board. In conjunction with the unveiling of new standards last year, the state lowered its bar for proficiency and recalibrated performance levels. Below basic became developing and basic, approaching.
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Its not exactly apples to oranges, but its like apples to apple juice, he said.
Wisconsin isnt the only state that recently instituted changes that effectively boost proficiency rates. Oklahoma and Alaska recently made similar adjustments. New York lowered passing or cut scores in reading and math last year, while Illinois and Colorado are considering such revisions.
Changing standards and proficiency targets is a routine process for states that some say offers a more accurate reflection of what students know. But given the cataclysmic effects of COVID on student learning, experts say now is not the time to tweak how we measure performance.
Many parents are already underestimating the degree to which their children are lagging behind, said Tom Kane, a Harvard researcher who has been tracking students recovery from COVID learning loss. Lowering the proficiency cuts now will mislead them further.
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Even Jill Underly, Wisconsinss education chief, confessed to some bewilderment about the process last year.
The crummy thing is, I am an educator and I dont understand it so how are parents supposed to understand this too? she wrote in a June 2023 email. For example, what does Proficient mean vs. Advanced? That they are at grade level vs. the next grade level? I just hate this stuff so much.
In a 2023 email to staff, Wisconsin state Superintendent Jill Underly expressed some confusion about the states process for setting proficiency standards and said it should be easy enough for parents to understand.
The conservative Institute for Reforming Government, which obtained the email through a public records request and shared it with The 74, is pushing the state to level with parents about poor student performance in the aftermath of COVID.
Shifting the goal posts sends a message that we are accepting post-pandemic levels for student performance and shows a lack of belief in every student, said Quinton Klabon, the think tanks senior research director.
Chris Bucher, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, said Underlys comments show she was doing her job by asking the departments experts tough questions in an effort to make the complex calculations more transparent. To help explain the changes, the department released a summary of how it altered standards and cut scores.
An outlier
The scoring changes in Wisconsin and other states are likely to fuel fresh criticism of the honesty gap the chasm between the disparate, conflicting measures states use to determine student progress and the more rigorous, uniform standard for proficiency set by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Known as the Nations Report Card, NAEP defines proficiency as solid academic performance and competency over challenging subject matter. Its a higher bar than merely being on grade level and one that has long triggered debate. Education researcher Tom Loveless, formerly with the Brookings Institution, calls it pie-in-the-sky, and one analysis of international tests showed that many students in high-performing countries couldnt reach it.
A 2021 report from the National Center for Education Statistics showed the decline over time in states setting their proficiency standards at the lowest level. NCES will release an updated report in October. (NCES)
But its a goal many states were striving toward just prior to the pandemic, when several commentators first raised alarms about the honesty gap, and one some experts think states shouldnt abandon.
It is the only common yardstick that is available to compare student achievement across states and across the large urban districts, said Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for NAEP. From the boards perspective, standards are not going to be lower for [kids] when they enter college or the world of work.
Frustrated with shifting test standards in New York, Ashara Baker, a Rochester mother and state director of the National Parents Union, created her own report on student outcomes. While she included state data, broken down by race, she also cited NAEP proficiency rates as a comparison.
When youre lowering these cut scores, clearly the goal is to show some sort of growth, she said. But I think were getting away from the actual goal of why we do assessments. They should really demonstrate where kids are struggling or where there is a gap.
Christy Hovanetz, a senior policy fellow at ExcelinEd, a think tank, added that unlike grades on assignments and homework, state assessments should provide parents objective information on how their children are doing. Schools also use them to determine which students are eligible for extra help. Lowering the bar, she said, means some students who need aid might not get it.
These assessments are how we help identify students for extra support and assistance, she said. Now there will be a lot of kids that arent going to be getting those high-dosage tutoring sessions or who arent going to be getting that additional support in math that they might need.
As with most states, New Yorks threshold for proficiency lines up with NAEPs basic level, defined as partial mastery of fundamental knowledge and skills, according to a 2021 report from the National Center for Education Statistics. The report showed that at the time, Wisconsin had some of the toughest standards for reading and math in the country, which meant that a higher percentage of students fell short compared with other states.
That made Wisconsin an outlier Bucher said.
Our previous test scores made it appear kids were performing worse on standardized assessments than they actually were, he said. We listened to a group of experts educators who are in the classroom each day teaching kids who recommended we use cuts that align to our standards and take us closer to grade-level expectations.
In an email to staff, Wisconsin state Superintendent Jill Underly responded to the new labels for performance levels on the states Forward Exam and expressed a desire to set proficiency standards more in line with other states.
Next month, NCES is expected to update its 2021 report with a new comparison of states proficiency cut scores and NAEP, one that is likely to renew criticism of the way states measure student performance.
States that have been more ambitious are now sticking out like sore thumbs, Klabon said. Its kind of a race to the bare minimum, rather than a race to the top.
A sense of urgency
One state that is choosing to stick out is Virginia. Rather than calling it unrealistic, the state, under Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, is hoping to reach the ambitious NAEP standard.
The governor drew attention to the honesty gap in 2022, announcing sweeping changes to the states testing regimen that include stricter standards, assessments and cut scores. A new school rating system, which takes effect in 2025-26, is expected to label a majority of schools off track or in need of intensive support.
We are not telling parents, students, teachers, policymakers and citizens the truth about where our children really are on mastering content, state education Secretary Aimee Guidera told The 74. Why isnt there a sense of urgency?
The 2021 NCES report showed that Virginia had the lowest standards for proficiency in reading. Virginia education officials pin its poor showing on decisions made by previous Democratic governors. In 2014, under former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the state passed a law requiring students to take fewer tests. And under former Gov. Ralph Northam, the State Board of Education lowered cut scores in reading and math.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, along with Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera, left, and state Sen. Tara Durant, visited a high school in Stafford in September, 2022. That year, he issued a report on the states honesty gap with NAEP. (Craig Hudson/The Washington Post/Getty Images)
Some critics accuse the Youngkin administration of fueling a negative perception of schools in order to promote private school choice, including education savings accounts, which failed in the state legislature last year.
Virginia saw the largest decline in the nation in fourth grade reading on the 2022 NAEP test, dropping from an average score of 224 to 214. But 32% of students were proficient same as the national average. On several other measures, including the SAT and Advanced Placement exam, Virginia students have historically ranked near the top.
Advancing school choice was a mandate for Youngkin and he has pursued it with dogged determination, said Cheryl Binkley, president of 4PublicEducation, a Virginia advocacy group. He has appointed school choice advocates to the state board, she said, and pledged to increase the number of charter schools.
But Guidera points to increases in teacher pay and over $400 million the state provided to improve literacy as evidence that leaders arent trying to tear down public schools.
Under a different Republican administration in Oklahoma, the opposite scenario is playing out. As The 74 reported last month, the state education department, led by Superintendent Ryan Walters, made its state tests less challenging, especially in reading. In third grade, for example, 51% of students scored proficient or better, compared to 29% last year.
Richard Cobb, superintendent of the Mid-Del district, near Oklahoma City, said district leaders know student performance has improved, but the departments changes had the effect of artificially inflating the magnitude of the gains.
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Skyrocketing Test Gains in Oklahoma Are Largely Fiction, Experts Say
The move represented a break from work led by Walterss predecessor, Joy Hofmeister, to align the state with NAEPs stronger proficiency targets. In 2017, over 70% of students on average were performing at the proficient level through elementary and middle school on state tests, but only a quarter went on to earn a competitive score on the ACT test in 11th grade.
The whole idea was trying to get an honest indicator of student readiness as early as third grade when kids start testing, said Maria DBrot, a former deputy superintendent in Oklahoma who traveled across the state with Hofmeister to explain the honesty gap to local superintendents.
Their message wasnt well received.
Joys adjustment to the cut scores was wildly unpopular and demoralizing, said Cobb, who has led the district since 2015. NAEP should not be our target, and many superintendents told her that.
But in the summer of 2017, 121 educators met at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City to determine tougher cut points for each performance level. Just as Hofmeister warned the public, scores plummeted. The proficiency rate in third grade reading, for example, dropped from 72% to 39%.
Hofmeister, who was reelected in 2018, remains proud of that work, which she said would make students better prepared for college and a competitive job market.
I remember feeling like this is worth it if it means Im a one termer, she said.
Steam rises out of the nuclear plant on Three Mile Island, with the operational plant run by Exelon Generation, in Middletown, Pennsylvania (Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS) (Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/AFP)
Two American energy companies are each preparing to bring a nuclear power station back into service, an unprecedented operation which should help meet the growing need for electricity in the United States.
With demand for nuclear energy rising in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the US government eager to transition to carbon-free resources, the calculus has changed on the shuttered nuclear plants.
On Friday, Constellation Energy unveiled plans to restart a reactor at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island, which was closed for economic reasons in 2019. The plant was the site of the worst commercial nuclear power accident in US history in 1979.
The relaunch initiative is part of a 20-year electricity supply contract with Microsoft.
Last October, Holtec started the ball rolling by filing an application with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to resume operation of the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan, which was shut down in 2022.
According to several specialists, restarting this plant would be a world first.
"Everyone's kind of watching what we're doing with this project and seeing how viable it is," said Holtec spokesperson Patrick O'Brien. "So it's something that if we can show it's done, the international stage might start looking at the same kind of thing."
Contacted by AFP, the NRC said that only one application for restart had been submitted to it to date, that of Holtec, which is aiming for the end of 2025.
The dismantling of a power plant takes several decades, and in the case of Holtec's Palisades site it had not begun in full.
At Three Mile Island the fuel was removed from the reactor, but "major equipment removal or demolition activities have not started," a Constellation spokesperson told AFP.
"There is a lot that you can reuse at a site, even if you have to rebuild the nuclear plant," said Jacopo Buongiorno, professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Holtec estimates the cost of the operation at around $2 billion, according to its spokesman, while Constellation puts the bill for the Three Mile Island restart at $1.6 billion.
By comparison, the construction of the two most recent reactors in the US, to be connected to the grid in 2023 and 2024 at the Vogtle site in Georgia, cost more than $30 billion.
- More to come? -
With the global energy balance affected by Russia's war in Ukraine and energy transition policies now incorporating nuclear fission more frequently and more widely, nuclear energy is gaining momentum.
Around 56 percent of Americans are in favor of developing nuclear energy in the US, compared with 43 percent just four years ago, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center published in August.
The future seemed reserved for the new generation of small modular reactors (SMRs), with their shorter construction times and the possibility of mass production.
But the initial design and construction of these pocket-sized power plants is proving costly because they are still prototypes.
The first Natrium from start-up TerraPower, currently positioned to be the first operational SMR in the US in 2030, is expected to cost around $4 billion.
Thus, restarting an existing power station appears to be the quickest and cheapest route, which could inspire other projects -- where possible.
"I don't think there are that many mothballed nuclear plants out there that you'll be able to restart," said Jacopo Buongiorno from MIT.
In response to a query from AFP, NextEra Energy Resources said it was "evaluating this opportunity" of restarting the Duane Arnold power station in the midwestern US state of Iowa, which closed in 2020, but that it "needed to make an informed decision about resuming operations at the facility."
As for the Indian Point nuclear site north of New York City which was shut down in 2021 under pressure from the state's then-governor, Andrew Cuomo, "nothing is impossible with time and resources," according to Holtec's Patrick O'Brien.
But, he added, it would be much more complicated to resurrect than Palisades or Three Mile Island.
Reactivating an existing facility raises the question of safety for plants that were originally intended to have a 40-year lifespan.
While people may think "it must be unsafe, it must be crumbling," that's simply not true, he said.
"Because, with the exception of the concrete containment, which is of course monitored and the reactor pressure vessel, again, heavily monitored, virtually everything else in these plants has been replaced at one point or another," he added.
And the project has the backing of the federal government, with the Biden-Harris administration earlier this year agreeing to provide a $1.5 billion loan to Holtec for the Palisades project "for our nation's historic transition to a safe and secure clean energy future," according to an Department of Energy spokesperson.
tu/da/md
The restoration of a creek in Vienna reduced the impact of flooding caused by Storm Boris, authorities say, one of many projects experts believe helped central Europe endure the deluge better than in previous years.
Flooding unleashed by the storm burst dams and devastated entire villages in central Europe, killing at least two dozen people in Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania.
The torrential rains that caused the flooding were "the heaviest ever recorded" in the region, according to the World Weather Attribution (WWA) network of scientists, inundating homes and farmland.
But despite record rainfall, fewer people died during Storm Boris than in previous major European floods in 1997 and 2002, when more than 100 and 200 people lost their lives respectively, the WWA said in a report published Wednesday.
"We have seen investment for adaptation and mitigation in the affected countries after the events of 1997 and 2002," said Federica Remondi, a flood specialist at reinsurance giant Swiss Re.
"Without those adaptation measures the overall impact and losses might have been even worse," she added, calling for continued efforts despite resources being restrained in some countries.
- Prevented 'greater damage' -
In Austria's capital Vienna, where no deaths were reported, officials said efforts to restore damaged ecosystems helped offset the impact of the floods, including at Liesing creek on the outskirts of the city.
Workers have removed and knocked down the narrow concrete banks which line the waterway, where water levels rose during the flood by more than three metres to a 100-year-high.
Without the restoration, heavy rainfall "would have led to greater damage", city official Josef Gottschall told AFP.
He dismissed criticism that the project -- which is projected to run until 2027 with a total cost of about 135 million euros ($151 million) -- was too costly and had a limited impact, saying that sums cannot be weighed up against "loss of life and damage".
According to experts, the construction of retention basins -- artificial ponds that collect storm water -- also played a role in lessening the impact of floods in the region, while early warning systems have become more effective.
- Climate costs 'accelerating' -
In the Czech Republic, where several people remain missing, flood protection has been beefed up, but is still considered inefficient in places like the village of Troubky, which was hit hard in 1997 and narrowly escaped another disaster.
Experts suggest the recent storm might help accelerate work such as the construction of a dam on the Opava river which was scheduled to begin in 2027 but could be brought forward.
The cost of the disasters remains high, with the European Commission pledging 10 billion euros ($11 billion) in funds for affected countries.
In Austria, insurance companies estimate the total damage from the storm to reach 700 million euros, as economists predict several billions of euros. A similar estimate has been made for the Czech Republic.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said more than five billion euros, including EU funds, have been earmarked for reconstructing affected areas.
- 'Wake-up call' -
Scientists also warn new infrastructure is needed as climate change worsens the impact of extreme weather events.
Around 80,000 hectares (197,600 acres) of farmland have been affected by the floods and more than 18,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, with thousands of people forced to evacuate.
Based on historical data, a four-day rainfall event is expected to occur on average about once every 100 to 300 years in today's climate with 1.3 degrees Celsius of warming, WWA said.
Global warming has doubled the likelihood of severe four-day downpours since the pre-industrial era and the costs of climate change are "accelerating", according to the WWA.
The floods are "another wake-up call that our climate is changing rapidly," researcher Hayley Fowler from Newcastle University told AFP.
"Our infrastructure is really not designed to deal with these levels of flooding," she said.
"The evacuation of whole cities, dams bursting and roads turning into rivers are now commonplace around the world. The question is not whether we need to adapt for more of these types of storm, but can we?"
burs-anb-kym/cad/jm
The Senates first public report on the first assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump revealed stunning security lapses at the highest levels of the Secret Service.
The preliminary 94-page report, part of a joint investigation by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, was released Wednesday morning.
"Every single one of these actions is directly related to a failure in the U.S. Secret Service's planning, communications, intelligence sharing, and law enforcement coordination efforts," Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) told reporters Tuesday just before the report was made public. "Every single one of those failures was preventable, and the consequences of those failures were dire."
Trump survived a bullet wound, and one supporter died during an assassination attempt at a July 13 rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
Here are the Washington Examiners top takeaways from the first public report to be released since the fateful rally.
Secret Service had 'credible intelligence' of a threat before the rally
Although FBI officials claimed that Crooks was not known to the agency before the assassination attempt, the report stated that the Secret Services move to send countersnipers to the July 13 rally was in response to credible intelligence of a threat. The Pennsylvania rally was the first time a Secret Service countersniper team was assigned to a protectee other than the president, vice president, or a presidential candidate who had been formally nominated by his or her party.
Trump was not yet the Republican presidential nominee at the time of the rally, making the agencys move notable.
However, the vast majority of the Secret Service detail, even the highest-ranking officials were not made aware of the threat.
Only two of the USSS personnel the Committee has interviewed were made aware that there was a credible threat related to former President Trump prior to July 13, only one of whom was made aware of the classified information underlying the threat, the report reads.
Local law enforcement warned Secret Service it didnt have enough manpower to secure the rally
Two days before the fateful rally, the Butler County Emergency Services Unit conducted a walkthrough of the American Glass Research building, the location where gunman Thomas Crooks later accessed the roof to take shots at Trump. After determining the Pennsylvania State Police didnt have the manpower to secure the facility, Butler County ESU officials relayed their concerns to Secret Service personnel.
At that point, our response was the Butler County ESU would have coverage of the AGR building, a Secret Service site agent told the committee.
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Secret Service and local law enforcement officials contradicted each other in the report, with Butler County ESU officials saying they told the Secret Service they did not have the resources to lock down the AGR building and top personnel from the federal agency saying they never heard about the concerns.
Gunmans status was allegedly not relayed to top Secret Service personnel
Many Secret Service personnel learned of Crooks's threat to Trump 27 minutes before he opened fire on Trump. But at least three of the agents in charge of the security detail allegedly did not learn of his status until after shots were fired.
The USSS Lead Advance Agent, Site Agent, and Site Counterpart all told the Committee they did not receive this information and therefore did not know local law enforcement had identified a suspicious person with a rangefinder and that those local officers later lost track of this individual, according to the report.
In the end, the committee found that there were no post-standers or patrol assigned to cover the AGR building or roof.
Technical difficulties with vital Secret Service equipment are common
The nations top security agency routinely encounters technical failures with critical equipment, according to the report. The report indicates that the problem derailed the Secret Services ability to transmit information and prevent the assassination attempt on July 13.
The special agent in charge did not have a working radio on him during his entire time at the July 13 rally, according to the report. That was because he gave his radio to the lead advance agent because his own radio was not working.
The SAIC did not hold a post or a sector,' according to the report. " He did claim that he was there to act more in a liaison capacity. However, he did not have any means to communicate on the radio with his USSS counterparts."
Meanwhile, the Secret Service also encountered problems with its Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems capabilities on the day of the rally. When Crooks used his drone 200 yards from the site and used a rangefinder capable of gauging the distance to Trump less than an hour before he started speaking, the agency was unable to investigate the security breach because its C-UAS system was down.
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Although the agent in charge of overseeing the C-UAS system tried to fix it, he had only three months of experience working with that equipment and lacked knowledge about it, according to the report.
The agent said he had requested additional C-UAS equipment days before the rally but that his nine requests were denied.
Return of barred inspectors to Iran unlikely. IAEA chief says: 'Ship has sailed'
By John Irish
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog has been pushing Iran to lift its ban of several uranium-enrichment inspectors from Iranian nuclear sites, but the IAEA chief told Reuters that success seems unlikely.
"Unfortunately this ship has sailed," Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in an interview on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
The IAEA has strongly condemned the step taken by Iran a year ago as "unprecedented" and called it a "very serious blow" to its ability to carry out meaningful inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities.
The IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution in June calling on Iran to step up cooperation with the agency and reverse the barring of those inspectors, technically known as "de-designation".
"Until a few months ago they say they were considering and now they say they are not going to reincorporate these inspectors to the list, so unfortunately this ship has sailed," Grossi told Reuters.
Grossi is seeking a meeting in Iran next month with new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that he hopes will bring some movement to long-running standoffs between the IAEA and Iran on issues that include unexplained uranium traces found at undeclared sites and expanding monitoring of some activities.
It is now unclear whether he will seriously push for the redesignation of the inspectors who know Iran's enrichment activities, the heart of its nuclear programme, particularly well. Diplomats have said their de-designation left just one enrichment expert on the team.
The importance of that experience was illustrated in January 2023 when an inspector noticed a subtle but substantial change to a cascade, or cluster, of uranium-enriching centrifuges that Iran had failed to report to the IAEA.
That change caused a spike in the enrichment level to 83.7%, a record.
The inspector who spotted that change, a Russian enrichment expert, was de-designated later that year, shortly before the others, diplomats said.
Iran is enriching uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% of weapons-grade. It has enough uranium enriched to that level, which if enriched further could produce almost four nuclear bombs, according to an IAEA yardstick, and more at lower levels, an IAEA report in August showed.
No other country has enriched uranium to that level without producing a bomb, the IAEA has said. Western powers say there is no civil justification for it. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful and it has the right to enrich to any level.
A separate IAEA report in August said Iran wrote to the agency in June saying its position "with regard to the de-designation of those inspectors is unchanged and this position will remain as it is".
While a country is allowed to veto inspectors assigned to visit its nuclear facilities, the IAEA has said Iran went beyond normal practice.
(Reporting by John Irish at the United Nations; Writing by Francois Murphy; Editing by Howard Goller)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s zombie campaign is lurching toward Election Day in a characteristically erratic fashion. The independent candidate suspended his run for the White House and endorsed Donald Trump last month, and has since been trying to cherry-pick in which states his name will appear and not appear on ballots.
Kennedy presented a bizarre plan when he ended his campaign, claiming that he would be removing his name from contention in critical swing states where his candidacy might spoil a victory for Trump, but would remain a candidate and encouraged his supporters to vote for him in other states. Kennedy has hinted that he had been offered a position within a second Trump administration should the former president win in November.
Kennedy managed to remove himself as a choice with relative ease in the battleground states like Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Ohio. But in other swing states, the lengths his campaign is going to to secure last-minute ballot revisions are becoming absurd.
According to a Tuesday report from Slate, Kennedy is petitioning the Wisconsin Supreme Court for an emergency removal of his name from ballots, which are already being printed. Kennedys camp is demanding that Wisconsin election officials place stickers over his name to prevent voters from casting a vote in his favor. Election officials in the swing state have called the idea a logistical and administrative nightmare.
With over 1,800 municipal clerks statewide, uniformity of any sticker placement becomes a real concern, Wood County Clerk Trent Miner told VoteBeat. Errant sticker placement would produce an error and return the ballot to the voter, uncounted, again sowing distrust in the tabulation and administration of the election.
Others noted that such a process has not been tested on ballot tabulation machines, and could cause jams or other issues related to the counting of votes.
A day later, Kennedy filed a similar petition in Michigan, where election officials previously denied his bid to have his name removed from the states ballots. Kennedys camp has requested that the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturn the decision leveled against him by Michigans secretary of state, and that was upheld by both a federal judge and Michigan Supreme Court.
Here, it is clear that the act of withdrawing conveys the message that a candidate is no longer willing (or able) to hold a particular office if elected, Kennedy argues, Any reasonable person understood Mr. Kennedys August 23, 2024 speech to convey his decision to suspend his presidential campaign.
Earlier this month, Kennedy threw a wrench in early voting in the key swing state of North Carolina through a successful emergency motion to remove his name from the ballot. The legal battle and subsequent reprinting of ballots resulted in a two-week delay in the mailing of thousands of absentee ballots and may have cost the state upwards of one million dollars to pull off.
In other states, Kennedy is demanding to have his name restored to ballots.
Kennedy filed an emergency petition to the Supreme Court demanding that the justices overturn multiple rulings in New York that disqualified Kennedy from the ballot on grounds that he falsely claimed to live in the state as his primary residence on his nomination papers.
Whatever inconvenience the [state] may have in adding Kennedy to the ballot seven weeks before the election, it seems inconceivable that those difficulties or expenses could outweigh the constitutional rights of New York voters, Kennedys filing before the court argues.
On its surface its contradictory, but Kennedys last-minute scramble to pick and choose where he will appear on ballots is the inevitable culmination of a candidacy that is now seeming to have existed with little intent to actually win the presidency but instead to ensure Biden didnt.
As it stands, Kennedy who became a prominent surrogate for the Trump campaign immediately after his semi-withdrawal cannot risk siphoning votes away from Trump if he hopes to have a future in his government. In critical swing states, where the polling gap between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is often within the margin of error, Kennedy may be the tipping point.
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Rhode Islanders Can Order Free COVID Tests Again. How To Get Yours
RHODE ISLAND By the end of September, Americans will be able to order another round of free COVID-19 nasal swab tests that will be delivered to homes.
Each household will be able to get four tests through COVIDtests.gov. Already have some at home? Check here to see if your tests' expiration dates have been extended.
Updated rapid tests are expected to be able to detect newer variants just as a new COVID variant, XEC, arrives in Rhode Island. It is a member of the Omicron family.
The availability of free at-home tests comes just after the Food and Drug Administration approved two updates COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging everyone 6 months or older to get a new shot this fall since last year's shots were geared toward a strain that is no longer around.
As flu and RSV season approaches, health officials recommend residents stock up on tests and update all vaccinations.
Rhode Islanders can get their four tests from the United States Postal Service once program official kicks off in "late September." Check for updates here.
Have a news tip? Email jimmy.bentley@patch.com.
Rhode Islanders Can Order Free COVID Tests Again. How To Get Yours originally appeared on the Cranston Patch
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) The former head of the Rhode Island chapter of the Hells Angels will soon be released from prison after agreeing to new parole conditions.
Joseph Lancia, 33, of Smithfield, was taken back into custody earlier this month after attending the wake of Eddie Lato, the late underboss of the New England crime family.
Lancia was accused of violating conditions of his parole which included having no contact with Hells Angels members, or being an officer of the club, as well as not having contact with convicted felons.
At a hearing before the R.I. Parole Board on Monday afternoon, two violations against Lancia were dropped, and he admitted to another. (He had not been charged with a crime.)
Acting parole board administrator Sarah Parrillo said when Lancia is released from the Adult Correctional Institution in the coming days, he will be on a GPS monitoring bracelet until July 2025, when his parole ends.
Lancia is also prohibited from wearing any clothing or paraphernalia associated with the Hells Angels motorcycle club that contains or has any Hells Angels Motorcycle club logos/insignias and may not knowingly associate or ride motorcycles with any member, prospect or associate member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, according to Parrillo.
At the wake, Lancia was seen being flanked by two members of the Red Devils motorcycle club, an affiliate group of the Hells Angels, as he walked into the funeral home.
The new conditions also prohibit Lancia from having contact with the Red Devils, or any other known criminal organization that is associated with drugs and violence or that advocates criminal activity, Parrillo said.
As Target 12 previously reported, Lancia sought and received permission from his parole officer to attend the wake. His attorney Lisa Holley said in an email that Lancia admitted he did not inform the parole board of Latos criminal record when asking to attend.
Lato, a longtime member of the New England crime family who eventually rose to the second in command, died late last month after battling cancer. He was 77.
Lancia was originally released on parole in June. He was sentenced to five years behind bars in 2022 for shooting at a rival outside the biker gangs Providence headquarters, and for a separate case where he was charged with knocking out a bouncer at the Cadillac Lounge strip club.
Tim White (twhite@wpri.com) is Target 12 managing editor and chief investigative reporter and host of Newsmakers for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.
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HARRISVILLE, W.Va. (WBOY) Aetna Better Health made a significant donation to the Ritchie County Family Support Center on Tuesday as it presented a $50,000 check to it and 56 other support centers across the Mountian State.
Aetna Better Health is giving away this money to enhance family resources across the state. Ritchie County Family Support Center is one of those locations and offers families aid as well as activities to enrich the community.
UHC cuts the ribbon on its new Intermediate Care Unit
The support centers current facility in Harrisville includes a childrens playroom, teen room, and food pantry. Over the previous year, the center organized a number of classes and parties for families, and in the previous month, officials said their pantry had been used by 120 families.
The Family Support Centers website says they offer West Virginian families, parent education classes, child development activities, parent-to-parent support groups, afterschool academic enrichment.
If there is emergencies, anyone with families children in the household can come here, and we can offer them help and support, Director Kelsey Thibeault said.
The Ritchie County Family Support Center plans to use the $50,000 to buy a van to spread its reach throughout the county and give families transportation to and from the facility.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com.
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) Every month, the Roanoke Police Department (RPD) tries to visit a new neighborhood, and host a special community walk, where they get out and meet new people. This month, it added a Hispanic Heritage Month theme.
They chose neighborhoods where they knew they could speak with many people in the Latin-X community and improve the relationship between the two groups.
Sometimes, theres challenges with the police connecting with the Hispanic community, and theres trust issues, Roanoke Chief of Police Scott Booth said. We wanted to make sure we were out here specifically for this month.
Along with meeting new people, officers were handing out business cards, with the hopes of getting more people to join the police force.
INTERVIEW: Salem Fire Chief Prillaman talks about 27 years working with department
They use these as an opportunity to get both objectives done.
I look at (this opportunity) as two-fold, Deputy Chief of Roanoke Police Michael Crawley said. Being able to engage with people, but also to encourage them to apply to be police officers or a number of different positions within our agency.
These community walks are a part of Chief Booths plan to reduce crime in the city. As the officers are getting to know more people, they are also looking for feedback from residents, on what they can change about their policies.
Officers gather the information from the residents and will report it to Lieutenant Gayle Combs, the zone commander for the neighborhood they were in.
Chief Booth sees this as an extremely important asset.
Finding out what the community issues are that sometimes cannot be captured with simple crime statistics or simple calls for service, he said. Actually, finding out directly from folks what their concerns are, and what they want from their police department.
The next community walk is planned for October 22. The location is still pending.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is taking increasingly bizarre and contradictory positions in his ongoing crusade to inject pandemonium into the 2024 election. Right now the former third-party candidate is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to restore his name to the ballot in New York, asserting a constitutional right to run for president in the state. At the same time, he is asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to remove his name from the ballot in that state, asserting a constitutional right not to run there. Moreover, because it is too late to print new ballots in Wisconsin, Kennedy is demanding that clerks manually place stickers over his name on some 4 million existing ballots. Election officials say this untested improvisation could jam up voting tabulators, making it impossible to scan ballots in a key swing state on Election Day and requiring a drawn-out hand count instead.
That may well be the point: Kennedys tactics reflect an evident desire to sabotage the efficient administration of the election and undermine trust in its outcome. He appears eager to aid Republican candidate Donald Trump by acting not as a surrogate but as a chaos agent, sowing confusion and doubt at every turn.
At this point, RFK Jr. is running Schrodingers campaign, simultaneously seeking and disavowing the presidency in different states. After striving to get his name on the ballot in as many places as possible, Kennedy suspended his third-party run last month, endorsing Trump over Kamala Harris. The former candidate is now trying to take his name off the ballot in battleground states for fear that he might siphon off votes from Trump. Yet he is still fighting to keep his name on the ballot in other states, including New York. It is not entirely clear why Kennedy cares about staying on the ballot anywhere; his overall strategy, however, reflects an intent to destabilize the election and abridge the early voting period, as he did in North Carolina.
Kennedy was booted off the ballot in New York in August after a judge found that he had falsely claimed residence in the state on his nominating petition. (Smoking-gun evidence proved that he lied about living as a tenant at the listed address.) Every lower court affirmed that decision, agreeing that the false residence invalidated his candidacy. Yet Kennedy is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to restore his name to the ballot in an emergency order. New York has already begun printing and mailing ballots, so this eleventh-hour change would massively disrupt early votingbut again, as in North Carolina, that seems to be the point. Kennedys lead counsel, Jed Rubenfeld, claimed that his clients exclusion from the ballot condemns New Yorkers to be irrevocably deprived of their First Amendment right to support his campaign.
This argument is tough to swallow, given that RFK Jr. himself is fighting tooth and nail to ensure that millions of other voters are irrevocably deprived of their ability to support him. He is currently urging the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take his name off the ballot in the state, rehashing the arguments that secured him a victory at the North Carolina Supreme Court earlier this month. Wisconsin officials, who have already printed ballots and begun mailing them out, say it is far too late to remove Kennedys name. But the candidate has proposed a work-around: He argues that county clerks should be required to cut out and place a sticker over his name on each ballotall 4 million of them.
The sticker solution is, it turns out, no solution at all, but rather the recipe for a logistical nightmare. Election officials have testified that this scheme threatens to derail the preparation and tabulation of ballots. On the front end, it would require an immense amount of additional work for county clerks, many of whom serve in the role in a part-time capacity, and none of whom has the budget for such extra labor. It would lead to voter confusion, especially since clerks would inevitably place some stickers a few centimeters off by accident, failing to fully occlude Kennedys name and accidentally blocking out another. And it would halt the mailing of absentee ballots abruptly and indefinitely, even though they are already going out to voters.
Perhaps most ominously, Wisconsin officials warn that RFK Jr.s proposed fix would also subvert the counting of votes. Multiple clerks have attested that stickers would weigh down ballots, causing tabulatorswhich are calibrated to the ballots precise weightto reject them. Tabulators may also misinterpret stickers as a voter error, leading the machines to wrongly invalidate legitimate votes. Efforts to reprogram this equipment would be complicated by the fact that many ballots have already been mailed without a sticker, so there would be two different kinds of ballots to tabulate. No one knows what would happen. My machines might react one way to one that doesnt have a sticker, one clerk told Votebeat Wisconsin, and a different way to one that does have a sticker. And there is insufficient time to reprogram and test the machines in line with state standards anyway.
Theres an even more obvious problem: These adhesives will likely jam up voting tabulators, getting stuck in equipment that was never designed to accommodate them. All it would take, another clerk warned, is a small portion of the sticker to fall off in the scanner to render it unusable for the entirety of Election Day. Stickers could also adhere to other ballots, ripping them during tabulation and creating detritus that jams the scanners. The company that produces these tabulators has cautioned that its machines are not tested to handle a large volume of ballots with stickers. Adhesives are, in fact, not covered under its warranty or service plan, so county clerks would have to pay to repair all damage to the equipment.
All of this evidence of catastrophe points toward one outcome: Many if not all of Wisconsins 4 million ballots would have to be counted by hand, a process that is vastly slower and considerably less accurate than machine tallying. Votes would be counted differently in different parts of the state, depending on where the tabulators broke down. And Americans might not know the outcome of the race until weeks after the election, a frightening possibility given that Wisconsin could ultimately decide the presidential election.
RFK Jr.s lawyers responded to these profound concerns with the following: Does it matter if ballots with stickers on them have not been tested with voting equipment? No. It doesnt matter. They added that we should presume that this can be done because Wisconsin law allows for it in a single circumstance: the unexpected death of a candidate shortly before an election. As the state has explained, the Legislature believes that the extreme consequences of this solution may be justified in that one, unusual situation so that a dead candidates name may be replaced with the name of a live candidate. Otherwise, the legislative body has instructed courts and clerks to stay the course when a candidate like RFK Jr. demands a last-minute change.
There are, to put it mildly, many reasons to believe that Kennedy is not acting in good faith. The Wisconsin Elections Commission has sought to resolve this dispute expeditiously so that the state can prepare Plan B as soon as possible if it comes to that. Yet RFK Jr.s lawyers have sought to slow down the process at every turn. When the commission tried to expedite the case to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, for instance, Kennedys lawyers opposed the motion, arguing that there was no real rush. They failed, and the state Supreme Court took up the case on Friday, promising a prompt resolution. (It also rejected Kennedys request for oral arguments, which would pointlessly inject further delay.)
Already, the courts 43 liberal majority looks disinclined to take this chicanery seriously. Its actions so far suggest that the justices will not allow RFK Jr. to wreck Wisconsins election. The state may receive a reprieve this time around, in part because its citizens have elected a judiciaryunlike North Carolinasthat wont put up with such bald-faced interference with democracy. The U.S. Supreme Court is likewise almost certain to reject the ex-candidates frivolous bid to get back on the ballot in New York, which would now be impossible to mandate on the ground. This final chapter of Kennedys failed campaign should soon come to an ignominious close. But he may have already given Trump exactly what he wanted: yet another bogus excuse to reject the legitimacy and integrity of election results that he does not like.
Hollywood strikes and dwindling peak TV have dented U.S. studio occupancy but Lionsgate Studios Yonkers, the first purpose-built complex Stateside from Robert Halmis Great Point Studios and the biggest in the northeast, has been pretty much full since its early 2022 debut.
On Wednesday, Halmi cut the ribbon for a new public high school in Yonkers the Robert Halmi Sr. Academy of Film and Television, named after his late father aimed at training a new local crew base for the city thats an evolving destination for film and tv production.
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Halmi Sr. fought the Nazis and was jailed in World War II Hungary, emigrated to the U.S., made a mark as a photographer for Life magazine and became one of the biggest producers ever of TV movies and miniseries. For people who knew him, its so fitting. Because he was, among many things, an incredible mentor to so many people, and such a good teacher, and so patient, Halmi Jr. tells Deadline.
He was really generous with his time for young crew members and kids that wanted to be in the industry or wanted to learn about photography, or anything. Having this school come together with his name on it is just such an incredible, wonderful thing.
The Yonkers public school welcomed its first class of 180 students in the sixth and ninth grades a few weeks ago and will be adding more pupils and grade levels until were full, from the 6th to the 12th grade Halmi said. Formal classwork sits alongside a curriculum developed with IATSE to instruct students in camera and sound operation, editing, makeup, hair, set construction all the trades for film and television. They can travel to other Great Point studios in Buffalo, Georgia and Wales and affiliated Los Angeles stages.
Lionsgate Newark in New Jersey just broke ground and should be open in about 16 months.
Were excited that were giving back to the community, and were really involved in the school, he said. For a studio now to be successful, especially one as ambitious as what were doing in Yonkers, we need local workers. The secret to why any of these big locations work is great tax credits and great local crews. And we want Yonkers to have an incredible local crew base, and this is the start of that.
IATSE was a big part of the process. The union needs crew members after the run-up in production over the last five years, he continued, stressing The other thing they really want to take seriously is diversity, and Yonkers is very diverse.
Theres no better way to do it. They embraced that immediately. They put all their education resources at our disposal. They help track the curriculum. We have a former IATSE member whos heading up this effort on staff at the school.
Lionsgate Yonkers has 2.5 million square feet of space with 16 sound stages and, Halmi says, has been 100% full since we opened even as U.S. studio occupancy fell to a five-year low in August. Weve been full throughout the strike. Were full now.
The Lionsgate relationship gives it an edge. Whatever the studio needs to produce, those shows will come to us first. And when Lionsgate has a hole in their schedule, we fill it with another show.
The next season of Lionsgate/Starz Power Book III: Raising Kanan shoots in Yonkers until April. He preferred that other shows currently shooting there or coming soon not be named in print.
It has a lighting and grip company, a leading set construction company (that also serves 60% of all Broadway shows), and a post company now on site. We have our own bakery. We have our own cafe. We have incredible commissary. It is a turnkey facility.
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Two famous Hollywood icons are worried about the looming presidential election and Donald Trump's chances to still win.
Actor Robert De Niro and director Spike Lee appeared with director Francis Ford Coppola at Mondays New York premiere of his latest film, "Megalopolis." Deadline reported on how they hosted a Q&A before the screening where De Niro, a well known critic of Trump, drew parallels between the themes of Coppolas futuristic epic and the current election.
"Im worried," De Niro said at the Q&A session, "I see the things in Francis film about that, the parallels and so on. To me, its not over till its over and we have to go at this wholeheartedly to beat the Republicans those Republicans, theyre not real Republicans and beat Trump. Its that simple. We cannot have that type of person. Everybody has to get out there and vote."
Earlier, De Niro had been mocking Trump, imploring them to "Just imagine Donald Trump directing this film. Itll never go anywhere, from total craziness. He cannot do anything. He cannot hold anything together He wants to destroy the country. And he could not do this movie. He could not do anything that has a structure."
Francis Ford Coppola Debuts 'Megalopolis' In Cannes, And The Reviews Are In
"As my sister says, forward not backward," Lee replied, alluding to Harris and to De Niros concerns about the election. "Its simple: Register to vote and show up. . This election is going to be very, very close. Im a big sports fan and, the expression you used, its not over till its over. We cannot just think that the game is over when its not."
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The same outlet noted that Coppola interjected at this point to note he "deliberately" cast performers who "are voting another way."
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"He didnt name names, but one prominent Trump advocate, Jon Voight, plays a prominent role in the film. The filmmaker also expressed hope that we can disagree on a film set but that humanity can prevail (another theme of the film)," Deadlines business editor Dade Hayes wrote.
Hollywood icons Robert De Niro and Spike Lee are concerned about just how close the 2024 election is and Donald Trump's chances for winning.
Lionsgate Pulls Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis Trailer Over Fabricated Critics Quotes
Coppola has mentioned bipartisan intentions in this film before, specifically when he was asked by Rolling Stone in August about casting Voight as a character the interviewer said resembles Trump himself.
Coppola offered a candid response, "What I didnt want to happen is that were deemed some woke Hollywood production thats simply lecturing viewers. The cast features people who were canceled at one point or another. There were people who are archconservatives and others who are extremely politically progressive. But we were all working on one film together. That was interesting, I thought."
Regarding the movie "Megalopolis," the Internet Movie Database summarized the film as being one about how the city of New Rome is the main conflict between Cesar Catilina, a brilliant artist in favor of a utopian future, and the greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero. Between them is Julia Cicero, her loyalty divided between her father and her beloved."
Original article source: Robert De Niro and Spike Lee are worried about Trumps continued chances for victory: Very, very close'
ALHAMBRA, Calif. (KTLA) Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer is scheduled to be arraigned on a manslaughter charge Thursday morning, court records show.
Klinghoffer, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who has also worked with Pearl Jam and Janes Addiction, has been accused of distracted driving in the death of Israel Sanchez in Alhambra, California, in March.
Sanchez was said to be walking in a crosswalk when he was hit by a GMC Yukon believed to be driven by Klinghoffer.
In addition to a civil suit filed by the family, Klinghoffer is facing a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, according to court records.
Video of the incident shows that Defendant Klinghoffer made no efforts to brake or slow down until after he fatally struck Mr. Sanchez, indicating that Klinghoffer was likely to be driving while distracted, the Sanchez familys attorneys said in a news release. Video taken seconds before the incident shows an object between the steering wheel and the driver that is believed to be a phone.
A request for comment by Klinghoffers attorney was not immediately returned.
Andrew Brettler, an attorney for Klinghoffer, previously told TMZ that the incident was a tragic accident.
Missouri executes Marcellus Williams despite calls from the victims family to spare his life
After Josh struck this pedestrian in the intersection, he immediately pulled over, stopped the car, called 911 and waited until police and the ambulance arrived, Brettler said. Obviously, hes cooperating with the police throughout the traffic investigation. This was purely a tragic accident.
Klinghoffer, 44, became the youngest member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when he was inducted alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the age of 32 in 2012. (That record is now held by Ilan Rubin of Nine Inch Nails.) Since his departure from Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2019, Klinghoffer has also been a touring member of Pearl Jam, and is listed as a contributing musician on their most recent album.
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Skiers and riders, start making your plans now. X Games Aspen is coming.
The X Games are returning to Aspen for the 24th consecutive year in winter 2024-25, and the events list just dropped, X Games coordinators said in a statement Tuesday.
But before X Games Aspen jumps into action, the X Games Street Style Pro event invades Copper Mountain. In collaboration with U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the newly added competition happening Dec. 20-21 will award the winners from both the halfpipe and street style contests automatic invites to X Games Aspen 2025.
The X Games Street Style Pro at Copper Mountain will complement the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at the same venue. The X Games Street Style Pro will feature nighttime competitions and musical appearances, enhancing the daytime halfpipe events with a vibrant party atmosphere.
X Games said on the evening of Dec. 20, the Copper Mountain event will showcase emerging talent from the U.S. Revolution Tour and U.S. Ski & Snowboards development series, with athletes competing for a spot in the pro final on Dec. 21. Competitions will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. each evening, followed by a concert.
X Games Aspen will be held at Buttermilk Mountain with athletes competing in ski and snowboard events Jan. 23-25.
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X Games Aspen 2025 will feature mens and womens ski and snowboard competitions in the disciplines of Superpipe, Slopestyle, Big Air, Knuckle Huck, and Street Style.
In addition to sporting events, X Games Aspen 2025 welcomes the return of special music appearances each night and performers will be announced in the coming weeks.
Tickets to X Games Aspen 2025 will be general admission and fans will have the option to upgrade their tickets with multiple hospitality options which include added perks and experiences.
More information on scheduling, music, and ticket availability will be announced in the coming weeks.
X Games organizers suggest to be among the first to purchase the limited number of tickets available and discover the thrilling lineup of music appearances, fans sign up for the exclusive X Games Aspen 2025 ticket waitlist at xgames.com.
The event will be free and open to the public in addition to being streamed live at xgames.com.
A coalition of local governments representing 1.5 million people in South Carolina say they wont support a Charlotte Water plan to divert water from the Catawba River. That kind of water transfer could stunt economic growth south of the state line, they argue.
Charlotte Water, the drinking water and wastewater provider for more than 1 million Mecklenburg County customers, started a process earlier this year to increase how much water it can draw out of the Catawba River system without replacing it. The approval process could take several years.
South Carolina communities, though, arent waiting that long to speak up against the plan. Three large governmental agencies one that represents cities and towns across York, Lancaster and Chester counties sent an opposition letter stating water availability is crucial for economic development, population growth, agriculture and quality of life.
The regions adjacent to and downstream from Charlotte should not be forced to give up potential growth opportunities to subsidize Charlottes growth with collective water resources, they wrote.
What water transfer does Charlotte want?
Charlotte Water withdraws surface water from Mountain Island Lake and Lake Norman in the Catawba River basin.
The utility is allowed to take out up to 33 million gallons per day and transfer it to areas in the Rocky River basin. That river basin serves parts of Mecklenburg County outside of the Catawba watershed, Concord, Kannapolis, Davidson, Huntersville, Cornelius and other areas in North Carolina.
Now, Charlotte Water wants the ability to take almost double that amount, as it plans for growth in those areas. That approval process goes through the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission.
But theres concern in South Carolina, where other fast-growing communities like Fort Mill, Lake Wylie, Tega Cay and Rock Hill will need more water in coming years, too.
A similar water transfer, known as an interbasin transfer, sparked controversy two decades ago that resulted in a Water War in which South Carolina sued North Carolina. Three years of debate and a case filed with the U.S. Supreme Court ended in a 2010 resolution that called for water withdrawal reductions, delays and limits during drought.
That prior controversy began when Concord and Kannapolis, the cities that had to agree to those limits, received an interbasin transfer from state regulators.
Who in SC opposes the Charlotte Water transfer?
The Catawba Regional Council of Government represents government bodies in York, Lancaster, Chester and Union (S.C.) counties. It specifically works on larger issues that impact communities across the region. Its similar to the Central Midlands and Santee Lynches councils of governments.
Those three groups combine to represent 12 counties in South Carolina. Together, they endorsed a letter calling for Charlotte Water to look at other options. Catawba Regionals board offered its support of the letter last week in Rock Hill.
Much of the population in our regions is reliant upon water from the Catawba-Wateree basin, and many areas throughout our respective regions are experiencing rapid population and significant commercial and industrial growth, they wrote.
The councils of government argue recent droughts have shown that the Catawba River is not an unlimited supply of water, and that much of the Charlotte region is a high-growth area.
Interbasin transfers of the magnitude proposed by Charlotte Water will effectively subsidize growth in the benefitting area while depleting the limited and collective water resources of the entire Catawba-Wateree Basin, they wrote.
Reduced water flow in the Catawba could lead to greater concentration of pollutants, which would harm ecosystems, recreation and public health, they wrote. The letter also asked Charlotte Water to wait until an ongoing basin-wide water supply master plan is complete.
The interbasin transfer request should only be considered, if at all, as an emergency and very temporary measure after Charlotte Water takes steps to limit water loss through its existing system, according to the letter. Conservation and preservation efforts should come before any transfer, the letter argues.
The letter references the 2010 settlement agreement for the prior transfer as evidence of South Carolina communities having a stake in the North Carolina decision.
Rock Hill impact of Charlotte Water withdrawal decision
In late July, Charlotte Water held a public information meeting in Rock Hill. Community members heard about plans to request up to 30 million gallons of water per day more from the Catawba basin. Local, state and federal officials spoke out with concerns about losing water.
This is a huge deal, for North Carolina but for South Carolina as well, said U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, a Republican representing South Carolinas 5th congressional district.
Fort Mill Mayor Guynn Savage referenced a drought in the area that lasted most of three years. It would be almost impossible for her to support a withdrawal, she said that night, for something as critical as water. From Fort Mills growing population to Chester Countys growing industry, water is key, Savage said.
I cannot see supporting additional withdrawals from the water source that is to serve this area, she said. We must find better ways of managing growth and how it affects the infrastructure, rather than taking from those that would be downstream.
Norman wants to see a South Carolina water plan incorporated into the decision, and said he, like Savage, is probably going to be on opposite ends of the issue with Charlotte Water.
Water is the linchpin for not only growth, but really for livability, Norman said.
Both states will be part of the decision process, said Rob Devlin with the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services.
South Carolinas role in this is to just make sure that we are engaged, he told the Rock Hill crowd this summer, and that all water that is transferred will not adversely affect anything we do in our state.
Science will run the process, Devlin said.
A program from the Department of Defense will help servicepeople leaving the military get experience with the Rock Island Police Department.
The department has recently been approved to be an official industry partner with the Department of Defense SkillBridge Program.
Every year, about 200,000 members of the U.S. Armed Forces leave active-duty service and reenter the civilian workforce. SkillBridge helps these former service members receive valuable work experience through a 16-week paid internship during their last few months of service. Those who want to start a new career after their service can work and learn from civilian industry partners as they begin transitioning back to civilian life.
The Rock Island Police Department is proud to offer this opportunity to the men and women who have faithfully served our country in the armed forces, says Chief Tim McCloud. We value the dedication and sacrifice they have made to keep our country safe and look forward to applying that same commitment of service to our own ranks and for our community.
Candidates can apply through Iowa Workforce Development or through the DoD SkillBridge website. Call the Rock Island Police Department at (309) 732-2500 for more information.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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On the side of a dirt road in western Kansas stands a locked metal gate flanked by a mailbox and two no-trespassing signs. A quarter-mile past the gate, obscured from the road by trees and terrain, sits a 1,120-square-foot cabin with a small patio that looks out onto a fishing pond.
This is where Sen. Roger Marshall calls home.
Some 1,500 miles away in Sarasota, Florida, the Kansas Republican keeps a much larger and more expensive house that includes a boat dock on a bayou and is only a short walk away from Sarasota Bay. At 1,949 square feet, the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house is valued at $1.2 million, more than eight times the appraised value of the cabin and surrounding land near St. John in Stafford County.
Four years into his Senate term and eight years after he was first elected to Congress Marshall has established a presence in Florida. Kansas junior senator has charged taxpayers several thousand dollars for flights and related expenses for trips that include stops in Sarasota while in the Senate; trips his office said were approved by a Senate committee and were for official business.
The Sarasota vacation home Marshall does not take a Florida tax break for permanent residents is just miles from his grandkids. Two of Marshalls four adult children have homes in Sarasota.
Federal lawmakers have long juggled time between their home states and Washington, D.C. Many maintain residences in the Washington area, though they typically dont advertise it. Spending too much time in Washington can be a political liability in an era where politicians often portray themselves as outsiders.
But keeping a house in another state far outside D.C. is more unusual, with fewer parallels.
The Star tried unsuccessfully to reach Marshall at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. Asked for his response to questions about his houses and where he spends his time, Marshall spokeswoman Charyssa Parent cast any indication that Marshall doesnt live in Kansas as dishonest and factually inaccurate.
Parent said Marshall uses the Sarasota house to visit his grandkids over the holidays like many grandparents.
In the four years hes been elected to the Senate, Senator Marshall has spent three weekends in Washington D.C. and averages three trips a year to visit his children and grandchildren in Florida, Parent said in an email.
Like most senators, Marshall, 64, leads a travel-heavy life. Congress spends more than 150 days in session each year and there are exclusive occasions on some weekends in Washington, like annual Christmas parties at the White House and tickets to the Kennedy Center Honors. Travel to conferences and political visits, such as stops at the southern border, take up time as well.
Back in Kansas, Marshall participates in numerous events visiting businesses, walking in parades and meeting with constituents including some that are hours away from the ranch, located south of Great Bend in Stafford County.
How much time the senator spends at the cabin and in Sarasota is difficult to discern with precision. Marshalls official Instagram account contains a handful of photos, some years old, that show the cabin.
I also had to ask him, where are you going to be on Fathers Day so I can mail you a card at least? Marshalls daughter wrote in a 2022 Fathers Day post on his Instagram page. So Im just laughing that I dont even know where to mail him a card that he will actually get in a decent amount of time.
Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican.
Real estate moves
Marshalls political rise is rooted in Great Bend, a city of about 15,000 in Barton County. He worked as an obstetrician-gynecologist, delivering by his own count more than 5,000 babies and gaining prominence locally before defeating Rep. Tim Huelskamp in the Republican primary for the 1st Congressional District in 2016.
He served two terms in the House before winning his Senate seat in an open race in 2020. Marshall was sworn into the Senate on Jan. 3, 2021. Just 10 days later, he sold the five-bedroom, four-bathroom house in Great Bend where he had raised his children for $415,000, according to the Barton County Appraisers Office.
The Great Bend sale came after Marshall sold a one-bedroom apartment steps from the U.S. Capitol that he owned while in the House. Marshall sold the apartment to Rep. Jodey Arrington, a Texas Republican, in 2020, for $400,000, according to District of Columbia records.
Marshalls Kansas voter registration now lists the St. John cabin as his residence. The cabin, built in 1980 and renovated in 2009, sits on roughly 310 acres of ranch land that have been in the Marshall family for decades.
Along the property, signs posted at regular intervals along the road, muddy after recent rainfall, warn against hunting without permission. Oil pumps dot the landscape.
The cabin has one bathroom and one bedroom with three rooms total according to records kept by the Stafford County Appraisers Office. The appraiser this year valued the cabin, which includes a detached garage and two storage sheds, at $124,200. The agricultural land was valued at $21,530.
The Kansas cabin that Sen. Roger Marshall lists as his residence. This image, taken in August 2022, is from the Stafford County Appraisers Office.
Parent repeatedly referred to the cabin a term Marshall has used on social media as a ranch and emphasized that it sits on over 300 acres. Asked how much time Marshall spends at the property, Parent didnt answer directly.
This is his primary residenceso as much as anyone who lives at their own house??? Parent said.
The property is owned by a family-controlled corporation. Marshall and his wife, Laina, are its directors. Two of his sons serve as officers.
Marshall has assets between $2.75 million and $9.3 million, according to his Senate financial disclosure. He makes $174,000 a year from his official Senate salary, after several decades as an OB-GYN.
A revocable trust purchased the Sarasota property for $750,000 in June 2019, just months before Marshall launched his Senate campaign. The address listed for the trust during the sale was Marshalls home address in Great Bend at the time. Marshalls House financial disclosure form also lists a June purchase of a Sarasota vacation home.
Three months later, Marshall sold for between $1 million and $5 million a property in Santa Cruz, California, that he had rented out.
A Zillow page for the Sarasota property includes images showing an expansive two-story backdoor deck with a view of the bayou. Inside, a spiral staircase connects the first and second floors.
Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota County, Florida. Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall owns a vacation home in the county.
Travel expenses
The Sarasota house first received attention last week, when Politico reported Marshall spent more than $4,900 in taxpayer money for flights and related expenses near his vacation home in Sarasota. Senate expense records show Marshall charged taxpayers for seven trips to Sarasota in 2021. Some of the trips included multiple stops in addition to Sarasota.
Additionally, Marshalls leadership PAC, called DOCs PAC, spent $261.86 at Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse in Sarasota in March 2024, according to Federal Elections Commission records.
Taking personal travel on the taxpayer dime is illegal, said Kedric Payne, the senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit government watchdog. But he said tacking personal travel on business travel can sometimes be a murky line one that is often determined by a Senate committee.
You cannot spend taxpayer money on personal travel, Payne said The analysis comes in as to whether or not its truly personal.
Marshalls office said the flights were all approved by the Senate rules committee and admissible official travel that included visits to military bases, agriculture interests, and meetings regarding health care policy.
Marshall isnt the first member of Congress representing the Kansas City region whose residency has attracted attention.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, came under scrutiny in 2020 for maintaining a house in Virginia and using his sisters address to register to vote in Missouri. Hawley said the address was temporary, as his family built a house in Ozark.
Former Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican who Marshall replaced in the Senate, was criticized during his 2014 reelection bid for not maintaining a house in Kansas. He listed a house owned by two of his donors as his permanent address. The senator infamously joked to The New York Times that he had full access to the recliner.
Roberts, who had spent 17 years in the Senate, won the Republican primary by a margin of less than 8 points.
And former Rep. Jim Ryun, a Republican, faced questions over whether he received a friendly deal from a consulting firm on a D.C. townhouse he bought in 2000. Democrat Nancy Boyda defeated Ryun in 2006 amid controversy over the townhouse.
Here in Kansas, I think it can matter because weve had instances where people have been interested not just the media, but voters, Bob Beatty, a political science professor at Washburn University and a longtime observer of Kansas politics, said of residency questions.
Kari Lake has said she supports the use of in vitro fertilization to have a baby, but her U.S. Senate race opponent is condemning her claim as disingenuous, vague and unhelpful to families.
Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat and member of the U.S. House of Representatives, used last week's failed U.S. Senate vote on a Democratic bill that would have provided federal IVF protections as a jumping off point for a media call targeting Lake, a Republican former TV news anchor, on IVF.
In particular, Gallego called out Lake's failure to voice support of what he says are much-needed, federal-level IVF protections.
Lake has said she opposes restrictions on IVF access, but Gallego says Lake would leave protecting that access to individual states, which is "dangerous," given what happened in Alabama earlier this year. It's also dangerous in states like Arizona where, "lawmakers have repeatedly undermined women's ability to make their own health care decisions," Gallego said.
The Alabama Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that embryos created through IVF are considered children, which temporarily halted IVF in that state as fertility clinics sought clarity on a number of issues, including whether providers could be prosecuted for wrongful death when embryo transfers fail, what happens to embryos with significant genetic abnormalities, and whether or not families are obligated to pay for embryo storage indefinitely.
IVF resumed in Alabama after Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed a bill in March that gives IVF clinic operations in her state criminal and civil immunity.
Lake's campaign did not respond to a question from The Arizona Republic about whether she is in favor of federal protections for IVF and her social media posts have not been specific about the kinds of actions she'd take to support IVF treatment for Arizonans.
Senate candidate Kari Lake speaks during a Back the Blue event in Chandler on Sept. 13, 2024.
The Lake campaign issued a statement Monday in anticipation of Gallego's media call that says Gallego would be falsely claiming that Lake opposes IVF protections.
The statement says Lake is the only mother in the Arizona race for U.S. Senate and that she "knows what a blessing it is to have children." If elected to the U.S. Senate, "she will do everything in her power to make it easier to raise a family and support women struggling with fertility issues," the statement said.
Lake, referring to Tuesday's media call, also called Gallego a liar in a Monday evening post on X, the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter.
"Tomorrow, Radical Ruben Gallego is going to hold a press call accusing me of not supporting IVF. Similar to most of the things Ruben says about me, this is a lie," Lake posted.
Polling indicates Gallego already has a healthy lead over Lake. Of the 42 head-to-head polls tracked by the nonpartisan FiveThirtyEight.com politics website since early March, Gallego led Lake in 39 of them.
Rep. Ruben Gallego speaks in Phoenix on the state's Supreme Court ruling to uphold near-total ban on abortions on April 12, 2024.
Duckworth bill would have established a nationwide right to IVF
Not having any national protection for IVF affects how people can plan for their family, including veterans who often move around a lot, and don't always have a choice about where they live, Gallego said.
"You may be in a state like California or Colorado that is 100% protective of IVF and abortion rights, which you do need both in order for you to be able to have successful IVF treatment," Gallego said. "Or you could find yourself to be stationed in Alabama, where we actually saw a ban come down that affected both civilians or non-civilians."
The federal Right to IVF bill, sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth D-Ill., failed on a 51-44 vote. Only two Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska supported it. Duckworth and other supporters of the bill said federal protections are needed because of what happened in Alabama.
"We saw families have their IVF treatments interrupted literally this year after the Alabama Supreme Court decided that women seeking fertility treatments should be considered criminals under that state's laws," Duckworth said. "And despite so many Republicans rushing to claim they support IVF, they refuse to back it up with action when they have the chance."
Among other things, the bill would establish a nationwide right to IVF and other assisted reproductive technology and lower the cost of such treatments. Some Republicans dismissed Duckworth's bill as a "show vote" and a non-issue because there's already widespread, bipartisan support for IVF.
Gallego and Duckworth say that Lake would have sided with the Republican majority on Duckworth's bill, though Lake has not said whether she would have or not. Gallego also pointed to remarks that Lake reportedly made to NBC News in March, saying that she supports IVF but that "I am much more about keeping a lot of this to the states ..."
Lake's campaign did not respond to a question about whether the statements to Kapur were reported accurately.
Kari Lake on whether Congress should act to protect IVF: "I support IVF." But she says the federal government shouldn't step in: "I am much more about keeping a lot of this to the states, the less the federal government is getting involved in our lives, the better." Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) March 5, 2024
End of Roe vs. Wade opened the door for restrictions on IVF
Gallego said he and his wife, Sydney, had made the decision to use IVF when they were trying to have a child together, but didn't end up needing it because Sydney became pregnant with their daughter, Isla, who is now a year old. Gallego also has an older child, Michael, whom he shares with ex-wife and Phoenix mayor Kate Gallego.
"It's great to say you are for something locally, but when you are running for U.S. Senate you have to think about a lot of people nationally, including our service men and women, of which we have many in Arizona," Gallego said.
"Let's not forget how we got here to begin with. Thanks to a radical Supreme Court that overturned Roe vs. Wade, we are in this situation. And now politicians can control families: when to start their families, and where at this point."
The U.S. Supreme Court two years ago overturned the landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade decision, which had guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion. In the June 24, 2022, Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, the justices ruled that, for the first time in nearly 50 years, states could set their own abortion laws without any federal standard protecting abortion access.
Allowing states to regulate life from the moment of conception opened the door for restrictions on IVF, since IVF includes the creation of embryos.
Lake's tone on abortion has shifted several times and she once praised Arizona's 19th century near-total ban on abortion. She now says she "wants to do everything she can to help women choose life, to choose to bring that blessing into their own existence," but that she also recognizes a majority of people in Arizona and the U.S. "hold the view that abortion should be legal with restrictions against late-term and partial-birth abortions."
Lake also says she does not support a federal abortion ban.
Gallego on Tuesday said that Lake is a "power-hungry politician" whose changing views on abortion show that she will do anything and say anything to get power, "even if it hurts Arizona women and families."
Republic reporter Ronald J. Hansen contributed to this article.
Reach health care reporter Stephanie Innes at Stephanie.Innes@gannett.com or follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @stephanieinnes.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ruben Gallego is making IVF an issue in Senate race against Kari Lake
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated. Donetsk Oblast Governor Vadym Filashkin clarified later in the day that the city was attacked by two guided aerial bombs, not three, as he had previously claimed.
Russian forces attacked the city of Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast on Sept. 25, killing at least two and injuring 19 people, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported. Three children are among the injured, he added.
Russia targeted the city center with two guided aerial bombs, damaging two high-rise buildings, shops, and cars.
People may be trapped under the rubble. Emergency services were still working at the scene as of 6 p.m. local time, according to Filashkin.
"This is another war crime by the Russians and another sad reminder that there are no safe places left in Donetsk Oblast," Filashkin wrote on his Telegram, encouraging remaining local residents to evacuate.
Kramatorsk comes under regular Russian attacks. A strike on a restaurant in the city center, popular with volunteers, journalists, and soldiers, in June 2023 killed 13 people and injured dozens of others.
The well-known Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina was seriously injured in the June 2023 strike and later died in hospital.
Read also: What the fall of Vuhledar would mean for Russias war in Ukraine
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Russia has destroyed all thermal power plants, nearly all hydroelectric capacity in Ukraine ahead of winter, Zelensky says
Russia destroyed all thermal power plants and almost all hydroelectric capacity in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sept. 25 during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Russia launched nine coordinated attacks against Ukraine's electricity infrastructure between March and August, striking facilities in 20 oblasts.
According to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report, Ukraine's electricity shortage could reach 6 gigawatts this winter as a result of the attacks, which is about one-third of the expected peak demand. This summer, the power shortage was 2.5 GW when Kyiv was already experiencing long blackouts.
"This is how Putin is preparing for winter hoping to torment millions, millions of Ukrainians Ordinary families women, children Ordinary towns, ordinary villages," Zelensky said.
"Putin wants to leave them in the dark and cold this winter, forcing Ukraine to suffer and surrender. Just imagine, please, your country with 80 percent of its energy system gone with such a destroyed part of the system. What kind of life would that be?" the president added.
From October 2022 to September 2024, Ukraine's energy infrastructure facilities suffered 1024 Russian attacks, according to the Energy Ministry.
Zelensky told the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 24 that Russia was preparing to target three Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
There are three operating nuclear power plants on the Ukrainian-held territory the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi plants in the country's west, and the Pivdennoukrainsk plant in the south. Russia's regular attacks put their safety in jeopardy by cutting off power to the units.
According to the Energy Ministry, nuclear generation currently accounts for up to 60% of the country's electricity consumption.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022.
Read also: Russia continues construction of naval base in occupied Abkhazia, Ukraine hints it will be legitimate target
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Russia has secretly established a development and production program in China for attack drones to be used in the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported on Sept. 25 citing European intelligence sources and documents reviewed by the outlet.
According to the report, Russia has flight-tested a new drone called the Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists.
Details of the project were revealed in a report by the company behind the project, IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of the Kremlin-owned weapons company Almaz-Antey.
China has positioned itself as neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war but has simultaneously deepened economic ties with Moscow and backed the country against Western sanctions.
Beijing has also emerged as one of Russia's leading sources of dual-use goods that feed the Russian defense industry.
In a comment to Reuters, China's foreign ministry denied knowledge of the G3 project.
In an interview with ABC News aired on Sept. 24., President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is using Chinese satellites to take pictures of Ukraine's nuclear facilities for possible future attacks.
"The recent information is that Russia has been using Chinese satellites and taking photos of the details of the objects on nuclear facilities," the president said.
"And in our experience, if Russia takes photos of certain objects, then there is a threat of strikes against the nuclear objects."
He did not elaborate on whether Chinese satellites were commercial or controlled by the Chinese government.
Read also: What the fall of Vuhledar would mean for Russias war in Ukraine
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The Kremlin, the powerful Russian Orthodox Church and high-profile conservative public figures regularly promote what they call 'traditional values' (Natalia KOLESNIKOVA) (Natalia KOLESNIKOVA/AFP/AFP)
Russian MPs on Tuesday called for a ban on promoting childless lifestyles, the latest measures targeting what Moscow depicts as a liberal ideology at odds with Russia's conservative values.
Facing an ageing population and low birth rates, Moscow is seeking to reverse a demographic slump -- accentuated by its military offensive on Ukraine -- that threatens its economic future.
The Kremlin, the powerful Russian Orthodox Church and high-profile conservative public figures regularly promote what they call "traditional values", both as a bulwark against Western liberal ideas and as a way to arrest Russia's demographic decline.
"We have started considering a bill banning propaganda of a conscious refusal to have children," parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on social media.
The measures would amount to a "ban on the ideology of childlessness and the child free movement", he said.
The proposed legislation would apply to material online, in media, advertising and in films.
Violations would be punishable by fines ranging from 400,000 rubles ($4,300) on individuals to five million rubles for businesses, Volodin said.
A "large and friendly family is the basis of a strong state," he added.
The Kremlin last week appeared to offer its backing to the bill.
"Everything that needs to be done to increase the birth rate must be done. And everything that hinders this should disappear from our lives," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday when asked about the planned bill.
Russia recorded its lowest birth rate in 25 years in the first half of 2024.
Hundreds of thousands of young men have either been called up to the army to fight in Ukraine or fled abroad to avoid being conscripted.
- 'More important things' -
Positive depictions of couples who have chosen not to have children are already rare in Russian popular culture.
"I can't say that I've seen a huge amount of this 'propaganda' or that I've come across it anywhere online," Victoria, a 47-year-old psychotherapist told AFP in Moscow.
"To be honest I don't think this question is very relevant right now in our country. I think there are some more important things that could be discussed," she added.
But Abdullah Shamkhalov, a 49-year-old businessmen backed the measures.
"I am in favour of banning such things. Let people get married, have children. This is the most important thing in life," he told AFP in Moscow, calling those who promote living without children as "godless" and part of a "sect".
The proposals resemble legislation passed more than a decade ago that banned "propaganda" of LGBTQ relationships to minors, a law that was extended to adults in 2022.
That ban effectively outlawed any representation of what Moscow called "non-traditional sexual relations" in public and in the media as part of a sweeping Kremlin crackdown on Russia's LGBTQ community.
The latest bill also echoes a Soviet-era tax on men and women without children.
In a bid to boost births, President Vladimir Putin has already revived a Soviet tradition of awarding medals to parents of large families, who also benefit from various tax and welfare benefits.
bur/bc
Russia is in talks with Yemen's Houthi militants to provide them with Yakhont anti-ship missiles that could threaten shipping in the Red Sea.
Source: Reuters
Details: Reuters sources report that talks between Houthi and Russian representatives have been held in the Iranian capital, Tehran, at least twice this year, and are expected to continue in the near future.
The Yakhont anti-ship missiles, also known as P-800 Oniks, will allow Yemen's Houthis to more accurately target commercial vessels and will pose a threat to US and EU warships.
Reuters reports that one of Russia's motives for providing weapons to the Houthis is to increase pressure on Western powers and prevent them from allowing Ukraine to launch long-range strikes deep into Russia.
Russia has previously supplied Yakhont missiles to Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Background:
Iranian-backed Houthi militants have begun attacking merchant ships around the Arabian Peninsula since November 2023, claiming they are targeting ships with ties to Israel. These attacks threatened the shortest sea route from Asia to Europe and related supply chains.
The US and its allies began patrolling the region to protect merchant ships in response. The EU also launched a special naval mission there in January 2024.
Two ships were damaged by Houthi attacks in early September, including the Saudi MV Amjad with about 2 million barrels of oil.
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Russia is preparing to target three Ukrainian nuclear power plants, President Volodymyr Zelensky told the U.N. Security Council in New York on Sept. 24.
"If Russia is ready to go that far, it means nothing you value matters to Moscow. This kind of Russian cynicism will keep striking if its given any room in the world," he said.
Zelensky did not specify which stations are under threat, but said Kyiv had evidence and "proof" of Russia's plans.
There are three operating nuclear power plants on the Ukrainian-held territory Rivne and Khmelnytskyi NPPs in the country's west, and Pivdennoukrainsk NPP in the south. Russia's regular attacks put their safety in jeopardy by cutting off power to the units.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022.
Throughout its occupation, the plant has been repeatedly disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid due to Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure.
There have been mounting warnings from Kyiv in recent days about such attacks.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sept. 21 that Russia's possible targets include open distribution devices at nuclear power plants (NPP) and transmission substations "which are essential for the safe functioning of the nuclear energy system."
Earlier on Sept. 24, Zelensky said that Russia is using Chinese satellites to take pictures of Ukraine's nuclear facilities for possible future attacks.
Ukraine's special services informed Kyiv's partners and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the threat.
Read also: Russia continues construction of naval base in occupied Abkhazia, Ukraine hints it will be legitimate target
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Russia has a programme in China to develop and manufacture drones for the war in Ukraine.
Source: Reuters
Details: Russia has set up a weapons programme in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine.
Kupol, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned arms company Almaz-Antey, has developed and flight-tested a new drone model called the Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists.
Kupol has told the Russian Defence Ministry that it can produce drones, including the G3, on a large scale at a factory in China for use in the "special military operation" (as Moscow refers to the war) in Ukraine.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of any such project, adding that China has strict controls on drone exports.
Last week, US officials expressed concern over what they called China's support for the Russian war machine.
The Garpiya-3 drone is capable of flying over 2,000 km. The payload is 50 kg, according to a report Kupol prepared for the Russian Defence Ministry. Samples of the Garpiya-3 and some other Chinese-made drone models have been delivered to Russia for further testing, again with the involvement of Chinese experts.
Kupol received seven Chinese-made military drones, including two Garpiyas, at its headquarters in the city of Izhevsk. The invoices, one of which requests payment in Chinese yuan, do not specify the drones delivery date or identify the suppliers in China.
Reuters says the delivery of the drone samples to Kupol is the first firm evidence that Chinese-made drones have been delivered to Russia since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine.
Background:
The majority of the components in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine are made in China.
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Russian attacks against Ukraine kill at least 11, injure 69 over past day
Russian attacks against Ukraine killed at least 11 people and injured 69 others over the past day, regional authorities said on Sept. 25.
Ukrainian forces downed 28 out of 32 Shahed-type drones and all four Kh-59/69 cruise missiles launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported. Four more drones were "lost" in a few regions, it added.
Russian forces struck Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, killing at least three people and injuring 36 others, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.
Russia attacked the city with guided aerial bombs, targeting densely populated districts, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. Four districts in the city were attacked, with residential high-rise buildings damaged in the Kyivskyi and Saltivskyi districts. One suffered a direct hit.
The number of casualties may increase as the rescue operation is still ongoing.
Military personnel look at the destroyed house following a Russian attack on the city of Kharkiv on Sept. 24, 2024. (Nikoletta Stoyanova/Getty Images)
In Kharkiv Oblast, an attack on Kupiansk killed a 93-year-old woman, according to the governor. Another woman, aged 57, was injured.
Russian forces also attacked the village of Varvarivka with a first-person-view (FPV) drone, killing a 61-year-old man, Syniehubov said. Two more people were injured.
A Russian overnight attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia injured at least seven people, according to Governor Ivan Fedorov.
A 55-year-old man was killed in a Russian attack near the town of Polohy in the region.
Russian attacks on the Nova Sloboda community in Sumy Oblast killed a civilian, local authorities reported.
One person was killed in the town of Kostiantynivka and two others in the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, Governor Vadym Filashkin said.
A total of five people suffered injuries in the region over the past day, he added.
In Kherson Oblast, Russian forces targeted 20 settlements, including the regional center of Kherson. One person was killed and 18 were injured, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.
Read also: Ukraine war latest: Fighting for Vovchansk continues, Kyiv restores control over aggregate plant
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Lawmakers in the Duma said they wanted to ensure that adopted children would not go through gender-reassignment (Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV) (Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/AFP)
Russia's parliament Wednesday voted to back a bill banning the adoption of Russian children in countries that allow gender reassignment, the latest in a series of ultra-conservative social measures.
Moscow has long portrayed itself as a bulwark against liberal values, but that trend has hugely accelerated since the Kremlin launched its Ukraine offensive, further rupturing ties with the West.
The bill would ban citizens of countries that authorise "the change of sex by medical intervention, including with the use of medicine", or allow individuals to change their gender on official identity documents.
It is the latest attack and stigmatisation of LGBTQ people by Moscow, President Vladimir Putin having massively re-inforced his conservative, anti-liberal vision for the country since launching his Ukraine campaign in February 2022.
A day earlier lawmakers had called for a ban on promoting childless lifestyles, depicting what they called the "movement" and "ideology" of couples choosing not to have children as a decadent Western influence, antithetical to a Russia's "traditional values".
MPs said Wednesday they wanted to ensure that adopted Russian children would not go through gender reassignment abroad.
"With this law we are protecting the child, we are doing everything for the child not to end up in a country where same-sex marriage and sex change is allowed," Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said.
Earlier this month gave an interview to Russian media in which he branded Europe and the US as "sick" for allowing gender reassignment, and attacked people "who were men yesterday and who today call themselves women".
- Foreign adoption virtually stopped -
Lawmakers voted almost unanimously to back the proposed law in a first reading, with 397 in favour and one against.
The bill still needs to be passed in two more readings and approved by the upper chamber before it can be signed into law by Putin.
The foreign adoption of Russian children has fallen drastically since 2012, when Moscow banned Americans from adopting. It has virtually stopped completely since the Ukraine offensive was launched in 2022.
In 2023, only six Russian children were adopted by foreign citizens, according to official figures.
At the start of the year, some 358,000 children were in Russian care homes, Russian media reported citing government statistics.
Children waiting to be adopted have been caught in the fallout of the conflict in Ukraine, as Moscow has considered a ban on adopting into "unfriendly countries" since 2022.
There are also now the logistical complications of physically getting to Russia for prospective parents looking to adopt.
- Slumping demographics -
The Kremlin, faced with an ageing population, has tried to stop Russia's demographic slump -- worsened by the Ukraine campaign, which has seen hundreds of thousands of men sent to the front. Experts have warned it has affected Russia's birthrate.
"I am generally against children being forcibly taken out of Russia like commodities," lawmaker Pyotr Tolstoy said.
"Are our demographics so good that we should turn into an incubator country? Or under the influence of liberal propaganda to change sex?", he added.
The latest proposals are a new version of a bill put forward in 2022 that aimed to ban the adoption of Russian children by parents from "unfriendly countries" -- a term Moscow uses to refer to states that have sanctioned Russia for its Ukraine offensive.
A post on the State Duma website said the bill aimed to ban the adoption of Russian children by "NATO countries".
MP Nina Ostatina, one of its authors, said: "The hybrid war unleashed against us touches our children... Russia has become an outpost on preserving traditional values."
Russia has created an inhospitable environment for LBGTQ people for years. In July 2023, it banned the "international LGBT movement" as extremist and made gender reassignment illegal.
Putin himself has repeatedly mocked people who have undergone gender reassignment, as well as LGBTQ people.
bur/jj
Experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have pointed out that Russian offensive efforts near the settlements of Vuhledar and Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast are mutually reinforcing and are likely intended to stretch Ukrainian forces on a wider front in Donetsk Oblast.
Source: ISW
Quote: "Russian forces have reached the outskirts of Vuhledar amid what appears to be an intensified offensive push near the settlement, but the capture of Vuhledar is unlikely to afford Russian forces any particular operational edge for further offensive operations in western Donetsk Oblast."
Details: Russian forces are also attempting to advance on the north-eastern flank of Vuhledar through Vodiane and on the south-western flank through Prechystivka, likely in an attempt to encircle the Ukrainian group in Vuhledar and force it to retreat.
Quote: "Western media and Ukrainian military experts and journalists widely warned on 23 and 24 September that constant Russian assaults and advances on the flanks of Vuhledar are threatening to encircle the Ukrainian garrison within the settlement, which may force Ukrainian troops to withdraw from the area, which has been an important Ukrainian stronghold for over two years."
"If the Ukrainian command decides that the risk of a Russian encirclement of Vuhledar or the costs of defending the settlement itself in urban combat are too great, Ukrainian forces may withdraw, allowing Russian forces to seize Vuhledar relatively rapidly and without engaging in close combat fighting.
If Ukrainian forces decide to defend Vuhledar and can prevent Russian efforts to envelop or encircle it, however. Russian forces may struggle to fight through a settlement that Ukrainian forces have had over two years to fortify."
More details: Experts added that if the Russians do not capture the settlement relatively quickly, the manoeuvre of Russian troops on the flanks of Vuhledar may also be affected by the onset of autumn rains, which will significantly complicate the Russians advance through the predominantly rural area around Vuhledar as it becomes swampy.
The ISW noted that Russia has made at least two major offensive attempts to capture Vuhledar in late 2022 and early 2023, both of which resulted in significant losses of Russian personnel and equipment, while giving Ukrainian forces the opportunity to further fortify the settlement and observe how the Russian group in the area plans and conducts offensive operations.
Quote: "Russia's potential seizure of Vuhledar is unlikely to fundamentally alter the course of offensive operations in western Donetsk Oblast, however.
Vuhledar is not a particularly crucial logistics node Russian forces already control most of the main roads running into Vuhledar (the T0509 Vuhledar-Prechystivka road, the C050524 Pavlivka-Vuhledar road, and the T0524 Vuhledar-Marinka road) and are likely already credibly threatening the C051134 route into Bohoiavlenka with close range artillery fires, so the capture of the settlement would not immediately offer Russian forces access to a new roadway, nor cut Ukrainian forces off from a roadway that is crucial to their logistical supply.
The potential seizure of Vuhledar will also not necessarily afford Russian forces a beneficial position from which to launch subsequent offensive operations elsewhere in western Donetsk Oblast."
Details: ISW's early assessment is that the Russian offensives near Vuhledar and Pokrovsk are mutually reinforcing and intended to stretch Ukrainian forces on a broader front in Donetsk Oblast. Nevertheless, a hypothetical Russian capture of Vuhledar would not necessarily be operationally significant enough to stretch Ukrainian forces further in the area.
To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 24 September:
Russian forces have reached the outskirts of Vuhledar amid what appears to be an intensified offensive push near the settlement, but the capture of Vuhledar is unlikely to afford Russian forces any particular operational edge for further offensive operations in western Donetsk Oblast.
Recent Ukrainian strikes against Russian rear ammunition depots demonstrate the extent to which Russian military logistics still benefit from Western-provided sanctuary that secures Russias rear.
Russia continues to expand and leverage its bilateral relations with the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) in order to support its war effort in Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has failed to appease the Russian ultranationalist milblogger community by downplaying the Russian military commands responsibility for its insistence on misusing technical specialists in infantry-led frontal assaults in Ukraines east.
Ukrainian forces recently advanced west of the Kursk Oblast salient.
Ukrainian forces recently advanced within Vovchansk and in eastern Toretsk.
Russian news outlet Meduza, citing its own conversations with various unspecified Russian officials close to the Russian Presidential Administration, a source in the federal government, and regional officials, reported on 24 September that mobilisation is a very sensitive topic among Kremlin officials.
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A group of German media outlets has conducted an investigation into how Russian vessels are likely gathering valuable intelligence on critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea under the guise of routine civilian activities.
Source: an investigation by NDR, WDR and Suddeutsche Zeitung, as reported by European Pravda
Details: The journalists investigated the activities of Russian vessels that are officially carrying out research work at sea, but in practice, they are also likely to be systematically gathering intelligence on energy cables, wind farms and military infrastructure.
The study analysed over 400 voyages made by 72 Russian vessels officially designated as "research vessels" during Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
The ships moved at very slow speeds in the Baltic and North Seas, often with their transponders switched off. At times they would remain stationary for several hours. These slow manoeuvres and stops would frequently occur in the vicinity of critical infrastructure gas pipelines, data cables, wind turbines.
Particularly noteworthy are the Akademik-class vessels, mostly built in the late 1980s. They have laboratories on board and were designed for scientific research in the Arctic and Antarctic. However, their equipment can also be utilised to produce detailed maps of underwater infrastructure.
Background:
In an investigation last year, broadcasters in several Nordic countries found that a huge number of Russian diplomatic mission staff could be undercover spies.
Intelligence agencies from several countries have recently issued warnings about the risk of Russian sabotage targeting Norwegian energy facilities.
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A Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk killed at least two people and injured 19, a regional governor said (Genya SAVILOV) (Genya SAVILOV/AFP/AFP)
Russia on Wednesday struck the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk with guided bombs, killing at least two people and wounding 19, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said.
The Donetsk region governor said in a video post from the scene there were fears that the toll could grow.
Rescue workers searched through the ruined buildings and there "may still be dead and wounded under the rubble", the governor said on Telegram.
The strikes were provisionally carried out by "two guided aerial bombs", Filashkin said.
"The Russians hit the city centre. Two high-rise buildings, shops and cars were damaged."
AFP journalists at the scene saw what appeared to be two separate hits around a kilometre (0.6 miles) apart, both in residential areas.
Thick plumes of smoke billowed over a partially destroyed 10-storey brick block of flats.
Resident Tatyana Rybakova stood nearby, pointing at the place where her flat used to be on the eighth floor, now a gaping hole.
She said she had "crawled away from the window" after a loud bang, and was struggling to come to her senses.
"I understand I have been left without a home: that I do understand," she added.
The strike also destroyed a five-storey apartment block and nearby restaurants.
Rescuers led an elderly woman, her face bloodied, out of the destroyed block of flats, asking her if she had relatives nearby.
A neighbour, Lyudmyla Shalayeva, said she was cleaning her flat when she saw an explosion and barely had time to shelter in her hall.
"We're scared every day," she said.
"But we didn't expect any shelling right here at us... Who can expect that?"
Kramatorsk lies around 20 kilometres (13 miles) from the front line, with fears over its fate rising as Russian forces continue their push into eastern Ukraine.
A safety advisor working for Reuters news agency was killed in a missile strike on a hotel in Kramatorsk last month.
In June last year, a Russian ballistic missile tore through the city's popular Ria Pizza restaurant, killing 13 people and wounding dozens.
A Russian strike on the city's train station in April 2022 killed more than 60 civilians, including children, and wounded more than 160 fleeing the Russian advance.
brw-am/tw
The Russians attacked Kherson on the morning of 25 September. Four civilians were injured as a result of the hostile actions.
Source: Roman Mrochko, Head of Kherson City Military Administration, on Telegram; Kherson Oblast Military Administration on Telegram
Details: Mrochko reported that three residents of the village of Antonivka, on the outskirts of the city, were injured as a result of a Russian drone attack.
He said the Russians dropped explosives from a drone at around 10:00. Three men aged 57, 63 and 74 sustained shrapnel wounds and blast injuries.
Later, he reported another casualty in Khersons Central district.
Quote from Mrochko: "A 24-year-old woman sustained injuries in the Central district of the city this morning as a result of an enemy attack.
She sought medical assistance on her own. The doctors diagnosed her with blast injuries and concussion. Further examinations are currently underway."
Background:
Russian troops launched an airstrike on a school in Mylove hromada in the Beryslav district of Kherson Oblast on the night of 24-25 September. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories ed.].
Russian forces launched a drone attack on Beryslav in Kherson Oblast on 24 September, killing a 60-year-old man and injuring a 70-year-old woman.
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Russians strike Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast, killing two and injuring 15 civilians, 3 of them children photos
The aftermath of the Russian attack on Kramatorsk on 25 September. Photo: National Police of Ukraine
Two people have been killed and at least 15 have been injured as a result of a Russian attack on the centre of the city of Kramatorsk.
Source: Vadym Filashkin, Head of Donetsk Oblast Military Administration; National Police of Ukraine on Telegram; Donetsk Oblast Prosecutors Office
Details: Filashkin reports that the Russians struck the city centre.
The aftermath of the Russian attack on Kramatorsk on 25 September
Photo: Donetsk Oblast Military Administration
The prosecutor's office clarified that at 15:40 on 25 September, the Russian army launched airstrikes, presumably with FAB-250 aerial bombs, on the central part of Kramatorsk. The Russians once again targeted civilian infrastructure.
Two civilians sustained fatal injuries as a result of the Russian attack on residential buildings. Another 15 citizens sustained injuries of varying severity. In particular, three minors were injured.
They were taken to a medical facility where they are being provided with qualified medical care. The final number of casualties is being clarified, prosecutors add.
Windows and doors were smashed and balconies were destroyed in apartment buildings. Shops and cars were also damaged.
:
The aftermath of the Russian attack on Kramatorsk on 25 September
Photo: National Police of Ukraine
Background:
A 45-year-old woman was killed and 10 more people injured, including 2 children, in a Russian bombardment of the city of Kramatorsk and Shahove in Donetsk Oblast on 23 September.
Five civilians were injured, including a 16-year-old girl who is in a critical condition, as a result of a Russian attack on the city of Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast.
Four Reuters journalists from Ukraine, the United States, Latvia, and Germany were injured as a result of Russian troops' attack on a hotel in Kramatorsk. A journalist from the United Kingdom is also presumably trapped under the rubble.
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A Russian missile strike in Odesa Oblast has damaged two lorries and caused a grass fire.
Source: Oleh Kiper, Head of Odesa Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram
Quote: "At night, the enemy launched a missile attack on Odesa Oblast. In Odesa Oblast, the missile according to preliminary information, a Kh-59/69 hit an open area. A hundred square metres of dry grass caught fire. The fire was quickly extinguished.
Debris damaged two lorries moving nearby."
Details: Kiper reports that there were no casualties. Law enforcement officers are working on the scene.
Background: Earlier, the Ukrainian Air Force of the Armed Forces stated that Russia had launched 32 kamikaze drones against Ukraine on the night of 24-25 September, with air defence forces successfully downing 28 of them. Ukraine's air defence has also managed to destroy four guided Kh-59/69 air-to-surface missiles. The Russians fired a total of seven missiles on Ukraine. Odesa Oblast was attacked using four Kh-59/69 air-to-surface missiles from the Black Sea airspace.
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Residents on Tuesday criticized a second resolution reaffirming that Colorado Springs is not a "sanctuary city" for migrants crossing U.S. borders as divisive, hateful and an example of political grandstanding.
Though the resolution is symbolic and not legally binding, it sends a strong message that migrants are not welcome, opponents said.
"This body continues to take damaging, bigoted actions unfounded in reality as nothing more than shallow political grandstanding with yet another immigrant anti-sanctuary city resolution," resident Jax Armendariz Unzueta told the City Council.
She was one of seven people who spoke against the document Tuesday. No residents spoke in support.
The council voted 7-2, with Councilwomen Yolanda Avila and Nancy Henjum opposed, to pass a second symbolic resolution stating Colorado Springs "is not and will not become a sanctuary city."
The resolution approved seven months after council passed an initial controversial non-sanctuary city resolution in February calls on the federal government to better address immigration.
Among other promises, it pledges not to "encourage migrants without legal status" to come to Colorado Springs, but to "handle all contingencies with compassion and respect." As proposed by Councilman Dave Donelson and further amended by the council, it too calls on Gov. Jared Polis and the state legislature to "repeal legislation that has negatively impacted our state and law enforcement."
The resolution refers to two state bills passed in 2019 and 2023 that prohibit local law enforcement, including the El Paso County sheriff, from arresting or detaining individuals based on a civil immigration detainer.
The laws also prohibit probation officers from providing migrants' identifying information to federal authorities, and ended the ability for local law enforcement to enter into agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain individuals in their jails.
"Anyone who breaks Colorado's laws can expect to be prosecuted, and Colorado police at the local and state level coordinate and cooperate regularly with federal law enforcement on criminal matters, including (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)," Polis spokeswoman Shelby Wieman said in an emailed statement Tuesday. "The governor is focused on ensuring our law enforcement resources go toward fighting actual crimes to help make Coloradans safer."
The council did not support three separate motions from Donelson to include additional clauses in the resolution.
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Donelson proposed calling on Colorado Springs to consider joining an ongoing lawsuit from El Paso and other Colorado counties against the state for some of its immigration laws. He wanted to call on the city to explore joining other Front Range governments in a potential lawsuit against Denver for its "sanctuary city" status and the impacts it has had on other Colorado communities. Donelson also proposed calling for the "remigration or deportation of all" undocumented migrants in the country.
Councilman Brian Risley, who sponsored the resolution, said the document only addresses migrants without legal status, not "law-abiding immigrants who came to the U.S. through the proper channels."
In an interview with The Gazette Friday, Risley said he brought forth the resolution because of recent reported Venezuelan gang activity in Aurora that some officials in that city have said has "significantly impacted" apartment complexes there.
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky this month maintained the gang issue is localized and limited to a few areas.
"In my opinion, this is not about perpetuating fearmongering or stoking speculation about what might be happening in our community," Risley said Tuesday, recognizing the cultural vibrancy and diversity migrants bring to the U.S. "... This is about getting ahead of the lawlessness that other communities have faced."
Colorado Springs police spokesman Ira Cronin said in an email this week local police are aware of the Venezuelan gang activity in Aurora and are monitoring the situation.
Locally, the Colorado Springs Police Department has not seen any violent crime tied to Venezuelan gangs in Colorado Springs, has not made any arrests related to Venezuelan gang activity, and no known Venezuelan gang members are currently in custody, Cronin said.
Annette Leyva, a regional organizer at the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, said migrants crossing the border are real people trying to get to safety. Immigrants also live and work in Colorado Springs, she said.
"You saying that you don't welcome migrants in Colorado Springs is not just talking about some imaginary group of immigrants. You're talking to the 48,338, or 6.7%, of Colorado Springs (residents) who are immigrants, and then the even larger amount who are the kids, the coworkers, the friends and families of these immigrants," Leyva said.
Before voting in favor of the resolution, Councilman David Leinweber said he believes immigrants are the strength of the country but believed Colorado Springs needed "to make it clear that we're concerned ... because we've seen other communities have to deal with this illegal population."
Councilwoman Yolanda Avila said Tuesday's resolution was "fearmongering at its best."
"It's symbolic, but it's showing ... that we believe a certain segment of the population is not worthy in fact, they're dangerous," Avila said.
Russian troops launched an airstrike on a school in Mylove hromada in the Beryslav district of Kherson Oblast on the night of 24-25 September. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories ed.].
Source: Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration
Quote: "At night, enemy aircraft attacked the Beryslav district. Two guided aerial bombs struck one of the schools in Mylove hromada."
photo: Telegram of oleksandr prokudin
Details: Prokudin said an educational institution building had sustained substantial damage, including a damaged roof, classrooms, and broken windows and doors.
photo: Telegram of oleksandr prokudin
There were no injuries among the local residents.
photo: Telegram of oleksandr prokudin
Background: On 24 September, the Russian military targeted Beryslav in Kherson Oblast with a drone, killing a 60-year-old man and injuring a 70-year-old woman.
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EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) Sacred Heart Church, known for aiding asylum seekers since 2022, will close its shelter for migrants starting Oct. 7. Church officials say the number of migrants seeking refuge at the shelter has decreased significantly since June.
Father Rafael Garcia, the churchs pastor, explained that Sacred Heart has been providing essential services such as food, shelter, and basic necessities to hundreds of asylum seekers in need. However, with other shelters now established and fewer migrants arriving, the church will cease shelter operations.
When we first opened, we couldnt serve everyone. People were out on the streets because we were already packed inside, Garcia said. He added that prior to June, the shelter housed up to 100 people per night, but that number has since dropped to around 20.
Sacred Heart Church, 602 S Oregon St., is located in South El Paso near Downtown.
Garcia said since President Joe Bidens executive orders in June, which limited the number of people eligible to seek asylum, they began noticing a decline in migrants at the shelter.
Additionally, data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) suggest other factors are contributing to the shift in migration patterns.
ICE officials in El Paso reported a 90% asylum denial rate, while CBP data show that 11 out of every 13 migrants in the region are now crossing into the U.S. through New Mexico, rather than El Paso. Migrant smugglers have also been directing people toward the New Mexico border, increasing the traffic in that area.
Despite the shelters closure, Garcia said that Sacred Heart will remain ready to assist if there is another surge of migrants or as cooler weather approaches.
If theres a situation where families cant go to another shelter, wed likely do something similar (to what weve done before). Maybe not on the same scale, but we would help on cold nights, he said.
However, he doesnt anticipate a repeat of the surge seen in 2022.
KTSM reached out to U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-New Mexico, and he issued the following statement: While Republicans play politics, I have been proactive in working with our federal agencies to provide resources and services for our border communities. We have proposed multiple bipartisan, common-sense bills, including my bipartisan Stop Fentanyl at the Border Act, but today MAGA Republicans have sent the House home instead of delivering solutions for our broken immigration system.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
SAG-AFTRA has filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to represent intimacy coordinators in bargaining with the major studios.
The move is the latest step in a five-year effort by the union to professionalize the role of intimacy coordinators, who act as liaisons between performers and the production during the filming of sex scenes.
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Getting NLRB recognition would allow SAG-AFTRA to bargain for minimum pay and working conditions.
We have no protections, said Marci Liroff, who has worked as an intimacy coordinator in film and TV. And we have no heath insurance. We have no pension.
HBO requires intimacy coordinators for filming sex scenes, but there is no such requirement industrywide. The 2023 SAG-AFTRA contract includes a provision requiring producers to use best efforts to hire an IC for scenes involving nudity or sex acts. The provision also says that if a performer requests an IC, the producer must consider the request in good faith and not retaliate.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios in bargaining, has not offered to voluntarily recognize intimacy coordinators. Once the petition is submitted to the NLRB, the potential bargaining unit must hold a vote to approve SAG-AFTRA representation.
In a statement, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said that intimacy coordinators create a safety net for performers in vulnerable situations.
Shifting the power imbalance that has been ingrained over a century is challenging but important work, she said. Work that can be done even more effectively with the backing of a union. Intimacy coordinators have our backs on set and now its our turn to have theirs.
The union issued guidelines for intimacy coordinators in 2020. It established an accreditation program and an official registry in 2021, which now lists about 70 members in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, and elsewhere. The following year, SAG-AFTRA invited intimacy coordinators to join the union.
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Salvadoran migrant caught and released at border arrested for murder of girlfriend in Maryland
A 23-year-old Salvadoran illegal immigrant who was caught and released at the southern border in June has now been arrested in relation to the murder of his girlfriend in June.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed to Fox News Digital that Gerber Luis Sanchez-Centeno is in the country illegally and had been previously detained.
"Sanchez-Centeno is an unlawfully present 23-year-old Salvadoran national," ICE said in a statement. "U.S. Border Patrol apprehended Sanchez June 2 after he unlawfully entered the United States near Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Later that day, ERO El Paso placed Sanchez into the Alternatives to Detention program with a GPS monitor. ERO El Paso terminated Sanchez from ATD Aug. 8, as he absconded from the program."
"The Montgomery County Police Department arrested Sanchez Sept. 20 and charged him with the murder of his girlfriend. Sanchez remains in the custody of authorities in Montgomery County, Maryland. ERO Baltimore lodged an immigration detainer against Sanchez Sept 23, 2024 with the Montgomery County Detention Center," the statement continued.
Massachusetts Gop Demands Information On State's $1B In Secret Migrant Spending: Veil Of Secrecy
Maryland police confirmed that the migrant was wearing an ankle monitor at the time of his arrest. Authorities identified the girlfriend as 18-year-old Dania Carolina Cruz-Mejia. She was also a migrant from El Salvador.
Read On The Fox News App
Bloodthirsty Venezuelan Street Gang Sparks Fear In Us Amid Migrant Surge: What To Know
Cruz-Mejia's brother found his sister's body and contacted Centeno, who expressed remorse and said he would turn himself in.
Gerber Luis Sanchez-Centeno, 23, was detained at the U.S.-Mexico border in June.
Centeno's arrest comes amid similar cases across the country. ICE made four arrests over the course of 48 hours earlier this month in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Migrants in that case are accused of child sex crimes.
After Video Of Armed Venezuelan Gang Shared By Local Official Goes Viral, Colorado City Takes Action
Meanwhile, The New York Police Department (NYPD) says it is targeting the bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), which has set up operations amid a surge of migration into the sanctuary city.
Border officials say they have apprehended dozens of gang members attempting to cross into the U.S.
The head of U.S. Border Patrol said recently that they have apprehended dozens of gang members attempting to enter the U.S. at the southern border.
Original article source: Salvadoran migrant caught and released at border arrested for murder of girlfriend in Maryland
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) The Salvation Army of El Paso had an exciting Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 24 as it launched a new donation truck and welcomed Myriam Guerrero as the new chair of the Advisory Board, the organization announced in a news release.
The organization said the donation truck, which was funded by a $25,000 sponsorship from Wellcare, will support The Salvation Army Family Thrift Store by enhancing the organizations ability to collect and distribute donated goods.
The donation truck covers an average of 240 miles every week and makes frequent stops to collect and deliver donated goods, according to the organization.
In addition, the organization announced the appointment of Guerrero as the new chair of the Advisory Board.
Guerrero, who has served on the board for over 10 years, succeeds Claiborne Gallagher whose leadership has greatly contributed to the organizations success, read the 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 KTSM 9 News.
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) San Diego County Supervisors have approved a partnership with UC San Diego Health to address the critical shortage of behavioral health services for low-income residents.
At Tuesdays press conference, County Supervisors talked about the critical shortage of behavioral health services for low-income residents, saying they want to build a system of care that is a right and not a privilege.
One of the most critical crises our county is facing is a shortage of behavioral health services for our low-income community members, said Monica Montgomery Steppe, County of San Diego, District 4.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to approve a series of actions allowing them to take the next step in addressing this crisis.
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Nearly one out of every 20 San Diegans are currently living with serious mental illness, said Montgomery Steppe.
The partnership will ultimately allow for the development of a new psychiatric inpatient facility with an additional 30 beds and a crisis stabilization unit at UC San Diego Healths East Campus Medical Center.
This new facility will ensure that were supporting our most vulnerable community members, said Terra Lawson-Remer, Supervisor, County of San Diego, District 3.
Which includes Medi-Cal recipients who rely on the county for healthcare.
Newsom takes action on housing and homelessness: how will it affect San Diego?
For those on Medi-Cal these resources may not have otherwise existed, said Montgomery Steppe.
The current plan is to deliver care for adults 18 and up at the east campus, but this is just the first step.
The new facility is expected to open within the next 20 months.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
A corn harvest (Carey Herndon for the SC Farm Bureau/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA Neal Baxleys family has been farming for at least seven generations maybe more. He farms corn, peanuts, soybeans, tobacco and raises cattle, among other things, on 5,500 acres in Marion County.
His grandfather grew up farming behind a mule. Now South Carolina farmers like Baxley trade on global markets. But Baxley, 45, worries future generations wont be able to eke out a living on the land.
Im very concerned about how to keep more generations on the farm, because the margins are very thin, said Baxley, whos also director of the Marion County Farm Bureau. We need farm policy in the United States that looks at sustainability from the farmers perspective.
Without a new farm bill, we will see greater price changes at the grocery store.
Emily Frierson, national affairs coordinator for the South Carolina Farm Bureau
Every five years, Congress is supposed to approve an aptly dubbed farm bill a massive package of legislation that sets federal food policy. The last one passed in 2018, but when the law came up for renewal last year, Congress extended it by a year rather than pass a new one.
That extension is set to expire Monday. But the intended deadline is certain to come and go without Congress passing a new bill or extending the current one.
After passing a stopgap spending bill Wednesday that keeps government running through Dec. 20, the House and Senate adjourned until after Election Day. That pushes any potential agreement on a new farm bill into the lame-duck session.
Most Americans may not immediately see the impact of the farm bill because it has helped create a system that keeps food easily available and affordable, said Emily Frierson, national affairs coordinator for the South Carolina Farm Bureau.
But without a new farm bill, we will see greater price changes at the grocery store, she said. We will see more issues with supply chains.
Not only could grocery prices already high on voters minds continue to rise, but staples like eggs and milk could be less available on shelves, Frierson said.
Safety net programs are out of date
The farm bill often grabs headlines for setting federal policy for food assistance, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.
But as the laws informal name suggests, it also sets United States agricultural policy.
The most impactful parts of the bill for South Carolina crop farmers are safety net programs that help farmers ride out losses. But the support has not kept up with the rising cost of production, according to multiple people interviewed by the SC Daily Gazette.
There are two the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs.
For qualifying farmers, the programs cover a range of crops, including corn, soybeans, wheat, peanuts and seed cotton. The risk program provides payments for lower-than-anticipated earnings from crop sales. The loss program is supposed to at least partly cover the gap between what farmers can get for their crop at market and the minimum price set by the federal law (called the reference price).
The formula for how much money, if any, farmers receive from the safety net programs is complicated. South Carolina farmers collectively received over $6 million in 2021, according to the latest data published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Under the price loss program, payouts are based on reference prices set by law. Except for one variety of rice, those prices havent changed since 2014, as Congress didnt adjust them for any other crops in 2018, said Nathan Smith, an extension economic and associate professor with Clemson University.
That means prices are way out of whack with the increased cost of production over the last decade, Smith said.
For South Carolina farmers, the biggest need for a new farm bill is to update those bare-minimum crop prices in the loss program, Smith said. Adjustments for the risk program would also help.
Without a new farm bill, the programs continue, but with the increasingly outdated numbers.
Even if a new bill is passed, help wont be immediate since payouts occur a year after harvest. So, the sooner they approve any adjustments, the quicker that process will start.
There may be some help coming with the new farm bill, but it still will be a year away, he said.
Bad weather causes low yields in South Carolina
This year in South Carolina has shown why the federal safety net is so important, said Smith. Nationally, corn and soybean yields are set to outstrip demand. But in South Carolina, crops have been damaged by rough weather.
In the Palmetto State, droughts have been followed by heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Debby.
Baxley said that his corn got off to a strong start in the spring before hitting two months with no rain. Then between the middle of July and the middle of August, his farm got 22 inches of rain, including a foot from Debby alone.
So, if you look at the average, were a little above average on rainfall it just all came at the wrong time, Baxley said. We lost our corn crop due to drought, and then some of our peanuts, cotton and tobacco we lost due to consistent rainfall.
About a quarter of his corn crop is irrigated, Baxley said. The yield on the rest of his crop is down between 70% and 80%.
The federal government also subsidizes third-party crop insurance programs, which are distinct from the other two safety net programs. But even then, Baxley said, the insurance does not cover the full cost of a lost crop.
Beyond the safety net
There are other significant programs for South Carolina farmers in the farm bill.
One program authorized in the 2018 reauthorization was a pilot feral hog control plan through the USDA, including assistance in trapping hogs on private land. Feral hogs cause millions in damages each year, and the state has provided funding to the pilot program as well.
The pilot program covered Hampton, Jasper and Newberry counties.
To continue, the pilot program needs to be specifically authorized again in the new law, according to Amy Robertson, a spokesperson for the USDA. Thats something the Farm Bureau says its pushing for.
Baxley also praised the conservation programs potentially provided in the updated law, which can help cover farmers costs for more expensive methods.
Farmers are environmentalists too, he said. Soil and water are our greatest resources.
But it is the safety nets and insurance subsidies that can provide some stability to farmers in South Carolina.
Without a new farm bill, we are facing the prospect of so many of our programs reverting back by decades, said Frierson with the Farm Bureau.
Our farmers are certainly saying that if they do not see an increase in reference prices and crop insurance that they will need to strongly consider if they can financially plan for another year.
Editors note: This article has been updated with Congress adjourning Wednesday without taking up the farm bill.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, the featured guest at a June fundraiser for N.C. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, said a recent report from CNN raised some eyebrows but he doesnt know whats true.
Robinson, who is running for governor, denies the comments attributed to him made on a porn website message board that CNN recently reported.
I havent read but just a little bit of them, I mean I think that they cause some, raise some eyebrows, McMaster said. But on the other hand, its easy to destroy somebodys reputation these days, I dont know whats true and whats not true, I like to give everybody the benefit of the doubt. But apparently its caused some trouble in his campaign.
Robinsons campaign recently lost some top staffers and some of its campaign advertising funding is ending, according to media reports.
McMaster also offered an explanation for this weeks Republican Governors Association action at a press conference Tuesday. The governors group confirmed its ads in North Carolina would expire, and that it did not plan to renew funding.
McMaster, who is on the groups executive committee, said they had spent a lot of money for Robinsons campaign.
That doesnt mean that were not hoping Republicans will go vote for him, but the RGA reached the limits of what they could spend and decided to not spend more on that race, McMaster said.
The Republican Governors Association communications director told media Tuesday that it does not comment on internal strategy or spending decisions in confirming the N.C. ads ending. RGA remains committed to electing Republican Governors all across the country, its communications director Courtney Alexander said.
The fundraiser McMaster attended in June was at a steakhouse in Charlotte.
I dont think Ill be going back to North Carolina, they havent asked me to come, I have been there before, but Ive campaigned for a lot of Republicans and will continue to do that but I think that there are others that may need help as well, McMaster said Tuesday about the fundraising event.
Gov. Henry McMaster meets with officials at the South Carolina Emergency Management Division to receive an update on Tropical Storm Debby on Monday, August 5, 2024. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Megan Floyd)
COLUMBIA South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency Wednesday ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is projected to make landfall along the Florida panhandle Thursday evening.
The declaration activates South Carolinas emergency plan.
The current projected path of the hurricane shows it hitting the Florida panhandle Thursday morning with wind speeds in excess of 110 mph and heading up along the Georgia-Alabama border into Tennessee.
But tropical-storm-force winds are expected to batter almost all of South Carolina.
The Lowcountry coastline could see a storm surge of up to 3 feet from the Georgia border to the South Santee River north of Charleston.
Although South Carolina will likely avoid the brunt of Hurricane Helenes impacts, the storm is still expected to bring dangerous flooding, high winds, and isolated tornadoes to many parts of the state, McMaster said in a statement accompanying the declaration. South Carolinians in potentially affected areas should start to take precautions now and monitor local weather forecasts over the next several days.
In August, Tropical Storm Debby caused flooding and spun off some tornadoes across much of the state. The storm damaged buildings and the flooding led to some evacuations, although no one was killed in South Carolina.
Earlier this month, McMaster applied for federal disaster aid to help residents impacted by Hurricane Debby.
This included a request for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for residents in Charleston, Colleton and Dorchester counties. As of Wednesday afternoon, the request had not yet been approved. If it is, underinsured and uninsured residents of the counties could apply for federal money to cover home repair and other costs from the storm.
McMaster also requested assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration, which announced Sept. 19 that businesses in Berkeley and Orangeburg counties, as well as 11 adjacent counties, could apply for low-interest disaster loans.
Residents looking for additional information on how to prepare ahead of a hurricane can visit hurricane.sc for a guide. For up-to-date information on this storm, go to scemd.org.
New SC group pushes for Medicaid expansion, pointing to NC as example
North Carolina Rep. Donny Lambeth and state Sen. Kevin Corbin, both Republicans, speak at the South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, as advocates for Medicaid expansion. (Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA If Cliff Arnold had health insurance to cover the cost of the procedure he needs to manage kidney issues, he would get back to work right away, he told reporters.
But after losing his job two years ago because of a failing kidney and complications from diabetes, Arnold lost his health insurance. His disability paychecks, while barely enough to pay for regular expenses, are too much to qualify him for Medicaid.
At the end of the month, Im sweating to see if I can make it until his next disability check, Arnold said during Tuesdays news conference at the Statehouse.
Pointing to stories like Arnolds, Cover SC, a coalition of nonprofits that officially launched Tuesday, is aiming to convince legislators to expand Medicaid eligibility to more adults like Arnold.
The group of nearly 100 organizations is leaning on North Carolinas recent expansion as proof that Republican leaders could change their minds. The coalition includes health care providers and associations, civil rights groups, advocates for the poor, the Catholic Diocese for the state, and the Catawba Indian Nation.
South Carolina is one of 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid eligibility to cover all adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level, as the 2010 federal health care law commonly known as Obamacare intended.
North Carolinas Republican-controlled Legislature approved an expansion last year. Since enrollment of newly eligible North Carolinians began Dec. 1, more than 500,000 people have signed up for the health coverage, according to the office of Gov. Roy Cooper.
Convincing South Carolina legislators to do the same will be an uphill battle, advocates acknowledged.
Its not just one time around that the groups supporters will need to contact their legislators, said North Carolina state Rep. Donny Lambeth, a Winston-Salem Republican. Go back again. Go back again. Go back again, because this is a journey youre on. Its not going to happen overnight.
Even the mention of Medicaid expansion tends to rankle state GOP leaders.
A clause senators put in their budget proposal this year would have examined a number of potential health care system reforms, including what it would mean to expand Medicaid.
The House agreed to keep the study group in the Legislatures final package. But McMaster vetoed the budget clause, writing in his veto letter that the idea of looking for affordable health care was a worthy endeavor while reiterating his opposition to Medicaid expansion.
But with more states expanding their coverage, including Republican-dominated states that once balked at the idea, coalition members are hopeful, said Teresa Arnold, chair of the coalition and Cliff Arnolds sister.
Were in much better shape today than we were 10 years ago, because we have the data, Arnold said. Thats what were going to be doing, is educating each legislator one by one and their constituents on the benefits of Medicaid expansion.
Coalition members plan to start by sitting down with local leaders, persuading city and county councils to pass resolutions supporting Medicaid expansion. If the local backing is there, advocates can more confidently tell legislators that their constituents want expansion, Arnold said.
Thats crucial, because (legislators) need backing from their local folks to learn that way, Arnold said.
A similar coalition in North Carolina spent 10 years talking to legislators before its Legislature passed an expansion, said Peg OConnell, who was the chair of that group. South Carolina has the benefit of learning from North Carolinas mistakes and successes, she said.
Starting local was a major help for the North Carolina group, as was having county-by-county data to show legislators how many of their own constituents stood to benefit from expanding Medicaid. The group focused on the impact for people, OConnell said.
Im hoping what we learned in North Carolina, that this is not a toxic political issue, can help other non-expansion states, OConnell said.
Whos eligible now?
Under South Carolinas existing eligibility rules, non-disabled, non-elderly adults without children dont qualify for full coverage by Medicaid.
Parents can qualify if they make 67% of the federal poverty level or less, which is $16,650 per year for a family of three. Children 18 and under still qualify if their parents earn at or below 208% of the poverty level, or a maximum of $53,706 for that same family of three.
People like Arnold, who have a disability established with the Social Security Administration, can make up to $15,060 per year for one person.
Around 1.1 million people in the state are enrolled in South Carolinas full Medicaid program, according to the states Medicaid agency. Expanding Medicaid could cover somewhere around 360,000 more people, a study commissioned by Cover SC found.
That includes about 100,000 people who already receive some benefits under the states family planning program for adults making less than 200% of the poverty level. The limited benefit program covers birth control options and preventive health screenings, but not the medical treatment for problems discovered by exams.
The expected increase also includes South Carolinians who are already eligible for Medicaid but not enrolled who would likely sign up amid education about an expansion and people who qualify for federally subsidized health insurance, said lead researcher Leighton Ku.
Opponents of expansion have said they worry about giving free health care to people who could otherwise work. Another big hurdle the coalition will need to overcome is the price tag that comes with expanding eligibility.
Overcoming the cost hurdle
The federal government covers 90% of the cost for people in an expansion compared to about 70% of the share in the existing program. That would increase South Carolinas costs to roughly $2.5 billion if legislators decided to expand Medicaid next year, according to a study Cover SC commissioned.
The states 10% share is estimated at $270 million in the first year. Three years after launch, the cost is expected to grow to $356 million, the study found.
Due to the continually rising cost of health care, the states share of expenses would almost certainly grow annually. In this years budget, the state put an additional $36 million into Medicaid just to cover existing services, $51 million more to increase doctors rates in an effort to ensure they accept Medicaid patients, and $16 million for additional mental health benefits. That brought the states spending on the government health insurance program to almost $2.2 billion this fiscal year, or 15% of the total budget for state taxes.
Cost was a major problem for North Carolina legislators, too, said Lambeth and state Sen. Kevin Corbin, a Republican who represents the states mountainous western corner. But they found a workaround by taxing the states hospitals, which would benefit from an increased number of people seeking health care, to pay for the states portion.
If the tax ever stops being able to cover the states part of the deal, leaving taxpayers to make up the difference, North Carolinas expansion would end.
That was a political talking point we could bring back to our respective Republican caucuses, Corbin said.
Whether or not that would be a possibility in South Carolina remains up in the air. Cover SC members are in the beginning stages of conversations with legislators, Arnold said.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) A video of former President Donald Trump giving a Pennsylvania woman money at a grocery store is gaining traction on social media.
The interaction has some people wondering if a candidate is allowed to give out money to people.
Michael Dimino, a visiting professor at the University of South Carolinas law school, said the interaction was legal. Its not against the law to give money to other people, but it is illegal if youre doing it in exchange for something.
Here, its going to go down a little bit, said the former president. It just went down 100 bucks. Well do that for you from the White House, all right?
A mom of threes grocery bill was $100 cheaper after Trump handed her a bill during his visit to a neighborhood market in Kittanning, Pennsylvania. He made the stop ahead of his rally on Monday and discussed the rising price of food.
Chicken is way up, said Trump. Canned fruits are up 27%, butter is up 30%, crackers, who would think itd be crackers? Crackers are up 40%
The visit and the $100 gift are raising questions about what candidates are and arent allowed to give.
You cant pay anybody to vote for you, said Dimino. You cant pay anybody to vote against the opponent. You cant pay anybody to vote at all. You cant pay anybody to stay home.
Dimino said theres no federal law prohibiting candidates from giving their money to people as long as it isnt a bribe.
In context, it doesnt seem like Trump is giving that money for any purpose, he said. If she decides to vote for Vice President Harris, she doesnt have to give the money back. Trumps not going to know which way this person votes, and probably wont know whether the person votes at all.
Professor Dimino said if there were a law banning candidates from giving out their own money, they wouldnt be able to donate to charities or tip waiters at restaurants.
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Legislative leaders in South Carolina have decided not to challenge a state supreme court decision that invalidated parts of the states school voucher program.
South Carolina Senate President Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, and House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, said Wednesday they will not request a rehearing from the state Supreme Court on a case that ruled portions of the 2023 Education Scholarship Trust Fund Act violate the state constitutions prohibition against using public funds for the direct benefit of private schools.
Alexander and Smith said their first priority during the next legislative session will be to modify and reinstate the program.
Despite the major flaws in the courts judgment, it is now the legislatures responsibility to address the consequences of the Courts opinion and correct the course, the statement read.
Our highest priority when the General Assembly reconvenes in January is to ensure that families have educational choice and that funding for other educational programs that have been relied upon by so many South Carolinians for decades are secured for the future, the statement read.
The Eidson case was brought by a group of public school parents along with the South Carolina NAACP and the South Carolina Education Association. Defendants included Gov. Henry McMaster, Alexander, Smith, state Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver and State Treasurer Curtis Loftis.
Alexander and Smith said that while they adamantly disagree with the courts decision, they believe seeking a rehearing will not alter the cases outcome.
Further delays caused by continuing this litigation will not help the students for whom the legislature intended to provide hope and opportunity, the statement said.
The education scholarship law established an education scholarship trust fund that grants $6,000 vouchers to qualified families who pull their children out of local public schools and enroll them in private schools or public schools outside of their zoned districts.
To qualify, a student must have been enrolled in a South Carolina public school during the previous school year, and their family must meet certain income requirements.
When arguing that the law was constitutional, state officials said that while the funds originate as public, they become private after the monies are transferred by Loftis to a trust fund, where qualified families then own the funds. Those families are governed by rules that limit the use of the money for direct payment to educational institutions only, whether private or public.
The court rejected the states argument, saying it was skeptical, in the first place, of whether the act included a true trust fund because the law fails to identify a trustee something required under state law before a trust is considered valid. Their ruling was based on the constitutions section known as the no-aid clause.
The Supreme Court has issued its decision, and though we firmly believe they unnecessarily employed inflammatory language to denigrate those who support parental choice and utilized an outcome-driven approach to interpreting the constitution, we must accept their ruling, the statement read.
Because the school voucher law was only partially struck down, families are still permitted to use scholarship funds to send their children to another public school outside of their zoned district.
But thousands of children that used the voucher to attend a private school this school year may soon be displaced, according to the lawmakers statement.
The Badger family in Allendale County, South Carolina, is nearing some positive news after suffering tragedies on top of tragedies since Jan. 28, 2011.
Thats the day Donna Hay Badger, 35, died in a collision with a UPS truck, leaving Arthur Badger Jr. as a single father of six. His attorney negotiated a multi-million dollar settlement in 2012 to ease the financial burden. But that attorney was Alex Murdaugh, who quietly stole more than $1.3 million of that settlement along with former Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte.
Millions more from the settlement, meant for the Badger children, were placed into structured settlements, financial arrangements that would grant each child periodic tax-free payments across several decades after they turned 18.
But nearly all those future payments were sold to out-of-state entities, known as structured settlement factoring companies, who paid the cash-strapped Badgers small amounts of immediate cash to secure those future millions. The three youngest Badger children, for instance, received 7 cents on the dollar from the companies.
Court filings show that those children, who were 8, 9, and 11 years old when those deals were made in 2018, are now on the verge of getting all that money back after a settlement was reached between the family, the factoring companies, and the attorneys who helped them execute the unconscionable deals.
McClatchy published in 2022 the investigative series, Cashed Out, detailing how factoring companies were taking advantage of inadequate state protection laws and inattentive S.C. judges to gain control of future payments meant to provide financial stability to vulnerable injury victims. The series led to state lawmakers making wholesale changes to South Carolinas law governing these transactions, including more disclosure requirements and ensuring the deals must be approved by judges in the county where the seller lives.
As part of that series, McClatchy told the story of how a group of factoring companies, all operated by a man banned from doing these deals in Maryland, convinced Arthur Badger nearing a financial breaking point to sell more than $2.8 million worth of his daughters future payments for $200,000 in a series of deals approved by a part-time judge who never denied these types of transactions.
Mark Tinsley, the attorney representing the Badger family in its dispute with Murdaugh, was in disbelief when a reporter directed him to the court filings associated with these deals, but he vowed to do whatever he could to reinstate the girls structured settlements.
Allendale County attorney Mark Tinsley is representing Arthur Badger in civil suit against Alex Murdaugh, Russell Laffitte and Palmetto State Bank alleging stolen settlement money from Badgers late wifes estate.
Once a judge signs off on this settlement in October, Tinsley will have fulfilled that promise and then some. The defendants in the case agreed to fully reinstate the girls future payment rights plus pay an additional $2.3 million in order to release them of all claims related to the deals and allow them to continue denying liability, the court filing shows.
They dont admit fault, but you can draw whatever conclusion you want to draw, Tinsley said. People dont pay millions of dollars (to settle a case) they think theyre going to win.
Who are the defendants and what did they do?
Defendants in the case included Ryan Blank and the three Delaware-based LLCs he created to conduct the transactions. The Maryland Attorney Generals Office banned Blank and several of his associates in 2018 from doing business in the state after an investigation found they were acting deceptively in pushing structured settlement transfer deals through the courts.
Blank first did a deal with the Badgers eldest daughter, 21 at the time, in 2017, before asking her to introduced him to Arthur Badger, according to the complaint. Blank then paid for Arthur to visit Washington D.C., where he wined, dined, and lavishly entertained him to convince him to quickly sign off on deals selling his minor daughters future payments, the complaint states.
Ryan Blank (far right) paid to bring Arthur Badger Jr. (second from right) to Washington D.C. and lavishly entertained him as part of an effort to convince him to sell him his minor daughters structured settlement payments, worth millions, for pennies on the dollar.
Blank and his entities agreed to pay $700,000 as part of the settlement, while SuttonPark Capital, the Florida firm that was set to receive the girls future payments, agreed to fully reinstate the structured settlements. Neither Blank, nor SuttonPark responded to requests for comment.
The other defendants were all local attorneys involved in getting the deals approved. North Charleston attorney Richard Steadman, who represented the factoring companies, and his law firm agreed to pay $250,000 in the settlement.
Chapin attorney Taylor Peace and his firm agreed to pay $650,000. Peace submitted a letter to the court filed in some of girls transactions stating that he gave independent advice to Arthur Badger concerning the deals. Peace, who clerked for Steadman while he was in law school, was paid by Steadman for this work, a conflict of interest since he was supposed to be acting on behalf of the Badgers, the complaint alleged.
Barnwell attorney Martin Harvey and his firm agreed to pay $700,000 after serving as guardian ad litem for the Badger girls during the last of the transactions. McClatchy previously reported that Harvey reported his opinion to the court that the deals were in the minors best interests to help move them into a safer home in a more desirable neighborhood..
But the girls continued to live in the same home, which Harvey admitted he never visited, while the money received in the deals was used to purchase a rental property to supplement the familys income.
None of Steadman, Peace or Harvey returned requests for comment about the settlement.
Brain injury victim also gets settlement
The Badger children wont be the first people featured in Cashed Out to receive a settlement after alleged abuses by structured settlement factoring companies.
The series also featured Grace, a woman who suffered a traumatic brain injury after her moms car was struck by a train when she was 12.
She was permitted to sell 30 years worth of her future payments across 17 separate transactions while she quickly spent the money she received in the deals, leaving her on the verge of losing her home.
The factoring companies in those deals agreed to offer $182,000 to settle the lawsuit alleging they took advantage of the incapacitated woman.
Sue Berkowitz, director of the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, helped represent Grace in litigation.
This young woman needed this support (of her structured settlement), but she was taken advantage of, Berkowitz said. Were very happy (with this settlement) to be able to get her out of dire circumstances.
SC woman who killed her abuser again denied parole after nearly 5 years in prison
Tiffany Carroll, left, with her lawyer, Rep. Travis Moore, R-Roebuck, appear virtually before the South Carolina Parole Board Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. Pictured in the small screen, also participating remotely from a separate facility, is Carroll's second-grade teacher Mary Ann Wingard. (Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA A Greenwood mother who has spent nearly five years in prison for killing her abuser was again denied parole, despite the repeated pleas of her family, law enforcement and two GOP legislators.
The South Carolina parole boards 3-2 vote Wednesday was one vote shy of the supermajority needed for Tiffany Janae Carroll to return to her five children. One board member was absent.
The vote came with little discussion, and the two who voted no provided no explanation.
The South Carolina Parole Board hears Tiffany Carrolls application for parole in Columbia on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette)
Carroll, 37, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to manslaughter in December 2019 for fatally stabbing her then-partner, 27-year-old William Jamal Johnson, about two years earlier.
Wednesday marked Carrolls third parole attempt in as many years.
Beyond her family, those supporting her release included a former teacher, the police chief of the department that charged her, and the solicitor who prosecuted her case.
Based on the high level of community support for Ms. Carroll, as well as the very unique circumstances that her case presents, the position of my office remains that Tiffany Carroll is an appropriate candidate for early release from her sentence, Solicitor David Stumbo wrote in a two-page letter to the parole board dated July 5.
He noted that the circumstances were so unique, the judge in the case now state Supreme Court Justice Letitia Verdin made Carroll eligible for parole sooner than usually allowed.
Stumbo didnt object then. And, for the second year in a row, he told the parole board in writing, I strongly support her application for parole.
Her supporters thought she had a good chance at release.
The people of Greenwood want her back, and her children want her back, Rep. John McCravy told the SC Daily Gazette before the vote.
The Greenwood Republican testified in Carrolls favor Wednesday, as he did last year. Still, it was not enough.
After the hearing, McCravy called the denial a miscarriage of justice in every sense of the word, adding hell keep coming back as long as it takes.
This was a woman who was repeatedly abused, he told the Gazette. And when she finally fought back, shes continuing to be punished.
A breakdown of the 3-2 vote
SCs parole board is supposed to have seven members, but one seat has been vacant since March 2022. (Seats are appointed by the governor.) And one person was absent Wednesday:
Voting yes: Dan Wideman of Greenwood, Henry Eldridge of Fort Mill, and Kim Frederick of Surfside Beach
Voting no: Reno Boyd of Greenville, and Mollie DuPriest Taylor of West Columbia
Absent: Geraldine Miro of Orangeburg
Caroll attended virtually from the womens prison in Columbia with her attorney, state Rep. Travis Moore, a Spartanburg County Republican.
The parole board asked her just one question: What was the most important thing shes learned while in prison?
She responded that shes studying organizational management in hopes of founding a nonprofit to help other victims of domestic abuse.
I will spend the rest of my days trying to help other people in the situation that I was in, she told the board.
She also said she accepts full responsibility for her actions. She acknowledged his family, saying she prays every day for their forgiveness and hopes someday they can have a relationship with her and Johnsons son.
For the third time, no one attended to oppose her release.
What happened?
Carroll started dating Johnson, a childhood friend, in 2015. Within four months, she was pregnant.
Carroll later told a psychologist she had been warned he was violent but did not know the details until he started abusing her. Law enforcement officers responded to their home eight times between May 2016, a month before their son was born, and Johnsons death.
In 2019, psychologist Dr. Lois Veronen, of Rock Hill, diagnosed Carroll with post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder linked to severe domestic violence at the hands of Johnson, The Post and Courier reported.
The violent and degrading acts perpetrated by Jamal produced cognitive, affective and behavioral changes in Tiffany that have come to be known as the Battered Woman Syndrome,' which clouded her problem-solving ability that day, Veronen wrote in her report.
Accounts vary on exactly what happened that day in September 2017, after the couple started arguing.
Whats not disputed in the legal record is that Carroll at some point got a knife from the kitchen, cut him on the arm and ankle and stabbed him in the chest. After realizing what shed done, she tried to save his life, applying pressure to his wounds. He died at the local hospital.
Asked at her first parole hearing why she did it, Carroll said she was trying to leave when he leaped out at me and hit me again. What happens next, she told the board, she still didnt remember, The Post and Courier reported.
A manslaughter conviction usually requires inmates to serve at least a third of their sentence before coming up for parole. But at sentencing, then-Circuit Court Judge Verdin permitted Carroll to be eligible after serving 25% of her 15-year sentence.
Three rejections, two split votes
At Carrolls first hearing in 2022, the board had a letter from Greenwood Police Chief TJ Chaudoin objecting to her parole. He told multiple TV news stations that its common practice for the department to oppose parole requests when a person first becomes eligible.
The denial was unanimous at that first parole hearing.
But, as on Wednesday, the vote last September, following public pleas that included a news conference McCravy helped arrange in Greenwood, was 3-2.
Among the reasons board member Dan Wideman, a former Greenwood County sheriff, cited in saying no last year was the police chiefs letter a year earlier.
Yet, Chaudoin no longer objected. He later said he simply didnt know about the second hearing in time to send a new letter switching his position.
He made sure to send one this year.
Mrs. Carrolls situation is a prime example of a person who deserves another chance, Chaudin wrote in a letter to the board.
Her life in prison and plans after release
According to her inmate report, Carroll has had no discipline issues while in prison. Shes earned work credits as a custodian, in the laundry and in landscaping. And in July, she started online classes through Claflin University.
In previous hearings, she told the parole board she had gone through an anger management program, received counseling, participated in a group called Overcoming Shame and taken parenting classes.
Had she been released, Carroll could have gone to live with her uncles family. She had two job offers one from L&W Catering in Greenwood and a second personally extended by McCravy, who is an attorney.
McCravy has also offered to give her a vehicle to get to and from work.
Carrolls five children, ranging in age from 5 to 17, are spread among multiple family members, including Carrolls sister, grandmother and a father in Columbia.
This whole family has been through it, said Mary Ann Wingard, Carrolls second grade teacher who has been an avid supporter since her arrest. I dont know that her children will ever get over this.
Shes such a good mother, Wingard added. Our state is wasting its money having her in prison.
McCravy has said he plans to sponsor legislation to update a 28-year-old state law on battered spouse syndrome. Existing law allows testimony about abuse at trial.
But a state that historically ranks among the worst in the nation for women killed by men, McCravy says state law should allow the diagnoses as a more direct defense to a crime.
In 2023, 51 South Carolinians were killed by their partner, 70% of those were women killed by men and just 16% of those couples were married. Additionally, more than 28,000 victims reported being assaulted by a partner, according to the latest crime data from the State Law Enforcement Division.
McCravy also plans to reintroduce legislation tweaking language about when an inmate is eligible for pardons. The state board interprets state law to allow pardon consideration only before someone is first eligible for parole which wouldve been before September 2022.
McCravy prefiled legislation last November for the 2024 session that would specify pardons can be sought at any time evidence shows extraordinary circumstances.
But that bill received no attention. No other legislator even signed on as a co-sponsor.
SC Daily Gazette Editor Seanna Adcox contributed to this report.
Letter in support of parole 2024 Tiffany Jenae Carroll (SCDC 00382007)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends the meeting of the German Cabinet in the Chancellery. Kay Nietfeld/dpa
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a "diplomatic solution" to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah during a phone conversation with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, a government spokesman in Berlin said.
Scholz expressed "great concern" over the escalation in fighting and highlighted the danger of a "regional conflagration," government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said on Wednesday evening.
"The chancellor stressed that a diplomatic solution to the conflict was possible," the statement said, specifically mentioning the nearly two-decade-old UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
The resolution called for a full cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah and spelled out the activity permitted in the border area, including the Iran-backed militia's withdrawal.
Israel's military and Hezbollah have been engaging in skirmishes in the border area for months. The cross-border attacks dramatically escalated in recent days with intense Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon and hundreds of rockets fired by Hezbollah.
Certain legal terms are used in a juvenile case that would not be used in an adult criminal case. Juveniles name will not be used in this story. Click here for a list of these terms.
Charges against several Stanislaus County minors were filed related to the spate of local and nationwide threats of school violence.
Details about the minors cases cannot be released because California law protects them. However, authorities said seven juveniles were detained 12 years old and the oldest 17.
While these school shooting and bomb hoaxes may appear harmless on the surface, law enforcement and my office take them very seriously, reads a statement from District Attorney Jeff Laugero. The District Attorneys Office is actively working with law enforcement to ensure we have all the facts in each case to fully understand what happened and hold those involved accountable for the disruption and fear their illegal behavior caused.
Three arrests of Modesto-area teens were previously reported on by The Bee. However, the Sheriffs Office said a countywide task force made a total of seven arrests related to threats of school violence in the past two weeks.
The DAs Office confirmed a fourth arrest of a minor in connection with threats made against a school in Denair. The fifth, sixth and seventh arrests were confirmed by the Sheriffs Office, but information regarding them was limited.
Sgt. Veronica Esquivez with the Sheriffs Office said the arrests were made through the countywide task force made up of multiple agencies. Because the accused juveniles are from all over the county, and some of the threats involved multiple schools, it became convoluted. No single agency, so far as The Bee can tell, released a press statement announcing the four additional arrests.
Information about the other minors referenced had not been released by the DAs Office as of Thursday afternoon.
Once charged, juveniles receive detention hearings, in which a judge will decide their release status. This could be confinement in juvenile hall, home detention with or without an ankle monitor, or general release into the custody of their parents.
Any threat of violence in our schools is a threat to our entire community, Laugeros statement reads. I want to send a clear message that this office will pursue every legal means to address these situations quickly and efficiently.
He added that he believes parents should have confidence when they send their children to school that their children are safe.
DAs Office spokespersonWendell Emerson warned that law enforcement has the ability to track down virtually anybody who makes a threat against a school.
A common theme amongst these kids making online threats targeting schools is they assume they cannot be identified. There is no such thing as anonymity online. Everything you do online leaves a digital fingerprint. ... It is not a coincidence that almost every one of the school threats made during the recent spike led to an arrest of a suspect, Emerson wrote in a statement.
The DAs Office said it believes the threats appear to be part of a nationwide viral social media trend that began Friday, Sept. 13.
Are schools in Miami-Dade, Broward and the Florida Keys closing because of Helene?
Tropical Storm Helene is expected to make landfall on Thursday night along the Gulf Coast of Florida, but will have impacts across the state before then. The storm is expected to become a major hurricane before it makes landfall.
In South Florida, heavy rainfall is expected potentially causing localized flooding, with the worst conditions predicted from Wednesday night through Thursday. A flood watch is also in effect.
In anticipation, Monroe County schools will be closed on Thursday, according to the Monroe County Emergency Management. The area expects sustained tropical storm force winds from 30 to 40 mph in the Lower and Middle Keys and 25 to 35 mph sustained winds from Islamorada to Ocean Reef in the Upper Keys.
Broward also announced Wednesday evening that it will be closing schools on Thursday. This closure includes all after-care services, after school activities and events.
Parents and students. Please read the latest @browardschools operational update. pic.twitter.com/34vQ1TLNGe Broward Schools (@browardschools) September 25, 2024
Miami-Dade County Public Schools say they are monitoring the storm but will not be closing schools.
Miami-Dade says that all outdoor activities and after school programs will take place inside and outdoor athletics will be canceled.
Miami-Dade Schools makes determinations for closing schools in consultation with the National Weather Service and Miami-Dade Office of Emergency Management. If the sustained winds are 35 mph or higher, district bus operations must be discontinued.
This story will be updated throughout the day.
Democrats on Wednesday again helped Republicans get a short-term government funding bill over the finish line to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month.
The bill passed by a 341-82 margin, with 209 Democrats voting for it. While 82 Republicans voted against the bill, 132 voted with Speaker Mike Johnson, who saw his funding plan voted down last week as Democrats rejected inclusion of the controversial SAVE Act.
The SAVE Act, pushed by Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, would have required proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. Democrats said that measure was unnecessary because it's already a crime for noncitizens to vote.
Former President Donald Trump had called on congressional Republicans to allow the government to shut down over the SAVE Act before Johnson dropped the provision over the weekend. Although Johnson said he was "not defying" Trump when asked if the former president approved of the new funding bill, Trump called several hardline House Republicans in recent days, trying to get a last-minute change to the plan.
The measure is largely an extension of current funding levels but includes $231 million in additional aid to the Secret Service to help protect presidential candidates during the election.
Later Wednesday, the Senate passed the bill by a 78-18 margin and sent it to President Joe Biden for his signature.
MORE: House votes down Speaker Johnson's funding plan as shutdown deadline approaches
Before the House vote, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pointed out that House Democrats have repeatedly helped Republicans avoid shutdowns during the current Congress.
"Can anyone name a single thing that extreme MAGA Republicans in the House have been able to do on their own to make life better for the American people? A single thing? Just one," he asked. "Can the American people name a single thing that extreme MAGA Republicans have done to make their lives better? Zip, zero. So that is the track record that will be presented to the American people," he said.
PHOTO: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson meets with reporters after a closed-door caucus with fellow Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 24, 2024. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Johnson asserted Trump "understands the current dilemma" with House Republicans and said, "there's no daylight between us."
The White House and congressional Democrats all slammed Johnson's attempt to tie the voter eligibility legislation to government funding, noting that it's already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.
The "clean" short-term measure to avert a shutdown was praised by Democratic leaders and the Biden administration.
"Americans can breathe easy that because both sides have chosen bipartisanship, Congress is getting the job done," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. "We will keep the government open. We will prevent vital government services from needlessly coming to a halt. We will give appropriators more time to fully fund the government before the end of the year. And I'm especially pleased we're getting the job done with some time to spare."
PHOTO: Sen. Chuck Schumer, accompanied by Katherine Clark, right, speaks about the Affordable Care Act at a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 25, 2024. (Ben Curtis/AP)
MORE: House leaders unveil bill to avert government shutdown with additional Secret Service funding
In addition to funding the government through Dec. 20, the bill includes funds to replenish FEMA and $231 million for the U.S. Secret Service in the wake a second apparent assassination attempt against Trump.
ABC News' Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
Democrats again help House Republicans avoid another government shutdown originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
delivery driver next to a yelloh truck - Yelloh
It's official. The iconic sunny-colored trucks of mail-order food company Yelloh, formerly Schwan's, will make their final delivery on November 8, 2024, marking the end of an era. The company will cease operations after over seven decades in business.
Founded in 1952 in Marshall, Minnesota, Schwan's, as it was known at the time, provided an inventive new truck-to-door delivery method to get the family dairy's ice cream products to consumers nationwide. It later expanded into other frozen goods, such as pizza and potpies. In 2022, it changed its brand to Yelloh in an effort to modernize and offer consumers the type of service they've come to expect.
But the company, which operates in 48 states, announced Monday that the economic and supply chain tribulations associated with the pandemic in concert with changing consumer shopping habits had proven an insurmountable challenge. Staffing issues also played a role and 176 remaining employees will be affected by the closure.
Read more: The Best Grocery Store In Every State
Legacy And Consumer Impact
two kids' hands holding ice cream cones - Taras Grebinets/Shutterstock
The food delivery space is incredibly competitive, so it's hardly surprising to see casualties. That said, those of us with fond memories of standing barefoot in the yard, waiting for the Schwan's driver to pull up to our house so we can get our orange Push-'Ems are likely surprised at this development.
Michael Ziebell, a board member and 22-year company veteran, said, "Our concern is now for our employees and caring for them as we all come to terms with the fact that this business -- that served millions of families and provided a livelihood for thousands over the decades -- has regrettably run its life cycle." Fortunately, all employees will receive support through Minnesota's CareerForce State Rapid Response Team and will be paid through November 22.
CEO Bernardo Santana added, "I am deeply grateful for our employees' tireless and bold efforts, and our customers' dedication. It has been our utmost pleasure and honor to serve our customers their favorite meals and frozen treats." It was also noted that loyal customers will continue getting their regular service through November 8. That includes all entrees, individual meals, and Livesmart products.
As for the Schwan's name, it does live on in the form of a frozen food manufacturing company: Schwan's Company. Products created by this arm of the brand, which the company shared split from Yello! in 2019, can be found in grocery store freezer aisles as well as select commercial kitchens across the U.S. Schwan's Company brands include freezer mainstays like Red Baron pizza, Bibigo dumplings, and Mrs. Smith pies.
Read the original article on The Daily Meal.
Massachusettss largest Boy Scout organization hosted an awards breakfast Tuesday morning honoring several local leaders.
The 20th Greater Lowell Good Scout Awards were presented to David T. Daly, Joe Faro, and former Middlesex County District Attorney Gerard Gerry Leone Jr. at the Hilton Garden Inn Tewksbury/Andover.
The Good Scout Award provides Scouting Boston an opportunity to honor a leader, company, or civic group who has made a significant contribution to his/her community.
Daly, founder of Pridestar Trinity EMS, calls receiving the award a tremendous honor.
Faro, owner of Tuscan Brands, says he was deeply humbled and that the boy scouts has taught me the importance of integrity, perseverance, and service.
Former district attorney Leone Jr. says the award means a lot because it reflects the values of integrity, leadership, and community service that the Scouting movement represents.
Scouting America serves 76 towns and communities in Massachusetts, including all of Boston, and proudly supports more than 7,300 Scouts and 3,150 volunteers.
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Local communities will have a say in this year's drawdown of Green Peter Reservoir if they discover impacts to drinking water after a federal judge this week approved modifications to a court order that requires the effort.
Last year's first drawdown designed to aid in the migration of endangered salmon resulted in complaints from officials and residents in several Linn County cities, including Sweet Home, Lebanon and Albany, about murky water.
But this time around, cities may be able to pause or terminate the drawdown if a downstream community calls a public health emergency.
One city is already poised to do so.
How did we get here?
The federal agency which manages Oregon's system of dams and reservoirs, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, conducted the 2023 drawdown after a judge found that the Corps had not done enough to ensure the survival of endangered salmon species.
In 2023, those in charge of the water systems in several downstream communities, including Sweet Home, Lebanon and Albany, said they had to use more chemicals and incur more costs to get their drinking water to suitable levels because of the waters increased murkiness, also referred to as turbidity.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality alleged that the Army Corps' actions violated environmental laws because of its impact on municipal water systems.
The effects of the this year's drawdown, planned to start next month, are estimated to be lower in impact after the initial drawdown. But some municipalities still are calling for a halt altogether.
In Sweet Home, city-led petitions have called for the end of the court-ordered drawdown. Both Sweet Home and Albany were approved as petitioners in the federal case and can address the court about the drawdown. Lebanon also experienced impacts to its drinking water facilities but did not file a petition to intervene in the federal lawsuit.
What are the changes?
Judge Marco A. Hernandez approved the modification of the 2024 drawdown, according to court documents filed Tuesday, Sept. 24. The proposed changes are thought to reduce impacts the cities experienced last year while still providing improved downstream fish passage for endangered salmonids.
The plans, submitted by the Army Corps of Engineers, involve modifying the time frame and rate of the drawdown. They also include new contingencies delineating when a drawdown can be terminated or paused.
This proposed term resulted from the Corps coordination process with the cities, and the Corps anticipates it will provide flexibility allowing the Corps to reduce or eliminate severe impacts to downstream communities, a court document submitted by the Corps reads.
Terms were added that give the Corps an avenue to stop or pause the drawdown if downstream, water facilities are unable to meet water needs or if they declare a public health emergency, the document reads.
Additionally, new verbiage gives the Corps the ability to terminate or pause the drawdown if there are other constraints or considerations. Several examples were given, including biological monitoring, critical power need, flood risk management prioritization or dam monitoring.
The rate of the drawdown will be faster and the duration of the event will be 11 to 26 days fewer than the previous year's, according to the Corps' proposal.
The Corps believes that the change may shorten the duration of any elevated turbidity experienced downstream, the court document read.
When reached for comment, a member of the Army Corps said the turbidity levels themselves were not expected to change, just the how long the water is murky.
This year, the Corps proposes to begin draining water mid-October, so that it reaches the low point by mid-November to early December.
Last year, the drawdown began in August and reached a low point by early November.
Early drawdowns can result in higher water temperatures, which create stressful conditions for fish, according to the document. Recorded temperatures reached 60 degrees, which can affect the mortality of salmon eggs, according to the Corps' data.
The later drawdown is thought to produce better chinook egg survival, according to the court document.
Stopping the drawdown?
The new changes involve an avenue to pause or stop the drawdown, and the city of Lebanon is ready to use it.
The injunction operation will be paused or terminated if downstream drinking facilities are unable to meet water supply demands or if a public health emergency is declared, the court document reads. Several examples include if a city issues boil-water notifications or announces water restrictions.
But according to the Army Corps of Engineers, the drawdown would only be stopped if the court told officials there to do so, or if a downstream community had an emergency declaration that was seen as a risk to life and public health, Public Affairs Specialist Jeff Henon.
A preventative measure would not be enough, he said.
Still, Lebanon officials are ready to act. Although the judge approved the drawdown modifications this week, officials there have been ready for weeks to declare a public health emergency.
When asked if Lebanon was planning to issue an emergency declaration, City Manager Ron Whitlatch said that based on the results of last year and the Army Corps prediction that the turbidity would be the same this year the city had plans to discuss a state of emergency.
The topic is already planned for the Oct. 9 City Council meeting agenda, which is not yet available to the public, he said.
Like its neighbors, Lebanon experienced difficulties cleaning the murky water last year, Whitlatch said. The water treatment plant was pushed beyond what it was created for and membranes were damaged in the process, he said.
When asked why Lebanon had not filed to intervene in the lawsuit, Whitlatch said city officials were going a different route based on legal advice they had received.
Whitlatch acknowledged a proposed declaration of a state of emergency, has been in the works for two to three weeks now, adding that it is up the City Council to approve it.
'More prepared'
Sweet Home isn't planning on making an emergency declaration but will if it gets to a point where the city can not produce clean drinking water, according to Interim City Manager Jason Ogden, who also serves as the chief of police.
Sweet Home uses a different filtration system than Lebanon, Ogden added. And this year, Sweet Home is more prepared than last year.
Public Works Director Greg Springman shared at the Tuesday, Sept. 24 City Council meeting that Sweet Home is getting ready for this year's drawdown with an updated backwash pump and fresh filters and will have more capacity to take in turbid water than last year.
"The water quality will change, but we are more prepared," Springman said.
The city is working on scheduling an information session with the public to broaden communication, Ogden added.
Editor's Note: This article was edited to correct Greg Springman's title as Public Works Director.
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) A quarter of a century after the Columbine High School shooting, an artist whose sculpture is featured in ArtPrize says she aims to highlight the efforts to reduce school violence amid what she calls a lack of progress.
On April 20, 1999, 12 students and one teacher were killed in a shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado. More than 20 people were injured.
Columbine 25 years later: Remembering the 13 lives lost
This year, 2024, is the 25th anniversary of the Columbine shooting, Livonia-based artist Samantha Lewis told News 8. That number of 25 years hit me, because I remember when that happened and it certainly doesnt feel like it was that long ago. There was, of course, school violence before that happened, but in terms of my memory that one really stood out to me as kind of the changing point of what started a lot more school lockdowns and a lot more concerns about safety in school.
The problem has snowballed since then, she said.
Its not as unique anymore. At that time, it was something that everybody kind of remembers where they were and its really cemented in their memory, Lewis said. Now, theres so many school shootings that you really dont even remember the names in particular.
She was inspired to create 25 years of thoughts and prayers, a sculpture being displayed at Courage & Soar for ArtPrize.
Its Lewis 10th year participating in the Grand Rapids art competition. This year, the artist said shes going beyond making pieces for her own joy.
I have a platform where it feels like I have a responsibility to try and help give people a broader perspective, she said.
25 years of thoughts and prayers by Samantha Lewis. (Courtesy Samantha Lewis)
Her sculpture 25 years of thoughts and prayers aims to capture a duality of sorts.
Between all the efforts that are trying to make a difference for other kids versus the lack of progress, Lewis explained. Because when you step back and say, Wow, its been 25 years why havent we done something more impactful?
The artist hopes to shine a spotlight on the efforts of groups like Sandy Hook Promise, which was founded by family members of people who were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
Theyre not coming at it from a perspective only of Hey, my family was victimized by this and just like kind of crawling in a hole and not wanting to talk to anybody, Lewis said. Theyre trying to make it better for other families as well.
Armenian-born painter immortalizes children killed in war
The sculpture is centered around three granite boulders, which represent the effort to build something better. They are irregularly sized and stacked in such a way that they appear precarious. Thats intentional.
Every time we make progress or it seems like we make progress, it seems very unsteady from a legislation and a legal perspective, Lewis said.
A hand made of bullet shells reaches up from what appears to be a pool of blood, trying to knock down the boulders.
So, its that back-and-forth of, OK, were trying to be better but this violence keeps attempting to drag us back,' Lewis said. So that push-and-pull mentality.
The boulders are surrounded by what appears to be a tornado.
Something is always happening, the artist explained. Its hard to be still and make forward progress if you have this sort of swirling of messaging around it.
Digital painting showcases broken immigration system
But being still is precisely the goal of 25 years of thoughts and prayers.
Were in such an entrenched, like, I dont want to listen to anything other than my own views mindset that I just want to create that pause to give people the opportunity to think about something a little different than theyve thought about it so far, Lewis said.
The sculpture is meant to be a meditation.
I dont know that Im intending to drive massive change with it, Lewis said. But you can get massive change when you have the brain space to have that pause and think about some of the mechanics behind these larger issues that take more than one person or a couple people to accomplish.
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Search For Cargo Drone That Can Lift Twice As Much As A CH-53K King Stallion Kicks Off
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking to explore concepts for a new drone capable of lugging around up to 70,000 pounds of cargo, roughly twice what the U.S. Marine Corps' CH-53K King Stallion helicopter can lift.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking to explore concepts for a new drone capable of lugging around up to 70,000 pounds (or 35 tons) of cargo, roughly twice what the U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K King Stallion helicopter can lift. Unlike the CH-53K, the new uncrewed aircraft would be a shorter-range platform focused primarily on moving outsized payloads between ships and beachheads ashore, as well as across wide rivers and other similar gaps inland.
DARPAs Tactical Technology Office (TTO) recently put out a call for information about innovative and revolutionary concepts for heavy lift Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) that are capable of lifting a 70,000lb payload utilizing current Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) engines and drive train technology as part of what it has dubbed the Cost Efficient Cargo project. The contracting notice explicitly notes that the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion is currently the American [military] helicopter with the highest payload capacity at 36,000lbs.
The notice further outlines a notional mission profile for a future Cost Efficient Cargo drone wherein it would fly from a prepared base to the payload location [and] attach/obtain 70,000lb payload, traverse 25mi at 500ft, detach payload, [and then] return to base 25mi [away].
A CH-53K prepares to lift a non-flying F-35C test airframe. USN
Beyond a desire for the drone to use a high degree of COTS components, the stated design requirements are very open-ended. DARPAs contracting notice indicates a willingness to consider uncrewed aircraft powered by traditional fuel-burning engines or electronic motors, or a hybrid combination of both.
The projected mission profile and the comparison to the CH-53K, as a mention of rotors also point to an interest in vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capable platforms. However, DARPA does not explicitly say this is a hard requirement.
Autonomous functions are expected but not the focus of this RFI [request for information], the contracting notice says.
Additionally, DARPA is interested in identification of design insights and key risks that can be addressed within a scaled down form to further substantiate DoD investment in heavy lift systems and challenge the paradigm of current UAS design as a whole, the Cost Efficient Cargo notice adds. A range of potential scaled payload capacities (10,000, 30,000, and 45,000 pounds) and ranges (10, 25, 50, and 100 miles) that are of interest are provided.
The bottom line is that the U.S. needs to move large and heavy cargo cheaply. Examples are moving a 40ft ISO container off a container ship 10 miles out at sea onto land, or a Bradley fighting vehicle from one side of a canyon to the other, according to DARPA. There are significant challenges in amphibious operations and land maneuvers, where armed forces must move troops, vehicles, and supplies from naval vessels to a beachhead and then across natural or man-made obstacles.
These operations are complicated by the need for landing craft and amphibious vehicles to navigate shallow waters, avoid obstacles, and contend with enemy defenses. The speed of movement is a critical operational need; any delays in offloading personnel and equipment during both the ship to shore phase and on shore wide gap crossings can expose forces to enemy fire and hinder the establishment of a secure foothold, the contracting notice adds. Additionally, weather and sea conditions can severely impact the safety and efficiency of landings, while enemy defenses, including mines, artillery, and entrenched infantry, pose significant risks.
Once a foothold is secured, forces often encounter wide gaps, such as rivers, ravines, or destroyed bridges, that hinder the movement of heavy equipment, it continues. These obstacles require engineering solutions such as pontoon bridges or amphibious vehicles, but such operations are time-consuming, giving the enemy time to prepare.
Concerns about ever-growing challenges in getting cargo from ships to shore, especially in higher-end conflict scenarios against opponents like China with substantial anti-access and area denial capabilities, are hardly new. Ever-more-capable anti-ship cruise missiles have been cited particularly often as a significant threat to amphibious warfare ships that will only increasingly limit how close they can get to shore. Launching forces, either in landing craft or amphibious vehicles, from further out to sea puts them at greater risk, as well.
A map produced by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments think tank highlighting the ranges of anti-ship and surface-air missile capabilities China could bring to bear in a future conflict. CSBA
Even once a beachhead is established, friendly forces would still have to contend with a variety of threats. The U.S. militarys recent experience operating a temporary pier to try to help get additional humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip underscores how weather and other environmental factors can present additional serious issues for amphibious operations.
A satellite image showing the U.S. militarys temporary pier anchored in Gaza damaged after rough weather in May 2024. Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies
As DARPAs Cost Efficient Cargo contracting notice highlights, gap-crossing operations inland across rivers and other obstacles, natural and man-made, face many of the same kinds of challenges. The ongoing war in Ukraine has underscored these realities, especially when it comes to the employment of temporary combat-bridging capabilities. The steady proliferation of longer-range precision-guided munitions and near-real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities only increases the vulnerability of static crossing points.
A few more shots from the Seversky Donets, which the invaders tried to force
Fried equipment not only on the banks of the river, but also in the forest. A real graveyard of Russian-colored tanks.#Ukraine pic.twitter.com/O6MDPOJuJy UkraineNewsLive (@UkraineNewsLive) May 11, 2022
Kursk, day 15
As expected, Ukrainians targeted the pontoons across the Seym river with FPV drones
It was an obvious area of interest for the birds because Ukrainians knew Russian logistics had to go through it. A bunch of ammo got destroyed, the Russians ammo starved pic.twitter.com/aRxH5mToyS PS01 (@PStyle0ne1) August 20, 2024
At the same time, there are questions about how effective and efficient a fleet of future heavy-lift drones, especially ones with limited range, might be in addressing the aforementioned issues. While a payload capacity of up to 70,000 pounds is substantial, so are the weights of the kinds of cargoes that DARPA envisions the Cost Efficient Cargo platform moving. For instance, the recent contracting notice specifically mentions the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The typical weight of the latest M2A4 version of the Bradley with a full combat load is 80,000 pounds, according to manufacturer BAE Systems.
The M2A4E1 Bradley seen here has an Iron Fist active protection system that makes it even heavier than the standard A4 variant. US Army
A need for more drones flying more sorties to meet the desired mission demand could negatively impact the cost-effectiveness equation even if the underlying Cost Efficient Cargo system is relatively cheap to acquire and operate. It is worth noting that the same kinds of cost calculations already apply to crewed platforms. With a current unit price of around $118 million, the CH-53K is a notably expensive aircraft.
The U.S. military does increasingly see drones carrying cargo and potentially personnel as key to meeting logistical requirements, especially in major conflicts, such as one against China in the Pacific. The U.S. Marine Corps, which has been completely restructuring itself around new expeditionary and distributed concepts operations in recent years, is pushing to acquire three different tiers of VTOL cargo drones.
The Kaman KARGO drone depicted in the video below is one of the designs the Marine Corps is currently considering acquiring.
The U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, which expect to see their forces widely dispersed in future high-end fights, are also exploring VTOL (like the Piasecki ARES seen in the video below) and fixed-wing uncrewed aircraft to support logistics missions. However, none of the platforms U.S. military services are pursuing now have anywhere near the payload-carrying capacity DARPA is looking at for Cost Efficient Cargo.
As The War Zone has highlighted in the past, the U.S. military is also increasingly lagging behind China in its development of uncrewed aerial logistics capabilities, especially when it comes to fixed-wing cargo-carrying drones. Two new Chinese cargo-carrying drones, one from ostensibly private firm Tengden and another from the state-run Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), separately made their first flights just earlier this year.
How any heavy lift drones that come out of the Cost Efficient Cargo project might fit into the U.S. militarys future air mobility ecosystem remains to be seen, but DARPAs new project reflects real operational demands and growing challenges in meeting them.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Two people from Springfield who were wanted for multiple warrants were arrested on Tuesday.
Two Springfield men arrested for drugs, guns found in Vermont
According to Springfield Police Spokesperson Ryan Walsh, members of the Springfield Police Firearms Investigation Unit (FIU) received information on Tuesday about two suspects with outstanding warrants were seen together inside a home on Alderman Street. A search warrant was executed that afternoon and both of the suspects were taken into custody.
One of the suspects, 27-year-old Luis Semprit of Springfield, was wanted for several different offenses that are alleged to have taken place on June 9th, June 29th, and July 3rd in Springfield. Members of the Springfield Police Special Victims Unit applied for and were granted a warrant for his arrest. Semprit also has prior drug and illegal firearms convictions and has open firearm charges that are pending in Hampden Superior Court.
The other suspect, 22-year-old Gianni Gamble of Springfield, was taken into custody on a Federal Arrest Warrant from Vermont and was turned over to the FBI after he was booked as being a lodger.
27-year-old Luis Semprit of Springfield is charged with:
Arrest Warrant
Assault & Battery on a Person 60+/Disabled (Six Counts)
Assault with a Dangerous Weapon
Breaking and Entering into a Building Daytime for a Felony
Destruction of Property Less than $1200
Strangulation or Suffocation
Threat to Commit a Crime
Violation of an Abuse Prevention Order (Three Counts)
22-year-old Gianni Gamble of Springfield is charged with:
Lodger
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.
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Second suspect arrested in killing of Bronx man whose body was dismembered, set on fire
An 18-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday in connection with the grisly slaying of a Bronx man whose body was dismembered and set ablaze in a shopping cart under a Yonkers bridge, authorities said.
Ronei Harris was apprehended around 4:30 p.m. in the Bronx a day after her boyfriend and codefendant Muhammad Aadil, 40, was arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court for allegedly killing roommate Lutalo Henderson.
Firefighters discovered Hendersons body minus his feet, hands and teeth aflame in a shopping cart under the Oak St. Bridge in Yonkers around 2 a.m. on Aug. 5.
Harris is charged with murder, concealment of a corpse, weapon possession and drug possession with intent to sell, according to a statement released by the Bronx District Attorneys office.
Harris and Aadil allegedly killed Henderson, 46, some time between July 27 and Aug. 5, and dismembered his body, loaded it into a shopping cart and together transported it via a Metro North train to a spot under the Oak St. Bridge, where the couple left it after setting it on fire, the statement charges.
The defendants cut off his legs below the knees, his hands and removed his jaw. They wrapped the torso in trash bags and took it in a shopping cart to Yonkers via the Metro North train, the statement reads in part.
This was brutal disregard for a human being, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said in a statement from her office.
The macabre journey was caught on various security cameras. By painstakingly piecing together the footage, cops traced the two defendants back to the apartment that Henderson and Aadil shared on Rogers Place near Dawson St. in the South Bronx, police said.
When they entered the apartment, investigators found Hendersons teeth, along with his hands in a crockpot and a leg in the freezer.
Henderson, a fiber optics technician, began renting out a room to Aadil about six months ago after they met at an Occupational Safety and Health Administration training and certification program, Hendersons sister Aziza told the Daily News.
Soon Harris started hanging out at the apartment, according to the victims sister. He didnt want her there, Aziza said of her brother. He didnt want Muhammad there. He wanted them to leave. That was the conflict.
It is still not clear how Henderson was killed before he was dismembered. The cause of death has been listed as homicidal violence, a source said.
But according to police, the apartment was a known spot to score and do narcotics.
Aadil had a large quantity of drugs on him when he was nabbed by cops in the Bronx on Friday, police said. He has done three stints in prison, all for New York City drug sale convictions, records show, and was most recently released in 2019.
At Aadils arraignment Monday, he winked at a woman in the audience as he was brought handcuffed into the courtroom. The womans identity was not immediately known.
Harris will be arraigned at a later date, according to the Bronx DAs office.
Right before this happened he told me he was going back into rehab. Right before, like maybe a couple of weeks, an ex-girlfriend of Hendersons with whom he remained friendly told The News. He called me and told me he made the decision, he was going back into rehab because he couldnt fight this thing. He couldnt do it on his own.
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE & online.rainn.org).
WASHINGTON The Secret Service has placed an agent on administrative leave over allegations the employee sexually assaulted an aide to Vice President Kamala Harris during a recent trip.
The incident, which the Secret Service confirmed it is investigating, allegedly occurred last week in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The visit was to provide advance security and planning for a Harris campaign stop that did not end up taking place, according to Real Clear Politics, which first reported on the allegations.
The aide works for the office of the vice president, not the Harris campaign.
The Secret Service agent under investigation dined and drank alcohol with Harris staffers at a restaurant at the end of a workday, Real Clear Politics reported. Afterward, the agent joined the group at the Harris staffer's hotel room, where the alleged assault took place. The outlet reported that the incident was witnessed by others present.
More: Senate report blasts Secret Service for 'preventable' lapses in Trump assassination attempt
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arrives at Pittsburgh International Airport in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 25, 2024. Harris is in Pittsburgh for a campaign event.
In a statement to USA TODAY, a Secret Service spokesman said its Office of Professional Responsibility "is investigating a misconduct allegation involving an employee," adding that, "The Secret Service holds its personnel to the highest standards. The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation."
More: Harris, Trump to take part in dueling Univision town halls of Hispanic voters
A spokesperson for Harris' office declined to provide additional details about the incident but confirmed the Secret Service alerted senior Harris officials about the allegations.
"The Office of the Vice President take the safety of staff seriously," the spokesperson said. "We have zero tolerance for sexual misconduct. Senior OVP officials were alerted by the USSS about an incident involving an agent and informed that USSS initiated an investigation."
The allegations come as the Secret Service has been under intense scrutiny after failing to stop a gunman from firing multiple shots at Republican nominee Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, that injured the former president and killed one spectator.
A report released Wednesday by the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said the agency's "failures in planning, communications, security, and allocation of resources" for the rally "were foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the events resulting in the assassination attempt."
The Secret Service has placed an agent on administrative leave over allegations the employee sexually assaulted an aide to Vice President Kamala Harris during a recent trip.
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Secret Service investigating alleged sexual assault of Harris aide
The U.S. Secret Service said Wednesday it is investigating a misconduct allegation against one of its employees and has placed them on leave.
The U.S. Secret Service Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating a misconduct allegation involving an employee, the agency said in a statement to The Hill. The Secret Service holds its personnel to the highest standards. The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
The statement on the investigation comes after Real Clear Politics published a report earlier Wednesday that detailed a Secret Service agent being accused of allegedly sexually assaulting a staffer for Vice President Harris while on an advance trip for a campaign event last week in Wisconsin. The report cited four unnamed sources in the Secret Service community.
In a statement to NBC News, the vice presidents office said it was alerted by the Secret Service that an incident involving an agent took place but did not offer any details of the incident. It did, however, make note that the office has zero tolerance for sexual misconduct.
The Office of the Vice President take the safety of staff seriously. We have zero tolerance for sexual misconduct, the statement read. Senior OVP [Office of the Vice President] officials were alerted by the USSS about an incident involving an agent and informed that USSS initiated an investigation.
Harriss campaign and the vice presidents office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
The Democratic nominee is spending Wednesday delivering remarks on the economy in Pittsburgh before sitting down with MSNBC for an interview airing at 7 p.m. Eastern.
The revelation of the Secret Service investigation comes as the agency continues to face heavy scrutiny over its operations following two apparent assassination attempts on former President Trump.
Also Wednesday, a Senate committee released a scathing report on failures by the agency to protect Trump during the first attempt in Butler, Pa. in which agents were found to have missed multiple opportunities to prevent the shooting.
An earlier internal review by the Secret Service also revealed multiple operational and communications failures including an unclear chain of command and communication failures between the agency and local law enforcement.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
See what you can do for free at the Gallo Center in Modesto. When to join the fun
The Gallo Centers Family Fun Festival returns with a host of free events outside the venue. There also are comedy and music to be found in the Modesto region Sept. 28-Oct. 4.
Family Fun Festival
The Gallo Center for the Arts second Family Fun Festival for the community promises music, dancing, chalk art, lawn games, exotic reptiles, face painting, balloon animals and prize giveaways. Food trucks will be onsite. There will be a free performance of 23 Skidoo & the Secret Agency at 4 p.m. Limited tickets will be available for the show during the festival.
WHEN: 1 to 4 p.m. Sept. 29
WHERE: Gallo Center Plaza and Modesto Rotary Music Garden, 1000 I St., Modesto
ADMISSION: Free
ONLINE: www.galloarts.org
Henry Cho will bring his clean comedy to the Gallo Center.
Henry Cho
Comedian Henry Cho brings his From Here to There Tour 2024 to the Gallo Center for the Arts. Cho, who is making a return to the downtown Modesto venue, performs clean, Christian-friendly comedy. Limited tickets were available.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Sept. 28
WHERE: Gallo Center for the Arts, 1000 I St., Modesto
TICKETS: $37-$57
ONLINE: www.galloarts.org
We Own The Laughs
We Own The Laughs: Modesto is back at the State Theatre. The lineup features performances by Tyson Paul, Shaman Johal and Glory Magana, with Key Lewis as the evenings headliner. Only for age 18 and older.
WHEN: 8 p.m. Sept. 28
WHERE: State Theatre, 1307 J St., Modesto
TICKETS: $35-$55
ONLINE: www.thestate.org
Ukrainian folk group
Congregation Beth Shalom welcomes Ukrainian folk group Kommuna Lux for a concert. The performance of bohemian Odesa folk music is a fundraiser for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. Since the start of its 2024 tour in July, Kommuna Lux has raised $11,000 in donations, according to a press release.
WHEN: 3 p.m. Sept. 29
WHERE: Congregation Beth Shalom, 1705 Sherwood Ave., Modesto
TICKETS: $25 in advance, $30 at the door
ONLINE: www.cbsmodesto.org
Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night performs at the 2014 Stanislaus County Fair. The band will play the Turlock Community Theatre.
Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night is set to rock Turlock Community Theatre with its classic hits. The band is known for songs such as Mama Told Me (Not To Come), Joy to the World, Black and White, Shambala and One.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2
WHERE: Turlock Community Theatre, 1574 E. Canal Drive
TICKETS: $54-$105
ONLINE: www.turlocktheatre.org.
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) On Capitol Hill lawmakers grilled the CEO of the company that makes popular weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
They clashed over the cost of the medicine and who is to blame for it.
Senators say the price of Ozempic and Wegovy is outrageously high and unfairly inflated, but the drug maker argues lowering costs is complicated.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) got heated about the price tag of popular weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
It is not just an issue of corporate greed. It is a profound moral issue, said Sanders.
He says drugmaker, Novo Nordisk, is raking in billions in profits from the medication while Americans who struggle with diabetes and obesity have to shell out around $1000 a month to get the drugs.
If not made affordable, Americans throughout this country will needlessly die and suffer, said Sanders.
Sanders demanded answers about why people in the U.S. are charged so much more for the drugs than those in other countries.
Its a very complex market, very complex healthcare system that creates a lot of misunderstanding, said Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen.
The CEO insists the high costs arent decided by his company but by insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers who negotiate prices.
Novo Nordisk is not the villain in this story. Theyre a hero, said Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.).
Some Republicans defended the drugmaker arguing congressional interference could stifle medical innovation and hurt businesses who deserve to earn a profit.
Sometimes we live in a fantasy land. Which is we want you to invest massive amounts of money, but then we want you to keep the prices low, said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah.).
Novo Nordisk says most Americans who get the drugs under insurance only pay around $25 a month.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas put 5,600 miles on his truck visiting constituents during the August congressional break, and the Republican carried a message of despair about the agriculture economy back to Washington.
Moran recently took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to plead with colleagues to finish by the end of 2024, at minimum, extension of the 2018 Farm Bill for a second year and adoption of an emergency funding package to address the drought, rising agriculture production costs as well as insufficient crop prices and falling farm income.
One year ago, gridlock in Congress prompted a 12-month extension of the Farm Bill that expires Sept. 30. It would be insufficient to simply repeat that one-year extension, Moran said.
The current Farm Bill is not adequate to provide the relief or safety net of our nations farmers. Nor, is it reflective of the current state of the farm economy, he said. I offer myself to work with Republicans and Democrats, rural and urban to see that we get those goals accomplished.
So far, bitter differences on food and agriculture spending blocked progress. Proposals surfaced to cut tens of millions of Americans from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamp program. Disagreements remain about trigger mechanisms for increases in crop subsidy payments.
Moran said decisions not to get a new Farm Bill wrapped up during the past year had come home to roost. Net farm income was expected to be 27% lower this year than it was in 2022, he said. The U.S. agricultural trade deficit has ballooned to $42.5 billion. Farm income declined 43% in the past five years, he said.
The overall financial situation of the farm economy is bleak, Moran said. The status quo is unacceptable. Our farmers deserve and need better. In the absence of successful farmers, in the places that many of us call home, the future is bleak.
The Farm Bill supports American ranchers and farmers, but U.S. Department of Agriculture programs influence the status of banking, equipment manufacturing, conservation, food security and the energy sector.
This story first appeared on Kansas Reflector , a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization covering state government, politics and policy.
The trial for a Tucson Republican lawmaker charged with criminal speeding was delayed after a judge recused herself from the case.
Judge Geraldine Hale was originally assigned to the case against Sen. Justine Wadsack, who pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal speeding and failure to produce insurance at a pre-arraignment hearing on Sept. 17.
Wadsacks pretrial hearing slated to take place in October, was vacated after the recusal. The case was reassigned to Judge Lisa Surhio, and a new hearing date will be set, according to court documents.
City officials said Hale recused herself from the case without giving a reason.A judge can disqualify themselves if "the judges impartiality might reasonably be questioned, according to the Arizona Code of Judicial Conduct.
State Sen. Justine Wadsack on the Senate floor at the state Capitol in Phoenix on June 15, 2024.
Wadsack claims political persecution, police union pulls endorsement before primary loss
The case began after Wadsack was allegedly caught on police radar driving 71 mph in a 35-mph zone in central Tucson in mid-March. Wadsack said she was "racing home" because the charge on her electric vehicle was about to run out.
In a post on X, Wadsack blamed Tucson for prosecuting her.
Despite the clear legal prohibitions, the Democrat Mayor and Police Chief have decided to use the power of government to prosecute their political opponents, Wadsack wrote.
After her pre-arraignment hearing, her attorney Brad Miller, a Chandler-based attorney and Republican candidate for Pinal County attorney who is running unopposed in the November election, said he is looking into filing a notice of claim, the precursor to a lawsuit, against the city.
A week before the July 30 primary election, Wadsack lost an endorsement from the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police after she called a traffic ticket for excessive speeding "political persecution."
Wadsack then lost the GOP primary to former lawmaker Vince Leach, who she had ousted from the seat in 2022.
Hale reappointed over commission's recommendation
Hale, the judge recused in Wadsacks case, has served two four-year terms. She was most recently reappointed to her third term in 2021 by the Tucson City Council despite a recommendation from the City Magistrate Merit Selection Commission to not reappoint her.
In a February 2021 memo to the Tucson mayor and council, the commission listed their reasons for recommending against Hales reappointment after hearing public comments and audio recordings of Hales hearings, as well as viewing reading letters and emails on the issue and conducting an interview with her.
The Mayor and Council should vote against reappointing Judge Hale, said the commission in its report. The Commissions extensive investigation revealed that she does not possess the temperament or legal acumen required of judicial officers.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Judge recusal delays Sen. Justine Wadsack's criminal speeding trial
The Senate on Wednesday quietly cleared a key military nomination for commanding general of the U.S. Army in the Pacific after Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) dropped his hold on the nominee.
Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark, the senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, was confirmed to be a general for the commanding Army job in the Pacific by a voice vote in the Senate shortly after Tubervilles hold was dropped. Other military nominations were also confirmed.
Tuberville had been holding up Clarks four-star nomination, which requires Senate approval, since at least early September over concerns he was deeply involved in Austins hospitalization scandal earlier this year.
Mallory Jaspers, a spokesperson for Tubervilles office, said the senator met with Clark on Tuesday and decided to drop his hold after a detailed discussion.
While there were certainly failures elsewhere, the senator is confident that LTG Clark more than fulfilled his duties during the Secretarys hospitalization, Jaspers said in a statement. Senator Tuberville is thankful for LTG Clarks many decades of service to our nation and wishes he and his family the best in his new assignment.
Tuberville had expressed concerns about Clarks role as the top aide to Austin when the secretary was hospitalized in early January after receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis.
Austin had an infection after a December surgery related to his cancer treatment and was hospitalized on Jan. 1, but he did not inform the White House or his deputy secretary, Kathleen Hicks, until Jan. 4.
Members of Congress and the public were not made aware until a day later, and the White House only learned of his cancer diagnosis after the hospitalization.
An internal Pentagon report in February found that there was no attempt to hide Austins hospitalization among staff members nor any ill-intent during the process.
The Pentagons watchdog, the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Defense, is conducting a separate inquiry.
Austin apologized for the event and said it occurred because of his desire for privacy, but he defended his staff in the incident.
Tuberville last year also held up the nominations of more than 400 military officers for some 10 months over concerns about a Pentagon policy that provides paid leave and reimbursement for servicemembers who travel for an abortion.
The Senate typically advances nominations by voice vote, so if even one senator announces a hold, it would make it a longer and more tedious process to confirm them, which the chamber typically avoids.
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Senate members late Tuesday confirmed Air Force Lt. Gen. Steven Nordhaus as the next chief of the National Guard Bureau, filling the key leadership role after a nearly two-month vacancy.
Nordhaus promotion was accompanied by the confirmation of three other senior military posts: Navy Vice Adm. Alvin Holsey to be head of Southern Command; Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall Reed to be head of Transportation Command; and Army Lt. Gen. Xavier Brunson to be head of U.S. Forces Korea.
All four were approved without objection from any members. The men all received strong support during earlier confirmation hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee and are expected to be sworn into the new roles in coming days.
Opinion: The National Guard is in the crosshairs. Congress can save it
Nordhaus, who will also be promoted to a four-star general, takes over the top Guard role from Gen. Daniel Hokanson, who retired in early August. Lt. Gen. Jonathan Stubbs, director of the Army National Guard, has been serving as acting chief, since the vice chief post for the Guard is also unoccupied.
He currently serves as a top officer at North American Aerospace Defense Command.
During his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Nordhaus noted that nearly 42,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen are currently deployed around the globe, and balancing national security needs with the part-time nature of those troops military service will be a key responsibility for him in the new leadership post.
We face persistent threats both in the homeland and abroad, and the next chief of the National Guard Bureau must work closely with the 54 states territories and the District of Columbia, as well as with the services, the joint force and our allies and partners, he said.
[Our service members] must balance their military careers, their family careers, their civilian careers, so we can keep our promise as Americans to be always ready and always there.
The Senate confirmation votes came just days before an expected six-week break for the chamber ahead of the November elections.
Senate Republicans blocked Democrats from advancing a resolution aimed at ensuring access to emergency health care, including for abortions, as Democrats keep their messaging centered on reproductive rights ahead of November.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) attempted to pass the resolution, which was introduced last week, via unanimous consent. She argued it was necessary after ProPublica reported a delay in emergency abortion care led to Amber Nicole Thurmans death in 2022.
We need to send a very clear message on this, Murray said. The Senate needs to speak with one voice and tell the American people, Yes, we want to make sure your doctor can save your life.'
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) blocked the request and argued that the Democratic claim is incorrect and doctors across the country, despite the Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade, are able to perform emergency care no matter the situation.
Every physician prior to the Dobbs decision, when there were limitations to abortion across the country, and post-Dobbs decision, when every single state is making those decisions, allowed physicians in an ER to be able to make lifesaving decisions for the mother and the child. Every doctor has already the ability to be able to make that decision to be able to protect the life of the mother, he said.
They have the protections to be able to do that, Lankford continued. So this is a false claim that somehow that what happened in the Dobbs decision and whats happening in states is limiting that. Its actually the political rhetoric thats making people afraid.
Minutes later, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) attempted to pass a bill of her own that would offset abortion costs for women seeking abortion care. That unanimous consent request was blocked by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.).
The moves mark the latest attempt by Senate Democrats to highlight reproductive rights in recent months.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) held a vote last week to cement access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and mandate coverage of the practice by insurance companies. Republicans blocked it, arguing it was a show vote and politically motivated. The vote happened after former President Trump called for IVF treatments to be covered by government or insurance via a mandate.
He also held votes over the summer on abortion care, contraception and an earlier vote on IVF access.
Schumer held the votes Tuesday, with the stopgap government spending package set to hit the floor at some point Wednesday and tie up action until the end of the week.
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The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee issued a scathing report Wednesday on the multiple failures by the Secret Service to protect former President Trump at his July rally in Butler, Pa.
The report found agents had multiple opportunities to prevent the shooting that killed one person and injured several others, including Trump.
The failures that put Trumps life at risk were foreseeable and preventable and grew out of a breakdown in communication and coordination between federal, state and local law enforcement, the committee said.
Secret Service failed to define responsibilities for planning and security at the rally, failed to secure the building from which the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, targeted Trump, and failed to effectively coordinate with state and local law enforcement, according to the report.
The report found that the Secret Service failed to provide key resources that could have helped security, such as drones or a countersurveillance unit. Secret Service officials denied requests for additional counter unmanned aircraft systems.
And it found that the agency failed to convey information about Crooks to key security personnel after he was identified as a suspicious person, noting Secret Service officials knew the shooter was on the roof of a nearby building two minutes before he fired.
Some of the security breaches that led to the shooting, which killed Corey Comperatore, a Trump supporter who attended the rally, have been previously reported by media outlets, but the Senate committees report offers one of the most detailed accounts so far of how Crooks was able to fire multiple shots at Trump, including one that grazed the former presidents right ear.
Committee investigators found that Secret Service personnel were notified of a suspicious person with a range finder around the American Glass Research building adjacent to the rally venue about 27 minutes before the shooting. And they found that the Secret Service was notified about an individual on the roof of the building two minutes before Crooks fired at Trump.
A Secret Service countersniper saw local law enforcement running toward the building with their guns drawn but failed to alert Trumps protective detail to remove him from the stage. The countersniper later said it did not cross [his] mind to tell Trumps detail of the possible need to evacuate him.
Senate investigators say local law enforcement alerted the Secret Service two days before the event that the proximity of the American Glass Research building was a security threat and that they did not have enough officers to lock it down. And they said Secret Service agents later interviewed by the Senate committee gave conflicting accounts about the discussions about how to secure the building and said it was local law enforcements responsibility to secure the outer perimeter.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, said the agency has reviewed the report and noted that some of its findings mirror its own conclusions from an internal review.
Many of the insights gained from the Senate report align with the findings from our mission assurance review and are essential to ensuring that what happened on July 13 never happens again, Guglielmi said.
The spokesperson said the Secret Service is cooperating with Congress, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Securitys Inspector General to review the security lapses at Butler.
The U.S. Secret Service has implemented changes to our protective operations including elevating the protective posture of our protectees and bolstering our protective details as appropriate in order to ensure the highest levels of safety and security for those we protect, Guglielmi said.
Ronald Rowe Jr., the acting director of the Secret Service, told senators during a joint hearing of the Homeland Security and Judiciary committees that the attempted assassination of Trump on July 13 was a failure on multiple levels.
But committee investigators wrote that Secret Service supervisors later declined to acknowledge individual areas of responsibility for planning or security as having contributed to the failure to prevent the shooting that day.
Committee investigators reported that several key requests for information to the FBI; Department of Homeland Security; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Secret Service remain outstanding and that the majority of documents provided by the Secret Service and Homeland Security Department were heavily redacted.
These overly burdensome redactions, including of communications related to the same individuals who the committee interviewed, only served to delay the committees ability to conduct these interviews and carry out its investigation efficiently and effectively, the committee stated in its report.
Senate Homeland Security Committee Chair Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the panels ranking member, announced on July 15 that their committee would conduct a bipartisan investigation.
Our committee is focused on getting all the facts about the security failures that allowed the attacker to carry out this heinous act of violence that threatened the life of former President Trump, killed at least one person in the crowd and injured several others, Peters said two days after the shooting.
Updated: 10:38 a.m.
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The top of executive of Novo Nordisk told a Senate panel Tuesday it was a "difficult choice" to discontinue the long-acting insulin Levemir but he had to do so because of market forces.
The Danish drugmaker previously announced it would stop sales of Levemir vials by the end of December. Novo Nordisk's decision has been criticized by some patients with Type 1 diabetes who prefer Levemir over other long-acting "basal" insulins such as Sanofi's Lantus and Novo Nordisk's Tresiba.
During a Senate panel hearing Tuesday, Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jrgensen blamed insurance coverage barriers and limited manufacturing capacity.
After the drugmaker slashed the list price of Levemir by 65% last year, pharmacy managers restricted access to the medication. As a result, insurance coverage of the insulin dropped sharply. Before the price cut, Jrgensen said 90% of insurance plans covered the insulin. After the price cut, just 35% of insurers covered the drug.
With fewer insurers paying for the medication, Novo Nordisk prioritized manufacturing other insulins used by the company's 30 million global customers with Type 1 diabetes.
"It was a difficult choice we had to make to make sure that we could sustainably supply enough insulin for all people with Type 1 diabetes," Jrgensen told senators. "But I do acknowledge that it comes with some stress for individual patients unfortunately."
Long-acting insulins lengthen the time between injections and allow patients to maintain baseline blood glucose levels. More than 7 million U.S. patients use insulin products. All patients with Type 1 diabetes and some with Type 2 diabetes rely on insulin to survive.
Sen, Maggie Hassan, D- New Hampshire, said Levemir is a critical insulin and questioned the company's decision to halt sales. In doing so, Novo Nordisk "interrupted the diabetes care plans of millions of Americans," Hassan said.
The New Hampshire Democrat asked whether Novo Nordisk would be wiling to share the drug's formulation with other manufacturers who might be interested in making the life-saving medication for consumes.
.Jrgensen said Novo Nordisk hasn't found any other company willing to make the drug.
"If there is a company interested in manufacturing it, or the government wants to manufacture it, we'll be happy to collaborate," Jrgensen said. "The reality is that the market is disappearing for Levemir," due to diminished insurance coverage.
Hassan urged Jrgensen to continue to search for potential manufacturing partners. She wants the company to share details of any efforts to try to find a manufacturing partner before product sales halt at the end of this year.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the Levemir discontinuation is a "real blow" to families who depend on the insulin.
In April, three Democrat senators blasted Novo Nordisk's decision to halt Levemir in the United States. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the company's decision to discontinue Levemir "failed to take into consideration patient access to affordable, long-acting insulin substitutes."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Novo Nordisk CEO explains Levemir discontinuation
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) A report by the Senate committee investigating the July assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump found multiple key failures that led up to the shooting.
Investigators describe tech issues, communications failures and poor planning in the days and minutes before the attempt on Trumps life. The FBI said Thomas Matthew Crooks, from a roof, shot at former President Trump while he spoke at a rally in Butler, Pa., wounding part of his ear.
The investigation report said a U.S. Secret Service sniper saw local law enforcement run toward the building Crooks used, with guns drawn, but did not alert former President Trumps protective detail to remove him from the stage.
The report said the roof Crooks used wasnt within the secure perimeter, even though it had a clear line of sight of the podium where Trump spoke. Investigators found agents didnt know who was responsible for determining the security perimeter.
Central command who was in charge? In Pennsylvania, it was nobody, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), one of the senators in charge of the investigation.
Crooks flew a drone over the rally site, hours before former President Trump arrived. The Secret Service had counter drone technology, but the investigation report found the agent in charge of that technology was on the phone with tech support, trying to get it to work. It wasnt operational until about 30 minutes after Crooks finished flying, the report said.
Two minutes before the shooting, local police saw Crooks on the roof with a gun. Deputies told local law enforcement over the radio, but Secret Service agents didnt have local police radio, meaning the message didnt get to the Secret Service, the report said.
It sounded more like the Keystone cops than the Secret Service, said Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). There is a lack of preparation. There was no preplanning.
Senate investigators recommend the Secret Service create clear planning roles and responsibilities and overhaul communications procedures.
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The Senate Finance Committee is stepping up its investigation of Affinity Partners, an investment firm owned by former President Donald Trump's son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner that has been receiving funds from Saudi Arabia and other foreign governments. Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said new findings suggest the firm could amount to a compensation scheme designed to skirt federal disclosure requirements.
"While I appreciate Affinitys cooperation in this matter thus far, the information provided has heightened my concerns that investments in funds managed by Affinity create unprecedented conflicts of interest, and that Affinitys investors may not be motivated by commercial considerations, but rather the opportunity to funnel foreign government money to members of President Trumps family, namely Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump," Wyden wrote in a letter to the company.
According to a press release from the committee, its investigation has found that Affinity pocketed as much as $157 million from foreign clients, including $87 million from the Saudi government alone. While Affinity is not unique among investment firms in charging fees for committed funds, the release noted that its fee structure is unusually high, especially in light of current market trends and "the relative inexperience of Kushner and the firms Trump-connected employees in the industry." Reporting by news outlets has found that most of Kushner's investors are people he worked with as a senior advisor in Trump's White House.
As of July 2024, Affinity generated no return on investment and deployed only a small amount of capital, with not "a penny of earnings" going back to its clients, per the committee. Saudi Arabia's own investment advisors deemed Affinity to be "unsatisfactory in all aspects," only to be overruled by a board led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
But the firm could provide something else for its investors: leverage over a potential Trump administration through Kushner and Affinity's cadre of employees connected to the previous Trump White House. Affinity confirmed that investors, including foreign government officials, have worked with the company on real estate deals and can renegotiate their investment plans or withdraw all of their funds starting in August 2026, giving them influence over the finances of a potential second-term president's family.
The Finance Committee uncovered this trove of information via investigative tools and public reporting rather than legally-required disclosure, as a loophole appears to have allowed Affinity to take undisclosed money from foreign actors for "investment advisory services."
In his letter, Wyden asked 21 separate questions to Affinity regarding their financial dealings, with answers expected no later than October 9.
Serbian embassy will resume work in Kyiv this year
Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, has reported following the meeting with Marko Djuric, his Serbian counterpart, in New York that the Serbian embassy will resume operation in the city of Kyiv this year.
Source: Sybiha on Twitter (X), as reported by European Pravda
Details: Sybiha noted that Ukraine valued Serbias support for sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and its participation in the peace formula.
"I welcome Serbias decision to reopen its embassy in Kyiv already this year," Sybiha said.
I met with @MarkoDjuric. We appreciate Serbias support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity and participation in the Peace Formula. I informed about Russian strikes on our energy system. I welcome Serbias decision to reopen its embassy in Kyiv already this year. pic.twitter.com/pqUJlSFy9n Andrii Sybiha (@andrii_sybiha) September 25, 2024
Background:
Back in May, Aleksandar Vucic, President of Serbia, stated after the meeting with Ukraines former Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba that the Serbian ambassador would return to Kyiv soon.
The Serbian embassy in Ukraine has been temporarily closed for security reasons since March 2022.
The Serbian side refuses to support the EU sanctions against Moscow but, according to unofficial reports, sells weapons to Ukraine through intermediaries.
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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)Serenity Hair Glow Academy, a local non-profit, is making waves by teaching girls ages 7 to 18 how to style hair. It also supports those transitioning from beauty school to prepare for certification exams and assists those with expired licenses.
The academys mission is to inspire young girls to pursue careers in cosmetology, providing them with the tools, skills, and mentorship they may have lacked previously.
Founded by a beauty professional whose passion for hair began in childhood and strengthened during the pandemic, Brenda Ray Robinson and her associates aim to help young girls turn their passion into a profession.
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I love helping the community, and I love to see the excitement in the young girls and to inspire them to be better in the community, said Robinson. This is one thing that will help them go forth in their dreams and the aspiration they have to be cosmetologists. We can help them get to their destination by preparing them. In previous years, we didnt have that. Now, theyll have the knowledge to be prepared when they get ready to attend beauty school.
The organization is currently seeking support from the community, including sponsorships and volunteer time from local beauty professionals.
For more information on how to get involved and enroll in classes, contact Brenda Robinson (318) 426-6492 or Felicia Wright (318) 762-8937.
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Serious hit-and-run on SR 24 leaves BMW driver injured, police search for suspect
The Washington State Patrol is asking for the publics assistance locating a person of interest involved in a serious hit-and-run collision on State Route 24 in Benton County.
The incident occurred on Thursday, September 12, at around 5:27 p.m., and involved a black 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan and a silver 2013 BMW sedan near milepost 43.
The Dodge Grand Caravan collided head-on with the BMW while eastbound on SR 24.
The driver of the BMW sustained severe injuries and was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Witnesses reported seeing two individuals flee the scene, one of whom was identified as Bruce Roderick.
Despite an extensive search by law enforcement agencies in the area, authorities could not locate Roderick after the collision.
Due to the seriousness of the crash, the Washington State Patrol is asking anyone with information on Rodericks whereabouts or details about the incident to contact Detective Ryan Sauve at (509) 572-5161 or (509) 734-5817 or via email at Ryan.Sauve@wsp.wa.gov.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) Casimiro Rodriguez Sr. grew up in Lackawanna after his father and mother moved to Western New York from Puerto Rico. Now, Rodriguez helps connect and share the stories of how the Hispanic community evolved in Western New York.
Throughout the month, the Hispanic Heritage Council of Western New York is partnering up with multiple entities including the Buffalo History Museum to hold several events, celebrations and discussions that highlight the importance of Hispanic heritage.
Were part of the melting pot here in Western New York. Buffalo and Western New York is very diverse and the Hispanic community is a big piece of that, Rodriguez Sr. said. Hispanics have been part of the fabric of Western New York since the late 1800s to the present.
Theyll have events at the Explore and More, the Buffalo Naval Park, Niagara University and more to help celebrate the cultures of around 75,000 neighbors in Western New York. The council is in the process creating a permanent space to help build community connection.
Not everyone will get the chance to travel all over the world but by us celebrating those cultures here, you can learn about it, enjoy them and celebrate with us, said Esmeralda Sierra, the vice president of the Hispanic Heritage Council.
They hope to have the permanent space complete by spring 2026.
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Hope Winter is a reporter and multimedia journalist who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here.
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PANHANDLE, Fla. (WMBB) Several local agencies in the Panhandle have announced closures due to the potential impact of Tropical Storm Helene.
All Florida Department of Health in Bay, Walton, and Okaloosa County offices will be closed on Thursday, September 26. Offices will remain closed until further notice.
The courthouses in Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, and Washington counties will be closed starting Wednesday, September 25. Bay County Courthouse will be open until 3 p.m. The Clerks office is open Friday in the Bay County courthouse. Walton County Courts & Okaloosa County Courts will also be closed on Thursday. All courthouses plan to reopen on Monday, September 30.
The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announces Bonifay and Marianna offices will close Wednesday by 2 p.m.
The following Panhandle City Hall offices will also be closed on Thursday, September 26: Panama City, Lynn Haven, & Marianna
All Life Management Center outpatient clinics will be closed on Thursday. The Gulf County clinic will remain closed on Friday. Crisis services remain operational and open throughout this period, this includes Crisis Stabilization Unit and Crisis Emergency Services.
Beginning at 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard will advance their port condition to ZULU. Port terminal and cargo operations are suspended at the East and West Terminals for the duration of Hurricane Helene.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Victims of sexual abuse by a local therapist are seeking accountability for what happened to them. These women are speaking out publicly for the first time in an exclusive interview with NBC4.
In July, Dennis Quigley, a practicing therapist for more than 40 years, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexual battery in a Franklin County court.
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The victims said they were first connected with Quigley through a company called Comprehensive Services Inc. located on Bethel Road. The victim is suing Comprehensive Services asking it to take accountability and claiming the company knew about Quigleys history of abuse and ignored it.
The victims also claim the company allowed Quigley to keep meeting with patients after he surrendered his license.
Watch: Therapists sexual assault victims seek answers in court
These women said they are not even sure how many more victims might be out there.
The woman who first came forward in the criminal case and now this civil lawsuit said she first met Quigley in 2013. She said she was seeking therapy for the first time.
I was having a lot of psychological wellness issues; not sleeping, not eating, depression, anxiety, Christina said.
One of the companies recommended through her insurance was Comprehensive Services Inc. She said they connected her to a therapist named Dennis Quigley.
Christina said that she initially didnt feel uncomfortable around Quigley but thought something was off.
Every single time I left that office and then it got worse later on, I felt super confused and frustrated and exhausted, Chistina said.
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She said that looking back, she was emotionally abused from the start.
I was, for lack of a better term, groomed over about a two-year period and it was it was a slow progression and an introduction to getting me to trust him enough to go past that barrier, Christina said.
She said Quigley began to sexually abuse her in 2015.
Were you able to tell anybody about this as it was going on or did you harbor it all inside, NBC 4 reporter Anna Hoffman asked.
Oh, no, I could not tell anyone, Christina said. I internalized it. I internalized it so much so that it came down to me wanting to end my life pretty consistently for many years.
Christina said it took her seven years to tell her husband and later go on to report Quigley to authorities.
Ogla is another of Quigleys victims. She said she first started seeing Quigley in April 2018.
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I never had any experience with therapy before, so when he started talking, leaning, moving conversation towards sex, I didnt think anything of that because I trusted him, Olga said.
She said that four months later, Quigley started to get physical with her.
I left and I felt so anxious, Olga said. I feel like my head just blew, blew away.
She said all of the past trauma she went to Quigley to seek help for just escalated to the point where she contemplated taking her own life. She said it took her a year and a half to tell her husband and then report Quigley.
In September 2021, Quigley surrendered his medical license, but his victims claim he continued to provide therapy services.
I thought I was done until I saw his picture on the website of Comprehensive Services, so I posted a review on their web page, Olga said. Um, actually I have it takes me saying that how come this person is no longer has a license? How come you have him on his on your page and they removed the picture within three days? But I kept my review there. They started posting five-star reviews on their website, one review a week, six reviews, six weeks.
After these women decided to come forward with their stories, Quigley was formally indicted by a Franklin County grand jury in October 2023. The women now want the company that put them in front of Quigley to be held accountable.
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Where were at now is you have this place where she put her trust into, her faith into and a goal is to protect patients, right, to protect patients, protect their well-being, and when one of their employees does something wrong, now were in a situation where, rather than be responsible, protect the patient, theyre holding up their hands and trying to escape liability, said Abby Chin, an attorney with Cooper Elliott Law Firm.
Chin, Christinas attorney, said they filed the complaint on Aug. 17. The civil complaint alleges Quigley continued to treat patients, even continued to meet with Christina for at least a year after surrendering his license.
Chin said they are trying to find out more about Comprehensive Services vetting process for therapists. She said they have not been able to get all the documents they need for evidence from Comprehensive Services.
Both Christina and Olga said they blame comprehensive services for what happened to them because they believe something could have been done to stop Quigley.
NBC4 has sent three emails to the lawyers representing Comprehensive Services since conducting these interviews on Sept. 5 and has not received a response. On Tuesday morning, we were able to get ahold of one of their lawyers by phone and were told they did not want to speak with NBC 4 and hung up the phone.
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SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) A 56-year-old San Francisco man who allegedly possessed large quantities of child pornography was arrested earlier this month, the San Francisco Police Department announced Wednesday.
The suspect, Albinus Benus, 56, was identified over the course of an investigation by SFPDs Internet Crime Against Children unit. In April, the crime unit obtained information that an adult male suspect from San Francisco was in possession of and distributing Child Sexual Assault Material (CSAM) commonly referred to as child pornography, police said.
On Sept. 12, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and Homeland Security Investigations joined SFPD to serve a search warrant on the 100 block of Maynard Street in the Mission Terrace neighborhood. Investigators seized multiple electronic devices in the search.
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The devices contained large quantities of child pornography, which were catalogued into numerous specific categories, according to San Francisco police.
Benus was arrested without incident, police said, and booked into San Francisco County Jail for distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography, with enhancements for more than 600 images and child pornography depicting bondage.
Police said the investigation remains open and active. Anyone with information is asked to contact the San Francisco Police Department at (415)-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and start the message with SFPD.
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Sharp rise in problematic teenage social media use, study says
A major international study suggests there has been a sharp rise in what it calls "problematic" social media use among young people since the pandemic.
Researchers came to the conclusion after surveying almost 280,000 children aged 11, 13 and 15 across 44 countries.
The Health Behaviour In School-aged Children (HBSC) study found, on average, 11% of respondents engaged with social media in a problematic way in 2022 - compared to 7% in 2018.
England, Scotland and Wales all recorded figures above that average.
The report's authors say the findings "raise urgent concerns about the impact of digital technology on the mental health and well-being of Europe's youth".
They say more action is needed to "promote healthy online behaviours."
"Problematic use is most common amongst 13-year-olds - it sort of peaks in that early adolescence phase and girls are more likely to report problematic social media use than boys," said the study's international co-ordinator Dr Jo Inchley, from the University of Glasgow.
She said the research also revealed how much time young people spend online.
"Across the study as a whole, we found just over a third of adolescents report continuous online contact with friends and others," she said.
"That means almost all the time throughout the day they are connected online to friends and other people."
The report does not conclude all that time spent online is detrimental.
Instead, teenagers who were heavy, but not problematic, users of social media reported stronger peer support and social connections.
But for the "problematic" minority it found social media use was associated with addiction-like symptoms including:
neglect of other activities in favour of spending time on social media
frequent arguments about use
lying about how much time is spent online
an inability to control social media use and experiencing withdrawal
It also highlights concerns about the proportion of teenagers considered to be at risk of "problematic gaming" - something it suggests applies to boys more than girls.
That designation applied to 15% of teenagers in England - the second highest proportion across all countries studied.
The average proportion of boys who played daily was 46%, but this figure stood at 52% in England and 57% in Scotland.
And 13-year-old boys in England reported the highest rate of long gaming sessions, with 45% of boys of that age indicating that they played for at least four hours on gaming days.
Positive and negative consequences
The study has been published by the European arm of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe, said the findings made clear social media could have both positive and negative consequences for young people.
He said there needed to be more "digital literacy education" to help young people develop a healthy approach to being online, and governments, health authorities, teachers and parents all had to play their part.
"It's clear we need immediate and sustained action to help adolescents turn the tide on potentially damaging social media use, which has been shown to lead to depression, bullying, anxiety, and poor academic performance," he said.
Ben Carter, Professor of Medical Statistics at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, described the report as a useful snapshot of the evidence".
But he pointed out it was difficult to agree on a definition of what problematic social media was, making gathering data on it challenging.
Nonetheless, he said the study was a valid contribution to the evidence base".
CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD)- Sheriff Kristin Graziano (D) did not hold back as she skewered Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) over allegations that the Charleston County Sheriffs Office is releasing undocumented immigrants accused of crimes from the Al Cannon Detention Center.
Graziano, who is running for reelection against Republican Carl Ritchie, blasted Mace as full of s while speaking briefly with reporters at the agencys headquarters on Wednesday morning.
She is in a position where she controls Congress and has failed to do her job and is trying to make her failures our problem, she said. She needs to do her damn job and let law enforcement do ours.
Shes a liar and this is reckless, Graziano added.
Mace sent a letter to the sheriffs office on Sept. 24, accusing the agency of ignoring immigration holds from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which are requests to law enforcement to detain a person for up to 48 hours before releasing them to give ICE time to take custody and potentially remove that person from the country.
The congresswoman, who is seeking a third term representing South Carolinas 1st Congressional District, further claimed the sheriffs office had released illegal immigrants into the community and by doing so was purposefully putting local residents at risk of danger.
One recent case involved an illegal alien charged with two counts of criminal solicitation of a minor, Mace claimed. Despite these serious charges, the Sheriffs Office refused to honor the ICE detainer, releasing the individual on bond, further endangering the community.
Mace also alleged that the sheriffs office has ignored dozens of detainer requests since 2021, noting that the agency is labeled an uncooperative institution by ICE. That designation is shared by more than 550 institutions nationwide, according to a June report.
From the moment you were sworn in as Sheriff, you have systematically dismantled immigration enforcement in Charleston County, Mace wrote to Graziano. You have also made every possible effort to turn Charleston County into a sanctuary jurisdiction.
Amber Allen, a spokesperson for the sheriffs office, disputed that claim on Wednesday.
We are still researching what she is alluding to, Allen said, challenging Mace to produce the whistleblower that she says alerted her to the incident. We are confident that if something did happen regarding that incident that we followed policy and procedure.
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In an earlier response to Maces letter, Graziano was adamant that her agency has not released a detainee without a judges order nor have they refused any orders, suggesting that Mace was mischaracterizing events for political gain.
The Charleston County Sheriffs Office as well as any other law enforcement officer in this state cannot and has never been able to legally arrest someone because of their immigration (civil) legal status, the Sept. 24 statement read. Our policy clearly states, on our public website, that: The SACDC will only hold residents for ICE if they have an I-247, a detainer and Immigration Order signed by an Immigration Judge. The Immigration Judges order does not have an expiration and will be honored to hold the resident.'
There are currently 13 individuals housed in the Al Cannon Detention Center that are on a hold by an immigration judge, according to the sheriffs office.
Graziano dissolved the 287(g) agreement between the sheriffs office and ICE as one of her first official acts after taking office in 2021.
The optional agreement purports to enhance the safety and security of communities by focusing resources on identifying and processing removable aliens who have been arrested and booked into the [law enforcement agencys] jail/correctional facilities. Participating law enforcement agencies select members to be trained to perform some limited functions of an immigration officer.
The change that happened when we rescinded 287(g) is that we required ICE to have an immigration judges signature in order for someone to be put on a detainer or a hold in our facility, Allen explained.
Allen said the federal government does not cover the entire cost of the program and Charleston County taxpayers were left footing the bill, one of the primary reasons the agreement was ended.
To participate in 287(G) costs a lot of money on the Charleston County taxpayers and it is a huge demand to our workforce at the detention center, she added.
Only three jurisdictions in South Carolina Horry, Lexington, and York counties currently have 287(g) agreements in place, according to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.
Mace has demanded copies of all communications between ICE and the Charleston County Sheriffs Office with an Oct. 15 deadline. She has not specified what action, if any, she would take if the documentation is not provided by then.
I believe all whistleblowers, Mace told News 2 in response to Grazianos comments. Also, the data doesnt lie. I look forward to receiving copies of her and her agencies [sic] communications.
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The Shell Factory's last days: What happens next with property sale, animals, employees
The Shell Factory is just days away from shutting its doors forever. And owner Pam Cronin says she and her employees are still "reeling" from her difficult decision.
"Its been 27 years," Cronin says about her time owning the North Fort Myers attraction. "It is absolutely the most difficult decision I've ever made in my life. For all the reasons you can possibly imagine. First and foremost is our staff."
Another reason: The Shell Factory was important to her late husband, Tom Cronin, who died in 2018.
"For my late husband, for Tommy, it was an absolute labor of love," she says. "He decided that this was his last hurrah, and he put every dollar he had into it."
Late Shell Factory & Nature Park owner Tom Cronin poses near the iconic sign in North Fort Myers in an undated photo. Cronin died in 2018.
The Shell Factory has been a fixture in Southwest Florida for 86 years. The 18-acre, Old Florida-style attraction is home to a restaurant, a zip line, a fudge shop, fossil displays and a sprawling, more than 50,000-square-foot gift shop packed with everything from miniature pirate ships to Christmas decorations to shells lots and lots of shells.
Then there's the neighboring nature park with more than 350 exotic animals, including iguanas, porcupines, peacocks, alligators, lemurs, alpacas and goats.
Cronin says she loves the place, but she didn't have much choice. The Shell Factory had never been profitable for the Cronins, and its buildings were in bad shape after the double whammy of Hurricanes Irma and Ian.
"It just needs so much," she says. "It's just an old place that has been added on and added on since 1954, and it just needs a lot of work."
That's why she announced on Monday, Sept. 16 to both her employees and the media that the 86-year-old tourist attraction would close its doors Sept. 29 and be put up for sale.
Since then, they've been busy running two weekend-long sales and figuring out what needs to be done in the coming weeks: Where the nature park's animals will go, what they're doing with all the remaining merchandise and lots more.
"We're just all kind of reeling," Cronin says. "I keep saying 'We're up to our eyeballs in alligators literally right now."
Cronin talked with The News-Press recently about why she's closing The Shell Factory, its employees and what happens to its animals, its carousel and other items. Heres what she had to say.
What happens to the animals at the Shell Factory Nature Park?
The Shell Factory Nature Park's new alpacas arrived in 2018: (From left): Irma, Tatiana and Halo.
Cronin says they're still trying to find homes for the more than 350 animals in the nature park. That includes about 250 macaws, parrots and other birds; plus about 100 other animals: Gators, sloths, lemurs, a camel, alpacas and more.
The process was initially "daunting," she says, but it's working out "infinitely better than I had anticipated."
"USDA and Fish & Wildlife have stepped up," Cronin says. "They are recommending facilities and not-for-profits for us. We have so many of those organizations that are interested in the animals."
Cronin didn't have many details about those organizations, and animal park director Karen Schneider wasn't made available for an interview with The News-Press. But Cronin says some of the snakes and turtles have already been placed, and Palmdale attraction Gatorama which owns some of The Shell Factory's alligators will be taking back most of those gators.
Cronin promises that they'll eventually release a thorough list of where the animals went.
"We're really moving forward with finding great new homes for them," she says. "And we are locating them in places where they'll have forever homes."
Meanwhile, all the animals will remain fed and cared for at the park, she says. "We have staff on, full time, every day, maintaining the habitats and making sure that they're fed correctly. We're still providing all the care.
"We just had the vet out the other day, checking on a couple of them. We're 100 percent committed to making sure that, as long as they're in our care, they're well-cared for."
Meanwhile, the nature park will remain open through Sunday.
"People can come and say goodbye to their favorites," Cronin says. Which they really do. It's really heartfelt and lovely that so many people want to come see them and say goodbye."
In a statement released Monday, The Shell Factory said it's working closely with wildlife officials. "By law, we must work through the proper channels, including the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the United States Department of Agriculture, to transport and rehome our animals to approved facilities that have qualified caretakers."
Putting The Shell Factory up for sale
Cronin says they haven't listed the property yet on the real-estate market, but that will happen "shortly."
"We're working on that," she says. "We've had lots of people contact us that are interested."
She hopes to sell the place to someone who could continue running it as a tourist attraction, but says thats not looking likely.
"We actually reached out and talked to I'm gonna say somewhere between six and 10 people that we thought might be prospective operators, who might want to come in and keep it an attraction," she says. "Because, of course, that was our first goal. But we just haven't been able to garner any interest in that."
Part of the problem is The Shell Factory's state of disrepair, including its leaky roof. That makes it less attractive to potential buyers.
"It needs so much renovation," Cronin says. "That would be the first thing: You'd have to put so much money into it."
On top of that, the place hasn't exactly been a moneymaker over the last three decades. "It's just not been a profitable business," Cronin says. "We've been supplementing it every year for 27 years."
Tom Cronin bought the property in 1997, when it was under foreclosure, and "lovingly transformed it from a roadside tourist spot to a sought-out destination for locals, seasonal residents and tourists," according to a Shell Factory news release. Together, the Cronins made extensive investments and upgrades to the property, including the nature park.
Cronin says she wants to be choosy about who she sells the property to and what those buyers will do with it. "There are some limitations. It's just too important of a property to the North Fort Myers community."
Still, she says she can't discount something more extreme, such as the place being bulldozed and turned into condominiums. Time is running out for her.
"I may not have a choice," she says. "Because I do have a mortgage on the property. Between the mortgage and maintaining the staff and the nature park and everything, I will be personally paying for everything. So we'll just see how it rolls out."
Finding new jobs for The Shell Factory's employees
Cronin is especially worried about what happens to her employees. She says she's doing everything she can to help them after The Shell Factory closes. The business had about 96 employees before announcing its closure, she says.
Two of those employees have worked at The Shell Factory the entire 27 years under Cronin's ownership, she says. And one of those recently celebrated her 40th year there.
"Were really trying to help them," she says. "We have been extremely fortunate in having (payroll company) PEO and also CareerSource, which is just an amazing organization. I can't even tout them enough how much theyre doing and what they're doing to help place our folks."
The Soaring Eagle zip line attraction debuted in 2014 at the Shell Factory & Nature Park in North Fort Myers.
Cronin has been talking to other Southwest Florida companies, including Gator Mike's Family Fun in Cape Coral, about hiring some of the Shell Factory's employees, she says.
"Fortunately, we're kinda moving toward season," she says. "So a lot of the restaurant staff will probably have an easier time. And the same with retail. Retails gonna crank up a little bit. So we're just hopeful that everybody finds a place they love."
As for any severance for the employees, Cronin says she's not sure. "We haven't worked that all out yet."
They still haven't listed the property for sale yet, she says, and she's not sure "where we're going to land through all this."
What else needs to be done at The Shell Factory
Alea Bryant, 5, left, and Jaelah Brown, 3, right, wave to their family as they ride a restored 1927 carousel at The Shell Factory and Nature Park on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019, in North Fort Myers.
For the moment, Cronin and her staff are focused more on getting through The Shell Factory's final weekend. That includes a 30-percent-off sale on everything in the store from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday. The nature park and restaurant will also be open.
"We're gonna get through next week, which will pretty much take us to the end of the month," Cronin says. "And then we're just gonna kind of regroup and figure out what we're doing."
After they close, they'll likely hold an auction to sell off the restaurant's equipment and furnishings, and another to sell "fun stuff" like the Santa Claus statue and the kiddie rides.
She's also had inquires about the Shell Factory's restored 1927 carousel, which had previously entertained kids and families at St. Augustines Davenport Park with its painted horses and cheerful calliope music. The carousel came to The Shell Factory in 2019.
Cronin admits everything has been kind of overwhelming, but they're slowly working through everything that needs to be done at The Shell Factory.
"Were doing one step at a time: The most urgent things first with the staff and the animals," she says. "And then we're gonna take each step at a time."
For updates on The Shell Factory, visit shellfactory.com or facebook.com/shellfactoryfl.
Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 (for tickets to shows, call the venue) or email him at crunnells@gannett.com.
Follow or message him on social media: Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), X (formerly Twitter) (@charlesrunnells), Threads (@crunnells1) and Instagram (@crunnells1).
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: The Shell Factory's final weekend: Property to be listed, what's next
The Kentucky sheriff charged with killing a judge inside of a courthouse last Thursday pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder on Wednesday, according to multiple reports.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Stines, 43, is accused of killing District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, after an argument at the Letcher County Courthouse on Sept. 19 just before 3 p.m., Kentucky State Police confirmed to HuffPost. Stines was arrested after the shooting and Mullins, who suffered from multiple gunshot wounds, was pronounced dead at the scene. A motive is still unknown.
Circuit Court Clerk Mike Watts told local station WKYT that Stines and Mullins had lunch together hours earlier.
Stines is being held without bondand appeared virtually with a public defender at an arraignment on Wednesday before Chief Regional Judge Rupert Wilhoit, according to CNN. The parties discussed Stines ability to hire an attorney, based on his $115,000 salary.
Its my understanding that he is in the process of losing his job as sheriff of Letcher County, obviously, and will not have income going forward, public defender Josh Miller told Wilhoit, according to CNN.
An interim sheriff has taken over for Stines, per the Washington Post.
Gov. Andy Beshear (D) reportedly called on Stines to resign, and, said that he would remove Stines from his position as sheriff if he doesnt, The Associated Press reported.
Another hearing is set for Oct. 1, during which Miller will defend Stines. However, that may change ahead of a trial.
Stines is facing 20 years to life in prison, as well as the possibility of the death penalty, since the case involves the killing of a public official.
In the aftermath of the fatal shooting, the circuit and district courthouses have been closed temporarily, according to the Kentucky Court of Justice website. The Sheriffs Office is reportedly closed as well, except for emergencies.
Beshear addressed the killing on X, formerly Twitter, saying on Sept. 19, There is far too much violence in this world.
I pray there is a path to a better tomorrow, he added.
Related...
(FOX40.COM) Sacramento law enforcement is searching for a suspect after a shooting on Business 80 impacted traffic in central Sacramento for more than an hour on Tuesday afternoon, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A CHP representative told FOX40.com that the shooting happened on the onramp to northbound Business 80, north of N St.
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One man was shot in the arm and made the emergency call, the CHP said, adding that he was taken to a hospital.
Officials canvassed the area to search for evidence connected to the shooting and later said that the highway was completely reopened.
The CHP said that officers were searching for one suspect, a Black male adult in a brown Audi.
The CHP said that it appeared to be an isolated incident and that there was no danger to the public.
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Shooting at Democratic Party office in metro Phoenix was 2nd in a week, police say
The Democratic Party campaign office in Tempe where employees found bullet holes in the front windows on Monday was also shot at a week ago by a pellet or BB gun, Tempe police said.
Police are still investigating the latest incident after workers in the office near Southern Avenue and Priest Drive reported "what appeared to be gunshots" through the windows. No one was hurt in the shooting, which police believe occurred just after midnight Sept. 23.
No one was inside the office during the overnight hours, but this raises concerns about the safety of those who work in that building, as well as those nearby, said Tempe police spokesperson Sgt. Ryan Cook.
Police say they were "investigating all possible motives."
The three holes in the window, two of them through the front door's glass, are about a half-inch in diameter and surrounded by shattered glass. What appeared to be two other bullet holes were in the door frame and stucco. The suite, tucked in a strip mall next door to a day care center, has no signs or other indications of what goes on inside.
"Its extremely sad that the Arizona Democratic Party has become the target of violence its not who we are as Arizonans or Americans," said Yolanda Bejarano, the state party's chair. "We are working with law enforcement to ensure this threat is taken seriously and that our staff members are safe while theyre at work.
Targeted: Gunshots fired at Democratic Party office in Phoenix area as divisive election nears
Reporter Ray Stern can be reached at rstern@arizonarepublic.com and on X @raystern.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Shooting at Democratic Party office in Arizona was 2nd in a week
On September 25, within the 5th Anniversary Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition ADEX held in Baku, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with the Chief of the General Staff, First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Belarus, Major General Pavel Muraveiko, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan, Azernews reports.
The importance of further development of Azerbaijani-Belarusian cooperation in the military sphere was emphasized, and the expansion of the current relations was discussed at the meeting.
The sides also had a wide exchange of views on regional security and other issues of interest.
Then, Colonel General Z. Hasanov met with the Minister of State Authority for Military Industry of the Republic of Belarus, Mr. Dmitry Pantus.
The meeting exchanged views on military-technical cooperation.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) A Sioux City man accused of stealing one juveniles vehicle after demanding money from another has pleaded not guilty to two felony charges.
Jonathan Olson, 28, pleaded not guilty to first-degree robbery and second-degree theft in a written arraignment Monday. He had previously been arrested on Friday, Sept. 13.
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According to court documents, three juveniles were driving around on the night of Thursday, Sept. 12. They parked in the parking lot of an abandoned building on Nebraska Street. A man then allegedly threw a cinderblock at the windshield, shattering it.
When the three juveniles got out of the car, about 10 people surrounded them, court documents say. Olson then approached one victim and allegedly placed him in a headlock while holding a knife, demanding the victim give him his wallet, phone, and all of his money. The victim handed Olson the few dollars he had in his pocket.
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Olson then reportedly took the cars keys from another victim, took the car, and drove it north on Nebraska Street. A witness was able to identify Olson.
Olson was later found at a gas station the next day around 7:40 p.m.
A trial date has not yet been set.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) The Sioux City Public Library is inviting residents to attend an open jouse at the Aalfs Downtown Library.
According to a release, the open house will take place on Oct. 5 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the downtown branch on Pierce Street.
Candlelight Concerts to perform Halloween-themed show and more in Sioux City
The event will offer a variety of activities, including:
Create your own button, bookmark, bird feeder, or all three!
Explore the Library with a scavenger hunt
Follow the story pages on the book walk
Take part in stories and songs during First Saturday Family Storytime at 11 a.m.
Enjoy a guided look at the Local History collection with tours every 30 minutes
Take a photo with a book you love at the photo op
Experiment with the Bee Bots and STEM cart
Get help with setting up eResources on your smart device so you can check out books, music, and movies anytime!
Sign up for a Library card
Try the new 3 to Go service, or get book recommendations from staff
Sign your pre-k child up for 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten
Check something out and bring it home
Pre-online giving begins for the Siouxland Big Give
The event is free and open to the public. Library parking is free on the weekend.
For more events happening in the Siouxland area, click here.
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Sir Alan Bates says knighthood will be put to 'good use'
Campaigner and former subpostmaster Sir Alan Bates said he will put his knighthood to good use after receiving it in a ceremony at Windsor Castle.
Sir Alan was honoured for his services to justice, having been recognised in the Kings Birthday Honours in June. He received his knighthood from the Princess Anne on Wednesday.
The 70-year-old was thrust into the limelight after an ITV drama highlighted how he led a campaign on behalf of subpostmasters wrongly prosecuted for stealing.
He previously turned down being made an OBE while former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells held on to her CBE.
Sir Alan was given his honour by the Princess Royal, Princess Anne [PA Media]
Earlier this year, Downing Street backed calls for Sir Alan to be knighted after Ms Vennells returned her honour.
Speaking after the ceremony, he said it felt "most unusual" to receive the royal honour, but added: "I accept it gratefully, but not just for myself, but for the whole group, and for everything we've all been through.
"If it gives me an extra sort of stick to beat the authorities over the head, so be it - I'll put it to good use."
Sir Alan leads the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, campaigning for financial redress for the 555 victims who took part in the landmark group legal action against the Post Office.
More than 700 subpostmasters were wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015, after faulty software called Horizon indicated that money was missing from Post Office branch accounts.
Earlier this month, he called for the government to set a deadline of next March to give the redress payments, after he accused it of dragging out the process.
In August, Sir Alan married his longtime partner, Suzanne Sercombe, on Sir Richard Bransons private island in the British Virgin Islands.
The Virgin tycoon officiated the ceremony, and told The Sunday Times - who first reported on the wedding - it was an absolute joy to play a small part in the couples love story.
Smoke from a bushfire is pictured over Quito on September 24, 2024 (Galo Paguay) (Galo Paguay/AFP/AFP)
Firefighters and helicopters were battling five forest fires Wednesday on the outskirts of Quito that have left six people injured and led to the evacuation of over 100 families.
Ash and smoke from the simultaneous wildfires choked the Andean city as Ecuador joins several South American nations reeling from a scorching drought that has fanned flames across the continent.
Quito mayor Pablo Munoz described the situation as "critical at the moment" and said two firefighters had been injured.
The emergency led President Daniel Noboa to cancel his speech at the UN General Assembly and return to the country from New York on Tuesday.
"There are four injured, two adults and two minors," but "no one has died," city security official Carolina Andrade told the press.
Authorities believe the fires were started by arsonists in the hills on the eastern outskirts of the capital. The flames are threatening residential areas, such as the upmarket Gonzalez Suarez neighborhood.
Some 2,000 firefighters, military personnel and rescue workers have been deployed to tackle the crisis and 107 families were evacuated as a precautionary measure, said Andrade.
"We cannot lower our guard or give up," said Munoz, pointing to strong winds and dry vegetation due to the prolonged lack of rain in recent weeks.
He said flames had been brought under control in some parts, with priority being given to areas where homes are located.
The acrid smell of burning hangs over the city of three million inhabitants, where schools suspended classes and government offices ordered remote work due to poor air quality.
Because of the smoke, "I had to sleep with a mask and wet wipes on top" of the mask, Claudio Otalima, an 82-year-old retiree, told AFP.
Ecuador is facing its worst drought in six decades.
As a result, the country, which depends on hydroelectric power, is facing severe energy shortages and has implemented rolling blackouts and put 20 of its 24 provinces on red alert.
Over the past year, 3,302 forest fires have been recorded, burning 37,808 hectares (93,400 acres) of vegetation.
Fourteen people have been injured, 797 affected and 44,742 livestock have died, according to a report published Tuesday by the Risk Secretariat.
Drought conditions attributed by experts to climate change have also sent fires burning out of control in Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, and Peru.
"South American leaders must, more than ever, take urgent action to prevent climate catastrophe that could have irreversible consequences for humanity and for the planet," Amnesty International said Monday.
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SLO County wine grapes set an all-time record as total crop value tops $1.1 billion
The value of San Luis Obispo Countys agricultural products reached a record high last year, surpassing $1.1 billion, thanks in part to wine grapes soaring to an all-time high as well, according to the 2023 annual Agricultural Statistics report.
Wine grapes were the highest valued agricultural product for 2023, reaching almost $324 million and replacing strawberries as the countys top crop, the report said.
Its the first time grapes have beaten berries since 2018. Strawberries had been on a steady climb for more than a decade before topping out at nearly $320 million in 2021.
But the crop has retreated in the last two years while wine grapes surged by $62 million in 2023, an amount that by itself was more than any other SLO County crop besides the top three. Cattle and calves were third with a value of $68.6 million in 2023.
Together, wine grapes and strawberries made up about 53% of the countys total crop value in 2023, San Luis Obispo County Agricultural Commissioner Martin Settevendemie said in a presentation to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
Despite significant storm damage early in the year, crops did well with strong yields across multiple crop sectors, he said.
Meeting attendees took special notice of Brussels sprouts, which appeared in the top 10 crops list for the second year in a row in 2023.
Where are the thousands of acres of Brussels sprouts? Supervisor John Peschong asked, wondering aloud who is eating all the compact green veggies in this county.
Im eating them. I love Brussels sprouts, Supervisor Jimmy Paulding said, sparking laughter in the audience.
Grower-Shipper Association of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties president Claire Wyman chimed in to recommend marinating Brussels sprouts in olive oil and Santa Maria barbecue seasoning before throwing them on the grill.
Its a real treat, she said.
A worker carries a bin of wine grapes at Tablas Creek Vineyard in Paso Robles.
Wine grapes, strawberries are SLO Countys top crops
The total value of the countys agricultural products reached a record high of $1,114,238,000 in 2023, a 3.7% increase from 2022, Settevendemie said.
The value of the countys agricultural products exceeded $1 billion three other times, in 2018, 2021 and 2022, he said.
Wine grapes increase in 2023 represented a dramatic 24% bump in value from 2022 and was primarily caused by an increase in grape production, Settevendemie said.
Cabernet sauvignon was by far the highest value varietal at $156 million. The red wine (other) category was second at $50 million. The best value white
Strawberries were unable to keep pace after a substantial drop in 2022 was followed by a 1% slip last year.
A dip in strawberry in prices was partly to blame for the decrease in value, Settevendemie said.
Overall, fruit and nut crops saw a 10.3% increase in value from 2022 to 2023, reaching $688.7 million last year, the report said.
Strawberries grow in Grover Beach near the Okui familys farm stand in 2017. Strawberries were San Luis Obispos second most-valuable crop in 2017.
Field crops, nursery products see increase in value
San Luis Obispo County saw a slim $383,000 increase in the value of field crops in 2023, for a total of about $20 million.
With above average rainfall and ideal growing conditions, certain crops rebounded, Settevendemie said. Barley more than doubled in both total production and overall value.
Meanwhile, nursery products experienced a 0.3% increase in value to $88.9 million, he said.
Though nursery operators experience challenges with labor shortages, international competition and increasing production costs, an increased demand for vegetable transplants and ornamental plants catalyzed the increase in value for nursery products, he said.
Record year for cattle prices despite smaller herd
In 2023, 42,315 head of cattle were sold in San Luis Obispo, which is 2.5% less than 2022. However, record-high cattle prices rescued the county from a decline in cattle value, Settevendemie said.
In 2023, cattle prices were 38.8% higher than in 2022, which increased the total value of the animal category by 50% to $72.2 million last year, he said.
Consistent rainfall during the winter and spring improved forage and increased cattle weight, which contributed to their increase in value, Settevendemie said.
Cattle contrast with the swaths of goldfield wildflowers along Highway 58 on April 1, 2023.
Value of vegetable crops plummet
The value of vegetable crops plummeted by $50 million in 2023, Settevendemie said.
Heavy winter rains led to flooding and caused growers to fallow fields or delay both planting and harvest times, he said.
The decline in value was caused by a reduction in harvested acres along with some vegetable acreage being replaced with strawberries, he said.
Vegetable crops were valued at $243.8 million in 2023, he said.
The top vegetable crops were broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and celery.
What are SLO Countys top 10 crops?
Heres a list of San Luis Obispo Countys top valued crops for 2023:
Wine grapes, $323.9 million Strawberries, $274.0 million Cattle and calves, $68.6 million Broccoli, $36.1 million Avocados, $34.2 million Vegetable and ornamental transplants, $33.5 million Brussels sprouts, $24.6 million Cauliflower, $20.6 million Cut flowers, $19.0 million Celery, $16.1 million
Slovakia to increase vigilance after Zelenskyy's statements on Russia's intentions to hit Ukraine's nuclear power plants
Slovakia is increasing its vigilance and wants to periodically assess the radiation levels at the border as a result of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's comments regarding the Russian Federation's intentions to attack Ukraines nuclear power plants.
Source: Slovak President Peter Pellegrini at a briefing for the Slovak media at the UN in New York writes Aktuality, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Pellegrini reacted to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's speech to the United Nations General Assembly, in which he said Russia was attempting to attack three Ukrainian nuclear power plants and cause a nuclear disaster.
Quote: "The authorities of the Slovak Republic must now increase their vigilance and be ready to regularly measure the radiation levels on the Slovak-Ukrainian border," Pellegrini said.
He warned that a possible Russian attack on Ukraine's nuclear facilities might result in a Chornobyl-like disaster, with radioactive fallout reaching Ukraine's neighbours. Slovakia should be prepared to take appropriate actions on its own.
Pellegrini recalled that Slovakia, as a country with nuclear plants, has the experience and technological foundation to not rely on information from abroad, which can be disguised in various ways.
"As the international community, we must put maximum pressure on Russia to refrain from such dangerous actions," he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday that his country would never accept a cease-fire agreement with Russia imposed from outside.
Zelenskyy also called on the international community to put pressure on Russia and deter it from attacks that would pose a threat to Ukrainian nuclear safety.
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DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) A beloved pretzel bakery is hosting a grand reopening this weekend.
Smales Pretzel Bakery announced on its social media pages Thursday that its grand reopening will be held on Saturday, Sept. 28 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
To celebrate, soft pretzels will be sold for $1 all day.
Defunct hospital site being evaluated for potential contamination
In August, a small fire destroyed their oven, shutting down production for nearly a month. The fire was isolated to the oven and did not damage other areas of the storefront.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com.
AUSTIN (KXAN) The San Marcos police department confirmed the active shooter threat to San Marcos High School Tuesday was a hoax.
Around 3:32 p.m., the San Marcos Police Department responded to the high school for a report of an active shooter, and the caller told dispatch they saw a male with a gun in the hallway, the city of San Marcos said in a statement to KXAN.
Shortly before 4 p.m., the district said the high school was on lockdown Tuesday afternoon as a precaution.
During that 911 call San Marcos Police Chief Stan Standridge said two gun shots were heard during the call.
There were more than 50 officers inside searching all buildings, Standridge said.
At the time of the report SMPD said there were officers inside searching each building. The officers outside were part of a safety task force and ready to provide medical care if necessary.
According to the district, it said a threat was made through an anonymous phone call. The district also said two juvenile students reported seeing the gunman and receiving text messages associated to the incident.
SMPD took the two students outside during the situation for questioning. At 5:35 p.m. they confirmed there was no real threat to the campus and SMPD lifted the lockdown.
SMPD later confirmed in their investigation that the number associated with the phone call had been involved in two other swatting reports. They are working with the FBI to identify the suspect involved.
I believe we will make an arrest in this situation, Standridge said.
No shots were fired at the high school, and no injuries were reported, according to the city.
Students began dismissals at 5:30 p.m.
The school district said the campus consisted of about 2,500 students and 175 staff members.
San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Cordona said, he was confident in their response to the incident.
San Marcos has been implementing the standard response protocols in hays county for many years and they work, Cordona said.
Cordona said the best way for parents to stay informed with any situation is through the school districts website, social media platforms, a long with the police departments platforms.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Do you smell that? Officials stumped by strange stench in Southwest Washington
A strange smell is catching peoples attention in southwest Washington, but nobody can pinpoint what it is or where its coming from.
People began noticing the smell late Tuesday night. Cowlitz County Fire District 5 posted on Facebook that the mystery odor first appeared in Kelso and quickly reached Clark County.
The department says it deployed monitors in the Kalama area and didnt detect any sort of gas.
Cowlitz County Fire says its reached out to pipelines in the area and representatives say they havent had any alarms go off, pressure loss, or operational deficiencies.
No industrial facilities have reported operational issues, either.
They also reached out to railroad company BNSF who says it isnt aware of any rail traffic issues.
The State Department of Ecology was contacted as well and cant seem to determine where the smell is coming from.
Someone who lives near Vancouver commented on Facebook saying the smell was so strong Tuesday night that it woke her up and made her feel nauseous.
Another commenter from the Battle Ground area said the smell made their nose burn a little.
Cowlitz County Fire says the smell appears to be impacting the I-5 corridor from South Kelso to Vancouver.
Officials say they will continue to investigate the cause and update the public when they can determine where the stench is originating from.
BEAUFORT COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT) Multiple reports of scamming have been impacting local businesses and festivals across Eastern North Carolina.
In Beaufort County, the Smoke on the Water Festival is coming to Washington on Oct. 18-19. But, as the festival looks to expand with booths and donations, people began to report some suspicious activity with donation links that were commented on the festivals Facebook page.
Pam Anderson with Washington Noon Rotary clarified with WNCT and on the Facebook page that the festival only accepts donations through its website. They will never ask for donations through Facebook or private messaging.
It impacts us because we dont have space for them and some people who want to come in wont commit because they arent sure if its the real one, Anderson said.
Similar reports have been made at other local businesses in Beaufort County and also on New Bern Parks and Recreations social media pages. If you come across a posting to donate money claiming to be a registration fee that is not directly attached to the website of the organization you are donating to, do not send money.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT.
Older men are dying at higher rates from extreme heat, largely due to their isolation and lack of a support network to check in on them during extreme weather events. Studies also show men are less likely to seek help for health conditions and to accept support services when offered.
Older men are dying at higher rates from extreme heat, largely due to their isolation and lack of a support network to check in on them during extreme weather events. Studies also show men are less likely to seek help for health conditions and to accept support services when offered. (Josep Rovirosa/Getty Images)
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More than 2,000 older Swiss women won a historic lawsuit against their government this spring. The plaintiffs argued that worsening heat waves were putting their health at risk due to their gender and age. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the government failed to protect its residents from the effects of the climate crisis.
The lawsuit brought political and media attention to a sobering reality of the climate crisis: It takes a disproportionate toll on women and girls.
In heat waves that swept across Europe in 2022, women represented 35,667 of the over 61,000 people who died, with the greatest toll among older women.
During a heat wave in France in 2003, the number of women over 55 who died from a heat-related death was 15 percent higher than men when adjusted for age. Though study results focused on the Global South are more of a mixed bag, a recent analysis concluded some of the inconsistencies can be pinned on bad data collection. Researchers largely agree that women are more susceptible to heat-related deaths.
Except in the United States.
Despite global trends, men are dying at far greater numbers than women across the country due to extreme heat. The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which examined heat-related deaths from 2004 to 2018, found that men died from heat-related deaths at over twice the rate of women: Of the 10,527 deaths, men accounted for 7,241. A CDC spokesperson told The 19th that a new analysis based on updated data is expected to be published in the next year.
More recent data follows this trend. In Arizonas Maricopa County, which keeps some of the most comprehensive records on heat-related deaths in the country, men made up 75 percent of the 645 deaths last year (some of these fatalities were due to a growing homeless population that is more vulnerable to the extreme temperatures). In Clark County, Nevada, last year, nearly three-quarters of the 294 heat-related deaths were men. And in Oregons Multnomah County which includes Portland a historic heatwave baked the city in 2021, leading to 72 deaths, 67 percent of which were men.
But research points to women being more physiologically vulnerable to heat. One study published in September found that women 65 and over started to overheat at lower temperatures and humidity levels compared to men of the same age. Researchers had participants swallow a capsule that monitors body core temperature while the subjects were performing low levels of exercise inside a heat chamber where they could crank up the heat or humidity. The study also found that middle-aged women were just as vulnerable as older men to the heat.
This change in vulnerability in women occurs right around menopause, and its very similar to if you look at heart disease statistics up until menopause. Once they hit menopause, their propensity for having heart disease increases at a greater rate than men, said Larry Kenney, principal investigator on the paper.
Other studies have found that women sweat less than men. Sweating is one of the primary ways humans thermoregulate, or keep their bodies the right temperature. Being pregnant can also increase a persons risk to the effects of extreme heat.
So why are older men in the United States dying at higher rates?
One clue can be found in sociologist Eric Klinenbergs book, Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, in which he examined the deaths that occurred in the wake of the historic heatwave that hit the city in 1995. He found that race, socioeconomic status and age all factored into who lived and who died, but he also narrowed in on two other variables: social isolation and gender.
One of the things that we found in Chicago is that men were far more likely to die than women once you do the age adjustments, he said. The reason is that American men tend to be much more socially isolated.
Women typically take on the roles of social connectors and caregivers, which foster relationships that lead to less social isolation in their old age. Men, on the other hand, are less likely to speak with friends and family on a regular basis, or participate in clubs and activities outside the home. As a result, they often have less of a social network than women.
One way Klinenberg sought to quantify how social isolation might have impacted heat deaths was to look at the citys data on who died without any family member or friend to claim them. Forty-five of the 56 unclaimed people who died during the heatwave were men.
Debra Umberson, sociology professor and director of the Center on Aging and Population Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, said men continue to suffer from social isolation more than women, particularly as they age. She recently published a study looking at how social isolation changes over time. What she found is that isolation starts in adolescence and deepens through adulthood for everyone. But, its worse for men and boys than it is for women and girls, she said.
It could help explain why in Maricopa County, fewer women are dying alone during heat waves, despite making up a larger percentage of the population. Last year, of the 122 people over 50 living alone who died of an indoor heat-related death, 47 were women and 75 were men.
And in the 2021 heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest, nearly three-quarters of the fatalities were people who lived alone, said Andrew Phelps, who was the director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management at the time. The number of fatalities perplexed Phelps, because there had been plenty of warnings about the heat and over 200 cooling centers had opened in anticipation of the high temperatures.
When they dug into the demographics of who died he expected that they had missed a vulnerable population in their messaging, perhaps a community that doesnt speak English. He was surprised by what they found: What we saw was most of the fatalities were White males, 60 and over.
Phelps has theories on why this is the case.
An unhoused person adjusts a tent to help increase shade cover in a section of Phoenix, Arizonas largest homeless encampment, during one of the citys hottest heat waves on record in July 2023. Unhoused people are at an especially high risk of heat-related illness or death. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
This is anecdotal or speculation on my part from my lived experience, but like who doesnt go seek help when theyre not feeling well, or if someone is having chest pain? Its the middle aged and older men, he said. If you think about someone sitting in an apartment or a mobile home, sweltering, and thinking, Well, you know, Im just gonna sleep it off, or itll be cooler when I wake up, and then they dont wake up. That kind of tracks.
Research backs up this assumption. Men are less likely to reach out to a doctor when experiencing a health problem than women and less likely to seek help when experiencing a mental health issue. Researchers point to stereotypes of masculinity a fear of appearing weak or vulnerable as one reason why this is the case.
Klinenberg puts it this way: There is this culture of masculinity that stigmatizes men who seek out social support in places like senior centers and makes men feel like they are failures if they ask for help, he said. American men face this real burden. It is not unique in the world, but it is on the extreme side.
Studies also find that men are more likely to stay in good health due to the women in their lives, who are typically doing things like scheduling their doctors appointments, Umberson said.
Women are more likely than men to tell and remind and cajole and do all of these things to try to influence other peoples health behaviors. When it comes to dealing with the heat: If men are not in relationships they are less likely to have anyone telling them to be careful or to go to a cooling center, Umberson said.
Maricopa County is piloting a program to stem the deaths in the elderly and disabled population during heat waves through its Senior and Adult Services Division. Last year, case workers identified 93 clients who they deemed particularly vulnerable during heat waves due to being socially isolated, having limited transportation and limited income. Throughout the summer, they called these residents when heat advisories were in effect to ask them questions, like whether they had their air conditioning on, or what temperature their thermostats read. If a resident said their AC wasnt working, the agency would send someone to check on them and provide a portable cooling unit until it could be fixed.
But they have found gender is also a barrier to reaching residents. Women clients tend to be more receptive to help, and men, even when they are referred to a service, are more likely to turn it down, said Cristina Martinez, interim assistant director of the department. And its not unique to heat-related help either it translates to other offerings like meal deliveries.
We still see some examples of that stigma, where they have this idea of, Ive always been very independent, and I dont ask for help.
The post Social isolation could be a factor in why more older men are dying from extreme heat appeared first on The 19th.
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LONG COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) On Wednesday, The Long County School System (LCSS) said following an overnight investigation, the perpetrator who posted a threat on social media Tuesday has been identified by the Long County Sheriffs Department (LCSD).
It is imperative that students and parents/guardians understand that jokes or comments about threats to schools will be met with a strong response. These comments, whether verbal, written, or posted on social media, can lead to serious legal and safety repercussions. Multiple Georgia students have been arrested across the state for making school threats. Making such remarks is not only disruptive and harmful but can also result in legal consequences for students and parents/guardians. We encourage parents/guardians to have critical conversations with their students concerning the very serious consequences that will be imposed by the Long County School System and local law enforcement in these situations. LCSS stated in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
As an added precaution, the LCSD assigned extra deputies to Long County schools on Wednesday. School and district administrators are conducting safety walk-throughs and have implemented extra security precautions, the district said.
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A Somerville library is resuming its normal hours after employees were concerned about violence after school hours.
Somervilles Central Library closed its doors at the beginning of the school year during certain hours after librarians said they were overwhelmed by disruptions and even violence from high school students.
According to the Boston Globe, the Central Library will be back to normal operating hours.
Private security will also be on hand to help enforce the librarys policies on behavior. Security cameras in and outside of the library
The mayor said the city is close to hiring a social worker to assist with at-risk adults and children at the citys three libraries.
Somerville Schools is also working to expand after-school activities with adult supervision.
Ballantyne said of the immediate steps, While we understand this change has impacted patrons, it is necessary to both break the cycle and to address the root of the problem with a range of interventions.
During a Public Health meeting on Monday, city staff shared that earlier in the year they extensively worked with police to pilot having a police presence at the library.
It did not have the deterrent effect that we had hoped it would have and it was the recommendation of our police department to not have a proactive presence but PD to respond to calls for service, said Neha Singh.
City Councilor-at-Large Kristen Strezo told Boston 25 this has been a workplace safety issue for more than a year.
She said problems at the library have ranged from fights to someone putting fireworks in the book drop.
Strezo said everyone deserves to feel safe at the library, whether it be patrons or library staff.
A librarian should never have to come home with someone elses blood on their clothes from a fist fight that happened inside of a library, said Strezo. She continued, It shouldnt have got to this level. I applaud the administration for moving fairly swiftly on this but the doors arent open yet so were still waiting.
The Mayor said they are also expanding library programming.
Theyre aiming to have the full hours reinstated by the end of next week barring any hold ups.
We want to thank the community for its understanding and patience as we work to create a safe and welcoming environment for all, said Ballantyne.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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SOMERVILLE, Mass --Somervilles Mayor Katjana Ballantyne outlined the steps the city will take to address concerns at Central Library.
The library cut some afternoon hours during the week after an ongoing pattern of unsafe behavior.
Mayor Ballantyne said in a statement that a security firm trained in de-escalation will be brought on and security cameras have been installed.
They are in the process of hiring an on-site social worker.
Ballantyne said of the immediate steps, While we understand this change has impacted patrons, it is necessary to both break the cycle and to address the root of the problem with a range of interventions.
During a Public Health meeting on Monday, city staff shared that earlier in the year they extensively worked with police to pilot having a police presence at the library.
It did not have the deterrent effect that we had hoped it would have and it was the recommendation of our police department to not have a proactive presence but PD to respond to calls for service, said Neha Singh.
City Councilor-at-Large Kristen Strezo told Boston 25 this has been a workplace safety issue for more than a year.
She said problems at the library have ranged from fights to someone putting fireworks in the book drop.
Strezo said everyone deserves to feel safe at the library, whether it be patrons or library staff.
A librarian should never have to come home with someone elses blood on their clothes from a fist fight that happened inside of a library, said Strezo. She continued, It shouldnt have got to this level. I applaud the administration for moving fairly swiftly on this but the doors arent open yet so were still waiting.
The Mayor said they are also expanding library programming.
Theyre aiming to have the full hours reinstated by the end of next week barring any hold ups.
We want to thank the community for its understanding and patience as we work to create a safe and welcoming environment for all, said Ballantyne.
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
Amari Marshs life changed after she went into labor unexpectedly in her apartment during the second trimester of her pregnancy in March 2023.
The now-23-year-old South Carolina woman says she received a positive result from a home pregnancy test in November 2022, but didnt visit a doctor because she continued having a period, according to KFF Health News. However things changed dramatically in February 2023 when Marsh took herself to the emergency room after experiencing excruciating pain that was worse than normal menstrual cramps. She went home after waiting several hours to receive treatment, only to come back in an ambulance when the pain got worse.
When she returned, the team treating Marsh told her she was pregnant. She said she left the hospital because she was scared and confused and the pain had gotten better. But some time during the middle of the night, she woke up to more pain and the feeling that she needed to go to the bathroom.
And when I did, the child came, she told KFF Health News. I screamed because I was scared, because I didnt know what was going on.
Marsh delivered her baby in her toilet, but as 911 dispatchers told her to remove the baby, the shock left her frozen, according to the story she shared with KFF Health News. Its unclear why Marsh didnt take action in the moment, but unfortunately, medical personnel who arrived on the scene were unable to save the babys life.
The physical and emotional pain Marsh experienced after her loss was devastating enough. But things were about to get worse. Just three months after losing her daughter, Marsh spent over 20 days at the Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center where she was held without bond. Police records show she was charged with murder/homicide by child abuse and facing a sentence of 20 years to life behind bars. Marsh was eventually released and placed on house arrest before she was cleared of all charges by a grand jury.
Although women in South Carolina were allowed to seek abortion care up to 22 weeks gestational age at the time, Marshs arrest warrant claims that by not removing the baby from the toilet when the 911 dispatchers told her to was a proximate cause of her daughters death.
In a post-Roe v. Wade world, womens reproductive rights is one of the most important issues on the ballot in the 2024 election. While Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump claims everyone wanted decisions about womens health care left up to individual states, a large portion of the country is worried about the consequences of not having legal protections for a womans right to make decisions about her body.
The Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization has left lots of complicated grey area in terms of the legal implications of seeking reproductive health care, especially as individual states piece together confusing laws that can have potentially devastating consequences.
A report released by the advocacy group Pregnancy Justice shows that since Roe V. Wade was overturned in 2022, more than 200 people in this country were prosecuted for conduct relating to their pregnancies the highest number of cases in a single year. But the group fears the number could be even higher.
Marshs case is a prime example of how pregnancy loss can become a criminal investigation very quickly, Dana Sussman, Pregnancy Justices Senior Vice President told KFF Health News. The Dobbs decision unleashed and empowered prosecutors to look at pregnant people as a suspect class and at pregnancy loss as a suspicious event.
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South Florida cities are giving out sandbags. How and where to get them
South Florida is bracing for severe rainfall as Hurricane Helene makes its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Miami-Dade and Broward counties are under tropical storm warnings and flood watches.
Some cities are acting now to help people prepare.
Heres what to know about sandbag distribution:
Fort Lauderdale
As a precaution, the city will have a staff-assisted sandbag distribution
When: Wednesday Sept. 25 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: Shirley Small Park, 1230 SW 34th Ave.
Additionally, sand is available for self-service every day for those who bring their own sandbags and shovels.
When: Daily, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Where: Floyd Hull Stadium, 2800 SW 8th Ave., and Mills Pond Park, 2201 NW Ninth Ave.
Proof of residency is required and there is a limit of five bags per vehicle.
RELATED CONTENT: How much storm surge expected for Tropical Storm Helene? Will it impact the Keys? What we know
Dania Beach
When: Wednesday Sept. 25 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: Frost Park, 300 NE Second St.
This is a drive-through event at Frost Park (east side) on Fronton Boulevard between Dania Beach Boulevard & Northeast Second Street.
Proof of residency is required and there is a limit of eight bags per household.
READ MORE: South Florida braces for heavy rain and winds as Tropical Storm Helene heads to Gulf
Deerfield Beach
When: Wednesday Sept. 25 until 4 p.m.
Where: 210 Goolsby Boulevard
Residents are advised to enter the facility northbound from Goolsby Boulevard. No entrance to the facility will be permitted from the southbound approach on Goolsby Boulevard.
Proof of residency is required and there is a limit of 10 bags per household.
Sunny Isles Beach
When: Wednesday Sept. 25 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: 19160 Collins Ave., under the William Lehman Causeway
Proof of residency is required and there is a limit of four bags per household.
Miami Beach
When: Wednesday Sept. 25 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: 2100 Collins Ave. and 225 79 St.
Proof of residency is required and there is a limit of four bags per household.
In addition, Miami Beach will be offering free parking for residents and employees at city garages from 5 p.m. Wednesday to 8 a.m. Friday.
Garages available:
200 Seventh St.
512 12th St.
1301 Colline Ave.
1157 Washington Ave.
640 17th St.
1661 Pennsylvania Ave.
1900 Bay Rd.
340 23rd St.
400 West 42nd St.
Southeast Asian country poised to become first to allow same-sex marriages after law receives royal assent
Southeast Asian country poised to become first to allow same-sex marriages after law receives royal assent
The king of Thailand has given approval to the marriage equality bill passed by parliament earlier this year, making it the third Asian territory to formally legalise same-sex unions.
The law, endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, takes effect in 120 days. It enables same-sex couples to marry and get full legal, financial, and medical rights.
This makes Thailand the first Southeast Asian country and the third in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage after Taiwan and Nepal.
Though Thailand is known for its acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, legalising same-sex marriage took decades of effort and advocacy in a largely conservative Buddhist society.
The government of the Pheu Thai party, which had made marriage equality a priority, plans to celebrate the laws enactment at the next Bangkok Pride.
Congratulations to everyones love, prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on X, adding the hashtag #LoveWins.
Bangkok deputy governor Sanon Wangsrangboon said last week that city officials will be ready to register same-sex marriages once the law takes effect.
The new law amends Thailands Civil and Commercial Code, replacing gender-specific terms like men and women with gender-neutral terms like individual.
Today we are not only getting to write our names in marriage certificates but we are also writing a page in history, Ann Chumaporn, LGBTQ+ activist and co-founder of the Bangkok Pride movement was quoted as saying by theBBC. That tells us that love never set a condition of who we were born to be.
Its a triumph of equality and human dignity.
Another activist, Siritata Ninlapruek, told AFP: We are all delighted and excited. Weve been fighting for our rights for over 10 years, and now its finally happening.
Thai king Maha Vajiralongkorn has given approval to the new same-sex marriage law according to the Royal Gazette announced on 24 September 2024 (AFP via Getty)
Former prime minister Srettha Thavisin described the new piece of legislation as a significant step for Thailand.
Equity and equality have become concrete in the Thai society. Gender diversity will eventually be fully accepted. Congratulations, he wrote on X.
It means a lot. This is the eighth year of our relationship but our status isnt legally recognised, Naphat Krutthai, who has been in a same-sex relationship for eight years, told Associated Press last December.
When either of us gets sick or has an emergency, we cant take care of each other properly. So it really matters to us, he said.
The Netherlands was the first country to legalise same-sex unions in 2001. Since then over 30 countries worldwide have followed suit.
President Joe Biden Tuesday approved a Major Disaster Declaration for communities impacted by Tropical Storm Debby.
The declaration paves the way for federal assistance to ten Southern Tier counties recovering from August flooding, including Allegany, Steuben and Broome.
The designation opens up money for local governments and eligible non-profits for debris removal, protective measures, and repairs to buildings and infrastructure like roads, bridges, water and wastewater treatment facilities, schools, parks and other facilities.
Public and private property damages from the Aug. 8-10 storm are estimated to be in the millions of dollars.
Funding will come primarily through FEMAs Public Assistance Program and also will be available for Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Ontario, St. Lawrence and Yates counties.
"The effects of Tropical Storm Debby caused extreme damage across parts of New York last month, and I'm thankful President Biden has approved my request for a Major Disaster Declaration, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said. My administration will continue to work with FEMA to ensure those affected receive the critical funding they need to begin the recovery and rebuilding process.
The view of a damaged property in the Canisteo area as Gov. Kathy Hochul visited Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024 to assess flood damage from Tropical Storm Debby.
The storm triggered widespread state of emergencies and evacuations, with powerful flood waters destroying homes, carving up roads and spreading tons of debris.
Hochul toured flood-damaged areas in Steuben County following the storm.
U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy, who visited hard-hit Steuben County communities in Canisteo, Jasper, Greenwood and Woodhull, called the federal declaration "essential" to the recovery and rebuilding efforts in the region.
"I was proud to be a vocal advocate for the Southern Tier throughout this process. With homes, businesses, and key infrastructure severely impacted, this Major Disaster Declaration will allow people to rebuild their lives," Langworthy said. "Now that this assistance is in place, we can focus on helping our neighbors get back on their feet after such a devastating storm.
More: Steuben, Allegany County homeowners can now apply for emergency flood repair grants
As part of the declaration, New York was also granted access to FEMAs Hazard Mitigation Grant Programs.
Following a Presidential disaster declaration, FEMA provides funding for states to administer grant programs supporting local hazard mitigation planning and long-term hazard mitigation measures to reduce the loss of life and to improve property damaged by natural disasters.
Local governments and certain non-profits that perform government-like functions are eligible to apply for these grants. All counties in the state will have the ability to apply for this funding.
More information will become available in the coming months, officials said.
Email Neal Simon at nsimon@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Major disaster declared for Steuben, Allegany, Broome post-flood
Southwest Airlines launching more flights from Nashville in 2025
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) Southwest Airlines announced six new destinations from Nashville International Airport (BNA) on Wednesday.
Nashville airport not moving forward with Germany flight for 2025
Service to the following cities will begin on April 8, 2025:
Albuquerque, N.M.
Albany, N.Y.
Jackson, Miss.
Memphis, Tenn.
Providence, R.I.
Tulsa, Okla.
The new flights will boost Southwests scheduled presence in Nashville to an all-time high of 174 Sunday departures in April and May 2025, a press release from the airline reads in part.
Southwest has not flown between Nashville and Albuquerque since May 1988, nor has it flown between Nashville and Providence since November 2011.
RELATED: Southwest Airlines launching flights from Nashville to 3 new destinations in March
The announcement of Southwests extended schedule continues to strengthen their commitment to the region, President and CEO of Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, Doug Kreulen, said. Whether you are headed up north to visit the capital of New York or out west for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, there is a nonstop option from BNA.
Last month, the company announced several other nonstop flights, including a daily nonstop service to Palm Beach International Airport (PBI).
Travelers can visit Southwests website to book their flights.
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Jacksonville International Airport will be affected by Southwest Airlines changes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Action News Jaxs sister station WSB-TV in Atlanta reports that Southwest would reduce the staff operating in the Atlanta area as they continue to optimize the network to meet demand and maximize profitability.
Action News Jaxs Ben Becker reached out to the JAX airport and received the following response:
We were just informed by Southwest that on April 8th they will be stopping service to ATL from JAX. We were also informed that they will be increasing frequency out of JAX to Nashville & St. Louis (no specifics yet, but it may be on their website).
The company told WSB that while staffing levels at the Atlanta airport would be drawn down, they planned to boost services at Nashville and six other markets from there, including Albuquerque, Albany, Jackson, Memphis (intra-Tennessee service for the first time), Providence and Tulsa.
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The airline will expand its service out of Nashville as well as increase its number of newly-announced red-eye flights next year.
Taylor McIntyre/Travel + Leisure The Hard Rock Cafe located on the main street in Nashville
Southwest Airlines is extending its flight schedule into early next summer and introducing new destinations from its Nashville hub.
The airline, which usually releases its schedule eight months in advance, has just released its booking calendar through June 4, 2025, announced Wednesday. With the schedule update, the carrier has announced several key updates across its network. For starters, the carrier will expand significantly out of Nashville International Airport (BNA), which has been one of Southwest's fastest-growing hubs and newest crew bases.
Starting April 8, 2025, the carrier will begin daily service from Nashville to Albuquerque, Jackson, and Tulsa; as well as up to 6x weekly flights to Providence and up to 5x weekly flights to Albany. In addition, the airline will offer intra-Tennessee service for the first time with its brand-new, once-daily service from Nashville to Memphis.
The new flights will boost Southwests scheduled presence in Nashville to an all-time high of 174 Sunday departures in April and May 2025, the airline wrote in a statement.
The new route announcement comes as the airline is undergoing notable changes, as Southwest will introduce its first-ever overnight flights to its network next February. With todays announcement, the airline shared a few more routes that will see redeye service flights from Honolulu to Las Vegas and Phoenix, Kona to Las Vegas, and Maui to Las Vegas and Phoenix will be offered as red-eyes starting April 8, 2025.
However, theres no official word just yet on when exactly the current open-seating policy will end in favor of assigned seating. The airlines network and booking calendar updates come as travelers have the opportunity to save up to 30 percent off Southwests fares using promo code Friends until tomorrow, Sep. 26, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Even in the carriers lowest Wanna Get Away fare class, passengers will enjoy two free checked bags and the freedom to change or cancel their flights for a future trip credit.
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The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket comes down for a landing on a ship at sea on Sept. 25, 2024 (left) while the rocket's upper stage carries 20 Starlink internet satellites to orbit (right). | Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX launched 20 more of its Starlink broadband satellites, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, from California early Wednesday morning (Sept. 25).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, on California's central coast, on Wednesday at 3:01 a.m. EDT (0701 GMT; 9:01 p.m. on Sept. 24 California time).
The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth 8.5 minutes after liftoff as planned, landing on the SpaceX drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Pacific Ocean.
The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket comes down for a landing on a ship at sea on Sept. 25, 2024 (left) while the rocket's upper stage carries 20 Starlink internet satellites to orbit (right).
It was the 10th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.
The Falcon 9's upper stage, meanwhile, continued powering its way to low Earth orbit, where it's scheduled to deploy the 20 satellites 60 minutes after liftoff. The newcomers will join the Starlink megaconstellation, which consists of more than 6,300 active spacecraft.
Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky
closeup view of the base of a rocket resting on a ship at sea at night
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The Starlink launch was part of a typically busy week for SpaceX. Elon Musk's company aims to launch the Crew-9 astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA on Saturday (Sept. 28), sending it aloft via a Falcon 9 from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Crew-9 isn't your typical ISS astronaut mission. It will launch with two crewmembers instead of the usual four, because it will take home to Earth two people already living on the ISS NASA's Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who arrived in June aboard Boeing's Starliner capsule.
Starliner suffered thruster issues on its way to the ISS, and NASA decided to bring the spacecraft home uncrewed as a result. Williams and Wilmore will come home with the two Crew-9 astronauts NASA's Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, of Russia's space agency Roscosmos aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule "Freedom" in February 2025.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 12:30 a.m. ET on Sept. 24 with news of successful launch and rocket landing.
Candidates in Virginia's 2025 gubernatorial contest U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Prince William (left) and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, R (right). Spanberger photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury, Earle-Sears photo by Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury.
A little over one year before the 2025 gubernatorial election, Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Prince William, the two leading declared candidates for governor, are tied at 39% support each, according to a new statewide poll by the University of Mary Washingtons Center for Leadership and Media Studies.
The remaining 22% of respondents in the survey of 1,000 adult Virginians said they were undecided, did not plan to vote, would back another candidate or refused to answer.
The poll is in line with the results from another UMW survey that also found Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump locked in a tight contest in Virginia, with the Democrat edging her Republican opponent by 48-46%.
Spanberger, who has represented Virginias 7th Congressional District since 2019, was the first candidate to announce her gubernatorial bid in November 2023. Earle-Sears, the first Black woman in the commonwealth to hold statewide office, and the first woman to attain such a role since Mary Sue Terrys tenure as attorney general in the 1990s, launched her campaign earlier this month.
Attorney General Jason Miyares, another potential Republican candidate for his partys gubernatorial nomination, would be equally competitive in a general election, the poll found. In a possible match-up between Spanberger and Miyares, 40% of survey respondents backed Spanberger while 39% favored Miyares, well within the surveys margin of error.
Miyares has not yet announced his intentions for 2025, but Virginia attorney generals often either run for re-election to the commonwealths top legal office or campaign to become governor.
Republican Glenn Youngkin, the current governor, cannot run for re-election next year because of Virginias one consecutive term limit for governors.
Virginia elections are often close, and the look ahead to next year suggests more of the same in the campaign for governor, said Stephen J. Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington and director of UMWs Center for Leadership and Media Studies. The big challenge for these potential candidates is becoming better known across the commonwealth.
Virginians were more negative about the direction of the nation than about the direction of the commonwealth, with 24% saying Virginia was headed in the right direction and 26% saying it was headed in the wrong direction. The rest offered mixed views.
For the nation overall, 51% of those surveyed said that things in the country were headed in the wrong direction, with only 16% saying the nation was on the right track.
Virginians in this new survey said they approved of Youngkins job performance by a 46 to 34% margin. As for President Joe Bidens job performance, 37% of survey respondents approved while 53% disapproved.
Elections never stop in Virginia, and 2025 looks to be another very interesting electoral year in the commonwealth, Farnsworth said.
The UMW poll was conducted by Research America Inc. between Sept. 3 and 9, 2024. The survey included a total of 1,000 Virginia residents, consisting of 870 registered voters and 774 likely voters. The margin of error is +/- 4.1%.
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DISCLAIMER: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) On September 24, the Shreveport Police Department made an arrest during a traffic stop of an unregistered vehicle just after 1 a.m.
According to SPDs patrol officer, the traffic stop occurred on the westbound side of I-20. The driver was identified as 38-year-old Leonard Hunter. Upon further investigation, the officer found that the driver was a convicted felon.
SPD, criminal justice partners will provide update on crime initiative
They stated, despite being prohibited from owning one due to a prior felony conviction. Officers seized the weapon and arrested Hunter for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
SPD encourages anyone who knows someone who has firearms and is prohibited from doing so to contact the Shreveport Police Department at (318) 673-7300 or Caddo Crime Stoppers at (318) 673-7373.
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Comments from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sparked a second day of ire from GOP figures, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) demanding he fire the countrys ambassador to the U.S., while a House panel launched an investigation after suggesting a recent appearance by Zelensky amounted to election meddling.
House Oversight and Accountability Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) on Wednesday morning launched an inquiry into Zelenskys trip to Pennsylvania, suggesting a visit to a factory that supplies munitions to the country constituted a campaign stop for Vice President Harris.
Republicans cried foul over the visit Tuesday, particularly after Zelensky issued critical comments about former President Trumps running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), during a separate interview.
Zelensky visited the factory flanked by Pennsylvania Democrats, including Gov. Josh Shapiro (D). It is common for governors to appear at such events in their state, , and other attendees included the largely Democratic officials who represent the Scranton area.
Johnson and Comer, however, said appearing with a political figure who was briefly a contender to serve as Harriss running mate made the stop political in nature.
The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because on purpose no Republicans were invited. The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference, Johnson wrote Wednesday to Zelensky.
I demand that you immediately fire Ukraines Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, he added, writing that she can no longer fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country.
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Democrats dismissed Johnson and Comers comments as another instance of the GOP turning their back on an important U.S. ally.
As President Zelenskyy fights for freedom and the rule of law on behalf of democracies around the world, Donald Trump and his craven MAGA followers side time and again with Vladimir Putin, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, said in a statement.
Zelenskys visit was described by Pennsylvania as him making a special trip to the Keystone State to visit the Pennsylvania workers who are playing a vital role in Ukraines defense.
Zelenskys visit to Pennsylvania mirrors a trip to Utah in July, where he met with Republican Gov. Spencer Cox and signed a memorandum of understanding with state leaders.
In both cases, state leaders expressed support for Ukraine in its battle against Russia.
While Republicans have fixated on Zelenskys visit to the Pennsylvania, its an interview the Ukrainian president did that initially sparked GOP criticism.
In an interview with The New Yorker published Sunday, Zelensky called Vance too radical due to his views on Ukraine, and suggested the senator study World War II. Vance has called to end U.S. support for Ukraine, and for Kyiv to cede territory to Russia in a peace deal.
The idea that the world should end this war at Ukraines expense is unacceptable, Zelensky said in the interview.
Zelensky struck a more cautious tone toward Trump, saying they have had good conversations on the phone but that the GOP presidential candidate doesnt really know how to stop the war, even if he might think he knows how.
Comers letter asks the White House, Justice Department officials and the Pentagon to provide details about any coordination about the trip, accusing the Biden administration of having orchestrated and used government resources to make possible this apparent campaign event that resulted in the potential interference in a federal election.
Comers probe comes after Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) led eight other Republicans in demanding an investigation from the inspectors general of both the Justice Department and Department of Defense seeking all federal resources dedicated to the visit.
House Oversight Democrats suggested Comers new probe reflects a broader effort to undermine Ukraine.
America didnt forget that Chairman Comer called Ukraine a foreign adversary and used the Committee to repeat and amplify Russian propaganda. It is sadly unsurprising he is once again working to undermine Ukraines efforts to repel Putins lawless, bloody, and unjustified invasion.
Chairman Comer obviously does not understand nor appreciate the concept of an ally. America is an ally of Ukraine, and Ukraine is an ally of America, Raskin said.
Ukraine is in the middle of a war with Russia thrust upon it by Vladimir Putins filthy imperialist and irredentist invasion. The American people have invested billions of dollars to help Ukraine defend its sovereignty and democracy because we share common interests and something called values.
Updated 7:04 p.m.
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In this image provided by the Office of the Ukrainian Presidency, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, is watched by Rich Hansen, the commander's representative for the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, while signing military ordnance in Scranton, Pa., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Office of the Ukrainian Presidency via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) House Speaker Mike Johnson is calling on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to fire his country's ambassador to the U.S. as Republicans criticize Zelenskyy's visit to an ammunition plant in Pennsylvania, a swing-state, as a political stunt.
The Republican speaker's demand Wednesday came as Zelenskyy addressed the United Nations in New York on the eve of his visit Washington, where he has plans to brief lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the war effort before meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.
The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference, Johnson wrote in a letter to Zelenskyy.
Johnson, who is close to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, said no Republicans were invited to the plant tour on Sunday, which he said was arranged by Ambassador Oksana Markarova.
An Army official said it was standard procedure to invite House and Senate members who represent the district where such industrial plants are located. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions, said that in this case interested congressional members from the area attended.
Joining for the visit were the states Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Bob Casey and the district's Rep. Matt Cartwright, all Democrats. The plant is located in Scranton, Biden's hometown.
The speaker's stern demand for the swift removal of Markarova, a well-received diplomat in Washington who has been a fixture on Capitol Hill since the outset of the war even sitting as a guest in the House visitor's gallery during pivotal speeches comes at a daunting time for Ukraine as Zelenskyy works to ensure U.S. support for the war effort in an election year.
While Biden and Democrats in Congress have largely stood with Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022, sending billions in U.S. aid to buy weaponry and support services, Republicans have split deeply. Trump has turned the GOP toward a new America First movement that generally prefers to limit U.S. involvement overseas, and he often speaks admirably of Russia and its president, Vladmir Putin.
Johnson said that support for ending Russias war against Ukraine continues to be bipartisan, but our relationship is unnecessarily tested," noting comments from the Ukrainian government about the top of the Trump-Vance presidential ticket.
Trump in his own speech Wednesday lashed out at Zelenskyy and said the people of Ukraine are dead and the country itself demolished, raising fresh questions about the level of U.S. support the former president would provide to help Ukraine fight Russia if he returned to the White House.
Later Johnson, who said he won't be meeting Thursday with Zelenskyy at the Capitol, said the ambassador crossed the line and the situation requires immediate attention and action.
Zelenskyy visited the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant to thank the workers who are producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his countrys fight to fend off Russian ground forces.
The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells and has increased production over the past year. Ukraine has already received more than 3 million of them from the U.S.
It is in places like this where you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail, Zelenskyy wrote on X.
Thanks to people like these in Ukraine, in America, and in all partner countries who work tirelessly to ensure that life is protected.
Zelenskyy is far from the first foreign leader to visit U.S. plants producing and selling arms to their country, in tours that did not incur Republican protests. The U.S.s NATO partners in Europe increasingly have made a point of such visits to demonstrate the jobs and money that U.S. alliances bring home to Americans.
Zelenskyy also has met exclusively with Republicans on some past trips while in the U.S. In July, he visited Utah to speak at the National Governors Association and was welcomed by the states Republican Gov. Spencer Cox, the groups outgoing chairman. During the visit Zelenskyy also met with Utahs congressional delegation, all Republicans.
The Scranton visit sparked swift reprisals from the Republicans.
Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced Wednesday he was opening an investigation into whether the Biden-Harris administration used taxpayer-funded resources to fly Zelenskyy to Pennsylvania as a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the Democratic nominee for president.
"The Committee seeks to determine whether the Biden-Harris Administration attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice President Harriss presidential campaign and, if so, necessarily committed an abuse of power, he wrote in letters to Biden, the White House counsel and others in the administration.
The Pentagon said the flight was funded by the Defense Department for senior officials from the departments of Defense and State conducting official business related to U.S. security assistance to Ukraine. The flight stopped at Newark Liberty International Airport, where they linked up with President Zelensky before continuing to Wilkes-Barre International Airport in Pennsylvania, the Pentagon said.
Senate Republicans, even those who had supported aid for Ukraine, roundly criticized Zelenskyy on Wednesday. He really messed up, said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican.
However, Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a firm backer of Ukraine, suggested that Zelenskyys visit was not as partisan as it appeared. Wicker was planning to meet with the Ukrainian president at the Capitol on Thursday.
If President Zelenskyy came to Mississippi, he would be accompanied by Republican officials because thats who the people in their wisdom elected, he said.
___
Associated Press writers Stephen Groves and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Michael Rubinkam in northeastern Pennsylvania contributed to this report.
Sri Lanka to begin talks with IMF to take forward $2.9 billion bailout, president says
By Uditha Jayasinghe
COLOMBO (Reuters) -Sri Lanka's new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said on Wednesday that he plans to begin negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) immediately to take forward the country's $2.9 billion bailout programme.
Millions of Sri Lankans voted the Marxist-leaning parliamentarian into office on Saturday, drawn by his pledges to slash taxes, fight corruption and reduce the cost of living.
Dissanayake aims to change the revenue goals set under the IMF programme to reduce high income taxes and free up funds to invest in welfare for millions of Sri Lankans hardest hit by its financial crisis.
"Additionally, to advance our debt restructuring program, we are negotiating with relevant creditors to expedite the process and secure necessary debt relief," Dissanayake said in a televised address referring to an ongoing $25 billion debt rework with creditors.
The IMF said on Tuesday it would work with Dissanayake and discuss the timing of its third review of the current programme with Sri Lanka "as soon as practicable".
Dissanayake dissolved parliament on Tuesday and is hoping to strengthen his hand in the 225-member house when a general election is held on Nov. 14. His coalition held just three seats in the parliament elected in August 2020.
A severe shortfall of dollars spun Sri Lanka's economy into a deep financial crisis two years ago, sending inflation soaring to a high of 70% in September 2022 and forcing the country to default on its foreign debt.
(Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; Writing by Shivam Patel; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
(Bloomberg) -- Sri Lankas new president Anura Kumara Dissanayake said he plans to start discussions with the International Monetary Fund as part of his focus on establishing stability in the island nation before rolling out other initiatives.
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There are many plans that we want to put in place. But before that we have to achieve stability, Dissanayake said in Sinhalese in an address to the nation on Wednesday his first since assuming office. We will, therefore, start talks with the IMF and push forward the matters related to Extended Fund Facility.
Dissanayake, 55, a leftist political outsider, had vowed to reopen negotiations with the multilateral lender over its $3 billion bailout. Some of Dissanayakes backers oppose the existing debt restructuring framework. He won the presidential election on Sept. 21 in a stunning rebuke of Sri Lankas political elite, who voters blamed for bankrupting the nation and imposing harsh austerity measures linked to an International Monetary Fund bailout.
We will start a discussion with creditors and wrap up debt restructuring and get the concessions, he said on Wednesday, without sharing more details.
Dissanayake dissolved the nations parliament starting from Wednesday and called for early elections to be held on Nov. 14. Holding parliamentary elections so soon is seen as a bid to bolster Dissanayakes numbers in the legislature and push through policies tied to campaign promises.
Under the constitution, Sri Lanka was due to hold parliamentary elections by the middle of 2025. The nations executive system gives the president power to dissolve the legislature and call snap polls, as well as to hold multiple cabinet portfolios.
On Tuesday, Dissanayake chose Harini Amarasuriya from his coalition as the nations new prime minister and appointed a three-member cabinet, which includes himself and others from his party.
Dissanayake leads the National Peoples Power, a coalition of leftist political parties and groups backed by protesters responsible for ousting President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022. The NPP had just three parliamentarians in Sri Lankas now-dissolved 225-seat legislature.
Read: New Sri Lanka Leader Moved From Marxist Rebellion to Mainstream
Reviewing the debt plan or reopening IMF talks risk delaying the disbursement of fresh loans from the Washington-based lender. The IMF this week said it will discuss the timing of the third review of the nations loan program with the new administration as soon as practicable.
Under the current bailout program, Sri Lanka will need to meet certain economic targets before the IMF approves the next tranche of funding, estimated at about $350 million.
Foreign Policy
Dissanayake has also said he may cancel a proposed wind power project by Indias Adani Group amid claims of a lack of transparency and uncompetitive pricing.
The new president faces the challenge of juggling the competing interests of China and India, strategic rivals whove been major investors.
Some analysts believe Dissanayake is more likely to favor China given his partys Marxist roots, although he also paid a visit to New Delhi at the invitation of Indias government earlier this year.
Dissanayakes backers have also called for greater scrutiny of investment deals with China and other nations to avoid future debt traps. Hes previously questioned the governments trade agreement with China, saying it would undermine Sri Lankan businesses.
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ST. CHARLES, Mo. Food insecurities continue to follow many families across the St. Louis region.
Volunteers braved the rainy Tuesday morning to get food to the SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital to help those struggling with hunger.
The weather slowed it down a little bit today, but the cars have started to pick up, and were filling those cars with food, SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital Ministry President Jake Brooks said.
Cars began pulling in as early as 7 a.m., hoping to bring plenty of food back to their families. The hospital has an important partnership with the St. Louis area food bank that allows them to feed the hungry.
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The food bank provides pallets of food, and then volunteer staff volunteers their time to give out that food to the community, Regional Director of Community Health for SSM Health Karen Bradshaw noted.
One event typically serves 150 households, or 300 people, according to Bradshaw. On average, 150 to 180 children receive food from these events as well.
The next event will be held on Oct. 15 at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital on South Grand Boulevard.
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St. James Elementary School cleared after threat called in to Veterans Crisis Line, district says
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) St. James Elementary School was given the all-clear Wednesday morning after a threat was called into a non-local Veterans Crisis line in the Northeast about a school named St. James Elementary, officials said.
Horry County Schools officials confirmed to News13 that parents received a message from the principal saying that St. James Elementary was contacted about a possible threat to the school.
Im tired of it: Florence County sheriff vows to tackle school threats, says parents need to step up
District officials said that all St. James Elementary Schools were contacted, including the one in Horry County.
The Horry County Police Department, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Horry County Schools Safety Department worked with school staff to check the building. They received an all-clear notice just before 9 a.m.
The district said all students and staff are safe.
* * *
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.
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ST. LOUIS There was a lot to cheer outside Enterprise Center Tuesday morning. Riders ready to brave their bikes with the St. Louis Blues on-hand to see them off on their three-day, 225-mile ride to Indianapolis.
Its definitely a very challenging training process, especially for us novice riders whove never written before, but were well trained. We have some great people whove helped us, said Laura Foran, a member of Spokes of Strength, one of nine teams of Bristol Myers Squibb employees who are relaying cross-country for the Coast 2 Coast 4 Cancer Ride.
Her team is covering the St. Louis to Indianapolis leg, part of a nearly 3,000-mile, 27-day journey from Oregon to New Jersey. Its all to raise funds for cancer research through The V Foundation.
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Were so grateful to the Bristol Myers Script team for supporting The V Foundation. Cancer research is the way that we save lives, the way that we improve tours, the way that we put an end to this disease. Every time that were able to fund incredible research at institutions around North America, were getting one step closer to victory, Rebecca Erquitt, The V Foundation, said.
The fight against cancer is one St. Louis Blues executive Chris Zimmerman says the organization is honored to support.
Almost all of us have been touched. Someone close to us has had to fight the many different battles of cancer. The research we do, the work we do, is really critical, he said. I have the most personal story and, having lost my wife to pancreatic cancer, Im so inspired by the riders who are getting out here and helping to raise more funds.
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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) For the 34th year, the pumpkin patch at St. Luke`s United Methodist Church is helping organizations in our community. One hundred percent of pumpkin sale proceeds go to support local charities.
Organizations such as Oakwood Home for Women, Gingerbread House, Woodys Home for Veterans, Belulahs Safe Haven, the Highland Center, The HUB, Shreveport Rescue Mission, and many others.
It feels great to be able to take something that where normally the money would have gone to Walmart or another big-box store and invest it back into the community, said Lisa Marshall, St. Lukes office administrator. That feels wonderful.
Local festivals, ghost tours, haunted houses, and trick or treating this fall
How the pumpkins are sourced also helps people in need.
Our pumpkins are also sourced from a Navajo Nation in New Mexico. Their whole economy is based on farming in these pumpkins and gourds. So we are supporting them also, said Marshall. So from source to table or doorstep, these pumpkins are helping people out in our community and abroad.
There is no leftover waste from the pumpkins. Marshall says all unsold pumpkins are donated to local pig farmers as food.
From beginning to end, St. Lukes pumpkin patch is making a difference in the local community, she added.
The pumpkin patch is located at 6012 Youree Drive. Volunteers from St. Luke`s, in partnership with Broadmoor United Methodist Church, and members of the community staff it until 7:00 p.m., seven days a week.
Pumpkins are available for purchase until Halloween day.
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EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT)- Another Tri-State school has earned the achievement of being named a Blue Ribbon School by the Department of Education.
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St. Wendel Catholic School is now on the list of only 356 schools across the country to be recognized. The award highlights schools that excel in academic performance or make strides in closing the gaps within different student groups. St. Wendel Catholic School along with Oak Hill Elementary School earned the award due to their high performance on national assessments. Both schools will officially receive their awards during a ceremony in Washington D.C.
St. Wendel Catholic School will also celebrate being named a Blue Ribbon school with a special mass and presentation which will take place at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday at St. Wendel Parish.
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(Bloomberg) -- As Keir Starmer worked to reassure Labour members about his calm, determined leadership at his partys annual conference, behind the scenes in Liverpool senior aides and lawmakers were privately sounding the alarm bells and urging him to get a grip after a shaky start to his premiership.
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The prime minister acknowledged in his speech on Tuesday the early setbacks, which include a row over donations, feuding staff and a backlash over his decision to cut winter support for pensioners. Service doesnt mean well get everything right. It doesnt mean everyone will agree, he said. He called for patience as well as unity, saying every decision we take, we take together.
But what people close to him want to see is Starmer stamping his authority on his administration. While they defend him as a new leader getting up to speed, they said a lack of overarching political narrative coming from his office has created a vacuum for negative media coverage to proliferate.
Starmers leadership style is to delegate significant responsibility to his senior team, including Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and his chief of staff, Sue Gray, according to multiple government officials. Hes also dismissive about the fixations of Westminster politics. He thinks voters will reward a competent government, rather than one relying on what he described in his speech as the noisy performance of previous Conservative administrations.
You can call it populism many people do but I prefer to call it the politics of easy answers, Starmer said. Instead, the Labour government would be about finding practical solutions that work, he continued. Not the easy answers that may well move a crowd but do not move a nation forward.
Yet Labours recent slump in the polls illustrates the risk facing Starmer, whose party won a landslide election victory in July in terms of seats in Parliament but with a small share of the popular vote by historical standards. A small shift in public opinion could leave Labour vulnerable.
Even while in New York for United Nations meetings, Starmer continued to face questions about gifts he has accepted. He told the BBC that he took accommodation recorded as being worth more than 20,000 ($26,700) from wealthy donor and Labour peer Waheed Alli because his teenage son needed a peaceful place to study for exams.
The problem, say allies of Starmer who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss their personal views, is that the prime ministers emphasis on realism leaves it to others define the governments mission. Reeves, for example, has been the one to steer the main messaging on the economy and what she calls Labours dire inheritance from the Tories.
Her repeated warnings about what shell have to do in next months budget to repair the UKs public finances have been blamed for depressing consumer and business confidence. Two surveys released on Thursday showed a sharp drop in hiring confidence among employers, as well as household expectations that the economy will deteriorate.
Somehow Keir Starmer, who I think is a good politician, a serious guy, has overdone the grimness so much that hes forgotten that key, function of liberal democratic politics which is to say there is light at the end of this tunnel and I am going to get you there, Michael Ignatieff, former leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, said during a discussion about the challenge facing centrists in power on Bloombergs Voternomics podcast. We badly need somebody who has that magical quality to inspire hope and belief and confidence.
Reevess decision to strip winter energy assistance from millions of pensioners triggered criticism of the governments political acumen. Labour members voiced their dissent at the policy in a non-binding vote at conference. Senior party figures told Bloomberg that Starmers office should have recognized the political risk and stopped the Treasury from announcing it.
In the same way, Grays critics say her civil service background contributed to Starmers struggle to move past reports on the free clothes and other gifts that he, his wife and other Cabinet ministers received from a Labour donor. In recent weeks, only Energy Secretary Ed Miliband had offered a sense of direction and a feel good message in his policies, the people said, including lifting the ban on onshore wind.
Both Starmer and Reeves used their time in Liverpool to try to lift the mood. The chancellor, smiling throughout her speech, promised a budget that would show real ambition and hinted at an accounting change that could unlock billions of pounds of investment in clean energy and other key infrastructure. More funding for childcare to enable more parents to return to work is also expected to feature on Oct. 30.
Starmer, too, tried to flesh out the link between the pain of fixing the economy in the short-term, and the governments ability to deliver on its national renewal project that includes fixing the National Health Service. The remit was some of the election feel-good factor, and he listed progress on clean energy, planning rules and legislation to bring railways into back into public ownership as early achievements. There were more announcements in conference, including a plan to send elite NHS units to tackle waiting lists in areas with the most long-term sick, designed to show a government getting things done.
The work of change has begun, Starmer said. Yet there are still doubts about whether Starmer has done enough. One ally said that while the prime minister usually reaches the right decision on tough political choices, he can take too long.
Another suggested a blind spot had emerged on Starmers ability to carve a political narrative for the country and make timely decisions, including on the pre-election move to water down Labours clean energy pledge, and the row over letting veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott stand in the election.
Some people around Starmer also want him to make a decision on whether to scale back the decision-making powers hes delegated to Gray. Some aides have speculated that Gray might resign after conference, Bloomberg previously reported, an idea dismissed by some close to her, while one another linked the relative success of the conference to her absence.
But others, including Health Secretary Wes Streeting, believe the aides responsible for briefing against Gray should be the ones to lose their jobs. The prime minister cant stand leaks, briefings, any sort of self-indulgent personality politics, hes got no time for it, he told The News Agents podcast.
Starmers yet to make a decision and its unclear whether he will make one soon. One senior lawmaker described him as stoic and stubborn, who has a habit of making poor hiring choices and then having to manage their exit.
Some aides and MPs also worry that while Starmer and his team appear to have acknowledged the need for a mood shift in the prime ministers speech, theyre pinning too much hope on the budget to set out a political narrative.
In his speech, though, Starmer called for patience a message he appeared to direct at Labour and the people around him as much as voters.
This is a long-term project. I never said otherwise, not even in the campaign, he said. The patient, calm, determined era of politics as service has begun.
--With assistance from Joe Mayes and Lucy White.
(Updates with BBC report on free gifts in sixth paragraph, consumer confidence concerns in seventh paragraph.)
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It is a horrible, unbearable reality that so many people, most of them very old, many afflicted with debilitating, terminal diseases, must live out their last days in excruciating pain, with minimal relief. The prospect of legalising doctor-assisted dying for such people, with safeguards to protect the vulnerable, seems not just humane but in fact the only civilised, the only libertarian approach truly respectful of our individual autonomy.
There are conditions worse than death, and MPs hope to soon start debating legalising assisted dying for competent adults with less than six months left to live. If the bill is given Government time, it will surely be passed with a massive majority of Labour MPs, becoming one of the most ethically consequential pieces of legislation ever introduced.
It is a campaign supported by the wonderful Dame Esther Rantzen; she has signed up to the assisted dying clinic Dignitas in Switzerland due to her stage 4 lung cancer. Thousands of terminally ill people may soon be in a position to decide when and how to end their lives.
Yet while the case for legalisation is compelling, I hesitate to embrace it. I worry that it would soon be grievously abused as a result of our pathologically broken welfare state. I fear the safeguards wouldnt last. I am terrified of the cultural impact of eliminating one of the last taboos emphasising the sanctity of life at a time when all other traditional restraints are dissolving, of racing down a slippery slope towards institutionalised senicide, of human life becoming a fiscal matter to be treated as a cost.
There is an essential difference between do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders or doctors agreeing to withdraw treatment, and physicians actively ending a life, breaching the Hippocratic Oaths injunction that says: I will not give a drug that is deadly.
Legal reforms of this magnitude inevitably unleash waves of social change, and this one is bound to shift the way we perceive not just the very old, but also the very ill, the disabled and other vulnerable groups. It would send a signal, if subliminally, that euthanasia is now an option of last resort for anybody who is struggling or deeply unhappy. Pushy families desperate for an inheritance would look at relatives in a darker light. The dehumanisation would be corrosive, and risks ending in moral armageddon.
Canadas courts legalised assisted dying in 2015, before massively widening its scope. Eligibility now includes anybody who experiences unbearable physical or mental suffering from your illness, disease, disability or state of decline that cannot be relieved under conditions that you consider acceptable.
The subjectivity of the latter point is striking. Applicants do not need to have a fatal or terminal condition to be eligible. The floodgates have been not just opened but blown to smithereens; from 2027, adults suffering from mental illnesses will become eligible.
Shockingly, the number of deaths from euthanasia are rising 30 per cent a year, hitting 4.1 per cent of the total.
The authorities appear content: Canadas Parliamentary Budget Officer infamously published a report explaining that assisted death costs thousands of dollars less than paying for patients healthcare costs. Some of those who have taken advantage of the policy cited the fear of becoming a burden on their families; one claimed that they were threatened with bankruptcy if they didnt sign up; and some disabled people are choosing to opt for death, arguing that they are suffering intolerably in a psychological sense. People who could have been nursed back to health are dying unnecessarily.
Canada, a hideously woke society under the abject Justin Trudeau, is veering dangerously close to welcoming a cull of the weak, sick, poor and vulnerable. Many past societies practised geronticide, the killing of the elderly. In some cases, the elderly and infirm were abandoned; in others, they were clubbed to death or thrown off cliffs, especially when food was scarce. We were meant to have moved beyond such barbarism, even if dressed up in the language of compassion, technology and fiscal accounting.
Assisted dying may work in Switzerland, a country with a strong individualist streak and an excellent, private insurance-based healthcare and retirement system. It may work in countries with a strong attachment to the sanctity of life, including those where religious observance remains high, guarding against abuse.
But will it not backfire catastrophically in collectivist, post-Christian Britain, where we worship the dysfunctional NHS, where social care is decrepit, where the fiscal pressures on the state are immense, where intergenerational warfare is increasingly rife? Wouldnt the rules be gradually loosened? Wouldnt some older people be guilt-tripped into ending their lives prematurely? In Belgium and the Netherlands, dozens of people with eating disorders have been granted an assisted death. Wouldnt this happen here too?
Wes Streeting, one of the best Labour ministers, who would doubtless be doing a lot more to reform the NHS were he allowed to do so, has been characteristically thoughtful. He worries Britain doesnt have the right palliative and end-of-life care, and wants to make sure that people arent coerced into exercising [any] right to die because of a lack of support.
I would go much further. The problem is that Sir Keir Starmer seems keener to change the publics behaviour than he is to truly change the NHS. He thinks that it is the publics duty to save the NHS, not the NHSs mission to save the public; we must be more healthy, not for our own sake but for that of the Exchequer.
This collectivist mindset is incompatible with navigating the complexities of assisted dying: it risks inadvertently putting moral pressure on the old and ill to sacrifice themselves for the greater good, for our NHS. The logic is brutal: death is cheaper than spending years in social care. Some grandparents may offer themselves up for the sake of younger generations saddled with a crippling tax burden and national debt. We will be plunged into a utilitarian nightmare, where one life is traded off against another.
This is the most difficult of subjects. I reserve the right to change my mind, and I care deeply about the suffering of the terminally ill. But one thing is sure: it would be madness to rush into legalising assisted death without the mother of all national debates.
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(Bloomberg) -- Keir Starmer met US business executives including Blackstone Inc. President Jon Gray, JPMorgan Asset Management Chief Executive Officer Mary Callahan Erdoes and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, as the UK prime minister seeks to attract investment to boost Britains flagging economy.
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A lot of the policy initiatives that we have put in place have come out of discussions like this, Starmer said at the start of the meeting in New York, which was also attended by the prime ministers business adviser Varun Chandra. If we can get into the question of what works, what doesnt work, how to get the economy to really turbo-charge, what are the ambitions for investment, that really helps us shape our working.
The Labour premier has spent much of his near three months in office highlighting the woeful state he says the previous Conservative administration left the country in. He and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves have also repeatedly pointed to a 22 billion ($29 billion) fiscal hole they need to fill this year, signaling tax rises are likely in the budget on Oct. 30.
But the negative messaging has itself become a potential drag on the economy, with consumer confidence suffering its sharpest fall in 2 1/2 years. Businesses have expressed concerns about a lack of policy detail to guide their planning, and a survey by S&P Global found on Monday that companies are putting off investments as they await details in the budget. Moreover, gross domestic product has stagnated in three out of the last four months.
All that has led to criticism about the new governments gloomy messaging, which both Starmer and Reeves sought to arrest this week at the partys annual conference in Liverpool.
We have to have an accurate diagnosis of what the problem is and then our job is to say what are we going to do about it, Starmer told BBC TV on Wednesday.
The UK government said late Wednesday that Blackstone has confirmed 10 billion of investment in Blyth, northeast England, to create what it billed as one of the largest artificial intelligence data centers in Europe, creating 4,000 jobs. The proposed deal was first announced earlier in the year when Rishi Sunaks Conservative administration was still in power.
Starmer met late Wednesday individually with Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith and Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock Inc. Those on the guest list for Thursdays round table meeting also included Adebayo Ogunlesi, CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners, Macquarie Group CEO Shemara Wikramanayake, Bank of New York President Robin Vince, Nuveen Asset Management CEO William Huffman, Carlyle Group CEO Harvey Schwartz, and Brookfield Asset Management Chief Financial Officer Hadley Peer Marshall.
Starmer also toured Nasdaq on Thursday, meeting its CEO, Adena Friedman.
Britain is set to host hundreds of investors at an investment summit next months as Starmer seeks to sell his message that the UK is open for business.
We have made growth our number one mission, so wealth creation is the Labour governments number one mission, Starmer said in the round table meeting. There are not many Labour prime ministers who would necessarily say that, but it is so important.
The government has also set up two new bodies GB Energy and the National Wealth Fund that are designed to use government spending to crowd in private investment. At conference, Reeves hinted at potential changes that would take them off the governments books, a change in accounting treatment that Andy King, a former senior official at the Office for Budget Responsibility, has said could give her 15 billion more headroom for borrowing.
While Starmer refused to be drawn on details of what may be in the budget, he told Channel 4 News that hes always, long believed in borrowing to invest.
Growing the economy is what Im going to be judged on at the end of this term in government, he said when asked about Reevess remarks. And I know that, and therefore we look to measures to grow the economy.
(Updates with comments from Starmer from second paragraph.)
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Keir Starmer has suggested he will press Joe Biden to drop his veto on the missiles being used on Russian soil - SHAWN THEW/ Shutterstock
Sir Keir Starmer is set to press Joe Biden to approve Ukrainian use of Storm Shadow missiles on Russian soil at a New York summit.
The Prime Minister has suggested he will press the US president to drop his veto when the pair meet at the UN General Assembly.
But he insisted that long-range strikes were not the only key to a Ukrainian victory as the White House resists pressure to change policy.
We will have discussions
Sir Keir was speaking aboard the government plane en route to the UN General Assembly, where help for Ukraine was set to dominate discussions.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, is expected to use the occasion to lay out Kyivs plan for victory to key Western allies.
Sir Keir was asked whether he would authorise the use of Storm Shadow, which at present can only be deployed within Ukraine, on Russian soil.
He said: We will have discussions about a whole range of issues, and we will listen carefully to what President Zelenskys got to say.
I dont think [the] victory plan will be about a sole issue like long-range missiles, it will be about a strategic, overarching route for Ukraine to find a way through this and succeed against Russian aggression.
Joe Biden is at the moment forbidding Britain to allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles on Russian soil - iStockphoto
Sir Keir said it would be really important for world leaders to discuss the war in Ukraine which was entering a critical stage.
He insisted that the UKs support for the country is resolute and suggested he is prepared to sign off on further arms deliveries in future.
I do think its going to take quite a bit of time at the UN General Assembly. And I think thats really important, because its at a critical stage, he said.
Obviously, President Zelensky has a plan that he wants to walk through with all of us, and we knew that was going to happen.
The support for Ukraine is resolute. We supply quite a lot of capability already under the last government weve increased that under this government.
Thats not a criticism of the last government, and we will always listen very carefully to what Ukraine says it needs by way of capability.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been visiting the US this week
His remarks came after Mr Zelensky called on Britain, the US and France to lift arms restrictions and allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russia.
In an interview with The New York Times, he said that he would raise the demand personally with Sir Keir, Mr Biden and Emmanuel Macron.
All three must sign off on the use of Storm Shadow missiles against targets in Russia.
Mr Macron has already publicly said he would agree to the move, while Sir Keir has privately indicated he is willing to.
The missile was jointly developed by Britain and France but relies on a US targeting system, giving Mr Biden a veto.
World leaders will meet in New York against the backdrop of Russia making some of its swiftest gains in the war in more than two years.
Moscows forces have been using a scorched earth tactic to capture Vuhledar, a coal-mining town in a key strategic location.
It has never before been captured, but pro-Kremlin military bloggers appeared confident that Kremlin forces would overwhelm the Ukrainian defenders.
Military bloggers reported Russian forces were also moving towards Pokrovsk, another strategically important town 35 miles to the north.
The advances came as Mr Biden said he had helped ensure the survival of Ukraine in his final speech to the UN.
He said that Vladimir Putins invasion had failed in its key aims, adding that Nato had emerged strengthened.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has denied talking the country down with his repeated warnings about the state of the public finances and the NHS.
Some business leaders and economists have accused the government of damaging confidence in the economy by presenting a gloomy picture.
The prime minister told the BBC he was making the "difficult decisions" needed to grow the economy and get public services "properly functioning" again.
Since winning power, Labour have warned of tough decisions, accusing the previous Conservative government of leaving a 22bn "black hole" of unfunded spending commitments - something the Tories deny.
Earlier this month, former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane warned the government's approach had generated "fear and foreboding" and uncertainty among consumers, businesses and investors.
In an interview with the BBC in New York, where the PM is attending a United Nations summit, he was asked if the negative language used by government ministers in the past few months "talks the country down".
In response Sir Keir said: "No, that's not right. We have to have an accurate diagnosis of what the problem is, and then our job is to say, what are we going to do about it?"
Repeating one of the key messages of his speech to the Labour Party conference on Tuesday, Sir Keir said his government was taking "difficult decisions".
"The purpose of the difficult decisions is to make sure we grow the economy, living standards, everyone better off. Our public services back properly functioning, an NHS that's on its feet," he added.
Pressed over whether the government's messaging could be making the situation worse, Sir Keir said: "No, I don't think so. I don't think that anybody seriously would argue that the NHS is going gangbusters."
The PM was also asked about reports of growing unease in the health service over the government's messaging that the NHS is "broken".
Senior NHS sources told the BBC they believe some of the claims have gone too far - and may result in patients being put off seeking help and cause lasting damage to staff morale.
Sir Keir said he understood the messaging was "difficult" for staff but he blamed the Conservatives for leaving confidence and satisfaction in the NHS at "an all-time low".
He added that the NHS was "broken but not beaten".
Polls suggest Sir Keir's personal ratings have dropped rapidly since entering Downing Street, with one poll by Ipsos Mori suggesting he is now the second least popular prime minister since the 1990s, beaten only by Liz Truss.
Asked if this gave him "pause for thought", Sir Keir said: "No, I will be judged at the next election on whether I've delivered higher living standards so people are better off, better public services, with the NHS functioning properly again and delivered on things like border security, economic security and national security."
He added: "That means unpopular decisions now, tough choices... We've got to do the difficult things first. So I'm not going to be fixated about this poll or that poll."
(Bloomberg) -- UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said hes seeking to meet Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, the two main US presidential candidates, before Americans head to the polling booths in November.
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Starmer left open the prospect of meeting the Democratic and Republican candidates during his visit this week to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, telling journalists on the plane there with him late Tuesday that well just see whats possible.
As far as the candidates are concerned, look, if possible, it would be very good to meet both of them at some stage before the election, Starmer said.
The premier, himself in office for just under three months, has repeatedly said Britain will work with whoever wins the US election later this year though his governing Labour Party has deep ties with Harriss Democrats. Moreover, as leader of the opposition in early 2021 he said Trump needed to take responsibility for his role in the attack by protesters on the Capitol following the last presidential vote.
Starmer nevertheless said the main purpose of his visit is the UN summit, which he expected to be dominated by discussions over Ukraine and the Middle East. He batted away a question about when the UK and its allies might allow Ukraine to use British-provided Storm Shadow missiles to hit targets in Russia, while promising to always listen very carefully to what Ukraine says it needs by way of capability.
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Children from Bromham Primary School were first to put spades in the ground [BBC]
Work has started on a new village hall after the old one was destroyed in a fire.
Plans for the new community hub were drawn up by the parish council and village residents after Bromham's social centre, near Devizes, burned down in June 2021.
The official ground breaking ceremony took place on Tuesday and was attended by more than 100 people, including children from the local primary school who put spades in the ground for the ceremonial first hole.
Margaret Bray, 98, was also at the event and said she is planning "a big party" for her 100th birthday at the new Bromham Community Hub.
Mrs Bray added that she looks forward to "having a really good time" at the new hub.
Margaret Bray, 98, is planning "a big party" for her 100th birthday at the new hall [BBC]
The hall is costing about 1.4m, which is partly funded by the National Lottery and the government's Levelling Up Fund.
Chair of the parish council, Jim Butler, said it was a "hard battle" to get the new hall funded and approved.
"We've had a problem with the insurance and raising funds, but we finally got there," he said.
"It was the centre of the village and we need it back as soon as we can get it."
Chair of the parish council, Jim Butler, said it was a "hard battle" to get the new hall built [BBC]
Sue Wilkinson, chair of the trustees, added: "It's 50 years ago this week that the old village centre opened.
"We're trying to make sure that everything we could do in the old building will be possible in the new building.
"I've done it for the village, for no other reason, because the village lost its heart without that building."
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Hidden from view just off Danvilles Main Street is the Langhorne House Museum, a historic building saved from the wrecking ball 36 years ago that was the birthplace and childhood home of the first woman in British Parliament.
Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor simply known as Lady Astor was born in the structure that now sits at 117 Broad St.
A new exhibit called Victorian Flowers and Tea will open to the public in the space thats now a museum for a free event from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday. With the backdrop of flowers something people in the Victorian-era used to send subtle messages the home will be open to tours, so folks can see where a woman who made history in Britain grew up.
Theres so much misconception about Lady Astor, and people dont even realize she was born right here in this town, Wyona Witcher, president of the board of directors for the Langhorne House, told the Register & Bee during a tour earlier this month.
But Lady Astor is only one-third of this tale.
Where else do you have three famous people in one house in Danville, and two of them women that became prominent, Witcher, who happens to have lineage to the famous Danvillian, said. My husbands great-great-great-grandfather was Lady Astors mothers first cousin, Col. Vincent Witcher.
Lady Astors sister, Irene Gibson, who was the first Gibson Girl a supermodel also grew up up in the home. Their father, Chiswell Dabney Langhorne, invented the auctioneers chant, the fast-talking way of bidding for items.
Langhorne married Nancy Witcher Keene and eventually built the home in 1874 at its original location of 1102 Main St., which was at the corner of Main and Broad streets in Danville.
The house was sliced in half and moved in 1922.
In 1922, Danville wanted to be a premier city, and the only way you could be a premier city was to have an apartment building, but it had to be on Main Street, and there was no property available, Witcher explained to the newspaper, pointing to the area in the floor where the home was divided.
So the house was moved using a trolley-skid system.
And he sold that lot, and they built that apartment building so they could be a premier city, Witcher said of Lady Astors father.
That fact alone is one of the most interesting hidden pieces of the past for board member Lonnie Jones.
And there are very few people who know that, he told the newspaper.
Eventually the home grew and converted into four apartments.
Saving the building then and now
Facing imminent demolition, it was a former publisher of the Danville Register & Bee at the time still the morning Danville Register and The Bee in the afternoon who stepped in.
Stuart Grant saved the house, Witcher explained of that day in 1988. They had the wrecking ball in here.
They were getting ready to tear down the house to make way for a parking lot.
And Mrs. Grant went to American National Bank, and she said, We must save this historic building, Witcher said. And so she put up the money to save the building.
Kathleen Harris, vice president of the board, remembers it well.
It was the coldest day, she recalled.
I borrowed my mothers mink coat and boots, and I stood there, she said noting after she retired she joined the board.
The nonprofit Langhorne House Museum launched soon after the building was saved. Thats also when Grant purchased a two-story painting of Astor that until 2009 graced the front stairwell of the Register & Bees former Monument Street office. It now hangs in Danvilles Municipal Building.
Grant had intended to establish the museum with funding, but she died before that happened.
The aging building is facing another financial crisis of sorts, with repairs piling up and few dollars available.
Its difficult right now, Witcher said.
Were working trying to acquire grant funding, she explained. We need an architectural grant because of the extent of the work that needs to be done on the house.
Last year wind damaged the roof to the tune of $9,000. Then the heating system went out on the coldest day of the year, which was another $6,400 to fix.
On the hottest day of the year, the air conditioning on the first floor malfunctioned, costing about the same as the heat to fix.
Anybody that lives up here on West End, or anybody who lives in historic homes, knows its something all the time, Witcher explained, but weve had too many things happening.
On top of that, a leak from a second-floor toilet damaged a bedroom exhibit on the first floor.
The whole bed was wet, she said. The carpet was wet, the curtains were dripping wet.
Thats another great expense, she said of repairing the ceiling.
The history
The room with the water damaged happens to be where Lady Astor was born in 1879.
More than just folklore, her sister, Irene, told the tale of their mother having a pain. They got her to the bed and along came the baby.
So out of Irenes mouth, we know that Nancy was born in this room, Witcher said.
The press was behind her, Witcher said, of reporters with the Danville newspapers writing down every word, which was printed the following day.
So we know that its true, she continued. They spoke it, the press wrote it and it was published.
Visitors entering the home are greeted by a family tree put together by Karissa Breeden, a student at Averett University. Breeden was one of four history students who worked at the museum for projects.
We received a grant and were able to buy a piece of equipment to photograph old photographs so that we could create a file, so we could archive our photographs, Witcher said of Breeden. So this young woman ended up knowing more about the family than anybody as a result of this independent study.
Theres only one chair in the Langhorne House thats original. Each time the family moved, they gave away their belongings.
The chair went to a neighbor.
They brought the chair back and told us theyd like for us to have it, Witcher said of the museum when it launched.
When Lady Astor would come back to visit, she brought three outfits: one for day, one of evening and another formal one. Describing her as very frugal, thats why people would see her in the same clothing.
The museum does have a pair of Astors books, something Witcher calls amazing.
The Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History gave some furniture in the rooms that fits the periods. There also are lots of pieces by Thomas Day, a free Black cabinetmaker who was famed in neighboring North Carolina.
Now this is a baby bed, which I thought everybody would know, but young people had no idea, Witcher said, describing it. Theyd never seen a cradle, except at Ikea.
Theres also a wash stand in the bedroom, something that young people also ask about.
They dont realize this is a wash stand that you had to go out and pump water into your pitcher and then pour it to wash up, she said.
This bedspread is made out of tobacco string, Witcher said in the bedroom. Its over 100 years old.
The second floor of the museum houses two private residences.
We have two apartments upstairs that we rent out, which is very rare for a nonprofit, Witcher said.
They are used for young teachers in Danville. One is a history teacher at George Washington High School and the other instructs physical education at Forest Hill Elementary School.
So we feel like were doing an outreach, as much as Lady Astor, Witcher said.
The Gibson allure
Lady Astor isnt the only reason the museum draws visitors from near and far.
Irene Gibson was the most beautiful woman in the United States, she had 64 proposals, Witcher explained of the Gibson Girl. Sad to say, that was the depth of the worth of a woman was how many proposals she received.
That came to and end when she met Charles Dana Gibson.
He was so handsome, and he just loved her, Witcher said, pointing to artwork.
All of these paintings that he did of her, you can tell how much he loved her, she continued. Shes the one in the red.
Gibson was so beautiful that she was the only woman from the South asked to debutante balls in the North.
They didnt invite any Southerners, Witcher said. And she became a suffragette and an activist for women in New York.
New energy
Witcher like many in Danville is placing bets the the new casino draw in Danville could lure more visitors to the museum, which now is open most Saturdays.
We would love for them to come and visit, she said. We love to give these tours, and we try to figure out what youre interested in.
She also explained that there are a lot of things on paper in the works, but new board members the right team, as she calls it also are a need.
They are still reeling from the pandemic, when many organizations suffered a drop in membership.
And, of course, everything takes money, she said.
The museum is open for free, but there is a little donation jar up front.
Lady Astor was a wonderful hostess, and she invited all kinds of people, Witcher said, explaining the museums mission to be dedicated to the public. She loved controversy, she loved conversation, she loved to stir it up.
Jones has been on the board for a few months.
Im the newest one, he told the newspaper, while still admitting theres a need for more more new faces.
We need fresh ideas, he said. We need fresh blood.
With Lady Astor always an interest, Jones would sit near the Langhorne house as the Danville Christmas parade entries lined up, himself chauffeuring someone in his convertible.
Looking up at the home, it sparked an interest.
And now we are struggling to let people know where its at, he said of Lady Astors childhood house.
Lisa Greer also is one of the new board members, joining in January.
I love history, I love Danville, she told the Register & Bee. So those two together, thats what made this.
She also loves all things British, especially Downton Abbey, the historical drama series.
So to me, this is my Downton Abbey, she said.
State aquarium rescues endangered species from severe drought: 'Inaction could have led to the permanent extinction of this species'
After a drought in Tennessee created dangerous conditions for an endangered fish species, officials decided it was time to intervene.
In August, News Channel 9 reported that the Tennessee Aquarium partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Georgia's River Basin Center with an assist from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency to rescue 105 adult Laurel Dace from Chattanooga-area Walden Ridge and temporarily relocate them to the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute.
While removing federally endangered species like the Laurel Dace is generally illegal, officials determined that the fishes' native streams were too degraded, putting them in danger.
"What really weighed heavily on us was knowing that, given how critically endangered the Laurel Dace is, inaction could have led to the permanent extinction of this species," Dr. Anna George, Tennessee Aquarium's vice president of conservation science and education, told News Channel 9, comparing the delicate situation to the care of a patient in the ICU.
According to the report, stress is one of the reasons that relocation is frowned upon, with the risk of injury or human error also among the concerns. However, as Tennessee Aquarium recovery biologist Abbey Holsopple explained to News Channel 9, the drought had created dire conditions for the Laurel Dace.
"The fish in the stream can get trapped into these pools with nowhere to go. Imagine if you were at a concert and you're surrounded by people on every side of you. You're rubbing up against each other. It's hot; it's uncomfortable," Holsopple said, highlighting that the tight, practically suffocating quarters can also increase the risk of disease.
Fortunately, for the Laurel Dace one of North America's 10 most at-risk fish species the rescue operation appears to have been a success. Only one fish died during relocation, and the others are flourishing in their temporary home.
The timeline for their return to their native Walden Ridge streams is pending, as scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are still monitoring the waterways.
According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, Tennessee just experienced its second-driest August on record since tracking began in 1895. Conditions like these are expected to increase in the southeast United States due to higher temperatures part of a global warming trend brought on by human activities, like the burning of dirty fuels.
For now, the Laurel Dace are enjoying foster care, with the team confident it made the right decision. Researchers hope to return them to the wild as soon as possible.
"As soon as we stepped out of the vans at the site, I had no doubt that what we were doing was absolutely necessary and in the best interest of the fish," UGA graduate student Christian Swartzbaugh said in a report from the aquarium. "They were clearly in a very perilous situation."
"While the first best place for a Laurel Dace would be in a healthy creek, the second-best place would be under the care of our propagation staff at TNACI," Swartzbaugh added.
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The State College Area school board voted unanimously Monday night to postpone a proposed contract for an external review of the districts response to the death by suicide of Park Forest Middle School student Abby Smith, with board members divided over the process.
Fourteen-year-old Abby was an eighth-grade student, avid crafter, Girl Scout and a member of her school band. In the months since her death on May 12, amid bullying allegations, her family has called for an external review of the district and increased transparency in regards to student well-being.
During the nearly 90-minute discussion, the board reviewed the proposed contract with Terri Erbacher, a certified school psychologist and licensed psychologist who authored Suicide in Schools: A Practitioners Guide. Under the contract, Erbacher would remotely review written policies and conduct interviews with district administrators, parents, staff and, if needed, students.
According to the proposed contract, the review would focus on the districts response to a students death by suicide and an evaluation of the districts mental health services.
Bullying will not be included in the scope of Erbachers review. Superintendent Curtis Johnson said he had been in touch with Roy Rakszawski, the Bellefonte Area School District superintendent, about finding someone to conduct a different districtwide evaluation of bullying. Before moving to Bellefonte Area, Rakszawski was a superintendent in New Jersey, which has the nations strictest anti-bullying legislation. Teachers and administrators must complete reports within 24 hours and investigations must be started immediately and completed within 10 days.
Erbacher was one of 11 candidates contacted by district administration and one of four interviewed by Johnson and assistant superintendent Jonathan Bucher.
At the start of the meeting, board member Gretchen Brandt asked that the external review, which was on the agenda as a voting item, be moved to a discussion item. The motion failed 6-2, with Brandt and Peter Buck voting to move the item to discussion.
Prior to the vote, Brandt said she believed the board had requested a review in two parts one focused on the events leading up to Abbys death and one on the districts response afterward unlike the contract presented.
With the administration seeking out and interviewing consultants, Brandt said the board cannot be sure what questions were asked or omitted during the process. The most effective way to ensure a review is conducted correctly and transparently is through a request for proposal, which would include board and Citizen Advisory Council input on selection and budget, she said.
The process thus far has been SCASD the administration selecting a consultant to review itself, Brandt said. A review chosen by the entity that is being reviewed will lead to a biased and or incomplete review.
However, a formal RFP could take several weeks at the very least, further delaying the review. Board member Anne Demo said she feared going through a lengthy process only to find Erbacher as the most qualified candidate at the end.
We all at this table are deeply committed to protecting kids, Demo said. And so there is an argument for transparency, for sure. I do feel like there is also an argument for timeliness.
Board member Deborah Anderson said she felt an RFP was unnecessary in this case and wanted to make sure the community has clear expectations on what they will see at the end of the review process.
I do think the community needs to be prepared to know that youre not going to get all of the results of whatever gets done no matter how we do this process, Anderson said. Some of the information may not be able to be shared because it may involve personnel, and that has to remain confidential.
Transparency remained a key concern for both board members and community members throughout the night, with several people speaking up during public comment periods about how Erbacher was chosen to conduct the review. Since August, Abbys mother Jennifer Black has attended each school board meeting, surrounded by dozens of family and friends.
Black reaffirmed her previous trust in the school district, something that has been shaken by the districts response in the wake of her daughters death.
I would like to know more about why they didnt choose one of the other groups, Black told the CDT. Id like to know more information about why were not looking at bullying ... I just want it to be as transparent as possible.
Other board members brought up concerns about the proposed contract limitations concerning the budget. Erbachers contract with the district has a $15,000 cap, giving her a 75-hour limit at the contracted rate of $200 an hour. Board member Dan Kolbe suggested the cost ceiling be doubled so Erbacher could conduct a review without time constraints.
Johnson said the $15,000 was just a starting point and could be adjusted in the future and no timeline had been set for how long the review would take to conduct.
The board requested an amended contract with an increased budget and for Erbacher to attend the Sept. 30 meeting to answer questions.
South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Jensen, left, and USD Knudson School of Law Dean Neil Fulton address the Sioux Falls Downtown Rotary Club on April 29, 2024. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)
Leaders within the state court system asked for patience on Wednesday as they pledged to address deficiencies in South Dakotas system for delivering legal representation to people who cant afford lawyers.
State Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Jensen and other officials conducted a virtual press conference two days after the release of a report that outlined challenges facing the states public defense framework.
Despite the sweeping nature of some of the reports recommendations, Jensen said the state Unified Judicial System is committed to following through.
Honestly, its going to be difficult, its going to be a lot of work, and its going to require some discussions about who will fund that system going forward, Jensen said. But given our history in South Dakota, the widespread support and recognition of the need for change, Im optimistic we can get it done.
States are required by the U.S. Constitutions Sixth and 14th Amendments to guarantee the right to an attorney for those who cant pay.
Researcher highlights issues
The state-sanctioned report from the nonprofit Sixth Amendment Center, however, says South Dakotas practice of delegating public defense funding and management to counties creates what the centers Aditi Goel described Wednesday as justice by geography.
It results in a decentralized patchwork of county funded public defense systems, Goel said. The problem is that some counties cannot afford to fund public defense services at the levels that are constitutionally required.
The state also lacks oversight mechanisms and has no standards for qualifications, training, supervision, compensation or caseloads specific to attorneys who act as public defenders.
Goel pointed out that public defenders and court-appointed attorneys in South Dakota have heavy caseloads. One private attorney contracted as a public defender had 73 open cases in 20 counties across six judicial circuits at the time the attorney was interviewed by the Sixth Amendment Centers research team.
Our analysis found that attorneys across the state have cases that exceed the most conservative national standards, Goel said.
The centers report recommends the creation of standards in each area, and for the state to fund the recently formed Commission on Indigent Legal Services at a level high enough to perform oversight.
How to eat this elephant
Neil Fulton, dean of the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law, chairs the commission. Fulton also formerly served as the chief public defender for federal cases in the District of South Dakota.
Fulton likened the states approach for tackling the issues laid out in the report to eating an elephant. According to a truism sometimes attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, the way to complete such a task is one bite at a time.
One of the things for us as commission, now that weve all decided were going to eat this elephant, is to start deciding where we slice off a little bit of elephant and get that done, Fulton said, adding that the work will take many years.
The first job, Fulton said, will be for the commission and judicial system to throw its full support behind the work of Christopher Miles, the states first public defender. Miles will be tasked with assembling a team of lawyers and staff to handle criminal appeals for defendants represented by a public defender at the trial level. Counties will remain responsible to provide lawyers for indigent defendants prior to their appeals.
Staffing the state office with attorneys, ideally with attorneys in different geographic areas, will be a priority, as will guidance on how to set up the just-established offices workflow and connecting with court systems across South Dakota.
The second step, Fulton said, will be to tackle issues the commission can attend to on its own. That would include setting standards for things like qualifications and caseloads and settling up a system of data collection to track and compile information on county-level public defense.
Questions on funding from the state and adjustments to practices in local jurisdictions would come later, he said, as those conversations would require buy-in from other entities.
One recommendation in the report was to end some counties practice of allowing prosecutors to speak to and sometimes secure plea agreements from defendants before theyve been appointed a lawyer.
That is not something the commission can stop today, Fulton said. Without speaking for other members, I would tell you that there are folks on the commission who would tell you why that can be an efficiency measure. Im not telling you I agree with them, but Im definitely telling you that the commission has not wrestled through that yet.
Funding questions loom, but not in January
Attorney pay and mileage reimbursements for those who work in smaller counties were among the issues that drove the court system to study the public defense system. Finding ways to meaningfully compensate the attorneys that are willing to take on those cases in those more rural areas with state funding will be an important discussion, Miles said.
Miles, Jensen and Fulton all said that funding questions will loom large in the coming years as the state moves to help counties stop the bleeding from growing public defense costs.
Those conversations wont happen during the next legislative session, Jensen said. The courts will have enough work to do in setting standards and building out the states indigent defense office.
One wrinkle in future funding talks could come on Election Day, when voters will be asked to weigh in on Initiated Measure 28. Backers say the measure would repeal the states sales tax on groceries, but opponents have argued that the measures verbiage could also bar grocery sales tax collections by cities and bar sales taxes on a host of other consumer goods.
The exact amount of revenue loss from the measures passage may be in dispute, but Jensen said the losses would clearly be significant.
All the state court system can do, Jensen said, is present the issues surrounding public defense and make its case to the lawmakers tasked with setting the state budget.
Im an eternal optimist. And in my view, I think well get the funding we need, because this is a priority, he said.
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State of Emergency declared in North Carolina ahead of Helene. What to know
State of Emergency declared in North Carolina ahead of Helene. What to know
NORTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS) Governor Cooper has declared a State of Emergency ahead of Hurricane Helene as North Carolina prepares for severe weather impacts that could threaten life and property across the state through Saturday morning.
Helene is forecast to cause significant impacts including flash flooding, landslides, damaging debris flows, slope failures across steep terrain, and riverine flooding across portions of western North Carolina and portions of central North Carolina.
Flooding may occur in areas that do not typically flood, officials said. All North Carolinians should be weather-aware and prepared.
Charlotte Fire Swift Water Rescue Team activated for Hurricane Helene response
Tropical storm force winds are possible across western North Carolina late Thursday into Friday.
With already saturated soils, trees could fall causing widespread power outages. There is a potential for tornadoes with this storm system. Tornadoes from tropical systems can quickly spin up with little warning.
The State Emergency Response Team is deploying:
Equipment
Personnel
Resources to support impacted communities
North Carolina Swift Water Rescue Teams
Urban Search and Rescue Teams
Resources from the North Carolina National Guard
Specialized personnel for communications and incident management support
WEATHER ALERTS: Live weather alerts across the Charlotte area
How you can prepare for Helene
Have multiple ways to receive emergency information, including watches and warnings
Make sure emergency alerts are enabled on your cell phone
Ensure that you have multiple ways to receive warnings, especially with the potential for severe storms to be moving through during nighttime hours
Have an emergency plan. Know where you would go if you need to evacuate, especially if you live in a flood-prone area
Gather emergency supplies or refresh your emergency kit
Never drive through flooded roadways or around barricades. Turn around. Dont drown
Make sure you know where to seek shelter if a Tornado Warning is issued for your area
Avoid unnecessary travel. If you do not need to drive, stay 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 Queen City News.
High-speed internet is expanding in southwest New Mexico next year through state funding grants. (Photo by Leonardo Fernandez Viloria / Getty Images)
Three southwest New Mexico communities will gain access to high-speed internet next year through a multi-million dollar state grant provided to Valley Telephone Cooperative.
The states Office of Broadband Access and Expansion awarded more than $5.6 million to the utility company, which services parts of Arizona and southwest New Mexico below Interstate 10. Animas, Cotton City and Hachita, located in Grant and Hidalgo counties, are largely rural communities.
This project will have a generational impact for residents in this rural corner of the state. No one should lack access to broadband, and this important connectivity is a sign of real progress, said Drew Lovelace, acting director of the Office of Broadband Access and Expansion, in a news release.
According to the Office of Broadband Access and Expansion, the grant will fund 135 miles of fiber broadband construction to 324 homes and 101 businesses.
The grant was awarded through the departments Connect New Mexico Fund, which has allocated more than $40 million to broadband expansion projects in areas such as Penasco Valley, Picuris Pueblo, San Ildefonso Pueblo and Isleta Pueblo.
The office said the full project in Grant and Hidalgo counties will connect high-speed internet to 170 unserved locations and 255 underserved locations.
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Heather Floyd, regulatory affairs specialist for Valley Telephone Cooperative, said the company is working to approve a contractor by the end of November, then permitting can begin. Floyd said the plan is to start construction in early January 2025.
The Office of Broadband Access and Expansion said the project could be completed by spring 2025. However, Floyd said the companys goal is to complete the project by the end of June 2025, which is when the states reimbursement eligibility ends.
Even nine months to do a projects pushing it. Usually a project is about a year timeframe, Floyd said.
She said the three communities are currently served by copper wiring. This will be replaced with broadband fiber, or fine glass strands, which can deliver more data.
Floyd said Rodeo, New Mexico is the other community in the companys service area that needs to be upgraded from copper wiring. She said the construction in Rodeo is scheduled for 2027, but could possibly start sooner if the company receives funding through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program.
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Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, with Gov. Wes Moore, right, announces that the state has filed a lawsuit against the owners and operators of container ship Dali for the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. Photo by Bryan P. Sears
Attorneys representing the state of Maryland filed a lawsuit Tuesday against two companies that own and operate the ship responsible for the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.
The states lawsuit coming on the deadline set by a federal judge for claims to be filed in the case becomes one of the last of about a dozen actions against Grace Ocean Limited and Synergy Marine, the owner and operator, respectively, of the Dali.
Claims in those suits could be in the billions, but the companies filed their own petition in U.S. District Court in Baltimore seeking to limit their liability to $44 million the value of the ship and its cargo.
Marylands lawsuit does not yet set a specific dollar amount to the damages incurred by the state following the ship strike that killed six workers all immigrants from Latin America and sent the bridge to the bottom of the Patapsco River.
Simply put, Grace Ocean Limited and Synergy Marine failed and their failure resulted in one of the most catastrophic and preventable maritime disasters in Maryland history, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown (D) said during a Tuesday press conference.
Brown told reporters that companies who owned and operated the ship knew about serious problems onboard. He charged the companies failed to maintain critical electrical equipment, circumvented critical safety features that would have restored power before the ship slammed into the bridge, and failed to hire and train the ships crew.
So today, we file a lawsuit to make sure that they pay for their failure, Brown said.
The lawsuit filed this week is just the beginning of what is likely to be complicated and protracted legal wrangling.
Five private firms Hunt Valley-based Downs Ward Bender Herzog & Kintigh PA; Kelley Drye & Warren LLP and Liskow & Lewis APLC, both of Houston; the Lanier Law Firm of New York; and Partridge LLC of New Orleans represent the state in various aspects of the case, including maritime law, insurance, and complex litigation.
The firms were hired on a contingency basis with fees ranging from 2% to 18% of monetary damages recovered by the state. That amount excludes the first $350 million paid to the state from an insurance policy on the bridge.
The crash occurred in the early morning hours of March 26 when the fully loaded Dali lost power on its way out of the Port of Baltimore. With no steering, the 985-foot ship, weighing 95,000 gross tons, slammed into a bridge tower, causing the center span of the bridge to tumble into the Patapsco River.
The allision killed six workers who were on the bridge, shut down traffic to and from the Port of Baltimore for months and destroyed the span over the Patapsco.
The incident remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. There is a separate, ongoing, criminal investigation.
Brown said an investigation by the state determined that the ship was not seaworthy when it pulled away from the Port of Baltimore in the early morning, minutes before striking the bridge.
The ships electrical system failed twice while in port. The crew failed to report the incident to the Coast Guard as required by law or to harbor pilots who were assisting the ship as it left port, Brown said.
Instead, they told them everything was fine, but all was not fine when the Dali set sail on March 26, said Brown. Within minutes of leaving its berth, the ship once again lost power, which in turn made it lose propulsion and steering capabilities. The ship became a dark missile gliding through the port until it struck a pier of the Key Bridge with catastrophic force.
Damages sought by the state which are yet to be specified could easily run in the billions of dollars.
Earlier this year, Lloyds of London said the incident could be the most expensive maritime insurance payout in history. Total claims could approach $4 billion, according to the insurer, which is also party to the lawsuits filed against the Dalis owner and operator.
Maryland, in its lawsuit, is seeking to recover the costs of replacing the bridge.
Gov. Wes Moore (D) said the state will continue to press forward with efforts to replace the bridge. Early estimates place the cost at $1.7 billion.
President Joseph Biden, hours after the collapse, promised federal aid to cover the full cost of the new bridge. So far, that funding has not materialized.
Any money recovered would likely go to repaying the federal government.
Additionally, the state is asking to recover the costs of cleanup operations, lost taxes and tolls, attorneys fees and other damages.
Brown said the state continues to identify all the costs of the incident.
Were going to put pen to paper, and we will do the analysis, he said. And to the extent theres a delta and theres a gap, that is a damage, that is a harm caused by the owners and operators of the Dali, and they will be held accountable for that delta.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore was expected. It is the latest in a series of claims filed against Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine due to the bridge collapse.
Darrell Wilson, a spokesperson for the two companies, declined to comment on the merits of any claim at this time, adding we do look forward to our day in court to set the record straight.
The two companies move to limit their liability to $44 million came less than a week after the bridge collapsed.
It is our goal to break through this limitation of liability that they so quickly, after their gross negligence and reckless conduct, ran to the courthouse steps to limit their liability based on a law passed 150 years ago when you had wooden ships and crowded ports, Brown said. And what were going to do is demonstrate that they knew, or should have known, from shoreside, that that ship, the Dali, was unseaworthy.
Marylands claim is part of a tangle of lawsuits filed in the wake of the catastrophe.
Last week, attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit seeking more than $100 million.
Also on Tuesday, lawyers for Baltimore County filed claims against the ships owner and operator. The county is seeking unspecified damages including cost of the response, creating a public nuisance and attorneys fees.
Were taking bold action to hold the owners and operators of the Dali accountable for the tragic impact the collapse had on our community. https://t.co/RJxn6H7wXR pic.twitter.com/w0xh89wL5f County Executive Johnny Olszewski (@BaltCoExec) September 24, 2024
Similarly, Baltimore City sued the companies in April citing a loss of tax revenue. It also seeks compensation for cleanup, obstruction of the Patapsco River and creating a public nuisance.
The lawsuit filed by the state is one of nearly a dozen that appeared in online searches of federal court records as of Tuesday. Other lawsuits against Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine related to the destruction of the Key Bridge include:
American Publishing LLC was the first business to file a lawsuit related to the collapse of the bridge. The company alleges in its claim that it suffered an 84% drop in revenue less than a month after the incident.
Underwood Energy, a Baltimore-based company that transports propane and other hazardous materials used by residential and commercial customers. The company used to transport its products over the Key Bridge. Those materials are prohibited in the Fort McHenry and Harbor Tunnels, which means the company must now transport its products around Interstate 695. The company is seeking unspecified damages and attorneys fees.
Hunt Valley-based Brawner Builders, the contractor hired to do maintenance work on the bridge the night of the collapse, claims damages from the injury and deaths of employees as well as the loss of equipment on the bridge. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
The families and estates of the six workers who died in the collapse Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, Carlos Daniel Hernandez Estrella, Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, Jose Mynor Lopez, and Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval are seeking unspecified damages. All six workers were immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Insurance companies are also seeking damages. In one lawsuit, companies including New York Marine, General Insurance and underwriters at Lloyds of London, Axis Syndicate 1686 all of whom insured cargo on the Dali are seeking to recover the costs of claims paid out plus interest and other unspecified damages. In a second lawsuit involving insurance companies, Liberty Mutual is seeking similar damages for cargo it insured.
Shipping company Star Bulk, owner of the cargo ship Star Triumph, is seeking more than $756,000 in fees, costs, expenses and interest and lost profits after the cargo ship was prevented from entering the Port of Baltimore after the collapsed bridge closed the shipping channel.
North Dakota Supreme Court justices hear arguments Dec. 18, 2023. On Wednesday, justices heard arguments in a case from the city of Fargo. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)
An attorney for the city of Fargo argued Wednesday that a state law infringes on the citys right to regulate gun stores and threatens the authority of local governments across the state.
Attorney Peter Zuger made the arguments for the city to the North Dakota Supreme Court as it appeals a Cass County District Court decision that backs the state law passed in 2023. It took effect Aug. 1 of that year.
Fargos ordinance prohibits a firearms and ammunition sales business from operating in areas zoned as residential.
It had been on the books for several years before the state Legislature passed House Bill 1340 in 2023 to prohibit cities, counties and other political subdivisions from passing an ordinance relating to buying and selling guns and ammunition.
The primary sponsor of the bill was Rep. Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo.
Zuger argued that the law is unconstitutional because the North Dakota Constitution says local law supersedes state law on local matters.
If the state can overrule the Fargo gun sales ordinance, it can overrule any local ordinance, making the concept of home rule for local governments obsolete, he argued.
The North Dakota League of Cities filed a brief in support of Fargos case.
The Courts decision in this case will impact the 145 home rule cities ability to exercise maximum self-government granted by its city electors, the brief stated.
Attorney Courtney Titus, representing the state, argued that while the state constitution calls for maximum self-government, that does not mean complete self-government.
She argued that the Legislature determines what authority the local governments have.
Justices questioned whether the ordinance was truly only a local issue.
Zuger argued that it was, with the rule only affecting Fargo residents and the Fargo City Commission looking out for the health, safety and welfare of residents by not allowing someone to operate a gun store out of their home.
Fargo prohibits six home occupations in residentially zoned areas: vehicle and large equipment repair; dispatch centers; mortuaries; facilities for animal care, grooming and boarding; adult establishments; and gun and ammunition sales, according to a brief filed by the city.
Titus argued that gun sales should be regulated at the state level, and the Legislature sought to clarify that authority with the 2023 bill.
In written testimony on the bill, Koppelman said that unless it was passed, governments could propose all sorts of local gun control, and based on the anti-gun track record of the Fargo city commission, I think we could expect it.
Titus said the issue came up because there were Fargo residents who were experiencing issues with a federal firearms dealership licensing because of the ordinance.
In the brief filed by Zuger, he argued that the city cannot pass a law that is more restrictive than state law regarding where gun sales are allowed because the state has not passed any laws regulating gun sales.
The justices did not offer a timeline for when a ruling might be issued.
The 2021 Legislature also passed a bill seeking to eliminate local authority on gun sales but the city of Fargo prevailed in a court case on that legislation.
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SUFFIELD, Conn. (WTNH) Suffield firefighters put out a fire on Mountain Road overnight into Wednesday.
Officials have not yet confirmed if there were any injuries or how the fire started.
Route 159 shut down after chemical spill
The Connecticut State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit were on scene assisting the local fire marshal with the investigation as of 7 a.m., according to state police.
This is a developing story. Stay with News 8 for more information.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com.
NORTH ATTLEBORO, Mass. (WPRI) All eight bulls that escaped from a rodeo at the Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro on Sunday have been recaptured, but questions surrounding rodeos in the area remain.
State Representative Adam Scanlon of North Attleboro announced that he is looking into improving public safety regulations following the incident.
I am looking forward to touching base with all of the stakeholders involved, Scanlon told 12 News on Tuesday. I want to make sure that these events are kept safe, no one is injured, the animals are okay and property isnt damaged.
BACKGROUND: Last loose bull captured in North Attleboro
There are no rodeo laws in Massachusetts.
12 News has filed a records request with the town of North Attleboro, inquiring about rodeo permits and accountability regarding the bulls escape.
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Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a civil lawsuit on Tuesday against a Florida real estate sales company and its Minnesota branch for allegedly deceiving homeowners into signing misleading contracts for quick cash.
The lawsuit alleges that MV Realty PBC, LLC, its Minnesota branch MV Realty of Minnesota, LLC, and its founder, Amanda Zachman, violated Minnesota consumer protection laws.
Per Ellison's office, MV Realty sold Homeowner Benefit Agreements contracts to Minnesota homeowners, claiming they could make "fast and easy cash." The only obligation was to use MV Realty as their realtor if they were ever to sell their home. Many homeowners who accepted allegedly received less than $1,000 upfront.
If the homeowner agreed, a third-party notary with no information about the contract was sent to the home, where the homeowner would be given a multi-page contract with confusing legal jargon for the first time and told to sign. The lawsuit alleges the company purposefully concealed the unfair terms within the HBAs in its sales pitches.
Photo by Maria Ziegler on Unsplash
MV Realtys agents were "strongly incentivized" to get signatures, earning a $500 commission for each signed HBA. Ellison's office claims Zachman, who signed many HBAs for MV Realty, lacked the proper Minnesota licensure to do so, and every contract failed to comply with Minnesota's Home Solicitation Sales Act. According to the suit, the company has sold over 500 HBAs to Minnesota homeowners since 2020.
Some of the terms hidden within the contract include that the HBAs would last for 40 years, much longer than what sellers allegedly told them. The contracts also bound the homeowners heirs and inheritors, including their children, as though those inheritors signed the agreement themselves.
Unlawful liquidated damages clauses, dubbed "Early Termination Fees," were also found in these contracts. These clauses punish homeowners or their heirs with 3% of their homes value if they violate the contract by hiring another realtor to sell their home.
This led to the company regularly enforcing its HBAs, even suing dead homeowners relatives if they attempted to sell their property with a different realtor to recover the early termination fees. MV Realty allegedly even sued a homeowner whose home had gone into foreclosure, which "violated" the HBA.
Homeowners were also given contradictory information about the HBAs' status as potential liens against the property, with Ellison's office saying they were, in fact, liens.
The lawsuit asks the Ramsey District Court for restitution to be given to the people affected, civil penalties against MV Realty and its additional defendants, and injunctive relief regarding the HBA's and the liquidated damages clauses.
Companies have an obligation to tell you what theyre selling you, Attorney General Ellison said. They have an obligation to give you the truth about what youre being asked to sign, not to give you some half-truths when they have reason to know that very few people would agree to the terms theyre hiding."
Bring Me The News contacted MV Realty for comment but has not received a response.
Related: People are not 'fleeing' Minneapolis, real estate data shows
The former president was talking about imposing tariffs and other steps hed take to bolster U.S. manufacturing in Savannah, Georgia, when he veered off topic. He began arguing that he won the recent debate with Harris, despite GOP claims the moderators were against him.
She didnt say anything except lies, like bloodbath, like Charlottestown," Trump said.
He didn't acknowledge the error, but quickly added that he was finishing this topic. Because they'll say, Oh, he fell into a trap when in fact, hed already made a conspicuous mistake.
Trump was trying to refer to the deadly 2017 violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white supremacists and anti-racist protesters. Trump has faced years of criticism from Harris and other top Democrats when he blamed both sides for what occurred.
Lady Theresa May, the former Prime Minister and MP for Maidenhead, attended the official launch of the lift on Friday 6 September [GWR]
A new railway station lift has been closed due to "extreme rainfall", officials have said.
Former prime minister Theresa May attended the opening of the lift at Maidenhead Station on Friday 6 September.
The station was forced to close the lift to platforms two and three on Monday, due to pooling water.
A Network Rail spokesperson said teams were investigating the issue.
The lift to platforms two and three at Maidenhead Station is currently closed due to the impact of the weather [Network Rail]
It had previously been closed for improvement works, which involved moving and renovating the lift serving platforms two and three.
The spokesperson said: "The passenger lift to platforms two and three at Maidenhead station was taken out of service because of issues related to a period of extreme rainfall, which caused water pooling.
Were sorry for the inconvenience this may cause for passengers and are working to restore the lift to full service as soon as possible.
You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
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The U.S. Capitol on Sept. 23, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON Congress is on track to approve legislation this week that will give lawmakers until mid-December to broker agreement on the annual government funding bills that were supposed to become law before the end of this month.
The stopgap spending bill, also known as a continuing resolution, has the broad bipartisan support it needs to move through House and Senate votes this week, though senators will need to reach agreement to vote on the legislation before the Oct. 1 deadline when federal spending runs out.
The 49-page bill, released Sunday after weeks of stalemate as House Republicans went at it alone, is no guarantee that Congress will actually wrap up its work on the full-year bills during the next 12 weeks left before this session of Congress is over, since lawmakers can pass as many stopgap spending bills as they want.
Continuing resolutions essentially extend current spending levels and policy for a set amount of time. They are intended to give the House and Senate additional time to conference final versions of the dozen full-year spending bills.
Nov. 5 election and the lame duck
The election results will likely determine whether the Republican House and Democratic Senate move to reach agreement on the full-year bills during the lame-duck session that will begin after Election Day, or kick the can down the road into next year, when the balance of power could be substantially different.
Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, appears inclined toward wrapping up work on the full-year appropriations bills in December, saying during a press conference Tuesday that lawmakers would deal with funding decisions during the lame-duck session.
U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks on his cell phone as walks back to his office in the U.S. Capitol building on Nov. 13, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Johnson signaled that hes going to try to move all the final, conferenced spending bills across the floor one by one, as opposed to bundling all 12 together in an omnibus or packaging several of the bills together in whats called a mini-bus. Such large bills regularly draw opposition from conservative Republicans.
We have broken the Christmas omni and I have no intention of going back to that terrible tradition, Johnson said. We dont want any buses, were not going to do any buses.
The stopgap spending bill Congress is expected to approve this week would set the next deadline for government funding on Dec. 20, four days before Christmas.
Senate and House both struggle
Johnson also laid the blame for Congress not completing work on the full-year government funding bills at the feet of Senate Democrats, arguing that the House did all of its work.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved 11 of the dozen appropriations bills with broadly bipartisan votes, but was unable to garner consensus on the Homeland Security spending bill.
None of those bills have come up on the Senate floor for votes, in part, because it can take weeks in that chamber to move spending bills through the amendment process.
The House Appropriations Committee reported its dozen bills out along party-line votes, without the Democratic support that would be needed for the bills to actually become law during divided government.
House Republican leaders passed five of the bills across the floor, including Defense, Homeland Security, Interior-Environment, Military Construction-VA and State-Foreign Operations.
House GOP leaders attempted to pass the Legislative Branch bill, which provides funding for Congress and its associated agencies, but were unsuccessful. House rules allow that chamber to debate and hold votes on bills in a matter of hours, a much faster pace than the days or weeks it often takes the Senate.
Neither Senate leaders nor House leadership have made any effort to conference the full-year spending bills, a process that is needed to reach the bipartisan, bicameral versions that must pass if Congress wants to avoid another stopgap spending bill in December.
The process typically takes at least six weeks, and with both chambers set to leave town at the end of this week for a six-week break, there likely wont be enough time to conference all the bills before the mid-December deadline that will be set by the continuing resolution.
Stay away from poison pills
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, criticized Johnson for trying to pass a six-month stopgap spending bill through the House earlier this month, saying it was a waste of time.
That legislation, which didnt garner the support to pass, included with it a GOP bill that would have required proof of citizenship to register to vote.
If both sides keep working together, if we stay away from poison pills and partisan spectacle, then the American people can rest assured there wont be a government shutdown, Schumer said. But we still have more work to do.
The Biden administration signaled its support for the stopgap spending bill Tuesday, releasing a Statement of Administration Policy calling for swift passage of this bill in both chambers of the Congress to avoid a costly, unnecessary Government shutdown and to ensure there is adequate time to pass full-year FY 2025 appropriations bills later this year.
At least 63 dead as Helene pummels south-east US
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At least 63 people have died and millions have been left without power as Hurricane Helene roared through the south-eastern US.
In North Carolina, more than 400 roads remain closed with the mountain town of Asheville largely cut off. Supplies are being airlifted to residents, state governor Roy Cooper said.
Officials continued daring rescues with boats, helicopters and large vehicles to help those stranded in floodwaters - including about 50 workers and patients who crowded on the roof of a flooded Tennessee hospital.
It was the most powerful storm on record to hit Florida's Big Bend and moved north into Georgia and the Carolinas after making landfall overnight on Thursday.
Insurers and financial institutions say damage caused by the storm could run into the billions of dollars.
Roads and houses were submerged on Friday, with one family describing to BBC News how they had to swim out of their home to safety.
Although Helene has weakened significantly, forecasters warn that high winds, flooding and the threat of tornadoes could continue.
Helene, which had been a category four storm, came ashore on Thursday night and remained a hurricane for six hours after it made landfall, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said a storm surge - heightened water levels mostly caused by high winds blowing water towards shore - reached more than 15ft (4.5m) above ground level across parts of the Florida coast.
The NHC said the surge should subside before the weekend but the threat from high winds and flooding would persist, including possible landslides.
Up to 20in (50cm) of rain is still possible in places.
The hurricane is the 14th most powerful to hit the US since records began. At approximately 420 miles (675 km) wide, it is behind only two other hurricanes - Ida in 2017 and Opal in 1996, both of which were 460 miles wide.
Because of its sheer size, the impact of strong winds and heavy rain have been widespread across Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas.
At least eight people have died in Florida since Friday, including at least five people in the coastal Pinellas County - which includes the city of St Petersburg - the county's sheriff, Bob Gualtieri said.
He added that the nearby coastline had "never, ever looked like this before", describing it as like a "war zone".
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said one person died after a road sign fell on their car and another when a tree fell on a home.
[Reuters]
After hitting Florida, the storm continued on a deadly path north into Georgia - leaving at least 15 dead - including a first responder, Governor Brian Kemp said.
A suspected tornado that spawned in Wheeler County, central Georgia, left two people dead when it picked up and overturned a mobile home, authorities said.
Kemp ordered 1,000 National Guard troops to help with rescue efforts across the state. The Georgia governor said on Friday that people were still trapped in buildings.
In South Carolina, at least 17 people were killed, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner.
Neighbouring North Carolina saw at least seven fatalities in the storm, CBS News added.
Governor Roy Cooper said one had been killed in a vehicle collision and another when a tree fell on a home in Charlotte.
The state also saw two confirmed tornadoes, which damaged 11 buildings and injured 15 people, the National Weather Service said.
One person was also killed in Virginia, the state's governor, Glenn Youngkin, said at a news conference on Friday.
Across the south-east, more than three million homes and businesses were without power as of Saturday morning, according to tracking site poweroutage.us.
Ahead of the storm, 1,500 federal emergency personnel were deployed to the region, including 940 search and rescue specialists.
At the same time, around 8,000 members of the US Coast Guard were assisting with rescue operations.
In North Carolina alone, more than 100 rescues have taken place, Cooper said.
In Tennessee, 58 patients and staff were left stranded on the roof of a hospital in the city of Erwin on Friday. Swift-moving water from the Nolichucky river prevented boats from being able to conduct rescue operations, and high winds prevented helicopter rescue.
The group was later taken to safety after helicopters from the Tennessee National Guard and the Virginia State Police intervened.
In Pasco County, north of Tampa on Florida's Gulf coast, 65 people were rescued. Guests at a Ramada Inn in Manatee County were also rescued as floodwaters rushed into the hotel.
In Suwannee County to the north, authorities reported "extreme destruction", with trees falling onto homes.
[BBC]
Floating debris seen in Cedar Key, Florida [Getty Images]
Along the Gulf Coast of Florida, Briana Gagnier told the BBC that she and her family saw water creeping into their home on Holmes Beach and started moving their belongings onto tables and beds before hearing a loud bang.
"My family and I all looked at one another," she said. "Then water just started pouring in."
Ms Gagnier said she grabbed her pets, her wallet and some portable chargers and swam out of their home with her family. The water was up to their shoulders.
On Friday, President Joe Biden said: "As we mourn the lives of those who were taken by this storm, I urge folks to heed the direction of local officials and take every precaution to keep themselves and their families safe."
Officials have said the effects of the storm are "not over yet", and urged residents to remain vigilant.
Hurricanes need sea surface temperatures of more than 27C (80F) to fuel them.
With exceptionally warm waters of the Gulf at 30-32C, the sea surface is about two degrees Celsius above normal for the time of year.
Florida's 220-mile Big Bend coast is where Hurricane Idalia made landfall in 2023. The area was also battered by Hurricane Debby last month.
There could be as many as 25 named storms in 2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned earlier this year.
Between eight and 13 of those storms could develop into hurricanes and a handful already have including Helene.
More storms could be on the horizon, officials warned, as the official end of hurricane season is not until 30 November.
[BBC]
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Take this storm seriously: Hurricane watch in place for Columbia County as Helene approaches
Columbia County was hit hard by Hurricane Debby in August. Some residents are still getting over the damage, and now, they may have to go through another storm.
Helene is on its way and a Hurricane Watch is in place for Columbia County.
Hurricane Watch in effect for Columbia County
Robert Smith has lived in Lake City for more than 30 years, and said Debby was the worst storm he experienced. With the relentless rain, fallen trees, and downed power lines, Smith said hes nervous about what this storm could bring.
We was out of power for 11 hours miserable, Smith said. All the other storms that came through, we never lost power more than an hour.
Our Action News Jax First Alert Weather team said the core of the storm could bring hurricane conditions inland toward Columbia County.
ELATED: Helene: Northeast Florida, Southeast Georgia school closure information
Columbia County Emergency Management Director Shayne Morgan said they are preparing like they would any storm pumping out retention ponds and cutting down trees.
Take this storm seriously, pay attention to what it does, Morgan said. A small movement on the map could mean big implications.
Our Action News Jax First Alert Weather Team said the county received about 10-15 inches of rain during Debby and with Helene, its expected to receive about 3-5 inches.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
Morgan said all the power companies in Columbia County are ready -- Florida Power and Light, Clay Electric, Suwannee Valley Electric, and Duke Energy.
You never know when the next ones gonna hit so maintain state of preparedness, Morgan said. Make sure you know what your family plan youve gone over it with your family. Make sure you know who youre going to call in case of an emergency have an emergency contact that you can talk to.
Smith said hes not taking any chances; hes planning to board up and bounce.
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And if it looks like its going towards us, (whistles) we out of here, Smith said. I dont want to ride it out. I dont want to see what its going to be, so we gone.
The public schools and the Florida Gateway College will be closed Thursday and Friday.
Wednesday morning at 9 a.m., county leaders will finalize their storm plans at an emergency meeting.
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.
Storm surge and more: See Hurricane Helenes weather forecast for Manatee County
As Hurricane Helene approaches Manatee County, forecasters are urging residents to brace for heavy rain, strong winds and possible floods.
The storm strengthened into a hurricane Wednesday morning and is expected to become a Category 3 hurricane before it makes landfall Thursday evening in Floridas Big Bend region. Even though Manatee County is not in the cone of uncertainty, Helene is expected to cause severe weather impacts in the Bradenton area.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said the Bradenton area could see between 3 and 6 inches of rain as the storm whips through Manatee County. Some areas could see higher rainfall totals, forecasters say.
Storm surge warning for Manatee County
Hurricane Helene has also prompted a storm surge warning, a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch for coastal Manatee County.
The large size of the storm is going to push so much water, NHC Deputy Director Jamie Rhome said in an update Wednesday morning. When it comes to storm surge, the size of the hurricane is often more important than the intensity, which is often hard for people to digest.
If youve been asked to evacuate or ordered to evacuate, its probably because of these storm surge values, Rhome said.
A tropical storm warning is also in effect for inland Manatee County. A warning means severe weather is expected to arrive within 36 hours.
Other Bradenton-area Helene impacts
Forecasters say there is also potential for several tornadoes in the area. Helene is expected to produce gusts of winds up to 73 miles per hour in the Bradenton area, which could damage buildings, trees, power lines and more.
National Weather Service forecasters predicted up to 8 feet of storm surge in coastal areas from early Thursday morning to early Saturday morning.
Severe thunderstorms could begin as soon as 5 p.m. Wednesday in the Bradenton area and continue throughout the day Thursday.
Chaos Is a Ladder
After her ride back home left her stranded in orbit, NASA astronaut Suni Williams has now taken control of the International Space Station.
On Monday, Williams was sworn in as commander to mark the commencement of ISS Expedition 72, taking over from Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko. This is the second time that Williams has served as commander aboard the orbital outpost, and another twist in what has been a whirlwind few months for the veteran astronaut, whose current stint in space was originally only meant to last eight days, but is now stretching to eight months.
Kononenko, along with his countryman Nikolai Chub, and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, departed for terra firma later that day aboard a Soyuz MS-25 crew capsule, landing in Kazakhstan.
Williams, ironically, was supposed to be home already. But when she arrived with NASA flight engineer Butch Wilmore in June, the Boeing Starliner capsule that ferried them there and was intended to bring them back ran into a heap of technical issues.
To avoid risking the safety of its astronauts, NASA was forced to send the Starliner back to Earth with no one on board, leaving Williams and Wilmore to wait until February 2025 before they can return on a SpaceX shuttle.
Keeping Classy
It speaks to her character, then, that Williams has been a good sport about the whole debacle, handling her new and unexpected role with a professional grace.
"Expedition 71 has taught all of us a lot about flexibility, and the ability to adapt to a number of amazing things. A lot of things weren't planned, and somehow you guys put it all together and did it," Williams said to her outgoing Russian colleagues in a speech during the change of command ceremony, per Space.com. "You adopted Butch and I, even though that was not quite the plan, but here we are as part of the family."
"And Tracy, we're gonna miss your desk and your organization, and your ability to make order out of chaos, even in the craziest of times," she added. "So we thank you, all three of you, for that."
Farce-Liner
The Starliner spacecraft that was supposed to bring Williams and Wilmore home was wracked with software issues, thruster failures, and helium leaks. Some of these issues, like the leaks, were apparent before it even launched.
Its mounting failures, topped by making a near-botch job of docking with the ISS, spiraled into a huge embarrassment for NASA and Boeing, which had to cut their losses by sending the Starliner back to Earth empty, disrupting the space agency's original plans to rotate its astronauts.
It's now down to SpaceX to pick up the pieces. Its Crew Dragon capsule will head for the ISS with only two astronauts instead of four, leaving room for Williams and Wilmore to finally return in February.
The NASA mission, SpaceX Crew-9, is expected to launch on Saturday, September 28.
More on the ISS: The Company Building NASA's Next Space Station Says Things Are Actually Going Great Even Though It's Firing 100 Employees and Can't Pay Its Bills
Weather experts are expecting Hurricane Helene to make landfall soon, prompting residents along the Gulf Coast to wonder how strong its going to become. On Tuesday, September 24, the system is a tropical storm dubbed Tropical Storm Nine as it gets closer to western Cuba and the Cayman Islands, but it will gather strength as it moves toward the United States. Most projections have the heart of the storm landing in the panhandle region of Florida. Heres what category hurricane experts project Helene to become.
What category will Hurricane Helene become when hitting Florida?
Experts believe that Hurricane Helene could have at least Category 3 intensity as it continues to strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico before landfall.
This is according to The Weather Channel, which is supported by an updated projection by AccuWeather on Tuesday. A Category 3 hurricane, like Irma in 2017, has winds between 111 and 129 mph. That said, theres a possibility that Hurricane Helene might become even stronger.
The Weather Channel points out several factors that will likely intensify the storm. In particular, the Gulf of Mexicos temperature are at record high levels for this time of the year, which meteorologist Ben Noll previously shared on X (formerly Twitter). Upper level winds are also forecasted to spread apart over the hurricane, which is favorable for strengthening. Both of these factors will make it easier for the storm to gather moisture and develop stronger winds.
New hurricane watches have been issued for parts of Florida ahead of what is forecast to become major Hurricane Helene and bring dangerous impacts to the state.
Get caught up this morning on The Weather Channel or stream: https://t.co/EAfvm950sr pic.twitter.com/adnJ6FbxCP The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) September 24, 2024
The system is expected to become a hurricane when it enters the southern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, as heavy rains and strong winds impact western Cuba. It will then travel toward Florida as a larger hurricane, making landfall on Thursday afternoon or night. It should be noted, though, that rainfall, winds, and storm surges can still be particularly intense outside of the center of the storm.
A state of emergency has been declared in Florida with evacuation orders issued for Charlotte County and Franklin County. In total, the state of emergency encompasses 61 out of 67 counties in the state, particularly those around the Panhandle and Tampa Bay area. Many counties along the Gulf Coast have been placed under hurricane watch.
Originally reported by Nicholas Tan on Mandatory.
The post How Strong Could Hurricane Helene Get When It Hits Florida? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
The struggle to keep track of Gaza war deaths
A man carries the shrouded body of a child killed in an Israeli bombardment to the hospital morgue in the south Gaza city of Rafah (-) (-/AFP/AFP)
The health ministry in Gaza says the war that erupted after Hamas attacked on Israel on October 7 has killed more than 41,467 people.
With the Gaza Strip under Hamas's control for nearly two decades, and with belligerents throughout history using death tolls in their quest for legitimacy, many have questioned the veracity of the health ministry's figures.
Israel has criticised the data for failing to distinguish between fighters and civilians, and US President Joe Biden also raised questions about its credibility early in the war.
Several UN agencies still operating in Gaza say the figures are reliable, however.
How is the data compiled, and can it be trusted?
- Data collection -
Gaza has been under Hamas's control since it crushed its Palestinian rival Fatah in 2007 in street battles, after winning a 2006 legislative election. There have been no Palestinian elections since.
But the health ministry in Gaza, like other institutions, predates Hamas, and not all its staff are Hamas loyalists.
The ministry is staffed with civil servants that answer to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority and to the Hamas government in Gaza.
Two AFP correspondents in Gaza saw ministry staff at health facilities enter deaths into a database.
Bodies are identified with the help of a relative or a friend, or using their personal items.
The deceased's name, gender, birth date and ID number are then entered into the health ministry's digital database.
If bodies are unrecognisable or unclaimed, staff record the death under a number, noting all available information.
Any distinguishing marks that may help identify the person later on are collected and photographed.
- Central registry -
In public hospitals under the direct supervision of the Hamas government, the "personal information and identity number" of every Palestinian killed during the war are entered into the hospital's database as soon as they are pronounced dead.
The data is then sent to the ministry's central registry on a daily basis.
For deaths in private hospitals and clinics, information is recorded on a form that must be sent to the ministry within 24 hours to be included in the central registry, a ministry statement said.
The ministry's so-called information centre then verifies the entries to "ensure they do not contain any duplicates or mistakes", before saving them in the database, the statement added.
Residents are also encouraged to report any deaths in their families via a designated government website.
- 'High correlation' -
Earlier this year, an investigation conducted by Airwars, an NGO focused on the impact of war on civilians, analysed the data entries for 3,000 of the dead and found "a high correlation" between the ministry's data and what Palestinian civilians reported online, with 75 percent of publicly reported names also appearing on the ministry's list.
The study found that the ministry's figures had become less accurate as the war dragged on, a development it attributed to the heavy damage to health infrastructure resulting from the war.
For instance, at southern Gaza's Nasser Hospital, one of the few still at least partly functioning, only a handful of computers now work, its director Atef al-Hout told AFP.
Last week the ministry was unable to publish data for 72 hours after an employee whose job it was to record the deaths was himself killed in an air strike, it said.
Israeli authorities have criticised the ministry's figures for failing to distinguish between combatants and civilians.
But Israel has not disputed the overall numbers.
Several UN bodies, including the agency tasked with assisting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), have said the ministry's figures are credible.
"In the past -- the five, six cycles of conflict in the Gaza Strip -- these figures were considered as credible and no one ever really challenged these figures," the agency's chief Philippe Lazzarini said early in the war.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. The deaths include hostages killed in captivity.
bur-ha-crb-jd/lba/ser/fox
CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) A 13-year-old student brought an unloaded firearm to school on Tuesday morning, according to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.
Just before 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, September 24, a CMPD student resource officer at Kennedy Middle School was told by school administration that a student had brought a gun to school.
The student reportedly showed the gun to a student on the bus and carried the firearm into school in a backpack.
The SRO found the student and took the gun. Other CMPD officers responded, and the student was arrested.
Several injured in Pineville-Matthews school bus crash: Medic
Officials say the student brought the gun from home, where it was kept in a gun box with a gun lock.
No one was injured. When asked, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools did not say if the incident was connected with false threats made against several CMS middle and high schools.
The following message was sent from CMS to Kennedy Middle School families:
Good morning Kennedy Middle School families. This is Principal Sudimack with an important message about a situation that occurred at school. A student was found with an unloaded firearm on campus this morning. Law enforcement was called immediately, and an investigation is ongoing. All students and staff are safe and learning and teaching are continuing.
Please speak with your students about the serious consequences of bringing a weapon of any kind to school. It is a violation of the law and the CMS Code of Student Conduct to bring any weapon on campus. Consequences can include suspension, expulsion and even arrest. Thank you for your support of Kennedy Middle.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
After student murder, France's new government heeds far right's call to be tougher on immigration
FILE PHOTO: Razor-wire frames migrants who walk near train tracks which lead to the Channel Tunnel in Frethun, near Calais
FILE PHOTO: Razor-wire frames migrants who walk near train tracks which lead to the Channel Tunnel in Frethun, near Calais
PARIS (Reuters) -France's new government is open to toughening immigration laws, the interior minister said on Wednesday, under pressure from the far-right National Rally (RN) after the arrest of a Moroccan man suspected of murdering a 19-year-old woman in Paris.
Marine Le Pen's RN party, which holds major political sway over Prime Minister Michel Barnier's newly installed government, has jumped on the murder of the young student, identified by authorities only by her first name, Philippine, as vindication of its calls for tougher immigration and crime laws.
She had been reported missing by her family last Friday, and her body was found the following day, in the Bois de Boulogne park, the Paris prosecutor's office said.
The suspect, a 22-year-old Moroccan man who had previously been convicted of rape in France and was due to be deported, was on Tuesday arrested in Geneva, from where French authorities would seek his extradition, the Paris prosecutor's office said.
Under pressure from the RN, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Wednesday that he would look into changing the law to prevent such a situation from happening again.
"Faced with such a tragedy, preceded by many others, we cannot just condemn it or be outraged," Retailleau, a long-time immigration hawk, said in a statement. "It's up to us, public officials, to ... update our legislation, to protect the French."
Retailleau, from the conservative Republicans party, had already signalled earlier this week that France was likely to see much tougher immigration and security measures, reflecting a what he said was a growing rightward shift across Europe.
RN WIELDS NEW INFLUENCE AFTER SUMMER ELECTION
The Philippine case has underlined the power that the RN wields over Barnier's government, particularly in areas such as immigration and crime. The RN, a kingmaker after this summer's legislative election, gave tentative support to Barnier's hard-won premiership. But it has reserved the right to withdraw its support if its concerns are not met.
RN party chief Jordan Bardella accused the state of being too soft on security and immigration in a Tuesday post on X.
"It's time for this government to act: our compatriots are angry and will not be content with just words," he wrote. "Philippine's life was stolen from her by a Moroccan migrant targeted by an OQTF (obligation to leave France deportation order)."
Greens lawmaker Sandrine Rousseau warned against the far right using the murder to "spread its racist hatred".
France deports more non-EU citizens than any other European Union nation, official Eurostat data shows. But it issues so many expulsion orders - two to five times more than Germany in each quarter over the past two years - that its ratio of enforced expulsion orders is low.
In the first quarter of 2024, France ordered the expulsion of 34,190 non-EU citizens, or nearly a third of all expulsions ordered across the EU, but only deported 4,205 people.
Bureaucracy, diplomatic rows and a reluctance by some countries to accept the return of people holding criminal convictions are amongst the reasons why far fewer expulsions than are ordered are actually enforced.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Ingrid Melander; Additional reporting by Makini Brice, Layli Foroudi, Michel Rose; Editing by William Maclean and Alex Richardson)
Morehead Elementary Schools PTA is fighting a plan to end Morehead Elementarys status as a choice school.
Under the plan, which would require school board approval, the schools Expressive Arts programming would continue, but the district would no longer also seek to attract students living in other attendance zones. Current choice families at the school would have the option to keep their students at Morehead, but would no longer be provided transportation.
Deputy Superintendent Julius Monk unveiled the plan and took questions from parents during a meeting attended by hundreds of people at the school Monday evening. Meanwhile, PTA leaders opposed to the plan came with talking points, calls to action against it and handouts for parents.
Morehead is a truly remarkable school where children come from extremely diverse racial and economic backgrounds and are thriving, PTA member Heather Scavone said during the meeting. Why would you destroy an incredible success story that took 22 years to write?
Monk said the move is due to enrollment growth in the Morehead attendance zone and that it comes as the district is planning to open a newly-constructed visual and performing arts choice school on the site of the former Peeler Elementary in August 2025.
Across the district, were declining enrollment; in this boundary we are increasing, he said. Morehead Elementary, he said, gets lots of applications for its Expressive Arts choice program, but cannot always offer many slots, due to neighborhood enrollment.
Monk explained that families of students currently attending Morehead this year from outside the neighborhood zone have a handful of options for next school year under the plan.
By default, he said, their students would be assigned to the new visual and performing arts magnet school, which will provide transportation.
Families from outside the attendance zone who want to remain at Morehead would need to go through the districts reassignment process. These students could also go to the school in their attendance zone, apply to another magnet program in the district, or apply for reassignment to another neighborhood school, space permitting, he said.
Monk asked families to fill out a survey in the next seven days indicating which of the options they expect to pursue.
The districts 2019 facilities master plan calls for Morehead to be rebuilt onsite as a 500-seat school with a neighborhood expressive arts theme as part of efforts to address elementary over-crowding and poor condition, but the project is further down the districts priority list than school construction projects currently underway.
Morehead has employed mobile-unit classrooms for decades to help house its population. It had 517 students in grades K-5 in 2023-24, according to the districts online data dashboard.
Scavone, a neighborhood parent, told Monk that if all the children from other attendance zones left Morehead for other schools, it would hit the school hard.
We know that the funding models have to do with enrollment, she said. If we lose our 180 magnet students, our enrollment will be (decreased) by roughly 33%.
Cameron Meadows, a Morehead magnet program parent, said hed like to see both the visual and performing arts school and Morehead magnet programs flourish.
We know that learning and creativity and all of that go hand in hand, he said. If you have a success story here, you can have one there, and they can both coexist.
John Graham, the father of former Morehead students, took part in a successful campaign more than 20 years ago to get the school district to reverse its decision back then to make Morehead a neighborhood-only school and restore magnet programming. His advice, he said, was not to focus on school administration employees, like Monk, but instead to take questions and concerns directly to the elected school board members and apply political pressure.
It is the only thing thats going to stop this train, he told the meeting attendees.
A sizeable portion of the audience clapped and cheered for PTA members and others arguing against the plan, and at least a couple audience members called out, for how long? when Monk said Morehead would remain an Expressive Arts school. They appeared to be showing skepticism that the special programming at the school which includes art, drama, dance, violin, and physical education would endure long term after the school is no longer one of the districts choice options.
Monk said he could not make promises about how long any programming at any of the schools would last, because situations change with time.
Brandon Saunders, a Morehead parent who lives in the neighborhood, was among those who watched from the audience.
Saunders who also does maintenance work at the school, said he specifically chose the school for his kids (This paragraph has been updated to correct a name that was incorrect on second reference) .
Like any parent, you want the best for your children, he said.
He said hes worried that leaders may not understand what he sees as the potential damage from the change. The school, he said, is a community, made up of specific teachers, parents, students and others. Just because a learning community thrives together as is, he said, doesnt mean its going to be the same if the current community is partially dismantled.
I look at it as a puzzle, he said. Any piece thats missing, the puzzles not complete.
Students for Justice in Palestine no longer officially recognized at U of I
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) Students for Justice in Palestine is no longer officially recognized at the University of Illinois.
Chantelle Thompson, a spokesperson for the University of Illinois Student Affairs, confirmed the registered student organization (RSO) violated several university policies related to their encampment protests the former RSO helped organize and promote in April and May.
A subcommittee of the University of Illinois Senates Student Discipline Committee met in August and decided the groups fate then.
UIUC pro-Palestine encampment timeline in photos
At the pro-Palestine protests, students, faculty and community members assembled tents and canopies near the Alma Mater statue, which was not approved or authorized by the University. Protestors linked arms to block law enforcement from removing the camp, with some holding wooden boards.
The Champaign States Attorney has since charged seven people that were at the April 26 protest with mob action and other crimes.
Additionally, the 12-day encampment was not conducted within an approved space reservation at the university, and the former RSO instructed members to interfere with administrators removing any tents.
The former group took to social media to criticize the universitys decision as silencing freedom of speech on campus.
The wrongful disbandment of Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is part of a disturbing trend of silencing student activism. Students For Justice for Palestine posted on Instagram Monday. Just like weve seen with other SJP chapters across the country, universities are increasingly using new policies to suppress voices that challenge institutional power and stand up for Palestinian human rights.
University of Illinois Chimesmaster says bye to the bells
The group did not appeal the decision, Thompson said. The group can apply to become officially recognized again in the Fall 2027 semester.
Until then, the SJP chapter may not operate on the University of Illinois campus as an RSO, cannot represent itself as a university-recognized RSO, and will not have access to or use of university resources, funding and support that RSOs enjoy, Thompson said in an email to WCIA.
According to its Instagram page, the group has held meetings off-campus for the fall semester.
We will continue organizing with or without the support of our institution as UIUC is dictated by the student body and not the administration, SJP said on social media.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
Evacuation order now lifted for area of styrene leak near Cleves; roads reopening
Evacuation and shelter-in-place orders have been lifted after a styrene leak at a Cleves railyard Tuesday afternoon.
Officials previously said the railcar had stopped leaking the dangerous chemical but ordered residents to remain out of the area. However, that order was lifted Wednesday evening
Several schools in the area were closed Wednesday.
The source of the leak is a railcar at U.S. Route 50 and State Route 128, west of Cincinnati, that holds styrene, a toxic and highly flammable chemical. Officials had expressed concern that the leak could cause an explosion.
Here's the latest news about the styrene leak:
6:30 p.m.: Evacuation and stay-in-place orders lifted
The Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency said in an X post Wednesday evening the evacuation order issued for Whitewater Township has been lifted and residents are now permitted to return home.
The Ohio Department of Transportation also said the U.S. 50 and state Route 128 are reopening to traffic after being closed since Tuesday afternoon following the styrene leak.
12:25 p.m.: 'No issues with air quality,' official says
There are currently no air quality concerns in the area where a railcar leaked hazardous chemicals near Cleves and Whitewater Township, officials said.
Jason Cashmere with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said three fixed air monitoring stations and mobile crews did not observe any odors or concentrations of styrene in the air overnight.
The leak was likely caused by the chemicals additive stabilizers, or substances used to maintain a material's physical and chemical properties, becoming ineffective," said Mike Miller, a Central Railroad of Indiana representative.
"There's no issues with air quality," Miller said.
First responders first noticed the venting near U.S. Route 50 and state Route 128 and the railroad was notified around 1 p.m. Tuesday, Miller said, adding that firefighters applied water to the railcar to keep its temperature down.
The railcar ceased leaking as of Wednesday morning but its unclear exactly how long the gas was venting. Bridget Doherty, a Hamilton County spokesperson, said the railcar had been sitting on the tracks for seven days before officials noticed the leak.
The leaking tanker has been detached from the other 29 railcars it was connected to. Miller said 14 other cars were carrying styrene and were found to have no issues after being tested.
INEOS, a global petrochemicals manufacturer with a facility in Addyston, owns or leases the leaking railcar, Miller said, adding it was headed to a facility just a few miles away.
While some residents have complained of possible health effects and odors, Dr. Stephen Feagins, medical director of Hamilton County Public Health, said styrene evaporates almost immediately in the air, so the likelihood of irritation or toxicity is low.
Feagins also said the chemical can give off a smell even below toxic concentrations. He said there have yet to be any hospitalizations because of the leak. Anyone experiencing health effects is urged to seek medical attention.
As of Wednesday afternoon, roads remained closed and the evacuation area was still a half-mile radius from the railcar, officials said.
At this time, I dont foresee that changing at all, said Mike Siefke, chief of Little Miami Joint Fire and Rescue District.
Although the leak has stopped and air quality doesnt appear to be an issue, Siefke said the evacuation zone is being maintained out of an abundance of caution as theres still a risk of explosion.
Railroad representatives will be at the Whitewater Township Community Center to answer residents questions. Residents can also call 1-800-757-7387. Officials are expected to release more information at 7 p.m.
Cleves Mayor Chuck Birkholtz spent much of the 24 hours since the tanker leak meeting with and speaking to residents concerned about possible chemical exposure.
I think the sooner we get this behind us probably the better, Birkholtz said.
"People are on pins and needles. They're concerned, Birkholtz added. With residents getting their information through social media and televised news reports, theres been some skepticism about whether people are getting the full story, he said.
"I think whenever something like this happens, there's doubt, he said, adding that until theres reason to believe otherwise, people should trust the agencies on the ground.
Quinlan Bentley
11:55 a.m. Officials to give update at noon
Local and railroad officials are setting up to provide an update on the rail car leak and evacuation just after noon.
Quinlan Bentley
10:50 a.m.: President Biden briefed on leak
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the styrene leak from a parked railcar in Cleves, according to a statement issued by the White House. The administration is in touch with state and local officials.
Federal Railroad Administration and Environmental Protection Agency officials are on the ground assisting with hazmat operations and air quality testing, according to the statement.
"The President has directed his team to provide any resources that may be needed. We urge residents to heed the warnings of emergency personnel, especially those instructed to evacuate," the release states.
Enquirer staff
8:30 a.m.: News briefing on the train car styrene leak
Crews worked overnight to cool a rail tanker that began leaking a toxic chemical Tuesday afternoon in Whitewater Township, officials said.
While the tanker has stopped venting styrene, a toxic and flammable chemical used to manufacture plastics, its still unsafe to return to the area and air quality is still being monitored, railroad and local officials said in a press conference Wednesday morning.
A half-mile evacuation zone remains in place alongside road closures. Hamilton County spokesperson Bridget Doherty said roughly 210 homes have been evacuated because of the chemical leak.
We dont yet know the specifics of how this happened, said Tom Ciuba, a spokesperson for the Central Railroad of Indiana, which owns the railyard. Right now were focused on mitigating the situation and then, of course, there will be thorough investigations into what caused the incident.
Officials said the initial call related to the chemical leak at a railyard near U.S. Route 50 and State Route 128 went out at 12:46 p.m. There have not been any civilian or firefighter injuries reported, nor have there been reports of symptoms related to chemical exposure.
Just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, officials reported that the railcar had been detached from the remaining 29 cars on the track, Doherty said.
We are working as safely as possible to mitigate this as quickly as possible, Ciuba said.
Emergency responders previously expressed concern that elevated temperatures inside the railcar could cause an explosion. Railroad officials said the tank car will continue to be monitored until its deemed safe to move.
John Keffer, a representative of the Central Railroad of Indiana, said such chemical leaks are not a common occurrence.
This is going to be a slow process, its going to be an all-day event, said Mike Siefke, chief of Little Miami Joint Fire and Rescue District, adding that another update is expected around noon.
It is not clear how long the railcar was venting the gas, what caused the leak or why it stopped. Officials also have not said which company owns the railcar and how long it was at the rail yard.
Quinlan Bentley
Evacuation order remains in place
People living within a half-mile of the area of the railcar were told to leave their homes and those just outside the area were told to keep their windows closed.
Siefke previously said the threat of explosion stemming from a railcar's leak of styrene was not imminent but a very real concern.
"I am more concerned knowing what we know now," Siefke said.
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Residents want to know when they can return home
Mike and Teri Conn were waiting Wednesday morning in the Whitewater Township Community Center parking lot to get the latest information on when they can go back home.
The Hooven couple left their house Tuesday afternoon for a hotel and still wore the same clothes from the previous day.
I just want to know how long this is gonna be, said 62-year-old Teri Conn, adding that the not knowing has been the worst part.
She said the first indication that something was wrong came from her son, who called to check on her. She then heard from her other children before a Hamilton County Sheriffs deputy announced over a loudspeaker ordering residents to leave the area.
Mike Conn, 63, said he was at work when his wife called saying they had to find somewhere else to stay. They didnt even have time to pack.
All hell broke loose, Teri Conn said.
The couple, whove lived in Hooven since 1999, said theyve never had issues with the railyard besides the occasional derailment. Now, Teri Conn said she isnt sure if her feeling under the weather is due to chemical exposure, or nerves.
What is styrene?
The chemical that leaked from the railcar is a toxic and flammable gas used to make plastic, paint and rubber.
The colorless gas has a sweet odor. It can cause headaches and nausea and make it hard to breathe. Long-term exposure to the gas can damage organs.
What is styrene? What to know about the toxic chemical spurring Cleves evacuation
The chemical has been linked to cancer and it's been listed as a human carcinogen by the National Toxicology Program and the National Academy of Sciences.
How did the leak happen?
At 12:46 p.m., a call related to the chemical leak at a railyard west of Cincinnati was made to officials.
The Central Railroad of Indiana was notified shortly after that a rail car on its property was venting styrene. The railroad does not own the railcar, a railroad spokesperson said.
At roughly 2 p.m., the Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency alerted the public via social media. The agency initially told residents to stay indoors and seal off doors and windows. An hour later, officials urged everyone within a half-mile radius of the railyard by U.S. Route 50, state Route 128 and Valley Junction Road to immediately leave the area.
A shelter-in-place order was put in effect for residents within three-quarters of a mile from the leak Tuesday afternoon.
Around a dozen agencies, including the Greater Cincinnati Hazardous Materials Unit, responded to the scene, Siefke said. The Ohio EPA said its Emergency Response team arrived around 4 p.m. to assist local emergency responders.
Officials have not said what caused the train car to start venting styrene but Siefke said the leak was not caused by a train derailment.
Mike Siefke (left), chief of Little Miami Join Fire and Rescue District, speaks to the media about the chemical leak near Cleves.
How are crews controlling the leak?
Crews are working to cool down the rail car by applying water to its tank, with explosion concerns stemming from elevated temperatures within the rail car, Siefke said.
He said they did not know why the car had stopped leaking, Fox19 reported.
Brian Stussie, of Genesee & Wyoming Railroad, said crews managed to separate the leaking rail car from the rest of the train. He said there were other cars connected to the train carrying the same chemical, styrene, according to the Fox19 report.
We removed the remaining cars that were coupled to the car in question, Stussie said. Were monitoring the temperature as we speak and were using water to keep the car cool.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said personnel from the Federal Railroad Administration are en route to the incident.
When will the evacuation order be lifted?
Siefke said air samples are being collected and tested.
The first results from the air monitoring will be known on Wednesday, and that will determine whether the evacuation and shelter-in-place orders will be changed.
The Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency issued an evacuation order for a half-mile area around the rail car that was leaking styrene. Residents within a three-quarters-mile area were told the stay indoors and seal off windows and doors, close fireplace dampers, and turn off the heat.
UPDATE: The image has been clarified for the evacuation area of half-mile radius. https://t.co/lTpcF0Ni9U pic.twitter.com/Mv66wHwCss Hamilton County EMA (@HCEMA) September 24, 2024
How are schools in the area affected?
Three Rivers School District evacuated students and staff from school buildings and canceled all after-school activities Tuesday evening. District officials announced schools in the district are closed Wednesday.
How did residents respond?
Just before 4 p.m., Tuesday, around a half-dozen people were at the Whitewater Township Community Center, where residents have been encouraged to take shelter while an evacuation order remains active.
Charles Garner, 58, a Hooven resident, said he was visiting downtown when the order was put in place. He couldnt make it home because U.S. Route 50 was shut down. His 92-year-old mother, also a Hooven resident, had to leave her home and was taken to the shelter.
Charlie Davis, 74, of Hooven said police knocked on his door and told him to leave due a chemical leak his home.
Charlie Davis, 74, was sitting in his Hooven home watching a movie when he heard banging on the door. A police officer was going door to door on his street warning residents of the evacuation order.
When he came outside, he said the air smelled of gasoline and his eyes started burning. I know people who ignored (the evacuation order), but not me. Ive got too many health problems, he said.
Who owns the railcar?
The railcar is located on property owned by Central Railroad of Indiana, a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc., which owns or leases more than 100 railroads across North America.
Officials have not said who owns the railcar.
Where is Cleves?
Cleves is a village located on the West Side of Hamilton County and 16 miles west of downtown Cincinnati. The village encompasses 1.6 square miles and has a population of 3,414 residents according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
Has this happened before?
In August 2005, styrene began leaking from a rail car in Cincinnati's East End. That was not the result of a derailment, but the leak forced evacuations and shelter-in-place orders for residents.
After two days of fear that the 30,000-gallon tank car could explode, hazmat teams were able to contain the leak. A rail car had been left sitting over the summer for more than five months, leading the styrene inside to heat and eventually to leak out.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Styrene leak near Cincinnati: What we know about evacuation, chemical
Styrene leak near Cincinnati is yet another toxic chemical spill in Ohio. Here are more
Ohioans have been forced from their homes in Southwest Ohio this week as a train car carrying a toxic chemical developed a leak.
It's another in a series of chemical leaks in Ohio and surrounding states, endangering communities and their residents.
Here's a look at a few of them.
Road closure at US-50 and OH-128 in Whitewater Township due to chemical leak Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. Officials reported Tuesday afternoon that a rail car is leaking styrene, a toxic and flammable chemical that can damage organs, inflame lungs, and make breathing hard.
Residents ordered to evacuate after train car leaks styrene in Cleves, Ohio
The most recent leak, a railcar at a train yard in Cleves, west of Cincinnati, that was carrying styrene, a toxic and flammable chemical, developed a leak on Tuesday, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Residents of about 210 homes within a half-mile of the leak were ordered to evacuate, and several schools were closed on Wednesday.
By Wednesday morning, the railcar had stopped leaking, officials say, but evacuation and shelter-in-place orders were still in effect over air quality concerns.
This drone photo shows portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train in flames after it derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in 2023.
Train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, releasing hazardous chemical
In February 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed and caught fire in East Palestine, Ohio, near the border with Pennsylvania, the Beacon Journal reported. Five cars carried a toxic, flammable gas called vinyl chloride that can cause certain cancers. People were evacuated and a controlled release of gas was conducted to prevent an explosion.
The U.S. Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency sued the railroad in March 2023 to ensure that it pays the full cost of cleanup and any long-term effects of the derailment. Norfolk Southern agreed to a $310 million settlement in May 2024.
The National Transportation Safety Board found in June 2024 that burning off chemicals after the derailment was unnecessary, the Beacon Journal reported. Officials intentionally released and burned off toxic vinyl chloride from five derailed cars, sending smoke and chemicals into the air despite the potential health effects.
West Virginia chemical spill affected water for 300,000 people
In January 2014, roughly 10,000 gallons of Methylcyclohexane Methanol, a chemical used in the coal industry, spilled into the Elk River just upstream from the Kanawha County municipal water intake in Charleston, West Virginia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That water system serves about 300,000 people, all of whom were told not to drink, cook, bathe or wash with the water, even after boiling. According to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, 14 people were admitted to the hospital and 231 people were treated and released in connection to the contamination. West Virginia Poison Control received more than 1,000 calls. However, no deaths were connected to the spill.
The spill left thousands without water for weeks, WVPB reports.
The Brown's Shoprite in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, is nearly out of bottled water following a chemical spill near Philadelphia in 2023.
Latex spill threatened drinking water in Philadelphia
A ruptured pipe in March 2023 spilled more than 8,000 gallons of a latex chemical solution into the Delaware River, a source of drinking water for millions, upstream of Philadelphia, USA TODAY reported.
City officials recommended residents use bottled water for drinking and cooking, prompting widespread panic buying. The city later said tap water was safe to drink or store for later use.
After testing, no contaminants were found in drinking water.
Train derailment in Kentucky forced evacuation for molten sulfur spill
In November 2023, a CSX train derailed in Eastern Kentucky, spilling molten sulfur and forcing the evacuation of a nearby small town over air quality concerns, NBC News reported.
The derailment involved 16 cars, two of which were carrying molten sulfur that caught fire, Bryan Tucker, a spokesperson for CSX, told NBC. Molten sulfur is known to release sulfur dioxide when it burns, CSX said in a statement. Sulfur dioxide can cause respiratory problems, per the Environmental Protection Agency website.
The molten sulfur burned for 24 hours, covering the nearby town of Livingston, population 200, with toxic levels of sulfur dioxide, NBC News later reported. Two residents sued CSX over the spill, alleging the company exposed them to chemicals that "have been proven to cause long-term medical problems for humans" according to the federal lawsuit.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Toxic Ohio styrene spill one of many chemical leaks. A look at others
SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) Suffolk Parks & Recreation recently won three awards at the 71st Annual Conference of the Virginia Recreation and Park Society.
The conference, which was held in Norfolk on Sept. 16 honors individuals, departments and organizations throughout the Commonwealth who demonstrated excellence during 2023.
This year, over 140 applications were received, all competing to win awards across 16 different categories. Suffolks awards can be found below:
Best New Facility (Bricks and Mortar): For the Bennetts Creek Restoration Center
Best New Renovation/Addition (Parks, Playgrounds, Blueways, Greenways or Trails): For the Cypress Park Pool Renovation
Most Creative Marketing Strategy: For Elf in the Park
For more information, contact the Suffolk Parks & Recreation Department at 757-514-7250.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
ATLANTA (AP) A new lawsuit seeks to overturn two provisions of a Georgia election law related to voter challenges.
The Georgia State Conference of the NAACP and the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda filed suit on Tuesday in federal court in Atlanta, arguing that a law passed earlier this year by lawmakers unfairly discriminates against homeless people and voters registered at nonresidential addresses.
State Senate Ethics Committee Max Burns, a Republican from Sylvania, said hes confident Senate Bill 189, which partly took effect in July, will hold up in court.
The legal challenges to SB 189 were anticipated. It was crafted with the intent to withstand any such challenges, and we are confident that the states position will prevail, ensuring SB 189 remains the law of the land," Burns, who sponsored the law, said in a statement Tuesday.
Part of the law lets people file legal challenges to the eligibility of voters registered at nonresidential addresses. County election boards decide whether to reject the challenge or uphold it. Supporters of the law argue many people are incorrectly registered at business addresses or even in empty lots instead of where they live. That means someone may be voting in the wrong precinct and the wrong local government and state legislative elections.
Some voter challengers, for example, argue that no college student should be able to register to vote at their college dormitory because they dont intend to live there indefinitely, even though voting officials disagree and allowing students to register at college has long been the practice.
Those opposing the law argue that college dormitories, senior and nursing facilities and homeless shelters may be zoned as nonresidential, saying there's no basis in state or federal law for challenging a voter solely because they provided a nonresidential address.
Residing at a premises deemed to residential in character is not required by the Georgia Constitution or any other Georgia law respecting voter eligibility in the state of Georgia, the lawsuit states.
The plaintiffs also seek to overturn a separate section of the new law that takes effect Jan. 1 that governs where homeless people register. That section mandates that homeless people use their county's election office to receive election-related mail. That could, in some cases, mean long journeys for people to retrieve mail including absentee ballots and challenges to their eligibility. The lawsuit says the law is unfair because all other Georgia voters can receive mail at their address of choice, even if it's not where they reside.
The suit warns that it's unclear whether counties will hold mail for homeless people, that there isn't a special homeless category on voter registration forms, and that counties may unilaterally change mailing addresses for existing voters or reject new applications from homeless people who don't list the county office.
Eligible voters who are unhoused, housing-insecure or otherwise living at a location with a nonstandard address or no address at all retain their right to vote regardless of the nature or status of their residence, the suit states.
An Associated Press survey of Georgias 40 largest counties found more than 18,000 voters were challenged in 2023 and early 2024, although counties rejected most challenges. Hundreds of thousands more were challenged in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Republican activists are challenging tens of thousands of Georgia voters as part of a wide-ranging national effort coordinated by Donald Trumps allies to take names off voting rolls. Most of the people they are targeting have moved away from their old addresses, and the activists argue that letting those names stay on the rolls invites fraud. But Democrats and liberal voting rights activists argue Republicans are challenging voters either to remove Democrats or to sow doubt about the accuracy of elections in advance of 2024 presidential voting.
The leader of a New York City drug trafficking organization who participated in the murders of two teenagers a decade ago was convicted by a federal jury of racketeering conspiracy, murder, and firearms-related charges.
Carlos Ramirez, a.k.a. Guerra, leader of the Sunset Trinitarios, a violent street gang and drug trafficking organization founded in Brooklyns Sunset Park, was convicted Friday of conspiracy to commit racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, and the use of a firearm to commit murder following a two-week trial, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York announced Monday.
For more than a decade, the family members of Michael Beltre and Jordanny Correa have waited for justice. Their wait is now over. With its verdict, the jury has now held Carlos Ramirez, a.k.a. Guerra, a leader of the Sunset Trinitarios, responsible for nearly a decade of drug trafficking, robberies, and violence, including the murder of these two young men, both teenagers at the time that they were shot to death, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
It does not matter how long ago their lives were lost to the scourge of gang violence in this city. I promise you that the career prosecutors of this office and our law enforcement partners will never stop investigating and prosecuting these righteous cases, Williams said.
From 2010 to 2024, members of the Sunset Trinitarios committed numerous violent crimes, including armed robberies across the city, multiple murders and attempted murders.
Ramirez, 29, rose to multiple positions of leadership during that period, both out on the street and while inside state and federal detention facilities in New York City.
On Oct. 23, 2013, Ramirez participated in 17-year-old Beltres murder, striking him and holding him down while another gang member fatally shot him. On Nov. 2, 2014, Ramirez fatally shot 19-year-old Correa inside a Bronx apartment.
As a so-called devil soldier messenger of the Sunset Trinitarios, Ramirez got two identical tattoos commemorating the murders. The moniker stems from the gang celebrating killing their victims and delivering them to the devil.
In Feb. 28, 2023, Ramirez attempted to murder a former Sunset Trinitarios leader inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn because he believed the former leader had given information to law enforcement.. Ramirez carried out the attack with the help of others, slashing and stabbing the victim with a knife, causing severe injuries.
Ten co-conspirators and fellow members of Sunset Trinitarios have previously pleaded guilty, prosecutors said. Some are awaiting sentencing, while others have received sentences from multiple years to life in prison.
Ramirez is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan 9, 2025. He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison for the charge of murder in aid of racketeering, and up to life in prison for each of the other two charges.
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Mexican soldiers guard the 3.3 ton packages of pure cocaine found inside the plane that crashed in the the southern Yucatan, Mexico in September 2007.
Just before dawn on Sept. 24, 2007, a red, white, and blue Gulfstream II fell from the sky over the Yucatan Peninsula.
The private jet had taken off without passengers from Rio Negro, Colombia, for Cancun, Mexico, more than 1,200 miles north, but crossed radar as a suspicious flight, tried to outrun scrambled Mexican military aircraft, and crash-landed.
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The fuselage skidded into the jungle and split into three neat segments, and the cockpit rolled upside down, somehow sparing the two pilots, who fled on foot. Mexican commandos captured and arrested them, and from the wreckage, removed 132 industrial trash bags, weighing around 4 tons. The bags were filled with cocaine. But the cocaine was the least interesting thing about the Gulfstream.
Under its prior owner, this plush ride had flown for the CIAs rendition program, a network of planes in corporate camouflage that shuttled terrorism suspects to black sites or Guantanamo Bay. When it went down, it belonged to a newly-formed company near Boca Raton, Florida, called Donna Blue Aircraft. Googling it at the time, youd find a half-finished website, listing a 555 phone number and a testimonial from satisfied customer John Doe. Visiting its headquarters, youd find an unmarked door in an office park. And its acronym? The legal term for doing business as. Donna Blue Aircraft looked, in other words, like a crudely imagined front, and thats exactly what it was. According to government documents, it was an undercover company of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The coke jet was doing business as ICE.
Five years after the crash, the proprietor of Donna Blue, Joao Luiz Malago, a stout, balding Brazilian national in his early fifties, appeared at a bond hearing in Miami, though not specifically because of the Gulfstream. Until his arrest, Malago had been an obscure aircraft broker in an upscale suburb. Now, he was in federal custody, charged with breaking the law preventing noncitizens from owning American-registered planes.
When his lawyer, Mycki Ratzan, addressed the court, she began unspooling a tale of international intrigue that, she said, staggered her. With its Gulfstream totaled, ICE, she claimed, had urged Malago to emigrate. They tell him to come to the United States because his life is in danger, Ratzan said, according to a transcript reviewed by Rolling Stone. Her client had been a confidential informant for a covert ICE operation in the mid-2000s, she explained, and coverage of the crash in America and Mexico blew his cover. New Document Provides Further Evidence That Owner of Crashed Cocaine Jet Was a U.S. Operative, read one headline. El Agora was terse: El Chapo Used Jet Linked to CIA.
Now, Ratzan said, the United States suspected the shuttered ICE operation was corrupt the entire time, and was demanding his cooperation. The government believed that he was dirty with their ICE agents, and they couldnt get him to say that, she told the judge. So, as she put it, the feds charged Malago in order to flip him against other feds, so the Justice Department could build a criminal case against ICE. But the prosecutor, who declines to comment, countered that the ICE operation was both irrelevant and a failure.
A Rolling Stone investigation into thousands of pages of government documents, flight logs, court filings, and local news reports across the Western Hemisphere confirmed there was a secret ICE operation. It was called Mayan Jaguar. According to classified reports, ICE bought private planes from 2004 to 2007, intending to tag them with hidden tracking beacons and, through front companies like Donna Blue, sell them to drug traffickers. The beacons were supposed to lead ICE to wherever in the world the planes might land, and ICE was supposed to work rapidly, presumably with local authorities, to arrest traffickers and seize drugs before they hit the streets. If all went according to plan, Operation Mayan Jaguar would be a vast, synchronized sting across the drug wars hottest hot-spots.
It didnt work out that way.
After the crash, the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of Inspector General began to investigate allegations of narcotics smuggling operations under the auspices of Operation Mayan Jaguar, according to IG reports obtained by Rolling Stone. The alleged government smuggling took place with the consent of special agents from the ICE office in Tampa [Florida].
The reports show that ICE agents would draw approximately 20 planes into Operation Mayan Jaguar, including a Boeing 727. And according to testimony in the reports and the prosecutor in Malagos case, ICE stopped none of them, while other governments thwarted some, without ICE meaning the operation may have morphed into a FedEx for cartels. The Drug Enforcement Administration, convinced that traffickers controlled Mayan Jaguar, ordered ICE to shut it down, an ICE agent told the IG. ICE refused. ICE Headquarters advised the agents to continue working, according to another agents IG testimony.
In court, Malagos representatives would say that ICE trapped an innocent man in a turf war with the DEA. Mr. Malago is stuck in the middle between the United States Government and alleged rogue governmental agents turned criminals, Ratzan, his lawyer, wrote in court filings. The charges against Malago would eventually be dismissed, and no one else has been charged. ICE declined to comment.
But IG investigators gathered unsettling testimony that allows the full story of Mayan Jaguar to be told for the first time. Even inside ICE, they found disquiet. ICEs own auditors had identified significant control weaknesses which included serious deficiencies in recording transactions, according to an IG memo. The operation was missing receipts or invoices for over $3 million in expenses related to the purchase and sale of airplanes. An ICE agent under interrogation assured the IG that the audit for the final year, 2007, was clean. But why were ICE auditors not provided information about Donna Blue and its Gulfstream II for that clean audit? The agent said he didnt know. ICE, it seems, hid the Gulfstream from itself.
A coordinated interagency task force
In the summer of 2004, according to an ICE agents account to the DHS inspector general, Tampa ICE began holding meetings to hatch Mayan Jaguar. They planned to find foreign clandestine labs, identify smuggling routes, and intercept smuggled narcotics in the U.S. and other countries. ICE was only a year old, a merger of U.S. Customs with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, under the newly established Department of Homeland Security. And Operation Mayan Jaguar would be a coordinated interagency task force developed by the intelligence community, according to an internal ICE memo, indicating other players were involved.
Always seamy, the narcotics trade was largely legal until global prohibition began in the early 20th century. Waves of drug planes and state-sponsored trafficking werent far behind. From the 1950s to the 1970s, CIA proprietary airlines flew arms into the Golden Triangle for anti-communist guerillas, and were suspected of flying out with the guerillas opium. It was allegedly the same deal in the Eighties, but in Central America, with cocaine (which the CIA has strongly denied), while in Asia, the CIA paid Afghan heroin lords to fight the Soviets, and later to fight the Taliban. In 1998, the CIAs marquee aviation front, Southern Air Transport, declared bankruptcy a week before the CIAs inspector general implicated the company in cocaine trafficking. But CIA aviation simply fractalized and reformed, becoming P.O. boxes, fictitious owners, and fly-by-night firms. Cartels likewise evolved. More than a half-century after President Richard Nixon declared a War on Drugs and formed the DEA, the human costs are endless and the results doubtful, with the U.S. awash in fentanyl from cartels so rich and powerful that they can almost say, like Louis XIV did apocryphally, Letat, cest moi.
Still, the war goes on, and one way is by moving illegal drugs in a sting like Mayan Jaguar. Called controlled delivery, the practice is secretive and under scrutiny as overbroad. In theory, shipments have to be under surveillance at all times and intercepted. Their use has backing in a 1988 convention that virtually every country has signed, according to Melvyn Levitsky, a former assistant secretary of state for international narcotics matters. Each government along the way has to agree, he says. Otherwise, youd be breaking their law.
There are inherent risks to controlled deliveries, like cartels sweeping for trackers. Shortly after Mayan Jaguar, during Operation Fast and Furious, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms sold off nearly 2,000 guns and lost many of them, one time because GPS tags ran out of battery.
Controlled deliveries have a history of slipping away and blowing back on three-letter agencies. Uncontrolled controlled deliveries is what Levitsky calls them, citing a CIA operation that pushed at least a ton of cocaine into Miami in 1990. Officials say the cocaine wound up being sold on the streets, The New York Times reported on its front page in 1993. There are striking parallels to Mayan Jaguar. Like the ICE operation, this CIA operation zeroed in on Venezuela. There, the CIA pitched the DEA on uncontrolled shipments, ostensibly to win cartels trust and reap intelligence, the Times reported. As with the ICE operation, the DEA said the CIA operation should be called off. Like ICE, the CIA had gone ahead anyway. But the DEA blew the whistle after the CIA IG investigated, setting off a national scandal, the federal indictment of a Venezuelan general, and a CIA officers resignation over what the agency called a most regrettable incident. The uncontrolled shipments, as it turned out, may have totaled 22 tons of cocaine.
Secrecy and competing claims still shroud Mayan Jaguar, although theres agreement that it was out of control. Ratzan, Malagos lawyer, would say the campaign swept up drugs and traffickers, while her replacement on the case, Frank Quintero, acknowledged that ICE not his client broke rules. But the worst-case scenario is ICE-as-cartel. Mayan Jaguar was and is a black eye, says a former federal official whose work has intersected with elements of Mayan Jaguar. The agents did something they shouldnt have done. The government did not do what it was supposed to do. There were allegations the agents were running the dope themselves, literally getting paid for bricks that they were moving themselves, likely by the ton.
Allegations of narcotics smuggling
Mayan Jaguar was a part of a broader ICE undercover operation named Beachhead, launched April 19, 1989, under U.S. Customs, according to one of the DHS IG reports, quoting John V. Montaldo, an ICE agent and co-author of the initial undercover proposal for Beachhead. Montaldo was assigned as the Program Manager for Beachhead on Sept. 10, 2001. The terrorist attacks the next day would prompt the formation of the DHS and its adjunct ICE. Im no longer with the agency, Montaldo says by phone, adding, I would have to consult with them before commenting. He did not respond to voice messages. One agent hung up. Another professed to recall nothing except an air operation. The roughly dozen other officials identified as participants in Mayan Jaguar did not respond to voicemails or could not be reached for comment. Mayan Jaguar would last at least three years under President George W. Bush. According to Montaldo, the IG wrote, ICE Tampa agents began to make plans to purchase the first airplane in July 2004.
In approximately June of that year, according to court filings by the U.S. government, Joao Malago became a confidential informant for Mayan Jaguar. Customs agents had apprehended him with $246,000 in hard cash, he would tell investigators in his later court case. The prosecutor in that case would claim that the cash was seized because it had no proper documentation and could not be explained or justified at the time, and that Malago was facing criminal investigation when he turned to helping ICE for commissions. According to an IG memo, some commissions werent documented, and an ICE agent could not recall why. According to testimony to the IG, Malago became the primary source, brokering the majority of aircraft.
Malago worked with several front companies involved in Mayan Jaguar. According to the IG reports and his former lawyers, one was Sky Way Aircraft, run out of a hangar in St. Petersburg, Florida. Sky Way bought planes and then sold them to drug traffickers, and during the operation, all or nearly all of its planes entered the ICE stream.
Following the ICE planes brings the operation into focus. From June 2004 to September 2007 Mayan Jaguars minimum-known span, per IG and ICE reports Sky Way sold or flew at least 15 planes into Latin America, according to FAA records. A source with direct knowledge tells Rolling Stone that ICE used Sky Way to transfer 11 to 12 planes to drug traffickers. Mexico would chase down a twin-engine turboprop, according to Scramble, an aviation newsletter. Venezuelan authorities touring an air terminal would discover another, according to El Sol. Brazil would sequester a Gulfstream II but according to Brazilian reporting and court records, that happened in 2009, after Mayan Jaguar came to an end. A drug trafficker bought a twin-turboprop, per FBI documents, and Venezuela appears to list it as abandoned. Six twin-turboprops and two private jets appear to be untraceable. There dont seem to be arrests or drug seizures in public records, except an ambiguous case in Africa, late in the operation. Given limited information, successes cant be totally ruled out. Given the official allegations that ICE engaged in narcotics smuggling, planeloads of drugs hitting the streets cant be ruled out, either. (ICE declined to comment on whether Mayan Jaguar produced any results.)
Public records of two planes raise the possibility that Mayan Jaguar brought cocaine to market. In September 2004, Sky Way sold a twin-turboprop into Venezuela that, according to a report from Colombias National Directorate of Narcotics, touched down two months later on a cotton farm in Nicaragua, where it was ditched. (The plane drew online fascination because a picture showed it with the tail number of a suspected CIA rendition plane.) The Nicaraguan army told La Prensa that armed men had unloaded packages into seven vans, leaving cocaine residues in the hull. A semitruck with a ton of cocaine, caught days later at a checkpoint, may or may not have been involved, with police accounts differing. It seems unclear whether the cocaine was recovered. With the seizure coming down to police pulling over a truck, neither is it clear ICE would have had anything to do with it.
What we know is that the remaining plane, a King Air 200, officially delivered a lot of cocaine.
In February 2005, this twin-turboprop transported 2.5 tons of cocaine worth as much as $200 million from Colombia to Mexico, which was subsequently successfully imported and distributed in the United States, according to U.S. government filings to the Supreme Court of Colombia obtained by Rolling Stone. Malagos former lawyer Brittney Horstman, in his later case, would write that the plane came under the auspices of Operation Mayan Jaguar.
Sky Way owned the plane when it allegedly delivered the cocaine, according to FAA records. Sky Ways owner was an ICE informant, according to testimony to the IG. And eight months before the alleged drug run, ICE started selling planes through Sky Way, according to ICE agents reports obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. So Sky Way was already seemingly an ICE front when its turboprop shipped the cocaine in early 2005. (The owner did not respond to requests for comment, and is not accused of wrongdoing.)
According to the U.S. filings, the turboprop took off a few months later, in June 2005, to collect a further 2.2 tons of cocaine in Colombia, but suddenly turned back to Venezuela, where the pilots were arrested and then freed by bribes. The cocaine awaiting pickup, rather than being seized by ICE, was stolen by far-right narco-terrorists.
Theres always a big problem when youre doing these types of things, youre facilitating criminal activity, says Robert Mazur, a former DEA operative. You would think you would want to make sure something like that was being coordinated with trusted counterparts in other countries.
Sky Way would finally sell the plane in early 2008, after Mayan Jaguars purported end. According to Aero Flight, a database compiled by so-called planespotters, it would be impounded the next year by Venezuela. As of late 2020, it was still reportedly in their possession.
I had no idea what I was doing
In July 2005, a month after the cocaine theft in Colombia, a new corporate entity materialized in Florida called Tropical Air Trading Co. Like Donna Blue and Sky Way, it was an ICE front, according to the DHS IG memos. And Malago worked with it, too, he and prosecutors would say in his later case.
Tropical Air installed itself in a two-storied, whitewashed strip mall on Tierra Verde, a white-sand island in Tampa Bay. It rented a small, inconspicuous office, a floor up from Smugglers Tavern a bar whose logo is, fittingly, a DEA helicopter chasing a speedboat.
That month, Venezuela accused the U.S. of drug trafficking and expelled the DEA. And, absent Venezuelan approval, sending drug planes there would have almost certainly violated international law, making arrests and ground coordination impossible, says Levitsky, the former State Department official, stressing he has no direct knowledge of Mayan Jaguar. None of this would stop ICE.
ICE assigned an agent, whose name Rolling Stone has chosen to withhold, to work at Tropical Air and follow cartels payments for planes back to their bank accounts, in order to uncover illicit financial networks but he hadnt been trained for that. I had no idea what I was doing, he admitted to the IG. And he was unable to recall any direction from anyone regarding documentation of the wires. Besides a stakeout that he told the IG apparently went nowhere, he couldnt recall there having been any other investigation into the funds received for the purchase of the planes. (And the bookkeeper, he said, did not know how to keep good books.) So, it seems, ICE didnt track the money, inspiring little confidence about the planes.
In the available IG reports, the agent would be the only person asked whether Mayan Jaguar confiscated drugs or made arrests. His answer: No.
Over time he heard that a plane or two had been seized or shot down in South America, the IG wrote. [The agent] was unable to recall any details and was unable to explain why he was not aware if Mayan Jaguar had received credit for the seizures. [The agent] said to his knowledge, no arrests or narcotics were seized by any work done by agents in Mayan Jaguar.
Tropical Air had at least seven planes. All would emerge in drug investigations in Latin America, according to foreign court cases and news reports, several while they were owned by Tropical Air which is to say, owned by ICE. No arrests or seized narcotics were found in public records, although details are sparse about a Gulfstream I that Venezuela linked to the drug trade, and declared abandoned.
The night of June 3, 2006, Colombian reconnaissance intercepted another Gulfstream I, property of Tropical Air, because it had veered from its flight plan, according to a Colombian air force press release. The crew landed at an airfield and escaped, El Mundo reported. Inside, Colombian authorities detected traces of narcotic elements, according to a report by Radio Santa Fe, a news agency in Bogota. Residue would mean the plane had offloaded drugs at least once, says Levitsky. Since cocaine particles dissipate, any wisps in ICEs Gulfstream could have easily been from the nearly five months Tropical Air owned it. Colombia announced that it could have carried up to 4 tons of cargo.
Colombian reconnaissance aircraft intercepting a Gulfstream I of an ICE front company in June 2006.
Around then, Panama impounded a parked, Tropical-owned twin-turboprop that tested positive for marijuana and cocaine, according to Panama America. It had a 2-ton capacity, and a hazy past. The route of this aircraft was the United States, the Dominican Republic, Aruba, Panama, but investigators are not so sure that this is true, the paper reported.
On Aug. 12, 2006, a Gulfstream II that Tropical Air had flown to Panama three months earlier beyond FAA coverage, making its movements, if any, inscrutable, set off alarms by entering Colombian airspace without a flight plan, and was chased to a remote hideout, according to the Colombian air force. The governments triumphal press release didnt mention any arrests or seized drugs. Radio Santa Fe reported cocaine in the interior, without offering specifics.
Then theres the Boeing 727.
It was Mayan Jaguars largest purchase, a TWA passenger turned cargo jet with an eerie air. Tropical Air bought it in late 2005 and flew it to Isla Margarita, a Venezuelan island in the Caribbean. Nine months later, an anonymous source for a local newspaper denied rumors that the Venezuelan authorities were investigating the 727. Instead, it was for sale on the island by Transporte Aereo Corporativo C.A. A DEA memo notes that the DEA identified the 727 in an investigation. (Venezuela seized a drug plane on the island from a Transporte Aereo Corporativo 2006 C.A.) A year later, in September 2007, Venezuela would announce that it had confiscated the 727 the previous year at the islands airport for involvement in narco-trafficking, and was awarding it to the national airline (which is now under American sanctions).
More than a year after that, something strange happened. According to FAA logs, air-traffic control tracked the 727 over Florida for a few minutes and then the pings ceased. A 727 that just appears from nowhere and then five to six minutes later disappears would be cause for immediate concern, Robert W. Mann, an aviation expert, says.
ICE, in its only comment, calls the data invalid. The FAA says it cannot confirm the datas wrong, but mostly dismisses it: The record indicates that the flight occurred at altitudes at and below 6,900 feet and at 126 knots [145 mph] groundspeed. A Boeing 727 could not fly that slow and would not fly at low altitudes. They posit that an incorrect n-number could have been entered, but theres no way to know for sure. When ICE abandoned the plane in Venezuela, sketchy Boeing 727s in Venezuela were moving cocaine to Al Qaeda in Africa. If it was flying that day in 2009, the same year another 727 landed in Mali with as much as 10 tons of cocaine, whatever it was doing was probably illegal. And not just because of any illicit cargo. Its last registered owner, Tropical Air, had been dissolved. It was a ghost plane.
The Boeing 727 that had been owned by ICE front company Tropical Air.
Tropical Airs last two planes surfaced in investigations only to get away. According to Aviation International News and El Carabobeno, suspected drug smugglers separately commandeered them from the airport tarmac in Valencia, Venezuela. A King Air 200 took off without proper authorization in 2006 and went missing. And an impounded Gulfstream I took off without authorization in 2010, when Mayan Jaguar no longer existed. It had arrived in Venezuela in August 2006, coming under drug investigation the next year. Sources linked to the National Guard denied the theft, according to El Carabobeno. Preliminary reports indicate that the Aeronautical Prosecutors Office had already released it and that it would have been returned to its owners as no elements were found to keep it detained for longer. Those who work at the [airport] believe that the plane was stolen to possibly be used in illegal activities. Hijackers apparently absconded with a combined cargo capacity of another 6 tons.
Levitsky, the former assistant secretary of state for narcotics matters, worries ICE enabled the sale of massive quantities of narcotics. It sounds like hundreds of millions [of dollars worth], he says. And by the time it gets to the streets, it could be billions.
ICE begins to go rogue
In late 2006, Tropical Air closed because of problems with the DEA, which disagreed with the way ICE Tampa was running the operation and refused to authorize the continuation of airplane purchases, the DHS inspector general wrote in a report.
ICE received information from the DEA that Malago was double-dipping playing both sides and working with the drug traffickers, according to testimony to the DHS IG from the former ICE agent.
The DEA declined to comment, but Frank Quintero, former lawyer for Malago, denies any wrongdoing on behalf of his client in discussions of this operation, and would claim in court that the DEA got wind of what ICE was doing from a Brazilian government drug agent who was Malagos supervisor for ICE while also working for the DEA. He wanted to score some points with the DEA, so he created all of these reports that showed or pretended to show that Mr. Malago was A target of his investigation. But ICE itself moved to limit Malagos involvement late in the operation, after numerous issues arose around his plane sales, according to another ICE agents IG testimony.
Allegations of this scale against the American government are rare. Now they were coming from the American government.
Whats clear is that the DEA saw a conspiracy, and that a memo came out to close the Mayan Jaguar operation, according to an IG report. And yet, despite the DEA order to halt, ICE agents pressed on, the IG wrote, even with their authority in question.
Essentially, the governments own records suggest that ICE went rogue.
Sky Way apparently kept at it. According to aviation records, and the prosecutor in Malagos case, it sold a Cessna into Venezuela on Feb. 2, 2007 that crossed the Atlantic on May 1, for Mauritania, on Africas west coast, where police seized around 1,300 pounds of cocaine. The two alleged Belgian pilots took off again, landed in the desert, and apparently vanished.
Malagos former lawyer Brittney Horstman told a judge that ICE ordered Malago to forge ahead: When D.C. told ICE that they were not operating appropriately with the money and tracking the money, they said, You have to shut down that company [Tropical Air]. ICE said, Okay. We are going to do it a different way. Mr. Malago, open up your company and we are going to do the operation, but we are going to do it through your company.
So Malago incorporated Donna Blue Aircraft as a new ICE front, and bought at least one plane, the Gulfstream II doomed to crash in the Yucatan. Agents were told that no more money could go through government accounts, but that they were allowed to continue through Malagos accounts, according to the agents testimony. Another ICE agent testified that this didnt follow standard protocol.
The Gulfstream had beige leather seats and a Langley pedigree. Under the previous owner, it had visited Guantanamo Bay and flew for the CIAs rendition program, according to flight logs and the CIA rendition contractor, Richmor Aviation, that chartered it.
ICE apparently bought a second jet from New World Aviation, a suspected CIA rendition contractor in Allentown, Pennsylvania. (New World says that it wants to emphasize that it always supports government activities, but also that it is under new ownership.) In June 2007, Venezuelan authorities seized the jet on a runway with around 2.5 tons of cocaine, according to the prosecutor in Malagos case.
Right after the Gulfstream IIs crash in September 2007, Malago told reporters that he had just sold the Gulfstream to two men, including a small-time aviation entrepreneur who had loaned a plane to the CIA, according to DEA documents. (When reached for comment, that entrepreneur denied any knowledge before hanging up.)
Meanwhile, Mayan Jaguar agents wrote in a memo that their operation was an interagency collaboration developed by the intelligence community.
When asked if they were involved, the CIA declined to comment on specific operations, but issued a statement: The suggestion that CIA somehow engaged in unlawful drug trafficking activities is false. CIA is committed to U.S. law. When first contacted in 2022, the CIA suggested that the Director of National Intelligence might be able to clarify the reference to the intelligence community. The DNI supervises what it calls the Intelligence Community, including the CIA. I will see what I can find, the DNI told Rolling Stone, but stopped responding to requests for comment.
News that the Mexican government had forced down the Gulfstream and confiscated its 4 tons of cocaine landed with a thud at ICE. The agent was told he could not write a seizure report to take credit, according to his testimony to the DHS IG. He did not know why.
After the crash, the DEA wrote a letter to ICE and complained again about ICE brokering the airplanes, according to the testimony. The DEAs intervention resulted in the end of the operation, he said.
A soldier stands next to bags filled with cocaine that were found in the Gulfstream II that crashed in Tixkokob, in Mexicos Yucatan state, Sept. 24, 2007
For Malagos own safety, ICE instructed him to settle his family in south Florida, so he did, counting on ICE agents promise that we, the United States government, are going to handle your visas, Ratzan, the lawyer in his later case, would claim. Once those agents came under investigation, those promises seemed to, of course, disappear. ICE later put Malago on an immigration detainer, threatening him with deportation. All the while he posed as an unwitting businessman.
ICE would eventually confirm Mayan Jaguars existence to Narco News, which asked an ICE spokesperson whether the operation succeeded. The quoted answer: I dont think anything came out of it. The now-former spokesperson defers to ICE, which would not comment on a detailed summary of this reporting.
You shouldnt be doing any of this shit shut Mayan Jaguar down
Around June 2008, ICE officially stopped employing Joao Malago, according to the prosecution in his case, while the DHS inspector general seized all his office documents and computers, according to one of his former lawyers. He kept busy. That month, he rebranded Donna Blue Aircraft as North Atlantic Aircraft Services, and went on to sell at least 33 planes through the company, mostly into Brazil. Hed later tell the DEA that ICE agents had urged him to stay in touch when you sell planes to Brazil. Hed fidget and appear nervous before admitting they still talked, according to DEA interrogation notes. In 2012, he was indicted.
Andrea Hoffman, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, has alleged that Malago illegally sold the 30-plus planes as a foreign national, and that he knowingly passed at least one to drug smugglers.
Hoffman limited the indictment to events that took place after Mayan Jaguars putative end. Even so, she said, Mayan Jaguar achieved nothing.
There are to my knowledge no seizures in the United States nor prosecutions out of Mayan Jaguar, she told Judge Jonathan Goodman. There are seizures and captures that happened largely from crashes or foreign national activity, with after-the-fact reporting to U.S. authorities, not the other way around. It wasnt American-instigated investigations that drew in foreign nationals.
A federal prosecutor was saying ICE stopped none of its drug planes, an upsetting claim, given ICEs approximately 20 drug planes. (Her office has nothing to add.)
Malagos former lawyer Frank Quintero tells Rolling Stone that he isnt sure either way whether the prosecutor was right about Mayan Jaguar. I cant deny it. But what I can tell you is that Malago had no obligation to keep track of the planes. ICE is the one that has to document those things not Malago.
Malago became collateral damage in a federal turf war, Quintero says. The war starts because ICE Tampa violated the memorandum of understanding regulating DEA-ICE relations. They got into [foreign] narcotics and money-laundering activities, which ICE had no jurisdiction over, he says. So the Justice Departments Office of Professional Responsibility, formed after Watergate, said, You shouldnt be doing any of this shit shut Mayan Jaguar down. They dont. And ICE didnt communicate to the Mexican government about the Gulfstream, causing things to hit the fan in Washington when it crashed, while ICE agents wrote reports to cover up certain improper activities, he told a judge.
They shut down Operation Mayan Jaguar after the OIG began to investigate and determine that they had not only violated the memo of understanding, but also the internal protocols, he said in court.
On March 19, 2014, a few days before the trial date for United States v. Joao Luiz Malago, the government, having already dismissed the drug charges, dismissed the counts of FAA violations. Malago was a free man.
Quintero says he caught witnesses lying and other prosecutorial mistakes. This was all a bullshit case with bullshit evidence designed to get Malago to cooperate against ICE agents, which he knew nothing about, Quintero says. Were transponders put on planes by Malago? Yes. Were the planes tracked by ICE? I have no fucking idea. If a transponder was put in, I assume they were being tracked. In court, Hoffman, the prosecutor, agreed there were trackers on planes but only on the planes not carrying drugs. It was all the planes that didnt have transponders on them that had drugs on them, she told the judge. So did cartels know to remove the ICE trackers?
Malagos former lawyer Ratzan claimed in court that Mayan Jaguar had rounded up traffickers and tons and tons and tons of cocaine. The one example given, in a court filing by Quintero, was a drug trafficker convicted in large part because of the transponder placed on plane N192SA. But thats the same plane that successfully imported and distributed 2.5 tons of cocaine into the United States, according to the U.S. filings to the Supreme Court of Colombia. Quintero reasserts that ICE, not Malago, was the authority over the planes. As if to underscore the point, the U.S. filings in Colombia cite ICE for the facts about the huge cocaine shipment but omit that an ICE front shipped it.
Today, Malago is back in business, selling planes through a company bearing his initials, JLM Aviation Services, in Boca Raton. Its website marks a major improvement on Donna Blues slapdash effort. Malago declined to comment on the record. As with any immigrant, even perhaps the rare one invited to emigrate to the U.S. by ICE, the final boss remains ICE, his former employer.
Whether the IG concluded ICE trafficked drugs is unknown. The IG is silent on the point. Its reports, obtained from a court docket, are strewn with repeating barbed-wire fine print: Unauthorized disclosure of this report may result in criminal, civil, or administrative penalties.
In 2009, the umbrella program of Mayan Jaguar, Operation Beachhead, was recertified for action.
Malagos Gulfstream II is no more than scrap metal, but another may live on. In testimony to the IG, an ICE informant recounted selling a Gulfstream II through Mayan Jaguar to drug traffickers south of the border. Homeland Security ultimately seized $350,000 from the informant, the IG wrote, while the jet, with a 4-ton cargo capacity, slipped away. The FAA last tracked it in 2006, from Florida en route to Venezuela, and the trail goes cold over the Caribbean. For all anyone knows, its still out there.
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The Supreme Court refused to block Missouri from executing Marcellus Williams on Tuesday amid questions about the jury selection process and key evidence used in convicting him of murder in 2001.
Williams, 55, who maintains his innocence, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Tuesday at 6 p.m. CDT.
Moments before, the Supreme Court denied his emergency requests to halt the execution. The three justices appointed by Democratic presidents Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson voted to block it.
A jury convicted Williams in the 1998 murder of 42-year-old newspaper reporter Felicia Gayle, who was stabbed 43 times with the knife left lodged in her neck.
Wesley Bell, the St. Louis Countys current prosecuting attorney, does not stand behind the conviction won by his predecessor, citing concerns Williamss constitutional rights were violated and he may be innocent. Court records show the victims widower also does not want the death penalty used.
The Midwest Innocence Project backed Williamss defense, with his legal team in court filings calling his execution a horrifying injustice that reveals systemic problems bigger than even Mr. Williams case.
The ever-present undercurrent of residual doubt as to Mr. Williams innocence plagues this case, even as his execution looms. Mr. Williams conviction and death sentence were secured through a trial riddled with constitutional errors, racism, and bad faith, much of which only came to light recently, his defense team wrote in an emergency request to delay the execution.
Williams latched on to revelations that the murder weapon was mishandled ahead of trial. Last month, new test results indicated the knife had DNA on it belonging to two people involved in prosecuting the case. A trial attorney has also admitted to repeatedly touching the knife without gloves.
Williamss legal team also claimed that attorney recently admitted he struck a potential juror in the case in part because they were Black, which would run afoul of Supreme Court precedent.
The state contests that interpretation. The attorney moments later said, No, absolutely not, when asked if the person was struck because of their race, saying that it was because he and Williams both wore glasses and had similar piercing eyes.
He struck this potential juror in part because he thought Williams and this potential juror looked similar, but not because he was black, the state wrote in court filings.
Williams has spent more than two decades on death row and has been on the cusp of execution multiple times. But it now appears his scheduled injection is set to move forward Tuesday at a state prison in Bonne Terre, Mo.
Then-Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) paused Williamss execution in 2017 and charged a board with collecting evidence about whether he was innocent. Current Gov. Mike Parson (R), who succeeded Greitens, later disbanded the board and last year began a push to set an execution date.
After the Missouri Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the execution to proceed, Parson declined to intervene to block it.
Mr. Williams has exhausted due process and every judicial avenue, including over 15 hearings attempting to argue his innocence and overturn his conviction. No jury nor court, including at the trial, appellate, and Supreme Court levels, have ever found merit in Mr. Williams innocence claims. At the end of the day, his guilty verdict and sentence of capital punishment were upheld, Parson said in a statement earlier Tuesday.
The Supreme Court rarely agrees to take emergency action to block executions. It previously denied 14 requests this year while only granting one, according to an analysis by The Hill.
Williams asserted that his case mimics one the Supreme Court is set to soon consider next: Death row inmate Richard Glossips trial faces similar scrutiny, and the Supreme Court has set oral arguments in his appeal for next month.
As compared to Williamss appeal to the high court on its emergency docket, Glossips case is being heard in its normal course, with a decision expected by summer 2025.
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Supreme Court allows Missouri to proceed with the execution of death row inmate Marcellus Williams
BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) A Missouri man is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Tuesday evening after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the state to proceed with its plan to execute him, rejecting a last-ditch request to intervene on his behalf.
The justices rejected two separate appeals to spare Marcellus Williams life, over the objection of the three liberal justices a day after the Missouri Supreme Court and Republican Gov. Mike Parson declined to step in on Williams behalf.
Locals, officials stand in solidarity with Marcellus Williams in final hours
Williams, 55, has long maintained innocence in the 1998 death of Lisha Gayle, a social worker and former newspaper reporter who was repeatedly stabbed during a burglary of her suburban St. Louis home. The execution is opposed both by Gayles family and the prosecutors office that put Williams on death row an unprecedented combination.
The family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live, the clemency petition stated. Marcellus execution is not necessary.
Williams is among inmates in five states who are scheduled to be executed in the span of a week an unusually high number that defies a yearslong decline in the use and support of the death penalty in the U.S. The first was carried out Friday in South Carolina. The others are scheduled to take place in Texas on Tuesday, and in Oklahoma and Alabama on Thursday.
Williams hopes of having his sentence commuted to life in prison suffered dual setbacks Monday when, almost simultaneously, Republican Gov. Mike Parson denied clemency and the Missouri Supreme Court declined to grant a stay of execution.
Attorneys working on Williams behalf filed motions late Monday challenging the state Supreme Courts decision.
We have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay Marcellus Williams execution on Tuesday based on a revelation by the trial prosecutor that he removed at least one Black juror before trial based on his race, Tricia Bushnell, an attorney for Mr. Williams, said in a news release.
The prosecutor in the 2001 murder case, Keith Larner, testified at an August hearing that he struck one potential Black juror partly because he looked too much like Williams a statement which Williams attorneys asserted showed improper racial bias.
Bushnell said Larner removed six of seven Black prospective jurors. The jury ultimately had 11 white members and one Black member. Larner contended that the jury selection process was fair.
The Missouri attorney generals office filed a response Tuesday saying the only effect of a stay of execution would be another delay in a case that has already been delayed many years through Williams litigation of meritless claims.
The state Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision Monday afternoon, affirmed a lower court ruling rejecting Williams arguments.
Parson accused Williams attorneys of trying to muddy the waters about DNA evidence with claims that courts have repeatedly rejected.
Nothing from the real facts of this case have led me to believe in Mr. Williams innocence, Parson said in a statement.
Parson, a former sheriff, has never granted clemency in a death penalty case. Williams execution would be the third in Missouri this year and the 100th since the state resumed executions in 1989.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell has sought to set aside Williams sentence, citing questions about his guilt. His office joined lawyers from the Midwest Innocence Project in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to grant a stay.
Even for those who disagree on the death penalty, when there is a shadow of a doubt of any defendants guilt, the irreversible punishment of execution should not be an option, Bell said in a statement.
This marks the third time Williams has faced execution. He was less than a week away from lethal injection in January 2015 when the state Supreme Court called it off, allowing time for his attorneys to pursue additional DNA testing.
He was hours away from being executed in August 2017 when then-Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican, granted a stay and appointed a panel of retired judges to examine the case. But that panel never reached a conclusion.
Questions about DNA evidence also led Bell to request a hearing challenging Williams guilt. But days before the Aug. 21 hearing, new testing showed that DNA on the knife belonged to members of the prosecutors office who handled it without gloves after the original crime lab tests.
Without DNA evidence pointing to any alternative suspect, Midwest Innocence Project attorneys reached a compromise with the prosecutors office: Williams would enter a new, no-contest plea to first-degree murder in exchange for a new sentence of life in prison without parole.
Judge Bruce Hilton signed off on the agreement, as did Gayles family. But at the urging of Missouris Republican attorney general, Andrew Bailey, the state Supreme Court blocked the agreement and ordered Hilton to proceed with an evidentiary hearing, which took place Aug. 28.
Hilton ruled on Sept. 12 that the first-degree murder conviction and death sentence would stand, noting that Williams arguments all had been previously rejected. That decision was upheld Monday by the state Supreme Court.
Prosecutors at Williams original trial said he broke into Gayles home on Aug. 11, 1998, heard water running in the shower, and found a large butcher knife. Gayle, a former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was stabbed 43 times when she came downstairs. Her purse and her husbands laptop computer were stolen.
Authorities said Williams stole a jacket to conceal blood on his shirt. Williams girlfriend asked him why he would wear a jacket on a hot day. The girlfriend said she later saw the purse and laptop in his car and that Williams sold the computer a day or two later.
Prosecutors also cited testimony from Henry Cole, who shared a cell with Williams in 1999 while Williams was jailed on unrelated charges. Cole told prosecutors Williams confessed to the killing and offered details about it.
Attorneys for Williams said that fingerprints, a bloody shoeprint, hair and other evidence at the crime scene didnt match Williams.
___
AP writer Mark Sherman contributed from Washington. Salter reported from OFallon, Missouri.
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U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Ryan West, Headquarters Company Commander, Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz, poses with members of the Guam Chamber of Commerce during the Toys for Tots kick-off in Tumon, Guam, Sept. 25, 2024. This year marks the 15th year Toys for Tots has been part of the Guam community. Our island community has been extremely generous in its support of the Toys for Tots campaign over the years, said Catherine Castro, President of the Guam Chamber of Commerce. Even when times were lean, our residents have been the most supportive, which has been amazing to witness! (Photo by Cpl. Ryan Little)
Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz is proud to announce the start of Guams 15th Toys for Tots campaign. Marines from MCB Camp Blaz will deliver toy collection boxes to sites across Guam during the first week of October. Toy collection will conclude the first week of December. The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands 8th Toys for Tots Campaign will kick off on Oct. 2.
Im excited for this years Toys for Tots campaign, said Col. Ernest Govea, MCB Camp Blaz commanding officer. The Campaign is something we prepare for all year, and our Blaz Marines and Sailors are looking forward to working alongside our community partners to make this year a success. Last year we had a record-breaking year, and I know this year is going to be just as successful.
Last year almost 12,000 toys, stocking stuffers, and books were collected on Guam, going to children in need and spreading a message of happiness and hope during the holiday season. At the conclusion of the campaign, approximately 16,500 toys, stocking stuffers, and books were distributed throughout the islands of Guam, Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.
Our island community has been extremely generous in its support of the Toys for Tots campaign over the years. Even when times were lean, our residents have been the most supportive, which has been amazing to witness! said Catherine Castro, President of the Guam Chamber of Commerce. Each year there are different circumstances for our families and maybe this season will be harder for some than years past. Your purchase of even one new and unwrapped toy for a child in need will leave a lasting impression that will never be forgotten. There are many places across the island that will collect your gift for a child needing hope this Christmas. We send our warmest Si Yuos Maase to our business partners and island residents for your continued support of the Toys for Tots program this holiday season.
The Toys for Tots campaign relies on widespread support and generous contributions of individuals, businesses, and communities. The 2024 campaign encourages everyone to get involved, whether through toy donations or serving at a donation location.
We often get asked how families in need can sign their children up as recipients of toys from the program, said Castro. Families are encouraged to contact Catholic Social Service and The Salvation Army to sign their children up by the first week of December for toy distribution the week before Christmas. Please feel free to contact the Chamber at (671) 472-6311 if there are questions about how to participate as a recipient of this years program.
To participate and donate to Toys for Tots, bring a newly purchased, unwrapped toy to one of the many businesses or organizations who have volunteered to be drop-off locations. For a complete list of locations and important dates, please visit the Chambers website at
GuamChamber.com.gu; the MCB Camp Blaz Facebook page, @MCBcampblaz; or the MCB Camp Blaz Instagram page, @mcbcampblaz. For a list of locations on Saipan please contact the Saipan Chamber of Commerce at (670) 234-7150 or visit their Facebook page @SPNChamber. For more information about MCB Camp Blazs Toys for Tots Campaign please contact Capt. Ryan West at (671) 355-8080 or email ryan.west@usmc.mil.
For families on Guam who are in need and would like to request toys please contact either the Salvation Army at (671) 477-9872 or Catholic Social Services at (671) 635-1442.
The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is a not-for-profit charity with a 77-year history. Last year the Marine Toys for Tots Program fulfilled the holiday hopes and dreams of 10.3 million less fortunate children in over 800 communities nationwide by distributing 25.5 million toys, books, and games. For more information, visit www.toysfortots.org.
Despite objections from the St. Louis County prosecutors office, jurors involved in his trial, and the victims family, Marcellus Williams was executed Tuesday evening in Missouri at Potosi Correctional Center. Hours before the execution was set to take place, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the stay of execution, with the three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissenting.
In his final statement written and signed on Sept. 21, Williams wrote (via KMOV), All Praise Be to Allah In Every Situation!!!
Williams, who maintained his innocence, was one of five men scheduled to be executed in the span of seven days; Freddie Owens was executed in South Carolina last Friday, Travis Mullis is also scheduled to die Tuesday in Texas, and, on Thursday, Alan Eugene Miller is scheduled to be executed in Alabama, while Emmanuel Littlejohn faces lethal injection that same day in Oklahoma.
In a statement, Williams attorney, Larry Komp called Williams extraordinary and said, Never have we met someone like him, and never will we again. Komp noted how important faith was to Williams he became a devout Muslim in prison and served as an imam for other Muslim inmates adding, We aspire to his level of faith, to his integrity, and to his complete devotion to the people in his life. He was fiercely protective of the people he loved, and he loved deeply.
But Komp also shared sharp words for the United States justice system and its role in Williams execution.
It is hard to explain how admitted racial discrimination is ignored and never meaningfully addressed, Komp said. It is hard to explain how a prosecutor can admit that he contaminated evidence his entire legal career, including for over a decade after the passage of a DNA statute designed to prevent the contamination of evidence, but nothing is done. The hardest thing to explain, and what we cannot understand, is how rote application of a process to protect finality outweighs finding truth and achieving fairness. The cost is an erosion of public confidence in the system. As public defenders, we are proud defenders of the law. As public defenders, we seek application of the law fairly and equally not exceptions to the Constitution in the name of expediency or harmless error.
Komp added at the end of his statement: Although we are devastated and in disbelief over what the State has done to an innocent man, we are comforted that he left this world in peace. Khaliifah, Jannah peacefully, InshaAllah.
Prior to his execution, one of Williams other attorneys, Tricia Rojo Bushnell, said, Tonight, Missouri will execute an innocent man The victims family opposes his execution. Jurors, who originally sentenced him to death, now oppose his execution. The prosecutors office that convicted and sentenced him to death has now admitted they were wrong and zealously fought to undo the conviction and save Mr. Williams life. More than one million concerned citizens and faith leaders implored Governor [Mike] Parson to commute Marcelluss death sentence. Missouri will kill him anyway.
That is not justice. And we must all question any system that would allow this to occur, she continued. The execution of an innocent person is the most extreme manifestation of Missouris obsession with finality over truth, justice, and humanity, at any cost.
In 2003, Williams was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of social worker and reporter Felicia Gayle in the suburbs of St. Louis. Williams allegedly robbed the woman, then stabbed her to death, hiding her purse and husbands laptop in the trunk of his car. Two witnesses sealed his fate: a girlfriend, who says she discovered the evidence (and that Williams confessed to her), and his former cellmate, Henry Cole, who said that Williams confessed to the murder while in jail for unrelated charges. The defense argued, though, that Cole and the girlfriend were felons who were out for the $10,000 reward money. Regardless, Williams was found guilty and scheduled to be executed in August 2017.
Williams was saved at the last minute by then-Gov. Eric Greitens (R), who called for the process to be stayed in light of what the defense claimed was newly discovered DNA testing on the murder weapon, which suggested that an unknown man was, in fact, the killer not Williams. He then formed a Board of Inquiry to look into the matter. Last year, Gov. Mike Parson (R) who did not provide comment to Rolling Stone dissolved that board before its work could be completed, according to the Innocence Project.
Komp, in his statement after Williams execution, called out the way Parson completely ignored and did away with the Board of Inquiry. This absence of information supports a conclusion that there must have been some recommendations from the Board for a commutation [of Williams sentence] the truth of this will likely never be disclosed, Komp said. Transparency is a hallmark of Democracy, and it is woefully missing here.
Williams lawyers and the Innocence Project continued to fight, though even when it was alleged that the murder weapon was mishandled and the DNA evidence was inconclusive. Initially, both a judge and Gayles family agreed to resentence Williams to life without parole, but due to the urgings of Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, that agreement was blocked. On Sept. 12, that same judge upheld the death penalty for Williams, writing: Every claim of error Williams has asserted on direct appeal, post-conviction review, and habeas review has been rejected by Missouris courts. There is no basis for a court to find that Williams is innocent, and no court has made such a finding. Williams is guilty of first-degree murder, and has been sentenced to death.
A clemency petition to the governor soon followed, as well as a petition calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to review Williams case and stay his execution. Lawyers also alleged that Williams jury was racially uneven. They wrote in a filing that the state used most of its peremptory strikes to block out six of seven potential jurors who were Black. During a last-ditch hearing on Monday, though, Michael J. Spillane, a lawyer from the attorney generals office, denied that the jury was composed based on race, per The New York Times.
The fight for Williams life came down to the wire, with both sides battling it out at Mondays hearing and the NAACP, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and United States Representative Cori Bush of St. Louis asking for mercy. Even Virgin Records Group founder Sir Richard Branson went to bat for Williams, taking out a full-page advertisement in The Kansas City Star asking citizens to advocate for the death row inmate.
Parson, the states Republican governor, announced Monday evening he had rejected the clemency petition and the execution would go forward as planned. Capital punishment cases are some of the hardest issues we have to address in the Governors Office, but when it comes down to it, I follow the law and trust the integrity of our judicial system, he wrote in a statement.
The governor also rejected the defenses claims regarding DNA evidence, claiming that DNA technology and testing before trial did not examine touch DNA, based on standard techniques and practices at the time. He added: Mr. Williams attorneys chose to muddy the waters about DNA evidence, claims of which Courts have repeatedly rejected. He also stated that Williams girlfriend never asked for reward money, and claimed that Williams threatened her should she go to the police.
On Tuesday evening, the conservative-dominated Supreme Court announced it would not grant Williams a stay allowing the state of Missouri to execute him.
As dark as today is, we owe it to Khaliifah to build a brighter future, said his lawyer, Rojo Bushnell. We are thankful to the St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney, for his commitment to truth and justice and all he did to try to prevent this unspeakable wrong. And for the millions of people who signed petitions, made calls, and shared Khaliifahs story.
Tonight, we all bear witness to Missouris grotesque exercise of state power. Let it not be in vain. This should never happen, and we must not let it continue.
This story was updated 9/25/24 with a new statement from one of Williams lawyers, Larry Komp.
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What will the surge of US forces to the Middle East cost the military?
SUBIC BAY, PHILIPPINES The day the Middle East almost erupted into a full regional war this summer, Lloyd Austin was touring an Asian shipyard.
Just before the defense secretary visited Subic Bay, Philippines, the former site of a massive U.S. Navy base, Israel killed the political leader of Hamas, who was visiting Iran.
Austins July visit was meant to show his focus on Asia, the region America says is its top priority. Instead, he ended the trip distracted by the Middle East, spending hours containing the crisis on a flight back to Washington.
Were going to do everything we can to make sure that we keep things from turning into a broader conflict, Austin told reporters that day.
The U.S. military has spent much of the past year backing up that sentiment.
Since Oct. 7, when Hamas attack on Israel provoked all-out war in Gaza, the Pentagon has been on call. When the region has approached a wider war, the Defense Department surged forces there to calm it down. But after a year, some in Congress and the Pentagon are growing concerned about how to sustain that pace, and what it will cost the military in the long term.
Call it the U.S. Central Command squeeze. The Pentagon insists its surge has helped stop the Middle East from falling into chaos. But the longer the region borders on conflict, the more the U.S. tests its endurance for crises later on, most notably, a future conflict with China.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at Philippine navy headquarters as part of his visit to Subic Bay, Philippines, July 2024. (DOD)
The pressure on the military increased even further this week. After their most intense attacks in almost 20 years, Israel and the Lebanese militia group Hezbollah are close to a larger war. On Monday, Austin yet again ordered more troops to the region, joining 40,000 other American personnel there, 6,000 more than normal. Another aircraft carrier may soon follow.
Were caught in this kind of never-ending quagmire of having to divert resources, and were burning [out] on the back end, a senior congressional aide said.
This story is based on interviews with analysts, current and former defense officials and congressional staffers, many of whom were allowed to speak anonymously either because they werent permitted to talk to the press or because they were discussing sensitive topics.
Their message was that Americas military wouldnt exhaust itself anytime soon, but that a year of unplanned deployments and spent missiles come with a cost. Even more, they said, the longer the crisis continues, the more the Pentagon will have to manage tradeoffs between the urgent needs of the Middle East and the rising challenges of the Indo-Pacific.
A sailor passes information via sound-powered phone on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt in the Middle East earlier this month. (U.S. Navy)
Merging
The way American military leaders in the Middle East describe it, they woke up to an entirely new world on Oct. 7.
For the last several years, the narrative around U.S. forces in the region had been one of decreased focus, with adversaries in the Europe and the Pacific taking priority.
That changed when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 and taking hundreds more hostage. For the short-term, at least, the U.S. was refocused on the Middle East.
We didnt know what this was the start of, an American military official told Defense News. We immediately started to go to worst-case planning.
Within weeks of Oct. 7, in support of Israel, the U.S. sent two carrier strike groups, the Gerald R. Ford and the Dwight D. Eisenhower, to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and Middle East. It doubled the number of Air Force fighter squadrons in CENTCOM. And to defend its forces already in the region, the Pentagon rushed valuable air defense batteries nearby.
Our advice to those who might seek to exploit the situation or amplify the conflict is simple, dont, a senior U.S. defense official warned in an October press briefing.
This phrase, which became a cliche among senior members of the U.S. government, was still a clear statement of mission. America was sprinting to defend Israel and its own forces in the region.
That became harder the longer the war lasted. Oct. 7 brought direct attacks between Hamas and Israel, but it also upset a delicate balance among other groups.
Soon after the attack, Israel and Hezbollah which has a formidable force, armed with over 130,000 rockets started trading fire in a cycle of escalating skirmishes.
Militant groups armed by Iran started attacking Israeli and American forces, especially the 3,500 or so stationed between Iraq and Syria, with three soldiers dying in one such attack in January.
Three Army Reserve soldiers were killed in the Jan. 28, 2024, drone attack on the Tower 22 base in Jordan. They are: Sgt. Kennedy L. Sanders, Sgt. Breonna A. Moffett, and Staff Sgt. William J. Rivers. All three were assigned to the 718th Engineer Company, based at Fort Moore, Georgia, and were posthumously promoted. (U.S. Army)
Meanwhile, the Houthis, a terrorist group in Yemen, started firing on commercial ships in the Red Sea, a vital economic waterway where 15% of global trade flowed before last fall.
The Navys running sea fight with the Houthis is the longest and most kinetic since World War II, according to service leaders.
Theres flavors of all those activities in the past and previous rounds that Ive been involved in, but I dont recall a period when so many of them have merged, said another senior U.S. defense official, describing the different attacks.
Bear the burden
As the threats rose, so too did the demand on Americas military. By December, the U.S. began Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea. It devoted an aircraft carrier and destroyers to the task.
In April, when Iran lobbed hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, the U.S. and its partners helped intercept nearly all of them.
Americas national defense strategy accepts that its military cant be everywhere in the numbers it would want. Instead, the plan is to have a movable force. Put more practically: the U.S. argues it can rush to contain crises like the Middle East after Oct. 7 while still deterring a conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific.
Thats what we were saying before Oct. 7 and we just demonstrated it, said Dana Stroul, a top Pentagon Middle East official until early this year. Its been a proof of concept.
But the plan requires these emergencies to eventually end. Despite months of intense diplomacy in the region, the administration is now showing less confidence in its proposed ceasefire deal. And now Israel the country America has spent the last year defending may itself be opening a new front in the war against Hezbollah.
You cant employ diplomacy without the backbone of military capability, said retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, who led CENTCOM until 2022. Military capability without diplomatic messaging is not a good way to approach the problem either.
The Navy destroyer Laboon, shown here in December, is one of several warships that have shot down drones and missiles fired by Iran-backed Houthi Rebels over the Red Sea. (U.S. Navy)
You need both but you have to be willing to bear the burden, he continued.
For some in Congress especially, the concern is that the Middle East is a distraction from the Indo-Pacific.
Pentagon leaders say they calculate the risk in pulling assets from one region to another, and that the choice to move forces away from Asia is a sign that they consider the region stable enough to do so.
Not everyone in the region is convinced.
I have relayed messages that it is better to invest in deterrence where there is no overt conflict, rather than intervene in a conflict where there is one already, the Philippines Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro said in an August interview. He wouldnt specify who in the U.S. those messages have reached.
We had mission and purpose: A chat with the CO of the USS Eisenhower
Cost and benefit
The benefit, in the Defense Departments eyes, of such a large response in the Middle East over the last year is to contain a crisis that threatened to engulf the entire region.
The periodic surges havent accomplished everything the U.S. has wanted. The Navy regularly intercepts Houthi drones and missiles, but the attacks by the Iran-backed group continue, and most shipping companies have chosen to reroute rather than risk becoming a target. Nor is it certain that the militia group will stop even if there is a ceasefire something Pentagon officials say they still dont know.
As the recent fire between Israel and Hezbollah has shown, the U.S. is also stuck responding to the rise and fall in the regional conflict, what Pentagon leaders often liken to riding a roller coaster.
Its obviously lasted longer than anyone would want, the second defense official said.
That notwithstanding, there hasnt yet been a wider war in the Middle East. And while it acknowledges other forces at work, the Pentagon says its helped avoid one.
Amid Red Sea clashes, Navy leaders ask: Where are our ship lasers?
The force posture does matter, Secretary Austin told reporters this month. In some cases, Iran can see many of the capabilities that we have available. In many cases, they cant.
That said, the cost of this posture is also becoming clearer.
The first, and perhaps the most important, part of that tally is the militarys ability to meet future needs, known as readiness in defense jargon. By sending more forces to the Middle East, the Pentagon is accepting what amounts to a mortgage: higher costs on its forces to avoid an even bigger bill.
Theres no more pressing example of this trade than aircraft carriers.
These ships are the Navys most powerful, most visible weapon, and theyre a primary way the U.S. often flexes its military muscle.
An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to the
That said, carriers need a lot of maintenance, and spend about two-thirds of their life in port undergoing some kind of repair. The Navy calibrates their time at sea and their time for maintenance, allowing for some margin, but not much.
Central Command spent two years without a carrier after America left Afghanistan in 2021. But since Oct. 7, the U.S. has rotated four of them into the Middle East. Most of them have also been deployed longer than their scheduled seven months at sea.
If we delay a carrier from going back into port and going back into a maintenance period by a month, it causes an even longer period of disruption, the third defense official said. Its not a one-for-one delay.
Without specifying the impact of these extensions so far, multiple defense officials and congressional aides said the U.S. is already having to manage tradeoffs between the needs of the Middle East today and other areas in the future.
Still, in an interview, the head of readiness for the Navys Fleet Forces Command, which oversees the East Coast-based fleet, argued that the schedules and ships themselves have proved resilient and arent yet showing higher wear.
Sailing those ships in harms way for more months certainly will put stress on that, but I really dont see that process breaking, Rear Adm. Paul Lanzilotta said.
Close calls
This February, the Houthis shot a ballistic missile at the Navy destroyer Gravely in the Red Sea, one of many times the militia group targeted American ships in the waterway.
But this one came close. In fact, the ship used a short-range weapon rather than the typical missile to intercept the attack. The Houthis came within a nautical mile of success, according to Navy officials.
This is an example of the other two costs involved in the Pentagons response. One is to personnel, who are being targeted by militia groups more often and are, in some cases, being deployed longer than planned. The other is the militarys own weapons needed to respond.
The Navy estimates that between Oct. 7 and mid-July, it fired $1.16 billion worth of munitions while on station in the Red Sea.
Many of these are older versions of missiles such as Tomahawks and Standard Missile 2 interceptors that wouldnt be as useful in a fight against China, said a second congressional aide.
Drawings of drones and missiles that have been shot down are painted on the fuselage of a fighter jet stationed on the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea on June 11, 2024. The U.S.-led campaign against Iran-backed Houthi rebels has turned into the most intense running sea battle the Navy has faced since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Still, as long as the Navy is around the Red Sea, it will need to fire weapons that cost more than what theyre shooting down an equation known in the military as an exchange ratio. That deficit has fallen as the U.S. escorts fewer vessels and experiments more with other ways to stop these attacks, multiple officials and analysts told Defense News. But theres only so many ways the military can adapt, and it wont risk losing sailors or ships that cost billions.
Weve dodged disaster so far, but that doesnt really mean its mission accomplished, said a third congressional aide.
In April, Congress passed a $95 billion addition to the Pentagon budget, with $2.44 billion in extra money for Central Command. That funding was designed to last six months, according to the first congressional aide, which would mean its almost out today.
The Pentagon comptroller office declined to offer an estimate of how much more the surge in forces is costing and whether the Defense Department was still running a deficit to pay for it.
Multiple staffs in Congress said the bill for the last six months will be about the same number as in April: $2 to $3 billion.
Lawmakers can either pay the bill down in another supplemental or by folding the total into their overall defense spending bill, as the Senate did with $1.75 billion for Central Command. That said, lawmakers will soon start the year on a short-term budget called a continuing resolution, which freezes Pentagon spending at last years level.
The Navy destroyer Gravely launches Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles in the Red Sea on Jan. 12. (U.S. Navy)
Still in the crisis
Meanwhile even as funding runs out, the war in Gaza shows no sign of ending.
In August, after Austin returned to Washington from the Philippines, he sent a fighter squadron, a submarine, destroyers and a second aircraft carrier rerouted from the Indo-Pacific this year to CENTCOM. Iran didnt attack, and Hezbollahs response to an Israeli strike was limited. After a month and a half of relative calm, one of the two carriers in the region left.
During regular briefings, the Pentagon even started arguing that it had gotten in the headspace of Iran.
Then, earlier this month, Israel detonated thousands of devices belonging to Hezbollah and launched airstrikes in Lebanon prompting the group to vow revenge. The two sides are now exchanging heavy fire across the border. Austin postponed a trip to Israel and Jordan this week, containing yet another flare up.
Between the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and CENTCOM, the U.S. now has at least one submarine, an aircraft carrier, three amphibious warships and nine destroyers, a defense official said. Two of those destroyers are in the Red Sea and were once slated to exit, the official said. After the attacks last week, the official continued, the Pentagon ordered them to stay.
In a call with reporters after Israel and Hezbollahs latest standoff began, a senior administration official yet again said that the U.S. had helped avert a wider war and that a ceasefire was the best option for all in the region.
In the days after, Israel continued striking Lebanon killing hundreds in attacks that escalated their conflict further.
Another carrier strike group deployed for Europe this week on a previously scheduled deployment. The defense official said the Pentagon is drawing up plans in case it needs to divert into CENTCOM and transit the Red Sea.
We very much will maintain that deterrent posture, because we are still in crisis, the senior administration official said.
The Washington Muslim Survey 2024, conducted by CAIR-WA, reveals critical insights into the experiences and challenges faced by the Muslim community in Washington state.
The survey, which polled 684 Muslims aged 13 and older, gathered data on issues ranging from discrimination to civic engagement and political priorities.
It paints a complex picture of a community facing widespread Islamophobia while also actively engaging in social and political matters.
Muslims in Washington are diverse in both race and ethnicity, with no single category making up more than 30% of the population.
They are predominantly younger, with the majority between 25 and 44 years old, and highly educated, with over 66% holding a bachelors degree or higher.
The majority live in households with multiple adults, and most respondents reside in King County.
A staggering 82.5% of respondents reported experiencing some form of discrimination in the past year, and 91.7% reported discrimination over their lifetime.
These discriminatory experiences ranged from being treated unfairly in schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods to more direct encounters with law enforcement.
The survey found that visibly Muslim individualsthose who wear religious or cultural attirewere more likely to experience bias, such as being treated with less respect in public spaces, receiving poorer service, and feeling unsafe due to their identity.
The survey highlights that discrimination is not limited to the individual but is compounded by global events, such as the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Nearly 40% of respondents reported experiencing heightened discrimination since the beginning of the violence in Gaza in 2023, reflecting how international issues can exacerbate local tensions for minority communities.
Despite these challenges, Washington Muslims are politically active, with 70% of respondents being registered voters.
Many prioritize policy issues such as Palestine, civil rights, and racial justice.
However, over half of the respondents feel uncomfortable making demands of their elected officials, pointing to a gap between political awareness and civic engagement.
Furthermore, less than half could identify their local, state, or federal representatives, suggesting a need for better outreach from lawmakers.
The reports findings underscore the urgent need for action to combat Islamophobia and ensure that Muslims are represented in policy discussions.
The data calls on elected officials, employers, and institutions to prioritize inclusivity and engage directly with the Muslim community to address their concerns.
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) A suspect was arrested after a 5-hour standoff in Abilene Tuesday evening.
Alexander Louis Acosta, 32, was taken into custody following the standoff at a home on the 5300 block of Taos Drive that began at 4:40 p.m.
Police say a victim initially called police because she says she got into an altercation with Acosta and that he took her property and would not return it. She also reported she was afraid of him.
Officers arrived and took two victims, a male and a female, into protective custody.
Acosta would not come out of the home for the next 5 hours but was eventually taken into custody around 10:00 p.m. when he was found hiding in the attic of the home.
He was booked into the Taylor County Jail on local warrants for Driving While Intoxicated and Possession of Marijuana, as well as an Assault Family Violence warrant from Austin.
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DPD: Mother killed in backseat of car was innocent bystander in ongoing dispute
DPD: Mother killed in backseat of car was innocent bystander in ongoing dispute
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) Dayton Police credited technology, as well as old-fashioned police work, with the arrest of a suspect in Saturdays shooting death of a mother.
Jerma Lyle, 26, was fatally shot Saturday morning while sitting in the back seat of a car with her 4-year-old daughter on US-35 between I-75 and James H. McGee Boulevard.
A 23-year-old male suspect was arrested Wednesday.
Ohio residents still unable to fully return home; potential explosion concern remains
Maj. Brian Johns with Dayton Police Investigations credited both the Flock camera-sharing network and National Integrated Ballistic Information Network run by the ATF for helping solve the case.
NIBIN allows law enforcement agencies across the nation to input gun ballistics, such as identifiable marks on slugs, and compare them to a database to learn where else the firing weapon may have been used and by whom.
Johns said that thanks to Flock cameras, police were able to recover both the blue Impala the suspect allegedly fired from. The weapon was also recovered.
Johns said the suspect would be charged either later Thursday or Friday.
According to Johns, the investigation showed that Lyle was not an intended target. The suspect had allegedly been in an ongoing dispute with the person in the front passenger seat of the vehicle Lyle and her daughter were in.
The suspect allegedly had the driver of the Impala follow Lyles vehicle from the airport south on I-75 to the US-35 off-ramp where the suspect, from the cars passenger seat, opened fire.
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NEWPORT, Tenn. (WATE) Authorities have charged a Newport man after a road rage incident that investigators believe led to the death of another man in White Pine earlier this week.
Derwin B. Wilds, 59, of Newport is facing a voluntary manslaughter charge in the shooting death of Jordan Price, according to an affidavit of complaint and probable cause court document.
Man charged after fatal crash involving pedestrian on Asheville Highway
The affidavit includes a brief police narrative of what authorities believe ensued on Monday, Sept. 23, when the road rage incident was reported and the death of Price occurred. White Pine Police Department officers responded to a reported shooting at 5:22 a.m. on Roy Messer Highway at the intersection of the southside ramp for Interstate 81; arriving at the scene to find Price lying on the ground next to his vehicle with life-threatening injuries.
Jordan Price was transported to the University of Tennessee Medical Center by Jefferson County Paramedics with a gunshot wound to the left chest, where he was pronounced dead at 6 a.m. the narrative stated. The defendant, Derwin B. Wilds, stated that he was the 911 caller of the incident.
The narrative goes on to state that Wilds told officers he and Jordan Price got into a road rage incident a couple of miles back on Roy Messer Highway, and when they stopped a short distance to the red light, a verbal argument occurred.
White Pine Police: One person killed in road rage shooting
The defendant states that Jordan Price got out of his vehicle and aggressively approached the defendants vehicle. The defendant states thats when he pulled a .40 caliber handgun from the console of his truck and did shoot Jordan Price once.
Wilds is set to appear in Jefferson County court on Oct. 3.
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A suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann reportedly admitted to his cellmate that he abducted a child in Portugal.
This testimony was made in a German court Wednesday where Christian Brueckner, the suspect and convicted rapist, is facing unrelated sex charges.
Brueckner made the admission in 2020 while he was serving time for raping an American woman in 2007 at the same resortand at the same time McCanns family was taking their infamous vacation.
Laurentiu C, Brueckners cellmate, told the court what Brueckner allegedly said.
According to The Sun, Brueckner first asked Laurentiu C if he was also locked up for crimes against a child. He later asked if the DNA from a child can be taken from bones under the ground.
He told me that in Portugal, he had stolen there, Laurentiu C told the court. He was in an area of hotels where rich people live. And when he went to the hotel area, there was an open window somewhere, he told meAnd he would have entered this window for money and gold. However, he did not find any money, but came across a child and took it with him.
About two hours later, the area was full of police and dogs and he had left from there, he continued. He left the area. He then said that there was another person with him who he had argued with and that they had split up. Laurentiu C says that Brueckner then left the area in a car.
The cellmate also testified that the pedophile asked him to burn his lair down when he was released from prison.
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Oregon election officials have determined that the votes cast by nine people who did not prove their citizenship have not affected any election results in Oregon. (Ron Cooper/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
None of the Oregon residents who were automatically registered to vote without demonstrating citizenship voted in an election where they could have cast the deciding ballot, the states elections director told lawmakers on Wednesday.
That was the biggest news out of an hourlong hearing of the House Rules Committee, in which staff from the Secretary of States Office, the director of the Oregon Department of Transportation and the administrator of the departments Driver and Motor Vehicle Services division explained how 1,259 people were automatically registered to vote despite not providing documents that proved citizenship when they interacted with the DMV.
In Oregon, as in every state except for Arizona, voters only need to swear under penalty of perjury that theyre citizens and eligible to vote when they proactively register to vote. Since 2016, the state has automatically registered people to vote when they obtain or renew drivers licenses and state-issued identification cards if they present documents that prove citizenship, like a U.S. passport or U.S. birth certificate.
But an audit completed this week found that DMV staff had erroneously marked 1,259 people who didnt provide those documents as U.S. citizens and forwarded their information to the Secretary of States Office, resulting in them being registered to vote. Ten of those individuals voted, though election officials learned that one of those 10 is a citizen who has voted for decades and just didnt bring documentation to prove citizenship when renewing a license.
State Elections Director Molly Woon said county clerks are expected to finish reviewing the other nine individuals by the end of Wednesday to determine whether they were citizens at the time they voted. Its a state and federal crime for noncitizens to vote in an election.
State elections staff did determine that none of the nine voted in close elections where their vote could have been a deciding factor.
We looked at the nine individuals who were potentially registered in error that have a voting record, looked at the elections that they voted in, because we are able to see that, Woon said. And there are no races that were on their ballots in those elections that were within the margin of one or two votes, which is what were talking about with this group of nine.
Local elections can sometimes be decided by just a few votes. One member of the House Rules Committee, Republican Rep. Anna Scharf of Amity, lost a school board election in 2019 by three votes. And former state Rep. Jack Zika, R-Redmond, won his 2018 primary by two votes.
Republicans called for hearing
Scharf and other House Republicans had called for a legislative hearing since state officials first confirmed on Sept. 13 that they had found 306 cases of erroneously registered voters. That number increased to 1,259 after DMV employees reviewed 1.4 million records.
The DMV is still reviewing which offices produced the errors, but DMV Administrator Amy Joyce said an initial review indicated theyre spread throughout the state, with more errors in more highly populated areas. The Secretary of States Office has not determined whether the voters registered in error were nonaffiliated voters, the default, or whether any took steps to choose a political party.
State officials publicly confirmed the errors about a week before lawmakers released agendas for legislative days, the three days of back-to-back committee hearings the Legislature holds about every eight weeks when not in session. Legislative Democrats did not respond to the Republican requests for a hearing for more than 10 days, but instead scheduled one after the DMV completed its audit.
I felt it was important for us to get the information from them in their review prior to making a decision, House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, D-Tigard and the committee chair, told the Capital Chronicle. Obviously, theyve changed a lot from the first batch to the second.
Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade did not attend the hearing, instead going to what her spokeswoman described as a previously scheduled security briefing in Portland.
Bowman began Wednesdays hearing by saying that it wasnt for scoring political points and that he wouldnt tolerate any attacks or accusations against election staff or comments that could incite any violence of any kind against any immigrants or any communities in the state.
The hearing was free of disruptions, despite a woman waiting outside ahead of the meeting who accosted Scharf, who serves on the committee, as well as Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany and Sen. Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, who do not. She told Scharf not to fail this time and made comments to Wagner and Boshart Davis about illegals voting.
Inquiry prompts review
Joyce, with the DMV, said her employees are the face of government for most people, and that in her view one of the divisions most important responsibilities is helping eligible Oregonians register to vote. The division has assisted with voter registration for about 30 years, since the federal Motor Voter Act allowed citizens to register to vote when they receive drivers licenses. Oregons automatic voter registration system took effect in 2016.
Joyce said the division started looking for issues after receiving a general inquiry from the Institute for Responsive Government, a left-wing think tank based in Chicago, that asked how automatic voter registration was going and if there were any issues.
We resolved to review records to ferret out any errors that weve made, Joyce said. We knew the election was coming, and that voter registration integrity is critically important. So while the error is bad and the timing is awful, we knew we had to do this immediately.
Registering to vote or voting as a noncitizen is illegal, and doing so can complicate immigration proceedings. Woon, with the secretary of states office, said the office is working with immigration lawyers to provide letters to people who were automatically registered detailing that it was an error by the state of Oregon and not the individuals fault.
The state also wont release the names of the 1,259 people affected, citing exemptions to public records law related to immigration status, DMV records and the risk of violence. If election officials determine that anyone voted illegally, that information will be sent to the state Department of Justice for a criminal investigation and prosecution.
A government mistake
Democratic committee members, including Bowman, expressed sympathy for the people who were wrongly registered to vote.
Of those nine individuals who voted, they voted as a result of a government mistake, he said. They didnt ask to be registered to vote, but they were by their government. Their government sent them ballots, we all talked about the importance of voting, and then they voted.
House Republicans, meanwhile, reiterated their longstanding complaints about automatic voter registration in a joint statement from House Minority Leader Jeff Helfrich of Hood River, Scharf and Kim Wallan of Medford.
The majority dismissed our concerns and assured us that safeguards were in place to protect the integrity of our registration process, they said. Testimony today indicated that those safeguards, in fact, were not in place and the problem would not have been caught without an inquiry from an outside entity. While we appreciate the steps the state has taken to prevent problems in the future, more must be done to ensure that Oregons elections are safe, secure and accurate.
They plan to introduce legislation requiring voter roll audits and that state election officials verify that voters registered through Motor Voter are eligible. Other House Republicans have called for suspending the automatic voter registration program and requiring anyone registering to vote to provide proof of citizenship.
Helfrich asked during the hearing if the Department of Transportation would like him to introduce a bill in January to strengthen this process. ODOT Director Kris Strickler said he was confident after the additional scrutiny and review that the DMV had fully addressed the errors.
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. Memphis Police are looking for two people they say are linked to a stolen Corvette that hit and killed a construction worker during a police chase on Interstate 55 last week.
Justin Delgado, 36, of Lola, Texas, was working near the Memphis-Arkansas bridge the night of Sept. 18 when he was struck and killed by a Corvette, Arkansas State Police said. Another injured worker was taken to a Memphis hospital in critical condition.
1 worker dead, 1 hurt on I-55 in West Memphis; Corvette driver still at large
West Memphis Police had tried to stop the vehicle, which then sped off toward Memphis, striking the workers during a high-speed chase, ASP said.
The Corvette was found by Memphis Police in the 200 block of West McKellar Avenue, fully engulfed in flames. The driver is still at large.
Tuesday, Memphis Police released photos of two suspects they say are connected to two car thefts that happened on Patton Street in South Memphis, just before the chase in Arkansas.
One of the stolen vehicles was a white 2010 Cadillac CTS; the other was a maroon 2020 Chevrolet Corvette.
Memphis Police say that Corvette was connected to the fatal hit-and-run near the I-55 bridge in Arkansas.
Memphis Police release surveillance images of individuals inside Corvette during fatal hit-and-run.
Memphis Police release surveillance images of individuals inside Corvette during fatal hit-and-run.
Memphis Police release surveillance images of individuals inside Corvette during fatal hit-and-run.
Memphis Police release surveillance images of individuals inside Corvette during fatal hit-and-run.
Memphis Police release surveillance images of individuals inside Corvette during fatal hit-and-run.
Memphis Police are looking for a pair of individuals who were seen inside a stolen Corvette that was involved in a fatal hit-and-run.
No arrests have been made but Memphis Police say this is an ongoing investigation.
If you have any information that could help police, call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH.
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Takeaways from an AP and Texas Tribune report on 24 hours along the US-Mexico border
A private border wall that extends nearly three miles stands in Mission, Texas, on Friday morning, Aug. 9, 2024. (Veronica Gabriela Cardenas/The Texas Tribune via AP)
The Texas Tribune and The Associated Press spent 24 hours in five cities on Texas border with Mexico to measure the impact of a dramatic drop in migrant crossings.
In Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, no one was camping where, just a few months earlier, hundreds of asylum-seeking families waited for an opening to crawl through razor wire.
In McAllen, Border Patrol agents scanned fields for five hours without encountering a single migrant.
But conditions on the border often shift more rapidly than political rhetoric, and no one would have known how quiet it was listening that night to Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump at campaign rallies.
Here are key points about what the AP and Tribune observed:
Illegal crossings are way down
Arrests for illegal crossings fell nearly 80% across the southern border from December to July as well as in the Border Patrols five Texas-based sectors. More enforcement by Mexican authorities within their own borders and new U.S. asylum restrictions the Biden administration launched in June are widely considered the main drivers, along with the typical lull that happens during the heat of summer.
As midnight neared on Aug. 8, no one was camped on the silent Mexican banks of the Rio Grande separating El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. A few months earlier, hundreds of asylum-seeking families, including crying toddlers, waited for an opening to crawl through razor wire that Texas authorities planted on the U.S. side.
The week before, the Border Patrol was releasing an average of less than 200 migrants a day in El Paso, down from a daily average of nearly 1,000 in December. Migrants were no longer sleeping overnight in large numbers on downtown streets.
In Eagle Pass, which has been one of the focal points of Texas unprecedented border security push, large groups of migrants that were commonplace were rarely seen on the riverbanks. In McAllen, two Border Patrol agents scanned fields near the Rio Grande for nearly five hours without encountering a single migrant.
Cross-border commerce is up from COVID lows
Nearly 3 million trucks entered the United States through Laredo, Texas, last year, roughly triple the number in 1996. Commercial traffic at the nations busiest cargo crossing fell in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time since the 2008 recession but trade has rebounded since.
Laredo is by far the largest entry point for cargo in the United States, funneling more than twice as much as second-place Detroit over the last year, as measured by product value, and more than four times the amount that goes through El Paso, the second-busiest port of entry on the Mexico border. The sound of rumbling motors from tractor-trailers and the smell of diesel and exhaust fill the warm air as vehicles line up on the World Trade Bridge one of four international bridges in the city.
About 8,000 tractor-trailers carrying goods from flowers to lettuce to car parts pass each day through the World Trade Bridge's 19 lanes. It is a straight shot on Interstate 35 to San Antonio and Dallas.
The largest seizures of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine occur at border crossings in Arizona and California, but they also come through Laredo. The Drug Enforcement Administration says a faction of the Sinaloa cartel called Los Chapitos also favors an El Paso crossing for smuggling narcotics.
Texas billion-dollar border crackdown is splashy but its impact unclear
Shelby Park in Eagle Pass is ground zero for Operation Lone Star, Texas unprecedented, $11-billion challenge to the long-standing principle that immigration policy is the federal governments sole domain. Texas argues that it has a constitutional right to defend against an invasion and that the migrant influx has been a drain on public coffers.
Under Lone Star, Texas has bused about 120,000 migrants to New York, Chicago, Denver, Washington and Philadelphia. State troopers and the Texas National Guard have become a massive presence in towns on the states 1,254-mile border with Mexico, about two-thirds the length of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The state has put razor wire in many areas, including a triple-layer barrier in Eagle Pass. The state installed a floating barrier made of buoys and submerged netting near Shelby Park to deter river crossings.
A big piece of Lone Star is nearly 45,000 arrests and nearly 40,000 felony charges, often for trespassing on private property.
On this day, Webb County Judge Leticia L. Martinez held a virtual court session via Zoom on 49 tiny screens in Laredo. Some defendants dialed in from Latin America with spotty connections that interrupted exchanges, showing up for court even though they had already left the country. Some who have been deported were no-shows with lawyers who said they couldnt be found. Those who did show up were often confused about the proceedings.
Immigration advocates are jittery
Annunciation House, founded in 1978 by Ruben Garcia, operates a network of migrant shelters in El Paso. A state judge recently dismissed a lawsuit against it by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who accused the group of illegally sheltering migrants and refusing to turn over records.
Despite the outcome, the charges sent shockwaves through migrant advocates across the border as Paxton pursued others using similar allegations, including Catholic Charities of Rio Grande Valley.
Paxtons office has appealed the case to the Texas Supreme Court. Garcia says some volunteers have decided not to help out of concern they could be prosecuted.
I would hope that instead, it would galvanize people to say, Im not going to look the other way. Im going to go and offer myself to work with refugees and to be part of the process of providing what is imminently a humanitarian response, he said.
Early that morning, Garcia received his daily text message from a Border Patrol agent: The agency would release 25 people in El Paso that day. Garcia said he could take them.
It was the lowest daily number Garcia had seen in four years. The most the Border Patrol has sent to the shelters was 1,100 in a single day; earlier this year Garcia said they took in 600 one day.
Photo by iStock / Getty Images Plus
Election season intersected with hurricane season in Leon County on Wednesday.
With just weeks to go before Florida voters decide the fate of abortion rights in the state, attorneys squared off remotely before Circuit Judge Jonathan Sjostrom arguing the merits of a state webpage on proposed Amendment 4 that proponents of the initiative want taken down.
The ACLU of Florida and Southern Legal Counsel filed the lawsuit earlier this month against the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) on behalf of Floridians Protecting Freedom, the amendment sponsor.
Southern Legal Counsel attorney Daniel Marshall and Clark Hildabrand with the Cooper and Kirk law firm in Washington, D.C., who represents the state, presented their arguments for about an hour. The case was heard even though courts throughout the Panhandle shut down on Wednesday in advance of Hurricane Helene.
Sjostrom did not rule from the bench but assured counsel for both sides that they wouldnt have to wait long for a decision. Local election supervisors from across the state are about to start sending out mail-in ballots ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
The election is here and I will do my best to rule quickly and issue a written order as quickly as I can, Sjostrom said. As soon as I can get it done, as soon as I have access to a filing system.
Otherwise, Sjostrom mostly listened as the counsel presented their points.
Marshall argued that the website, which warns that Amendment 4 could threaten womens safety if passed, and television and radio advertisements pushed by the agency, violate the publics right to amend the Florida Constitution, an exercise of balancing the power and the rights of the people against the government.
AHCA has countered that the webpage educates the public about the amendment and doesnt mislead the voters. But if the state wants to educate voters about proposed amendments those efforts must be neutral, Marshall argued.
It has gone way beyond that here, Marshall said.
Hildabrand, though, insisted the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis has not interfered with FPFs ability to amend the constitution.
Fair vote
Florida will have a fair vote on Amendment 4, because nothing that plaintiff complains about has anything to do with the process of proposing Amendment 4 or placing it on the ballot, he said.
[The] plaintiff tries to recast a fair vote to mean the vote is unfair if any government official says anything anywhere about the proposed amendment that the amendment sponsor disagrees with or thinks is misleading. That is not the law. The Florida Constitution allows, even requires, public agencies to express their views about public policy.
The abortion access initiative is one of the most hotly contested proposed amendments Florida voters will consider as both sides spend money trying to sway voters. DeSantis and Republican leaders have used their muscle to oppose the proposed amendment, which, if approved by 60% of the voters, would ban government interference with abortion up to the point of viability, or about 24 weeks gestation.
It would set aside Floridas six-week abortion ban that was signed into law by DeSantis before his failed presidential campaign.
Second case
This is one of two legal battles underway surrounding efforts to defeat the amendment that was pushed following strict limits on abortion put in place by DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature. Palm Beach County lawyer Adam Richardson has asked the Florida Supreme Court to block AHCAs efforts against the abortion rights amendment.
Lawyers for Moody filed a sharply worded rebuttal late Monday in that case, defending the states action. Liberty Counsel and the related Liberty Counsel Action, which focus on religious-rights litigation, filed an amicus brief with the high court this week also arguing the First Amendment protects the webpage.
Richardson on Wednesday responded to the amicus brief.
Just because a case has something to do with abortion does not mean Liberty Counsel has something useful to say, Anderson wrote in the brief.
Anderson wrote that the court should deny the proposed amicus brief because it reiterates arguments already made by the state. So, Liberty Counsels proposed amicus is just a me too brief, and it does not contribute anything.
However, the justices later Wednesday OKd Liberty Counsel to participate.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Several airports in the Tampa Bay area said they will close during Hurricane Helene this week.
Tampa International Airport
Tampa International Airport announced Wednesday that it would suspend commercial and cargo operations starting at 12 a.m. Thursday.
The airport itself will be closed to the public until damage assessments are completed after the hurricane.
Airlines issuing travel alerts ahead of Hurricane Helene
The Airport and its partners will use time ahead of the suspension to prepare the airfield and terminals, including the securing of jet bridges, ground equipment and any remaining aircraft before the storm arrives Thursday, the TPA release stated.
Related video: Hillsborough County issues mandatory evacuations for Zone A, mobile homes
According to the release, the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority will also close Peter O. Knight, Tampa Executive and Plant City Airports at 2 a.m. Thursday.
Tampa International Airport said it planned to reopen Friday at the earliest.
St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport
Meanwhile, St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport also announced that its terminal building will close after the last flight arrives on Wednesday, September 25th. The airport itself is located in a mandatory evacuation zone.
Related video: Pinellas County issues mandatory evacuations for Zone A, mobile homes
After that, all Allegiant flights will be canceled Thursday. While the airport planned to reopen Friday morning, it urged passengers to contact their airlines for information.
Allegiant passengers can visit www.allegiantair.com and call 702-505-8888. Those with flights with Sun Country can visit www.suncountry.com or call 651-905-2737.
The airport plans to reopen on Friday, Sept. 27.
We will update this page as more airports announce their closures.
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As numerous Florida counties declare a state of emergency and order residents in low-lying areas to evacuate, hotels are opening up.
Every room was booked on Wednesday at the La Quinta by Wyndham Tampa Central because of people evacuating, said general manager J.C. Patel. The Waters Avenue hotel isnt far from Raymond James Stadium, so it already had a full weekend of visitors because of the planned Eagles game against the Bucs this Sunday.
Some of our guests decided to come early in case the weather shut down airports, Patel said. But then we are fully booked because of the hurricane.
A stretch from Pasco County north along the Big Bend to Mexico Beach in the Panhandle is under a hurricane warning after Hurricane Helene formed Wednesday morning. Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties have issued mandatory evacuation notices for residents in evacuation Zone A, along with all mobile homes.
With much of north Florida heading out, the town of Dothan, Alabama, located about 100 miles northwest of Tallahassee, launched a Hotel Availability Portal for those who may evacuate. By midday Wednesday, there were already seven hotels and RV parks that had no vacancies left.
Another resource for those looking for hotels is the website Open Hotel Alert, a free site that lets you search by city name when hotels have an open room. The Visit St. Pete.-Clearwater tourism bureau also put up a Hurricane Helene update and hotel availability site on Wednesday that uses filters to sort for hotels in specific areas, as well as those that are pet-friendly.
Rosen Hotels & Resorts in Orlando activated its Florida Resident Distress Rates for residents in the 61 counties where Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Monday.
The hotel chain is offering deeply discounted rates to residents in the path of the storm.
Rosen Hotels & Resorts remains committed to the safety and well-being of all Floridians, prioritizing people over profits in times of need, according to a press release.
The distress rates offered are as follows.
$69 per night (not including taxes): Rosen Inn International, Rosen Inn Closest to Universal, Rosen Inn Pointe Orlando, Rosen Inn Lake Buena Vista
$99 per night: Rosen Plaza
$119 per night: Rosen Centre
$139 per night: Rosen Shingle Creek
Rosen Hotels & Resorts is pet-friendly and does not charge a pet fee during the distress rates, the company announcement said. There is no resort charge and free Wi-Fi is offered. To reserve a room, call 866-33-ROSEN (76736).
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TATTNALL COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV)Communities throughout the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry have been celebrating Hispanic Heritage for the past month.
In Tattnall County, the cultural celebration is growing each and every year.
Many people are just starting to learn about the large Hispanic population there. According to South Tattnall Elementary School Assistant Principal Claudia Martinez, that population is growing steadily with the available agricultural jobs, low cost of living and good schools in the area.
Martinez has been working to showcase the culture that runs deep in this area. She said she grew up in Mexico in a state near the Texas border. Four years ago, she brought a little slice of her home here through the now annual Hispanic Heritage Celebration at Tattnall County High School.
Now, it has drawn quite the large crowd.
Growing up, we had these folkloric dances and live performances, Martinez said. I was a part of them, and I loved them and enjoyed them. When I came to the United States, there was none of that. And so it was in my doctoral program that I realized that I can make a difference. I can make it happen over here.
This event and the other small celebrations throughout the month gave the children and their parents a chance to feel seen, recognized and celebrated. People from all kinds of backgrounds came together to show their love for Hispanic music, dancing and food.
Local Firefighters and Therapy Dogs pose together for a Charitable Project
Professor Michael Van Wagenen from Georgia Southern Universitys Department of History weighed in on the importance of recognizing this community.
When you see resources channeled into events like this, its really important, because it helps people in smaller communities understand that their experiences also matter, Van Wagenen said.
Along with graduate student Jessica Benitez, Van Wagenen created a pop-up museum exhibit, showcasing Mexican food in the U.S. He said many people came by and shared their gratitude for the display, the items reminding them of home.
When they see some of the kitchen implements, they get really excited, Van Wagenen. They want to touch them and tell stories to their children about how they use something or how grandma used to use these sorts of old tools and implements. So thats fun, too. But its also for some people, this is the first time that theyre seeing these kinds of things or learning about these kinds of things. And to kind of see that light bulb go off and make connections to their lives today and to what the United States is today is very helpful.
He added that as the U.S. becomes more and more of a melting pot, there is far more influence from different cultures.
I think that for the overall well-being of society, for us to understand one another and appreciate one another is definitely going to move us forward in a positive direction, Van Wagenen said. And I think events like this are fantastic for creating that kind of environment, of sharing cultures.
Martinez said, My favorite part, I think, is just being able to see how everyone comes together, being able to see the smiling faces of the students, and just seeing how proud they are and just displaying who they are.
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Teen shot in leg as he tried to run away outside of NYC high school
A 15-year-old boy was shot outside his Brooklyn high school Tuesday afternoon, cops and law-enforcement sources said.
The boy was blasted in the right leg by an apparent other teen around 2:40 p.m. in front of South Shore High School on Flatlands Avenue in Canarsie, according to authorities and sources.
The victim started running away after the shooting before collapsing nearby, sources said.
Officers responded to the intersection of Glenwood Road and East 58th Street, a short walk from the public school, cops said.
The boy was taken to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition, authorities said.
A teen was shot outside South Shore High School in Brooklyn on Tuesday. Google Maps
The shooter, also believed to be a male teen, fled on foot, police said.
The motive for the violence was unclear by the early evening.
The school does scan its students for weapons, sources said.
The shooting comes three days after 17-year-old Sincere Campbell was fatally shot in an early-morning Bronx attack, cops said.
Campbell took a bullet to the stomach on Evergreen Avenue near Westchester Avenue in Soundview down the block from his home around 3:25 a.m. Saturday, police said.
He was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries, cops said.
The shooter took off in a black sedan, authorities said.
The motive for the slaying remained unclear Tuesday.
On Thursday, another 17-year-old boy was shot in the leg near a Staten Island high school, cops said.
The boy took the bullet around 1 p.m. outside Ralph R. McKee Career and Technical Education High School in St. George, police said.
He was rushed to Richmond University Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition, cops said.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a Grand Rapids rally, July 20, 2024 | Lucy Valeski
This article was produced by Capital & Main. It is published here with permission.
In late August, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance told a crowd of union firefighters that he and his running mate, Donald Trump, are the most pro-worker Republican ticket in history. Trump has long claimed to champion working Americans, and Vance even walked a picket line. The Republican Party appeared to try to cozy up further to unions when it had Teamsters President Sean OBrien speak at its national convention in July.
But those public stances and declarations stand in stark contrast with the blueprint for what Republicans want to do if and when they retake the White House. Project 2025 is an almost 900-page document laying out an agenda for the next Republican president in detail, and it lists a multitude of priorities that would, if enacted, harm workers pay, safety and ability to organize. Taken as a whole, the priorities the authors describe are so unbelievably anti-union, anti-worker, anti-anybody but corporate interests, said Sharon Block, executive director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School.
When asked for an interview about the labor-related provisions, a spokesperson for the Heritage Foundation, the think tank behind Project 2025, declined, saying, Our chapter on that topic clearly lays out our suggested policies. Project 2025 claims that American workers lack a meaningful voice in todays workplace and advocates for restoring family-supporting jobs as the centerpiece of the American economy. But to solve these issues, it attacks a massive administrative state and woke nonsense while promoting flexibility and experimentation in the laws that enshrine bedrock protections.
The spokesperson also added, Project 2025 does not speak for President Trump or his campaign. Trump has also recently distanced himself from the document, although at least 140 people who worked for him were involved in crafting it and Vance wrote a foreword for an upcoming book by its main architect. In 2022 Trump said Heritage was going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do.
The document is also full of numerous labor-related ideas long espoused by the Republican Party, including many that bubbled up during the Trump administration. Even so, the laundry list of priorities would harm large numbers of workers if enacted, experts said. Its still shocking when you look at it compiled in its entirety, said Lynn Rhinehart, senior fellow at the Economic Policy Institute. Its not new, but it is radical.
Below is a list of 10 proposals from Project 2025 that labor experts say will harm working people.
1. Restricting access to overtime pay
Project 2025s proposed changes to overtime would slash workers paychecks, blocking many from qualifying while introducing loopholes that would erase the time-and-a-half theyre due after working 40 hours, experts said. Project 2025 calls for rolling back the Biden administration rule that raised the salary threshold to $58,656 and expanded the protection to 4.3 million more workers. Project 2025 calls for returning to the Trump-era threshold, which would mean millions fewer workers would be eligible for overtime.
Another proposal to let employers calculate overtime over two or four weeks instead of one would significantly reduce workers earnings. Theres no math where workers get paid more under this policy, said Aaron Sojourner, senior researcher at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. It also calls for letting workers trade their overtime pay for paid time off, an idea Republicans have pushed since at least 2013. While the policy is marketed as offering greater flexibility, it does not create a new leave benefit. Its deceitful, Rhinehart said.
2. Eroding workplace safety
Project 2025 seeks to weaken workplace safety standards for all Americans, including teenagers. The document states, Some young adults show an interest in inherently dangerous jobs. It calls on the Department of Labor to allow teenagers to work in these jobs with proper training and parental consent. It is saying they want children to be less safe, said Janelle Jones, vice president of policy and advocacy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. That is just a shocking thing to say. And yet its one that hearkens back to former President Ronald Reagans administration, which proposed rolling back child labor protections.
It also calls for exempting small businesses, as well as first-time and non-willful violators, from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines, and to only focus safety inspections on egregious offenders. OSHA is already under-resourced and understaffed. Its maximum fines often amount to a slap on the wrist $161,323 at the very most even if a worker is severely injured or killed. In 2022, nearly 5,500 people were killed on the job and another 120,000 are estimated to have died from an illness contracted at work.
3. Allowing states to sidestep worker protections
A push to excuse states from federal labor laws could lower wages, weaken union rights and even roll back child labor standards all in the name of what Project 2025 authors call experimentation. States that secured waivers from federal labor law, under their proposal, would have to ensure they do not take away current rights held by workers or employees, according to the document. But Rhinehart said that, without definitions, the skys the limit in terms of what worker protections states could seek to upend.
Theres already some indication of what they might try to do. Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee have all passed laws banning employers who voluntarily recognize unions from receiving state economic development funds. (Those laws could be struck down by a court because they are preempted by federal labor law, said Jennifer Sherer, acting director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network.) Since 2021, 31 states have introduced bills to weaken federal child labor laws. Five states dont even have a minimum wage, while two have lower wages than $7.25 an hour, so the federal standard is the only way workers in those states are guaranteed at least $7.25 an hour.
4. Eliminating public sector unions
The authors question whether public-sector unions are appropriate in the first place, calling on Congress to consider whether they are allowable. These unions cover about a third of the public sector workforce, or 7 million people. Getting rid of them is a super-radical idea, Rhinehart said. And yet it, too, is an old idea; conservatives have long attacked them, from then-Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker stripping most of them of collective bargaining rights to conservatives backing the attack on public sector union dues in the Supreme Court case Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
5. Stripping protections from misclassified workers
Project 2025 calls for rolling back a Biden administration rule that makes it easier for Uber drivers and contracted-out janitors to secure employee status, and with it, essential workplace benefits. The entire body of labor standards and labor rights is built on the foundation of employment, said Sojourner. Employee status ensures unemployment pay, workers compensation, union rights, discrimination protection, minimum wage and overtime pay, as well as oversight by OSHA. Eliminating the rule will allow corporations to treat far more workers who should be classified as employees as independent contractors, stripping them of these benefits.
6. Shielding major brands from accountability for labor violations
Project 2025 also calls for rolling back a Biden administration rule that holds some large corporations responsible for the working conditions inside franchised or contracted-out operations. Weakening the so-called joint employer rule would kneecap union drives among workers employed by franchises of major brands like McDonalds and KFC. It would also block their ability to hold those brands accountable for wage theft, harassment and other violations of labor law.
7. Curtailing workers speech rights
One proposal would strip protections for any workers who discuss wages or complain about mistreatment unless they complete the arduous process of forming a union. Under this provision, workers can be fired just for the act of coming together and talking about something, Block said. Eliminating whats known as protected concerted activity is an idea that was pushed unsuccessfully by conservative groups in amicus briefs in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, the Supreme Court case that upheld arbitration agreements that bar class-action lawsuits.
8. Making it harder to win union recognition
Project 2025 wants to do away with employers ability to voluntarily recognize a union after a majority of workers sign cards in favor, a process commonly known as card check. This method offers a faster, easier way for workers to form an official union. Its called voluntary recognition for a reason, said Rhinehart, emphasizing that no employer has to use it. Getting rid of it is a very radical proposal to undermine organizing, she said.
9. Denying labor rights to employees at small business
The document calls for exempting small businesses from oversight by labor agencies and denying small business employees the protections of the National Labor Relations Board. Given that the median union bargaining unit is just 21 workers, this would strip millions of workers of their organizing rights, Rhinehart said. Proposals like this have been around for decades, she added.
10. Weakening bedrock legal protections
The document proposes allowing unions to negotiate over existing workplace laws such as the minimum wage and health and safety protections instead of treating them as fixed standards. It would put unions and workers in the position of having to bargain to hold onto their statutory rights, Rhinehart said, sapping their ability to fight for things above and beyond those floors.
Even if there are labor rights that the agenda doesnt specifically undo, its other proposals undermine them. The early chapters of Project 2025 call for firing many career civil servants who enforce regulations, including those that protect workers, politicizing their jobs. The authors call on the next president to fire National Labor Relations Board general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo on Day One, someone who has overseen some of the most ambitious expansions of workers organizing rights in decades. It argues that the budgets for labor agencies should be significantly reduced, and Project 2025 proposes a hiring freeze for federal career officials.
Without enough manpower and financial resources, these agencies cant enforce workers rights. Even the regulations and statutes that are on the books that they dont want to roll back almost become a dead letter, Block noted. The robustness of your rights are only as good as the ability of federal agencies to stick up for you.
Under Project 2025s agenda, working people are really just on their own, she added, while corporations can pretty much do anything they want.
Copyright 2024 Capital & Main
Members of the Tennessee Senate on Aug. 24, 2023. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Buoyed by sales tax collections, Tennessees revenue rebounded in August after a year of poor performance marked by weak business tax collections that continued their decline.
Revenues for the month reached $1.5 billion, some $1.3 million more than estimated and $36.3 million more than in August 2023. Yet corporate taxes fell 32.5% below estimates, coming in $19.3 million less than expected as the state experienced the first month of a major business tax break enacted earlier this year eliminating the property portion of the franchise and excise taxes.
A separate report from the states Fiscal Review Committee shows franchise and excise tax collections started the year $11 million below last years revenue.
On the heels of a separate business tax break approved in 2023, Republican Gov. Bill Lee urged lawmakers to pass another reduction, $400 million annually, in the franchise and excise tax based on the claim that some businesses were threatening to sue the state.
Democratic state Sen. Jeff Yarbro of Nashville, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, called the tax cut an irresponsible change in Tennessees tax policy, one that causes uncertainty and places too much burden on the sales tax. A neutral adjustment would have put the state in a stronger position, he said.
Many experts consider the sales tax regressive because it requires people toward the lower end of the economic scale to pay a greater percentage of their income in taxes.
Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville: A challenger's claims about mutating voting machines are tossed. (Photo: John Partipilo)
The property tax break also provided a large number of out-of-state companies with a mechanism to avoid paying a large percentage of their taxes in Tennessee, a move Yarbro termed as short-term thinking.
One of the upsides of the property tax valuation is that companies cant pretend to have property in another state when they clearly own property in Tennessee, Yarbro said.
Republican Sen. Bo Watson, chairman of the Senate finance committee, appeared more comfortable with the states position, pointing out revenue adjustments didnt lead to any significant reductions in budget expenses.
We think that the budgeted numbers, revenues as adjusted, are more in line with whats really happening in the economy, Watson said.
In the revenue report released last week, Finance and Administration Commissioner Jim Bryson noted sales tax receipts reflect resilient consumer activity while corporate tax collections dropped because of the 2024 franchise tax break.
We are cautiously optimistic at the start of the new fiscal year, and we will continue to carefully monitor economic activity and consumer demand to ensure we meet our monthly budgeted estimates, Bryson said in a statement.
Compared to the same time frame last year, sales taxes increased $37.8 million, up 3.19%, while corporate tax collected fell $11.8 million, down 22.67%.
The August report shows positive movement after a year of feeble tax revenues, caused mainly by the business tax break passed in 2023.
The states Fiscal Review Committee reported total end-of-year collections fell short of the original fiscal 2023-24 budget estimate by $593 million and that a total reduction of $794 million was recognized for the year. It marked a $718 million miss in the general fund budget on the original growth estimate.
Last November, in the midst of the fiscal year, the states Funding Board dealt with the shortfall by adjusting its 2.25 growth projection to zero when it saw revenues were flagging. The state closed that gap with money from savings and $2.6 billion in recurring revenue that had been put toward one-time expenses.
Despite those weak revenues and the required adjustment, Gov. Bill Lee proposed a massive business tax break expected to cost $4 billion in revenue over the next 10 years, including a $1.55 billion refund for the past three years. It came on the heels of a $1.87 billion cut over 10 years, passed into law in 2023.
Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, says a requirement for foster families of infants to be vaccinated is "discriminatory." (Photo: John Partipilo)
The Lee administration introduced the plan in early 2024, saying it was needed because of the threat of legal action. Some Republican lawmakers, though, pointed out no lawsuit was filed against the state and simply claimed the tax cut was good policy.
But while Watson contended the state was going to have to cut the franchise and excise tax because of the likelihood of a legal challenge, Yarbro isnt convinced Tennessee would have been sued, mainly because no lawsuit was ever filed.
The potential for a legal challenge was unveiled by Department of Revenue officials and came through the Attorney Generals Office.
State leaders are set to travel to New York City this fall to meet with bond rating companies. Watson expects the state to maintain a high rating, which is used as the basis for borrowing money and meeting financial commitments. S&P Global and Moodys gives the state a AAA bond rating,
Yet the finance committee chairman said he is interested in finding out how the credit rating companies will receive the states business property tax reduction.
Yarbro pointed out that Watson acknowledged the ratings agencies have expressed concerns about Tennessees tax policy changes.
He noted that reliance on one source of revenue is risky because it makes the revenue system more rigid and vulnerable to economic disruptions.
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Cade Cothren, former chief of staff to ex-House Speaker Glen Casada, leaving the federal courthouse in Nashville following his arraignment on conspiracy charges. (John Partipilo)
Cade Cothren, former chief of staff to ex-House Speaker Glen Casada, leaving the federal courthouse in Nashville following his arraignment on conspiracy charges. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Tennessees Registry of Election Finance is reporting the attorney for a former House speakers chief of staff to the Board of Professional Responsibility for a potential ethics violation after an encounter between a private eye and the states campaign finance chief.
Registry board members voted 6-0 Tuesday to notify the disciplinary board that a private investigator for Nashville attorney Cynthia Sherwood went to the home of Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance Executive Director Bill Young on Aug. 31 and tried to talk to him about a case. The Tennessee Journal reported the private investigator went to several lawmakers homes too.
Sherwood is representing Cade Cothren, ex-chief of staff to former House Speaker Glen Casada, in a campaign finance case and a criminal proceeding. Cothren and Casada face a Nov. 6 trial on federal bribery and kickback charges involving state-funded constituent mailers run by a secretive vendor called Phoenix Solutions.
Young spoke publicly about the incident at the boards Tuesday meeting and told members he was caught off guard when he saw a vehicle pulling into his driveway that day. Young said the woman told him she was an investigator for Cothrens attorney and wanted to ask him questions about a case.
Young noted he declined to speak to her because the Registry has pending litigation involving Cothren in Chancery Court and is represented by a staff attorney and the state Attorney Generals Office in the case. She then left his driveway.
"Beyond reprehensible:" Registry of Election Finance member Tom Lawless had strong words for a private investigator who contacted registry members about a client under investigation. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Young wasnt certain whether the private investigator wanted to talk to him about the criminal case or the Registrys civil matter. But he said, there should be no investigators coming to talk to any of us without going through our counsel.
Registry board members, most of whom are attorneys, were irate, even though theyd heard about the situation already, pointing out it is unethical for an attorney to try to speak to a person known to be represented by a lawyer in a pending case.
This is not an obscure rule, said Registry board Chairman Hank Fincher, a Cookeville attorney and former Democratic lawmaker.
Registry board member Tom Lawless, a Nashville attorney appointed by the Senate Republican Caucus, called the incident beyond reprehensible and asked for an investigation by the Board of Professional Responsibility.
Likewise, board member Tom Golden called the incident a violation on its face and pointed out it puts the Registry in a quandary.
Sherwood, who is to be notified about the Registry boards letter to the Board of Professional Responsibility, declined to comment Tuesday.
More than two years ago, the Registry board subpoenaed Cothren to question him about the Faith Family Freedom Fund political action committee as part of a fraud probe. Cothren refused to comply, but Casada showed up at a later meeting and denied any connection to the PAC or knowledge of its actions. Yet Sydney Friedopfer, a former girlfriend of Cothren, testified to the board that Cothren had her register the political action in her name and then turn operations over to him during the 2020 election year.
The PAC used a $7,500 campaign donation from a North Carolina restaurant owner named Brandon Crawford, who was never found, to run attack ads against now-former state Republican Rep. Rick Tillis in his campaign with Republican Rep. Todd Warner of Chapel Hill. Tillis was critical of Casada during his short stint as House speaker, using an anonymous Twitter account to highlight the Republican leaders excesses before he resigned his seat in August 2019 amid a sexist and racist texting scandal involving Cothren. The House Republican Caucus cast a no-confidence vote against Casada because of complaints about his management style.
The Faith Family Freedom Fund used the same postal code as Dixieland Strategies, a now-defunct Alabama company, and New Mexico-based Phoenix Strategies, another company that popped up at the time and made tens of thousands of dollars doing campaign work for Republican candidates and the House Republican Caucus.
Friedopfer told the Registry board under oath in a conference call that Cothren told her none of this was illegal and that the Registry board had no authority over her formation of the PAC. Yet the activity could be considered fraud against the Registry board and could lead to civil penalties.
Use of the same postal code also potentially links Cothren to all three companies, which vanished after reporters started asking questions about them. They came under scrutiny after the FBI raided the homes and offices of Casada, Warner and now-former state Rep. Robin Smith, a Hixson Republican who pleaded in the federal fraud probe and is cooperating with the FBI. The feds also raided the office of former Rep. Kent Calfee, a Kingston Republican who was cleared in the investigation.
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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO) The humble singing janitor with a golden voice won a million dollars and the hearts of a worldwide audience Tuesday night.
I was standing there just waiting and they flipped it open and said my name. Wow! Confetti comes down. Magic, Richard Goodall said as he held the card that AGT host Terry Cruz used to announce the winner.
Hearing his name has been a long time coming. Goodall started the audition process in the spring. It all came about after a Tik Tok video was posted of him singing to students at West Vigo. AGT judge Howie Mandell was among those who saw it.
When I saw him, when he stepped on our stage, you felt the love that not only I had for him, but the hope he would win, Howie Mandell said from AGTs red carpet. You just knew people at home would have the same magnetic need to vote.
And vote people did. Viewers sent him to the top spot. Other judges were also won over by that same magnetic personality.
He came so far in the competition. America fell in love with him. The real person. The real dream. His life is going to change after this, said AGT Judge Sophia Vigara.
Him singing on that stage, look just talking about it gives me goosebumps on top of goosebumps. Its just beautiful. He sounds beautiful. You know, hes just yummy, added AGT judge Heidi Klum.
On the red carpet, Goodall thanked WTWO for being part of his journey.
You guys have been with me through the whole journey. You all have been with me through the whole kit and caboodle, said Goodall with a smile.
He also thanked people in the Wabash Valley for all of their support.
Thank you Wabash Valley, Terre Haute, Indiana. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Goodall said as he lowered his head in an emotional moment.
Goodall added singing with the band Journey was a top shelf bucket list item.
As for his future plans, he talked about returning to his job as a school janitor for at least a little while. He also said he and his wife Angie would like to buy a house. While his roots run deep in Terre Haute, he said he may look at getting a house in Florida too, because he does not like the Indiana winters.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyWabashValley.com.
Lidl wants to relocate from its town centre site in Horley to a new venue in Brighton Road [BBC]
Tesco has failed in its High Court challenge to stop Lidl from building a new store in Surrey.
The supermarket chain had challenged Reigate and Banstead Borough Councils planning permission to allow Lidl to open a store at the site of the Air Balloon pub in Horley.
The application for judicial review argued that the council's planning committee, which approved the new supermarket by nine votes to two last October, failed to consider the Grade II listed buildings preservation.
Tesco and Lidl have been approached for comment.
Lidl wants to relocate from what it describes as its not-fit-for-purpose town centre site in Horley to the new venue in Brighton Road.
Tesco argued that there was not a strong enough case that the benefit of the development outweighs the harm, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
'Excellent judgement'
James Strachan KC disagreed and threw out Tescos bid, stating that the socio-economic benefits were sufficient to grant planning permission.
Councillor Simon Parnell, chairman of the councils planning committee, said: This is an excellent judgement which upholds the decision of the planning committee.
This balancing exercise was robustly debated at the planning committee meeting and the committee was fully entitled to come to the decision it did, as this judgement demonstrates.
The plans to demolish the Air Balloon pub and replace it with a new store were first submitted by Lidl in 2022.
Tesco requested permission to apply for judicial review of the decision on three grounds but was only given permission to challenge on how the council dealt with listed buildings.
The case reached the High Court on 5 June with the judgement handed down in September.
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EVANSVILLE, In (WEHT) Testimonies resumed in day two of the murder trial of Zachary Diaz in Vanderburgh Superior Court.
Diaz is accused in the fatal shooting of Derrick Dye, Jr. outside of Ponytails Lounge in February.
Three of the people that testified were part of a large group that were there when the shooting happened.
One person testified that she was there with a bunch of friends and family to celebrate her birthday. She said she saw Diaz and Dye there but did not see any interaction between the two. She also said when she exited the building close to closing time, she saw a lot of commotion and what looked to be arguing between a large number of people. She claimed she saw Diaz with a gun and others trying to talk him down.
She further testified she saw Dye walking to a dumpster off to the side before Diaz walked towards him. She says words were exchanged and the two started wrestling before Diaz allegedly pulled the gun out and shot Dye in the chest.
During cross examination, the woman did say she did have a couple of drinks, and Diaz was wearing all black. She stated she was in Evansville from Missouri.
Another witness said she remembered seeing Diaz there, getting into an argument with someone near the stage. She also testified she saw Dye walking towards a dumpster before Diaz got physical with him. She claimed while she did not see the gun going off but did see Diaz running to his car and Dye taking two steps before falling over.
She further said during cross examination that she and a few other people tried to help Dye before police arrived and took over.
Marcus Brown claimed that he barely remembered what happened that night but was able to recall that he was with about 11 people for a birthday. He also said while he remembered Diaz being there, he could not recall Dye also being there.
During a break in the trial, prosecutors said they expect the trial to last all week with witnesses still needing to be called. Prosecutors also said the defense expects to call some witnesses too.
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Texas Parks and Wildlife buys 630 acres to expand Enchanted Rock by nearly double its size
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has acquired 630 acres adjacent to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, with plans to nearly double the size of what park officials describe as "one of the state's most visited sites."
This acquisition is part of the state's broader effort to expand public parks through the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund.
According to a release, the department initially learned about the land when local park staff noticed a for-sale sign and relayed the information. They then partnered with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation to acquire the property and with the help of Proposition 5, were able to streamline the process.
The land was sold by Comanche Rock Acquisitions, LLC to TPWD.
We are so excited that we were able to acquire this property and that we will be able to give the hundreds of thousands of Enchanted Rock patrons new opportunities to recreate in this part of the state, said Rodney Franklin, Director of Texas State Parks, in a statement. This addition is the latest win for Texas State Parks as we work towards enhancing some of our existing sites and continuing our gold medal-winning stewardship to the people of Texas.
The agency plans to seek public input to determine what recreational opportunities the park will offer.
Nature filmmaker Ben Masters and his daughter visit Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. The Texas state park system turned 100 in 2023 and Masters' team made a celebratory short about the parks.
Where is Enchanted Rock State Natural Area?
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, located between Fredericksburg and Llano in the Texas Hill Country, spans about 640 acres and rises 425 feet above the surrounding landscape. The site is famous for its massive pink granite dome-shaped monadnock, the largest of its kind in the nation.
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Enchanted Rock was the seventh-most-visited state park last year, attracting nearly 295,000 visitors, according to a previous report from the Austin American-Statesman.
Visitors to the park can camp, rock climb, and stargaze, though bikes are not permitted on the trails. Pets are allowed only in designated day-use picnic areas, campgrounds, and on the Loop Trail; they are prohibited on other trails.
Acquiring this property will allow for a more expansive experience when visiting while adding to the protection of resources and recreational opportunities in the area," said Doug Cochran, Superintendent of Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, in a news release. "Currently, people who visit Enchanted Rock experience the dome up close and personal. There is excitement with this acquisition that visitors will now be able to experience the dome from a distance without the threat of development.
What is Proposition 5?
Proposition 5, passed by Texas voters in 2019, was a constitutional amendment that dedicated revenue from the states sales tax on sporting goods to fund Texas state parks and historic sites. Before this amendment, the revenue from the sporting goods sales tax could be used for other purposes, but Proposition 5 ensured that 100% of those funds would be directed to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Historical Commission.
What is the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund?
The Centennial Parks Conservation Fund, which coincides with the centennial celebration of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, seeks to allocate $1 billion toward state parks, including the development of new parks and improvements of existing parks.
The goal of Texas' Centennial Parks Conservation Fund is to add more than 40,000 acres of new parkland to the state park system.
Texas falls short on public parkland
Despite the states new expansion goal, Texas remains significantly behind in public parkland.
In 2001, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department commissioned Texas Tech University to conduct a study to guide its future planning. The report recommended approximately 55 acres of state parkland per 1,000 residents, highlighting the need for an additional 1.4 million acres by 2030.
The state still falls far short of that target.
Luke Metzger, Director of Environment Texas, said an open records request filed by the nonprofit in 2023 revealed that only about 250,000 acres have been added since the report's release more than 20 years ago.
With no major acquisition since the open records request, Texas is still more than 1 million acres short of what the state needs to meet the demand for recreation and state parks. Plus, theres been some decline with the loss of Fairfield Lake State Park.
A more recent study by the Environment Texas Research & Policy Center, published in August 2023, ranked Texas 35th in the nation for state park acreage per capita.
Facing an uphill battle, as about 95% of land lays in the hands of private citizens and businesses, Texas has only around 636,000 acres of state parkland for a population exceeding 29 million people.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Parks and Wildlife plans to nearly double size of Enchanted Rock
AUSTIN (KMID/KPEJ)- DNA testing led to a breakthrough in an Ector County cold case earlier this year; now, justice has been served more than four decades later, thanks to the hard work of the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers.
On April 19, 1982, the family and co-workers of 64-year-old Velma Nesset grew worried when she didnt show up for a shift at Permian Mall. Investigators said Nesset usually walked to and from work; after a report was filed with the Odessa Police Department, Nessets partially nude body was found in a drainage culvert. Investigators said shed been sexually assaulted and murdered.
Initially, Odessa Police arrested a man who confessed to the crime; however, during the trial in 1983, the suspect was acquitted for lack of evidence and a false confession. In the years that followed, there were no major breakthroughs in Nessets case.
Then, in 2020, Nessets case was identified as being eligible for the Texas Department of Public Safetys Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) program which is funded by the Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance. DOJ/BJA provide investigative funding for agencies across the United States to further unsolved sexual assaults and sexually related homicides with the hope of bringing justice to the victims and their families.
SAKI grant funds were utilized for the cost of the Advanced DNA testing and genealogy research through Bode Technologies. The testing led to the identity of Billy Wayne Ludwigson, which was confirmed through normal forensic DNA testing. In July 2020, the Texas Rangers and Odessa Police Department arrested Ludwigson in Denver, Colorado and obtained his confession for Nessets murder.
In October 2020, Ludwigson was extradited to Texas and indicted by an Ector County jury on murder charges. On August 9, 2024, the now-62-year-old Ludwigson pled guilty and was sentenced to 20 years confinement in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison.
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ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) Texas State Technical College (TSTC) has welcomed the first class of students to its Electrical Lineworker and Management Technology program.
The program covers the necessary skills for a career in electrical work, with a key focus on climbing a 40-foot pole.
Bringing Home the Gold: Big Country TSTC students win gold at national competition
The climb involves ascending electrical poles in the fields. Student Justin Townsend mentioned that the most challenging part is adapting to the technique.
We were just learning how to use our body weight to kind of lean back and climb off the pole, and once you learn how to do that, its basically just like stepping up the pole, Townsend said. Weve been pulling the lines and the electrical wires from the ground and putting them in the actual poles, and we have to use a bucket truck for that. And like straps and grips and all that, thats been a little bit of it. The main thing has been climbing.
Although the climb may seem like an easy hurdle to jump after practice, the true danger of the job comes with the height and voltage level of live wires, something Peyton Randall said he thinks about frequently.
Its pretty dangerous, and you realize that youre working with a very high voltage, and youre putting your life on the line. Youre taking that risk, Randall said.
TSTC Abilenes graduating EMT students lead extrication simulation
Instructor Lary Leger told KTAB/KRBC that most people do not think about the dangerous work they do until disaster strikes.
Theres always a patrolman out there patrolling for any incidents that happen. The public does not realize that were unsung heroes; nobody sees this until the power goes out. And theyre so glad to see us, Leger said.
The programs first graduation will be in the summer or fall of 2025.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com.
Gay couples in Thailand can register their unions from 22 January next year [Getty Images]
Thailand's king has signed a marriage equality bill into law, making the country the first in South East Asia to recognise same-sex unions.
The bill cleared the Senate in June but required royal endorsement to become law. It was published in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday and will come into effect on 22 January next year.
Activists hailed the move as historic - it marks the culmination of years of campaigning for marriage equality.
Thailand has long been seen as a relative haven for the LGBTQ+ community in a region where such attitudes are rare.
The new law uses gender-neutral terms in place of "husbands", "wives", "men" and "women". And it grants same-sex couples adoption and inheritance rights.
Today were not only getting to write our names in marriage certificates, but we are also writing a page in history... that tells us that love never set a condition of who we were born to be," Ann Chumaporn, a longtime LGBTQ+ activist and co-founder of the Bangkok Pride movement, told the BBC.
"Its a triumph of equality and human dignity."
She said she plans to organise a mass wedding for more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ couples on 22 January.
"[The legal recognition] means we are fully accepted and can live our lives without conditions or compromises," said advertising strategist Kwankaow Koosakulnirund.
"Thailands LGBTQ+ community can now look toward a future beyond relationships, embracing the sense of pride that this law brings," he said.
"We are all delighted and excited. We've been fighting for our rights for over 10 years, and now it's finally happening," another activist, Siritata Ninlapruek, told AFP news agency.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra posted on X: "Congratulations on everyone's love. #LoveWins."
Former PM Srettha Thavisin, who has been vocal in his support for the bill, also applauded the development as a "significant step" for Thailand.
"Equity and equality have become concrete in the Thai society. Gender diversity will eventually be fully accepted. Congratulations," he wrote on X.
When the law comes into effect, Thailand will become only the third place in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, where same-sex couples can get married.
In 2019, Taiwan's parliament became the first in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage. Nepal registered its first same-sex union in November last year, five months after its Supreme Court ruled in favour of it.
This was just one month after India's top court had ruled against it, leaving the decision to the government, which said it would set up a panel to decide on more legal rights for same-sex couples.
Singapore scrapped a colonial-era law that banned gay sex in 2022, but also amended its constitution to prevent the courts from challenging the definition of marriage as one between a man and a woman.
Additional reporting by Thanyarat Doksone in Bangkok
Thailand Becomes First in Southeast Asia to Let Same-Sex Couples Marry From 2025
(Bloomberg) -- Thailand has become the first nation in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriages after King Maha Vajiralongkorn approved a law passed by the parliament three months ago.
Most Read from Bloomberg
The royal endorsement for the same-sex law was announced in a gazette notification late on Tuesday, with a clause that the legislation takes effect 120 days from the date of publication. The new law will allow same-sex couples to legally register marriages from Jan. 22.
Under the new law, Thailand will recognize marriage registrations of same-sex partners aged 18 and above, along with their rights to inheritance, tax allowances and child adoption, among others. Its seen as a win for LGBTQ activists, who have fought for over a decade for the same rights to marry as heterosexual couples.
Although Thai laws have protected LGBTQ people from most kinds of discrimination since 2015, attempts to formalize marriage rights had stalled. Former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisins administration advocated for the law, arguing it would also burnish Thailands reputation as an LGBTQ-friendly tourist destination.
Thailand becomes the third in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage, after Taiwan and Nepal, and rank among some 40 countries around the world to guarantee equal marital rights. The nation stands out in Southeast Asia where there has been little progress in recognizing the rights of the LGBTQ community which often faces discrimination.
Thailands House of Representatives and the Senate had voted overwhelmingly in support of the bill earlier this year. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra cheered the royal endorsement for the law.
Thank you for the support from all sectors. It is a joint fight for everyone, she posted on X.
The so-called marriage equality bill is technically an amendment to Thailands Civil and Commercial Code. The government is expected to follow through with a legislation to recognize gender identity.
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About the law and what officials are saying: The marriage equality bill, published in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday, amends the Civil and Commercial Code to replace gender-specific terms with gender-neutral language, granting full legal, financial and medical rights to same-sex couples, including adoption and inheritance rights. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra celebrated the occasion in an X post, writing, Congratulations to everyones love along with the hashtag #LoveWins. Meanwhile, Bangkok Deputy Gov. Sanon Wangsrangboon assured that city officials are ready to facilitate same-sex marriage registrations as soon as the law takes effect. The royal signing of the bill represents a culmination of over two decades of advocacy. Weve been waiting for a long time. As soon as it becomes law, we will go register our marriage, actor and YouTuber Apiwat Apiwatsayree told AFP.
Who Is Thalia Graves? What to Know About Woman Who Accused Diddy and Bodyguard of Raping Her and Recording It
In her complaint, Thalia Graves alleges she was the victim of "brutalizing, misogynistic and violent attacks" in 2001
Gloria Allred; Steve Granitz/WireImage Thalia Graves; Sean Combs
Thalia Graves could barely get through the press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 24, with her attorney, Gloria Allred, without breaking down.
In a halting voice, Graves, 48, of Harris County, Texas, tearfully recounted the allegations she made in a lawsuit: That Sean Diddy Combs and his bodyguard, Joseph Sherman, brutally raped her more than 20 years ago and recorded a video of the alleged rape that's still "in circulation."
The alleged incident, she said, had adversely affected every area of her life, and even left her contemplating suicide.
On Tuesday, she filed a 26-page complaint against Combs and Sherman, seeking damages for the harm she alleges they caused her and continue to cause her.
Gloria Allred Gloria Allred and Thalia Graves
The complaint comes a week after Combs was arrested and charged with federal sex crimes including sex trafficking. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and remains in federal custody awaiting trial.
Related: Sean 'Diddy' Combs and Former Bodyguard Accused of Drugging, Raping and Recording Woman in 2001: Complaint
The allegations in Graves' complaint are among the most harrowing the public has heard to date about Combs.
Heres what we know about Graves:
Early Life
Graves and her family immigrated to New York City when she was a teenager, settling in Rego Park, Queens, where she completed her education, according to the complaint.
She was living in Queens when she met Combs in late 1999 to early 2000, through her boyfriend at the time, who was an ambitious executive at the moguls company, Bad Boy Records, and a close friend of Combs', the complaint states.
Graves frequently visited her boyfriend at the Bad Boy studio in New York City and attended events at Combs homes. During this time, Graves became familiar with Combs, who knew about her relationship with her boyfriend, the document states.
Complaint Alleges Combs Lured Her into Studio
In the summer of 2001, Combs called Graves, saying he wanted to talk to her about her boyfriends job, the complaint alleges.
Committed to helping her boyfriend, she agreed to meet with Combs. Soon after, an SUV pulled up to her mothers house in Queens, with Sherman behind the wheel and Combs in the backseat. When she got into the SUV, Combs offered her a glass of wine, which she accepted, the complaint alleges.
After just a few sips, Graves began to feel lightheaded and dizzy, allegedly from a drug that was put in the drink, the complaint claims.
She lost consciousness and when she woke up, she was naked on a pool table and her hands were tied with what felt like a plastic grocery bag, the complaint alleges.
The two violently raped her vaginally and anally, even though she lost consciousness again, and Sherman forced her to have oral sex, the complaint alleges.
According to the complaint, she allegedly woke up on the couch in Combs office with her dress thrown on top of her. A friend picked her up and took her to the hospital to report the alleged rape, but she was unable to leave the car, saying she was terrified of what Combs would do to her and her family, the complaint claims.
'Warned to Be Silent'
In ensuing years, the complaint claims Combs and Sherman contacted Graves and warned her to be silent, threatening her with serious repercussions including potentially losing custody of her son. Fearing Combs, she left New York City and moved to Pennsylvania, moving several times more to stay away from Combs.
In November 2023, Graves learned that Combs and Sherman recorded a video of them raping her, showed it to others and/or sold the video as pornography, the complaint alleges. Graves "was devastated" by the news, it says.
Combs' attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) An ongoing public defender crisis has led to overcrowded jails and record-breaking numbers of people left unrepresented in Oregon.
The number of Oregonians charged with crimes without representation recently ballooned to more than 3,500 with roughly 180 of those still in custody. The majority of this group are still awaiting trial without the ability to pay for a lawyer despite their constitutional right to one.
The evolution of Zidell Yards on Portlands waterfront
We dont see the urgency on the reaction to the crisis, and its important for Oregonians right to representation in court, and its important to public safety for Oregonians that we see strong action, Sen. Janeen Sollman (D-Forest Grove) told KOIN 6 News.
In a heated Legislative work session, Sen. Sollman called for less talk and more action from the newly-formed Oregon Public Defense Commission (OPDC) tasked with solving the states critical shortage.
I dont believe that you see the crisis at hand and have a plan forward to address this in a way that doesnt require multi-millions of dollars, Sollman said.
This follows the commissions recent request for 25 new public defenders at an estimated cost of $4 million while putting forth a plan to address the workload that was shared with Gov. Tina Kotek, who will oversee the agency as of Jan. 1, 2025.
New York Times names 2 Oregon restaurants among the best of 2024
In response to Sen. Sollmans criticism, OPDC Executive Director Jessica Kampfe said they are they are working tirelessly to ensure all eligible defendants have timely access to legal representation by increasing the number of public defenders and opening trial offices in Portland, Salem and Medford.
By building and maintaining a qualified public defense workforce, OPDC remains unwavering in its commitment to ensure that the constitutional rights of all Oregonians are met, Kampfe said in a statement.
Sen. Sollman said the Oregon legislature is focused on making sure this crisis is addressed.
Thats why the legislature has reacted with the funding that we have, but it is also our place to hold agencies and commissions and such accountable for those dollars, Sollman said.
University of Portland ranked among 2025s top schools in the west by US News and World Report
As of late September, the state needs at least 22 additional public defenders to address the current workload. The issue became more complex after a U.S. district judge ruled in May that any person waiting for a public defender must be released from jail after seven days.
It is a tiger that we have not been able to wrestle down, OPDC Chair Jennifer Nash said. It literally has kept me awake at night for years.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Lebanese fleeing the Israeli bombardment, sit on the ground after crossing into Syria at the Syrian-Lebanese border crossing in Jdaidet Yabous, Syria, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
JDEIDET YABOUS, Syria (AP) Families fleeing the escalating conflict in Lebanon poured into Syria in growing numbers on Wednesday, waiting for hours in heavy traffic to reach the relative safety of another war-torn country.
U.N. officials estimated that thousands of Lebanese and Syrian families had already made the journey. Those numbers are expected to grow as Israel targets southern and eastern Lebanon in an aerial bombardment that local officials say has killed more than 600 people this week, at least a quarter of them women and children. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah fighters and weapons.
Lines of buses and cars extended for several kilometers (miles) from the Syria border beginning on Monday, and some families were seen making the journey on foot. Once in Syria, people waited hours more to be processed by overwhelmed border officials, and relief workers handed out food, water, mattresses and blankets.
Many will have to spend the night outdoors waiting their turn, Rula Amin, a spokesperson for the U.N.'s refugee agency, said in a statement.
Amin said some of the people arriving from Lebanon had visible injuries suffered from recent attacks.
The cross-border flow was a striking reversal in fortunes given that Lebanon is still hosting more than one million Syrian refugees who fled the war in their country that began in 2011. Thats when an initially peaceful anti-government uprising was met by a brutal government crackdown and spiraled into an ongoing civil war.
In the Syrian border town of Jdeidet Yabous, some families sat glumly on the side of the road when Associated Press journalists visited the area. Some used their bags as seats, waiting for taxis, buses or relatives to pick them up. Many said they had spent eight or nine hours in traffic just to get into Syria.
Before crossing the border, crowds packed into a government office to be processed by immigration officers and, in the case of Syrian citizens, to change $100 to Syrian pounds before entering a measure imposed in an attempt to prop up the local currency by bringing more dollars into the country. Due to the sudden spike in demand, the supply of Syrian pounds at the border ran short.
Some were returning refugees, like Emad al-Salim, who had fled Aleppo in 2014. He was living in the southern coastal city of Tyre when Mondays bombardment began. He gathered his wife and six children and fled again.
There were houses destroyed in front of me as we were coming out, he said. It took us three days to get here.
Nada Hamid al-Lajji returned with her family after seven years in Lebanon with her husband. They are from eastern Syria, but al-Lajji said she doesn't know if they will return there.
Where am I going to go?" she said. "I dont even have a house anymore. I dont know where I will go.
Many Lebanese families were also fleeing. Mahmoud Ahmad Tawbeh from the village of Arnoun in the country's south had come with an extended family of 35 people, planning to stay in a rented house in a Damascus suburb.
We left with difficulty, there were a lot of bombs dropping above our heads, he said. Five or six houses in the village were destroyed and several neighbors were killed, he said.
For many in Lebanon, particularly those living in the Bekaa Valley in the east, Syria appeared to be the quickest route to safety. Israeli strikes across the country this week have wounded more than 2,000.
Many of the Lebanese arriving at the border refused to speak to journalists or would not give their full names because of the sensitivity of the situation. One woman from the town of Harouf in southern Lebanon, who gave her family name, Matouk, said she had come with her brothers wife, who is Syrian, to stay with in-laws.
Several families near where they lived were killed, she said, and she was worried about her father and siblings who she had left behind.
While the war in Syria is ongoing, active fighting has long been frozen in much of the country. Lebanese citizens, who can cross the border without a visa, regularly visit Damascus. And renting an apartment is significantly cheaper in Syria than in Lebanon. Even before the latest escalation, some Lebanese had rented in Syria as a Plan B in case they needed to flee.
Apart from those who fled the war, many Syrians come to Lebanon for work or family reasons, and regularly cross the border.
However, many of those who came as refugees have been reluctant to return out of fear they could be arrested for real or perceived ties to the opposition to Syrian President Bashar Assad or forcibly conscripted to the army. If they leave Lebanon they could also lose their refugee status.
Earlier this week, Assad issued an amnesty for crimes committed before Sept. 22, including those who dodged compulsory military service.
He had issued similar amnesties over the past years, but they largely failed to convince refugees to return, as have efforts by Lebanese authorities to organize voluntary return trips.
___
Sewell reported from Beirut.
By Leyla Tarverdiyeva, Day.az
Is it possible to make the Armenian society think about why, being, according to historical illusions, the oldest and most civilized human community on the planet, it is in a deplorable state? Many have tried to help pan-Armenian thought to work in the right direction, but no one has been able to achieve results. The mental space of the Armenian people is fenced off from the real world by high walls of national arrogance, baseless ambitions and myths. Even a crushing defeat in the war failed to destroy this wall. On the contrary, it has become even higher and threatens to completely tear the Armenian people away from reality.
A few days ago, British Foreign Minister David Lammy, in his publication entitled "The United Kingdom and the United States united for Ukraine," mentioned that "Azerbaijan was able to liberate the territory it lost in the early 1990s." This phrase provoked a very violent reaction in Armenia, the Armenian people and in the country of the Armenophiles. A terrible noise arose, which continues to this day. The reason for the discontent is Lammy's use of the "wrong" definition. He called Azerbaijan's actions the liberation of territories, which means that they were occupied. The British minister simply stated a fact recognized by the whole world, including four UN Security Council resolutions. Azerbaijani lands were occupied in the early 90s, and in 2020, respectively, they were liberated. What's wrong?
In the stream of criticism and hysteria around "incorrect" definitions, an article by journalist Grigor Atanesyan, which appeared on the British website UnHerd, stands out. The journalist, who publishes in Forbes, BBC and other similar publications, tried to approach the modern history of Armenia from an unexpected angle. Unfortunately, the publicist himself is not free from the traditional cliches of Armenian propaganda, but we will ignore all this in this case. That's not the point.
Atanesyan's publication is notable for the fact that he openly wrote about the occupation of Azerbaijani territories and called it a violation of international law. True, this was said only about seven districts around the former NKAO, but still, progress is evident.
The irredentist ideology, which was legalized in the nineties, became the collapse of Armenia, the author believes, quoting historian Ronald Grigor Suny, who wrote: "The biggest mistake of the Armenians was to succumb to the pernicious arrogance, thinking that they could create a "Great Armenia" on the territory liberated from the people who lived there."
It's not just that there have never been any moral justifications for the occupation of seven districts, the journalist writes. There was no chance that Armenia would be allowed to evade responsibility. "Despite the diplomatic efforts of various administrations, the Armenian side has not managed to get its position approved by the international community," historian and diplomat Zhirayr Libaridyan told Atanesyan in 2020.
The author tells about the mistakes and stupidities committed by the rulers of Armenia and how they brought it to this day, about hopes for Russia and the West, which in both cases did not materialize, about the hopeless lag behind Azerbaijan. Etc.
"Meanwhile, nationalist dogmas still dominate the conversation. For many, the role that occupation and erroneous policies have played in Armenia's problems is still taboo. Instead, the government blames Russia for everything, hoping to find a sympathetic audience in the West," Atanesyan writes. Armenians blame Russia, Biden, the European Union, Israel, "but very few mention Armenia's arrogance." The author of the article clearly shows the perniciousness of the Armenian side's maximalist position and points out that "for small nations seduced by the ghosts of a glorious past, this should sound like a warning."
All right. Excessive self-confidence and confidence in patrons did not allow Armenia to soberly assess the situation and see where it leads. We all remember talking about a "new war - new territories." This was said not out of stupid bravado, but based on specific circumstances. The calculations did not come true, because Azerbaijan had its own calculations, which were much more realistic. But the very fact that they were talking about "new territories" in Armenia is quite indicative. He convinced the Azerbaijani side that it was time for diplomacy to take a back seat.
With its holding today, Armenia shows that it has not drawn any conclusions from the last 35 years of its history. And this is despite the fact that Azerbaijan, after the 2020 war, offered the defeated enemy to make peace. Let's be honest, for what Armenia did to Azerbaijani lands during the occupation, for the brutal ethnic cleansing that deprived about a million Azerbaijanis, for genocide and total vandalism, Armenia deserved the worst fate, not the hands of the world. Azerbaijan did this in the interests of the region and in the hope that this step will help its neighbors draw the right conclusions from everything that happened to them. Not for their own sake, but for the stability and security of the region. Throughout the years of its independence, Armenia has been the main threat to the stability and security of the South Caucasus and continues to be so today. Being a country with formal sovereignty, it creates serious risks with its thoughtless steps.
Yes, Armenia has drawn conclusions, but not those that would help it get back on its feet. Instead of repentance and repentance, we see the escalation of a revanchist line, militarization, the organization of diplomatic attacks and slanderous campaigns against Baku. Endless slanders, petitions, complaints to international authorities, misinformation of the world community. The Armenians unwisely took up the old ways, although the previous methods not only did not work, but failed completely.
What result does the Armenians expect today? According to that. As Yerevan acts, it can be concluded that the Armenian side itself does not know the answer to this question. And as always, he does not look to the future. During the years of occupation, Armenia, as journalist Atanesyan wrote, did not have a single chance to escape responsibility. She has no chance today either. In the new realities, when Azerbaijan has restored its sovereignty to the last millimeter, Armenia can not be afraid of war. But she faces no less serous challenges, generated by her thoughtless stubbornness and downright touching faith in the slogan "abroad will help us."
Threat at Grand Co. school result of joke made by student
MOAB, Utah (ABC4) Moab City Police said on social media Tuesday morning a threat at a Grand County school had been making rounds, but after an investigation, they deemed it as not credible.
Police said the threat was a joke made by a student, but the school was instructed to hold in place during the investigation. The school was not immediately named by police or the school district.
The hold-in-place has since been lifted, and officials stated there was no danger to students and staff.
Utah police warn of personalized and threatening email scam targeting victims
The incident in Grand County marks the third threat ABC4.com has reported within a week throughout the state. Canyons School District and Uintah School District both went on lockdowns with threats circulating online. Police in both districts deemed those threats as not credible.
The threat in the Canyons School District involved a screenshot of an alleged text conversation between two students where one stated that they were going to bring a gun to school.
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 Uintah School District experienced a similar threat last Tuesday when a student reported a text message from an unrecognized number at Uintah Middle School to a school administrator. That resulted in the district calling for a district-wide lockdown until the alleged sender could be identified.
The student who sent the text was said to be a Vernal Middle School student. That case was sent to juvenile court.
According to a report from the Educators School Safety Network, false reports made up 29.5% of school violence incidents last year. Gun-related incidents made up 27.6%.
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Three arrested in connection to shooting of 15-year-old Kendrick High School student
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) Three men have been arrested in connection to the shooting death of a 15-year-old Kendrick High School student.
According to the Muscogee County Sheriffs Office, Demetrius Miles, Gregory Nelson and Marquis Roberts have all been arrested in connection to the shooting death of 15-year-old Earkavion Lee.
MCSO says Miles, Nelson and Roberts are all being charged with felony murder and felony possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countryman says the MCSOs Special Operations Unit and the Columbus Police Department assisted the South East Regional Fugitive Task Force (SERFTF), alongside the FBI and the Coweta County Sheriffs Office in making the arrests.
Countryman says all three men were taken into custody without incident and were turned over to the Columbus Police Department.
The MCSO says the investigation into Lees death is still ongoing.
Previous coverage
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
Three arrested in connection to theft of over $3K from Ulta in Horseheads
HORSEHEADS, N.Y. (WETM) Three women have been arrested after an investigation into a theft at Ulta Beauty in the Town of Horseheads in the summer of 2023.
According to New York State Police, troopers from Horseheads were called to Ulta Beauty on June 6, 2023, for the report of a theft. After an investigation, it was determined that three women had entered the store, placed several items in their tote bags and left the store without paying for the items, which were worth roughly $3,200.
Two arrested in connection to break-ins at Kanona Rest Area
Two of the women who were allegedly involved in the incident were arrested in 2023.
Kadesha D. Dickerson, 25 of Rochester, was arrested on Aug. 10, 2023, on the charge of grand larceny in the third degree (class D felony.) She was processed by State Police in Horseheads and released on an appearance ticket.
Niayara M. Henderson, 23, of Webster, was arrested on a superior court warrant on Dec. 6, 2023, on the same charge as Dickerson. She was processed by State Police in Horseheads and placed in the Chemung County Jail.
Horseheads woman sentenced for stealing from employer
The third woman allegedly involved in the incident was arrested this month on a superior court warrant in connection to the theft.
Starazha Hillard, 25, of Rochester, was arrested on Sept. 20, 2024, on the same charge as Dickerson and Henderson. She was processed by State Police in Horseheads and placed into custody of the New York State Department of Corrections.
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Three Idahoans were among people arrested at Trump campaign office in Arizona. Heres why
Three Idahoans were among five people arrested Monday after protesting at a Donald Trump campaign office in Arizona, according to Sunrise Movement national spokesperson Shiva Rajbhandari, a Boise High School graduate.
The three included a student at Boise State University and two students at the University of Idaho, Rajbhandari said. The individuals were protesting as part of the Sunrise climate-focused organization.
Wildfires have broken out across the West, leaving communities like Boise blanketed in poisonous smoke, Rajbhandari said. ... I commend these brave Idaho organizers for putting their bodies on the line to stand up to Donald Trump.
The Trump campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.
Five people sat on a red floor with signs that read Trump Profits Arizona Burns in front of a wall of Trump-Vance campaign signs, according to a video posted on X, formerly Twitter. Sen. J.D. Vance is Trumps running mate.
Im fighting for communities in North Idaho, one protester said in the video.
One of the protesters told the Statesman that they went in with the intention of not leaving the sit-in and that they hoped to encourage conversations about climate issues in Idaho as well.
Phoenix police said in a statement that five individuals were asked to leave by the property manager and officers.
They again refused, and after given ample time to leave the property, all five were arrested, the Phoenix Police Department said. All five were booked on criminal trespassing charges.
All five had been released from custody by Tuesday.
Three people were poisoned after eating the death cap mushroom, mistaking it for a edible mushroom [BBC]
Three people in Jersey, including a mother and son, have been poisoned after eating a death cap mushroom, the BBC understands.
They were poisoned on 15 September after eating the mushroom which had been mistaken for an edible one.
They were treated in hospital, and the BBC understands at least one of them remains there; with the government later issuing a warning about the dangers of foraging.
A Health and Community Services spokesperson said: We cannot provide any information about medical cases due to patient confidentiality.
Death caps can be mistaken for edible fungus because they look similar to many safe varieties.
A piece the size of a coin is enough to kill an adult if eaten and there is no known antidote.
Charlotte Shenkin said it was "essential to be aware of the real and potentially deadly risks of eating wild fungi" [BBC]
Mycologist [fungi expert] Charlotte Shenkin, who lives in Jersey, said interest in foraging had risen steadily in the island in recent years.
She said: "While everyone can benefit from spending more time in nature and earning more about fascinating organisms like mushrooms and other fungi, its essential to be aware of the real and potentially deadly risks of eating wild fungi without knowledge and caution."
She said that, to keep safe, people should:
Never eat a wild mushroom they could not confidently identify themselves, especially if was given it to them
Never eat a wild mushroom they were not 100% certain about, adding: "If in doubt, throw it out"
Always seek a second opinion on wild mushroom identification
Always keep an uncooked sample when planning to eat wild mushrooms in case they do become ill
Always research the cooking requirements of the specific mushrooms they intended to eat, as even edible species could be poisonous if improperly cooked
Always see help without delay if they began to feel ill, even a few days after eating wild mushrooms
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In the tightest states, new voting laws could tip the outcome in November
Voters in Grand Rapids, Mich., cast ballots during the states August primary. Michigan was one of the swing states that greatly expanded voter access since 2020. Photo by Matt Vasilogambros/Stateline
Editors note: This five-day series, The Deciders, explores voter priorities in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as they consider the upcoming presidential election and the nations future. With the outcome expected to be close, the swing states as they are called, are often a bellwether for the country.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. Some voters are already casting early ballots in the first presidential election since the global pandemic ended and former President Donald Trump refused to accept his defeat.
This years presidential election wont be decided by a margin of millions of votes, but likely by thousands in the seven tightly contested states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
How legislatures, courts and election boards have reshaped ballot access in those states in the past four years could make a difference. Some of those states, especially Michigan, cemented the temporary pandemic-era measures that allowed for more mail-in and early voting. But other battleground states have passed laws that may keep some registered voters from casting ballots.
Trump and his allies have continued to spread lies about the 2020 results, claiming without evidence that widespread voter fraud stole the election from him. That has spurred many Republican lawmakers in states such as Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina to reel back access to early and mail-in voting and add new identification requirements to vote. And in Pennsylvania, statewide appellate courts are toggling between rulings.
The last four years have been a long, strange trip, said Hannah Fried, co-founder and executive director of All Voting is Local, a multistate voting rights organization.
Rollbacks were almost to an instance tied to the big lie, she added, referring to Trumps election conspiracy theories. And there have been many, many positive reforms for voters in the last few years that have gone beyond what we saw in the COVID era.
The volume of election-related legislation and court cases that emerged over the past four years has been staggering.
Nationally, the Voting Rights Lab, a nonpartisan group that researches election law changes, tracked 6,450 bills across the country that were introduced since 2021 that sought to alter the voting process. Hundreds of those bills were enacted.
Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, cautioned that incremental tweaks to election law especially last-minute changes made by the courts not only confuse voters, but also put a strain on local election officials who must comply with changes to statute as they prepare for another highly scrutinized voting process.
Any voter that is affected unnecessarily is too many in my book, he said.
New restrictions
In many ways, the 2020 presidential election is still being litigated four years later.
Swing states have been the focus of legal challenges and new laws spun from a false narrative that questioned election integrity. The 2021 state legislative sessions, many begun in the days following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, brought myriad legislative changes that have made it more difficult to vote and altered how ballots are counted and rejected.
The highest profile measure over the past four years came out of Georgia.
Under a 2021 law, Georgia residents now have less time to ask for mail-in ballots and must put their drivers license or state ID information on those requests. The number of drop boxes has been limited. And neither election officials nor nonprofits may send unsolicited mail-in ballot applications to voters.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said when signing the measure that it would ensure free and fair elections in the state, but voting rights groups lambasted the law as voter suppression.
That law also gave Georgias State Election Board more authority to interfere in the makeup of local election boards. The state board has made recent headlines for paving the way for counties to potentially refuse to certify the upcoming election. This comes on top of a wave of voter registration challenges from conservative activists.
In North Carolina, the Republican-led legislature last year overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers veto to enact measures that shortened the time to turn in mail-in ballots; required local election officials to reject ballots if voters who register to vote on Election Day do not later verify their home address; and required identification to vote by mail.
This will also be the first general election that North Carolinians will have to comply with a 2018 voter ID measure that was caught up in the court system until the state Supreme Court reinstated the law last year.
And in Arizona, the Republican-led legislature pushed through a measure that shortened the time voters have to correct missing or mismatched signatures on their absentee ballot envelopes. Then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed the measure.
Look, sometimes the complexity is the point, said Fried, of All Voting is Local. If you are passing a law that makes it this complicated for somebody to vote or to register to vote, whats your endgame here? What are you trying to do?
Laws avoided major overhauls
But the restrictions could have gone much further.
Thats partly because Democratic governors, such as Arizonas Katie Hobbs, who took office in 2023, have vetoed many of the Republican-backed bills. But its also because of how popular early voting methods have become.
Arizonans, for example, have been able to vote by mail for more than three decades. More than 75% of Arizonan voters requested mail-in ballots in 2022, and 90% of voters in 2020 cast their ballots by mail.
This year, a bill that would have scrapped no-excuse absentee voting passed the state House but failed to clear a Republican-controlled Senate committee.
Bridget Augustine, a high school English teacher in Glendale, Arizona, and a registered independent, has been a consistent early voter since 2020. She said the first time she voted in Arizona was by absentee ballot while she was a college student in New Jersey, and she has no concerns whatsoever about the safety of early voting in Arizona.
I just feel like so much of this rhetoric was drummed up as a way to make it easier to lie about the election and undermine peoples confidence, she said.
Vanessa Jiminez, the security manager for a Phoenix high school district, is a registered independent and an early voter who said she is confident in the safety of her ballot.
I track my ballot every step of the way, she said.
Ben Ginsberg, a longtime Republican election lawyer and the Volker Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the think tank Hoover Institution, said that while these laws may add new hurdles, he doesnt expect them to change vote totals.
The bottom line is I dont think that the final result in any election is going to be impacted by a law thats been passed, he said on a recent call with reporters organized by the Knight Foundation, a Miami-based nonprofit that provides grants to support democracy and journalism.
Major expansions
No state has seen a bigger expansion to ballot access over the past four years than Michigan.
Republicans tried to curtail access to absentee voting, introducing 39 bills in 2021, when the party still was in charge of both legislative chambers.
Two GOP bills passed, but Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed them.
The next year, Michigan voters approved ballot measures that added nine days of early voting. The measures also allowed voters to request mail-in ballots online; created a permanent vote-by-mail list; provided prepaid postage on absentee ballot applications and ballots; increased ballot drop boxes; and allowed voters to correct missing or mismatched signatures on mail-in ballot envelopes.
When you take it to the people and actually ask them about it, it turns out most people want more voting access, said Melinda Billingsley, communications manager for Voters Not Politicians, a Lansing, Michigan-based voting rights advocacy group.
The ballot access expansions happened in spite of an anti-democratic, Republican-led push to restrict ballot access, she said.
In 2021, then-Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, signed into law a measure that transitioned the state into a universal vote-by-mail system. Every registered voter would be sent a ballot in the mail before an election, unless they opt out. The bill made permanent a temporary expansion of mail-in voting that the state put in place during the pandemic.
Nevada voters have embraced the system, data shows.
In Februarys presidential preference primary, 78% of ballots cast were ballots by mail or in a ballot drop box, according to the Nevada secretary of states office. In Junes nonpresidential primary, 65% of ballots were mail-in ballots. And in the 2022 general election, 51% of ballots cast were mail ballots.
Last-minute court decisions
Drop boxes werent controversial in Wisconsin until Trump became fixated on them as an avenue for alleged voter fraud, said Jeff Mandell, general counsel and co-founder of Law Forward, a Madison-based nonprofit legal organization.
For half a century, Wisconsinites could return their absentee ballots in the same drop boxes that counties and municipalities used for water bills and property taxes, he said. But when the pandemic hit and local election officials expected higher volumes of absentee ballots, they installed larger boxes.
Look, sometimes the complexity is the point. If you are passing a law that makes it this complicated for somebody to vote or to register to vote, whats your endgame here? What are you trying to do?
Hannah Fried of All Voting is Local
After Trump lost the state by fewer than 21,000 votes in 2020, drop boxes became a flashpoint. Republican leaders claimed drop boxes were not secure, and that nefarious people could tamper with the ballots. In 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, then led by a conservative majority, banned drop boxes.
But that ruling would only last two years. In July, the new liberal majority in the states high court reversed the ruling and said localities could determine whether to use drop boxes. It was a victory for voters, Mandell said.
With U.S. Postal Service delays stemming from the agencys restructuring, drop boxes provide a faster method of returning a ballot without having to worry about it showing up late, he said. Ballots must get in by 8 p.m. on Election Day. The boxes are especially convenient for rural voters, who may have a clerks office or post office with shorter hours, he added.
Every way that you make it easy for people to vote safely and securely is good, Mandell said.
After the high courts ruling, local officials had to make a swift decision about whether to reinstall drop boxes.
Milwaukee city employees were quickly dispatched throughout the city to remove the leather bags that covered the drop boxes for two years, cleaned them all and repaired several, said Paulina Gutierrez, executive director of the City of Milwaukee Election Commission.
Theres an all-hands-on-deck mentality here at the city, she said, adding that there are cameras pointed at each drop box.
Although it used a drop box in 2020, Marinette, a community on the western shore of Green Bay, opted not to use them for the August primary and asked voters to hand the ballots to clerk staff. Lana Bero, the city clerk, said the city may revisit that decision before November.
New Berlin Clerk Rubina Medina said her community, a city of about 40,000 on the outskirts of Milwaukee, had some security concerns about potentially tampering or destruction of ballots within drop boxes, and therefore decided not to use the boxes this year.
Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell, who serves the state capital of Madison and its surrounding area, has been encouraging local clerks in his county to have a camera on their drop boxes and save the videos in case residents have fraud concerns.
A risk of confusing voters
Many local election officials in Wisconsin say they worry that court decisions, made mere months before the November election, could create confusion for voters and more work for clerks.
These decisions are last-second, over and over again, McDonell said. Youre killing us when you do that.
Arizonans and Pennsylvanians now know that late-in-the-game scramble too.
In August, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated part of a 2022 Arizona law that requires documented proof of citizenship to register on state forms, potentially impacting tens of thousands of voters, disproportionately affecting young and Native voters.
Whether Pennsylvania election officials should count mail ballots returned with errors has been a subject of litigation in every election since 2020. State courts continue to grapple with the question, and neither voting rights groups nor national Republicans show signs of giving up.
Former Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar, who is now president of Athena Strategies and working on voting rights and election security issues across the country, said voters simply need to ignore the noise of litigation and closely follow the instructions with their mail ballots.
Litigation is confusing, Boockvar said. The legislature wont fix it by legislation. Voter education is the key thing here, and the instructions on the envelopes need to be as clear and simple as possible.
To avoid confusion, voters can make a plan for how and when they will vote by going to vote.gov, a federally run site where voters can check to make sure they are properly registered and to answer questions in more than a dozen languages about methods for casting a ballot.
Arizona Mirrors Caitlin Sievers and Jim Small, Nevada Currents April Corbin Girnus and Pennsylvania Capital-Stars Peter Hall contributed reporting.
The News
NAIROBI TikTok is looking to calm governments nerves across Africa as it rolls out new measures meant to improve its content moderation across the continent.
The company set up an advisory council last month to inform its policies on the continent. It also updated community guidelines to take into account cultural norms in the countries it operates in and to be clearer to creators.
Fortune Sibanda, the companys head of public policy and government relations in Africa, told Semafor Africa that the company had in recent months been working to demystify misconceptions about its work. The push comes amid mounting scrutiny into the ByteDance owned-app from governments around the continent as its popularity skyrockets.
The eight-person council is composed of African experts drawn from different sectors who will advise the company on its approach on various issues in different African countries.
They include Ethiopian academic Prof Medhane Tadesse, Nigerias Dr Akinola Olojo an expert on countering violent extremism, and Kenyas Lilian Kariuki, founder of child online safety organization Watoto Watch Network. Others are Ghanaian content creator Dennis Coffie and Aisha Dabo, co-founder of Senegalese pro-democracy organization AfricTivistes
They will support us in developing forward looking policies that not only address the challenges we face today, but also identify existing and emerging issues in Africa which affect TikTok and our community, and develop strategies to tackle these challenges, Sibanda said.
Know More
A survey conducted by Geopoll in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa last year found that TikTok was the second most popular social media platform by active user engagement, ahead of Instagram and X. It only trailed Facebook. Governments in Africa have been pushing for closer regulation of TikTok even with calls for partial or complete bans from some quarters.
Egyptian authorities in August announced that they would seek the implementation of enhanced mechanisms to monitor content on TikTok to ensure its commitment to Egyptian values, as opposed to a full ban.
Ahmed Badawi, head of the Communications and Information Technology Committee in the House of Representatives, also revealed efforts to create laws allowing for the monitoring of pages posting content deemed not to align with societal values.
Earlier this year, Kenyas government also introduced a requirement for TikTok to publish quarterly compliance reports on action taken against inappropriate and explicit content.
Sibanda said the company was working with 18 global fact-checking organizations to assess the accuracy of content in more than 70 languages, including African languages. This is in addition to a human content moderation team and content moderation technology.
Martins view
TikTok has faced significant criticism over its content moderation efforts in Africa in recent years, with some arguing that it often misses local context, languages and cultures. In Kenya, this even fueled a petition to ban the application over the past year.
Genuine discontent over content moderation and user safety, however, can be piggybacked on by governments looking to exert greater control over the flow of information. TikTok, with its growing prominence in Africa, has become a key source of political information including news, civic education, analysis and propaganda by various groups.
TikToks latest efforts represent the companys desire to reduce the risks presented by a failure to understand the unique features of the countries it operates in, including their histories, values, and cultures.
Notably, some analysts fear that a ban on TikTok in the United States could embolden African governments to pursue similar measures, albeit for political purposes. TikTok faces a ban in the United States unless it sells its unit in the country to a non-Chinese owner.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) A Nashville bar has been fined after a patron died from injuries caused by a security guard employed by the business.
Austin Turner, 26, was left in a coma and died a couple of weeks after an altercation with Richard Cornelius, a licensed Tin Roof security guard at its location on Demonbreun Street.
Security guard indicted in death of bar patron at Tin Roof
According to the Metro police, Cornelius denied Turner entry into Tin Roof on Demonbreun Street on Feb. 18, 2024. Midtown Hills Precinct detectives accused Cornelius of striking Turner, causing him to fall to the ground unconscious.
Austin Turner (Courtesy: Turner family)
According to his mother, Turner suffered a skull fracture that led to a subdural hematoma. He required an emergency craniotomy but he fell into a coma and died a few weeks later.
Cornelius was charged with aggravated assault in March before he was indicted on Aug. 14.
Our son is gone: Family of man in coma after altercation with security guard speaks out
Tin Roof Acquisition Company, LLC was fined $1,500 by the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission on Sept. 19, 2024 for violation of Law and Order TABC Rule 0100-01-.03(6)
During a preliminary hearing in May, Turners family watched the video capturing the incident for the first time.
The video from a neighboring business shows Cornelius appearing to push Turner out of the bar and as he walks away, you see the guard appear to strike Turner multiple times from behind.
Corneliuss family said the video only captures what happened outside the bar, not what unfolded inside Tin Roof, accusing Turner of trespassing and assaulting the guard.
Witness testimony said video from Tin Roof doesnt exist.
Cornelius was indicted with intentionally or knowingly causing injury to Turner that resulted in his death.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
These are the top 5 states with the worst-behaved drivers: Ohio? Texas? You're good.
A new survey may help some motorists decide which roads across the nation to stay off to avoid bad-behaved drivers behind the wheel.
In recent findings published by Forbes Advisor, researchers analyzed nearly two dozen behaviors to learn which states had the worst drivers across the country.
The 19 behaviors included reasons like texting while driving, cutting off other motorists, eating while driving and even putting on makeup while behind the wheel.
Motorists in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee exhibited the best driving behavior, while Oregon and New Mexico drivers are included in the top five states with the worst drivers.
Findings published by Forbes Advisor in August 2024 show which states had the worst drivers across the country. Motorists in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee exhibited the best driving behavior while drivers in Hawaii, Oregon and New Mexico are had the worst drivers.
Topping this list: Hawaii. The Aloha State has the worst drivers in the nation with a large number of motorists running red lights, changing lanes, or turning without signaling and speeding 20 mph or more over the limit.
From tailgating and driving under the influence to crashing and cursing at other drivers, here are the top 15 states with the worst drivers:
New York fatal intersection crash: 1 teen dead, 4 injured after man runs red light in New York
What states have the worst-behaved drivers?
No. 15: Arkansas
No. 14: Virginia
No. 13: Kentucky
Findings published by Forbes Advisor in August 2024 show which states had the worst drivers across the country. Motorists in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee exhibited the best driving behavior while drivers in Hawaii, Oregon and New Mexico are had the worst drivers.
No. 12: Minnesota
No. 11: New Hampshire
No. 10: West Virginia
No. 9: Kansas
No. 8: Vermont
No. 7: Connecticut
No. 6: North Dakota
Watch daring Florida rescue: Video shows woman saved from 'precariously dangling' car after smashing through garage
Here are the top 5 states with the worst-behaved drivers:
No. 5: Alaska
The Frontier State nailed spots in the top 10 for some of the following bad driving behaviors:
Driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs (No. 1).
Passing in a no-passing zone (No. 1).
Eating while driving (No. 2).
No. 5 for putting on makeup tied with Alabama, Louisiana, New Jersey, New Mexico and Oregon.
No. 4: Wyoming
Wyoming netted No. 4 on the list and ranks No. 1 for the following categories:
Eating while driving (45%).
Texting while driving (24%).
Putting on makeup/getting ready while driving (6%).
No. 3: New Mexico
New Mexico ranks as the worst state for speeding up to 20 mph over the limit, the survey found, where nearly one-fourth (22%) of its drivers admitted theyd traveled that fast in the past month, only tied with New Hampshire.
Other ranking decisions include:
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (3%), tied with Alabama, Minnesota and Hawaii.
Passing in a no-passing zone (2%), tied with New Jersey and Alabama.
Law enforcement officer killed in wreck: 1 charged after St. Louis police officer hit and killed responding to crash
No. 2: Oregon
Oregon claims the No. 2 spot for bad driving. Its drivers rank worst for:
Running a red light (8%).
Refusing to yield (5%).
Speeding in a school zone (4%).
The state also came in No. 2 for drivers causing car accidents (tied with Massachusetts, New Jersey and Alabama) and 2% of the drivers there confessed to recently causing a crash.
No. 1: Hawaii
According to the study, Hawaii motorists admit to being the worst drivers and rank the lowest nationwide.
The state took the top spot for reasons including:
Changing lanes or turning without signaling (20%).
Speeding 20 mph or more over the limit (13%).
Running a red light (8%) tied with Texas and Oregon.
The state also ranked as follows:
No. 2: Driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol (tied with New Mexico, Minnesota, Utah and Alabama).
No. 3: Speeding up to 20 mph over the limit.
No. 4: Texting while driving (tied with Missouri and Oklahoma).
To see the full list of 50 states click here or visit https://www.forbes.com/advisor/car-insurance/states-with-worst-driving-behaviors/.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Top 5 states with the worst-behaved drivers include New Mexico, Hawaii
Gov. Josh Shapiro and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy together in Scranton on Sept. 22, 2024. (Photo by Commonwealth Media Services)
In what feels like a strange echo of 2019, investigations into the White Houses relationship with Ukraine are being opened and calls have been made for an ambassador to resign. But this time, its Republicans investigating a Democratic administration, and Ukraines ambassador to the U.S. (not the other way around) who is under scrutiny.
On Sunday, Gov. Josh Shapiro gave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a tour of an ammunition plant in Scranton that produces 155-millimeter howitzer rounds, which are key to Ukraines efforts to defend itself from Russias invasion. Sen. Bob Casey and Rep. Matt Cartwright, both Pennsylvania Democrats fighting for re-election, were also present.
Now, some high-ranking Republican members of Congress are crying foul, saying the visit effectively amounted to a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris.
On Wednesday, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote a letter to Zelenskyy demanding that he fire Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova over the visit.
The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because on purpose no Republicans were invited, Johnson wrote. The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference.
Johnsons demand comes as House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) announced that he will investigate whether the Biden-Harris administration attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice President Harriss presidential campaign and, if so, necessarily committed an abuse of power.
A spokesperson for Shapiro did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nor did a spokesperson for the Harris campaign.
This is not the first time Zelenskyy has found himself at the center of a U.S. investigation into potential presidential abuse of power. Comers letter announcing his investigation opens with a reference to the 2019 impeachment of then-President Donald Trump over allegations that he threatened to withhold funding for Ukraine until the country investigated the Biden family. Trump was ultimately acquitted by a Republican-majority Senate.
During this election cycle, support for Ukraines defensive war against Russia has become a key issue dividing the candidates. Harris has made clear that she believes the U.S. should continue to support Ukraine. Trump, who has previously praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, has said that he will end the war, though offered few details on how. His running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), previously criticized U.S. support for Ukraine. More recently he unveiled a peace plan to end the war that critics say is overly-deferential to Russia.
Pennsylvania has the second highest number of Ukrainians of any state as a percentage of total population.
Top state cop should be fired for failures to address racism, sexism, NAACP says
NAACP leaders want state police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan fired after reports of systemic racism and sexism at the New Jersey State Police. (Hal Brown for New Jersey Monitor)
The NAACPs state leaders are calling for state police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan to step down in the wake of two scathing reports that found systemic failures in how the New Jersey State Police treat female troopers and troopers of color.
NAACP State Conference President Richard T. Smith and Gregg L. Zeff, the groups legal redress chair, applauded Attorney General Matt Platkin for having the strength to reveal the nefarious, biased underbelly of the New Jersey State Police. Platkin released the reports Tuesday.
Still, Zeff told the New Jersey Monitor that he and other NAACP leaders have been really screaming about it from the mountaintops for years now.
It has been the only way the state police do business since the beginning of the state police. If youre a minority, if youre a woman, if youre not part of the old boys club, youre not getting ahead, Zeff said.
Zeff pointed to multiple lawsuits, federal investigations, and other reports dating back decades that documented racism and sexism in the agencys hiring, promotions, and discipline.
The reforms Platkin ordered this week could be successful, but not with the current command staff, he said. He and Smith urged Gov. Phil Murphy to replace Callahan, who became a state trooper in 1995 and took over the top job in the 3,000-member agency in October 2017.
Report after report, lawsuit after lawsuit has not stopped the State Police from making a mockery of laws that We the People and the New Jersey State Legislature have enacted, Smith and Zeff said in a statement. We believe the remedies proposed by the Attorney General could be successful, but will not be as long as the leaders at the top of the State Police remain in office looking for loopholes and workarounds.
Murphy has no plans to can Callahan, according to a statement his office provided.
I am committed to working with Attorney General Platkin and Colonel Callahan to ensure that all of the recommendations contained in the reports are enacted without delay, Murphy said via a spokeswoman.
Spokespeople for Platkin and the state police declined to comment on the call for Callahans ouster, but Sgt. Charles Marchan, a state police spokesman, said: We remain fully committed to working closely with Attorney General Platkin to ensure continued cooperation, transparency, and accountability.
Fil Soto, president of the New Jersey Latino American Trooper Society, said his organization stands behind Callahan, too.
We support and stand behind Col. Callahan and New Jersey State Police, due to his continued support of our missions and community outreach efforts, Soto said. Col. Callahan has always embraced and commended the inclusiveness of our diverse makeup.
Eric Dobson, executive director of the United Black Agenda, joined the NAACPs call for Callahans removal Wednesday. The state polices culture where critics say Black officers are repeatedly overlooked for promotions, subjected to racist taunts, and retaliated against when reporting discrimination is unacceptable, he added.
We believe that the systemic issues exposed in the report cannot be fully addressed under the current leadership of Colonel Patrick Callahan. The toxic atmosphere that has permeated the New Jersey State Police has flourished under his watch, and we have concerns that real change will be difficult without new leadership at the helm, Dobson said. For the Attorney Generals recommendations to succeed, fresh leadership that is committed to eliminating these harmful practices is necessary.
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By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives demanded that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy "immediately fire" his ambassador to the United States on Wednesday, a day before Ukraine's leader was due to visit the U.S. Congress.
Some Republicans, particularly those closest to former President Donald Trump, have been fuming over Zelenskiy's visit on Sunday to an ammunition plant in President Joe Biden's hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is one of the swing states seen as crucial to victory in the Nov. 5 presidential election.
During the trip, Zelenskiy appeared with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro - who has campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris - Senator Bob Casey and U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright. All are Democrats.
"The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because on purpose no Republicans were invited," wrote Johnson, who is not expected to meet with Zelenskiy when the Ukrainian leader comes to Congress.
"The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference," he said.
The Ukrainian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
TRUMP BLASTS ZELENSKIY
Trump has repeatedly criticized the Ukrainian president on the campaign trail this week.
"Those cities are gone, theyre gone, and we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refused to make a deal, Zelenskiy. There was no deal that he could have made that wouldnt have been better than the situation you have right now," Trump said on Wednesday. "You have a country that has been obliterated, not possible to be rebuilt."
The former president also blamed Biden and Harris for Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee had already announced that it would investigate whether Zelenskiy's trip was an attempt to use a foreign leader to benefit Harris' campaign.
It is common practice for governors to meet with foreign leaders who travel to their states. In July, Zelenskiy visited a factory in Utah and was hosted by that state's Republican governor, Spencer Cox.
Additionally, a series of foreign leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have traveled to Florida, in recent months to meet with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home. Trump won Florida by only 3 percentage points in the 2020 election, and recent polls have shown a close race there between Harris and Trump.
On Thursday, Zelenskiy is expected to thank congressional leaders for approving billions of dollars in funding for his country as it grapples with a 2-1/2-year-long Russian invasion, and to make the case for more.
After becoming speaker last year, Johnson, who had voted repeatedly against aid for Kyiv, waited until April before allowing the House to vote on Biden's October request for financial assistance for Ukraine.
However, he said on Wednesday his letter to Zelenskiy was not a threat to stop funding.
"I'm not making any threats," he told reporters.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, additional reporting by Bo Erickson; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Homer City, Pennsylvania, used to be a hub of dozens of coal mines, but it is set to make a transition that could pave the way for communities across the United States.
When a coal plant, the largest in the state, closed last year, it left locals wondering about the next step, as Marketplace reported. It could be to rebuild on cheaper, cleaner energy.
The Biden administration is working to help make over the area and others like it so it can become a big player again, this time in the new energy economy. One investment it has made is in the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, which will support over 21,000 jobs and power Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia with clean energy.
Though coal produces just 16% of electricity in the U.S., it is by far the country's biggest contributor to pollution in the power sector. That pollution, as well as that from other dirty energy sources such as oil and gas, is rapidly warming the planet and supercharging extreme weather events.
Hence the investment in clean energy, which includes solar, wind, hydro, and other low-carbon or carbon-free sources. Former coal plants across the country are being turned into solar farms and wind farms. It's happening in Ohio, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and elsewhere there's even a related project to turn an old oil and gas well into a geothermal storage unit.
"Through President Biden's Investing in America agenda, we are revitalizing communities across the country and empowering energy workers," national climate adviser Ali Zaidi said. "The Pennsylvania Rapid Response Team will ensure communities and workers here in Western Pennsylvania have the resources they need to leverage historic federal investments and technical assistance and position the United States to lead globally on clean energy."
Cleaning up power generation is just part of the solution. Homer City borough manager Rob Nymick envisions an environmental cleanup as well, with a discolored stream signaling how polluted the area remains even decades after mines were shuttered.
"Just look at the orange," Nymick told Marketplace. "There isn't a thing alive in that stream. Wouldn't this be a wonderful place someday if this stream is clean? We [could] have the largest kids' fishing tournament, and we have all the room in the world to do this here."
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Pallbearers carry the body of Palestinian militant Wael Masha through the streets of Balata refugee camp in the occupied West Bank after he was killed in an Israeli air strike on August 15, less than a year after he was released in a prisoner swap (Zain JAAFAR) (Zain JAAFAR/AFP/AFP)
Newly freed from an Israeli prison, Wael Masha rode atop friends' shoulders through the streets of his West Bank refugee camp before bursting into his home to kiss his mother's feet.
Less than a year later, those friends carried the 18-year-old's body through the same streets after Israeli forces killed him in an air strike, describing him as an armed militant who posed a threat to Israeli forces.
His journey was not unique: Masha is one of at least three Palestinians born in the Israeli-occupied West Bank who were arrested as teenagers, released during a brief truce in the Gaza war last November, then killed in intensifying Israeli military operations in the territory.
Israel says its raids and air strikes in the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967, reflect the scope of the security threat it faces from Palestinian combatants.
His family and others like them say Israel is fuelling the problem it claims to be fighting, arresting young men -- Masha was 17 when he was taken into custody -- then abusing them in custody, ultimately driving them to seek revenge.
What is not in dispute is that Masha embraced "jihad" after his release, and knew where it would lead.
In his will, he instructed his mother: "When you hear the news of my martyrdom, God willing, do not cry, but ululate."
While some memorial posters show Masha brandishing an automatic weapon, his mother remembers him differently.
"He loved studying and repairing computers and mobile phones," Hanadi Masha told AFP in the family home in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, surrounded by pictures of her smiling son.
Perhaps this interest could have turned into a career, she added.
But "after he got out of prison, he had a grudge because of everything he saw inside".
- 'Shock' behind bars -
The fallout from the nearly year-old war in Gaza has reverberated across the West Bank, where the health ministry says at least 680 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers since Hamas's October 7 attack.
Israeli officials say 24 Israelis, including troops, have been killed in Palestinian attacks during the same period.
Even before the war, Israeli round-ups of Palestinian men were common, including the one in November 2022 in which Masha was detained.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group says there are at least 250 Palestinians under the age of 18 currently in Israeli custody.
"The occupation does not hesitate to arrest children under 18 years old... The widespread arrests have nothing to do with any armed action," said Hilmi al-Araj of the Palestinian civil society group Hurryyat.
Israeli authorities took Masha to Megiddo prison in northern Israel and sentenced him to two and a half years on charges they never disclosed
to his family.
His surprise release came during a weeklong truce in Gaza in November 2023, the only one of the war so far, during which Palestinian militants released 105 hostages seized on October 7, the Israelis among them in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Once out, Masha recounted a host of abuses: being instructed to kiss the Israeli flag, being burned with cigarette butts.
His father Bilal said the experience was "a huge shock" that "changed things completely" for him.
"My son entered as a cub and came out as a lion," he said.
- 'Prime of life' -
Israel has not explained the precise circumstances of Masha's death, and his parents say they do not know what he was doing when an Israeli strike killed him on August 15.
They only know that the day before the strike Masha said he received a threatening phone call from an Israeli officer warning: "It's your turn."
The details are clearer for Tariq Daoud, a second Palestinian teenager who was detained with Masha and released on the same day of the November truce.
Like Masha, Daoud said he was beaten at Megiddo prison, his brother Khaled told AFP at the family home in Qalqilyah, where children wear necklaces featuring his face.
Khaled said the abuse produced false confessions from Tariq -- aged 16 when he was arrested -- on charges including possessing an illegal firearm and attempting to build explosives.
Incarceration "shattered all his ambitions", which had included potentially becoming an engineer or a doctor, Khaled said.
Instead he joined Hamas's armed wing.
In the same week that Masha was killed, Tariq opened fire on an Israeli settler in Azzun, east of Qalqilyah, and Israeli troops shot him dead at the scene, both Khaled and the Israeli military said.
Israeli officials have not yet released his body, but Khaled still visits his plot at the Qalqilyah cemetery every day to water the flowers.
"I go because I feel that there is something of his presence," Khaled said.
Back in the Balata camp, Masha's mother Hanadi has found her own ways to honour her son, talking about him with his four younger siblings and stroking pictures of his beard -- just like she playfully greeted him when he was alive.
Shortly after Masha's death, the institute where he had been taking classes told her he had been awarded certificates in mobile phone repair and cybersecurity.
His mother attended the graduation ceremony on his behalf.
"He was a young man in the prime of life," she told AFP through tears.
His time behind bars "planted the idea of resistance in his head."
ha-rcb/jd/kir/fox
Western Congressional District candidate Monica Tranel, a Democrat, walks in the Labor Day Parade in Dillon, Montana (Photo courtesy of Monica Tranel campaign).
Even though the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat Jon Tester and Republican newcomer Tim Sheehy may be the most watched statewide race in Montana, the one that appears the closest is the contest for the states western Congressional district.
That race, which pits incumbent Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Republican and former Interior Secretary, against Democratic challenger Monica Tranel, is a very close contest according to a poll released on Tuesday.
Internal polling done through the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee shows Tranel and Zinke neck-and-neck after a multi-modal poll taken between Sept. 11 and 13, with a margin of error of +/- 3.3%. Zinke still has a slight lead, 46% to 45%, according to the new DCCC poll. There were 864 likely voters surveyed in the Congressional district.
This is the second time Zinke has met Tranel in the race for Congress. Zinke won the seat with a 49.8% to Tranels 46.4%, but fewer than 8,000 votes separated the two in 2022.
With hardly a break, Tranel announced early on that she would fight to take on Zinke and the Republicans again in the House race, and has spent four years campaigning she told the Daily Montanan on Tuesday, after the release of polling results. Her campaign hasnt just been measured in terms of time, but also the number of tires and the new transmission shes put in a van while she campaigns across the district. She credits her ground game that is political speak for knocking on doors, attending events and meeting voters for tightening the polling data.
The polls also give some indication about the voter sentiment. Both candidates score well within their respective political parties, with Zinke and Tranel both having nearly identical positive favorability. However, Zinke is seen as substantially less favorable among independent voters.
According to the poll, there is a 30-point spread between Tranels favorability among independent voters and their opinion of Zinke. Even though the DCCC polls suggest that Zinke has higher name recognition at 86%, Tranel has closed some of the gap and now has 75% name recognition. Zinkes negative favorability rating among independents ranks at a -17%, while Tranel polls with an overall positive image at +13%.
Polling for the First Congressional District suggests that roughly 4% of the voters are still undecided, well within the margin of error, meaning that there still votes in play for both candidates.
Questions for comment sent to the Zinke campaign went unreturned on Tuesday.
Tranel told the Daily Montanan Tuesday that her close election in 2022 left her nearly immediately feeling like there was unfinished work.
I felt like the investment of time was beginning to pay off, Tranel said.
So, she revisited those communities where she had campaigned, set up round-table discussions and listening sessions. What she heard crystallized the 2024 campaign: She needed to address housing issues.
All Ive heard is housing, housing, housing, Tranel said.
Even though housing was a problem in 2022, Tranel said, it has become even more urgent as schools cant afford to pay teachers, nor can police or other professionals earn enough to live in western Montana communities. She points to the shuttering of Pyramid Lumber Company, too. The closed lumber mill said that recruiting workers was simply too hard and stressful before closing.
She told the Daily Montanan that shes presented a plan to help state and local communities with housing, including making it easier to purchase mobile homes as real property, and fully funding some of the federal tax programs that help get buyers into homes. She also said that some outdated hurdles often keep others, like married couples, from qualifying for federal housing because of two incomes, which may need adjustment when some median Montana properties cost nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.
Its time to turn the page and write a new chapter or the next story by solving these problems, Tranel said. We dont need someone who lives in Santa Barbara. We can do so much better.
Tranel was referring to the California community where Zinke and his wife spent time.
This year shes also hearing from more Republicans.
Theyre just tired of the chaos. Theyre tired of not passing a budget, Tranel said. Its basic governance issues and its unacceptable. We want better from Montana and theyll get it from me.
Tranel also said that fighting as an attorney against large corporate interests, including repeatedly taking on the states largest public utility, has prepared her well for another shot at Congress.
I grew up in Montana where you voted for the people not the parties. We are all built on relationships and connections in this state, Tranel said. I have a fierce sense of justice and I hate greed and corruption.
AUSTIN (KXAN) The Travis County Commissioners Court approved the countys 2025 fiscal year budget on Tuesday.
Commissioners voted to approve a $1.97 billion budget. An estimated $75.8 million portion of the budget hinges on a proposed 2.5-cent increase in the Tax Rate Election for childcare, or TRE, which is up to voters to decide in November.
The budget is balanced at a tax rate of 34.4445 cent per $100 of taxable value, according to a release from Travis County.
Related: Travis County Commissioners send affordable child care to your ballot
The countys release said the budget makes significant investments in various service and program areas. Those include public safety, the justice system, corrections and rehabilitation, health and human services, infrastructure and environmental services, community and economic development, and general government operations, per the release.
The investments reflect the Travis County Commissioners Courts goal and mission to make Travis County a place where all people can thrive with dignity and respect, the release said.
Budget highlights from the Commissioners Court are listed below:
$15.5 million earmark for up to two shifts per day for the Counsel at First Appearance (CAFA) program.
$1.7 million in additional funds to ensure the Travis County Clerks Office has sufficient resources for the upcoming November 2024 Presidential and General Elections. These funds include personnel and operating resources to support safe and fair elections, including necessary staff to help identify new polling locations in compliance with the Department of Justice standards.
$750,000 to increase funding needed to complete the Collaborative Northeast District Plan, bringing the Travis County contribution to $1 million, matching the City of Austins contribution.
$1.8 million in indigent defense and legal fees, including additional resources for anticipated Civil and Criminal court appointed attorney fees and additional staff and resources for the Public Defenders Office.
$1.19 million for the County Attorneys Office to assist with early case review, the mental health expedited docket initiative, and provide new permanent resources for increased staff for the Family Violence and Protective Order programs.
$5 million for Travis County Parks to enhance park facilities and resources for the benefit of the community. This will improve park operations by allocating funds for an additional 5,000 work hours for seasonal employees and two new Park Ranger positions. Also includes a one-time funding to develop a master plan to guide the development and improvement of Travis Countys newest parks, RGK Park, Reimers Ranch Park, and Hamilton Pool Preserve.
$2.7 million for continuing mental and behavioral health support services to serve individuals with serious mental health conditions. This includes ongoing personnel funding to convert a special project worker to a permanent full-time employee to continue work related to the Opioid Crisis Declaration.
$556,018 for STAR Flight to add a new full-time Registered Flight Nurse and to ensure STAR Flight has supplies and equipment needed to operate from the new STAR Flight West Base in Blanco County.
$1 million in ongoing resources to increase the mental health services contract with Integral Care and expand the contract to provide additional services, reducing wait times for care for jail inmates.
$10 million in the general fund capital budget along with $15 million in the 2023 Bond Program will bring substandard, unmaintained roads into Travis Countys network. This is an effort to improve emergency vehicle and bus access, as well as address safety and traffic volume concerns for those roads.
Investments in County workforce that includes maintaining health benefits as well as an across-the-board pay raise.
The investments approved in our FY25 budget reflect Travis Countys deep commitment to supporting our community, said Travis County Judge Andy Brown in a statement. From funding counsel at first appearance to expanding mental health services and enhancing our county parks, we are making critical investments that promote justice, wellness, and access to green spaces. This budget is a reflection of our shared values and dedication to building a stronger, more inclusive Travis County.
Property tax impact
The county said its portion of the property tax bill is estimated to increase by $287.77. It also includes an increase of $125.98, related to the Tax Rate Election on Novembers ballot.
More details: Typical Austin homeowner could pay nearly $1K more in property taxes next fiscal year
The county said property taxes are the primary source of revenue for Texas counties, and Travis Countys FY25 budget tax includes a 2.5-cent property tax rate increase set to be voted on in November. The proposed increase would go toward creating new affordable child care.
Overall, the county said the budget tax increased by less than 4 cents, including the extra 2.5.
The Commissioners Court has for over 40 years provided tax relief to homeowners with a 20 percent general homestead exemption, the highest percentage allowed by statute, and additional exemptions for homeowners 65 and older or disabled. In June 2024, the Commissioners Court increased the Optional 65 and Older or Disabled Homestead for Tax Year 2024 (Fiscal Year 2025) from $124,000 to $136,400. This change will lower the County portion of the property tax bill for those taxpayers with a 65 and Older or Disabled Homestead Exemption by $42.71 compared to if the previous exemption was still in place using the tax rate to balance the FY25 Adopted Budget. Travis County press release
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Reality Check is a Star series holding those with power to account and shining a light on their decisions. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email our journalists at RealityCheck@kcstar.com.
Every weekday morning, the Route 118 bus begins its 9-mile trek through Kansas City, Kansas, transporting passengers to workplaces and shops along the 18th Street corridor.
Running north and south between Quindaro Boulevard and the Mission Transit Center in Johnson County, the bus carried roughly 22,000 passengers last year.
But riders who rely on the route face adjusting commutes in 2025. It is one of two in Kansas City, Kansas, up for elimination. As federal COVID-19 relief dried up, and elected commissioners decided to cap property tax revenue earlier this year, UG Transit is evaluating cuts to fixed route service to make ends meet.
Service cuts were a discouraging prospect for neighborhood leaders, riders and a bus driver who spoke to The Star.
On a recent afternoon, Keeley Craddock was taking the 18th Street bus back from work at a laundromat in the Argentine neighborhood. She began using the route regularly about six months ago, following medical advice to avoid driving after a seizure in March.
I hope they dont get rid of it, Craddock said.
Marc Buckner, a UG Transit employee driving the 18th Street route for about a year, said most of the passengers he picks up are on their way to and from work. Many use the bus as a connection point to Roeland Park and Mission in Johnson County.
Its gonna be devastating for Wyandotte County, Buckner said during a brief layover at Quindaro Boulevard.
Mario Escobar, a past president of the Villa Argentine Neighborhood Association, said the proposal to cut the service is a source of disappointment for KCK neighborhood leaders.
It would be a tremendous blow to this community here in Argentine, because so many people dont have resourceful transportation to get to other parts of the Greater Kansas City area, Escobar said. And they rely tremendously on the bus system.
A route map for the 118 bus that covers 18th Street from Quindaro Boulevard in Kansas City, Kansas, to Johnson Countys Mission Transit Center.
Joan DeMoss, a resident of the Prescott neighborhood, said she and neighbors rely on the 18th Street bus to get to the stores and restaurants in Prescott Plaza and the Roeland Park Shopping Center, which include a Sun Fresh, Walmart, Price Chopper and Lowes, among others.
Also on the chopping block is Leavenworth Road. A plan that would expand that east-west bus by extending the Quindaro Boulevard route would keep intact access to 62nd Street. But the route would no longer take passengers to The Legends shopping center out west.
A route map for the 113 Route covering Leavenworth Road in Kansas City, Kansas.
During an interview with The Star earlier this month, Unified Government Transportation Director Deasiray Bush said the proposed service cuts aim to address a $2.4 million budget shortfall.
Five of the nine fixed routes in Wyandotte County are run by UG Transit, with the remainder contracted under the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.
Local transit leaders are also looking at taking over two routes contracted by KCATA. It is another decision that could save the financially constrained department money, Bush said, as bringing the routes under UG Transit would cost less.
Officials selected 18th Street and Leavenworth Road for cuts based on lower passenger counts. They ranked fifth and third, respectively, in terms of riders last year, according to data provided by the Unified Government.
By comparison, the highest traffic route run by UG Transit is Central Avenue, which carried roughly 65,000 passengers in 2023.
As fixed routes face cutbacks next year, the Unified Government is also promoting microtransit to fill gaps. While the fixed route buses remain fare-free, the RideKC On-Demand service costs $3 per trip.
The service is currently available in Midtown with plans for expansion to the east, Bush said, ultimately covering roughly half the county. But the program is a pilot funded through grants, so public support will be necessary to keep it going, she said.
Bush acknowledged an inconvenience to some residents who use the fixed routes facing elimination but she said the department remains committed to providing quality public transit to those who need it. She said demographic data was considered from the American Community Survey that identifies areas where residents lack access to a vehicle and have lower incomes, including areas in Northeast Kansas City, Kansas.
We want to make sure were keeping routes in the core area in need, especially the northeast area of Wyandotte County, she said. It was never our intent, our goal, to eliminate services in the core area of our county, which is east of (Interstate) 635.
David Johnson, chair of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance, a nonprofit group that advocates for public transportation, said service cuts are a recurring problem for governments without dedicated funding. Of the cities in the region, only Kansas City, Missouri, has a transit tax.
Johnson said the Unified Government could do a better job considering alternative revenue sources, including through a local sales tax supported by residents outside the county.
Thats something that we hope the county would consider as sort of a longer-term strategy to end this sort of cycle of annual service reductions and cuts that affect the community, because its up against other priorities in the budget, Johnson said.
FORT BENNING, Ga. Soldiers of the 4th Ranger Training Battalion, Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, demonstrate the U.S. Armys newest weapon during a Rangers in Action Ceremony September 16, 2022, at Victory Pond, Fort Benning, Georgia. The XM5 Rifle will replace the M4/M4A1 carbine within the close combat force. The new ammunition includes multiple types of tactical and training rounds that increase accuracy and are more lethal against emerging threats than both the 5.56mm and 7.62mm ammunition. (U.S. Army photo by Patrick A. Albright, Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning Public Affairs)
On April 19, 2022, the U.S. Army awarded SIG Sauer a $20.4M-contract for the Next Generation Squad Weapon. Under the contract, SIG is supplying the Army with the new XM7 rifle and XM250 automatic rifle, both chambered in the new 6.8x51mm hybrid cartridge. The weapons were issued to infantry units including the 101st Airborne Division and received resounding praise. Or did they? On the surface, military public affairs releases and news outlets that cited them shared quotes from soldiers who were impressed with the weapons performance. However, these quotes may have been taken out of context.
U.S. Army Fort Campbell Garrison Commander Col. Christopher Midberry holds the XM7 (U.S. Army)
On April 15, 2024, PEO Soldier posted a video to DVIDS of the 101st conducting live fire training with the NGSW systems. The XM7 and XM250 were equipped with the XM157 Fire Control System, the optic that was selected for the NGSW. In the video, Sgt. Marcus Colston shares his experience in the live fire from instruction to putting rounds down range. Colstons comments are entirely positive, but reportedly omit the bulk of what he actually said.
A 101st Airborne soldiers fires the XM7 (U.S. Army)
I was recently quoted in multiple publications saying nice things about the Sig XM7 / Vortex XM157, and unfortunately, the 10 minutes worth of critiques I had before saying one nice thing didnt quite make the cut, u/vindictivevader wrote in an r/army post. The user, who appears to be Sgt. Colston himself, goes on to explain the issues that he experienced during the live fire and about 2,000 rounds through one XM7. I have never seen a weapon have so many malfunctions. Namely, failure to extract/eject even when properly cleaned (checked by sig guy) and on adverse gas setting using the GP round. When new weapons are fielded by the military, product experts are sent by the manufacturer to train the end users. The XM7 is designed to be run with its suppressor and the adverse gas setting allows increased gas into the system to cycle the weapon more violently in case it is dirty.
The XM7 was designed to be used primarily with its suppressor attached (U.S. Army National Guard)
Speaking of the suppressor, u/vindictivevader wrote that it works fine, but the locking ring is so stupid. Youre giving infantryman a suppressor that if you twist the suppressor at all after locking the ring, it flips the lugs/breaks?? We had two break in the classroom. He also noted that the blank firing adapter is an Absolute nightmare for [sensitive item accountability] when you have to remove the suppressor and swap the bolt in the field. The Marine Corps began widespread fielding of the KAC QDSS NT4 suppressor in 2020. While it is an older design compared to the XM7s suppressor, the quick attach/detach system uses a simple gate latch.
The primary purpose of the NGSW program was to develop a weapon capable of penetrating the body armor of a near-peer enemy like China. To achieve this performance with a 13-inch barrel, the XM7s cartridge creates a chamber pressure of 80,000 psi compared to about 61,000 psi from the M855A1 cartridge used in the M4. In order to generate this pressure without blowing out the cartridge case, SIG developed a hybrid case using brass with a steel base. u/vindictivevader wrote that the two-piece casing blows apart occasionally, stuck casings are common in the XM250. Ammunition is initially supplied by SIG under the NGSW contract, though the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant was tasked with spooling up production of 6.8x51mm. It is unclear if the ammunition used in the live fire was of SIG or Lake City production.
The red screen of death. Another optic reportedly stopped turning on altogether (reddit.com/u/vindictivevader)
The XM157 was touted as an advanced digital optic that takes the guesswork out of long-range shots using lasers and computers. However, a digital scope is bound to have teething issues. The Vortex XM157 is shit. I usually like vortex products, but this one is bad, u/vindictivevader wrote. Several ocular focus adjustment rings/diopter adjustments just randomly migrated, the brightest setting is nowhere near bright enough (almost invisible on a sunny day)Severe zero migration on the lasers.
The National Guard is also fielding the XM7/XM250/XM157 (U.S. Army National Guard)
The issues experienced with the weapons themselves may be the fault of quality control not keeping up with increased production. u/vindictivevader noted that half of [the rails] came misaligned from Sig which is further indicative of bad QC. Still, he went on to comment that these issues are certainly fixable. u/vindictivevaders biggest issue is that troop feedback is not being received. I just wasnt seeing a lot of these issues being brought up, either because its being ignored, or no one else has put enough rounds through [the rifle] to stress test a bit, he wrote. I think itll be fine if they fix these issues. On the topic of round count, u/vindictivevader also reported that the busy shooting schedule resulted in 8 hours of weapons cleaning.
Troops in Vietnam often kept their cleaning rod on the rifle to remove stuck cases (reddit.com/r/retroar)
When the M16 was first adopted and fielded in Vietnam, troops had their own issues with the new rifle. However, they were caused by the Armys interference with the weapons design. The original specification of the AR-15 called for the barrel and chamber to be chrome lined. The Army elected to forego the chrome lining to cut costs. As a result, barrels were prone to rusting and cases were often stuck in the chamber and failed to extract. The Army also dictated that a different type of propellant be used in the weapons .223 Remington cartridge. This caused an increased chamber pressure at extraction that exasperated the issue. Following the return to the original design, the M16A1 remedied the issues that troops experienced with the original M16. The XM7 may be a victim of the same interference and simply require an A1 revision.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) As Helene strengthens in the Gulf of Mexico, a few of the outer rain bands arrive in the Tampa Bay area this afternoon. Rain chances increase to 70% by the early evening. There will be breaks in the rain as the bands pass through.
It will feel more humid, and gusty winds are expected through the day. Highs reach 90 degrees between the bands of rain.
Downpours increase tonight as Helene approaches. The storm is expected to pass off our coast during the day Thursday, so thats when the worst weather occurs. Hurricane-force wind gusts as possible along the coast, and tropical storm force gusts farther inland.
Because the system is moving quickly, rainfall totals wont be as significant. 4-6 inches of rain widespread near the coast and 2-3 inches inland. Some locally heavy spots are possible.
Once the storm gets to our north, our storm surge concerns increase. The stronger onshore wind pushes water from the Gulf of Mexico along the coast and into the bays and inlets. Coastal flooding is likely to be higher than with Hurricane Idalia last year.
After the storm makes landfall, a trail of tropical moisture lingers over our area keeping passing downpours in the forecast through the weekend. These storms may worsen existing flooding conditions.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
By Rich McKay, Brendan O'Brien and Andrew Hay
(Reuters) - Hurricane Helene is forecast to rapidly strengthen and could hit Florida on Thursday as a Category 4 storm, producing "catastrophic" winds of up to 156 miles per hour (251 km per hour), forecasters said.
Helene entered the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday and was expected to pick up strength from the gulf's warm waters before making an expected landfall in Florida's panhandle on Thursday evening.
"For those in the path, that unfortunately means catastrophic wind impacts," said National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome of the forecast rise in strength to category 4 with sustained winds of 130 to 156 mph (209 to 251 kph).
Storm surge, the wall of seawater pushed on land by hurricane-force winds, was upgraded to 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 meters) in the Big Bend area of Florida's panhandle where the storm is expected to come ashore, Rhome said.
More than 40 million people in Florida, Georgia and Alabama were under hurricane and tropical storm warnings, the hurricane center said.
Numerous evacuations were ordered along Florida's Gulf Coast, including Sarasota and Charlotte counties, and dozens of counties have announced school closures, including Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
With weather reports playing on her television in the background, Melissa Wolcott-Martino, a retired magazine editor in St. Petersburg, was busy packing on Wednesday before evacuating her one-story coastal home and heading for higher ground.
Hours earlier, she had finally finished repairing the damage from last year's Hurricane Idalia, which clobbered the low-lying area with powerful winds and devastating floodwaters.
"We had Idalia last year," the 81-year-old said in a telephone interview. "We just finished the renovations, last touches today, and now we're packing up for a new storm. This is not so great."
Pinellas County officials ordered evacuations of long-term healthcare facilities, including nursing homes, assisted living centers and hospitals near the coast. The county sits on a peninsula surrounded by Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
"Now, you still have time to prepare, review your hurricane plan, and make sure that you are executing your hurricane preparedness plan," Governor Ron DeSantis said in a Tuesday press briefing.
Helene lashed Cuba with heavy rains overnight, dumping as much as 8 inches (20.3 cm) in 24 hours across parts of the western tobacco-growing province of Pinar del Rio, the provincial meteorological service said.
CATEGORY 4
Helene was expected to dump up to 15 inches (38.1 cm) of rain in some isolated spots after making landfall in Florida, causing considerable flash and urban flooding, the hurricane center said.
Rhome of the hurricane center said about half of lives lost in hurricanes typically came from flash flooding caused by torrential rain, often among people who drive into flooded roads and are swept away. He urged those in affected areas to use extreme caution.
Rhome added that the expected hurricane-force wind impact area stretched around 180 miles (290 km) north from the Florida panhandle to southern Georgia.
"You need to prepare for prolonged (energy) outages, those trees are going to come down in strong winds, block roads," Rhome said.
Residents in the potential path are being told to prepare to be without power for up to a week, Florida emergency officials said in a briefing.
In southwestern Georgia, farmers were scrambling on Wednesday to save their cotton and pecan crops, said Pam Knox, an agriculture climatologist with the University of Georgia in Athens.
Farmers usually have weeks, not days, to bring crops in, Knox said on Wednesday.
"This is going to be a billion-dollar disaster," said Knox.
(This story has been refiled to read Category 4 storm, not Category 3, in the third bullet)
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta, Brendan O'Brien in Chicago, Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico, Dave Sherwood and Nelson Acosta in Havana and Carolos Carrillo and Mario Fuentes in Pniar del Rio, Cuba; Writing by Joseph Ax, Brad Brooks and Brendan O'Brien; Editing by Alex Richardson, William Maclean and Jonathan Oatis)
Tropical Storm Helene: Crew-9 shifts to Saturday due to storm
NASA has scrubbed the launch of their joint Crew 9 mission with SpaceX.
The agency said the decision was made to avoid potential impacts from Tropical Storm Helene.
The launch is now scheduled for no earlier than 1:17 p.m. on Saturday.
It will launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Read: See where you can get sandbags in Central Florida
The change helped the teams have a rehearsal of launch day activities on Tuesday.
NASA said the integrated system will move into the hangar to avoid the storm.
Read: Tropical Storm Helene: These schools announce closures
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ORLANDO, Fla. Tropical Storm Helene formed Tuesday morning in the Caribbean, and the National Hurricane Center forecasts it to move north and strike Florida as a major Category 3 hurricane on Thursday night.
In its 8 p.m. Eastern time advisory, the systems center was located in the northwest Caribbean Sea about 115 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, and 145 miles south of the western tip of Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, as increase from 50 mph at 5 p.m., as it moved west-northwest at 12 mph.
It is going to be a big storm, and by big I mean not intensity, I mean size, said NHC Deputy Director Jaime Rhome on Tuesday. And big storms cause big problems. And thats one of the take-home messages that I need you to understand.
A hurricane warning has been issued for the Anclote River to Mexico Beach, Florida, while a storm surge warning is in place for Indian Pass south to Flamingo, including Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor. Surge will bring up to 15 feet above normal levels near the storms landfall, but also dangerous levels all up the Gulf Coast.
Its going to push a big swath of storm surge across the western portions of the Florida peninsula, he said. This area is really, really vulnerable to storm surge. Its not going to take a lot of wind, and even tropical-storm-force winds along the Florida West Coast produce significant and life-threatening storm surge.
The intensity forecast calls for the system to grow into a hurricane Wednesday and strengthen into a major hurricane with 115 mph sustained winds and 140 mph gusts before landfall on Floridas Big Bend on Thursday night.
Tropical-storm-force winds extend out 175 miles, and forecasters expect that to grow to as much as 250 miles.
Storm surge, wind, and rainfall impacts will likely extend well away from the center and outside the forecast cone, particularly on the east side, said NHC Warning Coordination Meteorologist Robbie Berg. In addition, the fast forward speed while it crosses the coast will likely result in farther inland penetration of strong winds over parts of the southeastern United States after landfall.
For Florida, a hurricane watch is also in effect for Englewood to the Anclote River including Tampa Bay, while a tropical storm warning is in effect for the Dry Tortugas, Lower and Middle Florida Keys west of the Channel 5 Bridge, and from Flamingo to the Anclote River including Tampa Bay.
Inland tropical storm warnings were issued for most of Central Florida including Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Sumter counties while tropical storm watches were issued for inland Brevard and Volusia counties.
A tropical storm watch was also issued for Lake Okeechobee and from the Palm Beach/Martin County line northward to the Savannah River in Georgia.
Rhome noted tropical storm warnings and watches extending basically around the entire state, and now creeping into the rest of the southeastern U.S.
The wind swath is going to be huge with this system, and its basically going to carve a path right over a good portion of the Florida peninsula, including the highly populated I-4 corridor, he said. So if youre watching from Tampa and Orlando, youre going to have a big wind event with this, no matter where it goes with respect to the track.
The storms center has a likely target of the Big Bend, similar to this years Hurricane Debby and 2023s Hurricane Idalia, with a tighter cone of uncertainty 48 hours out from landfall that ranges from near Cedar Key up to Panama City.
All indications are a significant hurricane impacting the Florida Big Bend, but, and this is a big but, the hazards are going to be well removed from the center and well removed from the cone, Rhome said. So I dont want you to look at the cone and say, Im out of the cone, or Im on the edge of the cone, because this wind field, the wind field with this system, is going to be really large larger than youre used to seeing with a traditional hurricane.
The NHC warned surge and high tide could lead to 10-15 feet above normal from the Ochlockonee River to Chassahowitzka, from 6-10 feet from Chassahowitzka to the Anclote River, 5-10 feet from Indian Pass to the Ochlockonee River, 5-8 feet from the Anclote River to the middle of Longboat Key and Tampa Bay, 4-7 feet from the middle of Longboat Key to Englewood, and 3-5 feet from Englewood to Flamingo and Charlotte Harbor.
Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency order Monday for 41 of Floridas 67 counties, and increased that to 61 on Tuesday. He said during a press conference Tuesday morning that the state also asked for pre-landfall declaration from FEMA. President Biden approved the federal disaster assistance that authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts for 28 of Floridas counties
DeSantis said the NHC had never in its history had a forecast for a major hurricane for a system that had yet to even form, which was the case when it was just Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine earlier Tuesday.
I think its because theres some similarities to the track that was taken (by 2018s Category 5) Hurricane Michael, and I think the thought is that when its over the Gulf, especially the more north it goes, rather than east, it has a chance to have a rapid intensification, DeSantis said. So we, as always, we prepare for the worst, we hope for the best, but wed rather be prepared and then have it not reach that level, than just hope that it doesnt intensify and then be caught not being prepared.
He said Florida residents still have time Tuesday and early Wednesday to prepare, fill gas tanks, get water and nonperishable food, clean up yards for potential debris and know evacuation zones.
Right now, regardless of how it forms or the speed right now, you do have time, so take advantage of that time, he said.
He said more than 18,000 utility linemen are prepped to respond to expected power outages from the hurricane. He also said the state has SpaceX Starlink internet hardware available to deploy if needed to targeted areas. And just as the state deployed in this years Hurricane Debby, which also targeted the Big Bend, the state has new flood protection devices primarily for use to protect utility substations.
There are 3,000 Florida National Guard soldiers ready to assist with post-storm assistance as well as Florida State Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and county sheriffs office personnel.
These resources are being added by the minute, so youre going to continue to have more linemen brought in. Youre going to continue to have more beef added to these staging areas, DeSantis said. Well continue to watch the forecast, watch how this develops, see what the time frame is going to be, but were going to get something, thats for sure.
Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said the state expanded its county disaster declaration because of the expected size of the storm.
This hurricane will have tropical-storm-force winds in excess of 250 miles from the center, Guthrie said. That will encompass most of the peninsula from the Space Coast all the way through the First Coast and then on the west coast of Florida, the entire coastal portion of the west coast of Florida.
DeSantis urged residents to listen to local evacuation orders, and avoid the tragedy seen in 2022s Hurricane Ian that killed 149 people in Florida, most of whom were caught in major storm surge in southwest Florida. He said evacuation doesnt have to be far, but they do need to get out from the danger zone.
Most of the evacuations from the low-lying areas, people do not need to even leave their county. In most instances, its just getting away from when that water comes, and then as soon as the storm passes, you go out, and hopefully you dont have major damage, he said. But the reality is that water, when youre there, thats tough. The wind you can hide from. Anything thats shelter in Florida is going to be able to withstand the wind, but its the water that can be really, really devastating if you remain there when youre told to evacuate.
Its immediate threat in the Caribbean also means a hurricane warning is in effect for Cabo Catoche to Tulum, Mexico and a hurricane watch is in effect for the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio with a tropical storm warning in place for Rio Lagartos to Tulum, Mexico and the Cuban provinces of Artemisa, and Pinar del Rio, and the Isle of Youth.
Rain over western Cuba and the Cayman Islands could see as much as 12 inches in some places with as much as 8 inches over the eastern Yucatan Peninsula with a risk of considerable flooding. Storm surge up to 4 feet is a threat for parts of Cuba and Mexico.
For Florida, the potential for heavy rains and increased winds is increasing from Wednesday night through Friday.
The NHC said 4-8 inches with some areas getting 12 inches could fall in parts of Florida and the southeastern United States.
National Weather Service Melbourne meteorologist Scott Kelly said the storm looks to have a large wind field once it matures extending far to the east of its center.
While it is too early to describe specific impacts for east Central Florida, heavy rainfall and tropical-storm-force winds are becoming an increasing concern, Kelly said. A few tornadoes will also be possible in the rainbands.
More rainfall for the Florida peninsula could follow over the weekend after the system has passed through, which is a flooding concern with ground that may have just been deeply saturated already, he said.
The NHC predicts tropical-storm-force winds could arrive to South Florida by 8 p.m. Wednesday and into Central Florida by 8 a.m. Thursday.
Already Orange, Lake, Osceola and Volusia counties opted to cancel classes on Thursday, while NASA and SpaceX delayed their planned launch of the Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station until at least Saturday.
The NHC was tracking a second system in the eastern Atlantic that also has a high chance to develop into a tropical depression or storm.
As of the NHCs 8 p.m. tropical outlook, the broad low-pressure system located west of the Cape Verde Islands was producing more concentrated shower and thunderstorm activity since Monday.
Environmental conditions appear favorable for gradual development of this system, and a tropical depression is likely to form in a few days while it moves westward to west-northwestward across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic, forecasters said.
The NHC gives it a 50% chance to develop in the next two days and 80% in the next seven.
The next name on the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season list is Isaac.
Hurricane season runs from June 1-Nov. 30, with the height of hurricane development running from mid-August into October.
_____
NEW YORK (PIX11) Tropical Storm Helene was expected to hit Mexico and Cuba on Wednesday as it tracked north toward the U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The storm could strengthen into a hurricane before it makes landfall, officials said. A hurricane warning is in effect for parts of Florida, where Helene is predicted to hit Thursday with heavy rain and damaging winds. Residents in 10 Florida counties were urged or ordered to evacuate ahead of the storm.
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But will Tropical Storm Helene hit New York?
After hitting Florida, Tropical Storm Helene is projected to climb up the U.S. to parts of Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana by the weekend.
NYC forecast and PIX11s Weather Center
Its not expected to hit New York, but the state may see cloudy skies and breezy conditions, according to PIX11 meteorologists.
Helene could bring up to 10 inches of rainfall to states its expected to hit, meteorologists said.
This story comprises reporting from The Associated Press.
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.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - Press play above to watch the latest news, weather, and storm coverage from FOX 35 Orlando
As Hurricane Helene, the eighth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, makes its way towards Florida, here is what people in Volusia County need to know about evacuations, school closings, shelters, and sandbag locations.
Volusia County Evacuations
None announced.
Volusia County Closings
Besides schools, no other closings announced.
Volusia County Shelters
The county said it does not anticipate opening emergency shelters due to the current weather projections.
Volusia County Sandbags Locations
Wednesday, Sept. 25
Volusia County Branch Jail, 1300 Red John Drive, Daytona Beach , from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Residents must show proof of residency in Volusia County. There is a limit of 10 pre-filed bags per vehicle.
DeBary City Hall, 16 Colomba Road, DeBary , from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Residents must show proof of residency in DeBary. Must bring your own shovel. For households only.
Festival Park, 191 Howland Blvd, Deltona, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Residents may get 10 bags per vehicle.
Fire Station #57, Southwest Corner of Hibiscus Drive and 26th Street, Edgewater , from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Mango Tree Lake (901 Mango Tree Drive), Edgewater , from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Holly Hill Public Works (424 Tenth Street), Holly Hill , from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents must show proof of Holly Hill address
Sports Complex Football Stadium (2335 Sunset Drive) New Smyrna Beach. Access to sand piles and bags 24 hours a day
Waggin' Trail Dog Park (1201 South Leavitt Avenue), Orange City, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bring proof of residency
More locations can be found here.
Volusia County Emergency Resources
Click here for more information from Volusia County Emergency Management
Call 911 for emergencies
Hurricane Helene: County-by-County emergency resources
Stay connected with FOX 35
CHICAGO A federal judge this week sentenced a Texas trucking company owner to 25 years in federal prison for running a Mexico-to-Chicago drug pipeline that involved hiding heroin and cocaine in tractor-trailers.
Jose Farias, 44, was convicted by a federal jury in Chicago three years ago on drug conspiracy and possession charges. He was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey.
The drugs defendant caused to be distributed were resold to thousands of people, fueling addiction, tearing families apart, and decimating communities all for the profit of defendant and his co-conspirators, prosecutors Richard M. Rothblatt and Kristen Totten wrote in the governments sentencing memorandum.
The federal investigation revealed that in 2015 and 2016, Farias, who owned a trucking company in McAllen, Texas, and resided in Mexico, arranged with truck drivers to transport dozens of kilograms of narcotics to the Chicago area hidden in the hollowed-out wheel axles of tractor-trailers. The traffickers then hid cash in the trucks for the return trip back to Texas and Mexico.
This photo from the US Attorneys Office shows narcotics wrapped in cellophane and hidden in the hollowed-out wheel axle of a tractor-trailer.
This photo from the US Attorneys Office shows narcotics wrapped in cellophane and hidden in the hollowed-out wheel axle of a tractor-trailer.
The government said Farias operation used warehouses in Naperville and Sugar Grove, an abandoned auto lot in Chicagos West Garfield Park neighborhood and an auto repair shop in Channahon. During the investigation, law enforcement searched the locations and seized approximately 54 kilograms of heroin, nearly 17 kilograms of cocaine, and $630,200 in illicit cash proceeds.
In all, prosecutors said the drug trafficking operation moved nearly 130 kilograms of heroin and approximately 45 kilograms of cocaine to the Chicago area.
Seven other defendants were also convicted in federal and state courts as part of the investigation, the feds said in a statement.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa
Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau easily survived a vote of confidence on Wednesday after his main political rival failed to muster enough support to end nine years of Liberal Party rule.
Legislators in the House of Commons voted 211-120 to defeat a motion by the official opposition Conservative party declaring a lack of confidence in Trudeau's minority Liberal government.
Trudeau, whose popularity has slumped amid unhappiness over rising prices and a housing crisis, became more politically vulnerable this month when the smaller New Democratic Party tore up a 2022 deal to keep him in power until an election scheduled for end-October 2025.
"Today was a good day for the country because I don't think Canadians want an election," said Karina Gould, the senior Liberal in charge of government business in the House.
Despite surviving the vote, other challenges loom for Trudeau. Earlier in the day, the leader of the separatist Bloc Quebecois said he would work to bring down the government unless it quickly agreed to the Bloc's demands.
Trudeau's Liberals will soon face a second vote on one of its budget measures, which is also a matter of confidence, but are expected to also survive that. Officials said the vote could take place on Wednesday or Thursday.
"We are going to work piece of legislation by piece of legislation, issue by issue, negotiating with the different political parties," Gould told reporters.
The right-of-center Conservatives have a big lead in the opinion polls ahead of an election that must be called by the end of October 2025.
The Conservatives say they want an election as soon as possible on the grounds that Canadians cannot afford a planned increase in the federal carbon tax. They also say federal spending and crime have ballooned under the Liberals.
"Enough is enough. Costs are up, taxes are up, crime is up, and time is up," the Conservatives said in a statement.
Trudeau, while acknowledging public unhappiness, has accused the Conservatives of playing politics rather than focusing on what people need.
Bloc leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said he would keep Trudeau in power at least until end-December if he gave more money to seniors and vowed to protect a system of tariffs and quotas that protect dairy farmers, many of whom live in Quebec.
If the government did not formally do this by Oct. 29, the Bloc would talk to opposition parties with a view to bringing down Trudeau, he told reporters.
But to succeed he would need the support of the NDP, which also backed Trudeau on Wednesday. Polls indicate the party would also be in trouble if an election were called now.
(Additional reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Frank McGurty and Deepa Babington)
(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus main political opponent tried to force a snap election on Wednesday, but the effort failed due to a lack of support from the other opposition parties in Parliament.
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Its a scenario that may play out many times in the coming months, as Pierre Poilievres Conservative Party is keen to trigger an election but the smaller parties are more interested in negotiating deals with Trudeaus Liberal Party to achieve policy objectives.
The next election is currently scheduled for October 2025, but because the Liberals dont control a majority of seats in Parliament, the opposition parties can force an early election if they defeat the government on a key vote.
In this case, Poilievre said he was seeking an election focused on the Trudeau governments national carbon tax, which has been in place since 2019. Poilievre argues the policy has helped create a cost-of-living crisis for Canadians by driving up the price of transport fuel and home heating. Liberals point out most residents receive more money back in rebates than they pay in the tax.
This will be a carbon tax referendum and a carbon tax election, Poilievre said in a speech to Parliament when he introduced his motion to bring down the government.
Poilievres Conservatives are far ahead in the polls, suggesting he would win a large majority government if an election were held soon. But he has no other allies willing to send voters to the polls now.
Why the rush to trigger an election? Is this not the perfect opportunity to negotiate and make progress? said Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, a lawmaker for the Bloc Quebecois, a party that advocates for the French-speaking province of Quebec, in responding to Poilievres speech.
Bloc Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet set a deadline of Oct. 29 for the Liberal government to push through measures that are priorities for his party improvements to pension benefits and protection for some agricultural sectors from trade negotiations. Should Trudeau fail to meet that deadline, Blanchet said hed begin talks with the Conservatives and other opposition parties on toppling the government.
New Democratic Party lawmakers, meanwhile, accused Poilievre of wanting an election in order to cut health-care programs. The NDP had been in a formal power-sharing deal with Trudeaus Liberals until earlier this month, and as a condition of that deal the Liberals had brought in new programs to help cover dental care and some drug costs.
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Trump accuses Zelenskyy of casting "nasty little aspersions" on him
US presidential candidate Donald Trump has accused Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of casting "nasty little aspersions" on him.
Source: Trump during a campaign event in North Carolina, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Trump devoted a substantial portion of his address to Ukraine, singling out Volodymyr Zelenskyy for criticism.
Quote: "The president of Ukraine is in our country. He is making little nasty aspersions toward your favourite president me," Trump said, without specifying what he meant.
He accused President Joe Biden and his election opponent Kamala Harris of giving billions of dollars to Zelenskyy, who "refuses" to go for a "deal".
"And we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal Zelenskyy," Trump said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had intended to present his Victory Plan to Trump during his visit to the US. However, The Associated Press has reported that Trump has not scheduled any meetings.
On Monday 23 September, Trump declared that Zelenskyy wants the Democrats to win the 2024 US election.
Over the weekend, Zelenskyy toured a weapons manufacturing facility with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, an ally of Harris, which upset some Trump supporters given that the visit took place during the election campaign.
East European Americans, including those with Ukrainian and Polish roots, have become a sought-after group of voters for both parties, particularly in Pennsylvania, which has a substantial Polish and Ukrainian population.
Zelenskyy still intends to meet with current US President Joe Biden and Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris in Washington.
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Former President Donald Trumps paternalistic remark about his intention to be a protector for women who he claimed are lonely, stressed, depressed and unhappy has garnered predictable backlash since the weekend.
You will no longer be abandoned, lonely or scared. You will no longer be in danger. ... You will no longer have anxiety from all of the problems our country has today, Trump said. You will be protected, and I will be your protector.
Trump made the context for those assurances crystal clear when he added that women will no longer be thinking about abortion if hes elected. New York magazines Jonathan Chait had an insightful analogy when he compared the comment to creepy abuser logic.
Chait is spot-on, and when I heard Trumps comments, they reminded me of the pickup artists whove become popular in the MAGA movement. These characters are men who market themselves as tutors for men who want to learn how to attract women. Their tactics usually rely on infantilizing women and their desires, promoting the idea that men need to police womens behavior, and, oddly enough, using insults (known as negging) to manipulate womens affection. Its misogynistic stuff.
And Trumps well-documented spiritual alignment with this community has been ongoing for years, most notably when Esquire asked in 2016 if Trump was the Worlds Greatest Pickup Artist. But more links between Trump and pickup artists have become apparent in recent years.
Zak Folkman, a business partner in Trumps latest cryptocurrency scheme, is a controversial pickup artist whose courses purportedly teach men how to Become the Ultimate Alpha Male. Wired recently reported on the ways in which Trumps rhetoric mirrors notorious pickup artist Andrew Tates. Another pickup artist, Tariq Nasheed, is known for peddling pro-Trump propaganda and leads the MAGA-friendly group Foundational Black Americans, which works to pit Black Americans against immigrants. Trumps running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, also has plenty of ties to the manosphere, a group of misogynistic content creators that includes several self-styled pickup artists. And back in 2021, Jezebel noted a pair of pickup artists who appeared at the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.
Indeed, Trumps portrayal of himself as some kind of superhero who can solve every single American womans problems is emblematic of a broader movement of misogynistic men who see women as meek targets for their manipulation.
Its a topic the ReidOut Blog will explore in more depth over the next few weeks. Stay tuned.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
He should be doing better: Even some Trump allies see him veering off course
Donald Trump was meeting privately in mid-September with one of his oldest friends, Steve Wynn, when the casino mogul and Republican mega-donor delivered the former president a blunt warning: Youre off message, and it isnt helping.
Trump had been distracted, in Wynns view. The former president at the time was promoting a conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants were eating peoples cats and dogs in Ohio, among other things. To drive home his point, Wynn showed Trump polling and suggested the former president would be better off focusing on policy issues where Republicans see his opponent, Kamala Harris, as vulnerable, according to two people briefed on the meeting and granted anonymity to describe it.
The meeting underscored a key point of tension inside the Trump campaign. While polls show the race is incredibly close, some of Trumps allies are concerned that his impulses and coarse approach to campaigning are undermining him against Harris, a rival who has proved far stronger than his previous opponent, Joe Biden.
In interviews, more than a dozen Trump allies described the former president as reaching a crossroads faced with the choice of continuing with the missteps that have overtaken the past several weeks of his campaign or embracing a more calculated approach aimed at appealing to a small subset of undecided voters who are likely to sway the outcome of the election. In recent weeks, he has brought into his fold destabilizing forces like social media provocateur Laura Loomer and his controversial former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, plugged commemorative Trump coins, and asserted that if he loses, Jews would be partly to blame.
Its not that hes going backwards, said one Trump ally granted anonymity to speak freely. But he should be doing better.
Wynn, in a text message, said the description of the meeting was inaccurate, though he did not respond to further requests for comment.
For all the tumult of the last few months, Republicans are cautiously optimistic about Trumps prospects. Public polling shows a close race in key battleground states that will determine the outcome. On Monday morning, a New York Times/Siena College poll showed signs of strength for Trump in Georgia and Arizona two states Biden won in 2020 and a slight lead in North Carolina.
The National Republican Senatorial Committees executive director, Jason Thielman, told donors at a retreat in Sea Island, Georgia, over the weekend that Trump was out-performing his poll numbers compared to similar points in the 2020 and 2016 election cycles, according to an attendee.
Its a close race but today President Trump would decisively win, said John McLaughlin, a pollster for the Trump campaign. Having worked for Trump in 2016 and 2020 were in a better position than we were in past elections.
Still, with the race entering its final stretch, there is concern about Trump within the partys top ranks. The former president had steamrolled his Republican primary opponents and established a stable lead over Biden. But over the past several months one of the most turbulent periods in American political history, in which Trump was targeted in two apparent assassination attempts and Biden withdrew from the race Trump has veered off course.
Some allies said that after opening a lead on Biden, and with a return to the White House seemingly close, the reality of now facing a tougher opponent in Harris has been disorienting to the former president. He has repeatedly expressed anger in private over the Biden-to-Harris switch.
In response, Trump has returned to his comfort zone of lightning-rod associates, conspiracy theories and vitriol and has opened the door to outside voices who embrace a more freewheeling approach. In mid-August, Trump told his advisers he wanted to bring in Lewandowski, who in 2021 had been removed from a top position in a pro-Trump super PAC after he was accused by the wife of a donor of making unwanted sexual advances toward her at a charity dinner in Las Vegas.
But Lewandowski, the year after Trump took office, had also co-authored a book entitled Let Trump be Trump. Lewandowski has done little to push back on Trumps impulses, according to one person familiar with the dynamic.
The move has proven to be disruptive for an operation that until that point had been the most functional of Trumps three presidential campaigns. According to three people briefed on the discussions, Trump had said privately he wanted to get Lewandowski involved as a surrogate. But since joining, they said, Lewandowski has begun to refer to himself as the campaigns chair while trying to exert control over the campaigns operations roles that he had not been given.
As Trump began preparing for the Sept. 10 debate, he worked with his team to develop pivots lines that could be used to turn a question into a more favored topic. Those familiar with the preparations, which included Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, said the sessions went well. But when Trump took the stage at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Trump was thrown off balance by Harris efforts to get under his skin, especially her assertion that his supporters were bailing on his rallies. Many of the pivots did not end up being employed.
Also problematic was that Trump undercut his efforts to attack Harris on immigration a centerpiece of his campaign and an area where polling shows Harris is vulnerable by baselessly asserting that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating residents' pets. According to two people briefed on the discussions, Trump was aware of the story by coverage in The Federalist, a conservative outlet that published a 911 call from a local resident. Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trumps running mate, had also been promoting the story.
Trump is strongest when he is talking about what people care about the most: the economy, immigration, crime, trade, the Trump core messages, said Republican strategist David Urban, who ran Trumps successful 2016 campaign in Pennsylvania, a state that could decide the 2024 election. When he gets distracted and goes in different directions, it's less helpful. Every day we're not talking about those issues, we're letting Harris go untouched.
While some Trump aides have said Trumps ongoing focus on the conspiracy theory has helped the former president by bringing immigration to the fore, others privately conceded that the pet-eating storyline and the former presidents overall combative tone was a missed opportunity to attack Harris. Last week, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine penned an op-ed in which he criticized Trump and Vance over their ongoing fixation with Springfield, where life has since been upended by the claims.
The next day Trump had a new problem on his hands: Loomer.
Trump has long viewed the bomb-throwing activist as, in the words of one ally, a fighter one of his highest compliments. Shortly before the debate, Trump invited her to fly with him to Philadelphia. The decision proved to be problematic, more so since Loomer also traveled with him the following day to events commemorating the anniversary of 9/11. Critics some of them Republicans pounced on the association, given that Loomer had once called 9/11 an inside job.
The fallout surrounding Loomer didnt stop there. After she posted on X racist and offensive cultural stereotypes about Harris and her Indian American identity, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch Trump ally, blasted Loomer for what she called her appalling and extremely racist rhetoric. Loomer fired back with a post of her own in which she went after Greene. The firestorm would only intensify the following day, when North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham joined Greene in condemning Loomer.
Trump was behind the scenes fielding calls from allies worried about Loomers presence, leading him to finally distance himself from her. On Sept. 13, Trump wrote on X that Loomer doesnt work for the Campaign, and that he disagree[s] with the statements she made.
But then on Sept. 15, Trump surprised Republicans again when he weighed in on the recent endorsement of Harris by one of the worlds most popular young female pop stars.
I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT! Trump posted to Truth Social.
One ally speculated that Trumps all-caps message on a Sunday morning was in response to a poll about Swifts impact on the race that had just been shown on ABC News This Week. Trump had privately been irritated by the endorsement and decided to put Swift who is a native of the must-win state of Pennsylvania on blast to his millions of followers.
And Trump wasnt done with his freewheeling approach. Four days later, when he traveled to Washington to appear at back-to-back events focused on combating antisemitism, he said that Jewish voters would have a lot to do with the loss if he does not win in November and said that the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, who is Jewish, was Hamas all the way.
In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said Trump has built the most powerful and most professional team in political history and, under his leadership, has overcome every single obstacle in his way.
Loomer declined to comment, while Lewandowski referred comment to the campaign.
It is unclear how much Trumps comportment will shift the election. After nearly a decade in the spotlight, many top Republicans say voters simply have made up their minds about the former president either they like him or they dont, and theres not much that can sway them.
"Chins are going to wag no matter what happens, especially this at this point in the campaign, said Urban. Everyone is a campaign strategist.
Still, several Trump allies have expressed concern about his rhetoric and about a former president who has for several weeks appeared to be off track when the race is incredibly close.
One Republican National Committee person said: You need to avoid distractions as you're building momentum towards Election Day.
Lisa Kashinsky contributed to this report.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this report misstated on which social media platform Trump posted "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!" He posted the statement on Truth Social.
Trump briefed by intelligence officials about ongoing Iranian threats to assassinate him, campaign says
Top U.S. intelligence officials briefed former President Donald Trump on Tuesday about threats from Iran to assassinate him, a Trump campaign spokesperson said.
"President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States," spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Donald Trump at a rally in Harrisburg, Pa., on July 31, 2024.
Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference."A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Tuesday evening acknowledged there was a briefing but declined to address any specifics.
Irans permanent mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Harris campaign did not have an immediate comment.
The Secret Service ramped up security around Trump this year when the Biden administration received intelligence about an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Trump. News of the increased security came days after the July 13 attempt on Trumps life in Butler, Pennsylvania; officials said at the time that there was no sign of a connection between the Iranian plot and the assassination attempt at a campaign rally.The Iranian mission to the U.S. dismissed the allegations of an assassination plot as unsubstantiated and malicious, Iranian state media reported at the time.
Trump told the Daily Mail last month that he was refusing intelligence briefings so he would not be accused of leaks. It was not immediately clear whether Trump has resumed regular briefings.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A second apparent attempt on Trump's life took place Sept. 15 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The suspect, Ryan Routh, was arrested that day and charged Tuesday with attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, on top of other earlier charges.
The Senate unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that would give major presidential candidates like Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris the same level of protection as President Joe Biden.
The bill now heads to the White House for Biden's signature. Biden said recently that the Secret Service "needs more help."
Trump's campaign accused Iran of a hacking attempt in June, and U.S. agencies later confirmed that Iran was behind efforts to compromise the presidential campaigns of both parties. More recently, intelligence agencies said that Iranian actors hacked into Trumps campaign and sent documents not publicly available to Biden campaign associates.
Iran denied the accusations, with the country's ambassador to the United Nations calling them "entirely baseless, lacking any credibility and legitimacy, the semi-official Fars news agency reported last week.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Trump briefed on 'real and specific threats' from Iran to assassinate him, campaign says
Trump briefed on 'real and specific threats' from Iran to assassinate him, campaign says
Former President Trump was briefed Tuesday about "real and specific threats" from Iran to assassinate the Republican presidential candidate, according to his campaign.
Irans aim to assassinate Trump is part of the Islamic Republics efforts to "destabilize and sow chaos in the United States," Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a press release.
Iran Spouts Propaganda From Un Podium, Calls On Middle East To Unite Behind Tehran
"Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference," Cheung said.
"Make no mistake, the terror regime in Iran loves the weakness of Kamala Harris, and is terrified of the strength and resolve of President Trump. He will let nothing stop him or get in his way to fight for the American people and to Make America Great Again."
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Original article source: Trump briefed on 'real and specific threats' from Iran to assassinate him, campaign says
Trump campaign announced event with this Detroit faith leader. Actually, hes for Harris.
Former President Donald Trumps campaign incorrectly listed a lifelong Democrat as one of its featured guests at a local roundtable event led by Black faith leaders Thursday with state Republicans.
Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, who was named in the release detailing a Thursday campaign event in Detroit, told the Free Press in an interview from his office Wednesday he has never spoken to the Trump campaign or Lorenzo Sewell, the other Detroit pastor listed in the event.
A Trump spokesperson provided a statement from campaign Director of Black Engagement Gina Barr, who said while grieving her mother she misspelled the name of Apostle Ellis L. Smith of Jubilee City Church in Redford. Smith could not be reached for comment.
Its one thing to make an honest mistake, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. But its one thing to intentionally mislead. If thats what happened here, Im highly offended, Ellis said. Im sure theres a lot of other preachers, whyd they list me?
Bishop Charles H. Ellis III of the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit is a 'lifelong Democrat,' he told the Free Press, and isn't participating in a campaign event for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump despite being named in a press release.
The event on Thursday offers a unique opportunity to engage with influential leaders at the intersection of faith and policy, the Trump campaign said in the release. Speakers and attendees include U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers, Michigan GOP Chairman Pete Hoekstra and Pastor Lorenzo Sewell.
Ellis supported Biden in 2020 and recently hosted a Women for Harris event encouraging voter registration at his Greater Grace Temple near Seven Mile and Telegraph Road. Everything we do here is Democratic, Ive been a lifelong Democrat, he said.
More: Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib endorses Donald Trump, calling him a 'man of principles'
More: Sen. Peters committee uncovers Secret Service failures in Trump assassination attempt
He was also inside the then-TCF Center in 2020 as an election worker, where he says he witnessed Republican activists banging on the windows outside of the ballot counting center as part of the failed effort to stop absentee ballot counting. That could have been catastrophic it was all senseless, Ellis said.
Ellis plans to support Janice Winfrey, a member of his congregation, by working the polls again this November, he says.
Democratic officials in Detroit say mixing up two prominent local pastors in an attempt to court Black voters is offensive.
This is not a misspelling, Jonathan Kinloch, a Wayne County commissioner and the 13th District Democratic Chair said Wednesday. This is a further example of how the Trump campaign shows a complete disregard for accuracy when it comes to Black people. From the Central Park Five until now, Donald Trump has bred a culture around him and his campaign that suggests if you pick one Negro person, you pick them all.
The release for the Trump campaign event said leaders will share their perspectives and discuss how religious communities shape political discourse. This impactful discussion will also highlight the challenges facing Black communities today and how President Trump is fighting to uplift the Black community, the release said.
Sewell hosted a Trump event in June at his 180 Church on Grand River which featured the former president, small business owners and several popular rappers who live in metro Detroit.
The 180 Church pastor told the Free Press in June he wasnt endorsing a candidate, but Sewell has been advocating for Trump since the roundtable event. He also appeared at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July, speaking about how Democrats have taken Black voters for granted.
Samuel J. Robinson is a freelance contributor to the Free Press focusing on election misinformation. Reach him on X: @samueljrob.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump campaign lists wrong Black faith leader for Detroit event
US presidential candidate Donald Trump has delivered a speech about the state of affairs in Ukraine, in which he manipulated facts about the war, during a campaign event in North Carolina.
Source: Trumps speech posted on Twitter (X), as reported by European Pravda
Details: Trump got the duration of Russias full-scale invasion wrong and significantly overestimated the death toll something he has done previously, such as during his debate with Kamala Harris.
He claimed that after "three years of horrible fighting", Ukraine is "absolutely obliterated" and that "millions and millions of people" are dead.
He also claimed that all its "thousand-year-old cities", except Kyiv, have been destroyed.
Quote: "Those gorgeous buildings with golden towers are demolished and laying broken on their side. Youll never see that kind of a town or city again. Theyll never be duplicated. Theyre all demolished, other than Kyiv. Youll never be able to rebuild the cities or towns the way they are impossible to do. They were thousands of years old. And just think about it, just three years ago, you had a beautiful civilisation. Millions of people that were living that are not with us any longer."
Trump declared that most of the country is gone, and that Ukraine as a whole no longer exists: "Ukraine is gone Its not Ukraine anymore."
He stated that it would take "hundreds of years" to rebuild Ukraine before adding that it would be difficult to rebuild the country at all: "There is not enough money to rebuild it, even if the whole world got together."
He blamed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the bleak picture he painted, claiming they "won't be satisfied until they send American kids over to Ukraine".
"The moms and dads of America dont want their kids fighting Ukraine and Russia, and were not going to have our soldiers die across the ocean," he declared.
Trump insisted that even more lives would be lost and more cities would collapse if Kamala Harris won the election.
Trump also accused President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of casting "nasty aspersions" on him.
On Monday 23 September, Trump declared that Zelenskyy wants the Democrats to win the 2024 US election.
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Former US president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally inside the Mosack Group manufacturing warehouse in Mint Hill. Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of refusing to strike a deal with Moscow to end Russia's war in Ukraine.
"We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal," Trump said at a campaign rally in North Carolina.
"So many dead people, any deal, even the worst deal, would have been better than what we have right now," the former US president said.
"You have a country that has been obliterated, not possible to be rebuilt," Trump continued, referring to the situation in Ukraine. "It will take hundreds of years to rebuild it. There's not enough money to rebuild it if the whole world got together."
Trump criticized President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for their ongoing support of Ukraine, indicating he would end US aid to the country if re-elected in the US presidential election on November 5.
"They're not going to be satisfied until they send American kids," Trump claimed, "we're not going to have our soldiers die across the ocean," he said.
Biden was set to receive Zelensky at the White House on Thursday. The Ukrainian leader intends to pitch his "victory plan" for defeating Russia. He is also set to meet lawmakers in the US Congress.
Zelensky had also planned to meet with Trump during his time in the US. However, news website Politico reported that such a meeting was now considered unlikely.
Biden was originally due to face Trump in the November presidential election but dropped his bid for a second term as his age and mental capabilities came under growing scrutiny. Harris will instead lead the Democratic ticket.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at an event concerning the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly. Leon Neal/PA Wire/dpa
The Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks to attendees during a campaign rally at the Mosack Group warehouse on Sept. 25, 2024 in Mint Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump suggested without evidence Wednesday that Iran could be responsible for two apparent assassination attempts he has faced this year, saying foreign leaders objected to his position on tariffs.
Authorities have made no public statements to support the claim that either would-be assassin in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July and near Trumps Florida home this month was aided by foreign agents or anyone else. Trump tied the two incidents to the separate hacking of his campaign, which U.S. intelligence agencies say was conducted by Iran.
There have been two assassination attempts on my life that we know of, Trump, the GOP candidate for president, said at a campaign stop in Mint Hill, North Carolina. And they may or may not involve but possibly do Iran, but I dont really know.
Trump also aired his theory on X on Wednesday, saying, Big threats on my life by Iran. The entire U.S. Military is watching and waiting. Moves were already made by Iran that didnt work out, but they will try again.
The Trump campaign told USA Today in a statement on Tuesday night that President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States.
USA Today also said a spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, acknowledged the briefing occurred but did not provide specifics about what was said.
In his remarks in North Carolina, Trump thanked members of Congress in both parties for approving more funding for the U.S. Secret Service, but added that if he were president when a foreign country threatened a presidential candidate, he would retaliate in the strongest terms.
So I thank everybody in Congress, he said. But if I were the president, I would inform the threatening country, in this case Iran, that if you do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens. Were going to blow it to smithereens.
The gunman in the Pennsylvania shooting, Thomas Crooks, was killed by law enforcement at the scene. In the second case, in Florida, Ryan Wesley Routh was charged on Tuesday with attempted assassination of Trump.
In the hour-long speech that included some attention to economic issues, Trump said that he was a target of foreign governments because of his plans to expand tariffs, which are taxes on imported goods.
Im imposing tariffs on your competition from foreign countries, all these foreign countries that have ripped us off, which stole all of your businesses and all of your jobs years ago and took your businesses out, he said. This is why people in countries want to kill me. Theyre not happy with me. It is its a risky business. This is why they want to kill me.
Trump also said he would set a 15% tax rate on companies that produce their goods domestically. That low rate, combined with tariffs on foreign goods, would boost U.S. manufacturing, including furniture production that was once a large industry in North Carolina, he said.
Tariffs generally lead to higher prices, which have plagued consumers since 2020.
Harris in Pennsylvania
The Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, painted a more optimistic picture of the U.S. economic present and future in her own economy-focused speech Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Harris acknowledged that prices remained too high.
You know it, and I know it, she said, according to a pool report.
Harris said her economic priorities were focused on the middle class, which she contrasted with what she described as Trumps favoritism to wealthy people.
She said she would encourage innovation by boosting research in a host of technologies from biomanufacturing to artificial intelligence and the blockchain, and said her approach to the presidency would include experimenting with different strategies.
As president, I will be grounded in my fundamental values of fairness, dignity and opportunity, she said. And I promise you, I will be pragmatic in my approach. I will engage in what Franklin Roosevelt called bold, persistent experimentation.
Immigration blamed by GOP
Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, applied their nativist immigration positions to speeches focused on the economy in their Wednesday campaign appearances. Both said immigrants in the country illegally were responsible for driving down employment and wages among U.S.-born workers.
The jobs are going to illegal migrants that came into our country illegally, Trump said in North Carolina. Our Black population all over the country, our Hispanic population, are losing their jobs. Theyre citizens of America, theyre losing their jobs.
In a call earlier Wednesday touting the International Brotherhood of Teamsters decision not to endorse in the presidential race and an internal electronic poll showing most members supported the GOP ticket, Vance said organized labor had long sought to protect U.S. workers from immigrants.
The American labor movement has always recognized that illegal labor undercuts the wages of American workers, Vance said on the call. Those are folks competing against American citizens and legal residents for important jobs and undercutting their wages in the process.
Vance said, without citing a source, that all net job growth under Harris and President Joe Biden had gone to foreign workers, including 25 million immigrants in the country illegally.
Official estimates place the number of immigrants residing in the country without authorization at about 11 million, less than half of Vances claim.
A GOP campaign spokesperson did not substantively respond to a question about the source for Vances statement that foreign-born workers accounted for all job growth during the Biden administration.
Trump to return to Butler
Trump said Wednesday he would return to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the first assassination attempt on him. The former president suffered an injury to his ear during a shooting that killed one rallygoer and injured two others.
Were going to go back and finish our speech, he said in North Carolina.
A bipartisan U.S. Senate interim report published Wednesday made initial conclusions that the U.S. Secret Service failed to adequately plan to secure the outdoor rally and made missteps in communication that led to the shooter being able to fire at the former president.
The report was commissioned by U.S. Sens. Gary Peters, a Democrat of Michigan; Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky; Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut; and Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson. They are the chairs and ranking members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the panels investigations subcommittee.
They are taking from us. At bottom, thats a key message that Donald Trump and his partner in slime, J.D. Vance, are running on when they falsely attack immigrants for eating pets, spreading diseases, or whatever other MAGA Two-Minute Hate theyre drumming up at any given moment. Everything is reducible to zero-sum demagoguery, even when none of the facts support it, which in every one of these cases, they dont.
Trumps repugnant new claims about immigrants in another small townCharleroi, in southwestern Pennsylvaniaexpose the ugly underbelly of that zero-sum messaging in a fresh way. At a rally near Pittsburgh on Monday, Trump unleashed a volley of new attacks on Haitian arrivals to Charleroi, and used them to launch a broader argument about Pennsylvania, insisting that its towns and villages have been inundated.
In an interview, Charleroi Borough Manager Joe Manning flatly said that Trumps claims are false or simply do not apply to his town in any sense. Theres what the former president is saying, Manning told me, and then theres easily observable reality.
Trumps assertions about Haitians and Charleroi echo his many lies about Springfield. He portrayed Charleroi as absolutely overrun with migrants, as if its succumbing to a foreign invasion, a word he also used at the Pennsylvania rally.
Not far from here, the 4,000-person town of Charleroi has seen a 2,000 percent increase in the population, Trump seethed at the rally, which was held in Indiana, Pennsylvania. He suggested that Charleroi has become a totally different place.
But thats not close to true, according to Manning. He says the towns population of Haitians is actually between 700 and 800. Manning pointed out that if Trumps claim were trueand this town of just over 4,000 had seen a 2,000 percent increaseit would suddenly have a population closer to 100,000. Recounting this idea to me, Manning burst out laughing.
At his rally, Trump also ramped up the zero-sum rhetoric about immigrants taking American jobs. Another front in Kamalas war on workers is her gigantic migrant invasion, he said.
Trump even embellished this with an elaborate tale in which Harris is chief engineer behind a project to inundate Pennsylvania communities. He held up Charleroi as an example of this throughout, telegraphing his closing argument in this must-win state.
But this rhetoric simply doesnt apply to Charleroi, Manning said. He noted that many of the Haitians work at a local packaging plant whose owner could not find workers, and went to an employment agency for help. That agency got Haitians to come work in the boroughin other words, locals, and not Harris, enticed them thereand they liked the place, Manning said, so they put down roots.
The key tell here, Manning pointed out, is that even now, with the Haitians already in the town, the packaging plant owner is still looking for workers.
They aint taking anybodys jobs, Manning said, noting that they are helping revitalize the town, just as immigrants are reviving other Rust Belt towns amid postindustrial population decline. They have occupied places that were vacant for years because a lot of people moved out of here, he noted.
What about Trumps claim that towns across Pennsylvania are being swamped by job-stealing immigrants? Well, the states unemployment rate is 3.4 percent, so its unclear how this represents a war on workers, as Trump says. As Paul Krugman explains, immigrants often boost employment for the native-born in such communities, because they spend money in them. As for Trumps suggestion that immigrants are unleashing a crime wave in the state, asked whether theres been any uptick in crime in Charleroi, Manning bluntly replied: No.
Obviously the facts can only go so far, because at bottom, Trump is telling an emotionally charged story. His deeper claimreflected in the suggestion that the town is now a totally different placeis that this supposedly huge influx has changed its fundamental makeup beyond recognition. On this score, its worth reproducing a full Trump monologue from the rally:
Think of the cruelty Kamala Harris has inflicted on the people of Pennsylvania. You live in a small town your whole life. You pay your taxes. You really are exemplary. You pay everything. You do everything. You love your town. You love your country. You know the town so well. By name. Youre just so proud of it. And suddenly she flies in thousands and thousands of migrants from the most dangerous places on earth. And they deposit them right smack in the middle of your community.
Trumps claim, at bottom, is that Haitian immigrants are stealing away peoples identitythe parts of their identity that are rooted in place, in shared local memory and custom, in blood and soil.
Indeed, at another point, Trump singled out people in the rally crowd who currently live in Charleroi. In a striking back-and-forth interaction with them, Trump asked: Has your beautiful town changed?
This beautiful town phrasing, which he tellingly used more than once at the rally, is a disarmingly devious trope. One wonders if Stephen Miller is whispering all these phrases in Trumps right ear. They tell the same story Trumps been telling about Springfield, Ohio, laced over with a kind of explicit language of heartland innocence and its defilement by migrant contamination.
In the face of all this, some will no doubt insist that Trump is making appeals to authentically felt disaffections that mass immigration can invokesuch as loss of community and solidarityand that Democrats ignore such sentiments at their peril.
Democrats should respond directly to these arguments. They might say that immigration, managed properly, is not a threat to deep and cherished local attachments at all. That in America, communities are made up of layers of immigration that are themselves central to who we are. That immigrant essential workers showed extraordinary solidarity by pulling us through Covid-19. That immigrants have helped make our post-Covid economy the envy of the world. And that immigrants are helping revive middle-class flourishing in the very Rust Belt areas that Trump and Vance love to rhapsodize about.
But that aside, Trump is simply not targeting something as innocent as communal nostalgia. You cannot watch this bloodthirsty chant of Send them back that erupted during his rally without immediately seeing that hes appealing to something much darker and uglier:
Trump: Do you think Springfield will ever be the same? You have to get them the hell out. You have to get them out.
Crowd: *chants send them back* pic.twitter.com/0QVkXCQ9si Acyn (@Acyn) September 24, 2024
One has to ask: If Trump and Vance are merely speaking to something as innocent-sounding as a lost sense of community and solidarity, why do they need to resort to all these vicious, openly racist lies and smearsall these nakedly sadistic promises of bloody mass expulsions to comein the first place?
By the way, speaking of solidarity in Charleroi, Manning shared an interesting anecdote. Not long ago, he said, a demonstration was organized on behalf of workers at a local cookware factory that is set to close, one that the areas residents and politicians are working to save.
Among those on hand to advocate for keeping the plant open on workers behalf, Manning recounted, were none other than some newly arrived Haitians. Asked what this told him about the newcomers, Manning said: Theyre good neighbors.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will hold a rally on Oct. 5 in Butler, Pennsylvania, the town where he was shot in an assassination attempt, his campaign said in a statement on Wednesday.
"President Trumps return to Butler will mark his first visit to the site of the attack since he was struck by an assassins bullet on July 13thbut was saved in what the world has recognized as an act of divine providence," his campaign said.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Caitlin Webber)
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) Former President and current presidential candidate Donald Trump will be returning to Butler, Pennsylvania to hold a rally at the same location where a gunman opened fire at a July rally, killing one and wounding three othersincluding Trump himself.
The rally will be held on Oct. 5 at the Butler Farm Show Inc. located at 625 Evans City Rd, the same venue where the assassination attempt took place. This comes after a second assassination attempt, as well as the House of Representatives unanimously voting to codify into law that major presidential candidates have the same protections as sitting presidents and vice presidents.
Trump has long since expressed a desire to return to Butler, posting on Truth Social back in July that he intended to hold another rally in the town.
A press release from the Trump campaign indicates that the rally will be in honor of Corey Comperatore, a firefighter who died after being shot at the July rally, as well as David Dutch and James Copenhaver, who were injured.
It is unknown what other topics will be discussed during the rally.
The rally is expected to begin at 5:00 p.m. Doors open at 10:00 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 WLNS 6 News.
Lawyers for Donald Trump are set to appear at an appellate court for oral arguments in New York on Thursday as they try to overturn a staggering civil fraud verdict now nearing $500 million with interest that the former president and his co-defendants were slapped with earlier this year.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in February that Trump, the Trump Organization and some of its executives including Trumps sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as former Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg falsified business records for years as they significantly overvalued real estate assets and holdings to secure sweetheart business deals and loans from insurers.
One such overvaluation involved Trumps Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Trump had overvalued that property by as much as 2,300%, and he also claimed that his New York penthouse in Trump Tower was three times bigger than its actual size, Engoron found.
After nearly three months of proceedings, Engoron told Trump that the frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience. He ordered the former president, the Trump Organization and other related entities pay about $364 million, before interest, to the state of New York.
The total amount has since increased. The current penalty now hovers at $489 million, and interest continues to be tacked on to the tune of more than $110,000 daily as the case lumbers ahead.
Trump managed to post a $175 million bond in April, allowing him to stave off the seizure of his assets. Hed spent weeks simultaneously claiming that he could not secure a bond while bragging that he had enough collateral to secure one. The bond is meant to ensure that Trump will pay his full fine if it is upheld by the courts.
Attorney John Sauer is set to argue for Trump before a five-member panel in the Appellate Division of New Yorks First Judicial Department on Thursday. Judy Vale, New Yorks deputy solicitor general, is set to present arguments for the state.
It is widely expected that when Trumps lawyers make their case to overturn Engorons verdict this week, they will claim that the judge was essentially too inexperienced to render his decision. In their opening brief to the appeals court, Trumps lawyers slammed Engoron as someone who struggled to understand basic banking concepts like a money market account.
The former presidents team argued that the judge was biased against Trump too, and that he needlessly sided with the New York attorney generals office during the trial. But perhaps worst of all, Trumps lawyers contended, is that the ruling inflicted great injury to the entire economy of New York state.
As part of his ruling, Engoron restricted Trump and the Trump Organizations ability to do business in the state for three years and imposed other sanctions.
The economic aspects of this decision are a disaster for New York, Trumps lawyers wrote. NYAG [the state attorney general] has used the statute in a way never seen before. The statutea consumer-fraud statute that does not allow for a jury trialdoes not apply to this victimless transaction.
The appeals court in New York has been a tough venue for Trump to secure a victory. The appellate court rejected Trumps attempts to unwind a gag order placed on him during the trial. And when he lashed out at a jurist on social media and was subsequently fined $15,000, the appeals court rebuffed Trump and his fines were upheld.
Oral arguments are expected to be livestreamed starting at noon Eastern time Thursday. A decision by the appeals court is predicted to take weeks, and judges could opt to fully uphold Engorons verdict or modify it. It could also return to Engorons court depending on the ruling.
Attorneys for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Related...
The recent merger of Wesley Memorial and Burkhead United Methodist churches has contributed to providing a new home to a third Winston-Salem church.
Christ Church Anglican of Winston-Salem has paid $2.75 million for the former Wesley Memorial property at 1210 Bolton St., according to a Forsyth County Register of Deeds filing.
The Bolton Street property sits on 3.89 acres and the building contains 30,526 square feet of space. It is adjacent to Bolton Elementary School.
The former Wesley Memorial property became available following the July 1 merger of the two Methodist churches that served as a remedy for declining membership. The churches chose to worship at the Burkhead site at 5250 Silas Creek Parkway as the renamed Sherwood Forest United Methodist Church.
Christ Church is in the process of moving onto the Bolton campus and making renovation and touch-ups. The plan is to begin conducting Sunday morning services on Nov. 3. Most services are held at 10:30 a.m.
Christ Church has been located since 2010 at 2252 Queen St. in the Ardmore community near the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist site. The church owns the building thats on 0.57 acres and contains 6,048-square feet of space.
The church will go from a sanctuary seating about 125 to one seating about 325.
Father Benji Davis, rector at Christ Church, said the purchase allows the church to expand its capacity for not only Sunday morning worship, but also Christian formation programs and community services, such as offering its version of the Jobs for Life training program.
The church has been looking for larger space for several years, but the pandemic alleviated those space constraints for a while, Davis said.
We renewed the search the past two years. The Wesley Memorial site is about a mile away from where we are now and in a similar neighborhood to Queen Street.
Davis said that by having a larger sanctuary, it will allow Christ Church to go from two Sunday worship services out of seating necessity back to one, as well as become more accessible to members with disabilities and other health issues.
The current church attendance fluctuates between 175 and 190, with membership of about 100 to 110 adults and 70 to 80 children.
Davis said the church is listing the Queen Street property for sale. It is paying for the Bolton property through reserve funds and a capital campaign.
Forming Sherwood Forest
Ben Sloan, former pastor of Wesley Memorial, now serves in the same role with Sherwood Forest.
Sloan said that before Christ Church approached Wesley Memorial about the availability of the Bolton property, we already started having conversations about what our future as a church looks like.
We saw that Wesley Memorial and Burkhead were in similar situations, and that we were complementary in a number of ways.
Sloan cited as an example Burkhead have a lot of musically inclined people, but didnt have an active choir, and we did. We didnt have Sunday school and they did, and now we have members interested in Sunday school.
The churches were able to combine community programs and service opportunities, Sloan said.
It wasnt a merger out of necessity, Sloan said. Both churches could have gone on as they were for years to come.
We looked at this as an opportunity to strengthen both congregations by joining together.
Sloan said that once the decision was made to go forward with the merger and they settled on the location, we decided to sell the property.
Sloan said the Methodist Church restricts the use of property sale proceeds.
He said some of the proceeds will be reinvested into the Silas Creek facility, creative things such as putting in solar (panels) that both make financial sense and are a part of stewardship.
Sherwood Forest gained an exemption for staffing needs for something new that neither congregation was doing. Another exemption was giving proceeds to another UMC church that was struggling with facility needs and could not secure grant funding.
We recognize the blessing of our position and would like to share that with other congregations if were able to, Sloan said.
Sloan said Christ Church has agreed to honor Wesley Memorials commitment of operating a cooperative food pantry on the Bolton grounds.
Im grateful that they saw that (food pantry) as a part of their mission as well by joining into the cooperative, Sloan said.
Not afraid of growth
Davis recognizes that Christ Church is bucking a trend of declining church membership and service attendance exasperated by the pandemic.
He said its not lost on Christ Church leadership and members that the Bolton property became available because two United Methodist churches chose to merge and no longer need two sites.
By moving onto the Bolton campus, Davis said God is equipping Christ Church for growth.
He said its not a cliche to say the church is taking a leap of faith in purchasing the Bolton property.
Weve viewed the Queen Street property as a great incubator, like being a potted plant in a nursery. We look at this move as allowing us to be planted for generations to come.
In terms of potential congregation growth in the new church, Davis said, We trust that we will receive the number of people God entrusts for us to care for.
Im not concerned about numbers, and Im not being disingenuous about that.
Part of the call to Christian discipleship is to grow deep roots in Christ and in the place where you live, where you seek the good in your community and the glory of God.
Davis cited a passage from 1st Corinthians 12 in which the Apostle Paul wrote: for the body does not consist of one member, but of many.
Everybody has different gifts, and God has equipped each person uniquely, and our church is a constellation of people that God has brought together.
If thats true, I dont have to worry about who comes to our church, he said.
We just want to respond to the folks who come to us and for us to care for them, whether it is for a lifetime or for just a season in their and our lives.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears ahead of the start of jury selection at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 15, 2024, in New York City. (Photo by Jabin Botsford-Pool/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON Stark polarization was on display Tuesday as U.S. senators argued whether the U.S. Supreme Courts presidential immunity decision effectively crowns the president a king or aligns with the history of the office.
In the first congressional hearing on the courts July decision, lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary debated and questioned witnesses on the historic 6-3 opinion that granted presidents criminal immunity for core constitutional duties and presumptive immunity for outer perimeter actions. Personal acts are not immune, the court ruled.
Committee Chair Dick Durbin of Illinois lamented the high court has now made it nearly impossible for the courts to hold a runaway president accountable.
It will be left to the American people and Congress to hold the line, because as Justice [Sonia] Sotomayor noted in her dissent, the President is now a king above the law, the Democratic senator said in his opening statement.
Ranking Republican member Lindsey Graham dismissed the Democratic-led hearing as designed to continue an attack on the court.
This hearing is about a continued narrative of delegitimizing the court you dont like. Well see how this holds up over time, said Graham of South Carolina.
A contentious decision
The Supreme Court issued its immunity decision in the thick of the roller coaster 2024 presidential election campaign just one month after former President Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felonies in New York, the only of his four criminal cases to go to trial.
Trump, who is locked in a close race with Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election polls, escalated his presidential immunity claim to the Supreme Court, to which he appointed three conservative justices while in office. At the time, he was leading against President Joe Biden, who exited the race in late July.
Trump argued he could not be prosecuted on federal fraud and obstruction charges for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
The Supreme Court remanded the election subversion case to the trial court to decide which charges can still stand in light of the immunity decision.
Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith issued a superseding indictment soon after that retained all four felony charges, but omitted all supporting accusations that Trump allegedly pressured the Department of Justice to intimidate state officials to manipulate the 2020 election results.
Graham played down Smiths case as well as the now-dismissed federal case alleging Trump improperly stored and refused to return classified information after he left office as politically motivated legal garbage.
Graham also criticized the Georgia state 2020 election interference case against Trump and the New York state conviction of Trump for falsifying business records related to a porn star hush money payment ahead of the 2016 election.
A license for abuse?
Three witnesses invited to testify before the Democratic-led panel warned the immunity decision could lead to sweeping consequences for U.S. democracy and accused the court of abandoning long-standing guardrails on executive power.
Granting protection from criminal exposure essentially licenses a president to abuse his power and get away with it, said Philip Allen Lacovara, former U.S. deputy solicitor general and former counsel to the Watergate special prosecutor.
The court did not rely on any historical practice in favor of criminal immunity, Lacovara testified. In fact, practice is exactly the opposite.
I know from my own experience in the Watergate affair that President Nixon was under active criminal investigation for his role in the cover-up.
Mary McCord, executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law School, agreed with the court that the president should be protected for powers defined by the Constitution, including pardoning and vetoing.
But, she said, her concern is that the courts opinion capaciously defines core constitutional powers to extend far beyond these well recognized powers.
The majority holds that the former president is absolutely immune for alleged conduct involving his discussions with Justice Department officials.
That conduct includes the indictments allegations about efforts to leverage the Justice Department to convince certain states to replace their legitimate electors with fraudulent Trump slates of electors, said McCord, who served in the Justice Department during the Obama and Trump administrations.
McCord also questioned how criminal immunity would guide a future presidents interactions with other government arms, including the Internal Revenue Service and the Central Intelligence Agency.
The reforms enacted by Congress in the wake of past abuses would be impotent in the case of a president unconcerned about adhering to the rule of law, she said.
Timothy Naftali, senior research scholar at Columbia Universitys School of International and Public Affairs, reminded the committee of Nixons investigation of Jewish members of the government, as revealed in his preserved recorded conversations.
As we assess the effects of the Supreme Courts decision to remove additional guardrails from the presidency, I suggest we consider some events of the year 1971 and a few other well documented episodes of presidential abuse of power, said Naftali, the former founding director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
Immunity as necessary
Witnesses invited by the panels GOP minority dismissed concerns about presidential immunity as overblown.
Jennifer Mascott, director of the Separation of Powers Institute and associate professor of law at The Catholic University of America, said since the court handed down this opinion, a number of public statements and commentary have significantly mischaracterized the opinions holding and its scope.
Some of those overstatements have made their way into some of the prepared testimony before the committee today, she continued.
Republicans reiterated that presidential criminal immunity keeps the lid on a Pandoras box of political retaliation against former administrations via the courts.
Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, ranking member of the committees Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, entertained the scenario that a district attorney in a Republican-held jurisdiction could sue Biden once he leaves office for the withdrawal from Afghanistan during which 13 U.S. service members were killed.
Can you imagine a scenario in which an ambitious district attorney after President Bidens out of office could bring a charge against President, former President Biden for criminal negligence in the death of Americans? he asked.
Former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who served under former President George W. Bush, said the courts ruling was narrow, consistent with precedent and constitutional principles.
I think if one examines the historical record of controversial acts by presidents, it would be dangerous particularly although not exclusively as to acts that impact national security such as border or drug enforcement to subject presidents to the constant threat of prosecution for official acts when they leave office, Mukasey said.
He used the examples of former President Barack Obamas drone killing of U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki and former President Franklin D. Roosevelts World War II internment of Japanese Americans.
And even more pointedly, I doubt that many people think that our country would be better off if President Lincoln, Roosevelt, Clinton, or Obama were prosecuted or imprisoned for controversial decisions they made in office, Mukasey said.
Lack of court ethics to blame?
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, chair of the Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights Subcommittee, blamed a lack of an enforceable ethics code on the court and creepy right-wing billionaires for influencing justices decisions.
The court has been rocked by revelations that Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas did not disclose gifts and luxury travel from Republican donors. The justices have not faced repercussions, and the donors deny any improper actions.
The Trump justices invented presidential immunity and then didnt even carve out treason, the Rhode Island Democrat said. The first mention ever that a president can freely commit crimes comes from this court, just as we have our first ever criminal presidential candidate.
(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump Jr. took the GOP campaign message to the Balkan region, vowing that his father would end Russias war in Ukraine and that a second Trump presidency would be a great benefit to eastern Europe.
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The unannounced tour to Serbia and Romania comes six weeks before the Nov. 5 election, with Trump Jr. bringing the bruising campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris to southeast Europe. His son denounced her as a radical leftist who is not the candidate of change.
Speaking to several dozen business leaders in Belgrade earlier this week, the former presidents eldest son sought support among US voters with Serbian roots during a visit to the region.
Theres a strong Serbian population in the United States Im told theyre largely conservative, Trump Jr. told the gathering in an upscale hotel in central Belgrade on Monday, according to a video of his speech at the event published by N1 regional broadcaster. Call your Serbian friends, mobilize the community to vote for Trump, he said.
The Balkans are no stranger to Trumps cohort. The former presidents son-in-law Jared Kushner wants to invest in luxury hotels in Serbia and Albania, while his former special envoy to the region Richard Grenell continues to engage with its governments. Grenell is tipped as a potential secretary of state in a second Trump administration.
That outcome would create incredible opportunities for the rest of the world and be a great benefit for eastern Europe, Donald Jr. told a crowd of a few dozen business leaders in the Serbian capital late Monday.
Serbia aspires to join the European Union, but needs to mend ties with Kosovo, a former province whose ethnic Albanian majority declared independence in 2008. In 2020, Trump almost mediated a solution, but his son blamed then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel for undermining the effort. EU diplomats back then resisted Trumps attempt at a settlement.
On Tuesday, he told a similar event in neighboring Romania that the east can capture investors interest, because Western Europe can no longer offer what it used to, conservative local broadcaster Romania TV reported.
Trump Jr. also offered assurances that his father would seek an end to the war in Ukraine, Romanias eastern neighbor. He blamed vested financial interest for the continuing conflict.
We have American politicians that will fund this thing indefinitely, he said in Belgrade. The military industrial complex wants to go to war forever and a lot of that moneys going back to the war effort in American companies.
Im not being an apologist for Putin. Hes a dictator and he is a despot. But the United States did give him literally every excuse he possibly needed to attack Ukraine, he said. There was a boundary zone. It was called Ukraine. Were not gonna move NATO there.
Still, the real enemy is China, he told Serbs, even as President Aleksandar Vucic seeks ever closer ties to Beijing and billions in Chinese investment. Theyre the greatest geopolitical threat to freedom, said Trump Jr.
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Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and painted a picture of an "absolutely obliterated" Ukraine as the foreign leader is in the U.S. to present what he calls his "victory plan" to 2024 candidates and President Joe Biden.
At a campaign event in North Carolina, Trump went after Zelenskyy for "making little nasty aspersions" toward him.
While Trump didn't elaborate on what the comments were, Zelenskyy was recently critical of Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, in an interview with The New Yorker.
MORE: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discusses 'Victory Plan' he will present to Biden: GMA exclusive
Zelenskyy expressed doubt Trump knew how to end the Russia-Ukraine war despite Trump's assertions, without detail or specifics, that the war never would have happened if he were president and he could end it on the first day of his new administration.
"My feeling is that Trump doesn't really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how," Zelenskyy told the magazine. "With this war, oftentimes, the deeper you look at it the less you understand. I've seen many leaders who were convinced they knew how to end it tomorrow, and as they waded deeper into it, they realized it's not that simple."
Zelenskyy also called Vance "too radical" over his position that Ukraine will likely have to cede territory taken by Russia. Zelenskyy said the senator's "message seems to be that Ukraine must make a sacrifice."
PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, on Sept. 25, 2024, in Mint Hill, N.C. (Evan Vucci/AP)
Trump, in his freewheeling stump speech on Wednesday, claimed Ukraine is "obliterated" with towns and cities gone that can "never be duplicated." He said "millions and millions" were dead and accused Ukraine of "using young children and old men" as its military experiences a shortage of soldiers.
Trump continued to call Zelenskyy the "greatest salesman on Earth" amid his apparent criticism of the amount of aid the U.S. has given to Ukraine to help the nation fight President Vladimir Putin's forces, and how Zelenskyy has used the aid.
"Those buildings are down. Those cities are gone. They're gone. And we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal," Trump said.
MORE: Zelenskyy says Russia using Chinese satellites to photograph nuclear plants ahead of possible strikes
A day prior, at a campaign event in Georgia, Trump expressed little confidence Ukraine could win while praising Russia's military capabilities.
"But we're stuck in that war unless I'm president. I'll get it done. I'll get it negotiated. I'll get out. We got to get out. Biden says we will not leave until we win. What happens if they win? That's what they do, is they fight wars. As somebody told me the other day, they beat Hitler. They beat Napoleon. That's what they do."
Zelenskyy will hold meetings with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday to present what his "victory plan." The proposal includes specific figures and amounts of military assistance that he says Ukraine needs to force Russia to stop the war, as well as a list of certain diplomatic and political steps, a source close to Zelenskyy told ABC News.
PHOTO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the 'Summit of the Future' in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on Sept. 23, 2024. (Caitlin Ochs/Reuters)
Trump said last week that he would "probably" be meeting with Zelenskyy but now is not expected to meet with him while he is here in the U.S. this week, sources said, saying Trump's plans were never firm.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, the top Republican on Capitol Hill, also won't meet with Zelenskyy, a source familiar with the matter said Wednesday after a meeting had been previously announced. Johnson, who has a mixed record on Ukraine aid, has recently taken issue with Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova organizing a tour for Zelenskyy of an American munitions manufacturing plant in election battleground Pennsylvania.
Vance on Wednesday, during a call with reporters hosted by the Republican National Committee, was asked if he sees an opportunity to discuss with Zelenskyy how a Trump-Vance administration would approach the conflict and if he believed Ukraine should cede land in exchange for the war to end.
Vance said "everything's going to be on the table" in negotiating an end to the war and that "the biggest problem here is that this war has distracted and consumed a lot of resources at a time when Americans are suffering."
"I think that the president has said very clearly that, first of all, Russia would have never invaded Ukraine if he had been president, and he's gonna negotiate an end to the conflict," he said.
MORE: Zelenskyy says Ukraine's war with Russia is 'closer to the end' as he appeals for more help: GMA exclusive
While Trump and Vance voiced skepticism of how much further assistance should be given to Ukraine, President Biden, in his final address at the United Nations General Assembly, urged world leaders not to relent on the issue.
"The world now has another choice to make: Will we sustain our support to help Ukraine win this war and preserve its freedom, or walk away, let aggression be renewed and a nation be destroyed? I know my answer," Biden said. "We cannot grow weary. We cannot look away and we will not let up on our support for not Ukraine."
ABC News' Katherine Faulders, Hannah Demissie and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
Trump lashes out at Zelenskyy after Ukraine's leader questioned his claim he could end war originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A much-hyped meeting between former President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the Ukrainian president's trip to the U.S. is unlikely to take place.
The Ukrainian president is expected to address the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday and present his so-called victory plan for the war with Russia, then hold bilateral meetings with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump said last week that he would probably meet with Zelenskyy during his U.S. visit. But a Trump campaign official confirmed to POLITICO on Tuesday that no meeting had been scheduled.
The Ukrainian leader irritated Republican election candidate Trump by visiting a munitions factory in Scranton, in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, on Sunday during a campaign-style stop.
During a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday, Trump a longtime skeptic of backing Ukraine against Russia's full-scale invasion accused Zelenskyy of wanting Democratic candidate Harris to win the election "so badly" and described him as the greatest salesman in history.
Meridith McGraw contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON - Donald Trumps campaign said Wednesday he will hold an Oct. 5 campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, site of the first assassination attempt against the 2024 Republican presidential nominee in mid-July.
President Trumps return to Butler will mark his first visit to the site of the attack since he was struck by an assassins bullet on July 13th - but was saved in what the world has recognized as an act of divine providence, the campaign said in a statement.
The Oct. 5 rally will be held at Butler Farm Show, Inc., the very same ground where he came within a quarter of an inch of losing his life less than three months ago, the campaign said in its announcement.
Secret Service agents help former President Donald Trump leave his reelection campaign rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa, after he was injured by gunfire.
Trump has long said he wanted to return to Butler to finish the rally that was cut short by gunfire. His new Butler event comes after a second assassination attempt earlier this month at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The Trump campaign has also said that U.S. intelligence officials have warned them about an Iranian plot to kill him.
The former president has discussed attempts on his life at his recent campaign events. That includes a Monday economic speech in North Carolina in which he suggested that Iran might have been involved in the two assassination attempts, although there is no evidence to back up that claim.
Wednesday's campaign statement said that Trump will use his Butler re-appearance to honor the memory of supporter Corey Comperatore, who lost his life while shielding his wife and daughters from the gunfire.
Trump will also pay tribute to supporters David Dutch and James Copenhaver, both of whom were wounded during the attack.
"After not one, but two attempts on his life in the past nine weeks, President Trump is more determined than ever to see his mission through to the end," the campaign said.
This story was updated to add new information.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump announces return to assassination attempt site in Pennsylvania
(NewsNation) In one of the more policy-dense campaign speeches this election cycle, former President Donald Trump outlined his second-term vision for the economy in Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday.
Trump spoke about the economy, jobs, and manufacturing, including plans to lower corporate taxes on companies that manufacture in the U.S. and a threat to impose tariffs on companies that move operations and jobs overseas.
The former president also promised Americans greater work opportunities, both in number and in competition with workers from other countries.
Haitian group wants Trump, Vance arrest warrants after Ohio comments
Here is the deal that I will be offering to every major company and manufacturer on Earth, Trump said. I will give you the lowest taxes, the lowest energy costs, the lowest regulatory burden, and free access to the best and biggest market on the planet, but only if you make your product here in America.
It all goes away if you dont make your product here and hire American workers for the job.
In response to the speech, the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris posted on X arguing Trumps proposed tariff policies would raise costs for Americans by an average of $4,000 a year.
As it stands, Trump leads Harris by 0.7% in Georgia based upon Decision Desk HQs average of 30 polls.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Trump says would destroy Iran if it 'harms' a US election candidate
Former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had taken a hard line against Iran when he was in power (Logan Cyrus) (Logan Cyrus/AFP/AFP)
Donald Trump said Wednesday Iran should be blown "to smithereens" if the Islamic Republic is involved in the harming of a US White House candidate or ex-president.
The provocative remarks come after US intelligence warned of threats from Tehran against the Republican's life after two apparent assassination bids in recent months.
"As you know, there have been two assassination attempts on my life that we know of, and they may or may not involve -- but possibly do -- Iran," Trump said at a campaign event in North Carolina.
"If I were the president, I would inform the threatening country, in this case Iran, that if you do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens," he added.
Trump went on to say he and the United States have been "threatened very directly by Iran" and that a firm message needed to reach Tehran that there would be the most severe consequences should it be involved in plots to kill or hurt a US president or presidential candidate.
"The best way to do it is through the office of the president, that (if) you do any attacks on former presidents or candidates for president, your country gets blown to smithereens, as we say."
Trump also said it was "strange" that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was in New York this week and accorded substantial protection as he attends the United Nations General Assembly even as news of the threats emerged.
"We have large security forces guarding him, and yet they're threatening our former president and the leading candidate to become the next president of the United States," Trump said, referring to himself.
The United States is obligated to extend security to foreign heads of state at the General Assembly under its treaty with the United Nations and its own laws.
- 'Credible intelligence' -
Trump's remarks come as world leaders scramble to try to avert hostilities between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel escalating into a wider regional war.
Iran has rejected accusations it is trying to kill Trump this summer, shortly after a gunman opened fire at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, killing one person and wounding the presidential candidate.
Days later, Trump posted on social media that if Iran did kill him, "I hope that America obliterates Iran, wipes it off the face of the Earth."
In a highly critical report on the security arrangements around Trump at the Pennsylvania rally, a US Senate committee noted that the deployment of elite US Secret Service countersnipers was made "in response to 'credible intelligence' of a threat."
On Wednesday, the 78-year-old Trump suggested the would-be assassin in Pennsylvania had used "potentially foreign-based apps," and that the alleged gunman in the second attempt in Florida had multiple mobile phones that Trump said US authorities have been unable to open.
"They must get Apple to open these foreign apps (and) open the six phones from the second lunatic," Trump said. "Because we have a lot at stake."
On Wednesday, US Attorney General Merrick Garland called the attempted assassination bids "abhorrent."
"Our nation has now experienced two assassination attempts against the former President in just the last three months. That is abhorrent," he said.
"The Justice Department will not tolerate violence that strikes at the heart of our democracy. And we will find and hold accountable those who perpetrate it. This must stop."
In August, the United States announced that it had foiled a plan by a Pakistani linked to Tehran to assassinate a US official in revenge for the death of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, killed in 2020 in a US strike in Iraq ordered by then-president Trump.
US intelligence services have also warned of attempted cyberattacks on the presidential campaigns of Trump and rival Kamala Harris by actors it says are backed by Iran.
mlm/aha/jgc
Trump says Iranian president being guarded at UN while plotting assassination 'a strange set of circumstances'
Former President Trump addressed Irans plots to assassinate him during remarks in battleground-state North Carolina on Wednesday, saying it was "strange" how the Iranian president received such a large security detail when visiting the United Nations this week.
Trump was speaking about jobs in Mint Hill, just outside Charlotte, when he mentioned the potential Iranian plot to assassinate him.
"Meanwhile, we have the president of Iran in our country this week, we have large security forces guarding him, and yet theyre threatening our former president and the leading candidate to become the next president certainly a strange set of circumstances," Trump said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday.
Iran's Leader To Address Un Amid Threats Of Assassinations Against Us Politicians, Election Interference
Tehrans potential assassination plot was detailed in FBI documents that Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, released earlier this month, showing other potential targets included President Biden and former presidential candidate Nikki Haley, along with other "politicians, military people or bureaucrats."
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Trump said that if he were president, and a former president came under such a threat, he would tell the threatening country that if they did anything to harm the individual, "we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens."
"But right now, we dont have the leadership necessary to do that," the former president said. "We have two people, not one, that only keep looking, and when you do that, trouble always ensues."
Trump said that "we all need to pull together" to put an end to such threats and "bring back American strength, power, and prestige," which he suggested had diminished during the Biden presidency.
Trump Briefed On Real And Specific Threats' From Iran To Assassinate Him, Campaign Says
On Tuesday, the Trump campaign said the former president was briefed about "real and specific threats" from Iran to assassinate him.
Irans aim to assassinate Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, is part of the Islamic Republics efforts to "destabilize and sow chaos in the United States," Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said in a press release.
In addition to the assassination plot, the FBI further confirmed last week that Iranian hackers attempted to supply the Democratic presidential campaign with stolen communication files from the Trump campaign.
Fox News Bradford Betz and Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
Original article source: Trump says Iranian president being guarded at UN while plotting assassination 'a strange set of circumstances'
NEW YORK Women who accuse former President Trump of sexual abuse are speaking out in dramatic new presidential campaign ads released on Wednesday.
In one, a former People magazine reporter details Trump groping her during what was supposed to be an interview at Mar-a-Lago. In the second, a fellow first-class air passenger describes how he fondled her during a flight. Both ads were created by a group led by conservative #NeverTrump lawyer George Conway.
I tried to push him. He kept coming back at me, journalist Natasha Stoynoff says in the ad of the 2005 incident at Trumps Florida residence. I was in shock and smothered, and he had his hands here against my shoulders.
Air traveler Jessica Leeds recounts how Trump sought to feel her breasts and put his hand up her skirt during a 1979 flight, when she was 38.
The airplane took off, and all of a sudden Donald Trump started groping me, Leeds says. He was trying to kiss me and Im trying to push him away, he was basically overpowering me.
Both women have spoken out previously about the alleged abuse. They testified at the E. Jean Carroll trial, when a Manhattan jury found Trump liable for sex assault and defamation.
Trump vehemently denies the allegations and says he never met Leeds.
The graphic ad, which is not affiliated with the Harris-Walz campaign, is designed to remind voters of Trumps alleged predatory behavior towards women as the presidential campaign heads into the home stretch ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5.
Trump and Harris remain locked in a virtual dead heat with averages of national polls giving the Democratic candidate only a narrow lead.
Conway, who is the ex-husband of Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, founded the Anti-Psychopath Political Action Committee, which paid for the ads. It vows to air them on TV stations in Trumps home towns of Palm Beach, Florida and Bedminster, New Jersey as well as during next Tuesdays vice presidential debate between Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz.
Trump is performing poorly with women voters, polls show, and his critics say the stories of his alleged abuse will widen the so-called gender gap.
Ironically, the ads come just two days after Trump proclaimed himself the protector of American women during a campaign speech in battleground Pennsylvania.
I am your protector. I want to be your protector, Trump told thousands of supporters. You will no longer be abandoned, lonely, or scared. You will no longer be in danger.
Boom Supersonic wasted little time proceeding with the fourth test flight of its XB-1 prototype aircraft, reaching on Friday a new top speed of Mach 0.617 more than halfway to supersonic flight.
Blake Scholl, founder and chief executive of Boom, said the company remains on pace to break the sound barrier by the end of this year.
At Mach 1, the prototype can fly at the speed of sound, which is 761 miles per hour.
Each one-tenth beyond Mach 1 represents a 10% increase beyond the speed of sound, so Mach 1.1 is 10% faster, Mach 1.2 is 20% faster and Mach 1.3 is 30% faster.
The flight took place at the same Mojave Air & Space Port facility as other tests in March, August and on Sept. 13. Chief test pilot Tristan Geppetto Brandenburg was again at the controls, as he is scheduled to be for the first supersonic flight.
Boom reached a key milestone June 17 with the completion of its $500 million superfactory at Piedmont Triad International Airport. The Denver-based manufacturer has pledged to create at least 1,781 jobs at full production.
Booms demonstrator XB-1 aircraft is advancing through its flight test program to confirm its performance and handling qualities, with 10 subsonic flights planned before reaching supersonic speeds.
Among the key developments from the fourth flight are: maximum altitude of 16,150 feet; flight time of 48 minutes; and applied elevated g-forces of 2.78g in preparation for supersonic flight.
The flutter excitation system is a vibration device that Boom says we can turn on in order to hit structural vibration modes deliberately before we would encounter them naturally in flight.
The landing gear was retracted at a max speed of 225 knots, completing this portion of system testing. During future test flights, the team will retract the landing gear immediately after takeoff.
According to Boom executive Kathy Savitt, the Overture timeline at PTI remains as follows:
2024: Equipment installation;
2025: Equipment assembly;
2026: First Overture rollout;
2027: First test flight;
2029: Federal Aviation Administration certification; and
2029: First passenger flights.
In July, Boom utilized Tuesday the influential U.K. Farnborough International Airshow to announce several new operational developments for its Overture aircraft and Symphony engine.
The latest developments involve:
A new flight deck developed from reviewing aviation safety practices and responding to feedback from pilots in the airline, business and military sectors;
An update on the Symphony development, with hardware testing underway and the first full-scale engine core projected to be operational in just 18 months;
Advanced Integration Technology has joined the Symphony development program, while Universal Avionics is coming onboard to support Honeywell on Overtures flight deck.
Announcing it will partner with StandardAero to place full Symphony production and testing at its San Antonio plant.
Overture is expected to be the first large commercial aircraft to have a net-zero carbon impact from Day One, running on 100% sustainable aviation fuel.
The completion of the 170,000-square-foot factory shell at PTI represents a key symbolic milestone for one of the highest-risk, highest-reward projects in Triad and U.S. manufacturing history.
Its also the most tangible, hands-on example of how far Boom is ahead of its eight global competitors in their common goal of resuming supersonic flight following the grounding of the Concorde in 2003.
The aircraft is being designed to carry 65 to 80 passengers at Mach 1.7 over water with a range of 4,250 nautical miles.
The initial Boom projection is producing up to 33 Overture aircraft annually at a projected price tag of $200 million.
In keeping with Booms ambitious nature since its January 2022 commitment to the PTI facility, Scholl said during the June ribbon-cutting ceremony the manufacturer plans to eventually double annual production, which would require another plant that could add another 600 jobs.
The baseline plan is to build one more just like it here, Scholl said.
So, well double up production, and weve got designs on the third one as well, that would fit right here on the same site.
Former U.S. President and current Republican nominee Donald Trump criticized President Volodymyr Zelensky at a campaign rally on Sept. 25, accusing Zelensky of refusing to "make a deal" with Russia and "making little nasty aspersions" against Trump.
The comments come as Zelensky visits the U.S. to rally support for Ukraine's global peace summit among world leaders and present his five-point victory plan to American leadership.
Zelensky has reportedly not scheduled any meetings with Trump.
"The president of Ukraine is in our country and he's making little nasty aspersions toward your favorite president, me," Trump said during a campaign speech in the U.S. state of North Carolina.
"We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal: Zelensky."
At a rally the previous day, Trump vowed to get the U.S. "out" of the war in Ukraine if elected president.
Trump's rhetoric against Zelensky and U.S. support for Ukraine has grown harsher in recent days. He has claimed that Zelensky wants Democrats to win the upcoming presidential election and referred to him as "the greatest salesman on earth."
Republican leaders on Sept. 25 also accused Zelensky of interfering in the election by visiting an ammunition factory in U.S. President Joe Biden's hometown of Scranton, Pennyslvania, a hotly contested battleground state.
House Speaker Mike Johnson demanded that Zelensky fire Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Makarovka, for her role in arranging the tour.
The Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee also announced he was opening an investigation into the Biden-Harris administration's alleged misuse of government funds.
Zelensky criticized Trump's plans for an end to the war in an interview with the New Yorker earlier this week. He called Trump's running mate, Republican Senator J.D. Vance, "too radical" and said the war should not end at Ukraine's expense.
Read also: Trump vows to get America out of Ukraine war, blames Biden for conflict
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In early August, Donald Trump used his social media platform to push a curious argument: When the left criticizes judges and Supreme Court justices, the former president wrote, its probably illegal.
Two weeks later, at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, the Republican went a little further, suggesting that judicial criticisms should be illegal.
This week, the GOP candidate returned to the Keystone State with a similar message, though this time, he included fewer qualifiers.
Trump says Americans who criticize the Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade should be imprisoned: These people should be put in jail for the way they talk about our judges and justices pic.twitter.com/IJtQVZPKXc Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 24, 2024
They were very brave, the Supreme Court [justices], Trump said. Very brave, and they take a lot of hits because of it. It should be illegal, what happens. You know, you have these guys like playing the ref. ... These people should be put in jail the way they talk about our judges and our justices.
It seems unlikely that Republicans would succeed in passing a law that criminalizes judicial criticism. If GOP officials were to try, its also likely that courts would reject such a measure thanks to those pesky free speech protections in the First Amendment.
But the fact that Trump voiced support for such an approach or more to the point, keeps voicing support for such an approach sheds important light on his rather twisted perspective.
For one thing, his failures of self-awareness remain a sight to behold. Indeed, as regular readers know, Trump, more than any modern American political leader, has gone after sitting judges with a vengeance at times even going after members of their families.
If anyone has any doubts about this, they should feel free to ask U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron or U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, each of whom has been on the receiving end of Trumps delegitimizing tantrums.
We can also look to the Supreme Court itself. It was just a couple of years ago when justices rejected his emergency appeal seeking to hide his tax returns from Congress. The furious former president wrote online that the Supreme Court has lost its honor, prestige, and standing, [and] has become nothing more than a political body, with our Country paying the price.
For good measure, the Republican added, They refused to even look at the Election Hoax of 2020. Shame on them!
If people should be put in jail for the way they talk about justices, Trump probably shouldve turned himself into the authorities quite a while ago.
But there are also broader principles at stake. Trump has now repeatedly insisted that criticizing jurists he agrees with should be criminalized, adding fresh weight to concerns that the Republican candidate is effectively running on an authoritarian-style platform.
We are, after all, talking about a White House hopeful who is threatening perceived foes with prison sentences, endorsing a strongman leadership style, bragging about his support from dictators, raising the prospect of a temporary American dictatorship and talking about terminating parts of the Constitution that stand in the way of his ambitions.
Trump is also arguing that his rivals shouldnt be allowed to run against him, targeting immigrants with Hitler-style rhetoric while promising to create militarized mass deportations and detention camps, promising pardons to politically aligned criminals and threatening the broadcast licenses of news organizations that dissatisfy him.
And did I mention that hes raised the specter of military tribunals for his perceived domestic political foes? Because hes done that, too.
Its against this backdrop that Trump wants the public to know he believes constitutionally protected speech should be illegal.
As a Washington Post analysis summarized this week, For someone who has so strongly objected in recent weeks to the idea that hes an authoritarian or a threat to democracy, Donald Trump has a funny way of showing it.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
If Ukraine were to suddenly surrender to Russia, everything would be much better, at least according to Donald Trump.
During an afternoon press conference Wednesday, the Republican presidential nominee urged the Eastern European nation to submit to the foreign power, claiming that any deal, no matter how dismal for Ukraines freedom, would have been better than the current state of affairs.
Ukraine is gone. Its not Ukraine anymore. You can never replace those cities and towns, and you can never replace the dead people, so many dead people, Trump said. Any deal, even the worst deal, would have been better than what we have right now.
If they made a bad deal, it would have been much better, they would have given up a little bit, he continued. And everybody would be living, and every building would be built, and every tower would be aging for another 2,000 years.
Trump turned his attention quickly to Vice President Kamala Harris, claiming that she doesnt know what shes doingdespite the fact that shes not the current president overseeing the ongoing war. Trump then went on a spiraling tirade that had startling similarities to foreign propaganda, claiming that more cities will fall and the ones that fell will continue to receive more and more bombs unless Ukraine bends the knee to Russia.
It didnt need to happen, Trump said.
The former president also slammed Ukraines leader, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for continuing to lobby the U.S. government for increased military aid, though Trump conveniently failed to mention how he personally worked to block a $110.5 billion foreign aid package to Ukraine last winter while pressuring Senate Republicans to bargain for a more extreme border security package.
But Trump does have his own plan to institute peace in the besieged region. In June, Trumps advisers announced that, should he win in November, Trump would facilitate talks between the two nations that would more or less force Ukraine to cede part of its territory occupied by Russian forces. The plans obvious benefit to Russia resurfaced concerns over Trumps notoriously cushyand sometimes subservientrelationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskiy is currently scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden on Thursday, where he will present a so-called victory plan to end the conflict, reported The Washington Post.
The two-year conflict has seen the decimation of the vast majority of Ukraines energy infrastructure at the hands of Russian forces. At the United Nations on Wednesday, Zelenskiy warned international leaders that Russia was planning to attack Ukraines nuclear plants.
Just imagine, please, your country, with 80 percent of its energy system gone. What kind of life would that be? Zelenskiy said. If, God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, radiation will not respect state borders.
Trump
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a manufacturing facility in Mint Hill, NC (Photo: Screengrab from Trump YouTube page)
Former President Donald Trump aimed to appeal to working class voters during a visit to a Charlotte-area manufacturing plant on Wednesday.
He spoke for over an hour at the Mosack Group facility in Mint Hill. Its his second trip to the Tar Heel State this week, after a rally in Wilmington on Saturday.
Vice President Kamala Harris will provide the latest detailed explanation of her proposed economic plan at a speech Wednesday afternoon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Among other things, the plan would cut taxes on the middle class, create 25 million new small businesses during her first term in office, and protect and grow manufacturing employment.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff touched on similar themes Wednesday during a visit to Wilmington where he touted the Vice Presidents plans to build an opportunity economy.
In his speech, Trump referred to North Carolina as the furniture capital of the world and claimed hes had personal experience with the incredible craftsmanship in the state.
During his term in office, Trump approved the replacement of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
He reflected on this action as well as his work in implementing tariffs on foreign imports. Trump said he was determined to keep manufacturing jobs in states like North Carolina rather than relying on products made in other countries.
No one in Washington ever cared until me, he said. When I got there, you were in bad shape, but I saved the rest of the industry from total obliteration.
Trump opened his speech by thanking Democrats for increasing funding to the Secret Service. Lawmakers in Washington voted earlier this week to boost the agencys funding, following two assassination attempts on the Republican presidential nominee.
The former president won North Carolina in both of the past two presidential elections. Its the only one of seven battleground states to vote for Trump in 2020.
Hes focusing on the state again this cycle and encouraging his supporters to turn out in large numbers.
We want a landslide thats too big to rig, Trump said in evident reference to his past false claims about the 2020 election. The remark elicited cheers from the audience. Too big to rig.
Wednesdays event marks Trumps eighth visit to North Carolina this year. The state has seen a steady parade of visits by candidates and surrogates for both tickets.
His running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, spoke in Charlotte on Monday and Raleigh last week.
We win North Carolina, were going all the way, Trump said. Were leading in North Carolina by nice numbers.
The latest polls have found North Carolinas presidential race to be a virtual dead heat.
A survey released Tuesday by Elon University found Harris leading by one percent in North Carolina, well within the polls margin of error.
Just as with Saturdays Wilmington rally, Trump made no mention of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. The Republican gubernatorial nominee is facing scrutiny after a CNN report detailed lewd and offensive comments that it said he made on a porn website in the years prior to the start of his political career.
The same polls that have found the presidential race to be neck-and-neck report that Robinson trails Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein by double digits in the gubernatorial race. Its unclear whether or how reverse coattails a phenomenon in which down-ballot races affect the top of the ticket could play out in the presidential contest for North Carolina.
Prior to Wednesdays event, the Harris-Walz campaign organized a virtual press conference calling out Trumps economic policies and their impacts on North Carolina.
Donald Trump only cares about the middle class when its election time, former Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said.
Former President Donald Trump dances after speaking at a campaign event at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Ed Fry Arena in Indiana, Pa. on Sept. 23. (Alex Brandon/AP)
On Monday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump proclaimed himself the protector of women in America.
You will no longer be abandoned, lonely or scared. You will no longer be in danger. Youre not gonna be in danger any longer, Trump said while campaigning in Pennsylvania. You will no longer have anxiety from all of the problems our country has today. You will be protected, and I will be your protector. Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free. You will no longer be thinking about abortion.
Many of those claims echoed what Trump had written in an all-caps post on Truth Social about women in which he boasted, I WILL PROTECT WOMEN AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
Of course, the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, who could become the first female president in U.S. history, took issue with Trumps assertions.
Women know better and we will not be silenced, dismissed, ignored or treated like were stupid, Harris spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.
In one way, at least, Trumps pitch to female voters makes sense. An NBC News poll released this week showed that while Trump holds a 12-point lead over Harris with male voters, he trails her by a staggering 21 points with women.
But the way Trump framed his remarks also seemed to touch a nerve with men and women alike.
This notion that women need to be protected, that women are somehow weak or vulnerable this sort of protectionist, patronizing tone ... I think for a lot of women will just add to that sense of he doesnt understand their lives, that he doesnt understand where they are on a whole host of issues, Debbie Walsh, the director of the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, told the Associated Press.
In an op-ed for The Hill, conservative author Matt Lewis wrote, Trump has said many things over the years that could be construed as misogynistic, paternalistic, condescending and even quasi-fascistic. But this one struck me as an underrated example of Trump revealing his dark worldview.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris boards Air Force Two in Maryland on Sept. 25. (Erin Schaff/AFP via Getty Images)
In a race in which abortion rights are a central issue, thanks in part to Trumps appointment as president of three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, his statement that women will no longer be thinking about abortion could be interpreted in a number of ways.
Co-host of Morning Joe on MSNBC Mika Brzezinski offered a less-than-charitable reading.
"No, thank you. We dont need that. Women like their rights, and they like their access to healthcare, and they like someone who tells the truth and doesn't lie constantly," she said on Tuesdays program.
And in a biting and sarcastic piece for the Washington Post, columnist Alexandra Petri mused about Trumps promises to women should he be reelected.
Now, Donald Trump is back and you are not thinking about anything. All your anxieties are gone, now that men are handling all the countrys problems, she wrote. It would have been a mistake to put a woman in charge! Fortunately, that did not happen. Fortunately, Donald Trump is guarding you. You are guarded! You are not worrying your pretty little head.
The Trump campaign has also heard the criticism.
President Trump is responding directly to the concerns that he hears and our campaign hears from women across the country every day, their fear, the very real fear that women have about being assaulted or potentially raped by criminals or illegal immigrants who have been allowed in this country, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told the AP.
In May 2023, a New York jury of six men and three women found Trump liable for sexually assaulting writer E. Jean Carroll in a changing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. During the 2016 presidential campaign, a video of Trump boasting of his ability to sexually assault women surfaced but ultimately did not keep him from defeating Hillary Clinton.
FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign event at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center in Savannah
By Gram Slattery
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump does not plan to meet Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the Ukrainian president's trip to the United States, despite indicating last week that he likely would meet with the foreign leader, according to three sources familiar with the former president's schedule.
The Republican presidential candidate said during a campaign stop in New York last week that he would "probably" talk with Zelenskiy while the Ukrainian leader was in the country for the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Before his trip, Zelenskiy said he planned to present his "victory plan" to end the war in Ukraine to Trump, Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate.
But while Trump's plans can always change, a meeting is at this point extremely unlikely, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private matters.
It was not clear whether the two leaders ever formally set a date for an encounter. But the chances of a meeting went down substantially after Zelenskiy traveled to a munitions factory in Pennsylvania on Sunday alongside the state's Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, the sources said.
The Trump campaign was upset at the move, those sources said, which they saw as a campaign stop. Shapiro is a close ally of Harris, and Pennsylvania is one of the most politically competitive states in the nation.
On Wednesday, Mike Johnson, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, wrote a letter to Zelenskiy demanding that he fire Ukraine's ambassador to the United States for helping to organize the trip.
Pennsylvania has a substantial number of voters of Eastern European descent - including many Ukrainian-Americans. Both campaigns have been courting them aggressively in the final weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
Even before Zelenskiy's trip to Pennsylvania, some allies had been pushing Trump to avoid meetings with foreign leaders during the final stretch of the race and instead focus solely on campaigning, according to a separate source close to the former president.
Neither the Trump campaign nor the Ukrainian embassy in Washington responded to requests for comment.
Trump has consistently described U.S. aid to Ukraine as a waste of money and has declined to say whether he wants Ukraine to win. While Trump and Zelenskiy talked over the phone in July, they have not talked in person since Trump's 2017-2021 term.
Zelenskiy has said in the past that Trump would likely change his thinking on Ukraine should he win in November and his call with Trump in July went well, according to three people briefed on the conversation.
But there are signs of growing strain between the two men.
The former president said during a campaign stop earlier in the week that Zelenskiy wanted the Democrats to win the upcoming election. At a separate campaign stop, he said the United States needs to "get out" of the war in Ukraine.
In an interview with the New Yorker published over the weekend, Zelenskiy said Trump's running mate, U.S. Senator JD Vance, was "too radical."
That comment came as Zelenskiy was discussing Vance's plans for ending the war in Ukraine. During a podcast interview earlier in the month, Vance said a potential peace deal in Ukraine would likely involve Russia retaining the land it had already taken, a condition Kyiv considers unacceptable.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery; editing by Ross Colvin and Jonathan Oatis)
Trump vows to 'get America out' of Ukraine war, blames Biden for conflict
At a rally in Atlanta on Sept. 24, U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized America's involvement in the war in Ukraine, saying the country is "stuck" and will only be able to "get out" if he wins the election.
Trump claimed that "(President Joe) Biden and Kamala (Harris) got us into this war in Ukraine, and now they can't get us out," while promising to "settle the war in Ukraine" if elected.
"But we're stuck in that war unless I'm president. Ill get it done. Ill get it negotiated. Ill get out. We gotta get out," Trump said.
He also described President Volodymyr Zelensky as "the greatest salesman on Earth," alleging that each of Zelensky's visits to the U.S. results in receiving "a hundred billion."
Trump's possible return to the White House is causing concern in Ukraine.
The pro-Trump wing of the Republican Party blocked the U.S. aid bill in Congress for months earlier this year, which proved detrimental to the situation on the Ukrainian battlefields and contributed to the loss of a key city of Avdiivka.
Read also: Zelensky wants Democrats to win US presidential election, Trump claims
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The media has reported that a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US presidential candidate Donald Trump has not been scheduled.
Source: The Associated Press (AP)
Quote from AP: "An official on Trumps campaign also said Tuesday that the Republican nominee will not meet this week with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is visiting the US to attend the opening of the UN General Assembly."
Details: AP noted that the official who spoke on condition of anonymity said no meeting between the two was scheduled, despite a statement by Ukrainian officials last week that Zelenskyy planned to meet with Trump.
It was also said that on Tuesday, Donald Trump praised Russia's military experience in historical conflicts and mocked American aid to Ukraine, reiterating that if elected president, he would quickly end the war started by Moscow.
Speaking in Savannah, Georgia, Trump mocked President Joe Biden's frequent refrain that the US will support the Ukrainian Armed Forces until Kyiv wins the war.
Quote from AP: "He [Trump] raised two long ago conflicts to suggest Moscow would not lose the former Soviet Unions role in defeating Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in World War II in the 1940s, and French emperor Napoleon Bonapartes failed invasion of Russia more than a century earlier."
Details: Trump insisted that the US should "get out", although he did not specify how he would negotiate an end to US involvement in the war.
Previously: Trump called Ukraine's president "the greatest salesman in history".
Background:
Earlier, Trump said that if he wins, he will be able to get along "well" with Russia and China.
Trump has repeatedly stated that he knows how to end the war in Ukraine. In a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, he dodged the question of whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war, repeating only that he "wants to end the war" and claiming that the real human cost of the war was allegedly in the millions.
Harris, in turn, said that if Trump had been president in recent years instead of Joe Biden, it would have been a disaster for Ukraine and Eastern Europe.
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Former President Trump speaks at a campaign event in Portsmouth, N.H., in January. (Matt Rourke / Associated Press)
Is he rambling? Indifferent to his audience? Exhibiting symptoms of cognitive decline? Or, instead, could former President Trumps extended discourses demonstrate his genius an ability, as he says, to weave disparate stories into a beautiful tapestry?
The 78-year-old Republican nominees meandering speaking style and what it might say about his mental state has become a new fixation in a race already upended when President Biden, 81, dropped out this summer amid questions about his own age and mental acuity.
In recent weeks, Trump has said he would deport Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, "back to Venezuela." He said he was being supported by the vice presidents family meaning relatives of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who is running for the office but is not vice president.
He insisted incorrectly he had been in a helicopter crash with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. Trump has repeatedly hurled critiques at former President Obama, when his real target seemed to be President Biden, misstatements he insisted were "sarcasm."
Read more: Willie Brown wasn't on that frightening helicopter ride with Trump. Here's who was
In August, the science-and-health-focused website Stat News published a detailed analysis of Trump's speech patterns in recent months, comparing them with public speeches in 2017. Several researchers noted "more short sentences, confused word order, and repetition, alongside extended digressions."
Those changes "could be attributed to a variety of possible causes," the experts told Stat, "some benign and others more worrisome. They include mood changes, a desire to appeal to certain audiences, natural aging, or the beginnings of a cognitive condition like Alzheimers disease."
James Pennebaker, a social psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin, performed a more formal analysis for Stat based on complete transcripts of 35 Trump interviews from 2015 through this year. Using statistical software, he found a roughly 60% increase in use of absolute terms such as always, never and completely.
Trump's recent dialogue also contained fewer positive words. Increased all-or-nothing thinking can also be linked to changes in cognitive ability, Pennebaker wrote, adding: Another person whose all-or-nothing thinking has gone up is Biden.
I do have to say, so I give these long, sometimes very complex sentences and paragraphs, but they all come together.
Former President Trump
Last week, critics on the left picketed the New York Times' headquarters, demanding that the media stop sane-washing Trumps disjointed statements.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a co-founder of FactCheck.org and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, said in an interview that theres always been the question: Is Donald Trump in touch with a knowable reality?
Trumps speaking style, she said, has always been defined by braggadocio and exaggeration, but, these days, he is making more comments that are outright bizarre. Hes doing it more now than he was in the past, she said. Hes more tangential.
Jamieson said Americans need to be asking two questions about his ability to communicate: Does this tell you something important about his capacity as president? And should it factor into our votes or not?
Trump has made clear hes aware of the criticism, defending his speaking style repeatedly in recent weeks. He assured a Pennsylvania rally that even English professors marvel at the intricate weave of his storytelling. He blamed the fake news media for intentionally misrepresenting his sarcastic flourishes to claim he suffered a cognitive impairment.
Speaking in Savannah, Ga., on Tuesday, Trump sounded off on Biden's mental state and questioned the competency of Vice President Kamala Harris.
"You talk about cognitive problems? She's got bigger cognitive problems than [Biden] has," he said of the Democratic nominee.
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told The Times that reporting on mental acuity would create a garbage article based upon a bunch of sources who have no idea what theyre talking about and are trying to deflect from the fact that our sitting president, Joe Biden, was ousted off the Democrat ticket due to his clear cognitive decline.
President Trump is sharp as a tack," Leavitt added, "and executes a rigorous campaign schedule every single day.
Trump suggested at a Tucson rally this month that it wasnt just his enemies questioning his onstage behavior. He said he called former First Lady Melania Trump, who had watched a recent speech on television, and asked whether she "saw how great my speech was tonight, darling." People loved it, he said he told her.
"Well, yeah, they might, but you look really bad," Trump said she replied. "You couldn't find the stairs off the stage."
Feigning exasperation, he said he had to explain to his wife that he had been joking that he was imitating Biden but that "the fake news" was distorting his sarcasm.
Read more: Column: How Trump uses the 'Gish Gallop' to flood debates with lies and nonsense
Trump's supporters plead for a more generous interpretation when it comes to Trump on the stump: They say they go to the former reality TV stars rallies knowing that he will entertain including with convention-defying remarks and flights of fancy, as when he has mused about whether it would be preferable to die by shark attack or electrocution. (Ill take electrocution every single time.)
To MAGA adherents, those moments offer more proof that their hero is blunt. Real. Unlike Harris and other politicians glued to their teleprompters.
Amid questions about his speaking style, media analyst Jamieson urged journalists to let Trump be Trump, but in a different sense. She said reporters should throw off the traditional journalistic imperative of brevity and simplicity and quote Trump in full, revealing how he actually expresses himself.
As good a place to start in that regard might be Trump's defense of his verbal walkabouts during a town hall meeting last week in Michigan with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders:
I do have to say, so I give these long, sometimes very complex sentences and paragraphs, but they all come together. I do it a lot. I do it with Raising Caine, that story. I do it with the story on the catapults on the aircraft carriers. I do it with a lot of different stories. When I mentioned Dr. Hannibal Lecter, I'm using that as an example of people that are coming in, from Silence of the Lambs. I use it. They say, 'Its terrible. So they say so Ill give this long, complex area, for instance, that I talked about, a lot of different territory."
He went on, bringing up automobiles:
"The bottom line is, I said, the most important thing: Were gonna bring more plants into your state and this country to make automobiles. Were gonna be bigger than before. But the fake news and theres a lot of them back there, you know, for a town hall; this is a lot of people. But the fake news likes to say, the fake news likes to say, Oh, he was rambling. No, no, thats not rambling. Thats genius. When you can connect the dots.
"Now, now, Sarah, if you couldnt connect the dots, you got a problem, but every dot was connected, and many stories were told in that little paragraph.
The Harris campaign, on X, quoted Trump's remarks with no comment.
Concerns about mental fitness and age have long been a feature of presidential politics. The media questioned whether Bob Dole and Ronald Reagan were too old to serve as chief executive.
The subject became most prominent in 2020, when Trump and Biden ran as two of the oldest candidates to seek the presidency. Trump famously challenged Biden to take a cognitive exam, boasting that he had passed such a test himself, in part by remembering a string of words: Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.
(Experts said the exam sounded like the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA, which is used for early detection of mild cognitive impairment.)
In 2024, Bidens stiff walking gait and sometimes distracted affect again raised the issue of geriatric cognition. The topic became unavoidable when he and Trump debated in June, with Biden's incomplete thoughts and vacant stare setting off alarm bells among Democrats. Biden soon abandoned his reelection campaign.
Since then, Democrats have demanded to know why Trumps public behavior hadnt gotten as much scrutiny, noting that he would be 82 by the end of another term in the White House. Critics point to his word salad diatribes and his misidentification of key players for instance, saying it was former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley who had not done enough to defend the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection when he meant then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco).
Trumps camp has made clear that it will not exempt his current opponent, the 59-year-old Harris, from cognitive critiques.
Read more: Harris and Trump campaigns are targeting Black men, but many say they feel neglected
Video of Harris' sometimes meandering sound bites have become a staple of GOP critics. That includes the time Harris made an obscure reference to falling out of a coconut tree and her oft-repeated line about being unburdened by what has been. Previously fodder for detractors, those same moments have been remixed by Harris fans into laudatory TikTok videos, Instagram memes and Etsy merch.
Before Biden and Trump, the media tended to treat the mental fitness of would-be presidents gingerly. Part of that caution showed a desire for objectivity, but part of it also reflected the fear of duplicating what happened to Barry Goldwater, the Republican senator from Arizona, when he ran for president in 1964.
An article in the now-defunct Fact magazine headlined: 1,189 Psychiatrists say Goldwater is Psychologically Unfit to be President! quoted an informal poll of U.S. psychiatrists, none of whom had actually met Goldwater.
After losing in a landslide to Lyndon B. Johnson, Goldwater successfully sued the magazine for libel. The American Psychiatric Assn. then produced the Goldwater Rule, which states that it is unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a professional opinion unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement.
As a result, psychiatrists today generally hesitate to issue armchair diagnoses.
Dr. Zaldy Tan, director of the Memory and Aging Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, noted that partners in law firms are sometimes required to get neurological evaluations. There is no such requirement in politics. And what would the standards be?
I think the difficulty there would be drawing the line between what is ageist and what is really fair, Tan said. And the evaluation would depend on the tasks that are deemed important, which, he said, would also be hard to agree upon.
Jamieson recommended that voters study the candidates closely and try to separate behavior of real concern from trivial incidents. In the latter category, Jamieson included misnaming individuals and bragging about crowd sizes. Many people slip in identifying people, she said. And Trump has a long history of boasting.
Other comments, she said, merit more scrutiny, including Trumps claim that the size of Harris audiences has been faked by the use of images generated by artificial intelligence.
"If he really believes that, Jamieson said, then hes delusional.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Two Republican governors have withdrawn their endorsements of embattled North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
Georgias Brian Kemp and Tennessees Bill Lee withdrew their support in the aftermath of the Sept. 19 CNN story that said, among other things, that Robinson called himself a Black Nazi and said he supported a return of slavery on Nude Africa, a porn website, between 2008 and 2012.
Robinson is the Republican candidate for governor and faces N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein in the November election.
Lees decision is particularly noteworthy given he is chairman of the Republican Governors Association. The association said Monday it would not place new campaign ads on Robinsons behalf in North Carolina after the current slate ended Tuesday.
Gov. Lee is no longer supporting Lt. Gov. Mark Robinsons gubernatorial bid, Lee spokesperson Elizabeth Johnson told The Tennessean on Monday. Lee had been scheduled to travel to North Carolina this week for a Robinson fundraiser, but Lees office confirmed the $500 per ticket event has been canceled.
When Lee endorsed Robinson in March, he said in a statement that North Carolina families want someone whose conservative policies will deliver results by expanding opportunity, security and freedom. From investing in safe neighborhoods to driving economic prosperity, Mark Robinson will put the people of North Carolina first.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday that Kemps office said he would not be offering further support to the Robinson campaign. Kemp and Robinson campaigned together as recently as August, according to the newspaper.
Kemp and Lee appeared with Robinson during the 2024 Republican National Convention in which Robinson gave a short speech.
Although former Republican President Donald Trump has not said whether he continues to support Robinson, Robinson has not appeared at recent Trump campaign rallies in the state, including Sept. 21 in Wilmington.
Several high-profile Republicans, including U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, have said Robinson should sue CNN for libel.
I am in the process of retaining aggressive legal counsel to investigate who did this and how; we will leave no stone unturned, and will use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for perpetrating these lies, Robinson said on his Facebook page on Monday. I am not backing down, the future of North Carolina depends on it.
Robinson said Tuesday he has hired an attorney.
Robinson has continued to campaign, making stops in Wilkesboro on Monday and in Franklin County on Tuesday.
Over the weekend, several of Robinsons top staffers exited his campaign, saying Robinson has refused to allow IT experts to review the sources of CNNs report.
Politico reported that user data showed that the person using the Nude Africa account that reportedly belonged to Robinson had accessed the website from a Winston-Salem location.
Brandon Lenoir, a professor of political communication and campaigns at High Point University, said there are two potential impacts of the CNN bombshell report on other GOP candidates in North Carolina.
The first is the possible dampening effect it could have on voter turnout, Lenoir speculated. The people who support Mark Robinson may be less motivated to turn out to vote on Election Day. For races that are close, a small downturn in turnout could influence the outcome.
The second effect is the fact fellow partisans of Mark Robinson will be asked to react to the allegations against the top of their state ticket. This will take away from down ballot candidates ability to talk about their platform issues. Instead, they will be asked about their thoughts on the controversy.
Stein, who has a commanding lead in the 11 national and N.C.-focused polls thus far in September, said in recent national TV news appearances on CNN and MSNBC that Robinson is unfit to be governor, unacceptable for any elected position.
On The Rachel Maddow Show on left-leaning MSNBC, Stein said Monday that those were true before last weeks story broke, and yet practically every Republican running for office in the legislative and above in North Carolina have endorsed him.
Not a single Republican in North Carolina has rescinded his or her endorsement of Mark Robinson, Stein said.
He is wrong for North Carolina. Hes wrong for the people. Hes divisive, hes hateful, hes mean-spirited and nasty. Its just unacceptable that we would have somebody like that leading our state.
Public opinion polls show that 47 percent of registered voters support Donald Trump in the 2024 election. This appears to be both Trumps basement and ceiling of support. Like a cult leader, he has a near-iron grip on his MAGA supporters and the Republican Party. Trump can attempt a coup, channel Hitler, be convicted of multiple criminal felons, publicly praise tyrants, promise to become Americas first dictator for day one of his return to power in 2025 and threaten his enemies with "retribution."
The adoration and loyalty that his MAGA supporters and Republicans and right-leaning independents more broadly show for Trump is a cause of great consternation and frustration for Democrats. While a new public opinion poll from CBS/YouGov shows that Kamala Harris continues to gain momentum, the race remains a statistical tie in the key battleground states that will determine the final outcome in the Electoral College. Experts continue to warn that the 2024 election, at this point, is the closest in recent history.
In an attempt to better understand this apparent political stalemate, what the actual data reveals as opposed to the mostly useless vibes that many are preoccupied with, and what it may all mean for the future of American democracy, I recently spoke with Robert P. Jones, president and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute. Jones is the author of the New York Times bestseller "The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future" (now available in paperback with a new afterword) as well as "White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity."
In this conversation, Jones explains the almost mythical and divine role that Trump occupies in the collective minds of white right-wing Christians. Jones also discusses his new research which shows the frightening overlaps between white right-wing Christians and support for authoritarianism and political violence as seen on Jan. 6 and its implications for the future of American democracy and society in the Age of Trump and beyond.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
What story are the polls telling us about the 2024 election?
So far in the 2024 election cycle, the polling for the presidential election has told us only one thing that we can say with confidence: The contest remains a dead heat.
Because of the Electoral College, the national polls are irrelevant. At the state level, despite the breathless headlines of Trump leading by three or Harris up by two, we have yet to see either candidate pull into a lead that is firmly outside the margin of error in the polling averages in any swing state. There are also typically 5-6 percentage points of respondents who either refuse the vote question or say they remain undecided. The state polls are also of limited help with understanding subgroups because of smaller sample sizes. For example, if you wanted to understand Black voters in Michigan, even with a poll of 1,000 voters, youd likely have at most 150 African Americans in the sample and estimates of their opinions would have a margin of error of +/- 10 percentage points.
The most obvious, but perhaps also most surprising thing particularly given Donald Trumps increasingly outright racist and erratic rhetoric, is how little the voting patterns have shifted since 2020 or even 2016. For example, despite everything Trump has done and even been convicted of, theres no evidence of any erosion of support for Trump among white Christians or white frequent churchgoers. Its a good indicator of what a death grip partisanship has on American voters.
The news media is obsessed with novelty and the new in the news. When you look at Trump and Trumpism in longer, and much more important historical and cultural terms, how are you making sense of this crisis?
As dangerous as Trump is for democracy, he is a symptom, not the disease. While we at PRRI are continually taking the pulse of contemporary public opinion, those results can only be fully understood when placed in historical context. There are clear historical throughlines. For example, the authoritarian tactics currently deployed by Trump have historical precedents both in the US and in early 20th century Europe. PRRIs most recent study, "One Leader Under God: The Connection Between Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism in America." tapped the sociological literature that arose to understand the rise of fascism in Europe in the early 20th century.
In "The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future," I also connected the dots between the threat of Christian nationalism we are facing today and 500 years of Christian doctrine going back to the European colonial period. This deeper historical context helps us see that many of the perplexing features of our current conflicts are new occurrences of old unresolved questions. Today, the changing demographics of the country has thrown us back to a fundamental question: Are we a pluralistic democracy, in which everyone stands on equal footing regardless of race or religion, or are we a white Christian nation, a kind of promised land for European Christians?
What do we know about Trumps messianic martyr appeal for his White Christian right-wing followers?
Trump has long played into the idea that he was specially chosen by God to save the country from evil and destruction. This appeal is straight out of the authoritarian playbook. Even before the two attempts on his life, he was using language that directly compared himself to a messianic figure who was being wounded and persecuted on behalf of his righteous followers. He made this case overtly last spring in a speech to the National Religious Broadcasters, an organization created by leaders of communications outlets that operate specifically in the white evangelical world. His language was not subtle: "I'm a very proud Christian, actually. Ive been very busy fighting and, you know, taking the the bullets, taking the arrows. I'm taking 'em for you. And I'm so honored to take 'em. You have no idea. I'm being indicted for you.And in the end, they're not after me. They're after you. I just happen to be standing in the way.
Hes continued to use this language that evokes the theological logic of substitutionary atonement, where he bravely offers himself to be sacrificed on behalf of his followers. But Trump the messiah promises to bring not love or righteousness, but the restoration of power to white Christians in a changing America. In the same speech, Trump made a promise to his white evangelical followers: "I get in there, you're gonna be using that power at a level that you've never used it before. It's gonna bring back the churchgoer. We're gonna bring it back. And I really believe it's the biggest thing missing from this country. It's the biggest thing missing. We have to bring back our religion. We have to bring back Christianity in this country. Trumps white Christian base has largely remained with him not because they necessarily believe he is one of them but because they believe hell restore what they see as their rightful place of power in a white Christian America. At root, Trumps appeal to white Christians is not his values, but his value for achieving their Christian nationalist ends.
Donald Trump is a symbol, not just a man. Trumpism and American neofascism will exist for a long time after he is gone. The hope-peddlers and happy-pill sellers in the news media and political class are doing the American people a great disservice by not emphasizing this fact.
I recently wrote about the social psychology of this phenomenon. The transformation of Trump from a person to a symbol is the key to understanding the power of the MAGA movement and the internal logic of its upside-down world. It is true that every presidential candidate becomes, to some extent, a symbol or totem. We read into their biographies and project onto their bodies a broader set of principles, values and worldviews. But typically, in healthier times than ours, the connection between a candidates character and actions on the one hand, and their idealized symbolic projection on the other, remains visible and therefore functional. Any significant misstep may be enough to break the magical, often fragile social spell that binds the person to the symbol.
When the leader becomes the totem, no transgression is capable of separating him from his acolytes. A totem cant lie or be vulgar. A totem doesnt have marriage vows that can be violated. A totem cant sexually assault a woman. A totem cant commit fraud. A totem cant betray an oath to the Constitution. A totem has no innate human characteristics at all. It is a mirror, reflecting the collective fears and aspirations of the group, who both generate its image and receive it back reinforced. And this is why Trump the totem, much more than Trump the man, poses such a unique danger to democracy and the rule of law.
Your new polling and other work examine the role of the authoritarian personality in support for Donald Trump and his neofascist MAGA movement, specifically among white Christians. How do you define authoritarianism in this new research? What do we know about authoritarianism and conservatives in the Age of Trump?
PRRI recently released a groundbreaking new study, "One Leader Under God: The Connection Between Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism in America," based on more than 5,000 interviews with Americans this summer. Revisiting work first developed over concerns about the rise of fascism in early 20th century Germany and Italy (e.g., in Theodor Adorno et als 1950 classic "The Authoritarian Personality"), PRRI developed a Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (RWAS) based on agreement with four highly correlated measures of authoritarian attitudes. PRRI finds that 43% of Americans score high or very high on the RWAS, compared with 37% who score low or very low; two in ten Americans qualify as having mixed opinions (20%).
But these attitudes are not evenly distributed across the political or religious landscape. Republicans are clear outliers. Two-thirds of Republicans score high on the RWAS (67%), compared with only 35% of independents and 28% of Democrats. Notably, Republicans who hold favorable views of Trump are nearly twice as likely as those with unfavorable views of Trump to score high on the RWAS (75% vs. 39%). In short, this study demonstrates how overwhelmingly the authoritarian impulse has taken over the Republican Party.
Donald Trumps strongest supporters have consistently been white Christians. What does your new research reveal about authoritarian values and members of that group?
White evangelical Protestants (64%) are the religious group most likely to score high on the RWAS, followed by slim majorities of Hispanic Protestants (54%) and white Catholics (54%). As a reminder, each of these groups also strongly supported Donald Trump in the 2020 election: 84% of white evangelical Protestants; 56% of other non-white/non-Black Protestants, and 57% of white Catholics. No other religious groups have majorities scoring high on the RWAS.
The PRRI study clearly shows how these authoritarian orientations so pronounced among Republicans and their white evangelical Protestant basetranslate into concrete attitudes and support for actions that undermine our democracy. Just two examples. First, nearly half of white evangelical Protestants (48%) and nearly four in ten Republicans (39%) agree with the theocratic vision of Christian dominionism, that God wants Christians to take control of the seven mountains of society, including the government, education, media and others. Second, nearly half of Republicans (49%) and a majority of Republicans with a favorable view of Trump (55%) agree that Because things have gotten so far off track in this country, we need a leader who is willing to break some rules if that's what it takes to set things right. Four in ten white evangelicals (40%) also support rule-breaking by a strong leader.
How is support for authoritarianism correlated with support for political violence among White Christians?
About one-quarter of Republicans (27%) and 32% of Republicans with a favorable view of Trump agree that Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save the country. Republican support for potential political violence is twice as high as Americans overall (14%) and three times higher than Democrats (8%). Nearly one in four white evangelical Protestants (23%) also express potential support for political violence.
The PRRI authoritarianism survey also provided two disturbing measures of the lengths Trumps base supporters may be willing to go to ensure he returns to power.
One in four Republicans (24%) 29% of Republicans with a favorable view of Trumpand one in five white evangelical Protestants (20%) agree that If Donald Trump is not confirmed as the winner of the 2024 election, he should declare the results invalid and do whatever it takes to assume his rightful place as president.
One in four Republicans (24%) and 27% of Republicans with a favorable view of Trump agree that if the 2024 presidential election is compromised by voter fraud, everyday Americans will need to ensure the rightful leader takes office, even if it requires taking violent actions. One in five white evangelical Protestants (18%) also agree with this sentiment.
Is Christian nationalism, at this point, a violent ideology? Is support for violence as a means of bringing about the end of multiracial pluralistic secular democracy and society almost a prerequisite for such beliefs?
Christian nationalists are more likely than other Americans to think about politics in apocalyptic terms and are about twice as likely as other Americans to believe political violence may be justified. Nearly four in ten Christian nationalism adherents (38%) and one-third of sympathizers (33%) agree that Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence to save the country, compared with only 17% of Christian Nationalism skeptics and 7% of rejecters.
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The danger of the Christian nationalist worldview is that it raises the stakes of political contests exponentially, transposing political opponents into existential enemies. Politics are no longer understood to be disagreements between fellow citizens of goodwill but to be apocalyptic battles over good and evil, fought by agents of God against agents of Satan. Political opponents should not just be defeated in fair electoral contests but should be jailed, exiled, attacked, or even killed.
How does your new research inform our understanding of Project 2025 and the larger neofascist plan that Trump and his MAGAfied Republicans will implement to end Americas multiracial pluralistic democracy?
The most disturbing thing about Project 2025 isnt its extreme policy and political recommendations but the way it marshals Christian nationalist commitments to distort beyond all recognition fundamental American values like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The following passage in the Foreword should send chills up the spines of all Americans who value our Constitution and the freedoms we hold dear in our democracy:
When the Founders spoke of the pursuit of Happiness, what they meant might be understood today as in essence pursuit of Blessedness. That is, an individual must be free to live as his Creator ordained to flourish. Our Constitution grants each of us the liberty to do not what we want, but what we ought. This pursuit of the good life is found primarily in family marriage, children, Thanksgiving dinners, and the like.
If you read this passage quickly, its possible to miss the rhetorical sleight of hand at play here one that substitutes an impoverished conception of liberty that is captive to a conservative Christian nationalist determination of the good life for true individual liberty that is determined by each citizen. There is a powerful normative white Christian worldview lurking in those images (and a non-coincidental resonance with JD Vances problematic claims about marriage and children). If Trump succeeds in getting elected and implementing Project 2025, Im sure hell still speak about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But the rest of us will only be free to do what they believe we ought.
What positive role, if any, can Christians play in the pro-democracy movement?
While the authoritarian and Christian nationalist MAGA movement has captured a supermajority of white evangelical Protestants and majorities of both white non-evangelical Protestants and white Catholics, these Trump-leaning white Christian groups are not the only face of Christianity in America. In fact, even combined, all white Christians only comprise 41% of Americans today. Approximately one in four Americans are nonwhite Christians who have a very different history, one that supports rather than opposes an inclusive democracy. And even within white Christian contexts, there are groups such as Christians Against Christian Nationalism that are facing this threat to democracy and to the Christian faith itself directly.
The good news is that while three in 10 Americans are either Christian nationalism adherents or sympathizers, two-thirds of the country rejects this anti-democratic ideology. And among Americans under the age of 50, opposition rises to nearly three-fourths. So, this is not an ascendant movement but a desperate, last-ditch effort to secure minority rule in the face of a rapidly diversifying nation.
Tucker Carlsons embracing of the right-wing fringes reached a new extreme Tuesday after he welcomed the infamous, mass-shooting-denying conspiracist Alex Jones on stage with him as part of his speaking tour.
Carlson, addressing a crowd of paying attendees in Pennsylvania, sung Jones praises and said he was proud to be alongside the 50-year-old Infowars founder who he said has been vindicated on everything.
Carlson, 55, went as far as calling the far-right provocateur the most extraordinary person hed ever met. Thats a sharp contrast from Carlsons comments about Jones in Jan. 2012, when he said Jones, who was then peddling Sept. 11 attacks conspiracies, freaks me out.
Carlsons glowing statements about Jones on Tuesday is sure to enrage the families of Sandy Hook victims, who lost their elementary-aged loved ones in a horrific mass slaying in 2012 that Jones repeatedly claimed was a hoax carried out by crisis actors.
Jones didnt just keep his cooky beliefs to himself, unfortunately. He led a smear campaign against the grieving parents of victims, which led to incessant harassment in what was likely the lowest moment of their lives.
That hateful conduct is what has Jones on the hook for $1.4 billion as part of a pair of defamation judgements against him in Texas and Connecticut.
Those judgements also appear to be killing off InfoWars as we know it. A bankruptcy court said Tuesday it would auction off the assets of Infowars parent company, which will see it sell off everything from lighting fixtures to Jones dubious vitamin and supplement store. All of that money will then be directed to the families impacted by his lies.
Alex Jones Infowars Will Be Sold for Parts at Auction to Pay Sandy Hook Families
With Jones personal outlet for spilling his rage now in its final days, he might find a new platform at Carlsons side. He already sat down for an interview with Carlson in June and certainly appeared buddy-buddy with him again on Tuesday, telling the former network news host in his intro, I gotta say, I love you.
Jones went on to speak with his typical fiery rhetoric, declaring that if Donald Trump is elected again, all of us, together, are going to lift the curse off of this country and were going to send the globalists to prison.
Jones added that he could feel the strength in this auditorium on Tuesday night.
It is amazing to meet all these great people, Jones said, whether theyre Black, white, old, young, to see the electricity in peoples eyes that are populist and that are Americans and that love God and that love children and love freedom and hate tyranny.
Carlson interrupted Jones shortly after, saying: It just makes me laugh. Alex Jones, so controversial. Love God, love America, love freedom. Oh, youre so radical!
Jones then took back the spotlight, using it to again rail against globalists.
Im for the war, peacefully with information, against the globalists, he said. The real war is here with the globalists and [George] Soros and [Barack] Obama and the New World Order and [investment firm] BlackRock. Theyve declared war on us and we accept the challenge. Were taking the country back.
Sandy Hook Mom Vows to Milk Alex Jones Dry After $1B Verdict: Hes Screwed
New York magazine reported that a journalist in attendance spotted more Jones merchandise, like his slogan-filled shirts, than they saw Carlson-branded merch, which was actually being sold in the arena.
The far-right activist Jack Posobiec also spoke Tuesday, but New York reported that he was significantly upstaged by the presence of Jones, who was introduced just after him.
Jones came out to a roaring crowd, all on their feet with phones in hand, the magazine reported, adding that every single line was an applause line, and the crowd got to the end of Joness catchphrases before he did.
If they want a fight, Jones began at point, you better believe they got one! the screaming crowd answered for him.
New York reported that Tuesdays stage was designed for a panel-style talk, but it soon became clear that the rest of the night would belong to Jones.
Once he locked in, howling into the middle distance in front of him, there was no interrupting or restraining him short of a blow dart, it added.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Shipwreck hunters on the other side of Lake Michigan have found a long-lost tugboat that went down nearly 130 years ago.
The Wisconsin Underwater Archeological Association has announced it has located the John Evenson, a 54-foot tugboat that sunk in June 1895 while assisting a steamer entering Sturgeon Bay.
At the bottom of Lake Michigan, shipwrecks race against invasive species
According to the WUAA, the ships captain says the Evenson ran across the bow of the I. Watson Stephenson, the much larger ship that they were helping. The Evenson capsized immediately after the collision. Four of the Evensons five crewmen were rescued by the Stephenson, but the boats fireman, who was working below deck, went down with the ship.
Searches for the remnants of the Evenson started in the 1980s but were unsuccessful. Historians Brendon Baillod and Bob Jacek recently turned their attention to the Evenson and started poring over historical records and news reports to look for clues.
They plotted all the locations given and noticed that a few clustered in the same small area as that given in the wreck report, approximately 4 miles northeast of Algoma, Wisconsin, the WUAA said in a news release.
The Nelson: 125 years later, one of Lake Superiors darkest tales retold
The two historians and their crew set out on Sept. 13 for what they thought would be a three-day search. But they found the ships boiler within five minutes of deploying their remote sensing equipment.
The John Evensons steam boiler now sits at the bottom of Lake Michigan. (Courtesy Wisconsin Underwater Archeological Association)
A diver from the Wisconsin Historical Society examines the wreck of the John Evenson. (Courtesy Wisconsin Underwater Archeological Association)
A sonar scan of the John Evenson at the bottom of Lake Michigan. The boiler can be seen prominently. (Courtesy Wisconsin Underwater Archeological Association)
An 1880 photo of the John Evenson. (Courtesy Wisconsin Underwater Archeological Association)
An undated photo of the I. Watson Stephenson. (Courtesy Wisconsin Underwater Archeological Association)
They deployed a remote-operated vehicle which immediately descended on the ships giant propeller, steam engine and boiler. The tugs hull bed is present along with all of her machinery, giving a fascinating look at the steam technology of the late 1800s, the WUAA stated.
Great Lakes deadliest wreck: What brought down the Eastland
The historians contacted Wisconsin State Underwater Archeologist Tamara Thomsen who came out the next day with a diver to survey and document the findings.
The WUAA says the Evenson is the third notable shipwreck that Baillod and Jacek have found in the last two years.
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Ukraines proposal for NATO membership is not a question to be rushed, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told NBC News in an exclusive interview Tuesday, adding that relations between his country and Russia were expanding.
Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Erdogan said that the U.S. and other members of the Western alliance dont want Ukraine to be a member state.
These are not questions to be rushed, he said. And when making our minds, when we are taking our decisions, we always take into consideration the stance of other NATO member states, we discuss those possible questions around the table and make the final decision accordingly.
His comments will likely prove disappointing for his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is set to present his victory plan to the White House this week.
While the specifics of Zelenskyy's proposal have been closely guarded until it can be presented to President Joe Biden, some of the basic details have emerged including the need for fast action and, crucially, a security guarantee of NATO membership, according to Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andrii Yermak.
In a Telegram post late Tuesday, Zelenskyy said he had discussed the implementation of the peace formula with Erdogan.
But the Turkish leader appeared to dash any hopes of a fast-track to NATO membership in his interview with NBC News.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaking to NBC News chief international correspondent Kier Simmons in New York on Tuesday.
He said he would consider the position of other members of the alliance. We are going to follow the developments, the deliberations, and reach a final decision accordingly. These are not decisions to be rushed in an excited way, he said.
Erdogan shocked members with a threat to veto the bids of Sweden and Finland, who abandoned their long-held nonaligned status and applied to join NATO, shortly after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, frustrating other NATO allies who had been pressing for their swift accession.
The parliaments of all 30 NATO members must ratify newcomers, but Erdogan blocked the move, insisting the Nordic pair change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists. He also called for the extradition of wanted terrorists to Turkey and for the lifting of arms restrictions imposed after his countrys 2019 military incursion into northeast Syria.
But eventually Turkey ratified both countries for membership. Erdogan linked Swedens NATO membership to the U.S. Congress approval of a Turkish request to purchase 40 new F-16 fighter jets and kits to modernize the countrys fleet.
Erdogan has also been criticized in some quarters for accepting an invitation to attend the BRICS conference in Russia next month, signaling his openness to the bloc of developing countries led by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Our relations with Russia are multidimensional, political, economic, cultural, defense industry related, Erdogan said. There are many dimensions, dimensions there and our solidarity, our interaction, has been going on and economically every day, these relations are expanding.
Erdogans lean toward Moscow follows years of tense U.S. relations, as Turkey occupies both a crucial geographic and political center between Moscow and Washington.
And one of the fault lines appears to be widening over the crisis in Gaza.
Erdogans position on Hamas is an incendiary view for many, as he declines to condemn Hamas as terrorists while he denounces continued support for Israels leadership nearly a year into the war. He told NBC News that he does not view Hamas as a terrorist organization because he believes to do so would be to abandon Palestinians.
The Turkish leader has been one of fiercest critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and in a scathing speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday he was extremely critical of Western states for failing to take a stance against Israel, which he said had perpetuated violence in the Middle East.
A child cries over the body of a loved one outside Al-Awda Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday.
Health officials in Gaza say more than 41,000 have died in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive in the enclave after Hamas Oct. 7 terror attacks in which about 1,200 people were killed and Palestinian militants took around 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Unfortunately, many Western countries remain silent in the face of Israel, and they never took a stance against Israel, Erdogan said, adding: Amongst the NATO allies, unfortunately, there are many countries siding with Israel. We are here in the United States right now, and the United States is actually one of them.
Biden, he said, was critical of Israel on one side and on the other side, he was supportive of Israel in certain ways, amongst which we have weapons, ammunition and the aircraft carrier of the United States was dispatched to the Mediterranean in order to help Israel.
Unlike the U.S. and several other countries which proscribe Hamas as a terrorist organization, Erdogan said that he did not because the militant group was spending efforts in order to protect their motherland, and they are actually a group of resistance, so I cant call such a group of resistance a terrorist organization.
Erdogans stance on Ukraine, Russia and Israel highlights the complex and challenging alliances Americas next president will be forced to navigate. But despite his criticism of the U.S., Erdogan insisted he was prepared to work with whoever wins the White House.
We are governing countries, nations, people, and while doing so, its impossible for us to think separately, he said. The American position is quite obvious on a global scale, the Russian position is quite obvious on a global scale. And we are going to continue our relations with all of the administrations in a close manner.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike as seen from Tyre
ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday that the international community must urgently implement a solution to stop Israel's aggression, the Turkish presidency said, adding he had also voiced support for Lebanon.
A NATO member, Turkey has denounced Israel's devastating military offensive in Gaza prompted by Palestinian militant group Hamas' cross-border attack last Oct. 7.
Turkey halted all trade with Israel and applied to join a genocide case against Israel at the World Court. Israel has said the genocide accusations are baseless and has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.
Erdogan has previously condemned Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory, which Israel says are targeting Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure, and has called for international steps to halt Israel's war in Gaza and cross-border fire with Hezbollah.
Turkey's presidency said Erdogan told Mikati in a meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York that the international community must urgently implement a solution to stop "Israel's aggression."
"President Erdogan said Israel was disregarding fundamental human rights, committing a genocide in front of the world, noting that stopping this and the humanitarian crisis that emerged as a result of the attacks was a humanitarian duty," the presidency said in a statement.
Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib in New York that Israel's attacks in Lebanon were "unacceptable" and meant to "drag the region into chaos," according to the Turkish diplomatic source.
Bou Habib thanked Fidan for a Turkish shipment of medicine that arrived in Lebanon on Wednesday, the source added, and also briefed Fidan on the latest developments in Lebanon.
Separately, Fidan told a G20 foreign ministers meeting in New York that it was unclear whether the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah would spread further, though the world was facing a wider conflict.
Fidan also reiterated Ankara's long-standing call to reform the U.N. Security Council to make it "fully effective," adding Turkey wanted to see a structure in which "one country's veto does not determine another's destiny," the source added.
The United States, Russia, China, France and Britain are the permanent, veto-wielding members of the Security Council. There are 10 non-permanent members that serve two-year terms.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; editing by Mark Heinrich and Jonathan Oatis)
Turkish President Erdogan says US and other NATO members do not want Ukraine to join Alliance
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that the United States and other NATO countries do not want Ukraine to become a member of the Alliance, so Turkiye will take into account the position of its allies when making its own decision on this issue.
Source: European Pravda with reference to NBC News
Details: Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, Erdogan said that the United States and other members of the Alliance "dont want Ukraine to be a member state".
He added that Ukraine's membership is not an issue that should be rushed.
Quote: "And when making our minds, when we are taking our decisions, we always take into consideration the stance of other NATO member states, we discuss those possible questions around the table and make the final decision accordingly."
More details: Erdogan noted that Turkiye would "follow the developments, the deliberations, and reach a final decision accordingly".
"These are not decisions to be rushed in an excited way," Erdogan added.
Background:
Erdogans comments are likely to disappoint President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is due to present his Victory Plan at the White House this week, which includes a demand for Ukraine's NATO membership.
Zelenskyy said he had discussed the implementation of the Peace Formula with Erdogan.
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Fueled by cold brew, zero sugar sodas and stacks of ZYN nicotine pouches, leftist streamer Hasan Piker spends about eight hours a day, seven days a week breaking down political news and election updates to a young audience that also skews very male.
Illuminated by three desktop monitors in the studio he built in his Los Angeles home, Piker began his live broadcast in front of tens of thousands of viewers on a recent Wednesday by talking about Rep. Ilhan Omars primary win, the latest campaign polls, the war in Gaza and a ruling in Arizona that a fetus can be referred to as an unborn child.
The online influencer who has amassed 2.7 million followers on the platform Twitch, 1.42 million subscribers on YouTube and 925,000 followers on TikTok is among the many political creators who have had meteoric rises in recent years, turning into their own full-fledged niche within the broader media realm.
The key to engaging with his younger audience about politics is not about just embracing memes, like the now-notorious Brat summer, which was popularized after the release of British pop star Charli XCXs album.
Communicate to them that they are worthy of attention and that their desires are valid and that youre actually going to do something, Piker, known online by his username HasanAbi, said in a recent interview with NBC News.
Authenticity is not a novel approach when it comes to content creation. But its something politicians have struggled with achieving on their own particularly amid an election cycle in which many young voters find themselves jaded with politics as a whole. Overall, young voters are not very optimistic right now, according to NBC News Stay Tuned Gen Z poll of over 2,600 voters under 30 in September. Most young people now also gravitate toward social media platforms to get information, according to recent research from Pew.
Piker, 33, launched to internet fame on the progressive YouTube show The Young Turks, created and run by his uncle Cenk Uygar. After branching out on his own, he became a prominent voice online, garnering a slew of fans and critics alike.
With such exposure came some controversy as well in 2021, Piker said he was temporarily kicked off Twitch for using a derogatory term for white people.
Still, Pikers success as a streamer has been admired by fellow political creators, especially those who are chasing similar progressive audiences.
He kind of pioneered the space for that style of political coverage he does, said Austin MacNamara, known as Gremloe on Twitch, where he has built a following of about 18,500 people.
Hes not the first person to do politics on Twitch, but hes certainly made it a space where instead of just doing debates or screaming at each other in a discord call, that you could actually grapple with these subjects and really break them down and build community around that, other people who are really big and influential for me personally.
Sean Wiggs, known as SeanDaBlack on Twitch, also credits Piker with being a major influence on his stream.
Hasan Piker answers questions about daily politics for his Twitch stream on Aug. 14.
Ive been in the Hasan community for like 45 months at this point. He was the first person who got me introduced to leftist politics and in a meaningful way, said Wiggs, who has over 16,000 followers on Twitch, where he is one of the only Black creators on the platform doing political commentary. Hasan inspired me, even just to be political outside of being a creator, to be political and fight for people that I believe should be fought for.The Republican and Democratic Parties have also noticed the influence that creators can hold with their audiences and in the last year have upped their efforts to court creators in the hopes of engaging with more young voters.
In recent years, Piker said hes noticed the online political landscape change. In 2020, he said, political discourse was way more liberal or even left leaning under Trump, due to its counterculture status.
Under President Joe Biden, Piker said, the gamergate culture war narratives referring to the increasing number of misogynistic game-centered communities have become the forefront of commentary. With the rise of Andrew Tate clones, crypto bros and reactionary shock factor streamers, false masculinity peddlers have captured a lot of territory, which is the low propensity voters that have notoriously swung for Trump, Piker said. This presents a unique problem for the Democratic Party.
Last month's Democratic National Convention in Chicago was the first to open its doors to social media content creators, credentialing 200 of them for the four-day event to gain more exposure among online audiences.
For Piker, attending the DNC was a unique opportunity to provide behind-the-scenes access to his audience. He describes himself as an entertainer, with the goal of helping young people make more informed decisions.
I have more access to politicians than I did in 2020, so I am going to try and use that, he said, adding that he also hopes to motivate Democrats towards issues I believe are important to address that will be electorally beneficial.
Piker said he would like to see Democrats realistically tackle the high cost of living for young people, call for a cease-fire in Gaza and a weapons transfer from Israeli forces, and fight for social justice.
Nearly 100 conservative influencers also attended the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July, where they also created content for their audiences. In recent months, former President Donald Trump has collaborated with major influencers who are popular with young men, including Kick streamer Adin Ross and YouTuber Logan Paul.
Hasan Piker at a Los Angeles park before his eight-hour stream on Aug. 15.
Some creators have said they have been offered payment to endorse political candidates. Content creator Tana Mongeau, host of the popular podcast Cancelled, recently made headlines after claiming in a recent episode that she was offered millions to endorse a political candidate of a party she said she doesnt identify with. (She later wrote in the comments section of the video that she is 100% Democrat and voting for Kamala Harris.) NBC News has not verified these claims. Piker, who said he would endorse Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said hes been approached by political groups, but not a candidate directly.
I think they know better, he said. I welcome the access every time. I however will never change my opinion for money. Not so sure if others who arent political commentators would also hold up similar standards.
Hes appeared in streams on his channel with politicians, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
With the upcoming election, Piker feels slightly optimistic.
I think that Kamala Harris is significantly more responsive to the calls from the base than anyone else that Ive seen thus far in the last two cycles, at least, so that is pretty good, he said. The Tim Walz pick was incredible. I think thats why a lot of young people are currently motivated because they feel heard.
Come Nov. 5, Piker will be ready for another busy day of streaming.
I will be strapped into my chair ready to offer real time commentary as always, he said. Maybe more guests. Im hoping Chappell Roan.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) Sheriff Tommy Ford announced the arrest of two Bay County juveniles in separate cases involving threats to commit school shootings.
In the first case, a Merritt Brown Middle School student sent a message to a group on social media containing the words What if I shot up the school td.
Bay District School officials reassure parents following recent school shooting threats across Florida
This message was sent on Friday, September 20, but was not reported until Tuesday, September 24. Officials said once the message was reported, the BCSO School Resource Deputy at the middle school contacted BCSO Criminal Investigations.
13-year-old Merritt Brown Middle School student Savannah Winsor has been identified as the person who sent the message, she has been charged with False Report of Gun Violence and Disorderly Conduct.
According to Bay County officials, in the second case, another Bay District Schools student claimed to be a real gangster and had his strap on him while on a school bus. This caused the bus to be delayed.
Student arrested for making a threat against Jinks Middle School
The driver of the bus, the paraprofessional on the bus, and the students who overheard the comment were all concerned. Authorities said the student was dared to say it. He stated he must have been snitched on.
The 12-year-old student was charged with Disorderly Conduct as well as Disruption of a School Function. Officials said this students identity will not be released since the charges are misdemeanors.
Any post or statement threatening violence is not funny and will not be tolerated, Sheriff Tommy Ford said. These posts and statements will, however, lead to criminal charges, and can also result in expulsion from Bay District Schools.
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Two civilians killed and 19 injured in Russian attack on Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast Ukraine's Internal Affairs Ministry, photos
The aftermath of the Russian attack on Kramatorsk on 25 September. Photo: National Police of Ukraine
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has reported that 19 people were injured and two were killed as a result of the Russian attack on the city of Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast on 25 September.
Source: press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
Quote: "Kramatorsk. Two people were killed and 19 were injured, including three children."
The aftermath of the Russian attack on Kramatorsk on 25 September.
Photo: National Police of Ukraine
Details: Earlier, the prosecutors office provided information about 15 people who were injured.
The Russians struck the city centre with two aerial bombs, FAB-250. Police and rescue workers keep responding at the scenes.
The aftermath of the Russian attack on Kramatorsk on 25 September.
Photo: National Police of Ukraine
The aftermath of the Russian attack on Kramatorsk on 25 September.
Photo: National Police of Ukraine
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Two injured by drone attack on southern Israeli port city of Eilat
Damages are seen inside a building following a rocket from Lebanon hit a house in Safed. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
Two drones were launched toward the southern Israeli port city of Eilat on Wednesday night, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
One of the drones was intercepted while the other hit the port area and exploded, injuring two people and sparking a fire, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said.
Hagari did not comment on reports that the drones had been launched by pro-Iranian militias in Iraq.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war almost a year ago, there have been repeated attacks by Iran's allies in the so-called "Axis of Resistance" against Israel. These include militias in Iraq and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Damages are seen inside a building following a rocket from Lebanon hit a house in Safed. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
In today's data-driven business landscape, the ability to harness and interpret vast amounts of information is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. Recognising this imperative global tech company Zoho Corporation has launched a new version of Zoho Analyticsits self-service business intelligence (BI) and analytics platform. This latest release boasts over 100 enhancements, including powerful new artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities that enable diagnostic insights, predictive analysis, and automated report and dashboard generation.
Empowering businesses with data
As organisations grapple with increasing volumes of data, the need for intuitive and robust analytics tools has never been more pressing. Data is not just a byproduct of operations; it's a strategic asset that, when effectively analysed, can drive decision-making, uncover new opportunities, and optimise performance. Zoho Analytics aims to democratise data analytics by providing a platform that is powerful yet accessible to a broad range of users.
"I use Zoho Analytics for secure online reporting to multiple customersnurses and midwivesin multiple countries," said Western Sydney University senior research officer Emma Elcombe.
A vision realised through technological innovation
Zoho chief evangelist Raju Vegesna (pictured above) reflects on the company's journey in BI. "Zoho Analytics launched in 2009 as Zoho Reports, long before technology had caught up to Zoho's vision for business intelligence," he said. "Since then, Zoho has made considerable investments around automation, no-code/low-code development, third-party integration, machine learning, and Zia, Zoho's in-house AI engine. The latest version of Zoho Analytics is one of the first solutions from the company that takes advantage of every one of these decades-long investments. The result is a democratized platform that is powerful, intelligent, flexible, and simple to use."
Key enhancements in the new release
The latest iteration of Zoho Analytics advances across four key areas: data management, AI, data science & machine learning, and extensibility.
Data management
Zoho Analytics enhances data management by adding Stream Analytics and 25 new data connectors to its suite of over 500, enabling businesses to centralise data from diverse databases. Users can create and manage complex ETL (extract, transform, load) data pipelines using a visual builder for efficient data processing. The platform simplifies data transformation through natural language commands with Ask Zia, Zoho's AI copilot. An automatic versioning system and a new Sandbox environment allow for safe experimentation without impacting live data.
BI infused with Generative AI
Zia Insights now provides contextual, AI-powered automated insights, integrating decision intelligence directly into the platform. Ask Zia supports Spanish and French, enabling users to interact and build custom data models in three languages. The platform introduces AI-powered automated metrics, reports, and dashboard generation for quicker insights. Seamless integration with Open AI, enabled by Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), ensures more accurate and relevant query responses.
Data science and machine learning (DSML) studio
AutoML, a no-code assistant, allows users to build custom machine learning models with features like feature engineering, hyperparameter tuning, and comprehensive model analysis. Code Studio offers an integrated Python environment where users can create custom ML models or import external libraries, all executed within the platform.
Platform extensibility
BI Fabric consolidates insights from multiple BI platforms like Power BI and Tableau into one accessible and searchable analytics portal with fine-grained access permissions. Users can trigger workflows within Zoho Analytics, including URL and Webhook actions, and seamlessly integrate with Zoho Flow for over 500 app triggers. A no-code data connector builder lets users create custom connectors to import data from any custom application, with partners able to publish and sell connectors on Zoho Marketplace.
Pictured: Open AI Integration with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
The importance of data in the modern business world
In an era where data is often referred to as the new oil, the ability to effectively manage and analyse data is vital for businesses across all industries. Companies that leverage data analytics can make informed decisions, predict market trends, personalise customer experiences, and ultimately drive growth. Platforms like Zoho Analytics are instrumental in unlocking the potential of data, providing tools that transform raw information into actionable insights.
Zoho has remained committed to privacy, with more than 100 million users around the world, across hundreds of thousands of companies in its company owned and operated data centres. Zoho respects users privacy, does not have an ad-revenue model in any part of its business, and ensures complete oversight of its customers' data privacy and security..
The new version of Zoho Analytics is available now with over 100 new updates.
About Zoho Corporation
Zoho is a global technology company offering a comprehensive suite of business software applications. With a focus on innovation and customer-centric solutions, Zoho empowers businesses to achieve more with less.
Two passengers taken to the hospital with injuries on United flight after pilots respond to collision warning
The Federal Aviation Administration has opened an investigation into the jolt on a United Airlines flight that injured two passengers when the pilots responded to an onboard midair collision system warning.
United Airlines says as flight 2428 from Newark, New Jersey, was descending into San Francisco International Airport last Thursday, it slowed its descent to account for another aircraft at a lower altitude. Both injured passengers were taken to the hospital, United said in a statement.
An FAA incident report says one passenger received serious injuries and another minor injuries last Thursday when the pilots responded to a traffic collision avoidance system resolution advisory or TCAS RA.
Collision resolution advisories are treated as extreme warnings of a possible collision with another airplane and pilots are required to act immediately.
Data from FlightRadar24 shows the incident took place at 31,000 feet as the flight was near Lake Berryessa, about 70 miles north of San Francisco. FlightRadar24 says a Southwest Airlines flight was 3,000 feet below the United flight and a SkyWest flight was 1,000 feet below.
In a statement, the FAA which is responsible for controlling air traffic said there was no loss of safe separation.
Audio from LiveATC.net captured the pilots declaring a medical emergency, telling air traffic controllers in Oakland that someone might have broken an ankle and theres passengers that got hurt when we had an RA.
United Airlines told CNN that the seatbelt sign was on at the time of the incident and one of the injured passengers was out of their seat.
The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet launched an investigation, but a spokesperson told CNN that the agency is gathering preliminary information.
Thursdays in-flight incident is the latest incident involving a possible near-collision this month. On September 12, an Alaska Airlines flight had to abort its takeoff in Nashville due to a Southwest flight crossing the same runway. Two days prior, the wingtip of a Delta Air Lines Airbus A350 hit a smaller regional jet while both planes were taxiing, causing the regional jets tail to fall off.
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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday announced that they have admitted Qatar into the United States' visa waiver program. File Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI
Sept. 25 (UPI) -- The Biden administration has admitted Qatar into the U.S. Visa Wavier Program, allowing citizens from the Gulf country to visit the United States for up to 90 days without first securing the travel endorsement.
Qatar's designation was announced on Tuesday by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who said Doha's participation in the program "increases information sharing regarding one of the world's busiest travel and transfer hubs, strengthening the security of the United States."
"Qatar's fulfillment of the stringent security requirements to join the Visa Waiver Program will deepen our strategic partnership and enhance the flow of people and commerce between our two countries," Mayorkas said in a statement.
"Qatar's entry will make travel between the United States and Qatar safer, more secure, and easier for both Americans and Qataris."
Meshal Al Thani, Qatar's ambassador to the United States, said in a statement that they are "proud of this significant development" in their relationship with the United States.
"Qatar's inclusion in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program reflects the deepening of the already strong relationship between our two countries," Thani said.
"At a security level, this designation comes as our countries work closely together across a range of critical areas, including counterterrorism, combating illegal financial networks and human trafficking."
Thani said Qatar's designation will bring "significant benefits for both countries."
"We look forward to increased bilateral cooperation in commerce and cultural exchange in the years to come."
Under the program, the United States' Electronics System for Travel Authorization online application will be updated no later than Dec. 1 to allow Qatari citizens and nationals to apply to travel to the United States for up to 90 day without obtaining a U.S. visa.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. citizens already can enter Qatar visa-free, but beginning Oct. 1, they will be eligible to stay in the country for 90 days instead of the previous 30-day limit.
The Visa Waiver Program requires countries to meet strict requirements on counterterrorism, law enforcement, immigration enforcement, document security and border management.
Countries admitted into the program must have a nonimmigrant visa refusal rate below 3% and issue secure travel documents while giving U.S. citizens visa-free privileges without regard to national origin, religion or ethnicity.
Qatar is the 42nd member of the Visa Waiver Program and the third to be admitted under the Biden administration, following Croatia in 2021 and Israel last year.
U.S. Attorney General announces $36 million in grants to South Carolina. Heres where its going.
The nations top law enforcement official was in Columbia Wednesday to meet with some of South Carolinas top state and federal law enforcement officers and to announce a multi-million dollar grant to further the states crime fighting efforts.
United States Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the $36 million award to law enforcement agencies and community partners that will go towards a variety of efforts across the state aimed at integrating crime fighting resources, assisting victims and combating violent crime.
We remain committed to providing our law enforcement and community partners the resources that they need to protect the people and communities of this state, Garland told a meeting of federal and state agency heads alongside the U.S. attorney for South Carolina, Adair Boroughs.
Among those in attendance were South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel, U.S. Marshal Chrissie Latimore, Columbia police Chief Skip Holbrook, acting IRS Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jamie Kale, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Cardell Morant, Charleston police Chief Chito Walker, FBI assistant Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis and Myrtle Beach police Chief Amy Prock. Also, DEA Special Agent in Charge Robert Murphy and Special Agent in Charge Bennie Mims.
S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson, South Carolinas top elected law enforcement official and a frequent critic of the Biden administration, was not invited to the meeting and was not aware that it was happening, according a spokesperson for his office.
Wilson is a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump, and Garland is supervising several ongoing criminal prosecutions of Trump, including one for allegedly fomenting the Jan. 6 insurrection.
While he provided few specifics, Garland highlighted a $3 million grant from the Department of Justice that will go towards a criminal history improvement program, a national effort to improve the quality and accessibility of criminal records throughout the justice system.
Other money will go to an unspecified range of community organizations as well as government and law enforcement agencies to hire more officers, combat drug trafficking and violent crime, support community initiatives and improve services to victims of crimes, including domestic and dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.
While Garland pledged the full support of the justice department was behind the effort to fight violent crime, he emphasized that violent crime was down in South Carolina and nationwide. While South Carolina still has among the highest homicide rates in the country, violent crime rate fell by 5.8% from 2022 to 2023, the third consecutive annual decrease.
Citing a report from the FBI released earlier this week, Garland described a 11.6% drop in homicides nationally in 2023 and one of the lowest violent crime rates in 50 years.
Recent data indicates this trend is continuing, Garland said.
Garlands comments come as Trump continues to campaign on the message that violent crime is through the roof.
This decline was driven in part by collaboration between federal and local law enforcement agencies, our indispensable partners, Garland said.
Examples of successful cooperation that Garland highlighted included the the guilty pleas of six people involved in meth dealing in the Upstate, a ten-year sentence for a Midlands man who provided a syringe containing fentanyl leading to a fatal overdose, and a multi-national effort with Canadian law enforcement agencies to break up a gunrunning ring.
Reporter John Monk contributed to this article.
In Dan Wuoris upcoming book he argues that Americas early childhood policy has been premised on a harmful myth: This is the myth of daycare, he writes, which in reality simply doesnt exist.
How could a system millions rely on simply not exist?
Wuoris answer: That a crisis of misunderstanding has turned early childhood centers into an exceedingly expensive and industrialized form of babysitting based on the false idea that child care is somehow separate and distinct from education. Instead, Wuori says babies learn from birth and some research suggests even before that and their time outside the home should be treated as schooling, not as a place for them to be watched over while their parents work.
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In not embracing learning as an essential purpose, the current child care system, Wuori says, is harmful both educationally and economically for children, their parents, child care workers and society at large.
All environments for young children are learning environments, he said. The question ultimately comes down to, Is your child in a good one?
Wuori, who espouses a transformative investment of public funding in early child care, began his own career in the field over three decades ago in the classroom. Teaching in an afterschool program lit the fire in his interest in child development and inspired him to return to graduate school.
After teaching kindergarten in South Carolina public schools for five years, he moved into school district leadership before spending 14 years as the deputy director of South Carolinas Early Childhood Education Agency, South Carolina First Steps.
He eventually founded a public policy consultancy practice, Early Childhood Policy Solutions, focused on the needs of Americas young children and their families. Through his work, he partners with state elected leaders and advises them on early childhood policy topics.
Dan Wuori spent five years teaching kindergarten before moving into the early childhood education policy space. (Dan Wuori)
But Wuori is perhaps best known for his social media presence on X, where he posts delightful videos of babies, using them to explain key child development concepts. His feed, which has amassed a prominent following, was recently described in a New York Times profile as educational, but also, simply put awwwww.
Your baby learns to speak not just from listening but from watching.
Ive written many times about the keen observational powers of babies. Infants are expert observers of their parents faces, which (among other lessons) provide important clues as to how mom and dad pic.twitter.com/bnH9IFwexp Dan Wuori (@DanWuori) September 24, 2024
Days before the official release of his book, The Daycare Myth: What We Get Wrong about Early Care and Education (and What We Should Do about It), Wuori spoke with The 74s Amanda Geduld.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The 74: Your book makes the argument that day care doesnt exist. I think readers will hear that and say, Well, my kid is in day care. So what do you mean that it doesnt exist? Can you explain what you mean?
Dan Wuori: What I mean by that is that for the better part of 100 years, we have had a policy in place one that has really created services that are designed to support parental employment more than they are designed to support the optimal development of young children. The central thesis of the book is that we have fooled ourselves into thinking that there is this thing called day care, or child care, that is separate and distinct from education
What we know from decades of science at this point is that thats simply not the case. We know that young children are learning, not only from day one, but increasingly, we have this understanding that some very powerful early forms of learning actually may begin in utero. And so thats a very different proposition, right?
This artificial distinction between care and education is really what Im talking about We have conceptualized child care as almost like a holding facility, right? Were thinking about very custodial forms of care, and that translates, in many cases, into policy. We have states that are proposing, for example, as a solution to the financial crisis that the child care industry finds itself in, deregulating in ways that sort of strip away any requirement other than those that just entail the very basic health and safety of those kids. And that is a very low bar, and, frankly, a dangerous bar, and one that frankly, we end up paying for in the long term.
You also note that the vocabulary we use matters. If were getting rid of the term day care, what should we be using instead?
The truth is the term day care has fallen very much out of fashion even in the field in recent years and been replaced with child care. What I would love to see is an acknowledgement that this is all either early childhood education or early care and learning. Because some acknowledgement that ultimately these are not simply holding facilities for children, [but[ that these are powerful learning laboratories, and developmental spaces, and thats true regardless of what the sign out front says.
All environments for young children are learning environments. The question ultimately comes down to Is your child in a good one?
You talk also about how our current model, Simply doesnt work, and it doesnt because it cant work. Can you explain a little bit of what you mean by that?
What Im talking about in that section is our current economic model for child care. What we know about child care is that it is sort of like a broken, three-legged stool. We know, for example, that parents are paying more for child care in most every state at this point than they pay for in-state college tuition or for their housing costs. And so that it is unaffordable to parents in really significant ways.
We know concurrently that for the business owners themselves, this is not a profit-making venture Providers are scarcely keeping their doors open, and the whole sad thing is sort of cobbled together on the backs of a low-income workforce that is almost exclusively female, and in many states, majority women of color, who are literally subsidizing the cost of care to families in the form of their low wages.
They are highly dependent on public assistance programs themselves, making at or near minimum wage in most states. And in fact, according to some recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, making roughly 60 cents an hour less than we pay dog walkers in this country.
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The whole thing gets down to: we talk about all of those different forms of crisis that the field is in. Theres a compensation crisis, and theres an access crisis, and theres an affordability crisis. But the book makes the case that all of those crises are really a side effect of the fundamental crisis in the field, which is a crisis of understanding.
That we are failing to acknowledge these settings for what they truly are, and that as a result not only are we sub-optimizing this incredibly powerful window of human development, but we are saddling taxpayers for decades to come for the result of our inaction and our failure to get things right in the early years in ways that are ultimately far more costly than doing things right in the first place.
Throughout the book, you make arguments for why we need to shift this system for economic reasons, for educational reasons and just because its the right thing to do. What would a shift in this system look like, both practically on the ground and in terms of outcomes?
Yeah, I think about that question in two categories, really. The big picture message of the book is that we need transformative public investment in young children and families. I have also worked in the public policy space and with policymakers long enough to know that transformative system change very rarely happens in one fell swoop. So while making the case, for example, that early childhood development needs to be seen as a public good instead of a private market service, the book also suggests then both some low-hanging fruit in terms of things that we could do proactively right now in ways to help improve compensation, for example, but also theres an entire chapter that is dedicated to what I have labeled sort of forms of public policy malpractice examples of federal and state policy where maybe with all the right intentions, the execution of our policy is actually exacerbating some of the financial crisis in the field.
I see policymakers increasingly saying to me, You know what I get the brain development pieces of this. I know this is important. I know we need to do better. What I dont know is, how do we pay for it?
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And one of the major messages in the book is we are already paying for it. Were just doing it in the dumbest possible ways. We are very much taking out, at scale, a payday loan that we are meeting our very basic immediate financial needs at the highest possible long-term cost to taxpayers Were paying more in terms of remediation and retention and special education throughout our K12 system. We are paying for worse health outcomes that could be mitigated against by doing right in the early years
Theres an anecdote later on in the book that was recounted to you about how much some of these early child care and education teachers are struggling financially. Can you share that?
I had the good fortune two summers ago to partner with the state of Kansas on a listening tour as they were assessing the strength of their early childhood system. I traveled across the state, talking with business leaders and early childhood providers and parents, and got into a conversation with a child care provider.
Were there, and I was asking her, What do you need most? How could state policymakers help support you? And she said, Oh, well, you know, the thing that I really need the most is a floating substitute who could sort of go from classroom to classroom.
And I said, Oh, that makes a lot of sense. Like, somebody to help give teachers a break or use the restroom or have lunch to themselves? And she said, Oh no, we mostly have that covered. Im worried that I need to give them time to get to the bank.
And so I said, Oh, you know, to deposit their checks? And she said, Oh, no. Not that kind of bank. I cant pay them enough to feed their families, and so I try to make time for them each week to be able to visit the local food bank.
And boy, that just I mean, to this day, thats one of the most upsetting stories that has been conveyed to me in this field in my career. These women, who are literally being entrusted to help co-construct the brains of young children, are making so little that we would have to be sending them to a food bank despite their full-time employment in what I could argue is the worlds most critical profession.
One framing motif that you use throughout the book is the food pyramid (released in 1992 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture based on what turned out to be a very flawed understanding of healthy eating). Can you explain why you chose that motif and how it reflects whats happening in this day care myth?
I use that food pyramid example as sort of a framing around an area of public policy that we got boldly and catastrophically wrong and raise the question for readers: Where might we be doing that currently? Whats happening in our public policy that 20 years from now, we might look back at and say, Wow. We can hardly believe we ever got something so wrong.
And the book really makes the case that right now in our approach to young children and families we have created this bizarro world for children that in so many ways unexamined is precisely the opposite of what we know from the science of early development
One good example of that is that we know that the earliest weeks and months of life in particular play an absolutely critical role in attachment And so then we juxtapose that against knowing that this is a country where 1-in-4 American mothers have to return to the workforce within two weeks of giving birth. And you know that in our early childhood settings we are seeing data that suggests that the teachers in those programs turn over to the tune of about 40% a year And so during precisely the weeks and months of life that young children most need continuous, stable, nurturing relationships, we are seeing those relationships interrupted both by a lack of paid family leave provisions and through our terrible misunderstanding of the importance of out-of-home, early childhood settings, in ways that are bound to fail us later on.
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My hope is that the book is an opportunity for us to press pause and to really rethink some of the underlying assumptions around how we have structured provisions for young children and families in this country and to come together on a bipartisan basis. One thing that I feel very strongly about and Im very proud of in the book is this idea that if ever there was an issue that really should bring us together across the partisan continuum, this ought to be it, because it makes sense for children, it makes sense for the strength of nuclear families, it makes sense in terms of our economy, it it makes sense for taxpayers There really is something for everyone hopefully in this conversation and hopefully in the book.
U.S. Forest Service firefighters monitor a large plume from the Line Fire in San Bernardino National Forest in California on Monday.
The U.S. Forest Service says it will not hire seasonal employees in the next fiscal year because of expected cuts to its budget, just as fire seasons grow longer, hotter and deadlier.
Rank-and-file employees and union representatives have warned for years that low pay is leading firefighters to find employment elsewhere, contributing to high attrition rates that leave national forests more susceptible to wildfires.
Were losing a lot of the most experienced people right now, and theres no incentive to replace them, said Andy Vanderheuel, a spokesman for the National Federation of Federal Employees, a union that represents federal firefighters, referring to financial struggles within the agency.
The lack of seasonal hires next year will not affect the agencys ability to respond to wildfires, officials said, but it could affect trail maintenance, fisheries, recreation services, engineering and surveying.
The Forest Service, which declined to say how much its budget is expected to shrink in fiscal year 2025, is pre-emptively tightening its belt and telling regional directors to plan for less spending.
As an agency, we have a responsibility to plan for the most conservative funding picture, and these actions reflect that reality, Forest Service spokesperson Scott Owen said in a statement.
U.S. Forest Service firefighters Monday in San Bernardino National Forest in California.
Congress is expected to vote soon on a stopgap spending bill that would prevent a government shutdown.
Forest Service Chief Randy Moore told employees last week in a private meeting that the agency's financial prospects will look different from "how we have been operating the last couple of years."
Well have to think differently how we do our work, Moore said.
In March, the Forest Service asked for $8.9 billion for the coming fiscal year, an increase of $658.5 million over the previous fiscal year, according to the latest budget justification report.
But agency leaders do not expect to get anywhere near that amount.
"We're doing what we can with what we can get," Moore said.
Isaac Karuzas, a union steward in Montana, said he began seeing changes midway through the fire season, when only half the positions on his stepdaughters Idaho-based hand crew were filled.
Were down a significant percentage of firefighters across the board, and then to just take more away, you know, when were still in fire season, its kind of a tough blow to everybody, he said. Your morale goes down.
A fire season typically runs from July to October but increasingly lasts through November.
The agency hired about 4,000 new employees in recent years, bolstered by a $20,000, or 50%, retention bonus that was paid for by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021.
In 2023, federal workers, including firefighters, received a round of raises under an order signed by President Joe Biden.
Forest Service Budget Director Mark Lichtenstein suggested in last weeks employee meeting that the federal government might have overcommitted funds.
While thats great for our employees, Congress, unfortunately, didnt necessarily provide all the funding necessary to pay for it, Lichtenstein said.
Some regions will have the discretion to hire additional employees for critical positions, like avalanche crews, said Jacqueline Buchanan, a forester for the Pacific Northwest Region, which includes nearly 25 million acres of public lands in Oregon and Washington.
Right now, were in a place we havent been, where weve had this much of an anticipated shortage, and so it feels far more dramatic, she said. Where we are focusing and where we need to maintain is our fire readiness.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
WASHINGTON D.C. (WTAJ) The U.S. House of Representatives announced the passing of H.R. 5646, the Stop Campus Hazing Act.
The bill, which includes many anti-hazing provisions, was shaped by the efforts of Evelyn and Jim Piazza. Their son, Tim Piazza, passed away in February 2017 at Penn State University as a direct result of a hazing ritual at his fraternity. Sept. 25 would have been Tims 27th birthday.
More than seven years after the death of Tim Piazza, two former Penn State students, who were fraternity leaders, pleaded guilty to hazing and reckless endangerment.
Two former PSU students plead guilty in Timothy Piazza hazing death
Two men, Brendan Young, now 28, and Daniel Casey, now 27, each pleaded guilty in Centre County Court to 14 counts of hazing and a single count of reckless endangerment in July. Young and Casey were the fraternity president and vice president respectively when Tim was one of the 14 pledges at the house that night in February.
Tim was found unresponsive the next morning, and it was discovered that he had consumed large amounts of alcohol and suffered numerous falls. He died days later from injuries sustained during that night.
The Piazzas advocacy led to the establishment of the Timothy J. Piazza Center for Fraternity and Sorority Research and Reform at Penn State, whose research helped shape the Stop Campus Hazing Act and led to the enactment of some of the strongest anti-hazing laws anywhere in the country in Pennsylvania.
Todays overwhelming passage of H.R. 5646 reaffirms Congress commitment to protect students on college campuses across the country, Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) said. This vital legislation will increase transparency and accountability in an effort to ensure that no one will have to experience what the Piazza family has over these past seven years. My prayers go out to Evelyn and Jim Piazza, and I sincerely appreciate their ongoing advocacy and strength.
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This bipartisan legislation is supported by the National Panhellenic Conference, the North American Interfraternity Conference, the Clery Center, and the Anti-Hazing Coalition. Now the act awaits action in the U.S. Senate.
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WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force found a missing 6-year-old child in Augusta and arrested one woman in connection to their disappearance.
A news release from the U.S. Marshals Service said on Wednesday, the Kansas Fugitive Apprehension Task Force, along with the Butler County Sheriffs Office and the Kansas Highway Patrol Air Unit, arrested the woman, 30, on suspicion of parental kidnapping of a minor. The woman had a warrant for her arrest since May 26, 2021.
A collateral lead request was sent to the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Wichita to attempt to locate and arrest the woman and recover the missing child. She was found in the 100 block of E. 7th St. in Augusta.
Kansan competes in Wheel of Fortunes Teachers Week
The child was listed as a missing person, and the case was adopted by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Successful coordination with our state and local partners was vital to the apprehension of this fugitive, and the safe recovery of this missing child, Ronald L. Miller, US Marshal for the District of Kansas, said in the news release.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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The U.S. military has been protecting the home front for nearly 250 yearsand doing a bang-up job of it. In recent decades, however, the military has also been polluting the home front, most notably with a toxic chemical never heard of in the era of muskets and drums: PFAS. Thats becoming a major problemone that is now teeing up a major clash between environmental groups and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the one hand and the Department of Defense (DoD) on the other.
Short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS is an umbrella term for more than 12,000 substances colloquially known as forever chemicals, because thats pretty much how long they linger in the environment and the body. PFAS have been linked to increased risk of kidney, testicular, and other cancers; changes in metabolism; higher cholesterol; low birthweight; pregnancy-related hypertension; damage to the immune system, and more. Virtually no one is safe: according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 99% of Americans have detectable levels of PFAS in their blood.
The ubiquity of PFAS is due to the fact that the chemicals are used in thousands of commercial products, from non-stick cookware to menstrual products, toilet paper, and fire-fighting foam. When it comes to the military, its the foam thats causing the biggest headache, since fuel fires, especially those related to aircraft, are common on bases and other installations.
Now were getting a clearer idea of how serious the militarys PFAS problem is. According to a Sept. 3 memo from Assistant Secretary of Defense Brendan M. Owens, about 80%or 578 of 710military bases across the country are known to have or suspected of having elevated levels of PFAS in their soil and water supplies. That comes as very bad news, because toxins that are on the military sites dont stay on the military sites. Instead, they seep into the groundwater and private wells in the surrounding communities, raising the question of who is responsible for remedying the problem and how fast that work can be done.
The DoD acknowledges its role in creating the PFAS mess and, nominally at least, insists that it is taking steps to clean it up both on military bases and in the affected communities off-base. PFAS remains a complex national issue and a whole-of-government approach is underway to address it, said Owens in an email to TIME. Implementing solutions that reduce impacts of PFAS from past DoD activities is one of my key focus areas. DoD has moved out and implemented remedial actions at dozens of sites and we will continue our investigations and implement solutions at the other locations where past DoD activities require action.
But dozens of sites is a whole lot fewer than hundreds of sites and the statement is conspicuous for its lack of one thing: a deadline by which the work will be done.
They create the impression that there will be forward action, but if you look at it closely its very disappointing, says John Reeder, vice president of federal affairs for the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit organization that conducts research on a range of environmental issues, publishes consumer guides, advocates for green regulations and laws, and more. Its a continuation of trying to stretch the [rules] as far as they can, he says, so that they dont have to spend more money in this cleanup program.
Big as the problem is, its small compared to the existence of PFAS nationwide. As such, the militarys PFAS challenges could serve as a sort of a test case for how industry, government, and the activist sector can work together to rid the nation at large of its greatest chemical scourge.
Setting the rules
This year has been an important one in the attempt to regulate and incrementally remove PFAS from the environment. In April, the EPA established what is known as a maximum contamination level (MCL) for the six most common types of PFAS, ranging from 4 parts per trillion (ppt) to 10 ppt. The rule further gave public water suppliers and other institutions like the military until 2027 to determine the level of PFAS contamination in their systems and until 2029 to initiate cleanup operations.
As the new Sept. 3 policy memo shows, however, the military is dragging its feet. In a move that the DoD dubbed worst first, it plans to initiate cleanup only at sites that reach or exceed three times the EPAs established MCLa standard that, at the moment, is met by just 55 sites, or 7% of all known contaminated military bases in the U.S.
In an email to TIME, a Department of Defense spokesperson was vague about when remediation would begin. In general, the spokesperson said, the Department cannot estimate how long it will take or how much it will cost to address its PFAS releases until it knows the extent of those releases. The Department will be able to provide better estimates as the ongoing investigations are completed over the next few years.
Some environmentalists arent pleased. This policy does seem to be part of a pattern we have seen with the DoD, says Reeder. Contamination doesnt end at the base-line. Where the Department of Defense is found to be the source of PFAS contamination, they do have a certain responsibility to address the cleanup.
Footing the bill
Money seems to be central to the Department of Defenses dilatory approach to the PFAS problem. The militarys fiscal year 2024 budget is a whopping $841.4 billion. According to the DoD spokesperson, however, only $9.7 billion is allocated this year to continue testing all of the 710 bases on the militarys manifest and perform cleanups on the hundreds that dont pass muster. That kind of stingy funding was never going to be adequate, and the price is only likely to rise.
A huge driver has been discovering the scope and scale of PFAS contamination as they find out more and more about it, says Jared Hayes, senior policy adviser for the EWG. Unfortunately, their budget requests for their environmental remediation programs have been fairly slack. Reeder estimates that the DoD needs at least twice the amount its currently spending if its going to keep up with the growing need for cleanup.
To the DoDs credit, all of its bases are switching to a type of firefighting foam that does not include PFAS, but, according to Hayes, that conversion is not yet complete. While foam that contains PFAS is no longer used in training exercises, it still may be turned to in emergencies. In the meantime, there is always the risk of accidental dispersal of the old, toxic variety. In August, for instance, Brunswick Naval Air Station in Maine saw a spill of more than 50,000 gallons of firefighting foam and PFAS-contaminated water. In July, a smaller but still considerable 7,000-gal. spill occurred at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico.
Taking it to the courts
These accidents, along with the legacy contamination of decades of PFAS-contaminated foam and the militarys go-slow approach to cleanup is causing some states to turn to the courts to seek both remuneration and remediation. Over the past six years, 27 states, including New Mexico, New York, and Washington, have filed suit against the military to pay for groundwater and soil cleanup. Those cases have been consolidated in the U.S. District Court in South Carolina, and in February, the DoD moved to dismiss, citing a provision in tort law that shields the government from liability for the discretionary actions of government employeeswhich, the DoD says, includes the military personnel who would be handling the foam. The court has yet to rule on the motion. New Mexico has filed a similar suit over the spill at Cannon Air Force Base, as has New Hampshire, which is suing over decades of PFAS pollution seeping off of local Pease Air Force Base.
If recent history is any indication, states and localities have reason to pile on more suits. In June, chemical giant and PFAS manufacturer 3M settled a lawsuit, also consolidated in South Carolina, in which it agreed to pay more than 300 plaintiff communities a total $10.3 billion to fund water cleanup operations. In the same month, a similar settlement was reached with DuPont and its spinoff companies, for $1.18 billion. Suing the government is a heavier lift than suing a private corporation, as the February motion by the DoD suggests, but that doesnt mean its hopeless. Whats more, potential plaintiffs are increasingly motivated to act.
There are communities that are really angry about this and rightfully so, says Hayes. Their wells have been poisoned for years without them knowing about it, and now this [memo says that] many of them are just going to have to wait longer and longer. They don't have a clear timeline, they don't know when they might get clean water, and they're having to treat it themselves.
The DoD defends its current policy of doing the most it can with the limited resources it has available. Our recently published PFAS clean-up prioritization policy reinforces our commitment to fulfilling our PFAS-related cleanup responsibilities, said Owens, referring to the Sept. 3 memo. This policy is DoDs initial step to implement EPAs new PFAS regulation and prioritizes action in locations where PFAS levels in drinking water are the highest. In the meantime, hundreds of communities across the country will likely continue to live with PFAS contamination for untold years to come.
Write to Jeffrey Kluger at jeffrey.kluger@time.com.
A former Haitian lawmaker and political party leader whose tight grip on the Artibonite region has helped fueled a climate of gang terror has been sanctioned by the Biden administration, along with the head of a powerful gang he reportedly helped form in the region.
Prophane Victor, a former member of Haitis Lower House of Deputies, was added to a growing list of Haitian political leaders and gang chietftains on Wednesday for his role in forming, supporting, and arming gangs that have committed serious human rights abuse in Haiti, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
The U.S. also imposed sanctions on Luckson Elan, the leader of the Gran Grif gang, for his involvement in serious human rights abuse related to gang activity in Haitis Artibonite department. Known as General Luckson, Elan is accused of committing murders, kidnappings, rapes and attacks on agricultural property, livestock and transport vehicles. He has also contributed to the displacement of more than 578,000 Haitians who have been forced from their homes in the last three years.
Victor and Elan, through their influence over or leadership of the gangs in Haiti, have sought to perpetuate the horrific violence and instability, said Bradley T. Smith., Treasurys acting under secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
Victor is the current head of Bouclier, the political party that the late President Jovenel Moise belonged to before he was named a candidate under former President Michel Martellys Haitian Tet Kale Party. As a member of parliament between 2016 and 2020, Victor became one of Haitis most powerful and wealthy politicians, with control over the countrys main seaport in Port-au-Prince.
While running for elected office in 2016, Victor allegedly started arming young men in Petite Riviere, in the Artibonite region, to secure control over the area and his election. Those men went on to form the Gran Grif gang, currently the largest gang in the Artibonite area and the main perpetrator of abuses, including sexual violence, a United Nations Panel of Experts said in a report on Haitis gang violence.
After a falling out with Gran Grif, Victor began arming rival armed groups and self-defense groups in the Artibonite area, U.N. experts said.
Victor materially supported Gran Grif until at least 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department said. Victor has also trafficked weapons to Haiti and is known to have relationships with and provided funds to other gangs throughout Haiti, including rivals of Gran Grif. Prophane Victors gang affiliations and material support to them contribute to the climate of terror as the gangs engage in an array of cruelty and violence, fight for control, and leave residents to pay the consequences.
The Artibonite area, considered Haitis rice basket, has been beset by gang violence.
The sanctions, which freeze all bank accounts in the U.S. and make it illegal for anyone to do financial transactions with anyone blacklisted, were announced on the same day Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States, plans to provide an additional $160 million to help combat gangs.
Weve already delivered well over $300 million to support the Multinational Security Support mission - armored vehicles, radios, night-vision goggles, drones, Blinken said during a meeting attended by Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille and Edgard Leblanc, head of the Transitional Council in New York.
There are currently over 380 Kenyan police officers in Port-au-Prince, and in the past week a contingent of over two dozen Caribbean security personnel from Jamaica and Belize have deployed to help the Haiti National Police fight armed gangs.
This is a very serious situation that requires urgent support, Conille said. And its very, very important that we all come together to make sure the police and the multinational force have the resources that is required for us to intervene in the most effective and urgent way possible. We worry that without the urgent implication of everyone to support this effort, we will lose the little success that weve been able to obtain at a very large price.
Dominican President Luis Abinader, in his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, said a year from when Haiti is supposed to hold elections to elect a new president and parliament, the conditions are still not in place to do so.
More than three years of instability in our neighboring country has put significant pressure on our security, he said.
READ MORE: This seaside Haiti town used to attract tourists. Now it draws refugees from gangs
Victor and Elan are highlighted in two separate report of the U.N. Panel of Experts as being significantly responsible for the crisis in Haiti. The report states that the levels of violence and the depths of cruelty that gangs will go to in violating human rights are unprecedented, with regular indiscriminate attacks against the population and the obstruction of humanitarian assistance. Sexual and gender-based violence and rape, in particular, have become one of the most horrific expressions of violence over the past two years.
The State Department issued the sanctions as the high-level debate at the U.N. General Assembly in New York is ongoing. While Haiti is scheduled to address the assembly on Thursday, several leaders from around the globe have mentioned the country in their speeches, calling on the world to help the Caribbean nation in overcoming its current gang-fueled crisis.
On Monday, during a meeting on Haiti by the U.N. Economic and Social Council, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government sanctioned Victor last year, called for more countries to impose sanctions on Haitis political and business elites involved in destabilizing the country.
According to the U.N., there were 3,638 documented homicides during the first half of this year an increase of nearly 74% over 2023.
Despite the imposition of the arms embargo in October 2023, gangs and other non-State actors continue to procure arms and ammunition illicitly, Earle Courtenay Rattray, chief of staff to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Wednesday during a high-level meeting on restoring security in Haiti.
In a statement about the sanctions, State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said that promoting accountability for gender-based violence is a top priority for the U.S. government.
We will continue to use the tools at our disposal to expose those who commit such heinous crimes anywhere they occur, he said.
Editors note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.
The University of Central Florida on Sept. 24 hit a key construction milestone for its Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion.
The college brought in representatives from AdventHealth, Orlando Health, Nemours Childrens Health, Dr. Phillips Inc. and more to sign a beam that will be put in the $68 million, 90,000-square-foot building. Construction is more than 40% complete on the facility, which the college expects to occupy late next summer ahead of the 2025-26 academic year.
Read: Wind & Rain: How Hurricane Helene could impact Central Florida, county-by-county
UCF College of Nursing Dean Mary Lou Sole told Orlando Business Journal the program already has added 100 students and is planning how it can accommodate those students and more at the new building. The expanded building will allow the school to graduate 150 more nurses per year than the roughly 260 it averages now.
Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journals website.
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GUEST OPINION: Businesses operating in a dynamic market environment face significant cybersecurity challenges. Rapid technological advancements and increasing digital interconnectivity mean that threats are evolving constantly, requiring businesses to stay vigilant and adaptable. This shifting landscape demands a proactive and comprehensive approach to managing cybersecurity risks, especially those introduced by the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), to safeguard operations and maintain competitive advantage, according to Trustwave.
Craig Searle, director, consulting and professional services (Pacific), Trustwave, said, "AI-driven cyberthreats are sophisticated and can easily bypass traditional security measures. Cybercriminals can use AI to automate and enhance their attacks, such as creating more convincing phishing emails, generating deepfake videos, and launching automated attacks at scale. This makes them more effective and difficult to detect.
Business leaders need to better understand the multifaceted nature of the risks they now face so they can implement the best defence and increase their resilience. This includes recognising how AI can be manipulated to bypass security measures, the potential for AI-generated attacks to scale rapidly, and the new vulnerabilities introduced by integrating AI into existing systems. Understanding these dimensions is critical for developing effective countermeasures and staying ahead of sophisticated cyberthreats.
The unpredictable nature of AI-driven threats means businesses cannot rely solely on existing cybersecurity frameworks. Implementing AI in cybersecurity solutions helps identify patterns and anomalies in vast amounts of data, offering a layer of defence that evolves with the threat landscape. However, because this approach also introduces risks, such as false positives and the potential for AI systems to be manipulated, continuous assessment and adaptation are essential.
Organisations must also integrate AI with human expertise to prepare for the impact of AI on cybersecurity. Human oversight ensures that AI systems are interpreting data correctly and making appropriate decisions; this collaboration is crucial in identifying and responding to threats that AI alone may miss or misinterpret.
Craig Searle said, "Investing in advanced threat intelligence is another crucial step. Businesses can gain critical insights into emerging risks and develop strategies to counteract them by leveraging AI to gather and analyse threat data from various sources. Testing and validating AI systems based on the latest data is essential to ensure they function as intended and do not introduce new vulnerabilities. Regular audits and assessments help identify potential weaknesses and ensure that AI tools are robust and reliable. This proactive approach empowers organisations to stay ahead of cybercriminals and reduce the likelihood of successful attacks.
This proactive approach should include:
Development of AI-specific incident response plans: incident response plans that address AI-driven threats should outline specific steps for detecting, containing, and mitigating such threats. Organisations should conduct regular drills and update these plans based on the latest threat intelligence to ensure an effective response to real incidents.
Enhanced cybersecurity training to cover AI threats: employees should be educated on recognising AI-driven threats, such as deepfake content or automated phishing attacks, and the importance of reporting suspicious activities. Ongoing training is crucial for creating a security-conscious culture that serves as the first line of defence.
Investment in advanced threat intelligence and continuous auditing: organisations should audit and validate AI systems regularly to ensure they operate as intended without introducing new security gaps.
Collaboration with industry peers and share information: participating in information-sharing initiatives will strengthen organisational defences against AI-driven threats. Collaborating with industry peers supports collective innovation, shared insights, and the development of best practices for dealing with emerging AI-driven cyberattacks.
Alignment with regulatory compliance: organisations must stay abreast of legal and regulatory requirements regarding AI and cybersecurity, particularly in data privacy. This includes understanding the implications of data privacy laws and protecting sensitive information adequately.
Craig Searle said, "Preparing for the impact of AI on cybersecurity requires a comprehensive and proactive approach. Businesses must integrate AI with human expertise, invest in advanced threat intelligence, develop robust incident response plans, and foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Organisations can safeguard their operations and maintain a competitive edge in an increasingly complex digital landscape by addressing these unseen risks.
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) The University of Dayton was just awarded $2 million to bolster its advanced manufacturing program through a congressionally directed spending request.
Congressman Mike Turner and Senator Sherrod Brown secured the funding through the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The investment will provide state-of-the-art training and equipment for students studying the emerging semiconductor industry.
Mother struck by bullet in backseat of car on I-75; police searching for shooter
Turner initiated the bipartisan effort in March of 2023 with a letter to then-House Appropriations Committee Chairman Kay Granger. It received further support from Ranking Member Rosa DeLaura as a Community Project Funding candidate.
Funds will support the growth and development of the University of Daytons Southwest Ohio Integrated Microsystems Workforce & Research Center.
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Jewish UFC fighter Natan Levy, concerned about the rise of antisemitism on college campuses, is bringing his training to Harvard to teach Jewish students self-defense. Levy, who previously confronted a white nationalist who trolled him on Twitter, shares his insights on how to prepare for potential campus conflicts. He joins NewsNations Dan Abrams Live to discuss his approach and what it felt like to stand up to a white supremacist.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy speaks during the Summit of the Future on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York on September 23, 2024. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY) (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/AFP)
British foreign minister David Lammy said Tuesday he was working to put Ukraine in the "strongest position" in its war with Russia ahead of the winter months.
Lammy refused to confirm if London would allow Ukraine to use British long-range precision weaponry to strike inside Russia, but said that Iran's supply of ballistic missiles to Moscow had been "a major escalation."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking for months for permission to use British Storm Shadow missiles and US-made ATACMS missiles to hit targets deeper inside Russia.
US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delayed a decision on the move during a meeting on September 13.
Lammy, in New York for the UN General Assembly, said he did not wish to give Russian President Vladimir Putin "any operational advantage."
"But the most important thing is to put Ukraine in the strongest position" as winter approaches, Lammy told AFP.
Zelensky will meet this week with Biden, Starmer and others "as we seek to conclude those discussions to put him in the strongest position."
Putin has warned that approving use of the weapons on targets inside Russia would put NATO nations at war with Moscow.
Lammy's comments came after an impassioned speech to the UN Security Council in which he attacked Russia, saying Moscow "claims to stand for the Global South. But it runs roughshod over international law."
"Vladimir Putin, when you fire missiles into Ukraine hospitals. We know who you are," he said.
Lammy also sounded the alarm over the escalating violence in Lebanon as Israel conducts deadly strikes on targets in the country.
"I am very worried about the risk of escalation, and this breaking into a wider regional conflict," he said as Britain announced it was deploying military units to Cyprus to assist with any evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon.
On the sidelines of the UN's flagship annual gathering, Lammy attended an environment event at Central Park Zoo ahead of the UN Biodiversity Conference in Colombia later this year.
"This is the moment to step up in relation to the climate emergency. It was a huge mistake of (the last British government) not to come to climate week here at the UN last year," Lammy said.
"We are determined to get back UK leadership, not just on our own behalf, but on behalf of the planet."
Britain recently announced the creation of a new "clean power alliance" to bridge the energy transition gap between developed and developing countries.
gw/sct/md
UK Foreign Secretary calls Putin ruler of "mafia state" and compares him to slave-owner
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has directly accused Russian leader Vladimir Putin of running a "mafia state" and compared him to a slave-owner in a fiery speech at the UN Security Council.
Source: Politico, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Lammy took aim at Putin during a UN Security Council meeting in New York on Tuesday, telling the Russian representative: "We know who you are."
Lammy criticised Putin's behaviour during Russias invasion of Ukraine, recalling the days of slavery, and accused the Russian government of flouting international law.
Quote: "Your invasion is in your own interests. Yours alone. To expand your mafia state into a mafia empire. An empire built on corruption.
Mr President, I speak not only as a Briton, as a Londoner, and as a foreign secretary. But I say to the Russian representative, on his phone as I speak, that I stand here also as a Black man whose ancestors were taken in chains from Africa, at the barrel of a gun to be enslaved, whose ancestors rose up and fought in a great rebellion of the enslaved.
Imperialism: I know it when I see it. And I will call it out for what it is."
More details: Lammy's speech comes as Ukraine continues its intense lobbying efforts to obtain authorisation to use Western long-range missiles, including British-made Storm Shadows, to strike targets deep inside Russia.
Background: The Times has reported that the US and the UK are apparently preparing to grant Ukraine authorisation to use Storm Shadow missiles to strike Russian territory, but the announcement would not be made public to preserve the element of surprise for Russia.
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Ukraine could lose half of its steel production if Russians occupy Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast
Ukraine could see its steel production cut by half due to coal shortages if Russian forces take control of the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast.
Source: Oleksandr Kalenkov, President of Ukrmetallurgprom, a Ukrainian association of metals companies, at a forum organised by Ekonomichna Pravda
Details: Kalenkov noted that Ukraine's steel production has ranged between 6 and 6.5 million tonnes annually during the two years of the full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian-controlled territory still has enough resources to potentially produce 12 million tonnes of steel a year. But if Pokrovsk is lost, this figure could plummet to between 2 and 3 million tonnes annually.
Pokrovsk has the only coking coal mine under Ukrainian control, Kalenkov says. Losing Pokrovsk could result in a significant shortage of this essential type of coal.
"For the past two years, we've been smelting 6-6.5 million tonnes of steel [annually], and this year we could reach 7.5 million tonnes. If we lose Pokrovsk, it will be 2 to 3 million tonnes," Kalenkov stressed.
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Ukraine has developed a three-year plan for the production of drones, electronic warfare equipment and ground robotic systems, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said in an interview with Lb.ua media outlet published on Sept. 24.
Described as "very thorough and extensive," the document on Ukrainian manufacturing was presented during Umerov's recent trips to the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, as well as at the Ramstein meeting earlier this month.
"We looked at how many of them (drones, electronic warfare, ground robotic systems) we needed and how we would use them at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels," the minister said.
The plan also includes the specific number of weapons that Ukraine can produce and the funds needed, Umerov added without elaborating.
"There are already several countries today that have agreed to finance our drones and missiles," Umerov added.
The Ukrainian military has proven to be a pioneer in drone technology, using innovative ways to undermine Russia's ammunition and personnel advantage.
According to Umerov, Ukraine has destroyed or damaged over 200 military facilities in Russia over the past year using "drone swarm" technology.
Kyiv says it uses domestically-produced drones to hit targets on Russian soil amid ongoing pressure on its partners to lift restrictions on deep strikes with Western-supplied weapons.
Kyiv has the production capacity to produce more than 3 million drones a year but requires financing from foreign partners, Deputy Strategic Industries Minister Hanna Hvozdiar said in July.
Read also: Ukrainian drones are burning Russias oil refineries, but not its economy
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Oleksandr Balanutsa during his visit to Norway. Photo: Balanutsa on Facebook
Ukraine has invited Northern European countries to join the Northern Brigade project.
Source: Ministry of Defence of Ukraine following a recent visit by Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine Oleksandr Balanutsa to Norway, as European Pravda reports
Details: As part of the initiative, each Northern European country is proposed to train and arm a Ukrainian battalion.
In addition, Balanutsa called on the defence chiefs of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden to engage in bilateral cooperation and investment in the Ukrainian defence industry.
Quote from Balanutsa: "By joining the Northern Brigade project, defence companies and Nordic countries will have the opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of Nordic defence products on a real battlefield. Let's join forces for a common victory."
Background:
Ukraine has repeatedly called on its partners to finance the Ukrainian domestic defence industry's production of weapons essential for Ukrainian forces.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have already received 18 Bohdana self-propelled artillery systems, the production of which was financed by Denmark.
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Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on Sept. 24 reiterated that the full withdrawal of Russian troops from all occupied territories is necessary for a "just and lasting peace," after the president of Czechia said Kyiv should be "realistic" about achieving such a goal.
In an interview with The New York Times (NYT) published on Sept. 23, Petr Pavel said the "temporary" occupation of some Ukrainian territories by Russia is the most likely outcome of Moscow's full-scale invasion.
"To talk about a defeat of Ukraine or defeat of Russia, it will simply not happen. So the end will be somewhere in between," he said, adding Kyiv needed to be "realistic."
In a statement on its website that didn't mention Pavel by name, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said there can be "no middle-ground solutions," and the full withdrawal of Russian troops was "a realistic scenario."
"The withdrawal of Russian occupying forces from the sovereign territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders is one of the mandatory points of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskys Peace Formula," it added.
"This and other provisions of the Formula will guarantee a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace not only for Ukraine, but for the entire European continent and the world."
As of late August, Russia was in control of around 27% of Ukrainian territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts are partially controlled by Russian troops. Russia claims to have annexed the whole territory of those regions despite not controlling two regional capitals Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Moscow also controls all of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the illegal annexation of four oblasts in September 2022, and in June called for Ukrainian troops to leave these territories as a condition for peace negotiations, a proposal which was rejected by Ukraine.
Pavel later on Sept. 24 responded to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry statement, saying he had previously "warned against unrealistic expectations."
"I have never questioned that we should support Ukraine in restoring its territorial integrity, that this is the ultimate goal. We just have to be realistic about the time horizon and the cost of achieving that goal," he told journalists in New York.
"Defeating Russia in Ukraine at the cost of killing half the Ukrainian population is probably not a victory."
Ukraine says peace talks should be held on the basis of its 10-step peace formula, which includes a full withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
Zelensky is also expected to present his "victory plan" to President Joe Biden during his ongoing visit to the U.S. this week.
"There is not and cannot be any alternative to peace, no freezing of the war or any other manipulations that will simply move Russian aggression to another stage," Zelensky said in his evening address on Sept. 18.
Read also: Russia continues construction of naval base in occupied Abkhazia, Ukraine hints it will be legitimate target
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Ukraine urges world leaders not to seek 'lull' in Russia's war instead of true peace
UNITED NATIONS (AP) Ukraines president urged global leaders Wednesday to stand with his country and not seek a lull instead of a real, just peace" more than two years into Russia's war.
At a time when he faces growing pressure from Western allies and some of his fellow Ukrainians to negotiate a cease-fire, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. General Assembly there's no alternative to the peace formula he presented two years ago. It seeks the expulsion of all Russian forces from Ukraine, accountability for war crimes, release of prisoners of war and deportees, nuclear safety, energy and food security and more.
Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of an end to the war, Zelenskyy said, urging nations to put pressure on Russia.
Do not divide the world. Be united nations, he implored. And that will bring us peace.
Russia hasn't yet had its turn to speak at the assembly's annual gathering of presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and other high officials. Low-level Russian diplomats occupied the country's seats in the huge assembly hall during Zelenskyy's speech.
President Vladimir Putin is not attending this year's high-level meetings at the General Assembly; Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to give the nation's address instead, on Saturday.
In Moscow on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov lambasted remarks that Zelenskyy made the day before, when the Ukrainian president told the U.N. Security Council that Russia needs to be forced into peace." Dmitry Peskov called that position a fatal mistake and a profound misconception, which, of course, will inevitably have consequences for the Kyiv regime.
The war in Ukraine was center stage the last two times that world leaders convened for the U.N.s signature annual meeting. But this year, the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the escalating developments along the Israeli-Lebanese border have gotten much of the spotlight.
Ukraine and Russia, with one of the worlds most potent armies, are locked in a grinding fight along a 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line.
The war began when Russia invaded in February 2022, claiming among other explanations that it was safeguarding Russian speakers in Ukraine.
During the fighting, Russia has gained momentum in Ukraines east. Ukraine, meanwhile, startled Russia by sending troops across the border in a daring incursion last month.
Ukrainian officials have rejected a Chinese and Brazilian peace plan, believing it would just buy Moscow time.
When some propose alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called sets of principles, it not only ignores the interests and suffering of Ukrainians who are affected by the war the most, it not only ignores reality, but also gives Putin the political space to continue the war, Zelenskyy told the assembly Wednesday.
To proponents of alternative plans, he chided: You will not boost your power at Ukraines expense."
Zelenskyy is expected to present a victory plan this week to U.S. President President Joe Biden. While the plan haven't been released, it's aimed at laying out what Ukraine believes it needs fast from Western allies to win.
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This story corrects one of Zelenskyy's quotes. He said that alternative peace proposals seek a lull, not an out, in the war.
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See more of APs coverage of the U.N. General Assembly at https://apnews.com/hub/united-nations
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Vietnamese counterpart To Lam have discussed the development of bilateral relations and the expansion of trade, particularly in the agricultural industry.
Source: a statement from the Ukrainian President's Office
Details: During the meeting between the presidents, To Lam noted that trade with Ukraine had decreased in 2022 but began to grow gradually again last year. He proposed that both nations should work together to enhance trade across various sectors.
"If the [Vietnamese] President wants to and gives the appropriate impetus, I think it would be good for our teams, the ministries, to work together and see what can be done to expand trade between our states," Zelenskyy stressed.
He expressed his gratitude to Vietnam for providing US$500,000 through international humanitarian organisations and for its willingness to contribute to Ukraine's recovery after the war.
Background:
Ukraine exported almost 692,000 tonnes of sugar in the 2023-2024 marketing season, which ended on 31 August. That is about 60% more than last year, when Ukraine imposed a temporary ban on sugar exports.
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GUEST RESEARCH: Today Illumio released research findings from the Cloud Security Index: Redefine Cloud Security with Zero Trust Segmentation, which found that nearly half of IT and security leaders in Australia believe a cloud breach would make normal operations impossible in their organisations. The study also showed that almost all Australian organisations (97 percent) cite improving cloud security as a key priority over the next year.
The primary aim of cyberattacks has evolved from data monetisation to disrupting business operations, making the cloud a key target. Alarmingly, nearly half of Australian businesses admit they would be unable to function if a cloud breach occurred. This highlights the critical need for organisations to build attack-tolerant infrastructures. Since attackers must spread across a network to cripple essential operations, containing breaches and preventing lateral movement are crucial measures, comments Andrew Kay, Director of APJ Systems Engineering, Illumio.
Concerns remain over ability to stop lateral movement
In many cases, threat actors target the weakest link in an IT network to gain entry and then move laterally. Lateral movement allows hackers to move deeper into a system to access the most sensitive data and high-value assets.
Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of Australian IT and security leaders say it would be easy for an attacker to find weaknesses in their organisations environment to gain entry. Respondents cite minimal or no controls in place to limit network discovery or lateral movement and/or few preventative and detective controls. Meanwhile, only 24 percent are confident they have the right preventative controls in place to make it difficult for attackers to find vulnerabilities.
Traditional security tools slow cloud adoption and innovation
Cloud technology affords organisations the ability to scale and innovate. However traditional security tools are holding Australian businesses back. Almost all (96 percent) of Australian organisations believe they need security that better scales with the speed of cloud adoption. Three quarters (73 percent) of IT and security decision makers also believe the security function slows down cloud adoption in their organisation.
Gaping disconnect between security and developers remains
Half (50 percent) of local respondents said their business needs to improve collaboration between security and application developers. Almost all (94 percent) IT and security decision makers believe they need to make it easier for DevOps teams to adopt cloud security best practices, and a similar number (97 percent) believe reducing workloads and increasing efficiency for SecOps teams needs improvement.
Read the full Cloud Security Index: Redefine Cloud Security with Zero Trust Segmentation here.
Key developments on Sept. 25:
Russia preparing to attack 3 nuclear plants in Ukraine, Zelensky tells UN
No Russian troops on Vuhledar outskirts, governor claims
Around 20 Russian soldiers captured during operation to recapture Vovchansk aggregate plant, military intelligence claims
Ukraine has 'extensive' 3-year plan for drone, ground robotics production, defense minister says
Russia establishes secret attack drone program in China, Reuters reports
Russia is preparing to target three Ukrainian nuclear power plants, President Volodymyr Zelensky told the U.N. Security Council in New York on Sept. 24.
"If Russia is ready to go that far, it means nothing you value matters to Moscow. This kind of Russian cynicism will keep striking if its given any room in the world," he said.
Zelensky did not specify which stations are under threat but said Kyiv had evidence and "proof" of Russia's plans.
There are three operating nuclear power plants on the Ukrainian-held territory Rivne and Khmelnytskyi NPPs in the country's west, and Pivdennoukrainsk NPP in the south. Russia's regular attacks put their safety in jeopardy by cutting off power to the units.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022.
Throughout its occupation, the plant has been repeatedly disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid due to Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure.
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There have been mounting warnings from Kyiv in recent days about such attacks.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sept. 21 that Russia's possible targets include open distribution devices at nuclear power plants and transmission substations "which are essential for the safe functioning of the nuclear energy system."
Earlier on Sept. 24, Zelensky said that Russia is using Chinese satellites to take pictures of Ukraine's nuclear facilities for possible future attacks.
Ukraine's special services informed Kyiv's partners and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the threat.
Read also: Explaining Russias new nuclear doctrine saber-rattling or real threat?
No Russian troops on Vuhledar outskirts, governor claims
Russian troops have not yet reached the outskirts of the embattled town of Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast, Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Sept. 25.
"There is no enemy on the outskirts of the town yet. Sabotage and reconnaissance groups are coming in, but our defenders are trying to knock them out. This means that the town is not yet captured," he said on national television.
"Our defenders are doing everything possible and impossible. They burned a lot of enemy equipment."
The front-line town lies about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of occupied Donetsk and roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the administrative border with Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
The 72nd Mechanized Brigade has defended Vuhledar for nearly two years, as Russian forces have been trying to capture the town since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Filashkin said Russian forces are trying to break through Ukraine's defense line near Vuhledar and "are advancing."
According to the crowd-sourced monitoring website DeepState, Russian forces are aiming to encircle the town.
Around 100 people remain in Vuhledar refusing to leave, Filashkin added.
Andrii Kovalenko, head of the counter-disinformation department at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said on Sept. 24 that Russia has devastated the town of Vuhledar and is attempting to advance from the flanks.
Vuhledar has withstood numerous attacks since the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022 and has become key to Ukrainian defenses in the southern part of Donetsk Oblast.
"The loss of Vuhledar would be not only a morale blow for Ukraine since this city has resisted plenty of assaults since 2022, but also a very serious development that can potentially threaten the security of the entire southwestern portion of Donetsk Oblast not yet occupied, along with the threat to Pokrovsk's southern flank," Federico Borsari, a fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), told the Kyiv Independent earlier this month.
Read also: What the fall of Vuhledar would mean for Russias war in Ukraine
Around 20 Russian soldiers captured during operation to recapture Vovchansk aggregate plant, military intelligence claims
Ukrainian forces captured around 20 Russian soldiers and killed "several dozen" others during an operation to recapture an aggregate plant in the town of Vovchansk, Kharkiv Oblast, a member of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) claimed on Sept. 25.
Speaking to national television, a HUR special forces officer with the call sign Viking revealed details of the operation, adding that a further four Russian soldiers "tried to leave the plant and were neutralized outside the perimeter."
"The battle lasted a little over a week. There was intense shelling from the enemy. The enemy at the factory put up a lot of resistance, but in the end, we completed the task," he said.
Russian troops had been in control of the Vovchansk plant for several months before the facility was recaptured on Sept. 24., HUR previously reported.
"The plant is destroyed and damaged. But it is possible to maintain a defense there," Viking said.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.
Read also: Undistracted by Kursk offensive, Russia cuts deeper toward Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast
HUR Chief Kyrylo Budanov was briefed on the "successful completion of the operation," HUR said in a statement on Sept. 24, adding the "extremely difficult" attack was carried out by the agency's special forces.
"The fighters of HUR carried out a systematic sweep of the plant's buildings, constantly engaging in contact battles with the enemy in densely built-up conditions. In some cases, Ukrainian special forces engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy," it claimed.
"Ukraine's Armed Forces took the territory of the aggregate plant under control after all 30 buildings were cleared (of Russian forces)."
Vovchansk is an embattled town some 60 kilometers (37 miles) northeast of Kharkiv that has seen heavy battles since Russia launched a new offensive in the area in May.
While initially gaining ground, the Russian offensive in northern Kharkiv Oblast has quickly bogged down, with Russian troops reportedly suffering heavy losses.
The intensity of fighting has decreased somewhat compared to other sectors in Ukraine's east near Pokrovsk, Vuhledar, and Toretsk.
Read also: Opinion: Peace in Ukraine will come through Putins fall, not a battlefield breakthrough
Ukraine has 'extensive' 3-year plan for drone, ground robotics production, defense minister says
Ukraine has developed a three-year plan for the production of drones, electronic warfare equipment, and ground robotic systems, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said in an interview with Lb.ua media outlet published on Sept. 24.
Described as "very thorough and extensive," the document on Ukrainian manufacturing was presented during Umerov's recent trips to the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, as well as at the Ramstein meeting earlier this month.
"We looked at how many of them (drones, electronic warfare, ground robotic systems) we needed and how we would use them at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels," the minister said.
The plan also includes the specific number of weapons that Ukraine can produce and the funds needed, Umerov added without elaborating.
"There are already several countries today that have agreed to finance our drones and missiles," Umerov added.
The Ukrainian military has proven to be a pioneer in drone technology, using innovative ways to undermine Russia's ammunition and personnel advantage.
According to Umerov, Ukraine has destroyed or damaged over 200 military facilities in Russia over the past year using "drone swarm" technology.
Kyiv says it uses domestically-produced drones to hit targets on Russian soil amid ongoing pressure on its partners to lift restrictions on deep strikes with Western-supplied weapons.
Kyiv has the production capacity to produce more than 3 million drones a year but requires financing from foreign partners, Deputy Strategic Industries Minister Hanna Hvozdiar said in July.
Read also: Russian cities left defenseless as Ukraine ramps up drone attacks
Russia establishes secret attack drone program in China, Reuters reports
Russia has secretly established a development and production program in China for attack drones to be used in the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported on Sept. 25 citing European intelligence sources and documents reviewed by the outlet.
According to the report, Russia has flight-tested a new drone called the Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists.
Details of the project were revealed in a report by the company behind the project, IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of the Kremlin-owned weapons company Almaz-Antey.
China has positioned itself as neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war but has simultaneously deepened economic ties with Moscow and backed the country against Western sanctions.
Beijing has also emerged as one of Russia's leading sources of dual-use goods that feed the Russian defense industry.
In a comment to Reuters, China's foreign ministry denied knowledge of the G3 project.
In an interview with ABC News aired on Sept. 24., President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is using Chinese satellites to take pictures of Ukraine's nuclear facilities for possible future attacks.
"The recent information is that Russia has been using Chinese satellites and taking photos of the details of the objects on nuclear facilities," the president said.
"And in our experience, if Russia takes photos of certain objects, then there is a threat of strikes against the nuclear objects."
He did not elaborate on whether Chinese satellites were commercial or controlled by the Chinese government.
Read also: Explainer: Why Zelensky slammed the China-Brazil peace plan
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A total of 4 missiles and 28 drones were downed. Infographic: Ukraines Air Force
Russia has launched 32 kamikaze drones against Ukraine on the night of 24-25 September, with air defence forces successfully downing 28 of them. Ukraine's air defence has also managed to destroy four guided Kh-59/69 air-to-surface missiles.
Source: Ukraine's Air Force
Details: Russian forces attacked Kharkiv Oblast with a S-300 surface-to-air missile and three missiles of an unidentified type. Odesa Oblast was targeted with four Kh-59/69 air-to-surface missiles from the airspace over the Black Sea. The Russians also launched 32 Shahed attack drones from Russias Primorsko-Akhtarsk and Kursk.
Aircraft, anti-aircraft missile forces, mobile fire groups and electronic warfare units from Ukraines defence forces were involved in repelling an aerial attack.
As a result of the combat efforts, 28 Shahed drones and 4 Kh-59/69 missiles were downed. Four other drones disappeared from radar in several oblasts (no reports of casualties or damage have been received).
Air defence was responding in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Sumy, Poltava, Mykolaiv, Odesa and Kherson oblasts.
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) Ukraines president dismissed the notion of peace talks with Moscow on Tuesday, calling instead for unspecified global action to force Russia into peace for invading his country and to comply with the U.N. Charters requirement that every country respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all other nations.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. Security Council that Russian President Vladimir Putin is committing an international crime and has broken so many international rules that he wont stop on his own.
And thats why this war cant simply fade away. Thats why this war cant be calmed by talks, Zelenskyy said at a meeting on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly. Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly whats needed forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the U.N. Charter.
The high-level meeting on the more than 2-year war in Ukraine was attended by ministers from 14 of the council's 15 member nations. Russia chose to send its lower-level U.N. ambassador.
Vassily Nebenzia opened the meeting protesting that Zelenskyy was being given the U.N. spotlight again. He also criticized Slovenia which holds the rotating council presidency this month for allowing the Ukrainian leader's "chorus to speak. He meant about 10 European Union and NATO members who arent on the council but march in lockstep every time they come to the council to malign the Russian Federation.
When it comes to listening to these hackneyed statements, and these cookie-cutter statements, we have no intention of wasting time on that, Nebenzia said.
Ukraine's sovereignty is defended
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefed the council, reiterating the United Nations strong support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity under the U.N. Charter.
Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 following the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and city of Sevastopol a decade ago is a clear violation of these principles, the U.N. chief said.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine knows some countries want to talk to Putin. But, he asked, What could they possibly hear from him that hes upset because we are exercising our right to defend our people, or that he wants to keep the war and terror going just so no one thinks he was wrong?
China has repeatedly called for talks between Ukraine and Russia. Its foreign minister, Wang Yi, told the council that the suffering and destruction and increasing volatility in the region "must be turned around.
Wang stressed that Chinese President Xi Jinping believes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected. China is pursuing peace talks and conducting shuttle diplomacy, Wang said, and its efforts have received wide international support. He pointed to a joint China-Brazil peace plan issued earlier this year.
Zelenskyy also went after countries that supply weapons and ammunition to Russia, telling the council Moscow has no legitimate reason to make Iran and North Korea de facto accomplices.
The U.S. includes China, Iran and North Korea in its accusations
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised similar issues but also accused China, which has close ties to Russia, of providing Russia with machine tools, microelectronics and other items it is using to rebuild, restock and ramp up its war machine and sustain its brutal war.
Wang, who spoke after him, didn't directly respond but said: I also wish to make it clear that on the Ukraine issue, any move to shift responsibility onto China or attack and smear China is irresponsible and will lead nowhere.
Blinken also accused Iran of providing armed drones to Russia since 2022 and transferring hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles a few weeks ago which its new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has denied. North Korea has also delivered trainloads of weapons and ammunition to Russia including ballistic missiles and artillery rounds, Blinken said.
The more Russia relies on their support, the more Iran and North Korea extract in return, Blinken said. And the more Putin gives to Pyongyang and Tehran, the more he exacerbates threats to peace and security.
To those who ask how the United States and others can help Ukraine defend itself and criticize countries supplying military materiel to Russia, Blinken said the answer is simple: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim.
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Edith M. Lederer, chief U.N. correspondent for The Associated Press, has covered international affairs for more than 50 years. See more of APs coverage of the U.N. General Assembly at https://apnews.com/hub/united-nations
Ukraine's strikes on Russian ammo depots show how Western weapon restrictions are protecting Russia's rear, war experts say
Ukraine has struck three ammunition depots deep inside Russia this month, causing significant damage.
War experts say the strikes show how Russia is benefiting from the "sanctuary" provided by the West.
Most Western countries don't let Ukraine use weapons they've supplied to strike targets in Russia.
Ukraine's recent strikes on ammunition depots inside Russia show how much Russia benefits from the "sanctuary" provided by the West, war experts have said.
The Institute for the Study of War made the assessment in an update on Tuesday, citing satellite imagery.
It said before-and-after satellite images captured by Maxar Technologies showed the "dramatic" damage that Ukrainian strikes had caused to three Russian ammunition depots in September.
The ISW pointed to imagery of damage to the Oktyabrsky and Toropets depots in Russia's Tver region and the Tikhoretsk depot in Krasnodar Krai.
A satellite image showing the Tikhoretsk ammunition depot on September 14 and on September 22, after it was struck. Satellite image 2024 Maxar Technologies.
It said the images not only showed the devastation of dozens of ammunition storage facilities but also train carriages that were probably used to transfer munitions and large numbers of rocket canisters and other material that had been "haphazardly left in the open."
The ISW said the absence of operational security in Russia's rear supply depots showed how Western restrictions barring Ukraine from firing Western-supplied weapons into Russia had given Russian command the "flexibility" to avoid protecting its rear.
"This flexibility has granted Russia the ability to optimize large rear staging facilities to marshal massed materiel to Ukraine at scale," it said.
Ukraine has been barred from using its arsenal of Western-provided long-range missiles to go after strategic targets inside Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly asked the US and its other allies to lift those restrictions.
He told CNN on Friday that lifting the restrictions was a "key" part of the victory plan he'd present to US officials this week and that he was hopeful his case would be heard.
In an interview with Good Morning America this week, Zelenskyy said Putin would continue "to destroy us, to kill people, to kill children" if Ukraine was denied permission to use Western weapons on targets inside Russia.
The Pentagon has explained the US decision not to allow such strikes by saying that 90% of Russian aircraft launching glide bombs are out of range of Ukraine's ATACMS, that it has a limited number of ATACMS missiles, and also that such a decision could escalate the conflict.
But pressure is growing to let Ukraine use the weapons in Russia.
Last month, Josep Borrell, the European Union's chief of foreign policy, said EU countries should lift restrictions on the use of weaponry against Russian military targets "in accordance with international law."
And in a resolution adopted Thursday, the European Parliament called on EU countries to lift restrictions preventing Ukraine from using Western weapons systems against "legitimate" military targets inside Russia.
Denmark, Sweden, and Finland have publicly said Ukraine can use their weapons to strike deep inside Russia, and on Monday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Bloomberg that Western allies should end discussions around Russia's "red lines" and allow Ukraine to strike within Russia without restrictions.
"We have to be able to give the right answer," she said, "and it has to be powerful."
Read the original article on Business Insider
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell has stated that Ukraine's surrender and its transformation into a second Belarus is not the quickest way to end the war.
Source: European Pravda with reference to Borrell's statement following a UN Security Council meeting
Quote: "I have heard some peace lovers saying that they love peace and they want peace. They love peace, me too, the EU too and Ukrainians [want peace] more than anyone else. If someone is willing peace its certainly the Ukrainians, [who] are suffering the consequences. The quickest way of ending the war is the withdrawal of Russian troops. Russia withdraws troops and the war will end."
Details: Borrell added that these so-called peace lovers do not mention this fastest way because they believe the quickest way to end the war is Ukraines surrender.
"And yes, without our support, Ukraine will have had to surrender. We dont want this way of ending the war. We dont want Ukraine surrounding and losing its national identity, freedom and territory and becoming a second Belarus," Borrell said.
Borrell emphasised that peace is not about subjugation, surrender or occupation; therefore, a lasting peace is required.
Borrell also added that military support for Ukraine does not exclude the search for peaceful solutions but stressed that the stronger Ukraine is militarily, the stronger its negotiating position will be.
Background:
Czech President Petr Pavel reiterated in an interview with The New York Times that Ukraine should accept the possibility that some of its territory may be "temporarily" under Russian control after the war is over.
Ukraines Foreign Ministry subsequently issued a statement rejecting the possibility of temporarily leaving part of Ukrainian territory under occupation and similar "half-hearted solutions".
In response to Ukraines Foreign Ministry, Pavel stated that hoping the war will end in a few weeks or months with Ukraine's unequivocal success could prove very dangerous for everyone. That is why, he added, this issue should be considered in the light of what is actually possible.
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Ukrainian Catholic University establishes scholarship in memory of four women and girls from the same family killed by Russian missile in Lviv
UCU has established a scholarship in memory of the women and girls of the Bazylevych family. Photo: Ukrainian Catholic University
A scholarship has been established in memory of Daria Bazylevych, who was a student at the Ukrainian Catholic University, her mother Yevheniia, and her sisters Yaryna and Emilia.
Source: Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU)
Details: The girls and their mother were killed in a missile attack on Lviv on 4 September 2024.
Details: The middle daughter, Daria, was a second-year student in UCU's Cultural Studies programme.
The scholarship fund has been opened jointly by Darias father Yaroslav Bazylevych and Plast, the National Scouting Organisation of Ukraine.
Quote from Yaroslav Bazylevich: "I was the richest, happiest husband and father: I had a treasure, and I always realised that it was a treasure to have such a wife and such responsible, hardworking, beautiful, intelligent, proactive, patriotic children. I have always been proud of them and I will continue to be so.
I am asking everyone to help me create a sustainable scholarship fund in the name of Yevheniia, Yaryna, Daria and Emilia Bazylevich so that the world remembers their names."
UCU said that it wants to raise US$100,000 for scholarships so that every year, UCU students can study and follow the ideals and principles that the Bazylevych sisters and their mother demonstrated in their lives.
You can make a donation on the university's website.
Background:
On the night of 3-4 September, 21-year-old Yaryna, 18-year-old Daria, 7-year-old Emilia Bazylevych and their mother Yevhenia were killed in a Russian missile attack on a historic Lviv house on Konovaltsia Street. They were hiding in the stairwell. The only member of the family to survive was the father, Yaroslav, who had returned to the apartment to get water and blankets.
The mother and older daughters were members of the Ukrainian scouting organisation, Plast.
In total, seven people were killed and 47 were injured in the massive attack on Lviv. More than 70 buildings were destroyed and seven of architectural significance were damaged.
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The Office of the President of Ukraine has described Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's statements on expanding the Russian doctrine of nuclear deterrence as blackmail.
Source: Andrii Yermak, Head of Presidents Office, on Telegram
Quote: "Apart from nuclear blackmail, the Russian Federation has no other means of global intimidation.
These tools will not work."
Background: Putin made changes to Russia's nuclear deterrence doctrine. The Kremlin leader said that a nuclear response will follow if there is "reliable information about the launch of air and space attack capabilities towards Russia". These are "strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic and other aircraft."
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Andrii Solomin, a Ukrainian veteran soldier from the city of Lutsk, lost both his legs in the combat zone and survived after experiencing clinical death.
However, just a few months after rehabilitation, he has taken part in the Race for Two to honour his fallen friends memory.
Source: Unbroken National Rehabilitation Centre
Andrii, who is 34 years old, first took part in combat action back in 2014. So when the full-scale Russian invasion began, he joined the 100th Separate Territorial Defence Brigade right away and then became commander of a rifle company.
He served together with his close friend, Mykola Mialkovskyi.
In April 2024, Andrii along with his fellow soldiers were on a combat mission to consolidate their position. But later he was informed that the Russians had encircled them.
"I felt that something was going to happen to me. I recorded a voice message for my mum and my wife. I had to try several times as my voice was trembling. I said that I was fine and I wouldnt be able to get in touch with them for a few days," Andrii recalls.
Andrii and Mykola
Photos provided by Andrii
A Russian drone dropped a munition directly at the company commander's feet. It instantly detonated, injuring both of Andrii's legs. Despite his injuries, the commander applied tourniquets to himself, though he did not believe he would survive.
"The Russians were very close right on the next street. I told the guys to leave without me. I felt a big pool of blood under me. I had put my hands on the tourniquets, wanted to loosen them and whispered: 'Myka, see you soon!'," Andrii says.
He explained that Myka was the alias belonging to the fallen defender Mykola Mialkovskyi, a close friend of Andrii Solomin.
In the throes of death, it seemed to Andrii that he heard the voice of his fallen friend telling him that he had to stay alive.
The wounded man waited nine hours to be evacuated and lost a lot of blood. He regained consciousness in the city of Dnipro, where medics told him that he had indeed been on the verge of death.
"I was in a state of clinical death for six minutes. I think that Myka [nickname for Mykola ed.] was still guiding me on this path. He always cared for others more than for himself," Andrii says.
Andrii underwent rehabilitation at the Unbroken Centre. At first, he struggled to keep his balance, so Andrii and the medics had to make efforts to strengthen his muscles and teach him to move around in a wheelchair.
Andrii with the medal he won in the race
The Unbroken Centre
On 22 September, Andrii Solomin participated in the Race for Two in the city of Kyiv. He covered the distance of 1 km in a wheelchair for himself and for his fallen friend Myka. What is more, he came first.
"This is my first race with you, friend, and gold right away! I wouldnt have been able to do it without you. And we know for sure this is not the last gold. Thank you for being by my side!" he said.
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U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Sept. 24 that he is working to ensure Ukraine is in the "strongest position" in its war against Russia ahead of the winter months.
While Lammy refrained from confirming whether the U.K. would authorize Ukraine to use British long-range precision weapons to strike inside Russia, he acknowledged that Iran's supply of ballistic missiles to Moscow has marked a "major escalation."
President Volodymyr Zelensky has long requested permission to use British Storm Shadow missiles and U.S.-made ATACMS to hit targets deeper within Russia. However, U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer postponed a decision during their meeting on Sept. 13.
Lammy, speaking in New York at the U.N. General Assembly, said he didnt want to grant Russian President Vladimir Putin "any operational advantage," but emphasized that "the most important thing is to put Ukraine in the strongest position" as winter approaches, AFP reported.
The U.K. has consistently voiced strong support for Ukraine and has pledged a total of 12.8 billion (approximately $16.2 billion) in support for the country, which includes 7.8 billion (around $9.9 billion) allocated for military assistance and 5 billion (approximately $6.3 billion) designated for non-military support.
Lammys remarks followed his speech at the U.N. Security Council, where he criticized Russias actions, accusing Moscow of violating international law and targeting civilian infrastructure.
Read also: Invitation to NATO part of Ukraines victory plan, Yermak confirms
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Israel's new UN ambassador accused the global body of pummelling his nation with unfair and disproportionate criticism since the October 7 onslaught, leaving the country feeling betrayed.
Israel has for decades accused various UN bodies of bias against it -- something they deny.
"We feel that the UN has betrayed Israel," ambassador Daniel Meron told AFP in an interview on Tuesday as the fighting with Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon's Hezbollah has increased fears of a wider Mideast conflict.
Meron said his country had long been striving "to find a way to work with the UN, despite our ongoing criticism".
"We would have wanted to continue that," he said, but now "we don't have any trust anymore in the UN".
Everything changed, Meron said, after Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the deadly campaign in Gaza, alongside escalating strikes with Hezbollah that threaten to unleash all-out war in Lebanon.
UN-linked courts, councils, agencies and staff have accused Israel of using disproportionate force in its retaliatory operation in Gaza, including charges of "war crimes" and "genocide".
But Meron, who took over in July as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, maintained there had been far less condemnation of Hamas's "barbaric" actions.
He slammed the "moral equivalence" drawn between Israel and "a terror organisation".
The UN, he said, "has betrayed Israel and at the worst time, the worst event that has happened to the State of Israel since its inception in 1948".
- 'Restrained' -
He also pushed back against the condemnation from within the UN system over Israel's escalating airstrikes targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, which in a matter of days have killed hundreds, mainly civilians, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
"Where was the world for 12 months?" Meron asked, saying the Iran-back militant group and Israel have been locked in near-daily exchanges of fire since October 7, preventing 70,000 displaced people from returning to their homes in northern Israel.
"We have been restrained now for 12 months, but... life in the north of Israel has to go back to what it was," he said.
He reiterated Israel's claim that it is "doing everything it can to avoid" hitting civilian targets, charging though that "Hezbollah is using civilians in Lebanon as human shields".
"They would like us to shoot back and hit civilians so that we can be blamed for killing civilians," he said.
Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,495 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.
nl/rjm/jm
By Alimat Aliyeva
The People's Liberation Army of China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile as part of the exercises, Azernews reports.
A rocket with a mock-up warhead hit the planned water area.
The regular launch was carried out in accordance with the program of annual military exercises of the missile forces. Its purpose is to check the weapons and the level of training of the troops. China has notified the relevant countries of the region in advance of the launch, the TV channel noted.
Later, the Chinese Defense Ministry said that the missile launch was not directed against other states.
"The launch complies with international law and international practice, it is not directed against any particular country or facility," the statement on the agency's website said.
Dematic , a leading provider of warehouse solutions, is proud to announce its manufacturing facility in Belrose, NSW, has been awarded the prestigious Steel Sustainability Australia (SSA) Certification. This certification acknowledges Dematics ongoing commitment to sustainability and environmentally responsible manufacturing practices in the production of Australian-made Dematic and Colby Storage Solutions products.
The SSA Certification Program identifies sustainable steel suppliers by assessing the environmental and social impacts of their steel manufacturing and processing operations. It provides a comprehensive platform for best practices in sustainability, engaging the entire steel supply chain. This includes certifying downstream steel distributors, fabricators, and roll formers, while verifying upstream steel producers against industry-leading environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.
Lee Koutsos, head of Dematic ANZ Storage Equipment Division, says, We are incredibly proud to receive this certification, which reflects our dedication to sustainable and responsible production. The Colby Storage Solutions team is committed to reducing our environmental impact while continuing to deliver high-quality products. This recognition reinforces our efforts to lead the way in sustainable supply chain operations.
The SSA Certification Program
The SSA Certification Program is managed by the Australian Steel Institute (ASI) and serves as a key initiative under the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) Responsible Products Framework (RPF). Companies that achieve SSA Certification, like Dematic, are contributing to the advancement of sustainability in the construction and manufacturing sectors, with certification levels aligned to Green Star ratings under the GBCA.
This certification ensures that steel manufacturers, processors, and distributors like Dematic follow best practice ESG sustainability standards, further strengthening the commitment to reducing carbon footprints and supporting environmentally responsible steel procurement.
Dematics Commitment to Sustainable Practices
SSA Certification underscores Dematics commitment to sustainability, from responsible sourcing to efficient manufacturing processes. As a recognised global leader in supply chain optimisation, Dematic continues to innovate to improve sustainability in the sector.
The certification, which included an independent third-party audit, ensures that Dematic and Colby Storage Solutions products are not only designed for superior performance but are also manufactured in compliance with best-in-class sustainability practices.
Koutsos continues, In todays supply chain industry, sustainability is more than just a buzzword its a necessity. This certification not only provides assurance to our customers that the steel we use adheres to the highest green standards, but also ensures that we are contributing to a cleaner, greener future. By following the SSAs best practices, we are helping to shape a more sustainable environment.
Colby Storage Solutions
ColbyRACK, Dematics brand of selective pallet racking, has been manufactured in Sydneys northern beaches for over 55 years. Available in various configurations including single-deep, double-deep, narrow aisle, and drive-in or drive-through ColbyRACK racking systems prioritise quality and safety. They are designed, engineered, and manufactured by Dematic in Australia to meet rigorous Australian standards. Choosing Dematic ColbyRACK directly supports local manufacturers, contributes to the Australian economy, and reduces the carbon footprint associated with transportation.
In addition to the ColbyRACK range of products, Dematic manufactures racking and shelving for Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RSs) and Dematic Multishuttle solutions at its Sydney factory, providing Dematic customers with the same local production benefits of high quality, safety, and sustainability.
For more information about Dematic and the ColbyRACK range of products, visit www.colby.com.au
UNITED NATIONS (AP) The United Nations chief sharply criticized the powerful but deeply divided Security Council at a high-level meeting Wednesday for a failure of leadership to end wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and beyond.
Peace demands action. And peace demands leadership, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the 15-member council charged with ensuring international peace and security. Instead, were seeing deepening geopolitical divisions and mistrust.
He pointed to repeated violations of the U.N. Charter and international law, conflicts multiplying and becoming more deadly, and civilians paying the steepest price.
The council has been blocked from any action on Ukraine because Russia is a veto-wielding member and a party to the conflict invading its neighbor in violation of the U.N. Charter, which requires all members to ensure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all other nations.
It has been stymied in taking tough action on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza because of Israels close ally, the United States, another veto-wielding member. And in Sudan, there are divisions among some members supporting the warring rival generals.
The secretary-general said peace is possible in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan if council members unite and follow the U.N. Charter and international law.
A divided council cannot, he said. It is imperative that council members spare no effort to work together to find common ground as it has done overseeing 11 peacekeeping operations on three continents and authorizing humanitarian aid to global hotspots.
Slovenia, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, chose the topic, Leadership for Peace for its signature event during the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly and invited leaders from the 15 council nations to attend.
The advance speakers list has five presidents and prime ministers, six foreign ministers, a deputy foreign minister, a vice foreign minister, the U.S. ambassador, who is also listed as a member of President Joe Bidens Cabinet, and a Russian representative.
At the same time as the council was meeting, Biden was appearing on The View, a popular daytime talk show, while Secretary of State Antony Blinkens schedule said he was scheduled to attend a meeting of the Group of 20 major economic powers soon after.
Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which works in the world's crisis areas, called for a renewed respect for international humanitarian law. Wars can be fought and won while adhering to the letter and the spirit of the law, she told the council.
Spoljaric said the Red Cross today sees warring parties overlooking their international humanitarian law obligations to justify violations, destruction and impediments to humanitarian action.
Liberias former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, now a member of The Elders group of former global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela, was equally gloomy.
Preserving peace should be the primary responsibility of any leader. Yet the leadership for peace that the world desperately needs is sorely lacking today, she said.
The Elders are calling for action on three issues: Leaders must uphold international law. Conflict resolution and peace-building must be truly inclusive. And the Security Council, widely seen to be ineffective, must be reformed to tackle challenges of the world of 2025 and beyond, and not remain a relic of 1945, when the United Nations was established.
On a more positive note, all 15 members of the council approved a presidential statement a step below a legally binding resolution that reaffirms the principles of the U.N. Charter and recognizes the need for universal adherence to obligations in international law and council resolutions.
In the statement, the council underscored the importance of upholding multilateralism the foundation of the U.N. where all nations work together. And it recognized that the spirit that guided the creation of the United Nations should prevail and inspire mankind to persist on the path of peace.
But despite council members agreement to the lofty language in the statement, their deep divisions were clearly evident at Wednesdays meeting.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in his first appearance at the U.N., recognized the divide, calling for a renewal of the international consensus on delivering humanitarian support. This should be a bare minimum, yet too often, were falling short, he said.
He also called for an end to fighting in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan and accountability for those violating the U.N. Charter, saying Russia carried out the greatest violation of the Charter in a generation by invading Ukraine.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the council must be guided by the U.N. Charter, and called Russias invasion of Ukraine a direct attack on the Charters foundational values.
Since launching its full-scale invasion, Russia has committed atrocity after atrocity, she said. President (Vladimir) Putin remains hell-bent on redrawing the borders of a sovereign country by force. But the Ukrainian people have not relented. They have stood strong.
On the other side, Russias deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyansky told the council that most probably not since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 has our planet been so close to a global conflict as today.
He claimed the world has ended up in such a dangerous situation because the U.S. and its allies are striving to maintain their dominance in the world through NATO and the European Union and they are dragging themselves into war with Russia in order to keep afloat the anti-Russia project in Ukraine.
Polyansky claimed Russias military action in Ukraine complies with the U.N. Charter, claiming it is in self-defense and that its forces are winning.
U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood countered that Russias war of aggression will fail, Ukraine will prevail, and Russia just needs to end this destabilizing rhetoric and nuclear saber-rattling.
The United States announced $424 million in new aid for displaced and hungry Sudanese (Ebrahim HAMID) (Ebrahim HAMID/AFP/AFP)
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres voiced concern Wednesday over "escalation" in Sudan's conflict to the country's army chief when they met on the sidelines of a diplomatic gathering in New York.
Sudan has been high on the agenda at the UN's centerpiece meeting this week, with the dire humanitarian situation and refugee crisis dominating discussions on the war that broke out in April last year.
The conflict between two rival generals -- the head of the army, and the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) -- has so far displaced more than 10 million people, a fifth of Sudan's population, both within the country and across borders.
"People in Sudan have endured 17 months of hell, and the suffering continues to grow," said the UN's top relief official Joyce Msuya.
A UN-backed assessment has warned of the risk of widespread famine in Sudan on a scale not seen anywhere in the world in decades.
"The secretary-general expressed deep concern about the escalation of the conflict in the Sudan, which continues to have a devastating impact on the Sudanese civilians and risks a regional spillover," said a UN readout of Guterres's meeting with General Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan.
The United States, European Union, France and Germany in a joint statement after talks among their ministers urged an immediate ceasefire and negotiations, and voiced alarm over foreign interference.
All foreign powers should "refrain from providing military support to the warring parties," they said after broader talks that included the United Arab Emirates, widely considered the top backer of the RSF.
- 'Apocalyptic' conditions -
The United States earlier Wednesday announced $424 million in new aid for displaced and hungry Sudanese as it urged others to ramp up efforts for one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
The assistance includes $175 million with which the US will buy some 81,000 metric tons of surplus food from its own farmers to feed people in and around Sudan, American officials said.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told a UN event that the world must scale up its efforts "massively" as she regretted that many were ignoring "a catastrophe of truly unfathomable proportions."
"As we sit here today, more than 25 million Sudanese face acute hunger. Many are in famine, some reduced to eating leaves and dirt to stave off hunger pangs -- but not starvation," she said.
"This humanitarian catastrophe is a man-made one -- brought on by a senseless war that has wrought unspeakable violence and by heartless blockades of food, water and medicine for those made victims of it," Thomas-Greenfield said.
"The rape and torture, ethnic cleansing, weaponization of hunger -- it is utterly unconscionable," she said.
She made a new appeal to let assistance into El-Fasher, which has been besieged by the RSF as the paramilitary force seeks a complete takeover of the western Darfur region.
The UN's refugees chief Filippo Grandi warned Wednesday that "conditions are apocalyptic" in Sudan.
"If people don't die because of bullets, they starve to death. If they manage to survive, they must face disease or floods or the threat of sexual violence and other horrifying abuse, which if perpetrated in other places would make daily headlines," he said.
The World Health Organization said this month at least 20,000 people have been killed. But some estimates are far higher, with the US envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, saying that up to 150,000 people may have died -- far more than in the war in Gaza.
sct-gw/bfm
MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) If you are in Manhattan, you might want to consider avoiding Midtown East entirely.
Hundreds of dignitaries and world leaders are in the city for the 79th United Nations General Assembly, resulting in numerous road closures and traffic congestion in the area.
More Local News
Today President Joe Biden addressed the UN General Assembly for the final time. His motorcade brought traffic in and around UN headquarters to a standstill Tuesday.
Meanwhile, outside the UN, protestors gathered to draw the attention of the world leaders gathered inside, speaking out against the Iranian presidents treatment of women and his address.
Were here to support the voices of the Iranian people. We live in a democracy but we have to support the people who are crying out for democracy in their own country, said Azadeh Sami of the Organization of Iranian American Communities.
Head of United Nations calls global situation unsustainable as annual meeting of leaders opens
To keep those inside and outside safe, the NYPD and federal agencies bolstered security though they say there is no credible threat to the city. Bomb units, officers with long guns, and drone technology are all being utilized.
Its going well, Tarik Sheppard, Deputy Commissioner of Public Information told PIX11 News. There is no better partner than the New York Division of Secret Service and Special Agent. We are definitely up to the task and we will keep people safe.
Street closures run from 6th Avenue to the FDR from 34th to 60th Street.
Some locals and businesses in the area welcome the extra activity. Theres a traffic jam but its good for business, said Madan KC, a manager at Freshfood Center.
Bumper-to-bumper traffic is expected to last until the end of the week.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
NEW YORK United Nations officials who have long worried about the return of former President Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency are experiencing a rare feeling now that Vice President Kamala Harris is in the race.
Its not joy. Its not excitement. Its definitely not confidence.
Its a word some struggle to say as if they fear jinxing it: Hope.
Its a cautious hope, one U.N. staffer rushed to qualify. We are all biting our nails until the very end and watching with quite a bit of stress.
The U.S. election is a key topic of discussion among the many officials and diplomats in New York this week for the U.N. General Assemblys annual meeting of world leaders. This is an internationally minded set well aware of the influence the U.S. president has on the rest of the world, and Harris is widely believed to be more friendly to the U.N. community than Trump, who is skeptical at best toward multilateral institutions.
Some here are talking about the day-to-day details of the campaign. After all, as one European diplomat put it, these are people who are mainly the good liberal elite, who read The New York Times, and they're like, Oh, have you seen the polling this morning?
Trump and Harris are both meeting with world leaders who are in the States for the U.N. meeting, though neither candidate is making it a centerpiece of their week. Harris held a fundraiser in New York on Sunday, and shes meeting with some heads of state who stop by Washington, but shes spending much of the week in swing states, such as Pennsylvania. Trump has said hell be in the city later in the week, but, like Harris, his schedule is often in flux. Some world leaders may meet the candidates in spots other than New York or Washington. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is among the few who could get an audience with both candidates.
The global anxiety at the U.N. is indicative of how urgently the world is watching the U.S. election and how high the stakes are for multilateral institutions.
It just feels as if the world has pressed a pause button, waiting for the U.S. to decide its international fork in the road on Nov. 5, said Heather Conley, a former State Department official now with the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a D.C.-based think tank. Until world leaders understand which way the U.S. goes, itll be hard for them to plan whats next.
Many diplomats gathered here this week worry about Trumps America First, go-it-alone mentality and fear that in a potential second term, he will find new ways to disengage and defund United Nations bodies and initiatives. Such moves will make it harder for U.N. diplomats, aid workers and others affiliated with the institution to do their jobs, although many concede that the U.N. needs reforms to be more effective.
Even if some of the diplomats hail from countries that are avowed U.S. adversaries, they largely believe in the need for international institutions such as the United Nations. And the U.S. is seen as a critical player on transnational challenges that require cross-border cooperation, such as climate change and pandemics.
In his earlier term, Trump moved to withdraw the U.S. from the U.N.s World Health Organization during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also slashed funding for the U.N. agency that deals with Palestinian refugees and quit the U.N. cultural organization, UNESCO, over concerns that it was biased against Israel. (That said, Congress can limit Trumps cuts.)
Like outgoing President Joe Biden, Harris is a believer in alliances and forums such as the United Nations. This is of special comfort to Americas closest friends, who are watching as she has given Democrats momentum since replacing Biden on the ticket.
As far as diplomats from U.S. allies, of course theres a spring in their step, one U.N. analyst said. A Harris presidency will mean four more years of a full and active embrace of multilateralism as opposed to hanging by your nails, trying to save what you can save.
Still, everyone remembers the shock of Trumps 2016 victory, and they stress that theyre prepared for either outcome this time. We dont want to be too hopeful, too excited, and then you get slapped, the U.N. staffer said.
The staffer, analyst and others were granted anonymity to candidly discuss sensitive political issues. Some interviewees were not authorized to talk to reporters about the matter.
Presidential candidates have in the past swung by New York during the U.N. event. In 2016, both Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and then-GOP nominee Trump were present, meeting with people such as Egyptian ruler Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Such visits give the candidates a chance to draw headlines and show off some foreign policy chops as they meet with world leaders. New York is also a key fundraising base for both Republicans and Democrats. But stumbles can often be magnified as well.
By the time Clinton and Trump arrived in New York in 2016, they had been campaigning for many months and were well-known to voters. For Harris and Trump today, any minute spent away from the campaign trail could cost votes in a tight race. Harris, for one, is still trying to introduce herself to many voters, especially in swing states.
With the polls so tight I think it might be a distraction for Harris to stop by the U.N. General Assembly, said Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group. The last thing she needs is to appear overconfident or to be prioritizing glad-handing with foreign ministers rather than working the campaign trail.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, a man accustomed to dealing with a wide range of personalities and egos, isnt too worried about a Trump return to the White House. He believes he got along fine with the Republican during his earlier presidency, U.N. analysts said.
Guterres has been pushing U.N. arms to take steps to safeguard their budgets for reasons that dont have anything to do with Trump but which could be a good buffer in case he decides to pull any funding, U.N. experts and diplomats said.
Diplomats and others in New York this week stressed that while they know a fair amount about Trump, Harris is still something of a mystery to them.
They wonder, for instance, what her policy will be when it comes to the Israel-Hamas war; this is an especially sore subject among the U.N. crowd because the war has killed more than 220 U.N. staffers nearly all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
One African diplomat said the continents delegation has been underwhelmed so far by both U.S. presidential candidates.
The diplomat noted that Harris progressive views, especially on issues such as LGBTQ+ rights, may not always play well in African countries. The Democrat shouldn't assume African leaders will automatically support her, despite her Black ancestry and despite the insults Trump hurled at African countries when he was president, the diplomat said.
Either way, the U.S. race is fascinating to watch, the diplomat said. It seems as if America's become a little bit of a spectacle.
Robbie Gramer contributed to this report.
PEMBROKE, N.C. (WBTW) The University of North Carolina at Pembroke sits near the top of U.S. News and World Reports 2025 Best Colleges rankings, the school announced on Tuesday.
In addition to being a top 20 public university in the South and among the top 10 for social mobility, it debuted at 39 for best value schools within the region. Its also 18th in best colleges for veterans.
Since its founding, UNCP has been committed to providing access, opportunity and an exceptional education, and Im proud to see our efforts recognized in these rankings, Chancellor Gary Cummings said in a statement.
U.S. News and World Report evaluates 1,500 national colleges and universities on 17 measures of academic quality. The South region comprises Alabama, the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
UNCP Trustee Jim Hyler said its inclusion as one of the regions best highlights the schools ongoing efforts at creating an environment of academic excellence at a reasonable cost.
UNCP has a long-standing reputation as an institution dedicated to advancing the lives of its graduates and demonstrating the transformational power of education, he said.
* * *
Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
Under the Dome: Mark Robinsons lawyer, and what the latest poll results show
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson says he didnt write the posts that have upended his campaign for governor. Now several fellow Republicans are calling on Robinson to back that up with proof.
If he cant prove it, said Brad Briner, the GOP nominee for treasurer, he should leave the race.
If he cant prove it, said Hal Weatherman, the partys nominee for lieutenant governor, he will lose.
Robinson says hes working on getting that proof. He announced Tuesday that he has hired a law firm to investigate the claims in a bombshell CNN story that he posted racist, sexually explicit and antisemitic comments, Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi reports.
Attorney Jesse Binnall, who has worked for former President Donald Trump, says he will get to the bottom of the allegations.
Welcome to the Under the Dome newsletter. Heres more from the politics team and Stephanie Loder, correspondent.
Latest polling on governor and presidential races
Elon University tested the temperatures of 800 voters in North Carolina regarding both the races for governor and for president.
The poll showed the presidential race is neck and neck. Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein is way ahead of his Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
Danielle Battaglia reports that the Elon Poll was taken a week before the Robinson campaign scandal broke.
Professor Jason Husser, director of the Elon Poll, described in a news release the importance of the poll in the battleground state, saying, what happens over the next six weeks in North Carolina could determine who leads the United States for the next four years.
Some takeaways from the poll:
In the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris scored a 1-point advantage over former President Donald Trump , 46% to 45%.
The governors race showed Stein leading Robinson 49% to 35%.
Attack ads on lawmakers in contested districts
ESG, or an investing approach that takes into account a companys environmental, social, and governance policies, was put into the bullseye by the GOP during last years legislative session.
Now, in campaign season, an advocacy group is vocally defending the practice. Unlocking Americas Future, an advocacy group that defends climate-focused investing, has launched a campaign in North Carolina targeting lawmakers in contested districts who were against ESG practices, particularly lawmakers who sponsored House Bill 750.
This bill, which passed into law last year over Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers veto, prohibits state entities from accounting for ESG factors when making employment decisions.
A UAF spokesperson said the groups campaign includes a six-figure digital ad buy targeting constituents of Republican Reps. Bill Ward, Allen Chesser and Ken Fontenot, and others, saying they have sided with out-of-state billionaires and right-wing extremist groups instead of the constituents they claim to represent. Chesser, Fontenot and Ward are three of many sponsors of HB 750.
The districts targeted are:
House District 24: This Nash and Wilson county race is between Democrat Dante Pittman and Fontenot, a first-term lawmaker.
House District 25: This Nash County race is between Democrat Lorenza Wilkins , Libertarian Nick Taylor and Chesser, a first-term lawmaker.
House District 5: This Gates County race is between Ward and Democrat Howard Hunter III.
The ads will be running this week through Oct. 5th, according to a UAF spokesperson.
UAF has launched attack ads against Republicans in various states.
Heres what else the Under the Dome politics team has been working on:
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance was asked on Monday at a Charlotte campaign stop to comment about the CNN report on Robinson. The Charlotte Observers Mary Ramsey reports Vances response was: What (Robinson) said or didnt say is ultimately between him and the people of North Carolina. Robinson was endorsed by Trump, but the GOP presidential nominee hasnt mentioned him since the scandal.
Korie Dean reports on which North Carolina universities have bragging rights following the release on Tuesday of U.S. News & World Reports annual Best College rankings. Spoiler alert: Duke University moved up one place nationally to tie for the No. 6 spot nationwide.
Heres what our colleagues at other media outlets are reporting:
WRAL has posted an interview with former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory about the exodus of campaign staffers from Lt. Gov. Mark Robinsons gubernatorial run. He says Its probably the most weve ever seen.
MSNBC interviewed Sen. Raphael Warnock , a Democrat who is pastor of the Atlanta church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was also once a pastor. Warnock says Robinson is white supremacy in blackface, and the antithesis of everything that Dr. King represented. The people of North Carolina deserve better, Warnock said.
Family and friends of inmates at a Butner federal prison, Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Butner II, north of Durham, want to know why they havent been able to visit since Sept. 6, according to a WRAL report.
Federal investigators arrested Oran Alexander Routh, of Greensboro, son of the suspected gunman in the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, after they found hundreds of files depicting child sexual abuse in a search of his home, the Associated Press is reporting.
VOTER GUIDE
In the latest candidate questionnaires from our 2024 NC Voter Guide, see what candidates for state auditor have to say about the issues, and learn more about their biographies. Three candidates for that job answered our questions:
Dave Boliek, Republican
Jessica Holmes, Democrat
Bob Drach, Libertarian
Check your inbox tomorrow for more questionnaires, and lots more #ncpol news.
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(Bloomberg) -- UniCredit SpA spoke with German officials about building a stake in Commerzbank AG before Berlin began selling its shares in the firm earlier this month, adding to the confusion around Germanys position that it was unaware the move would be coming.
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Officials from UniCredit flagged their interest after Germany announced on Sept. 3 that it would conduct a share sale and before the execution on Sept. 10, according to people familiar with the outreach.
Those talks didnt happen at the top level of the German government, some of the people said, who asked not to be named discussing the private information.
A UniCredit spokesperson declined to comment. A spokesperson from the Italian foreign ministry declined to comment.
An official from Germanys finance ministry said UniCredit, along with other investors, expressed interest in the sale on Sept. 4, and they were referred to the finance agency. There were no more announcements from the Italian firm about bids and further plans related to Commerzbank, nor were existing shareholdings or derivative instruments disclosed, said the official.
The nature of how UniCredit rapidly acquired a major stake in Commerzbank has become a tense political topic, threatening to disrupt relations between Berlin and Rome. While Germany says it was caught off guard and has criticized the way UniCredit purchased the shares, the Italian government and the banks chief executive officer, Andrea Orcel, defended the move, with the CEO on Wednesday calling it a test case for Europe.
Orcel used the government sale to buy a 4.5% stake in Commerzbank and add it to a similar-sized holding he had built up quietly beforehand, partly through derivatives. He later expanded his economic ownership to about 21% by purchasing more financial instruments, effectively making UniCredit the largest shareholder ahead of Germany.
Berlin has said it was surprised by the move. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has come under fire from opposition parties over the situation, has labeled UniCredits actions unfriendly. The government has also said its suspending further Commerzbank share sales, with Finance Ministry Christian Lindner explicitly linking that decision to the style of the Italian banks approach.
Orcel has said that the German government was aware of his intentions with respect to Commerzbank and it shouldnt have been surprised when UniCredit submitted a bid for the countrys stake in the lender. He also said on Wednesday that there were contacts between UniCredit and stakeholders ahead of that sale.
UniCredits communications with the German government earlier this month came on top of feelers extended over the last year when representatives from the lender including Orcel himself expressed interest in Commerzbank, said the people. Some of those meetings were between Orcel and German government officials from the chancellery and the finance ministry, and facilitated by the Italian embassy in Berlin, said the people.
The German government saw those contacts as broad overtures and was surprised when UniCredit purchased the stake, the people said. Berlin was unaware that Orcel had already built up a holding in Commerzbank in the weeks preceding its sale and aimed the placement at financial investors who would each buy small portions.
The morning of the sale, the investment bank handling the sale JPMorgan Chase & Co. sounded out possible investors including UniCredit as the sole strategic investor because it had been flagged by the German side that the Italian lender had previously flagged its interest, one of the people said. JPMorgan also informed the German side on Sept. 10 that UniCredit had built a stake before the formal start of the sale process, one of the people said.
The government bodies overseeing the Commerzbank stake and its sale the German finance ministry and the finance agency were reluctant to engage with potential investors once they had announced the sales plan, the people said. Instead, they referred interested parties to JPMorgan as they were concerned any contacts could be seen as favoring some investors over others, which would breach European Union rules.
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Daniela Cavallo, chairwoman of the Works Council of the Volkswagen Group, said 'profitability and job security are corporate goals of equal rank' at the company (Ronny HARTMANN) (Ronny HARTMANN/AFP/AFP)
Volkswagen bosses and workers' representatives started crunch talks Wednesday about the ailing German auto titan's drastic cost-cutting plans, with thousands of staff staging a protest and unions vowing "bitter resistance".
Europe's biggest carmaker shocked employees early this month when it said it was weighing the unprecedented step of closing factories in Germany as well as deep job cuts.
The move has triggered fury from staff representatives, who accuse VW's corporate leaders of mismanaging the 10-brand group and putting profits above building a sustainable future for the manufacturer.
The trouble at Volkswagen has come as a heavy blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government at a time the domestic economy is already struggling.
After Volkswagen's bombshell announcement, negotiations on a new pay deal were brought forward by a month.
Ahead of the talks in Hanover, Thorsten Groeger, lead negotiator for union IG Metall, told assembled workers that it was the first time in decades that management was weighing "site closures and mass redundancies".
He charged that VW's management, which had already moved to axe a decades-old job protection agreement, was seeking to scare staff as they attempt to push through cuts.
"Anyone who sows fear and gambles with the future of our colleagues will reap bitter resistance," vowed Groeger. "You don't build the future with fear -- you destroy it with fear."
- 'Serious situation' -
Daniela Cavallo -- head of the powerful works council at VW -- warned that unions still maintain a "strong influence" at Volkswagen.
"At Volkswagen, profitability and job security are corporate goals of equal rank," she said in a speech, as some 3,000 workers rallied outside the building in Hanover, waving IG Metall flags and banners.
She conceded that VW was "currently experiencing severe problems on the economic side," but added that employees had shown themselves "willing to compromise" in the past.
Volkswagen has been hit hard by high manufacturing costs, a stuttering switch to electric vehicles, and rising competition in key market China.
Arne Meiswinkel, who is leading negotiations for Volkswagen, said the carmaker faced a "serious situation".
"We are at risk of being overtaken by international competition," he said.
"We therefore have to take action. To remain competitive, we have to comprehensively restructure Volkswagen together now."
The first round of talks Wednesday aimed at assessing "the initial situation," he added.
The negotiations will set the terms of employment for some 120,000 workers in Germany, most of whom work at the core VW brand.
The Volkswagen Group also includes a range of other brands, from Seat and Skoda to Porsche and Audi.
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IG Metall union members demonstrate in Hanover, where talks with Volkswagen's management are to start (Ronny HARTMANN) (Ronny HARTMANN/AFP/AFP)
Unions on Wednesday criticised Volkswagen for failing to make specific proposals in the first round of talks over the German auto giant's drastic cost-cutting plan, as thousands of workers picketed the meeting.
The discussion with management was "disappointing, even sobering", Thorsten Groeger, lead negotiator for the IG Metall union, told reporters.
Volkswagen "did not concretise its proposal and did not sketch out a concept for the future" in the opening talks, Groeger said.
"Plant closures and mass layoffs remain on the table," Groeger said.
Europe's biggest carmaker shocked its 300,000 employees in Germany this month when it said it was considering closing factories in the country -- a potential first in the group's 87-year history.
The move sparked staff fury. Representatives accuse VW's corporate leaders of mismanaging the 10-brand group and putting profits above building a sustainable future for the manufacturer.
After Volkswagen's bombshell announcement, negotiations on a new pay deal were brought forward by a month, with talks held Wednesday in Hanover.
Outside the negotiation room, VW employees from plants across Germany carried banners criticising management and created a deafening chorus of whistles to show their disapproval.
- 'Uncertainty' -
The situation at Volkswagen was "serious", the management's lead negotiator, Arne Meiswinkel, said after the talks.
The manufacturer has been hit hard by high manufacturing costs, a stuttering switch to electric vehicles, and rising competition in key market China.
"We are at risk of being overtaken by international competition," he said. "We therefore have to take action. To remain competitive, we have to comprehensively restructure Volkswagen together now."
Volkswagen rejected the union's proposal of a seven-percent pay rise for employees, Meiswinkel said.
"We need to lower costs, not raise them," he said, adding that the group's savings programme would "require a contribution from employees.
At the demonstration outside, Volkswagen worker Diana Hein, 47, told AFP the shock announcement had created a sense of "uncertainty" among employees.
"When they close one factory now, in two or three years it will be the same situation again," said Hein, a union representative at the group's flagship factory in Wolfsburg.
Management needed to be more "transparent" about their plans, she said.
"We don't have a concept for the future at the moment -- only savings plans," said Jan-Soeren Luehr, 37, who also works at the Wolfsburg plant and is active in the union.
- Strike threat -
The negotiations will set the terms of employment for workers in Germany, some 120,000 of whom work at the core VW brand.
The Volkswagen Group also includes Seat, Skoda, Porsche and Audi.
Stephan Weil, premier of Lower Saxony state, which is a major shareholder in Volkswagen, counselled against large-scale job cuts.
"We expect all those involved to find a joint way forward," Weil told deputies in the regional parliament in Hanover.
Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said this week he wanted to agree a "package" of measures by the end of the year to shore up the struggling carmaker.
But workers representatives said Volkswagen had failed to put any proposals on the table.
"I expected that if the company says it wants to resolve the situation quickly... they will tell us what they are thinking about," Daniela Cavallo, head of the powerful works council, told reporters.
The lack of clarity meant that "concern will increase" among employees, Cavallo said.
Groeger reminded management that the industrial peace obligation on workers would elapse at the end of November.
"As we have seen today, the workforce is willing to go out into the streets for our demands," he said.
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Two passengers aboard a United Airlines flight, on descent into San Francisco, suffered injuries as the pilot maneuvered to avoid a midair collision after receiving a collision avoidance system resolution advisory from air traffic control. File Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI
Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Two passengers aboard a United Airlines flight, on descent into San Francisco, suffered injuries as the pilot maneuvered to avoid a midair collision.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, one passenger was seriously injured and another suffered minor injuries last Thursday after pilots on UA flight 2428 from Newark, N.J., responded to a traffic collision avoidance system resolution advisory from the Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center Airspace.
The Boeing 757-200 "slowed its descent to account for another aircraft at a lower altitude," United Airlines said in a statement. The maneuver is a "last defense against midair collisions," according to the National Business Aviation Association.
United, which stated the seat belt sign had been turned on, said "two customers, including one who was out of their seat at the time, reported possible injuries and were transported to a hospital."
The airline did not release the extent of the passengers' injuries, but audio from LiveATC.net reveals the pilots declared a medical emergency to air traffic controllers in Oakland, saying "someone might have broken an ankle and there's passengers that got hurt when we had an RA."
The incident last Thursday took place at 31,000 feet, about 70 miles north of San Francisco, according to FlightRadar24, which shows a Southwest Airlines flight about 3,000 feet below the United flight and a SkyWest flight about 1,000 feet lower.
Pilots are required to respond immediately to collision resolution advisories. The FAA is investigating.
Adobes VIP Marketplace has deployed Ingram Micros Xvantage platform to streamline transactions for Australian resellers, offering a unified digital experience across hardware, software, and subscription services.
The initiative comes as Adobe recently announced it will retire the VIP Buying Program for the commercial market segment by 31 May 2025.
Effective 1 June 2025, all new and renewal orders for customers must be transacted through the VIP Marketplace.
Xvantage combines advanced automation capabilities with AI-driven functions, intuitive upsell features, and actionable business insights.
It simplifies the management of subscriptions, optimising accounting processes, and helping to prevent license expirations.
The platform also features tools for revenue prediction and tracking, along with an autogenerated renewals function that helps secure customer relationships by providing timely notifications to avoid service disruptions.
Additionally, the enhanced quote management system allows partners to tailor offerings, reduce SLA times, and maintain full visibility into all quotes.
Ingram Micro director of cloud, cybersecurity, and hybrid business Trent Gomersall described Xvantage as the companys digital twin.
Leveraging modern technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Large Language Models (LLM), Xvantage delivers a personalised and curated experience for customers, he said.
This allows us to move from transactions to interactions, focusing our conversations with partners on areas that support their business objectives, rather than operational tasks.
"Ingrams expertise, combined with the power of Xvantage, will help ensure a smooth transition for our partners in Australia and New Zealand, empowering them to maximise the benefits of the VIP Marketplace, concluded Adobe senior director digital media ANZ Jo Rought.
We need to be united; Community expresses concerns at Springfield City Commission meeting
People throughout Springfield gathered for the City Commission meeting Tuesday night.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, this is the first City Commission meeting since Springfield gained national attention for its influx of immigrants.
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State troopers, Clark County Sheriffs deputies, and police from as far away as Cincinnati were inside the meeting.
Some residents told News Center 7 that they do not feel safe right now, especially when it comes to driving and kids in school.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine recently called in state troopers for increased patrols and security on the roads and in the schools.
Weve been wondering why traffic laws arent being enforced for migrant people in the area, Springfield resident Bill Monnigan said.
News Center 7s Taylor Robertson attended the meeting and heard a lot of people calling for unity in their city.
They (kids) need guidance, they need help, they need programs put in place. Nobody doing that, thats the real problem, Gyasi Jones said.
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Kids have no youth-based initiative, theres nothing to do for the kids, Springfield resident Gyasi Jones said.
One by one, community members let the city commission know how they feel.
We need to embrace the idea that the City of Springfield needs to be unified, we need to be united, Haitian representative Jacob Peagan said. We need to come together as a city, come together as Americans to stop the nonsense. Lets move forward with Springfield.
Some residents said one way to move forward is to start focusing on issues involving the kids in Springfield.
The Haitians gonna be okay, homeless is gonna be okay. Theyve been homeless, theyve been Haitian. The kids are the youth, thats their future, Jones said. They need guidance, they need help. They need programs put in place. Nobodys doing that, thats the real problem.
Jones child is a senior at Springfield High School. He said they have been scared to go to school after dozens of bomb threats forced students to evacuate.
Im literally thinking about keeping him home, just homeschooling for the rest of the year. Its insane, our kids aint safe because the rhetoric being swirled on social media. Its insane, its got to stop, Jones said.
Springfield City Schools Superintendent Robert Hill wants parents to know its safe to take their kids to school.
State troopers will be at each Springfield City School until DeWine thinks it is no longer necessary.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have both agreed to participate in separate town-hall-style events with Univision next month even as the two candidates squabble over meeting for another presidential debate before the November election.
The events Trump will appear in Miami on Oct. 8, Harris in Las Vegas on Oct. 10 will be moderated by journalist Enrique Acevedo. Both candidates will face questions on their policies and how they relate to Latino voters.
There are more than 36 million Hispanics eligible to vote in the U.S., making them the largest minority in the country, with the power to influence the outcome of the race for the White House and the future of the nation, Daniel Coronell, president of Noticias Univision, said in a statement.
Noticias Univision serves as a two-way bridge: we bring every voice to our community while conveying the concerns of Latinos to those in power, Coronell added.
"There are more than 36 million Hispanics eligible to vote in the U.S., making them the largest minority in the country," the president of Noticias Univision said in a statement. Alex Brandon/Associated Press
Nevada remains a key prize in the fight for battleground states as Harris and Trump remain in a tight race.
The two candidates have thus far been unable to agree on a second debate after Harris strong performance at their first meeting earlier this month. But both are working on their appeals to voters in more individualized settings. Axios reported this week that Harris and Trump are both in conversation with 60 Minutes for interviews that would air back-to-back next month.
Their running mates, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz (Minn.) and Republican Sen. JD Vance (Ohio), are scheduled to face off on Oct. 1 in Minneapolis.
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Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), speaks during an interview with AFP in New York on September 24, 2024. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees is facing a triple crisis as Israeli strikes on Lebanon add to the strain it is facing in Gaza and the West Bank, its chief Philippe Lazzarini told AFP. UNRWA, founded in 1949, provides services, including education and healthcare, for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. With three of its area of operations turning into active frontlines, the embattled agency grappling with a severe financial shortfall is poised to come under even more pressure, said Lazzarini. (ANGELA WEISS) (ANGELA WEISS/AFP/AFP)
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees is bracing for a triple crisis as Israeli strikes on Lebanon add to the strain it is facing in Gaza and the West Bank, its chief told AFP on Tuesday.
UNRWA, founded in 1949, provides services, including education and healthcare, for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
With three of its area of operations turning into "active frontlines," the embattled agency already grappling with a severe financial shortfall is poised to come under even more pressure, said UNRWA's Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
"We already have Gaza, we already have the West Bank, so we have two fields of operation which have become active frontlines," he said.
"We (now) also have Lebanon, which would mean that basically three... contexts of operation will become humanitarian emergencies," he added, calling the situation a "triple tragedy."
Faced with mounting Israeli strikes, UNRWA has paused some operations in Lebanon as it converts its schools into shelters for hundreds of people displaced from the south of the country.
Displacement soared after Israel pummelled Hezbollah targets on Monday, killing at least 558 people in the deadliest day of violence in the country since its 1975-90 civil war, according to local authorities.
"The fear is that... we are going into a full-fledged war," Lazzarini told AFP as world leaders gathered at the United Nations for its annual diplomatic event.
"Another concern is that parts of Lebanon becomes like Gaza."
- 'More strain' -
The October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the ensuing Israeli war on Gaza has piled threats on UNRWA, the only UN organization created to aid a specific refugee population.
At least 222 UNRWA staff have been killed and two-thirds of the agency's facilities in Gaza have been damaged and destroyed since the start of the Gaza war.
"Depending on how the war will be unfolding in Lebanon, we have thousands of staff there, it is not excluded... that staff will also be killed," Lazzarini said.
A new front in Lebanon "will put much more strain on us. The needs will increase and we will also need more support from the donors," the UNRWA chief added.
The agency saw a series of funding cuts earlier this year after Israel accused more than a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7 attack by Hamas.
Most donors have since resumed funding with the exception of the United States, UNRWA's largest financial backer.
"UNRWA has enough funding until the end of October," Lazzarini said.
With an $80 million shortfall for 2024, Lazzarini is hosting a donor conference on the sidelines of this UN General Assembly this week to shore up pledges from donors.
The main outcome the UNRWA chief is seeking is "to make sure that we can operate till the end of the year" but also to secure longer term commitments from donors.
"I'm very concerned about 2025 because there is a certain number of traditional donors who will go through austerity measures and who will reduce their oversea budget," he said, without naming any state.
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A US ally in the Pacific says it wants to keep a new American missile system that China got all 'dramatic' about 'forever'
The Philippines has expressed interest in keeping a new US missile system deployed indefinitely.
China has urged the US to remove the weapon and denounced potential plans to deploy it in Japan.
The US Army's MRC is a versatile new ground-based missile system.
A top Philippine general wants a new US missile system to remain in the country "forever" to boost its defenses and deterrence capabilities.
The American weapon, the Mid-Range Capability missile system, has drawn China's ire. Beijing has repeatedly demanded the MRC be removed from the Pacific and has denounced any future plans by the US to deploy the system to other regional allies.
Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, told reporters Wednesday that he'd expressed interest in keeping the MRC system in the country "forever" because "we need it for our defense," local media reported.
The MRC, also known as Typhon, is the US Army's new ground-based missile system capable of firing both the Standard Missile 6 and Tomahawk Land Attack missile. The Typhon system fills a gap in the US arsenal, offering a particularly versatile new land-based intermediate-range missile option as US rivals develop and field similar capabilities.
The weapon's emergence and overseas deployment come amid what is looking like a new arms race after the collapse of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which banned nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 to 5,500 kilometers.
China has repeatedly pushed back against the deployment of MRC systems in the Pacific region. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Taylor DiMartino/Released
Brawner's comments come as two Philippine officials told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity that Washington and Manila have agreed to keep the missile system deployed indefinitely in order to deter further aggression from China, which has been in near-constant conflict with the Philippines for months in the contested South China Sea.
The US deployed the weapon overseas for the first time in a landmark deployment to the Philippines in April for a joint military exercise, and it has remained there since. Its ongoing deployment has angered China, which has repeatedly demanded the missile system be removed and accused the US of fueling an arms race.
The foreign secretary of the Philippines, Enrique Manalo, said in August that his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, had expressed concern over Typhon during talks at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting in Laos a month earlier. Manalo said China made the situation "very dramatic" despite reassurances.
US officials have also expressed interest in placing a Typhon system in Japan, Christine Wormuth, secretary of the US Army, said earlier this month, and that has only further agitated Beijing.
Last week, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry urged the US to abandon its plans, saying that putting Typhon in Japan would ultimately "heighten arms race, exacerbate regional tensions, threaten peace and security in this region, and disrupt global strategic balance and stability."
China's Rocket Force, the missile arm of its military, boasts a substantial arsenal of medium- and intermediate-range systems that put US assets and bases, as well as those of allies and partners, in the Indo-Pacific at risk.
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The United States is preparing a military aid package for Ukraine worth over $8 billion, Reuters reported on Sept. 25, citing two U.S. officials.
The U.S. plans to announce the new aid package when President Volodymyr Zelensky visits the White House on Sept. 26, officials said.
U.S. President Joe Biden has been working with Congress to extend $5.8 billion in military funding for Ukraine before it expires at the end of September. A second announcement on Sept. 26 will allocate $2.4 billion under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
The second package will include munitions, anti-drone weapons, and material to support ammunition production in Ukraine, one of the officials told Reuters.
The U.S. is also expected to announce a $375 million aid package for Ukraine later on Sept. 25, ahead of Zelensky's visit, the officials said. The officials confirmed reports that this package will include a medium-range glide bomb known as the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW).
The missile has a range of up to 130 kilometers (81 miles) and can be dropped from F-16 fighter jets.
Zelensky is expected to visit the White House on Sept. 26 to present his victory plan for Ukraine to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Zelensky arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 22 and has spent the past week meeting with world leaders on the sidelines of the 79th U.N. General Assembly. He addressed the assembly on Sept. 25, calling on member nations to rally around Ukraine's peace formula.
Read also: There can be no just peace without Ukraine Zelenskys full speech at the UN General Assembly
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US to announce 'series of actions' supporting Ukraine, Biden says
The United States on Sept. 26 will announce "a series of actions to accelerate support" for Ukraine in its fight against Russia's full-scale invasion and future recovery, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sept. 25.
Biden convened with President Volodymyr Zelensky and other world leaders on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Sept. 25 to launch a Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine's Recovery and Reconstruction.
"I'm determined to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to prevail in its fight for survival," Biden said.
"Tomorrow, I will announce a series of actions to accelerate support for Ukraine's military."
The announcement will likely to include a package worth $8 billion in military assistance, Reuters reported earlier on Sept. 25.
Zelensky will visit the White House on Sept. 26 to outline his five-point victory plan for Ukraine to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden said that U.S. support will cover Ukraine's needs on the battlefield as well as its economic recovery.
"Ukraine's economy is resilient, and together, we can help Ukraine go from economic resilience to economic revival," he said.
Biden did not detail what type of military support the U.S. will announce during Zelensky's visit. Kyiv has been aggressively lobbying Washington to lift restrictions on the use of long-range U.S. weapons to strike military targets within Russia, a step the Biden administration has not yet been willing to take for fear of escalation with Moscow.
Ahead of Zelensky's White House visit, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine at a Security Council meeting on Sept. 25. The proposed amendments include treating "aggression by a non-nuclear state with the participation of a nuclear state" as a "joint attack" against Russia.
Read also: US to announce $8 billion military aid package when Zelensky visits White House, Reuters reports
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The US announced a $375 million aid package for Ukraine on Wednesday as the Biden administration pledged unwavering support to the war-torn country.
The aid package, which is nearly double the size of recent shipments, includes artillery ammunition, air defense, anti-tank missiles and more of the critical weapons and equipment the US has provided Ukraine.
Earlier Wednesday, President Joe Biden and other world leaders signed a Joint Declaration of Support for Recovery and Reconstruction of Ukraine, promising support in the future, in war and in peace. The declaration comes with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visiting the US for the United Nations General Assembly, as well as meetings with the White House.
In his address to the UN, Zelensky called on the world to stand against what he called Russias colonial war.
The world has already been through colonial wars and conspiracies of great powers at the expense of those who are small, the Ukrainian president said. Ukrainians will never accept why anyone in the world believes that such a brutal colonial past which suits no one today can be imposed on Ukraine now, instead of a normal, peaceful life.
Zelensky will visit Washington, DC, on Thursday, where he will meet Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. In his meetings, Zelensky has promised to unveil his victory plan to defeat Russia. The plan includes Kyivs long-stated request to use US-manufactured long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russia, an ask that the Biden administration has repeatedly denied. which the Biden administration has repeatedly denied.
On Wednesday, Biden promised to unveil a series of moves to support Ukraines military. The president said his administration is determined to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to prevail in its fight for survival.
Biden is also set to announce significant security assistance package for Ukraine on Thursday, sources familiar told CNN, including weapons and other capabilities.
The Biden administration has nearly $6 billion left in unused presidential drawdown authority that is set to expire at the end of the month. The authority allows the US to pull military arms and equipment directly from its own stockpiles to send to Ukraine. As CNN reported, the administration is expected to commit the remaining authority to Ukraine and send the aid shipments over the course of the next few months.
A shortage in excess stockpiles of weapons the US was willing to send Ukraine forced the Biden administration to announce smaller military aid packages of approximately $200 million over the last several months.
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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States will give a further $424 million in humanitarian help to the people of Sudan, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced on Wednesday.
War erupted in mid-April last year from a power struggle between the Sudanese army (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule.
"More than 25 million Sudanese face acute hunger. Many are in famine ... and some 11 million have fled their homes in what has become the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet, said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield.
"We must compel the warring parties to accept humanitarian pauses in al-Fashir, Khartoum, and other highly vulnerable areas, eliminate barriers to humanitarian access along all routes, and put down their weapons and come to the negotiating table," she said.
The announcement takes total U.S. funding since the war began to $2 billion, the U.S. mission to the U.N. said.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Howard Goller)
JERUSALEM As Israels air force continues to pound the Hezbollah terrorist movement in some of the most intense clashes since the 2006 war, United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSC) 1701 is facing new criticism for failing to disarm the Lebanon-based terrorist organization.
The U.S. and other world powers passed Resolution 1701 at the United Nations Security Council in 2006 in an attempt to prevent a third war between Israel and the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hezbollah. Israel fought Hezbollah in 1982 and in the summer of 2006.
Two key elements of Resolution 1701 have proved to be largely ineffective, according to experts on Lebanon and the U.N.
Hezbollah Bigger Challenge Than Hamas To Israel: Crown Jewel In The Iranian Empire Of Terror
The first part involved the 10,000 peacekeeping (with added personnel) U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) that was expanded in 2006 to aid the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in assuming military control over the region, replacing Hezbollah, between the Litani River and the southern border in Lebanon.
UNIFIL was tasked to work with the LAF to ensure the area was "free of any armed personnel, assets, and weapons." However, Hezbollahs growing absorption of the Lebanese state has turned it the de facto ruler over the country, according to many experts, or a heavily armed "state within a state."
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The second crucial element of 1701 was to disarm Hezbollah. Yet, the Lebanese terrorist entity has dramatically re-armed itself to the point where it now has at least 150,000 missiles and rockets aimed at Israel.
Israel Degrades Iran-backed Hezbollah Terrorists In Spectacular Pager Explosion Operation: Experts
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Argentinian Ambassador Cesar Mayoral raise their hands to vote at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Aug. 11, 2006. The U.N. Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1701 to halt fighting in Lebanon and deploy 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to southern Lebanon.
Walid Phares, who has advised U.S. presidential candidates, said 1701 is a "limited resolution and cannot work by itself." He added, "Everybody is hiding behind 1701 and cannot resolve the issue." He said even within the presence of UNIFIL, Hezbollah would come back.
Phares, who has extensively written on Hezbollah, proposed enforcement of the 2004 UNSC Resolution 1559 to compliment 1701 because it "expressly asked for a disarming and dismantling of Hezbollah as a militia. That is basically the comprehensive resolution that can serve the purpose of a cease-fire or of actually getting to peace."
United Nations peacekeeping forces travel along the main road leading to Lebanon's southern town of Naqura near the border with Israel on Oct. 27, 2022.
"The Lebanese opposition should be calling on the execution of 1559. What does that mean? The Lebanese government will help to disarm Hezbollah from the center, but that Lebanese government is controlled by Hezbollah, so that government cannot execute 1559. Who can do it? The Lebanese people themselves," he said.
Phares noted that some Lebanese Christians, Druze and Sunnis have been doing it themselves over the last few days by "refusing access to Hezbollah" in a number of their areas. "But they need someone to represent them."
Rich Goldberg, a former member of then-President Trumps National Security Council, told Fox News Digital, "This is a bipartisan American failure as much as it is a U.N. failure. The Bush administration signed off on 1701 with an obvious poison pill: that UNIFIL could only take action at the request of the Lebanese Armed Forces. No request ever came, no enforcement ever occurred, all while the U.S. pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into both UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces. We held all the cards and used none for 18 years, and Iran took full advantage."
"The lesson for today is that whatever comes after Israels campaign against Hezbollah, it cannot rely on UNIFIL or the Lebanese Armed Forces for verification or enforcement," said Goldberg, a senior adviser for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "The only party capable and willing to disarm Hezbollah is the Israel Defense Forces."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., echoed Goldbergs comments on Monday in the Senate chamber, "The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon allowed Hezbollah to build up massive stockpiles on Israel's border in clear, clear preparation for war."
Smoke rises above the southern suburbs of Beirut after an Israeli strike on Sept. 20, 2024.
Iran Tried To Influence Election By Sending Stolen Material From Trump Campaign To Bidens Camp, Fbi Says
"Why has the U.N. looked the other way as Hezbollah has expanded its corrosive influence over the institutions of Lebanons government?" he continued. "But setting aside the failures of the so-called international community, this past weekend once again cast a spotlight on Americas own naivete toward the glaring facts of Iran-backed war on our friend, Israel."
Hezbollah launched rocket attacks at Israel on Oct. 8, a day after its ally, Hamas, invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip and slaughtered nearly 1,200 people, including more than 30 Americans, and took about 250 hostages.
Middle East analyst and expert Tom Gross told Fox News Digital, "In many senses, Israel would be forgiven for never trusting the U.N. again. Its utter bias during this conflict, its eagerness to believe whatever fabrications Hamas and Hezbollah feed it, including wildly unreliable civilian death stats and false reports of mass starvation in Gaza, as well as its abysmal failure to enforce previous resolutions (including 1701) designed to stop rocket fire into Israel, mean that almost no one in Israel trusts the U.N."
On Monday, France requested an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting to address the Lebanon and Israel conflict.
"I have requested that an emergency meeting of the Security Council be held on Lebanon this week," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot announced. He urged all parties to "avoid a regional conflagration that would be devastating for everyone."
France had a colonial ruler presence in Lebanon from 1920 to 1946. Paris has vehemently opposed classifying all of Hezbollahs movement as a terrorist entity, in sharp contrast to Germany, Canada, Austria, the United Kingdom and many additional European and Latin American countries that have condemned Hezbollahs entire organization as a terrorist group.
When approached for comment about the alleged failure of 1701, the U.S. State Department referred Fox News Digital to remarks by U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood in late August at the Security Council to extend the UNIFIL mandate. He said at the time that "Hezbollah made the escalatory decision to bombard communities in northern Israel. And for the past 11 months, it has done so on nearly a daily basis. It is wrong that this council has yet to condemn Hezbollah for these repeated destabilizing actions, and we regret that a small minority of the council members blocked the council from doing so in this mandate renewal."
Wood added, "There is no dispute that Iran, in clear violation of the arms embargo in Resolution 1701, provides Hezbollah with the majority of the rockets, missiles and drones that are fired at Israel." He called for the "need to push for Resolution 1701s full implementation, including by establishing an area south of the Litani River that is free of any armed personnel, assets or weapons other than those of the Lebanese government and UNIFIL."
A statement released by UNIFIL on Monday noted, "It is essential to fully recommit to the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which is now more critical than ever to address the underlying causes of the conflict and ensure lasting stability."
Original article source: How a US-backed UN resolution failed to stop Hezbollah terror takeover: 'Bipartisan failure'
In an exclusive interview with AFP, Yalchin Rafiyev said he had received "positive signals" following recent high-level talks between the world's two largest economies that often position themselves as champions of the Global North and South in international talks (ALAIN JOCARD) (ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/AFP)
The United States and China are closing the divide on the contentious issue of international climate finance, raising hopes for a breakthrough at a crucial climate conference in Azerbaijan, according to the host country's chief negotiator.
In an interview with AFP, Yalchin Rafiyev said he had received "positive signals" following recent high-level talks between the world's two largest economies, which frequently assert themselves as leading voices for the Global North and South in international negotiations.
"There had been a very wide gap among the positions of the US and China," explained Rafiyev, who was speaking at the margins of the UN's annual high-level summit, and is tasked with steering negotiations between world leaders at the COP29 negotiations in Baku this November.
"This gap is now narrowing, and we see visible progress," added the 37-year-old diplomat, saying he saw a "softening" of stances on both sides.
While he declined to go into specifics, citing the need not to jeopardize delicate negotiations, he added: "That gives us an understanding that we may hope for a positive outcome in the COP29."
- Money talks -
While last year's COP28 summit in UAE struck a landmark deal to phase out fossil fuels, COP29 is charged with a new, daunting task: putting a price tag on how much developing nations will need to weather the mounting impacts of climate change and to transition to greener economies.
More than a decade ago, wealthy nations -- including the United States, European Union, Japan and others -- pledged to deliver $100 billion annually by 2020 to support developing countries.
But that goal was only achieved for the first time in 2022, and much of the funding came in the form of high-interest loans, drawing fierce criticism and accusations of broken promises.
India has called for $1 trillion annually, a ten-fold increase in the existing pledge.
Not only do developed countries view such figures as unrealistic, they are now advocating for oil-rich Gulf states and China to share the financial burden, arguing that the original list of donor countries is based on outdated 1990s development levels.
Rafiyev emphasized that COP29's benchmark for success would be reaching consensus on a final headline figure.
However, he declined to weigh in on the Global North's push to expand the pool of contributors, stressing the host country's need to stay neutral.
He also declined to specify when Azerbaijan, whose economy depends heavily on oil and gas extraction, would unveil its updated plans to meet the emissions reductions required by the Paris Agreement.
Although countries are not obligated to submit these plans until February 2025, many climate observers had hoped Azerbaijan would seize the opportunity at the UN General Assembly to show leadership by setting ambitious new targets.
Instead, Rafiyev said Azerbaijan would "do our best" to release its new climate strategy ahead of the Baku summit, and was coordinating with Brazil and the UAE - the next and previous COP hosts -- towards this goal.
- Human rights criticism -
Rafiyev brushed off suggestions that reliance on fossil fuels extraction made Azerbaijan an inappropriate venue for the climate summit.
"Our revenues from fossil fuels have been invested in the welfare of our people," he said, adding that Azerbaijan is now firmly focused on a greener future, signing on to a global pledge to reduce methane, a potent and long-acting greenhouse gas, and increasing its share of renewables in the energy mix.
Hosting the conference, he said, "has inspired us to accelerate our energy transition and strengthen our climate resilience."
But according to an independent scientific analysis by the Climate Action Tracker, Azerbaijan's current climate plans are "critically insufficient" and its emissions are set to rise 20 percent through 2030.
Azerbaijan has called for a global truce in conflicts during the summit, with Rafiyev pointing to research that attributes nearly six percent of global greenhouse gas emissions to military activity.
However, critics have labeled the appeal hypocritical, given the country's checkered human rights record and its military offensive last year to crush ethnic-Armenian separatists.
Rafiyev dismissed such accusations as "baseless" and "cynical."
"At the end of the day, what we are aspiring for is peace, and why should that be criticized?"
ia/sct/bgs
The US plans to announce billions of dollars for Ukraine in the coming days, committing the funding before it expires after Congress failed to include an extension for the aid in its stopgap measure to keep the government open, according to two defense officials and several congressional sources.
The first of the military aid packages, which is expected as soon as Wednesday, will total $375 million, according to the defense officials. From there, the value of the packages will rise sharply, with less than a week before the remainder of the authority expires. Although the packages will be announced in the near future, the shipment of weapons will be delayed because of dwindling stockpiles in the weapons and equipment that the US is willing to send Ukraine, as CNN previously reported.
With days left until the Ukraine aid authority expires, the Biden administration was still looking at a way to extend the authority through the end of the year. The plan requires the administration to obligate the funds to Ukraine before they expire at the end of the month, which would then give the US more time to announce specific aid packages.
We are committed to making sure Ukraine gets the resources Congress approved before the end of the Presidents term and we will have more details to provide soon, a third defense official said.
The Biden administration has nearly $6 billion left in whats known as presidential drawdown authority to deliver arms and equipment to Ukraine before it expires at the end of the month. The Pentagon was pushing Congress to extend the authority into the next fiscal year so that it would not expire, which would give the US more flexibility in its ability to provide critical supplies to support Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Congressional leaders were forced to leave the language out of the spending bill because of internal resistance from the House GOP, according to a person familiar with the matter. House Republicans remain deeply divided over funding for Ukraine.
The House is expected to easily approve the stopgap spending measure Wednesday and then leave Washington until after the November election. The Senate could take up the funding measure as early as late Wednesday or early Thursday the same day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to visit the US Capitol.
Zelensky has repeatedly called on the US and other countries to deliver more weapons to Ukraine and has pushed for the US to loosen its restrictions on the use of US weapons against targets deep inside Russia.
On Tuesday, Zelensky told the United Nations that Russia can only be forced into peace.
This war cant simply fade away, thats why this war cant be calmed by talks. Action is needed, Zelensky said.
CNN reported last week that the US was considering announcing large military aid packages to Ukraine that would be delivered over the course of months. In the past, military aid packages under presidential drawdown authority were often delivered within days or weeks.
But with billions in military aid set to expire, the US is expected to announce large overall aid package and space out the delivery of supplies and equipment over several months, turning a short-term supply line into a longer-term commitment.
There is every intention that we want to use every dollar and cent of that authority, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said at a press briefing last week.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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The Biden administration is expected to soon announce billions of dollars for Ukraine before a deadline to release the funding at the end of the month, according to multiple reports.
The approximately $5.8 billion in presidential drawdown authority (PDA), a method for the U.S. to quickly send weapons to Ukraine, would be announced as a series of large military aid packages that would then be delivered over the course of several months.
The plan is a workaround after Congress didnt include an extension for the funds in its stopgap measure to keep the government open past Sept. 30, which would have allowed the administration to spread out the drawdowns, as it has with past Ukraine aid.
Asked Wednesday about the administrations intentions for the remaining dollars, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said she had no announcements but said the U.S. is committed to making sure Ukraine gets the resources Congress approved by the end of the presidents term and we are working with the interagency to do just that.
Assistance to Ukraine is often released in batches of hundreds of millions of dollars, with the equipment then shipped within days or weeks, a method to avoid emptying Pentagon stocks and account for the time to backfill.
In obligating the nearly $6 billion to Ukraine before it expires in less than a week, the U.S. would ensure that it can spend the money, and eventually deliver specific weapons from dwindling U.S. stockpiles.
But that method of allocation was plan B after the House left out language in its continuing resolution bill to extend the PDA into the next fiscal year so that it would not expire.
House Republicans, who are divided over funding for Ukraine, reportedly pressed congressional leaders to leave the language out of the legislation, which the chamber passed Wednesday.
A congressional aide told The Hill last week that there may be some legal challenges to allocating the $5.8 billion at once.
Lawyers for the administration were concerned that there may not be an authority to permit transfers of munitions that are not currently in stock, or considered in surplus, they said.
And not everyone is pleased with the administrations plan, including Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who bashed Biden for waiting too long to use the money to arm Ukrainians.
It is unfortunately typical of this administration to wait until the last possible moment to announce full use of the PDA, Wicker said in a statement Wednesday. Brave Ukrainians are fighting and dying defending their country so that Americans and Europeans wont have to. President Biden needs to expedite the actual transfer immediately. They need weapons, not words.
Asked about Wickers statement, Singh said the aid did not get allocated sooner because Congress failed to pass Bidens requested Ukraine security supplemental bill until just six months ago. The supplemental included dollars to backfill U.S. stocks.
When youre not able to backfill and refill our own stocks, were not able to send out PDAs, Singh explained. During that time we still had some existing authority, but we werent able to send equipment, capability, systems out to Ukraine because we didnt have it in our stocks.
She added that the lag also affected packages down the road.
Just to push back on that criticism, I would say that when you dont have what you need on your shelves, it makes it hard to hand out that equipment in the timetable that Congress gave us when it was authorized.
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New US forces for Middle East may aid evacuation, if needed
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new U.S. deployment of a small number of troops to the Middle East announced earlier this week could help the U.S. military prepare for scenarios including an evacuation of Americans from Lebanon, two U.S. officials told Reuters.
Officials say the move is precautionary and comes as President Joe Biden warns of the risk of all-out war and as Israel openly talks about a possible ground incursion into southern Lebanon.
While Washington has urged U.S. citizens to leave Lebanon, the U.S. State Department has not ordered an evacuation of U.S. personnel from Lebanon nor requested any assistance so far from the U.S. military to evacuate Americans from the country, U.S. officials say.
But close U.S. ally Britain announced on Wednesday it was moving troops to Cyprus in position to help evacuate nationals trapped in Lebanon.
The additional U.S. forces deploying to the Middle East are also headed to Cyprus, the officials say, and number in the dozens.
At the time of the Pentagon announcement, the U.S. Defense Department declined to offer a number of forces deploying or to specify their mission.
Israel's military chief told troops on Wednesday that airstrikes in Lebanon would continue in order to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and to prepare the way for a possible ground operation by Israeli forces.
Israeli airstrikes this week have targeted Hezbollah leaders and hit hundreds of sites deep inside Lebanon, where hundreds of thousands have fled the border region, while the group has fired barrages of rockets into Israel.
Biden's administration has been seeking to contain the conflict to Gaza and has repeatedly called for the Israel-Lebanon border crisis to be resolved through diplomacy. That call for diplomacy has been underscored by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in his calls with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Experts question whether Iran would stay on the sidelines if the existence of Lebanon's Hezbollah were threatened, and say U.S. troops could also find themselves targeted throughout the Middle East if a regional war breaks out.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
By John Irish and Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and France are trying to hammer out an interim accord to halt hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah with a view to opening broader diplomatic talks, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday.
"I don't see that we can have a (broad) agreement but a form of interim agreement in order to avoid further escalation. This is the effort right now especially from the United States and France," Christodoulides told Reuters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
The Mediterranean island of Cyprus is the closest European Union member state, some 264 km (164 miles) from Lebanon. It has been at the forefront of maritime aid efforts for Gaza and has a key interest on developments in Lebanon should there be a need to evacuate foreign nationals.
Christodoulides said he had spoken to Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and French President Emmanuel Macron in New York and by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"During the last days there are a lot of deliberations to avoid further escalation, especially with Lebanon. There is a diplomatic initiative from the United States and France," he said, adding that meetings in New York on Wednesday would be crucial.
"Avoid further escalation to give time to diplomacy to find a permanent solution," he said.
(Reporting by John Irish and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Howard Goller)
(Bloomberg) -- A US governor keen to build a drone hub in his state is poised to bring a delegation of industry executives to Taiwan a sign of growing cooperation between the two sides in the technology.
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The group led by Oklahomas Kevin Stitt is set to arrive Sunday for the five-day visit, according to an itinerary seen by Bloomberg News. Theyll meet with Taiwanese regulators and executives from local companies, and also tour a government-backed R&D center.
The visitors aim to find component suppliers in Taiwan, according to people familiar with the matter who didnt want to be identified discussing the sensitive issue, and drone companies considering making investments are part of the American delegation. Earlier this year, Oklahoma got $51 million in Federal funds for a hub in Tulsa thatll focus on tech including drones.
The visit comes just as a separate delegation organized by the US government to foster drone industry ties with Taiwan wraps up a trip. Taiwans military has been seeking to expand its drone capabilities to counter China, which wants to bring the democracy of 23 million people under its control someday, by force if necessary. The group also included US defense officials, according to media reports.
Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said in a Facebook post that he met with some members of the delegation, calling it a rare opportunity.
Hopefully this can promote Taiwan-US cooperation in drones, building a safer and more resilient supply chain and contributing to peace and stability of Indo-Pacific.
And next month executives from some major Taiwan drone firms are scheduled to visit the US, Chou Yu-hsin, deputy director-general of Industrial Development Administration under the Economics Ministry, said in an interview on Wednesday.
Taiwans military has studied Ukraines tactics in its war with Russia, which have included using relatively cheap drones to destroy larger, more expensive equipment like tanks.
Also, US lawmakers have repeatedly warned about the security threats posed by Chinese drones, a worry that could lead to a ban on some devices made in the Asian nation.
Earlier this month, the House voted to prohibit some SZ DJI Technology Co. devices from flying in the US. The bill would need to be passed by the Senate and signed by the president to become law.
(Updates with details of current delegation to Taiwan. An earlier version of this story was corrected to show that the Taiwan official clarified his comments to say that executives will visit the US but havent finalized their itinerary.)
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US to hand over pest inspections of Mexican avocados to Mexico and California growers aren't happy
MEXICO CITY (AP) California avocado growers are fuming this week about a U.S. decision to hand over pest inspections of Mexican orchards to the Mexican government.
Inspectors hired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture have been guarding against imports of avocados infected with insects and diseases since 1997, but they have also been threatened in Mexico for refusing to certify deceptive shipments in recent years.
Threats and violence against inspectors have caused the U.S. to suspend inspections in the past, and California growers question whether Mexicos own inspectors would be better equipped to withstand such pressure.
"This action reverses the long-established inspection process designed to prevent invasions of known pests in Mexico that would devastate our industry," the California Avocado Commission wrote in an open letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on Monday.
At present, inspectors work for the U.S. Department of Agricultures Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, known as APHIS. Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors observe orchards and packing houses in Mexico to ensure exported avocados dont carry pests that could hurt U.S. crops.
It is well known that their physical presence greatly reduces the opportunity of others to game the system, the avocado commission wrote. What assurances can APHIS provide us that its unilateral reversal of the process will be equal to or better than what has protected us?"
The letter added, "We are looking for specifics as to why you have concluded that substituting APHIS inspectors with Mexican government inspectors is in our best interest."
The decision was announced last week in a short statement by Mexico's Agriculture Department, which claimed that with this agreement, the U.S. health safety agency is recognizing the commitment of Mexican growers, who in more than 27 years have not had any sanitary problems in exports.
The idea that there have been no problems is far from the truth.
In 2022, inspections were halted after one of the U.S. inspectors was threatened in the western state of Michoacan, where growers are routinely subject to extortion by drug cartels. Only the states of Michoacan and Jalisco are certified to export avocados to the United States.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said at the time that the inspector had received a threat against him and his family.
The inspector had questioned the integrity of a certain shipment, and refused to certify it based on concrete issues, according to the USDA statement. Some packers in Mexico buy avocados from other, non-certified states, and try to pass them off as being from Michoacan.
Sources at the time said the 2022 threat involved a grower demanding the inspector certify more avocados than his orchard was physically capable of producing, suggesting that at least some had been smuggled in from elsewhere.
And in June, two USDA employees were assaulted and temporarily held by assailants in Michoacan. That led the U.S. to suspend inspections in Mexicos biggest avocado-producing state.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture did not immediately respond to questions about why the decision was made, or whether it was related to the threats.
Mexico currently supplies about 80% of U.S. imports of the fruit. Growers in the U.S. can't supply the country's whole demand, nor provide fruit year-round.
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By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican leaders of U.S. House of Representatives national security committees demanded on Wednesday that Democratic President Joe Biden's administration release an unclassified version of its report on its strategy for the war in Ukraine.
They made their demand a day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was to visit the U.S. Capitol to meet with lawmakers.
Congress has approved nearly $175 billion of aid and military assistance for Ukraine and allied nations in the 2-1/2 years since Russia's full-scale invasion, and many lawmakers say they expect Washington will need to approve more money to help the government in Kyiv within the next several months.
Reuters reported on Sept. 9 that the administration had sent the report to Congress, months after a June deadline mandated in a multibillion-dollar spending bill passed in April. That bill had required the Biden administration to submit a detailed strategy for Ukraine by early June.
That report was classified and lawmakers have been pushing since for a version to be made available to the public, especially as they face a possible vote by early next year on providing more funding.
"Given the vital U.S. interests at stake in Ukraine defeating Putins invading forces, all of Congress and the American people deserve to understand how their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent," the chairs of the House Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, Intelligence, Appropriations and other committees said in a joint statement.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Editing by William Maclean)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to the media in Washington
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to the media in Washington
By Richard Cowan and Moira Warburton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Congress passed a stopgap bill on Wednesday to avert a partial government shutdown beginning next week, even as a large number of House Republicans revolted against their leadership for failing to achieve new federal spending cuts.
The Democratic-majority Senate passed the bill by a margin of 78-18, hours after the House of Representatives approved it. The measure will maintain the government's current level of roughly $1.2 trillion in annual discretionary funding through Dec. 20, avoiding the furloughing of thousands of federal workers and shutdown of a wide swath of government services just weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to use a parliamentary maneuver to bypass the House Rules Committee to overcome opposition within his own Republican Party, which holds a 220-212 majority in the chamber. The measure passed the House 341-82, with all "no" votes were cast by Republicans.
The bill now goes to President Joe Biden to sign into law before current funding expires at midnight Monday.
The timeline is unusually truncated for Congress, as members moved quickly in order to get back to campaigning in their districts ahead of the election.
A significant number of House Republicans defied their leader and voted against the measure, after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump earlier spoke in favor of a shutdown unless controversial legislation was attached to the spending bill that outlawed non-citizens voting in federal elections, something that already is illegal.
Hard-right House Republicans had been pushing for a six-month stopgap measure with the election piece attached, but last week failed to pass that bill, which would have been lost in the Senate anyway.
Nonetheless, some of the most conservative Republicans thought Johnson and all rank-and-file Republicans should have fought harder against a Democratic victory, even if it meant a shutdown.
The Moody's credit ratings agency warned this week that it expects the polarized U.S. political environment to cause the federal government's fiscal health to deteriorate. The last of the three major rating agencies to maintain a top rating for the U.S. government in November 2024 lowered its credit outlook on the U.S. to "negative."
Johnson has repeatedly had to bypass his own restive caucus to pass critical legislation. In March, the House passed the current funding bill despite 112 Republican "no" votes.
April brought the passage of nearly $61 billion in new aid for Ukraine, which has battled a Russian invasion since 2022. Again, 112 Republicans voted against Johnson's effort.
Johnson's predecessor, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, was ousted by hard-line Republicans in an historic vote, as they punished him for reaching a bipartisan spending and debt ceiling deal with Biden.
That latter fight will recur late this year. Democrats and Republicans will have to negotiate over full-year government funding. And it faces an even more critical self-imposed Jan. 1 deadline to either to raise the nation's debt ceiling or risk defaulting on more than $35 trillion in federal government debt.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Moira Warburton and Bo Erickson; Editing by Scott Malone, Lincoln Feast and Alistair Bell)
On Wednesday, 25 September, Mike Johnson, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, posted a letter to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy containing a categorical demand for Ukraine.
Source: a photocopy of the letter posted by Johnson on the Speaker's official website and on Twitter (X), as reported by European Pravda
Details: The letter, dated 25 September, is written in a categorical tone which is unusual for correspondence between countries.
Quote: The letter begins: "Dear President Zelenskyy, I demand that you immediately fire Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova."
Johnson cited the Ukrainian president's visit to a Pennsylvania shell production facility as the reason for his demand.
"Ambassador Markarova organised an event in which you toured an American manufacturing site.
The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because on purpose no Republicans were invited. The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference [on Ukraines part ed.]," Johnson said in the letter.
The speaker emphasised that the incident has caused "the Republicans to lose trust in Ambassador Markarova's ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country," and repeated the demand to Zelenskyy that the Ambassador of Ukraine should "be removed from her post immediately".
Johnson also stated that this is not his only complaint against Ukraine. He expressed outrage that "candidates at the top of the Republican presidential ticket are targeted in the media by officials in your government". He did not elaborate further, but it is safe to assume that this relates to the perception of the many questionable statements made by Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance.
Johnson concluded his letter by stating that he trusts that President Zelenskyy will take immediate action.
It is worth mentioning that relations with the Republican Party leadership deteriorated dramatically shortly after Zelenskyy's visit to the United States began. Donald Trump refused to meet with Zelenskyy, while Speaker Johnson hinted at potential disruptions to congressional meetings.
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US presidential candidate Donald Trump, whose campaign says it has been told of threats by Iran to assassinate him (CHANDAN KHANNA) (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP/AFP)
Donald Trump said Wednesday there were "big threats" on his life posed by Iran after the Republican presidential candidate's campaign team said US intelligence warned him of "real and specific" threats from Tehran.
"Big threats on my life by Iran. The entire U.S. Military is watching and waiting," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"Moves were already made by Iran that didn't work out, but they will try again. ... I am surrounded by more men, guns, and weapons than I have ever seen before," he said, following increased scrutiny of the US Secret Service since two attempts on Trump's life this year.
Trump's campaign team said in a statement Tuesday that US intelligence had warned the former president of "real and specific" threats from Iran to assassinate him.
It was not immediately clear if the threats referred to by the campaign and Trump himself were new or threats that have previously been reported.
"President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States," campaign communications director Steven Cheung said in the statement.
"Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference," he added.
The campaign did not elaborate on the claims, which come as world leaders scramble to try to avert hostilities between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel escalating into a wider regional war.
Iran has rejected accusations that it is trying to kill Trump this summer, shortly after a gunman opened fire at a rally in Pennsylvania, killing one person and wounding the presidential candidate.
Days after the July 13 assassination attempt, US media reported that authorities had received intelligence on an alleged Iranian plot against the Republican, prompting his protection to be boosted. Iran rejected the "malicious" accusations.
"If they do 'assassinate President Trump,' which is always a possibility, I hope that America obliterates Iran, wipes it off the face of the Earth -- If that does not happen, American Leaders will be considered 'gutless' cowards!" Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, at the time.
- Iranian cyberattackers -
US intelligence agencies have also accused Iran of a hack targeting Trump's campaign, alleging Tehran is seeking to influence the 2024 election.
A joint statement from the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency this month said Iranian cyberattackers had offered "stolen, non-public" material from Trump's campaign to staff for his then-White House rival, President Joe Biden.
"Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities" as Election Day in November approaches, the statement said, singling out Russia, Iran and China as "trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in US society for their own benefit."
The US agencies said the Iranian cyberattackers had also attempted to share the information stolen from the Trump campaign with US media organizations. It did not name the outlets.
Iran has also vehemently denied those accusations.
The campaign of Trump's presidential election rival, Democrat Kamala Harris, said on August 13 that it too had been targeted by foreign hackers, but did not give an indication of which country was believed to be behind the attempt.
Americans cast their ballots on November 5. Polls show Trump and Harris, who launched her campaign after Biden dropped out earlier this summer, are neck and neck.
bur-st/md/sco/lb
US intensely tracking ongoing threat by Iran against current and former US officials, Blinken says
The US government is intensely tracking an ongoing threat by Iran against current and former US officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.
This is something weve been tracking very intensely for a long time, an ongoing threat by Iran against a number of senior officials, including former government officials like (former President Donald Trump) and some people who are currently serving in the administration, the top US diplomat said in an interview with NBCs Today show.
Its something we take very, very seriously. Were looking at it very carefully, Blinken said.
Law enforcement officials have been concerned about the persistent threat of Iran potentially attempting to assassinate former Trump officials and the former president himself, multiple sources familiar with the matter have previously told CNN. There also has been a noticeable surge of online messaging from Iranian accounts and state-backed media mentioning Trump, which has raised security concerns among US officials.
US officials have not detailed the threats against current officials, and Blinken on Wednesday did not reveal further information.
Trump was briefed on Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence about real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States, his campaign said. A spokesperson for ODNI acknowledged the briefing but declined to address any specifics.
Big threats on my life by Iran. The entire U.S. Military is watching and waiting. Moves were already made by Iran that didnt work out, but they will try again, Trump said in a post on Truth Social early Wednesday morning.
Iran has repeatedly vowed revenge for the US militarys killing of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian militarys Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was killed by a US airstrike at Baghdad International Airport in January 2020. And former senior Trump administration officials who worked on national security have had tight security since leaving the government.
In his social media post on Wednesday, Trump also thanked Congress after the Senate unanimously passed a bill Tuesday guaranteeing that Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris receive the same level of Secret Service protection as a sitting president. The bill directs the Secret Service director to apply uniform standards for protection of presidents, vice presidents and major presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Congress is considering additional money for the Secret Service as part of its effort to keep the government funded ahead of a September 30 deadline. An additional $231 million for the Secret Service is included in a continuing resolution the House could vote on as soon as Wednesday.
CNNs Evan Perez, Zachary Cohen, Natasha Bertrand, Kylie Atwood and Kristen Holmes contributed to this report.
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US News best colleges in 2025: 4 Arkansas universities among best in south
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) With the 2024-25 school year underway across the Natural State, U.S. News and World Report has released its annual report highlighting the best colleges in America.
In addition to those rankings, U.S. News also released its list of the best regional universities in the south and four Arkansas universities were featured.
John Brown University was the highest-ranked among Arkansas universities at 12th. The university says it is top-ranked in Arkansas for the ninth consecutive year.
John Brown University named top private college in Arkansas: WSJ
Other Arkansas schools ranked are Arkansas Tech University (No. 65), Southern Arkansas University (No. 78) and Henderson State University (No. 108).
JBU Vice President of Academic Affairs Rob Norwood said they were grateful to be recognized for their continued academic excellence.
U.S. News says it evaluates graduation and student retention rates, class size, student-to-faculty ratio, SAT and ACT scores, alumni giving rate, and peer assessment to determine the rankings.
For the full rankings, visit U.S. News and World Reports 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.
US urges freight railroads to guarantee paid sick leave for all
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration on Wednesday called on three major freight railroads to guarantee paid sick leave for all workers, saying 10,000 employees do not have the benefit.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su wrote to the CEOs of CSX, Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) urging them to extend coverage.
They noted that since the end of 2022, the percentage of U.S. rail workers who are guaranteed paid sick leave has risen from 5% to 90%.
"Sick leave for workers is not a luxury its a necessity," said Su.
In 2022, railroads came under fire for not agreeing to paid sick leave during labor negotiations.
In December 2022, President Joe Biden signed legislation to block a national U.S. railroad strike that could have devastated the American economy after some unions voted against the deal over a lack of paid sick leave.
After that, railroads began agreeing in talks with unions to extend paid sick leave. By June 2023, 60% of rail workers had paid sick leave, a rail trade group said.
CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs said in a letter to the officials that two unions have not agreed to the same basic paid sick leave agreements that all other unions have agreed.
"We have offered the same constructive paid sick leave agreements to these unions on multiple occasions," Hinrichs said. "We were the first and only railroad to work with the unions to breakthrough on these paid sick leave agreements."
CPKC, which does not negotiate with other railroads jointly on nearly all issues, said it remains committed to and continues to negotiate the issue of sick leave with its U.S. unions and noted it has 65 separate collective bargaining agreements.
"We have sent formal sick leave offers to multiple unions," the carrier said.
CN did not immediately comment.
(Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Marguerita Choy)
By Mike Stone, Patricia Zengerle and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States plans to announce more than $8 billion worth of military assistance for Ukraine on Thursday during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's visit to Washington, two U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
President Joe Biden's administration has been engaged in urgent discussions with Congress to allow it to use up $5.6 billion in military aid for Ukraine before Sept. 30 - the end of the federal fiscal year - when the authority was set to expire.
On Thursday, U.S. officials said, the White House intends to notify Congress it will move forward with the announcement of a $5.6 billion drawdown from U.S. weapons stocks. The contents of that package are still in flux, the officials said.
Reuters reported this month that the Biden administration was considering a backup plan under which it would announce plans for shipments for Ukraine, but with an extended delivery timeline for the weapons and equipment, allowing for a more gradual transfer of resources to Ukraine without missing the Sept. 30 deadline.
A second announcement slated for Thursday will be for $2.4 billion worth of aid under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative program, which allows the administration to buy weapons for Ukraine from companies rather than pull them from U.S. stocks.
That aid will include munitions, weapons to combat drones and material to support munitions production in Ukraine, one of the U.S. officials said.
In addition, the U.S. announced on Wednesday $375 million worth of Presidential Drawdown Authority for Ukraine. The package will include the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb with a range of up to 81 miles (130 km) called the Joint Standoff Weapon, two U.S. officials said. The inclusion of that weapon was not disclosed in the announcement.
The package, which Reuters first reported on last week, includes patrol boats, additional ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, spare parts and other weapons.
The Joint Standoff Weapon would be dropped from fighter jets, and is capable of striking targets with high accuracy. Ukraine has been largely prohibited from using U.S.-supplied weapons in strikes into Russia.
Presidential Drawdown Authority allows the president to draw from current weapons stocks to help allies in an emergency. In August, as Ukraine was pressing an incursion into Russia and losing territory in its east to Russian advances, Washington announced two packages, both for $125 million each.
Congress has approved nearly $175 billion of aid and military assistance for Ukraine and allied nations in the 2-1/2 years since Russia's full-scale invasion, and many lawmakers say they expect Washington will need to approve more money to help the government in Kyiv in the next several months.
U.S. companies that might benefit from increased weapons shipments to Ukraine include arms makers like RTX, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman.
(Reporting by Mike Stone, Patricia Zengerle and Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
While Trump has been forthright about his views on crypto, Harris' position is much less clear [Getty Images]
The cryptocurrency industry is rife with fraud and hucksters and grifters, one of the United States top financial regulators has told the BBC.
The chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, says the investing public around the globe has lost too much money because of crypto companies not following the laws his agency tries to enforce.
It comes as the industry is spending millions of dollars on political donations, trying to influence the outcome of Novembers US elections in the hope of more favourable future laws.
In addition to the presidential battle between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, all 435 districts in the House of Representatives are up for re-election, as well as 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate.
The future of cryptocurrency, one of the worlds most hotly-debated technologies, is an issue where there appears to be a clear dividing line between Donald Trump and the outgoing Biden administration.
Trump has been courting the votes of crypto enthusiasts by promising to make America the crypto capital of the planet, and creating a strategic national bitcoin stockpile similar to the US governments gold reserves.
Last week he launched a new crypto business called World Liberty Financial, and although he provided few details, he said I think crypto is one of those things we have to do.
Its a huge turnaround from three years ago, when he dismissed Bitcoin as something that seems like a scam and a threat to the US dollar.
Trump's new-found enthusiasm is a stark contrast to the Biden administration, of which Harris is the vice president. The White House has led a sweeping crackdown on crypto firms in recent years.
In March, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and boss of FTX was jailed for 25 years for fraud, after he stole billions of dollars from customers around the world, many of whom are still trying to recover their money.
Then in April, the founder of the worlds biggest crypto exchange, Binances Changpeng Zhao, got four months in prison, and the company paid a $4.3bn (3.2bn) fine. He admitted to allowing criminals, child abusers and terrorists to launder money on his platform, in a case brought by the US Justice Department.
The SEC also has a case against Binance going through the courts. It is one of a record-high 46 enforcement actions the financial regulator took last year against firms trying to profit from what is still an emerging technology.
The jailing of crypto boss Sam Bankman-Fried highlighted the worst aspects of the crypto sector [Getty Images]
This is a field that has come along, and just because they're recording their crypto assets on a new accounting ledger, they [wrongly] say we don't think we want to comply with the time-tested laws, says Mr Gensler.
He explains that rules that force companies that want to raise money from the public to share certain information with them have been in place to protect investors since the SEC was created.
This was back in 1934, in the aftermath of the infamous Wall Street crash of 1929 that heralded the Great Depression.
Crypto is just a small piece of the US and worldwide capital markets, but it can undermine trust that everyday investors have in the capital markets, says Mr Gensler.
Whilst fans argue that crypto offers a fast, cheap and secure way to move funds, a survey by the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, found that the number of Americans using it has dropped from 12% in 2021 to 7% last year.
Harris hasnt said much about cryptocurrencies, but one of her advisors did say last month that she would support policies that ensure that emerging technologies, and that sort of industry, can continue to grow.
Recent meetings between her team and industry executives have been trying to build trust, and given crypto bosses hope of a brighter future whoever wins in November.
I can't underscore enough how important this is, not just for the US, but for the for the world, according to Paul Grewal, who is chief legal officer at crypto firm Coinbase. He has been at these meetings.
Not only is the US an important market for crypto, but so much of the important technology surrounding has been developed here. And I think it's also critically important that we not lose sight of the fact that the rest of the world is not simply waiting for the US to get its act together.
He adds that given how tight the race for the White House is, every vote is going to count, and crypto votes are no exception.
SEC chair Gary Gensler is highly critical of some cryptocurrency firms [Getty Images]
The clampdown on cryptocurrencies in the US this year has been mirrored in Europe. In April, the European Union agreed new laws to try to reduce the risk of crypto being used by criminals.
However, other regulators are being slower to act. The G20 group of leading economies is working on minimum standards for cryptocurrencies, but they are not legally binding, and uptake has been slow.
Back in the US, a bill to regulate cryptocurrencies has been passed by the House, but not the Senate. Its critics argue it will give less protection to consumers.
Coinbases Mr Grewal backs the bill, and says: This is not an industry that is shying away from regulation. He adds that the sector just wants the same standards applied to crypto as are applied to other assets, no tougher, but no weaker.
With Novembers US elections on the horizon, the crypto industry has sensed an opportunity to help elect lawmakers who take a sympathetic view of the businesses.
By last month, the sector had already spent an unprecedented $119m on donations, according to research by the non-profit Public Citizen.
The consumer advocacy organisations research director Rick Claypool says the money is being used to help elect pro-crypto candidates and attack crypto critics, this is regardless of political affiliation.
Theyve spent more than any other industry when it comes to corporate donations, because they are attempting to discipline the US congress to give in to their demands for less oversight, and to weaken protections for consumers, he adds.
Read more global business and tech stories
US in talks with Israel, other nations to secure temporary ceasefire with Hezbollah amid fears of wider war
The Biden administration is in discussions with Israel and other nations to secure a temporary ceasefire between the Jewish state and Hezbollah, amid fears of a wider war breaking out in the region, Fox News has learned.
The effort comes as Israel and the Iran-backed, Lebanon-based terror group continue to exchange intense missile fire.
"We know tensions are high, but we also see that there is a path forward for diplomacy, and that's why you're seeing this administration push so hard to get this done," Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, told reporters Wednesday.
The proposal is for a temporary ceasefire that would last a few weeks the hope being that it could lead to something permanent. The plan began to come together following a Monday phone call between national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.
How A Us-backed Un Resolution Failed To Stop Hezbollah Terror Takeover: 'Bipartisan Failure'
Thick smoke rises above the southern suburbs of Beirut after an Israel strike on September 20, 2024. Israel has intensified airstrikes against the Hezbollah targets in recent days, promoting fears of an all-out war in the region.
France has been involved in the discussions, as have other Arab countries with which the U.S. regularly partners. France's foreign minister said his country and the U.S. were working on a 21-day ceasefire that would "allow for negotiations" amid the escalating conflict that has killed more that 600 people in recent days.
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"We are counting on both parties to accept it without delay," Jean-Noel Barrot told the U.N. Security Council.
Barrot said France and the U.S. had consulted with the sides on "final parameters for a diplomatic way out of this crisis," adding that "war is not unavoidable."
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other advisers to President Biden have spent the past three days at U.N. General Assembly meeting of world leaders in New York lobbying other countries to support the plan, according to U.S. officials.
The U.S. effort to secure the ceasefire isn't tethered to efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of hostages in Gaza.
Heavy traffic formed at the entrance of the city of Saida after residents of southern Lebanon, particularly from areas near the border, were forced to flee towards the north of the country due to the intensification of Israeli airstrikes on Sunday.
"What we are saying to our Israeli counterparts is we want to make sure you can protect yourself, protect your citizens," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. "We want those families to go back home where they belong. And we don't believe that an all out war is the best path forward to doing that."
Lebanese officials said a massive Israeli barrage killed at least 560 people on Monday, prompting thousands to flee southern Lebanon. Israeli forces have continued to carry out dozens of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets within Lebanon following months of attacks by the terror group targeting Israeli soil.
Hezbollah said it launched missiles at eight different targets within Israel early Tuesday. The Israeli military said it tracked 55 rockets fired out of Lebanon and landing in Israel.
Israel Strikes Within Lebanon After Hezbollah Ballistic Missile Forces Millions In Tel Aviv Into Bomb Shelters
Israel has stated it does not want a war with Hezbollah, which has attacked its southern neighbor numerous times since the Israel-Hamas began on Oct. 7. However, the Israeli military has vowed to do "whatever is necessary" to repel the Iranian proxy from their northern border.
One Israeli airstrike recently killed Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi in an airstrike in Beirut. Qubaisi was a top commander in Hezbollah's missile and rocket force.
Israel has conducted at least five targeted airstrikes in Lebanons capital of Beirut since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The Pentagon announced an additional deployment of a small number of U.S. troops to the Middle East.
"In light of increased tension in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel forward to augment our forces that are already in the region. But for operational security reasons, Im not going to comment on or provide specifics," Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters during an off-camera gaggle.
The troops were moved to Cyprus on Monday as the possibility of an evacuation operation has increased.
Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Original article source: US in talks with Israel, other nations to secure temporary ceasefire with Hezbollah amid fears of wider war
If you or someone you know needs help, call the toll-free Statewide 24-hour Sexual Violence Crisis and Information Hotline at 1-888-421-1100. Click here for a list of Rape Crisis Resources in Utah.
LOGAN, Utah (ABC4) Utah State University issued a warning to students via email on Tuesday night after a student reported that they were sexually assaulted near the campus over the weekend.
According to the university, the student reported that the assault happened in the Logan City Cemetery on the evening of Sept. 22. The university said the cemetery is adjacent to the campus.
Utah mom arrested after 4-month-old son dies of injuries in her care
The perpetrator was described as an unknown male, and a knife was used in the facilitation of the alleged crime, the email to students read.
Officials with the Logan City Police Department confirmed the details provided by the university. The university did not provide additional information about the incident, but told the campus community that the notice included all the publicly available information at the time.
It is never possible to completely eliminate the risk of becoming the target of a crime, and a crime is never the fault of the victim, the university said.
In its email to students, the university reminded people to pay attention to their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior they may see. If students feel unsafe, they are encouraged to call 435-797-1939 or call 911.
Students were also reminded to call 911 immediately if criminal behavior in progress is seen. If students have experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct, they were reminded of the universitys Office of Equity.
There is no further information at this time.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) Lawyers for Ralph Leroy Menzies, a Utah State Prison inmate on death row, have filed a motion to remove the Attorney Generals Office from his competency case.
Menzies, 66, has been on death row since 1988 when he was convicted for the kidnapping and murder of Maureen Hunsaker from a Salt Lake County gas station. Earlier this year, a judge was set to decide whether or not to sign an execution warrant but that hearing was delayed over claims of mental incompetency.
Death penalty in Utah: A brief history as state plans next execution
Now, court documents reveal Menzies and his lawyers are seeking to remove the Utah Attorney Generals Office citing a conflict of interest. Through the motion, Menzies and his team hope for an independent prosecutor, such as the Salt Lake District Attorneys Office, to represent the State as the case moves forward.
This motion further delays Menzies execution in a case that already spans more than three decades, an outcome Utah Criminal Defense Attorney Clayton Simms says the defense may be working for.
One of the goals of the defense attorneys, although its not stated, is to make it more difficult, to make it more costly to impose the death penalty, he said. The expense of educating new attorneys on the case and defending the governments position could be costly, and maybe the government would say thats not simply worth it, well just not seek the death penalty.
A battle for information
Menzies attorneys say the AGs Office established a conflict screen to limit communication between the prosecution, Department of Health and Human Services, and Utah Department of Corrections in order to ensure they made independent decisions, despite being represented by the same agency.
Simms described a conflict screen as a screen that bars information from one department to another.
Attorneys claim the AGs Office violated its own conflict screen hundreds of times by sharing privileged communications between screen attorneys representing these entities. However, the AGs Office said Menzies argument was based on speculation and lacked concrete evidence.
Simms explained the motions are centered around access to information such as emails and documents between the agencies and there will likely be a battle over the release of these records.
Simms said Menzies attorneys are saying that the Attorney Generals Office has an unfair advantage because the state potentially has access to information from the UDC and UHHS that the defense does not have access to.
They, one, want the information, and two, to knock the Attorney Generals off of the case, and that would eliminate that advantage, Simms said.
Simms said that just because the government entities are working together does not automatically mean there is a conflict of interest that benefits the prosecution.
All government entities arent necessarily working together in a way that creates a conflict, he said. So it is true that you can be an independent government agency and all be under the state of Utahs umbrella.
Whats next
The case could continue for years to come as attorneys sift through years of jail calls and medical records to determine Menzies mental competency.
Simms said its possible Menzies mental competency could be brought into question again in the future even if the judge decides he is competent now.
The strength of the motion is going to be based upon, is he competent or not? Does he really have dementia? If he really genuinely has dementia and has a reduced mental capacity, ultimately, thats going to stop the execution, Simms said.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Attorney Taylor Meehan speaks to the court as Mormon Women for Ethical Government and League of Women Voters of Utah oppose the Utah State Legislature during oral arguments at the Supreme Court of Utah in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
The Utah Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday to determine if it will leave intact or overturn a decision from a district court judge to not count votes on Amendment D.
Justices on the states top court appeared skeptical the Utah State Legislature fulfilled the requirement to publish the proposed amendment in newspapers in every county across the state. There were also questions around the accuracy of the ballot language. While Justice Diana Hagen seemed open to the states argument for a remedy on the publication issue, calling it a very good argument, she raised questions about the accuracy of the ballot language.
Associate Chief Justice John A. Pearce said, speaking only for himself, I think its better if everyone votes on this. He continued by raising the question of what should happen if there was a constitutional problem with the process of this proposed amendment.
While the initial discussion focused on the publication requirement, soon the discussion turned to the accuracy of the ballot summary. Hagen asked if the court were to agree the ballot summary was misleading, what would the remedy be?
It was only two months ago the Utah Supreme Court issued a ruling on a redistricting case that was followed by a proposal of a constitutional amendment Amendment D.
The battle over constitutional amendment initiatives started five years ago. In 2018, Utah citizens passed an initiative to give powers of drawing political boundaries to an independent redistricting commission. The Utah Legislature amended the initiative to allow lawmakers the final say over the maps. Instead of going with the maps from the commission, lawmakers went with their own.
Mormon Women for Ethical Government and League of Women Voters of Utah sued over that action, and the case ended up with the Utah Supreme Court. In a ruling allowing litigation from the two groups to move forward, the states top court said when citizens use initiatives to alter or reform the government, the Utah Legislature needs to show a compelling government interest if it makes changes to the initiatives.
After calls from the Utah GOP, the Sutherland Institute and other groups and individuals across the state, lawmakers met in a special session to put Amendment D on the ballot. When the ballot language (a summary voters will see on their ballot) was released, Mormon Women for Ethical Government and the League of Women Voters of Utah filed a complaint again, saying the language used was misleading.
3rd District Judge Dianna Gibson heard the expedited case on Sept. 12. Gibson issued a ruling saying the ballot language for Amendment D did not accurately represent the amendment to voters. The ruling also said the Utah Legislature did not fulfill the requirement of causing newspapers to publish the full text of the amendment. While the proposed amendment will still appear on Utah voters ballots, votes will not be counted, the judge ruled.
The Utah Legislature then appealed the ruling and the parties appeared before the Utah Supreme Court.
Mark Gaber, an attorney with Campaign Legal Center representing the two organizations, made the groups case. He said Utah voters should be informed that any initiative they pass could ultimately be tossed by the Legislature and the ballot language does not inform them of that.
Arguing the case for the Utah Legislature, Taylor Meehan said it should be up to the voters to decide if they approve or disapprove of Amendment D.
Attorney Mark Gaber speaks as Mormon Women for Ethical Government and League of Women Voters of Utah oppose the Utah State Legislature during oral arguments at the Supreme Court of Utah in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
The case made for upholding the judges decision
The amendment would extinguished the constitutional protection that the same government that the voters sought to reform could not veto the reform passed by the voters, said Gaber. Now, there is nothing in the ballot language that informs the voters that that is the fact.
The word repeal does not appear anywhere on the ballot summary, said Gaber. But that is the key power that the Legislature is transferring to itself.
Under the Utah Constitution, if this amendment passes, Gaber said the Legislature could make changes or totally repeal any initiative passed by the citizens.
No one looking at this ballot language would understand that to be the operative effect of the amendment, he said.
If the Legislature wanted to amend the Utah Constitution, it could propose the amendment in the future, said Gaber, explaining that in terms of the balancing of equities, the Legislature could come back and engage in a slower, deliberative process. He does not think a tailored injunction requiring the Legislature to fulfill the publication requirement because he does not think it would comply with the state constitution.
When asked what a judicially manageable standard for assessing ballot summaries should be, Gaber said he thinks voters need to be able to understand the operative effect of the amendment would be depending on their vote.
There should be no deference to mislead, he said. There should be deference to accurately describe it.
Pearce asked Gaber what the court should do if there was a good faith argument for accuracy on both sides for the ballot summary. Gaber said to look to the Florida court. He reiterated his argument about where the deference should go.
From a policy standpoint, Gaber said he thinks the Legislature does have the clear power to propose amendments to the Utah Constitution. While he said he would not support the proposed amendment, but he believes they need to follow the constitutional requirements to do so.
Moving onto the second half of the ballot language, Gaber said he thought it was almost more problematic than the first. The second half says the Legislature has established requirements for it to follow the intent of a ballot initiative.
Now, the current Constitution has requirements for the Legislature to follow the intent of government reform initiatives, said Gaber. And the amendment eliminates that requirement.
Gaber said he thinks a reasonably intelligent voter would read the ballot language and think the amendment includes a deference provision. The provision is not in the amendment, but instead, it is in an accompanying bill, said Gaber, which he said was misleading.
Replying to Gaber, Durrant said he thinks the Legislature made a careful distinction between the amendment and the state law in the ballot language. Gaber said he thinks voters could still conflate state law with the amendment.
Chief Justice Matthew Durrant speaks as Mormon Women for Ethical Government and League of Women Voters of Utah voters oppose the Utah State Legislature during oral arguments at the Supreme Court of Utah in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
The case made for overturning the judges decision
Plaintiffs could have opposed Amendment D at the ballot, but instead they went to court, said Meehan, counsel for the Utah State Legislature. Meehan said the question before the court is not if Amendment D is a good amendment, it is whether or not voters should have the opportunity to vote up or down on the amendment.
Meehan argued Amendment D was submitted to the voters as Article 23 requires.
The ballot summary does not change, she said. It is not contrary to the amendment itself, and no reasonable voter would think that it is given all surrounding circumstances.
After Meehan said the Utah State Legislature shall cause the same to be published in at least one newspaper in every county of the state, where a newspaper is published, for two months before voters decide up or down on a proposed amendment, she was asked if that was the case. The justices asked Meehan questions for well over an hour about both the publication of the proposed amendment and the accuracy of the ballot language.
Chief Justice Matthew B. Durrant and justices Jill M. Pohlman and Paige Petersen questioned whether the Utah Legislature met that requirement. In response, Meehan argued ads in physical newspaper are not the only way the Legislature could comply with the requirement.
I take plaintiffs arguments that the framers never could have anticipated instead of a formal legal advertisement on the front page of a newspaper that no one ever reads anymore is different than hyperlinking the full bill page of the article, said Meehan.
Since online newspapers were hyperlinking to the bill file with the proposed amendment as early as August, Meehan said this fulfilled the requirement in addition to the Utah Lieutenant Governors Office publishing public notice of the proposed amendment. Petersen seemed skeptical newspaper articles compared to a notice put forward by the newspaper would satisfy that requirement.
Meehan argued the district courts ruling was overly broad and said the Utah Supreme Court could order the Legislature to cause notice of the proposed amendment to be published.
When asked about the accuracy of the ballot summary, Meehan said the problem with accuracy is its subjective. She said there could be ballot summaries that are contrafactual, but she did not think that was the case with the Amendment D ballot language.
For over a hundred years, the Utah Constitution has given Utahns the right to reform the government, said Petersen. But, she said, the proposed amendment would no longer protect Utahns right to alter or reform the government. She asked where in the ballot summary does it say that?
The ballot summary does not have to talk about the effects of the amendment because the effects of the amendment are uncertain, said Meehan.
Pearce asked Meehan about the word clarifies used in the ballot summary. He said he read a number of dictionary definitions of that word and described the theme of those definitions as making something more understandable. Meehan responded by saying the word clarifies does not exclude the possibility of substantive change and she does not think the proposed amendment could be invalidated because disagreement on that word.
As a voter, shouldnt you be able to trust that the ballot is straight? asked Petersen.
Meehan said there are voters who may think the ballot language is impartial and others may think it is not. She said the voter information packet contains arguments for and against the proposed amendment.
Whether Amendment D ultimately succeeds or fails should be left in the hands of Utah voters who can read for themselves, think for themselves, and ultimately, cast a considered vote, said Meehan.
What would the Utah Supreme Court ruling mean either way?
The Utah Supreme Court could either rule to uphold the district judges decision or overrule it.
If the decision was upheld, nothing practically speaking would change. The proposed amendment would still appear on voters ballots, but any votes for it will still not be counted.
But say the Utah Supreme Court overturns the district judges decision. This would likely mean the court would order the votes on the proposed amendment be counted.
When will the Utah Supreme Court rule on Amendment D?
When adjourning the court, Durrant gave no timeline for the courts decision.
After the arguments, Ryan Bell, board member with Better Boundaries, told the Deseret News in a statement, The arguments today just confirm the shakiness of the Legislatures approach to Constitutional Amendment D. They continue to argue that they shouldnt have to follow constitutional requirements for amending the constitution, and they continue to argue that their misleading ballot language is just fine.
Correction: A line of questioning was originally attributed to Justice Jill Pohlman, when in fact, it came from Justice Paige Petersen. The attribution has been updated.
The man found the copperhead snake in the laundry room located next to his bedroom at a Chester, Va., apartment building
Virginia Wildlife Management and Control (2) Copperhead snake found on washing machine in apartment in Chester, Virginia
A man in Virginia who just wanted to do laundry in his apartment ended up facing a life-or-death situation.
According to Virginia Wildlife Management and Control, the wildlife removal company was called out to an apartment building in Chester, Va., on Sept. 17 to help a man who found a copperhead a venomous species of snake found in parts of North America on top of his washer and dryer while doing laundry in the room next to his bedroom.
"Tuesday evening and we're out getting a #venomous #copperhead off of a young man's washer & dryer, at an apartment complex, out in #Chester, #Virginia! We never know what we're gonna get called out to!" Virginia Wildlife Management and Control posted about the job on Facebook.
Per the Miami Herald, the company told McClatchy News that before professionals arrived to remove the snake, the man who spotted it narrowly avoided being bitten by the reptile.
Related: Postal Worker Brings Dog to Vet After Snake Bite, Lets Family Know on Doorbell Camera
"He was almost bitten. He was traumatized," Virginia Wildlife Management owner Rich Perry told the outlet, adding that the man had to jump back to avoid getting bitten.
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When wildlife removal professionals arrived, the over 2-foot snake had moved from the washing machine and was lounging on a pile of clothes on top of the dryer. Perry, who responded to the emergency call about the snake, recorded a video of the incident and included it in Virginia Wildlife Management's Sept. 17 Facebook post. The video has been viewed over 525,000 times.
"I don't even believe this, and I've been doing this for many, many years," Perry says of the situation in the clip. The manager's footage shows the copperhead resting on top of the dryer while Perry explains the circumstances.
According to the video, the man who spotted the snake had no idea it was venomous until Virginia Wildlife Management informed him.
Related: 'Stout' Snake Gets Collected for Nature Survey. Then It Vomits Up Two More Snakes One Living!
In a follow-up Facebook post, the company also shared several photos of the snake on the laundry machines, including a shot of the reptile coiled on the washer.
Virginia Wildlife Management also commented on the update post with a photo of an open hole on the outside of the apartment building where the snake was found, writing along with it, "Good morning everyone, here's the answer to your question about how the venomous copperhead entered the young man's bedroom and ended up on his washer and dryer."
The company removed the snake from the apartment without injuring any people or reptiles.
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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WEHT) Indiana state lawmakers say the Vanderburgh County Sheriffs Office has not paid the minimum amount required to support its retirement plan for 4 out of the last 5 years.
Sheriff Noah Robinson and the Vanderburgh County Council say they have a plan to remedy the pension delinquency and no benefits will be cut.
The sheriff says the issue stems from a miscommunication between the pension board and the county council. He says deputies have been paying the legal maximum amount into the plan, but the previous pension board did not request enough funding from the county.
Sheriff Robinson and County Council President Jill Ann Hahn testified before the Interim Committee on Pension Management Oversight at the statehouse about the situation.
The Sheriff and County Council say they are working towards a solution to fix the issue and prevent future problems.
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The three members of Vermonts congressional delegation are calling on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to address high staff turnover and other bureaucratic inefficiencies that have slowed disaster recovery to the states small and rural communities.
In a letter to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch and Rep. Becca Balint said homeowners, businesses and local governments in two towns ravaged by floods in 2023 are still awaiting funding through the agencys Public Assistance program.
A big part of the problem, they say, is the high turnover in program delivery managers, or PDMGs, who are the point-of-contact for aid applicants. The letter noted that Ludlow has worked with seven DMGs since July 2023, with the most recent brought onboard in August.
Meanwhile, Ludlow has still not received nearly $4 million in project funding.
Sen. Welch calls for more flood recovery funding
In Lyndon, which was severely flooded again last month, the town has worked with four different PDMGs.
The Lyndon town administrator reported that with each new PDMG, he had to file all the required paperwork to receive assistance over again, starting from scratch, the letter said. This resulted in hundreds of unnecessary emails and hours of duplicated work.
The bureaucratic backlog has delayed federal reimbursement for infrastructure repairs in Lyndon in the aftermath of 2023 flood, Sanders, Welch and Balint said.
The delegation is also asking FEMA to allow local officials to handle more of the administrative duties of distributing FEMA funds. For example, a recent Vermont report found that for every $2 FEMA spent on administrative costs, it only spent $1 on Individual Assistance, they wrote. In order to provide the best relief at the most efficient prices, local leadership is essential.
Montpelier waits on FEMA infrastructure funds for July 23 flood damage
The letter asks Criswell and FEMA to provide the delegation with PDMG turnover rates and a timeline of PDMG approvals for reimbursement. They are also asking the agency for suggestions on how to move more administrative responsibilities, along with resources, to local communities affected by disasters.
In May, the delegation took FEMA to task for delays in $23 million housing assistance and insufficient technical assistance.
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A soon-to-be-retired CalMac ferry has been redeployed to CalMac's busy Arran route after the long-awaited return of the main vessel was hit by a new problem.
MV Hebridean Isles will start sailing to Brodick on the island from Thursday.
The main Arran ferry MV Caledonian Isles had been due to return this week after eight months of repairs, but a new gearbox fault was detected on Sunday.
Ferry users can currently only travel from Arran to the mainland via Troon on a chartered catamaran, or on a small ferry to Claonaig on the Kintyre peninsula.
MV Hebridean Isles, launched 39 years ago, is due to be retired in November because of the amount of work required to extend its service life any further.
It will sail from Troon on Thursday and Friday because high winds are forecast, but will operate out of Ardrossan once the weather conditions ease.
The ship had been recently serving the Islay route, but MV Lord of the Isles will provide backfill. Sailings to Lochboisdale on South Uist will be cancelled as a result.
A CalMac spokeswoman said: "Cancelling any sailing is always a last resort and we apologise to the South Uist community for the disruption that this will cause."
The ferry operator said it would try to restore the Lochboisdale service as soon as possible.
MV Caledonian Isles has been out of action since February when annual maintenance inspections revealed serious corrosion.
All of its engines had to be removed while the damaged steelwork was replaced at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Merseyside.
It had just returned to Scotland and had completed berthing trials on Sunday when metal fragments were discovered in a filter in the port gearbox.
The ferry is now expected to be out of action for at least a week while investigation and repair work takes place.
Another ferry, MV Isle of Arran, had been operating from Ardrossan while Caledonian Isles was away, but it was booked in for annual maintenance from Wednesday which could not be delayed.
'National emergency'
CalMac has been plagued by soaring maintenance bills and breakdowns in recent years with many of its ships well beyond their expected service life.
On Tuesday in the Scottish Parliament, Labour's Katy Clark said she had been contacted by people worried about hospital appointments and a farmer unable to get stock to market.
She asked the transport secretary if she agreed "the ferry crisis is becoming a national emergency".
Fiona Hyslop said she was concerned about the latest breakdown, and had impressed on CalMac the need for "resilience cover" for Arran.
The situation should begin to ease later this year when the long-delayed Glen Sannox enters service on the Arran route.
The first of four new large ferries being built in Turkey will also enter service next year, along with Glen Rosa, the sister ship of Glen Sannox, which is also earmarked for the Arran crossing.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) The Monroe County Veterans Service Agency made a major announcement for veteran widows Tuesday.
Through court cases they were able to obtain more than $500,000 for two local Agent Orange widows. County Executive Adam Bello shared the stories of two wives whos late husbands were killed due to the effects of Agent Orange, a chemical herbicide used by the American military during the Vietnam War.
The VSA also helps veterans get monthly benefits, such as disability compensation, pensions, and survivor benefits for family members.
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When is the vice presidential debate in New York? When and where to watch
Anticipation over the vice presidential debate is heating up as the campaign heads into the home stretch.
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio will face off in their only scheduled debate and probably the last debate before Election Day.
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris met for a debate earlier this month, but the two sides have not agreed on a second face off.
The political climate over last couple of months has made history and headlines:
And next, with 40 days left in the campaigns, is the upcoming vice-presidential debate.
When is the vice presidential debate?
The vice presidential debate between Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Sen. JD Vance of Ohio will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 1 ahead of early voting in some states.
What time is the vice presidential debate?
The vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance will be at 9 p.m. Eastern on Oct. 1.
Where is the vice-presidential debate being held?
The vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance is scheduled to take place in New York City, according to the host, CBS News.
Who is moderating the vice-presidential debate?
The vice presidential debate will be moderated by "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell and "Face the Nation" moderator and CBS News foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan, according to CBS News.
Where can I watch, stream the vice presidential debate between Vance and Walz?
The debate will be broadcast on the CBS Television Network and live streamed on all platforms where CBS News 24/7 and Paramount+ are available.
The other major networks ABC, NBC and Fox will also carry the broadcast live.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: When is the debate between Walz and Vance in New York? When to watch
Vienna fire chiefs last day ends with thanks to coworkers
VIENNA TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WKBN) After more than four decades with the Vienna Township Fire Department, Chief Richard Brannon is officially retired.
Brannon signed off for the last time Wednesday afternoon. He has served as the departments chief for a little more than 29 years.
Brannon says hes never retired from anywhere, so itll be a new adventure for him. As for what hell miss most, he says its everyone he works with at the fire department.
All these great people that are here, and theyve helped me build this department up those are the ones Im going to miss a lot, Brannon said.
Brannon says he doesnt have a lot of whole lot planned for his retirement, but he will be traveling with his wife.
Oscar, the departments first station cat is also joining Brannon at his home.
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FILE PHOTO: World leaders attend United Nations "Summit of the Future", in New York
By Phuong Nguyen and Francesco Guarascio
(Reuters) -Vietnam's President To Lam pledged to boost the domestic tech economy, as he met top U.S. firms in New York, including Meta, which pledged to expand investments in the Communist-ruled country with a population of 100 million.
In his first visit to the United States as Vietnam's president, Lam is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden later on Wednesday.
In addition to Meta, Lam held private meetings with Apple, and financial companies Blackstone and Warburg Pincus, according to pictures of handshakes with the companies' representatives published on Vietnam's government portal.
Lam, who is also the general secretary of the Communist Party, Vietnam's most powerful job, plans to meet Google later on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with his schedule, confirming a Reuters report from last week.
At the meeting with Lam on Monday, Meta's President for global affairs Nick Clegg shared plans for production in Vietnam of virtual reality glasses, according to Vietnam's government portal.
Meta, which has tens of millions of users in Vietnam of its Facebook social media, declined to comment about the report noting it was expecting to issue a statement next week.
Vietnamese state media had earlier reported that Clegg will attend an innovation event in Vietnam at the start of October.
At the meeting with Lam in New York, "Nick shared Meta's commitment to support and expand investment programs and encourage innovation in Vietnam in the near future," Khoi Le, Meta's director for Vietnam, said on LinkedIn on Wednesday.
"This meeting marks an important step in our journey towards building a stronger presence in Vietnam and contributing to the country's digital transformation," he added.
No mention was made in public statements about controversial issues such as Vietnam's requirement to store data in the country and frequent requests by Vietnamese censors to remove posts from Facebook.
At a separate business forum, Lam signed cooperation agreements with U.S. firms on energy, artificial intelligence and for a data centre, the government said.
Other participants included representatives of tech firm Amazon, payment company Visa, consumer goods multinational Procter & Gamble and energy firm AES.
Lam "has made it absolutely clear that his presidency, his time as general secretary, they're going to grow the tech economy," Ted Osius, head of the US-ASEAN Business Council, the advocacy group which co-hosted the event, told Reuters.
In meetings with U.S. companies, Lam said Vietnam considered digital transformation as a driving force to take the country into a new era, according to the government portal.
"Developing the semiconductor and AI industries is ... a strategic choice and a priority," Lam said.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis, Phuong Nguyen, Francesco Guarascio and Khanh Vu; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Louise Heavens)
'The violence is getting out of hand': Crime grips Cuba's streets
The late leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, once famously called Cuba the safest country in the world.
In terms of the islands low rates of violent crime and the scarcity of guns circulating among the civilian population, he may well have had a case for that title.
His critics, of course, responded that the low crime rate was achieved through intimidation, that Castros Cuba was and still remains a police state which brooked no criticism of its communist-led government, and which rode roughshod over its opponents human rights.
However it was done, few could deny that Cubas streets have traditionally been among the safest in the Americas.
Yet it doesnt feel to Samantha Gonzalez like she lives in the worlds safest nation. Her younger brother, an aspiring music producer called Jan Franco, was murdered two months ago in an apparent gang-related dispute.
From the low-income Havana neighbourhood of Cayo Hueso and just 19 years old when he was killed, Jan Franco was stabbed twice in the chest outside a recording studio, caught in the middle of an argument when someone pulled a knife.
"So many young people have been killed this year... The violence is getting out of hand ", Source: Samantha Gonzalez, Source description: Sister of Jan Franco, who was killed in Havana, Image: Samantha
I still cant understand it," says Samantha, struggling to express her grief as she scrolls through old photos of her brother on her phone.
He was the light of our family."
Just 20 herself and mother of a one-year-old boy, Samantha says that Jan Franco was one of many young people to lose their lives in the streets in recent months:
So many young people have been killed this year," she explains.
The violence is getting out of hand. Theyre basically gangs, and they fall out with each other as gangs. Thats where its all coming from, these killings and deaths of young people.
They often solve their quarrels with knives and machetes, she says.
Almost no-one settles an argument with their fists anymore. Its all knives, machetes, even guns. Things I just dont understand, her voice trails off.
The situation has been worsened by a new drug in Cuba called quimico a cheap chemical high with a cannabis base. Samantha says that its increasingly popular among Cuban youth in the parks and on the streets.
Even Cuban authorities have admitted that drugs have become a problem [Getty Images]
Previously, even suggesting that Cuba had a problem with opioids and street gangs especially to a foreign journalist could land you in difficulties.
The Cuban authorities have always been fiercely protective of their island's reputation as crime-free and quick to point out that the streets are demonstrably safer than those of most cities in the US. Anything that highlights Cubas social problems is generally painted as biased criticism of their socialist system or as anti-revolutionary fabrications originating from Miami or Washington.
However, such has been the public perception of a worsening crime rate, a perception shared by many Cubans on social media, that the authorities have openly addressed it on state television.
In August, an edition of nightly talk programme Mesa Redonda in which Communist Party officials are invited on air to deliver the party line was titled Cuba Against Drugs.
During the broadcast, Colonel Juan Carlos Poey Guerra, the head of the interior ministrys anti-drug unit, acknowledged the existence, production and distribution of the new drug, quimico, and its impact on Cubas youth. He insisted the authorities were tackling the issue.
In another edition, on crime, the government denied the situation was worsening, claiming only 9% of crimes in Cuba were violent and just 3% were murders.
However, critics question the transparency of the governments statistics and say theres no independent oversight of the bodies which produce them or the methodologies they use.
Supreme Court Vice-President Maricela Sosa Ravelo told the BBC people still trust Cuban authorities to maintain law and order [BBC]
For its part, the government largely blames the old enemy, the United States, for both the existence of synthetic opioids in Cuba and for the decades-long US economic embargo on the island which they say is the reason some Cubans have resorted to crime.
In a rare interview, the vice-president of Cubas Supreme Court, Maricela Sosa Ravelo, told the BBC the problem was being blown out of proportion on social media. She refuted the suggestion that many crimes go unreported through a lack of public confidence in the police.
In my 30 years as a judge and magistrate, I dont think that the Cuban people lack confidence in their authorities," she claimed, speaking inside the ornate Supreme Court building.
In Cuba, the police have a high success rate in solving crimes. We dont see people taking the law into their own hands which happens in other parts of Latin America and elsewhere which suggests the population trusts in the Cuban justice system, she argued.
Again, though, that wasnt the experience of another recent victim of opportunistic theft on Havanas dimly lit streets.
Shyra is a transgender activist who is used to speaking out about rights in Cuba. She says that her story, of being robbed by a man brandishing a knife one evening, is common.
But it was the police response which disillusioned her the most.
"I told them where they could find the attacker, showed them which direction he was headed in, what he was wearing. But they just didnt pay me any attention.", Source: Shyra, Source description: Transgender activist, Image: Shyra, transgender activist
Just after I was attacked, I came across two motorcycle police in a side street," Shyra recalls. Despite her obvious distress, the police ignored her pleas for help, she says.
They openly told me: Were not here for stuff like that.' It was such a shocking thing to hear because I told them where they could find the attacker, showed them which direction he was headed in, what he was wearing. But they just didnt pay me any attention.
In the small apartment she shares with her mother, Samantha Gonzalez watches videos of her younger brothers wake. A crowd of Jan Francos friends appeared outside his home and began singing the songs which hed produced before his fledgling music career was cut short.
As his coffin was loaded onto the hearse, the mourners fell silent, except for the soft murmur of weeping and prayer.
Buried with him, and every young victim of violence on the island, is another piece of Cubas claim to be the worlds safest nation.
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) Georgetown and Horry counties are seeing a drop-off in violent crimes, but DUI arrests are trending upward, 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said this week.
It could be many, many things. More law enforcement attention on it, Richardson said in his weekly video update to constituents.
On Monday, 49-year-old Nikki Anne Eddy was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to felony DUI resulting in the 2021 death of motorcyclist Michael Allen.
Eddy crossed the center line on Highway 90 and struck Allen, 72, head on. Her blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash was .148
The crash happened on Sept. 2, 2021, in North Myrtle Beach, where Eddy crossed the center line on Highway 90 and hit a motorcycle head-on, killing the driver, 72-year-old Michael Allen of Galivants Ferry. Eddys blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash was .148, authorities said.
Richardson said Georgetown County saw 171 DUI arrests in 2022, compared to 314 last year an 83% jump. In Horry County, the figure rose year-over-year from 1,307 to 1,702 a 30% uptick.
Despite a regional reduction in violent crimes, Horry County remains near the top statewide in those categories, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcements 2023 annual report.
* * *
Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here.
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Hy-Vee has sold two of its Lincoln stores to an Iowa-based real estate firm.
Hy-Vee sold the stores at 50th and O streets and 84th and Holdrege streets to Hurd Real Estate Services, which, like the grocery chain, is based in the Des Moines area.
According to real estate records, Hurd paid about $16.7 million for the 84th and Holdrege store and $16.1 million for the 50th and O store. It also bought the Hy-Vee convenience store at 52nd and O streets for $2.1 million. Hy-Vee will lease the stores back from Hurd and they will remain open.
A Hy-Vee spokeswoman said that the sales continue a strategy of the company selling off its real estate and leasing it back, which provides it with capital to grow its operations.
Hy-Vee has sold many of its stores to Hurd, which now owns about 40 Hy-Vee facilities, according to its website, including two stores in Omaha.
Hy-Vee still owns its store at 5020 N. 27th St. while its other two Lincoln stores, near 70th Street and Pioneers Boulevard and 40th Street and Old Cheney Road, are owned by Nebraska-based real estate firms.
Top Journal Star photos for September 2024
RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a $30 million grant to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE).
According to VDOE, the five-year Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) grant is aimed at increasing support for traditionally underserved students and will specifically focus on English Learners and students with disabilities.
This grant will help deepen literacy opportunities for all students especially those students who need the most support, said Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons. The Department will provide focused supports as educators work to improve literacy instruction for our English learners and students with disabilities.
The commonwealth serves a population of 1.26 million K-12 students, and nearly half of them are economically disadvantaged. According to VDOE, 14.1% of the students qualify for special education services and 14.3% are English learners.
All 131 school divisions in the state will receive support to improve student outcomes in identified schools in each respective division.
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I visited New York's largest Halloween festival at a historic mansion with over 7,000 jack-o'-lanterns. Here are the coolest things I saw.
I visited New York's largest Halloween festival at a historic mansion with over 7,000 jack-o'-lanterns. Here are the coolest things I saw.
The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze in New York is the tri-state area's largest Halloween festival.
Artists decorate the grounds of Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson with 7,000 jack-o'-lanterns.
The jaw-dropping displays include a pumpkin planetarium, a 200-foot Kraken, and optical illusions.
When the Van Cortlandt family acquired their sprawling Hudson Valley estate in the late 1600s, they couldn't have imagined that it would one day host a jack-o'-lantern festival with pumpkin sculptures including a Kraken, moving windmill, and Statue of Liberty.
Dutch trader Stephanus Van Cortlandt, who served as mayor of New York City, bought the land and built the first version of Van Cortlandt Manor between 1665 and 1681, according to the National Park Service. His grandson, Pierre Van Cortlandt, was New York's first Lieutenant Gov. and added the manor's top stories and porches in 1749.
Today, Van Cortlandt Manor is best known as the site of The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze, an annual festival featuring elaborate pumpkin carvings and sculptures.
The entire estate measures around 125 acres, and The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze spans a total of around 10 acres, making it the largest Halloween event in the tri-state area.
I attended The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze in September to explore the historic mansion and grounds and, of course, enjoy the fantastic pumpkin artistry.
The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze is held annually at the historic Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.
A sign at The Great Jack-o'-Lantern Blaze. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze is produced by Historic Hudson Valley, a nonprofit organization that operates and interprets national historic landmarks in Upstate New York such as the Rockefellers' Kykuit mansion. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit's preservation work and educational programming.
This year's festival began on September 13 and runs on select nights through November 17.
An archway at The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
Prices range from $34 for a standard ticket to $77 for admission to the Gourd and Goblet Tavern, a dining experience inside the manor's historic ferry house. Blaze also offers a $129 "flex" ticket that includes a free drink and snack and is valid any day of the event, even when it's otherwise sold out.
Tickets can be purchased on Historic Hudson Valley's website, but be warned: They sell out quickly. Due to high demand, Historic Hudson Valley provided Business Insider with a timed press ticket.
Some of the pumpkins are real and some are foam, but all are hand-carved by local artists.
Pumpkins at The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
The organic pumpkins are grown at Wallkill View Farm in New Paltz, New York. Michael Natiello, creative director of The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze, told Business Insider that his team carves over 1,000 pumpkins each week to replace the ones that rot.
Using some foam pumpkins doesn't just help with the longevity of the displays it also preserves the estate.
"Because we're on a historical site where there are historical buildings, we don't want to introduce more organic material that's going to mold or attract rodents," Natiello said.
Immediately upon entering the festival, I was greeted by a giant jack-o'-lantern spider web.
Spider and spider web jack-o'-lanterns. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
When the first Blaze festival was held 20 years ago, the spider web consisted of pumpkins laid flat on the ground in a web-like pattern. Today, it's a 24-foot display mounted on professional theater-grade hardware.
"We went from a bunch of history buffs to a pretty high-end production company in 20 years," Natiello said.
A rainbow flag also welcomed visitors in a variety of languages.
A jack-o'-lantern rainbow flag. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
Rob Schweitzer, vice president of communications at Historic Hudson Valley, told Business Insider that the organization expects over 200,000 people to attend this year, including visitors from all over the world.
The 200-foot-wide pumpkin Kraken emerging from the Croton River featured a historical connection to the Van Cortlandt family.
The Kraken. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
"In the 1700s, the Kraken was believed to be real and a threat to shipping," Natiello said. "The Van Cortlandts were from the Dutch West India Trading Company. They were merchants. They traded with China. They literally had docks right on the site where ships came. And guess where we're putting the Kraken? In that spot."
In another nod to the Hudson Valley, visitors could walk across a model of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.
A model of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge made of pumpkins. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
The actual bridge connects Tarrytown and Nyack across the Hudson River.
In a play on the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Pumpkin Art contained jack-o'-lantern versions of famous paintings.
The Museum of Pumpkin Art at The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
The gallery wall included pumpkin versions of The Son of Man, The Scream, American Gothic, and the Mona Lisa.
These Celtic knot carvings were all created by one artist.
Jack-o'-lanterns were carved with Celtic knots. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
A sign explained the jack-o'-lantern's origin in Irish folklore from the tale of "Stingy Jack" who carved a turnip and lit it with a candle as he wandered between heaven and hell.
Several displays featured moving parts, such as a rotating jack-o'-lantern windmill.
A jack-o'-lantern windmill. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
The windmill was surrounded by pumpkins carved with tulips and lit up in different colors.
Special effects such as a fog machine were also used to create a spooky glow.
A "Jacksmith" shop. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
Fog billowed out of a pumpkin blacksmith shop, also known as a "jacksmith shop."
One of the most striking, immersive displays was the pumpkin planetarium, a tunnel of jack-o'-lanterns that lit up in various colors.
The pumpkin planetarium. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
The pumpkin planetarium seemed to be the most popular spot to stop for photos.
The Road to Infinity used forced perspective to make it look like The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze went on forever.
The Road to Infinity. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
Natiello named the Road to Infinity as his favorite part of the festival.
The historic ferry house on the property was repurposed as the Gourd and Goblet Tavern, open to ticketholders only.
The ferry house on the grounds of Van Cortlandt Manor. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
The ferry house, dating back to around 1730, provided overnight accommodations to travelers along the Albany Post Road.
"As you're walking through Blaze, you're walking on what was the Albany Post Road, which was the main road connecting Albany and New York City," Schweitzer said. "It's essentially an extension of Broadway that ran right through the property. That took a little longer back then than it does today. So when folks were on that journey, this was a good stopping point to get some food, get some rest, and continue on the way."
I could imagine weary travelers in the 18th century finding refuge in the inn's cozy atmosphere.
Inside the Gourd and Goblet Tavern. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
A man in 18th-century period dress checked my ID and crossed my name off a list before admitting me to the Gourd and Goblet.
The drink menu featured alcoholic and non-alcoholic options.
Apple cider. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
I ordered a glass of apple cider, which came in a Gourd and Goblet Tavern cup.
The server then brought out a warm pumpkin empanada with a dipping sauce.
Food in the Gourd and Goblet Tavern. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
The table also had a bar snack mix to nibble on.
As I got up to walk the rest of the festival's path, my server asked, "Don't you want your apple cider doughnuts and hot chocolate?"
Apple cider doughnuts and hot chocolate. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
I hadn't realized just how many courses Gourd and Goblet offered.
Tickets with admission to the tavern cost an extra $43. To put things in perspective, a souvenir cup of apple cider alone costs $10 at the Blaze concession stand, so the refreshments help offset the price.
It's a nice spot to bring a date or sit with a group of friends, especially as nights get colder, but I think the event would be just as enjoyable for those who skip it.
I left the historic tavern and continued along the Blaze trail, where a series of New York-inspired jack-o'-lantern sculptures lit the way.
A jack-o'-lantern Statue of Liberty. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
At the foot of the jack-o'-lantern Statue of Liberty, pumpkins were carved with American flags and lit up in red, white, and blue.
The jack-o'-lantern subway stop looked convincing to me.
A jack-o'-lantern subway stop. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
Everyone around me was delighted to discover that the display included a Pizza Rat jack-o'lantern, a nod to the viral 2015 video of a rat dragging a slice of pizza down the steps of the New York City subway.
At last, the path arrived at Van Cortlandt Manor, which came to life with a sound and light show.
Van Cortlandt Manor. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
The manor itself is temporarily closed for restoration work, but its balcony was lined with smiling jack-o'-lanterns.
Pumpkin graves commemorated members of the Van Cortlandt family who once lived at the manor.
Pumpkin graves of Van Cortlandt family members. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
Pierre Van Cortlandt fought in the Revolutionary War and served as New York's first Lieutenant Gov. from 1777 to 1795. His son, Philip Van Cortlandt, served as a New York representative in Congress from 1793 to 1809.
The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze is a great way to learn about the history of the Hudson Valley and get into the Halloween spirit.
The gift shop at The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
I'm not usually one for spooky Halloween outings (though I have visited some purportedly haunted places in the name of journalism), but to me, The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze felt more like an art show than a haunted house.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Daniela Cavallo (r), Chairwoman of the VW General Works Council, speaks in front of Herrenhausen Palace before the start of collective bargaining between Volkswagen and IG Metall. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
German automaker Volkswagen rejected trade union demands for pay increases for German workers and continued to warn of deep cuts instead during initial collective bargaining talks on Wednesday.
VW earlier this month cancelled a long-standing job security deal with workers and warned that it could no longer rule out mass layoffs or plant closures as part of an austerity plan at the auto brand.
"Future instead of cutbacks" could be read on one banner. The crowd jeered VW management's plans with loud boos and chants.
The possibility of cuts and shutdowns has raised the stakes for collective bargaining talks between VW management and the IG Metall trade union, which represents much of the workforce at VW, Europe's largest automaker.
Labour leaders demanded concrete details from company management about the austerity plans, including what plants might be targeted for closure or how many jobs could be at risk.
Several thousand VW employees protested in front of the building in Hanover where negotiations took place. The workers used drums, sirens and whistles to denounce cost-cutting plans the core VW brand, and flares occasionally filled the air with red smoke.
The IG Metall trade union has demanded 7% pay increases for workers at VW and across the German auto industry, citing in part healthy profits at VW's parent company, the Volkswagen Group.
But management on Wednesday flatly rejected that demand, and instead hinted at layoffs or possible pay cuts for workers.
"Instead of cost burdens, we need cost relief," said VW's head of human resources, Arne Meiswinkel, who is acting as lead negotiator for management. "This will also require a contribution from the employees."
"Plant closures and mass redundancies are not on the table with us," said Thorsten Groger, chief negotiator for IG Metall in the German state of Lower Saxony, which includes VW's headquarters in the city of Wolfsburg and many of the company's biggest factories.
The collective bargaining round, originally planned for the end of October, was moved forward after VW tightened its austerity measures at the beginning of this month.
Instead of just discussing pay, negotiations are also to be held on job security. Initially, only the approximately 120,000 employees in the six large western German plants covered by the VW in-house wage agreement will be affected.
VW apprentice Josi Gross was among the many workers who joined the demonstration on Wednesday. Gross, 23, told dpa that she is particularly worried about her job prospects at the automaker.
VW management also recently terminated a long-standing deal that guaranteed employment for apprentices at the company. But Gross is confidentr the union will succeed.
"I think IG Metall will do it," she said.
Separate collective bargaining deals apply at VW's plants in the eastern German state of Saxony. VW also terminated the job security agreement there on Tuesday.
The company has so far not provided any concrete details about the proposed cuts, and again refused to do so on Wednesday when pressed by labour negotiators.
"So far, we have only been left in the dark," he said. "You don't build a future with fear - you destroy the future with fear."
Moreover, according to Groger, the union's chief negotiator, VW's parent company, the Volkswagen Group, had recently reported solid profit figures and had paid out high dividends to shareholders.
This shows that there is room to manoeuvre, Groger said, and the union would be sticking to its demand for a 7% wage increase for VW workers.
He also warned that workers are prepared to mount "fierce resistance" if the company presses forward with cuts.
"We are only at the beginning of a dispute with the company that is going to be tough," he said, adding that strikes could come any time after December 1.
"If necessary, tens of thousands will stand outside the factory gates and on the streets at Volkswagen sites," he said.
VW management, however, reaffirmed its austerity course. The company has cited difficulties in transitioning to electric vehicles and the need to face stiff competition from other global automakers.
"We have to restructure our company together. The situation is serious," said Meiswinkel, the VW representative. "The task now is to find viable solutions."
Daniela Cavallo, head of the influential works council at Volkswagen, acknowledged the challenges facing the company but criticized management's handling of the situation.
"The equal importance of job security and profitability is non-negotiable," she said. "Of course, we currently have serious problems on the profitability side. But you can't solve them by using plant closures as a threat."
Volkswagen employees demonstrate in front of Herrenhausen Palace before the start of collective bargaining between Volkswagen and IG Metall. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
Volkswagen employees demonstrate in front of Herrenhausen Palace before the start of collective bargaining between Volkswagen and IG Metall. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
TechCrunch
The U.S. Department of Justice says bankrupt EV startup Fisker's plan to make owners pay for labor costs related to multiple recalls is illegal, according to a new filing. The DOJ, writing on behalf of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), said in a filing submitted to Fisker's bankruptcy docket Monday that the "scheme" violates the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in multiple ways. The agency told the court that it therefore objects to Fisker's proposed settlement plan, which lays out steps to liquidate the remainder of the company.
Volodymyr Zelenskyys trip to the U.S. this week may complicate his relationship with the U.S., particularly if Republicans take power in the November election.
He flew on an Air Force C-17 plane to visit an arms producer in Scranton, Pennsylvania a swing state signed bombs with the states Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and called former President Trumps running mate, Sen. JD Vance, "too radical."
The Ukrainian president said he didnt think Trump knew how to bring an end to the war and told the United Nations General Assembly the war with Russia "cant be calmed by talks" and Russian President Vladimir Putin can "only be forced into peace." That didnt sit well with people in Trumps orbit.
"As someone who has been personally supportive of President Zelenskyy, I was deeply disappointed that he allowed himself to be used that way," Trumps former deputy national security adviser Victoria Coates told Fox News Digital. "It was pretty much political theater."
During a rally on Tuesday, the former president said Zelenskyy wanted Vice President Kamala Harris to win the election "so badly" and described him as "the greatest salesman in history."
Zelenskyy Questions China's True Interest Behind Plan To End Ukraine War
Read On The Fox News App
The stunts have left conservative Ukraine supporters concerned about the warring nations ability to come back to the U.S. next year and ask for more resources if Republicans are in power.
Volodymyr Zelenskyys trip to the U.S. this week may complicate his relationship with the U.S., particularly if Republicans take power in the November election.
"I dont know what he could do [to repair the relationship]," Coates said. "It was a very strange performance, very counterproductive for him being able to come back in a year and argue for more funding."
"He is too radical," Zelenskyy this week told the New Yorker of Vance, whos an outspoken opponent of aid to Ukraine. "[Vances] message seems to be that Ukraine must make a sacrifice. This brings us back to the question of the cost and who shoulders it. The idea that the world should end this war at Ukraines expense is unacceptable."
Zelenskyy went on: "My feeling is that Trump doesnt really know how to stop the war, even if he might think he knows how."
"It was a very poor move on [Zelenskyys] part," said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., a close Trump ally and key negotiator in moving the last $60 billion supplemental aid package for Ukraine over the finish line earlier this year.
His suggestion for Zelenskyy: "Stay out of politics. And maybe come and talk to us about what just happened, because that was a bad move."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a staunch Ukraine supporter, didnt think it was a bad move at all.
Zelenskyy called Sen. JD Vance "too radical."
"Zelenskyy was rightly reacting to some of what Sen. Vance has been saying about his position on these issues," the Connecticut Democrat said.
Vance this month pitched a peace plan that would see Ukraine give up much of the land Russia has captured since 2022 in exchange for a demilitarization zone along the front lines, fortifying Ukraine to deter another invasion and a guarantee that Kyiv would not be brought into NATO.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., a Trump surrogate, said Zelenskyy deserves any blowback he gets.
"Wherever you fall on the spectrum, the idea that a foreign leader is on US soil, being flown around on a C-17 at a campaign stop for Kamala Harris, criticizing President Trump, in any event, is unreal, and so I hope there's backlash. It's unacceptable."
Zelenskyy Warns Vances Plan To Give Russia Seized Land Will Lead To Global Showdown
"He made the decision to make those comments. They're completely out of bounds, and he ought to be called out for it."
Schmitt suggested the comments did not completely end any chances of further aid in the future, however.
"I think we should take a clear-eyed view of things like whats the plan, has Europe stepped up, all of that," he told Fox News Digital. "But this doesnt help."
In his comments to the New Yorker, Zelenskyy suggested that Trump seemed more receptive to his cause than his running mate.
"These are dangerous signals, coming as they do from a potential vice president. I should say that it hasnt been like this with Trump," he said.
"He and I talked on the phone, and his message was as positive as it could be, from my point of view. I understand, I will lend support, and so on."
"I dont take Vances words seriously," he added. "Trump makes political statements in his election campaign. He says he wants the war to stop. Well, we do too," Zelenskyy added.
Ukraine is expected to receive the last $6 billion in aid from the supplemental over the coming months as the war with Russia presses on toward three years in February.
Zelenskyy will meet with President Biden on Thursday and propose a new plan for victory. He's expected to make another plea for the U.S. to allow him to use long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russia.
Last week Trump said he would "probably" meet with Zelenskyy during his U.S. swing, but no such meeting has been scheduled.
And at United Nations this week, Zelenskyy suggested that a negotiated peace deal was off the table.
"We know some in the world want to talk to Putin," Zelenskyy said to the General Assembly, "to possibly hear from him that he's upset because we are exercising our right to defend our people."
Donning his signature green fatigues, he called such views "insanity." "Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed forcing Russia into peace," he said.
"Russia is committing an international crime. This war cant simply fade away, this war cant be calmed by talks. Actions are needed."
Original article source: Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Vance criticisms could come back to haunt him, Republicans warn
Voters divided over Mark Robinson at NC rally as Trump remains silent in his support
Former President Donald Trump again didnt mention Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson at his Wednesday rally in Mint Hill, despite his previous enthusiastic endorsement of the North Carolina lieutenant governor and other state Republicans.
Trumps rally, held at a Mosack Group warehouse in southeastern Mecklenburg County, was the second North Carolina rally in the past week where Trump did not express his support for Robinson. Trump previously has said Robinson is an unbelievable lieutenant governor who voters should cherish.
But those comments were made before CNN reported Thursday Robinson had made numerous derogatory and racist comments on a pornography website over a decade ago. Those comments included Robinson calling himself a Black Nazi, admitting to secretly watching women shower when he was 14 and saying he supports slavery.
At Wednesdays rally, Trump threw his support behind North Carolina Republican candidates for U.S. House, including Mark Harris and Pat Harrigan.
Robinson denies he wrote the comments and has called CNNs report salacious lies.
What voters think
Although Trump didnt mention Robinson, he was on voters minds, who said the new reports on the gubernatorial candidate have made them reconsider voting for him.
Vanessa Gregorio, a 55-year-old Wilmington resident, said she supports Trump based on his border and economic policies. On Robinson, she said shes undecided.
That one Im really kind of struggling with, she said. The media can turn things around, but, you know, Im gonna do my research.
David Badger, a 67-year-old Mint Hill resident, said he attended the rally to hear what Trump had to say about the economy. He said if the CNN report about Robinson is true, he would probably not vote for him. Though, he added, he is absolutely not sure if the report is true.
A poll released this week by Elon University showed that while North Carolina is divided on the presidential race, Stein has a clear lead over Robinson in the gubernatorial race, The News & Observer previously reported. The poll was conducted before the news of Robinsons comments broke.
Robinson posted on X shortly before Trump took the stage, saying his policies are more important than his personality.
This morning I spoke with Republican leaders across the state and made it clear: This is an election about policies, not personalities, he wrote. Now is not the time for intra-party squabbling and nonsense.
What politicians think
Since the CNN report, some Republicans have withdrawn their support of Robinson while others have condemned the comments. Some have called for Robinson to withdraw from the race for the good of the party.
Mark Harris, who is running for the 8th Congressional District, spoke at Wednesdays rally. He told The Charlotte Observer after the rally he doesnt know what to make of the CNN report.
What Ive seen characterized in the story is not the Mark Robinson that Ive known since 2018, he said. Excuse me if Im slow to buy everything CNN puts out there.
Tuesday, Robinson announced he had hired the Binnall Law Group to investigate where and how these false smears originated and to potentially instigate legal action against CNN. Binnall previously worked as a lawyer for Trump.
Mark Harris said Robinsons policies are what matter most.
I think his policies are critical to North Carolina, and I think a lot of North Carolinians believe that. I think we realize Josh Stein is dangerous for North Carolina, he said. I think theres a lot of people in North Carolina that are going to continue to stay and vote for Mark Robinson.
Kamala Harris campaign held a news conference ahead of Wednesdays rally where they connected Trump to Robinson based on his prior comments. Geoff Duncan, the former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, said on the call that Republicans should denounce Robinson.
I dont think theres any other moral reaction other than just completely disavowing every and all of those comments, he said. I mean its just a disgusting place for anybody to try to play milquetoast in.
I would encourage any Republican to just once again, do the right thing and walk away from somebody who was not who they said they were, and certainly has not put on display any sort of Republican or conservative principles.
Trumps running mate Sen. J.D. Vance dodged questions about Robinson when he visited Charlotte Monday. When asked if he still supports Robinsons campaign, he said he supports the people of North Carolina.
What (Robinson) said or didnt say is ultimately between him and the people of North Carolina, Vance said.
Lexington attorney Erin Izzo, left, and Court of Appeals Judge Pamela Goodwine are running for Kentucky Supreme Court. (Photos provided)
Two women are vying in Central Kentucky for a seat on the state Supreme Court after the chief justice chose not to seek another term.
The candidates are Pamela Goodwine, deputy chief Kentucky Court of Appeals judge, and Erin Izzo, a partner at Lexington law firm Landrum and Shouse. While judicial elections are nonpartisan in Kentucky, political partisans are lining up on opposite sides of this race.
Supreme Court candidate websites
Pamela Goodwine: www.goodwineforjustice.com
Erin Izzo: www.erinizzo.com
Last year, Chief Justice Laurance VanMeter announced he would not be seeking reelection in the 5th Supreme Court district, which includes Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Franklin, Jessamine, Madison, Scott and Woodford counties. He will be succeeded as chief justice in January by Deputy Chief Justice Debra Hembree Lambert, who was chosen Monday by her colleagues.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear is backing Goodwine saying she would be a really great Supreme Court justice. According to campaign finance reports, Goodwines donors also include former Democratic Govs. Steve Beshear and Paul Patton, as well as Democratic state lawmakers. A political organization created this week and organized by the current governors top campaign adviser is supporting Goodwine.
Meanwhile, Izzo has received GOP support an endorsement from the Clark County Republican Party and donations from local Republican groups in Fayette and Madison counties.
Goodwine told the Kentucky Lantern that it is critical for impartiality to be demonstrated and upheld in the role of judge and justice. Judges have a role to fairly interpret the law while also maintaining ethics and integrity, she added.
I have been a registered independent since I became a judge and I am known for continually displaying a strong work ethic along with honesty and integrity to ensure justice for all, Goodwine said. My strong reputation for upholding these values along with my 25 years of dedicated service as a judge has earned me respect from all parties. I have staunch supporters from all parties and welcome and accept invitations from all parties to participate in their events.
Izzo said she too has attempted to go before a mix of groups that lean left and right or are neutral. She added it would be dangerous for Kentucky to open up judicial races to more partisanship in the future.
I think as a candidate, theres not much I can do with my supporters in terms of whos going to give endorsements and whos not, Izzo said. It doesnt surprise me, honestly, that Beshear came out and endorsed her given her political leanings. And it doesnt surprise me that the Clark County Republicans came out and endorsed me because of their political leanings.
Because of ethics guidelines, Kentucky judicial candidates must avoid indicating their decision in a particular case. Both Goodwine and Izzo discussed their legal philosophies and qualifications with the Kentucky Lantern.
Justices serve eight-year terms. Both candidates said they intend to serve their full term on the court if elected.
Goodwine promises dedication to the rule of law and justice for all
Goodwine said that her 25 years of judicial experience have given me the vast array of experiences and responsibilities needed to best serve all Kentuckians on the Kentucky Supreme Court. Goodwine was elected to the Kentucky Court of Appeals for the 5th Appellate District in 2018. Before that she served on the benches of Fayette County Circuit and District courts.
Being part of the state appeals court prepared Goodwine to join the Supreme Court, she said in written responses to the Kentucky Lantern, as she interpreted complex legal issues and crafted opinions while managing a high caseload.
Upon election to the Kentucky Supreme Court, I will be the first woman and only the fifth person in history to serve at all levels of the judiciary in Kentucky, Goodwine said. And I pledge to bring to our states highest court not only the legal expertise, work ethic, preparedness and passion for the law that I have built my reputation as a judge, but also a commitment to approaching each case with a dedication to the rule of law and justice for all.
After moving to Lexington from her hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, in 1979, Goodwine began working as a court reporter before attending the University of Kentucky the following year. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1991 and UK College of Law in 1994. Early in life, Goodwine overcame challenges like the deaths of her parents by the age of 19 and and a life-threatening illness. She said those moments taught her to use challenges as a springboard to grow and thrive and accomplish her goals.
Goodwine, 64, said she knew she wanted to be a judge as a teenager and that was later reaffirmed after her mothers murder.
From the courtroom to community outreach, Ive witnessed the real impact legal decisions have on peoples lives and that fuels my commitment to serving on the Kentucky Supreme Court, Goodwine said.
Goodwine said the Kentucky Supreme Court is the ultimate interpreter of the Constitution, laws and rulings, and handles lower court appeals and focuses typically on cases with significant legal or constitutional decisions and renders rulings with binding legal precedents.
As an arbitrator, Izzo says, she does a lot of the same things that judges do
Izzo said her litigation experience across Kentucky makes her qualified for the states highest court. For 19 years, shes worked on litigation, arbitration and mediations. She compared arbitration to working as a judge and said her philosophy is to interpret the law as it is written.
As an arbitrator, we do a lot of the same things that judges do, Izzo said. We look at cases. We have attorneys come before us. I hear arguments. I make decisions. I hear evidence. I preside over trials. Its there. Its just different that its here in a conference room, as opposed to the courthouse.
Izzo, 46, completed her undergraduate degree at Dartmouth in 2000 and graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 2005. Before joining Landrum and Shouse in 2011, Izzos career experience includes being an attorney at Fulkerson, Kinkel and Marrs in Lexington, working as an assistant Fayette County attorney and being a judicial staff attorney for the Family Division of the 50th Judicial Circuit. Before law school, she worked as a paralegal at New York City firm Seward and Kissel.
Describing herself as a constitutionalist and not an activist arbitrator when it comes to applying law, Izzo said she looks at the intent behind how laws were written. She added that if theres something there that might be better socially, or might (be) something that I disagree with, its not my place to change.
I look at how things are, what the intention of the founding fathers were with our Constitution, and that kind of carries over to what legislative intent was when a law was adopted, Izzo said. Because I think if you really want to understand what the legislature intended with the law, you want to know how things were when it was adopted, what was in effect, what was going on at the time, and so that can have an impact on what a statute means outside of the Constitution.
Izzo was born in Tennessee and raised in a Portland, Oregon, suburb until the age of 7when her family moved to Louisville.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. In-person no-excuse early voting begins Thursday, Oct. 31.
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Up to Speed
Things are tight as a tick in the presidential election, according to a new CNN poll released Tuesday. Among likely voters nationwide, Vice President Kamala Harris has 48 percent support with former President Donald Trump at 47 percent in a head-to-head matchup. Thats something of a shift from CNNs previous poll, taken in July shortly after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, which found among registered voters 49 percent said they would vote for Trump and 46 percent for Harris. The Real Clear Politics average of national polls gives Harris just a 2-point lead over Trump.
Republicans fight to give Nebraska winner-take-all apportionment of its electoral votes seems to have failed as Gov. Jim Pillen announced Tuesday that he would not call a special session of the unicameral Legislature to make the change. Pillen had said he would call a special session to pass winner-take-all only if 33 senators publicly committed to voting for it. After Mike McDonnell, a state senator from Omaha, said Tuesday he would not vote for the change, Republicans would have needed to convince a Democrator the Legislatures one nonpartisan progressiveto flip.
Harris said Tuesday that she was in favor of the Senate doing away with the filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade. I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe, she told a Wisconsin radio station in an interview that aired Tuesday. Democratic senators and Senate candidates voiced support months ago for eliminating the filibuster. However, Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, perhaps the most vulnerable Democratic senator this election cycle, said he was in favor of changing the filibuster to make it so that senators would need to continuously speak to hold up a bill. My stance is this: We need to change the filibuster into a talking filibuster, he told Semafor last week. We should not eliminate the filibuster.
Outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a former Democrat who became an independent earlier this year, said Harris position stopped him from endorsing her. Shame on her, Manchin told CNN. She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. Its the only thing that keeps us talking and working together. If she gets rid of that, then this would be the House on steroids. The same day, fellow Democrat-turned-independent Kyrsten Sinema, who is also retiring from the Senate at the end of this year, also slammed Harris. To state the supremely obvious, eliminating the filibuster to codify Roe v Wade also enables a future Congress to ban all abortion nationwide, she wrote on X. What an absolutely terrible, shortsighted idea.
Get Ready for Another Long Vote-Counting Process
Election workers process mail-in ballots at the Orange County Registrar of Voters facility in Santa Ana, California, on Monday, February 26, 2024. (Photo by Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
On the morning of November 4, 2020, then-President Donald Trump tweeted in outrage as the election results continued to pour in from the day before.
Last night I was leading, often solidly, in many key States, in almost all instances Democrat run & controlled, he posted. Then, one by one, they started to magically disappear as surprise ballot dumps were counted. VERY STRANGE, and the pollsters got it completely & historically wrong!
The frustrated Republican president had seen something familiar to those who have watched election results reported on television in real time: large dumps of votes from populous precincts or from mail-in and absentee ballots that can often dramatically narrow the margins or even shift the lead from one candidate to another.
It happened to both Trump and Joe Biden in 2020. In Pennsylvania, for instance, Trump led Biden in the initial vote count, but his lead shrank as more votes, including large numbers of mail-in votes, from heavily Democratic Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were reported in large tranches. A similar but reverse scenario happened in North Carolina, where Bidens early lead evaporated as more Republican precincts came in and Trump narrowly took over.
The fact is that theres nothing magic about margins shifting as ballots come in and are counted, but Trumps focus on so-called ballot dumps means he will almost certainly focus on any election night shifts in the votes away from him in the multiple swing states. Most states, including the majority of the big seven battlegrounds, will either be counting absentee and mail-in ballots on a rolling basis in the days or weeks before the election, or at least processing them (that is, opening envelopes, verifying names and registration status, and/or sorting them for delivery to a polling place) to be counted quickly on Election Day.
But two states will not start counting ballots received in the mail until polls have closed on November 5: Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. That could mean a repeat of the 2020 election, when major media outlets did not declare a winner of the presidential election until it was clear Biden had won Pennsylvania, four days after polls had closed.
Heres a quick overview of how each of the seven battleground statesArizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsinwill be processing and counting mail-in ballots:
Arizona
Any registered voter in Arizona can request a mail-in ballot, according to state law. Completed ballots, meanwhile, are counted as soon as they are received by the county elections officials. Ballots can be returned either by mail or in official drop-boxes, and verification that a voters signature on the ballot matches the signature on that voters registration file is required before it is counted.
Georgia
Any registered voter in Georgia can apply for an absentee ballot, with applications only accepted between 78 and 11 days before Election Day. Completed absentee ballots sent back can be processed as early as the third Monday before Election Day (October 21 this year), but those ballots cannot be counted until Election Day. According to state law, county election superintendents can authorize the counting of absentee and military/overseas ballots after 7 a.m. on Election Day, and counting must be completed by 8 p.m. or within one hour of the closing of every poll in that particular county.
All of this might mean Georgia can expect swift results, but the Republican-controlled states elections board voted last week to approve a rule requiring each voting precinct conduct a second counting of ballots by hand on Election Day and to resolve discrepancies with the machine count. Republican officials, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr, said before and after the boards vote that they oppose the new rule, which could face legal challenges. But if the board has its way, it could take much longer than usual to get results, in-person or absentee, from Georgia.
Michigan
Any registered voter in Michigan is entitled to an absentee ballot, according to state law. Absent voters mail their completed ballots back to the clerk for their local voting jurisdiction (such as a county, city, or township).
A useful worksheet from the secretary of states office explains that these local jurisdictions can determine for themselves whether to count absentee votes on Election Day at the specific polling place or to establish one or more absent voter counting boards (AVCB) that process and count absentee ballots. Larger jurisdictions (a population of more than 5,000) that use these AVCBs can begin counting absentee ballots as early as eight days before Election Day. Absentee ballots can be delivered to polling stations for counting on Election Day through 8 p.m. There are no limits to how early on Election Day these absentee ballots can be counted, but no jurisdictions can generate results, either from counted absentee ballots or in-person ballots, before 8 p.m.
Nevada
Since the 2022 midterm elections, Nevada has sent a mail-in ballot to every registered voter who has not opted out, making it the only 2024 battleground state to have essentially universal vote-by-mail. These ballots can be mailed in or dropped off at an official ballot box in the county in which the voter is registered. Ballots postmarked on or before Election Day can be accepted as long as they are received no later than four days after Election Day. (The Trump campaign sued to overturn this aspect of the law, but the case was thrown out earlier this year.)
According to the Nevada secretary of states website, mail-in ballots can be processed for counting beginning as early as 15 days before Election Day. Counties can begin posting their election results online as soon as the secretary of state confirms all polling locations have been closed and the last voter has voted.
North Carolina
Any registered voter in North Carolina can request a mail-in (also known as an absentee) ballot, according to state law. The law requires that absentee and military/overseas ballots be counted by officials at each countys board of elections on Election Day. Military and overseas ballots can be counted as early as 9 a.m. on Election Day and beginning no later than 5 p.m., while absentee ballots can be counted as early as 2 p.m. on Election Day and beginning no later than 5 p.m. But county election boards are authorized to process absentee ballots before Election Day, provided the actual counting of those ballots does not occur until Election Day.
Pennsylvania
Any registered voter in Pennsylvania can request a mail-in ballot, and those who are physically unable to be at their polling place on Election Day can request an absentee ballot. The processes for completing and submitting mail-in ballots and absentee ballots are largely the same, and the Pennsylvania Department of State refers to both as mail ballots.
But existing state law limits when these mail ballots can be processed prior to counting. Under the current law, pre-canvassingopening mail ballots and processing them through the voting machinecan begin only at 7 a.m. on Election Day, with canvassing, or tabulating the votes from mail ballots, only allowed to begin at 8 p.m. on the same day. This law accounted for the significant delay in results from Pennsylvania in 2020, particularly because of the large number of mail ballots submitted due to the COVID pandemic.
A push to change the state law and allow counties to begin pre-canvassing mail ballots a week before Election Day passed the states House of Representatives earlier this year, but it languished in the state Senate thanks to Republican opposition. So the delayed process for counting votes in Pennsylvania that led to Trumps outrage four years ago could very well repeat itself.
Wisconsin
Any registered voter in Wisconsin can request an absentee ballot, according to state law. But very similarly to Pennsylvania law, election officials cannot begin processing and counting these absentee ballots until Election Day. Also similar to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin legislators Wisconsin have tried to amend the election law to begin the process on absentee ballots, with a bipartisan majority of the state House of Representatives passing a bill to do so last year. But the bill has seemingly died in committee in the state Senate.
Eyes on the Trail
Former President Donald Trump will deliver remarks in Mint Hill, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte, this afternoon.
Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver remarks in Pittsburgh this afternoon in what is expected to be an address on the economy. Harris will also sit down for an interview on MSNBC this evening with Stephanie Ruhle.
Sen. J.D. Vance will deliver remarks in Traverse City, Michigan, this evening.
Doug Emhoff will headline Harris campaign events in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Charlottesville, Virginia. Also in Charlottesville, the second gentleman will deliver remarks at a Harris campaign reception, likely a fundraiser.
The Trump campaign was scheduled today to proceed with Day 3 of a three-day bus tour across Wisconsin, with stops in Reedsburg, Watertown, and Waukesha. Headliners for the events include former Pentagon official Kash Patel, Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schimming, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, former acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York, and various local and state conservative activists.
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Having gone to Springfield, I didnt see that evidence.
Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaking about claims of Haitian migrants eating pets with CNNs Kasie Hunt, September 24, 2024
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(Capital-Star photo)
Ten voting rights groups have asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to block enforcement of a rule that disqualifies mail-in ballots returned without a date.
Lawyers for the voting rights groups say that if county election boards disqualify ballots that are returned by the Election Day deadline but dont have a correct date on the outside envelope, more than 10,000 voters could be disenfranchised in the Nov. 5 presidential election.
The counties know that these ballots are from eligible voters. They know that they received the ballots by the submission deadline because theyre holding them in their hands. This requirement is meaningless for administering the election, but its damaging because it disqualifies otherwise eligible voters for a meaningless paperwork mistake, Mimi McKenzie, legal director of the Public Interest Law Center, said.
The Republican National Committee has intervened in prior efforts to have the dating rule declared unconstitutional or violative of federal voting rights laws.
The RNC has successfully defended this law three times, spokesperson Claire Zunk said. Were confident the court will reject this latest challenge also.
The new lawsuit comes less than a week after the Supreme Court dismissed a similar case in which a lower court found the rule was unconstitutional. In an Aug. 30 decision, a Commonwealth Court panel of judges ruled 4-1 that the dating requirement violates the Pennsylvania Constitutions guarantee of the right to vote.
The Supreme Court threw out that decision on a technicality because the voting rights groups had not included each of Pennsylvanias 67 counties as parties. The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the lower courts decision.
In the new suit that includes all of the counties boards of elections and Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, the voting rights groups ask the Supreme Court to use its authority as the commonwealths highest court to hear their case immediately. Although the Supreme Court seldom exercises its Kings Bench power, the imminent disenfranchisement of thousands of Pennsylvanians justifies its use in this case, the groups argue.
They also argue that the requirement to date the return envelope of mail-in ballots violates the free and equal elections clause of the state constitution because the requirement restricts the fundamental right to vote but serves no compelling governmental purpose.
How election officials should handle voters mistakes in completing and returning mail-in ballots has been a subject of lawsuits since voting by mail without an excuse for not going to the polls in person was first allowed in 2020.
In prior lawsuits, testimony by election officials has established that the date that voters are supposed to write on their ballots is not used to determine whether the ballot is received in time to be counted. Rather, the county election offices put a time and date stamp on the ballots as they are received. Ballots received after polls close on Election Day cannot be counted.
The voting rights groups suing the boards and Schmidt are the New PA Project Education Fund, NAACP Pennsylvania State Conference, Common Cause Pennsylvania, The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, Black Political Empowerment Project, POWER Interfaith, Make the Road Pennsylvania, OnePA Activists United, Casa San Jose, and Pittsburgh United.
They are represented by the Public Interest Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.
(This article was updated at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, to include a comment from an RNC spokesperson.)
This article is made possible through Spotlight PAs collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. Sign up for Votebeats free newsletters here.
A coalition of voting rights advocates is trying again to get the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to conclusively decide whether voters need to date their mail ballot return envelope in order for their vote to be counted, likely the last chance to settle the question before the November election.
After the court rebuffed the plaintiffs on jurisdictional grounds in a decision earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the Public Interest Law Center asked the high court to exercise its authority to bypass the lower courts to directly address pressing legal matters.
Because the court previously did not rule on the merits of the case, the organizations, suing on behalf of a coalition of voting rights groups, are again arguing that the dating requirement violates the state constitution.
The refusal to count timely mail ballots submitted by eligible voters because of an inconsequential error violates the fundamental right to vote recognized in the Free and Equal Elections clause, the suit says. The imminent threat of mass disenfranchisement warrants this Courts exercise of its Kings Bench authority.
It is unclear if the court will use its discretionary power to take up the case, but at least three of its seven justices indicated they were open to such a move.
If the court does take the case, it could have a large impact on voters this November, as thousands of ballots are rejected each election for lacking a proper date.
Pennsylvanias mail voting law, Act 77, requires voters to sign and date the outer return envelope of their mail ballots, and return the ballot in a secrecy envelope, in order for it to be counted.
During the April primary, counties rejected roughly 8,500 ballots, or 1.22% of those returned, for lacking a signature or date, or for being returned without a secrecy envelope, according to an analysis of Pennsylvania Department of State data. More than 4,400 of those were rejected for dating issues. Applications for nearly double the number of ballots returned in the primary have already been approved and ballots will soon reach voters. More voters are expected to apply before the Oct. 29 deadline.
The dating requirement has been caught in nearly continuous litigation since Act 77 was implemented in 2020. Federal and state judges have ruled at various points that the date should not be required, but those rulings have since been overturned.
Earlier this month in the most recent case, brought by many of the same litigants, the state Supreme Court voided a lower courts ruling that had found the requirement unconstitutional.
The ACLU and others had argued to the states Commonwealth Court that the provision violated the free and equal elections clause of the state constitution. That clause says that no power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage.
In a 4-1 ruling in late August, Commonwealth Court agreed with them. But the ruling was quickly appealed by Republicans to the state Supreme Court, which voided the lower courts order in a 4-3 ruling, on the grounds that the lower court did not have the authority to hear the case.
The three state Supreme Court justices who disagreed with the majoritys ruling wrote in their dissent that the high court should use its authority to take up the issue immediately.
The ACLU is not the only group asking the court to exercise this power. The Republican National Committee and Pennsylvania GOP last week asked the court to take up a case on whether counties were violating the law in regards to a mail ballot policy adopted in some counties.
The policy, known as notice-and-cure, is adopted in some counties where elections offices notify voters of errors on their mail ballot such as lacking a proper date and permit them to fix those errors.
In a statement, RNC Chair Michael Whatley said the policy ignores the law, though the Pennsylvania Department of State disputes that characterization.
The court has not yet said whether it will hear that case either.
Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at cwalker@votebeat.org.
BEFORE YOU GO If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.
Daniela Cavallo (r), Chairwoman of the VW General Works Council, speaks in front of Herrenhausen Palace before the start of collective bargaining between Volkswagen and IG Metall. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
Labour leaders at German automaker Volkswagen (VW) demanded concrete details from company management on possible job cuts at the start of collective bargaining talks on Wednesday.
VW earlier this month cancelled a long-standing job security deal with workers at the company and warned that it could no longer rule out mass layoffs or plant closures as part of an austerity plan at the auto brand.
But the company has not provided further information, such as which plants might be targeted for closure. The IG Metall trade union, which represents much of VW's workforce, demanded immediate details on Wednesday.
"We expect answers today," said Thorsten Groger, chief negotiator for IG Metall in the German state of Lower Saxony, which includes VW's headquarters in the city of Wolfsburg and many of the company's biggest factories.
"You don't build a future with fear - you destroy the future with fear," Groger added.
Labour leaders are scheduled to meet VW officials for the start of negotiations over the collective bargaining deal at the company on Wednesday in the German city of Hanover.
Groger warned the company that workers are prepared to fight back against cuts and enforce their demands with action.
"We are only at the beginning of a dispute with the company that is going to be tough," he said, adding that strikes could come any time after December 1.
"If necessary, tens of thousands will stand outside the factory gates and on the streets at Volkswagen sites," he said.
Daniela Cavallo, head of the influential works council at Volkswagen, acknowledged the challenges facing Volkswagen but criticized management's handling of the situation.
"The equal importance of job security and profitability is non-negotiable," she said. "Of course, we currently have serious problems on the profitability side. But you can't solve them by using plant closures as a threat."
NARRAGANSETT, R.I. (WPRI) The 2024 Rhode Island Walk like MADD event on Saturday is being held in honor of Katie DeCubellis.
DeCubellis was 13 years old when she was killed by a drunk driver in 1999. Her parents, Meg and John DeCubellis have been very outspoken since that day.
Its just unimaginable the things weve missed out on as a family during those 25 years, John said.
The couple told 12 News Katies birthday just passed and she would have been 38 the same age Meg was when Katie was killed.
The DeCubellis realized that if their daughter was still here, shed be old enough to be a mother.
Our children are both grown, gone to college, gotten married, theres just so many milestones, Meg said. But every time theres a good milestone, its almost a reminder of what should, you know, Katie should be with us and shes not, and what would her milestones be?
The walk is one MADDs top fundraisers of the year. They hope to raise $35,000 to invest in raising awareness about making responsible decisions behind the wheel.
Registration begins at 9 a.m. at the North Beach Pavillion in Narragansett.
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The Vietnam War-era wreckage of a shot down USAF F-4 Phantom II fighter bomber together with the remains of B-52s and other aircraft on display at the Air Force Museum in Hanoi, Vietnam. | Andy Soloman/UCG/Universal Images Group/Newscom
Many people in Washington seem to see the unfolding war in Lebanon as revenge for past U.S. troop deaths. After the Israeli air force killed a group of commanders of the Lebanese militia Hezbollahalong with several childreneveryone from Biden administration official Brett McGurk to Sen. Tom Cotton (RArk.) thanked Israel for dishing out justice. As it turns out, slain Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil had helped kill dozens of U.S. Marines, CIA officers, and other American personnel in 1983.
Most of those Americans had been sent to Lebanon as part of the Multinational Force, a U.S.-led peacekeeping effort in the wake of an Israeli invasion. Back then, many Americans didn't believe that U.S. forces should be there in the first place. According to a Pentagon report from the time, U.S. intelligence had predicted that U.S. forces would likely face "entrapment in Lebanese internal conflicts." None other than then-Sen. Joe Biden questioned whether the Reagan administration had the authority to get involved in the Lebanese war.
President Joe Biden is now backing Israel's war effort to the hilt, and is massing U.S. forces in the Middle East. Ostensibly, they're there to evacuate Americans, but the Biden administration has signaled that it will directly fight Hezbollah if Israel comes under "severe duress." Biden had predicted the ugly consequences of a past war of choice. Now his administration has embraced those consequences as a potential reason for launching another war of choice.
Lebanon isn't the only place where Washington's wars are a self-licking ice cream cone. From Vietnam to Iraq, hawkish politicians have sent Americans to fight in faraway countries, then used the blowback as an excuse to fight even harder. You don't think that they're an enemy of America? Then why are they shooting at Americans in their country?
After former President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in 2020, a bipartisan majority in Congress passed a war powers resolution to prevent further escalation against Iran. The hawkish minority, however, argued that Americans deserved revenge for Iran's meddling in the Iraq War, led by Soleimani.
"He was a legitimate target of war because he's been pushing war against the United States for decades," Sen. Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) said. "We've had at least five or six hundred soldiers killed in Iraq from IEDs developed in Iran that were used inside Iraq. They were very, very lethal to American forces."
Graham himself helped start that war in the first place. He voted to authorize military force against Iraq in 2002, and has fought back hard against attempts to get U.S. troops out of the country as late as last year. (Graham has also long called for "military planning" against Iran.) The fact that many Iraqis wanted to eject U.S. forcesand that arming those Iraqis gave outsiders an opportunity to hurt Americansshould have been a sign that U.S. intervention had failed. Instead, Graham took it as a justification to continue and expand the war.
That sleight of hand has a long lineage. When the American public lost faith in stopping communism in Vietnam by force, the Nixon administration tried to make the war about freeing American prisoners from communist captivity. The administration even played a cynical accounting trick to inflate the public's hopes about the number of Americans they could bring home, by folding the military's "killed in action/body not recovered" list into the "prisoners of war/missing in action" category.
Of course, the longer the war continued, the more Americans would disappear into the Vietnamese jungle, which would in turn give then-President Richard Nixon more reasons to continue the war.
Another relic of the Vietnam War seems to have made its way into Biden's strategy in the Middle East. Biden administration officials told Axios last week that they agree with Israel's "de-escalation through escalation" strategy. Nixon had used a similar justification when he announced an invasion of neutral Cambodia to ferret out alleged communist hideouts there.
"We take this action not for the purpose of expanding the war into Cambodia but for the purpose of ending the war in Vietnam and winning the just peace we all desire," Nixon told the nation in April 1970. "We will not be humiliated. We will not be defeated. We will not allow American men by the thousands to be killed by an enemy from privileged sanctuaries," he added.
The public reaction to Nixon's attempt at de-escalation through escalation was so harsh that Congress passed the War Powers Act to limit future military interventions. Nor did the plan work. The war continued for five more years until April 1975, when the U.S.-backed regimes in both Vietnam and Cambodia collapsed and Americans were forced to leave Southeast Asia.
The end of the U.S. wars was painful for Americans who had sacrificed so much for the cause. And it did not end the violence. The new Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia turned its guns on its own people and its former allies in Vietnam. But the U.S. withdrawal showed how absurd the rationale for the war was: Southeast Asia was no longer a threat to Americans once Americans left Southeast Asia alone.
Over the next few decades, Vietnamese communists learned that they enjoyed American capitalism more than they had thought. Today, Americans are free to come and go in Vietnam as guests. But first, we had to stop being invaders.
U.S. policy is delaying that outcome in the Middle East as much as possible. As long as they can, politicians will try to keep the cycle of blowback and vengeance alive. We will stay in the Middle East to avenge the Americans who died to keep America in the Middle East.
The post War Is a Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone appeared first on Reason.com.
WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) A man received his sentence Wednesday for sexually assaulting two girls.
Jestin Peterson, 42, was sentenced to a prison term of 10 years to life in prison after pleading guilty on Aug. 22 to a first-degree charge of rape and a third-degree charge of gross sexual imposition.
The charges were connected to the sexual assaults of two girls who were 10 and 11 years old during the summer of 2020 at Petersons Warren home, according to the Trumbull County Prosecutors Office.
Peterson was also labeled a Tier 3 sexual offender, so he will have to register upon his release from prison four times per year for the rest of his life, prosecutors say.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
(Bloomberg) -- Washington gubernatorial candidate Bob Ferguson defended the states capital gains tax, emphasizing its vital role in funding education, as a Republican-backed ballot initiative seeks to repeal it.
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Ferguson, currently Washingtons Democratic attorney general, said the tax not only generates revenue for early learning and schools but also shifts part of the tax burden to the wealthiest residents. Without an income tax, Washington has one of the most regressive tax systems in the US.
I think at the end of the day, the voters of Washington state will reject the repeal of the capital gains tax because theyre going to see and understand that hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars that are generated from that capital gains tax are being invested in early learning, in childcare, in school construction all across our state, Ferguson said in an interview on Tuesday on BTVs Balance of Power.
Supporters of the repeal effort include money manager Brian Heywood, who argues that the tax is harming Washingtons business climate. He has donated nearly $7 million in cash and in-kind contributions to the effort.
Since its implementation in 2022, Washington has imposed a 7% tax on capital gains exceeding $250,000, which raised $900 million in its first year.
The levy, paid by the top 0.2% of Washington residents, withstood legal challenges in the state Supreme Court. The November ballot will now ask voters whether they want to end the tax.
Ferguson is running against Republican Dave Reichert, the former King County sheriff and US congressman. In the August top-two primary, Ferguson won 45% of the vote, while Reichert garnered 28%. Democrat Jay Inslee is stepping down after his third term in office.
I feel Im as qualified as anyone running for statewide office across the country to know how to deal with a Trump administration, know how to stand up to that Trump administration, said Ferguson, citing his challenge in 2017 of a Trump-imposed travel ban targeting Muslim-majority nations, which led to a temporary halt to the order. The possibilities are limitless if Kamala Harris is elected president, he said.
--With assistance from Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu.
(Corrects Reicherts results in seventh paragraph.)
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2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee stands on the tarmac while traveling to an event in Walla Walla, Washington
Washington Governor Jay Inslee stands on the tarmac while traveling to an event in Walla Walla, Washington
By Matt McKnight and Joseph Ax
OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - Washington state's first-in-the-nation stockpile of abortion drugs will serve as insurance against future lawsuits seeking to ban the procedure nationwide or a second presidential term for Republican Donald Trump, Governor Jay Inslee said.
Last year, with a federal lawsuit seeking to restrict access to abortion medication nationwide, Inslee, a Democrat, ordered the state's Department of Corrections to use its pharmacy license to purchase 30,000 doses of the abortion drug mifepristone.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the case in June, keeping mifepristone on the market. But the ruling left the door open to further legal challenges, and abortion rights advocates warn that the medication remains at risk.
In an interview with Reuters, Inslee, 73, said the state would maintain its stockpile pending the result of the Nov. 5 presidential election between Trump and Democratic U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.
"The Supreme Court decision was not definitive in protecting mifepristone," Inslee told Reuters at the governor's mansion in Olympia. "This is a long-term threat. Those who want to take away reproductive health for women, they're not going to stop last week, this week or next week. It is a multi-decade effort."
Trump has sometimes taken a muddled position on abortion, including mifepristone, commonly prescribed as part of a two-drug regimen to end early pregnancies. In August, the former president suggested he might be open to directing the Food and Drug Administration to revoke access to the drug if he wins the election, though his campaign later said he would not seek to do so.
Trump has touted his role in appointing three Supreme Court appointees who helped drive the court's majority decision in 2022 to eliminate a nationwide right to abortion after five decades.
"You just can't trust him when it comes to women's reproductive health," said Inslee, who is leaving office in January after serving 12 years as governor.
The doses are enough to supply the state's abortion patients for an estimated three years. Washington has seen the number of out-of-state women traveling there for abortions increase since 2022, when numerous states - including nearby Idaho - implemented bans in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision.
Harris and other Democrats have made abortion a central campaign issue this year. A majority of Americans say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.
(Reporting by Matt McKnight; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by David Gregorio)
The vacancies came under public scrutiny recently as the council gave DES guidance on its proposed updates to the states landfill regulations. (Hadley Barndollar | New Hampshire Bulletin)
A former toxicologist from the Department of Environmental Services will serve as the public health expert on the Waste Management Council, a body whose vacancies critics have said tilt it toward industry.
Jonathan M. Petali, of Manchester, filled one such vacancy after the Executive Council approved his nomination to the council Wednesday. After spending more than five years at DES as a toxicologist, Petali now works as a human health risk assessor at Battelle, a science and technology nonprofit, according to his LinkedIn.
Petali filled one of the five open seats on the Waste Management Council, which is designed to have 13 members. There are still open positions for a public interest representative, a municipal official, one of the two slots for an elected official, and a member of the business or financial community, according to the councils webpage.
Two of the occupied seats making up a quarter of the council before Petalis appointment represent the private solid waste management industry and private industries that generate hazardous waste. Other represented slots include one elected official, a licensed sanitary or environmental engineer, a person in the municipal public works field, a member of a community that recycles or recovers solid waste, a local conservation commission member, and an associate professor of environmental sciences or sanitary engineering.
The members decide on administrative appeals from DES Waste Management Division, advise the division director, and submit an annual report to the governor and Executive Council.
The vacancies came under public scrutiny recently as the council gave DES guidance on its proposed updates to the states landfill regulations. Critics said these rules were disproportionately shaped by industry; the missing seats on the council only added to these concerns. At a March committee hearing, Rep. Linda Haskins, an Exeter Democrat, said the vacancies undermined public confidence.
The fact that these vacancies have happened over years and havent been addressed puts the public in the backseat when it comes to how the process is set up, Haskins said.
Michael Wimsatt, director of the waste management division, told the Bulletin in June that, though he would like the vacancies to be filled, he didnt feel the empty roles negatively impacted the rulemaking process, pointing to public listening sessions and private meetings with industry and environmental groups.
Gov. Chris Sununus office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the status of the other vacancies. In June, his office said it can take time to fill volunteer positions such as those on the council, that recruitment and application acceptance was ongoing, and that there was still robust opportunity for public comments on rules, permits, and more.
The campaign of Joyce Craig, the Democratic nominee for governor and former Manchester mayor, said in August she would support a pause on new landfills in the state until a full council could review the regulations. She broadened this position recently, saying earlier this month that there would be no new landfills nor expansions under her administration.
As far as I understand, theres not a need for more landfills for trash thats being generated in New Hampshire, Craig said the night of her primary victory.
Kelly Ayotte, the Republican nominee and former U.S. senator, has said she would consider new landfills on a case-by-case basis but that she opposed the one being proposed in Dalton.
On Wednesday morning, Secretary of State Antony Blinken blew off a question about how he reportedly ignored two U.S. government assessments about Israel blocking aid to Gaza.
On CBS, Blinken was asked about recently leaked documents showing that he received two U.S. government reports that Israel deliberately blocked aid to Gaza but then told Congress the opposite. He claimed that his response was actually pretty typical.
We had a report to put out on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and what Israel was doing to try to make sure that people got the assistance they needed, and I had different assessments from different parts of the State Department, from other agencies that were involved, like USAID, Blinken told CBSs Adriana Diaz.
My job was to sort through them, which I did, draw some conclusions from that, and we put our report, and we found that Israel needed to do a better job on the humanitarian assistance. Weve seen improvements since then; its still not sufficient, Blinken added.
Secretary of State Blinken is asked about ProPublicas reporting stating he ignored two different reports from within the administration that Israel was deliberately blocking aid into Gaza.
Blinken says this is actually pretty typical. His job is to draw conclusions from pic.twitter.com/a6XYV5CK9i Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) September 25, 2024
Blinkens spin in the interview sounds quite different from his report to Congress in May, when he said, We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.
Blinkens own report contradicted two other reports he allegedly received from the State Departments Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development. Both stated that Israel was deliberately blocking food and medicine from entering Gaza during its brutal assault on the territory.
For some reason, neither Diaz nor Tony Dokoupil nor Nate Burleson pressed Blinken on his nonanswer on CBS, or the fact that it seemed very different from his May assessment, which itself was at odds with the other agency reports. At the time, Blinkens memo to Congress caused discontent within the State Department, with one official even resigning, saying, That report and its flagrant untruths will haunt us.
On Tuesday, the Council of American-Islamic Relations called on Blinken to resign for misleading Congress, calling his memo a violation of U.S. law. But the Biden administration has taken little, if any, action to stop Israels alleged war crimes in Gaza, which have claimed at least 41,467 Palestinian lives, including 16,500 children.
Im tired of it: Florence County sheriff vows to tackle school threats, says parents need to step up
FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) Florence County Sheriff TJ Joye, visibly upset and frustrated, delivered a stern message to parents and students about school threats and violence Wednesday morning at a news conference with school and community leaders.
I want to be clear, to the parents if you allow your underage child to possess a gun, you will be locked up, both of you, he said during the nearly 40-minute-long news conference. I think thats clear. This is a message I need your help to control your child.
St. James Elementary School cleared after threat called in to Veterans Crisis Line, district says
School threats have been a big problem with authorities investigating dozens of cases across nearly two dozen districts across the state since classes resumed this fall, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Numerous schools have been threatened via social media with gun violence or bombings.
Im tired of it, Joye said, adding that his deputies have already arrested five juveniles since the start of the school year.
The arrests include two juveniles accused of making social media threats against Lake City High School, a situation that came a day after local authorities said there was confusion about another unrelated social media threat that turned out to be directed at a school in Lake City, Florida.
Joye said the problem starts at home.
These teenagers are allowed to be out at all hours of the night, he said. The parenting is not there. Many of these kids theyre armed with guns and commit drive-by shootings into the houses and cars to settle petty disputes.
Joye stressed that school leaders need the help of parents now more than ever to help educate young people and prevent threats, particularly those made on social media. When that fails and his office has to get involved, Joye promised to do his job as sheriff and hold everyone accountable.
I promise you this, to the citizens of Florence County and to these educators and these administrators, Im gonna put everyone in jail involved, every single one, he said. I dont care who you are, what you think you are, you will be incarcerated [until] the end of this in Florence County This is gonna stop. Parents are gonna be charged if you allow your kids to take possession of a firearm, and if its in your household, thats your problem.
Your child is your responsibility. The schools responsibility is to educate, and my responsibility is to put them in jail when they mess up, when they violate the law, and Im going to do just that, Joye continued.
Authorities have also dealt with gun violence in the community in recent weeks, including the killing of 14-year-old Jakari Doctor of Johnsonville, a student in the Florence 5 School District. Funeral services for Doctor are planned for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Johnsonville High School gymnasium.
Were going to have to bury one of our kids due to gun violence that didnt happen at school, it happened outside of school, Superintendent Allana Prosser said. So, to reiterate what he [Joye] said, we have to monitor these children when theyre on the streets at night . . . I dont want to bury another one.
Yabriah Latia Lewis, 19, of Johnsonville, is charged with murder and five counts of attempted murder. Another suspect, 21-year-old Kalebsolik Daron Singletary, remains at large.
There have also been multiple instances of gun violence involving juveniles in recent weeks, including an armed robbery on Sept. 15 at the Suburban Extended Stay Motel on W. Lucas Street in which deputies arrested a juvenile and placed them in the custody of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice.
In another case, Florence police arrested several young people earlier this month, including two juveniles who were charged in connection with a series of armed robberies that occurred in August.
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Dennis Bright is the Digital Executive Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.
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Jackie LiBrizzi is a multimedia journalist at News13. Jackie is originally from Hamilton, New Jersey, and was raised in Piedmont, South Carolina. Jackie joined the News13 team in June 2023 after she graduated as a student-athlete from the University of South Carolina in May 2023. Follow Jackie on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and read more of her work here.
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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Californias Governor Gavin Newsom arrived in Fresno on Tuesday to sign bills designed to boost affordable housing for California farmworkers.
Newsom spoke at around 3 p.m., signing the bills and providing comments on affordable housing for farmworkers and protecting and supporting those workers across the state.
According to the governors office, the bills expanded Californias housing efforts for farmworkers, improving access to affordable housing for agricultural workers and making it easier to build farmworker housing.
The bills signed were AB 2240 (Arambula) and AB 3035 (Pellerin).
You can watch Governor Gavin Newsoms comments live in the video player above.
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President Biden is slated to host an event Wednesday afternoon in New York City with world leaders to launch a joint declaration of support for Ukraines recovery and reconstruction amid its ongoing war with Russia.
The event comes a day after Biden gave his final address before the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) where he reaffirmed his commitment to Ukraine. In his message, he pressed other allies to stand up for the war-torn country.
The good news is, [Russian President Vladimir Putins] war has failed at his core aim. He set out to destroy Ukraine; Ukraine is still free, Biden said in his speech, adding later that, The world now has another choice to make. Will we sustain our support to help Ukraine win this war and preserve its freedom? Or walk away and let aggregation be renewed and a nation be destroyed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke before the UNGA Wednesday morning, warning that Russia is preparing for a nuclear attack.
Zelensky will travel to Washington Thursday, where he will meet with Biden and Vice President Harris at the White House.
The event is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. EDT.
Watch the live video above.
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Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Whitaker will testify Wednesday afternoon before the Senates Homeland Security investigations subcommittee in a hearing entitled FAA Oversight of Boeings Broken Safety Culture.
Aerospace giant Boeing has seen multiple, highly public technical failures this year, including the mid-air blowout of a door plug from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 in January. The Boeing 737-9 MAX made an emergency return landing at Portlands airport with no fatalities. Passengers were shaken, and several required short term medical care for apparently non-life-threatening injuries.
Whitakers testimony also comes after 33,000 Boeing machinists went on strike earlier this month. On Monday, the company made what it termed its best and final offer to their union, proposing a timeline for wage hikes and increased retirement contributions.
He is expected to appear before the committee at 2 p.m. EDT.
Watch the live coverage above.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron were to be among the world leaders to address the first of two U.N. General Assembly plenary sessions Wednesday.
Zelensky has received harsh rebukes from Republicans for what they consider inappropriately weighing in on Novembers U.S. elections. The Ukrainian president visited a munitions factory in Pennsylvania, one of the swing states that could tip the U.S. presidential race one way or the other.
Additionally, in a New Yorker interview published Sunday, Zelensky described as too radical Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), the GOPs vice presidential nominee, who like running mate and former President Donald Trump, seeks to curb U.S. involvement in Ukraines war with Russia.
On Thursday, Zelensky will meet with both President Biden and Vice President Harris to discuss the state of the ongoing conflict. Last month, the Ukrainian leader stated he is also sharing plans with Trump, to enable a smooth transition should the Republican return to the White House.
Zelensky was one of the first speakers at the session, which begins at 9 a.m. EDT.
Watch the replay of his address above, or longer coverage of the session below:
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An independent oversight agency with sweeping powers to probe the operations of state government will open an investigation into the Charter Institute at Erskine, South Carolinas largest charter school district.
The Legislative Audit Council, whose board voted Tuesday to launch the investigation, will have unfettered access to all Charter Institute records, with the exception of tax returns, during its legislatively-requested inquiry and will publish its findings and recommendations when it finishes.
The Charter Institute, a taxpayer-funded affiliate of Erskine College that oversees 26 charter schools throughout the state, came under legislative scrutiny earlier this year after reporting by The State Media Co. raised questions about its spending, operations and ability to provide objective oversight of the schools it regulates.
While charter school authorizers have historically served the circumscribed role of evaluating new charter school applications and providing oversight and accountability to existing charter schools, the Erskine Institute has operated more like a start-up business with an eye toward expansion and adding new revenue streams.
In recent years, Charter Institute leaders have formed and funded a controversial nonprofit called Teach Right USA that sells services to Charter Institute schools; embarked on a plan to open schools in Tennessee through Teach Right USA; and approved a charter school run by close associates that proposed to partner with Teach Right USA and Erskine College.
While none of the Charter Institutes known pursuits are explicitly illegal under the states decades-old charter schools law, the districts propensity for pushing the laws boundaries has attracted critics among state lawmakers who argue it creates serious conflicts of interest that invite corruption.
In May, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers wrote the Legislative Audit Council to express their concerns that the Charter Institutes financial entanglements could compromise its ability to perform its duties under the (Charter Schools) Act with fidelity and/or may cause Erskine to apply inconsistent standards of accountability to different charter schools that it sponsors.
The lawmakers, led by education committee Chair Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, asked the legislative watchdog to look into Erskine with a special focus on its financial connections to vendors and the for-profit management companies that operate many of the schools it oversees.
The group asked the audit council to probe specifically whether Erskine had invested in a for-profit education management company, taken money from vendors that do business or seek to do business with its charter schools or had close ties with any related entities that posed conflicts of interest.
Just weeks after the legislators made their request, Erskine College filed a lawsuit revealing its previously undisclosed financial stake in a for-profit management company whose schools the Charter Institute oversaw. A counterclaim filed by the management company two months later exposed that Erskine was the company's "founding owner."
Following the Legislative Audit Councils decision Tuesday to launch its probe, a Charter Institute spokeswoman released a statement saying the district welcomed the review and looked forward to its findings.
It is our hope that the LAC report will address common questions about the Institutes structure and work while providing an opportunity for Institute schools and boards to share their experience working with us over the past seven years, spokeswoman Ashley Epperson said in the statement.
Once completed, the audit will likely form the basis of any legislative action taken to more tightly regulate charter school authorizers and reform South Carolinas charter schools law, which many stakeholders agree is in need of an overhaul.
Passed in 1996 and amended roughly a decade ago so that Erskine College and other universities could authorize charter schools, the law has not been updated to address many of the complications that have emerged as a result.
While lawmakers inserted several stopgap measures in this years budget bill intended to address specific concerns with the Charter Institute, they put off any comprehensive charter school reform until at least 2025.
Was there ever a time you wished you could travel through time? Just cross the International Date Line (IDL), thats how. Established in 1884, the IDL passes through the mid-Pacific Ocean and acts as a line of demarcation separating two consecutive calendar dates. In addition to marking the official start of each day, the IDL also indicates the point at which the west side of the line is always one day ahead of the east side. As an example, if you were to fly from San Francisco at 1 p.m. to Toyko, Japan, this is how you would calculate the time difference. You would start by subtracting an hour for each time zone moving west, making it to 9:00 a.m., but at that point youll hit the IDL, where everything changes. Now you have to add a full 24 hours to your calculations and jump a full day ahead, making it 9 a.m. the next day. Lastly, due to the fact that all the time calculations are taken from Greenwich England, you must subtract four more hours from that time because Tokyo sits four time zones west of the IDL. So, when the time in San Francisco is 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, it is 5:00 a.m. on Thursday in Toyko.
Then why does it zigzag? The reason for this is multi facited. First, it respects national political borders, leaving the entire nation on one side of the line rather than dividing it in half. Secondly, it is based on a practical system of universal timekeeping that takes into account the movement of Earth around the sun.
Since our planet rotates west to east on its axis as it travels around the sun, that means different parts of the planet receive the suns direct rays at different times. It also means that, theoretically at least, if you were somehow able to outrun Earths rotation, a speed of roughly 1,000 mph, you could experience perpetual daylight and never see darkness. Obviously, we cannot travel at such speeds so, for people to experience a normal day from sunrise to sunset, time zones are in use around the world.
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This weeks chaos in the House shows us what a second Trump term would look like
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 25: U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) walks to his office in the U.S. Capitol Building on September 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Later this evening the House of Representatives will vote on legislation to fund government agencies through December that will later be taken up by the Senate. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
The 118th Congress will end not with a bang but a continuing resolution, just like it always has. Tonight, the House of Representatives will vote on a clean stopgap spending bill to keep the government open until after the election.
That will allow the House to, once again, avoid a government shutdown. And just like in every other time this past Congress, Democrats will bail out House Speaker Mike Johnson because extremists in his conference will say Hell no.
Just like other times, they will suspend the rules to pass the legislation, meaning it will not have to go through the Rules Committee because Johnson acknowledges that the far-right members of his conference would block it. That means the bill will go directly to the floor and only be able to pass with two-thirds of the vote.
Then, the Senate will vote on it and that will be that. And the House will be at the same place it was last year, when Republicans were on the brink of shutting down the government because then-House speaker Kevin McCarthy faced a mutiny from the far-right of his conference.
Lest we forget how it all played out back then: Matt Gaetz filed a motion to vacate McCarthy from the chair, which sent the House into chaos for three weeks. That chaos included Jim Jordan losing three votes on the House floor, George Santos pilfering someones baby, and Johnson ending up as the unexpected yet unanimous GOP choice.
But aside from all the humor and absurdity that has come with the Mojo Dojo Casa House of Representatives, this also offers a preview of what Washington under a second Trump presidency would look like. When a handful of extremists can completely reorient the government to its will and take government to the brink, heres what you get.
Johnson has proven to be a somewhat more deft speaker than Washington might have expected and, in fact, much more adept at handling the far right than McCarthy was. While earlier this year I called him a coward for not supporting Ukraine for fear of losing his job, he ultimately did put a bill to support Ukraine to the floor and, to boot, he relegated Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene to irrelevance, at least for this conference, after her motion to vacate failed.
Tonights vote on a continuing resolution will not include provisions to ban undocumented immigrants from voting which is already illegal despite the fact Trump had called for a shutdown if these provisions did not pass. But make no mistake, Johnsons a Trump guy through and through. He even showed up to Trumps trial in New York City just a few months ago. Hes not passing this resolution out of any sense of duty to the country he just recognizes that causing a shutdown 41 days out from an election is the worst thing he could do for his most endangered members.
Nobody should forget that Johnson led the legal efforts to overturn the election results in 2020. And on Tuesday, when he was asked whether he would observe regular order if Kamala Harris wins in November, he said, If we have a free, fair, and safe election, we're gonna follow the Constitution, absolutely.
Of course, Johnson himself would be the one to determine if the election was free, fair and safe as speaker at the beginning of the next Congress if Republicans keep the House, and would call Congress into session at the beginning of the next Congress if Democrats win the majority to begin the handoff process.
While Republicans can somewhat brush off Trump when hes the nominee, he could easily veto continuing resolutions or spending bills if he is president and chooses to force the topic. Thats something that Republicans are already thinking about.
I think, with the dysfunction in the house, that anybody's agenda is going to have a tough time getting through, Representative Garret Graves of Louisiana, who is retiring, told The Independent. This place has become more reality TV than actually serving the public in [terms of] functionalities.
Graves helped negotiate the bipartisan debt limit negotiations bill with the White House, which should have been a high point. But conservatives like Chip Roy of Texas rejected the bill and Republican leadership had to rely on Democrats to pass it.
Now, Roy says he isnt as concerned.
We learned a lot this Congress about things we could do, he told The Independent. We've learned some things that don't always work. So we're gonna figure out how to get ourselves unified.
Roy spent much of the beginning of this Congress blocking McCarthy from becoming speaker and then blocked Steve Scalise from becoming the same. His words are akin to an arsonist burning a building and then asking the tenants to bring buckets of water.
Tim Burchett of Tennessee, who initially went from being an ally of McCarthy to voting to torpedo him in an intensely personal feud, said he was not worried.
I think well be in better shape, I think we'll have a larger majority, and the speaker will be able to work with that a lot easier, he told The Independent. Despite his strident conservatism, Burchett remains close friends with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who said Republicans will acquiesce to Trump.
I mean, they bend the knee to Trump now, she told The Independent.
The 118th Congress was incredibly silly, often exasperating and always a spectacle. Its easy to laugh at some of the sideshow that was the chaos. But its also incredibly instructive. If Republicans win a trifecta this November, it will give Trump incredible amounts of leverage. And right-wingers who are otherwise a nuisance will have an ally in the White House who could always go running home to daddy when the teacher Mike Johnson does something they dont like.
The House GOP indeed currently may be farce. But it could come back as a tragedy.
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) News 13 brings you a segment focused on health and fitness on News 13 Midday every Wednesday called Wellness Wednesday.
This week, Personal Trainer, Traycee Green, from Pure Platinum was in the studio with News 13s Kelsey Peck to explain the seven foods that help after a day of unhealthy eating.
Some examples Green discussed were chia seeds, flax seeds, aloe vera, and apples.
Green said chia seeds are easy to add to anything because they dont have flavor and are packed with antioxidants and fiber. Chia seeds also help with bloating. An example is including chia seeds in yogurt or a smoothie.
Flax seed is also another easy one to add in yogurt or protein shake, Green said. But flax seed is high in your omegas and rich in fiber.
Green has also mentioned aloe vera as a healthy food choice after a day of unhealthy eating. She suggests cutting and scooping out the inside and adding it in a shake.
Theyre loaded with nutrients, Green said.
Another example she included was apples.
Apples have fiber and also theyre very filling, so youll eat less, Green said.
For more information, watch the interview above.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) Charlotte community leaders celebrated the grand opening of the West Boulevard Extension.
The ribbon cutting ceremony was held Tuesday morning on Dixie River Road, between Interstate 485 and the Catawba River. The road, which features separated bike lanes and sidewalks, will be a vital artery for the future River District.
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Crescent Communities project leaders and Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles attended the ceremony. The new divided four-lane road was developed in partnership with the city.
The River District mixed-use community will span about 1,400 acres with hundreds of homes.
The ability to have affordable housing and people that will be able to participate, Lyles said. The city has a policy where we want to make sure if were contributing, that 30 percent of that to be in place where people can afford to live here as well, so were excited for this development.
Charlotte leaders say the expansion is a display of their commitment to environmental sustainability, and helping foster an active lifestyle.
Earlier this month, Mecklenburg County commissioners approved the extension of Garrison Road, also to Dixie River Road to alleviate River District traffic and allow industrial buildings to be constructed.
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Written by Michael P. Walsh
WEST HAVEN, CT The city has launched a program to identify and recoup lost tax revenue from out-of-state and unregistered motor vehicles, Mayor Dorinda Borer announced.
Borer said the city has contracted with Capital Tax Recovery of Berlin to scan license plates throughout West Haven to determine if residents have their vehicles registered with the state and have West Haven as their tax city.
The mayor said CTR is working with the assessors office to identify potential vehicles and personal property that have been missing from the citys tax rolls for the past three years.
Assessor Ann Marie Gradoia, who is overseeing the new program, said CTR will send out notifications to motor vehicle owners who have been identified and will give them an opportunity to resolve any issues.
Borer said the number of people driving with out-of-state license plates and without current motor vehicle registrations has increased dramatically in recent years, most notably from surrounding states during the coronavirus pandemic.
Residents who are paying taxes to another city are not contributing their fair share to the cost of the services West Haven provides, such as education, trash hauling and public safety, to name a few, Borer said. That means those who are properly registered here are footing the bill.
The bottom line is we welcome new residents to our great city and want them to live, work and enjoy everything we have to offer, but you need to pitch in.
Gradoia said the program is provided at no cost to West Haven, but CTR will receive a percentage of all taxes and interest collected by the city through the companys contracted investigation. CTR will also receive a $50 fee per vehicle paid by the owner, she said.
The assessment year runs from Oct. 1-Sept. 30.
According to Gradoia, residents who live in West Haven on or before Oct. 1 of each year must have their vehicles registered in the city. Residents have 90 days to transfer vehicles once establishing residency in Connecticut.
Residents should check vehicle registrations to ensure they are up to date, they have the correct address and the tax town code is 156 for West Haven. If any of the information is incorrect, visit here and fill out a change of address form for an individual registration.
For business vehicles, residents must fill out and return a commercial vehicle change of address form, which is available on the state Department of Motor Vehicles website here.
Residents who have received a notice from Capital Tax Recovery must contact the company directly by calling 860-826-1100 or visiting here. The assessors office does not have information why a vehicle was added please do not call the office.
Residents who can provide proof of residency in another state would be exempt. Anyone who believes a vehicle was added in error must provide CTR with sufficient proof by the deadline on the letter or a bill will be generated.
West Haven Launches Program To Recoup Lost Motor Vehicle Tax Revenue originally appeared on the West Haven Patch
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) The number of women and underage girls accusing former West Linn doctor David Farley of sexual abuse has grown to at least 170, bringing the civil lawsuit brought against him and his former employers to nearly $1 billion.
Farleys accusers are seeking $570 million in noneconomic damages and $400 million in punitive damages against Farley and his former employers Family Health, Legacy Meridian Park Hospital and Providence Health & Services, for decades of sexual abuse inflicted under the guise of medical care, the lawsuit states.
The extent of the alleged abuse is documented in court records and in a recent CNN interview with three of Farleys accusers. During his time as a family doctor and respected member of the local Mormon church, Farley inflicted unnecessary, incredibly painful and sexually abusive acts upon scores of young women and minors as young as 10 years old, the lawsuit states.
He had a really good ability to make you feel like youre special, that special treatment that I now recognize as grooming, one of the women told CNN.
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A group of women initially came forward to seek criminal justice against Farley in 2020. However, a Clackamas County grand jury found that the case lacked evidence to proceed with a criminal prosecution.
The Oregon Medical Board revoked Farleys medical license in response to the accusations in 2020, ending his 30-year medical career. However, the outcome of the initial criminal investigation left the community feeling as though society had failed the young women, West Linn City Council President Mary Baumgardner said.
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Represented by Attorney Tom DAmore of DAmore Law Group, the group of at least 170 alleged victims are now fighting for civil justice and the hopes of a new criminal trial. DAmore said that new clients continue to come forward to seek justice against Farley, but its unclear how many of them will be represented in the initial lawsuit.
They are on a mission, they want justice here, DAmore told KOIN. They are very adamant about getting justice.
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WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) The West Springfield Police Department is asking for the publics assistance in identifying a suspect involved in a larceny that took place at Riverdale Plaza on September 18.
Two Springfield men charged with assaulting a police officer at The Big E
Authorities released a photo of the individual believed to be connected to the theft. Police are urging anyone with information regarding the suspects identity to come forward.
Courtesy of West Springfield Police Department
Detective Kelleher is leading the investigation and can be reached at 413-263-3210 ext. 235. Those with tips are encouraged to reference case number 24-19006-OF.
The department has assured the public that those wishing to remain anonymous can do so. Detectives hope that with the communitys help, they can swiftly bring the investigation to a close.
The West Springfield Police Department encourages anyone with knowledge of the incident to act promptly, as public input is critical to resolving the case.
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.
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English Meadows in an assisted living facility in Scott Depot, W.Va. (Amelia Ferrell Knisely | West Virginia Watch)
West Virginia doesnt allow video recording devices, like Ring cameras, in the rooms of elderly people residing in assisted living facilities.
While a spokesperson for state Department of Health Facilities said that the ban has been in place since 2004, an assisted living operator says the rule was reinterpreted earlier this year to now ban those cameras in residents rooms, which has led to security concerns.
Harper Gardner is the director of sales at English Meadows, an assisted living facility in Scott Depot. The facility, which is privately owned, has allowed residents to use private cameras in the rooms as long as staff were notified.
Some residents would choose to have one for security purposes. In other cases, family members would install cameras in order to check in on the elderly resident and review their care.
The way that we view it is that if youre an up and up provider, you shouldnt have anything to hide, Gardner said. It helps protect our staff and our business by showing we are providing good care.
Gardner said that earlier this year, during an annual inspection by the states Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification, he learned that a long-standing state code regarding cameras in facilities was now being interpreted to ban private cameras.
[Residents] were vehemently angry and disappointed, especially by the residents who have their own capacity and can make their own medical care and business decisions. They use the camera more for security reasons themselves, he said.
West Virginia Watch reached out to the Department of Health Facilities in an effort to seek clarification about the policys interpretation and what might have prompted the change. Some private providers already had policies banning cameras in resident rooms.
In response, department spokesperson Annie Moore wrote in an email that state code restricts the use of video and auditory devices to common areas, thereby prohibiting the use in resident rooms by any party. It went into effect April 29, 2004.
The wording of this provision has not changed or been proposed to be changed throughout the existence of the Assisted Living Residence Legislative Rule. All versions of the legislative rule are available on the West Virginia Secretary of States website, she wrote.
Moore did not respond to follow-up questions about the policy.
Gardner said that before this year, his facility hadnt been cited for violating this rule despite it going into effect 20 years ago, per Moores email.
Michael Bakers mother was a resident at English Meadows, where she suffered from dementia and Alzheimers disease.
Baker, who lives in Hurricane, placed a Ring camera in his mothers room beginning in 2021, using it to check in on the quality of her care as became confined to her bed due to her declining health.
Her communication had declined substantively, so we needed the camera to monitor her care to make sure she was being taken care of appropriately 24/7, he said. That was really the only way to do it.
Baker was surprised when, in March, he was told he could no longer have the camera in his moms room. He said he reached out to OHFLAC, hoping to explain why he wanted to use the camera.
His mom died in June. Baker recalled that the end of her life was more stressful without the ability to check in on her care.
It was totally unnecessary, he said. It just added to the stress level.
Gardner fears that residents and residents and their family members will begin placing nanny cams or teddy bear cameras in resident rooms. Previously, when his facility knew a camera was in the room, staff took precautions to point it away from bathrooms or hallways to avoid security issues.
West Virginia is a one-party consent state, meaning you dont have to notify someone that theyre being recorded.
Families arent going to stop using cameras, we just wont see them, Gardner said.
Some states, including Ohio, have passed legislation permitting nursing home residents or their family members to install electronic monitoring devices in resident rooms to monitor care.
The West Virginia code outlining the use of cameras in health facilities applies to those licensed by the state.
DoHF is exploring selling or privatizing the states seven long-term care facilities due to aging buildings and cost.
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West Virginias Joe Manchin will not support Harris for president over this one issue
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) said that he will not support Vice President Kamala Harris (D) in her bid for the White House largely because of her stance on the legislative filibuster.
The Hill reported Tuesday that Harris called for eliminating the legislative filibuster in the Senate in order to codify abortion rights. Manchin spoke out against the action almost immediately, saying the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy.
I have been consistent on the importance of protecting the 60-vote threshold, which we call the filibuster, since I arrived at the United States Senate. This threshold stabilizes our democracy, promotes bipartisan cooperation and protects our nation from partisan whiplash and dysfunction. I have always said: if you cant change your mind, you cant change anything and I am hopeful that the Vice President remains open to doing just that, Manchin said in a statement.
West Virginia State Senator Michael Maroney arrested again
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) voiced a similar opinion, calling removing the filibuster an absolutely terrible, shortsighted idea.
To state the supremely obvious, eliminating the filibuster to codify Roe v Wade also enables a future Congress to ban all abortion nationwide, Sinema said on X.
Both Manchin and Sinema left the Democratic Party in the past two years in favorite of being independent.
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WESTERVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) The Westerville Public Library is asking the community to vote this November for an increase on an operating levy.
Currently, residents each pay about $44 per year for the librarys services. Issue 43 is asking the community for additional funding to support the library. The staff hopes voters like Karen Kish will see why this levy is so important.
Were the only library in the system thats not part of the Columbus system, Kish said. So it is really expensive if we join the Columbus system. So, to keep it going, I think theyre going to need the levy.
This is the first time the library has asked for a levy increase in 13 years. Executive Director Erin Francoeur notes that over the years, costs have risen but the library systems revenue has not increased at the same rate.
Its a reasonable amount, Francoeur said. We looked at smaller amounts but want to make sure that we dont have to be back on the ballot again real soon, so looking to be able to make this last as long as our previous one did, if not longer.
The levy is asking for an additional 0.75 mill increase, a $26 increase for every $100,000 in home value. Overall, homeowners would pay about $70 per $100,000 of property value to fund the library.
Westerville resident Rob Ryder understands how the cost might be a lot to ask from certain people.
When a levy such as the one for the library comes up, many individuals have to look at their immediate needs and I respect that, Ryder said. Many Ohioans and many individuals living in Westerville and the greater Columbus area are having difficult times right now putting food on the table is crucial.
Staff members believe that the library is essential as it hosts events and programs but also provides access to information and a greater sense of purpose.
All libraries serve as kind of a cornerstone of their community, Francoeur said. Theyre a place where everyone is welcome, and everyone can feel included and be part of the community.
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WETHERSFIELD, Conn. (WTNH) Police are investigating a womans suspicious death in Wethersfield.
Police were called to an apartment at the Parkridge Condo Complex on Berlin Turnpike at around 6:10 p.m. for the report of a medical emergency.
Officers found a woman dead in the apartment and requested the departments detective division to investigate.
Based upon the suspicious circumstances, WPD requested the assistance of the Connecticut State Police Central District Major Crime Squad to assist in the investigation under the
direction of the New Britain States Attorney Office, GA15, a statement from Wethersfield Police Department read.
Police said its an isolated incident, and there is no threat to the community at this time.
The womans name has not yet been released.
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 WTNH.com.
Flooding triggered by Storm Boris has ripped through Central Europe over recent weeks, devastating homes and public infrastructure and leading to dozens of deaths.
It is estimated over a billion euros will be needed to rebuild parts of the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Austria as well as time.
In a normal year, up to 430 litres of rain usually falls in the Saint Poelten area of Austria's south for six to nine months. But this year, that volume fell within a few days.
It is well-documented that manmade-induced climate change induces extreme weather events. Marc Olefs, the head of climate research at Geosphere Austria, the country's Federal Institute for Geology, Geophysics, Climatology and Meteorology, links climbing temperatures and what is happening right now over Central Europe.
"The entire area above Central Europe, both the oceans and the land masses, are now two to three degrees warmer compared to pre-industrial times due to man-made intervention, through the emission of greenhouse gases that affect the climate," he said.
As a result of this, polar air masses as well as Mediterranean air masses are two to three degrees warmer and are primed to absorb up to 7% more water vapour in certain conditions, Olefs explained.
This means the air can absorb up to 20% more water vapour compared to pre-industrial times, and lead to disastrous effects.
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"Both high-pressure areas and low-pressure areas tend to last longer in summer and can therefore be more intense," he said.
"Imagine a hair dryer or a watering can that you hold on the same spot for too long. What happens? It burns or the water spills over," he added.
The answer to the solution for Olefs is clear: "Reduce emissions as quickly as possible".
He said that the fossil fuel industry is to blame for the exacerbation of extreme weather events, including heavy rainfall as seen over Europe over the past couple of weeks.
"It is absolutely essential to be climate-neutral by the middle of the century at the latest that is the only way to avoid a further intensification of these events," Olefs said.
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen commended the emergency service efforts deployed as part of the clean-up and rescue operations on social media platform X.
"Even if the whole country is underwater, it will not sink," he said.
Last week European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen pledged billions of euros in aid for the Central European countries swamped by the deadly floods.
"These are extraordinary times, and extraordinary times need extraordinary measures," she said.
The WGA East issued a scathing statement Wednesday, slamming the latest round of Paramount layoffs that saw 12 of its members cut across CBS broadcasting divisions.
These shameful layoffs are a blow to CBSs already stretched-thin newsrooms, impact people who worked tirelessly through the pandemic and come in the midst of a Presidential election cycle, and the entire industry is keenly aware that the company plans to execute further draconian staff reductions in the near future, the statement said.
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The guild argued the the layoffs serve no purpose other than to satisfy investor relations as part of its pending acquisition by Skydance Media, noting that the ruthless cuts did not impact their highest earning executives.
The statement ended by assuring that the WGA East is working to ensure that members receive any benefits that are still owed to them amid these layoffs.
In all, about 2,000 employees will be departing Paramount during this round of layoffs, which are hitting 15% of the companys U.S. workforce. Paramount Co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins have said the cuts will help the company achieve $500 million in annual cost savings. The Skydance merger, which was formalized last month, is expected to close in the first half of 2025.
The WGA East is not the first union to slam the cutbacks. The IBEW, which is the largest union representing CBS employees, said it was disappointed in the layoffs in a statement Tuesday.
IBEW members have been producing CBS broadcasts since before the invention of television, and these layoffs are a hard pill to swallow, that statement read.
The IBEW also vowed to closely monitor the review of Paramounts pending merger with Skydance Media by the FCC and other regulatory agencies, though regulatory experts and Washington, D.C. sources have indicated that it is not expected to hit any major setbacks.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, meets with Malaysian King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (Lintao Zhang/Pool Photo via AP)
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday in a rare occurrence, adding to tensions in the region where multiple countries have overlapping territorial claims and both Beijing and Washington seek to project their influence.
The launch was part of routine training by the Peoples Liberation Armys Rocket Force, which is in charge of conventional and nuclear missile operations, and was not aimed at any country or target, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, landed in a designated area in the sea, the ministry said, without specifying where exactly.
China rarely tests ICBMs out in international waters, with some experts tracing the last such deployment back to May 1980, when Beijing launched a DF-5 missile into the South Pacific. Usually, the PLA test-fires ballistic missiles in Chinas remote Xinjiang region or in the Bohai Sea.
Why the Pacific, why now?
China choosing the Pacific Ocean as the location for test-firing its missile comes across as both a display of its increased nuclear capabilities and as a warning to the United States and its allies in the region, experts say.
There is no other potential audience, as China does not expect to have to confront the EU or the U.K. militarily, said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London.
The test also comes weeks ahead of an expected call between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden. It marks an increase in regional security tensions with U.S. allies Japan and the Philippines, and a continuation of frictions with the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.
Taiwans Defense Ministry said Wednesday it was monitoring the missile launch, along with other military exercises by China in the region.
The launch, coinciding with the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, "is a pretty blunt signal to the international order, said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and a former U.S. defense official.
China is signaling that its forbearance has limits, that it is prepared to use its most powerful weapons to deter adversaries or punish them if needed, if deterrence fails, he said.
Wednesday's launch also follows a series of corruption arrests this year that ensnared several leading officers in its rocket corps on allegations of misconduct. Its aim could be to both provide assurances at home and signal to the world that the issues have been resolved.
How strong is China's military?
China boasts the worlds largest standing army and the biggest navy. Its military budget is the second highest in the world, after that of the U.S.
According to the U.S., China also has the largest air force in the Indo-Pacific, with more than half of its fighter planes consisting of fourth or fifth generation models. China also boasts a massive stockpile of missiles, along with stealth aircraft, bombers capable of delivering nuclear weapons, advanced surface ships and nuclear-powered submarines.
In his more than a decade in power, Xi, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, has spearheaded the armed forces modernization, with investments in high-tech military technologies from stealth fighters to aircraft carriers and a growing arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Chinas defense budget has more than doubled since 2015, even as the countrys economic growth rate has slowed considerably. A U.S. Department of Defense report last year said China has continued to strengthen the PLAs ability to fight and win wars against a strong enemy.
How China's missiles compare to those of others?
The U.S. report also estimated China had more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023 and was on track to accumulate more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030.
China has not revealed the size of its nuclear arsenal.
In comparison, Russia is believed to have a total inventory of more than 5,580 warheads including 4,380 stockpiled warheads for operational forces, as well as an additional 1,200 retired warheads awaiting dismantlement according to a report this year by the Federation of American Scientists.
The same report put the U.S. nuclear warheads at 5,044.
How common are missile tests in the region?
Few countries have ICBMs in their arsenal, and testing is usually restricted to their own territory. North Korea has carried out multiple ICBM tests since 2017, including firing a developmental solid-fueled missile in December that came down in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
The U.S. earlier this year fired two unarmed ICBMs equipped with reentry vehicles from California and brought them down on an American test site in the Marshall Islands.
___
Associated Press journalists Emily Wang Fujiyama in Beijing and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.
What's up with Shorewood's Ghost Train? A look at its delays and uncertain future
Shorewood's Ghost Train is replicated with light and sound effects.
Apparently, even Ghost Trains experience delays and malfunctions sometimes.
If you've recently visited Shorewood's Oak Leaf Trail Bridge in the hopes of viewing the village's iconic Ghost Train, only to find the public art installation not running when planned, you're not alone.
The Ghost Train is experiencing some technical difficulties that are delaying the show and dampening the sound, Assistant Village Manager Chris Anderson said.
The project, which uses light and audio art to simulate the sound, feel, and appearance of a train passing over the bridge, pays homage to the round-trip journey of the "Twin Cities 400," a passenger train operated by the Chicago & North Western Railway that ran along the route of todays Oak Leaf Trail from 1935-63.
Since it launched on Halloween 2016, the Ghost Train typically runs twice each night. Between Sept. 1 and March 31, the public art installation typically runs northbound at 7 p.m. and southbound at 7:15 p.m. From April 1 to Aug. 31, the train is scheduled to run northbound at 9 p.m. and southbound at 9:15 p.m.
However, some visitors who have been expecting to view the display at those times have not been able to since spring of 2024, and some have reached out to the village to ask why, Anderson said.
Is the Ghost Train in Shorewood still running? When will it be fixed?
Damages to one of the installation's amps have impacted the Ghost Train's sound, but the light aspect is still running, just 15 to 16 minutes behind schedule, Ellie Rabinowitz said.
Rabinowitz is a lighting designer in Milwaukee and member of the village's Public Art Committee, which oversees the project along with the Shorewood Historical Society.
The village and committee are working on scheduling a service call to get the Ghost Train fixed, which will also help them identify the root cause of the sound problems, Anderson said.
He said the Ghost Train will hopefully be fixed for Oct. 13 when the village is partnering with Metavivor to shine a light on metastatic breast cancer, also known as Stage 4, by turning the Ghost Train LEDs teal, green and pink.
How long has the Ghost Train had mechanical issues?
The installation has always needed consistent maintenance and replacements, including for fuses and power supplies, Rabinowitz said. In recent years, the Public Art Committee has had to call for maintenance for the project twice a year.
She said the current 15-minute delay was caused by a previous maintenance issue that forced crews to reboot the entire system, shutting it down for 15 minutes. When it was restarted, the entire internal clock was reset 15 minutes later than its previous schedule.
Rabinowitz said it's a complicated system.
"This is really the heart of the matter: People sell municipalities on these very complex LED systems, and say they require almost no maintenance. But that's not true," said Rabinowitz, who was not on the committee when the Ghost Train was installed.
"These require quite a bit of maintenance and lots of other power supplies. There's fuses, there's hidden cracks, there's brains in there and cables between them. They're in the weather. They're very complex."
Will the committee have the funding for future maintenance?
Not only does the Ghost Train need maintenance, but the committee needs money to pay for the service calls, which can each cost around $4,000, Rabinowitz said.
Part of the reason it's taken so long to get the latest issues addressed is that the committee doesn't have a solid system in place for funding maintenance. Rabinowitz said they likely have enough money in the bank for only two more maintenance calls.
And with the amp not working, much of those funds will likely be needed for a replacement.
She said the village doesn't have the infrastructure to take care of such a complex system on its own, so it's really on the committee to figure out how to handle maintenance and possibly even fundraise.
"The Public Art Committee (as all our volunteer groups) is a dedicated group of volunteers and I am so appreciative for their commitment toward the advancement of arts in Shorewood," Chris said.
As a wealthier municipality compared with others in the state, Shorewood has had the capacity to be supportive of local public art, she said.
And Rabinowitz said the village has been supportive, especially in spite of Wisconsin ranking second to last in public funding for art, according to The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.
"It's really hard to support art and art installations here in Wisconsin," Rabinowitz said. "It's difficult to be an artist here, and it's very difficult to find funding for art. I would appreciate more love for the arts in Wisconsin."
Contact Claudia Levens at clevens@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @levensc13
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Shorewood's Ghost Train on low volume and behind schedule, here's why
The state of Missouri executed Marcellus Williams on Tuesday. He was almost certainly innocent, and his own prosecutors, as well as the family of his alleged victim, had sought to spare his life. The St. Louis Prosecuting Attorneys Office urged the courts not to kill Williams, arguing that his conviction was fatally undermined by a startling lack of evidence, racial bias at trial, and the results of recent DNA testing. But the Supreme Court ignored these pleas: The justices refused to stay his execution in a brief unsigned and unreasoned order Tuesday, with all three liberals dissenting. Williams was strapped to a gurney and put to death by lethal injection shortly thereafter.
The doubts about Williams guilt are nothing short of overwhelming. They stand as a testament to everything that is wrong with the capital system we have erected under a regime that is meant to prize certainty and finality. Everything that could go wrong with a death-penalty prosecution is on display here: Williams conviction rests on the testimony of extremely unreliable witnesses who were motivated by promises of leniency and cash payments to accuse him of murder. No physical evidence connects him to the crime: not fingerprints, not footprints, not hair found at the scene, and not DNA collected from the murder weapon.
It also appears that the prosecution sought to exploit race against him at trial: A Black man, Williams was accused of murdering a white woman, and prosecutors struck six of the seven prospective Black jurors. And although the Supreme Court has ruled that race discrimination in juror selection is unconstitutional, the conservative supermajority didnt care on Tuesday that Williams had been found guilty by a nearly all-white jury or that glaring due-process concerns undergirded his sentence.
After the court cleared the way for Williams killing, MSNBCs Chris Hayes pointed out on Threads an inconsistency thats worth reflecting upon: Its notable, he wrote, just how obsessed with due process and judicial review and the possibility of vindictive prosecution the conservative justices were when they granted Donald Trump sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution, and how little they seem to care when a likely innocent man is about to be executed.
Indeed, these six justices extreme solicitude for Trump in last terms appalling immunity decision stands in stark and alarming contrast with their bloodless, wordless dismissal of Williams final petition for relief. The far-right bloc tripped over itself to reflect deep concern for the former presidents rights, fashioning brand-new law out of thin air to give him every last benefit of the doubt, every conceivable tool to defeat his criminal charges. It drew upon a skepticism toward the legitimacy of our criminal justice system that seems to disappear when the petitioner is a powerless person of color rather than one of the most powerful men in the world.
There is vastly greater, more incontrovertible evidence of Trumps guilt in the Jan. 6 cases than there was of Williams guilt in a murder. Yet Trump evades even a trial on the merits, while Williams is sent to the death chamber. Arguments in defense of Trumps immunity were rife with claims of bad-faith prosecutors behaving badly. The court now presumably accepts that Williams received a pristine trial.
But this inconsistency, this selective application of turbocharged due process, goes far deeper than the courts immunity ruling. It reveals itself every time the Republican-appointed justices confront a party with whom they sympathize, for reasons personal, political, or both. Since Justice Brett Kavanaugh replaced Justice Anthony Kennedy in 2018, the conservative bloc has consistently greenlit executions that rest on dubious facts and contorted applications of law.
Yet this bloc gladly twisted the very same law in knots to rule in favor of Jan. 6 insurrectionists charged with obstruction. Conservative justices who seem to rule automatically against ordinary criminal defendants, or even just people forced to sleep in parks, will stretch words beyond all meaning to hand a win to Trump, his allies, and his mob. When these select few face the prospect of consequences for their actions, every argument and utterance from prosecutors must be skeptically scrutinized for deep-state bias, nefarious agendas, or legal frailty. When a man with robust claims of innocence asks for a stay of execution to press his claims of actual innocence? The same justices cannot be bothered to intervene.
We see this pattern repeat ad infinitum in an array of lower-profile cases that illustrate who benefits from this Supreme Courts highly selective empathy and interest. Corporations that damage our health with provably dangerous pollution? SCOTUS will nitpick the record to identify some laughable reason by which they can escape penalties. Corrupt public officials who take bribes for personal enrichment? The conservative justices will bend over backward to let them off the hook. Fraudsters who steal hardworking peoples money to enrich themselves? Their right to evade punishment is paramount to constitutional liberty. Gun sellers that profit from illicit weapons of mass slaughter? This court will shamelessly rewrite a statute to shield them from prosecution.
The conservative justices dont bother to hide whats going on here. When this bloc gutted the Clean Water Act in 2023, allowing wealthy landowners to destroy crucial wetlands, it had the gall to root its decision in due process. A staggering array of landowners are at risk of criminal prosecution or onerous civil penalties, the court fretted. The environmental protections at issue conflicted with the Constitution, it reasoned, because their definition was too vague, potentially encouraging arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. The straightforward mandate Dont destroy wetlands without a permit flunked this courts test of due process, but the execution of innocents does not.
Similarly, when the government sought to ban bump stocksreplacement stocks that effectively turn AR-15s into automatic weaponsthe move triggered an outpouring of empathetic concern from the conservatives. These justices were horrified by the possibility that a hapless and well-meaning gun owner might not realize that this device, whose sole purpose is mass murder, was illegal under federal law. During oral arguments, they poured their hearts out for bump-stock enthusiasts who might be ensnared by vindictive prosecution without knowledge of the ban, as if ignorance of the law guarantees innocence. (It does not.) Incredibly, these same justices have ruled that people who are literally innocent of a crime may remain in prison under an unlawful sentence. A typical criminal defendant must languish behind bars for decades despite their innocence, but a defendant favored by this Supreme Court? Due process requires that they get any relief they demand.
It is now certain beyond any shadow of a doubt that the six justices of the conservative supermajority have constructed two classes of Americans who receive two classes of judicial relief: one that looks like them and shares their values, and another that garners no empathy, concern, or even curiosity.
In a few short weeks, the court will hear oral arguments in Glossip v. Oklahoma, a case involving yet another capital defendant who received none of the perks and benefits and advantages afforded to the special defendants who are most cherished by the justices. Like Williams, Richard Glossip had a trial riddled with prosecutorial errors and deceptions and misconduct that any fair court would have prohibited. Like Williams, Glossips would-be prosecutors do not even seek his execution anymore and are in fact fighting to stop it; the Supreme Court had to hire someone to make the argument for his killing at the hands of a state that decided, as the misconduct came out in the wash, that it would rather not. Like Williams, Glossip has strong claims that he did not commit this murder. And yet the high courts fatal rebuff of Williams on Tuesday suggests that a majority of justices will conclude that this world would be a better place if Glossip, too, is executed before we can untangle what went wrong in his deeply flawed prosecution.
Some of the justices constructing this two-tiered system have used every legal stratagem at their disposal to ensure that their own misconduct isnt subject to broad public scrutiny and evaluation, thwarting ethics rules to keep their ill-begotten spoils a secret from the public, rebuffing congressional requests, and ignoring invitations to testify. This week, these justices rejected the proposition that Williams life, like Glossips, is important enough to merit a process that would unearth unconstitutional inequities. We learned recently from the New York Times that Chief Justice John Roberts believed that if he hid the courts rationale for Trumps impunity behind abstractions and jargon, Americans wouldnt care that his court was engineering a system by which a guilty ex-president could go free. Evidently, when it comes to executing a Black man, the majority cant be bothered with even abstractions and jargon. An unsigned order will do.
Suset swung her legs from side to side on the bench in a Miami immigration courtroom. Her feet had carried the seven-year-old girl from Cuba to the U.S.-Mexico border. But on that recent afternoon they did not even graze the floor.
She tugged on the sparkly sleeves of her black dress as she inched towards the table near the the screen where Judge Irene Recio presided over the courtroom virtually. The governments lawyer and a Spanish-language interpreter also attended over webcam. Suset sat down with her mother and nine-year-old brother and waited for their first immigration hearing to begin.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to meet you. But now that Ive met you, you dont have to come back, because Id rather you go to school, the judge said, waiving the presence of the two siblings at future proceedings.
Without missing a beat, Suset replied in a singsong voice: Nah.
Quiet laughs bubbled up from the audience, filled with Nicaraguan and Jamaican asylum seekers, Haitian migrants and other families from Cuba a microcosm of South Floridas immigrant communities.
Miam-Dades immigration court, at 333 S. Miami Ave, is located where the riverfront meets Biscayne Bay in Downtown Miami. Anyone driving by could easily miss it. Skyscrapers and residential towers dwarf its presence. But for the hopeful thousands of immigrants who visit its austere, hushed courtrooms, its one of the most critical places they will ever go, where their fates in the United States are decided.
Years long appointments
One of the reasons Susets family left Cuba was to seek medical treatment for the little girl, who was born without her left hand. Susana Perez, her mother, described her as a gleeful child who is the life of family parties and doesnt let obstacles intimidate her. At immigration court, she had wanted to wear heels, a fashion statement her mother did not allow her to make.
Despite her daughters upbeat attitude, Perez said the legal process has been challenging. The family, like so many, is navigating complex immigration law in a foreign language, in a new country, and without legal representation. And the possibility of deportation at the end of the road is daunting.
The worst fear I have is that. Not only because of me, but for my children, said Perez, 40.
The Cuban family, along with many others in court on a recent Monday, had their next hearings scheduled for sometime this winter. But its not uncommon for migrants to get their next appointment scheduled years later in Miamis immigration court, which has the biggest backlog of cases in the country.
The Miami Herald witnessed cases being scheduled as far in advance as 2027 over the course of several visits to the South Florida court. An analysis of Department of Homeland Security data from researchers at Syracuse University shows that there were over 320,000 pending immigration cases here as of July 2024, the largest backlog in any single court. The court currently has 28 judges assigned to the facility.
Outside the courtroom that day, the waiting room hummed in Spanish, English and Creole. Spouses, parents and siblings of migrants awaiting proceedings passed the time while their loved ones wrapped up their hearings. A Venezuelan man burrowed his head into his hands. Another held his 8-month-old son against his chest. Two women watched videos on one phone while a Cuban family dressed in white came in, stroller in tow.
For newcomers and their loved ones, the years-long wait times for their immigration cases to be heard and resolved causes chronic anxiety and an inability to put down roots. Migrants, unable to visit family while they are in these legal processes, are separated from relatives for long periods. Sometimes, they might become ineligible for immigration benefits or lose documents, photos or videos that could help them prove their asylum cases.
From left to right: Brayan Soto, 26, Karen Camejo, 26, Michele Soto, 7, Lisett Ania Suarez, 49, Jeison Soto, 3, and Juan Carlos Otano, 58, stand outside Miamis immigration court on May 31, 2024. It was the familys first hearing with an immigration judge after they entered the United States in March, where they were given parole at the border.
This backlog creates a really prolonged uncertainty and hardship for people who are waiting for their day in court, said Catherine Walker, the supervising attorney for the detention program at Miami-based Americans for Immigrant Justice, which offers legal counsel to immigrants.
Millions of new cases
Immigration judges nationally completed over a million cases in 2023, far outpacing previous years, according to data from the Justice Department. The executive Office of Immigration Review, the Justice agency that oversees immigration courts, also hired a record number of judges that same year. But the system has not been able to keep up with the increased immigration to the U.S. in recent years.
In fiscal year 2024 alone, the Department of Homeland Security filed over a million and a half notices to appear, the document that officially kicks off immigration proceedings. In all, the nationwide backlog stood at around 3.7 million cases as of July 2024.
An agency spokesperson said that reducing the immigration court backlog is the highest priority and that it continues to take all available steps to bring it down. Despite the monumental increase in cases, Congress slashed the immigration court systems budget by $16 million for fiscal year 2024.
Judges are not going to be able to process their way out of this. The government needs to think of a different solution to provide stability and relief outside of the immigration court system, said Adriel Orozco, senior policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, a Washington D.C.-based think tank.
I have no idea
In Miamis immigration court, the Department of Homeland Security has filed more than 226,000 cases in the last two years. Many of the people who have come in large numbers through the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years including Cubans, Haitians, and Venezuelans gravitate towards South Florida. In Miamis court, those three nationalities made up over half of all people with pending cases, followed by Nicaraguans.
South Floridas demographics mean that certain policies have an outsized effect in the regions federal immigration system. Some Haitians and Venezuelans have been able to get their court cases closed because they now qualify for Temporary Protected Status after the Biden administration expanded the program forl hundreds of thousands of migrants from those two countries. Meanwhile, other policy shifts have brought more people into the system. Thousands of Cubans who would have received green cards in another time of U.S. history are now receiving paperwork at the border that makes them ineligible for permanent residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act because of a court decision.
On one Monday morning, many migrants awaiting audiences were Cubans who had been given that paperwork. Among them was Eileen Cubillas, a 40-year-old from the central province of Mayabeque.
Brayan Soto, 26, holds his son Jeison Soto, 3, in a hallway at the Miami immigration court in downtown Miami.
She asked Judge Recio why she had received that paperwork, while her husband had gotten a parole that allowed him to apply for a green card a year and a day after entering the U.S. under the Cuban Adjustment Act.
It has been quite a cumbersome process, Cubillas said of the immigration system shortly after leaving the courtroom.
READ MORE: A new era for Cuban migrants: Some cant get green cards despite decades-old law
No right to representation
During hearings in Miamis immigration court, judges directed migrants to organizations that could offer them legal counsel and explained their rights and responsibilities. They also warned of so-called notario fraud, a common phenomenon in South Florida where notaries charge exorbitant fees for immigration counsel that they are not legally allowed to provide. Many immigrants who first arrive in the U.S. go to them for help with their case since in many places in Latin America, notaries are often practicing lawyers.
If you want to keep throwing away your money its better to throw it away than give it to the notario. You have to stop going to the notario because they cannot help you, Judge Lourdes A. Rodriguez de Jongh told one Cuban migrant during a hearing.
People in immigration proceedings are not entitled to legal representation. Only 21% of immigrants in Florida immigration courts have representation, despite research showing that immigrants with lawyers are five times more likely to win their cases.
A view of the EOIR Immigration Court on Friday, May 31, 2024, in downtown Miami, Fla.
Unfortunately so many people are forced to navigate the complex immigration system without attorneys and they are going up against highly trained government lawyers without anyone to explain their rights or defend them in court. said Catherine Walker, the Americans for Immigrants Justice attorney.
Immigrants in court told the Herald that even though they appreciated judges giving them extra time to find lawyers, it was unlikely they would be able to do so. The organizations that provide low-cost or free legal services are strained for resources and cannot meet the demand. And paying for housing, food, and other basic necessities takes up most of the immigrant families money.
Getting a lawyer is expensive and so is preparing the case, said Lorena Barban, 26, from the historic city of Santiago de Cuba.
Deported in absentia
On that Monday afternoon, Barban had her first court hearing, nearly two years after arriving in the U.S. She came with Lisandra Isadron, a 25-year-old accounting student from the island she met at the U.S.-Mexico border. The pair became fast friends, and they kept in touch even as Barban moved to Miami and Isadron went up to West Palm Beach to reunite with her fiance.
Both women sank into the bench at the back of the immigration court, clutching their pregnant bellies. Together, they are facing first-time motherhood and the immigration court system in a new country.
We could feel the children shaking and kicking the whole time, Barban said shortly after leaving the courtroom.
A security officer listens to an immigrants questions at the Miami immigration court in Downtown Miami, Fla.
Isadron is due in November, while Barban is expected to give birth in late December. Both hope they can provide their kids with bright American futures.
The hearings of the day concluded with a Jamaican asylum seeker, who whispered while waiting on a bench that he loved this country so much that he wanted to stay here forever. The court clerk called out for someone who had not shown up to a scheduled hearing. Judge Recio ordered that individual deported to Colombia.
The courtroom emptied out for the afternoon until the following morning, when dozens of hopeful newcomers would once more stand before the immigration courts of South Florida, hoping for their chance to stay.
Where is Floridas Big Bend? What to know about the region, storms that have hit it
Floridas Big Bend region is expected to get the brunt of yet another named storm this week, which would be the third direct hit for that area of Florida in just over a years time.
The area saw flooding and damage with Hurricane Debby in August and devastating impacts during and after Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall there just a year earlier.
Tropical Storm Helene became a named storm at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, and quickly reached hurricane status on Wednesday, Sept. 25. By the time it makes landfall on Floridas Gulf Coast sometime Thursday evening, forecasters expect it to be a Category 3 hurricane.
Here's where the Big Bend region is, why it's called that and an update on Hurricane Helene as it approaches Florida's Gulf Coast.
Is Helene a hurricane yet? Where in Florida will Helene hit?
Tropical Storm Helene quickly became a hurricane on Wednesday and is expected to strengthen to a Category 3 by the time it makes landfall.
"Hurricane Helene is moving into the Gulf of Mexico, where it's expected to quickly intensify before making landfall along Florida's Gulf Coast Thursday, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center," The Florida Times Union reported in a tropics update on Wednesday.
"Impacts will be far reaching from the huge storm and most of Florida is either under a hurricane or tropical storm watch or warning. Life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and flooding rains are expected for a large portion of Florida and the southeastern United States."
Where is the Big Bend? Storm forecast to hit Florida as powerful Hurricane Helene.
Where is the Big Bend region in Florida? Is Tallahassee part of the Big Bend?
Floridas Big Bend is in the curve of Floridas peninsula around the Gulf of Mexico. The area includes Jefferson, Taylor, Dixie and Levy counties and is composed largely of "untamed coastal landscape," according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"The Big Bend is a lush blend of salt marshes, tidal swamps, deep woodlands and an occasional slice of sandy beach," the FWC said.
Other significant Florida cities and towns in the area include Apalachicola, St. Marks, Carrabelle, Perry, Steinhatchee, Cedar Key and Florida's capital city, Tallahassee, which is a little more than 20 miles from the Gulf Coast.
Most folks believe the name came from Tallahassee Democrat editor Malcolm Johnson, who led the newspaper for nearly a quarter-century (1954-78). That's according to Bill Edmonds, a former Democrat editor who wrote his doctoral dissertation on the Southern press and civil rights, including Johnson.
At some point, Edmonds told City & State Florida last September, Johnson thought that the area needed a name like the other proper places in Florida, such as Gold Coast for South Florida.
And so he just looked at the map and came up with Big Bend," Edmonds said, "inventing a name that worked and lasted.
What was the last hurricane to hit Florida's Big Bend?
Five storms have churned through Florida's Big Bend region in the last 10 years and two of those storms occurred just since last August.
"The forecast arrival on Thursday of another hurricane seems like a recurring nightmare for residents of Florida's Big Bend and eastern Panhandle," USA TODAY reported on Wednesday.
"Helene is expected to be the fifth hurricane to smack this roughly 200 miles of mostly rural coast between Panama City and Cedar Key in just eight years. Only three hurricanes have arrived elsewhere along the rest of the state's more than 800 miles of coastline over that time span."
Here are the hurricanes that have passed through or directly hit Florida's Big Bend region since 2014, according to the Tallahassee Democrat:
2016: Hurricane Hermine
2017: Hurricane Irma
2018: Hurricane Michael
2023: Hurricane Idalia
August 5, 2024: Hurricane Debby
Hurricanes in the Big Bend: A history of hurricane hits and near misses for Tallahassee and the Big Bend
How far is Jacksonville from the Big Bend region of Florida?
The Big Bend is a large region of the state, so the distance from Jacksonville depends on which city you choose. Most towns and cities in the Big Bend are around three to four hours away by car. For example, Tallahassee is about three hours away, while Apalachicola is about four hours away.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida Big Bend is hours from East Coast. Will there still be impact?
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This story was written by Teen Vogue's 2024 Student Correspondents, a team of college students and recent graduates covering the election cycle from key battleground states.
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Kira Tiller is many things: She's a student at Cornell University; a voting rights advocate whos concerned about getting boots on the ground for this years presidential election; and a 19-year-old whos about to cast her vote for president for the first time.
Lately, she also describes herself as someone who is unnerved by the news uneasy about certain conversations and words that have stayed with her. And, like many people her age, Tiller keeps up on the news cycle using apps such as Instagram to access information.
Tiller was recently talking to a friend over lunch about Project 2025, a sweeping plan drafted by the conservative Heritage Foundation to restructure the country if Donald Trump were to win back the White House. If enacted as currently written, the project would curtail the rights of minorities and LGBTQ+ people, roll back abortion rights, and gut environmental regulations, among other measures. Tiller worries that the plan would take the country back to the 1800s but her friend didnt know much about it, other than that its bad, right?
Gen Z and millenials are more likely to use social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook to obtain their news rather than watching cable or reading articles. While some news-aggregating apps like Apple News collect traditional media articles in one place, younger people are more likely to use their Instagram feed or TikTok's For You Page to get the news of the day.
TikTok, in particular, is a primary source of news for young people, especially in the last few years, growing from 9% of adults 18-29 using it regularly for news in 2020 up to 32% in 2023, according to the Pew Research Center. Some young activists, for example, have flocked to the app amid growing distrust of traditional outlets for their coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
With the 2024 election around the corner, Teen Vogue speaks to students about how they get their news. Some student journalists and activists say they've gotten subscriptions to The New York Times or their hometown paper, and they check out newsletters. They scroll through TikTok, too, of course, but say theyre a bit less trusting of social apps to give them accurate information.
Other young people say they get their news exclusively from social media. Rising freshman Kylie Gilbert, for instance, says shes avoiding politics with a 10-foot pole. She knows the broad strokes of whats going on that theres an upcoming election and the basics of what each candidate is interested in but says shes not actively looking up NPR articles to verify what gets said on TikTok.
With candidates that some perceive as not connecting with them on important issues such as climate change, housing, and a sometimes brutal news cycle, heres how young people are piecing together whats going on ahead of November.
Kira Tiller, Cornell University sophomore, studying urban planning for pre-law:
For social media, I follow two accounts, Impact and So Informed (on Instagram). They're the type of accounts that make the infographics to easily explain what's happening in the news. It's really easy to digest the infographics. In addition, there's a lot of people that will post on their Instagram story about the news and what's going on, and then I'll look more into that by searching an article to learn more for myself.
Abraham Garcia-Romero, Berea College junior studying political science and communications in hopes of running for office:
I get all my media through my phone, so on social social media websites like CNN or The New York Times app. Those are the two main ones I have downloaded. I get some of my news on TikTok. Its not what you expect; its still the national news network itll be MSNBC or The Hill but theyre on TikTok now. So they post shorter videos, and its still news; it just happens to be on TikTok.
Kylie Gilbert, a freshman looking to study nursing at Hofstra University:
The majority [of news I get], I would say, is definitely social media like Instagram, TikTok, all sorts Another big part is that my dad likes to watch the news, so I get some of it from them. Of course, I feel as for most people my age, their parents or grandparents their elders like to always discuss [the news] at big events like Thanksgiving, Christmas, whatever.
Pratika Katiyar, Northeastern University senior studying business administration and communication (and a former Teen Vogue contributor):
I get a weekly newsletter from The Boston Globe. Then, I would say, two [other sources for me] would be The New York Times and The Washington Post. Part of it is my school gives me a New York Times subscription for free.
Journalism students and professional journalists go through years of training. Whether they go to J-school or whatever, if they work at that outlet, they go through journalism ethics. They go through how to interview a source properly. There's so much training involved. Sometimes when I see those [social media] accounts Im like maybe the way they're presenting the news isn't always accurate, or sometimes they are too quick to report something that isn't fact-checked.
Jonathan Lam, Cornell sophomore studying industrial and labor relations at Cornell University:
I think I continue to read The New York Times and Washington Post because I still have hope in the legitimacy of these news sources. I think even saying they're spreading misinformation is false in itself. I don't think they're spreading misinformation; I think it's just the wording, and the way their articles [are] upsetting for a lot of people. And I think that's valid.
I know, for the most part, Instagram has been very useful, or especially Twitter. I think what we're seeing right now [with] what's happening in Palestine and Gaza, mainstream media isn't going to cover everything that we need to know about what's happening. So a lot of my friends might even argue that Instagram and Twitter may be the most useful sources because they're not going to be censoring.
Poojasai Kona, co-host of PBS News Student Reporting Labs' On Our Minds: Election 2024 podcast and junior at Frisco High School:
I dont really see it as a bad thing, but I get a lot of news from social media, like Instagram. I dont know, but its like the first thing I open up. They post a lot, so thats the first thing that pops up, like The New York Times. And I use a social media platform called Impact, or Feminist. I usually get my news from there.
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Helene has been upgraded to a hurricane Wednesday morning as it continues its steady march toward the Florida coast and residents brace for it to make landfall. Further north, Tennessee and other states wonder just how much rain will be coming their way.
The latest predictions from the National Hurricane Center, have windspeeds reaching upwards of 120 miles per hour by the time it makes landfall in Florida.
"Due to the forecast large size of this system, storm surge, wind, and rainfall impacts will extend well away from the center, particularly on the east side. In addition, the fast forward speed while it crosses the coast will likely result in farther inland penetration of strong winds over parts of the southeastern United States after landfall," the Hurricane Center advisory warned.
Helene is expected to soak the Southeast as it makes its way inland, with some areas predicted to see upwards of 10 inches of rain as the remnants of the storm move northeast.
"The heaviest rainfall expected from Helene will likely get started Thursday night and continue into Friday as its remnants then track into eastern (Tennessee)," read the forecast.
Here's the latest models and predictions for Helene as we all brace for severe weather over the next few days.
When will Hurricane Helene hit Florida?
Areas of Florida are already under hurricane watches and warnings. The National Hurricane Center predicts Helene will make landfall sometime on Thursday, Sept. 26.
Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall as a major hurricane along Florida's Gulf Coast. Predictions as of Wednesday morning put Helene's landfall along Florida's Big Bend. This could change as the storm develops.
How much rain will Tennessee have from Helene?
Potential rainfall for the Southeast from Tropical Storm Helene from the National Hurricane Center on Sept. 25, 2024.
Communities across Tennessee have already had a taste of rain ahead of the remnants of Hurricane Helene and there is even more in the forecast through the end of the week for much of the Volunteer State.
The National Hurricane Center expects it to produce rain accumulations of 5 to 10 inches with isolated totals of around 15 inches in areas across the Southeast U.S. A large increase from original predictions of 3 to 6 inches on Wednesday. Tennessee communities are not expected to feel Helene's impact until Thursday night, according to forecasts.
Here's the latest forecast via the National Weather Service as of Wednesday, Sep. 25:
East Tennessee: A flood watch is in effect for the Knoxville area until Thursday morning. There is an 90% chance of showers and thunderstorms Wednesday and dropping down to 80% heading into Thursday morning. Rain accumulation could reach upwards of two inches in some areas over the next 24 hour period.
The remnants of Helene are predicted to hit the area on Thursday night, with a 90% chance of rain starting in the evening and dropping to 80% on Friday. Expected precipitation amounts have not been added to the forecast. Wind gusts as high as 40-45 mph are predicted for Thursday and Friday.
Middle Tennessee: Chance of rain and possible thunderstorms increasing from Wednesday heading into Thursday morning. Wednesday night storms could drop between a tenth and a quarter of an inch in some areas. On Thursday, chances of rain and thunderstorms grow to 70% during the day and 80% at night into Friday morning. Expected precipitation amounts have not been added to the forecast for Thursday and Friday.
West Tennessee: Chances of large accumulations of rain in the western part of the state are much slimmer than in Middle and East Tennessee, according to the forecast, but they have increased since Tuesday.
The Memphis area and West Tennessee have a slight chance of showers and possible thunderstorms today. On Thursday and Friday, the area could see upwards of a 70% chance of rain, with possible thunderstorms. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible on Friday.
The National Hurricane Center does warn that the potential rainfall in some areas could result in local flash and urban flooding, with possible minor to isolated moderate river flooding. It has also warned of possible landslides in areas of steep terrain in the southern Appalachians.
What category is Hurricane Helene expected to be?
The National Hurricane Center announced that Helene was upgraded to hurricane status on Wednesday around 10:15 a.m. CT. The hurricane center predicts that Helene will make landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane or even stronger, "there's still some uncertainty on exactly how strong Helene" can get. Winds could get up to 125 mph as Helene gets closer to the U.S., according to the National Hurricane Center.
What does Hurricane Helene look like?
Storm tracker: Where is Hurricane Helene right now?
Here's the latest information on where the storm is as of Wednesday morning.
Location : 100 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico; 145 miles south-southwest of the western tip of Cuba
Maximum sustained winds: 60 mph
Movement : west-northwest at 10 mph
Pressure: 991 mb
Latest cone of concern for Helene
Move the bar to see how the cone of concern has changed over the last day.
Spaghetti models for Hurricane Helene
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Latest on Hurricane Helene: Spaghetti models, Tennessee rainfall
The U.S. has authorized a new military aid package for Ukraine worth $375 million, the White House announced on Sept. 25.
The aid includes air-to-ground weapons, munitions for rocket systems, armored vehicles, and anti-tank weapons.
The assistance comes via the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which U.S. President Joe Biden officially authorized on Sept. 25. Prior to the announcement, Biden pledged ongoing support to Kyiv in a Joint Declaration of Support for Recovery and Reconstruction of Ukraine.
According to the U.S. Defense Department, the latest package features ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 155 mm and 105 mm artillery ammunition, Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) missiles, Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems, M1117 armored vehicles, small arms, patrol boats, and other equipment.
The package reportedly marks the first time the U.S. has sent Ukraine a medium-range glide bomb known as the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) that can be launched from F-16 fighter jets.
The U.S. is expected to announce additional military aid for Ukraine, worth over $8 billion, during President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the White House on Sept. 26, Reuters reports.
Biden also said on Sept. 26 that he will announce "a series of actions to accelerate support for Ukraine's military" during Zelensky's visit.
The $375 million package represents the 66th tranche of security assistance the Biden administration has sent Ukraine from U.S. inventories since Aug. 2021.
Read also: US to announce series of actions supporting Ukraine, Biden says
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Whitmer has playful fun with 'that woman from Michigan' label on talk show with Andy Cohen
If Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had a "Real Housewives" tagline, what would it be?
"Some people call me that woman from Michigan. I call it getting (bleep) done," she revealed Tuesday night on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live" talk show.
The cable network discreetly put a sound effect over a word that rhymes with "wit," while Whitmer's witty answer delighted host and executive producer of the "Real Housewives" franchise Andy Cohen.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer guests on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live."
"You were ready with that. I love it! Oh my gosh, that is so good!" Cohen raved about her response.
Although the "WWHL" guest list often relies on Bravolebrities (as those famous for being on a Bravo reality show are called), the show also has welcomed actors, comedians, authors, broadcast journalists and genuine legends like Cher, Oprah Winfrey and Meryl Streep.
Whitmer was there to plug her new book, "True Gretch: What I've Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between." She was joined by another guest, three-time Emmy winner Uzo Aduba ("Orange Is the New Black"), whose new memoir, "The Road Is Good: How a Mothers Strength Became a Daughters Purpose, debuted this week.
The governor gamely embraced the show's playful spirit. Early on, she fielded a question involving Real Housewives" veteran Luann de Lesseps, aka Countess Luann, who Cohen said had tweeted to ask who is Whitmer's favorite Bravo doppelganger.
"Are you familiar with the oeuvre of Countess Luann?," asked Cohen. Replied Whitmer, "I am, because every once in a while, a video of her dancing in a bar is attributed to me." (The Countess posted the video of herself on X, formerly Twitter, in June and some people have tweeted that they mistakenly thought she was the guv.)
Host Andy Cohen with guests Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and actress Uzo Aduba on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live."
When Cohen mentioned that she was a party girl in her past, Whitmer got laughs by responding, I was your most fun friend from high school who you wondered if theyd ever amount to anything.
She did, everybody, said Cohen.
Whitmer participated in a "Clubhouse Quickie," a fast round of questions on topics like her first concert (New Edition), the most famous contact in her phone ("Oh, George Clooney?), how she'd describe Vice President Kamala Harris in three words ("Badass. Ready. Exciting."), her most recent TV binge (the Showtime series "Yellowjackets") and more.
She also played a game called "Should We Give a Damn?" that had Cohen asking whether we should give a damn about everything from "The Golden Bachelorette" (Whitmer said, "Yes, you go, girl!") to the fact that the upcoming "Wicked" movie adaptation will be split into two parts ("No, just plan accordingly," she advised).
Whitmer even smashed three breakaway bottles over Cohen's head during a current events quiz dubbed "Whit Me With Your Best Shot." It was a penalty for each question read by Aduba that he missed.
At times, there were glimmers of political relevance, such as when Cohen asked Whitmer whether she would accept a Cabinet position if Harris wins the presidential election. "I have committed to serving the people of Michigan through my term, so that ends in 2026 and then, I don't know what the heck I'm going to do next, Andy," said Whitmer.
Whitmer concluded her appearance by naming her five favorite Republicans, putting her dad, Dick Whitmer, who served in the late Michigan Gov. William Milliken's administration, at No. 1. Not long afterward, someone in a shark costume came onstage, a nod to the viral clip of Whitmer saying, "It's Shark Week" and mouthing a four-syllable expletive before the broadcast of her 2020 Democratic National Convention speech.
Oh, and note to Cohen: It's "Michi-GAN-der," not "Michigan-DER." Well, he hails originally from Missouri, so he's forgiven.
Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.
(This story was updated to add photos.)
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer to Andy Cohen: 'I was your most fun friend from high school'
Why a Black Mens Super PAC That Once Endorsed Kemp Is Now Backing Harris
An Atlanta-based Black mens economic advocacy group with a track record of endorsing both Republican and Democratic candidates for public office is throwing its support behind Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid to become the nations next president.
Atlanta business leader Omar Ali, a previously registered Democrat-turned independent, is co-founder and president of Justice Equality & Economics (JEEPAC), a Georgia-registered super PAC that claims to have an affiliated voting bloc of more than 50,000 Black men across the state.
With less than seven weeks left until Election Day, Black men have become a central focus for both Harris and former President Donald Trump. JEEPACs endorsement of Harris runs counter to the narrative of rising Black male support for the former president, who held a rally in Savannah on Tuesday.
Ali said JEEPAC announced its endorsement of Harris on Monday after conversations with members of her national campaign team revealed, in comparison to Trump, the vice president has a more clearly outlined set of policy proposals aimed at helping Black entrepreneurs.
Atlanta business leader Omar Ali is co-founder of the Justice Equality & Economics PAC. (Courtesy of Omar Ali)
The fundamental, most important [issue], in our opinion, is bringing economics back to Black communities and to Black businesses, Ali told Capital B Atlanta. [Harris] is the best candidate that will champion some of the policies that we put in front of her to kind of elevate or close the [racial wealth gap] in the United States.
Ali recently shared an Instagram reel that includes a screenshot of an endorsement thank-you letter signed by Harris for President campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez. The Harris campaign has confirmed the authenticity of the letter with Capital B Atlanta.
On behalf of the Harris-Walz campaign, I thank the Justice Equality and Economics LLC for your endorsement, the letter reads.
What is JEEPAC?
Ali said he and his father, Yusef, co-founded JEEPAC eight years ago, when they realized Black Georgians overwhelming allegiance to the Democratic Party hasnt always resulted in ideal economic outcomes in blue cities and counties across the state.
He said JEEPAC drew scorn from some Black leaders in 2022 when the group endorsed GOP Gov. Brian Kemp in his reelection bid against Stacey Abrams.
Ali said when his group engaged Abrams and Kemp during the 2018 election cycle, the Democratic candidate only agreed to support setting aside $10 million to aid minority businesses. He said, in his view, her minority business policy proposals didnt improve much four years later. Kemp, on the other hand, agreed to support legislation that would increase the share of state government contracts awarded to minority businesses, a move that received bipartisan support among legislators inside the Gold Dome.
[Abrams told Capital B Atlanta in 2022 that she would break up state government contracts into smaller business deals that would allow small businesses to get a bite at the apple, in addition to creating a small-business investment fund.]
Georgia has its first minority bill ever, Ali said. Of course, we need to build upon it. Its not perfect.
In 2019, Kemp appointed Ali to the State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors before reappointing him to the same board earlier this month.
The significance of the Black male vote
Ali noted that Black men remain the Democratic Partys second-most loyal voting bloc behind Black women. But men, regardless of race, are more likely than women to vote Republican. Trump increased his share of support from Black men by roughly two percentage points in 2020 (20%) when compared to 2016 (18%), according to NBC News. A September NAACP poll showed Trump receiving 26% support from Black men under the age of 50.
Harris has a strong chance to become the first Black woman to serve as commander in chief, but she needs to maximize Black voter turnout to increase her odds of winning the election the way Barack Obama did in historic fashion in 2008. Voter engagement activists in Georgia have reported Harris gaining ground with Black men across the state since replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.
If Trump erodes Harris Black support in battleground states like Georgia either by persuading Black voters to back him or simply dissuading them from voting for his opponent he greatly increases his odds of retaking the Oval Office.
Why endorse Harris?
Ali said conversations with Harris campaign team revealed she seems more prepared than Trump to serve the needs of Black entrepreneurs.
That includes advocating for the U.S. Small Business Administration to restore its direct-lending program. Ali said outside of disaster loan assistance, the SBA hasnt exercised its direct-lending powers to the same degree since 1998, largely due to opposition from influential banking industry lobbying groups like the American Bankers Association.
African American companies were thriving under SBA direct lending, Ali said. We know thats a hard ask because Democrats and Republicans dont want that because of the bank lobbyists.
The Biden-Harris administration has included creating a new SBA direct lending program in its fiscal year 2025 budget request as a means to increase access to capital for small business owners.
What about Trump?
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event Tuesday in Savannah, Georgia. (John Bazemore/Associated Press)
Trump has faced criticism for using stereotypes like golden sneakers and mugshot photos instead of policy proposals to appeal to Black voters. The former president campaigned in Savannah on Tuesday, a city that has a roughly 52% Black population, according to U.S. Census data.
Ali said conversations his team has had with Trump campaign surrogates regarding programs and benefits for nonwhite business owners have resulted in invitations to pose for pictures during local Trump campaign stops, but no specific policy plans.
We spoke to a couple people on [Trumps campaign] team. It was just 100% rhetoric, Ali said. We couldnt get anything tangible.
Trumps campaign team hasnt responded to multiple emails requesting comment.
The post Why a Black Mens Super PAC That Once Endorsed Kemp Is Now Backing Harris appeared first on Capital B News - Atlanta.
Registered nurse Lindsay Waldman, right, administers a pediatric COVID-19 vaccine to Coco Peikin, 6, on November 3, 2021 in Denver, Colorado. Credit - Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images
Steph Berends seven-year-old son has a speech disorder and sensory issues. But her efforts to see a specialist near their home in Spokane, Wash., have been stymied. Her child has been on waitlists at two different practices for more than a year, and is now on two others that are 15 months long. While Berends son waits to see a pediatric neurologist, he is suffering from uncontrolled muscle movements and sounds, and bullying at school, says Berend, a dental hygienist.
Its a problem parents face across America: a shortage of pediatricians, and especially pediatric specialists. Medical students arent going into pediatrics at high rates, and thats leading to coverage gaps. According to one study, about 8% fewer medical students went into pediatrics in 2020 than in 2015, while other specialties have seen big increases. In 2024, about 30% of pediatric residency programs did not fill open positions. As a result, says Sallie Permar, chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, children dont have timely access to high-quality care, especially when they have chronic or complex disease.
One big reason that doctors arent going into pediatrics is money. Although pediatricians undergo the same amount of training as other doctorsand sometimes morethey are paid up to 25% less than other kinds of doctors, Permar says. Medical students, who average about $200,000 of debt, may look at pediatrics and wonder how theyll be able to get out of debt, afford a house, or raise their own children.
Pediatrics is one of the lowest-paid areas of medicine for a few reasons. More than a third of U.S. children are on Medicaid, and in most states, reimbursement rates for Medicaid are a fraction of those for private insurance or Medicare, the health-care program for seniors. Bringing Medicaid compensation rates up to par with those of Medicare would be difficult because Medicaid is administered by the states and Medicare is federally funded.
Read More: Why Maternity Care is Underpaid.
Reimbursement rates for pediatricians who take private insurance also lag behind doctors in other specialties. Eight of the 10 lowest paid medical specialties are in pediatrics, according to a 2022 study. This is partly because of how insurance reimbursement rates are set. They are influenced by the work of a group of doctors called the Relative Values Update Committee, or RUC, convened by the American Medical Association. The RUC looks at how much work and time goes into different medical procedures and assigns values to those procedures.
Some physicians say that the RUC favors services like surgeries, rather than nonprocedural services like evaluation, which makes up a good deal of a pediatricians work. As a blanket approach in this country, says Permar, we have deprioritized preventative care and over-prioritized interventional care. The American Medical Association declined to comment for this story.
The result creates challenges for doctors like Jill Neff, who runs a pediatric practice in rural Ohio. She is the only doctor in the practice, and about 60% of her patients are on Medicaid. Neff spends a lot of time talking to parents and the kids she treats, but theres no compensation for taking time to make sure patients feel like they have the information they need. Because compensation rates are low, Neff says, she isnt able to hire additional staff. She tries to recruit medical students, but they worry about struggling to pay off their loans if they go into rural pediatrics, she says. Theyd like to go into a practice like mine but realize they could never afford to do that, she says.
Another reason pediatricians may be compensated less than other doctors may have to do with the large share of women in the specialty. Decades of economic literature shows that as more women enter a profession, the compensation for that profession declines. This happened with teachers, with parks and recreation employees, and with ticket agents, according to economic research. The same has happened with pediatrics. In 1975, when women represented only 23% of the pediatric workforce, pediatricians earned 93% of the average physician salary. By 2017, when women represented 63% of pediatric doctors, the field only earned 71% of the average physician salary.
There is potentially some implicit gender bias happening with how reimbursement rates are set, says Amy Gottlieb, a physician who leads a consulting practice helping firms with equitable compensation. Gottlieb, who gives talks about pay disparity, likes to show a slide showing the share of women in each medical specialty next to a slide showing compensation. Pediatrics has one of the highest shares of women and the lowest pay; urology has one of the lowest shares of women and some of the highest pay.
Read More: Women Say They Were Pressured Into Long-Term Birth Control.
Some medical practices are subbing nurse practitioners for doctors, which can help shorten wait times. But as a recent Bloomberg investigation found, some nurse practitioner programs do not adequately prepare their students to care for patients. Permar predicts higher health-care costs in the future if children cant get the care they need. We need parents to know that your childs doctor doesnt get paid as well as your doctor, and that should make you angry because we all value our children, she says.
The pattern of lower pay for women also tends to affect the mothers fighting for care for their children. Julia Lemberskiy gave birth at 28 weeks to her first child while traveling in Germany. When she returned home to upstate New York, Lemberskiy couldnt find a pediatrician who specialized in premature babies and was accepting new patients. So ended up going to a nurse practitioner. Her daughter needs to see specialists, including nephrologists and gastrointestinologists, all of whom are in short supply in her area. One doctor she went to for an ultrasound for her daughters kidneys did not actually have an ultrasound machine.
When she got pregnant with her second child, Lemberskiy and her husband worried that they wouldnt be able to find the ob-gyn care that she needed in her area eitherher first pregnancy was extremely complicated. So they are in the process of moving back to New York City for a year for access to good ob-gyns and pediatricians. Life here is so much better than in the city, she says, about her home in Orange County, N.Y. But we were worried we wouldnt get the medical care we needed, so we bit the bullet and moved.
Contact us at letters@time.com.
Why are Central Texas counties under burn bans right now?
AUSTIN (KXAN) If youre one of the many Central Texans eagerly awaiting a fall cool down, fire weather probably isnt playing front and center in your mind. But fire officials are hoping as Central Texas counties pass burns bans, youll pay close attention to fire conditions.
Fall, really if you think about it, the cold fronts that come throughwe get a lot of dry fronts, the humidity drops and with dry conditions and the low humidity is just a recipe for a lot of fire activity, said Gary Howell the Travis County Fire Marshal. Its not unusual to have burn bans leading up into the fall.
VIEW: Texas Burn Bans Map
Travis County put a burn ban in place late last month for the first time since 2023, according to its website. Travis County Commissioners voted to extend that burn ban Tuesday.
Any time we have dry conditions and then the humidity drops, its a condition that allows for fire activity, fire behavior to be more pronounced and the fire crews tend to work more, Howell said.
Williamson County Commissioners also signed off on a ban Tuesday, citing a heat and drought index the county uses that ranges from 0-800 800 being the most dangerous in terms of fire conditions.
Anytime it goes over a number of 600 we start getting concerned with potential for fires because its very dry conditions at that point. And Williamson County is currently averaging across the county a number of 642, Bill Zito, senior director of emergency services for Williamson County, said Tuesday.
Central Texas officials hope the bans remind folks that fire season makes no exception for fall and that this fall could be particularly dry.
Looking at the long-term forecast it looks like that were going to have some dry conditions for a while, this may be a dry winter and were just ramping up right now, Howell said.
You can find details about the Travis County burn ban here. And the Williamson County burn ban here.
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Linguists agree: No one speaks quite like former President Donald Trump. Illustration:Jianan Liu/HuffPost; Photo:Getty Images, Truth Social
Reading a typical Truth Social post from former President Donald Trump is a wild ride, rhetorically speaking: Theres name-calling, naturally, and the ALL-CAPS DECLARATIVES about how weak his enemies are. Then theres the other weird thing the former president does with capitalization, where he caps the beginning of words for seemingly no good reason.
This post-debate missive from his Truth Social feed is a good example. Note the random capitalization of the Radical Left Candidate, Second Debate, and destroyed our Country.
A recent Truth Social post shows Trump's penchant for odd capitalization. Truth Social
Trump doesnt save his odd linguistic choices for social media; hes got a unique way of speaking, too, including a habit of referencing huge, abstract figures: Millions and millions. Billions and billions. (In 2017, Vice was able to cobble together a two-minute compilation of all the times Trump said billions and billions think of how long it would be now!)
Theres also his sweeping use of everyone and everybody. The times hesclaimed everyone agrees are almost too numerous to count.
And we wrote a whole story about his use of the third person: They all want the endorsement of Trump, he said of his political influence in 2021. Its a very important treasure.
What do all these peccadillos of speech mean, if anything? Leaving the obvious lies and exaggerations aside, is he just blithely ignorant of language conventions, another Boomer fond of the caps lock, or is he consciously crafting these messages to look and sound the way they do?
Some experts believe Trump genuinely does use language and style as a weapon, including Jennifer Mercieca, a professor in the department of communication and journalism at Texas A&M University and the author of Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump.
Trump has been attacking American minds for the past nine years, she said. He uses language to prevent us from holding him accountable for his words and actions.
As interesting as it is to parse Trumps grammar and distinct communication style, some linguists feel that the content of his speeches is revealing enough on its own.
When Trump settles on a topic and hammers away at it using lies or outrageous bluster, it has the effect of setting the agenda for everyone, said Daniel Midgley, a linguist and co-host of the Because Language podcast.
Think about the infamous theyre eating the dogs statement mid-debate this month, Midgley said. It was so weird and unhinged that it was all anybody could talk about for two weeks, he said.
The story was debunked and ridiculed, but that didnt matter because what was everyone discussing? Immigration, an area where Trump feels solid, he said. And as a consequence, no one was talking about Kamala Harris plans for cutting taxes for middle-class families or securing the right to choose.
We've all known that one older person who didnt know how to turn the all-caps off. He clearly does know how to turn it off and on, so thats not whats going on.Carrie Gillon, a linguist and the cohost of "Vocal Fries"
But other experts think there is value in studying how Trump speaks. Below, linguists and other experts whove analyzed Trumps unique use of language share some of his more interesting rhetorical tricks.
Hes a big fan of CAPITALIZED words.
The use of capital letters is designed to signal what scholars call language intensity, Mercieca told HuffPost.
Donald Trump is the Outrage President, he doesnt seek to be presidential but what he called modern day presidential, the professor said. He is the first president to take advantage of outrage media and the algorithmic bias toward outrage and use it for campaigning and the presidency.
As Mercieca sees it, Trump is constantly feeding outrage content into the public sphere through rallies, tweets and interviews. When he uses capital letters in social media posts, its designed to signal to the reader that something is important or to link an intense emotion with the words.
Its hard to convey emotion online, so we frequently use emojis Trump uses capitalization, she said. Its not too different from what 18th-century typesetters did when they had a controversial pamphlet: For example, look at the capitalization from John Dickinsons 1774 Letters from a Farmer, in Pennsylvania.
My use of social media is not Presidential - its MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. Make America Great Again! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2017
Is the all-caps strategy effective? Depends on whom you ask.
All caps feels like shouting to most people, so for those who are receptive to his messages, I can only assume the messages feel impassioned, like he really cares, said Carrie Gillon, a linguist and the cohost of Vocal Fries, a podcast about linguistic discrimination.
For those who are less receptive, all caps may come across as simultaneously childish and a touch AARP.
Weve all known that one older person who didnt know how to turn the all-caps off, Gillion said. He clearly does know how to turn it off and on, so thats not whats going on. Hes obviously using it for emphasis. It feels weird because hes a politician, and we expect more polish in text and in person than we get from him.
Hes all about the emphatics: never, always, everyone.
Jesse Egbert, a professor of applied linguistics at Northern Arizona University, has studied Trumps distinctive linguistic style, comparing it to all previous presidential candidates back to Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy in 1960.
One thing Egbert found is that, compared to past candidates, Trump is far more likely to use what he calls boosted stance to intensify claims and get a heightened emotional response from his audience: always, never and other intensifiers like somuch more.
In his most recent debate with vice president Kamala Harris, Trump used a boosted stance never, ever while discussing the war in Ukraine:
If I were president, Russia would have never, ever I know Putin very well. He would have never and there was no threat of it either, by the way, for four years have gone into Ukraine and killed millions of people when you add it up.
All those nevers and always add up: Trump used the word never 27 times in the most recent debate, more than five times as frequently as Harris who only used the word five times, Egbert reported.
Compared to past candidates, Trump is far more likely to use boosted stance to intensify his claim and get a heightened emotional response from his audience, said Jesse Egbert, a professor of applied linguistics at Northern Arizona University. Win McNamee via Getty Images
The random capitalization may be a way to convey tone specifically, an aggressive tone.
The random capitalization the Radical Left Candidate, Second Debate, destroyed our Country in that earlier Truth post example reminds Gillion of German, in that all nouns are capitalized in German.
I doubt thats what hes going for or I dont think its in any way conscious, anyway but its what I think of every time, she said.
Instead, Gillion thinks its another form of emphasis, as Trump has said himself.
Given how hard tone is to convey over text, I think its kind of clever to use the English writing system in this way, she said. I think it helps the reader read his posts in his voice. Its just jarring for those of us who arent super into the content of the message. For them, the overuse of capitals may feel aggressive.
In a since-deleted tweet, Trump gave some insight into his unusual communication style. Twitter
Hes a big numbers guy: Hundreds and hundreds, millions and millions!
Here are a few examples of some of the times Trump has thrown out big numbers:
So many hundreds and hundreds of companies are doing this. (Trump/Clinton 2016, debate 1)
She wants 550% more people than Barack Obama. And he has thousands and thousands of people. (Trump/Clinton 2016, Debate 3)
What she doesnt say is that President Obama has deported millions and millions of people. (Trump/Clinton 2016, Debate 3)
But when you look at what shes done to our country and when you look at these millions and millions of people that are pouring into our country monthly. (Trump/Harris 2024, Debate 1)
The vague numbers in these statements may seem pulled out of nowhere, but surprisingly, most of them are technically accurate, albeit at times misleading, Egbert said. As he explained in an essay he co-wrote about Trumps language:
When interpreted literally, millions and millions means that there are two million or more. In the case of Trumps reference to Obamas deportation record, as of the debate, the Obama administration had seen 2.5 million deportations, just slightly over the minimum number required to make millions and millions technically accurate. It is likely that at least some listeners were picturing many more than 2.5 million.
In an MSNBC interview, linguist John McWhorter commented that the way Trump speaks is "oddly adolescent." Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
He speaks often of they and them.
While most candidates use vivid narratives about specific people to express the problems and difficulties faced by many Americans, Trump has an unconventional way of depicting such issues, said Jennifer Sclafani, an assistant professor of applied linguistics at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the author of Talking Donald Trump.
Trump tends to remain at a very general level, linguistically speaking, referring to they or them, or the people, never specifying exactly what individuals or groups he is referring to, except to label people as good or bad, Sclafani told HuffPost.
We see this in the example of theyre eating the dogs, theyre eating the cats in the last debate: He never explicitly stated who they were. Instead, he left it up to the audience to connect the dots and realize it was immigrants, she said.
It should be noted that this is a normal feature of everyday conversation, Sclafani said: We rely on our listeners to do some interpretive work whenever we talk, because we assume familiarity, but it is unusual to do so in a formal public speech.
He uses the Gish gallop.
As Mercieca has shared before, when Trump fabricates, he tends to pile the fibs on so itsdifficult for the listener to keep track of each statement.
As an interviewer, you try to get Trump to specifically answer a question, but he tells 20 lies in the process and you cant stop each of those 20 lies, especially if you focus on the one question youre trying to get an answer, she tweeted last year after his Meet The Press interview. Thats called Gish gallop by old timey propaganda folks.
Hes always just saying.
In the study of rhetorics, paralipsis is a device where you draw attention to a topic by denying that it is being discussed: Im not saying youre responsible for spilling that glass of milk, for instance, which leaves the milk spiller feeling very responsible.
Trump is a big fan of using paralipsis, Mercieca said.
Youll often hear him say Im not saying or Im just saying, she said. Ironically, hell say two things at once to deny accountability: I was just using sarcasm, Im not saying he conspired, but it was written in the papers.
"I cant think of anyone who talks quite like Trump," said Carrie Gillon, a linguist and the cohost of the podcast "Vocal Fries." Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
Overall, he has an oddly adolescent way of speaking.
In an MSNBC interview, linguist John McWhorter commented that the way Trump speaks is oddly adolescent.
Could someone whose speech is the equivalent of a teen boys truly succeed at being manipulative? Is he a skilled orator in his own way, or just another undisciplined yapper on the internet (or maybe a bit of both)?
I actually do think he knows what hes doing, though perhaps not fully consciously, Gillon said. Its impossible to know, of course, but the feeling I get from Trump is that he is very canny, and tries a lot of strategies and uses whatever works in the moment, and what has worked in the past for him.
That doesnt mean the former president is plotting it all out, reading Aristotles Rhetoric or even thinking too deeply about how he sounds. At the heart of it, hes much more of an ad-libber, Gillon argued. And although his speech and text may feel adolescent, this might make his messages easier to understand and absorb for those who are receptive to it.
It probably helps with his demagoguery, the man of the people vibe, Gillon said. I cant think of anyone who talks quite like Trump. He does feel unique. While all the strategies he uses have been used by others fascist regimes, for example his particular style is all his own: Trumpian.
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By Alimat Aliyeva
Volkswagen, a symbol of Germany's industrial might in the years after World War II, is now experiencing an event that could affect the economy and political landscape of this country the closure of factories, Azernews reports.
The company's struggle to transition from traditional internal combustion engines to electric vehicles (EV) highlights the broader challenges facing the German automotive industry. As Europe's largest economy struggles with increasing competition, declining production and political instability, the prospect of Volkswagen plants closing could mark the beginning of a new and challenging era for Germany as an industrial power.
In mid-August, the Volkswagen electric car plant in Zwickau was shut down. The company has already abolished night shifts and terminated contracts with hundreds of temporary workers. What started as a cost-cutting measure quickly turned into a seismic event: one of Germany's most famous manufacturers announced that it could close factories for the first time in its 87-year history. The move not only signals Volkswagen's problems, but also highlights a broader crisis in Germany's industrial sector. Although the country still has strong industrial potential, the competitive environment has changed in recent months. The rise of China and the tightening of environmental regulations pose a real threat to Germany's traditional industries.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his government will have to find a way to balance short-term electoral problems with long-term programs to revive the German economy. To avoid a crisis, Germany needs to create another economic miracle in the industry to become the leader of clean energy in Europe.
The future of the German economy and its industrial identity now depends on whether companies like Volkswagen can successfully survive this turbulent period. Currently, the company's difficulties are related to the fact that old industrial models do not meet the requirements of the 21st century.
MINT HILL, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) Former President Donald Trump made an appearance Wednesday in Mint Hill as part of his 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump was expected at an event at The Mosack Group on Allen Station Road on Sept. 25 at 1 p.m. In a news release, the campaign noted that the event was taking part in the backdrop of touting the Trump administration-era Buy American Act.
The appearance is one of several lately across North Carolina, from candidates on both sides of the political aisle.
Man who staked out Trump at Florida golf course charged with attempting an assassination
Catawba College Political Science Professor Dr. Michael Bitzer noted the Mint Hill stop is part of a larger effort, based on polling in recent news, showing North Carolina is a key player in determining the next president.
Averaging one candidate a week, at least, is becoming the new norm in North Carolina politics, Bitzer said.
Polls show the presidential race is either in a dead heat, within the margin of error, or giving a slight advantage to former President Trump over Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
However, the recent report of Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinsons alleged personal conduct is also playing a factor with voters.
Bitzer noted the Robinson news is something other Republican candidates are being forced to either address, ignore, or side-step.
In effort to refute porn-site message report, Mark Robinson campaign hires a law firm
Bitzer also noted that the local appearance is not out of the ordinary, noting that urban suburbs are the most competitive areas of the state.
Wednesdays rally is likely to cause traffic issues and delays, along with an increased security presence between Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Mint Hill on the opposite end of Mecklenburg County lasting from the late morning through the early afternoon.
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WHY ROC: The expansion for Edwards in Genesee County
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) For this GRE WHY ROC segment were looking at the huge growth and goals for Edwards in the Rochester region.
The company recently held a ceremony to celebrate reaching key milestones with its expansion in Genesee County.
Edwards doesnt make semiconductor chips; rather, it makes the dry pumps necessary for chip fabrication.
Business leaders say this move will create around 600 jobs in a $300 million investment for New York.
You can watch Brennan Somers interview project manager Jeff Mickel in the player on this page.
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Why wait? Six weeks before the 2024 election, California is having a 2026 governor's debate
Candidates running for California governor in 2026 include, clockwise from top left, state Sen. Toni Atkins, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former state Controller Betty Yee, and State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. (Associated Press; Los Angeles Times)
If you're tired of thinking about who's going to be the next president, why not start thinking about who's going to be California's next governor?
Although the 2024 election is still six weeks away, Golden State Democrats are preparing for their first major candidate forum in the wide-open race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2026.
Newsom is serving his second term and cannot run again. The field of candidates vying to replace him includes five Democrats, four of whom will face off Sunday at a forum in San Francisco sponsored by the National Union of Healthcare Workers.
The panel will feature Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, state Sen. Toni Atkins and former state Controller Betty Yee. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is also running for governor, declined an invitation to participate, the union said.
The forum, which begins at 10 a.m. Sunday, is held in partnership with the Los Angeles Times and will be live-streamed on latimes.com.
Read more: Who is running for California governor in 2026? Meet the potential candidates
The candidates will answer questions from Laurel Rosenhall, the California politics editor for The Times; Lisa Matthews, national planning editor at the Associated Press; and Melanie Mason, a senior reporter at Politico.
The healthcare union has about 19,000 members in California, including psychologists, pharmacists, nurses, janitors and social workers. The union also hosted the first major candidate forums in the 2024 California Senate primary and in the 2018 gubernatorial race.
Sal Rosselli, the director of political and legislative campaigns for the union, said in a prepared statement that the union's members want to know positions on healthcare, housing, transportation, education and workers' rights.
"We hope this year's forum will provide those answers for our members and other California voters," Rosselli said.
Democrats are expected to dominate the statewide contest to replace Newsom in 2026, and more candidates could still enter the race.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has said he's "seriously considering" running for governor, but hasn't announced a bid. Nor has Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine), whose name has been in the mix of potential candidates since she lost her bid for the U.S. Senate in the March primary.
Other possible candidates include Xavier Becerra, President Biden's health and human services secretary, and developer Rick Caruso, who ran for Los Angeles mayor in 2022, losing to Karen Bass.
Read more: Rick Caruso stokes talk about his political ambitions
Several Republicans have been said to be considering whether to enter the race, including Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and conservative commentator Steve Hilton.
Each of the Democratic candidates who has entered the race thus far has a chance to make history. California has never elected a woman as governor, and a person of color has held the office only once: Gov. Romualdo Pacheco, for just a few months in 1875.
Atkins, 62, represents the San Diego area in the state Senate and is serving her final term as a state lawmaker. She is a former Senate president pro tem and a former Assembly speaker, the first legislator since 1871 to hold both leadership posts. She was the first female and first out LGBTQ+ Senate leader in state history.
Kounalakis, 58, was first elected lieutenant governor in 2018 and reelected in 2022. Kounalakis has highlighted her work in the largely ceremonial job opposing college tuition hikes, combating climate change and protecting women's rights. She lives in San Francisco.
Thurmond, 56, represented the East Bay in the state Assembly before he was elected to California's top education post in 2018 with strong support from the California Teachers Assn. and other labor unions.
Yee, 66, was elected state controller in 2014. During her tenure, her agency uncovered tens of millions of dollars of local government misspending and questionable financial practices. She was born to Chinese immigrant parents in San Francisco, where the family lived behind their dry cleaning business.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) On Monday, Israeli forces intensified their attacks in Lebanon. As they increased efforts against the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, the bombings have killed over 500 people including 50 children according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, an action that has set off protests around the world, including in Wichita.
Chants of hands off Lebanon. Hands off Gaza echoed as more than 50 protesters gathered at the busy intersection of Central and Rock. According to protesters, theyre aiming to keep the conflict at the forefront of peoples minds.
The attack has spurred the Lebanese community in Wichita into action. Organizer Joan Farha fears for the family she still has in Lebanon.
Organizer Joan Farha protesting at Central and Rock on Sept. 24, 2024 (KSN Photo)
If you look around this city. If you go eat at a restaurant, if you have renovations on your home, or if you go to the doctor, you will meet a Lebanese person, she said. I see news reports about my village being attacked. There was an attack two blocks from the home my father grew up in.
Abdelkarim Jibril, with Students For Justice in Palestine out of WSU, shares similar concerns. The family he has in Palestine has been facing the consequences of Israels war on Hamas since October. Despite his family not being from Lebanon, he sees the conflicts as one and the same.
Abdelkarim Jibril protesting at Central and Rock on Sept. 24, 2024 (KSN Photo)
The Lebanese people will proudly wave a Palestinian flag. I dont see it as a different issue. Whats happening in Lebanon and whats happening in Palestine, Jibril said. It starts here. Nothing ever happens at the White House without there being a push.
Farha agrees.
There are Muslims, and there are Christians here. Lebanon is a country of all religions. And we stand together, she said.
As conflicts continue to heat up, they plan to continue protesting until a ceasefire in the Middle East becomes a reality. They say that local demonstrations, like the one on Central and Rock, are essential steps toward peace.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
A Wife Was Found Fatally Stabbed Next to Injured Husband on Kitchen Floor. Police Just Charged Him with Murder
Rosana Rodriguez, 40, leaves behind four children, one of whom is 11-months-old; her husband Wellinton Leonardo is charged with murder
GoFundMe Rosanna Rodriguez
Authorities in New Jersey have charged a man with murder in connection with the stabbing death of his wife, who was allegedly found dying next to him in their kitchen over the weekend, police say.
Rosana Rodriguez, 40, was found in her Perth Amboy, N.J., home by authorities responding to a report of a stabbing in the early hours of Saturday, Sept. 21, the Perth Amboy Police Department said in a statement later that day. (The victims first name is spelled Rosanna in a fundraiser and an obituary by her family, as well as news outlets My Central Jersey and the Daily Voice).
Perth Amboy police also found her husband, Wellinton Leonardo, lying on the kitchen floor next to her and transported him to the hospital for treatment, per the statement. Police did not share information about possible injuries he may have suffered that required treatment.
Rodriguez was pronounced dead after she was taken to a nearby hospital. Leonardo was charged with first-degree murder among other charges, Perth Amboy police said.
Christ Community Church Facebook Rosanna Rodriguez
Rodriguez was a mother to four young girls, the youngest of whom is 11-months-old, according to a GoFundMe set up to assist with her funeral arrangements and childrens care. Two of the couple's children, aged 11 and 13, were present at the time of the incident, the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office tells PEOPLE.
She was a compassionate and caring soul who touched the lives of everyone around her, part of Rodriguez's fundraiser reads.
According to her obituary, the Dominican Republic native worked as an apartment inspector in Perth Amboy, where she moved years ago.
Perth Amboy's mayor Helmin J. Caba said in a statement that it was a "heartbreaking" time for the community, which has been deeply impacted by Rodriguez's loss.
"[Our] thoughts are with her family and loved ones," Caba said in the statement. "As a city, we will continue to support them in any way we can."
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Leonardo has been charged with one count of first-degree murder, multiple weapons-related charges as well as second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, Perth Amboy police said in their statement. (The statement alleges the couple's children were present at the time of the stabbing.)
Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office tells PEOPLE Leonardo was still in the hospital receiving treatment for his injuries as of the filing of this report.
It wasn't immediately clear if he has retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
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.
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QUITO (Reuters) - A raging wildfire filled Ecuador's capital of Quito with smoke and threatened homes on Tuesday as authorities rushed to control the blaze at a time when a historic drought has stretched resources and patience.
President Daniel Noboa said the armed forces had been deployed to fight the fire, which started around midday in the bohemian Guapulo neighborhood and gradually spread to nearby residences and forested areas.
Some tearful residents worked desperately to put out flames, according to a Reuters witness.
"We couldn't rescue anything. We just arrived, we didn't know what to do ... I don't know why this is happening to us," said Guapulo resident Rosana Cepeda.
No deaths or serious injuries have been reported.
Quito's firefighting force said its contingents were fully deployed and that its units would be fighting fires throughout the night.
"The fire will not end in the next few hours. It will surely continue into the night," Mayor Pabel Munoz told the press, adding that falling nighttime temperatures should help efforts to control the blaze.
Ecuador's worst drought in over 60 years has plunged the hydropower-dependent country into an energy crisis as diminished reservoirs leave hydroelectric dams offline.
The country's energy minister announced nationwide 12-hour power cuts on Monday and said the country's dry season started two months early.
Power cuts scheduled for Tuesday were suspended for the coverage area of Electrica Quito, the capital city's electric utility, the company said on social media.
(Reporting by Tito Correa, Karen Toro and Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
Wildfires rage in Ecuadorian capital as soldiers sent to fight flames
Wildfires were raging in Ecuador's drought-stricken capital Quito on Wednesday after spreading from urban areas on the outskirts of the city, the country's civil protection agency said.
The agency said hundreds of firefighters, soldiers and police were fighting the flames, alongside helicopters, adding that around 100 families had already been brought to safety.
The South American country is experiencing the worst drought in around 60 years, according to the Ecuadorian meteorological service.
Electricity is currently being rationed as a result.
President Daniel Noba wrote on X that this situation "requires urgent decisions at all levels of government."
Noba cut short his visit to the UN General Assembly in New York, returning to Ecuador to oversee the situation.
He said it was possible that the latest fires were started deliberately, writing on X that "if it turns out that this was done intentionally, the perpetrators will be prosecuted for terrorism."
Hurricane Helenes outer bands will move into Central Florida on Thursday, bringing strong winds and periods of heavy rain to the Channel 9 viewing area.
Marion / Lake / Sumter / Polk
Marion, Lake, Sumter and Polk counties will likely see the worst of Helene on Thursday night.
Since wind gusts are forecast to exceed 40 mph, residents should expect spotty power loss, Meteorologist Brian Shields said.
READ: Hurricane Helene forms, forecast to become major storm before impacting Florida
Its a good reminder to have your hurricane kits ready before the lights go out.
Rain totals will range between 2 inches and 5 inches, Shields said.
Orange / Seminole / Osceola
Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties arent expected to have an all-day rain event, but Helenes rainbands could produce quick, heavy downpours Thursday.
READ: Tropical Storm Helene: These schools announce closures
There will also be a risk for tornadoes.
Shields said a couple inches of rain could fall in these inland counties Thursday, and squalls could produce 40 mph wind gusts at times.
Flagler / Volusia / Brevard
Flagler, Volusia and Brevard counties will also be impacted by the storm on Thursday, thanks to Helenes large wind field.
Shields said water will pile up and coastal overwash is possible.
READ: See where you can get sandbags in Central Florida
But coastal flooding wont be a prolonged event; Shields said the system will continue moving north, making its way into Georgia.
Rain bands could dump a couple inches of rain on our coastal counties, which are also face the risk for tornadoes Thursday.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) Are you ever appalled by the number of animal carcasses that dot the highway? I dont mean just by the gruesomeness of the scene, but by the volume of poor animals that met their end just trying to cross the road. And, how many vehicles have been impacted by all of that wildlife, again, just trying to cross the road?
Our friends over at State Farm did a study on just that topic. They estimate that there were over 1.8 million auto insurance claims involving animal collisions from July 1st, 2023 to June 30th, 2024. They also stated that the most dangerous months for animal collisions are November, October and December. According to State Farm, Wisconsin ranks 5th in the nation in animal collisions with a 1 in 63 chance. Specifically, Wisconsin had approximately 69,000 animal collision claims reported during the latest timeframe. Iowa is 7th (1 in 68) and Minnesota is 11th (1 in 79).
Deer tops the list of animals involved in automobile claims. According to the insurance giant, 1.3 million of those animal-related accident claims, involved a stag or a doe. Rodents, dogs, raccoons and coyotes round out the top 5. It should be noted, that rodent claims had more to do with nesting animals, or furry friends chewing through necessary hardware on a vehicle. Claim costs for animal collisions can vary wildly, ranging from a bumper scratch to a total loss, depending, among other things, on the size of the animal that you strike.
Nervous about traveling down the road in our great state? Dont worry, here are some tips
Slow down. Reduce your vehicles speed and maintain a constant lookout for animals. Travel at a speed that will allow you to stop in time if an animal comes into the beam cast by your headlights.
Use extra caution and slow down in known animal crossing zones.
Dusk to dawn are high-risk times; use high beams when appropriate.
Scan the road and avoid swerving when you see an animal. Brake firmly when you notice an animal in or near your path but stay in your lane. Many serious crashes occur when drivers swerve to avoid a deer and hit another vehicle or lose control of their cars.
Always wear your seatbelt.
Just in case you find yourself in one of those unfortunate accidents of any kind
Move your vehicle to a safe place: Pull to the side of the road and turn on your hazard lights.
Call police: If an animal is blocking traffic and could create a threat for other drivers.
Document: Take photographs of the road, your surroundings and damage.
Stay away from the animal : A frightened, wounded animal could use its legs and hooves to harm you. Do not attempt to move an animal.
Dont assume your vehicle is safe to drive : Look for leaking fluid, loose parts, tire damage, broken lights and other hazard .
Contact your insurance company: Quickly file your insurance claim.
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Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., demanded an immediate investigation Tuesday after city of Madison officials said 2,215 duplicate ballots had been sent out across 10 wards in error.
Madison officials said the duplicate ballots have identical bar codes and so can't be counted twice.
"The City of Madison clerk said the duplicate absentee ballots were sent to one ward yesterday," Tiffany wrote on X. "Now, they say its 10. There needs to be an independent investigation now, not after the election."
Tiffany's office noted how the Madison clerk's office initially said duplicate ballots were sent to just one ward but later came out saying the double ups span across all 10 "so their story changed."
"This can't just be swept under the rug," Tiffany said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "The people responsible for this need to be held accountable."
President Biden won Wisconsin, a key battleground state, by fewer than 21,000 votes in 2020.
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Deputy Clerk of the City of Madison Jim Verbick cited how "there was a human error that occurred," impacting voters who had the same style or listed the same offices on their ballots, WKOW reported.
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Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis.
In a letter addressed to the City of Madison Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl, Tiffany said he was "demanding answers and transparency" on what happened, citing what he categorized as "the history of controversial and legally dubious election practices carried out by Madison officials in the past."
"Voters deserve clear answers regarding the full scope of this blunder, how the city plans to restore public confidence in its ability to accurately administer the election, and assurances that those responsible are held accountable," Tiffany wrote in the letter obtained by Fox News Digital.
Madison, the state capital, is considered a Democratic stronghold.
"A mistake was made, the Clerk's Office moved swiftly to rectify the error and reassure voters, but there is NO possibility of a duplicate absentee ballot being counted," city spokesperson Dylan Brogan told Fox News Digital.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday.
The clerk's office described what happened as a "data processing error," explaining that the duplicate ballots have identical bar codes, so even if a voter submitted two absentee ballots, only one could be counted because the voting system does not accept the same bar code twice.
Also, once the ballot is scanned, the voter is marked in the poll book as having submitted an absentee ballot. That is another safeguard against the voter submitting a second ballot, the clerks office said.
Brogan said the mistake occurred when two identical files were merged, resulting in the creation of a list with double the names and double the addresses. Up to 2,000 duplicate ballots in one ward were mailed late last week before the mistake was caught and corrected. The clerks office has been contacting voters individually to notify them of the error and cautioning them to submit only one ballot, Brogan said.
"Despite duplicate ballots being sent out, we will only accept one ballot from every voter, and when we get them back we will make sure that we only have one ballot," Verbick said.
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"About 3,000 voters all use the same ballot style, and we had to separate it into two different files to cover that range based on the limitation of the files that we can pull out of the registration system," Verbick told WKOW. "We tried to combine the two, and instead, one of them got copied instead of combined."
Former President Trump gestures at a campaign event in Mosinee, Wisconsin, on Sept. 7.
"I would just tell the voters that you can destroy one of the ballots," Verbick said. "Please do not send in both ballots, only one vote, one ballot, and the other can be destroyed."
When asked about Tiffany's letter, Verbick told WKOW, "I would just say that [the clerk's office] is very transparent about anything we do with elections, and I would just leave it at that."
He added that no third party would be investigating the matter at this time.
Brogan told The Associated Press that Witzel-Behl was in the process of responding to Tiffanys letter and "thoroughly answering all of these questions."
"It doesnt matter if its Tom Tiffany, or who it is, we want everyone to know what happened," Brogan said.
As of Monday, Madison had sent 27,421 absentee ballots and none had been returned, according to the state elections commission. Brogan said none of the duplicate ballots had been returned since then.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Original article source: Wisconsin Republican demands probe after Madison sends out over 2,000 duplicate absentee ballots
Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has been ludicrously touting her supposed "pro-gun" credentials, part of her overall strategy to appear more moderate to critical swing state voters just long enough to get elected. The media has predictably played along, breathlessly reporting that Harris herself is a gun owner. Just last week, the vice president even told Oprah Winfrey in a televised appearance, "If anybody breaks into my house, they're getting shot." That is undoubtedly true, as Harris is protected at all times at the taxpayers' expense by U.S. Secret Service Agents.
Meanwhile, what Harris is actually doing with the authority she already has is working against the interests of law-abiding gun owners, including as the head of the White House's anti-gun "Office of Gun Violence Prevention." Fortunately, pro-gun members of Congress recently advanced a measure to counteract one of the Biden-Harris administration's most overreaching anti-gun initiatives.
Kamala Harris on video: Cops should conduct home inspections on gun owners
The initiative in question essentially purported to ban a wide range of private firearm sales, most occurring between law-abiding people for law-abiding purposes. .....
University research, a pair of comprehensive studies by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and regional water studies by the Indiana Finance Authority are compiling important information. ((Photo from the Central Indiana Land Trust)
Water, essential to all life on the planet, is an abundant resource in Indiana. This alone puts Indiana in a resilient position as we navigate toward a climate-changed future.
As populations move over the next few decades because their homes and businesses lack access to water, the Midwest is likely to shed the Rust Belt moniker earned when its mighty industrial base was hollowed out. In its place, I suspect, will be The Green Belt.
The Great Lakes hold about 20% of the worlds fresh water. An international compact protects that water, which means only a small portion of Indiana has access to it. But we have an extensive system of ground water that, coupled with huge and productive aquifers, gives us confidence Indiana will have water well into the future.
This is the good news, or in economic development jargon, the opportunity. The bad news: Indiana has done nothing to ensure the abundance of water will remain, much less whether it will be clean and equitably distributed. If nothing else, the massive LEAP project in Lebanon demonstrates how ill-prepared the state is, and that its current priorities jeopardize a future of plentiful water.
But we arent starting from scratch. University research, a pair of comprehensive studies by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and regional water studies by the Indiana Finance Authority are compiling important information.
Whats missing? A coherent framework to guide our policymaking and the decisions about water that flow from it. It is incumbent on our next governor and the General Assembly to start asking the hard questions about water, assemble a broad coalition to answer those questions and then put a fair policy in place to ensure Indianas water future.
Were well behind our neighbors, however, when it comes to water policy, according to research by Megan Freveletti, an attorney with the Conservation Law Center at Indiana University Bloomington. Ohio, Michigan and Illinois all have established statewide policies that guide water quality and use.
Her research does not include western states, where severe water shortages require a different approach to policy. But it does include Texas, where the state has had a coordinated approach to water policy since 1957. This policy divides Texas into regions that then assess their water needs based on the regular updates for industry, agriculture and citizens.
Its a data-oriented approach, and the planning is critical in the process, Freveletti reported.
The regional reports flow up to the Texas Water Development Board, where decisions are made to prioritize projects across the state to ensure water quantity and quality. The decisions consider possibly the most important factorhow to distribute the water equitably.
And Texas recently injected $2 billion into a pair of funds to pay for the projects.
The other state policies vary, as they should, but they already exist. The Nature Conservancy and all of the states conservation community is well prepared and ready to assistif policymakers will look into Indianas future and use their political capital to enact an equitable water policy for Hoosiers.
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Hunting of problem wolves is already allowed under exceptions to the EU protections - STOCKBYTE
Wolves face being hunted in greater numbers after the European Union voted to downgrade their protected status.
The European Commissions proposal, backed by a qualified majority of EU ambassadors, would allow greater flexibility in organising hunts by downgrading the wolf from strictly protected to protected.
Ministers will meet to formally vote on the proposal on Thursday, with only Ireland and Spain expected to vote against it, diplomatic sources said. Other member states are expected to abstain.
Wolves were virtually extinct in Europe a century ago but, thanks in part to EU conservation efforts, numbers have rebounded, with more than 1,000 of the predators in some countries.
Amid a backlash against the burden of EU green rules triggered by the cost of living crisis, farmers have complained that rising numbers of the predators are endangering their livestock.
However, conservationists have criticised the outrageous move to ease the hunting restrictions.
Hunting of problem wolves is already allowed under exceptions to the EU protections. Limited legal wolf hunting is carried out in Finland, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia, but it could now become more widespread.
The vote comes after European Commission president Ursula von der Leyens favourite horse, Dolly, was killed by a wolf in September 2022 at her home in Germany.
Ursula Von Der Leyen with her pony Dolly who was killed by a wolf - Instagram
The keen equestrian and mother-of-seven said her family was horribly distressed by the loss of the 30-year-old horse at the lower Saxony compound.
The culprit was identified through DNA evidence as a wolf known as GW950m. But a permit to kill it expired before it could be hunted down, meaning it could still be at large.
Brussels was forced to deny that Mrs von der Leyen had intervened in the permit process to take revenge for the death of Dolly. The permit was applied for before the horse was killed.
The Eurogroup for Animals said wolf populations had increased but had not reached favourable conservation status, as it decried a move that seriously jeopardises the conservation efforts of the past decade and prioritises politics over science.
Long-overdue
Wolves are our allies, not our enemies and it is crucial to protect them, said Lea Badoz, of the Eurogroup for Animals. More than 300,000 EU citizens had signed a petition to stop wolf hunting.
This is a very outrageous move and shows that member states are ignoring their citizens calls and science, she said. We urge the other parties to the Bern Convention to reject this proposal.
Centre-Right MEPs from Mrs von der Leyens European Peoples Party (EPP), which campaigned to loosen the protections before Junes EU-wide elections, said the decision was the start of a long-overdue process to bring wolf populations under control.
As these populations grow, their conservation status must evolve too, said Alexander Bernhuber, an EPP member of the European Parliaments environment committee.
Italy was among the most vocal countries demanding protections be weakened. The wolf was pushed to the verge of extinction in Italy by the 1970s, when the population dipped to just 100 individuals. Numbers are now estimated to be about 3,300.
It is a step forward that fills us with satisfaction, Paolo Borchia, an Italian MEP from the Right-wing League party, said on Wednesday. It is unacceptable that it took years to come to terms with a situation that is clear for everyone to see.
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Wolf no longer detected in Rocky Mountain National Park, according to latest map
The released wolf that wandered into Rocky Mountain National Park last month is no longer in the park, according to the latest wolf activity map.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife released Wednesday the map showing wolf movement from Aug. 27 to Sept. 24.
The latest map shows a gap in the middle of Jackson County with no wolf movement for the first time since the first map was released in January, just after the first 10 collared wolves were released into Colorado.
The map includes movement from the released wolves as well as two collared wolves from the original North Park pack.
The latest map noted if wolves move quickly enough, a GPS point may not be taken in every watershed they travel through. GPS points are currently taken every 4 hours. That could be the reason for the lack of movement in the area.
The state wildlife agency also said wolves remain north of Interstate 70, though the map shows a wolf or wolves in watersheds that are slightly south of I-70.
Wolf movement generally was detected in western Jackson and Grand counties as well as Summit, Eagle and Routt counties.
Here is the Colorado wolf activity map detecting wolf movement via GPS collars for Aug. 27 through Sept. 24, 2024.
The agency has eight working collars on the wolves, down from the original 12.
The agency said the map does not include collar data from the Copper Creek pack captured in Grand County in late August and early September.
The collar on the alpha male of the Copper Creek, 2309, wasn't functioning for months before it was captured, the agency previously reported. That adult male was captured Aug. 29 and was in poor body condition with significant wounds to its hind right leg unrelated to the trapping. He died in captivity Sept. 3.
The alpha female of the pack, whose collar was working, and her four pups were also captured and moved to a temporary holding facility in Colorado.
Two other released wolves have also died.
The agency found wolf 2307, an adult male, dead Sept. 10. The agency did not report how the wolf died or where it was located when it was found. The wolf was not a member of the recently captured Copper Creek pack.
Necropsies are being conducted on 2309 and 2307.
Wolf 2303, a sub-adult male was likely killed by a mountain lion in mid-April in northwestern Larimer County.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Map shows wolf moved out of Rocky Mountain National Park
Woman accused of fatally stabbing her father-in-law at North Texas home, police say
A North Texas woman accused of stabbing her father-in-law to death was arrested Tuesday in Cleburne, according to police.
Cleburne police officers and firefighters responded about 9:50 a.m. to a report of a disturbance at a home in the 700 block of Miracle Lane. While they were on their way to the scene, officers were told that a woman was stabbing a man.
Jennifer Lynn Brabbin, 41, was immediately taken into custody, police said in a news release.
The victim, 76-year-old Robert Brabbin, had severe stab wounds and was taken to Texas Health Cleburne Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Jennifer Brabbin was booked into jail at the Johnson County Law Enforcement Center and faces a murder charge, police said. She was awaiting arraignment Tuesday.
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(NewsNation) Another woman has accused Sean Diddy Combs of sexual assault.
Thalia Graves said the music mogul, along with his bodyguard, Joseph Big Joe Sherman, viciously raped her at the Bad Boy Records studio in the summer of 2001, according to court documents obtained by NewsNation local affiliate KTLA.
New lawsuit against Diddy
Attorney Gloria Allred and Graves allege that the assault was filmed and then shared without the victims consent including selling it as pornography.
Sean Diddy Combs sexual misconduct allegations, lawsuits: timeline
Allred announced the newest lawsuit at a Tuesday press conference, calling the accusations a violation of New York Citys victims of gender-motivated violence protection law by viciously and violently forcing sexual contact [including] oral sex and sexual intercourse on the plaintiff.
By raping the plaintiff and recording it, Allred added, the defendants caused the plaintiff to be depicted in a video image unclothed and with intimate body parts exposed and engaged in sexual conduct with another person.
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At the time of the alleged assault, Graves was in a relationship with one of Diddys employees. At the Tuesday press conference, she shared that she was going through a divorce and family issues at the time of the assault.
Court documents show that Graves didnt report it for decades out of fear they would use their power to ruin her life, as they had repeatedly, explicitly threatened to do.
The incident left her traumatized and contemplating suicide, according to the filing.
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It goes beyond just physical harm caused by the assault, she said at the press conference. Its a pain that reaches into the very core of who you are and leaves emotional scars that may never fully heal. Some of the hardest parts of this pain are the shame and the guilt I have experienced that plays a negative part in my day-to-day ability to function properly.
Graves said that the assault left her with lasting physical ailments, including chronic pain and a fear of leaving her house.
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The trauma of the assault has taken a toll on my mental health. Ive had PTSD, depression and anxiety, she continued. It has been hard for me to trust others, create relationships or even feel safe in my own skin. The combination of physical and emotional pain has created a cycle of suffering from which it is so hard to break free.
Allred said the charges filed by Graves the 11th of their kind will not overlap with the existing criminal charges against Diddy.
Diddys allegations, arrest
Diddy is accused of using his music empire to engage in sex trafficking and accused of having a pattern of abusing women.
He was arrested Sept. 16 after months of allegations and a federal raid on two of his properties. He pleaded not guilty in New York court the next day.
Both his bids to bail out of jail have been rejected, leaving him in Brooklyns Metropolitan Detention Center for the foreseeable future.
NewsNation affiliate KTLA contributed to this report.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Oklahoma City Police have arrested a woman in connection to a deadly shooting in SE Oklahoma City on July 18.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Victim identified after body found in SE Oklahoma City parking lot
According to officials, officers responded to a shooting around 3:20 p.m. on July 18, near SE 44th St. and Shields Blvd. They found the body of 53-year-old Sabrina Johnson who appeared to have been shot to death.
Darlene Thomas, Photo courtesy Oklahoma County Detention Center
Authorities say, Darlene Thomas has been arrested and faces several charges including first degree murder.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
Woman charged after crash kills man, seriously injures another in Woodbridge
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) The Prince William County Police Department (PWCPD) said investigators have charged a 21-year-old woman for driving while intoxicated, resulting in a deadly crash earlier this month.
According to police, on Sept. 13, just after 6 a.m., crash investigators responded to the area of Caton Hill Road near Killarney Drive to investigate a crash.
The investigation revealed that the driver of a black 2017 Toyota Camry was driving in the wrong direction on Caton Hill Road when they collided head-on with a 2015 Toyota Corolla that was traveling southbound.
The Camry had two occupants: The driver, identified as 21-year-old Lesly Miraya-Mayuri of Springfield, and a passenger. The passenger, 23-year-old Elvis Gabriel Alvarez of Alexandria, died at the hospital from his injuries.
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Miraya-Mayuri and the driver of the Toyota Corolla, a 67-year-old woman, were both taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
Police said that further investigation revealed that Miraya-Mayuri was driving while intoxicated. Authorities arrested her on Sept. 25, charging her with DUI manslaughter. Her bond is set at $10,000.
A court date is set for Oct. 9
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WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) A Warren woman pleaded not guilty to a stabbing that police said happened earlier this week.
Jana Hines appeared in Warren Municipal Court on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to felonious assault, a second-degree felony.
According to a police report, officers were called to the 400 block of Commerce Avenue NW Monday around 3:45 p.m. on reports of a stabbing.
Police said that a man told them he was stabbed in the face by Hines. Reports said that the man had a cut on the left edge of his jaw near the area of his chin and that blood was dripping onto his head and chest.
Police said the man told them that he and Hines had a minor disagreement. According to reports, the man asked Hines to quit playing around. Police were told that Hines stabbed him with a knife and said, Now whos playing?
Reports said that Hines also told him he should know that she always has a knife on her.
Police said the victims cut was treated.
Hines was found by police on the 2600 block of West Market Street. She is currently in the Trumbull County Jail. Bond was set Wednesday at $15,000 and she is ordered to have no contact with the victim.
Hines next court appearance is October 3 at 10:15 a.m.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.
Woman facing fraud charges in 9 states arrested in LaGrange claiming to be caught in a vortex
LONDON, Ky. (FOX 56) A New York woman was arrested after being identified by the London Police Department as a suspect in a multi-state fraud investigation.
According to London police, Roberta Padgett, 47, was identified after an extensive investigation. She was wanted on fraud charges in nine different states and had seven outstanding warrants from Kentucky.
An arrest citation showed that Padgett was reportedly trying to use a fake ID to cash a check at a 5/3 Bank inside a Kroger in LaGrange. After seeing officers, she briefly ran before being detained in the Kroger lobby.
The manager of Kroger told the police that she had attempted to use the ID to cash a $2,000 check in Ohio under the name Elena Vilinetskaya.
LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS:
According to the citation, her appearance and the IDs she was trying to use were not even close. Padgett allegedly refused to give her name or other information and would only tell police that she was caught in a vortex and needed the code to get home.
When asked how she got to the bank, Padgett said she arrived by a tunnel, the police said.
After numerous fake names were given, a valid New York ID card was found in her purse, the citation said. It was then found that she had multiple warrants for her arrest.
Court records show she had warrants for her arrest in Jefferson, Nelson, Warren, Laurel, and Oldham counties.
Read more of the latest Kentucky news
She was booked in the Oldham County Detention Center and was charged with numerous charges, including:
Theft by deception including cold checks $1,000 < $10,000 five counts
Displaying or possession of a canceled or fictitious drivers license
Second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument (identification) six counts
Second-degree forgery two counts
Second-degree fleeing or evading police
Giving an officer false identity information
Theft of identity without consent four counts
Her preliminary hearing was held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, according to court records.
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) A Boardman woman who pleaded guilty to bilking customers out of furniture they ordered from her and to defrauding a bank was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison.
Taylor Moore, 32, received the sentence from Judge Anthony DApolito in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court following guilty pleas earlier this year to charges in three separate criminal cases.
The charges in two of the cases stem from people who ordered furniture from Moore but never received it, and the third case involves Moore trying to deposit a fraudulent check, said Assistant County Prosecutor Catherine Jones.
Jones asked that Moore be sentenced to a year in prison, saying Moore has been charged with similar offenses in the past and her actions in the current case disrupted the finances of the people who ordered the furniture from her but never received it.
Defense Attorney Robert Harvey said his client was a good candidate for probation. Harvey said it would be easier for her to pay her victims back if she was on probation instead of in prison.
Harvey also said Jones has suffered from addiction in the past and when she got clean, she wanted to work from home and started her own business. He said she did not have much experience in business. His client is in counseling now for substance abuse and has a job, Harvey said.
Moore tearfully apologized and asked for mercy, saying her children need her but she added no matter what sentence she received, she wanted to pay her victims back.
Judge DApolito said cases like Moores are tricky because if you imprison someone, that makes it harder for them to pay restitution. He added that while he acknowledged Moore had battled addiction issues and her children need her, he has to think of the victims first because they did not ask to be victimized.
The judge said he decided prison is necessary because Moore has engaged in the same conduct before and that is a pattern he cannot ignore. He said he would let her out of prison nine months into her sentence and if she could repay her victims, those months would be dismissed.
The judge said he wanted those remaining nine months of the sentence to serve as an incentive to pay her victims back.
Moore said she is trying to sell her home to make restitution. The judge said if she can sell it before the first nine months of her sentence expires, he would consider a motion for early release.
Before she was indicted by a grand jury on these charges, Moore had made news for renting out the swimming pool in the backyard of her Boardman home, which prompted complaints about noise and other issues from neighbors. Boardman trustees filed a civil suit against her, saying she was using residential property for commercial purposes in violation of zoning regulations.
A judge ordered her to stop having the parties.
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NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) A woman was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for the DUI manslaughter death of a trans activist.
Previous Coverage: Charges against woman in Downtown Tunnel crash move to grand jury
Dominique Chiqura Goodwin, 27, pleaded guilty to aggravated involuntary vehicular manslaughter for driving drunk the wrong way in the Downtown Tunnel and crashing into another car, causing the death of the other driver.
After a night of drinking on Dec. 30, 2023, Goodwin turned the wrong way onto a one-way street and continued driving eastbound into the westbound side of the Downtown Tunnel.
Nearly halfway through the tunnel, Goodwin crashed her Volkswagen Tiguan head-on into a 2007 Chevrolet Equinox. The driver of the Equinox, 43-year-old Shelby Riddick-Walker, was killed on impact.
An investigation revealed that on the night of the crash, Goodwins blood alcohol content was 0.22 nearly three times the legal driving limit. Investigators also found an empty liquor bottle inside Ms. Goodwins vehicle.
Dominique Goodwin made the decision to drink hard and drive. Ms. Goodwin killed Shelby Riddick-Walker, a beloved mentor to many in the trans community, said Commonwealths Attorney Ramin Fatehi. Shelby did nothing to deserve her death, and we lost the light of her work too soon. Ms. Goodwin will now serve a long sentence in prison.
Goodwin entered an agreement on Tuesday to plead guilty as charged to aggravated involuntary vehicular manslaughter and be sentenced to serve 12 years and four months in jail, with another seven years and eight months suspended on the conditions that she forfeit her drivers license and complete five years of uniform good behavior and three years of supervised probation after her release.
The judge accepted Ms. Goodwins plea agreement and sentenced her per the agreement.
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Woman sentenced in shooting of another woman in Youngstown
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) A woman who pleaded guilty to a shooting in December was sentenced Wednesday to at least four years in prison.
Tyasia Boykin, 30, was sentenced by Judge Anthony DApolito in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on a charge of assault with a firearm specification.
Boykin was originally charged with felonious assault for a Dec. 8 shooting that wounded a woman on Robinwood Place.
Police said the shooting followed an argument.
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Woman in Wisconsin comes home to stranger in their house who made dinner, police make an arrest
MADISON, Wis. (WFRV) A woman in southern Wisconsin was arrested after she allegedly broke into a strangers house and cooked a meal.
According to the Madison Police Department, a resident called the police after she saw someone walking around inside their residence. Police reportedly got to the scene and saw through the windows a woman casually walking around the home.
Officials say that the woman answered the door when police gave her orders. The woman reportedly told officers that she had permission from the resident to be in the house.
Peshtigo man sentenced 25 years in federal prison, victimized numerous Wisconsin minors
She also reportedly identified the resident by name. The suspect then gave a detailed story about how she met the resident at a coffee shop and was given keys to the house.
The release says the woman was in the house long enough to cook herself a dinner. Police say that she inspected mail to learn the name of the resident and fabricate a story.
The resident reportedly told authorities that she had never met this woman and that she did not have permission to be in her home.
Stolen Virgin Mary statue found and returned to Wisconsin church
The woman accused of breaking into the home was arrested for burglary and taken to jail.
No additional information was provided.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) A man from Woodbury, Georgia was found guilty of gun and drug trafficking charges on Monday.
Following a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Clay Land, 30-year-old Howatdrick Jamal Jones, was found guilty of possession of a cocaine base with intent to distribute, one count of possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The United States Attorneys Office Middle District of Georgia says the trial began and ended on Monday, Sept. 23. Jones faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and the sentencing date has been set for Dec. 12. There is no parole in the federal system.
According to evidence presented at the trial, Jones was stopped by a Waverly Hall police officer in October of 2019. The officers automatic license plate reader triggered an alert that the owner of the car had active arrest warrants. The officer searched Jones vehicle and found cocaine, a digital scale and a razor blade next to the drugs. Jones was also concealing a .45 caliber pistol.
Authorities say Jones also had prior felony drug convictions.
The United States Attorneys Office Middle District of Georgia says the case was under investigation by the the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Waverly Hall Police Department with assistance from the FBI and the Harris County Sheriffs Office.
I would like to thank all of the law enforcement entities involved for their hard work on this case, said Waverly Hall Police Chief Jason Durham. This is another proven example that illegal drugs and guns will not be tolerated.
Jones is currently serving a life sentence for a bank robbery he was convicted of in September of 2023.
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Scientists have uncovered a woolly rhino so well preserved in the Russian permafrost for more than 32,000 years that its skin and fur are still intact.
This woolly rhino died when it was about four years old and that age, combined with its good state of preservation, has allowed scientists to learn more about the now-extinct species.
The vast, vast majority of remains from Ice Age animals are bones and teeth without any flesh or skin or anything like that, Love Dalen, a professor of evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University who wasnt involved in this study but has studied the remains of other animals found preserved in Siberian permafrost, told CNN.
Theres probably one in 10,000 or something like that where you run into something like this (rhino). With that said, there are lots of samples coming out of the permafrost every year so it seems to happen almost on a yearly basis.
The findings from this study, which are detailed in a paper published in the journal Doklady Earth Sciences, revealed that the woolly rhino had a large fatty hump on its back and that its fur changed color as it grew older.
When this woolly rhino roamed eastern Siberia more than 30,000 years ago, it would have been one of the largest herbivores in the Ice Age ecosystem, second only to the woolly mammoth, and grazed on the grasslands there, Dalen said.
This woolly rhino mummy has been well-preserved by the permafrost. - Russian Academy of Sciences
Like its modern counterparts, the woolly rhino had two horns but one of these was a very large, blade-shaped horn which is quite unique, he added, compared with the rounder horns of a modern rhino.
Once this woolly rhino died, it lay frozen in permafrost until a team of Russian scientists from research institutions in Yakutsk and Moscow discovered it in August 2020 on the banks of the Tirekhtyakh River.
The study did not detail exactly how the remains were found but in that area of Siberia, Dalen explained, local Russians tunnel into the permafrost looking for mammoth tusks to sell. As part of an agreement with local authorities in the region where the woolly rhino was found, tusk hunters have to contact paleontologists whenever they discover something of interest like this mummified woolly rhino, meaning that there is a steady stream of well-preserved specimens specifically from this area.
After the animals discovery, scientists temporarily defrosted it before taking samples of the fur, skin and the hump for testing. While the rhinos right side remained well preserved in the permafrost, its left side was so badly damaged that scientists concluded it had been eaten by predators. Its internal organs were exposed and most of its intestines were missing, the study noted.
On its back, scientists observed a hump of up to 13 centimeters (five inches) that was filled with a fatty mass. This is a relatively common feature among Arctic animals, Dalen said, and offers a way to store energy for the winter and to convert energy from food into heat without shivering like humans.
By comparing this specimen, which had light brown fur and a much lighter and softer layer underneath, with others of different ages, the researchers concluded that young woolly rhinos had light, even blonde, hair that then became darker and coarser as they reached maturity.
Specimens like this are important for future research, Dalen said, since there are types of genetic tests that can only be conducted on tissue rather than bones.
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US President Joe Biden (L) was attending his final UN General Assembly while in office, ahead of a November US election (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS) (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/AFP)
World leaders lined up at the United Nations on Tuesday to call on Israel to refrain from a full-scale war in Lebanon, with the organization's chief warning the situation was on the "brink."
The UN General Assembly, the high point of the international diplomatic calendar, comes after Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes had killed 558 people -- 50 of them children.
"Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," US President Joe Biden said in his farewell address to the global body.
"In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely," Biden said ahead of an emergency UN Security Council session on Lebanon planned for Wednesday.
Biden's remarks drew disappointment from Lebanon's foreign minister Abdullah Bou Habib who said they were "not promising" and "would not solve the Lebanese problem," as he estimated that the number of people displaced by Israel's strikes has likely soared to reach half a million.
"We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said when he opened the gathering.
Israel's ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said his country was "not eager" for a ground invasion of Lebanon.
"We don't want to send our boys to fight in a foreign country," he said.
- 'End this war' -
It is unclear what progress can be made to defuse the situation in Lebanon, with efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza -- which Israel has relentlessly pounded since October 2023 -- coming to nothing.
Biden on Tuesday pushed again for an elusive ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, telling the global body it was time to "end this war."
Mediator Qatar accused Israel of obstructing Gaza ceasefire talks, with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani saying "there is no Israeli partner for peace" under the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
But he added: "We will continue our efforts of mediation to resolve the disputes through peaceful means."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of dragging the entire region "into war."
"Not only children but also the UN system is dying in Gaza," Erdogan said in a scathing speech.
Guterres cautioned against "the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza," calling the situation in the Palestinian territory a "non-stop nightmare."
European Council President Charles Michel said that Israel had the right to exist and defend itself but without inflicting "collective punishment" on civilians living in areas targeted by its military.
President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran -- which backs Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza -- condemned "senseless and incomprehensible" inaction by the UN against Israel.
- 'Charade of hypocrisy' -
British foreign minister David Lammy also sounded the alarm over the escalating violence in Lebanon.
"I am very worried about the risk of escalation, and this breaking into a wider regional conflict," he told AFP as Britain announced it was deploying military units to Cyprus to assist with any evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon.
Responding to criticism of Israel, Danon called the General Assembly debate an "annual charade of hypocrisy."
Since last year's annual gathering, when Sudan's civil war and Russia's Ukraine invasion dominated, the world has faced an explosion of crises.
The October 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people and prompted a military response in Gaza that authorities say has killed at least 41,467 people.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Violence has raged across multiple fronts in the Middle East since the crisis erupted, with the conflict exposing deep divisions at the UN.
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas took his seat alongside the Palestinian delegation, placed in alphabetical order in the General Assembly for the first time on Tuesday after the delegation received upgraded privileges in May.
At the rostrum, Jordan's King Abdullah II on Tuesday ruled out the forced displacement by Israel of Palestinians to his country, which he said would be a "war crime."
Ukraine was also on the agenda Tuesday with President Volodymyr Zelensky addressing a UN Security Council meeting on the Russian invasion.
"Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed -- forcing Russia into peace," Zelensky said.
ho-gw/md
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Israels growing isolation on the world stage has become an early focal point of the United Nations General Assembly, which is taking place in New York this week, and where Netanyahu is expected to speak Friday.
The criticism has been intense, Politico wrote: Brazils president described Israels actions in Gaza as collective punishment, while Colombias leader said the conflict was a genocide.
Others aimed their criticism directly at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has so far pushed back on their censure by maintaining Israels right to self defense. There is a growing concern that Netanyahu is stalling on reaching a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza and could pitch the region into all-out war.
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UN offers a space for countries to be critical without action
Sources: The Wall Street Journal, The New Arab
The UN is not able to force Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza a limitation to the international bodys powers to maintain whatever world order most countries agree on, The Wall Street Journal noted. This makes the UN a space where countries can easily vote for resolutions against Israels government without severing diplomatic ties or imposing other consequences on the nation. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council including the US, Israels greatest ally also have veto powers, which in effect means they can dictate international politics in their favour, a foreign policy expert noted in The New Arab.
Israels biggest ally is struggling to deal with Netanyahu
Sources: Financial Times, Haaretz
In the year since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently ignored the advice of his nations most important ally, the Financial Times wrote. That said, US President Joe Biden has been seemingly reluctant to push the Israeli leader, both because of his emotional attachment to Israel and domestic political calculations. If Biden had reacted more strongly sooner, then its possible a ceasefire deal with Hamas may have been agreed, and the escalation in Lebanon may have been avoided, an Israeli diplomat speculated in Haaretz. Instead, Bidens approach has been arguably the flattest learning curve in the history of international relations, he wrote.
Netanyahu finds growing approval at home despite rising tension elsewhere
Sources: The Associated Press, Financial Times
The Israeli leaders Friday speech will stand in contrast to his address delivered a year ago, when Netanyahu presented a vision of peace for the Middle East. That vision is now in tatters, The Associated Press wrote: The regional conflict has expanded, while Netanyahu himself has become increasingly viewed as a destabilizing force. Despite international opprobrium, Netanyahus domestic approval ratings have improved in recent weeks, rising from historic lows following the Oct. 7 attacks, the Financial Times noted. A lot of people come out of it thinking Netanyahu has... regained Israels footing, an analyst told the outlet.
If you could only bring a handful of your most important things with you into the afterlife, what would you choose? Maybe you would opt for a favorite book or a reminder of your loved ones in the mortal realm. Or, perhaps, youd want a snack for the journey. At an ancient burial site in Xinjiang in northwestern China, at least three bodies entombed thousands of years ago were buried with something apparently very dear to them: Cheese.
These small lumps of fermented dairy, laid around the necks of the deceased, represent the longest-aged cheese ever discoveredat about 3,500 years old. Not only is the ancient cheese incredibly well-preserved, but a new assessment of the chunks reveals long-hidden information about human culture and a potential path for how dairying practices may have spread across Asia, as described in a study published September 25 in the journal Cell.
I cant think of another place where you have preserved cheese from that long ago, says Shevan Wilkins, a biomolecular archeologist and group leader of ancient proteins at the University of Basel in Switzerland. Some studies have identified dairy residues on ceramic pots that are even older, but these are solid, curd-like pieces you could hold in your hand, she notes making them exceptional. Wilkins was not involved in the new research, but has studied the origins, history, and spread of animal husbandry and dairy farming in Mongolia and elsewhere in Asia. These cheese necklaces, she says, are a thrilling piece of ancient history that offers a clear glimpse into the regions dairy-rich past.
Tarim mummies from the present-day Xinjiang region of Northwestern China. Credit: Wenying Li
They were first discovered about two decades ago and described in a 2014 protein analysis. This new assessment uses DNA to shed even more light on the lactose-ey lumps. Genetic analysis of the microbes within the cheesy bits confirms that they are pieces of kefir cheese, a fermented and dried dairy product made with the same sort of bacteria, yeast, and fungal complex as modern day kefir, which is usually drunk as a sour liquid similar to a thin yogurt. Kefir granules ferment milk as an alternative to the rennet commonly used in European cheesemaking.
Additionally, the new study finds that the necklaces contained at least two different types of cheese: one made from cows milk, the other from goat milkspecifically from a type of goat widespread across Eurasia during the Bronze Age. And that the kefir granules contain genetic signatures closely related to those found in modern-day Tibetan dairy products and a couple of kefir strains found in East Asia. Other East Asian strains as well as those from Europe and the Pacific Islands, are more closely related to microbes found in the Caucasus regionlong thought to be a cradle of dairy emergence.
Altogether, the analysis points to two different geographic origins of kefir-making: one in Xinjiang and one in the Caucasus, says study co-author Qiaomei Fu, a paleontologist and paleoanthropologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Our observation strongly suggests the distinct spreading routes of two [kefir microbe] subspecies, Fu tells Popular Science, which she adds is likely the result of wide-ranging nomadic groups traveling across the dry grassland of Eurasia. As these people moved from place to place, they almost certainly engaged in trade, sharing milk products and the microbe-harboring containers they were stored inleaving a cheesy trail in their wake. And still similar dairy-fermenting traditions continue in the present. In Xinjiang, dairy-based foods and beverages remain a staple.
Not only knowing this bacteria was in there, but to be able to trace it back to where dairying spread into the steppe from is incredibly exciting, says Wilkins.
Kefir cheese discovered on the Tarim mummies. Credit: Yimin Yang
Xiaohe cemetery, the burial site in Xinjiang, is unique in its geography and climate. Once, the people living there inhabited the lush, fertile land alongside the banks of a river. But the waterway rapidly changed course, causing the surrounding desert to encroach and forcing the community to move elsewhere. The quick shift into arid conditions allowed for the natural mummification of the bodies, and for their hair, skin, clothing, and ancient cheese necklaces to remain relatively untouched by time, says Christina Warriner, a biomolecular archaeologist at Harvard University who was not part of the study team. Its quite rare to find examples like this, she adds. In the new research, the extraordinary samples provide part of a lost molecular record of microbial diversity.
Prior to the commercialization and industrialization of food production over the 20th Century, people used all sorts of microbes for fermentation. Now, we use only a handful, chosen for their speed and productivity. Because organic matter like cheese usually disappears without a trace, understanding the lost diversity of heirloom microbes is a particular challenge, says Warriner. Studies like this are necessary to help recover it, she notes.
However, shes not quite convinced that Fu and her colleagues hypothesized kefir trajectory is the final word. I dont think we have enough data, she tells Popular Science. Theres such scant archaeological records of preserved dairy, that the researchers mostly compared their ~3,500-year-old sample to DNA taken from modern day microbes, which have been moved around a lot over the past few thousand years, Warriner explains. Plus, DNA samples are damaged over time, and so the data recovered from the very old cheese isnt pristine. Its incredibly exciting to have this new data, but I dont think its conclusive as to these histories. Theres too many [other] possibilities that havent been resolved.
Yet still, the findings emphasize the critical role that dairy has played in the development of human societies worldwide. For one, its a major part of why and how people were able to survive in barren ecosystems like the Asian steppe in the first place. People were domesticating microbes before they even knew [microbes] existed, says Warriner. We think dairying is a technology that predates the invention of pottery, she notes, going back at least 9,000 years. The oldest known cheese, hung on a mummys neck, is a time capsule of microbial and cultural history.
So how might it have tasted? Quite sour, guesses Warriner, noting that traditional Asian dairy products contain a lot of lactic acid because of how theyre fermented. Wilkins agrees that it wouldve been sour and perhaps funky and distinctive, the way that some French cheeses have a smelly bite that gives way to a delicious flavor. Though all of that is speculation, she adds, given that we dont know exactly how similar to modern foods this cheese was, if any flavorings were added to it, nor if the region influenced the milks tasting notes. If I could go back in time, Wilkins says, Id probably just try to eat and taste a lot of food.
Host Leland Vittert says we are one rocket away from all-out war in the Middle East. Israel continues to strike terrorist targets in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah fires rockets at Israeli civilian areas. If a Hezbollah rocket hits a day care or hospital, the region could be changed forever. President Biden warned that the world is at an inflection point, and if things go wrong, it could lead to World War III. Former President Donald Trump blamed Biden for the situation. Radio host Hugh Hewitt shared his thoughts on NewsNations On Balance.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation.
Basking sharks are the world's second largest fish [Getty Images]
Scottish sightings of basking sharks have fallen to their lowest level in 20 years, say conservationists.
The sharks - the world's second largest species of fish after whale sharks - gather off Scotland's west coast from May to October to breed and feed on plankton.
Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT), which has been carrying out surveys for sharks and other large marine animals for two decades, recorded seven last year.
HWDT's best year for sightings was 2010 when 162 were spotted, and it has recommended further analysis to understand why numbers were so low in 2023.
The survey covers the west coast, from Cape Wrath in the north to the Inner Hebrides in the south.
The results are published by Scotland's nature agency, NatureScot.
Most of 2023's basking shark sightings were within the Sea of the Hebrides Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area.
A similar number of basking sharks were recorded by Mull-based HWDT in 2022.
The charity said further analysis was needed to understand why so few were counted.
Rona Sinclair, of NatureScot, said: "The decrease in basking shark sightings is worrying, and there could be many reasons for this, likely linked to availability of their food, zooplankton.
"However, they may also still be there at depth and just not visible."
She added: "Continued collaboration with researchers is vital, helping us to know how these giant beasts the worlds second largest fish are faring, so we can respond appropriately."
Basking sharks were hunted until the mid 1990s [Getty Images]
Basking sharks, an endangered species, can grow to more than 10m (33ft) long.
They have no teeth and feed on microscopic plankton with their huge, wide-open mouths.
They migrate between Scotland and waters around Madeira and the Canary Islands off west Africa.
Until 1994 they were hunted off Scotland with harpoons for the oil in their livers.
The oil contains squalene, a property that helped in the manufacture of industrial lubricants and, at the other end of the scale, cosmetics, perfume and artificial silk.
In numbers:. HWDT 2023 survey [ 167 Minke whale sightings ] [ 7 Basking sharks recorded ],[ 10 Mammal species recorded since 2021, including porpoises and dolphins ], Source: Source: HWDT/NatureScot, Image: HWDT research boat Silurian with a dolphin in the water in front of the vessel
While basking shark sightings fell last year, HWDT recorded its highest sighting rates of minke whales.
The trust said when sightings of basking sharks were high, they were low for minke whales and vice versa.
It said the reasons were as yet unexplained, and an investigation was needed into potential causes such as climate change.
Dr Lauren Hartny-Mills, of HWDT, said: "In the face of the nature and climate emergencies, gaining new insights and understanding into what is happening in Scotlands seas is vital, so we can better protect these remarkable animals and this world-class region of marine biodiversity."
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The outgoing co-leaders of Germany's Green party Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour in a file picture from September 25, 2024 (Axel Heimken) (Axel Heimken/AFP/AFP)
Germany's Greens party leaders stepped down Wednesday after a string of dismal vote results, dampening the mood in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party coalition a year before elections.
The opposition conservatives seized on the news and called for early elections, days after Scholz's other junior coalition partner, the liberal Free Democrats, flirted with the idea of bolting the government.
Infighting within the coalition led by Scholz's Social Democrats -- on budget issues, immigration, climate and the ailing economy -- has seen the government take a dive in the polls against the opposition CDU.
Although Scholz's SPD narrowy won a state election Sunday against the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), all three coalition parties have suffered recent heavy losses as the far right and far left have made strong gains.
The Greens' two co-leaders, Omid Nouripour and Ricarda Lang, announced their resignation after the party achieved only single-digit results in three elections this month in the formerly communist east.
Nouripour said the Greens were mired in their "worst crisis in a decade" after the dire results in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg, while Lang said it was time for a "strategic reorientation".
The conservative CDU-CSU alliance called for the Greens' cabinet members -- Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economy Minister Robert Habeck -- to also stand down.
"Our country cannot cope with another year" under the coalition government, CDU party chief Carsten Linnemann told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, adding that "there is no way around new elections".
- Greens dive in polls -
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said the departure of the Greens' co-leaders had "no consequences for the coalition".
The Greens emerged out of Germany's environmental, peace and anti-nuclear protest movements of the 1970s and participated in previous SPD-led governments between 1998 and 2005.
Riding high in opinion polls a few years ago, they now score just under 10 percent nationally, according to the latest INSA survey, with many young voters turning away.
The AfD and other foes have characterised the Greens as the party of city-dwelling killjoys who want to force Germans to ditch their beloved cars and sausages for cargo bicycles and vegetarian meals.
They also oppose the Greens, longtime proponents of minority rights and a multicultural society, as a brake on their push to limit irregular immigration and deport asylum-seekers whose claims are rejected.
"The Greens' problem is not in the party leadership... but in the government," Alexander Dobrindt of the CDU's Bavarian sister party CSU said.
He claimed that the Scholz government was "imploding" and "the dominos tumbling", a reference to deep frustration that has also rocked the Free Democrats (FDP) in recent days.
- Fury among Free Democrats -
The FDP did even worse than the Greens in the most recent state election, in Brandenburg which surrounds Berlin, where it scored just 0.8 percent.
The outcome was labelled a "catastrophe" within the small party, which advocates free market policies, tax cuts and less red tape.
The FDP's outspoken vice president Wolfgang Kubicki said the Scholz government must now either "show that it can draw the necessary conclusions from these elections or it will cease to exist".
His party will reconsider its position on staying in the coalition, he told the Funke Media Group. "We will not wait until Christmas. We cannot expect the country to endure this."
The party's Finance Minister Christian Lindner was more cryptic in his choice of words on whether the FDP would stay or go, which could spark new elections.
He warned that there was now a need for "courage" -- either to stick with a "controversial government" that can remain constructive or, if it fails, to "have the courage to spark a new dynamic".
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MABEN, WV (WVNS) The workshop of the Integrated Care Resource Center was filled to the brim with crafts and restorations from some very amazing crafters right here in West Virginia.
This is all made possible by the West Virginia Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, West Virginia Association of Disability Employers and others around the state!
The Community Rehabilitation Programs and Providers Community Open House is hosted to help make connections as well.
Sixth anniversary of WVABLE Savings Program celebrated by Treasurer Moore
A fairly recent change in legislature may cause those with disabilities to lose their jobs, and this event is helping to bring awareness.
So our legislature changed one word in the law, which went from shall to may. And what that has cost is now us to lose custodial contracts throughout the state that has taken jobs away from those with disabilities. So we want to bring awareness to our communities about that, to try to you know, we really need that lot of change back, said CEO Dreama Padgett.
The workers in the workshop create and restore items! This includes everything from basket weaving to restoring antiques and furniture. Padgett wants the community to keep an open mind about those around them, who may just create a little differently.
Laurel Creek covered bridge repaired within a week of being damaged
Understand the importance of what it is to give everybody that equal chance to have employment, you know, no matter what their situation may be in, said Padgett.
Rehabilitation efforts of other CRPs who participate in the state use program in Southern WV were also at the event, these include Mercer County Opportunity Industries, Gateway Industries, Lillian James Learning Center, and Seneca Designs.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Chinas First Lady Meets US Students in Bid to Improve Ties
(Bloomberg) -- Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan met with a group of visiting American students underscoring Beijings efforts to repair relations with the US.
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Peng greeted the visitors and their teachers at a high school in Beijing on Tuesday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, saying she hoped young people from both nations would inject positive energy into bilateral relations.
Peng said she would like to see the youngsters from Washington state share their experiences when they returned home and help nurture the tree of friendship between the two peoples.
Pengs comments follow on from Chinese President Xi Jinping pledging last year in a meeting with President Joe Biden to bring 50,000 American students to China over the next half decade to help stabilize ties.
Relations between Washington and Beijing slid to a new low earlier in 2023 when China floated a weather balloon over the US that the Biden administration said was part of a military-led spy program.
The countries have been taking steps to repair their relationship, including a meeting this month between key Chinese and American military commanders.
Chinas efforts to develop so called people-to-people links have been undercut by events that participants said felt scripted and limited free-ranging discussion.
In June, Xi called for more exchanges between Chinese and American universities to boost mutual understanding.
(Updates with more context.)
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Years Before Titan Implosion, CEO Told Passengers to 'Brace Yourselves' for 'Loud Noises' During Dive: Hearing
Karl Stanley, a passenger on the 2019 dive, testified that "nobody wanted to be the one to say they wanted to go up first"
Xinhua/Shutterstock This file photo released by OceanGate Expeditions shows the 'Titan' submersible
In a dive that took place years before the Titan submersible's doomed voyage to the Titanic, Stockton Rush warned that there would be "loud noises," according to one of the passengers.
Karl Stanley, a friend of Rush's as well as the owner of the Roatan Institute of Deepsea Exploration, a diving expedition business, testified on Tuesday, Sept. 24, as the Coast Guard's ongoing hearings into the tragedy entered its sixth day.
Stanley said that he was invited by Rush to come to the Bahamas in April 2019 for a crewed dive with the OceanGate co-founder and two other people.
"He told us to be prepared for noises, Stanley said of Rush, He had recently done [a] solo dive on his own, and basically just said, This is going to make noise and Brace yourselves.
Related: Titan Sub Malfunctioned Days Before Deadly Implosion, Causing Passengers to Tumble, Ex-Scientific Chief Testifies
Stanley said that in retrospect that there were a lot of red flags during the dive, including the noise, which he believed was the carbon fiber hull snapping.
We were hearing it so often, he told the investigators on the panel, noting that even though Rush had warned them, The first couple of times [were unnerving].
He added that "nobody wanted to be the one to say they wanted to go up first."
Related: Final Message from Doomed Titan Sub Revealed, Sent Seconds Before Losing Contact with the Surface
During the hearing, the Coast Guard also reviewed emails between Stanley and Rush over concerns with the sub, with Stanley writing in one message: I think that hull has a defect near that flange, that will only get worse. The only question in my mind is will it fail catastrophically or not.
In that same email, Stanley claimed that Rush had "indirectly told me not to speak about the noises I heard on the dive."
A month after the dive, ABC News reported that a crack was found in the hull, but that the vessel was not used for any dives to the Titanic.
HANDOUT/US Coast Guard / Pelagic Research Services/AFP via Getty Remnants of the Titan sub on the ocean floor
During earlier testimony, former OceanGate employee Antonella Wilby said that noise had been at the heart of a customer's concerns after another dive in 2022.
Wilby said during her testimony that the customer reported a bang "as loud as an explosion" was heard upon resurfacing, but, she claimed that after raising her corners, she was allegedly told, "you don't seem to have an explorer's mindset."
Eventually, Wilby quit.
Related: Titan Mission Specialist Refutes Account of CEO Panicking but Says Crew Considered Using Ctrl+Alt+Delete During a Dive
During his testimony on Sept. 24, Stanley said that he regretted taking part in the 2019 dive.
Theres a lot of things that, if I had known, I wouldnt have gone. People have told me that I was stupid, naive," he said. "A lot of the things Ive learned in the last 18 months have been very shocking.
In his final remarks, Stanley went on to say that he believed Rush was motivated by "a desire to leave his mark on history," but that his business plan made zero sense.
I think these wealthy individuals...threw money at him, Stanley said. And he was painted into a cornerI think thats why he kept diving."
Stanleys comments to the panel echoed similar remarks that he made in a 60 Minutes Australia interview last year. He definitely knew it was going to end like this, he said at the time about Rush. He quite literally and figuratively went out with the biggest bang in human history that you can go out with.
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The investigative hearings, which began on Sept. 16 and are expected to conclude on Friday, Sept. 27, have featured testimonies from former OceanGate employees discussing their experiences and concerns regarding the company's operations, especially in the area of safety.
In an earlier statement obtained by PEOPLE, OceanGate wrote that the company "has no full-time employees," and has "been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] investigations since they began, including at the ongoing public hearing convened by the Coast Guard. OceanGate is represented at the hearing by Jane Shvets and Adrianna Finger of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP."
"OceanGate expresses our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who died in the tragic implosion of the Titan," the statement read. "There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this devastating incident, but we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy."
The Coast Guard hearings will resume on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
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Yellowstone National Park asks for help searching for lost hiker in remote area
A searcher looks for signs of a lost hiker during the 2024 Eagle Peak Search & Rescue. (Provided by Yellowstone National Park)
Yellowstone National Park said Wednesday it is continuing its search for lost hiker Austin King, a 22-year-old male last heard from on Tuesday, Sept. 17, when he called friends and family from the summit of Eagle Peak.
King is 6 feet tall and weighs 160 pounds, the park said in a news release. He has brown hair and hazel eyes, wears glasses, and was wearing a black sweatshirt and gray pants.
The park is seeking assistance in the search for King, a concession employee working in Yellowstone. King was reported overdue to the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center when he failed to arrive for his boat pickup near Yellowstone Lakes Southeast Arm on Friday afternoon after his planned seven-day backcountry trip to summit Eagle Peak, according to Yellowstone.
While on the summit, King described fog, rain, sleet, hail and windy conditions, the park said.
A search and rescue effort began at first light Saturday, Sept. 21, according to a news release from the park on Sunday. That involved an aerial reconnaissance and ground search in the high mountain areas of Eagle Peak and surrounding areas including Yellowstone Lake.
Rescuers discovered Kings camp and personal effects Saturday evening in the upper Howell Creek area, the park said.
Since Saturday, 85 personnel, two helicopters, a search dog team, and an uncrewed aircraft have focused efforts on the high-elevation, expansive and hazardous area.
The searchers report accumulations of snow and ice and 6-foot drifts on Eagle Peak, but they will continue to search for the next several days as conditions continue to improve, the park said in an update Wednesday. Weather forecasts are favorable, according to Yellowstone.
The park said anyone traveling in the backcountry near Eagle Peak since Sept. 14 may have seen King.
The search is underway with assistance from Grand Teton National Park, Park County, Wyoming, and Teton County, Wyoming, according to Yellowstone. Its taking place in the parks remote southeast corner.
Please call
Anyone with information regarding Austin Kings whereabouts should contact the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center at (307) 344-2643.
Chris Oliver's property in Fort Covington, New York has become an unintended gateway for a stream of illegal immigrants crossing the Canadian border into the United States, leaving him dismayed and wondering if the problem will ever be resolved.
He told "Fox & Friends First" he "absolutely" blames "border czar" Kamala Harris and President Biden for the issue.
"You have no control over it. You don't know who these people are. Not everybody is a good person," Oliver said on Wednesday.
Video footage captured the scene: dozens of migrants crossing his property.
Northern Border Sees Migrant Surge From Dozens Of Countries; More Than Last 10 Years Combined
"They've got 13,000 in the last six months I feel they've caught 50%. That's probably a good reading. It's hard to say how many people actually have come across," he said, elaborating on the urgency of the crisis.
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"They had a guy up in Ormstown not too far away from us, get arrested. He was planning an ISIS-style attack in New York City. That was just recently. That same night, I still had people come across my cameras. That should be stopped."
With most attention focused on the massive influx of migrants crossing the southern border, northern border crossers rarely see the national spotlight.
Northern Border Sector Gets Slammed With More Apprehensions Than Previous 13 Years Combined
CBP statistics on northern border encounters indicate a massive increase from 2021 to 2022, with numbers remaining high in years since.
Yet, under the Biden-Harris administration, northern border encounters have climbed over 100,000 each year since 2022, with the number gradually inching closer to 200,000, according to CBP data.
The most staggering jump in numbers came between 2021 (at 19,661) and 2022 (at 109,535).
Oliver stated that the border crossings didn't occur under the Trump administration.
Southern Border Crisis Helped Spur Massive Spike In Crossings From Canada As Well: Expert
When asked if he thinks things would change under a potential second Trump term, he replied, "I hope so."
"Four years ago, we had hardly any people coming across. It was a rarity. Now it's every night I have people on my trail cameras. Every night it's another group, and it depends on the size. Usually there's two or three and sometimes there's five or six. It all depends.
"And, if you're lurking around in the middle of the night, usually you're up to no good."
Original article source: New York border farmer overwhelmed by influx of migrants crossing property: I 'absolutely' blame Biden-Harris
New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks, head of the largest school system in the U.S., submitted his resignation effective at the end of the calendar year on Tuesday.
Bankss decision to step down comes after federal agents seized his phone and other devices earlier this month, The Associated Press reported. A number of other New York City officials have been subject to seizures or searches in recent weeks amid multiple federal criminal investigations surrounding Mayor Eric Adams (D) and his administration.
I want to thank Mayor Adams for giving me the opportunity to serve as chancellor and I am immensely proud of the progress weve made together ensuring every child can read, expanding special education and gifted & talented programs, and creating innovative pathways for our students to secure rewarding careers and long-term success, Banks shared in a statement, according to the National Review.
Before becoming chancellor of the New York City public school system, Banks founded Eagle Academy, a group of public schools geared toward educating male students of color, in 2004 and later ran a foundation that helps fundraise and provide support for the schools.
Banks is the latest member of Adamss administration to depart or announce plans to, following Police Commissioner Edward Caban, legal adviser Lisa Zornberg and Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan.
Bankss brother Philip serves as the citys deputy mayor, and their other brother Terrence runs a consulting firm locally. All three of them, in addition to David Bankss partner Sheena Wright, who works as the first deputy mayor, had their phones seized by law enforcement.
Federal investigators have declined to comment on the ongoing investigation connected to the seizures.
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Elected leaders need to balance the challenges of addressing natural disasters that have been worsened by climate change while continuing to address the issues that the people theyre elected to represent care the most about, Gov. Roy Cooper said Wednesday at the New York Times Climate Forward conference.
Weve got to take the long-term view to make sure were doing everything we can to fight climate change, but the great thing is we can grow our economy at the same time, Cooper said.
Businesses have announced more than $20 billion in clean energy investments in North Carolina, ranging from a spate of battery projects to a solar panel manufacturer to an electric vehicle charging station developer.
Still an August poll from High Point Universitys Survey Research Center found that addressing climate change was the top priority of only 4% of 1,053 North Carolinians polled.
Improving economic conditions was far and away the leading concern, with 27% of those polled choosing it, followed by managing immigration and protecting Social Security and Medicare benefits, both at 11%.
Those results arent surprising to Cooper, who said voters are most likely to prioritize issues they believe are impacting their daily lives.
It is up to leaders elected leaders to make sure that even though they arent the most popular campaign issues that they continue to make sure that these policy challenges are faced. Because the long term is so much more difficult to tackle than short-term issues, Cooper told The News & Observer Tuesday. He also noted that climate change is also having short-term effects in the state, namely in the form of severe storms like the unnamed one that dropped about 20 inches of rain in parts of Southeastern North Carolina last week.
Part of the polls findings may come down to how it asked the question, Martin Kifer, the Survey Research Centers director, told The News & Observer.
When asked what their top priority is, Kifer said, voters are likely to choose the economy, immigration or national security. But when polls ask voters if an issue is important, it becomes clear that a larger segment of people care about climate change.
In an April 2024 High Point poll of 1,016 North Carolinians, for example, 43% of those polled said climate change was very important to them. That was the 17th-lowest of 20 issues the poll asked about.
If you can only choose one, it may not be all that high up the list. But if you ask people, What is an important issue to you? then it doesnt run as low in the pack, Kifer said.
Cooper also argues there is a link between addressing climate change and the economy, at least in North Carolina.
Earlier this year, the Environmental Defense Fund found that $19.2 billion announced in electric vehicle or battery projects in North Carolina since January 2015 were the third-most in the country. That was largely supported by the nearly $14 billion Toyota plans to invest at its Randolph County battery manufacturing plant, a project expected to bring more than 5,000 jobs.
One of the reasons weve been successful in North Carolina on our clean energy efforts is that it has helped to put money in the pockets of North Carolina families and businesses. The jobs that have been created by these clean (energy companies) coming in create bipartisan support in this arena, Cooper said.
When Cooper visited Edgecombe County last month to announce that Natron Energy would invest almost $1.4 billion to build a sodium-ion battery manufacturing plant at a nearby megasite, he was joined onstage by U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican, who argued the states economic success dates back to when Republicans took control of the General Assembly in 2011.
Natron Energy, which makes sodium-ion batteries, will commit to build a $1.4 billion manufacturing plant in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.
Other recent announcements include:
The U.S. Department of Energy selecting Forge Battery for a $100 million grant that, if finalized, would let the company add more than 80 additional jobs at the Morrisville factory where it plans to manufacture lithium-ion batteries that will be used in trucks, motorcycles and by the military.
Boviet Solars plans to invest $294 million in a Greenville solar panel manufacturing facility, creating more than 900 jobs.
IONNA, an electric vehicle charging station developer supported by manufacturers like BMW, General Motors and Hyundai, selecting Durham as the site of its global headquarters, leading to a planned $10 million investment and more than 200 jobs.
Those companies can take the place of other manufacturing that weve had in the past. Our community colleges are gearing up to provide training in these rural areas and I think that these clean energy companies have decided that they can get a quality workforce here not only from the people there but drawing from some of the other suburban counties, Cooper said.
Speaking Wednesday, Cooper also stressed that putting investments in states whose electorates tend to vote Republican or who are evenly split could bolster the long-term future of investments from Democrats landmark climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, or the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Theres always a see saw in electoral politics thats partisan. You want to make sure the investments were making in clean energy can survive a blue wave or a red wave, Cooper said.
Still, Cooper told The N&O he would like to see the transition move faster. He specifically mentioned frustration with the pace of Duke Energys transition away from fossil fuels to generate the states electricity.
Put more pressure on the utilities
When it was passed in 2021, energy legislation set a 2030 target for Duke to slash its carbon emissions 70% from 2025 levels, with the company reaching net zero by 2050.
Since then, Duke has told the N.C. Utilities Commission that it is unrealistic to meet that target while maintaining affordable and reliable electricity, in large part due to rising demand from the states new manufacturing projects and data centers.
The Utilities Commission and outside forces need to put more pressure on the utilities to speed up the process of getting to a 70% reduction by 2030 and carbon zero by 2050, Cooper said.
Natural gas plants are seen by utilities as a way to replace polluting coal plants. But a proposal in South Carolina has many people upset as solar power rises.
The Utilities Commission must approve any path forward for Dukes electric generating resources, but the utility in late July reached a settlement agreement with Walmart and N.C. Public Staff, the publicly funded ratepayer advocates, on a number of issues. Per that agreement, which has not been approved by the commission, Duke said it would seek information about 0.8 to 1.1 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2034 and 2.2 to 2.4 gigawatts by 2035.
The settlement included a stipulation that all parties, also including the Carolinas Clean Energy Business Association, agree that it is no longer possible to achieve the 70% target by 2030.
Bipartisan House Bill 951 put North Carolina on a strong path forward to cleaner energy in a manner that protects grid reliability and affordability while meeting the needs of a growing region, Bill Norton, a Duke spokesman, said in a statement.
Cooper called Dukes approach to offshore wind soft and said it may make it difficult for North Carolina to reap the manufacturing and supply chain benefits of an industry a 2021 report prepared for the states Department of Commerce said could lead to $140 billion in investment nationwide by 2035.
We know the benefits are there, but there is concern that there is not enough interest from Duke Energy right now to enhance the benefits of offshore wind for North Carolina, Cooper 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.
New York man charged in Rock Hills first ATM jackpotting attempt, police say
A New York man faces a series of charges for what police call a first-of-its-kind scam for Rock Hill.
Rock Hill Police Department officers say video of the crime shows Johan Gonzalez Antonio Jimemez, 39, allegedly breaking into an ATM after midnight Sunday at a First Bank ATM on Oakland Avenue. Police recovered a lockpick tool, screwdriver, laptop and two phones, an incident report stated.
Bank officials told Rock Hill officers the man installed malware into the ATM in an attempt to have the machine give out money.
The incident is believed to be an attempt at ATM jackpotting, Rock Hill police Lt. Michael Chavis said.
What is ATM jackpotting?
ATM jackpotting is a cyberattack that attempts to empty money from the machine, according to Chavis, other news stories and federal law enforcement warnings.
The U.S. Secret Service says ATM jackpotting is a sophisticated crime in which thieves install malicious software and/or hardware at ATMs that force the machines to dispense huge volumes of cash on demand. To execute a jackpotting attack, perpetrators must gain physical access to the cash machine and install malware, or specialized electronics, or a combination of both to control the operations of the ATM.
It is a different crime from skimmers that are used to try and steal PIN numbers from cards put on ATMs or gas pump card readers.
Sundays ATM jackpotting incident is believed to be the first in the city, Chavis said.
The Rock Hill arrest
Officers went to the scene Sunday morning around 12:15 a.m. for a reported burglary in progress, the incident report stated. They arrested Jimenez after a car near the bank fled a traffic stop, a police report shows. Another person in the car who ran away was not caught, Chavis said.
Jimenez faces charges of entering a bank with intent to steal, and possession of burglary tools, according to police and jail records.
It is unclear why Jimenez was in Rock Hill.
No description of the second suspect is available, Chavis said. Rock Hill financial crimes detectives are continuing the investigation.
No money was stolen Sunday, police said.
Jimenez remains in the York County jail under a $125,000 bond.
One of the shooters involved in Young Dolphs murder testified on Monday (Sept. 23.)
Cornelius Smith, who pled guilty to murder, took the stand and implicated himself, Justin Johnson, Hernandez Quett Govan and Yo Gottis brother Anthony Big Jook Mims in the murder of the beloved Memphis rapper.
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Smith testified that Govan organized the hit and Mims put up $100K if they were able to get the job done. Smith said he and Johnson were supposed to receive $40,000 each and Govan was going to get $20,000. However, Smith testified that he only received $800, but Big Jook paid $50,000 in lawyer fees after he was caught.
He also revealed he and Johnson went ahead with the murder on the same day of his daughters birthday. When asked why he choose still go through with it, Smith said he needed the money to make his daughters day special. Man, I was trying to make it right for her, he said. I aint have no money, Im trying to get some money that day. So Im trying to make sure my baby girl have a beautiful birthday.
Cornelius Smith, one of Young Dolph's killers, claims he committed the murder on his own daughter's birthday to raise money for her birthday party. pic.twitter.com/Yt2XL1oLaw Episodes (@episodesent) September 24, 2024
According to testimony, Smith and Johnson originally planned on carrying out the murder at an annual Thanksgiving turkey drive Dolph organizes, but they spotted his camo-wrapped Corvette and decided to follow him into the parking lot of Makedas Homemade Butter Cookies where they allegedly shot Dolph 22 times.
When asked why he decided to tell the truth, Smith said he felt guilty after being arrested and he sobered up, blaming his drug use on the death of his 9-year-old son in 2020. He also said that he wasnt expecting leniency and was doing talking to clear his conscience. Im going to jail anyway. I can get it off my chest, he said. Its my best out to be honest, to be truthful. Why play with these folks? They already know.
Big Jook was murdered earlier this year in January.
You can watch the testimony here.
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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.
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Young people in island nations face an existential question: Should they stay or should they go?
UNITED NATIONS (AP) It's the uncomfortable talk that as a young woman, she knows she should have with her parents. They alluded to it, once, but couldn't quite address it directly. And Grace Malie was glad to avoid the subject with them, though she and her friends do discuss it.
As her home, the tiny but shrinking island of Tuvalu, slowly erodes from climate change's rising seas, should she rough it out on the remaining high land? Or should she flee her home, her culture, her heritage and her past to go to Australia in what her government negotiated as Plan B?
The 25-year-old, who on Wednesday addresses a special U.N. General Assembly summit on sea level rise as a representative for her country, has years to decide decades, even. But it's a decision that, like the mythical sword of Damocles, hangs over a nation's entire generation. And two of the biggest issues facing the summit are what to do about people like Grace Malie and how countries like Tuvalu will keep the sovereignty even when they lose their land.
This is not about leaving," said Kamal Amakrane, managing director of the Global Center for Climate Mobility and climate envoy to the president of the General Assembly. This is not about giving up. This is not about giving in. This is about agency."
Your whole world could be gone
Such a situation is like no other. It can't be compared to when other climate, conflict or economic refugees have to flee with little or no notice as storms hit or drought takes away livelihoods, said Alex Randall, the United Kingdom-based coordinator of the Climate and Migration Coalition.
The vast majority people permanently fleeing climate-related disasters stay within their own country and travel short distances such as those who left New Orleans after 2005's Hurricane Katrina. This is about young people today making a long-term, stay-or-go decision that lingers in the back of their minds. It's a conversation that's happening now, even though the fleeing won't happen until later.
Its a very difficult conversation, very emotional, Malie said in an interview. And its 50-50. Some of us wish to stay. Some of them, because they have families, will probably head to Australia.
And that's what Malie thinks will be her own future. If she has children, she would think about the life of my children. I would have to opt for Plan B. Worst comes to worst, relocate.
I want them to have a safe and to have access to quality living, access to quality water, quality life. And in order for me to have that for them to have that, relocation is an option, she said. But if I were to live by myself, you know, no children in the future as planned, then I would choose to stay.
Her parents wouldn't come right out and say it, but they have dropped hints that she should think about going to Australia, Malie said. She said they want what's best for her.
Tuvalu Climate Minister Maina Talia has had the same discomfort but from the fathers point of view. He said he talked to his four young children about the inexorable threat of sea-level rise on their home and future, but he has not yet quite raised the idea of leaving the island to them.
Talia said he fears that if his children leave Tuvalu for higher ground, their identity would be compromised.
Its not an easy conversation because I want my kids to grow up the way I grew up, Talia said. Its an emotional thing to go through.
How do you parse the words existential threat?
Talia calls sea-level rise an existential threat. And it's those two words "existential threat'' that are at the heart of Wednesday's summit.
The existential threat that we face is not of our making, but it will remake us, Tuvalu's prime minister, Feleti Teo, told the U.N. summit Wednesday. He said the voices of nearly 1 billion people in low-lying nations must be heard. Heritage is lost, and the very fabric of our nations become increasingly threatened.
For years, small island nations have used that phrase, as have leaders of the United Nations and climate activists. But now it's coming back to bite them because island nations want their sovereignty, their culture, to exist even if their land does not.
Weve been trying really hard to as (the Alliance of Small Island States) to move away from that concept of existential threat given the fact that if we say that that means, does that mean that the State no longer exists? The people no longer exist? And thats not the case," said Michai Robertson, an advisor to the small island states' alliance.
Belize Prime Minister John Briceno said: "Sovereignty is defined by the will of the people, not by the whims of climate change. Once a state is established, it will endure and thrive, no matter the challenges it faces.
The UN's Amakrane said Wednesday's summit main aims is to re-affirm the issue of sovereignty despite what the oceans do.
The land is still there," he said. It's just the surface is submerged under water.
For most of the young people's lives, if not all, there will be some land on Tuvalu, just less and less of it with more of it inundated during storms, king tides and the rise of the oceans. And if she doesn't have to worry about a family, Malie said the increasing hardship of living there will be worth it.
The threat of her home disappearing, slowly, has been hanging over her head since birth. Even when she went to school in Fiji, she and her fellow Tuvalu students were usually mocked as the `sinking island kids,' she said. That's something that pushes us to continue our fight."
___
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. Follow Seth Borenstein at http://x.com/ borenbears and read more of APs climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment
YUKON, Okla. (KFOR) The Yukon Police Department is asking the public to assist in identifying an alleged mail thief.
Yukon PD seek to identify mail thief, Image courtesy Yukon PD
Yukon PD seek to identify mail thief, Image courtesy Yukon PD
According to Yukon PD Facebook page, the driver of this vehicle took mail from a local residents mailbox and later attempted to use one of the stolen checks to make a purchase.
Authorities say, if you recognize this vehicle or know who drives it please call Yukon Investigations 405-350-5505.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) Throughout October, the YWCA will raise awareness about domestic violence and provide resources to the greater Birmingham community.
The campaign will begin with a Celebration of Life to honor survivors. It will be held at Kelly Ingram Park on Oct. 3 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Additionally, the YWCA is holding four training courses to teach social workers, health care workers, first responders and religious leaders how to assist domestic violence victims. The links to sign up for these events can be found here. Those interested should register before Oct. 1.
Birmingham 5K run for breast cancer research scheduled for October
Here is a list of additional events planned throughout October.
Oct. 3: Celebration of Life, Kelly Ingram Park, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Oct. 8: Domestic Violence 101 Training: 309 23rd St. N, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Oct. 9: Domestic Violence 101 Training: 309 23rd St. N, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Oct. 10: Domestic Violence 101 Training: 309 23rd St. N, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Oct. 17-24: City Hall Goes Purple, 710 20th St N
Oct. 17: Go Purple Day: Candlelight Vigil, 2200 9th Ave N, 5 p.m.
Oct. 21-26: Week Without Violence
Oct. 23: Blount County Celebration, 112 second Ave W.
Oct. 26: Magic City Classic Parade, downtown Birmingham, 8 a.m.
Oct. 29: HABD Celebration, 1501 Arthur Shores Dr. SW, 11 a.m. to 2 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 CBS 42.
(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump lashed out at Volodymyr Zelenskiy for criticizing him and refusing to make a deal to end the conflict with Moscow, casting a shadow over the Ukrainian presidents latest push for more aid in its fight against Russias invasion.
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The president of Ukraine is in our country and hes making little nasty aspersions toward your favorite president, me, the Republican presidential nominee said at a campaign stop in Mint Hill, North Carolina. We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal: Zelenskiy.
Trumps comments were some of the harshest public language hes used about the conflict and the Ukrainian leader, who had hoped to meet the former president during a visit to the US this week but made critical comments in a media interview.
The Ukrainian president is in the US touting a new victory plan that hes set to present to President Joe Biden in Washington Thursday. Hes seeking additional support for the fight, which is heading into its third winter with no sign of a breakthrough on the battlefield. The US election has deepened questions about whether Washington will continue its support.
Zelenskiy started his trip to the US with moves that alienated the Trump camp, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified to discuss matters that arent public. They said Trump wont meet Zelenskiy this week.
Zelenskiys press office didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.
First was a weekend stop at an artillery-shell factory in Bidens Pennsylvania hometown, attended by the states Democratic governor, a strong supporter of Trumps presidential rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. Then came the New Yorker magazine interview where Zelenskiy questioned Trumps pledges to negotiate a quick end to the war if elected.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson released a letter to Zelenskiy Wednesday saying the factory visit was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference. He called on Zelenskiy to fire his ambassador to Washington for having organized it.
The House Oversight Committee said its opening an investigation into what it called the Biden-Harris Administrations use of taxpayer funded resources to fly Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to Pennsylvania to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The White House declined to comment.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said he was beyond bothered by Zelenskiys visit to the factory in Pennsylvania but that it was his comments in the interview that gave him cause for concern. Graham has been a staunch backer of Ukraine but is also a close ally of Trump.
I dont mind saying thank you for providing us bombs, Graham said. But the comments about Vance and Trump were not helpful.
It wasnt immediately clear how much damage Zelenskiy may have done to support for aid to Ukraine in Congress, where even some Republicans continue to back his countrys fight.
In a speech to the UN Wednesday, Zelenskiy called on other nations to support his peace plan and rejected alternatives that he said would only embolden Russia. Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of an end to the war, he said.
Ahead of the Washington meetings, allied officials signaled that they dont expect Zelenskiys so-called victory plan to yield a breakthrough in the war, which is heading into its third winter.
One person familiar with Zelenskiys conversations with foreign leaders, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations, said there were no real surprises in the victory plan and it wasnt a major game-changer. Another official described it as a wish list.
Zelenskiy told reporters on Friday the plan aims to put his country in a stronger position for future diplomatic talks with Russia. Kyiv has worried that a cease-fire without clear guarantees would leave Russian President Vladimir Putin free to strike again after re-arming.
Trump has repeatedly promised to deliver a negotiated end to the war if elected but he hasnt provided details of how that would happen.
There was no deal that he could have made that wouldnt have been better than the situation you have right now, he said in the speech Wednesday.
--With assistance from Daryna Krasnolutska, Hadriana Lowenkron, Stephanie Lai, Billy House and Nancy Cook.
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By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday dismissed efforts by China and Brazil to end Russia's war in Ukraine, questioning why the pair were proposing an alternative to his own peace formula and warning: "You will not boost your power at Ukraine's expense."
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Nine months later Zelenskiy announced a 10-point peace plan to bring a just end to the war on the basis of the founding U.N. Charter and international law. Moscow rejected the plan.
"The peace formula has already existed for two years, and maybe somebody wants a Nobel Prize for their political biography, for (a) frozen truce, instead of real peace, but the only prizes Putin will give you in return are more suffering and disasters," Zelenskiy told the United Nations General Assembly, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskiy said proposing "alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called sets of principles" would give Putin the political space to continue the war.
China has been trying to enlist developing nations to join the six-point peace plan it issued with Brazil in May.
Their proposal calls for an international peace conference "held at a proper time that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation of all parties as well as fair discussion of all peace plans."
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva advocated for the plan when he addressed the General Assembly on Tuesday.
"Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of an end to the war," Zelenskiy told the 193-member assembly.
"When the Chinese-Brazilian duo tries to grow into a choir of voices - with someone in Europe, with someone in Africa - saying something alternative to a full and just peace, the question arises, what is the true interest? Everyone must understand, you will not boost your power at Ukraine's expense," he said.
The Ukrainian president plans to lay out a "victory plan" to U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Howard Goller and Don Durfee)
Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly - Shutterstock/Sarah Yenesel
Volodymyr Zelensky has derided the United Nations as powerless at a gathering of world leaders.
Ukraines president said the organisation cannot stop the war raging in his country because of Russias part in the organisation.
He also pressed the UN General Assembly in New York to ignore a choir of voices trying to foist their own plans to end the war on Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky is in the US to present what he has described as a victory plan, aimed at bringing an end to the fighting with Russia on Kyivs terms.
Unfortunately, at the UN, its impossible to truly and fairly resolve matters of war and peace because too much depends in the Security Council on the veto power, the Ukrainian leader said on Wednesday.
When the aggressor [Russia] exercises the veto power, the UN is powerless to stop the war. But the Peace Formula can.
Mr Zelensky presented plans for his so-called Peace Formula at a summit of G20 leaders in November 2022. It dictates that peace talks can only happen when Russia withdraws all of its troops from Ukraine.
Plan to force Putin to negotiating table
The wartime leader has since said he will unveil an alternative plan to place Ukraine in a position of strength and force Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
The four-pronged strategy revolves around Ukraines occupation of the Russian region of Kursk, the use of long-range Western weapons to strike inside Russia, security guarantees akin to Natos Article 5 clause and a promise to rebuild Kyivs war-stricken economy.
He told the General Assembly that his proposals are the only viable options on the table to end the violence, urging counterparts around the world to shun similar options put forward by the likes of China and Brazil.
When some propose alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called sets of principles, it not only ignores the interests and suffering of Ukrainians, who are affected by the war the most, it not only ignores reality, but also gives Putin the political space to continue the war and pressure the war to bring more nations under control, Mr Zelensky said.
Any parallel or alternative attempt to seek peace are in fact efforts to achieve a lul instead of an end to the war.
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Zelensky's plan is designed to be a "bridge" towards stopping the war (file pic) [Getty Images]
As Ukraines Volodymyr Zelensky prepares to reveal a Victory plan to President Joe Biden on Thursday, Kyiv is looking to the US leader for a strong show of support before he leaves the White House.
A senior official in Kyiv said they wanted him to make history in his final months in office.
While details of the Ukrainian plan have been kept under wraps, the strategy is likely to contain pleas for further military and financial support, plus future security guarantees.
Zelensky says it is designed to be a bridge towards stopping the war, which he believes could end sooner than people think.
If the West strengthens Ukraines position, he believes Russias Vladimir Putin could be pushed into a diplomatic peace.
Ever sharp at public relations, Ukraines president is also aiming to take on critics in the US who have questioned the wisdom of pouring further money into Ukraines cause by promoting an apparent blueprint for eventual peace.
Russian forces have made territorial gains in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks [Getty Images]
Zelensky is throwing a huge diplomatic effort behind his victory plan.
He is almost camped out at the United Nations. He spoke on Monday at a debate about how the UN should be reformed. He addressed the Security Council on Tuesday. And he is giving a speech to the General Assembly on Wednesday.
In between, he is meeting world leaders and US politicians. He visited an ammunition factory in Scranton, Joe Bidens hometown in Pennsylvania, one that is making shells for Ukrainian artillery batteries.
And he is explicit that he considers time is short. In one of his many media interviews, Zelensky told the New Yorker that the victory plan had to be agreed - and Ukraine strengthened - in October, November and December.
This plan is designed, first and foremost, with Bidens support in mind, he told the magazine. That support is by no means guaranteed but Zelensky is staking much on securing it.
That is because the situation will change significantly if Donald Trump were to win the election. At a campaign rally on Monday, the former president mocked Zelensky as the greatest salesman in history because every time he comes into this country, he walks away with $60bn.
Trump restated his position that he would urge Russia and Ukraine to agree a deal to end the war, one that Kyiv fears would force them to accept territorial losses and no guarantee against further Russian aggression.
It is the fear of such a scenario that is pushing the diplomatic drive behind Zelenskys victory plan this week. Some diplomats are sceptical the plan would succeed in nudging Russia towards a negotiating table. Much depends now on Bidens response.
Congressional lawmakers will be handed the plan as will Trump and his presidential rival Kamala Harris.
Trump has claimed he would end the war within 24 hours, leading to fears the Republican nominee would essentially force Kyiv into making territorial concessions against its will.
As the US elections loom, its a crucial moment for Zelensky as Moscows troops continue to press gains, inch by inch, in Ukraines east.
A top priority in the so-called victory plan will be to hit Russia strongly, believes one military analyst - Mykhailo Samus, director of the New Geopolitics Research Network.
Giving Kyiv the ability to destroy military infrastructure within a 300km range could seriously hamper the Kremlins offensive operations in the Donbas and its ability to neutralise Ukraines ongoing incursion in Russias Kursk region, says Mr Samus.
This would mean securing permission, so far denied, to use Western-made long-range missiles on targets deep inside Russia.
While Ukraine has successfully been deploying attack drones against Russian ammunition dumps, missiles can penetrate more heavily fortified munition sites.
The plan will also see Kyiv ask for more of these kinds of missiles, believes Olga Rudenko, editor in chief of the Kyiv Independent.
Further financial support and capitalising on Ukraines surprise cross-border push into Russias Kursk region are also expected to form core elements within the strategy.
As for Ukraines future security guarantees, Ukraines aspirations towards joining the Nato defensive military alliance clearly remain.
Ukraines invitation to Nato is part of the victory plan, confirmed Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office.
Ukraine's second city Kharkiv came under deadly bombardment on Tuesday [Eugene Hertnier/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC]
Zelenskys office has rejected a German report that he is considering a localised ceasefire as fake.
However, Czech President Petr Pavel who has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine said this week that part of Ukraine would probably remain temporarily occupied, possibly for years.
Olga Rudenko believes that, for most Ukrainians, its still too sensitive and unimaginable to concede anything even temporarily to Russia even if that conversation is happening somewhere, privately, within government.
Its not that Ukrainians are greedy about the territory, she says.
We cant leave our people there, under Russian control and sentence them to those horrors, referring to persistent allegations of Russian war crimes.
That sentiment was echoed by 31-year-old Dmytro, whose face and arms were badly burned when he was hit by a Russian drone.
We will not surrender our territories, for which so many people have been fallen, he told the BBC in Kyiv.
If we ended the war at this stage, what were we fighting for then? What for did all our men, our comrades die for?
A truce, he believes, would simply give Russia time to recuperate and Zelensky has likewise warned against a "frozen" conflict.
Dmytro is already planning his return to the front line to fight alongside his comrades: I will not retreat, I will be there until my last breath.
President Volodymyr Zelensky met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in New York on Sept. 25, thanking him for "supporting Ukraine throughout his tenure."
In a post on social media, Zelensky said the pair discussed several issues, including "the need to enhance Ukraine's air defense, (and) the continued efforts on an invitation for our state to join NATO as soon as possible."
Stoltenberg is stepping down as NATO Secretary General next month. Former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will take his place.
Zelensky is in the U.S. this week where is expected to present his victory plan to U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Sept. 26.
An invitation to join NATO is part of the plan, the head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak said on Sept. 24.
Ukraine applied for NATO membership in September 2022, half a year into Russia's full-scale invasion.
During my meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg @jensstoltenberg, I thanked him for supporting Ukraine throughout his tenure as Secretary General of the Alliance and for his efforts to unite the world in helping Ukraine and strengthening our army.
We discussed the pic.twitter.com/Gyq4V6WHmX Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) September 25, 2024
The July NATO summit in Washington ended with the launch of the Ukraine Compact, a security framework signed by 32 allies. The countries affirmed Kyiv's "irreversible" path toward membership, though Ukraine did not receive any definitive news about its future accession.
Biden said that peace in Ukraine means a guarantee that Russia will never occupy the country again, but Kyiv's membership in NATO is not necessary for this.
According to Zelensky, who has repeatedly called on partners to issue a membership invitation to Kyiv, Ukraine will join NATO only after Russia's full-scale war ends.
Read also: Ukraine responds after Czech presidents temporary Russian occupation comments
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Zelensky: Putin has decided he can 'do whatever he wants'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky takes part in the UN Security Council meeting at the 79th General Debate of the UN General Assembly. Michael Kappeler/dpa
Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided he can "do whatever he wants," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, warning that Moscow will continue to try and conquer territory outside its borders.
"I think every leader, every country that supports us... sees how Russia, a country more than 20 times larger than Ukraine in territory, still wants even more land," he said.
"More land? Insane," Zelensky said.
He went on to describe Iran and North Korea, which have been accused of supplying Russia with weapons, as accomplices in Russia's war.
Zelensky arrived in the US on Sunday to pitch his "victory plan" for defeating Russia, with his speech at the UN in New York one of the trip's highest-profile moments.
He meets with President Joe Biden and the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, in Washington on Thursday. He is also set to meet lawmakers in Congress.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during the second day of the 79th General Debate of the UN General Assembly. Bianca Otero/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to world leaders to keep his country's fight against Russia's invasion a top priority in his address to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
He raised to spectre of a global nuclear disaster at the start of his speech, saying Russia was "planning attacks on our nuclear power plants" in order to further hobble Ukraine's energy supply.
He cited an "alarming" intelligence report but did not disclose further details.
"Any missile or drone strike, any critical incident in the energy system, could lead to a nuclear disaster," Zelensky said. "A day like that must never come. Moscow needs to understand this, and this depends in part on your determination to put pressure on the aggressor."
"If, God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, radiation will not respect state borders," he continued.
Zelensky also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to wear down Ukrainians by leaving them "in the dark and cold this winter."
"Since Russia can't defeat our people's resistance on the battlefield, Putin is looking for other ways to break the Ukrainian spirit," he told world leaders in a speech that lasted 20 minutes.
He said Russia had destroyed all of Ukraine's thermal power plants and "a large part" of the country's hydroelectric capacity. In all, Russia has inflicted damage on 80% of the energy infrastructure, he said.
"This is how Putin is preparing for winter: hoping to torment millions of Ukrainians, ordinary families, women, children, ordinary towns, ordinary villages. Putin wants to leave them in the dark and cold this winter, forcing Ukraine to suffer and surrender."
"I think every leader, every country that supports us... sees how Russia, a country more than 20 times larger than Ukraine in territory, still wants even more land," he said.
He went on to describe Iran and North Korea, which have been accused of supplying Russia with weapons, as accomplices in Russia's war.
He also once again firmly rejected a Sino-Brazilian peace initiative during his speech.
The plan put forward by China and Brazil effectively calls for a freezing of the war along the current front line.
Zelensky told the General Assembly that the world had seen enough colonial wars conducted and that every country - including China, Brazil, European nations, African nations and the Middle East - understands why this must be a thing of the past.
Zelensky arrived in the US on Sunday to pitch his "victory plan" for defeating Russia, with his speech at the UN in New York one of the trip's highest-profile moments.
He is scheduled to meet President Joe Biden and the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, in Washington on Thursday. He is also set to meet lawmakers in Congress.
Zelensky is urging Washington and other allies to give the green light to use Western-supplied weapons to strike deep inside Russia. Those authorizations have yet to come amid fears those types of attacks could escalate the two-and-a-half-year-old war.
Russia hits Ukraine's Donetsk and Zaporizhzhya regions
At least two people were killed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk in a Russian attack using glide bombs, the governor of the Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin, said on Wednesday, adding that a dozen others were injured after residential buildings and a shop were damaged.
In the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhya, a 55-year-old man was killed and seven people were injured, the regional military governor said.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia used 32 drones and eight missiles in overnight attacks on Ukraine. Most of the drones and half of the missiles were intercepted, it said on Wednesday morning.
Injuries after Ukrainian attack on Russian city of Belgorod
Five people were injured in a Ukrainian attack on the western Russian city of Belgorod, the local authorities there reported.
Four of them were taken to hospital, the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced on his Telegram channel.
In his post he said that the large-scale attack had damaged a high-rise building and 75 smaller residential buildings. In addition, dozens of vehicles, water and gas pipes were damaged, he said.
Russia has been systematically attacking civilian targets in Ukraine since it launched its full-scale invasion of the neighbouring country in February 2022. In particular, Ukraine's energy supply facilities are repeatedly targeted by Russian drones, rockets and cruise missiles.
Border regions in Russia are now experiencing increasing shelling from Ukraine. However, the number of victims and the extent of the damage are on a much smaller scale than the destruction caused by Moscow's forces in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during the second day of the 79th General Debate of the UN General Assembly. Bianca Otero/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Zelensky says Russia can't be calmed by talks alone
President Volodymyr Zelensky told the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 24 that peace cannot be achieved through negotiations alone, but that Russia must be forced to end the war.
Zelensky has been rallying support from Western leaders for his "victory plan" to bring an end to the war, which began when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
He emphasized that the war will eventually conclude, but not because "someone got tired of the war" or through a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, rejecting proposals to cede Ukrainian territory as a means to resolve the conflict.
"This war can't be calmed by talks. Action is needed," Zelensky said, thanking nations that have supported Ukraine. "Putin has violated so many international norms and rules that he won't stop on his own. Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's neededforcing Russia into peace, as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the U.N. Charter."
Zelensky also condemned North Korea and Iran for supplying weapons to Russia, calling them "de facto accomplices" of Moscow.
Zelensky believes that if his strategy gains Western backing, it could exert significant pressure on Moscow, potentially influencing Putin to seek a diplomatic end to the conflict. While he's shared few specifics about the "victory plan," Zelensky has indicated that it would pave the way for a second Ukraine-led peace summit, which Kyiv intends to host later this year and invite Russia to attend.
Russia has recently announced it will not participate in any future iterations of the peace summit.
During the U.N. Security Council meeting, Russias Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia criticized the inclusion of Zelensky, dismissing the focus on Ukraine. "Western countries could not refrain from poisoning the atmosphere once again, trying to fill the air time with the hackneyed Ukrainian issue," Nebenzia was quoted as saying.
Read also: Biden-Zelensky talks: Ukrainian soldiers want firepower to win but question if US wants Russia defeated
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Zelensky to take UN stage in plea to sustain support
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky takes center stage at the United Nations on Wednesday as he seeks to sustain global support ahead of US elections that could bring a sharp shift from his top backer.
Zelensky, clad in his trademark military fatigues, a year ago made a dramatic first wartime appearance before the annual UN General Assembly as he urged international pressure on Russia over its invasion.
One year later, Zelensky may still enjoy star power, but Ukraine faces rising headwinds as Russian troops advance in the east and US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump threatens to close the books on military aid.
Zelensky will address the General Assembly on another hectic day of international diplomacy that will include an emergency Security Council meeting on the Lebanon crisis.
Speaking to a Security Council session on Tuesday on Ukraine, Zelensky brushed aside calls to negotiate a settlement with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed," Zelensky said.
Zelensky will head Thursday to Washington to enjoy a show of support at the White House by President Joe Biden and to present a further outline of what the Ukrainian leader calls a "victory plan."
- 'Greatest salesman'? -
Former US president Trump on Wednesday called Zelensky the "greatest salesman on Earth."
"Every time Zelensky comes to the United States, he walks away with $100 billion," Trump said.
"But we're stuck in that war unless I'm president. I'll get it done. I'll get it negotiated, I'll get out. We got to get out."
The United States has provided around $175 billion in both military and economic assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, and Biden has ruled out sending troops.
Trump in the past has voiced admiration for Putin and, during his 2017-2021 presidency, was impeached for the first time over delaying aid to Ukraine to press Zelensky to dig up dirt on Biden.
Zelensky said he would likely meet Trump while in the United States and explain that the war is more complicated.
"My feeling is that Trump doesn't really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how. With this war, oftentimes, the deeper you look at it the less you understand," Zelensky told The New Yorker magazine.
Zelensky was harsher in his assessment of Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, who has said bluntly that he does not care about Ukraine and that the United States should focus instead on confronting China.
"Let Mr. Vance read up on the history of the Second World War, when a country was forced to give part of its territory to one particular person," Zelensky told The New Yorker.
Referring to the Holocaust, Zelensky voiced hope that Jewish groups would remind Vance how "millions perished thanks to the fact that someone offered to give up a sliver of territory."
In Germany, the second-largest contributor of military aid to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also facing pressure from parties opposed to support from Kyiv.
But support by most Western nations remains strong for the moment. The European Union last week announced 35 billion euros ($39 billion) in loans backed by the revenues of frozen Russian assets.
Britain has been among the most robust supporters of Ukraine. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told AFP that his government was committed to helping "to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position" as winter approaches.
- Lebanon crisis -
The annual extravaganza marks a swan song for Biden, 81, who has passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris to face Trump in the November 5 election.
The summit comes against the backdrop of chaos in the Middle East as Israel ramps up attacks on the Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah, killing hundreds and prompting a mass exodus of people.
The UN Security Council will hold a special session on Wednesday on Lebanon, as the United States says it hopes to present ideas for de-escalation.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday met Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and urged him to use his influence to rein in Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets for months at Israel in solidarity with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Wednesday will also see talks at the UN on two other hot spots -- Sudan and Haiti.
The United States is looking for ways to drum up long-term financial support for stabilization efforts in violence-ravaged Haiti after Kenya began a long-awaited policing mission.
sct/st/sco
President Volodymyr Zelensky's stance on "forcing" Russia to peace is a "fatal mistake" and will have "consequences for Ukraine," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Sept. 25, according to Russia's state-owned Ria Novosti outlet.
Peskov's statement comes after Zelensky's speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, in which he said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had violated so many international laws that he would not stop "on his own, so Russia could only be forced to peace."
"In my view, this stance is a fatal mistake. A fatal mistake, a systemic mistake, this is a profound misconception, which, of course, will inevitably have consequences for (Ukraine)," Peskov said in answer to a question about Zelensky's speech.
Peskov said that Russia "could not be forced to peace, adding that Moscow is allegedly "committed to peace," despite its war in Ukraine.
Zelensky arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 22, kicking off a nearly week-long visit focused on presenting the president's "victory plan" to Ukraine's allies, including U.S. President Joe Biden. Zelensky and Biden will meet at the White House on Sept. 26.
Kyiv has remained secretive about the plan's details. According to Zelensky, the "victory plan" consists of five points, focusing on Ukraine's security and geopolitical position, foreign military aid with the freedom to use it without restrictions, and economic support.
In addition to a NATO invitation and a pledge for arms supplies, Bloomberg previously reported that the plan includes a clear pathway to European Union membership.
Read also: Biden-Zelensky talks: Ukrainian soldiers want firepower to win but question if US wants Russia defeated
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Stubb and Zelenskyy at the meeting. Photo: Ukraines Presidents Office
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with Finnish President Alexander Stubb in New York, where they discussed, among other topics, joint drone production.
Source: Ukraine's President's Office
Quote: "The main topics of the meeting were the situation on the battlefield, Ukraines defence needs, and international cooperation.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasised that Ukraine requires air defence systems, particularly MANPADS."
Details: The discussion between the two leaders also focused on Ukrainian-Finnish defence cooperation, specifically the joint production of drones and the exchange of expertise in this area.
Background: Earlier, Finnish President Alexander Stubb urged Ukraines allies in the global West, including the US, "to allow Ukraine to fight without one hand tied behind its back" and lift restrictions on long-range strikes.
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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, has insisted on a just peace in Ukraine in accordance with his Peace Formula.
Source: Zelenskyy at the UN General Assembly in New York, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Zelenskyy insisted that the Peace Formula is the best opportunity for peace, and that Ukrainians will never accept that the colonial past can be imposed on Ukraine instead of a just peace.
"When someone proposes alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called sets of principles, it not only ignores the interests and suffering of Ukrainians who are affected by the war the most, it not only ignores reality: it also gives Putin political space to continue the war," the president said.
He added that his Peace Formula has existed as a global initiative for two years.
"And maybe somebody wants a Nobel Prize for their political biography for a frozen truce instead of real peace, but the only prize Putin will give you in return is more suffering and disasters," Zelenskyy said.
In his speech, he outlined the main points of how he sees peace being achieved.
"We must restore nuclear safety. Energy must stop being used as a weapon. We must ensure food security. We need to bring home all our captured soldiers and civilians possibly deported to Russia. We must uphold the UN Charter and guarantee our right, Ukraine's right, to territorial integrity and sovereignty, just as we do for any other nation.
We need to withdraw the Russian occupiers, which will bring an end to the hostilities in Ukraine. And we must hold those responsible for war crimes accountable. We need to prevent ecocide... We must not allow a second or third Russian invasion. We need to make it clear: the war is over. This is the Peace Formula. What part of this could be unacceptable to anyone who upholds the UN Charter?" Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy also called on the international community to put pressure on Russia and prevent it from launching attacks that would pose a threat to Ukrainian nuclear energy.
Earlier, in an interview with the US media, Zelenskyy said he believed the war with Russia is "closer to the end" than many people think.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to the podium at the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for the third time since Russias deadly invasion began more than two and half years ago, though this time he took direct aim at nations aiding Moscow: China, North Korea and Iran.
Zelenskyy who has long toed the line when it comes to maintaining murky geopolitical relations amid the war for the first time called out not only the nations supplying direct arms to Moscow, but those who have remained complacent in their refusal to back Ukraines demands that Russian President Vladimir Putin withdraw his troops.
"We need to make it clear the war is over. This is the peace formula what part of this could be unacceptable to anyone who upholds the U.N. Charter?" he questioned. "If someone in the world seeks alternativesit likely means they themselves want to do a part of what Putin is doing. [It] reveals the desire they are hiding."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Sept. 25, 2024.
Zelenskyy Warns Vances Plan To Give Russia Seized Land Will Lead To Global Showdown
"And when the Chinese-Brazilian duo tries to grow into a choir of voices with someone in Europe, with someone in Africa, saying something alternative to a full and just peace, the question arises what is the true interest?"
Zelenskyys comments referred to a monthslong attempt by China to enlist the backing of other nations for a six-point peace plan it introduced in coordination with Brazil in May, rather than backing the 10-point plan Ukraine first introduced in 2022.
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China's plan has not been embraced by Western nations as it not only lacked concrete steps to actually end the war, but it did not explicitly call for Russia's withdrawal from Ukraine.
Chinese representatives have not addressed the U.N. body, though Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday said he encouraged the joint plan.
In a similarly assertive tone, Zelenskyy called out Iran and North Korea for providing direct military aid to Russia a step he has not taken before at the international meeting despite Tehran having provided Moscows war chest with drones for over two years.
Firefighters help a local woman evacuate from a residential building destroyed by a Russian drone strike, which local authorities consider to be Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles Shahed-136, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Oct. 17, 2022.
Iran Spouts 'Propaganda' From Un Podium, Calls On Middle East To Unite Behind Tehran
One topic the Ukrainian leader has regularly touched on, and once again drew attention to, is the threat Russia poses to nuclear security.
Zelenskyy in years past has reminded the UNGA that nuclear security is not only a concern for Ukraine, and on Wednesday, he warned that "radiation will not respect state borders."
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraines energy sector in a move to cut the nation from its power sources, especially during the winter months.
"Russia has destroyed all our thermal power plants and a large part of our hydroelectric capacity. This is how Putin is preparing for winter, hoping to torment millions, millions of Ukrainians," he said.
A screen grab from a video released by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shows a fire that broke out in Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Aug. 11, 2024.
Zelenskyy said that now, not only is Putin looking to employ the same strategy as winter looms, but he is also planning to target nuclear power plants in a move to disconnect the plants from the power grid a tactic he is allegedly employing by relying on satellite images supplied by other nations, though Zelenskyy did not specify which ones.
"Since Russia can't defeat our people's resistance on the battlefield, Putin is looking for other ways to break the Ukrainian spirit," Zelenskyy warned.
Original article source: Zelenskyy questions China's 'true interest' behind plan to end Russias war
The News
The Ukraine-Russia war must end on Kyivs terms, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized in a pair of speeches delivered at the United Nations this week in New York.
Russia must be forced into peace, Zelenskyy told the UN Security Council Tuesday, adding in his speech to the UN General Assembly that a truce brokered by countries without Ukraines involvement would only achieve a lull" in the fighting. The Ukrainian leader called out China and Russia specifically, saying you will not boost your power at Ukraines expense.
Zelenskyy is set to present a victory plan to end the war to US President Joe Biden Thursday.
SIGNALS
Doubts over an escalated plan for Ukrainian victory
Sources: Politico, Euronews, BBC
On Monday Zelenskyy said there was nothing impossible in Ukraines victory plan, with sources familiar with the proposal calling it a bridge to a second peace summit that Kyiv wants to invite Moscow to by the end of the year, Euronews reported. However, we are very very far from any kind of negotiations [with Moscow] Cold War expert Michael Kimmage argued, highlighting Russias recent push into Ukraines Donbas region. Instead, Zelenskyys announcement of a final plan may be more focused on critics in the US who want to pull back on aid to Ukraine by promoting an apparent blueprint for eventual peace, the BBC wrote.
Zelenskyy walking a US political tightrope
Sources: The New Yorker, Foreign Affairs, BBC
Zelenskyy may be facing his last best chance for substantial foreign assistance, The New Yorker wrote. The president earlier told the outlet his battle plan was designed, first and foremost, with Bidens support in mind. But the US may not want to create political headwinds for Kamala Harris in the weeks before the US presidential election by promising a substantial increase in aid. Meanwhile, a Trump win would likely spell significant trouble for Ukraine: Trump recently mocked Zelenskyy as the greatest salesman in history... every time he comes into this country, he walks away with $60 billion. Trumps pro-Russian sentiment would be extremely dangerous for Ukraine, wrote a retired US colonel in Foreign Affairs, making Zelenskyys trip to the US a crucial moment in Ukraines fight.
Zelenskyy and Turkish President Erdogan discuss freedom of navigation in Black Sea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reported on his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which the leaders discussed ensuring the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, among other key issues.
Source: Zelenskyy on Telegram
Details: Zelenskyy said he discussed further development of the strategic partnership between Ukraine and Turkiye with Erdogan.
Quote from Zelenskyy: "We focused on advancing bilateral trade, investment, and economic cooperation, as well as Turkish companies' involvement in Ukraine's reconstruction.
We also discussed the implementation of the Peace Formula, with a particular emphasis on ensuring freedom of navigation in the Black Sea and Turkiye's leadership role in the relevant Peace Formula point."
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In his speech at the UN General Assembly meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the international community to put pressure on Russia and deter it from attacks that would pose a threat to Ukrainian nuclear energy.
Source: European Pravda with reference to Zelenskyys speech
Details: Zelenskyy began his speech by recalling how, at the beginning of the full-scale war, he was shocked by a report that Russian tanks were firing at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has since remained under occupation and there is a constant threat of an incident.
He said that he had recently received alarming intelligence information that Russia is preparing strikes against Ukrainian nuclear power plants and their infrastructure in order to cut off the plants from the power grid.
Zelenskyy said that Russia used third-country satellites to plan attacks.
Quote: "Russia is getting images and detailed information about the infrastructure of our nuclear power plants. But what does it really threaten? Any missile or drone strike, any critical incident in the energy system could lead to a nuclear disaster."
More details: Zelenskyy went on and said that Russia must understand the consequences of its actions, and this depends, among other things, on whether the international community will put pressure on Moscow.
He reiterated that nuclear safety is one of the points of Ukraine's Peace Formula and that Ukraine is more than anyone else interested in ending the war as soon as possible. He also stressed that some of the consequences of the war in Ukraine cannot be contained by the border lines on the map.
Quote: "The smoke from fires in war-torn cities can reach other countries. And if, God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, radiation will not respect state borders."
Background:
Before that, in an interview with the US media, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he believed the war with Russia was "closer to the end" than many people thought.
It was also reported that Zelenskyy would have two meetings with Joe Biden in the United States.
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Zombie knife charge 'one of first under new law'
New legislation aimed at tackling zombie knifes and machetes came into effect on Tuesday [Getty Images]
A man charged with possession of a zombie knife has become one of the first people to be held under new laws, police said.
Kofie John-Welch, of Druce Way, Oxford, was charged with possession of an offensive weapon in a private place after a search of his home on Tuesday.
Thames Valley Police said the charge was one of the country's first under new legislation in England and Wales which closes a legal loophole and makes it an imprisonable offence to own, make, transport or sell a wide range of what are called statement knives.
Mr John-Welch has also been charged with threatening a person with a bladed article, affray, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage.
The charges relate to an incident on 29 August, the force said.
Zombie-style knives and machetes are defined as weapons with blades over eight inches (20cm) in length, normally with a serrated cutting edge.
New laws covering the weapons came into force at midnight on Tuesday.
Police said Mr John-Welch remained in custody and would appear at Oxford Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.
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Image: Randy Shropshire (Getty Images)
Just six months after its Spiced soft drink hit shelves in the U.S. and Canada, Coca-Cola has announced that it will discontinue the flavor.
The Coca-Cola (KO) Spiced and Coca-Cola Spiced Zero Sugar flavors, announced in February, were seen as a marketing technique to excite younger generations about its signature cola. Coca-Colas North American marketing chief Shakir Moin told The Associated Press at the time that the brand wanted to dial up its lineup and introduce a formula that could be interesting and unique for the next generation of consumers.
Coca-Cola promoted the addition as a rare new permanent flavor, which was joined by its flagship formula as well as cherry and vanilla. The brand introduced the new variety as a way to intrigue Gen-Z drinkers who were craving spicier flavors.
In a statement from Coca-Cola about pulling its Spiced flavor from its lineup, the company said it is always looking at what our customers like and continues to adjust its flavors, per CNN.
Coca-Cola has been facing a decline in sales over the past year. While the company posted robust second-quarter earnings in July, volume sales declined by 1% for the quarter. CEO James Quincey said at the time that volume decline for its U.S. division was driven by softness in away-from-home channels, which include its water, sports, coffee and tea, and soda products.
Recently, the brand partnered with large food chains like McDonalds to include its soda as part of its combo meals as a way to offset the decline in sales.
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CrowdStrikes Senior Vice President of Counter Adversary Operations Adam Meyers speaks during a subcommittee hearing with the House Committee on Homeland Security in the Cannon House Office Building on September 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. - Photo: Anna Moneymaker (Getty Images)
CrowdStrikes senior vice-president for counter adversary operations, Adam Meyers, reiterated his companys apology today during a House subcommittee hearing and went on to say that the company has launched a configuration update for its Falcon Sensor software system.
Meyers was grilled Tuesday afternoon by lawmakers from the Houses Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection subcommittee over the companys failure to properly address its faulty software update that led to a global IT outage in mid-July.
Following the global outage, companies across the airlines, banking, telecommunications, and healthcare industries were deeply affected for weeks. The outage disrupted internet services, affecting about 8.5 million Microsoft (MSFT) Windows devices, per Reuters.
We are deeply sorry this happened, and we are determined to prevent this from happening again, Meyers said at the hearing. We have undertaken a full review of our systems and begun implementing plans to bolster our content update procedures so that we emerge from this experience as a stronger company.
During the grilling session, which was led by Republican Rep. Mark Green from Tennessee, Meyers said CrowdStrike (CRWD) takes full responsibility for the international system crashes. He also deemed that the issues were not the result of a cyberattack, nor was it induced by artificial intelligence.
The July 19 incident stemmed from a confluence of factors that ultimately resulted in the Falcon sensor attempting to follow a threat detection configuration for which there was no corresponding definition of what to do, Meyers said.
After the IT incident, CrowdStrike lost about $60 million in contract sales. The cybersecurity firmsaid that the incident scared off customers who were looking to close deals during the final weeks of the second quarter.
Meyers announced during the hearing that the company had taken several steps to sharpen its system and would prevent another outage from happening at this level again. He stated that CrowdStrike will no longer unveil its software updates internationally to all customers in a single session. The company will also allow customers to select when they receive their updates.
They have the option of waiting to be the second or third group of clients who will receive the update after it goes public.
Mistakes can happen, Green said. However, we cannot allow a mistake of this magnitude to happen again. A global IT outage that impacts every sector of the economy is a catastrophe that we would expect to see in a movie. It is something that we would expect to be carefully executed by a malicious and sophisticated nation-state actor.
For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Disney announced a new rule intended to curb password sharing among its streaming subscribers, following through on plans initially shared last month in an earnings call. Today's blog post from the company explained that Disney+ is getting a Paid Sharing feature. For an additional $7 a month on Disney+ Basic or $10 a month on Disney+ Premium, an account holder can provide access to their plan to one person outside their household, dubbed an Extra Member. Paid Sharing is rolling out today in the US, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
With the upcoming price increases $10 a month for Basic and $16 a month for Premium the Extra Member route is still cheaper than buying a separate Disney+ plan. However, the Paid Sharing option comes with several caveats. For starters, only one Extra Member is allowed per account. And if your plan is part of a Disney Bundle, you don't have access to the Extra Member feature at all. Ditto for any subscribers billed through Disney's partners, meaning bundle customers are out of luck. The post says those restrictions apply "at this time," but doesn't give any hint as to whether the company is considering a policy change in the future.
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
Credit: Intel
Intel announced the on-time launch of its high-performance Xen 6 Granite Rapids 6900P-series models today, with five new models spanning from 72 cores up to 128 cores, finally exceeding the core counts of AMDs existing EPYC models for the first time since 2017, and even matching the core counts of AMDs soon-to-be-launched Zen 5 Turin processors. As a result of numerous enhancements, Intel claims the 6900P series provides up to 2.1x the performance of AMDs competing 96-core Genoa flagship in the OpenFOAM HPC workload, and up to 5.5x the AI inferencing performance in ResNet50.
Intels claims are impressive against AMDs current-gen models, but AMD has its 3nm EPYC Turin retort with up to 128 performance cores coming next month, setting the stage for a pitched battle for data center sockets throughout the remainder of 2024 and into 2025.
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Intel unveiled its new Xeon 6 processors at its Enterprise Tech Tour event in Portland, Oregon, last week, and it also showed its exceedingly important next-gen Clearwater Forest for the first time.
The new flagship Xeon 6 data center processors come with new CPU core microarchitectures, the Intel 3 process node, and up to 504MB of L3 cache, along with support for 12 memory channels and MRDIMM memory tech that enables speeds reaching up to 8800 MT/s, all of which intel says contributes to strong gen-on-gen performance and power efficiency gains. Intel shared plenty of benchmarks to back up those claims, which well also cover below.
Xeon 6 Models and Platforms
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Intel has split its Xeon 6 Granite Rapids family into several swim lanes. The Granite Rapids 6900P lineup launching today employs all performance cores (P-cores) for latency-sensitive workloads and environments that prize high single-core performance, making them a good fit for HPC, AI, virtualized environments, and general workloads.
The five 6900P models range from 72 to 128 cores and stretch up to an unprecedented 500W TDP (AMDs Turin is expected to have similar TDPs). Intels new models also have up to an incredible 504MB of L3 cache, also beating out AMDs current-gen Genoa models.
Intel will launch the more general-purpose P-core Xeon 6 models with 86 or fewer cores in the first quarter of 2025 (more info below). Of course, the list of 6900P SKUs only includes on-roadmap models, but Intel also works with partners to deliver custom chip designs based on their needs (AWS is a recent example). In the past, Intel has said that custom models comprise up to 50% of its Xeon sales, but the current distribution is unclear.
Intel launched its Xeon 6 Sierra Forest 6700E series models earlier this year. These processors come armed with up to 144 efficiency cores (E-cores) for density-optimized environments that prize performance-per-watt. Intels 6900E models with up to 288 single-threaded efficiency cores will also arrive in Q1 2025, exceeding AMDs core counts for the density-optimized Zen 5c Turin models that will come with 192 cores. However, Turin supports simultaneous multithreading (SMT), so those chips have up to 384 threads we'll have to see how the differences pan out in actual benchmarks.
Intel Granite Rapids Xeon 6900P
Both types of Granite Rapids processors drop into the Birch Stream platform, but Intel also splits this into two distinct branches. The Xeon 6700 E/P series will slot into standard SP server platforms, which support up to either 86 P-cores or 144 E-cores, up to 350W per CPU, eight memory channels, and up to eight sockets per server.
The 6900 E/P series models require AP (Advanced Performance) server platforms that support up to 128 P-cores or 288 E-cores, up to 500W per CPU, 12 memory channels, and two sockets per server. Intels original somewhat exotic AP platforms, which debuted with the Cascade Lake generation, didnt get much uptake due to a limited number of available system designs. Intels executives tell us the demand for AP systems is far more robust given the current need for more performance density, and many more OEMs will bring AP platforms to market.
The future Clearwater Forest chips with the 18A process will also be supported on the Birch Stream platform, providing forward compatibility for customers and OEMs.
Xeon 6900P Granite Rapids Architecture
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Weve covered the Granite Rapids architecture multiple times in the past, but heres a short overview.
Intels 6700P series consists of designs with three compute dies (UCC designator), which are fabbed on the Intel 3 process node and house the CPU cores with the Redwood Cove microarchitecture, caches, interconnect mesh, and memory controllers. Intel isnt disclosing the number of physical CPU cores present on each die, but its a safe assumption that each die has a minimum of one extra physical CPU core to help defray the impact of defects, thus improving yield.
Four memory controllers are attached to each of the compute die, which can create latency penalties for cross-die accesses. Intel offers both a standard HEX mode that allows accessing all dies as one pool and an SNC3 mode that restricts memory and L3 cache access to each local compute die, thus avoiding the latency impact. This is similar to the traditional Sub-Numa Clustering (SNC) modes on prior-gen models; well put these modes to the test in our pending review.
Two I/O dies are included in each chip, regardless of specs, to keep the I/O capabilities consistent across models. The I/O dies are fabbed on the Intel 7 process node and house the PCIe, UPI, and CXL controllers along with the I/O fabric.
Intel is releasing the triple-compute-die UCC models today, but the XCC, HCC, and LCC models with fewer cores/die will arrive in Q1 2025.
The I/O die also houses the in-built QAT, DLB, DSA, and IAA accelerators, which boost performance in compression, encryption, data movement, and data analytics workloads. These functions typically require external I/O, and using the lesser Intel 7 transistors for these functions preserves the more expensive Intel 3 transistors for compute functions.
Unfortunately, Intels DSA and IAA accelerator blocks have a vulnerability that renders them unsafe for use in VMs, but they can be used by trusted software (host ring 0). The vulnerability doesnt cause an issue if the accelerators are unused. Phoronix reports this is a hardware issue, meaning a software patch wont address the problem. The issue with DSA and IAA wont be fully addressed in silicon until the Diamond Rapids and Granite Rapids D processors arrive.
Intel Granite Rapids Xeon 6900P
As we saw with the prior-gen Emerald Rapids, Intel continues to focus on improving power efficiency when the chip is under lighter loads. This focus is because most servers typically operate anywhere from a 30% to 50% utilization, with full-load scenarios being somewhat rare in modern deployments.
Through a combination of its newer process node and microarchitecture, along with refined power management optimizations that dynamically modulate multiple facets, including uncore/fabric frequencies, Intel claims up to a 1.9X improvement in performance-per-watt at 40% utilization. However, the impact varies at different load levels, though the entire CPU utilization load-line range shows a marked improvement over the prior-gen Xeon 8592+.
This functionality was wrapped in an optimized power mode setting with the prior-gen Xeon models, but Intel says it has now reduced the tradeoffs of this mode to the negligible range. As such, Intels Xeon 6 now runs in this mode by default.
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The AP platform has 12 memory channels but only supports one DIMM per channel (1DPC). With standard memory, the platform supports up to DDR5-6400, which increases to 8800 MT/s with specialized Multiplexed Rank DIMMs (MRDIMMs). As shown on the right side of the first chart above, Intel claims MRDIMM-8800 offers up to 1.33x more performance in memory throughput-sensitive workloads, like certain AI and HPC applications, over standard DDR5-6400 memory (notably, the ResNet50 benchmark is with the 96-core Xeon 6, not the 128-core model).
MRDIMMs are a JEDEC-standard memory (originally championed by AMD) that leverage multiple memory banks operating in lockstep, thus boosting performance beyond a standard memory DIMM. This type of DIMM requires hardware-based support in the memory controller, and Intel claims to be the first to market with support for this new memory tech. Intel says MRDIMMs provide the same or better latency than standard DDR5, but theyll naturally come at a cost premium.
MRDIMMs are not to be confused with the performance-boosting MCRDIMMs (originally championed by Intel), which are faster but more complex and arent officially JEDEC-ratified. Intel supported MCRDIMMs with its previous generation Xeon, but has now shifted to MRDIMMs.
Memory capacity and bandwidth are becoming more pressing issues, especially for AI workloads and in-memory databases. ComputeExpress Link (CXL) is designed to help address those needs (among others). Granite Rapids supports Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 CXL 2.0 devices, and we can expect this type of support from AMDs future platforms as well.
Intel says its customers are most interested in combining economical DDR4 memory with CXL devices to boost memory capacity for DDR5-equipped servers, thus reducing cost (many simply plan to repurpose the DDR4 from their older servers). The CXL consortium initially told us of strong industry interest in this type of arrangement a few years ago, but Intel says it now foresees production-level deployments on the near horizon.
Intel feels well positioned for this market due to its unique Flat Memory Mode, largely derived from its learnings with the now-dead Optane DIMMs. This feature creates one large pool of memory from both the standard direct-attached DDR5 memory DIMMs and remote Type 3 CXL memory devices with DDR4 connected via the PCIe lanes. Intels approach is hardware-assisted the tech is built into the memory controller and isnt software-based like other memory tiering solutions. As such, it doesnt incur any CPU overhead and operates regardless of the host operating system.
Intel shared benchmarks showing the benefits of a combined memory pool of DDR4 and DDR5, with the memory controller intelligently placing data on the correct pool based on several variables. The company claims a 3% performance loss for an in-memory OLAP database, showing a minimal performance loss despite having 1/3 of the pool comprised of slower DDR4 memory.
AI and HPC Benchmarks
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Above, you can find Intels performance claims, and we have an album at the end of the article that includes all the benchmarking footnotes. As always with vendor-provided benchmarks, approach these results with caution.
Many of Intels comparisons are against its fifth-gen Xeon models, showing strong improvements in both performance and power efficiency across a broad range of general compute, data and web services, HPC, and AI workloads. Notably, these benchmarks employ varying core counts and memory types (DDR5, MRDIMM) for individual comparisons. Overall, Intel claims 1.2x higher average performance-per-core, 1.6X higher performance-per-watt, and 30% lower average TCO than its fifth-gen Xeon comparables.
Naturally, no comparison would be complete without benchmarks against AMDs EPYC. To highlight its claimed advantages in virtualized environments, Intel also provided benchmarks against AMDs fourth-gen EPYC Genoa chips, claiming up to 2.88x more performance in ResNet50 workloads in a 16 vCPU VM workload, along with advantages in a slew of other workloads like BERT-large, LAMMPS, and NGINX, among others.
Intel also provided more benchmarks against both AMDs Bergamo and Genoa chips in general compute, data services, and web services. Intel also provided a range of HPC benchmarks against the EPYC 9654 with both standard DDR5 and MRDIMMs, but be sure to pay attention to the footnotes below when assessing these results.
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AI is soaking up much of the data center spend right now, which will likely continue for the foreseeable future. As such, Intel is keen to demonstrate its advantages in AI workloads with its Advanced Matix Extensions (AMX), which now also supports FP16 in addition to the existing support for INT8 and Bfloat16.
Intel sees its AI CPU advantage taking three forms: raw AI compute on the CPU, CPU performance and support when paired with AI GPUs, and performance in vectorized databases that run on the CPU to augment AI training workloads.
Intel compared its 96-core Xeon 6972P against the EPYC Genoa 9654 and prior-gen Xeon 8592+ to highlight claimed advantages across a broad range of locally-run AI workloads.
Naturally, the real competitor here is AMDs upcoming Turin, but Intel doesnt have those chips available for comparison. Instead, Intel shared a slide that leveraged the Turin AI benchmarks that AMD shared during its Computex keynote. Intel wasnt happy with those benchmarks, and it doubled down on its retort with a new round of benchmarks with the new Xeon 6980P vs the 128-core Turin, claiming a 2.1x lead in Summarization, 5.4x lead with a chatbot, and 1.17x lead with a Translation workload. Naturally, we expect AMD to respond when it launches Turin next month.
Intel also wants its chips to be a good pairing for not only systems equipped with Nvidia GPUs but for all servers with discrete accelerators including its own Gaudi 3. Intel says it has multiple Xeon 6 models qualified for use with Nvidias MGX systems, citing that as a proof point of its claimed superior CPU performance that pushes AI GPUs to their limits. Intel also claims higher single-thread CPU performance, I/O performance, higher memory bandwidth and capacity, along with support for DC-MHS and Nvidias MGX standards, solidifies its position.
Finally, Intel also touted its AMX support as an advantage in vector databases. Intels Scalable Vector Search (SVS) library boosted indexing and search over the EPYC 9654 in the companys benchmarks. These types of databases can be used in tandem with AI RAG workloads, wherein the vector database stores the embeddings for the data set used for training. Naturally, excelling at this type of workload augments the GPUs and could help streamline the training process.
Thoughts
Intels Xeon 6 lineup finally brings it toe-to-toe with AMDs traditional advantage in core counts, but the true story will be told in independent benchmarking and cost analysis of the differing platforms. Notably absent in Intels presentations? Benchmark comparisons to competing Arm server chips. Arm has steadily clawed its way into the data center, largely through custom models deployed by hyperscalers and cloud providers. That does make direct comparisons a bit tough, but we hope to see some virtualization comparisons against the Arm competition in the future.
Intels Xeon 6700P series launches today worldwide, and the follow-on models come in Q1 2025. Were busy putting a Xeon 6 server platform to the test stay tuned for benchmarks.
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The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models are as good as they look. Yum!
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus were never on my radar until I had a sudden change of heart.
As a Pro Max exclusivist, the entry-level iPhone typically doesn't catch my eye. After all, Who wants a puny little phone? I once thought.
And the "Plus" was always the awkward middle child, often ignored for the base model or the top-tier variant.
However, my experience with these phones has changed my mind. For those who dont need pro-level photo and video capture, Id go as far as saying that the iPhone 16 Plus is a better buy than the iPhone 16 Pro (though not the iPhone 16 Pro Max).
Stick around for everything that made me reconsider the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models as viable daily drivers.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus price and specs
Before I can dive into the meat and potatoes of this review, I need to give you some insight into how much you'll have to spend on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
The iPhone 16, available for pre-order as of now, starts at $799 via Apple's official store. The iPhone 16 Plus, on the other hand, starts at $899.
"Why does the iPhone 16 Plus cost more than the iPhone 16?" you may be wondering. Well, the iPhone 16 Plus has a larger display and a bigger battery, which means you should be able to squeeze out more runtime on a single charge (more on that later).
Other than the aforementioned differences, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus both share the same specs, including the following:
New A18 chip
8GB of RAM (required for Apple Intelligence support)
New Camera Control button
Action Button from last year's iPhone 15 Pro models
128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options
I highly recommend getting the 256GB storage option. Take it from me, 128GB runs out pretty quickly in about a year and a half, give or take. (But I also understand there are budget constraints, so iCloud+ is another option for storage space if you don't mind subscriptions.)
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus
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Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus
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iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus design
The iPhone 16 Plus review unit I received, draped in bubble-gum pink deliciousness, would have been a showstopper during 2023's peak Barbie craze. It's just dripping in Margot Robbie cuteness, cotton candy sweetness, and pink lemonade joy.
iPhone 16 Plus in Pink
iPhone 16 Plus in Pink Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
Simply called "Pink," this rose-tinted shade is available only for iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.
If you decide to go caseless (because you love this color as much as I do), you'll be relieved to know that iPhone 16 lineup is now equipped with an even more durable display glass that's technically "Ceramic Shield 2." The OG Ceramic Shield debuted with the iPhone 12, and four generations later, we've got a new-gen Ceramic Shield that is 50% tougher, according to Apple.
In other words, the screen on the iPhone 16 should be just a little more resistant to your clumsy incidents within reason, of course. (Don't get too clumsy.)
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Plus in Pink Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
My non-Plus iPhone 16, however, comes in teal. Not my taste (I would have preferred Ultramarine), but I love Apple's decision to leave the pastel palettes behind, going deep, vivid, and rich. Other colors on the iPhone 16 menu include black and white.
iPhone 16 Plus
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
Both the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus no longer have their cameras arranged in a diagonal position. They're now stacked. This doesn't necessarily bother me. But since the iPhone 13, the base models have had that diagonal-style placement that became Apple's signature.
But now, the cameras are positioned in a way that's very Android-esque a la Samsung Galaxy S24 and Nothing Phone (2). So if you have a finicky teenager who wants to fit in with their fellow iPhone-owning friends, the iPhone 16's new design may be a tough sell.
Woman holding iPhone 16 at a park
iPhone 16 Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
They'll likely urge you to purchase, at the very least, the iPhone 16 Pro, which maintains that familiar, triple-camera Apple design language that screams "This is an expensive iPhone!"
iPhone 16 Pro in a park
iPhone 16 Pro Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
The iPhone 16 (particularly the non-Plus model) is beautifully light. If I accidentally dropped the iPhone 16 on my face while watching Love Island USA on my back which is totally a "hypothetical" and never happened to me before I won't get a black eye. Nice!
I checked the weight to see if the iPhone 16 is lighter than its predecessor and there is, indeed, a tiny difference; Apple managed to shave off about 0.3 ounces gen-over-gen (6.03 ounces to 6 ounces). As for the chassis, the iPhone 16 is still 0.31 inches thin, which matches the iPhone 15.
iPhone 16 - 6 ounces
iPhone 15 - 6.03 ounces
iPhone 16 Plus is slightly lighter, too, but it has the same thickness as the iPhone 16 base model (0.31 inches).
iPhone 16 Plus - 7.02 ounces
iPhone 15 Plus - 7.09 ounces
I knew I wasn't losing it. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models are totally lighter than last year's entry-level variants.
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models continue to have volume buttons on the left and a side key on the right (which doubles as a way of invoking Siri). But like the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, the entire iPhone 16 lineup now has the Action Button.
Finally, the iPhone 16 models are rated for splash, water, and dust resistance (i.e., IP68); this means they can handle six meters of water submergence for up to 30 minutes.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus display
Some people aren't going to like this, but sorry to say, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus still have a 60Hz screen.
iPhone 16 display
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
You may be wondering, "Why won't Apple put a 90Hz or 120Hz refresh rate on the iPhone 16?" My guess is that the Cupertino-based tech giant needs something to lure users into purchasing the Pro models (which have a variable refresh rate that go up to 120Hz). Also, there are superfans who don't give a rat's behind about whether a display is 60Hz, 90Hz, or 120Hz; they love iPhone and will buy one regardless.
Unlike the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, which had their displays increase to 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches, respectively (yeah, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is practically a phablet at this point), the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus' displays have remained the same:
iPhone 16 entry-level model showing display
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
iPhone 16 - 6.1 inches, 2,556 x 1,179-pixel resolution, 1,000 nits of screen brightness (2,000 peak)
iPhone 16 Plus - 6.7 inches, 2,796 x 1,290-pixel resolution, 1,000 nits of screen brightness (2,000 peak)
The iPhone 16 models still have Dynamic Island (that pill-shaped notch at the top of the screen), which disguises the TrueDepth selfie camera. I found myself admiring it every now and then while listening to music. The bouncing waveform animations that dance along to my tunes are hypnotizing. But at the same time, I wouldn't miss it if it ever got the boot in the future. (More screen real estate is always welcome.)
iPhone 16 entry-level model display showing Dynamic Island
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
I miss TouchID, though. Perhaps one day, maybe iPhone 17, I'll see it appear somewhere on the side of the chassis or maybe under the display.
Of course, the iPhone 16's compact form factor is advantageous because it's more pocketable. But while using it for streaming pleasures, I couldn't help but miss my iPhone 15 Pro Max, which has 6.7 inches of delicious display. But I enjoyed the iPhone 16 Plus, which nearly matches my iPhone 15 Pro Max's dimensions.
While watching Netflix's Selling Sunset and taking in the colorful array of er interesting outfits in the famed real estate office, I noticed that the colors were vivid and heavily saturated on both the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus Action Button
The Action Button hit the iPhone last year and it was an absolute hit. Some people configured this customizable button to have it call their spouse, others programmed it so that it plays their favorite Apple Music playlist.
iPhone 16 Action Button
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
I don't have a "cool" Action Button story. My use case is more practical. I configured the Action Button to pull up Google Authenticator, which lets me log into accounts with 2FA requirements. It's boring, yes, but it's super useful.
You can also use the Action Button to run more-than-one task using Shortcuts. For example, if your iPhone detects you're away from home, you can transform the Action Button into your "Tap to Pay" key, but if it "knows" you're at your residence, the Action Button can become a flashlight instead.
iPhone 16
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
Personally, I'd love it if Apple could make it easier to assign more gestures (e.g., double and triple presses) to the Action Button. For example, with three quick presses, I can close Amazon super fast before my fiance sees it he's had enough of my designer perfume obsession.
The Action Button isn't the only button that's made its way onto the iPhone 16 models.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus Camera Control
Since MagSafe, Camera Control is my absolute favorite hero feature that Apple has added in recent years. This is a slam dunk!
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus
You can find the Camera Control button all across the iPhone 16 lineup Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
I said this in my Camera Control hands-on, but with just a few gestures (e.g., sliding motion, and one or two presses), you can access so many camera features, including the following:
Zoom
Cameras (swap between ultrawide, wide, and 2X zoom)
Photographic Styles (e.g., filters like "Gold," "Amber," "Vibrant," and more)
Tone
Depth
Exposure
Camera Control makes it easier for me to play around with features I've often ignored, including depth and tone. While I use the likes of exposure and zoom all the time, Camera Control had me adding shadows and blur effects.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
The Camera Control button, as a right-handed user, is easiest to use with two hands (e.g., the left hand is holding the iPhone and the right hand's pointer finger is doing all of the gesturing).
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus
Camera Control button Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
However, my natural position in taking photos is typically one-handed. On my right hand, I balance the phone on my pinky while using my thumb to navigate. As such, with Camera Control, I needed to drop the thumb habit and start using my pointer finger as my primary Camera Control navigation finger.
The best part of Camera Control? I can instantly launch the Camera app while my phone is locked. Win!
Later this year, Camera Control will double as a gateway to Visual Intelligence (as part of the Apple Intelligence suite).
With Visual Intelligence, you can point the camera at any subject in your surroundings. And in a Meta AI-like manner (similar to the AI-powered Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses), it will tell you what you're seeing. For example, you can point at a dog and it will tell you the breed.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus cameras
So let's start with the new camera feature on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus: "optical quality" 2X zoom. You may be wondering, "What does that even mean?"
To put it simply, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, unlike the Pro models, do not have a telephoto sensor the lens responsible for your zoomed-in photos.
However, as mentioned, Apple says it managed to deliver "optical quality" 2X zoom meaning the image clarity is so good, you'd think that it does have a telephoto sensor.
So I put this to the test. Here's a 2X zoom shot of Arthur J. Hendrickson Park in Long Island.
Zoom - 2x
iPhone 16 Plus optical
"2X Zoom" shot of Valley Stream Community Center inside Hendrickson Park with iPhone 16 Plus Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
Stunning right? The photo is so crisp, you can see the delineation of the red bricks that make up the edifice. The lawn is verdant and the ripples are sharply defined. Even when I increased the zoom to 5X, the image still looked great, though with some resolution loss, considering the low-light conditions.
Community Center in Valley Stream
"5X Zoom" shot of Valley Stream Community Center inside Hendrickson Park with iPhone 16 Plus Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
(Keep in mind that both the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus share the same cameras, so it'd be redundant to share photos from both phones.)
Wide
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus sport 48MP wide lenses; here are some photos.
Picture of Arthur J. Hendrickson park
iPhone 16 wide photo Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
Here is a wide-lens picture of a sullied lake inside a Long Island park flanked by weeping willows. This image has a cooler, more true-to-life vibe. I'm a more vivid, warm type of girl. (As you'll learn later, though, you can use Photographic Styles to change the temperature to your liking.)
Chrysler Building
iPhone 16 wide photo of Chrysler Building Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
This photo captures the Chrysler Building against a clear blue sky, framed by both classic and modern architecture. The perspective creates a dynamic sense of depth, emphasizing the towering buildings as they converge upward. While the lighting is well-balanced, adding more contrast to the sky could enhance its impact against the structures.
Chicken sandwich
Chicken sandwich taken with iPhone 16 Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
I love a good food photo, so here's a shot of a delicious chicken sandwich inside a well-lit fast-food spot in Manhattan. There's minimal noise, accurate color representation with the muted yellow fries, bright-red ketchup, and golden-brown bun.
Makes you want to take a bite, doesn't it? I'm particularly tickled by how well the wide lens captured the saucy, spicy texture of the chicken.
Ultrawide
Since you already saw the zoomed-in perspective of this photo in the "2x zoom" section, let me show you how the 12MP ultrawide lens performed.
Community Center in Valley Stream
Utlrawide shot taken with iPhone 16 Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
It looks dreamy, doesn't it? This is a sensor you use when you want to capture a landscape with an ethereal, silhouetted feel, full of contrast and mystery. It's worth noting that the iPhone 16's ultrawide sensor captures more light, improving image quality. Plus, this ultrawide lens now enables macro photography, so you can get crisp, close-up shots in fine detail.
For example, check out the macro photography shot of the Penny Mac flowers in my backyard.
Penny Mac flowers in a backyard
Macrophotography with ultrawide lens. Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
Here's another shot that may be familiar to you and my favorite photo so far.
Picture of Arthur J. Hendrickson park
Ultrawide picture taken with iPhone 16 Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
This ultrawide shot looks like it was plucked right out of a storybook it's giving "hidden oasis" vibes. The details in the foreground are relatively sharp, the colors are balanced, and the full scope of the landscape was captured, showcasing the stream and surrounding greenery. But naturally, this was shot in low-light conditions, so the limitations of the ultrawide lens are shown with the background's lack of fine detail.
For upgraded ultrawide, check out the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Selfie
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus continue to sport a 12MP selfie camera. No, I don't mind that Apple didn't upgrade it because I can't imagine that lens getting any sharper.
Selfie taken with iPhone 16 of woman with black hair
iPhone 16 selfie Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
It's also worth noting that the iPhone 16 models, thanks to the A18 series chip inside, have new iPhone 16-exclusive Photographic Styles filters, including "Gold," "Amber," "Quiet," and "Cozy."
Woman takes selfie with Photographic Style called Quiet
"Quiet" Photographic Style Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
Woman takes selfie with Photographic Style called Natural
"Natural" Photographic Style Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
Woman takes selfie with Photographic Style called Ethereal
"Ethereal" Photographic Style Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
What makes Photographic Styles different from other filters? Well, most filters simply choose a color vibe and apply it to the whole image globally without regard for your skin tone and other precious elements in the photo. Photographic Styles, on the other hand, intelligently applies filters without completely losing the essence of the photo.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus performance
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus have a new A18 chip that's packed with a faster processor, zippier graphics, and an improved Neural Engine (the unit responsible for AI processing and machine learning).
iPhone 16 in Teal
iPhone 16 in teal colorway Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
I ran Geekbench 6, a benchmark that tests processor prowess, on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. Here are the multi-core scores:
iPhone 16 - 7,878
iPhone 16 Plus - 7,897
Um, can we talk about how these scores match a budget gaming laptop we reviewed, the Lenovo LOQ 15, which notched a multi-core score of 7,575 on the same test?
Other smartphone competitors don't even come close to these numbers. The Google Pixel 9, for example, has a nasty multi-core score of 4,358. To be fair, though, one could argue that the iPhone 16 phones are overpowered. No phone needs the power of a gaming laptop, but hey, Apple can continue to brag about its undefeated streak in the performance department.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus battery life
Apple said that the A18 chip is also energy efficient and it wasn't kidding.
Apple put bigger batteries all across the iPhone 16 lineup and it shows. We ran a TikTok rundown with the displays at 50% of brightness. Here are the results we got for each phone:
iPhone 16 - 16 hours and 20 minutes
iPhone 16 Plus - 18 hours and 53 minutes
I can't believe my eyes. The iPhone 16 Plus lasted almost 19 hours. It also outperformed the iPhone 16 Pro, which lasted 18 hours and 17 minutes. But that's not too surprising because the iPhone 16 Pro has a smaller battery compared to the iPhone 16 Plus.
The iPhone 16 has the shortest battery life in the entire lineup (the iPhone 16 Pro Max lasted more than 25 hours), but it crushed rivals like the Google Pixel 9, which lasted 16 hours and 6 minutes on a single charge.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus Apple Intelligence
Compared to the likes of Meta and Google that have gone full throttle with artificial intelligence (AI), Apple has taken a more conservative approach.
Apple Intelligence UI on an iPhone
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
It may appear that Apple is "behind," but really, the company is just taking its time. It's likely seen the feedback and backlash that consumers have had with the likes of Meta AI and Gemini and it doesn't want to follow the same footsteps.
Apple announced Apple Intelligence this year, at WWDC 2024 specifically, and outlined some new features that will drop on iOS 18. At the time, Apple said that those features will only be available on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. But now, Apple Intelligence is getting support across the entire iPhone 16 lineup.
Some Apple Intelligence features include a new-and-improved Siri, Writing Tools (get assistance tone adjustment for emails and text), call recording, the Clean Up tool (remove unwanted objects in photos), and more.
(I recommend you check out our face-off that pits Apple's Clean Up Tool against Google's Magic Eraser and Samsung's Galaxy AI.)
Apple's "Clean Up" tool
Red car in a parking lot
Left: Original photo Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
Right: Apple's "Clean Up" tool results Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
You can test all of these aforementioned features in a beta version of iOS 18 beta (but make sure you back up your iPhone before trying them out). I've tested them myself and had a relatively smooth experience with them all. However, some Apple Intelligence features, like Genmoji (lets you create your own emoji with text prompts) and Image Playground (AI-generated imagery), are not out yet not even for beta testing.
The next big update, iOS 18, officially dropped on Sept. 16. However, Apple Intelligence will start rolling out to phones sometime in October with iOS 18.1.
Are iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus worth it?
For the battery life increase alone, yes, the entry-level iPhone 16 models are worth it, but I recommend the iPhone 16 Plus even more.
Battery life anxiety is real. Nothing is worse than wondering if I'll be able to order an Uber at the end of the night because I'm only at 20%. With the iPhone 16 Plus, however, lasting nearly 19 hours on a single charge, its power efficiency makes it worth every single penny.
On top of that, there's a new Camera Control button, a tougher display, improved zoom up to 2X, the inheritance of the Action Button, and three stunning new colors (Ultramarine, Pink, and Teal). Oh, and Apple Intelligence, too. Even if you don't care about AI, you'll eventually get a sense of FOMO while everyone is sending "Genmoji" to each other. And well you can't.
The iPhone 16 starts at $799 and the iPhone 16 Plus starts at $899.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus
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Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus
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Randy Shea Gardner during a morning recess in his trial on a first-degree murder charge in Yakima County Superior Court on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. Gardner is accused of killing a man who was found buried in a Gleed barn in June 2018.
Questen Inghram is a Murrow News Fellow at the Yakima Herald-Republic whose beat focuses on government in Central Washington communities. Email qinghram@yakimaherald.com or call 509-577-7674.
This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, email news@yakimaherald.com.
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Developed: AM9C1 industrys 1st automotive SSD based on 8th Generation V-NAND
Samsung Electronics Wednesday (September 25, 2024) announced it has successfully developed the industrys first PCIe 4.0 automotive SSD based on 8th-Generation vertical NAND (V-NAND)
Wednesday September 25, 2024 1:46 PM , ummid.com Technology Desk
Korea: Samsung Electronics Wednesday (September 25, 2024) announced it has successfully developed the industrys first PCIe 4.0 automotive SSD based on 8th-Generation vertical NAND (V-NAND).
"With industry-leading speeds and enhanced reliability, the new auto SSD, AM9C1 is an optimal solution for on-device AI capabilities in automotive applications", Samsung said while launching the new memory chip.
The auto SSD AM9C1 is built on Samsungs 5-nanometer (nm) controller and providing a single-level cell (SLC) Namespace2 feature, and demonstrates high performance for easier access to large files.
By switching from its original triple-level cell (TLC) state to SLC mode, users can enjoy boosted read and write speeds of up to 4,700MB/s and 1,400MB/s, respectively, while also benefiting from the added reliability of SLC SSDs.
With about 50% improved power efficiency compared to its predecessor, the AM991, the new 256GB auto SSD will deliver sequential read and write speeds of up to 4,400 megabytes-per-second (MB/s) and 400MB/s, respectively.
AM9C1 Models
Samsung plans to offer multiple storage capacities for the AM9C1 ranging from 128GB to 2 terabytes (TB) to address the growing demand for high-capacity automotive SSDs.
The 2TB model, which is set to offer the industrys largest capacity in this product category, is scheduled to start mass production early next year.
The 256GB AM9C1 is currently being sampled by key partners and is expected to begin mass production by the end of this year.
We are collaborating with global autonomous vehicle makers and providing high-performance, high-capacity automotive products, said Hyunduk Cho, Vice President and Head of Automotive Group at Samsung Electronics Memory Business.
Samsung will continue to lead the Physical AI1 memory market that encompasses applications from autonomous driving to robotics technologies", Cho added.
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Villanova, Pa., (September 25, 2024)Natalie Schirmacher '24 CLAS has been selected as one of 29 individuals nationwide to join the inaugural cohort of Fulbright-John Lewis Civil Rights Fellows, a prestigious program established to honor the legacy of Congressman John Lewis. This fellowship is dedicated to advancing civil rights, justice and equalityboth in the U.S. and globallyreflecting Lewis lifelong commitment to nonviolent activism and social change. President Biden announced the first cohort earlier this month at the Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
In addition to being named a Fulbright-John Lewis Fellow, Schirmacher is a Fulbright U.S. Student grantee for the 2024-25 award cycle. As the recipient of the Fulbright-Tampere University Graduate Award, she is currently pursuing a masters degree in Peace, Mediation, and Conflict Research at Tampere University in Finland. Her passion for this field was sparked during her time abroad in Amman, Jordan, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Now in Finland, she continues to explore the intersection of state violence and community healing under the guidance of Dr. Elise Feron.
Schirmacher graduated from Villanova with a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies and Spanish Language and Literature, and minors in Peace and Justice, Political Science, Naval Science, and Arab and Islamic Studies. Her academic and extracurricular achievements reflect her deep commitment to justice, peace and community engagement. In addition to her academic pursuits, she was a member of Villanovas Naval ROTC program and served as the editor of the Belle Air Yearbook. A dedicated volunteer, she worked with the San Diego-based organizations Savvy Giving by Design and the Challenged Athletes Foundation, supporting vulnerable communities and fostering inclusivity.
Reflecting on her time as a CLAS student, Schirmachers most memorable experience was studying abroad in Argentina. Though my Global Interdisciplinary Studies: Latin American Studies major, I was required to study abroad, which led me to spending a semester in Buenos Aires studying social movements and human rights, she explains. It was an incredibly fulfilling and enriching opportunity, especially as I was able to bring what I had learned overseas into my Villanova classes.
Schirmachers selection as a Fulbright-John Lewis Civil Rights Fellow further solidifies Villanova Universitys legacy of cultivating scholars who embody the Augustinian ideals of truth, unity and love, while making a meaningful impact on the global stage. Villanova students regularly achieve some of the nation's highest honors, with 92 Fulbright U.S. Student Grants awarded to Villanovans since 2020, reflecting the Universitys unwavering commitment to academic excellence and service to the greater good.
About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova Universitys Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six collegesthe College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nations top universities, Villanova supports its students intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit our website.
This month's flooding of the Danube will be remembered as one of the biggest floods in the history of Hungarian water management "in which we were in serious danger", the prime minister said in an interview with commercial broadcaster TV2 on Tuesday evening.
Viktor Orban hailed the work carried out by Hungarians, saying the country was now hearing about "anecdotes and uplifting moments, but there were dangerous periods as well".
If cooperation had not been as smooth as it had been among those participating in flood defence efforts, "there could've been big trouble," he said.
Flood - Orban: Hungary has defended itself
Hungary has defended itself, "and we've now proven to ourselves many times that Hungary can do this," Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in an interview with commercial broadcaster TV2 on Tuesday evening.
Orban, who gave the interview after inspecting the flood defence work near Dunaszekcso, in the southwest, said Hungary had "defeated" the flood, and though receding flood waters could sometimes cause problems, they were not expecting any this time.
He said the water was receding fast and the peak of the flood wave would flow beyond Hungarian territory two days sooner than originally anticipated.
Hungary's defence work 'outstanding' in international comparison
The flood defence work carried out by Hungary has also been "outstanding" in an international comparison, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in an interview with commercial broadcaster TV2 on Tuesday evening.
The prime minister said one reason for this was that Hungary had always had "an advantage of two to three days" compared with the other countries battling the floods. Since most of the rain falls in the mountains, "the trouble arises there immediately", and by the time the water makes its way to Hungary, the country is better prepared, he added.
"So it's true that we've done a good job with the defence work, but we also have a positional advantage," the prime minister said.
He said with the flood wave flowing beyond the country's territory, the next very important phase in the flood defence would involve a public health clean-up.
Defence minister rejects Tisza leader's 'attacks' against troops
Hungary's defence minister on Tuesday rejected what he called "attacks" by Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition Tisza Party, against soldiers contributing to the flood defence efforts.
"The flood isn't over yet," Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky said in a video posted on Facebook. "The Hungarian troops remain on the dams."
"I reject the left-wing firebrand's renewed attacks against Hungarian professional and reservist soldiers who have been tasked with, and performed admirably in protecting Hungarians' property, lives and safety," the minister said.
"Enough with this theatre on the dams,"Szalay-Bobrovniczky said, calling on Magyar to go back to Brussels and look after his duties as an MP.
"Defence of the homeland is no joke," he said, adding that peace required strength, and vowed to "continue the work".
Retvari: Danube receding in Hungary
The River Danube has fully peaked and is receding in Hungary, though flood alerts will stay in place until Saturday afternoon, an interior ministry official said.
The water level is receding along the entire section, but flood defence operations are still ongoing at 29 locations where the state is overseeing tasks and at another 41 locations managed by local councils, parliamentary state secretary Bence Retvari told a press conference after a meeting of the operative body in charge of flood protection.
All post-flood sites are being disinfected according to detailed guidelines provided to local authorities by the national public health centre, he said.
Source:
MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.
The 21st Verzio program has been curated by a new programming team. Running from November 6-13, it offers both award-winning films and hidden gems.
This year, Verzio will dedicate special sections to the themes of decolonization and disinformation, and will also showcase Armenian, Ukrainian, and British selections.
The festival's opening film will be the Hungarian-French-Croatian co-production KIX, a film about skateboarder kids, making its Hungarian debut.
Verzio helps us uncover the problems that are often hidden behind false surfaces, bringing us closer to reality. All the films are concerned with breaking down the mainstream narratives and unpacking critical issues, which is why this year's key visual is built around the slogan "Reality Uncovered."
This year's program was curated by a renewed programming team. The 21st Verzio Film Festival will feature 60 films across four competition categories and eight thematic sections. The curation team aimed to include films that have toured major festivals and won numerous awards, as well as lesser-known worksfilms that audiences are unlikely to encounter elsewhere.
In selecting the films, the goal was to showcase diverse perspectives on current social, political, human rights, and environmental issues, while also ensuring that we find outstanding films that offer a true cinematic experience, says Program Director Fanni Somlyai.
Additionally, the festival aims to represent a wide variety of themes, ranging from Japanese #MeToo stories to the war in Ukraine. The films range from global issues to the most personal stories, with a variety of tones and styles, adds Festival Director Eniko Gyuresko. The curatorial team selected the program from over 750 submissions.
The festival's opening film is KIX, directed by Balint Revesz and David Mikulan. It follows 12 years in the life of a young boy from Budapest, Sanyi, as he grows from a rambunctious child into an adult labelled a public enemy.
The documentary offers a snapshot of urban poverty and social marginalisation. Its world premiere took place at CPH:DOX, Europes most prestigious documentary festival, and it has since been featured at international festivals from the U.S. to Taiwan.
The films Hungarian premiere will be at the Verzio opening ceremony at Trafo, with tickets already available.
Restoring identity and cultural heritage and addressing historical injustices are pressing issues worldwide. Discussions surrounding these topics shed new light on the past and help shape a more just future.
This year, Verzio dedicates a special section to the complex issue of decolonization. This thematic block includes the Golden Bear-winning Dahomey by Mati Diop, which follows the heated debates surrounding the return of artefacts from Paris to present-day Benin. The film will be shown in Hungary for the first time at Verzio, with a wider cinema release planned for 2025.
Verzio also highlights Ukrainian films this year. The decade-long war and Russian aggression in Ukraine have caused unimaginable destruction, yet the Ukrainian documentary community has shown remarkable resilience and creativity. One standout in this focus is Intercepted, a film that juxtaposes intercepted phone calls between Russian soldiers and their families with the grim realities of war.
A prominent entry in the Hungarian competition is Your Life Without Me by Anna Rubi, which premiered at the Sarajevo Film Festival and won the Human Rights Award for documentaries.
The film touches on the necessity of care, the situation of people with disabilities, and the omnipotence of maternal love. Rubis first feature-length documentary follows mothers involved in the home-care case led by the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) and their severely disabled children. The films Hungarian streaming debut will be on RTL Plus.
A compelling entry in the international competition is Favoriten, a film by Austrian director Ruth Beckermann. A frequent participant at Verzio, Beckermann's latest film follows a primary school class in Vienna over three years, where more than 60% of the students are non-native German speakers. The result is an unexpectedly cheerful portrait of an unusual community.
This year's Verzio also features a British documentary focus, with films like Black Box Diaries by Shiori Ito, which covers the famous Japanese #MeToo case, and Celluloid Underground by Iranian-born director Ehsan Khoshbakht.
For the first time, Verzio will dedicate a section to Armenian films, offering perspectives on the tragedy of the Nagorno-Karabakh war. 1489, one of the highlights, documents a young boys search for his missing brother through his phone. The film won Best Film and the FIPRESCI Prize at the most recent IDFA festival.
Disinformation in the digital age is a particularly important issue, as false news can spread quickly through social media, eroding public trust and causing deep societal divides. Verzio dedicates a special block to this theme, including the film Black Snow, in which a civil investigation into a Soviet-era mine fire becomes the target of a massive government disinformation campaign.
The full program of the documentary film festival will be available in early October, and tickets for the opening film are already on sale: https://trafo.jegy.hu/search?q=Verzio
The curators for the competition and thematic sections are Zsuzsa Debre, Asia Der, Peter Horanyi, Szabolcs Szirony, Eniko Gyuresko, and Fanni Somlyai. The Viewfinder section was curated by Oksana Sarkisova, while the queer competition was curated by Czech expert Kristyna Genttnerova.
Festival screenings and events will take place at Toldi and Muvesz Cinemas, Trafo, CEU Budapest, and Adapter.
After the cinema screenings, films will also be available online from November 14-24 on Verzio's streaming platform Verzioteka: https://festival.verzio.org/.
Key supporters of the festival include the Hatter Society, the U.S. Embassy, the Heinrich Boll Stiftung, the British Council, the Dutch Human Rights Fund, and UNHCR Central Europe. The Verzio Film Festival is organized by the nonprofit Verzio Film Foundation and the Blinken OSA Archivum, with primary support from the Creative Europe MEDIA program.
More:
https://festival.verzio.org
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Jivitputrika Vrat, also known as Jitiya Vrat, will be observed on September 25, 2024. On this sacred occasion, mothers undertake a strict fast without food or water, performing rituals to pray for their children's well-being and prosperity.
The Jivitputrika Vrat is observed on Krishna Paksha Ashtami in the month of Ashwin, as per the Hindu lunar calendar. This significant fast is widely followed in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, and is also popular in Nepal.
Timings for Jivitputrika Vrat 2024:
- Ashtami Tithi Begins: 12:38 PM on Sep 24, 2024
- Ashtami Tithi Ends: 12:10 PM on Sep 25, 2024
Significance of Jivitputrika Vrat
This vrat holds profound importance for mothers, who observe rigorous fasting rituals to seek blessings for their childrens health, longevity, and prosperity. The fast, known as Nirjala Vrat (without food or water), showcases the immense devotion and selflessness of a mother.
Jivitputrika Vrat 2024: Rituals and Observance
Jivitputrika Vrat is predominantly celebrated in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal. On this day, mothers follow a series of rituals, including:
- Early Morning Bath: Mothers begin the day with a purifying bath to cleanse themselves and prepare for the day-long fast.
- Cleaning the Puja Area: Homes, especially the puja rooms, are cleaned to create a pure and sacred space for the rituals.
- Offering Water to Lord Surya: The rituals start by offering water to Lord Surya (the Sun God) for his blessings.
- Worshipping Jimutavahana: An idol of Jimutavahana, a king known for his sacrifice, is placed and worshipped. A diya is lit with ghee, and offerings such as akshat (rice grains), flowers, and banana leaves are made.
- Reciting Jitiya Vrat Katha: The Jitiya Vrat Katha, the story of King Jimutavahanas selflessness, is recited, invoking blessings for children's health and long life.
- Breaking the Fast: The fast lasts for 24 hours. The next day, after offering prayers to Lord Surya, the fast is broken with special traditional dishes prepared for the occasion.
Jivitputrika Vrat 2024: Do's and Don'ts of Jitiya Vrat
Dos:
- Follow a Complete Fast: Mothers observe a Nirjala fast, refraining from food and water.
- Perform Puja Rituals: Devote time to puja and offer prayers with sincerity.
- Recite the Vrat Katha: Listening or reading the Jitiya Vrat Katha is essential to invoke blessings for your children.
Donts:
- Avoid Distractions: Stay focused and maintain a peaceful environment during the vrat.
- Refrain from Eating or Drinking: The fast should be strictly observed without food or water.
- Avoid Negativity: Keep negative thoughts and actions at bay to maintain a positive spiritual atmosphere.
New Delhi: Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the Indian arm of South Korean automaker Hyundai, has received capital markets regulator Sebi's approval to float an initial public offering (IPO), people familiar with the development said on Wednesday.
This development marks a significant milestone for the Indian industry, as it is the first automaker initial share-sale in over two decades, following Japanese automaker Maruti Suzuki's listing in 2003.
Hyundai Motor India's proposed IPO is entirely an Offer-for-Sale (OFS) of 142,194,700 equity shares by promoter Hyundai Motor Company, with no fresh issue component, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed in June.
The South Korean parent is diluting some of the stake through the OFS route.Since the public issue is completely an OFS, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, which is the second largest carmaker in India after Maruti Suzuki India, will not receive any proceeds from the IPO.
People familiar with the development said that Hyundai Motor India has received an email from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) approving its IPO.
In its draft papers, Hyundai Motor India stated that it expects that the listing of the equity shares "will enhance our visibility and brand image and provide liquidity and a public market for the shares".
In February this year, sources confirmed that the South Korean automaker is looking to raise at least USD 3 billion through an IPO. It may dilute a 15-20 per cent stake to raise funds in the range of USD 3.3-5.6 billion, sources had stated.
Hyundai Motor India commenced operations in India in 1996 and currently sells 13 models across segments. Last month, electric two-wheeler company Ola Electric Mobility got listed on the bourses after the successful completion of its Rs 6,145-crore initial share sale.
New Delhi: As the tragic death of 26 year old Anna Sebastian, an Ernst & Young (EY) employee sparks widespread outrage, new details have emerged. Senior government official who spoke to Reuters revealed that the companys Pune office, operating since 2007 lacked the required labor welfare permit. This permit which regulates work hours was missing, raising serious concerns about employee well-being.
The tragic death of audit executive Anna Sebastian Perayil has put Ernst & Young (EY) under intense scrutiny, with her mother blaming an "overwhelming" workload in a letter to the chairman of EY India. This heartbreaking incident has sparked a federal investigation.
There is an increasing demand for better protections for employees in high-stress roles, especially in light of the recent death of a junior banker at Bank of America in May. JPMorgan has created a new position focused on managing workplace stress to tackle these concerns. Moreover, Shailendra Pol, Maharashtra's additional labor commissioner, pointed out that EY's Pune office has been operating without the required registration under the state's Shops and Establishments Act. This limits work hours to a maximum of nine per day and 48 per week.
Shailendra Pol revealed that EY applied for the necessary registration only in February 2024. He also said that their application was rejected due to the companys failure to register since opening its Pune office in 2007. EY has been given seven days to address this issue; if they fail to comply, they could face penalties of up to six months in prison or fines reaching Rs 5,00,000, or both.
Ey India did not respond right away to Reuters request for comment. However, the company has emphasized its dedication to employee well-being and assured that it is taking the familys concerns seriously. In a letter by Anita Augustine, Annas mother which gained significant attention, highlighted her daughter's "backbreaking" workload, mentioning that she often worked late into the night and on weekends without any time off.
Perayil's family has reported that she passed away from cardiac arrest. Shailendra Pol's team is also looking into EYs employee work hours, welfare policies and whether excessive workloads were imposed during Perayils four-month tenure as an associate. EY reportedly has around 100,000 employees across its member firms in India.
Gujarat: Seven people lost their lives, and one was critically injured when a speeding car collided with a trailer truck near Himatnagar in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district early Wednesday morning, according to police reports. Superintendent of Police Vijay Patel confirmed that seven occupants of the car were killed in the accident. Himmatnagar Deputy SP, AK Patel, stated, "This morning, a car collided with a heavy vehicle on the Himmatnagar highway. Seven individuals traveling in the car have died, and one person is injured. All were residents of Ahmedabad."
VIDEO | Gujarat: At least seven people were killed in a car-trailer collision in Himmatnagar earlier today. More details are awaited.
(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/AHFD24fJl2 September 25, 2024
#WATCH | Sabarkantha, Gujarat | A car collided with a heavy vehicle in Himmatnagar. The police and fire department present at the spot. Injuries and casualties feared. More details awaited. pic.twitter.com/kHGz5tkl30 ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2024
The car, en route from Shamlaji to Ahmedabad, struck the trailer from behind on a national highway, Himatnagar police confirmed. Superintendent of Police Vijay Patel stated that all seven car passengers were killed in the crash. Reports indicate that the tragic incident occurred on the Himmatnagar highway around 6 a.m. Police have taken custody of the bodies and sent them for post-mortem. Initial investigations suggest that the accident was caused by driver negligence. Authorities are actively continuing their investigation into the matter.
Chandigarh: After wrapping up his three-day 'successful' visit to the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to return to the election arena of Haryana, where Assembly polls are scheduled for October 5. The Prime Minister will hold his second public meeting in the state on Wednesday to woo electorates of 22 Assembly constituencies and the BJP aims to make this rally a grand success with a record attendance of crowds. The public meeting will be held in Gohana in Sonipat district.
Organisers said on Tuesday that the preparations for the rally are in full swing and a special aluminium 'pandal' has been erected at the site. Three helipads have been prepared near the rally site, where helicopter takeoff and landing rehearsals were conducted on Monday.
Several senior BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, will share the dais with the Prime Minister. BJP candidates from this region will also attend the rally, which is expected to see tens of thousands of crowds. Party leaders and workers have been asked to make the Prime Minister's rally a grand success. The rally is being considered crucial as it will be covering voters of 22 Assembly constituencies -- 18 falling under the Sonipat and Rohtak Lok Sabha constituencies and four under the Panipat district.
In view of the rally, several traffic routes have been diverted by the district administration to avoid any inconvenience to the public. Buildings in the surrounding area have been vacated and kept under police supervision. BJP district president Jasbir Dodwa has said that the rally will be historic.
Prime Minister Modi held his first rally in Kurukshetra on September 15 and launched the BJP's campaign, aiming to retain the helm in the state for the third straight term. In that rally Prime Minister Modi sought votes for 23 candidates whose seats fall in districts along the GT Road belt, comprising Panchkula, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal and Panipat districts and parts of Yamunanagar, Sonipat and Kaithal. Polling for Haryana's 90-member Legislative Assembly is scheduled to take place on October 5 while the votes will be counted on October 8.
Ghaziabad: BJP's MLA Nand Kishor Gurjar on Wednesday backed party's Lok Sabha member Kangana Ranaut's remarks on bringing back the three farm laws that were withdrawn by the Centre in November 2021 after an intense protest by farmers.
Gurjar, the MLA from Loni assembly segment in Ghaziabad, made the statement even as Ranaut withdrew her remarks that kicked up a political furore. The ruling BJP had by then distanced itself from her comments.
"What Kangana Ranaut said was that there were dead bodies hanging in the farmers' movement, the whole country and the world have seen this. But no one wants to hear the truth. The farmers of this country are demanding everywhere today that the Prime Minister, who has worked to change the lives of farmers and the poor, should implement these bills," Gurjar said in a video statement.
"In this, I fully support what Kangana Ranaut has said. This is not the first time I am saying this. I have been saying this since day one," the MLA added.
However, the BJP lawmaker, who had briefly hogged the limelight for allegedly intimidating a group of protesting farmers at Ghazipur, backed Kangana's remarks. Ghazipur border on Delhi's outskirts was a key site of farmers' stir against the farm laws.
Gurjar said the Narendra Modi government has worked for improving the lives of farmers, who contribute majorly to the GDP.
"There was a web of middlemen (aadhti). Farmers could not take their produce and sell it anywhere. Policemen used to harass them. All these provisions were removed and three new provisions (bills) were brought which were aimed to uplift the farmers," he said.
He further claimed that when these bills came, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait had said that his father's dream had been fulfilled as 'Baba' (Mahendra Singh) Tikait, had kept fighting for all three bills.
"But then Khalistanis, ISI and all these people got active (in this). I am not saying this, it is a proven thing. The tricolor was taken down. They would have created a situation like Bangladesh. So this was a matter of protest by the farmers," he said.
Ranaut on Wednesday withdrew her remarks calling for bringing back the three farm laws and said those were her personal opinions and did not represent the party's stand. The actor-politician had said that since she was a BJP member now her statements should be in line with her party's policies.
The Congress on Tuesday had shared Ranaut's video on X in which the actor-politician said: "Farm laws that have been repealed should be brought back. I think this may get controversial. The laws in farmers' interest be brought back. Farmers should themselves demand this (to bring farm laws back) so that there is no hindrance to their prosperity."
"Farmers are a pillar of strength in India's progress. Only in some states, they had objected to farm laws. I appeal with folded hands that farm laws should be brought back in the interest of farmers," she had said.
The proposed bills of Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act -- were repealed in November 2021.
The farmers' protest that started in November 2020 concluded after the Parliament repealed the three laws in November 2021.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday concluded suo motu proceedings initiated over alleged inappropriate comments made by a Karnataka High Court judge during court hearings. A five-judge bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud noted that Karnataka High Court Judge Justice Vedavyasachar Srishananda, who made the controversial remarks, had issued an apology for his comments in open court on September 21.
"We can't call any part of the territory of India as Pakistan," the CJI said. The bench, which included Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B.R. Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, emphasized that courts must exercise caution and avoid making remarks during judicial proceedings that could be seen as misogynistic or prejudicial to any community.
"Casual observations may well reflect a certain degree of individual bias, particularly when they are likely to be perceived as being directed to a particular gender or community," the bench remarked.
The top court had, on September 20, taken suo motu notice of the high court judge's alleged objectionable comments directed at a woman lawyer during proceedings in a case, as well as his reference to a Muslim-majority area in Bengaluru as "Pakistan."
In viral video clips, Justice Srishananda was seen reprimanding a woman lawyer and reportedly made inappropriate comments when she intervened in an ongoing hearing. In a separate case regarding a landlord-tenant dispute, the judge referred to a Muslim-dominated locality in Bengaluru as "Pakistan."
"At this stage, we request the Registrar General of the High Court of Karnataka to submit a report to this court after seeking administrative directions from the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka regarding the subject matter referenced above," the apex court stated on September 20.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress party during a rally in Haryana's Sonipat on Wednesday, accusing it of opposing reservations and suppressing Dalits. Modi claimed that it is in the Congress party's DNA to deceive backward castes, asserting that the party has consistently cheated those from marginalized communities.
He claimed that the support for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is growing in Haryana, stating that the Congress is rapidly losing its grip on the state as the assembly elections approach.
#WATCH | Haryana: Addressing a public rally in Sonipat, PM Modi says, "Congress has cheated the people who belong to Dalits, backward castes. There is infighting in Congress, this is a result of old sins. Before 2014 when Congress was in power and Hooda was the Chief Minister, pic.twitter.com/VOhUJuuw3I ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2024
There is infighting in Congress, this is a result of old sins. Before 2014 when Congress was in power and Hooda was the Chief Minister, there was not a single year when injustice was not done to Dalits....Whoever speaks against these anti-dalit actions, Congress starts conspiring against them, PM said while addressing the crowd.
Accusing Congress of giving birth to corruption in India, Modi said, Congress had handed over Haryana to middlemen (dalal) and sons-in-law (damad). There wasnt a single job in Haryana that didnt involve bribes or recommendations."
#WATCH | Addressing a public rally in Sonipat, PM Modi says, "Wherever the Congress government came to power, they did a lot of corruption...Congress is the party that gave birth to and nurtured corruption in India's government system. Congress is the mother of corruption in pic.twitter.com/AoBv3eHycc ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2024
Modi went on to slam Congress-led government in Karnataka by saying, The Chief Minister is facing accusations of involvement in a land scam. The Karnataka High Court upheld the investigation orders yesterday, stating that the probe must proceed. The Congress party has also been accused of misappropriating funds intended for Dalits. Allegations suggest that there is no party more dishonest than the Congress in the entire nation."
During the rally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a brief yet notable interaction with a young boy in the crowd who had sketched his portrait. Modi asked the boy to pass the drawing to his security team, assuring him of a personal letter in return.
Meanwhile, ahead of Modi's rally in Sonipat, the Congress asserted that Haryana's farmers have completely lost faith in the BJP. The party challenged Modi to clearly outline his partys plan for ensuring that farmers in the state can earn a decent livelihood.
The voting for Haryanas 90-member legislative assembly is scheduled for October 5, with the counting of votes set for October 8, alongside the tallying in Jammu and Kashmir.
Srinagar: Senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi will address two party poll rallies in J&K on Wednesday. Rahul Gandhi will first hold an interaction immediately after his arrival in Jammu with professionals at the Radisson hotel in the city. The interaction will start around 11.25 am. After the interaction, he will address a Congress campaign rally at JK Resort ground in Jammu at 12.30 pm, a Congress leader said. He added that the second Congress campaign rally will be addressed by Rahul Gandhi in the Sopore town of Baramulla district of the Valley. This public meeting will take place at the government Higher Secondary School ground at Dangarpora in Sopore around 3.25 pm on Monday.
Rahul Gandhi held two public meetings in J&K on September 23, one at Surankote in Poonch district of Jammu division and the other at central Shalteng assembly constituency in Srinagar district. JKPCC president, Tariq Hameed Karra is fighting the election from the central Shalteng constituency of Srinagar district.
National Conference (NC) and Congress are fighting J&K Assembly elections in a pre-poll alliance. As per the terms of the alliance, NC will contest 52 and Congress on 31 Assembly constituencies. Both parties have left two seats uncontested, one for the CPI-M in the Valley and the other for the Panthers Party in the Jammu division.
These two alliance partners could not reach a consensus on five assembly seats of Sopore in the Valley and Banihal, Nagrota, Kishtwar and Doda in the Jammu division. Both parties have fielded candidates at these five constituencies, who will engage in a friendly contest with each other. Voting for the second phase of J&K polls is scheduled on Wednesday while voting for the third and final phase will take place on October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.
The percentage of Black, Latino and Indigenous students in UW-Madisons Class of 2028 has dropped, despite a record number of applications, following last years Supreme Court ruling that barred consideration of race in college applications.
Data released by UW-Madison on Monday showed the percentage of Black students in the freshman class dropped by a third, comprising 3% of the freshman class last fall to 2.1% of the incoming class this year. The number of students who identify as Indigenous dropped from 22 in last years class to 13 this year, a 40% decrease.
The percentage of Latino students dropped by 15%, from 10% of last falls freshman class to 8.5%. Enrollment of Asian students as a percentage dropped slightly by 0.2%, but the number of Asian freshman students increased.
The percentage of white students increased in UW-Madisons freshman class, from 58% to 60.4%.
There is a caveat: Fewer prospective students included their race on their admissions forms following the Supreme Court ruling. The percentage of applicants who declined to include their race increased from 3.2% to 4.2% over last year.
In 2023, the conservative-majority Supreme Court barred the consideration of race in college admissions for both public and private universities following lawsuits, ruling it violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution. The lawsuits, filed by Students for Fair Admissions against Harvard and the University of North Carolina, sought to end race-based admissions criteria after a group of anonymous Asian students claimed they had been denied admission and were discriminated against in favor of race-balancing.
UW-Madison previously had considered race as part of a holistic admissions process that had put its largest emphasis on academic strengths, a statement from the university said. UW-Madison had anticipated a decrease in minority students following the Supreme Courts affirmative action ruling.
Though declines are disappointing, I want to be clear that our commitment to these students and their communities remains steadfast, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said in the statement. We are fully committed to further efforts to build a campus community that welcomes people from all identities, lived experiences, perspectives and beliefs, and to do this work in ways that comply with the law and align with our mission and our values.
The fallout from the Supreme Courts affirmative action ruling has been mixed, as most expected Black student enrollment would fall and enrollment of Asian students would rise. Most elite schools have fewer Black students, with notable exceptions of Yale and Duke universities, where the percentage of Black students stayed the same or rose while Asian student enrollment declined.
At Harvard, where the percentage of Asian students was expected to increase, their representation was stagnant.
Students for Fair Admissions already is considering lawsuits against universities where Asian enrollment has declined this year, including Yale, Duke and Princeton universities, accusing those schools of not complying with the Supreme Courts ruling.
In its statement, UW-Madison touted its recruitment initiatives seeking to increase the number of students from low-income Milwaukee neighborhoods and small towns and rural areas throughout Wisconsin with nonprofit All-In Milwaukee and UW-Madisons College for Rural Wisconsin program.
Second-largest freshman class
The Class of 2028 is UW-Madisons second-largest class to date, with 8,516 new freshmen. It also accepted 1,375 transfer students, up 21.1% from last year.
The freshman class is 112 students shy of the largest freshman class in history, enrolled in fall 2022, as more students than anticipated accepted UW-Madisons admissions offer that year and wreaked havoc on the universitys ability to house them all. UW-Madison corrected last fall, admitting thousands fewer students and making the now-sophomore class 7.7% smaller than the year before.
UW-Madison again will break its own record, set just last year, for its highest enrollment, with 52,126 students, up 2.6% from last fall. UW-Madison cracked 50,000 students just last year and has grown 13% in the last five years. Enrollment in 2019 was 45,000 students.
Madison also received thousands more applications than last year, with 65,933 students vying to be freshman Badgers, up 3.8% from the previous admissions cycle. The university received 70,449 total freshman and transfer applications.
The percentage of Pell Grant-eligible students at UW-Madison has increased as well, from 16.7% last fall to 20.9% this year. Nearly 1,150 freshmen received UW-Madisons Pell Pathway waiver program, which eliminates remaining tuition, fees and housing costs after all scholarship and other private aid has been used. Another 750 freshmen qualified for the tuition waiver program that picks up the remaining tab for just tuition and fees.
Seventy-three Indigenous students are part of the universitys inaugural tribal promise program, a third tuition-waiver program announced last December offering aid based on political status as a tribal member, with 31 of them being new students.
Across the UW system
Part of the U.S. Department of Educations initiatives in its revised Free Application for Federal Student Aid was to increase accessibility of Pell Grants, reserved for low-income students, which dont have to be repaid. Its rollout, however, was disastrous and resulted in nearly 10% fewer FAFSA applications in Wisconsin. That worried UW system officials that Universities of Wisconsin enrollment would decrease as a result.
Across the UW system, enrollment is expected to increase by 1,058, based on first-day enrollment numbers. The increase, largely set off by growth at UW-Madison, is the second year of enrollment growth following nearly a decade of declines.
UW-Madisons official increase of 1,463 slightly outpaces the UW systems projections of 1,394 more students at the university.
Eight of the UW systems 13 universities, including UW-Madison, were projected to grow by a few dozen or hundred students. Those increases offset triple-digit decreases elsewhere in the UW system, including UW-Oshkosh and UW-Platteville, which are expecting around 4% enrollment dips.
And of the remaining nine branch campuses, five of them are projected to lose students. UW-Stevens Point attributes steep decreases at its two branch campuses in Marshfield and Wausau to fewer dual-enrollment high school students. Two other branch campuses, in Waukesha County and in the Fox Cities, are already slated to close at the end of the year.
A few months later, we will step into the year 2025. Here comes a year of great films to watch. Below are the top 2025 movies to watch, which are bound to create enthusiasm among the audience in regard to their release.
Mission Impossible 8
This movie will definitely be a visual treat for those who love action movies. They will get to witness the action sequences of Tom Cruise again on the big screen as Ethan Hunt. After Hunt finds out the two keys at the end of Dead Reckoning, this movie revolves around his mission to relocate the lost Sevastopol submarine while stopping the Entity, an AI program. Other actors in this movie are Haley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Ving Rhames, Pom Klementieff, and Esai Morales.
Paddington In Peru
The audience has loved the Paddington franchise. Now, it is set to bring its third release to the big screen at the beginning of 2025. The Paddington bear has been a loved character. This movie highlights the latest adventure in the Amazonian rainforest. Directed by Dougal Wilson and voiced by Ben Whishaw, this movie will be released in November 2024 in the UK. The audience will have to wait till early January 2025 for its wide release.
Mickey 7
Bong Joon-ho, the director of Parasite, is back with this movie. It is a complete science-fiction genre movie adapted from the novel by Edward Ashton-Mickey 7. In the sci-fi, Robert Pattinson is just an expendable employee with a cloned brain placed in a new body whenever he is killed and, on a mission, to establish a new colony on a distant planet. Other stars include Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, and Steven Yeun.
In The Grey
It appears that the 'tough guy' is taken into a new action movie by Guy Ritchie with the help of Jake Gyllenhaal. Mark Ritchie's war thriller People's Covenant star Catalina Gyllenhaal joined Cavill and Gonzalez, who both joined Ritchie in his recent film Ungentlemanly Warfare.
Disney's Snow White
Despite some of them being heavily criticized by reviewers, most of Disney's live-action cartoon film remakes have succeeded at the theatrical turnstile. Rachel Zegler of West Side Story plays Snow White; Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. The movie was directed by Marc Webb of The Amazing Spider-Man, while Gerta Gerwig was the scriptwriter for the movie.
Ramayana
The mythological movie has stars like Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, apart from there Yash as Ravana. Kangana Ranaut plays Peshwa Bajirao's role and her namesake in Mastani, Bajirao Mashal, Saif Ali Khan plays the Laxman's role, and Neetu Chandra as Dattatraya Brahmin. It is stated that the great show will be set in three parts, and the first of them is slated to be launched in Diwali 2025. Filled with action and drama with visual effects, Ramayana is set to be a powerful telling of this epic focused on the human aspect neglected in the most telling of the story.
Robbie Williams
"Robbie Williams" is a much-anticipated British biopic film. This story focuses on Williams' career, substance dependence problems, and interpersonal relationships. With songs such as 'Angels,' and 'Let Me Entertain You,' this biopic seems to embrace one of the biggest music industry icons with musical prowess like no other. The cast includes Robbie Williams, Jason Sudeikis, & Sally Hawkins.
Undoubtedly, there will be a great deal of movie lovers' expectations in 2025 because many exciting movies will be available there. In terms of the genres throughout the years, everything starts with blockbusters. It moves to inspirational biopics, with animated films for children and horror movies that come through the cold nights. First of all, to be real fans of Marvel superheroes, loving literary adaptations and interesting sequels, people will be able to come to the cinema and watch new stories that will mesmerize and inspire them. Check out Open Sky News to get updates.
(This article is part of IndiaDotCom Pvt Lts sponsored feature, a paid publication programme. IDPL claims no editorial involvement and assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content of the article.)
Special Court in Bengaluru ordered on Wednesday that the Karnataka Lokayukta investigate in MUDA case allegations against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The Karnataka Lokayukta's police in Mysuru have been tasked with conducting the investigation and are expected to submit their report within three months.
This decision follows the Special court's order, which came after the Karnataka High Court lifted its stay that had been in place since August 19. The stay has previously denied any action on the complaints against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
CM Siddaramaiah on the allegation of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites worth Rs 56 crore to his wife Parvathi by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
The order was issued in response to a petition field by social activist Snehamayi Krishna.
"FIR will have to be registered as per the order. Mysuru Lokayukta jurisdiction will register an FIR and do the investigation," Advocate Vasant Kumar said, ANI reported.
He added that the Chief Minister must resign so the Lokayukta can investigate transparently.
Reacting to the Special Court decision, Siddaramaiah said that he is ready to face the investigation and continue the legal fight.
"It has come to my attention through the media that the Special Court for Elected Representatives has ordered an investigation by the Mysuru Lokayukta. I will provide a detailed response after reviewing the full copy of the order. I am ready to face the investigation and continue the legal fight. As I said yesterday, I repeat today: there is no question of fearing an investigation; I am determined to face everything. After discussing with legal experts, I will decide the next course of action," the Karnataka CM said in a post on X.
After the second phase of polling concluded in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)asserted that J&K will never have a BJP government and no "secular government" can be formed without the support of her party. She also expressed that she can support the formation of any "secular government" in Jammu and Kashmir to keep the BJP out of power.
"Jammu and Kashmir will never have a BJP government. There will be a secular government in J-K. Whatever government is formed in Jammu and Kashmir, PDP will be an important factor," Mufti said.
She further added, "Without PDP's support, no secular government can be formed in Jammu and Kashmir."
Reacting to whether she would join hands with the National Conference for government formation, she said, "Our aim is to keep the BJP away from power. The PDP will support the formation of any secular government in Jammu and Kashmir to keep BJP away."
Mehbooba Mufti also responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modis criticism of the "three families," recalling how her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, "upheld the Indian flag" during times of unrest in Kashmir.
Campaigning for her party candidates in Bisnah, R S Pura, and Jammu, she criticised PM Narendra Modi for labelling the Mufti family as anti-national and blaming them for the rise of terrorism.
"They come here to criticize us. They have nothing to offer to the people. Whose opposition are they leading? Mufti Mohammad Sayeeds party, the same man who, since the 1960s, has upheld Indias flag high in Kashmir," she said.
"When the National Conference campaigned for independence and talked about joining Pakistan, it was Mufti Sahab who upheld and raised the Indian flag in Kashmir. And now, they call his party anti-national," the PDP chief added,
V.P. Nandakumar, CEO and Managing Director, the visionary behind Manappuram Finance, has masterfully guided the company from being a traditional gold loan provider to a diversified financial powerhouse. Under his leadership, Manappuram Finance has embraced a forward-thinking approach to business, strategically expanding its portfolio to encompass various financial services. This diversification has not only strengthened the company's market position but also ensured sustainable growth and profitability in an ever-evolving financial landscape, says Mr. Nandakumar.
A Strategic Shift Beyond Gold Loans
For decades, Manappuram Finance was synonymous with gold loans, a segment that brought substantial success and recognition. However, V.P. Nandakumar's leadership recognised that relying solely on gold loans would limit the companys potential in the long term. With a clear vision to broaden the company's horizon, Nandakumar initiated a diversification strategy that aimed at reducing dependency on a single line of business. His approach involved leveraging Manappuram Finances extensive customer base, operational efficiency, and strong brand reputation to foray into other high-growth segments of the financial services market.
Manappuram Finances diversification strategy has been comprehensive and multi-faceted, mentions V.P. Nandakumar. The company expanded its portfolio to include microfinance, housing finance, vehicle loans, and small and medium enterprise (SME) lending. Each of these verticals was chosen after careful market analysis, keeping in mind the demand dynamics and the companys core competencies, added Nandakumar. The company recognised the critical need to promote financial inclusion and entered the microfinance sector, offering small loans to low-income households, particularly in underserved rural areas. This move not only supports the company's mission of empowering the economically disadvantaged but also taps into a largely untapped market.
Responding to the increasing demand for affordable housing, we ventured into housing finance, providing loans for home purchases, construction, and renovation, thus meeting the needs of both urban and semi-urban customers. Additionally, with the rising demand for personal and commercial vehicles, our horizon expanded into vehicle loans, offering tailored financial solutions to individuals and businesses alike, says V.P. Nandakumar. Furthermore, recognising the pivotal role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indias economy, Manappuram Finances focus on SME lending has facilitated easy access to credit, fostering entrepreneurship and supporting economic growth across the country. This diversified approach not only strengthens Manappuram Finances market position but also enhances its role in driving socio-economic development.
Rationale Behind the Diversification Strategy
The rationale behind Manappuram Finances diversification moves is rooted in creating a resilient business model capable of withstanding market fluctuations. By expanding into multiple financial services, the company has mitigated risks associated with relying solely on gold loans. This diversification strategy aligns with the company's long-term goal of sustainable growth and value creation for shareholders, mentions V.P. Nandakumar. Nandakumar's approach to diversification also reflects his understanding of changing customer needs and market trends. The financial services industry is rapidly evolving, with customers seeking more than just traditional loan products. Manappuram Finances diversified offerings ensure that it remains relevant and competitive in a market that increasingly favors comprehensive financial solutions.
Future Diversification and Growth Plans
Looking ahead, Manappuram Finance is poised to continue its growth trajectory through further diversification and expansion. The company is exploring opportunities in digital lending and fintech collaborations to enhance its service delivery and customer experience. By embracing digital transformation, we aim to reach a wider audience and streamline its operations, making financial services more accessible and convenient, says Nandakumar.
While concluding, V.P. Nandakumar mentions, Taking Manappuram Finance beyond gold loans has not only diversified the companys revenue streams but has also solidified its position as a leading player in the financial services sector. Through strategic diversification, Manappuram Finance has achieved sustainable growth, tapping into new markets and customer segments.
(This article is part of IndiaDotCom Pvt Lts sponsored feature, a paid publication programme. IDPL claims no editorial involvement and assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content of the article.)
Inspector Sanjay Shinde, who shot Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case, claimed that Akshay had threatened to harm everyone after seizing a pistol inside a police van. Akshay's death has ignited controversy between Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti government and the opposition, ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls. On September 20, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) submitted charge sheets in a special POCSO court in Badlapur, according to police reports. The first charge sheet was filed on September 16, and the second on September 19. Additionally, the Mumbra police registered an FIR against Akshay Shinde for "attempt to murder" after he allegedly opened fire on a police officer.
Badlapur Assault Case: 10 Pointers
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday emphasized that the investigation into the killing of Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case, during a shoot-out must be conducted fairly and impartially. The court remarked that the shoot-out might have been avoidable if the police had first attempted to restrain Shinde. It also expressed skepticism over claims that Shinde was able to snatch a pistol from a police officer and open fire. The 23-year-old, arrested on August 17 for allegedly sexually abusing two girls in a school toilet, was being transported from Taloja Central Jail to the Thane Crime Branch office under transit remand. During the journey, Shinde reportedly grabbed a police officers pistol and fired at them near the Mumbra bypass. A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan stated that if the investigation into Akshay Shinde's death is not conducted properly, the court will be compelled to issue appropriate orders. The case is set for further hearing on October 3, by which time the police must decide on the complaint filed by Shinde's father, requesting an FIR against the officers involved. "The investigation must be fair and impartial. If we find it lacking, we will be forced to intervene," the court noted. It also directed that all case documents be handed over immediately to the Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department (CID), which will handle the probe. "Why haven't the files been transferred to the CID yet? Preserving evidence is crucial. Any delay could fuel doubts and suspicions," the bench observed. The court questioned the police's actions during the shoot-out, suggesting it could have been avoided if they had first attempted to subdue Shinde. It also inquired why Shinde was shot in the head instead of being incapacitated by a shot to the hand or leg. While the court refrained from raising suspicions at this stage, it expressed difficulty in believing that Shinde was able to seize a police officer's pistol and open fire. The court was hearing a petition from Shinde's father, Anna Shinde, who alleges his son was killed in a "fake encounter." The plea, filed through advocate Amit Katarnaware, called for the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the killing and requested that the high court oversee the investigation. At the time, Inspector Sanjay Shinde was seated beside the driver, while Assistant Police Inspector (API) Nilesh More and two constables were in the back of the van with Akshay Shinde. When they reached the Shil-Daighar police station, API More informed Inspector Shinde that Akshay was questioning why he was being taken away and had started abusing the officers. Inspector Shinde then moved to the back of the van. According to the complaint, at 6:15 p.m., near the base of Mumbra Devi temple, Akshay Shinde attempted to seize API Mores pistol, resulting in a scuffle. The gun discharged, injuring API More. Akshay then reportedly pointed the gun at the officers, threatening to kill them, before firing two rounds, which they dodged. Akshay was subdued by the constables and declared dead upon arrival at Kalwa civil hospital. The incident has sparked controversy, with former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh questioning the official account. He claimed that it's technically difficult to snatch a revolver from a police officer due to its design and suggested that the matter is suspicious, pointing to the school owners possible involvement, as the school is owned by a senior BJP leader. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court directed the implementation of the Centre's guidelines on school safety, tasking the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to oversee compliance by states and union territories.
The government announced on Tuesday that the state CID will lead the investigation into the death of Akshay Shinde.
The Assam cabinet on Tuesday sanctioned land to the Railway ministry for doubling of tracks in the Azara-Kamakhya section via Goalpara, state minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said. It also accorded approval for payment of salaries to over 130 teachers working in Karbi Anglong district, he said.
Briefing reporters about decisions taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Baruah said, "There was requirement of land for double-lining work of railway tracks in the Azara-Kamakhya section via Goalpara. For this purpose, the cabinet has sanctioned eight bighas of land to the Railways."
He said the sanctioned land belongs to the government and locals have been consulted before going ahead. Baruah said 131 teachers were earlier appointed by the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) without necessary prior approval of the state government or the finance department.
"These appointments were made as there was a necessity of teachers. Today, the cabinet cleared these appointments, subject to the candidates meeting the basic criteria, which will be checked by the Hills Area Department, he said.
The cabinet also approved the re-engagement of 451 part-time faculty members, working in various engineering colleges and polytechnics, against regular vacant posts, the minister said.
Besides, it granted administrative revaluation approval of over Rs 150 crore for three polytechnics under construction in Hajo, Majuli and Tingkhong.
To ensure that students attend classes regularly and dropout rates are checked, the cabinet made way for procurement of bicycles for Class 9 students in secondary government and provincialised schools for 2024-25, the minister said.
For the purpose, financial sanction of Rs 148.55 crore has been approved, which will entail bicycles to 3,23,640 students, both boys and girls, Baruah added.
Later in a post on X, the CM said approval has been given to a proposal to remove an anomaly of pay scale from the post of Computor Grade II, Grade I and Head Computor under the Directorate of Land Records and Survey, Assam.
This decision will remove the long-pending inequality of grade pay between the cadres of Computors and Tranversers, both under the same directorate, considering the similar nature of work and other technical qualifications, he added.
New Delhi: HDFC Bank is updating its loyalty program for specific credit cards. The new rules are set to take effect on October 1, 2024. One significant change is the limitation on redeeming reward points for Apple products. It will now be capped at one product per calendar quarter through the Smartbuy platform.
According to the HDFC Bank website, On the HDFC Bank SmartBuy portal, redemption of Reward Points to get Apple Products is capped to one product for every calendar quarter, effective October 1st, 2024. Calendar quarters: April to June, July to September, October to December, January to March. This applies only to Infinia & Infinia Metal Cards."
Moreover, the bank stated, "On HDFC Bank SmartBuy portal, redemption of Reward Points for Tanishq vouchers will be capped at 50,000 Reward Points for every calendar quarter, starting October 1st, 2024. Calendar quarters: April to June, July to September, October to December, January to March. This applies only to Infinia & Infinia Metal Cards.
What is the fee for the HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card?
The HDFC Bank website outlines that the joining and renewal membership fee for the Infinia Credit Card is Rs 12,500 plus applicable taxes. As stated on the HDFC Bank website, Joining/Renewal Membership Fee Rs. 12,500 + Applicable Taxes. Enjoy Welcome and Renewal benefit of 12,500 reward points* upon fee realisation and card activation. Spend 10 lakhs or more in the preceding 12 months and get renewal membership fee waived off for next year.
Who can apply for the HDFC Bank Infinia Metal Edition in India?
Membership for the HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card is available by invitation only.
Lounge Access
Cardholders enjoy unlimited complimentary access to over 1,000 airport lounges in India and abroad through Priority Pass. This benefit also extends to additional cardholders with a Priority Pass.
New Delhi: Chinese smartphone brand iQOO has launched the iQOO Z9 Turbo+ in China. The newly launched smartphone is a new entrant in the iQOO Z9 series that already has the iQOO Z9, iQOO Z9x, iQOO Z9 Lite, iQOO Z9s series and iQOO Z9 Turbo. However, all the smartphones are not available in all markets.
The iQOO Z9 Turbo+ smartphone comes in Moonshadow Titanium, Starlight White, and Dark at Night colour options. The handset is offered in 12GB + 256GB, 12GB + 512GB, 16GB + 256GB and 16GB + 512GB model.
iQOO Z9 Turbo+ Price
The iQOO Z9 Turbo+ starts at CNY 2,299 (approximately Rs. 27,300) in China for the base variant featuring 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The 12GB + 512GB variant is priced at CNY 2,499 (around Rs. 29,700), while the 16GB + 512GB model is available for CNY 2,899 (roughly Rs. 34,500).
iQOO Z9 Turbo+ Specifications:
The dual-SIM (Nano+Nano) smartphone features a 6.78-inch 1.5K (1,260 x 2,800 pixels) AMOLED screen with a 144Hz refresh rate. It is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ SoC paired with a dedicated Q1 chipset for gaming.
The phone features a resolution of 2800 x 1260 pixels, a remarkable 93.42% screen-to-body ratio, and a peak HDR brightness of 4500 nits. It supports a P3 wide color gamut and comes with SGS certification for low blue light and low flicker. Adding further, it includes an anti-fatigue brightness adjustment 2.0 for enhanced viewing comfort.
It is equipped with a 6,400mAh battery with 80W fast charging support. On the optics front, the smartphone comes with a 50MP primary camera and an 8MP secondary sensor. For selfies and video chats, there is a 16MP shooter on the front.
The handset ships with Android 14-based OriginOS 4 out of the box and comes with a 6K VC cooling, and mobile ray tracing.
Former US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to the US, calling it "very positive."
While speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Juster stated, "I thought it was a very positive visit. The statement that came out afterwards demonstrates the depth and breadth of the US-India relationship with continued new initiatives, especially in areas such as critical and emerging technologies, clean energy, healthcare, and defence."
"So, this is just another very important step in the building of the strength of the US-India relationship that has gone on now for the last 25 years, with each administration building on the successes of its predecessors," he added.
On Tuesday, PM Modi arrived in Delhi after concluding his three-day "very intense and successful" viworsit to the US.
During his visit to the US, PM Modi attended the Quad Leaders Summit in US President Joe Biden's hometown, Delaware, on September 21, addressed thousands of members of the Indian American community at the Nassau Coliseum in New York, Long Island, at the Modi & US Event on September 22, and spoke at the UN's Summit of the Future on Monday.
The prime minister engaged in bilateral discussions with world leaders and held a roundtable with CEOs from leading American tech companies.
Further, PM Modi shared highlights of his visit to the United States, saying it has been "fruitful", covered diverse programs, and focused on a series of subjects aimed at making the planet better.
"This has been a fruitful USA visit, covering diverse programmes and focusing on a series of subjects aimed at making our planet better. Here are the highlights," PM Modi said in a post on X.
The Prime Minister also shared the moment when, answering a question if Quad will survive beyond the US elections in November, President Biden said "Way beyond November" and warmly gestured towards PM Modi.
The video also had PM Modi's remarks at the Quad Moonshot Initiative. "India's vision is "One Earth, One Health." In this spirit, I am pleased to announce our contribution of USD 7.5 million for sampling kits, detection kits, and vaccines under the Quad Moonshot Initiative," he said.
The video provided glimpses of the Indian diaspora event, with the gathering cheering and waving at him. The video had PM Modi's remarks about interaction with important business leaders from the US. He spoke of the "golden opportunity" India offers.
Israel's military announced on Tuesday that Hezbollah fired approximately 300 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on the second day of the most intense assaults on Lebanon since 2006. An explosive drone landed in Atlit, a coastal town south of Haifa, marking the first instance of Hezbollah's fire reaching this area, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday night. Two more drones were reportedly aimed at the region but were intercepted. Fortunately, the drones resulted in no casualties, as per Israel's rescue services. The majority of the rockets were intercepted by Israels aerial defense systems, the army said.
Here are the ten latest updates on escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah:
1. Hezbollah acknowledged the assault, declaring its fighters executed "an aerial operation with a squadron of assault drones against the headquarters of Israel's special naval task unit Shayetet 13 in the Atlit base, targeting the positions of its officers and soldiers and striking the targets precisely," Xinhua news agency reported.
2. In some incidents, rockets or parts of interceptor missiles that fell to the ground ignited fires in the Mount Meron area of Upper Galilee. In Rosh Pina, a town in Upper Galilee, a residential building sustained significant damage.
3. Hospitals in the impacted regions reported treating about 23 individuals; however, later statements from Israel's Magen David Adom emergency health service clarified that those treated were suffering from panic rather than physical injuries.
4. As night fell, Israel launched a fresh wave of assaults in Lebanon. The Air Force "conducted a number of extensive strikes on dozens of terrorist targets belonging to Hezbollah in the Beqaa region and several other areas in southern Lebanon," the military announced.
5. Throughout the day, Israeli warplanes maintained their massive strikes, which, according to the military, dismantled "dozens" of facilities where weapons were stored and numerous launchers aimed at Israeli territory.
6. On Tuesday night, unnamed Lebanese military sources informed Xinhua that Israeli warplanes executed ten raids on towns in the Tyre region deep in southern Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah sites in the Jezzine area, also in southern Lebanon.
7. Amid this sharp escalation, the Israeli military conducted an exercise simulating combat within Lebanon, according to the Israeli Defense Ministry. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant noted that "the series of blows on Hezbollah's command chain, operatives, and weapons were tough."
8. Gallant further claimed Israel has destroyed "tens of thousands" of rockets, missiles, and launchers since Monday. During a press briefing on Monday night, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari neither confirmed nor denied the possibility of a ground operation in Lebanon.
9. Israel initiated its most extensive bombardment of Lebanon since 2006 on Monday, resulting in over 550 fatalities, including civilians, and more than 1,800 injuries nationwide.
10. This escalation has raised alarms about a potential full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with concerns that other nations may also become involved.
RACINE Gateway Technical College liberal arts graduates will be admitted to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater as part of a transfer agreement announced Thursday.
UW-Whitewater will accept up to 72 credits from Gateway graduates who have earned an associate of arts or associate of science degree.
Gateway President and CEO Ritu Raju said in a news release that the agreement will help provide students with a seamless transfer option to complete their education.
This partnership, like all our direct admissions agreements, represents a win-win for students and families in southeastern Wisconsin, Raju said.
Eligible graduates can apply for the transfer starting this school year.
UW-Whitewater Chancellor Corey A. King said in a news release that the agreement is another example of UW-Whitewaters dedication to offering pathways for students to achieve their educational goals.
We know that degree attainment is life-changing, King said. It opens doors to career opportunities and higher salaries, and it can transform communities for the better.
Six photos of Microsoft AI training at Gateway's iMet SC Johnson Center Ritu Raju often hears from people wanting to learn the basics of artificial intelligence. On Thursday, Wisconsin technical college educators did just that. Ritu Raju Ritu Raju, Gateway Technical College president and CEO, believes Microsoft artificial intelligence training will inform educators, who will in Takis Kinis Takis Kinis, Gateway Technical College information technology department chair and web software and data analytics instructor, takes part in a J. Chris Perez J. Chris Perez, left, dean of the Gateway Technical College school of manufacturing, engineering and information technology, was one of a few Michelle Schuler Michelle Schuler, U.S. program manager of TechSpark Microsoft, talks during an artificial intelligence bootcamp training Thursday. Schuler sai Liz Butowicz Liz Butowicz, Microsoft training services partner, was one of the instructors leading an artificial intelligence bootcamp training Thursday. A Raju Ritu Raju, Gateway Technical College president and CEO, said it is crucial to learn more about artificial intelligence so educators can teach Microsoft AI training at Gateway
Lahore: More than 350 leaders and workers of jailed former prime minister Imran Khans party, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, have been booked under terrorism and other charges by Pakistans Punjab Police.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders have been booked under anti-terrorism and attempted murder charges for their alleged involvement in an attack on policemen during their rally in Lahore last Saturday.
Police have started raiding the residences of the leaders for their arrest.
Gandapur is also accused of vandalising a plaza, breaking windows and smashing CCTV cameras.
Other senior leaders have been booked for facilitating the escape of absconding leader Hammad Azhar in the Lahore rally.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said on Wednesday that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Gandapur wanted to attack Punjab on the pretext of rallies which she will not allow.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader asked him to focus on his own province for the welfare of people instead of doing politics of destruction.
Khan's supporters on Saturday had managed to hold a successful power show in Lahore despite a police crackdown and blockade of roads in the city.
This was the first rally by the PTI that was allowed to be held after the May 9, 2023 incidents in which the party supporters allegedly attacked military installations in the wake of Khans arrest.
The party has been holding rallies primarily for the release of their incarcerated leader Khan who has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases.
In a notable shift, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not mention Kashmir in his annual address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this year, breaking a tradition he has upheld since 2019. This change is significant, as Erdogan has consistently raised the Jammu and Kashmir issue, especially after India abrogated Article 370 and eliminated the region's special status.
His past remarks were often viewed as unwarranted interference in India's domestic affairs, which New Delhi has consistently rejected. Since 2019, Erdogan has utilized his UNGA platform to criticize India's policies in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming that peace, prosperity, and stability were absent in the Valley.
However, during his speech at the UNGA in New York on Tuesday, Erdogan primarily focused on the Israel-Gaza conflict, sharply criticizing the UN for what he called turning Palestinian territory into the "world's largest cemetery." His omission of Kashmir was particularly notable, though the reasons for this change remain unclear.
It's possible that India's rising global status influenced Erdogan's decision. His softened stance on Kashmir might be a strategic diplomatic maneuver aimed at improving relations with India.
In 2019, shortly after India's revocation of Article 370, Erdogan stated at the UNGA, "In order for the Kashmiri people to look at a safe future together with their Pakistani and Indian neighbours, it is imperative to solve the problem through dialogue and on the basis of justice and equity, not through clashes."
He asserted that millions in the region were "virtually under blockade" and required international attention. The following year, in 2020, Erdogan reiterated his focus on the Kashmir issue, describing the Kashmir "conflict" as a "burning issue" and adding that actions taken after the abolition of special status "further complicated the problem."
He also called for a resolution through dialogue in line with UN resolutions. India has responded firmly to Erdogan's comments over the years, with representatives at the UN, including T.S. Tirumurti, the then Permanent Representative to the UN, urging Turkey to respect other nations' sovereignty and to reflect on its own policies rather than interfere in Indias internal matters.
Erdogan has been openly nurturing closer ties with Pakistan. During his February 2020 visit to Pakistan, he pledged ongoing support for Islamabad's position on Kashmir while addressing a joint session of the Pakistani Parliament. Since then, Erdogan has continued to strengthen relations with Pakistan.
Despite raising concerns about Kashmir from 2021 to 2023 and maintaining an anti-India stance, Erdogan's rhetoric at the UNGA this year lacked any mention of the region, possibly indicating a shift in Turkey's international priorities and reflecting India's increasing influence as a global power.
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Elon Musk reacts to buzz over his 'romance' with Meloni
American multi-billionaire Elon Musk is dating Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni is the latest buzz on social media platforms.
Wednesday September 25, 2024 8:36 PM , ummid.com Social Media Desk
[Musk and Meloni dining together and looking in awe of each other.]
American multi-billionaire Elon Musk is dating Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni is the latest buzz on social media platforms.
The reports of supposed romance between Tesla CEO, who also owns SpaceX and social media platform X, and the gorgeous Italian Prime Minister started circulating after the photos of the two dining together and looking in awe of each other surfaced online.
Not to be carried away by the reports of the two dating each other, a Tesla fan club posted a picture of Musk and Meloni and wrote, "Do you think they'll date?"
The 53-year-old billionaire responded saying theyre not.
We are not dating, Musk wrote on X.
Watch Video
The social media users however are not convinced and suggest the two will make a great couple.
Meloni has a great friendship with Billionaire tech innovater, space pioneer, and X owner, Elon Musk.
You can very well term this dynamic duo "Muskloni", freelance writer, Robert Kearney, wrote on X.
Musk confers Global Citizens Award on Meloni
Meanwhile, Elon Musk on Tuesday September 24, 2024 conferred on the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni , with the Global Citizens Award in New York.
While handing over the award, Musk was all praise for the Italian Prime Minister.
"It's an honor to convey the award to someone who is even more beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside, Musk said while bestowing the Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award on Meloni.
"Giorgia Meloni is someone I admire, who has done an incredible job as the Prime Minister of Italy," he said.
She's someone who is authentic, honest and truthful that can't always be said about politicians, he added.
Meloni received the award "for her strong support of the EU and becoming the first female prime minister of Italy," according to a media package distributed by the Atlantic Council.
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On 24 September, the economy and finance minister pick of the presidential candidate for Uruguays main left-wing Frente Amplio (FA) opposition coalition, spoke to the media about the economic priorities of a potential FA government.
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On 24 September Colombias Presidentannounced that he would promulgate his governments proposed 2025 national budget by decree after it was archived by economic commissions in both chambers of congress.
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On 24 September Brazils Presidentgave a speech at the opening session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (UNGA) general debate, in which he ramped up his demands of multilateral institutions.
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Jamia Researcher Wins Carl June CAR-TCR Summit Travel Award
Areej Akhtar, a Ph.D. Research Scholar at the Multidisciplinary Centre for Advanced Research and Studies (MCARS), Jamia Millia Islamia(JMI) has been honored with the first-ever Carl June CAR-TCR Summit travel award at an event held in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Wednesday September 25, 2024 7:39 PM , ummid.com Technology Desk
Ms. Areej Akhtar, a Ph.D. Research Scholar at the Multidisciplinary Centre for Advanced Research and Studies (MCARS), Jamia Millia Islamia(JMI) has been honored with the first-ever Carl June CAR-TCR Summit travel award at an event held in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
The award, presented by Dr. Carl June himself, a pioneer in the field of CAR T Cell Therapy, recognized her groundbreaking research in enhancing the efficacy of CAR T cell therapy.
Areej Akhtars work, titled "Bioengineering the Metabolic Network of CAR T-Cells to Increase Persistence and Long-Term Anti- Tumor Activity," addresses critical challenges in the field of CAR T cell therapy.
More About Areej's Research
Areej Akhtars research highlights the need for metabolic reprogramming to improve the persistence and long-term effectiveness of these "living drugs," which have revolutionized cancer treatment since the FDA approved the first CAR T cell therapies in 2017.
More than 35,000 patients worldwide have benefited from this treatment, which remains effective even in cases where other therapies, such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy, have failed. Her teams innovative research aims to tackle the longevity of CAR T-cells by bioengineering the metabolic pathways of CAR T cells using GLP-1 peptide, increasing their lifespan and anti-tumor activity.
Areej screened over 3,000 different combinations of molecules to find the one that enhances CAR T cell function and extends their longevity. During the award ceremony she said:
"Our team has successfully identified a unique combination that works remarkably well, both in patient samples and pre-clinical models.
CAR T Cell Therapy Cost
CAR T Cell Therapy is known for its high costs, ranging between 4 to 5 crore. Areej emphasized her goal to make this life-saving therapy more affordable and accessible to patients worldwide.
The bioengineering innovation behind Areej's research has been patented, with both Ms. Areej Akhtar and Dr. Tanveer Ahmad, Assistant Professor at MCARS, JMI, listed as the inventors. The work is currently under peer review for publication and is expected to make a significant impact in the field of cancer treatment.
Prof. Mohammad Husain, Director of MCARS, congratulated Areej Akhtar on receiving the award and praised her research efforts.
"Research scholars at Jamia Millia Islamia are doing excellent work, and they are gaining recognition worldwide for their contributions. Scholars like Ms. Areej Akhtar are an asset to the university, and they have proven through their research journey that they can conduct world-class research and make the country proud," said Professor Husain.
This achievement not only marks a major milestone in Ms. Akhtars career but also reinforces the commitment of JMI to cutting-edge research that has the potential to transform healthcare on a global scale.
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Violent crime decreased in the United States in 2023, a new report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation says.
The FBI released its report Monday. The report shows violent crime dropped an estimated three percent in 2023 from the year before. Murders dropped almost 12 percent.
Here is what the Associated Press (AP) said about the FBI report:
The numbers
Crime increased sharply during the coronavirus pandemic, with homicides increasing by nearly 30 percent in 2020 from the year before. That was the largest one-year increase since the FBI began keeping records. Experts said possible reasons for the rise include the huge disruption of the pandemic, gun violence, worries about the economy and intense stress.
The FBI data show that, in 2022, violent crime across the U.S. decreased to levels near those before the pandemic. Crime continued to decrease last year from 377 violent crimes per 100,000 people in 2022 to 364 per 100,000 people in 2023. Deputy Assistant Director Brian Griffith of the FBIs Criminal Justice Information Services Division said that rate is a little higher than the 2019 rate.
Are we looking at crime rates at a return to pre-pandemic levels? I think a reasonable person would look at that and say, Yes, thats what has happened, Griffith told the AP.
The largest cities, those with populations of one million or more, recorded the biggest drop in violent crime at almost seven percent. Agencies in communities of 250,000 to almost 500,000 people reported an increase of .3 percent, between 2022 and 2023.
Rape decreased more than nine percent while aggravated assault decreased nearly three percent. Overall, property crime decreased two percent, but automobile stealing increased 13 percent. There were about 319 motor vehicle thefts per 100,000 people in 2023. That was the largest increase since 2007.
The FBI's data is not complete
The FBI collects data through its Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Not all law enforcement agencies in the U.S. take part in the reporting. The 2023 report is based on data from more than 16,000 agencies, or more than 85 percent of those agencies in the FBI's program. The agencies included in the report protect almost 316 million people across America. And every agency with at least one million people in its jurisdiction provided a full year of data to the FBI, the report said.
What youre not seeing in that number are a lot of very small agencies," Griffith said.
Another crime report
The FBIs findings are similar to the findings of the independent, nonprofit group, Council on Criminal Justice based in Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, it examined crimes rates across 39 U.S. cities. The group said that most violent crimes are at or below 2019 levels. It said that there were 13 percent fewer homicides across 29 cities that provided data during the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
Another Justice Department report, the National Crime Victimization Survey, was released earlier this month. It said that the violent crime victimization rate rose from about 16 per 1,000 people in 2020 to 22.5 last year. The report said that the rate last year was not statistically different from the rate in 2019. It said the rate has dropped a lot since the 1990s.
The FBI report and the Crime Victimization Survey use different study methods and collect different kinds of information.
The victimization survey is carried out every year. It questions about 240,000 people. The FBI's data only includes crimes reported to police. The victimization study aims to record crimes that people did not report to police.
The victimization survey does not include data on murder or crimes against children under 12 years old.
Im Caty Weaver.
The Associated Press reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for VOA Learning English.
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Words in This Story
homicide n. a killing of one human being by another
disruption n. a break or interruption in the normal course or continuation of some activity, process, etc.
stress n. a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension
aggravated assault n. (legal) an attack that is more serious than a simple attack and which is punished more severely
jurisdiction n. the area in which a court or government agency may lawfully exercise its power
statistically adv. related to numbers that represent information
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Christina Westman hoped to become a music therapist when she came to St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. But that became impossible when the college announced a plan to cut its music department along with 42 other study programs.
The move is part of a wave of program cuts among small and large colleges in the United States. The aim of the cuts is to deal with budget deficits. Causes for the deficits include less government money, rising operational costs and fewer students.
The cuts mean more than reduced budget deficits or job losses. For me, its really been anxiety-ridden, said Westman. "Its just the fear of the unknown.
At St. Cloud State, most students will be able to finish their degrees before the cuts. But Westman is transferring to Augsburg University in Minneapolis.
Colleges are holding on
For years, many colleges avoided making cuts, said Larry Lee. He was acting president of St. Cloud State but left last month to lead Blackburn College in Illinois.
The number of students enrolling in college dropped during the pandemic. But officials hoped the number would return to levels that existed before the COVID pandemic. They had used federal aid money to ease budget deficits.
They were holding on, holding on, Lee said.
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center said students have begun to return to two-year community colleges. But the numbers for four-year colleges remain lower than expected. Even without growing concerns about the high cost of college and student debt, the population of young adults in the U.S. is shrinking.
Birth rates fell during the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009 and never recovered. Now smaller classes of high school students are preparing to finish and head off to college.
Its very difficult math to overcome, said Patrick Lane, a vice president at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
In addition, the new federal governments financial aid application has created more confusion. Millions of students are wondering where to go to college and how to pay for it.
Katharine Meyer is an expert with the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. She said, I think a lot of colleges are really concerned theyre not going to make their enrollment targets.
Many colleges like St. Cloud State had already faced budget problems. The universitys enrollment rose to around 18,300 students in the autumn of 2020 before steadily falling to about 10,000 students in 2023. Its student population has stopped shrinking. But the budget deficit totaled $32 million over the past two years, forcing the sweeping cuts, Lee said.
Some colleges are closing
Some colleges have taken the more extreme step of closing.
That happened at the 1,000-student Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama, the 900-student Fontbonne University in Missouri, the 350-student Wells College in New York, and the 220-student Goddard College in Vermont.
Cuts, however, are more common. Two of North Carolinas public universities in Asheville and Greensboro plan to cut 14 programs including ancient Mediterranean studies and physics. Arkansas State University announced it was ending nine programs. Three of the 64 colleges in the State University of New York system have also cut programs because of low enrollment and budget problems.
Other schools cutting study programs include West Virginia University, Drake University in Iowa, the University of Nebraska campus in Kearney, North Dakota State University and nearby Dickinson State University.
Experts say it is just the beginning. Schools that are not making cuts now are examining their class offerings. At Pennsylvania State University, officials are looking for similar or under-enrolled programs to cut.
Humanities and small programs affected
The most affected programs are usually smaller ones and those in the humanities, which now have fewer students than 15 years ago.
Its a humanitarian disaster for all of the faculty and staff involved, not to mention the students who want to pursue this stuff, said Bryan Alexander, a Georgetown University senior scholar who has written on higher education. Its an open question to what extent colleges and universities can cut their way to sustainability.
Terry Vermillion recently retired after 34 years as a music professor at St. Cloud State. He said the cuts are hard to watch after the pandemic.
We were just unable to really effectively teach music online, so theres a gap, he said. And, you know, were just starting to come out of that gap and were just starting to rebound a little bit. And then the cuts are coming.
Lilly Rhodes is a music major at St. Cloud State. Rhodes said, Theres no musicians coming in, so when our seniors graduate, they go on, and our ensembles just keep getting smaller and smaller.
Its a little difficult to keep going if its like this, she added.
Im Mario Ritter Jr.
And Im Jill Robbins.
Heather Hollingsworth reported this story for the Associated Press. Hai Do adapted it for VOA Learning English.
Quiz - US Colleges Cut Programs Because of Budget Deficits, Fewer Students Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz
__________________________________________
Words in This Story
therapist n. a person who treats people with medical conditions but is not a doctor and does not use drugs
anxiety-ridden adj. filled with nervousness, worry or tension
transfer v. to change enrollment from one school to another
enroll v. to go through the process of being accepted to a school
confusion n. a state of being unsure about something
faculty n. the teachers at a school, college or university
staff n. employees who are not faculty members
sustainability n. the ability to carry on business so that income meets or is greater than costs
gap n. something that is missing
ensemble n. a small group of musicians who play together
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Our comment policy is here.
Do not rush to throw away food that has already expired. After all, there are those that can be safely eaten without fear.
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Nutritionist Carla Griscti spoke about this in an article for Sheerluxe.com.
She named 7 products:
1. Frozen vegetables
They can be stored in the freezer for years. Although they will lose their taste during this time, they will not harm the body!
2. Pasta
This product has no expiration date at all.
3. Pickled food
If it is stored in a dark, cold place, it may not spoil for more than 3 years.
4. Whiskey
Whiskey can "live" for many years and this will only be a plus for it. However, this will be so only if it is stored properly, avoiding contact of alcohol with the cork, and at a temperature of 15 to 20 degrees.
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5. Fermented products
Pickles cucmbers and tomatoes and sauerkraut that are well marinated can be stored for more than 2 years.
6. Chocolate
If you store it in a dark place, there are simply no shelf life restrictions. And don't be afraid of the crust that has formed on it, it is absolutely safe.
7. Hard cheeses
They also do not have an expiration date, and even mold that may appear on their surface is not dangerous if it is cut off. Only soft cheeses are dangerous, such as brie or cottage cheese.
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14:38
Interacting with Haryana BJP workers through the NaMo app, he discussed fieldwork at the booth level for the upcoming state polls and encouraged them to devise a strategy for the party to win the election.
Alleging the Congress has failed as an opposition in the past 10 years, PM Modi claimed the grand old party's maximum time goes into infighting and taking on each other. Every child in Haryana is aware of the grand old party's internal strife, the prime minister said.
Attacking the Congress, he said, "The entire basis of those fighting against us in the polls is lies. They repeatedly tell lies, their talks have no head and tail and they vitiate the atmosphere.
"These days, the Congress' loudspeakers which earlier were making big claims have fallen weak," PM Modi said.
"Some are saying the Congress is becoming weak each day. During the past 10 years, the Congress has failed as opposition too."
"The party remained far from people's issues for 10 years... such people can never win the trust of the people of Haryana," he said.
Modi said the Congress made tall promises in Himachal Pradesh but after they came to power in the state, development came to a standstill and they were unable to pay salaries.
"One cannot imagine how many atrocities were committed against the Dalits during the Congress rule in Haryana," PM Modi told the BJP workers and asked them to expose such incidents publicly.
Recounting the BJP government's initiatives for farmers, the prime minister alleged that during the Congress rule in Haryana, the farmers got Rs 2 compensation cheques for crop damage.
"The Congress people live only for their family and that is their character," he said in response to a Haryana BJP worker's feedback during the interaction.
Recalling that he had served in Haryana in the past as a BJP worker, Modi said, "It is my full belief that the people of Haryana have decided to give one more chance to the BJP to serve." "They are happy that in 10 years a government has been run without corruption. This has happened in Haryana for the first time. "Youth have got jobs without "parchi and kharchi" (jobs for cash). Therefore, the people of Haryana are with us, their blessings are with us and victory is certain," he said. -- PTI
The Congress spends most of its time infighting and every child in Haryana is aware of it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday while asserting the people have decided to give one more chance to the BJP to serve the state.
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng welcomed Pan Gongsheng, the Governor of the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC), earlier this weekto discuss financial cooperation between Macau and the mainland.
The meeting coincided with the opening of the 2nd Conference of Central Bank Governors and Financial Officials between China and Portuguese-speaking countries at the Galaxy International Convention Center.
During their discussions, Ho expressed gratitude for the PBOCs ongoing support for the development of the Guangdong-Macau in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin, including the release of 30 articles relating to financial support.
Ho said Macau has gradually built a series of financial system software and hardware facilities such as a central securities depository system and a financial asset exchange to support Macaus economic diversification.
He hoped the PBOC will continue to support Macaus financial integration with the Greater Bay Area and strengthen Macaus role as a platform for financial services between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
Pan assured Ho the PBOC would continue to support Macau in strengthening financial cooperation with the mainland, assisting Macau in building a financial service platform serving China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.
The meeting included key officials such as Lei Wai Nong, Secretary for Economy and Finance, and Lau Hang Kun, member of the Board of Directors of the Monetary Authority of Macao.
In a separate development, Ho announced Macau is preparing to launch a digital pataca with the aid of the PBOC to further enhance the citys financial infrastructure and support economic diversification. Nadia Shaw
Chinas Ministry of State Security (MSS) has taken a bold step in the ongoing cyber warfare narrative by unveiling a Taiwanese hacker group.
MSS claims the hacker collective is backed by Taiwans independence forces.
The group, named Anonymous 64, is accused of launching cyberattacks against targets in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, with the alleged intent to spread disinformation and disrupt public communications.
In a statement Monday published by the MSS official public WeChat account, the MSS described Anonymous 64 as an internet army raised by the Taiwan independenceforces that has infiltrated various platforms.
The ministry claims this group has been responsible for over 70 social media posts showcasing attacks on various targets, including universities and media outlets, despite some targeted websites being counterfeit or inactive.
The MSS has identified three active members of the group, who are reportedly affiliated with Taiwans Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command, a military unit established to conduct cyber operations against mainland China.
This command was restructured in 2022 and is said to be responsible for a range of cyber warfare activities, including electronic warfare and public opinion manipulation.
Taiwan has denied these allegations.
Defense Minister Wellington Koo said Taiwans military focuses on protecting its information security.
Premier Cho Jung-tai echoed these sentiments, calling for a vigorous counter-response to what he termed false accusations aimed at discrediting Taiwan.
The MSSs claims come amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Taipei, particularly following Taiwans recent political shifts towards independence. Nadia Shaw
Hotel bookings appear satisfactory for Golden Week starting Oct. 1, though broader economic challenges could dampen demand, according to analysts.
17 of 31 hotels tracked by UBS Group AG have sold out or are unavailable for the weeklong national holiday in China, a higher number than the Labour Day period in May and last Octobers Golden Week, said the UBS analysts.
However, hotel prices average 7% lower than Januarys Golden Week but unchanged from a year ago in October, the analysts wrote.
They forecast gaming revenue of MOP900-950 million per day, in line with prior holiday periods.
Rutger Verschuren, the area vice president of Macau operations for Artyzen Hospitality Group, expressed cautious optimism.
There [are] definitely two nights, I think, [] booked out. But in the casinos, they usually block rooms for the gamblers in advance.
He said the first and second of October are particularly packed for Artyzens properties.
We are not complaining at all. Were very happy with the visitation, Verschuren told the Times, though he acknowledged that bookings may fluctuate until days before the holiday as rooms are released back to the market.
Yet the broader economic picture could dampen spending, according to a Macquarie Equity Research note.
The note cited third-party data indicating that Golden Week room bookings are decent, but the quality of players appears to be weak so far.
These figures underscore the challenges in discretionary spending, and operators are not too optimistic about player demand during the Oct. 1-7 period, the note said. Victoria Chan
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Watch: Bill Gates buys hot dog from Halal Food Stall in New York
American multi-billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was spotted this week buying hot dog from a Halal Food Stall at Times Square, New York.
Wednesday September 25, 2024 11:32 PM , ummid.com Social Media Desk
American multi-billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was spotted this week buying hot dog from a Halal Food Stall at Times Square, New York.
Captured on camera, Bill Gates walks towards the Halal Food Stall, stands for a while to order food and then waits few metres away.
Onlookers and bystanders rush to their smartphone cameras to capture the moment as Bill Gates waits for the delivery of his order.
In the viral video, Bill Gates himself is seen looking around with the famous brands Forever 21 and Disney showrooms flashing in the background.
Then the delivery man comes, hands over the hot dog Bill Gates bought from the Halal Meat Shop.
Watch Video
Why Halal food is important?
Halal food is special to Muslims, and prepared using the meat slaughtered as per the Islamic Sharia Law.
The Islamic tradition of animal slaughter is done by draining the blood completely. It ensures that quality of meat is healthy and free from all impurities harmful for human body.
Popular narrative is that only Muslims prefer Halal food. But, the fact is Jews also consume the meat procured from animals slaughtered Islamic way called Kosher slaughter.
Bill Gates and Muslims
The association of Bill Gates in beyond Halal Food. His daughter Jennifer has married Egyptian millionaire Nayel Nassar.
Jennifer Gates married Nayel Nassar in a Muslim ceremony in October 2021.
Jennifer and Nayel have a daughter, and Bill Gates is occasionally seen playing with his grand-daughter Leila.
In July this year, Nayel Nassar, who is also a professional equestrian, and represented Egypt in the Olympic Games 2024 held in Paris .
Bill Gates' wife, Melinda French Gates, cheered for her son-in-law and expressed her support and encouragement. Sharing a picture of him, she wrote, "So excited to watch you compete at the Olympics, Nayel Nassar. I'm rooting for you.''
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Hearing screening tests for newborns have been launched, according to the The Macau Deaf Association.
So far, 10 newborns are expected to be referred to the association for follow-up care, Lau Suet Man, association director, told the press in a recent event.
Currently, there are about 800 deaf individuals in Macau, ranging from young children to seniors.
For Lau, the demand for sign language interpreters is significant, yet the workforce is insufficient to meet this need.
For example, deaf students often require interpreters in schools, but the lack of available personnel hinders this support.
Lau emphasized the pressing need for information accessibility among the deaf community, noting that not all societal information is available in sign language.
She said visual accessibility is crucial, especially in safety contexts, acknowledging some government departments are addressing these concerns by installing fire alarms in restrooms.
The association has long called for the society to attend to the needs of deaf and hearing-impaired persons and improve some measures such as in the official broadcast of information, to which sign language and subtitles could be added, to enable them to understand. LV
The vibrant cultural experience of Macanese Nights 2024 is returning to Artyzen Grand Lapa Macau by popular demand, celebrating Macaus rich gastronomic traditions and history as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.
This event holds special significance as Macau recently earned the title of Culture City of East Asia 2025.
Macanese Nights 2024 pays tribute to over 450 years of Macaus culinary history, reaffirming the citys status as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.
Running from Oct. 8 to Oct. 24, exclusive tasting menus will be crafted by renowned Macanese chef Antonieta Manhao and Artyzen Grand Lapa Macaus executive chef Pedro Santos Do Carmo.
As a long-standing advocate for Macanese cuisine, I am overjoyed to participate again, said Manhao. I am excited to introduce a few new dishes in this edition that capture the essence of Macaus cultural fusion.
Rutger Verschuren, area vice president for Artyzen Hospitality Group and General Manager of Artyzen Grand Lapa Macau, expressed enthusiasm for the return of Macanese Nights.
He said, This event reinforces Artyzen Grand Lapa Macaus role as the cultural bridge between China and Portugal, with Macanese cuisine as a testament to this fusion.
During a press conference, Manhao and Do Carmo jointly demonstrated the classic Porco Bafassa, a beloved braised pork collar seasoned with turmeric that represents the Asian influence on Macanese dishes.
Executive Chef Pedro Miguel Santos Do Carmo added, This marks my third collaboration with Chef Neta, and her culinary expertise and knowledge continue to inspire me. I am so excited to see her new dishes added to Macanese Nights 2024 signature dishes, which will elevate the flavors and diversity of traditional Macanese cuisine.
CafE Bela Vista unveils new menu additions
As Cafe Bela Vista kicks off its culinary event promotion, the chef has unveiled an upgraded menu brimming with both new highlights and enhanced versions of beloved classics.
A native Portuguese chef with two decades of culinary expertise, five years of which have been spent at the helm of Cafe Bela Vista, Chef Pedro continues to innovate and elevate the restaurants offerings.
Not only [do] the people have the chance to try them during this period, but also after that, he said.
Seafood lovers will delight in the new Chilled Seafood Platter, a sharing plate showcasing the freshest lobster, abalone, oysters, shrimp and mussels.
Chef Pedro has also refined classic dishes like the Braised Atlantic Octopus Salad, now garnished with vibrant edible flowers for a touch of elegance.
Other menu highlights include the quintessential Portuguese stew Cataplana de Bacalhau, featuring tender seared codfish braised to perfection in a sealed copper vessel.
The restaurants take on the iconic Arroz de Marisco, or Wet Seafood Rice, celebrates the flavors of the sea with scallops, mussels, clams, squid, prawns and crab meat.
Our aim is to actually be authentic, bring the real Portuguese items and also Macanese, Chef Pedro said, promising a truly immersive culinary journey for diners. Victoria Chan
Verschuren: Promoting Macanese cuisine overseas vital
Promoting Macanese cuisine internationally is crucial to ensuring its survival for future generations, according to Rutger Verschuren, area vice president of Macau Operations for Artyzen Hospitality Group.
Verschuren spoke to the media about the importance of hosting an event at the Artyzen Grand Lapa Macau focused on highlighting Macanese dishes.
Macanese cuisine is very complicated, as it has evolved over hundreds of years as a fusion of East and West, Verschuren said.
While acknowledging the value of examining historical recipes from a century ago, he stressed that the whole point of Macanese cuisine is that it evolves.
Verschuren said modern Macanese dishes may incorporate ingredients like imported Portuguese pork that were not available in past eras.
However, the executive warned that if it is only the local people in Macau [who] appreciate Macanese food, its not going to last for another 100 to 200 years.
He said promoting the cuisine internationally is crucial, so people visiting Macau try and appreciate its uniqueness.
Macanese cuisine reflects the citys history as a melting pot of Chinese, Portuguese and other cultures, he added.
We need to bring it out to the world, let them know that, hey, our cuisine is like the people, Verschuren said.
We are a melting pot. Its a fusion of east and west and very unique.
The executive said events at the Artyzen Grand Lapa Macau aim to spread the word about Macanese cuisine across the globe to visiting tourists. VC
In August, joint operations by the Public Security Police Force (PSP) and the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) led to significant actions against illegal work. Authorities inspected 305 locations, including construction sites and commercial premises, resulting in the interception of 62 suspected illegal workers. This initiative highlights ongoing efforts to combat illegal employment practices, reduce criminal activity, and protect vulnerable workers from exploitation. The crackdown is part of a broader strategy to ensure compliance with labor laws and uphold the integrity of the workforce. Further operations are expected as authorities continue to address this issue.
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Partnerships between the U.S. and China at universities over the past decade have allowed hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to aid Beijing in developing critical technology that could be used for military purposes, congressional Republicans asserted in a new report.
The report said U.S. tax dollars have contributed to Chinas technological advancement and military modernization when American researchers worked with their Chinese peers in areas such as hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, nuclear technology and semiconductor technology.
The report, released yesterday [Macau time] by Republicans on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and the House Education and Workforce Committee, raised concerns over the national security risks of scientific collaborations that were once celebrated. It urged stronger safeguards and more robust enforcement.
The committees conducted a yearlong investigation into higher educations role in the economic rivalry with China, especially when it comes to technology. While American universities dont engage in secret research projects, their work often among the best in the world has the potential to be turned into military capabilities.
The U.S. House of Representatives this month approved about two dozen China-related bills, with a clear goal to compete with Beijing in the tech field. The bills, which still need to be approved by the Senate, seek to ban Chinese-made drones, restrict China-linked biotech companies in the U.S. market, and cut off remote Chinese access to advanced U.S. computer chips.
Other measures include those to curb Beijings influence on U.S. college campuses and to revive a Trump-era program meant to root out Chinas spying and theft of intellectual property at American universities and research institutes. Thats despite such efforts raising concerns about racial profiling and the ability to keep up exchange programs that boost tolerance between the two countries.
Collaboration among U.S.-based scholars and China also declined as a result of the Trump administrations anti-spying program, which ended in 2022, researchers say.
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said at a forum by the Council on Foreign Relations earlier this year that he would welcome more Chinese students studying humanities and social sciences but not particle physics in American schools.
The report identified about 8,800 publications that involved U.S. researchers who received funding from the Department of Defense or the U.S. intelligence community working with Chinese researchers many of whom were affiliated with Chinas defense research and industrial base. Such research is providing back-door access to the very foreign adversary nation whose aggression these capabilities are necessary to protect against, the report said.
The House investigation also flagged what it described as problematic joint institutes between U.S. and Chinese universities, which the report said conceal a sophisticated system for transferring critical U.S. technologies and expertise to China.
Through those institutes, American researchers and scientists, including those who conduct federally funded research, have traveled to China to work with and advise Chinese scholars and train Chinese students, the report said.
This creates a direct pipeline for the transfer of the benefit of their research expertise to China, the report said.
The Georgia Institute of Technology, which is named in the report for its joint Georgia Tech Shenzhen Institute, defended its work in China, saying it was focused on educating students, not research, and that the reports claims are unsubstantiated.
There was no research conducted at GTSI, no facilitation of technology transfer, and no federal funding provided to China, the university said in a statement.
However, Georgia Tech announced Sept. 6 that it would discontinue its participation in the joint institute with Tianjin University and the government of Shenzhen, a city in southern China. Georgia Tech said the partnership was no longer tenable after the U.S. Commerce Department accused Tianjin University in 2020 of theft of trade secrets.
The congressional report also identified Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, which the University of California, Berkeley, and Chinas Tsinghua University opened in 2015 in the city of Shenzhen to focus on strategic emerging industries, according to the institutes website.
Berkeleys researchers engage only in research whose results are always openly disseminated around the world and the school was not aware of any research by Berkeley faculty at TBSI conducted for any other purpose, Katherine Yelick, the universitys vice chancellor for research, said in a statement.
Berkeley also is unwinding its partnership, saying it has no oversight of research activities conducted only by non-Berkeley employees at the joint institute.
The U.S. university has decided to start the process of relinquishing all ownership in the Shenzhen school after careful consideration, which began several months ago, Yelick said.
She said Berkeley takes concerns about research security very seriously including those concerns voiced by Congress.
The University of Pittsburgh, which is named in the report for its cooperation with Sichuan University, said it could not comment because the Pennsylvania university was not consulted and did not work with the House Select Committee throughout the investigation. DIDI TANG, WASHINGTON, MDT/AP
* Safety First
Community advisor calls on government to improve crosswalk safety, citing deficiencies at pedestrian crossings
* Golden Week | Hotel bookings firm against economic headwinds
* F&B | Promoting Macanese cuisine overseas key to its survival
* The current public swimming pools management system needs to continue to be enforced amid criticisms, ID told the Times
* High rollers have placed more bets in Macau in 2024 than throughout all of last year
* China cuts rates, rolls out other moves to help the slowing economy
* The Conversation
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Wednesday, September 25, 2024 edition no. 4573
BOISE Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador in a letter Tuesday challenged guidance from a major medical organization over its support for gender-affirming care for children and teens.
The letter, signed by Labrador and the attorneys general or officials from 20 other states, accused the American Academy of Pediatrics of potentially being out of compliance with state consumer protection laws by pedaling misleading and deceptive information.
He accused the organization of sacrificing the well-being of children by supporting unproven treatments that could cause permanent damage.
It is shameful the most basic tenet of medicine do no harm has been abandoned by professional associations when politically pressured, Labrador said in a statement.
The American Academy of Pediatrics last year reaffirmed a policy statement from 2018 that endorses comprehensive, gender-affirming, and developmentally appropriate health care for youth. Its policy is based off of available research and expert opinions from clinical and research leaders, according to the group, but noted that its a rapidly evolving clinical field.
The policy statement advocates for insurance plans that provide coverage for medical and psychological health care for young transgender and gender-diverse people, and for pediatricians to support policies and laws that protect trans youth from discrimination and violence.
It also recommends that education for medical providers include best practices to care for transgender youth. The organization also calls for the federal government and medical field to prioritize research to improve evidence-based care for trans and nonbinary youth.
Labrador said children with gender dysphoria need love, support and medical care rooted in biological reality, and that parents should be able to trust the medical guidance they receive isnt the latest talking point from a dangerous and discredited activist agenda.
Idaho passed several laws in recent years that restrict health care for transgender and nonbinary youth and adults. Those include banning gender-affirming care for people under 18 and restricting public funds, such as Medicaid, from being used for transition-related care. Though some of those laws are still caught up in litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court for now allowed the prohibition on gender-affirming care for trans kids to take effect.
In his letter, Labrador disputed the groups statements and its claim that puberty blockers are reversible. He called for the organization to explain how it drafts its policy statements and to provide evidence that puberty blockers are reversible.
When it comes to treating children diagnosed with gender dysphoria, the AAP has abandoned its commitment to sound medical judgment, Labrador wrote.
The American Academy of Pediatrics described puberty blockers as reversible but also said the effects of puberty suppression on fertility is unknown. Using cross-sex hormones to allow adolescents who have initiated puberty to develop secondary sex characteristics of the opposite biological sex can be partially reversible, the statement read, but can become irreversible once they are fully developed.
Most major medical organizations in the U.S. support gender-affirming care, which can refer to therapy, puberty blockers and hormone treatments. Some countries in Europe have restricted gender-affirming care for children after officials raised issues about insufficient scientific studies.
Transgender youth report a higher rate of suicide attempts, according to the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention nonprofit for LGBTQ+ youth. Trans and nonbinary people have told the Statesman access to gender-affirming care has been essential to their mental health and well-being.
PHILIPPINE Air Force (PAF) commanders have met with their counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Cambodia to address regional security challenges.
PAF spokesperson Col. Maria Consuelo Castillo said PAF chief Lt. Gen. Stephen Parreno represented the country during the 21st ASEAN Air Chiefs Conference in Siem Reap, Cambodia last Sept.15-18.
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The regional convention, themed Enhancing Information Sharing and Cohesive Cooperation among ASEAN Air Forces for Peace and Development, served as a platform for dialogue and collaboration among Southeast Asian air forces.
The event focused on addressing regional security issues, promoting mutual understanding, and creating frameworks for multinational air force operations. Parreno held bilateral meetings with air force commanders from Cambodia, Brunei, and Singapore, discussing areas of cooperation, best practices, and strengthening military ties.
HONOR is on top of the world, literally participating in a Guinness World Record, HONOR Magic V3 is coming soon in PH
The leading global smart devices provider, HONOR, is launching the HONOR Magic V3 in the Philippines which is the brands thinnest foldable phone to date.
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We are excited to introduce the slimmer and stronger foldable phone of HONOR. Its premium look has more than meets the eye which we cant wait to unveil soon, said Stephen Cheng, Vice President of HONOR Philippines
In the recent Guinness world-breaking record of the American architect and card-stacking extraordinaire Bryan Berg, the HONOR Magic V3 successfully sat on top of the tallest house of cards in 8 hours, and at 54 levels high.
Official Photos of Bryan Berg from the Guinness World Records
The HONOR Magic V3 is built with AI, backed up by Google and has the highest water durability rating. It has an improved processor compared to HONOR Magic V2 and is ever stronger with titanium hinge for seamless folds.
The eagerly awaited HONOR Magic V3 will be fully unveiled soon, presenting its industry-leading specifications. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting launch!
For more updates on the spectacular specs of the HONOR Magic V3, follow through HONOR Philippines social media platforms: Facebook (Facebook.com/HonorPhilippines), Instagram (Instagram.com/honorph/) and TikTok Shop: (Tiktok.com/@honorphilippines). To check out HONORs complete list of retail stores, go to https://www.hihonor.com/ph/retailers/.
Brazils oil giant Petrobras is making waves in Namibia, eyeing a whopping 40% stake in the coveted Mopane oil and gas block. It is not just dipping its toes in the water Petrobras wants to dive in headfirst and take the reins as operator.
Sylvia dos Anjos, the companys Exploration and Production Director, did not mince words. Operating with less than 40% is very bad, she said, making it clear that Petrobras is going all in or not at all. They are not interested in playing second fiddle.
This is not just another business deal. It is a bold move that could reshape the energy landscape in the region. Petrobras is flexing its muscles, showing it is ready to venture beyond its home turf in Brazil.
The prize? A chunk of Portugals Galp stake in the Mopane block. But it is not a done deal yet. Despite making a non-binding offer back in July, Anjos admits there has been no progress so far. It is a high-stakes game of wait-and-see.
Why Namibia, you ask? Well, Petrobras knows Africa very well, according to Anjos. It is like they are eyeing an old friends property, seeing potential where others might not.
As the oil world watches, one thing is clear Petrobras is not afraid to go big. They are not just dipping their toes in Namibian waters; they are ready to make a splash.
Guinean President Umaro Sissoco Embalo hailed the countrys reaffirmation on the global stage as the most significant historical achievement in recent decades, during a speech marking the 51st anniversary of independence. The speech was recorded before his departure to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
The full reaffirmation of the Guinean State in the concert of nations is, without a doubt, the most notable historical event in recent decades. This context will continue to shape the celebrations of our independence anniversary, with the central event scheduled for November 16, said President Embalo.
The official Independence Day celebrations have been rescheduled to November 16, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARP).
In his address, President Embalo emphasized that the countrys independence is not merely a past achievement but an enduring legacy of the citizens who fought to overcome foreign domination. domination.
President Joe Biden will visit Angola from October 13 to 15, marking the first visit by a U.S. President to a Portuguese-speaking African nation. This historic trip will follow a stop in Germany from October 10 to 13.
The White House announced on September 24 that Bidens visit to Angola is aimed at strengthening economic partnerships and celebrating the launch of Africas first open-access transcontinental rail network. According to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, From October 13 to 15, President Biden will be in Luanda, where he will meet with Angolan President Joao Lourenco to discuss deepening collaboration on shared priorities, including enhancing our economic partnerships that keep our companies competitive and protect workers.
During the visit, Biden will also formalize the G7s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) project, which will create a transcontinental open-access railway network in Africa. This railway will start in the Angolan city of Lobito and eventually connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, passing through the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
In addition to economic cooperation, discussions will address strengthening democracy, civic engagement, climate security, the transition to clean energy, and regional peace and security.
Jean-Pierre emphasized that President Bidens visit to Luanda, the first by a U.S. head of state to this Portuguese-speaking African country, highlights the evolving relationship between the U.S. and Angola, underscores the United States ongoing commitment to African partners, and demonstrates how collaboration to tackle shared challenges benefits both Americans and the entire African continent.
A team of scientists from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, successfully decoded the DNA of thirteen ancient human fossils, with some dating back nearly 10,000 years. This groundbreaking research provides valuable insights into the evolution of the human species and population movements in the region.
Conducting this study in South Africa was crucial, as the country boasts a rich genetic heritage and has yielded numerous human fossils. Despite its potential, Africa has seen relatively few studies of this nature, making this research a significant contribution to understanding human evolution.
The scientists focused on ancient fossils discovered in the Oakhurst Rock Shelter caves in southern South Africa, a site known for its numerous human burials. Utilizing advanced techniques, the team was able to reconstruct the genomes of these ancient individuals, revealing that their genetic makeup has remained remarkably stable over time. These genomes closely resemble those of the San and Khoikhoi populations who currently inhabit the region.
This finding of genetic stability contrasts sharply with results from Europe, where more genetic changes have been observed over similar periods.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration, and Egyptian Expatriates, Abu Bakr Mahmoud, emphasized the strong interest of several Egyptian companies in participating in key projects in Zambia, particularly in the infrastructure, construction, and energy sectors. He highlighted the extensive expertise that Egyptian firms bring to these fields, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday September 24.
Mahmouds remarks came during a meeting with Hope Situmbeko, Permanent Secretary of Administration in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation at State House in Lusaka. The discussions focused on enhancing bilateral cooperation in political, economic, and investment areas, especially given the shared membership of Egypt and Zambia in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The deputy minister also reiterated Egypts commitment to sharing its expertise and helping to build the capabilities of Zambian professionals. This cooperation, he noted, would not only serve the interests of both countries but also strengthen ties and coordination among African nations.
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:
Schematics and Representative Images Illustrating the Assembly of a 3D-bioprinted System. Credit: Advanced Healthcare Materials (2024). DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202401876
Glioblastoma is a brain cancer with very poor survival outcomes. Most drugs can't cross the blood-brain barrier, which means that unlike other cancers, there just aren't that many therapies available for brain tumors.
But a cutting-edge technology developed at the University of Cincinnati aims to change that. Researchers are using 3D bioprinting to create artificial blood vessels that can be used to test new custom-tailored drugs and study why glioblastoma is so resilient.
"Our goal is to develop models that can be used to get new insights into the mechanism that promotes tumor regeneration and drug resistance, enabling testing of new therapeutics," said Riccardo Barrile, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering in UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science.
The study was published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials.
Organs-on-a-chip
"Glioblastoma is the most aggressive form of primary brain tumor. It's typically lethal," Barrile said. "It's a terrible disease."
Doctors typically prescribe chemotherapy in combination with surgical removal of the tumors and radiation therapy. But glioblastoma is resilient and typically becomes drug resistant over time, he said.
"It's difficult to target these tumors," he said. "They are strategically infiltrated in healthy parts of brain tissue."
The first "organs-on-a-chip" were made less than 20 years ago. It's a field that holds a lot of promise in the field of drug development, but is in its infancy, Barrile said.
Using standard technology, organs on a chip can take months to make. But Barrile and his students can use 3D bioprinting to create custom synthetic blood vessels far more quickly for each patient.
"Molds are generated using classic manufacturing techniques. It can take weeks to months to generate a prototype. Our 3D printing approach takes just a few hours," he said.
And that opens a world of research and treatment possibilities, he said.
Likewise, Barrile said traditional organs-on-a-chip use silicon materials. But the drugs needed to treat glioblastoma are small-molecule drugsso small that they can easily be absorbed into the silicon form instead of the tissue where they are needed.
"We're not using silicon materials but microfluidic hydrogels. That's an advantage because silicon devices deplete the drug's efficacy. The molecules just disappear into the framework," he said.
Organs-on-a-chip could one day eliminate the need for medical testing on animals, Barrile said.
Creating custom therapies
Lead author Sirjana Pun, a doctoral student in biomedical engineering at UC, said organs-on-a-chip devices hold great potential for advancing the development of new therapies.
"Existing glioblastoma treatments follow a one-size-fits-all approach, which has proven ineffective in significantly improving patient survival. Our system can be utilized to create personalized disease models, enabling the testing of novel therapies tailored to each patient's unique needs," she said.
"I'm grateful for the research opportunity at UC to work in a field I'm deeply passionate about," Pun said.
They collaborated with Soma Sengupta from the UC College of Medicine, Daniel Pomeranz Krummel at the University of North Carolina and Giuseppe Sciume from the University of Bordeaux in France. UC biomedical engineering students Dalee Demaree and Anusha Prakash also contributed.
"I'm glad to be part of this society as we work together with other scientists in academia, industry and regulatory agencies to drive adoption of this technology with the long-term idea of replacing animal models and providing alternative methods for drug testing," Barrile said.
More information: Sirjana Pun et al, Rapid Biofabrication of an Advanced Microphysiological System Mimicking Phenotypical Heterogeneity and Drug Resistance in Glioblastoma, Advanced Healthcare Materials (2024). DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202401876 Journal information: Advanced Healthcare Materials
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Blood plasma is associated with white matter microstructure following traumatic brain injury. Credit: Brain (2024). DOI: 10.1093/brain/awae255
Monash University-led research, believed to be the first of its kind, has used blood tests and MRI scans to show that the effects of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can last decades.
Published in Brain, and involving researchers from the University of Melbourne and Austin Health, the Monash-Epworth Rehabilitation Research Center (MERRC) TBI Aging Study integrated a range of techniques to understand the enduring consequences of moderate to severe TBI.
The team included imaging to measure the integrity of the brain microstructure, blood biomarkers to determine ongoing brain pathology, and cognitive tests to understand how blood markers might be linked to a person's cognitive health and clinical condition.
It's one of few global studies on participants with moderate-severe TBI due to a single incident that have also been living with their injury for an average of 22 years, as opposed to experiencing repetitive injury.
Senior author Professor Sandy Shultz, from the Monash School of Translational Medicine, said, "Our finding of chronic pathology in the brains of traumatic brain injury survivors, and the ability to identify this with imaging and blood tests, not only provides us with methods to detect these changes but also a foundation to develop treatments that might prevent or slow evolving pathology and improve recovery."
While TBI is a potential risk factor for neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease, there is a critical need for comprehensive knowledge about long-term impacts.
This involves delineating the biological and clinical characteristics of any lasting neurodegeneration and identifying who is at risk, and then using this information to develop long-term management strategies.
First author Dr. Gershon Spitz, from the Monash-Epworth Rehabilitation Research Center (MERRC), the Monash School of Psychological Sciences, and the School of Translational Medicine Department of Neuroscience, said the findings supported the hypothesis that the effects of a moderate-severe TBI could be felt decades following the initial injury.
"We found that elevated levels of blood biomarkers are related to poorer brain microstructure and poor cognition," Dr. Spitz said.
"Traditionally, TBI was viewed as an isolated event with a fixed recovery trajectory. Over the last decade, TBI has been redefined as a chronic, ongoing health condition.
"This redefinition is a crucial first step in overhauling our health care models, which presently allocate the bulk of resources to the immediate post-injury phase and leave long-term symptoms inadequately treated."
Dr. Spitz said further work was needed on the connection between blood biomarkers and symptoms/improvement. "We need to see whether the biological signatures of possible ongoing neuropathology can also tell us about people who may be at higher risk of experiencing progressive decline in functions like memory," he said.
More information: Gershon Spitz et al, Plasma biomarkers in chronic single moderatesevere traumatic brain injury, Brain (2024). DOI: 10.1093/brain/awae255 Journal information: Brain
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For women and men, body mass index (BMI) outside of the normal range is associated with increased time to pregnancy and odds of miscarriage, according to a study published online Sept. 19 in JAMA Network Open.
Aline J. Boxem, M.D., from the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a population-based prospective cohort study to examine the associations of preconception BMI in both partners with time to pregnancy and odds of miscarriage. Data were included for 3,604 women and their partners who were followed from the preconception period until birth.
The time-to-pregnancy analyses included 3,033 episodes among women and 2,288 episodes among men, and the miscarriage analyses included 2,770 pregnancy episodes among women and 2,189 among men. The researchers observed an association for higher BMI in women and men with lower fecundability (fecundability ratio [FR], 0.98 and 0.99 in women and men, respectively, per unit increase in BMI).
Lower fecundability was seen for women with overweight and obesity versus those with normal weight (FR, 0.88 and 0.72, respectively). Increased odds of subfertility were seen in association with underweight, overweight, and obesity compared with normal weight in women (odds ratios, 1.88, 1.35, and 1.67, respectively).
Obesity was associated with increased odds of subfertility in men (odds ratio, 1.69). Overweight and obesity were associated with increased odds of miscarriage compared with normal weight in women (odds ratios, 1.49 and 1.44, respectively).
"Optimizing BMI from the preconception period onward in women and men might be an important strategy to improve fertility and pregnancy outcomes," the authors write.
More information: Aline J. Boxem et al, Preconception and Early-Pregnancy Body Mass Index in Women and Men, Time to Pregnancy, and Risk of Miscarriage, JAMA Network Open (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.36157 Journal information: JAMA Network Open
Copyright 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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The boss of the Danish pharmaceutical giant behind the blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy promised Tuesday to examine lowering their prices in the United States, after coming under pressure from Congress.
The stakes are high for US patients, some of whom have difficulty accessing and affording the drugs under the often unwieldy and expensive health care system in the United States.
"If not made affordable, Americans throughout this country will needlessly die," left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders told Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen at a congressional hearing.
"Ozempic is sold in Canada for $155, in Denmark for $122, in France for $71, and in Germany for $59. In the United States, Novo Nordisk charges us $969," Sanders continued.
Ozempic was originally developed as a drug to treat diabetes. Wegovy, which targets weight loss, sells for $1,349 a month in the United States, nearly 15 times as much as it costs in the United Kingdom, Sanders continued.
"Will you commit today that Novo Nordisk will substantially reduce the list price of these drugs in the United States, so that the American people are not paying higher prices, far higher prices for these drugs than the people in Europe and Canada?" Sanders asked.
"Anything that will help patients get access to affordable medicine, will be happy to look into," Jorgenson repliedthough he pointed out that 80 percent of Americans with health insurance paid $25 or less a month.
Jorgenson also noted that the high prices were partly driven by other players, namely Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), who act as intermediaries between insurance companies and drug manufacturers, negotiating discounts and listing covered treatments.
PBMs receive a fee based on list priceso, "the higher list price, the more fee they get for the same job," Jorgenson said.
"Which means that, in our experience, products that comes with a low list price get less coverage (from health insurers)," he continued.
For example, he said, when Novo Nordisk lowered the cost of insulin treatments, their drugs were taken off the list of medications covered by health care plans, "so less patients got access to those insulins.
"So I have a bit of concern how this could play out," he said.
Sanders replied that he had received promises from three major PBMs not to limit coverage of Ozempic and Wegovy if their prices were lowered.
"Do I have your commitment that you will sit down with the three companies to make sure that they keep that commitment?" he asked Jorgenson.
"Yes, anything that can help patients get access, I'm supportive of," the Danish CEO replied.
US President Joe Biden has previously called for drug prices to be lowered in the United States, saying firms must stop "ripping off the American people."
High prices for prescription drugs have been a long-standing problem for American patients, and Biden has focused on lowering health care costs.
2024 AFP
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Virologist Rubens Alves, Ph.D., came to La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) to contribute to life-saving vaccine research. As a member of LJI's Shresta Lab, Alves studied how T cells fight viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 (which causes COVID-19) and dengue virus.
As a postdoctoral researcher at LJI, Alves published important findings in Nature Communications that shed light on how the immune system cross-reacts to SARS-CoV-2 and common cold coronaviruses. In 2023, he also co-led the team that won top honors in the Nucleate Activator competition for a proposal to advance dengue and Zika virus vaccine strategies.
Alves recently returned to his home country of Brazil to serve as a principal investigator (PI) at the Institut Pasteur de Sao Paulo. He is now leading an innovative project on wastewater surveillance for influenza viruses. Monitoring wastewater gives Alves and his team a chance to quickly identify which influenza viruses threaten public health.
In this Q&A, Alves shares what he learned at LJIand how his research in Sao Paulo may advance influenza vaccine development.
Q: How is your research on wastewater connected to vaccine development?
Alves: Right now, people develop influenza vaccines based on data from influenza viruses that were circulating a few months ago. But these viruses are changing all the time.
We can look at wastewater and find viral sequencesbits of genetic material from viruses that are circulating right now in the human population. That's important because it lets us do real-time surveillance to see which influenza viruses are emerging and how they might be mutating.
My goal is to use these viral sequences as guides for quickly developing RNA-based vaccines against influenza viruses as they spreadnot months afterward. We want to use this as a "proof of concept" that you can use viral sequences from wastewater to update vaccines.
Q: If this project succeeds, how could your findings improve global health?
I hope our approach can work as a model for wastewater surveillance in big cities around the world. Can we see how a virus is moving through the city? Can we tell if an influenza outbreak is growing? Can we launch better interventions to stop these outbreaks? We need to combine these research efforts to prevent future pandemics.
This is especially important as we see new influenza species, such as H5N1, emerging. This virus is spreading mainly in wildlife and livestock, but we have to be prepared for it. That's an example of why we need to know how to monitor viruses in the population and update our vaccines.
Q: How did your training at LJI prepare you to lead this project?
I had the opportunity to work in LJI's BSL-3 [high containment] facility during the pandemic. This was a lot of pressurebut at the same time, we were working on vaccines to try to prevent disease. My PI, LJI Professor Sujan Shresta, Ph.D., also encouraged me to work on new vaccine platforms. Her laboratory has developed a new self-replicating RNA vaccine platform, and we applied that to different viruses, such as dengue virus or Zika virus.
It wasn't just about the science either. I received a lot of mentoring and encouragement from Dr. Shresta and other scientists at the Institute.
Q: How do you feel about returning to Brazil and taking on this PI position?
It's exciting to be back! This is really a full-circle moment. I knew that after I went to the United States, I wanted to come back to Brazil to improve research and apply what I know. I feel really motivated to help people in my country and pass along what I know to the next generation. I am carrying both the scientific knowledge and values from the Shresta labI want my students and postdocs to be even more successful than I was!
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As the old saying goes, bad news travels fast. Research shows that saying holds true when it comes to young men discussing HIV on social media. An analysis of viral tweets from young men and adolescents, the most at-risk group for new infections in the United States, revealed a wider propagation and greater audience engagement for tweets entailing a negative messageparticularly, tweets using humor to stigmatize people or promote risky behaviors.
The research is published in the journal BMC Digital Health.
Adolescents and young adults account for more than 21% of new HIV infections in the United States, and most of those cases are among young men. Research from the University of Kansas analyzed how the population is discussing the topic on X, formerly Twitter, a social media platform where young people regularly create and consume information. Researchers argue understanding how the population is discussing the topic can help design more effective health campaigns to reach them.
Yunwen Wang, assistant professor of journalism & mass communications at KU, researches how people discuss health online and how social media, misinformation and disinformation shape those conversations. In a new study, Wang and co-authors identified more than 6,400 young male Twitter users ages 13-24 to understand how they were discussing HIV. They analyzed the most retweeted and favorited tweets from that sample.
"In an ideal world, each post going out to the wild should receive equal weight by the algorithm and receive equal exposure and be seen by the same number of people. In reality, we know it's exactly the opposite," Wang said. "We have posts that become more popular, posts that get so popular that they become viral. So that's exactly the subsection of content we are looking at here; viral tweets on HIV."
Analysis of those messages showed three main themes: Othering, politics and activism, and risk and wellness. Those featuring the othering theme often used derogatory speech or stigmatizing humor to describe people with HIV, LGBTQI+ individuals, sexual minorities and at-risk groups were the most common, at 38% of the sample. Whether the derogatory speech was the reason the messages were retweeted or became more popular, the effect is that more people see them.
"There's this idiom that a lot of people probably know, which is bad news travels further or faster. That was the same for this kind of problematic speech, 'othering' tweets. And even though they are problematic, they received more attention, for good or bad, and made more impacts that can create a ripple effect," Wang said.
Politics and activism tweets accounted for 34% of the sample. The messages promoted awareness and anti-stigma about HIV and sexual violence, LGBTQI+ and women's rights, organizing against injustice or even used public health terms to argue for equality and representation for people living with HIV.
Tweets featuring the theme of risk and wellness were the least common at 29%, though a greater proportion of those were in the risk category, including discussion of sexually risky behavior, than those featuring discussion of wellness or health promotion.
The study was written with co-authors Jacqueline Ann Bannon of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Natalia Roszkowska of Cornell University, Robin Stevens and Essence Lynn Wilson of the University of Southern California; Stephen Bonett and Nadia Dowshen of the University of Pennsylvania; and Elizabeth Lazarus of Johns Hopkins University.
As young people, especially young men, make up the majority of new HIV infections in the U.S. and have grown up with social media and consume much of their information from social media, understanding how they discuss the topic there is vital, the researchers argue. Analysis of what kinds of messages get the most reach through the algorithm that places them in front of more people can help design health campaigns that are effective and address topics that at-risk populations care about. And social media provides unique opportunities for research.
"I work a lot with social media, because there is less limit with geographical boundaries," Wang said. "I get to study different voices across the U.S., and there are also natural language processing tools that can help us estimate or detect where people self-reported to be geolocated."
Wang's larger body of research explores how people discuss health online, including the use of mis-/disinformation and how technologies like machine learning can detect where messages originate, common features and how understanding discourse can inform health practitioners and health communicators.
The findings of the current study and previous research indicate the social acceptability of high-risk behaviors is high among young males on social media and that practitioners should have a plan to combat stigma, misinformation and disinformation.
"I see misinformation and disinformation as two bubbles. Misinformation is the larger bubble, and disinformation is a smaller bubble contained within it. If the post author intends to use misinformation to attack a certain group, that makes it even more problematic," Wang said.
"My research has identified much misinformation and disinformation in health language online. If we look at the high exposure rate of these types of information to the young population, it actually poses threats to the level of accuracy of the information they receive, what beliefs and attitudes they form and thereafter, what kind of health behavior they engage with.
"So, I see my research as a window to understanding these discourses, their impacts and then making suggestions about how we can potentially combat these kinds of misinformation, to build a space that's safer, more secure and also able to unite different sub-population groups."
More information: Yunwen Wang et al, From virus to viral: content analysis of HIV-related Twitter messages among young men in the U.S., BMC Digital Health (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s44247-024-00102-y
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As the updated COVID-19 vaccine becomes available this fall, a study published by UMass Chan Medical School researchers on primary care physicians' experience with vaccine-hesitant patients may shed light on the challenges and opportunities surrounding greater acceptance of the vaccines.
The paper published in Patient Education and Counseling featured focus groups with 40 primary care physicians (PCPs) practicing in Central Massachusetts. The focus groups were conducted December 2021 through January 2022, roughly a year after COVID-19 vaccines rolled out.
Investigators focused on physicians' experience with patients who were very hesitant and whom they couldn't convince to get vaccinated.
Approximately 1 in 6 people in the United States has not gotten a single COVID-19 vaccine dose since they first became available in late 2020, according to the researchers.
"What we heard from the PCPs was just universal frustration with having a subset of patients who they felt like they couldn't get through to, despite their pre-existing relationship and feeling like the patients really trusted themwhich had been touted as one of the best ways to get people vaccinated," said Kimberly Fisher, MD, associate professor of medicine and principal investigator.
Dr. Fisher said she believed this impasse reflected the level of disinformation being spread in society, with health care providers having to respond to it.
Fisher said the challenge continues as the pandemic has entered a new, endemic phase.
"In the early communication, public health officials obviously didn't know that it would be required every year, and so I think there is a degree of frustration among patients about actually needing to get one every year, like a flu shot," she said.
But there were two things that showed promise.
PCPs who were able to offer the vaccine on site at their clinic said that made a big difference, according to Fisher. Those anecdotes are consistent with a survey UMass Chan researchers conducted in January 2021 that found people who were vaccine hesitant were significantly more likely to prefer to be vaccinated at a doctor's office.
Other studies on flu vaccination found people were more likely to get the shot if the doctor could give it to them right then and there.
Approximately half of primary care practices involved in a different study offered COVID-19 vaccinations on site, said Fisher.
The second glimmer of hope came from a PCP who practiced what Fisher described as motivational interviewing. Fisher said, "She described really listening to people, and instead of launching into convincing them with reasons why they should get it, she took the time to find a way to affirm their concerns and show that she was partnering with them."
Fisher and Daniel Mullin, PsyD, MPH, professor of family medicine & community health, recently received an R01 grant from the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities to develop and test a communication training program.
The program will train PCPs in both making a presumptive recommendation for vaccination, which previous research has shown to be effective at increasing vaccine uptake, but then also train providers in principles of motivational interviewing for vaccination communication.
As for the PCPs who discussed vaccine-hesitant patients in the focus group, many of them said they had learned to recognize whom they couldn't convince, and they didn't push it with them.
"And you know, they had really good reasons, the biggest one being that you want to preserve the relationship," said Fisher. "Maybe they won't get vaccinated. But you could still convince them to get a mammogram or colonoscopy or something else."
More information: Kimberly A. Fisher et al, Primary care providers' views of discussing COVID-19 vaccination with vaccine hesitant patients: A qualitative study, Patient Education and Counseling (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2024.108369
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The safety and effectiveness of donanemaban Alzheimer's drug recently approved by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA)is called into question in an investigation published by The BMJ.
Journalists Jeanne Lenzer and Shannon Brownlee explore concerns not only about its effectiveness and the number of deaths among patients taking the drug, but also about financial ties to drug makers among the "independent" advisory panelists who recommended approval.
Donanemab, developed by Eli Lilly, is the latest in a new class of anti-amyloid drugs that deliver antibodies to target beta amyloid, a protein believed to cause Alzheimer's disease.
In January 2023, the FDA denied approval of donanemab, citing a "high rate" of missing data and questioning the drug's long term safety. The agency noted a higher rate of treatment discontinuation due to adverse events (frequently brain hemorrhage and swelling) among patients on donanemab compared with placebo, and an "imbalance" in overall deaths.
Lilly acknowledged three deaths in patients on donanemab, and an outside company it hired to obtain the missing data found two additional deaths among patients in the donanemab arm and five deaths in the placebo arm.
But Steven Goodman, an expert in clinical trial design at Stanford University, says it is not possible to assess the reliability of the new data without more details of the outside company's methods.
"There was also no information on health outcomes in those patients other than death, nor the causes of the deaths," he says, adding that the "failure to formally follow patients who stopped treatment was a significant design flaw, particularly when that discontinuation was partly due to adverse drug effects."
The investigation also reveals that seven of the eight doctors appointed by the FDA to review donanemab received direct payments from drug companies.
Three had financial ties to Lilly, two had ties to Roche, Lilly's development partner in creating a new blood test for Alzheimer's disease, and two others have patents on amyloid antibodies, and the eighth doctor had research funding from Janssen for another Alzheimer's drug.
Using the public database OpenPayments, members' CVs, disclosures in published articles, and the Google patent ownership database, The BMJ found that individual advisers received up to $62,000 for consulting and speaking fees and up to $10.5m in research grants from 2017 through 2023.
Asked about the extensive financial conflicts among the physician advisors found by The BMJ, the agency stated, "The FDA does not comment on matters related to individual members of an advisory committee."
Lenzer and Brownlee also describe how the main (primary) outcome of the donanemab trials was changed during the trial from the widely accepted "clinical dementia rating scalesum of boxes" (CDR-SB) to Lilly's own integrated Alzheimer's disease rating scale (iADRS).
And despite results failing to show a clinically meaningful difference between patients on the drug and placebo, Lilly stated that donanemab slowed progression of Alzheimer's by 22%. The company has also promoted donanemab as "slowing decline by 35%."
"That is a misleading statement," says Alberto J Espay, a neurologist and specialist in clinical epidemiology and health care research at the University of Cincinnati. "That's a relative difference that transforms a very tiny absolute difference into a number that seems impressive."
More information: Donanemab: Conflicts of interest found in FDA committee that approved new Alzheimer's drug, The BMJ (2024). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.q2010 Journal information: British Medical Journal (BMJ)
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Henrietta Villaescusa, RN, FAAN, a pioneering Hispanic nurse, dedicated her career to advancing health equity for Latino communities. Through her tireless efforts in government, health care, and community activism, Villaescusa left an enduring legacy that continues to inspire nurses and policymakers today.
A new articlejust published in Nursing Outlookwritten by Penn Nursing Dean Antonia Villarruel, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, and Professor of Nursing Julie Fairman, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, examines Villaescusa's career and the factors influencing her impact across government, health, and nursing sectors.
Born into a modest family in California, Villaescusa's early life was shaped by the struggles and injustices faced by the Hispanic community that she witnessed as a public health nurse. These experiences ignited a passion for social justice. Villaescusa was an inaugural leader, only one of a handful of women, in the Community Service Organization (CSO), a precursor to the Chicano Movement. There, she honed her skills in community organizing and advocacy, working tirelessly to address issues such as voting access, housing, education, and health care access.
Villaescusa's dedication to public service led her to a distinguished career in government. She held key positions in the Agency for International Development (AID) and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (DHEW), where she championed the cause of Hispanic health.
During her tenure, Villaescusa advocated for increased funding for Hispanic health programs, improved access to care, and the collection of Hispanic health data. Her tireless efforts helped to ensure that the needs of Hispanic communities were recognized and addressed at the highest levels of government.
"Villaescusa is one of many untold stories that help us see this broader perspective and demonstrates the impact of nurses of color in advancing health equity. Her impact went far beyond nursing and is still felt in the many organizations and people she supported," said Villarruel.
Beyond her government work, Villaescusa was a powerful and often silent force in supporting and leading in organizations including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials, MANA (A National Latina Organization), and the National Alliance for Hispanic Health. She was a founding member the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN), providing a platform for Hispanic nurses to connect, share experiences, and advocate for their profession.
Villaescusa's mentorship extended far beyond NAHN. She inspired countless individuals to pursue careers in health care and public service, empowering them to make a positive impact on their communities.
"Villaescusa's legacy, like so many other nurses of color, is a testament to the power of one person to effect change. As we continue to strive for a more equitable and just society, Villaescusa's example serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of advocacy, community engagement, and the transformative power of nursing," the authors write.
This profile of Henrietta was based on oral histories and limited publications and archival records.
"This is not uncommon," Fairman noted, "specifically as it relates to nurses and people of color. It is not just important to hear these voices, but their presence helps to broaden our perspective of nursing's history and influence."
More information: Antonia M. Villarruel et al, The power of Hispanic nurses in advancing health equity: The career of Henrietta Villaescusa, Nursing Outlook (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.outlook.2024.102262
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For the Green family, the memory of Oct. 1, 1994, is many things at once: the date of their greatest pain and their finest hour; a day of unspeakable loss and life-giving gifts.
It is the date their 7-year-old son, Nicholas, died in an Italian hospital, two days after being shot during an attempted robbery on a family vacation from California.
Upon receiving the agonizing news, his parents, Reginald and Maggie, made an impromptu decision that would change their lives and those of countless others: they chose to donate his organs.
Seven people, five of them teenagers, received Nicholas' corneas, kidneys, liver, heart and pancreas. The family's story prompted a surge in interest that continues to drive new donor registrations in Italy.
This month the Greens, who now live in La Canada Flintridge, California, are returning to Italy for a series of public appearances and to meet with some of their son's surviving recipients. It's the latest chapter in a phenomenon the media long ago dubbed "the Nicholas effect," a chain of events that has both saved lives and kept their son's memory alive.
"Thirty years later, when I think of him, I have that feeling that: yes, it was a terrible thing to have happened. Think of all the books you didn't read, and all the sunsets you didn't see, and all the girls you would have fallen in love with," said Reg Green, now 95. "But on the other side, I can always have that feeling: yes, but you did more in your seven years than most people do in all their lives to make the world a better place."
Stunned as the Greens were by Nicholas' death and the crime leading up to itmen who mistook their car for a jeweler's fired at the vehicle, striking Nicholas as his sister Eleanor, then 4, slept beside himthey recalled their consent to donate his organs as an immediate and mutual decision.
At the time, Italy had one of the lowest organ donation rates in Western Europe. The Greens' decision, along with the awful circumstances of the boy's death, led to a swell of media attention across Italy.
The mayor of Rome had the family presented with a gold medal for their courage. A mayor in Calabria vowed to name a street after Nicholas. Plazas, schools and monuments across the country were dedicated to him.
And organ donations began to rise. The year before Nicholas' death, 6.2 people per million in Italy donated their organs. Ten years later, as the story circulated and the numbers of parks, playgrounds and streets in Italy named after Nicholas grew, the number had tripled to nearly 20 people per million.
"They have, ultimately, dramatically increased organ donation throughout Italy," said Tom Mone, chief external affairs officer of OneLegacy, a nonprofit that manages organ donations in Southern California. "I don't think I've ever seen a single event trigger a change in cultural attitudes toward donation beyond theirs."
Over the years, members of the family have made dozens of trips to Italy to speak on behalf of organ donation and to check in on the people whose lives were saved by their loss. The woman who received part of Nicholas' pancreas lived for several more years after the transplant. His heart recipient, who was 15 at the time of the surgery, died in 2017.
The other five are still living. His liver recipient, who was 19 at the time of the transplant, went on to marry and have children. The Greens have met her eldest son. His name is Nicholas.
2024 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
An extra layer of approval for projects funded by the Missoula Redevelopment Agency the city's economic development arm will get a final vote by the city council in early October.
Councilors Bob Campbell, Sandra Vasecka, Daniel Carlino and Kristen Jordan proposed requiring that the city council approve any spending by the MRA that goes over $50,000.
Currently, the council sets the annual MRA budget, approves purchasing land and issuing debt, but not each individual project. The council preliminarily disapproved of the change in a 4-7 vote, but the council will take a final vote on Oct. 7.
Ward 3 Councilor Carlino said the added oversight would make the MRA more transparent and generally limit any interference with the MRA board, a group of people with various backgrounds who approve the development projects.
"We can simultaneously still allow the MRA to do their job like normal and let them be the experts and guide the projects, but still come back to council for approval just like other departments do," Carlino said on Wednesday.
The MRA board includes lawyers Karl Englund and Natasha Jones, retired bank vice president Ruth Reineking, Missoula Midtown Association Executive Director Melanie Brock and CEO of Clearwater Credit Union Jack Lawson.
Ward 4 City Councilor Mike Nugent, who is also the vice president of Berkshire Hathaway for western Montana, is a non-voting member.
The MRA uses Tax Increment Financing, or TIF dollars, for its development projects. TIF dollars are collected in special districts across the city and used within the district for infrastructure projects, among other uses.
Each of Missoula's five special districts has their own budget and projects. Some districts have a million-dollar budget, while others have a $10 million budget.
Some of those projects are public-private partnerships, meaning the MRA works with developers to pay for public infrastructure like sidewalks or street lighting for neighborhoods, banks and more in exchange for more development by the private sector.
The MRA has existed in its current format for almost 50 years, Director Ellen Buchanan said, and called the program the "envy" of many other Montana cities with similar programs.
"We've been able to be as successful as we have in terms of turning areas that are underperforming around and creating a positive tax base in those areas, and creating amenities that make this the kind of community that we want this to be," Buchanan said.
Buchanan said each Montana city has a different way to use TIF dollars. Some cities require city council approval for all projects, while others rely on appointed boards to make the decision.
Recently, the state Legislature passed legislation allowing the MRA to create deed-restricted housing using MRA funds. The Ravara-Scott Street project is the first affordable housing project in the state to use TIF dollars.
While some councilors called for more transparency around the MRA, others said the system has worked well for decades, as shown by downtown improvements, and argued requiring council approval could make the agency less consistent.
"I don't think we are the most predictable force out there," Jones said. "And so when someone is supposed to be making a huge investment in something, how would we have predictability when it is ultimately supposed to go to council and who knows who is going to show up Monday night?"
Some councilors were interested in learning more about what projects would need approval by city council, what that process would look like and a detailed list of all the recent projects done by the MRA.
City Council President Amber Sherrill said she would need to see more reasoning to make a change.
"If it is not functioning well, I am willing to try to change something, but I do feel like it is functioning well and I do feel like we have a lot of incredible community investment."
The city council does not meet next week and will reconvene on Oct. 7 for the final vote on MRA oversight.
Atlantic Richfield/BP and officials with the Montana Resources mine in Butte continue discussions about how the Berkeley Pit and a site off Shields Avenue could serve as repositories for Superfund wastes.
Josh Bryson of Atlantic Richfield/BP briefly described that consultation during an online remedial design meeting Tuesday morning.
MR has been working with us to potentially use the Berkeley Pit and Shields Avenue (sites), Bryson said.
Montana Resources, considered jointly responsible for the Berkeley Pit with Atlantic Richfield/BP, has expressed support for using the Pit as a repository. On Tuesday, Mark Thompson, vice president of environmental affairs for Montana Resources, said the same is true for Shields Avenue.
We support the Shields Avenue site as well, if that is what is best for the community, Thompson said. For the Shields Avenue site to be used, MR would have to deed the property over to Atlantic Richfield.
There was no mention during the morning meeting of a controversial repository site on Atlantic Richfield/BP property that would have been near the Centerville neighborhood. The corporation confirmed Tuesday it has done no additional analysis of the site but noted it hasnt been ruled out.
That site, north of the Kelley Mine Area, stirred opposition because of its proximity to Centerville and because of its potential to obliterate remnant portions of the historic mining neighborhood of Dublin Gulch.
Atlantic Richfield/BP initially rejected use of the Berkeley Pit as a repository. Among other issues, Bryson expressed concerns about the safety of workers whose haul trucks might dump materials into the Pit.
Since then, the company has explored employing a slurry system to transport contaminated materials from the Silver Bow Creek Corridor to the already-contaminated Pit. The Shields Avenue site would be a dry repository, and likely receive materials by truck.
The slurry system, if used, would transport wastes from the project areas to the Berkeley Pit for disposal, Atlantic Richfield/BP has said. The slurry system would include a pug mill to mix contaminated soil and wastes with water from construction dewatering and effluent from the Polishing Plant [at Montana Resources].
Pug Mills are mixers that rapidly combine multiple materials into a comparatively homogeneous blend.
The slurry system alignment would follow the path of upper Silver Bow Creek until reaching the mine site, Atlantic Richfield/BP has said.
One goal of a slurry system would be to limit the number of haul trucks on Butte roads.
Sites in the corridor include Diggings East, Northside Tailings, the Butte Reduction Works and others. One estimate has suggested roughly 1.1 million cubic yards of material contaminated with heavy metals would be excavated from sites in the Silver Bow Creek Corridor. Atlantic Richfield/BP has estimated the amassed contaminants would be roughly equivalent to 31 Hotel Finlen towers.
Most of the sites in the Silver Bow Creek Corridor remain in design phases. Work at Grove Gulch began in August. Wastes excavated there will be dumped in the existing Butte Mine Wastes Repository.
The EPA, officials with Butte-Silver Bow and Atlantic Richfield/BP have all emphasized that full-scale cleanup of historic mining and smelting pollution and other wastes in the corridor cannot begin until repository sites are evaluated and approved.
Construction cant start until there is a place to move materials, said Emma Rott, a remedial project manager for EPA, during Tuesdays online meeting.
In March, Bryson said the Berkeley Pit had emerged as the preferred option for contaminated wastes from the Silver Bow Creek Corridor.
We want to put as much as we can in the Pit, as soon as we can, he said then.
EPA, in consultation with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, will have the ultimate say about repository locations.
Bryson said Tuesday he anticipates there will be a public meeting later this fall about repository siting.
Montana will use money from a settlement with Johnson & Johnson over the company's potentially cancer-causing baby power to bolster services for children who have been victimized by crimes, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced Wednesday.
Riverstone Health in Billings houses one of the nine accredited Children's Advocacy Centers in Montana and received the first distribution on Wednesday of $10,000.
"I cannot imagine a better way to put the settlement dollars from Johnson & Johnson to good use. Montanas CACs help us ensure that children who have survived heinous crimes receive the care and support they need during the investigation," Knudsen said in a press release.
The Montana Department of Justice announced in June the state would receive $3.5 million in a multi-state settlement that totaled $700 million. In the agreement, Johnson & Johnson agreed to end manufacturing and distributing its talcum powder products.
Montana Children's Advocacy Centers (CAC) provide services for children who are victims or witnesses to crime.
Knudsen's office said Wednesday all nine advocacy centers will receive an initial $10,000 from the settlement. Those eligible for the initial $10,000 are the Children's Alliance of Montana, Butte Child Evaluation Center, Cascade County CAC, Emma's House CAC, First Step Resources Center CAC, Flathead County CAC, Gallatin County CAC, Lewis and Clark County CAC, Red Bird Woman Center CAC, Yellowstone Valley CAC.
The Department of Justice is forming a working group to distribute the remaining money in coming years, including a grant program for accredited and developing programs.
"We are grateful for the additional funding made available by this settlement," Dr. Megan Littlefield, RiverStone Health Chief Medical Officer, said in the press release from the justice department. "Since 2012, the Child Advocacy Center at RiverStone Health has provided a mentally and physically safe environment for children, and we are thankful to be able to continue to improve our medical evaluation services through this grant."
Sum Ramen Matthew Cheung, 17, is photographed with the shrimp bao bao (sandwich) at Sum Ramen in Westfield, New Jersey, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (Karim Shamsi-Basha/Karim Shamsi-Basha)
Upon entering Sum Ramen, you may think youre in Hong Kong, China. The essence is that of ginger, Sichuan peppers, soy sauce and spring onions cooking in sesame and sunflower oil. The lighting is soft, bouncing off dark walls, and the mood is that of the Far East, with a busy kitchen in the back full of chefs moving at warp speed.
But Sum Ramen is right here in New Jersey with two locations in Westfield and Millburn, both benefiting from the passionate pursuit of a young man named Matthew Cheung.
Cheung, 17, is a senior at Milburn High School, but he already knows his purpose in life.
I grew up watching my mom cook in the kitchen, Cheung said, gazing at his mother, Sum Yeung, 47, at the Westfield restaurant. She taught me everything, and Id rather be here at the restaurant than anywhere else.
Yeung immigrated from China to the United States in 2000. She quickly got used to her son playing under her feet in the kitchen.
When he was 10, he cooked the best fried rice Ive ever had, and I knew he would end up in the food business, Yeung said. He just stayed in the kitchen playing with food and experimenting with recipes.
Nowadays, Cheung helps his parents run the restaurants.
Sum Ramen This $12 special comes with noodles, curry flavor broth, organic tofu, lotus roots, baby corn and bok choy. The dish was photographed at Sum Ramen in Westfield, New Jersey, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (Karim Shamsi-Basha/Karim Shamsi-Basha)
Among his favorites is developing recipes, but its not an easy process. However, tough things do not intimidate the young foodie. He has a 4.5 grade point average.
I take a lot of AP classes, he said, grinning.
It takes a lot of work to develop recipes, a lot of trial and error, he added. I combine Chinese cuisine, Japanese, Korean and Thai, so we serve much more than ramen. I also love watching the faces on our customers when they take the first bite, very satisfying.
Cheung plans to follow in his parents footsteps.
I want to stay in the food business, Cheung said. And I plan to attend Cornell University and study hotel administration and hospitality.
Westfield and Millburn are among the more affluent towns in New Jersey, but the prices at Sum Ramen are affordable.
You can have the Tan Tan Mazemen ($13), noodles, spiced ground pork, bok choy, and crispy lotus root with soy sauce. Or you can go for the dumplings with pork, chicken, or vegetables ($10), and curry korokke for ($11), fried mashed pumpkin with curry chicken.
Still hungry? Go for a bao bao (sandwich) with chicken, pork, or shrimp, covered with shredded cabbage, spicy mayo, cucumber and chashu sauce, all for ($10).
Sum Ramen Mango crepe cake is made from thin crepes layered with fresh mango and light cream. This dish was photographed at Sum Ramen in Westfield, New Jersey, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (Karim Shamsi-Basha/Karim Shamsi-Basha)
I tried the gyoza ($10), pan-fried vegetable dumplings with soy sauce, and the shrimp bao bao ($11). Both were delectable, with unique flavors and textures. I could have eaten a gazillion fried shrimp on those little sandwiches!
Yeung watched her son tell me about the dishes with pride. I asked how they could keep their prices so low.
My customers are like family. Weve had our regulars for 20 years now, and I want them to be able to afford eating here, Yeung said. Prices have gone up, but Ive had customers eating at our Milburn location when they were in high school. Now, they come with their children. You cant put a price on that.
Sum Ramen Matthew Cheung with his mother, Sum Yeung, at Sum Ramen in Westfield, New Jersey, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (Karim Shamsi-Basha/Karim Shamsi-Basha)
Other affordable ramen places that ranked highly on yelp:
In South Jersey, stop by Kyuramen in Cherry Hill. You can have your choice of popcorn chicken, shrimp tempura, and several ramen combinations with pork or chicken, all for around $10-$14. Ramen dishes come with bamboo shoots, corn, scallion, nori, and sesame.
In North Jersey, head to Tori Ramen Chicken in Ridgewood, where appetizers like gyoza and seven pieces of shrimp cost $6 to $8. You can also feast on the seafood ramen ($12), which comes with kombu broth with squid, fish cake, shrimp, egg and scallions.
Karim Shamsi-Basha may be reached at kshamsi-basha@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter & Instagram. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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With the incumbent an unabashed partisan firebrand running on his reputation as a "fighter," and the challenger staking his candidacy on his concerns "the system is falling apart," Montana voters dont have to search far to find some daylight between the states two candidates for attorney general.
Democratic newcomer Ben Alke's campaign proposes a less partisan justice department following four years of Republican incumbent Attorney General Austin Knudsen.
Knudsen said that would be a "weak" exercise of the office.
Knudsen has been an aggressive driver of the Montana Department of Justice since his election in 2020. At a recent Billings event with Republican Speaker of the U.S. House Mike Johnson, the attorney generals introduction by a conservative radio host included a statistic Knudsen's office has touted this summer: 50 lawsuits leveled against the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden, from policy at the southern border to federal emissions rules.
Johnson himself noted Knudsens profile has shined in some circles outside Montanas borders.
"This attorney general over here, Knudsen, hes got a nationwide reputation already as a fighter and somebody whos doing the right thing," Johnson told the crowd.
Alke, a Bozeman attorney and first-time candidate for public office, has campaigned as a counter to Knudsens controversies in his first term, from dispatching a trooper to the aid of a politically connected hospital patient to his seemingly estranged relationship with the Montana Highway Patrol. Alke has also tried to cast his envisioned justice department as less interested in partisan fights and more focused on the impartial administration of law enforcement.
At a campaign stop in Missoula last week, Alke told supporters Knudsen has overplayed his politics from the top of the justice department.
"This is no room when youre talking about law enforcement or criminal law for political considerations," Alke told them. "You cant have the justice system turned around and be used as a weapon against people."
Knudsen won with more than 58% of the vote in a red wave that swept the state four years ago and is counting on the same voters to show up this year, while Alke stakes his hopes on being able to highlight the controversies the incumbent has snagged himself in. The general election is Nov. 5 and absentee ballots start reaching voters in mid-October.
State of the race
This year the incumbent has appeared at events headlined by Speaker Johnson and former President Donald Trump. In 2023 he was making national news after pushing a statewide TikTok ban through the Legislature a year before Congress and Biden signed off on virtually the same policy at the national level.
"Just 50 lawsuits against the Biden administration so far? Come on," the speaker joked.
In an interview last week, Knudsen said its not about the tally of cases against Biden that compels him to go to court again and again, but the presidents attempts to roll out sweeping changes outside of the legislative process through executive orders and agency rulemaking.
"It was never about a number," Knudsen said. "Its more about the fact that weve had to file so many lawsuits against an administration that just keeps passing rules without Congress."
Democrats have suffered a streak of losses in recent election cycles and this year hardly seem to mention their party, in campaign ads or otherwise. Asked how his chosen affiliation would emerge in the office, Alke narrowed that influence down to the attorney generals role on the state Land Board, where he said he would exert more enthusiasm for public land access. The Land Board, made up of Montana's top elected officials, plays a role in managing and acquiring state lands and managing them for the financial benefit of public schools.
"I have my views, and my views are things that are in most cases, but not all, aligned with Democrats," he said. "Im not the sort of person who would have run for office 10-15 years ago because I think Im going to make a political career and trying to bend policy one way or another. Im running because Im legitimately concerned that the system is falling apart."
Alkes campaign ads will start ramping up on TV and digital devices this week, but hes facing a steep, uphill battle. Knudsen has run for some office successfully almost every cycle since 2010, first in the state Legislature, then for Roosevelt County Attorney and attorney general in 2020.
Missoula attorney Bob Phillips, standing near the back of the room at Alkes campaign stop last week, said hes supporting the Democrat because of the way Knudsen conducts the office, including the conflict with the judicial branch that led to a professional misconduct case against the attorney general that remains ongoing.
"I am a Democrat, but it wouldnt make any difference in this race," Phillips said.
Done the work
Knudsen, against these criticisms, believes people knew they were voting for an unwaveringly partisan candidate when they put him in office in 2020.
"The notion that an attorney general is going to be a non-political, to me, just means they're going to be weak," he said. "They're not going to take positions. They're not going to get involved in important issues, pushing back and defending Montana's rights."
Less than a month before Election Day, Knudsen is scheduled to face a trial on a professional misconduct complaint, which bears 41 counts related to his fight with the judicial branch early in his first term.
Knudsen has sought to discredit the special counsel appointed to the case and asked the Commission on Practice, which is essentially the professional licensing board for attorneys, to dismiss the matter. He argued that as a statewide elected official, he has grounds to criticize the courts, particularly in his role representing the Legislature in legal challenges. The commission recently rejected that motion, setting Knudsen on course for a trial to begin Oct. 9. The attorney general has since filed a new motion to disqualify one of the panelists who will preside over that trial due to her legal teams work with Supreme Court Justice Jim Rice during that saga.
What effect does Knudsen think that trial will have on his re-election bid, especially so close to Nov. 5?
"I dont know," he said. "Its obviously something were concerned about and its something Im taking very seriously. Ive always taken my integrity as a lawyer very seriously."
Alke has also been hammering Knudsen with an internal assessment survey conducted with the Montana Highway Patrol earlier this year. Several responses were critical of Knudsens administration, which subsequently fired the trooper who shared the survey with her union. His office also sent a cease-and-desist letter to the news outlet that published the survey.
"I think a lot of this has been overblown," Knudsen said of the survey. "Big picture, despite the noise being made here, Ive got a very good relationship with the highway patrol. Are there probably some employees who dont care for my politics? Yeah, undoubtedly, I think you would find that within any state agency that probably dont necessarily align with the administration every four or eight years. But overall, I love working with the highway patrol. By and large, we let them do their mission."
Knudsen said his office has worked to address concerns about communication down to the local detachments, and where several trooper positions have remained stubbornly vacant, his office recently provided $8,000 raises.
Knudsen this month also rolled out a new program to place opioid overdose reversal drugs in Montana schools, putting to work some of the settlement money the state received from its and other states litigation against massive pharmaceutical companies. The program theoretically could move further into public spaces like YMCAs or libraries, but schools have increasingly seen students more familiar with the drug.
Still, Knudsen maintains his best tool to fight the fentanyl epidemic, which has grown here and throughout the U.S., is challenging the Biden administration where he sees the president failing at the southern border. The highway patrols seizures are up through interdiction efforts on state highways, but those figures have not slowed and methamphetamine continues to come to Montana in bulk.
"To me, thats akin to treating a bleeding gunshot wound with a Band-Aid," he said. "You have to stop it at the source and the fact that youve got an administration whos thrown the southern border wide open and has made it exceedingly easy for these cartels to get massive amounts of fentanyl."
Asked what his focus in a second term would be, Knudsen said hed support law enforcement by seeking more resources from the state Legislature, expand the state crime labs capacity and boost compensation for troopers.
"Public safety has to be the No. 1 job of the attorney general," Knudsen said. "The bottom line is that Ive got that club in my bag, I dont just have platitudes that I say to my trial lawyer buddies. Ive done the work."
No political agenda
Alke, whose legal practice has dealt in a variety of civil law cases, said he would focus the justice department's work with local law enforcement agencies in their efforts against fentanyl. He raised the need for that support in places like Lake County, which is struggling to fund its law enforcement that works collaboratively with tribal police there, or Yellowstone County, where jail overcrowding has forced local officials to build a new detention facility.
"You have to deal with it more locally, on a community-by-community basis, because the problem is so big there is no silver bullet," he said. "You have to do a better job of controlling what you can control."
Like Knudsen, Alke does not have a police background. The Montana Highway Patrol, Alke said, should largely be left to the colonel to operate with the attorney generals support.
"Highway patrols not happy with how thats been run," Alke said. "Law enforcements a small community, and I think there are plenty of people who already know that. They just need to know that Im someone whos serious about doing the job the right way. Im not coming in with some sort of a political agenda."
However, the attorney generals office is a partisan one, and, not unlike Knudsen and other Republicans' push against the Biden administration, Democratic state attorneys general litigated then-President Trumps policy decisions well over 100 times during Trump's single term.
Alke said offices should spend more time on meaningful legal rebuttals to the federal government rather than staging political stunts en masse with other AGs of the same political party.
"Youre just showing up, not to actually litigate a case or do anything, youre just showing up to get credit," Alke said. "And thats just not how lawyers should decide what cases theyre getting into."
Alke said determining whether to challenge federal law or join a multistate litigation should be based on whether Montana will benefit from participating in that case, or if the underlying matter affects people in Montana.
"Otherwise its just window dressing, and I think most of it is all window dressing," he said.
Incumbency already comes as an advantage during election season. But Democrats with little name recognition have an even higher hurdle to clear when Montanas electorate has increasingly moved to the right. The challenge, Alke said, is seeking out and having conversations with undecided voters and Republicans he needs to peel away from Knudsen. The race has also gotten little oxygen compared to the contest for Montana's U.S. Senate seat.
"Its going to be tough, but Im optimistic that the people of Montana will take a look at what this race is about and what the candidates are about and make a decision," Alke said. "If enough people pay attention, I think we win."
Alke, in trying to break through to voters this campaign season, has tried to meet Knudsen in debates or forums around the state.
He called it "chickenshit" that Knudsen has so far not appeared with his challenger at events. Last week, Alke repeatedly publicized letters to the Department of Justice goading Knudsen to appear at a forum proposed by City Club Missoula, a monthly civic engagement gathering.
"Youre not running against Joe Biden," Alke said. "Youre running against Ben Alke, whos a reasonable guy, who is pro-law enforcement and would be better at your job than you are."
Knudsen laughed when asked to respond to the chicken comment.
"Im not opposed to debating," Knudsen said. "I debated my last opponent. I will certainly be willing to debate or even participate in a forum, but you know, its going to be one where were sure what the format looks like, where its not going to be some kind of ambush."
Knudsens campaign manager said City Club Missoula "never reached out" about an attorney general debate, and said Alke was only trying to get attention.
Staff for City Club Missoula, however, said Monday the Knudsen campaign declined to attend the event citing a prior commitment.
Absentee ballots will begin to be mailed out on Oct. 11. Election Day is Nov. 5.
Murder probe launched into Brit balcony death in Spain
On the second anniversary of the Ibiza tragedy, a murder suspect has been arrested in the UK
Two years ago, Robyn-Eve Maines, a 24-year-old British woman, fell to her death from a hotel balcony in Ibiza . Now, a new twist in the case has led to a homicide investigation, with a 27-year-old man from London arrested on suspicion of murder.
Robyn, a law graduate from Wallasey, was on holiday with her boyfriend and friends in September 2022 when she fell from the second-floor apartment at the Rosamar Hotel in Calle Huelva, near the resort town of San Antonio.
Her body was found at around 8.30am after her partner raised the alarm, and despite efforts by paramedics, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Initially, the Spanish police treated Robyn's death as an accident, but after reviewing material from the Spanish authorities, Merseyside Police have now launched a murder investigation.
The force has arrested a young man from London on suspicion of murder and bailed him pending further enquiries.
Detective Inspector Phil Ryan, who is leading the investigation, has appealed for witnesses to come forward and tell them what they know.
On the second anniversary I am appealing for any witnesses who may have been staying at the hotel in September 2022, and who are based in the UK, to come forward.
Perhaps you return to this same hotel on the same date every year.
Were you there in 2022 and did you see or hear anything, or do you have any other information which could assist with our investigation?
Robyn's family has been left devastated by her death and are still seeking answers as to what happened. In a statement, they said:
We just want justice for Robyn.
Anyone with information has been urged to DM @MerPolCC or call 101 quoting reference 22000713270.
Information can also be passed anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Images: Facebook
The Youth Fund has introduced a new loan product named E-Yes, expanding its financial offerings.
Announced on September 23, 2024, the E-Yes loan is available to individuals who are part of a group, Community-Based Organization (CBO), investment club, or Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization (SACCO) that has previously received support from the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF).
The Youth Fund encourages borrowers seeking financial assistance for startups, business expansion, or asset acquisition to apply for the E-Yes loan.
To qualify, applicants must present a clear business plan for a formally recognized business. The Youth Fund has set specific loan amounts and repayment rates for this product.
First-time borrowers looking to start a business can receive a maximum loan of Kes. 20,000, while those borrowing for the first time with an existing business can access up to Kes. 50,000. Borrowers in this latter category must repay their loans within 18 months.
Qualified individuals can also benefit from a loan graduation system, which includes the following:
1st Loan: Up to Kes. 50,000 for a maximum of 9 months.
Up to Kes. 50,000 for a maximum of 9 months. 2nd Loan: Up to Kes. 100,000 for a maximum of 9 months.
Up to Kes. 100,000 for a maximum of 9 months. 3rd Loan: Up to Kes. 150,000 for a maximum of 12 months.
Up to Kes. 150,000 for a maximum of 12 months. 4th Loan: Up to Kes. 200,000 for a maximum of 18 months.
To secure the E-Yes loan, group members must co-guarantee the loan and provide collateral, which includes business assets, stock, livestock, and household items.
The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has opened applications for an industrial attachment program specifically for communications and media students. In a notice issued on September 24, 2024, the council announced a partnership with recognized media houses across the country to provide students with valuable practical work experience before graduation.
MCK aims to enhance students skills and understanding of the media industry through this program, preparing them for successful careers in communications and journalism.
The Media Council of Kenya, in collaboration with recognized media houses, runs a media industrial attachment designed to equip journalism and media students with the practical experience necessary for graduation and readiness for the job market, the notice stated.
The council welcomes applications from individuals of all backgrounds and emphasizes its commitment to non-discrimination based on disability, race, color, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, or any other category protected by law.
The attachment program will last for three months, running from October to December 2024. Selected students will receive a monthly stipend to support them during the program.
The attachment lasts for three months, from October to December 2024. The Council will provide a monthly stipend to cover the trainees upkeep, MCK confirmed.
Requirements
Beneficiaries will be placed in recognized media outlets across the country, specializing in areas such as print, broadcast radio/television, technical/production, and digital media. Students pursuing degrees or diplomas in journalism, media studies, communications, digital communication, or corporate communication are eligible to apply. Additionally, applicants must be final-year students from recognized universities or colleges.
Candidates should submit a recommendation letter from their institution that indicates the required placement period. MCK states that applicants must also have valid registration for the Industrial Attachment unit at their college or university.
Other requirements include academic transcripts for the current academic year and a valid student identification card. Furthermore, applicants need a valid MCK Student Press Card for 2024 and should include samples of any previous journalistic work.
How to Apply
Interested students can apply by submitting all required documents through the link provided on the MCK Careers page.
Applicants should use the subject title: Application for MCK Media Industrial Attachment Programme. All applications must be submitted by Monday, September 30, 2024.
The Media Council of Kenya has reiterated that it does not solicit payments or recruit through agents or agencies.
On Tuesday, September 24, the National Assembly rejected the Mung Bill (Ndengu), 2022, which the Senate had previously passed.
The August House announced, The National Assembly, by a majority, has rejected the Mung Bill, 2022, at the second reading stage.
Introduced in Parliament by Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua, the Ndengu Bill aimed to regulate the production, processing, and marketing of mung beans in Kenya. Wambua stated that the bill seeks to promote the growth of the mung bean industry both locally and internationally.
He emphasized that the bill does not impose a licensing requirement for growing mung beans; instead, it mandates registration for small and medium-sized farmers, similar to existing regulations for other crops. The Kitui Senator clarified that licensing provisions specifically apply to commercial activities, such as processing and large-scale trading.
Wambua also highlighted that requiring all mung bean growers to register with the respective County Executive Committee (CEC) member is a proactive measure aimed at achieving these goals, rather than a punitive action against farmers.
He explained, The bill requires small and medium-sized mung bean farmers to register with the relevant CEC member. This practice is already established for other crops such as tea and coffee.
According to the Senator, the primary purpose of this registration is for the government to maintain a record of mung bean growers, documenting the location, size, and variety of cultivated mung beans. This information will help assess the potential crop capacity within counties and throughout the country.
Additionally, Wambua noted that Clause 9 of the bill includes licensing requirements for individuals or entities intending to market, process, or engage in large-scale trading of mung beans and related products.
The bill will now proceed to mediation. If the mediation committee fails to reach an agreement within thirty days, the bill will be considered lost.
However, if the committee agrees on a version that both Houses approve, the bill will pass.
Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa has declared that Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua will be impeached before the end of the year.
Barasa suggested that Gachaguas actions over the past year have paved the way for his removal, claiming that an impeachment motion is already being prepared.
Rigathi Gachagua impeached himself one year ago. The National Assembly will have the courage to remove him, Barasa remarked.
Barasa also dismissed Gachaguas accusations that MPs had been bribed to damage his reputation and push for his impeachment. He stressed that the current Parliament operates independently and without external influence.
Before Christmas this year the deputy president will celebrate his holiday back at his village in Karatina after Parliament sends him packing, Barasa declared.
The MP accused Gachagua of promoting tribalism, which has created tensions within the Kenya Kwanza Alliance. He further criticized the deputy presidents approach to development, accusing him of favoring regions that supported President Ruto in the 2022 elections.
Gachagua does not want regions that did not overwhelmingly support Ruto in 2022 to get development. His philosophy is if you did not vote for the current regime you should not be in government, Barasa added.
Elsewhere, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss Shollei backed Barasas stance, announcing her willingness to oversee the impeachment process once it reaches Parliament.
I will personally send you home. Consider this your notice. You are going to be impeached, and I can confirm that, Shollei declared.
President William Ruto has changed his position regarding the Ford Foundation, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that he previously accused of funding Gen Z protests in Kenya.
In a statement made on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, Ruto praised the Ford Foundation for its commitment to protecting Kenyas democracy.
This shift in tone follows Rutos meeting with Ford Foundation President Darren Walker in New York, held on the sidelines of the ongoing 79th United Nations General Assembly.
Ruto expressed appreciation for the Ford Foundations dedication to safeguarding democracy and supporting Kenyas calls for reforms in global economic institutions, climate action, and modern technology regulation.
Rutos remarks come just two months after he publicly criticized the Foundation for allegedly fueling protests in the country. At that time, he directly implicated the American private foundation, claiming it hired individuals to incite chaos, resulting in significant property damage and looting.
The President had questioned, I want to ask the people of the Ford Foundation to tell us, what is the purpose of their money if it is used to cause chaos?
He further stated, We are going to call them out and tell them that if they are not interested in democracy in Kenya, and if they are going to sponsor violence and anarchy, we will make it known to them that they either style up or leave.
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Singoei shared insights from Rutos meeting with Walker, indicating that their discussions centered on democratic governance and human rights. Singoei emphasized Kenyas commitment to upholding democratic values and the rule of law, particularly in a global context where democratic backsliding is increasingly evident.
Both leaders acknowledged the critical need to protect democracy in Africa against the threats of disinformation and the misuse of digital platforms for anti-democratic purposes, Singoei remarked.
Notable attendees at the meeting included Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, opposition leader Raila Odinga, Environment Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, National Security Adviser Monica Juma, Adan Mohamed, and Singoei himself.
During the discussions, Singoei noted that Walker praised Ruto for his vocal advocacy on international platforms regarding reforms in global economic governance, climate change, and technology regulation.
Ruto reciprocated by expressing gratitude for the Ford Foundations longstanding investment in Kenyas development over the past 60 years, underscoring the importance of collaborative efforts to tackle global challenges.
President William Ruto said that the Kenyan government is enhancing its laws and policies to attract international investors.
Speaking during the US-Kenya Business and Investment Roundtable organized by the Corporate Council on Africa, President Ruto emphasized that Kenyas improved business environment, skilled workforce, and abundant renewable energy resources position the country as an ideal trade and investment destination.
We are continuously refining our policies by actively engaging with the private sector to ensure they remain relevant and effective, Ruto said, addressing a gathering that included Corporate Council on Africa President Florizelle Liser, Chairman John Olajide, and Kenya Private Sector Alliance Chairman Jas Bedi.
Ruto urged American investors to take advantage of Kenyas conducive business climate, assuring them of his personal commitment to facilitating their seamless entry into the market. He highlighted the governments dedication to providing the necessary support to ensure the success of foreign investments.
The President outlined several key reforms designed to attract investment. One of these reforms aligns Kenyas data protection framework with international standards, enabling 100% foreign ownership of ICT companies without the need for local partnerships. He also noted that Kenya has harmonized its corporate tax policies to meet global standards.
We are striving to make our Export Processing Zones and Special Economic Zones the most competitive in Africa, Ruto added, stressing the governments goal of creating a business-friendly environment.
In addition to these measures, the government is expanding ICT infrastructure to bridge the digital divide, unlock opportunities in the digital economy, and foster innovation.
Nairobi, home to the globally recognised Silicon Savannah, is the centerpiece of our strategy to make Kenya a leading tech hub, with Konza City as Africas top destination for investment and innovation, he said.
The President also pointed to the governments focus on enhancing agricultural value chains to improve productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness. He encouraged investors to explore the numerous opportunities available.
You are welcome to invest in the numerous opportunities available in these value chains and be part of Kenyas industrial and export success, he told the investors.
Ruto shared that Kenyas efforts to position itself as a top destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) have yielded significant results. In 2022, Kenya attracted $759 million in FDI, representing 20% of the total investment in the East African Community and 2% of Africas overall FDI.
He underscored Kenyas strategic position as a gateway to the African continent, offering unrivaled access to markets through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the worlds largest free trade area. He encouraged American investors to help close the remaining gap in Kenyas renewable energy sector. Currently, 93% of the countrys grid is powered by renewable energy, with plans to reach 100% by 2030.
Following his address, President Ruto launched the Programme for Investment and Financing in Africas Health in New York. He explained that a reformed African Union (AU) would be better equipped to tackle the challenges facing the continent.
He emphasized that the AUs priority should be to improve the welfare of its people by facilitating private sector investment in critical areas like healthcare.
As the AU Champion for Institutional Reform, I am dedicated to asking the tough questions on how our continent can attract investment in social sectors like healthcare, Ruto stated.
The Court of Appeal has declined to reinstate the license of televangelist Ezekiel Oderos New Life Prayer Centre and Church in Kilifi. Odero had appealed to reverse a ruling by High Court Judge Jairus Ngaah, which supported the Registrar of Societies decision to revoke the churchs operating license.
According to court records, the Church failed to submit its annual returns by April 13, 2023, prompting the case. The Registrar of Societies informed the court that the church did not comply with legal requirements, and on May 18, they officially notified Pastor Ezekiel of its registration cancellation.
The church was one of several closed for improper registration after the Shakahola massacre. Although pastor Odero and others obtained temporary court orders to halt the closures, their licenses remained under review.
On Tuesday, Court of Appeal Judges Daniel Musinga, Kathurima Minoti, and Mwaniki Gachoka dismissed Oderos application, noting that he and other church officials had not followed the legal dispute resolution procedures before approaching the courts.
The judges stated that New Life Prayer Centre and Church was required to appeal to the Cabinet Secretary first and, if unsatisfied, pursue a second appeal in the High Court.
In accordance with the consistent rulings of this Court and the Supreme Court, which require parties to exhaust the dispute resolution mechanisms provided by law before turning to the High Court or courts of equal status, we find that the intended appeal is not arguable, the court ruled.
The appellate judges upheld Judge Ngaahs position, reiterating a party must first invoke the dispute resolution mechanisms before moving to the High Court.
On a wall in my home office I have a half-dozen family documents. Among them are my draft papers: registration certificate (AKA draft card), statement of acceptability, and notice of classification. Younger visitors often ask me why I kept these aging pieces of paper. I tell them thats because there was a time when they were the most important documents in my life.
I recently looked closely at them for the first time in many years. I was motivated by two events. The first was a striking image from the Democratic National Convention: gathered onstage one evening were three dozen delegates who were military veterans. Up in front, in a wheelchair, was Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a wounded veteran from Iraq. Standing taller than his colleagues in the back and smiling broadly was our own Rep. Mike Thompson, who served in Vietnam.
And next year is the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. That means its veterans are getting up there in age, in their 70s and 80s. Their numbers are inevitably and slowly declining. Thompsons office informed me that now there are only four Vietnam veterans left in Congress: Mike and two colleagues in the House (Reps. Jim Baird of Indiana and Jack Bergman of Michigan), and one in the Senate (Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, who's retiring this year).
I was in college and grad school during the Vietnam War. I had two friends who dropped out to join the Marines and the army, and others who were in ROTC. I had a friend who went to jail for the symbolic act of burning his draft card. Between these opposites were me and most of my male classmates.
I had student deferments during college, but it was unclear whether they would continue into grad school.
I wanted to get on with my life. Like most everyone I knew, I was opposed to the war. I thought it was stupid, obscenely wasteful, and unwinnable. But if required to join up, Id go. I just wanted some control over planning it. So I volunteered for a pre-draft physical.
One early morning, precisely one week after graduating from Cornell, I showed up at the induction center in lower Manhattan. There were perhaps 200 of us, almost all Black or Hispanic. I vaguely remember that two of us white boys wore jackets and ties. Thats what we did in those days.
We were divided into groups. Mine was full of colorful characters. Our saga out-did Arlo Guthrie's in Alices Restaurant. One of our crew was absolutely delighted to be there. He told us it was his first day out in a long time. Turns out he was a resident of a mental hospital. He was rejected for service.
Another one was about 69. He had done his homework and understood he was too tall for service. But the corpsman marked him down as 66. My new friend then picked up the corpsman and held him aloft until his height measurement was accurately recorded. He was rejected for service.
Then there was a third, who drove the sergeant corralling us nuts. Early in the day, we had to answer some basic questions on a health background form. One was whether we had ever lost a limb. Seemed straightforward, but this fellow raised his hand and said he couldnt easily answer the question. Our sergeant nearly went berserk: What do you mean you cant answer it? Turns out this guy had his leg cut off near the ankle in an early childhood accident, but it was successfully reattached. He had lost a limb, but he'd gained it back. He too was rejected for service.
Nothing so interesting happened to me. I did have some difficulty with the mechanical part of a written questionnaire. I had a hard time telling apart various engines. But in mid-afternoon I found myself back on the first floor, facing a young soldier behind a table. After briefly reviewing my examination papers he informed me I was not acceptable at that time for service.
Not fully understanding him, I asked why. He said I really should go to my doctor for my very high blood pressure. Turns out this was the moment I discovered I had white coat hypertension, with my BP readings going through the roof when under stress (years later, I got this syndrome under control with meds). I was classified I-Y, which meant I was temporarily exempt from service, but would be called back for re-examination.
That never happened; later that year we had the draft number lottery, and I lucked out with one in the 300s. My grad school year werent interrupted.
My story is not unique. Most young men during Vietnam were not required to serve. But for all, that war was ever-present in our lives. Thats why Ive kept those little pieces of paper.
Napa County supervisors will explore imposing an extraction fee for wells on the Napa Valley floor to help fund state-required groundwater oversight duties.
"You have somebody using more, they pay more. You have somebody using less, they pay less," Ryan Aston of SCI Consulting Group said at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting.
Supervisors embraced taking a first step toward having a groundwater extraction fee for the Napa Valley subbasin, though they talked only about the concept and could change course as details emerge.
The Napa Valley subbasin that would be subject to the fees stretches from Calistoga to south of the city of Napa. It does not include such areas as the surrounding mountains.
Wells irrigate world-famous Napa Valley vineyards and provide water for rural wineries and homes. California wants to keep aquifers statewide from being sapped by overpumping, to the detriment of well users and the environment.
Meanwhile, Napa County supervisors want to keep county coffers from being sapped. Since 2019, the county has spent $8.7 million of general fund money on its Groundwater Sustainability Agency, as well as a $2 million state grant.
Using the general fund alone to foot the bill is not a long-term solution, a county report said. SCI Consulting Group presented supervisors with options.
The option recommended by staff and favored by supervisors as being worth further consideration is to charge well users for each acre-foot of groundwater used. They saw benefits beyond the money raised for the program.
"I do think it's an incentive to conserve," said Joelle Gallagher, the Board of Supervisors chair.
Unlike for some types of fees, supervisors could impose a groundwater extraction fee without putting it on the ballot, Aston said.
How much the fee might be remains unknown. An example given to supervisors at their Tuesday meeting was $163 per acre-foot to raise $2.5 million, but that was for illustrative purposes only.
"High-level back-of-the-envelope," Aston said.
Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza suggested that, whatever the fee is, there be a hardship clause of some type for those who would have trouble paying it.
"Not every one who owns a vineyard is wealthy," he said.
Pedroza also suggested a sunset date for the fee. While that doesn't mean the county would abolish the charge at that point, the sunset clause would allow for a reevaluation.
Supervisor Belia Ramos suggested the county still contribute to the groundwater program, creating a partnership.
Many Napa Valley wells don't have meters to measure water use. Aston proposed developing what he called "meticulous" extraction estimates for agricultural, residential and commercial parcels.
People who conserve could use a meter to show they are using less, Gallagher said.
Only Michelle Benvenuto of the Winegrowers of Napa County spoke during public comment, and she thanked the county for its outreach. No well user addressed the board.
"Us doing this during harvest kind of problematic, I understand that," Pedroza said.
Next steps include building a database for the possible fees and continued discussions with groundwater users and other stakeholders. Aston stressed the outreach.
Three groundwater sustainability agencies in Sonoma County use fees based on estimated extraction in 2022, a county report said.
The Napa County Groundwater Sustainability Agency with supervisors sitting as its board of directors oversees the subbasin beneath the Napa Valley floor. The agency enacts the county's state-approved groundwater plan.
Napa County must show it is achieving groundwater sustainability or risk having the state take control of the subbasin. It must work to avoid such "undesirable results" as excessive well use sapping too much water from the Napa River, causing saltwater intrusion and causing land to subside.
The county's natural resources conservation manager, Jamison Crosby, recited steps that the agency has taken so far. They include measuring groundwater levels in 116 wells twice annually and creating a technical advisory group.
States Experiencing the Worst Droughts This Year States Experiencing the Worst Droughts This Year How Many Americans Are Experiencing Drought Conditions Currently? How Have Drought Conditions Changed Over Time? U.S. Drought Conditions by Location Methodology Driest Counties & States in the U.S.
California State University is anticipating state spending cuts next summer of nearly $400 million and a delay in promised state support of more than $250 million. The projected budget gap may prevent the system from enrolling new students, offering employee raises or spending more money to boost graduation rates.
Cal States Board of Trustees heard system senior finance staff detail the grim fiscal outlook Tuesday at a public meeting. They presented figures that show a 2025-26 budget hole of about $400 million to $800 million a sizable chunk of Cal States estimated operating budget of $8.3 billion next year.
I think weve got a lot of broken calculators in Sacramento, said trustee Jack McGrory at the hearing. Were expected to increase enrollment, fulfill the needs of the labor market and continue to grow the economy, and at the same time, were facing these incredibly massive cuts.
He added: What happens to our 500,000 students with these incredibly massive cuts? Were talking layoffs. Everybodys got to face up to that.
He and others stressed that the system has been in a state of fiscal distress for several years. Last year the trustees indicated that Cal State spends $1.5 billion less than it should to adequately educate its students a figure that predated the austerity measures that may be on the horizon.
The smaller, $400 million amount is the projected budget hole from mandatory new expenses and state cuts, minus new revenue from the tuition hikes the board approved last year. Those tuition increases growing 5% annually from this year to at least 2028-29 arent enough to counteract the state cuts that lawmakers said theyd enact next year. The mandatory expenses include $60 million more for health insurance premiums for workers and $55 million in increased financial aid for students.
The proposed $400 million cut is equal to the money the system spends to educate 36,000 students. Cal State enrolled more than 450,000 students last fall.
The larger $800 million figure is the budget gap when taking into account spending Cal State feels it should pursue, such as employee raises and more spending on student academic services.
Cuts would particularly affect the most vulnerable students, limiting their access to academic support tools, advising, counseling and engagement programs, the agenda document reads. Also at risk is the systems effort to improve graduation rates for Black students, a population Cal State has struggled to serve.
A trustees' committee approved a budget request to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday that would largely avoid the projected deficit; the full board was expected to approve it Wednesday. In January, Newsom will debut his budget proposal for the next fiscal year. He and lawmakers will negotiate a final budget in June 2025.
Why Cal State has a budget problem
That one-two punch of potential cuts and funding delays was spelled out in the budget deal that the Legislature and Newsom finalized this summer. It could have been worse: Initially, Newsom wanted to apply cuts to Cal State this budget year to address Californias multibillion-dollar deficit. But lawmakers pushed back to buy the university another year to prepare for the cuts and possibly avoid them if the states revenue picture brightens. Steve Relyea, the top finance officer at Cal State, said system leaders should get credit for advocating for that reprieve.
Still, Cal State officials are setting a foreboding tone, warning of severe consequences for students, staff and faculty across all CSU universities that could lead to larger class sizes, reduced course offerings, diminished student services, layoffs and hiring freezes, the systems 2025-26 budget proposal reads.
Some campuses have already laid off workers this year or plan to. Meghan ODonnell, a lecturer at Cal State Monterey Bay and a senior officer in the systemwide faculty union, told CalMatters that the jobs of hundreds of lecturers have been totally slashed or reduced because campuses are cutting the overall number of classes they offer.
The lecturer job cuts have occurred at the campuses of Chico, East Bay, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Monterey Bay, San Bernardino, San Francisco and Sonoma. Lecturers have fewer job protections than faculty with tenure or who are on the tenure track.
The union expects to see formal system data about faculty job loss and work reductions in November. ODonnell said Cal State Monterey Bay put its faculty on layoff notice last year, but the union was able to negotiate and five faculty marked for layoffs instead got voluntary separation agreements. Meanwhile, in her academic department of humanities and communications, four tenured faculty at Monterey Bay took early retirement packages while three others quit and found university jobs outside the Cal State system.
Meeting the states goals of enrolling a higher number of new students than past years is also at risk, officials said.
Enrollment growth is very challenging at a time when youre not getting the resources, Relyea said. You cant bring in additional students if you dont bring in faculty to teach the students.
Current budget problems
Already, the system is working to close an operating deficit of $218 million this academic year even after new revenue this year from the tuition hikes and some extra state support. Its a repeat of last years situation of ever-higher revenues but even higher expenses. And like last academic year, campuses are coping by pulling from reserves, not filling vacancie,s and combining under-enrolled classes or outright cutting them.
Several trustees also noted that the system doesnt adequately sell its story to lawmakers and the public about the impact the reductions have had on the system. Weve almost been too effective at making these cuts year over year over year, said Diego Arambula, vice chair of the board.
A hiring freeze is a hiring freeze, and that does impact students if were not bringing someone into a role that we know is important, he said. Its impacting our staff, who are taking on more to try and still meet the needs of the students who are here.
Meanwhile, eight campuses are working with even less money because the system began its plan of pulling some funding from schools that are missing enrollment targets by at least 10%. Cal State leadership rerouted the money to nine schools with growing enrollments. Those eight campuses are down a combined $21 million this year with San Francisco State getting hit the hardest by losing $6 million.
Relyea said the campuses are facing the prospect of pulling money from academic services to afford keeping the lights on. If youre going to delay maintaining that electrical system, theres a risk. Are you going to take that risk? How does that compare to the risk of not funding student counselors?"
Even campus presidents with enrollment growth say theyre struggling. San Jose State has cut $55 million from its budget the past two years, in part by not hiring new staff and avoiding replacing non-faculty job openings, its president, Cynthia Teniente-Matson, told the trustees.
To raise revenue, the campus is enrolling 300 new non-resident students who pay much more in tuition in majors that arent over-enrolled, she said.
Cal State San Bernardino had an average operating budget of $266 million until last year. Now its eyeing an average operating budget of $217 million if next years expected cuts come through. No organization can survive with that level of budget cut, the campus president, Tomas D. Morales, told the trustees.
The systems reserves also arent enough to ride out a large multi-year deficit. Cal State campuses have a combined $777 million in one-time funds saved for economic hardships enough to sustain operations for about a month. The systems goal is to have enough saved for at least three months of operations. Other reserves of about $1.5 billion are meant for debt payments, financial aid and contracts.
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On completing 10 years of the 'Make in India' initiative, Union Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal highlighted that after the launch of the initiative, the imports of mobiles declined by around 85 per cent. The minister stated in a social media post on Wednesday that before the launch of the 'Make in India' initiative the mobile imports of the country in 2014-15 were Rs 48,609 crore which reduced to Rs 7665 crore in 2023-24. He also highlighted that the manufacturing jobs in the country also grew by 200 per cent from 2022 to 2024. He also shared that 99 per cent mobile phones in the country are now Made in India. "Today marks #10YearsOfMakeInIndia, a transformative initiative launched by PM@NarendraModiji in 2014, which has revolutionised India's manufacturing landscape and strengthened our economic growth. Over the past decade, @MakeInIndiahas become a national force, paving the way for our country to emerge as a Global Manufacturing Hub" said Goyal in a social ,edia post on 'X'. The Minister also highlighted the profound impact of Make in India on the country's industrial landscape. He noted that the initiative aligns with PM Modi's vision of promoting 'Brand India' as a symbol of innovation and quality worldwide. He stated that over the past decade, several transformative reforms have been introduced, including the landmark Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, which targets key sectors to enhance manufacturing capabilities. The government has also made strides in improving the ease of doing business and attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), creating a conducive environment for businesses to thrive. Minister Goyal also emphasized efforts to strengthen the startup ecosystem and generate employment opportunities. "Dedicated efforts have been made to enhance the ease of doing business and attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), with the government acting as a key enabler to foster a conducive environment for businesses and investors" the post added. In his statement, Goyal also noted that Make in India has laid a strong foundation for the country's journey towards becoming a Viksit Bharat (developed India) by 2047, setting the stage for future industrial and economic growth. (ANI)
VMPL Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 25: Founded in 1989, Indian logistics solutions company today handles over 15,000 TEU shipments annually with a global reach in over 180 countries. Kenshine Group (Kenshine Global Logistics Private Limited), a leader in logistics, Freight Forwarding, LCL Consolidation, and Customs Brokerage, proudly marks its 35th anniversary this year, celebrating a journey that began in 1989. Over the past three and a half decades, Kenshine Group has established itself as a trusted partner, offering end-to-end logistics management services with an extensive network of world-class agents and unmatched technical expertise, comprehensive Freight Forwarding (FCL & LCL), Customs Brokerage, and Transportation Services with a focus on reliability and compliance. Kenshine Group's journey started in Mumbai and gradually expanded to other cities. Today, it has a strong presence across Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam, and Ankleshwar, providing services in over 180 countries globally and generating 15,000+ TEU shipment volume annually. Backed by three and half decades of industry experience, Kenshine Group is credited for its streamlined cargo handling of businesses worldwide, including the safe and compliant transport of hazardous materials. The company's LCL Services cover major ports across the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East, Far East and Southeast Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean, and the USA, handling both hazardous and general goods. The company is AEO-accredited and is known for its 100% compliance with industry standards and regulations, setting the benchmark for reliability and excellence in logistics. "Celebrating 35 years in the logistics industry is a significant milestone for us," said Krishnakumar Nair, Founder & CMD of Kenshine Group, " We owe our success not only to the trust and loyalty of our esteemed clients but also to the relentless dedication and passion of our team. It's their hard work, innovation, and commitment to excellence that have enabled us to achieve this remarkable journey. As we move forward, we will continue delivering reliable, efficient logistics solutions that support client growth, and our own growth, while embracing innovation and sustainability to shape the future of logistics for years to come." Kenshine Group is planning major business expansion with keen focus on integrating emerging technologies, and sustainability in its operations further to solidify its position as a global leader in logistics. About Kenshine Group: Kenshine Group is a "Multimodal Logistics Powerhouse" with a 35-year legacy in the industry. The company provides integrated logistics solutions for the entire supply chain, offering port-to-door, door-to-port, and door-to-door services. Headquartered in Mumbai, Kenshine Group has branches in key locations across India and is actively expanding its network. Kenshine Group's Vision: "To be a Globally Preferred Organization in Multimodal Logistics." Kenshine Group is a proud member of global logistics networks such as WCA, Lognet, JC Trans and Freyt World. The company is also registered under MTO, IATA, and FMC, and has been accredited by AEO (Authorized Economic Operator). Learn more about Kenshine Group at www.kenshinegroup.com Media Contact: Anand Nair | +919702747911 | anand@kenshineglobal.com (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
PRNewswire Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 25: SatSure Analytics India Pvt Ltd, one of the leading Earth Observation (EO) data refinery platforms, today announced that it will be collaborating with the Rajasthan Forest Department (RFD), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) DXLab and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) on a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) to develop a forest health monitoring system in Rajasthan, as part of a larger vision to build the first-of-its-kind 'Forest Stack'. This move marks a pivotal shift for Rajasthan towards integrating digital technology into its forest conservation efforts. By integrating SatSure's satellite imagery and remote sensing expertise with existing data, this system will deliver actionable intelligence on forest health to RFD officials. As a part of this development, SatSure will collaborate with JICA DXLab and BCG as a technology enabler to build the first use case of the stack, in the form of a digital forest health monitoring system. With its technological expertise, SatSure will create a comprehensive, open-source platform that integrates satellite imagery, remote sensing data, and existing forest data into an accessible and actionable dashboard. This will enable forest officials to track forest health, manage resources more efficiently, and implement conservation strategies. RFD has been initiating several strategic steps towards the protection and management of forest resources, including the development of Forest Management and Decision Support System (FMDSS). It has several application modules, such as plantation monitoring, nursery inventory management, forest fire management, wildlife offenses tracking, among others. The digital forest health monitoring system will complement FMDSS and enable seamless data exchange. Speaking about this development, Prateep Basu, Founder & CEO, SatSure says, "At SatSure, our vision is to deliver decision insights from space, and to positively impact society through this technology. Forests are a critical part of our sustainable future, and we are thrilled to be partnering with Rajasthan Forest Department and JICA in taking a first step towards creating the first-of-its-kind 'Forest Stack'. Through this pioneering initiative, we will create a replicable, open-source stack that can be replicated across different geographies globally. By leveraging our advanced geospatial analytics and satellite data integration, we aim to provide a robust platform that ensures efficient forest health monitoring and promotes sustainable forestry practices." Dr Venkatesh Sharma, APCCF & Project Director (RFBP-2), Rajasthan Forest Department said, "There is significant scope to leverage digital technologies and enable seamless data exchanges for enhanced monitoring of forest health. By utilizing satellite imagery, remote sensing data, existing project data, and near real-time data analytics, we can get actionable insights into forest health, overcoming the challenges of data fragmentation and physical record-keeping. This can bring about a pivotal shift for Rajasthan State towards integrating technology in its forest conservation efforts and a develop a comprehensive decision support system for the forest department. We are looking forward to leverage SatSure's expertise in geospatial analytics to deliver significant value for us through the forest health monitoring system." Natsumi Kobayashi, Country Officer, South Asia Department, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said, "JICA has been supporting the state of Rajasthan in its forestry and biodiversity conservation initiatives for the last 30 years, and we are pleased to collaborate with SatSure to further strengthen RFD's capacity through this PoC. This initiative is the first step towards building a comprehensive Forest Stack - a digital public infrastructure that will empower developing nations to safeguard forest ecosystems by leveraging the power of data and digital technology. Our commitment is to support RFD in monitoring and managing their forest and natural resources more effectively, thereby contributing to the resolution of climate change. The solution is envisioned to be made available for other state forest departments, supporting India in advancing its forest management practices and ultimately contributing to global environmental sustainability." Aparna Bijapurkar, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said, "BCG is excited to collaborate with JICA DXLab and work with SatSure on this visionary project for building the forest health monitoring system for the Rajasthan Forest Department. By harnessing the power of digital technologies and working closely with committed RFD leadership, we intend to make Rajasthan a lighthouse state for building the comprehensive forest stack. BCG is working closely with multiple government institutions in India and will leverage this deep experience to ensure widespread adoption of the system to drive long-term business process change for RFD." Sushma Vasudevan, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said, "At BCG, our aim is to be the most positively impactful company in the world. We have deep sectoral knowledge in forestry and significant expertise in driving large-scale technology transformations across the world. We will bring this expertise to build the digital forest stack for Rajasthan. The forest stack can cater to a diverse set of users beyond RFD, such as researchers and private players, and enable multiple other use cases such as facilitating carbon credits. This will unlock myriad benefits, improving the state's conservation efforts and enhancing livelihoods of local communities across the state." This initiative underscores the importance of digitization in forest management, ensuring that India remains at the forefront of global sustainability efforts. The Forest Stack is envisioned to not only benefit forestry departments but also enhance community welfare and ecological health, paving the way for a more sustainable future. About SatSure: SatSure is a deep tech, decision intelligence company headquartered in Bangalore, India. Leveraging satellite imagery and AI, SatSure provides valuable insights to industries such as agriculture, insurance, and infrastructure. Their solutions empower clients to make data-driven decisions and drive sustainable development. For more information, visit here. About JICA DXLab: JICA DXLab is an initiative by Japan International Cooperation Agency focused on leveraging digital technologies to enhance global development projects through Proof-of-Concept pilots. DXLab collaborates with Digital Partners to integrate data-driven solutions into JICA's projects in areas such as environmental conservation, agriculture, health, and infrastructure development. For more information about this PoC for a digital forest health monitoring system in Rajasthan, click here. To learn more about JICA DXLab and its other PoCs, click here. About Boston Consulting Group: Boston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we work closely with clients to embrace a transformational approach aimed at benefiting all stakeholders--empowering organizations to grow, build sustainable competitive advantage, and drive positive societal impact. Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives that question the status quo and spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting, technology and design, and corporate and digital ventures. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, fueled by the goal of helping our clients thrive and enabling them to make the world a better place. For more information, please visit https://www.bcg.com. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2514172/SatSure_Joins_Hands_JICA_DXLab_and_BCG.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2162476/4930557/Satsure_Logo.jpg (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
SMPL Bellandur, Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], September 25: SpringPeople Software Private Limited, a leading provider of enterprise IT training and certification solutions in India, has announced a strategic partnership with the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), the largest professional association for supply chain management worldwide. This collaboration is set to elevate SpringPeople's offerings in supply chain education and certification programs. As an Authorized Training Partner of ASCM, SpringPeople will leverage ASCM's educational resources, industry insights, and certification pathways, while strengthening the joint capabilities of both organizations. This partnership reflects SpringPeople's dedication to providing top-tier training that empowers professionals to thrive in an ever-evolving business environment. ASCM's globally recognized certifications and training programs are specifically designed to revolutionize supply chain management practices, enhancing efficiency and driving organizational success. Through this alliance, SpringPeople will offer world-class training programs, including the Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), Certified in Planning and Inventory Management (CPIM), and Certified in Logistics, Transportation, and Distribution (CLTD) certifications. This partnership will allow ASCM to leverage SpringPeople's deep expertise and extensive network to reach a broader audience of professionals and enterprises, ensuring Indian professionals benefit from high-quality supply chain training, competitive pricing, and localized support. As both organizations work together, they aim to set new benchmarks in supply chain management education across the region. Shilpi Vatsa, Cofounder & Director of SpringPeople, expressed her excitement about the partnership: "Supply chain management is a critical function that impacts every aspect of a business. We are thrilled to partner with ASCM to bring world-class supply chain education to our clients. ASCM's superior educational content and global recognition will complement our training capabilities, helping us expand our reach and impact within the industry." Abe Eshkenazi, CEO of ASCM, added: "ASCM is dedicated to advancing the supply chain profession through education and certification. We selected SpringPeople as our strategic partner due to their strong dedication to quality education and their broad reach in the corporate training sector. Together, we will drive innovation and excellence in supply chain management education." Founded in 2009 by IIT alumni, SpringPeople is India's largest enterprise IT training provider. Over 1000 enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies like Cisco, Walmart, and IBM, rely on SpringPeople to upskill their workforce and drive organizational success. Global technology leaders such as AWS, SAP, Microsoft Azure, ASCM, Red Hat, GCP and others have chosen SpringPeople as their master-certified training partner, a testament to the company's dedication to delivering high-quality education. SpringPeople's programs are powered by LnDCloud, an innovative Enterprise Training platform that ensures seamless learning experiences. The company offers a broad spectrum of training in emerging technologies, including AI, GenAI, Machine Learning, Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Blockchain, and RPA, backed by a network of over 4500 industry veteran trainers. SpringPeople is known for its commitment to customer satisfaction and delivering the most relevant, up-to-date training content, making it a trusted partner for companies seeking cutting-edge training solutions. For more information on SpringPeople's supply chain training programs or to explore partnership opportunities, please visit the website at www.springpeople.com . For direct inquiries, contact the marketing team at marketing@springpeople.com or reach out to the training department at training@springpeople.com . (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by SMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
Australia is continuing negotiations with India for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, Australia's Minister for Trade and Tourism, Special Minister of State Don Farrell said in a statement while welcoming Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush to Adelaide. "We are continuing negotiations on our next trade agreement with India, an ambitious Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement," he added in a statement issued to the media. "Our government has also finished consultations on a new roadmap for Australia's economic engagement with India, which presents enormous growth opportunities for Australian business in clean energy, agribusiness, education and skills, and tourism," he added. Farrell stated that our first trade agreement with India has strengthened our economies, creating more jobs and opportunities for businesses and exporters while reducing prices at the checkout. "Since this trade deal entered into force in November 2022, around USD 30 billion worth of Australian exports have entered India tariff-free, and Australians have saved around USD 225 million on goods from India," he added. The Australian Minister added that both countries are close partners, and our trade, investment, and economic relationship is growing faster than ever. In his ongoing visit to Australia, Goyal had a number of productive engagements on the second day (September 24). He was the Chief Guest at the 22nd National Conference of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) in Sydney. The conference brought together about 1100 real estate developers from India to Australia, as per the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. In his address, the Minister urged the real estate industry to adopt even more effective measures for the well-being of millions of workers employed in it. He appreciated the contribution of the real estate sector to the growth of the Indian economy and encouraged them to consider expanding their operations in international markets such as Australia. The minister also met several emerging Indian-origin and Australian leaders in different sectors at an event organised by the High Commission of India and the India-Australia Business Community Alliance (IABCA). (ANI)
PRNewswire Plantation (Florida) [US], September 25: Global healthcare customer experience company Everise today announced that it has signed a binding agreement to acquire the healthcare vertical of Continuum Global Solutions (CGS), a customer services management company, from Skyview Capital. The strategic move enhances Everise's capabilities in pharmacy benefit management, expanding the company's growth prospects. The combined entity will expand its healthcare payer and provider customer footprint in the US. Everise will offer a broader suite of healthcare services, which will now extend to specialty clinic and retail pharmacy businesses. Over 8,000 CGS employees will join Everise, where a smooth transition and transfer of expertise will be ensured. "We are impressed by the healthcare vertical Skyview has built and are delighted to welcome the CGS healthcare team to Everise. The integration of CGS' healthcare vertical will broaden and deepen our healthcare expertise, solidifying our position as an end-to-end healthcare experiences provider in the payer and pharmacy benefits segments of the healthcare services market. I am confident that our combined expertise will accelerate our journey as a global healthcare BPO leader with our shared vision of transforming customer experiences," shared Sudhir Agarwal, Founder & CEO, Everise. "We are incredibly proud of the immense growth CGS has achieved under our stewardship, evolving into a leader within healthcare services. After careful consideration, we are happy to have selected Everise, backed by world class private equity sponsors Warburg Pincus and Brookfield, as the new leader to continue this positive momentum, and we wish them every success in the future," shared Naeem Arastu, Partner & COO of Skyview Capital. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. Everise, established in 2016, has rapidly grown in the healthcare services outsourcing space. Headquartered in the US, with over 28,000 employees in eight markets, Everise provides customer service solutions to some of the largest healthcare companies in the US and worldwide, harnessing emerging technologies such as AI and speech analytics to transform the customer experience journey. The company is acclaimed for its leadership, people-focused culture, and commitment to being an exemplary business partner. Since 2018, CGS has established itself as an end-to-end business process outsourcing provider with a strong US base and global offshore presence, with 25 sites in 12 countries. The company specializes in omnichannel customer services management. About Everise Founded in 2016, Everise is a global leader transforming customer service for healthcare, transport, logistics, insurance, financial services, and tech businesses. Backed by Brookfield and Warburg Pincus, the company solves problems for the millions of customers of some of the world's leading brands, by combining the best technology with compassionate service. With 28,000 champion agents operating across eight strategic markets globally, Everise seeks to deliver happiness to customers of some of the world's best loved brands. Our customer service solutions are high-performing, secure, and agile, enabling businesses to scale globally while achieving top customer satisfaction. Learn more at www.weareeverise.com. About Skyview Capital, LLC Founded in 2005, Skyview Capital, a global private investment firm with principal offices in Miami, Los Angeles, and London, England, specializes in the acquisition and management of mission critical enterprises in the areas of technology, telecommunications, business services and manufacturing. By leveraging its deep operational resources and financial acumen, Skyview systematically enhances the long-term sustainable value of the businesses it acquires. For more information, please visit www.skyviewcapital.com. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
NewsVoir Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], September 25: SRM University-AP, renowned for its commitment to academic excellence and holistic development, celebrated Teacher's Day with a heartful tribute to its dedicated faculty members. The event was a testament to the profound impact that teachers have on their student's lives, shaping not only their academic journeys but also their personal and professional growth. The event was celebrated in the presence of Prof. V S Rao, Advisor; Dr R Premkumar, Registrar, SRM University-AP; Deans; directors; faculty members; and students. It was a collaborative effort by students and staff, who joined hands to pay respectful tribute to the faculty's exemplary service. The Chief Guest for the event, Prof Devang V Khakhar, Former Director of IIT Bombay, graced the occasion virtually. During the occasion, Prof V S Rao, Advisor to SRM University-AP, added his words of appreciation, stating, "Teachers are the architects of tomorrow's world. Their dedication, passion, and commitment inspire and empower the students to reach their full potential. Our faculty members are transitioning from traditional teaching roles to becoming mentors and facilitators." In his speech, Chief Guest Prof. Devang V Khakhar underscored the pivotal role of faculty in a university's success. He stated, "The strength of an academic institution lies in its teachers. They shape the future by enhancing students' learning capabilities and skills. Indeed, teachers are the true pillars of any academic institution." The event also marked the announcement of the Outstanding Faculty Awards, honouring Dr Sunil Chinnadurai, Associate Professor, Department of ECE; Dr Lakshmi Sirisha Maganti, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering; Dr Karthikeyan E, Assistant Professor, Department of ECE; Dr Mahesh Kumar M, Assistant Professor, Department of CSE; Dr Satish Anamalamudi, Associate Professor, Department of CSE; Dr Sabyasachi Chakrabortty, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry; Dr Rajapandiyan Panneerselvam, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry; Dr Vimal Babu - Associate professor, Department of Management; Dr Lakshman Rao Ayyangari, Associate professor, Department of Commerce for their exceptional contributions to their respective departments. Dr Sutharsan Govindarajan, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, was bestowed with the "Prof. V S Rao Foundation - Prof. HP Tiwari Best Faculty Award". The awardees expressed their gratitude to the university and students in their acceptance speeches. The ceremony also recognised the dedication of faculty members with the Five-Year Services Award. The celebration was moderated by Prof. Sheela Singh, Associate Director of Faculty Affairs, who provided insightful commentary and ensured a smooth flow of events. The celebration concluded with a series of captivating performances by students, showcasing their talents and appreciation for their teachers. Students Council presented token of gifts to select adorable teachers. The event was a memorable occasion that highlighted the strong bond between students and faculty at SRM University-AP. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
PRNewswire Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], September 25: Precision Biometric India Pvt. Ltd. announced the launch of its latest innovation, the InnaITKey Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) tokens. The new PK110X-DSC (Biometric) and PK122X-DSC (Touch) tokens were officially unveiled during the PKIA 2024 conference in Bangalore, representing a significant advancement in digital signature technology and security. These DSC tokens have been confirmed to meet the stringent guidelines set by the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) for Digital Signature Certificates. The products have received formal approval for use from the relevant authorities. Both the PK110X-DSC and PK122X-DSC tokens were well-received by the CCA and Certifying Authorities (CAs), who commended their innovative design and compliance with the highest security standards. Designed and manufactured domestically, the InnaITKey DSC tokens align with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative. Notably, the tokens are free from any components sourced from countries that share borders with India. Furthermore, the devices ensure that all processed data remains strictly within Indian borders, reinforcing the security and integrity of national data. The launch ceremony was attended by distinguished officials, including Arvind Kumar, Controller of Certifying Authorities, and Aashish Banati, Deputy Controller of Certifying Authorities. Mathew Chacko, Founder Director and CEO of Precision Group, was also present to introduce the solution. The event was graced by an esteemed audience comprising representatives from the Office of the CCA, C-DAC, Certifying Authorities, and other prominent institutions. In his remarks, Arvind Kumar, Controller of Certifying Authorities, acknowledged the notable contributions of Precision Biometric India Pvt. Ltd. to enhancing secure digital signature solutions. Aashish Banati, Deputy Controller of Certifying Authorities, acknowledged the company's adherence to regulatory frameworks and its role in strengthening the digital security ecosystem in India. Mathew Chacko, Founder Director and CEO of Precision Group, emphasized the importance of the launch, stating, "The introduction of the InnaITKey DSC tokens underscores Precision Group's commitment to advancing indigenous solutions in line with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision. The positive reception from the CCA and Certifying Authorities is an encouraging indicator of the future impact these tokens will have on India's digital signature landscape." Precision Biometric India Pvt. Ltd. acknowledges the support and participation of all dignitaries, partners, and stakeholders in making the launch a resounding success. The company remains dedicated to providing secure, compliant, and innovative digital signature solutions that meet the evolving needs of businesses and government entities across the nation. About Precision Biometric: Precision Biometric is part of Precision Group, which is in its 29th year of operations, providing Biometric, IoT, Cloud & Systems Integration solutions, and IT Infrastructure Management Services. Headquartered in Chennai, we have offices across major metros with a 250+ location service network in India. Precision Biometric's solutions prevent impersonation and password compromise. Solution offerings include hardware and software solutions such as Single Fingerprint scanners, ABAS attendance devices, the patented & CERT-In InnaIT IdP Framework, and InnaITKey (patent pending). Precision's fingerprint scanners (UIDAI/STQC certified) and InnaITKey (FIDO2L2 Certified) tokens are widely implemented. Website: www.innait.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2513894/InnaITKey_PBIPL.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2513923/Precision_Biometric_Logo.jpg (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
PRNewswire Singapore, September 25: Comedians Andrew Santino and Bobby Lee, widely known for their hugely successful podcast "Bad Friends," are bringing their unique brand of humour to Singapore on 26 November 2024 at The Star Theatre, The Star Performing Arts Centre. In addition to this being the duo's first time performing in Singapore, it will also be Lee and Santino's exclusive stop in Southeast Asia on the back of an exciting tour that has sold-out shows across North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Lee and Santino both boast decades-long independent careers in the comedy circuit and film industry. In the 90s, Lee started his stand-up career in The Comedy Store in Los Angeles before clinching his big break as a cast member in the sketch comedy show MADtv. Santino, who appeared in the recent hit comedy movie Ricky Stanicky, is best known for his work in comedy sitcom Dave and the animated series Royal Crackers, where he is the voice of Theodore "Theo" Hornsby Junior. "Bad Friends" serves as a platform for audiences to delve into the engaging, at times 'contentious,' and always comical dynamic between Lee and Santino. A hilarious experience that carries the outrageous energy of the podcast to the stage, the live show will feature a blend of spontaneous banter, audience interaction, and improvised comedy. The format will mirror the podcast, with Lee and Santino diving into absurd and often irreverent conversations, sharing wild stories, and roasting each other with their signature humour. Fans can expect special guests, surprise segments, and plenty of unpredictable moments that make each live show a unique and unforgettable experience. Lee and Santino promise to provide an extended, laugh-out-loud experience, that offers fans a deeper insight into the comedic partnership that has garnered a dedicated following around the world. Tickets go on sale 27 September 2024, Friday, 10AM SGT. Venue: The Star Theatre, The Star Performing Arts Centre Show Date & Time: 26 November 2024, 8PM SGT Ticketing Link: https://premier.ticketek.com.sg/shows/show.aspx?sh=BFRIENDS24 Promoter: TEG Dainty Bad Friends Press Assets: https://bit.ly/BFSGPK24 (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
PNN Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], September 25: Infrastructure development in India is at a notable high with investments touching over USD 100 billion level. At the core of this significant transition is a company that has quietly yet firmly established itself: SRJ Piping India Right from the start, SRJ Piping India has been a stakeholder of determination and vision that has propelled the Bangalore-based company to be a major contributor to the growth of the country with over 1000+ projects across the country in water supply, fire protection, industrial piping, and structural fabrication among others. Founded in 1985 by visionary entrepreneur Prakash Jadhav, SRJ Group has grown from its humble beginnings as S.R. Jadhav & Co. into a leading name in the industrial services sector. With close to 4 decades of expertise, the company has established itself as a trusted provider in fire fighting, industrial piping, and heavy steel fabrication. In 2017, SRJ Group expanded its portfolio with the establishment of SRJ Piping India Pvt Ltd, marking a new chapter in its growth. Together, these companies operate under the umbrella brand name - SRJ Group, delivering high-quality services and innovative solutions across industries. "Quality is non-negotiable for us. It is an all-binding guideline," says Founder Prakash Jadhav, as he reminiscences on SRJ's journey. "Whether it's a small installation or a large-scale infrastructure project, we approach every task with the same level of dedication and attention to detail. Our goal has always been to deliver excellence." Piping is a crucial part of India's ambitious infrastructure projects as it plays an important role in the grassroots structure, from urban development to sanitation and industrial expansions. As of today, SRJ Piping India's work influences nearly every detail of this growth, offering essential services to ensure the continuous supply of water, gas, and other resources to homes, institutions, and industries. SRJ Piping has played a key role in developing water treatment plants, fire protection systems, and heavy structural fabrication--each vital to building a sustainable and resilient infrastructure. The company balances modern technology and sustainable practices to deliver solutions that meet current needs while safeguarding the future. "We are committed to delivering sustainable, cost-effective solutions that benefit both our clients and the environment," says Sagar Jadhav, Director of SRJ Group, emphasizing the company's forward-looking approach. SRJ Piping India offers a comprehensive portfolio of services: * Fire Protection Systems: Designing and installing reliable fire detection, alarm, and extinguishing systems tailored to businesses' unique needs. * Industrial Piping: Offering modern solutions for commercial plumbing and process systems, including material selection, testing, and pipe marking. * Heavy Structural Fabrication: Custom-designed fabrication projects that prioritize safety, durability, and cost-efficiency. * Rain Treatment Plants: Infrastructure solutions designed to provide access to clean, safe water while adhering to environmental sustainability practices. A recent important milestone of SRJ Piping has been the completion of 1,333,800 meters of piping along with the construction of 6,14,134 square feet - which is another testament to the company's expertise and commitment to delivering large-scale projects with precision and quality. With over 250 trusted clients, the company has worked with some of the most prestigious brands across India and beyond. Names like Harley-Davidson, Larsen & Turbo, Bosch, Apple, Nestle, and United Breweries have all looked up to SRJ for their critical infrastructure needs. As India continues to take a quantum leap into the future, SRJ Piping India provides a strong cushion, ensuring that state-of-the-art solutions support the infrastructure projects shaping the nation's next chapter. (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)
PRNewswire Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], September 25: Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited ("Intas") has announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has issued a positive opinion recommending approval of HETRONIFLY (serplulimab, approved as HANSIZHUANG in China), in European markets. - HANSIZHUANG (serplulimab) was the first anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) approved for first-line treatment of ES-SCLC - HETRONIFLY (serplulimab) is expected to become the first anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody available in Europe for first-line treatment of ES-SCLC Serplulimab, a recombinant humanised anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) injection, is the first innovative monoclonal antibody developed by Henlius. It has been granted orphan drug status designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Commission (EC) for the treatment of Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC). Serplulimab will be commercialised by Intas through its subsidiary, Accord Healthcare Ltd (Accord), across more than 30 countries in Europe. As one of the key players in the global oncology market, Accord has a longstanding commitment to oncology with proven commercial capabilities and currently supplies around one in three injectable oncology medicines in Europe. This positive opinion from CHMP marks another step closer for both Henlius and Intas to provide serplulimab for patients in Europe. Binish Chudgar, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Intas Pharmaceuticals , said,"The CHMP's positive opinion on serplulimab is a pivotal moment in our mission to provide world-class cancer treatments to patients in Europe and across multiple geographies. This strengthens our differentiated oncology portfolio and reinforces Accord's commitment to alleviating the global cancer burden by ensuring innovative high-quality affordable treatment for those in need." Paul Tredwell, Executive Vice President of EMENA at Accord, said, " Accord are proud to be the leading generic oncology company in Europe, this approval highlights Accords' continued strategy to build out its speciality business across the region, driving innovation in oncology." Dr. Jason Zhu, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Henlius, stated: "The positive opinion from CHMP signifies a major milestone in our efforts to accelerate the global reach of our products, and further validates Henlius' patient-centred R&D approach and commitment to global strategy. We look forward to the formal approval of this treatment in Europe, bringing more treatment options and hope to patients there and worldwide." According to GLOBOCAN 2022, lung cancer is the most diagnosed and the first mortality cancer around the world. There were more than 2.48 million new cases of lung cancer worldwide in 2022, accounting for 12.4% of all new cancer cases. [1] Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for 15%-20% of the total number of lung cancer cases and is associated with early metastasis, rapid disease progression, and an extremely poor prognosis. The positive opinion from CHMP is primarily based on ASTRUM-005, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled international multi-centre clinical study, which evaluated the efficacy and adverse event profile of the PD-1 inhibitor serplulimab plus chemotherapy compared with placebo plus chemotherapy as first-line treatment in patients with ES-SCLC. References: [1] Bray F, Laversanne M, Sung H, et al. Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2024;74(3):229-263. doi:10.3322/caac.21834 About Henlius Henlius (2696.HK) is a global biopharmaceutical company with the vision to offer high-quality, affordable, and innovative biologic medicines for patients worldwide with a focus on oncology, autoimmune diseases, and ophthalmic diseases. Up to date, 6 products have been launched in China, 3 have been approved for marketing in overseas markets, 24 indications are approved worldwide, and 3 marketing applications have been accepted for review in China and the EU, respectively. Since its inception in 2010, Henlius has built an integrated biopharmaceutical platform with core capabilities of high efficiency and innovation embedded throughout the whole product life cycle including R&D, manufacturing and commercialization. It has established global innovation centre and Shanghai-based commercial manufacturing facilities certificated by China, the EU and U.S. GMP. Henlius has proactively built a diversified and high-quality product pipeline covering over 50 molecules and has continued to explore immuno-oncology combination therapies with proprietary HANSIZHUANG (anti-PD-1 mAb) as the backbone. Apart from the launched products HANLIKANG (rituximab), the first China-developed biosimilar, HANQUYOU (trastuzumab, trade name: HERCESSI in the U.S., Zercepac in Europe), a China-developed mAb biosimilar approved in China, Europe and the U.S., HANDAYUAN (adalimumab), HANBEITAI (bevacizumab) and HANNAIJIA (neratinib), the innovative product HANSIZHUANG has been approved by the NMPA for the treatment of MSI-H solid tumours, squamous non-small cell lung cancer (sqNSCLC) and extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), and oesophagal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), making it the world's first anti-PD-1 mAb for the first-line treatment of SCLC. What's more, Henlius has conducted over 30 clinical studies for 16 products, expanding its presence in major markets as well as emerging markets. About Intas Intas is one of the leading multinational pharmaceutical formulation development, manufacturing, and marketing companies in the world. The company has set up a network of subsidiaries under the name Accord for marketing and selling in the highly regulated markets of EU, US, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Asia Pacific, CIS and MENA regions. Intas is present in 85+ countries worldwide with more than 69% of its revenue coming from global business, particularly the highly regulated markets of the EU and the US. Currently ranked 6th (As per IQVIA TSA AUGUST 2023 MAT) in the Indian pharmaceutical market, it is also the largest privately owned Indian generic pharmaceutical company. While Intas has established leadership in key therapeutic segments like CNS, Cardiovascular, Diabetology, Plasma Therapy, Cell and Gene Therapy, Gastroenterology, Urology and Oncology in India, the company is known for its range of products in Oncology and other hospital-based therapeutic segments in the EU and US. Intas' success and growth are a direct influence of Intas' extensive R&D and manufacturing capabilities. Intas operates sixteen formulation manufacturing facilities, of which eleven are in India, and the rest in the U.K., Greece, and Mexico. Between them, the facilities are accredited by top global regulators such as the US FDA, EMA, MHRA, TGA, and others. Every year, the company invests 6-7% of its revenues in R&D. Currently; Intas has over 10,000 product registrations worldwide and a strategic pipeline of 300+ high-value FTF/FTM, Biosimilars and NDDS products. Media contact:Mrs. Vibhuti Bhatt+91-9824079734 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2514170/Intas_Accord_Logo.jpg (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
PNN Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 25: The National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) Maharashtra is all set to present the third edition of the HOMETHON Property Expo 2024, India's largest real estate property expo at the JIO World Convention Centre, BKC, Mumbai from October 4 to 6, 2024. The previous year's phenomenal success attracted 55000 visitors, generating Rs 1050 crore committed sales. This year's event is expected to surpass last year's figures with an even greater participation across all stakeholders. Bollywood's popular and versatile star-couple, Riteish and Genelia Deshmukh are the brand ambassadors for the upcoming third edition of National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) Maharashtra's 'HOMETHON Property Expo 2024' The HOMETHON Expo 2024 will showcase over 1000 top notch projects from Maharashtra's leading developers. Home buyers will get to choose from an array of properties across segments; be it affordable or luxury housing. These include properties from across Mumbai and MMR as well as Thane, Kalyan, Navi Mumbai, Panvel, Raigad, Mira Road, Vasai, Virar etc. In addition, properties from Pune, Nashik and Nagpur along with second home projects and plotted schemes will also be on display. Top housing finance companies will showcase attractive home loan offers for potential buyers at this three-day property extravaganza, which will also feature premier real estate brands from across the state. Property prices on offer will range from Rs 19 lakhs to 9 crores, providing home buyers with a wide array of options to help them realize their dream of home ownership. To make the process even more appealing, developers are offering incentives such as no stamp duty or registration charges, no GST, no processing fees, immediate benefits, and other festive promotions on selected units. Commenting on the HOMETHON Property Expo, Prashant Sharma, President, NAREDCO Maharashtra, says, "We are witnessing an unprecedented surge in home buyer enthusiasm, which is driving a remarkable increase in housing demand. We are excited to host the HOMETHON Property Expo 2024, where we anticipate a substantial boost in home sales. This year's event will showcase exclusive discounts and Dussehra specials tailored by developers, offering a unique opportunity for buyers to find their ideal homes at exceptional values. I encourage all prospective homebuyers to seize this chance and explore the excellent deals available at HOMETHON Property Expo 2024." Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, Chairman, NAREDCO says, "The housing market is currently experiencing a vibrant surge, fueled by greater job stability, increased disposable incomes, and rising aspirations. Against this backdrop, and with the added excitement of the festive season, this property exhibition is uniquely positioned to help home buyers achieve their long-cherished dream of owning a home." Rajan Bandelkar, Vice Chairman, NAREDCO says, "NAREDCO Maharashtra is dedicated to creating a robust ecosystem marked by trust and transparency, which has significantly bolstered home buyer confidence. This property expo offers an exceptional opportunity for developers to showcase their premium projects and connect with prospective buyers. With exclusive discounted rates and a wide range of options, this event is designed to make the home-buying process more accessible and rewarding for all. We are excited to facilitate this vital connection and support our vision of making home ownership a reality for many." Rajesh Doshi, Secretary, NAREDCO Maharashtra says, "This property expo is poised to drive a significant increase in housing demand. By bringing together developers, home buyers, and key stakeholders under one roof, we aim to streamline the home buying process and enhance the overall experience for everyone involved." The HOMETHON Property Expo 2024 will feature a business lounge and networking centers where attendees can engage with industry experts and leaders. To facilitate ease of access, transportation from major locations in Mumbai to the exhibition venue will be provided. Additionally, visitors will benefit from free parking and will have numerous chances to win exciting lucky draw prizes. Prominent developers scheduled to participate in this event include Hiranandani Group, Godrej Properties, L&T Realty, Runwal Developer, Raunak Group, K Raheja Corp, Raymond Realty, MICL Group, Prestige Group, Transcon Developers, J P Infra, Dynamix Group, ID Group, Atul Projects, Sugee, Kanakia, Srishti Group, GHP Corp, A P Realty, Ajmera Cityscapes, Suraj Estates, Atharva Lifestyles, Platinum Corp, Paradise Group, Roha Group, Raghav Group, Spenta Corp and many others. Housing Finance Companies like State Bank Of India, Tata Capital HFC, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, Aditya Birla Capital among others to facilitate home loans at the event. (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)
PRNewswire Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 25: Mentoria, India's first holistic career discovery and mentorship platform, has been selected by the Army Welfare Education Society (AWES) as a key partner, to provide transformational career guidance and mentorship to students across 139 Army Public Schools. This initiative is set to impact over 60,000 students, tackling one of the most urgent challenges facing India's education system: the lack of structured career guidance in underserved regions. With youth suicides, unemployment, and skill mismatches on the rise in India, this partnership couldn't come at a more critical time. Mentoria's unique approach provides not just one-off career advice but lifelong mentorship -- helping students navigate key career milestones from school to college admissions and first jobs. This marks a significant step in addressing India's widening education-to-career gap. "India's students need more than just an education -- they need a clear path toward a future they can thrive in," said Dr. Ashish Arora, Founder and Managing Director of Mentoria. "Being chosen by AWES to guide and mentor the next generation of leaders in Army Public Schools is both a privilege and a profound responsibility. We aim to empower every student with the tools, resources, and mentorship they need to make informed decisions -- not just for today, but for life." How Mentoria Will Transform Career Guidance for Army Public Schools Mentoria will deliver a comprehensive suite of services to Army Public Schools: * Psychometric Career Assessments: Helping students discover their interests, personality and abilities, and align them with viable career paths. * One-on-One Counselling: Personal career guidance from certified experts, including psychologists, HR professionals, educators, and army veterans, with decades of experience. * Lifelong Mentorship Platform: A continually updated digital resource with information on thousands of careers, scholarships, universities, and entrance exams, ensuring students stay future-ready. * Interactive Webinars and Professional Connections: Regular live sessions connecting students to professionals in their fields of interest. * Career Helpline: Always-on support for students seeking immediate guidance at key decision points. * Training and Certification for Educators: Empowering teachers and school leadership with certification programs to guide students in their career journey. * Career Tabs in School Libraries: Physical spaces in school libraries dedicated to career resources. * Impactful Reporting: Schools will receive detailed progress reports on student career pathways, to help tailor educational support. This initiative extends Mentoria's reach into regions and schools that have long been underserved, providing continuous career support to students throughout their journey -- from school to their first job. Addressing India's Career Guidance Crisis India faces a significant career guidance shortfall, especially in smaller towns where resources are limited. This gap contributes to a growing crisis of student suicides, stress, and poor career decisions. A recent report from India Today highlighted how structured career counselling could drastically reduce stress and anxiety in students, many of whom face overwhelming pressure to make career decisions without adequate support. Mentoria's approach goes beyond traditional guidance, offering students lifelong mentorship at every major career inflection point. This level of support has been linked to improved academic performance, career satisfaction, and mental well-being. The circular by AWES states that career counselling is indispensable for students navigating today's competitive landscape. Expert guidance empowers informed decision-making, by aligning interests, skills, and values with suitable career paths. This structured approach counteracts external pressures, fostering independent choices and unlocking students' potential for academic and professional success. A Partnership That Transforms Lives As the only platform offering lifelong mentorship and handholding, Mentoria distinguishes itself with the highest reliability in psychometric assessments and a vast network of certified career counsellors. The platform tracks students throughout their career journey, ensuring their growth is monitored and nurtured, not just in a transactional manner but as an ongoing partnership for success. The urgency of structured career guidance in India has never been more evident. As the partnership rolls out, students from remote towns to major cities will now have access to the same high-quality mentorship, ensuring that they are not just prepared for exams, but for life. About Mentoria Mentoria is India's most comprehensive career discovery and mentorship platform, trusted by over 3.5 lakh students and professionals across 52 cities. With partnerships that span 150+ schools, 210 corporates, 17+ NGO collaborations, and 1300+ certified career counsellors, Mentoria is redefining career guidance in India. By providing holistic and lifelong career mentorship, Mentoria empowers students and professionals to make informed, future-ready career choices. Partners include ITC, Britannia, Alkem, UNICEF, Aga Khan Foundation and Light of Life Trust, among others. For more information, visit https://www.mentoria.com/ Media Contact:Nikhar AroraCo-Founder & CEO, Mentoria9930608696nikhar.arora@mentoria.com (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
VMPL New Delhi [India], September 25: Aayush Wellness Ltd (BSE: 539528), a trailblazer in the health and wellness sector, has announced remarkable financial results, achieving a staggering 6300 per cent revenue growth year-on-year. This exponential rise underscores the company's successful strategy in integrating traditional Ayurvedic wisdom with modern scientific research to meet the growing demand for preventive healthcare solutions. As the Indian health and wellness industry rapidly evolves, consumers are increasingly prioritizing wellness and disease prevention over reactive treatments. This shift, influenced by rising lifestyle-related health issues such as diabetes and heart disease, has fuelled a substantial increase in demand for natural and effective wellness products. Aayush Wellness has effectively capitalized on this trend, positioning itself at the forefront of the burgeoning herbal and nutraceutical markets. Aayush Wellness Ltd, originally established in 1989 as Aayush Food and Herbs Ltd, has built a legacy of excellence and innovation in health products. With a commitment to quality and research-backed solutions, the company has diversified its offerings, recently launching its Aayush Herbal Pan Masala and Dreamy Sleep Gummies. The former provides a healthier alternative to traditional pan masala, while the latter addresses the rising prevalence of sleep disorders among Indians, offering a natural solution to enhance sleep quality. The Company is aggressively increasing its share in the Rs. 423 lakh crores gutka and pan masala market through its herbal Pan Masala which is formulated with herbal ingredients such as Tamarind seeds, Kaunch Beej, Amla, Kesar, Ashwagandha, Elaichi, Cardamom seeds, Turmeric, Mulethi, Menthol, Melon Seeds. Aayush Herbal Pan Masala does not contain tobacco or supari. The product has received good response all over India. Further, the company has entered into the US $ 23.8 billion nutraceuticals segment through its sleep gummies. Sleep Gummies is designed to elevate the sleep quality and combat sleep disorders. The sleep gummies are made out of Brahmi Leaf, Tagar, Melatonin and Chamomile which aid in reducing anxiety, stress and improving sleep quality. The company's impressive financial performance is highlighted by a total revenue of Rs. 1110.56 lakhs for the June 2024 quarter, a significant increase from Rs. 17.35 lakhs in the same period last year. This growth has also translated into a profit after tax of Rs. 25.49 lakhs, marking a year-on-year increase of 183.56%. Aayush Wellness is not only focused on financial growth but also on enhancing shareholder value. The recent approval for a stock split aims to increase liquidity and broaden accessibility for investors. Additionally, the introduction of the 'Aayush Wellness Limited - Employee Stock Option Plan 2024' reflects the company's commitment to attracting and retaining top talent. With a projected market valuation of $1,299.84 billion for the health and wellness industry by the end of 2024, Aayush Wellness is well-positioned for sustained success. The company's strategic focus on product innovation and expansion in key markets across India is expected to drive further growth. The developments in the company have been highly admired by the investor community. In the last one year, the market capitalisation of the company has increased from Rs. 9 Crores to over Rs. 200 Crores. An Investment of Rs. 1,00,000/- made of September 20, 2023 in the company would stand at Rs. 22.90 lakhs on September 24, 2024. Solid Business fundamentals and business model has made this stock a multi bagger and a great wealth creator for investors. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
VMPL New Delhi [India], September 25: Dreame Technology, a leading global brand in smart home cleaning appliances, has unveiled its latest flagship product, the Dreame X40 Ultra. This advanced robot vacuum and mop redefines the future of home cleaning with its powerful cleaning technologies and smart innovations. The Dreame X40 Ultra is engineered to deliver superior cleaning performance, ease of use, and minimal human intervention, offering a truly hands-free cleaning experience. Available on Amazon and Dreame's official website, the X40 Ultra is set to elevate the standard for intelligent home cleaning solutions. Manu Sharma, Managing Director, Dreame India stated, "The Dreame X40 Ultra represents the pinnacle of home cleaning technology. It goes beyond simple cleaning by learning and adapting to the user's home environment. With its AI-driven mapping, intelligent obstacle avoidance, and industry-leading suction power, the X40 Ultra is designed for those who demand the very best in home care. Our mission is to make life easier for our customers, and the X40 Ultra delivers on that promise by handling even the toughest cleaning challenges effortlessly." Features and Specifications: Side Reach Technology: Dreame X40 Ultra is equipped with this feature of side reach technology to clean even the toughest spots of the users home with 100 per cent efficiency. The side brush can lift up to 10mm and extend to reach wall corners and curved furniture legs with fewer missed spots. It also prevents cross-contamination between dry and wet messes, especially for carpet cleaning. MopExtend RoboSwing Technology: This innovative feature allows the X40 Ultra to extend its mop up to 4cm, enabling it to clean under low-profile furniture with ease. Automatic mop extension and retraction ensures thorough cleaning in hard-to-reach areas such as corners and gaps, offering unparalleled convenience. Powerful Vormax Suction: The Dreame X40 Ultra boasts 12,000 Pa of suction power, making it one of the most powerful in the industry. Its optimized air duct design ensures smooth airflow, effectively removing pet hair, dust, and larger debris with ease, while maintaining a quieter cleaning operation. 7-in-1 Auto Base Station Care: The Dreame X40 Ultra takes self-maintenance to the next level with its 7-in-1 Auto Base Station. The base station handles automatic dustbin emptying, 70C hot water mop cleaning, self-cleaning washboard, automatic mop drying, and refilling of both water and cleaning solution. This seamless functionality allows users to experience truly hands-off cleaning. Omni Sensitivity & Obstacle Avoidance: With advanced OmniDirt detection, the X40 Ultra intelligently identifies and targets stubborn stains, adjusting its cleaning method for optimal results. The built-in RGB camera and 3D structured light technology enable precise obstacle detection, allowing for efficient cleaning even in dimly lit rooms. The turbidity sensor ensures mops are rewashing when necessary, providing a cleaner home environment. Versatile Carpet Cleaning Strategies: Equipped with advanced carpet strategies, the X40 Ultra lifts its mops when encountering carpets, preventing them from getting wet. Users can choose from various modes, including avoiding carpets, using extra suction, or deep cleaning for a more thorough result. Price and Availability: The Dreame X40 Ultra will be available for purchase on Amazon at a launch price of Rs 1,29,999. As part of the upcoming Diwali festivities, the brand is offering an exclusive promotional price of 99,999/-. Amazon Prime members will have early access to the Diwali discounts starting on 26th September, with the sale opening to all customers from 27th September to 30th October 2024. The Dreame X40 Ultra comes with a one-year warranty. (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)
Mexico City [Mexico], September 25: In a landmark meeting held in Mexico, Sundeep Kumar Makthala, Chairman and Founder of TConsult, met with one of the world's richest individuals, Carlos Slim Helu, to discuss the future of teleconsultation and global investment opportunities. The conversation focused on TConsult's groundbreaking AI-driven platform, which connects users with experts across multiple fields and simplifies international trade.
Carlos Slim, a telecommunications magnate with vast global experience, expressed keen interest in TConsult's Global Investor Pool, an initiative designed to attract foreign investments into India while supporting businesses in their international market expansion.
Speaking on the successful outcome, Sundeep Kumar Makthala stated, "This meeting is a major milestone for TConsult. Carlos Slim's interest in our AI-driven teleconsultation platform reaffirms our vision to revolutionise global consultation services. With the TConsult Global Investor Pool, we are poised to bring investments into India, making international business simpler and more accessible."
This collaboration promises to create new avenues for capital inflow and technological advancements in India, leveraging Slim's expertise and TConsult's cutting-edge platform to facilitate global business expansion.
Sundeep Makthala also felicitated Carlos Slim in a traditional Indian manner by presenting a shawl, symbolising respect and honour. During the event, Carlos Slim launched TConsult's international logo, underscoring his support for the initiative. This milestone is set to further expand India's role in global markets, attracting investments and fostering international business partnerships.
(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)
Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, presented an extensive overview of the significant milestones achieved by the Ministry during the first 100 days. The Press conference was aimed at showcasing the Ministry's contributions toward transforming India's maritime sector and aligning with the vision of Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amritkaal Vision 2047. Sonowal commenced his address by acknowledging the unwavering guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose vision of 'Ports for Prosperity and Ports for Progress' has become the cornerstone of India's maritime transformation. He highlighted that PM Modi's focus on holistic development and his mantra of 'Transformation through Transportation' are leading to a complete overhaul of India's maritime landscape. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji's focus on holistic development and his mantra of 'Transformation through Transportation' are creating a paradigm shift in India's maritime sector. This Government's commitment to strengthening maritime infrastructure is paving the way for unprecedented economic growth and generating significant employment opportunities across the country. Waterways are becoming the new highways of India." he added Sonowal further elaborated on the major initiatives taken by the Ministry under the guidance of PM Modi, highlighting that these are geared toward enhancing port infrastructure, improving ease of doing business, promoting sustainability, and creating employment opportunities. "After 25 years since the establishment of Kamarajar Port, the addition of Vadhvan Port marks a significant milestone in India's maritime journey, alongside the recent notification of Galathea Bay as a major port. In the next five years, MoPSW projects container handling to reach an impressive 40 million TEUs, creating 2 million job opportunities across the country. JNPA alone will scale up its handling capacity from the current 6.6 million TEUs to 10 million."he said "Recognizing the strategic importance of shipbuilding and ship repair, the Ministry is developing dedicated clusters in Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Gujarat. We are also allocating more than 3,900 acres in Kandla and VOC Port for the development of hydrogen manufacturing hubs, positioning India as a leader in clean energy" Union Minister added Sonowal said that Additionally, we are eagerly looking forward to the upcoming 'Sagarmanthan: The Great Ocean Conference,' which will be held in Mumbai this November, further emphasizing focus on ocean sustainability and blue economy growth." The Union Minister presented the Ministry's accomplishments, focusing on flagship projects that will enhance India's maritime capabilities and contribute to overall sector development. He underscored the foundation of Vadhvan Port, India's first major port project of the 21st century, poised to become one of the largest all-weather deep-water ports with a capacity of 298 MMTPA. This mega port is expected to create 1.2 million employment opportunities and place an Indian port among the top 10 container ports globally, significantly improving international shipping connectivity and reducing transit times and costs" he added Another key project highlighted was the Tuticorin International Container Terminal on the East Coast, which will serve as a major transshipment hub, saving up to USD 200 per container and providing an estimated annual foreign exchange savings of USD 4 million. The Ease of Doing Business Initiatives introduced several reforms, including the establishment of the Indian Maritime Centre (IMC) to foster policy and operational synergy, the Indian International Maritime Dispute Resolution Centre (IIMDRC) to streamline maritime dispute resolutions, and the Sagar Aankalan Guidelines to benchmark port performance, enhancing global competitiveness. Additionally, the commencement of operations at Cochin Shipyard's International Ship Repair Facility (ISRF), equipped with state-of-the-art ship lifts and workstations, positions India as a global leader in the ship repair market. The Ministry also successfully executed a landmark Deendayal Port Encroachment Drive, reclaiming 200 acres of encroached land for port-led industrial development. The performance of major ports has improved, with traffic increasing by 4.87% in 2024, and Visakhapatnam Port ranking among the top 20 in the World Bank's Container Port Performance Index. As part of Greening Initiatives, the Ministry launched the Green Tug Transition Programme and allocated land for green hydrogen projects at Deendayal Port. In cruise tourism, the International Cruise Terminal at Visakhapatnam was operationalized, boosting both domestic and international maritime tourism prospects. The Secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, T.K. Ramachandran, provided a comprehensive overview of the Ministry's strategic initiatives. He highlighted key reforms aimed at strengthening maritime infrastructure, driving investment, and enhancing ease of doing business. "In the first 100 days of this Government, the Ministry has taken bold steps to implement key reforms, such as the establishment of the Indian Maritime Centre and the Indian International Maritime Dispute Resolution Centre, both of which will bolster India's standing as a global leader in maritime infrastructure and logistics. We are on track to achieve the ambitious goals of the Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amritkaal Vision 2047, which focus on sustainable growth, enhanced connectivity, and improving the ease of doing business", mentioned TK Ramachandran, Secretary, MoPSW During the press conference discussions from the 20th Maritime State Development Council Meeting held in September 2024, where the development of mega shipbuilding parks across various states was a focal point was mentioned. Additionally, MoPSW's sanctioning of the Upgradation of Nagapattinam Port Infrastructure project in August 2024 was noted, which aims to launch a passenger ferry service between Nagapattinam (India) and Kankesanthurai (Sri Lanka), enhancing regional connectivity, trade, tourism, and economic opportunities. Sonowal, outlined the Ministry's upcoming priorities aimed at further enhancing India's maritime sector. Key initiatives include the commencement of work on the International Container Transshipment Port (ICTP) at Galathea Bay, Great Nicobar Island, which will serve as a major transshipment hub. To strengthen India's self-reliance in shipbuilding, the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy will be expanded, along with the establishment of a Maritime Development Fund to boost domestic ship ownership. The Ministry is also set to enhance operational efficiency through digitalization with the EBS portal (Port Operating System), which will go live at five major ports, reducing logistics costs and streamlining operations. The notification of the Merchant Shipping Bill, incorporating international best practices for vessel safety, marine pollution, and maritime liabilities, was also mentioned, alongside the Coastal Shipping Bill, which seeks to foster a competitive coastal shipping environment, reduce transportation costs, promote Indian vessels, and integrate maritime transport with inland waterways. On the sustainability front, the Harit Nauka scheme will promote the transition to green fuels for inland vessels, and hydrogen-powered vessels will be manufactured at Cochin Shipyard. Additionally, the Cruise India Mission will be launched to position India as a premier cruising destination, with the operationalization of the Mormugao Port cruise terminal in Goa to accommodate growing domestic and international cruise tourism. "As we continue our journey under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji, we remain committed to transforming India's maritime sector. With our focus on enhancing infrastructure, ease of doing business, and sustainability, we are driving the country toward becoming a global maritime powerhouse", added Sonowal. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways is resolutely focused on achieving the goals set forth under the Maritime India Vision 2030. The efforts are directed toward ensuring sustainable growth, fostering innovation, and creating employment opportunities that will drive India's maritime sector to global prominence. (ANI)
The conference was inaugurated by Priyank Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister for Information Technology and Biotechnology, Karnataka, who spoke about how Karnataka has always championed "local for global" thereby driving self-reliance through manufacturing.
At the event, Rossell India Limited was recognized as an Outstanding Supplier by the Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS) Global Supply Chain Organization for on-time support and customer-first focus to support countless engineering changes due to design modifications critical to the success of the MH-60R program.
The Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS) Global Supply Chain Organization recognized another Indian manufacturer, Veer-O-Metals, for demonstrating an outstanding customer-focused approach through their exceptional responsiveness and eagerly working to understand requirements significantly contributing to the success of the MH-60R program.
Earlier this month, US aviation giant Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems Limited partnered to expand upon the companies' business relationship through the C-130J Super Hercules tactical airlifter.
This agreement provides a framework for collaboration on future potential business opportunities to include: Establishing a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India to support the Indian Air Force's (IAF) existing fleet of 12 C-130Js as well as other global Super Hercules fleets; expanding C-130J manufacturing and assembly in India to produce aircraft for the IAF's Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) programme.
Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems Limited have a long-standing partnership through the Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Ltd., (TLMAL) joint venture.
Established in 2010, TLMAL exemplifies the government of India's "Make in India" objectives and has the distinction of being the single global source of C-130J empennage assemblies included on all new Super Hercules aircraft produced in the United States. To date, TLMAL has manufactured more than 220 C-130J empennages. (ANI)
Union Minister of Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya has written a letter to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin regarding the ongoing workers' strike at the Sriperumbudur plant of Samsung Electronics. According to sources, the Union Minister has urged the state government to intervene to ensure an early and amicable resolution for maintaining a positive manufacturing sector ecosystem. The sources added that the central minister also assured full support from his ministry to help the state in resolving the matter efficiently. More than 1,000 Samsung workers have been on strike near the factory since September 9, demanding the implementation of various key demands, including a wage hike, union recognition, and an eight-hour workday. As the strike by employees in Chennai continues, the company on Tuesday said that it is paying 1.8 times more than the average salary of manufacturing workers in the region. "At Samsung India, the welfare of our workers is our top priority. The average monthly salary of our full-time manufacturing workers at the Chennai plant is 1.8 times higher than that of similar workers employed by other companies in the region," the company stated on Tuesday. "Our workers are also eligible for overtime pay and other allowances. We provide a workplace environment that ensures the highest standards of health, safety, and welfare. We reiterate that we are ready to engage with our workers to address their grievances so they can return to work at the earliest," the company statement added. The company has maintained that it is ready to engage with the workers to address their grievances. Two rounds of talks with the state labour department and state labour minister at the secretariat have failed. Several Samsung workers have been on a strike near the factory premises in Chennai since September 9, to implement their 20 demands including wage hike, union recognition and 8-hour work. (ANI)
In visuals captured by the paparrazi, both Shilpa and Suniel could be seen exchanging pleasantries as soon as they saw each other. The duo even posed together for pictures.
Shilpa could not stop laughing when shutterbugs started screaming "Anjali". The reunion of Shilpa and Suniel was enough to leave fans nostalgic.
In no time, netizens flooded social media with their heartfelt reactions, urging the stars to make 'Dhadkan 2'. Reacting to the latest pictures of Suniel and Shilpa, a fan commented, "Nostalgic...please do Dhadkan 2'.
"We would love to see you guys together in a film," a social media user wrote.
Shilpa looked stunning in an ivory saree that she paired with a pearl-embellished statement blouse and statement mang tika. Suniel looked dapper in a grey-coloured notch lapel blazer and pants.
In 2000, Shilpa and Suniel shared screen space in 'Dhadkan', which also featured Akshay Kumar in the lead role. The chemistry between Shilpa and Suniel was quite appreciated by the audience.
Speaking of their upcoming projects, Shilpa will be seen Kannada film KD: The Devil. The film also stars Dhruva Sarja, V Ravichandran, Ramesh Aravind, Sanjay Dutt, Jisshu Sengupta and Nora Fatehi in lead roles.
Directed by Prem, 'KD-The Devil', the Pan-India multilingual is set to release in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi. It is a period action entertainer based on true events from 1970s Bangalore.
Suniel has 'Hunter 2' and 'The Legend of Somnath' in his kitty. (ANI)
Priyanka, who plays Nadia in season 2 of Citadel, joined the event alongside the executive producers of the Citadel franchise, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Angela Russo-Otstot, and David Weil.
Meanwhile, Samantha Ruth Prabhu who takes the lead role in Citadel: Honey Bunny as Honey, attended the event alongside directors Raj & DK and writer Sita R. Menon.
Representing the Italian series Citadel: Diana, executive producer and showrunner Gina Gardini and lead actor Matilda De Angelis, who plays Diana, also attended the event.
Set in Milan in the year 2030, Citadel: Diana follows Diana Cavalieri, a former agent of the independent global spy agency, Citadel. After the agency's destruction by a powerful enemy group called Manticore, Diana is left undercover as a mole. When she sees a chance to escape, she must place her trust in Edo Zani, the son of a high-ranking Manticore leader.
The six-episode series will premiere globally on Prime Video on October 10, 2024.
Citadel: Honey Bunny follows stuntman Bunny and struggling actress Honey as they are drawn into a world of action, espionage, and betrayal. Years later, they must reunite to protect their daughter Nadia when their dangerous past comes back to haunt them.
The series is set to premiere on Prime Video on November 10. (ANI)
Delhi Congress President Devender Yadav hit out at Delhi Chief Minister Atishi over comparing a "corrupt leader" like Aam Admi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal to Lord Ram and said Delhi is now 'Ram Bharose'. Lamenting the governance in Delhi, Yadav said that Delhi is grappling with water shortages, waterlogging, and a rise in electricity fares. Speaking to ANI, Devender Yadav said, "I heavily object to a corrupt man who is often in jail, being compared to Lord Ram. Delhi is now 'Ram bharose'." "AAP is exposed. During the summers, Delhi faces water shortage. During monsoons, Delhi faces severe waterlogging. The average electricity billing rate has been increased from Rs 5 to Rs 10. Ill-treated water is being supplied to all of Delhi," he added. Hitting out at the Aam Aadmi Party further, the Congress leader said there are "no expectations" from Delhi CM or her council of ministers, as Atishi has portrayed herself as a "dummy candidate." "The way Atishi has portrayed herself as a dummy candidate has hurt the feelings of a lot of women who were hopeful of a female CM being more considerate towards women's issues. But every day there are rape cases. There are no expectations from this government," he added. Atishi took oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi on September 22 after she was named successor to the post by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. In an emotional gesture towards Kejriwal, Atishi placed an empty chair beside her CM chair, saying, "This chair belongs to Arvind Kejriwal. Today I took charge as the CM of Delhi. Today I have the same pain in my heart as Bharat ji had. Just like Bharat ji worked by keeping Lord Shri Ram's sandals, I will take charge as CM for the next four months." (ANI)
Preparations are underway for the second phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir that is to be held on September 25 on the 26 Assembly seats. Security arrangements have been tightened with CCTV surveillance installed to ensure fair polling in the UT. From the pink polling stations of Kalakote-Sundarbani assembly constituency, booth level officer Gurubachan Singh said, "The cameras are installed. For specially-abled voters, we have wheelchairs. We have created a selfie point to encourage voting." Meanwhile in J-K's Poonch district, polling parties have left or their respective polling booths with EVMs. The polling parties of Srinagar also collected their electronic voting machines (EVMS) and dispatched for their respective polling stations. Khalid Hussain Malik, returning officer of Zadibal Constituency said that the Election Commission of India in this assembly polls have stressed on the welfare of the polling parties and several kind of facilities shave been provided to them. He also informed that there are around 143 polling stations in Zadibal Constituency, making it the largest assembly constituency in the Srinagar district. Speaking to ANI, Dr Khalid Hussain Malik said, "EVMs and materials are being distributed. All poll parties have reached here. I think all poll parties will leave from here within the next 2 hours. There are 143 polling stations are there in Zadibal Constituency, it's the largest constituency in Srinagar district. I think we will leave sector-wise after 12 pm. Our formation will be sector-wise, which will consist of sector magistrates, sector police officials, zonal magistrates, zonal officers, etc. This time ECI have stressed on the welfare of the polling parties. Their bedding, lunch and dinner will also reach before them.... Additionally, refreshments will be given... overall, all welfare things have been taken care of..." Elections in the second phase of assembly polls will be conducted on 26 assembly seats in six districts of Jammu and Kashmir. The seats on which elections will be conducted are Kangan (ST), Ganderbal, Hazratbal, Khanyar, Habbakadal, Lal Chowk, Channapora, Zadibal, Eidgah, Central Shalteng, Budgam, Beerwah, Khansahib, Chrar-i-Sharief, Chadoora and Gulabgarh (ST). It will also be conducted on Reasi, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Kalakote - Sunderbani, Nowshera, Rajouri (ST), Budhal (ST), Thannamandi (ST), Surankote (ST), Poonch Haveli and Mendhar (ST). Notably, the second phase of elections will decide the fate of former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and NC leader Omar Abdullah, from both Budgam and Ganderbal seats. Other prominent candidates in the fray include Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina from Nowshera assembly seat and Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hamid Karra from Central-Shalteng seat. The first phase of voting was completed in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18, with a voter turnout of 61.13 percent registered across 24 constituencies in seven districts, as per the Election Commission. Voting for the second and third phases in J-K will be held on September 25 and October 1 respectively. Vote counting will be conducted on October 8 along with the counting of votes in Haryana. (ANI)
Amid the polling for the second phase of elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday appealed to people to cast their votes in large number for positive change that will "secure their future" and "guarantee unbridled welfare." The polling started at 7 am in all 3502 polling stations across 26 Assembly constituencies of six districts, namely Ganderbal, Srinagar & Budgam in Kashmir Division; and Reasi, Rajouri & Poonch in Jammu Division. Saying that Jammu and Kashmir in on the "cusp of change," Kharge appealed to people to vote in large numbers to exercise their democratic rights. In a social media post on X, Kharge wrote, "Jammu and Kashmir is on the cusp of change. Today, as the second phase of voting gets underway for 26 seats, I exhort the people of the Jammu and Kashmir to come out in large numbers to exercise their Democratic rights." Calling these assembly elections, a turning point for the territory, Congress President said that one single vote will secure the constitutional rights of the people of the Jammu and Kashmir. The post added, "A vote for positive change will secure your future and guarantee unbridled welfare. One single vote will secure your Constitutional rights. I warmly welcome the first time voters, who look forward to a better future. These elections are a turning point for Jammu and Kashmir and let us use the power of Democracy to make that change happen." Kharge also claimed that the "downgraded status" of Jammu and Kashmir to a 'union territory' led to widespread unemployment and rampant corruption and issues like land rights and social justice have become prevalent. "When you press the voting button on the EVM, do think about how your decade was lost in betrayal. A state was downgraded to a Union Territory for the first time in history. There is widespread unemployment and rampant corruption, with land rights and social justice issues becoming prevalent," wrote Kharge. https://x.com/kharge/status/1838769145699274831 Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also appealed the electors to vote in large numbers to elect a government for their better future. In a social media post on X, Priyanka Gandhi wrote, "My dear sisters and brothers of Jammu and Kashmir, the right to vote is your most important right. For the last 10 years, this right has been taken away from you. You were banned from raising your voice on issues related to electricity, water, roads, employment, income, business, land, forest. Your right to choose your representative was taken away from you. Show the power of your vote in the second phase of elections today. Vote to elect a government for your better future, livelihood, employment, land, business and who your issues." https://x.com/priyankagandhi/status/1838764238325846461 Polling for the second phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir began on Wednesday morning. Over 25 lakh eligible voters will seal the fate of 239 candidates across 26 constituencies in six districts of the Union Territory. From early morning, long queues of voters are being witnessed, waiting for their turn to exercise their right to franchise. In this phase, 25,78,099 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballot, comprising 13,12,730 lakh male voters, 12,65,316 lakh female voters and 53 third-gender voters. The respective district administrations have made elaborative arrangements at all the polling stations for free, fair and transparent elections. Among the prominent candidates are former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah from both Budgam and Ganderbal seats, Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina from Nowshera assembly seat and Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hamid Karra from Central-Shalteng seat. The last phase of polls will be held on October 1 and counting of votes will be held on October 8. (ANI)
National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) president Biswa Mohan Debbarma has thanked government of India after more than 500 militants belonging to NLFT and Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) returned to the mainstream. "First of all, I would like to thank the Government of India as we celebrate our homecoming ceremony today. I also want to thank the Union Home Ministry, state government, BSF and other agencies. We are very happy," Debbarma told ANI on Tuesday. The militants also surrendered a huge number of arms and ammunition. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha termed the return of the militants to the mainstream a historic day. "On 4 September we held a meeting in Delhi with NLFT and ATTF in the presence of the Union Home Minister. This is a historic day in Tripura that NLFT and ATTF members have surrendered their arms and ammunition in such large numbers," Saha told ANI. 584 members of various armed groups of NLFT and ATTF surrendered at the 7th Battalion Tripura State Rifle (TSR) in Jampuijala, Sepahijala district. On this day, Biswa Mohan Debbarma, President of NLFT (BM), Parimal Debbarma, President of NLFT (PD), Prasenjit Debbarma, President of NLFT (ORI) and Alindra Debbarma, President, of ATTF, surrendered AK Series rifles before the Chief Minister. "Major breakthrough in NE peace process! Hon'ble PM Narendra Modi Ji & HM Amit Shah Ji's efforts yield results as 584 NLFT & ATTF cadres surrender & reintegrate. Total 12 peace agreements signed with NE groups, including 3 in Tripura. A new era of peace & development unfolds!" CM Saha said in a post on X. "Today, 584 members of various armed groups of NLFT and ATTF returned to the mainstream by surrendering at the TSR 7th Battalion ground in Jampuijala. I welcome them all," CM Saha said in a post on another social media account. This event follows the peace accord signed between the Government of India, the Government of Tripura, the NLFT, and the ATTF in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Manik Saha in New Delhi on September 4. Notably, the central government last year declared the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) and all of their factions, wings and front organizations as unlawful associations for a period of five years. Addressing the event, Saha said that the arms-laying ceremony was a result of the peace accord, which marked a significant milestone in Tripura's journey towards peace. "When Narendra Modi took charge as Prime Minister of India, he consistently emphasised that the development of the country is impossible without the development of the Northeast. We can see that the Northeast, which was once grappling with terrorism, is now almost free from it, with around 12 peace accords having been signed, three of which pertain to Tripura. Without peace in the state and the country, development is not possible. From today, we can say that Tripura is now free from insurgency. Both the state and central governments have implemented a series of schemes for the development of the Janajati people," Saha said. The event was attended by Tripura DGP Amitabh Ranjan, DGP (Intelligence) Anurag, Chief Secretary JK Sinha, Home Secretary PK Chakraborty, Sepahijala District Magistrate Siddhart Shiv Jaiswal, and others. (ANI)
The Madras High Court's Madurai bench gave notice to the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday, regarding a public interest litigation seeking directions to safeguard captive elephants in temples and other locations across the state. Hariharan from Madurai filed a petition regarding the death of Subbulakshmi, a 54-year-old captive elephant at Kunrakudi Shanmuganathar Malai Temple in Sivagangai district. In his plea, Hariharan said that the elephant died due to a sudden fire in its shelter. He alleged that the temple authorities neglected guidelines for elephant care. In 1971, a devotee had donated Subbulakshmi to the temple. "The elephants are protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Authorities concerned have not taken serious efforts to protect captive elephants in temples and other places in the state. Subbulakshmi's death was due to captivity and negligence and the total disregard for her basic welfare and safety was a crime. Had the authorities followed the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Captive Elephants (Management and Care) Rules, 2011, the death of the elephant could have been avoided" the plea stated. The petitioner urged the court to direct authorities to protect captive elephants in temples and other locations across Tamil Nadu. The plea came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Subramanian and Sundar Mohan. On September 13, Subbulakshmi, a 54-year-old elephant at the famous Sri Shanmuganathar Temple in the Sivaganga district, died after allegedly sustaining burns from a fire. People flocked to the temple premises and paid tributes to the elephant after the news of the animal's death. Reportedly, on the night of September 12, a fire broke out near the thatched roof of the structure where the animal was housed. Fire and rescue services personnel rushed to the spot and doused the flames, but the elephant sustained serious burns. (ANI)
"I hope after Rahul is done campaigning in one or two seats in Kashmir, he focuses in Jammu. Ultimately what the Congress does in Kashmir is not important. What the Congress does in Jammu is important. Unfortunately, Congress hasn''t done as much in the plains of Jammu as we would expect them to do. The lion''s share of the seats that the alliance gave in Jammu was to the Congress party. Yet, the Congress'' campaign in Jammu is yet to begin and there are only five days of campaigning. I hope once Rahul is done campaigning in this one seat in the valley, the Congress focuses all it''s attention in the plains of Jammu."," Abdullah said.The Congress party, in alliance with the National Conference, is competing for 32 seats, while the NC is vying for 51 of the 90 Assembly seats.JKNC vice president Omar Abdullah is contesting from Ganderbal and Budgam assembly seats, both of which have gone to polls today. Abdullah is fielded against PDP''s Bashir Ahmed Mir and Aga Muntazir Mehdi from Ganderbal and Budgam respectively. "We have been waiting for ten years. The first phase went well, we expect a good turnout from the second phase also, the enthusiasm has been heartening, hope it turns out into voter turnout also," Abdullah said while speaking to ANI. Commenting on the Indian Government''s invitation to foreign diplomats to witness peaceful elections in Jammu-Kashmir, Abdullah said, "I dont know why foreigners need to check elections. When they comment on certain things, the Indian government says it is an internal matter. Now these elections are an internal matter" Tageting the Centre, Abdullah said that the participation witnessed in the Jammu-Kashmir elections is not because of the Government of India. He said that it is inspite of what they did. "They have humiliated people, they have used all the machinery to harass people, so its not something they need to be highlighting," Abdullah added. Cornering the PDP, Abdullah said that the party would be lucky to even win from Bijbehara, a small town in the Anantnag district of South Kashmir. Addressing allegations of bogus voting in Ganderbal, Abdullah countered criticisms from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying, "I can''t help if their candidates have not been able to make the impact that they expected. It''s not my fault that people have come out in my favor. PDP was very happy to receive support from the Apni Party in Budgam until Mohiuddin Muntazir Sahab went against his party and announced his support for me. Then PDP got upset. Forget about Budgam and Ganderbal, they''ll be lucky to even win in Bijbehara" Voting for the second phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir began on Wednesday morning. Over 25 lakh eligible voters will seal the fate of 239 candidates across 26 constituencies in six districts of the Union Territory.Among the prominent candidates are former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah from both Budgam and Ganderbal seats, Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina from Nowshera assembly seat and Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hamid Karra from Central-Shalteng seat.The last phase of polls will be held on October 1 and counting of votes will be held on October 8. (ANI)
According to police, a car was en-route from Shamlaji to Ahmedabad when it collided with a trailer truck. Speaking to ANI, Himmatnagar Deputy Superintendent of Police Vijay Patel said that there were at least eight occupants inside the car.
"Today morning, a car collided with a heavy vehicle on Himmatnagar highway. Seven people travelling in the car are dead, and one person is injured. All of them were residents of Ahmedabad," the Deputy SP said
According to reports, the tragic incident happened on Himmatnagar highway at around 6 a.m. The police have taken the bodies into custody and also sent them for post-mortem. The preliminary investigation reveals that the accident was caused by the carelessness of driver. The police are actively conducting further investigations. (ANI)
Congress MP and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday appealed to the voters of Jammu and Kashmir to vote in large numbers after the polling for second phase began in the territory. Urging electors to vote for their rights, prosperity and abundance, Rahul Gandhi said that each vote to INDIA alliance will bring Jammu and Kashmir on the path of prosperity. "My brothers and sisters of Jammu and Kashmir, today is the second phase of voting, come out in large numbers and vote for your rights, prosperity and abundance - vote for INDIA. By snatching away your statehood, the BJP government has insulted you and played with your constitutional rights. Your every vote for INDIA will break this vicious circle of injustice created by the BJP and bring Jammu and Kashmir on the path of prosperity," said Rahul Gandhi in a social media post on X. https://x.com/RahulGandhi/status/1838786649574052208 Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi left from his residence to take part in the election campaign in Jammu and Kashmir. Congress' alliance partner National Conference's leader Omar Abdullah has urged Rahul Gandhi to turn his focus on Jammu. "I hope after Rahul is done campaigning in one or two seats in Kashmir, he focuses in Jammu. Ultimately what the Congress does in Kashmir is not important. What the Congress does in Jammu is important. Unfortunately, Congress hasn't done as much in the plains of Jammu as we would expect them to do. The lion's share of the seats that the alliance gave in Jammu was to the Congress party. Yet, the Congress' campaign in Jammu is yet to begin and there are only five days of campaigning. I hope once Rahul is done campaigning in this one seat in the valley, the Congress focuses all its attention in the plains of Jammu," Omar Abdullah said. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir recorded a 10.22 percent voter turnout as of 9 am in the second phase of polls, according to the Election Commission of India. As per the ECI, the Poonch district recorded the 14.41 percent of turnout, followed by Reasi with 13.37 percent, Rajouri with 12.71 percent, Ganderbal with 12.61 percent, Budgam with 10.91 percent turnout and Srinagar with the lowest voter turnout at 4.70 percent. Voting, that commenced at 7 am today, is underway across the Union Territory. It will conclude at 6 pm. As elections are being conducted in Jammu and Kashmir after a gap of 10 years, enthusiasm has gripped people of the territory. In Jammu, Srinagar and Ganderbal, a long queue of voters was seen waiting outside the polling station to cast their vote. In this phase, 25,78,099 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballot, comprising 13,12,730 lakh male voters, 12,65,316 lakh female voters and 53 third-gender voters. The last phase of polls will be held on October 1 and counting of votes will be held on October 8. (ANI)
A voter turnout of 24.10 percent was recorded till 11 am in the second phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir held on Wednesday. According to the data of the Election Commission of India, Reasi recorded highest voter turnout of 33.39 percent while Srinagar recorded lowest turnout with 11.67 percent. As per ECI, Poonch with 33.06 percent, Rajouri with 30.04 percent, Ganderbal with 27.20 percent, Budgam with 25.53 percent. Voting, that commenced at 7 am today, is underway across the Union Territory. It will conclude at 6 pm. Amidst the polling, a high-level delegation of senior diplomats from various countries arrived at different polling booths including Budgam and Srinagar on Wednesday to witness the polling process in Jammu and Kashmir. The Ministry of External Affairs invited a delegation of diplomats from around 15 countries, including United States, Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria and Philippines. The senior diplomats, during their visit to the polling booth interacted with the people and voters. Congress MP and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday appealed to the voters of Jammu and Kashmir to vote in large numbers after the polling for second phase began in the territory. Urging electors to vote for their rights, prosperity and abundance, Rahul Gandhi said that each vote to INDIA alliance will bring Jammu and Kashmir on the path of prosperity. In a pointed remark aimed at its alliance partner Congress party, which is contesting elections in Jammu and Kashmir alongside the National Conference, Omar Abdullah urged Rahul Gandhi to wrap up campaigning in Kashmir and shift his focus towards Jammu. He emphasized that the party should prioritize Jammu, where it holds the majority of seats, instead of solely campaigning in Kashmir. "I hope after Rahul is done campaigning in one or two seats in Kashmir, he focuses in Jammu. Ultimately what the Congress does in Kashmir is not important. What the Congress does in Jammu is important. Unfortunately, Congress hasn't done as much in the plains of Jammu as we would expect them to do. The lion's share of the seats that the alliance gave in Jammu was to the Congress party. Yet, the Congress' campaign in Jammu is yet to begin and there are only five days of campaigning. I hope once Rahul is done campaigning in this one seat in the valley, the Congress focuses all it's attention in the plains of Jammu."," Abdullah said. 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. Voting for the second phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir began at 7 am on Wednesday. Over 25 lakh eligible voters will seal the fate of 239 candidates across 26 constituencies in six districts of the Union Territory. In this phase, 25,78,099 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballot, comprising 13,12,730 lakh male voters, 12,65,316 lakh female voters and 53 third-gender voters. The last phase of polls will be held on October 1 and counting of votes will be held on October 8. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday paid tributes to the leader of Bhartiya Jana Sangh, Deendayal Upadhyaya, on his 107th birth anniversary, recalling his dedication and service to the country. The Prime Minister highlighted the late politicians concept of "Antyodaya" which means to ensure the rise and development of the last person in society. "Tributes to the great nationalist thinker Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya on his birth anniversary. His concept of Antyodaya will play an invaluable role in achieving the resolution of a developed India. His dedication and service to the country will remain unforgettable," Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote in a post on X.Several other leaders including Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also offered heartfelt tribute to the nationalist leader.Union Minister Kiren Rijiju participated in a 'Swachhata Hi Seva Campaign 2024' at a park near Pandit Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan (Ministry of Minority Affairs)"Paying heartfelt tributes to Pandit #DeendayalUpadhyaya on his birth anniversary. His vision of 'Ekatma Manavvaad' & 'Antyodaya' continues to guide us towards a society where every individual is empowered. Let us honour his legacy by working together for a nation that is self-reliant, inclusive & compassionate," Rijiju wrote in a post on X. BJP national president JP Nadda also paid floral tributes to the late politician at party headquarters in Delhi. Union Home Minister Amit Shah remembered the leader for being a proponent of the "integral humanism" ideology who was committed to purity in politics."I pay my tribute to the ardent patriot, pioneer of integral humanism and great political thinker Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya on his birth anniversary. Deen Dayal ji remained committed to purity and transparency in politics throughout his life. His idea of Antyodaya strengthened social harmony. Following the principles of cultural nationalism of Deen Dayal Upadhyay ji, who stressed on building a bright future by taking inspiration from the glorious past of the country, Modi ji is taking the benefits of government schemes to the last person standing in the queue of development," Shah wrote in a post on X.Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath unveiled a statue of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and paid floral tribute to the leader on his birth anniversary.Addressing the media and the people present at the unveiling ceremony, the CM said that he wanted everyone to remember Pandit Deen Dayal's vision and the hard work he put into building the country."On the birth occasion of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, I want you all to remember the vision and hard work that he put into building the country 70 years ago. His principles applied are still seen when we see the progress the country has made. We all are aware that he always used to think of the poor, the farmers, the women and always kept them on the top. He always had empathy towards everyone and followed the vision of self-dependency. His visions are the reason why the people of India could avail proper benefits of resources during the deadly COVID-19." (ANI)
Congress President and Rajya Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over recent statements from its leader on farm bills, saying that the 'anti-farmer BJP' did not realise their 'grave crime' even after the martyrdom of 750 farmers. "Even after the martyrdom of 750 farmers, the anti-farmer BJP and Modi government did not realize their grave crime. There is talk of re-implementing the three black anti-farmer laws. The Congress Party strongly opposes this," Congress President Kharge wrote in a post on X. The remark came after BJP Lok Sabha MP from Mandi, Kangana Ranaut was quoted as suggesting that the three farm laws that were repealed following prolonged farmer protests should be brought back. The actor-turned-politician had been quoted as saying, "I know this statement could be controversial, but the three farm laws should be brought back. Farmers themselves should demand it." Congress President Kharge further attacked BJP and said that the 62 crore farmers of the country will never forget the Indian government's action on farmers during the protests. "The Modi government, which crushed the farmers under vehicles, used barbed wire, tear gas from drones, nails and guns against our food providers, this is something that 62 crore farmers of India will never forget," Kharge said on X. He further warned BJP that the party will get a 'befitting reply' from farmers of Haryana ahead of assembly polls in the state. "This time, farmers from all the electoral states, including Haryana, will get a befitting reply to the derogatory remarks of the Prime Minister himself in Parliament, calling them "agitators" and "parasites." 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. Mallikarjun Kharge further wrote, "Due to the statements made by Modiji, his ministers, MPs and propaganda machinery have become accustomed to insulting farmers." He said that in last 10 years, the Modi government has broken three promises made to the country's food producers, including doubling farmers' income by 2022, implementing input cost + 50% MSP as per Swaminathan Report, and giving MSP a legal status. "While withdrawing the farmers' agitation, Modi ji had announced a government committee, which is still in cold storage. Modi government is against the legal guarantee of MSP," Kharge said on X. Further accusing BJP of indulging in the character assassination of farmers he said, "No relief was given to the families of the martyred farmers, the Modi government did not even deem it fit to observe two minutes of silence in their memory in Parliament and on top of that, their character assassination is continuing," "The whole country has come to know that anti-farmer hateful mentality is present in every vein of BJP, he added. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party has distanced itself from the remarks of party leader Kangana Ranaut on farm laws while stating that the actor is "not authorised" to make such statements on the party's behalf. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the remarks are a "personal statement" of Ranauat and doesn't depict BJP's view on farm bills. (ANI)
Democratic Progressive Azad Party leader and candidate from Ganderbal, Qaiser Sultan Ganaie on Wednesday claimed that his opponent Omar Abdullah is losing elections from the seat, as people want a local leader who knows and addresses the local issues. Citing Omar Abdullah's defeat from Baramulla during Lok Sabha elections 2024, Ganaie said that it shows that Omar Abdullah has lost contact with people. "Omar Abdullah (JKNC candidate) is losing from both assembly seats. The loss he had faced in Baramulla side of North Kashmir during Lok Sabha 2024 elections, it shows that Omar Abdullah has lost contact with people. He filled form from Budgam because he had a vote bank there otherwise he would have contested from Beerwah. He was defeated by a huge margin from the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency. This clearly shows that he has lost contact with the public," Ganaie said. Ganaie claimed that Omar Abdullah as chosen Budgam assembly constituency as a "safe seat" to save himself from the embarrassment. "To save himself from embarrassment he chooses to contest the assembly elections from a safe seat Budgam assembly constituency. The public wants to elect a local candidate. People have rejected the non-local candidates who don't know about the issues of the locality. He even took off his hat to ask for votes. It clearly shows that he is losing these elections," Ganaie claimed. JKNC vice president Omar Abdullah is contesting from Ganderbal and Budgam assembly seats, both of which have gone to polls on Wednesday. "We have been waiting for ten years. The first phase went well, we expect a good turnout from the second phase also, the enthusiasm has been heartening, hope it turns out into voter turnout also," Abdullah said while speaking to ANI. A voter turnout of 24.10 percent was recorded till 11 am in the second phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir held on Wednesday. According to the data of the Election Commission of India, Ganderbal recorded voter turnout of 27.20 percent. Voting for the second phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir began at 7 am on Wednesday. Over 25 lakh eligible voters will seal the fate of 239 candidates across 26 constituencies in six districts of the Union Territory. In this phase, 25,78,099 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballot, comprising 13,12,730 lakh male voters, 12,65,316 lakh female voters and 53 third-gender voters. The last phase of polls will be held on October 1 and counting of votes will be held on October 8. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that social media can't be controlled and one can't call any part of the country as Pakistan when it closed the suo motu proceedings against Karnataka High Court judge for his objectionable comments observing that the judicial officer has apologised on the observation made by him. A five judge bench led by Chief Justice of DY Chandrachud and also comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy closed the suo motu proceedings initiated over Karnataka High Court judge's objectionable comments. The top court noted that Karnataka High Court judge has apologised for his comments in the open court and said that it did not want to pursue it further in the interest of justice and dignity of the institution. The top court said that one can't call any part of the country as Pakistan as such comments hit the territorial integrity of the country. The top court also took note of the controversies that raised a demand for stopping live streaming of court proceedings and said that the answer to sunlight is more sunlight to bring maximum transparency in judicial proceedings. The court also commented that social media cannot be controlled and answer is not not to close it down. The top court also said judges should be careful during the court proceedings and refrain from using "misogynistic or prejudicial comments". The top court remarked that casual observation may indicate certain bias, particularly when they are directed against a certain gender or community. The top court said that in the age of social media, any observations by judges can have a wide impact, and thus, judges should be aware of their predispositions so that they can deliver justice impartially. The Supreme Court on last Friday took suo motu cognisance of the media reports pertaining to certain comments made by a Karnataka High Court judge. The video clips of the judge have surfaced on the social media platform X, with several prominent advocates calling suo moto action aginst him. The two video clips of one of the judge the Karnataka High Court surfaced on social media platforms and in one of the videos he was heard making gender insensitive comments against a woman lawyer while another video the judge referred to a Muslim dominated locality in Bengaluru as "Pakistan". (ANI)
A nine-year-old boy was killed in a Leopard attack in Junnar tehsil of Pune district, according to forest officials. The boy, identified as Bhupesh Jadhav, had gone to a nearby farm behind his house in Tejiwadi, Junnar, in the early hours of Wednesday when the incident occurred. He was there to answer nature's call, with his grandfather nearby. Amol Satpute, Deputy Conservator of Forests for the Junnar range, stated, "It appears the leopard, which came from nearby sugarcane farms, attacked the boy while he was outside and dragged him into the fields. His body was found with grievous injuries to the neck." Jadhav's parents, who work as brick kiln labourers and hail from Ahmednagar district, are shattered by the incident. Following the attack, authorities have urged villagers and residents of neighbouring areas to remain vigilant, as the leopard is still believed to be in the vicinity. Panic gripped the district following the attack raising concern among the locals and posing a threat to the people in the area. The forest department team inspected the spot after the incident and said that precautions have been taken after the sighting of leopard came to the fore in the area. Speaking about the same, a forest department official said to ANI, "Today morning, we received information about a leopard attack in Pune. The Forest Department team visited the district to inspect. The officer said, It's a very sensitive matter, and people are scared, so we are here to meet the residents as well, and we are telling them how to coordinate in such circumstances," . The Forest Range officer also said, "We will try to track the movement of the leopard by using trap cameras, or we may set up trap cages. In CCTV videos, we saw the movement of a leopard. We have advised the people to be alert and always go outside in groups." (ANI)
Speaking to media persons on BJP's membership drive, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "Right now in Assam (in the membership drive program) we have reached 42 lakhs so far. Our target is to make it 50 lakhs. Hopefully, we will reach 50 lakhs by the next week ..."
On Monday, Assam Chief Minister took to social media platform X to celebrate the historic milestone of the party.
"With 40 lakh members, BJP Sadasyata 2024 crosses a historic milestone in Assam. This reflects the people's support for our uncompromising approach to Vikas & Virasat," read the Assam Chief Minister's post.
As the #BJPSadasyata2024 campaign in Assam surpasses the 40 lakh milestone, I congratulated my fellow karyakartas for their exceptional hard work. We won't rest until we fulfill Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay's dream of taking our party's ideology to every home.
In 2019, the party had just over 18 lakh members in Assam, with the BJP's membership drive, the party has over 40 lakh members. The party's membership drive will continue till September 25.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma also thanked the BJP's Assam General Secretary Pallab Lochan Das, party's state President and MLA Bhabesh Kalita and all the workers of the party in his post. The Chief Minister said on September 13 that the state unit had enrolled over 20 lakh people in just 9 days.
Earlier, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha informed that 4 lakh people have joined the party in the state.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched BJP's 2024 membership drive by renewing his membership on September 2. The new membership drive was launched in New Delhi with PM Modi getting the certificate for the renewal of his membership from BJP president JP Nadda. (ANI)
The Maharashtra opposition parties continue to corner the state government over the encounter of Badlapur rape accused Akshay Shinde. Former Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP-SP leader Anil Deshmukh claimed on Wednesday that he had found out from police officers that that it was difficult to operate a policeman's gun. Akshay Shinde was being brought from Taloja Central Jail to Thane Crime branch office under transit remand when he allegedly opened fire on the police after snatching their revolver near the Mumbra bypass, he was then killed in retaliatory fire by the cops. Speaking to ANI, Deshmukh said "I had inquired about how one can open fire using a policeman's gun. On inquiry, I found out that it is really difficult for a common man to open fire from a gun without having the technical knowledge and proper training. The whole matter is suspicious. The owner of the Badlapur school where the incident occurred is a BJP member. From the very first day, the BJP has been trying to save them." Further, Deshmukh alleged that the police had failed to file an FIR in the matter of the sexual assault on the two minors for three days. "The public came to know about the matter but the victim's parents were made to wait for three days before the FIR was filed, and then the CCTV camera footage of the school was missing. The day when the accused was being taken to the Badlapur Jail, the routes were changed. From the very first day, the matter has seemed suspicious. Who is the main accused, Akshay Shinde or the school owner? People are still confused. A proper inquiry needs to be taken to find out the accused." Deshmukh also said that the law passed by the Aghadi government during his tenure as the home minister that had a provision for death penalty of rape accused and the provision of a fast track court to ensure a verdict in 21 days is pending in the court. "When I was the Home Minister, we had brought a law that if a female is sexually harassed, the accused would be hanged in 21 days. The law is still pending in the court and has not been approved. I request them to pass the law as soon as possible. The posters being circulated are just to deceive the people," he added. Badlapur rape accused Akshay Shinde's death has sparked a war of words between the ruling Mahayuti government and the opposition in Maharashtra which is headed for Assembly polls later this year. (ANI)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma expressed his grief over the demise of BJP leader and former MLA from Soorsagar Assembly Suryakanta Vyas. "Received the sad news of the demise of the former MLA from Soorsagar Assembly, senior member of the BJP family, Smt. Suryakanta Vyas 'Jiji'," Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma wrote in a post on X on Wednesday. He also mentioned in his last meeting with Vyas and termed her death an "irreparable loss" for the Bharatiya Janata Party family. "I met him a few days ago and got the opportunity to receive her blessings and guidance. Her immense love and affection towards me always remained with me. Her demise is an irreparable loss for the Bharatiya Janata Party family. My condolences are with the bereaved family," Sharma wrote on X. "I pray to the Lord to give a place to the departed soul in his lotus feet and give strength to the bereaved family to bear this immense sorrow. Om peace!" he said. Former Congress Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also condoled the demise of Suryakanta Vyas. "The demise of Mrs. Suryakanta Vyas 'Jiji', a former MLA from Soorsagar, is extremely sad. 'Jiji' remained actively involved in public service even during this phase of her life. 'Jiji's affection and love for me were unparalleled. Her departure is also a personal loss for me. I pray to God to give peace to the departed soul and courage to the family members," he wrote in a post on X. Jodhpur MLA Atul Bhansali expressed his condolences, stating that 'Jiji' (Suryakanta Vyas) is no longer with us in this world. He mentioned that whenever Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jodhpur, he would always enquire about 'Jiji'. Recalling his earlier meetings with Vyas, he said, "'JiJi' always looked after all of us. When I contested my first election and lost, 'Jiji' told me that she would teach me how to build relationships with the public. "Jiji had a sharp mind; she always kept a diary with her," he said. (ANI)
The Delhi High Court issued a stern warning to Delhi University (DU) and Election Authority, indicating that the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) polls could be deferred if the defacement caused during the election campaign is not properly addressed and said 'elections are meant to be a "festival of democracy," not a platform for laundering money'. The bench led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan also comprising Justice Tushar Rao Gedela showed serious concerns about the integrity of the election process in light of the excessive spending and rule violations taking place during poll campaign of Delhi University Student Union. In its remarks, the bench questioned the enormous amount of money being spent by the candidates during the elections, suggesting that such expenditures raised concerns about transparency and fairness The court also specifically directed that all spray-painted walls and other forms of vandalism must be cleaned up.The court further emphasized that the Vice Chancellor must take these issues seriously, and if necessary, the polls could be annulled. The court strongly urged Delhi University to take decisive action, stating, "You've to come down with a heavy hand," reinforcing that the authorities must ensure strict compliance with election regulations. Later, Delhi High Court deferred the hearing to tomorrow after the concerned authorities assured the court that they would hold a meeting with all stakeholders later in the evening to address the ongoing issue of defacement and violations during the election campaign. The court had earlier expressed strong displeasure over the large-scale vandalism and defacement of public property during the election campaign and had warned of possible action, including the deferment of the DUSU polls, if the situation was not rectified. The authorities' commitment to engage with stakeholders suggests that a solution is being sought to comply with the court's concerns before the next hearing. In the ongoing Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) election matter, Delhi University informed the Delhi High Court that it had recently issued a circular to all contesting candidates, making them aware of the rules, regulations, and the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee. The university emphasized that it is taking steps to ensure that candidates comply with these guidelines to maintain the decorum and legality of the election process. The Lyngdoh Committee guidelines, which govern student elections in universities across India, aim to ensure fair practices, including limits on campaign spending and the prohibition of defacement of public property. This move comes in response to the High Court's concerns over defacement and misuse of funds during the DUSU election campaign. On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court expressed strong disapproval of public authorities for their inaction to the widespread vandalism and property defacement across Delhi during the run-up to the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections. The court was particularly critical of the inaction by Delhi University and the election authorities, emphasizing that they have the power to take concrete action against those responsible for violating rules and damaging public property. The court remarked that the scale of defacement across the city was alarming, and it called out the authorities for merely issuing orders without ensuring their enforcement. It stressed that authorities are not powerless ("not handicapped") and that it is their duty to enforce these orders effectively, rather than just passing them on paper. Adv. Prashant Manchanda, the petitioner, brought attention to the rampant defacement of public and metro properties, particularly by candidates contesting the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections, set for September 27, 2024. The defacement includes damage to bus stands, walls of police stations, university walls, and other public areas, he apprised the court. Advocate Manchanda highlighted the violation of a previous Delhi High Court judgment in Prashant Manchanda vs. UOI (W.P.(C) 7824 and 8251 of 2017), where the court had framed guidelines to address such defacement issues. The court's concern arose from a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Prashant Manchanda, which sought a complete ban on the defacement of public property, particularly during election periods. The PIL also called for directions to civic agencies to impose heavy fines on political parties and aspiring candidates, aiming to deter them from further damaging public spaces. (ANI)
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday put up a brave face after a Special Court in Bengaluru passed an order directing Karnataka Lokyukta to conduct an investigation against him on the alleged MUDA land allotment scam. "It has come to my attention through the media that the Special Court for Elected Representatives has ordered an investigation by the Mysuru Lokayukta. I will provide a detailed response after reviewing the full copy of the order. I am ready to face the investigation and continue the legal fight. As I said yesterday, I repeat today: there is no question of fearing an investigation; I am determined to face everything. After discussing with legal experts, I will decide the next course of action," the Karnataka CM said in a post on X. The allegation against Siddaramiah was that Mysuru Urban Development Authority illegally allotted 14 sites worth Rs 56 crore to his wife Parvathi. Karnataka Lokayukta's Mysuru district police will have to conduct the investigation and will submit its report in three months. The Special Court's order came after the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday vacated its interim stay order granted on August 19 directing the court to defer the decision on the complaints against Siddaramaiah. The order came on the petition of social activist Snehamayi Krishna. "FIR will have to be registered as per the order. Mysuru Lokayukta jurisdiction will register an FIR and do the investigation," Advocate Vasant Kumar, representing petitioner activist Snehamayi Krishna told reporters. "The Chief Minister must resign so the Lokayukta can investigate transparently," he added. Advocate Laxmi Ayengar, another lawyer representing Snehamayi Krishna expressed happiness over the Special Court order. "Extremely happy about the order. Now we have to wait for the Lokayukta to get going on the investigation, waiting for them to register FIR and get started...The Court has ordered the Lokayukta, if they do their duty fairly, I don't think there would be any necessity on our part to seek for a transfer. But if the Lokayukta does not act and it doesn't seem fair, then we would definitely move the Court seeking for a transfer investigation. But at this time, no," she told reporters. The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed Siddaramaiah's petition challenging Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's approval for an investigation into alleged illegalities in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority's (MUDA) allotting sites to his wife. In his judgment, the single judge bench of Justice Nagaprasanna said that the order of sanction for prosecution does not suffer from non-application of mind by the Governor. It is alleged that MUDA illegally allotted 14 sites to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife in the prime location of Mysuru city. The High Court, in its interim order passed on August 19, had granted a temporary relief to Siddaramaiah by directing a special court in Bengaluru to defer further proceedings and not to take any precipitative action pursuant to the sanction granted by the Governor. (ANI)
A Delhi Court hearing North East Delhi riots cases recently acquitted father and son of the offences of burning Fatima mosque and nearby houses in Khajoori Khas area during riots in February 2020.An FIR was registered at police station Khajoori Khas. Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachala acquitted accused Mithhan Singh and his son Jony Kumar giving them benefit of doubts. The court noted that the presence of accused persons among rioters could not be established. The court said that the statements given by constables Pradeep Kumar and Kalik Tomarfor having identified both accused during incidents probed in this case, at a subsequent time on 09.03.2020, do appear as abnormal development. "One cannot rule out that their such statements were given or prepared with a pre-determined mind set against both accused, who were already in police custody since 05.03.2020," ASJ Pramachala held in Judgement passed on September 19. " Therefore, in view of aforesaid circumstances, only on the basis of evidence of Pradeep Kumar and Kalik Tomar, I do not find it safe to presume presence of both accused persons among the rioters on February 25, 2020, during the incidents as probed in this case," the Judge said. An FIR was registered on 04.03.2020 for offences punishable under Section related to rioting, robbery, destruction of property by fire etc. complaint of 04.03.2020 filed by Mohd. Munazir. In his complaint, Mohd. Munazir alleged that in the morning of 25.02.2020, he came out of Fatima Masjid after offering Namaz, for going to his house in Gali No.29, Khajuri Khas, Delhi. In the way, he saw mob in his gali. On his asking, Kishan Pal assured that there was no matter and he would manage the situation. Thereafter, Mohd. Munazir went to terrace at 2nd floor of his house. He saw that, rioters reached his housee. It was further alleged that first of all, rioters broke the glass etc. of Masjid and thereafter, set it ablaze, ignoring his request. He also alleged that he had seen that rioters were setting ablaze the nearby houses. He had also seen that accused Mithhan Singh and his son were seeing all these happenings from their terrace. Stones were being pelted on the house of complainant from his surroundings, as well as in the said gali. He further alleged that there were sounds of bullets firing, gas cylinders were being thrown and he had hidden in his house. Ground floor of his house was also set ablaze by the rioters. Thereafter, he was rescued by the force in blue uniform. When he came back to his house, he found his house in completely burnt condition and the roof was tilted. It was further alleged that gold ornaments weighing 100 grams, silver weighing one and half kilograms and cash amount of Rs.1,50,000 meant for marriage of his two daughters, were looted from his house in this incident. After completion of investigation, on 06.06.2020 a chargesheet was filed by the investigation officer in Karkardooma Courts against both accused persons. On 20.12.2021, charges were framed against accused Mithhan Singh for offences punishable under Section 109 (Abetment), 114 (Presence of Abetter) IPC, to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. The court also framed charges against accused Mithhan Singh and Jony Kumar for offences punishable under Section related to rioting, robbery, arson alongwith unlawful assembly. On 06.10.2023, additional charge was framed against both accused persons for offence punishable under Section 188 IPC, to which both accused persons pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. (ANI)
Leaders of the Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh staged 'Thali Bajao' protest against the state government on Wednesday, claiming that the NDA government in Andhra Pradesh failed to fulfil the promises made during elections. Congress Chief YS Sharmila, lashing out at the state government, said, "So today the Congress party has resorted to an agitation called the 'Thali Bajao', demanding why CM Chandrababu Naidu has not fulfilled the super six promises in his manifesto." "This 'Thali Bajao' is intended to awaken Chandrababu Naidu's government, which is in alliance with the BJP and the Janasena. It has been a hundred days since CM Naidu has been in power and nothing has been done by him for the good of the people here," YS Sharmila said. Speaking on the devastation caused by the recent floods in Andhra Pradesh, she said, "Seven lakh acres were subject to the floods recently. Yet the BJP has not given a paisa for Andhra Pradesh...They are sitting in power because of the support given by the 25 MPs from Andhra. We demand CM Chandrababu Naidu why he is so aloof, why he is not fulfilling any of his promises..." Earlier, Andhra Pradesh Congress President YS Sharmila on Friday said they have written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's allegation that the previous YSRCP government had used substandard ingredients and animal fat in making Tirupati laddoo, a consecrated sweet. She also stated that the issue is related to the sentiments and faith of crores of people across the country. "Yesterday, Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu told that the earlier government was involved in the adulteration of prasadam. This relates to the sentiment, emotions and faith of crores of people, not only in Andhra Pradesh but also all over the country and even internationally," Sharmila told reporters. (ANI)
In the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper scam case, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of British national Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman in the scam. Michel sought regular bail in the case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which pertains to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters for the Indian government. While his plea for regular bail in the CBI case has been rejected, Michel's bail plea in a related Enforcement Directorate (ED) case is pending before the Delhi High Court and the court has rescheduled the hearing for arguments in that case to November 18, 2024. The ED case involves money laundering charges linked to the bribes allegedly paid during the helicopter deal. This case remains under intense scrutiny due to its high-profile nature and international connections. In the ongoing AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam case, the Delhi High Court, led by Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma, dismissed the bail plea of Christian Michel James, a British national and the alleged middleman in the Rs3,600-crore deal. The court noted that there was no significant change in circumstances or new grounds that would justify reconsidering the bail. Earlier, the trial court had also rejected his bail plea, citing the serious nature of the allegations against him. Michel was arrested in Dubai following the issuance of Non-Bailable Warrants (NBWs) in 2015 and a subsequent Red Corner Notice. He was extradited to India on December 4, 2018. The trial court pointed out that Michel had not voluntarily appeared before the court or cooperated with the investigation, making him a flight risk. Thus, he could not claim parity with other accused individuals who were granted bail. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), represented by Senior Advocate DP Singh, expressed concerns that if Michel were granted bail, he could potentially influence witnesses and tamper with evidence due to his high-level connections. The CBI also stressed the importance of ensuring the accused's presence and safeguarding the investigation. The Supreme Court had also previously rejected Michel's bail plea in the cases lodged by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED). The CBI argued that Michel's release could hinder the investigation and judicial process, given his central role in the case. Despite concerns over his long pre-trial detention, both the lower courts and the apex court have consistently denied his bail applications. (ANI)
Bihar Museum, Patna, is going to host an exhibition of paintings by poet, artist and diplomat Abhay K on the Buddhist philosophy of Shunyata from October 1-10. The exhibition will be inaugurated by Vijay Kumar Sinha, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, on October 1. The exhibition explores the Buddhist philosophy of Shunyata which translates as Insubstance or Emptiness. Anjani Kumar Singh, Director General, Bihar Museum, Patna, in his note about the exhibition said, "Abhay K has exhibited his paintings in several countries. However, it is his first exhibition in his home state of Bihar, and we are delighted to host his debut exhibition, 'Shunyata', at Bihar Museum, Patna. He has exhibited his works earlier in Russia, Brazil and Madagascar and is now returning to his roots with an exhibition of paintings on the Buddhist concept of Shunyata, or Emptines, which Bodhisatva Avlokiteshvara had revealed to Sariputra on the Griddhkut Parvat (Vulture's Peak) in Rajgriha (Rajgir) in Bihar, which is part of the widely known Heart Sutra. As someone who has witnessed his work, I can attest to the novelty and transcendentality he brings to his artworks." Speaking about his exhibition at the Bihar Museum, Abhay K said, "It is a matter of immense pride for me to get the opportunity to exhibit my art works at the State of the Art Bihar Museum. I'm very excited about exhibiting my art works in my home state of Bihar, where the philosophy of Shunyata took birth." Abhay K is a poet, editor, translator, artist and diplomat. He is the author of several poetry collections and the editor of six books, including The Book of Bihari Literature. His poems have appeared in over a hundred literary magazines across the globe and his 'Earth Anthem' has been translated into over 160 languages. He received the SAARC Literary Award (2013) and was invited to record his poems at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (2018). His translations of Kalidasa's Meghaduta and Ritusamhara from the Sanskrit won him the KLF Poetry Book of the Year Award (2020-21). His translation of Magahi novel Fool Bahadur has been published by Penguin Random House, India. His painting exhibitions have been held in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. (ANI)
After receiving the information that a vehicle had crashed into a ditch on Gaurikund Road, the SDRF team, under the leadership of Inspector Karna Singh, immediately rushed to the spot.
The SDRF rescue team reached the spot and conducted a joint rescue operation with the district police and rescued 13 people, including 1 child, from the vehicle that crashed into the ditch. One person is missing, who is being searched by the SDRF team.
The vehicle was carrying devotees from various states who were going for Shri Kedarnath Darshan.
Further details awaited. (ANI)
Nurul Islam was battling cancer for a long time and died at his residence North 24 Parganas district after his health deteriorated this morning.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee posted on social media on the demise of the MP .
"Sad to know of the demise of my valued colleague, our MP of Basirhat, Haji Sk. Nurul Islam. He was a dedicated social worker in a remote Sundarban area, and he worked hard for the upliftment of poor people in a backward region. People of Basirhat will miss his leadership," Mamata Banerjee posted on X.
Mamata Banerjee expressed her condolences to Nurul Islam's family, friends and colleagues.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev also extended condolences on X.
"I am extremely sorry to hear about out the passing away of Member of Parliament Haji Nurul Islam. My deepest condolences," Sushmita Dev said.
TMC MLA and actor Madan Mitra shared his grief on X while describing Islam as a 'great social worker.'
"I felt really very sad to know about the sad demise of my fellow and our MP of Basirhat, Haji Sk. Nurul Islam. He is really a great social worker as he knows the flavour of the soil. May his soul rest in peace. My sincere condolences," Mitra said on X.
During the Lok Sabha Election 2024 Nurul Islam won the Basirhat seat with over 3 lakh votes, defeating BJP's Rekha Patra who led protests against TMC's Sheikh Shahjahan in Sandeshkali.
Nurul Islam replaced the incumbent Nusrat Jahan in the 2024 election. He first became an MP from Basirhat seat in 2009. Later he contested from Jangipur constituency in 2014 but lost. He then returned to the state politics, winning twice from Haroa Assembly in 2016 and 2021. (ANI)
Perfume: From Assyria to Rome
Replica fragrance bottle from ancient civilization, Turkiye, October 17, 2023. ( IHA) Long before Rome, the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians were pioneering scent-making. Babylon was the fragrance production hub for eastern empires, with mimosa, lily, rose, and saffron being the most commonly produced scents. The Sumerians particularly favored rose and rosewater.
For the Assyrians, lilies held special significance. It was a tradition for Assyrian queens to be anointed with myrrh, a fragrant resin, for six months before their wedding. After marriage, they were adorned with perfumes according to their natural attributes, symbolizing their new status.
Historical fragrances like Nero's are being brought back to life by experts like Bihter Turkan Ergul, allowing modern audiences to experience the luxurious scents of ancient empires. From the heady aroma of rhodium to the subtle notes of Assyrian lilies, these perfumes offer a sensory journey through time.
From the ancient Sumerians to the Romans, and from Julius Caesar to Hurrem Sultan, scent has been a bridge connecting civilizations and iconic figures throughout history.
Now, perfume expert Bihter Turkan Ergul and her team have breathed new life into Emperor Nero's signature fragrance, adding it to their repertoire of historic recreations.
Perfume expert brings history to life
Perfume designer Bihter Turkan Ergul continues her mission to revive ancient scents through meticulous historical research and authentic formulas. Ergul's latest creation focuses on Emperor Nero, the infamous Roman ruler known for his decadent lifestyle.
This rose-infused perfume will be showcased at the Izmir Culture Route Festival from October 26 to November 3, alongside other historical fragrances. Visitors will also get a chance to experience Caesar's fragrance, which contains a unique gladiator sweat formula. However, these perfumes are not commercially available and can only be sampled at exclusive events like the festival.
Nero: Emperor obsessed with fragrance
"Nero, infamous for his role in the burning of Rome, was also a fragrance enthusiast," explains Ergul. She and her team analyzed residues from ancient Roman artifacts to recreate Nero's favorite scents.
"Historical records show that Nero was particularly fond of rose. Other scents he enjoyed included saffron, quince blossom, Indian hyacinth, and myrrh," Ergul notes.
The emperor would even have his servants massage him daily with custom-made perfumes. His fondness for fragrance extended to his palace animals, which were also anointed with scented oils by designated servants.
Rhodium: Nero's signature perfume
During Nero's reign in the 1st century B.C., trade routes expanded, making the transportation of scented oils cheaper and faster. As a result, shops selling perfumes multiplied across Rome.
The most sought-after scent of the time was 'rhodium,' a blend of carefully selected roses. This perfume became synonymous with Nero's reign. Another popular scent, 'foliatum,' made from Roman roses, was a lighter alternative to rhodium.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday criticised the "Make in India" initiative started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling it a 'stunt' that has led to the 'de-industrialisation' of India's manufacturing sector. In a post on X, Kharge said "With rampant joblessness, plunging exports and extinguishing savings, Modi Govt's glitzy ads on 'Make in India' cannot sugarcoat its colossal failures!," he said in the post. https://x.com/kharge/status/1838887260160176431 "10 years of Modi Govt's Make in India Stunt has put Break in India's Manufacturing! 10 years ago, PM @narendramodi crafted the slogan of "Make in India" and claimed to build Aatmnirbhar Bharat. Contrary to BJP's high decibel propaganda, India's Manufacturing sector has got de-industrialised due to Modi Govt's FLOP policy initiatives," he said in the post. The Congress chief went on to outline a few key areas, he claimed where the Modi government's policies have failed. "5 stark facts which made India miss the bus on Manufacturing are - 1. The average growth rate of the Manufacturing sector between 2014-15 and 2023-24 is just 3.1 per cent (BJP-NDA) whereas between 2004-05 and 2013-14, the average growth rate was 7.85 per cent (Congress-UPA)," he said in the post. "2. The number of employees in factories grew at 6.2 per cent annually during the Congress-UPA regime. This growth fell spectacularly to just 2.8 per cent under the Modi Govt.," Kharge said in the post. "Between 2011-12 and 2022, India's Manufacturing sector saw minimal growth in employment, increasing from 6 crore to merely 6.3 crore workers. This modest addition of 3 lakh jobs annually is insufficient, considering 1.5 crore youth enter the workforce every year. According to NSO, the share of Employment in Manufacturing accounted for 12.6 per cent of all workers (2011-12). This declined to 10.9 per cent (2020-21), before recovering a bit to 11.6 per cent (2021-22)," Kharge added. "3. The share of Manufacturing in India's GDP has hit an all time low of just 12.83 per cent (2023), due to Modi Govt's policies. During Congress-UPA, the same was 15.25 per cent (2013)," he said in the post. "4. PLI schemes have miserably failed in several sectors. Sectors such as high-efficiency solar PV modules, advance chemistry cell (ACC) batteries, textile products, speciality steel, white goods and medical devices have failed to yield the claimed results. Most PLI schemes have garnered lukewarm and tepid response from the industry and experts have criticised the schemes for their poor design, lack of clarity and no real value addition.," Kharge said. "5. Year after year, Modi Govt has sold stakes of even profit making PSUs to Modi ji's crony friends, thereby breaking the backbone of our Public sector. Instead of filling vacant government jobs, Modi Govt has eliminated 5.1 lakh posts! Casual and contract recruitment in PSU's has increased by a whopping 91 per cent. SC, ST, OBC posts have decreased by 1.3 lakh (2022-23). Overall there are 40 per cent contractual employees in Indian factories (2021-22), this was just 5 per cent (2013-14) during Congress-UPA," he said in the post. (ANI)
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Wednesday paid tribute to the leader of Bhartiya Jana Sangh, Deendayal Upadhyaya, on his 107th birth anniversary, recalling his philosophy for the people of the country. https://x.com/DrManikSaha2/status/1838782528280260804 In a post on X, CM Saha wrote, "My respectful obeisances to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, the exponent of Antyodaya and Ekatma Humanism, on the occasion of his auspicious birth anniversary. Let his philosophy spread in all directions through the socio-economic upliftment of the last person in the society and the overall welfare of the human society." Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to the leader of Bhartiya Jana Sangh Deendayal Upadhyaya. In a post on X, PM Modi said, "Tributes to the great nationalist thinker Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya on his birth anniversary. His concept of Antyodaya will play an invaluable role in achieving the resolution of a developed India. His dedication and service to the country will remain unforgettable." Several other leaders including Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also offered heartfelt tribute to the nationalist leader. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju participated in a 'Swachhata Hi Seva Campaign 2024' at a park near Pandit Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan (Ministry of Minority Affairs) "Paying heartfelt tributes to Pandit #DeendayalUpadhyaya on his birth anniversary. His vision of 'Ekatma Manavvaad' & 'Antyodaya' continues to guide us towards a society where every individual is empowered. Let us honour his legacy by working together for a nation that is self-reliant, inclusive & compassionate," Rijiju wrote in a post on X. BJP national president JP Nadda also paid floral tributes to the late politician at party headquarters in Delhi. Union Home Minister Amit Shah remembered the leader for being a proponent of the "integral humanism" ideology who was committed to purity in politics. "I pay my tribute to the ardent patriot, pioneer of integral humanism and great political thinker Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya on his birth anniversary. Deen Dayal ji remained committed to purity and transparency in politics throughout his life. His idea of Antyodaya strengthened social harmony. Following the principles of cultural nationalism of Deen Dayal Upadhyay ji, who stressed on building a bright future by taking inspiration from the glorious past of the country, Modi ji is taking the benefits of government schemes to the last person standing in the queue of development," Shah wrote in a post on X. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath unveiled a statue of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and paid floral tribute to the leader on his birth anniversary. Addressing the media and the people present at the unveiling ceremony, the CM said that he wanted everyone to remember Pandit Deen Dayal's vision and the hard work he put into building the country. "On the birth occasion of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, I want you all to remember the vision and hard work that he put into building the country 70 years ago. His principles applied are still seen when we see the progress the country has made. We all are aware that he always used to think of the poor, the farmers, the women and always kept them on the top. He always had empathy towards everyone and followed the vision of self-dependency. His visions are the reason why the people of India could avail proper benefits of resources during the deadly COVID-19." (ANI)
Earlier on September 23, the Supreme Court listed for September 30 the hearing on a suo motu petition on the rape and murder of a doctor in the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal.
The matter was earlier listed on September 27, and a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud changed the date to September 30 at the request of West Bengal Government counsel.
In the last hearing on September 17, Kapil Sibal, senior counsel appearing on behalf of the State of West Bengal informed the court that an assurance to that effect was held out by the Chief Minister to the West Bengal Junior Doctors' Front that no adverse or punitive action shall be taken against the doctors who return to work.
The incident has led to a war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the state government, with the BJP calling for the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The Anti-Corruption Branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Sandip Ghosh on September 2.
Ghosh was under investigation for alleged corruption and financial irregularities at the college and hospital, following a directive from a single bench of the Calcutta High Court, which ordered the CBI to probe the matter.
A woman trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. (ANI)
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday asserted that the role of the Minority Affairs Ministry is not focused solely on the Muslim community but works for the benefit of all minority communities in the country. Speaking to the media about the significant achievements of the Ministry of Minority Affairs in 100 days of the NDA goverment, Rijiju criticized the previous Congress government, saying during their tenure they created an impression that the ministry catered exclusively to Muslims, which has hampered its mission. "Under the Congress regime, Muslims were treated as a "vote bank," and little was done to uplift the community in a meaningful way. This approach left many Muslims impoverished and did not serve the long-term development goals of the community," he said. The Minister stressed that his government's approach has been more inclusive, ensuring that all six recognized minority communities, i.e. Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis receive equal attention. "The Ministry of Minority Affairs is now working for all minority communities. The government is implementing schemes aimed at uplifting all minority groups, with a focus on reaching those who had been previously neglected. The ministry is creating targeted schemes to ensure that every community benefits from government programs and policies," Rijiju added. He also expressed pride in the progress made by minority communities in the country and said that all minority communities in India are safe, sound, secure and enjoying better opportunities than in many other countries. The minister said that the government is fully committed to fostering inclusivity and addressing the needs of all minority groups in India. "These 100 days have also been focussed towards strengthening of the existing ecosystem through digitized Scheme processes and evaluation mechanisms," Rijiju said. (ANI)
The first GEnx was delivered in the region in 2012, with 90 GEnx engines now powering Air India, Vistara and Biman Bangladesh flights.
"The GEnx engine has been instrumental in supporting South Asia's aviation growth. This milestone is a testament to its engineering excellence and technology maturity," said Mahendra Nair, Group Vice President for Commercial Programme at GE Aerospace, during a visit to New Delhi.
"We continue to support our customers' business goals, with our best technology and service offerings," he added.
"We are proud of our long relationships with the South Asian airlines, including most recently Air India, as it plans expansion of operations with 20 new wide-body aircraft that will be powered by 40 GEnx engines," said Vikram Rai, South Asia Chief Executive Officer, GE Aerospace.
Airlines worldwide powering Boeing's 787 Dreamliner and the 747-8, the GEnx engine showcases a leap forward in propulsion technology.
The engine's superior performance contributes to reduced operating costs and a lower carbon footprint, aligning with the global aviation industry's sustainability goals by making it 15 percent more fuel-efficient and emitting up to 15 percent less CO2 than its predecessor, the CF6 engine.
The GEnx engine is a product of decades of operational knowledge and experience, derived from the GE90 engine. With its innovative twin-annular pre-swirl (TAPS) combustor, the engine significantly reduces nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by up to 60% below current regulatory limits.
In March 2023, the GEnx engines powered the first wide-body aircraft on a long-haul route to India using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Vistara's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flew from Charleston, South Carolina, to New Delhi on a blend of 30 percent SAF with conventional jet fuel.
GE Aerospace continually monitors its GEnx commercial engines in service and uses advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) driven models to increase the number of conditions that can be monitored with even greater accuracy.
GE Aerospace's AI-enabled Blade Inspection Tool (BIT) guides the selection of Stage 1 and 2 high-pressure turbine engine blade images in a GEnx commercial engine for technicians to inspect for faster, more accurate inspections. This helps in obtaining consistent images, a key input to building predictive models.
GE Aerospace has been a partner to India's aviation industry for over forty years. Thirteen hundred GE Aerospace and partner engines are in service, powering major Indian airlines. GE Aerospace's defence engines and systems power the Indian Air Force's Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Mk 1, helicopters and the Indian Navy's aircraft carrier battleships and frigates. (ANI)
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday took a jibe at Farooq Abdullah and Rahul Gandhi, saying that even their seven generations cannot bring back Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing a poll rally in Jammu, Chouhan said, "Today I want to say that 'Farooq Abdullah aur Rahul Gandhi ki saat pidhiyan (generations) bhi Article 370 nahi la sakti'...BJP government is there..." He accused the Congress-National Conference (NC) party of diverting people's attention from real issues such as employment, food, education, health, and development. "We say what we do. Our goal is to change the fate of the people, to bring happiness into your lives, to bring smiles to your faces, and for you to live your life in peace. But what are they saying? They are saying that if our government comes to power, we will abolish Article 370. Rahul Baba, even the NC leaders cannot abolish Article 370. Is this the issue, brothers and sisters? Our issue is employment, food, education, health and development. They are leading us in the wrong direction." Earlier today, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday reiterated that the opposition will use its full force to pressurise Centre to restore Jammu and Kashmir's statehood. Addressing a public rally in Sopore, the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition said that for the first time in history, a state was downgraded into a 'union territory' and injustice was served to the people of the territory and the INDIA bloc will fight for its restoration. "We wanted that the statehood be restored before elections. All the people of Jammu and Kashmir wanted the elections to take place after the restoration of the statehood. The first and foremost issue is regarding your statehood. Several UTs have been made states, and states have been bifurcated. But this is the first time in history that a state has been turned into a Union Territory. It did not happen, the first step is election. But after this, the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir has to be restored," Rahul Gandhi said. Assembly polls are being held in Jammu and Kashmir in three phases. Voting for the second phase is currently underway on Wednesday, with 26 constituencies across six districts of the Union Territory. The first phase, held on September 18, recorded a voter turnout of 61.13 per cent across 24 constituencies in seven districts, according to the Election Commission. Voting for the third phase will take place on October 1, with vote counting scheduled for October 8, alongside the counting of votes in Haryana. (ANI)
Amid the flood-like situation in West Bengal, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday said that over eight districts in the state have suffered heavy damage due to the flood situation, adding that lakhs of people are suffering in the state. "8 to 9 districts in West Bengal have suffered heavy damage due to the flood situation here. I visited these districts and saw the conditions there. Lakhs of people are suffering. All this has happened because of DVC... The officials in the districts where floods occurred were already instructed to be careful because flood situations are going to arise. We want to know what is the truth?... So I thought it right to approach the High Court," Chowdhury told ANI. Earlier on Tuesday, Adhir Chowdhury visited a flood-affected area of Hooghly's Jagatpur in West Bengal. After reviewing the situation, Chowdhury attacked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for not visiting flood-affected areas of West Bengal instead of celebrating her party leader's bail in West Bengal's Birbhum. Meanwhile, West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari met flood-affected people in Ghatal of Paschim Medinipur district. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused the BJP-led Central government of being the main reason behind flooding of lakhs of houses in West Bengal. "In Jharkhand, as soon as it rains, we become worried because they release water to save themselves, which affects the entire Bengal region. The Ganga Action Plan, flood control, and DVC are all under the central government's control, but due to their inaction, lakhs of homes are getting flooded," she said. Banerjee also claimed that more areas in West Bengal would be flooded in the coming days if the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) releases water. "Two depressions have developed over the Bay of Bengal. The situation will worsen, if it continues to rain, especially if the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) releases more water from its dams," she said. Banerjee urged the Prime Minister to seriously consider her concerns and requested the release of funds for flood management efforts to help the affected population. (ANI)
Speaking to ANI, IMD scientist Dr Naresh said that the winds from the Bay of Bengal may result in light rainfall activity in the region.
"Winds from the Bay of Bengal are coming towards Delhi-NCR, this may result in light rain in the evening. Light rainfall may also occur tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. The rainfall activity will end after that," he told ANI.
On the rising humidity in Delhi over the last few days, Naresh said, "We expect that the weather will be pleasant after that... In the coming 1 or 2 days, Himachal Pradesh may experience light to moderate rainfall. Uttarakhand may receive isolated heavy rainfall..."
https://x.com/Indiametdept/status/1838897171070104018
The IMD also predicted an extremely heavy rainfall warning over Konkan and Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim for September 26.
It also predicted a very heavy rainfall warning for Saurashtra and Kachchh, Bihar, and Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghlaya for September 26.
Meanwhile, heavy rainfall was observed in the coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam during the past 24 hours till 8:30 am on September 25. (ANI)
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday chaired a meeting with All Assam Students Union (AASU) leadership to discuss the recommendations of Justice (Retd) Biplab Sarma Committee on the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. Speaking to the media after the meeting Chief minister Sarma said that the state government will not implement Assam accord clause 6 without consent in Barak Valley and 6th schedule areas. Clause 6 of the Assam Accord states that the Assamese people's cultural, social, linguistic identity, and heritage should be protected, preserved, and promoted through appropriate constitutional, legislative, and administrative safeguards. "Today, we have engaged with All Assam Students' Union regarding the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. Today, we have analysed the recommendations of the Justice (Retd) Biplab Sarma Committee which can exclusively be implemented by the state government. We have made it clear that those recommendations will not be implemented in Barak Valley and as well as in 6 Schedule areas in the Constitution of India without their consent," CM Sarma said. CM Sarma said that the state government will request the Centre to discuss with the AASU for implementation of 15 recommendations which are under the ambit of the Union government. CM Sarma said that the second phase of the meeting with AASU will be held on October 25 and that the state government will try to implement 52 recommendations of the Justice (Retd) Biplab Sarma Committee by April 15 next year. "We will request the Centre to discuss with the AASU for implementation of 15 recommendations which are under the ambit of the Union government. We will try to implement 52 recommendations. We will prepare an action plan within a month and on October 25, the second phase of meeting will be held with AASU. We will try to implement 52 recommendations of the committee by April 15 next year," he said. (ANI)
Following BJP's demand for Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah's resignation after the Bengaluru Court directed Karnataka Lokayukta to investigate the alleged MUDA 'scam', Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar hit back at BJP for not demanding the same from 'their' leaders against whom charge sheets have been filed. Speaking with the ANI, about the court's decision on the alleged MUDA 'scam', Shivakumar said that let the investigation take place. "Investigation has been ordered by the court, let it happen. Why is the BJP not demanding the resignation of their leaders against whom chargesheets have been filed?" Shivakumar said. Earlier, Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra said that BJP and JD(S) will hold a protest in Vidhana Soudha premises on Thursday. "I demand the CM to hand over the investigation to CBI and tender his resignation immediately. Tomorrow, BJP and JD(S) will hold a protest in Vidhana Soudha premises tomorrow," Vijayendra told ANI. Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said that the CM is ready for investigation. "Chief Minister is ready to face any investigation. Lokayukta Police is an independent body. They are not under the mercy of anybody so they will do the investigation accordingly," Parameshwara said. Earlier today, the Special Court in Bengaluru passed an order directing Karnataka Lokyukta to conduct an investigation against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the allegation of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites worth Rs 56 crore to his wife Parvathi by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). Karnataka Lokayukta's Mysuru district police will have to conduct the investigation and will submit its report in three months. The Special Court's order came after the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday vacated its interim stay order granted on August 19, directing the court to defer the decision on the complaints against Siddaramaiah. The order came on the petition of social activist Snehamayi Krishna. "FIR will have to be registered as per the order. Mysuru Lokayukta jurisdiction will register an FIR and do the investigation," Advocate Vasant Kumar, representing petitioner activist Snehamayi Krishna, told reporters. (ANI)
Ten Years After Genocide, Yazidi Culture is Still Absent From Western Museums
One of the only items related to Yazidi culture in the British Museum's collection: a photograph of a Yazidi man standing in front of the shrine of Shaikh 'Adi ibn Mosafer. ( The Trustees of the British Museum) In a recent talk at the British Museum (BM), sitting between the two great Assyrian lamassu from Khorsabad, the Turkish writer Elif Shafak spoke about the role fiction can play in shedding light on otherwise forgotten moments of personal and historical trauma. Shafak's recent novel There Are Rivers in the Sky explores questions of museum collecting through the story of the acquisition, by the BM, of remains from Nineveh, and the discovery of Assyrian culture thanks to George Smith ("King Arthur of the Slums and Sewers" in Shafak's story), who decoded the cuneiform held at the museum, and discovered and translated into English The Epic of Gilgamesh. Shafak intertwines this story with that of two contemporary women, one of whom is a young Yazidi who experiences the genocide by Islamic State (Isis) of the Yazidi people on Mount Sinjar in 2014.
The Assyrian collection at the BM is largely the result of excavations by the 19th-century archaeologist Austen Henry Layard (whose 1849 book, Nineveh and its Remains: With an Account of a Visit to the Chaldaean Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, or Devil-Worshippers; and an Enquiry into the Manners and Arts of the Ancient Assyrians, plays a central part in Shafak's novel). It is justly famous, heralded by the great lamassu from Khorsabad, despite being crammed into claustrophobic galleries in between Ancient Egypt and the Parthenon sculptures. A poignant absence
Evidence of the other cultures mentioned in the title of Layard's book, the Chaldaeans and the Yezidis (an alternative spelling of Yazidi), is much harder to find. The Yazidi people, in particular, are virtually invisible in museums in the West, an absence all the more poignant in light of their recent history.
Following the massacre of 2014, some 200,000 Yazidis still live in refugee camps in Kurdistan, unable to return to their destroyed homes. Hundreds of the women and children who were abducted and enslaved by Isis are still missing. Although many of the Yazidi shrines have been reconstructed, living Yazidi culture remains in a fragile state.
Museums in Iraqi Kurdistan are reported to be collecting Yazidi artefacts, notably the Slemani Museum in Sulaymaniyah, as well as the Ethnographic Museum at the Erbil Citadel, according to Sebastien Rey, the BM's curator for Ancient Mesopotamia.
Outside of the Kurdish region it is a different story. A search on the BM database brings up a sole item, a photograph of a Yazidi man standing in front of the shrine of Shaikh 'Adi ibn Mosafer. It comes from the page of an album donated to the museum in 2012.
Noorah Al-Gailani, the curator of Islamic Collections at the BM, also points to two 18th-century drawings of Yazidis, and a Safavid metalwork peacock, that may well have been used by the Yazidi to represent Melek Taus, the "Peacock Angel". The lack of Yazidi material, Al-Gailani says, can in part be explained by the closed nature of the Yazidi community. When Layard wrote of his time with the Yazidis, he found them "naturally suspicious of strangers, and fearful of betraying the secrets of their faith", an understandable characteristic in the face of a long history of persecution.
Historically, museum collections of artefacts from the Near East have not been acquired with the intention of representing minority groups, but rather acquired piecemeal and on the basis of individual interest--and naturally the spectacular nature of the finds from Nineveh, Nimrud and Khorsabad drew the attention more than artefacts from the Yazidi, or other ethnic-religious groups such as the Mandeans or the Arab Jews.
Any project collecting evidence of Yazidi material culture should begin with how the Yazidi represent themselves, suggests Paul Collins, the assistant keeper in the department of Middle East at the BM. The first answer to this question from the Yazidi is of course unlikely to be "by artefacts on display in the British Museum"--displays that very few Yazidis would have the opportunity to see for themselves. A richer form of identification might be given by intangible heritage--music, food, storytelling, the sort of thing that cannot be collected and preserved by museums and might for those thousands of Yazidis still living in refugee camps and away from their still ruined homeland of Sinjar be the most meaningful carrier of their tradition and culture.
Compared with the urgent ongoing need for humanitarian aid and political representation, museum collecting might seem a trivial issue. The BM in particular has little ethical credibility left in the light of its renewed sponsorship deal with the oil company BP, which recently announced the development of new oil and gas fields in Kirkuk, Iraq. And yet with their powerful cultural and political reach, museums have a moral duty for such representation.
John-Paul Stonard is an art historian and author.
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister and BJP leader Champai Soren on Wednesday said that the Maha Parivartan rally is a sign that the BJP is going to win in the upcoming Jharkhand elections and will form the government. "The Maha Parivartan rally is a sign that the BJP's victory in the coming elections and forming the government is certain," Soren said. Notably, the 'Parivartan Yatra' was flagged by Amit Shah in Jharkhand's Sahibganj district on September 20. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Jharkhand BJP chief Babulal Marandi, and former CM Champai Soren were present on the occasion. Champai Soren upped his ante against the Hemant Soren-led government for allegedly withdrawing his security and said that the people of Jharkhand will protect him. "It is up to them, now the public will protect us," he added. Former Union Minister and BJP leader Arjun Munda said that in the Parivartan Rath there is a huge outpouring of public support. "Our Parivartan Rath has reached Saraikela. There is a huge outpouring of public support in Saraikela because there is a lot of resentment among the people. The government has disappointed the people of Jharkhand for the purpose with which they gave a chance to the Hemant Soren government. The work of suppressing those rights of the people has been done from which the people had expected to benefit. Through this Parivartan Yatra, we are giving the message that the youth have been cheated, women have been cheated and the citizens here have been cheated," Arjun Munda said. The term of the Jharkhand State Assembly is set to expire on January 5, 2025, with elections scheduled for 81 constituencies (44 General, 9 SC, 28 ST) across the state. Jharkhand is set to go to polls for its 81-member legislative assembly later this year. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to announce the dates. (ANI)
IMD forecasted thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and intense spells of rain with gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph very likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Mumbai, Palghar, Nandurbar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Solapur & Satara during the next few hours.
Earlier in the day, IMD issued a red alert for Thane, Palghar, Raigad districts while for Ratnagiri district on September 26.
On September 25, in its daily weather bulletin for the nation, IMD predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over Konkan & Goa, Coastal Andhra Pradesh & Yanam, East Madhya Pradesh, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Marathwada, Coastal Karnataka, Bihar; Heavy rainfall at isolated places over Rayalaseema, Gujarat Region, Chhattisgarh, West Madhya Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Maharashtra, Interior Karnataka & Telangana.
On Tuesday, IMD predicted light to moderate rain at isolated places over Tamilnadu, Puducherry and Karaikal areas, which will occur from September 26 to September 30.
Strong surface winds with speed reaching 30-40 kmph are likely to prevail over Tamilnadu, Puducherry and Karaikal areas tomorrow, the weather agency predicted.
The IMD has predicted moderate rain with lightning likely to occur in North Tamil Nadu in the next seven days and temperature likely to soar 2-4C above normal. Due to humid air and high temperatures, hot and discomforting weather is very likely to prevail in isolated pockets over Tamilnadu. It also predicts that there will be hot and uncomfortable weather in isolated areas of Puducherry and Karaikal area. (ANI)
Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to hear the dispute over the use of election symbols between the Ajit Pawar faction of the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sharad Pawar faction of NCP on October 1 A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan posted the matter for hearing for October 1 after the counsel for Sharad Pawar NCP faction mentioned that urgent relief is being sought in view of upcoming Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections and court vacations. Sharad Pawar's counsel claimed that even yesterday Ajit Pawar said that Sharad Pawar is "his God" and they are "all together". The counsel said that Ajit Pawar's faction is not complying with the court's previous order and sought direction that Ajit Pawar's faction be directed to apply for a fresh symbol for the Vidhan Sabha elections. Earlier, Sharad Pawar group had filed a petition in the apex court challenging the February 6 decision of the Election Commission to officially recognise the Ajit Pawar group as the real NCP and allot the party symbol 'clock' to them. On March 19, the top court allowed the Ajit Pawar faction to use the 'clock' symbol, with certain conditions, including that his party will public declaration that the use of the 'clock' symbol by it for the Lok Sabha and the Maharashtra Assembly Elections is sub-judice and subject to the outcome of the challenge made by the Sharad Pawar group to the decision of the ECI. It had also asked the Ajit Pawar faction to not use the name and images of Sharad Pawar in its campaign materials. Maharashtra legislative assembly elections will be held in 288 constituencies. The Election Commission of India has yet to announce the dates for the election. The upcoming Maharashtra election will see a contest between the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, comprising the UBT Shiv Sena, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress, and the Maha Yuti Alliance, which includes the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction). (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a detailed discussion with the party leaders and workers in Nashik on Wednesday and said that only the NDA government, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, can speed up the development of Maharashtra. "The anti-Dalit, anti-farmer, and anti-women MVA alliance cannot do any good for Maharashtra. Only the NDA government under the guidance of Modi ji can speed up development by taking every section of the state along. Today I am feeling energised after interacting with the officials and senior workers of the North Maharashtra division in Nashik. Maharashtra BJP workers are going to form the NDA government in the state once again by going door-to-door," Amit Shah posted on X. Earlier on Tuesday, the Union Home Minister attended a meeting of BJP office bearers of Vidarbha Region. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule were also present at the meeting. In a post on X, Home Minister Shah shared, "Today, in the Nagpur division meeting, I had a detailed discussion with the party workers and officials. Under the leadership of Modi ji, the NDA government of Maharashtra has set new records of development and public welfare by taking every section along. It is the duty of every worker to ensure an NDA government with a huge majority in Maharashtra and save the state from the MVA alliance that will loot the state." The Home Minister also interacted with the officials and senior workers of Marathwada division in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. He said that the NDA government, under the leadership of PM Modi, is committed to the upliftment of all sections. "Whether it is the respect of women or the welfare of farmers, the NDA government at the Centre and in Maharashtra under the leadership of Modiji is committed to the upliftment of all sections. Today I interacted with the officials and senior workers of Marathwada division in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. NDA workers in Maharashtra are once again committed to bring the NDA government to power," he stated. Amit Shah also chaired a meeting of Mahayuti leaders in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, which are likely to held later this year. Maharashtra legislative Assembly elections will be held in 288 constituencies. The Election Commission of India has yet to announce the dates for the election. The upcoming Maharashtra election will see a contest between the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, comprising the UBT Shiv Sena, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress, and the Maha Yuti Alliance, which includes the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction). (ANI)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Wednesday said that the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) is very big and both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are working together to complete it. "Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh ERCP is a very big project which both states are working together to complete. Today we discussed with Union Water Power Minister CR Paatil. All our problems have been solved. In the coming time, our MoA is also going to happen... which will be in the interest of both the states and according to what both the states have done together, the work will be good in the coming time." The ERCP project, announced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2017-18, aims to provide drinking and irrigation water to 13 districts in eastern Rajasthan. The revised version of the project aims to provide drinking and industrial water in 13 districts of eastern Rajasthan, Malwa, and Chambal regions of Madhya Pradesh apart from providing irrigation in 2.8 lakh ha. area (or more) each in both the states (total of 5.6 lakh ha or more) including supplementation of en route tanks in the states. The Modified PKC-ERCP (Modified Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal-ERCP) Link Project is an inter-state river linking project that aims to provide drinking and industrial water to 13 districts of eastern Rajasthan and the Malwa and Chambal regions of Madhya Pradesh. This is the second project under the national perspective plan of interlinking of rivers (ILR) program of the Government of India. The preparation of DPR of this Modified PKC-ERCP link is already in progress. Based on the outcome of DPR, a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) would be finalized amongst the States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and the Union Government, covering the scope of the work of the link Project, sharing of water, exchange of water, sharing of costs & benefits, implementation mechanism and arrangements for management and control of water in Chambal basin etc. (ANI)
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Wednesday said that the state government has made every effort to provide relief to all sections of society. During a meeting with the delegation of 1158 Assistant Professors and Librarians, who had called on the Chief Minister to express their gratitude after the verdict of the High Court, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the state government has done everything possible to provide relief to all the people living in the society, said an official press release. The delegation profusely thanked the Chief Minister for making every effort to bail them out from the legal tangle. They also bemoaned that the successive previous governments in the state had given a cold shoulder to them but the Chief Minister-led government had extended a helping hand to them. "The Chief Minister said that the state government has evolved a 'foolproof' mechanism for the entire recruitment process due to which not even a single appointment out of more than 45,000 has been challenged so far in any court," said the release. "Bhagwant Singh Mann said that it is a proud moment for the government of Punjab that these youth have been given government jobs completely on the basis of merit. He said that it is a matter of immense pride and satisfaction for him that all the youth have been selected for these posts purely on the basis of their eligibility and intelligence," as per the release. Meanwhile, a member of the Librarian front thanked the Chief Minister for supporting their cause. She said that this is the real change that is being witnessed in government colleges, as recruitment in these colleges has been done after a gap of more than two decades. She said that they will ever remain indebted to the Chief Minister for this noble and path-breaking initiative. An assistant professor, Dr Sohel said that the recruitment process was started in 2021, adding that the state government led by the Chief Minister safeguarded their interests. He said that this is a historic moment for them and their families, as the state government has stood by them in this hour of crisis. He said that they are thankful to the Chief Minister for making them an integral part of the state government. (ANI)
Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Anitha Vangalapudi on Wednesday stated that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has already been formed to investigate the alleged use of 'animal fat' in the preparation of the Tirupati Laddu Prasadam. Anitha Vangalapudi accused the YSRCP of "trying to cover up" the 'mistakes', as CM Chandrababu Naidu had alleged, in the use of 'animal fat' in the prasadam during the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government. "An SIT has already been formed with IG and DIG-level officers. The YSRCP is accusing us and attacking us in return. They have made mistakes in the preparation of the Laddu prasadam and are now attempting to cover them up," Vangalapudi said. "Hindu sentiments have been hurt, and they are toying with those sentiments. To divert attention from politics, they set fire to a chariot, further hurting the feelings of Hindus. Chandrababu Naidu is taking this issue very seriously. The CM has made it clear that those who break the law will face severe punishment," she added. However, the YSRCP, on the other hand, has urged devotees across the state to participate in temple poojas on Saturday, September 28, aimed at restoring the sanctity of Tirumala, which the party claims was tarnished by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. YSRCP Chief and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy took to the social media platform X, urging people to stand against the false claims made by Chandrababu Naidu. Naidu had allegedly spread misinformation, claiming that Tirumala's sacred laddu prasadam was adulterated with animal fat, misleading devotees and tarnishing the revered image of Lord Venkateswara. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote, "The sanctity of Tirumala, the significance of Swami's prasadam, the glory of Lord Venkateswara, the reputation of TTD, and the sacredness of the laddu prasadam of Lord Venkateswara were all defiled by Chandrababu Naidu, who, with political malice, deliberately spread lies that the prasadam was adulterated with animal fat and that devotees had consumed such tainted prasadam. To cleanse this sin committed by Chandrababu Naidu, the YSRCP is calling for participation in poojas across temples statewide on Saturday, September 28." The controversy over the Tirupati Prasadam began after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu claimed that substandard ingredients, including animal fat, were used in the preparation of Tirupati laddus, the prasadam offered at the Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, during the previous YSRCP government. (ANI)
India's luxurious and oldest heritage train 'Palace on Wheels' has embarked on its first journey for this tourism season from New Delhi Safdarjung Railway Station on Wednesday. Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) Managing Director Sushma Arora, Executive Director Rajendra Singh Shekhawat, Managing Director of the private company operating the train, O&M, Bhagat Singh Lohagarh, and Director Pradeep Bohra flagged off the royal train. For this year 32 passengers have set off on this Royal journey. The passengers included five each from the US and the UK, two each from Spain, Australia and Singapore, one each from Sri Lanka, Ukraine and Poland and 12 from India. The train can accommodate up to 82 passengers at a time. RTDC's Managing Director Sushma Arora expressed her excitement and happiness as the train embarked on its first journey. She said, "It is a moment of happiness for all of us as 'Palace on Wheels,' which is the pride of Rajasthan, is ready to embark on its first journey for this tourist season. The train will reach its first destination Jaipur on Thursday morning, and then the tourist will leave for Sawai Madhopur. She further added, "This train is the pride of Rajasthan and has a global image. It is a landmark crane and people from different parts of the world come to travel on this train. The infrastructure of the train has a touch of Rajasthani art and culture. This is a prestigious project for RTDC. The tourists will receive all the five-star facilities and amenities throughout the journey." RTDC's executive Director Rajendra Singh Shekhawat after flagging off the train said, "This train has been running since 1982. Keeping in mind the hospitality of Rajasthan, the people are very happy and get immersed in the journey. Rajasthan is famous for mainly three things i.e. hospitality, welcome and respect. Every guest or tourist in Rajasthan is welcome with the feeling of Atithi Devo Bhava and the royal train also rides on this principle." Managing director of the private company operating the train, O&M, Bhagat Singh Lohagarh told reporters about the design of the train and how it resembles the theme of Raj gharanas in Rajasthan. He said, "The renovation of the train differs from previous years, and people are really excited to embark on this journey. Every Raj Gharana of Rajasthan used to have their own theme and this has what been tried to keep in mind while designing the train. The restaurant has been designed keeping in the Sheesh Mahal in Amber." The travellers on the train also expressed their happiness and excitement. They were excited to embark on this Royal journey. One of the tourists from Chennai, Madana Gopal said, "I am looking forward to the journey and I am very excited to see the decor. I hope we have a good and pleasant experience. We would like to look to the hospitality of the train." A couple Pooja and Ajay Joshi who are travelling on this train also expressed how this has been their dream for quite some time. Pooja Joshi said, " It was a dream, his dream actually and we thought of doing it this year." To this, Ajay Joshi also added, "It has been on our bucket list for a very long time and she was in India so I flew down here. We want to experience Royal treatment as well as the whole excursion." The train will cover eight cities starting from Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bharatpur and Agra in Uttar Pradesh in just 7 days. Palace on Wheels is India's first luxury and heritage train. It was launched 42 years ago in the year 1982 and was a joint initiative of Indian Railways and Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation. This super Luxury train has made an unparalleled contribution to elevating Rajasthan Tourism to new heights and has even made it popular overseas. (ANI)
The meeting was part of a study tour undertaken by the corporators to Assam.
Chief Minister Sarma extended a warm welcome to the delegation and engaged in discussions on various civic issues related to urban governance.
During the meeting, Chief Minister Sarma shared Guwahati's experiences in managing legacy waste, improving civic amenities, and solid waste management.
The corporators expressed their satisfaction with the visit, stating they had gained valuable insights into urban governance from Guwahati Municipal Corporation's practices.
Additionally, Sarma conveyed his goodwill to the approximately 60 corporators, who represented BJP, Congress, and BRS, and sent his greetings to the people of Telangana through them.
Earlier today, Chief Minister Sarma chaired a meeting with the All Assam Students Union (AASU) leadership to discuss the recommendations of the Justice (Retd) Biplab Sarma Committee regarding the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Sarma announced that the second phase of discussions with AASU would take place on October 25. He further clarified that the state government would not implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord in Barak Valley and Sixth Schedule areas without the consent of the local populations.
"Today, we engaged with the All Assam Students' Union on the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. We reviewed the recommendations of the Justice (Retd) Biplab Sarma Committee, which can be implemented solely by the state government. We made it clear that these recommendations will not be applied in Barak Valley and Sixth Schedule areas without their consent," Sarma stated.
Clause 6 of the Assam Accord mandates the protection, preservation, and promotion of the cultural, social, and linguistic identity of the Assamese people through appropriate constitutional, legislative, and administrative safeguards. (ANI)
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini during the election campaign on Wednesday exuded confidence in BJP's victory for the third consecutive, saying that people are going to vote in favour of the double-engine government. "...The people of Haryana have decided that the BJP will form government for the third time. On October 5, people will vote for the double-engine government... Bhupinder Singh Hooda has been the CM for 10 years and he has only betrayed farmers... The lands of the farmers were grabbed and handed over to the 'Daamad'(son-in-law)...," said Nayab Singh Saini. Saini also accused Congress of showing fake concern for farmers and said, "Today BJP government is purchasing 12 corps of farmers on MSP and Congress should tell how much corps got purchased during Congress tenure on MSP." Meanwhile, Union Minister and former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar criticised the ongoing protest on the Haryana-Punjab border, saying that those who are carrying out these protests are not farmers and that the Supreme Court will soon give out the decision to stop such people from crossing the line. "There is a big issue. The route to Punjab at the (state) border, is closed...We had made all the plans to open this route. But the people sitting on that side are not farmers. In the garb of farmers, there are a few people who want to impair the system and destabilise the government...You also know who they are...Today people of Haryana are happy that they did not let such people set foot in the state..." said Khattar while addressing party workers in Haryana's Ambala. "We moved to the court and people from the other side also represented themselves. Now, the case is in the Supreme Court. the SC has made a committee and they are deciding on how to arrive at a solution. the committee will also make them sign some affidavit to keep so that those who call themselves farmers don't cross the line and if something of that sort happens the court will take cognizance of it. the supreme court is independently working on it and will consider the convenience of people," he added. Haryana will go to the polls on October 5 and the results for both Haryana and JK will be declared on October 8. (ANI)
All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) on Wednesday criticised the BJP-led Assam government for the eviction drive against illegal encroachers, which is continued in different parts of the state and claimed that the government has conducted an eviction drive in revenue village and against Myadi land patta holders. AIUDF MLA Rafiqul Islam told ANI that, if necessary his party will move to the court against the eviction drive. He also said that, the recent eviction drive in Goalpara district and Sonapur Kachutali area in Kamrup (Metro) district conducted by the state government is against the High Court order. "Bandarmatha in Goalpara district is a revenue village. But the government evicted several families from this village. Apart from this, the government also evicted Myadi land patta holder families also at Sonapur Kachutali area which is a tribal belt and block area. The government has violated the High Court order as the High Court had ordered the government not to conduct an eviction drive at Kachutali area till September 30. Our party president and president of Assam Jamiyat Badruddin Ajmal and other leaders submitted memorandum to the Assam Governor," Rafiqul Islam said. The AIUDF MLA further said that, if necessary they will move to court against the government's act. On September 24, nearly 450 families who illegally settled in Bandarmatha Forest area were evicted by the Goalpara district administration. A senior official of Goalpara district said, Bandarmatha is a forest area and due to encroachment of the forest land, the human-elephant conflict incidents have been increasing in the area. "After the eviction drive, it will bring down the Human-Elephant Conflict to a great extent," the official said. On the other hand, in recent violent incident took place at Sonapur Kachutali area during the eviction drive, two people were killed, and seven others injured in police firing. 22 police personnel, one Revenue Circle Officer were also injured after a mob of around 1000 people attacked the on duty police personnel and government officials during the eviction drive. (ANI)
In a shocking incident, a five-year-old girl went missing from her home in the Shahjahanabad locality of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday afternoon, a police officer said on Wednesday. The child's parents were not at home when she disappeared. She was with her grandmother and told her she was going to retrieve a book from a friend's house but did not return. The girl's mother told ANI, "At around 12 pm on Tuesday, my daughter told her grandmother she was going to collect a book from her friend's house and would be back shortly. Since then, she hasn't returned. When my husband and I arrived home and realised she was missing, we immediately began searching the surrounding areas but found no trace of her." "Over 24 hours have passed, yet no action has been taken by the authorities. Municipal corporation vehicles had arrived for fogging in the area, and during this time, she went missing. All I want is my daughter back as soon as possible," she added. Shahjahanabad police station in-charge, UPS Chauhan, told ANI, "Yesterday, the parents of the child came to Shahjahanabad police station, reporting their daughter had gone missing. They said their five-year-old daughter had gone to an Anganwadi Centre and returned home. She then stepped out again to collect a book from downstairs but didn't return. During this time, a vehicle from the Municipal Corporation's malaria team also arrived for fogging, and after completing their task, the vehicle left." "Acting on the complaint and recognising the seriousness of the situation, we alerted officials at other police stations. CCTV footage from nearby locations showed the child returning home and then leaving again to collect the book, after which she went missing," he said. Based on the parents' statements, an FIR has been registered, and efforts are underway to locate the girl. The police have also questioned the fogging team and inspected their vehicle. A forensic examination of the vehicle has been conducted, but no evidence has been found so far, Chauhan said. Efforts to find the child are continuing, he added. (ANI)
In the aftermath of heavy rains in Mumbai on Wednesday, a 45-year-old lady drowned in an open drain in the MIDC area of Andheri. BMC officials said, "A 45-year-old lady Vimal Gaikwad drowned in an open drain in the MIDC area of Andheri. She was rescued by the Mumbai fire brigade and sent to Cooper Hospital but was declared brought dead by doctors." Railway commuters walked on tracks at the Chunabhatti Railway station as Mumbai faced severe waterlogging followed by torrential rains. Severe waterlogging and traffic snarls was witnessed in several parts of the city, with a landslide also reported at the Mumbra bypass, causing further disruptions to movement in the city. Severe waterlogging witnessed in Mumbai's Kurla East area, Nehru Nagar, Chembur and heavy traffic snarls was witnessed on Kurla bridge following the rain. Heavy rains triggered a landslide at Mumbra bypass at around 11.30 pm which disrupted traffic movement on bypass, and lasted for more than 3 hours. Fire officer Swapnil Sarnobat said, "The traffic jam persisted for about 3 hours. During this period, the traffic department also controlled the traffic from one side. Fortunately, there is no news of any loss of life. After removing the stones from the road with JCB, the movement of vehicles going towards Thane started." In a post on X Mumbai Police said, "In view of the Red alert in Mumbai & suburbs, issued by IMD, a holiday has been declared for all schools & colleges for tomorrow, 26th September 2024. Mumbaikars are requested to stay indoors, until essential. Please stay safe. Dial 100 in case of any emergencies." BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani took stock of the rain situation in the city. BMC said in a statement, "The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a Red Alert for Mumbai, till tomorrow morning at 8.30 am. In view of this, all schools and colleges in Mumbai have been declared a holiday for tomorrow Thursday, 26 September 2024, in consideration of the safety of students. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) administration requests Mumbaikars to step out of homes only if required." Pune District Collector Dr Suhas Diwase announced public holiday for all schools and colleges in Pune city and Pimpri Chinchwad on Thursday in view of incessant rainfall as predicted by IMD. IMD has issued an orange alert for tomorrow in the Pune district. Earlier in the day, IMD issued a red alert for Thane, Palghar, and Raigad districts while for Ratnagiri district on September 26. On September 25, in its daily weather bulletin for the nation, IMD predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over Konkan & Goa, Coastal Andhra Pradesh & Yanam, East Madhya Pradesh, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Marathwada, Coastal Karnataka, Bihar; Heavy rainfall at isolated places over Rayalaseema, Gujarat Region, Chhattisgarh, West Madhya Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Maharashtra, Interior Karnataka & Telangana. (ANI)
The second phase of polling in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir concluded peacefully with 56.79 percent voter turnout across 26 assembly constituencies. The polling for the second phase started at 7 am on Wednesday and concluded at 6 pm. "The poll was peaceful overall. As per the figures, 56.79 voter turnout was recorded till now," Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer PK Pole told reporters on Wednesday evening. Among the districts, Reasi witnessed the highest poll percentage of 74.14, followed by Poonch 73.78 pc, Rajouri 69. 85 pc, Ganderbal 62. 63 pc, Budgam 61.31 pc and Srinagar 29. 24 pc. Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was among the key candidates fighting from the two constituencies - Budgam and Ganderbal. The other contenders included Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Tariq Hamid Karra. Polling was conducted across six districts of Budgam, Ganderbal, Poonch and Jammu regions of Rajouri, Reasi and Srinagar, with 25.78 lakh electors eligible to cast votes to decide fate of 239 candidates in the second phase. The first phase of assembly polls was held on September 18. CEC Rajiv Kumar along with ECs Shri Gyanesh Kumar and Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had maintained a constant supervision of the polling process to ensure that the polling took place in an incident free manner. Earlier in the day, interacting with media at Nirvachan Sadan, CEC Rajiv Kumar said that these elections are "history in the making", the echoes of which will be carried through posterity. He added that the valleys and the mountains which had once witnessed fear and boycott, are now taking part in the democratic festivities or "Jashn-e-Jamhuriyat". Strong security measures were in place creating a conducive environment for voters to cast their vote without fear or intimidation. Webcasting was in place in all polling stations to ensure transparency of the voting process. While demonstrating the visuals emerging live from the Polling Stations in Jammu & Kashmir, CEC Kumar lauded the voters seen patiently waiting for their turn to vote at the Polling Stations and said that it is a resounding statement of their belief in democracy. Some of the seats that went to the polls had in the past seen threats of poll boycott from separatist elements. The poll panel said in a release that overall voter turnout recorded in these six districts that went for polls in Phase 2 has also surpassed the turnout recorded in Lok Sabha Elections 2024. "Voting took place in a tranquil atmosphere free of fear and intimidation. Voters inhabiting the areas near the border were also empowered to exercise their franchise at 55 border polling stations set up near the LoC in 89 Poonch Haveli and 90 Mendhar AC in Poonch district and 51 such polling stations in Rajouri district. These border polling stations saw voting today in line with the Commission's resolve to bring even the remotest corners of the country into the democratic fold," the release added. Home-voting facility, introduced for the first time in Assembly elections in J-K saw democracy being taken to the doorsteps of those who are bound by physical limitations, it added. Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha said in a post on X that record voter turnout is shining example of vibrant and progressive democracy. "I also appreciate the remarkable contribution of the election officials, JKP, security forces for smooth, free, fair and peaceful polling in 26 Assembly Constituencies in Phase-2." A delegation of diplomats from different countries also witnessed the elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Polling for the third and final phase will be held on October 1. The counting of votes is scheduled on October 8. The elections in the Union Territory are being held nearly after a gap of ten years and are the first one since the abrogation of Article 370. (ANI)
Mumbai's local train services on Harbour line resumed their service after the water receded in the aftermath of torrential rains across Mumbai on Wednesday. Local trains were delayed and operating at a cautious speed, according to Central Railways. CPRO, Central Railway in a statement said, "Harbour line local trains have resumed after the water receded between Govandi-Mankhurd. Trains are running with caution and a restricted speed of 25kmph. Services resumed at 11.23 pm." After rains stopped at many places and water receded from tracks, services were resumed on the Central Railway local main line. Railway commuters walked on tracks at the Chunabhatti Railway station as Mumbai faced severe waterlogging followed by torrential rains. Earlier Central Railways issued an appeal to commuters. In a post on X, Central Railways shared, "For your safety, please remain inside the train and avoid stepping onto the tracks. Due to heavy rains and waterlogging, local trains are delayed and operating at a cautious speed. We urge passengers to stay on board as you are safest inside the train. As the water recedes, the train will continue its journey to your destination. Your cooperation is essential for ensuring everyone's safety." Western Railway issued a statement that despite heavy rainfall in the city, local trains on Western Railway's Mumbai Suburban network were running normally. Torrential rains in Mumbai led to landslide at the Mumbra by-pass road on Wednesday night. Fire Officer Swapnil Sarnobat said, "The landslide occurred because of heavy rains going on since the evening. This area of Mumbra by-pass is prone to landslides during rains. We received information around 9:30 pm about the incident. Rocks have been removed from the road." Heavy traffic snarls was witnessed on Eastern Express Highway following torrential rains across Mumbai. Amid heavy rain in Mumbai, SpiceJet on Wednesday said that flight departures, arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected. "Due to bad weather (heavy rain) in Mumbai (BOM), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected," said SpiceJet. Meanwhile, seven go-arounds and two flight diversions reported till 20:09 hours, as per PRO, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Severe waterlogging and traffic snarls was witnessed in several parts of the city, with a landslide also reported at the Mumbra bypass, causing further disruptions to movement in the city. Severe waterlogging was witnessed in Mumbai's Kurla East area, Nehru Nagar, Chembur and heavy traffic snarls was witnessed on Kurla bridge following the rain. In a post on X Mumbai Police said, "In view of the Red alert in Mumbai & suburbs, issued by IMD, a holiday has been declared for all schools & colleges for tomorrow, 26th September 2024. Mumbaikars are requested to stay indoors, until essential. Please stay safe. Dial 100 in case of any emergencies." BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani took stock of the rain situation in the city. BMC said in a statement, "The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a Red Alert for Mumbai, till tomorrow morning at 8.30 am. In view of this, all schools and colleges in Mumbai have been declared a holiday for tomorrow Thursday, 26 September 2024, in consideration of the safety of students. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) administration requests Mumbaikars to step out of homes only if required." Pune District Collector Dr Suhas Diwase announced public holiday for all schools and colleges in Pune city and Pimpri Chinchwad on Thursday in view of incessant rainfall as predicted by IMD. IMD has issued an orange alert for tomorrow in the Pune district. Earlier in the day, IMD issued a red alert for Thane, Palghar, and Raigad districts while for Ratnagiri district on September 26. On September 25, in its daily weather bulletin for the nation, IMD predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over Konkan & Goa, Coastal Andhra Pradesh & Yanam, East Madhya Pradesh, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Marathwada, Coastal Karnataka, Bihar; Heavy rainfall at isolated places over Rayalaseema, Gujarat Region, Chhattisgarh, West Madhya Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Maharashtra, Interior Karnataka & Telangana. (ANI)
Imam of the Sanjauli Mosque on Wednesday slammed AIMIM Delhi Chief Shoaib Jamai for disrupting the peaceful atmosphere of Shimla. The Imam of the Sanjauli Mosque, Sajid Alam, said, "We celebrate festivals and marriages together. Outsiders don't understand the culture and harmony we share in this region. This situation arose because people from outside, with no knowledge of our way of living, came and caused trouble." He also appealed to outsiders not to disturb the communal harmony in the state. "We do not know the people who came here. Anyone can come to offer Namaz. They must have seen the issue in the news and decided to visit. We had no idea they would make a video and make it viral," Alam explained. He continued, "The original building's plan was approved, but we have already initiated the process to remove any part that was built incorrectly. We will respect the decision of the court or the commissioner because our priority is to maintain brotherhood and peace. Viral videos like this one harm the atmosphere of love and affection in Himachal Pradesh." Alam also stressed the unique bond between the Muslim and Hindu communities in the state. "We live and die together with our Hindu brothers here," he said. The Sanjauli Mosque issue has once again flared up after AIMIM Delhi Chief Shoaib Jamai visited the mosque and posted a video on social media, alleging discriminatory actions against the mosque in comparison to other illegal constructions in the area. In his video, he questioned why the mosque had been specifically targeted, stating, "Will the bulldozer run on all, or was only the mosque singled out?" He also presented live footage, claiming to show evidence of the illegal structures surrounding the mosque. In his video, Jamai said the court should decide whether the mosque is legal or illegal and announced his intention to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court, citing numerous illegal buildings in Shimla. According to Jamai, the law must apply equally to all. The Sanjauli Mosque Committee, however, has firmly disagreed with Jamai's views. They argue that outsiders are trying to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere of Shimla, and political rhetoric surrounding the issue has intensified. The Sanjauli Mosque Committee and the local Muslim community distanced themselves from Jamai's remarks. They denounced his statement as harmful to Shimla's peaceful environment and called for action against him. Mohammad Latif, President of the Sanjauli Mosque Committee, along with other members, stated that they are prepared to demolish the unauthorised part of the mosque themselves. They have already submitted a memorandum to the Municipal Commissioner regarding this. Latif emphasised that Jamai came to offer Namaz, following which the controversial video was made and circulated. "The atmosphere in Himachal is peaceful, and people here live in harmony. We had no idea what Shoaib Jamai's intentions were," said Latif. The conflict arose from the construction of an illegal mosque in Sanjauli and subsequent protests by Hindu organisations. (ANI)
The United States has designated United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a Major Defence Partner of the US to build on trilateral initiatives and coordination between the US, the UAE, and India. US Defence Secretary, Lloyd Austin said that the US looks forward to deepening its security and defence partnership with the UAE to build a more stable and prosperous Middle East region. "Today, @POTUS designated the UAE a Major Defense Partner of the U.S. to build on trilateral initiatives and coordination between the U.S., the UAE, and India. We look forward to deepening our dynamic security and defense partnership with the UAE to build a more stable, secure, peaceful, and prosperous Middle East region," Austin stated in a post on X. https://x.com/SecDef/status/1838342512802402504 Earlier on Monday, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met President Joe Biden at the White House during his official visit to the US. The visit is the first-ever by a UAE President to the US and marks the leaders' fourth bilateral meeting in the Biden-Harris Administration, a statement by the White House stated. "The leaders affirmed the enduring US-UAE strategic and defence partnership, bolstered areas of deepening cooperation in advanced technology and investments, and discussed global and regional matters," the White House statement read. "They further pledged to pursue new opportunities to strengthen their economic and defence partnership; promote peace and stability across the Middle East and wider region; and deliver global leadership on issues of shared importance. The five decades of US-UAE ties and friendship are rooted in a strong foundation of close collaboration that has underpinned our countries' prosperity and security," it added. (ANI)
India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Pranay Verma on Tuesday, met Bangladesh's Planning and Education Advisor, Wahiduddin Mahmud, and discussed initiatives like people-centric connectivity and other initiatives undertaken by India. The two also discussed initiatives like scholarships offered by India to Bangladeshi students to study in premier Indian institutions "HC Pranay Verma met Bangladesh Planning & Education Adviser H.E. Mr. Wahiduddin Mahmud today. They discussed the people-centric connectivity and other initiatives undertaken by India, including scholarships offered to Bangladeshi students to study in premier Indian institutions," the Indian High Commission in Dhaka stated in a post. https://x.com/ihcdhaka/status/1838564686876581964 Bangladesh witnessed Sheikh Hasina's ouster amid students' protests, which turned into a massive anti-government movement, followed by the establishment of an interim government. During this turbulent period, several incidents of violence and chaos, particularly targeting minorities, including Hindus, have been reported from Bangladesh. Earlier this month, High Commissioner Verma called on Bangladeshi Home and Agriculture Adviser Lt Gen (Retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury and discussed areas of engagement to advance India-Bangladesh security cooperation. In August, High Commissioner Verma paid his introductory call to Professor Muhammad Yunus, head of the Bangladesh interim government, and reiterated New Delhi's commitment to work with Dhaka. "HC Pranay Verma paid his introductory call to Professor Muhammad Yunus, head of Bangladesh interim government, today. Reiterated India's commitment to working with Bangladesh to fulfil the shared aspirations of the peoples of India and Bangladesh for peace, security and development," posted the High Commission of India in Bangladesh on X. Earlier in the day, Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Advisor Md Touhid Hossain said that Bangladesh's interim government is making every effort possible for the protection of citizens in the country and added that the Hindus in Bangladesh are the citizens of the country. On being asked what the Mohammad Yunus-led interim government of Bangladesh is doing about the reported attacks on the minorities and Hindus in the country, he said, "Any violence that has taken place is being shown as violence against Hindus, this is not correct. I think Indian media needs to come out of this hyping up this issue. We are doing everything possible for the protection of our citizens, and Hindus in Bangladesh are our citizens, we are taking care of them." Md Touhid Hossain met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly session in New York on Monday. (ANI)
Chief Advisor to the Bangladesh interim government, Muhammad Yunus, met US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly. President Biden congratulated Yunus on his recent appointment as the head of the interim government. The two leaders affirmed the "close partnership" between the United States and Bangladesh, which is rooted in shared democratic values and strong people-to-people ties, the White House statement read. President Biden welcomed further engagement between the two governments and offered continued US support as Bangladesh implements its new reform agenda. The press release from the Bangladesh side, stated that President Biden expressed US government's "full support" to Bangladesh and the Professor Yunus-led Interim Government during the meeting. "President Biden expressed US government's full support for Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus and his government as they met on the margin of the UNGA," Yunus said in a post in X. https://x.com/ChiefAdviserGoB/status/1838608242576101472 Yunus also apprised Biden on the situation in Bangladesh. He also spoke about how the students rose against the "tyranny of the previous government" and gave their lives in order to rebuild Bangladesh. The chief advisor further stressed the need for the US's cooperation for him to succeed his government in rebuilding the country. The Chief Advisor also handed a copy of the book 'The Art of Triumph' to President Biden, which depicts the wall paintings drawn by the students during the uprising. This is the first time in the history of Bangladesh that a US President has met a head of the Bangladesh government on the sidelines of the UNGA, according to the press release by the Bangladesh side. Meanwhile, Muhammad Yunus also met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the UN general assembly meeting on Tuesday. During the brief meeting, the two leaders discussed ways to cement Bangladesh-Canada relationships, deepen freedom, build institutions, and support the youth of Bangladesh, the release stated. Trudeau appreciated Professor Yunus for assuming the responsibility and expressed Canada's readiness to support institution building in Bangladesh. Professor Yunus handed The Art of Triumph, an art book of the wall paintings by the students and young people drawn during and after the Revolution, to the Canadian prime minister. He also requested Canada grant more visas to Bangladeshi students. Notably, Bangladesh witnessed Sheikh Hasina's ouster amid students' protests turned into a massive anti-government movement, followed by the establishment of an interim government. During this turbulent period, several incidents of violence and chaos, particularly targeting minorities, including Hindus, have been reported from Bangladesh. Earlier, as Bangladesh Govt's Chief Advisor Muhammd Yunus arrived at the official hotel in New York for the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session, protesters chanted "Go Back" slogans against him. Protestors raised slogans against the Yunus over the alleged attacks on minorities in Bangladesh. Protesters chanted, "Go back, Step down, Step down, Step down" and held up posters that said "Shiekh Hasina Our Prime Minister." Yunus was sworn in on August 8 as the head of an interim government after Sheikh Hasina fled the country and the parliament was dissolved. The protesters alleged that the 84-year-old Nobel Laureate came to power "with dirty politics." (ANI)
World Bank President Ajay Banga heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for prioritising on building a strong relationship with the United States both bilaterally and also through the Quad security grouping, adding that it has been his strategy ever since he took office. Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly, Banga said the Prime Minister meeting with the CEOs was an effort to ensure that India remains a strong partner in possible manufacturing opportunities, including semiconductors. "The Prime Minister has been building a very strong relationship with the US, both, bilaterally and through the Quad. That has been his strategy since the day he became Prime Minister. Continuing with that, he is trying to ensure there is long-term engagement on strategic and economic issues," Ajay Banga said. "His meeting with the CEOs is an effort to make sure that India remains a strong partner in possible manufacturing opportunities and in this case he was talking about semiconductors," he added. Prime Minister Modi concluded his three-day visit to the United States on Tuesday. During his visit, PM Modi attended the sixth Quad Leaders' Summit. US President Joe Biden hosted PM Modi along with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan. He interacted with the Indian diaspora in New York at the 'Modi and US' event, and also addressed the 'Summit of the Future' at the United Nations General Assembly. The Prime Minister Modi also interacted with the top tech leaders and CEOs of the US in a roundtable hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) School of Engineering in New York on Sunday. PM Modi assured US business leaders of India's deep commitment to the protection of intellectual property and to fostering tech innovation during his engagement with the top CEOs from the technology industry at a roundtable in New York. The roundtable hosted by PM Modi comprised several prominent figures from leading companies, including, Chairman President and CEO of Adobe Shantanu Narayen, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, IBM COE Arvind Krishna, Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, and Jensen Huang of NVIDIA, among others. During the meeting on the second day of his US visit, the Prime Minister discussed ways to foster greater collaboration between the US and India when it comes to the cutting-edge areas of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors, and biotechnology. As per an official statement by the Prime Minister's Office, the discussions revolved around the global technology landscape and the impact of innovations on human development and the world economy. The CEOs shared insights into how their companies are leveraging technology for innovation and expressed keen interest in collaborating with India. PM Modi also emphasised the importance of initiatives such as the India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) as central to the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.He highlighted that technology cooperation between India and the United States could drive mutual benefits and growth. (ANI)
Former US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to the US, calling it "very positive." While speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Juster stated, "I thought it was a very positive visit. The statement that came out afterwards demonstrates the depth and breadth of the US-India relationship with continued new initiatives, especially in areas such as critical and emerging technologies, clean energy, healthcare, and defence." "So, this is just another very important step in the building of the strength of the US-India relationship that has gone on now for the last 25 years, with each administration building on the successes of its predecessors," he added. On Tuesday, PM Modi arrived in Delhi after concluding his three-day "very intense and successful" visit to the US. During his visit to the US, PM Modi attended the Quad Leaders Summit in US President Joe Biden's hometown, Delaware, on September 21, addressed thousands of members of the Indian American community at the Nassau Coliseum in New York, Long Island, at the Modi & US Event on September 22, and spoke at the UN's Summit of the Future on Monday. The prime minister engaged in bilateral discussions with world leaders and held a roundtable with CEOs from leading American tech companies. Further, PM Modi shared highlights of his visit to the United States, saying it has been "fruitful", covered diverse programs, and focused on a series of subjects aimed at making the planet better. https://x.com/narendramodi/status/1838490637731352743 "This has been a fruitful USA visit, covering diverse programmes and focusing on a series of subjects aimed at making our planet better. Here are the highlights," PM Modi said in a post on X. The Prime Minister also shared the moment when, answering a question if Quad will survive beyond the US elections in November, President Biden said "Way beyond November" and warmly gestured towards PM Modi. The video also had PM Modi's remarks at the Quad Moonshot Initiative. "India's vision is "One Earth, One Health." In this spirit, I am pleased to announce our contribution of USD 7.5 million for sampling kits, detection kits, and vaccines under the Quad Moonshot Initiative," he said. The video provided glimpses of the Indian diaspora event, with the gathering cheering and waving at him. The video had PM Modi's remarks about interaction with important business leaders from the US. He spoke of the "golden opportunity" India offers. (ANI)
The missile, carrying a dummy warhead, was fired by the People's Liberation Army (PLA)'s Rocket Force and landed on the high seas of the Pacific Ocean, Global Times reported, citing the Defence Ministry's statement.
The launch as per Chinese Defence Ministry was part of the country's annual training plan and "not aimed at any specific country or target."
China said that the launch was part of "a routine arrangement in the annual training plan and relevant countries had been notified in advance" as per a report in Xinhua.
"The launch tested weaponry performance and military training effectiveness and achieved desired goals," the ministry noted as per Xinhua.
This is the first time since 1989 that China is known to have successfully conducted an atmospheric test of an ICBM. The first test of a Chinese ICBM took place in May 1980 and since then most of China's nuclear weapons tests have been conducted underground.
Incidentally, North Korea has recently conducted several short-range ballistic missile tests, flying towards the Sea of Japan.
Earlier, in April this the US had deployed its Mid-Range Capability, or Typhon, missile system to the Philippines during a joint exercise.
Under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) between the US and the then-Soviet Union, all land-based missiles, conventional and nuclear, that could travel between 500 km and 5,500 km (310 miles and 3,400 miles) had been banned.
The US however, suspended the INF in 2019, claiming that the Russians did not adhered to its terms and had been secretly testing and fielding missiles that violated the pact. (ANI)
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), one of the largest political parties in Bangladesh, believes that the "ice has started to melt" with India after the takeover of an interim government following student-led clashes that saw the ouster of Sheikh Hasina as Prime Minister. The BNP, led by Begum Khaleda Zia, who has served as prime minister for two terms earlier, has been critical of some of the initiatives and agreements concluded with India over the past 15 years during the tenure of Hasina. Recently, in a significant political outreach, Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, Pranay Verma, held a meeting with BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir at the BNP office to discuss strengthening relations. Speaking to ANI, Alamgir said that Verma's visit has led to many positives for both countries. "There was a question about our relations since last election in Bangladesh. But this time, the visit of the High Commissioner (of India) in our office, definitely improved the situation. Ice has started melting," said Mirza Fakrul. The BNP had boycotted the Bangladesh parliamentary elections held in January 2024. "India and Bangladesh always have very good relations and the relationship improved. Certainly, this is also one of the turning point of the relationship between India and Bangladesh," he said. The BNP Secretary General said that his party has assured India that should they come to power, they will not allow the soil of Bangladesh to be used by separatist organisations. In the past, there have been reports of militant outfits in the North East of India sheltering in Bangladesh. "We discussed normal relationship between the two countries. We mentioned the water sharing issues, the border killings, trade imbalances in existence. At the same time, India's main issue was the security problem. We have assured that if we are in the power, we will ensure that this land will not be used by the separatists," Mirza Fakrul told ANI about his meeting with High Commissioner Verma. More than a month ago, a student-led movement ousted Bangladesh's Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, after weeks of protests and clashes that killed over 600 people. Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5 and an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus was formed. While the BNP is not part of the interim set-up it is likely to be a key contestant once elections are announced. The BNP chief Khaleda Zia was released from jail a day after the fall of the Hasina government. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakrul said, "Bangladesh and India relationship had been very good all the times. But there was some misunderstanding regarding the relationship of BNP and India. I think that ice has started melting. I hope this (relationship) will be better this time. They (India) will try to understand our situation. We, specially, have reiterated that India should try to feel the pulse of the people of this country. They should not put all the eggs in one basket. They should develop relationship people to people." A step forward for Indo-Bangladesh relations came when External Affairs Minister Jasishankar met the foreign Affairs Advisor of the interim Bangladesh Government Md. Touhid Hossain on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). "Definitely, it is very significant. After this change in Bangladesh power politics, foreign advisor meeting Jaishankar, must be very significant and very important also, and we believe that relationship will be strengthened after this meeting", the BNP secretary general said. "The cooperation of the people of India and Bangladesh should be stronger. People to people relationship is the key in strengthening the relationship between India and Bangladesh" Mirza Fakrul added. The BNP which has been a bitter rival of the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina believes that Hasina should return to Bangladesh and face the allegations against her. "I don't know as yet if the government made it official request to India to send her(Sheikh Hasina) back to Bangladesh. But I think that the former Prime Minister should come back to face the allegations against her and she should be accountable," Mirza Fakrul said. Meanwhile, the BNP says it has alerted its units about the safety of the minority Hindu community in the country ahead of Durga Puja festival to be celebrated from October 9 to 13. The celebrations will be held 32,666 pavilions of Bangladesh. "We are very much concerned about the wrong narrative that the Hindu communities are facing a serious problem in Bangladesh. I don't think that any serious problem is going on. After every change, there are some problems that are political, not religious or communal. Some events happened. These are all political in nature, not communal. But, we are very alert to safeguard the minority of our country. Specially, ahead of Puja, we have already instructed our units in throughout the country to be alert", he said. The Bangladesh Nationalists Party also believes that Bangladesh would soon make the transition from the interim government to a democratically elected one. (ANI)
The interim government of Bangladesh has described the meeting between Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus and President Joe Biden as a "highly successful day for Bangladesh diplomacy". Muhammad Yunus, met US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly. Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to Yunus said the interim head of the Bangladesh government had made significant headway in diplomacy during his recent visit to the United States. While addressing the press conference on Wednesday, the press secretary to Bangladesh's chief adviser stated, "This has been a highly successful day for Bangladesh diplomacy on the UNGA sidelines, marked by a historic meeting between our chief advisor and the US president, a first in 50 years." At the meeting, President Biden congratulated Yunus on his recent appointment as the head of the interim government. The two leaders affirmed the "close partnership" between the United States and Bangladesh, which is rooted in shared democratic values and strong people-to-people ties, the White House statement read. Highlighting Yunus's engagements, Alam affirmed that Yunus met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to discuss migrant issues, focussing on legal pathways for Bangladeshis to visit and work in Italy, adding that he held talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on increasing student visas for Bangladeshi students. "Our Chief Advisor Yunus, also met with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, discussing migrant issues. Many Bangladeshis take risky routes to reach Italy illegally, so Yunus sought ways to make this process legal, allowing more Bangladeshis to visit and work in Italy. PM Meloni assured support from the Bangladesh government. Yunus also spoke with Justin Trudeau about increasing student visas for Bangladeshi students," said Shafiqul Alam. Earlier in the day, Yunus also attended a high-level meeting at an event on the sidelines of UNGA, where he stressed the urgent need for the repatriation of Rohingyas. During the high-level UN event in New York, on the Rohingya crisis, Yunus highlighted the significant challenges that Bangladesh has been facing due to the presence of over 1.2 million displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar. Yunus pointed out that while Bangladesh has shown empathy in hosting the Rohingyas, the costs associated with this situation--social, economic, and environmental--are considerable. He emphasised that Bangladesh has reached its limits, adding that repatriation remains the only sustainable solution to the ongoing crisis. Yunus was sworn in on August 8 as the head of an interim government after Sheikh Hasina fled the country and the parliament was dissolved. This is Muhammad Yunus's first visit to the United States as the head of the interim government. As per the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Younus has a series of high-profile meetings lined up on the sidelines of the UNGA. The Bangaldesh chief advisor is set to address the general debate of the UNGA on September 27. (ANI)
Akhtar painted a grim picture of the Kashmir region, once known for its stunning landscapes and tranquillity, now devastated by decades of violence.
She emphasised the profound impact of this violence, stating, "This scourge has claimed countless lives, destroyed families, and ravaged the social fabric of the valley."
Akhtar accused Pakistan of deliberately targeting regions like Sopore, Shopian, and Baramulla to create a "hotbed of militancy," recalling the covert operations initiated in South Kashmir during the 1990s.
According to her, Pakistan's strategy aims to inflict sustained pain on India by exploiting Kashmir's strategic significance.
She cited support from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), highlighting the training, funding, and logistical backing provided to terrorist outfits such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Akhtar noted the expansion of terrorism beyond Kashmir to areas like Poonch and Rajouri, leading to widespread suffering among the local population.
She drew attention to the severe consequences of ongoing violence, including loss of life, displacement, and economic decline, which have created a cycle of poverty and unrest.
She also underscored the psychological trauma inflicted on Kashmiri children, describing the situation as "immeasurable."
Reiterating the need for the international community to recognise Pakistan's involvement, Akhtar urged decisive action.
She referenced various UN resolutions condemning terrorism in Kashmir and called for collective international pressure on Pakistan to dismantle terrorist infrastructures and cease its support for militant groups.
In her concluding remarks, Akhtar called for a united global front against terrorism, stating, "The world cannot afford to ignore Pakistan's role in Kashmir's terrorism. Only through concerted efforts can we restore peace and dignity to the people of Kashmir."
As Kashmir continues to grapple with the consequences of violence, Akhtar's call for action serves as a reminder of the urgent need for resolution and peace in the region.
The event was organised by the Forum on Inter-Cultural and Inter-Religious Dialogue (FICIR) and the International Center against Terrorism (ICAT) on the sidelines of the 57th Session of the UN Human Rights Council. (ANI)
Taiwan's military has been placed on high alert after China intensified its military presence around the island, sparking concerns of a potential escalation. According to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence, six Chinese naval vessels and two military aircraft were detected around Taiwan within a 24-hour period, Taiwan News reported. According to the MND, the two People's Liberation Army (PLA) helicopters crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the nation's central and eastern air defence identification zone (ADIZ), In response to this provocation, 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/1838745236937544054 "2 PLA aircraft and 6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 2 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's eastern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly," Taiwan MND said on X. This latest incident is part of a series of escalating military manoeuvres by China around Taiwan, sparking concerns about potential invasion or encirclement. Last week, while addressing a press event on September 19, Taiwan's Defence Minister Wellington Koo cautioned against the possibility of China launching an attack on Taiwan under the guise of military exercises, noting that Beijing has increasingly diversified its military manoeuvres, making it more difficult to predict China's assaults, Focus Taiwan reported. China has been employing a combination of "conventional" military practices, such as joint air and sea training exercises and drills, with "unconventional" means, such as "gray zone" incursions into air and waters around Taiwan, Koo said. This has become the norm and will persist regardless of the results of the United States presidential election in November, he said. In addition, these military actions have increased in scale, making it more difficult to predict when military exercises could suddenly turn into an attack on Taiwan, Koo noted. Notably, so far this month, Taiwan has tracked 323 Chinese military aircraft and 192 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." Meanwhile, earlier today, China announced that it has test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the Pacific Ocean. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force at 00:55 GMT on Wednesday and "fell into expected sea areas," the Chinese Ministry of Defence said in a statement. (ANI)
Former President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran had made threats against him. The Republican presidential candidate posted on the social media site X that there are "big threats on my life by Iran." "Moves were already made by Iran that didn't work out, but they will try again," he said. He thanked Congress for approving more funding for the Secret Service. "Thank you to Congress for unanimously approving far more money to Secret Service - Zero 'NO' Votes, strictly bipartisan," Trump wrote, adding that such unity was a welcome change. He warned that any potential attack on a former president would be catastrophic for the attacker, noting, "An attack on a former President is a Death Wish for the attacker!" https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1838802596066209994 "President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States, Steven Cheung, Trump Campaign Communications Director said. "Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months," Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said in the statement. "Law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference," Cheung said. The focus of Trump's second post shifted to Vice President Kamala Harris and her handling of immigration issues. Harris, who was assigned to address the root causes of migration from Latin America early in the Biden administration, has long been a target of Trump's criticism. Trump accused her of waiting "almost four years" to visit the US-Mexico border and framed her upcoming trip as a politically motivated move. "After almost four years, Border Czar Kamala Harris has decided, for political reasons, that it's time for her to go to our broken Southern Border," Trump wrote, attributing the visit to her presidential ambitions. Trump further claimed that Harris' delay in visiting the border had allowed millions of undocumented individuals, including criminals and terrorists, to enter the country. He wrote, "She's trying to con the public like she did a good job at the Border when, in fact, she has destroyed the very fabric of our Nation allowing 21 million people in from places unknown." https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1838780123610243192 Trump asserted that many of those who entered the country were "from prisons, mental institutions, and criminal cells all over the world." Meanwhile, according to the New York Times, Harris is scheduled to visit the southern border on Friday as part of a trip to Arizona, in what will be her first visit to the border since President Biden announced he would not seek re-election. The visit comes as Harris seeks to solidify her own position on immigration amid increased scrutiny from both Trump and Republican leaders. Trump seized this moment, reminding his audience that Harris would see the wall built during his presidency, stating that it "WORKS" in preventing illegal crossings. As the 2024 election gets closer, immigration continues to be a central issue in both Trump's and Harris' campaigns. Trump's sharp rhetoric on the topic highlights the ongoing political battles over border security, a point that remains a priority for voters across party lines. (ANI)
The leader of Haq Do Tehreek (HDT) Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, a political movement advocating for local autonomy and rights in Pakistan's Gwadar region, has urged the authorities to reopen all border crossings from Gwadar to Chaman, Dawn reported. He further cautioned that if the situation is not addressed, daily wage labourers struggling to make ends meet may resort to desperate measures, including suicide bombings. While speaking at a press conference, Rehman stated that since border trade provides jobs for three million people, peace cannot be achieved without offering them employment opportunities. Jamaat-e-Islami leaders Maulana Abdul Hameed Mansoori and Abdul Wali Shakir also attended the press conference. The report further noted that Rehman, a member of the Balochistan Assembly, blamed the Apex Committee for increasing poverty and unemployment in the province, arguing that it ordered the closure of border crossings without considering the local situation. He said, "The government justifies these closures by labelling border trade as smuggling, but it has done nothing to provide alternative employment to the almost three million people whose livelihoods depend on trade with Afghanistan and Iran. Factories in Lasbela provide jobs to thousands of workers, but the percentage of locals in the workforce there is only 20." He also pointed out that Balochistan has few job opportunities beyond border trade and lacks industrial infrastructure. While lamenting the government's inaction, he noted, "Since the government, according to its data, can provide jobs to only 5,000 people annually, thousands of educated youth remain unemployed." Balochistan remains one of the poorest provinces in Pakistan. Local communities often do not benefit from resource extraction, leading to widespread poverty and unemployment. Rehman stated that labourers, driven by the need for employment, risk their lives by taking perilous routes, facing dangers such as accidents, vehicle fires, or engine failures on boats. He challenged the Apex Committee's claim that border trade negatively affects the economy, arguing that the ruling elite should reduce their perks and privileges rather than eliminate jobs. The provincial government struggles to secure a fair share of revenue from resource exploitation, which is often controlled by federal authorities or private companies. Rehman further accused district officials of earning "tens of millions of rupees from extortion" at border points in Panjgur, Gwadar, and Kech, asserting that these illicit practices are the real burden on the economy, not border trade itself. (ANI)
The family of Dr Shahnawaz Kumbhar, who was accused of blasphemy and reportedly killed in a staged encounter by the Mirpurkhas police on September 18, has identified private individuals involved in the case concerning the burning of his body. An FIR was filed at the taluka police station in Umerkot district, based on a complaint from Muhammad Ibrahim Kumbhar, the brother-in-law of the deceased blasphemy accused, the Express Tribune reported. Ibrahim claimed that Kumbhar was arrested by the Sindhri police in Lyari, Karachi, in front of his family and later killed in what they described as a staged encounter. He also mentioned that when they attempted to bring his body back to their village, Janhiaro, a large mob surrounded the ambulance transporting it. He said a local prayer leader, Moulvi Ahmed Shahani, evoked the crowd to burn the body. "We later turned around the ambulance, and when it reached Kunri road, we shifted the body to my car." The complainant also noted that they eventually took the body to their agricultural field. However, they were pursued by the mob on motorbikes. "At around 10 am on September 19, the crowd snatched the dead body from us and set it ablaze by placing dry grass over it." He accused Shahani, Mehboob Saandh, Amjad Panhwar, Shamshad Panhwar, Noor Hassan Panhwar, Ghulam Mujtaba Panhwar, Daud Panhwar, Lakhmir Samjeo, Arshad Samejo, Meeru Samejo, Aleem Samejo, Mashooq Khaskheli, and Faqeero Palijo, among others in the FIR, as reported by the Express Tribune. A total of 19 individuals have been named under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including 341, 269, 297, 114, 336b, 147, 148, and 149, along with 15 unidentified persons. The horrific incident involving the killing of a doctor and the subsequent burning of his body has sparked strong condemnation from various societal groups and human rights activists, who are also calling for action against the police involved in the staged encounter. (ANI)
According to officials, the 201 dengue patients are currently being treated in Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, and tehsil headquarters hospitals, Dawn reported.
The majority of the newly admitted patients hail from various localities such as Chak Jalaldin, Lakkhan, Gulistan Colony, Lane 4 Peshawar Road, Chaklala Scheme-III, Chaudhry Bostan Khan Road, Khanna Dak, Asghar Mall Scheme, Jamia Masjid Road, Dhoke Dalal, Dhoke Mangtal, Pirwadhai Mor, Morah Noori, and Takhat Pari.
A team comprising 16 dengue experts from Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare arrived in Rawalpindi on Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz's instructions to address the escalating situation.
Secretary of Primary and Secondary Healthcare Nadia Saqib, along with the team, inspected several areas to evaluate the effectiveness of dengue teams, coverage of hotspots, and presence of larvae, reported Dawn.
In an earlier meeting, held at the deputy commissioner's office and chaired by Chief Minister's Adviser on Health retired Major General Dr Azhar Mehmood Kayani, concerns were raised regarding the lack of cooperation from allied departments.
Kayani emphasised, "Strict action will be taken against departments that do not collaborate in the anti-dengue campaign," adding that the campaign should be intensified and ensure compliance with standard operating procedures (SOPs) across all departments.
Nadia Saqib also stated that the upcoming Cabinet Committee meeting on Anti-Dengue will assess the performance of all departments involved. She further asserted that full coverage of dengue hotspots will be achieved within the next 48 hours, Dawn reported.
The secretary instructed the Punjab Information Technology Board to maintain daily records of dengue-related operations, urging all departments to offer their full cooperation with the district administration.
The meeting also covered topics such as team performance, response measures, indoor and outdoor surveillance efforts, and medicine availability. (ANI)
Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind confirmed that the police van was the intended target. The Balochistan Health Department also released details of the 12 individuals injured in the explosion, Dawn reported. Rind condemned the attack and confirmed that a policeman was among those hurt.
An investigation has been initiated, and bomb disposal squads are currently collecting evidence from the scene, according to the spokesperson.
In a statement, Balochistan Health Department's media coordinator, Dr Waseem Baig, confirmed that the injured were first treated at the Civil Hospital's emergency department before being transferred to the Quetta Trauma Centre for further medical care.
Earlier this month, on September 14, two policemen were martyred and another was injured in a bomb blast that targeted officials in Kuchlak town, Quetta, reported Dawn.
Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in terrorist activity, with 59 attacks recorded in August compared to 38 in July, as per data maintained by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), an Islamabad-based think-tank.
In late August, militants associated with the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) launched multiple attacks across Balochistan, targeting both security forces and civilians.
At least 50 people, including 14 security personnel, were killed in the attacks, with militants storming police stations, destroying railway infrastructure, and setting ablaze numerous vehicles. Security forces retaliated, killing 21 militants.
Among the dead were 23 labourers from Punjab who were pulled from trucks and vans and shot after an identity check in Musakhail. In response to the surge in violence, Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, General Asim Munir, pledged to continue the fight against terrorism until all militants are eradicated, Dawn reported.
"To fight for the cause of Pakistan, the security forces, along with the law enforcement agencies, and the brave people of Pakistan -- especially the brave people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan -- have made unprecedented sacrifices," General Munir stated. (ANI)
Four of Taiwan's diplomatic allies have called for the inclusion of the country in the United Nations system during the recent UN Summit of the Future, which took place alongside the annual UN General Assembly. According to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), President Hilda Heine of the Marshall Islands, President Surangel S. Whipps, Jr. of Palau, Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini of Eswatini, and President Santiago Pena of Paraguay all advocated for Taiwan's inclusion in the UN system during the inaugural Summit of the Future, held on September 22-23, Taiwan Focus reported. In her address, Heine highlighted Taiwan's role as a "key partner" to the Marshall Islands, stating, "Taiwan's important partnership deserves appropriate recognition. If we are to truly 'leave no one behind,' then Taiwan deserves meaningful and enhanced participation in the UN system." Whipps, Jr. noted that Taiwan's absence from the international organisation and its specialised agencies was "ironic," given that this year's UN General Assembly theme is "Leaving no one behind." He further stated that Taiwan's exclusion from the UN resulted from a "misinterpretation" of UN Resolution 2758, adopted by the 26th UN General Assembly in 1971 to address China's representation at the world body. As a result, Taiwan, officially named the Republic of China (ROC), lost its seat to the People's Republic of China, leading to its exclusion from participating in the international organisation and its affiliates. In his speech at the Summit of the Future, PM Russell Mmiso Dlamini of Eswatini emphasised that Taiwan "contributes significantly to global public health, economic development, and technological innovation," and called for Taiwan's "meaningful participation in international organisations," reported Taiwan Focus. Pena, meanwhile, expressed Paraguay's conviction that the future should be one of peace, moving us further from violence and conquest. He stated, "In a phrase, 'might does not make right.' For this reason, we defend countries like Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, which have a right to be respected and treated with dignity." The inaugural summit occurred at the start of the UN General Assembly's "High-level Week" in New York. The summit endorsed a so-called Pact for the Future, a comprehensive document aimed at making the UN system suitable for the needs of the 21st century. Among other ambitions, the pact includes commitments to reform the global financial architecture, adapt the UN to new security threats, advance sustainable development, harness digital technologies, and address the needs of youth and future generations, Taiwan Focus reported. The 79th session of the UN General Assembly commenced at UN Headquarters in New York on September 10, with the General Debate scheduled for September 24-28 and September 30. (ANI)
A delegation of diplomats from various countries arrived at a polling booth in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam to witness the polling process after being invited by the Ministry of External Affairs. Several diplomats said that it was their first time being in Jammu and Kashmir and Srinagar. "We're grateful to MEA for organizing this trip for us. We witnessed the polling in progress," a diplomat said. Lim Sang Woo, Deputy Chief of Mission, South Korean Embassy said that he admired how some kids accompanied their parents to the polling booth, as it will be a lesson for their life. "It's my first time here. It is nice to be around people who are here to cast their votes are full of vibrant enthusiasm. This is real democracy. I was happy to see little kids. Those children learn from their parents," Lim Sang Woo said. Lara Swart, a South African Diplomat said, "We are approximately from 15 countries. It is the first time I am visiting Jammu and Kashmir and it is my pleasure to be here. It is a privilege to be invited by the Ministry of External Affairs." Talking about his experience of witnessing the elections in Jammu and Kashmir as they are being held after 10 years, US Deputy Chief of Mission Jorgan K Andrews said, "It's been excellent, it's been fascinating to see how India organises its elections and how thorough the preparations are and how celebratory this period is, so, it's been very inspiring. It is heartening to see Kashmir is casting vote after 10 years The diplomats also had an opportunity to visit Srinagar's Dal Lake and take in the sights and scenes of Kashmir valley. Voting for the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is underway on September 25. 26 constituencies across six districts of the Union Territory are voting in the second phase of the assembly elections. (ANI)
Four of Taiwan's diplomatic allies have called for the inclusion of the country in the United Nations system during the recent UN Summit of the Future, which took place alongside the annual UN General Assembly. According to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), President Hilda Heine of the Marshall Islands, President Surangel S Whipps Jr of Palau, Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini of Eswatini, and President Santiago Pena of Paraguay all advocated for Taiwan's inclusion in the UN system during the inaugural Summit of the Future, held on September 22-23, as reported by Taiwan Focus. In her address, Heine highlighted Taiwan's role as a "key partner" to the Marshall Islands, stating, "Taiwan's important partnership deserves appropriate recognition. If we are to truly 'leave no one behind,' then Taiwan deserves meaningful and enhanced participation in the UN system." Whipps Jr noted that Taiwan's absence from the international organization and its specialized agencies was "ironic," given that this year's UN General Assembly theme is "Leaving no one behind." He further stated that Taiwan's exclusion from the UN resulted from a "misinterpretation" of UN Resolution 2758, adopted by the 26th UN General Assembly in 1971 to address China's representation at the world body. As a result, Taiwan, officially named the Republic of China (ROC), lost its seat to the People's Republic of China, which has led to its exclusion from participating in the international organization and its affiliates. In his speech at the Summit of the Future, PM Russell Mmiso Dlamini of Eswatini emphasized that Taiwan "contributes significantly to global public health, economic development, and technological innovation," and called for Taiwan's "meaningful participation in international organizations." Pena, meanwhile, expressed Paraguay's conviction that the future should be one of peace, moving us further from violence and conquest. He stated, "In a phrase, 'might does not make right.' For this reason, we defend countries like Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, which have a right to be respected and treated with dignity." The inaugural summit occurred at the start of the UN General Assembly's "High-level Week" in New York. The summit endorsed a so-called Pact for the Future, a comprehensive document aimed at making the UN system suitable for the needs of the 21st century. Among other ambitions, the pact includes commitments to reform the global financial architecture, adapt the UN to new security threats, advance sustainable development, harness digital technologies, and address the needs of youth and future generations. The 79th session of the UN General Assembly commenced at UN Headquarters in New York on September 10, with the General Debate scheduled for September 24-28 and September 30. (ANI)
The station house officer (SHO) of Karachi Company police station has been suspended, and departmental action has been initiated against him. Meanwhile, the station clerk (Moharrar) was dismissed for failing to address a complaint regarding a policeman who kidnapped two minors, unlawfully detained them, tortured them, and also raped them, according to police reports on Tuesday. Additionally, the SHO of Shams Colony police station was suspended as well, but he was reinstated within hours. They added that the children were unlawfully detained at Shams Colony police station and sexually assaulted there, Dawn reported. The SHO and station clerk of Shams Colony did not address the illegal detention and sexual assault occurring at the police station, officials stated. They also noted that the SHO and station clerk of Karachi Company police station failed to acknowledge the complaint lodged by the children's father. The oversight of the Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Margalla and SP Saddar (the supervisory officer of Karachi Company police station), as well as SDPO Sabzi Mandi and SP Industrial Area (the supervisory officer of Shams Colony police station), was also scrutinised for not monitoring the police's refusal to acknowledge the complaint and for failing to act against the illegal activities occurring within a police facility. The father of the children reported the incident to the police via their helpline on September 15 and subsequently filed a complaint at Karachi Company police station on September 18 after locating his children at Edhi Home. However, the SHO and station clerk did not address the complaint and intentionally neglected to take appropriate action, reported Dawn. The family subsequently created a video detailing the incident and shared it on social media platforms, which drew the attention of police officers, according to officials. They added that the father also reached out to a senior officer to file a complaint against the police for not addressing his concerns. In response, DIG Syed Ali Raza carried out an inquiry and determined that both the policeman and the SHO of Karachi Company were guilty. Following his directives, the police filed a case against the sub-inspector (SI) and promptly sealed the FIR. The officials, citing the FIR, stated that the complainant--the father of the children--was at PIMS with his younger eight-year-old son, who was admitted there. Following the death of his wife, he had also brought his two other children to the hospital. On the evening of September 15, the two older children went to a nearby canteen to purchase juice but did not come back, according to the FIR. The complainant searched for them without success and subsequently reported their disappearance to the police via their helpline. The FIR also mentioned that on September 18, the complainant discovered his two children at Edhi Home, where they revealed that the SI had abducted them from PIMS and taken them to Shams Colony police station in a vehicle, Dawn reported. According to the FIR, the SI sexually assaulted them and held them at the police station for a full day and night, and later transported them to a dera at Golra Mor, where he assaulted them again. He repeated the act in an area where a police vehicle observed him. Subsequently, he took the children to Edhi Home and entrusted them to its staff. After learning about his children's location, the complainant arrived there, according to the FIR. The officials stated that following the arrest, the SI was brought before Judicial Magistrate West Islamabad Shahzad Khan, who was asked for a physical remand of seven days. In response, the magistrate granted police custody of the SI for four days to facilitate the investigation and gather evidence. He also instructed the police to present him again on September 28. (ANI)
A Canadian citizen who spent 1,000 days in Chinese detention called the experience nothing less than psychological torture that he won't forget. The victim was detained on spying charges by Chinese authorities and returned home in 2021, CNN reported. Canadian resident Michael Kovrig, one of two Canadian citizens detained by China for more than 1,000 days on spying allegations described, that he was put in solitary confinement for six months and was continuously interrogated, which according to him was psychological torture, as per CNN report. "It was psychologically, absolutely, the most gruelling, painful thing I've ever been through," Kovrig said in his first remarks given to a Canadian news organisation CBC after being released from Chinese prison three years ago, CNN reported. Kovrig also said that he was held in complete isolation in a cell under fluorescent lights for six months which was a total contravention of UN standards. He was interrogated for 6 to 9 hours daily, locked in a chair for hours on end, and was forced to survive on three bowls of rice per day. "They are trying to bully and torment and terrorise and coerce you into accepting their false version of reality," Kovrig told CNN. The CNN report also claimed that the Canadian citizen had become embroiled in a three-year diplomatic tussle that began in 2021 when Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei, in Vancouver on US fraud charges. Kovrig was only freed after US prosecutors dropped the extradition request and agreed to release Meng, nearly two years later. During Kovrig's detention, Chinese authorities continuously denied any connection between the arrests of Meng and Kovrig. Additionally, the Chinese officials did not even publicly disclose evidence against Kovrig, or detailed information relating to their trials, which were held behind closed doors. Kovrig, who was a former diplomat working as a senior advisor for the International Crisis Group think tank. He was reportedly walking back home with his partner after dinner in Beijing on December 10, 2018. His partner at that time was six months pregnant when he was seized by Chinese authorities. According to the CNN report, Kovrig recalled, "We came up a spiral staircase right in front of the plaza in front of my apartment building, and boom. There's a dozen men in black with cameras on them surrounding us, shouting in Chinese, "That's him." The news report of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on Kovrig was quoted in the CNN report in which he had said that during his arrest he was handcuffed, blindfolded, and thrown into a black SUV, then taken to a padded cell that would be his home for the next six months. (ANI)
A high-level delegation of senior diplomats from USA, Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria, and the Phillipines travelled to Kashmir to witness the ongoing assembly elections. The delegation visited polling stations in Ompora (Budgam), followed by stops at Amira Kadal and SP College, Chinar Bagh, within the Lal Bagh constituency. At SP College, delegates had the chance to visit a special pink polling station, managed entirely by women. Several of these polling stations had witnessed very low voter turnout during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Several diplomats said that it was their first time being in Jammu and Kashmir and Srinagar."We're grateful to MEA for organizing this trip for us. We witnessed the polling in progress," a diplomat said. Lim Sang Woo, Deputy Chief of Mission, South Korean Embassy, said that he admired how some kids accompanied their parents to the polling booth, as it will be a lesson for their life."It's my first time here. It is nice to be around people who are here to cast their votes are full of vibrant enthusiasm. This is real democracy. I was happy to see little kids. Those children learn from their parents," Lim Sang Woo said. Lara Swart, a South African diplomat, said there were representatives from about 15 countries. "It is the first time I am visiting Jammu and Kashmir and it is my pleasure to be here. It is a privilege to be invited by the Ministry of External Affairs." Talking about his experience of witnessing the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, US Deputy Chief of Mission Jorgan K Andrews said it's been excellent, it's been fascinating to see how India organises its elections and how thorough the preparations are and how celebratory this period is. "It's been very inspiring. It is heartening to see Kashmir casting vote after 10 years." The diplomats also had an opportunity to visit Srinagar's Dal Lake. Voting for the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls was held on Wednesday. Twenty-six constituencies across six districts of the Union Territory voted in the assembly elections. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Senator Penny Wong caught up with each other on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday. Taking to social media platform X, Jaishankar attributed Senator Wong as a "Quad partner". "Catching up with Quad partner FM Senator Penny Wong at UNGA79," he said. https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1839016795623068015 Prior to this, Jaishankar signed the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement at the United Nations Headquarters, taking a step towards ensuring that the oceans remain healthy and resilient. "Signed the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement today the United Nations HQ. India is proud to join the BBNJ Agreement, an important step towards ensuring that our oceans remain healthy and resilient," he said in another post in X. https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1839016035854463076 Following this, he met with the Foreign Minister of Rawanda, Olivier JP Nduhungirehe and said that it was nice to meet him. "Nice to meet the new FM Olivier JP Nduhungirehe of Rawanda," Jaishankar said in X. https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1839016971741900831 He also held talks with his Syrian counterpart, Bassam Sabbagh and held talks on cooperation in health, education and capacity development, as well as sharing their views on the developments in West Asia. "A cordial meeting with FM Bassam Sabbagh of Syria today. Spoke about cooperation in health, education and capacity development. Shared views on the ongoing developments in West Asia," he said in X. https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1839028144474653060 Besides, he also met with Foreign Minister of El Salvador Alexandra Hill Tinoco and discussed the topics of connectivity, digital, health and capability building. "Always a delight to meet FM Alexandra Hill Tinoco of El Salvador. We discussed connectivity, digital, health and capability building. And also our shared desire to reform the global order," he said in another post in X. https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1839033191002165353 Earlier, Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday (local time) on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York. "Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Minister of External Affairs of India Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar hold talks on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said in an X post. In response to Lavrov's post, Jaishankar posted on X, "Met FM Sergey Lavrov this afternoon at UNGA 79. Discussed our bilateral cooperation and regional issues." (ANI)
ALFRED, Maine Ever wondered how your county jail operates how many people are housed there, how residents occupy their time, how long they stay, who cooks the meals, and how many people work there?
And what is the difference between a county jail and a state prison facility?
York County Sheriff William L. King, in cooperation with Massabesic Adult and Community Education, will host a free, one-evening course at the jail, located on Layman Way off Jordan Springs Road (Route 4) in Alfred on Oct. 28. Folks interested in the course offering, which commences at 4 p.m. that day, must agree to a prior background check and register with Massabesic Adult and Community Education by Oct. 23.
Razor wire tops a concrete wall at York County Jail in Alfred. Want to know more about the facility? Massabesic Adult and Community Education is offering residents an opportunity to see "Behind the Walls" at York County Jail.
The course billed as Behind the Walls at York County Jail will allow folks to see how the facility operates, said King.
The jail is the biggest cost driver within York County government, said King, adding he believes it is important the wider community sees and understands what happens there.
York County Jail can hold 296 residents. The current number housed daily is about 240, he said.
York County Jail offers several programs for residents, from high school education classes to painting to physical fitness. King said a number of community members volunteer to help inmates with rehabilitation and reentry into society.
About 120 jail residents receive medically assisted treatment for substance use believed to be the largest such jail program of its kind in Maine.
And, there is a Board of Visitors an oversight and advisory group of citizens who meet to inspect the facility and provide recommendations for jail conditions in the areas of security, staff safety, and inmate health, safety, and rehabilitation.
King noted most residents 90 percent, are pretrial and havent been convicted of anything they are in jail because they cant post bail, or because the charges for which they were arrested do not allow for bail.
The remaining 10 percent of inmates are people convicted of crimes, for which jail is the punishment, said King.
Folks who attend the class will see and learn about central control, see some security measures, the booking area where residents first enter the facility, the kitchen where meals are prepared, programming areas, a housing unit, and the non-tangibles - like the efforts to create an atmosphere of mutual respect between residents and staff.
The idea for Behind the Walls at York County Jail came from King, said Massabesic Adult and Community Educations student advisor and program support specialist Eleanor Chow. The class is among 78 classes offered this fall - where typically 1,000 residents of the six-town school district take classes.
Massabesic Adult and Community Education and York County Jail have had a partnership for many years.
We have been able to offer high school equivalency and life skills and workforce training classes to residents at the jail, as well as enrichment programs including art, physical education, and a library, said Chow. Through this, we have been able to develop a close relationship with staff at the jail, and Sheriff King has suggested classes based on community need and interest.
One of those classes is Identifying Scams which she said has been hugely popular and informative.
Chow said there have been a number of registrations for Behind the Walls at York County Jail and reminded folks interested that they must sign up by Oct. 23. Online registry for Behind the Walls at the York County Jail is at coursestorm.com.
King said folks will enjoy the class and learn how the jail operates at the same time.
It should be interesting and fun, he said.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: 'Behind the Walls': Free class takes you inside York County Jail
The Burlington School District, Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity and Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak are calling on state leaders to support unsheltered families across the Green Mountain state. The call to action comes in the wake of new restrictions to Vermonts General Assistance Program often referred to as the motel/hotel program leaving many people, including families with young children, without a place to sleep.
The General Assistance Program offers a wide range of benefits to Vermonts most vulnerable. In this case, the Transitional Housing aspect of the program is what will be subjected to change. The Department of Children and Families said they work with around 70 hotel and motel partners to house families in need. The new restrictions now cap the total number of available hotel and motel rooms at 1,100.
1,416 households - 1,733 adults and 520 children - were part of the program as of Aug. 12 according to the DCF's monthly housing report. If those numbers retained until the changes went into effect mid-September, that leaves over 300 families unhoused.
The new regulations also introduce an 80-day limit on stays from April 1 to Dec. 1. There is no cap on the number of rooms available during the winter.
The Hilltop Inn in Berlin, Vt. on Feb. 25, 2021. The 80-room inn is one of many lodging properties across the state that is housing individuals and families experiencing homelessness through the state's General Assistance motel voucher program.
Vermont has high rate of homelessness
Vermont has the second highest per capita rate of homelessness in the country, according to the 2023 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The report stated that "an estimated 3,295 people, or 51 out of every 10,000 people were experiencing homelessness in Vermont during the point-in-time count in January 2023. New York was the only state to have a higher homelessness rate in 2023."
According to the most recent point-in-time data conducted in January 2024, 3,458 people were recorded experiencing homelessness, an increase from the previous year. The largest percentage nearly 25% were located in Chittenden County.
For those who are unhoused but aren't considered part of a "family" by the state, there are even fewer options. Vermont has 550 traditional shelter beds, with 223 being in Chittenden County. Even fewer operate year-round, according to data from the Chittenden County Homeless Alliance. Looking at the previously mentioned number of people facing homelessness, the number of beds available can only provide a small amount of them a bed.
Mayor calls for help from the state and the community
We cannot stand idly by while children, elders and people with disabilities go without shelter, Mulvaney-Stanak said in a Sept. 20 press release. The city, together with our community partners will do what we can to support those being exited from motels, but camping is not a solution to this crisis. The state must step up to immediately create more shelter space.
She called on Gov. Phil Scott and the Agency of Human Services to put up emergency shelters for families with children rapidly.
The sentiment was supported by Burlington School District Superintendent Tom Flanagan and CVOEO Community Action Network Director Travis Poulin, with Flanagan stating the schools will offer support to students who may be affected by these restrictions.
Poulin pointed out that the community has more unhoused people than resources to serve them, with people on waiting lists for beds in local homeless shelters.
What Burlington is doing
For now, Burlington is taking a handful of steps to support those families, including:
The city will make available up to 12 campsites free of cost for families exiting motels. They will engage local service partners to connect with the families. Contact Sarah Russell, special assistant to end homelessness to make a referral: srussell@burlingtonvt.gov.
The city is putting out a call for property owners who may have available commercial or residential space to reach out to the Community and Economic Development Office by emailing cedofd@burlingtonvt.gov.
The city, CVOEO and Burlington School District are asking the community to dontae resources including flashlights, tarps, line or rope, tents (eight person is ideal), sleeping bags and blankets, coolers, water jugs, cooking supplies, propane cooking stove and propane tanks and funding for firewood.
Donations can be dropped off between 8:30 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday at the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, on 255 South Champlain St., Burlington.
Care package to hand out to those experiencing homelessness
Sydney P. Hakes is the Burlington city reporter. Contact her at SHakes@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Burlington to provide campsites for unhoused families
CEDAR GROVE One Sheboygan County school has earned an elite distinction.
Cedar Grove-Belgium Middle School, in the Cedar Grove-Belgium Area School District, is among 356 schools nationwide and eight in the state to be recognized with a National Blue Ribbon Schools Award.
The award, given by the U.S. Department of Education, recognizes schools for exceling in academic performance or making significant strides in closing achievement gaps, or both. Cedar Grove-Belgium Middle School was one of the schools awarded for achievement in both categories.
What did the US Department of Education say about Cedar Grove-Belgium Middle School?
The U.S. Department of Educations nationalblueribbonschools.ed.gov site lists the following from Cedar Grove-Belgium Middle School:
Cedar Grove-Belgium Middle School is part of a rural district that combines the communities of Cedar Grove and Belgium in East Central Wisconsin. Our commitment to student success is achieved through a variety of practices. One way this is achieved is through the implementation of a rigorous, diverse curriculum and teacher instructional practice. Another way we positively impact student success is through the methods in which we meet individual needs with our intervention and enrichment programs, after school learning opportunities, and our daily focus on the social and emotional well being of our students and staff.
We operate under the philosophies of Professional Learning Communities. Each staff member is part of their grade level team as well as various building level teams. These teams are beyond cohesive; we support and encourage one another both personally and professionally. Our shared vision of excellence allows us to provide top-notch instruction and to close achievement gaps. As a middle school, we live by a daily motto that all of us together is better than any one of us alone.
Notable accomplishments that we are proud of, especially after the impact of COVID on schools and students, has been our school Report Card scores. Post COVID, we have achieved the three highest scores the middle school has ever received since the implementation of report cards. As a result, our scores have placed us in the top ten rankings for comparable fifth through eighth-grade schools in the state of Wisconsin.
Kelly Dzurick was principal of the school at the time of the nomination and the school had 245 students, according to the U.S. Department of Education listing.
More school news: Sheboygan Area School District will host info sessions, tours of Urban and Farnsworth ahead of Nov. 5 referendum
What other schools in Wisconsin earned National Blue Ribbon awards?
The other schools in Wisconsin to earn the honor and the categories in which they achieved distinction were:
Amery Middle School, Achievement Gap Closing;
Frederic Elementary School, Achievement Gap Closing;
Hales Corners Elementary School, High Performing and Achievement Gap Closing;
North Shore Middle School in Hartland, High Performing and Achievement Gap Closing;
Horicon Elementary School, High Performing;
Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Monroe, Achievement Gap Closing; and
Eastside Elementary School in Sun Prairie, High Performing and Achievement Gap Closing.
What is a National Blue Ribbon Schools Award and what does it mean?
According to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in a news release, The National Blue Ribbon Schools Award is a testament to the exceptional achievements of students and educators at each of these schools.
The 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools are raising the bar for our nations students, serving as models for effective teaching and intentional collaboration in their schools and communities, Cardona added.
A National Blue Ribbon School award flag displayed in a schools entryway or on a flagpole is a widely recognized emblem of exceptional teaching and learning. These schools serve as models of effective and innovative practices for educators across the nation.
More news: Sheboygan is seeking poll workers for the Nov. 5 election. Here's how to apply.
How are schools recognized?
Up to 420 schools may be nominated for the honor each year. The department invites nominations for the National Blue Ribbon Schools award from the top education official in all states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education. Private schools are nominated by the Council for American Private Education.
The department recognizes all schools based on student performance data including assessment results, student subgroup performance and graduation rates. Schools are recognized in both or either of two performance categories:
Exemplary High Performing Schools: These schools are among the top performers in their state as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.
Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools: These schools excel in narrowing achievement gaps between different student groups and the overall student body.
Each nominated school submits a comprehensive application detailing its school culture, programs, assessments, instructional practices, professional development, leadership, family and community involvement.
Contact Brandon Reid at 920-686-2984 or breid@gannett.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @breidHTRNews.
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: National Blue Ribbon Award goes to Cedar Grove-Belgium Middle School
While grilling Novo Nordisks chief executive over the price of its blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders alleged that 40,000 people a year in the US could die if the company doesnt make the medicines more affordable.
From a moral perspective, does it bother you knowing that keeping the price of Ozempic and Wegovy so high in the United States could lead to the preventable deaths of tens of thousands of Americans? Sanders, chairman of the US Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, asked the Danish drugmakers CEO, Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, citing research from a Yale epidemiologist.
We are very committed to making sure that Americans have access at an affordable price point for our medicines, Jorgensen replied. Theres no thing we would rather see happen.
It was the latest in a series of hearings Sanders has led with pharmaceutical company CEOs about the price of medicines in the US, which are higher often by multiple times than in other wealthy countries. But perhaps no drugs have garnered more attention than Novo Nordisks Ozempic, approved for diabetes, and its sister drug, Wegovy, for weight loss and reduction of heart risk. The medicines, also referred to as GLP-1s for the hormone they mimic, are now used by millions of Americans but are still unaffordable and out of reach for many.
Sanders, who launched an investigation of Novo Nordisk in April over what he called outrageously high prices for the medications in the US, has focused on the drugs comparative cost in other countries: He noted that the list price for a four-week supply of Ozempic is $969 in America, but the drug can be purchased for $155 in Canada, $122 in Denmark and $59 in Germany. Similarly, Wegovys list price is $1,349 in the US, but it costs $186 in Denmark, $140 in Germany and $92 in the United Kingdom, he said.
Tuesdays hearing boiled down to a familiar argument over who is responsible for the USs higher prices: drug companies that set starting or list prices or pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen that negotiate discounts on those list prices in exchange for favorable insurance coverage and access.
Jorgensen said Novo Nordisk pays back about 75% of its medicine sales in rebates, discounts and fees, so the net price it receives is far lower than the list price.
And he argued that when Novo Nordisk has lowered list prices in the past, its been penalized by PBMs that profit from discounts, or rebates, on higher prices, in the form of reduced access for patients to its medicines.
The broad totality is that less patients have access to our medicines when we lowered the price, Jorgensen told Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, after she pressed him to reduce list prices.
The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, the PBMs industry group, said in a statement that Jorgensen is trying to shift attention from drugmakers moves that keep costs high.
PBMs are the only entities in the health care system working to mitigate the impact on patients, employers, and taxpayers of Big Pharmas outrageous prices on blockbuster GLP-1s facing minimal competition, the association said in a statement. The critical value of PBMs is being demonstrated in real-time as they are effectively helping plan sponsors navigate a challenging balance between access and cost on GLP-1s for weight loss.
A pledge from the middlemen
During the hearing, Sanders announced that the committee had obtained written pledges from the largest PBMs to maintain access to Ozempic and Wegovy if Novo Nordisk lowered list prices. The committee simultaneously issued a report about Novo Nordisks pricing titled in part: Greed, greed, greed.
Thats new information for me, Jorgensen told Sanders of the PBMs pledges during the hearing. Anything that will help patients get access to affordable medicine well be happy to look into.
Jorgensen emphasized, though, that when his company lowered the price of some insulins in the past, we had our products dropped from formulary coverage, so less patients got access to those insulins. So I have a bit of concern over how this could play out.
PBMs themselves have been under fire for their role in drug pricing, specifically over the cost of insulin; last week, the Federal Trade Commission sued the three largest CVS Healths Caremark, Cignas Express Scripts and UnitedHealth Groups Optum Rx alleging that they excluded available insulin products with lower prices from coverage in favor of higher-priced insulins that provided higher rebates.
We let PBMs get away scot-free, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, said later in Tuesdays hearing, arguing that pharmaceutical companies at least contribute research and life-saving treatments.
Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas who is a doctor, called Ozempic a miracle drug, saying Novo Nordisk is not the villain in this story; theyre a hero.
Concerns over insulin
But while access to insulin is bringing heat to PBMs, it was also the subject of a line of questioning to Jorgensen on Tuesday; Novo Nordisk is one of the three largest manufacturers of the life-saving drug in the world, along with Eli Lilly, which also makes Ozempic and Wegovys biggest competitor drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound.
Multiple senators questioned Jorgensen over Novo Nordisks recent announcement that it would stop manufacturing a specific insulin, Levemir, which patients have argued is a critical product they continue to need.
Any decision to take a product off the market is a very, very difficult decision, and I have to explain why we had to do that, Jorgensen said. We, last year, reduced the price for Levemir; we dropped the price, yet to find that PBMs dropped access to Levemir, so much less patients have access to it. The reality is that the market is disappearing for Levemir because of how its contracted.
Jorgensen said Novo Nordisk has followed up with other potential manufacturers of the medicine, but we have not found anyone interested in manufacturing it.
Asked by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, whether Novo Nordisk is shifting manufacturing capacity to the more profitable Ozempic and Wegovy from older insulin products, Jorgensen responded, we are as committed to insulin as we have always been.
Ozempic itself may soon face greater pricing pressure; Jorgensen noted in written testimony that the drug will probably be eligible for the next round of Medicares drug price negotiations, although rival products from Eli Lilly will not be for another decade. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is scheduled to announce the names of the next 15 drugs by February. The initial round of negotiations resulted in a 22% reduction in total net spending on 10 drugs.
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Joe Biden talks up legacy but his foreign policy approach has never seemed further off course
The president drew applause with his support for Ukraine but his response to the Gaza war has drawn more mixed reaction - JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Joe Biden has used his valedictory address to the global stage to defend his foreign policy over the last four years.
The president said he had taken office at another moment of crisis and uncertainty, with the scars of the Jan 6 riots and the Covid-19 pandemic still etched on the countrys psyche.
Since then, he said, Covid no longer controls our lives, and America has returned to lead the world stage. But it was hardly a victory lap.
As he stares down the final months of his presidency, Mr Biden is on track to leave office with two major wars raging and a civil war in Sudan unleashing a disastrous humanitarian crisis.
Russias invasion of Ukraine and Israels incursion into Gaza have commanded much of the presidents attention over the last four years.
Posters in Kyiv show dead Ukrainian servicemen. Joe Biden has been keen to emphasise his strong support for the country - SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images
At my direction, America stepped into the breach, Mr Biden said, and ensured the survival of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin may well have been taken aback by the swift and staunch support for Kyiv his invasion triggered.
As Mr Biden noted, Nato members and allies in 50-plus nations rallied to the cause.
Natos military alliance has even swelled its ranks with two new members joining in response to Russian aggression.
Yet continued support for Ukraine is in great doubt, nowhere more so than in the US, where Donald Trumps potential return to power could doom a significant portion of the flow of arms to the front line.
The Republican ex-president has refused to say whether he wants Kyiv to prevail and signalled he would pursue a negotiated peace that would involve considerable territorial concessions to Moscow.
On Tuesday, he told a rally in Georgia that the US needed to get out of Ukraine. Ill get it negotiated, Ill get out. We gotta get out, he said.
Mr Biden, who has long prided himself on his policy nous, admitted he was leaving the presidency in the belief that were in another inflection point in our history.
There is so much more I want to get done, the 81-year-old said of his decision to end his re-election bid, but some things are more important than staying in power.
As he made the case for his foreign policy, Mr Biden said Ukraines allies cannot grow weary.
The comments earned an ovation from the UN assembly members he was addressing.
But they were less unanimous in their response to Americas role in the other major global conflict: Israels war in Gaza.
Mr Biden seems to lack answers to solving the suffering in Gaza - Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Biden administration has upset the majority of the chambers member states by failing in previous efforts to secure a pause in the fighting.
The president repeated his call for a ceasefire deal and extolled the need for a two-state solution, phrases he repeats so often that they now sound perfunctory.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has rebuffed his US counterparts entreaties for almost a year. Hamass negotiators are as unwieldy as ever. The terror group has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal.
Mr Bidens own aides privately admitted a deal appears unattainable. Indeed, peace has never seemed more elusive in the region.
The aftermath of an Israeli strike in Beirut. Mr Biden seems to have failed to stop the situation between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon worsening - P Photo/Hassan Ammar
Washingtons efforts to convince Israel and Hezbollah not to open another front in the conflict appear increasingly futile.
As Mr Biden spoke in New York, Mr Netanyahu released a video vowing to continue striking Lebanon.
Mr Bidens final speech to the UN as president marks part of a wider push to burnish his legacy at home and abroad.
His aim in the final months of his presidency, in the words of one adviser, is to ensure his achievements are irreversible.
But rather than putting a stake in the ground for the future, as Ben LaBolt, the White House director of communications, put it, Mr Bidens foreign policy has never seemed further off course.
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A New Zealand pilot held prisoner for more than 19 months by armed insurgents has been freed.
Phillip Mehrtens was taken hostage in 2023 when he landed a small commercial plane in the remote, "restive" region of Papua, a "resource-rich former Dutch colony" that is part of modern-day Indonesia, said CNN. His captors had "hoped to press New Zealand to lobby Indonesia" to meet their "seemingly impossible demand": Papuan independence.
"Today finally I have been freed. I am very happy that shortly I will be able to go home and meet my family," said Mehrtens on Sunday.
His release came after months of "critical" diplomatic efforts by Wellington and Jakarta, said the BBC. But it has also renewed scrutiny of the controversial and often violent insurgency movement known as the Free Papua Movement.
The 'Free Papua' movement
Papua, which borders New Guinea, came under Indonesian control in 1969 after a highly controversial referendum. The vote, overseen by the UN, is widely seen as a sham. Ever since, the Free Papua Movement has sought independence from the Indonesian government, which they accuse of "running a police state" of violent repression in the region, said DW.
In 2022, UN human rights experts demanded humanitarian access to the region because of allegations of "shocking abuses against Indigenous Papuans, including child killings, disappearances, torture and mass displacement of people".
The largely peaceful independence movement is, however, overshadowed by armed insurgents such as the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), Mehrtens' captors. Indonesia has proscribed the TPNPB as a terrorist group, as they have previously taken hostages to "further their cause".
The battle for independence has grown deadlier as separatist fighters have acquired better weaponry than their traditional bows and arrows. In recent years, they have attacked Indonesian security forces and aircraft that they believe to be carrying supplies to Jakarta.
In August, armed fighters from pro-independence group known as the Free Papua Organisation ambushed a helicopter landing in a remote village. The body of the pilot, 50-year-old Glen Malcolm Conning, was later found by Indonesian police. They maintain that separatist gunmen killed him.
Publicity for the cause
On 7 February 2023, Mehrtens' "life took an unexpected and harrowing turn", said The Guardian.
He was supposed to drop off his five passengers in the "isolated highlands" of West Papua, pick up 15 construction workers and return south. But the plane was "stormed" upon landing, and independence fighters abducted Mehrtens before setting his plane alight. The passengers, who were indigenous Papuans, were released.
Intermittent photos and videos of Mehrtens showing him "surrounded by Papuan fighters brandishing rifles", were released alongside the group's demand for secession from Indonesia. In May 2023, the rebels threatened to kill Mehrtens if their demands for independence talks were not met within two months.
"We will never release the pilot we are holding hostage unless Indonesia recognises and frees Papua from Indonesian colonialism," said Sebby Sambom, a TPNPB spokesperson.
Then, exactly a year after his capture, the TPNPB suddenly announced that they would free Mehrtens to uphold human rights. It had become clear to the TPNPB that "there wasn't going to be any long-term benefit from keeping him", said Damien Kingsbury, professor at Melbourne's Deakin University and a specialist in West Papuan politics.
"The best they could hope for was to be seen as having a humanitarian side and gaining some publicity for their cause."
Lexington will soon have a social worker respond with police to crisis mental health 911 calls.
Thanks to a $850,000 state grant awarded in January, Lexington community-based crisis response team will start in the next few weeks.
We are taking an enormous step forward, said Mayor Linda Gorton at a Tuesday news conference at City Hall announcing the launch of the new program. This program will greatly help our first responders respond to mental health emergencies.
The grant will pay for one mental health professional who will accompany police on such calls. In addition, the money will also be used to help pay overtime for 45 Lexington police officers who have received specialized mental health training to respond to crisis calls.
The fire department recently hired Chris Perrine, who has a masters degree in clinical mental health counseling, to be the citys on-call social worker.
The grant is for three years. The citys cost is $75,000 over the course of the three-year grant.
Assistant Police Chief Brian Maynard said the new team will allow crucial mental health resources to be provided to individuals in need more quickly and hopefully help provide the individuals with a path out of crisis.
Fire officials said the team is an expansion of the citys emergency response services. Doing things the same way does not always help or address citizens needs.
Fire Chief Jason Wells said the grant will help them respond with compassion and strength. Its a decisive step in our citys evolution of what a first responder does.
Evolution of emergency psychiatric care
Mental health advocates have long pushed for the creation of crisis response teams that are focused on treatment rather than punishment.
Too many times, a person with mental health needs ends up in jail rather than getting the help they need, advocates have long argued.
According to Lexington police data, the city receives approximately 3,000 mental health crisis calls a year.
The new team will work weekdays, which is when the city sees the most calls for mental health services, fire officials said.
Fire Capt. Seth Lockard, who oversees the departments Community Paramedicine program, wrote the grant for the new program. Lockard said as part of the grant they are also going to be drilling down into police call data to determine how many of the calls are mental health calls. Its likely the city is seeing more than 3,000 mental health calls per year.
Maybe when the call comes in, it may appears to be something else, Lockard said.
Many police departments across the country have moved to adding social workers to help police respond to calls. Lexington was one of seven Kentucky cities or counties to be awarded grants to help first responders augment services for those in crisis.
But its also part of a community-wide effort to better address those with psychiatric emergencies.
In July, Eastern State Hospital, one of the states main psychiatric hospitals, opened a psychiatric emergency room called EmPATH or Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing unit. Its the first of its kind in Kentucky. There are 30 such units across the country. Its operated in collaboration with New Vista, the areas community mental health provider.
Staff at those units can help someone experiencing a psychiatric emergency connect immediately with services. The units also closely track those who have been admitted to ensure they make doctors appointments. Lack of consistent care can often exacerbate a mental illness.
Lockard said Lexington is fortunate to have more resources available to treat the citys most vulnerable population.
There are so many things that are happening. Its very rewarding, Lockard said.
Brook Cheuvront's body was discovered on Sunday after going for a solo hike, officials say [Brook Cheuvront/Instagram ]
An American woman who disappeared while hiking on South Africa's Table Mountain has been found dead, officials said.
Brook Cheuvront, a student from North Carolina, was in Cape Town doing an internship at a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
The 20-year-old student was reported missing on Saturday after a tracking app she was using while on a solo hike stopped updating and she could not be reached.
Her body was discovered on Sunday in a mountainous area near Table Mountain known as Devil's Peak, police told local media.
South African National Parks (SANParks), which manages Table Mountain and other national parks, said the hiker left her room at noon to hike up the mountain.
Her friends called the police when there were no updates on her tracking app, and they could not contact her by phone.
A swift search by rangers, and wilderness search-and-rescue crews was conducted until it was called off late on Saturday.
A helicopter joined the search the following day and helped locate her body on Devils Peak.
"The circumstances around the hikers death are still being investigated," SANParks said in a statement.
Police said an autopsy would be conducted to determine the possible cause of death.
SANParks said an investigation into Cheuvronts death was ongoing.
In a Facebook post, Cheuvront's father said the family was "devastated."
"God help me and us," Steve Cheuvront wrote.
She had been a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
South African authorities have denied there is a problem with crime in Table Mountain National Park, but urged visitors to avoid hiking on their own in a separate post.
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PANAMA CITY Local officials are on high alert as Tropical Storm Helene approaches the Florida coast.
In a Tuesday press release, Panama City officials announced that the city "is conducting a partial Phase 1 activation of its comprehensive emergency operations plan" ahead of Helene, which is slated to make landfall Thursday afternoon near the Big Bend area as a Category 3 Storm.
Webcams: See Panama City, Florida area beach conditions ahead of possible Hurricane Helene
"This partial activation focuses on storm preparation and readiness," the release reads. "The public works department has been inspecting drainage areas, clearing the gates and ditches, and lowering storm pond levels to allow for proper water flow when rain arrives.
"They along with other teams within the city are also preparing equipment for mobilization, and making plans for personnel if and/or when a full activation is needed."
Where can I get sandbags in Panama City?
City officials also announced in an email on Tuesday that 500 sandbags were slated to be available for residents to pick up at 3404 W. 19th St. and west of 3000 W. 19th St. Sandbags are limited to 10 per resident and business.
Jasmine Montgomery, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, said Tuesday morning that Bay County residents can expect tropical storm-force winds and between about 4 inches to 8 inches inches of rain from Helene.
"Bay County is currently under a tropical storm watch," Montgomery said. "With the amount of rain, we're also under a flood watch starting Wednesday evening going through Friday morning."
Though the forecast still is evolving, Montgomery does not believe the storm will shift enough to bring catastrophic impacts to Bay County.
Awaiting landfall: Tropical Storm Helene forms: Bay County faces threats of wind, heavy rain
The release notes that in the wake of heavy rain from Helene, flooding is a concern for the city. More than 1,300 sandbags have been provided to residents since Monday afternoon.
"We encourage our citizens to continue their own storm preparations and safety plans," the release reads. "Our teams are continuing to fill sandbags and make them available to our Panama City citizens and businesses."
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City prepares for landfall of Tropical Storm Helene
'Pursuing all options:' Governor, House speaker meet with Hasbro in bid to keep them in RI
PAWTUCKET Gov. Dan McKee and House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi have met with Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks in an attempt to convince him to keep the company in Rhode Island, as it looks for a new headquarters.
McKee's press secretary, Olivia DaRocha, wrote in a statement that McKee and Shekarchi met with Cocks on Thursday, which they "anticipate" to be the first of many meetings. McKee briefed Senate President Dominick Ruggerio following the get-together, which state officials deemed a "preliminary meeting."
"The Governor, the Speaker and the Senate President are prepared to continue making a strong case for Rhode Island, and both the Administration and the General Assembly are fully committed to pursuing all options to keep the company anchored in our state," she wrote.
Hasbro CEO tells employees: No move for at least 18 months as they eye Greater Boston
Hasbro is one of 10 publicly traded companies headquartered in the Ocean State, a list that includes CVS, Textron and Citizens Bank, which just got its own tax break for the banking industry.
Rhode Island Commerce Corporation spokesman Matthew Touchette wrote in an email that Hasbro executives made no mention of a possible move out of state when they met with Commerce Secretary Liz Tanner in February.
"However, we are committed to continuing our efforts to keep Hasbro headquartered in Rhode Island," he wrote.
News broke earlier this month that Hasbro is looking to move its headquarters, likely to the greater Boston area and out of Rhode Island, to a space "that can best serve our employees, partners, and business needs for years to come," Hasbro Chief Communications Officer Roberta Thomson wrote in a statement.
In a lab at Hasbro headquarters, a Furby toy undergoes a quality-assurance test, which replicates consumer usage.
That language is similar to what Hasbro put out in 2017, when it was also floating the idea of a new headquarters, although much of the activity centered around a new building in Providence.
In a memorandum to Hasbro staff, Cocks wrote that a move from Pawtucket won't happen for another 18 months, if it happens. The current headquarters is "showing its age" and that a new space would need to allow "for collaboration, design, and showcases who we are and what we stand for."
To see the full memorandum, click here, on "view document" or "Chris Cocks email 1."
Page 1 of Chris Cocks email 1
Page 1 of Chris Cocks email 1
Contributed to DocumentCloud by Wheeler Cowperthwaite (The Providence Journal) View document or read text
What's inside Hasbro's HQ? It's more than corporate offices
In 2012, USA Today toured the Hasbro headquarters, when three secret Furby toys were inadvertently released to a reporter, then whisked away.
That tour showcased some of the myriad things Hasbro does in its Pawtucket headquarters. The two-story, 320,000-square-foot building is not just an office for accountants and the human resources department.
Inside the office building, workers lit toys on fire to "flame test" them, to gauge the efficacy of fire retardants used in the toys, by taking a candle to a Playskool Lullaby Gloworm.
In a lab, a Furby was put in a vice as part of a quality-assurance test, to replicate the beating the toy gets when it is heavily played with.
Hasbro closed its Providence office this year
Hasbro closed its Providence office at 15 LaSalle Square in downtown this year, as the lease on the building was up in January 2025, and consolidated workers in its Pawtucket building.
When the Providence Journal toured the building in 2013, shortly after workers moved in, the building was Hasbro branded, with a property representing each floor, like Monopoly on the sixth story. Some multimedia rooms and conference rooms were outfitted with sound equipment but much of the building appeared to be office space.
The gallery below shows what the now-closed Hasbro office on LaSalle Square looked like inside, largely a corporate office building.
Not the first time Hasbro has contemplated a move
From 2017 to 2019, before the pandemic, Hasbro was contemplating a new headquarters, very possibly in Rhode Island. Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien even pitched a new office building combined with a proposed PawSox stadium.
When Hasbro suggested it might leave, starting in 2018, lawmakers also promised to fight to keep Hasbro in Rhode Island and held closed-door sessions with legislative leaders and then-Gov. Gina Raimondo.
At the time, the company was estimated to have 1,600 employees in Rhode Island.
It was also said to be looking to build an office building across from its now-closed LaSalle Square office, the former Providence police station property which is now a parking lot. It would have been about 300,000 square feet, nearly the same size as the current Pawtucket building (320,000 square feet).
All those machinations appeared to have stopped once the pandemic happened, sending employees to work from home.
Hasbro started as Hassenfeld Brothers, Inc., a manufacturer of pencil-box covers from scrap cloth, then pencils, until 1942, when the company started to focus just on toys. In 1952, Hasbro introduced Mr. Potato Head. It was the first toy advertised on network TV and the company's first big hit, spurring its growth.
Hasbro went public in 1968 and acquired rival toy company Milton Bradley in 1984. It has been bumped off the Fortune 500 listing, landing instead on the Fortune 1000 at 585.
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Past Providence Journal reporting was used in this story. Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Governor promises 'all options' to keep Hasbro in Rhode Island
KENNEBUNK, Maine The teachers union has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the RSU 21 school district after a School Board member accused educators of retaliating against her 4-year-old daughter amid a contract dispute.
The Kennebunk, Arundel, and Kennebunkport Educators Association, which has been working without a contract since Aug. 31, filed the complaint Tuesday with the Maine Labor Relations Board.
RSU 21 School Board member Kirstin Shapiro accused educators of retaliation and harassment during a special meeting Thursday.
The complaint is in response to public comments made by School Board member Kirstin Shapiro, who serves as the board's chief negotiator for the new contract, during an emergency School Board meeting on Sept. 19. At the meeting, Shapiro alleged that teachers were terrorizing her family through her daughter and threatened legal action.
A press release issued by the teachers' union Tuesday night states Shapiro offered no evidence to support the allegations, and no complaints have been made regarding teachers or employees who work in the schools.
"The Association believes these allegations are untrue and as such represent an attempt by the school committee through its negotiations chair to interfere with ongoing negotiations and coerce the Association to capitulate to the Boards last proposal made June 6, 2024, according to the statement of facts submitted by the union to the Maine Labor Relations Board.
RSU 21 School Board Chair Lesley Stoeffler issued a statement Wednesday when asked to comment on the union's filing.
"These allegations are false," she stated. "We are currently engaged in a formal mediation process with KAKEA, which we entered into in good faith. Our focus remains on fair negotiations and reaching a mutually beneficial agreement through this structured, impartial process."
Shapiro, who did not attend the Sept. 24 School Board meeting, did not respond to requests for comment on her Sept. 19 public statement. Her remarks were made during the public session of a meeting focused on nonpublic labor negotiations.
With a bandage on her head, which she said was due to a concussion, Shapiros comments escalated from calm to tears, and eventually to shouting.
"They have used my 4-year-old daughter to literally terrorize my family ... And that is beyond the pale," she said at the Sept 19 meeting. "So, hear me now ... I have loved you hard ... I have tried to obey the rules that men in power have made. And those rules are (expletive) broken."
The teachers' union noted in its press release that Shapiro's public comments followed the resignation of former School Board chair Erin Nadeau in May.
Nadeau, who was also a negotiations team member, resigned after writing a public social media post in which she described union members as cowards in the back row, cheering like they were at a ... rally. Except instead of sheets, they wore red.
In her resignation letter, Nadeau stated her comment on Facebook had been a private one not meant for public consumption. She said she was speaking as an individual, not in any official capacity and not on behalf of the School Board.
Our School Board chose three negotiating team members to represent them at the table beginning in December 2023," said Ellen Jardine, a teachers' union negotiating team member. "Since then, two have revealed themselves to be unsuited to the job. Positive negotiations must start with good negotiators representatives of sound mind and good judgment.
Previous story: RSU 21 educators voice frustration over stalled contract talks
Teachers have been working without a contract since Aug. 31
RSU 21 teachers have been negotiating a new contract since December 2023. Pay and "prep time" before class appear to be the main issues teachers want addressed in a new contract.
The contract negotiations are taking place amid rising tensions between local educators and Superintendent Terri Cooper, her administration, and the School Board.
Recent School Board meetings have attracted teachers and parents, stating educators are leaving the district at a high rate due to low pay and morale, though RSU 21 administrators have said the number of staff departures is on par with other school districts in Maine.
Teachers have also complained Cooper is too focused on her central office and, particularly, on the departments of human resources and public relations.
More: RSU 21 chair defends hiring of ex-School Board member as HR director
School Board Chair Lesley Stoeffler said Sept. 19 that RSU 21 and the union have made progress in negotiations on a new contract but noted that "it takes two to tango."
The two sides are currently in mediation with a mediator.
Sheila Wells, who serves on the teachers' negotiation team, said in a press release they have made proposals, and counterproposals, and offered concessions to reach a fair agreement.
"The School Board team members have shown poor judgment and symptoms of emotional distress in the extreme," Wells said. "Yet it is our team that is placed at the center of scrutiny for not tango-ing fast enough. The KAKEA team is here to work and has been standing in the ballroom waiting while our 'dance partners' occupy themselves by insulting our membership and defaming our character.
Jen Swan, president of the teachers' union, said teachers and specialists deserve "respect and fair treatment."
We will not allow the district to trample on the rights of educators who work tirelessly for the students and families of this community," Swan said. "Our focus remains on achieving a fair contract and creating a safe, supportive environment for all.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: RSU 21 teachers union disputes board members claims of retaliation
Helene is expected to move through Georgia on Thursday.
Tropical Storm Helene, which is expected to become a major hurricane before hitting the Gulf Coast of Florida, is forecast to pass through the western half of Georgia as it moves northward Thursday.
Thats potentially good news for areas of coastal Georgia and southeastern South Carolina still recovering from flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Debby in early August.
However, residents of the Savannah area and South Carolina Lowcountry still should prepare for potentially severe weather conditions, even if theyre not within Helenes direct projected path, forecasters warned.
Helene is forecasted to be a large system with impacts reaching well outside (and) east of the track zone of uncertainty, which covers our region, the National Weather Services Charleston office advised Wednesday morning.
That potential for severe weather prompted the National Hurricane Center to issue a tropical storm warning for the southeast portions of Georgia and South Carolina.
Isolated tornadoes and periods of extreme rain are possible Thursday and Thursday night, leading to potential flooding in low-lying areas.
More spores: Steamy, historic Savannah drives Georgia's inclusion among America's moldiest states
As of Wednesday morning, Helene remained in the Carribean Sea between Cuba and Mexico. It is expected to intensify rapidly as it moves north over warm Gulf of Mexico waters before making landfall in Florida Thursday.
The Savannah area could experience tropical-storm-force winds (at least 39 mph) as early as Thursday afternoon, with up to 3 inches of rain possible by Friday morning, the National Weather Service said Wednesday.
The highest winds are expected to reach the South Carolina coast later Thursday, and rainfall totals of up to 2 inches are forecast.
Unlike Debbys multiple-day stay, Helene is expected to move through the state quickly. Sunny skies are in the forecast for Friday afternoon for the Georgia and South Carolina coasts.
John Deem covers climate change and the environment in coastal Georgia. He can be reached at 912-652-0213 or jdeem@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Helene's effects to reach Georgia, South Carolina coasts Thursday
Why DNREC secretary says it took an emergency to fix Indian River Inlet's north side beach
(This story has been updated to add new information. )
To protect Route 1 on the north side of the Indian River Inlet, Delaware is finally doing something that won't wash away with the next high tide.
The dune on the north side has been breached by the Atlantic Ocean numerous times this year, flooding the Delaware beaches' main highway. The beach directly to the north of the inlet, a Delaware Seashore State Park tourism asset, has disappeared.
The Delaware Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation issued a statement requesting the state hold a public meeting on the issues at the inlet Aug. 27, and a meeting followed on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
Where is the accountability? Where is the proactive approach to environmental stewardship and where are the permits?" Delaware Chapter Vice Chair Crystal Stokowski said in the statement. "One thing is clear, the need for responsible and transparent management of Delawares coastal resources has never been more urgent."
The Indian River Inlet in 1962.
On Sept. 12, Gov. John Carney announced a contractor will dredge and renourish the north side beach starting in late November. The $15 million state-funded project is expected to end at least temporarily in February, in line with environmental restrictions, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control spokesperson Nikki Lavoie said.
And on Sept. 19, U.S. Sen. Tom Carper announced he had secured $10 million in federal funds to "help Delaware and the Army Corps of Engineers implement a long-term plan to secure the dunes and protect the infrastructure surrounding the Indian River Inlet Bridge."
It's apparent, however, that a lot of taxpayer dollars were spent on stopgap measures while dredging money was obtained and will continue to be spent until the dredging and replenishment comes to fruition. The DNREC website says $2 million has been spent since August alone.
It begs the question: Why didn't the state address the situation before it became an emergency?
Indian River Inlet background: How the state is planning (or hoping) to keep the ocean off Rt. 1 at Indian River Inlet
Why the sand bypass system hasn't been fixed
Along Delaware's coast, currents generally move northward and parallel to the coast, taking the sand with them, the DNREC website says. At the inlet, the jetties prevent that from happening, causing the south beach to grow and the north beach to shrink.
A sand bypass system at the inlet used to pump about 100,000 cubic yards of sand per year from the south to the north beach, but it's been inoperable for about five years. It's finally on schedule to return to operations in December.
The sand bypass system at the Indian River Inlet has been out of operation for about five yeras.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last renourished the north inlet beach after Superstorm Sandy in 2013. In the years after that, the bypass system suffered continuous breakdowns, Globetti said, primarily because the diesel engine was not meant for a saltwater environment. About five years ago, rather than fix the diesel engine, the department decided to convert the pump to electric. Then came the delays.
"The Department ran into challenges with (the) supply chain on parts designed to withstand the saltwater conditions," Globetti said, then it was discovered a new HVAC system was necessary and would cost nearly half of what was budgeted for the entire project.
Wind energy update: Offshore wind project off Delaware, Maryland coast gets approved. Here's what comes next
"We understand the timeframe seems long and drawn out, but combining the normal engineering, required reviews and bidding process in itself can take up to two years, depending on the complexity of the project. Adding on the additional reviews by the State and USACE, as well as funding challenges, further prolongs the process," Globetti said.
He stressed that the sand bypass system was never meant to be a standalone solution.
The shoal areas will be dredged by a state contractor this winter and used to replenish the north side beach at the Indian River Inlet.
Why dredging hasn't happened at the inlet
Congress's Water Resources Development Act, signed in December 2022, authorized the use of federal funds for beach nourishment at the inlet but stopped short of providing them.
Globetti said the department has been working on plans for renourishment at the north inlet beach since 2023 and originally, it was expected they "might have federal funds to support the project we were planning for in 2025."
Marine life stranding: Whale beaches at Delaware Seashore State Park for 2nd time in 3 months
"This critical project is estimated to cost $15 million, but unfortunately, DNREC currently lacks these funds. While we had hopes of obtaining this money from the federal government, that has not been the case so far," DNREC Secretary Shawn Garvin said in a Sept. 6 letter to the editor.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Stephen Rochette said the first time DNREC communicated the need for funding from the Corps was in May of this year, which the Corps then communicated to Congress. A spokesperson for Sen. Carper said the first time his office received a request for funding was Aug. 19.
DNREC has spent $2 million trucking sand to the Indian River Inlet's north side beach since August alone.
"The Governors office flagged a letter that DNREC sent to the Army Corps that mentioned a lack of funding," Carper's spokesperson, Katie Grasso, said. "This prompted the Senators office to seek out the $10 million to help."
Garvin did not respond to a request for comment but attended the Sept. 24 public information session. When asked why his agency didn't request funding sooner than May, Garvin said the state didn't need to request funding because the Water Resources Development Act implies Congress will, at some point, appropriate the money.
Instead, his agency was "gearing up for 2025 kind of being the timeframe we were hoping all this stuff would come together," Garvin said, and only realized the project would need to begin sooner after a dune breach in March.
Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.
Olivia Montes covers state government and community impact for Delaware Online/The News Journal. Reach her atomontes@delawareonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Why it took so long for Delaware to fix the Indian River Inlet beach
World leaders voice frustration at Israel and the US as violence mounts in Middle East
A number of world leaders sharply condemned Israel, and by extension the United States, on Tuesday as the U.N. General Assembly held its first major session since the war in Gaza began nearly a year ago.
At least one used a Hitler comparison.
The tough language reflected global frustration over the unwillingness of the parties involved to strike a cease-fire. It also spoke to international despair over the helplessness of institutions such as the United Nations to bring about peace.
Virtually all the world leaders who took the lectern Tuesday called for an end to the fight between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, as well as on the increasingly violent Israel-Lebanon front, where the Israelis are battling Hezbollah.
While some also acknowledged Hamas militants launched the war by killing some 1,200 people in Israel on Oct. 7, the general sense was that Israel has gone too far in its retaliation.
Arab and Middle Eastern leaders who have been critical of Israel were among Tuesdays speakers, but the frustration even came from some nations that usually avoid the topic, including Latin American and African states.
The rhetoric was especially intense when directed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan compared the Israeli leader to Adolf Hitler, even suggesting other countries should unite to stop the Israelis by force if needed. Others, such as Colombias Gustavo Petro, called the violence a genocide against Palestinians. Terms like war crimes and settler colonialism were thrown around liberally.
"What began as a terrorist action has become a collective punishment for the entire Palestinian people," said Brazil President Lula da Silva, the first speaker at the General Assembly. "The right of defense has become a right of vengeance."
Much of the anger was also directed at the United States, though the world leaders rarely directly mentioned America.
"The presidents of the countries of human destruction are laughing in these very corridors," said Petro, aiming his ire at the global 1 percent. "When Gaza dies, humanity will die The people of God were not the people of Israel, it would seem. Its not the people of the USA."
Biden, for his part, called for a two-state solution, highlighting a U.S.-backed proposal for a cease-fire and hostage exchange. He called on all parties to finalize the terms, "ease the suffering in Gaza and end this war," he said to applause from the General Assembly floor.
The U.S. has some allies at the U.N. when it comes to Gaza. While a majority of member states have voted for resolutions that the U.S. has rejected, the U.K. has abstained from voting for those measures. Austria and the Czech Republic have joined the U.S. in voting against the resolutions.
Jordan's King Abdullah II sharply highlighted how Israel has attacked U.N. shelters and schools in Gaza, while U.N. aid trucks have been unable to reach starving Palestinians.
"The unprecedented scale of terror unleashed on Gaza since [Oct. 7] is beyond any justification," he said. "We will never accept the forced displacement of Palestinians, which is a war crime."
Israel is no stranger to criticism at the United Nations. Its representatives have spent much of the past year attacking the institution as Israel and the U.S. appear increasingly isolated on the world stage.
Two resolutions calling for a suspension of the fighting passed on the General Assembly floor 121 to 14. Meanwhile, 143 member states voted for a resolution to upgrade the Palestinian delegation's status at the U.N., urging the Security Council to approve Palestinian leaders request for full membership. In April, the Security Council voted 12 to 1 to recommend that it become a full member, with the U.S. casting a veto, the sole "No" vote.
At this point, Israel has become accustomed to the frequent attacks by other member states.
"It will not be the last one," Israels ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, told reporters Tuesday, when asked about the king of Jordan's emotional attack. Describing Israel as "a peaceful nation," he said the country would prefer a diplomatic solution.
The majority of member states are clearly frustrated with the increasing violence in the region, especially as it has spread to Lebanon and threatens to lead to an all-out war.
"Many people came to the United Nations hoping that the backdrop would be one of attempts to de-escalate," Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris told reporters Tuesday. "Instead, we're seeing, on an enormous, hourly basis, an escalation of the conflict."
OSAKA, Sep 25 (News On Japan) - A crime prevention seminar was held at Kansai University on the 24th to prevent international students from becoming involved in or contributing to crimes.
The seminar, organized by the Osaka Prefectural Police and Osaka Customs, attracted around 100 international students from Vietnam and China studying at Kansai University.
Due to a lack of knowledge about Japanese laws, some international students have been involved in cases where they handed over their residence cards or bank accounts to others in exchange for pocket money, unknowingly becoming complicit in crimes.
In Osaka Prefecture last year, 148 international students were arrested, and this number has been rising since the COVID-19 pandemic. Authorities are urging students to be cautious and avoid suspicious offers.
Source: YOMIURI
KOBE, Sep 25 (News On Japan) - Kobes iconic fish sculpture, known as the "Fish Dance," faces an uncertain future due to heavy rusting and a costly repair estimate of 80 million.
The sculpture, located in Meriken Park, is a popular attraction, but Kobe city officials are considering its removal due to the high expense of necessary repairs. The artwork, designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry in 1987, witnessed the city's recovery after the Great Hanshin Earthquake.
Public opinion is divided on the issue. Some residents believe the cost is too high and removal may be inevitable, while others argue for preserving the sculpture, even suggesting crowdfunding as a potential solution. Art and architecture experts emphasize the significance of the Fish Dance as Gehry's only work in Japan, urging for its continued preservation.
Source: FNN
TOKYO, Sep 26 (News On Japan) - The former representative of the martial arts event company 'Breaking Down,' Yugo Itagaki, along with two other individuals, has been arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police on charges of defrauding a company executive out of 80 million yen.
The suspects allegedly deceived the victim by claiming that investing in a smartphone trading business would yield profits.
They promoted a scheme where smartphones were said to be cheaply sourced domestically and sold overseas at a high price. The suspects reportedly promised investors a return of 7 to 8 percent of the initial investment after two months. However, the business is believed to have been entirely fictitious.
Investigations suggest that the group amassed approximately 8 billion yen through this fraudulent scheme over a two-year period starting in 2020.
Source: BIZ
The invasive spotted lanternfly prefers tree of heaven as a season-long feeding host and is often present in extremely high densities on trunks, leading to a large pest reservoir in unmanaged habitats. This intense feeding can lead to reduced tree vigor, which causes the spotted lanternfly to disperse into other agricultural crops. (Submitted photo)
The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula), an invasive insect pest that first arrived in Pennsylvania in 2014 and has since spread to 16 additional states in the Eastern U.S., has state governments urging residents to be on the lookout and to use caution when moving firewood.
The insects preference for feeding on the tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) another invasive species has led to significant pest reservoirs, affecting vineyards and other agricultural sectors, including hardwoods and other ornamental and fruiting trees.
The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) is taking the lead in the human dimensions aspect of a multi-institutional, multimillion-dollar project aimed at managing these invasive species.
Our goal is to suppress populations of both invasive species, enhance ecosystem health, reduce insecticide use and mitigate yield losses, said Alexa Lamm, professor in the CAES Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication. This project represents a significant step forward in sustainable pest management and environmental conservation.
Managing a dual threat to agriculture
Tree of heaven, introduced to the U.S. in the late 1700s, has become widespread, thriving in poor soil and disturbed areas. This invasive tree supports the survivorship and development of the spotted lanternfly.
The invasive insect prefers tree of heaven as a season-long feeding host and is often present in extremely high densities on trunks, leading to a large pest reservoir in unmanaged habitats. This intense feeding can lead to reduced tree vigor, which causes the spotted lanternfly to disperse from the tree of heaven into other agricultural crops.
Spotted lanternfly dispersal into vineyards alone has resulted in increased insecticide inputs, reduced yields and increased winter injury.
Because of the close insect-plant relationship between these species, the research team set out to develop methods of managing both invasives simultaneously across the landscape using compatible biological control agents.
The five-year, $2.9 million project is led by Tracy Leskey, director and research leader at the USDA-ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station, and Lamm is leading UGAs involvement in the grant. Virginia Tech, Rutgers University and the University of Minnesota are also partners.
Finding new control solutions for spotted lanternfly
Spotted lanternfly dispersal into vineyards alone has resulted in increased insecticide inputs, reduced yields and increased winter injury. (Submitted photo)
The project aims to deliver Verticillium nonalfalfae, a soilborne plant pathogen that attacks only plants, not humans or other organisms, to tree of heaven under field conditions and document its spread by the spotted lanternfly. The team will also use commercially available entomopathogens a biocontrol method used to disable insect pests to suppress spotted lanternfly in the field.
Researchers will conduct field-based evaluations of complementary biological control agents against tree of heaven and spotted lanternfly at an areawide scale.
Lamm, who is recognized for her work toward understanding how communication impacts the adoption of new scientific technologies to advance sustainable agricultural production, will partner with an applied economist to work directly with producers wrestling with tree of heaven and spotted lanternfly. The team aims to overcome barriers to adoption by communicating the benefits of the areawide program and explaining how it will generate economic return.
Lamm will hold focus groups with regulators, landowners, vineyard owners and managers to discuss challenges, current practices and barriers to the adoption of new integrative pest management (IPM) strategies. The findings will help the research team find solutions to overcome these challenges. Lamm will hold annual listening sessions to determine whether the new IPM strategies are working for producers and to bring associated challenges back to the team so research and extension programs can be adjusted accordingly.
I am thrilled to work with a highly talented, diverse interdisciplinary team that is committed to taking stakeholders perspectives into account as they strive to conduct research and develop new integrated pest management strategies that are not only effective, but will actually work on-farm, because they have taken the needs of producers into account, Lamm said. I am very excited to work closely with farmers as we strive to solve one of their most pressing pest problems.
For more information on the project, contact Alexa Lamm at alamm@uga.edu. To learn more about the invasion of the spotted lanternfly and how to report sightings, visit newswire.caes.uga.edu.
By Henry Umoru
ABUJA The Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Honourable Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, has vowed to enforce a zero-tolerance policy on corruption in the judiciary.
She emphasised that integrity and strictness are central to her judicial approach.
Kekere-Ekun, who appeared before the Senate for screening, assured lawmakers that, once confirmed, she would prioritise the speedy handling of petitions before the courts.
Responding to questions from the senators, the Acting CJN promised to ensure that the judiciary remains insulated from external influence. Additionally, she committed to advocating for better welfare and infrastructure for the judiciary.
Justice Kekere-Ekun also highlighted the need for strengthening national institutions and ensuring better behavior from the populace, especially during elections. She stressed that such improvements would help reduce the tendency to contest election results in court.
Meanwhile, the Senate has commenced the screening of Honourable Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun for the position of Chief Justice of Nigeria.
Before the screening began on Wednesday, Senate Leader Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central) moved a motion to reorder the legislative agenda, allowing the screening of Kekere-Ekun to be the first item on the days business. The motion was seconded by Deputy Minority Leader Senator Oyewumi Olalere (PDP, Osun West).
Kekere-Ekun, accompanied by other Supreme Court and Court of Appeal justices, arrived at the Senate Chamber at 12:30 PM. Senator Bamidele invoked Order 12 of the Senates Standing Orders to permit her and her entourage to enter, which was seconded by Senator Olalere.
The Acting CJN was led into the Chamber by Senator Basheer Lado, Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters.
On Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu wrote to the Senate, seeking the confirmation of Honourable Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as the Chief Justice of Nigeria. The Presidents letter, read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, was submitted upon the Senates return from its annual recess, which began in July.
The letter read: Pursuant to Section 231(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which gives the President the power to appoint the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC) and subject to confirmation by the Nigerian Senate, I have the honour to forward the nomination of Honourable Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, CON, for confirmation as CJN.
I hope that this request will receive the expeditious consideration of the Senate. Please accept, distinguished Senate President, the assurances of my highest consideration and personal regards.
Recall that on August 23, 2024, Justice Kekere-Ekun was sworn in as the 23rd Chief Justice of Nigeria by President Tinubu at the State House, Abuja. She is expected to serve in an acting capacity until her confirmation by the Senate.
Justice Kekere-Ekun took her oath at 11:38 AM and became the second female to hold the position of Chief Justice of Nigeria, after Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar (CJN from July 2012 to November 2014).
Born on May 7, 1958, in London, United Kingdom, Justice Kekere-Ekun began her legal journey at the University of Lagos, where she obtained her law degree in 1980. After completing her studies at the Nigerian Law School, she was called to the Nigerian Bar on July 10, 1981.
By Oladipo Abiola
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has issued a 14-day ultimatum to the federal government to meet its pending demands as contained in the agreements between both parties or risk facing a fresh strike action.
ASUU, in a statement on Wednesday by its president, Professor Emmanuel Osodoke, accused the federal government of not showing commitment to executing the agreements with the union, some of which date as far back as 2009.
It urged the government to pay the withheld salaries due to the 2022 strike action and stop exhibiting delay tactics.
The University academic union is also seeking the conclusion of the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement based on the Nimi Briggs Committees Draft Agreement of 2021.
ASUU, in its statement on Wednesday, said if its demands are not satisfactorily met in two weeks time, its members will embark on strike, which would cripple academic activities in the nations public universities.
In view of the foregoing, ASUU resolves to give the Nigerian Government another 14 days, in addition to the earlier 21 days, beginning from Monday, September 23, 2024, during which all the lingering issues must have been concretely addressed to the satisfaction of the membership of the union.
The union should not be held responsible for any industrial disharmony that arises from the governments failure to seize the new opportunity offered by ASUU to nip the looming crisis in the bud, ASUU said
ASUU is also demanding the release of unpaid salaries for staff on sabbatical, part-time, and adjunct appointments affected by the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), and the payment of outstanding third-party deductions such as check-off dues and cooperative contributions.
Its demands also include funding for the revitalization of public universities, partly captured in the 2023 Federal Government Budget, and the payment of Earned Academic Allowances partly captured in the 2023 Federal Government Budget.
Other grievances of ASUU are the proliferation of universities by Federal and State Governments, the implementation of the reports of visitation panels to universities, the reversal of the illegal dissolution of Governing Councils, and the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution as a replacement for IPPIS.
By Richard Ogunsile
Controversial Nigerian crossdresser Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, has refuted allegations of bribing officials from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
On Tuesday evening, prominent influencer Martins Vincent Otse, also referred to as VeryDarkMan, shared a voice recording purportedly featuring Bobrisky, in which he allegedly confessed to bribing EFCC officials with N15 million.
In the recording, Bobrisky purportedly stated that the N15 million was intended to persuade EFCC officials to dismiss the money laundering charges against him.
Additionally, the crossdresser asserted that he did not spend any time in prison following his conviction and subsequent six-month sentence.
Naija News reports that in April 2024, Bobrisky received a six-month jail term for naira mutilation. However, he claimed in the recording that his godfather arranged for him to serve his sentence in a lodge rather than in a traditional prison setting.
In response, Bobrisky labelled the widely circulated recording as fraudulent, maintaining that he served his prison sentence.
Taking to his Instagram page, Bobrisky wrote: My attention has been drawn to a fake voice recording circulating on the internet that I paid EFCC 15 million naira and that I was never in prison.
I didnt pay any EFCC money; it is a very big lie. I served my term in full and I came out. Discard any false information.
EFCC Chairman Orders Investigation Into Bobrisky Allegations, Invites VeryDarkMan For Questioning
Meanwhile, the chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, has ordered an immediate investigation into allegations of bribery against some of its operatives in a case involving popular crossdresser, Idris Okuneye, better known as Bobrisky.
Olukoyede ordered the investigation following the allegation by VeryDarkMan that Bobrisky bribed some EFCC officials with the sum of N15,000,000 to drop the money laundering case against him and also keep him in a private apartment instead of a typical prison during his jail term for money laundering.
In reaction, the EFCC chairman, in a statement released on Tuesday through the spokesperson of the anti-graft agency, Dele Oyewale, said a team of investigators have been put together to investigate the allegations.
Oyewale added that both Bobrisky and VeryDarkMan have been invited to appear before the commission for questioning at its Lagos office.
The statement reads: Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede has ordered immediate investigation of alleged bribery allegations imputed to some officers of the Commission by Idris Okuneye (a.ka.Bobrisky) in a viral video circulating across the country.
Okuneye, an ex-convict had alleged in the video powered by Martins Vincent Otse (a.k.a VeryDarkMan) that some unnamed officers of the EFCC collected the sum of N15,000,000 (Fifteen Million Naira) only from him to drop money laundering charges against him.
In a swift reaction, the EFCCs boss has constituted a team of Investigators to critically look into the allegations. To this end, the Commission hereby invites both Okuneye and Otse to make themselves available at its Lagos Directorate to assist investigators unearth the alleged bribery.
The 35th Guan Gong Cultural Tourism Festival kicked off on Monday in Guan Gong's hometown of Yuncheng city, Shanxi province, attracting over 1,000 domestic and international devotees.
The three-day event aims to pass on the culture of Guan Gong and promote national spirit.
In Chinese folklore, Guan Yu, a general from the late Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), also known as Guan Gong or Guan Di, stands as a revered figure and a superhero in the eyes of the Chinese people.
Around 30,000 Guan Gong temples are spread across approximately 168 countries and regions worldwide.
"Yuncheng will take the festival as a new starting point to promote the integrated development of culture and tourism," Wang Ligang, the city's deputy Party secretary, said at the opening ceremony. "We will continue to optimize cultural services and the supply mechanism of cultural products, aiming to develop the cultural tourism industry into a strategic pillar industry and a source of happiness for residents."
After the opening ceremony, devotees paid tribute at the Guan Gong Temple in Haizhou township, which has a history of over 1,400 years.
"I have been influenced by the culture of Guan Gong since I was young, and I come to worship the ancestral temple at least twice a year," said Wu Dongdong, a devotee from Quanzhou city, Fujian province. "The qualities of loyalty and integrity displayed by Guan Gong have had a major impact on my life."
A Guan Gong culture-themed symposium was held on Monday afternoon.
"Guan Gong embodies various excellent moral qualities," said Wang Juan, a professor from the Chinese Department of Peking University. "The devotees, domestic and abroad, who advocate Guan Gong's beliefs provide possibilities for dialogue, exchange and integration among various social strata."
Fu Wenyuan, director of the Haizhou Guandi Temple Cultural Relics Protection Institute said: "We will collaborate with relevant departments to accelerate the application for the declaration of Guan Sheng Cultural Sites as World Intangible Cultural Heritage."
"Furthermore, we are striving to develop Yuncheng into a research center for Guan Gong culture, a pilgrimage site for the spirit of Guan Gong and a cultural tourism destination for the loyalty and righteousness of Guan Gong," said Fu.
By John Owen Nwachukwu
The National Working Committee, NWC, of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, says it is set to suspend the Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo and his co-travelers.
The partys National Chairman, Chief Edozie Njoku, who addressed the press at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, said the governor has thwarted every move by the Supreme Court-recognized NWC to restore peace in the party and has continued with his anti-party activities.
Edozie said by Thursday, 26th September 2024, the NWC would announce the names of members of the party who has been suspended for anti-party activities, including the Governor of Anambra State, Soludo.
Ahead of the off-cycle governorship election in the state, the national chairman maintained that party has no sole candidate for the election. He doubted if Soludo could even emerge victorious from the partys primaries.
He said that anyone interested in becoming the governor of Anambra State should come forward and go through the process which, according to him, would be seamless.
If you remember, just about a week ago or two weeks ago, we just left the Court of Appeal where a stay was applied at the Court of Appeal to stay me being recognized by INEC despite the fact that the Supreme Court said in their own words that the removal of Chief Edozie Njoku as national chairman of APGA is not justiceable, he said.
They went to Awka and filed the suit, suddenly the the judge in Awka was very smart, and he pulled out of it. They came to the Federal High Court again. They filed another one behind our back, they were applying for an interim injunction behind the back of the national chairman of the party, behind the back of APGA, behind the back of the orders of the Court of Appeal, which asked that they should enforce the judgment as pay or affirm the enforcement of the judgment, as per the Buhari High Cour.
They went forward behind the back of APGA and INEC were very smart, and INEC have written that everything they said is not true.
The local government elections are going to take place in Anambra on the 28th but what we should understand about this is that Charles Soludo, the governor, I dont know, he should know that its a political system hes not an emperor.
He has gone forward to get the house of Assembly to adopt, to make a law whereby the party cannot field their candidates.
They went to the field and conducted something behind the back of the party, where they assembled certain people who are conducting anti party activities.
If you notice, the whole NWC are here, and a group of people are being suspended from the party. As you know, Ive been preaching peace, peace peace peace peace because its not in the interest of the party for us to start suspending elected officers, to start suspending a governor, to start suspending House of Assembly members, to start suspending the senator from Abia.
They are pushing us far to the limit, and they are believing that the governor of Anambra State is bigger than the party. No one is bigger than the party, and so maybe they are playing on that I want peace, that I will not change, even the beauty.
You will remember what the chairman of the bot said, that we the NWC, must take action so that we dont look like toothless Bulldogs.
This is a political party, and APGA is here to stay. We have 80% agreed on those people who are going to be suspended from the party. One of those people are the governor. And Im saying, are we going to just suspend the only Governor we have? But if the only Governor we have is pretending or playing to the gallery, making these people who are honest people go in and commit anti party activities.
We must nip this in the board. I dont know what Soludo is playing at. I dont know what his problem is, but he must conform himself under the party.
There was the talking tea kettle, the floating ball and spirit paintings.
Those magical moments of Omaha magician David P. Abbott will appear again with the purchase of the house of mystery where he once enthralled guests with four-hour shows in his parlor.
The renowned magician Teller, who helped write a two-volume set about Abbott and his home, purchased the house at 3316 Center St. and donated it to the Omaha Magical Society.
He and many other magicians, even the great escape artist Harry Houdini, have long been fascinated by Abbotts methods and how he tricked out his home to perform shows in the 1910s and 1920s.
The Omaha Magical Society will be in charge of returning the interior to that heyday.
It will be a tribute to David Abbott, said Dave Arch, executive director of the group. We have a vision of what we think its going to be.
Abbott, who died in 1934, became entranced with magic at a young age. He wrote a manuscript, David P. Abbotts Book of Mysteries, which was found in the house and published in 1977 by Walter Graham, a fellow magician and historian.
Abbott also wrote a book, Behind the Scenes with the Mediums (1907).
He lived in the Center Street house with his wife, Fannie, rigging rooms to allow him to perform illusions that are still in use by magicians today, Arch said.
He was a founding member of the Omaha Magical Society, which celebrated its 100th anniversary three years ago.
He was known for inventing the floating ball. You see these guys who hold a sphere on stage and let it go and float away. He invented the rigging to make it look beautiful, Arch said. The talking tea kettle, people would put the spout up to their ear and hear messages from the spirit world or some magic place. He had blank canvases that would turn into portraits of people who might be in his audience.
It may take some magic to turn the empty house into the vision the magical society hopes to create.
The group, which has 60 members, including several in southwest Iowa, will have to raise the funds to re-create the original decor and to rig it throughout to allow others to perform Abbotts routines.
The house, listed for $387,000, was sold by the Schrat family and is in great shape, Arch said.
Were giving ourselves 24 months, two years, Arch said. Were opening in summer of 2026.
The house will not have regular 9-to-5 hours. Arch said they plan to open to small groups only by appointment and for tours.
There could be periodic catered dinners where someone performs the same routines that Abbott did long ago.
Its all conceptual right now, he said.
Board President Steve Lindeman of Money Creek told the group about the purchase. Everyone was excited, Arch said.
To learn more, go to theomahamagicalsociety.org.
We made a little video for Teller that said, Thank you, Teller. They are still wrapping their heads around the fact we would own a house, Arch said.
U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts and state Sen. Rob Dover hosted a rally Thursday to mobilize support for their campaigns and a host of Republican causes both at the national and state levels.
Shanghai Disney Resort announced on Tuesday that it will make a significant adjustment before the end of the year by introducing a real-name ticketing policy, requiring visitors to provide the name on their valid government-issued IDs in order to purchase admission tickets.
A photo captures Shanghai Disneyland in autumn. [Photo courtesy of Shanghai Disney Resort]
Since its grand opening in 2016, a visitor to Shanghai Disney Resort could buy up to five tickets at one time using their own ID card, leading to clear loopholes for ticket scalping.
Once this new policy is implemented, each guest will be required to use their own government-issued ID to book an admission ticket, and a valid government-issued ID can only be used to purchase one ticket for the date of visit. When entering Shanghai Disneyland, each guest must bring and provide the valid government-issued ID that was used at the time of ticket purchasing. This policy also applies to guests purchasing the Shanghai Disneyland Annual Pass with each guest required to use their own government-issued ID to purchase their own annual pass. A valid government-issued ID can only be used to purchase a single annual pass.
The resort further noted that the new real-name ticketing policy will apply to all guests, including those eligible for special tickets such as children, seniors and guests with disabilities. To streamline the process of verification for children, a child's age will be the only criteria needed once this new ticketing procedure is in effect. Children from the age of 3 to 11 years old are eligible to purchase child tickets on the day of their visit to the park. Children under the age of 3 years old will receive free park admission.
Additionally, for Chinese mainland children who have not yet obtained an ID card, an acceptable ID certificate can be used to purchase a ticket and enter the park. Guests under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a guest who is 16 years of age or older in order to enter the park.
The official launch date and detailed ticket-purchasing guidelines will be announced closer to the policy's effective date, according to Shanghai Disney Resort's announcement for this new policy. Tickets or annual passes purchased before this date will not be affected. Shanghai Disney Resort stressed that this new policy aligns with its commitment to enhancing guest experience and supports the resort's ongoing collaboration with relevant government authorities to combat illegal activities that harm its reputation, business and normal operations.
In fact, real-name ticket purchasing requirements have been widely implemented and accepted across China for years, particularly in sectors with high visitor traffic such as popular tourist sites, cultural events and transportation, including railways and airlines. For instance, since 2015, the Palace Museum in Beijing has used real-name ticketing to combat ticket scalping. Similarly, 17 well-known tourist attractions in Shanghai as well as venues also require visitors to provide their real name in order to purchase tickets. This includes the Oriental Pearl Radio & TV Tower, the Shanghai Astronomy Museum and the Shanghai Natural History Museum.
Shanghai Disney Resort in their announcement for this new policy urged guests to only buy its products and services through official and authorized channels, warning that purchases from other sources are likely either counterfeit or fraudulent and could result in financial loss to the buyer.
The military ruled states in the Sahel, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali are seeking to acquire telecoms technology and remote-sensing satellites from Russia as they seek to counter the surge of terrorist activity.
Ministers from the three countries met officials from Russias aerospace agency Roscosmos in Malis capital, Bamako, on Monday, to discuss implementation plans, the BBC reported.
The Russian technology will help with border surveillance, the BBC cited Malis Finance Minister, Alousseni Sanou.
Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso last year formed the Alliance of Sahel States it was originally to boost military cooperation, but has since broadened.
They have hailed the remote-sensing satellite project as crucial for their security strategy, just days after Islamist militants attacked an airport in Bamako which is usually spared such assaults.
Burkina Fasos government just dropped a bombshell, claiming they have foiled a massive plot to destabilize the country. Its like something out of a spy thriller, complete with foreign conspirators, elaborate plans, and a dash of international intrigue.
Security Minister Mahamadou Sana took to the airwaves to spill the beans. The cast of villains? A motley crew of 14 named individuals, including junta opponents, ex-ministers, and even a couple of journalists. In addition, the mysterious Western intelligence officials lurking in the shadows.
According to Mahamadou Sana, this was not just some half-baked scheme. It is a three-phase master plan, with armed groups trained and paid to wreak havoc. Phase one? That deadly jihadi attack last month that left 100 dead. The sequel was supposed to target the presidential palace, a drone base, and an airport. For the grand finale, they planned attacks near the border of Cote dIvoire.
The plot allegedly roped in civil society bigwigs and economic operators. It is like they were trying to hit every sector of society.
The government is not messing around, launching a special anti-terrorist operation and warning that they are done playing nice. They are even calling on families to rat out their plotting relatives.
As Burkina Faso tries to sell this tale of narrowly avoided chaos, one question remains: Is this a genuine threat neutralized, or a convenient narrative to tighten control?
Italian oil company Eni announced on September 24 that it will begin onshore exploratory drilling in Libyas Ghadames Basin next month, with plans to launch an offshore drilling campaign in the Sirte Basin by the end of 2025.
Speaking at the Libyan-Italian roundtable in Rome, Martina Obizzi, President of the North Africa and Levant region at Eni, emphasized the importance of exploration activities in the energy sector. Exploration is a key pillar of the energy sector, Obizzi said, according to Energy Capital & Power. We have maintained our focus on Libya from an exploration standpoint and are eager to resume these activities as soon as possible, she added, highlighting that Libya holds over a billion undiscovered resources.
Eni is collaborating with British Petroleum and the Libyan Investment Authority to operate offshore exploration in Areas A and B of the Ghadames Basin.
The Libyan-Italian roundtable is also set to discuss the role of Italian companies in developing Libyas oil and natural gas sector, as well as the upcoming third edition of the Libya Energy and Economy Summit, scheduled for next year in Tripoli.
A high-level event, sponsored by Save the Children NGO, in collaboration with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), was held in New York this week on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly to address the systematic killing of Palestinian children and the destruction of educational infrastructure, which severely impedes the ability of UN agencies to fulfill their missions.
The event, titled Shattered Futures in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Childrens Perspectives, brought together a number of children from the Occupied Palestinian Territories to express their perspectives directly to decision makers. Palestinian children joined via video link humanitarians who have recently returned from Gaza, as well as representatives of several countries and United Nations agencies, for a discussion on the mental health, education, and protection needs of Palestinian children.
According to the International NGO Save the Childre, more than 1 million children in Gaza are at high risk of famine and children who survive the bombs, ground operations and displacement orders will die from hunger, dehydration and disease if humanitarian aid continues to be weaponised.
Participants underscored the critical need to address Israels unlawful actions, as recognized by the International Court of Justice and various UN General Assembly resolutions and stressed the importance of holding Israel accountable for its violations.
They also emphasized the necessity of recognizing the State of Palestine as part of a two-state solution, making it clear that true protection for Palestinian children depends on an immediate ceasefire, the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid, and an end to the Israeli occupation of all Palestinian territories.
Addressing the gathering, Save the Children International CEO Inger Ashing noted that the situation in the West Bank, is rapidly deteriorating and across the territory childrens rights to education is under siege.
Palestinian childrens wellbeing wherever they may be is gravely impacted. Living in a world of instability, economic crisis, repeated exposure to traumatic events, constantly fearing that their whole lives will be upturned at any time is creating a profound sense of hopelessness among many Palestinian children, she said.
Ashing also urged the guests and speakers in attendance to really listen carefully to what children have to say, to hear their calls, and to really ensure that we are all taking action to protect their rights not only to live but their rights to thrive.
Save the Children US President and CEO Janti Soeripto called for an immediate ceasefire, an end to attacks on education facilities, more resources to reconstruct schools, as well as the provision of psychosocial support for both students and teachers.
Soeripto also acknowledged that the lives of children throughout occupied Palestine have been shattered with no apparent end to the ongoing war and stated that the conflicting parties and the international community must do their utmost to end the violence and suffering and create the peaceful future that future generations deserve.
Other speakers at the event included Queen Rania of Jordan, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob, Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris, and UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
The Commonwealth of Dominica and the Republic of Sudan have expressed at the United Nations steadfast support for Moroccos full sovereignty over its entire Saharan territory, dealing a hard blow to the enemies of Moroccos territorial integrity.
The supportive stands were voiced during separate meetings held Tuesday in New York by Moroccan foreign Nasser Bourita with his Dominican and Sudanese peers on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly.
Following his talks with Bourita, Dominica FM Vince Henderson reiterated his countrys constant position backing Moroccos territorial integrity and sovereignty over the entire territory, including the Sahara.
He voiced his countrys support for the Autonomy plan offered by Morocco for the Sahara under its sovereignty, saying the proposed plan is the only credible, serious, and realistic solution to the Sahara regional conflict.
Mr. Henderson also praised the UN-led efforts engaged to find a realistic, practical and lasting solution to the Sahara issue, expressing attachment to the UN exclusive role in handling this issue.
For his part, Sudans top diplomat Hussein Awad Ali has reaffirmed his countrys strong support for Moroccos territorial integrity and sovereignty over its Sahara.
On his talks with Bourita, he said they discussed bilateral relations and several issues of common interests on the regional and international scene.
Is Deb Fischer in trouble back home? Photo: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The staid, conservative heartland state of Nebraska has been the unlikely locus of a lot of political drama this year. Off and on again, until they finally threw in the towel this week, key Republicans there led by the governor tried to change how the state distributes its five electoral votes. The current system awards a vote to winners of congressional districts, but Republicans tried to switch it to a winner-take-all system like that of 48 other states (Maine being the other exception). The net effect would have almost certainly been to give Donald Trump an extra electoral vote.
But its a different issue that is keeping Nebraska in the political news as Election Day approaches: stubborn evidence that two-term incumbent Republican senator Deb Fischer is in a much closer-than-anticipated race with independent candidate Dan Osborn.
Osborn was described by Slates David Faris as a Navy veteran who looks and sounds as if he were designed in a lab to reverse Democrats fortunes with noncollege educated white voters. Hes a big union guy and is pro-choice but is conservative on guns and immigration. More importantly, he has kept his distance from the unpopular national and state Democratic Parties (which arent fielding their own candidate against Fischer) and wont say with whom he would caucus if he wins. Hes benefiting somewhat from the strength of the indie brand in Nebraska; this is the state where the unicameral legislature is formally nonpartisan (though informally Republicans control it).
For whatever reason, Nebraskas sparse polling shows this race as far more competitive than you would expect, as The Hill reports:
[A] recent poll from SurveyUSA/Split Ticket showed Fischer running neck and neck with Osborn, raising eyebrows among political observers and leading some to wonder just how competitive the race might turn out to be.
An Osborn-sponsored YouGov survey released last month shows Fischer at 43 percent and Osborn at 41 percent, and a July poll from Red Wave Strategy Group/Impact Research puts the pair at 42 percent each
At some point, those of us who observe Nebraska politics are going to have to take seriously that this actually is a tight race, said Kevin Smith, a political science professor at the University of NebraskaLincoln. Im coming around to the view that maybe the race is on for that Senate seat, which is a little shocking, given that, in statewide races, Republicans have dominated for years and years.
The Fischer camp (which sponsored its own poll in July showing the incumbent comfortably ahead), scoffed at the idea shes in any trouble. She does have a robust fundraising lead and hasnt accepted Osborns debate challenges. It is a bit mysterious that she would be so vulnerable. Fischer is a largely colorless 73-year-old conventional conservative from a ranching background who won her original primary in 2012 when the two front-runners basically destroyed each other and went on to dispatch Nebraska Democratic legend Bob Kerrey easily in the general election. Still, shes had meh job-approval numbers in the past.
Its possible Fischers shaky numbers could lead to a national Republican rescue mission like the big effort the GOP made in 2014 in neighboring Kansas when Pat Roberts was running poorly against independent Greg Orman (Roberts wound up winning by ten points). By forcing Republicans to deploy resources theyd prefer to utilize in Senate battleground states like Montana or Ohio, Osborn could help Democrats nationally even if he loses while disdaining the Donkey Party.
But with or without an intervention, the odds are good that Fischer will prevail in the end. Presidential years in this era of robust straight-ticket voting arent the best environment for candidates who arent part of the presidential winners party in any given state. Trump won Nebraska by 25 points in 2016 and 19 points in 2020. All the Nebraska polls show a large undecided vote, and all other things being equal, undecideds tend to break against the party that controls the White House, particularly in down-ballot races with an incumbent running.
Aside from the Orman-Roberts race in Kansas, the best example of an indie backed quietly by Democrats making a race of it in a deep-red state was in 2022 in Utah, where Evan McMullin put a scare into incumbent GOP Senator Mike Lee. There were all sorts of special circumstances in that race: McMullen was a national symbol for Never Trump conservative Republicans, having won 22 percent of Utahs vote as an independent presidential candidate in 2016. By 2022, Lee had moved from being keeping his distance from Trump to being a Trump sycophant, which didnt go over well in Utah, whose LDS-majority electorate held a dim view of the 45th presidents personal character. Polls showed McMullin trailing Lee by under ten points. But in the end, party discipline held and Lee won by 11 points.
So the precedents dont bode well for an indie upset in Nebraska this year. It probably doesnt help Osborn either that the presidential campaigns are active in Nebraska, thanks to the second congressional districts EV-awarding status, which will boost partisan polarization statewide. And on top of everything else, Fischer shares a ticket with former governor Pete Ricketts in a special Senate election being held to complete the term of Ben Sasse, who resigned from the Senate last year; Ricketts is running against a weak Democratic candidate. So despite the close polls, the Cook Political Report and Sabatos Crystal Ball still rate the race as safely in the bag for Fischer. But its worth keeping an eye on Nebraska on Election Night, as the GOP cant afford a slipup in its drive to gain one net seat and flip the Senate.
Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, on September 12. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
When CNN reported last week that Mark Robinson, North Carolinas Republican lieutenant governor, had once called himself a black NAZI on a porn site, the political world came to one quick consensus: He was totally cooked in his race for governor. (Most of his staff promptly quit.) What was less obvious was how the news would budge the deadlocked presidential race there. At Kamala Harris campaign headquarters in Delaware, and on the ground in Raleigh, Democratic operatives saw a clear opportunity to gain an edge in a state only one Democrat has won at the presidential level since Jimmy Carter. When Priorities USA, an influential Democratic super-PAC, finished running its latest private North Carolina forecast on Sunday, just days after the CNN report, it had Harris at 50.3 percent and Trump at 49.7.
No one in Wilmington or Washington, let alone Charlotte, expects Harris to open up much of a lead in a state that often looks more burgundy than purple, but Harriss team began making aggressive moves to flood North Carolinians with reminders of Robinsons extremism, and his latest scandal, within hours of the news and to tie him to Donald Trump.
Along with Georgia, North Carolina represents the second-biggest electoral-vote haul of all the battlegrounds. Joe Biden, whod lost it by just over a point in 2020, set out to win it when he launched his 2024 campaign. His troops invested in an ambitious field and advertising operation there, recognizing it as the most obvious opportunity to flip a state Trump won four years ago. As Biden struggled, though, North Carolina slipped further from his grasp than any other core battleground; by the time he dropped out this summer, Trump held a seven-point lead there in the FiveThirtyEight polling average.
Its been a different story entirely since Harris took over the ticket. Since then, the same polling average has never shown a gap of more than one point between her and Trump. For over a year, the vice-president had been visiting the state regularly, occasionally at the invitation of Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat with whom she has been friends since they were both attorneys general. The national vibe shift in her favor was perhaps the most pronounced in North Carolina, where nearly 25,000 new volunteers have signed up since she became the nominee and voter registration has spiked, especially among women, and women of color in particular. (People who have spoken with Jen OMalley Dillon, the campaigns chair, say she appears especially eager to win the state back after losing it narrowly as Barack Obamas deputy campaign manager in 2012. Hed won it in 2008, when she was his battleground-states director.)
While Harriss political brain trust put North Carolina back on the front burner the week she took over for Biden, in their eyes Robinsons implosion has only made the opportunity more ripe. Its hardly one they can afford to pass up. The most important state this year is Pennsylvania, but her campaign does not believe it can count on winning it since its so close and both campaigns are pursuing it so aggressively. If she cant win Pennsylvania, shell very likely need either Georgia or North Carolinas 16 electoral votes to reach 270, and Georgia is looking like a tougher climb even though Biden won it in 2020. (A New York TimesSiena College poll this week had Trump up four in Georgia but just two in North Carolina.) Meanwhile, Trumps path back to the presidency is exceedingly difficult without North Carolina.
The two candidates and their running mates visited the state eight times in the first three weeks of September alone. And though Democrats have more ad money booked in North Carolina than Republicans in the home stretch of the race, its the only battleground where the Trump campaign itself has outspent Harriss since she got in the race, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
For months, the Harris team had been expecting a close race, and trying to win a close race, in the words of Dan Kanninen, the campaigns director of battleground states, building a campaign to fight for marginal votes. Much of the campaigns messaging already tied Robinson who was infamous for being a Holocaust denier and arguing that abortion is about killing the child because you werent responsible enough to keep your skirt down to Trump.
We knew this a year ago, we knew this a month ago: We recognize that Mark Robinson was the example of what Donald Trumps politics have done to the Republican Party and to America, Kanninen told me. Since last weeks revelations, less engaged voters have tuned in. It doesnt represent to me a shift in the imperatives or the strategy, but it does mean there is a hotter spotlight on that extremism, he said.
The Harris campaign didnt announce a new infusion of cash to North Carolina, but its immediate shift in attention and energy has been obvious to voters, activists, and operatives in the state. Pro-Harris forces wasted no time last week in trying to make sure hardcore Democrats, wavering independents, and conservatives associate Robinson with Trump and vice versa. The Democratic National Committee, for one, paid for billboards around the state showing the pair of Republicans together, highlighting Trumps extensive praise for Robinson (whom hes called Martin Luther King on steroids). Harriss campaign, too, started circulating an ad explicitly tying the pair together, showing footage of them side by side. Yet the ads focus isnt on Robinsons newly revealed comments, rather on his harsh right-wing views on abortion. On the ground, the Harris operation immediately started planning press events aimed at getting more coverage of Robinsons extreme views and, especially, his ties to Trump.
Since last week, Harris staffers have argued that Robinsons continued outrages help their cause with both Black voters and moderate white ones in the suburbs. For months, the campaign had been working on its appeal to the latter group by focusing largely on abortion, and by specifically reaching out to the nearly one-quarter of voters in the GOP primary in March who chose Nikki Haley over Trump. This group has been bombarded with reminders of Trumps and Robinsons far-right views, but also those of congressman Dan Bishop, the former sponsor of the states infamous HB2 anti-trans bathroom bill whos running for lieutenant governor, and Michele Morrow, the superintendent candidate who was at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and called for Barack Obamas execution. Now the Harris camp is turning up the volume on this messaging, previewing in a campaign memo that it would be specifically outlining how Trump and Robinson share a backing of abortion bans, their wish to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and their joint hope to gut the Department of Education.
As the campaign enters its final stretch, Wilmington is looking for even more ways to make sure its many staffers on the ground in North Carolina can disseminate the Robinson news and reminders of his Trump association to every last voter who may be undecided. This is when people start paying attention, and all of a sudden theres this conversation in real life, in stride, about the election. And thats where the presence weve had on the ground matters, Kanninen said.
Democrats imagined path to victory in North Carolina is straightforward but relies on maximum turnout from a few different groups and likely some Republican discouragement. Over the last decade, many liberal hopes for the state have rested on demographic change, especially on the influx of highly educated left-leaners moving in, particularly to big cities like Charlotte and Raleigh. Now Harris is hoping for higher margins of victory and blockbuster voting rates in those metropolitan areas. Yet she is also expected to rely largely on nearly two years of organizing work led by Anderson Clayton, the state partys 26-year-old chair, who has been adamant about building and maintaining a presence in rural and traditionally deep-red parts of North Carolina, too. The idea is not to win there, but to cut into Trumps margin of victory in places such as Statesville, the county seat of Iredell County, which Trump won by a two-to-one margin in 2020.
Still, most of their hope is pinned on gains in the fast-growing suburbs, where Democrats have been making particular inroads in recent years by focusing on the fall of Roe and MAGA extremism. The playbook worked to great effect in 2022, and even more in elections since then. Democratic operatives in the state point often to unexpected off-year party gains in local offices like flipping the mayors office in Huntersville and a state house seat in Cabarrus County, both outside of Charlotte as reason for optimism.
While many local Democrats insist they see no evidence of a serious Trump organizing plan, Harris has been running ads in Black-focused and Spanish-language media for months, and has established 26 field offices across the state. Among these are outposts in highly valuable suburbs like those in Cabarrus and Mecklenburg counties, and others in far more conservative areas like Gaston County, which Trump won by 28 points four years ago. (Catawba College professor Michael Bitzer told my colleague Benjamin Hart this week that the infrastructure is the most ambitious ground-game operation Ive seen since Obamas 08 campaign.) And Harriss operation is stacked with North Carolina experience: Kanninen, for one, helped run Hillary Clintons operation there in 2016, and has made sure this operation is more robustly organized across the state than Clintons had been. On the ground, Harriss team is led largely by veterans of Coopers campaigns and governors office, including senior advisers Scott Falmlen and L.T. McCrimmon, and Dory MacMillan, the campaigns state communications director.
Yet the irony is that Coopers repeated success in the state is one reason theres no clear consensus about how much Robinsons collapse will actually help Harris. The states voters have a decades-long history of electing Democratic governors along with Republican presidents Cooper, who was elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020 while the state twice went for Trump, is only the latest example.
Local operatives agree on how continued revelations about Robinsons past could theoretically help Harris: by convincing some undecided suburbanites of GOP madness, but mostly by discouraging conservatives from voting at all. Yet many are skeptical that this would necessarily translate up the ballot, especially if it seems like Attorney General Josh Stein, Robinsons opponent, will win easily and Robinson poses little threat. Plus, while many Democratic operatives close to Harris have firsthand experience in campaigns defeating Trump-inspired extremists, most are quick to acknowledge those candidates unpopularity seldom dents Trumps own appeal to his voters. In normal times, the Robinson thing would be a killer up and down the Republican ticket, said Bruce Thompson, a prominent Democratic lawyer in Raleigh. But since the CNN report, Its hard to feel a tide shift, because its going to be decided on the margins. Trump supporters have proven it does not matter what he does, or who hes associated with. Still, Thompson said, theres always a good chance that some groups of Republicans get frustrated and dont show up.
Republicans have mostly scoffed at the idea that Robinson could bring Trump down. But the former president himself isnt taking any chances.
Just two days after Robinson was revealed to have called himself a Nazi and advocated for reinstating slavery, Trump touched down in Wilmington. Robinson had been at Trumps side in his appearances in the state for months, and spoke at Trumps convention in Milwaukee. This time, though, Robinson wasnt invited and Trump never mentioned his name.
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Few politicians had a rougher 2022 midterm election cycle than Mondaire Jones, who faced newly steep competition in his district north of New York City after a tumultuous state redistricting process, then ran unsuccessfully for a new seat in Brooklyn. As Jones makes a bid for his former House seat this year and as Democrats try to regain their majority he has laid blame for the partys lackluster midterm performance at the feet of the states party leaders, including Governor Kathy Hochul.
In an interview with The New Yorker published on Wednesday, Jones said that gross incompetence from Democrats in Albany was to blame for the midterm results and appeared to suggest that former governor Andrew Cuomo, who was known for his controlling personality, might have been better at keeping the party on track during that election cycle. (Notably, Cuomo nominated the Court of Appeals judges who voted ultimately against the state legislatures aggressive gerrymander, which could have netted Democrats even more seats.)
I want my Democratic governor of New York to be a political animal I want them to maximize Democratic power, Jones said. I want my Democratic governor of New York to be Nancy Pelosi, O.K.? And not some, like, little bitch who is afraid to stick his or her neck out.
Despite specifically naming the states highest office, which Hochul currently occupies, Jones insisted that she wasnt his target. By the way, Im not talking about any specific person, he told the outlet.
But after the interview was published, the New York Times reported that Jones had called Hochul Tuesday night to apologize for his comments which he confirmed in a statement to the outlet. While I was not talking about the Governor, and made clear during the interview that I was not referring to the Governor, I should have chosen my words more wisely, Jones said. I have spoken with the Governor and apologized for this distraction.
When asked by Politico about Joness comments Wednesday, Hochul acknowledged that he called her and said she accepted the former congressmans apology. The governor said she hasnt read the New Yorker piece, but said she didnt take Joness words as an attack against her.
If Jones was indeed airing frustrations about Hochul, hes hardly the first to do so. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom Jones name-checked in his own comments, has made no attempts to hide how she feels about the governors midterm performance. In a 2023 interview with the New York Times Maureen Dowd, Pelosi suggested that the state partys mishandling of the issue of crime played a key role in their midterm losses, saying it needed to be dealt with early on, not 10 days before the election.
The governor didnt realize soon enough where the trouble was, Pelosi added.
Pelosi, whose is known for her political savviness, continued to point to the losses in New York a year later. During a Politico event during the Democratic National Convention last month, she attributed the party losing to the House to five seats in New York, pointing to Hochuls 2022 governors race where crime became the defining issue of that cycle. Though the former Speaker cites New York, Republicans were also able to flip a similar number of House seats in California, Pelosis home state, in that same election cycle.
Hochul has pushed back against that characterization. Ill tell you this. No governor in the history of the state of New York has worked harder to elect members of Congress than I have, Hochul said in an August interview on MSNBCs Morning Joe. We are going to win this on the ground because I know how to do this. I now have the chance to focus on this.
With November approaching, the party is hoping to flip back as many of the now Republican-held House seats as possible. Currently, Cook Political Report ranks the races for the districts held by Congressmen Anthony DEsposito, Marc Molinaro, and Joness rival Mike Lawler as toss-ups.
The new Sam's Southern Eatery that opened near downtown Opelika on Sept. 5 offers Cajun-style seafood, chicken and other classic Southern dishes.
The new location at 1006 First Ave. is the latest expansion into the state of Alabama for the business. Michael Kalel, the regional manager for Sam's Southern Eatery, said they focus on their customers' needs and keep them coming back.
"You have to give them good service and good food and just appreciate their business, because a customer has a choice and an option to go anywhere they like," Kalel said.
Kalel said that Sam's has a policy at all locations to give customers and extra piece in their orders, like giving seven shrimp in a six-piece shrimp order.
The business started in Shreveport, La. in 2008 and has grown to over 100 locations across 15 states. Kalel first got started with the company in 2010 as a scout for future locations. He said as the business expanded, he wanted to do more and his role within the company grew. Looking back on the growth, Kalel turned attention back to the customers and said they are the key.
"It's a good thing when you can make people happy, give them their moneys worth and give them quality of food. People appreciate that. These days, everybody's pretty much watching their dollars. We keep our prices down," Kalel said. "People know when you give them good food and you give them good prices, and they give you a business."
Kalel said the first location they opened in Alabama was in Mobile three years ago. Since then, they have opened restaurants in Selma, Eufaula, Enterprise and Montgomery. He said they hope to open about 20 locations across Alabama.
When choosing Opelika, they had an agent in the area show them the location and Kalel said it was a good fit. He said he liked the town and the building they were moving into at 1006 First Ave. was previously a restaurant so there was not much work that needed to be done to get the building ready for opening.
Kalel said the community response since opening has been very good, but their biggest challenge has been on the employment side and he asked customers to be patient with the restaurant. He said they like to hire local people when opening their restaurants.
The Sam's Southern Eatery in Opelika is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. It's also open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays. For more information on Sam's Southern Eatery in Opelika, you can follow the restaurant on Facebook. For more information on the company, visit www.samssoutherneatery.com.
The parking lot of the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center will be filled with various makes and models of electric vehicles on Oct. 2 as part of a national campaign to raise awareness about the benefits of driving an EV.
The "Auburn/Opelika Area Drive Electric Alabama National Drive Electric Week EV Showcase" will be at the Gogue Performing Arts Center. The event will feature EV owners showcasing their vehicles and being able to answer questions about costs savings, affordability, performance and other EV-related subjects, according to Drive Electric Alabama.
"The very best way to get educated about EVs is to learn from the people who drive them every day," said Michael Staley, the president of the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition. "Some EV owners love to talk about the cost savings of owning an EV. Others love talking about the instant torque an EV has, which makes them extremely fun to drive. We hope to see students and community members check out the EVs on display and talk to the owners."
Staley plans to display his all-electric 2024 Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck at the event.
The event is sponsored by the Drive Electric Alabama Auburn Chapter, and its the fourth straight year an EV showcase has been held on the campus of Auburn University to celebrate National Drive Electric Week. The Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition has helped coordinate the four events going on across Alabama to mark National Drive Electric Week.
If you want to know more about EVs, why wouldnt you want to talk actual EV owners? Staley said. "As more and more EVs are on Alabamas roads, it makes sense for everyone to learn more about these cars and trucks."
Auburn's EV showcase was originally scheduled for Sept. 25 and was set to be the first of four showcases across the state of Alabama. There are EV showcases in Birmingham, Huntsville, and Foley that are all scheduled for Sept. 28 at varying times. Staley plans to attend the event in Birmingham as well and will have a tail-gaiting set-up
Staley said that a majority of Alabamians have never driven an electric vehicle and the showcase puts a wide variety of them on display.
"Whats amazing about these EV showcases is that people can some see the wide variety of EVs available, from SUVs to full-sized pick-up trucks to luxury cars, and talk to the people driving them every day," Staley said. "I encourage anyone who wants to know more about EVs, especially if youre thinking about buying one for your next vehicle purchase, to attend one of the four EV showcases around the state."
All of the events are free and open to the public. National Drive Electric Week is meant to spread the word about the many benefits of electric vehicles. Drive Electric Alabama is a statewide education platform dedicated to improving the state through the adoption of electric vehicles. According to the news release, EVs can create Alabama-based jobs, save money and make peoples lives more convenient. You can learn more about the program at driveelectricalabama.com.
Chinese home appliance giant Haier held a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday for the second phase of its industrial park in Egypt in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo.
The Haier Egypt Ecological Park is invested by Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Haier Group. Once fully built, the park will cover an area of 200,000 square meters and have an annual production capacity of more than 1.5 million units of home appliances.
The second phase of the project, with an investment of about 40 million U.S. dollars, will mainly produce refrigerators and freezers.
During the ceremony, Zhou Yunjie, chairman and CEO of Haier Group, said the first batch of products manufactured in the first phase of the park have been exported to Kenya in July. After the second phase of the project becomes operational, it will further help Egypt's manufacturing industry to go global.
Egyptian Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Hassan El Khatib said Haier is the first Chinese enterprise to obtain a Golden License (Comprehensive Approval) from the Egyptian government, which makes it a role model for foreign enterprises investing in the Egyptian market.
Zhang Tao, minister and deputy chief of mission of the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, said that the success of the first phase of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park has attracted more Chinese enterprises to invest and set up factories in Egypt, which promoted the upgrading of Egypt's home appliance manufacturing industry, created jobs, trained outstanding talents, and increased Egypt's foreign exchange incomes.
The first phase of the industrial park was inaugurated in May, with trial production of air-conditioners, televisions, and washing machines.
I hope this means her rewrite isnt going as well as it seems!
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sounds like the gods are crazy
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the stars may be blind but they certainly aren't deaf!
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Is anyone checking for her? Without her name I doubt her career as a DJ would have taken off.
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I don't know, a lot of gen z that's hell bent on bringing aspects of 90's/early aughts fashion has seemed to completely bypass her problematic elements and are into her in a way that I don't know is ironic or not. Like some flock to buy Juicy Couture stuff and her fragrances.
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Paris's lack of success in music kinda proves that even money can't buy you success. Nostalgia or even a revisionist history didn't help her either.
Talent, right place/right time, business smarts, luck really are the key factors in an artists's success.
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I don't understand why she's doing this. She's not talented nor do I believe that she has a passion for music and she has mountains of money. Just go live your life or get another reality show if you want.
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She's getting a new show with Nicole lol
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Checking to see if this was the album Rina was on and it is, but I'm surprised to see Megan Thee Stallion on here too???
Sia and Meghan Trainor make sense though.
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The one with Megan is actually her single of the album
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Now if only Billboard can add the multiple variant scam to fraudulent sales
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You gotta make the fraud a little more believable. Why would you mass buy your own album in the second week when 99% of albums fall down the charts (vs. rising like hers was going to) instead of in the first week?
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I feel like her husband did this? He's pinging for me for some reason lmao
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I didn't even know she had 1 album. I didn't know she sang or whatever.
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Why are the most obnoxious people using the cool Y2K Frutiger Aero aesthetic for their flop albums. Leave that to people we don't hate.
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It's not Frutiger Aero, just AI slop. She and Nicki are the most egregious examples, especially Nicki with that whole "Gag City" crap the twitter twinks were twirling out
Unironically Zara Larsson has done the best with FA aesthetic w/ "Symphony" but she didn't even start that, the y2k aesthetic was thrust upon her bc memes lol
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I usually listen to FM radio on the way to work in the morning and it's so awkward when there's ads for like local repairs, weight loss clinics, car dealerships, and then "Hey...It's Paris Hilton. Check out my new single ...." she is really trying.
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am I seeing things or does she only have 4 fingers on her left hand. I know ai can't do hands right
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Youre so right
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oh my god you are so right (and thanks to the commenter above me for zooming in). I think I'll start paying attention to this stuff now, this is the second time in 24 hours because someone else pointed out the 6 fingers in the new MCU poster
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HYBE Kpop companies shaking in their chanclas as we speak
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One things that's crazy about her rewrite are the lies that can easily be proven false. Like the character. You didn't make the Paris Hilton character from day 1 of The Simple Life filming. We can see that's false bc the most we have ever seen you be yourself on camera, besides the bigot videos, was season 1 of The Simple Life. You even spoke in your real voice about 98% of the time.
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i only knew this album existed because an ad for it kept popping up on my twitter feed.
And a podcast i listen had the commercial Paris reads for it every episode.
Anyway, her first album is dope. Maybe its nostalgia for that era of pop music, too.
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I didn't realize Paris also had a song called Turn it Up, like Kim Kardashian lol.
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Kim put out music?
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But it's not playing near me and this isn't something worth it to me to drive an hour to a theater playing it, not when The Wild Robot is out, too.
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I can't wait for this to bomb catastrophically lmao but guarantee the worst person you know is excited to see this film
Edited at 2024-09-25 10:39 am (UTC)
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Damn, call me out, sis!
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Nathalie Emmanuel? :(
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Oh baby no what is she doing.
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I'm uncivilized, a savage when it comes to cinema, but in my mind, Coppola and DeNiro made a living out of doing the same movie over and over again and this is the same boring misogyn wank again. I'm especially qualified to say this because I've never even bothered to see one of their movies.
Shoot me.
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Is everyone just pretending that Francis Ford Coppola isn't accused of sexually harassing women on the set of this movie?
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this would be the first time i've read this tbh!
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I didn't want them to say it's some woke movie were above politics in making of the film.
I dont understand this quote and how it squares with the central messages and themes of this film. I get that he casted Jon Voight and thats probably what he is alluding to when he says that he wanted to cast people who disagree politically. But the film itself is very political, isnt it?
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I believe Shia's in it as well.
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Ooh, is Shia conservative? I admittedly dont follow him at all.
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He physically and emotionally abuses women.
Edited at 2024-09-25 02:15 pm (UTC)
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Ah, so trash then. Understood.
Seems like would get along famously with Coppola.
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+ Dustin Hoffman
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What I see is a bunch of old, mostly white men with a bunch of young, mostly white women in questionable dresses. The words are another thing to take issue with, but I'm here on ONTD so I'll read the bold text and move on because who has time for the BS?
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Aubrey looks like she's about to take the stand at the trial for the murderer of her husband only she's the one who actually killed him
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For the longest time, I thought this was supposed to be a remake / interpretation of "Metropolis" (Fritz Lang, 1927) and a bit huffy that he thinks he can beat that cinematic monolith. And with the name of this film, the surrounding narrative of it being gargantuan, decades in the making, FFC's life dream, expected to never could be made after all... it made sense. Now I read the summary, and it's something completely different, that honestly sounds pretty uninspired, oops. Am I the only one who hallucinated a Metropolis/Megalopolis resemblance, or was it calculated marketing? lol
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You're definitely onto something. I haven't seen this film but I'm pretty sure he was at least partially inspired by Metropolis. Wouldn't be surprised if he wanted this to be as iconic and ground-breaking as Metropolis, too.
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We've seen all three of these men on Q&A panels before, but as soon as we saw it was all three of them together, my husband was like "oh boy" under his breath. Chaotic group! Robert DeNiro's ability to bring up Trump in literally any Q&A he does is genuinely incredible. And you definitely want Spike Lee as your hype man, because he is passionate as fuck, but he has a hard time keeping a train of thought. I'd love to sit in on one of his NYU classes, lol.
At so many points during this movie, I thought that Aubrey Plaza was [ Spoiler (click to open) ] channeling Janet Snakehole, and the way she's dressed here kind of confirms intentionality with that. My Old Ass - over this one! We saw the simulcast of this and the movie afterward, and both were funny in ways I am sure they were not intended to be.We've seen all three of these men on Q&A panels before, but as soon as we saw it was all three of them together, my husband was like "oh boy" under his breath. Chaotic group! Robert DeNiro's ability to bring up Trump in literally any Q&A he does is genuinely incredible. And you definitely want Spike Lee as your hype man, because he is passionate as fuck, but he has a hard time keeping a train of thought. I'd love to sit in on one of his NYU classes, lol.At so many points during this movie, I thought that Aubrey Plaza wasDefinitely recommend seeing her other movie in theaters right now -- over this one!
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I'm basically going because I want to see eye candy and beautiful art direction, plus I have to admit I have a soft spot for people's passion projects when they get older. Does it at least deliver on that front?
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Definitely some unique visuals, to be sure! And if those are your reasons to see it, you should definitely go, just with moderate expectations.
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The visuals are the definite draw but the story sounds interesting enough. While there's some questionable folks in this there's also a lot I like, and now that you told me there's unintentional lols to be had I'm excited.
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I had the trailer thrust upon me the last time I went to the theater, and honestly it just looks like Ayn Rand fanfic. Atlas Shrugged, Part *checks notes* 4?
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What the fuck does this mean? Is he saying Trump will win?
"...America is wrong, and they're about to go through the same experience for the same reasons that Rome lost its Republic and ended up with an emperor. [...] this is going to happen in a few months."
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Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, liquefied natural gas (LNG) has become the swing emergency energy supply around the globe. This is because it does not require lots of time and money to construct the infrastructure associated with energy transported through pipelines. Given its increasing importance in the smooth functioning of the worlds economies, it has also become a vital political weapon for key buyers and suppliers, which have been angling since 2022 to position themselves most advantageously in the global LNG market. Enormous strides in production have been made by the U.S. in this regard, which jumped from zero production before 2016 to becoming the worlds largest LNG exporter in 2023. Without similarly large recoverable gas reserves, China has sought to secure its future LNG supplies through multiple long-term deals with major producers around the world, most notably in the Middle East, in addition to Russia. For the U.S. and its allies, developing additional long-term LNG supply relationships has been difficult, but Egypt remains a key prospect. Consequently, new initiatives are being worked on to ensure that the countrys current financial problems do not jeopardise this broader Western energy strategy.
For the West, Egypt is designated as a critical ally in the Middle East and North Africa region for two key reasons one related to energy, and the other to geopolitics. On the energy side, over and above its modest oil reserves of around 3.3 billion barrels, it has conservatively estimated gas reserves of around 1.8 trillion cubic metres (Tcm). It is also the only country in the Eastern Mediterranean gas hotspot region with operational LNG export capacity and is consequently ideally placed to become the top regional export hub for the gas. Crucially as well is that its geographic positioning means that it controls the major global shipping chokepoint of the Suez Canal, through which around 10 percent of the worlds oil and LNG is moved. It also controls the vital Suez-Mediterranean Pipeline, which runs from the Ain Sokhna terminal in the Gulf of Suez, near the Red Sea, to Sidi Kerir port, west of Alexandria in the Mediterranean Sea. This is a crucial alternative to the Suez Canal for transporting oil from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. The Suez Canal importance to the global energy sector is further boosted by the fact that it is one of the very few major transit points that is not controlled by China. Specifically, Beijing already has effective control over the Strait of Hormuz through the all-encompassing Iran-China 25-Year Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement, as first revealed anywhere in the world in my 3 September 2019 article on the subject and also analysed in full in my latest book. The same deal also gives China a hold over the Bab al-Mandab Strait, through which commodities are shipped upwards through the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal before moving into the Mediterranean and then westwards. This has been achieved as it lies between Yemen (the Houthis having long been supported by Iran) and Djibouti (over which China has also established a stranglehold through debts connected to its multi-generational power-grab project - the Belt and Road Initiative).
Related: BP Looks to Boost Its Presence in India
From a geopolitical perspective, Egypt holds a unique position in the Middle Eastern and Arabic world. For decades, it has been seen by the Arab world as the leading proponent of the Pan-Arab ideology that believes enduring strength can only be found in the political, cultural, and socioeconomic unity of Arabs that emerged after the two World Wars. The philosophys most powerful recent proponent was Egypts president from 1954 to 1970, Gamal Nasser. Among the most palpable signs of this movement at the time was the formation of the United Arab Republic union formed between Egypt and Syria from 1958 to 1961, the formation of OPEC in 1960, the series of conflicts with neighbouring Israel over the period, and then the 1973/74 oil embargo, as also detailed in my latest book on the new global oil market order. By bringing this leader of the Arab world on side, the U.S. and its allies hope to offset the negative geopolitical impact of long-term ally Saudi Arabia having been lost to the China-Russia bloc. Politically and historically, Egypt is at least as much of a leader in the Arab world as Saudi Arabia has ever been.
It was predominantly for these twin reasons that there has been a flood of Western firms making deals in Egypt in recent years, especially after 24 February 2022. Chevron was the key U.S. operator on the ground from the start, with an announcement in December 2022 that it had hit at least 99 billion cubic metres of gas with its Nargis-1 exploration well in the eastern Nile Delta, about 60 kilometres north of the Sinai Peninsula. Following that, an announcement came of the discovery with Italys Eni of a potentially huge offshore gas field in its concession area in the Red Sea focused on the Nargis-1 well. This augmented its already significant presence in the broader Eastern Mediterranean through its operation of the massive Leviathan and Tamar fields in Israel and the Aphrodite project in offshore Cyprus. In July, it was reported that Eni is also planning to drill two new wells in the huge Zohr field in the second half of 2025, with investments estimated at US$160 million. This beachhead has since been used by several other of its allies major international oil companies, most notably Great Britains Shell and BP. The latter said that it will invest US$3.5 billion in the exploration and development of Egypts gas fields in the coming three years. This amount could be doubled if the exploration activity yields new discoveries. Meanwhile, Shell began the development of the tenth phase of Egypts Nile Delta offshore West Delta Deep Marine (WDDM) concession in the Mediterranean Sea. This came after the British firm and its partner had developed the previous nine development phases of the WDDM concession that
comprises 17 gas fields. The same Shell-led consortium has also agreed to begin the 11th phase of the WDDM.
Ironically, this wave of development has exacerbated Egypts hard currency problems. Egypt owes Eni over US$1.25 billion for costs related to its energy developments, according to industry sources. However, the countrys ability to pay it off has been hit the 60 percent or so devaluation in the Egyptian pound since March this year. That said, Egypt remains too important to the U.S. and its allies from the energy and geopolitical perspectives to let it slide further into economic crisis. Indeed, the country was allowed on 6 March to expand its US$8 billion financial support package with the IMF and there remain further offers of financial aid open from the World Bank and from the E.U. Given these assurances, 19 September saw Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announce that the country aims to restore normal production at its natural gas fields by next summer.
In this vein and to further consolidate its position as a key regional energy transport and trade hub in the meantime, 23 September saw a statement from Egypts Ministry of Petroleum that it is working on ways to accelerate the development and production plans for natural gas and crude oil fields with Eni. Both sides have also recently discussed the progress of the Italian firms fields in the eastern Mediterranean region, including connecting the Cronos Gas Field in Cyprus to the Egyptian facilities on the Mediterranean coast and then re-transporting the gas to foreign markets.
By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, recently declared he will defeat the Taliban no matter the odds.
For Massoud to mount a military threat to the Taliban, he would need the cooperation of the Central Asian republics, Iran or Pakistan (among others) to do the job. However, Afghanistans neighbors have no interest in another civil war in Afghanistan, as the violence and refugees would spill over their borders and cause economic dislocation and unrest all the way to Europe.
After two decades of U.S.-sponsored mayhem in the Hindu Kush, all the region wants is to recoup the missed opportunities of the lost decades of 2001-2021.
None of Afghanistans neighbors prefer the Taliban to any other group, and they object to the regimes unrepresentative government and policies toward women. That said, their leaders must solve todays problems despite their distaste for the Talibans retrograde ways.
The republics approach?to Kabul has long been neighbors forever or, for the pessimists, captives of geography. Kazakhstan removed the Taliban from its terrorist list in December 2023; Uzbekistan never declared the Taliban an extremist group, and in 2018 it publicly encouraged the Taliban to start negotiations with the Islamic Republic. Turkmenistan was mum on the topic of the Taliban in line with its policy of?permanent neutrality. In September 2024, the chief of Tajikistans security service visited Kabul for talks that were described as productive, and the same month the Kyrgyz Republic removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations.
Afghanistan and its Central Asian neighbors are collaborating to ease trade and transport; renovate Afghanistans roads and railroads; help Afghanistan improve irrigation projects; ship natural gas from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India; build a railroad from Uzbekistan to Pakistans seaports; and build a multi-modal transport corridor from Kazakhstan to Pakistan, terminating in the United Arab Emirates.
Related: U.S. and Canada to Discuss Claims Over Oil-Rich Arctic Seabed
Economic growth depends on an adequate supply of water; Afghanistans Hindu Kush mountains form the headwaters of the regions basins.
In March 2022, the Taliban launched construction of the 285-km Qosh Tepa canal, which will divert 10 billion cubic meters of water annually from the Amu Darya River, relied on by water-starved Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. They will suffer a 15 percent cut in the current supply. The project will cost $684 million, but it will irrigate 2100 square miles and create 250,000 jobs. Kabul feels it is critical to ensure food security for the emirate.
Tashkent and Ashgabat are unhappy with the project, but the Uzbeks offered technical assistance to Afghanistan to ensure the construction is in accordance with international norms. Now is a good time to consider inviting Afghanistan to join Central Asias regional water management organization, the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination of Central Asia.
Afghanistan also has unresolved water issues with Iran and Pakistan; those projects would be endangered, or further delayed, by a civil war.
According to the United Nations, there are now 7.6 million Afghans in Iran and Pakistan, most of them refugees. In 2023, Pakistan expelled over 540,000 Afghan refugees, and the next phase of the plan may see 800,000 more Afghans deported. Increased violence will likely reverse these flows and burden Iran and Pakistan, who cannot afford to support the refugees they have now.
China recently warned Pakistan it must get control of the violence that is endangering the $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor . More violence north of the Durand Line will further delay the corridor, which may be seen as a strategic win in Washington but will hurt Central and South Asia.
In April 2022, the Taliban banned poppy cultivation and methamphetamine production. This benefits Iran, which has the highest rate of opium abusers in the world, according to the World Health Organization. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, More than 3,700 national law enforcement officials have been killed and over 12,000 have been maimed in counter-narcotics operations over the last three decades.
Thats good news, but if Afghanistan must fund a war against groups like the National Resistance Front (and its foreign confederates), the ban on drugs may go by the wayside.
In fact, if the Taliban suspect a foreign hand in an attack, will it encourage al-Qaeda and the Islamic State to strike foreign targets? Sure, that will violate the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan, where the Taliban agreed Afghan soil will not be used against the security of the United States and its allies, but the Taliban will note the Americans pledged, The United States and its allies will refrain from the threat or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Afghanistan or intervening in its domestic affairs.
Is the Taliban isolated? No, Seventeen countries, including every country that borders Afghanistan plus the European Union, maintain a diplomatic presence in Kabul. Aaron Zelin reports between August 2021 and February 22, 2024 the Taliban has publicly announced 1,382 diplomatic meetings with at least eighty countries. China and the United Arab Emirates have accepted the credentials from Taliban ambassador to their capitals.
Pragmatism may be winning, regardless what governments or their citizens think of Taliban policies.
After Shohna ba Shohna (Shoulder to Shoulder) proved weak, it is time for the locals to lead, though Washington and Brussels can help by facilitating diplomatic and economic support of beneficial projects. The Americans, in particular, will need a broad aperture to understand the needs and opportunities of the region instead of obsessing about what might have been.
The defeat of the U.S. and NATO may have seen the end of the era of empires in Central Asia and Afghanistan, after the Russian Empire (1713-1917), the British interventions (1839-1919), the Soviet empire (1917-1991), and the American empire (2001-2021).
Some questionable characters will make a few bucks along the way, but thats the price of repairing the damage caused by the crusade to reform Afghan culture as part of Washingtons post 9/11 war on terror, the first grand global experiment of the twenty first century.
By James Durso
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The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, a group of institutional investors with a total of $9.5 trillion assets under management, said on Wednesday that its members have on average reduced their absolute financed greenhouse gas emissions by more than 6% annually, consistent with 1.5C-aligned pathways.
The alliance, launched in 2019 at the UN Secretary-Generals Climate Action Summit in New York, today issued a call to action to governments to respond with urgency on systemic climate risk.
Alliance members have consistently demonstrated high climate ambition through their intermediate targets and have shown credible progress on climate implementation, the group said in a statement.
The newest data reveals that, consistent with 1.5C-aligned pathways, Alliance members have on average reduced their absolute financed greenhouse gas emissions by more than 6% annually.
However, achieving net-zero commitments by 2050 depends on policy and the real economy keeping pace. Policies currently in place put the world on track for a 2.4C2.6C temperature rise by the end of the century, according to the alliance.
This group of investors, theyre doing their part in achieving the Paris Agreement, and if everyone was doing the same we would actually be making progress, Remco Fischer, climate lead at the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), told Bloomberg in an interview on Wednesday.
The alliance on Wednesday called on governments to phase out all unabated existing coal-fired electricity generation following 1.5C pathways and design and implement Paris Agreement-aligned equitable carbon pricing mechanisms.
The investor group also calls for scaling blended finance to facilitate global finance flows to emerging markets and development economies (EDMEs), which are particularly vulnerable to climate change.
The 88 current members of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance have committed to transitioning their investment portfolios to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, in line with their duties to manage material financial and investment risks.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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BlackRock expects the AI boom and data centers to drive a 50% jump in energy consumption in the Asia Pacific region over the next decade, a senior executive at the worlds largest asset manager said on Wednesday.
The need for data centers over the next five years is going to be double what is currently in the markets, Brad Kim, BlackRocks Asia Pacific managing director for global infrastructure funds, told a media briefing, as carried by Bloomberg.
[O]verall energy consumption will increase by about 50% in the next 10 years across Asia Pacific, the executive added.
Technology giants have already started to secure long-term power contracts in Asia, where electricity and overall energy demand are rising and will rise more than previously expected, due to the demand for data centers and AI development.
Last month, Microsoft signed a deal to buy all the solar power from a project in Singapore as the tech giant seeks to achieve its goal of having 100% of its electricity consumption, 100% of the time, matched by zero-carbon energy purchases by 2030.
Microsoft has signed an agreement with EDP Renewables, a Spain-based company, to buy 100% percent of the renewable energy exported to the grid from EDP Renewables SolarNova 8 project in Singapore.
Asia will present huge opportunities for investment in infrastructure, including in energy infrastructure, as the AI boom unfolds, BlackRock says.
Every client we speak to is interested in investing in infrastructure, specifically energy transition and digital related infrastructure, Charlie Reid, head of APAC renewable power investments at BlackRock, said, as quoted by Bloomberg.
Earlier this month, BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, Microsoft, and MGX launched a new AI partnership to invest in data centers and support power infrastructure. The partnership will initially seek to unlock $30 billion of private equity capital over time from investors, asset owners, and corporates, which in turn will mobilize up to $100 billion in total investment potential when including debt financing.
Mobilizing private capital to build AI infrastructure like data centers and power will unlock a multi-trillion-dollar long-term investment opportunity, said Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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The climate pledge for early closure of coal-fired power plants in emerging economies is already behind schedule as the deadline for the shutdown of a coal plant in Indonesia has lapsed.
Earlier this year, the G7 energy and climate ministers pledged, in a first-ever consensus commitment, to phase out existing unabated coal power generation in energy systems during the first half of the 2030s.
G7 and other developed economies have also set up Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) with many developing economies to create conditions for attracting financing to help countries such as Indonesia, South Africa, Senegal, and Vietnam retire early coal-fired power generation as part of a shift away from fossil fuels.
In South Africa, Eskom, the state-owned utility, has received government approval to keep five of its old polluting coal power plants operational for five years after the country implements a limit on plants emissions in 2025, amid power supply constraints.
So the developed economies and development banks were betting on the beginning of early retirement of coal plants in Indonesia.
Under a non-binding agreement signed at the COP28 summit in Dubai at the end of last year, the 660-megawatt coal-fired power plant Cirebon-1 in Indonesia was expected to be retired almost 7 years earlier than scheduledin December 2035 instead of the original July 2042. This was the result of discussions with the plants owners and the Government of Indonesia under the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) program of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
However, the July 2024 deadline for agreeing to shorten the power plants life to 2035 passed without any deal being signed, officials told Reuters.
Indonesia, where a new government is taking office next month, is concerned about the higher costs of replacing coal power with renewables in the form of subsidies.
Separately, state-owned power company PLN has recently said that it would need 2.4 gigawatts (GW) of renewable electricity to compensate for the early retirement of the Cirebon 1 coal power plant.
Moreover, Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, is still awaiting a large part of the $20 billion funding it was promised by the richest nations to facilitate its move away from coal.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilpirce.com
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Norways Equinor has shut down operations at its Titan platform in the Gulf of Mexico, Reuters reports, a day after evacuating non-essential personnel as a Tropical Cyclone System moves towards Florida, where it is expected to turn into a massive hurricane by Thursday.
Despite the precautionary oil and gas shut-ins in the Gulf of Mexico, oil prices were downwardly explosive on Wednesday, losing as much as 3% by 12:36 p.m. ET on China stimulus uncertainty and U.S. stockpiles.
Earlier on Wednesday, reports suggested that the specific threat to the Gulf of Mexicos oil platforms had eased, somewhat reducing jitters over potential supply disruptions from a venue that accounts for around 14% of all U.S. oil and gas production, over around half of the countrys oil and gas processing capacity.
Earlier in the week, Shell, Chevron, and Equinor all evacuated staff from offshore facilities. Chevron completed the evacuation of nonessential personnel from the Gulf of Mexico facilities on Monday, including Anchor, Big Foot, Blind Faith, Jack, Petronius, and Tahiti platforms. Shell began preparations for shutting down two platformsStones and Appomattoxon Sunday.
Storm Helene is moving east, with the National Hurricane Center predicting that the tropical storm would develop into a Category 3 hurricane in the coming hours, strengthening by the end of Wednesday and poised to make landfall in Florida, which has already declared a state of emergency.
According to Reuters, 16% of crude oil production has been suspended along with 11% of natural gas output. This equals some 284,000 bpd in oil production and 208 million cu m of gas production.
Just two weeks ago, a hurricane passed through the Gulf of Mexico shutting in nearly 700,000 bpd in production for days, serving to prop up oil prices. Some production remained shut in a week after Francine made landfall in Louisiana.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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Talks between Libyas feuding eastern and western administrations resumed on Wednesday in a bid to overcome the political impasse that has crushed Libyan oil production and exports, a Libyan MP told Bloomberg via a text message.
The blockade of oil production and exports in OPECs North African producer is close to entering a second month.
Oil production at several Libyan oilfields was halted on August 27 after the rival government in the east announced a stop to all oil production and exports from Libya.
Libya, which pumped about 1.2 million bpd of oil before the halt, was plunged into a deeper political crisis over the row about the leadership of the Central Bank of Libya, the only internationally recognized depository of Libyas oil revenues.
The internationally recognized government in the capital city in the west, Tripoli, was trying to replace Sadiq Al-Kabir, the governor of the Central Bank of Libya. This has led to the latest controversy between the Eastern and Western governments and political factions, threatening again to reduce Libyas oil production and exports.
Earlier this month, Libyas feuding political factions reached an agreement on the mechanism and timelines for appointing the Central Bank Governor and Board of Directors in consultations hosted by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
The situation, however, remains uncertain as progress in talks has stalled.
UNSMIL said it would resume facilitating talks on resolving the crisis at its headquarters in Tripoli on September 12, but no talks have been held since then.
The discussions have now resumed, El-Hadi Elsaghir, a Libyan Member of Parliament who is participating in the talks, told Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, Libyas crude oil exports are estimated to have crumbled to around 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) this month from 1 million bpd in August amid the continued political standoff.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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Shortly before 8:30 p.m., officers found the man suffering from a gunshot wound in his right thigh, according to a police report, near 33rd and Decatur Streets. Medics took him to the Nebraska Medical Center for treatment. The man's injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
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A man visits the booth of China Railway during the 2024 International Trade Fair for Transport Technology (InnoTrans 2024) in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 24, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
The 2024 International Trade Fair for Transport Technology, known as InnoTrans, kicked off on Tuesday with a focus on the future of mobility. This year's event highlights smart transport solutions and low-carbon rail innovations powered by electricity and hydrogen.
The four-day exhibition has drawn over 2,900 exhibitors from 59 countries and regions. They will showcase the latest products and innovations across 200,000 square meters of exhibition space and 3,500 meters of tracks, covering five segments: railway technology, railway infrastructure, public transport, interiors and tunnel construction.
InnoTrans 2024 will showcase 226 world premieres, featuring groundbreaking advancements in electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles that are pushing the boundaries of energy efficiency and sustainability, Messe Berlin, the event's organizer, told Xinhua.
Innovations in autonomous rail technology, AI-driven solutions, and smart infrastructure systems using IoT and big data will also be in the spotlight, it added.
Around 200 Chinese companies are participating in the biennial event. The CRRC Corporation Limited, one of the world's largest vehicle manufacturers, unveiled two of its latest high-tech products: a hydrogen train capable of running up to 200 km per hour and a next-generation autonomous rail rapid transit vehicle, both featuring green and smart innovations.
Meanwhile, the China State Railway Group is showcasing its high-speed trains capable of reaching speeds of 350 km per hour, along with equipment used for China-Europe freight trains.
Chinese automaker BYD made its debut at InnoTrans, showcasing a range of electric buses and highlighting its self-developed blade battery and rapid charging systems.
A man tries his hands on simulated driving of a Fuxing high-speed train at the booth of China Railway during the 2024 International Trade Fair for Transport Technology (InnoTrans 2024) in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 24, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
People view outdoor exhibits at the 2024 International Trade Fair for Transport Technology (InnoTrans 2024) in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 24, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
At least 71 people died on Thursday in Northern Iraq when the ferry boat they were on sank, a security official said, as rescue operations were ongoing in the Tigris Rivers fast-flowing waters.
Forty-five others, including 19 children, were saved, Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan told the official Iraqi News Agency.
Initially, Hossam Khalil, a colonel and the civil defence chief in the Northern Province of Nineveh, had said that at least 40 bodies were retrieved after the boat capsized near the Northern city of Mosul
The dead included women and children, Khalil added in a statement.
The boat sank while it was carrying people celebrating Nowruz, which marks the Kurdish New Year, witnesses said.
The tragedy, which took place near a tourist area, is believed to be the result of the ship being overcrowded.
The capacity of the boat was 50 people, but it sank because the number of people aboard reached around 200, Iraqi lawmaker Abdel-Rehim al-Shamari said in a press statement.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi ordered an immediate investigation into the accident and the findings be reported in 24 hours, his office said in an online statement.
He vowed to bring those behind the mishap to justice.
A final tally of the victims is unlikely to be clear soon as fast-flowing waters were believed to have carried them away, local witnesses said.
Water levels are also high in the Tigris as a result of heavy rains over the last weeks, they added.
Mosul, the capital of Nineveh, was once the key stronghold of the Islamic State militant group in Iraq.
In July 2017, then prime minister, Haider al-Abadi declared that all Mosul, Iraqs second-largest city, had been retaken from Islamic State after a devastating nine-month-old campaign.
(dpa/NAN)
Dr Kayode Ajulo
A Constitutional lawyer, Dr Kayode Ajulo, has condemned the punishment meted to DAAR Communications, owners of Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower FM by the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), saying it was too harsh.
Ajulo said on Friday in Abuja that there were other punishments that could be employed by NBC to ensure that any erring media outfit conforms with prescribed laws and regulations, NAN reports.
He said that the freedom of the press was guaranteed in developed nations and polities, adding that the provisions of Section 23 of the constitution guaranteed press freedom.
According to him, the press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.
I am of the view that the punishment meted by the NBC was harsh, however, one of the remedies that avails to AIT is to approach the court for reversal of any action taken by NBC, he said in a statement.
He said that AIT was a product of June 12 struggle, noting that it would be a disservice to democracy and nationalism as well as the image of Nigerian government to withdraw the license of DAAR Communications.
Ajulo said that the withdrawal coming on the eve of the grand celebration of June 12 as Nigerias Democracy Day, would not augur well for the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Director-General of NBC, Mr Kawu Modibo, said the decision to suspend AIT was based on the violation of the broadcasting code by the station.
Others include failure of the broadcasting station to pay its licence fees as and when due backed by the provisions of paragraph 10 of the third schedule of the NBC Act.
In January, the US Department of State had warned that there would be consequences, including visa restrictions, for those who, through their actions or in-actions attempted to undermine democracy in the country before, during and after the 2019 general elections. So, like the sword of Damocles, the visa restriction announcement came from the spokesman for the US Department of State, Morgan Ortagus, in Washington.
In their effort to protect democracy and Nigerians, Ortagus said: These individuals have operated with impunity at the expense of the Nigerian people and undermined democratic principles and human rights. It is therefore part of the US Department of States commitment to the growth and sustenance of democracy in Nigeria that they are issuing the ban.
This visa restriction came barely a few weeks after the European Union Election Observation Mission (EOM) Nigeria 2019 submitted a damning report on their findings during the elections. They reported on the severe operational and transparency shortcomings, electoral security problems and the resultant low voter turnout. They observed acts of violence, deaths, intimidation, abuse of incumbency at both state and federal levels, even in the area of media operations where either the state or federal government has monopoly.
If anyone has any doubt about the observations of the US and EU about the elections, the number of reported deaths which stands at more than 100, and the number of post-election litigations that is more than 1,000 are eloquent testimonies of the actions of the enemies of the democratic processes in Nigeria. The 20 years of democracy has not been encouraging, as each election seems to be worse than the last when logically the people and the global community feel there ought to be progressively better election processes from party primaries to the general elections.
Even though the United States visa policy seems not to allow the naming of culprits in instances such as this, it is a welcome action for a democracy that seems the most abused on earth. Given the position of the country as the political and economic giant of the continent, the viability of its democracy is of utmost importance to the global community.
For so long, individuals and groups have gotten away with violating the electoral processes to the detriment of the people and stability of the political space, with the plethora of negative consequences like deaths and arson, bad governance, loss of economic and political viability and brain-drain, among others. The actions of the United States and the EU are eloquent warnings to all those who, through their actions or inactions thwart the will of the people who are the mandate givers in a democracy.
It is equally curious that the Chief Ken Nnamani-led Constitutional and Electoral Reforms Committee that was charged to look at the laws and make recommendations is yet to effectually make any impact. The country seems to lack an effective process of punishing those who sabotage democracy.
The move by the US would possibly tame some of the offenders as it would have far- reaching impact. Some of the culprits have children and funds in the US and this means any slush funds would be lost and their family bonding broken as they cannot go there anymore.
It is shameful that almost six decades after independence, Nigeria still needs some external democracy policemen to rein in electoral offenders. If the country was seen as self-cleansing in this process, the world would have faced other development challenges rather than dissipating energy and resources trying to ensure compliance.
It beggars belief too that the country does not have a workable reward and punishment system that gets offenders punished as a deterrent to others. Sabotaging democracy in any nation is seen as one of the worst crimes against not just the people but a distortion of the world order. A post-1945 establishment of the United Nations signalled an attempt at global brotherhood that seeks to enhance a global sense of peace and unity.
We welcome all the help from the world to help punish and, may be end interference by individuals and groups, and implore countries like the United Kingdom to follow suit as that would be very impactful in ending impunity in our democratic space. But the country must also try self-purge for development and progress. No country can cure internal aberrations more than its own citizens. Election manipulation is an ill-wind that blows no one any good.
Anambra State Police Command on Thursday arrested three suspected car snatchers, whom no fewer than 150 mobile telephones were found in possession.
The commands spokesperson, Haruna Mohammed, said the suspects were part of the gang allegedly involved in series of armed robbery/carjacking in Anambra and Asaba axis, and the 150 phones are reasonably suspected to have been stolen from different victims.
Mohammed gave their names as Anyingor Arinze of Otueke, Asaba Delta State; Chinedu Nweke of Mbekwe Estate, Ogidi and Ebuka Christian Eziamaka of Ire village, Obosi, both of Idemili North LGA of Anambra State.
Exhibits recovered in their possession includes one Gionee handset belonging to one of the victims whose vehicle was snatched. Other exhibits recovered are 12 Itel phones of different models, 26 Infinix phones of different models, 32 Tecno phones of different models, 16 Samsung phones of different models, three Gionee phones of different models and 60 other smaller phones of different make and models all reasonably suspected to have been snatched from different victims. The Command has enjoined (members of) the public whose handsets were either snatched or stolen through similar modus to report at the Special Anti-robbery Squad, Awkuzu with proof of ownership in order to claim their handsets and also give further evidence to aid police investigation, Mohammed said.
He added that the case was under investigation after which the suspects would be prosecuted.
About 30 states of the federation has been described as insolvent as Nigerias total debt burden rose to N26.14 trillion as at the end of September 2019 from N25.70 trillion in March 2019, according to the latest statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Nigerias debt stock category for the third quarter of 2019 shows that the countrys total external debt is estimated at N8.27 trillion, constituting 31.55% of total debt for the Federal Government, States, and the FCT. The total domestic debt rose to N17.94 trillion or 68.45% of total debt stock within the quarter.
The Federal Governments domestic debt was put at N13.9 trillion, constituting FGN Bonds, FGN Savings Bonds, FGN Sukuk, Green Bond, Promissory Notes, Nigerian Treasury Bills and Bonds.
All the 36 states accrued domestic debt of N4.04 trillion as of the end of September.
A further look into the breakdown of debts accruable to states in Nigeria disclosed that states debt profile increased marginally by 1.9% within the last quarter.
Specifically, as of March 2019, total debt accruable to states was estimated at N3.97 trillion, while the figure rose to N4.04 trillion in September 2019.
Analysis of the data shows that Lagos State posted the highest debt stock as of September 2019 with 10% or N441.1 billion, though the state saw a reduction in its debt stock from the previous N479 billion.
Other states that make up the top 10 highest indebted states in Nigeria include: Rivers N266.9 billion, Akwa Ibom 237.4 billion, Delta N230.5 billion, Cross River N167.9 billion, Imo N148.9 billion, Osun N141.7 billion, Ogun N140.9 billion, FCT N137.8 billion and Bayelsa N127.2 billion.
Recall that the Federal Government dished out bailout funds to assist almost 30 states in the past year to pay up workers salaries.
While the Federal Government has indicated that it would no longer provide bail-out funds to state governments, the organized Labour Union is bent on the implementation of the new N30, 000 minimum wage by states whose revenue sources have plunged over time with rising debt.
Concerns about Nigerias rising Debt: In recent months, Nigerias debt has gained wide criticisms both within the domestic and international spheres.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) recently disclosed that Nigeria spends more than 50% of its revenue on debt servicing.
The World Bank has claimed Nigerias debt is not sustainable.
With Nigerias rising debt getting close to the N30 trillion mark, there are calls for fresh concerns in the country.
The Inspector-General of Police, Ag. IGP Mohammed Adamu has banned the use of covered Vehicle Number Plates by all unauthorized users across the country.
The order which is with immediate effect came following intelligence report that covered number plates may be used to commit electoral offences.
Asides the threat to the polls, the IGP also noted that covering of vehicle number plate amounts to clear breach of the Road Traffic Act and other relevant laws of the land.
The IGP also warned that any security personnel found escorting their principal with an unmarked vehicle or those with masked vehicle number plates will be arrested and dealt with accordingly.
This is contained in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday by the Force Spokesman, ACP Frank Mba.
The statement reads: The IGP gave this order on Tuesday, 5th March, 2019, following intelligence report that the unwholesome practice may be deployed by some unscrupulous persons to aid the commission of electoral related offences before, during and after the Saturday, 9th March, 2019 Gubernatorial/House of Assembly elections.
Apart from the above immediate possible threats to the polls, the IGP also noted that the covering of Vehicle Number Plate amounts to a clear breach of the Road Traffic Act and other relevant laws of the land.
In addition, the act could also impact negatively on national security and safety and has the capacity to; heighten criminal activities, engender atmosphere of lawlessness, shield perpetrators of crime and place unnecessary pressure on security agencies in their routine crime prevention and monitoring tasks.
The IG also directed all Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs) and Commissioners of Police (CPs) in the Zonal and State Commands to strictly enforce the restriction order at their various Areas of Responsibilities (AOR) and to ensure that all defaulters are dealt with according to the law.